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It's a twirl that now has some heads spinning. Just moments after seventh-ranked Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard crushed her opponent in 54 minutes to advance to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, Australian commentator, Ian Cohen, asked her to “twirl” to show off her hot-pink outfit. The interviewer’s request has now sparked a flood of criticism and cries of sexism. In a video of the incident, Bouchard can be seen on the tennis court following her easy defeat of Kiki Bertens in the second round of the competition. Cohen then tells the 20-year-old: “Now yesterday, or...

Marcus Mariota, widely considered the favorite over co-finalists Melvin Gordon and Amari Cooper, won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in New York. College football's top honor punctuates the Oregon junior quarterback's list of 2014 accolades, which include the Walter Camp, Davey O'Brien, Maxwell and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm awards. Mariota's banner season included 3,783 passing yards and 38 touchdown passes against two interceptions. The dual-threat quarterback also racked up 669 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on the ground.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Bo Pelini was fired on Sunday, ending the seven-year run of the polarizing figure as Nebraska's football coach. "We weren't good enough in the games that mattered," athletic director Shawn Eichorst said in his meeting with the media that lasted nearly 35 minutes. "I didn't see that changing at the end of the day." Eichorst said he will not use a search firm to assist him in finding the next coach. "This isn't a day of celebration for me," he said. "We've got a lot of good, young people in our program who are hurting." Eichorst said...

BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil — The fireworks began at dawn. All around this city, loud pops and bangs rang out as men and women and children, so many dressed in yellow, set off flares and beeped car horns. It was supposed to be a magical day. The Brazilian national soccer team, playing at home, was one game away from a World Cup final. No one could have guessed the tears would come before halftime. No one could have imagined there would be flags burning in the streets before dinner. Certainly no one could have envisioned that any Brazilian fans, watching their...

The Los Angeles Clippers are not yet for sale, but two former NBA All-Stars are among the various parties assembling ownership groups to potentially buy the franchise, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. Once competitors on the court, Grant Hill and Yao Ming now will be among those vying to purchase the Clippers. Sources told ESPN.com on Friday that Grant Hill and Yao Ming are working separately to line up investors to lodge bids for the Clippers when the team is ultimately made available. Donald Sterling has agreed to allow his wife, Shelly, to negotiate a sale of...

The NFL draft — the league’s Radio City-staged, nationally televised, endlessly hyped off-season spectacle — opens Thursday night, and for the first time an openly gay player will be waiting for a phone call. But it could be a long wait for Michael Sam, the University of Missouri defender and all-American who came out in February. Draft analysts say he might not be selected until the last picks are made on Saturday — and perhaps not at all. If that happens, Sam could still sign with a team as an undrafted free agent and play on Sundays this fall. But...

Renée Fleming has hit some important pop-culture markers in the past few months. In September, she went on David Letterman’s show to sing the Top Ten list. Now, she’s going to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. Musical attention at the Super Bowl usually focuses on the halftime show, but since this kind of attention is so rare in classical music these days, and since Fleming is the first opera singer ever to be accorded this, well, honor, the announcement has caused quite a stir.

Thu Oct 24 Carolina Panthers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sun Oct 27 Buffalo Bills @ New Orleans Saints Cleveland Browns @ Kansas City Chiefs Dallas Cowboys @ Detroit Lions Miami Dolphins @ New England Patriots New York Giants @ Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers @ Jacksonville Jaguars New York Jets @ Cincinnati Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers @ Oakland Raiders Atlanta Falcons @ Arizona Cardinals Washington Redskins @ Denver Broncos Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings Mon Oct 28 Seattle Seahawks @ St. Louis Rams Bye: Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Indianapolis, San Diego, Tennessee

Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig, who changed the face of Major League Baseball while leading the sport into an era of unprecedented popularity and prosperity, will formally step down from the office when his current term expires on January 24, 2015. The announcement was made Thursday. "It remains my great privilege to serve the game I have loved throughout my life," Selig said. "Baseball is the greatest game ever invented, and I look forward to continuing its extraordinary growth and addressing several significant issues during the remainder of my term. "I am grateful to the owners throughout Major League Baseball...

For as long as I can remember it has been a tradition that the Tour de France begins with a prologue held on the first Saturday of July. Something changed this year, but the race goes on with a new and exciting route beginning with a specially staged prologue on the French island of Corsica in the Mediterranean Sea.

In last night’s Athletics-Indians game, the A’s trailed by one run with two outs in the ninth inning. Up came shortstop Adam Rosales to face Indians closer Chris Perez. On a 1-1 pitch, Rosales blasted a 93 mile per hour fastball to left center field for a game tying home run. Only the umps didn’t see it that way. They ruled the ball had hit the outfield wall, giving Rosales a double. After a brief protest from A’s manager Bob Melvin, the umpire crew headed for the replay room to make sure of their call. Replays definitively showed the ball...

NFL owners have passed a player safety rule barring ball carriers from using the crown of their helmets to make contact with a defender in the open field. Several coaches and team executives expressed concern about officiating the new rule, but Commissioner Roger Goodell championed it and it passed Wednesday as the owners meetings concluded.

The Baltimore Ravens outlasted the Denver Broncos 38-35 on Saturday in one of the greatest playoff games in NFL history, shocking the No. 1 seed to reach the AFC Championship Game. Ray Lewis, in his 17th season, made 17 tackles in the game. His career isn't over quite yet.

On Tuesday morning, commentary on the broadcast of the Bowl Championship Series national title game between Alabama and Notre Dame included words like “creepy,” “awkward,” “uncomfortable” and “heteronormative.” The subject was not Alabama’s 42-14 victory, but comments made during the game by the ESPN play-by-play announcer Brent Musburger regarding the girlfriend of Alabama quarterback A J McCarron. In the first quarter, ESPN showed McCarron’s girlfriend, Katherine Webb, who was sitting near his parents. Musburger called the 23-year-old Webb, a former Miss Alabama, a “lovely lady” and “beautiful,” and said to his broadcast partner, Kirk Herbstreit, a former quarterback at Ohio...

LINCOLN — Husker Athletic Director Tom Osborne announced his retirement at a news conference Wednesday, capping an eventful five-year stint at the head of Nebraska sports. He will retire, effective Jan. 1, and he will stay on for about six months after that deadline to assist the transition to a new athletic director. The university will begin its search for a new athletic director immediately. "It's been a real privilege to work with Tom," said University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman. "I think he's done an extraordinary job. He's stabilized the department.

NFL Hall Of Fame 2011: Marshall Faulk, Deion Sanders, Shannon Sharpe, Chris Hamburger, Les Richter, Richard Dent and Ed Sabol (NFL Films) Former Kansas City Chiefs OT Willie Roaf will not be part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2011. Roaf made it past the first cut -- from 15 to 10 finalists -- but was not part of the final cut. Your 2011 Pro Football Hall of Famers: Richard Dent, Marshall Faulk, Ed Sabol, Deion Sanders and Shannon Sharpe. Chris Hanburger and Les Richter were senior selections. Deion Sanders seemed to be a lock and Marshall...

CHICAGO -- Quarterback Jay Cutler left Sunday's NFC championship game in the third quarter with a knee injury.

Wednesday's news that Ohio State players were under investigation for exchanging autographs for free tattoos was good for a laugh, and for Vegas to nix the gambling lines on the Buckeyes' upcoming Sugar Bowl date with Arkansas. But tattoos and point spreads are the least of OSU's concerns today. Five players – four of them starters, including mega-hyped 2008 classmates Terrelle Pryor, Mike Adams and DeVier Posey – will miss the first five games of next season for selling jerseys, rings and other memorabilia, putting them on ice for almost half the schedule and potentially sinking another run at the...

Big Ten Conference Reveals New Logo and Honors Football History with Division Names and Trophies Division names and trophies to highlight legends and leaders throughout Big Ten history •New Logos •Applications of New Logos •Video announcing new division names •Full list of Trophy Names •Audio from teleconference with Commissioner James E. Delany Park Ridge, Ill. -- The Big Ten Conference today made several announcements that complete a series of decisions prompted by the upcoming addition of the University of Nebraska - Lincoln as the conference's 12th member school. The conference revealed a new logo to be used for all sports...

The Brad Childress Era in Minnesota is over. The team relieved the head coach of his duties Monday morning, FOXSports.com has learned. MORE TO COME