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Sports Quote of the Day:
"It ain't bragging if you can do it." ~ Dizzy Dean
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? We knew it wouldn't last forever and the Blackhawks aren't mourning the end of the record point streak. "It's time to move on to the next game."
By Jerry Bonkowski, The Sports Xchange
The combination of being shut out the last two games and an opponent that looked like imposters rather than the NHL's top team for part of the game allowed the Edmonton Oilers to roll to a 6-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday at United Center.
Edmonton came into Sunday's game having been shut out and outscored 9-0 in its last two games, suffering a 3-0 defeat at Detroit and 6-0 at Nashville. But led by a pair of goals by Sam Gagner, the Oilers looked like world-beaters on Chicago's home ice.
The Oilers improved to 9-11-5 with the win, while the Blackhawks suffered only their second loss in regulation time this season, dropping to a 21-2-3 mark in front of a crowd of 22,020.
It's pretty clear that the Blackhawks are really starting to feel the impact of the loss of Patrick Sharp, who will be out for the next 3-4 weeks with an injured left shoulder, sustained last Wednesday at home against Colorado.
Without Sharp's play and leadership, Chicago struggled far too many times, particularly on defense, which has been its strong suit during the first half of the season.
After staking Edmonton to a 5-2 lead midway through the second period, a shot by Chicago's Marian Hossa bounced off the chest of teammate Sheldon Brookbank and past Edmonton goalie Yann Danis at 15:05 to close the score to 5-3. It was Brookbank's first goal of the season and came as the Hawks were playing shorthanded.
But the pesky Oilers weren't going to let that one go by easy, as Taylor Hall tallied 51 seconds later to put Edmonton back ahead by three, 6-3.
Chicago once again closed to within two goals at 17:12 when Brent Seabrook scored on a 45-foot slapshot, his fourth goal of the season, leaving Edmonton protecting a 6-4 edge.
Chicago outshot Edmonton 18-7 in the second period.
The Blackhawks made a game of it in the third period when Patrick Kane took a cross-ice pass from Dave Bolland and lifted the puck past Danis at 7:06. It was Kane's team-leading 14th goal, his second of the game and also on the power-play, leaving Chicago behind by just one goal at that point, 6-5.
Even with the Blackhawks outshooting the Oilers 13-6 in the final period, they couldn't come back enough to tie the game or force it into overtime. Had the Blackhawks won, it would have been arguably the greatest comeback for the team this season, yet alas, they ultimately came up short.
Edmonton put Chicago to shame from the opening faceoff, scoring four times within a 10-minute span in the first period. Whether the Blackhawks were still experiencing jet lag from Friday night's 6-2 loss at Denver - their first defeat in regulation time this season - is unknown, but something was definitely wrong for a team that had been the best in the NHL up to this point.
The Oilers got on the board quickly at 2:24 of the first period on Mike Brown's 25-foot slapshot past Blackhawks goalie Ray Emery. To add insult to injury, it was Brown's first goal of the season.
Just over 30 seconds later, Sam Gagner scored the first of his two first-period goals, cranking a shot from the right side of Emery. Gagner would later score the Oilers' fourth goal of the game -- and his team-leading ninth tally of the season -- on the power-play at 12:22.
Sandwiched in-between was Edmonton's third goal, which was scored by Ryan Whitney, who took a cross-ice pass from Taylor Hall and easily sank his third tally of the season past an out-of-position Emery. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville had seen enough after that goal, pulling Emery and inserting Corey Crawford in goal.
That move was almost an exact reversal of what happened Friday at Colorado, when Crawford gave up five goals before he was replaced by Emery.
By the time the first period mercifully ended for Blackhawks fans, not only was their team down 4-0, it had also been outshot 12-6 in the opening stanza.
Patrick Kane finally got the Blackhawks on the scoreboard at 5:36 of the second period when Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk strayed too far from the crease -- to the top of the right circle, in fact -- and couldn't get back in time to defend against Kane's team-leading 13th goal of the season.
Chicago cut Edmonton's advantage in half to 4-2 at 7:51 of the middle period on Marian Hossa's 11th goal of the season. But Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff got that goal back at 10:28 with his second goal of the season, this one coming on the power play, to put Edmonton back ahead 5-2.
NOTES: Dubnyk left the game at 9:45 of the second period after being accidentally knocked to the ice by teammate Teemu Hartikainen in a wild scramble in front of the goal. Dubnyk lay motionless on the ice for several minutes before finally getting to his feet. He was replaced by Yann Danis. ... Chicago came into the game with a 55-47-12-4 lead in the all-time series against the Oilers, including 30-18-7-4 at home. The Blackhawks beat the Oilers on Feb. 25 at United Center. Both teams meet one final time in the shortened regular season on April 24 in Edmonton. ... Chicago begins a four-game road trip Thursday in Columbus, followed by games in Dallas, Colorado and Anaheim. The Hawks return to Chicago on March 25 vs. the Los Angeles Kings, the start of a three-game homestand and five of six games at the United Center. Edmonton, meanwhile, concludes its season-long nine-game road trip (the Oilers were 1-4-2 coming into Sunday night's game) Tuesday at Colorado, and then return home to begin a four-game homestand and seven of their next nine at home.
Tiger Woods’ win at Doral reminds us all he’s still the best in the world.
By Shane Bacon
The interesting thing about Sunday at Doral was it seemed everyone, including Tiger Woods' playing partner, was convinced the tournament was already over before it started. That's the impact that Tiger has on golf when he's really, really honed in.
Woods won his second PGA Tour event of 2013 on Sunday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship with what appeared to be a victory lap instead of a final round thanks to a hot start and not much push from the players that were biting at his heels. Woods shot a final round 71 that included two bogeys over his last three holes, but the lead had increased so much those holes didn't matter.
Back when Tiger Woods was Tiger Woods we expected final rounds to look like this. Woods would go in with a big lead and you knew what was bound to happen. He would make some early birdies, hit a lot of irons off tees and make sure to find the fat part of every green because he was in such command of his golf ball that he was able to do that.
The last few wins haven't been quite so comfortable. Sure, he rolled at Torrey Pines but he didn't have a lot of pressure from the best in the world. That wasn't the case on Sunday at Doral. Names like Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Graeme McDowell were behind him and a host of other of golf's upper echelon were just a few back of those names but it didn't matter. Tiger went out with a mission, and for the first time since 2008 he has the golf swing to accomplish that mission.
His win seems more emphatic than the other four have in the last year. This win was a message to everyone that he isn't just a big name that can win on any track, but he's the best out there and his golf swing, and putting stroke, are showing that.
It's fun to watch a guy find himself in the game of golf like this again. We've seen it happen to guys like Stricker, who basically forgot how to hit a golf ball for years before reinventing themselves on the PGA Tour, but it doesn't happen to the top name in the sport. Woods didn't know where the ball was going two years ago and now it seems he's as in control of it as he's been since the word "Tiger Slam."
Now all of our attention will move to Augusta National. Tiger has showed us that he can dominate big golf events, but he still hasn't been that comfortable on weekends at the majors. From what we've seen so far this season on tour, Woods is as ready as ever to get his 15th major and restart his run at Jack Nicklaus.
If this putting stroke shows up in Georgia, I see it happening. By a lot.
Ten Days until the start of the “CS&T 2013 March Madness NCAA Basketball Tournament” Pool.
Chicagosportsandtravel@yahoo.com wants you to join their NCAA Mens Basketball Bracket 2013 pool, named "CSAT 2013 March Madness NCAA Office Pool", at PoolTracker.com.
We're sending you this message because you have played in our pools before and hopefully enjoyed them. I'm requesting that you bring two friends, co-workers, acquaintances or diehard sports fans along with you to partake in this wonderful pool. Somebody's got to win, so it might as well be you!!! Our Pool is strictly for adult entertainment purposes only!!!
"It ain't bragging if you can do it." ~ Dizzy Dean
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? We knew it wouldn't last forever and the Blackhawks aren't mourning the end of the record point streak. "It's time to move on to the next game."
By Jerry Bonkowski, The Sports Xchange
The combination of being shut out the last two games and an opponent that looked like imposters rather than the NHL's top team for part of the game allowed the Edmonton Oilers to roll to a 6-5 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday at United Center.
Edmonton came into Sunday's game having been shut out and outscored 9-0 in its last two games, suffering a 3-0 defeat at Detroit and 6-0 at Nashville. But led by a pair of goals by Sam Gagner, the Oilers looked like world-beaters on Chicago's home ice.
The Oilers improved to 9-11-5 with the win, while the Blackhawks suffered only their second loss in regulation time this season, dropping to a 21-2-3 mark in front of a crowd of 22,020.
It's pretty clear that the Blackhawks are really starting to feel the impact of the loss of Patrick Sharp, who will be out for the next 3-4 weeks with an injured left shoulder, sustained last Wednesday at home against Colorado.
Without Sharp's play and leadership, Chicago struggled far too many times, particularly on defense, which has been its strong suit during the first half of the season.
After staking Edmonton to a 5-2 lead midway through the second period, a shot by Chicago's Marian Hossa bounced off the chest of teammate Sheldon Brookbank and past Edmonton goalie Yann Danis at 15:05 to close the score to 5-3. It was Brookbank's first goal of the season and came as the Hawks were playing shorthanded.
But the pesky Oilers weren't going to let that one go by easy, as Taylor Hall tallied 51 seconds later to put Edmonton back ahead by three, 6-3.
Chicago once again closed to within two goals at 17:12 when Brent Seabrook scored on a 45-foot slapshot, his fourth goal of the season, leaving Edmonton protecting a 6-4 edge.
Chicago outshot Edmonton 18-7 in the second period.
The Blackhawks made a game of it in the third period when Patrick Kane took a cross-ice pass from Dave Bolland and lifted the puck past Danis at 7:06. It was Kane's team-leading 14th goal, his second of the game and also on the power-play, leaving Chicago behind by just one goal at that point, 6-5.
Even with the Blackhawks outshooting the Oilers 13-6 in the final period, they couldn't come back enough to tie the game or force it into overtime. Had the Blackhawks won, it would have been arguably the greatest comeback for the team this season, yet alas, they ultimately came up short.
Edmonton put Chicago to shame from the opening faceoff, scoring four times within a 10-minute span in the first period. Whether the Blackhawks were still experiencing jet lag from Friday night's 6-2 loss at Denver - their first defeat in regulation time this season - is unknown, but something was definitely wrong for a team that had been the best in the NHL up to this point.
The Oilers got on the board quickly at 2:24 of the first period on Mike Brown's 25-foot slapshot past Blackhawks goalie Ray Emery. To add insult to injury, it was Brown's first goal of the season.
Just over 30 seconds later, Sam Gagner scored the first of his two first-period goals, cranking a shot from the right side of Emery. Gagner would later score the Oilers' fourth goal of the game -- and his team-leading ninth tally of the season -- on the power-play at 12:22.
Sandwiched in-between was Edmonton's third goal, which was scored by Ryan Whitney, who took a cross-ice pass from Taylor Hall and easily sank his third tally of the season past an out-of-position Emery. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville had seen enough after that goal, pulling Emery and inserting Corey Crawford in goal.
That move was almost an exact reversal of what happened Friday at Colorado, when Crawford gave up five goals before he was replaced by Emery.
By the time the first period mercifully ended for Blackhawks fans, not only was their team down 4-0, it had also been outshot 12-6 in the opening stanza.
Patrick Kane finally got the Blackhawks on the scoreboard at 5:36 of the second period when Oilers goalie Devan Dubnyk strayed too far from the crease -- to the top of the right circle, in fact -- and couldn't get back in time to defend against Kane's team-leading 13th goal of the season.
Chicago cut Edmonton's advantage in half to 4-2 at 7:51 of the middle period on Marian Hossa's 11th goal of the season. But Edmonton's Shawn Horcoff got that goal back at 10:28 with his second goal of the season, this one coming on the power play, to put Edmonton back ahead 5-2.
NOTES: Dubnyk left the game at 9:45 of the second period after being accidentally knocked to the ice by teammate Teemu Hartikainen in a wild scramble in front of the goal. Dubnyk lay motionless on the ice for several minutes before finally getting to his feet. He was replaced by Yann Danis. ... Chicago came into the game with a 55-47-12-4 lead in the all-time series against the Oilers, including 30-18-7-4 at home. The Blackhawks beat the Oilers on Feb. 25 at United Center. Both teams meet one final time in the shortened regular season on April 24 in Edmonton. ... Chicago begins a four-game road trip Thursday in Columbus, followed by games in Dallas, Colorado and Anaheim. The Hawks return to Chicago on March 25 vs. the Los Angeles Kings, the start of a three-game homestand and five of six games at the United Center. Edmonton, meanwhile, concludes its season-long nine-game road trip (the Oilers were 1-4-2 coming into Sunday night's game) Tuesday at Colorado, and then return home to begin a four-game homestand and seven of their next nine at home.
Tiger Woods’ win at Doral reminds us all he’s still the best in the world.
By Shane Bacon
The interesting thing about Sunday at Doral was it seemed everyone, including Tiger Woods' playing partner, was convinced the tournament was already over before it started. That's the impact that Tiger has on golf when he's really, really honed in.
Woods won his second PGA Tour event of 2013 on Sunday at the WGC-Cadillac Championship with what appeared to be a victory lap instead of a final round thanks to a hot start and not much push from the players that were biting at his heels. Woods shot a final round 71 that included two bogeys over his last three holes, but the lead had increased so much those holes didn't matter.
Back when Tiger Woods was Tiger Woods we expected final rounds to look like this. Woods would go in with a big lead and you knew what was bound to happen. He would make some early birdies, hit a lot of irons off tees and make sure to find the fat part of every green because he was in such command of his golf ball that he was able to do that.
The last few wins haven't been quite so comfortable. Sure, he rolled at Torrey Pines but he didn't have a lot of pressure from the best in the world. That wasn't the case on Sunday at Doral. Names like Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker and Graeme McDowell were behind him and a host of other of golf's upper echelon were just a few back of those names but it didn't matter. Tiger went out with a mission, and for the first time since 2008 he has the golf swing to accomplish that mission.
His win seems more emphatic than the other four have in the last year. This win was a message to everyone that he isn't just a big name that can win on any track, but he's the best out there and his golf swing, and putting stroke, are showing that.
It's fun to watch a guy find himself in the game of golf like this again. We've seen it happen to guys like Stricker, who basically forgot how to hit a golf ball for years before reinventing themselves on the PGA Tour, but it doesn't happen to the top name in the sport. Woods didn't know where the ball was going two years ago and now it seems he's as in control of it as he's been since the word "Tiger Slam."
Now all of our attention will move to Augusta National. Tiger has showed us that he can dominate big golf events, but he still hasn't been that comfortable on weekends at the majors. From what we've seen so far this season on tour, Woods is as ready as ever to get his 15th major and restart his run at Jack Nicklaus.
If this putting stroke shows up in Georgia, I see it happening. By a lot.
Ten Days until the start of the “CS&T 2013 March Madness NCAA Basketball Tournament” Pool.
Chicagosportsandtravel@yahoo.com wants you to join their NCAA Mens Basketball Bracket 2013 pool, named "CSAT 2013 March Madness NCAA Office Pool", at PoolTracker.com.
We're sending you this message because you have played in our pools before and hopefully enjoyed them. I'm requesting that you bring two friends, co-workers, acquaintances or diehard sports fans along with you to partake in this wonderful pool. Somebody's got to win, so it might as well be you!!! Our Pool is strictly for adult entertainment purposes only!!!
The entry fee is $12.00 and we're looking forward to having 100 participants. All fees must be in by March 20, 2012.
Payouts will go to the Final Four Players (players with the most points accumulated based on 100 players):
1st place $500.00
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3rd place $125.00
4th place $125.00
Scoring Options: Progressive Pick 'Em
1 point for each correct pick in Round 1
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5 points for each correct pick in Round 5
6 points for the correct Champion
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Ageless Hopkins wins light heavyweight title at 48.
Reuters
Ageless American Bernard Hopkins bettered his own record as the oldest man to win a world boxing title on Saturday, claiming the IBF light heavyweight crown with a convincing victory against an opponent 17 years his junior.
The 48-year-old boxer claimed a unanimous decision against Tavoris Cloud, winning 116-112, 116-112, and 117-111 on the judges' cards at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on Saturday night to eclipse his 2011 WBC light heavyweight title victory over Jean Pascal at the age of 46.
"(Trainer) Naazim (Richardson) told me what to do, I stuck to the gameplan, it was trying to throw combination punches, and throw them often," Hopkins said after improving his record to 53-6-2 (32 KOs).
Age has shorn him of his power but Hopkins proved he remained a master technician as "The Executioner" claimed a satisfying victory over a boxer from the stable of his former promoter Don King.
Hopkins opened a cut on Cloud's left eye in round six with a short left hook even though referee Earl Brown ruled it to be from an accidental headbutt.
Cloud, who subsequently complained of an elbow problem, sustained a cut on his right eyelid as well in the 12th round from a clash of heads.
"I have a history of destroying young champions and then we don't see them again. Not sure if you'll see Cloud again," Hopkins said after handing his opponent a first loss in 25 bouts.
"I wanted to show the forty-and-up club still rules," the Philadelphia-born fighter added.
Hopkins made his professional debut in 1988, the start of an illustrious career which included a decade-long reign as the world middleweight champion.
Danny Hamlin stands up to NASCAR’s fine, defends his criticism of new cars.
By Jay Busbee
NASCAR has a lot riding on the 2013 season, and in particular its new "Generation 6" car. Dwindling attendance, sliding TV ratings, vanishing sponsors and new safety concerns have shaken the sport.
So you can understand why NASCAR brass might be a bit sensitive to criticism of their newest showpiece vehicle.
How sensitive? Denny Hamlin found out this week when he was fined $25,000 for what appeared at the time to be relatively innocuous thoughts on a still-new car. Speaking after last Sunday's Phoenix race, which was for the most part a long parade of cars, Hamlin said, "I don't want to be the pessimist, but it did not race as good as our Generation 5 cars [a.k.a. "Car of Tomorrow"]. This is more like what the Generation 5 was at the beginning. The teams hadn't figured out how to get the aero balance right. Right now, you just run single-file and you cannot get around the guy in front of you."
That was enough to tick off NASCAR, which took offense at the "disparaging" remarks Hamlin made against the car and determined that Hamlin had run afoul of Rule 12-1, "actions detrimental to stock car racing."
"While NASCAR gives its competitors ample leeway in voicing their opinions when it comes to a wide range of aspects about the sport," NASCAR said in a statement, "the sanctioning body will not tolerate publicly made comments by its drivers that denigrate the racing product."
NASCAR and its drivers exist in a mutually beneficial partnership; each side needs the other. And despite some occasional public spats, they tend to coexist in harmony. Except when they don't. This is one of those times.Hamlin has been fined by NASCAR before; in 2010, he received a "secret fine" (believed to be about $50,000) for suggesting that NASCAR seems to throw caution flags to tighten up races that are too spread out. That one, he accepted with a minimum of grumbling and some jokes about needing to play the Lotto.
This time around, he wasn't so conciliatory. He immediately fought back, using the court of public opinion on Twitter (entire paragraph sic'd):
"The short of the long of it is I believe I was severely disrespected by NASCAR by getting fined," he wrote. "I believe that the simple fact of us not even having a conversation about this issue before I was hit with a fine has something to say about our relationship. What I said was 1 sentence taken completely out of context. Most drivers will tell you that we constantly have our AND nascars best interest in mind when speaking. On the other hand I am a person that worked very hard from the BOTTOM to get where I am today and someone telling me that I can give my 100 percent honest opinion really bothers me. Since being fined in 2010 I have been a lot more careful about what I say to media and I felt this past weekend felt completely in my rights to give a assessment of the question asked. I feel as if today NASCAR lost one of its biggest supporters vocally of where our sport is headed. So in the end there are no winners. I said today I would not pay the fine. I stand by that and will go through the process of appealing. Trust me, this is not about the money.. It's much deeper. I will now shift my focus on giving FedEx and my team what they deserve this weekend, a win."
It's worth noting that when Kyle Busch won the first race with the Car of Tomorrow back in 2007, he blasted the car's handling in victory lane. Some observers have raised the possibility that NASCAR believes the Car of Tomorrow never had a chance because of Busch's comments, and the sport is trying to head off a similar problem with the Gen6 car.
Of course, "heading off a problem" is another way of saying "stifling dissent," and there are already signs that drivers have gotten the message. Asked about the Gen 6 car on Thursday, Clint Bowyer smiled and said, "It's good. The car is good. Everything is very, very good."
"I'm not going to say anything for the rest of the year, as long as it relates to competition," Hamlin said on Thursday. "I mean, you can ask me how my daughter is, talk to me after wins about what have you, but as long as it relates to competition, I'm out from here on out. The down part is I feel like I've been a pretty good spokesman for them, and being positive when things aren't always positive. They just lost one small spokesman today, that's all."
NASCAR faces a raft of difficulties going forward. But muzzling its most charismatic drivers, which are one of the sport's great assets, is a strategy that will do little to address the sport's many problems.
Report: NBA, union near deal to allow HGH testing.
By Kurt Helin
The NBA needs to be testing for human growth hormone. Ask around the league and the first response of most people is that performance-enhancing drugs are not an issue in the NBA. I tend to be skeptical the league is that clean. But if it is or isn’t, there has to be testing.
And there will be soon, reports Henry Abbot at ESPN.
Of course, the NBA has banned HGH for years, the problem has been it’s a blood test (nobody likes having blood drawn) and there were questions of the test’s reliability. But that is changing and putting pressure on the league to change, Abbott said.
There are details to be worked out — is this blood test in addition to or replacing one of the six random urine tests players take a year? Will the test look just for HGH or other things as well?
The conventional wisdom has long been that steroids and PEDs are not prevalent in the NBA because being muscle-bound is not a real advantage. I don’t buy it — what HGH or designer steroids can do is help with recovery, and that is something NBA players could use. To bounce back quicker after a workout, or during the long seasons with four games in five nights at times, speeding recovery would be huge.
And frankly, there are people that will break the rules to get a shot at the money, fame and perks of an NBA lifestyle. To think some wouldn’t cross that line seems naïve to me.
Hopefully the testing will show I’m wrong, or at least expose the wrongdoers.
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