December 17, 2022 4:31 am
UNDATED (AP) – It has been three years since the the last time that every postseason college football game was played. The pandemic made a shell of the 2020 postseason. Last year, the pandemic caused five games to be canceled. There should be a full slate of bowl games over the next month, 42 of them in all. AP College Football Writer Ralph Russo is picking Georgia and Michigan to reach the national championship game.
December 17, 2022 4:29 am
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) – The Denver Broncos are holding quarterback Russell Wilson out of this weekend’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, even though he passed concussion protocol Friday. Coach Nathaniel Hackett said the organization decided it was best to keep him out until the Broncos play the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day. Wilson suffered a head injury at the end of a 14-yard scramble toward the goal line in the Broncos’ 34-28 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend. Hackett said Wilson wasn’t pleased with the decision, but the organization wanted to take every precaution with Wilson’s health.
December 17, 2022 4:28 am
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) – Tiger Woods and his 13-year-old son share more than a fundamentally sound golf swing. Both are limping at the PNC Championship. Woods is dealing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot that has him in a cart. Charlie rolled his ankle and was hobbling along during the pro-am Friday. It’s not enough to keep either of them from playing this 36-hole tournament. They were runner-up a year ago. Woods says playing with a severe limp might set his recovery back a little. But he says it’s worth it to be able to play in a tournament with his son.
December 16, 2022 4:04 am
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) – Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang scored in his third game back since having a stroke and the Penguins beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 on Thursday night. Letang had the stroke Nov. 28, returned to practice 10 days later and got back in the lineup Saturday against Buffalo. In the second period against Florida, Letang scored a short-handed goal off a breakaway pass from Bryan Rust to tie it at 1. Jake Guentzel scored twice and Evgeni Malkin added a power-play goal for the Penguins. They won for the seventh consecutive time and are 12-1-1 in their past 14 games. áTristan Jarry made 32 saves to win his sixth consecutive start. Ryan Lomberg and Sam Reinhart scored for Florida.
December 16, 2022 4:01 am
SEATTLE (AP) – Rookie Brock Purdy a pair of touchdown passes to George Kittle, and the San Francisco 49ers won their first NFC West title since 2019, beating the Seattle Seahawks 21-13. Despite using their third starting quarterback this season, the 49ers continued to show they might be the class of the NFC alongside Philadelphia. San Francisco won its seventh straight, using its stifling defense to frustrate Seattle into countless mistakes. Playing on the road for the first time in his career, Purdy connected on his first 11 pass attempts. He finished 17 of 26 for 217 yards. Seattle lost for the fourth time in five games and its playoff hopes took another hit.
December 16, 2022 3:58 am
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Claire Chaussee had 25 kills, Anna DeBeer filled up the stat sheet and Louisville made history as the first ACC team to make the NCAA Volleyball Championship match by beating league rival Pittsburg 3-2 in the semifinals. Louisville won by scores of 25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25 and 15-2. DeBeer served the first eight points of the deciding set and PK Kong had four of her career-high 11 blocks as the Cardinals blitzed the Panthers. Elena Scott picked up her fifth ace, matching DeBeer, and Amaya Tillman two of her seven blocks as Louisville finished with a season high 19. Louisville hit .750 in the final set, Pitt was minus .353.
December 15, 2022 3:52 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Mason Rudolph has spent four-plus seasons being whatever the Pittsburgh Steelers have asked him to be. Never raising a fuss. Never saying the wrong thing. Third-string quarterback. Backup to Ben Roethlisberger. Spot starter. Benched in favor of an undrafted free agent. Agreeing to a one-year extension in hopes of being Roethlisberger’s successor only to have the Steelers spend last spring signing one quarterback and drafting another. The years change. Rudolph’s role too. His attitude, outwardly anyway, has not. So why start now? Of course, Rudolph would love to get the nod if rookie Kenny Pickett isn’t cleared from the concussion protocol in time to play Sunday at Carolina. Rudolph has been down this road before, however. Several times in fact. So no, he’s not getting ahead of himself even after splitting first-team snaps with Mitch Trubisky during practice on Wednesday. After spending the past three months watching from the sideline on game days after being made inactive, working with the ones (starters) was a pleasant break. And that’s it. “It was good to get some reps again and shake the rust off and be out there with the guys,” Rudolph said. “It was fun.” Asked if he viewed Mike Tomlin’s declining to announce a starter between himself or Mitch Trubisky — who has served as the primary backup after Pickett took over at halftime of Week 4 — if Pickett can’t go as a token of respect, the ever-politically correct Rudolph demurred. “I don’t read into it that much,” he said. “I just hear the decision has not been made so I need to prepare like I’m going to be the guy.”
December 15, 2022 3:48 am
Former Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller escaped sanctions when a report from the Independent Accountability Resolution Process largely accepted the program’s self-imposed penalties stemming from a NCAA rules violations case that dates back to 2017. Arizona’s athletics program was put on three years of probation through 2025. The school announced a one-year postseason ban in December 2020, which took effect for the 2020-21 season. The IARP report said former assistant coach Emanuel Richardson was given a 10-year show cause penalty after he “solicited and accepted $20,000 in cash bribes and paid $40,000 for a fraudulent academic transcript.” Miller emerged largely unscathed from the report. He is now the head coach at Xavier.
December 15, 2022 3:47 am
An investigation commissioned by the National Women’s Soccer League and its players union found “widespread misconduct” directed at players dating back to the beginnings nearly a decade ago of the top U.S. women’s professional league. A report detailing the results of the year-long investigation was published a little over two months after the release of U.S. Soccer’s own report on a separate investigation. Both investigations found instances of sexual abuse and manipulation within the league.
December 15, 2022 3:46 am
AL KHOR, Qatar (AP) – France and Kylian Mbappé are headed back to the World Cup final for a much-anticipated matchup with Lionel Messi after ending Morocco’s historic run at soccer’s biggest tournament. France beat Africa’s first ever semifinalist 2-0 with Mbappé playing a part in goals by Theo Hernandez in the fifth minute and then substitute Randal Kolo Muani in the 79th. France will head into Sunday’s title match against Argentina looking to become the first team to retain the World Cup title since Brazil in 1962. Mbappé has the chance to cement his status as soccer’s new superstar when he comes up against the 35-year-old Messi.
