BASKETBALL
Acy sits one out after foul
New York Knicks forward Quincy Acy was suspended for one game on Friday after a foul that sparked an altercation with Washington’s John Wall in a Thursday loss. Acy was whistled for a flagrant foul and ejected for his role in the incident, which took place with 5:31 remaining in the fourth quarter of Washington’s 102-91 victory over the Knicks at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Wall was fined US$15,000 for pushing Acy and escalating the incident after being fouled. Teammates had to keep the rivals apart after the incident. Acy missed yesterday’s Knicks game at Sacramento as a result of the suspension. At 20-8, the Wizards rank third in the Eastern Conference and only one game behind Atlanta in the Southeast division. The Knicks, 5-26 after their sixth loss in a row, own the second-worst record in the NBA, with only cellar-dwelling Philadelphia, 4-23, below them.
ICE HOCKEY
Devils fire coach DeBoer
The slumping New Jersey Devils fired coach Peter DeBoer on Friday, the NHL team said. The Devils, with a 12-17-7 record, are seventh in the Metropolitan Division with 31 points after losing their last two games. DeBoer, 46, took over in July 2011 and had a 114-93-41 record for three-plus seasons. He is the third NHL coach to be fired this season. Paul MacLean of the Ottawa Senators was dismissed on Dec. 8 and Dallas Eakins of the Edmonton Oilers was let go on Dec. 15. DeBoer led the Devils to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2012, but they have not made the postseason since. The Devils were scheduled to play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden yesterday.
FOOTBALL
Chiefs’ Smith on injured list
With their slim NFL playoff hopes at stake, the Kansas City Chiefs are set to face San Diego without quarterback Alex Smith because he has a lacerated spleen, the team announced on Friday. Smith had practiced earlier this week after suffering the injury in the third quarter of Kansas City’s 20-12 loss to Pittsburgh. He was struck in the abdomen after a throw to Chiefs rookie receiver Albert Wilson. Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said that Smith felt an injury, but did not consider it serious and worked out twice before having it checked. While Smith’s injury does not require surgery, it typically requires six weeks to heal, which would sideline Smith even if the Chiefs reached the Super Bowl. Reserve quarterback Chase Daniel is set to start against the visiting Chargers (9-6), who would swipe the final American Conference playoff spot with a victory. Daniel’s only prior career NFL start came in a last-game win over San Diego last year. The Chiefs (8-7) need a victory and home losses by Baltimore and Houston to claim the final AFC berth.
GOLF
McIlroy sheepish on BBC
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy experienced an awkward moment when he went to watch Ulster take on Connacht in a rugby match on Friday. The Ulster supporter was in the middle of a television interview with the BBC when the Neil Diamond song Sweet Caroline was played over the public address system at halftime. McIlroy responded by smiling sheepishly, looking down at the ground and exclaiming “Oh dear.” The Northern Irishman broke off his engagement to former world No. 1 tennis player Caroline Wozniacki in May, the same week as he won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
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