Sports Quote of the Day:
"Show Class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself." ~ Paul "Bear" Bryant, Legendary University of Alabama Football Coach
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks trade Bolland to Leafs, Frolik to Jets, re-sign Bickell to 4-year deal. The core will remain intact, so let the dealing begin!!!
BY MARK LAZERUS
Less than an hour after trading away Dave Bolland and Michael Frolik, the Blackhawks signed playoff star Bryan Bickell to a four-year contract.
Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed, but TSN reported that it was worth $16 million, meaning an annual salary cap hit of $4 million.
Bickell, who was an unrestricted free agent, had nine goals and eight assists during the postseason. Hawks general manager Stan Bowman and Bickell’s agents had been negotiating throughout the week. Bickell had said on Thursday that he’d be willing to take a hometown discount to stay with the team that drafted him in 2004.
“We want him and he wants to be here,” Bowman said.
The 6-4, 223-pound Bickell emerged as a star in the playoffs, with a dominant series against the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference final. And when he, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were put on the top line together, they formed a dominant top line. Bickell, a third-liner during the regular season in which he had nine goals and 14 assists, said he’d like the chance to skate on that line together for a full season.
“That’d be good,” he said. “[Joel Quenneville] changed it up after the L.A. series and we got back together and it worked again. You know Q, if it’s going well, he’s going to let it ride. But if it comes down to it, I’d love to see how it would go if we had a full year, or a full month. We’ll see.”
Blackhawks Select Ryan Hartman With The 30th Pick.
By Greg Boysen
The Blackhawks select Northbrook native Ryan Hartman with their 1st round pick.
Ryan Hartman can be compared to an Andrew Shaw type of player. He is a bit undersized at just 5'11 and 185lbs, but he plays big. He does have more a scoring touch than Shaw has. He can play both the wing and is a decent center as well. He will not back down from any challenge and can be a pest on the ice. He has a two way player that can shut down the oppositions best lines and score on them too. Scouts say his hockey IQ is through the roof. He has ability to produce, but in a secondary role. His skating ability could use a little bit of work and at times he loses composure and takes bad penalties, as well. He is willing to do the dirty work in front of the net and along the boards. Some scouts project him to be a second line center. He does possess good speed and acceleration and sees the ice very well. His creativity with the puck and ability to make smart passes go well with his above average shot. Scouts have said that Hartman is one of the more safer picks of the 1st round.
Howard heads the class after spending one largely unhappy season with the Lakers. They would like him back and can outspend other suitors by about $30 million, according to NBA rules, but teams such as Houston, Dallas and Atlanta will try to persuade him to take less money for more enjoyment.
Matt Kenseth has raced long enough to know that rough starts can still have good outcomes.
Especially when his crew chief takes chances.
Case in point was Kenseth's fuel-only pit stop gamble that helped him beat Jimmie Johnson late to win the rescheduled 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Kentucky Speedway.
A race that was Johnson's to lose ultimately became Kenseth's series-high fourth victory of the season - and third on a 1.5-mile track - after crew chief Jason Ratcliff passed on putting new tires on the No. 20 Toyota following the race's ninth caution.
Bill Haas made the long walk across a makeshift bridge and under the grandstands to the 18th green for the trophy presentation, high-fiving kids along the railing and raising his cap to thousands of fans who cheered as they saw him coming.
His victory Sunday in the AT&T National was even sweeter when he compared it with all the times he failed.
''As many times as I've choked and hit bad shots and I've been nervous and it hasn't worked out - I was feeling all those things today - and to hit good, quality golf shots down the stretch is such a good feeling,'' Haas said. ''I wish I could explain it. It's amazing.''
His golf spoke volumes.
Haas pulled away from a crowd of contenders with three straight birdies, two good pars and one good hop. It led to a 5-under 66, giving him a three-shot win at Congressional over Roberto Castro and putting him into distinguished company on two levels.
Haas has won at least one PGA Tour event in each of the last four years, joining Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose. And he kept the pedigree of champions at the AT&T National on a day when a half-dozen players were trying to win their first PGA Tour event. In the seven-year history of the tournament, Rose was the lowest-ranked player to win. He was No. 35 when he won at Aronimink in 2010. Haas started the week at No. 29.
Haas is honest to fault, which explains why he is too hard on himself. He talked about how he ''threw up on myself'' at Riviera when he lost a three-shot lead in the final round, and he twice used the word ''choke'' in describing past failures.
''That's terrible to say that 'I choke' and 'I throw up on myself,' but I'm just honest that I did that,'' he said. ''But go from there. How do you get better? Don't do it again, you know? That's my best statement. Just don't do that again. Today, I didn't do it. I think it makes it that much sweeter, too, when you can remember the times you stunk.''
He made only one bogey, making good on his pledge Saturday to clean up his card after a third round that included a triple bogey on the 11th hole.
As many as six players had a share of the lead at some point until Haas rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 8. Worried about a splotch of mud on his ball, he hit his approach to just inside 12 feet for birdie on the par-5 ninth, and then hit a 5-iron to 10 feet for another birdie on the 10th.
Haas led by at least two shots the entire back nine, though he never allowed himself to think about winning until he stood over a 3-foot par putt on the 18th hole and realized he had three putts to win.
''I just kept the ball in front of me,'' Haas said. ''Nothing too crazy.''
The 31-year-old won for the fifth time in his career, and this was the first one with Tiger Woods on the property - not to play, but to hand out the trophy. Woods sat out this week with an elbow injury and won't play again until the British Open, though he was impressed with what he saw.
''He played beautifully today,'' Woods said. ''He handled his business through the tougher stretch of holes and pulled away.''
Castro, part of a four-way tie for the lead at the start of the final round, made Haas work for it.
''He didn't make any mistakes, and the birdies on 9 and 10 were big,'' Castro said after his 69.
The other leaders fell away. Andres Romero had a double bogey on the fourth hole and shot 75. James Driscoll didn't make a birdie in his round of 74.
Jordan Spieth, the 19-year-old from Texas who needs a win to become a PGA Tour member and be eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs, started his day by holing out from a fairway bunker for eagle and chipping in for birdie to tie for the lead. He dropped a shot at No. 11 - the hardest hole at Congressional - about the time Haas was on his critical run of birdies. Spieth had a 69 and finished sixth, pushing his earnings for the year over $1.1 million.
Castro bogeyed the opening hole, and that was his only mistake. He was one shot out of the lead at the turn, couldn't match birdies with Haas at the par-3 10th, and then stuck with him the rest of the day.
''It helped that Roberto played so well,'' Haas said.
Haas, who finished on 12-under 272, never allowed himself to think about winning, even after he seized control around the turn. Congressional wouldn't let him. Even though he made 15 birdies on the weekend, he remembered the triple bogey on the 11th hole Saturday that temporarily derailed him.
This time, he found the fairway, hit onto the green, took two putts for par and exhaled.
Haas saved par from a bunker on the par-3 13th with a 6-foot putt that swirled 360 degrees around the cup before falling, and then picked up an unlikely birdie on the 14th when his 9-iron was drifting toward a mound covered with shaggy rough to the right of the green. It hopped off the mound to about 10 feet, and he went from a possible bogey to a birdie when he made the putt.
He made one more birdie with a wedge that checked up a foot from hole on the par-5 16th, and Haas was on his way.
The biggest struggle after that was hoisting the silver trophy of the U.S. Capitol over his head in the stifling heat of the closing ceremony on the 18th green.
Brazil crush Spain to win Confederations Cup.
Brazil humbled world and European Champions Spain with a crushing 3-0 win in the Confederations Cup final on Sunday, ending their opponents' three-year record run of 29 unbeaten competitive matches.
Fred put Brazil ahead after two minutes, Neymar added a majestic second just before halftime with his fourth goal of the tournament and the crowd erupted again when Fred made it 3-0 two minutes after the re-start with his fifth of the competition. The Maracana crowd taunted Spain and chanted "the giant is back" as Brazil overpowered Vicente del Bosque's team whose last competitive defeat was against Switzerland at the 2010 World Cup.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament that schedules all 16 men's and women's fourth-round matches on the second Monday. Here are five matches to watch:
At Tour, walking wounded win by soldiering on.
By
Behind Jan Bakelants, the Belgian who rode with guts and guile to win Stage Two at the Tour de France, there were other smaller but no less impressive victories Sunday that don't get so widely noticed - by the race's riding wounded.
An X-ray Saturday after the crash didn't show any break. To be sure, Thomas was taken for a scan after Sunday's stage.
Please let us hear your opinion on the above articles and pass them on to any other diehard fans that you think might be interested. But most of all, remember, Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica wants you!!!!!
Ryan Hartman can be compared to an Andrew Shaw type of player. He is a bit undersized at just 5'11 and 185lbs, but he plays big. He does have more a scoring touch than Shaw has. He can play both the wing and is a decent center as well. He will not back down from any challenge and can be a pest on the ice. He has a two way player that can shut down the oppositions best lines and score on them too. Scouts say his hockey IQ is through the roof. He has ability to produce, but in a secondary role. His skating ability could use a little bit of work and at times he loses composure and takes bad penalties, as well. He is willing to do the dirty work in front of the net and along the boards. Some scouts project him to be a second line center. He does possess good speed and acceleration and sees the ice very well. His creativity with the puck and ability to make smart passes go well with his above average shot. Scouts have said that Hartman is one of the more safer picks of the 1st round.
NFL says one arrest is too many, totaling 27 too many this year.
Posted by Michael David Smith
The NFL has just finished a particularly ugly week in which Aaron Hernandez’s murder charge was the top story, joined in the headlines by Ausar Walcott’s attempted murder charge and Joe Lefeged’s illegal weapons charge. And the NFL realizes that’s a problem.
League spokesman Greg Aiello told USA Today that the NFL’s attitude toward arrests is, “One is too many.”
Our police blotter lists 27 NFL player arrests this offseason, so that would make 27 too many so far in 2013, a year that is now half over. (Other media outlets have published higher arrest numbers than 27; we only include a player’s arrest in our police blotter if he was an active player at the time of the arrest, which means we don’t include players like Titus Young who were arrested after they were released by their NFL teams.)
Aiello noted that the NFL is trying to do what it can to make sure its players are law-abiding citizens.
“We have policies and programs that hold all NFL employees accountable and provide them with programs of education and support,” he said.
The players who have been arrested this offseason are a very small minority: With 32 teams and up to 90 men per roster during the offseason, the players arrested represent about 1 percent of all players in the league. It’s unfortunate for the 2,700 or so NFL players who haven’t been arrested that the 27 who have been get such an outsized share of the attention.
Eyes on Howard when NBA free agency opens.
League spokesman Greg Aiello told USA Today that the NFL’s attitude toward arrests is, “One is too many.”
Our police blotter lists 27 NFL player arrests this offseason, so that would make 27 too many so far in 2013, a year that is now half over. (Other media outlets have published higher arrest numbers than 27; we only include a player’s arrest in our police blotter if he was an active player at the time of the arrest, which means we don’t include players like Titus Young who were arrested after they were released by their NFL teams.)
Aiello noted that the NFL is trying to do what it can to make sure its players are law-abiding citizens.
“We have policies and programs that hold all NFL employees accountable and provide them with programs of education and support,” he said.
The players who have been arrested this offseason are a very small minority: With 32 teams and up to 90 men per roster during the offseason, the players arrested represent about 1 percent of all players in the league. It’s unfortunate for the 2,700 or so NFL players who haven’t been arrested that the 27 who have been get such an outsized share of the attention.
Eyes on Howard when NBA free agency opens.
By
Dwight Howard could leave, Chris Paul is expected to stay, and plenty more will happen beyond Los Angeles when the NBA's free agency period opens.
Frontcourt players such as Josh Smith, David West, Andrew Bynum and Al Jefferson also can become free agents Monday at midnight EDT.
Howard heads the class after spending one largely unhappy season with the Lakers. They would like him back and can outspend other suitors by about $30 million, according to NBA rules, but teams such as Houston, Dallas and Atlanta will try to persuade him to take less money for more enjoyment.
He didn't fit right in Mike D'Antoni's offense and could end up with his third home in less than a year, having been dealt from Orlando to Los Angeles just last August.
Bynum was in that deal, too, going from the Lakers to Philadelphia in what was a four-team trade. He sat out all season because of knee problems and could leave without ever playing a game for the 76ers.
The Clippers are much happier with Paul, and he has plenty of reasons to stay in Los Angeles. The Clippers won their first Pacific Division title last season and will be coached now by Doc Rivers, who headed across the country after the Clippers sent a future first-round draft pick to Boston to let him out of his contract.
Players can agree to deals any time after free agency opens but can't sign until July 10, after next season's salary cap has been set.
That's when the blockbuster draft night trade that sent Kevin Garnett from Boston to Brooklyn will become official.
The more severe penalties in the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement now start to take effect, with stiffer luxury taxes and more restrictions on sign-and-trades.
Teams are chasing the two-time defending champion Miami Heat, who will try to hold onto key reserve Chris Andersen. The San Antonio Spurs, whom they beat in seven games in the NBA Finals, would see the end of their longtime Big Three if Manu Ginobili does not re-sign. Starter Tiago Splitter is a restricted free agent, so the Spurs can match an offer.
West helped Indiana take Miami to seven games in the Eastern Conference finals, and the Pacers would like to keep the veteran power forward. The versatile Smith (Atlanta) and the rugged Jefferson (Utah) also are available.
Key guards on the market include Olympian Andre Iguodala of Denver and Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith of New York.
Matt Kenseth wins Sprint Cup race at Kentucky.
By
Matt Kenseth has raced long enough to know that rough starts can still have good outcomes.
Especially when his crew chief takes chances.
Case in point was Kenseth's fuel-only pit stop gamble that helped him beat Jimmie Johnson late to win the rescheduled 400-mile NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Kentucky Speedway.
A race that was Johnson's to lose ultimately became Kenseth's series-high fourth victory of the season - and third on a 1.5-mile track - after crew chief Jason Ratcliff passed on putting new tires on the No. 20 Toyota following the race's ninth caution.
''I thought he was slightly crazy when that happened,'' said Kenseth, who widened his lead when the field went four-wide after the restart on lap 246 and saw Johnson's No. 48 Chevy spin from second place on a day he led three times for 182 of 267 laps.
''I didn't think there was any way that we were going to hold on for that win. He made the right call at the right time and those guys got it done.''
Kenseth led twice for 38 laps, including the final 23. Johnson, the five-time champion and series points leader, finished ninth and leads Carl Edwards by 38.
The restart bothered Johnson, who accused Kenseth of breaking the pace car speed. But Johnson took solace in salvaging his 11th top-10 despite between sandwiched in the logjam that could have been worse.
''We were kind of in an awkward situation in that restart there,'' he said. ''We were like three- and four-wide going in the corner, then something happened with the air and just kind of turned me around. Unfortunate, but at least we rallied back for a good finish.''
Second was Jamie McMurray in a Chevy, followed by Clint Bowyer (Toyota), Joey Logano (Ford) and Kyle Busch (Toyota).
Rain Saturday night forced NASCAR officials to postpone the race to a daytime start.
The event was red-flagged for 18 minutes following a seven-car wreck involving defending race and Sprint Cup winner Brad Keselowski, who returned to finish 33rd.
The event was red-flagged for 18 minutes following a seven-car wreck involving defending race and Sprint Cup winner Brad Keselowski, who returned to finish 33rd.
It was the biggest incident of 10 cautions for 42 laps, but things were clean after Johnson brought out the final yellow flag.
The checkered flag crowned Kentucky's third different champion in as many events though Kenseth, like Johnson, was due for a breakthrough on the 1.5-mile oval.
He finished seventh here last year and sixth in the 2011 inaugural race. However, victory didn't seem likely for the 2003 Cup champion after qualifying 16th and running outside the top 20 during the first quarter of the event.
''I thought our first run, we were all right and I guess probably after the second run, we were able to move forward pretty good,'' Kenseth said. ''I felt pretty good about what we had. I thought we need to get it better.''
From then on, the first-year Joe Gibbs Racing driver was a perennial top-five contender. Trouble was, he and other hopefuls seemed to need Johnson to suffer misfortune to have any shot of catching him. The way he was running, that appeared unlikely.
Turns out, Kenseth needed to rely on the left-side tires Ratcliff ordered the previous stop. Taking fuel only the final time allowed him to gain the lead coming off pit road, and the rubber held up on the rough, bumpy track, both on the restart and through the final laps.
Ratcliff was shocked that more teams didn't follow suit with that strategy.
''I felt like more guys would make that call, and so I thought it was worth a shot to get out there,'' the crew chief said. ''When we rolled off pit road and saw what everybody did, I looked to the guy beside me and I'm like, 'I can't believe we are the only ones that did that.''
The decision led to a surprising late turn of events, and the tense finish in which McMurray and Bowyer took turns trying to chase down Kenseth provided a nice makeup after Saturday night's washout.
In a season of struggles, McMurray was just happy with his first top five.
''Every week it's been something,'' he said, ''so it's nice to have some good luck.''
Bowyer remained third in points and gave Michael Waltrip Racing its second straight top-two run following teammate Martin Truex Jr.'s road win last week in Sonoma, Calif.
Johnson was a favorite after strong practices and a third-place qualifying run, and he quickly picked up where he left off to become the story on Sunday with the best car after several early lead changes.
The race's biggest incident came on lap 49 when Kurt Busch spun out Keselowski near turn 1, triggering an accident that red-flagged the race. Greg Biffle slammed into Keselowski, lifting his car off the asphalt and leaving both Fords mangled.
Somehow, both returned to finish 33rd and 34th respectively.
Somehow, both returned to finish 33rd and 34th respectively.
But at the time of the wreck Johnson had already taken his first lead of the race and appeared headed to a walkover victory before Ratcliff's risk resulted in Kenseth's reward.
''With everything being equal, I still thought we were a second-place car when we were at our best,'' Kenseth said. ''There were times when we ran a little better than (Johnson) but I don't know what he was doing up front, if he was saving fuel or what.
We still had an excellent car.''
Bill Haas pulls away to win at Congressional.
By
Bill Haas made the long walk across a makeshift bridge and under the grandstands to the 18th green for the trophy presentation, high-fiving kids along the railing and raising his cap to thousands of fans who cheered as they saw him coming.
His victory Sunday in the AT&T National was even sweeter when he compared it with all the times he failed.
''As many times as I've choked and hit bad shots and I've been nervous and it hasn't worked out - I was feeling all those things today - and to hit good, quality golf shots down the stretch is such a good feeling,'' Haas said. ''I wish I could explain it. It's amazing.''
His golf spoke volumes.
Haas pulled away from a crowd of contenders with three straight birdies, two good pars and one good hop. It led to a 5-under 66, giving him a three-shot win at Congressional over Roberto Castro and putting him into distinguished company on two levels.
Haas has won at least one PGA Tour event in each of the last four years, joining Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose. And he kept the pedigree of champions at the AT&T National on a day when a half-dozen players were trying to win their first PGA Tour event. In the seven-year history of the tournament, Rose was the lowest-ranked player to win. He was No. 35 when he won at Aronimink in 2010. Haas started the week at No. 29.
Haas is honest to fault, which explains why he is too hard on himself. He talked about how he ''threw up on myself'' at Riviera when he lost a three-shot lead in the final round, and he twice used the word ''choke'' in describing past failures.
''That's terrible to say that 'I choke' and 'I throw up on myself,' but I'm just honest that I did that,'' he said. ''But go from there. How do you get better? Don't do it again, you know? That's my best statement. Just don't do that again. Today, I didn't do it. I think it makes it that much sweeter, too, when you can remember the times you stunk.''
He made only one bogey, making good on his pledge Saturday to clean up his card after a third round that included a triple bogey on the 11th hole.
As many as six players had a share of the lead at some point until Haas rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 8. Worried about a splotch of mud on his ball, he hit his approach to just inside 12 feet for birdie on the par-5 ninth, and then hit a 5-iron to 10 feet for another birdie on the 10th.
Haas led by at least two shots the entire back nine, though he never allowed himself to think about winning until he stood over a 3-foot par putt on the 18th hole and realized he had three putts to win.
''I just kept the ball in front of me,'' Haas said. ''Nothing too crazy.''
The 31-year-old won for the fifth time in his career, and this was the first one with Tiger Woods on the property - not to play, but to hand out the trophy. Woods sat out this week with an elbow injury and won't play again until the British Open, though he was impressed with what he saw.
''He played beautifully today,'' Woods said. ''He handled his business through the tougher stretch of holes and pulled away.''
Castro, part of a four-way tie for the lead at the start of the final round, made Haas work for it.
''He didn't make any mistakes, and the birdies on 9 and 10 were big,'' Castro said after his 69.
The other leaders fell away. Andres Romero had a double bogey on the fourth hole and shot 75. James Driscoll didn't make a birdie in his round of 74.
Jordan Spieth, the 19-year-old from Texas who needs a win to become a PGA Tour member and be eligible for the FedEx Cup playoffs, started his day by holing out from a fairway bunker for eagle and chipping in for birdie to tie for the lead. He dropped a shot at No. 11 - the hardest hole at Congressional - about the time Haas was on his critical run of birdies. Spieth had a 69 and finished sixth, pushing his earnings for the year over $1.1 million.
Castro bogeyed the opening hole, and that was his only mistake. He was one shot out of the lead at the turn, couldn't match birdies with Haas at the par-3 10th, and then stuck with him the rest of the day.
''It helped that Roberto played so well,'' Haas said.
Haas, who finished on 12-under 272, never allowed himself to think about winning, even after he seized control around the turn. Congressional wouldn't let him. Even though he made 15 birdies on the weekend, he remembered the triple bogey on the 11th hole Saturday that temporarily derailed him.
This time, he found the fairway, hit onto the green, took two putts for par and exhaled.
Haas saved par from a bunker on the par-3 13th with a 6-foot putt that swirled 360 degrees around the cup before falling, and then picked up an unlikely birdie on the 14th when his 9-iron was drifting toward a mound covered with shaggy rough to the right of the green. It hopped off the mound to about 10 feet, and he went from a possible bogey to a birdie when he made the putt.
He made one more birdie with a wedge that checked up a foot from hole on the par-5 16th, and Haas was on his way.
The biggest struggle after that was hoisting the silver trophy of the U.S. Capitol over his head in the stifling heat of the closing ceremony on the 18th green.
Haas was still smarting over losing a three-shot lead in the final round at Riviera, making five bogeys in a seven-hole stretch in the middle of his round. He had the 36-hole lead at the Memorial until a 76-71 weekend.
He was solid on Sunday at Congressional, and the win moved him to No. 7 in the FedEx Cup standings with the playoffs about two months away. That's important to Haas, who won the FedEx Cup in 2011 and failed to qualify for the Tour Championship last year.
D.H. Lee made nine birdies to match a tournament-best 64 and tied for third with Jason Kokrak, who briefly shared the lead on the front nine and had a 69. Stewart Cink closed with a 67 and finished alone in fifth, his best finish on the PGA Tour in stroke play since he won the British Open four years ago at Turnberry. Brazil crush Spain to win Confederations Cup.
By Mike Collett | Reuters
Brazil humbled world and European Champions Spain with a crushing 3-0 win in the Confederations Cup final on Sunday, ending their opponents' three-year record run of 29 unbeaten competitive matches.
Two goals from Fred and a stunning left-foot shot from Neymar gave next year's World Cup hosts their fifth straight win in the competition as they clinched the trophy for a third time in a row.
Spain endured a miserable night with Sergio Ramos missing a penalty early in the second half and Gerard Pique sent off for a lunge on his new Barcelona team mate Neymar after 68 minutes.
Fred put Brazil ahead after two minutes, Neymar added a majestic second just before halftime with his fourth goal of the tournament and the crowd erupted again when Fred made it 3-0 two minutes after the re-start with his fifth of the competition. The Maracana crowd taunted Spain and chanted "the giant is back" as Brazil overpowered Vicente del Bosque's team whose last competitive defeat was against Switzerland at the 2010 World Cup.
Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said he never imagined the tournament being as successful as this.
"We played four world champions and now we have a little bit more confidence and that is what we wanted," he told O Globo.
"The players were wonderful today. I used the players I wanted to and none of them let me down," he added.
Spanish coach Del Bosque, whose side last lost any match when they were beaten by England in a friendly in November 2011 told Telecino: "We had a bit of bad luck in the opening minutes of each half but I don't want to make any excuses, they were better and that's that.
"They possibly had a bit more energy than us. Instead of being 1-1 we went 2-0 down in the last moments of the first half. But I don't think that right now we can analyze details. They were superior and that's it."
FAST FIRST GOALS
Brazil started this competition just over two weeks ago with a third minute goal against Japan and began this final in similar fashion with an even faster opener.
Fred's second minute hook-in while he was sitting on the ground lacked the powerful beauty of Neymar's strike against Japan, but its impact was even more emphatic.
The crowd, who just minutes earlier gave a rousing rendition of the Brazilian national anthem, raised the decibel levels even higher in celebration to settle Brazil's nerves, unsettle Spain and put the hosts firmly in control.
Oscar should have quickly doubled the lead but fired wide after eight minutes when Fred set him up with a clever backheel, while Paulinho went close in the 14th minute when he had Spain keeper Iker Casillas back-pedaling to keep his lobbed shot out.
Spain were clearly rattled by Brazil's rampaging start and they survived another scare when defender Alvaro Arbeloa escaped with a yellow card when he was the last defender and sent Neymar tumbling.
Spain, who usually dominate matches with their intricate midfield passing moves, showed patches of their usual self-assured control, but they also looked tired following Thursday's exhausting semi-final penalty shootout victory over Italy.
In contrast Brazil, with Fred, Neymar and Paulinho looking fresh and powerful, continually had Spain on the backfoot with a series of swift breaks, often initiated by David Luiz after some Spanish-style passing of their own.
Luiz's name boomed through the cavernous ground four minutes before halftime when he raced back to clear a goalbound shot from Pedro one meter in front of the line with Julio Cesar beaten.
Instead of finding themselves pegged back to 1-1, Brazil were 2-0 ahead within three minutes.
Oscar provided the final pass to Neymar who smashed an unstoppable angled left-foot shot past Casillas into the roof of the net.
The third goal came after another sweeping move with Paulinho finding Fred wide on the left after Neymar shimmied out of the way of the ball. Fred unleashed another unstoppable low shot past Casillas.
The rest of the second half proved to be just as miserable for Spain. Ramos fired wide from the penalty spot after Marcelo fouled Jesus Navas who had just come for the disappointing Juan Mata.
Then 14 minutes after that Pique lunged at the escaping Neymar, and after living dangerously with a number of late challenges Dutch referee Bjon Kuipers showed Pique the red card.
There was no way back for Spain after that.
The world champions were bidding to become the first team since Uruguay in the 1950 World Cup's decisive match to beat Brazil in a competitive international at the Maracana, but after falling behind so early, that never looked likely.
Instead Brazil fans left believing that coach Scolari, who won the World Cup with Brazil on June 30, 2002, could deliver a sixth world title to the Maracana in a year's time.
5 things to watch Monday at Wimbledon.
By
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament that schedules all 16 men's and women's fourth-round matches on the second Monday. Here are five matches to watch:
1. SERENA WILLIAMS vs. SABINE LISICKI: If Williams' 34-match winning streak is going to face a real challenge, it might just come from Lisicki, the 23rd-seeded German who upset Maria Sharapova in last year's fourth round at the All England Club and is now working with Kim Clijsters' former coach, Wim Fissette. Williams owns the undisputed best serve of any active woman - and perhaps of any woman, of any era - but Lisicki can smack 'em, too: Her season ace total ranks No. 2 behind Williams, and she's won 27 of 29 service games this tournament. Lisicki is ''dangerous when she dictates points,'' said Patrick Mouratoglou, the French coach who's been helping Williams during the stretch in which she's won 77 of 80 matches and three of the last four Grand Slam titles.
2. NOVAK DJOKOVIC vs. TOMMY HAAS: After his gut-wrenching, 9-7 fifth-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open semifinals, Djokovic didn't sulk; he came out stronger than ever. For the first time, he reached the second week of Wimbledon without dropping a set, and he made only three unforced errors in the third round. But the top-seeded Djokovic hasn't faced much of a test yet. He could against Haas, who eliminated Djokovic en route to the 2009 Wimbledon semifinals, and also defeated him at Key Biscayne in March, becoming the third-oldest man since 1968 to beat the No. 1 player. If the 35-year-old Haas can do it again, he'll become the oldest Wimbledon quarterfinalist since Tom Okker in 1979. When they met at Roland Garros, though, Djokovic topped Haas in straight sets.
3. ANDY MURRAY VS. MIKHAIL YOUZHNY: Think anyone around here might tune in for this one? Murray is their man, their hope to end a 77-year drought without a British male champion at Wimbledon. He gets loud support from the stands - and also loud groans when he misses a makeable shot. Murray's popularity skyrocketed when he bared his emotions and teared up during his runner-up speech after losing to Roger Federer in last year's Wimbledon final, so imagine how big a deal he became a month later when he beat Federer at the All England Club to win a gold medal at the London Olympics, not to mention when he finally won his first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open. Murray has won 14 consecutive grass-court matches, and 20 of his past 21, but Youzhny is no pushover. The 20th-ranked Russian reached the final on grass at a tuneup tournament before Wimbledon, was a quarterfinalist at the All England Club in 2012, and twice reached Grand Slam semifinals. He's also a character. He once made himself bleed by hammering himself in his head with a racket; used his foot to write a word of apology in the red clay at Roland Garros during a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 loss last year; and destroyed a racket at this year's French Open by whacking it nine times against his sideline seat.
4. LUKAS KUBOT vs. ADRIAN MANNARINO: You might never have heard of these guys, but one will be a 2013 Wimbledon quarterfinalist. Kubot is ranked 130th, Mannarino 111th, which is why theirs is the only men's or women's fourth-round match scheduled for Court 14 and its 312 spectators' seats. Their matchup pits one guy who's been serving really well (Mannarino and Djokovic are the only two men who have not lost a service game so far) against another who's been returning really well (Kubot leads the remaining 16 men in percentage of return points won against first serve, 44, and in percentage of return games won, 50). The winner of Kubot-Mannarino faces the winner of Jerzy Janowicz against Jurgen Melzer, so a member of that quartet will end up in the semifinal spot that pretty much everyone figured would belong to Federer or Nadal.
5. SLOANE STEPHENS VS. MONICA PUIG; LAURA ROBSON vs. KAIA KANEPI: OK, so listing two matches here raises the total to six to watch, but they're both worth a mention. Stephens is 20, and both Puig and Robson are 19; the trio represents some of the top up-and-coming talent on the women's tour. ''There's definitely a new generation,'' Williams said. ''I feel like this might be the beginning of, maybe, the future. I mean, eventually there's going to have to be a shift.'' Stephens, an American, is seeded 17th, and into the fourth round for the fourth time in the past five Grand Slam tournaments, including a run to the Australian Open semifinals in January, when she beat Williams. So Stephens must be considered the favorite against Puig, a Puerto Rican who is ranked 65th and playing in only her second major after reaching two junior Grand Slam finals. Robson, meanwhile, is the first British woman in the final 16 at Wimbledon since 1998, and therefore a big crowd favorite - not to mention someone who's been drawing a lot of attention here for Twitter interactions with members of the popular boy band One Direction. Kanepi, 28, is far more experienced and accomplished at this point, having played in four Grand Slam quarterfinals.
At Tour, walking wounded win by soldiering on.
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Behind Jan Bakelants, the Belgian who rode with guts and guile to win Stage Two at the Tour de France, there were other smaller but no less impressive victories Sunday that don't get so widely noticed - by the race's riding wounded.
In other circumstances, logic would prescribe rest, recovery and TLC for the likes of Geraint Thomas, who was among the more badly beaten up of the dozen or so riders who slammed into the tarmac in a vicious high-speed pileup a day earlier in the frenetic end of Stage One.
But the moving circus that is the Tour waits for no man, even those with deep cuts, evil bruises or, like Thomas, teeth-grinding pain in his left hip that made it difficult for him to walk, let alone hold his place in the world's toughest bike race.
In other sports, players who pick up knocks generally get at least a few days to heal before the next game. But the Tour's injured are afforded no such luxury. For them, the choice is either to soldier on with their aches and pains, hoping for a better tomorrow, or be among the first to quit. Which, for many of them, isn't much of a choice at all.
So a whopping 17 minutes and 35 seconds after Bakelants gave the chasing pack the slip and got the stage win that, for now at least, also secured him the race leader's yellow jersey, Thomas hauled himself across the finishing line.
''It feels a bit like a win in itself,'' said the 27-year-old Welshman who rides for Sky, the team of Chris Froome, this year's favorite.
At 97 miles, the stage from the east to the west coast of Corsica, from Bastia to Ajaccio, both of them ports, was one of the shortest of this 100th Tour. But for Thomas, it felt ''like an eternity.''
Bakelants got to celebrate on the podium and share his joy.
''It's fantastic,'' the RadioShack team rider said.
Thomas just got to fight - make that suffer - for another day. From the field of 198 riders, just two finished behind Thomas. The other 195 were ahead.
He said Saturday's pileup is a bit of a blur.
''I remember just flipping straight over and, you know, just landing straight on my back,'' he said.
Froome's most dangerous rival for overall victory, two-time former champion Alberto Contador, was another of those caught in that crash. The Spaniard said he, too, was sore on Sunday, although he rode well - staying in the main pack that finished one second behind Bakelants.
''It was difficult to start off. There is pain in your whole body,'' Contador said. ''You feel bad here, here and here,'' he said, pointing to his shoulder and elbow and hip.
Froome and other candidates for overall victory also were in Contador's group. So going into Monday's stage, the third and last on Corsica before the Tour crosses back onto the French mainland, the main contenders remain on an equal footing.
Froome and other candidates for overall victory also were in Contador's group. So going into Monday's stage, the third and last on Corsica before the Tour crosses back onto the French mainland, the main contenders remain on an equal footing.
Froome, however, looks particularly fresh and strong. On the road into Ajaccio, the Briton made an impression and maybe scored a few psychological points by sprinting away from the pack for a while. It was a tactical move that perhaps would have impressed Ajaccio's most famous son, Napoleon Bonaparte, the wily military and political leader of France born there in 1769.
Froome said the burst of speed was merely to keep him safe and out of any more crashes. But with a smile, he added: ''It's always good to keep people on their toes.''
There were no smiles from his teammate, Thomas. He climbed gingerly off his bike. Later, sitting in a Team Sky car, he took an age to pull on fresh socks, wincing from the effort.
''The start was just unbelievable, just so much pain round here in my hip,'' he said. ''Toward the end, you know, it definitely felt a lot better than at the start. But it was still really sore. It hurts.''
An X-ray Saturday after the crash didn't show any break. To be sure, Thomas was taken for a scan after Sunday's stage.
The race doctor, Florence Pommerie, said she gave Thomas some painkillers as he rode Sunday. Bakelants completed the stage in 3 hours, 43 minutes, 11 seconds. The course featured four climbs, through spiky mountains with patches of snow and past villages clinging to hillsides.
''The wake-up the morning after a crash is tough. You have to get the carcass moving again,'' Pommerie said. ''No one wants to fall and quit in the first few days.''
Thomas' boss, Sky manager Dave Brailsford, said their hope is that Thomas will get better on the road, over the next three weeks to Paris. With only eight riders to support Froome, Brailsford doesn't want to lose one of them so early in the race.
''Basically you just hope that he can suffer enough in order to keep on going, which will give him time for the injury to heal. But it's a very fine line. You either aggravate it and make it worse or ... depending on the injury, it might be possible to make it better.''
''These guys,'' Brailsford added, ''won't quit unless there is something really, really badly wrong.''
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