Sports

By The Associated Press The San Francisco 49ers must address the trenches this offseason with offensive line starters Mike McGlinchey and Jake Brendel headed to free agency. The Niners also could lose several key defensive linemen led by Samson Ebukam and Charles Omenihu. San Francisco also has potential holes in the secondary with Jimmie Ward,

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers have fired general manager Chuck Fletcher and promoted franchise great Danny Briere to the interim job. Fletcher was fired a week after he failed to make any major moves at the trade deadline. The Flyers made the playoffs once in his 4 1/2

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A person familiar with the decision says the Philadelphia Flyers have fired general manager Chuck Fletcher and promoted franchise great Danny Briere to the interim job. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the move had not officially been announced. Fletcher

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Police say an officer has been injured and four Real Betis fans have been arrested following crowd unrest during the Spanish team’s match against Manchester United in the Europa League. Police wearing helmets and protective gear tried to control the situation and were involved in altercations with some Betis fans when

LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Roberto Firmino plans to leave Liverpool after eight seasons but manager Jurgen Klopp says there will be time for goodbyes later. The 31-year-old forward recently told Klopp that he’ll move on after the season and that he’s fully focused on the team’s push for a strong finish. Klopp says the Brazil

By ERIC WILLEMSEN Associated Press Ingemar Stenmark’s unbreakable skiing record just got matched by Mikaela Shiffrin. The American won a giant slalom to equal the Swedish great’s record of 86 World Cup victories set more than three decades ago. Shiffrin got to 86 wins in just under 12 years from her World Cup debut in

ARE, Sweden (AP) — Moments after winning her record-tying 86th World Cup race, Mikaela Shiffrin was asked by a Swedish broadcaster to directly address Ingemar Stenmark, the skiing standout who had promised to watch at home on television. From one great to another, the 27-year-old American spoke to the 66-year-old Swede of her respect for

By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Major league hitters are working with the sport’s brightest minds to close the gap on a technology-driven pitching renaissance. White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson is among a star-studded lineup of batters who worked on their swings with Driveline Baseball during the offseason. At places like

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Basketball Writer KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bob Huggins knows as well as anyone how difficult it must be for Kansas counterpart Bill Self, who went to the emergency room before the Big 12 Tournament and was hospitalized following an undisclosed procedure. Now the coach at West Virginia, Huggins went through

By MARI YAMAGUCHI and STEPHEN WADE Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida threw out the first pitch for the World Baseball Classic game between Japan and South Korea. He bounced a ball that was scooped up by Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama as the designated catcher. Kishida had the credentials to make

ARE, Sweden (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin made a strong start in her pursuit of a record-tying 86th World Cup victory on Friday by taking a big lead in the first run of a giant slalom. Shiffrin was more than half a second faster than her highest-ranked rivals with a smooth and fluent run in the

SYDNEY (AP) — Three-time Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown has broken the world record in the 200-meter backstroke at the New South Wales State Open swim championships. McKeown finished in 2 minutes, 03.14 seconds. She took 0.21 seconds off American swimmer Regan Smith’s mark from 2019. McKeown won 100 and 200 backstroke golds at the Tokyo

TOKYO (AP) — Martin Muzik hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth inning and the Czech Republic beat China 8-5 in the World Baseball Classic. The Czech Republic overcame a 5-4 deficit in the ninth with Filip Smola adding an RBI single in the team’s first game in Group A. Matej Mensik