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Sports Quote of the Day:
"What you lack in talent can be made up with desire, hustle, and giving 110 percent all the time." ~ Don Zimmer, Major League Baseball Player and Manager with 66 years experience on the job.
United States-Ghana Preview.
By RONALD BLUM (AP Sports Writer)
The skies may clear by Monday night, when the United States plays Ghana in the World Cup opener.
No matter the weather, the formula for advancing to the second round is evident: get at least a point from the first game.
''It's pretty much like a knockout game,'' U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann told fans at a send-off pep rally last month in New York's Times Square.
The Americans have never advanced from the group stage after failing to get at least a point in their opener. They reached the knockout phase after winning their first games in 1930 and 2002, and following draws in 1994 and 2010.
''Statistically, the chances of advancing go way up now if you're able to get a point or three from the first game,'' midfielder Michael Bradley said, ''and so we've certainly made no secret of the fact that all the focus at this point is about Ghana, and making sure that we do everything we can, so that on June 16, we step on the field and are ready to leave it all out there, knowing that a good result puts us in a really good spot.''
Twenty-four years ago, when the Americans returned to the World Cup after a 40-year absence, midfielder Tab Ramos put charts up at the U.S. team's training camp in Italy trying to figure outs the odds of advancing. Ramos is now an assistant coach, and in the computer age tons of data are readily available.
Since the World Cup went to a 32-team format in 1998, 85 percent of teams that won their openers advanced to the group stage, according to STATS. That dropped to 58 percent for teams that drew their first games and to 9 percent for those that started with losses.
And the quality of opponent figures to get only more difficult for the U.S. After playing the 37th-ranked Black Stars, the Americans face No. 4 Portugal and close the first round against second-ranked Germany.
''If we can get the win, then we can refocus and go for Portugal,'' goalkeeper Tim Howard said. ''There's no sense in looking beyond the first game. It's important, I think, that we can get three points in the bag.''
Ghana knocked the Americans out of the last two World Cups with 2-1 victories, beating the Americans in group play in the 2006 tournament and in extra time during the round of 16 four years ago. The Black Stars failed in their bid to become the first African semifinalist, losing to Uruguay in a shootout after Luis Suarez used his hands to block what would have been a go-ahead goal in extra time, and Asamoah Gyan sent his penalty kick clanking off the crossbar.
Only four Americans who appeared in the 2010 match are likely to start: Howard, Bradley and forwards Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore. Based on their starting lineup in Monday's 4-0 exhibition win over South Korea, Ghana could return defender Jonathan Mensah, midfielders Kwadwo Asamoah and Andre Ayew, and forwards Kevin-Prince Boateng and Gyan.
''It's a team full of individual talent with players, certain players that can hurt you in a split second if you're not alert, if you're not awake,'' Klinsmann said.
After training for four days in the temperate late-autumn weather of Sao Paulo, the Americans traveled northeast Friday to Natal, a tropical beach city just 400 miles from the equator. They were to work out Saturday at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, then again Sunday at the Arena das Dunas, a Populas-designed stadium whose outside structure with 20 curving segments emulates the local sand dunes.
Mexico's 1-0 win over Cameroon in Natal on Friday was played in a downpour, and it rained again Saturday. The forecast called for more heavy rain Sunday and clearing Monday with the possibility of occasional showers.
''For us everything is ideal,'' Klinsmann said. ''Whatever the temperature is, whatever the conditions are - rain, no rain, hot, humid, whatever - we are prepared.''
NOTES: Jonas Eriksson of Sweden will referee the game. Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini was banned from his team's bench for two games by European soccer's governing body after Pellegrini criticized Eriksson for giving Martin Demichelis a red card for a foul on Barcelona's Lionel Messi in a Champions League game last season.
FIFA World Cup Scores. June 12, 2014 - June 15, 2014.
ESPN.com
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Group A
Brazil 3
Croatia1
Friday, June 13, 2014
Group A
Mexico 1
Cameroon 0
Group B
Spain 1
Netherlands 5
Chile 3
Australia 1
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Group C
Colombia 3
Greece 0
Ivory Coast 2
Japan 1
Group D
Uruguay 1
Costa Rica 3
England 1
Italy 2
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Group E
Switzerland 2
Ecuador 1
France 3
Honduras 0
Group F
Argentina 2
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1
LA Kings win the Cup on Martinez's double-OT goal.FIFA World Cup Scores. June 12, 2014 - June 15, 2014.
ESPN.com
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Group A
Brazil 3
Croatia1
Friday, June 13, 2014
Group A
Mexico 1
Cameroon 0
Group B
Spain 1
Netherlands 5
Chile 3
Australia 1
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Group C
Colombia 3
Greece 0
Ivory Coast 2
Japan 1
Group D
Uruguay 1
Costa Rica 3
England 1
Italy 2
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Group E
Switzerland 2
Ecuador 1
France 3
Honduras 0
Group F
Argentina 2
Bosnia-Herzegovina 1
By GREG BEACHAM (AP Sports Writer)
Alec Martinez scored 14:43 into the second overtime, and the Los Angeles Kings won the Stanley Cup for the second time in three years with a 3-2 victory over the New York Rangers in Game 5 on Friday night.
Marian Gaborik scored a tying power-play goal with 12:04 left in regulation for the resilient Kings, who rallied from yet another deficit before finishing off the Rangers in the longest game in franchise history.
Jonathan Quick made 28 saves and Conn Smythe Trophy winner Justin Williams scored an early goal as Los Angeles added a second title to its 2012 championship, the first in the franchise's 47-year history.
After innumerable late chances for both teams in two nail-biting extra periods, Martinez popped home a rebound of Tyler Toffoli's shot. Martinez is becoming a late-game playoff legend after also scoring in overtime in Game 7 against Chicago in the Western Conference finals.
Chris Kreider scored a power-play goal and Brian Boyle added a tiebreaking short-handed goal late in the second period for the Rangers, who showed no nerves while facing elimination for the sixth time this spring.
Lundqvist stopped 48 shots in another standout performance for the Eastern Conference champions, but the Rangers repeatedly came up one goal short against the Kings despite their goalie's brilliance.
Martinez started the final rush with a pass to Kyle Clifford, who dropped it to Toffoli for a shot. The rebound went straight to Martinez, and the depth defenseman buried it for his fifth goal of the postseason.
''Fortunately, the rebound came to me and I was able to put it in,'' Martinez said. ''The New York Rangers are a hell of a hockey team. We knew it was going to be a tough series.''
The Kings gathered for a huge group hug near the Rangers' net, while coach Darryl Sutter nonchalantly walked onto the ice with almost no celebration.
Both teams had tantalizing scoring chances in overtime, but couldn't convert.
Ryan McDonagh hit Quick's post with a long shot during an early power play. Toffoli rang a shot off Lundqvist's post with 7:15 left, and the Kings trapped New York in its own end for an exhausting stretch late in the period.
Kreider got a breakaway in the final minute after Drew Doughty fell down, but he missed the net.
A few minutes after Carter's tip shot hit Lundqvist's post early in the second overtime, the Rangers put a tipped slap shot off Quick's post during their second fruitless overtime power play.
Rick Nash had an open net moments later, but Slava Voynov deflected the shot just high with the shaft of his stick.
In stark contrast to their rampage through the playoffs two years ago, the Kings earned this Cup with an incredible degree of difficulty.
Game 5 was the Kings' 26th playoff game of the spring, matching the NHL record for the longest postseason run. Los Angeles has played 64 playoff games over the last three years, setting another league record.
With Sutter and a solid veteran leadership group emphasizing consistency, the Kings have calmly handled everything the NHL could throw at them. After fighting through three straight seven-game series to emerge from the tough Western Conference, the Kings won the first three games of the finals, starting with consecutive OT wins at Staples Center on goals by Williams and captain Dustin Brown.
But New York staved off elimination with a 2-1 victory in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden, earning another cross-country trip.
Staples Center was packed well before the opening faceoff with fans eager for another celebration, rocking the arena with chants of ''Go Kings Go!'' while both teams were still in their dressing rooms.
Los Angeles started out with yet another big-game goal from Williams, who put the Kings ahead with his ninth goal of the postseason on a loose puck after linemates Dwight King and Jarret Stoll applied pressure on Lundqvist.
The Kings never led in their two overtime victories at home earlier in the series. But even after falling behind early, New York showed no semblance of nerves, largely outplaying the Kings in the first two periods.
The Rangers finally equalized when McDonagh found Kreider in front. Boyle then got a stunner after Carl Hagelin got the puck away from Voynov, skating around Doughty and wiring a pinpoint shot into the far top corner behind Quick with 29 seconds left for his third goal in 25 postseason games.
But the Kings showed the same determination that has characterized their entire spring run, and they finally equalized with Mats Zuccarello in the box.
Doughty's long shot hit Lundqvist in the chest and dropped in front of him before Gaborik alertly poked it between his legs for the 14th goal of a spectacular postseason by the Kings' newest acquisition.
NOTES: Both teams kept the same lineups from Game 4. Sutter never used D Robyn Regehr, who has recovered from his May 3 knee injury. ... The Kings never led in their two overtime victories at home earlier in the series. ... The 1987 Philadelphia Flyers and the 2004 Calgary Flames also played 26 postseason games, but neither won the Cup.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Chicago Blackhawks favored to win 2015 Stanley Cup. (At Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica, we're hoping and praying already.)
By Sean Leahy
The Los Angeles Kings are in Day Three of celebrating their 2014 Stanley Cup championship. Meanwhile, 29 other NHL teams are already looking toward next year, hoping the 2014-15 campaign can be the year they win the final game of the season.
Also looking toward next year: the oddsmakers, who don't have the current champs as their favorites for the 2015 Cup.
Los Angeles Kings 10/1
San Jose Sharks 14/1
Colorado Avalanche 18/1
Minnesota Wild 18/1
New York Rangers 18/1
Detroit Red Wings 22/1
Montreal Canadiens 25/1
Tampa Bay Lightning 25/1
Vancouver Canucks 25/1
Philadelphia Flyers 28/1
Dallas Stars 33/1
Toronto Maple Leafs 33/1
Washington Capitals 33/1
Columbus Blue Jackets 40/1
New Jersey Devils 40/1
Carolina Hurricanes 50/1
Edmonton Oilers 50/1
Ottawa Senators 50/1
Phoenix Coyotes 50/1
Winnipeg Jets 50/1
Calgary Flames 66/1
Florida Panthers 66/1
Nashville Predators 66/1
New York Islanders 66/1
Buffalo Sabres 75/1
How will Toews, Kane affect Blackhawks' offseason?
By CSN Staff
Stan Bowman has made it known just how much he intends to re-sign Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, even using the term "Blackhawks for life" in the past.
But when will the re-signings come, and — perhaps more interestingly — how might they affect the rest of the Blackhawks' offseason?
The SportsTalk Live panel took a look at the topic on Thursday, wondering if big money for Toews and Kane might squeeze out some of the other Blackhawks stars.
"The higher that number goes up, the more moves the Blackhawks are going to have to make down the line and the more challenges Stan Bowman's going to have filling out that roster, how much better they're going to have to draft," 87 7 The Game's Mark Carman said.
"We'd have to see that rearranging of all those players just like we did after they won the 2010 Stanley Cup, which would be tough," the Sun-Times' Rick Telander said. "But you can't lose Kane and Toews. You cannot lose them."
And who are the untouchable players Bowman recently alluded to? Could Patrick Sharp be moved? Brent Seabrook?
"I'm sure they would trade Patrick Sharp," the Sherman Report's Ed Sherman said. "Patrick Sharp could be a guy who is a victim, a guy that they might have to get rid of if they do this kind of a contract (for Kane and Toews)."
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Chicago Blackhawks favored to win 2015 Stanley Cup. (At Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica, we're hoping and praying already.)
By Sean Leahy
The Los Angeles Kings are in Day Three of celebrating their 2014 Stanley Cup championship. Meanwhile, 29 other NHL teams are already looking toward next year, hoping the 2014-15 campaign can be the year they win the final game of the season.
Also looking toward next year: the oddsmakers, who don't have the current champs as their favorites for the 2015 Cup.
Odds to win the 2015 Stanley Cup
Chicago Blackhawks 15/2
Boston Bruins 8/1
Los Angeles Kings 10/1
St. Louis Blues 10/1
Anaheim Ducks 14/1
San Jose Sharks 14/1
Colorado Avalanche 18/1
Minnesota Wild 18/1
New York Rangers 18/1
Detroit Red Wings 22/1
Montreal Canadiens 25/1
Tampa Bay Lightning 25/1
Vancouver Canucks 25/1
Philadelphia Flyers 28/1
Dallas Stars 33/1
Toronto Maple Leafs 33/1
Washington Capitals 33/1
Columbus Blue Jackets 40/1
New Jersey Devils 40/1
Carolina Hurricanes 50/1
Edmonton Oilers 50/1
Ottawa Senators 50/1
Phoenix Coyotes 50/1
Winnipeg Jets 50/1
Calgary Flames 66/1
Florida Panthers 66/1
Nashville Predators 66/1
New York Islanders 66/1
Buffalo Sabres 75/1
The Kings at 10/1 could be a nice bet if you think repeats are possible; as could the Rangers at 18/1 if you believe they can weave their way through the Eastern Conference again.
And sorry, Bovada, we're not going to get suckered into betting on the Sharks (14/1) again. We've finally learned our lesson (maybe).
How will Toews, Kane affect Blackhawks' offseason?
By CSN Staff
Stan Bowman has made it known just how much he intends to re-sign Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, even using the term "Blackhawks for life" in the past.
But when will the re-signings come, and — perhaps more interestingly — how might they affect the rest of the Blackhawks' offseason?
The SportsTalk Live panel took a look at the topic on Thursday, wondering if big money for Toews and Kane might squeeze out some of the other Blackhawks stars.
"The higher that number goes up, the more moves the Blackhawks are going to have to make down the line and the more challenges Stan Bowman's going to have filling out that roster, how much better they're going to have to draft," 87 7 The Game's Mark Carman said.
"We'd have to see that rearranging of all those players just like we did after they won the 2010 Stanley Cup, which would be tough," the Sun-Times' Rick Telander said. "But you can't lose Kane and Toews. You cannot lose them."
And who are the untouchable players Bowman recently alluded to? Could Patrick Sharp be moved? Brent Seabrook?
"I'm sure they would trade Patrick Sharp," the Sherman Report's Ed Sherman said. "Patrick Sharp could be a guy who is a victim, a guy that they might have to get rid of if they do this kind of a contract (for Kane and Toews)."
Matt Forte: Bears' goal is a Grant Park celebration.
By CSN Staff
Matt Forte and the Bears are jealous of the Blackhawks. And they plan to do something about it.
After watching a reported 2 million fans attend their Stanley Cup celebration in Grant Park last year that has become the theme around the Bears locker room, as Forte alluded to Saturday afternoon.
"What Coach Trestman has been talking about, what the entire team has been talking about is Grant Park," he said at his own football camp in Park Ridge for grade schoolers. "After the Super Bowl we'll have everybody meet up in Grant Park. That's the goal is to get in the playoffs, go through that, a Super Bowl win and have the parade back here in Chicago and be Super Bowl champions."
Expectations are high for an offense that will return all 11 starters and one that ranked 8th in yards per game and 2nd in points per game last year.After watching a reported 2 million fans attend their Stanley Cup celebration in Grant Park last year that has become the theme around the Bears locker room, as Forte alluded to Saturday afternoon.
"What Coach Trestman has been talking about, what the entire team has been talking about is Grant Park," he said at his own football camp in Park Ridge for grade schoolers. "After the Super Bowl we'll have everybody meet up in Grant Park. That's the goal is to get in the playoffs, go through that, a Super Bowl win and have the parade back here in Chicago and be Super Bowl champions."
And that's fine with Forte, who said the team understands the goals they've set for themselves, which dwarfs what fans and media believe they should do this year.
"We picked up a lot of great players through free agency. We drafted a couple good guys and we got the entire offense back," he said. "So the expectations of ourselves is higher than anybody's expectations are going to be of us."
Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll dead at 82.
By WILL GRAVES (AP Sports Writer)
Chuck Noll, the Hall of Fame coach who won a record four Super Bowl titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers, died Friday night at his home. He was 82.
At 27, he retired as a player from the Browns in 1959
Chuck Noll, the Hall of Fame coach who won a record four Super Bowl titles with the Pittsburgh Steelers, died Friday night at his home. He was 82.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner said Noll died of natural causes.
Noll transformed the Steelers from a long-standing joke into one of the NFL's pre-eminent powers, becoming the only coach to win four Super Bowls. He was a demanding figure who did not make close friends with his players, yet was a successful and motivating leader.
The Steelers won the four Super Bowls over six seasons (1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979), an unprecedented run that made Pittsburgh one of the NFL's marquee franchises, one that breathed life into a struggling, blue-collar city.
''He was one of the great coaches of the game,'' Steelers owner Dan Rooney once said. ''He ranks up there with (George) Halas, (Tom) Landry and (Curly) Lambeau.''
Noll's 16-8 record in postseason play remains one of the best in league history. He retired in 1991 with a 209-156-1 record in 23 seasons, after inheriting a team that had never won a postseason game. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
''Chuck Noll is the best thing that happened to the Rooneys since they got on the boat (to America) in Ireland,'' Art Rooney II, the former Steelers personnel chief and the son of the team founder, once said.
A former messenger guard for his hometown Cleveland Browns who earned the nicknamed Knute Knowledge - as in Knute Rockne - Noll was an assistant with the San Diego Chargers and Baltimore Colts for nine seasons. Then he accepted what seemed a dead-end job in January 1969 as coach of the NFL's least-successful organization.
Art Rooney Sr. often hired friends and cronies as coaches, and only two of the Steelers' first 13 coaches had winning records. At the time Noll took over, the franchise was 105 games below .500 in its history.
Noll, hired only after Penn State's Joe Paterno turned down a $350,000, five-year offer, was different from any Steelers coach before him. He immediately brought intelligence, toughness, stability, confidence, character and a can-do mindset to a franchise accustomed to constant upheaval and ever-changing personnel.
Asked at his first news conference if his goal was to make the Steelers respectable, Noll said, ''Respectability? Who wants to be respectable? That's spoken like a true loser.''
Perhaps not the most colorful coach behind the microphone, Noll could often be counted on for memorable, motivational one-liners that became rallying cries. Phrases like ''A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning,'' and ''Before you can win a game, you have to not lose it,'' and ''The thrill isn't in the winning, it's in the doing,'' spoke volumes about what Noll was trying to accomplish. They went over well in a football-crazed region of Pennsylvania.
The day after Noll was hired, the Steelers drafted defensive lineman Joe Greene. He was the first of the nine Hall of Famers selected during the Noll era. Four of the others were drafted within Noll's first four seasons: Terry Bradshaw, Mel Blount, Jack Ham and Franco Harris.
Four more arrived in the first five rounds of the 1974 draft: Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth and Mike Webster. And the 1971 draft, though it produced only one Hall of Famer (Ham), generated seven starters.
While the Steelers surprisingly won their opener under Noll in 1969, beating Detroit, they lost their final 13 games that season, and their first three in 1970. By then, some were questioning Noll's hiring.
The Steelers' turnaround began in earnest in 1970, the year they moved into the AFC after the NFL and AFL merged. They drafted Bradshaw with the No. 1 pick, moved into Three Rivers Stadium after years of being a secondhand tenant of Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field. They won five of eight during one stretch.
By 1972, the year Harris arrived to give them the ground game Noll sought, they were championship contenders with an 11-3 record and a we've-turned-the-corner attitude. Noll had long since run off underachievers and pushed the Rooneys to bring in the players he wanted.
''He'll argue a point with you and keep yelling, 'No, this is right, you're wrong,''' Dan Rooney said. ''Sometimes you have to say, 'This is the way we're going to do it.'''
The first traditional playoff game in Steelers history on Dec. 23, 1972, also signaled what was to come. The Steelers were in control of the John Madden-coached Raiders most of the game, until quarterback Ken Stabler scored in the final two minutes to put Oakland up 7-6.
With the Steelers down to fourth-and-10 on their side of the field, Bradshaw lofted a pass downfield intended for Frenchy Fuqua. As Fuqua and safety Jack Tatum converged on the ball, it bounded high in the air for what looked to be a certain incompletion. Instead, Harris, trailing on the play, caught the ball nearly at his shoe tops and raced into the end zone for an improbable touchdown.
The play would quickly become known as the ''Immaculate Reception.''
Noll's Steelers did not win the Super Bowl that season - they lost to unbeaten Miami on a fake punt in the AFC title game.
But, with their roster completed by their remarkable 1974 draft, they finally became NFL champions and did it three more times by January 1980.
Still, Noll's best team might have been in 1976, when the Steelers rebounded from a 1-4 start to go 10-4 - even with Bradshaw injured and out most of the season - by playing the greatest stretch of defense in NFL history.
The Steel Curtain shut out five of their final nine opponents while yielding only 28 points. At one point, they didn't allow a touchdown for 22 quarters.
However, Harris and Rocky Bleier, 1,000-yard rushers that season, were injured in a playoff game against Baltimore. Without a running game, they lost the AFC title to Oakland.
A year later, Noll wound up in a federal court trial. He accused Raiders defensive back George Atkinson, who had leveled Swann with a brutal hit the season before, of being part of the NFL's ''criminal element.''
Noll prevailed, but there were hard feelings when, under oath, he included Blount as also being part of that criminal element. The Steelers went 9-5 that season, but rebounded to win the championship in the 1978 and 1979 seasons.
When all the talent began to retire, the championships ended. Great drafts gave way to poor ones. The Steelers won only two playoff games and no conference championships in Noll's final 12 seasons, missing the postseason eight times.
Noll never was much of a yeller or screamer, though he had his moments. He confronted Oilers coach Jerry Glanville at midfield and warned him about the team's borderline-legal blocking techniques.
''He didn't feel like it was his job to motivate,'' Bleier said. ''It was his job to take motivated people and give them a direction and get the job done.''
When he retired, Noll always said he would never coach another team and he didn't.
In 2007, the football field at St. Vincent College, the Steelers' longtime training camp home in Latrobe, was named for Noll, even though he played at and graduated from Dayton.
Born in Cleveland, Noll attended Benedictine High School, where he played running back and tackle, winning All-State honors, before gaining a scholarship to play for the Flyers. He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh's biggest, most traditional rival, in 1953.
Just another Chicago Bulls Session… Spurs rout Heat to win fifth NBA championship and dethrone LeBron James.
By Marc J. Spears
San Antonio Spurs players react during Game Five of the 2014 NBA Finals at AT&T Center on June 15, 2014 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
By the end of Sunday night, LeBron James could only sit and watch as the Miami Heat's reign as back-to-back champions came to end. This year, there would be no collapse from the San Antonio Spurs.
The Spurs again dismantled the Heat, overwhelming them in a 104-87 victory in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to secure the franchise's fifth – and maybe least likely – championship.
From Tim Duncan to Manu Ginobili to Tony Parker, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich subbed out his stars one by one so they could each get their own applause. The Spurs won their fourth title in 2007, and in nearly every year since they were told their championship window was supposedly closing, including last year when they were seconds from closing out the Heat in Game 6 of the Finals only to have the crown slip from their fingers.
"What happened last year made us stronger," Ginobili said. "We knew we weren't going to let this opportunity get away."
Playing crisp, beautiful team basketball that has defined the franchise, the Spurs clinched the title with contributions from all corners of their roster. Kawhi Leonard, whom Popovich has described as the future of the franchise, continued his strong play over the final three games of the series by totaling 22 points and 10 points. Ginobili scored 19 points. Parker had 16, all in the fourth quarter. Backup point guard Patty Mills scored 17.
No team had ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals, and James had a simple question when asked about the task facing the Heat entering Game 5:
"Why not us?"
Well, the Spurs had something to say about that.
Miami coach Erik Spoelstra made some changes to his lineup by starting veteran shooting guard Ray Allen over struggling point guard Mario Chalmers and activating forward Michael Beasley. The moves appeared to immediately pay off: With James running the point guard position, the Heat scored the game's first eight points. The Spurs didn't score until Duncan made two free throws with 8:21 remaining in the first quarter and the Heat surged to a 16-point lead.
James scored 17 points in the first quarter, but even then it was a sign he wasn't getting enough help. The Spurs cut the lead to seven by the end of the quarter surged in front in the second quarter, mainly thanks to Leonard and Ginobili. Ginobili brought the crowd to its feet with a vicious dunk over Chris Bosh then followed with a step-back 3-pointer.
The Spurs then left it to backup point guard Patty Mills to take over the game in the third quarter. Mills made four 3-pointers in the quarter. During one stretch, he and Ginobili combined for three consecutive 3-pointers to hike the lead to 21 and put the Spurs in position for their fifth title.
Chicago Bulls announce summer-league schedule.
By Mark Strotman
The Bulls will open their 2014 Summer-League slate in Las Vegas against the Clippers on Saturday, July 12 at 7:30, the NBA announced Thursday. They'll also square off against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday, July 13 at 7 p.m. and close out their three-game set against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, July 15 at 3:30 p.m.
The 23 NBA teams and single D-League squad are guaranteed five games, with the first three contests determining the seeding for the league's tournament. The championship game will take place Monday, July 21 at 8 p.m.
The Bulls, owners of the No. 16 and No. 19 picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, are among those teams, and it will be fans' first chance to see those players compete in a Bulls uniform. Sophomore Tony Snell likely will compete, but outside of those potential three players (and the Bulls' No. 49 pick in the draft) it's unknown who else will be on the roster. Everyone on the current NBA roster, minus 23-year-old Greg Smith, has at least three years of NBA experience.
For what it's worth (very little, if anything), the Bulls are 12-13 all-time in five seasons in the Summer League. That's fifth worst among the 24 teams participating. In case you were wondering, Houston's .800 winning percentage (24-6) leads the way while 2013 champion Golden State (.690, 29-13), Atlanta, Miami and Charlotte round out the top-five.
Never any doubt as Martin Kaymer goes wire-to-wire at the U.S. Open.
By Jay Busbee
Before the U.S. Open began, the USGA predicted that Pinehurst's wispy sands and turtleback greens would wrestle the world's greatest golfers to the ground. Golf pundits predicted that Phil Mickelson or Rory McIlroy, or at the very least Matt Kuchar, would win the year's second major. Meteorologists predicted rain would affect play every single day.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Martin Kaymer doesn't control the heavens, but that's about the only thing he didn't have a handle on this week at Pinehurst. The 29-year-old German absolutely owned Pinehurst No. 2 in a way rarely seen at a U.S. Open, posting a sleek minus-9 to finish eight strokes ahead of the field. Kaymer now holds two majors and the Players Championship, and has eliminated any doubts that he's one of the world's elite players.
This marked the third U.S. Open at Pinehurst. The first, in 1999, was one of the greatest majors in golf history, one that culminated in a final-hole showdown between Mickelson and winner Payne Stewart. The second, in 2005, featured the stunning collapse of Retief Goosen and an opportunistic win by Michael Campbell.
This year's model featured neither drama nor heartbreak. It was simply one relentless 72-hole stomp, Kaymer posting a three-stroke lead on Thursday, pairing that with a second 65 on Friday, and then never letting anyone within sight of his taillights all weekend long.
Oh, make no mistake, it wasn't like the field handed this to Kaymer. In fact, if you lop the top name off the leaderboard, this was one hell of a tournament, with only two golfers besides Kaymer besting the USGA's beloved par for the week. And as Mickelson heads toward the final few U.S. Opens in which he'll realistically be competitive, it's clear that golf's new generation is ready to own the leaderboard.
There's 25-year-old Rickie Fowler, who followed up a T5 at the Masters with a second-place finish at Pinehurst despite looking like something that belongs in a kid's lunch box. There's fellow second-place finisher Erik Compton, 34 years old but, as a two-time heart transplant recipient, one of the best stories on Tour. There's 29-year-old Dustin Johnson, whose progress up the world golf rankings is slow but inexorable, and 28-year-old Keegan Bradley, two of the five who finished at 1-over
Golf's biggest names didn't pose much of a challenge. Tiger Woods remains on the sidelines from a back injury. Mickelson had hoped to avenge his 1999 Pinehurst loss but couldn't have putted worse if he'd just thrown the club at the ball, and ended the tournament at 7-over. Rory McIlroy, he of the constant up-and-down performances, was far more down than up this week, finishing at 6-over. Wonder kid Jordan Spieth broke par on Thursday but slowly slid backward to finish the tournament at 4-over. Masters champ Bubba Watson didn't even see the weekend. Only world No. 1 Adam Scott salvaged even a moral victory, finishing at 2-over to notch his first-ever top-10 finish in a U.S. Open.
Kaymer never let any of them anywhere close. He had every chance to gag on the weekend, and managed to play his way out of trouble time and again. His Sunday round of 1-under wasn't spectacular, but it didn't need to be. You could criticize the rest of the field for not making a run at Kaymer, but he didn't give them any hope, much less a chance.
Johnson gets first-ever win at Michigan.
By Scott Held, NASCAR Wire Service
At long last, Jimmie Johnson knows what it feels like to visit Victory Lane at Michigan International Speedway.
The six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion took the lead for good on Lap 191 after a cycle of pit stops and cruised to the checkered flag at Sunday's Quicken Loans 400 to end a 24-race drought here.
"We've figured out every way to lose this race and today we were able to get it done," he said after getting out of his No. 48 Chevy.
Johnson had encountered heartbreak several times when leading late here and admitted he was nervous as he dashed through the final few laps.
"About 200 yards before the finish line I knew if the car exploded, I'd still make it across the line," he said with a chuckle, "so that's when I finally relaxed."
Johnson pitted on Lap 165 and took on four tires and enough fuel to finish the race, which was green the rest of the way. Anyone close to him pitted later, leaving Johnson comfortably ahead as Hendrick Motorsports captured its fifth straight Sprint Cup Series race.
"We were really in a win-win situation," said Johnson, who led 39 laps and jumped to second in the Sprint Cup points standings behind Gordon. "Those guys had to come to pit road to make it to the end.
"We were really in a win-win situation," said Johnson, who led 39 laps and jumped to second in the Sprint Cup points standings behind Gordon. "Those guys had to come to pit road to make it to the end.
"Once the strategy unfolded, we knew we were in the catbird seat."
Crew chief Chad Knaus said the team had an extra ace in the hole.
"We knew there was going to be some opportunities to play some strategy today," he said. "We were fortunate to have a fast racecar and hit the strategy correct."
The car was the same the team used to win Johnson's first race of the season at Charlotte.
Pole-sitter Kevin Harvick, who led a race-best 63 laps, was second, followed by Brad Keselowski, Paul Menard and Kasey Kahne.
Johnson's win capped a stellar day for HMS, which saw all four Chevys in the top seven thanks to Kahne, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who were sixth and seventh.
Johnson became the series' first three-time winner and picked up his 69th career Sprint Cup victory. He's finished first in three of the series' last four races, moving from fourth to second in the series points standings, 15 points behind Gordon.
Harvick was especially fast on restarts during the first 150 laps of the race but got caught in a series of green-flag stops that dropped him to second. He did little to hide his frustration.
"The car was fast, just wound up on the wrong side of the strategy," he said.
Harvick had the fastest car on the track for most of practice and set a new track record to earn the pole.
The pit strategy chess game forced several other contenders farther back in the field, including Joey Logano, who led the field for 15 laps before being passed by Harvick on Lap 141.
The race wasn't quite a lap old when Brian Vickers brushed the Turn 4 wall, then spun before collecting Travis Kvapil near the entrance to pit lane. Rookie Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. brought out another caution on Lap 6 when they made contact near Turn 2.
Casey Mears and Brett Moffitt tangled in Turn 4 on Lap 115 and Aric Almirola and Denny Hamlin spun in the same place on Lap 122 to bring out another caution. The race was yellow-flagged eight times for 36 laps.
The Sprint Cup Series is in California next week for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma Raceway on Sunday starting at 3 p.m. ET (TNT).
Jim Bunning's perfect Father's Day game.
By Bill Lyon
He stood on that little hillock in the middle of the diamond, 6-feet-3 and rawhide lean, with a gunfighter's glare, and he towered over them and looked down with imperious scorn, and they pawed nervously at the batter's box dirt, hesitant to dig in against his fastball that hissed like a rattler or the breaking ball that danced like a Frisbee in a high wind, leaving them flailing impotently.
Because he is on today, the Man on the Mound is. It becomes obvious after he saws through the opposing lineup methodically early on and when he gets away with mistake sliders up high and all they can do is foul them off. So then, a little bit of luck and then, yes sir, strap it on, Boys, the Man on the Mound has brought his A-Number-1 stuff today.
He looks, well, unhittable.
He looks, in fact, perfect.
Shut your mouth, Pilgrim.Because he is on today, the Man on the Mound is. It becomes obvious after he saws through the opposing lineup methodically early on and when he gets away with mistake sliders up high and all they can do is foul them off. So then, a little bit of luck and then, yes sir, strap it on, Boys, the Man on the Mound has brought his A-Number-1 stuff today.
He looks, well, unhittable.
He looks, in fact, perfect.
It is the most sacrosanct superstition in all of baseball: If your pitcher is flirting with a no-hitter, thou shall not mention it.
But that is only the beginning of the rule filed under hexes and jinxes. You must treat him as though he were a leper. You must not only observe an unshakable code of lock-lipped silence, you must make sure that your teammates are studiously obeying, as well, and are staying downwind.
So here we are, half a century later, a day in mid-summer . . . one shimmering with possibility . . . June 21, 1964 . . . a Sunday . . . Father's Day . . . Shea Stadium, home of the New York Metropolitans, who are playing the Philadelphia Phillies in a doubleheader, and in the process in the first game are about to make history because on this day the Man on the Mound, James Paul David Bunning, is, indeed, unhittable . . . is, in fact, perfect.
And he is driving them crazy.
He won't shut up. To the horror of his teammates he chatters merrily away while they scramble frantically to avoid him.
"It was the strangest thing," said Johnny Callison, the right-fielder. "You don't talk when you have a no-hitter, right? But he was going up and down the bench and telling everybody what was going on. Everybody tried to get away from him, but he was so wired that he followed us around."
In his book Jim Bunning: Baseball and Beyond, Frank Dolson, then the Inquirer sports columnist, quotes Gus Triandos, the man who was catching perfection, recounting: "He was really silly. He was jabbering like a magpie."
But the Man on the Mound says there was a method to his madness.
"The other guys thought I was crazy, but I didn't want anyone tightening up. Most of all I didn't want to tighten up myself. Earlier in the year I blew a no-hitter against Houston keeping my mouth shut, and I promised myself if I got in that position again I was talking. I didn't want any tension."
And so with 25 batters down and only two to go, the Man on the Mound summons his catcher.
Triandos: "He calls me out and says I should tell him a joke or something, just to give him a breather. I couldn't think of any; I just laughed at him."
The Mets tried to stack the deck. They sent up two left-handed pinch hitters back to back, George Altman and then John Stephenson. The same fate awaited them . . . and immortality awaited Jim Bunning.
Strike three . . . strike three.
But that is only the beginning of the rule filed under hexes and jinxes. You must treat him as though he were a leper. You must not only observe an unshakable code of lock-lipped silence, you must make sure that your teammates are studiously obeying, as well, and are staying downwind.
So here we are, half a century later, a day in mid-summer . . . one shimmering with possibility . . . June 21, 1964 . . . a Sunday . . . Father's Day . . . Shea Stadium, home of the New York Metropolitans, who are playing the Philadelphia Phillies in a doubleheader, and in the process in the first game are about to make history because on this day the Man on the Mound, James Paul David Bunning, is, indeed, unhittable . . . is, in fact, perfect.
And he is driving them crazy.
He won't shut up. To the horror of his teammates he chatters merrily away while they scramble frantically to avoid him.
"It was the strangest thing," said Johnny Callison, the right-fielder. "You don't talk when you have a no-hitter, right? But he was going up and down the bench and telling everybody what was going on. Everybody tried to get away from him, but he was so wired that he followed us around."
In his book Jim Bunning: Baseball and Beyond, Frank Dolson, then the Inquirer sports columnist, quotes Gus Triandos, the man who was catching perfection, recounting: "He was really silly. He was jabbering like a magpie."
But the Man on the Mound says there was a method to his madness.
"The other guys thought I was crazy, but I didn't want anyone tightening up. Most of all I didn't want to tighten up myself. Earlier in the year I blew a no-hitter against Houston keeping my mouth shut, and I promised myself if I got in that position again I was talking. I didn't want any tension."
And so with 25 batters down and only two to go, the Man on the Mound summons his catcher.
Triandos: "He calls me out and says I should tell him a joke or something, just to give him a breather. I couldn't think of any; I just laughed at him."
The Mets tried to stack the deck. They sent up two left-handed pinch hitters back to back, George Altman and then John Stephenson. The same fate awaited them . . . and immortality awaited Jim Bunning.
Strike three . . . strike three.
He threw an economical 90 pitches, and his control was surgical: 69 strikes, 21 balls.
Pitches by innings: 8, 11, 8, 12, 9, 7, 10, 12, 13.
No walks. Ten strikeouts.
He dominated, so precise that there were only two close calls, the first in the bottom of the fifth inning when Jesse Gonder lashed a line drive that was headed for open spaces. But it was intercepted by Tony Taylor, the second baseman, who dove, all out, knocked the ball down, crawled after it, and got Gonder at first.
In the seventh, third baseman Richie Allen made a slick stop of a Ron Hunt smash. From then on Jim Bunning had the cold-steel look of the inevitable. He ended it by striking out Stephenson on nothing but curveballs, five of them, each one more nasty than the previous one.
Never one to show much emotion, he allowed himself a modest celebratory fist in his glove and then braced himself for the mob rushing at him. It was OK now; they could talk to him.
The jinx of silence was broken.
Across the field, in a nice touch of class, the Mets gave him a standing ovation.
And then, out of the bleachers came two women, running to enfold him in a giddy embrace.
Mary Bunning, Wife of the Man on the Mound.
Barbara Bunning, oldest daughter, one of seven children of the Man on the Mound. They had driven from Philadelphia up the New Jersey Turnpike for the World's Fair and then the game.
So you see, this was perfect in so many enchanting ways.
And it will forever be remembered as the Perfect Father's Day.
For a lot of reasons . . .
This was Jim Bunning's second no-hitter. On July 20, 1958, pitching for the Detroit Tigers, he threw a no-no against the Boston Red Sox, and just to sweeten that performance, the last batter was Ted Williams, the man many consider to be the greatest hitter who ever lived. He flied out meekly.
So then, first a no-hitter in the American League and then, six years later, one in the National League.
One might think that's probably fairly rare, a no-hitter in both leagues. One would be correct.
The complete list of those who have done it:
Cy Young.
Jim Bunning.
Jim Bunning's Perfect Father's Day game was played in a tidy 2 hours and 19 minutes. The official attendance was 32,026. His record improved to 7 and 2. He would end up a stellar Hall of Fame career with 224 wins, an ERA of 3.27, and at that time 17th place on the all-time strikeout list with 2,855.
But while the perfect game represented Mountain High for the 1964 Phillies, Valley Low, their epic collapse in that torturous home stretch, was still three months away.
Postscript 1: Ed Sullivan invited Bunning to appear on his popular Sunday night variety show. He received $1,000.
Postscript 2: The Bunnings used it to add a pool and bathhouse to their home in Kentucky.
Postscript 3: Yes, from time to time he watches the tape of that game: "If somebody asks. But I only have the last six outs."
Postscript 4: He is 82 and sounds like 22: "Never felt better. No artificial hips or legs or any of that. And my right arm, it's like I never threw a pitch."
Urban Meyer again calls his 2008 Florida team 'the best team to ever play the game'.
By Nick Bromberg
It's fitting that Florida's nickname is an animal.
Speaking at a football camp Thursday, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer again called his 2008 Florida Gators team the best ever. And he cited the instincts of a wild animal in doing so.
"Once again, I know some of you won state championships, I've been a part of a couple great teams," Meyer said. "I think the best team that's ever played the game in '08. That was because animal instincts took over on the field. They protected each other. What he said is 'Have you ever tried to reason with a wild animal?' Think about that. Think about what I just said. You try to reason with a wild animal, you can't reason with a wild animal. Have you ever tried to negotiate, evaluate, take a play off? If you're a wild animal that doesn't happen."
The 2008 Florida team won the 2009 BCS Championship Game over Oklahoma 24-14. The team included Tim Tebow and Percy Harvin and Tebow was the SEC's Offensive Player of the Year, losing out on a possible second-straight Heisman to Sam Bradford. However, that Florida team didn't go undefeated; it lost 31-30 at Ole Miss in its fourth game of the season.
Throughout the seven-minute video, you can tell why Meyer is an engaging speaker as a coach. Multiple times he instructs players to keep their focus on what he's saying, and even points at a couple specific individuals throughout the speech, which also had heavy references to his current Ohio State team.
It's not the first time he's said this about the 2008 Gators. He vocalized the same thoughts in May of 2013.
Is Meyer's claim legitimate? Well, has it ever been possible to clearly define the best team ever in any sport? It may not be fair, but some may want to discount Florida from any conversation simply because of the loss and the prestige that comes with running the table in a college football season. However, SEC defenders would certainly point to the depth of the conference as why Florida should be considered.
It's an endless conversation that has no "true" answer. But we're betting that if Meyer's Buckeyes would have won its final two games of 2013, he'd have them right up there with the 2008 Gators.
Amateur model engulfed by users.
By Matt Hayes
I can’t stomach this anymore.
Can’t listen to Ed O’Bannon proudly declare he was an athlete first, a student second. Can’t listen to the NCAA touting meeting the president as a benefit of amateur sports. Can’t listen to some egghead professor blame the ills of life on coaches who make too much money.
I’m done with it all because while this landmark NCAA vs. Players case is all about television money and how to divvy it, it should be about something much more disturbing that has been going on for decades — and will finally be publicly exposed over the projected three-week trial:
The entire amateur model is full of users.
Players use universities. Universities use players. Professional leagues and corporations use them all.
Yet here we are, in the opening days of a case that could change the landscape of amateur sports forever, ignoring it all. It’s so plain to see, but we choose instead to focus on the almighty dollar because that’s what’s important in the here and now.
O’Bannon should be embarrassed that he declared himself an athlete first; should be ashamed that he used the excuse that he “was only 17” when he was signing up for his major at UCLA, and didn’t know better when he claimed advisors were steering him into an easier major.
Was he “only 17” when he took five recruiting trips to different universities; when advisors told him the world was his oyster with all the potential majors within his reach? Was he “only 17” when he chose — not UCLA — to take the “easy way out” by choosing a major that allowed him the most possible time to focus on basketball?
Wasn’t Andrew Luck “only 17” when he started school at Stanford, and later graduated in three years and eventually played his final football season with the Cardinal as a graduate student?
Wasn’t Myron Rolle “only 17” when he began playing at Florida State, when he eventually had his Rhodes Scholar interview hours before a game, made the interview and made the game in the same day? If Luck and Rolle can do it, why can’t O’Bannon?
Because O’Bannon probably shouldn’t have been in school in the first place. And that leads us to the NCAA’s mortal sin: allowing players who wouldn’t otherwise qualify academically for higher education into their systems because those same players will help them win games and make money — all under the guise of “giving young men a chance to succeed.”
Member universities know damn well young men who aren’t academically ready for college can be plopped into bogus majors, then pushed along — sometimes, by breaking NCAA rules — to keep them eligible to play. Don’t feel too sorry for the players; they know the game and play it well.
They’re using the NCAA just as often as the NCAA is using them. Because without the NCAA, these players have zero chance of playing in the NFL. So if that means the NCAA treats them like a piece of meat; if that means the NCAA humiliates them by pushing them into no-show classes for grades and thereby insinuating the easiest way out is the lowest common denominator, then so be it.
Guess how many players who haven’t attended college in some form (junior college, Division I, or NCAA lower divisions) are on NFL rosters?
Zero.
And this brings us to the NFL and NBA, those two bastions of the greater good who allow felons and drug users to continue playing throughout their leagues because it’s a professional game now. It’s a business.
Like it hasn’t been a business for these young men since the day they stepped on a high school field and grown men followed them with cameras to detail their 40 times for their recruiting websites, and a multibillion-dollar company invited them to something called “The Opening.”
That’s right, Nike uses players, too — because someone has to buy the shoes, and maybe one of those at The Opening will be a Johnny Manziel, who will need an endorsement deal in three years. But wait, it gets much sleazier.
The NFL and NBA use the NCAA as a minor league system, a process so detailed, young men are told in college what to eat and drink and how to lift weights to make them physically elite. They’re then coached by some of the greatest football and basketball minds in their respective sports; taught the intricacies and nuances of the game to prepare them for the professional game.
Guess how much the NFL and NBA pay for this service. Nothing.
What’s worse, the NFL and NBA get to dictate terms of the informal agreement. The NCAA doesn’t mandate that football players must stay in school for three years, or basketball players must spend one season in school. The professional leagues do.
The NFL won’t take any prospective player who isn’t three years removed from his high school graduating class. It’s their business, their rules.
This rule forces players to attend college, even though many aren’t remotely ready to deal with the academic rigors of higher education. Players know to get to the NFL, they must go to college because no one plays in the NFL without some form of college experience.
The NCAA, of course, is good with this because football and basketball teams are the revenue generators for athletic departments, and without them, the departments don’t exist. Without them, all of those minor sports don’t exist.
All of that opportunity for all of those other student-athletes to play a game they love and get a scholarship for it — for them, a true deal in every sense — doesn’t exist. The NCAA doesn’t want to give that up so it swallows hard and allows North Carolina to have bogus classes — then proclaims the lack of academic fraud because every student (athlete or not) is eligible to take the no-show classes.
I use you, you use me, they use us and the next thing you know, we’re in court fighting over billions when we should all be looking at the bigger picture.
Ed O’Bannon is sitting in a courtroom humiliating himself for money. The NCAA is sitting in a courtroom, exposing the sham of its football and basketball models, to protect its money.
And all we can do it scream and argue about how to divvy it all up.
Years ago, when O’Bannon began his lawsuit against the NCAA, it was about the NCAA and its partners having control over his likeness in perpetuity and making money off it. A couple of years later, after the major conferences realigned and signed mega television deals, the case suddenly shifted to players getting a share of that money.
In the ultimate irony, O’Bannon went from suing the users to becoming a bigger user himself. Some attorney (see: another user) talked him into changing the lawsuit to include television money and the idea of pay for play.
Freud once said users don’t really know what they want. In this sense, it doesn’t really matter.
As long as they get the money they need.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, June 16, 2014.
MemoriesofHistory.com
1883 - The New York Giants baseball team admitted all ladies for free to the ballpark. It was the first Ladies Day.
1938 - Jimmy Foxx (Boston Red Sox) set a major league record when he was walked six times in one game.
1951 - Ben Hogan won the U.S. Open for the second straight year.
1969 - U.S. President Nixon sent a telegram to Reggie Jackson thanking him for hitting two home runs while he was in the park on June 11.
1970 - Brian Piccolo (Chicago Bears) died of cancer.
1975 - The Milwaukee Bucks traded Kareem-Abdul Jabbar to the Los Angeles Lakers.
1981 - The "Chicago Tribune" purchased the Chicago Cubs baseball team from the P.K. Wrigley Chewing Gum Company for $20.5 million.
1985 - Willie Banks broke the world record for the triple jump with a leap of 58 feet, 11-1/2 inches in the U.S.A. championships in Indianapolis, IN.
1991 - Otis Nixon (Montreal Expos) broke a major league record with six stolen bases in one game.
1993 - Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) scored 55 points in an NBA Finals game against the Phoenix Suns. Jordan became the first player to score 50 points in a Finals games since Jerry West in 1969.
1996 - In Lusaka, Sambia, fans stampeded the field at the World Cup match between Zambia and Sudan. Nine people were killed and 78 were injured.
2005 - The NHL Board of Governors approved the sale of the Disney owned Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to Henry and Susan Samueli.
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