U.S./World Sports category, Page 328
Phil Mickelson looking for momentum after year getting ‘crushed’Video
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Optimism is never in short supply for Phil Mickelson, and it was especially high when he left the Monterey Peninsula last year with his 44th career PGA Tour victory and his fifth title in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He had the entire year ahead of...
2nd-ranked Gonzaga gets boost from international contingentVideo
SPOKANE, Wash. — Assistant coach Tommy Lloyd has been to so many countries looking for the best international talent during his 19 seasons on the Gonzaga staff. So many passport books filled. So many stamps. “I had a cool one from Zimbabwe. They had a sticker, and you had to...
Flyin’ high: No. 6 Dayton having best season in half-centuryVideo
DAYTON, Ohio — NCAA Tournament fans will be talking about Dayton a lot this year and not only because of the First Four. With March around the corner, the Flyers are No. 6 in the country with a re-energized fan base that hasn’t seen anything like them in a long...
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio retiring after 13 seasonsVideo
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio announced his retirement Tuesday, ending a 13-year run in which he guided the Spartans to heights they hadn’t reached in decades. Dantonio went 114-57 as Michigan State’s coach and won Big Ten titles in 2010, 2013 and 2015. The last of those three seasons included...
ESPN draws huge ratings for Kobe Bryant tribute gameVideo
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers’ first game since Kobe Bryant’s death was the second-most watched regular-season NBA game on ESPN. The game Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers averaged 4.41 million viewers. The only telecast to surpass that since ESPN resumed NBA coverage in 2002-03 was a January...
Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic reclaims No. 1 rankingVideo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic returned to No. 1 in the ATP rankings Monday after winning his eighth Australian Open title, and Sofia Kenin’s first Grand Slam trophy boosted her to a career-high No. 7 — and made her the leading American — on the WTA list. Djokovic’s 6-4, 4-6,...
NASCAR readies for season of much-needed changesVideo
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The sky isn’t falling — or at least it doesn’t feel that way — as NASCAR heads into the first of two seasons full of change. In the three months since Kyle Busch won his second championship, NASCAR took its awards ceremony to Nashville, Tenn., and...
Chiefs coach Andy Reid finally earns elusive Super Bowl titleVideo
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — When Andy Reid walked into an interview with the Philadelphia Eagles armed with a 6-inch binder containing notes on how to build a winning team, management was sold. But it took him 21 years and two teams to win it all. Big Red finally got his...
Baylor strengthens hold on No. 1 in AP Top 25 poll; Penn State to No. 22Video
Baylor has strengthened its hold on No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll. The Bears received 49 of 65 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to stay comfortably ahead of Gonzaga and Kansas. That was up from 44 first-place votes from the previous week, with the Bears...
Colin Kaepernick’s Super Bowl close call has lasting impact on NFLVideo
MIAMI — One play. Five yards. A flag that wasn’t thrown. Seven years ago at the Super Bowl, history was made when a 49ers receiver, unable to break free from the prying hands of a harassing cornerback, could not grab a pass on fourth-and-goal that would have given San Francisco...
Djokovic rallies past Thiem to win 8th Australian Open title, 17th SlamVideo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic was looking weary and worn down. He felt dizzy and trailed Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open final — miscues mounting, deficit growing. Djokovic did what he does, though. He refused to lose, waited for a chance to pounce and found his best tennis when...
Tony Stewart seizes spotlight on night of celebrating SmokeVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — For one of the first times in his life, Tony Stewart showed up overdressed. Smoke wore a tuxedo to his induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and the blue honorary jacket is just a regular sport coat, not flashy enough to match the rest of Stewart’s...
Living ‘American Dream,’ Sofia Kenin wins her 1st Grand Slam titleVideo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Back in 1987, 11 years before new Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin was born, her parents left Moscow for New York City, eager to escape the Soviet Union and live in the United States because, as her father, Alex, put it: “You want to see the world....
Wiz Khalifa, Charlie Puth honor Kobe Bryant with emotional ‘See You Again’ halftime performanceVideo
The Los Angeles Lakers’ first game after the tragic death of NBA superstar Kobe Bryant was filled with heartfelt tributes. Friday’s game at the Staples Center, “The house that Kobe built,” featured the Lakers hosting the Portland Trailblazers. At halftime, Pittsburgh’s Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth performed their hit song...
Kyle Lowry headlines list of new-look NBA All-Star reservesVideo
The All-Star Game is going to have plenty of new faces. The NBA released the list of the players Thursday voted by the league’s head coaches as reserves for the Feb. 16 game in Chicago, including six who will be All-Stars for the first time. Kyle Lowry of the NBA...
NBA changing All-Star Game format, adding a Kobe tributeVideo
Kobe Bryant’s final jersey number will be something this year’s NBA All-Stars play to reach. The NBA announced major changes to the All-Star format on Thursday, turning every quarter into a mini-game for charity before an untimed final quarter with a target score that will decide which team wins. Scores...
Vanessa Bryant statement: ‘We are completely devastated’
Vanessa Bryant made her first public comment Wednesday since the helicopter crash that killed husband Kobe Bryant, one of their daughters and seven other people, taking to Instagram to thank people for the global outpouring of support since the tragedy. She also announced the formation of a fund to help...
Illinois a factor as Big Ten race reaches midway pointVideo
After a dramatic victory at Michigan last weekend, Illinois coach Brad Underwood was asked about the fact his team had taken sole possession of first place in the Big Ten. “I don’t even think like that,” he said. “I’m thinking about enjoying this one for a minute and figuring out...
Kobe’s boyhood hero Oscar Schmidt celebrates ‘annoying kid’Video
SAO PAULO — For little Kobe Bryant growing up in Italy, the player who amazed him as a child was a skinny and half-bald Brazilian guard who often beat his father’s teams with long-distance shots. Oscar Schmidt, one of basketball’s all-time leading scorers with almost 50,000 points, played with Italian...
Grieving Lakers return to practice, plan to make Kobe Bryant ‘proud’Video
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Lakers ended practice with a few somber laughs. As they left the court, they passed under the oversized 8 and 24 outlined in white on the black wall above the door to their locker room. Anthony Davis and several other Lakers paused and...
Top-seeded Rafael Nadal bested in epic Australian Open quarterfinalVideo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Outplayed at his own brand of physical tennis for much of the match, Rafael Nadal finally claimed a set to try to start a comeback against Dominic Thiem. Nadal marked the moment by hopping in a crouch at the baseline and vigorously pumping his right arm four...
Kobe Bryant’s body, other crash victims identifiedVideo
LOS ANGELES — The helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant didn’t have a recommended warning system to alert the pilot he was too close to land but it’s not clear it would have averted the crash that killed nine because he may have lost control as the aircraft plunged into a fog-shrouded...
‘Citizen of the world’: Kobe Bryant promoted basketball globallyVideo
ROME — At a Lakers preseason game in Beijing in 2013, the arena rang out with chants of “Kobe! Kobe!” — despite the injured superstar not even having suited up. From Los Angeles to Italy, Asia and beyond, Kobe Bryant was bigger than just a basketball player. He was the...
Kobe Bryant leaves lasting impact on women’s basketballVideo
HARTFORD, Conn. — Kobe Bryant always had an interest in women’s basketball, one he shared with many in the sport even before his daughter Gianna started excelling at the game. Whether it was mentoring players such as Diana Taurasi, Jewell Loyd and Sabrina Ionescu or working out with Gabby Williams...
Roger Federer saves 7 match points in Australia; Novak Djokovic up nextVideo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer was not going to go gently, of course, no matter how daunting the number of match points — his opponent accumulated seven — no matter how achy his 38-year-old legs, no matter how slow his serves, no matter how off-target his groundstrokes. Federer still plays...
