Sports dispatches for Wednesday
Staff and wire reports
Sevens win fifth straight
Sean Kilpatrick poured in 30 points and the 87ers extended their win streak to five with a 112-105 victory over Canton at the Bob Carpenter Center on Tuesday morning.
Kilpatrick hit 6 of 7 from beyond the arc for Delaware (16-19). D.J. Seeley contributed his third double-double in the last four games, notching 17 points, 18 assists and eight rebounds. Jared Cunningham put up 21 points and seven assists, and Joonas Caven hit 4 of 5 three-pointers to add 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench.
Henlopen title games Friday
The Henlopen Conference basketball championship games will be played Friday at Dover High. Southern Division winner Milford will meet Northern Division champ Sussex Central in the girls game at 6 p.m., followed by Southern winner Milford against Northern champ Polytech in the boys game at 7:30.​
ESPN's Olbermann out for week after Penn State comments
Keith Olbermann was taken off his ESPN show for the rest of the week after making insulting comments about Penn State students on Twitter.
On Monday, a Penn State alum tweeted to Olbermann the phrase "We Are!" and a link to an article about students raising more than $13 million to fight pediatric cancer. Olbermann replied "…Pitiful."
Olbermann, who often spars with commenters on Twitter, then refused to back down in several more tweets, saying he was referring to Penn State students in general and not the fundraising.
"It was completely inappropriate and does not reflect the views of ESPN," the network said in a statement Tuesday. "We have discussed it with Keith, who recognizes he was wrong. ESPN and Keith have agreed that he will not host his show for the remainder of this week and will return on Monday. The annual tradition of THON and the efforts of the students of Penn State to fight pediatric cancer should be applauded."
Olbermann also apologized on Twitter on Tuesday, saying, "I was stupid and childish and way less mature than the students there who did such a great fundraising job."
Olbermann returned to ESPN in summer 2013, vowing that his second stint would go better than his first. He had made his name with his catchphrases and sardonic tone as a "SportsCenter" anchor from 1992-97.
But his tenure ended amid harsh words and clashes with management over his right to do outside work. He was suspended briefly for not seeking permission to record public service announcements.
Two politically oriented jobs didn't end well, either. After eight years as a prime-time host at MSNBC, he quit abruptly in January 2011. He later joined Current TV but lasted a year before he was taken off the air; he filed a lawsuit, which was settled out of court.
Big Ten weighs whether freshmen should play
The Big Ten says it is seeking more feedback on whether freshmen should compete in athletics.
The conference released a statement Tuesday indicating it wants to know what others think and will seek input from national leaders inside and outside college athletics before the 2016 NCAA National Convention.
The Big Ten is seeking feedback on establishing "a year of readiness for all sports — or select sports; student-athlete time demands; playing seasons; initial eligibility requirements; and other areas impacting academics on college campuses across the country."
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany says the conference "won't go it alone on any of these matters" and plans to work with "our colleagues in the NCAA Division I governance structure."
US takes 2 medals at Nordic worlds
Charlotte Kalla gave host Sweden its first gold medal of the Nordic skiing world championships by winning the women's 10-kilometer freestyle race Tuesday, while American teammates Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg surprisingly took silver and bronze.
Kalla, who won Olympic gold in the discipline in 2010, dominated from the start and won by a massive 41 seconds, finishing in 25 minutes, 8.8 seconds. As Norwegian favorites Marit Bjoergen and Therese Johaug both struggled, Diggins and Gregg delivered one of the biggest surprises of the championships by making the podium.
Diggins won gold with Kikkan Randall in the team sprint at the 2013 worlds, but has never made the podium in an individual long-distance race on the World Cup. Gregg has never finished in the top 10 on the World Cup.
They benefited from early start numbers in the event, a race against the clock where skiers set out at 30-second intervals, as heavy snowfall and strong winds made things hard on the favorites who went out later. Gregg was the third of 71 skiers to start and had the leading time until Diggins — with bib 37 — beat her time by 5.9 seconds.
It was clear from the start, though, that no one could match Kalla. This is the Swede's favorite event, and she also won a 10K freestyle race by a big margin in the final World Cup meet before the championships.
She led by 11 seconds after just 1.5K and the gap just kept growing after that. The Norwegian team failed to find the right setup for their skis and Bjoergen — the six-time Olympic champion who went out last among the seeded skiers — finished more than 2 minutes back in 31st place. Johaug, who won the 15K skiathlon on Saturday and was the defending 10K world champion, was 27th, also more than 2 minutes back.
Norway won gold in five of the six previous cross-country skiing events at the worlds.
Diggs was 1.7 seconds ahead of Maria Rydqvist of Sweden, who finished fourth.