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The 7-seed Kentucky Wildcats sent shockwaves into the women’s college basketball world Sunday when they took down the top-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks 64-62 in the SEC Championship Game. But, while the Gamecocks suffered a big loss at the hands of Kentucky, the Wildcats almost suffered a major loss off the hand of… John Calipari? Well, more appropriately, the wrist of John Calipari. The men’s head basketball head coach was in attendance to see the upset win Sunday, a day after his team finished the regular season with a win over Florida....

Because if that was the plan, it was a failure along the lines of having the players running stadium stairs on game day. MORE: SN’s exclusive Calipari series | UK’s greatest players of all time “I’m here to announce our recruiting class for this year,” Calipari said on a video posted to the official Kentucky athletics website. And then he named them all: De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Wenyen Gabriel, Sacha Killeya-Jones, Tai Wynyard, Bam Adebayo....

Cleese on Tuesday took to the social media platform Twitter to announce he was pulling out of appearing at the leading UK institution after a fellow attendee was barred by “woke” staff and students. “I was looking forward to talking to students at the Cambridge Union this Friday, but I hear that someone there has been blacklisted for doing an impersonation of Hitler,” Cleese told his 5.6 million Twitter followers....

Recent polls have shown a narrowing between Fetterman and Oz in recent weeks and one survey giving the Republican a notable lead for what it believed to be the first time in the ill-tempered race. Fetterman had opened up a double-digit lead over Oz in the summer, but a strong nationwide trend toward Republicans appeared to have dented the Lieutenant Governor’s Senate hopes. University College London Political Science Associate Professor Thomas Gift noted while Republicans had been given a nationwide boost, Fetterman had also fallen victim to effective campaigning by Oz’s team....

Jim Harbaugh has been quiet regarding his highly questioned coaching future. During a news conference Monday he said, “What will happen, will happen. What won’t happen, won’t happen.” His brother, however, was a little more vocal. “I know just from Jim’s standpoint, he’s done something there that’s been absolutely historic and amazing, it’s never been really accomplished in the history of football before, in terms of what he’s done for the city and for the fans there and for the players there,” John Harbaugh said, via ProFootballTalk....

Break the mold, Jets. Go ahead and fire John Idzik. This is his fault. MORE: Jets try trick play, fail miserably | Sammy Watkins’ TD celebration blooper | Must-see images It’s mind-numbing to realize that going into Sunday’s home game against the Bills, these Jets were still dealing in fantasies and delusions. They hung in there at New England two Thursdays ago, so there’s light at the end of the tunnel....

The answer, unfortunately, could be the people who ultimately have the power to decide whether piped-in crowd noise will blanket this previously unheard chatter. Fred Gaudelli, the executive producer of NBC Sports’ “Sunday Night Football,” was recently interviewed by The Athletic on the subject of sports TV presentations without fans in the stands. He referenced his conversation with Madden, the Pro Football Hall of Famer whom he had asked for advice on whether to utilize artificial crowd noise on live game broadcasts....

After Madden died on Dec. 28 last year, there were questions about what kinds of tributes would be paid to him. And perhaps fittingly, the NFL has elected to pull out all the stops on Thanksgiving, a day in which Madden was an annual mainstay. The day will be called the “John Madden Thanksgiving Celebration” and will become an annual event for the NFL. All three networks showing games – CBS, FOX, and NBC – will have tributes to Madden....

McCain, the 2008 Republican nominee for president, was a regular spectator at Arizona’s major sports venues, most notably Chase Field, home of MLB’s Diamondbacks. The D-backs and the state’s major sports franchises tweeted tributes soon after McCain’s death was announced. MORE: Notable sports deaths of 2018 Diamondbacks Cardinals Arizona wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald last December wrote an appreciation of McCain for SI.com. Fitzgerald lauded McCain for his courage during his time as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War....

Mbaye Diagne’s brace inspired Uli Stielike’s men to victory to remain afloat after Yanbian bowed 2-1 at home to Henan Jianye. The Tigers look destined for relegation at the beginning of June no thanks to their appalling run that saw them lose 10 out of 13 matches. But a change in fortune saw them step up their game-winning four games at a bounce to steer clear of relegation battle with two games left....

The Olympics, or “your biennial reminder that NBC exists,” are fast approaching, but not without controversy, Oliver noted. Russia has been accused of state-sanctioned doping, and some of those accusations apparently turned out to be true as members of their track and field teams were been banned from competing in Rio. MORE: Oliver vs. Yankees | RIO: No more test samples “If we truly want to clean up sports, we should empower WADA by making it truly independent, and put pressure on the broader sports system to aggressively combat doping,” Oliver states....

OK, that fight isn’t actually going to happen, but they are trading a few verbal jabs. During Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver tackled the topic of how to bring back sports amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He noted that companies such as WWE and AEW are still producing new shows in Florida, where “professional sports and media production with a national audience” are considered an essential service as long as events are closed to the general public....

Ready the box offices, because John Scott: The Movie is happening. MORE: Athletes who became actors | Best sports movies of all time Mandalay Sports Media, a production company responsible for other sports titles like “Coach Carter,” “Hardball” and “Radio,” announced Tuesday it has acquired the rights to Scott’s story. The feature-length film, which has not yet been given a title, will be produced by Mike Tollin and Jon Weinbach, with Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom writing the script....

You’re backpedaling. It’s a recipe for a defensive disaster, and that’s just what happened when calamity struck Pelicans forward Dante Cunningham in the form of a Wall behind-the-back crossover. It sent Cunningham, crashing to the floor much the same directions the Pelicans’ (22-34) playoff chances are headed following a 109-89 loss on the road. MORE: Classic Stephen Curry photos | Has Curry really ‘hurt the game’? Wall finished with his second triple-double of the season: 16 points, 11 assists and 12 rebounds....

Walsh has joined the hunt to find the missing 23-year-old who returned home alone after the pair set off on a cross-country trip. Petito’s body has since been found in a national forest in Wyoming while Laundrie had refused to talk to police. The veteran true crime presenter is familiar with the process behind locating missing persons, as, he says, he was involved in finding 1,422 most-wanted fugitives and 61 missing children on the hit show....

Raiders safety Johnathan Abram tore his rotator cuff Monday in the first quarter of his team’s 24-16 victory over the Broncos, according to multiple reports. Although Abram was able to play 77 percent of Oakland’s snaps following his injury, it will require surgery and could cost him the rest of 2019. The 22-year-old Mississippi State product has developed a reputation for his big hits and was selected as a first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft....

The Pirates of the Caribbean actor testified about using recreational drugs with WandaVision actor Paul Bettany and musician Marilyn Manson. Heard’s attorney Ben Rottenborn showed the court text exchanges between Bettany and Depp including one in which the two actors once joked about killing Heard. Texts from June 2013 showed Depp and Bettany joking about how to kill Heard, with Depp writing: “Let’s burn Amber!!!” Paul wrote back: “I’m not sure we should burn Amber....

Manziel plans to join the startup Fan Controlled Football league, according to ESPN. The new league will feature 7-on-7 play where fans set rosters and call plays in an interactive experience. Play in Fan Controlled Football is scheduled to start in February. “The more I heard about what this was going to be, the more I felt it was going to be something that was just very fun,” Manziel told ESPN....

With Monday’s exhibition at FedEx Field scoreless with 5:25 left in the first quarter, Manziel took over at Washington’s 46-yard line, thanks to Joe Haden’s interception and 37-yard return. On second-and-5, Manziel threw behind tight end Jordan Cameron — much as starter Brian Hoyer had in his first series — then was sacked by Ryan Kerrigan on third-and-5. Kerrigan collapsed the pocket from the left side of the defense and grabbed Manziel, then hung on when Manziel tried to twist away....