Hillman, former running back, dies at 31
Running back Ronnie Hillman, who was part of the Denver Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50 and a former star at La Habra High and San Diego State, has died, his family said in a statement. He was 31.
Hillman’s family posted on his Instagram account Wednesday that he was diagnosed in August with a rare form of kidney cancer called renal medullary carcinoma and was under hospice care. The family wrote hours later that he died surrounded by family and close friends.
Hillman earned CIF Southern Section offensive player of the year awards in 2007 and 2008 after leading La Habra to titles in the Southeast and Southwest divisions, respectively.
“We lost a great Highlander, such a pleasure to coach. So many great memories of you,” La Habra coach Frank Mazzotta posted on Twitter. “You could light up the room with your bright smile. As incredible as you were on the field you were even better off it. Loved by so many.”
After two seasons at San Diego State, Hillman was picked by the Broncos in the third round of the 2012 draft. He ran for 1,976 yards and 12 touchdowns in 56 games over his five-season NFL career (2012-16), which also included stints with the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers.
Hillman led the Broncos in rushing with 863 yards and scored seven touchdowns during the 2015 regular season. The season culminated with the Broncos beating the Carolina Panthers 24-10 in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
In a statement, the Broncos described Hillman as “soft-spoken with a warm smile and quiet intensity.” They added he “grew into a dynamic player and wellrespected teammate.”
Hillman rushed for 1,532 yards and 17 TDs for San Diego State in 2010. As a
La Habra High graduate Ronnie Hillman played four of his five NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos.
sophomore, he ran for 1,711 yards and 19 TDs in 2011 before declaring for the NFL draft
“Ronnie always came to practice with a smile on his face and his passion for the game was contagious,” San Diego State coach Brady Hoke said in a statement. “He’ll be an Aztec for life.”
Hillman’s family explained in its initial post that his form of cancer affects “young African Americans with sickle cell trait. Unfortunately treatment has not been successful.”
Cubs agree to deal with catcher Barnhart
The Chicago Cubs and Gold Glove catcher Tucker Barnhart agreed to a $6.5 million contract, which includes a $3.25 million salary for 2023 and a $3.25 million player option for 2024.
Barnhart, 31, is expected to back up Yan Gomes. Willson Contreras, the Cubs’ longtime starting catcher, signed an $87.5 million, five-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals during free agency.
Barnhart spent his first eight seasons with Cincinnati, winning Gold Gloves in 2017 and 2020.
Upon being traded to Detroit in November 2021, Barnhart hit .221 with a homer and 16 RBIs in 94 games with the Tigers last season.
• Wil Myers signed a $7.5 million, one-year contract with the Reds after spending the previous eight seasons with San Diego.
Myers, 32, has started major league games at first base, third base and each outfield spot. He is a .254 hitter with 153 homers and 521 RBIs in 1,063 games.
He hit .261 with seven homers and 41 RBIs in 77 games in his final season with the Padres.
Myers’ $20 million option was declined by San Diego last month, and he received a $1 million buyout that completed an $83 million, six-year contract.
Myers, the AL Rookie of the Year in 2013 while with Tampa Bay, was dealt to San Diego in December 2014. He hit 28 homers and finished with a career-best 94 RBIs and 28 steals in 2016, earning his only All-Star selection.
• The Baltimore Orioles acquired catcher James McCann and $19 million from the New York Mets for a player to be named.
McCann was an AllStar in 2019 for the Chicago White Sox, but hit just .195 with three home runs and 18 RBIs for the Mets last season. He joins a Baltimore team that already has perhaps the top young catcher in the game in Adley Rutschman, but the 32-year-old McCann could be a capable backup.
McCann became expendable when the Mets signed catcher Omar Narváez to a $15 million, two-year deal.
New York also has defensive standout Tomás Nido and touted prospect Francisco Álvarez behind the plate.
Narváez was an All-Star in 2021 with Milwaukee before batting just .206 with four homers and 23 RBIs in 84 games last season. .
House passes equal pay bill for U.S. women
The House has passed a bill that ensures equal compensation for U.S. women competing in international events, a piece of legislation that came out of the U.S. women’s soccer team’s long battle to be paid as much as the men.
The Equal Pay for Team USA Act, passed late Wednesday, will require all athletes representing the United States in global competition to receive equal pay and benefits in their sport, regardless of gender. It covers America’s 50-plus national sports and requires the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to handle oversight.
The bill had earlier passed the Senate with unanimous support. It now heads to President Joe Biden’s desk.
In a speech Wednesday night on the Senate floor, Sen. Maria Cantwell (DWash.), who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), called the bill a fitting way to cap off 2022, which marked the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark law that promoted gender equity in sports.
“I want to thank heroes like Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan, who brought that case against U.S. Soccer,” Cantwell said of the American soccer stars, whose World Cup win in 2019 provided the backdrop for the start of the effort. “U.S. women’s soccer led the charge after winning the World Cup and making it clear to everyone that women athletes deserve equal pay.”
The bill stems from a federal gender discrimination lawsuit the U.S. women filed against U.S. Soccer in 2019. Earlier this year, the women signed a new collective bargaining agreement that included identical pay structures for men and women and equitable distribution of World Cup prize money.
Over the past decade, most Olympic sports in the U.S. have met USOPC standards regarding equal compensation. But there remained inequities between the men’s and women’s soccer teams — whose roles in international events, such as the World Cup, resulted in unequal pay structures and different oversight — that led legislators to seek to enshrine those standards into law.
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK
NBA
Favorite
at Lakers at Philadelphia at Orlando at Boston at Brooklyn at Atlanta at Cleveland at New York at Okla. City Dallas at Miami at Denver at Sacramento at Phoenix
College Football
Favorite
Houston Wake Forest
Saturday
San Diego State 61⁄2 (491⁄2)
Monday
Bowling Green
Tuesday
Ga. Southern Memphis E. Carolina Wisconsin
Wednesday
Duke Arkansas Oregon Ole Miss
Thursday
Minnesota Florida State Texas
Friday, Dec. 30
UCLA Maryland Notre Dame Ohio Clemson
SOUTHWEST
MIDWEST
SOUTH
EAST
WOMEN
AP TOP 25
FAR WEST
SOUTHWEST
MIDWEST
SOUTH
31⁄2 (541⁄2) 11⁄2 (471⁄2) 21⁄2 (511⁄2) 11⁄2 (421⁄2) 51⁄2 (631⁄2)
Saturday, Dec. 31
Iowa Alabama Michigan Georgia
Monday, Jan. 2
USC Illinois LSU Utah
NFL
Saturday
Favorite
Buffalo at Minnesota at Baltimore at Cleveland at Kansas City at Tennessee Detroit Cincinnati at San Fran. at Dallas at Pittsburgh
Sunday
Denver at Miami Tampa Bay
Monday
Chargers
NHL
Favorite
Kings
Calgary at Washington at Carolina at Ottawa Boston
Florida Colorado at Dallas at Chicago at Edmonton at Vegas
MEN
AP TOP 25
No. 5 Arizona 93, Morgan St. 68 No. 8 Kansas 68, Harvard 54 Missouri 93, No. 16 Illinois 71
FAR WEST
BYU 63, Weber St. 57
CS Northridge 83, San Diego 78
Cal Poly 72, San Diego Christian 59 Portland St. 74, Cal Baptist 72
SMU 85, Iona 81
San Francisco 85, Hartford 53 Santa Clara 73, Boise St. 58 Stanford 75, Loyola Chicago 62 UC Riverside 76, Portland 65
UNLV 74, Southern Miss 63
Utah St. 84, Seattle 56
Utah Tech 95, Lindenwood (Mo.) 64 Washington St. 66,
George Washington 64
Arkansas St. 77, UALR 75
New Mexico St. 85, NC A&T 76 North Texas 78, UTSA 54
Stephen F. Austin 80, Jackson St. 69
Bradley 74, Akron 55
Creighton 78, Butler 56 Minnesota 58, Chicago St. 55 N. Illinois 67, Indiana St. 57 Wichita St. 65, Texas Southern 56 Wright St. 88, Miami (Ohio) 80
Charleston Southern 126,
Kentucky Christian 67
E. Kentucky 68, UNC-Greensboro 64 NC State 76, Louisville 64
North Florida 87, Bethune-Cookman 85 South Carolina 65, W. Kentucky 58 South Florida 92, NJIT 73
UAB 76, Charlotte 68
Vanderbilt 70, Alabama A&M 62
Bryant 69, Towson 59
Cornell 91, Colgate 80
Fordham 80, VMI 77, OT
Hofstra 96, Old Westbury 48
LIU 95, Purchast 58
Loyola (Md.) 99, Goucher 53
Maryland 75, St. Peter’s 45
Penn St. 77, Quinnipiac 68
Queens (NC) 82, Fairleigh Dickinson 73 Rider 77, Marist 71
Sacred Heart 66, Holy Cross 62
Saint Joseph’s 83, CCSU 66
Siena 64, American 61
St. Francis (NY) 89, Medgar Evers 66 Wagner 89, Gwynedd-Mercy 55
West Virginia 75, Stony Brook 64
Yale 76, Monmouth (NJ) 44
No. 12 Utah 90, S. Utah 56
No. 14 Iowa St. vs. Drake, cancelled
CS Bakersfield 54, Pacific 41 San Francisco 104,
Northern New Mexico 52
Texas St. 58, North Texas at Dallas 39 Texas Tech 59, UC Riverside 38
Tulsa 83, Texas Southern 80
Minnesota 59, E. Illinois 48
Alabama 89, North Florida 25 Wake Forest 59, Rhode Island 45
EAST
Line (O/U)
4 (OFF) 4 (OFF) 6 (OFF) 81⁄2 (OFF) 21⁄2 (OFF) 9 (OFF) 41⁄2 (OFF) 51⁄2 (OFF) OFF (OFF) 51⁄2 (OFF) 51⁄2 (OFF) 51⁄2 (OFF) 7 (OFF) 11⁄2 (OFF)
Line (O/U)
7 (561⁄2) 11⁄2 (581⁄2)
31⁄2 (481⁄2)
31⁄2 (661⁄2) 71⁄2 (601⁄2) 71⁄2 (621⁄2) 31⁄2 (431⁄2)
31⁄2 (621⁄2) 3 (681⁄2) 141⁄2 (731⁄2) 31⁄2 (691⁄2)
91⁄2 (411⁄2) 91⁄2 (651⁄2) 31⁄2 (671⁄2) 21⁄2 (311⁄2) 51⁄2 (551⁄2) 71⁄2 (581⁄2) 61⁄2 (621⁄2)
21⁄2 (621⁄2) 11⁄2 (461⁄2) 141⁄2 (551⁄2) 21⁄2 (511⁄2)
Line (O/U)
Underdog
Louisiana Missouri 81⁄2 (401⁄2) at Chicago 31⁄2 (471⁄2) NY Giants 6 (351⁄2) Atlanta 21⁄2 (321⁄2) New Orleans 10 (481⁄2) Seattle 31⁄2 (351⁄2) Houston 21⁄2 (431⁄2) at Carolina 3 (411⁄2) at New England 7 (371⁄2) Washington 51⁄2 (471⁄2) Philadelphia 21⁄2 (39) Las Vegas
3 (361⁄2) 31⁄2 (501⁄2) 8 (391⁄2)
41⁄2 (451⁄2) at Indianapolis
Line
Underdog
Charlotte
Clippers San Antonio Minnesota Milwaukee Detroit Toronto Chicago New Orleans at Houston
Indiana Portland Washington
Memphis
Mid. Tenn.
N. Mexico St
Buffalo Utah State Co. Carolina Oklahoma St.
UCF Kansas N. Carolina Texas Tech
Syracuse Oklahoma Washington
Pittsburgh
NC State So. Carolina Wyoming Tennessee
Kentucky Kansas State
TCU Ohio State
Tulane Miss. State
Purdue Penn State
Underdog
at Rams Green Bay at Arizona
Underdog
-162/+134 at Arizona -220/+180 at Ducks -138/+115 Winnipeg -320/+250 Philadelphia -137/+114 Detroit -120/+100 at New Jersey -120/+100 at N.Y Islanders -120/+100 at Nashville -315/+250 Montreal -115/-104 Columbus -235/+190 Vancouver -164/+138 St. Louis
Boston College 86, CCSU 35
George Washington 61, Coppin St. 51 Manhattan 73, LIU Brooklyn 47
UMBC 76, Hartford 52
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
WEST DIVISION
y-Kansas City 11 3 Chargers 8 6 Las Vegas 6 8 e-Denver 4 10
EAST DIVISION
x-Buffalo Miami
N.Y. Jets
New England
SOUTH DIVISION
Tennessee Jacksonville Indianapolis e-Houston
NORTH DIVISION
Cincinnati Baltimore Cleveland Pittsburgh
W
L T
0 .786 414 322 0 .571 312 340 0 .429 338 337 0 .286 218 253
W L T
11 8 7 7
W
7 6 4 1
W
10 9 6 6 3 6 7 7 0 .786 0 .571 0 .500 0 .500
L T
7 8 9 12 0 0 1 1
L T
4 5 8 8
Pct
Pct
Pct
.500 .429 .321 .107
Pct
0 .714 369 288 0 .643 304 263 0 .429 313 326 0 .429 251 309
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
WEST DIVISION
y-San Fran. Seattle e-Arizona e-Rams
EAST DIVISION
10 4 7 7 4 10 4 10 x-Philadelphia 13 x-Dallas 10 N.Y. Giants 8 Washington 7
SOUTH DIVISION
Tampa Bay Atlanta Carolina New Orleans
W
W
W
NORTH DIVISION
W
0 .714 338 210 0 .500 355 355 0 .286 292 372 0 .286 230 320 0 .929 411 268 0 .714 394 269 1 .607 287 312 1 .536 265 276 0 .429 0 .357 0 .357 0 .357 y-Minnesota 11 3 Detroit 7 7 Green Bay 6 8 e-Chicago 3 11 x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division e-eliminated from playoffs
Thursday’s result
0 .786 351 349 0 .500 369 364 0 .429 287 314 0 .214 290 358
Jacksonville 19, N.Y. Jets 3
Saturday’s games
Atlanta at Baltimore, 10 a.m.
Buffalo at Chicago, 10 a.m.
Cincinnati at New England, 10 a.m. Detroit at Carolina, 10 a.m.
Houston at Tennessee, 10 a.m.
N.Y. Giants at Minnesota, 10 a.m.
New Orleans at Cleveland, 10 a.m. Seattle at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Washington at San Francisco, 1:05 p.m. Philadelphia at Dallas, 1:25 p.m.
Las Vegas at Pittsburgh, 5:15 p.m.
Sunday’s games
Green Bay at Miami, 10 a.m. Denver at Rams, 1:30 p.m. Tampa Bay at Arizona, 5:20 p.m.
Monday’s game
385 250 345 344 281 263 300 269
PF PA
255 293 334 328 245 337 235 344
PF PA
PF PA
PF PA
PF PA
247 288 306 333 276 314 286 315
PF PA
Chargers at Indianapolis, 5:15 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 29
Dallas at Tennessee, 5:15 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 1
Arizona at Atlanta, 10 a.m.
Carolina at Tampa Bay, 10 a.m. Chicago at Detroit, 10 a.m.
Cleveland at Washington, 10 a.m. Denver at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Indianapolis at N.Y. Giants, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at Houston, 10 a.m. Miami at New England, 10 a.m.
New Orleans at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 10 a.m.
N.Y. Jets at Seattle, 1:05 p.m.
San Francisco at Las Vegas, 1:05 p.m. Minnesota at Green Bay, 1:25 p.m. Rams at Chargers, 5:20 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 2
Buffalo at Cincinnati, 5:30 p.m.
BASEBALL
6 5 5 5
L T
L T
1 4 5 6
L T
8 9 9 9
L T
Pct
Pct
Pct
Pct
Major League Baseball
American League
Chicago White Sox:
PF PA
PF
Acquired RHP Gregory Santos from San Francisco in exchange for RHP Kade McClure.
National League
PA
New York Mets: Agreed to terms with C Omar Narvaez on a one-year contract.
Agreed to terms with RHP Seth Lugo on a one-year contract.
San Diego Padres:
FOOTBALL
National Football League
Chicago Bears:
Promoted DB Harrison Hand from the practice squad to the active roster. Reinstated RB Khalil Herbert from injured reserve.
Placed OT Tom Compton on injured reserve.
Re-signed QB Steven Montez to the practice squad.
Designated OT Chandler Brewer to return to practice from injured reserve. Signed Wrs lance Lenoir and Jerreth Sterns to the practice squad.
Promoted G Wes Martin from the practice squad to the active roster. Waived LB De’jon Harris.
Denver Broncos:
Detroit Lions:
Rams:
Washington Commanders:
HOCKEY
National Hockey League
Colorado Avalanche:
Reassigned G Trent Miner from Colorado (AHL) to Utah (ECHL).
Philadelphia Flyers:
Reassigned D Mason Millman from Reading (ECHL). to Lehigh Valley (AHL).
Vancouver Canucks:
Recalled G Collin Delia from Abbotsford (AHL).
Minor League Hockey
American Hockey League
Abbotsford Canucks:
Returned G Arturs Silovs to Vancouver (NHL).
Released LW Joe Carroll from a professional tryout contract (PTO).
Belleville Senators:
Charlotte Checkers:
Returned D Robert Calisti and C Xavier Cormier to Florida (ECHL).
Providence Bruins:
Recalled RW AlexOlivier Voyer from Maine (ECHL).
Released D Jarod Hilderman from a professional tryout contract (PTO).
San Diego Gulls:
San Jose Barracudas:
Released D Jalen Smereck from a professional tryout contract (PTO).
SOCCER
Major League Soccer
FC Dallas:
Signed D Geovane Jesus from Cruzeiro (Brazil) to a four-year contract pending receipt of his international transfer certificate (ITC) and P-1 visa.
Acquired D Denil Maldonado on loan from CD Motgua (Honduras) pending receipt of his international transfer certificate (ITC) and P-1 visa.