U.S./World Sports category, Page 72
Column: Saban doesn’t go out on top, but he does leave as the greatest of them allVideo
Nick Saban didn’t go out on top, which is about the only notable blemish on a college coaching resume that eclipsed all others. That’s OK. In true Saban fashion, he still managed to slide into retirement while leaving little doubt he remained as good as anyone at whipping a team...
Replacing Nick Saban: Alabama begins hunt for a successor who will face sky-high expectationsVideo
Nick Saban accomplished the unimaginable in actually raising the bar for Alabama football, where Paul “Bear” Bryant long had been the measuring stick. Whoever replaces the retiring coach will inherit all the makings for national championship contention and the sky-high expectations that come with them. The stockpile of talent, barring...
Next on the Tee: Mike McGee discusses hometown East Palestine, father’s golf success
On this episode of Next on the Tee, host Chris Mascaro is joined by Mike McGee, managing director of the Annika brand; Jeff Smith, a Golf Magazine Top 100 instructor and Golf Digest’s top instructor in Indiana; and Evan Schiller, a PGA and renowned golf course photographer. McGee, a native...
Alabama coach Nick Saban retires after winning 7 national titles
Nick Saban’s coaching reign has come to an end. His dominance over college football, however, will forever linger in the lore of the sport. Saban, who won seven national championships — more than any other major college football coach — and turned Alabama back into a national powerhouse with six...
Kentucky Derby purse raised to $5 million for 150th race in May
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Derby purse has been raised to $5 million for the 150th edition in May. The increase of $2 million was announced Wednesday by Churchill Downs. The 1 1/4-mile race will be May 4. This year’s winner will receive $3.1 million. The runner-up will earn $1...
Michigan’s repeat hopes hinge on decisions by Jim Harbaugh, key players
HOUSTON — After winning its first national championship in 26 years, Michigan heads into an uncertain future. Who stays, who goes and is a repeat possible in an expanded and loaded Big Ten that will include the Washington team the Wolverines beat 34-13 in the national championship game? The biggest...
Washington star Michael Penix Jr. takes pounding against Michigan in college finale
HOUSTON — Michael Penix Jr. couldn’t complete the final chapter in his storybook season Monday night. The quarterback with two surgically repaired knees threw for 255 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, taking a pounding as No. 2 Washington fell to top-ranked Michigan, 34-13, in the College Football Playoff...
Column: Tiger Woods and Nike was a partnership for a lifetime until it wasn’tVideo
KAPALUA, Hawaii — The red shirt on Sunday came to identify Tiger Woods. So did the swoosh. Woods and Nike were partners from the time he stepped to a podium at the Greater Milwaukee Open in August 1996, a 20-year-old fresh off his unprecedented third straight U.S. Amateur title. With...
CFP championship game clash between Michigan, Washington a tantalizing preview of expanded Big Ten
HOUSTON — The College Football Playoff championship was quite the stage for Washington and Michigan to get reacquainted with each other. The top-ranked Wolverines won the national championship with a 34-13 victory over the Huskies on Monday night. Starting next season, they will compete against each other for Big Ten...
Michigan unanimous No. 1 in final AP Top 25 football poll; Penn State finishes at No. 13
HOUSTON — Michigan was voted a unanimous No. 1 in the final Associated Press Top 25 college football poll of the season after the Wolverines beat Washington in the College Football Playoff championship game Monday night to win their first national title in 26 years. The Wolverines (15-0) received all...
Michigan overpowers Washington as Jim Harbaugh delivers national titleVideo
HOUSTON — Jim Harbaugh raised the championship trophy as gold and white confetti sprayed over his team and “We Are the Champions” blared. Nine years after he took over at Michigan, Harbaugh delivered on the lofty expectations that he brought with him to his beloved alma mater. Blake Corum ran...
Mary Lou Retton says she’s a ‘fighter’ as she recuperates at home following pneumonia scare
Olympic gymnastics great Mary Lou Retton said she faces a long battle recuperating at home from a rare form of pneumonia in which doctors weren’t sure whether she would survive. In an interview that aired Monday on NBC’s “Today” show, Retton said while wearing a breathing tube pumping oxygen through...
Tiger Woods, Nike end partnership after more than 27 years
Tiger Woods is no longer a Nike athlete after 27 years, ending a partnership between the swoosh and golf’s biggest star and raising questions about the future of both in the sport. Woods in a social media post thanked Nike co-founder Phil Knight for his “passion and vision” that brought...
Houston, the lone unbeaten team in college hoops, jumps Kansas to No. 2 in AP Top 25 behind Purdue
Purdue held its place atop the AP Top 25 on Monday following its win over Illinois in a top-10 showdown, while Houston jumped Kansas into second place as the last unbeaten team in Division I men’s college basketball. The Boilermakers, who beat the No. 9 Illini 83-78 last week, picked...
Chris Kirk makes late birdie to take PGA Tour season opener at Kapalua
KAPALUA, Hawaii — Chris Kirk finds pure joy in golf from the work that’s required and how hard it is to succeed, and Sunday at The Sentry was plenty difficult. A dozen players were lined up behind him, all of them capable of ripping off a low one. The conditions...
Michigan-Washington caps season of realignment, transfers and Harbaugh
HOUSTON — Michigan vs. Washington is just about the perfect way to end the 2023 college football season: a matchup of unbeatens that hits all the major themes and storylines of the past five months from conference realignment to the transfer portal — with Jim Harbaugh as the main character....
South Dakota State repeats as FCS champs with 29th consecutive win, 23-3 over Montana
FRISCO, Texas — Mark Gronowski ran for a touchdown and threw for another after halftime as South Dakota State won its second straight Football Championship Subdivision title, beating Montana 23-3 on Sunday. The Jackrabbits (15-0) extended their overall winning streak to 29 games in a row, including their win over...
Jim Harbaugh’s future at Michigan subplot to CFP title game
HOUSTON — Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh barely had settled into his seat on a riser at College Football Playoff media day when he received the question that seemingly always is hanging over him at this time of year. With NFL franchises apparently intrigued again, could the national championship game Monday...
Ex-Hampton standout Laryn Edwards takes ‘crazy’ path to Big East basketball
Former Hampton star Laryn Edwards was sitting in the Providence women’s basketball office in late November when coach Erin Batth entered in a bit of a pickle. Her starting point guard had suffered an injury, leaving the Friars with only two healthy ball handlers, both freshmen. Batth asked Edwards, a...
Michigan’s stingy D faces Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. in strength vs. strength
The College Football Playoff national championship game between No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Washington is a contrast in styles and a matchup of strength versus strength when Michael Penix Jr. faces the Wolverines’ defense. “You get a schematic, professional-style matchup and to me you get the Baltimore Ravens versus...
Report: Texas Tech leading scorer Pop Isaacs accused of sexually assaulting minor
LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Tech basketball player Pop Isaacs, the team’s leading scorer, was accused in a civil lawsuit of sexual assault of a minor when the Red Raiders were playing in a tournament in the Bahamas, ESPN reported Friday night. The lawsuit was filed in Lubbock County, where the...
Ukraine and the U.S. will play a Davis Cup qualifier in Lithuania because of the war with Russia
LONDON — Ukraine’s Davis Cup qualifying matches against the United States will be played in Lithuania on Feb. 1-2 because of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The other matches in this round of the men’s team tennis competition are scheduled for Feb. 2-3 or Feb. 3-4. The latter dates include...
Edge rusher Bralen Trice hopes for 1 more big performance for Washington, this time for the title
SEATTLE — More than most, Roger Rosengarten knows the difficulty that comes with trying to block Washington’s Bralen Trice. So allow the Huskies’ right tackle, who spent the entire offseason and fall camp trying to contain Trice in practice, explain what makes Washington’s standout edge rusher so difficult. “Bralen does...
Blake Corum bounces back from knee injury, leads Michigan to brink of 1st national title since 1997
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Blake Corum declared it was “natty or bust,” before the college football season kicked off and reiterated his bold statement before helping Michigan beat Alabama to put the school within a win of its first national championship since 1997. “This time last year, I wasn’t here,”...
Michael Penix Jr. rising ‘very high’ on NFL draft boards after dazzling Sugar Bowl performance
SEATTLE — Given the stakes and the stage, Michael Penix Jr.’s masterful display in the Washington Huskies’ 37-31 College Football Playoff victory over Texas in the Sugar Bowl might rank as the No. 1 individual performance in Husky history. Washington has a proud lineage of quarterbacks, and what Penix did...
