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  • Svechnikov, Aho strike as Hurricanes top Golden Knights 4-2 to move within a win of the Stanley Cup


    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes had spent the NHL playoffs waiting for their power play to get going, along with top-line performers Andrei Svechnikov and Sebastian Aho.

    And they had spent the first four games of the Stanley Cup Final being outplayed in critical second-period sequences.

    On Thursday night, it all came together, aligning to bring the Hurricanes within a victory of winning the Cup.

    Svechnikov scored twice and Aho added a second-period goal in a breakout offensive game for both, helping the Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 for a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series.

    “I liked our effort for sure, and I hope we’re getting better,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I think there’s certain areas of our game that are starting to look a lot like we need it to look. But I do think there’s still another level that we’re going to need to get to find that next one.”

    Captain Jordan Staal found the net again for the fifth straight game in this series after Vegas had taken a 1-0 first-period lead, while Brandon Bussi finished with 23 saves in his second career postseason start.

    Game 6 is Sunday night in Las Vegas, with the Hurricanes playing for the chance to hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time since Brind’Amour captained them to the title in 2006.

    Aho’s goal in the second period marked his first of the series, coming when Sean Walker found him cutting to the left side after Jordan Martinook — swapped with Seth Jarvis to work alongside Aho and Svechnikov on the top line — won a puck battle behind the net on the forecheck.

    Then there was Svechnikov, who entered Thursday with four postseason goals before striking twice on the power play. On the first, he whipped the puck past Carter Hart on the right side for a 2-1 lead in the second period. On the second, he had a short putaway at the post off a sharp feed from Nikolaj Ehlers for a 4-1 lead, one of three assist for Ehlers on the night that included him having two delay-of-game penalties for putting a puck over the glass.

    Before those second-period scores, Vegas had outscored Carolina 9-1 in the second period during the series.

    And unlike most multi-goal leads in what has been a wild and thrilling series, this one held up with Bussi doing enough to stave off Vegas’ late push to climb back in it.

    “It required everything we have,” Staal said on the ESPN broadcast.

    Pavel Dorofeyev scored twice for Vegas, finding the net for the first time since Game 1 of the Western Conference Final sweep of Presidents’ Trophy winner Colorado.

    “I thought we were still doing some good things,” Vegas’ Jack Eichel said. “We had chances.”

    Hart entered this one as the first goaltender in Stanley Cup Final history to give up at least four goals in each of the first four games, then did it again to continue a difficult series while finishing with 20 saves.

    Asked if he considered swapping to backup Adin Hill, coach John Tortorella responded: “That could be the stupidest question I’ve heard.”

    Vegas had twice before been in a 2-2 series in these playoffs, in the first round against Utah and the second round against Anaheim. Both times, the Golden Knights won Game 5 and closed out the series in Game 6.

    This time, they’ll have to win on home ice to force the series back to Carolina for a Game 7 on Wednesday night. And they’ll have to take two in a row against a Hurricanes team that hasn’t suffered consecutive losses since mid-January.

    Not that Tortorella was fazed.

    “We’ll be back here,” he said confidently, saying he would leave his clothes behind at the team’s hotel in expectation of returning to North Carolina.

    Vegas played much of the night without center William Karlsson, who was being checked out on the bench for an apparent upper-body injury. Karlsson skated to the tunnel midway through the second period and didn’t return. Tortorella said the center was “not going to be with us, probably” in the coming games.

    ___

    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl


  • Hwang In-beom sparks South Korea’s 2-1 comeback win over the Czech Republic at the World Cup


    GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Hwang In-beom scored a goal and set up another as South Korea rallied to defeat the Czech Republic 2-1 in the second match of the 2026 World Cup on Thursday night.

    After a lackluster first half in which both teams were jeered as they left the field, the Czech Republic took the lead in the 59th minute on a header by captain Ladislav Krejci after a long throw-in into the penalty area.

    South Korea equalized in the 67th, when Hwang scored after faking a shot with a nifty move to clear two Czech players. The midfielder who plays for Dutch club Feyenoord then made the cross from the right flank for Oh Hyeon-gyu’s decisive strike in the 80th in a match played in front of hundreds of empty seats at Guadalajara Stadium.

    The South Korean squad celebrated with its fans behind one of the goals after the final whistle. Players later posed for a photo with the fans behind them.

    “It was our first game and a very difficult one,” South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo said. “The win itself makes me happy, but what’s even more positive is that our boys won by not giving up. I knew that we were more than capable of winning, so at 1-1, I told the boys to keep playing the way we’ve been playing.”

    It was South Korea’s first opening World Cup win since it beat Greece in 2010 in South Africa. South Korea beat European opponent in the tournament for a third straight time, following wins over Portugal in 2022 and Germany in 2018.

    Let by star forward Son Heung-min, South Korea controlled possession and outshot the Czechs, who were making their first World Cup appearance since 2006. The Koreans, ranked 25th by FIFA, had most of the significant scoring chances against the 38th-ranked Czechs but failed to capitalize early.

    Son was looking to become South Korea’s top goal scorer at the World Cup and the Asian player with the most goals in the tournament. The 33-year-old former Tottenham star, who now plays for Los Angeles FC of Major League Soccer, entered Thursday having scored three goals over three prior World Cups.

    Appearing in his fourth World Cup, Son had a couple of good opportunities to add to his tally but missed wide in the first half and had a close-range shot saved in the second.

    The Czechs thought they had retaken the lead with another set piece in the 77th, but Tomas Soucek was ruled offside on his header.

    Czech Republic coach Miroslav Koubek said “probably the better team won.” But he said his team could have had a better outcome if it weren’t for “some mistakes.”

    “We played very well, it could have been a draw and we could have won as well,” Koubek said.

    The announced attendance was 44,985 at the 45,664-capacity Guadalajara Stadium, a crowd that included FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Sections in the middle of the stands had many unoccupied seats and there were other empty seats scattered across the stadium.

    South Korea is making its 11th straight World Cup appearance and 12th overall, the most of any Asian country. Its best result was a fourth-place finish at the tournament it co-hosted with Japan in 2002. Since then, the South Koreans have never gone beyond the round of 16.

    In the other Group A match on Thursday, co-host Mexico defeated South Africa 2-0 in the tournament opener in Mexico City.

    ___

    AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup


  • US stocks rise after oil prices ease and SpaceX soars in its debut on Wall Street


    NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Friday after oil prices fell again, and SpaceX soared in its highly anticipated debut on Wall Street.

    The S&P 500 added 0.5% to close out its 10th winning week in the last 11. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 353 points, or 0.7%, and the Nasdaq composite gained 0.3%.

    Stocks got a lift from a 3.4% drop for the price of Brent crude oil to $87.33 per barrel, deepening its loss for the week. Oil prices have come down since President Donald Trump on Thursday called off his threat to launch strikes on Iran and said a potential deal with Iran may be imminent.

    A deal to end the war could reopen the Strait of Hormuz and allow oil tankers to once again deliver crude from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide. Its near closure since the war began has sent the price of Brent up from roughly $70 per barrel and caused a wave of painful inflation for the world.

    Of course, financial markets have rallied in the past on hopes that an end to the war with Iran was near, only to get disappointed each time.

    The bigger factor for Wall Street over the last week has actually been artificial-intelligence stocks, and how they have gone from roaring to records to suddenly turning lower. The concern is whether such stocks shot too high, too fast because of AI mania, and their careening moves have sometimes reversed direction by the hour.

    SpaceX suggested plenty of demand still exists among investors for AI after its stock leaped 19.2% in its first day of trading. That gave Elon Musk’s rocket company a total value of $2.1 trillion, making it bigger than Exxon Mobil, Bank of America and Coca-Cola combined. In addition to building rockets, SpaceX also owns the artificial intelligence company xAI.

    AI-related stocks were otherwise mixed following their roller-coaster moves over the last week. Micron Technology’s drop of 1.4% was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, but CoreWeave jumped 5% after learning it will join the Nasdaq 100 index later this month.

    Elsewhere on Wall Street, Adobe dropped 6.8% despite reporting stronger profit and revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

    Its stock has lost nearly 42% so far this year, and it announced its chief financial officer is leaving the company on Monday. Adobe is already looking for a CEO to replace Shantanu Narayen, who announced in March that he is stepping aside after 18 years as Adobe’s leader.

    All told, the S&P 500 rose 37.16 points to 7,431.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 353.51 to 51,202.26, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 79.18 to 25,888.84.

    In the bond market, Treasury yields rose to regain some of their sharp slide from the day before, when oil prices dropped following Trump’s announcement. The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.48% from 4.45% late Thursday.

    High yields can slow entire economies and undercut prices for all kinds of investments, including stocks and cryptocurrencies. They hit investments seen as the most expensive in particular, and some critics are calling the AI industry a bubble where investment inflated too far.

    Yields got a boost after a report suggested sentiment among U.S. consumers is not as bad as economists feared. The preliminary survey from the University of Michigan said sentiment improved by more than expected. U.S. consumers said they were feeling some relief after gasoline prices eased a bit early in the month.

    In stock markets abroad, indexes rallied as they caught up to Thursday’s big gains on Wall Street.

    South Korea’s Kospi jumped 4.6% and trimmed its losses from earlier this month taken because of sell-offs for AI-related stocks. The Kospi has nearly doubled since the start of the year.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 rose 2.8%, and France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.8% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

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    AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.


  • Pushed to brink, Vegas may have lost William Karlsson for the Stanley Cup Final


    RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — William Karlsson left the ice, and the Vegas Golden Knights’ night went south. He may not be back to help them recover.

    With Karlsson knocked out of Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final because of injury, the Golden Knights took four penalties that turned into two power-play goals against. Carter Hart allowed four goals for a fifth consecutive game in the series, and now his team is on the brink of elimination after losing 4-2 to Carolina on Thursday night.

    “When we lose Bill, it kind of screws things up,” coach John Tortorella said. “We lost momentum when we went back to back in penalties. It was about the same time that we lost Bill. We’ve got to find a way.”

    Karlsson appeared to injure his left arm or shoulder after getting knocked into the boards by Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker a little over eight minutes into the second period. He got medical attention on the bench briefly, skated off and never returned and Tortorella foreshadowed that being the end of Karlsson’s series.

    “He’s not going to be with us, probably,” Tortorella said. “We’ve got to find a way to fill that void, not with just one guy but as a team.”

    Karlsson making his playoff debut at the start of the second round changed everything for Vegas, shifting Mitch Marner to the wing and providing the kind of strong, reliable center depth needed to win this time of year. Karlsson had nine points in 14 games after missing the previous six months because of an undisclosed injury.

    But the void left by Karlsson’s departure was all too clear, especially on the penalty kill. Carolina’s Andrei Svechnikov scored the first of his two power-play goals less than four minutes after Karlsson left, then added another in the third.

    “He’s an important piece to us: up the middle of the ice, a penalty killer, power play guy,” Tortorella said. “He’s a winner.”

    Fourth-liner Nick Dowd called Karlsson one of the team’s best players. Defenseman Brayden McNabb, who along with Karlsson and Shea Theodore are the only players who have been around for Vegas’ entire nine-year existence, said Karlsson was a big leader in the locker room.

    Karlsson is also nearly impossible to replace.

    “He means so much,” fellow center Jack Eichel said. “He’s a world class player. He plays in all situations. He’s extremely reliable in our own zone, and he creates a lot of offense. … It’s tough. You lose someone like Karl who’s so valuable to our team and playing so well. But it just means everyone else has to step up.”

    Tortorella expects that to happen, promising there will be a Game 7 in Raleigh on Wednesday night.

    “We’ll be back here. We’re just going to do it in a different order,” Tortorella said. “I’m going to leave my clothes here, that’s for sure. They’ll be in the hotel.”

    To do that, they’ll have to win Game 6 back home in Las Vegas on Sunday. Hart is expected to be in net again despite a save percentage of .856 in the final.

    Asked if he considered going to backup Adin Hill — who backstopped Vegas to the Cup in 2023 — in the third period, Tortorella scoffed and said, “That could be the stupidest question I’ve heard.”

    ___

    AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl


  • Kennedy Center board seeks pause of ruling ordering removal of Trump’s name by Friday deadline


    WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s handpicked board at the Kennedy Center is mounting a last-minute effort to keep his name on the facade of the iconic performing arts facility before a court-ordered deadline to remove it by Friday.

    The board voted Thursday to seek a stay of U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper’s May 29 ruling that said Trump’s name was illegally added to the Kennedy Center, according to a person familiar with the move who requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting. The formal request was filed late Thursday.

    Cooper ruled that only Congress could institute a change to the Kennedy Center’s name and ordered references to Trump be removed by Friday. He also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.

    The board move marks a shift from a June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel saying email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”

    The Kennedy Center’s website has dropped the president’s name. And an email earlier this week sent to members offering ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump’s name.

    “The Trump administration’s 11th hour gambit after waiting nearly two weeks evinces desperation,” Norm Eisen, a board member at Democracy Defenders Action, and Nathaniel Zelinsky, senior counsel at the Washington Litigation Group, said in a statement. “That is what they should be feeling because they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. We will be vigorously contesting this latest ploy as we have throughout the case on behalf of Congresswoman Beatty and the American people.”

    They represent Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio member of the Kennedy Center’s board who filed the lawsuit seeking to remove Trump’s name from the institution.

    After ignoring the Kennedy Center for much of his first term, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his return to office. Just a month into his second term, he ousted the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a hand-picked board of trustees that named him chairman. He brought in Richard Grenell to serve as president, a position he held until March when Matt Floca assumed the role.

    The center’s lineup has included more Trump-friendly programming, serving as the venue for events such as the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s documentary, “Melania.”

    The board also announced it had renamed the facility the Trump Kennedy Center, a change scholars and lawmakers say must be initiated by Congress, and physically added the president’s name to the building’s facade.

    The fallout from the arts community was swift and intense. Actor Issa Rae, musician Bela Fleck and author Louise Penny were among the numerous artists who withdrew from appearances, while consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming resigned. Earlier this month, the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Jean Davidson, left to head the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.

    In addition to voting on the stay on Thursday, the board backed a resolution recognizing Trump’s “commitment to uphold this cherished American institution.”


  • Lawyers for man accused of killing Charlie Kirk try to block prosecutors from seeking death penalty


    PROVO, Utah (AP) — Attorneys for the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk asked a judge Friday to block prosecutors from seeking the death penalty as punishment for comments they made in the media about a bullet fragment recovered from Kirk’s body.

    The comments were made in response to speculation that the bullet fragment could exonerate defendant Tyler Robinson. Conjecture over the evidence in Kirk’s killing has fueled unsubstantiated conspiracy theories that there might have been a second shooter or that his death was staged.

    Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if Robinson is convicted. The 23-year-old from southwestern Utah is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 killing of Kirk, a conservative activist who was shot in the neck while addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University. Robinson has not yet entered a plea.

    Robinson’s attorneys accused prosecutors of going on a “media tour” to discuss expert reports about the bullet fragment, violating the judge’s restrictions against speaking about the case outside court.

    Prosecutors countered that they had a right to speak to the press to correct misinformation about a preliminary finding by ballistics experts. Those experts’ initial tests did not match the bullet fragment with a gun that investigators believe was used to kill Kirk.

    In court filings, defense attorneys made public a federal agency’s failure to conclusively link the bullet fragment with the rifle. They said it appeared to be “exculpatory evidence” — information that tends to absolve a defendant of guilt — without noting that the finding was preliminary and that further testing was planned.

    That spurred stories by some publications raising questions about the prosecution’s case: A March 30 headline in the U.K.-based Daily Mail reported that the bullet that killed Kirk “did NOT match” the rifle investigators say was used to kill Kirk.

    Authorities have said DNA consistent with Robinson’s was found on the trigger of the rifle, the fired cartridge casing, two unfired cartridges and a towel used to wrap the rifle.

    “The rules expressly allow lawyers to set the record straight,” Deputy Utah County Attorney Christopher Ballard wrote in a court filing.

    Ballard argued Friday that he didn’t speak to the media about case specifics and only spoke generally about how ballistics testing can be inconclusive. He said his goal “was to respond to the substantial undue prejudicial effect of the media stories.”

    Defense attorney Richard Novak disagreed, saying Ballard did not speak to the media using general terms and tried to “influence public perception” of the case.

    “What was going on here was an attempt to influence the jury pool,” Novak argued.

    State District Judge Tony Graf said he will issue his decision about the contempt allegation on June 22.

    Earlier Friday, Graf declined a defense request to halt the proceedings while they appeal a June 1 order in which the judge declined to bar cameras from the courtroom.

    The ruling comes ahead of a key hearing scheduled to begin July 6, when prosecutors must show they have enough evidence to warrant a trial. That would mark the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case, which has so far focused on matters of media access.

    Before Friday’s hearing, the defense team pointed to another criminal case in which prosecutors were accused of contempt and suggested that one potential remedy would be to bar the state from seeking the death penalty.

    While the judge in that earlier case disagreed that an order barring the death penalty was merited, Robinson’s attorneys noted that “the court did not conclude that such a remedy was beyond its authority where the facts support it.”

    ___

    Brown reported from Billings, Montana.


  • Taylor Swift becomes the youngest woman inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame at age 36


    NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift became the youngest woman ever inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame Thursday night at age 36.

    “It was instinctual. No one taught me how to do it,” she said of songwriting through a raspy voice she attributed to screaming along to the night’s performances and Wednesday night’s historic NBA game between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs.

    She told the room about her family uprooting their lives to move her from Pennsylvania to Nashville, Tennessee, as a tween.

    “I will never be able to express my gratitude,” the singer-songwriter said while holding back tears — crediting their sacrifice for her career.

    She offered young songwriters advice: “You really have to prioritize what you love, down to your very core. Because you’ll need that.”

    Steven Spielberg introduced Swift with a surprise speech about the power of songwriting. “There is something undeniable about how songs imprint on our souls,” he said, before changing his focus to Swift. “Somehow Taylor knows us all too well.”

    Swift started her speech by acknowledging Spielberg. “Because of examples like Steven’s, I trusted my imagination,” she said.

    The Gen Z singer Sombr launched Swift’s segment by performing “Cardigan” and “Dear John” in front of her.

    Swift has brought new eyes to this year’s ceremony and undeniably shaped contemporary pop music trends with her songwriting. Swift is the youngest woman inducted, but Stevie Wonder, who started his recording career at 13, was the youngest ever inducted, it was announced on stage.

    It was a notable moment in an evening full of them, where Swift, Kiss’ Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, Christopher “Tricky” Stewart, Alanis Morissette, Kenny Loggins and more were honored.

    A night of celebrating songwriters

    Tamar Braxton opened the gala at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City with a spirted tribute to a new inductee — the game-changing R&B songwriter, producer and rapper Christopher “Tricky” Stewart — with one of the biggest songs he’s known for: Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.”

    He’s also responsible for singer-songwriter Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” Mariah Carey’s “Touch My Body” and Justin Bieber’s “Baby.”

    Dallas Austin, a songwriter and producer known for work with Boyz ll Men and Madonna, introduced Stewart. “Think about that catalog,” he said, listing off those zeitgeist-shifting records. “Those are cultural moments.”

    Stewart thanked God, his family, artists he’s worked with and mentors — giving a special shout out to Grammy award-winning music producer Antonio “L.A.” Reid and the iconic singer-songwriter Babyface. “I wanted to be like L.A. and Baby,” he reflected.

    Kiss founders Simmons and Stanley — two and a half years after the band’s farewell — were also recognized for their glam rock classics “Rock and Roll All Nite” and “I Love It Loud.” The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan covered the former, a fittingly fiery introduction for the band. He was joined by Goo Goo Dolls’ frontman John Rzeznik for the latter.

    Simmons wasn’t present; Stanley said that he had a family emergency.

    “Songs are the messenger,” he said — the foundation of “every show.”

    Soft rock legend Kenny Loggins (“Footloose,” “Danny’s Song”) and the alt-rock icon Morissette were also inducted.

    For the latter, Brandi Carlile performed “Uninvited” alongside SistaStrings, before introducing Morissette.

    “Writing to me is not a hobby,” Morissette said, it’s critical. “It’s write or die.” Then she performed “Mary Jane” and “You Oughta Know” from her 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill.”

    For Loggins, Gavin DeGraw performed “Danny’s Song,” before Loggins told the story behind the tune in his acceptance speech.

    Acknowledging writers and their hits

    Taylor Dayne and Madison Cunningham performed Tina Turner classics written by Terry Britten and Graham Lyle in honor of their induction; John Fogerty was honored with the Johnny Mercer Award.

    “I got my songs back!” Fogerty said, ending a nearly 30-minute speech, referencing the fact that he won the rights back to his catalog at age 80. Then he ran through a medley of his hits: “Proud Mary,” “Fortunate Son,” and “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” among them.

    The songwriter Walter Afanasieff (Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You”) was also recognized, a segment that began with an introduction by actor Jeremy Renner and included a monster medley of his biggest songs by R&B singer Sheléa, kicking off with his Christmas classic six months early.

    “I wanted to be The Beatles,” he said of falling in love with songwriting in his speech. “Sixty years later, I got to produce Paul McCartney.”

    An established tradition

    British singer-songwriter RAYE received the prestigious Hal David Starlight Award. She ended her speech by stating that songwriters deserve a cut of master royalties.

    Last year’s inductees included George Clinton, The Doobie Brothers, Ashley Gorley, Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins, The Beach Boys’ Mike Love and Tony Macaulay.

    The Songwriters Hall of Fame was established in 1969 to honor those creating popular music. A songwriter with a notable catalog of songs qualifies for induction 20 years after the first commercial release of a song.

    Some already in the hall include Gloria Estefan, Carole King, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, Elton John and Bernie Taupin, Brian Wilson, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Lionel Richie, Bill Withers, Neil Diamond and Phil Collins.


  • Texas AG warns Big 12 could face legal action if league pursues sanctions against Tech over Sorsby


    The Texas attorney general’s office warned the Big 12 on Thursday of potential legal action from Texas Tech as the conference considers what to do after Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby won a court order restoring his eligibility and setting aside his ban by the NCAA for gambling on pro and college sports.

    Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said the notice came shortly before the start of the league’s executive board meeting to discuss its options in the Sorsby situation.

    The temporary injunction issued Monday by a Texas district court prevents the NCAA from enforcing its permanent ban of Sorsby, a decision that sent shock waves across college sports. The transfer QB had been ruled ineligible after he acknowledged years of gambling that included at least 40 bets on his own team while he was a freshman at Indiana. Texas Tech said he has completed a month-long inpatient treatment program and will continue to receive treatment and support while being monitored.

    What was the AG’s warning to the Big 12?

    The letter from the Texas AG’s office was addressed to Yormark and Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod, the chairman of the Big 12 board of directors. It specifically references a conference bylaw that, with a supermajority vote, could result in sanctioning a school that has “engaged in any action or a course of conduct materially adverse to the best interests of the conference taken as a whole.”

    The AG’s office said any sanctions against Texas Tech for “acting consistent” with the district court injunction “would be a per se violation of federal and state antitrust laws — a naked horizontal agreement among competitors to disadvantage Texas Tech by cutting off access to the resources it needs to compete.”

    Beyond any antitrust exposure, the letter said, the Big 12 would also face liability for “breach of contract and tortious interference” for any sanction that results in the alteration of Texas Tech’s scheduled games.

    The letter was signed by Thomas York, chief of the antitrust division, and Kimberly Gdula, chief of the litigation division. The attorney general, Ken Paxton, is the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate race in Texas this fall.

    Yormark said the conference is taking time with its legal counsel to understand the concerns of the state.

    Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney who represents Sorsby in his case against the NCAA, sent a separate and similar letter Thursday to the Big 12, according to multiple reports. That letter reportedly referenced the same Big 12 bylaw and warned the league that it is bound by the court’s ruling this week.

    The NCAA has said it will appeal to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas, seeking an accelerated decision to overturn the injunction and again make Sorsby ineligible.

    Big 12 is still considering all options

    Since NCAA rules call for a permanent loss of eligibility for any player who wagered on his own team, the judge’s decision brought sharp criticism from college sports leadership, including in Texas Tech’s own league. The executive board met as planned Thursday in preparation for a meeting Monday of the Big 12’s full board of directors, which is made up of presidents and chancellors from the league’s 16 schools.

    “We had a good and informative discussion. Sentiment among the executive board was no different from what we heard from the ADs earlier this week,” Yormark said. “Our discussion with the full board will determine our course of action, and all options remain on the table.”

    Big 12 athletic directors in a conference call Tuesday expressed strong opposition to Sorsby playing for the Red Raiders in what will be his final college season. Some of those ADs even suggested maybe not playing Texas Tech if he does.

    Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech in January for a reported multimillion-dollar deal after playing the past two seasons at Cincinnati, another Big 12 school. The 22-year-old Texas native first spent two seasons at Indiana.

    The warning from a big booster

    The threat of legal action came one day after Texas Tech billionaire booster and regents chair Cody Campbell mentioned that possibility during a podcast appearance with Dan Dakich. Campbell was addressing reports of schools talking about boycotting the Red Raiders.

    “I love when the Big Ten or the K-State AD comes out and says we’ve all gotten together and we’ve talked about how we’re not going to play Tech, because guess what? That’s collusion,” Campbell said. “That’s an antitrust violation. So have fun with that one, guys. You can’t do that.”

    Campbell, a former offensive lineman at the school, has been a key figure in helping Texas Tech land top players over the past two years.

    The Red Raiders, with one of college football’s most expensive rosters, won their first Big 12 title last season, setting a school record with 12 wins and making the 12-team College Football Playoff. Sorsby was brought in to be the starting QB after hometown favorite Behren Morton exhausted his eligibility.

    A message from Texas Tech leadership

    The school posted a 21-minute video message Thursday night to Red Raiders fans that included school president Lawrence Schovanec, athletic director Kirby Hocutt and coach Joey McGuire talking about how the university is addressing the situation.

    “I believe that every person at this table is looking at the student first. And that student is a football player. And that student is where he, I think, feels the safest and also feels to where he can deal with this the most is in this building at Texas Tech,” McGuire said. “And I think that’s where he should be and I’m glad he’s back. I know his teammates are glad he’s back.”

    Hocutt spoke about the NCAA twice denying Texas Tech’s petition to have Sorsby reinstated. The AD also reiterated that the school wasn’t a party in the quarterback’s separate legal case and didn’t pay any of his legal fees.

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    AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football


  • Shohei Ohtani leaves Dodgers game vs. Pirates in 7th inning with left knee inflammation


    PITTSBURGH (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning of Thursday night’s 8-6 win over Pittsburgh due to left knee inflammation.

    Dodgers manager Dave Roberts downplayed the significance of the injury.

    Roberts said the move was precautionary because the Dodgers did not want to risk Ohtani being injured further.

    Roberts also said he is optimistic that Ohtani will be ready to play Friday night when the Dodgers meet the White Sox in Chicago to open a three-game series between division leaders.

    “We tried to be smart about it and get him out of the game,” Roberts said. “He told the trainer that he felt a little something behind his knee and I just didn’t see any sense in risking it.”

    The reigning NL MVP hit his 13th homer of the season, a solo shot, in the third inning. He also had a single and walked twice, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances.

    Ohtani was not made available to the media following the game. He is hitting .305 with 40 RBIs. As a pitcher, he is 6-2 with a 1.06 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 67 2/3 innings.

    Starting pitcher Justin Wrobleski left the game in the fifth inning with a left hamstring contusion. The left-hander was hit by a line drive off the bat of Bryan Reynolds. The ball ricocheted off Wrobleski to first baseman Freddie Freeman. Wrobleski collided with Reynolds while taking Freeman’s toss at first base.

    “I’ll get some treatment on it and I’ll be fine,” Wrobleski said. “I don’t think it’s a big deal. Just a little frustrating.” ___

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb


  • Jury convicts the brother of Massachusetts attorney general of sexual assaults


    BOSTON (AP) — A jury Thursday convicted the brother of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell of sexually assaulting women while he posed as a rideshare driver.

    Jurors found Alvin Campbell, 45, guilty of 21 out of 22 counts for sex assaults from 2017 to 2019, the Suffolk County district attorney’s office said. He was found guilty of charges including aggravated rape, kidnapping and photographing an unsuspecting nude person.

    The jury was deadlocked on one of the rape charges.

    “We will determine our action, if any, at a future date on that charge,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement.

    Campbell faces up to life in prison for aggravated rape when he is sentenced on June 29.

    Campbell posed as a rideshare driver to target women outside bars or other locations, prosecutors said.

    His younger sister became the first woman of color to win statewide office in Massachusetts when she was sworn in as attorney general in 2023. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office didn’t immediately return an email from The Associated Press late Thursday seeking comment on the verdict.

    Andrea Campbell has spoken previously about her family’s troubled history in the criminal justice system, including her brother’s rape charges.

    “One thing I do frequently is share my story because I think there are so many who carry their story with a sense of shame and don’t want to talk about it, including the criminal aspects of my family,” she said in a previous interview with the AP. “But there is no shame in one sharing their story. There is power in it.”

    The attorney general is the chief lawyer and law enforcement officer in the state.

    After the verdict, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden told reporters he hadn’t spoken with the attorney general.

    Alvin Campbell “deceivingly and calculatedly” preyed upon women in their most vulnerable moments, Hayden said. “I can’t imagine what that horror must have been like for them.”

    Campbell’s defense attorney didn’t immediately respond to a phone message and email from the AP.

    Hayden expressed gratitude to the women who testified: “We’re happy that we were able to secure justice and accountability for them and so we thank them.”