Rangers’ Miller banned 3 games
The Rangers’ K’Andre Miller has been suspended three games for unsportsmanlike conduct after spitting on Kings defenseman Drew Doughty Sunday.
The NHL’s department of player safety announced the suspension Tuesday following a hearing with Miller, who will miss upcoming games tonight at Philadelphia, Thursday against Ottawa and Saturday at Boston. He’ll also forfeit $15,000 in salary.
Miller, 23, was given a match penalty and ejected late in the first period Sunday. In a message posted on social media Monday, Miller called his actions “completely accidental.”
“I would never intend to do something like that on purpose,” Miller wrote. “It goes against everything I am as a person and player. I felt awful about it.”
It’s the same length of suspension as Garnet Hathaway got in 2019 for spitting on Anaheim’s Erik Gudbranson when with Washington.
KD DEBUT TONIGHT
Kevin Durant is expected to make his Suns debut tonight against the Hornets.
The 13-time All-Star came to Phoenix on Feb. 9 in a blockbuster trade that sent Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder and four first-round picks to the Nets.
Durant hasn’t played for the Suns while recovering from a sprained knee ligament. The 34-year-old is still one of the game’s elite scorers, averaging nearly 30 points per game this season.
FALCONS RELEASE MARIOTA
The Falcons released quarterback Marcus Mariota on Tuesday, a move that was expected after the veteran was benched late in the season.
The Falcons were 5-8 with Mariota as the starter before rookie Desmond Ridder started the final four games, winning two.
YEAR OFF FOR BILLS DC
The Bills coaching staff has a big hole to fill at defensive coordinator after Leslie Frazier informed the team he is taking a year off from coaching, but plans to return for the 2024 season.
FASTER COLLEGE FOOTBALL
College administrators are looking at ways to reduce the number of plays in games in the name of player safety, with a tweak in clock-operating procedures likely the first step.
Steve Shaw, NCAA secretary-rules editor and officials coordinator, said the average number of plays per game in the Bowl Subdivision has hovered at 180 the past three seasons. NFL games average 154.
Conference commissioners would like to cut the number to reduce the players’ potential injury exposures. The issue has taken on urgency because some teams will be playing more games as the College Football Playoff expands. The playoff goes from four to 12 teams in the 2024-25 season, and further expansion is possible after that.
A proposal to let the game clock continue running when a team makes a first down, except in the last two minutes of a half, has broad support. Currently, the clock stops on a first down until the referee gives the ready-for-play signal. A rules committee study last season found about eight plays per game would be cut if the clock kept moving.
OLYMPIAN RICHARDS DIES
Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic pole vault gold medalist who also became an ordained minister, died Sunday. He was 97.
USA Track and Field confirmed his death. His son, Brandon, wrote in a social media post that his father “passed in his sleep peacefully surrounded by loved ones.”
Richards competed at the 1948, ’52 and ’56 Olympics in the pole vault. He won a bronze medal in his first Olympic goaround, followed by back-toback gold medals. The versatile athlete known as the “Vaulting Vicar” also competed in the Olympic decathlon in 1956.
From Champaign, Illinois, Richards went on to become a six-time NCAA champion at the University of Illinois. The school said in a release he held the ranking as the No. 1 pole vaulter for eight consecutive years.
He was inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1983 after a career that included winning at the Millrose Games 11 straight times. He also appeared on a box of Wheaties cereal.