World Sports

Xavier fans can barely watch as the game is tied during the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis Sunday, March 20, 2016. Xavier lost 66-63.(Photo: Cara Owsley) We need a witch doctor and fast. Someone call Father Merrin. Cincinnati sports is Linda Blair, the bed is levitating, the head is doing a 360. Mother, make it stop. We are cursed. This is plain….

The Twitter account for ESPN’s SportsCenter sent out a tweet Sunday about Fidel Castro’s love of sports that was criticized for painting the Cuban dictator in a positive light. “Savior and scourge, Fidel Castro was many things to many people,” the now-deleted tweet read. “One thing all can agree on: He loved his sports.” Shockingly, a lot of people on Twitter didn’t appreciate SportCenter‘s humanization of a brutal despot. So…

Novak Djokovic has sparked controversy by claiming that men should be awarded more prize money than women after similar comments from the chief executive of Indian Wells, Raymond Moore. Related: Novak Djokovic the slick diplomat gets equality debate horribly wrong | Kevin Mitchell The world No1 and 11-time grand slam winner said women deserved the money they got, but men should be rewarded with more because their game attracted more…

Four Russian track-and-field athletes have tested positive for the banned drug meldonium, Russia’s athletics chief said on Monday, a disclosure that further undermines Moscow’s efforts to overturn a doping ban in time for the Rio Olympics. At least 16 Russian sportsmen and women, including the world tennis star Maria Sharapova and the speed skating Olympic gold-medallist Semion Elistratov, have been caught using meldonium since it was banned by the World…

Bruce Springsteen looked out on Saturday’s sold-out crowd at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. They were all witnesses for the last show to be performed there. “This is it!” he shouted. “They’re expecting us to tear it down tonight.” The 56-year-old arena will indeed be torn down to make way for a soccer stadium in Exposition Park. But for one last night, the place that Springsteen nicknamed “The Dump…

Plenty of Bruce Springsteen songs are about destruction — of towns, dreams, loves and hopes. But few other tunes seemed as appropriate for the occasion on Saturday as when The Boss introduced “Wrecking Ball.” “We gotta play this one for the old building,” Springsteen said during the final show at the soon-to-be-demolished L.A. Memorial Sports Arena. “We’re gonna miss this place, it’s a great place to play rock ‘n’ roll.”…

The Twitter account for ESPN’s SportsCenter sent out a tweet Sunday about Fidel Castro’s love of sports that was criticized for painting the Cuban dictator in a positive light. “Savior and scourge, Fidel Castro was many things to many people,” the now-deleted tweet read. “One thing all can agree on: He loved his sports.” Shockingly, a lot of people on Twitter didn’t appreciate SportCenter‘s humanization of a brutal despot. So…

Plenty of Bruce Springsteen songs are about destruction — of towns, dreams, loves and hopes. But few other tunes seemed as appropriate for the occasion on Saturday as when The Boss introduced “Wrecking Ball.” “We gotta play this one for the old building,” Springsteen said during the final show at the soon-to-be-demolished L.A. Memorial Sports Arena. “We’re gonna miss this place, it’s a great place to play rock ‘n’ roll.”…

Plenty of Bruce Springsteen songs are about destruction — of towns, dreams, loves and hopes. But few other tunes seemed as appropriate for the occasion on Saturday as when The Boss introduced “Wrecking Ball.” “We gotta play this one for the old building,” Springsteen said during the final show at the soon-to-be-demolished L.A. Memorial Sports Arena. “We’re gonna miss this place, it’s a great place to play rock ‘n’ roll.”…

The Twitter account for ESPN’s SportsCenter sent out a tweet Sunday about Fidel Castro’s love of sports that was criticized for painting the Cuban dictator in a positive light. “Savior and scourge, Fidel Castro was many things to many people,” the now-deleted tweet read. “One thing all can agree on: He loved his sports.” Shockingly, a lot of people on Twitter didn’t appreciate SportCenter‘s humanization of a brutal despot. So…

While sitting in press minutes after her finals loss at Indian Wells, Serena Williams blasted the event’s tournament director, Raymond Moore, who was under fire Sunday for making outdated, sexist comments before the match. Moore insinuated the survival of women’s tennis depends on male stars such as Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, comments that were especially absurd given that the biggest tennis star in America was about to take the court….

CHICAGO – In the State of Illinois, were truly on the outside looking in when it comes to the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament. While others around the nation take part in the madness, no team in the state was able to qualify as one of the 68 teams that got to take part in the Big Dance. It’s a shame, because what a tournament it has been. Upsets and buzzer-beaters…

BOSTON (CBS) — The MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference hit a milestone last weekend, as terrific minds and ideas came together for the 10th year of the event at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The growth of the conference has been remarkable since its launch by Rockets GM Daryl Morey and Kraft Sports Group vice president Jessica Gelman back in 2006. One hundred people took part in the first…

Comic Eddie Izzard has completed 27 marathons in 27 days in South Africa He has raised more than £1million for Sport Relief with incredible challenge 54-year-old started at Mbashe Bridge near Mandela’s birth town of Mvezo He completed two marathons today to finish the epic challenge in Pretoria By Emma Glanfield for MailOnline Published: 13:28 EST, 20 March 2016 | Updated: 16:33 EST, 20 March 2016 56 View comments Comedian…

Supporters look down on the Standing for Religious Freedom Rally at the state Capitol last year. If the bill is passed by Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, it will jeopardize Atlanta getting the Super Bowl and other major sports events. (Brant Sanderlin / bsanderlin@ajc.com) There have been many times when I’ve stepped into the dark underworld of social media to comment on a subject unrelated to bats, balls or the SEC…

Rosberg took his fourth race victory in a row Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg won a dramatic Australian Grand Prix, after a huge crash for McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. A bad start dropped Lewis Hamilton from pole to sixth but he fought to second. Rosberg took advantage when the race was stopped following Alonso’s high-speed barrel-roll to switch strategy and overhaul early leader Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Vettel’s strategy gamble on super-soft tyres mid-race…

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — The San Antonio Spurs continued their dominance at home, even against the NBA’s most dominant team. LaMarcus Aldridge had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and the Spurs beat the Golden State Warriors 87-79 on Saturday night to remain perfect at the AT&T Center this season and extend their home winning streak over the defending champions to 33 straight regular-season games. The Spurs held the Warriors to…

Caption Close SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Look how cute, the 5-year-old boy wearing a Walter Payton shirt with a plastic helmet and pads, stiff-arming his little playmates the way Sweetness did. His only dream was to be a football player. Growing up in Indiana, he wanted to wear the green of Notre Dame, then become a Chicago Bear. Jeff Samardzija lived half the dream, becoming an All-America receiver, catching passes and…

The new qualifying format was heavily criticised after an anti-climatic and confusing session on Saturday Formula 1 bosses have agreed to ditch the controversial new elimination qualifying system for the next race. The previous system will be re-introduced for the Bahrain Grand Prix on 1-3 April after criticism of the new knock-out format at the season’s first race in Australia on Saturday. The teams made a unanimous decision at a…

They write books about sports curses in other cities, Chicago with the billy goat and Boston with the Bambino. Cincinnati doesn’t have literature to assuage its pain. It does have this tweet, however, from sports talk show host Mo Egger: How many more kicks to the balls do we have to take? — Mo Egger (@MoEgger1530) March 19, 2016 MORE: Top photos from NCAA’s first round | Interactive bracket That…