SPORTS HEADLINES

Ohio State and Oregon are 1-2 in the AP preseason Top 25, SEC leads conferences with 9 ranked teams

Ohio State and Oregon give the Big Ten Conference the top two teams in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason rankings for the first time in 65 years. The Buckeyes received 40 first-place votes in the poll of 69 media members. Oregon was No. 1 on 14 ballots. Ohio State is now tied with Alabama for second most preseason No. 1 rankings behind Oklahoma’s 10. Oregon has its highest preseason ranking in program history. Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas round out the top five. Defending national champion Indiana is No. 6 and followed by Miami, Texas A&M, Mississippi and Oklahoma.

Jeanie Buss to contest siblings’ plan to sell their Lakers minority ownership stake to Kushner, Iger

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is legally contesting her siblings’ plan to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% minority ownership stake in the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. The oft-quarreling siblings told ESPN they had voted to sell the family trust’s remaining interest in the 17-time NBA champion team purchased by their father in 1979. The decision would have ended Jeanie Buss’ tenure as the Lakers’ governor because the job requires at least 15% ownership of the team. Jeanie Buss has told her siblings through her attorney that no sale can happen without Jeanie Buss’ approval.

WNBA says fans should have been free to wear shirts with messaging about transgender issue

At least three fans were asked by WNBA security personnel to cover shirts that had messages about transgender women participating in women’s sports during Sunday’s game at Atlanta between the Dream and the Indiana Fever. The league said in a statement Monday that the fans should have been free to wear the shirts. Two people wore shirts with a message that women’s and girls’ sports should be restricted to those assigned female at birth, while one person was wearing a shirt in support of transgender people. The league says the security workers have been told they were wrong to ask that the messages be covered up.

MLB approves sale of San Diego Padres to José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones

Major League Baseball’s team owners unanimously have approved the sale of the San Diego Padres to an investor group led by private equity billionaire José E. Feliciano and his wife and business partner, Kwanza Jones. The league announced the approval Monday after a vote. Feliciano and Jones reached an agreement in May to buy the Padres from the family of late owner Peter Seidler at an MLB-record valuation of $3.9 billion. Seidler’s family announced its intention to explore a sale of the Padres last November. The 53-year-old Feliciano is a co-founder of Santa Monica-based private equity firm Clearlake Capital.

O.J. Brigance, who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens before battling ALS, dies at age 56

OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — O.J. Brigance, who won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens before waging an unyielding battle against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, has died. He was 56. The Ravens announced Brigance’s death on Monday. Brigance was diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2007. Not long after that, he and his wife, Chanda, formed the Brigance Brigade Foundation, an organization whose mission is to “equip, encourage and empower” those afflicted with ALS. Despite using a wheelchair and a communication device that translated his messages, Brigance served as senior adviser for player engagement with the Ravens, a job he started in 2004.

LIV Golf to end season early and cancel the Michigan team event

LIV Golf is ending its season one tournament early. The upstart league says the team champion that was supposed to be determined next week in Michigan instead will be decided Sunday at LIV Golf Indianapolis. That means only 12 tournaments this year. That’s the fewest on the schedule since LIV launched behind massive Saudi Arabia funding in 2022. But the Saudi funding ends after this year, and the league is scrambling for survival. LIV previously announced an agreement with a lead investor with few other details. The hope is that it can be played next year under a different format.

Joey Logano and Team Penske are making a push for NASCAR points as the Chase approaches

With an impressive surge from 20th place to ninth in the standings over the past six races, Joey Logano has flipped the narrative on the elimination playoffs that determined the Cup Series champion from 2014-25. The waning races of NASCAR’s regular season typically were a scramble to make the championship field when a win earned a berth. But that safety valve has disappeared in the Chase, which will rely entirely on points to set the 16-driver field. The top 16 drivers have been unchanged for the past four races, and the grid for the 10-race title run likely will remain the same at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend.

Vikings place veteran Jamal Adams on injured reserve, sign CB Bryce Phillips

EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Vikings safety/linebacker Jamal Adams was placed on injured reserve two days after leaving a preseason game on a cart with a right knee injury. Adams is expected to have season-ending surgery. The 30-year-old Adams was injured in his first game with Minnesota after signing on the eve of the start of training camp. The Vikings signed cornerback Bryce Phillips to fill Adams’ spot on the roster. Phillips originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with Kansas City following the 2026 NFL draft. His brother, Clark Phillips III, plays cornerback for Atlanta after starring collegiately at Utah.

Premier League is back and uncertainty pervades start of post-Guardiola era

The post-Pep Guardiola era is getting underway in English soccer and there’s uncertainty and upheaval not just at Manchester City but across the whole of the Premier League. Nine clubs have new permanent managers heading into the new top-flight season that begins Friday. That’s an unprecedented number at the start of an English top-flight campaign. The biggest vacuum needing to be filled is at City following the departure of Guardiola after 10 record-breaking years. Enzo Maresca is the new man in charge. Among the other top teams with new coaches are Liverpool with Andoni Iraola, Chelsea with Xabi Alonso and Newcastle with Matthias Jaissle. Arsenal is the defending champion and the title favorite with British oddsmakers.

AL wild-card race looks like a mess. It could be lots of fun

The American League playoff race is heating up with seven teams vying for the final wild-card spot, all with records below .500. As of Sunday, the Baltimore Orioles would make the playoffs with a 61-63 record. They’re closely followed by the Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners. The Houston Astros also are in the mix with a slight advantage in the AL West. Many of these teams were sellers at the trade deadline, but at least one might still play in October. Only three teams in MLB history have made the playoffs with a losing record and all of them came during shortened seasons.

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