AP Sports Summary for February 9th, 2024.
Lamar Jackson is near-unanimous choice for his second AP NFL Most Valuable Player award
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Lamar Jackson was a near-unanimous choice for his second AP NFL Most Valuable Player award announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night. Christian McCaffrey ran away with the AP Offensive Player of the Year award. Myles Garrett beat out T.J. Watt for the AP Defensive Player of the Year award. C.J. Stroud won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award in a landslide. Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award. The Browns took home four awards. Quarterback Joe Flacco was AP Comeback Player of the Year. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski edged DeMeco Ryans for AP Coach of the Year honors by one first-place vote. Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz won the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award.
The game. The ads. The music. The puppies. Here's why millions are excited for Super Bowl Sunday
Millions of Americans will find something to be excited about when it comes to Super Bowl Sunday. That's before even factoring in the influence of Taylor Swift. Four in 10 U.S. adults are extremely or very excited for at least one part of the Super Bowl day's festivities. That could be the game, commercials, halftime show or the Puppy Bowl, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The Kansas City Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in Las Vegas.
The Chiefs and 49ers should provide a heavy dose of pre-snap motion in Super Bowl
LAS VEGAS (AP) — When the Super Bowl was in the balance in the fourth quarter a year ago, coach Andy Reid's Kansas City Chiefs put a twist on their frequent pre-snap motion. That led to two wide-open touchdown passes that helped the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 for a Super Bowl title. Kansas City returns to the big stage to take on San Francisco in a game that should feature players on the move at the snap at a staggering rate based on how Reid and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan use motion to create mismatches for their offenses.
Kobe Bryant immortalized with a 19-foot bronze statue outside the Lakers' downtown arena
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers have unveiled a statue of Kobe Bryant, honoring their late superstar with a 19-foot bronze likeness outside their downtown arena. The 4,000-pound statue depicts Bryant in his white No. 8 jersey with his right index finger raised as he walked off the court following his 81-point performance against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006. The statue was unveiled at a ceremony attended by dozens of Lakers greats and hundreds of season ticket holders. His widow Vanessa Bryant spoke at the ceremony after remarks from owner Jeanie Buss, former teammate Derek Fisher, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and longtime Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
Trade deadline day: The Knicks took a big swing, and some shooters are now in the playoff race
Bojan Bogdanovic left Detroit to join a now even-more-formidable contender in New York. Gordon Hayward is leaving Charlotte for one of the NBA's best surprise stories this season in Oklahoma City. Doug McDermott was once traded by Indiana to San Antonio, and now, the Spurs have traded him back to the Pacers. None of those shooters were making playoff plans when Thursday started. Trade deadline day in the NBA gave them and plenty of other players an entirely new outlook, plus might have even reshaped the start of the playoff push as well.
Julius Peppers headlines a defensive-focused Pro Football Hall of Fame class
LAS VEGAS (AP) — First-time candidate Julius Peppers headlines the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame class that has a distinctive defensive feel. The star defensive end was joined by another elite pass rusher in Dwight Freeney and do-everything linebacker Patrick Willis in the modern era category announced Thursday night. Prolific receiver Andre Johnson and dynamic returner Devin Hester also got voted into the Hall from the group of 15 finalists. Two more defensive players got in on the senior category, with linebacker Randy Gradishar and defensive tackle Steve McMichael getting the necessary 80% support.
Sahith Theegala takes early lead in weather-delayed Phoenix Open with a 65
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Sahith Theegala returned from a lengthy weather delay to finish off a 6-under 65, taking the early lead in the unfinished first round of the Phoenix Open. Five days after weather shortened the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am to 54 holes, storms followed the PGA Tour to the desert. A chilly morning gave way to wind and heavy rain that left pools of water on the greens at TPC Scottsdale. The Stadium Course was deemed unplayable around noon, leading to a delay of 3 1/2 hours. About half the field was able to finish the first round. Andrew Novak was 5 under through nine holes. S.H. Kim and Shane Lowry each shot 67.
OG Anunoby has elbow surgery, Knicks say the forward will miss at least 3 weeks
NEW YORK (AP) — OG Anunoby has undergone right elbow surgery and the New York Knicks say the starting forward will miss at least three more weeks. The Knicks said Thursday that Anunoby had a loose bone fragment removed from his elbow in the procedure. They didn't say when it was performed and coach Tom Thibodeau said he didn't know. Anunoby's acquisition from Toronto sent the Knicks soaring up the standings, as they went 14-2 in January after he made his debut in the starting lineup on New Year's Day. But he has missed the last five games with what the team originally called right elbow inflammation before changing it to bone spur inflammation in their injury report.
Victims recall lifetimes of trauma as former Olympian pleads guilty to molesting boys in 1970s
BOSTON (AP) — A former Olympian and longtime track coach will spend as much a 11 years in state prison after pleading guilty to charges of sexually molesting young boys in the 1970s while working at a sports camp in western Massachusetts. Conrad Mainwaring, who was a hurdler for Antigua and Barbuda in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, pleaded guilty to 12 counts of indecent assault and battery on a child over 14 and four counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 in Berkshire Superior Court. Mainwaring, a Los Angeles resident and United Kingdom national, was accused of molesting campers from 1975 to 1979 while working as a counselor at Camp Greylock in Becket.
Marchand and Heinen score short-handed, Bruins blank Canucks 4-0 in matchup of NHL's top 2 teams
BOSTON (AP) — Brad Marchand and Danton Heinen scored short-handed in the first period, and the Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 in a matchup of the NHL's top two teams. Linus Ullmark stopped 17 shots for his first shutout of the season. Morgan Geekie and Pavel Zacha also scored, and Charlie Coyle set up both short-handed goals as the Bruins bounced back from a 4-1 loss to Calgary at home Tuesday. It was the eighth victory in 10 games for Boston, which tied Vancouver atop the league standings with 73 points. Thatcher Demko made 21 saves for the Canucks, but his nine-game winning streak was snapped. Vancouver had won 10 of 12, with one loss coming in overtime and the other in a shootout.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Final Golden State 131 Indiana 109
Final Orlando 127 San Antonio 111
Final Dallas 122 New York 108
Final Minnesota 129 Milwaukee 105
Final Chicago 118 Memphis 110
Final Phoenix 129 Utah 115
Final Denver 114 L.A. Lakers 106
Final OT Detroit 128 Portland 122
Final Cleveland 118 Brooklyn 95
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 4 Winnipeg 1
Final Boston 4 Vancouver 0
Final Florida 4 Washington 2
Final Calgary 5 New Jersey 3
Final Carolina 5 Colorado 2
Final N-Y Islanders 6 Tampa Bay 2
Final Vegas 3 Arizona 2
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TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Final (8)Arizona 105 Utah 99
Final UAB 76 (20)FAU 73
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Atlanta at Philadelphia 7 p.m.
Houston at Toronto 7:30 p.m.
Washington at Boston 7:30 p.m.
Charlotte at Milwaukee 8 p.m.
Denver at Sacramento 10 p.m.
New Orleans at L.A. Lakers 10:30 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Pittsburgh at Minnesota 8 p.m.
N-Y Rangers at Chicago 8:30 p.m.
Edmonton at Anaheim 10 p.m.
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TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
(18)Dayton at VCU 7 p.m.
(24)San Diego St. at Nevada 8 p.m.
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