My Sports News Digest

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was once the top-ranked 13-year-old player in the country, a uniquely long and skilled prospect featured in major metropolitan newspapers, a kid who spent parts of July hanging with LeBron James in Akron. I know because I saw him there. That’s where I first met Kidd-Gilchrist — at the LeBron James Skills Academy — and where he first told me he would one day play for John Calipari. All these years later, he’s playing for John Calipari. Man, oh man, is he ever playing for John Calipari. “He carried us,” said Kentucky wing Darius Miller. [...]

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Published: Dec 30, 10:01a ET Updated: Dec 30, 10:01a ET By Associated Press Related to this article Stories LONDON – Andrew Lloyd Webber says London’s Olympic Games will force most of the capital’s theaters to close for the summer. Lloyd Webber said Friday the games will make it “very tough” for shows in London’s West End and predicted that three major musicals would not play over the games. The composer told BBC radio that the biggest hits – such as his own “The Phantom of the Opera” – would play over the games but that others would struggle to draw [...]

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PHILADELPHIA – NHL Chief Operating Officer John Collins praised the city of Philadelphia, the Flyers and the Phillies, for helping the League with such a successful build out for the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. “It’s been fantastic,” Collins said Saturday afternoon during an impromptu interview session in the press box prior to the Molson Canadian 2012 NHL Winter Classic Alumni Game at Citizens Bank Park. “The Flyers, they’re great, and they have a great relationship with the Phillies. The Phillies organization has been great. They don’t do a lot of these events, so you really have to tip your [...]

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Fred Taylor built up rock-solid credibility with Jaguars fans during his 11 seasons as the star in Jacksonville, and he’s asking that group to trust him on this one. According to the retired running back, the offseason ahead — fueled by an ownership change — provides the Jaguars with the chance to hire a big-name coach who knows a little something about winning in the AFC South: Jeff Fisher. “His track record speaks for itself,” Taylor told The Florida Times-Union this week. “You start talking about Bill Cowher and those guys, they’re pretty content behind the broadcast — the analyst’s [...]

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The Penn State coaching search has officially jumped the shark. In this brave new era rules by social media and message board “insiders,” at a time when Twitter not only relays the news but often creates the news, in an epoch where “speculation” has replaced “reporting” even in the world of journalism, it has become far too easy for mere ‘rumor’ to be reported as ‘fact.’ And so it came to be this week that, somehow and some way, people actually started to believe that Nick Saban was a legitimate candidate to take over in Happy Valley. Yes, Nick Saban. [...]

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It seems like everybody has already decided that Ryan Madson is the big loser in the game of musical chairs among free agent closers, but don’t forget that Francisco Cordero is also out there looking for a job. The Reds acquired left-hander Sean Marshall from the Cubs last week, giving them a potential cost-effective alternative for the closer role, so Cordero is hurting for leverage at the moment. Reds general manager Walt Jocketty told John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer yesterday that the veteran right-hander currently has a one-year offer on the table to return. “We’ve made an offer,” he [...]

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WINNIPEG — Tending goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs can be a lonely, criticism-filled existence when the fabled club has managed only two wins in its last seven games. Goalie – TOR RECORD: 7-3-4GAA: 3.00 | SVP: 0.899 But Leafs netminder James Reimer can expect to see at least a few friendly faces back in his home province of Manitoba when he meets his family for dinner on Friday night before he heads back to the team hotel to rest up for the Leafs’ Saturday night clash with the Winnipeg Jets at the MTS Centre. Reimer has purchased 15 tickets [...]

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NORFOLK, Va. – Marcus Denmon saw the opening on the fast break on a previous trip downcourt. With No. 8 Missouri getting all it could handle from Old Dominion and just over a minute left, he went there again. Denmon scored 17 of his 19 points after halftime and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 61 seconds to play Friday night as the Tigers survived a scare with a 75-68 victory over the Monarchs. “I went to the spot I saw was open and just shot a shot I shoot 1,000 times a week,” Denmon said. “I understood it was an [...]

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