August 27, 2022 3:45 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Masters champion Scottie Scheffler is still playing great golf and could easily have made the Tour Championship a runaway. Xander Schauffele isn’t willing to let go that easily. Scheffler had an eight-shot lead over Schauffele on the front nine. He was still six ahead with three holes left at East Lake. And then Schauffele finished birdie-birdie-eagle for a 63. Scheffler had all pars and shot a 66. Just like that, Scheffler’s lead is down to two shots. Scheffler isn’t worried. Schauffele isn’t overly excited. Both know there’s a lot of golf left. Jon Rahm was six behind.
August 26, 2022 3:46 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Buffalo Bills punter Matt Araiza and two of his former San Diego State teammates have been accused in a civil lawsuit of gang-raping a teenager at an off-campus party last fall. The lawsuit was filed in San Diego County Superior Court. It accuses Araiza, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko of gang-raping a then-17-year-old girl at a Halloween party at a home where Araiza had been living. The plaintiff is now 18. She is identified in the complaint as “Jane Doe” because she was underage at the time.
August 26, 2022 3:51 am
CINCINNATI (AP) – The Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams have ended their joint practice session early after a chippy day that ended with Rams star Aaron Donald repeatedly swinging a helmet at Bengals players before getting thrown to the ground. Players threw fists and helmets during scuffles leading up to a final free-for-all with Donald getting thrown to the ground. Bengals coach Zac Taylor downplayed the event, saying: “Emotions run high.” The Bengals and Rams, who played in the Super Bowl in February, face each other in the final preseason game Saturday night in Cincinnati.
August 26, 2022 3:55 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Novak Djokovic will not play in the U.S. Open, as expected, because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and thus is not allowed to travel to the United States. Djokovic announced his withdrawal from the year’s last Grand Slam tournament on Twitter on Thursday, hours before the draw for the event was revealed. Djokovic has won the U.S. Open three times and was the runner-up last year. He has 21 major titles. Play is scheduled to begin at Flushing Meadows on Monday.
August 25, 2022 2:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Kyle Wright allowed two hits over seven efficient innings and the Atlanta Braves drilled the sloppy Pittsburgh Pirates 14-2 to complete a three-game sweep. Wright struck out eight and walked one while improving to 16-5, tied for the most wins in the majors. Matt Olson hit his fifth career grand slam, a 420-foot blast that bounced into the Allegheny River. Atlanta has won 14 of 16 to keep the pressure on the NL East-leading New York Mets. Pittsburgh rookie Oneil Cruz ripped the hardest-hit ball since Major League Baseball began measuring exit velocity in 2015 – a 122.4 mph single.
August 25, 2022 3:49 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Every Major League Baseball team will play each other in the same season for the first time next year as the sport switches to its first balanced schedule since 2000. As a result of the format switch agreed to in the March lockout settlement, high-profile games between division rivals such as Yankees-Red Sox, Dodgers-Giants and Cubs-Cardinals will be reduced from 19 and intradivision games will drop from 47% to 32%. A team will host all of the other 29 clubs at least once every two seasons. The season opens March 30 with all teams scheduled.
August 25, 2022 3:50 am
ATLANTA (AP) – The PGA Tour is making its boldest response yet to the rival Saudi-funded league. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has announced a plan for the best players to commit to a 20-tournament schedule starting next year. That means they will be competing against one another up to 17 times and maybe more. That involves elevating four additional tournaments that will offer $20 million or more to go along with the tournaments already announced. Monahan says top players will be determined by a new Player Impact Program criteria. The PIP will double in money to $100 million.
August 25, 2022 3:47 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A federal jury has found that Los Angeles County must pay Kobe Bryant’s widow $16 million for emotional distress caused by deputies and firefighters sharing photos of the bodies of the NBA star and his daughter taken at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed them. The jurors who returned the verdict Wednesday agreed with Vanessa Bryant and her attorneys that her privacy was invaded when they took and shared photos of the remains of Kobe Bryant and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna. Vanessa Bryant tearfully testified during the 11-day trial that news of the photos compounded her grief after losing her husband and daughter. County attorneys argued that the photos were necessary to assess the scene.
August 25, 2022 2:38 am
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson, who helped the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl title, died Wednesday. He was 87. The MVP of the Chiefs’ victory over the Vikings in January 1970 entered hospice care on Aug. 12. “Lenny the Cool” went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1987. He also was inducted as a broadcaster in 2012. Dawson spent several decades working on local TV broadcast while also doing color analysis for NBC and hosting HBO’s iconic “Inside the NFL.”
August 24, 2022 9:43 am
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) – Alabama coach Nick Saban is getting a new eight-year contract worth at least $93.6 million, eclipsing the recent megadeal of Southeastern Conference rival Kirby Smart. The University of Alabama trustees compensation committee approved a one-year extension through Feb. 28, 2030 for the 70-year old Saban, who has led the Crimson Tide to six national titles. Saban’s deal averages out to $11.7 million per year, topping Smart’s $11.25 million pay at defending national champion Georgia. The announcement comes a month after Smart agreed to a 10-year deal worth more than $110 million. The Bulldogs beat Alabama in the national championship game.
