Sports
Blue Jackets continue playoff surge vs. desperate Panthers
Mar 10, 2026; Tampa, Florida, USA; Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (90) and defenseman Dante Fabbro (15) react after beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third period at Benchmark International Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Conor Garland is apparently quite comfortable in his new surroundings.
He’s been a massive addition in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ continued surge toward a playoff spot as they prepare to face the Florida Panthers on Thursday in Sunrise, Fla.
Garland, who was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks at last week’s trade deadline, scored twice for the second straight game in the Blue Jackets’ 5-2 road win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.
Columbus stretched its point streak to seven games (4-0-3) with the victory and is just two points outside of the final wild-card playoff spot entering Wednesday’s action. The Blue Jackets defeated the Panthers 4-2 at home last Thursday.
Garland has four goals in three games with his new team. Garland also scored twice in the Blue Jackets’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night. It is the first time he has recorded consecutive multi-goal games in his eight-season career.
“Just winning is what matters, it’s the best time of year to play in,” Garland said. “You’re going to be in tight games from here on out. It’s stressful, but that’s what makes it so fun.”
Ivan Provorov,Kirill Marchenko and Dante Fabbro also had goals on Tuesday, while Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan each had two assists.
“He plays the right way,” Werenski said of Garland. “He competes. He works extremely hard in battles. He’s a smaller guy but he doesn’t play like it, and that brings everyone else into the fight.”
Elvis Merzlinkins only had to make 16 saves and added an assist against Tampa Bay.
The Panthers, who are in desperation mode in their effort to make the postseason and have a chance at a third consecutive Stanley Cup, shocked the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 at home on Tuesday night as Carter Verhaeghe scored twice in the final 1:30.
It was their second straight win, both over the Red Wings, moving them 11 points back from the final wild-card spot.
“I think we deserved to win that,” Verhaeghe said. “There is only one way to play and that is to go out, win games, try and do your best. Once you start thinking about other stuff, it really doesn’t go that well. There’s one way to play, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Vergaeghe tied it 3-3 with goaltender Danill Tarasov pulled for the extra attacker with 90 seconds left and got the winner with 15 seconds left.
Matthew Tkachuk provided the primary assist on both goals.
“We have one job and it’s not to figure out where we finish in the standings. It’s to handle your day,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “The best that we can do is come out, have respect for the game and for each other. And, you know, hope for a miracle, I guess. With the guys out (captain Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart), we know that’s going to be a challenge. But we still have to be pros, and we have to almost honor the Florida Panthers game.”
Vinnie Hinostroza had a goal and an assist in his first contest with the team since being picked up at the trade deadline. It is his second stint with the Panthers. Hinostroza played nine games with Florida during the 2020-21 season, recording no points.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Vikings retain RB Aaron Jones on restructured 1-year deal
Dec 25, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones Sr. (33) celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Detroit Lions in the first quarter at U.S. Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-Imagn Images The Minnesota Vikings are retaining running back Aaron Jones on a restructured one-year deal, according to multiple media reports.
Jones, who signed a two-year, $20 million contract last offseason, is set to make $5.6 million ($5 million guaranteed) instead of the $10 million he was set to earn.
ESPN reported early this month that the Vikings had told Jones they would be releasing him unless they could find a trade partner for his services.
Jones, 31, spent his first seven seasons with Green Bay before signing with Minnesota ahead of the 2024 season when the Packers released him. He had a strong debut season for the Vikings, rushing for a career-high 1,138 yards to go with five touchdowns, 408 receiving yards and two more scores.
However, he was limited to 12 games in 2025, finishing second on the team in rushing yards (548) to Jordan Mason (758) and had just three total touchdowns.
In his nine seasons, Jones has appeared in 126 games (114 starts) and rushed for 7,626 yards and 52 touchdowns, catching 351 passes for 2,683 yards and 21 receiving touchdowns.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hall of Fame cap saga ends for Andre Dawson
Oct 1, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Former Chicago Cubs player Andre Dawson throws out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the game against the San Diego Padres during game two of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images The Baseball Hall of Fame announced Wednesday that it has allowed Andre Dawson to recast his plaque without a logo on his cap.
Dawson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010 with his plaque sporting a Montreal Expos logo. The blank cap option was not offered until four years later.
“The Hall of Fame Board of Directors voted unanimously to provide Andre Dawson with the option of having no logo on his Hall of Fame plaque, which will be recast to reflect his wishes,” Baseball Hall of Fame chairman of the board Jane Forbes Clark said in a statement. “This decision gives Andre a choice that he would have taken if it had been available when he was elected in 2010, just four years prior to the formal implementation of that alternative.”
Per the Baseball Hall of Fame, no other changes will be made to the plaque.
“I extend special thanks with much appreciation to the Hall of Fame Board of Directors for a blank cap, which allows me to represent each club fairly,” Dawson said, per the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Dawson, 71, played his first 11 Major League Baseball seasons with the Expos before joining the Chicago Cubs as a free agent in 1987. He won the National League MVP in his first season with the Cubs and spent six seasons in Chicago before finishing his career with two-year stints with the Boston Red Sox and then-Florida Marlins.
“I always felt that I was a Cub in the Hall of Fame, I just had the ‘M’ on the cap,” Dawson said Wednesday, per the Chicago Sun-Times. “That’s what I always related to. That’s where my heart was.
“… All along, I just felt that the process should have allowed me to have some sort of say so. And for years, I just disregarded trying to entertain it at all. It was what it was. And once the protocol started to change, where players were picking they didn’t want to wear an emblem, I felt that I just needed to right the wrong. Because I wasn’t given that opportunity, against what my wishes would have been.”
An eight-time All-Star and eight-time Gold Glove winner, Dawson batted .279 with 438 homers and 1,591 RBIs in 2,627 career games with the Expos, Cubs, Red Sox and Marlins.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Scottie Scheffler targets third Players title with ailing McIlroy defending
Scottie Scheffler hits from the 18th fairway during the second round of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fl. Friday March 14, 2025. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — The Players Championship has made a habit of delivering high drama at an iconic venue which suits a wide array of golfers, and this week’s edition promises more of the same as World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler bids for a rare third victory in the event.
Among other leading contenders are World No. 2 and defending champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who is looking to shrug off a back injury that led to a later arrival at TPC Sawgrass following his withdrawal from last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, and fifth-ranked Justin Rose, who won his 13th PGA Tour title last month at the Farmers Insurance Open.
The elite field is one of the strongest in the game with the top 10 golfers in the world rankings — and 47 of the top 50 — assembled at Sawgrass for the tournament’s 52nd edition.
However, Scheffler will command much of the fan interest as he hunts his 21st career tour title at a venue where he triumphed in 2023 and 2024. Only golfing great Jack Nicklaus has won the PGA Tour’s flagship event three times, and Scheffler will be looking to match him.
“I don’t know if my approach to this tournament has changed very much, but I think it suits my game because you have to play a variety of shots,” Scheffler said ahead of Thursday’s opening round when he will play alongside World No. 3 Tommy Fleetwood and 14th-ranked Justin Thomas in a marquee grouping. “I think that’s something that I’ve always enjoyed about the game of golf is being able to try to curve the ball different directions and hit different spins.”
While Scheffler has not quite replicated his dominant form from last year so far this season, he can still point to a victory at The American Express in January and two other top-10 finishes in his five starts.
“When it comes to my golf game and my expectations of myself, my expectations are based around what I want for me mentally on the golf course as being committed to what I can do, and controlling that aspect,” said the 29-year-old Texas resident. “Throughout this season I’ve been really good in some spots and then some other spots I feel like I can improve in terms of my commitment to the shot.”
Scheffler has long admired the varied test of golf at TPC Sawgrass where surprise winners, such as Craig Perks and Fred Funk, and expected champions, like Tiger Woods and McIlroy, have emerged triumphant.
“When you look at this golf course, you see a variety of winners, and you also don’t see one style of player winning this tournament a bunch of times,” said Scheffler. “It’s so unique in a sense of, the way modern golf is kind of trending … this place you kind of take some steps back where the areas to hit into are small.
“And there’s certain holes where you can definitely take advantage of your length if you’re a longer hitter. But there’s also some holes where you got to get the ball in play, and you have to be able to curve the ball both directions.”
Two-time champion McIlroy will command just as much fan interest as Scheffler but his tournament prospects were still hanging in the balance after he arrived at TPC Sawgrass late Wednesday afternoon to test his back and swing on the practice range.
The Northern Irishman is the defending champion; he won the 2025 tournament in a playoff with J.J. Spaun.
McIlroy pulled out of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Saturday before the third round after feeling “a small twinge” in his back while warming up in the gym. Prior to arriving at Sawgrass on Wednesday, he had been at home recovering and receiving treatment.
Rose, 45, will be bidding for his second PGA Tour win this season after romping to victory by seven strokes at the Farmers. Like Scheffler, Rose relishes competing at Sawgrass where he has recorded three career top-10s in 20 starts, including a T4 in 2014.
“It’s a course that I love, actually,” smiled Rose. “It’s one of the best courses that we play on tour. I think it’s very fitting for this championship. It suits all types of players.
“But it’s tricky as well. I feel like it’s a venue that I’ve sort of would like to figure out a bit better this year, that is for sure. I’ve had some good weeks here, some great rounds, but I would love to put four together this week.”
Englishman Fleetwood, the 2025 FedEx Cup champion, will make his ninth Players appearance and will aim to improve on a best finish at TPC Sawgrass of T5 in 2019.
“It’s just nice to be back,” he said. “It’s always a tournament that everybody gets really excited about. I think the biggest compliment you can give the golf course is that everybody holds it very high on their list, and I think that there’s always a wide spread of opinion.
“There’s been some big tournaments already this year but I think The Players, where it sits now, always marks the start of a big period coming.”
This week, a field of 123 golfers will tee it up at TPC Sawgrass in pursuit of a winner’s check for $4.5 million. Traditionally, the field totaled 144 but it was shrunk this year to a base of 120 players. With Brooks Koepka eligible for the tournament based on his return to the PGA Tour through the Returning Members Program, two more players were added to make it an even 41 threesomes for the first two rounds.
–Mark Lamport-Stokes, Field Level Media
Reports: Vikings retain RB Aaron Jones on restructured 1-year deal
Hall of Fame cap saga ends for Andre Dawson
