AP Sports SummaryBrief at 12:32 p.m. EDT

WNBA awards Portland an expansion franchise that will begin play in 2026 The WNBA is headed back to Portland, with Oregon's biggest city getting an expansion team that will begin play starting in 2026.

The team will be owned and operated by Raj Sports, led by Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal.

They paid $125 million for the franchise.

The Bhathals started having conversations with the WNBA late last year after a separate bid to bring a team to Portland fell through.

Its the third expansion franchise the league will add over the next two years, with Golden State and Toronto getting the other two.

The Golden State Valkyries will begin play next season and Toronto in 2026.

Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk opens up about the death of his friend Johnny Gaudreau FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.

(AP) Matthew Tkachuk estimates that he tells a story about Johnny Gaudreaus exploits, both the on-ice and off-ice variety, to somebody at least once a week.

And hes not going to stop, either.

Tkachuk spoke Wednesday about the death of his longtime friend and former teammate, calling Gaudreau the most offensively talented player Ive ever seen.

Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed on Aug.

29 when police said they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while they were riding bicycles on a rural road in New Jersey.

Tkachuk spoke at the Panthers' media day, the first formal event of the new NHL season.

Ukraine boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk released after brief detention in Poland KRAKOW, Poland (AP) Heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk has been released after being briefly detained at Krakow airport in Poland.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says I was disappointed by this attitude towards our citizen and champion.

Airport border guards said Wednesday that Usyk was protesting after an airline declined to take his traveling companion on board and the two refused to leave the gate.

The 37-year-old Usyk was briefly handcuffed as he was being brought to the border guards' police station.

He is one of Ukraines most prominent athletes known abroad, and he has organized and participated in different projects aiding his countrys efforts to resist Russias invasion.

Roma fires Daniele De Rossi after going winless in its opening 4 Serie A matches ROME (AP) Roma has fired coach Daniele De Rossi in a move that was surprising despite the Giallorossi going winless in their opening four Italian league matches.

The former Roma captain was hired in January to replace the fired Jose Mourinho and impressed so much during the second half of last season that he was given a contract extension in June through 2026-27.

Roma says the clubs decision is made in the best interests of the team to get back on the desired path as soon as possible at a time when the season is still in its early stages.

No immediate replacement was announced.

Roma hosts Serie A leader Udinese on Sunday.

Wojnarowski is leaving ESPN for alma mater to become GM of St.

Bonaventure men's basketball team ESPN NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski is retiring from broadcasting to return to his alma mater, St.

Bonaventure, to take over the newly created position of general manager of the mens basketball program.

The Atlantic 10 school in western New York announced Wednesday that Wojnarowski will oversee a wide range of responsibilities while working alongside coach Mark Schmidt and his staff.

His duties will include focusing on name, image and likeness opportunities, transfer portal management, recruiting and alumni player relationships.

Wojnarowski graduated St.

Bonaventure with a journalism degree in 1991 and received an honorary doctorate from the school in 2022.

Once known for its tough defenses, the SEC has started to open up the offense this season Tennessee is scoring a touchdown more than anyone in the country after the first three weeks of the season.

Anyone happens to begin with SEC-rival Ole Miss.

And while the sample size is small, and nonconference schedules in particular are hardly created equal, there is reason to believe that a league that was once known for its defense has swung the other way.

The scary thing for the rest of the nation, and each other as SEC teams begin conference play: The Vols and many other high-scoring teams think they have yet to truly hit their stride.

Wake Forest replaces canceled trip to Ole Miss with home-and-home series vs.

Oregon State Wake Forest has announced future football games against Oregon State.

That series starts next year to replace a trip to Mississippi after a cancellation that drew the ire of Rebels coach Lane Kiffin.

Wake Forest announced the series with the Beavers on Wednesday morning.

Wake Forest athletics director John Currie in a statement called the cancellation and the Oregon State series the right business decision.

Kiffin had said Wake Forest broke an unwritten rule by backing out of next year's return trip to Oxford and forcing the school to search for a replacement game.

McIlroy expresses concerns over Poulter's Ryder Cup captaincy hopes VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) Rory McIlroy believes it will be difficult for Ian Poulter or Lee Westwood to be a future Ryder Cup captain because they no longer have a connection with Europes emerging stars after defecting to LIV Golf.

Poulter was a stalwart for Europe at Ryder Cups.

He now plays on the breakaway LIV circuit and said in a recent interview he would relish the opportunity to be Ryder Cup captain.

That's currently not possible because Poulter resigned his European tour membership after joining LIV.

McIlroy says players like Poulter and Westwood would struggle to reintegrate themselves after an unsavory split from the European tour and points to current Ryder Cup captain Luke Donalds efforts to bond with the teams best players.

Derek Carr and the Saints buck the NFL trend of early season offensive struggles The worst start to an NFL season for passing offenses in years hasnt hit the New Orleans Saints.

While quarterbacks and offenses around the league have struggled to get going, Derek Carr and the Saints are clicking with an early efficiency that might not ever have been reached before in the NFL.

The Saints followed up a 47-point outburst in the season opener against Carolina by beating the Dallas Cowboys 44-19 on Sunday, becoming the fifth team to score at least 44 points in each of the first two games of a season.

Luisangel Acuna's huge game for the Mets hurts older brother's team, the Braves, in NL playoff race NEW YORK (AP) Luisangel Acuna has subbed so nicely for the New York Mets already that his brothers team is in growing danger of missing the postseason.

Replacing an ailing Francisco Lindor at shortstop, Acuna capped a huge night at the plate with his first career home run to help the Mets beat the Washington Nationals 10-1 on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Acuna, a younger sibling of Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr., finished a triple short of the cycle and scored three times in his fourth major league game.

New Yorks victory coupled with Atlantas 6-5 loss in Cincinnati left the Braves two games out of a playoff spot with 11 to play.

The Mets and Diamondbacks are tied for the second of three National League wild cards at 83-68..

This article has been shared from the original article on recorderonline, here is the link to the original article.