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Illinois has fired head football coach Tim Beckman. A source had told FOX Sports of the news Friday before the school’s official announcement. Word is Beckman was informed of his firing late Friday morning. The 50-year-old coach was 12-25 in three seasons and was fired a week before the season opener. His teams were 4-20 in Big Ten play since he arrived from Toledo after the 2011 season. He also…

As Hilda Nissan kicked a soccer ball around with about a dozen girls her age, a look of delight came over her each time the ball shot gracefully out from under her foot, gliding along the plush grass at John F. Kennedy Park in El Cajon. “My favorite part is being with my teammates and having fun. I don’t really care about winning,” said the 11-year-old captain of her team,…

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Josh Donaldson is good at hitting baseballs hard and also far. (USATSI) Only because the rules compelled him to do so, Tigers lefty Matt Boyd on Friday night pitched a baseball to Blue Jays thumper Josh Donaldson. This is what became of said baseball … That’s Donaldson’s 35th homer of the season, and that one, per StatCast, traveled 454 feet. That’s a long way, but one might still plausibly take…

The path for boys is even more difficult, with only 32,000 of 541,000 high school basketball players making a college team. “A college scholarship is really important to me because my family can’t pay for college,” Redden said. She may be one of the lucky ones, with numerous scouts showing interest in her. But a scholarships won’t necessarily relieve the parents of the entire college financial burden. The average cost of…

UND men’s and women’s hockey players on full scholarships will receive $3,400 this season in additional money after the NCAA approved the measure last year. The additional money is set aside to cover costs outside of tuition, fees, books and housing. If an athlete is on a 90 percent scholarship, he or she will receive 90 percent of the $3,400 and so on. Many of UND’s top rivals in men’s…

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Buy Photo Skyler Davis, left, listens to the Vermont men’s soccer coaches speak after practice on Tuesday at Virtue Field.(Photo: AUSTIN DANFORTH/FREE PRESS)Buy Photo College soccer or the Winter Olympics. Every new year poses questions. That was what Skyler Davis drew at the start of 2014. Take one last flyer on his Olympic dream, a win-or-that’s-it chance to join the American ski team in Sochi, or embrace an uncertain future…

Maybe Donald Trump is looking to court the Catholic vote. The Post has learned that the GOP front-runner is looking to buy Argentina’s Club Atletico San Lorenzo di Almagro, best known for running the San Lorenzo soccer team of which Pope Francis is an avid fan. The New York-based Trump, along with business partner Alessandro Proto, has sent a statement of interest to San Lorenzo, a source close to the…

by Phil Hardesty You don’t have to be an Olympian to enjoy the benefits of swimming. It is an effective way to improve and maintain your fitness and health regardless of your age or fitness level. Fitness legend Jack LaLanne is one of the most notable examples of the impact of swimming on health and longevity. Swimming was an important part of both his daily fitness routine as well as…

An open letter to baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred: Dear Rob: You’re losing me. And by that, I mean baseball. It’s nothing you’ve done, but something you must do to save your sport. I can’t stand much more of this. It’s reached the sickening stage. Umpiring, Rob. The umps are ruining the game. At least they are for me, and I’m not alone. The room is SRO. I’ve been watching televised…

MORE HEYMAN >>> RANKING THE TOP 30 MLB DEALS OF 2015 With all their great young position stars, reasonable payroll and sky-high revenue, perhaps no one is more well-positioned for the future than the Cubs. But guess what? They are doing a lot better now than anyone could have imagined, very likely including them. The Cubs are 73-53, and while that’s the fourth-best record in baseball, it’s only the third-best…

One of the lovely things about baseball is the fact that there is rarely a must-win game or series. This isn’t football where a game for a a few games can make or break a season. Sometimes you’ll see what I’ll dub the football mentality creep into baseball fan commentary. Losing to such and such a team is unacceptable. This is make or break. That kind of thing. It’s virtually…

Curt Schilling’s hateful, inaccurate and idiotic post to Twitter got him suspended from ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast this week. Combined with the fact that he is terrible at his job, making his network’s signature baseball program nearly unwatchable, Schilling should be off the air for good, ideally never to be heard from again, as he has next to nothing worthwhile to contribute to human consciousness. What about that one time…

FOX Sports Racing, which carries the full NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season live in Canada, is live streaming this weekend’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario, making the event available without restriction to all viewers in Canada through www.FOXSportsRacing.com. The Chevrolet Silverado 250 begins Sunday, Aug. 30 (1:30 p.m. ET) with Tyler Reddick (Brad Keselowski Racing) atop the points standings, followed by Matt Crafton (ThorSport…

Follow Andy Gray on Twitter | Email Andy | Extra Mustard on Facebook Ugliest Uniforms in Sports History The White Sox got in the Throwback Thursday spirit in a big way this week, sporting a disco era uniform with navy and white shirts untucked below their waists. ​It’s a shame they didn’t wear the matching shorts which helped make the ’70s uniform one of the ugliest in sports history. Say Yes, Ronda I don’t…

Eurobike is like a festival where all the big names in biking come together to sing about what they’re doing next. This year, LifeBeam, makers of some smooth-looking and very smart headwear, have teamed up with Lazer Sport, the maker of some serious helmets, to produce some cool new bio-sensing helmets. Lazer is incorporating LifeBeam’s enhanced sensors into their new smart helmets for cycling. In addition, LifeBeam is offering a…

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 »

Maybe Donald Trump is looking to court the Catholic vote. The Post has learned that the GOP front-runner is looking to buy Argentina’s Club Atletico San Lorenzo di Almagro, best known for running the San Lorenzo soccer team of which Pope Francis is an avid fan. The New York-based Trump, along with business partner Alessandro Proto, has sent a statement of interest to San Lorenzo, a source close to the…

MORE HEYMAN >>> RANKING THE TOP 30 MLB DEALS OF 2015 With all their great young position stars, reasonable payroll and sky-high revenue, perhaps no one is more well-positioned for the future than the Cubs. But guess what? They are doing a lot better now than anyone could have imagined, very likely including them. The Cubs are 73-53, and while that’s the fourth-best record in baseball, it’s only the third-best…