Steffen earns No. 1 goalkeeper job for US, will start at Jamaica
Zack Steffen has earned the No. 1 goalkeeper position on the U.S. national team and will start his third straight World Cup qualifier when the Americans play Jamaica on Tuesday night.
Coach Gregg Berhalter said Monday that Steffen’s superior footwork and ability to aid possession were the decisive factors.
Berhalter said star Christian Pulisic will play a role in the match, the start of the second half of qualifying, but he wasn’t sure whether the 23-year-old attacker will start.
The U.S. leads North and Central America and the Caribbean with 14 points, ahead of Mexico on goal difference, followed by Canada with 13 and Panama with 11. The top three nations qualify.
MLB
AROZARENA, INDIA EARN
ROOKIE OF YEAR HONORS » Randy Arozarena won AL Rookie of the Year honors with a superb follow-up to his 2020 postseason heroics while Cincinnati Reds second baseman Jonathan India earned NL Rookie of the Year.
Arozarena earned 22 of 30 first-place votes in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, beating out Houston right-hander Luis Garcia and Tampa Bay infielder Wander Franco.
India won the NL award eight months after earning the team’s second base job during spring training and never letting it go during a stellar first season.
The 24-year-old India received 29 of 30 first-place votes, beating out Miami left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers and St. Louis outfielder Dylan Carlson. Rogers got one first-place vote. LUGO, SS FOR BOSTON’S ‘07 CHAMPS, HAS DIED » Julio Lugo, who played for seven teams in a 12-year major league career and was the
shortstop for Boston’s 2007 World Series championship team, has died, the Red Sox said. He was 45.
ESPN reported that the cause of death was presumed to be a heart attack, citing Lugo’s family.
Lugo batted .269 with 80 homers and 475 RBIs from 2000-11 with the Astros, Devil Rays, Red Sox, Cardinals, Orioles and Braves. He batted .385 in the 2007 World Series sweep of the Colorado Rockies.
College basketball
GONZAGA, UCLA, KANSAS TOP POLL » Gonzaga, UCLA and Kansas held the top three spots in The Associated Press’ first Top 25 rankings of the regular season while Michigan climbed two spots to No. 4.
The Bulldogs received 55 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel in the poll released Monday after a win over Texas. The No. 2 Bruins had six firstplace votes after beating Villanova and the Jayhawks were third following a win over Michigan State.
Villanova dropped a spot to No. 5. Purdue, Duke, Texas, Baylor and Illinois rounded out the top 10.
Women’s basketball
INDIANA JUMPS UP TO NO. 4 » After an impressive win, Indiana has vaulted up to its best ranking ever: No. 4 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll.
The veteran Hoosiers had their best ranking ever at No. 8 in the preseason Top 25 and then had a week that included a rout of then-No. 13 Kentucky, 88-67. Indiana returned all five starters from last season’s team that went to the Elite Eight and had its sixth consecutive 20-win season.
South Carolina remained the top team in the poll, receiving 25 first-place votes from a national media panel. The Gamecocks were followed by UConn, which garnered the other five No. 1 votes, and Maryland.
NFL
PACKERS PLAN TO OPEN STOCK OFFERING » Any Green Bay Packers fans wanting to invest a personal stake in their favorite team has a chance to do so this week.
The NFL’s only community-owned team is opening the sixth stock offering in franchise history Tuesday. The price per share is $300
and is limited to people in the United States as well as Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Potential investors should keep in mind that owning stock in the Packers doesn’t constitute an investment in the common usage of the term.
NHL
OTTAWA GAMES POSTPONED
The NHL postponed three Ottawa Senators games amid a COVID-19 outbreak on the team, the first time any North American major professional sports league has been hit by rescheduling this fall because of the coronavirus.
Games scheduled for Tuesday at New Jersey, at home Thursday against Nashville and at home Saturday against the New York Rangers were postponed. Ten Senators players are currently in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
While Ottawa played shorthanded Sunday in a 4-0 loss to Calgary, the depth of the outbreak led to the decision to postpone games, which the league said was made in light of evidence of continued spread in recent days.