Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...
I Dig Sports

I Dig Sports

Ferguson defeats Cerrone via controversial TKO

Published in Breaking News
Saturday, 08 June 2019 22:29

CHICAGO -- What was turning into a classic bout ended in a way no one really wanted.

Tony Ferguson defeated Donald Cerrone by TKO at the end of the second round Saturday at UFC 238 when it was ruled by ringside doctors that Cerrone could not continue. Cerrone's right eye was swollen shut after a dominant second round by Ferguson.

It was a back-and-forth, bloody encounter until that point between two of the best lightweights and most popular fighters in the world.

At the end of the second round at United Center, Ferguson landed a right hand on Cerrone's face after the bell. Referee Dan Miragliotta ruled after watching a replay that, though the punch landed, it didn't hit Cerrone in the eye, but the nose. Miragliotta said it therefore was not a foul that directly caused the finish and Ferguson would win by TKO.

Had Miragliotta ruled the foul caused the finish, it would have been a disqualification or no contest.

"The punch had nothing to do with it," Cerrone said afterward. "That was the fight I think everybody wanted. I don't quit, I don't back down. I just want to keep fighting."

Cerrone won the first round, bloodying Ferguson with hard jabs and right hands. In the second, Ferguson took over as the body kicks he landed in the first round began to add up. Ferguson landed a barrage of jabs and straight rights to bust up Cerrone's nose and leave him bloody. Ferguson also smashed Cerrone with a spinning back elbow.

The end of the round and the way it finished marred what was becoming one of the year's best fights.

"It's not how I wanted the fight to go," Ferguson said. "It's really emotional in here."

UFC president Dana White said at the postfight news conference that Cerrone was transported to the hospital because of a broken right orbital bone.

play
1:15

White on Ferguson vs. Cerrone: 'Tony won that fight'

Dana White acknowledges that Tony Ferguson hit Donald Cerrone after the bell in his TKO win, but maintains "Tony won that fight, fair and square." For more UFC action, sign up for ESPN+ http://plus.espn.com/ufc.

Ferguson (26-3) is the pretty clear-cut No. 1 contender to the lightweight title after the victory. But the 35-year-old nicknamed "El Cucuy" said he would be OK with a Cerrone rematch next.

"We can throw it back, I don't mind doing that," Ferguson said. "I really don't. He's a hell of a f---ing fighter."

Cerrone (36-12, 1 NC) had his three-fight winning streak snapped with the defeat.

GGG KO's Rolls in Round 4, is 'ready for Canelo'

Published in Breaking News
Saturday, 08 June 2019 21:46

NEW YORK -- Gennady Golovkin entered the ring to face unheralded Steve Rolls on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden well aware of what had transpired one week earlier when huge underdog Andy Ruiz Jr. pulled a massive upset by knocking out England's Anthony Joshua.

Rolls said all week that he was inspired by Ruiz's performance as he attempted to author his own monumental upset in the same ring, but GGG would have none of it.

Instead, Golovkin, the former unified middleweight world champion, scored a massive fourth-round knockout in their super middleweight bout contracted at 164 pounds before an announced crowd of 12,357.

Golovkin, one of boxing's biggest stars, was participating in his first nontitle fight since 2010 and returning from a nine-month layoff following his disputed majority decision loss to rival Canelo Alvarez. Their rematch cost Golovkin his unified middleweight title and ended his division-record-tying run of 20 consecutive defenses.

The fight against Rolls was something of new beginning for Golovkin, who was in his first fight with trainer Johnathon Banks after parting ways with longtime trainer Abel Sanchez. It also kicked off a six-fight, three-year, nine-figure deal with sports streaming service DAZN, which signed him after the expiration of his contract with HBO as the network exited from the boxing business at the end of last year.

Golovkin followed Alvarez to DAZN hoping to set up a third fight with him in September, and it is likely he will get it, although Alvarez's handlers at Golden Boy Promotions told ESPN earlier Saturday that they will sit down with Alvarez next week to go over their plans for his fall fight.

"I feel great. I feel like a new baby. Right now, I feel completely different because I came back to my knockout. I love knockouts, and I love New York. It was a great night all around," said Golovkin, who was saddled with a hugely controversial draw against Alvarez that most thought GGG won when the pair met for the first time, in 2017.

With Rolls violently dismissed, the question was, "Who's next?" The answer was as expected as the outcome of the fight.

"Everybody knows. The fans know who they want me to fight next," Golovkin said. "I'm ready for September. I'm ready for Canelo. Just bring him, just ask him. I'm ready. If you want big drama show, please tell him. I'm ready to bring back the big-drama show."

But does Golovkin believe the third fight will happen?

"I believe, because this is boxing. This is boxing business. Why not? The next fight will be amazing for us," Golovkin said. "I feel right now like the people's champ. It doesn't matter for me. I want to beat him, but [the belts don't] matter. I'm the people's champion."

From the outset, Golovkin went after Rolls (19-1, 10 KOs), 35, of Toronto, who was facing his first name opponent; Rolls hung in for a few rounds but ultimately could not take GGG's power.

Golovkin went to the body late in the first round and sunk in a hard left hook and then a left hook to the head that got Rolls' attention. Golovkin continued the same line of attack in the second round and landed clean punches, but Rolls landed his own clean shots, including a left hand that snapped Golovkin's head straight back.

Golovkin began to get closer and closer to Rolls in the fourth round.

Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs), 37, a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Santa Monica, California, backed Rolls up with a right hand and seemed to sense that he was hurt. He let his punches fly as Rolls looked to cover up and bob and weave to avoid the incoming salvo. But Golovkin eventually got in a massive left hook that landed on Rolls' chin and dropped him face first to the canvas. His eyes were glassy, but he tried to get up before eventually collapsing in a heap into the ropes; referee Steve Willis waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 9 seconds as the fans celebrated.

"He gave it a good go, a really good go, and he hurt GGG once in that second round," Rolls' promoter, Lou DiBella, said. "When you give it a go against a great fighter, you leave yourself open, and he got caught. I'm proud of him."

According to CompuBox statistics, Golovkin landed 62 of 223 punches (28 percent) and Rolls connected with 38 of 175 (22 percent). Banks said he was pleased with what he saw from GGG in their first fight together but said there is room for improvement.

"It's always good to get a knockout. I liked what I saw in the ring for the short amount of time we had in camp, but we can do better with a full camp," Banks said. "We're going in the right direction."

That direction is likely toward the third showdown with Alvarez.

On the undercard

• Super middleweight Ali Akhmedov (15-0, 11 KOs), 23, of Kazakhstan and promoted by Golovkin, stopped Marcus McDaniel (15-1, 2 KOs), 35, of New Orleans, with ease in the third round to win a vacant regional title. Akhmedov backed McDaniel into the ropes and landed several punches to drive him to the mat. McDaniel beat the count, but when he turned his back and walked away, referee Benjy Esteves stopped the fight at 1:41.

• Welterweight Brian Ceballo (9-0, 4 KOs), 25, a five-time New York Golden Gloves champion from Brooklyn, routed Bakhtiyar Eyubov (14-1-1, 12 KOs), 32, a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Houston, in an action-packed fight. The judges had it 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74 for Ceballo, who stepped up in competition, looked sharp and pasted the slower, defensively deficient Eyubov with combinations. But Eyubov never stopped plowing forward looking for a big punch.

• Junior middleweight Israil Madrimov (3-0, 3 KOs), 24, a big-time prospect and former amateur standout from Uzbekistan, battered Norberto Gonzalez (24-13, 13 KOs), 38, of Mexico, in a one-sided sixth-round knockout. Gonzalez, in his second fight in eight days, was game, but when Madrimov, who fights out of Indio, California, rocked him in the sixth round and unloaded numerous follow-up punches, referee Shawn Clark stopped it at 49 seconds.

• Junior middleweight Charles Conwell (10-0, 7 KOs), 21, a 2016 U.S. Olympian from Cleveland, handily outpointed Courtney Pennington (12-3-3, 5 KOs), 32, of Brooklyn, to win a vacant regional title on scores of 97-92, 97-92 and 96-93. Pennington was docked a point for holding in the fifth round and suffered a cut over his right eye from a punch in the eighth round.

• Exciting middleweight prospect "White Chocolate" Nikita Ababiy (5-0, 5 KOs), 20, of Brooklyn, needed only 41 seconds to stop Juan Francisco Barajas (5-1, 3 KOs), 29, of Mexico, putting him away with a left to the body.

Cejudo adds another belt with TKO of Moraes

Published in Breaking News
Saturday, 08 June 2019 23:40

CHICAGO -- Henry Cejudo has an Olympic wrestling gold medal. He has the UFC flyweight title. And now, one of the best combat sport athletes of all time has added some more gold to his collection: the UFC bantamweight title belt.

Cejudo, 32, stopped Marlon Moraes via TKO with ground and pound at 4:51 of the third round Saturday night in the main event of UFC 238 at United Center. The bout was for the vacant bantamweight title forfeited earlier this year by TJ Dillashaw because of a failed drug test.

"I'm not champ-champ," Cejudo said in an impassioned postfight speech. "My name is Triple C -- Olympic champion, flyweight champion of the world and now bantamweight champion of the world. I'm the greatest combat athlete of all time and I just stole the title of best pound-for-pound fighter too."

Moraes clearly won the first round. It looked as if his speed would give Cejudo trouble all night. He was throwing lightning-fast combinations and landing. Cejudo had some reddening on his right cheek from punches and his lead leg was getting messed up by Moraes kicks.

But in the second round, Cejudo said he saw Moraes change. He said Moraes was throwing with too much power and running out of gas.

"His demeanor showed everything," Cejudo said.

Cejudo was bloodied in a wild round. But he landed big knees to Moraes' head in a Thai clinch. The two traded haymakers as the round came to a close. In the third, Cejudo took over. He busted up Moraes' nose with punches, crushed him with a knee to the body, took him down and took top position. Moraes rained elbows and punches down on Moraes until referee Marc Goddard stepped in to stop it.

Afterward, Cejudo said he had a "hit list." He called out former bantamweight champions Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt, as well as legend Urijah Faber. "The Messenger" said he also wanted to go up to featherweight and fight for a third title there.

play
0:50

White on Cejudo: 'I will never doubt him again'

Dana White breaks down what he saw from Henry Cejudo in his TKO win vs. Marlon Moraes, and the turning point of the fight for Cejudo. For more UFC action, sign up for ESPN+ http://plus.espn.com/ufc.

"I want to start getting paid," Cejudo said. "I want to start making heavyweight money."

Cejudo (15-2) said he had a severely sprained ankle heading into the fight but overcame it despite the pain. The Arizona resident is just the fourth fighter in UFC history to hold two titles simultaneously (Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes are the others).

McGregor tweeted his congratulations to Cejudo, who has won five straight bouts.

Moraes (22-6-1) saw his four-fight winning streak come to an end. Before Saturday, the 31-year-old New Jersey resident had only one loss since 2011.

Scherzer K's 9 in Nats' win, shrugs off hit to calf

Published in Baseball
Sunday, 09 June 2019 00:15

SAN DIEGO -- Max Scherzer shrugged off taking a comebacker off his calf and got out of the only inning in which the San Diego Padres threatened.

Scherzer struck out nine in seven shutout innings and Brian Dozier hit a two-run home run for his 1,000th career hit to lead the Washington Nationals to a 4-1 victory Saturday night.

"I've been hit in the calf before. I know it (stinks) and you've got to see if it's going to tighten up on you," Scherzer said. "I felt like I could still go back out there and pitch and still get through it even though it didn't feel good to run but I was able to still pitch.

"That's when you just get rid of all the excuses of why you might fail and just come up with reasons why you want to win. Just continue to make pitches and execute pitches the way you need to."

Scherzer (4-5) allowed six hits and issued only one walk, an intentional pass.

He got into trouble in only the second inning. Eric Hosmer and Franmil Reyes reached on singles before rookie Josh Naylor hit a ball off Scherzer. The runners advanced as Scherzer recovered the ball and threw out Naylor.

Hosmer broke for home on Ian Kinsler's grounder to third and was caught in a rundown. Rookie Austin Allen was intentionally walked to load the base and Lauer struck out to end the inning.

"They've got a lot of threats," Scherzer said. "You don't make the right pitch, they can take you deep. They've got some good power hitters. I was able to avoid a big inning. I knew coming into this game it was going to be a challenge and turned out to be a little different challenge."

Manager Dave Martinez said Scherzer staying in the game "doesn't surprise me a bit. He got hit pretty hard and he was sore but he wanted to pitch. Went out there and gave us what we needed to get. That's just who Max Scherzer is.

"He's going to be stiff tomorrow I'm sure, but we've got an extra day and we'll see how it plays out."

Said Padres manager Andy Green: "He's good. We know that. That inning where we had second and third; first and second and he takes a ball off his calf and he keeps us from scoring there. We put a good swing on him with Kinsler. Sometimes you struggle to find a run against a guy like that.

"Wasn't necessarily as electric of a fastball as you see from him from time to time. Pretty obviously he was feeling that ball off his calf a little bit but he pitched well," Green said.

Sean Doolittle got the final out for his 14th save after rookie Austin Allen hit a two-out RBI single.

Dozier, who signed with the Nationals as a free agent in January, homered to left off Eric Lauer in fourth, his 10th. Howie Kendrick was aboard on a leadoff walk.

"I think it's pretty cool but I don't really put too much emphasis in records and all that kind of stuff," Dozier said. "I think it's cool playing a while. More importantly a big win coming off of last night. We let one slip away and bounced back and to do what we did tonight is pretty good."

Kendrick and Anthony Rendon added RBI singles off Eric Lauer for the Nationals, who lost the first two games of this series by identical 5-4 scores.

Lauer (5-5) had won three straight starts coming in. He allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits in seven innings and struck out five.

DRAFT PICK

The Padres' first-round draft pick, SS C.J. Abrams of Blessed Trinity High in Roswell, Georgia, agreed to a $5.2 million bonus. He and three other draft picks threw ceremonial first pitches.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Nationals: RHP Trevor Rosenthal returned from a rehab assignment and was reinstated from the 10-day IL. RHP Kyle McGowin was optioned to Triple-A Fresno to make room on the roster.

Padres: C Austin Hedges was a late scratch with a sprained left ankle. Green said he stepped on a ball in the dugout after batting practice. ... Rookie SS Fernando Tatis was rested after having two big games in his return from the injured list. He made the last out as a pinch-hitter. ... RHP Adam Warren was placed on the 10-day IL with a strained right forearm strain and RHP Gerardo Reyes was recalled from Triple-A El Paso. INF Jose Pirela was reinstated from the IL and optioned to El Paso.

UP NEXT

Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (5-3, 3.19) is scheduled to start the series finale against his hometown team. He is 3-1 with a 3.12 ERA in four career starts in San Diego. He played at San Diego State under the late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.

Padres: RHP Luis Perdomo (1-0, 4.08) is scheduled to be the starter in a "bullpen game" Sunday.

---

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports

Lasorda on hand as Rangers retire Beltre's jersey

Published in Baseball
Saturday, 08 June 2019 20:20

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Adrian Beltre got one more tap on the top of the head from Elvis Andrus, and a visit by the person who brought the four-time All-Star third baseman up to the major leagues as a teenager.

The Rangers retired Beltre's No. 29 jersey on Saturday night after he spent the last eight of his 21 major league seasons in Texas.

Among the special guests on the field was Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, who was the interim general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers when Beltre was first called up by them in 1998 for his big league debut at age 19 -- and never went back down.

Lasorda was the team's manager when he first went to the Dominican Republic to see Beltre, who was only 15 when he first signed with the Dodgers as an amateur free agent in July 1994. Lasorda said he talked to Beltre many times over the years and told him he had "all of the ability in the world, just don't mess it up."

Beltre went on to collect 3,166 career hits, the most by a foreign-born player, and 477 homers. He was a .286 hitter with 1,707 RBIs in 2,933 career games. The five-time Gold Glove winner played 2,759 games at third base -- only Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson had more.

After Beltre had slipped on a gift from his former teammates that had been presented by Andrus -- a plush long blue robe with Beltre's name and number on the back -- the Rangers' shortstop made another playful tap on the head before running away. Beltre doesn't like being touched there, and Andrus was usually the prime instigator after Beltre homered or had other big hits for Texas.

Beltre's jersey is the fourth retired by the Rangers, plus the No. 42 retired by MLB in 1997 to honor Jackie Robinson.

Two years ago, just a couple of weeks after Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Texas retired the No. 7 worn by the perennial All-Star catcher. The other numbers retired by the Rangers are the No. 26 of the late Johnny Oates, the manager who led them to their first three AL West titles over a four-year span in the late 1990s, and the No. 34 of Nolan Ryan.

Among several video messages played during the ceremony were from Hall of Fame third basemen George Brett, Mike Schmidt and Chipper Jones. All of them told Beltre they would see him in Cooperstown when he becomes eligible for election in 2024.

"You had more fun than anybody I saw play the game of baseball," Brett said.

"Five years from now you will be first ballot ... can't wait to sit behind you when you're making your speech," Schmidt said.

Beltre played for the Dodgers until 2004, and then played for the Seattle Mariners (2005-09) and Boston Red Sox (2010) before he joined the Rangers on a $96 million, six-year free-agent deal in 2011. He appeared in his only World Series in his first season with Texas.

The ceremony was held between games of a day-night doubleheader against the Oakland Athletics.

"The way he played the game and how he enjoyed it, that's probably what I remembered most, other than thorns he's stuck in my side during games," said A's manager Bob Melvin, who watched the ceremony from the visitors dugout. "He's just such a great personality for the game. We'll all miss him."

The umpires working the A's series include crew chief Gerry Davis, who two years ago ejected Beltre from a home game the same week the Rangers third baseman was closing in on his 3,000th career hit. When Davis motioned for him to get closer to the on-deck circle, Beltre instead dragged the large plastic mat marking the circle closer to him and got tossed.

Ohtani homers off Kikuchi in first MLB matchup

Published in Baseball
Saturday, 08 June 2019 22:06

Shohei Ohtani gave Yusei Kikuchi a rude welcome Saturday, hitting a home run and a single off of the Seattle Mariners rookie in the first MLB matchup between the Japanese stars.

With about 80 members of the Japanese media looking on at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California, Ohtani beat out an infield single in the first inning, then grounded out to first in the second.

In the fourth inning, Ohtani became the third consecutive Angels batter to take Kikuchi deep. In a span of four pitches, Tommy La Stella and Mike Trout started the inning with back-to-back homers before Ohtani hit the first offering he saw over the left-center-field fence.

The Angels hadn't hit three consecutive homers since September 2016, also against Seattle. A Japanese-born batter hadn't homered off a Japanese-born pitcher in the majors since July 8, 2009, when Kosuke Fukudome connected off Kenshin Kawakami.

"I was trying to treat it like a normal game and a normal at-bat, but there was something special about it,'' Ohtani said through an interpreter. "I mean, we went to the same high school. I'm glad that we got the results we wanted, though.''

Ohtani celebrated with obvious glee, even flexing his muscles in the dugout -- although he was only mimicking a previous gesture by teammate Kole Calhoun, he said.

"That's the most excited I've seen him on a homer,'' Trout said. "I think I would be, too, if I went to the same high school. I'd be excited, too. I'd never seen him like that. It was pretty cool.''

Kikuchi lasted three more batters before being pulled. Ohtani kept up his hot hitting against reliever Tayler Scott, adding an RBI double in the fifth inning and finished 3-for-5 in the Angels' 12-3 win.

Ohtani, 24, and Kikuchi, 27, attended Hanamaki Higashi High School in Japan but missed each other by a year. They faced off five times in Japan's top league before Ohtani left to begin the next chapter in his revolutionary two-way career.

Although they haven't been able to meet up for dinner yet this year, they've stayed in touch since Kikuchi arrived in the majors one season after Ohtani, the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year.

"I'm very proud of the fact that we faced each other on the highest level in baseball,'' Ohtani said. "Hopefully we get to do it a lot more.''

Kikuchi's ERA is up to 4.99 after he took his third consecutive loss while giving up nine hits and six earned runs to the Angels, who have scored 16 earned runs against him over three starts.

"They hit three home runs off me today, so I didn't like what happened, including Ohtani,'' Kikuchi said through an interpreter. "But I want to make sure next time I go out there and pitch against the Angels, I want to shut them down and do it for the team.''

"He's going to be OK,'' Seattle manager Scott Servais said of Kikuchi. "On the homers, he just didn't get the ball where he wanted to. The ball to Ohtani was just a curveball that stayed up. It happens.''

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Frustrated Gardner tosses helmet, gets stitches

Published in Baseball
Saturday, 08 June 2019 19:01

CLEVELAND -- Sometimes, karma's a busted lip.

Barely a week after admonishing one of his teammates for slamming away a helmet in anger, a bloodied Brett Gardner sustained a unique injury Saturday when his own helmet-tossing episode went awry.

Instead of dropping innocently to the floor after it was rifled against a wall in the New York Yankees' dugout, Gardner's helmet bounced violently back to him, unexpectedly striking him in the mouth.

Six stitches, a sizeable clot and a fat bottom lip later, the outfielder sheepishly admitted to reporters that his frustrations at the plate got the better of him.

He said he learned a lesson, too: "I won't throw my helmet again."

How badly did it hurt?

"Not as bad as getting the stitches put in," Gardner said.

It was in the top of the sixth inning of the Yankees' 8-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians when Progressive Field was jolted by a loud boom along the ballpark's first-base side. At first, it sounded like something ricocheted hard off the facing of a stadium deck or a box-section window.

Something ricocheted, all right. And right into Gardner's face.

"[It was] just frustration building up," said Gardner, who is in the middle of an 0-for-19 stretch hitting.

Gardner's most recent hit was five games ago, in a victory over the rival Boston Red Sox. It came at the end of a five-game hitting streak, and was part of a stretch in which Gardner had hits in 11 of 12 games.

"Just got to keep plugging away with it, and making sure when you do get a pitch, when you do get a good fastball to hit, you've got to take advantage of those situations," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Gardner's recent struggles.

Just before the sixth-inning tantrum, Cleveland had broken a 2-2 tie and taken a two-run lead thanks to a double and an Oscar Mercado home run in the bottom of the fifth. That added to the frustration as Gardner wanted to do something to help get his team back into the game.

As the Yankees' leadoff hitter the next half-inning, he swung hard at a 91.9 mph fastball right down the middle of the plate. The line drive traveled deep into the right-center gap -- 376 feet away. At first glance, it looked as though it had a chance to fly over the wall.

But Cleveland's right fielder, Jordan Luplow stalked the fly ball and snagged it just as he crashed into the fence.

"To hit a ball like that and it's an out, yeah, just frustrated," Gardner said. "I told Boone if I hadn't done it [thrown the helmet] then, I would've done it after my next at-bat. Either way."

Gardner grounded out sharply to second base in the eighth inning, capping the 0-for-19 stretch he's scuffling through.

Although typically mild-mannered away from the field, Gardner acknowledged to reporters that he can "get pretty angry often" on it. A few seasons ago at Minnesota, he got upset and threw his helmet.

"It came back and hit me in the head and gave me a big goose egg," Gardner said.

This time, the helmet-throwing landed Gardner in the trainer's room, where a half-hour after the game, he was getting six stitches -- without numbing fluid -- from the inside of his bottom lip all the way out. The stitches go right down the middle of his lip. They made it tough to speak, and might affect the way he eats and drinks. Thankfully, he said, there were no cameras in the clubhouse when he spoke.

Gardner has had stitches in his lip before from a rare -- yet more common -- baseball injury. During spring training several seasons ago, he fouled a ball off the plate, and it bounced up and hit him in the mouth. Those five stitches went about a quarter-inch to the left of where his current ones are.

How to make a name for yourself

Published in Athletics
Sunday, 09 June 2019 00:33

AW editor explains the shift from Athletics Weekly to ‘AW’ this month

Most readers call this magazine ‘AW’. It is an affectionate little acronym that has been used for decades and for some reason I particularly like it when some people go as far as to refer to it as ‘The AW’.

So it seems to make sense for us to scrap the slightly long-winded ‘Athletics Weekly’ and instead, from June 20, start formally using the name that everyone has used for years anyway.

Acronyms and initialisms are hardly uncommon. My brother, for example, works at GQ – a magazine formerly known as Gentleman’s Quarterly.

Athletics is especially full of such brevities. From PB (or PR if you’re American) to DNS, DNF and DQ, to SP, JT and TJ, to WR and the IAAF, the list is endless. Even the shoe company, ASICS, stands for the Latin anima sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a sound body).

The first time ‘KJT’ graced our cover, she was known as Katarina Thompson. Similarly, Mark Lewis-Francis became known as ‘MLF’ during his career. Harry Aikines-Aryeetey is usually just called Harry ‘AA’.

Not many readers realise this magazine started off as a monthly publication in 1945 called ‘Athletics’. Yet such was the appetite for athletics info, it turned weekly in 1950 and soon after, on September 30 that year, the ‘AW’ nickname was born when John Partlett, the European and Empire Games 800m champion, featured in the inaugural ‘AW Questionnaire’ – an interview column that ran for many years.

Today AW is far more than a weekly magazine. Through our website, social media channels and print magazine, we are a 24/7 source of news, results, reports, features, opinion, statistics, photos and videos.

Some wonder how we survive in the internet era. The answer is we have become part of the internet era. From our busy and trusted Twitter feed and website through to growing Instagram and YouTube channels, ‘AW’ is the No.1 go-to place if you want a quick athletics fix online.

Then, if your appetite isn’t sated and you still want more, the print magazine (or digital equivalent, which was launched 12 years ago) is the complete package with comprehensive, independent and unrivalled coverage of the No.1 Olympic sport.

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies became the first German pair to win a Grand Slam men's doubles title after beating France's Fabrice Martin and Jeremy Chardy in the French Open final.

The unseeded pair claimed their first major title with a 6-2 7-6 (7-3) victory.

Both Krawietz, 27, and Mies, 28, were playing in their first Grand Slam final.

Chardy, 32, lost in the first round of the singles to Britain's Kyle Edmund.

Unseeded pair Ivan Dodig and Latisha Chan caused an upset in the mixed doubles, beating second seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Mate Pavic 6-1 7-6 (7-5) to win the title on Friday.

China's Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai will play second seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic in the women's doubles final on Sunday.

British number one Johanna Konta has pulled out of the Nottingham Open, with the main draw due to start on Monday.

The 28-year-old announced her decision on social media, a day after she was defeated in her first ever French Open semi-final, by Czech teenager Marketa Vondrousova.

"It's one of my favourite events and the courts are wonderful," said Konta.

"I certainly look forward to seeing all the fantastic fans back there again next year."

Konta has appeared in the past two Nottingham Open finals, and last year was defeated by new French Open champion Ashleigh Barty.

The competition is one of the first events of the grass-court season, which culminates with Wimbledon, a tournament that begins on 1 July this year.

Soccer

UEFA boss: 64-team World Cup plan 'a bad idea'

UEFA boss: 64-team World Cup plan 'a bad idea'

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsA push to expand the men's 2030 World Cup to 64 teams is "a bad ide...

Arsenal CB Gabriel's season over, surgery due

Arsenal CB Gabriel's season over, surgery due

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsArsenal defender Gabriel Magalhães will requires surgery on his ham...

Barça win appeal, Olmo, Víctor cleared to play

Barça win appeal, Olmo, Víctor cleared to play

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsSpain's sports ministry (CSD) have ruled that Dani Olmo and Pau Víc...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

Sources: Maxey expected to miss rest of season

Sources: Maxey expected to miss rest of season

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsPhiladelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey is expected to be ruled out fo...

Sources: Morant, Hield warned over finger guns

Sources: Morant, Hield warned over finger guns

EmailPrintMemphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and Golden State Warriors guard Buddy Hield were both is...

Baseball

O's expect Henderson to return Friday vs. Royals

O's expect Henderson to return Friday vs. Royals

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsBALTIMORE -- Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson is expected to return...

St. Pete to spend $22.5M to fix Tropicana Field

St. Pete to spend $22.5M to fix Tropicana Field

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The once and possibly future home of the Ta...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated