Prep softball

Culver drops doubleheader — The Bulldogs stumbled in their season-opening doubleheader against Santiam on Thursday, falling 36-4 in the first of of two nonconference games at Culver before losing 8-4 in the second contest. Culver has now lost 21 straight dating back to last season, and the program has dropped 32 of its past 33 games. The 34 runs allowed in the first game is tied for the most the Bulldogs have given up since the OSAA expanded to six classifications before the 2007 season.

Obituaries

Saints owner Tom Benson dies at 90 — Tom Benson, a successful auto dealer who brought the New Orleans Saints their only winning seasons and the “Benson Boogie,” has died. Benson, who has also owned the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans since 2012, was 90. The NFL and NBA teams announced Benson’s death on Thursday. Benson made his mark in pro sports with the Saints, which he bought in 1985 when it appeared the club would be sold to out-of-state interests and perhaps moved out of Louisiana. He paid $70 million for the team, which is now worth more than $1 billion. Benson’s business acumen helped turn the Saints from a perennial also-ran into a contender — and the 2009 NFL champion.

Iconic college coach Garrido dies at 90 — Augie Garrido, the whimsical coach with the small-ball philosophy who led Texas baseball to two national championships and won more games than any other coach in college history, died Thursday in California. He was 79. He had been hospitalized since suffering a stroke last weekend. Garrido ruled the Texas dugout from 1997 until 2016, having previously coached at Cal State Fullerton, Illinois, Cal Poly and San Francisco State. He amassed an 824-427-2 record with the Longhorns, leading Texas to national titles in 2002 and 2005. He won five championships in all, having won with Fullerton in 1979, 1984 and 1995. With a career record of 1,975-951-9, Garrido is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA Division I baseball history.

Dog Sledding

Iditarod dog with signs of pneumonia dies — Alaska musher Katherine Keith has had dogs die in the last two Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Races, both of suspected problems from pneumonia. The latest dog, a 5-year-old male named Blonde, died early Thursday. A necropsy will be performed. The cause of death last year for Keith’s dog Flash, a 4-year-old male, was consistent with acute aspiration pneumonia. Five canine deaths connected to the nearly 1,000-mile race across Alaska last year prompted protests from animal rights activists complaining that dogs are forced to run a hundred miles a day. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Thursday said Blonde’s death pinpoints why the Iditarod must end. It also has called for the Iditarod to release veterinary records of every dog dropped from this year’s race.

Soccer

Chicago, Minneapolis, Arizona drop World Cup bids — Chicago, the home of the U.S. Soccer Federation, Minneapolis and Arizona dropped out of the North American bid to host the 2026 World Cup because of what city officials said were burdensome financial demands by FIFA. Twenty-three cities, including 17 in the United States, were chosen to be included in bid documents to be submitted to FIFA on Friday. Morocco also is bidding, and the 207 other FIFA members are scheduled to make the decision at FIFA Congress in Moscow on June 13. Vancouver, British Columbia, said its bid was rejected because it refused to comply with FIFA’s requirements that include tax waivers and putting agreements under Swiss law. Four other U.S. cities were cut: Charlotte, North Carolina; Las Vegas; Salt Lake City; and Tampa, Florida. Sixty games would be played in the U.S. under the bid plan, including all from the quarterfinals on. Three cities were included from Mexico and Canada, and both of those nations would host 10 games.

— From wire reports