Early morning local sports with Rob Dreher:
AP Sports Summary for Tuesday, April 16th, 2024:
Caitlin Clark taken No. 1 in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever, as expected
NEW YORK (AP) — Caitlin Clark has been selected with the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft by the Indiana Fever. The former Iowa star became a household name among basketball fans during her record-breaking college career. Now she will try and help revive the Indiana franchise along with last season's No. 1 pick, Aliyah Boston. Los Angeles took Cameron Brink second and Rickea Jackson fourth. Chicago drafted Kamilla Cardoso third and Angel Reese seventh.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid becomes 4th player in NHL history to record 100 assists in a season
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor McDavid has achieved something only three other people in the NHL have ever done. The Edmonton Oilers captain, who missed his team's last three games with an undisclosed injury, recorded his 100th assist of the season in Monday's game against the visiting San Jose Sharks. Wayne Gretzky did it 11 times, while Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux each got there once.
Ethiopia's Sisay Lemma wins Boston Marathon in runaway. Kenya's Hellen Obiri repeats in women's race
BOSTON (AP) — Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia ran alone for most of the Boston Marathon to win in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 17 seconds. Hellen Obiri repeated as the women's winner. She outsprinted Sharon Lokedi down Boylston Street to win by eight seconds. Switzerland's Marcel Hug righted himself after crashing into a barrier when he took a turn too fast and still coasted to his seventh win in the men's wheelchair race. Eden Rainbow-Cooper won the women's wheelchair race. Nearly 30,000 runners left Hopkinton for the 128th Boston Marathon. The sleepy New England town celebrated its 100th anniversary as the course's starting line.
NBA Play-In Game Preview: West games on Tuesday. East games on Wednesday. Eliminations on Friday
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are back in the play-in tournament. So is Stephen Curry, as he and Golden State will be fighting for their season. And Jimmy Butler returns as well, after this round last year was the first step on Miami's way to the NBA Finals. The postseason gets underway Tuesday with a pair of Western Conference matchups. The Lakers visit New Orleans and Golden State goes to Sacramento. The Eastern Conference takes the stage Wednesday, when Philadelphia plays host to Miami and Atlanta visits Chicago.
Caitlin Clark's young dream of playing in the WNBA is set to become reality
NEW YORK (AP) — In elementary school, Caitlin Clark wrote down her dreams and goals that included playing in the WNBA one day. That dream will become a reality Monday night when Clark is expected to be taken first by the Indiana Fever in the WNBA draft. Her mom Anne still has the sheet that Clark wrote it on. Clark said she never dreamed of the impact she has had in helping grown the sport to where it is today with record ratings and attendance numbers.
Paris-bound Olympians look forward to a post-COVID Games with fans in the stands
NEW YORK (AP) — The biggest moments for many of this generation's Olympic athletes came in front of mostly empty stands. That was three years ago at the COVID-19 Summer Olympics or two years ago at the COVID-19 Winter Olympics. Now that they're preparing for the Paris Olympics, the Americans heading back to the Games know they can never take for granted the screaming fans and a hug from Mom or Dad. BMX rider Alise Willoughby is among the many who say it's important to be able to share these once-in-a-lifetime moments with people close to her. Willoughby and about 100 other U.S. athletes are doing interviews and photo shoots this week at the Team USA media summit at a hotel in New York.
Vegas, US tour and more signings: Wrexham has plenty of fun and work ahead after latest promotion
Wrexham and its Hollywood owners are halfway to the promised land. Playing in the lucrative Premier League might not be such a fanciful notion after all for a club that not so long ago was financially stricken and languishing in the fifth tier of the English game. Wrexham has achieved two successive promotions since coming under the ownership of celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney since 2021. The latest was achieved on Saturday. Two more promotions and Wrexham will be mixing it with the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Manchester United in the Premier League. Wrexham has some exciting things to look forward to in the short term as well.
Scottie Scheffler is a Masters champion again. And he's never satisfied
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is a Masters champion for the second time in three years. And all he wants to do is to keep winning. He manages expectations because he never looks too far behind or too far ahead. It's alarming how far he has come in such a short time. It was only two years and two months ago when Scheffler was still trying to win for the first time on the PGA Tour. And it was only two months ago that he was being questioned for his putting. He is now No. 1 in the world by a margin not seen since peak Tiger Woods.
John Sterling retires from Yankees broadcast booth at age 85 a few weeks into 36th season
NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling has announced his immediate retirement at age 85, a few weeks into his 36th season in New York's broadcast booth. Sterling had cut back his schedule in recent years and was not with the team for its trip to Houston and Toronto. He called 5,420 regular-season games, the last against the Blue Jays on April 7, plus 211 postseason games. Sterling broadcast 5,060 consecutive games from September 1989 through July 2019 after starting with the Yankees as a pregame host.
Paris prepares for 100-day countdown to the Olympics. It wants to rekindle love for the Games
PARIS (AP) — April 17 marks the 100 days countdown to the Paris Olympics ambitious opening ceremony. The first Games in a century in France's capital will be judged not only for the sporting spectacle. Another yardstick will be their impact on disadvantaged Paris suburbs away from iconic city-center landmarks hosting much of the action. By promising socially positive and also less polluting and less wasteful Olympics, the city synonymous with romance aims to rekindle love for the Games. The idea that the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics should benefit disadvantaged communities was built into the city's preparations from the outset.
AP-Scorecard
Here are the scores from yesterday's sports events:
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INTERLEAGUE
Final Atlanta 6 Houston 1
Final St. Louis 3 Oakland 1
Final Seattle 9 Cincinnati 3
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Cleveland 6 Boston 0
Final Texas 1 Detroit 0
Final Baltimore 7 Minnesota 4
Final L.A. Angels 7 Tampa Bay 3
Final Toronto 3 N.Y. Yankees 1
Final Kansas City 2 Chicago White Sox 0
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final San Francisco 4 Miami 3
Final Philadelphia 2 Colorado 1
Final N.Y. Mets 6 Pittsburgh 3
Final San Diego 7 Milwaukee 3
Final Washington 6 L.A. Dodgers 4
Final Chicago Cubs 3 Arizona 2
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Final N-Y Islanders 4 New Jersey 1
Final Buffalo 4 Tampa Bay 2
Final Washington 2 Boston 0
Final Pittsburgh 4 Nashville 2
Final OT Detroit 5 Montreal 4
Final N-Y Rangers 4 Ottawa 0
Final Edmonton 9 San Jose 2
Final Minnesota 3 Los Angeles 1
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TODAY'S SPORTS SCHEDULE
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INTERLEAGUE
Atlanta at Houston 8:10 p.m.
Cincinnati at Seattle 9:40 p.m.
St. Louis at Oakland 9:40 p.m.
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AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas at Detroit 1:10 p.m.
Minnesota at Baltimore 6:35 p.m.
L-A Angels at Tampa Bay 6:50 p.m.
N-Y Yankees at Toronto 7:07 p.m.
Cleveland at Boston 7:10 p.m.
Kansas City at Chi White Sox 7:40 p.m.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Colorado at Philadelphia 6:40 p.m.
San Francisco at Miami 6:40 p.m.
Pittsburgh at N-Y Mets 7:10 p.m.
San Diego at Milwaukee 7:40 p.m.
Chi Cubs at Arizona 9:40 p.m.
Washington at L-A Dodgers 10:10 p.m.
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NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
L.A. Lakers at New Orleans 7:30 p.m.
Golden State at Sacramento 10 p.m.
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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Carolina at Columbus 7 p.m.
Detroit at Montreal 7 p.m.
Ottawa at Boston 7 p.m.
Washington at Philadelphia 7 p.m.
Toronto at Florida 7:30 p.m.
Seattle at Winnipeg 8 p.m.
Calgary at Vancouver 10 p.m.
Chicago at Vegas 10 p.m.
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