U.S./World Sports category, Page 320
Without spring practice, football coaches try to fill voidVideo
Since taking over as Florida State coach in December, Mike Norvell has spent seemingly endless hours laying the foundation of his program. Winter is time for coaches to deliver a consistent message, build the culture they want and get players to buy into a way of going about their business...
Karl-Anthony Towns says mother hospitalized, in coma with covid-19Video
MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns says his mother is hospitalized and in a medically induced coma after contracting the coronavirus. Towns talked about the condition of his mother, Jacqueline Cruz, early Wednesday on his Instagram page and urged his followers to take covid-19 seriously and practice social distancing....
Olympic delay leaves athletes uncertain about sponsorshipsVideo
Aside from figuring out how to maintain their health and fitness for an additional year, athletes such as Ryan Crouser suddenly faced another concern when the Olympics were postponed until 2021. They also have to make the money stretch that far. Crouser still hopes to defend his shot put gold...
Tiz the Law set as favorite for Saturday’s Florida DerbyVideo
MIAMI — The Florida Derby is set to have a full field and empty stands. A field of 12 has been entered for Saturday’s Florida Derby, typically one of the biggest Kentucky Derby prep races and the crown jewel of the Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla....
AP Player of the Year Obi Toppin declares for NBA DraftVideo
Dayton’s Obi Toppin is headed to the NBA after leading the Flyers to a 29-2 record and No. 3 ranking as a redshirt sophomore. Toppin tweeted his decision Wednesday, a day after he was honored as the Associated Press’ men’s college basketball player of the year. The Flyers’ Anthony Grant...
US Justice Department: Don’t treat transgender athletes as girlsVideo
HARTFORD, Conn. — The U.S. Justice Department is getting involved in a federal civil rights lawsuit that seeks to block transgender athletes in Connecticut from competing as girls in interscholastic sports. Attorney General William Barr signed what is known as a statement of interest Tuesday, arguing against the policy of...
All England Club to decide Wimbledon’s fate next weekVideo
The All England Club said it still is evaluating whether to postpone or cancel Wimbledon because of the coronavirus pandemic and plans to make a decision next week when the club’s main board is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting. Main-draw play at Wimbledon is scheduled to start June 29,...
Game Zero: Spread of coronavirus linked to Champions League match
ROME — It was the biggest soccer game in Atalanta’s history and a third of Bergamo’s population made the short trip to Milan’s famed San Siro Stadium. Nearly 2,500 fans of visiting Spanish club Valencia also traveled to that Champions League match. More than a month later, experts are pointing...
Jim Litke: The ‘no-win’ Olympics gets another chanceVideo
Money talks, which is the short answer for why it took this long for the swells at the International Olympic Committee to listen to reason. For weeks, IOC leaders framed their refusal to shut down Tokyo 2020 as a noble cause instead of a cash grab. But that’s because they...
Olympians face uncertainty with Tokyo delay because of coronavirusVideo
Would-be Olympians and their coaches have gone from days and weeks of mulling one sort of uncertainty raised by the coronavirus pandemic — are the Tokyo Games going to be held as scheduled? — to a whole other set of questions now that an indefinite postponement is official. To begin...
USA Basketball’s next move hinges on new Olympic scheduleVideo
USA Basketball is hoping the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics will be held around the same time next year as they would have been this year. Otherwise, an already-complicated situation could get even tougher for coaches and players. USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said Tuesday he has “hit the pause button”...
Hallandale official: Gulfstream Park won’t shut down, threatens legal actionVideo
Gulfstream Park plans to continue racing Wednesday and hold Saturday’s Florida Derby as scheduled, despite Broward County’s ban on nonessential business and the city of Hallandale Beach asking the horse racing track to shut down and postpone the Derby, Hallandale Beach Vice Mayor Sabrina Javellana told the Sun Sentinel on...
Colonial planning for PGA Tour event that might not happenVideo
Michael Tothe was supposed to be at the World Golf Championships event this week in Austin, Texas, to resume recruiting players for the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. Even though the tournament is still two months away, this is the time to beef up advertising and fill out the roster...
Western Pa. native John Calipari has done charity work before, but this time it’s personalVideo
Vincent Calipari was 55 years old when he got laid off from his job in Pittsburgh as a fueler for the airline industry. “He went part-time for three years trying to build himself back,” John Calipari said Tuesday of his dad. “I know what my mother and father went through...
Dayton’s Obi Toppin voted AP college basketball player of the year; Flyers coach Grant earns top honorVideo
Obi Toppin and Anthony Grant spent the season transforming Dayton from an unranked team that wasn’t even picked to win its conference into one of the nation’s best, complete with the most wins in program history. The pair behind the Flyers’ remarkable rise claimed the Associated Press’ top individual honors:...
Olympics to be postponed until 2021Video
TOKYO — The IOC announced a first-of-its-kind postponement of the Summer Olympics on Tuesday, bowing to the realities of a coronavirus pandemic that is shutting down daily life around the globe and making planning for a massive worldwide gathering in July a virtual impossibility. The International Olympic Committee said the...
In the Pits: Virtual race a real success for bored NASCARVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Seated inside a simulator in his living room, Denny Hamlin grew thirsty as he virtually raced some of his top rivals. He asked his one allowed crew member — his 7-year-old daughter — to get him a soda, and she handed him a bottle of slightly shaken...
Survey: 7 in 10 U.S. Olympic hopefuls favor postponementVideo
DENVER — Nearly seven in 10 U.S. Olympic hopefuls say they don’t think the Tokyo Games will be fair if they are held in July, prompting leaders of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to conclude “it’s more clear than ever that the path toward postponement is the most promising.”...
All signs point to Tokyo Olympics being postponedVideo
IOC members, national Olympic committees and athletes all were racing toward the same conclusion Monday: The Tokyo Olympics are not going to take place this summer. Craig Reedie, a longtime member of the International Olympic Committee, told the Associated Press everyone can see where things are headed, with the coronavirus...
Ex-Olympians Christa Harmotto, Lauryn Williams feel for athletes, IOC amid uncertainty of ’20 Games
Christa (Harmotto) Dietzen was looking forward to an exciting summer. She and her husband, Derek, are expecting their first child in early July, and she had visions of sitting by the TV, holding her son and cheering on Team USA in the Tokyo Olympics. But concerns over the spread of...
Report: 2020 Tokyo Olympics postponed because of covid-19 pandemicVideo
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics will be postponed as a result of the global coronavirus outbreak, according to a senior member of the International Olympic Committee. IOC member Dick Pound confirmed the news Monday to USA Today. “On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided,” Pound...
South Carolina’s Dawn Staley named AP women’s coach of the yearVideo
Dawn Staley helped guide South Carolina to No. 1 and has earned coach of the year honors from the Associated Press for the first time. The veteran Gamecocks coach received 20 votes from the national media panel that selects the Top 25 poll each week. “It’s a great feeling. It’s...
Oregon star Sabrina Ionescu is AP women’s player of the yearVideo
Sabrina Ionescu capped off a unprecedented college career by entering an exclusive club. Oregon’s star guard was a unanimous choice Monday as the Associated Press women’s basketball player of the year, receiving all 30 votes from the national media panel that selects the Top 25 each week during the season....
UEFA formally postpones Champions League final amid shutdownVideo
NYON, Switzerland — UEFA formally postponed the Champions League final Monday — an inevitable move with European soccer in total shutdown and four Round of 16 games yet to be completed. The final was scheduled for May 30 in Istanbul before the spreading coronavirus pandemic forced the four remaining second-leg...
Japan PM Shinzo Abe: Delay an option if Olympics can’t be held fullyVideo
TOKYO — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday said a postponement of Tokyo Olympics would be unavoidable if the games cannot be held in a complete way because of the coronavirus pandemic. He was commenting on the International Olympic Committee’s plan to examine the situation over the next few...
