Matthew Tkachuk enjoyed home comforts in the NHL All-Star Game, named MVP as the Atlantic Division beat the Central Division 7-5 on Saturday.
The Florida Panthers winger had seven points on the day, including five in the semi-final win over the Metropolitan Division, as he starred in front of the Panthers fans in Florida.
It was Tkachuk's second All-Star victory, having helped the Pacific Division win the 2020 All-Star title in his hometown of St. Louis.
Victory in Florida was a special occasion for Tkachuk, who hopes his teammates on the day enjoyed similar feelings.
"It's been an honour to play in front of them this whole year, and it's great that the other players in the league can see what a great place this is to play," he said, "I'm as happy as can be here."
Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin was another who shone, hitting a hat trick in the final, and he certainly had the same enjoyable experience.
"It was so much fun. I'm proud of how we won it. What a great group of guys. It was just a great weekend."
Victory for the Atlantic was their first after six previous ties in the divisional format, having fallen in the final in 2020.
Play at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am was suspended shortly after midday Pacific time (PT) on Saturday after strong winds, but not before Peter Malnati had taken a two-shot lead.
The decision was taken to suspend play at all three courses in the interest of fairness, with the winds so strong that balls on the ninth green at Monterey Peninsula Country Club would not stay still.
It had been hoped the third round could resume at 2pm PT, but it was soon confirmed that play had been suspended for the day, with the third round to resume at 8am PT on Sunday.
Malnati was playing his third round at Pebble Beach Golf Links, and carded six birdies and six pars from his 12 holes before play was suspended, taking him to the top of the leaderboard heading into Sunday on 12 under par overall.
Joseph Bramlett (after 13 holes) and Keith Mitchell (after 10 holes) sit tied for second on 10 under, with the former struggling after a good start.
Bramlett – also playing at Pebble Beach on Saturday along with former footballer Gareth Bale as his amateur – was three under for the round from his first eight holes, before bogeying three of the next five, albeit with birdies on the other two.
The leaders from the first two rounds, Hank Lebioda and Kurt Kitayama, are tied fourth on nine under, with Leboda one under for the round after 11 holes at Spyglass Hill Golf Course, while Kitayama is even par after nine holes on the same course.
Winds reportedly reached 40mph on Saturday, and the suspension means play is likely to go into Monday.
Mitchell had words of praise for his amateur team-mate, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, saying: "The guy was out practicing in the rain and the wind this afternoon when everybody was inside. I can’t imagine him not showing up [tomorrow]. The weather's better tomorrow morning than in Buffalo right now, I can promise you that."
Another NFL star, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, heads the amateur leaderboard on 25 under par, which is made all the more impressive considering his pro, Ben Silverman, is two over. The duo lead Malnati and FedEx president Don Colleran by three shots.
Singles victories from Rowland “Randy” Phillips and Blaise Bicknell gave hosts Jamaica a 2-0 lead over Estonia after day one of their group two Davis Cup tie at the Eric Bell National tennis Centre on Saturday.
The day’s first match of the tie saw Jamaica’s Rowland “Randy” Phillips dominate Estonia’s top ranked player Kristjan Tamm 6-1, 6-1 in just one hour to give the hosts the lead.
“Very solid and consistent on my part,” said Phillips on his performance after the match.
Phillips noted that he did not expect such a one-sided match on paper as he is currently ranked 1387 in the ATP rankings while Tamm is much higher at 663.
“It went a lot better than expected. He’s a tough opponent and maybe he didn’t play his best today but I took advantage of my opportunities,” he said.
“I think the atmosphere unsettled him. The crowd helped me out a lot and gave me energy,” he added.
With Jamaica hosting a Davis Cup tie for the first time since 2007, Phillips also spoke about what it meant to play at home.
“Extremely special. It’s a dream come true. Looking over and seeing my family and friends after points kept me locked in and focused for sure,” Phillips said.
With Phillips already in the win column, it was time for Blaise Bicknell, Jamaica’s highest ranked player at number 769 in the ATP rankings, to take the court against Kenneth Raisma who is ranked number 1640.
It was the Estonian who was in the ascendancy early, racing out to a quick 3-0 lead before taking the first set 6-4.
Bicknell was not done, however, and rallied to take the second set by a similar score before overwhelming his Estonian counterpart in the third, winning 6-0 and securing the lead for the Jamaicans heading into Sunday. The match lasted an hour and 46 minutes.
Jamaica has a chance to clinch the tie on Sunday when Phillips and Bicknell take on Raisma and Jurgen Zopp in doubles.
The 34-year-old Zopp, who retired from professional tennis in 2020, achieved a career high ATP ranking of 71 back in 2012 and reached the third round of the French Open in 2018.
The match gets underway at 1:00pm (2:00pm ECT) and can be viewed on the SportsMax TV YouTube channel.
Declan Rice will set a British record fee if he leaves West Ham at the end of the season, David Moyes believes.
The Hammers captain has long been linked with a move across London to Chelsea, while Arsenal have reportedly made the England international their prime target ahead of next season.
Chelsea recently set a new British transfer record with the deadline day captain of Enzo Fernandez, splashing a reported £107million on the Argentina World Cup winner, but Moyes does not expect that record to stand for long.
In fact, he believes a deal for Rice would not only surpass that figure but would "blow it out of the water".
"Undoubtedly Declan is going to be a top player. He'll be a British transfer record if he ever leaves West Ham," he told the BBC following West Ham's 1-1 draw against Newcastle United.
"There's a lot of talk about it and when you see what's going about for the prices, I think Dec will be blowing that out of the water, that's for sure, when it comes around."
Asked whether he felt an exit for Rice was inevitable, Moyes added: "I hope it's not. I hope he sees his time here."
Rice has 18 months remaining on his contract at the London Stadium, meaning a sale would be required next season to avoid losing him on a free transfer in 2024.
Real Betis defender Luiz Felipe has achieved a rather unwanted record following his latest dismissal for the LaLiga club.
His 95th-minute dismissal in Saturday's 4-3 defeat to Celta Vigo was his third red card of the season in just 11 league appearances.
It was a case of deja vu for the defender, who also saw red against the same opposition back in October – when he lasted just 20 minutes before he was given his marching orders.
Felipe featured in just two of Betis' next seven games in LaLiga, before a second dismissal of the season came against Athletic Bilbao on December 29.
Absent from the side for almost a month before returning in January against Getafe, Felipe retained his spot for the subsequent match against Barcelona and Saturday's clash against Celta Vigo.
However, a third red of the campaign in that game gives Felipe a unique disciplinary record, having seen red in two of his last four appearances and three times in his last seven.
Napoli have a "huge opportunity" this season but "can’t let up an inch" in their hunt to win the Serie A title, according to captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
I Partenopei have a 13-point lead atop the Italian top flight, aiming to clinch their first Scudetto since the 1989-90 season.
Napoli have won 17 of their 20 league games so far (D2 L1) – including 15 of their last 16 – scoring 48 goals and conceding just 15.
Ahead of their trip to Spezia on Sunday, Di Lorenzo spoke to the official Serie A website, saying: "It would be false of me to say that we don't have a huge opportunity this season, but there's a very long way to go and we can't let up an inch.
"We just need to stay focused on our work, which is what has got us where we are at this point of the season."
It is the first time in the three points for a win era (since 1994-95) that there has been 13 points between the first and second teams in Serie A after 20 games played.
"I never imagined such a start to the season, what we are doing is something really special, and is just rewards for all the hard work we put in during pre-season and the summer, and continue to do now," Di Lorenzo said.
"From the first day, there was a good feeling among the players in the dressing room, with lots of youngsters wanting to show their value to the squad, especially after a strange summer where some important players left. Our confidence and belief has grown game after game, and it's up to us now to keep it going."
Luciano Spalletti has surprised many with his ability to produce such a dominant team despite losing players such as Lorenzo Insigne, Kalidou Koulibaly, Dries Mertens and Fabian Ruiz among others at the end of last season.
"Our ability to control games and manage possession has developed a lot these past two years. I’d also add that we are more confident, sharper and freer on the field of play; this has grown as the results got better. We’re really happy and just need to keep it up," Di Lorenzo added.
"More than ever, the [Stadio Diego Armando Maradona] this year is giving a massive helping hand. You can feel the passion of the fans who back us to the hilt in every game, you can almost touch it. We can only thank them. And I've also realised the mood in the city depends on our result at the weekend, so this huge responsibility motivates us even more."
Steve Borthwick warned England must be prepared "go through some pain" after they were beaten by Scotland in his first game in charge at Twickenham on Saturday.
There was no dream start for Borthwick after he replaced the sacked Eddie Jones as Red Rose head coach in December, as Scotland retained the Calcutta Cup with a 29-23 win.
Duhan van der Merwe starred in an entertaining Six Nations clash, scoring a brilliant solo try in the first half and adding a second five minutes from time to give Gregor Townsend's side a bonus-point victory.
That is three consecutive wins for Scotland over England, who led by eight points early in the second half but were unable to see it out.
Borthwick said: "This is part of the growth of the team.
"We got ourselves in a position when we should have won the Test match in the second half. At 20-12 up, we shouldn't be letting that game get away from us. You have to go through some pain.
"Really good teams would go on and win that.
"We were playing against a Scotland team who have controlled this fixture in recent years. We need to make sure we limit chances and can shut them down."
Borthwick says it is not all doom and gloom after a losing start to his reign.
He added: "We saw some growth, particularly in the attacking side of the game. The game was quicker, but clearly we're disappointed in the result.
"The team in the autumn, if they conceded a couple of scores early didn't come back from that. These guys did.
"Unfortunately we let the opposition back in. We want to be a really successful team that wins Test matches. When you get to that level, you don't give the opposition the opportunities we did.
"I am disappointed for the supporters, who I thought were incredible for us today. We'll make sure we come back here in eight days' time and are a better team."
Brian Schottenheimer has replaced Kellen Moore as the Dallas Cowboys' offensive coordinator.
Moore left the Cowboys this week and has taken over as the OC for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Dallas on Saturday confirmed that Schottenheimer will fill the vacancy and he brings 22 seasons of NFL coaching experience to the role.
The son of legendary coach Marty Schottenheimer has been offensive consultant for the Cowboys, while he has also had spells with the likes of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets.
Schottenheimer will not be taking on play-calling duties, though, as Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones revealed head coach Mike McCarthy will take care of that.
McCarthy said of Schottenheimer's appointment: "I am very happy to have Brian take on this key role with our team.
"He has been an important part of our staff already and has a great grasp of where we are and where we want to go."
Carolina Panthers running backs coach Jeff Nixon and Rams assistant head coach Thomas Brown were interviewed for the job, but Schottenheimer got the nod.
Jose Mourinho took aim at critics of Roma after a 2-0 win over Empoli on Saturday, reminding fickle fans he could have left the club in December.
The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United boss has put Roma in the mix for a top-four finish and a place in next season's Champions League, yet he feels he continues to get a raw deal.
Goals from Roger Ibanez and Tammy Abraham inside the opening six minutes set up the latest victory that moved the capital club, at least briefly, up to third place in Serie A.
Mourinho is thought to have been wanted by Portugal after the World Cup, but the 60-year-old elected to stay with Roma and hopes that will prove a wise decision.
A narrow defeat to runaway leaders Napoli last week was followed by the blow of a Coppa Italia quarter-final exit at the hands of Cremonese, the whipping boys of the Italian top flight this season.
Roma fans booed at times on Saturday as they continue to reel from that cup disappointment, with captain Lorenzo Pellegrini not spared when he came off in stoppage time, near the end of the game.
But Mourinho said: "Pellegrini has a coach who respects him and respects everything he does for the team. Out of 60,000 people, maybe 20, 30, 50 people boo."
He said his team were playing "with our limitations", a reference to their limited squad depth, and said beating Empoli should be regarded as "an excellent victory, because we played against a very difficult team".
Mourinho added: "Some fans don't understand it, but this is normal. Fans love the club, but football is not their area. Obviously there are those who understand, and there are people in the press who should have understood, because it's their job, and who in my opinion understand but pretend not to understand that this is our reality."
For the Cremonese cup game, Mourinho started without a number of his Serie A regulars, believing they needed to be protected from a heavy schedule, but the likes of Abraham, Nemanja Matic and Paulo Dybala were back in the starting XI for the Empoli game.
"I think that if this team plays against Cremonese, we win and we're in the semi-final of the Coppa Italia," Mourinho said. "But then we wouldn't have won today. This is our reality. We always do our best, we work hard.
"Today, before the game, I told the players that we have to go onto the pitch with a backpack full of the frustration and sadness of the last game, but we can't expect anyone to help. Just us.
"For the first time I went on the pitch with them in the warm-up and our feeling was exactly this: it's just us. The truth is that we do our best. And as I always say, when you give your best, you can't give more. We always give our best.
"I think day after day. I could have left in December, and I didn't leave, I stayed here. And this is my life. Sometimes it seems like we're in trouble, in the relegation zone, but we're there, we're at the top, with all those teams that are very strong. But that's okay."
It remains to be seen whether Mourinho will be in charge next season, and whether Nicolo Zaniolo and Chris Smalling will stay at Roma.
Attacking midfielder Zaniolo saw a January move fail to come off, after he appeared to push for a transfer before hesitating when Bournemouth looked to be his likely destination.
Former Manchester United and England centre-back Smalling, who started against Empoli, is nearing the end of his contract and reports have claimed Inter and Juventus are keen on him.
Asked what Zaniolo had to do to be welcomed back into the squad, and how Smalling might be persuaded to stay with Roma, Mourinho said: "Zaniolo must do absolutely nothing, it is a problem of the club and he must solve it with the club, not with me. For Smalling, I can do nothing to convince him."
Arsenal's assault on the Premier League title suffered a hit at Goodison Park as Sean Dyche provided the new manager bounce for Everton.
The Toffees secured a first league win since October to condemn the Gunners to defeat, opening the door for Manchester City to cut the gap to the leaders to just two points if they beat Tottenham on Sunday.
Sean Dyche's side were not the only relegation-threatened team to pick up a major scalp, as Wolves stunned Liverpool at Molineux to extend a miserable run of form for Jurgen Klopp's Reds.
There was no similar result for Southampton, who were picked apart by in-form Brentford, while Manchester United maintained their fine home run with a hard-fought win against Crystal Palace.
Here, Stats Perform looks at the most interesting facts to emerge from Saturday's Premier League action.
Everton 1-0 Arsenal: Goodison gloom for Gunners
Goodison Park is a ground that used to hold many happy memories for Mikel Arteta, who started his Premier League career at the club, but three consecutive league defeats for Arsenal at the venue may have changed that.
Arteta has lost all of his three Premier League away matches to Everton, the first Gunners manager to endure such a run, while the Toffees boast three consecutive home league victories against Arsenal for the first time since March 1977 to August 1978.
It handed Arsenal just their second defeat in their last 21 Premier League matches (won 17, drawn 2), with the loss ending a streak of 14 unbeaten top-flight games for the league leaders.
Dyche, meanwhile, became just the second manager to beat a side starting the day top of the table in his first Premier League game in charge of a club, after Alan Curbishley defeated Manchester United in his first match with West Ham in December 2006.
Wolves 3-0 Liverpool: Dawson delight amid Klopp rot
Craig Dawson is not a name that would usually strike fear for opposition defenders in the Premier League but the Wolves defender has established a habit of haunting Liverpool, his latest goal representing his third against the Reds.
Each of those goals have come for a different side (West Brom, West Ham, Wolves) and he has scored more goals against Liverpool than he has versus any other side.
Klopp's side have now lost three consecutive away games in the Premier League for the first time since a run of four in April 2012 and have lost back-to-back Saturday 3pm kick-offs in the competition for the first time since March 2012.
A horror start was their downfall against Wolves, with Liverpool conceding more Premier League goals in the opening five minutes of matches than any side this season (five), while Joel Matip's own goal was his first in 135 Premier League appearances.
Brentford 3-0 Southampton: Bees buzzing at home
Unbeaten in their last nine Premier League games (won five, drawn four), only Newcastle United are currently on a longer run without defeat – extending their streak to 16 with a draw against West Ham in the late kick-off.
The Bees' trio of goals against Southampton took their tally to 23 goals in 11 Premier League home games this season, already surpassing the tally of 22 last term. In fact, only Manchester City (38) and Arsenal (25) have scored more at home this term.
On target with a header yet again, 10 of Ben Mee's 12 Premier League goals have come in that fashion and no side has conceded more headed goals in the top-flight this season than Southampton (10), two of them being on Saturday.
Pressure upon Saints boss Nathan Jones continues to rise, with Southampton losing eight of their last nine in the Premier League, winning just once, while they have just a single clean sheet in their last 27 matches in the competition.
Manchester United 2-1 Crystal Palace: Penalties on point for United
With 13 consecutive home wins in all competitions, Manchester United are in their stride and are enjoying their longest such run at Old Trafford since a 20-match streak between December 2010 and September 2011.
While Marcus Rashford scored in five consecutive Premier League home games for the first time, it was Bruno Fernandes' opener from the penalty spot that sent Erik Ten Hag's side on their way – and took the Portugal midfielder's tally of penalty goals in the Premier League to 14.
Only Wayne Rooney (20) and Ruud van Nistelrooy (18) have scored more from the spot for United than Fernandes, with his latest effort being the club's 173rd all-time spot-kick in the Premier League – the joint-highest total alongside Liverpool.
The red mist descended on Casemiro, however, with the Brazilian shown a straight red card for the first time in Europe's top-five leagues; the dismissal coming in his 366th such appearance.
That provided a late charge for Palace, who saw eight of their 10 shots come in the final 20 minutes after Casemiro's dismissal, but Patrick Vieira's side remain winless in the Premier League in 2023 (drawn 2, lost 3), scoring just once in the process.
Real Madrid await in the Club World Cup semi-finals for Al Ahly after the Egyptian side snatched a late victory over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday.
Mohamed Afsha's 88th-minute strike proved the difference as Al Ahly edged a tight quarter-final 1-0 against their Major League Soccer opponents in Morocco.
The reward for Al Ahly's late drama sees Marcel Koller's side face reigning Spanish and European champions Madrid on Wednesday in Rabat.
Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer believes there was not much to pick between the two teams, with Seattle unfortunate to see their Club World Cup hopes dashed with just minutes remaining.
"I thought we were good and I thought we were evenly matched," he said. "Had a couple of chances, but the deflection on the goal was unfortunate.
"They put everything into the game and everything into the pre-season."
Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal defeated Morocco's Wydad Casablanca on penalties in the other quarter-final clash after a 1-1 draw.
Al Hilal will face South American champions Flamengo on Tuesday in their bid to reach the final.
Jurgen Klopp refused to speak to a reporter in the aftermath of Liverpool's humiliating 3-0 defeat to Wolves on Saturday, seeming to allege he was overly critical of the out-of-form Reds.
Liverpool's winless league run stretched to four matches at Molineux as Craig Dawson and Ruben Neves got on the scoresheet after Joel Matip put through his own net early on.
Wolves' opener was the fifth goal Liverpool have conceded in the opening five minutes of a Premier League game this season, more than any other side, while Dawson's second came just seven minutes later.
At his post-match press conference, Klopp was asked by the Athletic's James Pearce whether Liverpool's tendency to start slowly was caused by an attitude problem, and the Reds boss was unimpressed by the line of questioning.
"It's very difficult to talk to you, if I'm 100 per cent honest. I would prefer not to do that," Klopp told Pearce. "You know why, for all the things you wrote.
"If somebody else wants to ask that question, then I will answer it."
Another journalist present proceeded to repeat the same question, at which point a visibly irritated Klopp answered.
Meanwhile, Klopp's comments about Wolves' third goal quickly attracted the ire of the Molineux club on social media.
Klopp complimented Liverpool's second-half showing in his press conference, adding: "The third goal I don't count because it was the first time they passed the halfway line."
Wolves reacted with a cheeky tweet from their official account, replicating their usual full-time message with an image showing the scoreline as 2-0, with Neves' goal chalked off.
Neves' goal was his fifth in the Premier League this campaign, making it his joint-most prolific season in the competition (also five in 2020-21).
Kyrie Irving will miss the Brooklyn Nets' clash with the Washington Wizards due to injury just a day after he requested a trade.
Star Nets guard Irving reportedly told the team on Friday he wants to leave before the February 9 deadline, otherwise he will depart as a free agent in July.
The 30-year-old was not initially named among Brooklyn's absentees, but the Nets placed him on their injury report due to right-calf soreness on Saturday.
It will mark the third game of the season Irving has missed through injury, while he also served an eight-game suspension in November.
Irving has averaged 27.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists this season. Brooklyn will also be without Ben Simmons for a fourth straight game due to a sore left knee.
The Nets sit fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 31-20 record ahead of their clash with the 24-26 Wizards.
Conor McGregor will return to the UFC to fight for the first time since July 2021 later this year when he will go up against Michael Chandler.
McGregor, 34, has not competed in the octagon since he lost to Dustin Poirier, a fight in which he suffered a broken leg.
However, UFC president Dana White confirmed on Saturday that the Irishman will face Chandler later in 2023, though did not reveal a date or venue.
The fight will tie in to season 31 of The Ultimate Fighter, which will see McGregor and Chandler go head-to-head as coaches before ultimately fighting each other.
Coincidentally, Chandler will also be competing in his first bout since losing to Poirier at UFC 281 in November.
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