EDDIE PELLS
Arizona guard Dalen Terry (4) celebrates while cutting the net after an NCAA college basketball game against California, Saturday, March 5, 2022, in Tucson, Ariz. Arizona won the Pac-12 Conference Championship. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Hoop hype: March Madness brackets get America talking again

By Eddie Pells Mar. 15, 2022 10:59 AM EDT
Wagering on all those parlays and long shots on the betting app — fun.

Los Angeles Chargers middle linebacker Drue Tranquill walks off the field after an NFL football game against the Houston Texans Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, in Houston. The Texans won 41-29. (AP Photo/Justin Rex)
What are we watching? COVID puts fairness, quality in limbo

By Eddie Pells Dec. 29, 2021 12:17 PM EST
There's a term for the sort of NFL contest that went down Monday night between Miami

Former professional basketball player and Olympic gold medalist Spencer Haywood shows an American Basketball Association glass ball with himself and his teammates depicted at his Las Vegas home Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Fights, drugs, racial tension: '70s spelled trouble for NBA

By Eddie Pells Dec. 16, 2021 02:19 AM EST
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Even the biggest games were on tape-delay. Anyone who sat through

FILE -Washington Redskins president Bruce Allen stands on the sidelines prior to an NFL football game between the Minnesota Vikings and Washington Redskins, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2017, in Landover, Md. Over the past 100 years, around 110 men and a handful of women have owned controlling portions of NFL teams. Of that select group, all but two have been white. (AP Photo/Mark Tenally, File)
Pipeline: Cascade of white owners has slowed NFL change

By Eddie Pells Dec. 03, 2021 11:26 AM EST
Over the past 100 years, around 110 people have owned controlling portions of

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2019, file photo, a cellphone is used in New Orleans. A former college basketball player has founded a company called RealResponse, which provides customers, mainly universities and large sports organizations, technology to give athletes and employees a chance to initiate real-time, anonymous complaints by sending a simple text. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
New technology offers anonymous way to report abuse, doping

By Eddie Pells Oct. 18, 2021 02:33 AM EDT
A college basketball player hatched the idea after seeing a discrimination case

Team USA's Daniel Berger chips to a practice green during a practice day at the Ryder Cup at the Whistling Straits Golf Course Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, in Sheboygan, Wis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Fitzpatrick hopes for better start, more action at Ryder Cup

By Eddie Pells Sep. 23, 2021 08:04 PM EDT
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (AP) — Matt Fitzpatrick's Ryder Cup debut wasn't great.

Baylor head coach Scott Drew reacts during the first half of the championship game against Gonzaga in the men's Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 5, 2021, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Baylor beatdown: Bears win title, hang 86-70 loss on Gonzaga

By Eddie Pells Apr. 05, 2021 11:40 PM EDT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Heck, everyone’s entitled to an off night. But that

Hartford's D.J. Mitchell (2) is treated on the bench after being injured during the first half of a college basketball game against Baylor in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis Friday, March 19, 2021, in Indianapolis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Baylor finds its touch, rolls to 79-55 victory over Hartford

By Eddie Pells Mar. 19, 2021 05:46 PM EDT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — After MaCio Teague and the Baylor Bears got comfortable in

Kansas City Chiefs strong safety Tyrann Mathieu (32) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady speak during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game Sunday, Feb. 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Chiefs lose composure and see red amid a sea of yellow

By Eddie Pells Feb. 07, 2021 10:26 PM EST
Offsides. Unnecessary roughness. Unsportsmanlike conduct. Pass interference.

FILE - In this Feb. 4, 2021, file photo, workers sculpt the Lombardi Trophy out of sand outside of Raymond James Stadium ahead of Super Bowl 55 in Tampa, Fla. The city is hosting Sunday's Super Bowl football game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Kansas City Chiefs. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
The biggest win: In 2020, NFL found ways to play every game

By Eddie Pells Feb. 07, 2021 12:08 PM EST
More than the youth of Patrick Mahomes or the agelessness of Tom Brady, the

FILE - Former Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton manning talks prior to an NFL football game between the Denver Broncos and the Houston Texans in Denver, in this Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018, file photo. More than two decades ago Charles Woodson beat out Peyton Manning for a prestigious college award. Something called the Heisman Trophy. On Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021, they likely will share an even more impressive football honor: entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey, File)
Game changers: Manning, Woodson, Megatron headed to Hall

By Eddie Pells Feb. 06, 2021 10:52 PM EST
Though others have eclipsed him in some sections of the record book, Peyton

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady reacts after winning the NFC championship NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wis., Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. The Buccaneers defeated the Packers 31-26 to advance to the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke)
Old (Brady), young (Mahomes), different Super Bowl 55 awaits

By Eddie Pells Jan. 24, 2021 10:22 PM EST
For Tom Brady, another trip to the Super Bowl — but this time, in a Tampa Bay

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2019, file photo, rain drops are seen on the NFL logo on padding of a goal post at an NFL stadium. An NFL and players union-run fund that helps ailing retired players shut down its application process for nearly six months because of the coronavirus. That has irritated retirees who complained the league devoted resources toward safely starting the 2020 season on time but not to their medical needs. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
AP Exclusive: Disabled NFL retirees slam benefits plan delay

By Eddie Pells Sep. 11, 2020 04:47 PM EDT
An NFL and players union-run fund that helps ailing retired players shut down

Men from Milwaukee wear "We're WI Men" T-shirts as they attend the March on Washington, Friday Aug. 28, 2020, in Washington, on the 57th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Athlete power: ‘Shut up and play' is tossed from the game

By Eddie Pells Aug. 29, 2020 12:51 PM EDT
With every get-out-the-vote campaign, every shutdown of a major sport, every

En esta imagen de archivo, tomada el 2 de abril de 2020, un hombre con una mascarilla pasa por delante del logo de los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio 2020, en Tokio. (AP Foto/Eugene Hoshiko, archivo)
Study: Olympians should push for collective bargaining

By Eddie Pells Apr. 23, 2020 08:17 AM EDT
A study of the worldwide Olympic bureaucracy's finances concludes there's far

FILE - In this March 26, 2020, file photo, Daniel Clemens looks into the empty ballpark at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Clemens, a season ticket holder, had tickets for the opening day baseball game between the Cleveland Indians and the Detroit Tigers. With no games being played, recent sports headlines have centered around hopes and dreams — namely, the uncharted path leagues and teams must navigate to return to competition in the wake of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)
Sports leagues seek return to play but with no guarantees

By Eddie Pells Apr. 19, 2020 01:02 PM EDT
With no games being played, recent sports headlines have centered around hopes

FILE - In this Aug. 1, 2017, file photo, then-U.S. Olympic Committee chief marketing officer Lisa Baird speaks about the Team USA WinterFest for the upcoming 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, at Yongsan Garrison, a U.S. military base in Seoul, South Korea. Lisa Baird is the new commissioner of the National Women's Soccer League. The former chief of marketing for the U.S. Olympic Committee hopes she can bring the same ideas to soccer as those that ramped up Olympic endorsements. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
US Olympic marketing chief Lisa Baird is NWSL commissioner

By Eddie Pells Feb. 27, 2020 01:34 PM EST
The marketing executive who branded the U.S. Olympic squad “Team USA” will now

Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Damien Wilson (54), tight end Travis Kelce (87) and offensive tackle Cameron Erving (75) douse head coach Andy Reid with Gatorade in celebration of a victory during the NFL Super Bowl football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2020 in Miami Gardens, Fla. The Chiefs defeated the 49ers 31-20.(Margaret Bowles via AP)
Time passages: Mahomes leads comeback for the ages for KC

By Eddie Pells Feb. 03, 2020 07:38 AM EST
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — They were celebrating the passage of time as much as

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2016, file photo, San Francisco 49ers' Colin Kaepernick kneels during the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle. The same guys who banished Kaepernick from the league for kneeling during the anthem to raise awareness about those very same issues have ruthlessly commandeered his cause. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Kaepernick's Super Bowl close call has lasting impact on NFL

By Eddie Pells Feb. 02, 2020 11:13 AM EST
MIAMI (AP) — One play. Five yards. A flag that wasn’t thrown.

Hall of Fame Class of 2020, stand on stage at the NFL Honors football award show Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Safeties first: Polamalu, Atwater heading to Hall of Fame

By Eddie Pells Feb. 01, 2020 06:02 PM EST
MIAMI (AP) — He grew his hair so long, it flowed out of his helmet and obscured