Magic Johnson first in line for LA Rams tickets
The Los Angeles Rams’ bid to generate momentum ahead of their return to the West Coast is off to a great start as Basketball Hall of Famer Magic Johnson was first in line for tickets.
The Rams, who last week won approval from National Football League owners to return to Los Angeles after spending the prior 21 seasons in St. Louis, launched their season ticket deposit campaign earlier on Monday.
“We’ve got our first #Rams deposit! The Legend @MagicJohnson!,” the Rams said on their Twitter account.
Johnson won five National Basketball Association titles during a career spent entirely with the Los Angeles Lakers and is also part of the ownership group that purchased Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012.
“I got my @RamsNFL season tickets! I’m so excited and can’t wait to see OUR team next season! #Rams,” Johnson tweeted.
The Rams joined the NFL in 1937 as the Cleveland Rams and first moved to Los Angeles in 1945 where they remained until relocating to St. Louis for the 1995 season.
Colts hire Schottenheimer as QB coach
The Indianapolis Colts added quarterbacks coach Brian Schottenheimer to their staff and retained Shawn Terlecky, the team announced on Monday.
It is a return to the NFL for Schottenheimer, who spent the 2015 season in the college ranks as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Georgia. He will be coaching Andrew Luck with the Colts.
He has 16 seasons of NFL coaching experience, most recently as offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams from 2012-14. Prior to that, he was offensive coordinator of the New York Jets for six seasons.
Schottenheimer’s experience includes working for his father, Marty, in Kansas City, Washington and San Diego. He served as quarterbacks coach of the Chargers for four seasons before being hired by the Jets.
Terlecky will be a defensive quality control coach after spending the past three seasons as assistant to the head coach.
Oklahoma unanimous No. 1 in AP poll
The Oklahoma Sooners are a unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll released Monday.
It is Oklahoma’s first time at No. 1 since the final two weeks of 1989-90 season.
The Sooners (15-1), coming off a week with two two-point wins over Oklahoma State and West Virginia, received all 65 first-place votes from the national media panel.
Oklahoma becomes the fifth school to be No. 1 this season, joining North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State and Kansas.
North Carolina (16-2) jumps three spots to No. 2. Kansas (15-2), which lost to West Virginia last week, dropped two places to No. 3.
Villanova (16-2) is fourth, followed by Xavier (16-1), West Virginia (15-2), Maryland (16-2), undefeated SMU (17-0), Iowa (14-3) and Texas A&M (15-2).
Michigan State (16-3) is No. 11, followed by Arizona (15-3), Baylor (14-3), Virginia (13-4), Miami (13-3), Providence (15-3), Louisville (14-3), Butler (13-4), Iowa State (13-4), Duke (14-4), USC (15-3), Purdue (15-3), Kentucky (13-4), South Carolina (16-1) and Indiana (15-3).
Bengals add three assistants
The Cincinnati Bengals added three assistants to head coach Marvin Lewis’ staff: defensive line coach Jacob Burney, quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor and defensive backs coach Kevin Coyle.
Burney will enter his 21st season as an NFL assistant, most recently working for the Washington Redskins from 2010-14, while Lazor was fired as the Miami Dolphins’ offensive coordinator on Nov. 30, and will replace Ken Zampese, who was promoted to offensive coordinator when Hue Jackson was hired as the Cleveland Browns’ head coach.
Coyle spent 2001-11 on the Bengals’ staff before leaving to become the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator. He was also fired during the regular season.