Sports briefs
ECHL team folds
The Brampton Beast of the ECHL have folded, citing COVID-19 pandemic.
The professional hockey team was one of six that joined the ECHL in 2014.
The league suspended play in March. Fourteen teams subsequently elected to take part in the 2020-2021 season, with 12 – including Brampton – sitting out.
Ex-WWE stars take case to High Court
Dozens of former pro wrestlers who claimed in lawsuits that World Wrestling Entertainment failed to protect them from repeated head injuries are taking their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A lawyer for the former wrestlers, most of them stars in the 1980s and 1990s, filed a request asking the Supreme Court to hear appeals of lower court rulings that dismissed the lawsuits. Lower courts said the suits were frivolous or filed after the statute of limitations expired.
Among the plaintiffs were Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, Joseph “Road Warrior Animal” Laurinaitis, Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff, Chris “King Kong Bundy” Pallies and Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara, known as Mr. Fuji.
They said they suffered repeated head injuries including concussions that led to long-term brain damage, and accused the WWE of knowing of the risks of head injuries but not warning its wrestlers.
Snuka and Fujiwara died in 2017 and 2016, respectively, and were diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, after their deaths, according to their lawyer.
In baseball
The Blue Jays expect to split the home portion of this year’s regular-schedule among their spring training complex in Dunedin, Florida, their Triple-A ballpark in Buffalo, New York, and the Rogers Center in Toronto.
Toronto announced Thursday it will play the first two homestands of the season in Dunedin because of Canadian government restrictions during the pandemic.
Team president Mark Shapiro said a return to Buffalo is a likely option in June because of the heat and humidity in Florida. He hopes for games in Toronto at some point during the summer.
n Philadelphia Phillies two-time All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto has a small fracture in his right thumb and will be evaluated again in two weeks. Realmuto was injured while blocking a pitch six days ago.
n Experienced closer Trevor Rosenthal reached agreement on an $11 million, one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics.
In golf
Sam Burns had the ideal start at Riviera. His finish was even better.
Burns opened with an 18-foot eagle putt and closed with three straight birdies Thursday in the Genesis Invitational, giving him a 7-under 64, the third time this season he has shot 64 in the opening round.
The 24-year-old Burns is still looking for his first PGA Tour victory.
He had a two-shot lead over Matt Fitzpatrick and Max Homa, who grew up 30 miles away in Valencia and used to attend the PGA Tour event at Riviera as a kid.
Patrick Cantlay, coming off chances to win in Palm Springs and Pebble Beach, extended his run of good play with four birdies on his back nine and was in a large group at 67.
In the NHL
Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson and Conor Sheary scored, Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves and the Washington Capitals beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1 on Thursday night for their second consecutive victory.
n Auston Matthews scored his 15th and 16th goals to pad his NHL lead and had two assists to help the league-leading Toronto Maple Leafs thump the last-place Ottawa Senators, 7-3.