Reuters U.S. Sports Schedule at 2 PM EST on Wednesday, Aug. 26

Reuters

Aug. 26 (Reuters) - Reuters U.S. sports schedule at 2 PM ET on Wednesday: - - - - The duty editor is Steve Ginsburg, 202-898-8427 - - - - NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Changes could make new stars in Steelers' defense PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Steelers move on from many vital parts of their 3-4 defense, including coordinator Dick LeBeau and safety Troy Polamalu, looking for new blood to bring better results in 2015. (FBN-STEELERS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by John Perrotto, 630 words) - - Grossman joins Falcons on one-year deal Rex Grossman signs a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons. He reunites with offensive coordinator Brian Shanahan, who coached the quarterback with the Texans, Redskins and Browns. (FBN-FALCONS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 225 words) - - Cowboys CB Scandrick done for 2015 Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick tears the anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in his right knee at practice in Oxnard, Calif., and he will miss the entire 2015 season. (FBN-COWBOYS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 375 words) - - Buck takes to Twitter, rips NFL, Kroenke Joe Buck goes on a Twitter rant against St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke for attempting to move the NFL franchise to Los Angeles. (FBN-RAMS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 300 words) - - Packers ponder life without Jordy GREEN BAY, Wis. - Now that receiver Jordy Nelson's eighth NFL season is over before it even started, what can the Green Bay Packers realistically expect in the season ahead? Plenty of good, teammates and head coach Mike McCarthy insist. (FBN-PACKERS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 380 words) - - Hearing set on Lynch's silence, $75K fine Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch has a hearing Thursday for his $75,000 fine following the NFC Championship Game win over the Green Bay Packers last season. (FBN-SEAHAWKS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 250 words) - - Garrett: Cowboys not ready for regular season OXNARD, Calif. - After four weeks of training camp, the Dallas Cowboys don't look like a team ready for the regular season. Coach Jason Garrett is upset with the team's play in two preseason losses. So he cancels a trip to the beach before they break camp and replaces it with another practice. (FBN-COWBOYS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 495 words) - - Worker dies at Vikings stadium construction site MINNEAPOLIS - A roofing worker dies after falling on from the roof of a football stadium being built in downtown Minneapolis for the Minnesota Vikings and a second is seriously injured. (USA-MINNESOTA/STADIUM (UPDATE 1), moved, 257 words) - - NFL roundup News and notes from around the NFL. (FBN-ROUNDUP/, expect by 8 PM ET, The Sports Xchange, 400-600 words per team) - - - - COLLEGE FOOTBALL South Carolina to start Mitch South Carolina sophomore quarterback Connor Mitch will start the season opener against North Carolina. (FBC-SOUTHCAROLINA-NEWS/, The Sports Xchange, 215 words) - - Big 12 backs ban of transfers with violent past Big 12 athletic directors support a prohibition of transfers from other schools who have a history of disciplinary issues related to violent acts. (FBC-NEWS-BIG12-TRANSFERS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 315 words) - - - - GOLF PGA Tour: The Barclays PGA winner Day sizes up first stop of FedExCup series EDISON, New Jersey - Golf's latest major winner, Australia's PGA Championship victor Jason Day, looks ahead to Thursday's first round of The Barclays, the opening event of the four-tournament FedExCup playoffs at Plainfield Country Club. (GOLF-PGA/BARCLAYS (PIX), expect by 4:30 PM ET, by Larry Fine, 350 words) See also: Day withdraws from Pro-Am with back issue (GOLF-PGA/BARCLAYS-DAY) - - 10 Players to Watch: The Barclays Jordan Spieth is again the favorite, and the headliner, on the PGA Tour. This week he'll play with Bubba Watson and Jason Day in the opening round of the FedEx Cup playoffs. (GLF-PGA-PREVIEW-BARCLAYS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by Tom LaMarre, 978 words) - - Arizona State All-American wins top amateur award Spaniard Jon Rahm-Rodriguez, a first-team All-American at Arizona State University, wins the Mark H. McCormack Medal as the leading men's amateur player based on the 2015 World Amateur Golf Ranking. (GOLF-AMATEUR/, moved, 296 words) - - - - MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Ellsbury out of Yankees lineup with hip soreness NEW YORK - Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury is held out of the New York Yankees starting lineup with a sore hip and might not be available to pinch hit. (BBO-YANKEES-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by Larry Fleisher, 252 words) - - Cards align: Cubs consider altering rotation to get Arrieta in mix for St. Louis series SAN FRANCISCO - As he prepares for the start of a six-game trip during which staff ace Jake Arrieta is scheduled to pitch twice, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon ponders pitching the right-hander more. More as in one or both of the September series vs. first-place St. Louis. (BBO-CARDINALS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by David Del Grande, 398 words) - - Gordon's pending return will add to Royals' depth KANSAS CITY, Mo. - With left fielder Alex Gordon set to return from his rehab assignment in the next couple of weeks, the question becomes how to adjust the Kansas City Royals' roster. (BBO-ROYALS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by Marc Bowman, 385 words) - - Gomez, Yankees play down verbal spat NEW YORK - When Carlos Gomez flied out in the sixth inning while the Houston Astros held a nine-run lead last night, the play seemed routine. Only it wasn't, because a shouting match ensued and New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi says Gomez must "learn to play the game the right way." (BBO-YANKEES-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by Larry Fleisher, 415 words) - - MLB Notebook News and notes from around the diamond. (BBO-ROUNDUP/, expect by 7 PM ET, The Sports Xchange, 350 words) - - Today's MLB schedule at a glance - - American League Houston at New York Yankees, 1:05 PM ET (PIX) Oakland at Seattle, 3:40 PM ET (PIX) Los Angeles Angels at Detroit, 7:08 PM ET (PIX) Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 7:10 PM ET (PIX) Toronto at Texas, 8:05 PM ET (PIX) Baltimore at Kansas City, 8:10 PM ET (PIX) Boston at Chicago White Sox, 8:10 PM ET (PIX) - - National League New York Mets at Philadelphia, 7:05 PM ET (PIX) San Diego at Washington, 7:05 PM ET (PIX) Colorado at Atlanta, 7:10 PM ET Los Angeles Dodgers at Cincinnati, 7:10 PM ET (PIX) Pittsburgh at Miami, 7:10 PM ET (PIX) St. Louis at Arizona, 9:40 PM ET (PIX) Chicago Cubs at San Francisco, 10:15 PM ET (PIX) - - Interleague Milwaukee at Cleveland, 7:10 PM ET (PIX) - - MLB Roundup Running capsule recaps of all the games on the MLB schedule. (MLB-ROUNDUP/, expect first version ASAP after conclusion of the first game of the day, The Sports Xchange, 500 words) - - - - NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION The Charlotte Hornets officially sign forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist to a contract extension, terms not disclosed, but multiple reports say the deal is for four years and worth $52 million. (BKN-BOBCATS-NEWS/, moved, The Sports Xchange, 365 words) - - NBA roundup News and notes from around the NBA. (BKN-ROUNDUP/, expect by 7 PM ET, The Sports Xchange, 280 words) - - - - NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE NHL roundup The latest news and notes from the NHL. (HKN-ROUNDUP/, expect by 7 PM ET, The Sports Xchange, 350 words) - - - - SOCCER FIFA's Israel-Palestine committee meets for first time ZURICH - A new FIFA committee begins its attempt to settle the dispute between the Israeli and Palestinian soccer federations as it meets for the first time, soccer's world governing body says. (SOCCER-FIFA/PALESTINE, moved, 330 words) See also: Platini: Soccer must not be overlooked in FIFA race (US-SOCCER-FIFA-PLATINI) - - - - AUTO RACING Auto Racing Glance Capsule previews of the week ahead in auto racing. (CAR-PREVIEW/, moved, The Sports Xchange, by Jerry Bonkowski, 500 words) - - - - TENNIS Nadal confident of playing well at U.S. Open NEW YORK - Former world No. 1 Rafa Nadal is feeling confident about his chances of competing for a third U.S. Open title when the tournament starts in New York next week. (TENNIS-OPEN/NADAL (TV, PIX), moved, 150 words) - - - - TRACK & FIELD World championships, Beijing Bolt-Gatlin II on after duo top times in 200m semis BEIJING - Usain Bolt and Justin Gatlin appear to be in excellent shape as they run the fastest times of the 200 meters semi-finals to set up a mouthwatering second sprint showdown at the world championships. (ATHLETICS-WORLD/200-SEMIS (PIX), moved, by Nick Mulvenney, 364 words) - - Van Niekerk express lights up the Bird's Nest BEIJING - Wayde van Niekerk lights up the Bird's Nest with a stunning 400 meters run to win a first sprint gold for South Africa and cap a night of exceptional performances at the world championships. (ATHLETICS-WORLD/ (WRAPUP 1, PIX, TV), moved with updates throughout, by Nick Mulvenney and Gene Cherry, 726 words) Note: There are many sidebars from today's championships, including the below stories: Yego wins Javelin for Kenya's first field gold (ATHLETICS-WORLD/JAVELIN (UPDATE 1) Czech Hejnova first woman to retain 400m hurdles title (ATHLETICS-WORLD/HURDLES (UPDATE 1) Kenyans test positive at world championships - IAAF (ATHLETICS-WORLD/DOPING (UPDATE 2) South Africa's Van Niekerk stuns champions to win 400 gold (ATHLETICS-WORLD/400 (UPDATE 1, PIX) Kenya's Jepkemoi wins women's 3,000m steeplechase (ATHLETICS-WORLD/STEEPLECHASE (UPDATE 1, PIX) Silva soars to claim women's world pole vault title (ATHLETICS-WORLD/POLE VAULT (UPDATE 1, PIX) - - - - NORTH AMERICAN SPORTS Roundups of off-field developments in the major North American professional sports leagues. (Expect by 8 PM ET, by The Sports Xchange, 400 words)