Sport

The Danube is, of course, a fabulously long river. Rising in Germany’s Black Forest, it sloshes eastwards through a total of 10 countries, before flushing into the Black Sea 1,700 miles later. On the way it ticks off a set of cities that reads like a greatest hits of places you really should get around to visiting one day: Linz, Vienna, Bratislava, Belgrade, Budapest. Only the Volga, at 2,300 miles…

8:57 PM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment For weeks we’ve been chiding the NHL for pussyfooting around the Olympics-participation issue. We knew NHL owners hated the Olympics. And we heard over and over about how we shouldn’t assume the NHL was going to agree to show up in South Korea for the 2018 Olympics. But, come on, this was all about leverage, right? About the owners…

8:57 PM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment For weeks we’ve been chiding the NHL for pussyfooting around the Olympics-participation issue. We knew NHL owners hated the Olympics. And we heard over and over about how we shouldn’t assume the NHL was going to agree to show up in South Korea for the 2018 Olympics. But, come on, this was all about leverage, right? About the owners…

5:05 PM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment The National Hockey League announced Monday that it would not be sending its players to the Olympics in South Korea in 2018, ending months of debate over the issue of participation in Pyeongchang. The league had been looking for conciliatory offers from the International Olympic Committee and/or the National Hockey League Players’ Association in order to placate an ownership…

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8:00 AM ET Facebook Twitter Facebook Messenger Pinterest Email print comment MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Kyle Busch didn’t think too highly of Ricky Stenhosue Jr. giving him a tap just prior to the end of the second stage at Martinsville Speedway. The tap allowed Stenhouse to get by Busch and remain on the lead lap — and allowed Chase Elliott to win the stage, earning what could be a valuable playoff…

Sam Ard, a two-time champion of NASCAR’s second-tier series, died Sunday. He was 78. Ard died in South Carolina. NASCAR called Ard “a tough-as-nails racer” in a statement confirming his death, but gave no details. Ard won titles in what is now known as the Xfinity Series in 1983 and 1984. He won 22 races in three seasons — just 92 career starts — and his average finishing…

Quick, Americans, name a retired soccer legend. To the large number of you who said “Pelé” — olé. He and his manager Paul “PK” Kemsley are teaming with Bunim/Murray Productions for a scripted limited series based on the Brazilian fútbol diety’s life. The untitled program will focus on his life in New York while playing for the NASL’s Cosmos alongside other international footballers in the mid-1970s. Considered arguably the greatest soccer player…

There are a number of NASCAR drivers who have their own private jets to haul them around the country. Kyle Larson isn’t one of them. Last week, fresh of NASCAR’s West Coast swing, Larson tweeted about a day of frustrating airline delays before heading to Martinsville Speedway. Long day of traveling and delayed flights. Home for about 30 minutes now off to Martinsville. — Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) March 31, 2017…

STP 500 Sunday At Martinsville Speedway Martinsville, Va. Lap length: 0.526 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (4) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500 laps, 0 rating, 55 points. 2. (10) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500, 0, 52. 3. (2) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 50. 4. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 500, 0, 33. 5. (20) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 34. 6. (30) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 500, 0, 31. 7. (8) Clint…

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Brad Keselowski passed Kyle Busch with 43 laps to go and pulled away to win for the first time in his career at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. The victory was the 23rd for Keselowski, the 2012 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion, and his second in the first six races of this season. It made him just the eighth active driver with a victory in the top series on NASCAR’s…

As the IOC moves the goalposts in the 2024 Olympic contest, bid leaders from Los Angeles and Paris head to a campaign event in Denmark on Tuesday unsure of exactly what they are shooting for. While both cities are bidding for the 2024 Games, the 2028 hosting rights are also in play, according to IOC President Thomas Bach. LA and Paris will send 12-member delegations to lobby and make 10-minute…

CLOSE x Embed x Share USA TODAY Sports’ Brant James previews the top storylines to watching heading into this weekend’s STP 500 at Martinsville USA TODAY Sports Kyle Busch, front, ran away with the 2016 STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway.(Photo: Michael Thomas Shroyer, USA TODAY Sports) It’s NASCAR race day at Martinsville Speedway, and we’ve got some essential information you need to get ready for Sunday’s STP 500. START TIME: Actor…

As the IOC moves the goalposts in the 2024 Olympic contest, bid leaders from Los Angeles and Paris head to a campaign event in Denmark on Tuesday unsure of exactly what they are shooting for. While both cities are bidding for the 2024 Games, the 2028 hosting rights are also in play, according to IOC President Thomas Bach. LA and Paris will send 12-member delegations to lobby and make 10-minute…

Many race fans have been confused by the new format this year that divides Monster Energy NASCAR Cup races into three stages. Sunday morning at Martinsville Speedway, NASCAR officials showed they’re still getting used to the new format, too. After SiriusXM tweeted out the detailed procedural information officials provide to crew chiefs before every race, award-winning NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass immediately noticed something wrong — the race’s stage lengths. Believe stages are wrong…

Two-time NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Sam Ard passed away Sunday, April 2. The Asheboro, North Carolina, native was 78.   Ard had compiled an impressive record in the NASCAR Late Model Sportsman Series before that circuit was retooled and renamed in 1982. In the series that today is known as the XFINITY Series, Ard scored 22 victories and won titles in 1983 and ’84. “For many years, Sam Ard’s persona…

Three-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart went back to  Victory Lane Saturday night. Stewart, who retired from the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after last season, is still racing short tracks, mostly in sprint cars on dirt. Saturday night Stewart scored his first victory of 2017, winning a USCS sprint car race at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. And Stewart wasn’t the only ex-NASCAR driver to win…

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RACE DAY: Full starting lineup | Key race info   MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jimmie Johnson hasn’t won in the first five races of this year’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, but the jury is still out on what to make of the situation. Concern or indifference? Johnson has won 80 times, more than any other active driver, and he’s a nine-time winner here at Martinsville. Which is also more than…