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U.S./World Sports category, Page 69

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
No. 4 Alabama, No. 11 Texas meet in rematch of last year’s down-to-wire game 
Texas gained credibility. Alabama showed vulnerability. But that was last year’s game between the two traditional football powers and soon-to-be SEC opponents. The 11th-ranked Longhorns and No. 4 Crimson Tide meet again Saturday night in Tuscaloosa sporting high rankings and even higher ambitions. “It just presents a new challenge for...
Hendrick, Larson shows strength at Darlington to start the NASCAR playoffs 
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Another NASCAR playoff and another show of strength from Hendrick Motorsports. A week after drivers Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman missed out on the 16-team playoffs, the powerhouse organization made a formidable statement about their championship chances with Kyle Larson’s win Sunday in the Southern 500. Larson,...
No. 17 Madison Keys overpowers No. 3 Jessica Pegula to reach U.S. Open quarterfinals 
NEW YORK — Madison Keys overpowered fellow American Jessica Pegula, 6-1, 6-3, in just over an hour Monday to move into the U.S. Open quarterfinals. Keys, the No. 17 seed and 2017 runner-up at Flushing Meadows, converted on 77% of her first-serve points and used powerful ground strokes to keep...
Mark Madden: Early-season mismatches part of college football’s flawed system
College football is stupid. We got reminded of that this past weekend when powerhouses played pushovers to produce scores like 81-7, 73-0, 73-7, 66-14 and 56-3. Even Pitt got to pummel some sacrificial lamb. (Anybody know where Wofford is located? Without using Google.) These mismatches are the progeny of college...
Iga Swiatek’s U.S. Open title defense, stay at No. 1 end with loss to Jelena Ostapenko
NEW YORK — Iga Swiatek arrived at the U.S. Open as its reigning champion, as the winner at three of the past six Grand Slam tournaments and as the owner of the No. 1 ranking for nearly 1 1/2 years. None of that mattered on Sunday night against Jelena Ostapenko,...
Jordan Travis accounts for 5 TDs as No. 8 Florida State thumps No. 5 LSU in marquee matchup
ORLANDO, Fla. — Sitting in his hotel room the night before Florida State’s season opener, Jordan Travis imagined how it would go against LSU. Big plays? Yes. Touchdowns? Sure. A blowout? Absolutely. “I envisioned all of this,” he said. Travis accounted for five touchdowns, including three to Michigan State transfer...
Kyle Larson claims NASCAR’s opening playoff race, gets 1st career win at Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Kyle Larson had led plenty of laps around Darlington through the years, just not the last one. He finally accomplished that Sunday with victory at the Southern 500. Larson, the 2021 Cup Series champion, came into this event having been in front for 715 career laps at...
Coco Gauff the 1st U.S. teen since Serena Williams to reach consecutive U.S. Open quarterfinals 
NEW YORK — Coco Gauff is the first American teen since Serena Williams more than two decades ago to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals two years in a row, so the 19-year-old from Florida knows her way out of trouble on a tennis court. As the second set slipped away...
U.S. falls to Lithuania at Basketball World Cup but still qualifies for Paris Olympics 
MANILA, Philippines — The U.S. is assured of going to the Paris Olympics. That’s good. It also has a quarterfinal game at the World Cup awaiting Tuesday. That’s also good. Thing is, the only celebrating on Sunday night in Manila was done by the guys in the other locker room....
Prime shocker: Colorado upsets TCU in Deion Sanders’ debut
FORT WORTH, Texas — After nine months of hype, Deion Sanders had Colorado ready for prime time in his much-anticipated debut as Buffaloes coach. Shedeur Sanders, the coach’s son, threw for a school-record 510 yards with four touchdowns — the game-winner a 46-yard catch-and-run by freshman Dylan Edwards with 4...
Top-seeded William Byron looks to kickoff championship chances at Darlington 
DARLINGTON, S.C. — William Byron understands, with five wins and a high seed for the NASCAR playoffs, the wonderful opportunity he has for a series championship. Byron also knows he doesn’t want to miss his chance to enjoy the ride. He starts the 10-race title chase tied with Martin Truex...
Coach who lost his job for praying on field kneels again in first game after years of legal battles
BREMERTON, Wash. — An assistant high school football coach in Washington state who lost his job during a controversy over his public post-game prayers was back on the field Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court held his practice was protected by the Constitution. Joe Kennedy strode alone to midfield, knelt...
SMU celebrates entrance into ACC, contrast from death penalty days
DALLAS — SMU athletic director Rick Hart shot a small batch of red and blue confetti from a fake champagne bottle before machines showered the stage with plenty more. The scene celebrating the university’s acceptance into the ACC on Friday was quite the contrast to the somber, and eerily silent,...
No spider bite or fainting spell at U.S. Open for Tommy Paul and his family. Just another win 
NEW YORK — When Tommy Paul was a kid growing up in Greenville, N.C., his family would drive the 500 or so miles up to New York the week before the U.S. Open to watch qualifying matches — “It was free,” he notes — and catch a glimpse of some...
Spain opens case against soccer chief for World Cup kiss; Luis Rubiales breaks week-long silence
MADRID — Spain’s government began a move to oust suspended soccer chief Luis Rubiales, who ended a week of silence Friday by insisting he was the victim of a smear campaign. Rubiales has come in for a storm of criticism and calls for his resignation for his behavior during and...
Ahead of big sports weekend, dispute with Disney leaves millions of cable subscribers in the dark
A company representing nearly 15 million cable subscribers and The Walt Disney Co. blamed each other Friday for a dispute that has cut off Disney-owned stations to viewers on the eve of a big sports weekend for U.S. Open tennis and college football fans. The dispute between Disney and Charter...
Hugs from MJ: Bubba Wallace eager to show just reaching playoffs not enough 
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bubba Wallace got a big hug from team owner Michael Jordan in the pits at Daytona last week after the racer clinched his first career NASCAR playoff appearance. Now, Wallace is primed to show he and his 23XI Racing team have even more in the tank this...
Column: As Georgia goes for 3-peat, those who’ve done it before provide perspective 
ATHENS, Ga. — When Larry Farmer walked into UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion for the first time, his gaze quickly turned toward the rafters. It was impossible to miss all those championship banners. “I immediately knew that was the standard,” Farmer recalled Friday. “It was right there in plain sight. Second or...
Oregon State, Washington State face uncertainty in what’s left of Pac-12
Just like that, the Pac-12 has been reduced to the Pac-2. Oregon State and Washington State will be the last two standing in the conference after Stanford and California announced Friday they are bolting for the ACC in 2024. There’s speculation the Beavers and Cougars may join the Mountain West...
Cal and Stanford believe move to ACC was needed
The move by Stanford and California to the ACC was one born out of need not convenience. After watching seven fellow Pac-12 schools follow conference flagships Southern Cal and UCLA to new homes last month, the success-rich programs at Stanford and Cal had no viable options left other than joining...
Ryan Preece cleared to race Darlington after scary Daytona crash last week 
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Ryan Preece has been cleared to race in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway after his frightening crash at Daytona a week ago. “I’ll see you at Darlington,” Preece said in a social media video posted Friday by his Stewart-Haas Racing team. “I’m sitting right here, I’m...
ACC becomes latest power conference to expand cross-country by adding Stanford, Cal and SMU
The ACC voted Friday to add Stanford, California and SMU to the league next year, providing a landing spot for two more schools from the disintegrating Pac-12 and creating a fourth super conference in major college sports. The additions make the ACC the latest power conference to expand its membership...
ESPN networks go dark on Charter Spectrum cable systems on busy night for sports
ESPN is among a number of Disney Entertainment channels that have gone dark on Charter Spectrum cable systems. The channels went off the air Thursday night because of a carriage dispute between the nation’s second-largest cable TV provider — which is the major carrier in New York and Los Angeles,...
Kevin Harvick ‘in heaven’ as he readies for final NASCAR playoff run 
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kevin Harvick’s got little time for nostalgia, even as his stellar career winds down with his final NASCAR playoffs. “I mean, I don’t really go through it like that,” the 2014 Cup Series champion said Thursday. “I think for me, it’s all a last, right?” Harvick, 47,...
John Isner’s U.S. Open, career end in a 5th-set tiebreak loss
NEW YORK — John Isner’s career fittingly ended with a final-set tiebreaker. Isner put a volley into the net to end the match at what he had announced would be his final singles tournament, falling in the U.S. Open second round to fellow American Michael Mmoh, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (3),...


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