Reuters U.S. Sports Schedule at 2 PM ET on Friday, March 18
March 18 (Reuters) - Reuters U.S. sports schedule at 2 PM ET on Friday: - - - - For any coverage questions, please contact us.general-news@thomsonreuters.com - - - - NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE Colts to honor Manning with statue, retired number Retired quarterback Peyton Manning, cut loose by Indianapolis four years ago after he lost a season to injury, will have his Colts' uniform No. 18 retired and a statue of him erected outside the stadium, the NFL club said on Friday. (NFL-COLTS/MANNING, moved, 300 words) - - Falcons owner Blank now cancer-free Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who underwent treatment for prostate cancer four weeks ago, is now cancer-free. (FBN-FALCONS-NEWS, moved, The Sports Xchange, 200 words) - - Starks returns to Packers on two-year deal The Green Bay Packers agreed to terms with running back James Starks on a two-year deal. (FBN-PACKERS-NEWS, moved, The Sports Xchange, 300 words) - - NFL Notebook News and notes from around the league. (FBN-ROUNDUP, expect by 7 p.m. ET, The Sports Xchange, 350 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) - - - - GOLF PGA Tour: Arnold Palmer Invitational (to 20) Day takes one-stroke lead into second round Australia's Jason Day takes a one-shot lead over a group of five players that includes compatriots Marc Leishman and Adam Scott into the second round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. (GOLF-PGA/, expect by 2300 GMT/7:00 PM ET, 350 words) - - LPGA Tour: JTBC Founders Cup (to 20) Second round action from Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix. (GOLF-LPGA/, expect by 0230 GMT/10:30 PM ET, 300 words) - - - - MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Grapefruit League: Three up, three down Take a spin around the Grapefruit League with "Three Up, Three Down," an inside look at what is coming up and what went down on Friday. (BBO-ANALYSIS-GFL3UP3DOWN, expect by 6:20 p.m. ET, The Sports Xchange, by Larry Millson, 600 words) - - Cactus League: Three up, three down Take a spin around the Cactus League with "Three Up, Three Down," an inside look at what is coming up and what went down on Friday. (BBO-ANALYSIS-CL3UP3DOWN, expect by 8:45 p.m. ET, The Sports Xchange, by Alan Eskew, 600 words) - - Spring roundup: Friday game action Capsule recaps from all the day's spring training games. (BBO-NOTEBOOK, expect by 8 p.m. ET, The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - MLB notebook News and notes from spring training. (BBO-NOTEBOOK, expect by 8 p.m. ET, The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION The Sports Xchange covers all NBA games. Tonight's schedule: Cleveland at Orlando, 7 p.m. ET Oklahoma City at Philadelphia, 7 p.m. ET Boston at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. ET Sacramento at Detroit, 7:30 p.m. ET Portland at New Orleans, 8 p.m. ET Minnesota at Houston, 8 p.m. ET Golden State at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. ET Phoenix at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m. ET (400-word first lede, 750-word writethru) - - NBA roundup Capsule recaps of all the games on today's schedule. (BKN-ROUNDUP, expect multiple versions Friday, The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - COLLEGE BASKETBALL Friday's NCAA Tournament schedule: 10 Syracuse vs. 7 Dayton, 12:15 p.m. ET 15 UNC Asheville vs. 2 Villanova, 12:40 p.m. ET 10 VCU vs. 7 Oregon State, 1:30 p.m. ET 13 Hawaii vs. 4 Cal, 2 p.m. ET 15 Middle Tenn State vs. 2 Michigan State, 2:45 p.m. ET 10 Temple vs. 7 Iowa, 3:10 p.m. ET 15 CSU Bakersfield vs. 2 Oklahoma, 4 p.m. ET 12 SD State vs. 5 Maryland, 4:30 p.m. ET 10 Pitt vs. 7 Wisconsin, 6:50 p.m. ET 14 Stephen F Austin vs. 3 West Virginia, 7:10 p.m. ET 14 Green Bay vs. Texas A&M, 7:20 p.m. ET 16 vs. 1 Oregon, 8:27 p.m. ET 15 Weber State vs. 2 Xavier, 9:20 p.m. ET 11 Michigan vs. 6 Notre Dame, 9:40 p.m. ET 11 Northern Iowa vs. 6 Texas, 9:50 p.m. ET 9 Cincinnati vs. 8 Saint Joseph's, 9:57 p.m. ET - - NCAA Tournament roundup Capsule recaps of all NCAA men's and women's NCAA Tournament games Friday. Will move separately. (BKC-ROUNDUP, expect multiple versions throughout Friday) - - NATIONAL INVITATION TOURNAMENT BYU hosts Virginia Tech for a spot in the final eight of the NIT. (BKC-BYU-VIRGINIATECH-RECAP, expect ASAP after 9:30 p.m. ET game, The Sports Xchange, 200 words) - - - - NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE The Sports Xchange covers all NHL games. Tonight's schedule: Nashville at Washington, 7 p.m. ET Ottawa at Buffalo, 7 p.m. ET Chicago at Winnipeg, 8 p.m. ET Vancouver at Edmonton, 9 p.m. ET Colorado at Calgary, 9 p.m. ET Boston at Anaheim, 10 p.m. ET - - NHL roundup Capsule recaps of all games on today's schedule. (HKN-ROUNDUP, expect by 11:30 p.m. ET, The Sports Xchange, 400 words) - - - - SOCCER FIFA president Gianni Infantino holds news conference ZURICH - FIFA's recently-elected president Gianni Infantino holds a press conference following completion of an executive committee meeting. (SOCCER-FIFA/ (TV, PIX), expect by 1600 GMT/12 PM ET, by Brian Homewood, 400 words) - - - - ATHLETICS World Indoor Championship (to 20) Worlds hit stride with five finals PORTLAND, Ore. - The world indoor athletics championships hit their stride with five finals on the first full day of action which will be highlighted by the meeting's glamour event, the men's 60 metre dash featuring former-100m world record holder Asafa Powell. Other finals include the men's shot put and women's long jump, pentathlon and 60m hurdles. (ATHLETICS-WORLD/ (PIX), expect by 0630 GMT/2:30 AM ET, by Steve Keating and Gene Cherry, 400 words) - - - - TENNIS ATP/WTA: BNP Paribas Open, Indian Wells (to 20) Djokovic, and Nadal seek berth in semis Defending champion and world number one Novak Djokovic battles seventh-seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after fourth-seeded Spaniard Rafa Nadal takes on fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan in men's quarter-final action from the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. (TENNIS-MEN/INDIAN WELLS, expect by 0000 GMT/8 PM ET, 400 words) - - Serena faces Radwanska in semi-final clash World number one Serena Williams, seeking her first Indian Wells finals berth since 2001, faces Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska, the 2014 runner-up, in one of two women's semi-finals from the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. (TENNIS-WOMEN/INDIAN WELLS, expect by 0000 GMT/8 PM ET, 400 words) - - - - AUTO RACING Fontana notebook FONTANA, Calif. -- News and notes from around the track Friday at Fontana. (CAR-NOTEBOOK, expect by 6:30 p.m. ET, The Sports Xchange, special from NASCAR Wire Service, 600 words) - - Sprint qualifying Qualifying for Sunday's Sprint Cup Auto Club 400. (CAR-SPRINT-NEWS, expect by 8:30 p.m. ET, The Sports Xchange, special from NASCAR Wire Service, 600 words) - - - - 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)
