Floyd Mayweather is unhappy to see Ronda Rousey on Ring Magazine's cover. Stephen Curry has eyes on the Chicago Bulls' 72-win record. Are Andrew Luck's days numbered with the Indianapolis Colts? Gary Pinkel prepares Mizzou the football team amid campus turmoil.
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Ronda Rousey on Ring Magazine's cover doesn't sit well with Floyd Mayweather. Stephen Curry isn't focused on a rematch with LeBron James in the NBA Finals at the moment, but instead wants Michael Jordan and the Bulls' 72-win season record. The pause in Andrew Luck's season has Colts fans asking not when he will return, but when will leave - for good.
Tampa Bay Bucs players are not quick to judge the Dallas Cowboys' Greg Hardy, whom they face Sunday.
The New York Yankees made the first of what is expected to be several off-season moves, trading for Minnesota Twins outfielder Aaron Hicks.
Missouri coach Gary Pinkel, an Akron native, is trying to get his football team ready to play BYU and end a four-game losing streak amid campus turmoil.
Quarterback Matt Johnson had a relatively slow night - just three touchdowns passes - so Bowling Green used some clutch defense to beat Western Michigan and win the MAC East.
As if Indy didn't have enough anxiety, Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird, of all people, added to it by saying he roots for Boston teams and dismissed the accusations of the Patriots deflating footballs as "a bunch of lying.''
And guess which retired former Browns quarterback reportedly is on the Colts' radar as their new backup?
These are some of the trending sports stories Thursday:
Ronda Rousey on Ring Magazine cover: As Ronda Rousey prepares for her upcoming title defense against Holly Holm at UFC 193, the UFC bantamweight champion has been busy with numerous media obligations that are outside of the normal opportunities for a UFC fighter.
She's done everything from hosting "SportsCenter" to being a guest columnist for Maxim. The one that may have turned the most heads though was her landing on the cover of historic boxing publication, Ring Magazine.
Rousey became the first MMA fighter to grace the cover of the "Bible of Boxing" in the publication's storied 93-year history. The move has drawn the ire of many boxing fans who are upset that a mixed martial artist is covering the magazine, especially when Rousey is facing a former boxer-turned-MMA fighter in Holly Holm.
Among the critics is recently retired pound-for-pound king of boxing Floyd Mayweather. The war of words between Mayweather and Rousey has been intense over the past year and Mayweather couldn't resist chiming in on his rival crossing over to be featured on a publication that has a long history with the sport that has helped him become the richest athlete in the world.
"Well, you know, congratulations, but you know the sport is starting to look bad when a female fighter from a whole other sport is on the cover of a boxing book," Mayweather said to FightHype in a recent interview. (Yahoo Sports)
Stephen Curry eyes 72 victories: Stephen Curry doesn't want the Warriors to get distracted by the mindset of chasing the Chicago Bulls' all-time record of 72 wins in the regular season. He also indicated the Warriors were capable of reaching that mark.
"At the end of the day, that'll all hopefully add up to something historic," Curry said Wednesday of focusing on winning in the present and the 8-0 Warriors' game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
"You lose one game, and you're like, 'Oh we're going to lose nine more and try to get to 72.' That's not a good way to think. We can obviously talk about it and stuff, but talk about how hard of a task that is and how great that Bulls team was."
The 1995-96 Bulls finished with a 72-10 record and went on to win the NBA championship. The Warriors won 67 games and the championship last season and are the league's last remaining undefeated team. (The Daily Democrat)
Are Andrew Luck's day's numbered? When will Andrew Luck return to the Indianapolis Colts? That's one question. Probably the question most people are asking.
But it's not the most important question, not the question we should be asking. Not the question we should be fearing. But what the heck -- I'll ask the more serious question:
When is he leaving?
There are contractual moats to be navigated, including the franchise tag, but Luck could become a free agent as early as 2017 and leave the Colts to sign with the team of his choice.
If he so chooses.
So that's my question, that's the question: Does this latest injury mean he will choose to leave us? (Gregg Doyle, Indianapolis Star)
Mizzou returns to football: Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said Wednesday he had asked his coaching staff to stay in close touch with the team in a tense week that included a player plan to boycott and the arrest of a student following online threats against black students and faculty.
The Tigers play BYU in Kansas City on Saturday, one week after they threatened to stay on the sidelines without changes at the campus. The boycott threat vanished Monday when the university system president resigned.
Still, it was anything but normal at Missouri and the campus was strangely empty Wednesday as classes were canceled in some cases amid news that a white college student at another campus, in Rolla, had been arrested on suspicion of posting the online threats.
Pinkel said he asked his staff to stay in close contact with the players through texts and phone calls. Sometimes so-called distractions and off-the-field issues can galvanize a team during difficult times.
"Kind of a circle-the-wagons-type thing. I certainly hope it goes that way," Pinkel said.
Missouri brings a four-game losing streak into Saturday's game at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium against the Cougars (7-2).
Pinkel said it is impossible to predict how his team will respond to a most unusual week.
"That's the million-dollar question right now. That's what's going to be the concern," he said. "There's nothing normal about that. All this stuff is going on. We're going to address this today." (Associated Press)
Michael Phelps gaining steam again: With more medals than any other Olympic athlete, Michael Phelps could simply see the 2016 Games in Brazil as a bonus.
The lead-up to the Olympics has started to get serious for the swimmers, and Phelps just might be in his best shape yet, both mentally and physically, despite turning 30 in June
Phelps is in a peaceful, confident, healthy place he hardly could have foreseen a year ago. "I'm thrilled to be going into this year and kind of giddy to see what happens at the end," Phelps said Wednesday. (Associated Press)
Frank Beamer begins farewell tour: For Frank Beamer, this is the beginning of the end.
It seems appropriate to start his brief farewell tour on a Thursday night in Atlanta.
Beamer used these non-traditional games to help draw attention to Virginia Tech as he was building the Hokies into a national powerhouse.
Over the years, Georgia Tech was often the opponent.
"That's what this program is all about," Beamer said. "It gave us our identity here that we were a total program and a football team that played hard and played well most of the time."
In recent seasons, Virginia Tech (4-5, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) hasn't won nearly enough. Since 2011, when the Hokies last played in the ACC championship game, they are 14-15 in league games and just 26-22 overall.
Feeling the heat, Beamer announced last week that this season, his 29th in Blacksburg, will be his last. About the only thing left to play for is the nation's longest active streak of bowl appearances, which is at 22 in a row. (Associated Press)
Larry Legend still loves Boston: Some highlights from Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy's wide-ranging interview with Indianapolis Pacers preside
On fans: "I never root against the Boston teams. There's no sports town like Boston. I don't care where you go. They talk about Chicago and Philadelphia. No. They don't ever compare to Boston.
"It's unbelievable out there, and my gratitude to the fans out there is that I'd never root against them because I know how important sports are to them."
On Deflategate: "I thought it was a bunch of lying, if you want to know the truth. That's something [Bob] Kravitz [Indianapolis sports columnist] came up with, and I never believed any of it.
"I thought it was pretty chintzy. People finally realized they would have beat us anyway. I just laughed about it.''
On rooting for Boston: "I watch every one of the Colts games. I really like them. But my son loves all things about the Patriots. And I never root against the Patriots.
"I even rooted for the Red Sox against the Cardinals in those World Series. That one took me to the dirt because you know I love my Cardinals.''
On college players leaving school early: "I couldn't imagine playing in the NBA at 19 years old. It's tough for these kids. They go from being high school All-Americans to one year of college and being drafted high, and then they come in here and they expect they're going to walk in here and take over, and that's not the way it's going to be.
"It takes time. So there's a lot of hit and misses out there.'' (Boston Globe)
Yankees get right fit with Aaron Hicks: What makes sense for the Yankees these days is to add players who, at minimum, are young, inexpensive complementary pieces, but have pedigrees to suggest they have not yet reached their ceilings. Nathan Eovaldi, Didi Gregorius and Dustin Ackley all fit those criteria, and now so too does Aaron Hicks, whom the Yankees obtained Wednesday in a trade with the Twins for John Ryan Murphy. (New York Post)
Police say Gerald Green punched man: Miami Heat guard Gerald Green punched a man, then was combative with paramedics and eventually needed to be handcuffed just so rescue personnel could transport him to a trauma center last week, according to police.
The Miami police incident report, released Wednesday, said the man who was punched by Green did not wish to press charges.
The report sheds some light on the circumstances surrounding Green's mysterious absence from the Heat and subsequent two-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team. (Associated Press)
Bucs players decline to judge Greg Hardy: Tampa Bay Bucs defensive tackle Clinton McDonald is as disturbed as anyone by the images of the injuries suffered by Greg Hardy's ex-girlfriend during his attack on her in May 2014.o
"Do I condone it? No," McDonald said of Hardy's assault. "I've got two little girls."
But even after photos of Hardy's bruised and battered ex-girlfriend, Nicole Holder, from his expunged domestic violence case were made public last week, McDonald isn't ready to condemn the Cowboys defensive end.
"At times like that, you need meditation and prayer for the whole situation. For the victim and for the suspect or whatever," McDonald said. "In a sense, both of them are victims. You can say, 'Yeah, this happened to her.' But he's a victim as well."
How is Hardy a victim?
"For him to do it, it came from somewhere," McDonald said. "We're only a product of what we learned. At some point, something happened, not just to him. In the United States, all this stuff that's going on, it's learned behavior. You just don't come out of the womb saying I'm going to hit somebody. I just say my prayers to him, his family, her and her family and I hope the whole situation gets better with time."
The Bucs host the Cowboys Sunday and Hardy has gotten their attention, more for what he can do on the field than what he has done off it.
"He's definitely a game-wrecker, and outstanding player," Bucs offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter said. "And they move him around, so that makes it tough to find him."
The Bucs considered signing Hardy in March and went as far as to structure a contract that was mirrored by the Cowboys. But the deal with Tampa Bay would've been contingent on Hardy meeting with the team for evaluation. When that didn't happen, they withdrew their offer.
"Every player that's available we're going to do our research on them and come to a conclusion on what direction we need to go," coach Lovie Smith said. "We didn't go that direction."
On Wednesday, several players weighed in on whether Hardy should be allowed to continuing playing in the NFL. Last year, Hardy was found guilty of domestic violence in a bench trial. But under North Carolina state law, he appealed for a jury trial. The case was thrown out in February when Holder stopped cooperating with authorities. (Tampa Bay Times)
Bowling Green beats Western Michigan, wins MAC East: Forget the 487 yards Western Michigan got in total offense, or the 27 points the Broncos scored.
The Bowling Green State University football team's defense rose up when needed, and the offense scored enough points to give the Falcons a 41-27 victory over WMU at Waldo Stadium Wednesday.
With the victory, Bowling Green improved to 8-2 overall and 6-0 in Mid-American Conference play.
Western Michigan saw a five-game winning streak snapped, falling to 6-4 and 5-1 in the MAC.
And the key to the victory was a stout defensive effort that saw the Falcons hold the Broncos scoreless in their final six possessions. (Toledo Blade)
Colts kicking tires on Jason Campbell: The Indianapolis Colts want former NFL quarterback Jason Campbell to come out of retirement, reports Pro Football Talk.
With quarterback Andrew Luck expected to miss two to six weeks with a lacerated kidney and partial abdominal tear, the team is in need of an experienced backup for Matt Hasselbeck.
Campbell, 33, appeared in four games with the Cincinnati Bengals last season after previous stints with the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins. (Sports Illustrated)
