By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Country music star Chris Stapleton will hit next month’s Super Bowl to sing the national anthem, while R&B legend Babyface will perform “America the Beautiful.” The performances will take place Feb. 12 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, before the championship matchup and
Continue Reading SAN VIGILIO DI MAREBBE, Italy (AP) — Exhaustion. Relief. Satisfaction. American skier Mikaela Shiffrin felt all that and more after winning a record 83rd World Cup race Tuesday. Shiffrin’s giant slalom victory broke a tie on the all-time women’s list with former American teammate Lindsey Vonn, who retired four years ago when injuries cut her
Continue Reading MADRID (AP) — Barcelona’s and Sevilla’s women’s teams have disqualified from the Copa de la Reina for fielding ineligible players in the round of 16. The competition’s committee of the Spanish soccer federation has ruled in favor of the complaints made by Osasuna and Villarreal. They will advance to the last eight instead of Barcelona
Continue Reading By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Associated Press WARSAW (AP) — Fernando Santos is the new coach of Poland’s national team. His appointment has been announced by the head of Poland’s soccer association. A month after parting company with his native Portugal Santos was presented in Warsaw on Tuesday as the coach of Poland covering the European Championship
Continue Reading By SAMUEL PETREQUIN AP Sports Writer There’s a busy February ahead for Paris Saint-Germain. Next month will be packed with big matches for PSG and likely to set the tone for the rest of the defending French champion’s season. PSG won’t be sorry to see the end of January. It’s been struggling since the start
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By George Ramsay, CNN A local lifeguard in Hawaii was the surprise winner of the prestigious Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational — dubbed the “Super Bowl of surfing” — after beating off competition from some of the sport’s biggest names. Luke Shepardson took approved breaks from his lifeguarding duty at Waimea Bay to compete in
Continue Reading By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Associated Press WARSAW (AP) — Fernando Santos is the new coach of Poland’s national team. His appointment has been announced by the head of Poland’s soccer association. Santos is the former coach of his native Portugal. The 68-year-old Santos will be coaching a team captained by Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski. Santos is
Continue Reading By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka has defeated Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in a decade. Azarenka displayed the same confident brand of hard-hitting baseline tennis that carried her to championships at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka’s semifinal
Continue Reading By Don Riddell and George Ramsay, CNN Uprooted from its home in Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014, soccer club Shakhtar Donetsk is accustomed to the change and upheaval brought about by war having played at stadiums around the country for close to a decade. But even by Shakhtar’s standards, the events that have unfolded since
Continue Reading By Jack Bantock, CNN Just two weeks after retiring from football, Gareth Bale has confirmed he will be back competing with a ball at his feet next month — albeit a much smaller one. A well-known golf enthusiast, the Welsh icon is set to tee off at the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in
Continue Reading By JOHN MARSHALL AP Basketball Writer Conference races across the country are getting tight as the regular season winds toward the finish. The Big 12 and Southeastern conferences will take a break from league games on Saturday to play each other, gifting college basketball fans with some marquee midseason nonconference games. The 10th SEC/Big 12
Continue Reading By Matias Grez, CNN Victoria Azarenka produced a brilliant display of tennis to dispatch world No. 3 Jessica Pegula and reach the Australian Open semifinals. The two-time Australian Open champion, now ranked 24th in the world, rolled back the years to beat Pegula, one of the most consistent players on the women’s tour over the
Continue Reading By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka has defeated Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in a decade. Azarenka displayed the same confident brand of hard-hitting baseline tennis that carried her to championship at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka’s semifinal
Continue Reading By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Victoria Azarenka has defeated Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-1 to reach the Australian Open semifinals for the first time in a decade. Azarenka displayed the same confident brand of hard-hitting baseline tennis that carried her to championship at Melbourne Park in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka’s semifinal
Continue Reading SAN VIGILIO DI MAREBBE, Italy (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin holds a slim lead after the first run of Tuesday’s giant slalom and is in position for a record-breaking 83rd World Cup victory. Shiffrin currently shares the women’s record of 82 wins with former American teammate Lindsey Vonn. Shiffrin is 0.13 seconds ahead of world champion
Continue Reading By Alasdair Howorth, CNN The Los Angeles Lakers have added Rui Hachimura to their roster after completing a trade for him from the Washington Wizards in exchange for Kendrick Nunn and three second-round picks. The power forward’s move comes off the back of a frustrating year in Washington, which has seen him come off the
Continue Reading By Matias Grez, CNN Rising stars from the United States feature prominently in the men’s side of the draw at the Australian Open, making up three of the eight players ithat reached reached the quarterfinals in Melbourne. According to the ATP, it’s the first time since 2000 — when Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Chris Woodruff
Continue Reading MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — There couldn’t be more contrasting men’s quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Novak Djokovic is still on track for his 10th title at Melbourne Park and now faces No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev. The Russian is 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals. The other men’s match Wednesday features a pair of unseeded 20-something
Continue Reading CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Dillon Dube scored at 2:25 of overtime to give the Calgary Flames a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Andrew Mangiapane had a goal and two assists, and Nazem Kadri and Walker Duehr also scored for the Flames. Dan Vladar stopped 22 shots to improve to 10-4-4 this season. Patrik
Continue Reading By CAMERON SALERNO Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Trey Lyles scored a season-high 24 points, Harrison Barnes had 15 of his 20 in Sacramento’s record-tying first quarter and the Kings beat the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies 133-100. The Kings tied the NBA record with 12 3-pointers in the first quarter — in just 13 attempts
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