Sports – Page 598 – North Platte Post Archive

MLB Collision Rule Leaves Open Exceptions

Posted on February 24, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball and its players have banned most home plate collisions but left open an exception if the catcher has the ball and is blocking the runner’s direct path to home plate.

A new rule, 7.13, was adopted by MLB and the players’ association on a one-year experimental basis, the sides said Monday.

A comment attached to the rule states “the failure by the runner to make an effort to touch the plate, the runner’s lowering of the shoulder, or the runner’s pushing through with his hands, elbows or arms, would support a determination that the runner deviated from the pathway in order to initiate contact with the catcher in violation.”

A runner who violates the rule shall be declared out even if the catcher drops the ball. If a catcher blocks home plate without possession of the ball, the runner shall be safe. However, a catcher may block the plate to field a throw if the umpire determines the catcher could not have otherwise fielded the ball and that contact with the runner could not have been avoided.

Big Ten Announces Sellout for 2014 Men’s Basketball Tournament

Posted on February 24, 2014

Rosemont, Ill. – For the second consecutive year, the conference office announced that the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament is officially sold out. The 2014 event is scheduled for March 13-16 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The City of Indianapolis and Bankers Life Fieldhouse play host to the 2014 Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. Indianapolis was the first city to host both tournaments in the same year, with 2014 marking the ninth occurrence of this feat. The 2014 edition serves as the 18th time the women’s tournament will be held in Indianapolis, while the men tip off in Indy for the ninth time. The Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments will also be played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in 2016.

The Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament features 11 games over four days, beginning with four contests on Thursday, and the top four teams will receive byes into the quarterfinal round on Friday. Six different programs have won the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State has claimed the title four times, including three of the last four years. Michigan State has won the tournament on three occasions, including the last time the event was held in Indianapolis in 2012. Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin have each won the championship twice, and Purdue has won the tournament once.

The 2014 Big Ten Basketball Tournaments include a number of fan events surrounding the 22 tournament games. These events include the Big Ten Hoops Day 5K, Big Ten Career Expo, Big Ten Thinks Pink, pep rallies in advance of both championship games, restaurant pairings, youth initiatives, and much more. Visit www.bigten.org or www.IndianaSportsCorp.org for more information.

Notice to Secondary Market Ticket Buyers: The Big Ten Conference and Bankers Life Fieldhouse can only guarantee the validity of Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament tickets purchased from university ticket offices, Ticketmaster, Indiana Sports Corp, or the Bankers Life Fieldhouse ticket office. Fans who obtain tickets from unauthorized dealers or from other fans run the risk of buying lost, stolen or counterfeit tickets which will not be honored for admission, and will not be eligible for any type of refund or exchange.

About the Big Ten Conference: The Big Ten Conference is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching and public service. Founded in 1896, the Big Ten has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in student-athletes’ lives and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness and competitiveness. The broad-based athletic programs of the 12 Big Ten institutions provide in excess of $141 million in direct financial aid to more than 8,200 student-athletes playing on more than 300 teams in 43 different sports. The Big Ten sponsors 26 official conference sports, 13 for men and 13 for women, and will add men’s and women’s lacrosse as the 27^th and 28^th official sports for the 2014-15 academic year. For more information, visitwww.bigten.org.

Indiana Sports Corp’s mission is to create positive impact by hosting world-class sporting events that enhance vibrancy in the community, build civic pride, drive economic impact and media exposure, and encourage opportunities for youth. A not-for-profit organization, Indiana Sports Corp was founded in 1979 as the nation’s first sports commission. Our recent and upcoming schedule of events includes NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Fours, Super Bowl XLVI in 2012, Big Ten Football Championship Games through 2015, Big Ten Basketball Tournaments, and much more. For more information, visit www.IndianaSportsCorp.org.

Former Husker Ends Bobsled Stint with Bronze Medal

Posted on February 24, 2014

SHELBY, Neb. (AP) — Former Nebraska football player and Olympic bobsledder Curt Tomasevicz has ended his bobsledding career with a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

His four-man sled finished just three-hundredths of a second ahead of a Russian team to win third place in Sunday’s racing. Cheers erupted at several watch parties in his east-central Nebraska hometown of Shelby as the results were announced on television.

Sochi Cleans Up as World Leaves Olympics Behind

Posted on February 24, 2014February 24, 2014

SOCHI, Russia (AP) — The world’s athletes and visitors are rolling toward Sochi’s airport and taking off for home. They’re fresh from a Winter Games experience that many Russians pronounce a smashing success and that the head of the Olympic movement enthusiastically labels a victory for the region and the host nation.

After 17 days of global sport and spotlight, Sochi is starting to clean up.

It’s predicted to be the heaviest Olympic-related travel day, but travelers through the region’s airport are reporting briskly moving security lines and check-in times of anywhere from 10 minutes to three hours.

Olympic Park has cleared out except for volunteers in multicolored patchwork jackets. Most security barriers remain in place in anticipation of the Paralympic Games, but security is noticeably more relaxed.

Earnhardt Jr. Wins 2nd Daytona 500 a Decade Later

Posted on February 24, 2014

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Through rain and wrecks, Dale Earnhardt Jr. ended the only drought that mattered.

NASCAR’s most popular driver won the Daytona 500 for the second time, a decade after his first victory in the “Great American Race.”

Earnhardt snapped a 55-race winless streak Sunday night that dated to 2012. It ended a streak of futility at Daytona International Speedway, where he finished second in three of the previous four 500s.

He radioed to his crew “this is better than the first one,” as he circled the track on his cool-down lap in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Rain stopped the race about 45 minutes after it began for a delay of more than six hours. When it resumed, Earnhardt dominated at the track where his father was killed in an accident on the last lap of the 2001 race.

Thomas, Gay Push Kings Past Nuggets 109-95

Posted on February 24, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Isaiah Thomas scored 33 points, Rudy Gay had 32 and the Sacramento Kings routed the Nuggets 109-95 on Sunday night for their first win in Denver in six years.

DeMarcus Cousins added 27 points for the Kings, who snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. It was Sacramento’s first win in the Mile High City since a 118-115 victory on April 5, 2008. The Kings have won three of their last four games overall.

Randy Foye and Evan Fournier each scored 27 points for the slumping Nuggets, who lost for the seventh time in the last eight games. The Nuggets fell to 1-5 without leading scorer Ty Lawson, who missed a sixth game because of a fractured left rib.

No. 11 Creighton Holds Off Pesky Seton Hall 72-71

Posted on February 23, 2014

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Doug McDermott had 29 points to become one of the top-10 scorers in college basketball history, and No. 11 Creighton survived shaky free throw shooting at the end to post a hard-earned 72-71 victory over Seton Hall on Sunday.

Grant Gibbs added a season-high 16 points, and the Bluejays (23-4, 13-2) took a half-game lead over Villanova in the Big East standings.

Fuquan Edwin had 21 points to lead the Pirates (14-13, 5-9), who have lost four of five.

Creighton missed five of its last six free throws, allowing Seton Hall to stay in the game to the end. McDermott, an 89 percent foul shooter, missed two before Austin Chatman fouled Edwin on the other end. Edwin made both free throws to make it a one-point game with 8.2 seconds left.

Wragge missed two free throws with 4 seconds left, but Edwin’s desperation 3-pointer bounced off the backboard at the buzzer.

Nebraska Wins 5th Straight; 76-57 over Purdue

Posted on February 23, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Terran Petteway scored 29 points to lead surging Nebraska, which won its fifth straight game, over Purdue 76-57 Sunday.

Nebraska (16-10, 8-6 Big Ten) used a 26-8 second half run to take down the Boilermakers (15-12, 5-9).

The Huskers have won five straight conference games for the first times since 1998-99 and have won eight conference games for the first time since 2008-09 when it was a member of the Big 12.

Nebraska took control of the game late in a low-scoring first half. With Purdue center A.J. Hammons on the bench, Nebraska went on a 7-0 run capped by a Petteway fast break layup to take a 21-14 lead and stretched that advantage to 30-20 on Shavon Shields’ three-point play with 1:04 left in the first half.

Shields finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for Nebraska and Walter Pitchford had 10.

Terone Johnson led Purdue with nine points.

Rockies P Chacin Shut Down with Sore Shoulder

Posted on February 23, 2014

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jhoulys Chacin is being shut down in spring training due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder.

Chacin will undergo an MRI on Monday. He’s been limited in his throwing so far in camp.

Rockies manager Walt Weiss says Chacin has had similar pain in the past and has tried to pitch through it. Weiss added he’s “not overly concerned” with the injury and wouldn’t rule out still considering Chacin as the opening day starter.

Chacin was Colorado’s top right-handed starter a year ago. The 26-year-old went 14-10 with a 3.47 ERA.

No. 18 NPCC Knights Earn No. 2 Seed, Face Central Wyoming to Open Region IX Tournament

Posted on February 23, 2014

North Platte – The bracket for the 2014 Region IX Tournament was announced Sunday with the No. 18 North Platte Community College men’s basketball team (25-4, 12-4 South Sub-Region) earning the No. 2 seed in the South Sub-Region. The Knights open up the tournament in the very first game at 2 p.m. CST in Sterling, Colo. against the No. 7 seed from the North Sub-Region, the Central Wyoming College Rustlers (12-16, 6-10 North Sub-Region).

The No. 10 Northeastern Junior College Plainsmen (26-3, 13-3 South Sub-Region) are the host after winning the South Sub-Region and earning the No. 1 seed. Gillette College (26-3, 15-1 North Sub-Region) earned the No. 1 seed from the North Sub-Region.

The Knights are led by sophomore Ethan Montalvo at 19.0 points per game. Montalvo has scored 1,116 career points as a Knight and currently is 6^th All-Time on the career scoring list. Cameron Williams, a freshman, is the Knights second-leading scorer at 13.7 points per game after his career-high 33 points Saturday. Tim Simmons, a redshirt sophomore, is the Knights third leading scorer at 11.7 points per game. Simmons has scored 660 points as a Knight and currently sits 49^th on the All-Time career scoring list.

The Rustlers are led by Daryle Morgan Jr. who averages 15.5 points per game. Eimer Lopez is Central Wyoming’s second-leading scorer 9.5 points per game and Isaiah Tademy is third at 9.4 points per game. The Rustlers have made their mark this season by allowing the fewest points per game in Region IX at 67.4 points per game. The Knights are second in the region allowing 68.9 points per game.

The winner of the Knights and Rustlers will advance to the Region IX Quarterfinals on Monday, March 3 at 2 p.m. CST to face the winner of the No. 3 North Sub-Region Casper College (18-11, 11-5 North Sub-Region) and No. 6 South Sub-Region Lamar Community College (11-19, 7-9 South Sub-Region).

On the Knights side of the bracket, the Region IX Semifinals tips at 7 p.m. CST on Tuesday, March 4. The Region IX Championship is scheduled for Wednesday, March 5 at 8 p.m. CST. The winner of the Region IX Tournament advances to the National Tournament held in Hutchinson, Kan. from March 17-22 2014.

2014 Region IX Tournament Bracket