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RBs out to change perception

By Michael Marot The Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS — Kenneth Walker III believes NFL scouts may be shortchanging this year’s running backs contingent. He sees a promising group of skillful, multi-faceted players, more than one worthy of being a first-round draft pick in April. Walker, in fact, could be at the head of the class following his 2021 breakout season at Michigan State, especially if he tests well between now and then. The problem: Many teams find more value waiting to take a running back. So Walker and nearly three dozen other runners will spend this week trying to ...

Music would liven up PGA Tour

By Bill Contz For the Mirror Rock troubadour Bruce Springsteen recently agreed to part company with his entire music catalog for a cool $500 million. Not bad for an artist whose career was deemed on life support due to lackluster sales from his first two albums prior to authoring “Born To Run,” an ode to the utter restlessness of his generation. That tune, as well as many other compositions from The Boss, are no doubt headed to a television commercial or streaming service near you very soon. Based on fan reaction to the two hole-in-ones at this year’s Waste Management ...

Mulkey working her magic at LSU

By Brett Martel The Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU coach Kim Mulkey is still trying to temper expectations, even as she oversees a dramatic one-year improvement in the No. 8 Tigers’ fortunes. LSU went 9-13 in a pandemic shortened 2020-21 season, it’s last under previous coach Nikki Fargas. On Thursday night, the Tigers improved to 24-4 this season, closing out their home slate with a 58-50 triumph over an Alabama squad — a result which guarantees LSU at least a share of second place in the Southeastern Conference, behind only the nation’s top-ranked team, South ...

Lovable losers should have limit

By Jim Caltagirone For the Mirror The MLB lockout produced something unexpected in early February when, amidst the posturing of owners and players, Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Paul Sewald spoke candidly about the impact of a new collective bargaining agreement on the fans. The fans. You know, those people who attend the games, buy the merchandise, and suffer through the seemingly endless string of television commercials so that $2 billion in ad revenue can pour into the game’s coffers. To be sure, during his enlightening interview with a Seattle radio station, Sewald ...

Good noise and bad noise of PGA

Lessons learned from Phoenix Open By Doug Ferguson The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Four days in the Arizona desert, particularly the weekend of the Phoenix Open, provided a clear reminder of what the PGA Tour has sorely needed. A sport best performed in silence is most entertaining when there is noise, as long as it’s the right kind of noise. For the PGA Tour, there has been far too much clangor to start the new year. And it’s not just the sound of beer cans pelting the 16th green at the TPC Scottsdale that caused undue delay (funny how ...

PSU wrestling doing just fine

This letter is in response to Jeff Bartlett’s letter last weekend on several NCAA wrestling subjects. I do not disagree that the extra COVID year was not necessary, but in wrestling’s case, it was probably due to the NCAA tournament not being held in 2020. What I take offense to is Bartlett’s other rants. Regarding the Pennsylvania kids going to Iowa, we need to look how this came about. There is no doubt that losing Spencer Lee was a major disappointment, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort by Cael Sanderson. The fact that Lee’s girlfriend was enrolled at ...