(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Philadelphia 133, Houston 113
Washington 124, Charlotte 121
Memphis 118, Brooklyn 104
Detroit 115, Milwaukee 106
Chicago 102, Orlando 98
Utah 115, New Orleans 104
Dallas 103, Denver 89
Golden State 115, Miami 108
Portland 136, Atlanta 131
Minnesota 122, LA Clippers 104
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
NY Rangers 4, Edmonton 1
Carolina at Toronto (Postponed)
Minnesota at Ottawa (Postponed)
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Pittsburgh 26, Cleveland 14
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Wisconsin 74, Purdue 69
Arizona 95, Washington 79
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Toronto 120, New York 105
Sacramento 115, Miami 113
Cleveland 108, Indiana 104
Boston 116 Orlando 111 (OT)
Dallas 95, Oklahoma City 86
Phoenix 133, Charlotte 99
LA Lakers 108, Minnesota 103
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
NY Rangers 4, Tampa Bay 0
Pittsburgh 8, San Jose 5
Boston 5, Detroit 1
Colorado 4, Anaheim 2
New Jersey 4, Washington 3 (OT)
Winnipeg 5 Vegas 4 (OT)
Calgary 5, Chicago 1
Dallas at Arizona (Postponed)
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Buffalo 29, Atlanta 15
Chicago 29, NY Giants 3
Cincinnati 34, Kansas City 31
LA Rams 20, Baltimore 19
Las Vegas 23, Indianapolis 20
New England 50, Jacksonville 10
Philadelphia 20, Washington 16
Tampa Bay 28, NY Jets 24
Tennessee 34, Miami 3
LA Chargers 34, Denver 13
San Francisco 23, Houston 7
Arizona 25, Dallas 22
New Orleans 18, Carolina 10
Seattle 51, Detroit 29
Green Bay 37, Minnesota 10
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Michigan St. 73, Northwestern 67
Houston 66, Temple 61
Ohio St. 87, Nebraska 79
Arizona at Southern Cal (Postponed)
(NEW YORK) — The NBA and National Basketball Players Association have agreed on new health and safety protocols that would further shorten the timetable for asymptomatic and vaccinated players to return to play after a positive COVID-19 test, league sources told ESPN on Friday.
Previously, such players could be cleared from protocols after seven days if testing data showed that their cycle threshold (CT) levels were above 35, but the new protocols would allow players to return after five days if their CT levels are above 30, league sources said.
CT levels can help indicate how infectious an individual might be, and a CT level of 30 is considered fainter than, say, 20.
The move should help replenish rosters that have been decimated by COVID-19 as the omicron variant rages through the league. As of Friday morning, 260 players total have entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols this season, including 247 in December alone. Nine head coaches have also entered protocols in December, and 11 games have been postponed.
(NEW YORK) — As athletes returned to the playing field and fans returned to the stands, there was some level of normalcy in the sports world in 2021.
Still, COVID-19 left its mark on athletics this year — from the empty venues at the delayed Tokyo Olympics to controversies over vaccination with players like Aaron Rodgers and Kyrie Irving.
COVID wasn’t the only way health was spotlighted in sports in 2021, though. Stars like Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles brought renewed attention to mental health as well. While not a sports moment, the health of all-time golf great Tiger Woods made worldwide headlines after he was seriously injured in a car accident in February.
When it came to winning trophies, it was a very good year to be a Tampa sports fan.
Here’s a look at the top 10 moments in sports from 2021, in reverse order:
10. Lightning win back-to-back Stanley Cups (July 7)
The first of two Tampa Bay championships on this list came from the Lightning, which won its second straight Stanley Cup and denied the Montreal Canadiens’ pursuit of the first Canadian championship since 1993. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the series MVP with a shutout in the Stanley Cup-clinching Game 5. Pat Maroon, who played for the Stanley Cup-winning St. Louis Blues in 2019, also became the first player to win three straight titles in almost 40 years.
9. Braves win the World Series (Nov. 2)
The Braves meandered through an unremarkable 2021 season, sitting at or below .500 into August. When Ronald Acuña Jr., the team’s superstar outfielder, blew out his knee on July 10 there were no expectations Atlanta would make the playoffs, let alone win the World Series. But the Braves snuck into the postseason by winning the lowly NL East with just 88 wins — the lowest of any team in the playoffs. And then the magic happened. They first knocked off the 95-win Brewers and shocked the juggernaut Dodgers in the NLCS. MVP Jorge Solar’s magic at the plate, including a homer leading off the World Series and a game-winning blast in Game 4, carried Atlanta to its first title since 1995.
8. US dream team wins women’s 4-x-400 meter relay gold (Aug. 7)
Track aficionados will tell you the 4-x-400 meter relay is the best event of any track meet. So when the U.S. women’s team strode to the track in Tokyo at the biggest meet in five years it was hard not to get giddy. The runners were a dream team across multiple disciplines — all of whom dominated in their own individual events. Sydney McLaughlin, who had already set a world record in the 400-meter hurdles, led off the relay. She handed the baton to the legendary Allyson Felix, who passed it off to former 400-meter hurdle world record holder and 2016 gold medalist Dalilah Muhammad. Muhammad made the final pass to 19-year-old sensation Athing Mu, who had torched the competition for gold in the 800 meters in Tokyo and brought home the relay win by 4 seconds. It was a breathtaking display of American dominance. The gold was also Felix’s 11th Olympic medal — the most by any U.S. track and field athlete.
7. Emma Raducanu wins battle of the teens at US Open (Sept. 11)
Britain’s Emma Raducanu came into the U.S. Open in the qualifier bracket, but she left as women’s tennis’ new teenage sensation. The 18-year-old wasn’t even born on 9/11 — the U.S. Open women’s final was played on the 20th anniversary of the attacks — but neither was her opponent for the title: 19-year-old Canadian Leylah Fernandez. It was a most unexpected final in the last major of the year, but that made for edge-of-your-seat drama throughout the three weeks in Queens. Fernandez first garnered headlines for upsetting Naomi Osaka, whose breakdown during and after the match sparked new discussion of mental health and sports, before beating two top-5 opponents in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Raducanu bounced back from a mid-match panic attack at Wimbledon to not drop a set the entire tournament.
6. Bryce Young rallies Alabama to beat Auburn in four OTs (Nov. 27)
The Iron Bowl wasn’t supposed to be close this year, but the Tigers’ stifling defense gave them a 10-3 lead with 1:35 left in the game and the Crimson Tide pinned at their own 3-yard line. It was just the type of Heisman moment sophomore quarterback Bryce Young needed. He led them 97 yards, spreading the ball around to Alabama’s arsenal of offensive weapons, culminating with a beautiful 28-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Corey Brooks with 24 seconds left to play to tie the game. In the third and fourth overtimes, Young found star receiver John Metchie III for two-point conversions and a 24-22 win. We’ll have to wait until New Year’s Eve to see if Young can lead Alabama to the title game in 2022.
5. Gonzaga beats UCLA at the buzzer in the Final Four (April 3)
In one of the greatest basketball games in Final Four history, Gonzaga and UCLA traded blows for a chance to head to the national championship game. The undefeated Bulldogs were a big favorite against No. 11 seed UCLA, but the Bruins answered every score. Bruins guard Johnny Juzang had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but was called for an offensive foul. The game went to overtime tied 81-81 when All-American Drew Timme took over. He scored three quick baskets in the post for the Zags who pulled ahead to 87-83. But UCLA stuck with it. Down two with 3 seconds left, Juzang missed a floater in the lane but got his own rebound and put it back in to tie the game. Off the make, Jalen Suggs, a freshman phenom and eventual top-5 NBA draft pick, took the inbound pass for Gonzaga, crossed midcourt and threw up a prayer that he banked in for the walk-off win. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the Baylor Bears ruined their dream season two days later with a dominant, upset title win.
4. Suni Lee steps up to win gold in all-around (July 29)
The Tokyo Olympics were supposed to be Simone Biles’ time to cement herself as the greatest gymnast of all-time. Her struggles to perform still stole the headlines, but an 18-year-old from Minnesota stole the competition. When Biles dropped out of the individual all-around, despite being the No. 1 qualifier, the hopes of the U.S. fell on Suni Lee’s shoulders. The U.S. had won the individual all-around at the last four Olympics, so there was no small amount of pressure on Lee. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, the highest qualifier remaining, took first in her best discipline: the vault. Lee took first in her best discipline: the uneven bars. The gold medal came down to the fourth rotation: the floor. Lee performed admirably, but Andrade was the last to go. After stepping out twice on tumbling passes, Lee knew she had become the fifth straight American gold medalist.
3. Giannis goes for 50 as Bucks win the NBA title (July 20)
Giannis Antetokounmpo already had a league MVP, multiple All-Star appearances and a killer nickname (“The Greek Freak”), but he simultaneously became an NBA champion and a worldwide superstar when he dropped 50 points on the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the Finals. Antetokounmpo became just the seventh player in NBA history to score 50 in an NBA Finals game and that was after a pair of 40-point games earlier in the series. He also became the first person to score 50 in a clinching Finals game. The same series saw the ascension to stardom for the Suns’ Devin Booker — who had 40-point performances in Games 4 and 5 — but it was Giannis’ Game 6 performance that will live in history.
2. Simone Biles overcomes obstacles to compete on beam (Aug. 3)
Simone Biles is used to winning gold, but it was a bronze medal that captured the attention of the world in Tokyo. After getting a case of “the twisties” — a term gymnasts use to explain getting lost in midair — and struggling with her mental health, it appeared as though Biles’ Olympics were slipping away with each event she dropped. She dropped out of the team all-around midway through and then removed herself from the individual all-around and event finals in the vault and floor. Heading into Tokyo, she was expected to win gold in all of them with relative ease. She dropped the uneven bars as well, not her strongest apparatus, but announced she would compete in the last event of the Olympics: the balance beam. She wasn’t at her competitive best, but she called the bronze her proudest accomplishment nonetheless.
1. Brady goes it alone, leads Bucs to Super Bowl win (Feb. 7)
Author F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously wrote “there are no second acts in American lives.” Tom Brady surely would’ve helped him change his mind. The future Hall of Famer shocked the NFL — and countless Patriots fans — by exiting New England to sign with Tampa Bay prior to the 2020-2021 season. It was a gamble to leave Bill Belichick in the dust, but one that paid off. Brady’s first season was an up-and-down affair, but the team secured a wild card berth and hit its stride in the playoffs. The Super Bowl itself, played in Tampa, turned into a one-sided affair thanks to a porous Kansas City offensive line and, of course, a commanding performance by Brady (21-for-29, 201 yards, three touchdowns) and his former Patriot running mate Rob Gronkowski (two touchdowns). Away from Belichick and the New England machine, Brady’s seventh title was one of a kind.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Boston 111, Cleveland 101
Orlando 104, Atlanta 98
Oklahoma City 108, Denver 94
Milwaukee 126, Houston 106
LA Clippers 105, Sacramento 89
Toronto at Chicago (Postponed)
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Colorado at Buffalo (Postponed)
Montreal at NY Rangers (Postponed)
Winnipeg at Dallas (Postponed)
Edmonton at Los Angeles (Postponed)
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Duke 76, Virginia Tech 65
Tennessee 77, Arizona 73
Auburn 71, Murray St. 58
Houston 80, Texas St. 47
Texas 68, Alabama St. 48
LSU 95, Lipscomb 60
Kentucky 95, W. Kentucky 60
Texas Tech 78, E. Washington 46
Cal Poly at UCLA (Canceled)
Louisville at Kentucky (Postponed)
Georgetown at Providence (Canceled)
(WASHINGTON) — A New Jersey man posed as a New England Patriots player to fraudulently obtain family Super Bowl LI rings, intended to be purchased by family members of Patriots players, the Justice Department said.
The New England Patriots overcame a 28-3 deficit with the Atlanta Falcons to win the 2017 Super Bowl, in what court documents say was considered one of the greatest comebacks ever.
After the game, players received Super Bowl rings — and Scott Spina Jr. wanted to buy one of the rings family members could get, prosecutors said. He contacted a member of the team and gave him a check which, court documents said, Spina knew he didn’t have enough money in his account to cover.
Spina pleaded guilty on Monday, according to the Justice Department.
As a result of obtaining the ring, he allegedly got login information from the ring company to purchase more “family rings” — designed for family and friends of players of the winning team.
Spina allegedly called the ring company, presented himself as the former player he bought the rings from and asked if he could purchase more.
“I want to get uh the quarterback a present for his baby…for the son,” Spina told a representative of the ring company, according to court documents.
The quarterback he referred to is seven-time Super Bowl champion and five-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, prosecutors said.
The rings had Brady’s name on them and Spina confirmed that he wanted the quarterback’s name on it with the ring company, prosecutors said.
The Justice Department suggested that because Brady’s name was on the rings, they were worth more when Spina resold them.
The rings were a bit smaller than the Super Bowl rings players received.
Spina flipped the rings and made $100,000 on selling the rings before they were sold at auction for over $330,000, prosecutors said.
(ORLANDO, Fla.) — Just months after sustaining serious injuries in a car accident, Tiger Woods made his return to competitive golf on Friday.
Woods, who suffered comminuted open fractures to his right tibia and fibia in February, hit the links with his 12-year-old son, Charlie.
The father-son duo finished in second place behind John Daly and his son John Daly II at the PNC Championship, a tournament in Orlando, Florida, that allows former major champions to compete alongside their family members.
“To be out here with my son like this, it’s the best,” he said in an interview with the Golf Channel. “We’re here to have fun.”
Woods played with his son in the tournament for the first time last year, finishing seventh out of 20 pairs.
Woods, 45, told Golf Digest last month that the idea of playing with Charlie has been a motivating factor in his recovery. Charlie is the golfer’s youngest child with his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren; the former couple also share a 14-year-old daughter, Sam.
For Woods, who has won the Masters five times and the PGA Championship four times, seeing his son follow in his footsteps has been a gratifying experience. He’s also been able to impart some of the wisdom he’s picked up from his years as a golfer.
“I went to golf tournaments to watch him play, and I’m looking at some of these scores he’s shooting and I said, ‘How the hell are you shooting such high scores? I gotta go check this out,'” he said. “So I’d watch him play and he’s going along great. He has one bad hole, he loses his temper, his temper carries him over to another shot and another shot and it compounds itself.”
Woods continued: “‘Son, I don’t care how mad you get. Your head could blow off for all I care just as long as you’re 100% committed to the next shot. That’s all that matters. That next shot should be the most important shot in your life. It should be more important than breathing. Once you understand that concept, then I think you’ll get better.’ And as the rounds went on throughout the summer, he’s gotten so much better.”
(NEW YORK) — With a rise in COVID-19 cases across the nation alongside spread of the new omicron variant, several major events this week have been rescheduled or canceled.
New York and Washington, D.C., on Friday and Wednesday, respectively, reported the most COVID-19 cases in a single day, breaking their pandemic records.
The NBA announced Sunday it has postponed five upcoming games “because of players and staff members entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols.”
Postponed games include three on Sunday, Denver Nuggets at Brooklyn Nets, Cleveland Cavaliers at Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Pelicans at Philadelphia 76ers. Monday’s game between the Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors along with Tuesday’s Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets matchup were also postponed.
The NFL on Friday rescheduled three games, including moving Saturday’s contest between the Cleveland Browns and the Las Vegas Raiders to Monday at 5 p.m. ET.
All members of the organization who recently tested positive were vaccinated, according to a statement from Cleveland Browns Senior Vice President of Communications Peter John-Baptiste.
Sunday’s games between the Washington Football Team and Philadelphia Eagles and between the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks were postponed to Tuesday.
In a statement, the NFL said they made these schedule changes “based on medical advice” after “seeing a new, highly transmissible form of the virus.”
This trend is observable in other sports as well, as the NHL earlier announced it was rescheduling all games for the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers through at least the Christmas weekend amid a COVID-19 outbreak.
The organization pointed to rising positive cases within the last two days and the continued spread of COVID-19 as a concern.
The Calgary Flames, which has already had six games postponed, will now not play through Dec. 23.
On Saturday, the NHL also announced that the Boston Bruins’ and Nashville Predators’ games will be postponed through at least Dec. 26 due to rising COVID-19 cases. The move impacts four Bruins games and three Predators games.
Additionally, Saturday night’s Toronto-Vancouver game and Sunday’s Arizona-Vancouver and Toronto-Seattle games have been postponed after “a number” of Toronto and Vancouver players entered COVID-19 protocols over the past two days, the league said.
On Sunday, the NHL announced that all games between U.S. and Canadian teams scheduled for Dec. 20 to Dec. 23 will be postponed and rescheduled.
Several college basketball games this weekend were also canceled, including No. 18 Tennessee vs. Memphis, Iona vs. No. 16 Seton Hall, No. 4 UCLA vs. North Carolina, No. 23 Colorado State vs. Tulsa and No. 15 Ohio State vs. No. 21 Kentucky. No. 2 Duke actually had two games canceled after it tried to schedule matchups against Cleveland State and then Loyola (Maryland), but each fell through due to virus concerns. Seton Hall, enjoying one of its best seasons in decades, has already forfeited its conference opener against rival St. John’s on Monday as well due to a shortage of healthy players.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Sunday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Sacramento 121, San Antonio 114
Detroit 100, Miami 90
Portland 105, Memphis 100
Phoenix 137, Charlotte 106
Chicago 115, LA Lakers 110
Minnesota 111, Dallas 105
New Orleans at Philadelphia (Postponed)
Cleveland at Atlanta (Postponed)
Denver at Brooklyn 7:30 p.m. (Postponed)
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Vegas 4 N-Y Islanders 3 (SO)
Winnipeg 4, St. Louis 2
Pittsburgh 3, New Jersey 2
Los Angeles 3, Washington 2
Boston at Ottawa (Postponed)
Nashville at Carolina (Postponed)
Toronto at Seattle (Postponed)
Arizona at Vancouver (Postponed)
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Buffalo 31, Carolina 14
Dallas 21, NY Giants 6
Detroit 30, Arizona 12
Houston 30, Jacksonville 16
Miami 31, NY Jets 24
Pittsburgh 19, Tennessee 13
Cincinnati 15, Denver 10
San Francisco 31, Atlanta 13
Green Bay 31, Baltimore 30
New Orleans 9, Tampa Bay 0
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Iowa St. 77, SE Louisiana 54
Texas 60, Stanford 53
