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Sports Quote of the Day:
"There are no shortcuts. I approached practices the same way I approached games. You can't turn it on and off like a faucet. I couldn't dog it during practice and then, when I needed that extra push late in the game, expect it to be there. Very few people get anywhere by taking shortcuts." ~ Michael Jordan, NBA Basketball Player and Team Owner
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Why Seahawks are the perfect test for wannabe 'elite' Bears.
By John Mullin
Chicago Bears 2014; Quarterback Jay Cutler (6) (L) & Running Back Matt Forte (22) (R)
When FOX TV NFL Insider Jay Glazer visited Bourbonnais as part of his recent North American tour of training camps, he offered a surprising assessment of the Bears and one other team. The two teams that had impressed him with the combination of what they had in place and what they had added were the Denver Broncos, who made multiple top-shelf additions on defense (Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward, DeMarcus Ware), and the Bears, who made multiple top-shelf additions as well (Jared Allen, Lamarr Houston, Jeremiah Ratliff re-signed from day one).
“Elite” has eluded the Bears for most of the last decade, but now comes a chance to make something of a statement toward playing up to that critique.
It comes in the form of the third preseason game, which is still “preseason” obviously, but this one is against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, on the road in one of the most difficult NFL venues. It is the game in which Bears' and Seahawks' starters will play the longest of the preseason, meaning that the Bears’ “elite” No. 1 offense will be on the field against the reigning No. 1 defense in the NFL, the one that annihilated the other of Glazer’s “elite” teams – Denver – in Super Bowl XLVIII.
Predictably, no greater significance is being accorded publicly to this game than any other.
“We don't look at it as any more than ‘it' a game to get ourselves better,’” said coach Marc Trestman. “The environment's going to help us; we look at it as an opportunity to help us. I'm sure Pete [Carroll, Seattle coach] would say that they won the world championship last year and they're working themselves to try to become the team they need to become this year. But that's their side of it.”
Third preseason games against top opponents can be indicators. The Bears faced the Super Bowl champion Giants in 2012’s No. 3 game, defeated them and went on to a 10-6 season, albeit missing the playoffs.
Of course they also can mean absolutely nothing. The 2006 Bears shrugged off a 14-9 loss to Arizona and went to the Super Bowl.
Through two preseason games the Bears’ No. 1 offense has been on the field four series, two each against Philadelphia and Jacksonville. The unit scored a touchdown against each, both times on its second possession, both times after a three-and-done first possession.
Seattle lost to Denver in its preseason opener with starters - not all of them - playing just the first quarter, although quarterbacks Peyton Manning (22 snaps) and Russell Wilson (22) each played two series and each scored once.
As far as giving the Bears’ wannabe-elite defense a proving ground, Seattle scored on all seven of its possessions that didn’t end a half in a mauling of San Diego.
Preseason games are generally most useful for making a handful of personnel decisions. They can also be shakedown tests for established units (Bears offense) and still-forming units (Bears defense, special teams).
The Seattle Seahawks on Friday night are one of those tests.
“We're going there to play a preseason game to continue to build our football team and we're working on it one day at a time just here getting better,” Trestman said. “We're not focused on the game; we're focused on getting better and we recognize that it's still training camp, but we're also preparing to be in that environment and be at our best, and we're going to try to do both during the course of the week.”
Bears: For Josh Morgan, his chance at No. 3 WR job is at hand.
By John Mullin
The attention was understandably focused Monday on Santonio Holmes, which is understandable when a Super Bowl MVP is added to the roster. But Holmes is well down any depth chart iteration (unofficially fifth string on this week’s listings) and may not play Friday in Seattle against the Seahawks.
This adds to the focus that should and will be on Josh Morgan, the current No. 3 wide receiver after exits by Marquess Wilson (injury) and Eric Weems (released) and suddenly very much at the center of a sorting out on offense, made even more important with the loss of pass-catching tight end Zach Miller to IR with a foot injury.
It is suddenly Morgan’s turn in a job competition that is still far from over.
“In terms of how we’re doing it, Josh Morgan will get some work this week,” said coach Marc Trestman. “We’ll see where the other guys are as we are as we move through the end of the week, but Josh will get the first shot at it as we work into this week’s practice and as we work into the game.”
At 6-1, 220 pounds, he fits the size profile of Bears receivers, taller than Weems (5-9) and a more physical and polished receiver than Wilson (200 pounds). Morgan is tied for second on the team with five receptions behind Miller and Brandon Marshall (six).
"I think I'm a workhorse at the receiver position," said Morgan, who has 199 career receptions from stints with San Francisco and Washington. "I contribute majorly in the blocking game, I catch everything that's thrown my way, or I try to. I break tackles, I'm physical after the run, physical in the blocking game. I think I have a very unique style at the wide receiver position, some people compare me to the type of style that Anquan Boldin has, but I couldn't really tell half the stuff that these guys do, I have to let the scouts let you describe my game.
I try to be a complete wide receiver, I try to be well rounded, I try and be a workhorse. I want to do whatever's needed. If you need me to go down there and block a 330-pound defensive end, that's what I used to do a lot with the Redskins. If you need me to be a big major part in the running game like I was in San Francisco for Frank Gore, I did all those types of things throughout my career. If you need me to make the big play or the tough catch — the catch in traffic or the catch across the middle — I think if you watch film of me over the years, I think I've done all of that.”
NFL announces expansion of practice squads to 10 players.
By Josh Alper
Monday brought a report that the NFL and NFLPA had agreed to expand the size of practice squads to 10 players for the coming season and Tuesday brought official confirmation of that change.
According to a release from the league, the NFL and the union have agreed to expand the size of the squads for the next two seasons with the former eight-man limit coming back into effect for the 2016 season “barring extension” of the change. That means 64 more jobs will be available in each of the next two seasons, brightening the prospects of many players as we head toward cut down day.
And it isn’t just players previously eligible for the practice squad either. The league also announced that each team will be able to sign two players “who have earned no more than two accrued seasons of free agency credit.” Otherwise players who have earned one or more accrued seasons would not be eligible for the practice squad unless they spent fewer than nine games on the 46-man game day roster during those seasons.
One other change will allow players to hold onto practice squad eligibility longer. Players now need to have a minimum of six games on the practice squad, up from three, for the year to count as one of the three that they are eligible to be placed on the practice squad.
NFL announces expansion of practice squads to 10 players.
By Josh Alper
Monday brought a report that the NFL and NFLPA had agreed to expand the size of practice squads to 10 players for the coming season and Tuesday brought official confirmation of that change.
According to a release from the league, the NFL and the union have agreed to expand the size of the squads for the next two seasons with the former eight-man limit coming back into effect for the 2016 season “barring extension” of the change. That means 64 more jobs will be available in each of the next two seasons, brightening the prospects of many players as we head toward cut down day.
And it isn’t just players previously eligible for the practice squad either. The league also announced that each team will be able to sign two players “who have earned no more than two accrued seasons of free agency credit.” Otherwise players who have earned one or more accrued seasons would not be eligible for the practice squad unless they spent fewer than nine games on the 46-man game day roster during those seasons.
One other change will allow players to hold onto practice squad eligibility longer. Players now need to have a minimum of six games on the practice squad, up from three, for the year to count as one of the three that they are eligible to be placed on the practice squad.
Here's How Many Games Vegas Thinks Your Favorite NFL Team Will Win This Season.
By Cork Gaines
The Denver Broncos are projected to be the best team during the regular season this year, at least according to sportsbook Bovada.lv.
Halfway through the preseason, the Broncos have an over/under win total of 11.5, just ahead of the Seattle Seahawks (11) and New England Patriots (11). The Broncos and Seahawks each led their conferences last season with 13 wins.
The Houston Texans are projected to be the most improved team with an over/under of 7.5 wins, 5.5 wins more than they won a year ago. Washington and Atlanta are also projected to be much improved. Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers (8.5) and Kansas City Chiefs (8.0) are both expected to take the biggest step backs from their successful 2013 season.
BusinessInsider.com
Here's How Many Games Vegas Thinks Your Favorite NFL Team Will Win This Season
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| Game ** = Pick cannot be edited, picks deadline has past. | Away Team | Home Team | Ranking [?] (Your goal is to get the most points.) | Game Date / Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Green Bay |  Seattle | 9/4/2014 7:30 PM* | |||
| 2 | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | |||||
| 3 | New England | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | ||||
| 4 | Tennessee |  Kansas City | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | |||
| 5 | Washington | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | ||||
| 6 | Buffalo | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | ||||
| 7 | Oakland |  New York J | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | |||
| 8 | Cleveland | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | ||||
| 9 | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | |||||
| 10 | New Orleans |  Atlanta | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | |||
| 11 | 9/7/2014 12:00 PM* | |||||
| 12 | Carolina |  Tampa Bay | 9/7/2014 3:25 PM* | |||
| 13 | San Francisco |  Dallas | 9/7/2014 3:25 PM* | |||
| 14 | Indianapolis |  Denver | 9/7/2014 7:30 PM* | |||
| 15 | New York G |  Detroit | 9/8/2014 6:10 PM* | |||
| 16 | San Diego | 9/8/2014 9:20 PM* | ||||
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Who will win the Super Bowl and be this year's NFL Champion???
The wait is over, the time is now, football is here.
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How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? What We Learned: What do players really owe their NHL teams?
By Ryan Lambert
The Kevin Hayes situation that went into effect this weekend brought to light a particularly troubling sentiment among Blackhawks fans in particular.
The idea, basically, is that Hayes is a “prima donna” and “selfish” and somehow bad because he decided he did not want to sign with the team that drafted him four years ago, and would instead hit the open market starting on Saturday. As of this writing, he has not made a decision about which team he will sign with.
The idea, basically, is that Hayes is a “prima donna” and “selfish” and somehow bad because he decided he did not want to sign with the team that drafted him four years ago, and would instead hit the open market starting on Saturday. As of this writing, he has not made a decision about which team he will sign with.
There was further a lot of confusion about why he would make such a decision. Would he not want to play for a team that gave him the best chance to win a Stanley Cup? Would he not want to show some sort of fealty to the team that drafted him four years ago? Is he really only about the money?
These are all very complicated questions, but the simple answers to them are, respectively: “Apparently not,” “Why should he have to,” and “Why wouldn't he be?”
It's a funny thing about sports. Fans acknowledge, always, that it's a business first and foremost, but simultaneously demand a loyalty from players who are, at the end of the day, simply paid employees. And the thing is, too, that this both is and is not about money simultaneously. If Hayes's biggest consideration here is money (which it might not be), then one has to keep in mind that he can't go sign a $5 million deal somewhere and play for the highest bidder. He's still governed by rookie maximums and other aspects of the current collective bargaining agreement, and thus a team like Calgary couldn't actually pay him more than Chicago could have.
But the difference, though, is that Calgary or Colorado, or maybe even Boston, can offer him something that Chicago cannot: An NHL roster spot, or at least the chance to earn one. That, of course, translates to more money because in the NHL you can make 10 or even 20 times your AHL salary.
For instance, if Anaheim had sent Sami Vatanen had down to the AHL last season, he would have made just $67,500 to ride the bus (plus his signing bonus). But instead he was with the NHL club and pulled $900,000, plus the chance for up to $425,000 in performance bonuses, plus his signing bonus. And thus, playing in the NHL was a very, very good financial move, in addition to being positive for his career a hockey player.
So why would anyone begrudge Hayes the ability to do so by the same token? As has been discussed, Chicago's deep down the right side, with a lot of wings from that side on one-way contracts, and well established in the organization. He was not, and would have had a tough time convincing the team to effectively bury Kris Versteeg's $2.2 million cap hit just so he could get a crack at the roster. So he started looking elsewhere; it should come as no shock, then, that Hayes's various rumored destinations have a paucity of natural, effective right wings at present. That's good not only for his wallet, but for his sense of himself as a hockey player. Playing at the highest level possible in a situation that's as perfect for him as it can be is, you'd think, the goal of any professional athlete.
And further, it's not like Hayes broke any rules here. Chicago fans are going to feel hard done by, but the reason he was able to start negotiating with everyone was because he's allowed to do that under the terms of the CBA. If any drafted college player wants to wait all four years (or, in Justin Schultz's case, fewer than that because he was drafted out of junior but played another year there before going on to Wisconsin), then he's within his rights to wait it out. Hayes isn't the first person to do it and he won't be the last.
Hayes does not, in fact, owe anything to the Blackhawks for drafting him. Just as Schultz didn't to the Ducks, or Blake Wheeler to the Coyotes. All are, like any other professional athlete, guys who have a very limited number of years in which to make a lot of money before their bodies give out or they get left behind. If guys are even lucky enough to make it that far, the average NHL career is about five and a half years. You therefore have to make as much money as possible while you can.
The idea of having to “pay dues” by taking a 14-hour bus ride to Norfolk for $70,000 per year means that there's not only the incredible difficult life of playing in the minors, but also the removed a huge financial benefit. If Hayes can make in even half of this coming NHL season what he would in five years in the minors, how do you begrudge him that opportunity?
It's a trite comparison because no one spends hundreds of dollars to watch office workers sit at their computers all day, but the old thing about how sports fans demand this kind of loyalty but would leave their employers for a competitor for a $10,000 raise is still true. They wouldn't (and shouldn't) feel bad about doing it, and they wouldn't want people criticizing them for it.
And this isn't a criticism college rookies face exclusively.
People complained that PK Subban should just be happy with whatever the Canadiens were offering him. Or that Jarome Iginla should have taken less money and just a one-year deal to possibly win a Cup with the Bruins, rather than sign for three years and far more annually with Colorado. Now, both Subban and Iginla are already millionaires a few times over just from their hockey-playing alone, before you get into endorsements and everything else. But at the same time, these guys' careers could end in training camp this year, for all they know. They could become the next Chris Pronger or Marc Savard or Matthias Ohlund, and if they can keep money coming in — in a league that still mostly favors the owners, mind you — then they both are and should be perfectly able to do so.
So what players owe their teams is this: Service when they are under contract. If you're signed and you're healthy, you play. Pretty simple. Everyone adheres to it, too.
But the only loyalty an NHL player should have when he's not under contract is to himself.Blackhawks bring back G Leighton.
The Sports Xchange
Veteran goaltender Michael Leighton signed a one-year contract to begin a second tour of duty with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Leighton played for Chicago from 2002-04 before going from Nashville to Carolina to Philadelphia to Nashville and back to the Flyers, where he played five seasons before spending last season in the KHL.
The 33-year-old is 8-4 in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games and currently holds the NHL record for most shutouts in a postseason series (three vs. Montreal in 2010 Eastern Conference Final).
Leighton was a sixth-round pick (165th overall) by the Blackhawks in the 1999 NHL Draft. He was (8-21-10) with a 2.81 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage with Chicago.
Leighton also has 171 career victories in the AHL.
By Mike Mazzeo and Marc Stein
Derrick Rose sat out his second consecutive day of practice Tuesday to rest his surgically repaired knees but is still scheduled to play for Team USA in its exhibition game Wednesday night against the Dominican Republic at Madison Square Garden.
A source familiar with Rose's condition told ESPNChicago.com's Nick Friedell that Rose has been bothered by knee soreness since his return to the floor Saturday night in an exhibition victory over Brazil in Chicago and requested the extra time to recover. But Team USA officials, to this point, have downplayed concerns about Rose's status.
The fact that Rose missed a second consecutive workout is bound to worry some Bulls fans back in Chicago, given the star guard's knee problems over the past two seasons, but Team USA coach Mike Krzyzewski actually revealed in a radio interview Monday with ESPN's "Mike and Mike" that he was planning to hold Rose out of practice for the first two days of the week.
"We're gonna give him a couple days off because he's been going so hard," Krzyzewski said during the interview, which he gave en route to Team USA's all-day trip Monday to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Krzyzewski said after Tuesday's session at the Brooklyn Nets' practice facility that he expects both Rose and DeMarcus Cousins (knee) to play against the Al Horford-less Dominican Republic, but USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said Rose might have to surrender his usual place in the starting lineup for a game because Krzyzewski has made practicing the day before a game mandatory for starters in the past.
"This was a good time for him to get rest," Colangelo told ESPN.com on Tuesday. "He still thinks he needs a little bit of rest.
"At this point, it doesn't really matter much, but there's a rule -- unless Coach changed it -- that if you don't practice the day before, then it's hard to start the next game. But it doesn't mean anything."
Rose tore the ACL in his left knee in April 2012 and the medial meniscus in his right knee in November 2013. He played in his first game Saturday since the latter injury and totaled seven points in 24 minutes in Team USA's 95-78 victory over Brazil at the United Center in Chicago.
Asked about playing Wednesday night, Rose said, "Hopefully I am. I didn't do anything today. I just got treatment and today is just really another rest day. I'm really, really happy with where I am right now as far as health-wise. I'm just trying to take my time and get rest. We have a long schedule ahead of us, and I'm just trying to get as much rest as possible."
Said Colangelo: "For him right now, you have to just weigh all the sensitivities involved ... the physical part, the mental part. He did play 24 minutes (Saturday) and he hadn't played that (many minutes) in a long time. If we have time where he can have some down time, mentally it's good for him."
Rose is one of five projected starters for Team USA's upcoming trip to the FIBA World Cup in Spain alongside Stephen Curry, James Harden, Kenneth Faried and Anthony Davis. The Americans open group play in Bilbao with an Aug. 30 game against Finland.
If Rose does not start in Wednesday's exhibition, Team USA sixth man Kyrie Irving is the most likely candidate to take his place in the backcourt alongside sharpshooter Curry.
After a wave of unexpected exits by star players (Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and Russell Westbrook) and the devastating leg injury suffered Aug. 1 by Paul George, Rose ranks as one of the most experienced international players on the squad, having played a key role on the 2010 Team USA squad which won the FIBA World Championship in Turkey.
Krzyzewski, though, insisted Tuesday that he's not planning to heap leadership responsibilities on Rose at this early stage of his comeback, which is taking place under the close watch of Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who is serving this summer as one of Krzyzewski's Team USA assistants.
"He needs to keep finding himself and his rhythm and not be worried about leading a team," Krzyzewski said. "Harden and Curry are really good with that. But Derrick has done a good job."
Said Harden: "He's so quick. Explosive and athletic. He looked very good against Brazil. Obviously his timing is a little bit off. But it will come with more games that he plays. For the most part, he looks great."
'Melo says Knicks will 'absolutely' make playoffs, but Jim Boeheim says he'd be better off with Bulls.
By Dan Devine
Carmelo Anthony (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Carmelo Anthony might not think the New York Knicks are going to vie for a championship this season, but he does expect to return to postseason play.
Fred Kerber of the New York Post caught up with the $124 million man prior to a Monday workout, and the newly slimmed down Anthony said he's looking forward to a reversal of this past season's dismal fortune:
Anthony on Monday asserted his belief the Knicks “absolutely” will be back in the playoffs after missing out last season.
“Yeah, I think so for sure. Absolutely,” an impressively slimmed-down Anthony said of the Knicks’ playoff chances before entering a Midtown gym for a late morning-to-early afternoon workout with a group of NBA players.
Anthony snuffed an attempt to establish any goals for the revamped Knicks, who will enter their first full season under team president Phil Jackson and new coach Derek Fisher.
“I can’t wait to get started,” said Anthony, who missed the playoffs for the first time in his career when the Knicks stumbled to a 37-45 record last season. “No goals. Not setting any goals, but I just can’t wait to get it back on.”
(What, you expected him to say he was pretty sure the Knicks were going to suck again?)
As I've written a few times this summer, even after retaining Anthony in free agency, the Knicks face a number of obstacles to bouncing back into playoff contention this season, with scheme, personnel and competition all presenting major issues to resolve.
New York will be implementing new systems on both ends of the court under new head coach Fisher. Anthony ought to work perfectly fine as the pinch-post focal point of the Triangle offense; new addition Jose Calderon, with his sharp 3-point shooting and heady distributing, should be a hand-in-glove fit; and a system that has long served big guards who can dribble, pass, move without the ball and catch-and-shoot could help get more out of the promising but uneven Iman Shumpert. Beyond them, though, questions abound, and it remains to be seen whether the new scheme's introduction will short-circuit an attack that ranked 11th in the NBA in points scored per possession last year — and fourth-best in the league after Andrea Bargnani went down for the season — even after a miserable start to the season.
The work should be even more daunting on the defensive end, where the first-time head coach will be tasked with not only improving a defense that finished 24th among 30 teams in points allowed per possession last year, but doing so after trading away Tyson Chandler, the lone really capable Knicks frontcourt defender, and replacing him with the intermittently interested Samuel Dalembert and the infrequently healthy Jason Smith.
Discarded point man Raymond Felton was a sieve, but Calderon's his match in that regard. With the possible exceptions of Shumpert and little-used center Cole Aldrich, this roster features no player who seem capable of being as anything better than slightly-above-average on defense. That's not the kind of foundation on which playoff teams are typically built. Even improving to something like the No. 20 defense in the league might be a hard sell for these Knicks, and if the offense takes any kind of step backward as it goes through Triangle growing pains, it's going to be tough to crack back into the top eight.
Yes, the Indiana Pacers could very well fall out of the bracket after losing Paul George and Lance Stephenson, and how the Brooklyn Nets fare without starters Paul Pierce and Shaun Livingston figures to depend largely on how healthy Brook Lopez and Deron Williams are for new head coach Lionel Hollins, but the six other incumbent Eastern playoff squads look to have either gotten stronger or held fast, and as you might've heard, there's one 2013-14 lottery squad that made some pretty nice moves this summer. An awful lot will probably have to go right for the Knicks (and wrong for at least a couple of other teams) to get New York comfortably back into the East's top eight.
That, of course, is why Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim thinks 'Melo would've been better off turning down that $124 million deal and taking less green elsewhere to have a greater shot at winning a title elsewhere. As luck would have it, Anthony's famously opinionated old college coach had a particular destination in mind — the Chicago Bulls, where he'd have been coached by Boeheim's fellow Team USA assistant, Tom Thibodeau.
From Ian Begley of ESPN New York:"Just from a basketball point of view it would have been better to go to Chicago because they've got better players," Boeheim, who coached Anthony on Syracuse's national championship team in 2003, said on Monday. "But he wanted to be in New York and he wants to see if they can turn it around there. I think that's a great thing."
Boeheim's belief that the Bulls are currently a better team than the Knicks isn't unfounded. Chicago boasts a team featuring Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and the newly signed Pau Gasol.
"I think anybody would agree with that. That’s not rocket science," Boeheim said after Team USA practiced at the United States Military Academy at West Point.
As tired as we sometimes get of hearing Boeheim rhapsodize about what his former players should and shouldn't do, it's difficult to disagree with him here; in fact, we've already agreed with him a couple of times this summer about how the presence of multiple top-flight defenders (Joakim Noah, Jimmy Butler, Taj Gibson) and an established elite coach (Thibodeau), plus the potential pair-up with a returning megawatt star (Derrick Rose, looking quite fine, thanks) made Chicago the most attractive potential option for Anthony from a competitive on-court standpoint next season. Heck, Anthony himself agreed with his coach.
"I was flip-flopping," he recently told ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman. "It was hard. It was Chicago, but then after I met with L.A., it was L.A. But it came back to Chicago — and was pretty much always Chicago or New York. That's a situation where I could have walked in now to an opportunity to compete for the next however many years."
But despite fully understanding the higher likelihood of competing for titles both now and in the foreseeable future had he headed to Chicago, Anthony elected to stay in the Big Apple. Many of us think that's because only the Knicks could offer him an extra lucrative fifth year; Anthony says that's not it, and suggests his decision had more to do with New York being the place where he and his family want to stay for the long haul.
Beyond that, though, Anthony's choice continues to come back to two central tenets — his belief that legendary coach-turned-president of basketball operations Phil Jackson can and will build a competitive roster in New York, and that Jackson can and will build that roster around Anthony, who believes he belongs in the sort of rarefied air reserved for discussing the likes of LeBron James and Kevin Durant, and is reportedly going hard about the business of getting there. From Kerber:
And Anthony showed some of that desire Monday in the closed, high-caliber workout with assorted NBA players. One of the participants, who asked not to be named, said Anthony “clearly was the best player on the court. He didn’t take a lot of shots but he was very efficient. He looked like Melo. He looked like he had something to prove.”
After turning 30 and failing to make an All-NBA roster for the first time in three years, Anthony does have something to prove — that he can be the best player on a team that matters, that last year was an aberration and that he can lead even a lacking team to late-spring basketball. He's taken (a shade less than) top dollar to return to a 37-win team to prove it, and if he can, he won't have to divvy up the lion's share of the credit with a handful of other top-flight contributors. There's a downside to that, though — if he can' t, there won't be very many other folks to share the blame, either.
Jackie Robinson West wins, reaches U.S. semifinal.
The Jackie Robinson West All-Stars have caught the nation's attention with towering homers and lots of runs.
The kids from Morgan Park can win with pitching and defense too.
That was the lesson learned Tuesday night at the Little League World Series, when the Illinois state champions beat Pearland, Texas, 6-1 to advance within one win of the United States championship game.
Jackie Robinson next plays at 6:30 p.m. Thursday against the loser of Wednesday's game between Pennsylvania and Nevada.
Jackie Robinson starting pitcher Josh Houston pitched five innings of four-hit, one-run ball Tuesday for his second win of the World Series.
Texas manager Don Smith praised Houston's stuff after the game, calling his pitching "very deceptive."
Houston struck out five Texas batters.
"On breaking pitches, I try not to slow my motion down," Houston said. "That's what I had a problem with earlier in the season."
The South Siders' offense pushed across enough run support for Houston in the first inning. Pierce Jones worked a leadoff walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Marquis Jackson drove Jones in with a grounder past the second baseman to put Jackie Robinson up 1-0. Darion Radcliff followed by chopping a single up the middle. When Jackson turned for third, he forced a wild throw from the center fielder that went into the infield fence, allowing the second run. Houston drove in Radcliff with a groundout to the shortstop to make it 3-0.
Texas got one run back in the third on a double by Josh Gabino that bounced past a charging Jones in right field. From there, Pearland had only three more base runners against Houston and Marquis Jackson, who came in to close the sixth and allowed a leadoff walk before striking out three straight batters.
The little-talked about Jackie Robinson defense turned two double plays and committed no errors.
"They take pride in their defense," manager Darold Butler said. "All of them have strong arms, very quick reflexes. When they get a chance to actually show it during the game, they pretty much get it done."
Houston wasn't so generous, critiquing Jones for charging the one run-scoring hit of the night for Texas.
"To be honest, our defense could have been a little better," Houston said.
Manager Butler sighed after his starting pitcher offered his take.
"They're still trying to find a way to be perfect in baseball, which isn't going to happen," Butler said. "But if that what's they're shooting for, I'm cool with it."
There weren't any home runs for the Morgan Park squad, but they worked five walks off Pearland's pitchers.
"He wasn't giving us many fastballs, and most of the curveballs that he threw were not strikes," Jackson said of Texas starter Walter Maeker. "We had to wait on that pitch and when it came we hit it."
Jones got hit in the hand by a pitch in the fourth. Butler said Jones is a "little banged up" but will be available Thursday.
Mo'ne Davis expected to pitch vs. Las Vegas in LLWS Wednesday.
Mo'ne Davis will almost certainly be on the mound Wednesday night. (USATSI)
It's been a whirlwind month for Mo'ne Davis, the 13-year-old right-hander who has helped lead Philadelphia's Taney Dragons to the Little League World Series.Last week, she became the first girl to toss a LLWS shutout in a regional matchup against Newark, and she's expected to be on the mound when the Dragons face Las Vegas in Wednesday's U.S. semifinal matchup at Lamade Stadium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Davis explained her approach on the mound in an interview with ESPN.
“First and second inning, I got to get to know the umpire strike zone so then I know where to throw," she said. "And when i get through their order, I know where kids don't like it. …Some people don't like it low and outside so I throw it low and outside. Some people swing at curveballs, some people swing at first pitch, so I know when to throw the right pitch at the right time.”
Davis, whose fastball has been clocked at 70 mph, isn't just Taney's best pitcher. She's also an honor-roll student at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy who wants to play for Geno Auriemma's UConn Huskies one day.
It's a goal she certainly believes is attainable, and so too does her catcher, Steve Bandura, who was asked about her basketball-playing prospects recently.
“Is it in the realm of possibility? Absolutely,” he said, via the New York Daily News. “She's Steve Nash on the basketball floor. She sees everything. She always has a plan.”
Which sounds a lot like her baseball game, too, which she describes better than any writer could.
"I throw my curveball like Clayton Kershaw and my fastball like Mo'ne Davis," she said.
HBO's John Oliver, perhaps an unlikely LLWS fan, probably put it best during his show, Last Week Tonight.
"In the world of sport, a new star emerged this week. I love this girl, but the best part of Mo'ne Davis is not that she happens to be female," he said, via Philly.com. "It's that she also happens to be awesome. Waving her fingers after strikeouts ... and displaying remarkable self-confidence."
Davis and the Dragons face Las Vegas Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET, and we'll be there to cover it for CBSSports.com.
Golf: I got a club for that… Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy visit Jimmy Fallon to promote Nike and play games.
By Jay Busbee
On Monday night, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy visited Jimmy Fallon on "The Tonight Show." Or, perhaps, that should read "Rory McIlroy visited Jimmy Fallon, and brought along Tiger Woods as a special guest." Whichever, all three had a fine time, but it was clear McIlroy is the man of the moment.
The appearance was part of a Nike product launch, touting the new "Vapor" iron series, and included a pre-show media event at the Statue of Liberty. There and at the show, Fallon and McIlroy traded golf swings. Woods, still recovering from back surgery, indicated he won't be swinging a club for at least another month.
Still, Woods was effusive in his praise of McIlroy, who in turn was gracious about Woods' approval.
“We’ve seen him have runs like this before," Woods said of McIlroy. "He made a wholesale equipment change and also at the same time made a few changes in his swing. It’s tough to make all those changes work at the same time, especially at the elite level. When he puts it together, he can get on hot streaks and runs like this. To win two major championships and a World Golf Championship, that’s tough stuff. That’s not easy to do and not many people have.”
“It’s a huge compliment for me to be compared with Tiger,” McIlroy said. “But I'll never be able to do what he's done for the game.”
He did one thing Woods didn't do: defeat Fallon at his own game. Fallon famously topped Woods in a video game showdown, but McIlroy came out the winner in the FACEBREAKERS showdown. Conveniently enough, the trophy was already engraved with his name.
Golf now suits me to a tee. Even Jack Nicklaus says play it forward.
By Brian Schmitz
Never thought I'd be saying this while I'm above ground but, for once, I love golf.
Check that and give me a mulligan: Love is way too strong.
I like golf — really like it at long last.
I doubt we'll ever be best buddies, not when the ball just sits there with that dimpled smirk. But at least I can enjoy its company now for a few hours. We can hang out more — and with far less cursing, throwing stuff and exploring woodlands. In fact, for the first time ever, the game is ... fun!
Never thought I'd use that f-word to describe golf.
I used to dread golf the way I do colonoscopies, symphonies and soccer. That is, until I finally discovered the secret after all these years.
And here it is: senior tees.
As I've crept into my 60s, it's amazing how playing a little closer to the hole can change your disposition, not to mention your scorecard. More paring, less pouting.
Suddenly, I no longer live in utter fear of using my driver when I'm able to subtract 50 to 60 yards or more from each tee box.
Actually, there are no such things as "senior tees." Tee boxes aren't set up by age limit or gender, but rather by distances in accordance with skill level (or handicap). Most courses have at least three sets of tee boxes — back tees, middle tees and forward tees.
The biggest hazard facing the younger weekend flat-bellies is their ego: They think it's wimpy or sacrilege to play from the forward or middle tees.
Hey, if it's OK with the greatest majors champion of all time, it should be perfectly OK with you.
Jack Nicklaus, a universally respected traditionalist, has been promoting a PGA campaign called "Tee It Forward."
Nicklaus' message: You can try to copy the bazooka swings from today's pros; just don't do it from where they are teeing off, seemingly, the parking lot.
"If golfers, who often play too far back, would move to a more forward tee, they are going to be left with shorter irons into greens, which enhances their ability to score better," Nicklaus has said. "And, in the end, that makes the game more fun … and that's what it's all about."
A 2012 survey of Tee It Forward participants found that 56 percent played faster, 56 percent are likely to play more often and 85 percent had more fun.
There's that word again you seldom hear in golf — fun.
Nicklaus is 74, but shortening distances doesn't entirely have to do with age. What we are also talking about here is the survival of golf itself.
Golf experienced a boon in the late '90s, coinciding with Tiger Woods' rise as a global star. But after a downturn in the economy and in Tiger's game, the sport is in trouble.
HBO's Real Sports reported that golf has lost five million players the past 10 years and an average of 130 courses have closed each year for the past eight years. The retail industry is down. Television ratings have tumbled.
Nicklaus admits in an interview with Bryant Gumbel that golf doesn't appeal to today's instant-gratification generation.
Let's face it: Golf is too expensive, is more difficult than quantum physics and takes too long to play.
I don't know the answers to treating what ails it and I don't care — not after the game has made me crazy and sick to my stomach for years.
I've been just a hack who could break 100 if I didn't spend too much time searching through strangers' backyards for my ball.
But now, just like that, I'm routinely shooting in the 90s, flirting with the high 80s. Long story short:
When a 420-yard par-4 can be shrunk to 340 yards at the tee, I don't feel as if I've got to swing for the fences to have a manageable second shot.
And it never takes four hours to play a round, either, leaving more time for the real fun part of my game: the 19th hole.
Golfing Is Lost In The Shuffle As Millennials Follow Different Course.
By John Seward
A worldwide slump in the popularity of golf has lead to tough going for publicly traded companies that depend on the sport.
Callaway Golf (NYSE: ELY) shares are down 10 percent year to date. Adidas (OTC: ADDYY), maker of TaylorMade golfing equipment, recently fired 15 percent of the golf division's global workforce after it disclosed that golfing sales fell 27 percent in the first half of 2014.
"It suggests they're desperately trying to arrest profit declines," Canaccord analyst Camilo Lyon said. "We have doubts about golf and its seemingly structural decline."
"It's awful scary watching it go down," Mark King, until recently the head of TaylorMade, told NBC news last month.
Power Rankings: Jeff Gordon in the black SS with the navigation at the top.
By Nick Bromberg
1. Jeff Gordon (LW: 2): Gordon's back to the top this week after winning at Michigan but we have to wonder how Lugnut feels after Sprint announced it was stopping the family plan after Friday. Lugnut will still be able to be in Gordon's family, but it seems so mean of Sprint to utilize Lugnut for such a short-lived marketing campaign. Hopefully he can recover.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 1): Junior had a discussion with Denny Hamlin on pit road after the race. Cue the dramatic music! Hamlin was trying to side draft off Junior's quarter panel to keep up (you know, there's that Hendrick horsepower advantage), and Junior had run him up the track earlier in the race. Is this the start of a new feud that will boil over into the Chase? (Spoiler: Probably not.)
3. Kevin Harvick (LW: 3): Four straight second-place finishes at Michigan may be more impressive that four-straight wins. And we say that half-seriously. Kicking 42 other drivers' butts four straight times at the same track is incredibly impressive, but there's something unique about finishing ahead of 41 drivers four different times while losing to a different driver each time.
4. Joey Logano (LW: 4): There's not much you can do when the top four drivers in Power Rankings all finish in the top five. Logano would have moved up had he been able to hold on to the lead, however, Gordon got by him and his one attempt at a pass back for the lead ended up with Logano having to make a very nice save.
5. Brad Keselowski (LW: 6): So did you know Brad rebounded from his encounter with the wall to finish eighth? If this was the Chase, we'd be talking about a potential title-defining moment. Instead, it's buried given that Keselowski is a lock for the Chase. There's still an important lesson in all of this though: when you hit the wall, hit the wall with the wheel as straight as possible.
6. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 7): Johnson had a discussion with Newman in the garage after the race. Cue the dramatic music! The two were racing closely for position inside the top 10 and Newman gave Johnson a Johnny Manzielian salute as they entered turn three. Wait, Newman did the middle finger thing before Manziel? How has Newman not become a national crisis? I demand answers, President Obama.
7. Clint Bowyer (LW: NR): Ol' Rawhide makes a leap from the territory of the unwashed because he finished sixth and is in position to make the Chase. We like his chances at Bristol too, so he could go win and be in. Call it a hunch. But we're usually wrong, so in that case, sorry Clint.
8. Matt Kenseth (LW: 5): Kenseth was caught up in the aftermath of Danica Patrick's spin following a restart and had his day ruined. Worrying about Kenseth's Chase chances at this point seems excessive. He's got plenty of cushion, though if Bristol repeats itself on Saturday night, there should be a slight amount of concern. But at the same time, Kenseth was running really well in March when he got.
9. A.J. Allmendinger (LW: 9): What, you stayed here for more than a week, A.J.? What the heck happened? Oh, you finished 13th? Yeah, that works. You can stay. We may card you again next week, but if you keep stringing together top 15s you could survive the first elimination round in the Chase.
10. Greg Biffle (LW: NR): Biffle's in the position of guy doing just enough to get into the Chase. Sure, a win helps him immensely, but Biffle's most realistic scenario is to string together top 15 finishes while repeat winners win the next three races. If it happens, Biffle's likely going to make the Chase.
11. Ryan Newman (LW: 11): Johnson characterized his dispute for racing surface with Newman as "normal Ryan stuff" which makes us wonder what a Sprint Cup Series race with 43 Ryan Newman would be like. Would it be like NASCAR 07 when the entire field is on intimidate and when you go to make a pass the car you're passing tries to block you? Would everyone react the other way and not make a pass at all? This could be fun.
12. Carl Edwards (LW: 10): We'll keep Edwards here because he finally got to talk about his move to Joe Gibbs Racing on Tuesday. The first question that's going to pop into many people's minds at the beginning of 2015 is if Edwards will receive the same type of bump that Kenseth did in 2013 when he moved to JGR. That'll depend a lot on how the JGR cars stack up to the rest of the field.
Lucky Dog: Paul Menard finished fourth, which is good for his Chase chances ... if he hadn't finished below 30th each of the previous three weeks.
The DNF: Kyle Larson can relate, Paul.
Dropped out: Marcos Ambrose, Larson.
"It's awful scary watching it go down," Mark King, until recently the head of TaylorMade, told NBC news last month.
"Young people entering the game after high school, 18- to 30-year-olds are down 35 percent in the last 10 years," said King, recently named president of Adidas North America. "So I don't like where the game looks like it's going."
While a soft economy along with a retail golf inventory glut and declining performance of Tiger Woods has undoubtedly hurt sales, some see a secular and permanent change as young people fail to cultivate interest in the sport.
Half the 400,000 people who abandoned the sport in 2012 were under the age of 35, according to the National Golf Foundation.
"The values of golf do not match up with the values of millennials," wrote Forbes columnist Matt Powell.
"The game is too time consuming, exclusive, complicated and expensive to appeal to young people," Powell wrote. "Golf has lost the millennials."
Power Rankings: Jeff Gordon in the black SS with the navigation at the top.
By Nick Bromberg
Jeff Gordon celebrates his victory with crew members after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pure Michigan 400 auto race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., Sunday, Aug. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Bob Brodbeck)
1. Jeff Gordon (LW: 2): Gordon's back to the top this week after winning at Michigan but we have to wonder how Lugnut feels after Sprint announced it was stopping the family plan after Friday. Lugnut will still be able to be in Gordon's family, but it seems so mean of Sprint to utilize Lugnut for such a short-lived marketing campaign. Hopefully he can recover.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 1): Junior had a discussion with Denny Hamlin on pit road after the race. Cue the dramatic music! Hamlin was trying to side draft off Junior's quarter panel to keep up (you know, there's that Hendrick horsepower advantage), and Junior had run him up the track earlier in the race. Is this the start of a new feud that will boil over into the Chase? (Spoiler: Probably not.)
3. Kevin Harvick (LW: 3): Four straight second-place finishes at Michigan may be more impressive that four-straight wins. And we say that half-seriously. Kicking 42 other drivers' butts four straight times at the same track is incredibly impressive, but there's something unique about finishing ahead of 41 drivers four different times while losing to a different driver each time.
4. Joey Logano (LW: 4): There's not much you can do when the top four drivers in Power Rankings all finish in the top five. Logano would have moved up had he been able to hold on to the lead, however, Gordon got by him and his one attempt at a pass back for the lead ended up with Logano having to make a very nice save.
5. Brad Keselowski (LW: 6): So did you know Brad rebounded from his encounter with the wall to finish eighth? If this was the Chase, we'd be talking about a potential title-defining moment. Instead, it's buried given that Keselowski is a lock for the Chase. There's still an important lesson in all of this though: when you hit the wall, hit the wall with the wheel as straight as possible.
6. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 7): Johnson had a discussion with Newman in the garage after the race. Cue the dramatic music! The two were racing closely for position inside the top 10 and Newman gave Johnson a Johnny Manzielian salute as they entered turn three. Wait, Newman did the middle finger thing before Manziel? How has Newman not become a national crisis? I demand answers, President Obama.
7. Clint Bowyer (LW: NR): Ol' Rawhide makes a leap from the territory of the unwashed because he finished sixth and is in position to make the Chase. We like his chances at Bristol too, so he could go win and be in. Call it a hunch. But we're usually wrong, so in that case, sorry Clint.
8. Matt Kenseth (LW: 5): Kenseth was caught up in the aftermath of Danica Patrick's spin following a restart and had his day ruined. Worrying about Kenseth's Chase chances at this point seems excessive. He's got plenty of cushion, though if Bristol repeats itself on Saturday night, there should be a slight amount of concern. But at the same time, Kenseth was running really well in March when he got.
9. A.J. Allmendinger (LW: 9): What, you stayed here for more than a week, A.J.? What the heck happened? Oh, you finished 13th? Yeah, that works. You can stay. We may card you again next week, but if you keep stringing together top 15s you could survive the first elimination round in the Chase.
10. Greg Biffle (LW: NR): Biffle's in the position of guy doing just enough to get into the Chase. Sure, a win helps him immensely, but Biffle's most realistic scenario is to string together top 15 finishes while repeat winners win the next three races. If it happens, Biffle's likely going to make the Chase.
11. Ryan Newman (LW: 11): Johnson characterized his dispute for racing surface with Newman as "normal Ryan stuff" which makes us wonder what a Sprint Cup Series race with 43 Ryan Newman would be like. Would it be like NASCAR 07 when the entire field is on intimidate and when you go to make a pass the car you're passing tries to block you? Would everyone react the other way and not make a pass at all? This could be fun.
12. Carl Edwards (LW: 10): We'll keep Edwards here because he finally got to talk about his move to Joe Gibbs Racing on Tuesday. The first question that's going to pop into many people's minds at the beginning of 2015 is if Edwards will receive the same type of bump that Kenseth did in 2013 when he moved to JGR. That'll depend a lot on how the JGR cars stack up to the rest of the field.
Lucky Dog: Paul Menard finished fourth, which is good for his Chase chances ... if he hadn't finished below 30th each of the previous three weeks.
The DNF: Kyle Larson can relate, Paul.
Dropped out: Marcos Ambrose, Larson.
It's officially official: Carl Edwards will join Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015.
By Nick Bromberg
Carl Edwards joins Joe Gibbs Racing (Image Yahoo Sports)
What's long been rumored is now official. Carl Edwards will drive for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015.
The organization is making the move to a fourth car in 2015 and Edwards will drive the No. 19 Toyota alongside Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth.
Edwards will be sponsored by Arris for 17 races in 2015. Not familiar with Arris? It's a telecommunications equipment manufacturing company. No sponsor for the other races was announced on Tuesday but Joe Gibbs said that most of the remaining races were accounted for.
"It will be nice to be able to talk about this now with all the work that's gone into it," Edwards said.
"Obviously a huge day for me and my career and I'm looking forward to next year. We're competitors for the rest of this season and I'm going to try to make it as tough on [Joe Gibbs Racing] as I can for the rest of the year. But starting next year it will be really exciting to race for championships with [Joe Gibbs Racing.]"
Speculation about Edwards' future dominated NASCAR's silly-season headlines and after Roush Fenway Racing announced Edwards would leave the team at Indianapolis, his arrival at JGR seemed like a foregone conclusion. When Edwards re-signed with Roush before the 2011 season, Gibbs was his top suitor then as well.
"For me, obviously right now my focus is still to go win the championship in the 99 Ford for Jack Roush and my career as a driver, for 10 years I've worked as hard as I can, everyone has worked as hard as they can to go win championships," Edwards said. "And that is my goal. I felt like at this time in my life and career a change might be something that would let me reach that goal. I was very fortunate and humbled by the number of teams and people, the folks that I talked to. Had some amazing conversations and honestly had to pinch myself ... but looking across the landscape of the sport I think everyone up here has spoken to Joe and J.D. [Gibbs] and the organization Joe Gibbs Racing and for all the good things everyone has said I'm very excited to work with them."
He joins former Roush teammate Kenseth at JGR. Kenseth moved to JGR before 2013, replacing Joey Logano in the No. 20.
Arris' sponsorship also extends to the Nationwide Series. The company will sponsor Daniel Suarez for a full season in the Nationwide Series for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015. Suarez, a member of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity, competes full time in the NASCAR Mexico Series currently and will also run a partial season in the Truck Series in 2015.
Roush's Sprint Cup Series driver lineup in 2015 will include Trevor Bayne, Greg Biffle and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
UEFA Champions League Roundup: Arsenal held, Athletic takes 1-1 draw out of Naples.
By Richard Farley
Playing in Istanbul is never easy, part of the reason Arsène Wenger may take solace in his team’s result, but when Besiktas’s Demba Ba gave Arsenal scares at the beginning and end of the first half, a harsher reality set in for the talented Gunners: Tuesday’s game, the first of their two-legged, Champions League playoff, had to be able survival.
Limited to three shots on target, and out-shot 14-10 overall, Arsenal managed to survive, with the Gunners’ best chance coming through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 89th minute. Thanks to a save from Tolga Zengin (and some help from the post), the teams ended their first leg 0-0, leaving the sides as they started when they resume next week at the Emirates.
That’s not to say nothing’s changed. With two yellow cards, Aaron Ramsey earned himself a one game ban, with Slaven Bilic potentially joining him in the stands next Wednesday. The Beskitas head coach was sent from his bench late at Vodafone Arena, with the nature of the dismissal set to dictate whether the former Croatia boss will be on the sidelines in North London.
Whether he will or not, Bilic has to relish his team’s position. While it would have been ideal to see Ba convert one of his chances, Besiktas is still in a position to take advantage of the away goals rule. Though they’ll be heavy underdogs, a score draw next week will send Turkey’s third place finishers into the group stage.
Napoli 1-1 Athletic
Iker Munain’s goal just before half time sent Los Leones into halftime up one, with a Napoli team that held 56 percent possession throughout the opening leg spending the rest of the night in pursuit. In the 68th minute, that pursuit came good, with Gonzalo Higuaín pulling Rafa Benítez’s team even, but leaving the San Paulo on even footing, Napoli must now overcome an away goal at an Athletic side that’s never lost at home against Italian opposition.
Red Bull Salzburg 2-1 Malmö
A match dominated by Salzburg tuned sour after miscommunication at the back in the 90th minute allowed a looping ball for Emil Forsberg to give the Swedes a crucial away goal. Though Salzburg ended the night with 27 shots while holding 57 percent of the ball, goals from Franz Schiemer and Jonatan Soriano could only craft a tenuous lead. The Austrians will go north knowing a 1-0 loss will send them to Europa.
Steaua Bucharest 1-0 Ludogorets
A game of few chances saw the Romanians salvage their home leg in the 88th minute when Alexandru Chipciu, who had missed a spot kick earlier, scored from close range. The goal also made up for the yellow card the forward drew in the first half, a booking that will keep him out of the second leg in Bulgaria.
Copenhagen 2-3 Bayer Leverkusen
A 5th goal from Stefan Kießling drew a quick response from the Danes, who converted on set pieces in the ninth (Zanka) and 13th (Daniel Amartey) minutes. Finishing an explosive first half, Bayer got goals from Karim Bellarabi and Heung-Min Son, allowing the visitors to take a one-goal lead into intermission. With neither team proving as clinical in the second half, the Germans take that edge back the Bay Arena, with Stale Solbakken’s team given the unenviable test of overcoming a one-goal deficit and three away goals.
NBC Sports Group's Premier League Soccer Season Kicks Off to U.S. Ratings Record.
By Khalil Garriott and Tony Maglio
American soccer fans are looking for their fix after the 2014 World Cup, leaving NBC Sports Group to reap the ratings rewards.
A U.S. record 3.3 million people tuned in to NBC Sports Group's opening weekend of Premier League coverage — featuring England's best club teams – NBC said Tuesday. Last year, the opening Premier League weekend pulled in 3.2 million, three percent fewer viewers.
It wasn't just the weekend's total audience that set a record for NBC Sports — several other benchmarks were reached throughout the weekend: Arsenal's 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday was the most-watched opening weekend match in U.S. history, up 12 percent from 2013's Swansea City-Manchester United game.
Also, Sunday's Newcastle-Manchester City match on NBCSN averaged 514,000 viewers, topping the previous cable record, owned by ESPN (Aug. 18, 2012's 476,000 viewers).
The five games on NBC and NBC Sports Network averaged 545,000 viewers – up 23 percent from last year (443,000); the four that aired on cable also set an opening-weekend mark on that realm.
In the digital world, fans streamed more than 8.9 million minutes of action – tops for a Premier League weekend – via NBC Sports Live Extra, the live-streaming product for desktops, mobile devices and tablets. That figure is a 56 percent increase from last year's (5.7 million minutes) debut weekend of the Premier League season.
Among major U.S. markets tuning in, Washington, D.C. ranked first, followed by Boston, Baltimore, West Palm Beach, Fla., and Chicago.
When coverage resumes this weekend with Aston Villa-Newcastle at 7:45 a.m. ET, NBC Sports Group is counting on the positive post-World Cup momentum to continue.
Here are the Top 15 markets from the weekend:
1. Washington, D.C.
2. Boston
3. Baltimore
4. West Palm Beach
5. Chicago
6. Las Vegas
7. Norfolk
8. Providence
9. Seattle
10. Sacramento
11. New Haven
12. Dallas
13. Philadelphia
14. New Orleans
15. Denver
2. Boston
3. Baltimore
4. West Palm Beach
5. Chicago
6. Las Vegas
7. Norfolk
8. Providence
9. Seattle
10. Sacramento
11. New Haven
12. Dallas
13. Philadelphia
14. New Orleans
15. Denver
Maryland unveils lifetime scholarship guarantee for all athletes.
By Nick Bromberg
Scholarship athletes at Maryland will now have lifetime scholarships.
The school announced the "Maryland Way Guarantee" on Tuesday. The provision means that all athletes who finish their eligibility or leave the school under good standing prior to graduation will receive tuition, books and fees paid for until they graduate.
The provision applies to athletes in every sport at Maryland. Previously, Maryland's scholarships had been one-year financial aid agreements renewed annually.
“Our vision is to be the best intercollegiate athletic program while producing graduates who are prepared to serve as leaders in the local, state and global communities,” Maryland athletic director Kevin Anderson said in a statement. “We are confident ‘The Maryland Way Guarantee’ will further demonstrate our commitment to our student-athletes’ pursuit of a college degree.”
The program begins in November 2014 with all incoming athletes. As part of its student athlete "bill of rights" announced in June, Indiana introduced multi-year guaranteed scholarships for athletes and financial support for tuition, books and fees for athletes who wanted to finish their degrees.
Earlier this summer, USC announced it would provide four-year scholarships for football, men's basketball and women's basketball.
Maryland's announcement comes after the NCAA's Board of Directors approved autonomy reforms for the Power Five conferences. The top five conferences will now have the ability to make rules that apply to themselves including provisions to provide scholarships that provide the full cost of attendance for athletes.
While the NCAA still permits schools to have one-year renewable scholarships, expect other schools to follow the lead of Indiana and Maryland and go above USC's four-year scholarship announcement. Schools continue to receive a lot of scrutiny regarding collegiate athletic reform, especially on the heels of U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken's ruling in the O'Bannon vs. NCAA case.
Changing the way scholarships are handled is not only a move that's beneficial to athletes and their futures but one that can help change public perception as well.
Larry Brown: Emmanuel Mudiay made 'a bad decision' turning pro.
By Jeff Eisenberg
One of the many people who believe Emmanuel Mudiay erred by turning pro is the man who would have coached the nation's No. 1 point guard prospect in college.
SMU coach Larry Brown told CBSSports.com on Thursday that he remains close with Mudiay, but he believes the Texas native made "a bad decision" signing a one-year, $1.2 million contract with a Chinese pro team rather than playing for the Mustangs.
"I thought it was a bad decision but I'm going to support him because he decided to come with us because he trusted us and thought we could help him," Brown said.
"My theory is Emmanuel is going to make it. He's that good and he's a great kid. But it's not going to be good for everybody. And I'm afraid that there's a lot of people out there that are going to push people in that direction. Unfortunately, there's agents and so-called agents pushing them that way and I worry about that. If the NBA would ever get a hold of this thing and make it like baseball, it would be better."
Assessing Brown's comment requires addressing each part of what he said individually.
I'm not so sure Mudiay made a bad decision simply because of the concerns regarding his eligibility at SMU. While it's certainly possible Mudiay could damage his NBA draft stock if he struggles to adapt to living in a foreign country and playing against grown men, it's also possible the NCAA would have sidelined him for most or even all of next season at SMU. Concerns about the viability of the courses he took at Prime Prep were a potential problem, as were potential amateurism issues.
The second part of what Brown said certainly has validity because there will certainly be plenty of people paying attention to how Mudiay does and evaluating if it's an option for them. I suspect the top prospects who will follow in Mudiay's footsteps are mostly guys with one-and-done aspirations and eligibility concerns that could preclude them from playing in college as freshmen, but the persuasive powers of agents and runners can be a factor.
And, lastly, there's Brown touting the baseball draft model in which prospects either turn pro out of high school or spend at least three years in college before they're draft-eligible again. Let me be clear on this: That's never going to happen.
The NBA is the only entity with the power to alter the draft rules, and the baseball model is the least attractive option for the league owners. They'd still have to gamble on top high school prospects without seeing them play at all in college, yet they'd have to wait at least three years to nab the players who have proven themselves NBA-ready.
Nadal won't defend US Open title because of wrist.
By HOWARD FENDRICH (AP Tennis Writer)
Reigning champion Rafael Nadal pulled out of the U.S. Open because of an injury for the second time in three years Monday, leaving Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer as the men to beat at the year's last Grand Slam tournament.
Nadal announced his withdrawal, blamed on a bad right wrist, one week before play begins at Flushing Meadows.
''I am sure you understand that it is a very tough moment for me since it is a tournament I love and where I have great memories from fans, the night matches, so many things,'' a posting on Nadal's Facebook page read. ''Not much more I can do right now, other than accept the situation and, as always in my case, work hard in order to be able to compete at the highest level once I am back.''
The second-ranked Nadal plays left-handed, but he uses a two-handed backhand.
The second-ranked Nadal plays left-handed, but he uses a two-handed backhand.
The 14-time major champion was hurt July 29 while practicing on his home island of Mallorca ahead of the North American hard-court circuit. The next day, Nadal announced he needed to wear a cast on his wrist for two to three weeks and would be sitting out tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati.
The 28-year-old Spaniard also said at that time he expected to return for the U.S. Open.
Instead, he's the fourth man in the Open era, which began in 1968, to decline to try to defend his U.S. Open title. The others were Ken Rosewall in 1971, Pete Sampras in 2003 and Juan Martin del Potro in 2010. Del Potro also is out of this year's U.S. Open after wrist surgery in March.
Nadal is 44-8 with four titles in 2014, including his record ninth French Open trophy in June. He has not competed since losing in the fourth round of Wimbledon on July 1.
With Nadal sidelined, five-time U.S. Open champion Federer joins Djokovic as a favorite in New York - even if there are questions about them.
Federer turned 33 this month, and it's been more than two years since he won one of his record 17 Grand Slam titles. But he is coming off a runner-up finish at Wimbledon last month and a hard-court title at the Cincinnati Masters on Sunday.
After beating David Ferrer 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 on Sunday, Federer declared: ''My game's exactly where I want it to be.''
Djokovic won Wimbledon to take the No. 1 ranking from Nadal, but had a rough time on hard courts, losing his second match in both Toronto and Cincinnati.
Still, Djokovic will be seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open, and the third-ranked Federer is expected to rise one seeding spot to No. 2, so they could meet only in the final. The draw is Thursday.
Federer reached six consecutive finals at Flushing Meadows from 2004-09, but hasn't been that far since, losing in the semifinals in 2010 and 2011, the quarterfinals in 2012, and the fourth round a year ago, when he was dealing with a bothersome back.
Nadal won his second U.S. Open championship in 2013, part of a run of reaching the final in each of his last three appearances. He beat Djokovic to win the titles in 2010 and last year, and lost to Djokovic in 2011.
The one question about Nadal over the years has been his durability, on account of a hard-charging, play-each-point-as-if-it's-your-last style.
He did not enter the U.S. Open in 2012, part of an extended absence because of a problem with his left knee.
And this will be the second time Nadal chose to not attempt a defense of a major title: A year after winning Wimbledon in 2008, he missed that tournament with knee tendinitis.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Wednesday, August 20, 2014.
MemoriesofHistory.com
1920 - Representatives of four professional football clubs met in the first of two meetings in Canton, Ohio. The meetings led to the founding of the American Professional Football Association. Two years later the APFA officially became the National Football League.
1939 - The National Bowling Association was founded in Detroit, MI. It was the first bowling association in the U.S. for African- Americans.
1945 - Tommy Brown of the Brooklyn Dodgers became the youngest player to hit a home run in a major league ball game. Brown was 17 years, 8 months and 14 days old.
1949 - Cleveland’s Indians and Chicago’s White Sox played at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland before the largest crowd, 78,382 people, to see a nighttime major-league baseball game.
2005 - Thomas Herrion (San Francisco 49ers) collapsed and died after a preseason game in Denver.
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