U.S./World Sports category, Page 314

Charges of cocaine possession were dropped against Georgia Southern University’s starting quarterback Shai Werts this week after lab results show what police thought was drugs more than likely was bird poop, according to the Savannah Morning News. Officers in Clinton, S.C. mistook bird poop on the hood of Werts’ 2016...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee’s wide receivers savor the opportunity to play for their new position coach because they appreciate what Tee Martin accomplished during his playing career. Martin was the starting quarterback on Tennessee’s 1998 national championship team and is back at his alma mater coaching wideouts as the Volunteers...

BOSTON — Rosie Ruiz, the Boston Marathon course-cutter who was stripped of her victory in the 1980 race and went on to become an enduring symbol of cheating in sports, has died. She was 66. Ruiz, who was also known as Rosie Vivas, died in Florida of cancer on July...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — It is the year of the veteran quarterback in the SEC. Tua Tagovailoa and Jake Fromm are the headliners, but the league is loaded with experienced passers with double-digit starts under their belts at their current school or elsewhere. The SEC has eight returning starters at quarterback...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mix of rage, disappointment and grief are still there. Just under the surface. And while Simone Biles tries to stay focused on the healing process more than 18 months after the Olympic gymnastics champion revealed she was among the hundreds of athletes abused by disgraced...

STARKVILLE, Miss. — The first question for Mississippi State coach Joe Moorhead after the Bulldogs’ initial preseason practice was a tongue-in-cheek inquiry about whether the much-anticipated quarterback battle had been settled after just one session. The second-year coach grinned and played along. “Right after stretch we picked one,” Moorhead quipped....

Maybe basketball players shouldn’t play while pregnant. It’s just best to play it safe for the baby’s sake. That’s good advice for point guard D.J. Cooper. Seems he’s pregnant. Well, at least that’s what his drug test showed, Eurohoops.net reports. Cooper was a standout at Ohio University from 2009-13. After...

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Chase Elliott put an emphatic end to his summer-long struggle, making a statement with a dominating win on the road course at Watkins Glen International. A year after racing to his first career NASCAR Cup victory at The Glen, Elliott won a second time in the...

MILTON KEYNES, England — Hinako Shibuno of Japan finished with a birdie to win the Women’s British Open by one shot over Lizette Salas as she wrapped up a stunning major championship debut Sunday. The 20-year-old Shibuno, a rookie on the Japan LPGA Tour who was making her LPGA Tour...

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Chase Elliott is back at Watkins Glen International, where he won for the first time at NASCAR’s top level. Rest assured last year’s victory on the speedy road course in New York’s Finger Lakes region is not on his mind. “Everybody wants to talk about last...

CHICAGO — “Jeopardy!” sensation and longtime Cubs fan James Holzhauer threw out a ceremonial first pitch Saturday before the Cubs-Brewers game at Wrigley Field. Holzhauer, a professional gambler from Naperville, Ill., who lives in Las Vegas, won 32 straight contests and earned $2,462,216 — both figures second in show history...

The Philadelphia Phillies have sued the New York company that created the Phanatic mascot to prevent the green furry fan favorite from becoming a free agent. In a complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the team alleged Harrison/Erickson threatened to terminate the Phillies’ rights to the Phanatic...

HARTFORD, Conn. — Jack Heath made a 40-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the par-4 18th hole for an 8-under-par 62 and a one-stroke victory Friday in the Boys Junior PGA Championship. “I knew if it went in, I would most likely win, and it went in,” Heath said....

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Sporting several weeks of beard growth, Ryan Day looked calm for a new guy leading a storied college football program where the unrelenting pressure helped push his legendary predecessor into early retirement. The 40-year-old Day opened his first training camp as Ohio State coach Friday, the hand-picked...

Hulk Hogan’s real name is Terry Bollea. Steve Austin is Steve Williams. Richard Fliehr stylized his name to Ric Flair. But Harley Race was born to be a wrestler. Harley Race was his real name. Harley, like the motorcycle. Race, as in “who’s fastest?” It’s a dangerous, exciting name. You...

Former Olympian Ashley Wagner says she was sexually assaulted by another figure skater in 2008 when she 17. The three-time national champion wrote in USA Today on Thursday that John Coughlin climbed into her bed after a party at a skating camp and began kissing and groping her. Coughlin was...

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Virginia Tech’s Bud Foster says the upcoming football season will be his final as an assistant coach. Foster has been the Hokies’ defensive coordinator since 1995. His 33 years on staff makes him the longest tenured assistant coach in the country at the same school. His teams...

National team coach Jill Ellis is stepping down after leading the United States to back-to-back Women’s World Cup titles. Ellis has been coach of the team since 2014 and has led it to eight overall tournament titles, including victories at the World Cup in 2015 in Canada and earlier this...

The past few weeks have been a blur to Zion Williamson. Picked No. 1 in the NBA draft by the New Orleans Pelicans. Signed his first pro contract that could be worth as much as $45 million over the next four years. Went to summer league and got hurt after...

SAO PAULO — Brazilian police said Tuesday they’ve decided there are no grounds to bring rape charges against soccer star Neymar. And they’re investigating whether his accuser filed a false report. “We checked all the possibilities. I did not see enough elements to indict,” Sao Paulo police investigator Juliana Lopes...

You’ll like the fact that Le’Veon Bell apologized — until you find out who he is referencing. Also, a weird hidden ball trick. And an under-the-radar rules enforcement in the NFL. All that and more in “First Call” for Tuesday. An apology … to whom? Le’Veon Bell has finally apologized....

PARIS — “Now or Never.” That was the headline running across the front page of France’s biggest-selling sports newspaper L’Equipe three weeks ago, amid nationwide hopes a homegrown rider finally could win the Tour de France. In the absence of many big names, including four-time champion Chris Froome, France’s top...

GWANGJU, South Korea — Exhaustion and relief flooded Caeleb Dressel. Maybe now the comparisons with Michael Phelps can fade away. Dressel earned eight medals, including six golds, at the world swimming championships, the biggest meet outside the Olympics. Two years ago in Hungary, he tied Phelps’ record of seven golds...