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Baylor women's coach Kim Mulkey thinks the NCAA should do away with COVID-19 testing during the Final Four for both women and men. Mulkey said after Baylor’s loss to UConn that it would be a “shame” if a player tested positive and couldn’t participate in the Final Four or national title game. She suggested that the NCAA “dump the COVID testing” and let those teams “battle it out.” Players and coaches at both tournaments have been tested daily and have been wearing devices that help assist with contact tracing. Through Saturday, there had been two confirmed positive tests at the women's tournament.

For San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, the biggest risk wasn’t trading three first-round picks for the No. 3 selection where he could take a shot on the franchise quarterback of the future. The chance he didn’t want to take going forward anymore was going into a season without an elite quarterback who he believes can consistently carry a team to a Super Bowl. The Niners traded the No. 12 overall pick, plus additional first-rounders in 2022 and ’23 and a third-round pick in 2023 to Miami for the No. 3 selection in a quarterback-rich draft.

An estimated 20 million people around the world help keep cities clean by scavenging through landfills and dumps. Experts say these trash pickers, who sometimes toil alongside paid municipal sanitation workers, provide a vital service, yet they usually are not on a priority list for vaccines against the coronavirus. The pandemic has amplified the health risks they face and few have their own protective gear or even clean water to wash their hands. The trash pickers often find it hard to get vaccines because they are not considered by the government to be essential workers or cannot afford to wait at overburdened public hospitals for free shots. 

Federal investigators say a helicopter carrying five passengers on a heli-skiing trip in Alaska crashed into a mountain and then rolled downhill nearly 900 feet. The pilot and four of the five passengers on board died in the crash, including billionaire Petr Kellner, the richest man in the Czech Republic. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash just north of Anchorage on Saturday night. The bodies have been recovered, but an approaching snowstorm may stall efforts to remove the wreckage from the mountain near Knik Glacier. The crash site is only accessible by helicopter because of the rugged terrain and snowy conditions. 

Joey Logano won NASCAR's first Cup Series race on dirt since 1970 with an overtime victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. The track had been converted to dirt for an experimental event that, despite bobbles leading into the race, ultimately finished fairly trouble-free. Even before Logano took the checkered flag, Bristol announced over the public address system that next year's race would again be on dirt. The track had issues through the weekend and the race was pushed to Monday because of flooding on the Bristol grounds. 

It's clear video will be the central focus at the trial of a white former police officer charged with killing George Floyd, and not just the widely seen bystander video that set off nationwide protests last year. The defense says it will also turn to videos to make its case. Derek Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter in the May 25 death of Floyd, who was Black. Prosecutors almost immediately played part of the bystander video on Monday that showed Floyd pleading for air as Chauvin held his knee on his neck. Defense attorneys say they will show video featuring Floyd swallowing drugs and police body camera footage that shows Floyd resisting arrest. 

Card games, car pools and eating at restaurants may be back in the major leagues later this season. Trips to church and sponsor events may return, too. Mask use would be dropped from dugouts and bullpens, and electronic tracing devices would be eliminated when 85% of major league players and primary field staff are vaccinated against the coronavirus. Communal clubhouse video would return before and after games. Pool tables would be restored, along with team saunas. A memorandum from MLB and the union obtained by The Associated Press stated “all players and staff are strongly encouraged to receive" COVID-19 vaccines when eligible.

The Catch-22 for U.S. men’s soccer in the Olympics is that the better a player gets, the less likely he is to play. American under-24 coach Jason Kreis says there's also a structural issue. Major League Soccer does not adhere to the international calendar of a season that runs from August to May, leaving most of Kreis' players trying to regain fitness while facing opponents in midseason form. Former players Alexi Lalas and Tim Howard say the onus is on the U.S. Soccer Federation and Major League Soccer to get better players from teams. The Americans failed to qualify for the Olympics when they lost to Honduras on Sunday.

Denver's Catholic archbishop says a police officer shot and killed after rushing into a supermarket where a gunman opened fire sacrificed his life and showed what is best about the police, whom he said are too often taken for granted. Archbishop Samuel Aquila spoke Monday during a funeral Mass for Officer Eric Talley. He said Talley lived Jesus' words that there is no greater love than to lay down one's life for others. The Mass was conducted in Latin, the style that was beloved by Talley. Police say he led an initial team of officers into the store within 30 seconds of arriving.

Gonzaga's defense has been an overlooked part of the team's run to an NCAA Tournament regional final. The Zags remain unbeaten entering Tuesday's matchup with Southern California for a trip to the Final Four. They rank seventh nationally in KenPom's adjusted defensive efficiency rankings by allowing 88.6 points per 100 possessions. Gonzaga is the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Sixth-seeded USC is back in a regional final for the first time in 20 years. The Trojans are coming off wins against Drake, Kansas and Oregon to reach the Elite Eight.

The names UCLA and Michigan can’t help but conjure up some of the most memorable images of March Madness. The 11th-seeded Bruins and top-seeded Wolverines face each other for a spot in the Final Four. The Bruins have made it this far with a streak of upsets. The Wolverines have beat everyone they were supposed to on the way to the regional final. It will be the fifth time the schools have met in the NCAA Tournament, including the 1965 championship game won by the Bruins.

Three men have been ordered to stand trial in a plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer over her coronavirus restrictions. Jackson County District Court Judge Michael Klaeren on Monday ruled there was enough evidence and bound over Paul Bellar, Joe Morrison and Pete Musico to circuit court. They are accused of aiding six other men who are charged in federal court with conspiring to kidnap Whitmer. Five more people are also charged in state courts. The FBI in October said it broke up a plot to kidnap Whitmer by anti-government extremists upset over her coronavirus restrictions.

More than a dozen states are set to open COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all adults this week. The expansion that begins Monday has some health officials worried about whether it will create expectations they can’t possibly meet until vaccines supplies catch up to demand. Meanwhile, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said during a White House briefing that she had a feeling of “impending doom” about a potential fourth wave of coronavirus infections after cases in the U.S. rose 10% over the last week. She pleaded with Americans not to relax preventative practices such as social distancing measures and mask-wearing.

Tara VanDerveer rooted for Oregon to reach the Elite Eight. She is all about supporting the Pac-12 after all. Her Stanford Cardinal instead will face the Louisville Cardinals, who used a late surge to defeat the Ducks. The overall top-seeded Cardinal will face No. 2 seed Louisville for a place in the Final Four. Yes, it’s Cardinal vs. Cardinals. And both teams are determined to return to the Final Four and take care of unfinished business. Louisville eliminated Stanford in the 2018 Sweet Sixteen with an 86-59 victory before going on to lose in the national semifinals to Mississippi State. Then, a year later, the Cardinals fell to Connecticut in the Elite Eight.

Federal prosecutors say a man charged with storming the U.S. Capitol was wearing a T-shirt commemorating the day of the riots when law enforcement officers arrested him at his Dallas home. In a court filing Monday, prosecutors say Garret Miller’s shirt had a photograph of former President Donald Trump and said “Take America Back” and “I Was There, Washington D.C., January 6, 2021." They're urging a judge to keep Miller jailed while he awaits trial on charges stemming from the Jan. 6 riots in the nation’s capital. Miller’s attorney is seeking his client’s release from custody, saying he has expressed regret for his actions.

Martin Truex Jr. has won his first career Truck Series race with a dominating run on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway. It was only the third career Truck Series start of Truex's career and first in 15 years. Truex was one of seven Cup drivers entered in the Truck Series race to gain experience for the main event. It was a Monday doubleheader because flooding at the race track postponed the first Cup race on dirt since 1970 by a day. 

Texas coach Vic Schaefer knows the disappointment of coming close to more milestones in his career only to be derailed by South Carolina and coach Dawn Staley. Schaefer will have to battle through the Gamecocks once again if he hopes to keep the Longhorns' stunning women's NCAA Tournament run going when the teams meet Tuesday night in the Hemisfair Region for a spot in the Final Four. The Longhorns have ousted third-seed UCLA and second-seed Maryland to advance. But the former Mississippi State coach is 0-4 against Staley in SEC Tournament title games and lost to her team in the 2017 national championship final.