Steelers cut QB Trubisky after disappointing two seasons
Pawol one call from being first woman MLB umpire
After nearly a decade climbing through the minor leagues, Jen Pawol is poised to break the umpiring gender barrier.
“I’ve put the gas to full throttle and we are going for it. Full speed — full speed ahead,” she said Monday after she was among 24 minor league umpires assigned full-time as fill-ins at big league spring training.
A 47-year-old from New Jersey, Pawol is set to work her first major league exhibition game on Feb. 24 when Houston plays Washington at West Palm Beach, Florida. She also was promoted to a minor league crew chief and is on the verge of a regular season big league debut.
MLB’S move comes 27 years after the gender barrier for game officials was broken in the NBA, nine years after it ended the NFL and two years after soccer’s World Cup employed a female referee.
• Jeff Nelson and Ed Hickox are retiring as umpires and were replaced on the major league staff by Ryan Wills and Clint Vondrak.
Nelson, 58, made his big league debut in 1997, was added to the National League staff two years later and worked the World Series in 2005, 2009, 2014 and 2018.
Hickox, 61, umpired for 19 big league seasons. He made his major league debut in 1990, quit in 1999 as part of a failed mass resignation strategy, returned as a reserve umpire in 2005 and regained a staff job two years later.
Indiana State ranked for first time since 1978-79
Indiana State’s balanced scoring, free-flowing offense and its gogglewearing big man have the program off to one of its best starts in years.
Now the Sycamores have something that hasn’t happened since Larry Bird played in Terre Haute: a spot in the AP Top 25.
Riding a nine-game winning streak, Indiana State debuted at No. 23 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, the Sycamores’ first ranking since reaching No. 1 in 1978-79.
Connecticut and Purdue kept the top two spots in the AP Top 25. The defending national champion Huskies received 45 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel and the Boilermakers had 16.
Ohio State climbs to No. 2, Stanford up to No. 3
Ohio State is up to No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll, matching the best ranking in school history.
Colorado fell four spots to eighth after a loss at home to Oregon State.
The Buckeyes, who were fifth last week, have won 11 straight games and their only losses this season have come to USC, UCLA and Michigan. South Carolina remained the unanimous No. 1 choice, grabbing all 35 first-place votes again after routing Missouri and then-no. 11 Uconn.
Cowboys and Zimmer agree on reunion as D coordinator
The Dallas Cowboys settled on a coaching reunion by deciding to bring back Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator to replace Dan Quinn.
Zimmer is rejoining the Cowboys 18 years after serving in the same role for Dallas. He later spent eight years as Minnesota’s head coach.
The Pittsburgh Steelers cut quarterback Mitch Trubisky, sending the former No. 2 overall draft pick into free agency after two disappointing seasons.
Trubisky signed with the Steelers in March 2022 and was given first crack at replacing the retired Ben Roethlisberger. Trubisky started four games before being benched in favor of then-rookie Kenny Pickett. Trubisky struggled again this season while filling in for an injured Pickett, losing starts against New England and Indianapolis before being replaced by third-stringer Mason Rudolph.
Foster named UCLA football coach after Kelly’s departure
UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond said to give him 96 hours to find a new football coach after Chip Kelly resigned on Friday. It turns out, Jarmond needed less than 72.
Former UCLA great Deshaun Foster was named head coach to take over the program after Kelly left to become offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Foster has been a Bruins assistant the past seven years but left last month to become the Las Vegas Raiders’ running backs coach.
Warriors assistant coach Milojevic buried in Serbia
Golden State assistant coach Dejan Milojevic was buried in his native Serbia, with many members of the Warriors’ staff among the hundreds of mourners present for the funeral on a rainy day at a Belgrade cemetery.