U.S./World Sports category, Page 340
Hendrick Motorsports could be out of NASCAR playoffs
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Chase Elliott insisted the weekly routine has not changed a bit within the Hendrick Motorsports garages, the four teams swapping information and ideas as if they were preparing for any other race. Only their race Sunday at Kansas Speedway isn’t just any other race. Especially for...
Historically black colleges play significant role in NFL’s 1st 100 years
NFL rosters are crowded with players who performed in the national spotlight at major colleges: Notre Dame, Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, etc. Sprinkled throughout, however, are players from schools such as North Carolina A&T, Howard and South Carolina State. Those schools, identified as historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), aren’t...
Illinois upsets No. 6 Wisconsin with late field goal
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The plan was for Wisconsin to roll into a showdown with Ohio State next week unbeaten, with a defense putting up historic numbers and a Heisman Trophy contender at running back. Illinois had other plans. James McCourt kicked a 39-yard field as time expired, and the Illini...
NASCAR playoffs uncertain, but future in place for Clint Bowyer
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Clint Bowyer rolled into Kansas Speedway on Friday with the comfort of knowing he will be with Stewart-Haas Racing next season and the uncertainty of whether he will be in the playoffs next week. The Kansan reached a contract extension with SHR to remain in the...
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes expected to miss 4-6 weeksVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes escaped significant ligament damage when he dislocated his right kneecap and there is optimism the reigning NFL MVP could be back on the field in about a month. Mahomes had an MRI exam Friday that showed the ligaments were intact, a person...
Married NBA refs working to make the right calls at home
TAMPA, Fla. — Lauren Holtkamp and Jonathan Sterling first met a few years ago at a meeting of college basketball referees in Virginia, and when the group when out for some socializing that night she asked him to dance. He declined. The refs now agree: That was a bad call....
Boxer Patrick Day dies from brain injuries 4 days after fightVideo
Boxer Patrick Day has died from apparent brain injuries four days after a bout with Charles Conwell. His death was announced by promoter Lou DiBella on Wednesday . Day was 27. “He was surrounded by his family, close friends and members of his boxing team, including his mentor, friend and...
NCAA: College athletes graduating at record-high rate
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA said Wednesday that the overall graduation rate for college athletes hit a record high of 89%. That’s up 1 percentage point from last year’s previous one-year high and almost 10 percentage points above the goal established by the late Myles Brand when the measure was first...
UEFA leader wants ‘war on racists’ after English face abuseVideo
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin urged governments to escalate the “war on the racists” to help soccer authorities eliminate them from stadiums after England players faced abuse in Bulgaria. In a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press, Ceferin blamed a rise in nationalism across Europe for fueling racism at matches and...
U.S. gymnast Simone Biles is face of 2020 Olympics after record world medal haulVideo
STUTTGART, Germany — Next stop Tokyo for Simone Biles. With Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps both retired since the last Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the U.S. gymnast will be the face of the games for much of the world. In gymnastics, no one else comes close. Biles won five...
Ryan Blaney nips Ryan Newman in photo finish at TalladegaVideo
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ryan Blaney beat Ryan Newman in a door-to-door race to the finish line to win Monday at Talladega Superspeedway and advance to the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs. Blaney’s first win of the season came as he was desperately trying to remain in title contention. The playoff...
Column: Florida’s loss to LSU was devastatingly meaningless
BATON ROUGE, La. — This might go down as the most feverishly exciting and devastatingly meaningless defeat in the history of Florida Gators football. At first glance, No. 5 LSU’s wild and crazy 42-28 shootout victory over the No. 7 Gators on a surreal Saturday night on the Louisiana bayou...
Rain forces NASCAR to postpone Talladega raceVideo
TALLADEGA, Ala. — William Byron and his fellow playoff contenders are getting an extra day of suspense at Talladega Superspeedway. NASCAR postponed the final two race stages until Monday after rain forced a halt moments after Byron won the first stage Sunday. It’s the middle race of Round 2 in...
AP Top 25: LSU jumps to No. 2; Penn State up to No. 7; Georgia drops to No. 10
NEW YORK — LSU moved up to No. 2 in The Associated Press college football poll, giving the Southeastern Conference the top two teams in the country for the 29th time and putting the Tigers behind No. 1 Alabama less than a month before the rivals meet in Tuscaloosa. The...
Simone Biles sets all-time medal record at gymnastics worlds
STUTTGART, Germany — Everyone counts Simone Biles’ medals except Simone Biles. Winning her 24th and 25th world championship medals in beam and floor Sunday put the United States gymnast top of the all-time medal charts for the championships. Biles won five gold medals this week. If she can repeat that...
‘No human is limited’: Eliud Kipchoge runs sub-2 hour marathon
VIENNA — Roger Bannister, 1954. Neil Armstrong, 1969. Eliud Kipchoge, 2019? Like the sub-four minute mile and walking on the moon, running a marathon in less than two hours had seemed impossible — until Saturday. So when Olympic champion Kipchoge broke the barrier, the question arose as to where to...
CeeDee Lamb, No. 6 Oklahoma top No. 11 Texas in Red River rivalryVideo
DALLAS — Jalen Hurts tried the Golden Hat on for size and gave a half-hearted “horns down” sign in a group photo with the cheerleaders while celebrating the way Kyler Murray couldn’t in the Red River rivalry a year ago. Now the Oklahoma quarterback will try to get the Sooners...
South Carolina shocks No. 3 Georgia in 2OT after missed field goal
ATHENS, Ga. — Jake Fromm knew better than to blame Georgia’s first loss on Rodrigo Blankenship’s missed 42-yard field goal that ended the game. It was four turnovers — on the usually rock-solid Fromm’s three interceptions and lost fumble — that put a big dent in the Bulldogs’ championship hopes....
Manufacturers’ drivers being urged to work together at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. — The first loser at Talladega Superspeedway better not have been hung out to dry in the closing laps by a teammate. And in the case of Sunday’s race, teammates will have a far wider definition. Manufacturers have taken steps to mandate their drivers work together to ensure...
Speed racer: Denny Hamlin goes nearly 205 mph at TalladegaVideo
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Denny Hamlin climbed from his car at Talladega Superspeedway and was shocked to learn he not only had topped the speed chart but reached nearly 205 mph in pacing practice. “It really caught me off guard,” Hamlin said Friday after his lap at 204.904 mph. The Daytona...
Boxer Errol Spence seriously injured in Dallas Ferrari crash
DALLAS — Welterweight boxing champion Errol Spence crashed a speeding Ferrari in Dallas early Thursday and was badly injured but is expected to survive, police said. The crash happened just before 3 a.m., when Spence’s Ferrari crossed a median into oncoming traffic and flipped over several times, ejecting Spence, who...
First for golf: Players Championship to stream every shot
The PGA Tour is expanding its live video coverage of The Players Championship as far as it can go — every shot by every player in every round. In a first for golf, and most likely the first step toward video access to every player at every tournament, The Players...
Ravens must reconfigure backfield after losing JeffersonVideo
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens’ depth in the secondary is starting to become an issue for a team that already has had its share of problems defending the pass. Safety Tony Jefferson sustained a season-ending knee injury in Sunday’s 26-23 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was...
Kyle Larson flashes superstar potential with NASCAR playoff win at Dover
DOVER, Del. — Kyle Larson was the can’t-miss future star who tore up the sprint car circuit and would lead a new generation of young stars into the next era of NASCAR. His promise yet unfulfilled, Larson’s path toward prominence has been slow burning in six-plus years in the Cup...
Georgia, Ohio State tied at No. 3 in latest AP Top 25 poll
Ohio State and Georgia are tied at No. 3 in the Associated Press college football poll, and Florida surged to No. 7 after a big victory. No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson held their spots Sunday after a week off for both, but the Buckeyes caught up to the...
