Category: Sports

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins have terrible timing these days, and that’s not a reference to the batter’s box. The front office keeps making trades from a

By Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Something was forgotten in the rush to analyze and, mainly, criticize David Stern’s suggestion that the Dream Team might be in its final Olympic

By Scott Fowler, McClatchy Newspapers –   LONDON — There was no cloud for Nick Thoman on Monday. Just a silver lining. Thoman won a silver medal in the men’s 100-meter backstroke Monday

By Brian Hamilton, Chicago Tribune – LONDON — It is neither natural nor sane, David Boudia very convincingly argued Monday, to stare at a tub of water from a three-story high ledge and

By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Two games into the women’s Olympic soccer tournament, one trend has already become clear: Opponents have decided assault and battery may be the most

By Jo-Ann Barnas, Detroit Free Press – LONDON — Now it’s onto beating the Russians. That’s the mantra for Jordyn Wieber and the rest of the U.S. Olympic women’s gymnastics team going into

Matt Levins, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – Jon Olson had everything in his arsenal working to perfection in Sunday’s final round of the 110th Iowa Amateur Championship at Spirit Hollow Golf Course.

Jeff Linder, CR Gazette – With the 2011-12 school year officially over, I thought I would resend this as food for thought. There are a couple minor changes since the first draft,

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Junior Steven Ihm and sophomore Ian Vandersee both finished inside the top-10 at the 110th Iowa Amateur Championship, hosted at Spirit Hollow Golf Course in Burlington last weekend.

By Mike Huguenin, Rivals.com – Every coach in every sport will tell you it’s more about the Jimmys and the Joes — i.e., the talent — than it is about the X’s

By Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — What a difference four years, a new coaching staff, a new executive director and eight new boxers can make. In the 2008 Beijing Games,

By Tyler Dunne, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – GREEN BAY, Wis. — About 20 hours of coursework stand between Randall Cobb and a college degree. He’s not going to shove the books aside now.

By Jim Souhan, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – LONDON — Alexey Shved wears braces on his teeth and a band in his hair. As he spoke late Sunday night in London, he twisted his

John Bohnenkamp, The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – CHICAGO – The new dean of Big Ten football coaches didn’t have a crowded table in the first hour of the second day of the

By Dave Kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – INDIANAPOLIS — First, a refresher course. Jimmie Johnson won the NASCAR title each year from 2006-’10. He won stock-car racing’s most prestigious event, the Daytona 500,

By Jim Utter, McClatchy Newspapers – INDIANAPOLIS — Is NASCAR ready for Jimmie Johnson to win a sixth Sprint Cup Series championship? How about a record-tying seventh, or even a record-breaking eighth? Johnson

By Joe Strauss, St. Louis Post-Dispatch – CHICAGO — Few pitchers are more familiar with the Cardinals — and the Cardinals with him — than Chicago Cubs short-arming lefthander Paul Maholm. He has

By Chip Scoggins, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MANKATO, Minn. — Percy Harvin exploded off the line and tried to get Antoine Winfield to bite on a fake during a 1-on-1 drill in the

By John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Americans continued to advance on the second day of competition in beach volleyball. Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser had an easy time with Kentaro

Jeff Johnson, CR Gazette – DES MOINES – J.D. Nielsen feigned ignorance. “I didn’t realize it until the end of the game,” the Martensdale-St. Mary’s pitcher said after he threw the fourth

The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa – DES MOINES – J.D. Nielsen fired a no-hitter to guide Martensdale-St. Marys to a 1-0 victory over top-ranked Mason City Newman as the Blue Devils captured

Marc Morehouse, CR Gazette – University of Iowa running back De’Andre Johnson had a legal run in for a second time in three days after police say he failed to pull over

By Charean Williams, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — When she touched, Dana Vollmer knew she had the gold medal. The only question was whether she also had the world record. The smile

By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune – LONDON — Busy with training responsibilities for his Korean club team, Matthew Anderson didn’t watch any of the U.S. men’s volleyball matches from their galvanizing run

By George Richards, McClatchy Newspapers – UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Population: 314 million. Major cities: New York/Newark, N.J. 19.3 million; Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Washington (capital). Top exports: Consumer goods (computer accessories,

By Larry Stone, The Seattle Times – Larry Stone’s power rankings Last week’s rankings in parentheses Team 1 Nationals (3) Nats were far from worthless during nearly 3 months they were Werth-less

By Tom Haudricourt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – MILWAUKEE — Randy Wolf has experienced many kinds of frustration during the 2012 major-league season. The Milwaukee Brewers’ veteran left-hander has been frustrated by leaving games

by Joseph Person, McClatchy Newspapers – SPARTANBURG, S.C. — When Carolina Panthers center Ryan Kalil stepped in front of a bank of microphones and tape recorders Saturday, this was the first question

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins haven’t had a player hit 40 home runs in a season since Harmon Killebrew smashed 41 in 1970. Last year, Michael Cuddyer

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) – MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins traded lefthander Francisco Liriano to the Chicago White Sox late Saturday night for pitcher Pedro Hernandez and infielder Eduardo Escobar. Both players

By Charean Williams, McClatchy Newspapers – LONDON — We already knew Michael Phelps wouldn’t duplicate what he did in Beijing. It was an impossible feat that Phelps accomplished in 2008 in winning

By Diane Pucin, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — Sometimes starting over is a disadvantage. The U.S. men’s gymnastics team finished first Saturday in the qualifying competition that selected eight team finalists.

By Lisa Dillman, Los Angeles Times – LONDON — The referees were bundled up for a brisk winter night. Aussies Nat Cook and Tamsin Hinchley went with the long sleeves and tights