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South Carolina coach Chad Holbrook expects two-sport athlete Brandon McIlwain to be back with the baseball team in January. “He’s preparing to be with us,” Holbrook said. “He’s excited about playing baseball here.” McIlwain, from Newtown, Pa., was viewed a potential high-round pick in the 2016 MLB draft before opting to attend USC to play football and baseball. The true freshman has played in seven games as a quarterback for…

Baseball season is done. The urge may strike to visit a ballpark, but you’ll find them empty, waiting for the action to return in spring. As always, I conclude my column for the year with a recommendation to help you get through the winter and satisfy that longing for mano-a-mano action while cheering for your favorites during the frosty days to come. All you have to do is pay a…

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – For three days, the brain trusts of all 30 Major League Baseball teams gathered at a ritzy resort in this wealthy desert suburb and tried to find common ground. The start of a baseball offseason is traditionally slow, and in a year when a new collective bargaining agreement is due, the action was even quieter. …

By Larry Fine Nov 10 (Reuters) – The Atlanta Braves agreed to a one-year deal with former Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey on Thursday in a move foreshadowing what could be a lively offseason of wheeling and dealing in Major League Baseball. From the newly-crowned champion Chicago Cubs, facing the possible loss of free agents, to teams pondering a rebuilding effort, MLB’s 30 clubs will be jockeying for talent…

ESPN NBA analyst Jalen Rose thinks some professional athletes, especially those in the NBA, who are invited to the White House to be recognized for winning championships will skip the festivities because Donald Trump will be president. After Trump won the presidential election on Tuesday, there has been talk about how sports teams will handle the tradition of visiting the executive office. The Cleveland Cavaliers are scheduled to…

The 2015 Florida Gators women’s national championship gymnastics team.Tony Gutierrez/AP The University of Florida has the most dominant athletics program in the country. Business Insider has compiled a list of the schools that run the most dominating sports programs from top to bottom. To create the ranking we used data from the last three years of the Capital One Cup (which ranks how well schools do in all sports each…

RELATED: Driver moves and team changes for 2017 Richard Petty Motorsports announced Thursday that NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Brian Scott will retire from full-time auto racing competition at season’s end. Scott, 28, began his NASCAR national series career in 2007. He is currently a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate in his first year driving team owner Richard Petty’s No. 44 Ford. In a release provided by the Petty…

The next savior of U.S. men’s soccer is here. The question is how long he can survive in that role. In what is practically an annual rite for U.S. soccer, a homegrown boy wonder is being touted as a sure-fire bet to become a worldwide star. Adding fuel to the hype machine is that unlike those who came before, 18-year-old Christian Pulisic can…

Doctors may soon be able to stop soccer matches and review instant replays to evaluate on-field collisions for potential concussions, under a proposal that could be approved next year. As the Associated Press reports, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), FIFA’s rules organization, will meet in March to decide on the measure, amid heightened concerns over the dangers posed by head injuries. Under a measure passed by FIFA in 2014, referees…

The NASCAR community always has a way of coming together in someone’s time of need. That continued on Wednesday when many members from various NASCAR teams attended Jake Leatherman’s funeral in Hickory, North Carolina, per a request from his mother, Crystal. Jake lost his battle with juvenile myelomoncytic leukemia last Tuesday after a long battle with the disease. 5-year-old Jake became a huge NASCAR fan during his difficult fight, falling…

The former Guardian and Observer journalist Patrick Rowley has been awarded a British Empire Medal for services to hockey after a lifetime covering and promoting the sport. Rowley, who was previously honoured by the International Sports Press Association as the only known journalist to cover both the 1948 and 2012 London Olympic Games, was presented with the medal at a ceremony held at the Tower of London on Friday 4…

x Embed x Share Hall of Fame quarterback says he would ‘like nothing more’ than to see Tebow become a Major League Baseball player. USA TODAY Sports Tim Tebow is following his baseball dream with the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League.(Photo: Mark J. Rebilas, USA TODAY Sports) SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — This week, a month after Tim Tebow made his debut in the Arizona Fall League as a member…

Kelly Ripa had a good connection with Kyle Schwarber — until she threw him a ball. The Cubs catcher/outfielder visited “Live with Kelly” Thursday morning to discuss the team’s World Series victory with Ripa and guest co-host Alex Rodriguez. Ripa and Schwarber hit it off immediately.  He gave her a Cubs hat, and she complimented his dimple. “I gotta tell you, you have the cutest dimple,” Ripa said. “I just want to, like,…

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USA TODAY Sports’ Lorenzo Reyes looks at the three biggest story lines heading into this week. USA TODAY Sports

LeBron James wants to reflexively tell you that “you’re not supposed to be here” this season. In many ways, what LeBron wants to tell you about himself in his new Nike commercial is wrong. You’re not supposed to be here? You were on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school junior, LeBron — this is exactly where you’re supposed to be. But in one significant way, LeBron is…

Doctors may soon be able to stop soccer matches and review instant replays to evaluate on-field collisions for potential concussions, under a proposal that could be approved next year. As the Associated Press reports, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), FIFA’s rules organization, will meet in March to decide on the measure, amid heightened concerns over the dangers posed by head injuries. Under a measure passed by FIFA in 2014, referees…

The next savior of U.S. men’s soccer is here. The question is how long he can survive in that role. In what is practically an annual rite for U.S. soccer, a homegrown boy wonder is being touted as a sure-fire bet to become a worldwide star. Adding fuel to the hype machine is that unlike those who came before, 18-year-old Christian Pulisic can…

Historic Hockenheimring road course will host NASCAR Whelen Euro Series stock cars for first time in 2017. Since its inception as the Racecar Euro-Series and later to the NASCAR Whelen Euro-Series, NASCAR’s only European-based stock car division has grown every year since the series began in 2009. One clear sign of the growth of the series is the recent announcement that the series will make its first visit…

The NASCAR community always has a way of coming together in someone’s time of need. That continued on Wednesday when many members from various NASCAR teams attended Jake Leatherman’s funeral in Hickory, North Carolina, per a request from his mother, Crystal. Jake lost his battle with juvenile myelomoncytic leukemia last Tuesday after a long battle with the disease. 5-year-old Jake became a huge NASCAR fan during his difficult fight, falling…