Bill Johnson to speak at Curbstone

Youngstown State University President Bill Johnson will be the guest speaker at Monday’s luncheon meeting of The Curbstone Coaches at the Avion Banquet Center on Western Reserve Road in Beaver Township.

The event begins at 11:45 a.m., and the public is welcome to attend.

All sports fans are welcome and you do not need to be a current or former coach.

YSU softball drops doubleheader

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The Youngstown State softball team dropped a pair of contests on Friday at the Wings, Etc. Classic, at the Cyrill Softball Stadium in Spartanburg, S.C.

In the opener, YSU lost a 9-1 decision to West Georgia before losing the nightcap, 9-7, to the host Spartans.

Upstate jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on sacrifice fly, but the Penguins knotted the game at 1-1 in the top of the second. Ayla Ray (Austintown Fitch) laced a double down the left-field line, and Bella Meyer (Champion) brought her home with a run-scoring single of the middle.

The Spartans regained a 4-1 lead after a two-run home run by Mackenzie Bernal and a two-out run-scoring single by Taliyah Thomas in the bottom half of the frame.

Littler led off the top of the third with a single and advance to third on Wilkerson’s double down the right-field line. Emma Gilkerson’s sacrifice fly to right field plated Littler and cut the Spartans lead in half, 4-2. Tai Turner extended the inning with a 10-pitch walk and Kennedy delivered a run-scoring single up the middle to score pinch-runner Tatum Werley to make it a one-run game, 4-3, through two-and-half innings.

Upstate scored four times in the fourth inning, but in the fifth, the Guins put together a rally thanks to the long ball.

Gilkerson led off the inning with a home run to left center and following a Turner singles, Kennedy Dean launched a two-run shot to make it a 9-6 contest. After a pitching change, Ayla Ray belted a solo shot to cut the deficit to two.

The Guins banged out 13 hits, but left 10 runners on base while Upstate just stranded a pair.

In the opener, the Penguins were limited to just four hits against the Wolves.

Tai Turner, Macy Littler, Dean, and Lydia Wilkerson each collected base hits, and Turner drove in Littler with the Penguins’ lone run in the bottom of the fourth.

West Georgia scored six runs in the top of the second to take a commanding 6-0 lead and added two in the top of the fourth and another in the fifth to invoke the eight-run mercy rule.

Youngstown State will face West Georgia and USC Upstate, today, at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively.

Chris Paul announces retirement

Chris Paul, the “Point God” who was a 12-time All-Star selection and two-time Olympic gold medalist, announced his retirement on Friday in the capper of a 21-season career that will surely merit induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Paul made the announcement on the first day of the NBA’s All-Star weekend at the home of the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood, California. Paul spent his final season — an abbreviated one — with the Clippers, who sent him home in December and wound up trading him to Toronto earlier this month.

The Raptors knew Paul would never play in Toronto, and that begged the question about whether the Wake Forest legend would try to finish the season with another team in pursuit of the thing he never got — an NBA title.

The answer came Friday. He’s done. He said last summer that he has hated missing events with his children over the last few years, and now he can devote himself much more to his family and other interests.

“It’s time for me to show up for others and in other ways,” Paul wrote on a social media post, announcing the decision.

He strongly hinted earlier this season that this year was going to be his last. Paul was a four-time All-NBA first team selection, and he ranks second in NBA history with 12,552 assists and 2,728 steals. He was the first player to score at least 20,000 points while recording at least 10,000 assists; LeBron James and Russell Westbrook have both since done that as well.

Paul played for New Orleans, Houston, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Golden State, San Antonio and the Clippers during his career, spending the last four years with four different teams.

Paul is 15th all-time in regular-season games played and 36th in points, was a six-time steals champion, five-time assists champion, a nine-time All-Defensive team pick, 11-time All-NBA selection and was part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

Flores’ case can head to open court

NEW YORK — The Brian Flores-led discrimination lawsuit against the NFL can proceed to open court and avoid the league’s arbitration process, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Flores, who is joined in the lawsuit by Steve Wilks and Ray Horton, sued the league and three teams in February 2022 after he was fired the previous month by the Miami Dolphins. Now the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, Flores alleged in his original suit that the league was “rife with racism” regarding its hiring practices when it comes to Black coaches.

The NFL argued Flores should go through the league’s arbitration process rather than the legal system, but Judge Valerie Caproni of the Southern District of New York sided with the plaintiffs.

The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A pretrial hearing has been set for April 3.

Flores was fired after going 24-25 record over three years without a playoff appearances. The Dolphins did have back-to-back winning seasons before Flores was dismissed.

He sued the NFL as well as the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Houston Texans. Flores interviewed with the Broncos in 2019 and the Giants and Texans in 2022.

Wilks, who was fired in December as the New York Jets defensive coordinator, joined the lawsuit by claiming the Arizona Cardinals in 2018 hired him as a “bridge coach” and didn’t provide him with a realistic chance to succeed.

Horton, who last coached in the NFL in 2019, alleged the Tennessee Titans didn’t offer him a genuine interview for the head coaching position in 2016.