Sports

By MARK DIDTLER Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Baseball came early to Tropicana Field and the Tampa Bay Rays will look to use it as an advantage. Four weeks before the regular season opener against Detroit, Tampa Bay and Minnesota took batting practice as rock music played in preparation for a spring training

By JOHN WAWROW and STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writers The NHL’s Eastern Conference keeps getting better ahead of the trade deadline. The league-leading Boston Bruins acquired winger Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit for draft picks. He’s their third significant addition after already trading for defenseman Dmitry Orlov and gritty forward Garnet Hathaway. Boston’s trade comes on

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg have joined the ownership group of Major League Soccer’s Nashville SC. Nashville SC principal owner John Ingram announced their additions Thursday. Antetokounmpo is joined in ownership by his brothers Thanasis, Kostas and Alex. Antetokounmpo and Forsberg join an ownership group

By DANIEL POLITI and ALMUDENA CALATRAVA Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Gunmen threatened Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi in a written message left Thursday when they opened fire at a supermarket owned by his in-laws in Argentina, police said. Nobody was injured in the early morning attack, and it was unclear why assailants

The Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder expect Kenrich Williams to miss the rest of the season after he injured his left wrist Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings. The team says the injury will require surgery. Williams signed a multi-year extension last summer. The fifth-year player averaged 8.0 points and 4.9

By JOHN WAWROW AP Hockey Writer Three-time Olympian Brianna Decker announced her retirement from the United States national hockey team, ending a career in which she ranks third among American women players in world championship tournament points. The forward from Wisconsin was a core member of USA Hockey’s next generation of female players, who built

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Heat were the NBA’s best 3-point shooting team last season at 38%. They have fallen all the way to 28th this season from deep at 33%. And no team in the NBA is scoring fewer points per game than the Heat. These are all

By JOHN WAWROW and STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writers The NHL’s Eastern Conference keeps getting better ahead of the trade deadline. The league-leading Boston Bruins acquired winger Tyler Bertuzzi from Detroit for future draft picks. He’s their third significant addition after already trading for defenseman Dmitry Orlov and gritty forward Garnet Hathaway. Boston’s trade comes

By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spain’s referees have gathered in Madrid to defend their profession in the wake of a scandal involving Barcelona’s payment of millions of dollars over several years to a former referee then acting as their vice president. Hundreds of current and former referees and assistants tried to

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer American ski racer Travis Ganong announced he will retire at the end of the season. The 34-year-old from Alpine Meadows, California, has won two World Cup races over his career and a downhill silver medal at the 2015 world championships in Colorado. His retirement plans include more time skiing

LONDON (AP) — England cricketer Adil Rashid broke from his national team duties during a limited-overs tour of Bangladesh to give evidence at a hearing examining racism allegations involving the country’s former captain, Michael Vaughan. The second day of the Cricket Discipline Commission hearing in London focused on the case of Vaughan. He has been

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Gunmen left a threatening message Thursday for Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi and opened fire at a supermarket owned by his in-laws in Argentina’s third-largest city, police said. Nobody was injured in the early morning attack, and it was unclear why assailants would target Messi or the Unico supermarket in

By The Associated Press The New Mexico State men’s basketball program was shelved midseason after a series of problems tied to the program. There was a fight in October 2022 involving some of the players and students from the rival University of New Mexico. The next month, there was a shooting that left a New

By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins have signed forward David Pastrnak to an eight-year contract extension that will pay him $90 million — the sixth-largest deal in NHL history. The deal locks up one of the league’s MVP candidates through the 2030-31 season for $11.25 million a season. He

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Auto Racing Writer George Russell downplays the fact he beat Formula One great Lewis Hamilton in their first season at Mercedes. Russell fully expects Hamilton to come charging back. Russell was fourth overall last year compared to sixth for Hamilton, the F1 record-holder with 103 wins and 103 pole positions. Russell

MUNICH (AP) — Germany midfielder Linda Dallmann could miss this year’s Women’s World Cup after a season-ending ankle injury while playing for Bayern Munich. Bayern says the 28-year-old Dallmann tore her left anterior syndesmosis ligament in the German Cup quarterfinal win over Hoffenheim on Tuesday. Dallmann played in all six of Germany’s games at the

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) — Antoine Davis has a shot at history. Detroit Mercy’s star guard needs just 26 points to break Pete Maravich’s NCAA career scoring record, a mark that has stood since 1970.  Davis, who leads the nation with a 28.4 points per game average, can break “Pistol”