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Rayo botches trick penalty in draw; Atletico sinks Valencia

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Where soccer greats Lionel Messi and Johan Cruyff had succeeded, the talented but mortal midfielders of Rayo Vallecano came up short on Saturday.The modest Madrid-based club was held to a 2-2 draw at home by Girona in the Spanish league after failing with back-to-back penalties — including a botched trick penalty kick — in a sequence that will go down as one of the oddest in recent memory for Spanish soccer.Isi Palazón and Óscar Trejo had already scored to put their team ahead 2-1 when Rayo had a penalty call in its favor just before halftime.Goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga saved Trejo’s spot kick, but he got another chance after the referee ordered the penalty to be retaken because a Girona player had illegally encroached the area.On the second try, Trejo, instead of shooting directly at the goal, rolled the ball to the side for Isi, who had rushed into the box — only for Isi to fire it over the crossbar.Perhaps they had been inspired by Messi and Luis Suárez, wh...

Medvedev into Indian Wells final with win over Tiafoe

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Daniil Medvedev defeated Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 7-6 (4) on Saturday for his 19th consecutive match victory of the year and a berth in the BNP Paribas Open final.Medvedev will play for the title Sunday against the winner of the other semifinal between top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz or No. 11 seed Jannik Sinner.Medvedev, the fifth seed, has dominated Tiafoe, winning all five of their career meetings, including 12 of 13 sets in the process. Medvedev’s winning streak dates to his title run in Rotterdam in February. He then won tournaments in Doha and Dubai. Now, the 2021 U.S. Open champion and former world No. 1 is in position to add another one.Medvedev has proven resilient during the 12-day tournament in the Southern California desert. He overcame a badly twisted ankle and a cut thumb in two straight matches to power through to the final.Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova won the women’s doubles title with a 6-1, 6-7 (3), 10-7 victory over Beatriz Hadd...

Michigan-LSU clash means Kim vs. Kim III in March Madness

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — LSU coach Kim Mulkey’s admiration for the effort that Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico extracts from her players was encapsulated in short a video clip that Mulkey thought the Tigers needed to see.Michigan guard Leigha Brown’s diving attempt to corral a loose ball on the hardwood in the Wolverines’ first-round women’s NCAA Tournament triumph over UNLV meant nothing on the stat sheet; Brown wasn’t able to prevent the ball from rolling out of bounds.But it meant plenty to Mulkey and Barnes Arico as they prepared for a second-round tilt between No. 3 seed LSU (29-2) and sixth-seeded Michigan (23-9) on Sunday night — a game that could be billed as “Kim vs. Kim III.”“I’m happy that, you know, they saw, and the rest of the world saw, that our team is willing to sell out and willing to sacrifice and make those type of plays, because we do believe those could be difference-makers,” Barnes Arico said after learning that Mulkey had highligh...

Nick Martinez leaves Team USA at WBC, returns to Padres camp

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — San Diego Padres pitcher Nick Martinez left the World Baseball Classic on Saturday after he wasn’t guaranteed to start for Team USA for the rest of the event.United States manager Mark DeRosa said Martinez will return to Padres spring training to prepare for the start of the major league season.“I didn’t feel that was fair to us as a whole or to him to guarantee that, regardless of result,” DeRosa said. “We’re trying to win this thing, so I thought it was best for everyone — and he agreed — that he would go back and get ready for opening day with San Diego.”Lance Lynn will start for Team USA in Saturday’s game against Venezuela with a spot in the WBC semifinals on the line.DeRosa said he decided to go with Lynn because the Chicago White Sox pitcher “threw the ball the best” so far in the tournament.Lynn picked up the win against Canada last Monday, striking out six and allowing just two hits and one run in five innings. Martinez started Game 2 of pool play a...

Miami, Xavier look to refocus after narrow 1st-round escapes

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — If Miami’s Jim Larrañaga and Xavier’s Sean Miller didn’t have their players’ complete attention heading into the NCAA Tournament, they do now.Larrañaga’s Hurricanes and Miller’s Musketeers both needed huge second-half comebacks against lower-seeded opponents in the first round.Now, as the teams move through March Madness, the veteran coaches are hoping players realize the importance of cherishing every possession on both ends of the floor and avoiding lapses in concentration that can lead to an opponent’s run.“You just realize that we’re here and these teams are trying to win as bad as we are, and we’ve got to play our best every night,” Xavier forward Jerome Hunter said.Miami trailed 12th-seeded Drake by eight points with 5:40 remaining in the first round of the Midwest Region, but rallied and finished the game on a 19-1 run behind 21 points from Nijel Pack to win 53-46.Likewise, third-seeded Xavier survived a scare from tournament first-ti...

Taylor Swift travels through time during opening night of the ‘Eras Tour’

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

(CNN) — Baby, let the games begin.Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” kicked off on Friday night in Glendale, Arizona during a three-hour show that ran through hits from every era of the Grammy-winner’s 17-year career.“Swifties,” as her fans are known, descended upon the city in full Swift-inspired costumes and the location itself changed its name to “Swift City,” according to the Glendale, Arizona website. Ticket sales for the tour even broke Ticketmaster, something the singer called attention to on Friday when she told her audience she felt it was safe to assume that it had taken “a considerable amount of effort” for them to be there.Full disclosure: This CNN writer is a Swiftie. I managed to secure tickets to Swift’s penultimate show in Los Angeles this August, but here are some of the highlights of her performance on Friday, based on social media posts from people in attendance.Donning a crystalized corset and matchi...

Cold weather returns Sunday

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

After a mild Saturday, colder weather returns to the forecast Sunday, as temperatures fall back into the 30s. Windy conditions are also expected, with gusts over 30mph likely during the afternoon. Together, the colder air and windy conditions will make temperatures feel like the 20s most of the day. If you’re headed to the St. Paddy’s Day parade in Southie, expect a wind chill between 24-28 with a mix of sun and clouds.

Red Sox notebook: Joely Rodriguez injured in split-squad action

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

While the win and loss the Red Sox completed in Saturday’s split-squad action against the Orioles (9-6 win) and Rays (2-1 loss) don’t count against their record, the events of said contests could have lasting ramifications.Joely Rodríguez left the mound in the eighth inning of Boston’s game against Baltimore with what the Red Sox have described as “right torso pain.”After throwing a pitch, the left-handed reliever clutched his side and immediately left the game. According to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, he was “groaning in pain” and “holding onto his side” as he went into the clubhouse.Saturday was only Rodríguez’s third appearance of the spring. After making a career-high 55 appearances for the Mets in 2022, he had shoulder surgery during the offseason, leading the Red Sox to be careful about his preseason work.It’s unclear how serious the torso issue is.“Sore. We’ll know more tomorrow how he comes back and prob...

Ira Winderman: Udonis Haslem and his Heat road from Mr. 305 to suburban 954 dad

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

Over the upcoming week, Mr. 305 deservedly will be honored for 20 seasons of service to team and community by the Miami Heat.Born and raised in the hardscrabble inner-city of Miami, few players, in any sport, are as identified with their hometown than Udonis Haslem.And yet, for these past two decades, Mr. 305 has actually been Mr. 954, living first in Davie upon his Heat arrival and now in the semi-rural setting of Southwest Ranches.By no means has that meant turning his back on his roots, just as often found in Miami-Dade with his philanthropic and entrepreneurial endeavors.Just a husband and father, like many husbands and fathers, seeking the better life for his family that he only could imagine growing up.To Haslem, Broward is the oasis, while Miami-Dade remains the pride.The tranquility of the suburbs, he said, allows the passion to flourish both in the locker room and in the community when he crosses the county line.“I always wanted land,” the Heat’s 42-year-o...

Nickelback offers Heat’s Jimmy Butler, ‘to come sing along live’; Lowry out vs. Bulls

Published Tue, 25 Feb 2025 11:45:48 GMT

Whether making a statement about his team’s loss or otherwise, the fact the Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler blared Nickelback in the locker room the wake of last week’s overtime defeat against the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center caught the attention of the Canadian band.Friday, the band took to Twitter to inform Butler, “We’re going on tour this summer, hit us up if you want to come sing along live.”The message was prefaced with, “It’s not like Jimmy … to say sorry!”That comes from the band’s “How You Remind Me,” which includes the lyric, “It’s not like you to say sorry.”Butler, as he is wont to do, not only played his postgame playlist at maximum volume, but also sung along, as he also is wont to do.Butler has been working the past year on producing a country album featuring a variety of singers, with friendships in that genre with Luke Combs, Luke Bryan and Filmore, featured in the opening ...