U.S./World Sports category, Page 31
Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett is retiring effective immediately
Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett never chased the spotlight. That included with his stunning and abrupt decision to retire effective immediately, announced on the eve of the start of the season. The program said Thursday the 55-year-old Bennett will announce his retirement at a news conference on Friday at...
Liberty hope last-second shot provides WNBA title, rather than 1999’s letdown
MINNEAPOLIS — It’s been 25 years since the New York Liberty had a chance to close out a WNBA championship. Just like in 1999, a last-second shot gave them the opportunity to play for a title. This time around, the Liberty are hoping for a different outcome. Twenty-five years after...
Sabrina Ionescu’s 3 with 1 second left gives Liberty win over Lynx, 2-1 lead in WNBA FinalsVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — Sabrina Ionescu hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1 second left, and Breanna Stewart scored 30 points to help the New York Liberty beat the Minnesota Lynx, 80-77, on Wednesday night, taking a 2-1 lead in the WNBA Finals. With the score tied...
Former boxing world champion Paul Spadafora hospitalized in Las Vegas after dog attack
Former IBF lightweight world champion Paul Spadafora is hospitalized in Las Vegas after being attacked by his dog, his wife confirmed to TribLive. Nadine (Russo) Spadafora said the McKees Rocks-based boxer severed an artery in his left arm when his pit bull bit him Sunday night, which required a two-hour...
With WNBA Finals even, Lynx will need to keep leaning on Courtney Williams to beat LibertyVideo
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Lynx had just beaten the New York Liberty to win the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup earlier this season, and their next game was a noon start in Dallas. Courtney Williams just wasn’t into it. The ninth-year veteran went through the motions in that loss to a Wings...
Logano gets back into playoffs following Bowman disqualification and has sights set on 3rd Cup titleVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joey Logano hoped he had done enough to advance in NASCAR’s playoffs with an eighth-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But when he left the track Sunday night, he was four points below the cutline and eliminated from any shot at winning a third Cup Series title....
South Carolina ranked No. 1 in women’s AP Top 25 preseason poll with UConn, USC, Texas and UCLA next
South Carolina is starting the season where it finished last year — ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 women’s college basketball poll. The Gamecocks received 27 of the 30 first-place votes in the preseason rankings from a national media panel Tuesday. South Carolina returns four starters from the...
Valley grad B.J. Flenory inducted into New Hampshire’s Diversity Hall of Fame
Baron “B.B.” Flenory’s namesake is following his father’s legacy. But in a different sort of way. B.B. Flenory, the former Duquesne University basketball star whose life experiences continue to amaze, is himself amazed at the path his son, Baron “B.J.” Flenory, a former University of New Hampshire football star, has...
Larson dominates at The Roval to lead all 4 Hendrick cars into next round of NASCAR playoffsVideo
CONCORD, N.C. — Kyle Larson raced to his Cup Series-high sixth victory of the season Sunday to easily advance to the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs, winning on The Roval, the hybrid road course/oval at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Larson led a race-high 62 laps in the No. 5 Chevrolet for...
AP Top 25: Oregon, Penn State move behind No. 1 Texas. Army, Navy both ranked for 1st time since ’60
Oregon and Penn State each moved up a spot in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday following thrilling wins in high-profile games, and Top 25 newcomers Navy and Army are in the rankings together for the first time since 1960. Texas strengthened its hold on No. 1 with...
NASCAR playoffs roll into reconfigured Roval at Charlotte
CONCORD, N.C. — It’s elimination time in NASCAR’s playoffs at the reconfigured Charlotte Motor Speedway, where changes to the hybrid road course/oval called The Roval have created an uneasiness for the drivers racing for a championship. The field of 12 will be cut by four drivers after Sunday’s race, and...
2 teams suing NASCAR ask court to recognize them as chartered while antitrust case proceeds
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The two teams suing NASCAR asked a judge for a preliminary injunction Wednesday so they can compete next season under the charter system they are challenging as their antitrust case moves through federal court. 23XI Racing, which is owned by Michael Jordan, veteran driver Denny Hamlin and...
Rays say it may take ‘weeks’ to fully assess damage at Tropicana Field
The Tampa Bay Rays said it may take weeks to fully assess how much damage was done to Tropicana Field, which saw its roof ripped to shreds by the force of Hurricane Milton as the deadly storm barreled across much of Florida. The team said no one was injured when...
22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal will retire from tennis after next month’s Davis Cup finals
MADRID — Rafael Nadal announced Thursday he will retire from tennis at age 38 following next month’s Davis Cup finals. Nadal won 22 Grand Slam singles titles during an unprecedented era he shared with his rivals in the so-called Big Three, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. “Really, everything I have...
Hurricane Milton forces NHL’s Lightning, other sports teams to alter game plans
The NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning have left Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton to practice the rest of the week in the Raleigh area for their season opener at the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday night. Milton, currently a Category 4 hurricane, is projected to make landfall in the Tampa Bay area...
Ricky Stenhouse snaps 65-race losing streak at Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ricky Stenhouse Jr. snapped a 65-race losing streak by winning in overtime at Talladega Superspeedway after a late crash collected more than half the field, including eight of the 12 championship contenders. Stenhouse is not in the playoffs, and his victory Sunday marked the second consecutive week...
NASCAR playoffs roll into Talladega under cloud of lawsuit
TALLADEGA, Ala. — It’s most fitting that NASCAR this weekend races at Talladega Superspeedway, sight of one of the first major disputes between drivers and the top stock car series in the United States. It was at the Alabama track’s 1969 debut race when the NASCAR-despised Professional Driver Association led...
Keanu Reeves spins out at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in pro auto racing debut
INDIANAPOLIS — Hollywood star Keanu Reeves made his professional auto racing debut on Saturday in an event in which “The Matrix” star spun out at famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Reeves spun into the grass without a collision on the exit of Turn 9 a little more than halfway through the...
Report: Former Jeannette standout Terrelle Pryor suing Big Ten, Ohio State, others over NIL use
Former Jeannette standout Terrelle Pryor is suing the NCAA, Big Ten, Ohio State and Learfield Communications seeking restitution for the use of his name, image and likeness, according to multiple media reports citing a legal filing. Pryor, who also is suing on behalf of others similarly affected, asserts that the...
Kyle Busch is in danger of snapping his NASCAR-record 19-year winning streakVideo
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Time is running out for Kyle Busch to stretch his remarkable winning streak to 20 consecutive NASCAR seasons with at least one victory. There are only six races remaining as Busch heads to Talladega Superspeedway, where he has won twice in his career. He has won just...
Simone Biles’ post-Olympic tour is helping give men’s gymnastics a post-Olympic boostVideo
PITTSBURGH — Simone Biles simply wanted to mix it up when the gymnastics superstar invited some of the top American men to join her post-Olympic Tour. “Bringing the guys on board was designed to show what men’s gymnastics has to offer,” Biles said. “And I just think that over the...
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark a near-unanimous choice as WNBA’s Rookie of the YearVideo
NEW YORK — Caitlin Clark was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous vote, giving the Indiana Fever back-to-back winners after Aliyah Boston won the honor last season. A national panel of sportswriters and sportscasters gave Clark 66 of 67 votes in balloting released Thursday. Chicago Sky...
Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever guard, is near-unanimous choice as WNBA’s Rookie of the Year
NEW YORK — Caitlin Clark has been named WNBA Rookie of the Year in a near-unanimous vote, the league announced Thursday. A national panel of sportswriters and sportscasters gave the Indiana Fever guard 66 of 67 votes. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese received the other. Clark, the No. 1 overall...
Dikembe Mutombo, a Hall of Fame player and tireless advocate, dies at 58 from brain cancer
Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer who was one of the best defensive players in NBA history and a longtime global ambassador for the game, died Monday from brain cancer, the league announced. He was 58. His family revealed two years ago that he was undergoing treatment in Atlanta...
Chastain passes Truex on late restart to win NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Ross Chastain finally got to smash a watermelon for the first time this season Sunday at Kansas Speedway. He smashed the hopes of a bunch of playoff drivers trying to earn an automatic berth in the next round, too. The seventh-generation watermelon farmer took the lead...
