Former UNLV head coach passes after infection fight

LAS VEGAS – Hall of Fame coach Jerry Tarkanian, who built a basketball dynasty at UNLV but was defined more by his decades-long battle with the NCAA, died Wednesday after several years of health issues. He was 84.

Tarkanian put the run in the Runnin’ Rebels, taking them to four Final Fours and winning a national championship in 1990.

His son, Danny Tarkanian, said his father fought an infection since he was hospitalized Monday in Las Vegas with breathing difficulty.

His teams were as flamboyant as the city, with light shows and fireworks for pregame introductions and celebrities jockeying for position on the so-called Gucci Row courtside.

MLB

2017 All-Star Game taking its talents to South Beach

MIAMI – A person familiar with the decision said the Miami Marlins have been awarded the 2017 All-Star Game, and an announcement by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is planned for this week at the team’s ballpark.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the decision, first reported by The Miami Herald, had not been announced.

Miami will host the game for the first time. The Marlins were awarded the 2000 game at Pro Player Stadium and then stripped of the honor in 1998 because of uncertainty about the franchise’s future.

The Marlins moved into their new ballpark in 2012.

The All-Star Game will be played in Cincinnati this year and in San Diego in 2016, meaning a National League team will host the game in three consecutive seasons.

NHL

Jets send Evander Kane to Sabres in 7-man swap

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Buffalo Sabres acquired embattled left wing Evander Kane from the Winnipeg Jets in a seven-player trade Wednesday.

The league’s last place team, Buffalo continued its rebuild by sending defenseman Tyler Myers, forwards Drew Stafford and Joel Armia, the rights to 2014 second round pick Brendan Lemieux and Buffalo’s latest first-round pick in 2015 to the Jets.

Olympics

Canadian shot putter jumps to bronze from 4th

TORONTO – Shot putter Dylan Armstrong will receive an Olympic medal, upgraded to bronze after a competitor was banned for doping at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Six and a half years to the day after just missing the podium, the Canadian will get the medal Sunday in his hometown of Kamloops, British Columbia.

Armstrong finished fourth in 2008, just a centimeter behind bronze medalist Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus. That fourth-place finish was upgraded to third last August after Mikhnevich was banned for life for a second doping offense.

Youth Baseball

Little League takes Jackie Robinson West’s U.S. title

CHICAGO – Little League International stripped Jackie Robinson West of the national title that the Chicago team won last summer after an investigation revealed it had falsified boundaries to field ineligible players.

In a stunning announcement Wednesday that came months after the all-black team captured the attention of the country and the hearts of its hometown, the baseball organization said it also found that after the boundaries were changed, league officials went to surrounding leagues to convince them to go along with what they’d done.

The team’s manager, Darold Butler, was suspended from Little League activities, according to the statement.

Associated Press