HOCKEY
Metro All-Stars win
Wayne Simmonds scored the tiebreaking goal with 4:58 to play, and fill-in coach Wayne Gretzky led the Metropolitan Division to a 4-3 victory over the Pacific Division on Sunday in the final match of the revamped NHL All-Star Game. Columbus' Cam Atkinson scored the tying goal for the Metropolitans in the four-team, 3-on-3 divisional tournament format introduced to the midseason classic last season. Washington goalie Braden Holtby then made several big saves to secure the victory for his 11-man team, which will split a $1 million prize. Simmonds, the Flyers' first-time All-Star, was named the game's MVP after he put the Metropolitans ahead. The goal completed a hat trick for the former Kings forward, who is still well-liked in Los Angeles after he was traded to Philadelphia in 2011. Simmonds and Atkinson, a late addition to the team, scored three goals apiece. But the game was secondary when the NHL's best gathered on a 72-degree day in Hollywood. A sellout crowd at Staples Center cheered the first All-Star Game for Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine and a host of young talent. It was also just the second All-Star appearance by Sidney Crosby, who hadn't been healthy for the game since 2007. Crosby and Alex Ovechkin were played together by Gretzky, who stepped in to coach the Metropolitan team when Columbus' John Tortorella couldn't attend the weekend festivities due to an ailing dog. The Pacific beat the Blackhawk-dominated Central Division team 10-3 in the first 20-minute semifinal, and the Metropolitan team beat the Atlantic 10-6 in the second.
BASKETBALL
Love out for tests
Cavaliers All-Star forward Kevin Love will undergo medical tests today and not accompany the team on its trip to Dallas. Love left Cleveland's 107-91 victory over Oklahoma City on Sunday in the first half with back spasms. Love, who has been bothered by back issues since he joined the Cavaliers three seasons ago, missed a game earlier this month with back spasms. Cavs Coach Tyronn Lue said Love will undergo imaging tests today. The Cavaliers visit the Mavericks tonight. Love missed all four shots -- 3 three-pointers -- in the opening half Sunday before he was replaced and went to the locker room with 1:50 left in the second quarter. He struggled to get back on defense during one possession as his back seized up. He is averaging 20.3 points and 11.1 rebounds for the defending NBA champions. The Cavs are already thin in the frontcourt after Chris Andersen went down with a season-ending knee injury. Cavs General Manager David Griffin may try to add another big man before the Feb. 23 trade deadline.
SOCCER
U.S., Serbia a draw
Bruce Arena's second stint as coach of the U.S. national team began the same result as his first, a 0-0 draw. The United States had few scoring chances in Sunday's match against a young Serbia roster, the first game for the Americans since Jurgen Klinsmann was fired after a pair of losses in World Cup qualifiers in November and replaced by Arena. Arena led the team to a 71-30-29 record from 1998-2006, becoming the winningest coach in American national team history and earning election to the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He opened with a tie against Australia and was fired following the team's first-round elimination at the 2006 World Cup. The U.S. plays Jamaica on Friday in an exhibition at Chattanooga, Tenn., then resumes qualifying. After losing its first two games in the final round of the North and Central American and Caribbean region, the U.S. hosts Honduras on March 24 at San Jose, Calif., and plays four days later at Panama. Jozy Altidore became the 17th American men's player to make 100 international appearances, at 27 years, 84 days the second-youngest behind Landon Donovan (26 years, 96 days). Midfielder Sebastian Lletget, 24, entered at the start of the second half in his national team debut. Midfielder Chris Pontius, 29, made his debut in the 65th and defender Jorge Villafana, 27, in the 69th. Benny Feilhaber, now 31, entered in the 77th in his first appearance since January 2014. A member of the 2010 U.S. World Cup roster under Bob Bradley, he played in just three games under Klinsmann. The best scoring chances were just before the final whistle. U.S. goalkeeper Nick Rimando made diving parry to his right on Lazar Jovanovic's angled 10-yard shot in 89th. The U.S. countered, and Pontius slid a shot just wide after Juan Agudelo failed to get an attempt off.
MOTOR SPORTS
Ganassi team wins
No matter the car or the class, it doesn't take Chip Ganassi Racing very long to find victory lane in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The team that dominated this event for more than a decade picked up its seventh victory when Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Sebastien Bourdais held off a charging Porsche in the final hour to win the GT Le Mans class Sunday. Wayne Taylor Racing won the overall title. The team included brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor, retiring veteran Max Angelelli and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon. Ganassi had won the overall Rolex title six times, but he dropped down a class last year to be eligible to race the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It meant the team was fresh out of the starting block at Daytona last year, and the Ganassi cars didn't contend for the victory. But the trio of Hand, Mueller and Bourdais won their class at Le Mans, and that had been the biggest target on the Ford wish list. Still, the manufacturer wanted a victory in the most prestigious sports car race in the United States, and it came back to Daytona far more prepared with four Ganassi entries. Just like the race for the overall victory in the prototype class, the GTLM class came down to the final laps. The class had seven cars finish within eight seconds each other. The class was a battle between Ford, Porsche, Ferrari and Chevrolet, which won the division last year but was kept off the podium Sunday. The Porsche GT Team finished second and the Ferrari team of Risi Competizione was third. In the Prototype Challenge class, Performance Tech Motorsports won in an ORECA ride, but its closest class competitor finished 22 laps behind. In the GT Daytona class, the Porsche 911 from Alegra Motorsports edged the Audi from Montaplast by Land-Motorsport. That class had five cars finish within nine seconds of each other.
FOOTBALL
Colts hire Chiefs exec
Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay is turning to another first-time general manager to get his franchise back on track. Eight days after firing Ryan Grigson and conducting a week of interviews, Irsay hired former Kansas City Chiefs executive Chris Ballard. The announcement came Sunday on the team's website. Ballard has never previously served as a team's top decision-maker, but he comes with a long history as a scout and front-office executive. He was hired by the Chiefs in 2013 as the director of player personnel and was promoted to director of football operations under current GM John Dorsey. Last season, the Chiefs earned the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and they've been a consistent playoff contender despite not having a Pro Bowl quarterback. Like Grigson, Ballard worked with Coach Andy Reid. And like Grigson, the move comes after most teams had already announced offseason coaching and front office changes. Irsay has already said he expects Coach Chuck Pagano to be back next season.
More 49ers interviews
The San Francisco 49ers are planning to conduct a second interview with Atlanta offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan in hopes of settling on the choice for their next head coach. Team CEO Jed York is scheduled to meet with Shanahan in Atlanta on Friday during a break in the Falcons' preparations for the Super Bowl. Shanahan can't sign a contract with San Francisco until after the game on Feb. 5, but he is the only remaining candidate to replace the fired Chip Kelly as 49ers coach. York is also expected to meet Friday for a second interview with potential general manager candidate George Paton to replace the fired Trent Baalke. Paton is assistant GM in Minnesota. The 49ers are undergoing a major overhaul following a 2-14 season that matched the worst in franchise history.
Sports on 01/30/2017