ACC moves tourneys from N.C.
CLEMSON, S.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference has followed the NCAA’s lead and is removing all its athletic championships from North Carolina over a state law limiting protections for LGBT people. The ACC Council of Presidents voted Wednesday to relocate the league’s championships until North Carolina repeals the law. The decision includes 10 neutral-site championships this academic year, which means relocating the ACC football title game that was scheduled to be played in Charlotte in December. No announcement was made on where the championship events will be held. “The decision to move the neutral site championships out of North Carolina while HB2 remains the law was not an easy one,” said Clemson president James
P. Clements, chairman of the league’s council. “But it is consistent with the shared values of inclusion and non-discrimination at all our institutions.”
FOOTBALL
› ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Two Broncos defenders have been fined a total of $42,540 — but not suspended — for helmet-to-helmet hits on Cam Newton, a person with knowledge of the punishment told The Associated Press. The person said linebacker Brandon Marshall was fined $24,309 and safety Darian Stewart $18,231. Stewart was fined for roughing the QB in the final minute of Denver’s 21-20 win. It left Newton motionless on the ground, but he wasn’t checked for a concussion until after the game.
› HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. — A North Carolina football player turned himself in on an arrest warrant Wednesday morning on charges of sexual battery and assault on a female student in February. In a news release, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Allen Anthony Artis, 21, was released by the magistrate on a $5,000 unsecured bond. Artis didn’t attend a brief court appearance Wednesday afternoon on the two misdemeanor charges, and his attorney, Sam Coleman, left the courtroom through a side door. The arrest warrant stated Artis had sex with the woman against her will when he “should have reasonably known that the other person was mentally incapacitated and physically helpless.” The warrant also said he pulled on her bra strap “causing an indentation on her shoulder/ back” during the incident. The woman, Delaney Robinson, said Tuesday she had become intoxicated after being out with friends and was unable to consent. The Associated Press typically doesn’t identify alleged victims of sexual assault, but Robinson held a news conference, saying she had filed for the misdemeanor charges after police and prosecutors indicated there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue felony charges.
BASEBALL
› NEW YORK — Major League Baseball’s 2017 season will open Sunday, April 2, with the New York Yankees at the Tampa Bay Rays and the San Francisco Giants at the Arizona Diamondbacks. Both games will be televised by ESPN, which also will select a third game for that day. Thirteen games are scheduled for April 3, the commissioner’s office said Wednesday as it released the 2017 schedule: Toronto at Baltimore, Pittsburgh at Boston, Philadelphia at Cincinnati, Detroit at the Chicago White Sox, Seattle at Houston, San Diego at the Los Angeles Dodgers, Colorado at Milwaukee, Kansas City at Minnesota, Atlanta at the New York Mets, the Los Angeles Angels at Oakland, Chicago Cubs at St. Louis, Cleveland at Texas and Miami at Washington. Atlanta’s opener at SunTrust Park against San Diego will be April 14. The All-Star Game will be at Miami on July 11.