KWBG Sports for July 24th

 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Penn State didn't get the death penalty, but the NCAA has slammed the school's football program with an unprecedented series of sanctions in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. The NCAA fined the university $60 million, five years of probation, a four-year bowl ban and vacated all of former coach Joe Paterno's victories from 1998-2011.

     STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP)- The Paterno family reacted by accusing the NCAA of a rush to judgment and what it called a "panicked response" to the Jerry Sandusky scandal. Paterno's family said in a statement that the sanctions "defame the legacy and contributions of a great coach and educator."

     SEATTLE (AP) -The New York Yankees have acquired star outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (EE'-cheer-oh soo-ZOO'-kee) from the Seattle Mariners in a trade for two pitchers, D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar, and cash. The 38-year-old Suzuki, a career .322 hitter, has never played in the World Series but joins the team with the best record in the majors.

     ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - The Texas Rangers have placed right-hander Colby Lewis on the disabled list for the second time because of forearm tendinitis and recalled rookie left-hander Martin (mar-TEEN') Perez. Lewis is expected to undergo elbow surgery and will likely miss the rest of the season.

     MINNEAPOLIS (AP)- Minnesota basketball coach Tubby Smith has signed a new deal which will keep him with the Gophers through the 2016-17 season.  Smith, whose record is 103-68 in five seasons with the Gophers, has yet to win an NCAA tournament game with Minnesota but he did guide the team to the NIT final last season.

KWBG Sports for July 23rd

  INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Today is the day Penn State fans find out what is the future of the Nittany Lions' storied football program. The NCAA is set to release what it calls "corrective and punitive measures" against Penn State in the wake of the child sex-abuse scandal involving former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

     LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) - Ernie Els is celebrating his fourth major golf title, thanks to a monumental late collapse by Adam Scott. The Aussie bogeyed the final four holes to allow Els to win his second British Open title to go along with his two U.S. Open crowns.

     COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) - Former Cincinnati Reds star Barry Larkin and the late Chicago Cubs great Ron Santo are the latest inductees into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Larkin, who spent his entire 19-year career with the Reds, called his induction the "ultimate validation" of his career.

     PARIS (AP) - Bradley Wiggins has become the first Briton to win the Tour de France, after safely protecting the yellow jersey during Sunday's final processional ride into Paris and teammate and fellow Briton Christopher Froome finished second, 3 minutes, 21 seconds behind overall. The last time two riders from the same nation finished first and second in the Tour was in 1984, when Frenchmen finished 1-2 in cycling's most famous race.

     NEW YORK (AP) - Pinch-hitter Matt Treanor (TRAY'-nur) had a two-run single in a five-run 12th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the fading New York Mets 8-3 to finish a three-game sweep. New York has lost nine of 10 to fall under .500 (47-48) for the first time this season and now entertains first-place Washington in a three-game series beginning tonight at Citi Field.

KWBG Sports for July 20th

 LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) - The second round of the British Open is under way at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Australian Adam Scott tied a course record yesterday with a 6-under-par 64 that left him one shot ahead of Paul Lawrie, Zach Johnson and Nicolas Colsaerts.

     INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Andrew Luck will be under center when the Indianapolis Colts open training camp next week. The Colts have signed the first overall pick in this year's NFL draft to a four-year, $22.1 million package. Luck completed 70 percent of his passes for 3,170 yards, 35 touchdowns and just nine interceptions for Stanford last season.

     ST. LOUIS (AP) - St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter is expected to be back for the 2013 season after surgery Thursday to repair a nerve injury in his right shoulder. The Cardinals say rehabilitation should take two to three months and Carpenter should be able to have a normal offseason after being unable to pitch this year.

     PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Nashville Predators have six more days to match Philadelphia's 14-year, $110-million offer sheet to defenseman Shea Weber. The offer comes a few weeks after blueliner Ryan Suter left Nashville for a 10-year contract with Minnesota.  GM David Poile (poyl) repeated previous statements that the Predators intend to match any offer, but says the team will need to "review and evaluate" the Flyers' offer and "all of its ramifications" before making a final decision.

     UNDATED (AP) - The Big Ten Conference is considering a plan to give its commissioner the power to punish schools with financial sanctions, suspensions and even the ability to fire coaches. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that an 18-page plan is being circulated among Big Ten leadership that raises the possibility of giving Commissioner Jim Delany such authority. The plan comes after former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was recently convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys, sometimes on campus.

KWBG Sports for July 19th

  WASHINGTON (AP) - The National League East-leading Washington Nationals moved 17 games over .500 by holding off the New York Mets 4-3 for their second straight one-run victory over the New Yorkers. Adam LaRoche hit a two-run home run and Tyler Clippard earned his 15th save despite giving up a pair of solo homers in the ninth

     LOS ANGELES (AP) - A person with direct knowledge of the decision says free agent forward Antawn Jamison will sign a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. The 36-year-old Jamison will be reunited with coach Mike Brown, who was in charge of the Cavaliers when Jamison was traded to Cleveland during the 2009-10 season.

     LYTHAM ST. ANNES, England (AP) - The British Open, third major of the golf season, is under way today at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, which features a staggering 206 bunkers around this historic course. Tiger Woods, who's won three times already this year, can regain his world No. 1 ranking with a victory and if current No. 1 Luke Donald finishes below fifth this week.

     NEW YORK (AP) - The NHL and the NHL Players' Association met for more than two hours in an attempt to nail down a new collective bargaining agreement before the current one expires on Sept. 15. Neither side reported much progress and players union director Donald Fehr (feer) says he hasn't decided whether to formally respond to the owners' first offer, which reportedly called for major concessions from the players.

     STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Some Penn State students have begun a campus vigil to protect Joe Paterno's statue at Happy Valley. Paterno was fired after former assistant Jerry Sandusky was charged last winter with sex abuse of 10 boys and there have been calls for removal of Paterno's statue in wake of a blistering internal report which accused Paterno of a cover-up to protect his legacy.

KWBG Sports for July 18th

 LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Philadelphia Phillies welcomed two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay back in their starting rotation by rallying for a 3-2 victory over the fading Los Angeles Dodgers, who've lost four straight and have fallen three games back of San Francisco in the NL West. Halladay, out since May with shoulder woes, hurled five innings, allowing two runs on five hits in his 80 pitches.

     NEW YORK (AP) - CC Sabathia (suh-BATH'-ee-uh) carried a shutout into the seventh inning during his sparkling return from the disabled list and the steamrolling New York Yankees got a three-run homer from Andruw Jones in a 6-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays last night. Sidelined since June 24 because of a groin strain, Sabathia improved to 10-3.

     BOSTON (AP) - Kevin Youkilis (YOO'-kih-lihs) hit his first homer at Fenway Park as a visitor, driving a three-run shot over the Green Monster to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 7-5 win over the Boston Red Sox. It's been less than a month since Boston traded one of its most popular players to Chicago and the Fenway fans cheered "Yooouk!" loudly for the second straight night in the Hub.

     DETROIT (AP) - Mike Trout had another four-hit game for Los Angeles, including a 430-foot homer that was part of an early power show in the Angels' 13-0 rout of the Detroit Tigers last night. Trout, Mark Trumbo, Albert Pujols (POO'-hohlz), Alberto Callaspo (ky-AS'-poh) and Kendrys Morales all went deep.

     NEW YORK (AP) - The NHL and the NHL Players' Association are set to resume labor talks today at the league offices in New York. The split of total revenue is the biggest sticking point with multiple reports coming out of the last round of talks saying the owners want the players' share of total revenue cut to 46 percent from the current 57 percent.

KWBG Sports for July 17th

 UNDATED (AP) - Pro Bowl running backs Ray Rice of Baltimore and Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears have agreed to long-term contracts. Rice has accepted a five-year, $40 million deal after leading the NFL with 2,068 yards from scrimmage last season. Forte took what the Chicago Sun-Times says is a four-year, $32 million deal with $18 million guaranteed.

     CINCINNATI (AP) - The Cincinnati Reds will spend the next three to four weeks without first baseman Joey Votto, who needs surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee. The 2010 National League MVP hurt the knee while sliding into third base June 29 in San Francisco, but continued to play until Sunday. General manager Walt Jocketty said Votto didn't have an MRI before yesterday because the first baseman didn't think he needed one.

     LOS ANGELES (AP) - Clippers forward Blake Griffin has undergone surgery to repair the medial meniscus tear of his left knee that he suffered during practice with the U.S. national team in Las Vegas. Griffin returned to Los Angeles last Thursday after experiencing discomfort in the same knee that bothered him during the playoffs. He will miss the London Olympics, but the Clippers say he should be ready for the start of the NBA season.

     SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - Syracuse has the green light to move to the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Big East has reached an agreement with the school, allowing the Orange to leave the league a year early for the ACC. The move will cost Syracuse a fee of $7.5 million.

     STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Joe Paterno's family strongly denies the findings of a special investigator who described the late coach as one of four high-ranking university officials who covered up child sex abuse allegations against former assistant Jerry Sandusky. In a statement, the family says they "vehemently disagree" with the conclusions reached by a team of investigators led by former FBI director Louis Freeh (LOO'-ee free). Freeh's scathing report last week said Paterno and other university officials covered up for Sandusky to avoid bad publicity.

KWBG Sports for July 16th

 CINCINNATI (AP) - The streaking Cincinnati Reds won their sixth straight game by finishing a three-game weekend sweep of St. Louis with a 4-2 win last night. Scott Rolen delivered a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth for the Reds, who have taken a one-game lead over Pittsburgh in the NL Central.

     MIAMI (AP) - The Washington Nationals maintained their three-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East by blanking Miami 4-0 as Stephen Strasburg won his 10th game by combining with three relievers on a seven-hit shutout. Strasburg also broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning with a run-scoring single that helped raise his batting average to .385.

     LAKE ORION, Mich. (AP) - Roger Chapman won the U.S. Senior Open by two strokes, and joined some impressive company in the process. Chapman, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Hale Irwin are the only players to win the U.S. Senior Open and Senior PGA Championship in the same year.

     SILVIS, Ill. (AP)- Zach Johnson birdied the second playoff hole to win the John Deere Classic with a tap-in one-foot putt. Both Johnson and Troy Matteson posted double bogeys on the first playoff hole but Johnson secured his ninth career victory by knocking his second shot on the second playoff hole stiff from a fairway bunker.

     LOUDON, N.H. (AP) - Kasey Kahne  (kayn) made it two Sprint Cup victories for this year and 14 in his career by holding off Denny Hamlin to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Clint Bowyer (BOY'-ur), Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski rounded out the top five.