BASKETBALL
Skiles leaves Magic
Scott Skiles has stepped down as coach of the Orlando Magic after just one year, the somewhat surprising decision coming about a month after the conclusion of a frustrating regular season. The team said a search for a new coach is starting immediately. Skiles was 35-47 this season, his lone year leading the Magic -- the team that he spent five seasons with as a player as well. The Magic started 19-13 this season, then after the calendar flipped to 2016 they lost 34 of their final 50 games and missed the playoffs. "After much thought and careful consideration, I and I alone, have come to the conclusion that I am not the right head coach for this team," Skiles said in a statement released by the team. "Therefore, effective immediately, I resign my position as head coach of the Orlando Magic. I realize this type of decision can cause much speculation. The reality though is in the first sentence. It is simple and true. Any other rumors are pure conjecture." Orlando improved its victory total by 10 this season compared to its pace from 2014-15, but most of those gains came early in the year. The Magic were 9-6 in November -- the team's first winning month in nearly four years -- then led the Eastern Conference with a 10-5 record in December. Skiles was the NBA's East coach of the month, and the Magic were squarely in the playoff hunt. And then came a freefall that never really stopped. The Magic finished 11th in the East, nine games out of a playoff spot. Orlando's next coach will be the team's fourth in the span of four years.
• LeBron James will soon face a triple-team he can't beat. The NBA superstar, who is making another run toward a title with the Cleveland Cavaliers, said Thursday that he will extend his playing career only as long as his three children will let him. "It's kind of up to my kids, really," said the 31-year-old father, who is in his 13th season as a pro. "I've missed so many of my kids' tournaments and things of that nature when I'm playing. So, it's kind of up to them. They'll let me know when they're tired of seeing me go away." James and his wife, Savannah, have two sons and a daughter: 11-year-old LeBron Jr., 8-year-old Bryce and 19-month-old Zhuri. Both boys play basketball.
HOCKEY
U.S. beats France
The United States moved a step closer to qualifying for the quarterfinals of the hockey world championship by beating France 4-0 on Thursday in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Americans, who were coming off a loss to Finland, have a 2-2 record and ended the day in third place in Group B behind Canada and Finland. The top four teams advance to the next round. Canada heads the group after downing Germany 5-2 in the team's tightest victory yet. The game was 2-2 heading into the third period before Taylor Hall, Boone Jenner and Cody Ceci scored to take the game out of Germany's reach. In Moscow, the Czech Republic routed Norway 7-0 to go three points clear at the top of Group A. Lukas Kaspar scored twice, and Dominik Furch made 26 saves for his second shutout. Host team Russia registered the biggest victory yet, demolishing Denmark 10-1 to take second place in Group A. Vadim Shipachyov scored twice and made three assists, while there was a goal and four assists for Artemi Panarin. For the US, Chris Wideman, Connor Murphy and J.T. Compher scored in quick succession late in the second period. Brady Skjei scored the fourth early in the third. Goaltender Mike Condon made 19 saves for the shutout while the U.S. killed six power plays.
TENNIS
Thiem advances
Roger Federer was eliminated from the Italian Open in Rome on Thursday, losing to 15th-ranked Dominic Thiem 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the third round. Federer withdrew from last week's Madrid Open with lower back pain and has only 10 days before the French Open begins. Federer went up a break early in the first set but Thiem broke right back and Federer made little impact on the Austrian's serve the rest of the way, deciding not to run back to the middle of the court after a couple weak backhand returns. At 22, Thiem is the youngest player in the top 20 of the rankings. Federer said he was just glad that he was able to play two matches on the clay in Rome. "It doesn't matter how I played. (What is) important is that I didn't have any setbacks and I was able to step on the tennis court and that I tried what I could with what I had," said Federer, who defeated German teenager Alexander Zverev in straight sets on Wednesday. In the quarterfinals, Thiem will face either sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori or 11th-seeded Richard Gasquet. In the women's tournament, 11th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky beat eighth-seeded Carla Suarez-Navarro 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, and Irina-Camelia Begu defeated Daria Kasatkins 6-1, 6-4.
• Bernard Tomic has ruled himself out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics for Australia, saying in a statement released Friday that a busy playing schedule and personal circumstances were the reasons. Tomic's selection was under considerable doubt anyway after he turned his racket around the wrong way on match point at a recent tournament in Madrid and said later in an interview that he didn't care because he was 23 and worth $10 million. That led Australian Olympic Committee chef de mission Kitty Chiller to describe Tomic's behavior as "appalling." Tomic said that "on the basis of an extremely busy playing schedule and my own personal circumstances, I am regrettably unable to commit" to Olympic play. He is currently Australia's highest-ranked men's player at No. 24, followed by Nick Kyrgios at 28.
FOOTBALL
Tunsil texts confirmed
Text messages exchanged by Miami Dolphins rookie Laremy Tunsil and Ole Miss officials have been confirmed by the school, which, according to ESPN, is still trying to determine whether they were altered before being published. The texts were part of two social-media incidents that caused Tunsil to tumble to the 13th overall pick in the NFL draft. The first incident was a tweet of a video of Tunsil smoking while wearing a gas-mask/bong. The longer texts were screenshots posted to Tunsil's Instagram account, which has been deleted, and were conversations that occurred in February and April 2015. In them, Tunsil allegedly asks Ole Miss assistant athletic director John Miller for money to pay rent and his mother's $305 utility bill. Miller's answer was to "See Barney next week." That appears to be a reference to Barney Farrar, the school's assistant athletic director for high school and junior college relations. In an interview with ESPN's Joe Schad, Farrar said Tunsil did not ask for money and that he has not given him any. In a news conference after the draft on April 28, Tunsil admitted to taking money from an Ole Miss coach. "I'd have to say yeah," he told reporters. Ole Miss, which has been under investigation by the NCAA since January, released a statement on April 28 which said: "Like we do whenever an allegation is brought to our attention or a potential violation is self-discovered, we will aggressively investigate and fully cooperate with the NCAA and the SEC."
• Pop Warner is eliminating kickoffs in its three youngest football divisions, another safety-focused rules change sure to be noticed and discussed at higher levels of the game. The ban, which will affect ages 5-10, will begin this fall. Instead, the ball will be placed at the 35-yard line to start each half and following scores. The organization, which began in 1929 and has 225,000 children enrolled in football from ages 5-15, said it will review the results of the rules change following next season as it considers implementing the same ban in older age divisions. Pop Warner has also announced a further reduction in contact time during practice, lowering the percentage to 25 from the 33 percent rule that was implemented in 2012.
Sports on 05/13/2016