Snoop Dogg said Kansas officials should not have been surprised by his controversial performance at last week's Late Night at the Phog. His 35-minute show included unfiltered lyrics and pole dancers.

He also shot fake $100 bills into the crowd with money guns.

"When you pay for Snoop Dogg, you gonna get Snoop Dogg," the popular rapper said on "The Howard Stern Show" on Tuesday.

Kansas athletic director Jeff Long issued a rebuke shortly after the performance.

"We apologize for the Snoop Dogg performance at Late Night," Long said in a statement. "We made it clear to the entertainers' managers that we expected a clean version of the show and took additional steps to communicate to our fans, including moving the artist to the final act of the evening, to ensure that no basketball activities would be missed if anyone did not want to stay for his show. I take full responsibility for not thoroughly vetting all the details of the performance and offer my personal apology to those who were offended. We strive to create a family atmosphere at Kansas and fell short of that this evening."

But Snoop Dogg told Howard Stern that the school responded only because of the backlash that ensued "because I brought stripper poles and [women] and money guns."

He also said any suggestion that he was asked to leave the building following his performance was a "lie."

"I had the time of my life," said Snoop Dogg, who spent time with the men's and women's basketball teams prior to his show. "I enjoyed myself. Hung out with the basketball teams. I just think it was more the publicity of what I did. They had to cover it up. And I respect them. And I wasn't gonna put no smut on their name and say that they did anything wrong, because they invited me to come do what I do."

To promote Snoop Dogg's appearance, the school produced a video that featured Kansas coach Bill Self wearing an Adidas basketball shirt and a chain with a money sign and strolling through a record store to the West Coast hip-hop icon's '90s anthem "Gin & Juice," just days after the NCAA hit the program with five Level I charges, including lack of institutional control and failure to comply with coaching responsibility standards. At the center of the NCAA's case is the school's relationship with Adidas. The apparel giant recently signed a 14-year, $196 million extension with its flagship school.

Long's statement said some fans might have been offended by Snoop Dogg's performance. Self added that the performance was "not the right way" to entertain. But Snoop Dogg had a different perspective about his concert in Lawrence, Kansas.

"The audience enjoyed that s---," Snoop Dogg told Howard Stern on Tuesday. "I don't know what the f--- they talkin' about."

Kansas hosted multiple top-tier recruits that night. At least one of them, Javonte Brown-Ferguson (a 6-foot-11 center prospect in the 2021 class), said he had fun during the show.

"I loved my visit," he told the Kansas City Star. "The Snoop [Dogg] performance had the crowd going crazy. It was amazing."

TULSA -- Chris Paul, the president of the NBA's players' association, said he isn't very well informed about the league's growing friction with its business partners in China in part because of his focus on the Oklahoma City Thunder's training camp.

"I don't know but so much about it right now," Paul said of the situation, which began with a tweet from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in support of the anti-government protesters in Hong Kong. "I'll try to find out what's going on."

Paul is encouraged by the early work of the revamped Thunder, who opened their preseason Tuesday with a 119-104 win over the Dallas Mavericks, who opted to sit young stars Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis on the first night of a back-to-back.

Paul, acquired from the Rockets along with first-round picks for longtime Thunder star Russell Westbrook, was joined by a pair of other point guards in Oklahoma City's starting lineup. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the centerpiece of the package the LA Clippers sent to the Thunder in the Paul George deal, and Dennis Schroder played alongside Paul as Oklahoma City emphasized ball movement.

The Thunder scored 66 points on 63.4% shooting in the first half, assisting on 15 of 26 baskets, beginning with Paul's feed to center Steven Adams for a surprising corner 3-pointer on the opening possession.

"The spirit was right and the ball was moving," said Paul, who had six points, three rebounds, four assists and five turnovers in 17 minutes before sitting out the second half. "When you practice like that, you always wonder if it's going to translate to the game. For us tonight, it did."

Gilgeous-Alexander, a 21-year-old with star potential, dazzled in his Thunder debut with 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Schroder, Oklahoma City's sixth man last season, had 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting and dished out five assists.

"We all have talent in that we can create for each other," Paul said. "It just makes the game easier for you when you have multiple guys that can handle the ball."

Thunder coach Billy Donovan didn't commit to starting the three point guards together on a regular basis, but he liked the look of the lineup.

"All three of those guys are really important and they're drivers of our offense because they're smart, they have a really good feel of how to play and they're unselfish," Donovan said. "They've got to be the catalyst to moving the basketball. Putting them out there, my feeling was to get them comfortable playing with one another, get them playing with a good pace and tempo and speed, and I thought we came out to start the game playing like that."

The NBA Cares event in Shanghai involving the Los Angeles Lakers was canceled Wednesday just hours before it was scheduled to begin, adding to the fallout from a recent tweet by Rockets GM Daryl Morey that showed support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.

The NBA would only say that calling off the event, which was supposed to benefit the Special Olympics, was not its decision.

On Tuesday, an NBA Cares event with the Nets at an education center in Shanghai was canceled by the Chinese government. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said the league would still donate computers to the center.

The Lakers proceeded with a practice Wednesday that was closed to the media, a team source told ESPN. The Lakers and Brooklyn Nets are scheduled to play the first of two preseason games in the country Thursday. Silver is expected to address both teams later on Wednesday.

Silver, speaking in Japan on Tuesday, said he and the league are "apologetic" over the outcome and reaction that followed Morey's tweet, but he noted that "we are not apologizing for Daryl exercising his freedom of expression."

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said it will no longer air the two preseason games. CCTV is also reviewing all of its cooperation and exchanges involving the NBA, it said in a statement posted to CCTV Sports' official social media account.

The broadcaster indicated the decision was prompted by earlier remarks Silver made in Japan.

"We're strongly dissatisfied and oppose Adam Silver's claim to support Morey's right to freedom of expression," the statement read. "We believe that any remarks that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Houston Astros manager AJ Hinch asked ace Justin Verlander to do something he had never done before. It might be a while before he asks him to do it again, not that he has any regrets.

Verlander was chased after 3 2/3 innings in Game 4 of the American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. He allowed four runs -- three in the first inning -- and seven hits, including two home runs. The Astros trailed 4-0 when he was pulled from the game after walking Tampa Bay's Ji-Man Choi in the fourth, much to the delight of a raucous, jam-packed Tropicana Field. Verlander threw 84 pitches.

"Obviously not the way you would script it," Verlander said. "It sucks."

The Rays went on to win 4-1 to force a decisive fifth game at Minute Maid Park in Houston on Thursday.

With the Astros' lead in the series down to 2-1 entering Tuesday, Hinch tabbed Verlander, 36, for the Game 4 start after the Astros' 10-3 loss in Game 3 on Monday. That meant Verlander was starting on three days' rest, something he'd never done on the heels of a full-length start in his illustrious career. Verlander threw seven shutout innings against the Rays in Game 1 on Friday in Houston.

"In the postseason, you ask somebody to do something that's not normal, it's always a little nerve-wracking," Hinch said. "But he felt great, and he made a lot of really good pitches and got a lot of swings and misses."

The Rays jumped on Verlander from the outset Tuesday. Tommy Pham, Tampa Bay's second batter in the game, homered to left field to open the scoring. The Rays tacked on two more runs that first inning, and Verlander needed 32 pitches to escape further damage. According to ESPN Stats & Information, that was the most pitches Verlander had thrown in a first inning since he joined the Astros in 2017.

"Bad slider. Inconsistent control," Verlander said. "I felt like the velocity was there, but the control wasn't and the slider wasn't. Mix that in with a good approach [from the Rays] in the first."

In his final inning, Verlander gave up a solo homer to Willy Adames on a slider that broke into the middle of the plate, waist-high. The walk to Choi was a fitting end to an outing in which Verlander struggled to locate his pitches. Verlander threw strikes on just half of his 50 four-seam fastballs, according to Statcast data.

With his fastball missing the strike zone, the Rays teed off on Verlander's off-speed pitches. The Rays were 6-for-12 against Verlander's off-speed offerings, with two homers, two doubles and seven hard-hit balls. But for all his struggles, Verlander steadfastly refused to point to his short rest as an excuse.

"I didn't know what to expect, and I wasn't taking anything into it," Verlander said. "Not expecting anything. I was expecting to be normal. The low-hanging fruit is to sit there and say this was short rest and that's the reason why. I don't think so. I felt good, body felt good physically. I just didn't execute the way I needed to.

"Really the slider was the worst it's been all year. I needed something to go our way, and when I made mistakes, they really capitalized on them with runners on base. It killed us."

Rays manager Kevin Cash thought the real factor in the quick turnaround from his club's last encounter with Verlander was a heightened familiarity, more so than Verlander's physical state.

"I think the familiarity helps," Cash said. "He's still the best. There's no denying that. But four days, five days later, some of those same pitches maybe replayed a little bit, and we were able to have some quality [at-bats] and hit the ball hard."

Whether the short rest plan played into Verlander's off night, the Astros still have a couple of warm security blankets to keep them warm on their flight back to Houston: a partisan crowd at their home park and the presence of Game 5 starter Gerrit Cole, who hasn't lost a start since May 22, a string of starts that reached 23 with his win in Game 2.

"It's good," Astros second baseman Jose Altuve said about having Cole slotted to start Thursday. "Like today, it meant a lot to have Justin out there. If I have to do it again, I'd put Justin out there, because he's our boy with Gerrit. That's the way we play. We're going go home and have Gerrit on the mound, and [we will] do everything we can to win."

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Whatever metaphor, analogy or parable you might look up, isn't it always the giant who falls? Does this have anything to do with what transpired the past two days at Tropicana Field? Or are we seeing the tech-infused Tampa Bay Rays crowd-sourcing their way around the considerable problem of dispatching the star-laden Houston Astros?

After the Rays' 4-1 win in Game 4 of their American League Division Series on Tuesday, a game that began with 2019 Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander on the mound for Houston and ended with 2018 Cy Young winner Blake Snell polishing off his first save, everything feels as if it is on the table.

"We made it this far," Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier said. "It's pretty safe to say, but we're not content with this. We want to win one more and keep this thing going. We plan on doing just that."

The ogre in this baseball parable, at least on Tuesday, would be Verlander, who might not be the biggest pitcher in baseball in terms of stature, though at 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, he's a load. More so, he's a giant by reputation and by accomplishment. In a few weeks when the pending retirement of New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia becomes official, Verlander will become baseball's active leader in wins and strikeouts. He is Gulliver to the Rays' Lilliputians. He is Goliath to the Rays' David. He is South Bend Central to the Rays' Hickory High.

You get the idea.

With Verlander on the hill, the Rays countered with ... no one. OK, that's not precisely true. They had Diego Castillo on the mound and he fired thunderbolts with even more ferocity than Verlander, but just not for as many innings. Castillo is an opener, that Rays innovation, one they believe in so deeply that they trotted it out in a game they had to win to extend their season. Castillo electrified a rocking, hanky-waving crowd at the Trop by striking out Michael Brantley, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman in order in the first inning.

"Castillo, thank God he was an opener and not a regular starter," Astros manager AJ Hinch said. "Having him out there for four, five, six innings would be devastating for anybody."

Well, Castillo was only out there for seven batters because he's an opener and that's how this thing works. From there, Rays skipper Kevin Cash summoned lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who soft-tossed his way to two scoreless innings after Castillo. The last batter he faced was rookie Yordan Alvarez. Yarbrough threw him three straight curves that topped out at 72 mph, and followed that with a change-up -- at 78. Alvarez then cracked a double off the wall violently, perhaps angered by the audacity of it all.

Then it fell to Nick Anderson, the out-of-nowhere reliever who began the season on the other side of Florida with the Marlins but has emerged as a lock-down reliever who throws a vicious curve of his own, along with upper-90s heat. He, like Castillo and Yarbrough also got seven batters. Colin Poche got six hitters; Emilio Pagan got four, taking it into the ninth inning but leaving runners on the corners with the dangerous Alvarez at the plate.

So the Rays being the Rays, in came Snell for his 100th career appearance, including the postseason. The first 99 were as a starting pitcher. As good and different as the curveballs of Yarbrough and Anderson are, Snell's hook may be baseball's best. And he used one to strike out Alvarez before getting Yuli Gurriel on a well-struck grounder to end it. Snell, in his first-ever relief appearance, had his first-ever save.

"We didn't draw it up that way," Cash said. "As soon as Alvarez came up with a chance to tie the game, we felt that that was our best matchup. We were fairly confident that Blake was going to be pretty amped up. He was."

That, too, is the Rays. It doesn't just take a village, it takes a village in which everyone does more than one job and may be asked to do just about anything at any time. Everyone knows this, especially Hinch.

"It's October, I'm not surprised by anything," Hinch said. "There's no real hidden tricks when you're faced with elimination. They used a lot of resources. We knew they would."

Of course. The Rays always use a lot of resources. They used 57 batters during the regular season; Houston used 45. The Rays deployed 33 pitchers; Houston used 26. The Rays had only four players compile as many as three wins above replacement during the regular season. Houston had that many studs surpass six WAR. Somehow or another though, it all seems to be coming out even.

"People mentioned David and Goliath to me and some of the other guys before this series and I just had to cut 'em off before they even went on with that," an indignant Kiermaier said. "Because I don't want to hear that. I know Houston is probably better on paper and all that, but anything can happen when you step on the field at the same time."

Here's something Kiermaier might approve of: While Verlander and Gerrit Cole were dominant in their initial starts, the Rays have dominated the series beyond the Verlander/Cole innings in Houston. With those two on the mound, the Astros outscored the Rays 8-0, enough to take the first two games of the series. But beyond that, in all the other innings of series including Game 4, the Rays have outscored Houston 17-5.

The numbers all swing the Rays' way. Tampa Bay has a 10-4 edge in homers in the series. They have that 17-13 edge in scoring. They have more walks, a better on-base percentage, a better slugging percentage. The Astros have been outplayed.

"Hey, I hate to say it, [but] about time, you know," said Tommy Pham, who got the Rays started with a solo homer off Verlander in the first. "Because we have a really good team over here. And to win 96 games in this division with New York and Boston is an impressive feat. And all year, we've been getting talked down. And now, with the last two games, the way we played, the whole world has seen how good of a team we are and how well-rounded we are."

They've seen how good the Rays are, but they still might not know who they are. There are just so many of them. Avisail Garcia and Ji-Man Choi both reached base four times in Game 4. Willy Adames homered, swung a hot bat in both games the Rays won, and threw a laser bolt on a relay throw in the fourth to gun down Altuve at the plate.

Everybody contributed it seemed. Even the Rays' bullpen was a hive of activity, with relievers constantly warming up, sitting down or, often, entering the game. Every pitcher on the roster either pitched or warmed up at some point Tuesday except for Game 3 starter Charlie Morton -- who may well be called on for a couple of innings in Game 5 -- and the scheduled starter for Thursday's contest, Tyler Glasnow.

"Their pitching is exceptional," Hinch said. "What they did on the mound tonight was incredible. They're not just throwing different arms at you. You talk about the opener, they'll throw a lot of different arms and get platoon advantages. That's not neglected. Their stuff is really good. They're throwing elite guys."

The baseball world is seeing this but, come on, this is the Astros, who won 107 games during the season with a plus-280 run differential that ranks as the 10th best in history. Surely the star power that fuels Houston will manifest itself, right? It better, and fast.

To borrow a football saying, the Astros are now off schedule. They didn't really want to use Verlander on short rest, something he'd never done in back-to-back starts. But the fourth rotation slot has been problematic because of Wade Miley's late-season slide. Rookie Jose Urquidy was an option, but he's a rookie. (He pitched in relief in Game 4.)

"We would have gone with Urquidy and if he would have [struggled], it would have been, 'Should you have put a rookie in that situation?'" Hinch said. "I understand with the results, it's tough. It was my decision to put [Verlander] out there. I felt it was the best chance to win the series -- JV today and Gerrit in Game 5 if we needed it. We're going to test the latter part of that in Game 5."

On Thursday, the Rays once again will be battling a giant. Cole has not lost a start since May 22. He struck out 326 batters this season. But just as the Rays had some familiarity with seeing Verlander a few days ago, they will have that with Cole too.

"That [was] the second time we faced him this year, so now everyone has multiple at-bats against him to kind of see what he likes to do to us," Rays catcher Travis d'Arnaud said. "But the guy is a great pitcher. He's under 2.50 ERA, over 300 strikeouts, so it's gonna be a battle for sure."

As Hinch said, the Rays used a lot of resources in Game 4 but Wednesday is a travel day, so Cash should have everyone available on Thursday. Familiarity with his hurlers isn't much of an issue -- on Tuesday, no Astros hitter saw the same Rays pitcher twice. The Astros have witnessed that the Rays are not going to be overwhelmed by the status of their All-Star roster. And while that might be a revelation to many, Houston knew what they were encountering, confident as they were and as they remain.

"This team, these guys, even after going up two games against this ballclub, I don't think we took anything for granted," Verlander said. "I know I didn't. I can't speak for everybody, but that was the mentality. We know how talented these guys are and we knew it would be a battle. Obviously we were hoping to win yesterday, hoping to win today. We've had our backs against the wall before and come out victorious. Hopefully this is an opportunity to go prove ourselves."

And for a proof of the concept to which Verlander refers -- that has the Astros as a championship team -- having Cole going at home in front of fans just as raucous, waving orange hankies instead of yellow, is not a bad fail-safe option.

"He's been on one of the most incredible runs I've ever seen," Verlander said of Cole. "That the baseball world has ever seen. If you could name a starting pitcher in all of major league baseball, you'd want him on the mound."

For the Astros, it is about him. For the Rays, it'll be about them. After two sultry days under the white roof of the Trop, it's hard to say which pronoun will prevail. We only know with the Rays, expect the unexpected.

"I'm not going to be surprised if Charlie Morton is available in Game 5," Hinch said. "I'm not going to be surprised if Blake Snell is available in Game 5. I wouldn't expect anything less out of this type of game."

Neither does Snell.

"That's what we do," Snell said. "We make every game tough. We got two wins now, but now we've got to see what we really can do in going to Houston and taking it from them."

ESPN's Jenna Laine contributed to this report.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The merger between the International Speedway Corp. and NASCAR is expected to close on Oct. 18.

The International Speedway Corp. recently delivered a written communication to NASDAQ stating that it has called a special meeting of shareholders on Oct. 16 for the purpose of voting to approve the merger.

NASCAR and the International Speedway Corp. announced plans to merge in May of this year, which would take NASCAR private. International Speedway Corp. owns 12 tracks that host NASCAR events, including Daytona Int’l Speedway, among others.

The France family, descendants of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., are the majority owners of both NASCAR and the International Speedway Corp. Jim France is the current chairman and CEO of NASCAR.

Speedway Motorsports Inc., which owns eight tracks that host NASCAR events, recently went private after Sonic Financial Corp. agreed to acquire all oustanding common stocks not already owned by Sonic. Bruton Smith, the founder of Speedway Motorsports Inc., owns and controls Sonic Financial Group with his family.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Alexis DeJoria is coming out of retirement to compete full-time in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series in 2020.

DeJoria retired following the 2017 season, but will return to the NHRA’s Funny Car class beginning with the 2020 NHRA Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

DeJoria made her NHRA debut at the 2011 Texas NHRA FallNationals and went on to win five races, including the 2014 NHRA U.S. Nationalss, before hanging up her helmet at the conclusion of the 2017 season.

“I honestly knew deep down when I made the announcement to retire at the end of the 2017 NHRA season that it was going to be sort of an open-ended retirement,” said DeJoria.

“I’m beyond excited to get back out there. I’ve been blessed spending time with my family these past two years off. This was a decision I made with their support, and we are all looking forward to my return to the driver’s seat.”

Leading DeJoria’s latest venture into drag racing will be Nicky Boninfante and Del Worsham. The trio has teamed up to form an independent team with Boninfante and Worsham serving as co-crew chiefs on DeJoria’s Funny Car.

DeJoria’s history with Boninfante and Worsham extends back nearly a decade. Worsham signed off on DeJoria’s Funny Car paperwork when she licensed in his car in 2010 before taking the lead as her crew chief during her rookie season in 2012. Boninfante worked alongside DeJoria during her tenure at Kalitta Motorsports before taking over the tuning duties on her car in 2017.

“I now have this incredible opportunity to build a team with two of the people who were by my side when I started my nitro Funny Car career,” said DeJoria, whose ultimate goal is to become the first female Funny Car world champion.

“Del is my mentor and the person whose car I licensed with in the first place, and Nicky was one of the first people at Kalitta who I talked to when I made the transition from Top Alcohol Funny Car to nitro Funny Car. Del and Nicky, they’re the ‘dream team’ for me, and I’m eager to embark on this new adventure with them.”

DeJoria’s partners, including her primary sponsor, will be announced at a later date.

After a winless start to the regular season, the San Jose Sharks are hoping an old friend named Patrick Marleau can bring some stability.

GM Doug Wilson announced that the team is signing the 40-year-old Marleau, who is the franchise leader in games (1,493), goals (508) and points (1,082). The deal is for one year with a $700,000 cap hit, which is the league minimum.

The signing would necessitate a roster move, as Cap Friendly had the Sharks with just $7,837 in cap space without Marleau on the roster.

Wilson said that Marleau's agent, Pat Brisson, asked him to keep them in the loop if the Sharks needed to add a veteran player. "We had several conversations where he shared his desire and dream to return to the Sharks," Wilson said.

The forward last played for the Toronto Maple Leafs, finishing last season with 37 points in 82 games -- the 10th straight season in which he didn't miss a game.

But his $6.25 million annual average salary was too much for the cap-strapped Leafs, who traded him to Carolina. The Hurricanes made the move in order to buy out the last year of Marleau's contract, which netted them a first-round pick in 2020 (or 2021, if Toronto is in the lottery this summer).

Marleau had skated with former Sharks teammate Joe Thornton in the run-up to the season, and there was speculation that he could rejoin San Jose. But Wilson dismissed that notion in the offseason, citing a collection of younger players the Sharks wanted to give ice time and saying the franchise was in a different place than it was when Marleau left for Toronto in 2017.

Perhaps the Sharks' frustrating start prompted an early shakeup. San Jose started the season 0-3-0, mustering only three goals scored to 12 against. The team lost three forwards to free agency in the offseason: wingers Joonas Donskoi and Gustav Nyquist, and center Joe Pavelski, the team's captain who left a leadership void in the dressing room.

Wilson said that the team's record wasn't the motivating factor, but that the team's injuries and lack of veteran depth were. San Jose was going to be without winger Marcus Sorensen against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

"We stay very committed to what we've started the year with, which is integrating all the young players into the organization. But there are realities you have to deal with," Wilson said. "While we have a lot of depth, this is an opportunity to add a veteran into our group to give us some veteran depth that's versatile, understands how we play, and is very accepting of the role that [coach] Pete DeBoer may need on different nights."

Marleau captained the Sharks from 2003 to 2009.

Some NHL teams placate their fans with free hats or magnetic schedules. The Philadelphia Flyers, however, know what their fans really want: the opportunity to smash a flat-screen television with a hockey stick.

The Flyers announced on Tuesday that the Wells Fargo Center now has a "Disassembly Room," the first-ever "rage room" inside a major professional sports arena.

Located behind a "hidden" library wall entrance in the team's new "Assembly Room" lounge and bar area, the anger cave allows Flyers fans to take out their aggression on household items like TVs, dishware, bottles and guitars using a variety of tools like baseball bats, orange and black sledgehammers and, of course, hockey sticks.

Let's rage. https://t.co/yuDGpdrOmr pic.twitter.com/S8rt12KMH1

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) October 8, 2019

Fans wear protective gear during the session, and there's also an observation room.

Smash some of the items enough, and they might reveal the logo of an opposing team, according to the Flyers.

"The concept is definitely one-of-a-kind and non-traditional," said Valerie Camillo, president of business operations of the Philadelphia Flyers and the Wells Fargo Center. "We ran the concept by some of our fans who told us they thought this would be a fresh way to have some harmless fun."

The "rage room" concept started in Japan about a decade ago, and eventually spread to the U.S. Locations like Break Stuff Bay Area in San Jose, California, use recycled electronics as fodder, and charge $25 for a "BYOB" option that allows people to bring in their own stuff to break.

To access the Flyers' rage room, fans make a reservation for a specific time before, during or after Philadelphia home games at a cost of $35 for individuals and $60 for groups of two. Participants receive five minutes to smash up items, and are given one five-gallon bucket of smaller breakable items and one "medium-sized" item to break.

A 45-year Stanley Cup drought should provide an ample source of rage for Flyers fans.

ST. LOUIS - The PGA Tour Champions is returning to the St. Louis area next year for the first time in nearly 20 years.

The tour announced a four-year deal Tuesday with St. Louis-based Ascension. The Ascension Charity Classic will be held Oct. 2-4 at Norwood Hills Country Club, which hosted the 1948 PGA Championship won by Ben Hogan and the Greater St. Louis Classic on the PGA Tour in 1972 and 1973.

The PGA Tour Champions was last in the area from 1996 to 2001 at Boone Valley, west of St. Louis.

Bellerive hosted the PGA Championship in 2018 and a FedExCup Playoff event in 2008.

This gives the PGA Tour Champions 27 tournaments next year in four countries and 19 states.