Becky Sullivan

The University of Texas quarterback Arch Manning has, uh, apologized after a barrage of criticism for joking about an AI-generated clip of ESPN reporter Holly Rowe that went viral after the Longhorns' dramatic comeback win over Ohio State last weekend.

Here's NPR's Becky Sullivan.

On the field right after the end of Saturday's game, ESPN's Holly Rowe approached Texas coach Steve Sarkisian for the usual post-game interview.

But Sarkisian walked away as she tried to ask her first question.

It's the second Grand Slam title for Zverev this year, while the long-running drought for American men continues.

NPR's Becky Sullivan has more.

Even before the first serve of Sunday's match, Shelton's appearance in the final was a bit of history.

He is mixed race.

The big two of men's tennis these days, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, have both had injuries this year, leaving the door unusually wide open for others, and Zverev has taken advantage.

He won the French Open earlier this summer and, with Sunday's win, now has a second career slam to his name.

Becky Sullivan, NPR News, New York.

Beijing is tightening its ban on drones to include possession within city limits.

American tennis player Ben Shelton has advanced to the U.S. Open Men's Singles Final.

NPR's Becky Sullivan reports he won in four sets over fellow American Frances Tiafoe.

Friday's semifinal between Shelton and Tiafoe was plenty anticipated because both players are American men.

No American man has won any Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick last won the U.S. Open back in 2003.

He will face Alexander Zverev, the German who won the French Open earlier this summer.

The match is set to start at 2:00 PM Eastern Time, Sunday.

Becky Sullivan, NPR News.

Diesel prices in the U.S. have reached another record high as the war with Iran continues to disrupt global fuel supplies.

The NFL season kicks off today with a Super Bowl rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots.

NPR's Becky Sullivan reports the league is rolling out a new three-strike policy for dangerous tackles.

The NFL is kicking off with four primetime games over six days.

There's tonight's Super Bowl rematch in Seattle.

The most significant rule change this season is a new three-strike suspension system for a handful of different kinds of dangerous tackles: hip drop tackles, horse collar tackles, launching, blindside blocks, and hits on defenseless players.

Now, any player who commits three violations in any one of those categories will automatically receive a one-game suspension.

Becky Sullivan, NPR News.

Wall Street's trading lower at this hour.

A controversial decision by college football officials spoiled Western Michigan's upset of rival Michigan over the weekend.

NPR's Becky Sullivan reports the college sports conference that includes Western Michigan has filed a rare appeal to try and overturn the result.

Western Michigan seemed to have pulled off the first big upset of the season when a Hail Mary attempt by Michigan was called incomplete after the game clock on the TV broadcast appeared to hit zero.

Then officials determined, through the use of replay feeds that were not shown on TV, that in fact there was still one second left for Michigan to try again.

On the second attempt, Michigan scored a touchdown that put them ahead 13 to 12 for the win.

Now, the Mid-American Conference has asked both the NCAA and the College Football Playoff to recognize Western Michigan as, quote, "The actual winner of the game." The conference argues that established replay protocol was not followed and that officials should have referenced the game clock shown on TV.

Becky Sullivan, NPR News.

American Airlines is honoring the memory of Dolly Parton by renumbering one of its flights between Dallas-Fort Worth and Nashville.

That's the name that most people know, uh, and it's caused by repetitive hits to the head, injuries to the brain.

NPR's sports correspondent, Becky Sullivan, is a good friend, and she's been covering this research, which I gotta say, Becky, has been, like, very sobering.

Yeah.

I mean, we've come to learn a lot about this disease over the years, right? Like what it looks like in the brain, who's at risk for getting it.

The judge said that the claims by Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend and accomplice were based on, quote, "speculation, distortions, and/or outright falsehoods." A new study of former NFL players finds that at least a quarter of athletes who died within a five-year period had the neurodegenerative condition CTE.

NPR's Becky Sullivan reports the research from Mass General Brigham is the most comprehensive attempt to understand CTE's prevalence.

For years, former NFL players and their families have been donating their brains to researchers to see whether they had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.

That means most research has something of a sample bias, as many samples came from people with symptoms of brain disease, like mood swings or memory loss.

Researchers counted up every player who'd appeared in at least one NFL game anytime since 1949, then focused on those who died between 2016 and 2021.

With more than two hundred donated brains already definitively diagnosed with CTE, that set a minimum prevalence of about twenty-five percent.

In a statement, the NFL told NPR the league, quote, "continuously strives to make the game of football safer, including by implementing strategies to reduce concussions and head impacts." Becky Sullivan, NPR News.

The sixty-fifth German Finger Wrestling Championships took place over the weekend.