Blog

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – Despite a surge of doping cases over the last four years, and an increasingly dysfunctional and now suspended drug-testing agency, Kenya’s athletes were cleared to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics by the IAAF. The International Olympic Committee, which has the final call on whether Kenya’s famed distance runners will run in Rio in August, also is unlikely to stop the country sending a team….

CLEVELAND (AP) — Like so many kids growing up in Ohio, Andy Billman learned to love Cleveland’s sports teams. And to have his heart broken. But true to the passion of a proud city whose long-suffering fans haven’t celebrated a major professional championship since 1964, the director of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary chronicling Cleveland’s half-century of sports misery has undying hope a title will come. One day. “It’s…

Rafael Benitez is believed to have a break clause in the three-year contract he signed with Newcastle Rafael Benitez says he could continue as Newcastle manager after holding “positive” discussions with the relegated Premier League club. The Magpies’ second relegation to the Championship in seven years was confirmed on Wednesday. Benitez, 56, succeeded the sacked Steve McClaren in March, winning two of his nine league games in charge. “If I’m…

Our daily fantasy baseball picks continue with starting pitcher rankings and advice for Saturday’s MLB slate. Before we get into today’s rankings, we should point out that as of Friday night, the Nationals official website says Stephen Strasburg, not Tanner Roark, is pitching the first game of Saturday’s Marlins-Nats doubleheader. Both FanDuel and DraftKings have Roark listed among the early starters, so hopefully the Nats’ site is wrong and DFS players…

Elevator ↑Mooresville baseball: Seeded No. 21 in the N.C. 4A West playoffs, the Blue Devils upset No. 5 seed Hough 6-2 Friday. ↑Charlotte Country Day baseball: No. 5 seed Bucs (19-12) beat No. 4 Charlotte Christian (23-12) 5-4 to advance to next week’s semifinals against Wesleyan Christian or Wake Christian. ↑Lake Norman Charter baseball: beat R-S Central 2-1 to advance to third round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association…

Jake Stone had a two-run homer and a two-run triple to back Ricky Tyler Thomas’ strong pitching and lead Fresno State to a 9-1 win over UNLV in a Mountain West baseball game Friday at Wilson Stadium. Stone’s two-run triple was one of four straight hits in a five-run fifth inning by the Bulldogs (34-17, 20-8), the final of which was a two-run homer by Aaron Arruda, who also had…

Welcome to The Walk Off, the nightly MLB recap from Big League Stew. Here we’ll look at the top performers of the night, show you a must-see highlight and rundown the scoreboard. First, we start with a game you need to know about.  With Clayton Kershaw off to a historic start for the Dodgers and Jake Arrieta picking up where he left off as last season’s NL Cy Young winner,…

To save articles or get newsletters, alerts or recommendations – all free. Don’t have an account yet?Create an account » Subscribed through iTunes and need an NYTimes.com account?Learn more » Need to connect your Home Delivery subscription to NYTimes.com?Link your subscription »

CLEVELAND (AP) — Like so many kids growing up in Ohio, Andy Billman learned to love Cleveland’s sports teams. And to have his heart broken. But true to the passion of a proud city whose long-suffering fans haven’t celebrated a major professional championship since 1964, the director of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary chronicling Cleveland’s half-century of sports misery has undying hope a title will come. One day. “It’s…

The world’s most populous country is turning its attention to the world’s most popular sport. And if China can follow through on an ambitious plan pushed by President Xi Jinping, the nation could someday become a soccer superpower. Last spring Xi, a fervent soccer fan, signed off on the most sweeping reforms in the history of modern Chinese sport — ones that apply only to soccer. In a dramatic break…

From VOA Learning English, this is In The News. Brazil is preparing to host the Olympic Games in August, but the South American nation may not be celebrating. Political problems and other issues have drawn attention away from the games in Rio de Janeiro and toward the country’s troubles. This week, Brazil’s Senate voted to put President Dilma Rousseff on trial for manipulating the budget. She is suspended from office….

Associated Press/Silvia IzquierdoA man holds a banner designed with images of people killed during police operations against drug traffickers, framed in Olympic rings, with a message that reads in Portuguese; “”Rio, Olympic champion of the killing of Indians, and Black people for 450 years” during a protest at the Complexo de Alemao slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, April 2, 2016. See Also LONDON (AP) — Doping scandals. Bribery…

RELATED: Live weather updates   DOVER, Del. — Friday’s qualifying sessions for both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series were canceled due to inclement weather at Dover International Speedway.   On-and-off bouts of rain dropped from the skies above the “Monster Mile” early Friday morning of the tripleheader weekend, but it came on strong during the second NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, sending cars off the track during two separate incidents….

“Do you guys ever turn right?” As far as bad jokes related to NASCAR go, this one is up there. (We do turn right a couple of times a year when we run road courses. But yes, for the most part our races are on tracks where we just turn left.) Another common question — way too common, actually — is, “What do you do if you need to go…

PASADENA, Calif. • When the Navy wouldn’t let Mitch Harris leave it for baseball, Mitch Harris made sure to bring baseball with him. He wasn’t going to be inactive on active duty. For five years and a handful of deployments around the world, Harris served his country with honor and brought two baseball gloves and a few baseballs so that he could do whatever possible to keep his…

It should be said up front that however distant, a dream run to Omaha for the 2016 Texas Longhorns baseball team is not technically dead. While there is zero chance of an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns could repeat the feat of 2015 and slip in as Big 12 Tournament champions. But therein lies part of the reason why, no matter what happens in the postseason,…

Whether it’s hockey or baseball, cats just can’t seem to stay away from the high-stakes world of sports. An Angels-Cardinals game was briefly halted this week when an eager orange cat sprinted across the diamond, making it pretty far into the stands before an official scooped him up. Unfortunately, the cat did not round the bases in a mid-game stunner, but if he knew what bases were, we are confident…

CLEVELAND (AP) — Like so many kids growing up in Ohio, Andy Billman learned to love Cleveland’s sports teams. And to have his heart broken. But true to the passion of a proud city whose long-suffering fans haven’t celebrated a major professional championship since 1964, the director of an ESPN 30 for 30 documentary chronicling Cleveland’s half-century of sports misery has undying hope a title will come. One day. “It’s…

(Reuters Health) – Many sports organizations need to do a better job of protecting athletes against not just sexual harassment and physical abuse but also neglect and psychological taunts, the International Olympic Committee argues in a recent article. Despite the well-recognized benefits of participating in sports, there are also negative influences on athlete health, wellbeing and integrity caused by harassment and abuse, the IOC noted in a consensus statement published…