U.S./World Sports category, Page 289

The NCAA will distribute $225 million to its Division I members in June, a whopping $375 million less than had been budgeted after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the big-money men’s basketball tournament. Ohio State president Michael Drake, chairman of the NCAA board of governors, said the association...

Fred “Curly” Neal, the dribbling wizard who entertained millions with the Harlem Globetrotters for parts of three decades, died at age 77. The Globetrotters said Neal died in his home outside of Houston on Thursday morning. “We have lost one of the most genuine human beings the world has ever...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones has been arrested on suspicion of DWI and other offenses after officers heard gunshots and found him in a parked car with a handgun and a half-empty bottle of liquor early Thursday, Albuquerque police said. The 32-year-old Jones was arrested...

The Indianapolis 500 has been postponed until August because of the coronavirus pandemic and won’t run on Memorial Day weekend for the first time since 1946. The race will instead be held Aug. 23, three months later than its May 24 scheduled date. “The month of May at the Indianapolis...

GENEVA — A day after officially postponing the Tokyo Olympics, IOC president Thomas Bach invoked comments by President Donald Trump to defend himself from criticism Wednesday. Bach spoke to about 400 reporters on a conference call and was quizzed why, despite growing concern from athletes, it took so long to...

Graeme McDowell finds motivation in short supply as he tries to keep his golf game sharp without knowing when the next tournament will be played. In that respect, he’s no different from most players. His concern goes beyond golf during the shutdown from the spread of the new coronavirus. McDowell...

Since taking over as Florida State coach in December, Mike Norvell has spent seemingly endless hours laying the foundation of his program. Winter is time for coaches to deliver a consistent message, build the culture they want and get players to buy into a way of going about their business...

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns says his mother is hospitalized and in a medically induced coma after contracting the coronavirus. Towns talked about the condition of his mother, Jacqueline Cruz, early Wednesday on his Instagram page and urged his followers to take covid-19 seriously and practice social distancing....

Aside from figuring out how to maintain their health and fitness for an additional year, athletes such as Ryan Crouser suddenly faced another concern when the Olympics were postponed until 2021. They also have to make the money stretch that far. Crouser still hopes to defend his shot put gold...

MIAMI — The Florida Derby is set to have a full field and empty stands. A field of 12 has been entered for Saturday’s Florida Derby, typically one of the biggest Kentucky Derby prep races and the crown jewel of the Championship Meet at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla....

Dayton’s Obi Toppin is headed to the NBA after leading the Flyers to a 29-2 record and No. 3 ranking as a redshirt sophomore. Toppin tweeted his decision Wednesday, a day after he was honored as the Associated Press’ men’s college basketball player of the year. The Flyers’ Anthony Grant...

HARTFORD, Conn. — The U.S. Justice Department is getting involved in a federal civil rights lawsuit that seeks to block transgender athletes in Connecticut from competing as girls in interscholastic sports. Attorney General William Barr signed what is known as a statement of interest Tuesday, arguing against the policy of...

The All England Club said it still is evaluating whether to postpone or cancel Wimbledon because of the coronavirus pandemic and plans to make a decision next week when the club’s main board is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting. Main-draw play at Wimbledon is scheduled to start June 29,...

Money talks, which is the short answer for why it took this long for the swells at the International Olympic Committee to listen to reason. For weeks, IOC leaders framed their refusal to shut down Tokyo 2020 as a noble cause instead of a cash grab. But that’s because they...

Would-be Olympians and their coaches have gone from days and weeks of mulling one sort of uncertainty raised by the coronavirus pandemic — are the Tokyo Games going to be held as scheduled? — to a whole other set of questions now that an indefinite postponement is official. To begin...

USA Basketball is hoping the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics will be held around the same time next year as they would have been this year. Otherwise, an already-complicated situation could get even tougher for coaches and players. USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said Tuesday he has “hit the pause button”...

Gulfstream Park plans to continue racing Wednesday and hold Saturday’s Florida Derby as scheduled, despite Broward County’s ban on nonessential business and the city of Hallandale Beach asking the horse racing track to shut down and postpone the Derby, Hallandale Beach Vice Mayor Sabrina Javellana told the Sun Sentinel on...

Michael Tothe was supposed to be at the World Golf Championships event this week in Austin, Texas, to resume recruiting players for the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial. Even though the tournament is still two months away, this is the time to beef up advertising and fill out the roster...

Vincent Calipari was 55 years old when he got laid off from his job in Pittsburgh as a fueler for the airline industry. “He went part-time for three years trying to build himself back,” John Calipari said Tuesday of his dad. “I know what my mother and father went through...

Obi Toppin and Anthony Grant spent the season transforming Dayton from an unranked team that wasn’t even picked to win its conference into one of the nation’s best, complete with the most wins in program history. The pair behind the Flyers’ remarkable rise claimed the Associated Press’ top individual honors:...

TOKYO — The IOC announced a first-of-its-kind postponement of the Summer Olympics on Tuesday, bowing to the realities of a coronavirus pandemic that is shutting down daily life around the globe and making planning for a massive worldwide gathering in July a virtual impossibility. The International Olympic Committee said the...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Seated inside a simulator in his living room, Denny Hamlin grew thirsty as he virtually raced some of his top rivals. He asked his one allowed crew member — his 7-year-old daughter — to get him a soda, and she handed him a bottle of slightly shaken...

DENVER — Nearly seven in 10 U.S. Olympic hopefuls say they don’t think the Tokyo Games will be fair if they are held in July, prompting leaders of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to conclude “it’s more clear than ever that the path toward postponement is the most promising.”...