…(Olympics)…

Beijing Games….Opening ceremonies in Beijing-early Friday morning amid pressure from China towards athletes not to make political statements in interviews with media,,,Olympic Covid testing highly enforced at Olympic village…USA-Olympic skaters Nathan Chang and Meriah Bell headline the American athletes.
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…(Basketball)…

Aztecs-at-Colorado State…Friday game…SDSU (12-5)…Rams (16-3)…CSU led by 6’5 F-David Roddy (16P-7R-2A-1BS-1Steal-56%) on offense…Aztecs beat Rams by 30-points earlier in season….SDSU struggling on road….Averaging (68P) at home and shooting (36%) on 3’s….On road ((59P)..shooting (22%) on 3’s..

USD-L-Gonzaga.(92-62)….Drue Timme-Chet Holmgren combined (36P-20R) in lopsided win…Thursday night…Zags (18-2)…Torerors (13-10)

UCLA-L-Arizona (76-66)…Wildcats built 12 point lead in first half…Bruins cut it to 3-late in game…Wildcats hit 10-free throws in final 3-minutes to post win…Wildcats G-Daylen Terry (10P-8-Ass-6R) in win…Arizona hit 29-of-30 free throws….Thursday game…Bruins (16-3)…UA now (18-2)…UCLA had beaten Cats by 16-in Pauley Pavilion just 9-days ago.

USC-Arizona State..Thursday game…Late start

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(NBA)

Lakers-L-Clippers. (111-110)…Nick Batum (29P)…Reggie Jackson (25P)..Serge Ibaka (20P) in win…Clippers shot 50%-hit 14-3’s……Anthony Davis (30P) in loss….Russ Westbrook-Carmelo Anthony were combined (9-22) shooting……Lakers fall to (25-28)….Clippers (27-27)…Thursday game

Lakers-New York Knicks…Saturday home game

Boston..Mourns passing of longtime head coach Bill Fitch-passed away (89Y)..Coached from 1970-to-1998..Coached Cavs-Browns-Rockets-Nets-Clippers.

Philadelphia..Coach Doc Rivers discussing on going holdout of G-Ben Simmons…’Respect is a 2-way street’….’Coaches have to tell the truth’….’With him there are always excuses’…Simmons have forfeited 19M in salary this season-…says he is dealing with mental health issues.
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…(Baseball)…

MLB…Asks for Federal Mediation to enter as a third party in negotiations with the Union during the lockout…Lockout is now 62-days long and there are 13-unresolved financial issues…Threatening opening of spring training in 14-days.

MLB..Announces that AAA-baseball will expand schedule from 144-games to 150-games this season…Season will stretch from April 5th thru September 28th…rather than end first weekend in September.

Dallas…Prosecutors in the Tyler Skaggs-Drug overdose trial will call 7-former Angels players, including Matt Harvey, CJ Kron, Matt Morin, Garrett Richards, Andrew Heaney as witnesses…Former PR Director Eric Kay is on trial for dealing oxycodone and fetanyl over a 3-year period while witht he club…He has been charged with delivering drugs to Skaggs while on a road trip in 2019..Skaggs overdosed in the team hotel.

Red Sox…Hire Anthony Iapoce-hitting coach…ex Rangers-Cubs
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…(Football)…

Bengals…head to indoor bubble for limited workouts preparing for Super Bowl because of 8-to-12 inches of snow in Cincinnati….Bengals will fly to LA on Tuesday for workouts at UCLA.

Miami..Owner Steven Ross says he will defend his reputation after allegations made by former coach Brian Flores about ‘tanking games’ to get high draft picks.

Colorado…Head Coach Karl Dorrell-former assistant with Dolphins..says coaching staff never had a discussion about ‘losing games’ to get higher draft picks while working for Brian Flores.

Broncos..Team President John Elway called Brian Flores’ criticism of interview in Dener as  ‘defamatory’….said Flores had 3-and-half hour in-depth interview for coaching job.

Giants…Said Brian Flores was a candidate for head job right till the 11th hour.

Pittsburgh…DB coach Teryl Austin says he was a victim of ‘sham interview’ with Detroit Lions..says he believes club had decided to hire Matt Patricia before they interviewed him.

Saints..Say Brian Flores remains a candidate for head job
Houston..3-finalists for head job..Brian Flores-John Gannon-Josh McCown
Minnesota..Report Kevin O’Connell-Rams-will be offered head coaching job after Super Bowl game.

Denver..Elevated Darren Mougey to Assistant General Manager..spent 10-years in Player Personnel Department…Forer Aztecs QB-TE.

Jaguars….Hire ex Eagles coach Doug Pederson late Thursday night…was 1st of 10-candidates they interviewed….was (42-31-1) with Philadelphia…Sat out 2021 season.

Jacksonville…Negotiating with Rick Spielman-ex Vikings, to become President of Football Operations.

Giants..Hire Mike Kafka-Off Coord-ex Chiefs QB coach
Raiders..Interview Sean Desai-ex Bears for Def Coord job
Raiders..Hire Bo Hardegree-QB-coach-ex Patriots
49ers..Fire Jon Embree-TE coach
Jaguars..Fire Joe Cullen-Def Coord from Urban Meyer staff
Bears..Hire Andrew Janocoku-QB coach-ex Vikings
Chargers..Hire Ryan Ficken-Special teams coach..spent 15Y with Vikings.

Washington…former Redskins employee charges owner Daniel Snyder put his hand on her thigh during a team dinner…tried to lure her into his limousine….Woman was part of 6-former employees who testified in front of Congress on Thursday about NFL-Probe of Redskins owner that led to 10M-fine of the club for ‘toxic culture’.

Pro Bowl game in Las Vegas…Patrick Mahomes-Justin Herbert lead AFC Team..NFC headed by Kyler Murray-Kirk Cousins.
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(College Football)

Arizona State..Fire Defensive Coordinator-Assistant Head Coach Antonio Pierce..was implicated in NCAA-recruting violations during Covid lockdown…Devils were bringing in recruits during lockdown.

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…(Hockey)…

Anaheim Ducks….Hire Pat Verbeek as General Manager…Played 20-years in NHL with Dallas-New Jersey Devils…Spent 16-years with Red Wings-Tampa Bay as a front office executive…Asst-GM..Player Personnel Director…Lead Scout

Ducks…Owner Henry Samueli comments:
..We were impressed fright from the start with his experiences
..His resume included 1400-games..500-goals..Team Captain..2-Rings
..He learned under Steve Yzerman-grew as executive
..We had a strong search committee with Paul Kariya-Scott Neidemayer-Teemu Sellane
..That committee helped us network wtth the right people to talk about Verbeek
..That committee gave us insight into culture..fit..important values..vision.
..Steve Yzerman’s record speaks for itself..this is a win-win for everyone
..it has been difficult to see this team lose..it is a fact of life in the NHL
..You build stars..you win..they retire..you rebuild..go thru ups and downs
..Martin Madden has done a good job building talent in organziation
..I looked inside at 3-candidates..they may be GMs in future
..There were 5-finalists..Verbeek checked off all the boxes.

Ducks…Pat Vergbeek-incoming GM comments:
..What I learned from Yzerman was patience-due diligence..be thorough in all your decisions.
..I learned so much from Jim Devellano-Ken Holland about blueprints
..Steve Yzerman gave me more responsibility in both Detroit-Tampa Bay
..I inherit alot in Anaheim-they are in middle of rebuild
..There is alot of talent coming to support the growth of this team
..Buildouts take 5-years..it won’t take that long in Anaheim
..Young players-make sure they train hard-get stronger
..You cannot learn on the job in the NHL
..Good young players boost enthusiasm in the room
..I have 7-weeks to evaluate our roster and system
..By time I get to trade deadline-I want to have 10-scenarios on my mind
..Experience with Red Wings in Europe immense
..Harder to sneak good players out of Europe
..Harder to find gems in Europe-everyone scouting there
..My role-provide tools to the players…develop the staff to teach them.

Gulls-Tucson….Friday-Saturday games at Pechanga Arena….Gulls in bad tailspin….(13-19-2)…have the lowest scoring offense in Pacific Division.

Gulls…Attendance collapsing…drew (4494) on Wednesday night-lowest in 5-years.

Chicago…Report that lawyers are preparing another lawsuit against Blackhawks after more victims came forward saying they were sexually assaulted…Included was an assistant at Miami-Ohio where video coach Brad Aldrich went to work after leaving Chicago….Blackhawks reached out of court settlement with former player Kyle Beach who was assaulted in 2010 seaso….Miami of Ohio staff member was assaulted in 2011.

NHL….All Star weekend in Las Vegas.
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…(General)….

ATT-Pebble Beach…Opening round:
(-9)..Tom Hoge-rips off 9-birdies enroute to (63)
(-8)..Seamus Power
(-6)..Patrick Cantalay
(-4)..Jason Day
(-3)..Jordan Spieth
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London Daily Mail…Reporting that the Saudi International Fund has offered a 130M package to Bryson DeChambeau to sign to play in the Euro Superr League…Offers made also to Ian Poulter-Dustin Johnson…Saudi Arabia is trying to fund a Global Tour with Guaranteed Appearance fees plus big prize money.
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Soccer…Everton coach Frank Lampard has hired former LA Galaxy Ashley Cole to be assistant coach for English Premier League team

Manchester United..Suspend Mason Greenwood after his arrest on charges of Domestic violence-sexual assault.
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NASCAR…Opens season with Busch Clash race in LA Coliseum on Saturday…Kyle Larson leads 36-car field for the Clash…4-qualifying races on Sunday (25-laps) each to determine the field on newly constructed Quarter-mile track built around football field.
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