Sports

CHICAGO (AP) — Jeff Dickerson, a sports reporter who covered the Chicago Bears for ESPN for two decades, has died at the age of 44. Dickerson died Tuesday of complications from colon cancer. It happened at the same hospice care facility where his wife, Caitlin, died two years ago, according to ESPN. Caitlin Dickerson had

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer Candace Parker staved off Father Time to help the Chicago Sky win the franchise’s first WNBA championship and capped off 2021 by being named The Associated Press’ Female Athlete of the Year for a second time. Parker also won the AP award her rookie year with the Los Angeles

By JOHN ZENOR AP Sports Writer Alabama has been preparing young wide receivers for bigger roles in the College Football Playoffs. The top-ranked Crimson Tide is having to replace injured 1,000-yard receiver John Metchie heading into Friday’s semifinal game against No. 4 Cincinnati. Alabama still has All-American Jameson Williams. The younger group includes freshman Ja’Corey

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell’s college career has come full circle. The junior started his career by leading the Tar Heels to a come-from-behind victory over South Carolina in the 2019 season opener at Bank of America Stadium. Now, a little more than two years

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio is scheduled to undergo an MRI after injuring his left knee on Tuesday night in New Orleans. He slipped as he planted on a drive and his knee buckled. Rubio collapsed to the floor, grabbed his knee and had to be helped

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer The NHL is following other leagues and the CDC by cutting COVID-19 isolation times to five days under certain conditions and where it is allowed by local laws. The change only applies in the United States because of stricter pandemic regulations in Canada. Players, coaches and staff who test

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer The coronavirus pandemic and the onslaught of the omicron variant have forced a rapid rethinking of policies as the NFL, NBA and NHL try to protect their schedules, their players and fans, along with their bottom lines. While the policies are recalibrated, fans have mostly avoided the question that

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr. AP Pro Football Writer NEW YORK (AP) — New York Jets coach Robert Saleh cleared COVID-19 protocols and returned to the facility to run practice for the first time since testing positive for the coronavirus last Wednesday. The Jets were also getting nine players back from the COVID-19 list. Buffalo also

By The Associated Press No. 11 Michigan State and No. 13 Pittsburgh each will be without its most prominent players when they meet in the Peach Bowl. Spartans running back Kenneth Walker and Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett finished among the top six in the Heisman Trophy voting before opting out of the bowl game. Coming

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Novak Djokovic has been named the Best Balkan Athlete of the year for a record seventh time. The 34-year-old Serbian tennis great is ranked No. 1 in the world and won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments this year. The results of the annual poll were published by the Bulgarian

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Eleven players across the Barcelona and Real Madrid squads are isolating after contracting the coronavirus ahead of the resumption of the Spanish league this weekend. It is a further setback for Barcelona going into Sunday’s match at Mallorca in seventh place with the squad also depleted by injuries. Real Madrid leads

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio is scheduled to undergo an MRI after injuring his left knee on Tuesday night in New Orleans. He slipped as he planted on a drive and his knee buckled. Rubio collapsed to the floor, grabbed his knee and had to be helped

By MAURICIO SAVARESE and CHRISTIAN PRENDERGAST Associated Press SAO SEBASTIAO, Brazil (AP) — The coast of Sao Paulo has become the epicenter of Brazilian surfing that, in just a few years, has become a global powerhouse. The three world titles of local star Gabriel Medina have drawn surfers from all over to an area that

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer World Cup ticket sales begin in January but supporters are in for a shock when they look for somewhere to stay: Qatar already looks sold out. Extensive searches by The Associated Press of hotel websites found only one property with availability for the entire tournament which runs from

LIENZ, Austria (AP) — Defending overall champion Petra Vlhova dominated a women’s World Cup slalom to build a big lead over Mikaela Shiffrin in the discipline standings. It was the last women’s event of the calendar year. The Slovakian skier held onto her first-run lead and beat world champion Katharina Liensberger by .51 seconds. Swiss

WATFORD, England (AP) — Watford could block Emmanuel Dennis from going to the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria because he received a call-up too late. The striker was included in Nigeria’s 28-man squad after impressing for Watford. His goal in the 4-1 loss to West Ham on Tuesday took him to eight for the

BORMIO, Italy (AP) — Aleksander Aamodt Kilde mastered a tricky course to win a World Cup super-G by a large margin for his third straight victory in the discipline. The Norwegian skier finished 0.72 seconds ahead of Raphael Haaser and 0.85 seconds ahead of world champion Vincent Kriechmayr. American racer Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished fourth after