U.S./World Sports category, Page 49
NASCAR star Kyle Larson rockets toward the top of Indianapolis 500 qualifying on his second attemptVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Larson kept calm when something seemed amiss in his first qualifying attempt for the Indianapolis 500. So did everyone else at Arrow McLaren. They knew they had plenty of speed in his car, so they pushed the No. 17 back to Gasoline Alley, gave a thorough exam...
NASCAR hopes repaved track, softer tires make for more competitive All-Star Race at North WilkesboroVideo
NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — NASCAR is hoping a repaved track and some softer tires will make for more competitive short-track racing for Sunday night’s All-Star race at North Wilkesboro Speedway. It can’t get much worse than last year. After months of hype leading up to the first race at the...
Team Penske in spotlight as it prepares run for Indy 500 pole
INDIANAPOLIS — All of the attention ahead of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 is squarely on Team Penske. Not because Josef Newgarden is the defending race winner. Or because Will Power and Scott McLaughlin have been fast all week. Or because team owner Roger Penske, who also owns the series...
Mystik Dan looks like horse to beat in Preakness on what could be muddy track
BALTIMORE — His father was a mudder. His mother was a mudder. Yes, this horse loves the slop. No, Mystik Dan doesn’t need a sloppy track — or “Seinfeld” character Cosmo Kramer’s comedic endorsement — in the Preakness on Saturday because the Kentucky Derby winner has raced and thrived in...
Jake Paul, Mike Tyson trade insults as they hype planned summer fight in Texas
ARLINGTON, Texas — Jake Paul and Mike Tyson traded insults and expletives as they previewed their fight just a few football fields from the site of the planned summer bout, the 80,000-seat home of the Dallas Cowboys. As for substance, there wasn’t much Thursday night. Paul downplayed the suggestion that...
Breanna Stewart ruins Caitlin Clark’s home debut by leading Liberty past Fever 102-66Video
INDIANAPOLIS — Breanna Stewart ruined Caitlin Clark’s regular-season home debut by scoring 31 points to lead the New York Liberty to a 102-66 win in front of a sellout crowd of 17,247 on Thursday night. In Indianapolis’ most anticipated rookie debut since Peyton Manning in 1998, Clark did not deliver...
Simone Biles better prepared for Olympic pressure
SPRING, Texas — Simone Biles is not “cured.” A cure implies finality. An ultimate and decisive victory. If the gymnastics superstar has learned anything in the three years since those strange, uncertain days in Tokyo when she put her mental health and personal safety ahead of her pursuit of more...
Lionel Messi’s $20.4M compensation with Miami exceeds all but 3 other MLS teams
NEW YORK — Lionel Messi’s annualized pay from his Major League Soccer contract with Inter Miami is just over $20.4 million in his first full season, exceeding the payrolls of all but three other teams in the league. Messi joined Inter Miami last summer and has a base salary of...
Preakness is up next for Brian Hernandez after winning the Derby with a perfect trip on Mystik DanVideo
BALTIMORE — Brian Hernandez Jr. spent the leadup to the Kentucky Derby watching replays of winning rides by fellow jockeys to see what it would take to get the job done with Mystik Dan, particularly those of Hall of Famer Calvin Borel. The 2010 Derby Borel won with Super Saver...
Marcus Ericsson crashes in practice, no regrets headed into Indy 500Video
INDIANAPOLIS — Marcus Ericsson returned to the Indianapolis 500 with zero regrets but ended Thursday with a violent collision late in the first full day of practice. Ericsson hit a curb with about two hours remaining in the session, causing his car to spin and hit the wall three times....
Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut helps ESPN set viewership record for league game on network
NEW YORK — ESPN’s broadcast of the Connecticut Sun’s game against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever had the highest viewership for a WNBA game on the network. The Sun’s 92-71 win over the Fever in Clark’s WNBA debut on the league’s opening night on Tuesday drew an average of...
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips holding out hope for ‘really good ending’ despite league turmoil
AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — With the future of the Atlantic Coast Conference in question, commissioner Jim Phillips expressed optimism Wednesday that the league can still be salvaged. The path forward is unclear but not without hope. “You have to stay optimistic, and you work through these things,” Phillips said at...
Mark Madden: WNBA needs to better showcase Caitlin Clark to break out of niche status
This space predicted three months ago that women’s basketball would blow it with phenom Caitlin Clark. That’s already started. Her first WNBA game wasn’t played on the big stage of, say, New York City. It was played Tuesday night at an arena in a Connecticut casino. Clark’s Indiana Fever lost...
Caitlin Clark finishes with 20 points, 10 turnovers as Indiana falls to Connecticut in WNBA opener
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Caitlin Clark struggled early in her WNBA debut before finishing with 20 points and 10 turnovers as the Indiana Fever fell to the Connecticut Sun 92-71 on Tuesday night. Alyssa Thomas led the Sun with 13 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, registering the 12th triple-double of...
FIFA moves toward ending soccer tradition and letting league games be staged in other countries
GENEVA — FIFA moved Wednesday toward ending decades of soccer tradition by ordering a review of its policy that currently blocks domestic league games being played in other countries. Fans are likely to object to their teams’ home matches potentially being moved thousands of miles away, though it has become...
Scheffler never happier with his life, wife and son. Now he’s ready to grab another major at PGAVideo
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Scottie Scheffler has never spent much time reflecting on anything he has done, especially with something grand — another major championship — on the immediate horizon. But for that moment in Dallas last week, when wife Meredith came home with their first baby, it was hard not...
Final Preakness at Pimlico before rebuilding stirs nostalgia mixed with relief for needed fixesVideo
BALTIMORE — Preakness days in recent years have featured water and plumbing miscues. A large section of the grandstand at Pimlico Race Course has been rendered unusable because it’s condemned, and much of the rest of the storied but decaying track is a relic to the sport of kings’ heyday...
Indy 500: When it starts, how to watch, betting odds for ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’
The countdown is on for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, when a field of 33 cars will cross the famed yard of bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Memorial Day weekend for what is regarded as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Josef Newgarden is the defending champion after...
Derby winner Mystik Dan draws No. 5 post for Preakness
BALTIMORE — Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan drew the No. 5 post position in the Preakness on Monday looking to sweep the first two legs of horse racing’s Triple Crown, though he’s not favored to do so. Bob Baffert-trained Muth, just inside Mystik Dan in the No. 4 post, opened...
Bronny James receives medical clearance to play in NBA
NBA teams were told Monday that Bronny James, the son of the Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James, has been medically cleared to play in the league, a person with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press. Teams were told of the clearance in a memo sent Monday morning, according...
Rory McIlroy rallies to win record 4th Wells Fargo Championship title
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy has a full head of steam heading into the PGA Championship. McIlroy won the Wells Fargo Championship for a record fourth time Sunday with another dominating performance at Quail Hollow, easily overcoming a two-stroke deficit to beat Xander Schauffele by five shots. No other player...
Brad Keselowski ends 3-year NASCAR drought, wins at Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Brad Keselowski moved to the front when leaders Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick hit battling for first with nine laps left and held on to win the Goodyear 400 at Darlington Raceway on Sunday for his first NASCAR win in three years. It was Keselowski’s 36th career...
Hawks win NBA lottery in year with no clear No. 1 pick
CHICAGO — The Atlanta Hawks won the NBA Draft lottery Sunday, landing the No. 1 pick and a potential cornerstone player in a year where there’s no clear-cut choice. The Hawks hit the jackpot despite just 3% odds after finishing 10th in the Eastern Conference at 36-46. They dropped their...
Rory McIlroy pulls within shot of Xander Schauffele in Wells Fargo ChampionshipVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Xander Schauffele has gone 38 tournaments without a win on the PGA Tour. Rory McIlroy is doing his best to make sure Schauffele’s painful drought continues. McIlroy shot a bogey-free 4-under-par 67 on Saturday on fast greens to pull within a stroke of Schauffele with 18 holes...
Kyle Larson is not hardcore Taylor Swift fan despite trip to Paris for concert
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Kyle Larson made one thing clear: He’s no Swiftie, even if he did surprise his daughter with a birthday trip to Paris this week to see Taylor Swift in concert. Yes, Larson wore a Swift-themed T-shirt and a couple of friendship bracelets given to him by wife...
