U.S./World Sports category, Page 252
Houston’s run to Final Four special for CBS’ Jim NantzVideo
Jim Nantz has called last-second shots for an NCAA championship, undefeated teams falling short in the semifinals and unlikely underdogs making the Final Four. But as Nantz prepares to call his 30th Final Four for CBS, he will do something this weekend that seemed improbable for a long time: watch...
Quick turnaround for Masters no concern for reigning champ Dustin JohnsonVideo
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The record score at Augusta National wasn’t all that set Dustin Johnson apart from other Masters champions. No one else ever won the Masters and then didn’t play in another tournament the rest of the year. No other Masters champion was allowed to keep his green jacket...
Michigan’s Juwan Howard named AP Coach of the YearVideo
Michigan’s decision to hire Juwan Howard raised a few eyebrows. The former member of the Fab Five certainly had the coaching chops after spending six years as an assistant with the NBA’s Miami Heat. The question was whether he would be able to recruit. He had never done it before,...
Iowa’s Luka Garza named AP Player of the YearVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Luka Garza knew what everyone expected before returning for a final run as Iowa’s unquestioned star. Pressure? Garza felt it, enough to know his mental health required the same attention as his game. “I needed meditation to lean on, to be able to mainly just go out there...
Colorado is latest to weigh ban on Native American mascots
DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers are considering a proposal that would ban Native American mascots in public schools and colleges amid a nationwide push for racial justice that gained new momentum last year following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the NFL team in Washington changing its name....
North Carolina Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams retiring
The last time Roy Williams left North Carolina, he was a virtually unknown assistant who was getting his first shot as a college head coach at tradition-rich Kansas. Now Williams is leaving the Tar Heels again with a resume chock full of honors — as a retiring Hall of Famer...
In AP survey, ADs raise worries about women’s college sports
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — To hear many of those in charge of Division I programs tell it, the state of play for women’s sports could get worse, not better, under proposals that would put more money in the pockets of some college athletes. Via a new Associated Press survey of athletic...
Beijing begins to test venues for 2022 Winter Olympics
BEIJING — The organizers of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics started 10 days of testing Thursday for the hockey and other indoor venues. A curling mixed doubles competition was held at the refashioned “Water Cube,” where an ice surface has been laid over the pool that hosted the swimming events...
This date in sports history: April 1
1920 — The Ottawa Senators defeat the Seattle Metropolitans, 6-1, to capture the NHL Stanley Cup, three games to two. 1938 — Joe Louis knocks out Harry Thomas in the fifth round in Chicago to retain his world heavyweight title. 1940 — Gov. Herbert Lehman of New York signs the...
Mark Few’s unusual approach puts Gonzaga on cusp on unbeaten seasonVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — The weight of the line, not the lure, unspools the reel. The timing, the rhythm whisk the fly back and forth before it lands in the desired spot. The physical act takes a mental approach, of knowing the type of hatch for the season, the riffles where the...
Injuries, opt-outs, upsets mark underdog UCLA’s ride to Final FourVideo
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — As he basked in the glow of a win over Michigan, UCLA coach Mick Cronin was asked whether he thought he had the kind of team in his second season in Westwood to make a Final Four run. Cronin thought for a moment about five-star prospect Daishen...
Los Angeles County detectives won’t reveal cause of Tiger Woods crashVideo
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County sheriff said detectives determined what caused Tiger Woods to crash his SUV last month in Southern California but would not release details Wednesday, citing unspecified privacy concerns for the golf star. Woods suffered serious injuries in the Feb. 23 crash when he struck...
USA Football recommends 8 procedures for youth safety
USA Football has introduced eight procedures to enhance safety and health for youth players, with all of those methods endorsed by some major medical organizations. USA Football’s Athlete Health & Wellness Recommendations for youth football play have been supported by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the National Athletic...
Naomi Osaka’s 23-match win streak ends in Miami Open quarterfinalsVideo
MIAMI — As Naomi Osaka’s 23-match winning streak neared an end Wednesday, she paused before serving to crane her neck and stare at the sky, as if seeking intervention from above. Then she carried on, and so did No. 23-seeded Maria Sakkari, who upset Osaka, 6-0, 6-4, in the quarterfinals...
NCAA President Mark Emmert promises WBCA he will work to fix ‘stark’ inequities
SAN ANTONIO — NCAA President Mark Emmert promised the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association he will work with coaches to fix the “stark difference” between the Division I men’s and women’s tournaments. While Emmert noted that a major hurdle was trying to hold both basketball tournaments in kind of identical format...
Sports cards have gone virtual, and in a big way
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Maybe the Luka Doncic rookie basketball card that recently sold at auction for a record $4.6 million was a bit rich for your blood. Perhaps you’d be interested in a more affordable alternative — say, a virtual card of the Dallas Mavericks forward currently listed for...
Jim Litke: Final Four set, a question left: Can anybody beat Gonzaga?
It’s not easy to bury a team as good as USC, let alone in a half, no matter how easy Gonzaga made it look. Somehow, coach Mark Few called it in advance. While everyone was fixating on the top-seeded Bulldogs’ make-it-rain offense, one reporter took the opposite tack. He asked...
NCAA, former athletes head to Supreme Court over how football, basketball players are rewarded
WASHINGTON — The NCAA and former college athletes are getting ready to play ball at the Supreme Court. With the March Madness basketball tournament ongoing, the high court will hear arguments Wednesday in a case about how colleges can reward athletes who play Division I basketball and football. The NCAA...
This date in sports history: March 31
1909 — Baseball’s National Commission rules that players who jump contracts will be suspended five years. Players joining outlaw organizations will be suspended three years as punishment for going outside organized baseball. 1923 — The Ottawa Senators of the NHL complete a two-game sweep of the WCHL’s Edmonton Eskimos with...
No. 11 seed UCLA knocks off Michigan, earns spot in Final Four
INDIANAPOLIS — Johnny Juzang poured in 28 points while playing most of the second half on a hurt ankle, and UCLA survived a series of nail-biting misses by top-seeded Michigan in the closing seconds for a 51-49 victory Tuesday night that made the Bruins the fifth No. 11 seed ever...
Gonzaga reaches Final Four, stays undefeated with win over USC
INDIANAPOLIS — Gonzaga got on a roll and put on a show Tuesday night, moving to 30-0 on the season and cruising into the Final Four with an 85-66 beatdown of previously rolling Southern Cal. Drew Timme had 23 points and five rebounds and, after one dunk, pretended to slick...
Justin Fields puts on show for NFL scouts at Ohio State’s pro dayVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Before Ohio State’s pro day Tuesday, Justin Fields was considered a lock to go among the top 10 picks of the NFL Draft. He only helped himself with his workout at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Fields ran an unofficial time of 4.44 seconds in the 40-yard...
Column: Golfer Bennett looks at his arm to lean on father’s adviceVideo
Before he takes back the club, Sam Bennett takes one last look at the tattoo on the inside of his arm. “Don’t wait to do something.” Those words, exactly how they appear on a handwritten note from his father last June, remind him of the last advice his father gave...
NCAA president to meet with protesting basketball playersVideo
NCAA president Mark Emmert is planning to meet this week with a group of basketball players who used a social media campaign at the start of March Madness to protest rules banning college athletes from earning money from their names, images and likenesses. Ramogi Huma, executive director of the National...
Column: Bristol avoided the mess most feared for a dirt race
BRISTOL, Tenn. — The pandemic gave NASCAR an overdue opportunity to break from the way things had always been done in the sport. The traditional three-day race weekend was scrapped as NASCAR scrambled to complete a season while following covid-19 protocols. Practice was scrapped and few complained, the same for...
