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Ahead of this year’s Players Championship, Brooks Koepka divulged that he’d lost 24 pounds in less than five months, and said he felt “out of sorts” because of it.
When asked why, he simply said, “you’ll see.”
Turns out the rumors were right. He was preparing to be featured in ESPN’s The Body Issue, and he posted a photo Wednesday on his Instagram.
In his post, Koepka encouraged followers to "go get a copy," to which Justin Thomas replied in the comments, "Nah man ... I'm good."
Koepka said he went from 212 pounds to 190 pounds in that short period and his driving statistics were off after training twice a day and eating healthier, but he was eager to "be able to eat again" after that stretch of intensity was over.
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Chelsea right-back Davide Zappacosta has joined Italian side AS Roma on loan initially until the end of January after signing a new one-year contract, the Premier League club said on Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Italy international's new deal takes his contract at Chelsea through to June 2022.
Zappacosta joined Chelsea from Serie A side Torino in 2017 and has made 52 appearances for the club in all competitions, although he was limited to four league matches last season.
He played 10 matches in Chelsea's triumphant Europa League campaign last season.
"I'm pleased to join Roma, after an experience overseas that helped me progress as both a player and a person," Zappacosta said in a statement on Roma's website.
1:35
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Mina Rzouki breaks down the race for fourth place in Serie A, which looks set to be a season-long battle between Milan and Roma.
"Being able to play for a great club like this is a huge motivation -- I cannot wait to start training alongside my new teammates."
Roma said that they had the option of extending Zappacosta's loan until June 2020.
"I'm pleased to be able to have Davide on my team once again," Roma sporting director Gianluca Petrachi, who worked with Zappacosta at Torino, said.
"Compared with the player that I knew at Torino, now Roma are getting a player who has matured both as a player and a person after a valuable spell in another league.
"I am certain that Davide will be able to make an important contribution during the course of the season."
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Wayne Rooney was sent off in D.C. United's 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls on Wednesday night, continuing what has been a tumultuous week for the England legend.
Just days after he was involved in a furious altercation with the fourth official in DCU's 1-0 defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps, Derby-bound Rooney was given a red card the 24th minute following a video review that determined he had hit NYRB's Michael Murillo with his forearm.
Both teams would end up finishing the game with 10 men, with Red Bulls defender Amro Tarek also dismissed before half-time by referee Ismail Elfath, who also came under fire from the D.C. crowd for his decision to award the Red Bulls' penalty.
- Carlisle: Why Wayne Rooney swapped D.C. for Derby
Ola Kamara scored his first goal for D.C. in his first start since signing with the team before the close of the secondary transfer window earlier this month. But his new teammate Lucas Rodriguez erred on both Red Bulls goals in a game that saw the teams swap places in the MLS standings. The Red Bulls (12-10-5, 41 points) now sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, a place ahead of D.C (10-9-9, 39 points).
After trailing most of the match, Kamara put D.C. level in the 55th minute with a memorable first goal for his new team. After taking a pass from Joseph Mora near the edge of the penalty area, Kamara took a touch to his right, then curled a long-range effort that arced around Luis Robles dive and into the top corner.
The lead lasted only four minutes. Kaku played a ball from the right flank into Murillo's run into the penalty area, and Murillo went down as though clipped by the trailing Rodriguez, and Elfath pointed to the spot.
D.C.'s players protested and the Audi Field crowd roared with chants of "V-A-R" seeking a video review, but none was coming, and Daniel Royer converted the spot kick to put the visitors back in front.
Kaku gave the Red Bulls the early lead in the sixth minute when he took advantage of Rodriguez's failure to immediately clear away Marc Rzatkowski's cross and drove his finish between Bill Hamid and the near post from about 10 yards out.
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Pac-12 decides against 9 a.m. kickoffs this year
Published in
Breaking News
Wednesday, 21 August 2019 19:29

The Pac-12 has decided not to move forward with any 9 a.m. PT kickoffs this season, but is open to revisiting the idea in the future, a conference spokesman confirmed Wednesday.
Andrew Walker, the Pac-12's vice president for public affairs, said schools needed more time to plan for any potential earlier kickoff slot.
"Our interested schools need more lead time for discussions with all relevant stakeholders," Walker said. "There is interest from Fox and there is interest from some of our schools, but need more time to plan properly."
At Pac-12 media day last month, commissioner Larry Scott said the conference had held preliminary discussions about the potential for playing a couple of league games in that time slot as early as this season. Scott cited fan frustration with late-night kickoffs and the exposure for the Pac-12 in new markets as reasons to consider the change.
Several coaches, including UCLA's Chip Kelly, Utah's Kyle Whittingham and Cal's Justin Wilcox, all expressed an interest in playing an early game when the idea was raised last month.
Multiple schools expressed interest in continuing to explore the concept for 2020, according to Walker.
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Jets' Bell: 'Need' teammates to hit me in practice
Published in
Breaking News
Wednesday, 21 August 2019 19:41

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Before practice each day, New York Jets running back Le'Veon Bell tells his defensive teammates, "Give me a little something."
Bell, who is being held out of the preseason games as a precaution, wants to get his body acclimated to contact before making his Jets debut in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills. So, in a very un-running-back-like move, he's asking to be tackled.
"Go for the ball, things like that, just so I can get prepared," Bell said Wednesday.
The Jets' prized free-agent addition will sit out Saturday night against the New Orleans Saints, just as he did the first two preseason games. The starters aren't expected to play the preseason finale. Bell, 27, said he's on board with coach Adam Gase's decision to keep him out of live action, confident he can get his regular-season prep on the practice field.
Because of his contract dispute last season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bell hasn't played a game in 19 months.
"I know once I get to the game it's going to be a little different, but that's something I'll adjust to," he said. "I've been playing football my whole life."
Bell doesn't want his teammates to deliver punishing hits, but he said he believes some upper-body contact will do him some good. If they shy away, he said he'll try to get under their skin by initiating contact.
"I try to do that intentionally, just so I can feel it," he said. "A lot of times you'll start seeing guys get a little frustrated and they'll try to hit me back -- and that's what I need. They won't take me to the ground and they won't go for my legs. Hitting me up top, things like that, I need all that."
Gase has increased Bell's practice reps, giving him approximately 15 "touches" per day -- a lot for a running back. Gase said he felt it wasn't worth the risk to expose Bell in the preseason, so he opted to keep his No. 1 offensive weapon on the sideline.
"I don't think getting me four plays in the preseason is going to help me in Week 1," Bell said.
To stay involved, Bell dressed for the first two games and participated in the pregame warm-ups. Quarterback Sam Darnold couldn't resist the opportunity to razz his new teammate.
"He's out there in the pregame with the pads on, dancing around," Darnold said. "He's like, 'Let's go, guys, get fired up.' I'm like, 'Bro, you're not even playing. Once you start playing, you can start doing that stuff.'"
Gase, who reportedly wasn't thrilled with the decision to give a $27 million guarantee to a running back, said he's eager to see Bell in a game setting.
"I can't wait to see what he does on a Sunday," he said. "With him practicing, that's fun enough. You can tell the guy is a special, special player."
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Cardinals reach deal with Crabtree, release White
Published in
Breaking News
Wednesday, 21 August 2019 17:22

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Arizona Cardinals agreed to terms on a one-year contract with veteran wideout Michael Crabtree, the team announced Wednesday night, after releasing fifth-year receiver Kevin White earlier in the day.
Crabtree had worked out for the team two weeks ago but the sides didn't reach an agreement.
Crabtree, 31, made 54 catches (his fewest in a full season since his 2009 rookie year) for 607 yards receiving and three touchdowns last season for the Baltimore Ravens. He also led the NFL with eight dropped passes last season.
The 10th overall pick of the 2009 draft, Crabtree played his first nine seasons in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders. His 28 touchdown catches are the seventh most in the NFL since 2015.
White had recovered from a hamstring injury that forced him to miss about a week of training camp before he was cut. He was signed to a one-year contract in March with hopes that he'd stay healthy enough to showcase his ability, something he was unable to do in four seasons with the Chicago Bears, who drafted him No. 7 overall out of West Virginia in 2015.
White, 27, fractured his left leg in both 2015 and 2016, and his shoulder in 2017.
He described the past four seasons as "very frustrating" but looked at the Cardinals' opportunity as a "fresh start" to "show what I got."
Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, who coached against White in college and is close with the receiver's college coach, Dana Holgorsen, was optimistic White could overcome his injury history and was pleased with his work ethic during training camp. But the constant with White was the uncertainty that he'd stay healthy.
"He had some unfortunate injuries there in Chicago and trying to kind of reestablish himself, really kind of like his rookie year," Kingsbury said earlier this year.
White was unable to do that.
White played in just 14 games in four seasons with the Bears, the third-fewest by any player drafted in the top 10 from 1970 to 2015, White's draft year, according to Elias Sports Bureau research. White's production in his first four seasons was the worst among wide receivers, tight ends and running backs drafted in the top 10 during their first four seasons from 2001 through 2015, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
His 14 career games, 25 career catches and 285 career receiving yards were the fewest among those categories over that stretch. His zero receiving touchdowns tied with the late Cedric Benson and Cadillac Williams.
ESPN's Jamison Hensley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Angels rookie P Canning (elbow) returning to IL
Published in
Baseball
Wednesday, 21 August 2019 16:37

Los Angeles Angels rookie starter Griffin Canning is headed back to the injured list with inflammation in his right elbow, the second time this month the injury has sidelined the 23-year-old right-hander.
The Angels will put Canning back on the 10-day IL just three weeks after the same issue landed the 2017 second-round pick out of UCLA on the shelf.
The move also comes just three days after Canning had perhaps the best start of his career, going seven innings and allowing just one run in leading the Angels to a 9-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Manager Brad Ausmus told reporters it's still too early to determine if Canning will be shut down for the rest of the season.
Canning is 5-6 with a 4.58 ERA in 17 starts and one relief appearance. He has 96 strikeouts through his first 18 major league games, second in Angels history behind Jered Weaver, who had 100.
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Cubs' Morrow done for season with elbow issues
Published in
Baseball
Wednesday, 21 August 2019 17:54

CHICAGO -- Chicago Cubs reliever Brandon Morrow was shut down for the season Wednesday because of lingering elbow problems, essentially ending his two-year stint with the team.
Morrow, 35, has been out since last year's All-Star break after signing a two-year, $21 million deal before the 2018 season. His most recent comeback attempt looked promising, but the right-hander never got to the point of a rehab assignment.
"We had that brief respite where we thought it might have a chance, but otherwise, it just didn't seem like he could get over the hump," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday afternoon.
Morrow has undergone several procedures on his elbow over the past 13 months, including a recent hydrodissection (nerve decompression), which gave him some hope for a return this season.
"With the way I'm feeling, I expect to progress quickly," Morrow told ESPN via text earlier this month.
But another setback prevented any progress past the stage of throwing at the Cubs' spring facility in Arizona, where he has been rehabbing since February.
"He worked really hard in an attempt to come back and tried a lot of different techniques and procedures and just wasn't able to get over the hump," team president Theo Epstein said.
Morrow has had a career marked by injury, but when healthy, he has been very good. He pitched in all seven games of the 2017 World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers before signing with the Cubs after the season. In June 2018, he was used by the Cubs in three consecutive games, potentially leading to his lingering issues.
"Maybe we should have had even more conservative guidelines for him or maybe there was nothing we could do," Epstein said. "It's impossible to say.
"He has a significant injury history, which makes it a calculated risk. When you sign someone like that, you know you're going to get quality when he's out there but there's a risk of not getting the quantity."
Morrow saved 22 of 24 games in the first half of 2018, but that's all the Cubs got for their $21 million. They have a team option for $12 million for 2020, but that's very unlikely to be picked up. They signed Craig Kimbrel to a three-year deal in June, and he has taken over as the Cubs' closer.
"We feel bad for him," Epstein said of Morrow. "We feel bad for us that he wasn't able to contribute this year."
Maddon added: "I don't know if he has any plans to do this again. For him and his family, I wish him nothing but the best."
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Astros stunned in historic upset at sportsbooks
Published in
Baseball
Wednesday, 21 August 2019 20:56

HOUSTON -- Justin Verlander pitched a two-hitter and lost, allowing homers to John Hicks and Ronny Rodriguez, and the Detroit Tigers beat the Houston Astros 2-1 on Wednesday night in a historic upset.
With Verlander on the mound at home against the team with the majors' worst record, the Tigers (38-86) closed as +435 underdogs at Caesars Sportsbook, making their win against the Astros (81-47) the largest upset in a major league game in the past 15 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
Caesars also saw the Astros close as -560 favorites, making them the heaviest favorite in a game in at least the past 15 seasons, according to sports betting database BetLabsSports.com, and likely longer.
Roxy Roxborough, a longtime oddsmaker and bettor, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last week that he remembered a few -500 favorites in years past involving pitchers such as Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez, but not many.
Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers were -485 favorites over the Atlanta Braves in 2016, and earlier this month, the Astros were -460 road favorites over the Baltimore Orioles. Houston lost that game 8-7 in what was, before Wednesday, the largest upset since the Washington Nationals beat the Minnesota Twins as +395 underdogs in 2007.
Verlander (15-5) retired the first 14 batters Wednesday night, with six strikeouts, before Rodriguez homered to the seats in right with two outs in the fifth. Verlander sat down another 10 straight before Hicks led off the ninth with a tiebreaking blast to left-center field.
Verlander, who spent 13 seasons with the Tigers, walked none and finished with 11 strikeouts in his 99-pitch gem, extending his franchise record of games with 10 or more strikeouts to seven as he lost for the first time since June 18.
He leads the majors in strikeouts with 239 but ranks second in homers allowed with 33.
Robinson Chirinos belted his 14th homer, to left-center, on Tyler Alexander's first pitch of the seventh to tie it at 1. Chirinos finished with four hits. Needing a triple for the cycle, he doubled with two out in the ninth but was thrown out trying to reach third to end the game.
Opener Daniel Norris allowed two hits in three innings for Detroit. Alexander worked four innings, Buck Farmer (5-4) walked one in a scoreless eighth and Joe Jimenez finished the Tigers' six-hitter for his fourth save.
Jose Altuve walked with one out in the eighth, but was erased when he tried to go first to third on an infield grounder by Alex Bregman to end the inning.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Astros: RHP Josh James (shoulder soreness) will begin a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday night. Manager AJ Hinch said James, who has been out since July 23, likely won't rejoin the team until September. ... INF Aledmys Diaz took batting practice Wednesday and could come off the injured list early next week. Diaz was hospitalized Saturday after experiencing dizziness on the team bus in Oakland, California.
UP NEXT
Tigers: RHP Jordan Zimmermann (1-8, 6.66 ERA) is scheduled to start for Detroit when the series wraps up Thursday night. Zimmerman allowed just one hit in five scoreless innings in his previous start, against Tampa Bay, but did not factor in the decision.
Astros: RHP Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.87) will start Thursday after being scratched from his previous start, last Thursday, because of discomfort in his right hamstring. Cole, who ranks second in the majors with 226 strikeouts, has won his past 10 decisions.
ESPN's David Purdum and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Senegal and Tunisia clinch surprise first group places
Published in
Table Tennis
Wednesday, 21 August 2019 16:29

The Senegal outfit caused the biggest upset, they recorded a 3-2 win against the no.4 seeds, Algeria’s Mohamed Boudjadja, Sami Kherouf and Larbi Bouriah, before rather more comfortably posting a 3-0 success in opposition to Ethiopia’s Darara Dufera, Eyob Abeye and Tesfaye Aden.
Defeat for Algeria but consolation; a 3-0 win had been recorded earlier in the day against Ethiopia for whom Melese Habteyes was preferred to Eyob Abeye. Thus the end result was second place in the group and progress to the main draw; in the men’s team and women’s team events, outfits finishing in first and second positions in each group advance to the knock-out stage.
Impressive from Senegal, it was the same from Thameur Mamia, Adem Hamam and Keren Ben Yahia; they recorded a 3-0 win in opposition to the no.6 seeds, South Africa’s Cade Peters, Byrone Abrahams and Kurt Lingevelt, prior to securing a 3-1 success when facing Morocco’s Mohammed Krichel, Salim Karam and Mounain Tirselt. Alas for South Africa there was no place in the main draw. In their opening fixture of the day they had experienced a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Morocco, a contest in which Chetan Nathoo had been preferred to Byrone Abrahams.
Otherwise it was a first place in the group for the seeded teams. Nigeria, the top seeds, who selected Segun Toriola, Olajide Omotayo and Bode Abiodun secured first place in their group as did the next in line, Egypt’s Ahmed Ali Saleh, Khalid Assar, Omar Assar and Mohamed El-Beali. Likewise, it was top spot for the no.3 seeds, Congo Brazzaville’s Saheed Idowu, Michel Lignandzi and Christ Bientiaki, as it was for the no.5 seeds, Togo’s Kokou Dodji Fanny, Desire Akakpo and Mawussi Agbetoglo.
Surprise outcomes in the first stage of the men’s team event; in the counterpart women’s competition, four groups in the initial stage, the top four all ended the day in first position.
It was first place for the top seeded Egyptian squad comprising Dina Meshref, Yousra Helmy, Farah Abdel-Aziz, Reem El-Eraky and Mariam Alhodaby; a situation that applied to their main rivals, the no.2 seeds, the Nigerian outfit formed by Olufunke Oshonaike, Fatima Bello, Cecilia Akpan, Offong Edem and Nuratu Ojumo. Similarly, the no.3 seeds, Algeria’s Hiba Feredj, Katia Kessaci and Lynda Loghraibi secured first position as did the no.4 seeds, Tunisia who selected from Abir Haj Salah, Safa Saidani, Fadwa Garci and Manel Bakouti.
The team events continue on Thursday 22nd August; at the close of play in both the men’s and women’s events, the finalists will be known.
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