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Sports Quote of the Day:
"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally." ~ David Frost, Record Producer and Pianist
NOTICE: We did not publish a Monday Sports News Update as we were in Kansas City, MO. for the Chicago Bears Kansas City Chiefs game. If you review the Monday, October 5, 2015, Trending segment, we wrote, "The Bears finally win a game. They're now 1-3. Detroit's infamous record of 0-16 is safe. Let's go Bears on to Kansas City and 2-3." Some say the Bears were lucky. They could be right, however, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good!!! Should we say more? On to the game with Detroit next week. Is 3-3 in the air? We'll see..........
Correction: On Friday, October 9, 2015, in the On This Date in Sport's History segment, we had the date as Wednesday, October 7, 2015. The correct date should have been October 9, 2015. The history update was for that date. Our most sincere apology for this mistake.
Trending: Cubs win, take 2-1 lead in NLDS against their nemesis, the St. Louis Cardinals. Hopefully, they can win it all tonight and move on to the National League Championship Series. (See the baseball section for detail update). Let's go Cubs!!!
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Bears’ fight building into an identity as finishers.
By John Mullin
As the victorious Bears streamed into their Arrowhead Stadium locker room Sunday afternoon, their 18-17 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in hand, Jarvis Jenkins threw his head back and let out with a roar that rattled windows in Des Moines. “I’m a happy dog, man,” Jenkins said, laughing. “That was some finish.” (More on that last word shortly)
Kyle Long, still wearing his game face, strode by with his own roar: “CHICAGO BEARS, MAN!” Coach John Fox, he of 2013 open-heart surgery, had himself under control…to a point, then let loose: “Way to FIGHT, men! THAT’S what I’m talking about!” (one nearby staffer later remarking, “Thank God he had his heart fixed before THIS one!”)
Winning does bring out that sort of thing. But it was the way of the Bears winning that was and is the real point.
For the second straight week, the Bears shook off problems, some admittedly of their own making, and came back to win a football game. In the process, the identity of the John Fox Bears came into sharper focus, and it was far more important than an “identity” as a running football team, a defense-based team or anything football-specific.
Losing doesn’t build character; losing reveals character. And the start of the 2015 season under Fox has revealed much about Bears character and identity. Losing the first three games didn’t reveal how bad the Bears were or were going to be; it was revealing something else.
Fox had made winning an emphasis during a 3-1 preseason, looking to take another step in eradicating a losing culture and replacing it with something quite different. Back in the Green Bay game, in which Clay Matthews’ interception of Jay Cutler ended what was a potential game-tying drive in the fourth quarter, signs were there. After the Packers scored to seemingly put the game away with a 15-point lead, Cutler simply went back out on the field and directed a 72-yard drive for an answering touchdown. Not enough, but an identity was forming.
In the locker room at halftime Sunday, with the Bears down 17-3 and doing little in any phase of the game – “We had so many excuses that could’ve been there, with the injuries and everything,” said Matt Forte – talk among players was only in one direction.
“You could’ve rolled over,” said defensive lineman Jeremiah Ratliff. “If you looked at that point deficit [17-3], you could’ve said, ‘Let’s just come back next week.’ But nobody had that mentality, nobody took that approach.”
“In the beginning everybody says they want to go to the Super Bowl. All that talk. Some teams start off real hot. Other teams start off with adversity. We’re one of those. We just have to keep going, one week at a time, because that’s the good thing.”
The underlying point was even deeper than one week at a time. The Kansas City game would have been lost if the Bears defense had been satisfied with stopping the Chiefs on three plays inside the Chicago 10 at the end of Kansas City’s first drive of the second half, that already had pushed the Bears backwards for 71 yards. Forcing the Chiefs to settle for three points would have been generally classed as a success.
But – getting back to Jenkins’ “finish” word from earlier – Pernell McPhee crashed through to block Cairo Santos’ 27-yard attempt, a “finish” for special teams in keeping with what the Bears see as their true identity. Finishers.
“We always talk about ‘finishing,’ at practice, in the weight room, everywhere,” Jenkins said. “And you could see it at halftime when we’re down 17-3 and we’re saying, ‘We got to finish this game.’ Believe and finish.
“The defense gets a third-down stop. Finish. The offense goes down and scores. Finish. That’s what we tell ourselves. Finish. Then at crunch time, you make plays and finish.”
Talking about finishing is easy unless something else is part of the character: “Man, this team’s got a lot of fight, a lot of fight,” Jenkins added, shaking his head. “We put ourselves in some bad situations but there’s so much fight in this team.”
As Fox himself had said on his way into the locker room: “That’s what I’m talkin’ about!”
Bears place Jacquizz Rodgers on IR, sign Antone Smith.
By CSN Staff
The Bears entered Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday with a laundry list of injured players.
They left Kansas City victorious, but with another casualty.
John Fox announced Monday that reserve running back Jacquizz Rodgers will be placed on season-ending IR with a broken arm suffered in the 18-17 win over the Chiefs.
Rodgers rushed two times for three yards against Kansas City. He had rushed for 41 yards on 14 carries and caught a single pass for 10 yards in five games behind Matt Forte, the NFL's leading rusher through five weeks.
"He's guy that probably surpassed our expectations as a guy, a contributor on the field, whether it was on offense or in the kicking game," Fox said. He's a guy that'll be missed.
"Next man up. We feel confident they'll step up in a positive way."
Losing Rodgers, who signed a one-year deal in the offseason, will mean more action for rookie Jeremy Langford and second-year vet Ka'deem Carey. The Bears also signed running back Antone Smith in the wake of Rodgers' injury.
"Faith and patience are part of everything, including working through injuries," Fox said.
Smith was waived by the Falcons in September. Last year he appeared in 10 games, rushing 23 times for 144 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught 15 passes for 222 yards sand three scores.
Fox did not have any updates on Shea McClellin or Terrance Mitchell, both of whom left Sunday's game with injuries.
Bears: Frustration growing around injury status of Alshon Jeffery.
By John Mullin
The word “frustration” came up in coach John Fox’s Monday media discussion when the subject of wide receiver Alshon Jeffery was raised. Jeffery missed his fourth straight game with a hamstring injury.
“[Frustration] is understandable on all sides,” Fox acknowledged. “Our medical people are doing everything in their power as well to get him back. We’ll see what this week brings.”
No less interesting is what the future brings with respect to Jeffery, because what once seemed to be a given is now anything but.
What Marquess Wilson has done with his work over the past handful of games has been to play himself into a strategic discussion of what the Bears may do at wide receiver in the long-term future. Likewise, Jeffery, with what he’s done over the last four games, has very possibly done the same.
Wilson, a seventh-round pick from the 2013 draft, delivered one of the biggest catches of the current season with his win of a 50-50 pass against two defensive backs for in the fourth quarter. The 22-yard touchdown was one of six catches for Wilson, the second straight six-catch game for Wilson, who has gained the increased confidence of quarterback Jay Cutler, both by being where he was supposed to be and catching the football once he got there.
Jeffery has not played since Week 1 because of a hamstring injury, that following a calf pull that kept him out of the entire preseason and more of training camp than either he or the staff would like.
Jeffery is scheduled for unrestricted free agency in 2016. Regardless of how severe his injury is, missing time with soft-tissue injuries does not enhance market value, and Jeffery has not increased his, particularly with Wilson’s progress over the past two games.
Kevin White is one projected pillar of the Chicago Bears passing offense of the future. Eddie Royal is the presumptive No. 3 receiver. Beyond that…
The season has 11 more games to give both Jeffery and Wilson to effectively compete for that No. 2 slot opposite White. The Bears could well go into 2016 with both Jeffery and Wilson; the latter is under contract, and the former’s market price has the potential to go in different directions.
Jeffery was a second-round pick. But he wasn’t a “2” of the current front office so any contract decision will be rooted solely in performance, and Jeffery hasn’t given much to go on. The NFL is replete with one-year, show-me contracts, even for four-year veterans (e.g., Sam Acho, Alan Ball, Jarvis Jenkins, Will Montgomery, Tracy Porter, Jacquizz Rodgers) and pressure should be building on Jeffery to get on the field and show something of the 80-catch production he established over the past two seasons.
“[Frustration] is understandable on all sides,” Fox acknowledged. “Our medical people are doing everything in their power as well to get him back. We’ll see what this week brings.”
No less interesting is what the future brings with respect to Jeffery, because what once seemed to be a given is now anything but.
What Marquess Wilson has done with his work over the past handful of games has been to play himself into a strategic discussion of what the Bears may do at wide receiver in the long-term future. Likewise, Jeffery, with what he’s done over the last four games, has very possibly done the same.
Wilson, a seventh-round pick from the 2013 draft, delivered one of the biggest catches of the current season with his win of a 50-50 pass against two defensive backs for in the fourth quarter. The 22-yard touchdown was one of six catches for Wilson, the second straight six-catch game for Wilson, who has gained the increased confidence of quarterback Jay Cutler, both by being where he was supposed to be and catching the football once he got there.
Jeffery has not played since Week 1 because of a hamstring injury, that following a calf pull that kept him out of the entire preseason and more of training camp than either he or the staff would like.
Jeffery is scheduled for unrestricted free agency in 2016. Regardless of how severe his injury is, missing time with soft-tissue injuries does not enhance market value, and Jeffery has not increased his, particularly with Wilson’s progress over the past two games.
Kevin White is one projected pillar of the Chicago Bears passing offense of the future. Eddie Royal is the presumptive No. 3 receiver. Beyond that…
The season has 11 more games to give both Jeffery and Wilson to effectively compete for that No. 2 slot opposite White. The Bears could well go into 2016 with both Jeffery and Wilson; the latter is under contract, and the former’s market price has the potential to go in different directions.
Jeffery was a second-round pick. But he wasn’t a “2” of the current front office so any contract decision will be rooted solely in performance, and Jeffery hasn’t given much to go on. The NFL is replete with one-year, show-me contracts, even for four-year veterans (e.g., Sam Acho, Alan Ball, Jarvis Jenkins, Will Montgomery, Tracy Porter, Jacquizz Rodgers) and pressure should be building on Jeffery to get on the field and show something of the 80-catch production he established over the past two seasons.
By C. Roumeliotis
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Check in with CSNChicago.com for updated rankings every Monday throughout the 2015-16 campaign. Here's where we're at so far: Preseason rankings
| Rank | Team | Last Week | Record/Comment |
| 1 |  | 9 | 3-0-0, 6 points: No team is off to a hotter start than the Rangers, who have scored 12 goals in three games. |
| 2 |  | 1 | 2-1-0, 4 points: The defending champions bounced back from a slow home-opener by taking four of four points from the Islanders in back-to-back games. |
| 3 |  | 2 | 2-0-0, 4 points: The Lightning won the NHL's first career 3-on-3 overtime, and it certainly won't be the last. |
| 4 |  | 8 | 2-0-0, 4 points: Justin Abdelkader already has two game-winning goals while rookie sensation Dylan Larkin leads the league with a plus-6 rating. |
| 5 |  | 4 | 1-0-0, 2 points: Only one game to show for it, but the Capitals showed the type of resiliency any Stanley Cup contender needs to have with a three-goal third period in their opening win. |
| 6 |  | 10 | 3-0-0, 6 points: Three road wins to start off the season. Not too shabby. |
| 7 |  | 14 | 2-0-0, 4 points: Martin Jones is quickly paying off for the Sharks after allowing just one goal in his first two starts. |
| 8 |  | 21 | 2-0-0, 4 points: An early statement by the Jets, who are looking to prove last year wasn't a fluke. |
| 9 |  | 30 | 2-0-0, 4 points: If this is the Mike Smith the Coyotes will get all year, they may not be as bad as people think. |
| 10 |  | 19 | 2-0-0, 4 points: Two wins against a pair of division rivals, including a "wild" three-goal comeback win over Colorado. |
| 11 |  | 18 | 1-0-0, 2 points: Putting up seven goals in your home opener? Now that's how you start a season. |
| 12 |  | 3 | 0-1-0, 0 points: The Ducks started their season much later than everyone else, so they only have one game on their resume. Let's pump the brakes a little bit. |
| 13 |  | 16 | 2-0-0, 4 points: Good luck scoring on the Predators this season. |
| 14 |  | 23 | 1-0-1, 3 points: The Canucks took three of four points from the improved Flames, with Ryan Miller off to a great start. |
| 15 |  | 7 | 1-1-0, 2 points: Vladimir Tarasenko is on pace to score 82 goals this season. One day we may be able to say that with a straight face. |
| 16 |  | 20 | 2-1-0, 4 points: The Senators picked up right where they left off last spring with a pair of wins, led by Mark Stone and Mike Hoffman. |
| 17 |  | 11 | 1-1-0, 2 points: The Stars flashed their ceiling in a 3-0 win over the Penguins, and their floor in a 6-3 clunker to the Avalanche. |
| 18 |  | 13 | 0-1-1, 1 point: Back-to-back games against the reigning champions was a tough early draw for the Islanders, especially without starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak. |
| 19 |  | 15 | 1-1-0, 2 points: The bolstered Flames defense allowed 44 shots in their opening loss to the Canucks. |
| 20 |  | 22 | 1-1-0, 2 points: The Avalanche blew a three-goal lead in the third period on opening night, but responded with a three-goal win over the Stars. |
| 21 |  | 5 | 0-2-0, 0 points: Sidney Crosby has yet to register a shot on goal through two games. |
| 22 |  | 6 | 0-2-0, 0 points: A rough start for the Kings, but there's too much experience and fire power there to overreact to two games. |
| 23 |  | 12 | 0-2-0, 0 points: Not exactly the start we anticipated from the Blue Jackets after allowing a combined nine goals to the Rangers in both games. |
| 24 |  | 27 | 0-2-0, 0 points: The Hurricanes outshot the Red Wings 47-19 in their second game, yet still lost 4-3. |
| 25 |  | 26 | 0-2-0, 0 points: An unfortunate start for the Sabres, who will be without starting goaltender Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain) for 6-10 weeks. |
| 26 |  | 29 | 0-2-0, 0 points: Even with Cory Schneider, the Devils allow too many goals and don't score enough. |
| 27 |  | 25 | 0-2-0, 0 points: Connor McDavid's debut is officially in the books. Now he can focus back on hockey. |
| 28 |  | 24 | 0-1-1, 1 point: A players only meeting after two games? That was quick. |
| 29 |  | 17 | 0-2-0, 0 points: The Bruins have allowed 10 goals through their first two games, and just lost Brad Marchand with a concussion. |
| 30 |  | 28 | 0-2-1, 1 point: It's going to be a long season. |
Viktor Svedberg finds comfort level with Blackhawks.
By Tracey Myers
Viktor Svedberg was going through the expected emotions when he made his NHL debut on Friday.
The defenseman spent last spring with the Blackhawks, practicing and traveling with them during their Stanley Cup run. But there’s a big difference between doing that and playing. By Game 2 the next night, however, Svedberg was much more comfortable.
“I think a lot of tension released after the first game,” Svedberg said following Monday’s practice. “I felt better.”
Svedberg looked better – the team as a whole did, really – on Saturday, when the Blackhawks beat the New York Islanders 4-1. With the first-game nerves gone, Svedberg is looking to improve from here on out. Coach Joel Quenneville is expecting the same.
“I thought he had progression in his game. He probably got more comfortable; probably [had] nerves the first game and he was fine, anyway,” Quenneville said. “I expect him to get better as we’re going along each and every game. We have a lot to work with there with his reach and his size. He’ll get quicker and more comfortable with how we want him to move and play, but you definitely notice him.”
It’s hard not to notice a 6-foot-8 defensemen. Svedberg entered this fall with a chance to make the team and Quenneville said the big man has made tremendous strides over the last year. While he was out for the first game, it sounds like the Blackhawks want Svedberg to be big part of their defense this season.
Svedberg prepared for this season the way he had others, although he had health on his side this past summer. He underwent shoulder surgery in the summer of 2014 – he was fully healed entering that fall but, “I couldn’t put on any pounds or strength in my upper body.” Svedberg came to this training camp healthy, but credited more work in Rockford last season in preparing him for this opportunity.
“The biggest thing is that I got into the American [Hockey] League,” said Svedberg, who had three goals and 11 assists in 49 games for the IceHogs last season. “I played a lot and developed there.”
Svedberg said he’s gotten a lot of tutelage from defensive partner Brent Seabrook.
“He helps me out everywhere,” Svedberg said. “He talks to me all the time and I couldn’t ask for a better partner.”
Svedberg got all that anxiety out of the way in Game 1. He still has plenty to learn in an NHL career that’s just beginning, but he’ll be approaching it all much calmer from here on out.
“The first game I was a little nervous, a lot of emotions and stuff. The second one felt a little better, a more solid performance and we got a good win both games,” he said. “I’m happy.”
NOTES
- Duncan Keith took a maintenance day on Monday.
- Michal Rozsival (ankle) is improving. Quenneville said, “I watched him skate today and it looks like he was moving extremely well. That’s a big step for me, seeing how well he’s skating and [with] some pace.” Asked if Rozsival could join the Blackhawks in practice next week, Quenneville said, “I would hope so.”
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session... Bulls blow 20-point lead in preseason loss to Pelicans.
By Vincent Goodwill
For those wondering if the Bulls would look like the disjointed outfit in their preseason loss to the Denver Nuggets or the free-flowing unit that blitzed the Minnesota Timberwolves, Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans provided a clear answer.
Both.
They launched triples with comfort and regularity but also went through dry stretches, leading to a 123-115 loss at the United Center, in front of a spirited crowd by preseason standards, buoyed by periodic updates from the Cubs Game 3 playoff win.
Chicago native Anthony Davis kept the Pelicans somewhat close early, with a smooth 26 points and eight rebounds in 27 minutes, but it was the reserves, the players who often finish exhibitions, that turned things around in their favor.
A 20-point Bulls lead turned to a tie game at the end of three quarters, then the Pelicans jumped out to an 8-2 run to start the fourth and the Bulls reserves never recovered, despite playing efficiently early on.
For many parts of the evening, it looked as if Jimmy Butler having a dead-legged night didn’t matter, as his shots came up short and he had trouble containing the Pelicans guards as they waltzed to the basket.
He shot 2-for-13 in 27 minutes, as the Bulls starters didn’t display the cohesiveness they
Their ball movement and crisp passing led to a bevy of open shots, as they seemed to master the “swing-swing” pass, easily spotting shooters on the perimeter for 18 of their 32 3-point attempts in the first half, shooting 34 percent on the night.
It was the bench that found its rhythm while the starters struggled offensively, as Bobby Portis is making his campaign speech for more playing time by way of production, scoring 20 with 11 rebounds, including a pair of 3-pointers and two blocked shots.
Doug McDermott scored 17 while launching a team-high nine triples off the bench and E’Twaun Moore scored 10 in the fourth to keep the Bulls somewhat close.
But everybody wearing a Bulls jersey had trouble on the defensive end, as they allowed a whopping 49 second half points, allowing Pelicans reserve Sean Kilpatrick to score 23, including a 4-point play that energized his team in the fourth.
Ryan Anderson would be a great fit in the Bulls’ system for his ability to shoot, but was a thorn in their side on this night, running the bigs ragged for open triples on his way to 18 points and 10 boards.
Kilpatrick is making a name for himself in what will be termed a meaningless preseason game overall, the aim of such exercises, while the Bulls will be looking over game film for adjustments before things get truly serious, looking for answers—the goal of such exercises for them as a unit.
Cubs out-slug Cardinals to take commanding control of NLDS.
By Tony Andracki
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Jake Arrieta was on the mound, so one run was good enough for the Cubs, right?
Of course, things didn't play out that way, and Game 3 of the National League Divison Series turned into something of a slugfest with the win blowing out at 17 mph at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs came away winners over the Cardinals in a hard-fought, 8-6 ballgame in front of 42,411 fans, playing the first playoff game on Chicago's North Side since 2008.
Arrieta failed to rack up a quality start for the first time since June 16, allowing four runs on five hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out nine but exited the game after hitting Brandon Moss on the toe with his 97th pitch.
Luckily for the Cubs, the offense bailed him out, with a homer coming from each of the top six spots in the batting order (Dexter Fowler, Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, Kyle Schwarber).
It was the most homers the Cubs have ever hit in a playoff game as well as a major league playoff record, topping the five hit in Game 1 of the 1984 NLCS.
A collection of relievers — Clayton Richard, Trevor Cahill, Travis Wood, Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon — shut down the Cardinals to close out the win for Arrieta.
The Cubs will send out Jason Hammel on Tuesday with a chance to eliminate the Cardinals in Game 4 at Wrigley Field.
Jason Hammel ready to step up for Cubs as Game 4 starter.
By Tony Andracki
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Jason Hammel could be starting the biggest game of the year for the Cubs.
Joe Maddon announced Monday that Hammel will get the ball in Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Cardinals.
It's something of a second chance for the 33-year-old starter, who was the Cubs' clear No. 3 starter earlier in the season but endured struggles for the entire second half of the season and saw 25-year-old Kyle Hendricks get the ball in a pivotal Game 2 on Saturday in St. Louis.
The Cubs have already ruled out starting Jon Lester on short rest for Game 4, meaning Hammel will get the nod in a contest where the Cubs could either clinch a spot in the NLCS or need to win to force a Game 5 back in St. Louis.
"Referring to the pressure, I feel like pressure is what you make of it," Hammel said. "Honestly, yeah, it could be a big game, but I've done this a few times now in the postseason and I understand that it's just another ballgame.
"I have to approach it that way, and I know the guys in the clubhouse will be, too. I've been preparing for this game since my last outing in Cincinnati, so I've had a little bit of time to think about it. I'll be ready to go."
Joe Maddon announced Monday that Hammel will get the ball in Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Cardinals.
It's something of a second chance for the 33-year-old starter, who was the Cubs' clear No. 3 starter earlier in the season but endured struggles for the entire second half of the season and saw 25-year-old Kyle Hendricks get the ball in a pivotal Game 2 on Saturday in St. Louis.
The Cubs have already ruled out starting Jon Lester on short rest for Game 4, meaning Hammel will get the nod in a contest where the Cubs could either clinch a spot in the NLCS or need to win to force a Game 5 back in St. Louis.
"Referring to the pressure, I feel like pressure is what you make of it," Hammel said. "Honestly, yeah, it could be a big game, but I've done this a few times now in the postseason and I understand that it's just another ballgame.
"I have to approach it that way, and I know the guys in the clubhouse will be, too. I've been preparing for this game since my last outing in Cincinnati, so I've had a little bit of time to think about it. I'll be ready to go."
Hammel put up a 2.89 ERA in his first 16 starts of the season, striking out 104 batters in 102 2/3 innings and even drawing an All-Star endorsement from Maddon at one point in June.
Hammel suffered a hamstring injury July 8, and since then, he has put up a 5.50 ERA in 15 starts. He's racked up just two quality starts in that span, showing obvious frustration at times at Maddon's quick hook.
"It wasn't really a blow-up," Maddon said. "He was upset that he was taken out of games early because he's a starting pitcher and no starting pitcher likes that. I've probably had the same conversation with the other guys.
"Our relationship is actually really good. It always has been. I think he eventually understood why we did it and how it benefited everybody. So it's not been a problem at all. Zero."
Hammel said it was difficult to endure his tough second half, but he's felt better recently in large part due to a change in mindset.
"Obviously when you're not going right, it's hard to kind of get out of your own way," Hammel said. "But in those moments, you kind of have to tease yourself and almost trick yourself into thinking you are really good, even when you're not performing to what you know you can do.
"It wasn't like a light-bulb moment or anything like that, but I've been in the game long enough that I know if you beat yourself up, you're going to set yourself further back.
"Success in sports — anything, really — is confidence, and as long as I keep the confidence in myself, I'll be fine."
Hammel spun five shutout innings his last start of the season on Oct. 1 in Cincinnati. He's notched 15 postseason innings in his career, making stops with the Colorado Rockies (2009), Baltimore Orioles (2012) and then the Oakland A's last season.
He will need to rely on that experience in a crucial game against the Cardinals.
"I know that he's ready for the moment," Maddon said. "He feels very good about it. When you look at a guy like that, you know he's rested, that he can give you the innings necessary and he's pitched really well against these guys in the past, too.
"It's all there. I feel very good about it, actually. But regardless of what happened in the past, for me, that has nothing to do with anything. Those were things that had to be done at that particular moment.
"And those moments are dead and gone and you move on from there."
White Sox to rely on improvement of core in 2016.
Hammel suffered a hamstring injury July 8, and since then, he has put up a 5.50 ERA in 15 starts. He's racked up just two quality starts in that span, showing obvious frustration at times at Maddon's quick hook.
"It wasn't really a blow-up," Maddon said. "He was upset that he was taken out of games early because he's a starting pitcher and no starting pitcher likes that. I've probably had the same conversation with the other guys.
"Our relationship is actually really good. It always has been. I think he eventually understood why we did it and how it benefited everybody. So it's not been a problem at all. Zero."
Hammel said it was difficult to endure his tough second half, but he's felt better recently in large part due to a change in mindset.
"Obviously when you're not going right, it's hard to kind of get out of your own way," Hammel said. "But in those moments, you kind of have to tease yourself and almost trick yourself into thinking you are really good, even when you're not performing to what you know you can do.
"It wasn't like a light-bulb moment or anything like that, but I've been in the game long enough that I know if you beat yourself up, you're going to set yourself further back.
"Success in sports — anything, really — is confidence, and as long as I keep the confidence in myself, I'll be fine."
Hammel spun five shutout innings his last start of the season on Oct. 1 in Cincinnati. He's notched 15 postseason innings in his career, making stops with the Colorado Rockies (2009), Baltimore Orioles (2012) and then the Oakland A's last season.
He will need to rely on that experience in a crucial game against the Cardinals.
"I know that he's ready for the moment," Maddon said. "He feels very good about it. When you look at a guy like that, you know he's rested, that he can give you the innings necessary and he's pitched really well against these guys in the past, too.
"It's all there. I feel very good about it, actually. But regardless of what happened in the past, for me, that has nothing to do with anything. Those were things that had to be done at that particular moment.
"And those moments are dead and gone and you move on from there."
White Sox to rely on improvement of core in 2016.
By Scott Merkin
Club unlikely to make drastic changes, believes pieces are in place to compete.
For a team that underachieved in 2015, the White Sox certainly don't seem like a group looking or hoping for big 2016 changes.
It's not that Chicago is satisfied with finishing below .500, something it has done in each of the last three seasons. It's not that it is satisfied coming up short of the postseason, a place it hasn't been since '08.
The White Sox simply believe that this talented group, with this down season behind them after a massive offseason overhaul, could come back strong.
"I would love to come back with the same guys and give it another go," White Sox starting pitcher John Danks said. "I'm glad I'm not a GM and have to make those decisions.
"The pieces are here. Guys that have had success in the big leagues, a lot of young talent coming up behind them, and we just have to go out there and play better baseball. I'd like another shot at it."
That new shot will come with a roster that may look a little different. Jeff Samardzija will be entering free agency, and while the White Sox could be in on the bidding, they certainly aren't the favorites. The team also has to upgrade offensively and defensively and might have to do that by trading from the strength of the pitching staff -- the starting rotation in particular.
Even if the changes are minor, despite a tough 2015 season overall, the current squad believes it can get it done next year.
"We are close. I truly believe that," White Sox leadoff man Adam Eaton said. "We should be there, to be honest with you, with the guys we have in here and the talent we have. But this year has been really weird and hasn't been the year we've expected by any stretch of the imagination."
Arbitration-eligible: RHP Nate Jones, LHP Dan Jennings, OF Avisail Garcia, RHP Zach Putnam, C Tyler Flowers.
Free agents: RHP Samardzija, INF Gordon Beckham, C Geovany Soto, RHP Matt Albers.
Rotation: Even with a Samardzija departure, the trio of Chris Sale, Carlos Rodon and Jose Quintana make this a clear-cut strong suit of the team. So why has the possibility of moving a seemingly untouchable -- such as Quintana, potentially under team control through 2020 -- been broached by the media? Possibly because the White Sox could fill other needs by trading a high character talent with such high value. Danks has one year left on his five-year deal, while Erik Johnson put himself back in play as a rotation candidate. Carson Fulmer, the team's top pick in the 2015 MLB Draft, seems more likely as a 2017 rotation candidate than one for next year.
Bullpen: Closer David Robertson, Zach Duke, Jake Petricka, Jennings and Putnam are all in place for 2016. The White Sox would be smart to bring back Albers, who was their most consistent reliever in '15, and they will have the hard-throwing Jones healthy and ready to go at the season's outset. Frankie Montas started for Double-A Birmingham during the '15 season, but with a fastball that touches 100 mph and a developing slider, Montas could serve as an important late-inning relief piece.
Catcher: The White Sox have an interesting situation with Flowers. Starting pitchers want to throw to him, and he's one of the higher-ranked backstops in terms of pitch framing. But Flowers has not hit consistently during his two-plus years as a starter, and with no clear-cut young replacement on his way through the organization, the team might have to go outside to complement Flowers' abilities.
First base/designated hitter: Adam LaRoche has newfound respect for those players who have achieved consistent success as primarily a designated hitter after a tough first year in that role with the White Sox. LaRoche is an accomplished defensive player at first, more skilled than Jose Abreu at this point, but Abreu also enjoys the challenges of playing defense. He showed no signs of a sophomore slump with another outstanding year at the plate.
Second base: Carlos Sanchez holds the label of the top defensive option at this position. Micah Johnson provides more explosiveness offensively. Then again, the White Sox could opt to go off the board and outside the organization. Beckham, a valuable defender off the bench and veteran voice in the clubhouse, is a free agent.
Shortstop: Acting on a team option of $10 million or a $1 million buyout will dictate whether there's a player at shortstop other than Alexei Ramirez for the first time since '09. Top prospect Tim Anderson probably won't have a chance to win the job out of Spring Training if the team cuts ties with Ramirez, so Tyler Saladino, who has great value across the infield, could move full-time to his natural position.
Third base: Right-handed power stands as a precious commodity at the Major League level, so the White Sox basically gave Mike Olt the month of September to prove his value. A splash at this spot still could be made outside the organization, but if not, Olt and Saladino will get the first looks. Matt Davidson remains in the picture, although he was not part of the September callups for a second straight season.
Outfield: If Eaton and Melky Cabrera can translate their tremendous 2015 second halves over the full '16 season, the White Sox offense automatically will be considerably stronger. Garcia deserves time to develop after finishing his first full season at the big league level, but he needs to work on his plate discipline. Trayce Thompson firmly put his name into play with a great '15 finish, to the point that he could be considered as more than a fourth outfielder.
Golf: I got a club for that..... Jay Haas' Presidents Cup picks net almost half of the winning team's points.
By Ryan Ballengee
Phil Mickelson of the United States Team (L) shakes hands with Charl Schwartzel of South Africa and the International Team on the 14h green after Mickelson won their match 5&4 during the Sunday singles matches at The Presidents Cup at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea on October 11, 2015 in Songdo IBD, Incheon City, South Korea. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images)
Haas selected his son Bill, who was 11th in points, and Phil Mickelson, a controversial pick who finished 30th in the points standings, with his initial wild-card picks. When Jim Furyk had to pull out of the event with a wrist bone bruise, Haas went to J.B. Holmes, who finished 12th in points. As it turned out, those selections were brilliant.
J.B. Holmes won 2.5 points, including forming a formidable duo with fellow long-hitter Bubba Watson.
Phil Mickelson didn't lose any of his four matches, only costing his team a half-point with a Friday miscue over improperly using a second golf ball model while teaming with Zach Johnson against Jason Day and Adam Scott. Mickelson drubbed a hapless Charl Schwartzel in his Sunday singles match by a 5-and-4 count.
Bill Haas clinched the winning point in the anchor match on Sunday, defeating Sangmoon Bae, one of two native-born South Koreans on the team.
Mickelson, who accounted for 3.5 points, said the U.S. loves these weeks, with him considering the team matches his favorites on the calendar. He's just hoping that he won't need to get a nod from 2016 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III come next fall at Hazeltine.
"I'm certainly looking forward to next year's Ryder Cup, as well, and I hope that I don't put the captain in a position where he has to pick me this time," he said. "I hope that I will be able to make it on my own."
Haas was perhaps happiest of all of his teammates afterward, considering he locked up the sixth consecutive American win in the biennial series and the win for his dad, who told his son to "win one for [his] mom."
"I'm certainly looking forward to next year's Ryder Cup, as well, and I hope that I don't put the captain in a position where he has to pick me this time," he said. "I hope that I will be able to make it on my own."
Haas was perhaps happiest of all of his teammates afterward, considering he locked up the sixth consecutive American win in the biennial series and the win for his dad, who told his son to "win one for [his] mom."
"To be in this position and the way it all worked out was a very great moment for me and my dad, and certainly the whole team," Haas said. "I'm lucky to be a part of this team and to get picked, and I'm just happy I could help the team out with one point there on Sunday. It feels great."
U.S. win gives Spieth relief after loss to Leishman.
Reuters; Reporting by Julian Linden; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty
For a fleeting moment on Sunday, Jordan Spieth's head was filled with guilt. The hottest golfer in the world was convinced he had just lost the Presidents Cup for the United States.
After leading his singles match against Marc Leishman from the outset, Spieth stumbled on the back nine, handing victory to the Australian.
It could not have come at a worse time with the Presidents Cup still in the balance but, like everything that has happened to Spieth this year, it all worked out in the end and he finished a winner.
The U.S. eventually won by a solitary point. And despite losing his singles match, Spieth was one of his team's star performers, earning three points.
"I really enjoy the team part of this. That's my favorite part about these matches," the 22-year-old Texan said.
"We play individual matches all the time. We play individual events all the time. But the team part of this was fantastic this week...I loved it."
Spieth made his Presidents Cup debut in Ohio two years ago, selected as a captain's pick. The rookie picked up two points but lost his singles match to Canada's Graham DeLaet.
He also lost his Ryder Cup singles match to Graeme McDowell last year but was philosophical about losing another.
He also lost his Ryder Cup singles match to Graeme McDowell last year but was philosophical about losing another.
"I should have won. I should have won this for this team. I thought on 15 that I may lose us the Presidents Cup with a couple of shots that I hit," he said.
"Marc played great golf. 15, I handed it to him, but the other holes that were won were won because one of us won the hole.
"Marc played great golf. 15, I handed it to him, but the other holes that were won were won because one of us won the hole.
"And Marc Leishman will win a major championship in my mind. I lost to a really good champion and a solid player."
Spieth has been winning tournaments in pressure situations all year, including the Masters and the U.S. Open, where he beat Dustin Johnson.
Still learning his way, the world number one teamed up with Johnson for three matches at the Presidents Cup, winning two, which proved critical in the final outcome.
Still learning his way, the world number one teamed up with Johnson for three matches at the Presidents Cup, winning two, which proved critical in the final outcome.
"The biggest highlight of my week was yesterday, was our comeback with DJ when we were 3-down at the turn and 2-down with -- really 1-down with a couple to go," he said.
"That was a huge match, I think obviously for the team, because they were supposed to win that match. We instead, won that match, not only we tied, we won, but that flipped two points and ended up being a point difference."
NASCAR: Logano races into 3rd round of playoffs with Charlotte win.
By JENNA FRYER
Joey Logano celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)
The race was rained out Saturday night and run instead in the middle of the day Sunday, and it ended with Logano beating reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick to the finish line by 0.704 seconds.
The top six finishers were Chase for the Sprint Cup championship drivers, but it was a sloppy day for some of the biggest title contenders.
Joe Gibbs Racing, the overwhelming favorites in the Chase, watched Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch suffer through problems that led both of them to fall to the back of the championship standings. Same with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was one of three Hendrick Motorsports drivers to have a rough day.
Does Joey Logano have Kevin Harvick’s number?
By Nate Ryan
Joey Logano wasn’t as willing to admit it, but when Roger Penske is deeming it the truth, it’s hard to cast aside the conclusion.
What was the biggest takeaway from Logano’s victory Sunday in the Bank of America 500, the latest in a disconcerting procession of humdrum processionals at Charlotte Motor Speedway?
While hugely significant to his sleeping habits, it wasn’t Logano’s advancement to the third round of the NASCAR playoffs (the Team Penske driver has been running well enough anyway).
And though Charlotte marks the first of four 1.5-mile ovals in seven races to determine the title, thumping the field as thoroughly as Logano did also wasn’t ranked first on Sunday’s list of achievements.
It’s much simpler than that.
It’s whom he beat.
Again.
“When you can beat (Kevin Harvick) any day, any time, that’s a big deal for us,” said Penske, the owner of Logano’s No. 22 Ford. “I think that it was good that we could at least be on a level playing field with him today.”
It hasn’t been just Sunday, though.
Charlotte was just the latest reminder that Harvick should be more worried about Logano than anyone in his bid for NASCAR’s first repeat title in five years. And not just because Logano led 227 of 334 laps while Harvick paced none, interrupting a blistering streak in which his No. 4 Chevrolet had opened the Chase by leading 581 laps in three races.
Since the green flag fell for the first time this season at Daytona International Speedway – and resulted in a post-race screaming and shoving match between Logano and Harvick a few hours later – no one has been a more persistent thorn in the defending series champion’s side.
In three of Logano’s victories this season – the Daytona 500, the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway and Sunday at Charlotte – Harvick finished second. In Logano’s fourth win, he chased Harvick into running out of fuel while leading on the final lap at Watkins Glen International.
If there is a confidence boost or mental edge to be gained, Logano naturally isn’t letting onto it.
He’d be too smart for that, anyway.
“There’s 42 other cars we’ve got to beat, too,” Logano said. “He has been the one that has finished second (three times). I think it’s just a coincidence.
“Obviously they’re a great race team, but a team like that has a week like they did last week, you’ve got to be able to pick up your game and hopefully be able to beat them and show that we’re here.”
Logano has let Harvick know he’s there many times this season, and it hasn’t always been behind the wheel.
When the season-opening Sprint Unlimited exhibition race ended in February with Harvick ramming him on the cool-down lap, Logano angrily confronted his rival in the pits.
Two days after Harvick’s clutch win last Sunday at Dover International Speedway, Logano took a subtle and dismissive dig in noting the Stewart-Haas Racing driver’s dominance was due partially because Harvick was “throwing Hail Marys, and it paid off.”
Translation: Harvick’s team completely showed its hand at Dover. My team hasn’t yet.
It’s the closest any driver will come to antagonizing or engaging Harvick, whose ongoing pursuit to master mind games is well documented. Look no further than Jimmie Johnson’s immediate attempt to extend an olive branch to Harvick (greeted by a glare and a shove) to assuage any ill will from their dustup in the Chase for the Sprint Cup opener at Chicagoland Speedway.
Harvick is fond of telling others he is planning to pound their cars into the ground (which drew a muted response from Joe Gibbs Racing).
The only replies to pound sand are coming from Logano.
Few have had more practice, of course, with being on the receiving end of Harvick’s manipulative verbal jabs like Logano. They intermittently have feuded for more than five years, and the barbs have been caustic enough to spur the sale of branded merchandise (after Logano said Harvick’s wife DeLana “tells him what to do and wears the firesuit in the family,” the couple turned the line into a popular T-shirt).
Last season, Harvick opened the championship news conference before the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway by tossing a 3-week-old allegations of blocking at Logano, who didn’t take the bait.
Sunday, it was Harvick who wasn’t biting after expressing frustration on his radio during the Bank of America 500 that Logano should have been black-flagged for accelerating early on the final restart.
“Whether he left early or not doesn’t matter at this point,” he said when asked about it afterward.
What mattered most Sunday to Harvick was that he didn’t win.
But whom he didn’t beat mattered, too.
SOCCER: Dust settles but questions remain for USMNT, Klinsmann’s future.
By Joe Prince-Wright
(Photo/NBCSports.com)
Do you want him in, or out?
It’s not your decision, but many fans of the U.S. national team, and U.S. Soccer as a whole, have been debating the future of Jurgen Klinsmann as the head coach of the USMNT and the technical director.
Klinsmann, 51, has now been the head coach of the U.S. for over four years. In that time he has won a Gold Cup (2103) and led the U.S. to the last 16 of the World Cup (2014). Those, plus a smattering of impressive friendly wins away in Europe, have been the highlights, but plenty of lows have continued to roll in over the last few months, as questions regarding whether or not the German coach is the right man for the job have continued to linger, and now they’re festering.
President of the U.S. Soccer Federation, Sunil Gulati, has already said Klinsmann’s job was safe regardless of the outcome of the CONCACAF Cup match, which the U.S. lost to Mexico 3-2 after extra time on Saturday. That scoreline flattered the U.S. as they sat back in a defensive shell (something we saw throughout the World Cup in Brazil and against many of the elite nations they have faced over the past four years) and couldn’t cope with the constant attacks launched by El Tri. The loss provided plenty of people with ammunition to say: Klinsmann has to go.
That is not just a knee-jerk reaction to a defeat to a bitter rival, but the rearing of a violent under-current which has been sweeping through USMNT fans for quite some time and has manifested into a wave of negativity against Klinsmann, the playing style he promotes, his staff and his players.
The latter two parties can certainly not escape the blame, but like any coach of any team worldwide, the buck has to stop with Klinsmann amid the lack of progress over the past four years since Bob Bradley was fired for a Gold Cup final defeat to Mexico, also at the Pasadena Rose Bowl. Klinsmann stated that winning the Gold Cup this summer was crucial. The U.S. finished fourth in its second worst-ever performance. He also stated reaching the Confederations Cup was crucial. Those hopes were dashed by Saturday’s defeat. And then there’s the hope of qualifying for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, which hang by a thread after Andi Herzog’s side were beaten by Honduras in the semifinal of the qualifying tournament on Saturday, just hours before Mexico beat the U.S.
Many can’t argue that Klinsmann is capable of building successful youth programs and systems for teams to flourish long-term. Look what he did in Germany before and during the 2006 World Cup, as Die Mannschaft immediately bore the fruits of his and Joachim Low’s labor with a third place finish, and then replicated that achievement at the 2010 World Cup before winning it all in 2014. Klinsmann helped put that in place and with plenty of promising young players selecting the U.S. over other nations, plus improvements being made across the infrastructure of U.S. Soccer, his role as technical director of U.S. Soccer seems a natural and good fit.
However, the percentage of games he has won as U.S. boss has now dipped to 55.25 percent, which is lower than his spell in charge of Germany and his 44 games at Bayern Munich, and there needs to be some more accountability. That is the biggest concern for fans and those observing the U.S. national team. Increasingly Klinsmann doesn’t seem to be taking the blame solely on his shoulders and amid the constant lineup changes and lack of continuity in who he selects (and comments about whether they play in MLS or Europe) in which formation, the USMNT has become a rudderless ship drifting into the murky waters of obscurity on the international stage. The lack of identity on this team is troublesome and leaves the outlook for the future looking bleak. Will the next three years under Klinsmann be like that last four? He has previously stated that the target at Russia 2018 must be to reach the semifinals. Right now, that seems a long way off.
Speaking in his post-game press conference after the loss to Mexico, here’s what Klinsmann had to say, via MLSsoccer.com, about how the U.S. can move on from a disappointing spell.
“A loss is always difficult to swallow, there’s no doubt about it, especially when there’s a lot at stake,” Klinsmann said. “It means that you have to work even harder than you ever did before in order to turn the results around and make things happen….
“We have to get out group together and rethink the next couple of months,” he continued. “Obviously, we’re going into World Cup qualifying already in November, and we have to kind of sit together and discuss things–who we’ll be counting on, how we want to build toward the next couple of games. There’s not much time in between, because World Cup qualifying is World Cup qualifying. So there will be a lot of conversations coming up in the next couple of days.”A lot of those conversations, from fans at least, will be about Klinsmann’s future as the national team’s head coach. Those are just and fair, as Klinsmann has failed to get any more out of a player pool with largely the same, if not more, talent than Bradley had between 2007-11.
The calls for Klinsmann to move on from being the head coach of the USMNT and move “upstairs” to continue in his role as a technical director are growing.
What this U.S. side needs now is re-invigoration, fresh ideas and a new approach. The overwhelming feeling from the masses is that after four years of stagnation, Klinsmann is no longer the right man to push this program forward.
NCAAFB: AP Top 25 Ranking, 10/11/2015.
AP
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | LAST WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State (27) | 6-0 | 1411 | 1 |
| 2 | Baylor (13) | 5-0 | 1390 | 3 |
| 3 | TCU (3) | 6-0 | 1354 | 2 |
| 4 | Utah (16) | 5-0 | 1350 | 5 |
| 5 | Clemson (1) | 5-0 | 1260 | 6 |
| 6 | LSU | 5-0 | 1231 | 7 |
| 7 | Michigan State | 6-0 | 1139 | 4 |
| 8 | Florida | 6-0 | 1075 | 11 |
| 9 | Texas A&M (1) | 5-0 | 1046 | 9 |
| 10 | Alabama | 5-1 | 1034 | 8 |
| 11 | Florida State | 5-0 | 937 | 12 |
| 12 | Michigan | 5-1 | 894 | 18 |
| 13 | Mississippi | 5-1 | 803 | 14 |
| 14 | Notre Dame | 5-1 | 766 | 15 |
| 15 | Stanford | 4-1 | 662 | 16 |
| 16 | Oklahoma State | 6-0 | 614 | 21 |
| 17 | Iowa | 6-0 | 520 | 22 |
| 18 | UCLA | 4-1 | 487 | 20 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 4-1 | 342 | 10 |
| 20 | Northwestern | 5-1 | 317 | 13 |
| 21 | Boise State | 5-1 | 260 | 25 |
| 22 | Toledo | 5-0 | 237 | 24 |
| 23 | California | 5-1 | 204 | 23 |
| 24 | Houston | 5-0 | 121 | NR |
| 25 | Duke | 5-1 | 114 | NR |
Others Receiving Votes: Temple 96, Memphis 59, Arizona St. 27, Mississippi State 19, Georgia 16, Texas Tech 10, BYU 8, USC 5, W. Kentucky 5, Kentucky 4, Penn St. 4, Navy 3, North Carolina 1
NCAAFB; Reports: South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier has retired.
By Sam Cooper
South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier has retired, according to multiple reports.
According to Gamecock Central, Spurrier informed his team and coaching staff of his decision after practice on Monday night while Football Scoop is reporting that an interim head coach will be named at 8:30 ET on Tuesday morning. Thayer Evans of Sports Illustrated was the first to report the news.
Spurrier, 70, was in his 11th season at South Carolina. He led the Gamecocks to an SEC East title in 2010 and three straight 11-win seasons from 2011 to 2013, but the team trudged to a 7-6 record in 2014 and has struggled to a 2-4 (0-4 SEC) mark through six games this season.
Overall during his tenure in Columbia, Spurrier registered an 86-49 record with a 44-40 mark in SEC play and five bowl wins. He is South Carolina's all-time winningest coach.
Before his time at South Carolina, the Head Ball Coach spent 12 years at Florida, his alma mater, where he won six SEC titles and the 1996 national championship. He also spent three seasons as the head coach at Duke and two seasons leading the Washington Redskins in 2002 and 2003.
Spurrier, who compiled a 228-89-2 overall record as a collegiate head coach, played quarterback at UF from 1963 to 1966 and won the Heisman Trophy in 1966.
NCAABKB: Turgeon's unlikely turnaround. (Meet Mark Turgeon, the man who escaped the clutches of the hot seat to turn Maryland into the country's potential No. 1 team.)
By Gary Parrish
It was around this time last year, on websites and in magazines all over the country, when Mark Turgeon started finding himself on various "Hot Seat" lists, which often signifies the beginning of the end for any college coach.
They're hard to escape, those lists.
You struggle a bit, for whatever reason, and your job security is suddenly in question. It's not always fair or even accurate. But that rarely matters. Because all that really matters is that a perception is created, and that perception, right or wrong, is that one more year short of expectations might have school officials eating your contract and moving in another direction. And frankly, it often does go exactly that way. Alabama's Anthony Grant, DePaul's Oliver Purnell and St. John's Steve Lavin are but recent examples.
And so this is where Mark Turgeon sat after three years at Maryland.
He was 59-43 overall, 23-29 in league games. He had missed the NCAA Tournament three straight years, which is something a Terrapins coach hadn't done since the early 1990s. And perhaps the most troubling development, on the surface, was that five players had opted to transfer following the 2013-14 season, leading both fans and media alike to openly wonder if Turgeon would ever turn the so-called corner.
"When you have five guys transfer from a school there's always going to be questions," acknowledged Maryland's Jake Layman, now a senior who lived through it all. "People are going to start saying things."
Which means people are also going to start hearing things.
Like family members and loved ones.
"You can't hide them from it," Turgeon said, and, boy, isn't that the truth?
The good news for Turgeon is that his wife, Ann, mostly isolates herself from the chatter, a wise move from a woman who's learned by living much of her adult life as what amounts to the First Lady of a college basketball program, whether it be at Jacksonville State, Wichita State, Texas A&M or Maryland. And his youngest two children, Leo and Ella, are, as Turgeon explained, "oblivious to it" all. But the oldest, William Harris, is a teenager who reads and listens and cares. He wasn't hidden from the chatter. He was overwhelmed by it. And so he broached the subject with his father while the two were in their car one day last year.
"He said, 'Dad, do you think you're going to get fired?'" Turgeon remembered, and that's never a question you want to hear from your son, if only because no father wants his children worrying about adult things.
Turgeon considered the question for a moment.
He then posed a question of his own.
"I said, 'Do you believe in your Dad?'' Turgeon recalled. "And he said, 'Yep.' And then I said, 'Do you like living here?' And he said, 'I love it.' And I said, 'Then don't worry about it. There's no chance I'm getting fired. No chance. We're going to get it done.'"
With a new playing surface under our feet, surrounded by 17,950 seats that'll be filled for a game against Georgetown soon enough, Mark Turgeon and I were sitting inside the Xfinity Center on this campus just 10 miles from our nation's capital on a recent afternoon, and we spent time discussing what it was like to be where he was a year ago, how great it feels to be where he is today, and how in the world he went from there to here so quickly.
Again, those "Hot Seat" lists are hard to escape.
Impossible even, in some cases.
And yet Turgeon is a living, breathing example of a man who has not only survived it but also seemingly created a stable situation. He's coming off a 28-win season in which the Terrapins finished second in the Big Ten and advanced to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. He subsequently enrolled two McDonald's All-Americans (Rasheed Sulaimon and Diamond Stone). And when you combine those new players with the guys who are becoming eligible/returning, the result is a roster that'll be picked to win the Big Ten and have Maryland ranked in the top five of all relevant preseason polls, perhaps as high as No. 1 in the nation.
A trip to the Final Four isn't just a dream.
It's a reasonable and obviously attainable goal.
"We are talented and deep enough at each position," said Maryland assistant Cliff Warren, who knows what a Final Four team looks like considering he was on theGeorgia Tech staff that made the 2004 Final Four. "We have enough on paper."
Which, again, is amazing given where this program was a year ago -- after five players transferred and the criticism of Turgeon became so intense that Evan Smotrycz, a senior at the time, was compelled to jump on Twitter and defend his coach. What's interesting, though, with the benefit of hindsight, is that the same thing that caused all that criticism is, on some level, precisely what helped Turgeon turn things in such a spectacular way.
You've heard of addition by subtraction, right? That's essentially what happened at Maryland last offseason. What the Terrapins lost in numbers they gained via the creation of a culture of hard work and togetherness that was missing in Turgeon's first years, especially the third in which Maryland won only two more games than it lost.
"We just didn't click that season," said assistant Bino Ranson.
But then some questionable contributors exited, and a freshman named Melo Trimble enrolled. And when Trimble ended up being significantly better than almost anybody anticipated -- he averaged 16.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game last season -- the result was a record that was significantly better than absolutely everybody anticipated.
"I knew, this time last year, we were going to be good … but I didn't think we were a 28-win team," Turgeon said. "I thought we'd be an NCAA Tournament team -- but like an 8 seed or a 9 seed. I didn't know we'd be clearly in the NCAA Tournament in February."
They were, though.
Maryland was a No. 4 seed.
And when Trimble and Layman both passed on the NBA Draft and returned to school, and Sulaimon and Stone enrolled, and Georgia Tech transfer Robert Carter became eligible, the table was set for something special. So now folks aren't predicting Turgeon's demise as much as they're projecting that Final Four.
Which creates an entirely different dilemma, of course.
Turgeon only needed to win enough last season to show real progress and calm his fans, and a trip to the Round of 32 qualified as enough. But a second-place finish in the Big Ten and a loss in the Round of 32 this season will technically be disappointing, relative to expectations, because there's potential for much more. So, as always, there's a new bar to meet. And Turgeon need look no further than at a fellow veteran coach in his own league -- Indiana's Tom Crean -- to understand how quickly things can flip back around on men in this profession.
Crean had a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament three Marches ago. But his Hoosiers were upset in the Sweet 16 that year. And they haven't won an NCAA Tournament game since. And now it's Crean who is prevalent on all those "Hot Seat" lists.
So this isn't only about rising to the top of the polls for a minute. The goal must be to remain successful and stay there. And the good news, for Maryland fans, is that there are reasons to believe the Terps can do it -- specifically because, in the near future, Maryland has enough young talent to sustain things, and, more importantly, in the big picture, the staff has two distinct and powerful recruiting advantages that should ensure talent keeps flowing through.
There aren't many places in the country more consistently stocked with basketball talent than the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area that encompasses Maryland's 1,300-acre campus. So that's the first recruiting advantage -- the natural recruiting base.
From Kevin Durant to Michael Beasley, Ty Lawson, Jeff Green, Rudy Gay, Roy Hibbert (and on down the line), the area produces high-major prospects and future NBA standouts almost every year. It's been that way for decades. It'll likely stay that way forever. And as long as the Terps get their share of the area's prospects, the roster should remain talented enough to succeed in the Big Ten.
Then there's another reason Maryland is looking like a pillar program of the future.
And that reason is a potentially game-changing reason, actually.
Under Armour.
Yes, Maryland's affiliation with Under Armour is a huge deal, and even Turgeon doesn't deny it's already an advantage. The company was started by Kevin Plank, a Maryland graduate, and it's headquartered in Baltimore. After first partnering in 2008, Maryland and UA extended their contract last year through 2024 -- a deal worth a reported $33 million.
Under Armour has the reigning NBA MVP (Stephen Curry) under contract, which provides credibility. And the fact that Under Armour is now a real player, and viable alternative to Nike, in the world of grassroots basketball is aiding Maryland's recruiting.
"And I'll never apologize for it," Turgeon said.
In fact, Turgeon explained, UA is a big reason why he took this job in the first place.
"I was once a young assistant at Oregon, and I watched [Nike co-founder] Phil Knight get involved with that football program," Turgeon said. "I saw what that did. So when I was looking at Maryland, I said, 'OK, they've got great players. It's a great area. There are a lot of great players in the area. It's a great place to raise a family. And there's Under Armour.' I knew as Under Armour grows, our program would grow. It really was one of the top-five reasons I took the job.
"We get all the gear first, and kids like gear," Turgeon added. "And I do think, in grassroots basketball, Under Armour is only going to grow."
Translation: Under Armour will continue to sponsor summer basketball teams and draw elite talent to various events it holds. And though it would be presumptuous and wrong to suggest Maryland will get all, or even most of the UA-connected prospects it wants, it's not unreasonable to assume that Maryland will have an inherent advantage with certain UA-connected prospects, not unlike the advantage, say, Kentucky enjoys with Nike-connected prospects or UCLA enjoys with Adidas-connected prospects.
"It's a huge advantage," Turgeon said. "But they're not doing our jobs for us. We're busting our tails. It just is what it is. And I don't apologize for it.”
Basketball is an unpredictable sport where injuries, suspensions and even foul trouble can ultimately determine whether a team does or does not do what it's projected to do. Nothing is promised. So nobody can say for certain what's on tap for Maryland.
On paper, again, things look great.
But the court is an entirely different place.
The Terrapins won 12 games by six or fewer points last season, leading Turgeon to acknowledge that, yes, "the ball kind of bounced" their way. Thus it's possible things won't bounce so favorably this season. And the loss of Dez Wells might hurt, too.
But that's all beside the point.
Because the point is this: Regardless of how this season unfolds, Mark Turgeon has already defied some odds by turning an unstable situation into something stable inside of a calendar year. Nobody wonders if he can do the job anymore. He's shown he can. And the reality is that all the questions look silly from the perspective of a rearview mirror, and perhaps everybody should've paid closer attention to what Nima Omidvar did last year.
Omidvar was working at North Carolina State, on staff with the man (assistant Bobby Lutz) who gave him his first job. He was comfortable. The staff, led by head coach Mark Gottfried, was in no trouble after making the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons. And yet Omidvar decided to leave North Carolina State to take a job as Maryland's director of basketball operations, and he'd be lying if he pretended some friends didn't tell him he was crazy to voluntarily walk into what could've theoretically been a one-year situation if Turgeon didn't turn things around.
"Many people told me that," Omidvar said.
Still, he took the job.
He put his career in the hands of a man on "Hot Seat" lists.
I asked him why.
"I had faith and confidence in coach Turgeon because he never lost faith and confidence in himself," Omidvar answered. "Despite what everyone was saying, he knew what it was going to take, and I knew he had the [stuff] to get us there. The proof is in the pudding."
And in those 28 wins.
And in that preseason top-five ranking.
And in the idea that no matter if this year falls somewhat short of these big expectations, or if Trimble and Stone turn pro after the season, there are still enough positives in place to reasonably assume the program is positioned for long-term success. Tenuous as such assumptions can be, professionally, that's satisfying for Turgeon. And, on a personal level, it might mean even more. Because as of right now, as of today, William Harris Turgeon, if nothing else, doesn't have to worry about moving.
His dad has things under control.
"When we went through all the transition stuff last year … it really made me sad ... because I've worked my whole life, and I know I'm good at what I do," Turgeon said. "So going through that wasn't a lot of fun. … But I never doubted myself. I never doubted myself because I believe in my boss, [athletic director] Kevin Anderson, and he believed in me and that we were going to get it done. So I was never concerned, and I never lost faith. We love being here. I love being the coach at Maryland. So I just wanted to get things turned around and break through so badly, and I'm really glad we did."
Chicago Marathon again a good time for Kenyan men in podium sweep.You struggle a bit, for whatever reason, and your job security is suddenly in question. It's not always fair or even accurate. But that rarely matters. Because all that really matters is that a perception is created, and that perception, right or wrong, is that one more year short of expectations might have school officials eating your contract and moving in another direction. And frankly, it often does go exactly that way. Alabama's Anthony Grant, DePaul's Oliver Purnell and St. John's Steve Lavin are but recent examples.
And so this is where Mark Turgeon sat after three years at Maryland.
He was 59-43 overall, 23-29 in league games. He had missed the NCAA Tournament three straight years, which is something a Terrapins coach hadn't done since the early 1990s. And perhaps the most troubling development, on the surface, was that five players had opted to transfer following the 2013-14 season, leading both fans and media alike to openly wonder if Turgeon would ever turn the so-called corner.
"When you have five guys transfer from a school there's always going to be questions," acknowledged Maryland's Jake Layman, now a senior who lived through it all. "People are going to start saying things."
Which means people are also going to start hearing things.
Like family members and loved ones.
"You can't hide them from it," Turgeon said, and, boy, isn't that the truth?
The good news for Turgeon is that his wife, Ann, mostly isolates herself from the chatter, a wise move from a woman who's learned by living much of her adult life as what amounts to the First Lady of a college basketball program, whether it be at Jacksonville State, Wichita State, Texas A&M or Maryland. And his youngest two children, Leo and Ella, are, as Turgeon explained, "oblivious to it" all. But the oldest, William Harris, is a teenager who reads and listens and cares. He wasn't hidden from the chatter. He was overwhelmed by it. And so he broached the subject with his father while the two were in their car one day last year.
"He said, 'Dad, do you think you're going to get fired?'" Turgeon remembered, and that's never a question you want to hear from your son, if only because no father wants his children worrying about adult things.
Turgeon considered the question for a moment.
He then posed a question of his own.
"I said, 'Do you believe in your Dad?'' Turgeon recalled. "And he said, 'Yep.' And then I said, 'Do you like living here?' And he said, 'I love it.' And I said, 'Then don't worry about it. There's no chance I'm getting fired. No chance. We're going to get it done.'"
With a new playing surface under our feet, surrounded by 17,950 seats that'll be filled for a game against Georgetown soon enough, Mark Turgeon and I were sitting inside the Xfinity Center on this campus just 10 miles from our nation's capital on a recent afternoon, and we spent time discussing what it was like to be where he was a year ago, how great it feels to be where he is today, and how in the world he went from there to here so quickly.
Again, those "Hot Seat" lists are hard to escape.
Impossible even, in some cases.
And yet Turgeon is a living, breathing example of a man who has not only survived it but also seemingly created a stable situation. He's coming off a 28-win season in which the Terrapins finished second in the Big Ten and advanced to the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament. He subsequently enrolled two McDonald's All-Americans (Rasheed Sulaimon and Diamond Stone). And when you combine those new players with the guys who are becoming eligible/returning, the result is a roster that'll be picked to win the Big Ten and have Maryland ranked in the top five of all relevant preseason polls, perhaps as high as No. 1 in the nation.
A trip to the Final Four isn't just a dream.
It's a reasonable and obviously attainable goal.
"We are talented and deep enough at each position," said Maryland assistant Cliff Warren, who knows what a Final Four team looks like considering he was on the
Which, again, is amazing given where this program was a year ago -- after five players transferred and the criticism of Turgeon became so intense that Evan Smotrycz, a senior at the time, was compelled to jump on Twitter and defend his coach. What's interesting, though, with the benefit of hindsight, is that the same thing that caused all that criticism is, on some level, precisely what helped Turgeon turn things in such a spectacular way.
You've heard of addition by subtraction, right? That's essentially what happened at Maryland last offseason. What the Terrapins lost in numbers they gained via the creation of a culture of hard work and togetherness that was missing in Turgeon's first years, especially the third in which Maryland won only two more games than it lost.
"We just didn't click that season," said assistant Bino Ranson.
But then some questionable contributors exited, and a freshman named Melo Trimble enrolled. And when Trimble ended up being significantly better than almost anybody anticipated -- he averaged 16.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game last season -- the result was a record that was significantly better than absolutely everybody anticipated.
"I knew, this time last year, we were going to be good … but I didn't think we were a 28-win team," Turgeon said. "I thought we'd be an NCAA Tournament team -- but like an 8 seed or a 9 seed. I didn't know we'd be clearly in the NCAA Tournament in February."
They were, though.
Maryland was a No. 4 seed.
And when Trimble and Layman both passed on the NBA Draft and returned to school, and Sulaimon and Stone enrolled, and Georgia Tech transfer Robert Carter became eligible, the table was set for something special. So now folks aren't predicting Turgeon's demise as much as they're projecting that Final Four.
Which creates an entirely different dilemma, of course.
Turgeon only needed to win enough last season to show real progress and calm his fans, and a trip to the Round of 32 qualified as enough. But a second-place finish in the Big Ten and a loss in the Round of 32 this season will technically be disappointing, relative to expectations, because there's potential for much more. So, as always, there's a new bar to meet. And Turgeon need look no further than at a fellow veteran coach in his own league -- Indiana's Tom Crean -- to understand how quickly things can flip back around on men in this profession.
Crean had a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament three Marches ago. But his Hoosiers were upset in the Sweet 16 that year. And they haven't won an NCAA Tournament game since. And now it's Crean who is prevalent on all those "Hot Seat" lists.
So this isn't only about rising to the top of the polls for a minute. The goal must be to remain successful and stay there. And the good news, for Maryland fans, is that there are reasons to believe the Terps can do it -- specifically because, in the near future, Maryland has enough young talent to sustain things, and, more importantly, in the big picture, the staff has two distinct and powerful recruiting advantages that should ensure talent keeps flowing through.
There aren't many places in the country more consistently stocked with basketball talent than the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area that encompasses Maryland's 1,300-acre campus. So that's the first recruiting advantage -- the natural recruiting base.
From Kevin Durant to Michael Beasley, Ty Lawson, Jeff Green, Rudy Gay, Roy Hibbert (and on down the line), the area produces high-major prospects and future NBA standouts almost every year. It's been that way for decades. It'll likely stay that way forever. And as long as the Terps get their share of the area's prospects, the roster should remain talented enough to succeed in the Big Ten.
Then there's another reason Maryland is looking like a pillar program of the future.
And that reason is a potentially game-changing reason, actually.
Under Armour.
Yes, Maryland's affiliation with Under Armour is a huge deal, and even Turgeon doesn't deny it's already an advantage. The company was started by Kevin Plank, a Maryland graduate, and it's headquartered in Baltimore. After first partnering in 2008, Maryland and UA extended their contract last year through 2024 -- a deal worth a reported $33 million.
Under Armour has the reigning NBA MVP (Stephen Curry) under contract, which provides credibility. And the fact that Under Armour is now a real player, and viable alternative to Nike, in the world of grassroots basketball is aiding Maryland's recruiting.
"And I'll never apologize for it," Turgeon said.
In fact, Turgeon explained, UA is a big reason why he took this job in the first place.
"I was once a young assistant at Oregon, and I watched [Nike co-founder] Phil Knight get involved with that football program," Turgeon said. "I saw what that did. So when I was looking at Maryland, I said, 'OK, they've got great players. It's a great area. There are a lot of great players in the area. It's a great place to raise a family. And there's Under Armour.' I knew as Under Armour grows, our program would grow. It really was one of the top-five reasons I took the job.
"We get all the gear first, and kids like gear," Turgeon added. "And I do think, in grassroots basketball, Under Armour is only going to grow."
Translation: Under Armour will continue to sponsor summer basketball teams and draw elite talent to various events it holds. And though it would be presumptuous and wrong to suggest Maryland will get all, or even most of the UA-connected prospects it wants, it's not unreasonable to assume that Maryland will have an inherent advantage with certain UA-connected prospects, not unlike the advantage, say, Kentucky enjoys with Nike-connected prospects or UCLA enjoys with Adidas-connected prospects.
"It's a huge advantage," Turgeon said. "But they're not doing our jobs for us. We're busting our tails. It just is what it is. And I don't apologize for it.”
Basketball is an unpredictable sport where injuries, suspensions and even foul trouble can ultimately determine whether a team does or does not do what it's projected to do. Nothing is promised. So nobody can say for certain what's on tap for Maryland.
On paper, again, things look great.
But the court is an entirely different place.
The Terrapins won 12 games by six or fewer points last season, leading Turgeon to acknowledge that, yes, "the ball kind of bounced" their way. Thus it's possible things won't bounce so favorably this season. And the loss of Dez Wells might hurt, too.
But that's all beside the point.
Because the point is this: Regardless of how this season unfolds, Mark Turgeon has already defied some odds by turning an unstable situation into something stable inside of a calendar year. Nobody wonders if he can do the job anymore. He's shown he can. And the reality is that all the questions look silly from the perspective of a rearview mirror, and perhaps everybody should've paid closer attention to what Nima Omidvar did last year.
Omidvar was working at North Carolina State, on staff with the man (assistant Bobby Lutz) who gave him his first job. He was comfortable. The staff, led by head coach Mark Gottfried, was in no trouble after making the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons. And yet Omidvar decided to leave North Carolina State to take a job as Maryland's director of basketball operations, and he'd be lying if he pretended some friends didn't tell him he was crazy to voluntarily walk into what could've theoretically been a one-year situation if Turgeon didn't turn things around.
"Many people told me that," Omidvar said.
Still, he took the job.
He put his career in the hands of a man on "Hot Seat" lists.
I asked him why.
"I had faith and confidence in coach Turgeon because he never lost faith and confidence in himself," Omidvar answered. "Despite what everyone was saying, he knew what it was going to take, and I knew he had the [stuff] to get us there. The proof is in the pudding."
And in those 28 wins.
And in that preseason top-five ranking.
And in the idea that no matter if this year falls somewhat short of these big expectations, or if Trimble and Stone turn pro after the season, there are still enough positives in place to reasonably assume the program is positioned for long-term success. Tenuous as such assumptions can be, professionally, that's satisfying for Turgeon. And, on a personal level, it might mean even more. Because as of right now, as of today, William Harris Turgeon, if nothing else, doesn't have to worry about moving.
His dad has things under control.
"When we went through all the transition stuff last year … it really made me sad ... because I've worked my whole life, and I know I'm good at what I do," Turgeon said. "So going through that wasn't a lot of fun. … But I never doubted myself. I never doubted myself because I believe in my boss, [athletic director] Kevin Anderson, and he believed in me and that we were going to get it done. So I was never concerned, and I never lost faith. We love being here. I love being the coach at Maryland. So I just wanted to get things turned around and break through so badly, and I'm really glad we did."
By Phillip Hersh
For nearly 20 miles, with no rabbit to lure them, the 10 men in the lead pack of Sunday's Bank of America Chicago Marathon played a form of cat and mouse, unwilling to invigorate a soporific pace.
The result was grumbling from the sluggards who finished 1-2 after an intriguing race with the relatively slow winning time expected for the first Chicago Marathon in 25 years without pacesetters.
Chumba's time, 2 hours, 9 minutes, 25 seconds, was the slowest Chicago winning time since 2007 and second slowest in the last 20 years. Kitwara (2:09:50) dismissed the race as feeling like a long training run.
Race director Carey Pinkowski demurred. Pinkowski thought the denouement had accomplished the goal of making the results count more than times, which often are rendered meaningless on days when the wind blew as hard as it did for lengthy stretches Sunday. He said it is likely the race will forgo rabbits again in 2016.
"I thought it was great theater," Pinkowski said. "If they (Dickson and Chumba) didn't like it, they can go to Berlin (which is paced) next year."
"This wasn't a qualifying round for the 1,500 meters. If one of them wanted to go faster, they could have come up and pushed the pace."
The women did that, with Japan's Kayoko Fukushi driving a pack of seven briskly through much of the race, leading to winner Florence Kiplagat of Kenya (2:23:33) and runner-up Yebrgual Melese of Ethiopia (2:23:43) both earning time bonuses. Third finisher Birhane Dibaba of Ethiopia (2:24:24) felt only the wind kept the leaders from a time near 2:20.
And Deena Kastor, 42, broke the U.S. masters record by nearly a minute as she finished seventh in 2:27:47, her fastest time since 2006.
"The men were just stretched across the road, watching each other, jogging," Pinkowski said.
When they did run somewhat one behind the other, it gave Luke Puskedra of Eugene, Ore., a clear view of a contenders' picture few expected he would be a part of. Staying at the back of the lead group, the 6-foot-4 Puskedra stood seven inches taller than any of the men ahead of him.
A year after a dismaying marathon debut in New York led him to give up running for a few months, Puskedra finished fifth in 2:10:24. That makes Puskedra, 25, an NCAA cross-country medalist for Oregon, the third-fastest qualifier for the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials in February.
"I didn't come in with much confidence," he said.
The pace would prove perfect for him, even if it were substantially faster than what he had done to get a previous personal best of 2:15:27 in June at Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn.
"It was almost surreal," Puskedra said. "I never thought to myself, 'I'm going to beat these guys.'"
First the pack split into two groups of five, with Puskedra in the second group. Then it was down to three. Finally, the race devolved into a battle between Kitwara and Chumba, who had finished second and third last year. Chumba ended that by running each of six straight miles under 4 minutes, 50 seconds.
A third Kenyan, Sammy Ndungu, was third in 2:10:06. It was the second straight Kenyan podium sweep and third in the last five years.
With six miles to go, Puskedra started to pass fading runners and realized he was close enough to the leaders to start what he described as a sprint.
"I imagined myself being Usain Bolt, but I probably looked like Luke Puskedra out there," he said.
He caught a bit of lightning in a bottle anyway.
Memoriesofhistory.com
1903 - The Boston Red Sox defeated the Pittsburgh Pirate 3-0 in the first modern World Series. They won the series five games to three.
1947 - The Toronto Maple Leafs lost to a group of NHL All-Stars in the first official All-Star Game.
1951 - In Atlanta, GA, a football with a rubber covering was used for the first time. Georgia Tech beat Louisiana State 25-7.
1960 - The World Series ended on a home run for the first time. Bill Mazeroski's bottom-of-the-ninth home run allowed the Pirates to beat the Yankees.
1961 - Jacky Lee (Houston Oilers) threw for 457 yards and two touchdowns against the Boston Patriots. The game ended 31-31.
1967 - The first game of the new American Basketball Association was played. Pat Boone, the owner of the Oakland Oaks, sang the national anthem.
1970 - Dave McNally (Baltimore Orioles) became the only pitcher to date to hit a grand slam in the World Series.
1971 - The first World Series night game was telecast on NBC. Baltimore defeated Pittsburgh 4-3 in Game 4 at Three Rivers Stadium.
1971 - Bing Crosby, part owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, threw out the first ball in Game 4 of the World Series between the Pirates and the Orioles.
1985 - Phil Simms (New York Giants) passed for 513 yards against the Cincinnati Bengals. He set NFL records with 62 pass attempts and 29 first downs.
1998 - The Pittsburgh Penguins filed for federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in their history.
1998 - The NBA canceled regular season games, due to work stoppage, for first time in its 51-year history.
2002 - The Anaheim Angels defeated the Minnesota Twins to advance to their first World Series.
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