COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Alabama is No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 for the second consecutive season. This is also ninth overall, the second most in poll history.
The Crimson Tide received 54 of the first 63 votes in the poll released Monday.
Ohio State is No. 2 with six first-place votes. Defending national champion Georgia is third with three first-place votes. Clemson is No. 4 and Notre Dame rounds out the top five.
The Tide’s preseason No. 1 ranking is their seventh in 15 years. Since the preseason rankings began in 1950, only Oklahoma has been No. 1 in the opening poll more than Alabama.
MLB
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – The Texas Rangers fired fourth-year manager Chris Woodward on Monday, a move they hope will build momentum heading into next year as the team hopes to return to winning ways after a season-long rebuilding effort.
The Rangers are on pace for their sixth straight losing season since their last AL West title in 2016. While better than last year’s 102-loss team, they haven’t made the desired progress this year year, they haven’t even had a winning record at any point. since spending half a million dollars last winter to sign shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien.
Texas was 51-63 after wrapping up a home series win over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday, winning back-to-back games for just the third time since early July. After reaching a high of 24-24 in late May, Texas lost its next three games and five of six. The Rangers are 6-24 in one-run games.
N.B.A
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers have settled the complaint he filed to recover a portion of his salary from last season, a person familiar with the details said Monday.
Simmons was seeking a share of the nearly $20 million that was withheld after he refused to suit up for the 76ers last season. He was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets in February for a package headed by James Harden.
The person confirmed the deal to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the terms were to remain confidential. The deal was first reported by ESPN.
— By AP Sports Writer Dan Gelston.
GOLF
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) – British Open champion Cameron Smith withdrew from the BMW Championship on Monday with what his coach described as “hip discomfort” that Smith had been feeling for the past few months.
Smith is No. 3 in the FedEx Cup, and is assured of a spot in next week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, although the withdrawal will mean he starts at least three strokes behind when the FedEx Cup Final begins.
“He has been dealing with some on and off hip discomfort for several months and thought it best to rest this week in his pursuit of the FedEx Cup,” Bud Martin, his agent at Wasserman, said in a statement.
WNBA
MOSCOW (AP) – Lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner have filed an appeal against her nine-year Russian prison sentence for drug possession, Russian news agencies reported Monday, amid talks between the United States and Russia that could lead to a high-profile prisoner. exchange.
Griner, an eight-time All-Star center with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist, was sentenced Aug. 4 after police say they found vaporizers containing cannabis oil in her luggage at Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow.
Griner admitted he had the containers in his luggage, but said he had packed them recklessly and hastily and had no criminal intent. His defense team submitted written statements that he had been prescribed cannabis to treat the pain.
Lawyer Maria Blagovolina was quoted by Russian news agencies on Monday as saying the appeal had been filed, as expected, but the reasons were not immediately clear.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Liz Cambage announced on social media Monday that she has decided to walk away from the WNBA “for now,” addressing for the first time her contract divorce with the Los Angeles Sparks last month.
The Sparks were in the hunt for a playoff spot when Cambage left the team on July 26. The team lost eight of its last nine games and finished out of the playoffs for the second straight season. Los Angeles had traded their first-round pick for the 2023 draft, meaning they won’t benefit from missing the playoffs.
Internationally, Cambage had competed for Australia, helping the team win a bronze medal in 2012. But she withdrew from playing for the Opals shortly before the Tokyo Games last summer, citing her mental health. A few days earlier, Cambage had been accused of using a racial slur towards a player of the Nigerian national team in a closed match. Cambage denied these allegations.
Cambage averaged 13 points and 6.4 rebounds for the Sparks in 25 games this season after signing as a free agent in the offseason.
FOOTBALL
ZURICH (AP) – FIFA suspended India’s national soccer federation late Monday “due to undue influence from third parties,” the sport’s governing body said.
The Football Federation of India’s suspension threatens the U-17 Women’s World Cup scheduled for October 11-30.
FIFA said the suspension was effective immediately and that the transgression “constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes”.
The U-17 Women’s World Cup “cannot currently be held in India as planned”, FIFA said.
BOXING
Four-time world champion Adrien Broner pulled out of his nationally televised fight against Omar Figueroa on Saturday night on Monday, citing mental health.
Broner announced his decision on Instagram, apologizing to his fans and asking for prayers. He said mental health is real and “I’ve seen a lot of people die playing with their boxing career and that’s something I’m not going to do…”
Showtime was scheduled to broadcast the fight from Hollywood, Florida.
OBITUARY
Pete Carril, the wrinkled, cigar-smoking basketball coach who led Princeton to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances, where his teams rattled formidable opponents and rocked March Madness with old-school fundamentals, die monday He was 92 years old.
Princeton released a statement from Carril’s family, which said he died “peacefully this morning.” He did not give a cause of death.
Hall of Famer Carril schooled his teams in a different, throwback brand of ball: Princeton’s offense, a game marked by patience, intelligence, constant movement, quick passes and the back door cuts that often ended up in gangs.
During Carril’s 29 seasons as Tigers coach, the system worked splendidly. His teams won 13 Ivy League titles and posted a 514-261 record without the benefit of scholarship players.
He guided Princeton to the National Invitation Tournament championship in 1975 and was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Steve Worster, the powerhouse quarterback in a hard-hitting offense that led Texas to an undisputed national championship in 1969 and to the brink of another a year later, died Saturday. He was 73 years old.
The Texas athletic department announced the death, for which no cause was given.
Known to Longhorns fans as “Woo-Woo” Worster, he rushed for 2,353 yards and 36 touchdowns, averaging 5.1 yards per carry from 1968 to 1970. Texas won three Southwest Conference titles with a 30-2-1 record during that span.
Worster was a consensus All-American in 1970 and finished fourth in Heisman Trophy voting that season. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1971, but never played in the NFL.
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