College Football
Strong preaches toughness in his introduction at Texas
AUSTIN, Texas – New Texas football coach Charlie Strong said the Longhorns will field a mentally and physically tough team as he tries to push the program back among the national elite.
Texas introduced its new coach at a 45-minute news conference Monday. Strong breezed through with jokes and smiles before ending it with a “Hook’em Horns” hand signal.
Strong also acknowledged the historical significance of being the school’s first African-American head coach of a men’s sport.
Strong spent the last four seasons at Louisville and went 23-3 the last two years. He takes over for Mack Brown, who stepped down last month after 16 seasons.
College Basketball
Arizona sits atop a topsy-turvy top 25 after crazy weekend
Arizona is No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll for the fifth consecutive week, but for the first time in that span there are changes in the top 25.
The Wildcats (15-0) were still a runaway No. 1, with Syracuse, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State remaining the next four teams. Arizona received 60 first-place votes from the national media panel, while Syracuse (14-0) got the other five.
Wichita State was sixth, followed by Baylor, Villanova, Iowa State and Florida.
Duke, which lost at Notre Dame, dropped to No. 16, the first time the Blue Devils are out of the top 10 since December 2007.
No. 23 Illinois and No. 25 Kansas State moved into the rankings for the first time this season replacing Connecticut, which had been 17th, and North Carolina, which was 19th.
World Cup Skiing
Neureuther wins slalom, protests Russian anti-gay laws
BORMIO, Italy – Regaining his health from a series of injuries and falls, German skier Felix Neureuther announced himself as a medal contender for the Sochi Olympics by edging first-run leader Marcel Hirscher to win a World Cup slalom Monday night.
Then Neureuther used the spotlight to announce his opposition to Russia’s human rights record and a recent law banning gay “propaganda” in the Olympic host country. He also criticized the choice of Pyeongchang, South Korea, to host the 2018 Winter Games.
“It’s not right,” Neureuther said. “The guys from the IOC should think about where to put the Olympic Games. It’s not right to give the Olympic Games to places where they are giving the most money. It should be about the sport, in nations where there is passion.”
Neureuther is from the well-known Alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. He is the son of 1976 Olympic champion Rosi Mittermaier and Christian Neureuther, a six-time winner on the World Cup circuit.
The younger Neureuther now also has six career wins. And this victory was a major achievement considering what he’s gone through over the past year.
Neureuther had ankle surgery in June and was off skis until the end of September. Then he tumbled head over heels during the second run of a race in Levi, Finland, in November and hurt his knee.
Golf
Zach Johnson’s run of birdies wins Tournament of Champions
KAPALUA, Hawaii – Zach Johnson started the new year the same way he ended the last one.
Johnson pulled away with three consecutive birdies on the back nine at Kapalua and closed with a 7-under 66 to win the Tournament of Champions on Monday.
He didn’t need any heroics, like holing out from a drop zone when he beat Tiger Woods in the World Challenge last month. This was mainly about chipping and putting, and Johnson is among the best.
He won by one shot over Jordan Spieth, who birdied the last two holes for a 69.
It was Johnson’s third win in his last six starts.
Associated Press
