MLB:
In baseball, in the American League, the Yankees beat Boston 5-1 but not before honoring David Ortiz. Ortiz was presented an oil painting of himself and a leather-bound book with handwritten letters from current and former Yankees during a pregame ceremony Thursday night to mark his final game in the Bronx. Accompanied by wife Tiffany, daughter Alexandra and son D'Angelo, Ortiz was given the book by retired Yankees pitcher David Cone and current New York outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, a former Boston teammate.
The Yankees were eliminated from playoff contention despite a 5-1 win over the Boston Red Sox that completed a three-game sweep of the AL East champions. New York, which could not overcome a 9-17 start, lost out when Baltimore's 4-0 victory at Toronto knocked out the Yankees.
Meanwhile Baltimore shut out Toronto 4-0, Minnesota won against Kansas City 7-6, Tmapa Bay beat the White Sox 5-3, and it was Seattle over Oakland 3-2.
In the National League, Washington beat Arizona 5-3, the Cubs tied Pittsburgh 1-1 in 6 innings, Atlanta won against Philadelphia 5-2, St. Louis edged Cincinnati 4-3, the Dodgers topped San Diego 9-4, and it was San Francisco over Colorado 7-2.
Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez has been remembered as a larger than life figure during a homily at his funeral. The private service drew about 300 mourners, who nearly filled the large sanctuary at St. Brendan Catholic Church in Miami. Pallbearers wore black Fernandez jerseys as they carried his casket. The 24-year old, two-time All-Star died early Sunday along with two friends in a boating accident off Miami Beach. Among those in attendance were Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, busloads of current and former Marlins players and team personnel including two hall-of-famers, Marlins executives Tony Perez and Andre Dawson.
NHL:
In NHL preseason play, the Rangers beat New Jersey 3-1, Buffalo edged Toronto 1-0 in a shootout, Columbus beat Nashville 3-2, Ottawa won against Montreal 4-3, Tampa Bay shut out Florida 2-0, and it was Winnipeg over Minnesota 4-1.
NCAA:
In top 25 college football, No. 6 Houston blasted UConn 42-14.
NFL:
On Thursday Night Football, Cincinnati won against Miami 22-7.
On Sunday, Buffalo takes on New England at 1 p.m., Seattle will go head to head with the Jets at 1 p.m., and the Giants face Minnesota at 8:30 p.m.
The New York Jets have signed wide receiver/kick returner Jeremy Ross and placed defensive lineman Lawrence Thomas on injured reserve with a torn labrum. Ross was with the Jets in training camp, but was among the team's final cuts. He will replace rookie Jalin Marshall, expected to be sidelined a few weeks with a torn labrum, as New York's primary returner.
New York Jets wide receiver Eric Decker sat out his second straight practice with a shoulder injury, increasing the possibility that he could miss the game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Decker did not even participate in stretching with the team Thursday, standing on the sideline in street clothes while his teammates practiced.
The question of whether Washington's NFL team will continue to be called the Redskins could be answered by the Supreme Court, which will hear a First Amendment challenge over the government's refusal to register offensive trademarks. The justices agreed to take up a dispute involving an Asian-American rock band called the Slants, but they did not act on a separate request to hear the higher-profile Redskins case at the same time. Still, a high court ruling in favor of the Slants could bolster the football team's legal fight. Both argue that it is unconstitutional for the government to reject trademark rights for offensive speech.
The Redskins hoped to piggyback on the band's case. The team is asking the Supreme Court to consider both disputes at the same time. The trademark office canceled the team's trademarks last year after finding they are disparaging to Native Americans.
Lady Gaga will headline the Super Bowl 51 halftime show next year in Houston. NFL and Pepsi announced that the pop star will take the stage on Feb. 5, 2017. Gaga sang the National Anthem at the Super Bowl earlier this year in Santa Clara, California.
Suspended Browns receiver Josh Gordon says he's entering a rehab facility to "gain full control of my life." Gordon is serving a four-game suspension for multiple violations of the NFL's substance abuse policy. He was eligible to return next week, but the troubled 25-year-old has released a statement saying he'll seek in-patient care. He was banned by the league for all of last season. Gordon has been suspended for 30 of Cleveland's past 35 games.
Carolina Panthers' coach Ron Rivera says running back Jonathan Stewart will miss Sunday's game with Atlanta. This will be the second straight game he will have missed because of a hamstring injury. Stewart was injured in the team's Week 2 win against San Francisco and he hasn't practiced since. Carolina will also be without first-round pick Vernon Butler, who's expected to miss a few weeks with a high ankle sprain.
In other NFL injury news:
— Bears QB Jay Cutler sat out of practice Thursday because of a sprained right thumb. Cutler missed Sunday night's 31-17 loss at Dallas. He had practiced Wednesday on a limited basis for the first time since his injury occurred Sept. 19 in a 29-14 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
World Cup – Hockey:
Canada had no interest in playing Game 3 against Team Europe in the World Cup of Hockey finals.
Pushed to the brink of possibly playing a decisive game, the Canadians picked it up a notch and there simply was nothing the Europeans could do about it.
Brad Marchand scored a short-handed goal with 43.1 seconds left after Patrice Bergeron tied it with 2:53 to go on a power play, giving Canada to a 2-1 victory over Europe on Thursday night and the World Cup of Hockey title.
What was Sidney Crosby thinking in the final minutes?
"We don't want to go to Game 3," he said after winning the MVP award with a World Cup-high 10 points, helping Canada win the best-of-three series 2-0. "Anything can happen in one game. Especially the last 10 minutes, we were really pressing."
Here are some takeaways from the last game of the first World Cup of Hockey since 2004:
OH, CANADA: Like the U.S. in Olympic basketball, the rest of the world is trying to catch Canada in hockey. Sure, a group of NHL players from eight European nations played better than the Canadians for much of Game 2. But when it mattered most, the Canadians flexed their muscle, used their speed and flashed their talent to take care of business. Canada has won 16 straight best-on-best hockey games and two Olympic gold medals since getting stunned by the U.S. early in the 2010 Olympics. During the dominating streak, the Canadians have won by an average of more than 2½ goals per game.
"The only way you get to celebrate being the best in the world is when you prove it," Canada coach Mike Babcock said.
SUPER STREAK: Crosby , coming off his second Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh, has won 25 straight games with a maple leaf on his sweater. In addition to the 16-game, best-on-best streak, Crosby helped Canada win nine straight games at the 2015 world championships.
"In the biggest moments, he turns it up," Babcock said.
PRICE IS NICE: Canada goaltender Carey Price has not played in an NHL game in more than 10 months because a knee injury knocked him out of the Montreal Canadiens' lineup last season. Rusty? Hardly. Price made 32 saves in the final game of the World Cup, lowering his goals-against average to 1.4 and improving his record to 5-0 in the tournament.
"We took a lot of risks in this game and Carey Price was, once again, was just amazing," Europe coach Ralph Krueger said.
At the Sochi Games, Price's GAA was 0.59 and his record was 5-0 to help Canada win gold at the second straight Winter Olympics.
MISSING IN ACTION: Anze Kopitar was arguably Europe's best player, but he didn't score a goal and had just four points in six games. The Los Angeles Kings forward from Slovenia bristled when asked about Crosby's line following Game 1, saying he didn't match up with the trio. Kopitar did start Game 2 matched up with Crosby, Marchand and Bergeron. Given the last change as the home team, Krueger also put Kopitar in the game at other times when Crosby and Co. were in the game. Like a lot of players, even some of the world's best, Kopitar came up short trying to slow down Canada's top line. And when Canada was attacking late in the game, Kopitar was called for holding and Canada took advantage with a game-tying goal.
PARTING SHOT: Some chuckled at the concept of combining eight European nations, outside of the continent's traditional powers, before the tournament began. By the end of it, though, no one was laughing at a team that deserved to be in the finals.
"This group just continued to surprise and beat the odds and beat the thoughts of everybody that was watching," Krueger said. "Looking back, I know with some distance from today, we will do nothing but celebrate this month of September 2016 as a special month for this Team Europe group and what they did here."
Skating:
Renowned figure skating costume designer Jef Billings has died at 71. He was a long-time designer and director for Stars on Ice, which announced his death on its Facebook page. Close friend and assistant Regina Winters said he died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. Billings was with the Stars on Ice tour since its inception, working with such skaters as Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi and Kurt Browning. The figure skating show said Billings had the "rare capacity to match to the skaters' personalities, music and points of view perfectly with each body." Billings was born in Utica, New York. He was a costume designer for "Peggy Fleming: An Evening On Ice" and won several Emmy Awards for his television work.
NBA:
A judge has ordered lawyers handling a rape lawsuit against NBA star Derrick Rose to temporarily stop talking to reporters. U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald said Thursday he was inclined to issue a longer gag order in light of pretrial publicity about the case, which is scheduled to begin trial on Tuesday in Los Angeles. Rose is being sued by a 30-year-old woman who accuses him and two of his friends of gang raping her in her apartment in 2013. The woman, identified in court filings only as Jane Doe, dated Rose for two years before the alleged rape. Rose contends he had consensual sex with the woman. Fitzgerald accused the woman's attorneys of using the press to put pressure on Rose's new team, the New York Knicks, and force the guard to settle the case.
Guard Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks is expected to miss six months after surgery to repair his ruptured left hamstring. The 25-year old, who averaged a career-high 18.2 points and 4.2 assists a game in 79 games last season, suffered the injury during preseason workouts on Sept. 20. Middleton was drafted by Detroit in the second round in 2012 and traded to Milwaukee the following year.
LPGA:
The leader of the LPGA event in China is Ariya Jutanugarn. She's won five events this season. She birdied the final four holes for an 8-under 65 to claim a one-stroke lead over Brooke Henderson. Should Jutanugarn finish ninth or better she would take over the lead in the Player of the Year standings from idle Lydia Ko.
PGA:
Europe is sending the Olympic gold and silver medalists out for the first match of the Ryder Cup. Gold medalist Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson are in today's opening foursomes match against Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed. Stenson and Rose won all three of their matches in 2014 at Gleneagles, while Spieth and Reed went 2-0-1 as a team. Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler will play together for the first time since 2010 at Wales. They will face Rory McIlroy and Andy Sullivan, one of six European rookies. The only other rookie in the opening session is Thomas Pieters, who will partner with Lee Westwood in the final match against Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar. The third match is Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson against Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer.
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