"A good coach will make his players see what they can be rather than what they are." ~ Ara Parseghian, Former Notre Dame Football Coach
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Hossa scores twice as Blackhawks eliminate Wild.
By
Marian Hossa scored twice to back a strong effort by goalie Corey Crawford, and the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild 5-1 Thursday night to win their first-round playoff series 4-1.
Chicago is moving on in the postseason for the first time since the championship run in 2010, and will face either San Jose or Detroit if the Red Wings get past Anaheim.
The way the Blackhawks have dominated, anything less than a trip to the Stanley Cup finals would be a disappointment for them.
They got off to a record start and captured the Presidents' Trophy for finishing with more points than any other team.
Now, they're eyeing the biggest prize of all. And after bowing out in the first round the past two years, they sure are looking good.
Hossa scored off a feed from Jonathan Toews late in the first period. Marcus Kruger made it 2-0 with a wraparound early in the second, and Hossa chased the Wild's Josh Harding when he knocked in a rebound minutes later.
Then, after Torrey Mitchell scored for Minnesota, Chicago's Andrew Shaw scored against Darcy Kuemper. Patrick Sharp added his fifth goal of the series early in the third period, and that was more than enough for Crawford.
Coming off his second career playoff shutout, he saved 21 shots, and the Blackhawks became the third team to advance in this postseason, along with San Jose and Ottawa. They also bucked a recent trend of early exits for Presidents' Trophy winners.
The team with the most regular-season points had been eliminated in the first round in three of the previous four years. The Wild were hoping to replicate what the Los Angeles Kings did last year and win the Stanley Cup as the eighth seed, but the Blackhawks simply had too much skill, speed and depth.
The Wild were also short-handed after losing one of their top scorers in Dany Heatley to season-ending left shoulder surgery late in the season. They also had to get by without goalie Niklas Backstrom after he suffered a leg injury in warm-ups before Game 1.
That forced the Wild to go with Harding, who played in just five games during the regular season after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis last summer. And he also got banged up in this series. He left Game 4 after a collision with Toews in which his legs got straddled around the left goal post, and he wasn't sharp in this one, allowing three goals on 18 shots even though he was deemed well enough to start.
Coach Mike Yeo turned to Kuemper after Hossa's second goal. And, for a moment, the Wild looked like they might get back into this one.
Moments after Minnesota's Jared Spurgeon hit the right post, Mitchell ripped a one-timer past Crawford midway through the second period. But Shaw answered 35 seconds later with his first career playoff goal when he swept the puck in from a bad angle just to the right of the net, making it 4-1.
Crawford, meanwhile, continued to erase doubts about his ability to perform in the postseason. That was a big question coming into this series after he let in several soft goals in last year's first-round loss to Phoenix. He's been nothing but solid in this series.
He even had the fans chanting his name at several points. For example, when Crawford stopped a routine shot by Jason Pominville from the wing and scrambled back toward the middle of the net for a neat pad save against Mikko Koivu on the rebound. That foiled another power play by the Wild after they went 0 for 15 in the first four games.
The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead late in the first period when Hossa took a feed from Toews in the left circle and fired the puck between Harding's glove and the post. The assist gave Toews his first point of the playoffs.
Kruger made it 2-0 when his wraparound deflected off Harding's pad and into the net for his first career playoff goal.
Notes: Blackhawks C Dave Bolland and G Ray Emery remain sidelined by lower body injuries, although coach Joel Quenneville said they're ''real close.'' Bolland said it's 50-50 he would have been able to play if ''it was do or die'' for the Blackhawks, but he expects to be ready in the next round. ... Quenneville moved ahead of Mike Keenan and took sole possession of second place on the Blackhawks' playoff wins list with 34. Billy Reay is the club record-holder with 57 from 1963-77.
PGA's Players Championship at a glance.
Tiger Woods was nine shots out of the lead, not the best position at The Players Championship, especially since he had not even started his round. Perhaps the bigger surprise was the guy who posted the record-tying round Thursday.
Roberto Castro had only played the TPC Sawgrass in a practice round. He made a debut he won't soon forget.
There was the 9-iron to a foot on the island-green 17th and a 4-iron to about the same tap-in range on the 18th, the hardest hole on the course. He hit a 3-iron to 3 feet for eagle, and twice hit wedge so close he didn't even have to read the putt.
When his memorable day was over, Castro had a 9-under 63 and his name in the record book twice.
He tied the course record held by Fred Couples and Greg Norman, and his three-shot lead was the largest margin after the opening round at The Players in 21 years.
Welcome to Sawgrass.
''I hit it close a lot,'' said Castro, making it sound as easy as it looked.
He led over Rory McIlroy, who broke par for the first time in his fourth appearance with five birdies after the turn and conservative play off the tee on the front nine for a bogey-free 66. Zach Johnson also had a 66 while playing in the pristine morning conditions.
Woods had to work a little harder in the afternoon. Not only did he spot Castro nine shots, Woods had never broken 70 in the opening round in his 15 previous tries.
''It was a day that I felt I had to shoot something in the 60s,'' Woods said.
He ran off four straight birdies around the turn. He was on the cup of his first bogey-free round at The Players until his 8-iron from 200 yards went just over the green and he flubbed his chip. The bogey gave him a 67, a strong effort considering he knew he had a lot of ground to make up before hitting his first shot.
''I've seen that a lot, but not at this golf course,'' he said.
Vijay Singh, playing one day after he sued the PGA Tour for its handling of his doping case, was largely ignored while playing in the group behind Woods. One fan wore felt deer antlers in the bleachers behind the first tee - Singh's case involved taking deer antler spray - but only a dozen or so people followed the 50-year-old Fijian on the back nine and it was a quiet day.
At one point, Singh let out a hearty laugh walking off the tee with Robert Garrigus and J.J. Henry. His golf wasn't the subject of the laughter. Singh hit into the water on the last hole and made bogey for a 74, leaving him in danger of missing the cut.
So ended a first round filled with plenty of action - a record-tying score by a player hardly anyone knows, McIlroy breaking par for the first time at Sawgrass, 17 balls in the water around the island-green 17th and 33 rounds in the 60s. Padraig Harrington followed an eagle with a double bogey. Michael Thompson made a hole-in-one.
But it all started with Castro, a 27-year-old who felt like he couldn't miss.
''I don't think anyone has figured out what the secret is to this place,'' Castro said.
Woods, Webb Simpson and Ryan Palmer each had a 67, the lowest score from the afternoon.
McIlroy also played in the morning, in the same group as Masters champion Adam Scott (69) and Steve Stricker (67). The 24-year-old from Northern Ireland had never made the cut or even broken par at The Players, but McIlroy figured it out on a gorgeous morning by dialing it back off the tee and letting his iron play take over. McIlroy never came seriously close to a bogey, and he didn't hit driver once on the front nine.
''When you hit the shots, it seems very simple,'' McIlroy said. ''I had a lot of good shots out there, lot of iron shots that were 12, 15 feet away from the pin and I got myself a lot of looks for birdies. I adopted maybe more of a conservative strategy off the tee this year. But once you put your ball in the fairway that means you can be more aggressive into the greens. So it sort of balances itself out.''
The Stadium Course has rarely looked so vulnerable with barely a trace of wind and some pins in bowls that allowed for good looks at birdie. Half the 72 players in the morning broke par.
But the punishment is never far away, as Scott Stallings discovered. He opened with five straight birdies to get everyone's attention, but after going out in 31, Stallings gave most of it back with a bogey, double bogey and a triple bogey on the 16th when he hit two balls into the water. He shot 40 on the back for a 71.
''It just goes to show about the golf course and really how volatile it is,'' Stallings said.
Castro hasn't discovered that yet. This was a day when everything went right.
He made three birdies early in his round on the back until making his tap-in birdies on the 17th and 18th. Then, he hit 3-iron into 3 feet on the par-5 second hole for an eagle and was 7-under through 11 holes. On the fourth, he hit his approach inside 2 feet for another birdie, and then he hit wedge to 18 inches on the sixth.
Castro had a birdie putt just outside 12 feet to break the course record, but missed it.
After his eagle on the second hole - his 11th of the round - Castro was reminded of a game he plays to try to birdie every other hole.
''When I eagled, I was like, 'Oh, now I'm 7 (under) through 11, so that's keeping ahead of that 50 percent mark.' But this is a different golf course,'' he said. ''The golf course is much harder than most of the other times I've kind of taken that attitude.''
Couples shot his 63 in 1992 in the third round. Norman opened with a 63 in 1994 when he went on to shatter the tournament record at 24-under 264. Along with joining them in the record book, Castro matched the record set by Billy Ray Brown in 1992 with his three-shot lead after one round.
Castro is not well known even in golf circles. His mother grew up in Peru and moved to America as a teenager along with her sister, Jenny Lidback, who played the LPGA Tour. He toiled in the minor leagues for five years after getting his industrial engineering degree at Georgia Tech.
Woods wasn't pleased with how he struck the ball, only with where he missed it. Despite missing six greens, he was left with straightforward shots to save par. The only blemish came at the end, when his 56-degree wedge came up heavy into the grain and failed to reach the putting surface.
How 'bout them Chicago Bulls? The Bulls were spanked pretty good Wednesday night, we hope they can fight back even against the odds of a team decimated by several injuries and illnesses. Heat-Bulls Preview.
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NFL-National Football League roundup.
Reuters, (The Sports Xchange), (Editing by Frank Pingue)
The Baltimore Ravens acquired center A.Q. Shipley from the Indianapolis Colts Thursday, as they seek to fill the void left by veteran Matt Birk's retirement.
The Colts received a conditional 2014 draft pick for the former Penn State All-American. The deal is pending a physical.
At 6-foot-1 and 309-pounds, Shipley is entering his second NFL season after appearing in 14 games with the Colts last season, with five starts.
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Not all Jacksonville Jaguars supporters want Tim Tebow in their uniform.
Amid a failed petition posted on the White House's website and an ad by an Orlando lawyer getting attention for asking for the Jaguars to sign Tebow, the Bold City Brigade has struck back.
Billed as Jaguars booster club, the Bold City Brigade started a website, Evenifhesreleased.com, which refers to the answer given by new Jaguars GM David Caldwell when asked about a potential pursuit of Tebow. "I can't imagine a scenario where he'd be a Jaguar, even if he's released," Caldwell said Jan. 10 at his introductory news conference.
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Jay-Z's Roc Nation agency has become a heavy hitter in the New York market and could be close to adding a quarterback to a budding portfolio.
New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith heard Roc Nation's pitch for representation and is considering Jay-Z's sports and marketing agency, which also fronts for Yankees' second baseman Robinson Cano and Giants' receiver Victor Cruz.
Smith terminated an agreement with Select Sports Group within days of his 2013 draft fall.
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The Minnesota Vikings will play the 2014 and 2015 seasons at the University of Minnesota's TCF Bank Stadium while their new stadium is being built.
The agreement includes stipulations that require the Vikings to pay for any capital improvements and operational expenses for the team's home games. In addition, the Vikings will pay the university a per-game rent of $250,000 and share $50,000 per game in concessions, advertising and sponsorship revenue.
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Free agent wide receiver Lavelle Hawkins has signed a two-year deal with the New England Patriots, according to The Tennessean.
Hawkins, who was released last week after five years with the Tennessee Titans, has 71 career receptions for 771 yards and a touchdown in 52 games.
He played just seven games last season because of an ankle injury, and had five catches for 62 yards.
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Chicago Bears' second-round pick Jonathan Bostic agreed to a four-year contract Thursday.
Bostic is a candidate to fill the void at linebacker created when the franchise decided to break off contract talks with veteran mainstay Brian Urlacher.
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Free agent safety Gerald Sensabaugh signed a one-day contract with Dallas on Thursday so he can retire as a member of the Cowboys.
Sensabaugh, who turns 30 in June, ends an eight-year NFL career spent evenly with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Cowboys. He was a fifth-round pick in the 2005 draft by Jacksonville.
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The Atlanta Falcons waived kicker Casey Barth and cornerback Momo Thomas on Thursday.
Barth, the younger brother of Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Connor Barth, set school records at the University of North Carolina for consecutive extra points and career field goals made during his four seasons with the Tar Heels.
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As far as Daniel Snyder is concerned, the Redskins will remain the Redskins. In the face of growing criticism and a pending federal trademark lawsuit, the NFL team's owner reconfirmed that he will not waver on the long-standing nickname.
"We will never change the name of the team," Snyder told USA Today. "As a lifelong Redskins fan, and I think that the Redskins fans understand the great tradition and what it's all about and what it means, so we feel pretty fortunate to be just working on next season."
Baseball Demographics, 1947-2012.
By Mark Armour and Dan Levitt
Several years ago, I (Mark) performed a research project to numerically define the spread of integration in major league baseball in the years following Jackie Robinson’s 1947 debut. This research was presented at the 2007 SABR convention in St. Louis, and then in the Fall 2007 Baseball Research Journal. The primary task of the project was to identify players from 1947 to 1986 (a 40-year period) who would not have been allowed to play before Robinson broke the color line. These players included both African-Americans and Afro-Latinos, though I also recorded the player’s country of birth, providing an approximation for distinguishing the two groups. Although my research was conducted independently, I was able to confirm my findings with several other people who had traveled down the same road, most notably Steve Treder, Rick Swaine, Thomas A. Timmerman and Jules Tygiel.
Jackie Robinson In recent years, attention has increasingly focused on the obvious decline of African-Americans in the major leagues. Although my period of study ended in 1986 (at which point the decline had not begun), many published accounts have reported African-American player percentages from the 1970s that seemed too high based on my study. In April 2013 I was contacted by a number of media outlets who wanted to understand the discrepancy, and I shared my research on the subject.
However, I was asked one question more than any other: Why did you stop at 1986? My honest response was that the questions I was trying to answer in 2007 were satisfactorily addressed. I was studying the rise, not the decline. Nonetheless, the increased interest in the subject suggested that I needed to completely redo the study to make it up-to-date, and also to more deliberately separate the Latino players.
For the present study, Dan did the work to determine the 10,240 players who have played since 1947, which players played in which seasons, their primary positions and other demographic or statistical information. For each of these players, I divided them into four demographic categories: African-American, Latino, Asian, and White. We understand this is not an exact science. Many players are of mixed-race, from Roy Campanella to Derek Jeter. To some people, race is mostly about self-identification, others believe it to be cultural, and still others believe it is solely about skin color.
For the purposes of this article, skin color was necessarily the determining factor, principally because this is how Organized Baseball itself defined the issue prior to Robinson (and even for many years thereafter.) As there are more than 10,000 players, disagreements on a few of them are not going to change our conclusions.
Now that we have the data, there are many questions we can answer. We will answer a few of them here, starting with the most interesting one.
In each column of the below table, the number represents the percentage of the total pool of players in that season who belong to each ethnic group.
| Year | White | African- Americans | Latino | Asian |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | 98.3% | 0.9% | 0.7% | 0.0% |
| 1948 | 98.5% | 0.7% | 0.7% | 0.0% |
| 1949 | 96.6% | 1.5% | 1.9% | 0.0% |
| 1950 | 95.3% | 1.7% | 3.0% | 0.0% |
| 1951 | 94.3% | 2.9% | 2.8% | 0.0% |
| 1952 | 94.4% | 2.9% | 2.7% | 0.0% |
| 1953 | 93.3% | 3.7% | 3.0% | 0.0% |
| 1954 | 90.7% | 5.6% | 3.7% | 0.0% |
| 1955 | 89.8% | 5.2% | 5.0% | 0.0% |
| 1956 | 88.2% | 6.7% | 5.1% | 0.0% |
| 1957 | 88.1% | 6.7% | 5.2% | 0.0% |
| 1958 | 86.7% | 7.4% | 5.9% | 0.0% |
| 1959 | 84.8% | 8.8% | 6.5% | 0.0% |
| 1960 | 82.3% | 8.9% | 8.9% | 0.0% |
| 1961 | 82.6% | 9.7% | 7.7% | 0.0% |
| 1962 | 81.9% | 10.1% | 8.0% | 0.0% |
| 1963 | 80.1% | 11.7% | 8.2% | 0.0% |
| 1964 | 79.3% | 11.7% | 8.9% | 0.1% |
| 1965 | 78.3% | 12.7% | 8.8% | 0.1% |
| 1966 | 76.9% | 13.4% | 9.7% | 0.0% |
| 1967 | 75.6% | 13.6% | 10.7% | 0.0% |
| 1968 | 73.8% | 15.4% | 10.8% | 0.0% |
| 1969 | 74.4% | 14.5% | 11.1% | 0.0% |
| 1970 | 73.7% | 14.6% | 11.7% | 0.0% |
| 1971 | 73.9% | 15.5% | 10.6% | 0.0% |
| 1972 | 72.9% | 16.1% | 10.9% | 0.0% |
| 1973 | 71.6% | 17.4% | 11.0% | 0.0% |
| 1974 | 71.1% | 17.4% | 11.5% | 0.0% |
| 1975 | 71.3% | 18.5% | 10.2% | 0.0% |
| 1976 | 70.5% | 18.0% | 11.5% | 0.0% |
| 1977 | 70.7% | 17.9% | 11.4% | 0.0% |
| 1978 | 71.3% | 17.4% | 11.3% | 0.0% |
| 1979 | 71.4% | 17.9% | 10.7% | 0.0% |
| 1980 | 71.1% | 17.4% | 11.6% | 0.0% |
| 1981 | 70.1% | 18.7% | 11.1% | 0.0% |
| 1982 | 70.4% | 17.9% | 11.7% | 0.0% |
| 1983 | 70.3% | 18.0% | 11.6% | 0.0% |
| 1984 | 69.6% | 18.4% | 12.0% | 0.0% |
| 1985 | 70.3% | 18.3% | 11.3% | 0.0% |
| 1986 | 70.0% | 18.3% | 11.8% | 0.0% |
| 1987 | 69.9% | 17.7% | 12.3% | 0.0% |
| 1988 | 68.2% | 17.3% | 14.5% | 0.0% |
| 1989 | 70.3% | 16.5% | 13.2% | 0.0% |
| 1990 | 68.6% | 16.6% | 14.8% | 0.0% |
| 1991 | 66.8% | 17.0% | 16.1% | 0.1% |
| 1992 | 67.7% | 16.7% | 15.6% | 0.0% |
| 1993 | 66.3% | 16.8% | 16.9% | 0.0% |
| 1994 | 65.0% | 17.2% | 17.8% | 0.1% |
| 1995 | 64.5% | 16.1% | 19.2% | 0.2% |
| 1996 | 63.2% | 16.0% | 20.4% | 0.4% |
| 1997 | 60.9% | 15.0% | 23.5% | 0.5% |
| 1998 | 62.0% | 14.3% | 22.8% | 0.8% |
| 1999 | 61.7% | 13.6% | 23.5% | 1.2% |
| 2000 | 61.2% | 12.8% | 24.7% | 1.3% |
| 2001 | 60.7% | 12.1% | 26.0% | 1.2% |
| 2002 | 60.8% | 10.8% | 26.5% | 1.9% |
| 2003 | 61.0% | 10.4% | 26.8% | 1.8% |
| 2004 | 60.3% | 10.1% | 27.7% | 1.8% |
| 2005 | 60.9% | 9.1% | 27.8% | 2.3% |
| 2006 | 61.3% | 9.0% | 27.8% | 1.9% |
| 2007 | 63.1% | 8.5% | 26.1% | 2.2% |
| 2008 | 62.1% | 8.2% | 27.3% | 2.3% |
| 2009 | 62.2% | 7.1% | 28.5% | 2.1% |
| 2010 | 63.0% | 7.8% | 27.2% | 1.9% |
| 2011 | 63.5% | 7.9% | 26.9% | 1.7% |
| 2012 | 63.9% | 7.2% | 26.9% | 1.9% |
Or, if you prefer, here is the same data in graphical form:
The percentage of African-Americans held steady between 16% and 19% for a quarter-century (1972-1996) but has since plummeted by more than half. There is seemingly no end to theories as to why this happened, but most of them are speculative. The consensus seems to mostly identify causes external to the game: African-Americans are choosing to play other sports; there are fewer opportunities to play in urban areas, etc. Our purpose here is not to determine the reasons, but to examine the data and see what it might show us.
One undeniable change in baseball rosters in the past generation is the growth of the pitching staff at the expense of position players. Black players, for whatever reason, tend to be position players, especially outfielders. We wondered whether this was part of the explanation for the decline.
A methodological note: We assigned each player a primary position for their career, and then treated him as if he played only a single position. Again, since we are looking for trends in a pool of more than 10,000 players, this simplification will not materially impact our conclusions.
So what positions are African-Americans playing?
More often than not, African-American players are outfielders. In fact, the positional distribution has not changed much in the past 40 years. This implies that the drop in all African-American players is not particularly position-specific. The next few graphs will demonstrate this more directly.
The next graph shows the annual change in demographics for pitchers only.
African-Americans have never been heavily represented among pitchers — making up over 6% of the pool only a handful of times — but there are now 10 times as many Latino pitchers as there are African-Americans.
As noted above, in an unrelated trend, pitchers now make up a larger percentage of a team’s roster. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, pitchers were between 39% and 44% of the total player pool. Since 2006, pitchers have been over 50% of the pool. The reduction in position players is one of the reasons — one of many, to be sure — for the drop in African-Americans in the game.
The story at catcher is even more dramatic.
The last African-American whose primary position was catcher was Charles Johnson back in 2005. Meanwhile, Latinos are increasing their representation at the position.
Pitchers and catchers now generally occupy 14 or 15 of the 25 roster slots. For the most part, African-Americans are not playing these positions and are instead competing for the remaining 10 or 11 places on the team.
The graph for middle infielders shows the strong representation from Latino players beginning in the 1950s and continuing to the present day. More than half of middle infielders were Latino for the period 2003-2006.
The infield corners are typically power positions, and African-Americans made up 15-20% of these spots for 30 years. By the turn of the century this had changed, and now Latinos are four times more present at the corner infield than African-Americans.
Major league outfielders were over 40% African-American for a 30-year period (1967-1999) before dropping below 30%. The share of Latino outfielders has remained around 20% for the past twenty years during the period of the African-American decline.
We mentioned earlier that the pool of outfielders is shrinking, but African-Americans' share of the pool is also shrinking, even though their numbers are still strong relative to the rest of the positions on the field.
Conclusions
The past 20 years has witnessed a decline in African-American players in the game. This has become common knowledge, though we do not believe that the data has been publicly presented back to 1947 in a place that is easy to find.
The downward trend is present at all positions, although the overall decline has been exacerbated by the increased share of roster spots being allocated to pitchers and catchers.
Further studies
The prevalent opinion seems to be that the cause of the decline in African-Americans is external to major league baseball: that African-Americans are focusing on other sports as youths, either by choice or because of fewer opportunities to play baseball. As far as we are aware, this issue has not been studied — it is reasoned speculation.
Could there be other factors? We showed above that the shift in how rosters are constructed (pitchers vs. position players) has had an effect. Could it be that there have been shifts in the types of skills that are emphasized (speed vs. power/patience) or where players are drafted (college vs. high school) that have disproportionately affected certain demographic groups? Clearly further research is called for to more fully understand the changing demographics of major league baseball.
NASCAR Bojangles’ Southern 500 Schedule for May 11, 2013.
By Lana Bandoim
The NASCAR Bojangles' Southern 500 is scheduled for May 11 at the Darlington Raceway. It will be the 11th Sprint Cup Series race of the season. In 2012, Jimmie Johnson won the Bojangles' Southern 500 and will be competing again.
Bojangles' Southern 500 Practice Schedule for May 10
11:30 a.m. EST, Practice begins (SPEED)
2:15 p.m. EST, Final practice begins (SPEED)
5:10 p.m. EST, Qualifying begins (SPEED)
Bojangles' Southern 500 Schedule for May 11
6:15 p.m. EST, Driver introductions
6:45 p.m. EST, Race coverage begins (Fox)
7 p.m. EST, Green flag (Fox)
Official Entry List for Bojangles' Southern 500
Car No. 1, Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet
Car No. 2, Brad Keselowski, Ford
Car No. 5, Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet
Car No. 7, Dave Blaney, Chevrolet
Car No. 9, Marcos Ambrose, Ford
Car No. 10, Danica Patrick, Chevrolet
Car No. 11, Danny Hamlin, Toyota
Car No. 13, Casey Mears, Ford
Car No. 14, Tony Stewart, Chevrolet
Car No. 15, Clint Bowyer, Toyota
Car No. 16, Greg Biffle, Ford
Car No. 17, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford
Car No. 18, Kyle Busch, Toyota
Car No. 19, Mike Bliss, Toyota
Car No. 20, Matt Kenseth, Toyota
Car No. 22, Joey Logano, Ford
Car No. 24, Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
Car No. 27, Paul Menard, Chevrolet
Car No. 29, Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet
Car No. 30, David Stremme, Toyota
Car No. 31, Jeff Burton, Chevrolet
Car No. 32, Timmy Hill, Ford
Car No. 33, Landon Cassill, Chevrolet
Car No. 34, David Ragan, Ford
Car No. 35, Josh Wise, Ford
Car No. 36, J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet
Car No. 38, David Gilliland, Ford
Car No. 39, Ryan Newman, Chevrolet
Car No. 42, Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet
Car No. 43, Aric Almirola, Ford
Car No. 47, Bobby Labonte, Toyota
Car No. 48, Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
Car No. 51, Regan Smith, Chevrolet
Car No. 52, Brian Keselowski, Toyota
Car No. 55, Mark Martin, Toyota
Car No. 56, Martin Truex Jr., Toyota
Car No. 78, Kurt Busch, Chevrolet
Car No. 83, David Reutimann, Toyota
Car No. 87, Joe Nemechek, Toyota
Car No. 88, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet
Car No. 93, Travis Kvapil, Toyota
Car No. 95, Scott Speed, Ford
Car No. 98, Michael McDowell, Ford
Car No. 99, Carl Edwards, Ford
Wrestling tackles politics to return to Olympics.
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Tim Tebow blackballed by NFL teams because of cult-like following, media frenzy??? What's your take?
By Michael Silver
As a journalist who has consistently experienced the wrath of Tebow Nation — mostly for passing along the slings and arrows voiced by various NFL players, coaches and talent-evaluators — I'm well aware that many devotees of the world's most celebrated unemployed quarterback carry a heavy persecution complex.
Car No. 7, Dave Blaney, Chevrolet
Car No. 9, Marcos Ambrose, Ford
Car No. 10, Danica Patrick, Chevrolet
Car No. 11, Danny Hamlin, Toyota
Car No. 13, Casey Mears, Ford
Car No. 14, Tony Stewart, Chevrolet
Car No. 15, Clint Bowyer, Toyota
Car No. 16, Greg Biffle, Ford
Car No. 17, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford
Car No. 18, Kyle Busch, Toyota
Car No. 19, Mike Bliss, Toyota
Car No. 20, Matt Kenseth, Toyota
Car No. 22, Joey Logano, Ford
Car No. 24, Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet
Car No. 27, Paul Menard, Chevrolet
Car No. 29, Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet
Car No. 30, David Stremme, Toyota
Car No. 31, Jeff Burton, Chevrolet
Car No. 32, Timmy Hill, Ford
Car No. 33, Landon Cassill, Chevrolet
Car No. 34, David Ragan, Ford
Car No. 35, Josh Wise, Ford
Car No. 36, J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet
Car No. 38, David Gilliland, Ford
Car No. 39, Ryan Newman, Chevrolet
Car No. 42, Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet
Car No. 43, Aric Almirola, Ford
Car No. 47, Bobby Labonte, Toyota
Car No. 48, Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet
Car No. 51, Regan Smith, Chevrolet
Car No. 52, Brian Keselowski, Toyota
Car No. 55, Mark Martin, Toyota
Car No. 56, Martin Truex Jr., Toyota
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Tim Tebow blackballed by NFL teams because of cult-like following, media frenzy??? What's your take?
By Michael Silver
As a journalist who has consistently experienced the wrath of Tebow Nation — mostly for passing along the slings and arrows voiced by various NFL players, coaches and talent-evaluators — I'm well aware that many devotees of the world's most celebrated unemployed quarterback carry a heavy persecution complex.
Yet as Tim Tebow's career wheezes to an underwhelming halt, with less apparent interest in his services than Massachusetts funeral parlors have in Tamerlan Tsarnaev's remains, something strange is happening. Against all odds, I'm starting to wonder whether the man who helped the Denver Broncos become one of the league's most stunning success stories in 2011 is getting unjustly blackballed.
Nine days after Tebow was released by the New York Jets, it has become increasingly clear that the ultra-popular quarterback who has hijacked many a news cycle has no viable landing spot. No NFL team seems to want him — as a starter, backup, converted H-back or fake-punt decoy — and it's not like he's fending off big-money offers from Canada, either.
Now, here's the interesting part: Tebowmania is at least partly to blame.
Now, here's the interesting part: Tebowmania is at least partly to blame.
As much as prospective employers are wary of Tebow's flawed mechanics, much-maligned throwing motion or deficiencies when it comes to reading defenses, the incessant media and fan attention that accompanies his presence on the depth chart is an even bigger concern.
"He seems like a great guy to have on a team, and I'd be tempted to bring him in as our backup," one NFC head coach told me Wednesday. "But it's just not worth dealing with all the stuff that comes with it."
In a business in which coaches and general managers strive to avoid distractions, Tebow, as one NFC offensive coordinator told me last spring, carries more of a stigma than Terrell Owens.
Or, in the words of one AFC head coach to whom I spoke recently: "You don't want to put up with the circus."
Given that his presence in the Jets' locker room coincided with a Benzini Brothers-style disaster of a 2012 season — and provoked controversial comments from teammates on various sides of the Tebow vs. Mark Sanchez spectrum along the way — it's easy to understand why some teams are shying away from Tebow.
But all of them, in a league in which guys like Ryan Lindley, Chandler Harnish and Matt Blanchard have jobs?
It's as if Tebow is the unwanted love child of Ryan Leaf and JaMarcus Russell.
So, even though I sort of understand why Tebow is toxic, the fact that he's not even being given a chance to compete for a third-string job is troublesome. And just as I feel compelled to call out the league when it comes to injustices like the dearth of minorities in offensive play-calling roles, the apparent blacklisting of a quarterback who went 7-4 as a starter in 2011 and won a memorable playoff game over the Pittsburgh Steelers doesn't seem kosher to me.
Tebow, by all accounts, is a hard worker who radiates a relentlessly positive attitude. He has obvious leadership qualities and, as Broncos fans, 2011 opponents and "Saturday Night Live" aficionados alike can attest, an uncanny knack for getting the stars to align in his favor. (Or, perhaps, his deep Christian faith really does translate into things like Marion Barber inexplicably running out of bounds in high altitude.
After the weirdness I witnessed that season, I'm not ruling anything out.)
Given that his presence in the Jets' locker room coincided with a Benzini Brothers-style disaster of a 2012 season — and provoked controversial comments from teammates on various sides of the Tebow vs. Mark Sanchez spectrum along the way — it's easy to understand why some teams are shying away from Tebow.
But all of them, in a league in which guys like Ryan Lindley, Chandler Harnish and Matt Blanchard have jobs?
It's as if Tebow is the unwanted love child of Ryan Leaf and JaMarcus Russell.
So, even though I sort of understand why Tebow is toxic, the fact that he's not even being given a chance to compete for a third-string job is troublesome. And just as I feel compelled to call out the league when it comes to injustices like the dearth of minorities in offensive play-calling roles, the apparent blacklisting of a quarterback who went 7-4 as a starter in 2011 and won a memorable playoff game over the Pittsburgh Steelers doesn't seem kosher to me.
Tebow, by all accounts, is a hard worker who radiates a relentlessly positive attitude. He has obvious leadership qualities and, as Broncos fans, 2011 opponents and "Saturday Night Live" aficionados alike can attest, an uncanny knack for getting the stars to align in his favor. (Or, perhaps, his deep Christian faith really does translate into things like Marion Barber inexplicably running out of bounds in high altitude.
After the weirdness I witnessed that season, I'm not ruling anything out.)
Clearly, even after shredding what was then the NFL's top-ranked defense for 316 passing yards in that Jan. 2012 playoff triumph, Tebow still has some serious refinement to do in order to bring his game to NFL-starter standards. That was evident in his final game with the Broncos, a lopsided playoff defeat to the New England Patriots.
What I can't understand is why no NFL team has enough faith in Tebow's upside to see if he's capable of pulling it off.
Since that defeat to the Patriots, the guy has been treated as dismissively as Kent Dorfman in the opening scene of "Animal House".
Broncos executive vice president John Elway couldn't wait to rid himself and his franchise of the Tebow phenomenon, using the pursuit of Peyton Manning as a means of solving that problem while, in his words, bringing "hope" to the locker room.
Jets coach Rex Ryan never seemed comfortable with Tebow, talking him up as a change-of-pace for struggling starter Sanchez and instilling him as the up-back on the punt team but essentially showing very little enthusiasm for giving him the ball.
"I don't understand what the Jets did," the AFC coach says. "You have to have a plan for him, but they had no idea what they were doing. I do think they were shocked how bad he looked in practice and in the preseason … how bad his accuracy was. But why make the trade for the guy if you're not clear on how to use his abilities?"
Isn't there a coach out there who can help Tebow get the most out of his abilities? Logic would suggest that someone with his level of commitment would be a strong candidate for improvement.
It may have already happened: After Tebow was released by the Jets, one of the franchise's former quarterbacks, Vinny Testaverde, expressed his disappointment to ESPNNewYork.com's Rich Cimini. Testaverde, who had just spent a week working with Tebow in Florida, said he and another ex-NFL quarterback, Chris Weinke, made a key footwork adjustment that produced noticeable results.
"Chris and I looked at Tim careful and we were both amazed," Testaverde told Cimini. "Everybody has been focusing on his throwing motion, trying to fix that, but nobody had picked up his footwork. His footwork was all screwed up …
"We got his footwork fixed. His throwing motion is now a non-issue. He throws with what we call 'effortless power.' He doesn't have that elongated motion anymore and his head isn't moving two-and-a-half feet when he throws it."
Referring to the Jets' coaches, Testaverde added, "I think they would have been impressed if they had compared this year to last year."
Instead, Tebow is metaphorically throwing into the wind, and it's a cold, heartless squall.
The Jacksonville Jaguars, who'd expressed interest in trading for the local hero before the Jets made the deal with Denver last year, said "no thanks" more quickly than Phil Jackson turned down the Brooklyn Nets' coaching job. Instead, newly hired general manager Dave Caldwell decided to stick with the embattled Blaine (Don't Call Me "Blame") Gabbert.
First-year Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman, who told me in advance of the 2010 draft that "in the right environment… Tim Tebow can develop into being an elite quarterback in the NFL," apparently doesn't believe that Halas Hall qualifies — or couldn't convince general manager Phil Emery otherwise.
And while there's plenty of media chatter that Tebow could land with the Patriots (whose offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels, was the man behind the Broncos' decision to draft Tebow in the first round), my organizational sources tell me that's very unlikely to happen, with one going so far as to say that Coach Bill Belichick "hates" Tebow as a player. As for the prospect of employing Tebow as a change-of-pace quarterback — and asking Tom Brady to come off the field in those situations — the source says, "No chance. Plus they wouldn't like the circus that comes with it."
Ah, yes — there's that word again. And, of course, it's highly regrettable that the excitement Tebow provokes has negatively impacted his ability to earn another opportunity to, you know, provoke more excitement.
The circus isn't Tebow's fault, though some former teammates have speculated as to the possible passive-aggressive nature of his actions, such as refusing to disavow a billboard clamoring for him to replace then-Broncos starter Kyle Orton.
And while many of Tebow's fervent supporters may, in fact, be well-meaning, folks like Florida attorney John Morgan — who recently created a video imploring the Jaguars to sign the quarterback — are actually doing him a disservice.
Can you hear the Tebowphiles, chanting in the background? All we are saying … is give Tim a chance.
And is it possible — scarily — that I'm singing along?
Right now, pro-football powerbrokers don't seem to be listening, and that's their prerogative. No man, even one as revered in some quarters as Tebow, has a divine right to wear an NFL uniform. This is a highly competitive sport, performed at its highest level, and players with strong credentials and promising starts to their careers get bounced out of the league with regularity.
This time, however, there's a glaring difference. In virtually every other case, the once-prominent player who washes out does so after flailing on the field, and/or getting into trouble off the field.
Since playing in a pair of playoff games 16 months ago, Tebow, whose only off-the-field baggage comes in the form of his cult-like following and the media frenzy it provokes, hasn't been afforded the opportunity to show that he sucks.
It's certainly possible that he's simply not up to NFL standards, and never will be, but wouldn't it be nice to get some conclusive proof before this story comes to a meek and unfulfilling close?
If you're a franchise like the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers or Carolina Panthers — teams with young, athletic quarterbacks who should absolutely feel secure in their starting roles — wouldn't you think about bringing in Tebow as a similarly mobile backup?
Something tells me that the people running these teams — like those in charge of 29 others — have already considered and rejected the possibility. That's not fair, but that seems to be the way it is.
And sadly, the persecution complex shared by so many of Tebow's fervent supporters seems to have become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We'd love to know, what's your take?
Right now, pro-football powerbrokers don't seem to be listening, and that's their prerogative. No man, even one as revered in some quarters as Tebow, has a divine right to wear an NFL uniform. This is a highly competitive sport, performed at its highest level, and players with strong credentials and promising starts to their careers get bounced out of the league with regularity.
This time, however, there's a glaring difference. In virtually every other case, the once-prominent player who washes out does so after flailing on the field, and/or getting into trouble off the field.
Since playing in a pair of playoff games 16 months ago, Tebow, whose only off-the-field baggage comes in the form of his cult-like following and the media frenzy it provokes, hasn't been afforded the opportunity to show that he sucks.
It's certainly possible that he's simply not up to NFL standards, and never will be, but wouldn't it be nice to get some conclusive proof before this story comes to a meek and unfulfilling close?
If you're a franchise like the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers or Carolina Panthers — teams with young, athletic quarterbacks who should absolutely feel secure in their starting roles — wouldn't you think about bringing in Tebow as a similarly mobile backup?
Something tells me that the people running these teams — like those in charge of 29 others — have already considered and rejected the possibility. That's not fair, but that seems to be the way it is.
And sadly, the persecution complex shared by so many of Tebow's fervent supporters seems to have become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We'd love to know, what's your take?
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