Veteran BBC sportscaster Stuart Hall pleaded guilty to 14 indecent assaults on underage girls, including one who was just 9 years old, prompting the broadcaster Thursday to drop him for his "sickening" behavior. The 83-year-old, who had been arrested in January for questioning about alleged crimes committed between 1967 and 1986, had earlier denied any wrongdoing. Hall admitted his guilt in court ...    

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - For all the talk about the greens, Rory McIlroy's most important club was his driver Thursday in the Wells Fargo Championship.McIlroy kept the ball in play at Quail Hollow and gave himself plenty of birdie chances on a cloudy, soft afternoon. He ran off six birdies in a seven-hole stretch around the turn and finished with an 8-foot birdie putt for a 5-under 67 to share the l...    

Three additional suspects have been taken into custody in the investigation of last month's deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon, the Boston Police Department and a U.S. law enforcement source said on Wednesday. Officials last month accused two ethnic Chechen brothers of placing homemade pressure-cooker bombs at the finish line of the marathon on April 15. One died after a gunfight with police t...    

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) -Vijay Singh has withdrawn from the Wells Fargo Championship, citing a sore back.Singh pulled out of the tournament one day after the U.S. PGA Tour said it would not punish the 50-year-old Fijian for his admission that he used deer antler spray.The tour said the World Anti-Doping Agency informed it that the spray contains only small amounts of a substance that is ban...    

Before I tell you about our big idea – “our” meaning Billy Beane and me – let’s start with the inspiration. A week or so ago, my wife Margo asked a sports question. Margo used to be a pretty big sports fan, but that was before the PTA took up 98.9 percent of her time, so now she will emerge every month or two after fighting to the death with another weekly newsletter to ask something like, “So, wh...    

The field for the 139th Kentucky Derby came into focus with a number of declarations Monday and Tuesday, including a last-minute addition to reach a 20-horse capacity. Trainer Bob Baffert ruled out both Louisiana Derby runner-up Code West and Sunland Derby hero Governor Charlie for the race and conditioner Todd Pletcher nixed the chances of wheeling back Lexington Stakes victor Winning Cause on tw...    

DENVER (AP) - Kenneth Faried put his foot down 48 hours after putting his size-16 sneaker through the wall in the visiting locker room in Oakland, sparking a debate about dirty play.The fiery forward energized the Denver Nuggets, who rediscovered their toughness in time to stave off elimination Tuesday night with a 107-100 win over the Golden State Warriors.The Nuggets never trailed, piled up poin...    

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Vijay Singh no longer faces any sanction for using deer antler spray.The PGA Tour said Tuesday it was dropping the case against the three-time major champion. Tour commissioner Tim Finchem says new information from the World Anti-Doping Agency indicates that using deer antler spray is no longer considered prohibited.The tour confirmed that the spray Singh used contained IGF-...    

AVONDALE, La. (AP) - Billy Horschel sensed the time had come for him to win his first PGA Tour event. This could explain the composure he displayed in the face of two final-round weather delays and a 27-foot putt he had to make on the final hole to avert a playoff.Horschel tied a course record at the TPC Louisiana with an 8-under 64 in the final round of the Zurich Classic on Sunday, which was goo...    

AVONDALE, La. (AP) - Billy Horschel shot an 8-under 64 in the final round of the Zurich Classic, maintaining his composure through a pair of weather delays for his first-career PGA Tour victory on Sunday.The 26-year-old former Florida Gator began the day two shots behind third-round leader Lucas Glover and surged into the lead with six straight birdies after the first weather delay. He finished at...    

AVONDALE, La. (AP) - Billy Horschel shot an 8-under 64 in the final round of the Zurich Classic, maintaining his composure through a pair of weather delays for his first-career PGA Tour victory on Sunday.The 26-year-old former Florida Gator began the day two shots behind third-round leader Lucas Glover and surged into the lead with six straight birdies after the first weather delay. He finished at...    

HOUSTON (AP) - Kevin Durant scored 41 points in his first game without injured All-Star Russell Westbrook, and the Oklahoma City Thunder fought off Houston's late rally to beat the Rockets 104-101 on Saturday night for a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven playoff series.Durant scored 27 points in the first half, and the Thunder led by 26 points before a big third-quarter rally by the Rockets put them w...    

HOUSTON (AP) - Houston Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin will play in Game 3 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night.Lin bruised a chest muscle in the first half of a 105-102 loss in Game 2 and didn't play in the second half.Coach Kevin McHale says, "he is up shooting and getting it loosened up, so he's going to give it a shot."The Thunder enter the game up 2-0 in the best-of-seven series...    

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Marc Gasol had 24 points and 13 rebounds, and the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Los Angeles Clippers 104-83 Saturday to even their first-round playoff series at 2-all.Zach Randolph finished with 24 points and nine rebounds as the Grizzlies won their second straight to ensure another stop in Memphis for Game 6. Mike Conley had 15 points and 13 assists, and Tayshaun Prince scored ...    

Henrik Lundqvist made 20 saves in coasting to his second shutout of the season, and Rick Nash scored twice for the playoff-bound New York Rangers in a 4-0 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in the regular-season finale for both teams.The Rangers still had to wait to find out who they will face in the first round of the playoffs, but they know it won't be the top-seeded Pittsburgh Pengu...    

HOUSTON (AP) - Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks says All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook is scheduled to have knee surgery on Saturday.The team announced Friday that Westbrook would need the surgery to repair cartilage in his right knee and that he would be out indefinitely.Westbrook, who has a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee, was hurt when rookie Patrick Beverley tried for a st...    

NEW YORK (AP) - Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley is the first pick of the fourth round of the NFL draft, taken by Philadelphia after a trade with Jacksonville.The high-profile Barkley was projected as a first-round selection last year, but opted to return to school. He and the Trojans slumped, Barkley injured his shoulder, and his stock plummeted.But the Eagles, who hired Oregon coach ...    

The New York Mets’ Matt Harvey might be off to the greatest start for a starting pitcher in more than 50 years. That sounds like a lot of New York hype, but it shows up in the numbers and comparisons. Through 15 starts, the numbers suggest, Matt Harvey has been about as good as anybody starting a career since World War II.But, really, the wonder of a pitching prodigy like Harvey goes beyond number...    

(Reuters) - While Chinese prodigy Guan Tianlang stunningly made his second consecutive cut on the PGA Tour, American Lucas Glover surged into a one-shot lead in Friday's second round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.Former U.S. Open champion Glover maintained red-hot form with his putter at the rain-softened TPC Louisiana, firing a five-under-par 67 after teeing off on a relatively calm mornin...    

AVONDALE, La. (AP) - Lucas Glover birdied his final hole Friday to take a one-stroke lead over Boo Weekley after the second round of the Zurich Classic.Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open winner, shot a 5-under 67 to reach 12 under at TPC Louisiana. Weekley had a 68.D.A. Points was 10 under after a 68.Guan Tianlang, the 14-year-old Chinese amateur playing on a sponsor exemption, followed his opening 72 wit...