Notice: Undefined variable: paywall_console_msg in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/includes/single/single_post_meta_query.php on line 71
Notice: Undefined offset: 0 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 18
Notice: Trying to get property 'cat_ID' of non-object in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 18
Sports briefs
Notice: Undefined variable: article_ad_placement3 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 128
In college football
Alabama star receiver Jaylen Waddle has returned to practice. Now the question is will he be able to play in the title game Monday night against Ohio State?
Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian says Waddle practiced Tuesday, but he deferred questions on his status to coach Nick Saban, who did not address the media on Wednesday.
Waddle hasn’t played since breaking his right ankle while returning the opening kickoff against Tennessee on Oct. 4. One of the nation’s most dangerous return men, he had surgery after the game.
In his absence, DeVonta Smith went on to put up big enough numbers to win the Heisman Trophy on Tuesday. That would put the onus on the Buckeyes to defend that formidable pair.
IndyCar postpones season opener
IndyCar has moved what was supposed to be its season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Florida, to April 25.
The race through the downtown city streets had been scheduled to start the new season for a 10th consecutive year on March 7.
IndyCar’s season opener will now be held at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on April 11.
The switch gives St. Pete promoters hope that more spectators will be permitted to attend the popular street festival as pandemic restrictions loosen.
IndyCar previously rescheduled the Grand Prix of Long Beach from April until September because of restrictions in California. That move opened room on the schedule for St. Pete to request a later race date.
IndyCar was already in St. Pete last March and prepared to open its season when sports shut down at the start of the pandemic. The season ultimately did not start until June and St. Pete was moved to October as the finale.
In the NHL
Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons is expected to miss the entire season after having surgery to repair a hamstring injury he suffered in a team scrimmage on Monday.
The Sabres announced Girgensons’ injury upon returning to training camp Wednesday following a day off and said the timetable for recovery is about six months.
Girgensons, who is from Latvia, was preparing for his eighth season in Buffalo after being re-signed to a three-year, $6.6 million contract in October. Selected by the Sabres in the first round of the 2012 draft, he has developed into a dependable checking-line forward.
LPGA commissioner Wahn resigns
Mike Whan has been commissioner longer than anyone in the 70-year history of the LPGA Tour. Guiding it through its toughest year amid the COVID-19 pandemic made him realize the tour was strong enough for him to move on.
In a surprise announcement Wednesday, the high-energy, fast-talking Whan said he will be leaving after 11 years.
Whan said he had been thinking about stepping down for the last few years and always found unfinished work, even as the self-sustaining LPGA Tour kept increasing its schedule and prize money and expanding the participation of junior girls.
The pandemic cost the tour five months and 16 tournaments, along with taking a chunk out of the budget surplus it had built up over 10 years. Without guaranteed network TV money, the LPGA leaned on the relationship with sponsors to get through 2020 and still deliver a 34-event schedule for 2021 with record prize money approaching $80 million.