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If you want proof that the current Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format is working, all you need to do is look at who’s winning races. They’re the same people who contend for the championship year in and year out. The current Chase format is simple: Win at least one race and finish in the top 30 in driver points during NASCAR’s 26-race regular season and you make the…

MORE: NASCAR tweaks rules package for Kentucky As a teenager thrown into NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series with the options of sink or swim, Joey Logano had few places of refuge. Taking over the No. 20 Toyota of then two-time series champion Tony Stewart at Joe Gibbs Racing in 2009, Logano struggled under the weight of high expectations and a new series against much tougher competition. But while his Sprint Cup education got off to a somewhat…

Michael Phelps has a long-term sponsorship deal with Under Armour, a non-official Olympic sponsor. Getty Images The International Olympic Committee (IOC) shook up the rules for advertising for Rio 2016 when it announced changes that opened the door for more brands to benefit from their ties to the games, even if they aren’t official Olympic sponsors. While the new rules come with restrictions, they’ve helped…

Caption Close STAMFORD — There were plenty of hugs, jokes, embellishments and food. But most importantly, there was an abundance of love when the 1991 Stamford Senior Babe Ruth Baseball All-Star team held a 25-year reunion. Many of the former teammates traveled across the country and brought their families to Stamford to relive a wonderful summer memory and display the bond that made the group special. “We had thought about…

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Rio de Janeiro (AFP) – Crime-plagued, cash-strapped Rio de Janeiro struck an optimistic note Tuesday with 30 days to go before becoming South America’s first city to stage the Olympic Games. Stadiums are all ready — barring finishing touches — and within weeks, Brazil expects to greet at least 500,000 tourists for the August 5-21 Games. Brazil’s Olympic committee boss Carlos Nuzman celebrated the milestone in an epic seven-year effort…

Say you want something super sporty and high-end that’s also a good value for the money and relatively practical. Say you want it to look masculine but not obnoxious. And you’d prefer it to have some nice perks (badging, leather, contrast stitching) to complement what will certainly go down in history as iconic performance. Well, then, I’d like to introduce you to the 2016 BMW M2—the stick-shift version. The M2…

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As baseballs traditions go, this one isn’t as steeped as the seventh-inning stretch but it is tied to it. The ceremonial standing in the middle of the seventh inning for a singalong of “Take me out the ballgame,” “Cotton Eye Joe” or “Sweet Caroline” vary by the crowd.  But in most every ballpark in America, however, we sing “God Bless America.” Baseball only embraced the Irving Berlin classic in the…

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Looking for daily fantasy baseball picks, strategy and advice? This is the DFS MLB Playbook for Tuesday, July 5, featuring all the MLB DFS picks you need to know from Sporting News partners FantasyAlarm.com. I hope everyone is ready to jump back into DFS with tonight’s 14-game MLB slate (we are ignoring the early game between the Reds and Cubs).  MORE: DFS cash-game lineup | 2016 fantasy football rankings Weather continued to be an issue…

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Media playback is not supported on this device Wimbledon 2016: Venus beats Shvedova to reach semi-finals Five-time champion Venus Williams reached the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time since 2009 with victory over Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova. Eighth seed Williams – at 36 the oldest Grand Slam semi-finalist for 22 years – beat unseeded Shvedova 7-6 (7-5) 6-3. An all-Williams final remains possible after top seed Serena beat Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova…

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When the Tom Sox picked up College of Charleston second baseman Dupree Hart, team management knew they had a good infielder on their hands. They just didn’t know how good. Hart has steadily proven that he has star qualities as a second baseman in the field, and now that he’s starting to swing the bat, the sky is the limit for the Rock Hill, South Carolina, native. “We knew we…

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<!– FOOTBALL GOSSIP Kris Commons will resist the chance to join Neil Lennon at Hibs – and fight for his place at Celtic. (Various) Rangers are looking to beat English champions Leicester City to the signing of Finnish starlet Serge Atakayi after offering him a trial. (Daily Mail, print edition) Nir Bitton has emerged as a summer signing target for big-spending La Liga outfit Espanyol. (Scottish Sun) <!– Celtic midfielder…

New sports channel Eir Sport has acquired the exclusive Irish rights to the 2019 rugby world cup. Eir Sport is Eir’s new sports channel. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Eir Sport chief executive and Setanta founder Mickey O’Rourke. Eir has made its first major broadcasting move since its acquisition of Setanta Sports Ireland by rebranding the channel as Eir Sport. RTÉ’s ad break clanger puts TV3’s Rugby World…