KWBG Sports for March 29th

 TOKYO (AP) - Game 2 of the season-opening series between the American League's Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics is under way in Tokyo. Bartolo Colon (kuh-LOHN') is going for Seattle and Jason Vargas is pitching for the A's. Seattle won the opener 3-1 in 11 innings on Wednesday.

     LOS ANGELES (AP) - Blake Griffin threw down three dunks in a 1:40 span late in the fourth quarter and had 27 points and 14 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Phoenix Suns 103-86. Chris Paul had 15 points and 15 assists to help the Clippers move two games behind the Lakers in the Pacific Division. They have won five straight at home.

     GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) - The sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers to a group including former Lakers star Magic Johnson is getting rave reviews on the West Coast and at the Dodgers spring training complex in Glendale, Ariz. Players and fans alike say they're happy and relieved about the pending $2 billion sale of the team.

     BOSTON (AP) - Red Sox reliever Chris Carpenter, who was obtained from the Chicago Cubs as partial compensation for general manager Theo Epstein, says he will have elbow surgery.  Carpenter says on Twitter that Dr. James Andrews will remove a bone spur from his elbow.

     ORANGE, Calif. (AP) - Flamboyant former NBA star Dennis Rodman has been told he could face up to 20 days in jail unless he pays some $860,000 in child support, although his lawyer said he's made payments.  Rodman appeared in an Orange County court Tuesday for sentencing but it was postponed to May 29.

KWBG Sports for March 28th

  TOKYO (AP) - It's "Play Ball" for real as the Major League Baseball regular season opens with a two-game set in Tokyo between the Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics this morning, starting at 6:10 a.m. (Eastern time). The Mariners send out their ace, Felix Hernandez, against the A's Brandon McCarthy.

     NEW YORK (AP) - L.A. Dodgers owner Frank McCourt says he has a deal to sell the bankrupt team for $2 billion to a group that includes former Lakers star Magic Johnson and former Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals President Stan Kasten. The $2 billion price tag would easily be a record for a North American sports franchise.

     UNDATED (AP) --Connecticut and Notre Dame filled out the last two spots and joined Baylor and Stanford in the all No. 1 seed NCAA women's Final Four, which gets under way next Sunday in Denver. UConn downed Kentucky 80-65 and will meet Notre Dame, which trounced Maryland 80-49 in the other regional final last night.

     WASHINGTON (AP)- On NHL ice, the Buffalo Sabres came to Washington and routed the Capitals 5-1 to nudge ahead of the Caps into the eighth and final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. Ryan Miller turn back 44 shots and Drew Stafford scored twice for the Sabres, who have five games left.

     UNDATED (AP)-With the London Olympics approaching fast, Paul Hamm is retiring from gymnastics a few months shy of his 30th birthday following surgery 14 months ago to repair a torn right labrum and rotator cuff.  Hamm is the only American man to win a world or Olympic all-around title in gymnastics.

KWBG Sports for March 27th

 UNDATED (AP) - Sean Payton could be able to coach the New Orleans Saints well into next month. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell (guh-DEHL') said yesterday that should Payton appeal, he "probably" would let him continue coaching after April 1, when the suspension is to begin. Meanwhile, former NFL coach Bill Parcells says he's spoken to the suspended head coach but adds that no one from the team has talked to him about coaching the Saints this year.

     FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) - Tim Tebow (TEE'-boh) says he's willing to do anything for the Jets if it will help them win, and he doesn't expect there will be any friction between himself and incumbent quarterback Mark Sanchez. The two have known each other for three years. The club introduced Tebow to the New York area media at an afternoon news conference, less than a week after acquiring the former first-round draft pick from Denver.

     UNDATED (AP) - Kansas junior Thomas Robinson is a unanimous choice for the AP men's All-America basketball team after helping lead the Jayhawks to the Final Four. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 17.9 points and 11.8 rebounds this season. He's the first unanimous pick since Blake Griffin in 2009. Joining Robinson on the First Team are Ohio State's Jared Sullinger, Kentucky's Anthony Davis, Draymond Green of Michigan State and Creighton's Doug McDermott.

     UNDATED (AP) - Top seeds Baylor and Stanford have reached the Final Four of the NCAA women's basketball tournament and will square off Sunday night in Denver. Brittany Griner had 23 points, 15 rebounds and nine blocks as the Bears knocked off Tennessee 77-58 in what may have been Pat Summitt's final game as head coach of the Lady Vols. The Cardinal earned an 81-69 win over Duke as Nnemkadi Ogwumike (nehm-KAH'-dee oh-gwoo-MEE'-kay delivered 29 points and nine rebounds.

     ATLANTA (AP) - Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones has undergone successful arthroscopic surgery to repair a tear in his left knee and is expected to be out about three weeks. The Braves hope he can return in time for their home opener, April 13 against Milwaukee.

KWBG Sports for March 26th

 UNDATED (AP) - Next Saturday's NCAA men's semifinals are set. Louisville plays Kentucky in the first game in New Orleans for ultimate bragging rights in the Bluegrass State, followed by Kansas vs. Ohio State in the second game.

     ATLANTA (AP) - Kentucky opened a 20-point lead in the first half and cruised past Baylor 82-70 to get to the Final Four. The Wildcats are seeking their eighth national title, but first since 1998.

     ST. LOUIS (AP) - Kansas posted an 80-67 win over North Carolina and former Jayhawks coach Roy Williams in yesterday's Midwest Regional final. Tyshawn Taylor paced five Jayhawks in double figures with 22 and player of the year candidate Thomas Robinson added 18 points and nine rebounds.

     UNDATED (AP)- The first two entrants in the NCAA women's Final Four next weekend in Denver will be determined tonight. Top-ranked Baylor plays Pat Summitt's Tennessee Lady Vols to decide the Des Moines Regional followed by Duke vs. Stanford in the Fresno Regional final.

     ATLANTA (AP) - In the NBA's first quadruple-overtime game since 1997, the Atlanta Hawks outlasted the Utah Jazz 139-133 last night behind Joe Johnson's 37 points. The four overtimes tied for the third-longest game in NBA history.

KWBG Sports for March 23rd

PHOENIX (AP) - Chane Behanan scored 15 points and Gorgui Dieng  (GOR'-ee jee-AHNG') anchored Louisville's stifling defense with seven blocked shots, helping the Cardinals knock off top-seeded Michigan State 57-44 in the West Regional semifinals. Tom Izzo's Spartans were ice cold from the field, shooting just 28 percent.

     PHOENIX (AP) - The seventh-seeded Florida Gators upset third-seed Marquette 68-58 to reach the West final against Louisville. Bradley Beal led the Gators with 21 points, six rebounds and four assists for coach Billy Donovan's Gators.

     BOSTON (AP) - Top-seed Syracuse escaped with a 64-63 squeaker over fourth-seed Wisconsin to reach the Saturday's finals at the East Regional against Ohio State. C.J. Fair broke out of his scoring slump with 15 points as balanced Orange scoring was just enough to offset the Badgers' 14-of-27 shooting from 3-point land.

     BOSTON (AP) -  In just the second meeting of these two Buckeye State schools in 50 years, second-seeded Ohio State topped Cincinnati 81-66 as Deshaun Thomas scored 20 of his game-high 26 points in the first half. The Buckeyes are going to the regional finals for the first time since 2007 when they lost the national title game to Florida.

     ATLANTA (AP) - Longtime Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones says this will be his final season. The 1999 National League MVP winner, who turns 40 next month, has spent his entire 18-year career with the Braves and owns a .304 career average with 454 homers and 1,561 RBIs.

KWBG Sports for March 22nd

 NEW YORK (AP) - The NFL is coming down hard on the people most closely associated with the New Orleans Saints' well-publicized "bounty" program. Former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who now holds the same title with the St. Louis Rams, has been suspended indefinitely while head coach Sean Payton has been suspended for the 2012 season. New Orleans GM Mickey Loomis got an eight-game suspension, and assistant coach Joe Vitt will miss the first six games this year.

     NEW YORK (AP) - The Denver Broncos have finally completed a deal that sends quarterback Tim Tebow (TEE'-boh) and a seventh-round draft pick to the New York Jets for fourth- and sixth-round picks in this year's draft. The trade was eventually completed after the Jets apparently balked at repaying Denver more than $5 million for a salary advance due Tebow. ESPN reported that the two sides had agreed to split that cost.

     OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed free agent guard Derek Fisher, giving him a chance to earn his sixth NBA championship. The longtime Los Angeles Lakers point guard was traded to Houston last week, but decided to buy out of his contract with the Rockets and seek somewhere else to play. Thunder general manager Sam Presti says Fisher is available to play immediately.

     CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Kendall Marshall is out of his cast following surgery on his broken right wrist, and his father tells The Associated Press that the North Carolina point guard is wearing a removable splint. Dennis Marshall said it was still too early to know if his son could play against Ohio on Friday in the NCAA tournament's round of 16 in St. Louis. He said his son "hasn't been ruled out, but not cleared to play either."

     CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) - Virginia Commonwealth basketball coach Shaka Smart has ended speculation he might take the open job at Illinois by announcing he'll stay with the Rams. The decision by the young coach was cause for celebration among VCU fans and disappointment for their Illini counterparts. Illinois' search for a replacement for fired coach Bruce Weber has begun to resemble the search last year for a new football coach, when the school's top choices reportedly turned down the Illini.

KWBG Sports for March 21st

 DENVER (AP) - Peyton Manning signed his five-year, $96 million contract with the Denver Broncos yesterday and said he wants to play at the same level he displayed before a neck injury caused him to miss all of last season. Broncos executive John Elway said his goal is to make Peyton Manning the best quarterback that's ever played the game, adding that Manning has that ability with the football that he's got left. With Manning in the fold, Elway said he would do everything he can to get former starting QB Tim Tebow (TEE'-boh) into the best situation possible.

     CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams says his team's "preparation is 100 percent" to play without Kendall Marshall. The Tar Heels point guard is recovering from Monday's surgery on his broken right wrist and his status remains up in the air for the Midwest Regional semifinal against Ohio on Friday night in St. Louis. The left-handed sophomore was injured when he was fouled on a drive in the second half of Sunday's tournament victory over Creighton.

     UNDATED (AP) - A person familiar with negotiations says Dan Hurley is getting a six-year deal to take over the basketball program at Rhode Island. The Rams went 7-24 this season. The son of Hall of Fame high school coach Bob Hurley spent the last two seasons at Wagner after nine years as a high school coach in Newark, N.J. The former Seton Hall guard led the Seahawks to a 25-6 record this season.

     LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera will miss at least a week of spring training after being struck in the right eye by a hard grounder during Monday's exhibition game. The Tigers third baseman received eight stitches, but team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski says the slugger's vision is "perfect" and he won't go on the disabled list. Cabrera says he expects to be ready by opening day.

     SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) - Texas Rangers lefty Derek Holland has agreed to a new five-year contract that includes a pair of one-year club options that could have him in the fold through 2018. Holland was 16-5 with a 3.95 ERA last year and is 27-22 over three major league seasons with Texas.