BASKETBALL
76ers fire Brown
The Philadelphia 76ers fired Coach Brett Brown on Monday, a day after his seventh season ended in a postseason sweep. The 76ers were 43-30 this season and had woefully underachieved in a year when they were expected to be serious contenders in the Eastern Conference. Instead, they weren't close, and the move was expected after the sixth-seeded Sixers were swept by the Boston Celtics. Brown had guided the 76ers back from the bottom of the NBA but someone else will try to take them further.
Flint hired at Kentucky
Kentucky has hired coaching veteran James "Bruiser" Flint as an assistant on John Calipari's men's basketball staff. He fills the opening created by Kenny Payne's departure to the NBA's New York Knicks. Flint's 30 years of experience include seven as Calipari's assistant during a successful stint at UMass, highlighted by the 1996 Final Four run under Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award winner Marcus Camby. Flint succeeded Calipari and guided the Minutemen to 86 wins over five seasons. He also won 245 games from 2001-16 as head coach at Drexel, and was named Colonial Athletic Association coach of the year four times. Flint had spent the past three seasons under Archie Miller at Indiana and has also worked with USA Basketball. He cited Calipari as "both a brother and mentor" in a release and said he was excited to get started with the Wildcats. Calipari added, "Bruiser has an incredible basketball mind and is going to help us in a lot of ways."
FOOTBALL
Delpit hurts Achilles
Cleveland Browns rookie safety Grant Delpit was carted off the practice field Monday with an Achilles injury, the latest Cleveland player to go down in what has been a tough training camp so far for the team and first-year Coach Kevin Stefanski. A second-round pick from national champion LSU, Delpit was expected to start this season. The 6-2, 213-pounder got hurt during individual drills. He pounded his hand on the ground in frustration before being taken inside the team's facility. The team only confirmed Delpit's injury and said he will undergo further testing.
Patriots re-sign K Folk
The New England Patriots re-signed veteran kicker Nick Folk on Monday, giving rookie fifth-round draft pick Justin Rohrwasser some competition for the job as the team moves into what Coach Bill Belichick said was a "big week" for players to begin showing progress during the truncated training camp. Teams must trim their rosters to a league-mandated 53 players by Sept. 5. "I think we're in position, hopefully, to string some good days together and have a lot of little things start to fit together in the overall big picture," Belichick said. Whether that includes the 35-year-old Folk, a veteran of three other NFL teams, remains to be seen. Folk connected on 14 of 17 field goals and all 12 of his extra points in seven games with the Patriots. It included him missing a week to have an emergency appendectomy.
GOLF
Lefty leads in Champions debut
Just about the only poor shot Phil Mickelson hit in his PGA Tour Champions debut was a wayward iron off the tee. He still turned it into a birdie. It was one of five straight on the back nine Monday for the five-time major champion, who decided to make his over-50 debut this week after missing the cut at The Northern Trust and getting eliminated from the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs. Mickelson finished with 11 birdies and shot a 10-under 61 in Ridgedale, Mo., to take a one-shot lead over David McKenzie. K.J. Choi, making his second start on the PGA Tour Champions, was joined in a group at 7 under by Rocco Mediate, Rod Pampling and Tim Petrovic. Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer and Vijay Singh were among those another shot back. Ken Duke (Arkadelphia/Henderson State) shot a 5-under 66, while Glen Day (Little Rock) was two shots back at 68.
HOCKEY
Islanders open series with win
Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, Andy Greene scored his first playoff goal in a decade and the New York Islanders opened their second-round series with a 4-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night. The Islanders buzzed early in their first playoff meeting with the rival Flyers since 1987, withstood a second-period flurry and closed it out with three goals in the third. Greene scored in the first period and Varlamov was sharp all night in his second shutout of the 2020 playoffs and fourth of his postseason career. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Anders Lee and Devon Toews scored in the third period. Carter Hart stopped 26 shots for the top-seeded Flyers. The Flyers beat Montreal in six games in the first round, their first playoff series triumph since 2012.
BASEBALL
Francona to miss series
Cleveland Indians Manager Terry Francona will miss the club's three-game series against Minnesota this week while he continues to deal with health issues. Francona underwent another procedure Friday at the Cleveland Clinic to address a gastrointestinal condition that has bothered him for nearly a year. The 61-year-old Francona already has missed 17 games and the club will be without him as they take on the AL Central-leading Twins, who lead the Indians by 11/2 games going into Monday's series opener. Interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr., the team's usual first-base coach, will continue to fill in for Francona. Francona recently said he'll try to manage games whenever he can, but last week president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said the team has been encouraging him to take as long as needs before coming back.
Blue Jays acquire Vogelbach
The Toronto Blue Jays have acquired struggling slugger Daniel Vogelbach from the Seattle Mariners for $100,000. The Blue Jays announced the move Sunday night. The 27-year-old Vogelbach was a first-time All-Star last season but was designated for assignment by the Mariners on Aug. 19 after hitting .094 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in 18 games this season. He had yet to play a game in the field this season, being reduced to a designated hitter. A year ago, Vogelbach had a strong first half to the season, hitting 21 home runs and driving in 51 runs before the All-Star break. But the league adjusted after his All-Star Game appearance and Vogelbach hit just .162 with nine home runs over the final 2½ months.
TENNIS
Ostapenko withdraws from Open
Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, pulled out of the U.S. Open on Monday, citing a change of schedule. She is the latest woman with a Grand Slam title or high ranking to withdraw from the tournament that begins next week amid the coronavirus pandemic. Six of the top eight women in the WTA rankings already were out, including No. 1 Ash Barty, the reigning champion at Roland Garros, and No. 6 Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 winner at Flushing Meadows.
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August 25, 2020 at 06:37PM
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Off the Wire - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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