U.S./World Sports category, Page 365
Handicapping the Kentucky Derby: A closer look at all 19 horses
The Arkansas Derby winner was the 4-1 morning-line favorite and the pick of many horse racing experts after beating the Bob Baffert-trained Game Winner and Improbable in back-to-back races at Oaklawn Park. Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who teamed up with Baffert to win the Triple Crown last year...
Kentucky Derby lasts 2 minutes, but NBC’s coverage has to fill 5 hours
The 145th running of the Kentucky Derby will take place Saturday at the hallowed grounds of Churchill Downs in Louisville, where a field of 20 horses will race a mile and a quarter for eternal glory. The Derby is quite obviously the biggest day on horse racing’s calendar - the...
AAU coach who sexually exploited more than 400 boys gets 180 years in prison
Saying that an AAU basketball coach in Iowa “exploited, manipulated and abused children for almost two decades,” a judge sentenced him to 180 years in prison Thursday. Greg Stephen, 43, had pleaded guilty to multiple counts related to child pornography and sexual exploitation of minors, after prosecutors accused him of...
Tiger Woods plans to visit Trump next week in White House
As he prepares for the second major tournament of the golf season, Tiger Woods is planning to squeeze in a visit to one of his golfing partners next week, heading to see President Trump in the White House. Woods, who is tentatively scheduled for a Monday visit, is not likely...
Rory McIlroy shares lead at Wells Fargo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy looked every bit like a player who has won twice at the Wells Fargo Championship. He just didn’t feel like one. Twice when he was out of position off the tee, he managed to make birdies. He missed a 4-foot birdie putt after his most...
Many top female hockey players to boycott season in hopes for viable league
Hilary Knight would rather risk missing a year of playing meaningful hockey than settle for the status quo. The star American forward is among more than 200 of the world’s top female players who announced Thursday they will not play professional hockey in North America this year in a bold...
Bob Baffert feeling pressure but holding strong hand for Derby
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bob Baffert is feeling the pressure now. The five-time Kentucky Derby winner finds himself with new favorite Game Winner since Omaha Beach was scratched with a breathing problem. “Oh boy. Here we go,” the white-haired trainer said Thursday to a throng outside his Churchill Downs barn. “I...
Celtics president Danny Ainge suffers mild heart attack
BOSTON — Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge had a mild heart attack and is expected to fully recover. The 60-year-old executive received immediate medical attention Tuesday night in Milwaukee, the team said in a statement Thursday. The Celtics were facing the Bucks in the second round of the playoffs. Ainge,...
2 former Penn State players on Women’s World Cup roster
Former Penn State players Ali Krieger and Alyssa Naeher were among the 23 players named to the U.S. soccer roster that will compete in the Women’s World Cup this summer in France. Krieger, a 34-year-old right back, will be playing in her third World Cup and helped the 2015 team...
NASCAR throws in the flag on trying to liven up qualifying
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR abandoned its yearslong bid to add excitement to qualifying and announced Wednesday it will return to single-car laps after the current format became a laughingstock. All three national series will make the change at all oval tracks, starting this weekend at Dover. NASCAR for more than...
Lionel Messi hits 600 goals with a brace, Barca blanks LiverpoolVideo
BARCELONA, Spain — Facing its toughest opponent of the season, Barcelona once again turned to Lionel Messi to move the team within one step of reaching its first Champions League final in four seasons. Messi scored his 599th and 600th goals for Barcelona to subdue a Liverpool lineup that had...
Kentucky Derby favorite Omaha Beach drops out
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Suddenly, the Kentucky Derby is wide open. Favorite Omaha Beach was scratched because of a breathing problem Wednesday night, leaving a pair of Hall of Famers on the sideline: trainer Richard Mandella and jockey Mike Smith. Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia revised the morning line to make...
Bob Baffert takes aim at record-tying 6th Kentucky Derby win
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The pain of seeing Cavonnier get beat by a nose in his first Kentucky Derby nearly kept trainer Bob Baffert from returning to Churchill Downs. He figured he would never again have a horse good enough to win on the first Saturday in May. A year later,...
London marathon runners quench thirst with sports drink in edible seaweed pods
No, the runners did not have to eat them, but they could. The golf ball-sized pouches made from seaweed and filled with a sports drink were handed out to thousands of runners for the London marathon on April 28. The marathon offered “race organizers and company officials a mass experiment...
ESPN the Magazine will cease its print editionVideo
In the spring of 1998, ESPN launched a new magazine, with a cover featuring a series of young stars primed to take over their sports. Kobe Bryant led a cast that also included Alex Rodriguez, Kordell Stewart and Eric Lindros. The quartet stared straight ahead, steely-eyed, aside a headline that...
Tiger Woods makes video for cancer victim on eve of Masters
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Harold Varner III worked up the courage to ask a favor of Tiger Woods for a close friend with colon cancer. The timing made it surreal. Woods made a videotaped message for Daniel Meggs on the Wednesday before the Masters, encouraging the former Wake Forest golfer to...
Early Kentucky Derby favorite Omaha Beach gets favorable draw
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Knowing their favored horses won’t start the Kentucky Derby on the rail left Richard Mandella and Bob Baffert more relieved than happy. What matters for the Hall of Fame trainers is turning workable starting spots into victory and a long-sought celebration for Mandella. Omaha Beach is the...
Doug Ferguson: New schedule leaves little time to prep for majors
The Masters in his rearview mirror, Justin Rose is excited about what he calls the next stage of the golf year. Except in this case, objects might be closer than they appear. Because while the next major is in two weeks, the first one ended only two weeks ago. Still...
2028 Los Angeles Olympics to cost about $7 billion
The price tag on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is now $6.88 billion, a $1.36 billion increase that comes mainly because of accounting measures designed to better reflect inflation over the long lead-up to those games. Most key numbers the organizing committee released Tuesday are essentially the same as those...
New Mexico high school pitchers throw no-hitters on same day
CARLSBAD, N.M. — A softball pitcher and baseball pitcher from the same New Mexico high school threw a perfect game and no-hitter, respectively, within 90 minutes of each other. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports Carlsbad High School softball pitcher Ashley Hernandez and baseball pitcher T.J. Ruiz tossed their gems on April...
Santa Anita horse deaths overshadow reforms made elsewhere
Linda Gaudet can’t watch the replays. Even after 47 years in horse racing, she turns away from any video showing one of the 23 fatalities over three months at Santa Anita Park. “It was just devastating,” Gaudet said. “I still can’t stomach it.” Neither can many others around horse racing....
In the Pits: Kyle Larson rolled, but Talladega delivered for NASCARVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Anything and everything could have gone wrong at Talladega Superspeedway, where the cars were too fast, engine makers feared their motors couldn’t go 500 miles without overheating and drivers insisted they had no idea whatsoever how they planned to race. It could have been a disaster. But...
Ex-Texas A&M football player’s trial begins in jogger’s killing
DALLAS — A former Texas A&M football player has arrived in court to be tried for the killing of jogger who was hacked to death with a machete in 2015. Thomas Johnson’s murder trial began Monday after years of litigation over whether the 25-year old is mentally competent to be...
Chase Elliott’s win at Talladega ends Chevy’s NASCAR drought
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Chase Elliott won the Cup Series race Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, giving Chevrolet its first victory of the season. Elliott took the lead shortly after a restart with four laps to go and worked with three other Chevy drivers to hold off the rest of the field....
7-year-old Latrobe girl sings anthem at Utah Jazz playoff gameVideo
Three weeks after wowing the sellout crowd at the Pittsburgh Pirates home opener, a 7-year-old girl from Latrobe was invited back to again perform the national anthem at a major sports venue. Victory Brinker sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, prior to...
