March 22, 2025 3:45 am
Aaron Rodgers has met with the Pittsburgh Steelers. A person familiar with the meeting tells The Associated Press that Rodgers visited on Friday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was not made public. Rodgers spent several hours in the team’s facility gathering information but left without signing a contract. Pittsburgh has an opening at quarterback after Justin Fields signed with the New York Jets and free agent Russell Wilson appears unlikely to return. The 41-year-old Rodgers spent two turbulent years with the New York Jets after a long stint with the Green Bay Packers that included four MVP awards and a Super Bowl title.
March 22, 2025 3:37 am
The Pittsburgh Pirates lost a close game to the Boston Red Sox 2-1 in grapefruit league action Friday. Joey Bart extended his on-base streak to 12 games by going 2 for 4 with a double. Jack Suwinski extended his four game hitting streak going 1 for 3 with a stolen base. Mitch Keller faced 10 batters giving up one hit in 3 innings. The Pirates host the Baltimore Orioles Saturday at 1:05. Paul Skenes is expected to start.
March 20, 2025 2:17 am
The First Four games are in the books. The NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship Tournament kicks into high gear Thursday with 16 First Round games with winners moving to Saturday. Friday will feature 16 more First Round contests with those winners playing on Sunday. By the end of the weekend, the original 68-team field will be down to the Sweet 16. WJPA-AM (1450) is your home for all of the action of the Men’s tournament with “feature games” each day plus “wrap-around” coverage of every game. We’ll also have coverage of the Women’s tournament starting with Sweet 16 action next Friday.
Thursday, March 20
(8) Louisville 75, (9) Creighton 89
(4) Purdue 75, (13) High Point 63
(3) Wisconsin 85, (14) Montana 66
(1) Houston 78, (16) SIU Edwardsville 40
(1) Auburn 83, (16) Alabama State 63
(12) McNeese State 69, (5) Clemson 67
(6) BYU 80, (11) VCU 71
(8) Gonzaga 89, (9) Georgia 68
(2) Tennessee 77, (15) Wofford 62
(10) Arkansas 79, 7:10 pm (7) Kansas 72
(4) Texas A&M 80, (13) Yale 71
(11) Drake 67, (6) Missouri 57
(7) UCLA 72, (10) Utah State 47
(2) St. John’s 83, (15) Omaha 53
(5) Michigan 68, (12) UC San Diego 65
(3) Texas Tech 82. (14) UNC Wilmington 72
March 21, 2025 10:25 am
A one-of-a-kind Paul Skenes baseball card has been sold for $1.11 million after a two-week auction. There was a total of 64 bids on Skenes’ debut patch card, which is autographed and contains a patch that was on the pitcher’s jersey for his heralded major league debut in May. The final price announced by Fanatics Collect late Thursday night included a 20% buyer’s premium. The buyer was not identified. Fanatics Collect plans to donate its proceeds from the sale to the LA Fire Relief Fund. The 22-year-old Skenes is slated to make $875,000 while in the major leagues this year with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
March 21, 2025 4:38 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin has scored his 888th career goal to move seven away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record. Ovechkin scored in the Washington Capitals’ home game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night. The 39-year-old winger now has 35 goals this season. Ovechkin at his current pace is on track to pass Gretzky’s legendary 894-goal mark that was long considered unapproachable this spring. The Capitals have 13 games left in the regular season before starting the playoffs. Ovechkin has one year left on his current contract in case he does not get there this season.
March 21, 2025 4:40 am
BOSTON (AP) — Private equity mogul William Chisholm has agreed to buy the Boston Celtics in a deal that values the NBA’s reigning champions and most-decorated franchise at a minimum of $6.1 billion. It’s the largest price ever for American professional sports team. If the deal is approved by the NBA’s board of governors this summer, the sale would top the $6.05 billion paid for the NFL’s Washington Commanders in 2023. Chisholm is a Massachusetts native and graduate of Dartmouth College who is the managing partner of California-based Symphony Technology Group.
March 20, 2025 4:20 am
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Marcus Foster scored 22 points and Zach Freemantle added 15 while overcoming foul trouble as Xavier rallied past Texas 86-80 in a First Four game at Dayton. The Musketeers erased a 13-point deficit in their biggest comeback win this season and advanced into the main bracket of the NCAA Tournament to play No. 6 seed Illinois on Friday night in Milwaukee. Tre Johnson led the Longhorns with 23 points in a matchup of No. 11 seeds. Tramon Mark scored 16. Freemantle hit a turnaround jumper to break a 78-all tie with 1:48 remaining and his two free throws extended Xavier’s lead to 82-79 with 1:09 left. Dailyn Swain’s putback upped the margin to five with 20 seconds to play.
March 20, 2025 4:22 am
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Dola Adebayo and Jedy Cordilla each scored 22 points as Mount St. Mary’s defeated American University 83-72 in an NCAA Tournament matchup of No. 16 seeds at the First Four in Dayton. The Mountaineers earned a date with No. 1 seed Duke on Friday in an East Region game at Raleigh, North Carolina. American lost its leading scorer, Matt Rogers, to a right knee injury in the first half. Rogers scored seven points in eight minutes. Geoff Sprouse led American with 18 points on six 3-pointers off the bench.
March 20, 2025 4:23 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings have committed to moving forward with J.J. McCarthy as their starting quarterback this season after deciding not to offer Aaron Rodgers a contract, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Vikings were not commenting publicly on their plans. Rodgers was released last week by the New York Jets. The departure of Sam Darnold left the Vikings ready to turn their offense over to McCarthy. He was the 10th pick in the 2024 draft whose rookie year was spent rehabilitating from knee surgery.
March 19, 2025 4:31 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pierre Engvall scored the tiebreaking goal in New York’s four-goal third period, and the Islanders rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2. Kyle Palmieri had a goal and two assists, Noah Dobson added a goal and an assist, and Simon Holmstrom also scored to help New York get four goals in the third after trailing 2-0 for the second straight game. Ilya Sorokin finished with 20 saves. Sidney Crosby scored his 24th goal, Joona Koppanen got the first of his NHL career and Tristan Jarry stopped 34 shots for the Penguins, who snapped a four-game win streak.
