Sports

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre filed lawsuits Thursday in Mississippi, accusing the state auditor and two national sportscasters of defaming him in public discussions about the misspending of welfare money that was supposed to help some of the poorest people in one of the poorest

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer Yelim Kim breezed through a near-flawless short program to edge 15-year-old American rival Isabeau Levito and build the slimmest of leads on Thursday night at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. The 20-year-old rrom South Korean scored 72.84 points for her program. Levito was second with 71.50 points, and

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP) — The Western Conference-leading Denver Nuggets picked up center Thomas Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers in a four-team deal that also saw guard Bones Hyland wind up with the Los Angeles Clippers. As part of a trade that also involved the Orlando Magic, Denver sent guard

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Houston Astros beat Kyle Tucker in arbitration, and the All-Star outfielder will make $5 million rather than his $7.5 million request. Outfielder Harold Ramirez became the third player to go to arbitration with the Tampa Bay Rays, arguing for a $2.2 million salary rather than the team’s $1.9 million

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — About $1 billion of Major League Baseball’s revenue is at risk if a cable television company fails to make payments for local broadcasting rights to 14 teams, and the sport is preparing to take over telecasts. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says “think you should

By BEN WALKER AP Baseball Writer In yet another nod to technology, Major League Baseball will permit pitchers in spring training to wear wristbands that will let them signal to the catcher what’s coming next. The experiment will begin Feb. 24 when exhibition play begins with Seattle-San Diego and Texas-Kansas City matchups in the Cactus

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The United States’ Mike Trout and Mookie Betts, Japan’s Shohei Ohtani and Venezuela’s Miguel Cabrera and Jose Altuve are among eight Major League Baseball MVPs on rosters for next month’s World Baseball Classic. Canada’s Freddie Freeman and the United States’ Paul Goldschmidt and Clayton Kershaw also are on the rosters

LORIENT, France (AP) — Lens has reached the quarterfinals of the French Cup. Facundo Medina converted the final spot kick in a 4-2 penalty shootout win over Lorient after the teams were tied 1-1 in regulation time. Angelo Fulgini scored for Lens in the 21st minute before Lorient midfielder Enzo Le Fee leveled the round-of-16

By EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Retired NFL quarterback Brett Favre filed lawsuits Thursday in Mississippi, accusing the state auditor and two sportscasters of defaming him in public discussions about the misspending of welfare money that was supposed to help some of the poorest people in one of the poorest states

The Southeastern Conference says it distributed an average of $49.9 million to its 14 member schools for the fiscal year that ended last August. Commissioner Greg Sankey said Thursday the league divided $721.8 million of total revenue among its members. That included $698.5 million distributed by the league office and $23.3 million retained by schools

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Cavaliers president of basketball operations Koby Altman says he has not discussed a contract buyout with forward Kevin Love, who was recently dropped from the team’s playing rotation. The five-time All-Star was not traded at the deadline. Altman says Love has not approached the team

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer PHOENIX (AP) — While the fight song for the Philadelphia Eagles may be “Fly, Eagles Fly,” the offensive formula that carried the team to the Super Bowl was more grounded. With a trio of capable running backs, one of the best running quarterbacks and a dominating offensive line,

By ERIC OLSON AP Sports Writer LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Keisei Tominaga already is one of the most popular players in his home country. The exuberant sharpshooter known as the ‘Japanese Steph Curry’ also is building a big fan following at Nebraska in what otherwise has been another dismal season for the Cornhuskers. Coach Fred

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Carlos Dunlap signed with the Kansas City Chiefs because the longtime NFL defensive end was tired of losing. Six times he had appeared in the playoffs and yet he never won a game. Now, Dunlap might book-end his first playoff victory with one in the

TAMPA, Fla, (AP) — Colorado Avalanche star defenseman Cale Makar will miss the final two games of a current road trip with a head injury. Colorado coach Jared Bednar announced the news before the team’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Makar will also miss Saturday’s matchup at Florida and will be re-evaluated when the

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer The U.S. Open is adding the NCAA champion to its field. It’s part of slight changes to exemption categories. The U.S. Open will be played June 15-18 at Los Angeles Country Club. Among the tweaks to the exemption categories are creating five spots for PGA Tour players based on