NFL
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson, whose unmistakable swagger in helping the Kansas City Chiefs to their first Super Bowl title earned him the nickname “Lenny the Cool,” died Wednesday. He was 87 years old.
Dawson’s family announced his death in a statement via KMBC, the Kansas City television station where he starred in his second career as a broadcaster. No cause was given, although Dawson had been in failing health for years. He entered the hospital on August 12.
Dawson was the MVP of the Chiefs’ 23-7 Super Bowl victory over the Minnesota Vikings in January 1970.
Dawson personified the Chiefs almost from the start, when the soft-spoken standout from Purdue lost starting jobs in Pittsburgh and Cleveland and landed with the fledgling franchise, then located in Dallas. There, Dawson met up with Hank Stram, who had been an assistant with the Boilermakers, and together they turned the franchise around.
The coach and quarterback won the AFL championship together in 1962, their first year together, and became bona fide stars the following year when club founder Lamar Hunt moved the ‘team in Kansas City and renamed it the Chiefs. They won two more AFL titles, one in 1966 when they lost to the Green Bay Packers in the first Super Bowl, and the other in ’69 when Dawson returned from injury to help beat the Vikings at Tulane New Orleans Stadium. .
FRISCO, Texas (AP) – Dallas Cowboys left tackle Tyron Smith has a torn left hamstring and could be out for months, according to an ESPN report.
Smith was injured during 11-on-11 drills in practice when he went to tackle linebacker Leighton Vander Esch about 5 yards down the field before collapsing to the turf. He left the field unaided.
The team initially said on its website that Smith had a knee injury and that an MRI was planned. ESPN, citing unidentified sources, later reported that the 31-year-old had a torn hamstring.
The eight-time Pro Bowler has been hampered primarily by back, neck and shoulder injuries in recent years. Smith has missed at least three games every season since 2016, including a career-low two games in 2020 before season-ending neck surgery.
The Cowboys had Smith and five-time All-Pro right guard Zack Martin as anchors on an offensive line that is young at the other three spots.
BASEBALL
SEATTLE (AP) – Mariners right-hander George Kirby set a major league record by throwing 24 straight to start the game and fellow Seattle rookie Julio Rodriguez reached a new high, but Ildemaro Vargas struck out a two-run homer in the ninth inning that lifted the Washington Nationals to a 3-1 victory.
Kirby gave up five hits and one run before throwing his first ball to Joey Meneses in the third. Kirby surpassed the mark of 21 consecutive strikeouts to open Joe Musgrove for Pittsburgh against St. Louis in 2018.
Rodriguez hit his 20th home run, tying it at 1 in the eighth. The 21-year-old sensation who put on a big show in the All-Star Home Run Derby became the fourth rookie in major league history with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season, joining Mitchell Page (1977 Athletics). Ellis Burks (1987 Red Sox) and Marty Cordova (1995 Twins). Rodriguez leads all rookies in home runs and has stolen 23 bases.
The teams split their brief two-game series, with Seattle winning three of four this year after sweeping Washington in a doubleheader on July 13. The Mariners are in third and last place in the AL wild card race while the Nationals have the worst record in the majors.
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Andrew Heaney struck out 10 in his first win in four months, Austin Barnes drove in four runs and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers for the second straight game, winning 12-6.
The Dodgers won the season series, 4-3, while outscoring the Brewers 22-11 during the three-game series, including a 10-1 rout on Tuesday. Los Angeles has scored 10 or more runs in three of its last four games. The Dodgers had 13 hits and batted in the first and fourth innings.
Batting in the ninth, Barnes hit a two-run homer with two outs in the sixth, extending the lead to 12-2.
Heaney (2-1) allowed two runs on four hits, walked and struck out a season-high 10 Brewers for the second time in a week, giving him 10 consecutive strikeouts for the first time . since June 2019. The right-hander won for the first time since April 17. He had five straight no-decisions and a loss in Milwaukee last week between wins. Heaney has been on the injured list twice, most recently in July with inflammation in his left shoulder.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kyle Wright allowed two hits in seven efficient innings, Matt Olson hit a grand slam that found the Allegheny River and the Atlanta Braves drilled the Pittsburgh Pirates 14-2 to complete a sweep of three games
Wright (16-5) struck out eight and walked to tie Houston’s Justin Verlander and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Tony Gnsolin for the most wins in the majors. Wright needed just 73 pitches to record 21 outs while cutting his ERA to 2.99.
Atlanta has won 14 of 16 overall to keep the pressure on the NL East-leading New York Mets.
The highlight for the Pirates came from rookie Oneil Cruz, who ripped the most hit ball since Major League Baseball began measuring exit velocity in 2015. The ball left Cruz’s bat at 122.4 mph and crashed into the 21-foot-tall Clemente Wall. right field with two outs in the third. He was subject to a bachelor.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
GOLF
ATLANTA (AP) – The PGA Tour issued its boldest response yet to the rival league funded by Saudi Arabia with a plan for top players to commit to a 20-tournament schedule in which they will compete against each other for up to 17 times the average of coins. of 20 million dollars.
The tour is also doubling the bonus pool of its Player Impact Program to $100 million spread among 20 players, and is changing the criteria to be more geared toward media exposure.
Players starting their careers will receive $500,000 at the start of the year which will count towards their earnings until the number is exceeded.
Of the radical changes that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan unveiled, the most significant came out of a private meeting of 23 prominent players last week: a new model that ensures the best game in the same tournaments more frequently.
The 20-tournament commitment begins in January with the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua and assumes the top players are eligible.
ATLANTA (AP) – Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are bringing their own version of team golf to the PGA Tour.
A day after Woods and McIlroy announced a new media company called TMRW Sports, they unveiled a project that involves 18 players competing in a series of matches with as much technology as making shots.
It’s called ‘TGL’, a technology-enabled golf league that will be held in a purpose-built stadium where fans can watch three-man teams compete in an 18-hole match, using simulators for long shots , live shots for the shortest: it will only take two hours.
The league will begin in January 2024 and feature 15 regular season games on Monday nights, followed by the semifinals and finals. TMRW Sports, pronounced “tomorrow”, was formed to build technology-centric projects with a progressive approach to sports, entertainment and media.
Investors include Dick Ebersol, the retired chairman of NBC Sports, whose many contributions to televised sports include Sunday Night Football.
WNBA
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – DeWanna Bonner scored 21 points, Alyssa Thomas had 13 points and eight rebounds, and the No. 3-seeded Connecticut Sun topped the Dallas Wings 73-58 to advance to the semifinals .
Connecticut earned its first winner-take-all win since September 29, 2004 and advanced past the opening round of the WNBA playoffs for the sixth straight season. The Sun play the defending champion Chicago Sky on Sunday in a best-of-five series.
The Sun broke it open in the third quarter, using a 15-6 run to build a 49-40 lead. The Wings made just four field goals in the third quarter and Connecticut started the quarter with an 8-0 run for a 65-46 lead.
Connecticut held Dallas to 24 second-half points and a season-low point total.
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