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Mike Bianchi: At age 50, Annika Sorenstam is pushing to beat John Smoltz, grow women’s golf
ORLANDO, Fla. — The French poet and novelist Victor Hugo once said, “Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age.” Maybe that’s why Annika Sorenstam has decided to return to competitive golf again this week in Orlando at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions. Maybe, since she just turned 50, she’s starting to feel young again. “Or maybe it’s just my old-lady, midlife crisis,” the legendary Sorenstam says and laughs during a recent interview. “I’ve dusted off my clubs and have been playing with my 9-year-old son, who has shown a real interest in the game. So that sparked an ...
Orlando Sentinel
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Bryce Miller: Australian Open's Rod Laver Arena will be missing ... Rod Laver
SAN DIEGO — The living, breathing Australian jewel known as Rod Laver called Charlton Heston and John Wayne friends, paired with adidas for a trendy shoe line coveted by Kanye West and fundamentally reshaped the structure and stature of tennis. Picking up a racket more than seven decades ago, when Polaroid's first camera was sold and "South Pacific" debuted on Broadway, grew the sinews of a remarkable life. So, Laver's decision to skip the Australian Open early next month at the arena named after him in Melbourne can be chalked up as more than the latest chapter of COVID-19 sports deflation....
The San Diego Union-Tribune
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Pac-12 faces long odds in 2021 Heisman race without a preseason frontrunner
The 2020 Heisman Trophy was awarded 10 days ago, but odds for the 2021 race are already out. The top tier of candidates is stocked with quarterbacks from the Pac-12 footprint but playing for powerhouse programs elsewhere: Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler, who’s from Phoenix, is the favorite, followed by Alabama’s Bryce Young, Clemson’s DJ Uiagalelei and Georgia’s JT Daniels, who are from Southern California. The Pac-12 wasn’t completely ignored by the bookies. USC quarterback Kedon Slovis and Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels are on the crowded second tier. Granted, it’s early, ridiculously e...
The Mercury News
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Theo Epstein — 2 months after leaving Cubs — is hired by MLB as consultant in on-field matters
CHICAGO — Two months after resigning from his role as Chicago Cubs president, Theo Epstein was hired Thursday as a consultant for Major League Baseball in on-field matters. In his new role, Epstein will work in Commissioner Rob Manfred’s office with analytics experts on potential rules changes that MLB is exploring. “It is an honor to assist the efforts by Major League Baseball and the Competition Committee to improve the on-field product, and I appreciate Commissioner Manfred asking me to be a part of these important conversations,” Epstein said in a statement. “As the game evolves, we all ha...
Chicago Tribune
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Mike Bianchi: Gators AD Scott Stricklin: We need to make college football postseason ‘more meaningful’
Now that the College Football Playoff has culminated with Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide winning their sixth national championship in the last 12 years, the pundits have already penciled in Saban’s Cyborgs as the preseason favorite next year. Not only that, but we pretty much already know that Clemson, Ohio State and probably either Oklahoma or Georgia will join the Crimson Tide in the 2021 College Football Playoff semifinals. In other words, it will be the same cast of characters; like one of those dusty, old sitcoms you’ve seen a million times on MeTV. … Hey, this is the one where t...
Orlando Sentinel
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Blues come on strong to beat Avs in opener
DENVER — More than three months later than usual, hockey season began Wednesday night for the St. Louis Blues in the shadow of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains. So late in fact, that the 2020 part of “2020-21” season can be scrapped. Unlike last season, no banners were unfurled to honor a Blues’ Stanley Cup championship. There was no pomp and circumstance, not even any cardboard cutouts in a fan-free Ball Arena. That’s right, the home of Stan Kroenke’s Avalanche is no longer called Pepsi Center. Naming rights for the venue now belong to an aluminum packaging company. Pretty sexy, eh? Be that as...
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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NASCAR stars are taking the stage at this year’s Chili Bowl Nationals
Kyle Larson won his first Chili Bowl Nationals title last year to achieve a feat that he said felt bigger than winning the Daytona 500. “I’m sorry NASCAR. I’m sorry Daytona. But this is the biggest (expletive) race I’ve ever won,” Larson said. “I hope to win Daytona in a few weeks, but this is bad ass.” Larson’s victory had been close, but elusive before then. The year prior, Larson lost to another dirt-track-turned-NASCAR-driver Christopher Bell on the final lap of the race. So when Larson led Bell, the three-time defending champion, through the final 17 laps for his first Golden Driller last...
The Charlotte Observer
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Shannon Ryan: A complicated college football season — filled with exasperation and exhilaration — is over. Was it all worth it?
The most pressing questions heading into the 2020 college football season was whether the season would start at all and, if it did, would it be able to finish. On Monday night, No. 1 Alabama ended the season the way it started — with astonishing dominance as it asserted itself the team of the century with a 52-24 victory against No. 3 Ohio State. It was a dose of certainty to conclude an unprecedented season that never offered any conclusive proof that it should be taking place at all during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alabama (13-0) was truly masterful, providing a multitude of reasons to celebrat...
Chicago Tribune
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Now that Liam Hendriks is gone, who will close for the A’s?
Oakland A’s fans got to watch Liam Hendriks’ spectacular rise. The Australian went from being designated for assignment in 2018 to baseball’s best reliever, an Oakland hero through the truncated 2020 season. Now, he’s leaving Oakland for a lucrative, three-year deal to play for the Chicago White Sox. Yes, he’ll be joining the same team that he squelched to secure the A’s first postseason series victory since 2006. It’s a career arc the A’s are familiar with, watching a talent grow far out of their team’s restrictive budget. They’re also familiar with what comes next: trying to find the next un...
The Mercury News
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Is Illinois on the brink of greatness — or collapse? And is Iowa still the team to beat? Big Ten basketball takeaways from the start of the season.
Every season, every coach in every conference says the same thing. Their conference is the toughest, deepest and most talented. “This is the best league in the country and it’s not even close,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said after beating Northwestern. But this season is different. Because when Big Ten basketball coaches make statements like that, they’re telling the truth. Nine of 14 Big Ten teams have been ranked this season, with seven (Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Rutgers, Minnesota and Michigan State) in The Associated Press’ Top 25 in Week 7. Four teams (Michigan, Illinois, I...
Chicago Tribune
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