Blues fire Hitchcock, promote Yeo:

ST. LOUIS — The Blues abruptly fired coach Ken Hitchcock on Wednesday, cutting short the veteran’s final season in St. Louis and putting coach-in-waiting Mike Yeo in charge of the underperforming team months earlier than planned. General manager Doug Armstrong announced the change one day after the Blues’ fifth loss in six games. The 65-year-old Hitchcock was in his sixth season as Blues coach. They went 248-124-41 and made the playoffs in each of his five seasons, reaching the Western Conference final last spring. But St. Louis went just 5-8 in January and at 24-21-5 was mired in eighth place in the Western Conference entering the day.

Fitzgerald to return next season:

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has confirmed he will be back to play a 14th NFL season. In a text to azcardinals.com’s Darren Urban, Fitzgerald confirmed a report that he had told ESPN’s Jim Trotter on Wednesday that he would play another season. “Truthful Trotter,” Fitzgerald wrote.

Heat rolls to ninth straight win:

MIAMI — Goran Dragic scored 27 points, Dion Waiters added 20 and the Miami Heat pushed the NBA’s longest current winning streak to nine games by easing past the Atlanta Hawks. Hassan Whiteside scored 18 points and grabbed 18 rebounds for the Heat, who hadn’t won nine straight since November 2013. James Johnson scored 16 before getting ejected in the fourth quarter for Miami.

Bolt resigned to losing medal:

MELBOURNE, Australia — Usain Bolt says he is resigned to the fact that he’s lost one of his nine Olympic gold medals, but isn’t holding any grudges against drug-tainted Jamaican relay teammate Nesta Carter. Carter has said he will appeal after re-analysis of his sample from the 2008 Beijing Games using more advanced scientific methods returned a positive test to the prohibited stimulant methylhexaneamine. The result announced by the International Olympic Committee last week meant Jamaica was stripped of the 4x100-meter relay gold.

Ex-Baylor coach drops libel suit:

Former Baylor football coach Art Briles dropped a lawsuit Wednesday he had filed against four officials at the school. Briles had accused them of falsely claiming that he knew of sex crimes that players had been reported to have committed and failed to give that information to the proper agencies. The suit had been seeking unspecified damages in excess of over $1 million, but Briles’s lawyer, Ernest Cannon, said (via KWTX) that his client’s real motivation was to restore “his good name.” Regents Chairman Ronald Murff and board members J. Cary Gray and David Harper, as well as Baylor Vice President Reagan Ramsower, were accused of “libel, slander, tortious interference with prospective business relationships and intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

Valentine’s 27 not enough for WCB:

BROOKLYN — The Long Island Nets (12-19) topped the Windy City Bulls (10-16) 117-109 Wednesday at Barclays Center.

Chicago Bulls assignee Denzel Valentine starred for the Bulls in Wednesday’s game, recording a game-high 27 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in 38 minutes.

The Nets shot 50.0 percent from the field and outscored the Bulls 34-32 in the fourth quarter to seal the victory, despite Valentine scoring 19 fourth-quarter points on 7-of-11 shooting (5-of-9 3 FG).