Category: Sports

Jaromir Jagr’s return to Pittsburgh ends with his No. 68 being retired — and catharsis

Former Pittsburgh Penguins player Jaromir Jagr, at podium to right, is joined by former teammates as he speaks during a ceremony retiring his uniform number before an NHL hockey game between the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins have retired Jaromir Jagr’s iconic No. 68. The NHL’s second all-time leading scorer was on hand as his jersey was raised to the rafters at PPG Paints Arena. The 52-year-old Jagr spent 11 seasons in Pittsburgh from 1990 to 2001, helping the franchise win a pair of Stanley Cups. Jagr is the third Penguins player to have his number retired, joining Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and Michel Briere. While Jagr has played for nine different NHL teams, he says he knows he will be forever linked with Pittsburgh.

8 to 10 people injured after shooting near Chiefs parade, official says

A woman is taken to an ambulance after an incident following the Kansa City Chiefs NFL football Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024. The Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers Sunday in the Super Bowl 58. (AP Photo/Reed Hoffmann)

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Minutes after Kansas City Chiefs players vowed to go for a third-straight Super Bowl title, shots were fired and multiple people were carried from the screen on stretchers. Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins said eight to 10 people were injured Wednesday but declined further comment, saying only that additional information will be released soon. Police said in a news release that two people were detained. Fans were urged to exit the area as quickly as possible. Officers could be seen rushing toward Union Station, but later announced that they were releasing everyone from outside.

The Super Bowl is set: Mahomes and the Chiefs will face Purdy and the 49ers

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) holds up the Lamar Hunt Trophy next to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) after the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024, in Baltimore. The Chiefs won 17-10. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs are heading to Las Vegas with a chance for a rare repeat while facing the San Francisco 49ers in a Super Bowl rematch from four years ago. The Chiefs beat Lamar Jackson and the No. 1-seeded Baltimore Ravens 17-10 in the AFC championship game Sunday to advance to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years. Brock Purdy later rallied the No. 1-seeded 49ers to a 34-31 victory over Detroit in the NFC title game. The Chiefs will try to become the first back-to-back champions since New England during the 2003-04 seasons. The 49ers seek a record-tying sixth Super Bowl title in their eighth appearance.

Browns to interview former Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson for vacancy, AP source says

FILE – Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson speaks with members of the media at the NFL football team’s training facility in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. The Eagles have fired offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024.(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

CLEVELAND (AP) — A person familiar with the team’s plans tells The Associated Press that the Cleveland Browns are interviewing former Philadelphia offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, who was fired by Eagles coach Nick Sirianni on Tuesday. He’s meeting with the Browns on Thursday to be their coordinator, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team is not making moves public until coach Kevin Stefanski fills out his staff. Stefanski fired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt last week. Johnson was ousted by Sirianni after Philadelphia lost to Tampa Bay in the wild-card round. Johnson coached Philadelphia’s quarterbacks in 2021 before being promoted to coordinator when Shane Steichen left to coach in Indianapolis.

The NFL’s final 4 QBs are often first-round picks. This time, 1 is not like the others

FILE – Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, center, and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, right, embrace after an NFL football game, Sept. 28, 2020, in Baltimore. Past NFL MVPs Jackson and Mahomes will face each other in the AFC championship game in Baltimore on Sunday, Jan. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Gail Burton, File

Recent evidence shows that the NFL conference title game participants most often employ first-rounders at the sport’s most important position. That trend is reflected in Sunday’s matchups: Patrick Mahomes’ Chiefs versus Lamar Jackson’s Ravens in the AFC, and Jared Goff’s Lions versus Brock Purdy’s 49ers in the NFC. Three outta four ain’t bad. The only newcomer to this round among the quartet is Jackson, who becomes the 30th quarterback to start a conference title game in the last 15 seasons. Twenty of those 30 QBs were first-round picks. But the ways this quartet of QBs arrived at their current clubs demonstrate that going through a season so bad that a team is in position to take a franchise QB with one of the top few picks isn’t always the path to success.

Patriots parting with Bill Belichick, who led team to 6 Super Bowl championships, AP source says

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Six-time NFL champion Bill Belichick agreed to part ways as the coach of the New England Patriots on Thursday, bringing an end to his 24-year tenure as the architect of the most decorated dynasty of the league’s Super Bowl era, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because it has not yet been announced.

ESPN first reported the decision. A news conference is planned for later in the day in which team owner Robert Kraft and Belichick will address the decision.

Belichick, 71, became just the third coach in NFL history to reach 300 career regular-season wins earlier this season, joining Hall of Famers Don Shula and George Halas. With 333 wins including the playoffs, Belichick trails only Shula (347 wins) for the record for victories by a coach.

But the Patriots ended this season 4-13, Belichick’s worst record in 29 seasons as an NFL head coach. It supplanted the 5-11 mark he managed in his last year in Cleveland in 1995 and again in his first year in New England in 2000. Including the playoffs, he ends his Patriots tenure with a 333-178 overall record.

With his cutoff hoodies and ever-present scowl, Belichick teamed with quarterback Tom Brady to lead the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories, nine AFC titles and 17 division championships in 19 years. During a less successful — but also tumultuous — stint with the original Cleveland Browns, Belichick earned 37 of his career victories.

It’s not immediately clear who Kraft will tap to replace the future Hall of Famer.

Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo won a Super Bowl ring playing under Belichick and has interviewed for multiple head coaching vacancies since becoming a New England assistant in 2019. Mayo turned down a few interviews last offseason before signing a contract extension to remain with the Patriots.

Mike Vrabel, who was fired earlier this week by the Tennessee Titans and won three Super Bowls with the Patriots, is also expected to be a candidate for the head coaching job.

Belichick had been grooming offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to replace him before McDaniels left following the 2021 season to become the coach of the Raiders. He has since been fired by Las Vegas. Belichick’s two sons, Steve and Brian, are also on the coaching staff.

Belichick’s exit from the Patriots comes just a day after another legendary coach and his longtime friend Nick Saban announced he’d retire after winning seven national championships at the collegiate level. Saban worked for Belichick’s father, Steve, in the 1980s as a coach at Navy. Bill Belichick went on to hire Saban as his defensive coordinator when he became Cleveland’s head coach in 1991.

The six Super Bowl wins tie Belichick with pre-merger mentors Halas and Curly Lambeau for the most NFL championships. Belichick also won two rings as Bill Parcells’ defensive coordinator with the New York Giants.

But the Patriots have stumbled to a 29-38 record since Brady departed following the 2019 season and missed the playoffs in three of those four seasons. Beginning in 2001 when Brady became the starting quarterback, the Patriots missed the playoffs only once (2008) when Brady was injured. This marked New England’s fifth consecutive season without a playoff victory.

Belichick’s subsequent solutions at quarterback haven’t panned out.

Brady’s initial replacement, Cam Newton, didn’t resemble the player who won the 2015 MVP award and was cut after a 7-9 finish in 2020. Meanwhile Brady won his seventh Super Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that same season.

Potential long-term replacement Mac Jones, a 2021 first-round draft choice, was a Pro Bowl selection as a rookie and led New England to the playoffs. But he regressed in Year 2 when Belichick put longtime defensive assistant Matt Patricia in charge of the offense. Jones didn’t fare much better this season when Bill O’Brien returned as offensive coordinator. He was benched four times before being replaced as starter by backup Bailey Zappe for the final six games.

That left the Patriots looking at a lengthy rebuild, with no candidate on the roster to bring stability to the sport’s most important position.

Belichick, who also served as the de facto general manager with final say on personnel decisions, was celebrated for his ingenuity managing the salary cap during the run of Super Bowl success. It included getting stars like Brady and others to accept cap-friendly contracts or adjust their deals to accommodate the signing of other players.

But that acclaim has waned in the years since Brady left, as a run of draft picks and high-priced free agents didn’t live up to expectations. In addition, Belichick has seen several members of his personnel and scouting departments leave for other jobs. The list includes his former player personnel director, Nick Caserio, who was hired as Houston’s general manager in 2021.

Now it won’t be Belichick making the decisions for the Patriots on or off the field.

The only child of a World War II veteran who spent three decades as a Navy assistant coach, Belichick is a football historian with an encyclopedic knowledge of strategy from the sport’s early days to current NFL trends. His players said his attention to detail never left them unprepared.

Belichick has been a master of the NFL rule book, unearthing loopholes in clock operations and offensive line formations that — though entirely legal — cemented his reputation as a mad genius.

But his legacy in New England also includes two major cheating investigations — and other, minor ones — that cost him and the team draft picks and more than $1 million in fines. Opponents accused the Patriots of everything from hacking their headsets to cutting corners on injury reports.

His friendship with former President Donald Trump, which Belichick insisted was not political, landed the coach on the list to receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom in the waning days of the administration. After the outcry against the U.S. Capitol siege, Belichick announced “the decision has been made not to move forward.”

Michigan overpowers Washington 34-13 as Jim Harbaugh delivers a national title

Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh celebrates with the trophy after their win in the national championship NCAA College Football Playoff game against Washington Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer

HOUSTON (AP) — Jim Harbaugh raised the championship trophy as gold and white confetti sprayed over his team and “We Are the Champions” blared.
Nine years after he took over at Michigan, Harbaugh delivered on the lofty expectations he brought with him to his beloved alma mater.
Blake Corum ran for 134 yards and two fourth-quarter touchdowns as Harbaugh and the top-ranked Wolverines — undeterred by suspensions and a sign-stealing case that shadowed the program — completed a three-year surge to a national title by beating No. 2 Washington 34-13 Monday night in the College Football Playoff.
“We’re innocent and we stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent. And I’d like to point that out,” Harbaugh said when asked about off-field issues, jumping in to answer a question posed to his players. “And these guys are innocent. And overcome that? It wasn’t that hard because we knew we were innocent.
“(The season) went exactly how we wanted it to go. It went exactly how we wanted it to go.”
The Wolverines (15-0) sealed their first national title since 1997 when Corum, who scored the winning touchdown in overtime against Alabama in the Rose Bowl, blasted in from the 1-yard line with 3:37 left to put Michigan up by 21 and set off another rousing rendition of “The Victors” from the band.
After a third consecutive playoff appearance, Harbaugh won the championship so many expected when he took over a struggling powerhouse in 2015 — despite missing six regular-season games this season while serving two suspensions.
“That man, he’s the reason we’re here today,” Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said of his coach.
And Harbaugh did it with a team his old coach, Bo Schembechler, would have adored. The Wolverines ran for 303 yards against Washington (14-1), and their rugged defense held Michael Penix Jr. and the Huskies’ prolific passing game to just one touchdown while intercepting the Heisman Trophy runner-up twice.
“There are more than 100 Michigan men who are on this team,” Harbaugh said. “What they’ve done is amazing. They will forever be known as national champions.”
Penix’s remarkable six-year college career ended with maybe his worst performance of the season. Usually unfazed by pressure, Penix was not nearly as precise against a Michigan defense that took away his signature deep throws.
“That was a spectacular game by our defense,” Harbaugh said.
The Indiana transfer who came back from two knee surgeries and two shoulder injuries was roughed up by the Wolverines, limping at times, stepped on another time.
Asked how he was feeling, Penix said, still undaunted: “Better than I was three years ago.”
Penix finished 27 for 51 for 255 yards and a touchdown as the Huskies had their 21-game winning streak snapped.
“They’ve given me everything they possible can,” coach Kalen DeBoer said of a group of players who went 4-8 just two seasons ago and 25-3 since he took over in 2022.
McCarthy had a modest game, throwing for 140 yards and running for 31. But it was enough for him to improve to 27-1 as a starter for the Wolverines.
Michigan gave Washington a taste of life in the Big Ten, where the Pac-12 champions are heading next season, and the Huskies were up for the grind for a while.
Two long touchdown runs by Donovan Edwards and 229 yards rushing in the first quarter put the Wolverines up 17-3 early in the second and conjured up memories of last year’s historic Georgia blowout of TCU.
Washington stabilized and didn’t allow the Wolverines another point in the first half. After the Huskies stopped Michigan on a fourth-and-2 from the UW 38 with 4:46 left in the second quarter, Penix went to work.
He found Jalen McMillan on a fourth-and-goal with 42 seconds left for a 3-yard touchdown. After being on the verge of getting buried by the Wolverines, the Huskies fans sang along to “Who Let the Dogs Out,” happily down only 17-10 at half.
Will Johnson’s interception of Penix on the first play of the second half gave Michigan another opportunity to open up a two-touchdown lead, but the Huskies forced a field goal by James Turner to make it 20-10.
“Today was a complete, complete team effort,” Corum said.
Michigan nursed a touchdown lead until halfway through the fourth quarter, when it put together a 71-yard drive, capped by Corum’s tackle-breaking 12-yard touchdown that finally gave the Wolverines some room with a 27-13 lead and 7:09 left.
Corum, the engine of the ground-and-pound offense and heart and soul of a team loaded with fourth-, fifth- and even sixth-year players, missed the CFP last year with a knee injury. He was named offensive player of the final national title game in before the College Football Playoff expands from four teams to 12 next season.
“Michigan, this is for you,” Corum told the Wolverines fans.
Michigan seemed to be steaming toward a third consecutive Big Ten championship when in October it was revealed the NCAA was investigating the program for potentially breaking rules that prohibit in-person scouting of opponents and using video equipment to attempt to decode opponents’ play signals.
The scandal turned Connor Stalions, the low-level Michigan recruiting staffer accused of orchestrating the scheme, into a household name and threatened to derail the Wolverines’ season.
The NCAA process will linger well into 2024 and it is unknown what penalties Michigan could face. The Big Ten, though, decided to act quickly and punished Michigan by suspending Harbaugh for the final three games of the regular season, including matchups with Penn State and rival Ohio State.
With offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore taking Harbaugh’s place, it became Michigan vs. Everybody and nobody could stop the Wolverines.
Harbaugh returned for the postseason, completed the mission and got to celebrate with his 84-year-old father, Jack — himself a former college football coach — as he accepted the trophy.
Michigan became the first college football program to record 1,000 victories when it beat Maryland in November and won its third national title in January.
“Who has it better than us?” Jack Harbaugh asked the fans during the trophy ceremony. They replied with a boisterous: “Nobody!”
Now the question is whether Harbaugh has coached the team he once quarterbacked for the last time, with the NFL seemingly beckoning again.
Harbaugh said it felt good to no longer be the only coach in the family without a national championship. His father won a Division I-AA title with Western Kentucky and brother John won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens by beating Jim’s San Francisco 49ers 11 years ago.
“I can now sit at the big person’s table in the family,” Harbaugh said.
As for what’s next?
“I just want to enjoy this,” he said. “I hope you give me that. Can I have that? Does it always have to be what’s next, what’s the future?”
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.appodcasts.com.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Evgeni Malkin leads Penguins past Flyers 4-1 in Scrappy Contest

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers in a scrappy contest on Monday night.

Rickard Rakell, Erik Karlsson and Chad Ruhwedel also scored for Pittsburgh, and Alex Nedeljkovic made 36 saves.

“I thought we got better as the night went on,” Nedeljkovic said.

Owen Tippett scored for the Flyers, who have lost seven of nine.

“They were the better team,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “We weren’t good enough in either end.”

The game was feisty between the in-state rivals, with several scrums around the net and in the corners after plays. The teams combined for 11 penalties that totaled 24 minutes.

Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang was bloodied 5:43 into the third after he threw Philadelphia’s Garnet Hathaway to the ice before getting a stick in the face from Nicolas Deslauriers. Twenty-six seconds later, Scott Laughton and Malkin were scuffling along the back boards.

The Flyers honored their late founder and owner Ed Snider on Saturday, and Snider certainly would have approved of the physical play from the Flyers, whose tough fighting style earned them the nickname “Broad Street Bullies” when they won back-to-back Stanley Cups during Snider’s tenure in 1974 and ’75.

Perhaps Philadelphia was showing its frustration after Malkin capitalized on a turnover by defenseman Egor Zamula and netted his 15th of the season 4:29 into the third to put Pittsburgh comfortably in front 4-1.

“We’ve been playing really well as of late and it makes it easy, makes it fun,” Nedeljkovic said. “That’s how you want to play.”

The Penguins will have a chance to even the four-game season series when they host Philadelphia in the final contest between the teams on Feb. 25.

Rakell opened the scoring just 45 seconds into the contest with a power-play tally after an early tripping penalty on Sean Couturier. Karlsson’s shot from long range through a screen almost seven minutes later beat goalie Carter Hart, who made 36 stops.

Tippett got the Flyers on the board with 5:05 left in the first period with a rare power-play goal for Philadelphia. The Flyers entered last in the league by converting on just 10.2% (13 of 128) of their chances this season. But Tippett finished on a wrist shot from the right circle after a beautiful setup from Zamula.

“We’re just struggling scoring,” Tortorella said. “We don’t have enough people going offensively.”

A surprising trade was announced in the first period. The Flyers acquired defenseman Jamie Drysdale and a second-round pick in 2025 from Anaheim for high-scoring college left wing Cutter Gauthier.

Nedeljkovic stops 37 shots, Eller scores twice to help surging Penguins edge Islanders 3-1

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic (39) makes a save during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Alex Nedeljkovic made 37 saves, Lars Eller scored twice and the Pittsburgh Penguins held off the New York Islanders 3-1 on Sunday night. Nedeljkovic was spectacular at times to help the Penguins win for the fifth time in six games following a blowout loss to Toronto on Dec. 16. Eller scored early in the first period and added an empty-netter in the final minute as Pittsburgh beat the Islanders for the second time in five days. Noel Acciari added third of the season for Pittsburgh. Samuel Bolduc drew the Islanders within one with 6:09 left. Pittsburgh has at least a point in each of its last six games and is 7-1-1 over its last nine to climb into wild-card contention.

Steelers keep playoff hopes alive into Week 18 with 30-23 win over Seahawks

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Najee Harris (22) reaches for a touchdown ahead of Seattle Seahawks defensive end Dre’Mont Jones (55) in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

SEATTLE (AP) — Najee Harris rushed for a season-high 122 yards and bullied his way into the end zone for a pair of touchdowns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers kept their playoff hopes alive into Week 18 with a 30-23 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Using a punishing running attack that faced little resistance from Seattle, the Steelers pushed their way into the final week of the regular season with a chance at the postseason and ensured that Mike Tomlin’s team would yet again avoid a losing record. Pittsburgh thrived against Seattle’s run defense that has been awful for more than half the season and finished with 202 yards rushing and a season-high 468 total yards.