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Saquon Barkley could be latest in line of free agents who helped deliver Super Bowl titles

The offseason addition of Saquon Barkley helped elevate a sluggish offense for the Philadelphia Eagles and lead the team to a Super Bowl. While building teams through the draft is still the most desirable avenue for success in the NFL, free agent additions have played a major role for several Super Bowl teams since unrestricted free agency came to the NFL in 1993. If Barkley can help deliver a Super Bowl title to Philadelphia when the Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs, he will join a list of free agent stars from Reggie White to Tom Brady who helped their teams win Super Bowl titles.

Each of the young figure skaters killed in the DC plane crash had a story waiting to be told

The young figure skaters whose lives were cut tragically short when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday night were just beginning their journeys to stardom. Some of them were quickly rising through the ranks of U.S. Figure Skating, while others were still learning the very basics. All of them were coming home from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, some of them accompanied by their parents and coaches. And all of them had stories that were only just beginning, and just waiting to be told.

Young among those with reactions after not getting selected for NBA All-Star Game

Atlanta guard Trae Young doesn’t view not getting picked for the All-Star Game as getting snubbed. He has a new word. “It’s getting ‘Traed’ at this point,” he wrote on social media. Young, the NBA’s assist leader this season and a three-time All-Star selection, obviously wasn’t pleased about not getting picked for the Feb. 16 All-Star event in San Francisco. The league’s coaches pick the reserves for the game, their selections getting revealed on Thursday. And a few notables didn’t make the cut, including Young and Phoenix’s Devin Booker.

NHL salary cap over the next 3 seasons is getting its biggest increases since it started in 2005

NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL salary cap is making a big jump next season, with even larger increases happening in the coming years. The league and the Players’ Association on Friday released the cap numbers for the next three seasons. From $88 million this season, it goes up to $95.5 million in 2025-26, then $104 million in ‘26-27 and $113.5 million in ’27-28. Those represent the biggest year-over-year leaps since the cap went into place in 2005 at $39 million. Revenue reaching new record highs thanks to U.S. media rights deals, jersey and board advertisements and other sources are the reasons for the increases.

Would-be pro soccer players navigate NWSL futures without a college draft

Players and teams alike are navigating the first season in the National Women’s Soccer League without a college draft. The NWSL became the first top-tier pro sports league in the United States to eliminate the draft last year as part of its collective-bargaining agreement with players. While many college players in years past prepared for a January draft, now they’re on the open market. The players’ union says the move gives players greater control over their pro careers.

Boston skating club trained Olympic champions. It has also shared in the sport’s pain

NORWOOD, Mass. (AP) — The history of the Skating Club of Boston is the history of American figure skating. In good times and in bad. For more than a century, the club has launched the careers of some of skating’s biggest stars. And when sorrow hits the skating world, the Boston club feels the pain, as well. Six members of the club were killed on Wednesday night when the plane bringing them back from a national development camp in Wichita, Kansas, collided with an Army helicopter. Even as skaters and their families mourned, news came that alumnus Dick Button had died at the age of 95.

International Skating Union to honor athletes killed in plane crash when Boston hosts world champs

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — International Skating Union President Jae Youl Kim has held back tears while announcing they will honor athletes and others killed in the mid-air collision near Washington, D.C., when the world championships are staged in Boston in March. Kim was visibly emotional telling media on Friday at the European championships in Estonia. Skaters, coaches and family members on their way back from a national skating camp in Wichita, Kansas, were among those who died when a passenger jet hit a helicopter on Wednesday. They included two teenage skaters, their mothers and two coaches who were part of the Skating Club of Boston. Kim also praised Dick Button, the two-time Olympic figure skating champion and broadcaster who died on Thursday at 95.

How the All-Star Game works: A breakdown of the NBA’s new format

The NBA All-Stars have been selected. Next up: Assigning them to teams. The 10 players designated as starters were announced on Jan. 23, the remaining 14 players designated as reserves were revealed Thursday — and now, those 24 players will be drafted onto eight-player teams for the games that will be played on Feb. 16 in San Francisco. TNT analysts and basketball greats Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith will draft the teams on Feb. 6. The eight-player teams will bear their names — Team Shaq, Team Charles and Team Kenny.

The NCAA settles lawsuit with Tennessee and Virginia over compensation rules for recruits

The NCAA has settled the lawsuit with the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia and other states over its rules prohibiting name, image and likeness compensation for recruits. Notice that a settlement has been reached was filed Friday with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, in Greeneville. The settlement will be finalized along with a request for a permanent injunction by March 17. This settles the antitrust lawsuit filed exactly a year ago by the attorneys general of Tennessee and Virginia challenging the NCAA’s ban on the use of name, image and likeness compensation in the recruitment of college athletes. A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction last February keeping the NCAA from enforcing its NIL rules for recruits.

A Lim Kim leads by 3 strokes midway through LPGA season opener, with Nelly Korda 4 back

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A Lim Kim made enough birdies in an up-and-down second round to maintain a cushion between herself and top-ranked Nelly Korda at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions, the LGPA Tour season opener. Kim shot 69 at Lake Nona for a two-day total of 10-under 134, making six birdies and three bogeys. That was good for a three-shot lead over Linn Grant and four shots better than Korda, who shot 67 on Friday. Rio Takeda and Leona Maguire also were four shots back, and defending champion Lydia Ko was six shots off the lead.