NFL:
Former NFL player Joe McKnight has been shot to death following an argument at an intersection with another motorist outside New Orleans. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand says it happened about 2:43 p.m. Thursday in Terrytown, a suburb of New Orleans.
Normand says 28-year-old McKnight was standing outside his car when he was shot by 54-year-old Ronald Gasser. Normand says Gasser stayed at the scene and relinquished his weapon to responding officers. He says Gasser is in custody and being questioned.
Sheriff's spokesman Col. John Fortunato says they're anticipating charging Gasser but it's unclear with what. McKnight, who played for the New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs, is the second NFL player this year to die as a result of a possible road-rage incident. Saints player Will Smith was killed in April.
On Thursday Night Football, Dallas extends its winning streak to 11 games after last night’s win over Minnesota 17-15.
On Sunday, Los Angeles is in New England to face the Patriots at 1 p.m., then at 4:05 p.m. Buffalo sees Oakland, followed by the Giants in Pittsburgh at 4:25 p.m. and the Jets taking on Indianapolis in the Meadowlands at 8:30 p.m.
Rob Gronkowski's season is likely over. The New England Patriots tight end was scheduled to have surgery Friday for a herniated disk in his lower back, the team said in a statement Thursday night. The team said it doesn't expect Gronkowski to be able to return this season, but will await the results of the surgery before making a final determination.
Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will have season-ending surgery on his right shoulder. Coach John Fox says the veteran quarterback will have an operation to repair the labrum in his shoulder. Cutler injured his shoulder during a loss to the New York Giants on Nov. 20 but finished the game. Matt Barkley figures to start his second straight game when the Bears (2-9) host San Francisco (1-10) in a matchup between struggling teams on Sunday.
LeBron James is Sports Illustrated's Sportsperson of the Year after leading the Cavaliers to an NBA title and ending Cleveland's 52-year championship drought. James rallied the Cavs in the NBA Finals to defeat the favored Golden State Warriors, who won 73 games during the regular season. James was selected finals MVP for the third time in his career after Cleveland became the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit.
NBA:
In the NBA, Milwaukee beat Brooklyn 111-93, Miami won against Utah 111-110, Houston squeaked by Golden State in overtime 132-127 in double overtime, the Clippers bested Cleveland 113-94, and it was Charlotte over Dallas 97-87.
NHL:
In the NHL, Boston beat Carolina in a shootout 2-1, Buffalo won against the Rangers 4-3, the Islanders blanked Washington 3-0, Chicago edged New Jersey 4-3, Columbus skated past Colorado 3-2, Los Angeles won against Arizona 4-3, Anaheim bested Vancouver 3-1, Philadelphia edged Ottawa 3-2, St. Louis beat Tampa Bay 5-4, Edmonton doubled up Winnipeg 6-3, Pittsburgh tripled up Dallas 6-2, and it was Florida over Detroit 2-1.
NCAA:
In top 25 college basketball No. 20 South Carolina beat Vermont 68-50.
In women’s college basketball, Kia Nurse scored a career-high 33 points and number 2 UConn routed 15th ranked DePaul 91-46 Thursday night for its 81st straight victory. The lady Huskies played the first of five December games against ranked competition.
The Pac-12 championship is tonight between once-beaten and fourth-ranked Washington and No. 9 Colorado, which is 10-2. For Washington, a win bolsters its chance of remaining in the top four of the College Football Playoffs. For Colorado, a victory sends the Buffaloes to the Rose Bowl. The Buffaloes haven't been to a bowl since 2007.
Indiana football coach Kevin Wilson has abruptly resigned, less than a week after the Hoosiers became bowl-eligible for the second straight season. Athletic director Fred Glass made the announcement during a hastily arranged news conference. He said defensive coordinator Tom Allen would be the permanent replacement, effective immediately. Glass said the decision was made because of "philosophical differences." Indiana was 6-6 this season, 4-5 in the Big Ten. Wilson went 26-47 in six seasons in his first college head coaching job.
Golf:
Tiger Woods ruined an otherwise impressive return to golf Thursday with two double bogeys over the final three holes for a 1-over 73 at the Hero World Challenge. It's his first competitive golf event in 15 months after back surgery. Woods was nine shots behind J.B. Holmes, in 17th place in the 18-man field. Only Justin Rose had a higher score at Albany Golf Club.
MLB:
The Los Angeles Dodgers, Latin American teenagers and Cubans approaching their mid-20s were losers in baseball's new labor contract. The deal includes stiffer penalties for high-spending teams and a hard cap on signing bonuses for international amateurs. The Oakland Athletics also came up short, with the team's ability to receive revenue-sharing money to be trimmed in stages and eliminated in 2020.
Mid-tier free agents were winners, with management agreeing teams will no longer forfeit first-round draft picks for signing players who turn down qualifying offers. But top-tier free agents could wind up as losers if potential bidders back off because of the steeper tax for exceeding the payroll threshold.
As part of the deal, the experiment of having the All-Star Game determine which league gets home-field advantage in the World Series will end after 14 years. Instead, the pennant winner with the better regular-season record will open the Series at home. Another important change: The minimum time for a stint on the disabled list will be reduced from 15 days to 10.
David Ortiz has a new Christmas sweater out, but you might not want to wear it around the kids. The shirts say "This is our ... Christmas," with a partially obscured naughty word that refers back to the Red Sox designated hitter's speech following the Boston Marathon bombings. The design also includes an image of Big Papi with sunglasses and a Santa hat. The shirts are being sold to raise money for the David Ortiz Children's Fund.
Olympics:
Further efforts to cut costs and the venues for five new sports were the focus of a coordination commission review of the Tokyo Olympics that wrapped up on Friday.
IOC vice president John Coates led the two-day meetings, held amid concerns about the budget for the 2020 Games. Construction costs have soared in part due to shortages in labor and materials as Japan also continues recovery from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Coates, who was a vice president of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, said the IOC would not accept an $18 billion budget put forth by Tokyo organizers, emphasizing the games could be delivered for less and the figure could scare off cities considering bids for future games. The coordination commission did not make any venue visits during the trip.
Soccer:
A former Chelsea player says he was paid 50,000 pounds ($77,500) by the Premier League club to "keep a lid" on sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of its former chief scout.
Gary Johnson, who is now 57, told Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper he was groomed and sexually assaulted repeatedly every week from the age of 13 until he was 16 or 17. The newspaper says Chelsea this week waived a clause in its settlement with Johnson in 2015 that banned him from speaking in public about the abuse.
Chelsea didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. On Tuesday, the club said in a statement it had appointed an external law firm to carry out a formal investigation into a former employee who worked at Chelsea in the 1970s and is now dead. Johnson was a member of the Chelsea team from 1978-81.
©2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
