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Celebs criticized for maskless partying on Super Bowl weekend during pandemic: 'It's stupid'
Social media footage of star-studded Super Bowl LV events over the weekend almost makes it look like the pandemic is over.
Social media footage of star-studded Super Bowl LV events over the weekend almost makes it look like the pandemic is over.
Pound-for-pound king Saul "Canelo" Alvarez stays busy with a perplexing matchup against Avni Yildirim to defend his WBA and WBC super middleweight world titles on Saturday (7 p.m. ET, DAZN) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
Vanessa Bryant wants names of deputies accused of sharing Kobe crash photos made public
In an emotional Instagram post, Lin encouraged people to reach out to Asians in their communities.
Rookie Vitek Vanecek had 22 saves in his ninth win, and the Capitals are 5-1-1 in their last seven after losing four straight.
It's been 11 months, but Hopkins is still positively tickled that the Texans traded him to the Cardinals for almost nothing.
Sabres starting goalie Linus Ullmark will miss at least the next month with a lower-body injury, while captain Jack Eichel remains day-to-day.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic told LeBron James to shut up and dribble, so James did some homework on him.
Manchester City won its 20th straight game in all competitions and opened up a 13-point lead in the Premier League by beating West Ham 2-1.
The Wild are on a tear, the Eichel saga takes a plot twist, and other fantasy takeaways from the week that was.
It's an exciting week ahead as the second week of the Round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League kicks off, along with Premier League and Serie A action.
PHILADELPHIA — Collin Sexton scored 28 points, Darius Garland had 25 and the feisty Cleveland Cavaliers beat the East-best Philadelphia 76ers 112-109 in overtime on Saturday night. The Cavaliers earned their first road win since Jan. 7 at Memphis and No. 4 on the season. They got one against a Sixers team that built the best record in the Eastern Conference (22-12) on the strength of a 14-2 mark at home. Make it 14-3. Isaac Okoro scored the first three points of OT and had 15 when he fouled out. The Cavs led by three and turned the ball over only for Ben Simmons to get whistled for an offensive foul. Garland hit a floater for a five-point lead and the 11-point underdog Cavaliers were on their way to their third straight win. Joel Embiid had 42 points and 13 rebounds for Philadelphia. Simmons scored 21. Sexton hit a 3 late in regulation that put the Cavs ahead 92-90, but Embiid answered with a tying dunk. The score went back-and-forth all quarter and the Cavs had a chance to win late. Sexton missed a long 3 coming out of a timeout and Matisse Thybulle grabbed the defensive rebound. Embiid missed a step-back 15-footer with one second left and the game went into OT tied 92-all. Embiid, who seems good for one injury scare a game, sure enough came up limping late in the first quarter. He stayed in the game after a timeout and promptly passed out of a double team to Danny Green for a 3. Embiid’s ability to draw fouls -- he’s been accused of flopping -- at an elite level continued against the Cavs. Embiid let out an “ahhh!” as he tangled with JaVale McGee and went to the line. McGee was whistled for three fouls in 1 minute that led to four made free throws by Embiid, and Jarrett Allen also had three fouls by halftime. Embiid was 11 of 12 from the line in the half; the Cavs just 10 of 13. Sixers coach Doc Rivers yelled, “Wake up! Let’s go!” with the Sixers down 39-30. The Sixers needed time to snap out of their slumber. Embiid and Simmons carried the Sixers in the first half and combined to score 33 of their 47 points. The other three starters scored just seven points and the Cavs led 56-47 at the break. The Cavaliers ran and ran after Sixers’ misses and scored 17 fast-break points in the half. The Sixers shook off a 13-point hole and got rolling in the third, in large part because Embiid and Simmons had help from the bench. Mike Scott hit a 3 that pulled them within one. Shake Milton hit the floater that tied it at 65. TIP-INS Cavaliers: Andre Drummond again sat out for “personal reasons” as the Cavs look into a trade. .... Matthew Dellavedova, still out because of the effects of a concussion, made the trip. He also recently had his appendix removed. 76ers: Tobias Harris, who averages 20.2 points, sat out with a bruised right knee. Furkan Korkmaz got the start. ... Simmons reached 4,000 career points. ... Embiid had his 16th 20-point, 10-rebound game of the season. ... Seth Curry shot 1 of 13 and scored four points. UP NEXT Cavaliers: Play Monday at Houston. 76ers: Host Indiana on Monday. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Dan Gelston, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Bradley Beal scored 34 points, Russell Westbrook added 19 as part of his NBA-leading 10th triple-double, and the Washington Wizards used a 44-point third quarter to pull away for a 128-112 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night. Westbrook added 14 rebounds and 12 assists for the Wizards, who have won seven of eight to move back into playoff contention following a 6-17 start. Davis Bertans scored 12 of his 19 points in the third quarter, including four of his five 3-pointers. Garrison Mathews scored 18 points in Washington's first home game following a four-game West Coast trip. Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who dropped their seventh straight, matching their longest slide of the season. Anthony Edwards added 21 points for NBA-worst Minnesota, as starting guard Malik Beasley served the first of a 12-game suspension. The Timberwolves were in it until Washington's third-quarter outburst, which included an extended 35-12 run. The Wizards scored nine straight to start it, with Westbrook's running dunk and Beal's 3-pointer from the top of the key giving them a 72-67 lead and coaxing Minnesota coach Chris Finch into a timeout. It was a five-point game before the Wizards made six 3-pointers over a 4:20 stretch. Bertans' last 3 of the quarter, off Westbrook's 11th assist of the game, made it 98-79 with just under a minute left. TIP-INS Timberwolves: Dropped to 3-5 in the opener of back-to-back games. ... G Jarrett Culver (ankle) returned after a 17-game absence, though he was available for Wednesday's loss in Chicago, Finch said. ... Jarred Vanderbilt had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Wizards: Improved to 6-3 in the opener of back-to-back games. ... Westbrook nearly achieved his triple-double by halftime, entering the break with 13 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He also received his 11th technical foul of the season with 9:36 to play in the game ... Bertans (knee) returned after missing Thursday's win in Denver. "LIKE FOR LIKE?" With Beasley serving the first of a 12-game suspension related to a guilty plea to a felony count of threats of violence, guard Josh Okogie returned to the starting lineup. Finch doesn't expect anyone will serve as a “like-for-like” replacement for Beasley, who is averaging 20.5 points and just over 33 minutes a contest. “We don’t expect any one person to come in and fill that void,” Finch said. “We’re going to put out lineups out there that suit ourselves to start, and then go from there.” UP NEXT Timberwolves: Return home to face Phoenix on Sunday. Wizards: Visit Boston on Sunday. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports Ian Nicholas Quillen, The Associated Press
EDMONTON — Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist, Jack Campbell made 30 saves for his third career shutout, and the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 on Saturday in the opener of a three-game set. William Nylander, Jason Spezza and Zach Hyman also scored for Toronto (16-4-2), which was without NHL goal leader Auston Matthews because of a wrist injury. John Tavares added two assists as the Leafs stretched their lead atop the North Division to six points over the Oilers. Mike Smith stopped 25 shots as Edmonton (14-9-0) saw its five-game winning streak come to an end after Toronto held Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who sit first and second in the league's scoring race, at bay on a frustrating night for the home side in the Alberta capital. The teams continue their series Monday and Wednesday back at Rogers Place. Matthews tops the NHL with 18 goals in 20 games — he sat out for a second time against the Oilers in 2021 because of that wrist issue — and entered play tied for third in points with 31 points behind McDavid (40) and Draisaitl (34). The Leafs did get some reinforcements with the return of Campbell, who missed more than a month with a leg injury suffered Jan. 24, while winger Joe Thornton (lower body) and top-4 defenceman Jake Muzzin (facial fracture) also suited up after both sat out Toronto's last two games. Leafs No. 1 goalie Frederik Andersen, meanwhile, remains day-to-day with a lower-body ailment that pressed third-stringer Michael Hutchison into action twice earlier this week with Campbell still working his way back. Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe elected to put Tavares in Matthews' spot between Marner and Thornton with the team's best player and top centre out. The Leafs, who opened a road trip that will see them play five games in eight nights, also defeated Edmonton 4-2 in Toronto on Jan. 22 without Matthews. After both teams had a couple of good chances to open the scoring early, the Leafs got on the board at 14:37 of the first period on the game's first power play. Marner showed great patience circling behind Smith's net before finding Nylander, who buried his eighth of the season. It was also the Swede's third in two games on the heels of scoring both goals in Wednesday's 2-1 overtime victory against the Calgary Flames, as Toronto snapped an 0-for-12 stretch on the man advantage. Pointless in his last two games coming into Saturday, Marner then turned finisher just 1:13 later when he took a pass from Tavares in transition and fired a shot through Smith for his 10th. Both goalies were busy before the Leafs broke through, with Campbell denying McDavid off the rush and Smith thwarting Alexander Barabanov on his doorstep in tight. Spezza made it 3-0 at 11:15 of the second on a vintage sequence from a player nicknamed "Vintage" by teammates. The 37-year-old forward took a pass from Jimmy Vesey coming down the right side, faked a slapshot that had Smith swimming in his crease before firing his fifth shortside on the 38-year-old netminder, who entered a perfect 6-0-0 with a .944 save percentage this season. Edmonton, which was on 11-2-0 run after starting the season 3-6-0 to get within four points of Toronto, came close to getting that one back moments later, but Draisaitl's pass to Josh Archibald was redirected off Campbell's crossbar by Leafs centre Alexander Kerfoot before the netminder shut the door on the follow. The Oilers pushed midway through the third, but Campbell turned aside a point shot from Caleb Jones before Gaetan Haas failed to control the rebound. Hyman, who missed two of the Leafs' last four games with a foot injury, then iced by roofing his fifth upstairs on Smith at 13:34 as the visitors picked up their first shutout of the season. Edmonton's power play came in ranked seventh in the NHL after going 6 for 14 over its last three games, but failed to get a single opportunity as Toronto didn't allow a man-advantage chance against for the first time since Nov. 27, 2019. The Leafs and Oilers split their four previous meetings this season, although Toronto picked up an extra point in Edmonton's 4-3 overtime victory on Jan. 30. Notes: Spezza's goal was the 952nd point of his career, tying him with Rick Tocchet for 102nd on the NHL's all-time scoring list. ... Vesey's assist was his first point in 13 games. ... The Leafs assigned winger Alex Galchenyuk, who was acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 15, to the AHL's Toronto Marlies. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2021. ___ Follow @JClipperton_CP on Twitter The Canadian Press
TAMPA, Fla. — Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for his second straight shutout and 23rd overall and the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Dallas Stars 5-0 on Saturday night in the first Stanley Cup rematch of the season. The teams will meet again on Tuesday night in Dallas. They had four previous scheduled meetings season postponed because of COVID protocols and weather issues in Dallas. Steven Stamkos and Anthony Cirelli each had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay, and Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point and Pat Maroon also scored for Tampa Bay. The Lightning scored two power-play goals and one short-handed to extend their winning streak to four games. Dallas' Anton Khudobin made 12 saves before being replaced in the third period by Jake Oettinger, who stopped all five shots he faced. Palat struck three seconds into Tampa Bay’s first power-play chance, stealing the puck from Jason Dickinson down low and roofing a shot over Khudobin for his seventh of the season and fifth on the power play — which ties his single-season high. Tampa Bay scored three goals in the second period. Cirelli, back after missing two weeks, took a pass from Stamkos inside the Dallas blue line and raced in for a breakaway and pulled the puck to his backhand before lifting it over Khudobin for his seventh career short-handed goal at 4:06. Point made it 3-0 when he raced up the ice and cut to his right as he entered the Dallas zone and put the puck on the toe of his stick and wristed a shot back across his body to the far post at 8:17. Maroon tapped in a pass from Tyler Johnson on a backdoor play at 15:12 for Tampa Bay’s second power-play goal of the game. Stamkos scored his 10th of the season at 1:07 of the third, one-timing a backhand pass from Cirelli that made it 5-0 and ended the night for Khudobin. RADULOV CLOSE Dallas RW Alexander Radulov missed his eighth consecutive game with an undisclosed lower-body injury. Coach Rick Bowness said Radulov has been doing some light skating on his own and could return at some point during a six-game homestand that opens on Tuesday against Tampa Bay. LINEUP SHUFFLE Dallas C Roope Hintz returned after missing two games with a lower body injury. The Stars also called up C Rhett Gardner from the taxi squad, but he was a scratch. Erik Erlendsson, The Associated Press
Louis Nix III was a standout defensive lineman for Notre Dame before playing three seasons in the NFL.
Lin-Manuel Miranda was a fan.
CALGARY — Kerri Einarson took a significant step toward defending her Canadian women's curling championship by skipping her team to a playoff berth Saturday. Einarson's foursome out of Manitoba's Gimli Curling Club beat Quebec's Laurie St-Georges 7-4 to get to a record of 10-1 with a draw remaining Saturday night. "We're definitely just focusing on ourselves and what we need to do," Einarson said. "We're in control of our own destiny." Ontario's Rachel Homan (9-2), Manitoba's Jennifer Jones (8-3) and Alberta's Laura Walker (8-3) were in contention for the two remaining playoff spots heading into the final draw of the championship round. The top seed emerging from the championship round earns a bye to Sunday evening's final, while second and third square off in the afternoon semifinal. A tie for third would be solved by a tiebreaker game in the morning. The 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts is one of four Curling Canada events to be held in a spectator-free, controlled environment at the WinSport's Markin MacPhail Centre in Calgary. The COVID-19 pandemic thwarting many provincial and territorial playdowns prompted Curling Canada to add two wild-card teams to the Hearts field for a total of 18, which in turn shrunk the playoff window. Instead of the traditional four teams in a Page playoff, only three advance. Einarson is attempting the first back-to-back Hearts titles since Rachel Homan in 2013 and 2014. Sunday's victor earns $100,000 in prize money and a return trip to the 2022 Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont., as Team Canada. The winner doesn't have a world championship, however, in which to wear the Maple Leaf. The March 19-28 tournament in Schaffhausen, Switzerland was cancelled by the World Curling Federation because of the pandemic. The 2020 world championship in Prince George, B.C., was called off for the same reason, so Einarson wasn't able to represent Canada there. Six-time champion Jennifer Jones of Manitoba thumped Ontario's Homan 9-1 on Saturday afternoon before facing Einarson at night. Jones had struggled the previous evening in a loss to Alberta, but the skip and her teammates were on their game against three-time champion Homan. "We definitely regrouped and decided we needed to step it up a little bit," Jones said. "Last night's loss doesn't impact our confidence at all. I think that just comes with experience." It wasn't the first time that Jones' lead Lisa Weagle faced former skip Homan, but it was the first time at a Tournament of Hearts. Homan, third Emma Miskew and Weagle won three Canadian titles and a world title together. They also represented Canada in the 2018 Winter Olympics with Joanne Courtney. Homan dropped Weagle from her lineup last year and replaced her with Sarah Wilkes. Weagle met her former teammates Nov. 12 in an Okotoks, Alta., event. Homan won the game 7-1. There was a time when Weagle might have felt extra satisfaction in beating Homan for the first time, but the all-star lead says that time has passed. "If you'd asked me that a few months ago, or over the summer, probably," Weagle said. "Today, I was really just out there playing for me and I was playing for my team. I just wanted to find a new level of excellence and play really well and I feel like that's what we've been doing here. "It wasn't really my focus today that we were playing them. I was definitely excited for the game, but I was focused more on myself." Quebec, Saskatchewan's Sherry Anderson, and wild-card teams skipped by Beth Peterson and Chelsea Carey are out of contention with their fifth losses. Alberta's Walker stayed in the hunt with a 9-4 win over Saskatchewan. The host province was to take on Carey's Wild Card One and Homan faced Saskatchewan on Saturday evening. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2021. Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
LAS VEGAS — Canadian veteran Alexis Davis, fighting for the first time in 19 months, gave Sabina (Colombian Queen) Mazo a reality check en route to a unanimous decision win Saturday night on a UFC Fight Night card.The judges scored it 30-27, 30-27, 30-26 for Davis, who used her grappling skills to blunt Mazo's striking talent.The 36-year-old Davis (20-10-0), who had shoulder surgery in early 2020, came into the bout on a three-fight losing streak. The 23-year-old Mazo (9-2-0) had won her last three fights.Mazo looked to keep the flyweight matchup on the feet against Davis, who fought for the UFC bantamweight title in 2014, And she showed fast hands early in the fight until she went down trying to land a kick. Davis, a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, got side control and then took Mazo's back, finishing the round in control.Davis kept lashing Mazo's lead leg with kicks in the second round, looking to blunt Mazo's striking edge. The Canadian took Mazo down late in the round.Davis used her ground skills to control Mazo, a former Legacy Fighting Alliance flyweight champion."I like being on the ground. I'm comfortable there," said Davis, a native of Port Colborne, Ont. who now makes her home in California.Saturday's main event at the UFC's Apex production facility pitted Suriname's Jairzinho (Bigi Boy) Rozenstruik, ranked fourth among UFC heavyweight contenders against No 7 Cyril (Bon Gamin) Gane of France.Davis had her first pro fight in 2007, competing in Strikeforce and Invicta FC before moving to the UFC in 2013.After three straight wins in the promotion, she faced (Rowdy) Ronda Rousey for the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 175. Rousey, then unbeaten and a 10-1 favourite, won in just 16 seconds.Davis won three of her next four fights and took time off to have her son before dropping her last three outings. Davis lost a decision to Viviane Araujo last time out at UFC 240 in Edmonton in July 2019. The defeat prompted her to seek help for her shoulder which had been damaged two fights earlier against Katlyn Chookagian in July 2018.Davis moved back to bantamweight (135 pounds) after four fights as a flyweight (125 pounds). She is currently ranked 11th among flyweights.The five-foot-six Davis, who is 7-5-0 in the UFC, made the move because she had had more success as a 135-pounder and because it makes for less stress.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2021. The Canadian Press
TUCSON, Ariz. — Mike Weir went on a back-nine birdie binge to take control of the Cologuard Classic. Phil Mickelson waded into the mud for the second straight day and will have to dig out of a deep hole if he’s going to make history. Weir shot a 5-under 67 to build a two-shot lead in the Cologuard Classic on Saturday, leaving Mickelson with a lot of ground to make up to win his third straight PGA Tour Champions start. “I can’t recall a time where I’ve hit so many shots close to the hole,” Weir said. “I’ve hit really a lot of shots that have been almost tap-in to just outside of tap-in. My wedges have been very good, even mid iron game’s been very good, and I’m driving it good.” Weir shot 66 in the opening round and had eight birdies in breezy conditions at tricky Tucson National. The Canadian left-hander was at 13 under, with Kevin Sutherland second heading into the final round. Fellow Canadian Stephen Ames is in a tie for 42nd place at even par. Tim Petrovic became the second player in PGA Tour Champions history to have a hole-in-one in consecutive rounds with an ace on No. 14. He was 8 under after a 67. Mickelson is bidding to become the first player to win his first three career starts on a PGA Tour-sanctioned tour. The five-time major champion was nine shots back after a 72 that included a second straight day of hitting out of the mud on No. 15. Mickelson was the last amateur to win a PGA Tour event as 20-year-old in Tucson 30 years ago, but has burned the edges of holes through two days in his return. “I really don’t know what to say other than it just was fractionally off the whole time,” he said. “I thought I hit a lot of good shots that just weren’t ending up close and I just wasn’t able to score. I scored terribly today, obviously, and relative to how I play.” Lefty hit into the large wash dissecting the course for the second straight day, pulling a drive on the par-5 second after doing the same on No. 13 Friday. He had a stretch of three birdies in four holes after the double bogey on No. 2 and another on the par-5 12th when he got up and down from a greenside bunker. Mickelson hit out of the mud on the par-5 15th in Friday's opening round after a 5-iron rolled farther than he expected and trickled into the pond on the dogleg right. He hit driver in the second round and ended up with the same result when his ball landed on the fairway and caromed hard right. Mickelson left his shoes on for his mud shot in Friday's round and made a 4-foot birdie putt after slopping it out. He opted to take his shoes off for his second muddy go-round and had another birdie chance despite spraying himself with mud, only to watch the putt slide by the hole. “I’m doing something wrong, so I've got to fix that,” he said. “I don’t know what to say. I hit two really good shots that have both ended up in the water. I can easily play more left, but then I can’t get there. Then I can’t get that second shot there and I’m trying to make a 4.” Weir shot 1-under 35 on the front nine before going on a birdie binge. The 2003 Masters champion ran off a string of seven birdies in eight holes to start the back nine, but a pulled approach shot on the par-4 18th led to a bogey. Petrovic had an ace on No. 16 in the opening round and pulled off rare consecutive-day aces on the 186-yard 14th Saturday. Petrovic raised his hands in the air as the handful of fans cheered, then curled up into a fetal position on the tee box after watching another improbable ace. The only other PGA Tour Champions player with aces in consecutive rounds was Graham Marsh at the 2004 Senior British Open. “I heard someone say, “Go in,” and I’m like, `No, it can’t -- there’s no way, I just had one yesterday, and it’s been six years since I had the one before that,'” Petrovic said. “I just flopped on the ground and then I kind of got in the fetal position. That’s all I could do.” Sutherland had four birdies and eagled the par-5 17th to shoot a bogey-free 67. Scott Parel was three shots off the lead after a bogey-free 67 that included five birdies. John Marshall, The Associated Press