U.S./World Sports category, Page 171
20 horses, full house: Kentucky Derby returns with no limits
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Twenty eager colts breaking from the starting gate, a full house for the first time in three years, and a Kentucky Derby lacking a dominant favorite. Things could get interesting Saturday at Churchill Downs, where the winners in 2019 and 2021 were disqualified. The biggest question for...
Horse racing’s new governing body in rush to starting gate
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With interest among the general public at its highest with the 148th Kentucky Derby coming up Saturday, horse racing is once again under intense scrutiny. The industry has been rocked by scandal in recent years, including the disqualification of last year’s Kentucky Derby winner, a horse doping...
Miami’s Isaiah Wong shows college sports hurtles toward free market
An agent for a prominent college athlete finally said out loud what schools likely hear in private: Pay the player more, or he will transfer to a school that will. The brazen demand made on behalf of University of Miami basketball star Isaiah Wong last week provided a rare, unvarnished...
Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks suspended 1 game for flagrant foul on Gary Payton IIVideo
SAN FRANCISCO — Memphis Grizzlies star Dillon Brooks has been suspended for one game without pay by the NBA for making “unnecessary and excessive contact” that resulted in a fractured elbow for Golden State’s Gary Payton II in Game 2 of the the Western Conference semifinals. The league announced the...
Report: Phil Mickelson had $40 million in gambling losses
Federal auditors investigating Phil Mickelson’s role in an insider trading scheme found his gambling losses totaled more than $40 million from 2010 to 2014, according to an excerpt from Alan Shipnuck’s forthcoming biography. Shipnuck posted the excerpt on his “Firepit Collective” site Thursday. His unauthorized biography on Mickelson is to...
Explainer: Why is Bob Baffert not in the Kentucky Derby?
Bob Baffert has been the face of American horse racing for nearly 30 years. His success on the sport’s biggest stages and his shock of white hair make him hugely recognizable, even to the average person who doesn’t follow the sport outside of the Kentucky Derby. He trained American Pharoah...
Another rally sees Real Madrid defeat Manchester City, clinch spot in Champions League finalVideo
MADRID — The “Si se puede! (Yes we can!)” chants gradually faded at the Santiago Bernabéu as the minutes passed and Real Madrid looked beaten. As the end of regulation approached, many in the stands — and on the field — were close to giving up as Manchester City defended...
Matt Kenseth, Hershel McGriff and Kirk Shelmerdine join NASCAR Hall of Fame
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Matt Kenseth was doing yardwork when wife, Katie, came outside with her phone in hand, letting him know he just had been selected to the NASCAR Hall of Fame. A short while later Kenseth “celebrated” the night by cooking dinner for his daughters. “I never really thought...
Trainer Tim Yakteen brings 2 top horses to 1st Kentucky Derby in chargeVideo
ARCADIA, Calif. — Tim Yakteen has been to the Kentucky Derby with good horses before. Now the trainer is at Churchill Downs in charge for the first time with two top contenders previously trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. Yakteen worked two stints earlier in his career as an...
‘Good vibes’ for Rory McIlroy as he defends at soggy Wells Fargo
POTOMAC, Md. — Wearing black rain pants on a soggy, foggy Wednesday morning, Rory McIlroy still had a bounce in his step and plenty of reasons to smile as he chatted with reporters, signed autographs and posed for selfies outside the clubhouse at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm. He is...
Heat’s Tyler Herro overwhelming pick as NBA’s Sixth Man of Year
MIAMI — Tyler Herro was told before the season began that he wouldn’t be in the Miami Heat starting lineup. To his credit, he saw that as an opportunity. “I said, ‘Let’s go for Sixth Man of the Year,’ ” Herro said. And that’s what he got. Herro was announced...
Speedway Motorsports vows to keep Dover on NASCAR slate
DOVER, Del. — Chase Elliott took note that Dover’s grandstands passed the eye test and looked fuller Sunday before rain washed out the conclusion of the race. A track that scaled down in size — and races — in recent years had full sections, hundreds of fans crowded the entertainment...
Liberty Media CEO on F1 growth: ‘We have a lot of demand’Video
If things had gone according to plan, Colton Herta would be in Miami preparing for the fifth Formula One race of his career. Instead, the 22-year-old Californian is headed to the inaugural Miami Grand Prix as a spectator. His boss, meanwhile, awaits word on his request to start a Formula...
Trainer Steve Asmussen seeks Kentucky Derby breakthrough with EpicenterVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Steve Asmussen is caught off guard when asked about his achievements, mainly because he’s too focused on training horses to reflect. And the fun he has had doing so keeps him driven to attain more success. Such as winning his first Kentucky Derby to add to a...
Column: Steven Alker cashing in on golf’s greatest mulliganVideo
Steven Alker knows all about the lean times. He started at home in New Zealand in 1989 and over the next three decades played 556 times on six tours that received world ranking points. Only three seasons were spent on the PGA Tour. He had two full years in Europe....
WNBA to honor Brittney Griner with league-wide floor decals as she languishes in RussiaVideo
The WNBA will honor Phoenix star Brittney Griner with a floor decal and allow the Mercury to pay her without it counting against the team’s salary cap, the league announced Tuesday. The All-Star center remains in Russia after being detained following her arrival at a Moscow airport Feb. 17. Russian...
Nebraska football coach Scott Frost to sit out 5 days in ’22 season for violationVideo
Scott Frost will be barred from coaching for five consecutive days this season as part of Nebraska’s negotiated settlement with the NCAA for allowing an unauthorized staff member to do hands-on special teams coaching two years ago. The NCAA contacted Nebraska after a media report on the January 2021 resignation...
Zandon is 3-1 favorite for Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Zandon and filly Nest are the morning-line favorites for the 148th Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, respectively, at Churchill Downs, which will host both marquee races at full capacity for the first time since 2019. Zandon, trained by Chad Brown, drew 3-1 odds on Monday and will...
Chase Elliott wins at Dover to snap 26-race winless streakVideo
DOVER, Del. — Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for the Hendrick Motorsports trophy celebrations and photo shoots and all the kitschy social media posts created as one by one — and as his three teammates won, and won and won again — they all brought home checkered flags. Elliott...
Latrobe grad Kiley Myers pushes through pain to lead Marist pitching staff
Kiley Myers at 75% is better than many college pitchers. That’s why the Latrobe graduate has continued to play for Division I Marist this season despite persistent pain in her left knee. “That kid goes out there every day and gives us a chance to win,” Marist coach Joe Ausanio...
Greyhound racing nearing its end in U.S., with only 2 West Virginia tracks left by year’s end
DUBUQUE, Iowa — Vera Rasnake laughed as she led a trio of barking, jostling dogs into the Iowa Greyhound Park, but her smile faded when she acknowledged that after 41 years of being around the sleek animals, her sport was teetering on extinction. After the end of a truncated season...
Normal Kentucky Derby: Capacity crowd, big hats, mint juleps
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Derby is the next major sporting event to move a step closer to normalcy after two years of upheaval adjusting to covid-19 restrictions. After fluctuating dates and crowds, Churchill Downs will welcome everybody without restrictions on Saturday, raising hopes of getting back to 150,000 or...
Jon Rahm hangs on to win Mexico Open for 1st win since US Open
PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico — Jon Rahm pulled out of a four-way tie with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole and then held on with pars for a 2-under-par 69 and a one-shot victory Sunday in the Mexico Open. Rahm won for the first time since the U.S. Open...
Warriors rally after Draymond Green ejected, beat Grizzlies in Game 1Video
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Klay Thompson hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, and the Golden State Warriors overcame Draymond Green’s first-half ejection to edge the Memphis Grizzlies 117-116 on Sunday in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. Jordan Poole led the Warriors with 31 points off the bench,...
Rain postpones NASCAR Cup race at Dover to Monday
DOVER, Del. — Martin Truex Jr. has the blueprint for how to win at Dover Motor Speedway on Mondays. Step 1, rain on Sundays. Truex can win for the third time at the Monster Mile on the unconventional race day after rain stopped the action 78 laps into the 400-mile...
