Hall of Famer Jim Kelly is expected to undergo surgery after a recurrence of oral cancer.

The legendary Buffalo Bills quarterback is likely to be operated on later this week or early next week, according to brother Dan Kelly.

Last year Kelly had some teeth and part of his jaw removed due to oral cancer.

Kelly's wife, Jill, wrote on her personal blog last week that "the cancer’s back, aggressive, and starting to spread."

Family friend Dennis DiPaolo told WIVB-4 in Buffalo that Kelly is weak and in a lot of pain but is keeping his spirits up.

“He’s like, 'Come on, don’t hang your heads,' " DiPaolo said. "Like you walk in the room and he’s in a huddle and still commanding everyone and even if he’s trying to rest his eyes, he knows you’re there and he goes, ‘Thanks for coming you guys.’ He’s just a remarkable individual.”

Kelly was visited at home last week by some of his former Buffalo Bills teammates, including Thurman...

The Times is pleased to have Amy Purdy, who won a bronze medal in snowboardcross at the 2014 Paralympics, guest-blogging for us while she competes on "Dancing With the Stars" with pro partner Derek Hough. Here are Purdy's thoughts about Week 2 of the competition, which she offered via email.

Q. In two weeks, you might have to switch partners. I would imagine you don't want to, but if you had to switch to another pro partner, who would you hope for?

You’re right we will be switching and it's not something I'm looking forward to. Derek and I really have a bond and have figured out so much with what I can do with my legs already,  so the thought of starting over again with someone new sounds a little challenging.   Something I learned from my snowboarding is not to worry about things I can’t control, Derek and I decided that all we can control is our dancing so we are going to just focus on that.  I’m just going to keep focused on the partner I do have, as long as I have...

The Clippers are embarking on another long trip, which includes five games over eight days.

This trip could have a bearing on what position the Clippers finish in the Western Conference playoff picture.

They will start with a game in New Orleans against the Pelicans on Wednesday night.

The Pelicans have won their last three straight games, all against Eastern Conference playoffs teams -- Atlanta, two-time defending NBA champion Miami and Brooklyn.

The Clippers next will play at Dallas on Thursday night in a back-to-back game.

The Mavericks are fighting for a playoff spot in the ultra-tough Western Conference. Though tied with the Phoenix Suns at 42-29, the Mavericks are in the ninth spot and currently out of the playoffs.

The Clippers then go to Houston on Saturday to play a Rockets team they have defeated the first three times this season.

The Rockets are the fourth-seeded team in the West, 1 1/2-games behind the third-seeded
Clippers.

The Clippers next play at Minnesota on Monday...

After taking a week off for spring break, USC’s football team resumes spring practice Tuesday on campus at Brian Kennedy-Howard Jones Field.

The Trojans have 12 workouts remaining, including a scrimmage at the Coliseum on April 19.

First-year Coach Steve Sarkisian and his staff spent the first three practices implementing new offensive and defensive schemes.

USC is adopting the fast-paced, no-huddle offense that Sarkisian ran last season at Washington. Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox is installing a hybrid 3-4 scheme.

The Trojans ran about 120 plays in each of their practices, players and coaches said.

USC practices Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m. Fans can view practices from Dedeaux Field, the baseball stadium located next to the football practice facility.

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PHILADELPHIA — Flyers fans booed every time Kings forward Jeff Carter touched the puck Monday, but it was music to his ears.

Carter, traded by Philadephia to Columbus and later dealt by the Blue Jackets to the Kings, scored the Kings’ first goal in his first game back at the Wells Fargo Center. Justin Williams, another ex-Flyer, scored the second goal after the Kings survived a series of shorthanded situations. After the Flyers pulled even, Dwight King — who has no connection to the Flyers — scored the winner off a two-on-one at 10 minutes 36 seconds of the third period for a 3-2 decision in the opener of a short but challenging Eastern trip.

In winning their third straight game, the Kings (41-25-6) ended the Flyers’ five-game winning streak.

After a scoreless first period, Carter broke through at 1:49 of the second period with a one-timer from the left circle that beat Philadelphia goalie Ray Emery to the stick side. The goal was Carter’s 25th this...

Clippers guard Jamal Crawford has averaged more points and assists per game this season as a starter than coming off the bench.

So given a choice, he’d rather be a starter, right?

Nope.

Crawford said Monday at his team’s shoot-around that he preferred coming off the bench, which he had done in 39 of the 62 games he had played going into the Clippers’ game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Staples Center.

“Come off the bench, for sure,” Crawford said. “I think having J.J. [Redick] out there, it gives the first unit a good rhythm. When he’s out there, he’s one of the top guys. Blake [Griffin] and C.P. [Chris Paul] tend to start off kind of slow and J.J.’s going, he’s running, he gets eight points in the first quarter and it sets a tone for us when we come in.”

Crawford does like to finish games, though, which has worked out well for the Clippers. He entered Monday averaging 6.7 points per game in the fourth quarter, trailing...

Sleeved NBA jerseys may become a thing of the past before ever really becoming a thing of the present.

"Ultimately, if the players don't like them, we'll move on to something else," Commissioner Adam Silver told Bleacher Report. 

Players don't like them -- at least, many players don't, including the biggest NBA star of them all right now, Miami's LeBron James.

"I've had conversations with LeBron [James] about the jerseys, and we agreed that we would park the issue until the end of the season," Silver said. "And that once the season is over, he expressed an interest in sitting down with me and Sal LaRocca [the NBA's president of merchandising] and discussing his point of view."

James actually has already made his point of view on the new-fangled jerseys loud and clear -- he hates them.

He blamed the tight-fitting tops -- which have been used by certain teams at sporadically since their debut on Christmas Day -- for his 6-for-18 performance in a March 6 loss to San Antonio.

"I'm not a...

Two women died in an avalanche Sunday at the mountain site where skiing and snowboarding events were held during the Sochi Olympics.

Officials at Rosa Khutor announced that 80 cubic meters (about 2,800 cubic feet) of snow swept over the middle section of the Labirint trail on Sunday. Of the six skiers in the area, four escaped unharmed.

"As a result of the rescue operation, the bodies of two women were found under the snowdrifts," the statement said. "In spite of the CPR, they couldn't be saved."

The mountain resort hosted not only the Winter Games but also the recently concluded Paralympics. The incident occurred just one day after runs were re-opened to the public.

"At the moment, the work of clearing off the piste of snow masses continues," the resort stated. "Investigation is in course about the circumstances and the causes of the avalanche."

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TEMPE, Ariz. — No news is not necessarily good news — or bad news — regarding contract talks between the Angels and star center fielder Mike Trout.

“I haven’t heard anything lately,” said Trout, whose agent has been in discussions with the Angels for months on an extension that many expect to be in the nine-figure range. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

Is the fact that an agreement has not been reached with only a week left before opening day an indication that talks have hit a snag?

“No, no,” Trout said, before realizing he had already said more than he wanted to on the subject. “We’re just getting ready for the season.”

Trout, the American League most valuable player runner-up in 2012 and 2013, reiterated what he said earlier in camp, that he’s not going to allow contract talks inhibit his aggressive play on the field.

In fact, he gave the Angels and their fans a scare Sunday when he...

The Masters is the only major tournament that Tiger Woods has never missed in his 18 years on the PGA Tour.

That could change this year.

Still battling a balky back, Woods said Monday that he may not be fit to play in the tournament, which is less than three weeks away.

"For Augusta, it's actually still a little too soon, to be honest with you," the Associated Press quoted him saying at a news conference. "That's kind of the frustrating thing about this."

Spasms kept him from entering the Arnold Palmer Invitational last week. Earlier this season, he had to quit during the final round of the Honda Classic.

"I've had a couple weeks off and getting treatment and just working on trying to get ready for Augusta," Woods said Monday. "As of right now, it's still too soon, which is, as I said, pretty frustrating."

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In his best season, 2009-10, he had 16 goals and 40 points — and 116 penalty minutes. He also was +22 defensively. But he was a third- and fourth-line player who was best known for his
fearless, rugged play, which endeared him to home crowds.

But to get a good player the Kings had to give up a good player, and they traded Simmonds, 2009 first-round pick Brayden Schenn and a second-round draft pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2011 for Mike Richards.

Which team did better in that trade?

Philadelphia Inquirer writer Sam Carchidi contends the Flyers did because Simmonds is having a career season with 24 goals and 54 points and because Schenn has been developing into a capable second-line center. But Carchidi neglects to mention that Richards — though struggling this season — was a key player in...

More snow is forecast for Tuesday, but by then the Kings will have left town for Washington and their game against the Capitals at the Verizon Center. The Kings will take the train from Philadelphia to Washington after Monday’s game against the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Jonathan Quick is expected to start in goal for the Kings. Ray Emery is expected to start for the Flyers, even though Steve Mason recorded a 35-save shutout when Philadelphia beat the Kings, 2-0, at Staples Center on Feb. 1.

“Just because I thought that Steve, the games he’s played lately and everything that went on, Ray played a big game against Chicago and just his turn,” Flyers Coach Craig Berube said, a roundabout way of saying that Emery played well in a 3-2 victory over the Blackhawks on Tuesday and that Mason had played...