U.S./World Sports category, Page 368
Bob Baffert takes aim at record-tying 6th Kentucky Derby win
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The pain of seeing Cavonnier get beat by a nose in his first Kentucky Derby nearly kept trainer Bob Baffert from returning to Churchill Downs. He figured he would never again have a horse good enough to win on the first Saturday in May. A year later,...
London marathon runners quench thirst with sports drink in edible seaweed pods
No, the runners did not have to eat them, but they could. The golf ball-sized pouches made from seaweed and filled with a sports drink were handed out to thousands of runners for the London marathon on April 28. The marathon offered “race organizers and company officials a mass experiment...
ESPN the Magazine will cease its print editionVideo
In the spring of 1998, ESPN launched a new magazine, with a cover featuring a series of young stars primed to take over their sports. Kobe Bryant led a cast that also included Alex Rodriguez, Kordell Stewart and Eric Lindros. The quartet stared straight ahead, steely-eyed, aside a headline that...
Tiger Woods makes video for cancer victim on eve of Masters
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Harold Varner III worked up the courage to ask a favor of Tiger Woods for a close friend with colon cancer. The timing made it surreal. Woods made a videotaped message for Daniel Meggs on the Wednesday before the Masters, encouraging the former Wake Forest golfer to...
Early Kentucky Derby favorite Omaha Beach gets favorable draw
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Knowing their favored horses won’t start the Kentucky Derby on the rail left Richard Mandella and Bob Baffert more relieved than happy. What matters for the Hall of Fame trainers is turning workable starting spots into victory and a long-sought celebration for Mandella. Omaha Beach is the...
Doug Ferguson: New schedule leaves little time to prep for majors
The Masters in his rearview mirror, Justin Rose is excited about what he calls the next stage of the golf year. Except in this case, objects might be closer than they appear. Because while the next major is in two weeks, the first one ended only two weeks ago. Still...
2028 Los Angeles Olympics to cost about $7 billion
The price tag on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is now $6.88 billion, a $1.36 billion increase that comes mainly because of accounting measures designed to better reflect inflation over the long lead-up to those games. Most key numbers the organizing committee released Tuesday are essentially the same as those...
New Mexico high school pitchers throw no-hitters on same day
CARLSBAD, N.M. — A softball pitcher and baseball pitcher from the same New Mexico high school threw a perfect game and no-hitter, respectively, within 90 minutes of each other. The Carlsbad Current-Argus reports Carlsbad High School softball pitcher Ashley Hernandez and baseball pitcher T.J. Ruiz tossed their gems on April...
Santa Anita horse deaths overshadow reforms made elsewhere
Linda Gaudet can’t watch the replays. Even after 47 years in horse racing, she turns away from any video showing one of the 23 fatalities over three months at Santa Anita Park. “It was just devastating,” Gaudet said. “I still can’t stomach it.” Neither can many others around horse racing....
In the Pits: Kyle Larson rolled, but Talladega delivered for NASCARVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Anything and everything could have gone wrong at Talladega Superspeedway, where the cars were too fast, engine makers feared their motors couldn’t go 500 miles without overheating and drivers insisted they had no idea whatsoever how they planned to race. It could have been a disaster. But...
Ex-Texas A&M football player’s trial begins in jogger’s killing
DALLAS — A former Texas A&M football player has arrived in court to be tried for the killing of jogger who was hacked to death with a machete in 2015. Thomas Johnson’s murder trial began Monday after years of litigation over whether the 25-year old is mentally competent to be...
Chase Elliott’s win at Talladega ends Chevy’s NASCAR drought
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Chase Elliott won the Cup Series race Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, giving Chevrolet its first victory of the season. Elliott took the lead shortly after a restart with four laps to go and worked with three other Chevy drivers to hold off the rest of the field....
7-year-old Latrobe girl sings anthem at Utah Jazz playoff gameVideo
Three weeks after wowing the sellout crowd at the Pittsburgh Pirates home opener, a 7-year-old girl from Latrobe was invited back to again perform the national anthem at a major sports venue. Victory Brinker sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, prior to...
Austin Dillon wins pole at ‘unpredictable’ Talladega
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Austin Dillon will start on the pole at Talladega Superspeedway. What happens from there is anybody’s guess. Even by Talladega standards, there’s an element of mystery and potential for chaos heading into Sunday’s Cup series race, which often is marked by big wrecks and late dramatics. “I...
Ex-NFL QB Gus Frerotte, TribLive Podcast Network debut weekly program Monday
For 15 NFL seasons in eight major media markets, Gus Frerotte endured incessant questions from waves of reporters. Now, it’s his turn to fire back. In his new venture, he not only will ask the tough questions, he plans to inform and educate. Frerotte, who grew up in Ford City...
Dabo Swinney gets record $92 million contract from ClemsonVideo
Two national titles in three years helped Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney get the biggest contract in college football history. University trustees approved the 10-year, $92 million deal Friday. It runs through 2028 and includes two new clauses to make sure Swinney stays with the Tigers and stays one of...
Celtics great John Havlicek dies at 79
BOSTON — John Havlicek’s legacy was built over 16 years with the Boston Celtics, eight of them as NBA champions, making him among the best to ever play the game. One play immortalized him forever. “Havlicek stole the ball! “Havlicek stole the ball!” Celtics radio announcer Johnny Most screamed, a...
Likely top NBA pick Zion Williamson referenced at NCAA trial
NEW YORK — The player widely projected to be the NBA Draft’s top overall pick came up at a college basketball corruption trial Thursday as jurors heard a recording of a Clemson coach who seemed eager for help from an aspiring agent. The charismatic Zion Williamson played a year at...
Kings, NBA begin sex-assault inquiry into coach Luke Walton
The Sacramento Kings and the NBA began a joint investigation Thursday into allegations that coach Luke Walton sexually assaulted a woman. The Kings and the league said they will be looking into the accusations from a lawsuit filed earlier in this week in Los Angeles by former sportscaster Kelli Tennant....
PGA Tour better equipped for second round of ‘Tigermania’
The phone started ringing in the days after Tiger Woods won the Masters. This was in Minnesota, though it could have been anywhere that hosts a PGA Tour event. His 15th major, and most improbable considering what Woods had to overcome, set off a fresh round of Tigermania. “I got...
Kings coach Luke Walton accused of sex assault in lawsuit
LOS ANGELES — New Sacramento Kings coach Luke Walton has been accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit by a former sports reporter. Kelli Tennant filed the suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Monday, contending Walton assaulted her in a hotel room in Santa Monica while he was...
Greensburg’s Rocco Mediate loses way in Champions Tour event
Scott McCarron completed a wire-to-wire victory in the Mitsubishi Electric Classic for his third victory at TPC Sugarloaf on Sunday, leaving Greensburg native Rocco Mediate behind in a tie for 10th place. The winner of the PGA Tour defunct BellSouth Classic at the course in 1997 and 2001, McCarron closed...
Greensburg native Rocco Mediate in 2nd going into final round of Champions event
Greensburg native Rocco Mediate is in position for his fourth PGA Tour Champions victory, but he will have to catch Scott McCarron to get it. McCarron birdied the par-5 18th hole Saturday to take a three-stroke lead over Mediate in the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Classic. The 53-year-old McCarron...
Rivers Casino’s $12M leads sharp uptick in Pa. sports betting in March
HARRISBURG — Sports betting leaped by almost one-third in Pennsylvania’s fourth full month, as more venues opened amid March Madness. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board said Tuesday that gamblers bet a record $44.5 million in March at six casinos and two off-track betting parlors where sports betting is approved. That...
Marine running for fallen comrades crawls across Boston Marathon finish line
Micah Herndon’s head hung between his shoulders as he crouched on all fours. Staring down at the pavement before him, he placed one hand in front of the other and painstakingly inched toward his goal: the Boston Marathon finish line. Despite suffering from severe cramps that had rendered his legs...
