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"No matter what happens," the Russians "are not going to welcome with open arms" any intervention by outsiders, a source told the Reuters news agency. Discussions are of growing importance as start of the Sochi Games draws near. Events begin Feb. 6, and athletes and officials are expected to reach the Olympic village and venues in the days before the opening ceremonies. Terrorism threats have been a paramount concern since 1972, when Palestinian radicals captured and killed Israeli athletes at the Munich Summer Games....

Jorge Soler, RF, Cubs Posting a .903 OPS in 24 games down the stretch last year was just a taste of what Soler can do. It could easily be back-to-back seasons of Cuban players winning the Rookie of the Year in Chicago, after Jose Abreu did it for the White Sox in 2014. Brett Lawrie, 3B, Athletics Even with a stunningly low .260 BABIP in 2014, Lawrie managed a wRC+ of 101....

The 39-year-old was full of praises for the Kiwi team and, in particular, top order batsman Kane Williamson. He said: “New Zealand are a bit of a dark horse. They’re a very good side. They’re well led (by) Brendon McCullum. “They’ve got a very good coaching support staff there in place and they’ve got all bases covered.” He added: “Kane Williamson has been one of our overseas players for Yorkshire over the past couple of seasons and he’s improving as a player all the time....

We’re here to help you pare it down to the best, can’t-miss matchups the season: MORE: Monday Night Football schedule | Sunday Night | Thurdsay Night | NFL tickets Patriots at Cowboys (Week 5, Sunday Oct. 11, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS) It’s America’s Colors vs. America’s Team. It’s Super Bowl champs vs. Super Bowl drought. It’s Tom Brady vs. Tony Romo in the fourth quarter. Heck, it’s even Robert Kraft’s billions vs....

This year’s event, held Wednesday, June 24, inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena, will be a bit short in star power as compared to previous years. And it’s a good thing the Blackhawks won the biggest trophy of them all because Jonathan Toews is the only member of the Stanley Cup champs who is a finalist for any award. MORE: Candidates for awards and stat-based award winners Other notable names who generally frequent the ballots aren’t up for a single award....

The final of the event was organized in Da Nang, Vietnam on Tuesday. The defeat is a major shock for India and is seen as a setback for the Kabaddi World Cup, which is due to start next month. The Pakistani team won the semi-final against South Korea in a thrilling match with a score of 35-31 and advanced to the final to face their South East Asian rivals on Tuesday....

Valentino Rossi could only muster 4th place ahead of Dani Pedrosa and the ever-impressive Maverick Vinales was 6th. After a successful 2015 campaign against his highly experienced teammate Dovizioso, The Maniac’s challenge got off to a rocky start after a non-finish in Qatar. Moto2 saw Swiss ace Tom Luthi draw first blood with Luis Salom in second and Speed Up’s Simone Corsi in third after what can rightly be termed as an absolutely ding-dong race start where not one, not two but so many riders were caught jumping the start that even I’ve lost count!...

“There is only one party in America trying to keep observers out of the count room, and that party, my friends, is the Democrat Party,” McEnany said during the press conference this week. “You don’t oppose an audit of the vote because you want an accurate count. … You take these positions because you are welcoming fraud and you are welcoming illegal voting,” she added, without providing evidence. Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto cut away from broadcasting the White House official’s remarks, pointing out that the allegations were unfounded....

But isn’t that how fantasy baseball always goes: When there are a lot of “sleepers,” it only means the position is super shallow (again). That said, these sleepers below will be worth a late-round lottery ticket on draft day just in case they break out. 2016 FANTASY BASEBALL RANKINGS:First | Second | Short | Third | Outfield | Catchers | Starters | Relievers | Prospects With that in mind, let’s take a look at the top five fantasy sleepers at SS for 2016....

It went right down to the wire as the Men in Blue had held the Kookaburras to a 0-0 scoreline after regulation time before a controversy-ridden penalty shootout settled the tie in favour of the victorious Green and Gold. At the end of all the scintillating hockey action that raged over a week at the bustling English venue, the championship took an ugly turn in the dying stages. The second round of the shootout saw Daniel Beale’s hit blocked and steered to safety by Indian keeper Sreejesh which didn’t please the Aussies who referred it upstairs to the TV umpire who then ruled the shot be retaken as a result of the Indian’s illegal obstruction....

Marcus Paige, North Carolina Paige is a big name in college basketball, but his play in his senior season doesn’t reflect his reputation (12.1 ppg, 3.7 apg, 2.5 rpg). MORE: Ranking every team’s odds of winning | 68 facts about the tourney However, he’s still a leader on arguably the most talented team in the country. If he can recapture his shooting stroke and facilitate quality shots for teammates Brice Johnson, Joel Berry and Justin Jackson, then he could be the difference for the Tar Heels....

MORE: 3 things we learned at the British Open When is the 2016 PGA Championship? The event — July 28 through 31 — was moved from its usual August dates with an eye toward the Olympic golf tournament in mid-August in Rio de Janeiro, though several of the world’s top players have opted not to play in the Olympics. Who is the reigning PGA Championship winner? Current world No. 1 Jason Day — among those who’ve opted out of Rio — won last year’s PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis....

Could this be the match where their efforts finally bear fruit? We take a look: Men’s singles: Tommy Sugiarto (DA) vs Lee Chong Wei (HH) (probable) This is a match-up the Delhi Acers’ Tommy Sugiarto certainly wouldn’t welcome. He has played the former World No. 1 Malaysian 13 times and succeeded in taking a game off him just twice!Surely, the odds are in favour of the visitors in this contest and there’s no doubt that this will be the Hunters’ choice for their ‘Trump Match’....

You remember the Open … fourth Grand Slam event of the year, showcased in a borough of New York City, with all the big names involved. The latter was confirmed on Tuesday when tournament seeds were announced. MORE: Scenes from 2015 U.S. Open Seeds are no surprise, following the rankings from the men’s Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women’s Tennis Association. Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber top the women’s list; Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray are 1-2 among men....

5Dimes has posted odds on a handful of Week 1’s best games next season with low limits and some extra juice. Check them out below. MORE: 2016-17 title odds | SN’s early top 20 rankings Here are 10 games in Week 1 the Sporting News staff is excited about, and full national championship odds for next season. College football betting lines, Week 1, 2016 Clemson -6 Auburn +6 Notre Dame -4 Texas +4...

The defending Cup champions looked worn down, were suffering from too many injuries and would not hold up over another grueling two months of hockey was the reasoning of both players. Halfway through the playoffs, a former league executive lamented, “the best team is not going to win the Cup this year… the Penguins are simply running on fumes and won’t be able to finish it off.” Yet somehow, despite those prognostications and obstacles, the Penguins are one win away from their second straight Stanley Cup championship, what would be the third of the Sidney Crosby era....

Purav Raja’s Wimbledon came to an end as he and his partner Eri Hozumi were beaten in the second round by the Canadian-Slovenian pair of Daniel Nestor and Andreja Klepac. Raja was previously beaten in the second round of the Men’s Doubles tournament partnering Divij Sharan as they were beaten by 7th seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram in an epic match where the American-South African pair won the match via a tie-break....