U.S./World Sports category

PHILADELPHIA — On the green felt of a Bellagio baccarat table, Shane “Sugar” Hennen flaunted $3,125 in winnings from a Pittsburgh Pirates game in June 2014. It was a drop in the bucket for Las Vegas moneylines. But on Instagram, Hennen called it “#2dayswork.” He was burnishing his brand as...

NEW YORK-U.S. athletes are preparing for anti-American feeling ahead of the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) leaders said on Tuesday, a little over three months before next year’s global event. U.S. President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime and other policies, including strict travel bans, have sparked...

William Byron beat Ryan Blaney in an 11-lap dash and won the Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway, putting him in the field with teammate Kyle Larson for next weekend’s championship race after Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Round of 8 finale in Martinsville, Va. With Blaney leading and the pair charging...

The top four seeds remain unchanged on the College Football Playoff bracket based on The Associated Press Top 25 released Sunday, but three of the four first-round matchups would change and Memphis returned as the Group of Five representative. Only slight alterations were required on the mock bracket because the...

VIENNA - Italian top seed Jannik Sinner produced a spirited comeback to defeat Germany’s Alexander Zverev 3-6 6-3 7-5 in the Vienna Open final on Sunday, securing his fourth ATP Tour title of the season and his second triumph in Austria’s capital. Sinner, who beat Zverev in straight sets at...

NEW YORK — The stunning indictment that led to the arrest of more than 30 people, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and other NBA figures, on charges of illegal sports betting has drawn new scrutiny of the booming business of professional sports gambling across the U.S. Since widespread legalization,...

NEW YORK — The head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and a player for the Miami Heat were arrested Thursday along with more than 30 other people in two cases alleging sprawling criminal schemes to rake in millions by rigging sports bets and poker games involving Mafia families, authorities...

Nico Megaludis was comfortable being done with wrestling. But the Franklin Regional graduate wasn’t anticipating the Real American Freestyle league gaining steam since he retired this past May. After a few weeks off the mat, Megaludis was back to training. He was excited with what they had to offer and...

Joe Gibbs Racing’s Chase Briscoe roared to victory in overtime Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Round of 8 middle playoff race, the YellaWood 500, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala. The No. 19 driver moved below leader Bubba Wallace on the backstretch and beat Todd Gilliland by 0.145 seconds...

TALLADEGA, Ala. — Michael McDowell might be competing for a new team this year, but the Spire Motorsports driver still proved himself one of the fastest at a superspeedway. He earned pole position for Sunday’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. McDowell turned in a lap of 182.466 mph in the...

LAS VEGAS — Denny Hamlin became the first driver to lock up a spot in NASCAR’s championship-deciding finale, winning Sunday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for his career-goal 60th Cup Series triumph. Hamlin, considered the best driver in NASCAR history to never win a Cup title, is back in the...

NEW YORK — The Las Vegas Aces flipped the odds to lift their third WNBA championship in four years Friday, sweeping the Phoenix Mercury in four games to put a golden finish on a season that once appeared to be a bust. A’ja Wilson earned her second Finals MVP honor...

And then there were eight. After the NASCAR Cup Series trimmed a starting group of championship chasers from 16 to a dozen, the field was slashed to eight last weekend at the Charlotte Roval — three Toyotas, three Chevrolets and a pair of Fords. Half of the remaining drivers have...

PHOENIX — League MVP A’ja Wilson scored 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Las Vegas Aces beat the Phoenix Mercury, 97-86, in Game 4 on Friday to sweep the WNBA Finals and win their third title in four seasons. Jackie Young contributed 18 points and eight assists, Chelsea...

CHICAGO — Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the chaplain for the men’s basketball team at Loyola Chicago who became a beloved international celebrity during the school’s fairy-tale run to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 2018, has died, the university announced Thursday night. She was 106. Health issues caused...

LOS ANGELES — Former NBA player Paul Pierce was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of driving under the influence on a Los Angeles highway after he was found asleep behind the wheel, state police said. California Highway Patrol officers responded at about 10:40 p.m. to an unrelated car crash involving...

LeBron James was diagnosed with sciatica on his right side and will be re-evaluated in three to four weeks, the Los Angeles Lakers announced Thursday. James will miss the season opener against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21 and, per the team’s timeline, won’t return until November at the...

PHOENIX — No matter how old and accomplished you are, your parents are always going to see you as their child. A’ja Wilson said Thursday that her parents, Roscoe and Eva, have been living with her for the past two months while watching her and the Las Vegas Aces chase...

The international basketball league that includes several high-profile athletes as investors does not have an official name but is set to launch next fall, Front Office Sports reported on Wednesday. Headed by former Facebook executive Grady Burnett and Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice, the league will include 5-on-5 men’s and women’s...

If LeBron James has proven one thing, aside from his basketball greatness, it’s that he’s also an elite showman. James, the 40-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star who is set to enter his record 23rd season in the NBA, teased an announcement on social media that will take place at noon...

His mates on the Braddock High School basketball team didn’t seem too interested, but Billy Knight was fascinated by the newest game in town. In 1967, the Pittsburgh Pipers were one of the charter members of the American Basketball Association, and Knight, whenever he could make his way to Civic...

The NASCAR Cup Series playoff Round of 12 has its elimination race Sunday at the center of it all in Charlotte, N.C. While the trip to the track will be a short one, the added pressure on about six drivers will be immense. That’s because the playoffs are headed to...

LAS VEGAS — Cathy Engelbert accepted some responsibility for WNBA players’ disapproval of the job she’s done as commissioner while denying certain remarks that Napheesa Collier alleged she said in a pointed statement earlier this week. Engelbert faced reporters ahead of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals between the Las...