Thursday’s Sports

MLB

Tigers (46-51) 4 – Texas (35-61) 2

Indians (48-45) 5 – Astros (f58-39) 4

Texas and Houston get together starting Friday evening at Minute Maid.

OLYMPICS

Well, that all came together! Not what the U.S. women’s soccer team had intended, but they are still thinking gold. The United States fell to Sweden 3-0 Wednesday night in the team’s opener in Tokyo, snapping a 44-match unbeaten streak. It was a surprising result for the favorites in the field. But, it may have lit a fire. Defender Tierna Davidson said Thursday that veteran Kelley O’Hara was rallying the squad ahead of Saturday’s match against New Zealand.

ESPN

Maria Taylor is leaving ESPN after the two sides could not reach an agreement on a contract extension. Taylor had been with ESPN since 2014, but her contract expired Tuesday. Her last assignment for the network was Tuesday night at the NBA Finals, where she was the pregame and postgame host for the network’s “NBA Countdown” show. Taylor had hosted “NBA Countdown” since 2019 as well as being a reporter for “College GameDay” and ABC “Saturday Night Football” since 2017.

LSC

Texas A&M University-Commerce football standout Alex Shillow received a nominee for the 2021 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®, the 30th year of this storied recognition. From divisions across the nation, sports information directors nominated 109 student-athletes with stories of exemplary community service, alongside their academic dedication and impact on and off the field.

HIGH SCHOOL

Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath officially approved the updates made to the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules. It means the 2021-2022 UIL Regular Season Broadcast Guidelines are now in effect, and they posted the ruling on the UIL’s website. As a result, schools are permitted live webcasts of a regular-season football game on Friday night. However, live telecasts broadcasted are not allowed.

Texas Senate Bill 29 states no student should be allowed to participate in any University Interscholastic League sports if they are born the opposite sex to the rest of their teammates. “Ultimately, the question is do you allow somebody who is born as a man, has the biologically advantages that a man has in sports, to compete with girls,” said Representative James Frank of Texas District 69. It is one of many bills in the Texas legislative special-session agenda.