CS&T/AllsportsAmerica Friday Sports News Update and What's Your Take? 09/09/2016.

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"Sports Quote of the Day"

"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success." ~ Napoleon Hill, Author

Trending: NFC North Preview. (See the football section for Bears and NFL updates).

Trending: Blackhawks' Patrick Kane motivated to maximize potential in prime of career. (See the hockey section for Blackhawks and NHL updates).

Trending: Why freshman quarterbacks are taking over college football. (See the college football section for NCAA football news and updates).

Trending: Tiger Woods announces plans for three-event comeback in fall. What's Your Take? (See the golf section for details and tournament and PGA updates).

Trending: Cubs and White Sox road to the "World Series".   

                                                     
                                                        Cubs 2016 Record: 89-50

White Sox 2016 Record: 67-72

(See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).  

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Week 1 Preview: Bears at Texans.

The Associated Press

Brock Osweiler cannot predict exactly how his first game with the Houston Texans will transpire.

But Osweiler knows one thing. After spending the past four seasons in the same quarterback room as future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, he will be 100 percent prepared.

"I can promise you, from Monday to Sunday, every single hour is accounted for," said Osweiler, who left the Denver Broncos as a free agent in March to sign a four-year, $72 million deal with the Texans. "I know you can say that about a lot of guys in that locker room and definitely this coaching staff as well. So I'm not the only one doing that, but that was one thing I was able to see and learn from Peyton from my time with him. There was never a stone that was left unturned."

Houston hopes its new faces on offense and familiar faces on a dominant defense can lead the franchise to its first Super Bowl appearance. The Texans will open the season as a home favorite against the Chicago Bears, who are looking to improve in their second season under coach John Fox.

If any opposing coach knows what to expect from Osweiler, it is Fox. He coached the 6-foot-8, 235-pound quarterback for two seasons with the Broncos before joining the Bears before the 2015 season.

"Brock is highly intelligent," Fox said. "He spent a couple good years under a pretty good guy in Peyton Manning. He's wired right from a mental standpoint. He's big, he's tall. He is athletic for a tall man. A lot was made of his height, and he hangs in the pocket pretty well."

The Bears went 6-10 in their first season with Fox, who led two-year turnarounds during his previous coaching stints in Carolina and Denver each ending in Super Bowl experiences in Fox's second season. Quarterback Jay Cutler returns for his ninth season in Chicago, where wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and Kevin White offer his top targets downfield.

White will make his NFL debut on Sunday after missing all of his rookie season because of a stress fracture in his lower left shin. The 6-foot-3, 216-pound receiver was the Bears' first-round selection (No. 7 overall) out of West Virginia in the 2015 draft.

Bears running back Jeremy Langford also expects to take on a more prominent role in the offense. Langford is first in line to replace two-time Pro Bowl running back Matt Forte, who signed with the New York Jets during the offseason after the Bears elected not to bring him back.

Houston's hard-nosed defense presents a tough test for Langford, White and the rest of the Bears. The Texans set a franchise record in 2015 with 45 sacks, including a 17 1/2 sacks from J.J. Watt and 12 sacks from Whitney Mercilus. A relentless pass rush was part of the reason Houston finished 9-7 and won the AFC South division title despite a revolving door of quarterbacks led by Brian Hoyer.

Watt returned to practice this week after missing the preseason as he recovered from back surgery to repair a herniated disc. Texans coach Bill O'Brien did not comment on what kind of workload the four-time Pro Bowl defender would be given against the Bears.

"I would say that he will play," O'Brien said. "Beyond that, I'm not going to answer too much more about that. But I'll say that he'll play in the game."

A revitalized Houston offense could help to Watt and his defensive teammates stay off the field.

In addition to adding Osweiler, the Texans bolstered their backfield during the offseason by signing free agent running back Lamar Miller from the Miami Dolphins. Miller ranks fifth in the NFL over the past two seasons with 2,643 yards from scrimmage. Meanwhile, a dynamic receiving corps featuring DeAndre Hopkins and a pair of rookies, Will Fuller and Braxton Miller, will test Chicago's secondary.

The Bears' defense is strong up front with Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman and rookie Jonathan Bullard helping to anchor a 3-4 scheme. Lamarr Houston and Willie Young will try to pressure Osweiler from their spots at outside linebacker. However, the back end of Chicago's defense is fraught with inexperience and inconsistency.

Rookie pass rusher Leonard Floyd also will make his NFL debut for the Bears.
Shoulder and hamstring injuries during the preseason limited Floyd, who was Chicago's top pick (No. 9 overall) in this year's draft.

"Overall, his camp was kind of choppy," Bears defensive coordinator Vig Fangio said. "... He's up against men now. And he's found that out quickly. Some ways, it's not a bad way to break in."

Texans present first test of Jay Cutler's relationship with yet another offensive coordinator.

By John Mullin

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Just a couple of days before the start of the season, the storylines surrounding the 2016 Bears by now have pretty much all been written, re-written actually, and more than a few times. Young players needing to come through, this or that group needing to mesh, the quality of the secondary, offensive line or (insert position group here).

But one issue stands above all the others, a franchise-grade storyline that has been the same, with shadings here and there, since Jay Cutler came via trade from Denver in 2009. Because if this story has a bad ending, all the others fade to soft-focus by comparison.

Cutler, again voted by teammates as one of the team co-captains, took a monumental developmental step in 2015, responding to a coaching imperative that turnovers needed to disappear or, sooner rather than later, so would Cutler. The quarterback then put up his best overall statistical season, a 92.3 passer rating built around an interception rate of 2.3 percent, which is down near where the good quarterbacks live. Coaches abbreviated Cutler’s decision-making and he played his most mistake-free football since 2010-11, when Mike Martz did the same reining-in to him.

But since Cutler finished his year throwing zero interceptions in four of his final eight games, things have changed, and not in ways calculated to expand a quarterback’s comfort zone. The offseason saw the exits of his security-blanket running back (Matt Forte), go-to 6-foot-6 tight end (Martellus Bennett) and the coach who oversaw the maturity of his offense last year (Adam Gase).

Instead, Cutler worked this offseason and preseason with a new starting tailback (Jeremy Langford), wide receiver (Kevin White) and coordinator (Dowell Loggains). The offense even with Cutler and the No. 1 unit approached putrid for extended stretches of the preseason, and even if it was preseason, there were causes for concern.

Not the least of which might be Cutler himself.

“The book on him was, ‘don’t let him get rolling, get going, don’t make any mistakes,’” said linebacker Jerrell Freeman, formerly a Cutler opponent while with the Indianapolis Colts. “I didn’t know him personally when I was in Indy, but his decision-making looked fine to me when we played him [in the 2015 preseason].”

Cutler too often in seasons past seldom masked his feelings of frustration when matters went poorly, whether because of protections, routes run or even play selection. This preseason he was visibly frustrated when White ran a wrong route that cost a potential touchdown, and protection breakdowns got him sacked, five times in 36 preseason drop-backs.

Perhaps the most positive indicator of Cutler staying the pick-free course of ’15 was that despite pressures and receiver concerns, Cutler threw no interceptions in his 31 attempts.

But the relationship between Cutler and Loggains remains the single most important player-coach connection. As that goes, so goes a major portion of the franchise’s fortunes, short and long term. Consequently, Loggains acknowledged that a lot of his job is handling Cutler’s mindset, not just the latter’s quarterbacking.

“The thing about quarterback play, the key to good quarterback play, is to get the other 10 guys to do their jobs,” Loggains said. “That’s where, as a quarterback, you can get frustrated because things are out of your hands that you want go well that don’t go well. We had the one incident in Kansas City and you can get frustrated that way, but it’s still the next-play mentality.

“The advantage I have is working with Jay last year and getting to know his personality a little bit, how to better understand him, handle him and help him.”

Whether Cutler is a Bear beyond this season, the last in which the Bears have guaranteed money owed to him, with max money of $15 million in 2017 and $16 million in 2018, remains to play out. But the coaching staff that wasn’t sold on Cutler when it arrived, finished last year with some critical respect earned.

“He might have been, I don't know, the most pleasant surprise of our team a year ago,” coach John Fox said during this year’s owners meetings. “I go back to ... You know I like smart, tough guys. He's extremely smart, he learned the offense very quickly, was not afraid to spend the extra time to do it.

“I think he's a tough competitor and those are things that I look for and I saw the first year so I was impressed by that. Maybe it notched up from all the stuff I heard to all the stuff I saw, and I put more stock in what I see myself.”

Keeping that respect and confidence is never assured. Robbie Gould fell from grace based on performance. Failures in the clutch could take Gould on a similar course.

And while a task of a quarterback is to get the other 10 players to do their jobs, the expectations of the quarterback include carrying the team when it needs it, not throwing interceptions at crucial points.

“He still has those expectations for us,” Loggains said. “He’s the leader of our offense. He’s the leader of our team. He was voted the captain by his teammates for a reason, and we fully expect him to be the leader of the offense.”

NFC North Preview.

By Windford

Now that the last of the last-minute personnel changes have seemingly been made in advance of the regular season, let's break down the NFC North and take a look at how the Vikings' division rivals stack up this year.

As the Vikings start their defense of the NFC North crown this year, let's look at what's been going on with their rivals since last year, and what their prospects look like for the upcoming season.  Click here for my take on the Vikings roster. 

The NFC North plays the AFC South and NFC East divisions this year, which I think makes the schedule easier overall than last year against the AFC & NFC West divisions, and potentially higher win totals for NFC North teams- and less room for losses for the Vikings to defend the NFC North title this year. 

GREEN BAY PACKERS

Similar to last year, the Packers begin the season as prohibitive favorites to win the NFC North and Super Bowl.   Most predict that Aaron Rodgers will rebound from a down year and win the MVP with the return of Jordy Nelson and Mike McCarthy once again calling plays; a slimmer Eddie Lacy will be dominant in the running game; and the Packer defense will improve now that Clay Matthews is back outside.

I beg to differ.

Don't get me wrong, the Packers will field a solid team this year, and challenge the Vikings for the NFC North crown.   But a lot remains to be seen before assuming they will return to 2014 form, as has been done by many in making them odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl this year at 6-1.  Let's take a closer look.

Offensively, the Packers were ranked 25th in passing yards last year, I believe their worst ranking since the Lindy Infante era.   That wasn't just because Jordy Nelson was out.  It was also because the Packer receivers, from the Denver game on, were proven unable to beat press-man coverage.  That created timing problems- which is key for the Packers passing game- and difficulty gaining separation.   The other issue was that Aaron Rodgers wasn't as sharp as he has been in previous years.   He didn't make some of the throws he's made in years past.   So, while I'm sure Aaron Rodgers will have a productive career well into his late 30s, ala Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, I don't see him threading the needle with a frozen rope 20-30 yards downfield as he once did.   Rodgers turns 33 in a few months, and over 4,000 attempts and 300 sacks begins to take its toll.  I'm not expecting a sharp decline in Rodgers' performance and production, but a gradual one where the misfires of last year persist, and a passer rating over 100 becomes a little more elusive.

Another aspect of the Packers passing game this year vs. last year is the Packers offensive line.  Just recently the Packers let go their All-Pro LG Josh Sitton (who signed with the Bears).   The speculation for Sitton's sudden release is that he had become something of a locker room cancer to the point where the Packers felt the need to terminate the last year of his contract.   Given that Sitton's replacement- Lane Taylor- did not win the position battle in camp and had a PFF pass pro rating of 45 last year (vs. Sitton's 91), the timing of his release the week before the season starts, and that the Packers had the salary cap room for Sitton, all give credence to that speculation.

In any case, it's worth pointing out that the Packers enjoyed basically 80+ PFF ratings across the board for their offensive line in pass protection last year.   Losing Sitton and starting Lane will likely put a dent in that otherwise very stout pass protection- particularly the interior line- that Aaron Rodgers has enjoyed for some time.   The Packers starting center- Corey Linsley- is also on the PUP list, and likely out for 6 weeks or so.  His replacement- JC Tretter- fared well last year in 3 starts at center, and doesn't seem to be the downgrade that Taylor appears to be at LG.   In terms of offensive line depth, the Packers look weaker than the Vikings, with Don Barclay listed as the backup for all interior linemen, and two rookies backing up at LT and RT.

The last link in the Packers' passing game is their receiver corps.  Jordy Nelson is back, and presumably that is an upgrade at one receiver position.  But how much remains to be seen.   The only study of post-ACL recoveries for NFL WRs is an old one- released in 2006 based on ACL injuries in the 1998-2002 timeframe.  It showed on average the returning receiver lost 33% of his pre-ACL ability.   Of course ACL surgery has advanced since then, and outcomes have improved- Adrian Peterson is a case in point, as is Wes Welker.  But you also have to consider that Jordy Nelson is 31 years old.   He had over 1,500 yards receiving in 2014 on 98 receptions.   Hard to imagine him getting anywhere near that this year, or being the deep threat he once was.   And that is key for the Packers passing game.

Beyond Nelson, the question for the rest of the receiver corps remains their ability to beat press-man.  Undoubtedly they will be put to the test early and often until they show they can beat it consistently.   Presumably the Packers will try some stacked formations, motion, and other ways to mitigate press-man, but just how successful that will be remains to be seen.

Lastly, the Packers picked up TE Jared Cook this off-season, and whom the Packers are high on, but he is also listed as backup to the uninspiring Richard Rogers.  Once again, it remains to be seen if Cook can add any meaningful production to the Packers passing game.

In terms of the Packers running game, Eddie Lacy is presumed to be back and better than last year.  But looking at his stats, particularly his 4.1 yards per carry in 2015 - the same as his rookie year and just under his 4.3 yard average, there seems little reason to expect improvement here after 3 seasons.   It's also worth noting that Lacy's TD production has declined each year since his rookie season, while his fumbles have increased.

Defensively, the Packers had more personnel changes over the off-season.  In particular, they lost CB Casey Hayward, and now have Demarious Randall starting opposite Sam Shields, and Quinton Rollins playing nickel CB.  That represents a bit of a downgrade for the Packers, as the current 2nd year CBs had (not unexpectedly) up and down rookie years. Safety continues to be a strength, however, with both Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix and Morgan Burnett returning.

The Packers front seven, which has generally been the weak spot of their defense for many years, also has changes with the addition of 2 rookies and a 2nd year LB this year.  NT BJ Raji decided to "take a year off" ending the perennial hope among Packers faithful that he will return to form after several years.  Instead, he will be replaced by Letroy Guion at NT, and rookie Dean Lowry, a 4th round pick, will start at DE.  Mike Daniels, who has emerged as one of the better DTs in a 3-4 scheme, anchors the Packer defensive line.

The linebacker corps also features two young guys starting on the inside this year- 2nd year man Jake Ryan (who had 5 starts last year), and rookie 4th round pick Blake Martinez out of Stanford.   Julius Peppers (now 36 years old) splitting reps with the mediocre Nick Perry on one edge, while 30 year-old (and declining) Clay Matthews will return to the left edge.

Given the learning curve even more talented and successful rookies face their first season, combined with aging edge-rushers and a little more uncertainty at CB, and it's difficult to see the Packers defense improving this year over last.   In particular, the Packers had the 8th ranked defense in terms of 3rd down conversion % allowed last year.  But given the personnel this year, I would not be surprised to see that ranking drop to league average. Time will tell. 

Overall, I expect the Packers offense to be somewhat improved from last year, but the Packers defense to worsen.  But the gains on offense will be limited by a decline in offensive line strength, and less production from Jordy Nelson than expected, which will limit the production of Aaron Rodgers.   I do expect the Packers to win at least 10 games, but with an early (week 4) bye week and what looks to be a tougher back-loaded schedule (Texans, Seahawks and Vikings, division-rival Lions & Bears on the road), most of those wins had better come early.

Last year I predicted that the NFC North title would come down to the last game at Green Bay against the Vikings, and it did.  I predicted Green Bay would win, but happily I was wrong.   This year I like the Vikings to repeat as NFC North champs, but it may come down to injuries- particularly along the offensive lines where both teams are weak.  Overall I think the Vikings match-up a little better against the Packers last year (the addition of Boone vs. Daniels, downgrade of Taylor vs. Floyd, better Viking receivers vs. a bit weaker Packers CBs).

I also think having beaten the Packers last year at Lambeau and winning the NFC North helped erase something of a confidence deficit vs. the Packers that had been there for many years.   On the Packers side, while internally there has always been a strict silence, I suspect the Packers team chemistry/attitude both last year and this is not as strong.  The Sitton release is another sign of that.

In any case, a Vikings win week 2 would go a long way toward defending their division title, as I suspect the Vikings will improve as the season progresses with Bradford, barring injury.

CHICAGO BEARS

The Bears are improving, and I expect them to be better this year compared to last.

Offensively, the Bears suddenly have what looks to be a improving interior line.  The addition of Josh Sitton, helps off-set the loss of Chicago's best lineman last year- Matt Slauson. Along with Kyle Long,  Sitton should help shore up the interior line at least, although the Bears have Ted Larsen (40 overall PFF rating last year)  listed as the starting center- rather than their 2nd round pick Cody Whitehair.  Tackles still look problematic however, as both Bobbie Massie and Charles Leno both earned sub-50 PFF ratings in pass pro last year.   Overall, the Bears line is improved, but still with much to be desired.

Of course the Bears are cursed with Jay Cutler- better than prospective replacements, contractually a white elephant, not good enough to get the Bears anywhere worthwhile, and yet if only he could improve.... this.... or that... he could be good.... but alas.... he continues to disappoint. Still, Alshon Jeffrey has flourished of late, and the re-addition of now 2nd year rookie Kevin White could give Cutler another target to fire to downfield.

I am cautious on just how Kevin White will pan-out for the Bears.  As you may recall, White was the Bears top draft pick in 2015 ((#7 overall) and lost for the year prior to the pre-season opener.   White had the measurables that coaches and fans drool about, and after two years in community college, had two very productive years in West Virginia's pass-happy Air-Raid offense.  He was seen as a raw prospect, similar in some respects to Cordarrelle Patterson, but better as route runner, high-pointing the ball and against press coverage.  But then he was lost for the entirety of his rookie year.

For a more raw rookie prospect, suffering a season-ending injury as rookie training camp starts, is bad timing to say the least.  It can effect development much more than the lost practices and playing time.  White's last game prior to his unremarkable preseason was at the end of 2014.  That's a long time in the wilderness for a rookie trying to make the transition to the NFL.  We'll see how that effects his season.

On the losses side, the Bears suffered a heavy one in Matt Forte.  He was perhaps the best all-purpose back in the league, and always figured prominently in the Bears' offensive production.  The Bears have now turned to a trio of unproven backs in  2nd year men Jeremy Langford and Ka-Deem Carey, and rookie 5th round pick Jordan Howard.  Should they prove less-than-impressive, pressure will increase on Jay Cutler and the Bears' passing game.

Defensively, the Bears were able to acquire Brandon Boykin from the Eagles during the off-season on a one-year deal to shore up their secondary, only to have him suffer a season-ending pec injury last month.   That leaves the less-than-stellar Tracy Porter opposite Kyle Fuller at CB, with 2nd year UDFA Bryce Callahan as nickelback.  Rookie 4th round pick Deiondre Hall could also see playing time.  This is really a weak group for the Bears, and safety isn't all that much better.

Linebacker, as one would expect traditionally from a Chicago Bears team, is once again a strength defensively.  Unfortunately the Bears lost OLB Pernell McPhee to the PUP list for at least the first 6 weeks of the season in all likelihood.  Nevertheless, Lamarr Houston, Jerrell Freeman, Danny Trevathan, and Willie Young still represent a solid core for the Bears defense.

Eddie Goldman and Akiem Hicks anchor the front three, and are solid, but not exceptional.

Defensively overall, the Bears look to be weak in overall pass defense, and in a passing league, that's not a recipe for success.

Overall, the Bears off-season has been one of both gains and losses.  The net result is that the Bears are more dependent on unproven players to replace losses.  That creates a wider range of possibilities this year for the Bears, but overall the expectation is improvement. But with an as yet unproven running game, and WR in Kevin White, and what looks like a weaker secondary, it is also possible the Bears don't fare much better this year, especially if they find themselves trailing in games.

With a somewhat easier schedule than last year, the Bears could look to finish around the .500 mark.  But they are still missing proven elements on both sides of the ball at this point to do much better than that.

DETROIT LIONS

Question marks abound with the Lions this year.

Offensively, how will Matthew Stafford perform now that Megatron is gone, and can Marvin Jones, Golden Tate, and a 35 year-old Anquon Boldin combine for enough passing offense, to off-set what looks like a weak running game.   The Lions' new trio all fit the role of solid #2 receivers, but will any of them emerge as a go-to receiver for Stafford?  Or will they all struggle to some degree to gain separation and develop a solid rapport and timing with Stafford?

5'9" 203 lbs. Ameer Abdullah, who leads the Lions' RB contingent after the departure of Joique Bell, is unproven as a featured back, and may split duties some with the better receiving back Theo Riddick.  It could be a nice 1-2 combo, but could also prove to be a weak rushing combo behind a weak run blocking line.

The Lions' offensive line looks better in pass protection than run blocking, but there remain question marks at LT, where rookie Taylor Decker is starting, and center where a mediocre at best Travis Swanson returns.  Overall the returning offensive linemen look stronger in pass pro than run blocking, where everyone but Reiff struggled last year, except for Swanson, who struggled with both.   Still, the Lions' guard tandem of Larry Warford and Laken Tomlinson, and Riley Reiff at RT form a decent core to build on.  Taylor Decker could add to that, but was rated one of the worst picks of the draft by PFF (along with Willie Beavers BTW), as a LT that struggled with pass pro in college.   The history of rookie first-round tackles performing above average, let alone well, their rookie year over the past several drafts is not encouraging.

Defensively, the Lions have top players at each level of defense, in Ziggy Ansah, DeAndre Levy, and Darius Slay, but not much of a supporting cast.  Opposite Slay looks to be Nevin Lawson, who was ranked near the bottom of all CBs in the league last year.  Quandre Diggs looks to be the nickel CB, and was about average last year.

Up front, Ngata has declined since joining the Lions as Suh's replacement, while Devin Taylor and Tyrunn Walker were unimpressive last year.

Lastly, with the return of Levy to the LB corps, alongside Tahir Whitehead, the Lions should have a solid core.  But injuries to Josh Bynes forces the Lions to start Kyle Van Noy outside, who is unproven having seen limited action.

Overall, the Lions have too many weak links- that more complete teams can exploit- for them to make a run at the post-season.  I also get the sense that rather than rebuilding under strong coaching and front office, the Lions are struggling to cobble together a team, as their drafts have been mixed, while veteran losses have overshadowed free-agency acquisitions.

That leads to the overall impression of a team treading water, rather than positioning itself for a break-out year- which may be a couple years away if Jim Caldwell and the Detroit front office can gain some traction- which is still an if at this point.   The Lions were 7-9 last year, and it's difficult to see much improvement beyond that in a division where they suffer a talent, coaching, and front office deficit with all their division rivals.

NFL Picks 2016, Week 1: Experts all agree, Texans to defeat Bears.

By Bryan Perez

(Photo/BEARSWIRE.COM)

It’s one thing to be an underdog.  It’s another to be given no chance to win a game. That's exactly the case for the Chicago Bears as they travel to NRG Stadium to face the Houston Texans in Week 1 of the 2016 NFL season.

ESPN’s panel of experts submitted their picks for Week 1’s winners and losers, and unfortunately for the Bears, not a single prediction was made in their favor.

Of the nine staffers polled, all seem to agree that the Texans will win the game.  In fact, 97-percent of all Week 1 predictions so far have Houston coming out on top.

While this may seem like classic bulletin-board material for the Bears’ coaching staff, there are legitimate reasons why Chicago is considered so unlikely to win the game.  First, their 2016 preseason was about as bad as any team in the NFL. They failed to establish any confidence in their offensive line, something that is especially worrisome when facing a defensive front like the Texans’ that features stud talents J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney and Whitney Mercilus.  Second, Chicago is coming off of an injury-riddled training camp that prevented its starters from building the kind of rhythm and cohesion that is generally formed during the summer months.

Only the Seahawks are picked as consistently as the Texans in Week 1.  Seattle, like Houston, has received 97% of the votes tallied so far in their contest against the Miami Dolphins, who are led by former Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase.

How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks' Patrick Kane motivated to maximize potential in prime of career.

By Charlie Roumeliotis

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Patrick Kane is at the center of his prime. 

Already with three Stanley Cups on his resume, the Blackhawks winger turned in his best professional season in 2015-16 by leading the National Hockey League in points (106) to become the first American-born player to win the scoring title and Hart Trophy for league MVP.

And he's motivated to prove that he can produce at that same level again.

"I sometimes catch myself over the summer saying, 'OK, you did it once but can you do it again? Can you prove yourself again?'" said Kane, who was tabbed as a Team USA alternate captain for the upcoming World Cup of Hockey. "It gave me a little bit of motivation over the summer; a lot of motivation. I want to get back to the level, stay there and do it as long as I can. It's fun when you're producing like that on the ice. You feel awesome."

But Kane knows he can't play hockey forever, and wants to capitalize on his prime years.

"I'm 27 years old. I'm going to be 28 later this year; you want to maximize your potential," he said. "You want to get all you can out of your prime while you're still young, maybe advance that prime into your later years too. That's where my thinking is now."

CSN to air 51 Blackhawks games in 2016-17.  

By Charlie Roumeliotis 

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

The Blackhawks announced Wednesday their local television schedule for the 2016-17 season, and CSN will pick up 51 regular-season games and three preseason games. 

CSN will also provide in-depth pre- and post-game coverage with Blackhawks Pregame Live and Blackhawks Postgame Live immediately following each contest.

The Blackhawks visit the Nashville Predators on Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. to kick off CSN's coverage for the season.

Here are several other CSN matchups to circle on your calendar:

• Sunday, Nov. 6 vs. Dallas: The Blackhawks will welcome the reigning Central Division champion Stars to the United Center for the first time this season. Thirty-one goals were scored in five matchups between the two last season.
   
• Monday, Nov. 21 at Edmonton: The Blackhawks will get their first look at 2015 No. 1 overall pick Connor McDavid, who was injured during all three contests against Chicago last year, and will also do so in the Oilers' new stadium, Rogers Place.
   
• Saturday, Dec. 17 at St. Louis: In a rematch of their first-round matchup in the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Blues prevailed in seven games, the two divisional foes will rekindle their rivalry in St. Louis.
   
• Friday, Jan. 6 vs. Carolina: Bryan Bickell and Teuvo Teravainen will return to Chicago for the first time since being traded to the Hurricanes over the offseason due to salary cap restraints.
   
• Tuesday, Jan. 24 vs. Tampa Bay: The Lightning will return to the United Center, where they saw the Blackhawks hoist their third Stanley Cup since 2010 after falling in six games.
   
• Tuesday, March 14 at Montreal: The Blackhawks will visit Andrew Shaw, who was traded to the Canadiens in the offseason, in his new home for a late-season showdown against Montreal.

In addition to the 51 games carried by CSN, NBC and NBCSN will nationally televise 11 Blackhawks games this season, all of which will be available via live stream:

• Wednesday, Oct. 12 vs. St. Louis at 7 p.m. on NBCSN
   
• Wednesday, Nov. 9 at St. Louis at 7 p.m. on NBCSN
   
• Monday, Jan. 2 at St. Louis at 12 p.m. on NBC (2017 Winter Classic at Busch Stadium)
   
• Sunday, Jan. 15 vs. Minnesota at 6 p.m. on NBCSN
   
• Wednesday, Feb. 8 at Minnesota at 7 p.m. on NBCSN
   
• Sunday, Feb. 19 at Buffalo at 5 p.m. on NBCSN
   
• Sunday, Feb. 26 vs. St. Louis at 6:30 p.m. on NBCSN
   
• Wednesday, March 1 vs. Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. on NBCSN
   
• Sunday, March 12 vs. Minnesota at 6 p.m. on NBCSN
   
• Wednesday, March 29 at Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. on NBCSN
   
• Sunday, April 2 vs. Boston at 11:30 a.m. on NBC

CUBS: Locked in MVP race, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant won’t let Cubs lose their competitive edge.

By Patrick Mooney

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Pregame scene from Miller Park’s visiting clubhouse: Kris Bryant hunched over a laptop in the middle of the room while all the TV screens tuned into MLB Network showed the “Bryzzo Souvenir Company” commercial.

These are your 2016 Chicago Cubs, a supremely talented group of players who don’t take themselves too seriously, balance their goofy sides with intense competitive streaks and welcome all the pressure and great expectations.

“Bryzzo” would be manager Joe Maddon’s vote for MVP, but you can already see Anthony Rizzo sprinting toward the finish line in a race where Bryant appears to be the clear frontrunner.

The night after hitting two home runs off Wily Peralta – scrapping Maddon’s plan to rest the All-Star first baseman on Wednesday – Rizzo launched his 29th homer, a game-tying, two-out, second-deck shot off Matt Garza in the sixth inning. And Rizzo almost did it again in the ninth inning of a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, watching Keon Broxton making a leaping catch at the center-field wall.

“I don’t think he cares at all one bit about it,” Bryant said of the MVP talk. “We just feed off each other. Everybody here feeds off each other’s success.

“That’s (what) we do as a team. If you see someone driving someone in, you’re like: ‘All right, I’m going to do better than you.’ And then the next person is like: ‘OK, I got you.’”
This is a clubhouse where Jon Lester or Kyle Hendricks could dethrone Jake Arrieta as the National League’s reigning Cy Young Award winner, making “How the Cubs should align their playoff rotation” a legitimate internal discussion. 

If Rizzo is a Gold Glove-caliber defender, then Bryant is a game-changing force with his ability to play third base at a high level, shift all over the infield and handle any spot in the outfield.

Bryant still leads Rizzo in batting average (.302 to .295), homers (36 to 29), OPS (.970 to .947) and runs scored (112 to 85). Rizzo (97) has more RBI than Bryant (91) and handles more of the face-of-the-franchise duties and leadership responsibilities within the clubhouse.

The bottom line is the Cubs have two of the game’s best hitters under club control through the 2021 season – and that internal drive should remain part of this team’s DNA.

“Look at our pitchers – they’re just outdueling each other every day,” Bryant said. “Kyle goes out there and has an awesome game, and then Jake’s like: ‘OK, it’s my turn.’

“There’s a certain feel. You never want to be the type that’s all about your individual self. But I think you can just kind of see that people want to do well for the team. And in order to do that, they just outshine each other.

“I love that. I love seeing the competition. It just makes this whole environment so much fun to be in.”

That’s why Maddon isn’t worried about the Cubs coasting or losing their edge, even with a 15.5-game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals and a magic number to clinch the division that’s now nine.

“It’s different,” said Rizzo, who played on three fifth-place Cubs teams before last year’s surprising surge into the playoffs as a wild card. “But at the end of the day, all of these numbers go on the back of your baseball card, so you got to go out and produce. We want to win games as a unit, but you got to go out there and play baseball and not just cash it in.”

Clinch coming into focus for Cubs with magic number down to nine.

By Patrick Mooney

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Cubs win. Cubs lose. Who cares? Check back in October, because this season has been World Series or bust since this team reported to spring training and embraced the target.

The Cubs earned the chance to decompress in September, killing the drama in what was supposed to be a furious three-team race between the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates before the NFL season even starts.

What you need to know: The magic number to clinch the National League Central is now down to nine, even after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park, thanks to the Pirates beating the Cardinals 4-3 at PNC Park.

And the Cubs didn’t suffer any catastrophic injuries that could damage all their playoff hopes, the way the Washington Nationals now have to be bracing for worst-case scenarios with Stephen Strasburg.

Six years after undergoing Tommy John surgery – and four months after signing a seven-year, $175 million extension – Strasburg couldn’t finish the third inning during Wednesday’s start against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park. This on the day the Nationals activated their homegrown ace after what was labeled a precautionary move to the disabled list with “right elbow soreness.”

In many ways, the Cubs mirrored the Nationals during a step-by-step process that built the league’s two best teams. But this time manager Joe Maddon could laugh about Justin Grimm facing one Brewer, exiting this game in the sixth inning with a stomach virus.

“What happened? I did not want him to soil himself on the mound,” Maddon said. “He told me: ‘I can get through it.’ I said: ‘No, you’re not. We’re trying to win this game. I’m not trying to get you through this inning.’ Or anything else through you at this particular moment. That’s it. He was ill.”

So Cubs fans and the Chicago media can go back to projecting their playoff rosters: There are no apparent arm issues that would make Grimm (0.44 ERA in his last 25 appearances) a question mark for October.

The rest of this season will have to be viewed through that prism. Mike Montgomery, the sixth starter/lefty swingman, made another good impression, facing the minimum through three innings and not allowing a hit until Jonathan Villar blasted a home run over the left-center field wall leading off the fourth.

Montgomery stretched out to 87 pitches, allowing only one run on two hits while notching six strikeouts in five innings, giving the Cubs some insurance if their rotation has to deal with an unexpected Strasburg-level crisis.

Joe Smith – the veteran right-hander trying to pitch his way off the bubble – absorbed the loss after surrendering another home run to Villar in the eighth inning.

Even All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo admitted that he did a little bit of scoreboard-watching on a night where he blasted his 29th homer and just missed his 30th when Keon Broxton made a leaping catch at the center-field wall in the ninth inning. Depending on how this weekend’s series goes against the Houston Astros, the Cubs could be in position to clinch at the final stop on this road trip: Busch Stadium.

“Yeah, I saw they lost,” Rizzo said. “But we just got to play baseball. We know if we play, it’s going to take care of itself. The sooner, the better, obviously, but we just got to keep playing.”

WHITE SOX: Robin Ventura: Staff's uncertain future is 'part of the business'

By Dan Hayes

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

With the White Sox headed for a fourth straight losing season, the future of the coaching staff and manager Robin Ventura is in limbo.

The team has 23 games left after Wednesday’s 7-4 White Sox win over the Detroit Tigers, and general manager Rick Hahn reiterated Tuesday he doesn’t plan to discuss the status of Ventura or any of his coaches until after the season. But just as he has contended all along, Ventura, who is in his fifth season as the team’s manager, understands this is the nature of his role and the same goes for his coaches. Even though nobody knows if they’ll be with the White Sox next season, Ventura doesn’t think it would affect how the staff handles itself over the final few weeks.

“That’s just part of the business that we’re in,” Ventura said. “It’s not going to change any of the professionalism or the work that anyone is doing. We’ll have to wait and see.

“There (are) a lot of occupations that are like that. I don’t think we’re unique in any way. Ours is a little more public than most of them, and that’s part of the job and you understand it and just deal with it. It doesn’t change what we’re doing the rest of the way out.”

Whether it’s the coaching staff or which direction the team is headed this offseason, Hahn has said for weeks he wouldn’t publicly discuss the subject until after the season ends. He understands coaches would love to know whether or not they’ll be employed. But he also thinks talking about the future with part of the season left isn’t good for anyone involved.

“Regardless of what profession you're in, nobody enjoys uncertainty about their own situation or security for their family going forward,” Hahn said. “At the same time, everyone here knows this is the business we've chosen and with that comes certain difficulties from time to time when a team doesn't achieve to the level we anticipated, that we all had hoped for. Again, it's not a situation any of us wanted to be in. But this is where we're at, and as a result we're going to have to make some tough decisions over the coming weeks and months.”

Hahn did offer a vote of confidence to the amateur scouting department, noting that while things “are dour,” the club is happy with its most recent draft. But if there are changes, Hahn also suggested they might not just happen in Chicago.

“The most exposure is at the big league level, that's where you see the most critique, the most analysis,” Hahn said. “Obviously, we're all structured in a way that the results in Chicago are the most important thing, so when things don't work out in Chicago you have to look at sort of behind the scenes or behind the curtain about what else may not be going well, whether it's from an advanced scouting standpoint or it's from a major league scouting standpoint. But it really does go all the way down to our operations on the amateur level and player development.”

Desire to prove critics wrong has fueled Tim Anderson's defensive improvement.

By Dan Hayes

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Those persistent questions about Tim Anderson’s defense that followed him everywhere in the minor leagues have slowed down considerably.

The loud voices attached to those inquiries have begun to tail off, too.

Three months into his rookie season, the White Sox shortstop has made a strong first impression, especially when it comes to a glove that many observers thought might eventually force a position change. Driven by a desire to be the best at his position and silence his critics, the talented first-year player has worked tirelessly to improve his defense. The results of those efforts aren’t only pleasing to the White Sox, they have even begun to sway the opinions of his detractors.

“When I saw him in the Fall League I didn’t see it,” a longtime National League scout said Wednesday. “I thought he would be a center fielder. He has made tremendous strides.

“He’s got great range and a strong arm. He’s hitting for average. He could be a perennial All-Star.”

Nobody quite knew what to expect from Anderson, 23, when the White Sox promoted him to the majors on June 10. The skillset of the 2013 first-round draft pick has never been in question.

Anderson’s speed is exceptional, his bat control is superb and his arm is strong. Those “raw tools” helped Anderson enter the season ranked anywhere from the No. 19 to No. 47 prospect in baseball, according to several publications.

But the questions continued, even as Anderson made progress at every step along the way in the minors. Anderson continues to answer them with some of his best work coming in the majors. Through Wednesday, Anderson is 10th among shortstops with 7 Defensive Runs Saved, according to Fangraphs.com. He also boasts an Ultimate Zone Rating of 4.5, which is 12th.

White Sox third-base coach Joe McEwing marvels at the speed with which Anderson has learned.

The two worked together each of the past two springs and every day since Anderson’s promotion. Much of Anderson’s progress is in how quickly he has picked up the speed of the game, ie: knowing how much time he has to get to a ball and then how long until he must get rid of it. He believes Anderson’s blend of talent along with his with his drive and motivation will help him continue to improve.

“The adjustments he’s made in such a quick period of time,” McEwing said. “You see him getting better every day. He’s got what you call “it.” He wants to be the best. He’ll never show it, but he gets frustrated when he struggles.

“He’s an extremely quiet kid. But he wants to be the best and he wants to beat you every single night. He’s got all the ingredients to be a very good player, if not great player, for a long period of time.”

Adding knowledge to those ingredients has only improved the process. Anderson has played 16 games against the Detroit Tigers this season and therefore has already learned the tendencies of their hitters. He relied upon that information to make two spectacular plays in Tuesday’s game, though the one he made against J.D. Martinez still resulted in an infield single. But twice, Anderson positioned himself correctly and was able to track down a ball far in the hole, which took a hit away from Miguel Cabrera.

“His range has expanded and you’re starting to understand hitters and you’re seeing hitters and that’s part of his development,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said.

“His recall of seeing guys over and over again and how guys are pitching and where he’s playing, he understands that a little bit better as he goes around the league.
You’re just starting to see a guy improve with the knowledge he’s getting.”

Anderson agrees that the familiarity with opposing hitters has helped. But he also freely admits that the drive to answer his critics has fueled him, too. As long as the questions exist, Anderson plans to answer them.

“I kind of know where to play them,” Anderson said. “I kind of know their swings just like J.D., that ball yesterday, he kind of goes over the head of the third baseman a lot or in that hole.

“I’ve been very comfortable out there doing work and working hard at it. Once again, the word has been that I couldn’t play shortstop.

“So it’s still working and trying to prove them wrong.”

Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... Phil Jackson on Jerry Reinsdorf.

By Sam Smith

(Photo/Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images)

Jackson and Scottie Pippen will serve as presenters for Reinsdorf's induction on Friday     

Phil Jackson understood he wasn’t everybody’s choice, or really anybody’s, in 1987 when he was hired by the Bulls as an assistant coach, and then in 1989 when managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf agreed he was the right person to succeed Doug Collins and lead the Bulls and Michael Jordan.

It was an ultimate crossroads for the franchise. Jordan was growing frustrated and angry about repeated playoff disappointments, uncertain about teammates and unaware of Jackson. But Phil said Jerry Reinsdorf showed confidence, resolve and support.

“It wasn’t the political or secure choice; it was a risk,” admitted Jackson in an interview this week about his first NBA head job. “But Jerry was about risk/reward. That was a big part of how he approached business and made a great name for himself as an owner. Players who have been in the process with him have appreciated his stance, how he handled the business aspects of this game. He allowed me to coach, allowed people who work for him to do their job. He was maybe not a (league) favorite all the time, kind of an outlier and maverick in that regard. He was one of the owners who had a big part in the development of where this league was going.”

For that and helping turn the Chicago Bulls into one of the elite franchises in pro sports, Reinsdorf Friday will be enshrined as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Jackson will be a ceremonial stage presenter for Reinsdorf along with former Bulls star Scottie Pippen.

Only members of the Hall of Fame appear on stage with the enshrine as presenters. They accompany those honored but do not speak.

The Friday enshrinement ceremony from Springfield, Mass. Symphony Hall is the highlight of the three days of events of Hall of Fame week in the home of basketball. It will be televised 6:30 p.m. (Central) on NBA-TV.

Reinsdorf joins one of the most consequential classes in Hall of Fame annals.
Featured inductees for the Class of 2016 will include Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, Yao Ming, referee Darell Garretson, WNBA player Sheryl Swoops, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, former NBA and ABA player all star Zelmo Beaty, NAIA coaching pioneer John McLendon, early 20th Century black star and baseball Hall of Famer Cumberland Posey and Reinsdorf.

It will be an impressive roster of presenters with Lenny Wilkens for Beaty, David Stern for Garretson, Larry Brown, Julius Erving and John Thompson for Iverson, Wayne Embry, Sam Jones and Isiah Thomas for McLendon, Julius Erving, Bill Russell and Alonzo Mourning for O’Neal, Earl Monroe for Posey, Nancy Lieberman for Swoops and Russell, Bill Walton and Dikembe Mutombo for Yao.

The Hall of Famers will be presented with a special sport coat at a Thursday event and press conference.

There will be a dinner Thursday night to introduce the enshrines and present Hall of Fame awards.

The recipients of the special awards this year with be David Aldridge of TNT and NBA.com for the Gowdy media award for print and Jay Bilas of ESPN for electronic. The Mannie Jackson Human Spirit awards will go to Chris Paul of the Clippers, former NBA player and now ESPN analyst Jalen Rose and U. of Memphis coach Tubby Smith.

Jackson also will be present to salute his former center, O’Neal. Jackson said in many ways O’Neal changed the game in addition to his role with four championship teams, three with Jackson and the Los Angeles Lakers.

“He went ahead and made the jump to another team,” noted Jackson of O’Neal being one of the first big stars to change teams in free agency. “Now we’re seeing it in our league with Kevin Durant, but (then) it was kind of an outlier for players to leave. Shaq was willing to take a risk and leave his original home.

“With that,” Jackson said, “Shaq brought us the kind of transfer the power from the East to the West. There was a real transfer and suddenly the West had a group of teams, Sacramento, San Antonio, Houston, Utah, L.A., that really transferred this whole direction of where the power was in the league (which in the 80s and 90s was in the Eastern Conference). He changed the direction of how a big man (acted). He’s the first guy who you really saw the outward joy this guy played basketball with. We always had these sulking centers, (Bill) Russell and Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. All of them seemed to have a chip on their shoulder, the Goliath attitude Chamberlain talked about, that no one roots for Goliath in a fight with David. Shaq was guy who played with joy and humor and enjoyed the levity he could bring to the game.

“The dunk, too,” added Jackson. “For Shaq it was a moment of joy, a gymnastic move, tearing down rims. He wasn’t the first one, but continued multiple times that (reflected) his size and speed and quickness.”

Jackson also said in his way as an owner Reinsdorf set standards and was crucial to the success of the team and its coaches, especially the way he entrusted and supported them.

“Coming in from baseball, I think he felt, ‘I’ll let the experts deal with this,’” said Jackson. “He had an idea what sports business was like and the group that was behind him had confidence in him. He had the means to do this and did some things that we regard as forward thinking. He was the first to admit, ‘I do know something about baseball, but basketball, I want to defer to the people who know this game.’ In that regard he was able to give solid reasoning and judgment that was non biased, which was fortunate for us and the team. He also made the contributions, like Dr. Jerry Buss and Bill Davidson (other owners in the Hall of Fame) who brought changes to the game.”

CSN releases Bulls broadcast schedule for 2016-17 season.

By #BULLS TALK

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Comcast SportsNet will air 48 Bulls games in the 2016-17 season, including six preseason and 42 regular season contests.

The first game will be the road opener Oct. 29 against the Indiana Pacers.

The CSN slate is also highlighted by:

-LeBron James and the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers come to the United Center (Dec. 2)

-Pau Gasol returns to Chicago (Dec. 8)

-Dwyane Wade's former team (Miami Heat) comes to Chicago (Jan. 27)

-Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors visit the UC (Feb. 8)

-Bulls play against former coach Tom Thibodeau and the Minnesota Timberwolves (Feb. 12)

-Bulls head to New York to take on Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah (April 4)
Here is the complete CSN schedule:

Golf: I got a club for that..... Busy Friday on tap after weather issues at BMW.

By Ryan Lavner

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

First-round play at the BMW Championship was suspended at 7:56 p.m. ET Thursday because of darkness.

The opening round at Crooked Stick is scheduled to resume at 8 a.m. Friday.

Play was suspended for three and a half hours Thursday after heavy rain dropped nearly an inch of rain and made the course unplayable in spots.

With more storms in the forecast for Friday, the current plan calls for players to tee off in threesomes off split tees from 10 a.m. to noon in the second round.

Roberto Castro has the early lead after a 7-under 65. Only 33 of the 69 players were able to complete their first round.  

Rory McIlroy (3 under) and Jordan Spieth (2 under) are among those who did not finish Thursday.

Tiger Woods announces plans for three-event comeback in fall.

By Ryan Ballengee

Tiger Woods intends to come back in October. (Photo/Getty Images)

Tiger Woods is ready to play golf again.

The 14-time major champion announced Wednesday that he plans to play in three events this fall: the Safeway Open in Napa, Calif. from Oct 13-16; the European Tour’s Turkish Airlines Open in Turkey from Nov. 3-6; and the Hero World Challenge, which he hosts and his foundation runs, in the Bahamas from Dec. 1-4.

“My rehabilitation is to the point where I’m comfortable making plans, but I still have work to do,” Woods said on his website. “Whether I can play depends on my continued progress and recovery. My hope is to have my game ready to go.”

Woods has been out of action since August 2015, when he finished tied for 10th place at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina. That week, Woods complained of hip pain. However, the source of that pain turned out to be the same part of his back where a microdiscectomy was performed in March 2014. In September 2015, a second microdiscectomy was performed. The next month, a follow-up procedure was performed.

The former world No. 1 has showed off his swing at different points in his recovery process, including at a junior golf event in South Carolina in April, as well his Tiger Jam event in Las Vegas. Woods also hit three balls in a guarding water hazard on a 100-yard shot during Quicken Loans National media day in May. Woods reiterated all along he was making progress but that he was waiting for his stamina to play and practice as he’d like could return to a level good enough to compete somewhat regularly on the PGA Tour.

“It was difficult missing tournaments that are important to me, but this time I was smart about my recovery and didn’t rush it,” Woods said. “It was great spending time with my children Sam and Charlie, and also working on a lot of projects including golf-course design, the upcoming 20th anniversary of my foundation and my book about the 1997 Masters. But I missed competing. I want to thank all the fans for their kindness and concern. I’ve been a pro about 20 years, and their support has never waned.”

Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica Take: Tiger has been off the circuit for about 14 months. He states that he is not rushing back and is ready to play, however, he does still have work to do. I hope that the boredom and anxiety is not causing him to come back prematurely. He should wait until 2017 and come back with a BANG!!! Three months is not going to make that much of a difference in his preparation to be ready to go. There are a lot of younger, hungrier and more aggressive players than that of his previous competition. He does have the experience factor over them and that is a plus. Tiger has been an exceptional champion and we want him to go out on top and preserve his legacy. The major factor that affects an athlete's performance is old man time and we just don't want to see that happen. We wish Tiger nothing but the best and will be pulling for him all the way. We just hope and pray that he's not rushing back.

We stated our position and would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on this article and what's your take? Please go to the comment section at the bottom of this blog and share your feelings with us.

Marion P. Jelks, Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica Editorial Director.

Mickelson wants Tiger pairing at Safeway Open.

By Golf Channel Digital

(Photo/Golf Channel)

Phil Mickelson is scheduled to compete in October’s Safeway Open and he’s hoping to have a familiar face in his early draw.

Mickelson told ESPN.com on Wednesday that he’d like to be grouped with Tiger Woods during the PGA Tour’s 2016-17 season-opening event. Woods announced earlier in the day that he “hoped” to compete in the event, his first since August 2015.

"I'm hoping we can get paired together [at the Safeway Open.] That would be really fun. I would love it,” Mickelson said. “It's great to have him back, and hopefully he's physically able to practice the way he needs.''

Woods has missed more than a year of competition because of multiple back operations. He and Mickelson will get a chance to be reacquainted at the Ryder Cup, in three weeks, where Mickelson will be a member of the U.S. team and Woods will be a vice captain.

"I think it's great; I don't know the state of his health. I haven't seen him,'' Mickelson said. "I'm looking forward to spending time with him at the Ryder Cup. I think that'll be great motivation for him. Plus, he'll have a week off.”

The Safeway Open is Oct. 13-16 at Silverado Resort and Spa in Napa, Calif.

Woods and Mickelson have been grouped together 36 times and the two share a 16-16-4 head-to-head record.

Woods led 10-5-3 through the first 18 matchups. Mickelson has since gone 11-6-1.

Odds released on Woods to make cut, win Safeway.

By Will Gray

(Photo/Golf Channel)

With his return to the PGA Tour on the horizon, the window is officially open for optimistic souls to wager on Tiger Woods.

Woods announced Wednesday that he "hopes" to return to competition at the Safeway Open next month, a start that would end a 14-month absence from the Tour as he recovered from multiple back procedures. Despite the extended break, offshore outlet Bovada has listed Woods at 50/1 to win the Safeway, which will be held Oct. 13-16 in Napa, Calif.

Bovada also offered odds on Woods to crack the top five (9/1), top 10 (4/1) and top 20 (7/4). He is listed at -175 to make the 36-hole cut, meaning bettors would have to lay $175 for every $100 they hoped to make in return. Each line only includes a "yes" option, meaning those who have less faith in the 40-year-old will have to wait a little longer for a wagering outlet.

Woods has played the Safeway once in his career, in 2011 when he finished T-30 at CordeValle Golf Club in San Martin, Calif. The tournament shifted in 2014 to Silverado Golf Club in Napa, where Emiliano Grillo defeated Kevin Na in a playoff last year.

NASCAR: NASCAR’s weekend schedule for Richmond.

By Daniel McFadin

(Photo by Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images)

The end is nigh for the Sprint Cup regular season.

The 16-driver field for the Chase for the Sprint Cup will finally be settled with Saturday night’s Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

The Sprint Cup Series also will be joined by the Xfinity Series for the Virginia 529 College Savings 250.

Here is the full weekend schedule for NASCAR, complete with TV and radio times.
All times are Eastern.

Friday, Sept. 9

7 a.m. – Xfinity garage opens

7 a.m. – 8 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage open

8 – 9: 55 a.m. – Xfinity final practice (NBCSN)

10 – 10:55 a.m. – Cup practice (NBCSN, MRN)

Noon – 1:25 p.m. – Final Cup practice (NBCSN, MRN)

3:45 p.m. – Xfinity driver-crew chief meeting

4:15 p.m. – Xfinity qualifying; multi-car/three rounds (NBCSN)

5:45 p.m. – Cup qualifying; multi-car/three rounds (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

7 p.m. – Xfinity driver introductions

7:30 p.m. – Xfinity race, 250 laps, 187.5 miles (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Saturday, Sept. 10

Noon – Cup garage opens

5:30 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

7 p.m. – Driver introductions

7:30 p.m. – Federated Auto Parts 400; 400 laps, 300 miles (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Sprint Cup Series clinch scenarios for Richmond.

By Kelly Crandall

(Photo/Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

One race, three spots.

That’s what it comes down to this weekend at Richmond International Raceway for drivers who have not yet locked themselves into the playoffs. Chris Buescher hopes to hang onto his spot by defending his 30th place position in points. Jamie McMurray is the man on the bubble, holding a 22-point advantage over Ryan Newman.

Those who have already clinched are: Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, and Tony Stewart.

Here are the clinch scenarios for the Federated Auto Parts 400:

Chris Buescher, 13th on Chase grid (1 Win, 358 Points, +11 Points Ahead of 31st) – Would clinch a top 30 spot on his own with 34 Points (seventh and no laps led, eighth with at least one lap led, ninth with most laps led).

Chase Elliott, 14th on Chase grid (0 Wins, 659 Points) – Would clinch on points with 24 points (17th and no laps led, 18th with at least one lap led, 19th with most laps led) if there is a new winner. With a win, he would clinch a Chase spot on wins.

Austin Dillon, 15th on Chase grid (0 Wins, 651 Points) – Would clinch on points with 33 points (eighth and no laps led, ninth with at least one lap led, 10th with most laps led) and a new winner. With a win, they would clinch a Chase spot on wins.

Jamie McMurray, 16th on Chase grid (0 Wins, 642 Points) – Would clinch on points with a repeat winner (or win by Elliott or Dillon or a new winner and Buescher falls out of the top 30) or 21st and no laps led, 22nd with at least one lap led, 23rd with most laps led. With a win, he would clinch a Chase spot on wins. 

Drivers like Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne, who are 17th and 18th in the Chase standings, could earn spots on points but would also need help. Their easiest way into the Chase is the same for any driver who is not locked in but sit in the top 30 in points, which is to win Saturday night.

Tony Stewart making final start at Richmond, site of first Sprint Cup win.

By Daniel McFadin

(Photo/NASCAR)

There once was a time when Tony Stewart was just Tony Stewart.

Back before “Smoke” came along.

Years before the three Sprint Cup championships, the 49 wins, the notorious Bristol helmet toss and garage area driver confrontations, Stewart was a NASCAR rookie.

Though your memories of it may be fuzzy, that time was 17 years ago.

And 17 years ago this week in 1999, Stewart earned his first Sprint Cup win at Richmond International Raceway, or “The Action Track.”

The race was the Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400, the 25th points event of the season, held on Sept. 11, 1999.

That week, the No. 1 movie at the box office was the supernatural horror film Stigmata starring Patricia Arquette, which ended a six-week reign by The Sixth Sense.

The song at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 was “Bailamos” by Enrique Iglesias.

In Richmond, Stewart entered the race fifth in points, behind Jeff Gordon and ahead of Jeff Burton, who had won the 50th Southern 500 the week before.

Up until that point, Stewart had been begging for a win, especially at a short track. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had started from the pole at Bristol two races earlier and led 225 laps before finishing fifth. He’d led 118 laps at Loudon and finished 10th and early in the season at Dover led 127 laps and finished fourth.

At the first Richmond race that season, Stewart had started 30th and finished 15th.

On Sept. 11, Stewart started on the outside pole, his fifth front-row start of the season. On the pole was Mike Skinner, who earned six poles in his Sprint Cup career.

Also in the field was Dale Earnhardt Jr., making his fourth of five Cup starts that season.

Stewart and Skinner swapped the lead twice in the first four laps before Stewart took it over for the next 25.

Stewart’s JGR teammate, Bobby Labonte, would lead for three laps until Stewart took it back on Lap 33  and led for 138 laps.

The No. 20 would lead twice more. The last stretch began on Lap 257 when Stewart assumed the lead from Jeff Gordon, then just a one-time winner at RIR.

Gordon would drop out on Lap 311 with a transmission issue. Stewart would lead the final 144 laps.

With Bob Jenkins and Benny Parsons on the call for ESPN, Stewart, at 28, claimed his first Sprint Cup win.

Stewart was the first first-time winner in the Sprint Cup since Jeremy Mayfield at Pocono Raceway in June 1998. More importantly, he was the first rookie to win since Davey Allison at Dover International Speedway in 1987.

Finishing out the top five was Labonte, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin and Kenny Irwin Jr.

After emerging from his car, Stewart embraced crew chief Greg Zipadelli and Stewart’s fiance at the time, Krista Dwyer.

“I wish I knew what to say, I mean you plan all your life for something like this,” Stewart said. “This is the first time I’ve been speechless, everybody knows I like to talk. This is for Davey Allison, this is the mark I had to shoot for all year. Donnie Allison and his family have been great to me this year. I’m out of breath, that’s a lot of stuff to talk about after winning a race.”

The native of Columbus, Indiana, would win two more times in 1999, consecutive races at Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Stewart would also win twice more at RIR, the last victory coming in 2002.

On Saturday, in the Federated Auto Parts 400 on NBCSN, Stewart will make his 35th and final start at the .750-mile track.

“I’ve always felt like Richmond was the ultimate drivers’ track,” Stewart said in a press release. “When we didn’t have all the downforce like we do now, you used to literally move around the racetrack. You didn’t get stuck in one groove. You could be fast there running two or three different ways, using three different lines. You could do what you needed to do to complement your car or not hurt it. That’s what I have always liked about it. It’s always going to be my favorite track.”

SOCCER: How the Fire found David Arshakyan from a small club in Lithuania.

By Dan Santaromita

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

It’s been an eventful past few weeks for new Chicago Fire forward David Arshakyan.

The 22-year-old Armenian signed with the Fire from FK Trakai in Lithuania just before Major League Soccer’s summer transfer window closed in early August. Upon receiving his visa and coming stateside, Arshakyan made his Fire debut off the bench Aug. 27 at D.C. United.

Just eight days after debuting for his new club, Arshakyan debuted for his country. He started in Armenia’s 1-0 loss at Denmark to kick off World Cup qualifying, which was his first senior national team cap after previously playing for the youth sides.

“First I’m happy to make a debut, but unfortunately we lost this game against Denmark,” Arshakyan said. “That’s a good experience for me.”

By leaving to play for the national team so soon after joining the Fire, Arshakyan still has not had much of a chance to settle in off the field. He’s with a new club in a new league in a country he had never been in before. That does not make for a quick transition.

“To be honest it’s not easy because it’s my first time in America so I have to get used to it,” he said. “For this weather, for these people. I think I need just more time and maybe after one, two weeks it will be easier.”

One thing he won’t have to worry about is a language barrier. Arshakyan, who was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia, is fluent and seemingly comfortable in English.

As for his knowledge of the league, Arshakyan said he had been hearing about MLS the past couple of years.

“In Russia everybody knows it’s developing very fast,” Arshakyan said. “I know that many famous players are playing here from famous teams like Drogba, Gerrard, Lampard, Pirlo. So for me this league is a big opportunity to grow as a football player, to grow up and show that I am ready to play in big football.”

Arshakyan’s background is not common for MLS players. Real Salt Lake’s Yura Movsisyan is the only other Armenian playing in MLS. On top of that Arshakyan was playing in Lithuania, which is not typically on the radar for MLS clubs.

However, Fire coach Veljko Paunovic was able to spot Arshakyan. Paunovic noticed the 6-foot-4 forward through, as he put it, “the daily work that you have to do” of checking other leagues and other players.

“I saw a couple of games that he played,” Paunovic said. “I found him very interesting in terms of his soccer qualities. Of course the profile he has, a big guy who can keep the ball, who can score goals, which is most important for a striker. The profile is something what we need.”

Paunovic said Arshakyan’s skillset and his numbers for FK Trakai, 34 goals in 52 Lithuanian A Lyga matches, made him worth pursuing.

“We started to follow him,” Paunovic said. “He played very good and (later) we contacted him and contacted the club and the agent so everything went well.”

After Arshakyan’s acquisition was made official, general manager Nelson Rodriguez gave Paunovic “100 percent of the credit” on finding Arshakyan.

“I don’t even know how to quantify the number of games and the number of countries that Pauno watches over the course of a week, less over the course of a month or the course of a year,” Rodriguez said on Aug. 4. “He started to look in other leagues that he thought players could easily adapt from and towards our league. In doing that he found David. He started to watch video, he made calls to connections of people that he has in that part of the world. We had David scouted in person in his last game where he scored a hat trick.”

It makes sense for a coach to watch other leagues in search of talent to bring into the team, but Lithuania? Lithuania has the 48th-highest UEFA coefficient out of 54 counties. The UEFA coefficient is used to allocate spots in European club competitions and is the closest thing to a league ranking system. In other words, it’s not the first place most would look.

“Honestly, we are checking everything,” Paunovic said. “It always comes from you have to look for international level players. He has been playing for the national team, under-21 before that, now with the national team with the senior team.”

Now, Fire fans will have to see what Arshakyan can do in MLS. He rejoined the Fire in training this week after his stint with Armenia.

“I have to score goals,” Arshakyan said. “I have to create chances. That’s my role.”

Top 5 Premier League storylines: Tests, new boys, the Manchester Derby.

By Nicholas Mendola

(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

The Premier League returns Saturday with a bang, opening a weekend of fixtures with the Manchester Derby at 7:30 a.m. EDT Saturday on NBCSN.

While that will be the fixture getting most of the headlines this week, there’s a lot to like about the 10-match docket.

We’ve got upstarts versus upstarts, slow starting big boys against slow starting hopefuls, and Chelsea looking to win its fourth-straight match under Antonio Conte.

Will all of those make the cut of our Top Five weekend story lines? Read on…

Who gets the first bragging rights: Pep or Jose?

Manchester United vs. Manchester City — 7:30 a.m. EDT Saturday (NBCSN)
No need to delay the inevitable banter between Manchester supporters any more, Pep Guardiola guides his first-place City against his fellow unbeaten Mancunians (the ones who wear red). City won’t have Sergio Aguero against United’s newly-restored back line, but there’s a question on the other side’s attack, too: Will Marcus Rashford get a start over Anthony Martial?

Early tests for inconsistent Reds and Foxes

Liverpool vs. Leicester City — 12:30 p.m. EDT Saturday (NBCSN)
The reigning champs get the late match spotlight in a visit to Anfield to face Jurgen Klopp‘s Reds. While Leicester scooped up its first win against Swansea two weeks ago, Liverpool has had a string of uneven performances. There’s the thrilling 4-3 win over Arsenal, the shocking bumble against Burnley, and a draw against Spurs. What will see on Saturday?

Will Arsenal’s new boys impress?

Arsenal vs. Southampton — 10 a.m. EDT Saturday (NBCSN)
Saints boss Claude Puel will coach against one his former coaches, as Arsene Wenger led the AS Monaco side for a part of Puel’s 17-year career at Stade Louis II. But it’ll be more about new faces at the Emirates, as Lucas Perez and Shkodran Mustafi may debut for the Gunners, though we’ll be deprived of a look at Saints’ record signing Sofiane Boufal. The Moroccan may need up to a month to be ready to play.

Surprise vs. Surprise at Turf Moor

Burnley vs. Hull City — 10 a.m. EDT Saturday (PL ExtraTime)
Hull City entered the season as relegation favorites, but could be a quarter of the way to 40 points with a win at Turf Moor on Saturday. The Tigers face Sean Dyche and his gritty Clarets, who boast an impressive win over Liverpool and solid attacking talents in Andre Gray and Steven Defour.

Will the real Spurs and Potters please stand up?

Stoke City vs. Tottenham Hotspur — 10 a.m. EDT Saturday (CNBC)
There’s little doubt Stoke is better than their first three matches indicate, but that means little when the club’s aim is to reach as high up the table as possible. Geoff Cameron and company will hope to the Britannia a real problem for Mauricio Pochettino‘s Spurs, themselves a bit woozy out of the gates. Harry Kane has yet to score this season, but perhaps a buoyed Christian Eriksen can set him up to break the duck.

Also this weekend in the Premier League

West Ham United vs. Watford — 10 a.m. EDT Saturday
Bournemouth vs. West Brom — 10 a.m. EDT Saturday
Middlesbrough vs. Crystal Palace — 10 a.m. EDT Saturday
Swansea City vs. Chelsea — 11 a.m. EDT Sunday
Sunderland vs. Everton — 3 p.m. EDT Monday

Landon Donovan confirms Galaxy return; Details decision-making process.

By Nicholas Mendola

(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Make-A-Wish)

Landon Donovan used a Facebook post to confirm the news that broke earlier Thursday: He’s heading back to Major League Soccer as a player.

Donovan retired after helping the LA Galaxy to the 2014 MLS Cup, and was in MLS Best XI form when he walked away from the game.

But with the Galaxy hit by injuries, Donovan began to explore some Galaxy staffer ideas that he consider returning to the team.

Here’s how it developed (Full statement embedded at bottom):

I then had a candid conversation with Bruce Arena and we began down the path of deciding whether this made sense. We both agreed that if this was going to happen, the expectations would be minimal and he would use me in situations that made sense for the team. I’ve spent a lot of time speaking with my family and close friends over the past several days, and we all agreed that this would be a wonderful opportunity and a win-win situation for everyone.

I am very happy to announce that I have decided to rejoin my hometown team the LA Galaxy for the remainder of the MLS season. While this decision may come as a shock to many, I want to explain how and why it was made.

Two weeks ago, I was working as an analyst on the LA Galaxy vs. Vancouver Whitecaps match and during that game, the Galaxy suffered injuries to three players: Jelle Van Damme, Steven Gerrard and Gyasi Zardes. Over the next few days, Nigel De Jong was transferr...ed to Galatasaray and news broke that Gyasi would be out for the rest of the season. Since my retirement, I have remained in close contact with many of the staff and players on the Galaxy. I spoke with some of them that week and they jokingly asked if I was ready to make a return to the field to help fill some of the void left by the injuries and departures. I reminded them that I haven’t played a meaningful soccer game in almost two years and I certainly couldn’t fill the holes left by those players.

Over the ensuing days, I began to think about their inquiries and it struck me that perhaps this is something I should consider. I care so deeply about the Galaxy organization, and I believe I could help in a small way to aid the team in its quest for a 6th MLS championship. Further, the opportunity to have my son Talon on the field with me after a game was a feeling that I would never be able to replicate.

I then had a candid conversation with Bruce Arena and we began down the path of deciding whether this made sense. We both agreed that if this was going to happen, the expectations would be minimal and he would use me in situations that made sense for the team. I’ve spent a lot of time speaking with my family and close friends over the past several days, and we all agreed that this would be a wonderful opportunity and a win-win situation for everyone.

I know this won’t be received well by everyone. That’s ok. I’ve always made decisions in life based on two guiding principles: my own happiness and the happiness of those I love and care about. Being on the field again, being able to help an organization that has meant so much to me and having my son in my arms after a game will undoubtedly make me and all my loved ones happy. That’s all that matters.

To my fans:

I thank you all for your unwavering support. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate each and every one of you. I’ve been fortunate to lead an incredible life, and I can’t wait to be on the field again and hear your cheers. Also, as all you parents know, having a child is truly a life-changing experience. Nothing would make me happier than standing on the field with Talon and the rest of my family celebrating the Galaxy’s 6th championship on December 10th. I will do everything in my power to make that happen, and I hope we are all there celebrating together!

NCAAFB: Why freshman quarterbacks are taking over college football

By Adam Kilgore

Jalen Hurts has been a quick study at Alabama. (Photo/Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports)

The practice of waiting for a college quarterback to develop is quickly going extinct, an antiquated custom akin to the wishbone offense and recruits who aren’t on Snapchat. Top quarterbacks show up in the fall of their freshman season, or even the spring before, already equipped with enough know-how to saunter into the starting huddle. The position that supposedly takes longest to master has been overrun by collegiate neophytes.

In 2012 and 2013, Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston won Heisman Trophies as redshirt freshmen. Last year, Josh Rosen at UCLA and Lamar Jackson at Louisville manned the position in their first year on campus. In the first weekend of this season, freshmen held the reins of heavyweight programs no less distinguished than Alabama, Texas, Florida State and Georgia, with all but the Seminoles opting for a true freshman.

Last weekend, FSU redshirt freshman Deondre Francois surpassed 400 yards in a comeback over Ole Miss. Jalen Hurts shredded Southern California with his arm and legs as Alabama romped. Jacob Eason replaced a senior and stewarded Georgia to a second-half comeback over North Carolina. Shane Buechele split time but still managed to pass for 280 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Longhorns over Notre Dame, perhaps the program’s biggest win under Charlie Strong.

This week’s freshman quarterback stars may simply be a particularly advanced crop, likely to leave an imprint on this college football season and a couple more to come, with nothing broader to discern. “I think it’s really individual,” Wisconsin Coach Paul Chryst said. “I think each one is a specific case.”

They may also serve as an indication of how quarterback play and the Football Industrial Complex have converged. At the high school level and below, quarterback has become a year-round pursuit for those kids who want to make it one. They can play in 7-on-7 leagues, hire personalized coaches and attend a series of camps and clinics. “It’s its own business,” Chryst said.

Technology has led to more efficient and more advanced study. IMG Academy, a sports training center and boarding school in Bradenton, Fla., has a sponsorship deal with STRIVR, a virtual reality system. Other high schools can buy a similar system, with fewer bells and whistles, at Wal-Mart.

Before they leave high school, quarterbacks often take their advanced training and apply it against better competition than what’s available in their immediate area. Intersectional games between top teams from Florida, Texas, Ohio, California and other hotbeds have grown common, sometimes played on national television.

“Things are changing,” said Rich Bartel, the quarterbacks coach at IMG Academy and a former NFL quarterback. “Teams are playing national schedules. People are starting to branch out. Kids are getting what I would consider a fast rush or seeing skilled coverages more and more before they get to college.”

Jim Mora Jr., who coaches Rosen at UCLA, said top freshmen now come with “recognition of defense and understanding of offensive pass concepts” and an “understanding this concept should have an advantage over this defensive call in this area of the field.” The rhythm of their footwork and timing of their throws, once a product of collegiate drill work, is present from the start.

Broadcasters and analysts have rightfully been quick to praise the poise of young passers. But when the quarterbacks have specially trained to play the position for years, it’s only natural for them to build immunity to panic, 18 years old or not. “When you add those things together, you get a more poised player at a younger age,” Mora said. “They’re able to handle the environment so much better.”

Earlier this week, Southern California Coach Clay Helton reminisced with Trojans quarterbacks coach Tee Martin about their own college recruitment a generation ago. They received their first scholarship offers in the fall of their high school senior years and still wound up, respectively, at powerhouses Auburn and Tennessee.

They laughed at the memory, because now top programs offer top quarterbacks as sophomores, if not earlier, because they start training at a young enough age to display evident collegiate ability by then. Helton received a first-hand example when he watched redshirt freshman Sam Darnold compete this summer.

“The kid was so far beyond his age maturity-wise,” Helton said. “I think there is a faster development than there was in the past.”

The hastened maturity has teamed with a paradoxical partner, and it helps explain both the proliferation of star freshmen and why their from-childhood training doesn’t translate in the NFL: As the quarterbacks grow more advanced, college offenses have grown simpler.

“There’s probably more a disparity from scheme from college to the NFL,” Bartel said. “The college system resembles more the high school system. When you see guys like Shane Buechele go in and have success early, it’s probably not too far off of his high school system.”

In some spread systems, such as the Air Raid, play calls can be distilled into one word. NFL offenses, almost all of them some version of the West Coast or Erhardt-Perkins, use complex verbiage and elaborate, long-winded play calls.

For a college quarterback in the spread, passing progressions typically involve nothing more than, “Is he open?” In the NFL, the kinds of reads a quarterback must make are varied, based off of layers of the field and the geometry of the defense. Almost every college offense now operates predominantly from the shotgun formation, giving quarterbacks a less convoluted vantage.

“The game has become a shotgun game,” said Arizona Coach Rich Rodriguez, whose teams at West Virginia helped popularize playing from the shotgun. “The young guys are learning in the shotgun, and in the shotgun they can see the field better and get rid of the ball quicker.”

For 10 weeks last spring, Bartel worked with former TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin as he prepared for the NFL draft. Boykin possessed the physical skills for the NFL and “had a high football IQ relative to what he knew,” Bartel said. But in the Air Raid at TCU, Boykin never had to make a read other than whether his first or second option was immediately open. The majority of their time together was spent teaching Boykin how to handle an NFL playbook. (Boykin went undrafted, but he signed with the Seahawks, made the roster after a strong summer and will enter the season as Russell Wilson’s primary backup.)

“What you can do is get him cognitively ready for the kind of workload, being able to say those plays and comprehend what you’re saying, making a word picture in your head,” Bartel said. “It’s getting their concepts, so you can get a vision of what a play is going to look like.”

In college, coaches have little incentive to teach complex schemes. Professional defenses can stifle the simplified offenses, but college defensive players lack the sophistication – when everyone has less experience, offensive players who have to think less gain the advantage.

Helton, whose Trojans were crushed by the Crimson Tide, credited Alabama offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin with keeping his plan simple for Hurts, often putting him in position to read just half the field, with only one or two receiving options to choose from.

Bartel estimated a dozen schools use pro-style systems. At Florida State, Francois played in one of them under Jimbo Fisher. Even he had a head start, though. He played under former Florida State and NFL quarterback Chris Weinke at IMG, before Weinke departed to coach quarterbacks for the St. Louis Rams.

Last year, Shea Patterson replaced Francois as IMG’s quarterback and became the top-ranked recruit in the country. He chose Ole Miss, where for now he backs up Chad Kelly. Bartel noted the irony that even at IMG, which employs a team of coaches with professional experience, Patterson had played in a spread system. IMG coaches try to prepare quarterbacks for NFL futures, but in order to win, it makes sense to run an explosive, simple offense. “We say we equip them for the now and prepare them for later,” Bartel said.

More and more, for college quarterbacks, the now comes faster than ever before.

No. 17 Vols look for more offensive production vs. Hokies.

By Steve McGargee

Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs (11) leaps for the end zone as he's hit by Appalachian State linebacker Kennan Gilchrist (6), defensive lineman Caleb Fuller (51) and defensive back Desmond Franklin (34) during overtime of an NCAA college football game in Knoxville, Tenn. Dobbs fumbled; the ball was recovered by Jalen Hurd for a touchdown to give Tennessee a 20-13 win. Tennessee's offense is seeking more consistency and productivity heading into Saturday's game with Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)

Tennessee believes it isn't far away from correcting the problems that stifled its offense in a season-opening overtime victory.

The Volunteers were kept out of the end zone for the first 49 + minutes of that 20-13 triumph over Appalachian State and had just one touchdown in regulation. Tennessee struggled despite returning the nucleus of an offense that had averaged 35.2 points per game last year to rank third in the Southeastern Conference.

''We just were one guy away,'' offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said. ''It wasn't the same guy all the time or whatever. On offense, when you execute, you have to be 11 for 11. We just had one guy that didn't get his technique down, and that's what slowed us up in execution.''

No. 17 Tennessee (1-0) faces potentially an even tougher challenge Saturday when it heads to Bristol Motor Speedway to face Virginia Tech (1-0). Since Bud Foster took over as Virginia Tech's sole defensive coordinator in 1996, the Hokies have the most sacks and interceptions of any Football Bowl Subdivision program.

Tennessee can't repeat last week's mistakes, particularly in first-down situations.

Vols coach Butch Jones said an effective offense should pick up at least 4 yards on first down 65-75 percent of the time. Tennessee gained that much yardage on less than one-third of its first-down plays against Appalachian State.

''We had way too many negative-yardage football plays,'' Jones said. ''You can't recover having second-and-12, second-and-19. Those were self-inflicted wounds.''

And they were committed by an experienced group.

Offensive tackle Kyler Kerbyson and wide receiver Von Pearson are the only offensive starters missing from last season's Outback Bowl victory over Northwestern, though tackle Chance Hall is currently sidelined after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery last month.

Still, the Hokies know how talented the Vols are offensively.

''Obviously their tailback (Jalen Hurd) stands out,'' Virginia Tech coach Justin Fuente said. ''He is a large, athletic, downhill runner. Boy, he's a good football player, and they've got weapons on the outside, and they seem to be pretty big and athletic up front. All of that combined with a dual-threat quarterback.

''So there is plenty to say grace over when you watch their offense.''

Tennessee's passing attack was one of its major questions heading into the season, and it remains a concern. Joshua Dobbs went 16 of 29 for 192 yards and an interception against Appalachian State, though he did have a game-tying 67-yard touchdown completion to Josh Malone.

But the running game figured to be a major strength, as Hurd, Alvin Kamara and Dobbs all returned after combining to rush for 2,657 yards and 30 touchdowns last season. Tennessee gained just 127 yards - including 110 from Hurd - on 43 carries against Appalachian State.

DeBord wants to get the ball in Kamara's hands more. Kamara had just six carries for 21 yards to go along with three catches for 20 yards last week.

''At the end of the day, there are always things you can improve on,'' Dobbs said. ''That's what we're hunting for. We're hunting for consistency and continuing to improve and make a big jump from Week One to Week Two.''

Dobbs took a hard shot to the chest in overtime last week but has said he is feeling fine. Jones said Dobbs is ''100 percent healthy.''

Many of the offense's issues stem from a line that struggled to create running room and give Dobbs adequate time to throw last week. DeBord acknowledged that his offense wasn't physical enough and that the line lacked consistency.

''Every week last year I thought we really worked at getting better every week up front,'' DeBord said. ''I thought that group did that. That's what this group has to do.''

NCAABKB: Maryland women to represent the USA at World University Games.

Associated Press

(Photo/Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

The Maryland women’s basketball team will represent the U.S. at the World University Games next summer in Taiwan.

It’s just the second time that a women’s college team will play in the games as the American entry. UNC Charlotte participated in 2007. The Big 12 Conference fielded a team in 2003.

The Kansas men’s program did it in 2015 and Purdue will represent the U.S. in 2017.

The games are a multi-sport competition open to athletes between the ages of 17 and 24 who are enrolled in college or at most one year out of school. They will take place from Aug. 19-30 making it difficult for the U.S. to field a team of players from many different schools.

The American women have won nine golds, six silvers and one bronze medal. Maryland alum Brionna Jones helped the team win gold in 2015.

Michigan State’s travel schedule in November is intense.

By Rob Dauster

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

On Thursday afternoon, a press release was sent out notifying the media that the Armed Forces Classic will be changing venues.

The location change — the event was moved from a gym in Pearl Harbor to the Stan Sheriff Center on the University of Hawai’i’s campus — isn’t much of an issue unless you’re one of the fans lucky enough to live on the islands or to be able to afford a trip to Hawai’i to watch a basketball game in paradise.

But it was a reminder that, on the opening night of college basketball season, we get a double-header featuring Kansas squaring off with Indiana in the nightcap with Michigan State taking on Arizona in the opener.

I had totally forgotten about that, which is a shame because it’s as good of a double-header as you’ll see in a season-opener. Kansas is a preseason top three team, Michigan State and Arizona will be in or around everyone’s top ten and Indiana will likely slot somewhere in the top 20.

Terrific.

But it was also a reminder of the tiring travel schedule some of these teams will play.

Kansas, four days after playing in this event, will be in New York City for the Champions Classic, where they will square off with Duke. Michigan State will make the same trip that Kansas does, taking on Kentucky in the same event, but there schedule is even more intense — less than a week after returning home from NYC they pack their bags against to head to the Bahamas over Thanksgiving, where they’ll make a run at a title in the Battle 4 Atlantis.

That’s a lot of hours on a plane.

But it also means a lot of time in some pretty incredible places.

So … hey Sparty, are you guys up for having a reporter embed all-access with the program for a month?

Serena Williams crashes out of US Open, loses No. 1 ranking.

By Jackie Bamberger

Serena Williams crashes out of US Open, loses No. 1 ranking. (Photo/Getty Images)

For the second consecutive year, Serena Williams bowed out in the semifinals of the US Open.

Two matches in less than 24 hours proved to be too much for Williams, who fell to 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova 2-6, 6-7 (5).

Coming back to the court after a tough three-set quarterfinal against Simona Halep the night before, Williams looked physically and mentally drained Thursday night. She also appeared to be struggling with a left leg injury that severely inhibited her movement.

Unlike Roberta Vinci, who bested Williams in 2015, this time Williams was outdueled by a fellow heavy hitter. Like Williams has done to so many opponents before, Pliskova overpowered her on serve and Williams struggled to react.

The 24-year-old Pliskova, who had never before made it past the third round of a major, becomes the first person to best both Williams sisters at the same Slam since Kim Clijsters did so in 2009. 

Williams was looking to break Steffi Graf’s Open era records for most Grand Slam wins and consecutive weeks at number one. Instead, Williams will stay at 22 Grand Slams and her reign atop the WTA will end at 187 consecutive weeks.

On This Date in Sports History: Today is Friday, September 09, 2016.

Memoriesofhistory.com

1898 - In Omaha, NE, Tommy Fleming of Eau Claire, WI won the first logrolling championship. 

1950 - Sal Maglie of the New York Giants pitched a fourth consecutive shutout. Only four other pitchers in the National League had ever accomplished this feat. 

1965 - Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitched the eighth perfect game in major league baseball history. 

1971 - Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings retired from the National Hockey League (NHL).

1979 - Tracy Austin, at 16, became the youngest player to win the U.S. Open women’s tennis title. 

1984 - Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears broke Jim Brown’s combined yardage record when he reached 15,517 yards. 

1987 - Nolan Ryan (Houston Astros) got his 4,500th strike out.

1992 - Robin Yount became the 17th major league baseball player to reach 3,000 hits.

1994 - Los Angeles prosecutors announced that they would not seek the death penalty against O.J. Simpson. 

1998 - The New York Yankees officially clinched the American League East title. It was the earliest in AL history. The Yankees ended the season 20 1/2 games ahead of second-place Boston.

2001 - Barry Bonds (San Francisco) hit three home runs to give him 63 for the season.

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