Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica
Sports Quote of the Day:
'"I can't do it" never yet accomplished anything; "I will try" has performed wonders.' ~ George P. Burnham, Noted Author
By Chris Boden
We're one week shy of the official halfway point of the Bears' season, but because the team is off, why not use this bye week quiet time as a good time to evaluate things at the "halfway" point?
Let's revisit the Bears' 10 biggest concerns as we entered The Trestman Era, whether it was at the start of camp, or the eve of the Bengals game...seven weeks ago.
1. The level of offensive improvement (a.k.a. "The Jay Grade")
Last year's offense actually slipped from the 2011 season, despite the record-setting addition of Brandon Marshall. Under Trestman -- Jay Cutler's fourth play-caller in five years here -- the attack has averaged 60 more yards per game than 2012, and is second in the NFL in points per game (30.4). That's exactly what the Bears needed and what fans were looking for, right? Jay seemed on track to earn a rich, multi-year deal in his contract year before ripping up his groin. Wished we could've seen how he'd have fared in Green Bay. Now, we're looking at a franchise tag with an "incomplete" for Cutler, and seeing if Josh McCown can keep this boat afloat.
2. Offensive line
From Webb-Spencer/Rachal/Brown-Garza-Louis/Carimi-Carimi/Scott...to Bushrod/Slauson/Garza/Long/Mills. During Cutler's first four seasons in Chicago, he was sacked an average of 37 times, but has been taken down just 10 times through seven games. Mills remains on a pass-protection learning curve, but just check out where most of the significant runs are broken: the RRS (rookie right side). Bears fans will take that any time over Carimi and then J-Webb Nation. It's just unfortunate that the 10th sack they allowed this season could shape the second half.
3. Matt's Forte
When Trestman was hired, getting the most out of Matt placed a significant second behind getting the most out of Jay. Everyone pointed to Charlie Garner's 119 average yards from scrimmage under Trestman in 2002 with the AFC champs in Oakland.
Forte was en route to breaking his personal single-season receptions mark from his rookie season two years ago when he went down in Game 12, two weeks after Cutler was injured. Through the Redskins game, Forte is averaging 113 yards per game. Good enough?
4. Passing game diversity
2012, in order of receptions: Marshall 118, Forte 44, Earl Bennett 29.
2013, in order of receptions: Marshall 46, Forte 35, Alshon Jeffery 34, Martellus Bennett 32.
5. Tight end production
Martellus is very quietly working his way through aches and pains, but is single-handedly doing a job above and beyond what this team ever got from Kellen Davis, Kyle Adams and Matt Spaeth a year ago. Bennett's 32 receptions, 356 yards and four touchdowns compares quite favorably with the position's production over the past two seasons (in 32 games): 54 catches for 533 yards and 10 touchdowns.
6. Can the defense maintain?
This isn't about Brian Urlacher. No one else stepped up to sign him for even less than the Bears offered. This seems more about swings and misses over the past decade of drafts, and no one in place to pick up the slack when age or injuries sneak up on the Peppers' and Tillman's as they did with Urlacher. And now Briggs. While the offense is averaging 60 more yards a game, the defense is allowing 75 more yards than their final average of a year ago. While the offense is averaging seven more points per game than a year ago, the defense is allowing a dozen more points per game. The 206 total points is third-worst in the NFL. The team didn't give up that much in 2012 until its 13th game. It's already surpassed the total of the 1985 Bears (198).
7. Life without Urlacher
As referenced above, 31 other teams had the same feelings about the future Hall of Famer that his only team did. Or worse. There were no offers, as opposed to the Bears' take-it-or-leave-it. But once D.J. Williams hit his stride shortly before his season-ending injury, the question is whether Urlacher could've provided more, if he'd have stayed healthy, as well. Spirit and leadership counts, but with two of the top three defensive tackles going down, Tillman struggling with his health, and Peppers just downright struggling, Urlacher-for-Williams is a wash, at the very worst.
8. The pass rush
Peppers, Shea McClellin and Corey Wootton had combined for 11 sacks through seven games a year ago. They've combined for just two-and-a-half at the same point this year. Yes, Henry Melton's gone. Wootton's playing the Good Soldier and deserves a mulligan in his contract year for being a team player and moving inside for the first time. The D-Line combined for 38 of the team's 41 sacks in 2012. They've combined for four of the nine this season. I've wondered since July whether bringing back Israel Idonije (7-1/2 sacks a year ago playing inside and outside) wasn't worth the investment. A difference-maker? No. But reliable, steady, experienced, and a "presence." Your opinion may differ. Either way, say a prayer for defensive coordinator Mel Tucker.
9. Special teams/Devin Hester
The units that ranked in the Top 10 in eight of nine years under Dave Toub have struggled this season among some very bright moments. Devin Hester snapped a nearly two-year drought without a kick return touchdown last weekend and had a record-setting day in Week 2 amidst strategies from other teams to keep the ball away. I'd say overall the focus on keeping him strictly a returner has made him better there. The question will be how much that's worth for the free agent-to-be when other teams decide not to risk kicking to him. Despite a rare and costly 34-yard miss in D.C., Robbie Gould's been busy earning another paycheck (from someone) in his contract year. Joe DeCamillis hit town with an almost-as-respectable reputation as Toub, but he's had to deal with rookies and turnover on his Third Phase. The results: The best kickoff return unit in the league, and eighth-best kickoff coverage. But they're the 15th-best punt return unit, and 23rd-ranked punt coverage.
10. Acceptance/Belief in the coaching change
Lovie Smith's popularity was without question. He never tossed his players under the bus in public. Trestman isn't afraid to candidly point out what happened, but goes out of his way to accept the brunt of the blame as point man for any of the team's failures. The overall impression, publicly, is that this locker room (especially the holdovers) have "bought in." Trestman's gone above-and-beyond to build relationships, as detailed in the book he wrote several years ago. While he can't be blamed if the team heads south after last week's injuries to Cutler and Briggs (more of a Phil Emery/depth-development issue), the longer they hang in there without their two best players on each side will build even more faith within the locker room.
We've talked about the Bears' Top 10 concerns in Trestman's first year above, now, Halloween 2013: Five Horrifying Realities for the Chicago Bears.
By Brian Davis
COMMENTARY | While the Chicago Bears have been enjoying their bye week and preparing for the Green Bay Packers on November 3, the approaching Halloween holiday reminds us that the Bears are facing a few terrifying truths surrounding the team.
Here are five of those terrifying truths:
Jay Cutler is out for at least a month (Terror Factor: 7/10)
No team likes to lose its starting quarterback. Despite Josh McCown's decent showings that have led to Bears fans eliciting semi-confidence in the veteran, this is a major blow for the Bears. Yes, Jay Cutler can be infuriating as a signal-caller at times, but he's more good than bad and was currently in the midst of arguably his best season -- 12 TDs, 7 INTs, 91.7 passer rating.
What keeps this loss from being higher on the "Terror Factor" meter is that the Bears actually have a coach in Mark Trestman who seems to be able to coax results from most quarterbacks, the offensive line is much-improved, and the Bears are still loaded with weapons at the skill positions. Throw in that the Bears expect Cutler to be back (Brandon Marshall says two weeks) and the terror shrinks a little more.
But do we remember back in 2011 when we all said the 7-3 Bears would be just fine when Caleb Hanie took over for Cutler?
Lance Briggs is out for six weeks (Terror Factor: 9/10)
The loss of Briggs is a big deal whichever way you look at it. He's a perennial Pro-Bowler and is the captain of the unit -- that role was vacated with the departure of Brian Urlacher. The problem of Briggs' injury is compounded when you stop to realize the defense was pretty terrible with Briggs.
The Bears are 26th in yards allowed (391 per game), 28th in points allowed (29.4 per game), 30th in sacks (9), and 26th in rushing yards allowed (117.3 per game). Without their abnormally high number of forced turnovers (18), this would arguably be the worst defense in the league. That's not something we're used to hearing in the same sentence as the Chicago Bears.
The NFC North is pretty darn good (Terror Factor: 8/10)
Much like last year, the NFC North is three teams deep. That depth could very easily be what keeps the Bears out of a possible playoff spot. The Detroit Lions did the Bears an enormous favor by losing to the Cincinnati Bengals, but the injuries the Bears are facing could be enough to knock them a couple of games back with divisional games against the Packers and Lions forthcoming. And in this division, there might not be any recovering from that.
The Bears' defense has only nine sacks in seven games (Terror Factor: 10/10)
The previously mentioned abhorrent sack numbers are indicative of why the Bears have struggled where they have -- primarily on defense. It isn't to say that they can't continue improving and manage a productive second half, it's that their depth is all but gone.
Season-ending injuries to Henry Melton and Nate Collins, nagging injuries from Stephen Paea, and a major lack of production from Julius Peppers all have contributed to the Bears' pass rush being nearly nonexistent. The Bears' defense, like many other units, relies almost exclusively on an effective four-man pass rush to be an effective scheme. Without it, the rest of the unit crumbles. A quick glance at the above numbers illustrates that that is exactly what has happened.
Jay Cutler might be gone after this season (Terror Factor: ??)
With Mark Trestman at the helm, everyone has been intrigued what he might be able to get out of Jay Cutler. And true to form, working with Trestman does seem to have Cutler playing better overall -- though having a competent offensive line alone should increase production. But his injury-riddled history with the Bears is enough to give pause to a possible extension.
Overall, Cutler has been exemplary by Bears' quarterbacking standards. And though those standards are laughably low historically, Cutler's successes have been exceptional by most standards when he's been on the field. In 2010, Cutler led the Bears to the NFC championship. In 2011, the Bears were 7-3 before Cutler went down with an injury and the Bears fell apart. And, in 2012, the Bears were 7-1 before Cutler began having concussion trouble, along with a neck injury.
Cutler is far from perfect, but Bears fans can be quick to forget just how abysmal traditional quarterback play has been in Chicago. So while the idea of a fresh young quarterback to be molded by Trestman is intriguing, with no viable candidate in place, even the chance of going back to the days of Cade McNown, Jim Miller, Shane Matthews, Kordell Stewart, Todd Collins, Craig Krenzel, Chad Hutchinson, and generally horrendous quarterback play is something Bears fans should be concerned about. Cutler may not be awesome, but he looks awfully good if the alternative is the list above.
Count your blessings, Bears fans. Thanksgiving is coming up.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks' point streak snapped in loss to Wild. The only good thing is we have them again Monday night (in Minnesota) and we have a chance to redeem ourselves.
By Tracey Myers
There are a few wrinkles in the Chicago Blackhawks’ game that weren’t there last season.
One is their discipline, or lack thereof. The other is their giving up power-play goals quickly.
And on Saturday, both were present again.
Bryan Bickell scored his fourth goal in as many games, but the Blackhawks had an otherwise forgettable night in a 5-3 loss to the Minnesota Wild at the United Center. It was the Blackhawks’ second regulation loss of the season, snapping a seven-game point streak.
The Blackhawks only allowed one power-play goal to the Wild. But it came off another lost faceoff, just five seconds into the advantage, with Zach Parise giving Minnesota the early lead. But their recent habit of taking too many penalties continued, putting them shorthanded more often than they would’ve liked.
“Our penalty kill isn’t even close to where we want it. It’s cost us points and cost us games,” said Marcus Kruger. “We know what to do. We know the system. I don’t know why it still happens and we don’t do what we’re supposed to do. I’m a big part of that. I don’t know. Maybe get back to basics, I think.”
The Wild scoring right off the faceoff irked coach Joel Quenneville.
“I don’t know how many goals (teams) have scored right off the faceoff. Bingo, bango, in your net, right off the bat,” he said. “They get the lead and a decent start.”
Jason Pominville scored twice for the Wild, who capitalized when the Blackhawks got sloppy and got to Corey Crawford five times on 25 shots. Niklas Backstrom, who’s coming off a knee injury, looked strong in stopping 33 of 36.
There was an odd second-period moment when the Blackhawks were credited with a goal on the ice, but it was eventually disallowed. Jeremy Morin fired a shot that bounced off Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom and flew up in the air. Andrew Shaw deflected it with a high stick before it hit Clayton Stoner and, with Stoner, went into the net. It was negated after a lengthy video review, referee Kelly Sutherland announcing that Shaw’s “high stick was above the bar, there was no possession or control by Minnesota, therefore, no goal.”
“It certainly put everybody to sleep in the building. That’s the longest review I’ve ever seen. It was a tough call. Looked like we had the goal. But we scored right after that so we still had the momentum at that point.”
That score came from Bickell, who turned and fired past Backstrom for his fourth in as many games. But whatever the Blackhawks gained off that and the 1:53 of a 5-on-3 Wild power play that they killed off, they lost with mistakes and penalties.
“I took a really stupid one today. That can’t happen,” Kruger said. “That’s something we want to get rid of and maybe that’s some frustration there. That’s why things like that happen. When you’re rolling that doesn’t happen.”
The Blackhawks aren’t rolling right now so much as sputtering in a few departments. It hasn’t cost the a lot of points lately, but they’ve nevertheless given up a lot of goals in their past two games. That’s not their style.
“We know we want to be better than that,” Jonathan Toews said. “That’s two games in a row that we gave up five goals or more. It’s one thing that people are talking about us not scoring but sometimes you don’t need to score that many to win if you’re playing good defensively. We had breakdowns, we had turnovers inside our zone, we had miscommunications and some penalties that we shouldn’t have taken.”
The Blackhawks will get another chance at the Wild in Minnesota on Monday night.
They’ll take lessons from this one and regroup. They’re doing some uncharacteristic things right now, and it cost them tonight.
“We had a lot of opportunities on the power play, some good looks. Unfortunately they didn’t go in,” Bickell said. “It was an up and down game a roller-coaster game.
But tomorrow’s another day. We go there and we need to be better.”
Penalty kill continues to give Blackhawks fits.
By Tracey Myers
The Chicago Blackhawks head to the penalty kill, a special-teams situation that was quite the boon for them, and a bane for opponents, last season. Within those two minutes, they give up a goal, sometimes in alarmingly fast fashion. It’s strange. It’s bizarre. It’s very un-Blackhawks-like.
But as we’ve repeated a few times already, this is not last season. And this penalty kill is a prime reminder that it isn’t.
The Blackhawks’ penalty kill continues to sputter, as it began and ended Saturday night ranked 30th (aka last) in the league. While they kept themselves in last night’s game (at the time) by killing off a long Wild 5-on-3, they nevertheless allowed another power-play goal earlier. And they allowed it in rapid fashion, again.
“I don’t know how many goals they’ve scored right off the faceoff. Bingo, bango, in your net, right off the bat,” coach Joel Quenneville said after Saturday night’s 5-3 loss to the Wild.
Indeed, that Wild goal came a mere five seconds after it went on the power play. Five seconds. We reviewed the goals the Blackhawks kill has allowed this season. If we’re counting correctly, the Blackhawks have allowed two within five seconds of their kill’s start. Three others came 23, 31 and 36 seconds into the job.
Faceoffs are certainly an issue. You don’t allow a goal five seconds in if you’re winning them. The Blackhawks have struggled in this category for a while now and it’s costing them, especially shorthanded.
But there are other factors, too. The Blackhawks’ lack of discipline is one of them. Be it from playing catch-up (those hooking, tripping and holding penalties) or frustration (high sticks), the Blackhawks are spending way too much time in the box. And the guys serving those penalties are their best penalty killers. Jonathan Toews has 12 penalty minutes this season. Marian Hossa took two Saturday night. Marcus Kruger took, in his words, “a really stupid one” to put the Wild on that 5-on-3 for 1:53.
“They called a lot of penalties tonight. Some were lack of discipline,” Quenneville said. “We took some careless ones tonight that led to them being on the power play and getting some momentum back in the game.”
The kill is a group of four players thinking and playing as one solid unit. It’s just not there for the Blackhawks right now. Shots are getting through, rebounds aren’t getting cleared or knocked out of harm’s way, and the goaltending isn’t coming up big enough as the last line of defense.
The Blackhawks will work through the kinks. The talent is there to get this done. They just have to be better.
“We had breakdowns, we had turnovers inside our zone, we had miscommunication and took some penalties we shouldn’t have taken…” Jonathan Toews said. “Our talent and ability is going to take over when the work ethic is there.”
Just another Chicago Bulls Session... Bulls' comeback win over Denver ends undefeated preseason. Now the real season starts Tuesday night against the Heat, Let's go Bulls.....
By Aggrey Sam
The Bulls finished their exhibition campaign in style, battling back from a lackluster first-half performance to make a huge surge after halftime, then hold off visiting Denver in the clutch to win, 94-89, Friday evening at the United Center, giving the squad an 8-0 mark in the preseason.
The run-and-gun Nuggets, even as first-year head coach Brian Shaw tries to implement more traditional half-court elements to his team’s offense, blitzed the Bulls at the outset of the contest, using transition play, athleticism and quickness to their advantage in the opening period.
After seeing their guests jump out to a 17-7 lead at the start of the game, Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau called a timeout, and behind contributions from Derrick Rose (15 points, eight assists) and All-Star small forward Luol Deng (23 points, 12 rebounds), the hosts fought back to make it a close-knit affair. However, Rose’s exploits were matched by speedy point-guard counterpart Ty Lawson (11 points) and while the Bulls managed to close the gap, they still trailed, 28-21, after a quarter of play.
Things only got worse for the Bulls in the second quarter, as Denver’s reserves—including former Bulls fan favorite Nate Robinson, who signed with the Nuggets as a free agent over the summer—extended the visitors’ lead to double digits. Not even the high-energy play of backup big man Taj Gibson (10 points, eight rebounds) could bail out the Bulls, nor could the starting perimeter trio of Rose, Deng and shooting guard Jimmy Butler (13 points, seven rebounds) after Thibodeau reinserted them into the game.
Paced by Lawson (who didn’t play after halftime due to left-groin tightness) and the starting frontcourt of forwards Anthony Randolph (15 points) and J.J. Hickson (14 points), with Chicago native JaVale McGee (15 points) at center, hot-shooting Denver maintained its edge and at the intermission, the suddenly offensively-deficient, defensively-porous, turnover-prone Bulls were behind, 48-36, at the intermission, much to Thibodeau’s extremely apparent displeasure.
After the break, the Bulls attempted to get back into the contest, sparked by Rose’s determined drives to the basket, Carlos Boozer’s (24 points, 10 rebounds) quiet effectiveness and the wing tandem of Deng and Butler also making their collective presence felt.
By midway through the frame, the mission was accomplished, as the Bulls used a 14-2 run to seize control of the game, snatching the lead from the Nuggets and playing in a style much more familiar to their fans, subsequently enhancing the atmosphere at the United Center, as the partisan crowd responded to the improved effort on the court. After having trailed by as many as 19 points, the Bulls again looked like a well-oiled machine and as a result, they were up, 72-66, heading into the final stanza, putting their coach in much less of a frenzied state on the sidelines.
The remarkable in-game turnaround continued in the fourth quarter, as the Bulls gradually put more distance between themselves and the Nuggets. But Denver, with a backcourt of Robinson and 37-year-old Andre Miller, clawed its way back into the contest by virtue of an 8-0 run, making it a one-point affair entering heading down the stretch, prompting Thibodeau to bring back Rose and Deng, who joined the already-active pair of Boozer and Butler on the floor.
It remained a close-knit affair, as Miller knotted it up with 2:03 to go—the savvy veteran made a layup, took a charge and made another layup in one sequence—and not until a Boozer offensive rebound of a missed Rose triple led to the point guard finding the much-maligned power forward later in that same possession, then knocked down two free throws to give the Bulls a two-possession lead, 92-87, with 18.1 seconds on the clock, did the preservation of that unblemished preseason mark truly seem realistic.
Jonny Gomes' homer leads Red Sox past Cardinals to even World Series.
By Jeff Passan
Another World Series game, another crazy ending.
Boston closer Koji Uehara picked off rookie pinch runner Kolten Wong off first base for the final out of Game 4 on Sunday night with the great Carlos Beltran at the plate, locking up a 4-2 Red Sox victory over the St. Louis Cardinals the night after St. Louis won Game 3 on an obstruction call. Neither event ever had closed out a World Series game previously.
The pickoff capped another close game, the highlight of which before the pickoff had been the Red Sox’s ceaselessly creepy beard-groping reaching its gross apex.
Mike Napoli stroked Jonny Gomes’ tangle of awful facial hair like he was Gollum and it was the precious, because if ever there were a time for one grown man play tug-of-beard with another, this may well have been it.
Gomes, the leader of Boston's beard brigade, walloped a three-run home run in the sixth inning of Game 4 of the World Series, and the Red Sox bullpen bent but didn't break against a St. Louis Cardinals lineup that failed to capitalize in a 4-2 win that evened the series and ensured it will return to Boston.
In the lineup only because lower-back tightness forced Shane Victorino to the bench an hour before the game, Gomes hit a sinker from groundball specialist Seth Maness that didn't live up to its name. The ball carried over the left-field fence, and Gomes, his shirt unbuttoned halfway down his chest and his beard threatening to grow down there, too, went around first with a fist pump as Maness bent over, pained by what he had done.
Cardinals starter Lance Lynn worked through a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth by giving up only one run, and he found himself in trouble again in the sixth after a Dustin Pedroia single and a walk from David Ortiz, who reached base in all four plate appearances. The walk chased Lynn, and Cardinals manager Mike Matheny turned to Maness, who had allowed four home runs in 62 regular-season innings.
His fifth was the biggest of all, salvaging a game the Red Sox worried could get away from them early with the hobbled Clay Buchholz starting. After his fastball averaged 88.3 mph in the first inning, down more than 3.5 mph from its regular-season average, Buchholz looked ripe for the Cardinals to pounce.
Instead, he slogged through 64 pitches of varying efficacy. None touched higher than 91.1 mph. None traveled over the fence, either, the Cardinals' lone run against him unearned after Jacoby Ellsbury booted a ball that allowed Matt Carpenter to move to second base and Carlos Beltran singled him in.
Stellar relief work by Felix Doubront bridged the Red Sox to reliever Craig Breslow, who for the third consecutive game threatened to contribute to a loss by allowing an RBI single to Carpenter and a walk to Beltran. Junichi Tazawa snuffed out that rally, and starter John Lackey did the same in the eighth inning with a relief appearance on his regular throw day.
After allowing a shot off the wall to Allen Craig, who stopped at first only because a foot injury limits his ability to run, Uehara retired Carpenter. He threw two pitches to Beltran, then nabbed Wong at first base with a brilliant – and shocking – throw.
The celebration raged quickly, and Gomes, as usual, found himself in the middle.
This, after all, was the same guy who once celebrated by drinking beer out of an athletic supporter. The 32-year-old Gomes, who this offseason signed a two-year deal with Boston, quickly became a favorite inside the clubhouse – people close to the team opine he watches as much video as anybody – and outside thanks to his outsize personality.
Against Maness, he stood at the front of the batter's box – he's always there, even against Trevor Rosenthal's 100-mph fastball – and saw sinker after sinker, five of them in all. With his manic stance, shaking his back leg, he unloaded on the final one and prompted Napoli to meet him outside the dugout and grab two handfuls of hair.This, after all, was the same guy who once celebrated by drinking beer out of an athletic supporter. The 32-year-old Gomes, who this offseason signed a two-year deal with Boston, quickly became a favorite inside the clubhouse – people close to the team opine he watches as much video as anybody – and outside thanks to his outsize personality.
It was icky and probably unsanitary and altogether fetid. And for these Red Sox, who love wins clean and dirty, it was absolutely perfect.
Moore wins CIMB Classic in playoff.
By JUSTIN BERGMAN (Associated Press)
Ryan Moore birdied the first hole of a playoff with Gary Woodland on Monday to win the CIMB Classic after an overnight wait caused by thunderstorms.
Moore made a 5-foot birdie putt on par-5 18th hole after Woodland was short with his chip from just off the green.
Woodland and Moore finished regulation at 14-under 274 on Sunday with darkness descending on the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club, forcing the playoff to be postponed until Monday morning. The players endured about 3 1/2 hours of delays Sunday.
The tournament was an official PGA Tour event for the first time. Moore received a two-year PGA Tour exemption and a spot in the Masters.
The 30-year-old American won for the third time on the PGA Tour. He also won the 2009 Wyndham Championship and 2012 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
On Sunday, in a steady rain with shadows being cast by floodlights, Woodland had a chance to win on the 18th hole but missed a 10-foot birdie putt just wide by an inch.
Woodland settled for a 3-under 69, and Moore had a 70.
Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Chris Stroud finished a stroke back.
Jeff Gordon wins at Martinsville as Matt Kenseth ties Jimmie Johnson atop the standings.
By Nick Bromberg
If you were paying attention at all during the lead up to Sunday's race at Martinsville, you know the storyline. It was Jimmie Johnson's dominance of the paperclip and Matt Kenseth's lack of success.
Could Kenseth keep it close on Sunday? He did more than that. And it was another driver with a sparkling Martinsville resume who took the checkered flag.
Jeff Gordon passed Kenseth with 20 laps to go following a spirited battle for the lead and knifed his way through traffic for his 88th Sprint Cup Series win and eighth at Martinsville. That ties him with Johnson for Martinsville victories, and Gordon said he was channeling his teammate when he was chasing Kenseth.
"What would Jimmie Johnson do? Or better yet, what would Richard Petty do?," Gordon said in victory lane. "You really just-- the tires really went away on us at the end. I knew his car was good on the short runs but he was putting a really good run together -- we had freed my car up and I think at the end there it was a little too free.
But every time I saw him slip a wheel I just tried to conserve my tires and drive the car real straight into the corner and off the corner."
Petty has 15 wins at the paperclip.
Kenseth held off Clint Bowyer on the last lap to finish second, and led the most laps during the race. Though he said afterwards that while he had nothing to complain about, he felt his lack of success at the track was what hindered him in his tussle with Gordon for the lead.
"Jeff's experience here got me. I'm just not that experienced running up front here," Kenseth said. "And I had something that was working, but I was kind of hurting the rear tires and I hurt the front tires too and it just went away from me there at the end."
Johnson finished fifth, and since Kenseth got that valuable bonus point for the most laps led, he's now tied with the five-time champion for the points lead heading into the last three races of the season.
Who has the edge now? You can make your case for either side on that one. Kenseth has been the king of the 1.5 mile tracks this season, and Texas and Homestead are that distance. Though Johnson won last year's Texas race in a spirited duel with Brad Keselowski and has an average finish at Phoenix that's 11 spots higher than Kenseth's.
Chelsea 2-1 Manchester City: Horrific defending mistake by City leaves points with Chelsea.
By Kyle Bonn
Torres put away some early struggles to drive a stake into the early title hopes of City with an assist on the opener and the finish late.
The goal, however, will haunt Manuel Pellegrini’s defensive unit for weeks, as Matija Nastasic didn’t realize Joe Hart had come out to help on a break, and he gifted Torres the winner.
Manchester City sat back with Pellegrini’s conservative lineup and let Chelsea press early, but the visitors confidently dealt with any early problems and began to play themselves into the game.
Samir Nasri proved dangerous on the left-hand side, and the defenders and defensive midfielders which many thought would sit back actually provided some attacking presence.
It forced Chelsea midfielders Frank Lampard and Andre Schurrle to play extra physical in an attempt to peg back the City midfielders, which earned Lampard a 22nd minute yellow card from referee Howard Webb.
Ramires nearly played in Fernando Torres with a wonderful cross from well out, but the ball just evaded Torres’ chest as he went to ground to get his body on the ball.
Torres then missed an absolute sitter in the 29th minute. Another fantastic ball from Ramires this time found Torres all alone with just Hart to beat, but his one-time volley sailed high and clear.
The physicality in the midfield was working, however, and they began to seriously pressure Hart’s goal. Finally Chelsea had their opening goal in the 33rd minute.
Torres broke down the right-hand side of the penalty area and found Schurrle for the tap-in, the ball narrowly avoiding a sliding Martin Demichelis.
Chelsea were sparked by the goal, and immediately searched for a follow-up. Torres came oh-so-close to a second, but his turnaround strike minutes after scoring clanged off the corner of the crossbar.
City searched hard for an equalizer before halftime with Yaya Toure firing twice at goal, but they went into the break down a goal.
Sergio Aguero quickly changed that though, as the visitors came out firing on all cylinders after the break. The City striker made a perfectly timed run in the 49th minute, got a great feed from Samir Nasri, and rifled home a laser beam past Petr Cech for the equalizer.
Chelsea responded, and both teams began to take warning shots but nothing more for much of the second half. The home side continued to body check and play physical to keep the City attackers from getting space and making runs.
As the second half dragged on, it seemed the prospect of not losing was much more important to both sides than actually going for the win, and the chances diminished.
Then the dagger.
Willian sprung Torres on a break and Joe Hart came out to claim the ball. But young Manchester City defender Nastasic was too busy covering Torres and didn’t see Hart come out, and before the goalkeeper could collect, Nastasic headed the ball to where he believed Hart to be – right in front of the mouth of the goal.
This gave Torres an open net, and despite the best efforts of Gael Clichy to close him down, Torres finished for the score.
The defeat is Manchester City’s second 1-goal loss on the road, following their 3-2 loss at Aston Villa. The Citizens remain in 7th place in the table, just above cross-town rivals Manchester United.
Chelsea climb to second place with 20 points, just behind red-hot Arsenal.
GOALS:
Chelsea – Schurrle 33′, Torres 90′
Manchester City – Aguero 49′
LINEUPS:
Chelsea – Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, Cole; Ramires, Lampard (Mikel, 66′); Hazard (Eto’o, 84′), Oscar, Schurrle (Willian, 66′); Torres.
Manchester City – Hart; Zabaleta, Demichelis, Nastasic, Clichy; Garcia (Kolarov, 80′), Toure; Fernandinho, Nasri (Milner, 70′), Silva; Aguero (Negredo, 87′).
Associated Press NCAA Football Top 25 Ranking.
Associated Press
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(-5) 
Obstruction call becomes talk of baseball world.
By BEN WALKER (AP Baseball Writer)
By Sunday morning, most everyone had become an expert on the obstruction rule.
''How can u make a call like that in the World Series,'' rapper Lil Wayne tweeted.
''Worst ending to a World Series game ever!'' PGA golfer Hunter Mahan posted.
''Obstruction of justice,'' Arizona Cardinals kicker Jay Feely wrote.
No matter that the Official Baseball Rules have a slightly different take on what happened when St. Louis runner Allen Craig tripped over Boston third baseman Will Middlebrooks in Game 3 late Saturday night.
But anytime someone scores the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning without even touching home plate - called safe on an extremely rare ruling by an umpire - it's bound to cause a little ruckus.
''Umps made the right call last night. I still put my fist thru the wall. And I'm in a hotel so it was expensive,'' comedian and Massachusetts native Denis Leary tweeted.
All sides seemed to agree on this point: Allen Craig tripping over Boston third baseman Will Middlebrooks likely made for the most crazy, chaotic October finish of all-time.
And it gave St. Louis a 5-4 win at Busch Stadium and a 2-1 edge.
''As a baseball fan, you hate to see a game end like that,'' pitcher Adam Wainwright said Sunday before Game 4. ''Obviously I'm on the Cardinals, so I'm fortunate the rule is the way it is. And you hate to say it, but he impeded the process of running home.''
''But I totally understand why Red Sox players would be upset about that. That is just a horrible way to lose a baseball game, no question about it,'' he said.
Said Red Sox manager John Farrell: ''It wasn't a normal night of sleep, I know that.''For more than a century, the World Series has delivered dramatic endings - Kirk Gibson's homer, Carlton Fisk's shot, David Freese's drive on this very same field in 2011.
There have been plenty of kooky plays - Reggie Jackson turning his hip to get hit by a throw, Roger Clemens throwing part of a broken bat toward Mike Piazza, an out in the 1970 Series when the catcher missed the runner and the runner missed the plate.
But no one had seen anything quite like this.
''Never,'' umpire crew chief John Hirschbeck said.
''Never,'' third base umpire Jim Joyce said after making the call.
Said Craig: ''I didn't know if I was out or safe or not.''Craig was awarded home after getting tangled with Middlebrooks. A wild throw set off the sequence, and Middlebrooks was sprawled in the baseline and kicked up his legs as Craig tripped over him.
Running on a banged-up foot, Craig headed home and the throw by left fielder Daniel Nava beat him. Catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia made the tag in plenty of time and Craig never reached the plate. But umpire Dana DeMuth signaled safe, having seen Joyce's call at third base.
Both teams immediately rushed to the plate. Middlebrooks threw down his glove and joined the Boston argument. The Cardinals came out to celebrate.
The fans took awhile to react, unsure of what they'd just witnessed.
''I think maybe 75 percent of the guys didn't know what happened,'' Cardinals star Carlos Beltran said.
''I wasn't sure why he was called safe,'' Middlebrooks said.
Middlebrooks said any contact was accidental. Doesn't matter, though. The play is covered by Rule 2.00 and Rule 7.06, and makes it clear that obstruction is called anytime a runner is impeded.
''It does not have to be intent. There does not have to be intent. OK?'' Hirschbeck said.
Not OK, Boston pitcher Jake Peavy said.
''It's a joke,'' Peavy groused.
Farrell was more forgiving.
''You know what, the call was made correctly. The umpires - Jim Joyce, Dana DeMuth - that call was made as it should have been,'' he said Sunday.The last time a big league game ended on an obstruction call was 2004, when umpire Paul Emmel said Seattle shortstop Jose Lopez blocked Carl Crawford's sightline. Emmel was the first base umpire Saturday night.
Longtime Red Sox fans remember a noncall that went against them in the 1975 World Series. In Game 3, Cincinnati's Ed Armbrister bunted in the 10th inning and bumped into catcher Carlton Fisk. There was no interference called, Fisk made a wild throw and Joe Morgan hit a winning single.
Watching from the dugout Saturday night, St. Louis manager Mike Matheny wasn't sure what to think.
Matheny had seen umpires reverse a call in Game 1 that cost the Cardinals. He'd seen Craig trip and was ready to argue. And he also saw Craig down in the dirt after re-injuring his foot.
''We were wanting to celebrate, but we see a guy laying there and it's all confusing,'' Matheny said Sunday. ''And we see the umpires come together, and that didn't work out real good for us last time.''
''We got inside the clubhouse, and it was still kind of that somber mood,'' he said.
''And Chris Carpenter yelled out real loud, 'Hey, boys, we just won a World Series game!'''
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