Category Archives: US sports

NHL’s Blackhawks will not wear Pride jerseys due to Russian anti-LGBTQ laws

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  • Team says wearing jerseys could endanger Russian player
  • Pride jerseys have sparked debate among NHL teams

An NHL team with a Russian player has decided against wearing special warmup jerseys to commemorate Pride night, citing an anti-gay Kremlin law that could imperil Russian athletes when they return home.

The Chicago Blackhawks, who have an additional two players with connections to Russia, will not wear Pride-themed warmup jerseys before Sunday’s game against Vancouver because of security concerns involving the law, which expands restrictions on supporting LGBTQ rights. Vladimir Putin signed the law in December.

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Elena Rybakina overwhelms world No 1 Iga Swiatek to set up Indian Wells final with Aryna Sabalenka

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  • Kazakhstan’s Rybakina beats Swiatek 6-2, 6-2 in semi-final
  • Belarusian Sabalenka cruises past Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3

Elena Rybakina has knocked out defending champion Iga Swiatek with a 6-2, 6-2 semi-final victory at Indian Wells on Friday to set up a clash against Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Two months after Rybakina knocked Swiatek out of the Australian Open in the fourth round, the Wimbledon champion once again put in an impressive display against the world No 1.

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Puerto Rico 4-5 Mexico: World Baseball Classic quarter-finals – as it happened

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  • Mexico defeat Puerto Rico to reach WBC semi-finals

Puerto Rico 0-0 Mexico, top 1st inning

Lindor is in the box against Urías and takes ball one to start the game. Urías gets ahead of Lindor 1-2, Lindor fouls off a pitch and then strikes out. Urías begins his outing with a k.

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Joe Biden backs Ireland in Six Nations Grand Slam game against England

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President introduces former Ireland full-back Rob Kearney, a relative, at White House St Patrick’s Day event

Joe Biden has wished the Ireland rugby union team luck in their Grand Slam game against England in Dublin on Saturday.

On Friday, St Patrick’s Day, Biden welcomed the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, to the White House for a traditional visit and talks.

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Vermont school that boycotted game with trans player banned from tournaments

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  • Mid Vermont Christian School forfeited game on 21 February
  • Many conservatives have opposed trans athletes

A Vermont school that refused to play against an opposing basketball team with a trans player won’t be able to participate in future tournaments, the Vermont Principals’ Association announced on Monday.

Mid Vermont Christian School forfeited a game on 21 February in an out-of-state tournament against Long Trail school.

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Super Bowl LVII: Kansas City Chiefs v Philadelphia Eagles – live

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Win or lose, this promises to be a huge game for Philadelphia. Well, assuming that the local population actually has a chance to watch the game in question. Reports are currently spreading of a particularly ill-timed cable/internet outage in the area.

Preamble

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Georgia’s national champion QB Stetson Bennett arrested after door knocking incident

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  • Georgia quarterback arrested near downtown Dallas
  • Helped Bulldogs to second straight national title

Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett, who led the Bulldogs to their second straight national championship, was arrested early on Sunday after police said he was intoxicated in public.

Police said that at about 6.10am, officers responded to reports of a man banging on doors in a community of townhomes near downtown Dallas.

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Usain Bolt lawyers say $12.7m is missing from Olympic champion’s account

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  • Jamaican authorities investigating after alarm is raised
  • Firm says several clients may be missing large sums

A lawyer for Usain Bolt said on Wednesday that more than $12.7m is missing from his account with a private investment firm in Jamaica.

Linton P Gordon, a lawyer for Bolt, provided the Associated Press with a copy of a letter sent to Stocks & Securities Limited demanding that the money be returned. Gordon said the Olympic champion’s account once had $12.8m but now reflects a balance of only $12,000.

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Alabama basketball player Darius Miles charged with murder after shooting

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  • Jamea Harris, 23, was shot dead near university’s campus
  • Crimson Tide say Miles is no longer part of team

Alabama basketball player Darius Miles and another man have been charged with capital murder after a fatal shooting near campus.

Captain Jack Kennedy of Tuscaloosa Police said that the shooting occurred early on Sunday morning near the university’s campus. He said Jamea Harris, 23, of the Birmingham area was shot and killed.

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Usain Bolt reportedly missing millions from investment accounts

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  • Athlete’s manager says Jamaican authorities investigating
  • Olympic champion noticed discrepancies this week

An investigation has been launched after millions of dollars reportedly went missing from an account belonging to eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt.

Bolt’s manager, Nugent Walker, told the Gleaner that Jamaica’s Financial Investigations Division and Financial Services Commission are looking into the case at investment firm Stocks and Securities Limited (SSL). SSL is also understood to have called the police.

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Doctors ‘ecstatic’ at Damar Hamlin’s progress as player returns to Buffalo

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  • Bills safety suffered cardiac arrest during game last week
  • Player thanks medical staff in Cincinnati for care

Doctors who treated Damar Hamlin said the Bills safety was back in Buffalo on Monday, an uplifting sign of the remarkable progress he has made a week after going into cardiac arrest on the field during a game in Cincinnati.

Hamlin was discharged from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Monday morning and flown to Buffalo, where Dr William Knight said he is “doing well.” The player will continue his recovery at a Buffalo hospital.

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NFL trainer who rushed to Damar Hamlin’s aid lauded as ‘real hero’

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Denny Kellington performed CPR on stricken Bills safety who collapsed after making a tackle against Cincinnati last week

As Buffalo Bills football player Damar Hamlin reportedly progresses “remarkably” in his recovery from suffering a cardiac arrest during a game last week, a trainer who rushed to his aid after he collapsed and had a hand in resuscitating him has drawn praise as a “real hero” from supporters of the stricken athlete.

The Bills’ trainer, Denny Kellington, immediately went to Hamlin when the 24-year-old safety’s heart stopped beating properly after making a tackle during the first quarter of his team’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals on 2 January.

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Mike Leach, pioneering Mississippi State coach, dies at age of 61

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  • Leach was taken to hospital with health issue on Sunday
  • Coach helped popularize the Air Raid offense in football
  • Was also known for his wide-ranging interests

Mike Leach, the gruff, pioneering and unfiltered college football coach who helped revolutionize the passing game with the Air Raid offense, has died following complications from a heart condition, Mississippi State said on Tuesday. He was 61.

Leach, who was in his third season as head coach at Mississippi State, fell ill on Sunday at his home in Starkville, Mississippi. He was treated at a local hospital before being airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, about 120 miles away.

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Brittney Griner freed from Russian prison in exchange for Viktor Bout

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Basketball star released as US agrees to free convicted arms dealer in dramatic prisoner swap

Russia has freed the jailed US basketball star Brittney Griner in a dramatic high-level prisoner exchange for the notorious arms dealer Viktor Bout, the so-called “Merchant of Death” who had been held in a US prison for 12 years.

Joe Biden, who had made Griner’s release a top priority after she spent almost 10 months in jail on drug charges, said in an address from the White House he found her “in good spirits” when speaking after the swap in Abu Dhabi.

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Mills Lane, referee of Holyfield-Tyson ‘bite fight’, dies at age of 85

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  • Lane was also a Marine, boxer, prosecutor and TV judge
  • Referee had been in poor health since suffering stroke

Mills Lane, the referee who disqualified Mike Tyson for biting Evander Holyfield’s ears in the 1997 world heavyweight title fight, has died at the age of 85.

Lane’s son, Tommy, told the Reno Gazette-Journal that his father, who had been in poor health since suffering a stroke 20 years ago, died peacefully at a hospice in the Nevada city on Tuesday.

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Florida QB Jalen Kitna released on bail after child abuse image charges

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  • College athlete faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty
  • Player is son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna

Florida back-up quarterback Jalen Kitna was released from jail on an $80,000 bond on Thursday, a day after he was arrested on five charges involving child abuse images.

Judge Meshon Rawls set the bond and as conditions for Kitna’s release ordered him not to have any unsupervised contact with minors and not to have any internet access.

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Odell Beckham Jr removed from flight after refusing to fasten seatbelt

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  • NFL star appeared to drift in and out of consciousness
  • Wide receiver was escorted off plane by police officers

NFL wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr was removed by police from an aircraft before takeoff at Miami International Airport after officials said he failed to respond to requests to buckle his seatbelt and appeared to be unconscious, police and airline officials said on Sunday.

“Fearing that Mr Beckham was seriously ill, and that his condition would worsen through the expected five-hour flight, [aircraft crew members] called for police and fire rescue,” Miami-Dade Police Department said in a statement. “As they tried to wake [Beckham] to fasten his seat belt, he appeared to be coming in and out of consciousness.”

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Kenyans sweep NYC Marathon but Do Nascimento collapses in record heat

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  • Evans Chebet and Sharon Lokedi take titles for Kenya
  • Temperatures surpass previous record set in 1993

Evans Chebet of Kenya won the New York City Marathon men’s race and Sharon Lokedi of Kenya won the women’s race on Sunday, both of them making a splash in their debuts.

Daniel Do Nascimento, who had been leading the entire men’s race, collapsed around the 21-mile mark. Chebet finished in 2hr 8min 41sec, which was 13 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Shura Kitata of Ethiopia.

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Brittney Griner ‘does not expect miracles’ at appeal over Russia sentence

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  • Basketball star serving nine-year jail term on drug charges
  • US involved in discussions to free Olympic champion

US basketball star Brittney Griner “does not expect miracles” at her appeal hearing on on Tuesday against a nine-year Russian jail term on drug charges, her lawyers said in a statement.

The Olympic champion was arrested in February at a Moscow airport with vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. She was sentenced in August to nine years in a penal colony on charges of possessing and smuggling drugs.

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Putin aide says release of Brittney Griner is not a priority for Russia

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  • Olympic champion serving nine-year sentence on drug charge
  • Biden administration says it wants to bring player home

The difficulties involved in freeing Brittney Griner from her imprisonment in Russia were brought into stark relief this weekend when a senior aide to Vladimir Putin said the issue is not a priority for the Russian president.

In August, the basketball star was given a nine-year prison sentence for bringing a small amount of cannabis oil into Russia. The 31-year-old said she uses the drug to treat pain and has lodged an appeal against her sentence.

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