GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) Derek Fisher was fired as New York Knicks coach, with his team having lost five straight and nine of 10 to fall well back in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Associate head coach Kurt Rambis was promoted to interim head coach at least through the rest of the season. Rambis, like Fisher an ex-Laker player, went 56-145 in two seasons as Minnesota’s coach and part of a season leading the Lakers.
The Knicks have fallen to 23-31, dropping Fisher’s overall record to 40-96. Jackson hired Fisher in June 2014, just weeks after the point guard was done playing.
Jackson praised Fisher’s work and transition into coaching, but felt he needed to make the decision after the team’s recent struggles.
Jackson also questioned whether Fisher took advantage of the experienced assistants Jackson hired to work with him, such as Rambis and Jim Cleamons. Jackson, who won an NBA-record 11 championships as a coach, also told Fisher he may not have mentored him as well as he could have.
NFL
DALLAS (AP) – Johnny Manziel‘s ex-girlfriend said in an affidavit the Cleveland Browns quarterback hit her so hard during a late-night confrontation she lost hearing in one ear.
Colleen Crowley’s affidavit, published online, says Manziel dragged her into a car last month after she tried to get away from him. Crowley accused Manziel of striking her in her left ear.
Crowley detailed the alleged attack as part of proceedings to obtain a protective order against Manziel, who is under criminal investigation on allegations of domestic violence.
Manziel, a Heisman Trophy winner whose professional career has been marred by headlines about his drinking and other personal issues, is expected to be cut by the Browns next month.
In the affidavit, first published by TV station KXAS, Crowley said she and Manziel had a confrontation in his hotel room around 1:45 a.m. Jan. 30. Crowley accused Manziel of throwing her onto his bed after the two discussed him ”being with a girl who had caused us problems in the past.”
NEW YORK (AP) – Setting television viewership records with the Super Bowl has become almost routine, but this year’s average of 111.9 million viewers for Denver’s victory over Carolina is down from the past two years.
That makes Sunday’s game the third most-watched event in U.S. television history, the Nielsen company said. Last year’s down-to-the-wire contest between New England and Seattle keeps the record with 114.4 million viewers.
The Super Bowl had seemed to know no ceiling in popularity, setting viewership records in six of seven years until this one.
CBS, the nation’s most-watched network, had pushed the event hard the past few months, playing up the historical nature of the 50th Super Bowl game. But Denver’s 24-10 victory wasn’t a sizzler, with defenses dominating the marquee quarterback matchup between Peyton Manning and reigning NFL MVP Cam Newton.
Even more than television, social media reflected far less engagement in the game than there was last year, when the result was decided on a last-minute, goal-line interception.
SEATTLE (AP) – Marshawn Lynch intends to retire from football.
Doug Hendrickson, the agent for the Seattle Seahawks star running back, confirmed his client’s plans to The Associated Press.
Lynch had indicated as much Sunday night by tweeting a picture with a pair of cleats hanging from a power or telephone line, along with an emoji depicting a peace sign. The Seahawks official Twitter account later added the hashtag (hash)ThankYouBeastMode to Lynch’s original message. A spokesman said the tweet stood as the team’s comment.
Lynch won a Super Bowl with Seattle and played nine seasons in the NFL. He arrived in Seattle in 2010 and his attitude and bruising running became the foundation for two straight NFC championships and the franchise’s first Super Bowl title.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Buffalo Bills running back LeSean McCoy is under investigation over a Philadelphia nightclub brawl early Sunday that left two off-duty police officers injured, one with a broken nose and broken ribs and the other with a possible skull fracture.
The incident occurred early Sunday morning after an argument broke out between McCoy’s party and the officers over a bottle of champagne.
After one 40-year-old officer was knocked to the ground, he was punched, kicked and stomped multiple times on his body and head, police said.
When the second officer, also 40, intervened with security guards, he was also injured, police said. All were ejected from the club.
One officer had a broken nose, broken ribs and a sprained thumb and remained hospitalized, police said, while the second received stitches and had a possible skull fracture.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Villanova is No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll for the first time.
The Wildcats (20-3) made the jump from third following then-No. 1 Oklahoma’s loss to Kansas State and then-No. 2 North Carolina’s losses to Louisville and Notre Dame.
Villanova received 32 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel. Maryland, which received 13 No. 1 votes, moved up two spots to second.
Oklahoma, which had been No. 1 for the last three weeks, dropped to third and received seven first-place votes. Iowa, which got 11 first-place votes, is fourth and is followed in the top 10 by Xavier, Kansas, Virginia, Michigan State, North Carolina and West Virginia.
Kansas and Virginia both received one first-place vote.
No. 23 Southern Cal and No. 24 Texas are the week’s two newcomers, replacing Indiana and South Carolina.
OTHER
WACO, Texas (AP) – A candlelight vigil to protest Baylor University’s response to campus sexual violence drew scores of demonstrators to the street in front of the university president’s home.
About 100 people participated in the vigil in front of President Kenneth Starr’s home. The group then marched to a brief prayer service outside Baylor’s Truett Seminary.
The protest comes after ESPN reported earlier this month that three students said the Southern Baptist-affiliated university in Waco failed to act on allegations that they were sexually assaulted by a former football player later convicted in one of those cases.
Policies regarding Baylor’s compliance with federal requirements that it address and prevent sexual harassment ”are inconsistently followed and, at times, ignored altogether. Perpetrators are repeatedly allowed to go free due to these shortcomings. This makes our campus unsafe,” the group said in an online statement.
In a letter Sunday, Starr said university leaders’ ”hearts break for those whose lives are impacted by execrable acts of sexual violence.”
