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Sports Quote of the Day:
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too can become great." ~ Mark Twain, Author and Humorist
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! As far as Bears 'buy in,' what a difference a year makes.
By John Mullin
This time a year ago, Jay Cutler was making minor news with an observation that not everyone on the team seemed to have bought into the new regime of Marc Trestman. That encompassed myriad elements:
Veteran members of the defense long accustomed to and comfortable with Lovie Smith, and perhaps resentful of his replacement?
Members of an offense, beginning with its quarterback, that had gone through regimes of Ron Turner, Mike Martz and Mike Tice and were now being asked to buy into another new guy?
Or just a lot of players throughout the locker room that was now scrambled away from position groupings by a coach who wanted everyone to have lunch regularly with someone new and get to know teammates?
Probably all of the above, and perhaps not unexpectedly. But the potential for mismatches and resistance was there, Cutler knew it and was in that maelstrom, and there was a roster that would have 28 players in contract years, including 13 starters.
Now the quarterback has the new contract he was playing to earn last year and the buy in this year has been palpable through practices with an energy that was sometimes suspect 12 months ago.
“There were a lot of questions last year going into the season,” Cutler acknowledged. “’Would I be back? How would everything work out with Tress? How would it the offense work?’
“So this year, there are still questions, but they’re questions about are we going to go out and perform and do what we did last year. I think that’s a better feeling going into camp for myself. I’m excited to go out there with these guys. I’ve talked to them in the last couple weeks and everyone is pretty amped up about it.”
“Amped” in July does not mean wins in September. But bad chemistry and an absence of buy in to systems or teammates can mean a whole that is less than the sum of the parts.
But the Bears bought in to Cutler — literally, to the degree of $54 million over the next three seasons — in no small measure because of not only his talent, which has never been the concern with him, but also largely because of what they saw from him in terms of buying into what Trestman and GM Phil Emery were both espousing as well as doing.
Indeed, it was less that talent of arm and legs than the leadership that was in question this time a year ago.
“I think it’s just the day-to-day involvement with the team, concern for his teammates, communication that he has with them and the work he’s done with them to try and help them along and mentor some of the younger guys and do those types of things,” Trestman said. “I don’t think there’s any one thing. I just think he’s gone about carrying himself like a quarterback should in this league, walking around the building connecting with people throughout the building and then the work ethic and the time you put into the football side of it is critically important.”
When Trestman was hired as Bears coach, his reservations about Cutler being the long-sought franchise quarterback was apparent. Emery appeared to be more convinced than his head coach.
As recently as the start of training camp last July, Cutler was still in a prove-it mode with his new head coach. Not now.
“Obviously, I feel better [about Cutler],” Trestman said. “I mean, I should feel better about it. We know each other better. We’re a year into it. I have a lot of confidence in him and what he does off the field and on the field to prepare to play the game. And his commitment to the team.”
The Best and Worst Things About an NFL Training Camp.
By Ryan Riddle
As with most things in life worth anything, an NFL training camp comes with its own set of trials and tribulations. But the rewards and benefits that accompany this turbulent experience can vastly outweigh the hardships required to remain a member of such an elite group.
What follows are the best and worst things about an NFL training camp as told from a guy who simultaneously loved and hated it every step of the way.
Worst: The Heat
One of the first things that come to mind when I think about training camp is the intense heat. It’s bad enough that training camp takes place during the hottest time of the entire year, but for the Raiders, they make their annual pilgrimage from Oakland to Napa Valley, where the temperature goes up at least 15 degrees.
To make matters worse, players are expected to put on an added 20 pounds of equipment while they run around to the point of exhaustion.
Napa Valley might not have been a walk in the park, but the humidity in Maryland took things to a whole new level—especially for a guy accustomed to cool, West Coast weather, like myself.
During my first week of training camp for the Baltimore Ravens, I distinctly remember losing 10 pounds of fluids from a single two-hour practice. I know this because the training staff mandates players weigh in before and after practice to monitor for dehydration. Obviously my extreme loss of fluids caught their attention and they nearly force-fed me Gatorade for the rest of the day.
Best: Preseason games
Personally, I was never a big fan of the practice format in football because guys on defense were so limited—especially at the NFL level.
During practice, there are so many limitations. Even tackling the ball-carrier in practice is a rare occurrence. This leaves room for only isolated drills and situations to be rehearsed during practice.
Also, practice tempo is always one of the hardest things to figure out in training camp. Established veterans tend to practice at one speed, while rookies and fringe players trying to make the team are going as close to full speed as they can without upsetting their teammates.
This monotony of hitting the same guys every day for weeks at a time can really start to wear on the soul. So, playing against another opponent in a game-time environment is always an exciting experience.
Game days also help to break up the practice week and allow up-and-comers to show what they can do. Plus, who doesn’t love the opportunity to perform in front of a real NFL crowd at an actual NFL stadium? For guys like me, these are the moments that reinforce why you put yourself through hell and agony.
Ask any NFL player and he will tell you—never do you feel so alive as you do competing in a professional football game. This is even true in a preseason contest for the guys just starting out in the league.
Worst: Cut Days
As you can imagine, days when the organization has to reduce the size of its roster are always full of angst for nearly everyone involved. Even guys who are safe from the axe are still anxious about the loss of certain faces they’ve come to know and love over the years.
NFL cut days often mark the end of close friendships and relationships. These are teammates who have fought together through thick and thin for years, sharing in success and failures, and they must suddenly and abruptly say goodbye.
For the less fortunate, cut days take on an entirely new meaning. This is also the day many young athletes learn their NFL dreams are over. As rough as it is to batter and break the body, it can be 10 times worse to call your parents and let them know that you’re no longer employed by the NFL.
This emotional roller coaster is definitely one of the most overlooked aspects of life as a professional athlete.
For more on the harsh realities of being cut, read this article.
Best: Team Camaraderie
There’s a reason you always hear retired players expressing nostalgia for the bonding that takes place in an NFL locker room. It’s only natural that when you put a group of guys together in a challenging environment for months at a time, with a unified goal, some powerful bonds are formed. These bonds can last a lifetime, or they can be more temporary, but the memories and enjoyment that come from such interactions are extremely valuable.
During camp there are limited sources of entertainment. As a result, guys look inward and toward each other to help make the grueling days more enjoyable. Jokes, stories and guys just being guys quickly replace video games, television and cell phones.
In a way, the situation lends itself to a more primal state of existence—one that could help cleanse the soul and put us back in touch with elements of humanity diluted by the conveniences of modern society.
Worst: All-Encompassing Fatigue
Some say football is only for the strong. Well after playing the sport for over 10 years at every level of competition, this is undoubtedly true.
If there’s one way to weed out the weak, unfit and ill-prepared, it would be to put them through an NFL training camp. Camp usually begins with a challenge right out of the gate with a conditioning test administered to every player to see who came ready to rock.
I can easily say that training camp is one of the most difficult challenges I’ve ever faced in my life. The toll it can take on the mind and body is severe. After the first week, the body is so bruised and sore that it’s nearly impossible to identify a muscle group that is unscathed.
By mid-camp, the body has been hardened so much that it no longer discolors from bruising. Everything begins to feel firmer but at the same time, completely exhausted. Trying to balance this conditioning process without wearing down or injuring the players is incredibly complex, especially when you consider each individual has their own threshold for wearing down.
But as tough as camp is on the body, the mental fatigue is just as real and just as debilitating. While the body is busy colliding into massive objects moving at incredible speeds, the mind is being tasked to memorize a new language, make split-second decisions and navigate a social environment that can send some players to the brink of a nervous breakdown.
As you can imagine, the stresses involved with performance, competition and expectations can certainly lead to burning the candle at both ends.
In training camp, the days can last from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Meetings seem to go on forever, and staying awake for one after another becomes a challenge in and of itself.
So many guys fall prey to the occasional doze off, that a list is collected of violators who must pay money into a pool that gets distributed to players based on performance in the preseason games. Every team negotiates this differently, but most seem to have some version of this system.
Best: Sharing the Field with Legends
Despite the pain and agony that is often described with training camp, it is easy to be reminded of what an honor it truly is to play in the NFL. It’s a surreal experience putting on the same helmet and wearing the same uniform as the legends you grew up watching and admiring.
I’ve been fortunate enough to call some of the greatest football players in history my teammates. With a list of names that includes Ray Lewis, Randy Moss, Warren Sapp, Terrell Suggs, Steve McNair, Charles Woodson, Keith Brooking, Haloti Ngata, Jonathan Ogden and so much more, it makes the hardships and struggles well worth it.
In hindsight, when the money is no longer relevant, it is those names and the shared time in their presence that remain with you well into the twilight of your life. The legacy we take with us when the game has left us behind is that special piece of something bigger than ourselves—it’s the interaction and shaping of a tiny piece of history.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Rockford roommates work to make the leap.
By Daniel Bettenhausen
With the Blackhawks' annual Prospect Camp concluding last week, many of the team's young players hope the impressions they made will have a positive impact on the organization. For others, they hope this is their final camp as they try make the transition from the American Hockey League to the NHL. Three players looking to make the leap are Rockford IceHogs forwards Garret Ross, Mark McNeill and Phillip Danault.
The three are fresh off their first full season in the AHL; all three played in at least 72 games and produced at least 26 points. On top of that, Ross, McNeill and Danault room together in Rockford.
“[Ross and Danault] are two guys I didn’t know too well coming into last season, but I had the opportunity to live with them and got to know them on and off the ice,” said McNeill, a 2011 first-round draft pick. The British Columbia native added: “They are great people away from the rink, and when they get to the rink, they work their butts off. Towards the end of the year, those guys showed a lot of improvement, and it’s going to be interesting and exciting to see how they improve as the years go on.”
McNeill tallied 18 goals and 19 assists in his first season with the IceHogs. While his offensive numbers were impressive, he did identify his defensive play as an area of improvement. Two-way play will be important going forward, especially since the IceHogs have been trying him out at both wing and center.
“I just have to come into [this season] ready to go, control my game, and be that much more confident," he said. "I've got to make another stride forward.”
If McNeill displays this versatility along with his grit (having been in a handful of fights last season), he may find himself on the Blackhawks’ roster sooner rather than later.
Danault, who was drafted eight spots after McNeill in 2011, also fashioned a solid rookie season with the IceHogs. The center prospect from Victoriaville, Quebec, tallied 20 of his 26 points as a set-up man for his teammates. In order to reach the next level, he has his sights set on where he needs to improve.
“I want to be more mature on the penalty kill," Danault said. "I want to have a big role this year on the penalty kill and defensively. I want to be a good third-liner, especially on faceoffs. I also want to show my maturity and leadership. My offensive skill could always be better, too.”
Danault emphasized the importance of bringing 110 percent every day, and that effort--plus playing to his strengths--will only add to his development.
While McNeill and Danault both carry the pedigree associated with high draft picks, it was another Rockford rookie who was recognized by the IceHogs coaching staff.
2012 fifth-round pick Garret Ross was named the team’s Rookie of the Year after posting 15 goals and 16 assists in his first pro season. The 22-year old Michigan native also owned a +12 plus/minus rating, best among team forwards.
“It was definitely an honor to be recognized for [my play last season]," Ross said. "While it was an up-and-down season for us, overall I think it went pretty well. We have a good coaching staff to help the younger guys along the way. I think that really made a difference.”
Similar to his teammates, Ross acknowledges that there are places where he can improve, first and foremost when it comes to taking penalties; he was assessed 74 penalty minutes last season.
“I bring a high compete level every day on the ice," Ross explained. "I'm out there battling day in and day out. I think that's something every team needs--players with high energy and toughness. I think [the team] expects that out of me.”
As far as his positives, Ross said: “I'm a two-way player; I'm responsible in my defensive zone. I can also produce when given the opportunity in the offensive zone. I bring a lot of energy and grit to the game. That pretty much sums me up.”
As these three budding players continue into their second full season with the IceHogs, they do not only have high expectations for themselves as they get closer to the NHL, they also hope the fans see their desire as hockey players.
When asked about what they want fans to know about them, McNeill went the hockey route and said, “I want them to see that I keep getting hungrier and hungrier, and that I want it that much more--to get to the next level.”
Ross restated that he wants fans to see his grit and tenacity on the ice.
As for Danault, he laughed and pondered, “I don’t know. You should ask Ross and McNeill… I love tennis!”
Just another Chicago Bulls Session… The Chicago Bulls Have Entered The Race For Kevin Love. What's Your Take?
By Tony Manfred
Kevin Love, Is he truly worth it? (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
The Chicago Bulls are interested in trading for Kevin Love, Marc Stein and Brian Windhorst of ESPN report.
Details are sparse, the Bulls would likely need to send at least Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler to Minnesota, according to Stein and Windhorst.
The Bulls made a hard push for Carmelo Anthony at the beginning of the free agency period. When he rejected their offer and stayed in New York, Chicago went to a respectable Plan B. They signed Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic, and Mike Dunleavy, and used the amnesty provision to get Carlos Boozer off their salary cap.
Love is owed $15.7 million in 2014-15. To acquire him in a trade, the Bulls would have to send ~$13.7 million back to Minnesota. Here are the potential chips they could use:
- Taj Gibson ($8 million)
- Nikola Mirotic ($5.3 million), can't be traded for 30 days
- Jimmy Butler ($2 million)
- Doug McDermott ($1.9 million) can't be traded for 30 days
- Tony Snell ($1.4 million)
- 2015 1st-round pick
- Sacramento's 2015 1st-round pick (top-10 protected)
Any combination of players that frees up $13.7 million in salary would work under NBA rules.
Even if we assume the Bulls are going all-in and are willing to part with Gibson and Butler (or the highly-touted Euroleague star Mirotic before he has even played a minute in the NBA), Cleveland still might be able to make Minnesota a better offer.
The Cavs can offer them the last two No. 1 picks — Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins — as well as bunch of future 1st-round picks (their own 2015 pick, Miami's 2015 pick, and a future Memphis pick).
If Cleveland opts to keep Wiggins and Minnesota has to look elsewhere for a trade partner, the trio of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and Kevin Love would be a joy to watch.
Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica Take: What's the goal? A championship this year or several championships in the next few years? I don't like this deal. We are giving up too much. Championship teams are built from the inside up. The Bulls did it with Michael Jordan, then Pippen and Grant, Paxton and Cartwright. Next cycle they brought in Longley, Purdue, Kukoc, Kerr and Rodman along with a long list of young journeymen players. The current Blackhawks have done the same thing with Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Keith, Seabrook, Bickell, Saad, Versteeg, Crawford and many, many more. Not to mention all of the young talent they have stockpiled. People laugh at the Cubs because they haven't won a championship in 108 years, well it's coming..... their minor league farm system is bulging with terrific young talent and just watch out, within the next three years, they will be on a terror and they'll be in the hunt for awhile.
Now back to the Bulls, they have some very good young talented draft picks and they're willing to give it away for a chance to maybe win this year, NOT. What happens if they have another injury to one of their key players? Will we say, "Wait until next year?" This trade reminds me of the "HWT".
"HWT", otherwise known as the Herschel Walker Trade, was arguably the most consequential deal in NFL history, at least among those involving players and draft picks. And, boy, were there plenty of those involved. To get the two-time All-Pro and former USFL star, the Minnesota Vikings sent five players and six draft picks to the Dallas Cowboys in a trade that is as much praised in Texas as the reason for the rise of the Cowboys as it is reviled in Minnesota for the demise of the Vikings. Most notably, the Cowboys turned one of those picks into Emmitt Smith, who, along with Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin, helped build Dallas into a dynasty in the 1990s on the way to becoming the NFL’s all-time leading rusher.
Why should we destroy our future and legacy to enhance Minnesota's future? Plus they are division rivals and will love to rub this fiasco in our faces each time we play them. Many of you will say, "Let the VP of Operations, GM and Coach do their jobs." They know what they're doing. You're right, whoever thought GM would go bankrupt? They thought they knew what they were doing also. Sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. I just don't like this deal. However, let it also be said that I am a diehard dyed in the wool Chicago sports fan and will always support my city and our teams. It's just that we need to stick to our core values, our plans and have confidence in the people that we are drafting. Again, whatever happens, I will support the Bulls but I just don't like this deal!!!!!
Now you know what we think and how we feel, we'd love to know, what’s your take? Marion P. Jelks, Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica Blog Editor. Please use the comment section below and have at it. Let us know your thoughts.
How Congress Saved the Baseball Hall of Fame.
ABC News Radio
A two-time MVP outfielder and a United States senator say the congressional hearings on steroids in baseball nearly a decade ago had a direct impact on preventing players tainted by the baseball’s steroids era from being considered for the Hall of Fame.
Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., told the ESPN’s Perspectives podcast “Capital Games” that while he thought at the time the hearings shouldn’t have been a congressional priority, they doomed the candidacies of high-profile players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa. That, in part, paved the way for this weekend’s crop of three clean players from the same era gaining induction in the Hall.
“What I think the hearing helped do was, that the American people looked up and said, ‘You know, it’s maybe the first time that it really hit us between the eyes that we have a real problem here.’ And I think it helped to change things,” said Donnelly.
Former Atlanta Braves outfielder Dale Murphy wasn’t a fan of the 2005 hearings, either, and wanted the commissioner to do more and to push for “amnesty” so former players could come clean about past steroid use. Still, he said, the hearings were effective, and helped baseball move beyond a dark period.
“I reluctantly have to say I think they made a difference,” said Murphy. He added that Hall voters are ”going to remember what you did or what you didn’t say and hold you accountable. …I think it directly affects them.”
Murphy, who fell short in being elected to the Hall in his final year of voting eligibility last year, added that he would be upset if players who were proven to be cheats from that era were admitted into the Hall of Fame.
“That is a concern for guys that, you know, played in the ’70′s and ’80′s most of the time,” Murphy said during the podcast. “I guess the best way to say it, is that right now they’re not letting the guys in that are associated with those huge inflated numbers and steroids. If it comes to the point eventually — which some people speculate will happen with the turnover of the voters and the age of the voters, which will take a long time — if it does happen eventually where they get in, then I got a real beef. …I got a problem with that.”
Murphy doesn’t anticipate any of those candidates getting in soon.
“It’s going to take such a long time, I think, and I really think the lack of honesty and openness has hurt the guys,” said Murphy. “I think eventually it’s going to happen, but I think it’s going to be decades.”
The Baseball Hall of Fame will add six new members to its ranks at this weekend’s ceremony in Cooperstown, New York. Three players and three managers — all of whom were active and clean of drug allegations during some of baseball’s darkest days — will get their plaques.
Though the now-famous congressional hearings drew criticism at the time, it’s quite possible baseball wouldn’t see a moment like this if not for Congress. The March 2005 session on steroids in baseball served as a wake-up call for baseball to clean itself up, ultimately opening the doors for the players who were clean during a tainted era to gain election to the Hall, according to ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian.
“It was really important at the time, and looking back it’s probably even more important today,” Kurkjian said.
“It showed that baseball needed congressional help to get to the bottom of this. We still haven’t gotten to the bottom of it,” said Kurkjian. “It was the start of cleaning up the game — which still isn’t completely clean I’m sure. But it was a giant step in the right direction.”
This year’s Hall of Fame class includes pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, slugger Frank Thomas, plus managers Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa. The star-studded class comes a year after no former player won election to the Hall. All three of 2013′s inductees, in fact, died before the U.S. entered World War II.
The Hall notably still doesn’t include players implicated for using performance-enhancing drugs — men including McGwire, Bonds, Sosa, Clemens and Palmeiro — whose conduct received the now-famous congressional scrutiny nine years ago.
Donnelly, a Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees fan, said he was skeptical of Congress’ involvement in a baseball matter. But time has proven the value of that scrutiny, culminating with his son’s childhood hero, Frank Thomas, gaining entry on Sunday — an important moment for fans of his generation, he said.
“Frank [Thomas] was doing it the right way. Frank’s kind of numbers were the numbers that people who just work hard every day would be able to achieve. And so, I think we’re in a different place now. I think the game is better for having that passed. And I think as we look, baseball is in a good place right now,” he added.
Murphy was a seven-time all-star who was a teammate of Glavine’s and played for Cox and Torre with the Atlanta Braves.
“It’s a good time for baseball,” Murphy said of the current Hall of Fame class. “I think we can maybe have an opportunity to show what guys can do, that you don’t really need that stuff… You need to have some talent, you need to have some brains, and you need to work hard.”
Murphy said the steroids era also had an impact on some of the players — including himself — who preceded it, since their statistics aren’t as gaudy as those who dominated the late 1990s and early 2000s.
He said he’d like to see an “adjustment” in statistics to take that into consideration. But for now, Murphy said he’s satisfied that players with tainted numbers aren’t getting in.
Kurkjian, who is among the writers who vote for the Hall every year, said he and other voters need more clarity on how to handle the steroids era. He suggested a commission made of representatives of Major League Baseball, baseball writers, Hall officials and even Hall-of-Famers themselves to chart a path forward.
“I still don’t know what the right answer is any more with all the steroid people. I think we need a nationwide discussion over what we’re supposed to do here. Should we be voting for steroid guys or not?” he said.
“The responsibility is enormous. It should be taken seriously, and yet at the same time I think we need somebody to clarify what we should be doing here. Because I, for one, am not sure what to do anymore,” he added.
Golf: “I got a club for that…” Jack Nicklaus would pick Tiger Woods for the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
By John Holmes, PGA.com
If you were the captain of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, would you pick Tiger Woods? Jack Nicklaus certainly would.
During a wide-ranging press conference on July 24, the Golden Bear was asked flat-out if he could see Woods being on the U.S. team at Gleneagles in September.
"If I was a captain ... I don't care what he does between now and then. If Tiger wants to play, I would certainly choose him," Nicklaus said.
"My guess is that [Captain] Tom [Watson] feels pretty much the same way," he added. "Tom would certainly like to have Tiger on his team and I think anybody in their right mind, unless he just doesn't want to play or doesn't think he could play," would choose him.
Nicklaus caught some of the Open Championship on TV, and thought Woods' swing looked pretty good. "Obviously the results weren't what he wanted," Nicklaus said. "I suspect that he'll be back and do just fine."
Currently, Woods is far down the Ryder Cup points list, having missed much of the 2014 season as he recovers from back surgery. He is scheduled to play the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational next week in Ohio and the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Kentucky the week of Aug. 4. He needs top-3 finishes in both events to earn one of the nine automatic berths or would have to receive one of Watson's three captain's picks to be on the team.
Long Drive Competition to return at PGA Championship at Valhalla.
By The PGA of America
The 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club will host the return of the PGA Championship Long Drive Competition, which originated in 1952 when the Championship was conducted at Big Spring Country Club in Louisville.
During a practice round on Tuesday, Aug. 5, all players will be offered the opportunity to hit one tee shot from the No. 10 Tee. The ball will have to come to rest in the fairway to be eligible to win the Long Drive Competition.
Awards will be given to the top three finishers with winners receiving a money clip inspired by the one that Jack Nicklaus received in the first of his two consecutive PGA Championship Driving Contest titles in 1963. That year, Nicklaus, using a persimmon driver and wound golf ball, hit a winning drive of 341 yards, 17 inches.
Additionally, through PGA REACH, the charitable arm of the PGA of America, the top three finishers will be provided charitable donations of $25,000, $15,000, and $10,000 respectively, with the funds split equally between the players' designated charity and the American Lake Veterans Golf Course. Designed by Jack Nicklaus, the American Lake Veterans Golf Course is the nation's only golf course designed specifically for the rehabilitation of wounded and disabled veterans.
"We're reviving a PGA Championship tradition that will add fun for both spectators and players during a practice round," said PGA of America President Ted Bishop. "It is only fitting that this competition returns to the city where it began and a course designed by one of its most storied winners, Jack Nicklaus."
Harold Williams won the original PGA Championship Driving Contest in 1952, with a 329-yard drive. The competition was discontinued from 1965-73, before returning in 1974 as an open event. The last National Open Long Drive Championship conducted at a PGA Championship site was in 1984 at Shoal Creek Country Club in Birmingham, Ala.
Dicks fires golf pros as thrifty consumers curtail spending.
By Jeff Macke
Americans are becoming more discerning consumers. According to a poll from Gallup released this morning a majority of us are switching to generics, using coupons and comparison shopping on and off-line to find the best values. The question is whether this is a reflection of tight economic times or simply a function of 2014 being a particularly uninspiring year when it comes to the arts and products available for purchase.
The economic arguments are well known. Wages are stagnant and more than 1/3 of the potential workforce is simply choosing not to participate in the labor market. But there's something more at play here. We're losing interest in our old amusements.
Yesterday Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS) announced it would be cutting more than 400 PGA professionals in its stores. Dicks has been candid about the downturn in its golf business before, in its last conference call CEO Ed Stack said the downturn in golf was responsible for the vast majority of the company's earnings shortfall and added that he saw no bottom in sight for the business. Still it's a significant concession to fire these pros. After all, Dicks first expanded heavily into golf in 2007. Golf survived the Great Recession but can't hack the sense of ennui of 2014.
It's not just weather-related things like golf. Americans aren't even going to the movies anymore either. July box office is off 30% compared to last year. It's the worst year for American cinema since 2011. Hell, it's almost August and we don't even have a song of the summer yet.
There's still plenty of evidence that Americans will splurge when there's something exciting but we're making merchants work for it. That's a good thing for our personal balance sheets but a sea change in behavior. We're willing to hold out for better prices and more exciting products. What once was called "Showrooming" is now just shopping. We're wised up, jaded and generally unsatisfied. 70% of GDP is based on consumer spending and there is no economic "rising tide", just a river of discontent. If you need a Wall of Worry for investors to climb growing discretion with our spending is as good as any.
NASCAR: Track Smack: Indy legacies and weekday nights.
By David Caraviello, Kenny Bruce and Brad Norman
1. We're now more than 20 years removed from Jeff Gordon's historic victory in the inaugural N1ASCAR race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Where does the Brickyard stand in the NASCAR universe today?
David Caraviello: How fitting that our Midwest Bureau Chief Brad Norman joins us for this discussion on the heartland. An event at Indy remains massive, whether some fans want to admit it or not. Driving through that tunnel still makes the hair on your arm stand up. Winning can still bring drivers to tears. Those yellow-shirted security guards can still be a terror. Being there in person makes it all feel that much bigger for certain, but even today Indy continues to stand out because of what it means to people in this industry.
Kenny Bruce: Brad has a yellow stripe on his butt 'cause he's a rookie. It's funny because on a Tuesday conference call with former Brickyard winners Dale Jarrett, Ricky Rudd and Bobby Labonte, one of the members of the media opened with "I wasn't born when any of you guys won the race." So I guess it's definitely become a part of the NASCAR fabric, as they say.
Brad Norman: Drivers seem to love the place, too. And why wouldn't they? It's one of the most historic tracks in the country. But do you think it's one of those "check-it-off-the-bucket-list" type of places, as it pertains to NASCAR exclusively? Is it in the same club as a Daytona or a Darlington?
Caraviello: I'm frightened to admit that the first Brickyard I covered was just the sixth one ever run. But I haven't missed one since, and I love going back, because the atmosphere there is simply unparalleled. That doesn't mean it's better than the Daytona 500. It's just very different. You can really feel that you're at a place that's been around since 1910. The weight of tradition hangs off everything, and that's why it remains so special.
Bruce: I don't know that some of the younger drivers appreciate the history, if only because in their eyes, NASCAR has always raced at Indy. But the track remains a remarkable venue, and I think most teams still cherish the opportunity to compete there.
Caraviello: Yeah Kenny, I think those guys who were there in 1994 -- or even the years immediately following -- and remember how groundbreaking it was, perceive things a little differently than the drivers who followed them. You could probably say the same thing about the fans and media members.
Norman: Winning at the Brickyard also seems to be ... while not a qualifier for the NASCAR Hall of Fame, it's certainly something that carries weight. Win the Daytona 500. Win the Southern 500. Win at Indy. In that regard, it holds major significance as well. Despite the fact that Richard Petty or Junior Johnson never raced there.
Caraviello: Brad, I think it is. I've always believed fans attending in person perceive things very differently (and much more positively) than those who solely watch on television, because they get to soak in that feel of the place that doesn't translate through the screen. Indy unquestionably has that. Is it the same as it was in 1994, or 2004? No. But it's still one of those few tracks that genuinely gives you chills. That frontstretch during the opening ceremony is a special place.
Norman: Great point, David. And how about those bricks? You'd have to think that's one of the more famous and meaningful post-race celebrations in the sport. I always love seeing drivers line up with the backward hat on, young kids in tow and ready to pucker up.
Caraviello: And, the place is so damn hard, that typically guys who win there already have the track record to be considered for Hall enshrinement. That's changed a little in recent years (as we'll address later) with some surprise winners, but Indy to me is much like Darlington in that it's normally the domain of the very best. Indy may not make a career, but it can certainly validate one.
Bruce: Kissing the bricks, the ride around the track after the fact as fans cheer your accomplishment -- it's definitely not your typical track. And it's one of the few events that continues to be mentioned years after a winning driver has stepped out of the sport. "Former Brickyard 400 winner ..." You hear that for the Daytona 500 also, but anywhere else?
Caraviello: You mean to tell me you don't remember all your former winners of the Yankee 400? For shame.
Bruce: At the moment, no.
2. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competed once again at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday night. How realistic is the prospect of midweek events for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series?
Caraviello: Probably quite realistic -- if you want to earn the wrath of every team in the garage. The turnaround time for those guys is tight enough going from Sunday to Saturday -- a mid-week event may well have shops working around the clock. Maybe having it after an off weekend would make it more feasible, but you don't have many of those.
Bruce: I think from a TV standpoint, it would be well worth the risk to throw it out there. But if I'm a track owner, I'm not so sure. Give me three days to sell all the hot dogs, beer and T-shirts I can versus a one-night, mid-week show?
Norman: It's realistic. There are plenty of intelligent, creative people surrounding the sport who could figure out a feasible way to make this happen. The follow-up question: Is it worth pursuing? Would everyone from teams to drivers to tracks to the sanctioning body sign off on such an event? That's the bigger issue.
Bruce: DC, I think that would make sense -- go mid-week close to home, roll into an off-weekend and then back at it the following weekend. Then again, back in the day (here we go), they raced several times a week. With the same car!
Caraviello: Back in the day, they'd race at Daytona on July 4, and sometimes be at Dover two days later. But that was a different era. The demands on these Sprint Cup teams is high enough as it is. Unless they scaled back how they do things, a midweek race would really be a challenge in terms of logistics and personnel management. Does that mean it's impossible? No way. But doing it in the Trucks is one thing. In Cup would be quite another.
Norman: I like the idea of following up an off-week, but I'd like to see what would happen the following week. Do you do a one-day show at Dover on Wednesday, for example, and then trek up to Pocono to start practice on Friday? If that's the case, you need to pick your tracks carefully -- and even then, you're assuming that they'd be willing to give it a try.
Caraviello: The battle of what the sport needs versus what the tracks want seems a barrier to a lot of things. A midweek event would have to include the perfect day at the perfect track, and with the right promoter willing to take the risk. Darlington could do it, a few others. But they'd need to be willing to first.
Bruce: The big question is "would it work?" The answer is "well, we won't know until we try." Even though I think the idea is worth consideration, what are we trying to accomplish? Better TV ratings, better attendance? Or just change for the sake of change. I don't believe in the "well, we've always done it this way," but I have to admit, sometimes it's done a particular way because it works. Now I've completely reversed my opinion.
Norman: Seems like NASCAR is in a place where it is trying new things, too. New Chase format. New rules package. Likely engine changes coming next year. Maybe this is next.
Caraviello: Perhaps our Midwest Bureau Chief (Des Moines, hello!) has hit on something -- find a track that needs to reinvent and reenergize itself. Dover doesn't have lights, but if you want to try something really out of the box to command attention -- well then, maybe Wednesday night does beckon.
Norman: Must be all that Midwestern corn I've consumed lately.
Caraviello: We knew all those trips to Iowa and Chicagoland would make you smarter!
3. The past few years have produced some mild upsets at Indianapolis, with Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray all winning there since 2010. Who might be the best candidate to continue that trend?
Caraviello: Two words: Morgan Shepherd. Hey, his average finish at Indy is 10th! Watch out, Joey Logano! This might finally be the year! Of course, he also hasn't started the race since 1998, which may be a slight hang-up.
Bruce: Tenth? Are you serious? Sounds like a great trivia question.
Norman: So long as he maintains minimum speed ? In all seriousness, is Greg Biffle considered a mild upset? You could make an argument that he would be, given the struggles of both his own No. 16 team and Roush Fenway Racing overall. He's one of the best at Indianapolis -- five top-10s in the past six races.
Caraviello: Now that I've returned to reality, I'm right with you. Biffle has historically been great there, and given that he's 16th in points ... I think a victory by the No. 16 car would indeed qualify as a mild upset along the lines of Newman last year. Not that Ryan's a slouch, by any means, but we all got used to seeing championship favorites win this event year after year.
Bruce: I think Juan Pablo Montoya falls into that category. He's been so close before, is back with a team that's clearly capable, and I'm betting he feels he has something to prove.
Caraviello: For the trivia buffs, Morgan Shepherd's finishes at Indy: 10th, 10th, fifth and 15th. Somebody give the guy a commemorative brick, at least.
Bruce: And Shepherd did it with three different car owners at that, DC.
Norman: Really, would anyone be surprised to see Kyle Larson in Victory Lane? He'd be the first driver since Paul Menard in 2011 to earn his first career Cup win at the Brickyard. Would be a great story to tell his son one day. Somehow we've gone from Morgan Shepherd to Kyle Larson, a span of 50 years.
Caraviello: Juan was 18th in his first Sprint Cup start this season at Michigan, and on a day when a lot of teams were out to lunch. That was just a warm-up for this weekend anyway. If Larson can apply some of that Pocono knowledge this weekend, the kid could really be a factor. And then there's Kasey Kahne, who's had good runs at Indy, is 17th in points, and is still looking for that signature win to define his career.
Bruce: OK Brad, put down the ear of corn. I'd be stunned to see Larson win at Indy, this early in his career.
Norman: The corn works in mysterious ways, Kenny.
Caraviello: Watch out for those children of the corn. And note that Morgan Shepherd has the third-best average finish at Indy behind Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, and just ahead of Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt. Luminaries all!
Bruce: Face it, Cup drivers don't normally get that breakthrough win on the bigger stages ... well, other than Jeff Gordon (Coke 600), Trevor Bayne (Daytona 500) and probably a ton of others I'm forgetting.
Norman: Paul Menard.
Caraviello: And Brad Norman drops the mic, ladies and gentlemen. That day, and those sideburns, will live with us forever.
NASCAR Is In Big Trouble As Team Values Continue To Shrink.
By Cork Gaines
Things are going well for NASCAR's top team, Hendrick Motorsports, which includes some of the sport's top drivers, including Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. But a closer look at the value and profit of the other top teams reveals a sport that is trending in the wrong direction.
According to Forbes.com and its valuations of NASCAR's top nine teams, the current value of Hendrick Motorsports ($348 million) is relatively unchanged since 2010 ($350 million). However, the average team has seen a 31.1% drop in profit since 2010 which has translated into an average team value of $139.7 million, down 16.4% during the same span.
BusinessInsider.com
NASCAR's popularity surged up until 2007, but then the bubble burst. Forbes blames the recent decline in values on plummeting attendance and TV ratings.
What is particularly interesting is that the last decade has seen the number of teams reduced through mergers and acquisitions, which you would think would increase the value of larger teams. But that is not happening.
A recent report by Andrew Maness of Racingnomics.com shows that the top nine teams represent what was once 15 different teams just eight years ago. In other words, there are fewer teams, but the pie they are fighting has been shrinking even faster.
This suggests that there are still too many teams for the current economic climate and further reduction to 6-7 major teams would help teams return to the profit margins seen in 2010.
Loew confirms he will stay on as Germany coach.
AP Sports
World Cup champion Joachim Loew says he will remain as Germany's coach through the 2016 European Championship.
Loew confirms he will stay on as Germany coach.
AP Sports
World Cup champion Joachim Loew says he will remain as Germany's coach through the 2016 European Championship.
There was speculation Loew could step down after Germany won the World Cup with a 1-0 victory over Argentina in the final in Rio de Janeiro 10 days ago, although Loew's contract was extended before the tournament.
But Loew says in an interview on the German federation's website that he can ''imagine nothing more beautiful'' than to keep working with this team.
Loew says he is as motivated as on ''the first day'' as Germany's coach, and the World Cup title was the highlight but not the conclusion.
Germany and Argentina have a rematch in an exhibition in Dusseldorf on Sept. 3.
US movie theaters to show Premier League games.
AP Sports
Movie theaters around the U.S. will show live English soccer games on their big screens on Saturday mornings.
The simulcasts will start with the opening of the Premier League season Aug. 16. Thirty-three theaters in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington are currently scheduled to take part.
The deal was announced Wednesday by Fathom Events and NBC Sports Group, which broadcasts the Premier League in the U.S.
Plans for national soccer training center unveiled.
AP Sports
Major League Soccer's Sporting Kansas City announced plans to build a $75 million National Training and Coaching Development Center.
Sporting chief executive Robb Heineman joined Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and Wyandotte County officials Wednesday to announce plans for the 190-acre soccer village about 10 minutes from Sporting Kansas City's home stadium.
Center supporters say they hope the complex will serve as the future home of the U.S. Soccer Federation. Plans call for 16 fields, including one climate-controlled indoor field, 11 outdoor grass fields and four outdoor synthetic fields.
The center is expected to be completed in 2016.
Nibali stamps authority with win atop mythic Hautacam.
AFP; By Chesterman
Vincenzo Nibali emphasized his total domination of the 2014 Tour de France with a fourth stage victory on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Italian had admitted on Wednesday that he was riding within himself but on the 144.5km 18th stage from Pau to Hautacam, he decided to put on a demonstration.
And it was precisely on the final 13.6km hors category climb to the finish where Nibali turned on the after-burners and showed just how gaping the chasm between him and the competition is.
"On the last climb I possibly went too soon but I was in good shape," said Nibali.
"The pace had been fast because I didn't want to let the breakaway get too far ahead. It was really important for me to win this prestigious stage on the Hautacam.
"I'm really happy I did it and I dedicate it to my team because they worked so hard for me."
Seemingly the only danger to Nibali, who stretched his overall lead to more than seven minutes, came not from his rivals but from spectators.
On the climb, Nibali hit a woman who stepped out in front of him to try to take a picture.
The Italian's shoulder caught the young woman's arm but the Astana leader was unharmed and continued on to victory.
Although he admitted the Tour is as good as won, with only three stages left before the finish in Paris, Nibali said that incident showed he cannot count his chickens just yet.
"I'm very happy with this stage win and certainly I've accumulated a healthy advantage so I can remain calm for the next stages and Saturday's timetrial," he said.
"I caught her but it wasn't too bad. But this is the Tour de France, it goes very fast and people have to be careful because this can be very dangerous, for her as well as me.
"This happened on a climb but it could have happened on a descent where we go much faster."
A large breakaway had formed early in the day but it was down to just two riders when it reached the foot of the Hautacam.
Spaniard Mikel Nieve then left French escape companion Blel Kadri behind and struck out for home.
But with Nibali's Astana team controlling the peloton, the Spaniard's lead was down to about 1min 30sec by that time.
Nibali attacked with around 10km left and soon gobbled up Nieve, after which he rode on alone to a comprehensive victory.
Behind him the true battle for the Tour podium places was firing up.
Thibaut Pinot drove on behind and crossed the line second at 1:10 to move up from third to second overall at 7:10.
Pole Rafal Majka, the winner of two mountain stages, was third at 1:12 to secure victory in the King of the Mountains competition.
Jean-Christophe Peraud made it two Frenchmen on the podium as he came home fourth at 1:15.
The 37-year-old is just 13sec behind Pinot and 2sec ahead of Alejandro Valverde, who had started the day second.
It means three riders are separated by just 15sec in the battle for second place, which should be decided on Saturday in the 54km timetrial.
Although Pinot, 24, is second, he is widely regarded as the weakest of the three against the clock.
"Peraud knows how to ride timetrials and Valverde's the Spanish timetrial champion. There's only 15sec between us so you can say we're as good as starting level," said Pinot.
American Tejay Van Garderen came home fifth in the same time as Peraud to boost his chances of finishing in the top five overall.
He is sixth and trails 23-year-old Frenchman Romain Bardet by just over two minutes but the American is a far better timetriallist.
NCAA enforcement director defends investigators.
AP Sports
Jonathan Duncan understands that a perfect NCAA enforcement division won't catch every cheater in college sports. He still believes his team is getting the job done.
Two days after Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby called the NCAA enforcement system overwhelmed and ''broken,'' the NCAA's top cop fired back by defending his staff's work and acknowledging the impossible mission of policing more than 1,200 schools.
Yes, sometimes, teams or schools might get away with breaking the rules for a while, Duncan said, but eventually most are caught.
''We don't pretend to be able to catch every violation in any given year,'' Duncan told The Associated Press on Wednesday. ''So the next question is, do we have a handle on it, and the answer is yes, I think we do. The people who violate the rules will be found out and we will report them back to the committee on infractions.''
Duncan took over the enforcement division on an interim basis in March 2013 when the department was embroiled in its own embarrassing scandal. An internal investigation found the NCAA improperly collected evidence against the University of Miami, which led to the ouster of Julie Roe Lach.
Duncan took over a department that was losing experienced investigators and saw morale wane as it came under intense public criticism - criticism that hasn't diminished and has lately included leaders like Bowlsby, a former athletic director at Iowa and Stanford.
Bowlsby put NCAA enforcement back in the spotlight Monday when he suggested the lack of high-profile cases over the past year are indicative of the problems within the current system.
''Enforcement is broken,'' he said. ''The infractions committee hasn't had a hearing in almost a year, and I think it's not an understatement to say cheating pays presently.''
He added about the NCAA: ''They're in a battle with a BB gun in their hand. They're fighting howitzers.''
Duncan, an attorney whose private practice work included representing the NCAA, said statistics show roughly 20 schools are formally charged with major infractions each year - and he expects this year's number to hit 21. In addition, Duncan said investigators have looked into roughly 5,000 secondary infractions, a record.
Numbers only tell part of the story.
A year after NCAA President Mark Emmert boasted that tougher penalties had ''upped the ante'' on schools and coaches doing risk-reward analyses when it came to cheating, Duncan said the perceived slowdown in major cases in Division I is a result of an increased caseload in Divisions II and III and investigators' attempts to focus on more complex allegations that threaten the current collegiate model.
He also said schools are going to greater lengths to avoid punishment and that it's difficult to obtain evidence when third parties are not compelled to testify. The NCAA lacks subpoena power.
Duncan still expects the logjam to be broken next year when he estimates the infractions committee could hear an average of one major case per month.
While Bowlsby declined to comment further on the issue again Wednesday, Gerald Gurney, president of The Drake Group, an NCAA watchdog, didn't hold back. He said the NCAA relies far too much on media reports and competing schools to do the legwork on investigations, and suggested outsourcing investigations could speed things up.
''Bob Bowlsby says the enforcement unit is broken and my reaction is, 'Duh, of course, it took you that long to figure it out?''' Gurney said. ''If we're interested in fairness, it starts with giving schools and individuals real due process. Right now, once you get a notice of inquiry, you're presumed guilty and we've seen schools fire coaches regularly without due process. People don't have much confidence in this (system).''
Duncan does believe in it.
And while some have complained the NCAA doesn't have enough investigators, Duncan insists his staff can do the job with the 50-plus people currently in enforcement.
''If the membership were to entrust me with additional resources, I would use them wisely,'' he said. ''I feel strongly about my job to be a good steward financially. In the meantime, though, I feel like we have a talented staff to do what our resources allow us to do.''
Even if some people believe they're doing nothing at all.
''It's a myth,'' Duncan said. ''We're trying to move the right kind of cases with the right kind of philosophy, and we're trying to move them quickly. The notion we're sitting around here with nothing to do, I've got 55 people who would beg to differ with that.''
Judge gives preliminary approval in NCAA video game settlement.
By Jon Solomon
A federal judge said Thursday she will approve two settlements involving college football and men's basketball players who appeared in NCAA-branded video games, according to two plaintiffs' lawyers who participated at the preliminary approval hearing.
Also, U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken disagreed with the NCAA's interpretation that its $20 million settlement with the Sam Keller plaintiffs and others releases all video game claims from the Ed O'Bannon case, O'Bannon attorney Michael Lehman and Keller attorney Leonard Aragon said. The O'Bannon antitrust case relates in part to video games and is separate from the video game settlement.
The O'Bannon lawyers had argued the video-game settlement could cause their clients to lose their ability to seek an injunction against the NCAA that relates to video games. The O'Bannon plaintiffs want an injunction against the NCAA's rules that would apply to video games, live television broadcasts, rebroadcasts and possibly other uses of athletes' names, images and likenesses.
Wilken's decision on Thursday “means the judge is now free to decide on an injunction that can encompass video games, as O'Bannon argued at trial,” Lehman said via email. Aragon said Wilken “essentially said she sees the release as only applying to the Keller claim and not having an affect on the O'Bannon claim” and she adopted language that will be in a future order.
The NCAA had argued that the proposed video games settlement is a “global settlement that releases claims for all current and former NCAA student-athletes, including the O'Bannon named plaintiffs.”
Aragon said Wilken wanted to know the major changes between the original proposed settlement and the merged settlement presented to her. Electronic Arts and Collegiate Licensing Company settled for $40 million with video-game plaintiffs, and the NCAA settled for $20 million. The parties filed revised settlement terms earlier this week that removed a $5,000-per-year cap for players' claims.
“What we essentially told her is it's still two separate settlements,” Aragon said, “but we created one notice plan, one allocation plan and one claim form to try to get it all out to student-athletes, and she was fine with that. She said she will approve the settlement.”
Aragon said Keller's attorneys on Friday will send out subpoenas to all NCAA schools asking for the last known addresses of various football and men's basketball players who could have appeared in the video games from 2003 until 2014. As part of the settlement, the NCAA is required to help locate contact information and ask schools to cooperate.
Once the addresses are collected, the class notice for players to opt in or out will be sent through the mail and the plaintiffs' lawyers will promote the notice by social media and mainstream media. The notice may be sent out in around 60 days, Aragon said.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Friday, July 25, 2014.
MemoriesofHistory.com
1850 - In Worcester, MA, Harvard and Yale University freshmen met in the first intercollegiate billiards match.
1947 - Fortune Gordien of Oslo, Norway set a world record discus throw of 178.47 feet.
1978 - Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) broke the National League record for consecutive base hits as he got a hit in 38 straight games.
1987 - The Salt Lake City Trappers set a professional baseball record as the team won its 29th game in a row.
1999 - Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France. He was only the second American to win the race.
1990 - Rosanne Barr sang the National Anthem in San Diego before a Padres baseball game. She was booed for her performance.
2004 - Lance Armstrong won his record sixth consecutive Tour de France.
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