U.S./World Sports category, Page 239
Jordan Siebatcheu scores to lift U.S. over Honduras in Nations LeagueVideo
DENVER — Jordan Siebatcheu scored his first international goal in the 89th minute, and the United States beat Honduras 1-0 on Thursday night to reach the final of the first CONCACAF Nations League. John Brooks lofted a pass to Weston McKennie, who cushioned a one-hop headed pass ahead of Siebatcheu’s...
Sponsors hail Naomi Osaka’s ‘courage’ on mental health
NEW YORK — A few years ago, a star athlete dropping out of a major tennis tournament over mental health issues might have been seen as a sign of weakness. Today, at least for Naomi Osaka’s corporate sponsors, it is being hailed as refreshingly honest. That would explain why so...
Collin Morikawa leads at Muirfield Village on day suspended by rain
DUBLIN, Ohio — Collin Morikawa had another favorable result at Muirfield Village on a golf course that looked and sounded a lot different from when he won last year. Morikawa felt good vibes from an old putter and posted a 6-under-par 66 in rain-softened conditions Thursday morning at the Memorial....
Hot Rod Charlie being run in Belmont in memory of Jake PanusVideo
NEW YORK — Jake Panus wanted to help Native American children and walk on to play football at South Carolina. His death in August in a car crash stopped all that at age 16. After his father, Stephen, fought through the first wave of grief, good friend and trainer Doug...
James Madison stuns No. 1 seed Oklahoma in WCWS openerVideo
OKLAHOMA CITY — James Madison looked like a Women’s College World Series regular on Thursday. It actually was the Dukes’ first trip, and they made their first game memorable. Kate Gordon hit a solo homer in the top of the eighth inning and Odicci Alexander threw a complete game to...
No. 1 Ash Barty withdraws; Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer advance at French OpenVideo
PARIS — Bothered by a painful hip, top-ranked Ash Barty retired Thursday from her second-round match at the French Open, leaving the clay-court Grand Slam tournament without its top two women’s seeds and any of the top three women in the rankings. The 2019 champion trailed 6-1, 2-2 when she...
Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski eager for a final run with the Blue Devils
DURHAM, N.C. — Mike Krzyzewski had pondered for years when it would be the right time to leave a Hall of Fame coaching career that he has long loved. Now Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils have committed to a plan: coach a final season in a farewell tour of sorts...
USFL relaunching next year, 4 decades after its birth
The USFL is relaunching in 2022, four decades after the spring football league’s short-lived run that featured such stars as Reggie White, Herschel Walker, Steve Young, Jim Kelly and future president Donald Trump. The new USFL announced Thursday it will play next spring with a minimum of eight teams “and...
Same strong field at Memorial gets new look for golf course
DUBLIN, Ohio — Jon Rahm was motoring to victory along the back nine of Muirfield Village last year at the Memorial, and just as compelling was the activity on the front nine. Heavy equipment was inside the ropes, ripping out huge strips of turf. Rahm returned to what tournament host...
Fox Chapel’s Skirboll, Highlands’ Bonnett ready for Olympic trials
Zoe Skirboll was among the spectators at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials in Omaha, Neb., and she watched the best in the nation compete for spots on the team that competed a month later in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “It was breathtaking,” said Skirboll, an Aspinwall resident. “I had...
Japan’s vaccine push ahead of Olympics looks to be too late
TOKYO — It may be too little, too late. That’s the realization sinking in as Japan scrambles to catch up on a frustratingly slow vaccination drive less than two months before the Summer Olympics, delayed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, are scheduled to start. The Olympics risk...
Kei Nishikori grinds out another 5-set win at French Open
PARIS — Two matches. Ten sets. A total of 628 points played. Just another Grand Slam filled with five-setters for Kei Nishikori. The former U.S. Open finalist rallied past 23rd-seeded Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the French Open — after...
Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski to coach next season, then give way to Jon Scheyer
Mike Krzyzewski will make a final run at a national championship with Duke. The Hall of Famer and winningest coach in the history of Division I men’s basketball announced Wednesday that next season will be his last with the Blue Devils program he has built into one of college basketball’s...
Penn State’s LaVar Arrington, Paul Posluszny join Reggie Bush among 1st-timers up for College Hall of Fame
Former Southern California star Reggie Bush, who had his Heisman Trophy victory in 2005 vacated for committing NCAA violations, is among the players making their first appearance on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot this year. The National Football Foundation announced on Wednesday the players and coaches eligible for...
Brad Stevens replacing Danny Ainge as team president in Celtics shakeup
BOSTON — Danny Ainge, who helped bring two NBA titles to Boston as a player and another as the team’s basketball boss, stepped down from the Celtics front office just hours after they were eliminated from the postseason, and coach Brad Stevens is giving up his job on the bench...
Medina Spirit drug test confirmed; Bob Baffert suspended 2 years
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bob Baffert is on track to have his record seventh Kentucky Derby victory taken away and won’t be able to run any horses in the prestigious race for the next two years. Churchill Downs on Wednesday suspended the Hall of Fame trainer for two years after an...
This date in sports history: June 2Video
1896 — Hastings, ridden by H. Griffin, edges Handspring by a neck to capture the Belmont Stakes. 1908 — Royal Tourist, ridden by Eddie Dugan, posts a four-length victory over Live Wire in the Preakness Stakes. 1909 — Joe Madden, ridden by Eddie Dugan, wins the Belmont Stakes by eight...
Grand Slam leaders pledge to address Naomi Osaka’s concernsVideo
The leaders of the four Grand Slam tournaments reacted Tuesday to tennis star Naomi Osaka’s stunning withdrawal from the French Open by promising to address players’ concerns about mental health. The pledge came in a statement signed by the same four tennis administrators who threatened the possibility of disqualification or...
Doug Ferguson: Jack Nicklaus has plenty of advice for anyone who asksVideo
DUBLIN, Ohio — Jack Nicklaus is rarely at a loss for words no matter the subject, except for those occasions when he knows as much as anyone. And then he waits. One of the topics Tuesday at his Memorial Tournament was how often players from his era would help each...
Rafael Nadal’s opponent flubs set points at French Open
PARIS — Winning a match against Rafael Nadal at the French Open is difficult, of course: He went into Tuesday with a 100-2 career record at the place. Just taking a set off the guy is nearly impossible, too. So when Alexei Popyrin twice came within a point of doing...
MLB .236 batting average though May lowest since 1968Video
NEW YORK — The major league batting average rose slightly in May, though it remained at its lowest level in 53 years. Hitters batted .239 in May, up from .232 in April and the lowest average for May since .237 in 1972, the Elias Sports Bureau said Tuesday. The .236...
Florida governor bans transgender women from school sports
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Republican governor signed a bill Tuesday barring transgender females from playing on public school teams intended for student athletes born as girls, plunging the state into the national culture war over transgender rights. “In Florida, girls are going to play girls sports and boys are going...
Mark Madden: Behavior of select NBA fans is deplorable
Fans are trickling back into the stands at American sporting events, and it’s not all good. That applies particularly at NBA games. Ja Morant’s parents were bombarded with racist language when Morant’s Memphis team played at Utah. Washington’s Russell Westbrook had popcorn dumped on him at Philadelphia. Atlanta’s Trae Young...
End of recruiting pause has football programs catching up
Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck spoke for many coaches nationwide last December when he noted he still hadn’t shaken the hands of about half the prospects who were about to sign with his program. Those days finally are coming to an end. The NCAA has lifted the recruiting dead period that has...
This Date in Sports History: June 1
1925 — Lou Gehrig bats for Pee Wee Wanninger in the eighth inning and replaces Wally Pipp at first base to start his streak of 2,130 consecutive games. 1946 — Assault, ridden by Warren Merhtens, wins the Belmont Stakes to become the seventh horse to capture the Triple Crown. 1968...
