U.S./World Sports category, Page 369
Get ready for a Sweet 16 filled with favorites, star players, great matchups
Last year’s NCAA Tournament was an epic ride for the underdogs, from UMBC’s historic takedown of No. 1 Virginia to Loyola-Chicago’s march to the Final Four. This year, Cinderella stayed home to get some beauty sleep. Top seeds and power programs only, please. The top three seeds are still alive...
Ohio man takes perfect NCAA Tournament bracket into Sweet 16
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio man has made history with a March Madness bracket that’s perfect through 48 games on the NCAA.com’s “Bracket Challenge,” according to the NCAA. Gregg Nigl of Columbus told the Columbus Dispatch he almost didn’t fill out his bracket last week, saying he was home sick...
Deal helps Gonzaga earn more money for NCAA Tournament success
When leaders at Gonzaga were looking to sweeten the pot for their basketball team in exchange for staying in the West Coast Conference, they knew where the money might come from. NCAA Tournament payouts. With the perennially contending Zags being courted by the Mountain West, athletic director Mike Roth sought...
NASCAR makes major changes to 2020 Cup Series schedule, including a new championship track
After repeated cries from fans and drivers alike for a renovated NASCAR schedule, the sanctioning body announced Tuesday that it finally has made some substantial changes. NASCAR released its 2020 Cup Series schedule Tuesday, confirming reports that it had shifted its schedule for the first time in several years. Among...
Conor McGregor announces retirement on social mediaVideo
LOS ANGELES — UFC superstar Conor McGregor announced his retirement on social media Monday night, abruptly ending his remarkable fighting career. In a post on his verified Twitter account, the former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion said: “I’ve decided to retire from the sport formally known as ‘Mixed Martial Art’...
NASCAR In the Pits: Schedule may not be overhaul fans soughtVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway will not be part of next year’s NASCAR schedule, so come to terms with that now. Fans have a wish list of changes for NASCAR’s stale and stagnant schedule, and they have been led to believe series leadership heard their desires. The highly anticipated...
Big 12 a bust with early NCAA Tournament flameouts
Bill Self stood in a room just off the court in Allen Fieldhouse on Selection Sunday and lamented the Big 12 managed to squeak only six schools into the NCAA Tournament. The Hall of Fame coach of Kansas pointed to the impressive nonconference wins the league racked up in November...
Tiger Woods to open Match Play against PGA Tour Rookie of Year
AUSTIN, Texas — Tiger Woods is at another new golf course for a World Golf Championships event and faces another player he doesn’t know. Woods, who arrived Monday and played nine holes at Austin Country Club, opens the Dell Technologies Match Play against Aaron Wise, an NCAA champion from Oregon...
Top seeds dominate spots for NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16
RALEIGH, N.C. — The path to the Final Four will not be easy for Zion Williamson, Luke Maye, De’Andre Hunter and the other top-seeded stars in the NCAA Tournament. For the first time in a decade, the remaining tournament field entering the Sweet 16 looks a lot like the one...
Focus fueled Penn State wrestler Jason Nolf’s remarkable run
Jason Nolf became a dominant wrestler with a forward-thinking mindset: He never got caught looking too far ahead, nor did he spend much time thinking about what already passed. But even he took a few moments for reflection upon the end of a decorated collegiate career that ended with one...
NCAA Tournament roundup: Tennessee avoids big meltdown, beats Iowa
Two-time SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams scored six points in overtime, and Tennessee held off Iowa, 83-77, on Sunday to reach the Sweet 16 for the first time in three years. Williams had a pair of free throws, two jumpers and a strip in overtime that helped the...
Zion Williamson, Duke hold off UCF to reach Sweet 16
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Zion Williamson took on 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall at the end and won. So did top-seeded Duke — barely — when two last-ditch shots by UCF rolled off the rim. Williamson had 32 points and helped rally the Blue Devils from behind in the final minute for a...
Brad Keselowski cruises to NASCAR win at Martinsville Speedway
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brad Keselowski routed the field at Martinsville Speedway to give Team Penske its third Cup victory through the first six races of the NASCAR season. Keselowski led 446 of the 500 laps around the shortest track on the NASCAR schedule but was challenged a handful of times...
NCAA wrestling finals recap: Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Northern Iowa wrestlers break through on national stage
Penn State continued its NCAA wrestling dominance Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena with its eighth team championship in nine seasons, but a few programs broke through in a big way. Rutgers’ Nick Suriano and Anthony Ashnault won titles at 133 and 149 pounds, becoming the first national champions in...
NCAA Tournament roundup: LSU gets last-second layup to defeat Maryland
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s probably the same play suspended LSU coach Will Wade would have called. After all, it worked several times during the regular season. And now it has sent the Tigers to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2006. Tremont Waters drove by three defenders and...
Ryan Preece hopes short track background helps at Martinsville
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Ryan Preece is a rookie struggling to find his rhythm at NASCAR’s top level. But as the series shifts to Martinsville Speedway, the first short track on the schedule, Preece may have a slight advantage on some of his competition for the first time this season. Preece...
Virginia has long history of early exits from NCAA Tournament
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Last year, Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed, but the Cavaliers’ recent history, even when they make it past the first round of the NCAA Tournament, isn’t all that good. Coach Tony Bennett has made the tournament six straight...
Zion vs. Tacko: Tournament’s most dynamic player meets its tallest player
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Tacko Fall really hopes the UCF-Duke NCAA Tournament game is not all about the Knights’ 7-foot-6 center and the Blue Devils’ explosive freshman star Zion Williamson. Sorry, Tacko, it’s way too late for that with excitement strong for the East Region’s marquee matchup Sunday between college basketball’s...
LSU gets last-second layup to defeat Maryland, advance
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It’s probably the same play suspended LSU coach Will Wade would have called. After all, it worked several times during the regular season. And now it has sent the Tigers to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2006. Tremont Waters drove by three defenders and...
Patriots owner Robert Kraft apologizes in Florida prostitution case
MIAMI — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is apologizing after being charged in a Florida massage parlor prostitution investigation. “I am truly sorry,” Kraft said in a statement Saturday. “I know I have hurt and disappointed my family, my close friends, my co-workers, our fans and many others who...
NCAA wrestling Session 4 recap: Penn State on cusp of another national title
Penn State ended the second night of the NCAA wrestling championships poised to win its eighth national title in nine seasons. And the Nittany Lions have a chance to return to State College with a record-tying number of individual champions as well. Jason Nolf (157 pounds), Vincenzo Joseph (165), Mark...
Vincenzo Joseph tops Josh Shields, on to NCAA finals
There is something about the NCAA wrestling championship that brings out the best in Penn State junior Vincenzo Joseph. The two-time champion punched his ticket to his third final Friday by edging a familiar foe: friend, practice partner from the Young Guns Club and Arizona State junior Josh Shields. Joseph...
Kentucky-Wofford provides study in contrasts
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — They are the bluebloods of the Bluegrass, a storied program loaded with future NBA players who come to Kentucky with the very reasonable expectation of contending for a national championship during their brief tenure. Then there’s Wofford. Where is that exactly? Terriers standout Fletcher Magee can tell...
Oregon extends March run with upset over 5th-seeded Wisconsin
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Oregon was stumbling toward the end of a disappointing season until a strong turnaround led the Ducks to the Pac-12 title and an NCAA Tournament bid. Oregon is not looking to slow down any time soon. Payton Pritchard scored 19 points, Kenny Wooten protected the rim...
Luke Pletcher edges Micky Phillippi before losing in semifinals
It was a match neither Luke Pletcher nor Micky Phillippi really wanted to wrestle, but they had to. The close friends from Westmoreland County battled in the 2019 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championship quarterfinals Friday afternoon at PPG Paints Arena for the right to become an All-American and a spot...
