RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Welcome to a Final Four filled with past national champions — just the way the NCAA selection committee drew it up, right? OK, maybe not. Sure, there’s plenty of the expected with 1-seed Villanova making it to San Antonio in pursuit of the program’s second title in three seasons. Kansas is…… More
MIAMI (AP) — H. Wayne Huizenga, a college dropout who built a business empire that included Blockbuster Entertainment, AutoNation and three professional sports franchises, has died. He was 80. Huizenga (HY’-zing-ah) died Thursday night at his home, said Valerie Hinkell, a longtime assistant. The cause was cancer, said Bob Henninger, executive vice president of Huizenga…… More
PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic (AP) — Tony Romo settled down after a nervous start, only to come undone on the back nine in his PGA Tour debut. The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback played a four-hole stretch in a 5 over on the back nine that led to a 5-over 77 in the Corales Puntacana Resort…… More
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Terance Mann grabbed the basketball with both hands and screamed, relishing his turn to be the high-scoring hero while Florida State steadily pulled away from Gonzaga. If he doesn’t get the opportunity again, the junior guard will be just fine with it. These surprising Seminoles are thriving on balance, discipline and…… More
Loyola-Chicago and its game-planning nun are headed to the Elite Eight. So too are Kansas State, Florida State and Michigan in this maddest of Marches. Day 2 of the Sweet 16 has Villanova’s Jalen Brunson vs. West Virginia’s Jevon Carter, Duke’s athletes trying to solve Syracuse’s zone and the arm brace saga of Purdue’s Isaac…… More
It is hard to imagine the second weekend in the NCAA tournament topping what happened last week. But if the upsets from the first two rounds tell us anything, it is that this field remains rather unpredictable. Especially in the South Region, where all of the top four seeds have been eliminated — the first…… More
HOUSTON (AP) — Not long after the Houston Astros won the World Series, third baseman Alex Bregman got another big reason to smile. Justin Verlander wasn’t simply a late-eason rental. He was under contract with the team for two more seasons. Bregman’s reaction, caught on a teammate’s Instagram Live account, was one of pure joy,…… More
NEW YORK (AP) — After 20 years in the NBA, Dirk Nowitzki can’t be fooled. He knows when teams aren’t giving an honest effort, when they are out there playing but not playing to win. “It’s pretty obvious,” Nowitzki said. While easy to spot, tanking is not so easy to stop, the NBA is finding.…… More
ATLANTA (AP) — A former Atlanta Hawks employee is accusing the professional basketball club of discriminating against white people and firing her after she complained. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Margo Kline filed a lawsuit Friday seeking punitive damages and a trial. The lawsuit says Hawks external affairs director David Lee, who is black, promoted a…… More
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The casket of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson has been carried into a New Orleans seminary. Benson’s widow was among those accompanying Benson’s body into Notre Dame Seminary. It will be there during two days of public visitation: Wednesday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Thursday from 8 a.m.…… More
