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Showtime has a number of sports-related shows premiering or returning in the coming weeks, and today Chris DeBlasio was promoted to SVP Sports Communications at Showtime Networks. He has guided the sports PR department since joining Showtime in 2005 and will continue to oversee the premium cabler’s sports media, talent and public relations, sports awards, live event production support and sports messaging. DeBlasio led the publicity campaign for the Floyd Mayweather Jr-Manny…

Ecclestone ran the Brabham F1 team from 1972-1987 The end of Bernie Ecclestone’s stewardship of Formula 1 has appeared close on a number of occasions over the last few years, so it is with a degree of caution that one discusses the latest episode that may seem to signal it again. But the likely takeover of the sport’s commercial arm by US giant Liberty Media does look like one of…

Chase Elliott, right, talks with Kasey Kahne in the garage during NASCAR Sprint Cup auto racing practice at Darlington Raceway, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)(Photo: The Associated Press) CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jeff Gordon is mostly retired and Tony Stewart is almost out the door. Now Dale Earnhardt Jr. is sidelined for the rest of the year, exposing NASCAR’s glaring need for new stars to…

RELATED: Full race results | Standings | Chase Grid Breaking down the full field for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway: 1. Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Toyota, Furniture Row Racing. Truex’s two victories this season are the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte and now the Southern 500 … and he finished second in the Daytona 500. Even with all the bad luck he has had, Truex is having a…

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jeff Gordon is mostly retired and Tony Stewart is almost out the door. Now Dale Earnhardt Jr. is sidelined for the rest of the year, exposing NASCAR’s glaring need for new stars to captivate the audience. The three big names who have moved the needle for NASCAR the past two decades have a combined seven championships, 168 career Cup wins and five Daytona 500 victories. More…

<!– FOOTBALL GOSSIP Scotland assistant manager Mark McGhee describes Robert Snodgrass, who scored a hat-trick in Sunday’s 5-1 win over Malta, as the midfielder who can do it all. “He can come short as a midfield player, work back defensively, run ahead of the centre forward, take people on and run wide,” said McGhee. (Various) Allan Preston, who gave Snodgrass his Livingston debut four days after his 17th birthday, says…

‘Only goal of Paralympic ban was not to see any Russian flag hanging in Rio’ – sports lawyer “I have no doubt that the attack on our athletes will continue in the same direction. Right now we have created an independent anti-doping commission headed by Vitaly Smirnov,“ Zhukov told journalists in Novosibirsk. “That is the first step, which we absolutely must take, in order to fully restore the reputation of…

Wrigley Field as a pitchers’ park isn’t a concept that comes naturally to those who think of 20 mph southwest winds carrying routine flies onto Waveland Avenue. But in 2016, as in 2015, the park has been far from a haven for hitters. Before embarking on a nine-game road trip that began Monday in Milwaukee, the Cubs had played 71 games at Wrigley and 65 on the road. At home,…

Jeff Gordon is mostly retired and Tony Stewart is almost out the door. Now Dale Earnhardt Jr. is sidelined for the rest of the year, exposing NASCAR’s glaring need for new stars to captivate the audience. The three big names who have moved the needle for NASCAR the past two decades have a combined seven championships, 168 career Cup wins and five Daytona 500 victories. More important, they are the…

‘Only goal of Paralympic ban was not to see any Russian flag hanging in Rio’ – sports lawyer “I have no doubt that the attack on our athletes will continue in the same direction. Right now we have created an independent anti-doping commission headed by Vitaly Smirnov,“ Zhukov told journalists in Novosibirsk. “That is the first step, which we absolutely must take, in order to fully restore the reputation of…

In NASCAR’s long history, only two drivers have ever won the sport’s so-called “Triple Crown,” the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Bojangles’ Southern 500 in the same season: The late LeeRoy Yarbrough did it in 1969, and David Pearson did it in 1976. This year, Martin Truex Jr. came within 0.01 seconds of adding his name to that list. Coming into 2016, Truex had just three career race…

U .S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe knelt during the national anthem Sunday night before the Seattle Reign’s game against the Chicago Red Stars “in a little nod” to NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.  Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem to protest racial injustice and minority oppression came to public notice when he remained seated on the bench before a preseason game against Green Bay. On Thursday night in San…

(Recasts lead) TURKU, Finland, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Kosovo’s Valon Berisha, given permission to play only a few hours before kickoff, scored for his country in their first-ever competitive international to give them a 1-1 draw away to Finland in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday. Berisha, who was allowed to switch to Kosovo by FIFA despite having played competitive matches for Norway, put away a penalty on the hour…

Last spring, a student I was tutoring told me his back hurt. The boy, a 14-year-old in Northwest Washington, had played on school and travel soccer teams in the fall. Despite his pain, he was still playing travel ball, competing in weekend tournaments and practicing twice a week. I watched him struggle to squeeze in schoolwork around these commitments — even when he was reduced to lying on the floor…

Wayne Rooney became England most-capped male outfield player in the win over Slovakia Wayne Rooney should have retired from international football after Euro 2016, says ex-England captain Peter Shilton. Rooney, 30, made his 116th appearance for England in Sunday’s World Cup qualifying victory over Slovakia. But his value to the team has become a hot topic after he spent most of the game playing in a deep midfield role. “I…

Sports Direct has said it will offer casual retail staff guaranteed hours instead of zero-hours contracts and has apologised for conditions at its warehouse, including the “six strikes” policy that put workers in fear of losing their jobs. But Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer has not offered guaranteed hours to more than 4,000 agency workers at its warehouse in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, where working conditions have been compared with those of a…

(Denis Poroy/AP and Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images) A member of the 2015 World Cup-winning U.S. women’s soccer team is standing, or rather kneeling, in support of Colin Kaepernick. On Sunday night, Megan Rapinoe took a knee while the national anthem played ahead of a game between the Seattle Reign, where Rapinoe is a star midfielder, and the Chicago Red Stars. And the 31-year-old said after the game that she will continue…

In NASCAR’s long history, only two drivers have ever won the sport’s so-called “Triple Crown,” the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 and the Bojangles’ Southern 500 in the same season: The late LeeRoy Yarbrough did it in 1969, and David Pearson did it in 1976. This year, Martin Truex Jr. came within 0.01 seconds of adding his name to that list. Coming into 2016, Truex had just three career race…

‘Only goal of Paralympic ban was not to see any Russian flag hanging in Rio’ – sports lawyer “I have no doubt that the attack on our athletes will continue in the same direction. Right now we have created an independent anti-doping commission headed by Vitaly Smirnov,“ Zhukov told journalists in Novosibirsk. “That is the first step, which we absolutely must take, in order to fully restore the reputation of…