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4:30 PM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment TORONTO — Alex Ovechkin did not blink Tuesday, saying he still intends to play in the Olympic Games for Russia next year regardless of the NHL’s announcement that it was pulling the plug. “Yeah, I didn’t change my mind and I won’t,” the Washington Capitals superstar captain told a huge media scrum after the morning skate at Air Canada…

Second-year Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott has three top-five finishes, has led 169 laps and is second points. The stats for his teammates are nowhere near as good. Kasey Kahne: one top five, 7 laps led, 12th in points. Jimmie Johnson: zero top fives, 28 laps led, 14th in points. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: zero top fives, 8 laps led, 25th in points.

Leicester City fans love to sing “Jamie Vardy is having a party,” but little do they know the star striker quite literally almost became a party promoter. Foxes manager Craig Shakespeare said Vardy considered quitting playing soccer for a life of promoting parties in Ibiza. It was the 2012/13 season, Vardy’s first with Leicester after arriving from Fleetwood Town, and the forward was having trouble finding much success. Having mustered four goals…

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in the mood for a little reminiscing Monday, thinking back to Tuesday’s date and the site of this weekend’s NASCAR races. It was on April 4, 1998, that Earnhardt got his first career victory on NASCAR’s secondary series — Xfinity today but known as the Busch Grand National Series back then — at Texas Motor Speedway in 1998. To commemorate the 19th anniversary, Earnhardt, 42, tweeted…

After 14 years with the Dallas Cowboys, Tony Romo has decided to hang up his cleats and head for the broadcast booth. CBS Sports chairman Sean McManus announced Tuesday that Romo will be joining the network’s NFL team for the upcoming season.  The former Cowboys quarterback will be the lead NFL game analyst at CBS, where he’ll be paired with lead announcer Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson on…

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Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment What will be the most notable fallout from the NHL’s decision not to go to the Olympics? Craig Custance: As much as the NHL said it considered this case closed, there are definitely people on the players’ side who haven’t given up hope that an 11th-hour deal can still be struck. So perhaps the fallout is that the NHLPA or IOC will…

Given that the vast majority of the NASCAR industry lives and works in the Metro Charlotte area, there was much rejoicing Monday night when North Carolina defeated Gonzaga 71-65 in Phoenix to win the NCAA men’s college basketball championship. NASCAR XFINITY Series regular Elliott Sadler was at the game with his spotter Brett Griffin. Cora Sadler, the daughter of Elliott’s brother Hermie,  is one of the North Carolina…

This story appears in the April 10 issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. To subscribe, click here. Justin Jackson reached for the rim with “god’s” written on the heel of his left shoe and “will” written on the heel of his right, but the junior forward was here, about to clinch North Carolina’s sixth national championship, because of a guard’s will. Joel Berry II had two sprained ankles, but he was…

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The University at Buffalo’s decision Monday to eliminate four sports teams won’t reduce the amount students pay to support Division I athletics at UB. It could take three to four years to see the $2 million in savings anticipated from cutting baseball, men’s soccer, women’s rowing and men’s swimming and diving, UB President Satish K. Tripathi told The Buffalo News. He did not expect the remaining 16 UB sports team…

8:57 PM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment For weeks we’ve been chiding the NHL for pussyfooting around the Olympics-participation issue. We knew NHL owners hated the Olympics. And we heard over and over about how we shouldn’t assume the NHL was going to agree to show up in South Korea for the 2018 Olympics. But, come on, this was all about leverage, right? About the owners…

Pump the brakes on a partnership between Bellator and NASCAR. NASCAR says it does not have a partnership with Bellator after the MMA promotion announced earlier today that it had partnered with NASCAR and Monster Energy to bring fights to four racing events later this year during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season. “NASCAR does not have a partnership with Bellator,” NASCAR told USA TODAY Sports’ Brant James. ESPN reported…

Can we talk about how well stage racing has gone for NASCAR this season? Oh, you don’t agree? That’s OK. Bear with me for a moment and let’s see if I can convince you of one of the best additions to big time stock car racing in recent memory. And I’ll be honest. As a moderate NASCAR traditionalist, I’m always hesitant to change, just because the sanctioning body…

RELATED: Read more Inside Groove Talk about being sent to voicemail. Dale Earnhardt Jr. declined a post-race phone call from pal and neighbor Ryan Blaney after the two were involved in an on-track incident Sunday at Martinsville, and then let the whole world know about it — or at least his more than two million Twitter followers. Too soon ol boy. @BubbaWallace @Blaney #StillSprint #Declined #BYOB pic.twitter.com/81Dq340aVO — Dale Earnhardt…

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Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment ESPN has issued new political and election guidelines for its employees that, while allowing for political discussion on the network’s platforms, recommend connecting those comments to sports whenever possible. The new policies also provide separate guidelines for ESPN staffers working on news and those engaging in commentary. The timing of the release of the election guidelines is a bit unusual — such…

TUESDAY ON TV BOXING 9 p.m. FS1 — Premier Champions, Edner Cherry vs. Omar Douglas, at Bethleham, Pa. MLB BASEBALL 8 p.m. MLB — Chicago Cubs at St. Louis OR Cleveland at Texas PRO BASKETBALL 7 p.m. Fox Ohio — Orlando at Cleveland 8 p.m. ESPN — Milwaukee at Oklahoma City 10:30 p.m. ESPN — Minnesota at Golden State PRO HOCKEY 7 p.m. NBCSN — Tampa Bay at Boston 8…

8:57 PM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment For weeks we’ve been chiding the NHL for pussyfooting around the Olympics-participation issue. We knew NHL owners hated the Olympics. And we heard over and over about how we shouldn’t assume the NHL was going to agree to show up in South Korea for the 2018 Olympics. But, come on, this was all about leverage, right? About the owners…

The Olympic rings symbol is seen in Gangneung, near the venue for the ice hockey events, as preparations continue for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images The Olympic rings symbol is seen in Gangneung, near the venue for the ice hockey events, as preparations continue for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty…