Sports

NFL MVP and other top awards to be announced at NFL Honors

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The league MVP and the other seven AP NFL awards will be announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night, days before Super Bowl 60. Christian McCaffrey is a finalist for three awards, including the 2025 NFL Most Valuable Player. He joins Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford in the MVP race. Maye, who is leading the New England Patriots against the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, and McCaffrey are also finalists for Offensive Player of the Year. A panel of 50 media members completed voting before the playoffs. The awards ceremony will be held in San Francisco.

Bad Bunny says he will bring his culture to 2026 Super Bowl halftime performance

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bad Bunny says he wants to bring his culture to his Super Bowl halftime show Sunday. He will highlight Latin identity at America’s most-watched event. The Grammy winner revealed some details Thursday during an interview in San Francisco, but he won’t provide any spoilers. The conversation was broadcast on Apple Music and social media. Bad Bunny recently won Album of the Year at the Grammys, marking the first time an all Spanish-language album took the top prize. The Super Bowl will be held Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. The Seattle Seahawks will face the New England Patriots.

Vance says the Olympics are ‘one of the few things’ that unite Americans

MILAN (AP) — U.S. Vice President JD Vance is in Milan leading U.S. President Donald Trump’s delegation to the 2026 Winter Olympics. He told a group of U.S. athletes that the Games are “one of the few things that unites the entire country.” Vance, who said the trip is a highlight of his time as vice president, took his family to watch the U.S. women’s hockey team beat the Czech Republic 5-1 in a preliminary game on Thursday. After spending the weekend at the Games, Vance plans stops in Armenia and Azerbaijan. It’s a show of support for an agreement the two nations signed at the White House last year aimed at ending decades of conflict between them.

Antetokounmpo remains with Bucks as NBA trade deadline passes

Giannis Antetokounmpo remained with the Milwaukee Bucks while plenty of other players changed addresses as the NBA trade deadline passed. Antetokounmpo had been the center of attention heading into the trade deadline on Thursday amid reports that the Milwaukee Bucks started listening to offers for the two-time MVP and nine-time all-NBA selection. Memphis’ Ja Morant also hadn’t been traded as of the 3 p.m. Eastern Time deadline. Indiana acquired 7-footer Ivica Zubac from the Los Angeles Clippers. Minnesota got Ayo Dosunmu from the Chicago Bulls. New York landed Jose Alvarado from New Orleans.

Tarik Skubal wins salary arbitration case, will be paid record $32 million

Tarik Skubal has won his salary arbitration hearing with the Detroit Tigers, and the two-time Cy Young Award winner will be paid a record $32 million this year instead of the team’s $19 million offer. Jeanne Charles, Walt De Treux and Allen Ponak made the decision one day after listening to arguments. Toronto first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had held the record for the highest salary in an arbitration case decided by a panel at $19.9 million in 2024. David Price had held the highest negotiated salary in a one-year contract for an arbitration-eligible pitcher, a $19.75 million agreement with Detroit in 2015.

Scamurra scores 2, and U.S. opens women’s Olympic hockey tournament with 5-1 win over Czechia

MILAN (AP) — Hayley Scamurra scored twice, and the United States opened the Milan Cortina Games women’s hockey tournament with a 5-1 win over Czechia. Alex Carpenter had a goal and assist, while captain Hilary Knight and Joy Dunne also scored for the Americans, who improved to 8-0 over the Czechs in international play. Aerin Frankel, making her Olympic debut in net, stopped 13 shots. Laila Edwards had an assist while becoming the first Black female to represent America in hockey at the Olympics. Barbora Jurickova scored Czechia’s lone goal. She was set up on a breakaway as she exited the penalty box to cut the Americans lead to 3-1 midway through the second period.

After questions and concerns, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are ready to go as a new era arrives

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — When the Winter Games kick off with the opening ceremony on Friday it won’t just be the athletes who are going to be tested. It’s a new era for the entire Olympic movement. Spread out over a vast swath of northern Italy, these are the first Games to truly embrace the IOC’s reform plan of using existing venues no matter how far apart they are. This Olympic footprint covers an area of more than 22,000 square kilometres (nearly 10,000 square miles). That’s about the size of the state of Massachusetts.

Teen sensation Connor Zilisch is the most hyped NASCAR rookie since possibly Jeff Gordon

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Connor Zilisch is only 19 years old and has been racing just a few years. But he’s shown to be fast and adaptable in everything he’s driven and might be the most hyped rookie since Jeff Gordon in 1992. He won 10 races last year at NASCAR’s second-tier national series and heads to his first Daytona 500 next week. He’s coming off a second-place finish at the Rolex 24 at Daytona as well as a stint in The Clash, where he was one of the few drivers pushing to race in sleeting conditions.

Lakers acquire 3-point shooter Kennard from busy Hawks for point guard Vincent, AP source says

ATLANTA (AP) — A person with knowledge of the move has told The Associated Press the Atlanta Hawks acquired point guard Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round draft pick from the Los Angeles Lakers for shooting guard Luke Kennard. Vincent adds depth at point guard in the deal, said the person, who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the trade had not yet received the required league approval. The 29-year-old Vincent has played in 29 games, including seven starts, while averaging 4.8 points for the Lakers this season. Kennard leads the NBA in 3-point shooting accuracy this season.

BYU coach says ‘F The Mormons’ chants at Oklahoma St. show there’s ‘too much hate in the world’

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — A BYU sports team was the target of a derogatory chant in an opponent’s venue for at least the fourth time in a year and the Big 12 again announced that the conference is looking into the matter. BYU men’s basketball coach Kevin Young said after a 99-92 loss at Oklahoma State on Wednesday night that he heard “F The Mormons” chants coming out of the student section. Colorado and Arizona issued apologies for the same chants heard during football games last season. So did Arizona after a basketball game last season.