College Basketball
Grayson Allen of Duke and Ivan Rabb of California lead The Associated Press’ preseason All-America team.
Jason Hart of Villanova, Dillon Brooks of Oregon and Monte Morris of Iowa State round out the team released Wednesday.
Allen, a 6-foot-5 junior guard, received 61 votes from the 65-member national media panel that selects the weekly poll.
MLB
LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Department of Justice is suing AT&T because its DirectTV unit allegedly orchestrated a backroom deal with competitors to not carry the sole channel that broadcasts Dodgers baseball in Los Angeles.
The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court accuses DirecTV of swapping information with Cox Communications Inc., Charter Communications Inc. and AT&T – before it acquired DirecTV – during negotiations to carry the SportsNet LA, the network owned by the Dodgers.
The complaint says the companies made the agreements to prevent competitors from offering the channel to lure customers. Dodger fans were bitter they could only watch games through Time Warner Cable the past three seasons.
NBA
OAKLAND, Calif. – As much as Kevin Durant might try to downplay the drama, when he steps on the court against his former Oklahoma City team for the first time Thursday night emotions will be flying high for both sides.
And there’s more: Durant’s new Golden State team rallied from a 3-1 deficit to beat Oklahoma City in the Western Conference Finals just more than five months ago.
Durant vs. old buddy Russell Westbrook, who opted to stay put and sign an extension. Oh yes, this game has been circled on many an NBA schedule for months. At least since Durant departed as a free agent to join the Warriors in July.
NFL
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is recovering from surgery to repair a torn retina in one of his eyes.Wearing sunglasses to limit the outside light at his news conference Wednesday next to the team’s practice fields, Zimmer said he’d had vision trouble for a couple of days before scratching his eye during the game Monday in Chicago. He was sent for further examination and a procedure done Tuesday by doctors who warned him he risked blindness if he didn’t address the problem.
Zimmer said he’s been watching film with his good eye, using reading glasses so he can write down notes.
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. – Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Norv Turner has resigned. He’s been replaced on an interim basis by Pat Shurmur.The Vikings announced the news Wednesday, two days after their second consecutive defeat. They’ve scored only 10 points in each of those games.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Wide receiver Andre Johnson said his mother taught him when a person decides to take their leave they should exit the same way they entered, explaining why he quietly retired midway through his 14th NFL season.
He also thanked his mother, an uncle, former Houston general manager Charley Casserly, the city of Miami and both the Colts and Titans.
Johnson wrote he is returning home to Houston where he “will always be a Texan.”
He still is the leading receiver in Texans’ history with 1,012 catches for 13,597 yards and 64 TDs.
Associated Press
