Dolphins rookie De'Von Achane expected to miss multiple weeks with knee injury, per reports
LOS ANGELES — Two straight collapses, two straight years, too much to believe?
Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun will rank all 32 NFL teams. The rankings will take into account not just weekly performance, injuries and roster depth, but how well each team measures up as Super Bowl contenders.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida inched closer to the postseason with a decisive homecoming win against Vanderbilt.
Brendan Malone, father of Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone and champion of ‘The Jordan Rules’ that helped the Detroit Pistons beat the Chicago Bulls on the way to two championships, has died at 81. A Nuggets representative told The Associated Press on Tuesday that a family member confirmed his death. The elder Malone spent three decades mostly as an assistant in the NBA and was best known for his work with the “Bad Boys” Pistons in the late 1980s and early 90s.
The Baltimore Orioles won an AL-leading 101 games during the regular season. The Los Angeles Dodgers also reached triple digits in victories. Those impressive accomplishments earned both teams a bye in the opening round of the playoffs. Clearly, the time off did them no good. Tossing in the 104-win Atlanta Braves and the defending World Series champion Houston Astros, baseball’s four top seeds went a combined 2-6 on their home fields to start the best-of-five division round. Is it time to say goodbye to the bye?
Former NHL player and coach Barry Melrose is stepping away from his career as one of hockey’s most recognized analysts after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. The news of Melrose’s illness and retirement was made on ESPN’s SportsCenter the same day the NHL 2023-24 season opened with a three-game slate. Melrose was a network fixture during his near 30-year career. The 67-year-old turned to broadcasting in 1996 after being fired as coach of the Los Angeles Kings. Three years earlier, Melrose coached a Wayne Gretzky-led Kings team to the Stanley Cup Final, which L.A. lost to Montreal in five games.
Each week I'll list the best widely available free agents for fantasy football — I define "widely available" as being owned in around half of all ESPN or Yahoo leagues — and some guys who are probably better off in the free agent pool than collecting dust on your roster.
The NBA has promoted Intae Hwang and Sha’Rae Mitchell to its full-time referee staff for the coming season. Hwang is a native of South Korea who moved to New Jersey in 2020 with hopes of becoming a referee in the U.S. He worked seven games as a non-staff official last season and has also worked in the G League, the WNBA, the Summer Olympics and the Basketball World Cup. Mitchell refereed 11 games as a non-staff official last season, and has also worked in the G League and WNBA. She also worked college games for five years, in the Pac-12, West Coast, Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences.
The Colorado Buffaloes got back to work after a win over Arizona State where coach Deion Sanders described their play as “hot garbage.” At 4-2, Colorado already exceeded the win total most oddsmakers had for a school coming off a one-win season. The Buffaloes can take another step toward bowl eligibility when they face Stanford this week. Colorado may receive a big boost much sooner than anticipated as two-way standout Travis Hunter was cleared to practice and could potentially play. Hunter has been out since taking a late hit in the Colorado State game on Sept. 16 that sent him to the hospital with a lacerated liver.
FGFTRebDALLASMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPTSJones Jr.18:154-60-12-5018Williams24:463-50-01-9418Lively II20:113-50-12-6256Doncic4:593-60-00-0109Exum25:394-53-30-29313Hardaway Jr.22:478-190-01-30021Curry19:385-112-30-01213Green17:452-54-61-3329Powell16:056-81-23-40213Kleber15:010-20-00-4000Hardy14:073-93-4…
Johan Santana threw out the ceremonial first pitch for the Minnesota Twins before Game 3 of the AL Division Series. The two-time AL Cy Young Award winner had a special guest bring him the ball: Pablo López. Santana had a surprise for López when he approached the mound: a López jersey. The two Venezuelans shared a smile and a hug as the Target Field crowd roared. López wore a Santana jersey to the ballpark last week before he pitched the Twins to a victory in the AL Wild Card Series. López grew up idolizing Santana.
Luka Doncic has returned to Spain to a warm reception from former club Real Madrid in a preseason game with the Dallas Mavericks. He received a standing ovation by the home fans and was honored by his former teammates before the game. The “Luuukaaa” chants were back in the Spanish capital five years after the star guard left for the NBA. The Mavericks’ star looked moved while watching his past highlights on the big screen before the game. Doncic played less than five minutes and scored nine points in Dallas’ 127-123 loss against his former club. Tim Hardaway Jr. led all scorers with 21 points for the Mavs.
Miami Dolphins rookie running back De’Von Achane will miss multiple weeks with a knee injury, according to reports from ESPN and NFL Network.
DETROIT — An Ingham County judge granted a temporary restraining order against fired Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker and his lawyers, prohibiting Tucker's legal team from releasing additional text messages from a cell phone that lawyers for sexual-assault victim and advocate Brenda …
MINNEAPOLIS — The head coaches for Big Ten men’s basketball teams descended upon Target Center for the conference’s annual media day.
One of the surprises of the Rugby World Cup pool stage was that South Africa was the only team not to concede a yellow or red card. The defending champion Springboks were also one of the least penalized. Their 34 penaties conceded put them among the top six teams. Asked about their relationship with referees, South Africa director of rugby Rassie Erasmus says, “The first word is respect.” He isn’t kidding. Erasmus has been sanctioned by World Rugby in 2021 and 2022 for criticizing the referees on social media. He admits now his reaction was wrong. He adds their record in the pool stage of no cards and few penalties shows they have earned back respect from referees.
Clemson offensive coordinator Garrett Riley was brought in to supercharge the Tigers' attack. But halfway through the season, Riley said the offense has been too inconsistent and mistake-prone as Clemson reaches its bye week. The Tigers are 35th nationally at 437 yards a game. But they've lost twice so far, and the ACC preseason favorites are unlikely to lift any trophies this season. Clemson has lost 10 turnovers that have led to 49 points for its opponents. Riley said he'll keep stressing consistency and solid technique to prepare for the rest of the year.
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said injured receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. will likely miss the team's game against Florida. Beamer said Wells was doubtful for Saturday's contest as he continues to heal from a left foot injury early in the 24-14 loss to No. 1 Georgia last month. Wells has missed the past two games and continued rehab during South Carolina's bye this past week. Beamer didn't want to fully close the door to Wells' return this week because he said the receiver was healing well.
The Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies are tied 1-1 in the National League Division Series. The Phillies will start right-hander Aaron Nola in Game 3 on Wednesday in Philadelphia. The Braves have not yet named a starting pitcher. The Phillies are trying to regroup after an epic Game 2 meltdown in a loss to the Braves. Travis d’Arnaud and Austin Riley each hit a two-run homer, and a game-ending double play for the ages wrapped things up for the Braves. A great catch by Michael Harris II and an alert backup and throw by Riley ended the game on a double play.
The nation’s longest-running tennis tournament is staying in Cincinnati. Amid speculation the tournament would move, Beemok Capital announced Tuesday that the Western & Southern Open will be played just outside of Cincinnati for another 25 years. Founded in 1899, the Western & Southern Open is the longest-running professional tennis tournament played in its city of origin. It is one of the world’s largest nine tournaments where men and women compete at the same time. Beemok Capital acquired the tournament from the USTA in 2022 and looked at relocating the tournament, perhaps to Charlotte, North Carolina. With the tournament staying, Beemok is finalizing plans to make significant investments in facilities and fan experience.
The Los Angeles Dodgers cobbled together a 100-win regular season against the odds, using a strong offense to compensate for a beat-up starting rotation. Time is running out for that formula to produce even one postseason win. The Dodgers are down to their last chance in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, facing a 2-0 deficit against the Arizona Diamondbacks when the series continues on Wednesday night. Much has been made of L.A.‘s bad starting pitching in the first two games, but it’s also been true that the Dodgers’ vaunted offense hasn’t been doing much. Mookie Betts is 0 for 7 over the first two games while Max Muncy is 1 for 7 and Freddie Freeman is 1 for 6.
At the close of a disastrous season where the club didn’t make the playoffs, Austin FC Sporting Director Rodolfo Borrell insists he is laying the groundwork for long-term success. That includes keeping coach Josh Wolff and creating a new scouting department to build pipelines to talent in Europe and South America. Wolff’s future has been an open question as the club fell near the bottom of the Western Conference standings one season after reaching the conference final. Borrell said he likes what he sees from Wolff as a young, dedicated coach.
TCU quarterback Chandler Morris has a sprained MCL in his left knee and likely will miss multiple games. Horned Frogs coach Sonny Dykes on Tuesday described the injury as a week-to-week issue. It's the same injury that Morris suffered in the 2022 season opener, when he was out for about a month. By time he was healthy enough to play again, Max Duggan already had re-established himself as TCU's starter and was the Heisman Trophy runner-up after an undefeated regular season. Morris got hurt in a loss Saturday night at Iowa State. Josh Hoover took over then and is expected to start this weekend against BYU.
Travis Kelce is expected to be available when the Chiefs play the Broncos on Thursday night, despite hurting his ankle when he slipped on the turf in last weekend’s win over the Minnesota Vikings. The All-Pro tight end was listed as “did not practice” on the injury report Monday, which was an estimation of the work players would do had the Chiefs practiced. But he went through a walk-through Tuesday without any problems and coach Andy Reid was optimistic that he will be on the field for the AFC West matchup despite the short turnaround time.
Milwaukee Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said he is speaking regularly with Craig Counsell but couldn’t predict how soon the NL’s longest-tenured manager would decide on whether to return next season. Arnold was a little more definitive about ace pitcher Corbin Burnes and said that “I would expect him to be here next year.” Burnes is eligible to become a free agent after the 2024 season if the Brewers don't sign him to an extension. That has led to speculation the Brewers might trade him before potentially losing him in free agency.
The Los Angeles Rams have agreed to terms on a trade to send receiver Van Jefferson and a seventh-round pick in 2025 to the Atlanta Falcons for a sixth-round pick in 2025, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press. Jefferson is a 2020 second-round pick by the Rams who played a steady role on their offense when healthy for his first three NFL seasons. But the Florida product has fallen out of Los Angeles’ receiver rotation this season, supplanted by record-setting rookie Puka Nacua and third-year pro Tutu Atwell. The Falcons have meager depth and little production at wide receiver behind USC product Drake London.
Oklahoma is already piling up plenty of accolades in its final Big 12 season. A year after their first losing season since 1998, the 6-0 Sooners are the league’s only undefeated team. Oklahoma also has the top coach, top offensive player and best defensive player so far this season. A midseason vote of Associated Press writers who cover the league tabbed second-year Sooners coach Brent Venables, quarterback Dillon Gabriel, linebacker Danny Stutsman and first-year freshman safety Peyton Bowen as the best so far this season. The Sooners and Texas are moving to the Southeastern Conference next year.
NCAA President Charlie Baker is expected to testify in front of a Senate committee next week during the 10th hearing on Capitol Hill over the last three years on college sports. The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a hearing on Name, Image and Likeness, and the Future of College Sports for next Tuesday. Baker is the former governor of Massachusetts. He took over as NCAA president in March. He and other college sports leaders have been lobbying lawmakers for a federal law to help regulate the way college athletes can be compensated for their fame.
The Atlanta Braves are still holding out on announcing their starting pitcher for Game 3 of the NL Division Series against the Phillies. Unless the team goes with an opener out of the bullpen on Wednesday, it appears either 12-game winner Bryce Elder or 20-year-old rookie AJ Smith-Shawver will get the nod against Aaron Nola. Elder is a first-time All-Star and mainstay of the injury-plagued rotation nearly the entire season, so he would seem the most logical choice. But he appeared to tire down the stretch, opening the door for the Braves to send out Smith-Shawver for his postseason debut.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day says he expected to have running back TreVeyon Henderson back in the lineup for Saturday's game at Purdue. However, receiver Emeka Egbuka is still questionable after apparently hurting his knee in last week's win over Maryland. Day said he will have a better idea of Egbuka's availability later in the week. But he said the injury isn't expected to keep the receiver out for a long stretch.
Struggling Spanish club Sevilla has hired former Uruguay coach Diego Alonso. Alonso replaces Jose Luis Mendilibar, who was fired on Sunday after the team’s poor start to the season. Sevilla is 14th in the Spanish league with eight points from eight matches. It next hosts league leader Real Madrid on Saturday. The 48-year-old Alonso helped Uruguay qualify for the World Cup in Qatar, but couldn’t lead the team past the group stage. The former Valencia and Atletico Madrid player also coached Major League Soccer team Inter Miami and Mexican clubs Monterrey and Pachuca.
The Minnesota Vikings will place wide receiver Justin Jefferson on injured reserve according to a person with knowledge of the decision speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move had not been finalized. The 2022 NFL Offensive Player of the Year will miss at least the next four games because of a hamstring injury. Jefferson slipped while trying to make a cut on his route in the fourth quarter of Minnesota's loss to Kansas City. Jefferson has 36 catches for 571 yards and three touchdowns and has never missed a game in his career until now.
The NHL sent a memo to teams last week clarifying what players can and cannot do as part of theme celebrations this season, including a ban on the use of rainbow-colored stick tape for Pride nights. The updated guidance reaffirms on-ice player uniforms and gear for warmups and official team practices cannot be altered to reflect theme nights, including Pride, Hockey Fights Cancer or military appreciation. Players can voluntarily participate in themed celebrations off the ice. Previously the NHL had decided not to allow teams to wear any theme jerseys for warmups after a handful of players opted out last season.
