National Sports

By JOHN MARSHALL – AP Sports Writer TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Sam Leavitt grew up with three older siblings, one of whom went on to play in the NFL. None of them let the baby of the family win at anything, and it drove him nuts. “It’s not like he ever was a good loser,”

By The Associated Press Dec. 26 1908 — Jack Johnson becomes the first black man to win the world heavyweight boxing title, with a 14th-round knockout of Tommy Burns in Sydney, Australia. 1917 — Toronto’s Harry Cameron becomes the first defenseman to score four goals in a game as the Maple Leafs beat the Montreal

By AP VALENCIA, Spain (AP) — Relegation-threatened Valencia has hired West Bromwich Albion manager Carlos Corberan as its new head coach through June 2027. Valencia fired Rubén Baraja on Monday after another setback in La Liga left the Spanish club stuck in the relegation zone and sparked renewed protests against Singaporean owner Peter Lim. “Carlos

By JOSH DUBOW – AP Pro Football Writer Inside the Numbers dives into NFL statistics, streaks and trends each week. For more Inside the Numbers, head here. Led by free-agent bargains Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry, the number of big-play running backs is rivaling the number of high-production wide receivers for a change. With two

By The Associated Press A pair of Saturday NFL games drew a larger viewing audience than college football for the rollout of the sport’s 12-team playoff. The playoff game between SMU and Penn State averaged 6.4 million viewers on TNT networks, compared with the Texans-Chiefs game on NBC, which averaged 15.5 million viewers. Later, Clemson-Texas

By AP UNDATED (AP) — 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

By AP SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Colorado secured what it said was record insurance coverage for quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter as the star duo opted to complete their college careers in the Alamo Bowl rather than sit out and prepare for the NFL draft. Colorado wouldn’t disclose the amount of

By AP UNDATED (AP) — JuJu Watkins is The Associated Press women’s basketball player of the week. The sophomore guard shined in the Trojans’ 72-70 victory over UConn, scoring 25 points with six rebounds, five assists and three blocks. She had 15 points in the first half and then had a key assist down the

By AP UNDATED (AP) — 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