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Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Team Report - Chicago Bears.
The SportsXchange
INSIDE SLANT
When the Chicago Bears started training camp, the offensive line and protecting quarterback Jay Cutler loomed as the biggest issue they faced largely because two rookies were starting on the right side.
Now, 10 games into the season and with a game against the St. Louis Rams ahead, the offensive line has proven itself more than capable even if Cutler did get injured twice. The offensive line, and particularly rookie tackle Jordan Mills and rookie guard Kyle Long will face one of their more difficult assignments against the Rams and their hard-charging defensive ends.
"It's something I've never been a part of," said veteran center Roberto Garza, the only member of the starting line back from last year. "I've never been part of a whole room change like that, four new starters. It's been fun; I enjoy playing with these guys and these guys just want to work toward getting better."
They're third in sacks allowed, with 16, have protected passers well enough to be ranked 11th in passing yards (2,570), the running game is starting to come around now at 110.3 yards per game (18th) and with the fourth-highest scoring offense in the league (28.2), they are on pace to finish ranked ahead of any offense the team has had since the Super Bowl era began with the exception of the 1985 world champion team.
For the second straight week, the Bears offensive line faces a defense with two elite pass rushing ends. Last week they held Baltimore's Elvis Dumervil and Terrell Suggs without a sack. Now it's Chris Long and Robert Quinn who have combined for 18.5 sacks.
"They have all the skillset of being quick, explosive, strong, powerful guys," Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker said. "They can both run. And they're all we can handle on the edges, as good as anybody we've faced. We've faced some very good fronts. They're certainly as good as any."
The overall Rams defensive and offensive speed impresses coach Marc Trestman.
"This is at least as fast a team as we're going to play all year," he said. "So I think the general thing is you've got to play as fast as you can to try to match speed for speed. But also technique and knowing your assignments and being able to master that specific route or that specific block in a manner that allows you to take an advantage. And then we know the snap count, they don't."
"So we've got to do everything we can to beat them to the punch with proper angles. Blocking angles, release angles."
Of particular interest in this matchup is the possibility that rookie right guard Kyle Long might be blocking his older brother, Chris, on some running plays or screen passes, or if the Rams stunt their end and tackle on the pass rush.
"We play on the same side of the line on opposite sides of the ball, so the chances of us running into one another and getting physical with one another is pretty high," Kyle Long said. "The great thing about this thing is I have my assignments, Jordan has his assignments and we're going to try to take care of those assignments and we're not going to really pay attention to the extra stuff.
"I'll have an opportunity to probably talk some smack to Chris in between plays, but I don't want to expend any extra energy on that. Lord knows those guys are pretty fast and we need as much oxygen in our tank as possible."
Mills will be lining up across from Chris Long.
"Jordan is such a rock," Kyle Long said. "He continues to progress, as we all do and as a unit we've gone in one direction, and that's getting better. Jordan's a guy who continues to show up every day, one of the first people in the building, one of the last to leave, one of the first on the practice field every day. I have the utmost confidence in him and his continued progression toward being a great player in this league."
Although he won't line up in front of his brother, just seeing him on the opposite side of the line will be unique for Kyle.
"I've never been on the same field with my brother and him wearing a uniform and me wearing a uniform," Kyle Long said. "The closest I've been to him in action were open practices at the University of Virginia, where I'd stand there on the sidelines on my recruiting trips and watch him practice."
The two compete with each other off the field a bit during workouts. But as Chris' brother, Kyle may have some insight that could help Mills in his battle.
"The only way I can help him is I know the kind of person Chris is," Kyle Long said. "So I know what not to say to him, what not to do to him in between whistles because I've heard from his point of view of what offensive linemen can do to your psyche, and that kill-switch comes on and nobody wants that to come on during the game.
"I think Jordan has a great plan. We have a great plan offensively."
It's a plan the Bears need to work if they're going to remain on pace with co-leader Detroit in the NFC North.
SERIES HISTORY: 89th regular season meetings. Bears lead series, 51-34-3. The Bears have won four straight, by eight points or more, including the last two played at the Edward Jones Dome.
NOTES, QUOTES
--The Bears defense hasn't yielded more than 21 points in each of the past three games and has allowed just 20.3 points over that stretch. Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, the stretch coincides with defensive coordinator Mel Tucker coming down out of the coaches box to the sideline.
"That's been a plus," DE Julius Peppers said. "That's been a good thing. I thought it was a good thing for him to come down. He brought a lot of energy and positive vibes to us, so to have him there has been a boost for the defense."
Several Bears have expressed the opinion it helps because so many younger players are being shuffled in and out of the defensive lineup due to injuries.
"You're a lot closer to the action," Tucker said. "Sometimes it's easier to communicate directly to the players instead of going through another coach. You get a chance to see the looks on the guy's faces, which is very, very important. You try to get a feel for how it's going, and what needs to be said, and when it needs to be said.
Those are just some of the differences as opposed to being in a box."
--Although the Bears defensive bottom line has been reached the past three weeks, their run-stopping ability remains in question, especially without injured LB Lance Briggs. They've given up an average of 170 yards rushing per week over the last five.
"It's definitely something that has been a cause of concern, especially starting out the game," DT Corey Wootton said. "As the game goes on, we do better, but that's something that you can't spot a team 10 points right away like we did with the Ravens.
"Against some of these teams we have coming up, you're not going to be successful every week like that. So, we've got to start faster, fit gap to gap, and really force them and make them one dimensional."
--The Bears have set up a website to benefit victims of the tornado that ravaged central Illinois. It's chicagobears.com/tornadorelief. They are auctioning off players gear worn in Sunday's win over Baltimore and other items. The Rams also are taking part in this endeavor and have contributed a 16-person suite for Sunday's game to the list of items to be auctioned.
BY THE NUMBERS: 0 - Number of games missed by offensive starters other than Jay Cutler.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "There is progress being made, but its' not where we want it to be right now. We know the areas where we need to improve. Obviously, our pad level, our hands, our eyes, our footwork, our fits, things like that. Our tackling, those are all areas we need to improve in." -- Bears defensive coordinator Mel Tucker on defensive improvement against the run. The Bears rank 31 vs. the run.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER NOTES
--In four games since the Bears' bye week, DE Julius Peppers has been a different player. He has 13 tackles, eight assists, an interception and three sacks in the past four games, but in the first six games had four tackles, two assists and one sack.
"He's done a lot of good things for us each and every time he's been out there," defensive coordinator Mel Tucker said. "Sometimes it shows up on the stat line more than other times. Overall, he's been consistently giving great effort and playing with great toughness."
--KR Devin Hester was practicing Wednesday with defensive backs. The Bears have had him practice at different spots at times during the season, more or less to give him something to do. But the secondary depth is a bit depleted at this point due to injuries to Charles Tillman and Craig Steltz, so it was basically done to have another body on the practice field and in case of an emergency.
"We try to keep Devin as busy as we can throughout the course of practice," coach Marc Trestman said. "But you never know. You never know. We certainly want to keep him doing what he's been doing.
"But he does have value, certainly, doing other things. And who knows. Nothing's out of the question. It's not something we've spent a lot of time talking about."
Still, it seems unlikely they would convert the kick returner, who is a former wide receiver and played defensive back in college, to a defensive back.
Tucker put it best when asked about a conversion to defensive back.
"No. I'm not in the converting business today," he said.
--G Kyle Long said it might be confusing for fans Sunday with three Longs on the field: himself, brother Chris and Rams tackle Jake Long.
"I was at a (autograph) signing (Tuesday) and a guy walked up to me and said, 'Jake, I was very skeptical of the pick but you've had some very good tackles this year.' My head almost exploded out of confusion," Kyle Long said. "He's there getting a ball signed, he's got a Bears jersey, hundreds of dollars on memorabilia and, 'I'm Kyle, man, I play on the offensive line.' I signed it Kyle but he wouldn't have known either way, I don't think."
INJURY IMPACT
--CB Isaiah Frey, the Bears nickel back, has a hand fracture and practiced with a protective cast on it Wednesday. Coach Marc Trestman is optimistic he'll have Frey available Sunday, and that he'll be able to go through some practice later in the week.
--DT Stephen Paea suffers from a big toe injury aggravated Sunday and did not practice Wednesday. It's unlikely he'll play Sunday in the minds of coaches. The Bears will go with waiver wire pickup Landon Cohen at nose.
--T Jordan Mills practiced on a limited basis Wednesday due to a groin injury that he had suffered two weeks ago. He missed some practice time last week, but it didn't keep him from playing against Baltimore and isn't expected to be an issue this week.
--DT Jeremiah Ratliff (groin tear) practiced for the first time with the Bears, although it was on a limited basis. Coach Marc Trestman said there's very little chance of Ratliff being available for Sunday's game with the Rams and it was more a week or two away. That could put Ratliff's return in December against his old team, the Dallas Cowboys.
--S Craig Steltz continues to go through concussion protocol, although he was able to run on the side at practice Wednesday. He hasn't yet been cleared to practice.
--QB Jay Cutler had his boot cast off, but his ankle still has a brace on it and he is not yet practicing. He has been ruled out for Sunday's game and Josh McCown will get his third start of the season.
--LB Lance Briggs remains out of practice and has been ruled out for this week's game with a shoulder fracture.
--LS Patrick Mannelly returned to practice for a full workout for the first time since suffering a calf injury three weeks ago, and the Bears have released long snapper Jeremy Cain.
--DE Shea McClellin (hamstring) went through a full practice Wednesday and is expected to return to the lineup for the first time since his three sacks against Green Bay Nov. 4.
McClellin had struggled early in his career, so to be out two games with a pulled hamstring after a break-through effort against Green Bay with three sacks was a difficult situation.
"It was pretty disappointing," he said. "But it's a part of the game. Things happen. And you've just got to adjust."
McClellin calls himself 100 percent recovered. His replacement Sunday, David Bass, a seventh-round Raiders draft pick this year who was waived and then signed in Chicago, had an interception and TD return to turn last week's win over Baltimore.
GAME PLAN: The Bears have to use a strategy offensively similar to what they've used against Minnesota, making St. Louis' speedy ends work all over the field. They have to run counters and screen passes to keep the ends guessing. When they do run, the opportunity should be there to run inside for more yardage than in recent weeks when they had to run against the massive three-man fronts of Green Bay and Baltimore and the defensive tackle-strong Detroit Lions.
Defensively, the Bears rank 31st against the run, but it can be a deceiving statistic.
When they've faced teams that have great balance on offense, the running defense has struggled. The Rams may not have the type of balance to run as effectively against Chicago's front. So the Bears defense must stack the box, play more single safety than in recent games, and sell out to stop the running game. The pressure will be on FS Chris Conte to hold down the deep half of the field alone as SS Major Wright works to stop the run.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Bears DB Isaiah Frey, who has a hand injury, against Rams WR Tavon Austin, who is averaging 10.5 yards a reception -- Austin is a threat to go all the way with a short pass, and could find himself matched up often on the Bear nickel, a second-year player in his first year of playing. Frey has really not been exposed to a great extent by any team, but a player with Austin's speed could do this.
Frey, who is 5-11, 188, is a burner, as well. But he's likely not in Austin's class. Frey will likely be wearing a soft cast of some sort to protect a fracture in his hand. Tackling could be an issue.
Bears RG Kyle Long vs. Rams DT Kendall Langford -- Long, the rookie, is coming off one of his best games of the 10 he has played, and his role against Langford could wind up being more important than even that of his right tackle Jordan Mills, who is facing Kyle's brother, Chris. The Bears inside-out blocking scheme often has let them handle defensive ends. It's the interior rush and blitzing where they have been most tested. The idea is to funnel the ends outside while providing room for the quarterback to step up and throw. Langford has three sacks on the year out of the tackle spot and both Long and left guard Matt Slausen will need to keep the interior rush at bay.
Why Bears Back-Up QB Josh McCown Could End Up Costing Jay Cutler Millions.
By Tony Manfred
Back-up quarterback Josh McCown has been surprisingly effective for the Chicago Bears, and that's bad news for soon-to-be free agent Jay Cutler.
In the wake of a series of $100 million+ contracts for guys like Joe Flacco and Tony Romo, Cutler was holding out for a huge payday after his current deal expired in March.
But now there are a number of factors working against Cutler, McCown's emergence chief among them.
There's currently a trend in the NFL where teams are signing above-average QBs to massive deals. We're not talking about guys like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers. We're talking about that second tier in which Cutler seems to fit.
Here's a look at how Cutler compares to the three other QBs who got nine-figure deals in recent months:
He throws more interceptions, he's a little older, and he's not quite as efficient. He might be at the bottom tier of this group, but you could argue his statistical profile looks like that of a $100 million+ QB in this era.
So the Bears will just lock him up, right?
Not necessarily.
McCown's effectiveness has created the sense that Cutler is expendable. He's 2-0 in his two starts, completing 60% of his passes with 5 TDs and no INTs. Cutler is a notorious interception machine, and the absence of those turnovers alone has been a huge plus.
We're aren't saying that the Bears are going to ditch Cutler and throw McCown in there.
But McCown's success suggests that Cutler's effect on the Bears is overstated. If the difference between McCown and Cutler is proveably negligible, is Cutler really worth $100 million?
As Andrew Brandt pointed out on MMQB today, McCown's emergence could at least make the Bears use the franchise tag on Cutler — that would give him a one-year contract in which the team would have more time to decide whether it wants to invest in Cutler.
If that happens, Cutler will have gone from the long-term, $100 million+ contract he expected to a one-year deal for tens of millions of dollars less.
Cutler is a polarizing player. He can single-handedly lose a game, and then come out and throw 5 TDs on five perfectly thrown balls the next week. He was always question mark as a $100 million quarterback because his flaws were much more obvious than those of his peers.
That fact that McCown is succeeding in his absence will at least give the Bears some hesitation, and that hesitation could be costly.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Toews, Blackhawks dominate Jets.
By Jason Bell, The Sports Xchange
Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews (19) mixes it up with Jets' Dustin Byfuglien (33) in the game at Winnipeg, Manitoba, Thursday night, 11/21/2013. Byfuglien was a member of the Blackhawks 2010 Stanley Cup championship team. As evident in this photo, competition does breed excellence.
He didn't do much damage the last time he was in Winnipeg, but Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews was a wrecking ball Thursday night.
Playing in front of dozens of family members and friends, the Chicago captain had a four-point performance to lead the Blackhawks to a 6-3 triumph over the Winnipeg Jets.
Toews scored his 11th goal of the season, a highlight-reel tally midway through the second period, and chipped in three assists. He sneaked out from the corner, weaved his way around lanky defenseman Keaton Ellerby and then deftly flicked the puck over goaltender Ondrej Pavelec's shoulder.
The Winnipeg-born center also made a nifty play midway through the third to set up Marian Hossa for the game-winner as the Blackhawks snapped a 3-3 tie with three unanswered goals.
The goal was the 10th of the year for Hossa, a veteran right winger just back from an injury. Just over two minutes later, Ben Smith came off the right wing, picked up a pass and fired his third of the season to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.
The Blackhawks (15-4-4) defeated the Jets (10-11-3) all three times the clubs have met this season.
Toews was kept off the score sheet Nov. 2 during his first-ever stop at the MTS Centre as the Blackhawks easily knocked off the Jets 5-1. On this night, however, there was no stopping he and linemates, Hossa and Patrick Sharp.
"It's nice to see a few go in. As I always say, sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't. As a line, we reached back and found some momentum, got a couple of bounces and it was nice to see some results," said Toews. "Any night you'll take that, but it's special to have that happen in Winnipeg."
Sharp added his eighth goal of the year into an empty net.
Right winger Patrick Kane, standing alone at the point, took a pass from Toews and ripped his 12th goal for the Blackhawks, a power-play marker and the only goal of the first period.
Brandon Saad scored his fifth early in the second period for the visitors.
Toews had an easy answer on why the trio clicks.
"It's just balance," he said. "I think Sharpie and I have been doing a good job of keeping the puck alive and playing the corners, and Hossa is always in the right spot. Either he's in the slot or he's open on the other side.
"And if Sharpie or I turn the puck over, Hossa's getting the puck back for us. So, we're not afraid to make mistakes because Hossa gets five or six takeaways a night."
Chicago led 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 early in the second, but the Jets stormed back to make it 3-3 through 40 minutes.
Jets captain Andrew Ladd and defenseman Dustin Byfuglien both scored their sixth goals of the season, and Ellerby scored his first. Winnipeg center and leading scorer Bryan Little added two assists.
Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford made 22 saves and Pavelec had 26.
Crawford said he likes his vantage point when the talented Blackhawks forwards start throwing the puck around.
"We're a team that definitely scores key goals at key times. We're never out of a game," he said. "That's the sort of confidence we have right now. No matter, what happens, we're still in it and we have enough power to get back into a game."
Winnipeg coach Claude Noel didn't sugarcoat things after the loss.
"We've got a long way to go. I didn't think we had a lot of good players," he said. "Their skill was evident in the game. We didn't have enough good players or strong players. They won a lot of battles in the hard areas.
"When they win (Stanley) Cups in those years, you can see why," he said, of the reigning NHL champions. "They stepped it up and we weren't able to step up."
Byfuglien went the first 18 games of the year without a goal but has six in the last six games.
By contrast, left winger Evander Kane had two good scoring chances in the final period but couldn't beat Crawford. The Jets' second-line forward hasn't lit the lamp in 10 games.
NOTES: Heavily armed police officers were rather conspicuous at the MTS Centre on Thursday night as Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper, a huge hockey fan, was in the building. ... RW Marian Hossa returned to the Blackhawks' lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. But the club learned that LW Bryan Bickell will miss the next two to three weeks with a lower-body injury, suffered Tuesday in Colorado when he slid into the Avalanche net in the first period. ... The Jets were missing three of their top defensemen in Jacob Trouba (neck), Zach Bogosian (groin) and Mark Stuart (hip) Thursday night. ... Chicago G Corey Crawford entered the game tied with three others for most wins (13) and most games played (20) this NHL season. ... Winnipeg hockey fans had to leave their helmets at home Thursday night. A radio DJ's stunt to convince patrons to bring their buckets was stopped by the hockey club Wednesday. The campaign was to mimic the Blackhawks fan who, earlier this month, grabbed the helmet off Jets D Adam Pardy in Chicago and wore it. Pardy also had a beer poured over his head during the bizarre incident when a big collision knocked out a glass partition.
Just another Chicago Bulls Session... Nuggets 97, Bulls 87.
By Michael Kelly, The Sports Xchange
Forward Jordan Hamilton came off the bench to score 17 points, forward J.J. Hickson had 14 points and nine rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Chicago Bulls 97-87 Thursday night.
Chicago guard Derrick Rose scored 19 points -- just four in the second half -- and forward Carlos Boozer added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who had their five-game winning streak snapped.
The Bulls suffered their fifth consecutive loss to Denver.
The Nuggets (5-6) led by two at half but stretched it to nine on forward Darrell Arthur's baseline jumper with 1:09 left in the third quarter. Denver led 70-62 heading into the fourth.
The game could have been higher-scoring at that point, but neither team shot well in the third quarter from the field or the foul line. The teams combined to go 6-for-15 from the line and together made 13 field goals in the third.
Nuggets guard Nate Robinson changed things to start the fourth. The former Bull hit two 3-pointers and a technical free throw in the first 1:04 of the final quarter to stretch Denver's lead to 77-62.
Hamilton followed with back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 83-62 with 9:40 left.
The Bulls, already struggling from the field, missed their first nine shots of the fourth to allow Denver to break it open.
Rose looked as if he would easily surpass his season high of 20 points accomplished against the Indiana Pacers on Saturday, but he slowed down in the second half. He had 15 points midway through the second quarter and kept Chicago close. The Bulls (6-4) went on an 8-2 run to close out the half down just 50-48.
The Nuggets came into the game averaging 20.4 attempts from behind the 3-point arc, but they didn't take their first long-distance attempt until 28 seconds into the second quarter, when Hamilton banked one in to beat the shot clock.
NOTES: Bulls G Jimmy Butler (right toe injury) missed a for the first time this season. Mike Dunleavy moved into the starting lineup in place of Butler, and he scored 15 points. ... Nuggets G Nate Robinson played despite an injured right wrist, which is his dominant hand. Robinson practiced this week shooting left-handed jumpers and layups. ... The Bulls' five-game skid against the Nuggets is their longest active losing streak to a team. They haven't beaten Denver since Nov. 8, 2010, in Chicago. ... Nuggets F Wilson Chandler started his second game in a row after coming off the bench for the first three games. He missed the first six games of the season with a hamstring injury and returned against the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 13. Chandler finished with no points and three rebounds in 27 minutes Thursday.
The true farce is Alex Rodriguez, whose antics don't make much sense.
By Jeff Passan
So Alex Rodriguez wants to talk farces. OK. Let's talk one whopper of a farce. A famous baseball player takes performance-enhancing drugs, gets suspended, vows to fight and, instead of focusing on the legitimate merits of his case, decides to turn it into a complete clown show about cash payments and sex and whatever other buffoonery his team of private eyes excavated. And when that doesn't work, he throws an obviously premeditated temper tantrum, storms out and actually has the temerity and hubris to call the whole case a farce, without a whit of acknowledgement that its greatest absurdities are of his own doing.
Perhaps A-Rod should take a cue from his past and look in the mirror. Because even for him – for a habitual liar whose drama-queen antics have devolved into that toxic reality-show marriage of amusement and sadness – Wednesday represented an altogether new level of hissy fitting, which is saying something.
By the end of a day in which Rodriguez had blown up every last confidentiality provision of baseball’s Joint Drug Agreement with a surreal Mike Francesca fluffterview, his modus operandi was clear: napalm the landscape. Torch Major League Baseball. Set aflame the MLB Players Association. Burn down the New York Yankees. And if that meant continuing the most farcical aspect of all – the idea that A-Rod, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, did not use performance-enhancing drugs – at this point it mattered not to him. Nary a word that comes out of his mouth can be trusted anymore, as if it ever could.
A couple hours earlier, Rodriguez walked out of the arbitration hearing ostensibly meant to clear his name, though not before pounding his fist on the table and telling MLB’s lead attorney, Rob Manfred, that “this is [expletive] bull[expletive] and you know it,” sources told Yahoo Sports. Within minutes, a tightly worded press release, either written by the fastest and most cogent lawyers and flacks around, or, much, much, much more realistically, sitting in the Drafts folder ready to be blasted around the moment this entire production began, hit inboxes like a neutron bomb. Attributed to A-Rod, here is how it read in its entirety:
"I have sat through 10 days of testimony by felons and liars, sitting quietly through every minute, trying to respect the league and the process. This morning, after Bud Selig refused to come in and testify about his rationale for the unprecedented and totally baseless punishment he hit me with, the arbitrator selected by MLB and the Players Association refused to order Selig to come in and face me.
"The absurdity and injustice just became too much. I walked out and will not participate any further in this farce."
At this point, it is only fair to lay out Rodriguez's assertions, so as to understand what would prompt his very well-paid team of advisers to suggest he continues walking through this field of mines he buried himself in. A-Rod is mad because he feels as though MLB is railroading him, the players' association is abandoning him, the New York Yankees are looking to weasel their way out of his large contract.
Here are the facts: The league did suspend him for an arbitrary number of games (211) and paid a significant sum for evidence against him ($125,000). The former was an obvious point for Rodriguez's lawyers to attack and the latter a dirty cost-of-doing-business endeavor, something with which Rodriguez himself is intimately familiar and frowns upon while lounging in his smoking jacket of hypocrisy. So, yeah. MLB wants to get him. Much as it did everyone else involved with the Biogenesis clinic, only the other players cowered to the league's heavy fist, considering, you know, they broke the very rules they agreed to through the collective-bargaining agreement. A-Rod, on the other hand, sees these rules as mere inconveniences. In the fiefdom of his own making, rules are but strung-together words for him to ignore.
It's the same rationale that has him warring against the union, trying to balance the will of its constituency that wants PED users punished with the chutzpah of an egomaniac who wants to fight the sort of fight that took the case to this icky place. And the Yankees? They signed a horrible deal with a player whom they believe misrepresented himself, and if they can get out of it somehow, it's tough to blame them for wanting that. There is a massive leap between desire and conspiracy, and nothing A-Rod's lawyers have thrown out to this point bridge that.
Ultimately, this is barreling toward where it always has: a federal courthouse. No matter what arbitrator Fredric Horowitz decides – when asked for a prediction, three lawyers familiar with the case said they believed he would slice the penalty to 150 games – that apparently is no longer good enough for Rodriguez, even though, again, he is part of a union that bargained for this grievance process to settle such matters.
The general belief among lawyers: Any federal judge is going to say those very words. You had your right to this hearing. You agreed to that framework. And unless you can prove a conspiracy that goes all the way up to Horowitz, a well-respected arbitrator working his very first case for the league and thus with zero history of being at all one-sided, you can take your bogus lawsuit out of here and eat that suspension.
What happened Wednesday, then, left people involved with the case shaking their heads and trying to process the point of the spectacle. Rodriguez's team knew Horowitz wasn't going to make Selig testify – that's why Manfred, his underling and the leader of the investigation, took the stand – and simply used that as the latest red herring to ... nobody is quite sure what, actually. Perhaps lawyer Joe Tacopina has something up his sleeve and believes histrionics will somehow help his client, or the P.R. people advising him, Jay Z handler Desiree Perez and Ron Berkowitz, believe that turning A-Rod into a martyr is the best plan for a 38-year-old whose best days are behind him.
Plenty of naïve people will buy that narrative because they hate Selig or believe in the inherent corruption of large businesses or love Rodriguez because of his brilliance on the field. And if that's the segment Rodriguez intends to capture, he didn't need to pull this stunt. He has them already.
His best chance was to paint MLB not as some rogue organization looking to destroy him but a league that overreached with its suspension because of animus. Instead, A-Rod is nothing more than Jose Canseco, convinced that the black helicopters are real, that Rob Manfred aimed at him from the grassy knoll, that a grand conspiracy exists and he's not going to put up with it anymore.
He took his ball and went home Wednesday to the fiefdom of A-Rod, where nobody is out to get him. And that makes sense. He's the only one who lives there.
Have the Rules of Golf Become Too Reactive? What's your take?
By Adam Fonseca
COMMENTARY | What level of influence should outsiders have on how a sport is governed? It would appear a great deal, if we're talking about the Rules of Golf at least.
After reading this article, we'd love to hear your thoughts, should the viewing public have any influence on the rules, what's your take?
NASCAR receives Diversity and Inclusion Award.
Official NASCAR release
On Nov. 8, NASCAR received the 2013 Diversity and Inclusion Award (DANDI) for its efforts in fostering diversity throughout the sport at a ceremony at the New York Times Building in New York City. Eight days later, on Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, NASCAR's diversity efforts reached another milestone when 21-year-old NASCAR Drive for Diversity graduate Kyle Larson became the first Asian-American driver to win the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award in any NASCAR national series, receiving the honor in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
"Early in the last decade NASCAR made a commitment to broadening the appeal of our sport by recruiting and developing dynamic new talent on the race track and throughout our sport. As a result, we are enhancing the fan experience for NASCAR fans everywhere," said Marcus Jadotte, NASCAR vice president of public affairs and multicultural development. "We take great pride in being recognized during the 2013 DANDI Awards for our ongoing efforts."
Founded in 2012, the DANDI Awards recognizes exemplary commitment and focus on diversity and inclusion. The mission of DANDI is to celebrate the contributions of any individual, group or organization that is truly making a difference toward creating a more diverse and inclusive world.
This year's award ceremony featured an Executive Forum on "Shifting the Paradigm from Chaos to Unanimity" where participants discussed the current state of diversity and tackled effective methods for improving diversity initiatives, programs, organizations and the profession. Notable speakers included Bruce J. Stewart, the deputy director for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion with the United States Office of Personnel Management, and Wendy Lewis, SVP of Diversity and Strategic Alliances for Major League Baseball (MLB). Ericka Dunlap, who was crowned Miss America in 2004, hosted the ceremony while Grammy-nominated producer Chuck Harmony made a special guest performance.
The MLB as well as the United States Tennis Association (USTA) were nominated for the award's Sports category. Along with NASCAR, other category winners at the second annual DANDI Awards Ceremony included SiriusXM Radio (Communications), BBC World News (Media), Cornell University (Education), Daymond John of FUBU (Entrepreneur) and Prudential (Financial Services). Additional brands honored were Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (Diversity Commitment), Tara Griggs-Magee (Diversity Impact), Black Leaf Vodka (Diversity in Innovation) and Steve Mariotti of the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (Diversity Lifetime Achievement).
Major League Soccer's Most Valuable Teams.
Forbes.com; By Chris Smith
At halftime of July's 2013 MLS All-Star Game, commissioner Don Garber joined the broadcast crew to announce to a national audience that Major League Soccer planned to expand to 24 teams by 2020. That idea would have seemed preposterous ten years ago, when the league was hemorrhaging cash by the millions and two teams had recently been contracted. Yet these days, those plans for MLS to become the world's biggest soccer league seem conservative. In fact, considering the financial success of the league over the last five years, 24 teams might not be enough.
There's certainly no lack of demand for the proposed expansion teams. Two new franchises in Orlando and New York City are already expected to join in 2015, bringing the league up to 21 teams. Former LA Galaxy star David Beckham is exploring expansion opportunities in Miami, while Atlanta, Minneapolis and Sacramento suburb Elk Grove are just a few cities that appear intent on claiming an MLS team in the coming years.
That demand should be little surprise given the league's recent success. In 2011, average MLS attendance hit 17,872 to surpass both the NBA and NHL, and it has since increased to 18,611 fans per game. More impressively, the average franchise is now worth $103 million, up more than 175 percent over the last five years. With five planned expansion teams and a new league TV deal on the way, there's no reason to believe that growth is slowing anytime soon.
FORBES hasn't compiled MLS valuations since 2008. The league had just 14 teams that season, with the Seattle Sounders joining the following year on an expansion fee of $30 million. The average MLS team was worth $37 million and losing money. The LA Galaxy, the league's most valuable asset, had an enterprise value of $100 million.
FORBES hasn't compiled MLS valuations since 2008. The league had just 14 teams that season, with the Seattle Sounders joining the following year on an expansion fee of $30 million. The average MLS team was worth $37 million and losing money. The LA Galaxy, the league's most valuable asset, had an enterprise value of $100 million.
And today? Ten of the league's 19 teams are making a profit (in terms of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). The Sounders are now the league's most valuable franchise at $175 million, a massive 483-percent increase over its 2009 sale price. And in May of 2013 a new ownership group paid $100 million just as an expansion fee to start a team in New York City.
How did MLS grow so big, so fast? MLS president Mark Abbott cites a host of league investments, particularly those targeted at improving the league's level of competition. In terms of on-field product, Abbott points not only toward the premium salaries paid to designated players like Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane, but also to America's developmental programs that have produced homegrown stars like Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan.
| Rank | Value ($M) | Revenue ($M) | Operating Income ($M)1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Sounders | 175 | 48.0 | 18.2 |
| LA Galaxy | 170 | 44.0 | 7.8 |
| Portland Timbers | 141 | 39.1 | 9.4 |
| Houston Dynamo | 125 | 32.6 | 8.2 |
| Toronto FC | 121 | 30.9 | 4.5 |
| New York Red Bulls | 114 | 28.1 | -6.3 |
| Sporting Kansas City | 108 | 27.7 | 5.1 |
| Chicago Fire | 102 | 24.5 | -3.2 |
| FC Dallas | 97 | 24.2 | 0.6 |
| Montreal Impact | 96 | 26.2 | 3.4 |
| Philadelphia Union | 90 | 21.4 | 1.1 |
| New England Revolution | 89 | 17.1 | 2.6 |
| Vancouver Whitecaps | 86 | 23.0 | 0.0 |
| Real Salt Lake | 85 | 23.0 | -0.1 |
| Colorado Rapids | 76 | 18.1 | -2.9 |
| San Jose Earthquakes | 75 | 15.0 | -4.5 |
| Columbus Crew | 73 | 18.6 | -1.6 |
| DC United | 71 | 17.7 | -2.8 |
| Chivas USA | 64 | 15.0 | -5.5 |
| FORBES estimates; revenue and operating income is for 2012 season 1 Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. | |||
The recent growth has been tremendous, but getting there wasn't easy. The league had 10 teams for its inaugural season in 1996, with original teams selling for $5 million each. But a brief honeymoon period was followed by plummeting attendance.
Two new teams, in Chicago and Miami, would join two years later, but the expansion failed to solve financial woes. MLS reportedly lost $250 million in its first five years and in 2002 was forced to contract the Miami expansion and the charter franchise in Tampa Bay.
But later that year the United States would make a surprisingly deep run in the FIFA World Cup, leading to a surge in soccer's stateside popularity and a wave for MLS to ride forward. MLS teams, following the Columbus Crew's lead, soon began building soccer-specific stadiums, which had been foreign to the league before Crew Stadium was built in 1999. The new venues not only enhanced the gameday experience for fans, but they also granted teams full operating control of the stadiums and greater shares of stadium revenue.
And as Abbott notes, those stadiums are now being filled with the young sports fans who became hooked on soccer during the 2002 World Cup. "That fan base has grown up with the sport," says Abbot, and they are now coming to an age where they are able to go to games and buy jerseys and beers with their own money.
Increased popularity helped MLS sign an eight-year, $64 million TV deal with ESPN in 2006, which provided the league's first media rights fee, and by 2007 MLS was successful enough to attract English superstar David Beckham, arguably the most popular soccer player in the world. Beckham didn't come cheap – he received a $6.5 million base salary plus a cut of LA Galaxy revenues – but the designated player rule that was formed to facilitate his entry has since helped MLS add other global superstars like Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane.
As of 2013, nine MLS players make more than $1 million per year.
That's a long way to come, and the lights are about to get brighter. MLS' current TV deals with ESPN, NBC and Univision, worth a combined $30 million annually, are up at the end of next season. Negotiations for new deals are currently underway.
Previous reports have pegged the league's goal at double its current rights fees, but with networks clawing for live telecasts, MLS should easily be able to exceed that.
And when it does, the league's teams will enjoy an instant windfall. Team owners, after all, are actually investors in MLS' single-entity structure. In other words, the MLS teams are all part of a single company, with team "owners" actually controlling each franchise's operating rights. League TV revenue, for instance, is funneled through Soccer United Marketing (SUM), the media and marketing arm of MLS, which then pays out dividends to the investors. SUM is the first key investment that Abbott points to when asked how the league has grown so big, so fast, and a recent outside investment proves his point.
Providence Equity Partners, a private equity firm founded by billionaire Jonathan Nelson, reportedly bought 25 percent of SUM in 2011 for around $150 million. The investment provided the league some cash and, considering Providence's $29 billion or so in assets, a bit of financial security. But more importantly, that investment by Providence, which is also an investor in MLS' Spanish broadcast partner Univision, signals just how strong the league's business has become.
Yet as important as central revenue may be, it doesn't come anywhere close to what teams have to do on their own to succeed. In fact, of the $26 million the typical team generated in revenue in 2012, we estimate that over 90 percent came from in-stadium revenue streams like tickets, sponsorships, luxury seating and non-MLS events.
At home, MLS teams rely on attendance and sponsorships to drive revenue. For leading teams like the Sounders and their rivals in Portland – the Timbers rank third at $141 million – frenzied fans make doing business easy. Seattle dwarfs the league in attendance, attracting over 44,000 fans per game on average; Portland ranks third at nearly 21,000 fans per game. That fan support is key because MLS teams are particularly reliant on revenue at the gate and from sponsors; soccer's continuous action makes it difficult to sell merchandise and concessions during games.
Yet as important as central revenue may be, it doesn't come anywhere close to what teams have to do on their own to succeed. In fact, of the $26 million the typical team generated in revenue in 2012, we estimate that over 90 percent came from in-stadium revenue streams like tickets, sponsorships, luxury seating and non-MLS events.
At home, MLS teams rely on attendance and sponsorships to drive revenue. For leading teams like the Sounders and their rivals in Portland – the Timbers rank third at $141 million – frenzied fans make doing business easy. Seattle dwarfs the league in attendance, attracting over 44,000 fans per game on average; Portland ranks third at nearly 21,000 fans per game. That fan support is key because MLS teams are particularly reliant on revenue at the gate and from sponsors; soccer's continuous action makes it difficult to sell merchandise and concessions during games.
And while revenue is surging, expenses like player costs are heavily controlled. Whereas a typical NBA or MLB team might sink tens of millions of dollars into payroll expenses each season, MLS' single-entity structure ensures player costs are minimized. Each player's contract is signed with and paid by MLS. Though capital calls made by the teams provide some of the funding, a $3 million salary cap ensures teams won't bleed dry from player contracts. The only exceptions are designated players, whose salaries can exceed cap restrictions, with the extra money landing on the team's books. For most teams, designated player costs are minimal or nonexistent.
The new wave of soccer-specific stadiums have increased operations costs, but those are often easily covered with revenues generated from stadium naming rights deals and non-MLS events that teams operate. Some teams, like the Galaxy, Red Bulls and Crew, own their stadiums outright, meaning minimal, if any, debt and annual rent payments to local government. Other teams, like Sporting Kansas City and the Chicago Fire, were able to land stadium financing deals that were entirely funded with public money.
Of course, not every team has a great stadium situation. DC United and the Vancouver Whitecaps both play in government-owned buildings, which limits their ability to leverage the venues for non-MLS events. The San Jose Earthquakes play in Santa Clara University's Buck Shaw Stadium, which is far from ideal considering the stadium limits sponsorship opportunities and lacks any sort of luxury suite option.
Of course, not every team has a great stadium situation. DC United and the Vancouver Whitecaps both play in government-owned buildings, which limits their ability to leverage the venues for non-MLS events. The San Jose Earthquakes play in Santa Clara University's Buck Shaw Stadium, which is far from ideal considering the stadium limits sponsorship opportunities and lacks any sort of luxury suite option.
(Fortunately for the Quakes, the team will soon be moving into a new, privately financed stadium in San Jose for the 2015 season. Luxury seating options there are already sold out.)
And though the league's TV contracts are expected to explode in value, MLS has a serious problem regarding its TV ratings. Namely, they have lagged badly. This year, viewership of ESPN's regular-season telecasts was down 29 percent to an average 220,000 per game, while NBC's MLS audience fell 8 percent to 112,000 per game, ranking MLS beneath the WNBA in TV ratings. A new TV deal may grant the league a set broadcast window or consolidate telecasts to a single network, making TV viewership an easier task for fans, but a dearth of eyeballs watching from home could pose serious issues for a league hoping to expand to 24 teams.
But there's no denying that MLS is barreling forward and showing few causes for concern. Given the success, will MLS finally move away from the single-entity structure that makes it unique? No way.
Abbott argues that the current structure is largely responsible for the league's success, and that other sports leagues are effectively single-entity groups as well.
Says Abbott, "The reality is that club owners [in any sport] are business partners.
You're competitors on the field, but business partners off of it." That's not to say that MLS won't make significant changes down the line, but Abbott says that those decisions will be made within the current structure.
That structure has certainly been a sound one thus far, so a not-broke, don't-fix-it strategy makes plenty of sense. As for maintaining the current pace, Abbott naturally points to the upcoming TV deals and player development programs. He also, in a contrast to the league's big expansion plans, says that there's a focus on strengthening the league's position within its current local markets.
And Major League Soccer's favorite spark plug, the FIFA World Cup, is right around the corner. The roster will not only include Dempsey and Donovan, two of the biggest names in MLS, but also other MLS stars like Eddie Johnson, Graham Zusi and Omar Gonzalez. With the United States ranked 13th in FIFA's world ranks and poised to make some noise in Brazil, Major League Soccer's next leap forward may start before the current one even lands.
Sports Illustrated asks if it’s time to consider AJ McCarron as ‘one of the best ever’.
By Nick Bromberg
Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron graces the cover of the current issue of Sports Illustrated, and the magazine has a question it would like you to consider.
Under the headline "King Crimson" the magazine says "On the brink of a third national title, is it time to think about AJ McCarron as one of the best ever?"
It's a glowing feature of the quarterback, and it's really hard to come away not liking McCarron, even if you're someone infinitely jealous of the fact that he's dating Katherine Webb. If you're that type, you probably even thought "aw, she found a good dude." At least for a split second before your jealousy returned.
But before we get to the crux of the question, we must note that Alabama has four games left -- to win -- before AJ McCarron would have the opportunity to lift the crystal ball atop the BCS trophy for the third time. It's not like this question is being posed before the week of the championship game.
The crux of the argument presented is in this paragraph:
By Nick Bromberg
Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron graces the cover of the current issue of Sports Illustrated, and the magazine has a question it would like you to consider.
Under the headline "King Crimson" the magazine says "On the brink of a third national title, is it time to think about AJ McCarron as one of the best ever?"
It's a glowing feature of the quarterback, and it's really hard to come away not liking McCarron, even if you're someone infinitely jealous of the fact that he's dating Katherine Webb. If you're that type, you probably even thought "aw, she found a good dude." At least for a split second before your jealousy returned.
But before we get to the crux of the question, we must note that Alabama has four games left -- to win -- before AJ McCarron would have the opportunity to lift the crystal ball atop the BCS trophy for the third time. It's not like this question is being posed before the week of the championship game.
The crux of the argument presented is in this paragraph:
McCarron might be almost as well known for his arm candy as his arm strength, his body ink as his body of work. But let’s be clear: He’s not just one of the great Alabama quarterbacks. AJ McCarron is on the short list of the most successful players in the history of college football. Even if not many think of him that way.
The entire article is framed around the idea that McCarron is underrated. And that was once true. And however possible it was to underrate McCarron, it's not any longer. Anyone with half a brain watching college football knows that he's a damn good quarterback, even if he's surrounded by the most talented college football team around.
Going into the season, McCarron was voted to the coaches' All-SEC third team behind Aaron Murray and Johnny Manziel. Seems about right, doesn't it? One spot up or down isn't a big enough deal to move the "underrated" needle.
And if you're going to rank the quarterbacks in college football right now, McCarron likely slots in around the midsection of the top 10, behind Manziel, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota and Teddy Bridgewater and in the neighborhood of Bryce Petty, Murray, Braxton Miller, Tajh Boyd and others. Again, he's not underrated.
Much like the win is for pitchers, quarterback wins are an overrated achievement. As SBNation's Team Speed Kills points out, Ken Dorsey went 38-2. Think of the NFL talent that surrounded Dorsey at Miami. Think of the NFL talent that surrounds McCarron.
That doesn't mean that AJ McCarron is Ken Dorsey, but no one is making "a short list," however short or long it is, of the greatest quarterbacks in college football and putting Ken Dorsey on it. (If you are, let us know.)
The story also points out that McCarron has never been to New York for the Heisman Trophy. That could very well change this year -- he's listed as the third favorite by Bovada -- but what finalist would McCarron have gone in place of the previous two seasons? It also touts his candidacy for this year's award by virtue of his career accomplishments. Though the Heisman is a seasonal, not a career, award.
Third BCS title or not, McCarron will leave Alabama as the most prolific passer in terms of yards and touchdowns. But again, as the magazine mentions, for all of the success that Alabama has had, quarterback is far from its strongest position historically.
McCarron is and has been a very good quarterback on the best team of his era. That point is indisputable, and won't change significantly if he ends his career with two national championships or three. However, let's table his candidacy for one of college football's best ever players -- however sizable that list may be -- until the season is over, especially if the argument hinges on a third national title. He's got a pretty important 10 percent of his career left to play.
Upsets happening early this season.
By JOHN MARSHALL (AP Basketball Writer)
Parity in college basketball has made it so that when a smaller program knocks off a bigger one, it's not much of a surprise anymore.
After teams like Butler, Virginia Commonwealth and Wichita State reached the Final Four in recent years, the reaction to so-called upsets is often a shrug.
This season, David got an early start on Goliath with a few upsets and scares for big-name programs in the season's first couple of weeks.
Here's a few of them: Belmont 83, North Carolina 80. So what if the Tar Heels were without leading scorer P.J. Hairston and senior guard Leslie McDonald. Opposing players rushing the court at the Dean Dome is not something that happens very often. The Bruins kept their cool as North Carolina turned an 11-point deficit into an eight-point lead in the second half, no one more than J.J. Mann. The senior hit five 3-pointers, including the go-ahead triple with 13.1 seconds left to send the Tar Heels to their first non-conference home loss in eight years.
Indiana State 83, Notre Dame 70. The Sycamores, with one of the Missouri Valley's most experienced teams, were a popular mid-major pick to possibly make an NCAA tournament run. The school known for being Larry Bird's alma mater got a good start by bumping off the No. 21 team in the country - on the road, no less. Indiana State lost a 10-point halftime lead, but took control of the game with an 18-3 run to give Irish coach Mike Brey his first November home loss in 14 years at Notre Dame.
North Carolina Central 82, North Carolina State 72, OT. N.C. Central had been winless in 13 previous tries against ACC teams. A pair of seniors led the Eagles to one of their biggest victories. Undeterred by the Wolfpack's late rally to tie it in regulation, the Eagles were steady in the overtime period behind Jeremy Ingram, who scored the first nine points of the extra period and finished with 29. Emanuel Chapman added 18 points to help N.C. Central become the third team to pull off an upset against the Atlantic Coast Conference.
St. Francis Brooklyn 66, Miami 62, OT. Missing your first 13 shots against the defending ACC champion is usually going to lead to a lopsided loss. It didn't seem to both the Terriers. They still managed to lead at halftime after the miserable start and didn't wilt on the road against what was supposed to be a superior opponent. Miami missed all 15 of its 3-point attempts, the first time that's happened in 173 games, and had to make a shot at the end of regulation just to get into overtime against the St. Francis.
Syracuse 56, St. Francis Brooklyn 50. Noticing a trend here with the Terriers? Even after beating Miami, St. Francis wasn't expected to be much of a match for the ninth-ranked Orange, who hadn't lost a nonconference home game since 2008. After keeping it close in the first half, the Terriers took the lead early in the second half and were still tied at 50 with Syracuse in the closing minutes. The Orange clamped down on defense and closed with a 10-0 run, but sure had a hard time getting those Terriers off their heels.
Michigan State 62, Columbia 53. The Spartans moved into the No. 1 slot in The Associated Press poll after knocking off previously top-ranked Kentucky, so there was no reason to think they'd have any trouble with Columbia. The Lions weren't willing to lie down, though. Despite having a young team, Columbia held its own against the newly-minted No. 1 team in the country, keeping within one of Michigan State with just under 5 minutes left. The Lions didn't score over the final 4:27 after the Spartans clamped down defensively, but it was definitely a nice showing for an Ivy League program that was supposed to be rebuilding.
Going into the season, McCarron was voted to the coaches' All-SEC third team behind Aaron Murray and Johnny Manziel. Seems about right, doesn't it? One spot up or down isn't a big enough deal to move the "underrated" needle.
And if you're going to rank the quarterbacks in college football right now, McCarron likely slots in around the midsection of the top 10, behind Manziel, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota and Teddy Bridgewater and in the neighborhood of Bryce Petty, Murray, Braxton Miller, Tajh Boyd and others. Again, he's not underrated.
Much like the win is for pitchers, quarterback wins are an overrated achievement. As SBNation's Team Speed Kills points out, Ken Dorsey went 38-2. Think of the NFL talent that surrounded Dorsey at Miami. Think of the NFL talent that surrounds McCarron.
That doesn't mean that AJ McCarron is Ken Dorsey, but no one is making "a short list," however short or long it is, of the greatest quarterbacks in college football and putting Ken Dorsey on it. (If you are, let us know.)
The story also points out that McCarron has never been to New York for the Heisman Trophy. That could very well change this year -- he's listed as the third favorite by Bovada -- but what finalist would McCarron have gone in place of the previous two seasons? It also touts his candidacy for this year's award by virtue of his career accomplishments. Though the Heisman is a seasonal, not a career, award.
Third BCS title or not, McCarron will leave Alabama as the most prolific passer in terms of yards and touchdowns. But again, as the magazine mentions, for all of the success that Alabama has had, quarterback is far from its strongest position historically.
McCarron is and has been a very good quarterback on the best team of his era. That point is indisputable, and won't change significantly if he ends his career with two national championships or three. However, let's table his candidacy for one of college football's best ever players -- however sizable that list may be -- until the season is over, especially if the argument hinges on a third national title. He's got a pretty important 10 percent of his career left to play.
Upsets happening early this season.
By JOHN MARSHALL (AP Basketball Writer)
Parity in college basketball has made it so that when a smaller program knocks off a bigger one, it's not much of a surprise anymore.
After teams like Butler, Virginia Commonwealth and Wichita State reached the Final Four in recent years, the reaction to so-called upsets is often a shrug.
This season, David got an early start on Goliath with a few upsets and scares for big-name programs in the season's first couple of weeks.
Here's a few of them: Belmont 83, North Carolina 80. So what if the Tar Heels were without leading scorer P.J. Hairston and senior guard Leslie McDonald. Opposing players rushing the court at the Dean Dome is not something that happens very often. The Bruins kept their cool as North Carolina turned an 11-point deficit into an eight-point lead in the second half, no one more than J.J. Mann. The senior hit five 3-pointers, including the go-ahead triple with 13.1 seconds left to send the Tar Heels to their first non-conference home loss in eight years.
Indiana State 83, Notre Dame 70. The Sycamores, with one of the Missouri Valley's most experienced teams, were a popular mid-major pick to possibly make an NCAA tournament run. The school known for being Larry Bird's alma mater got a good start by bumping off the No. 21 team in the country - on the road, no less. Indiana State lost a 10-point halftime lead, but took control of the game with an 18-3 run to give Irish coach Mike Brey his first November home loss in 14 years at Notre Dame.
North Carolina Central 82, North Carolina State 72, OT. N.C. Central had been winless in 13 previous tries against ACC teams. A pair of seniors led the Eagles to one of their biggest victories. Undeterred by the Wolfpack's late rally to tie it in regulation, the Eagles were steady in the overtime period behind Jeremy Ingram, who scored the first nine points of the extra period and finished with 29. Emanuel Chapman added 18 points to help N.C. Central become the third team to pull off an upset against the Atlantic Coast Conference.
St. Francis Brooklyn 66, Miami 62, OT. Missing your first 13 shots against the defending ACC champion is usually going to lead to a lopsided loss. It didn't seem to both the Terriers. They still managed to lead at halftime after the miserable start and didn't wilt on the road against what was supposed to be a superior opponent. Miami missed all 15 of its 3-point attempts, the first time that's happened in 173 games, and had to make a shot at the end of regulation just to get into overtime against the St. Francis.
Syracuse 56, St. Francis Brooklyn 50. Noticing a trend here with the Terriers? Even after beating Miami, St. Francis wasn't expected to be much of a match for the ninth-ranked Orange, who hadn't lost a nonconference home game since 2008. After keeping it close in the first half, the Terriers took the lead early in the second half and were still tied at 50 with Syracuse in the closing minutes. The Orange clamped down on defense and closed with a 10-0 run, but sure had a hard time getting those Terriers off their heels.
Michigan State 62, Columbia 53. The Spartans moved into the No. 1 slot in The Associated Press poll after knocking off previously top-ranked Kentucky, so there was no reason to think they'd have any trouble with Columbia. The Lions weren't willing to lie down, though. Despite having a young team, Columbia held its own against the newly-minted No. 1 team in the country, keeping within one of Michigan State with just under 5 minutes left. The Lions didn't score over the final 4:27 after the Spartans clamped down defensively, but it was definitely a nice showing for an Ivy League program that was supposed to be rebuilding.
The Inside Story of How the NFL's Plan for Its 1st Openly Gay Player Fell Apart.
By Mike Freeman (NFL National Lead Writer)
The team had decided yes. The player had decided the same. It was set. It was going to happen. An NFL player was going to publicly say he was gay and then play in the NFL.
What happened before that moment showed how parts of the NFL are progressive and ready for change. Then, what happened next showed how the sport is still in some ways fearful of it.
The following account is based on interviews with approximately a dozen people, including team and league officials, current and former players, and gay-rights advocates. Some were directly involved with the discussions that nearly led to the first openly gay NFL player. Further illustrating the intense secrecy, delicacy and fear surrounding the subject, none of the principals wanted to be identified. They also refused to identify the team or the player.
It was early this past spring when a closeted gay player, who was a free agent, reached out to a small group of friends and told them about his sexual orientation.
The friends, both current and former players, and others with NFL connections, then contacted a handful of teams to gauge their interest in the player and their comfort with that player talking openly about being gay if they signed him.
A number of teams contacted passed. The player was told they didn't have a need at his position. The player told a recently retired player he believed the teams declined because they feared the attention a gay NFL player would receive from the public and media.
Yet some teams were interested, and one team actually said yes. It wasn't a lukewarm yes or a conditional one. It was a definite yes.
The team expressed that it didn't care if the player was gay and had no issue with him announcing he was gay after signing. The player expected the signing, and subsequent announcement, to happen in June. This would give the team, fans and media a month to adjust to the news before training camp began.
It was during these talks with the team, occurring in late March and early April, that reports surfaced about the possibility of an openly gay player emerging. In effect, word of the impending signing was leaking. I reported a player was strongly considering coming out. My reporting was based on speaking to several NFL players.
Word of an openly gay player signing was spreading among a portion of the player base.
Gay-rights advocate and former Baltimore Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo said in April that he believed several gay players might come out. He later backed away from the number of players but stood by his statement that a gay player would soon emerge onto the NFL stage.
Some months later, it's possible Ayanbadejo may have been right. The feeling now among team officials, as well as current and former players, is that there wasn't just one gay player ready to shed his secret, but multiple ones.
"I don't know how close we are," Ayanbadejo said to Bleacher Report in regard to having an openly gay player. "I just know there are gays in the NFL but their identities remain confidential."
The sources paint a remarkable picture. At least two or three gay players, each unaware of the other, living in different parts of the country, with different sets of friends and agents, each contemplating the same thing: coming out.
That period was, as one gay-rights advocate described it, "the spring of optimism for the NFL and gay rights." There was a feeling that the NFL was on the verge of crossing this significant barrier. There was great excitement. It was going to happen.
Until it didn't.
The following account is based on interviews with approximately a dozen people, including team and league officials, current and former players, and gay-rights advocates. Some were directly involved with the discussions that nearly led to the first openly gay NFL player. Further illustrating the intense secrecy, delicacy and fear surrounding the subject, none of the principals wanted to be identified. They also refused to identify the team or the player.
It was early this past spring when a closeted gay player, who was a free agent, reached out to a small group of friends and told them about his sexual orientation.
The friends, both current and former players, and others with NFL connections, then contacted a handful of teams to gauge their interest in the player and their comfort with that player talking openly about being gay if they signed him.
A number of teams contacted passed. The player was told they didn't have a need at his position. The player told a recently retired player he believed the teams declined because they feared the attention a gay NFL player would receive from the public and media.
Yet some teams were interested, and one team actually said yes. It wasn't a lukewarm yes or a conditional one. It was a definite yes.
The team expressed that it didn't care if the player was gay and had no issue with him announcing he was gay after signing. The player expected the signing, and subsequent announcement, to happen in June. This would give the team, fans and media a month to adjust to the news before training camp began.
It was during these talks with the team, occurring in late March and early April, that reports surfaced about the possibility of an openly gay player emerging. In effect, word of the impending signing was leaking. I reported a player was strongly considering coming out. My reporting was based on speaking to several NFL players.
Word of an openly gay player signing was spreading among a portion of the player base.
Gay-rights advocate and former Baltimore Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo said in April that he believed several gay players might come out. He later backed away from the number of players but stood by his statement that a gay player would soon emerge onto the NFL stage.
Some months later, it's possible Ayanbadejo may have been right. The feeling now among team officials, as well as current and former players, is that there wasn't just one gay player ready to shed his secret, but multiple ones.
"I don't know how close we are," Ayanbadejo said to Bleacher Report in regard to having an openly gay player. "I just know there are gays in the NFL but their identities remain confidential."
The sources paint a remarkable picture. At least two or three gay players, each unaware of the other, living in different parts of the country, with different sets of friends and agents, each contemplating the same thing: coming out.
That period was, as one gay-rights advocate described it, "the spring of optimism for the NFL and gay rights." There was a feeling that the NFL was on the verge of crossing this significant barrier. There was great excitement. It was going to happen.
Until it didn't.
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The question now is: What happened?
In considering possible answers, it's important to know five things.
First: Estimates of how many gay players are in the NFL range widely, but some of them, from people intimately familiar with the league, are far higher than might be assumed by the outside public.
Players and team executives give totals ranging from several dozen to several hundred. (There are about 2,000 players in the league.) One former general manager said he believes the number of gay players is 30-40.
Second: The NFL and union know the identities of some gay players, according to many sources—a gay-rights advocate, a union official and a team official. The league and union learn who these players are from other players and coaches. They keep the identities of these players secret. In some cases, teams do so to protect the players.
In many cases, teams learn the identities to avoid signing them as free agents.
Third: The league office backs the idea of an openly gay player, but one high-ranking league official believes the NFL isn't yet ready for one. League executives think football is three to five years away from accepting such a player, according to an NFL source. The league plans to carefully and deliberately make the atmosphere more tolerant and comfortable in the meantime, setting the stage for when that happens.
The NFL actually wants an openly gay player because it would be one of the last barriers broken in the sport and show professional football as a tolerant sport. And not everyone thinks the league needs to wait. Another league-office executive said the NFL is ready now. "We are prepared," he stated. "The league would give the player and his team all the support necessary."
In response to this story the NFL issued a statement saying all players are protected by the NFL's Personal Conduct Policy. A manual given to every player during training camp includes language about violent or threatening behavior between employees inside and outside of the workplace. It includes documents relating to sexual harassment and sexual orientation.
Fourth: Some individual franchises, however, are not as enthusiastic about the prospect as the league office seems to be. Several team officials say the largest obstacle to an openly gay player is the resistance of a significant number of NFL owners and a smaller number of general managers and coaches.
Fifth: Many in the league are fearful of acting or even speaking on this subject. Quite simply, teams remain terrified of signing an openly gay player.
One team official gave an example of why there is such fear. He posed a question: What if a gay player came out in a place like the Dolphins locker room, where there was allegedly severe hazing?
Some stories out of the last NFL combine indicated teams are worried. Nick Kasa, a prospective pro out of the University of Colorado, told ESPN Radio in Denver earlier this year that during interviews with team officials at the combine in Indianapolis:
"(Teams) ask you, like, 'Do you have a girlfriend?' 'Are you married?' 'Do you like girls?'" Big-name players like Michigan's Denard Robinson and Michigan State's Le'Veon Bell indicated in radio interviews that they were asked similar questions. The assumption was that the questions were some form of standard operating procedure not tied to the particular interviewees. During media day before this past Super Bowl, 49ers defensive back Chris Culliver said, "I don’t do the gay guys, man. I don’t do that. Got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff…Can’t be…in the locker room, nah. You’ve gotta come out 10 years later after that."
It's this fear of gays that helps explain why many in the NFL are nervous about addressing the issue on the record. Some sources feel that talking openly about gay issues will label them as being part of the gay-player discussion and harm them in their current positions across the sport.
Still, some players strongly believe an openly gay player would be welcome in an NFL locker room.
"Players, in general, don't care what other players do in the bedroom," Arizona kicker Jay Feely, who is in his 13th season and has been a longtime union representative, told Bleacher Report. "Whether that is being celibate, having an affair, being happily married for 20 years or being gay. No one cares. The only thing they care about is winning games (and getting paid). That's the honest truth.
"This story is not about football or locker rooms but outside factors and agendas that are using football as the carrot to attract attention for their own personal gain."
To others, both in football and out of it, an openly gay NFL player would be a monumental moment, signaling that yet another barrier has fallen not just in sports, but all of society.
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This past spring, it seemed imminent that barrier was going to collapse with not one, but two players having found teams that would sign them knowing they would come out.
Along with the initial player discussed in this article, there was a fairly well-known defensive back. He drew interest from at least one AFC team that knew he was gay.
Coaches on the team were asked if they were OK with a gay player. They were. Some defensive players were casually queried, according to an official on the team. All of the players asked said it wouldn't be an issue. They were not told the name of the player.
According to the team, the potential deal collapsed when the player wanted too much money. If that was the case—and there is doubt about that among gay-rights advocates—it stands apart from everything else league insiders are saying about an NFL which they know includes many gay players and not a single one who will publicly acknowledge he's gay.
The first player, the one who expected to sign in June, heard in mid-to-late May from the interested team that it would no longer be signing him, officials from other teams told Bleacher Report. The player was told the reason why was fear of intense media coverage.
It was at the end of April that NBA player Jason Collins wrote a first-person story for Sports Illustrated in which he stated he was gay. The story became one of the most discussed in recent sports history.
The NFL player told a former teammate he believes the Collins story, and others about gay athletes around that time, caused the team to withdraw its offer. It was afraid of the attention. Now, six months and countless injuries to active players later, neither he nor the other player has signed with a team.
While being afraid to sign an openly gay player smacks of cowardice—the Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson knowing there would be not only disapproval but possibly violence directed against the club—it remains a fact teams fear almost any type of controversy. And this would be one of the more talked about stories ever.
So after lots of talk of a gay NFL player coming out, the talk disappeared. Because NFL teams, in the end, got cold feet. It's that simple.
The sport still isn't quite ready for an openly gay NFL player. All sources close to the players were asked one question repeatedly: Why don't the players just come out?
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The answer was the same—fear. If they come out before signing, they won't get signed. While the players want to help push change, they also want to play football.
Some will point to how Collins remains unemployed post-announcement.
The other problem is the league itself. It has, at times, moved extraordinarily slow on this issue. One gay-rights advocate who has had extensive dealings with the NFL said the league is trying to do the right thing but "it's like changing the course of a cruise ship."
Go back to an important fact. At least one league official believes pro football is three to five years away from a gay player coming out. Thus we're seeing the S.S. NFL turning hard to starboard toward a gay player coming out, but turning ever so slowly.
It will happen. It's just a question of when.
The two likeliest scenarios remain true. The first is what happened with the NBA's Collins could happen in the NFL. A player toward the end of his career comes out while a free agent or just after signing with a team.
The other possibility is a high-profile player in college is openly gay and has discussed this in media interviews for years. By the time he's picked high in the NFL draft, his sexuality has been so discussed and analyzed that no one cares.
And that is the goal. Reach a day when no one will care.
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