Chicago
Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica
Sports Quote of the Day:
"It's not what you did last year. It's what you're going to do this year. That's more important." ~ Albert Pujols
March Madness game changed history.
Please watch the attached link on how the NCAA Basketball Tournament became what it is today. Make sure the volume is turned up. It doesn't get any better than this!!!
http://sports.yahoo.com/video/march-madness-game-changed-history-214200048.html
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? "It's time to move on to the next game."
The Chicago Blackhawks are off until Thursday night when they play the Columbus Blue Jackets. They have lost two games in a row after going undefeated in the first half of the season during regulation play. They have a couple of injuries to key players, however, that is part of the game and cannot be used as an excuse. These few days of rest will work out exceptionally well for the Hawks. We believes the Hawks will come back out and pick up where they left off. Our Hawks, never giving up, never giving out and most of all, never giving in. Their best is just going to keep getting better. As CS&T/AA has said, We have a great feeling about this team. This is our year, remember, you heard it here first!!!!! Go Hawks!!!
Starting Over: A Look at the New Faces in New Places on the NFL Sidelines.
By Russell S. Baxter
COMMENTARY: The NFL is big business and all of the teams are in the business of winning. Failure to do so means changes all around the organization and often, the head coach is one of the first to go.
Exactly one-fourth of the 32 teams will have new head coaches this upcoming season. All you have to do is tell us which of the eight will be the most successful? Good luck.
Bruce Arians (Arizona Cardinals): Last season's disastrous 5-11
finish (following a 4-0 start) sealed the fate of Ken Whisenhunt. Arians was the
NFL Coach of the Year with the Colts in 2012, filling in for Chuck Pagano, and
helped lead the young team to the playoffs. He's done wonders with quarterbacks
in the past, but note that Cardinals' signal-callers have been sacked 162 times
since 2010. Ouch.
Doug Marrone (Buffalo Bills): The Bills' last playoff appearance was a loss to the Titans in the 1999 wild card round. That's a lot of wagons going around in circles for a long time. Marrone, who comes over from Syracuse, has been around both the pro and college game and looks to snap the franchise's five-year streak of finishing dead last in the AFC East.
Marc Trestman (Chicago Bears): Despite a 10-6 season in 2012, Lovie Smith was shown the door in the Windy City after the team squandered a 7-1 start and wound up missing the playoffs. Enter Trestman, who has been around the game in all aspects, including the CFL. It won't be easy in an NFC North that boasted three clubs with double-digit victories last season.
Rob Chudzinski (Cleveland Browns): Since rejoining the NFL in 1999, the Browns have had a total of six head coaches. Now you can make it seven as Chudzinski, late of the Panthers, heads to Cleveland and will have offensive coordinator Norv Turner as well. The pair should do some good things with quarterback Brandon Weeden and running back Trent Richardson.
Gus Bradley (Jacksonville Jaguars): You'll notice that of the eight total hires this offseason that Bradley is the only defensive-oriented coach, as he leaves his coordinator duties with the Seattle Seahawks and looks to fix a club that's 27-53 the last five seasons and set a franchise record for losses in 2012. Having a healthy Maurice Jones-Drew, out most of last season, in the backfield would be a big help.
Andy Reid (Kansas City Chiefs): Reid leaves a four-win team in the Eagles to join a two-win team in Kansas City. And when you consider both Philadelphia and Kansas City were tied (with the Jets) for the league in turnovers last season (37), there's work to be done. Some of that will come from new quarterback and former 49ers signal-caller Alex Smith, who doesn't join the team until next week.
Chip Kelly (Philadelphia Eagles): There's a new sheriff in the City of Brotherly Love as the former Oregon head coach brings his act to the NFL, looking to revive a team that's won 12 games and committed 75 turnovers over the last two seasons. Kelly has quarterback Michael Vick and has brought in former Duck Dennis Dixon (say that three times fast), but what will these Birds look like in 2013?
Mike McCoy (San Diego Chargers): The Chargers have gone
from winning their division four straight years, the last three under Norv
Turner, to 9-7, 8-8, 7-9 from 2010-12, respectively. Those last three seasons
added up to no playoffs for the Bolts, who now become the latest team to hire a
Denver Broncos' coordinator (Dennis Allen in Oakland)
to be their head coach.
Woods, stars headed on collision course with Augusta.
By Jay Coffin
Tiger Woods sat in the interview room late Sunday, wrapping up a few last-minute media obligations while autographing several bits of memorabilia for tournament sponsors, the duty of a winner each week on the PGA Tour.
An hour earlier, Woods had put together the final pieces of a WGC-Cadillac Championship victory that was his second this season, the 76th in his PGA Tour career and the 17th World Golf Championship on his resume.
A booming voice asked Woods if it pleased him more “to master the game, or master the field.” Woods gave the answer you’d expect, saying if he was able to master the game then mastering the field should follow suit.
But there was that word, master. Or, in our world, that little golf tournament in Augusta, Ga. The Masters begins in 31 days. But who is counting?
WGC events annually boast the best players in the game; that’s the reason they were created. Rarely, however, do the best of the best end the week on the top of the leaderboard.
For four glorious days last week in South Florida, sponsors, media and fans alike all were salivating over the names they saw on the monster marquee floating in the water adjacent Doral’s famed 18th hole.
Woods’ name was there from Day 1 and never left; it was joined regularly by Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell, Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson and Keegan Bradley.
Rory McIlroy had struggled mightily to begin this season but found confidence the last two days, making 11 birdies and an eagle to tie for eighth place, along with 2012 champion Justin Rose. Scott shot a tournament-low 64 Sunday to make his presence felt.
“It’s good for us,” Stricker said of all the notable names in contention. “It’s good for the Tour.”
This is the last time we’ll see a leaderboard like this until the Masters. We’ll see smatterings of these players over the next month, but not together – not until they spend that week amidst the azaleas.
It’s unclear who will be ranked No. 1 by then. McIlroy holds the top spot now, but Woods would assume the position with a victory in two weeks at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he’s won seven times including last year.
Woods will take two weeks off after Bay Hill, but McIlroy will play the Shell Houston Open and have a chance to either build on his No. 1 position, or regain it should Woods have it by then.
This is now the eighth time that Woods will arrive at the Masters with at least two Tour victories. In six of the previous seven times, Woods failed to win a major only once (2003). If Woods wins at Bay Hill it will be the fourth time he enters the Masters with three Tour titles in that respective year (2000, ‘03, ‘08).
“Any time I can win prior to Augusta, it always feels good,” Woods said. “I’ve been able to do it a few times throughout my career, which is nice.”
Americans have won every event on the PGA Tour so far this year. Europeans are rounding into form. South Africans always seem to find their way near the top of leaderboards this time of year.
Point is, we’re in the midst of one of the most memorable preludes to the Masters in a long time and Woods, as he has been so many times before, is the leading man.
Woods’ performance in winning the Farmers Insurance Open was dominating and he said Sunday that he played just as well to win the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He’s selling himself short. He played better at Doral in another epic triumph.
With a helpful tip from Stricker, Woods’ putting looks better than it has at any point over the past four years. He’s rolling it beautifully and needed only 100 putts last week to record 27 total birdies. He’s confident on the greens, he doesn’t consider the fact that he’ll miss a putt and the pep is back in his step.
“He’s been playing like this for quite some time,” Mickelson noted. “All last year and this year now. He’s pretty strong. Playing at a pretty high level week in and week out, it seems like.”
Said McDowell, who played with Woods the last 36 holes: “In ’10, ’11 when I was playing with him, he would hit the odd shot where you would just kind of blink twice and go ‘really?’ He’s got the ball under control now.
“He doesn’t have those kind of off-the-radar balls anymore.”
This is, technically, the fourth golf swing that Woods has used to win tournaments in droves, a fact that can’t be undersold.
Victory at the WGC-Cadillac is his fifth in the last 19 PGA Tour events, a span of 50 weeks. That is a 26.3 winning percentage, a clip that essentially is on pace with his career 26.9 winning percentage as a professional.
“That’s how I know I can play,” Woods said emphatically. “To be able to bring it out a couple times so far this year, and then be able to close and get the W's on top of that, that’s nice.”
It’s nice for Woods. Not for others.
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
2nd place $250.00
3rd place $125.00
4th place $125.00
Scoring Options: Progressive Pick 'Em
1 point for each correct pick in Round 1
2 points for each correct pick in Round 2
3 points for each correct pick in Round 3
4 points for each correct pick in Round 4
5 points for each correct pick in Round 5
6 points for the correct Champion
Tie Breaker: Total Points in Championship GameTie Breakers are calculated as follows:
If multiple players are tied for the highest points for any given week (or for the championship game in tournament type pools), the player with the closest tie breaker prediction, regardless if they are over or under, to the actual tie breaker value is the winner. If multiple players are still tied, then the player who entered their tie breaker value first*, wins.
* = The player with the earliest date/timestamp for entering their picks. Please note that the date/timestamp is updated every time a player's picks and/or tie breaker are edited. To join, click below and follow the easy steps.
-Click on this link or cut and paste it to your browser:
http://www.PoolTracker.com/join.asp?poolid=75067
Enter this pool credential information:
The Pool ID is: 75067
The Poll Password is: CSAT2013NCAAOP
Important Note: You cannot make your picks until the brackets are established.
The brackets will be available March 17, 2013, and picks must be in by March 20, 2013.
There are four play in games this year bringing the total field to 68 teams. However, we do not know how the play in games will be used in scoring exactly. We will let you know when the brackets are established.
***Please email me at chicagosportsandtravel.com or call me at (312) 593-0928 with any further question(s). Good Luck and good picking.***
The entry form is below:
Name:___________________________________________________________________
Mailing Address:__________________________________________________________
City:_____________________________State:____________ Zip Code:_____________
Email Address:___________________________________________________________
Telephone Number:______________________________________________________
Please mail entry fee to:
"CSAT/AA 2013 March Madness NCAA Office Pool
116 Fairfield Way
Bloomingdale, IL 60108Sincerely,
Marion P. Jelks
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NFL, GE to study brain injuries as concussion worries mount.
By Jonathan Allen
The National Football League and General Electric Co are teaming up to improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries amid growing concerns about sports-related concussions in youth and professional sports.
On Monday they announced a $60 million effort with leading neurologists to speed up research into brain injuries and the development of new technologies to help protect the brain from traumatic injury to benefit athletes, the military and the broader public.
The initiative includes a $40 million research program into imaging technologies to improve diagnoses and an additional $20 million pool of funds open to researchers and businesses trying to improve the prevention, identification and management of brain injuries.
"We're trying to do this with the best minds anywhere in the world," GE's chairman and CEO, Jeff Immelt, told a news conference in Fairfield, Connecticut, on Monday.
Americans are increasingly worried about brain injuries suffered by children and adolescents playing sports.
Among the lawsuits filed against the NFL over concussions is a class action on behalf of 4,000 former professional football players and their wives, which accuses the league of covering up life-altering brain injuries.
The NFL and GE, the largest U.S. conglomerate, will split the investment equally, with a $5 million investment from Under Armour toward a project to develop new materials and technologies to protect the brain from injury and to develop tools to track head impacts and injuries as they happen.
Kevin Plank, the founder and CEO of Under Armour, said one challenge to overcome was a tendency of athletes to downplay injuries for fear they will be prevented from playing.
"The fact today is that safety is not that cool," he said. "Our job is to change that."
The initiative comes nearly two months after the Institute of Medicine launched a sweeping study of sports-related concussions, particularly those in young people from elementary school through early adulthood.
A 2010 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that U.S. emergency rooms yearly treat 173,000 temporary brain injuries, including concussions, related to sports or recreation among people less than 19 years old.
In professional sports, the NFL last year adopted stricter rules to determine when players can return to the playing field after suffering a concussion.
Patricia Horoho, the U.S. Army Surgeon General, said she welcomed the NFL-GE initiative, adding that there had been 250,000 brain injuries among Army members since 2000, of which 84 percent were not related to deployment.
Possible research areas include looking for genetic markers that could indicate a susceptibility to certain kinds of brain injuries, and developing more consistent treatment and management protocols, medical experts involved in the initiative said.
World Baseball Classic perceptions, realities as Team USA enters round two.
Stan McNeal Sporting News
As Team USA gears up for round two, it’s time to separate perception from reality in the World Baseball Classic.
Perception: This is the best baseball can do to determine a true world champion.
Reality: Yes, but you have to get over the fact that it’s not perfect and never will be.
Well, not until the major league season is shortened by a month or so.
Perception: Team USA is the favorite.
Reality: Dominican Republic is the favorite.
Team USA might have been favored before the first round, at least in this country. But only the Dominicans are undefeated after outscoring the opposition 19-8 in the first round.
The Dominicans have looked like a team not planning to lose since pounding out 28 hits in an exhibition last week against the Phillies. In the first round, Robinson Cano went 9-for-15 and Nelson Cruz 6-for-13 with five RBIs each. They’ve also gotten production from Jose Reyes, Edwin Encarnacion and Alejandro De Aza of the White Sox.
Anyone whining about the U.S. not fielding its best players should check the Dominicans, who would be even more formidable if Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista, David Ortiz and Johnny Cueto had been given medical clearance by their clubs.
Team USA might not even be the second favorite. Though Japan’s roster is void of major leaguers, the two-time champs already have secured their spot in the final four.
Perception: Team USA should breeze into the final four.
Reality: Team USA should reach the final four.
In the modified double-elimination format, two of the four teams playing at Marlins Park will advance to next week’s championship round. That means two victories is all the Americans need to secure a trip to San Francisco.
Beating the Puerto Ricans Tuesday night would be huge. Then the U.S. only would need to win Thursday night against the winner of Tuesday afternoon’s Italy-Dominican Republic matchup.
Even if Team USA falls to Puerto Rico, it can advance by winning on Wednesday (against the Dominican Republic-Italy loser) and Friday (in what would be the loser’s bracket final). Saturday’s championship game really is just to determine seeding because both teams that reach the final will advance.
Perception: Team USA should beat Puerto Rico.
Reality: Based on pitching matchups, yes, Team USA should beat Puerto Rico.
Team USA will start Gio Gonzalez, a 21-game winner for the Nationals last season.
Because manager Joe Torre wasn’t planning to pitch Gonzalez in the first round, the lefty stayed at spring training camp in Viera, Fla., last week instead of joining Team USA in Phoenix.
A native of South Florida, Gonzalez said he was so confident of a Team USA victory Sunday that he went ahead and made the two-plus hour drive to his Hialeah hometown, where he watched the game in a sports bar.
“I was just going nuts having some chicken wings and some water,” he said at Monday’s presser. “When (Eric) Hosmer came up with the big hit clearing the bases, that was it. That’s a big deal for me.”
Puerto Rico will go with Mario Santiago, a 28-year-old right-hander who is in Dodgers’ camp this spring. Santiago spent last season pitching abroad after he was released by the Royals following the 2011 season. As a Kansas City farmhand from 2005-2011, he went 36-51 with a 4.04 ERA.
Perception: Italy has no chance.
Reality: Italy has a chance.
After all, Italy already mercy-ruled Canada and knocked off Mexico. While the uniform says Italia, this is a team made in the USA. Six major leaguers are in the lineup and Jason Grilli is the closer. Even the two members of the lineup who play in the Italian League (yes, there is such a thing), 31-year-old shortstop Anthony Granato and 32-year-old right fielder Mario Chiarini, were seasoned in the U.S.
Perception: Team USA needs to win for the WBC to make it.
Reality: Hardly.
Team USA winning the championship might make the WBC a slightly bigger deal in the U.S., but this event is not about growing the sport (translation: generating revenue) in this country.
Based on the increasing number of countries that try to qualify, plus rising attendance, TV ratings (outside of the U.S.) and merchandise sales, the WBC already is a success where it counts most: Bud Selig’s coffers.
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