Nationals owner dies at 97 from pneumonia

Longtime Washington Nationals owner Ted Lerner has died at the age of 97. A Nationals spokesperson says Lerner died Sunday of complications from pneumonia at his home in Chevy Chase, Md. The Lerners bought the team from MLB in 2006 for $450 million. Ted Lerner was managing principal owner until ceding that role to son Mark in 2018. Under the Lerners’ ownership, the Nationals went from one of baseball’s worst teams in their first several seasons after moving from Montreal to Washington to World Series champions in 2019. Lerner built his fortune through real estate.

College basketball

TIDE IS NO. 1 >> Alabama is the new No. 1, rising to the top spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time in 20 years. Purdue’s loss to Northwestern last week caused a jumble at the top of the AP Top 25 and the Crimson Tide were the biggest beneficiaries.

NBA PAYTON II OUT AT LEAST A MONTH >>

Newly acquired Golden State guard Gary Payton II will be out for at least a month as he fully recovers from offseason surgery for a core muscle injury, and Warriors general manager Bob Myers is awaiting a decision from the NBA on whether the Trail Blazers withheld anything on Payton’s health before trading him.

Bucks Coach Mike Budenholzer said that Jae Crowder, who was acquired in a trade with the Suns, won’t start playing with Milwaukee until after the All-Star break.

DEBUT DELAYED >> College football MICHIGAN SAYS IT HAD PROOF AGAINST ASSISTANT >>

Michigan fired football co-offensive coordinator Matt Weiss in January after he failed to attend a meeting to discuss whether he had gained access to computer accounts that belonged to other people. That’s according to documents released to The Associated Press. An athletic department official told Weiss that the university had evidence that he had “inappropriately accessed” the accounts.

Soccer MBAPPE COULD PLAY >>

Kylian Mbappé has made an unexpectedly quick recovery from injury and Paris Saint-Germain coach Christophe Galtier hopes he can face Bayern Munich on Feb. 14 in the first leg of their round-of-16 clash in the Champions League. The World Cup superstar was expected to be out for three weeks after tearing a muscle in his left thigh on Feb. 1. but has resumed full training.