FOOTBALL
Broncos split up with Fox
The Denver Broncos and head coach John Fox have mutually agreed to part ways, the NFL team said on Monday, a day after their season-ending playoff loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Fox led Denver to four division titles since taking charge of the team in 2011, but his teams came up short in the playoffs each year, losing last season’s Super Bowl and falling in the second round of the playoffs in the other three seasons. Broncos general manager John Elway said in a statement that he and Fox met for more than an hour on Monday to discuss the latest season and goals for the future when it became clear that the timing was right for a change. “While we have made significant progress under Coach Fox, there is still work to be done,” Elway said. “I believe this change at the head coaching position will be in the best interest of our long-term goal, which from day one has been to win World Championships.”
FOOTBALL
Bills pin hopes on Ryan
The Buffalo Bills named Rex Ryan their new head coach on Monday in the hope that the former New York Jets boss can help them snap the longest playoff drought currently in the NFL. The hiring ends what the Bills said was an extensive search after Doug Marrone abruptly stepped down after Buffalo went 9-7 in the 2014 season and missed the postseason for a 15th consecutive year. “Rex brings a wealth of experience and enthusiasm to the position that we feel will be a tremendous benefit to our players and the entire Bills organization,” Bills owner Terry Pegula said in a statement. “We look forward to his leadership and expertise in directing our team to the playoffs and bringing a champion ship to Buffalo for our fans.” Ryan, 52, spent the past six seasons as the head coach for AFC East division rivals the Jets, a team he lead to the penultimate round of the NFL playoffs in his first two years in charge. However, he was unable to lead the Jets to a winning record in each of the past four campaigns and was fired last month after the team finished near the bottom of the league standings with a 4-12 record.
BASKETBALL
Three-team trade sealed
Jeff Green and Russ Smith are headed to the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team NBA trade that was in the works for days before it was confirmed on Monday. Memphis acquired forward Green from the Boston Celtics and guard Smith from the New Orleans Pelicans in the swap, while the Celtics pick up forward Tayshaun Prince and a future first-round draft selection from Memphis, as well as guard Austin Rivers from New Orleans. The Pelicans acquired forward Quincy Pondexter and a future second-round draft pick from the Grizzlies. Green averaged a career-high 17.6 points to go with 4.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 33 starts with Boston this season. The 28-year-old has averaged 14.4 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 511 games (395 starts) with Seattle, Oklahoma City and Boston. Smith played in just six games for New Orleans this season. He was traded to New Orleans on draft night for Pierre Jackson. Prince averaged 7.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 26 games with Memphis this season. The 34-year-old holds career averages of 11.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists over 908 games (851 starts) for the Pistons and Grizzlies. Rivers appeared in 35 games for the Pelicans this season, averaging 6.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He was selected as the 10th overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft by New Orleans. Pondexter averaged 4.5 points and 1.9 rebounds in 30 games with Memphis this season.
Former world No. 2 Paula Badosa has withdrawn from this week’s Wuhan Open, organizers said on Tuesday, amid a racism row over an online photograph. Tournament organizers said the Spaniard had pulled out of the WTA 1000 tournament, citing a gastrointestinal illness, hours before her first-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic. News outlets including Britain’s the Telegraph earlier reported that Badosa had posted a photo on Instagram in which she appeared to imitate a Chinese face by placing chopsticks on the corners of her eyes. The photo was taken last week in a restaurant in Beijing, where she reached the semi-finals of the
Shin Oebori coaches the Fukagawa Hawks youth baseball team in Tokyo, and he is very aware how Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani touches his players. “With Ohtani, the kids think everything is possible,” Oebori said, wrapping up practice yesterday on an all-dirt field set alongside a local Buddhist temple, below an elevated highway, and in the shadow of tall apartment blocks in central Tokyo. “Nothing is impossible with him. A dream is not a dream,” Oebori said, stepping out of the fenced practice field that keeps balls from landing on the temple grounds. None of the players hitting sponge-soft baseball has reached
CRICKET Azhar’s 59 leads Stallions Aashir Azhar’s blazing half-century guided the Taipei Stallions to victory over Taipei Super 11 in the Taiwan Premier League’s Group A at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei yesterday. The Stallions were 102-3 and into the 12th over of 20 when Azhar came to the crease. He hit seven sixes and two fours in the 25 deliveries he faced to push his side to 171-5. Gokul Kumar was the star with the ball for Super 11, taking 3-17. In the reply, Deepak Vishnu outscored Azhar with 77 from 50 balls, but nobody else got past 20 as
‘GLOBAL PRESSURE’: LA’s Dave Roberts said that it was difficult to appreciate the ‘pressure on a global scale’ his starter was under ‘pitching for his country’ The Los Angeles Dodgers shelled out US$1 billion for Japanese talent in the off-season and it is paying off in the MLB playoffs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Friday outdueled Yu Darvish in a historic post-season matchup of Japanese-born starters, while the Dodgers got home runs from Kike Hernandez and Teoscar Hernandez to beat the San Diego Padres 2-0 and advance to the National League Championship Series. “It’s pretty sweet,” a smiling Freddie Freeman said. Yamamoto allowed two hits over five innings for the win, getting pulled after 63 pitches in a decisive Game 5 between heated NL West rivals who were meeting in a
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