April 15, 2020 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – New York Yankees co-owner Hank Steinbrenner has died. The oldest son of George Steinbrenner was 63. The team said he died at home in Clearwater, Florida, due to a long-standing health issue. Hank Steinbrenner was one of the four siblings who own the team’s controlling shares. He had hoped to succeed as father as the team’s controlling owner. Between the 2007 and 2008 seasons, he became the public voice of the Yankees ownership. He didn’t appear to have much involvement in the team’s operations in recent years and devoted more time to racing interests.
April 15, 2020 2:08 am
UNDATED (AP) – Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive lineman Willie Davis has died at 85. Davis was a five-time All-Pro who helped Green Bay win six championships from 1960-67, including the first two Super Bowls. He was voted to the NFL’s all-decade team for the 1960s and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1981, 12 years after he retired. Davis played his first two seasons with the Cleveland Browns after being taken in the 15th round of the 1958 NFL draft out of Grambling.
April 14, 2020 3:45 am
UNDATED (AP) – The XFL has filed for bankruptcy, likely spelling the end of the second iteration of the league. The filing Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware estimates the organization has between $10 million and $50 million in both assets and liabilities. Former coaches Bob Stoops and Marc Trestman are among the creditors with the largest unsecured claims. The WWE-backed XFL canceled the rest of its return season last month because of the coronavirus pandemic. It suspended operations and laid off its employees Friday. The XFL had eight franchises this season and played five games out of a planned 10-game schedule. It drew decent TV ratings early on and had deals with ESPN and Fox.
April 13, 2020 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – Former golfer Doug Sanders has died at age 86, according to the PGA Tour through a text from Sanders’ ex-wife, Scotty. Sanders was still an amateur when he won his first PGA Tour event in 1956 at the Canadian Open in a playoff. His best year was in 1961 when he won five times and finished third on the PGA Tour money list.
April 13, 2020 3:45 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Glenn Beckert’s baseball exploits can be overshadowed by his four Hall of Fame teammates, but his contributions were vital to the success of the Chicago Cubs during the late 1960s and early 70s. The four-time All-Star second baseman has died of natural causes at age 79, according to his family. Beckert won a Gold Glove in 1968 before earning All-Star berths over the next four seasons. He had the best strikeout-to-at-bat ratio in the National League five times and finished third in average when he hit a career-high .342 in 1971. Beckert teamed with shortstop Don Kessinger for his entire nine-year Cubs career to form one of the best double-play combinations in baseball. Beckert compiled a .283 average in an 11-year career that began with the 1965 Cubs and ended with the 1975 Padres.
April 11, 2020 3:56 am
The XFL has suspended operations and laid off its employees. Employees were told of the layoffs Friday during an in-house conference call. The upstart league backed by WWE canceled the remainder of its season last month because of the coronavirus pandemic, but promised to be back in 2021. The moves have left the league’s future in doubt. The XFL has eight franchises and played five games out of a planned 10-game schedule.
April 10, 2020 3:46 am
UFC 249 has been canceled after ESPN and parent company Disney stopped UFC President Dana White’s plan to keep fighting amid the coronavirus pandemic. UFC 249 was scheduled for April 18, and White planned to follow it with weekly fight cards from Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino on tribal land in California’s Central Valley.
April 9, 2020 4:06 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NFL is turning the league’s 2020 draft into a three-day fundraiser to help six charities dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. The “Draft-A-Thon” will be featured during the draft April 23-25 to raise money for non-profits selected by the NFL Foundation. Among the charities are the American Red Cross, CDC Foundation’s All of Us, Meals on Wheels COVID-19 Response Fund, the Salvation Army, and United Way’s COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund. Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement that the Draft-A-Thon will deliver much-needed funding to many who are suffering as well as those on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 8, 2020 3:54 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Timmy Brown, a running back and kick returner who won an NFL championship with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1960, has died. He was 82. The Eagles announced Tuesday that Brown passed away on Saturday. Brown was the first NFL player to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same game, doing it in a 24-23 win over Dallas on November 6, 1966. Brown was inducted into the Eagles Hall of Fame in 1996. He is sixth on the franchise’s all-time list for touchdowns with 62.
April 7, 2020 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – Resuming the NBA season with the start of the playoff is one option for the league. Most teams had about 15 games left to play in the regular-season schedules when play was halted on March 11, and not everyone had played the same amount of games. But in this unprecedented situation, games won’t resume until well beyond the originally scheduled April 15 end of the regular season. If the NBA does decide to resume the season there would be some intriguing matchups.
