World Sports

You’ve seen gymnastics, Cirque du Soleil and even yoga. Combine all of those and even add elements of other sports and you get pole fitness. “It’s an art as well as fitness basically we refer to it as vertical gymnastics,” says pole fitness competitor Nikki Schoettler. “If they’ve done yoga, it’s like yoga in the sky. If they’ve done it’s like cheerleading, it’s like cheerleading on a vertical pole,” adds…

SACRAMENTO — As Rhode Island players took the floor for their school’s first NCAA tournament game in 18 years, a few looked up into the stands to see a surprise visitor: Former Rams star and NBA veteran Lamar Odom. None of them had ever seen him in person. It was kind of a big deal. “Our kids went crazy when they saw him,” said Rhode Island assistant Jim Carr. “We’ll…

First Thursday coverage is third most-watched since 1991 with average of 8.2 million viewers NCAA March Madness Live generated an all-time record with 31 million live streams, up +26 percent vs. 2016 Turner and CBS Sports’ 2017 NCAA tournament coverage is delivering audience increases across all platforms. Live game coverage across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV, including the First Four and first Thursday games, is averaging 7.8…

Word spread quickly on Thursday that Tom got fired. To you, he is Tom Crean, basketball coach: fired from Indiana after nine years. He is a name, a coaching record, a caricature, a nickname, a salary, funny line on Twitter or at the office. His family does not see him that way, of course. And so, while the rest of the country debated the merits of Crean’s two outright Big…

Kate Upton knows exactly what she wants to see Justin Verlander in on his next Sports Illustrated cover — a Speedo. “I would love that, I would love that!” she told E! News on Thursday. Upton, 24, appears on all three covers of this year’s Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue. But as her fiancé, 34, recently pointed out on Instagram, he beat her to the prestigious honor when he…

AVONDALE, Az. — It was a strange day at Phoenix Raceway Friday, when Kyle Busch and Joey Logano met with NASCAR officials to discuss their crash and mini-brawl at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last week. Afterward, Busch was asked about half a dozen questions by reporters. His answers to all of them were this, with slight variations in words used: “Everything’s great. Looking forward to getting back to the…

First Thursday coverage is third most-watched since 1991 with average of 8.2 million viewers NCAA March Madness Live generated an all-time record with 31 million live streams, up +26 percent vs. 2016 Turner and CBS Sports’ 2017 NCAA tournament coverage is delivering audience increases across all platforms. Live game coverage across TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV, including the First Four and first Thursday games, is averaging 7.8…

Former bantamweight title contender Michael McDonald has been released from his contract with the UFC. UFC officials confirmed McDonald’s release to FOX Sports on Friday following an initial report from ESPN. According to McDonald, he asked for his release due to “dishonest” business practices by the UFC and the promotion granted his request to leave the organization. McDonald hasn’t fought since last July when he suffered a knockout loss to…

CBS Sports and Turner Sports announced tip times and matchups for Second Round coverage of the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday, March 18 (noon-midnight ET), with all games available in their entirety across four national television networks — TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV — and via NCAA March Madness Live. Exclusive live coverage will continue with first round action on Friday, March 17, beginning at noon….

Both the Cavaliers (vs. UNC-Wilmington) and Gators (vs. East Tennessee State) were trendy upset picks, but each survived and now face each other. For the Cavs, the key to beating Florida could be junior guard Marial Shayok. Virginia has been looking for a second scorer all year, and they got one in Shayok on Thursday, who put up a career-high 23 points. They’ll need a similar effort against a potent Florida…

Buy Photo Space Coast Sports Commission Chairman Tom Williamson said one advantage Brevard County has in attracting youth and other amateur sports events is being near the beaches and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.(Photo: CRAIG BAILEY/FLORIDA TODAY FILE PHOTO)Buy Photo The Space Coast Sports Commission has unanimously approved a new grant policy to attract youth and other amateur sports events to Brevard County. The policy will tie potential grants…

The year 2016 was big for sports in India with Olympic wins and the T-20 World Cup getting locals to tune into their television sets and mobile phones. It was an even bigger year for sports-related sponsorship, including team sponsorships, rights for on-air and on-ground advertising, franchise fees, endorsements and media spends. The total amount spent on sports sponsorship in 2016 was Rs6,400 crore ($941 million), up 19.3% from Rs5,363…

Leicester have not beaten Atletico in their four previous meetings Leicester City have been drawn against Spanish side Atletico Madrid in their maiden Champions League quarter-final. The Premier League champions progressed to the last eight by beating Spanish title-chasers Sevilla 3-2 on aggregate. Leicester will play the first leg against last year’s beaten finalists away from home on 11 or 12 April, with the return leg on 18 or 19…

March Madness created a lot of CBS hatred just before the first game Thursday in the NCAA basketball championship tournament. Thousands of fans who waited until the final minutes to fill out their brackets on CBSSports.com were denied their picks. And it wasn’t just their picks for tournament-starter Notre Dame versus Princeton, but for all their picks in the four brackets. The CBS site crashed around 11 a.m. EDT and…

VisitPittsburgh wants to up its game. And for one, that means renewing a bid to create a sports commission to help attract big sporting events like the Super Bowl and the NCAA basketball tournament to Pittsburgh. The local tourism group has reintroduced legislation in the state General Assembly to create the commission after a similar bill died at the end of the last session. …

Both the Cavaliers (vs. UNC-Wilmington) and Gators (vs. East Tennessee State) were trendy upset picks, but each survived and now face each other. For the Cavs, the key to beating Florida could be junior guard Marial Shayok. Virginia has been looking for a second scorer all year, and they got one in Shayok on Thursday, who put up a career-high 23 points. They’ll need a similar effort against a potent Florida…

Hall of Fame to induct four The Johnston County Athletic Hall of Fame will induct the class of 2017 during a ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 25, at Clayton High School. This year’s honorees are: Travis Stephenson – Clayton High School. Van Weeks – Cleveland High School. Darryl Lucas – Smithfield-Selma High School. James Cole – South Johnston High School. Tickets are available at all Johnston County high schools….

David Madison/Getty Images If you want to watch sports highlights on your phone, there are lots of sites and platforms that make it easy. But none is more now than House of Highlights. The bombastic, occasionally NSFW Instagram account is the hottest thing going, due in no small part to the dedication of its 22-year-old founder, Omar Raja. “He’s honestly like the modern SportsCenter, or the young person’s SportsCenter,” says…