CS&T/AllsportsAmerica Monday Sports News Update, 05/18/2015.

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Sports Quote of the Day:

"Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety." ~ Jack Nicklaus, Professional Golfer. He is widely regarded as the greatest professional golfer of all time 

Trending: American Pharoah one win from Triple Crown after Preakness victory. (See American Pharoah articles below for details.)

Trending: USA make history at Twickenham with first World Rugby Series tournament win. (See World Rugby article below for details.)

How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks can't solve Frederik Andersen, Ducks in Game 1, 4-1.  

By Tracey Myers

Ducks left wing Matt Beleskey falls in front of Corey Crawford in the second period. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

This game is all about the bounces. It’s all about the work ethic. And it’s about taking advantage of the opportunities.

On Sunday, the Anaheim Ducks made the most of the latter. The Blackhawks did not.

Kyle Palmieri scored the game-winning goal off a Blackhawks miscue in the second period and the Ducks would score two more in the third as they beat the Blackhawks 4-1 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final. Game 2 is Tuesday night at the Honda Center.

It’s the first time the Blackhawks have trailed in a series this postseason.

Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 32 of 33 shots for the victory. Corey Crawford stopped 23 of 26 in the loss.

As far as skating, hitting and shooting, neither team looked very rusty after their lengthy layoffs. But both the Blackhawks and Ducks made their share of errors. The Ducks struggled with passes and turnovers in the first period, when the Blackhawks outshot them 16-7. Andersen stopped all 16, including a stunning stick save on Patrick Kane.

“I thought I did everything right on the play. He just had his stick there,” Kane said. “If I would have put it along the ice I would have had a better chance of scoring there. It would have been nice to get that chance and bury it to give us the lead.”

The Ducks did just that. After a failed David Rundblad clear near the blue line, Hampus Lindholm scored to give the Ducks a 1-0 edge. Rundblad had another turnover early in the second. The Ducks turned that into a goal, too, with Palmieri scoring his first of the postseason for a 2-0 lead.

It was a tough start for Rundblad, who was playing in his first NHL postseason game.

“You don’t want to be on the ice when they score. Defensively, you look at the plays, we want to make sure we’re making safe plays and good pays and easy exits,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “A couple of those we could do differently.”

Still, there was plenty of time for the Blackhawks to recover. Brad Richards, off a Francois Beauchemin turnover, scored with 39.6 seconds remaining in the second period to cut Anaheim’s lead to 2-1.

Richards’ goal gave the Blackhawks momentum going into the third – or at least it seemed it should have. But between the missed power-play opportunities, Andersen’s great game and another error leading to another Anaheim goal – Duncan Keith’s overaggressive play on which Jakob Silfverberg eventually scored – the Blackhawks couldn’t come up with anything.

“Yeah, there are always going to be giveaways, always going to be chances both ways. They seemed to bury them. They didn’t make mistakes burying them,” Richards said. “It happens sometimes. But take away the score, we have to play more of a 60-minute effort, and play a lot more like we did in the first, throughout the game.”

The Blackhawks had their chances on Sunday. They’re usually a team that capitalizes when given those – just look at the Blackhawks’ series against the Minnesota Wild. But the Ducks are here for a reason: they’re pretty good in their own right. And on Sunday, they were best in the finishing department.

“We expected them to be a good team. I don’t think by any means did we come in and expect to steal and take wins from them,” Kane said. “It’s going to be a fight for us. We have to realize that and realize this is the best team we’ve faced yet.”

Five Things from Game 1: Blackhawks need more traffic again.

By Tracey Myers

The Blackhawks have been here enough not to let one loss get them too concerned.

Still, they’ll head into Game 2 of the Western Conference Final in a very unfamiliar position this postseason: trailing in a series. But, these things happen. Let’s look at Five Things to take from the Blackhawks’ 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

1. David Rundblad struggles in his playoff debut. When Michal Rozsival went down in Game 4 against the Minnesota Wild, the Blackhawks’ lack of depth at defense was suddenly exposed. Rundblad had a forgettable first playoff game on Sunday, from his clearing attempt near the blue line in the first period to his bad pass near the net in the second period. Both plays resulted in Ducks goals. We’ll hit more on this defensive issue in a separate story but there’s no doubt those mistakes were critical.

2. Missed opportunities on the power play. Yes, this is the broken record that is playing again, and we’re looking specifically at the early third period this time. Brad Richards had just gotten the Blackhawks back into it with a late second-period goal and the Blackhawks had two power plays in the first five-plus minutes of the third. They didn’t score on either of them. Part of that was Frederik Andersen coming up with big stops, including one on Brandon Saad on the first power play. Coach Joel Quenneville called it “the turning point” with the Blackhawks not even getting momentum off the power plays. Asked about the advantage, Patrick Kane said, “it could be better, for sure.”

3. Andersen plays well again. The Ducks goaltender was a bit of a wildcard entering this round. Sure, he played great vs. the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames, but how would he handle the onslaught from the Blackhawks? He did just fine in Game 1, from his unreal stick save on Kane to the other 31 stops he made en route to another playoff victory. Said Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau of Andersen, “I think he's getting more confidence. He's played through two rounds now. He's seen the pressure that comes with it. He's had a long time to get ready for this game.”

4. Blackhawks need more traffic again. Yes, Andersen was good, there’s no denying that. But Quenneville said the Blackhawks could have gotten in his way a lot more than they did on Sunday. “Kaner had a great look early and [Andersen] got some excitement to his game. But we’re more successful when he has a hard time trying to see through screens and second layers,” Quenneville said. “They blocked a lot of shots too. We need quicker shot selections and more bodies at the net, get one [goal] and go from there.”

5. Ducks get the secondary scoring. Look at the Game 1 score sheet and you don’t see the big names much. Kyle Palmieri scored the game winner. Nate Thompson’s goal gave the Ducks a 3-1 lead. Both are part on Ducks’ third line. That’s what you need at this time of year because, as it’s been said before, the top two lines sometimes cancel each other out. It was just one game but it shows the Ducks have solid forward depth.

Just Another Chicago Bulls Session… What does the future hold for Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau?

By Scott Krinch

Chicago Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau

 

If Tom Thibodeau has coached his last game with the Bulls, as season-long rumors suggest, nobody has broken the news to him.

Following Thursday's season-ending loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Thibodeau was asked if he expects to be back with the Bulls next season.

“Until they tell me I’m not, I expect to be here,” Thibodeau said.

Dating back to last year, reports surfaced of a rift between Thibodeau and the Bulls' front office. Thibodeau, the NBA Coach of the Year in 2011, has two years and nearly $9 million left on his current contract with the Bulls.

And the likelihood of the 57-year-old Thibodeau on the bench with a different team next fall appears to be very high, according to ESPN's Mark Stein.

As one source close to the situation puts it: "Thibs is gone. They know it and he knows it."

Both the New Orleans Pelicans and Orlando Magic are expected to be leading suitors for Thibodeau's services. If the Bull don't fire Thibodeau outright, they could try to work out a trade with another club. The last NBA coach to be dealt was back in 2013 when the Boston Celtics sent Doc Rivers to the Boston Celtics for an unprotected 2015 first round draft selection, which will likely be the type of compensation the Bulls will be seeking in any trade of Thibodeau.

If Thibodeau isn't back in Chicago next season, it won't be because the lack of support from his players.

“Me and Thibs really grew a relationship,” Derrick Rose said. "I don't mind him as a coach."

Added Taj Gibson: "I'm a big Tom Thibodeau supporter. Everybody in this locker room has gotten better from just being around him the last couple years."

Clippers' season derails with another dubious milestone.

By Arash Markazi, ESPN Staff Writer

Chris Paul's conference finals drought will continue for at least one more season. (Photo/Scott Halleran/Getty Images) 

The season wasn't supposed to end like this for the Los Angeles Clippers.

They weren't supposed to be flying home to Los Angeles from Houston on Sunday to begin their offseason. Their bags were packed for six days and their hotel was booked in San Francisco for what should have been the start of their Western Conference finals against the Golden State Warriors.

The problem is, the Clippers played the last three games of their season as if they were looking forward to a series they would never get to play in.

Of all the dubious lists the Clippers franchise finds itself on in NBA history, perhaps none is as bad and as heartbreaking as the one they joined on Sunday when they became just the ninth team in NBA history to blow a 3-1 series lead in a best-of-seven series.
 

The Clippers' 113-100 loss to the Houston Rockets culminated an embarrassing three-game losing streak to finish out a season seemingly destined for the franchise's first-ever conference finals berth. After blowing out the Rockets by 16, 25 and 33 points and holding a 19-point lead late in Game 6 to close out the series on their home court, the Clippers crumbled. Suddenly, inexplicably and quite miraculously really, they reverted back to being, well, the Clippers.

Before the game, there was still a quiet confidence in the team's locker room that they would somehow hit the brakes on their historic slide before it ended their season. If they could just beat the Rockets in Game 7, a team they had blown out in Game 1 without Chris Paul and beaten by a combined 58 points in back-to-back games in Los Angeles, no one would ever remember their extraordinary collapse in Game 6.

Instead, it now becomes the defining disappointment for a franchise that has been defined by disappointments. The tired, old jokes about Clippers curses and jinxes that had picked up dust and cobwebs in recent years were restored to their former luster and are now as relevant as they were before the team's current unprecedented run of four straight postseason appearances.

The loss was a particularly hard pill to swallow for Paul, who played in his 65th postseason game without reaching the conference finals. Only two players in NBA history, Thurl Bailey (69) and Kiki Vandeweghe (68), have played in more postseason games without getting past the second round. That's a list Paul wishes he wasn't on but will likely top if he plays in the postseason next year.

After blowing a 2-0 series lead in the second round as 23-year-old in New Orleans and squandering a 3-1 series lead as a 30-year-old in Los Angeles, Paul was tired of talking about growing and falling just short of the next step in his career again.

"So close. I don't even know what that means anymore," Paul said. "I don't know. Like Ricky Bobby says, 'If you're not first, you're last.' Getting close ain't good enough ... It's a long summer and it's getting old to tell you the truth. I don't know. I got to get better. I'll tell you that much it starts with me.

"I'm sorry, but I don't really see growth in a loss. It's a long time until you get to the playoffs again."

After the game, Clippers coach Doc Rivers stood outside the team's locker room and huddled with his assistant coaches before walking in alongside Clippers owner Steve Ballmer. Rivers and Ballmer talk regularly. Ballmer wants to pick Rivers' brain about basketball and Rivers wants to pick Ballmer's brain about pretty much everything else.

He asked Ballmer to say a couple of words to the team and after Ballmer dropped a few expletives to say how tough this situation was but also how proud he was of the team, Rivers became emotional as he addressed his players.

Of the 15 players on the roster only Glen "Big Baby" Davis knew what it was like to win a championship after winning one in 2008 with Rivers in Boston. As he looked into their eyes, Rivers knew the exact heartbreak they were feeling. In fact, he became the only coach in NBA history to lose a seven-game series twice -- Rivers was coaching Orlando when the Magic lost a 3-1 series lead in 2003.

"I told them I was a player for 13 years, and I had my heart broken for 13 straight years," Rivers said. "I told them, every night I prayed, every single night, my only goal was to win a world championship. Every year, I'd give my heart completely to the team, and every year, it got completely broken. I told them it was worth it. I told them it's so worth it to buy in and give yourself to a team. And this is part of sports. Only one winner. If we didn't win this round or the next, it wouldn't have mattered.

"But it's worth giving yourself to the team. It's worth getting your heart broken and taking all the criticism. It should excite you. It does to me. I told them that. I'm broken up right now, but in my mind, I'm already thinking about next year. You just have to get back on. That's going to be us, and that's what we're going to do."

It was easy to think about the Clippers' cursed past after their dramatic collapse. Rivers knows about the curse all too well, having played for the Clippers before returning as the coach two years ago and also being in Boston when the Red Sox finally reversed their curse.

"I saw it when I was in Boston and they had leads, and you were like, ‘Holy goodness, we're going to give this up.' That's how I felt after the game," Rivers said. "Trust me. I have a lot of friends there, and I got calls from a lot of people, including some of their managers. The things they said is the same thing I said, you just get back on it. You really do. It's hard. We're going to break this. It's my goal. It's why I came here. I thought we had it. I thought we had it last year. We just have to keep at the fire. That's it."

The meaning of the Clippers' curse has changed since Blake Griffin was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 and missed his entire rookie season after breaking his left kneecap.

"The Clipper curse, when I first got here was No. 1 picks getting hurt, not working out, their draft picks not working out, not making the playoffs, not having winning seasons," Griffin said. "No one talked about not getting past the second round. Not a single soul talked about that, but now, that's what everybody talks about. Just like the last one, we're going to bust through this one."

The Clippers expected to bust through it this season. But as they enter another long offseason filled with more questions than answers, they realize how close they were this season to getting past the second round and how much their collapse will stay with them until they break through.

"What happened in Game 6," Rivers said, "I'll think about it for a long time and so will our players."

 

NFL should improve its in-house system of justice.

 

By Mike Florio

 

As the NFL tries to create in-house judicial systems for the purposes of investigating violations of the Personal Conduct Policy and/or rules regarding the integrity of the game, the league needs to take a closer look at how the various roles in these investigations are being assigned and fulfilled. After carefully reviewing both the 243-page Ted Wells investigation report and the 20,000-word manifesto from the Patriots responding to that report, it’s clear that the current model doesn’t work as well as it should.

Wells was hired to serve as an independent investigator. At some point, his role morphed into that of special prosecutor and, inevitably, judge.

During hundreds of hours of research and interviews and the discovery of what seemed to be incriminating text messages suggesting the general existence of a quid pro quo arrangement pursuant to which Jim McNally did something to the balls in exchange for shoes and/or autographed memorabilia, Wells and his team apparently became convinced that tampering occurred. But prosecutors routinely become convinced that the persons they’re investigating have committed crimes. A fair system of justice requires prosecutors to test their evidence through an adversarial process, with the defendant challenging the proof and presenting evidence of its own — and with a third party hearing the evidence and making a decision.

The NFL’s in-house justice system, as to this specific case, made the prosecutor the judge. But once the prosecutor developed a point of view, there was no judging to be done. The only remaining task at that point entailed sitting at a keyboard and banging out a 243-page report that justified the conclusion.

In this case, frankly, Wells failed to make a sufficiently compelling case in those 243 pages that the Patriots tampered with footballs on January 18, 2015 and that Tom Brady was at least generally aware (whatever that means) of the effort to do so. Most significantly, common sense suggests that the PSI readings generated by footballs that were hastily deflated on the floor of a bathroom in the bowels of Gillette Stadium would be much lower than the numbers predicted by the Ideal Gas Law. They weren’t.

At a time when many Patriots fans believe that Wells’ entire project was based on working backward to reach a conclusion someone in the league office wanted him to reach, the more plausible conclusion could be that Wells decided on his own that tampering must have occurred (possibly after reviewing the handful of key text messages between John Jastremski and Jim McNally), and that Wells then worked backed to reach the conclusion he personally believed the evidence should justify — regardless of whether the evidence justified that conclusion.

After spending much more time and effort studying this case in the last 11 days than I ever intended or desired, I believe the evidence is insufficient to prove that tampering happened on January 18, 2015. I believe that the evidence suggests something unusual was happening, but I believe that Wells and his team failed to uncover sufficient evidence to prove that it ever happened on any specific occasion.

I also believe that the Patriots didn’t fail to reasonably cooperate with the investigation in refusing to make McNally available for another face-to-face interview. Wells wanted to interview McNally based on information that already was in the possession of the investigation/prosecution when McNally was first interviewed. Wells could have — and should have — asked McNally those questions when Wells had the chance. In no legal proceeding does a lawyer ever get another shot at questioning at witness because the lawyer failed to exercise full diligence in reviewing the materials that were already available.

That said, I believe that Brady failed to reasonably cooperate with the investigation by refusing to accept the league’s invitation to allow his agent/lawyer, Don Yee, to search Brady’s phone for text messages or emails that could be relevant to the case and to give them to Wells. If, as some have observed, Wells was looking for communications between Brady and Jastremski and Brady and McNally, Wells already had those messages from the phones of Jastremski and McNally. Still, it was reasonable for Wells to check any texts or emails from Brady; with the offer to let Yee supervise the process and sift out any potentially sensitive material that had nothing to do with the matter at hand, someone should have persuaded Brady to accept the offer.

But that shouldn’t have been the end of the issue.  In a true system of justice, a presiding judge would have decided whether and to what extent Brady’s phone should have been made available. The NFL’s in-house system of justice needs to have similar procedures in place.

At a minimum, the investigator/prosecutor should be able to go to someone within the league office for a ruling on whether further cooperation is required. With Wells starting as an independent investigator and at some point morphing into a special prosecutor, it’s not surprising that the Patriots and/or Brady felt compelled to eventually resist his demands. Surely, the lawyers representing the team and the player eventually sensed that this was no longer about getting to the truth but about supporting a truth Wells subjectively believed to exist.

Judges deal with disputes over the evidence that will be surrendered in litigation and criminal prosecutions every day. If the NFL is going to dispense justice fairly through its own in-house procedures, a similar system becomes critical to achieving a sense of fairness.

None of this means that the NFL should adopt Constitutional safeguards that apply only when a person’s liberty is on the line, such as the very high bar of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Still, with the American system of criminal justice aimed at ensuring 10 guilty will go free in lieu of one innocent being imprisoned, the NFL’s system of justice currently seems to be based on the notion that, when it comes to protecting the integrity of the game, the potentially innocent will be found guilty, perhaps in order to avoid another P.R. firestorm that would arise from failing to dispense sufficient punishment in any and all circumstances where punishment could be warranted.

Before anyone complains that a system of this nature would be expensive and time consuming, the current system already is. Wells has admitted that the fee for his work is in the millions, and it took more than 100 days for his work to be completed. If the league’s internal investigations are going to entail that kind of time and expense, the league should be willing to spend even more of both to ensure that the end result is received by those on the inside and the outside of the sport as fair.

Really, what has done more in recent months to erode public confidence in the game of professional football — whatever it is that the Patriots did or didn’t do in blowing out the Colts on January 18, or the endless three-ring circus that has emerged as fans debate the various flaws in a process that, if the league has its way, will never be decided by a truly independent and unbiased party?

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!! Bears GM plucks top two personnel hires from Broncos, Ravens

By Rich Campbell, Dan Wiederer and Brad Biggs

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Pace finalized the top of the revamped front office Friday.

He tabbed Baltimore Ravens national scout Joe Douglas to be the Bears’ new director of college scouting director. He hired Anthony Kelly away from the Denver Broncos to become the new director of pro scouting. He also hired area scout Christopher Prescott from the New York Jets. 

Douglas, 38, spent the last 15 seasons with the Ravens, an organization known for consistently drafting well under general manager Ozzie Newsome and assistant GM Eric DeCosta.

He became the Ravens’ national scout after the 2012 draft. Before that, he spent three years as a Southeast area scout — meaning he was instrumental in the Ravens’ selection of defensive lineman/linebacker Pernell McPhee, whom the Bears signed to a five-year, $38.75 million free agent contract in March.

Douglas also was involved in the Ravens’ evaluation of quarterback Joe Flacco, defensive back Lardarius Webb and former running back Ray Rice.

Beyond Douglas' scouting career, he has a bit of fun trivia on his resume. He appeared in the movie "The Replacements" as the center for quarterback Shane Falco, played by Keanu Reeves.  

The Bears also considered Atlanta Falcons regional scout Shepley Heard for the director of college scouting vacancy, multiple sources said.
 

Kelly, 35, had spent the past eight seasons with the Broncos, the last five as the team’s assistant director of pro personnel. His familiarity with new Bears head coach John Fox is notable. Fox spent the previous four seasons in Denver. The Bears also have seven new assistant coaches who were most recently with the Broncos.

In his most recent job with the Broncos, Kelly was the right-hand man to director of pro personnel Tom Heckert. In that role, Kelly assisted with advance scouting while also helping with the evaluations in the team’s free agency and trade decisions.

The Bears added an additional level to the front office when Pace brought Josh Lucas with him from the New Orleans Saints and hired him as the director of player personnel.

Kelly effectively replaces Dwayne Joseph, who was the associate director of pro personnel and left last week to become the director of pro personnel for the Eagles. The Bears’ director of pro personnel job became available in January after the organization let Kevin Turks go.

Douglas replaces Marty Barrett, who was informed this month after the draft that his contract would not be renewed.

Prescott was the Jets' Southern area scout from 2014-15 and their Mid-Atlantic region scout in 2013. He was a scout for the Jacksonville Jaguars in various roles from 2002-12.

USA make history at Twickenham with first World Rugby Series tournament win.

Tom Hamilton, Rugby Editor

 

(Photo/Tony Marshall - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images) 

 

The USA made history at Twickenham as they won the final leg of the 2015-16 World Rugby Sevens Series on the day Fiji claimed the overall title.

While overall champions Fiji were were dumped out at the semi-final stage, it was the USA who emerged from London taking the final tournament title of the year thanks to a 45-22 win over Australia.

In the week the USA were given the 2018 Sevens World Cup, Sunday saw another huge milestone for American rugby as coach Mike Friday's side secured their first ever tournament win. It was a feat which surpassed their previous best finish of runners-up when they reached the final of the Adelaide Sevens in 2010.

Australia could not match the USA's immense power and America headed into the break as 26-10 leaders, with the superb Madison Hughes, Danny Barrett (two) and Maka Unufe all scoring. Australia answered with scores from Nicholas Malouf and Lewis Holland, but the USA's organisation was exemplary, their physical presence made them difficult to break down, and the 16-point lead proved to be insurmountable.  Despite having some time to breathe at half-time, the USA continued the relentless form soon after the break with Perry Baker scoring a superb solo effort. Australia cut the deficit with Lucas crossing but Unufe danced his way through the Australia defence to keep the USA out in front. Australia's Sam Myers scored a late consolation score but it was Saracens' Thretton Palamo who had the final say when he powered away for another American try. 

"The 12 of the players have been outstanding, there are another 10 back in America who have worked their socks off all year," Friday told Sky Sports after their final win. "They've played some fantastic Sevens all year.

"I said to them if you work hard in life you get your rewards and that's what they've done. They've been a credit to their country, their families and I'm immensely proud of every one of them." In reaching the final, America had dumped England out of the tournament at the semi-final stage with Hughes (two), Baker (two), Andrew Durutalo and Carlin Isles (two) all crossing as they stunned the hosts with a ruthless display to win 43-12.

Australia secured their passage to the final thanks to a 33-7 win over Series champions Fiji in the semis. They clocked up five tries in total with Pama Fou, Ed Jenkins (two), Lucas and Malouf all scoring.

Hosts England faced Fiji in the third-fourth play-off and it was the series champions who prevailed 26-12 despite spending the first two minutes of the second-half with six men. England went into the break 12-7 to the good thanks to scores from Tom Bowen and Richard de Carpentier - with Fiji's score coming from Aisake Katonibau - but it was the Islanders who pulled away in the second-half. Osea Kolinisau scored first with Savenaca Rawaca and Josaia Wini then getting in the act.

New Zealand, who lost in the quarter-finals to England, ended up winning the plate as they saw off South Africa 26-14 in that specific final. Kenya ended up taking the bowl thanks to a 26-12 win over Argentina and Japan took the Shield final as the beat France 21-19.

MLB: Despite loss, Cubs leaving Wrigley with a great feeling.

By Tony Andracki

 

"How could I possibly be upset right now?"

Those aren't the words you expect to hear from a manager after his team was just shut out by a division rival, even from the perpetually-positive Joe Maddon.

Yet that's what Maddon opened his postgame press conference with Sunday following the Cubs' 3-0 loss to the Pirates (18-20) in front of 36,289 fans.

The defeat ended a six-game winning streak for the Cubs (21-16) and it was the first loss since the bleachers reopened Monday at Wrigley Field.

Still, it was the end to a 6-1 homestand against the first-place New York Mets and a Pirates team that has made the postseason each of the last two seasons.

"If we had this kind of homestand for the rest of the season, I'd be very pleased," Maddon said. "There's nothing to be upset about. Zero."

The Cubs wasted a stellar start from Jake Arrieta, who allowed just one run on five hits and a walk in seven innings while striking out seven. It was Arrieta's first quality start since April 26 in Cincinnati.

"Outstanding," Maddon said of Arrieta. "Really good stuff. ... Not a bad thing to say about him. Their guy was really good. [Pirates starter A.J.] Burnett's pretty much reinvented himself and he's pitching at a very high level right now.

"We were there moment-for-moment. They just got their run and we didn't."

 After averaging 5.5 runs per game during the streak, the Cubs couldn't muster up any offense off Burnett, who lowered his season ERA to 1.38 with seven shutout innings.

The Cubs consistently worked the count, drawing five walks from Burnett, but they only managed three singles off the 38-year-old right-hander.

Pittsburgh outfielders combined to make a handful of very nice plays throughout the afternoon, including two highlight-reel plays from Andrew McCutchen in center and a pair of running catches at the wall with runners on base from left fielder Starling Marte and right fielder Gregory Polanco.

"It was one of those things where we had hard-hit balls kinda at guys or guys made some pretty good plays to record the out," Arrieta said. "It's one of those games where you feel like you won at the end because you played fairly well, just weren't able to scratch across a couple runs or get the big hit in that certain situation.

"But guys had good at-bats today. ... We're gonna have games like that where the other guy is better than our guy. We just have to keep grinding and I think the way we've been playing the last couple series, if we keep that going, we're gonna be fine."

Starlin Castro and Miguel Montero each singled and walked, while Kris Bryant collected the only other hit off Burnett. Bryant left the game after the fourth inning as he was feeling under the weather.

Addison Russell doubled off Pittsburgh's dominant setup man Tony Watson to lead off the eighth inning and Anthony Rizzo later walked, but both were stranded on base when Castro lined out to center.

The Cubs mounted another rally in the ninth as Jorge Soler reached on a one-out error and Chris Coghlan followed with a base hit. But Welington Castillo flew out to the warning track in right field and Russell grounded out to end the game and the winning streak.

Rizzo said the Cubs can feel the energy and excitement from the fans with the renovations at Wrigley coming together at the same time the product on the field is getting sharper and Arrieta called Sunday's game a playoff-type atmosphere.

"At the end of the day, as a team, we're excited about the way things are going, regardless of today's loss," Arrieta said. "And we're looking forward to the off day [Monday] and getting ready for San Diego."
 
White Sox complete sweep of A's with four-run victory.

By Dan Hayes

The way their season has gone the White Sox had to feel as if they were due a few breaks.

They got several on Sunday afternoon to go along with a handful of nice plays made in the field. The White Sox scored four times in the fifth inning as they took advantage of a shoddy Oakland A’s defense and earned their fifth straight victory with a 7-3 win in front of 33,195.

Jeff Samardzija improved as he went along over eight innings and the White Sox completed their first three-game sweep in Oakland since 1997. Winners in nine of their last 12, the White Sox finished their road trip with a 5-1 record to reach the .500 mark (17-17). Avisail Garcia completed a breakout series against the A’s with three hits, including a two-run, opposite-field home run in the ninth.

 “We’ve got a good team, we’re starting to feel that a little bit,” said infielder Gordon Beckham, who drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth to give the White Sox the lead for good. “The results are starting to get there so it’s not just us saying it that we have a good team. We’re starting to win some games. We’re starting to come together and I like where we’re headed.”

Though he did a nice job through four innings, Scott Kazmir couldn’t have captained the A’s from running into a Titanic-sized iceberg of bad defense in the fifth.

Trailing 2-1, Adam Eaton reached to start the fifth inning on the first of two Marcus Semien errors — Oakland committed four — and Emilio Bonifacio had a bunt single mishandled. Two batters later, Jose Abreu extended his hitting streak to 12 games with an RBI single past the dive of third baseman Brett Lawrie. The White Sox then loaded the bases on a Garcia infield single that could have been the second out if perfectly played.

Beckham drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-2 and Alexei Ramirez singled in two runs off Kazmir’s glove on what appeared to be an easy inning-ending double play.

“You’re able to kind of put it in their heads you’re gonna be running hard all the time and putting pressure on,” manager Robin Ventura said. “That stuff happens. You have to be able to take advantage of it and we did today. We got some guys on base, keep moving them around and make it happen.”

The White Sox, who improved to 16-3 when scoring at least four runs, got their first run courtesy of a two-out error by catcher Stephen Vogt in the first inning. Garcia hit a comebacker and Kazmir went home for the first out but Vogt’s throw went over the head of first baseman Max Muncy to allow a run to score.

Garcia capped the scoring with a massive, two-run homer to right off Tyler Clippard in the ninth.

With the aid of a strong defense behind him, Samardzija (3-2) danced in and out of trouble early. He paid for a 0-2 fastball up and over the middle in the fourth as Muncy blasted it for a two-run homer. Billy Butler also had an RBI groundout in the fifth against Samardzija, who allowed three runs in a 120-pitch effort that helped save a few heavily used arms in the bullpen.

But led by second baseman Carlos Sanchez, the White Sox played sterling defense behind Samardzija. Sanchez turned a pair of nifty double plays in the first and third innings. He followed the latter with a nice one-hop stop of a Butler liner to end the inning. Abreu also made two nice plays at first, including snagging a one-hopper off Butler’s bat in the fifth. Abreu smothered the grounder, which allowed a run to score, but managed to get the force at second even after he went face first into the ground to retrieve the ball.

“Unbelievable,” Samardzija said. “You start with (Geovany Soto) because you’re working with him so much. He did a great job. And obviously Sanchy at second made some amazing plays and saved that run there on that grounder up the middle in the (third) to give us a chance to get out of the inning without scoring. And with Eaton running through walls for you. What else can you ask for there?

“If we play like that every day, we’ll have success.”

Golf: I got a club for that: McIlroy seals record-breaking Quail Hollow win.

AFP

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, raises the trophy after winning the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, May 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)

Rory McIlroy underscored his status as the best golfer in the world as he put the finishing touches to a record-shattering triumph in the US PGA Tour Wells Fargo Championship.

The world number one fired five birdies in a three-under par 69 on Sunday, following up his stunning course-record 61 on Saturday to finish with a 21-under par total of 267 -- seven strokes in front of Webb Simpson and Patrick Rodgers who shared second on 274.

The 26-year-old from Northern Ireland shattered the previous 72-hole tournament record set by Anthony Kim in 2008 by five strokes.

He became the first two-time winner of the event, in which he claimed the first of his 11 US PGA Tour titles back in 2010.

"Everything is firing on all cylinders for me," said McIlroy, who will now head across the Atlantic for the European Tour's PGA Championship at Wentworth and the Irish Open at Royal County Down.

McIlroy shook off a three-putt bogey at the second hole. By the time he bogeyed 17 he had built a seven-shot lead.

He birdied two par-fives on the front nine, the fifth and seventh, and birdied the 12th, 14th and 16th coming in.

At 12, he hit his approach shot 132 yards to two feet and tapped in for birdie.

He moved to 21-under with his birdie at 14 and at 16 landed his approach shot three feet from the pin and made that.

"The golf course sets up perfectly for me," said McIlroy, who rose to third in the US PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings.

"With my length and the way I'm driving it, it's a big advantage around here and it showed this week."

Simpson started the day four shots behind McIlroy and closed with an even par 72.

Any hopes he had of catching McIlroy ended with a double bogey at the par-three sixth.

"He's our best player right now," Simpson said of McIlroy. "I wish more than anything I could have shot a couple-under on the front to make it more exciting.

"Just didn't have it today," he added.

Rodgers, playing on a sponsor's exemption, briefly moved within three strokes of McIlroy's lead after an eagle at the 10th and birdie at 11 but faded late in a 68.

He was in the water at 17 en route to a double bogey, unable to get the solo second place finish he needed to earn exemption for the rest of the PGA Tour season.

However, Rodgers did earn a berth in next week's Colonial.

"It has given me a lot of confidence moving forward," he said.

Gary Woodland, Robert Streb and Phil Mickelson tied for fourth on 12-under 276.

NASCAR: Hamlin gives Joe Gibbs first victory in NASCAR All-Star race.

By JENNA FRYER (AP Auto Racing Writer)

Denny Hamlin holds the trophy in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint All-Star auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, May 16, 2015. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

Denny Hamlin gave Joe Gibbs Racing its first victory in NASCAR's Sprint All-Star race by using clean air to hold off Kevin Harvick at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

''It's been a long time coming,'' said Joe Gibbs, who got his first All-Star victory in 24 races.

Hamlin won the pole for Saturday night's race, was decent through the first four 25-lap segments, but was slotted sixth based on average finish for the mandatory final pit stop.

His No. 11 team, one of the top pit crews in the Sprint Cup Series, got him back on track in first.

''The pit crew just knocked it out of the park,'' said Hamlin. ''That was prime-time right there.''

Hamlin was aided on the final pit stop when Brad Keselowski, who raced Hamlin off pit road but exited second, was flagged for speeding.

Keselowski dropped to the rear of the field - taking him out of contention - and putting Kurt Busch, Harvick and Kasey Kahne right behind Hamlin.

Hamlin controlled the restart and jumped out to a huge lead, and Harvick moved into second and tried to chase down the leader.

But it was never going to be an easy task - every driver in the 20-car field wanted to be out front for the final 10-lap sprint to the finish because NASCAR's current rules package has shown that the leader, in clean air, is very difficult to pass.

Although Harvick briefly closed the gap, he had to get out of the throttle when his car drifted too far up the track, and he never got close enough to even attempt a move for the lead.

Hamlin collected the $1 million prize while also giving manufacturer Toyota its first win in the All-Star race.

''Everybody wants to be an All-Star,'' Hamlin said from victory lane. He praised Joe Gibbs, who had won all of NASCAR's crown jewel races but had come up empty in the All-Star race.

''He's got a lot of great accomplishments. He's won every big race on this circuit, so this means a lot,'' said Hamlin.

Then, in a rush to start the post-race celebration, he tried to hurry along his post-race news conference. He detailed his race and succinctly summarized the victory: "Everything just came together perfectly for those 10 laps. ... That should cover everything.''

Harvick finished second and lamented a lost opportunity.

''Thought we were in a good spot,'' he said. ''I had committed to the center of the corner and just really lost the front of the car up the racetrack, had to get out of the throttle, lost five or six spots.''

Busch finished third and believed Hamlin jumped the restart.

''We restarted second and we're going to have to go to the tape and look at it to see if Denny went too soon,'' Busch said. ''I was asleep at the wheel on the restart.''

Jeff Gordon finished fourth in his final All-Star race and was followed by Matt Kenseth.

Kyle Busch was sixth in his first race back since he was injured in a February crash at Daytona. Busch missed the first 11 Sprint Cup races of the season after breaking his right leg and left foot when he crashed into a concrete wall in the Xfinity Series opener.

He returned for the non-points All-Star race as a tuneup for next Sunday's Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the season.

''Real fortunate just to get back in the race car, get out there and feel things out,'' Kyle Busch said. ''Everything felt good and getting to pit road, all that, everything was fine.''

Kahne was seventh and followed by Joey Logano and then Keselowski, who said he had to hustle off pit road on the final stop to have any shot at the win.

''Whoever gets the clean air with this format and this rules package is going to drive away,'' Keselowski said. ''I knew when I came out of my pit stall and the 11 was pulling out with me that I either beat him to that line or lose the race.

''I told my crew chief I'd rather go down swinging than take a strike and wonder what might have been. I swung and missed.''

The race was free of competition cautions, the first time since 2008 there were no yellow flags for on-track incidents or issues.

With 2016 rules in flux, Sprint Cup drivers asking whether the 2015 changes are working?

By Nate Ryan

(Photo/Getty Images)

The last time NASCAR’s garage warriors gathered at Charlotte Motor Speedway, there was bubbly chatter over the encouraging signs of a proposed rules package for the 2016 season.

Two months later, the Sprint Cup Series has returned to the 1.5-mile track with a decidedly different tone about where its cars are headed next season.

After unveiling a two-step process last year that would include another reduction in down-force for 2016, NASCAR has backed off and said it might leave the 2015 rules (which featured a drop of 125 horsepower and roughly 30 percent less down-force) in place next year. Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer, said there was some pushback from teams worried about absorbing the costs of the rule changes.

After floating the idea of using the 2016 rules in Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race, NASCAR scrapped the plan last month. Several Goodyear tests of the proposed 2016 alignment were eliminated this week, leaving only an October test at Auto Club Speedway on the books to try next year’s rules.

A March 10 session at Charlotte was the most recent test of the intended rules for 2016. Kasey Kahne, Martin Truex Jr., Aric Alimrola and JJ Yeley. O’Donnell then said the goal was to develop ways to decrease corner speeds, which have spiked as much as 18 mph this season because drivers are on the throttle longer with reduced horsepower. That often decreases the opportunities for passing in the corners.

Kahne said Friday that he was pleased with how his No. 5 Chevrolet handled during the test.

“I like driving the car by myself way better than the car we have right now,” he said. “You could actually lift (off the accelerator) and move around on the track.

“It was kind of like it was back in 2004 or 2005 with the characteristics of the car and how it was handling. I was remembering things as I was driving. I was like, ‘Man, I used to have this feel.’ We don’t have that feel anymore with all the down-force we have.”

Kahne said, though, there were limits to how much could be learned about the new package in traffic with only four cars participating in the test. Truex said the tire also wasn’t optimum for judging the package.

“I think it was a good direction,” Truex said. “I just don’t think we had the right tire for the package. We didn’t have the right tire; we didn’t have enough cars. It was hard to gauge exactly what was better about it or what was worse about it.

“The four of us that were out there trying to race and see how the car ran in traffic, we didn’t get the feel that we thought we would with less down-force. The off-throttle time was a little bit more, but it seemed like the guy with clean air had more advantage than what we had with the 2015 rules. So, there was nothing clear. I wish we could have done it with more cars and had some more tires for options to really get to work on it because it had some things. The speeds were slower in the middle of the corner, which is what everybody is looking for. We just didn’t have the combination and the amount of guys to really put it to use.”

The feedback on the 2015 package has been a mixed bag, particularly on the 1.5-mile tracks that comprise the bulk of the schedule and where the rules are aimed at enhancing passing. In the four 1.5-mile races this season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway, green-flag passes dramatically have risen nearly 40 percent – 12,669 in 2015 vs. 9,172 at comparative events in 2014. Lead changes also are up slightly in those four races (91 in 2015 vs. 85 last year).

But the Chevrolets of Jimmie Johnson (wins at Atlanta, Texas, Kansas) and Kevin Harvick (Las Vegas) have dominated the races, and several drivers have grumbled that an overreliance on aerodynamics still is hampering action and putting the leader at a distinct advantage. Friday’s Sprint Showdown at Charlotte’s 1.5-mile oval featured segment winner Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer pulling away from the pack and cruising to easy wins.

“I absolutely believe the center-of-the-corner speeds are way too high,” Carl Edwards said last week at Kansas. “I feel like we should be out of the gas a lot more.

“I feel like our whole sport is based on guys racing stock cars around and manhandling the cars and being able to run close. I feel like we’ve gone farther and farther away from that because of all of the knowledge and engineering and the dependence on aero. I know NASCAR wants the same thing we all want. We want the best racing in the world and want it to be exciting, but I do fear we are getting to a point where the cars are so easy to drive and so dependent on clean air and going so fast and relying on engineering, that we are really losing the most fun part of it. I hope NASCAR continues to look at a much less aero-dependent package.”

Brad Keselowski said NASCAR’s quest to improve racing is perpetual.

“You have to keep a vision always,” the 2012 series champion said this week. “The racing can always be better. There’s no question about that. In that spirit, we should always keep working on it. To not work on it is to take a step backward because the teams will always iterate the cars to decrease the quality of competition. That’s our job. This sport requires a year-by-year reset to nullify the damage we do as teams to competition. It’s in itself ‘Spy Vs. Spy’ between the teams and NASCAR. It brings up an interesting discussion of how do you do that every year.

“It seems to me that in the five-and-a-half years I’ve spent in Sprint Cup, that discussion continues to get harder and harder every year with more and more disagreement about how to achieve a strong balance. There are certain things I would like to see for sure that I think can be achieved with cost but reasonable cost, but at this time there doesn’t appear to be enough collaboration to make that happen.’’

Clint Bowyer said the current corner speeds are “exactly opposite of what all the drivers were asking for and hoping for. … You need more off-throttle time to create a racing environment on the race track. If you’re wide open and you’re not lifting, I don’t know how you’re going to get around that car in front of you when they’re doing the same.”

All-woman team to tackle IndyCar in 2016.

AFP

Katherine Legge of England powers her car during the qualifying session of the 2014 Formula E Putrajaya ePrix race in Putrajaya, Malaysia on November 22, 2014 (AFP Photo/Manan Vatsyayana)

British driver Katherine Legge will headline the all-woman Grace Autosport team that will tackle the 2016 Indianapolis 500, team director Beth Paretta said Friday.

"The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been the scene for many automotive firsts," said Paretta, a former motorsports director for SRT Motorsports/Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

"It makes it so special to have the opportunity to launch our team here."

Paretta said one aim of the team is to encourage girls and women to pursue math, science and engineering studies and careers, but on the track their goal is to win.

"Our goal is within 10 years to make sure a woman's face will grace the Borg-Warner trophy," she said of the hardware awarded to the Indianapolis 500 winner.

Every department of Grace Autosport is staffed by women, from pit mechanics to engineers.

In Legge the team will boast a two-time Indianapolis 500 competitor, whose career has included racing in British Formula Fords, Toyota Atlantics, Champ Car/IndyCar, IMSA sports cars, DTM and Formula E racing.

"I am very proud to be a part of this new and exciting team," Legge said. "To me it's more than just racing, it's the start of something much bigger -- a movement within the sport."

MLS: Yallop on Fire's draw with NYCFC: 'We just stopped playing'.

By Danny Michallik

In one of the most grueling matches of its season to date, the Chicago Fire were unable to withstand late pressure from 10-man New York City FC in a pulsating second half, emerging with a 2-2 result in front of 23,315 at Yankee Stadium.

Behind a first-ever goal from Romanian midfielder Razvan Cocis and a penalty kick from captain Jeff Larentowicz - and goals in first- and second-half stoppage time from NYCFC - the Men in Red secured their first draw of 2015 on Friday night.

Showing an astute and spirited initiative, the Fire nearly opened the scoring in the seventh minute, as Scotsman Shaun Maloney turned the ball into the back of the net, only to be dubiously flagged for offsides.

The Men in Red continued to pose a threat for the hosts in the opening quarter of an hour, with David Accam latching on to an expertly weighted pass over the top of a wobbly NYCFC defense in the 10th minute, heading his effort straight into the hands of ‘keeper Josh Saunders.

Four minutes later, Yallop’s side broke the deadlock after Maloney’s quickly taken free kick found Cocis, who strode into the box unmarked and glanced a header over Saunders to give the Fire a deserved advantage and supply the midfielder with his first MLS goal.
 
Accam, who returned after serving his one-match suspension in the team’s 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake, tormented the home side all night long and, just as in their initial meeting on April 24, led to NYCFC’s undoing in the 26th minute.

After picking up the ball in the opposition half, the Ghanaian international closed in on goal with just Saunders to beat. After being taken down from behind by RJ Allen - drawing a straight red card in the process - a penalty kick ensued, which was calmly stroked home by captain Jeff Larentowicz.

Despite putting in arguably their most polished first half performance, a mental lapse in the backline allowed for David Villa to unleash a shot at Sean Johnson, which was spilled only for Mehdi Ballouchy to capitalize and give the home side an unforeseen jolt on the stroke of halftime after being thoroughly outplayed.

"It was probably the best we’ve played in a long time in the first 44 minutes," said Yallop after the match. "There could have been more. I just talked to the guys in there and I’m just disappointed in how we handled the second half. We just stopped playing.

The goal right before halftime obviously gives them hope, then you’ve just got to get one goal to get a tie. I just felt that we allowed them to play when we shouldn’t have. We had chances to bury the game as well, but still, we shouldn’t give them a chance. We’re just disappointed.”

In a fiery second half, both sides went toe-to-toe, exchanging punch after punch. After yellow cards were dished out to Larentowicz, Joevin Jones and Maloney within a span of seven minutes, the closing stages opened the door for NYCFC to push on and snatch an equalizer, which eventually arrived in stoppage time.

Good awareness and tight maneuvering from Villa resulted in the Spaniard relinquishing the ball to rookie Khiry Shelton, who cropped up in the box tucked his left-footed shot past Johnson and into the back of the net in the 91st minute for his first career MLS tally.

“The first half was probably as good as we’ve played all season," Maloney said. "I think as a team and as a whole we have to be really brave when we are in this position.

"We were a little bit too predictable. Without condensing the middle of the pitch and then going wide I think it was far easier for them to defend us.”

The Fire will be left to rue what might have been after being on the cusp of its first away win of the season. Still, the draw moves the Men in Red up to fifth place on 10 points in the Eastern Conference for the time being. Yallop's side will continue its stretch of seven consecutive matches against Eastern Conference opposition with an away fixture at Columbus Crew SC on May 22.

Chicago Fire Starting XI (subs)

(4-2-3-1): Sean Johnson; Lovel Palmer, Jeff Larentowicz, Adailton, Joevin Jones; Matt Polster, Razvan Cocis; David Accam (Jason Johnson, 88'), Shaun Maloney, Harry Shipp (Michael Stephens, 71'); Kennedy Igboananike (Quincy Amarikwa, 68').

Messi goal clinches La Liga title for Barcelona.

By Kyle Lynch

(Photo/AP)

Barcelona officially clinched the La Liga title Sunday following a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid.

Lionel Messi scored in the 65th minute to lead Barcelona to the 23rd La Liga title in club history.

Through 37 matches, Luis Enrique’s men have compiled a record of 30 wins, three draws, and four defeats for a total of 93 points. Their final match of the season is next Saturday at home against Deportivo.

Barca claimed the title on the field of the defending champions Atletico Madrid, as the 1-0 scoreline does not represent how dominant a performance the Catalans put in at Vicente Calderon Stadium.

The visitors pressured throughout the first half, with Atletico keeper Jan Oblak being called upon to make a few big saves to keep Barca off the board. Messi beat Oblak from a free-kick, but his strike hit the crossbar as the teams went into halftime locked in a scoreless draw.

In the second half it was more attack from Barcelona, and it was only fitting that Lionel Messi scored the game-winning and title-clinching goal. Messi played a quick one-two with Pedro before firing home to give Barca the lead in the 65th minute. It was Messi’s 41st league goal of the season, trailing only Cristiano Ronaldo’s 45.
 
Barcelona leads the league with an amazing +89 goal differential, and although known for a world-class attack, the Catalans have only conceded 19 goals on the season, the best defensive record in the league.

With the title clinched, Enrique will be able to rest some of his stars for the final match of the season. Barcelona is still eyeing a treble, with the Copa del Rey and Champions League finals coming up for the champions of Spain.

The Loophole That Will Allow Jim Harbaugh to Revolutionize Recruiting.

By Ben Axelrod

University of Michigan Head Coach Jim Harbaugh (Photo/Getty Images)

According to NCAA bylaw 13.1.2.1, only "authorized athletics department staff members" are allowed to recruit on a school's behalf.
 
So while Jim Harbaugh may have a direct line to some of the NFL's top talent, the new Michigan coach couldn't just let his former Pro Bowl players directly aid the Wolverines' recruiting efforts–not unless they officially join his staff.  

But bylaw 13.1.2.1 won't stop Harbaugh from putting his sizable Rolodex of professional contacts to use. And the loophole he's found might just revolutionize the recruiting world.

While college coaches may not be allowed to have their former players make recruiting calls on their behalf—as Urban Meyer learned when Ohio State self-reported a secondary violation stemming from an eight-second conversation between Tim Tebow and a prospect in 2013—there's nothing that prevents ex-players from serving as instructors at a school's summer camp. In fact, there are very few restrictions placed on who is allowed to work a camp. the NCAA doesn't even mention former players in its bylaws concerning camps.

Harbaugh, apparently, has taken notice.

Even though players are not allowed to actively recruit for him, the former San Francisco 49ers head coach appears to have sent out an open invitation to the expansive network he and Wolverines quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch have built to help work a camp in Ann Arbor this summer. The result is a camp unlike anything ever seen in college football, with Colin Kaepernick, Jay Cutler, Denard Robinson and Jameis Winston all advertised to be in attendance for the "Ann Arbor Aerial Assault Elite Quarterback Training School."

Never has a camp been as star-studded from an instructional standpoint as Michigan's will be, with three Pro Bowl signal-callers in Kaepernick, Cutler and Elvis Grbac on site. 2015 No. 1-overall pick Winston, Kyle Boller, Blaine Gabbert and noted quarterback guru George Whitfield will also help out at the June 20 camp.

While this star-studded group is unprecedented, it's all legal under NCAA rules.

"With camps, it's totally different," a Michigan spokesperson explained to Bleacher Report. "They're not doing recruiting at the camps."

That might be true, based on the NCAA's definition of "recruiting." But it's hard to see Harbaugh's "A4" camp as recruiting-neutral. 

Because where else but Michigan are quarterback prospects going to be able to obtain instruction from multiple Pro Bowl players and some of the country's top position coaches? And once these players make their way to Ann Arbor—and make no mistake, they will—they'll be treated to what will ultimately amount to an infomercial for the Wolverines program in the form of their own Elite 11-style quarterback camp.

The big event is just the latest aggressive recruiting move from Harbaugh after he toured the country on a nine-stop, seven-state tour of satellite camps. No doubt, Harbaugh is shaking up the status quo of college football recruiting. What will be interesting now is to see if other schools follow his lead.

In the instance of satellite camps, the answer was yes, with Meyer opting to hold one on Florida Atlantic's campus in Boca Raton this June, despite publicly denouncing the practice of hosting such camps. Meyer may not be allowed to have Tebow make calls on his behalf, but will he check to see if the new Philadelphia Eagle would be open to serving as an instructor in Columbus this summer?

Will Nick Saban look to his long list of NFL alums in hopes of holding his own camp filled with Pro Bowl players as well? Elite NFL players have always been allowed to work college camps. It just hasn't been until Harbaugh that they have been so aggressively leveraged. 

Don't think that prospects and rival coaches alike haven't taken notice as Harbaugh continues to change the landscape of college recruiting.

And it's all legal.

CFP chair says Nick Saban is unaware of ‘real world’ when it comes to bowls.

By John Taylor

(Photo/AP)

And, suffice to say, he doesn’t even remotely agree with the highly-successful head coach’s evaluation of the current postseason climate.

Nick Saban kicked up a bit of a ruckus by declaring that the College Football Playoffs were his worst fears realized: the devaluing of bowl games. “All the attention, all the interest would be about the four teams in the playoffs, which is exactly what happened,” Saban explained Wednesday.

Never mind that television viewership of bowl games was up in 2014 over 2013 even as postseason attendance was down — a trend of the latter that the regular season is fighting through as well.  And bowl games are being added, not scrubbed. And that college football fans held the same level of interest in the, for example, Belk Bowl during the BCS era as it does during the CFP era.

Still, Saban’s line of thinking is “[t]hat by having a playoff we would minimize the interest in other bowl games, which I think is sort of what happened and I hate to see that for college football.”

In a radio interview Friday, the chairperson of the CFP, Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long, was asked about Saban’s critique of the postseason structure. In essence, Long stated that Saban is out of the loop when it comes to the impact the playoffs have had on those further down in the college football pecking order.

“Well, I think sometimes coaches, particularly those at the highest level, I’m not sure how aware they are of what’s really going on out there in the real world,” Long said in quotes transcribed by al.com. “You know, bowl games, they keep adding bowl games. And I think the television interest for the games is higher than ever before, so I think that’s not only the College Football Playoff, but as we’ve gone through some of those bowl games. So I’m not sure it’s having that effect.”

The bottom line in all of this is that Long is absolutely correct and Saban is dead wrong.

The arguments that a playoff would devalue both the regular season and bowl games were of the straw-men variety prior to the CFP’s implementation for the 2014 season, and they’re the same now for coaches who continue to espouse them.  In fact, it was the exact opposite as the run-up to the playoffs gave the regular season more meaning than ever before for more teams — and fan bases — than ever. The playoffs aren’t going away; in fact, they’ll be expanded before the sport rids themselves of them.

Bowl games aren’t going anywhere, either — unless super saturation sets in. And, to the chagrin of Saban, neither are the playoffs. And that’s a damn good thing for college football.

Ohio State leads nation in attendance in 2014.

By Nick Bromberg

We've got another title to give to Ohio State.
 

The College Football Playoff champions led the nation in home attendance, averaging 106,296 fans per game in 2014. Ohio State's number was over 1,000 more fans per game than Texas A&M, who was second.
 

As the Aggies made it to No. 2, it was the first time in the history of the program, according to the Houston Chronicle, that A&M outdrew Texas. The reason for the jump? An increased capacity at Kyle Field. As renovations are still ongoing at the stadium, capacity for 2015 is expected to be somewhere north of 102,000. The Longhorns' average attendance was listed at 94,103, good for eighth-best in the country.
 

You can view the entire attendance PDF here. Here are some highlights:

• Three of the top five schools were Big Ten schools. After Ohio State, Michigan was No. 3 and Penn State was No. 5. Of course, Michigan's number might have been inflated by over 60,000 free tickets. 

• The other two schools in the top five were SEC schools. LSU was No. 4. 13 of the top 30 schools were SEC. The lone SEC school outside the top 30 was Vanderbilt. The Commodores' stadium has a listed capacity of under 40,000. No. 30 Kentucky's average attendance was over 57,000. 

• All of the schools inside the top 30 were Power Five schools, assuming Notre Dame as a Power Five school. Seven Big Ten teams were in the top 30 and ACC, Big 12 and Pac-12 had three each.

NCAABKB: Self says proposed changes in rules acceptable.

By J-W Staff and Wire Reports

Kansas head coach Bill Self calls a play during the second half on Friday, Nov. 14, 2014 at Allen Fieldhouse. (Photo/Nick Krug)

The NCAA made a series of changes to men’s college basketball two seasons ago in an attempt to boost scoring and reduce physical play under the basket.

Those changes barely moved the needle, so now the NCAA is taking more drastic steps.

The NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee recommended reducing the shot clock from 35 to 30 seconds on Friday, the biggest step in a series of changes aimed at speeding up a game that has reached historic lows in scoring two of the past three seasons.

The new shot clock will be in place the next two seasons, the first time it has been reduced since dropping from 45 to 35 seconds in 1993-94. The newly shortened clock would be reevaluated after that.

The changes still must be approved by the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Committee, which meets next month.

Kansas University coach Bill Self said he liked the changes but didn’t expect a major difference.

“I think everything that was done was positive and will help our game over time,” Self said. “The rule change the media will probably make a big deal out of is the shot clock going from 35 to 30. That’s not a big deal. The biggest thing that came out of it, the game will be called more in a manner the rules (originally) have been written. The game has become much too physical. You will see a change. This will create more freedom of movement among players, enforcing rules the way the game was meant to be played.”

 The shot clock was the big news, but the committee recommended several other changes to speed up the game and take out some of the physical play.

The NCAA installed a restricted arc for block/charge calls in 2010-11 to reduce the number of collisions under the basket. Though the arc made a slight difference, it wasn’t good enough for the NCAA committee, which recommended expanding the semi-circle from three to four feet.

“It is fine. I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Self said of the 30-second clock. “The four-foot arc is good. Not allowing the 10-second re-set is good. The biggest change you’ll see, more fouls will be called initially. There has been a lot of rough play; a lot of illegal screening, bumping cutters, arm in the back, hand in the back. The game will become more free-flowing.”

The committee recommended reducing second-half timeouts by one per team and removing timeout calls in live-ball situations.

Possible additions: Self may need to add a player of two from another team to complete KU’s World University Games roster. He said if the Jayhawks sign one more player, he’d likely need another player who would be provided by a Big 12 team or another team. He said if he signs two more players, he likely won’t need to add anybody.

American Pharoah wins Preakness, will run for Triple Crown at Belmont.

By Steve Petrella

American Pharoah, ridden by Victor Espinoza, center, wins the 140th Preakness Stakes. (Photo/AP)

Get ready for three weeks of hype. American Pharoah will run for the first Triple Crown since 1978 on June 6 at Belmont Park.

Bob Baffert's colt won the 140th Preakness Stakes by outrunning an eight-horse field in 1:58.46 on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course. The odds-on favorite started at the rail, jumped out to an early lead and outran the field by seven lengths in a steady downpour. He'll have three weeks to prepare for the Belmont.

“I don’t even want to think about that right now,” American Pharoah trainer Bob Baffert told NBC after the race. “I want to enjoy this. We’ll see how the horse comes back, but we’re just going to enjoy this.”

It's hard to measure the race American Pharoah ran Saturday because of the track's sloppy conditions. The two other contenders, Firing Line and Dortmund, ran well below form, so who exactly did American Pharoah have to best?

Mr. Z showed speed early and set the pace. Divining Rod looked as if he'd make a race of it at the quarter pole. But American Pharoah responded to both challenges.

Tale of Verve, a 25-1 long shot with one career win, finished second. Divining Rod was third.

With the win, American Pharoah owner Ahmed Zagat takes home $900,000. American Pharoah is the 14th horse to win the first two legs of the Triple Crown since Affirmed won the Triple Crown in 1978.

There's no sporting event in America that has so much riding on a previous result. The Belmont Stakes is rendered nearly irrelevant if the Derby winner can't follow it up with a win in Baltimore. That won't be the case this year.

But one of horse racing's toughest challenges awaits in New York in three weeks. The 1 and 1/2 mile distance with so little recovery time will give American Pharoah, like it does with all Triple Crown hopefuls, trouble.

A few new shooters will likely be entered in the race, as well as Kentucky Derby contenders Carpe Diem and Materiality, trained by Todd Pletcher.

On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, May 18, 2015.

Memoriesofhistory.com

1897 - William Joyce (New York Giants) set a record when he hit four triples in one game.

1933 - The first major league All-Star Game was announced. It was to be played on July 6 at Comiskey Park as part of the Chicago World's Fair.

1934 - Jimmie Foxx hit the first home run in Comiskey Park.

1942 - New York ended night baseball games for the duration of World War II.

1956 - Mickey Mantle hit a home run from both sides of the plate for the third time.

2000 - Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) passed Mickey Mantle on the home run career list. He ended the game with 539. 

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