Saints great Brees will retire
NEW ORLEANS >> Saints quarterback Drew Brees, the NFL’s leader in career completions and yards passing, has decided to retire after 20 NFL seasons, including his last 15 with New Orleans.
“Til the very end I exhausted myself to give everything to the Saints organization, my team and the great City of New Orleans,” Brees said in a social media post on Sunday. “We shared some amazing moments together, many of which are emblazoned in our hearts and minds and will forever be a part of us.
“I am only retiring from football. I am not retiring from New Orleans,” he added. “This is not goodbye.”
The post also included a short video in which his four young children exclaimed, “Our dad is finally going to retire so he can spend more time with us!”
The decision comes after the 42-year-old quarterback won nine of 12 regular-season starts while completing 70.5% of his passes
in 2020, and then won a wild-card round playoff game before New Orleans’ season ended with a divisional-round loss to eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay.
Brees missed four games this season with multiple fractured ribs and a collapsed lung. It marked the second straight season Brees had to miss part of a season with an injury after missing just one game because of injury in the previous 13. In 2019, Brees missed five games because of a thumb injury on his throwing hand that required surgery.
JONES STAYS WITH PACKERS >> Pro Bowl running back Aaron Jones has agreed to a new deal with the Green Bay Packers and won’t be exploring free agency.
Drew Rosenhaus, Jones’ agent, confirmed that his client had agreed on a four-year deal worth $48 million that includes a $13 million signing bonus.
“We anticipated bigger offers in free agency, but Aaron wanted to stay with the Packers,” Rosenhaus said via email.
ESPN and NFL Network first reported the terms.
NASCAR
TRUEZ WINS IN PHOENIX >>
Martin Truex Jr. pulled away in the final laps at Phoenix Raceway for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season and 28th overall.
Truex beat the four championship finalists from last year. He had failed to advance into the season-ending finale for the first time in four years and could only watch as Chase Elliott beat Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski for the title at the desert oval. All four tailed Truex across the finish line.
Phoenix Raceway will again host the championship race in November.
NBA
SOME PELICANS GET VACCINE >> Some players and other members of the New Orleans Pelicans organization have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccinations, following changes in the eligibility standards for Louisiana residents.
The Pelicans said the vaccines were administered Saturday, though they did not disclose who got them. They are the first NBA team to acknowledge a widescale receipt of the
vaccine by members of a club.
“The Pelicans support the state’s vital efforts to encourage everyone to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, as large-scale vaccination of our community is the best way to keep everyone safe and to end the COVID-19 pandemic,” the team said in a statement Sunday. ESPN first reported the vaccinations.
State officials in Louisiana expanded the list of those who may receive the vaccine last week “to include people who have health conditions that may result in a higher risk of disease” and are over the age of 18. Among the higher risk groups: those with a body mass index of 25 or more, which would technically classify them as overweight.
Many of the Pelicans’ players fall into that category, despite being NBA players and elite athletes.
Sailing
NO WIND MEANS NO RACING >> Suspense moved up another notch in the 36th match for the America’s Cup between defender Team New Zealand and Italian challenger Luna Rossa when lack of wind prevented sailing on the scheduled fourth day.
Each of the first three days has built the tension in the match as the teams have won one race each daily to leave the series deadlocked at 3-3 in the best-of-13 race series.
From 1-1 on day one, to 2-2 on day two, to 3-3 on day three, the match has been the closest since 1983 when Australia became the first nation to lift the Cup from the United States.
Iditarod
SEAVEY ON CUSP OF FIFTH TITLE >> Dallas Seavey was leading the Iditarod, positioning himself to tie one other musher for the most wins ever in the world’s most famous sled dog race.
Seavey, a four-time winner, was the first musher in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race to reach the last checkpoint, in the community of Skwentna. He checked in just before 1 p.m. Sunday.
All mushers must take a mandatory eight-hour rest period before getting back on the trail for the last 67 miles (108 kilometers).
The winner is expected to cross the finish line near the community of Willow, Alaska, sometime early Monday morning.
Tennis
MEDVEDEV WINS OPEN 13 >> Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev was pushed to three sets by doubles specialist Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the Open 13 final, winning 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-4 for his 10th career title on the eve of his move up to second in the rankings.
Medvedev will overtake Rafael Nadal on Monday and push the 20-time Grand Slam champion down to No. 3.
Soccer
ARSENAL 2, TOTTENHAM 1 >> Erik Lamela flaunted outrageous quality and foolishness.
An audacious “rabona” goal was produced for Tottenham’s opener in the first half against Arsenal. But the Argentine received two bookings in seven minutes after the break — with the red coming after swinging his arm recklessly.
By that time Arsenal had already turned the north London derby around with Martin Ødegaard scoring just before halftime and Alexandre Lacazette adding a goal from the penalty spot in the 64th minute to seal a win.
BRIGHTON 2, SOTUHAMPTON 1 >> Leandro Trossard’s second-half goal gave Brighton a much-needed win at Southampton in the Premier League.
The Seagulls were looking over their shoulders after three straight defeats and no wins in five meant they kicked off level on points with resurgent Fulham in 18th.
LEICESTER 5, SHEFFIELD UNITED 0 >> Kelechi Iheanacho scored his first Premier League hat trick as Leicester beat Sheffield United to help its quest for Champions League qualification.
MANCHESTER UNITED 1, WEST HAM 0 >> Manchester United will start April second in the Premier League after Craig Dawson’s owngoal saw high-flying West Ham beaten.
No. 3-ranked Illinois accomplished one major goal. The next one will be even more difficult.
As the Fighting Illini celebrated their first Big Ten Tournament title since 2005 with a 91-88 overtime victory over No. 9 Ohio State on Sunday, they quickly turned the focus to their No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and the opportunity it presents.
”It was crazy, thinking about all the things we’ve accomplished and knowing how I came on my visit with coach (Brad) Underwood and I told him these are the things we can accomplish,” Ayo Dosunmu said after being named the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player. “So to get up there, cut that net down and see that No. 1 seed come up there, it’s just an unreal feeling.”
Especially given the oddities of this season.
Despite playing the regular season in front of minimal fans, the Illini (23-6) hoisted the trophy underneath the mid-court video board and watched the selection show with a throng of loud, orange-clad fans inside Lucas Oil Stadium.
It all seemed perfectly aligned for the deep and versatile Illini.
Dosunmu, Kofi Cockburn and Andre Curbello
all scored 16 points. Cockburn and Dosunmu each had nine rebounds and they made the key plays in overtime. Cockburn sank the goahead free throws with 1:39 to go, Dosunmu followed that with a back-breaking 15-footer with 50 seconds left to make it 84-81 and Illinois finally sealed it at the free-throw line.
Illinois will start its next quest against 16th-seeded Drexel on Friday, having won seven straight and 14 out of 15 with six consecutive wins over top-10 foes. NO. 6 ALABAMA 80, LSU 79 >> Herbert Jones drove for a go-ahead layup with 19.5 seconds and the Crimson Tide won the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the first time since 1991,
holding off a late flurry to edge the Tigers.
Coach Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide (24-6) added to their regular-season title with a victory that helped Alabama match its highest seed ever in the NCAA Tournament. The Tide, which was No. 2 in both 1987 and 2002, is seeded second.
ST. BONAVENTURE 74, VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH 65 >>
Kyle Lofton scored 23 points and Osun Osunniyi added 14 points as the Bonnies (16-4) won the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
NO. 7 HOUSTON 91, CINCINNATI 54 >> Quentin Grimes scored 21 points with five 3-pointers, Marcus Sasser had 16 points and the Cougars
beat the Bearcats in the third consecutive American Athletic Conference Tournament championship game between the two teams.
The Cougars (24-3) were a lock for their 22nd NCAA Tournament berth even before leading the entire game to win their first conference tournament title since 2010, when they were still in Conference USA, and five seasons before Kelvin Sampson became their coach. COLGATE 85, LOYOLA MARYLAND 72 >> Tucker Richardson scored 17 points and Jordan Burns and Jack Ferguson 16 each to lead the Raiders to the Patriot League Tournament title.
Colgate (14-1) advanced to its fourth NCAA Tournament — never winning. Its last appearance came in 2019.
OREGON STATE 70, NO. 23 COLORADO 68 >> Maurice Calloo gave his team an unexpected lift with 15 points and the Beavers won their first conference tournament title, holding off the ranked Buffaloes in the Pac-12 Tournament title game late Saturday night.
Oregon State opened its first conference title game in 33 years with a flurry of 3-pointers and withstood a late push by Colorado (22-8) to become the first Pac-10/12 team to win the conference title after being picked to finish last.