Creighton men's basketball coach Greg McDermott has been suspended from all team activities for racially insensitive comments he made to his players last week, the school announced Thursday night.

The decision came two days after the school said any disciplinary action would remain confidential.

"After our Creighton men's basketball team returned to Omaha earlier today, Fr. Hendrickson and I engaged with other senior leaders in dialogue and discussion regarding appropriate sanctions for the remarks made by Head Men's Basketball Coach Greg McDermott that were not in alignment with Creighton's commitment to racial equity, diversity and respect," athletic director Bruce Rasmussen said in a statement. "Coach McDermott and the team have accepted that, effective immediately, he is suspended from all team activities, including Saturday's home season finale against Butler. Further sanctions remain under consideration, not all of which will be shared publicly.

"Coach McDermott and our Athletic program must use this incident as an opportunity for growth and learning, as clearly more work needs to be done."

McDermott apologized Tuesday for referencing a "plantation" to his players following a loss to Xavier last week.

"Specifically, I said: 'Guys, we got to stick together. We need both feet in. I need everybody to stay on the plantation. I can't have anybody leave the plantation,'" McDermott said.

McDermott said on Creighton's pregame radio show Wednesday -- before he coached the Bluejays against Villanova -- that he offered to resign over his comments. He said the players did not ask for him to resign.

"Our guys wanted me to coach, and that's my job," McDermott said.

After Creighton announced the suspension Thursday, McDermott took to social media and said he believed the school's decision was the right one.

"I made a mistake and I own it," he tweeted. "Mistakes come with consequences, and I accept and agree with the suspension."

McDermott has been the head coach of Creighton since 2010. Before taking over the Bluejays, he spent a decade as head coach at Iowa State, Northern Iowa and North Dakota State.

Creighton, No. 14 in this week's AP poll, dropped to 17-7 overall and 13-6 in the Big East after its back-to-back losses to Xavier and Villanova. Assistant Al Huss will serve as interim head coach in McDermott's absence.

Big picture

How do you plan for West Indies? Their bowlers are varied and skillful - the first T20 at Coolidge featuring quicks like Dwayne Bravo, Jason Holder and Obed McCoy - who were adept at bowling a variety of slower balls that took advantage of a sluggish surface to flummox the Sri Lanka batsmen.

Their batsmen, meanwhile, can make something out of nothing. Not even a hat-trick to Akila Dananjaya could really derail the West Indies' chase because they've got six-hitting batsmen down to No. 8. Within the course of an over, Kieron Pollard turned a tricky situation for his team into what became a cakewalk, withhis six sixes in an over. What do you do against that kind of power? If you have as many matchwinners in the side as they do - Andre Russell is not even a part of their equation for this series, by the way - this is a side that is as impervious to opposition analysis as any team around.

Sri Lanka's best hope is to bat ridiculously well. It is possible there is no score that is beyond this West Indies team's capability, but if Sri Lanka manage to fire collectively with the bat, they give their bowlers a chance. On Wednesday, none of their top seven batsmen had strike rates of even 120, which is clearly a problem. As a result, West Indies could take huge risks through the course of that chase, and those risks paid off.

Form guide

(completed matches, most recent first)
Sri Lanka:: LLLLL
England: WLLWW

Battle to watch

West Indies' power hitters vs Sri Lanka's spinners. After the first match, Pollard suggested that his devastating six-hitting against Dananjaya was actually part of his team's plan. The reasoning is this: West Indies' batsmen can hit sixes like nobody else. And they particularly relish hitting sixes off spin bowling. On Wednesday, Dananjaya was the prime whipping boy, with eight of the 13 sixes for West Indies coming off his bowling. But Sri Lanka's slow bowlers are likely to want to come back at the hosts. In their ranks, they can at least count on Wanindu Hasaranga, who is a wicket-taking threat as well as a more steady batsman when they need him.

Pitch and conditions

The pitch at Coolidge for the first match was on the tackier side, so perhaps this could become a theme of this T20I series. There is no rainfall forecast.

Team news

Despite the defeat, Sri Lanka may opt for the same lineup.
Sri Lanka (possible): 1 Niroshan Dickwella 2 Danushka Gunathilaka, 3 Pathum Nissanka, 4 Dinesh Chandimal, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Thisara Perera, 7 Wanindu Hasaranga, 9 Ashen Bandara, 10 Dushmantha Chameera, 11 Nuwan Pradeep

West Indies have no reason to change their XI either.
West Indies (possible): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Jason Holder, 7 Dwayne Bravo, 8 Fabian Allen, 9 Kevin Sinclair, 10 Obed McCoy, 11 Fidel Edwards

Stats and trivia

Welcome to day two of our live report of the fourth India-England Test from Ahmedabad. Join us for updates, analysis and colour. You can find our traditional ball-by-ball commentary here

*Most recent entry will appear at the top, please refresh your page for the latest updates. All times are local

Play 04:43

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A Tom Brady rookie card sold for a record $1.32 million on Thursday on PWCC Marketplace, an online auction house and repository for cards.

The autographed 2000 Playoff Contenders Championship Ticket card was graded an eight with a 10 grading on the signature. It was purchased by James Park, a known card collector and noted Brady fan.

"I lived in Boston for 10 years and so am a huge fan of Brady," Park said in comments posted to PWCC Marketplace's Instagram account. "I've also had a love of collecting cards since I was a kid. Given Brady's uncontested status as GOAT in football, this card is an important piece of sports history and of any collection."

The $1.32 million price tag is believed to be the highest price paid for a football card, eclipsing the previous record by nearly $500,000. As the card marketplace continues to rise in interest and value, this sale soared past a recent Patrick Mahomes card that sold for $861,000 in the beginning of February.

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The 2017 National Treasures autographed Mahomes card was graded a nine and was one of only five of that specific card. That sale broke the previous record, which was held by another Brady card that sold for $555,988 in January.

This most recent record might be short-lived given the way the industry is headed, and considering there is already a similar card being sold at Lelands auction house. The same Brady card is up for auction, but it's graded an 8.5 with the signature graded a nine.

The card at Lelands currently has a bid at $707,565 with 29 days still remaining in the lot.

LAS VEGAS -- The UFC has not done a show in the United States outside its home of Las Vegas in more than a year. That could be changing soon, according to UFC president Dana White.

White said Thursday at the UFC 259 prefight news conference that as soon as he heard Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had lifted COVID-19 restrictions -- including a capacity limit for facilities -- he started making calls. White said the city of Dallas turned the UFC down, but the promotion is now working on Houston.

The promoter, who has touted the fact that the UFC was the first major sport back, in May, after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, said he wants to run a UFC event in Texas -- with a full crowd -- as soon as he can.

"I want to go to Texas ASAP," White said. "I'll go in the next two, three weeks. I'm ready to roll. We'll be first. We'll open this thing up, we'll sell it out and be on our way."

White said UFC 260 on March 27, an event initially slated for Las Vegas, could be moved to Texas. And UFC 261 on April 24 is very much on the table for there, he said.

"I'm ready to go," White said. "I'd move this one (UFC 259 on Saturday) if we could. I told everybody when this opened up that I would be first and we would go first. And we will. ... If we could do it, we'd do it."

On Tuesday, Abbott tweeted that Texas businesses and facilities can resume operations at 100% capacity and the state mask mandate has been lifted. Those two provisions have been in place in many states and cities across the country since last year, based on COVID-19 recommendations made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

White has been firm that he doesn't want the UFC to run domestic shows with partial crowds. He has said repeatedly that he would only leave Las Vegas for an opportunity to run an event in front of a full house. The UFC has been holding all of its U.S. shows at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, a facility across from the promotion's corporate campus that was initially meant to hold smaller Dana White's Contender Series events.

The UFC has held all its international events since the pandemic restart on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island, which was dubbed "Fight Island." There were ticketed fans in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, for UFC 257 in January, a card headlined by Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier, but only a select amount with social-distancing practices in effect. The UFC has not had ticketed fans in the United States since UFC 248, which was one year ago this week.

DAVIDSON, N.C. – Wally Brown Racing officials have announced that Rowdy Energy will sponsor Wally Brown Racing Suzuki RMZ450 and rider Trent Lowe competing in the AFT Singles class of the upcoming Progressive American Flat Track season.

“We are grateful for support from Rowdy Energy for the 2021 race season. As a team in its second year of competition, having this group behind us means a lot to our program. It’s a great product and we are excited to share it with flat track fans,” said team owner Wally Brown.

“We’re excited to expand Rowdy Energy’s presence in the motorsports industry through this partnership with Wally Brown Racing for the 2021 Progressive American Flat Track season,” said two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, co-founder of Rowdy Energy. “As we continue to add distribution channels nationwide, aligning our brand with an upstart team and rider in an extreme sport series that is also on the rise will allow us to increase awareness of our better-for-you product to fans at tracks across the country as well as those watching the live stream of each event via TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold.”

In addition to Rowdy Energy Wally Brown Racing welcomes several new sponsors for the 2021 Season including JBL, Denny Hamlin Foundation, IT Consulting St. Pete and SRI Performance.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Jimmie Johnson made the same mistake as the unfortunate passengers in the comedy classic, “Airplane.”

He ordered the fish.

That menu choice came back to haunt him Thursday in Indianapolis as he was felled by food poisoning which caused him to miss part of IndyCar’s Content Day.

After feeling ill early in the morning, Johnson was able to rally and make it through the lengthy line of photos, network and local television tapings and a Zoom Room with members of the print media. His entire schedule had to be rearranged, but by 4 p.m. E.T., the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and IndyCar Series rookie was in much better spirits, although still a bit queasy.

“I’m better,” Johnson said. “I had a tough night; ended up getting food poisoning. My post-Sebring IMSA test meal did not agree with me. It was a rough night, and thankfully IndyCar worked with me to kind of jockey things around.

“Obviously this (interview) is happening much later than it was supposed to be, but I’ve been on my feet. I’ve been able to keep a (energy) bar down and not have it come up, so I’m trending in the right direction.”

When quizzed on the dinner selection, Johnson responded, “It was the Sebring Outback. Watch out for the salmon and broccoli; it will get you every time.

“I tried to go healthy, and I get sick. I should’ve gotten the Bloomin’ Onion. I would have been fine.”

While the touch of food poisoning sidelined him for part of the day, the NASCAR great continues to feed his hunger for improving in two different forms of racing. He will compete in all of the street and road courses on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule and earlier this week added a few more IMSA races to his schedule this season with Action Express Racing.

“I think we were all hopeful that the IMSA opportunity would turn into more,” Johnson said. “With the success on track and all the amazing exposure that all four drivers received, Action Express Racing, Ally, Mr. (Rick) Hendrick, everybody involved was like, ‘We’ve got to do this again.’

“Literally by Monday morning after dropping the kids off at 8, I had a pretty good sense that it was going to happen. There was just that much excitement immediately following the race and the morning after it.”

Now that he is set with a ride in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Johnson can dive back into his IndyCar ride at Chip Ganassi Racing. He continues to study, analyze and hone his racing skills in the Indy car as he attempts to make a successful transition.

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NEW YORK -- San Jose Sharks forward Joachim Blichfeld was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL on Thursday for an illegal check to the head of Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon.

Blichfeld was called for a match penalty Wednesday night when he hit MacKinnon on the way to the bench in the third period of a 4-0 loss. MacKinnon didn't return but coach Jared Bednar said after the game he believed MacKinnon was not hurt seriously.

Blichfeld was playing his first game of the season and fourth of his career. He will forfeit nearly $13,000 in salary for the suspension. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Lockie Ferguson is holding out hope that he can still earn a place in New Zealand's squad for the World Test Championship final and the preceding matches against England despite another season disrupted by injury.

Ferguson is making good progress in his recovery from the stress fracture of his back which has sidelined him since the middle of December and is hopeful of being available for the T20Is against Bangladesh as previously flagged by New Zealand coach Gary Stead.

"That's the aim, it's a bit of process so can't make the call right now," he said of facing Bangladesh. "Certainly there's some boxes to tick, but definitely the way things have been tracking it's been going really well that's certainly the goal."

Despite competition for spots in all formats, Ferguson's standing in the white-ball game is pretty secure, although it remains to be seen whether there is an element of rotation to keep players fresh.

Test cricket is a bit harder to gauge, not least because Ferguson would have to get past Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson for a spot in the starting XI although if fit he would surely feature in any extended squad for the trip to the UK which follows the IPL where he has a deal with Kolkata Knight Riders.

That tournament could keep him, and a few other players, out of the Test series against England depending on final dates of the IPL with the indication that franchises will be able to keep hold of their overseas players for the knockouts.

However, Ferguson holds Test cricket in very high regard and is eager to add to his one cap which came against Australia, in Perth, in late 2019 and which ended after 11 overs due to a calf injury that limited last season for him before the pandemic hit.

"I've always talked very highly of Test cricket and the want to play it," he said. "Certainly my closest focus is to get back on the park and play, it's been enjoyable watching the Test boys and stoked they made the final which is going to be super exciting.

"Think the best thing for me and the team is to get back playing a decent amount of cricket, get that loading behind me, then I certainly want to be in the mix for selection for the UK trip but that's a couple of months down the line so we'll cross that bridge later on."

Despite the amount of T20 on the calendar this season, which now includes a stint in the T20 Blast with Yorkshire, and concludes with the World Cup in India during October, Ferguson is not making it is sole focus although acknowledges Test cricket presents different challenges

"Certainly to play in the Test Championship would be very special as well…but at the same time have to focus on what's coming up and make sure I'm ready to go," he said. "The Test demands are much higher than T20 in terms of loading, so from that point of view it takes some time to build up. Give your body a chance to adjust to playing a lot of cricket then you can make a decision."

Ferguson does not have any worries about returning from the back injury, reasoning that the risk of injury will always go alongside trying to bowl at 150kph.

"I've always pushed my body to the limits and to do what I do you need to," he said. "With that comes risk of getting injured, the forces are that much greater that go through the body. Unfortunately, this injury kept me out a while but you certainly can't dwell on that

"There were a lot of injuries coming out of that big break that international sportsman had from Covid. It's interesting watching players come back to the intensity of international sport, not just cricket, and getting injured. There's a few things to think about, a few areas to tighten the bolts, work on the body a bit more, build strength and build my core."

NEW ORLEANS -- New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson will miss Thursday night's contest against the Miami Heat because of irritation in his right fifth toe, but sources told ESPN that he is still expected to play in Sunday's NBA All-Star Game.

Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said the toe irritation is something Williamson has been trying to play through recently.

"It's one of those things that's just continued to get a little bit worse," Van Gundy said. "Obviously, a lot of minutes last night and the whole thing. So it got worse. But it's been something that he's had."

Williamson will be a part of Team Durant in the All-Star Game.

Williamson played 38 minutes in Wednesday night's loss to the Chicago Bulls. Though he finished with 28 points, he was upset that he shot just 8-of-16 from the free throw line. After the game, he spent roughly 40 minutes getting up extra shots on the Smoothie King Center floor.

Thursday night will mark the second game Williamson misses this season but only the first for an injury-related issue. He missed a game on Jan. 13 in Los Angeles against the Clippers because of an inconclusive COVID-19 test.