U.S./World Sports category, Page 329
Kobe Bryant’s helicopter had tried to climb to avoid cloud layerVideo
CALABASAS, Calif. — The pilot of the helicopter that crashed into a hillside outside Los Angeles, killing former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant and eight others, told air traffic controllers in his last radio message that he was climbing to avoid a cloud layer, an accident investigator said Monday. The pilot...
WPIAL, local college players dot XFL rosters with opener nearingVideo
Final roster cutdowns for XFL teams were Monday, and several former WPIAL and local college players are scattered around the league. Pitt has James Folston (linebacker, Dallas Renegades), Dewayne Hendrix (defensive lineman, St. Louis Battlehawks) and Belle Vernon’s Dorian Johnson (guard, Defenders) in the upstart league. Penn State is represented...
Los Angeles mourns death of adopted son Kobe BryantVideo
LOS ANGELES — The chants rose in the plaza across from Staples Center. “Kobe!” and “MVP! MVP!” They came from hundreds of fans gathered to mourn the death of Kobe Bryant. Candles burned alongside hand-lettered messages scrawled on signs and the pavement. Bunches of flowers piled up, some with purple-and-gold...
Nadal advances to Australian Open quarterfinals with win over rival KyrgiosVideo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Rafael Nadal left the muttering and the preening, the underarm serving and the ‘tweening to his younger, flashier opponent, Nick Kyrgios. Nadal was content to collect the win in the latest installment of their rivalry. The No. 1-ranked Nadal kept his thoughts to himself and limited his...
Canadian canoeist wins doping case, citing bodily fluids from boyfriend
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — A world champion canoeist won a doping case on Monday after persuading a tribunal that her positive test was caused by bodily fluid contamination from her boyfriend. The International Canoe Federation ended its investigation into 11-time world champion Laurence Vincent Lapointe, who tested positive for a steroid-like...
Baylor remains No. 1 in AP Top 25; Penn State lands at No. 24
Baylor is No. 1 for a second straight week in an AP Top 25 poll that had no major changes at the top, a rare bit of stability in a wildly unpredictable season. The Bears stayed well ahead of No. 2 Gonzaga in Monday’s poll, part of an unchanged top...
Kevin Gorman: Kobe Bryant’s death brings back Pittsburgh memories of his ‘Mamba Mentality’Video
Rick Bell is a hoops junkie, so he was watching the Maryland-Indiana college basketball game when he received a text message from his son, RJ, a junior guard at Geneva. Did you hear about Kobe? No, Bell replied, asking what happened. He was killed in a helicopter crash. That was...
Before starring in NBA, Kobe Bryant was a Philadelphia high school prodigyVideo
PHILADELPHIA — Kobe Bryant, a prodigy at Lower Merion High who leaped into the NBA at 17 and became a basketball legend during two spotlit decades with the Los Angeles Lakers, was killed Sunday when his private helicopter crashed in Calabasas, Calif. Bryant was 41 and had been retired since...
Kobe Bryant photos: Looking back at an NBA legendVideo
Kobe Bryant, the former Pennsylvania high school phenom who became a five-time NBA champion, died Sunday in a helicopter crash in Southern California. He was 41. Bryant won five titles with the Los Angeles Lakers, who acquired him in a trade with the Charlotte Hornets after he was selected 13th...
Sports stars react to Kobe Bryant’s deathVideo
Kobe Bryant, considered one of the greatest players in NBA history, was among nine people who died in a helicopter crash Sunday morning in Southern California. He was 41. The cause of the crash is under invesitgation. Bryant, who attended high school at Lower Merion in eastern Pennsylvania, retired in...
Kobe Bryant, daughter Gianna, 7 others killed in California chopper crashVideo
LOS ANGELES — Kobe Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday. He was 41. Bryant died near Calabasas, Calif., about 30 miles...
Washington State’s Anthony Gordon leads North over South in Senior BowlVideo
MOBILE, Ala. — Washington State quarterback Anthony Gordon is used to waiting his turn. Gordon, who didn’t start until his senior year, led the North to three touchdowns in the third quarter in a 31-17 victory over the South in the Senior Bowl on Saturday. The Cougars’ prolific passer entered...
Oregon’s Justin Herbert, other top quarterbacks on display at Senior BowlVideo
MOBILE, Ala. — Jalen Hurts and Shea Patterson started for Power 5 programs, Justin Herbert passed for 10,000-plus yards for another and Jordan Love became a highly rated prospect without playing for one. The Senior Bowl quarterbacks followed different paths to potential NFL careers, but they started this week on...
LSU rewards Ed Orgeron with 6-year, $42 million contract extensionVideo
BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU coach Ed Orgeron agreed to a contract extension worth more than $7 million annually that runs through the 2026 season, the university announced Friday. The six-year agreement comes on the heels of the Tigers’ 15-0 national championship season that concluded earlier this month with a...
Youth served: Gauff wins, Serena loses at Australian OpenVideo
MELBOURNE, Australia — Perhaps Serena Williams, now 38, will win a 24th Grand Slam title someday. And maybe Coco Gauff, still just 15, never will earn her first major championship. Sure felt, though, as if a generational shift was being signaled Friday at the Australian Open, with a pair of...
Tiger Woods opens with 69 at Torrey North to start new seasonVideo
SAN DIEGO — Tiger Woods had his lowest opening round of the year since 2011. It wasn’t enough to be among the leaders Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open, but it was fine with him. Coming off his record-tying 82nd victory in his last PGA Tour start three months ago...
Two years, four operations later, CiCi Bellis back on Slam stageVideo
MELBOURNE, Australia — The worst part might have been the telephone conversation — CiCi Bellis and her mother on one end of the line, a doctor on the other -— to go over the plan for one in a series of operations to rebuild the 20-year-old American tennis player’s right...
Zion Williamson’s exceptional debut provides Pelicans hopeVideo
NEW ORLEANS — Zion Williamson’s sublime 17-point surge in a span of barely more than three minutes could become part of New Orleans’ pro sports lore, even if the final score won’t. For the Pelicans, a narrow loss to a well-coached, savvy San Antonio Spurs team carried far less weight...
Kyrgios barks, mocks his way to Australian Open’s 3rd round
Love him or hate him — and make no mistake, there are plenty in each camp — Nick Kyrgios never allows for a dull moment when he’s on a tennis court, whether it’s shot selection, showmanship, momentum swings, barking at his entourage or mocking another player not even involved in...
Bryce Miller: Surging Aztecs basketball offense joins ‘D’ during unbeaten, record-tying runVideo
SAN DIEGO For so many years, San Diego State basketball earned its reputation as a bare-knuckles rock thrower that bruised you defensively and treated paint on the rims just as poorly. Clank, rebound. Boing, put-back. Brawn before beauty. Muscle trumping makes. These Aztecs, though, are the gang that could shoot...
Kansas suspends Silvio De Sousa indefinitely for K-State brawlVideo
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas suspended forward Silvio De Sousa indefinitely Wednesday in the first punishment handed out by coach Bill Self following a melee near the end of the third-ranked Jayhawks’ game against rival Kansas State. De Sousa was the main instigator on their side Tuesday night, getting stripped of...
Larry Fitzgerald purchases minority stake in Phoenix Suns
PHOENIX — Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has purchased a minority stake in the NBA’s Phoenix Suns. Fitzgerald just finished his 16th season with the Cardinals and is among the most productive receivers in NFL history. He recently signed a one-year deal to return for 2020. The 36-year-old former...
Coco Gauff sets up Noami Osaka showdown in Australia; Serena wins
MELBOURNE, Australia — Plenty was going badly for Coco Gauff in the second round of the Australian Open. The double-faults kept coming Wednesday, nine in all. The deficits, too: First, she dropped the opening set against 74th-ranked Sorana Cirstea. Then, after forcing a third, Gauff fell behind by a break,...
Ugly brawl breaks out at end of Kansas State-Kansas gameVideo
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Third-ranked Kansas and Kansas State ended their bitter showdown Tuesday night with a wild melee behind the basket that included punches, shoving and at least one player picking up a stool, moments after the Jayhawks tried to dribble out the time on their 81-60 victory. Silvio De...
Doug Ferguson: Expectations getting higher as Woods gets olderVideo
SAN DIEGO — The expectations seem to get higher even as Tiger Woods gets older. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? Of course, it doesn’t quell expectations when Woods is the Masters champion. Just the image of that red shirt under a green jacket was enough to...
