BASEBALL
LOS ANGELES (AP) - From laughingstock to lift off.
George Springer and the Houston Astros rocketed to the top of the baseball galaxy, winning the first World Series championship in franchise history by romping past the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 in Game 7.
Playing for a city still recovering from Hurricane Harvey, and wearing an H Strong logo on their jerseys, the Astros brought home the prize that had eluded them since they started out in 1962 as the Colt .45s.
For a Series that was shaping up as an October classic, Game 7 quickly became a November clunker as Houston scored five runs in the first two innings off Yu Darvish. Hardly the excitement fans felt during the Cubs’ 10-inning thriller in Cleveland last fall.
Well, except for everyone wearing bright orange. Back in Houston, a huge crowd filled Minute Maid Park to cheer as fans watched on the big video board, and the train whistle wailed when it was over.
Star shortstop Carlos Correa turned the party into a proposal. After doing a TV interview, he got down on one knee and asked girlfriend Daniella Rodriguez, a former Miss Texas USA, to marry him.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Duke was in good position to be ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press poll before landing Marvin Bagley III. Once the nation’s top recruit decided to reclassify for this season, the Blue Devils became the voters’ clear choice.
Led by Bagley and senior guard Grayson Allen, Duke was the preseason No. 1 for the second straight season a ninth time overall, matching rival North Carolina for most all-time. The Blue Devils received 33 of 65 first-place votes from a national media panel in the AP Top 25 released on Wednesday.
No. 2 Michigan State received 13 first-place votes, No. 3 Arizona had 18 and No. 4 Kansas got one.
Kentucky rounded out the top 5, followed by Villanova, Wichita State and Florida. Defending national champion North Carolina is No. 9 and Southern California is 10th.
OLYMPICS
GENEVA (AP) - In a landmark verdict that indicates Russia conspired to run a doping program at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, a cross-country skier who won a gold medal was disqualified by the IOC.
All results for Alexander Legkov in Sochi were wiped from the record and he was banned for life from attending another Olympics.
A second Russian cross-country skier was also disqualified and banned by the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday, while cases implicating 26 more Russian athletes in a Sochi doping conspiracy are pending.
With calls to ban Russia’s team from next year’s Pyeongchang Olympics likely to increase, the IOC’s executive board will meet next month to discuss the matter.
The IOC disciplinary panel did not have a positive doping test from Legkov but used evidence of cover-ups and tampering of sample bottles that was first gathered last year by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren.
PRO FOOTBALL
NEW YORK (AP) - Sales growth at Papa John’s is slowing, and the pizza chain is blaming it on the outcry surrounding NFL players kneeling during the national anthem.
The company, which is a sponsor and advertiser of the NFL, said customers have a negative view of the chain’s association with the NFL. The company also cut its earnings growth expectations for the year and Papa John’s stock fell about 10 percent.
“NFL leadership has hurt Papa John’s shareholders,” said the chain’s CEO John Schnatter, in a call with analysts Wednesday. “This should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago.”
The kneeling movement was started last year by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who kneeled to protest what he said was police mistreatment of black males. More players began kneeling after President Donald Trump said at an Alabama rally last month that team owners should get rid of players who protest during the anthem.
CLEVELAND (AP) - Josh Gordon’s personal journey, from star to suspended outcast to sobriety, has reached a new dawning.
He’s getting yet another chance to resurrect his football career and life.
Cleveland’s gifted wide receiver has been conditionally reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who met with the Browns former Pro Bowler on Wednesday in New York and is allowing him to return after a nearly three-year absence.
Gordon, who hasn’t played since the 2014 season, can immediately join the team for meetings, engage in conditioning work and individual workouts. He has to comply with requirements set forth by Goodell and can begin practicing with the team on Nov. 20.
The 26-year-old will be eligible - at the team’s discretion - to return to active status on Nov. 27 or remain on the commissioner’s exempt list for an additional week before returning to active status.
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