Reuters Sports News Summary

NFL: Arians confident Bucs can bring back bulk of Super Bowl squad Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said on Monday he is confident the core of his Super Bowl-winning team will remain intact for next season despite a number of key players who will be eligible for free agency.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. Brady leads Buccaneers to Super Bowl win on home field

Tom Brady threw three touchdowns as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers thumped the Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 to win the Super Bowl on Sunday, giving the evergreen 43-year-old quarterback a record-extending seventh championship ring. Brady's age-defying performance, which earned him the Most Valuable Player award, brought the curtain down on what was perhaps the most challenging season the NFL has had to navigate because of the COVID-19 pandemic. NFL: Arians confident Bucs can bring back bulk of Super Bowl squad

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said on Monday he is confident the core of his Super Bowl-winning team will remain intact for next season despite a number of key players who will be eligible for free agency. The Buccaneers, who trounced the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs 31-9 in Sunday's Super Bowl, will need to get creative in order to hang onto players with expiring contracts while also staying within the NFL's spending limits per club. Biden will invite Super Bowl champs Bucs as well as Lakers to White House

The White House on Monday said President Joe Biden will invite the U.S. Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and last season's NBA champions, the L.A. Lakers to the White House once it is safe. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it dangerous to host large-scale events at the White House, such as the traditional visits by championship-winning sports teams. Alpine skiing: Opening world championship races fall foul of weather

The opening women's combined race at the Alpine skiing world championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo was postponed on Monday, and Tuesday's men's super-G shifted to Thursday, due to heavy overnight snow in the Italian Dolomites. Organisers had already reversed the order of the combined as a precaution, with the technical slalom leg brought forward to precede the super-G in the two-part event. Biden says decision on 2020 Games 'has to be based on science'

Any decision about holding the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, postponed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, must be based on science, U.S. President Joe Biden told a radio show. The Games are set to start in under six months, and the Japanese government and International Olympic Committee (IOC) are vowing to hold them as planned, although under strict conditions that could include staging them without spectators. Tennis: Australian Open day one

Novak Djokovic got his Australian Open title defence off to a rollicking start, breezing past Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3 6-1 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena on Monday. The world number one, who has won eight of his 17 major titles at Melbourne Park, rattled off 41 winners and did not face a single break point en route to victory. Angels sign Shohei Ohtani to two-year, $8.5M deal

The Los Angeles Angels avoided arbitration by signing two-way star Shohei Ohtani to a two-year, $8.5 million deal, the club announced Monday. Ohtani will make $3 million this season and $5.5 million next season, both guaranteed. The 2018 AL Rookie of the Year had sought $3.3 million this season vs. the Angels' offer of $2.5 million. Six-time Stanley Cup winner Ralph Backstrom dies at 83

Six-time Stanley Cup winner Ralph Backstrom has died. He was 83. Backstrom's death was announced Sunday by the Colorado Eagles, a minor league team he founded and served as president from 2003-07. No cause of death was announced. Mahomes motivated for rest of career by Super Bowl loss

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said on Monday his team's Super Bowl defeat by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will drive him on for the rest of his NFL career. Mahomes, who was aiming for a second consecutive Super Bowl triumph, was unable to penetrate the host Buccaneers defense in Sunday's championship game during which he turned in one of the worst outings of his largely stellar career. Brooks Koepka back in automatic Ryder Cup spot

Brooks Koepka vaulted four spots to No. 3 in the United States Ryder Cup team rankings following his victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. The four-time major winner had fallen out of the top six automatic qualifying spots after missing three consecutive cuts for the first time in his PGA Tour career. But Koepka's Sunday charge at TPC Scottsdale vaulted him from No. 7 to No. 3 in the U.S. standings, behind only Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau.