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Sports Quote of the Day:

"There is nothing as sweet as a comeback, when you are down and out, about to lose, and out of time." ~ Anne Lamott, Novelist and Non-Fiction Writer

Trending: Chicago Blackhawks, One City, One Team, One Goal.

Trending: Robert Kraft drops the fight, says he'll accept deflate-gate punishment. (See football section below.)

How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks outlast Ducks in longest game in franchise history, 3-2. 

By Tracey Myers

Marcus Kruger celebrates his triple overtime goal in Game 2. (Photo/Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

 

Marcus Kruger’s not the flashiest guy on the Blackhawks roster. But he is one of the hardest workers, whether he’s battling for pucks along the boards or trying to clean up around the net.

On Tuesday night, that hard work paid a very big dividend.

Kruger scored the game-winning goal 16:12 into triple overtime, as the Blackhawks beat the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in Game 2 of the Western Conference Final. The Blackhawks, who had an early 2-0 lead and then lost it, even the series at 1-1; they host Game 3 at the United Center on Thursday night.

Corey Crawford stopped a career-high 60 shots, including 38 consecutive stops in the final 79 minutes, 42 seconds of the game. Duncan Keith played nearly 50 minutes (49:51) and Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Seabrook both played about 47 1/2 minutes. Johnny Oduya logged just over 46 minutes.

Not surprisingly, given those gaudy numbers, Tuesday marked the Blackhawks’ longest game in franchise history.

“It felt like it,” Crawford said. “We played hard throughout the whole thing and we had some chances. They had some, too that went off the post. Both sides were so close. That was just a great hockey game to watch, I think.”

It was a great one to coach for Joel Quenneville.

“As intense a game as I’ve ever been a part of,” he said. “Unbelievable game, pace, both teams left it out on the rink. Both teams had excellent chances to win the game over different periods.”

The Blackhawks thought they had won it in double overtime when Andrew Shaw head-butted the puck past Frederik Andersen on a power play. But NHL Rule 78.5 (i) says, “Apparent goals shall be disallowed when the puck has been directed, batted or thrown into the net by an attacking player other than with a stick.”

Shaw said it was worth a shot.

“At that point you just react to the moment, try to get it in and get the game over,” he said.

But there was no denying Kruger, who, at the side of the net, knocked down Brent Seabrook’s shot and past Andersen.

“I lost the puck there when it went [defenseman] to [defenseman],” Kruger said, referring to Oduya and Seabrook. “It hit my glove first and then I tried to get a stick on it. I was happy to put it in.”

The Blackhawks were, too. It was a long, draining game regardless but it would’ve hurt a lot more if the Blackhawks had lost it. It was looking like they would through the first two periods. Despite scoring two power-play goals in the first seven minutes of the game – Shaw and Marian Hossa – the Blackhawks couldn’t keep that early 2-0 lead. The Ducks, who were fueled by a physical game and scoring pressure, evened it up in the second with goals from Andrew Cogliano and Corey Perry.

Then came the marathon segment, with teams battling for opportunities and goaltenders keeping each at bay. Crawford and Andersen were both sensational, the latter stopping 53 of 56 shots.

“I thought he battled,” Quenneville said of Crawford. “I thought he was outstanding, thought he was quick, alert, handled the puck, rebound control. He made a couple gigantic saves.”

In games like this it’s not about being pretty. It’s about finding a way to score that gritty goal. Kruger doesn’t score a lot, but he’s usually in the right areas to have a chance. He capitalized on that chance on Tuesday.

“We love to battle. We stuck with it and Krugs gets a big goal because he’s one of those guys who’s a warrior,” Quenneville said. “But across the board, commend everybody.”

Just Another Chicago Bulls Session… Bulls' roster - not just Thibs - a question for future, too.

By Vincent Goodwill

The ugly way the Bulls were dispatched in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Cleveland Cavaliers unearthed some harsh truths and stripped away a façade many believed all season long.

That presently constructed and fully healthy, the Bulls were a championship team.

Losing to LeBron James in a series that featured his third-worst field-goal percentage in a storied 12-year career, where his support didn’t feature Kevin Love at all or a full-strength Kyrie Irving erased the visions of grandeur.

The revelation of the reality is the easy part.

The process of going about turning the fantasy of having a championship team into a reality is an entirely different one.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau and the franchise will likely part ways, as the clashes seemed to pile up as the season wore on, the so-called “noise” began to add up the closer things got to playoff time—whether it played a part in the team’s performance can be debated from now until the start of next season, but there’s a chance the Bulls will look moderately different than the outfit that walked off the floor of the United Center in disappointment.

If the Bulls are convinced coaching or friction between the front office and head coach is the only problem, only one change needs to be made, although you’ll be hard-pressed to find many coaches better than Thibodeau.

But considering the way the Bulls under-performed, it seems more plausible to believe that this roster isn’t ready for June basketball and internal improvement is necessary to get this team in form for true contention.

Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler will both likely be working under max deals next season, as Butler is entering restricted free agency and getting a max offer sheet from another franchise or the Bulls appears to be a certainty.

Two ball-dominant guards who haven’t played a lot together will spend a lot of time doing that next year, and the teams who win championships with starting guards who command so much attention are scarce in the modern NBA, but it can happen.

While Butler’s game is still evolving and it doesn’t seem quite like a stretch to say Rose will come back next season closer to form than in any of his previous comebacks, there are questions about the existing roster—warts that showed up in the playoff series against the Cavaliers.

Will Joakim Noah, a year removed from knee surgery that took a very long time to recover from, regain the form that had him finish fourth in the 2014 MVP voting? He’s entering the last year of his deal next year and of course there will likely be concerns about his play this season, but considering he’s such a huge part of this team’s identity, will management take the risk of even shopping him this summer?

Rose, Noah and presumably Butler could take up $48.7 million of a $67 million salary cap, which doesn’t leave a lot of room for free agency additions, especially if they bring Mike Dunleavy back on a similar deal to this season ($3.3 million).

Taj Gibson is another part of the Bulls’ culture of toughness, and he doesn’t have a cap crippling deal ($8.5 million in 2015-16, $8.95 million in 2016-17).

He’s slightly off last year’s career-high showing of 13 points and 6.8 rebounds, and his offensive rating rose to a career-high 112 points per possession, so he could be attractive to other teams if the Bulls look to shop him. But his teammates love him and a trade likely wouldn’t be received well in the locker room.

Pau Gasol was a godsend, with his best and most consistent season in years, but he’ll be 35 by the time training camp convenes in October, and his hamstring injury severely hampered his participation in the second round—and players his age don’t get healthier as they cross that age.

The list of players who have averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds at 35 or older: Robert Parish in 1989 for a Celtics team that crept into the eighth playoff spot before getting swept.

The Bulls have higher goals than that, and if they’re going to lessen their dependency on Gasol’s usage, it means Nikola Mirotic must take a more prominent role and Doug McDermott must have a role.

McDermott couldn’t crack the veteran-laden rotation and Mirotic was only trusted when player availability got really thin, so one would have to assume they’ll make jumps next season.

But if nobody takes a leap, will Gar Forman and John Paxson feel comfortable heading into a season where the East will markedly improve, a veteran roster is a little older and with the strong possibility integrating a new coach will take time?

Either way, there appears to be a lot of questions, more questions than answers as the Bulls head toward an interesting offseason.

Bulls: Nikola Mirotic voted to All-Rookie First Team.

By Vincent Goodwill
 

Nikola Mirotic had a forgettable ending to his rookie season, but the accolades from his impressive first year in the NBA continued to roll in with being named to the All-Rookie First Team.

Mirotic earned 128 of 130 first-place votes (258 overall points), second to Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins’ unanimous output. Mirotic won Rookie of the Month in December and March, including leading the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring in March and scoring 20.8 points per game in the absence of Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler.

Joining Mirotic and Wiggins on the first team is Nerlens Noel from the Philadelphia 76ers, Elfrid Payton from the Orlando Magic and Jordan Clarkston from the Los Angeles Lakers.

Boston’s Marcus Smart, Brooklyn’s Bojan Bogdanovic, Minnesota’s Zach LaVine, Denver’s Jusuf Nurkic and New York’s Langston Galloway made the second team.

Mirotic, 23, finished sixth on the Bulls in scoring with 10.2 points per game and was fifth in rebounding with 4.9 boards per game while shooting 40 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3-point range, being a valuable and versatile reserve at small forward and power forward.

In the playoffs, his numbers dipped to 5.7 points and 2.7 rebounds in 14.9 minutes as opposed to 20.2 minutes in the regular season, and his flagrant foul on Iman Shumpert triggered a decisive Cavaliers’ run in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals last Thursday night.

He’ll likely carry that unfortunate moment into the summer while also remembering he kept the Bulls afloat through the most tumultuous part of their regular season.

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!! Look for Bears return to two-back basics under Fox, Gase.

By John Mullin

The 2012 Bears spent a lot of money securing the latest in a succession of understudies to running back Matt Forte. They gave Michael Bush $7 million guaranteed as part of a four-year, $14 million contract. Bush carried 112 times and scored five rushing touchdowns — as many as Forte — for the 10-6 Bears.

The following year Bush was marginalized, with 63 carries and just three touchdowns.

Last year, after cutting Bush, the Bears used a fourth-round draft choice on a running back, Ka’Deem Carey, and used him even less than Bush’s low point: 36 carries.

Meaning: After 100-carry seasons by backups like Bush, Marion Barber, Chester Taylor, Adrian Peterson, even Cedric Benson, No.-2 running backs carried a combined 99 times in two seasons under the Marc Trestman/Aaron Kromer offense.

The Bears this year invested another fourth-round pick in a running back: Jeremy Langford from Michigan State. One surprise in the 2015 season will be if Langford is not handed the football more than Bush and Carey combined.

While the chief focus has been on defense and the Bears’ switch to a 3-4 under coach John Fox and coordinator Vic Fangio, Fox and GM Ryan Pace would not have identified running back as a need area unless there was a plan to make extensive use of the position, and involving more than just Matt Forte.

It is simply Fox’s way.

“We’ve always been believers in kind of a 1-2 punch and rolling guys through there whether it’s the d-line; a wave of those guys to stay fresh,” Fox said. “I’ve always had the approach the same thing with running backs.”

He has indeed. In each of his four Denver Broncos seasons, Fox had two backs with at least 100 carries, with Ronnie Hillman’s 106 last season the fewest. And Hillman got those while playing just eight games, followed by C.J. Anderson (179 carries) after Hillman was injured. Add to that more than 50 carries each by Montee Ball and Juwann Thompson. Not since the days of Jim Harbaugh (1993) have the Bears had more than three players with 50 or more rushing attempts.

Fox’s commitment to backfield diversity has been to such a degree that the Carolina Panthers used No. 1 picks on running backs twice in three years — DeAngelo Williams in 2006, Jonathan Stewart in 2008 — and this on top of having DeShaun Foster from the 2002 second round, a 200-carry back from 2005-07.

Under Fox, Stewart (221 rushes for 1,133 yards) and Williams (216-1,117) became just the sixth duo of running backs in NFL history to both gain 1,000 yards in the same season (2009).

The Forte Factor

Forte is entering the final year of his contract, coming off a year that included an NFL-record 102 pass receptions to go with 1,038 rushing yards, the fifth time in his seven seasons with 1,000 yards (and 900-plus the other two).

Forte’s excellence is a “problem:” Why give the ball to a second-tier back when you have one of the NFL elites standing there?

“This is an unusual situation just because Matt has been in such great shape and has been so dynamic as far as staying on the field,” said offensive coordinator Adam Gase. “We’ve just got to see how it plays out.”

One reason the Broncos made such use of multiple backs lay in injuries to Ball and Hillman, which required turning to Anderson, who was voted to the Pro Bowl despite starting just the second half of the season and wearing down for the final two games after four straight 20-carry games.

“C.J. would hate me for saying this, but he got tired and was a little chubby sometimes,” Gase said. “I mean, he got worn down quick and then we had to rotate backs in last year. Matt’s an unusual situation in that position because he’s able to play every play, or has.”

Follow-up: Do Bears, NFL teams really need two RBs to win Super Bowl?

By John Mullin

Best guess for the 2015 Bears offense is that head coach John Fox and offensive coordinator Adam Gase will not only establish a credible run game, but also one built around two running backs. It’s what Fox has always done, even with Peyton Manning as his quarterback.

But whether reaching a Super Bowl is contingent upon a run game with two backs carrying the football at least 100 times each is an interesting what-if.

Teams over the past decade have won Super Bowls without going a meaningful two-deep at running back. But only with either a Hall of Fame quarterback or a historic defense.

The New England Patriots won the last Super Bowl with zero backs netting 100 carries. But they also had four with 60 or more carries, and Tom Brady.

The Seattle Seahawks won the previous one with only one 100-carry back. But it was Marshawn Lynch (301), Russell Wilson (96) and Robert Turbin (77) combined for 173 carries, the Seahawks ran the football 52 percent of the time, and they fielded a defense ranked No. 1 in yardage and points allowed, by significant margins.

The 2010 Green Bay Packers had only Brandon Jackson (172) with 100 carries. But like New England, they had something of an offsetting edge at quarterback.

As for GM Ryan Pace’s perspectives, he was with 2009 New Orleans Saints who won a Super Bowl riding Drew Brees. But the Saints still ran the football on 45 percent of their snaps and also had two 100-carry backs — Mike Bell, Pierre Thomas — in addition to Reggie Bush with 70.

When the 2006 Indianapolis Colts defeated the Bears in Super Bowl XLI, they had Manning but also handed the football to Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes a combined 413 times.

The Bears got to that Super Bowl with a defense bordering on historic before Tommie Harris’ season-ending injury in game 11, and with 453 carries by Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson. They got to their only other Super Bowl with a historic defense, and even with Walter Payton carrying 324 times, Matt Suhey also had 115.

NFL to change extra-point kicks to longer distance.

By Blair Sheade

After teams score a touchdown, the procedure will look a little different next season. The NFL owners approved the competition committee’s rule change that will place the ball at the 15-yard-line for a PAT.

Extra points will now be a 33-yard field goal, which is much harder than the original 19-yard field goal.

Good news for the Bears, current place-kicker Robbie Gould is a 89 percent kicker between the 30-39 yard line. The 11-year veteran has never missed a field goal under 30 yards and this rule change will challenge the 33-year-old kicker.

Gould didn’t comment on the rule change, but Minnesota Vikings’ kicker Blair Walsh posted on Twitter:

33 yards it is. #ExtraEXTRAPoint 

— Blair Walsh (@BlairWalsh3) May 19, 2015

Another rule change helps the defense.

Defense can return a 2-point conversion in the case of a fumble or interception on the attempt. 

— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) May 19, 2015

The two-point conversion will remain at the two-yard line, but now, if the defense intercepts or recovers a fumble, they can advance the ball for a touchdown.

The PAT rule changes were one of three rules proposed on Tuesday during the owners meeting.

Chicago Bears To Make Special Teams Special Again.

By Carlos Nazario

The Chicago Bears have historically had really good special teams. Over the past several years, however, they have struggled with that unit (among others). The new coaching staff is looking to bring back the specials in their special teams unit. 

The Chicago Bears had a great reputation with their special teams unit. That unit positioned the offense on the opponents’ territory, pinned opposing offenses deep in their own territory, and scored a great deal of points.

The Bears’ special unit has not been special lately. They ranked 21st in 2013 and 27th in 2014.

Of course, special teams coach Joe DeCamillis took the brunt of the blame. The team’s philosophy, however, had as much to do with its failure as much as anything else.

The Bears decided to go with younger, more athletic players who did not have special teams experience. That brought disastrous results.

Now the special teams coach is Jeff Rodgers. He has 14 years experience, 11 of them on special teams. He worked with head coach John Fox in Carolina and Denver.

At a question-and-answer session with the media, Rodgers was asked about what he was expecting from the return game.

No. 1 is ball security. Our No. 1 goal of our return game is going to be giving the ball back to the offense. Every guy is different. I’ve coached bigger guys, smaller guys, faster guys; the ball-security thing is always going to be a common trait. But we’re going to scheme our return stuff based on whatever the player does well. That’s still yet to be determined. Whoever that guy is will win that job in training camp and into the season, they realize they are competing with everyone else on the roster. They realize they’re competing with the guys league-wide who are on rosters. And someone will emerge in that role.

So hopefully Rodgers can put the players in a position to use their skills to the fullest, and not just think the players’ athleticism will just magically take over.

Special teams is crucial for the Bears to return to their winning ways. If the unit can give the offense good field position so they don’t have to constantly go on long drives, or pin the opponents deep in their territory and have the defense go all out, it will go a long way to helping the team pick up wins. Wins the Chicago Bears desperately need.

Robert Kraft drops the fight, says he'll accept deflate-gate punishment.

By Frank Schwab

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Patriots owner Robert Kraft (Photo/AFP)

Robert Kraft put the NFL's interests as a whole over what he thought might have been best for the New England Patriots. The Patriots owner will accept the punishment of commissioner Roger Goodell in deflate-gate, sanctions that include the loss of two draft picks and a $1 million fine.

On Tuesday, Kraft took the unusual step of holding a news conference at the start of the league's annual spring meetings. But it's an unusual circumstance. He spoke for a few minutes, taking no questions, and explained that the discussion of deflated footballs in January's AFC championship game had continued too long and he wanted it to end. So to end the continuing argument, he took the NFL's punishment, which included a $1 million fine, and the loss of a first-round draft pick in 2016 and a fourth-round pick in 2017.

Quarterback Tom Brady appealed his four-game suspension through the NFLPA. It would be a surprise if he drops that. And judging by the response from George Atallah, NFLPA assistant director of external affairs, it doesn't appear as if Brady will accept the league's punishment the way Kraft did on Tuesday: 

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George Atallah✔                                                                                Follow
@GeorgeAtallah
  

The Patriots may not appeal, but this will not impact the NFLPA appeal of the 4 game suspension of Tom Brady.

 

12:16 PM - 19 May 2015

 

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"Believing in the strength of the partnership and the 32 teams, we have concentrated power of adjudication in the office of the commissioner," Kraft said.

"Although I might disagree with what was decided, I do have respect for the commissioner, and believe he’s doing what he perceives is in the best interest of the full 32. In that spirit, I don’t want to continue the rhetoric that has gone on for the last four months. I’m going to accept, reluctantly, what he has given to us. And not continue this dialogue and rhetoric. We won’t appeal."

Kraft thought the fight over the controversy was not in the best interests of the league.

There had been reports that the Patriots and NFL could work on a solution to lessen the penalties from deflate-gate, although that would be an admission by the league that its original penalties were wrong. Kraft's decision to accept the punishment relieves the NFL from that potentially awkward situation, as well as a contentious appeal or any legal action.

It worked out perfectly for the NFL. Kraft, however, didn't admit any wrongdoing in his statement. He just wanted the conversation to end. He did not take any questions for that reason. He said he hoped Patriots fans understood.

"The heart and soul and strength of the NFL is it's a partnership of 32 teams," Kraft said. "What has become very clear over those two decades is that at no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective good of the full 32."

Why Cubs believe clubhouse chemistry matters. 

By Tony Andracki

There is no statistic to measure clubhouse chemistry.

You can't head over to FanGraphs or Baseball Reference to check metrics on a guy's impact in the clubhouse. There's no way to prove it effects the game being played between the white lines on the field.

Because of that, sabermetricians and stat heads will tell you clubhouse chemistry is overrated, that it doesn't matter.

Yet the Cubs know what they feel and they insist chemistry does bleed out onto the diamond.

"One hundred percent," reliever Jason Motte said.

"I've always believed that clubhouse chemistry can be created," manager Joe Maddon said. "There's a lot of people that would disagree with that. And I think people that disagree with that have never really attempted to do it. You mock what you don't understand.

"Of course, winning always breeds that kind of stuff. But if you've not won, what do you do?"

For the first time under Theo Epstein's front office, the Cubs are actually winning: They're five games over .500 and sitting atop the National League wild-card standings in mid-May.

The culture inside the clubhouse has changed. It's palpable the second you step into the cramped home locker room at Wrigley Field. There's energy, confidence and a sense of a team on the rise, even if they're still learning how to win consistently.

Maddon has had a huge impact. But he's also so complimentary of veterans like David Ross and Jon Lester, to the point where the star manager is praising them on a near-daily basis.

"How do you create chemistry?" Maddon asked. "You bring in David Ross, [Miguel] Montero, Jon Lester, [Chris] Denorfia, these kind of guys.

"Those are kind of like the chemistry majors, man. They know what they're doing and they set a different tone. I'm telling you, the bench during the game when Monty and Rossy are not playing - wow. Those other guys better be heads up."

Guys like Ross, Lester and Motte all carry the instant credibility that comes with their World Series rings.

Lester won two championships with the Boston Red Sox. Motte was a part of the St. Louis Cardinals teams that has made it to the last four NL Championship Series, including a title in 2011.

At 38, Ross is a 14-year veteran who has played with seven different teams and also won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2013.

It's that kind of experience that has helped these guys earn their degrees in clubhouse chemistry.

"I try to pass along the experiences I have had with winning and all that encompasses that," Ross said. "There are a lot of questions that get fired my way and I talk from experience of winning.

"I say things like, 'This is what I saw from the team that won.' Obviously, there is more than one way to win, but the group I was with in Boston and the way I saw things done, that's what I talk about.

"I don't come to the field or to an organization trying to instill anything. I try to come and be me and I try to support my teammates.

"I only know one way to come to work and that's to come and say 'hello' to my teammates, enjoy them and try to have fun with them and compete at the highest level."

The Cubs talk a lot about the synergy in the clubhouse and how that breeds chemistry.

During the team's recent six-game winning streak, Maddon mentioned how much he loved the energy in the dugout during games and how each guy on the 25-man roster is pulling in the same direction, picking each other up.

Motte credited rookies like Kris Bryant and Addison Russell for coming up to the big leagues and not acting like they're all that, instead looking to the veterans for an example on how to act, how to carry themselves.

Motte and Ross believe it's important for a team to get along as it helps keep things loose during the grind of a 162-game season.

"Clubhouse chemistry doesn't matter if you have a lot of selfish players - guys that only worry about themselves and only go out there to produce for themselves," Ross said. "I think it matters if guys get along, care about one another, want to sacrifice for the betterment of the guys in the group.

"Let's say I don't like a lot of my teammates. I may choose to do what's best for me rather than what's best for the team.

"If you get along and care about one another and have fun, I feel like you have a better chance of having the group play for one another. And I think that's one of the keys to winning."

Maddon credits the veterans with instilling that "team-first" mindset in the clubhouse, saying the young players are being "properly overseen by the veterans" on a daily basis. Which is necessary, because they boast one of the most inexperienced lineups in all of baseball.

The Cubs have three guys - Bryant, Russell and Jorge Soler - who could finish in the Top 5 in NL Rookie of the Year voting and two other everyday stars - Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo - who are still just 25.

All that youth has led to some fun moments in the first six weeks of the season. The locker room turns into a night club after victories, complete with a fog machine and dance parties.

"Every game's important," Motte said. "The celebration after the game - that's awesome. But the one time it's going to be truly good to celebrate is when we make the playoffs.

"Then we'll be popping champagne. That's what we're all here for, to play PAST October 4."

Cubs trade Welington Castillo to Mariners for Yoervis Medina.

By Patrick Mooney

The Cubs ended their three-catcher experiment on Tuesday, trading Welington Castillo to the Seattle Mariners for right-hander Yoervis Medina, who will first report to Triple-A Iowa.

Medina, 26, put up a 2.82 ERA in 141 appearances out of Seattle’s bullpen across the last three seasons, going 10-9 with 43 holds and two saves. He notched 140 strikeouts in 137 innings while limiting opponents to a .216 batting average.

Medina hadn’t pitched for the Mariners since May 2, getting sent down to their Triple-A affiliate. Given all the volatility within the Cubs bullpen, he should eventually get a chance to contribute at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs almost got to Memorial Day weekend with three catchers, dragging this situation out longer than anyone expected after Theo Epstein’s front office made it an offseason priority to upgrade behind the plate.

After the Toronto Blue Jays won the Russell Martin sweepstakes, the Cubs traded for Miguel Montero and signed David Ross to be Jon Lester’s personal catcher, investing $45 million and making multiyear commitments to both veteran players.

Castillo – who had been in the organization since 2004 after signing as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic – should get a chance to hit the reset button and perhaps show that he can still become a frontline catcher.

The Mariners began the day at 17-20, needing an offensive jolt to make up some ground in the American League West, where they already trail the Houston Astros by seven games. Seattle’s primary catcher, Mike Zunino, the third overall pick in the 2012 draft, is hitting .179 with a .600 OPS.

Castillo generated 21 homers and 78 RBI during the previous two years combined and has a .717 career OPS. He is 28 years old and isn’t positioned to become a free agent until after the 2017 season. He has a rocket arm and elite blocking skills but lacked an element of creativity in his game-calling at a time when the Cubs overload their catchers with information.

Even with diminished playing time and no clear future in Chicago, Castillo still worked hard and maintained the same positive attitude inside the clubhouse. Stuck in the National League, he appeared in 24 games for the Cubs this season, hitting .163 in 47 plate appearances but catching only 64 innings.

As the Cubs make a flurry of roster moves before opening a three-game series against San Diego Padres, Javier Baez is not expected to join the team on Tuesday night at Petco Park. The organization appears to want the 22-year-old infielder to keep working on his offensive game with Iowa.

As winning streak ends, White Sox see rotation rounding into form.

By JJ Stankevitz

The White Sox not giving Jose Quintana much support isn’t something new, seeing as the club entered Tuesday night’s game averaging 2.59 runs in the left-hander’s first seven starts this season.

What is new, though, is that Quintana’s seven innings of two-run ball meant for the first time in 2015 Jeff Samardzija, Chris Sale and Quintana have thrown back-to-back-to-back quality starts.

The White Sox still lost to Cleveland Tuesday, 3-1, as Trevor Bauer’s effective wildness snapped a six-game winning streak. But it wasn’t for lack of effort from Quintana, who followed Samardzija and Sale’s lead and kept the White Sox within striking distance against the Indians right-hander.

“I try to follow (them), Quintana said. “We have a pretty good rotation and I tried to keep us winning.”

Samardzija, Sale and Quintana combined to allow six runs in 25 innings with a 16/9 strikeout-to-walk ratio and one home run in their last three starts. The top-of-the-rotation triumvirate hasn’t been effective over a three-game stretch this year, with each of them struggling at points over the season’s first month and a half.

Quintana wasn’t dominant Tuesday, but he was effective despite allowing eight hits and four walks. He pitched out of numerous jams and only gave up his first run when Avisail Garcia — who still appeared hobbled by some right knee inflammation — misjudged Jason Kipnis’ first inning leadoff line drive into a triple. Kipnis scored on Jose Ramirez’s sacrifice fly to give Cleveland an early advantage.

The White Sox got on the board in the fifth on Garcia’s two-out RBI single, but Alexei Ramirez whiffed at a fastball in his eyes and a curveball in the dirt to strike out and end the inning with the bases loaded. Bauer and relievers Bryan Shaw, Mark Rzepczynski and Cody Allen combined to shut down the White Sox lineup the rest of the way.

“He has been pitching very well,” outfielder Melky Cabrera said of Quintana through a translator. “Sometimes we have to also face good pitchers in the same game that he is pitching. But it’s tough for us to see that kind of performance that he has been doing continuously and we weren’t able to support him enough to provide him the runs to win the games.”

Still, the positive here is getting the kind of starts from the three pitchers the White Sox expected to lean on coming into the season. Only Washington’s Stephen Strasburg/Max Scherzer/Jordan Zimmermann trio racked up more WAR in 2014 than Sale/Samardzija/Quintana, though putting those three together hasn’t resulted in the kind of shutdown starts their numbers would suggest until the last three days.

Whereas the White Sox seemed to take one step forward and two steps back in April, with their top three starters rounding into form there’s a confidence things are still moving in the right direction no matter what happened Tuesday night.

“It’s what we’re expecting out of ourselves,” Samardzija said. “It’s not so much a rhythm, it’s getting back to what we expect every day we start. We know a lot goes with how we go, and as long as we get our offense back in the dugout we have a pretty good lineup to score some runs.”

Golf: I got a club for that: Thanks but no thanks: Golfers scoff at Chambers Bay warnings.

By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer)

Mike Davis hasn't caused this much consternation since he spoke at a PGA Tour players meeting about the evils of the long putter.

Only this time, he was extolling the virtues of Chambers Bay.

Maybe to a fault.

The USGA's executive director hosted a preview of the mysterious U.S. Open course south of Seattle and suggested that even the best in golf will have little chance unless they arrive early and play often.

''The idea of coming in and playing two practice rounds and having your caddie just walk it and using your yardage book, that person's done,'' Davis said. ''Will not win the U.S. Open.''

In the three weeks since that bold prediction, the reaction has been, well, predictable.

''We'll play for second,'' former U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson said at Quail Hollow with no shortage of sarcasm.

''What's Mike Davis' handicap?'' asked Rory McIlroy, another U.S. Open champion and the best player in the world, something Davis is not. It was a playful reminder that amateurs who run tournaments should not underestimate the skill of those who do this for a living.

No amount of chirping would be complete without Ian Poulter weighing in. Never mind that Poulter has never seen Chambers Bay. He listened to a few players who made scouting trips on their way to the Match Play Championship and tweeted, ''The reports back are its a complete farce. I guess someone has to win.''

The U.S. Open begins June 18. In some respects, it already has started.

With one comment about what will be required for a golf course hardly anyone knows, Davis added a layer of mystique to Chambers Bay. And perhaps he introduced the one element of a U.S. Open that often gets overlooked.

It's all about attitude.

Jack Nicklaus is famous for saying how he would listen to players complain about the U.S. Open and figure that was one less guy to beat that week.

''It's a massive advantage if you get your head in the right place before you go,'' Geoff Ogilvy said.

Davis didn't make the comment with intentions of putting the world's best players in a foul mood before they even arrive in the Pacific Northwest next month. Given a chance to clarify, he said his point was strategy should be as important as a good short game.

He believes course knowledge will be imperative because of the grass, the elevation changes and sprawling fairways so unlike a U.S. Open test. It's not about how far the ball goes in the air. It's what happens when it's on the ground. The yardage book, to his point, only helps so much. And he lamented the drop in practice rounds as players appeared more concerned with conserving energy than studying for the toughest test in golf.

''My point is, we've seen a trend where golfers are coming and lot of them play nine holes a day and do it for two days,'' Davis said. ''In the old days, they'd come in and play three or four rounds. And they're not doing that anymore for different reasons.''

Jack Fleck once played 188 holes over five days of practice at Olympic Club in 1955, the year he beat Ben Hogan in a playoff. That's a little extreme. Phil Mickelson can take two days to play 18 holes as he meticulously studies a course, particularly around the greens. That's Phil.

''Take Merion,'' Davis said, referring to the 2013 U.S. Open. ''No one played Merion more and studied it more than Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson. They spent more time than anybody studying the intricacies of Merion. And guess who finished 1-2?''

Mickelson, however, was asked which U.S. Open course caused him to spend the most time in preparation. Merion was mentioned, and Mickelson dismissed it.

''It's a pretty straightforward course, Merion,'' he said. ''I think maybe Shinnecock was a course that I found there were important areas to know where to go, where not to go, that might be surprising if you played it the first time.''

Any player would be foolish not to see Chambers Bay before arriving for the U.S. Open. Mickelson plans to head there next week, after it closes to the public and before he embarks on his schedule of playing the two PGA Tour events before the Open.

It's impractical, bordering on arrogant, for the USGA to expect golfers to drop everything and go to the far end of the country for one tournament.

''With the way the tour is, no one is going to go out there and play 10 practice rounds,'' McIlroy said.

McIlroy believes preparation is meaningless if he doesn't have his game. He plans a few practice rounds the weekend before the U.S. Open, another one during the week. That's three practice rounds, which is one more than two, meaning Davis can't rule him out just yet. Right?

But what about the players who don't qualify until the Monday before U.S. Open week? Or the players - two of them last year - who qualify through the world ranking on the Monday of U.S. Open week?

''Will not win the U.S. Open,'' is what Davis said.

Someone will. Someone always does. It could be a surprise, much like the golf course.

Rory McIlroy on rivalries, fitness and out-benching Tiger Woods.

By NBC Sports

Wells Fargo champion and No. 1 player in the world Rory McIlroy joined the Dan Patrick Show on Monday morning and inadvertently dropped two potential ideas about growing golf that didn't feel hackneyed or forced.

After Patrick juxtaposed McIlroy's level of fitness with the perceived history of golfers as un-athletic, McIlroy answered.

“I think golf has progressed a lot and it has become more of an athletic sports. You look at some of the moves guys make at the ball nowadays, and you need to be strong in certain areas. You don’t need to be built like a linebacker, but you need to have stability and strength in certain areas in your body.

"And, of course, if more golfers look athletic, it portrays a much better image for the game, and that maybe encourages kids to pick up the sport or pick up a club. Maybe it encourages their parents to get into golf as well, because maybe 15-20 years ago the image of golf wasn’t athletic. It wasn’t what it is now. And Tiger has changed that. You look at some of the younger guys who are out now on Tour and I think that’s a great thing for golf.”

Beyond working out or hitting the ball 330 yards, McIlroy also addressed the motivation he found in Jordan Spieth's Masters win and subsequent appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated. 

Patrick went on to suggest that a rival, like Spieth, could force McIlroy to work harder to keep his spot as world No. 1. 

"I definitely agree," he answered. "You look at some of the sports and rivalries, I'm thinking individual sports like tennis, Roger [Federer] and Rafa [Nadal], they made each other better. ... Even Phil made Tiger better. As I said, it inspired me to see Jordan do what he did at Augusta. It inspired me to have a little edge, and a little more intensity. ...

"If you look at what Rickie [Fowler] did at The Players, as well, there's a lot of young guys that can go ahead now and take control of big golf tournaments, and again, that can only be good for golf."

McIlroy otherwise addressed the last time he paid for a beer, if he's any good at anything other than golf (soccer, for example), and who could bench press more: himself or Tiger?

"Tiger, I think" he said. "Yeah, yeah, Tiger. ... I've probably got shorter arms, so I don't have to move the bar as far as he does."

Accidents have made a mess of Indianapolis 500 field.

By Jenna Fryer

 

IndyCar had a crisis looming well before James Hinchcliffe was injured in another spectacular accident during preparations for the most esteemed race in motorsports.

Three cars have gone airborne, and one of the series' most popular drivers was in the intensive care unit Monday night after surgery on an injury to Hinchcliffe's left thigh suffered when he crashed following a suspension part breaking. IndyCar said he was in stable condition.

As Hinchcliffe's car shot back down the track toward the apron, it quickly tilted on its side and seemed headed to a rollover before it snapped back down on all four wheels.

Hinchcliffe's car did not go airborne -- it certainly tried to, even after a good bit of speed had been scrubbed from it when it slammed into a wall -- and it wasn't a Chevrolet, the automaker under scrutiny since three of its cars took flight during wrecks last week.

But that crash is added to a list that includes Helio Castroneves, the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, flipping his car last Wednesday. Josef Newgarden went airborne the next day, and finally on Sunday, Ed Carpenter, an Indianapolis standout and an heir to the family that controls all things IndyCar, became the third Chevrolet driver in five days to go airborne.

But this crisis had been in the works since the season-opening race two months ago, where a woman suffered a fractured skull when a piece from one of the new aero kits on the cars flew over the St. Petersburg, Fla., grandstands and hit her.

From that very first race, it was clear there are many unknowns about the bodywork kits and IndyCar has been reacting nearly every week to situations that no one predicted.

Why? Because they didn't do enough testing, and when any bit of contact was creating debris fields all over the race track, someone should have had the sense to say, "Maybe we should get the speedway kits out and make sure they don't also have any unforeseen problems."

Alas, the speedway cars didn't hit the track until the beginning of May, and until cars started sailing, no one had any idea that could happen.

Cars aren't meant to leave the racing surface, and when they do, it's a very big deal. Such a big deal that the three flips have overshadowed Pippa Mann's tremendous hit last Wednesday into both an inside wall and then into the attenuator in pit lane.

A day before that, Simona de Silvestro watched her car erupt into flames in a standard incident that made for tremendous photographs but was mundane in the world of racing.

All of these incidents create the images that are drawing worldwide attention to the Indy 500 a full week before it starts.

Maybe that's not such a bad thing for IndyCar, the besieged series that just can't seem to get anything right, but stays in business year after year in part because it calls the Indianapolis 500 its own. Some buzz around this crown jewel event can only help.

Not like this, though.

It shouldn't be accidents followed by the appearance of an amateur hour in crisis management from series leadership creating the narrative leading into Sunday's race.

This is a mess -- a hold-your-breath-and-hope-for-the-best situation -- at a time when IndyCar was so excited to show off the new bodywork on the Chevrolets and the Hondas and the increased speeds around the famed Brickyard.

Instead, it's possible that Chevrolet's design contributed to its three cars going airborne. And even though Honda had yet to have a serious problem -- unless, of course, you count the total domination Chevrolet has had of the speed charts -- IndyCar ordered both manufacturers to make changes before last Sunday's qualifying session.

But as a weary Mark Miles and Derrick Walker met members of the media last Sunday, it was clear series management was overwhelmed with the problem at hand.

Racing is dangerous, we're told that after every wincing wreck, even the ones that end in injury, or, on rare occasion the past decade, death. But it's the responsibility of the series to create the safest conditions possible, and Miles and Walker have a mess on their hands.

IndyCar was badly wounded following the death of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon in the 2011 season finale. Wheldon was killed racing for a $5 million prize in a gimmick designed to draw more eyeballs to the series.

One of the most charismatic drivers in the under-marketed series was a victim of a rules package that created dangerous pack racing on a high-speed track where very few competitors in the field had any experience.

Many tried to voice their concerns in the days leading up to the accident, but they were shouting in the wind: Leadership was committed to the finale, and when a series is struggling for attention, there aren't very many people to complain about a possible problem.

Four years after Wheldon's underdog Indy 500 victory, people are paying attention and noticing that something seems to be amiss in Indy.

IndyCar learned from Wheldon's death, and everyone understands the series doesn't want to endure another such heartbreak. But the series has only itself to blame for this mess.

Maybe they've hit on something that will keep the cars on the track, and hours after Hinchcliffe's accident brought Monday's action to a halt, the drivers were back on track for a flawless final session filled with inter-brand drafting, slingshot passes and the tight racing which fans have come to expect of Wheldon's namesake DW-12 chassis.

Maybe Sunday will be void of any major incidents, and maybe, just maybe, the 99th running will be the greatest Indy 500 in history.

But it's just a guess at this point, and IndyCar officials better be crossing their fingers that they've gotten this right.
 

NASCAR: Power Rankings: Let's keep on Truckin.'

By Nick Bromberg

 

With the All-Star Race last week, we're not going to base our wonderfully exact and authoritative weekly rankings of the Sprint Cup Series off an exhibition race. So we're going to switch it up a bit and give the Camping World Truck Series some glory.

1. Erik Jones: This is a tough choice for the top spot and we're going to be contrarian based off the last two races. Jones was absolutely dominant at Kansas, leading 151 of the race's 167 laps. However he was forced to pit for fuel late and lost the lead and the race. He started in the back of the pack at Charlotte on Friday night. He was in the top 10 in less than six laps. And he lost a photo finish to Kasey Kahne, whose truck failed inspection after the race.

2. Matt Crafton: Here's the man who won the Kansas race and is the only Truck Series regular to win multiple races this year as he also won at Atlanta in the second race of the season. Why is he not first? Because he's led fewer laps overall (216) than Erik Jones (278). Are we being too harsh on the two-time champion? Quite possibly.

3. Tyler Reddick: Outside of Crafton, he's the only Truck Series driver to win a race this year. Reddick won the season-opener at Daytona and has four top-five finishes. The only real blip on the radar is qualifying at Kansas, where he spun and took out teammate Austin Theriault in the process. But even after that mess he was in position for a top-five finish before he ran out of fuel and finished 13th.

4. Johnny Sauter: Sauter has been just a tick behind Crafton, his teammate, this year. While Crafton has four top-five finishes, Sauter has two. And he hasn't led any laps. In fact, the Truck Series regular with the fourth-most laps led (behind the top three in our rankings)? Mason Mingus. He's not in the top 8.

5. Timothy Peters: Peters has three top-10 finishes and snuck a top-five finish out of the fuel-mileage race in Kansas. But he's 59 points out of the lead. The Red Horse trucks haven't been to the level of the Joe Gibbs Racing trucks or the ThorSport Toyotas. Or even...

6. John Wes Townley: ... to the points level of the #ChickenMan who is two points ahead of Peters despite having one less top 10. Yes, JWT is fifth in the points standings. He's done that by finishing inside the top 12 in every race since Daytona, where he finished 22nd. It's not going to be terribly surprising if Townley wins a race in 2015.

7. Justin Boston: The rookie has three top-10 finishes in five races. Top equipment (Kyle Busch Motorsports) helps, but Boston has shown potential. All three of those top-10 finishes have come in the last three races too. Take away a 29th-place finish at Daytona and he's much higher in the standings.

8. Cameron Hayley: We're concluding this top eight with another rookie driver. Hayley is sixth on the circuit in laps completed, but has one top-five finish in 2015. It came at Kansas, as he was the third of three ThorSport trucks to make it to the end on fuel as other drivers were forced to stop. He's been just outside the top 10 otherwise with finishes of 14th, 11th and 14th at the other three non-Daytona races.

SOCCER: USMNT striker Jozy Altidore ruled out 4-5 weeks with hamstring injury. 

By Joe Prince-Wright

(Photo/Getty Images)

Jozy Altidore will miss at least the next four weeks of the Major League Soccer season, Toronto FC have confirmed.

In a statement on their website on Tuesday, TFC said that the injury Altidore suffered in their 1-1 draw with the New England Revolution on Saturday was “a hamstring strain” and that the 24-year-old would be missing for 4-5 weeks.

 Altidore has scored six goals and added one assist in his first nine appearances for Toronto since arriving as a Designated Player in January from Premier League side Sunderland.

The injury to his right hamstring will come as a big blow to both his club and country, as Altidore is likely to be a key part of the U.S. national team’s Gold Cup squad for the tournament which kicks off on July 7.

A similar injury ruled Altidore out of most of the 2014 World Cup as the New Jersey born striker pulled up with a left hamstring strain in the first half of the USA’s opening Group G game against Ghana in Brazil. That ruled Altidore out of the rest of the tournament and now a similar issue will keep him out until the end of June at the earliest.

The big concern for Jurgen Klinsmann and the U.S. national team will be that even if Altidore has recovered from his hamstring strain, the target forward may not be up to full fitness ahead of the Gold Cup.

Altidore’s absence for the next month or so will be a big blow for both club and country.

NCAAFB: Syracuse football bringing No. 44 out of retirement.

By JOHN KEKIS (AP Sports Writer)

Syracuse is bringing back the football team's famed No. 44.The school made the announcement on Tuesday at a groundbreaking ceremony for Plaza 44, which will be constructed adjacent to the new Ensley Athletic Center. The plaza will honor the great trio of running backs who wore the number and helped make it one of the most recognizable numbers in college football - Jim Brown, Ernie Davis and Floyd Little.

Statues of Brown, Davis and Little, all of them members of the College Football Hall of Fame, will be placed in the plaza, which is expected to be completed by the start of next season.

Since 1954, 11 players have worn 44 at Syracuse, none since the number was retired in 2005 and placed on permanent display inside the Carrier Dome. Syracuse developed a tradition in which the number was passed down to a promising player.

None matched the accomplishments of the honored trio.

Brown played for the Orange from 1954-56 and led the team to a berth in the Cotton Bowl before becoming an NFL star with the Cleveland Browns. Davis led Syracuse to its lone national championship in 1959 and two years later became the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. Little is the school's only three-time All-American, from 1964-66.

''This is very special. I truly appreciate it,'' said Little, now a special assistant in the athletic department at his alma mater. ''Wearing the No. 44 was magical. You always challenged yourself to live up to the standards, the greatness.''

A small committee will be formed to decide who gets to wear the number, and that group will include Little.

The last member of the Orange to wear 44 was fullback Rob Konrad in 1998. In all, 25 players have worn the number at Syracuse.

NCAABKB: Friday's most important rule changes only matter if refs actually enforce them.

By Rob Dauster

On Friday, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Rules Committee announced that they had approved a package of proposals designed to improve college basketball, proposals that will become rules if they are approved by the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel on a conference call on June 8th.

Many of the proposed rule changes are designed to improve the watchability of the college game. The charge circle will be pushed out a foot to four feet, making it more difficult for weak-side defenders to draw offensive fouls. The number of timeouts that college coaches have at their disposal will be reduced from five to four, and any coach’s timeout that occurs within 30 seconds of a scheduled TV timeout will be used as the TV timeout. There will also be limits on just how long reviews can last, and referees will be able to punish floppers if they review a potential flagrant foul and determine that no contact was made.

The most notable change, however, will be the reduction of the shot clock from 35 seconds to 30 seconds. It’s a logical and necessary change for no other reason than it simply does not make sense to have men’s college basketball be the lone outlier. The NBA and FIBA use 24-second shot clocks. Women’s basketball uses a 30-second clock. The only high-level basketball league in the world that uses a 35-second clock is men’s college basketball.

Think about it like this: If we were starting the sport of men’s college basketball from scratch today and I proposed that we used a 35-second clock just to be different, no one would take me seriously. I’d probably get laughed at because everyone would assume such an asinine idea had to be a joke and thrown out of the room when they realized that I was, in fact, being serious.

The bottom line is that the only reason a team used all 35 seconds on the shot clock was because that was their game-plan. All this reduction will do is take away five seconds of false motion or five seconds of a point guard dribbling out the shot clock for the teams that want to slow the pace.

And even then, it’s hard to imagine this reduction really changing the college game all that much, particularly in the short-term.

The same can be said for the other proposed rule changes I mentioned earlier.

Moving the charge circle out a foot will make offensive players more likely to attack the rim. One NBA scout told me this season that he got frustrated scouting college games because the guys he was watching were afraid to attack the rim. It was too easy to draw a charge, so he couldn’t get a feel for how the kids he was scouting could finish when they were challenged by a shot blocker. Watching dunks in traffic and defenders block potential posters is as entertaining as any moment in sports, and maybe this rule helps make that happen more often.

But how often are we really going to see a poster? Maybe once per game, if that? Maybe 20 more vines go viral during the 2015-16 season, but mostly, this rule will just reduce the amount of bitching and moaning I do about awful charge calls.

The rule changes about timeouts and reviews will also help with the pace of play, especially at the end of games, but fans are already tuning into end-of-game situations regardless of how quickly or slowly they happen.

And those end up being, what, the final five or ten minutes of a broadcast?

If we really want to improve the sport, if we really want to get casual fans interested in more than just the NCAA tournament and the chance to see a buzzer-beater at the end of a Big Monday game, the emphasis needs to be on bringing back the freedom of movement rules that were put into place in the 2013-14 season.

“The increase in the physicality of play has been a major concern for coaches,” Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter, the president of the NABC, said. “The NCAA rules committee has addressed that this week with an emphasis on perimeter defense and post play.”

Kansas head coach Bill Self agreed.

“I do think the biggest thing that needed to be done was to clean up the game to basically call the game that the rules were intended for it to be called,” he told the Topeka Capital-Journal. “And it’s not officials’ fault. It’s a combination of officials, coaches, everything, because coaches get by with as much as they can get by with.”

Self is right.

The changes that were made at the start of the 2013-14 season lasted into conference play, but not much further than that. Eventually, the combination of coaches complaining, fan pushback and referees getting tired of blowing a whistle on every possession more or less nullified those rule changes. In simpler terms, the coaches told their players to keep playing the way they were playing because the refs simply would not call every single foul.

There’s a simple way to solve that problem, a simple way to change the way that the college game is played: Call those fouls.

Every. Single. One.

Every hand check, every hold, every cutter that’s “bumped” with a forearm shiver to the collarbone, every defender that tries to take a charge by sliding under an offensive player that’s already in the air.

The rules need to change the way that coaches teach defense, and the only way to do that is by making it impossible to win the old way.

American Pharoah's Big Triple-Crown Problem.

By David Papadopoulos

On Saturday, the real American Pharoah showed up.

This was a tour-de-force victory, the kind of performance his backers had been waiting for. The Preakness Stakes may be a 1 3/16-mile race, but it was over after less than half a mile.

With Pharoah gliding effortlessly over the rain-soaked track, his ears pricked forward in a playful sign that told his seven rivals behind him: “I’m just toying with you,” there was no doubt who the winner of this race was. The only question was how much he’d prevail by.

This was a far cry from Kentucky Derby day, when Pharoah spent much of the race spinning his wheels. He endured 32 cracks of the whip from jockey Victor Espinoza that day en route to a narrow, hard-fought win. In the Preakness, Espinoza tapped him, ever so lightly, just once and then shook the whip at him a few times before quickly putting it away and letting the horse coast to the finish line seven lengths in front of his closest challenger.

The only truly anxious moments in the race came at the start. Pharoah broke a bit awkwardly and sluggishly, and for a few seconds it looked like he’d get boxed in behind the frontrunners -- a bad place to be amid a torrential downpour for a colt that has never experienced the sting of having mud kicked in his face. Right then, Espinoza made the one key decision of the race, furiously encouraging Pharoah to use his speed and surge through a small opening on the rail to take the lead. It would prove to be an early knockout punch.

Non-Believers

So while the horse’s harshest critics -- those few non-believers who still linger out there -- will note that his top rivals drowned in the mud and slop being hurled backward by the leaders, effectively eliminating them from contention, this line of argument fails to miss a key point. Brilliantly fast thoroughbreds like Pharoah make their own breaks in races. They’re not dependent on what happens in front of them.

The colt now heads to New York in a bid to take the Belmont Stakes in three weeks and become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978. Of the 13 horses that have unsuccessfully attempted to pull off the feat over that time, perhaps only Spectacular Bid, one of the greatest racehorses of the 20th century, arrived with a more gaudy resume.

After suffering a defeat in his debut race in California last August, Pharoah rebounded to take a stakes race a month later and hasn’t stopped winning since. He’s reeled off six straight victories -- all of them major stakes races and all, with the exception of the Derby, facile victories.

He will be an overwhelming favorite to win the Belmont. Without knowing the exact makeup of the field, it’s hard to calculate a precise odds estimate, but my instinct tells me he’ll go off somewhere around 1-2. That means a $2 wager would generate a profit of just $1 if successful.

Cold-Blooded Gambler

After paying almost 3-1 in the Derby and then almost 1-1 in the Preakness, both of which were prices I found attractive, odds of 1-2 would have no appeal to me.

The horse is a wonderful talent and I’m one of his biggest fans, but I’m also a cold-blooded gambler. And while Pharoah was busy expending energy beating up on his competition in the mud in Baltimore on Saturday (his third race in a span of just five weeks), several other top three-year-old colts were back in their barns, licking their wounds after the Derby.

They will be rested and ready when Pharoah arrives in New York. And they will offer fat odds. And I will bet on one of them to beat him. This is no time to let sentiment get in the way, not even with a Triple Crown on the line.

On This Date in Sports History: Today is Wednesday, May 20, 2015.

Memoriesofhistory.com

1922 - Babe Ruth and Bob Meusel returned to the Yankees lineup. They had been suspended on October 16, 1921.

1941 - Taft Wright (Chicago White Sox) set an American League record for 13 consecutive games with RBIs.

1946 - Claude Passeau made his first error since September 21, 1941. He set the pitcher's fielding record at 273 consecutive errorless chances. 1959 - The New York Yankees were in last place for the first time since May 25, 1940.

1984 - Roger Clemens got his first victory.

1988 - Mike Schmidt hit his 535th home run to move into 8th place on the all-time list. 1991 - Jeff Reardon got his 300th career save.

1995 - Marty Cordova tied a rookie record when he recorded home runs in 5 consecutive games.

1997 - Frank Thomas (Chicago White Sox) reached base safely for the 15th straight time.

2006 - Barry Bonds (San Francisco Giants) tied Babe Ruth for second place with his 714th career home run.

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