District Notes: 2/17/09

Bill McCartney, the Hall of Fame football coach who led the CU Buffs to their lone national title, died Friday night after a lengthy battle with dementia, the university announced. He was 84. The family released a statement through the school late Friday mourning McCartney’s passing. “Our father surrendered his life to Jesus at 33 years old, setting a trajectory for our family and many others.

Michael Malone might never get over his phobia of short-handed draft lottery teams. The Brooklyn Nets’ injury report had to be nightmare fuel for him. No Cameron Johnson, D’Angelo Russell, Cam Thomas, De’Anthony Melton, Bojan Bogdanovic or Trendon Watford. And the Nuggets were getting MVP center Nikola Jokic back after two games of sick leave. “We went through their personnel and I said, ‘I’d bet a lot of money that most of you guys have never heard of some of these players or have any idea where they’ve played,'” Malone shared with reporters on Friday.

By STEPHEN HAWKINS ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jack Sawyer had the kind of moment that will live on long past his playing days with Ohio State. Of course, one more victory would make it that much sweeter. Sawyer stripped Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers — his former roommate — and returned the fumble 83 yards for the clinching touchdown in a 28-14 victory over the Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl on Friday night, giving the Buckeyes a shot at their sixth AP national title. “We talked before the game about how do you leave a legacy is to become your old legend.

At some point, the Colorado women’s basketball team will need to find wins on the road to make a run at the top of the Big 12 standings. Protecting the home court is crucial, however. On Saturday the Buffaloes will have another opportunity to get a victory in Boulder as Kansas visits the CU Events Center. “I think it’s essential,” CU head coach JR Payne said of winning conference home games.

Jordan Spieth has been playing golf for a month without pain and plans to return from wrist surgery at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, ending his longest stretch without competition and looking at his time off as a chance to reset. “I had some really bad habits for a long time,” Spieth said in a telephone interview Friday.

Sean Payton essentially chalked the offensive stats up to garbage time. They counted in the fourth quarter of a Week 6 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, sure. But did they mean anything? The Broncos coach scoffed at the notion that night at Empower Field. “Let’s be honest: It picked up when we started going up-tempo.