Thursday Sports Overview | AP News

Thursday Sports Overview | AP News

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football

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Frank Reich returns to the Carolina Panthers as coach more than 27 years after starting the franchise’s first game at quarterback.

The Panthers have agreed to make Reich, 61, the sixth head coach in franchise history. An introductory press conference was scheduled for Tuesday.

Reich was selected from nine candidates, including former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and this season’s interim head coach Steve Wilkes. Wilkes were 6-6 after Matt Rule was sacked after starting 1-4.

Reich has signed a four-year deal with the Panthers, according to people familiar with the situation. The person spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team has not released details of the coaching hire.

Reich joined the Panthers after spending the past four-plus seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. There, as head coach he was sacked on November 7 after going 3-5-1 after going 40-33-1.

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys’ coaching staff turnover does not include defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who returned after another year of interest from the team seeking a head coach.

Manager Mike McCarthy says the club’s decision not to renew the contracts of six staffers, including one with whom he has close ties, at Green Bay, is a major blow to owner/general manager Jerry Jones and the rest of Dallas’ front office. Said it hadn’t affected the relationship.The office.

Florham Park, N.J. (AP) — Former Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett has been hired to replace Mike Ruffler as the New York Jets’ offensive coordinator.

Hackett’s hiring, 43, has fueled speculation about whether the Jets can acquire Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Hackett and Rogers have a connection. Hackett has been the Packers’ offensive coordinator since the 2019-21 season, while Rodgers has been the quarterback.

Hackett went 4-11 in less than a season as head coach of the Broncos, and the day after Denver lost 51-14 to the Los Angeles Rams on Christmas Day, Hackett fired him.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Bills have fired safety coach Jim Salgado, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press.

The person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the bill has not announced the move, ESPN.com first reported the shooting.

Salgado just completed his sixth season with Buffalo and also served as the first safety coach. He broke into the team as a defensive assistant in 2017 before being promoted to oversee the nickel cornerback position in 2020.

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL is expanding its partnership with the Players Coalition to address issues of racial and social justice with a five-year extension and $15 million grant through its Inspire Change initiative. increase.

The deal comes as the league and its teams say they have made over $250 million in commitments to combat systemic racism. The NFL says he reached that goal four years ahead of schedule.

basketball

LeBron James is closing in on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time NBA career scoring record. And now he’s caught Abdul-Jabbar in the All-Star record books.

James was announced Thursday as his 19th NBA All-Star, and the Los Angeles Lakers star tied Abdul-Jabbar for the most selections in league history. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who will captain the team for the All-Star Game at City and Eastern Conference voting leader, will captain the opposing side.

James and Antetokounmpo choose teams just before the game. It’s a newly announced twist that sets it apart from past years when the captain chose a week or two before his All-Star weekend.

The other eight starters they will select, barring prior injury changes, are Denver’s two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, Dallas’ NBA scoring leader Luka Doncic, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Jason Tatum in Boston, teammate in Brooklyn. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell and New Orleans’ Zion Williamson.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Billy Packer, an Emmy Award-winning college basketball broadcaster who covered 34 Final Fours on NBC and CBS, has died at the age of 82.

Packer’s son, Mark, told the Associated Press that his father had been hospitalized in Charlotte for the past three weeks, had several health problems, and eventually died of kidney failure.

Packer’s broadcasting career coincided with the growth of college basketball. He worked as an analyst or color his commentator in every Final Four from 1975 to his 2008.

Packer played three seasons with Wake Forest, helping the Demon Deacons to the Final Four in 1962.

tennis

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Wimbledon champion Jelena Ryvakina reached her second final in her last three Grand Slam tournaments with a 7-6(4), 6-3 win over Victoria Azarenka at the Australian Open. .

Rybakina added to an impressive run through a string of top opponents. 2012 and 2013 Melbourne Park champion Azarenka joins the list of players eliminated by Ryvakina in the last two weeks – Daniel Collins.

Rybakina will face fifth-seeded Alina Sabalenka of Belarus in Saturday’s final. Sabalenka reached her first Grand Slam title match in her 24th year, when she beat unseeded Magdalinet 7-6 (1) 6-2 in the second semifinal. Sabalenka has improved to her 10-0 mark in 2023, winning all 20 sets she has fought this season.

golf

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Sam Ryder extended his lead to three with a 4-under 68 in challenging winds in the second round on the South Course at Torrey Pines at the Farmers Insurance Open, as Jon Rahm made a late run with Eagle. Got 3 straight birdies. His 5-under 67 on the easier North Course fell below the cut line.

The rider survived both the Santa Ana winds and the tougher South Course, reaching a 12-under 132 with just one bogey to take a three-stroke lead over Brendan Steele, who hit 70 on the South Course. Tano Goya was two more behind after hitting 67 on the North Course.

Rahm, who is ranked No. 3 in the world and on a winning streak, won his first tour here in 2017 and won the 2021 U.S. Open on the bluffed municipal course overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The final two rounds will be played on the South Course.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — When the Dubai Desert Classic got off to a wet start with only 11 players able to finish the weather-affected first round, Patrick Reed had a pre-tournament run. Worked better than Rory McIlroy after rubbing.

Play began at the European Tour event after the course at the Emirates Golf Club was delayed six hours by an unplayable overnight heavy rain.

By the time the lights went out and the siren sounded to stop play, Reed was 4-under 16 and McIlroy was 2-under 15. Thomas Peters was leading at 5 under with three holes to go. His three English players in Matthew Jordan, Daniel Gavins and Oliver Wilson shared the clubhouse lead at 4-under 68.

Football

NEW YORK (AP) — America began after a public altercation erupted between two famous families when sports director Ernie Stewart announced he was quitting United States Soccer to join PSV Eindhoven. The men’s national team’s shake-up accelerated.

Men’s general manager Brian McBride has also stepped down and coach Greg Verhalter has gone missing as his contract expires Dec. 31. Coach Wednesday.

Hours later, Austin’s Major League Soccer team announced that former U.S. captain Claudio Reina was no longer its sports director. The Reina family has been embroiled in a dispute with Bar Halter that went public earlier this month, weeks after the United States was excluded from the World Cup.

USSF President Cindy Parlow Cohn said it will be months before the coach situation is sorted out. I was hired to lead the search for directors, review the sports department and analyze potential coaches. Sports directors then make coaching decisions.

horse racing

NEW YORK (AP) — Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s one-year suspension by the New York Racing Association has ended and he will be able to race on Thursday.

Baffert was suspended for multiple drug violations last June, but had no violations in New York. He was barred from Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga. The panel credited Baffert with the time he received his first suspension, which allowed him to return this week.

Baffert is serving a two-year suspension from Churchill Downs after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive for an unauthorized substance on race day. The penalty expires shortly after her Kentucky Derby in May. But Baffert is fighting for a stay in federal court.

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Flightline completed all six races and took top honors at the Eclipse Awards on Thursday night. Trainer Todd Pletcher also won the sport’s highest award for the first time in nearly a decade.

Frightline retired as the winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, capping an undefeated six-race career, but took home the Horse of the Year and Eclipse Awards as the oldest Dirt Male.

Godolphin was also a double winner, sweeping Eclipse as top owner and top breeder for the second year in a row. Godolphin’s Eclipse topped the list for the third year in a row.

It was Pletcher’s eighth Eclipse, breaking more records than any other trainer and his first since 2014. Irad Ortiz Jr. has won Eclipse as his fourth top jockey in the last five years.

Figure skating

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Alexa Knielim and Brandon Fraser lead a commanding career-best 81.96 after the pair short program on Day 1 of the US Figure Skating Championships.

Dominant favorites and reigning world champions, Knierim and Frazier, surpassed their previous best by three points. He led second-placed Emily Chan and Spencer Howe by more than 15 points after the short program in the free skating competition set for Saturday at the SAP Center.

The first day of competition ended with the women’s short program. Her 15-year-old Isabeau Levito leads with her score of 73.78, ahead of her two-time national champion Bradie Tennell (73.76). The rhythm dance was led by favorites Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

baseball

HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros have hired Dana Brown as general manager.

Brown will replace James Crick, who was not given a new contract and parted ways with the Astros just days after winning the World Series. Brown has spent the past four seasons as vice president of scouting for the Atlanta Braves.

Crick has served as Houston’s general manager since joining the team prior to the 2020 season from the Tampa Bay Rays.

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