January 21, 2021 2:43 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Longtime NFL quarterback Philip Rivers has decided to retire after playing one season with the Indianapolis Colts. His decision at age 39 comes less than two weeks after the Colts suffered a 27-24 loss at Buffalo in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Rivers spent his first 16 seasons with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers after they acquired him in a draft-day trade that sent Eli Manning to the New York Giants in 2004. Rivers finishes his career ranked among the league’s top five in career completions, career yards passing and career TDs. He never played in a Super Bowl.
January 20, 2021 3:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sidney Crosby scored 1:11 into overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 victory over the Washington Capitals. Crosby collected his third goal of the season when he pounced on a rebound off a Kris Letang shot and flipped it by Vitek Vanecek and into the open net to give the Penguins their second win over their rivals in three days. Colton Sceviour, Evgeni Malkin, Teddy Blueger and Jake Guentzel also scored for Pittsburgh. Tom Wilson scored twice for the Capitals. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller both picked up their first goals of the season but Washington let leads of 3-1 and 4-2 slip away.
January 20, 2021 3:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Justin Champagnie tied a career-high 31 points on 12-for-15 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds, and Pittsburgh held off Duke for a 79-73 win. It was the fifth 20-plus point, 10-plus rebound effort for the sophomore Champagnie in just his eighth game of the season for the Panthers . Following Matthew Hurt’s layup with 1:23 remaining to bring Duke within 75-73, Au’Diese Toney threw down a dunk off a pass from Johnson with 56 seconds left to seal the win despite the fact the Panthers missed four foul shots in the last 17 seconds. Jalen Johnson scored a career-high 24 points for Duke.
January 20, 2021 3:58 am
Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton has died. He was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, says Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. He was 75. The Atlanta Braves, where Sutton was a long-time broadcaster, said he died in his sleep. Sutton had a career record of 324-256 and an ERA of 3.26. He spent 16 of his 23 major league seasons with the Dodgers.
January 20, 2021 3:59 am
UNDATED (AP) -Tiger Woods has undergone a fifth back surgery that has put the start to his new year on hold. Woods did not say when he had the microdiscetomy, only that doctors deemed it a success and expect a full recovery. He will miss two tournaments he normally plays in Southern California – the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera. Woods still plans to be at Riviera as the tournament host. He says the surgery was to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was giving him nerve pain last month when he played the PNC Championship with 11-year-old son Charlie.
January 19, 2021 3:58 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres are adding yet another pitcher to their rotation, agreeing to bring right-hander Joe Musgrove to his hometown team in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to a person familiar with the deal. Another person confirmed the New York Mets were also involved in the trade, acquiring left-hander Joey Lucchesi from San Diego. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal had not been announced. Musgrove, who played at Grossmont High in suburban El Cajon, California, will join a rotation that includes Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, who were obtained in blockbuster trades after Christmas. Musgrove will head from a Pirates team that had the worst record in the majors during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season to a Padres club that ended a 13-year playoff drought and believes it can contend for the World Series title. The Pirates will get a number of prospects in return, including well-regarded outfielder Hudson Head. The Pirates also get three young pitchers; Pittsburgh native David Bednar, Omar Cruz and Drake Fellow from San Diego. They also get catcher/outfielder Endy Rodriguez from the Mets. Musgrove, Pittsburgh’s opening day starter in 2020, went 1-5 with a 3.86 ERA last season, striking out 55 in 39 2/3 innings.
January 19, 2021 8:57 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York Mets general manager Jared Porter has been fired after sending graphic, uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he was working for the Chicago Cubs in their front office. Mets owner Steve Cohen says “we have terminated Jared Porter this morning.” ESPN reported that Porter sent dozens of texts to the woman. ESPN said it obtained a copy of the text history. New York hired the 41-year-old Porter last month after he spent the past four seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks as senior vice president and assistant general manager. Mets president Sandy Alderson said Porter acknowledged to him a serious error in judgment.
January 19, 2021 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NFL will not allow in-person workouts for the scouting combine for health and safety precautions because of COVID-19. The league informed teams Monday that any workouts will take place on the individual pro days on college campuses. Interviews of prospects and psychological testing and assessments will be done virtually. The league is working with club physicians and athletic trainers to obtain comprehensive medical information on each of the invited prospects. The plan will likely involve a combination of virtual interviews by club medical staffs and testing done at labs and medical facilities near the invited prospect’s residence.
January 19, 2021 3:51 am
UNDATED (AP) – Gonzaga once again has racked up all but the two first-place votes that went to Baylor in the latest Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. Villanova remained firmly behind the preseason top two despite not playing a game since Dec. 23 due to COVID-19 pauses within its program. Iowa and Texas swapped places to round out the top 5, while Duke plummeted from the poll for the first time since February 2016 following its loss to Virginia Tech. Louisville also fell out while No. 18 Alabama and No. 24 UCLA were newcomers to the poll.
January 18, 2021 4:02 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Kansas City Chiefs have moved on in the NFL playoffs after a 22-17 victory over the Cleveland Browns. And they closed out the win despite losing quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the third quarter to a concussion. Backup Chad Henne, who is 35 years old, helped ice the game with a long third-down scramble and then a daring fourth-down completion to Tyreek Hill with just over a minute left. The Chiefs say Mahomes is doing great. The Chiefs now head to their third straight AFC title game and will face the Buffalo Bills next Sunday. In other playoff action:
Tom Brady’s best game in three tries against New Orleans has the Buccaneers moving on in the NFL playoffs and Saints quarterback Drew Brees headed home – perhaps for good. Brady and the Bucs’ offense turned three of the Saints’ four turnovers, which included three Brees interceptions, into touchdowns, and Tampa Bay beat New Orleans 30-20 in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Two touchdowns came on short passes to Mike Evans and Leonard Fournette. Brady also scored on a 1-yard run. The Bucs advanced to the NFC championship game in Green Bay.
