San Jose State, Cal to meet for 1st time since ’96 season

NEWS+NOTES

Dick Button smiles next to a painting of him while honored at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose in 2018. Button died on Thursday at 95. MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, FILE

Rangers starter Max Scherzer delivers a pitch during a Sept. 14 game against the Mariners in Seattle. STEPHEN BRASHEAR — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, FILE

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San Jose State and Cal are renewing their football series that has been dormant since 1996, the schools announced on Thursday.

On Sept. 9, 2028, Cal will play host to the Spartans.

On Sept. 13, 2031, the Bears will travel to San Jose State.

The teams have met on 35 previous occasions but just once at San Jose State, the 1996 game that Cal won 45-25.

The Bears are 29-6 against the South Bay school.

ESPN extends media rights with ACC >> ESPN has exercised its option extending its media rights agreement with the Atlantic Coast Conference through the 2035-36 academic year.

The deal continues a rights deal that has spanned 35 years and the launch of the ACC Network in August 2019 in a joint effort.

Stanford and Cal began play in the conference last fall.

Figure skating

Button, Olympic great and voice of skating, dies at 95 >> Olympic figure skating great and authoritative commentator Dick Button has died at 95.

Button won two Olympic gold medals, the most accomplished men’s figure skater in history. He also was the voice of his sport and one of its greatest innovators.

As an entrepreneur and broadcaster, Button promoted skating and its athletes, transforming a niche sport into the showpiece of every Winter Olympics.

Golf

Kim opens 4-shot lead at LPGA season opener >> A Lim Kim shot a bogey-free, 7-under 65 to take a four-shot lead in the opening round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, the LGPA Tour season opener.

The 29-year-old Kim, a two-time winner on tour including the U.S. Women’s Open in 2020, birdied three of her final five holes at Lake Nona to separate herself from Patty Tavatanakit and Jin Young Ko, who each shot 69.

Pro basketball

Nashville bids for franchise >> The chairman of the NHL’s Nashville Predators and his wife want to bring the WNBA to Music City and have teamed up with a star-filled investor group including Candace Parker, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and entertainers Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

The group led by Bill Haslam, a former Tennessee governor, submitted its bid to the WNBA for a franchise that would start playing in 2028. The team also would be named the Tennessee Summitt in honor of the late Pat Summitt.

Baseball

Scherzer agrees to contract with Toronto >> Max Scherzer is joining the Toronto Blue Jays, agreeing to a 15.5 million, one-year contract, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal.

The 40-year-old Scherzer was limited to nine starts with Texas last year, going 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA.

Skiing

Shiffrin finishes 10th >> Mikaela Shiffrin finished 10th in a World Cup slalom race on her injury comeback, with Croatian racer Zrinka Ljutic winning in style under floodlights at Courchevel.

Chasing a record-extending 100th World Cup win, the 29-year-old American was fifth after the first run on the Stade Emile Allais course but struggled with her timing on both runs.

Soccer

Man United and Tottenham reach Europa League round of 16 >> Manchester United and Tottenham put their inconsistent domestic campaigns aside and advanced to the Europa League round of 16.

Diogo Dalot tapped in a precise cross by Kobbie Mainoo on the hour mark and Mainoo netted eight minutes later for a 2-0 victory over Romanian champion FCSB in Bucharest.

Tottenham got goals from academy graduates to beat Swedish club Elfsborg 3-0 in London. Spurs waited until the 70th minute for substitute Dane Scarlett to break the deadlock before adding two more through substitute Damola Ajayi and 17-year-old Mikey Moore.

Of the 36 teams in the revamped competition, the top eight go directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams ranked ninth to 24th go into the two-legged knockout playoffs on Feb. 13 and Feb. 20 with the winners making the last 16.

The draw is scheduled for Friday.

United, which is 12th in the Premier League, competed the league phase of the second-tier European competition in third place and undefeated with five wins and three draws, trailing the top by one point.

Ruben Amorim’s squad has shown signs of improvement since he said the team was “the worst, maybe, in the history of Manchester United.”

Thursday’s victory was the third straight in one week after beating Rangers in the Europa League a week ago and Fulham in the Premier League three days later.

Tottenham is languishing in 15th place in the Premier League. Its seven-match winless run in the league is its worst since 2008. But it won five, drew two and lost one for the fourth place in the Europa League.