Reuters Sports News Summary

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Girl power returns to Indy 500 with women-led team

Women are poised to return to the Indianapolis 500 starting grid this year with a female-led ownership group and driver that could herald a new era in IndyCar racing, Indianapolis Motor Speedway said on Tuesday. Paretta Autosport will be spearheaded by automotive and motorsport executive Beth Paretta with 2010 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Simona De Silvestro back in the cockpit for what is billed as "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing". Players warm up to strict quarantine at Australian Open

Australian Open boss Craig Tiley said most players supported being locked down in hard quarantine with the local government reporting three new cases of COVID-19 linked to participants of the Grand Slam on Tuesday. Victoria health officials said two previous cases have been classified as prior infections taking the total positive cases associated with the tournament to seven. NBA roundup: Another big night for new Net James Harden

James Harden collected 34 points and 12 assists, Kevin Durant added 30 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 36.8 seconds left, and the Brooklyn Nets outlasted the Milwaukee Bucks for a 125-123 victory Monday night in New York. Harden became the first Net to score at least 30 points in each of his first two games with the team. He also grabbed a key rebound with 38 seconds left when he missed a 3-pointer and got the offensive board. He quickly found Durant, who calmly knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Brooklyn the lead for good at 125-123. Reports: Washington to name Marty Hurney as new GM

The Washington Football Team is expected to name former Carolina Panthers general manager Marty Hurney as its new GM, multiple sources reported Tuesday. The move would reunite Hurney, 65, with head coach Ron Rivera, with whom he worked alongside in Carolina from 2011-12 and again from 2017-19. MLB to investigate ex-Mets GM Porter over inappropriate text messages

Major League Baseball (MLB) plans to investigate former New York Mets general manager Jared Porter for sending unsolicited, inappropriate text messages to a female reporter, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters on Tuesday. Mets owner Steven Cohen said earlier in the day that he fired Porter following an ESPN report on Monday https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30737248/ny-mets-gm-jared-porter-acknowledges-sending-explicit-images-female-reporter-worked-chicago-cubs that Porter sent explicit, unsolicited texts and images to the reporter while he was the director of professional scouting for the Chicago Cubs, citing a copy of the text history the publication had obtained.

Woods has back surgery, will miss Torrey Pines and Riviera Tiger Woods on Tuesday said he underwent a procedure to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was pinching a nerve in his back and will not compete at this month's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines or at next month's Genesis Invitational at Riviera. Doctors said the surgery was a success and the 15-times major champion is expected to make a full recovery.

Report: Eagles interviewing Colts OC Nick Sirianni The Philadelphia Eagles are meeting Tuesday with Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni about their head coaching vacancy, ESPN reported. Sirianni, 39, has held that position for the last three seasons with the Colts following five seasons as an assistant with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers (2013-17) and four with the Kansas City Chiefs (2009-12).

Sarah Thomas to be first woman to officiate Super Bowl Sarah Thomas will make history again next month as the first woman to officiate a Super Bowl. The NFL on Tuesday announced the officiating crew for Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7 in Tampa, Fla.

NHL roundup: Isles earn late 1-0 win over Bruins Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored with 4:09 remaining in the game and Semyon Varlamov recorded his second shutout of the season to lift the New York Islanders to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Monday at Uniondale, N.Y. Varlamov made 27 saves in his return after being injured in warmups prior to the team's 5-0 setback against the New York Rangers on Saturday. He stopped all 24 shots he faced in a 4-0 win over the Rangers in the season opener on Thursday.

Sorenstam opens up about accepting Medal of Freedom from Trump Retired Swedish golfer Annika Sorenstam on Tuesday opened up about her decision to accept the Presidential Medal of Freedom a day after the deadly siege of the U.S. Capitol in early January by a mob seeking to overturn Donald Trump's election loss. In the wake of the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters, many questioned whether the ceremony to award the nation's highest civilian honor should have even taken place or if the recipients should have attended.

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