AP National Sports

The Associated Press The Sugar Bowl has been moved off its usual primetime spot in early January to noon EST Dec. 31 to avoid a conflict with the NFL’s final Monday regular-season game. The bowl schedule for the upcoming season was released Thursday. The games begin on Dec. 16 with the Bahamas Bowl and the

By TOM CANAVAN AP Sports Writer EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — New coordinator Wink Martindale is going to try to make the New York Giants defense more aggressive this season. Speaking Thursday before an organized team activity at the Giants headquarters in the Meadowlands, Martindale said he wants his units to dictate what opposing offenses

By MITCH STACY AP Sports Writer CINCINNATI (AP) — Kyle Farmer homered and had five RBIs to power the Cincinnati Reds to their high-scoring game in 23 years, a 20-5 rout of the Chicago Cubs. Farmer and Nick Senzel had four hits each, and Brandon Drury, Tommy Pham and Albert Almora Jr. had three apiece.

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — Marcus Mariota already has shown he’s willing to serve as a mentor for Atlanta Falcons rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder. Mariota also says he’s hungry to beat out Ridder and earn the job as the Falcons starting quarterback. Mariota, the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner and

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — It took Helio Castroneves 12 tries to win a fourth Indianapolis 500. He hopes it only takes one time to make history. The Brazilian will attempt to win a record-breaking fifth Indy 500 on Sunday after winnin No. 4 a year ago. Castroneves will be

By LINDSEY BAHR and MARTIN ADAMES Associated Press Ray Liotta, the blue-eyed actor best known for playing mobster Henry Hill in “Goodfellas” and baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson in “Field of Dreams,” has died. He was 67. Liotta’s publicist, Jen Allen, said he was in the Dominican Republic shooting a new movie and didn’t wake

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer PARIS (AP) — The surprising results in the women’s draw at the French Open keep piling up and now only three of the top 10 women’s seeds are still in the field before the third round has even started. Two more were beaten Thursday when former No. 1 Karolina

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Blake Shelton will lend his voice to the Indianapolis 500 as the grand marshal for Sunday’s race. The country music star will give the traditional command for drivers to report to their cars during the official pre-race ceremonies. Shelton has a lengthy association with auto racing and served last weekend as the

By KYLE HIGHTOWER AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics’ confidence is high after seizing a 3-2 Eastern Conference finals lead over top seed Miami. Boston is also mindful of how fast series can change at this point, having rallied from a series deficit to eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks in the semifinal round. Miami

By DEBORA REY Associated Press BUENOS AIRES (AP) — A flying museum in honor of soccer great Diego Maradona is set to take to the skies. The “Tango D10S” plane was introduced Wednesday night before it flies around Argentina for fans of Maradona to visit on the ground. The outside of the plane is adorned

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer PARIS (AP) — A player at the French Open was allowed to continue her match — and ended up winning it — after she threw her racket and it bounced into the stands. It is the latest in a series of episodes involving professional tennis players who take their

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Drew Compton went 4-for-4 and drove in three runs, Jake DeLeo also had three RBIs and seventh-seeded Georgia Tech defeated second-seeded Louisville 9-4 in the ACC Tournament on Wednesday. Both teams were already eliminated after losing to 11th-seeded Pittsburgh earlier in pool play. Compton had a bases-loaded triple in the third

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Reggie Warford, who was Kentucky’s second Black men’s basketball player and first Black basketball player to graduate, has died. He was 67. Kentucky basketball spokeswoman Deb Moore said Warford’s wife, Marisa, notified coach John Calipari that Warford had died Thursday in Pittsburgh. Warford had dealt with numerous health issues the past

By The Associated Press American midfielder Brenden Aaronson will transfer to Leeds on July 1 following 1 1/2 seasons with Red Bull Salzburg. Leeds says it had agreed to a transfer with the Austrian club. The 21-year-old from Medford, New Jersey, will have a five-year contract through the 2026-27 season. Aaronson joined Salzburg from Major

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors in the murder trial of a former Virginia Tech football player have rested their case. On Thursday, prosecutors showed jurors a videotaped interrogation in which the linebacker acknowledged repeatedly hitting and kicking a Tinder match after discovering the person he knew as “Angie” was actually a man. Isimemen Etute is

BUENOS AIRES (AP) — Striker Julián Álvarez is making a dramatic exit from Argentina’s River Plate. He scored six goals in one of his last matches for the team before he joins English Premier League champion Manchester City. River Plate routed Peru’s Alianza Lima 8-1 Wednesday night in their final Group F match in this

By WILL GRAVES AP Sports Writer USA Gymnastics is turning to two of its most-decorated athletes to help guide its women’s elite program. Alicia Sacramone Quinn and Chellsie Memmel, teammates on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team that earned silver in Beijing, are part of the new leadership paradigm within the organization. Sacramone Quinn will serve

By JENNA FRYER AP Auto Racing Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Roger Penske signed a five-year contract extension with Shell-Pennzoil that covers Team Penske, IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and most of Penske’s portfolio. Shell-Pennzoil and Team Penske in 2011 restarted a relationship that began in 1983 when Pennzoil was sponsor of Rick Mears and won the

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars center Luke Fortner signed a four-year contract worth $5.5 million Thursday, becoming the last of the team’s seven draft picks to sign. Fortner was a third-round selection, No. 65 overall, in the draft. The former Kentucky standout could be a plug-and-play starter for the Jaguars, who lost veteran center

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Matt Wood hit a three-run homer, Tyler Shingledecker and Travis Luensmann combined on a two-hitter, and sixth-seeded Penn State defeated third-seeded Iowa 5-2 on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament opener. Wood, the Nittany Lion’s first first-team all-conference pick since 2012, smashed a drive over the right-field wall in the sixth