Caitlin Clark honored as AP Female Athlete of the Year following her impact on women's sports
Caitlin Clark has been named the AP Female Athlete of the Year after raising the profile of women's basketball to unprecedented levels in both college and the WNBA. She led Iowa to the national championship game, was the top pick in the WNBA draft and captured rookie of the year honors in the league. Fans packed sold-out arenas and millions of television viewers followed her journey on and off the court. Clark's exploits also put other women's sports leagues in the spotlight. A group of 74 sports journalists from AP and its members voted on the award. Other athletes who received votes included Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles and boxer Imane Khelif. Clark's only the fourth women's basketball player to win the award since it was first given in 1931.
Packers clinch playoff berth with 1st shutout in NFL this season, 34-0 over Saints
GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Josh Jacobs gained 107 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown for a sixth straight game as the Green Bay Packers clinched a playoff berth while producing the first shutout of the NFL season, 34-0 over the hapless New Orleans Saints. Green Bay improved to 11-4 and earned its fifth postseason appearance in six years. New Orleans played without injured quarterback Derek Carr and running back Alvin Kamara. Rookie Spencer Rattler started and went 15 of 30 for 153 yards with an interception and a fumble. The Packers have won nine of their last 11 games.
Lindsey Vonn thinks her new titanium knee could start a trend in skiing. And pro sports in general
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) -- Lindsey Vonn thinks her new titanium knee could be the start of a trend in ski racing. The 40-year-old American standout had replacement surgery in April and returned to the World Cup circuit after nearly six years last weekend. She says her knee feels "amazing" and that "it's something to seriously consider for athletes that have a lot of knee problems." Her surgery was the first of its kind in World Cup skiing. Vonn had a robot-assisted surgery in April with part of the bone in her right knee cut off and replaced by two titanium pieces. She was planning her comeback a month later.
Embiid ejected after drawing 2 technicals in game against Wembanyama and Spurs
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid was ejected in the first half of Monday night's game against San Antonio after drawing two technical fouls. Referee Jenna Schroeder ejected Embiid with 2 minutes, 59 seconds left in the second quarter. The seven-time All-Star received the first technical for arguing with Schroeder, and received another technical -- and ejection -- from Schroeder before any more game time elapsed. Embiid was close to Schroeder, but it wasn't clear from replays whether he made contact with the official. An enraged Embiid charged toward the officials after the ejection and was restrained by teammate Kyle Lowry, head coach Nick Nurse and several assistants.
Leaving Thunder, Bucks off the NBA's Christmas game list has those teams feeling snubbed
Oklahoma City leads the Western Conference and has a MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Milwaukee has the NBA's leading scorer in Giannis Antetokounmpo. They were the teams that made their way to the NBA Cup final. By any measure, they're both very good teams. And neither will play on Christmas Day this year. Bah, humbug. The NBA faces the same challenge every summer, figuring out which 10 teams will get the honor of playing on Christmas Day. But the Bucks and Thunder are right to feel snubbed.
Tales from the tour in a year filled with medals and tears and a few digs
The one week of the year where golf tours around the world go silent is always a good time to reflect on some of the tales from the tours. This year's edition includes the pride and reflection of Tommy Fleetwood's father to Xander Schauffele and his best friend on the bag. It also includes Steve Stricker's hopeless battle to keep his emotions in check. And there's a tale from Ted Scott, and a tough but special moment at the Olympics that led Scottie Scheffler to give him a medal of his own.
Shohei Ohtani wins 3rd AP Male Athlete of the Year award, tying Michael Jordan for 1 shy of record
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Shohei Ohtani has been named The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the third time. That ties the two-way superstar with Michael Jordan, an athlete Ohtani followed while growing up in Japan. He trails only Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and LeBron James, who each won the award four times. Ohtani received 48 votes in balloting by 74 sports journalists from the AP and its members. He earned his third National League Most Valuable Player award after helping the Dodgers win their eighth World Series title. Ohtani hit 54 home runs and stole 59 bases as the first player with a 50-50 season. His dog, Decoy, became a celebrity, too, helping Ohtani deliver a ceremonial first pitch at a game.
No. 14 Gonzaga's matchup with No. 22 UCLA is the headliner on the week's light AP Top 25 schedule
No. 14 Gonzaga meets No. 22 UCLA in the lone matchup of AP Top 25 teams for the Christmas holiday week. Both teams will be returning to action a week after their previous games. Gonzaga is coming off a win against Bucknell while UCLA is coming off a loss to North Carolina. The other notable game on the schedule is No. 16 Mississippi visiting Memphis on Saturday. The Tigers have twice been ranked this year and could return to the poll again with a win. In all, 12 of the 25 ranked teams don't play a game this week.
No. 23 Michigan heads out west for matchup with No. 4 USC to tipoff Big Ten play
Michigan has gotten off to a strong start this season and the No. 23 Wolverines will try and close out 2024 with a big victory when they visit No. 4 USC on Sunday. The Wolverines won 10 of their first 12 games with the lone losses coming against then-No. 1 South Carolina and No. 9 Oklahoma. Michigan will have a good idea where it stands after the next two weeks as the team plays USC followed by No. 1 UCLA three days later. The Wolverines then return home to face No. 10 Ohio State a week later. The Wolverines have a talented freshman class led by Syla Swords and Olivia Olson. The pair are both averaging over 15 points a game.
WNBA coaching offseason hires complete with Washington and Dallas both finding new head coaches
The WNBA now has all of its head coaching spots filled after there were a record seven open positions this offseason. Dallas named Chris Koclanes as its head coach on Monday and then an hour later Washington hired Sydney Johnson as its new head rounding out the seven hirings.There's no common thread among the seven hires as three were former college head coaches (Karl Smesko, Lynne Roberts and Johnson), two were WNBA assistants (Koclanes and Tyler Marsh) and one is an international coach (Rachid Meziane). Stephanie White is the only former WNBA head coach to get one of the positions as she moved from Connecticut to Indiana.