U.S./World Sports category, Page 225
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian: No magic trick to make Longhorns contenders againVideo
ARLINGTON — Texas fans want more than top 10 rankings and bowl victories. They would like to win some Big 12 titles and be in contention for national championships. While the Longhorns still are the last Big 12 team to win a national title, that was long ago — the...
NCAA’s Mark Emmert: It is time to decentralize college sports
NCAA President Mark Emmert said Thursday the time is right to consider a decentralized and deregulated version of college sports, shifting power to conferences and campuses and reconsidering how schools are aligned. Emmert said the recent Supreme Court ruling against the NCAA along with the lifting of restrictions on athletes...
Bryson DeChambeau apologizes after blaming driver for struggles at British OpenVideo
Bryson DeChambeau fought the wind blowing in from the English Channel and the thick thatches of rough at Royal St. George’s. And then he fought with his clubmaker. After shooting a 1-over-par 71 in the first round of the British Open on Thursday, the 2020 U.S. Open champion blamed his...
Team USA gymnasts will wear leotards by Pa. company — one features 7,600 Swarovski crystals
A Pennsylvania company has made sportswear for U.S. Olympic athletes before. But this is the first time that GK Elite of Reading will be outfitting American Olympic gymnasts. “Although GK has been the manufacturer of previous Olympic Games garments, this will mark the first time that GK Elite’s branding will...
Louis Oosthuizen, Jordan Spieth lead way as normalcy returns to British Open
SANDWICH, England — Jordan Spieth rolled in putts like it was 2017. Louis Oosthuizen put those runner-up finishes in the last two majors out of mind and soared to the top of the leaderboard. They gave the British Open a familiar feel Thursday. Normalcy returned to the wind-swept links at...
2 runners dropped from Kenya Olympic team over doping tests
NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya was forced to drop two runners from its Olympic team just over a week before the Tokyo Games because they haven’t taken the required number of out-of-competition doping tests, an official said on Thursday. That has given 1,500-meter world champion Timothy Cheruiyot a last-minute place on...
Britain women’s soccer team will take a knee at Olympics
The British women’s soccer team plan to take a knee before kickoff at the Tokyo Olympics. The players have been performing the anti-racism stance with their separate teams over the last year and the IOC relaxed its rules this month to allow Olympic athletes to make gestures of protest in...
Khris Middleton sends Bucks past Suns to tie NBA Finals
MILWAUKEE — Khris Middleton’s big finish has the NBA Finals all even. Middleton scored 40 points, including 10 straight for the Milwaukee Bucks down the stretch to send them past the Phoenix Suns, 109-103 on Wednesday night in Game 4. Middleton’s hot hand and a big block from Giannis Antetokounmpo...
This date in sports history: July 15Video
1912 — Jim Thorpe wins the decathlon at the Stockholm Olympics, and, in the closing ceremony, Sweden’s King Gustav proclaims Thorpe the world’s greatest athlete. 1922 — Gene Sarazen shoots a final-round 68 to beat Bobby Jones and John Black for the U.S. Open golf championship. 1923 — Amateur Bobby...
Dustin Johnson’s short memory comes in handy at Royal St. George’s
One of Dustin Johnson’s best traits is a short memory, and given some of the misfortune he’s had in the majors, he needs it. So don’t expect him to return to Royal St. George’s for the British Open this week and remember too much beyond being a runner-up to Darren...
Judge nullifies horse trainer Bob Baffert’s N.Y. suspensionVideo
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Wednesday nullified the suspension of horse trainer Bob Baffert, finding that the New York Racing Association acted unconstitutionally by failing to let him adequately respond to claims made against him after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test....
Never left out again: Big 12 coaches like 12-team playoff
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Big 12 certainly would benefit from an expanded College Football Playoff and likely never would be left out again. Under the proposed 12-team format that would be at least a couple of seasons away, six-time defending Big 12 champion Oklahoma would have been in the playoff...
British Open is back, along with the quirks of links golf
SANDWICH, England — Danny Willett shrugged his shoulders, grabbed his tee and returned to his caddie beside the fourth tee at Royal St. George’s. He’d just hit what he thought was the ideal drive during his final practice round at the British Open, only for one of the bumps on...
Watchdog: FBI greatly mishandled Larry Nassar case
WASHINGTON — The FBI made numerous serious errors in investigating allegations against former USA Gymnastics national team doctor Larry Nassar and didn’t treat the case with the “utmost seriousness,” the Justice Department’s inspector general said Wednesday. The FBI acknowledged conduct that was “inexcusable and a discredit” to America’s premier law...
Lee Westwood, still without a major, reaches unwanted milestone at British Open
SANDWICH, England — The unwanted milestone Lee Westwood has been creeping toward is finally here. The British Open at Royal St. George’s will be Westwood’s 88th major championship, and no other player has competed in that many without winning one. That’s painful, right? Apparently not. “That’s nice, that record,” he...
Mark Madden: Sports are important, even in wake of unacceptable fan behavior
“Sports aren’t that important.” We cling to those words, or some approximation, when the aftermath of a game turns ugly. The latest catalyst for turning to these words of wisdom is England’s loss to Italy on penalty kicks in the final of soccer’s European Championships. Three Black players missed PKs...
Tim Benz: Just enough for Pittsburgh sports fans to get you through the mid-summer lull
We are still about two weeks away from Steelers training camp. The Stanley Cup Finals are over. So is the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Home Run Derby and the draft. Besides the Pirates grinding toward a potential 100-loss season, what can Pittsburgh sports fans watch to get their fix...
This Date in Sports History: July 14
1951 — Citation is the first horse to win $1 million in a career by taking the Hollywood Gold Cup by four lengths in Inglewood, Calif. Citation retires after the race with total earnings of $1,085,760. In 45 starts, Citation ran out of the money only once. 1964 — Jacques...
USA Basketball bounces back, tops Argentina in pre-Tokyo tune-up
USA Basketball finally made it look easy again. Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal each scored 17 points, and the Americans took control from the outset, beating Argentina, 108-80, in Las Vegas on Tuesday to avoid what would have been the first three-game losing streak in this era of NBA players...
Suns can hack Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo but know he’ll keep comingVideo
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Antetokounmpo pointed to a pair of scratches, one on his forehead and the other on his cheek. Those NBA Finals battle scars are proof, he figures, that the frustrated Phoenix Suns are indeed fouling him. “So they’re making my pretty face ugly,” Antetokounmpo said. The Suns may...
Golf notes: Brooks Koepka/Bryson DeChambeau feud won’t fade
Brooks Koepka has made it abundantly clear he doesn’t like Bryson DeChambeau. That should have no bearing in golf because they don’t have to spend time together, and they haven’t played together on the PGA Tour since the second round at Bay Hill two years ago. Maybe it will be...
Column: Even without Woods, majors not any easier to winVideo
The Masters green jacket had been in his possession for just over three weeks, and Dustin Johnson already was looking ahead at more major titles. U.S. Open champion. Masters champion. Two-time major champion. Which title sounded the best to him? “Masters champion. It’s got a nice ring to it,” Johnson...
Roger Federer says he’s out of Olympics after knee ‘setback’
Roger Federer will not participate in the Tokyo Olympics, writing on social media Tuesday that he “experienced a setback” with his knee during the grass-court season. Federer said before Wimbledon that he would make a decision about going to the Summer Games after the Grand Slam tournament ended. The 39-year-old...
Jeannette grad Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State teammates seeking retroactive restoration
Referring to themselves as the “Tattoo 5,” Terrelle Pryor and four former Ohio State football teammates are asking that their vacated wins be restored, along with their legacy in the program. They want the 2010 season to be wiped clean. In a letter released on social media, Pryor, DeVier Posey,...
Knoch grad Jordan Geist looks forward to training after Olympic Trials experience
After a busy six months of training and competition on some of the biggest stages in track and field, Jordan Geist is enjoying some rest and relaxation. But the Knoch alum and graduate student at Arizona soon will be back in a training mindset to prepare for the stretch run...
