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RELATED: Vote now in Sprint Fan Vote   Rules outlining the 2016 versions of the Sprint All-Star Race and Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway were announced Friday, and NASCAR’s annual All-Star Race will once again include a dramatic final segment to determine a $1 million prize winner.   There are three segments in this year’s Sprint All-Star Race — a 50-lap opening segment, a 50-lap second segment and a 13-lap final dash…

*Editor’s note: This article was originally published Thursday. Since then, participants have been announced. They are listed at the bottom. Dirk Nowitzki was skeptical when, in 2012, organizers asked him to succeed recently retired Mike Modano as host of the Heroes Celebrity Baseball Game. “I said, ‘No chance. I’ve never played baseball in my life,’” a smiling Nowitzki recalls. This week, tickets went on sale for the 15th annual Heroes Game,…

https://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/russilloaudio_2016-05-05-152601-8006-0-1-0-64k.mp3 Russillo & Kanell was without its most fashion-forward member on Thursday afternoon, paving the way for what has become an albatross: a compelling segment on Major League Baseball broadcast over the national radio airwaves. Ryen Russillo opined on the misguided attempt to “fix baseball” with gimmicks and alterations all in the interest of appealing to people who simply don’t care for the sport. “If you don’t like baseball now,…

Note: Don’t whiff on this special FanDuel offer. Win your first contest or get your money back (up to $10) to keep playing. Try FanDuel now! The Dodgers have a problem. Their problem is that Julio Urias is too good for the minors. The 19-year-old — yes, 19-year-old — just threw six perfect innings against the New Orleans Zephyrs on Wednesday, lowering his ERA to 1.88 and his WHIP to…

Welcome to today’s daily fantasy post! Remember that you can find our posts on the brand-spanking new DFS home page, as well as the fantasy page. Bookmark those sites now! Also, please scroll to the bottom of this article to see the latest tweets from Ryan Fowler (@FOXSportsFowler), D.J. Foster (@FOXSportsFoster), Adam Meyer (@FOXSportsMeyer) and me (@jhalpin37). That way, if information surfaces for any last minute changes, you can see…

HOUSTON – The funeral for the Stafford High School head baseball coach, who died suddenly last week, will be held Friday at noon at the Stafford Centre at 10505 Cash Road.  Michael Mesa, 26, was head coach at the high school for two seasons. He died after collapsing after a paintball game last Friday. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. Stafford Municipal School District will be closed Friday in remembrance of…

ALLEN PARK — Draft grades have become a staple this time of year, as analysts and pundits weigh in on how the various teams fared. They’re wrong almost all the time. It drives decision-makers around the league bonkers. They’re being evaluated — called smart or stupid — without waiting for so much as a single practice rep. Many say it takes three years to fairly grade a draft. So in…

Pep Guardiola is attempting to win his third successive Bundesliga title Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola says a dressing-room mole is “damaging” the 25-time German champions, after details of an alleged row were made public. German newspaper Bild claims Guardiola was angry with Bayern’s medical team after Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final exit to Atletico Madrid. The Spaniard is alleged to have accused his physiotherapists of taking too long to get…

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Winger Patrick Sharp scored on the power play—the Stars’ first in 13 chances—and set up Cody Eakin’s overtime winner to tie the second-round series with the Blues at two games apiece. But more importantly than all that, the Stars are headed back to Dallas for Game 5. And Patrick’s headed back to see Sadie: This is almost unfair. Patrick Sharp already has one of the best sports babies in Madelyn,…

Cleveland and Atlanta fans have both waited a long time for a pro sports championship – with Atlanta’s last title coming in 1995 and Cleveland’s in 1964. But there’s far more to the cities than sports. Here’s a comparison of the two areas as the NBA playoff series between the Cavaliers and Hawks moves to Atlanta. We cover pro sports in each town, plus business, education and even which city…

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Watch United States Vs. Canada In World Hockey Championships Online (Live Stream) The Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing, but another notable hockey tournament gets underway Friday. The IIHF world tournament begins in Russia, highlighted by a group-play matchup between two hockey powers, the United States and Canada. While the rosters don’t have the normal starpower of, say, the Olympics, plenty of notable names are on each roster. That’s…

Last season, Minnesota United striker Christian Ramirez went nine games without a goal. Not an unusual occurrence among attackers, but somehow this one jarred. The previous year, he had lit up the North American Soccer League in his debut season, finding the back of the net so often there was talk of a national team call-up. The critics wrote him off. Ramirez though had other ideas. The second half of…

The number of truly iconic hockey pictures is surprisingly small. The sport is notoriously difficult to photograph, thanks to the fast-paced action, the elusive puck, and some unique space, proximity, and lighting restrictions. There’s Denis Brodeur (yes, Martin’s father) and his shot of Paul Henderson celebrating Team Canada’s victory in the 1972 Summit Series; Ralph Morse’s eerie portrait of goaltender Terry Sawchuk, his scars and stitches simulated with makeup; Heinz…

https://usatthebiglead.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/russilloaudio_2016-05-05-152601-8006-0-1-0-64k.mp3 Russillo & Kanell was without its most fashion-forward member on Thursday afternoon, paving the way for what has become an albatross: a compelling segment on Major League Baseball broadcast over the national radio airwaves. Ryen Russillo opined on the misguided attempt to “fix baseball” with gimmicks and alterations all in the interest of appealing to people who simply don’t care for the sport. “If you don’t like baseball now,…

In 1999, Texas Rangers designated hitter Rafael Palmeiro somehow won the Gold Glove award at first base—despite only actually playing 28 games at the position for the entire year. Seventeen years later, one of baseball’s oddest award choices looks like a precursor to Donald Trump’s political rise (via NBC Sports). Here’s how. Baseball historian Bill James—sometimes called the godfather of sabermetrics and analytics—penned The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract…

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Our daily fantasy baseball picks continue with starting pitcher rankings and advice for Friday’s MLB slate. It’s going to be difficult for many to choose a pitcher tonight, as our rankings are loaded with good options. From aces (Syndergaard, Scherzer), to high-upside strikeout sleepers (Salazar, Hill), to values with great matchups (Chen, Latos), you can go a lot of different directions. If you’re playing on two-SP sites, you can still get…

The number of truly iconic hockey pictures is surprisingly small. The sport is notoriously difficult to photograph, thanks to the fast-paced action, the elusive puck, and some unique space, proximity, and lighting restrictions. There’s Denis Brodeur (yes, Martin’s father) and his shot of Paul Henderson celebrating Team Canada’s victory in the 1972 Summit Series; Ralph Morse’s eerie portrait of goaltender Terry Sawchuk, his scars and stitches simulated with makeup; Heinz…