College/Pro Sports
Four with Russian flags kicked out of Australian Open by police
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Four people were kicked out of the Australian Open after displaying Russian flags — which have been banned from Melbourne Park — and threatening security guards, police and Tennis Australia said Thursday. A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the four have not been charged but were evicted from the site. The flags,…
Read MoreBribes helped Fox execs get soccer TV rights
BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government’s star witness in a corruption trial over the broadcasting rights to some of soccer’s biggest events testified Wednesday how he and two former Fox executives paid millions of dollars in bribes to undermine competing bids. The trial in New York City is the…
Read MoreAfghan women athletes barred from play, fear Taliban threats
The Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Noura’s determination to play sports was so great that she defied her family’s opposition for years. Beatings from her mother and jeers from her neighbors never stopped her from the sports she loved. But the 20-year-old Afghan woman could not defy her country’s Taliban rulers. They have not…
Read MoreRob Gronkowski will try a field goal in live Super Bowl ad
ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer Rob Gronkowski will be back on a football field for the Super Bowl. The four-time All-Pro tight end will attempt to make a field goal in Arizona on Feb. 12 during a live Super Bowl television commercial for FanDuel. It will be a high-stakes kick for Gronkowski, a four-time…
Read MoreNFL rallies to support Hamlin as his condition improves
JOHN WAWROW AP Sports Writer ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — As a sedated Damar Hamlin lay before him in a Cincinnati hospital bed surrounded by machinery feeding him oxygen and fluids, Indianapolis Colts safety Rodney Thomas provided a few words of encouragement to his friend. “I just told him, I got him. That’s all,” Thomas…
Read MoreCollege scam mastermind Rick Singer gets 3.5 years in prison
ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — The mastermind of the nationwide college admissions bribery scheme that ensnared celebrities, prominent businesspeople and other parents who used their wealth and privilege to buy their kids’ way into top-tier schools was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Wednesday. The punishment for Rick Singer, 62, is…
Read MoreSteelers Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris dies
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Franco Harris, the Hall of Fame running back whose heads-up thinking authored “The Immaculate Reception,” considered the most iconic play in NFL history, has died. He was 72. Harris’ son Dok told The Associated Press his father died overnight. No cause of death was given. His death comes two days before the…
Read MoreKnicks launch 3s, beat Bulls 114-91 for 6th straight victory
MATT CARLSON Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — RJ Barrett scored 27 points and the New York Knicks again used 3-point shooting to beat the Chicago Bulls, 114-91 on Friday night to sweep the two-game set and run their winning streak to six. Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes each added 22 points to help the Knicks…
Read MoreMessi seeks glory, Argentina meets France in World Cup final
STEVE DOUGLAS AP Sports Writer DOHA, Qatar (AP) — It is now or never for Lionel Messi. The Argentina superstar’s once-in-a-generation career will be defined — for many — by whether he leads his country to the World Cup title on Sunday. Can he finally, at the age of 35, win soccer’s biggest prize to…
Read MoreMills Lane, Hall of Fame boxing referee, dies at 85
BRIAN MAHONEY Associated Press Mills Lane, the Hall of Fame boxing referee who was the third man in the ring when Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield’s ear, died Tuesday. He was 85. Lane had suffered a stroke in 2002 and his son, Tommy, said his father had taken a significant turn for the worse recently…
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