March 31, 2026 4:27 am
PHOENIX (AP) — The NFL is moving forward with plans to begin hiring and training replacement officials in the next several weeks because negotiations with the referees’ union have been unsuccessful, two people with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press. Both people spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the conversations are private. The league and the NFL Referees Association have been negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement since the summer of 2024. The current CBA expires on May 31. The NFL has increased its offer to a 6.45% annual growth rate in compensation over a six-year labor deal, but the NFLRA wants 10% plus $2.5 million for marketing fees, the people said.
March 31, 2026 1:03 am
Survive & advance. The Men’s Basketball tournament Final Four is set–#1 Arizona will take on #1 Michigan, #2 UConn will play #3 Illinois on Saturday. Meanwhile the women moved to the Elite 8 round, with two spots decided Sunday–#1 UConn & #1 UCLA both winning. WJPA-AM (1450) is your home for the NCAA Men’s & Women’s Basketball Championships, right through the finals next Sunday & Monday.
Monday, March 30
Women’s Elite 8
#1 Texas > #2 Michigan, 77-41
#1 South Carolina > #3 TCU, 78-52
Sunday, March 29
Men’s Elite 8
#1 Michigan > #6 Tennessee, 95-62
#2 UConn > #1 Duke, 73-72
Women’s Elite 8
#1 UConn > #6 Notre Dame, 70-52
#1 UCLA > #3 Duke, 70-58
March 30, 2026 4:38 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan O’Hearn had three hits and two RBIs, including a go-ahead single in the 10th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates threw out the potential tying run at the plate to hold off the New York Mets 4-3 for their first victory this season. Henry Davis added a critical RBI single off New York reliever Richard Lovelady with two outs in the 10th, and the Pirates got another home run from Brandon Lowe as they salvaged the series finale to avoid their first 0-3 start since 2015. Dennis Santana pitched a perfect inning for the win, and José Urquidy got three outs in his Pirates debut for his second major league save.
March 30, 2026 4:41 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Bruce Cassidy is out as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights, who fired him Sunday and replaced him with John Tortorella. General manager Kelly McCrimmon announced the move a day after the team lost three in a row and six of its past seven games. Tortorella joins Vegas for his 24th NHL season as a head coach. He was not in the league this year and was an assistant for the U.S. at the Milan Cortina Olympics when it won gold. He coached Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup in 2004. Cassidy led the Golden Knights to the Cup in 2023 and was fired less than three years later.
March 30, 2026 4:40 am
HOUSTON (AP) — Gary Woodland is a winner again just 30 months after brain surgery. Woodland produced a moment as big as his U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach when he won the Houston Open. He led by as many as seven shots and shot 67 to win by four. Woodland had surgery in September 2023 to remove a lesion on a part of the brain that caused unfounded fears of dying. And then two weeks ago he chose to go public with his harrowing struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder in an emotional Golf Channel interview. The win gets him in the Masters.
March 28, 2026 11:00 pm
Survive & advance. It’s March Madness second weekend for both the men’s and women’s tournaments. After this weekend, we’ll be down to the Final Four. WJPA-AM (1450) is your home for the NCAA Men’s & Women’s Basketball Championships, right through the finals Sunday/Monday, April 5/6.
Saturday, March 28
Women’s Sweet 16
#2 Michigan > #3 Louisville, 71-52
#1 Texas > #5 Kentucky. 76-54
#1 South Carolina > #4 Oklahoma, 94-68
#3 TCU > #10 Virginia, 79-69
Men’s Elite 8 – both on WJPA-AM
#3 Illinois > #9 Iowa, 71-59
#1 Arizona > #2 Purdue, 79-64
Sunday, March 29
Women’s Elite 8
12:30 pm #1 UConn vs. #6 Notre Dame
3:10 pm #1 UCLA vs. #3 Duke
Men’s Elite 8 – both on WJPA-AM
1:00 pm Tournament Today
2:00 pm #1 Michigan vs #6 Tennessee
4:55 pm #1 Duke vs. #2 UConn
Thursday, March 26
Men’s Sweet 16
#2 Purdue 79, #11 Texas 77
#9 Iowa 77, #4 Nebraska 71
#1 Arizona 109, #4 Arkansas 88
#3 Illinois 65, #2 Houston 55
Friday, March 27
Women’s Sweet 16
#6 Notre Dame > #2 Vanderbilt, 67-64
#1 UConn > #4 North Carolina, 63-42
#1 UCLA > #4 Minnesota, 80-56
#3 Duke > #2 LSU, 87-85
Men’s Sweet 16
#1 Duke > #5 St. John’s, 80-75
#1 Michigan > #4 Alabama, 90-77
#2 UConn > #3 Michigan State, 67-63
#6 Tennessee > #2 Iowa State, 76-62
March 29, 2026 7:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Luis Robert Jr. hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to give the New York Mets a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Luis Torrens delivered a tying single in the 10th and the Mets improved to 2-0. After starters Mitch Keller and David Peterson matched zeros in 42-degree weather, Nick Gonzales lined an RBI single for Pittsburgh with one out in the 10th to break a scoreless tie. Mets reliever Luis Garcia prevented further damage by retiring Jake Mangum with the bases loaded. Bryan Reynolds put the Pirates ahead again with a two-out infield single in the 11th before Richard Lovelady struck out Gonzales with runners at the corners.
March 29, 2026 7:00 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his return from injured reserve and the Dallas Stars pulled away from the undermanned Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3. Rantanen had missed the last 15 games with a lower-body injury sustained while competing for Team Finland at the Milan Cortina Olympics. Rantanen scored his first NHL goal since Feb. 2 when he took a slick cross-ice feed from Jason Robertson and powered it by Stuart Skinner to put Dallas in front to stay. Robertson added his 40th goal of the season for Dallas, which ended a four-game losing streak. The Penguins played without injured stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
March 27, 2026 5:36 am
Pittsburgh eighth-grader Otto Schellhammer made it to the Sweet 16 before missing his first pick in the women’s NCAA Tournament. No. 6 seed Notre Dame beat second-seeded Vanderbilt on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, to open the regional rounds. That ended the 14-year-old’s run as the only perfect bracket left after the opening weekend of the men’s and women’s tournaments. There had been more than 40 million entries across all the major contests.
March 28, 2026 5:34 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated a rare back-to-back World Series run by receiving championship rings in a pregame ceremony. Players opened blue boxes that play postseason highlights from their seven-game win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Shohei Ohtani raised a fist as he put his ring on. Fans cheered loudest for Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and chanted for Freddie Freeman. Mookie Betts added a fourth ring to his collection that includes his first with Boston. Retired pitching star Clayton Kershaw received his ring from his former teammates. The rings include diamonds, sapphires, and dirt from home plate in Game 7.
