Crestview hosts meet

COLUMBIANA — The 41st Columbiana County Middle School Track and Field Meet will be held Wednesday at Crestview High School.

Action is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. with the boys discus and high jump, girls shot put and long jump and 3200-meter relay. The rest of the running events will start at 5:15 p.m.

Schools competing are host Crestview, Beaver Local, Columbiana, East Liverpool, East Palestine, Heartland Christian, Leetonia, Lisbon, Salem, Southern, United and Wellsville.

NWSL coming to Ohio

COLUMBUS –The National Women’s Soccer League announced on Tuesday that Columbus would be its 18th franchise after the Haslam Sports Group had submitted a bid to bring professional women’s soccer to the state capital.

The team will debut in 2028 and will use ScottsMiracle-Gro Field, the current home of the Columbus Crew, as its home field.

Recently a total of $50 million in public money from the city of Columbus and Franklin County was approved to help the Haslam Sports Group’s bid. That money will be used to upgrade the current Crew stadium with facilities for the women’s soccer team as well as to build a training facility on the site of McCoy Park.

The city of Cleveland had a NWSL expansion bid turned down last year as the league picked Denver instead. Cleveland’s pitch had included a proposed 12,500-seat soccer stadium that was to be built next to Progressive Field.

Trump hosts YSU bowling champions

WASHINGTON (AP) — On a day when he congratulated the Youngstown State University bowling team on its 2025 NCAA national championship, President Donald Trump on Tuesday repeated his call for Congress to pass legislation that would rein in college sports at a time athletes are allowed to move freely from school to school and command salaries that put athletic departments in financial peril.

Trump’s remarks came at a White House event honoring some 100 athletes from seven teams that won NCAA championships in 2025.

Trump this month signed an executive order that would limit eligibility to five years, allow one transfer without penalty for undergraduates, stop pay-for-play schemes and build in protections for women’s and Olympic sports.

Aspects of the executive order might not withstand legal scrutiny, which is why Trump and some college sports stakeholders are asking for federal legislation that would codify restrictions and grant the NCAA an antitrust exemption to enforce rules.

Dozens of athletes have challenged NCAA eligibility rules with the hope of extending their college careers and, in turn, their ability to earn money through name, image and likeness deals. He said it’s unfair for athletes right out of high school to compete against 28- or 29-year-olds.

“It’s a very precarious position the courts have left us in,” Trump said, adding that the 2025 settlement of House v. the NCAA created a professional model that has led to financial instability for colleges. “And now it’s a total and complete mess. But we’re going to get it fixed up and we’ve got fantastic people doing it. So we need now Congress to act to clear up the confusion created by the courts and institute permanent reforms to protect college sports at every level, especially some sports.”

The other national championship teams honored were Oklahoma State in men’s golf, Texas A&M in women’s volleyball, Wake Forest in men’s tennis, Georgia in women’s tennis, Florida State in women’s soccer and West Virginia in mixed rifle.

“Seventy-five percent of Olympians competing for Team USA played as college athletes,” Trump said. “If we don’t straighten out this, we’re not going to have much of an Olympic team because you have so many of these sports, especially certain sports where it’s like the minor leagues, call it the major leagues, whatever you want. But we’ve trained unbelievable athletes to go in and win the gold medal. Without college sports and without your ability to go into college sports and compete and learn how to play and get better, we’re not going to have much of an Olympic team anymore.”

Boardman bests West Branch

BOARDMAN — Boardman’s tennis team defeated West Branch 5-0 on Tuesday.

West Branch is 5-3 and will host East Liverpool today.

Boardman 5, West Branch 0

FIRST SINGLES: Gabe Hammerton (B) def. Austin Hawk, 6-1, 6-4.

SECOND SINGLES: Charlie Beichner (B) def. Damon Edwards, 6-1, 6-1.

THIRD SINGLES: Jackson Lewis (B) def. Jeremy Augustine, 4-6, 6-4, 10-5.

FIRST DOUBLES: Cooper Mraz-Sam Pickens (B) def. Cameron McCartney-Blake Robbins, 6-1, 6-2.

SECOND DOUBLES: Jimmy Hunt-Andrew Walston (B) def. Connor Loper-Mason Cosma, 6-2, 6-3.

Tomlin joining NBC’s pregame show

(AP) — Mike Tomlin is going from the glare of an NFL sideline to the glare of television lights.

The former Pittsburgh Steelers coach will join NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” coverage as a pregame analyst, two people briefed on the move told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The people spoke on condition of anonymity because NBC has not announced the move. The Athletic was the first to report on Tomlin.

Tomlin stepped down in January after 19 seasons as Steelers coach and was the most sought after free agent by the networks. NBC had a studio opening as it is retooling its “Football Night in America” pregame show. Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy announced last month that he was told he would not be back after 17 years.

Host Maria Taylor and former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett are expected to return. Devin McCourty’s contract expired at the conclusion of last season, but NBC would like to re-sign him. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and fantasy sports expert Matthew Berry are also expected to continue their roles.

The futures of Jac Collinsworth, Rodney Harrison and Chris Simms remain undetermined.

NBC has had its main studio crew at its network sports headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut, with Harrison, Collinsworth and Dungy at the game locations in previous seasons, but NBC is considering having its entire studio show from the stadium.

The 54-year-old Tomlin won 193 regular-season games in Pittsburgh, tied with Hall of Famer Chuck Noll for the most victories in franchise history. He led the Steelers to an NFL title in his second season in 2008 when they beat the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl 43. Pittsburgh returned to the Super Bowl two years later, but lost to the Green Bay Packers.

Tomlin had limited postseason success after that. He had an 8-12 mark in the playoffs, including seven straight losses at the end of his tenure, all by double digits.

Pittsburgh won the AFC North last season, but were routed 30-6 by the Houston Texans in the wild-card round, which was the most lopsided home playoff loss in team history.

The bigger question for Tomlin is whether the analyst gig will be for one season only. He has two years left on a contract extension he signed in 2024, including a club option for 2027. The Steelers could seek compensation from a team if Tomlin sought to return before his contract expired.

Rangers rock Pirates

Carter drives in a run and robs Cruz of a homer as Rangers beat Pirates 5-1

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kumar Rocker allowed a run in six innings and Evan Carter drove in the tying run before robbing Oneil Cruz of a three-run homer, leading the Texas Rangers to a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

Cruz singled leading off the game against Rocker (1-1). He stole second and took an extra base on Danny Jansen’s throwing error. Ryan O’Hearn singled for a 1-0 lead two batters into the game.

Joc Pederson singled leading off the second against Carmen Mlodzinski (1-1) and Josh Jung doubled him to third. Carter singled to tie it and Josh Smith hit a sacrifice fly to put the Rangers up 2-1.

Carter then robbed Cruz of a three-run homer in the fifth to keep it 2-1.

Eqequiel Duran, who came in after left fielder Wyatt Langford left with forearm stiffness, had an RBI double in the Rangers’ fifth and Corey Seager ended Mlodzinski’s night with an RBI single for a 4-1 lead. Wilber Dotel entered and gave up a single to Jake Burger before walking Pederson. Jung drove in Seager on a forceout for the final run.

Rocker threw 88 pitches and allowed four hits and a walk, striking out five. Cole Winn, Jacob Latz and Jakob Junis each pitched a scoreless inning to close it out.

Mlodzinski threw 93 pitches and surrendered all five runs on six hits and two walks. He fanned six.

The Rangers (12-11) moved a game over .500 at the start of a nine-game homestand after playing 16 of their first 22 games on the road.

Pittsburgh dropped to 5-5 on the road and 13-10 for the season.

Langford was the Rangers’ hottest hitter before his injury, going 7 for 14 as Texas dropped two of three in Seattle before coming home. He walked and stole his third base in the first inning and left after striking out in the third.

Pirates RHP Braxton Ashcraft (1-1, 2.38) starts tonight opposite Rangers RHP Jack Leiter (1-1, 4.87).