I Dig Sports
LOS ANGELES -- Lakers star Luka Doncic will not play Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks as he continues to manage a sprained right ankle, sources told ESPN.
The Bucks game is the second night of a back-to-back for L.A., after the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 120-108 on Wednesday. Doncic played on the ankle, pouring in 31 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in 32 minutes.
Thursday also marks the end of a taxing stretch of the schedule during which L.A. will have played six games in eight days -- the only team in the NBA this season to play that many games in so few days due to a makeup game against the San Antonio Spurs that was postponed from January because of the L.A. wildfires.
The Lakers have gone 3-2 through the first five games. Doncic sat out one other game during the stretch -- L.A.'s 131-126 loss to Denver last week -- because of a right ankle sprain and left calf injury management.
The Lakers are No. 3 in the Western Conference with 14 games remaining.
LeBron James (left groin strain) and Rui Hachimura (left knee tendinopathy) are both out against the Bucks too.
When asked what the Lakers' goals should be between now and the playoffs, other than playoff seeding, Jarred Vanderbilt pointed to the roster getting whole.
"Getting healthy," Vanderbilt said. "S---, that would be No. 1. Getting healthy. Getting rest with this stretch. And try to get some reps together. The main thing is getting healthy so we can try to keep building our chemistry."
SAN DIEGO -- Jake Peavy, the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner and member of the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame, has joined the team as special assistant to CEO Erik Greupner.
Greupner said Thursday the three-time All-Star will assist multiple departments and serve as a team ambassador.
"I'm incredibly appreciative of this opportunity to reunite with my Padres family," Peavy said in a statement. "San Diego has always held a special place in my heart. I'm a Padre through and through -- from the moment I was drafted by the team until this very day, and I can't wait to work alongside this talented group and contribute in any way I can to the success of this great organization."
Peavy, inducted into the team Hall of Fame in 2023, won 19 games with a 2.54 ERA and 240 strikeouts in his Cy Young-winning season. He was 92-68 with a 3.29 ERA and 1,348 strikeouts in 212 starts with the team from 2002-09.
Peavy was selected by the Padres in the 15th round of the 1999 amateur draft. He also pitched for the Chicago White Sox, Boston and San Francisco and retired after the 2016 season with a 152-126 record and 3.63 ERA over 15 seasons.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Houston Astros pitcher Luis Garcia was scratched from a batting practice session Thursday because of right elbow soreness, another setback in his attempt to return from Tommy John surgery in May 2023.
Garcia will be evaluated by team doctors, according to manager Joe Espada.
A right-hander who turned 28 in December, Garcia made a pair of minor league starts last year, throwing 12 pitches in a perfect inning for the Florida Complex League Astros on June 28, then throwing 31 pitches while allowing a pair of two-run homers during 1 1/3 innings for Double-A Corpus Christi on July 4.
He reached 94 mph but the Astros then ended his rehab assignment. While Garcia threw bullpens and batting practice he did not resume rehab appearances.
Eligible for arbitration, Garcia agreed in January to a one-year contract for $1,875,000 that matched his 2024 salary.
Houston hoped he would pitch for the Astros by May and provide starting pitching depth along with Lance McCullers Jr., who is returning from elbow surgery in June 2023. The Astros expect McCullers will pitch for them by late April.
Garcia moved from Class A to the majors in 2020 and is 28-19 with a 3.61 ERA in 63 starts and six relief appearances from 2020-23. He pitched for Venezuela in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Varney, who was born in Wales but qualifies for the Azzurri through his mother, made his debut for the Azzuri in a 2020 Autumn Nations Cup clash against Scotland. He has since made 32 appearances for the national side.
The move will see him link up with Ross Vintcent, another Italian international.
Varney left for France after first-team opportunities at Gloucester dried up following the signing of Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams midway through the 2023-24 season.
Rob Baxter, Chiefs director of rugby, said Varney is "still developing".
"He's a young player who at just 23 has already played a lot of rugby," he said.
"He's still developing as a player and moving towards what will be his prime years both physically and mentally as he keeps playing the level of rugby he is currently playing at.
"He's got a very good set of basic, core skills around quality of kicking and passing as well as the tempo he can bring into the game.
"We've been very impressed with him in the meetings we've had, and he's a guy who is very much on the upward curve in terms of his own performance."
Prior to Varney's confirmation, Rob Baxter dismissed rumours the Chiefs new scrum-half would be Jake Gordon, after he admitted in February the Australian would "fit the bill".
"We're going to be making an announcement on the scrum-half position, and no, it won't be Jake Gordon," he said.
'Long road' back for England's Lawrence - Bath boss
Premiership leaders Bath are also likely to be without winger Joe Cokanasiga when they return to league action this weekend after an eight-week break.
Cokanasiga went off injured last weekend as Bath ended a 17-year wait for a trophy by clinching the Premiership Rugby Cup against Exeter.
"Joe took a bang to the lower leg," Van Graan said.
"[I'm] not going to speculate on length [of absence], he's under the careful watch of Rory Murray [Bath head of medical] but hopefully it's not too serious and we see him back soon."
Bath are six points clear at the top of the table and take on West Country rivals Gloucester on Sunday at the Recreation Ground in a weekend of derby fixtures.
After being beaten in the final by Northampton Saints last season, Bath are in prime position to go one step further and win their first Premiership title since 1996.
However, Van Graan said the team are focusing only on their next match.
"We don't pay too much attention to the outside noise - we know there's a lot of speculation and people have got expectation and that's brilliant because people care about the club and they care about our team," he said.
"For us it's business as usual, [we] started at zero two days ago - control the bits we can, don't look beyond Sunday three o'clock."
Newcastle have won just two of their 11 Premiership games and sit six points behind Exeter in ninth.
But on the playing front, life got slightly easier with the news that Ealing Trailfinders, runaway leaders of the Championship, do not meet the Premiership entry criteria, so there would be no play-off with them at the end of the season.
However, off the field, Newcastle have frozen recruitment for next season as they seek financial help, whether in the form of a short-term loan or new ownership of the club.
It is a time of uncertainty as outsiders worry if the club will go the same way as Worcester Warriors, Wasps and London Irish.
Prop Murray McCallum was at Worcester when they went under and has just signed a new two-year contract at Kingston Park.
And the 29-year-old Scot is assured that the situation at his current club is nowhere near how it was at Sixways.
"We genuinely saw the bailiffs turning up," he told BBC Look North. "It's nowhere near that here.
"It plays on the mind as much as anyone. Job security is job security. The rugby world post-Covid is an interesting place.
"But we just need to turn up to work every day, put a smile on our face and put our head in the spokes."
GB Sevens player Jade Shekells could make her XV-a-side international debut on Sunday after being named on the bench for England's Women's Six Nations opener against Italy in York.
Gloucester-Hartpury's Shekells, 28, is joined among the replacements by another of the four uncapped players in John Mitchell's 37-woman squad - Exeter Chiefs scrum-half Flo Robinson, 23.
Shekells was part of the GB squad at last year's Olympics in Paris and, if brought on, is set to appear in the centres.
Mia Venner, fresh from helping Gloucester-Hartpury win a third successive Premiership Women's Rugby title last weekend, wins her second cap on the wing and, like Loughborough Lightning lock Lilli Ives Campion, will be making her first international start.
Helena Rowland, who has frequently operated in the centres in her recent appearances for England, will begin at fly-half.
Zoe Aldcroft captains the side and starts in the back row alongside Marlie Packer, who she replaced as skipper in January.
Costigan to captain Ireland against France in opener
Amee-Leigh Costigan will captain Ireland in their Women's Six Nations opener against France at the Kingspan Stadium.
Costigan previously captained Ireland Sevens but will lead Ireland for the first time in a Test match in Belfast with regular captain Edel McMahon on the bench.
Second row Ruth Campbell and openside flanker Erin King will make their Six Nations debuts for Scott Bemand's side in a game that will be live on BBC Northern Ireland as well as iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
The Ireland team shows four changes to the side that beat USA in the WXV Series in their last game in October as Campbell, Anna McGann, Eve Higgins and Dannah O'Brien are handed starts.
Stacey Flood and McGann join Costigan in the back three with McGann coming in for the retired Eimear Considin at right wing.
Eve Higgins and Aoife Dalton are selected as the midfield pairing whilst Emily Lane makes her first championship appearance since 2021 at scrum-half as O'Brien comes in for Nicole Fowley at out-half.
Niamh O'Dowd, Neve Jones, who has been selected as vice-captain, and Linda Djougang make up the front row, with Campbell preferred to Fiona Tuite at lock alongside Dorothy Wall.
Brittany Hogan, King and Aoife Wafer complete Ireland's back row.
Bemand has opted for a 6:2 split on the bench and can call upon the likes of Cliodhna Moloney, Siobhan McCarthy, Christy Haney, Grace Moore, Tuite and McMahon as forward reinforcements, with Aoibheann Reilly and Enya Breen the backline replacements.
Ireland were beaten 38-17 by France in last year's Six Nations as they finished third in the table.
Ireland team: Flood, McGann, Dalton, Higgins, Costigan (capt); O'Brien, Lane; O'Dowd, Jones, Djougang, Campbell, Wall, Hogan, King, Wafer.
Replacements: Moloney, McCarthy, Haney, Moore, Tuite, McMahon, Reilly, Breen.
Editors Note: In a nod to our 90 years of history, each week SPEED SPORT will look back at the top stories from 15, 30 and 60 years ago as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News.
15 Years Ago 2010
News: Formula One ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone has called for calm following the outcry of condemnation of the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, which certainly wasnt very exciting.
There is no panic, no crisis for F-1, he told The Times in the UK. I think there is nothing we can do immediately and we should not just knee-jerk into changes.
The new rules. which include cars qualifying on low fuel and banning refueling during the race, predictably put the fastest cars at the front of the grid, and once the running order had been determined by qualifying and the first lap of the race, it didnt change very much for the rest of the race.
I had dinner with my mum the other night and she said it (the race) was kind of boring, Lewis
Hamilton said. I havent seen the race, but Ive heard from a lot of people that it wasnt positive. They were so excited by the hype of Michael (Schumacher) coming back and all that and it was just kind of very dull. there was no overtaking.
One reason for all of this was because just ahout everybody was on a one-stop strategy: and the drivers were overly cautious. Conserving their tires because they didnt want to have to make a second pit stop.
Jaime Alguersuari, on a two-stop strategy; was the first driver to set a lap below the two-minute mark, and that seemed to wake up the other drivers because Fernando Alonso immediately responded with a lap half a second faster.
In future races the drivers should he willing to lean on their tires harder. But mandating two stops would help solve the problem.
The drivers point out that it is even more difficult to follow in the aerodynamic wake of a car this year than last season. Banning the wheel cover hubcaps actually reduced this predicament.
But as all the teams have considerably improved their doubledeck rear diffusers this has made the situation worse as this type of diffuser wreaks havoc on the airflow it kicks back to the car behind.
The bottom line in all of this is that many of the fans are not happy. F-1 is in the entertainment business. And the customers come first.
Winners: Saturdays Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh From Florida was a blow out. When Audi decided to give the American Le Mans Series season opener a pass, few expected anything less from Peugeot, the other dominant player on the world sports-car stage, than a victory.
From start to finish the contest up front was all French. Running like clockwork without any of the mechanical glitches or pitlane mistakes of the kind seen last year, the two turbocharged diesel 908 HDI FAPs paraded as a two-car train on a scenic cruise across the barren landscape of the Central Florida World War ll airport circuit.
Coming out on top with their colorfully painted Peugeot coupe were Marc Gene, Alexander Wurz and Anthony Davidson, while some 13 plus seconds back was their sister 908 with Pedro Lamy, Sebastien Bourdais and Nicolas Minassian aboard.
The winning Peugeot team led all 367 laps of the 3.7-mile road course during the once-around-the-dock classic.
Behind the calm exterior there was something of a fratricidal war between the two cars, a fact not lost on Wurz.
As he put it, We all pushed 100 percent. Our strategy people had smoke coming out of their ears. On our last stop our margin was just three seconds, so it came down to Sebastien and myself, he explained.
In the end, Wurz, Davidson and Gene were up to the task.
30 Years Ago 1995
News: Private stockholders of the Flemington Fair and Carnival Corp. Friday approved negotiations with Paramus developer Malvern Burroughs for the possible sale of Flemington Fairgrounds in Raritan Township.
According to Bridgewaters The Courier-News, Burroughs Development Corp. would build a shopping mall on the site that has been home to the Flemington Fair for 138 years, and has offered some $6.75 million for the 48-acre parcel.
The fairgrounds are assessed at $2.37 million, according to the Raritan Township tax list. In the 1860s, the fairgrounds served as a Civil War encampment.
Burroughs Development Corp. will draft a written formal proposal for the development of the Flemington Fair Mall, similar to the Bridgewater Commons in Somerset County, and submit it to
stockholders, according to Paul Kuhl, president of the Flemington Fair and Speedway.
Kuhl holds the controlling interest in the property, having bought the holdings from former owner Frank W. Bohren some 5 years ago.
As part of the agreement with Burroughs, the agricultural fair, a tradition in Hunterdon County, would be relocated on the property and permitted to operate for at least 40 years by leasing 10 acres for $1 a year.
The last and oldest agricultural fair in New Jersey, which was first held here in 1856, is an old-fashioned 4-H fair with quilting contests, livestock competitions and ribbons for best pies.
Winners: Sterling Marlin wrapped his fingers around the windpipe of the Lady in Black and finally choked the life out of her.
He acted in self-defense.
Marlin did it after she whipped the daylights out of 34 of his peers.
Treacherous Darlington Raceway, known in stock car circles as The Lady in Black, wore a new cloak of asphalt and rose to the occasion. Fifteen times she struck like an angry rattler. Of the 15 cautions, multi-car accidents accounted for eight of the yellows.
Of the 42 starters, 34 bent sheet metal, either major or minor, and some did it more than once in one of the most bizarre races in the 45-year history of the track.
I was watching a wreck and a race broke out, said one crewman.
The eight best-looking cars after the race included Marlins and those driven by Derrike Cope, Steve Grissom, Bobby Hamilton, John Andretti, Mike Wallace, Dave Marcis and Ricky Craven, and most of them had tire marks on them.
The yellow flag waved for 87 laps, 30 percent of the 293-lap distance.
The lead changed hands 16 times among 11 drivers. Marlin, who led 44 laps, including the final 12, raced Dale Earnhardt and Ted Musgrave for the victory.
60 Years Ago 1965
News: A complete line of racing tires, a new safety inner tire and special rubberized fuel cells will be offered by The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. for this years Indianapolis 500 on May 31.
John J. Hartz, director of tire development, said the LifeGuard inner tire a tire within a tire and the fuel cell are designed to reduce dangers from two principal race-track hazards tires punctured by foreign objects and fuel tanks damaged in a crash.
The inner tire made its debut at the 1965 Daytona 500 and preserved second place for Darel Dieringer and fourth for Ned Jarrett. After suffering severe tire damage, both drivers were able to maintain control and keep going to the pits for a quick tire change.
The LifeGuard inner tire holds a separate air supply capable of carrying the car in the event of injury to the outer tire.
The other product also has been race tested. A car using a Goodyear fuel cell, the Ford GT, won the 1965 Daytona Continental. The fuel cells are being built on a custom basis on request.
The inner tires, like the racing tires themselves, will be avail able to all drivers when Indianapolis practice begins May 1.
Hartz said the new line of racing tires was tested by a dozen of the countrys leading drivers, including A. J. Foyt, in three different sessions at Indianapolis between June and December and showed great promise.
The new Indy tires show very low rolling resistance and excellent cornering qualities-attributes that are highly important to drivers in this race, Hartz said.
Winners: U. S. Road Racing Champion Jim Ball of Midland Texas, aided by his neighbor Hap Sharp made a runaway of the 15th running of the 12-hour Grand Prix of Endurance at Sebring Intl Raceway.
The Hall-designed Chevrolet engined Chaparral led all but a few laps of the event and decisively trounced the best cars that Ferrari and Ford could put on the track.
The white fiberglass-bodied car raced through 94-degree heat in the early stages and a tropical rainstorm midway in the event which left four inches of water over most of the course, but never skipped a beat.
When it was all over, the sleek streamlined car was 21 miles ahead of its nearest competitor, a
Ford GT handled by Ken Miles and Bruce McLaren. This car won valuable points counting toward the international GT prototype championship and Challenge Mondial Cup.
State Police at Sebring estimated the crowd at 68,000. It was by far and away the largest crowd in the history of the event. The race was nearly three hours old before the last of the waiting line of cars was admitted to the ancient airport course.
The heavy rain which slowed the Chaparral to the point it required nine minutes to turn a lap, eliminated any chance of a record the Hall-Sharp combo had to be satisfied with a 196-lap total for 1,019.2 miles and a speed average of 84.723. The record, was set last year by Ferrari drivers Mike Parkes and Umberto Maglioli of 214 laps, 1,112.8 miles at 92.365 mph.
TULARE, Calif. Kyle Larson has made it well-known that he loves a dirt track with some character.
On Wednesday night at Tulares Thunderbowl Raceway, he got just that and made sure to get the most out of it bouncing through the holes, zooming above the ruts, flirting with the wall, flying by lap cars, and throwing sparks out of the car.
Larson was one-man show on his way to a dominating win with Kubota High Limit Racing. After charging from sixth-to-first in 12 laps, the Elk Grove, Calif., native ended up lapping into the top-10 and winning by 3.331 seconds.
The win was Larsons eighth career win with Kubota High Limit Racing in his 29th attempt.
It was the start of a wildly busy week for the 32-year-old superstar, who will now catch a flight from California to Florida with a tripleheader weekend on deck at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
After winning in the Sprint Car with Kubota High Limit Racing, Larson will chase three more wins in the NASCAR Truck Series on Friday, the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday, and the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday.
Finishing with the same exact podium that Kubota High Limit Racing produced last August at Tulares Thunderbowl, fellow Californians Brad Sweet and Rico Abreu followed Larson to the line on Wednesday night.
Sweet, the defending Kubota High Limit Racing champion, controlled the opening 11 laps from the pole. The Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts No. 49 pilot was chasing his first-career win at Tulare but fell victim to a similar fate as last year with brother-in-law Kyle Larson spoiling his party.
Abreu concluded the podium with a third-place finish. Corey Day and Tanner Holmes completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[6]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet[1]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu[2]; 4. 14BC-Corey Day[21]; 5. 21-Tanner Holmes[9]; 6. 9R-Chase Randall[3]; 7. 17W-Shane Golobic[17]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel[7]; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[5]; 10. 88N-DJ Netto[19]; 11. 3-Kaleb Montgomery[20]; 12. 41-Dominic Scelzi[23]; 13. 9-Kasey Kahne[4]; 14. 88W-Austin McCarl[10]; 15. 24D-Danny Sams III[22]; 16. 19-Brent Marks[11]; 17. 5-Brenham Crouch[27]; 18. 26-Justin Peck[25]; 19. 21P-Robbie Price[13]; 20. 42-Sye Lynch[8]; 21. 88-Tanner Thorson[26]; 22. 14-Spencer Bayston[12]; 23. 73-Ryan Bernal[18]; 24. 19T-Colby Thornhill[24]; 25. 2X-Justin Sanders[14]; 26. 0-Tim Kaeding[15]; 27. 13-Daison Pursley[16]
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