MLB – Major League Baseball – Opening Day 2021
Today
Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers, 1:10 p.m. Cosy-FM & 94.9 WSJM 12:50 p.m.
Pittsburgh Steelers at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 p.m.
Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels, 10:05 p.m.
MLB – Cubs’ Hoyer confident deal with Rizzo will be worked out
Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer insists he is confident Anthony Rizzo will remain in Chicago beyond this season even though the star first baseman is cutting off talks on a new contract. Though his preference is to stay with the Cubs, Rizzo set an opening-day deadline for a new agreement. The three-time All-Star said this week he won’t listen to an offer once the season starts unless the proposal is close to what he thinks it should be. Hoyer is “very confident” a deal will get done. He said he respects Rizzo’s decision to limit talks once the season starts Thursday, though the Cubs will remain open to negotiating during the year.
MLB – Cubs agree to 1-year deal with backup catcher Wolters
The Chicago Cubs have agreed to a one-year deal with catcher Tony Wolters and designated right-hander James Norwood for assignment. Wolters figures to back up Willson Contreras. He signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh last month and was released on March 29. Wolters is a career .238 hitter with seven home runs and 123 RBIs over five seasons with the Colorado Rockies. Norwood was 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA over 23 relief appearances for Chicago from 2018 to 2020. The Cubs open at home against Pittsburgh on Thursday.
MLB – 3 high school teammates become MLB opening day starters
Lucas Giolito, Max Fried and Jack Flaherty were teammates nine years ago at Harvard-Westlake, a prestigious prep school in Los Angeles. On Thursday, all three will be opening day starting pitchers in the major leagues. And they didn’t even win a California state title the year they all played together. Giolito will throw the season’s first pitch for the Chicago White Sox, Flaherty for the St. Louis Cardinals and Fried for the Atlanta Braves.
NCAA – Study: Michigan stands out in academics-based NCAA brackets
Michigan stood out in a study that seeded the men’s and women’s NCAA tournament fields based on academics and diversity. It was the only school to claim a No. 1 seed in both the men’s and women’s brackets released Wednesday by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at Central Florida. The men’s team was crowned the national champion for the second straight year in the study. Gonzaga was crowned the national champion on the women’s side. The school’s unbeaten team was a No. 2 seed in the bracket as it prepares to play in the Final Four.
NCAA – NCAA: Ending daily testing or delaying games not an option
With the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament on the horizon, the last thing a team would want is to lose a player to a positive COVID test or even worse having an entire team knocked out by the coronavirus. Those scenarios seem extremely unlikely with only two confirmed positive tests out of the nearly 17,000 administered at the women’s basketball tournament over the first two weeks of the tournament. The last one came nine days ago.
NCAA – High court sympathetic to college athletes in NCAA dispute
The Supreme Court seems sympathetic to college athletes in a dispute with the NCAA over rules limiting their education-related compensation. The case that was argued on Wednesday isn’t about whether students can be paid salaries. Instead, the outcome will help determine whether schools can offer athletes tens of thousands of dollars in education benefits for things such as computers, graduate scholarships, tutoring, study abroad and internships. During the arguments, liberal and conservative justices sounded sympathetic to students. Under current NCAA rules, students cannot be paid, and the scholarship money that colleges can offer is capped at the cost of attending the school. The NCAA says the rules are necessary to preserve the amateur nature of college sports.
NBA – National Basketball Association
Last Night
Portland Trailblazers 124, Detroit Pistons 101
Miami Heat 92, Indiana Pacers 87
Phoenix Suns 121, Chicago Bulls 116
Blazers 124, Pistons 101 – Trail Blazers beat Pistons 124-101 for 4th straight win
Damian Lillard had 33 points and 10 assists and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Detroit Pistons 124-101 on Wednesday night. CJ McCollum added 24 points and Carmelo Anthony and Robert Covington each scored 16 in Portland’s fourth straight win. Jerami Grant scored 30 points for Detroit, which lost for the fifth time in six games. Mason Plumlee added 18 points, but Detroit’s other three starters — Saddiq Bey, Josh Jackson and Saben Lee — combined for two points on 1-for-17 shooting.
Heat 92, Pacers 87 – Heat turns up defensive pressure in 92-87 win at Indiana
Duncan Robinson and Jimmy Butler helped Miami rally from a 13-point first-half deficit by spurring a decisive eight-point fourth-quarter run to give the Heat a 92-87 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Robinson finished with 20 points and Butler added 18 as Miami avoided getting swept in the three-game season series with the Pacers. The Heat have won two straight since ending a four-game losing streak. Indiana was led by Myles Turner with 15 points and Caris LeVert and Doug McDermott, who each had 14. The Pacers have lost two straight overall and seven of their last eight at home.
Suns 121, Bulls 116 – Booker scores season-high 45, Suns beat Bulls 121-116
Devin Booker scored a season-high 45 points, Chris Paul added 19 points and 14 assists, and the Phoenix Suns held on to beat the Chicago Bulls 121-116. Booker made 17 of 24 shots from the field and 9 of 10 free throws. Dario Saric added 16 points off the bench. Phoenix has won four straight while Chicago has lost five in a row. Chicago was led by Nikola Vucevic’s 24 points and 10 rebounds. Thaddeus Young and Denzel Valentine each had 19 points .
Tonight
Washington Wizards at Detroit Pistons, 7:00 p.m.
NHL – National Hockey League
Tonight
Detroit Red Wings at Florida Panthers, 7:00 p.m.
Carolina Hurricanes at Chicago Blackhawks, 8:00 p.m.
NHL – Blackhawks’ Bowman named as GM of 2022 US Olympic men’s team
Chicago Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman has been selected to oversee building the U.S. men’s national hockey team for the 2022 Beijing Games. Bowman will serve as general manager and be assisted by Minnesota Wild GM and three-time U.S. Olympian Bill Guerin. USA Hockey’s announcement comes with the NHL anticipating its players’ return to the Olympics, pending negotiations with the International Olympic Committee scheduled for this summer. Bowman will draw from what he considers the deepest pool of American-born talent ever assembled. The potential list of first-time American-born Olympians include Toronto’s Auston Matthews, Buffalo’s Jack Eichel and New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox.
NHL – Flyers sign Michigan defenseman York to 3-year rookie deal
Cam York is foregoing his final two years at Michigan after the defenseman signed a three-year entry level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. The team announced the contract comes into effect this season. The signing comes after York’s second season at Michigan abruptly ended Friday. The Wolverines were forced to withdraw from the NCAA Tournament before their first-round meeting against Minnesota-Duluth because of a positive COVID-19 test.
Former Fox regional networks begin new era as Bally Sports
Most of the U.S. regional sports networks have begun a new chapter after switching over from Fox Sports to Bally Sports. The rebranding of 19 regional networks has been nearly a two-year process after they were purchased by the Sinclair Broadcast Group from Walt Disney Company for $10 billion late in 2019. Disney was required by the Department of Justice to sell the networks in order for its acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets to be approved.
Golf – Detectives find cause of Tiger Woods crash but won’t reveal
The Los Angeles County sheriff says detectives have determined what caused Tiger Woods to crash his SUV last month in Southern California but would not release details, citing unspecified privacy concerns for the golf star. Woods suffered serious injuries in the Feb. 23 crash just outside Los Angeles. He is in Florida recovering from multiple surgeries. Sheriff Alex Villanueva on Wednesday said detectives have determined what caused the collision but claimed investigators need permission from Woods — who previously named his yacht “Privacy” — to release information about the crash. A police expert refuted Villanueva’s privacy claims.
NFL – NFL planning to remove restrictions for vaccinated personnel
The NFL has plans to eliminate some restrictions from its current COVID-19 protocols for vaccinated players, coaches and personnel. In a memo sent to the 32 teams and obtained by The Associated Press, the league detailed potential amendments to the protocols used throughout the 2020 season and current offseason. Among the elements that could be eliminated are the need to participate in daily testing; quarantine periods due to close contact with an infected individual; and/or refraining from social gatherings among other vaccinated individuals.
FIFA – Nine host cities announced for 2023 Women’s World Cup
The 2023 Women’s World Cup will be spread across nine cities in Australia and New Zealand. The opening match will take place at Eden Park in Auckland with Sydney’s Stadium Australia hosting the final. The two semifinal matches will be split between Australia and New Zealand. This World Cup will be the first to feature 32 teams, up from the 24 that participated in the 2019 women’s tournament in France. The schedule for the event will be announced later this year.
MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Girls Basketball – Regional Finals
Division 1 at Gull Lake
East Lansing 62, Kalamazoo Central 38
Division 2 at Edwardsburg
Wayland 61, Edwardsburg 48
Division 3 at Watervliet
Schoolcraft 37, Gobles 12
Division 4 at Mendon
Martin 42, Colon 31
Girls Soccer
Mattawan 3, Paw Paw 0
Coloma 6, Hartford 1
Otsego 1, Wayland 1 – TIE
Fennville 4, Bangor 1
Girls Tennis
Three Rivers 6, Plainwell 2
Baseball
Buchanan 13, Coloma 0 – Game 1
Buchanan 5, Coloma 0 – Game 2
Softball
Hartford 22, Fennville 0 – Game 1
Hartford 22, Fennville 1 – Game 2
Tonight
Boys Basketball – Regional Finals
Division 2 at Benton Harbor
Benton Harbor vs. Hopkins, 7:00 p.m. News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM
Division 3 at Bronson
Schoolcraft vs. Kalamazoo Christian, 6:00 p.m.
Division 4 at Niles
Howardsville Christian vs. Wyoming Tri-Unity, 6:30 p.m.
