CS&T/AllsportsAmerica Friday Sports News Update and What's Your Take? 12/23/2016.

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Trending: Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford will start vs. Avalanche while Artem Anisimov, Marian Hossa remain out. (See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates and NHL news).

Trending: Deeper look underscores two main reasons for Bears 3-11 season.
(See the football section for Bears News an NFL updates).

Trending: Chicago Bulls-Charlotte Hornets Preview; Hornets-Bulls a tale of slow starts, slow finishes. (See the basketball section for Bulls news and NBA updates).  

Trending: Player skips last year of college football for life as NASCAR pit crew member. (See the NASCAR section for racing updates and NASCAR news).

Trending: Now that Grayson Allen is sitting, Coach K needs to keep him there awhile. What's Your Take? (See the college basketball section for game updates and NCAA basketball news).

How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford will start vs. Avalanche while Artem Anisimov, Marian Hossa remain out.

By Tracey Myers

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Marian Hossa and Artem Anisimov will both be out but Corey Crawford will start when the Blackhawks host the Colorado Avalanche on Friday night at the United Center.

Anisimov was placed on injured reserve, retroactive to Sunday, with an upper-body injury he sustained against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night. The move enabled the Blackhawks to recall Tanner Kero, who will be in the lineup on Friday night. Kero has seven goals and 13 assists thus far with the Rockford IceHogs. On Thursday, he was centering the fourth line with Andrew Desjardins and Jordin Tootoo.

Coach Joel Quenneville is hopeful both Anisimov and Hossa, who suffered an upper-body injury against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, can return for the Blackhawks’ post-Christmas game against the Winnipeg Jets.

Crawford was on the ice a few minutes prior to Thursday’s practice, taking shots from Blackhawks teammates. Quenneville said the practices should help but Crawford could have to shake off some rust on Friday night; it will be Crawford’s first game since Dec. 1 against the New Jersey Devils.

“I think it’s probably challenging for goalies more so than other positions. You can never really recapture the pace of having a full 60 minutes in front of you when you’re standing up there constantly getting pushed on and fighting through screens and finding the shots. Just getting through a game will probably make a world of difference for him,” Quenneville said. “He wasn’t out too long, so I think recapturing it with a couple of practices going to help him. But the game, there’s nothing like it.”

Tanner Kero looking to make most of opportunity with Blackhawks.

By Tracey Myers

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Vinnie Hinostroza yelled “Tanner!” as Tanner Kero came onto the ice for the Blackhawks’ practice on Thursday. He did it again as Kero was about to talk to the media a few minutes later.

“He’s a pretty shy kid so I’m trying to get him to open up a little bit,” Hinostroza said. “We’re pretty good buddies, so it’s always good to see him come into the locker room.”

The Blackhawks’ locker room that Kero walked into on Thursday isn’t so strange to him now, thanks to the 17 games he played here last season. At that time, Kero was recalled from Rockford after putting up strong scoring numbers with the IceHogs. On another productive streak with the IceHogs, Kero’s getting another chance.

Kero was recalled on Thursday morning, as the Blackhawks put center Artem Anisimov on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. The 24-year-old Kero has seven goals and 13 assists for the IceHogs; he said the team, overall, has been finding more success lately and he’s just been part of that.

“As a group we've been playing a lot better the last few games,” Kero said. “We're focusing more on being responsible defensively and just being a little smarter in the offensive zone, keeping a higher guy and worrying about that aspect of the game and now our offense is starting to show.”

It’s been a good few weeks for Kero in general. Not only is he getting this call after a productive early season with Rockford, but he became a father to a baby boy about a month ago. Juggling hockey and parenthood has been interesting, but thrilling.

“It's a little adjustment, but it's been awesome,” Kero said with a smile. “It's crazy. It's that new adjustment right now. But it's been fun.”

As for this latest trip to Chicago, Kero said he feels, “a little more comfortable” this time around. He still expects some adjustments come game time; nevertheless, coach Joel Quenneville said past experience should help Kero.

“He’s made good progress in his development,” Quenneville said. “Last year, we liked him a lot. I thought he did a great job for us for first time being a pro and then coming up and getting some meaningful ice time, good responsibilities and just watching him practice, there’s an appreciation for watching him play and thinking I like what we saw.”

Kero could also get some added responsibility right out of the gate.

“He’s going to get a chance probably to play in some situations, maybe kill penalties for us because we know he’s responsible,” Quenneville said. “He has good patience with the puck. His quickness and his speed, it looks like he can handle the NHL.”

Kero’s time with the Blackhawks may not be too long this time around. Quenneville said he’s hopeful Anisimov and Marian Hossa, also out with an upper-body injury, could return Tuesday against the Winnipeg Jets. Regardless this is a great chance for Kero, and he’ll take advantage of it.

“You try not to think too much about it,” Kero said of how long you stay with the big club. “You just go out every shift and try and work hard and prove that you earned that spot here and that you kind of belong [here]. So you just want to go shift by shift and just play it from there.”

Blackhawks’ third line chipping in with defense, goals.

By Tracey Myers

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

When trying to find a checking line, defense comes first.

The players on that line have to be responsible, they have to win some faceoffs and if they generate some offense along the way, even better. And after tinkering with some combinations, it looks as if the Blackhawks have found their checking line.

Dennis Rasmussen, Marcus Kruger and Richard Panik seemed like a good group even from the start: some defensive responsibility for what’s usually the Blackhawks’ checking line, plus a forward who went on a scoring streak to start the season. Together a few weeks now, the Blackhawks may have finally found their third-line combination.

Rasmussen, Kruger and Panik have given the Blackhawks good defense and a few goals here and there, and have been a good part of the team’s current winning streak. For coach Joel Quenneville, the line combines the best elements, especially defensively.

“They’re responsible in ways,” he said. “You have two guys who can take faceoffs. We use them in our own end a lot. Sometimes we’ve been matching them up against top lines and so they get some assignments as well and if they can outscore that group it’s a real plus for us. But they spend some zone time, they get good cycles shifts and they’ve all been managing the puck well. It’s an area where there’s some improvement in our game. I think that line has been leading the charge as far as possession and down low in the offensive zone.”

And of course, it’s all about what you can add on the scoresheet. Rasmussen has two goals in his last five games. Panik has two in his last four, including the game-winner against the New York Islanders. Still, the two-way game is important, be it for an individual or for a line. So why has it worked so well between the three?

“I think [we’re] just trying to make simple plays. We kind of find a chemistry and I think that’s good,” Panik said. “We have big bodies, so we’re using the corners and kind of trying to manage the puck in the [offensive] zone.”

Kruger said, “I think we try to do a little bit of everything and be responsible in our own end. Both of those guys [Panik and Rasmussen] are big guys who can hold onto the puck and play down low, too. That’s probably the best way to defend, playing in their own end. we’ve been getting some offense, too, which is nice.”

Rasmussen, especially, was frustrated at missing on chances he’s had recently. He’s feeling a lot better about his overall game now that he’s added some offense.

“If you score goals then you know you did something good out there. That’s kind of helps with the confidence and everything like that,” Rasmussen said. “Of course, it means a lot.”

Then there’s the communication.

“All of us think the game similar. Rasmussen and me and Panik really try to talk in between shifts, what we can do better, stuff like that,” Kruger said. “If they’re doing something we can adjust to, we try to talk about that. We’ve just been playing with some patience and trying to play the right way.”

Will the three remain together these last few games of December? The Blackhawks could be down a forward or two heading into Friday night – Marian Hossa and Artem Anisimov are both dealing with upper-body injuries. Even if Quenneville splits them to help the injury situation, he can return to a pretty reliable checking-line trio in the future.

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Washington Redskins vs. Chicago Bears Preview 12-24-2016.

Scores & Stats

The Washington Redskins are hoping that a compressed schedule doesn't lend a hand in squeezing the life out of their playoff aspirations. The Redskins look to shake off a demoralizing loss on Monday night and record their seventh consecutive victory over the Chicago Bears five days later when the teams meet at Soldier Field on Saturday afternoon.

"Short weeks are always tough," Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams said. "It's already a physical game. It takes 72, 48 hours to recover from one game. It's no point in complaining. It's not going to stop. The game's on the schedule. We got to go play it." While a 26-15 loss to Carolina dropped the Redskins from sixth to eighth place in the NFC's playoff picture, the Bears have long since been removed from that discussion as they attempt to prevent their fourth three-game losing skid of the season on Saturday.

Chicago has been competitive despite losing four of its last five, with six-point setbacks to the New York Giants and Tennessee being accompanied by back-to-back three-point losses versus potential playoff teams Detroit and Green Bay.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Redskins -3.5. O/U: 45.5

ABOUT THE REDSKINS (7-6-1): Kirk Cousins (NFL second-best 4,360 passing yards) is looking to rebound from a two-turnover performance when he faces Chicago, against which he threw for 300 yards and a touchdown in Washington's 24-21 victory last season. Tight end Jordan Reed reeled in nine receptions for 120 yards and a score in that contest, but has been slowed by both an ailing left shoulder (two catches, 16 yards in last two games) and a hot temper - with the latter putting him on ice as he was ejected from Monday's game after throwing a punch. "He's such a factor in the passing game that even if he's banged up a little bit I think there's some things that he can do in the passing game that can help us," coach Jay Gruden said. Running back Robert Kelley has picked up the slack with six touchdowns in his last seven games, tying him with Chicago's Jordan Howard for the second-most by an NFL rookie this season.

ABOUT THE BEARS (3-11): Howard amassed at least 99 yards from scrimmage in his seventh straight game on Sunday, recording his fifth touchdown in that stretch while tying a season high with four receptions in a 30-27 loss to the Packers. Quarterback Matt Barkley continued his strong audition for the likely backup position next season, tossing a career-high 362 yards with two touchdown passes - including one to Alshon Jeffery. The wideout returned from serving a four-game suspension and stepped up in the fourth quarter to cap a six-catch, 89-yard performance with a touchdown, but will likely be shadowed by cornerback Josh Norman on Saturday.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Washington LB Ryan Kerrigan has collected at least one sack in six straight games and leads the team with 11 this season.

2. DE Akiem Hicks' first season in Chicago has been a success, as his team-leading seven sacks are just 2.5 fewer than the sum total of his previous four years with New Orleans and New England.

3. The Bears' minus-11 turnover differential is the third-worst in the league.

PREDICTION: Bears 24, Redskins 23

Deeper look underscores two main reasons for Bears 3-11 season.

By John Mullin

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Numbers and statistics do not exist or come from a vacuum, so isolating any of them can miss a bigger picture or reality. But in the case of the 2016 Bears, the overall is not hard to figure out. It is, however, difficult to fix, which is why the Bears continue losing (five out of the last six) despite certain positives, ones that cannot offset the two core issues behind the Bears’ dismal season.

First, some context:

The Bears are one of only six teams who rank in the top 15 for both offense and defense, based on yardage output.

The list:

Team	Offense	Defense
New England	No. 4	No. 10
Pittsburgh	No. 7	No. 8
Arizona	No. 9	No. 4
Dallas	No. 5	No. 13
Seattle	No. 14	No. 6

And the Bears, who moved into the top 15 with their 449 yards against Green Bay, and still rank No. 9 defensively despite allowing 451 yards to the Packers.

Four of those six teams are leading their divisions: New England by three games, Pittsburgh by one, Dallas by two, Seattle by four.

So what is the problem with the Bears? Two problems, actually. One, the Bears are playing on a longer field. Bears opponents have 19 scoring drives of 50 yards or shorter. The Bears have six.

Two, for all of the sparkle Matt Barkley has brought to the offense, they are playing without the requisite quarterback firepower.

Re. the first: The biggest is a long-field issue. Takeaways. The Bears defense and special teams have simply not gotten footballs loose, or special teams managing returns to give the offense a short field to work with.

None of the other five top-15’ers are worse than minus-1 in turnover ratio. The Bears are minus-11. No team has fewer than the Bears’ three interceptions, nor than the Bears’ 10 total takeaways, on pace for an all-time franchise-low.

“It is a problem and we’re not getting enough takeaways, that’s for damn sure,” said defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. “It’s one of the reasons we have the record we have.”

The Cardinals are suffering through a 5-8-1 season with the same minus-one turnover ratio as the Seahawks.

But the Bears and Cardinals are the only two of the six with starting quarterbacks posting passer rating lower than 90. Carson Palmer is down at 85.8, and the Bears troika of Barkley-Jay Cutler-Brian Hoyer are a combined 85.1.

Perhaps the single biggest reason the 1980's Bears won just one Super Bowl, by consensus of members of those teams, was the inability to keep their quarterback (Jim McMahon) healthy. The 2016 Bears, now on their third starting quarterback, are a distant echo of that team malady.

Barkley’s 75.2 warrants an asterisk because of the avalanche of dropped passes (18 over one three-game period), but the net effect on Bears quarterback play is apparent, and reflected in lost chances for wins.

Next challenge for Bears focus: Christmas goings-on.

By John Mullin

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

With just two more shopping days til Christmas (they play Washington on Saturday so they’re going to be a little busy most of Christmas Eve) and holiday cheer everywhere, might any of the Bears be more inclined to watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” instead of more film on the Redskins?

Ideally they can multi-task well enough to do both. But football players have families, kids, relatives in town, presents to buy and all the rest, and they would not be the first dads/husbands/sons/friends to have events outside of work encroach on their concentration on the job.

Individual breakdowns notwithstanding, the Bears have maintained concentration well enough to play toe-to-toe with a succession of playoff-grade opponents (Green Bay, Detroit, Tennessee, New York Giants). Even as their season has disintegrated, they have not, and it is unlikely that the Christmas season will do what the disappointments of close losses could not.

“It’s important to stay focused regardless, whether it’s Thanksgiving,” said coach John Fox. “Guys have tragedies in families; there’s all kinds of things that can take the focus away of your football team. I think the fact that we’re playing Christmas Eve day — Christmas is the next day — most people are going to be with their families.

“Just like playing at home, you’re with your family after the game. So I think these guys do the game for a lot of different reasons. Some of them are families, spending time with family. It’s a lot easier to see smiles after wins than losses.” 

So the Bears won’t be swapping eggnog recipes or Toys ‘R Us sales tips in their huddles Saturday while Washington is waiting.

“They could be in their free time, I’m not sure,” Fox said, smiling. “But no, they’ve been pretty good all year long as far as focus.” 

Bears shut out on Pro Bowl selections for second straight year.

By CSN Staff  

(Photo/USA Today) 

A 3-11 regular season record usually doesn't garner many accolades, so it wasn't all surprising that zero Bears were named to the 2017 Pro Bowl.

The Bears were one of four NFC teams to not have a single player named to the annual All-Star Game. The New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers, and NFC North first-place Detroit Lions were the others.

It's actually the second straight season the Bears were held without a Pro Bowl selection; last year Kyle Long was added as an injury replacement for Jason Peters, which kept the Bears' streak of at least one player in the Pro Bowl since 1999 alive.

The NFL is reverting back to an AFC vs. NFC format this season after having a fantasy draft in each of the last couple Pro Bowls.

AFC Pro Bowl Roster

Offense

Wide receiver: Antonio Brown*, Steelers; Amari Cooper*, Raiders; A.J. Green, Bengals; T.Y. Hilton, Colts

Tackle: Joe Thomas*, Browns; Donald Penn*, Raiders; Taylor Lewan, Titans

Guard: Marshal Yanda*, Ravens; Kelechi Osemele*, Raiders; David DeCastro, Steelers

Center: Rodney Hudson*, Raiders; Maurkice Pouncey, Steelers

Tight end: Travis Kelce*, Chiefs; Delanie Walker, Titans

Quarterback: Tom Brady*, Patriots; Derek Carr, Raiders; Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers

Running back: Le'Veon Bell*, Steelers; DeMarco Murray, Titans; LeSean McCoy, Bills

Fullback: Kyle Juszcyzyk*, Ravens

Defense

Defense end: Khalil Mack*, Raiders; Cameron Wake*, Dolphins; Jadeveon Clowney, Texans

Interior linemen: Geno Atkins*, Bengals; Ndamukong Suh*, Dolphins; Jurrell Casey, Titans

Outside linebacker: Von Miller*, Broncos; Lorenzo Alexander*, Bills; Brian Orakpo, Titans

Inside/middle linebacker: Dont'a Hightower*, Patriots; C.J. Mosley, Ravens

Cornerback: Marcus Peters*, Chiefs; Aqib Talib*, Broncos; Casey Hayward, Chargers; Chris Harris Broncos

Free safety: Devin McCourty*, Patriots; Reggie Nelson, Raiders

Strong safety: Eric Berry*, Chiefs

Special Teams

Punter: Pat McAfee*, Colts

Kicker: Justin Tucker*, Ravens

Return specialist: Tyreek Hill*, Chiefs

Special teamer: Matthew Slater*, Patriots

NFC Pro Bowl Roster

Offense

Wide receiver: Julio Jones*, Falcons; Odell Beckham*, Giants; Mike Evans, Buccaneers; Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals

Tackle: Tyron Smith*, Cowboys; Trent Williams*, Redskins; Jason Peters, Eagles

Guard: Zack Martin*, Cowboys; Brandon Scherff*, Redskins; T.J. Lang, Packers

Center: Travis Frederick*, Cowboys; Alex Mack, Falcons

Tight end: Greg Olsen*, Panthers; Jordan Reed, Redskins

Quarterback: Matt Ryan*, Falcons; Aaron Rodgers, Packers; Dak Prescott, Cowboys

Running back: Ezekiel Elliott*, Cowboys; David Johnson, Cardinals; Devonta
Freeman, Falcons

Fullback: Mike Tolbert*, Panthers

Defense

Defensive end: Everson Griffen*, Vikings; Cliff Avril*, Seahawks; Michael Bennett, Seahawks

Interior linemen: Aaron Donald*, Rams; Gerald McCoy*, Buccaneers; Fletcher Cox, Eagles

Outside linebacker: Vic Beasley*, Falcons; Ryan Kerrigan*, Redskins; Thomas Davis, Panthers

Inside/middle linebacker: Bobby Wagner*, Seahawks; Luke Kuechly, Panthers

Cornerback: Janoris Jenkins*, Giants; Patrick Peterson*, Cardinals; Richard Sherman, Seahawks; Xavier Rhodes, Vikings

Free safety: Harrison Smith*, Vikings; Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Packers

Strong safety: Landon Collins*, Giants

Special teams

Punter: Johnny Hekker*, Rams

Kicker: Matt Bryant*, Falcons

Return specialist: Cordarrelle Patterson*, Vikings

Special teamer: Dwayne Harris*, Giants

* Indicates starter

Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... Chicago Bulls-Charlotte Hornets Preview; Hornets-Bulls a tale of slow starts, slow finishes  

The Associated Press

The Charlotte Hornets would like to figure out why they struggle in the first half at times. The Chicago Bulls would like to solve their struggles to produce offense in the fourth quarter.

Both teams get a chance to see if they can fix those issues Friday night when the Hornets host the Bulls.

Charlotte is 16-13 but in many of those wins, the Hornets wound up getting it together after slow starts. Charlotte only has two wins where it never trailed and eight others occurred after a double-digit deficit.

The Hornets have four wins when trailing after the opening quarter and seven when facing a halftime deficit.

The latest instance was Tuesday's 117-113 comeback win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Hornets did not get the lead until a Marco Belinelli 3-pointer with 9:27 left in the fourth and their next lead did not occur until Nicolas Batum's driving bank shot with 13 seconds left snapped a 113-113 tie.

Batum's hoop was part of a 23-point, 10 rebound night that complimented a near triple-double by Kemba Walker (28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists). Those efforts pushed Charlotte's record to 9-9 in games decided by single digits and left coach Steve Clifford craving more from his team.

"I'm looking for a jolt," Clifford said. "I'm looking for a push. I'm looking at these next two weeks where we play some good teams and we need to play better. We need to put 48 minutes together, two games together. Then we'll see if we're a good team or not."

Clifford is right.

Of those comebacks from a double-digit deficit six occurred against losing teams.

"We can't afford to start out games like this," Walker said. "We have to be better. If we keep playing like this, things won't work out well for us."

Chicago's players have made similar remarks at times but often it occurs after a fourth quarter gone wrong. The Bulls (14-14) have yet to dip below the .500 mark but since a six-point win at Cleveland on Dec. 2, Chicago is 3-7.

The Bulls have not scored more than 31 points in a fourth quarter this season. Chicago is averaging a league-worst 22.5 points in the fourth quarter and shooting 37.2 in the final 12 minutes, which also is the worst mark in the league.

Jimmy Butler averages 6.5 points in the fourth quarter and shoots 37.9 percent in the fourth. Dwyane Wade averages 5.8 points in the fourth and shoots 39.6 percent.

It was a significant problem Wednesday when the Bulls were handed a 107-97 home loss to the Washington Wizards. The game was tied entering the fourth but then Chicago shot 7 of 24 as Butler was 0 of 4 and Wade was 2 of 6.

Butler is 1 of 9 in his last two fourth quarters. He shot 5 of 9 in the fourth during last week's five-point loss to Minnesota but that occurred after he was 1 of 8 in the third.

"Let's call it what it is: We're putting a lot of pressure on Jimmy (Butler) in the fourth quarter to make a lot of plays because we're running just one action," Wade said. "So we have to get more action, more body movement."

Butler scored 20 points for the 23rd time but shot 6 of 20 Wednesday. In the past three quarters, he misfired on 12 of 14 shots and is shooting 37.9 percent in his last five games.

"As the game goes along, teams are going to key in, especially on myself and D-Wade," Butler said. "We have to figure out other ways to get guys the ball," he said. "We have to put other guys in great positions as well. We're not guarding anybody either."

The not guarding anybody part is accurate at least in recent games. Although the Bulls are fifth in allowing 99.6 points per game, they have allowed 104.2 points in the last seven defeats, which all have been against teams with losing records.

Chicago is starting a stretch where it plays seven of its next 12 against teams above .500 through Jan. 12. Based on how recent games have unfolded, it appears possible the Bulls will dip under .500.

Bulls' offense stagnates in fourth quarter in loss to Wizards. (Wednesday night's game, 12/21/2016). 

By Vincent Goodwill

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Dwyane Wade saw an open lane and was on his way to a fourth-quarter layup before three Washington Wizards converged on him, altering his path and forcing an awkward miss.

The speedy Wizards got out on the break as they had all game, with Bradley Beal feeding John Wall for a layup, capsulizing the last 36 minutes for both sides.

The Wizards scored fast and the Bulls slogged their way to miss after miss, particularly in the fourth as their habits came back to bite them where it hurt the most.

The Bulls lost an early 13-point lead and only mustered 41 second-half points in their 107-97 loss to the Wizards at the United Center, erasing all those temporary feel-good holiday vibes provided on Monday by the dysfunctional Detroit Pistons.

Going 7-for-24 in the final stanza showed the Bulls haven’t gotten over their fourth-quarter reputation, and the Wizards’ getting out for 32 fast-break points again displayed the book on the Bulls other teams are sure to follow: run them out of the building.

“The more we missed, the more we tried to go get it,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “They got 32 fast-break (points) on us in transition. They got 19 off our 15 turnovers. That’s what cost us the game.”

Jimmy Butler scored 20 and Wade had 19, but neither was efficient from the field, combining to shoot 13-for-40 as the Bulls shot 40 percent and were 6-for-21 from the 3-point line.

Butler went 0-for-4 and Wade was 2-for-6 in the final 12 minutes, with each tallying one assist.

Wade conceded the Bulls’ offense gets predictable in the fourth quarter, especially with the lack of consistent shooting to make things easier.

“That’s putting a lot of pressure on Jimmy,” Wade said. “Let’s call it what it is: putting a lot of pressure on Jimmy to make plays in the fourth quarter because we’re running just one action, so we gotta get more body movement.

“It’s gotta come from us as players too. Some of it is playcalling as well but some of it, we gotta get out the way, we gotta move. We’re asking a young guy to make every shot he takes with bodies in front of him and step backs (jumpers).”

In fourth quarters this season, Butler is shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 25.9 percent from 3-point range, compared to shooting 48.7 in the third and 45.2 overall.

“I guess I gotta be a better playmaker, give the ball up earlier,” Butler said. “I’ll watch it, see what I see (on film). As a game goes along, teams are gonna key in on me and D-Wade. Now, we gotta put other guys in great positions as well. We’re not guarding anybody either.”

Butler tried to take a different road than Wade, a more diplomatic one, but he admitted things get tougher as the game goes along and the team loses something on both ends.

The Wizards’ field-goal percentage raised every quarter, topping off at 61 percent in the fourth when they outscored the Bulls, 30-20.

“We were doing stuff all game long and it carried over to the fourth quarter,” Butler said. “You can’t say the fourth is that big of a problem because if we’re doing everything we’re supposed to be doing all night long, we wouldn’t be in that situation.

That’s how I see it.”

It wasn’t that way early, as Taj Gibson continued his streak of consecutive made baskets to 13 by hitting his first five shots on the way to a 17-point, 11-rebound evening, while Wade and Butler attacked the Wizards from the start, going to the rim.

Having Kelly Oubre and Sheldon McClellan on them plenty enough, Wade and Butler were definitive, calling for the ball then abusing and confusing the inexperienced defenders.

The efficiency continued in the first quarter as the Bulls shot 63 percent and outrebounded the Wizards 18-3, crashing the offensive glass and on the other end, Rajon Rondo grabbed rebounds to start the fast break.

“Kind of took off where we left off against Detroit,” Hoiberg said. “I thought we played the right way. The ball was moving, guys were sharing. Then we allowed them to get the momentum before the half. We lost our pace and didn’t get it back.”

But before the fourth-quarter bugboos reappeared, the Wizards hung around just enough to stay within striking distance, even when their set offense wasn’t clicking as the Bulls protected the rim.

But that famed “Wall” Hoiberg talked about building was named “John” and he was a one-man fast break, returning the favor by getting out and using his speed to beat the Bulls downcourt for layups.

“Wall, we talked about before the game, is as fast as any guard end line to end line and obviously showed it tonight,” Hoiberg said.

They couldn’t track him or get ahold of him to prevent Wall from breaking down the Bulls’ defense, as he got most of his 23 points in the fast break and added nine assists with six rebounds on nine of 14 shooting.

Beal aided him with 21 points and five assists, while Marcin Gortat and Markieff Morris helped get ahold of the glass as the Bulls only outrebounded the Wizards by five by night’s end.

Starting out fast, then regressing to the mean, these are the Chicago Bulls.

CUBS: Behind the scenes at Wrigley: Eddie Vedder, The Cubs Way and how winners write history.

By Patrick Mooney

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

After the Cubs won their first National League pennant since the year World War II ended, Lukas McKnight found himself on the Murphy’s Bleachers rooftop, part of a small group watching Eddie Vedder play piano and sing Pink Floyd songs at the famous sports bar behind Wrigley Field.

Tracking the Cubs as October turned into early November became an all-consuming pursuit, an alternative universe where you would keep bumping into Bill Murray or John Cusack and have to remind yourself to do things like call home, pay the bills and do your laundry.

McKnight grew up in Chicago’s northern suburbs and got drafted by the Cubs in 2000. Four years later, with his career stalling in the minors, he had evolved into almost a player/coach, paired up as a kind of personal catcher for a young lefty with a great curveball and control issues. That would be Rich Hill, the late bloomer who teamed up with Clayton Kershaw to throw back-to-back shutouts and give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 2-1 lead in that NL Championship Series. 

By 2005, Jim Hendry’s front office had seen enough potential to make McKnight an area scout, sending him all over the Upper Midwest, Ohio Valley region and Florida. Theo Epstein’s group would eventually promote McKnight to assistant director of amateur scouting, giving him a seat at the table when the Cubs drafted future World Series heroes Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber.

“I would say surreal,” McKnight said. “Like you knew you were there, but you’re kind of floating six feet above the ground the whole time.”

At least that’s how it felt by the end, at a safe distance from the Cleveland Indians and a World Series Game 7 that lasted 10 innings and attracted more than 40 million viewers, becoming Major League Baseball’s most-watched TV event in 25 years.

“The thing that always stands out is just the swings of emotion,” McKnight said. “For me, it was probably even more than most because I lived it so long. I’ve been part of teams where it looked like you were going to be there – and you failed. 

“It’s just knowing that feeling. And then when you get all the way to the World Series and thinking: To fail at this point, it’s going to feel even worse than it felt in ’03 and ’08. 

“It was those wild, wild swings of emotion. Great senses of relief when you win – and an even lower stage when you lose. That’s what really stood out to me over the course of it. But the fulfillment when we win, that’s an emotional feeling as well. It’s almost like the culmination of my being.”

After his father, Scot, finished working on his doctoral dissertation in theology at the University of Nottingham, McKnight moved from England back to Libertyville just in time to get hooked on the 1984 Cubs. At the age of four, McKnight followed the lightning-in-a-bottle team that won 96 games and blew a 2-0 lead over the San Diego Padres in a best-of-five NLCS, the beginning of a familiar pattern of heartbreak.

What was it about this group of young stars, role players and established veterans that allowed them to dig out of that 3-1 hole against the Indians and accomplish what no Cub team had done since 1908? 

“The pragmatist in me would say: No. 1, this is probably the best Cubs team we’ve ever seen,” McKnight said. “I know there’s been some other teams where we’ve won a lot of games. But I just can’t think of a lineup that’s ever been this strong. And obviously a defense – especially now that we’re able to quantify the defense a little bit more – where we could put together a world-beater (unit) that made us maximize our pitching.

“The pitchers staying healthy – and Joe (Maddon) being able to work the staff to where no one was really overworked and the (starters) were a little stronger going down the stretch – I think all those things contributed. Ultimately, I think it was a better team. 

“And I think this is just a really, really strong makeup team. You always want to build a (team that way). But you can’t manufacture the players. You kind of have to go with who’s available to you. But I think we got a lot guys (where) we’re going to look back and think they’re special makeup guys. 

“Kris Bryant just kind of being unflappable. Kyle Schwarber being able to step up and do the things he does. Leadership guys with Jon Lester and David Ross – it kind of goes on – Anthony Rizzo is in that group as well. You just go around the diamond – and everybody’s a separator and a difference-maker from a makeup standpoint.

“It’s like anything, winners can kind of get to write history. So you go back, when the ball falls in your favor and you win, you’re going to remember it probably a little bit more fondly than you would otherwise. 

“But I think even objectively – you look at this team and it’s pretty unique. And then the subjective with the makeup – I think you look around and it’s hard to remember teams being that strong and that complete makeup-wise.”

Still, it didn’t truly hit McKnight until the morning of Nov. 4, riding in a trolley from Wrigley Field toward what would be guesstimated to be one of the largest gatherings in the history of, um, human civilization.

“You actually realized the scope of it and how many people you had touched,” McKnight said. “You heard the (projections): There’s going to be four or five million people there. For whatever reason, it didn’t click. It might have been the champagne still flowing in my veins or whatever. 

“But then you start driving. And you’re going down Addison and every street is 30-people deep all the way to the highway. And then you get on Lake Shore Drive, and it’s five-people deep all the way to downtown. And then you get to downtown, and it was just absolutely staggering. 

“It just kind of overwhelmed you. You started taking pictures and every street was more packed than the last the closer you got to Grant Park. To me, that’s where it just got a little bit staggering and kind of overwhelming on what had actually happened and how impactful this had been for so many people. 

“I know it was kind of the perfect storm, right? Chicago Public Schools didn’t have school that day. Who could ever account for weather like that in early November? So there were a lot of reasons why so many people showed up. But that was to the point where it turned from just exhilaration to kind of overwhelming and what this meant. 

“Obviously, it was huge for an organization. But to see what kind of impact it had for a city and a metropolitan area – that part was just staggering.”

That breathtaking scene and the sensory overload should leave the Cubs wanting more. On the night they clinched the franchise’s first pennant since 1945, the Cubs started two rookies who began this season at Triple-A Iowa – catcher Willson Contreras and outfielder Albert Almora Jr. – in a young lineup that featured NL MVP Bryant (24), All-Stars Rizzo (27) and Addison Russell (22), NLCS co-MVP Javier Baez (23) and Cy Young Award finalist Kyle Hendricks (26).

Vedder and Pearl Jam just got selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 2017 class. After a Christmas break, the Cubs will start gearing up for the 2017 draft in early January with preliminary meetings in Chicago. This is why Vedder won’t be planning future Pearl Jam tours for October, but maybe you’ll see him one night over at Murphy’s. 

Behind the scenes at Wrigley: A Giant comeback launched a new generation of Cubs.

By Patrick Mooney 

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

The Cubs dreaded the idea of facing Johnny Cueto in an elimination game, with Madison Bumgarner lurking in the bullpen and all that anxiety creeping into Wrigley Field.

The San Francisco Giants seemingly had all the elements to turn a dream season into a nightmare – dominant pitchers, steady defenders, a lineup stacked with disciplined hitters and the deep reservoir of confidence from winning three World Series titles since 2010.

“We did not want to see Game 5,” manager Joe Maddon admitted at the winter meetings. “I thought facing Cueto in Game 5 would be the most difficult thing we had to do. I thought it was necessary that we won Game 4 in San Francisco to progress as well as we did. I was more focused on that win than anything else.”

More than 2,000 miles away from AT&T Park, Alex Suarez was a little distracted that night, sitting with his wife, Abby, at Prentice Women’s Hospital on Northwestern’s downtown medical campus, awaiting the birth of their first child.

The two first met while working for the Cubs. Suarez played at the University of Tennessee with future major-league players like Chase Headley, Luke Hochevar, Julio Borbon and J.P. Arencibia, starting out as an intern in baseball operations in 2008 and rising to be the assistant director of player development and international scouting.

Abby, who’s now the executive director of the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, had worked on the multilayered presentation to Jon Lester during his recruiting visit before Thanksgiving 2014, when Cubs executives Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer sold their vision of what the free agent could be on the field, in the clubhouse and in the community.

Lester, who beat lymphoma as a young pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, uses his platform to fundraise for pediatric cancer research. Even with that $155 million contract, he still had an antenna for negative feedback and how the team would be portrayed in the media, using it all as motivation.

“We got 103 wins,” Lester said, “but the Giants were supposed to beat us.”

That first-round series appeared headed toward a Lester vs. Cueto rematch as San Francisco lefty Matt Moore shut down the Cubs, allowing one earned run through eight innings and handing a 5-2 lead to a shaky bullpen that led the majors with 30 blown saves.

“We were watching the game,” Suarez recalled this week. “When things got serious in about the seventh inning, that’s when we realized: ‘Oh, wow, this baby is going to come quick.’ And then my focus shifted.

“At that point, in my head, I’m thinking: ‘OK, we got a game tomorrow. We’ll face Cueto.’ And my son probably would have been born sooner had my wife not wanted to wait in between outs to push.”

Suarez laughed over the phone: “She’ll probably kill me for saying that. But, yeah, I was focused on her. And she was watching the game.”

With his bilingual background and hybrid roles in international operations and the farm system, maybe Suarez should have seen this coming from the relentless lineup that mounted an epic comeback against five different San Francisco relievers.

Suarez helped expand the pipeline former Cubs executive Oneri Fleita started to build in Latin America. It produced the elite prospect (Gleyber Torres) surrendered in the Aroldis Chapman trade and the chest-pounding rookie catcher (Willson Contreras) who delivered the game-tying, two-run, pinch-hit single in the ninth inning.

Suarez’s father, Alex, owned the indoor hitting facility in Miami that the Cubs used as an offseason staging ground for some of their young hitters like Javier Baez, Jorge Soler and Albert Almora Jr. An under-control Baez knocked Hunter Strickland’s 99-mph fastball back up the middle for a 6-5 lead over the Giants.

When the Cubs needed a translator for the sensitive conference call in late July as a precondition for closing that blockbuster deal with the New York Yankees – to address a 30-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic-violence policy – Suarez became a point man for chairman Tom Ricketts, Epstein, Hoyer, Chapman and agent Barry Praver.

Chapman unleashed 13 ninth-inning fastballs – all 99 mph or faster – to end the even-year myths about a Giants team that couldn’t land the superstar closer at the trade deadline. Future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy told CSN Bay Area at the winter meetings: “I’m not going to lie. In all my years, that’s the toughest game I’ve ever had to bounce back (from).”

While a Giant comeback launched a new generation of Cubs, fueling optimism that ending 1908 would only be the beginning for the team that finally won the World Series.

“It had a lot to do with the fact that they had grown up in this organization,” Suarez said. “So from the day that they got here, they were exposed to the fact that: ‘Hey, it’s going to happen. And you’re going to be a part of this.’

“When Theo and Jed and Tom took over the team, as an employee, you got that sense: ‘Hey, these guys are pretty serious about winning.’ And even as an employee, you start believing it. You start saying ‘When It Happens’ and some of the mantras that we’ve used over the last five years.

“These guys mentally were (so) prepared, I think, by implementing certain things, such as a mental-skills department, and having these guys being able to visualize that moment and seeing themselves in that moment. It was almost like second nature to them.

“They were probably way less experienced (than those) ’07 and ’08 teams. (But) it was like a perfect mixture of veteran guys that knew how to handle our young guys and bring them back on track when they needed to.

“And the young guys that were confident – not arrogant, not cocky – confident in their abilities and the fact that they wanted to be a part of something special.

“Once we (got to the playoffs in 2015), you just saw a different focus. Like we’ve been there, we know what we have to do now. And I think Joe had a lot to do with that, in terms of harnessing that emotion and coming up with his own little ways of getting these guys to compete while having fun.

“(But) it all starts with the culture that was created at the top.”

Cub fans will reflect at Christmas time, remember this team and treasure their memories from the playoff whirlwind. Maybe they will think about the people who didn’t get to see it happen, or how they will someday explain to their children what it used to be like to be a Cub fan.

Daniel Jacob Suarez was born on the night of Oct. 11, 2016.

“It was crazy,” Suarez said. “We were in the labor-and-delivery room watching the game. And he was literally born while we were celebrating on the mound or (on the field).

“Obviously, this is probably the most amazing year I’ve ever been a part of professionally and personally. But if there was one word to describe it emotionally, it would be rollercoaster. No doubt.”

WHITE SOX: Why the Yankees are the perfect trade partner for White Sox Jose Quintana.

By Dan Hayes

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Recent reports suggest the prospect-hungry White Sox received a recent inquiry from the New York Yankees about the availability of All-Star pitcher Jose Quintana.

According to one analyst, there’s nobody that general manager Rick Hahn would rather hear from than Yankees counterpart Brian Cashman when it comes to the possibility of trading Quintana, who is affordably signed through 2020 and has produced 18.1 Wins Above Replacement the past four seasons, according to fangraphs.com. Not only might the Yankees need Quintana now more than ever, MLB.com’s Jim Callis opines, they possess the top farm system in baseball and could absorb the high cost.

A first-time All-Star in 2016, Quintana has received similar hot stove attention to Chris Sale and Adam Eaton, each of whom was included in a blockbuster trade at the Winter Meetings earlier this month. The Houston Astros and Pittsburgh Pirates have also reportedly shown interest in Quintana, one of baseball’s most productive starting pitchers over the past four seasons. Set to earn $36.85 million through 2020 if both his team options are exercised, Quintana could be worth as much as Sale.

While Callis said on CSNChicago.com’s most recent White Sox Talk podcast that he isn’t certain New York would part with shortstop Gleyber Torres, the club has three other top prospects (all are ranked in the Top 22 on MLB.com’s current top 100) around which to build a package.

“If I’m Rick Hahn, I want to be talking to Brian Cashman about Jose Quintana,” Callis said. “That would be the No. 1 team to matchup with because of need, desperation, value prospects they have. You could make a really nice deal there.”

The White Sox have already done extremely well with the returns for Sale and Eaton, who brought back seven prospects, including four currently ranked in MLB.com’s Top 30 (Yoan Moncada, Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Michael Kopech).

Though he doesn’t possess the same arsenal as Sale, Quintana has a 3.35 ERA since 2013 and one more year left on his deal than Boston Red Sox ace, who is signed through 2019. That extra season could have Quintana in the same value range as Sale, who netted Moncada, the top position player prospect in the majors, Kopech, who has drawn comparisons to Noah Syndergaard, toolsy outfielder Luis Basabe and pitcher Luis Diaz, who has a good fastball.

Hahn and the White Sox have attached a premium price to Quintana and aren’t inclined to deal him unless its met. With five of seven prospects acquired being pitchers, its believed the White Sox would like to acquire another big bat and are more focused on position players.

Five of the Yankees’ top six prospects are position players, including, Torres, outfielders Clint Frazier, Aaron Judge and Blake Rutherford and infielder Jorge Mateo. Rutherford is ranked as the No. 51 prospect in MLB.com’s Top 100 and the rest are in the Top 22.

While the Yankees need another starting pitcher, speculation continues that the club may prefer to hang onto its top prospects, many of whom were acquired last July in trades for Andrew Miller, Aroldis Chapman and Carlos Beltran. The general message out of New York has remained consistent the past six months: The Yankees like their farm system and aren’t too eager to dip into it.

Still, Callis thinks the club could feel more pressure to make a move. Not only are the Red Sox with Sale a strong contender for the pennant, the Yankees have only a 2015 wild card loss to Houston to show for the past four seasons. The team’s lack of success could hurt both its cable ratings and its ability to draw fans. Even if the Yankees have to pay the premium for Quintana, Callis thinks the system is deep enough to handle such a move.

The entire scenario has Hahn in a good place.

“That’d be the perfect team to engage because I think the Yankees have the best farm system right now and the deepest,” Callis said. “The Yankees can make that trade and still have a good farm system and really improve their big league club.

“I do think teams value their prospects, but they also value winning. You’ve got to catch a team in the right cycle. Just using the Yankees for example, yes they went out an acquired prospects. But viewership on the YES Network was down. And if the Yankees aren’t winning, people aren’t going to pay for the YES Network. They have to win.”

“What they did was good for the long-term future of the franchise. But if the Yankees win 80 games this year and miss the playoffs again — they’re not going to be able to keep doing that. They’re going to go all in and start trading these guys.”

Golf: I got a club for that..... 5 predictions for the world of golf in 2017.

By T.J. Auclair, PGA.com

What lies ahead in the world of golf for the New Year? Here are five predictions, including a scenario where we see Sergio Garcia winning his first major title. (Photo/USA TODAY Sports Images)

Are you as excited for the new year as we are?

While golf seasons in the professional ranks have never been longer, it'll still be nice to flip the calendar to 2017 and get back to golf that matters, won't it?

As we often do this time of year, here are some predictions in the world of golf for the 12 months ahead of us.

5. Rory McIlroy will win the Masters and complete the career grand slam. It's the only one of the four glorious carrots still dangling in the face of the Ulsterman. Remember in 2011 when McIlroy looked to be in total control of the tournament going into the final nine holes and then totally derailed with a tee shot at the 10th hole and he wound up in a tie for 15th? He bounced right back a couple months later to claim his first major victory in the U.S. Open at Congressional. Over the last three trips to Augusta National, McIlroy has finished T8, fourth and T10, respectively. Like everyone else who has earned a trip to the Masters, McIlroy has the 2017 tournament circled on his calendar... but those dates are circled twice on his calendar and colored in with a highlighter. He wants this one baaaad.

4. Tiger Woods will win on the PGA Tour for the first time since the 2013 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. OK. I know he only beat two players in the 17-man field a few weeks back at the Hero World Challenge, but I was encouraged by what I saw from Tiger in the Bahamas. The swing looks more in control than ever before. That's certainly not to say it's the best swing he's ever had in his career. It simply is meant to drive home the point that it isn't as violent, which -- hopefully -- will alleviate some of the stress on his back and knees. I don't think we'll ever see early-2000s Tiger Woods again. That would be crazy. He's going to be 41 years old when 2017 begins. But tell me you weren't excited about that 65 in the Bahamas. It'll be all about putting four rounds together for the 14-time major champ and I think he will still be able to do that on occasion.

3. Sergio Garcia will win a major championship. You may not realize this, but only three times since turning professional in 1999 -- 2000, 2010, 2012 -- has Garcia gone an entire year without a top-10 finish in at least one of the season's four major. Yet, still, he has nothing to show for the fine play in terms of hardware... just four runner-up finishes. In recent years, we've seen the likes of Adam Scott, Jason Day and Henrik Stenson all get the major monkey off their backs. I think Garcia follows suit in 2017.

2. There will be another 58 recorded in a PGA Tour event. Jim Furyk fired the Tour's first and only 58 at the Travelers Championship in 2016. I believe another player will step up and fire that low, low number again this season. The biggest reason? Since it has been done, players now know it's attainable. It's ridiculously stupid low, but attainable. I'd imagine that when a score like that is in reach, it's hard not to think ahead. But there has to be a part of a player where the tension is eased by the thought, "It's not like it's never been done before." With all the firepower the players on Tour possess these days, along with courses that offer driveable par 4s, we're going to see another 58 sooner rather than later.

1. Wesley Bryan will be the PGA Tour's Rookie of the Year. One half of the Bryan Brothers trick-shot duo, Wesley had a breakout season on the Web.com Tour in 2016, winning three times to receive an automatic performance promotion to the PGA Tour. He already has a PGA Tour top 10 under his belt -- a T8 in the John Deere Classic late last summer. So far in the 2016-17 season, Bryan has made the cut in three of his four starts. He's going to carry the momentum from his days on the Web.com Tour and turn some heads in the big leagues.

Popular Costco golf ball again out of stock.

By Will Gray

(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)

The most popular holiday gift for the golfer in your life might just be found at a supermarket.

Bulk retailer Costco recently entered the golf ball market, introducing a Kirkland Signature model. The four-piece ball features a urethane cover and conforms to USGA guidelines. It also features a rock-bottom price, with two dozen balls being sold for $30 at stores nationwide.

The price point largely contributed to the balls selling out in short order a few weeks ago, but as a Forbes report indicates the ball has also tested favorably against some of the biggest brands in golf, many of which sell for more than twice the Kirkland price.

Costco agreed to re-stock the shelves this week, but that only lasted two hours before the reserves were once again depleted. The balls are currently only available on auction sites like eBay, where the marked-up prices on many listings approach $40 per dozen.

It remains to be seen when Costco will next put another installment of the balls on sale, but it seems they won't have much trouble with sales figures whenever it happens.

Jaidee opens with 66 in effort to snag Masters bid.

By Will Gray

(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)

While the 2016 season has ended for most of the world's best golfers, there's still work to be done for Thongchai Jaidee.

The 47-year-old Thai has 19 wins as a pro, making him an unlikely participant in this week's Boonchu Ruangkit Championship on the Asian Development Tour. But Jaidee is in the field in a last-ditch effort to snag a bid for the 2017 Masters.

The top 50 in the Official World Golf Rankings at the end of the year will be exempt for the season's first major, and Jaidee entered this week at No. 52. As a result, he added this event in Thailand since a win would be barely enough to edge him past William McGirt to No. 50 in the final world rankings of the year. McGirt is already exempt for the Masters by virtue of his win at the Memorial Tournament.

Jaidee opened with a 5-under 66 at Rancho Charnvee Resort, a score that left him in a tie for fifth, three shots behind Jazz Janewattananond.

Jaidee has made five Masters appearances, including each of the last three years. His best result at Augusta National remains a T-37 finish in 2014. Should he fail to win this week, he'll still have a chance to return down Magnolia Lane by being among the OWGR top 50 when the rankings are published the week before the Masters.

NASCAR: NASCAR releases list of Cup teams with charters in 2017.

By Daniel McFadin

Earlier this year NASCAR implemented a charter system in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The system guarantees starting spots to 36 teams in the 40-car field of Cup races.

The initial charter distribution was based on teams who attempted to qualify for every race for the previous three seasons.

In the midst of this offseason, while drivers switch teams, a number of charters have been leased or sold from one team to another.

NASCAR.com has the list of current homes for all 36 charters with five having changed hands since the end of the season.

The only charter not currently assigned to a car is one sold by HScott Motorsports to Premium Motorsports.

Here’s the list of teams with charters.

2016 car	2017 car	Team with charter for 2017
23	23	BK Racing
83	83	BK Racing
1	1	Chip Ganassi Racing
42	42	Chip Ganassi Racing
34	34	Front Row Motorsports
38	38	Front Row Motorsports
46	77	Furniture Row Racing (purchased from Premium Motorsports)
78	78	Furniture Row Racing
13	13	Germain Racing
44	32	Go Fas Racing (leased No. 44 charter from Richard Petty Motorsports)
5	5	Hendrick Motorsports
24	24	Hendrick Motorsports
48	48	Hendrick Motorsports
88	88	Hendrick Motorsports
11	11	Joe Gibbs Racing
18	18	Joe Gibbs Racing
19	19	Joe Gibbs Racing
20	20	Joe Gibbs Racing
16	37	JTG Daugherty Racing (Leased No. 16 charter from Roush Fenway)
47	47	JTG Daugherty Racing
7	95	Leavine Family Racing (Charter bought from Tommy Baldwin Racing)
15	TBD	Premium Motorsports
3	3	Richard Childress Racing
27	27	Richard Childress Racing
31	31	Richard Childress Racing
43	43	Richard Petty Motorsports
6	6	Roush Fenway Racing
17	17	Roush Fenway Racing
4	4	Stewart-Haas Racing
10	10	Stewart-Haas Racing
14	14	Stewart-Haas Racing
41	41	Stewart-Haas Racing
2	2	Team Penske
22	22	Team Penske
32	21	Wood Brothers Racing (Charter leased from Go Fas Racing)

Player skips last year of college football for life as NASCAR pit crew member.

By Jerry Bonkowski

(Photo/You Tube)

Instead of getting ready for the NFL draft, Georgia Tech offensive tackle Eason Fromayan is getting ready for a sport where another kind of draft is equally important.

Fromayan is passing up a final year of college football eligibility to prepare himself to hopefully join a NASCAR team as a pit crew member.

The tale of Fromayan’s aspiration is recounted by ESPN.com’s Andrea Adelson.

A lifelong Jeff Gordon fan, Fromayan will begin his NASCAR quest in earnest after playing in his last football game, next week’s TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, when the Yellow Jackets play Kentucky.

The 6-foot-4, 285 pound Fromayan knows he may have to start at the bottom – in one of NASCAR’s smaller series – but he’s dreaming big: his goal is to eventually make it to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, perhaps as a gas man or jack man.

“I guess it’s unusual to cut a career early like that, but I’m graduated and everything,” Fromayan told ESPN. “We can end it on a high note. You never know what can happen coming up, so if there’s an opportunity to better my situation, it seems right to take it.”

But if and when he makes it to NASCAR’s major league, Fromayan plans on saving the money he earns for an even loftier goal: he wants to drive in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona someday.

“It would be a heck of a story if it all works out,” Fromayan said.

Richard Childress Racing finalizes 2017 driver, crew chief lineups.

By Daniel McFadin

(Photo/Getty Images)

Richard Childress Racing will return all three of its Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers in 2017 while field five cars in the Xfinity Series next season.

Austin Dillon (No. 3), Paul Menard (No. 27) and Ryan Newman (No. 31) are back in the Cup Series.  Richard “Slugger” Labbe, Matt Borland and Luke Lambert will work with each driver respectively.

All three teams will be seeking to end a winless streak for RCR that stretches back to 2013 when Kevin Harvick was still with the organization.

In the Xfinity Series, RCR will have multiple drivers piloting the No. 2 and No. 3 cars. Menard and Austin Dillon will be the primary drivers of the No. 2. Ty Dillon, who will drive the No. 13 Cup car for Germain Racing full-time, will drive the No. 3 along with unannounced drivers.

The No. 2 team won three races in 2016 with Austin Dillon and Michael McDowell.

Crew chief Justin Alexander will lead the No. 2 team in his second season and the No. 3 team will be led by rookie Matt Swiderski. A 10-year veteran of RCR’s engineering department, Swiderski made his debut in the 2016 finale, in which the No. 3 team finished second.

Veteran Brendan Gaughan will be back for his sixth full-time Xfinity season and his fourth with RCR. Gaughan, 41, qualified for the inaugural Xfinity Chase before being eliminated in the third round. Gaughan is once again paired with crew chief Shane Wilson for their 12th season.

Brandon Jones returns to the No. 33 team with crew chief Nick Harrison. Jones finished his rookie campaign 10th in the point standings after earning 12 top 10s. Jones’ only NASCAR win in 94 starts came in the K&N Pro Series East in 2014.

New to the RCR family is Daniel Hemric, who will drive the No. 21 after spending two seasons in the Camping World Truck Series, including driving for Brad Keselowski Racing in 2016. Hemric has yet to win a Truck race.

Hemric will be working with crew chief Danny Stockman, who has won two NASCAR titles with Austin Dillon in the Xfinity and Truck series.

SOCCER: Fire to open season at Columbus then host Real Salt Lake.

By Dan Santaromita

(Photo/USA Today)

As part of Major League Soccer’s effort to have year round news, the league announced the home openers for all 22 clubs on Tuesday.

The Chicago Fire will travel to the Columbus Crew for the season opener on March 4 before hosting Real Salt Lake in the home opener on March 11 in the home opener at Toyota Park. Both games are on Saturdays and set for 1 p.m. starts.

In 2016, the Fire went 0-1-2 against the Crew in regular season play, although the Fire did knock the Crew out of the U.S. Open Cup at Toyota Park. The Fire lost the only meeting between the two at Mapfre Stadium 3-0 on Oct. 1.

Last season the Fire opened at home for the first time since 2007. The Fire have opened the season at home just three times in club history.

In a change from last season, MLS will not have each team open the season on the same day. Portland will host expansion team Minnesota in the league’s opener on Friday, March 3. The Fire at the Crew will be the earliest of seven Saturday kickoffs. A Sunday tripleheader will begin with Orlando opening its new stadium against New York City FC and also includes Atlanta United’s debut against the New York Red Bulls.

The full league schedule is expected to be announced in January sometime before the draft takes place on Jan. 13.

Premier League player Power Rankings – Week 17.

By Joe Prince-Wright

(Photo/nbcsports.com)

Week 17 was a beauty in the Premier League. Now, it’s time to rank the performers in the latest PL player Power Rankings.

The video above shows my top five players from Week 17, while below is a full list of the top 20 players in the Premier League right now.

Remember: this is a list of the top 20 performing players over the past seven days in the Premier League.

Let us know in the comments section below if you agree with the selections of the top 20 players in the PL right now.

 1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Man United) – Up 13
 2. Diego Costa (Chelsea) – Down 1
 3. Adam Lallana (Liverpool) – Down 1
 4. Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) – Down 1
 5. David Silva (Man City) — New entry
 6. Thibaut Courtois (Chelsea) – Down 2
 7. Paul Pogba (Man United) – Up 5
 8. Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea) – New entry
 9. Dele Alli (Tottenham) – New entry
10. Kevin De Bruyne (Man City) – New entry
11. N’Golo Kante (Chelsea) – Up 4
12. Harry Kane (Tottenham) – Down 4
13. Virgil Van Dijk (Southampton) – New entry
14. Sadio Mane (Liverpool) – New entry
15. Alvaro Negredo (Middlesbrough) – New entry
16. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham) – Up 1
17. Gary Cahill (Chelsea) — Even
18. Jay Rodriguez (Southampton) – New entry
19. Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) – New entry
20. Jordan Pickford (Sunderland) – New entry

Serie A: Roma close gap to Juve; Fiorentina, Napoli in 3-3 thriller.

By Andy Edwards

(Photo/Angelo Carconi/ANSA via AP)

A roundup of Thursday’s action in Italy’s top flight…

Roma 3-1 Chievo

The gap between runaway leaders Juventus (who now have a game in hand) and second-place Roma has been reduced to just four points, after the Giallorossi came from a goal behind to win 3-1 at home against 10th-place Chievo. Jonathan De Guzman put the visitors ahead in the 37th minute, but that advantage wouldn’t last long, as Roma blitzed the Mussi Volanti (Flying Donkeys) as soon as the second-half whistle had gone.

Stephan El Shaarawy equalized less than 60 seconds into the second half, followed in short order by Edin Dzeko (13th goal of the league season — tied-2nd-most in Serie A), just six minutes later, and Diego Perotti converted from the penalty spot to complete the scoring in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. Serie A will now take more than two weeks off for its annual winter break before returning to action on Jan. 7.

Fiorentina 3-3 Napoli

Napoli fell to three points adrift of Roma in the race for second, though it looked a near certainty that the gap would be four points after 92 minutes at the Stadio Artemio Franchi. Lorenzo Insigne scored an absolute stunner to put the visitors ahead after 25 minutes, but Federico Bernardeschi brought Fiorentina level six minutes into the second half.

Dries Mertens, who scored four on the weekend, put Napoli back in front after 68 minutes, only to see Bernardeschi and Mauro Zarate fire Fiorentina into the lead inside the ensuing 13 minutes. Mexican national teamer Carlos Salcedo committed an undeniable foul inside the penalty area well into second-half stoppage time, and Manolo Gabbiadini converted the spot kick to rescue a point and keep the Azzurri within touching distance of the second and final automatic qualifying spot for the UEFA Champions League.

Elsewhere in Serie A

Cagliari 4-3 Sassuolo
Palermo 1-1 Pescara
Sampdoria 0-0 Udinese
Torino 1-0 Genoa

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Home	Away	PTS
Juventus	17	14	0	3	36	14	22	9-0-0	5-0-3	42
Roma	18	12	2	4	39	18	21	9-0-0	3-2-4	38
Napoli	18	10	5	3	40	21	19	6-2-1	4-3-2	35
Lazio	18	10	4	4	32	21	11	6-1-2	4-3-2	34
AC Milan	17	10	3	4	27	20	7	6-2-1	4-1-3	33
Atalanta	18	10	2	6	27	21	6	6-0-3	4-2-3	32
Inter Milan	18	9	3	6	28	21	7	6-2-1	3-1-5	30
Torino	18	8	4	6	36	27	9	6-2-1	2-2-5	28
Fiorentina	18	7	6	5	28	24	4	4-5-0	3-1-5	27

USMNT steady as final FIFA rankings of 2016 released.

By Joe Prince-Wright

(Photo/Getty Images)

There wasn’t much movement among the final batch of FIFA world rankings of 2016.

The U.S. national team remains the 28th best team on the planet according to the latest rankings, with CONCACAF rivals Costa Rica ranked in 17th and Mexico staying in 18th. New head coach Bruce Arena will be hoping some big results in World Cup qualifying in 2017 will shoot his team up into the top 20. The highest position the U.S. has been in during the past 12 months is 22nd.

Elsewhere, Argentina remains in top spot, while Brazil is in second, Germany third, Copa America champions Chile fourth and Belgium in fifth. Rounding out the top 10 are Colombia in sixth, France in seventh, EURO 2016 champions Portugal in eighth, Uruguay in ninth and Spain in 10th.

Wales remains ahead of England in the rankings, while seven of the top 20 are from CONMEBOL and 11 are from UEFA.

Take a look below at the full top 20.

1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Germany
4. Chile
5. Belgium
6. Colombia
7. France
8. Portugal
9. Uruguay
10. Spain
11. Switzerland
12. Wales
13. England
14. Croatia
15. Poland
16. Italy
17. Costa Rica
18. Mexico
19. Peru
20. Ecuador

28. USA

NCAAFB: This is how NFL teams view players – like Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey – who skip bowl games

By Charles Robinson

First it was Oklahoma defensive tackle Charles Walker voluntarily ending his season early. Then came a stable of college football running backs: LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey and Baylor’s Shock Linwood. All wrapping their college careers earlier than anticipated, heading for richer horizons and courting whatever NFL red flags accompany the decisions.

To the college machine, it could foreshadow a chilling trend. But to the NFL, well, pencil leads aren’t exactly snapping off.

“Fournette and McCaffrey, it really isn’t a big deal,” one NFC North personnel evaluator said. “You can argue the kids made a thoughtful decision based on their situation. … [Opinions] are going to be a case-by-case basis. Some [coaches] will never really buy it because the first bottom-line reaction is it’s selfish. But honestly, you can lay it out in meetings and when you know the circumstances most of your coaches will understand it.

“[Fournette and McCaffrey] will definitely get some red-assed questions in [team] interviews, but I don’t think it will really hurt either very much. Especially Leonard Fournette.”

For the most part, that has been the overwhelming reaction from a multitude of personnel evaluators who spoke with Yahoo Sports over the past week, from area scouts to college scouting directors to general managers. The common theme: While early departures may leave college programs and their fan bases seething, it means little in the bottom-line equation of NFL franchises. Particularly if it involves a player the caliber of Fournette, who is being viewed in some quarters as an anchor running back like Ezekiel Elliott.

“Look, if [Fournette] is Zeke [on the NFL level], nobody is going to care about him sitting out of a bowl game to get his health where it needs to be,” the NFC North evaluator said. “What are the [Carolina] Panthers doing with Luke Kuechly? He’s probably going to sit the rest of the season because of concussion [concerns]. That’s probably smart by the Panthers. If we’re fair to Fournette, we have to say, ‘This kid is being smart about the long-term picture.’ For lesser guys who still have something to prove, maybe it’s not smart. But for Fournette and probably McCaffrey, they’ll be fine.”

It’s a sliding scale of gray, of course. One that essentially puts Fournette on solid ground, McCaffrey on mostly stable footing, but will be more complicated for guys like Walker and Linwood. Where it comes to Fournette and McCaffrey, a handful of scouts told Yahoo Sports that both LSU and Stanford were very up front this season about keeping NFL teams in the loop about nagging injuries that were tangibly impacting the performances of both.

That played heavily in the NFL reaction to the decisions of Fournette and McCaffrey to forgo their bowl games. Teams already knew both had a solid foundation of reasoning to make their decisions. While it will likely still translate into some uncomfortable pre-draft conversations, the truth is many NFL evaluators already understand the circumstances behind the choices. In effect, it has taken some of the edge off the standard “selfish” reaction.

For Walker and Linwood, it’s more complicated.

Walker left Oklahoma in mid-November after suffering a concussion that kept him off the field for more than a month. The factor of a head injury playing into Walker’s decision will result in his medical report and mental evaluation taking center stage in the draft process. Teams are wary of concussions and the resulting mindset that has caused other NFL players to retire early out of fear of long-term health ramifications. For NFL teams, Walker’s decision is far more of a medical worry than a character concern.

As for Linwood, his decision to sit out of Baylor’s bowl games will be measured against other pre-existing red flags that had NFL teams on high alert. Linwood was suspended once this season for “attitude” issues, after reportedly shoving an assistant coach during a game; his practice effort has been criticized; and now he has chosen to leave the team prior to the bowl game. That’s when sitting out of a bowl game matters most to NFL teams: when a player has given teams reason to connect other puzzle pieces of a potential character problem.

All of which spells out the case-by-case nature the NFC North evaluator was speaking to. Something like this:

• Sitting out a bowl game isn’t a seismic event to NFL teams if a combination of these factors exist: it’s an elite player who doesn’t have a litany of character concerns; there’s a foundation of nagging injuries that have impacted play; and a bowl game isn’t part of the college football playoff, and is in effect, meaningless.

• Sitting out a bowl game is a seismic event to NFL teams if: there are character red flags; there aren’t injuries that require time to heal; the bowl game is part of the college football playoff.

As one NFC general manager put it succinctly: Either it’s a continuation of something they’ve already seen about a player’s character, or it’s an outlier driven by circumstance.

“It’s not like, ‘He sat out, so he’s just a bad guy,'” the GM said. “It’s basically just one more part of the picture – and it might just be a really small part.”

Overwhelmingly, NFL evaluators agreed on one aspect of what has happened over the past week: College football continues to change. Whether it’s offensive schemes or the physical makeup of certain positions – or elite players becoming more mindful of the risks they take – the NFL evaluation process has to adjust to the curve. And that’s been happening for decades.

As much as that new trajectory may throw a wrench in the college machine, it hasn’t changed how the NFL does its business.

Nick Saban believes emphasis on playoff has helped lead to players skipping bowls.

By Nick Bromberg

Nick Saban first said he felt attention to the Playoff hurt other bowls in May 2015. (Photo/Getty)

Alabama coach Nick Saban thinks the College Football Playoff and the media’s attention towards it is to blame for why players are deciding to skip out on lower-tier bowl games.

Saban was asked Wednesday about the decisions of LSU running back Leonard Fournette and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey to not play in their teams’ bowl games to instead prepare for the NFL. The question led to this (misguided) answer, which we’ll print in full.

I will say this, I think when we created the playoff, which all of you wanted to do and all of you wanted to make it four teams. And now all of you want to make it eight teams and pretty soon all of you guys are going to want to make it 16 teams. And the only focus is on the playoff. 

But when we all started this, however many years ago it was, I said that you’re going to diminish the importance of other bowl games in college football, alright? Which has happened. That has happened. All anyone talks about is the playoff. Alright, we have a bunch of other bowl games that people don’t think are all that important so if you don’t think it’s important, all of the sudden some players don’t think it’s important. So you can’t really blame the players. We created this, OK? We created this. 

It used to be to go to the Rose Bowl — when you played in the Big Ten that was the ultimate of any experience that you could ever have. If you played in the SEC, going to the Sugar Bowl was that same thing. If you played in the Big 12, it was going to the Orange Bowl. So those things don’t exist anymore. We have a playoff, everyone’s interested in the playoff, no one is interested in anything else. 

So now that that’s trickled down to the players, how can you blame the players for that? I can’t blame the players for that. I think what every player has to decided — and I would say every player — is I think every player probably benefits from playing really, really well. So I think when you play in big games and you play really, really well, I think that enhances your value as a player. That’s what I think. Now every player would have to make the decision between is that more important relative to protecting yourself. And I think that’s every player’s choice and I think that’s every player’s decision and I don’t know that there’s much more to say about it than that.

It’s not the first time Saban has talked about how the attention paid to the playoff has cost the other bowl games. In May of 2015 he said that the minimized interest in other bowl games compared to the playoff was what he “feared the most would happen.”

But it’s still an unfounded fear from our perspective.

While Saban is right that college football helped create the trend, his blame of the playoff is misplaced. Players are skipping games because they realize they have the power to do so. And that realization has come in the era of the playoff. Player attempts to unionize at Northwestern didn’t happen because the Big Ten won the first iteration of the playoff. Cost of attendance stipends at many schools didn’t happen because of the playoff. Players realizing they could legitimately threaten to boycott games didn’t happen because of the playoff.

Games like the Sun Bowl and the Citrus Bowl are no less meaningful with the playoff than they were with the BCS. The playoff simply changed the national championship structure. Games outside the BCS and Playoff structure weren’t impacted whatsoever when the Playoff was implemented. We dare you to try to think of things that have changed for the Sun Bowl and Citrus Bowl since the playoff’s inception in 2014.

Urban Meyer to promote veteran NFL assistant onto OSU coaching staff.

By John Taylor

(Photo/Getty Images)

Urban Meyer didn’t have to look far to fill the void in his Ohio State coaching staff.

Less than two weeks after co-defensive coordinator Luke Fickell left to become the head coach at Cincinnati, OSU announced that Bill Davis will be promoted to Meyer’s staff at the conclusion of the 2016 season.  Davis spent the 2016 season as an analyst in Meyer’s football program.

The school stated in its release that “Davis’s role within the defensive staff and the position group he will coach will be determined and announced at” a later time.

Davis has spent 24 years of his coaching career at the NFL level.  He has served three stints as an NFL defensive coordinator — Philadelphia Eagles (2013-15), Arizona Cardinals (2009-10) and San Francisco 49ers (2005-06).   Additionally, Davis spent eight years as a linebackers coach with four different organizations.  In addition to his coordinating duties, Fickell was also in charge of the Buckeye linebackers, which could be where Davis ultimately lands.

The 51-year-old Davis’ last — and previously only — job at the collegiate level came as a grad assistant at Michigan State in 1991.

NCAABKB: Louisville holds off Kentucky in another instant classic.

By Henry Bushnell

Kentucky and Louisville gave us just about everything Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center. They gave us passion and pace; NBA talent and great guard play; runs and responses; dunks and dagger threes.

And in the end, the game gave No. 10 Louisville a 73-70 victory over No. 6 Kentucky, just its second win in the rivalry since John Calipari arrived in Lexington in 2009.

Four days after Wildcat freshmen guards made headlines in arguably the game of the year against North Carolina, it was their Louisville counterparts, and specifically junior point guard Quentin Snider, who won the day.

Snider scored 22 points on 10-of-19 shooting, including multiple clutch buckets down the stretch, and Kentucky’s Malik Monk missed a contested three with under five seconds remaining as Louisville survived.

Monk, who dropped 47 on North Carolina over the weekend, was plagued by foul trouble early on, and shot just 1-for-9 from beyond the arc. Fellow guard De’Aaron Fox led Kentucky with 21.

Louisville’s Deng Adel complemented Snider with 18 points and six rebounds. Both played 37 minutes.

The game featured 10 ties and nine lead changes, and countless more wild swings in front of a rabid Louisville crowd that rendered many of the arena’s 22,000-plus seats useless.

The opening 20 minutes of the game had a few distinct phases. The first was defined by Kentucky’s up-tempo offense. Fox and the Wildcats threw the ball ahead off both makes and misses, and, much to the ire of Rick Pitino, got to the rim with ease. They needed just 5:08 of game time to reach 17 points.

Louisville’s halfcourt offense and outside shooting kept it in the game, though. The Cardinals shot 5-for-11 from deep in the first half. A Snider triple brought the home team to within three, 17-14, at the first media timeout.

The half’s second phase commenced coming out of the timeout. With Louisville able to control Kentucky’s transition offense after the early lapses, the Wildcats went cold from the field and scoreless over a nearly five-minute stretch. With just under nine minutes remaining in the half, and the drought still ongoing, Monk was sent to the bench with his second personal foul. He would sit out the rest of the half.

Meanwhile, Adel heated up for Louisville. The sophomore hit two threes, the second of which gave Louisville its first lead at 22-20. A Snider layup minutes later concluded a 10-0 Cardinals run.

Kentucky’s Derek Willis then ended the drought with a baseline jumper, and the Wildcats found their footing. His three-pointer a few possessions later pulled Kentucky to within two, and a couple free throws and a Fox dunk off a steal regained the lead for the visitors.

The final phase of the half was back-and-forth. The highlight was this Bam Adebayo dunk over Anas Mahmoud, one of the nation’s best shot blockers:

Adebayo had a strong game, going 5-for-6 from the floor for 11 points. He shot just 1-of-6 from the free throw line, however. As a team, Kentucky missed 10 of its 29 attempts from the charity stripe.

Kentucky led by five with just over a minute to go in the half, but Snider scored four consecutive points off high ball screens to cut the deficit to one heading to the locker room.

Louisville started the second half well, especially on the defensive end. Adel had a chance to give the Cardinals a seven-point lead a little more than five minutes in, but he missed his layup. Fox skied for the rebound and floated an outlet pass to Isaiah Briscoe, who completed the four-point swing with a layup of his own and cut the lead to three.

With Louisville again up five, Adebayo threw down another thunderous dunk on Mahmoud:

With 11 minutes to play, Kentucky’s Mychal Mulder tied the game up with his second three of the game.

After a few hectic minutes, replete with loose balls, blocked shots, run-outs, shot clock violations and turnovers, Fox broke a 53-53 tie with a strong drive to the cup. Monk matched him soon after to make it 57-53, but Louisville, as it did all game, responded. An 8-0 run forced Calipari to call timeout with the home crowd rocking.

One of the biggest plays of the game came with just under four minutes left and Louisville up 63-61. Mahmoud retrieved an offensive rebound as he fell out of bounds and tossed it back to Adel, who hit Johnson with a pinpoint pass for a slam.

Snider took over the game late. He nearly put Adebayo on the floor with a crossover with 1:44 to play and his uncontested layup put Louisville up six, 69-63.

Fox’s three-point play with just under a minute to play made it a one-possession game. Adel's turnover then led to a Kentucky breakout. It appeared that Briscoe’s pass to Monk had ruined any shot at transition points, but a questionable foul call sent Willis to the line. He hit one of two.

With a 10-second differential between game clock and shot clock, Mitchell drove and missed his layup, but Johnson recaptured Louisville’s two-possession lead with a putback.

Monk wouldn’t let the Cardinals fly away, though. He drilled a 26-footer, his only made three of the game, to chop the lead back to one.

Mitchell then hit two clutch free throws with 8.2 seconds remaining, and Monk came up short on his shot for the tie.

With the win, Louisville improves to 11-1 on the season, its only loss a 66-63 defeat at the hands of undefeated Baylor in the Bahamas. Things don’t get any easier for Pitino’s team, though. Next up are bouts with No. 12 Virginia and No. 16 Indiana.

Kentucky, meanwhile, falls to 10-2. The Wildcats open up conference play at Ole Miss next Thursday.

Now that Grayson Allen is sitting, Coach K needs to keep him there awhile. What's Your Take?

By Pat Forde

(Photo/Yahoo Sports)

Grayson Allen needs to sit, and now he will. And while he’s sitting, he may well need counseling.

Something is not right with the young man when he plays basketball, similar to the way something is not right when Draymond Green is kicking basketball opponents, Ndamukong Suh is stomping opposing football players and Luis Suarez is biting people on the soccer pitch.

The Duke guard is a dirty player. Not misunderstood. Not unfairly villainized. Dirty.

He’s intentionally tripped three players in his past 25 games played, from last February through Wednesday night. He’s expressed remorse for his actions – and then repeated the same punk behavior.

At the risk of playing armchair psychologist, there appears to be a competitive anger problem or an impulse control problem or both. Whatever is going on, playing more basketball isn’t going to address the issues.

Mike Krzyzewski has already tried that. He let Allen play through his past transgressions, tripping Louisville’s Ray Spalding and Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes last year. That didn’t work, because there was Allen sticking the leg out yet again Wednesday night and tripping Elon’s Steven Santa Ana, then having a legitimately unhinged meltdown on the bench when he was called for a technical foul.

That’s a guy who needs some time away from the playing floor. And some help.

Wednesday night, in the fresh aftermath of the latest incident, Mike Krzyzewski was in High and Mighty Mike Mode.

“I handle things the way I handle them,” Krzyzewski said postgame. “I think I’ve handled this correctly, and moving forward, I will continue to handle it correctly. I don’t need to satisfy what other people think I should do. I’m a teacher and a coach, and I’m responsible for that kid. I know him better than anybody, and so to think that it’s the last thing that’s said about this to him is wrong.

“Obviously, we will do more – doesn’t mean that you have to see it or anybody else has to see it – but what he did tonight was right. That’s what people do. They say they’re sorry; they accept responsibility.”

Given time to take a breath, review the play and think it over, Krzyzewski did the right thing Thursday morning. He suspended his serial tripper.

But now it’s time to do more, and Duke is in the process of that. This is a program that has taken great pride in doing things The Right Way, largely with success (though not always). But great pride goeth before the fall, and one of the existing threats to truly doing things The Right Way is a resistance to admitting when you’re doing things The Wrong Way.

Image-obsessed college sports programs have gotten themselves into plenty of trouble over the years by ignoring their flaws and burying their problems. Penn State’s institutional denial of the Jerry Sandusky horror was an extreme example, but Penn State football and Duke basketball have a similarly high opinion of themselves.

This, clearly, is a much more mundane situation. But handling it correctly requires Krzyzewski to look at it objectively and say that he and the school have failed as much as Allen has failed. Whatever they’ve done in an effort to modify the junior’s behavior, it hasn’t worked.

This has gone farther than Christian Laettner’s on-court churlishness, and much farther than J.J. Redick’s goading of opposing crowds. This isn’t playing with an edge; it’s crossing a line. This is taking the Jerk Dukie Stereotype to a new low.

Unlearning this kind of impulsive in-game behavior likely will take some real time and real effort.

We tend to be cynical about college sports suspensions because we’ve seen so many of them fortuitously timed to end when the competition becomes more serious. I’d be surprised if Krzyzewski allows the schedule to dictate Allen’s return.

The next games are Atlantic Coast Conference contests, so go time is already here and theoretically Allen will miss some of those. (Duke doesn’t play again until New Year’s Eve against Virginia Tech.)

But beyond that, no coach in college basketball is more secure than Krzyzewski – he’s not coaching for his job anymore than Nick Saban is at Alabama. Probably even less.

Losing a few games without Grayson Allen isn’t going to hurt Coach K, or Duke. Sitting him down until he can get a grip on how he conducts himself while wearing a Blue Devils uniform is imperative for all parties.

More about the Grayson Allen tripping incident..... Grayson Allen's high school coaches try to explain (but not defend) his tripping habit

By Henry Bushnell

Duke’s Grayson Allen reacts after being called for a foul from tripping an Elon player. (Photo/AP)

“I’m not condoning it in any way.”

That, before any other statement, is the only way to begin an explanation of why Grayson Allen kicked Steven Santa Ana as the Elon guard spun by him. It’s the only way to begin a conversation about the first incident, when Allen reached out his foot to take down Louisville’s Ray Spalding, or the second, when he kicked back to send Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes sprawling to the floor.

There’s no defending Allen right now. Especially not 24 hours after the incident. Even for Allen’s high school coach, Jim Martin, who first coached young Grayson in fifth or sixth grade and watched him develop into one of the best high school prospects in the country. Martin watched the incident last night, and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He also immediately knew what was coming.

A lot of words have been thrown around in the past 24 hours to describe Allen and his actions: Punk. Brat. Childish. Immature. Dirty. And many more that shouldn’t be written here.

Martin brings up one, however, that is at the heart of the most compelling discussion of Allen the serial tripper:

“Bizarre.”

Allen’s behavior is bizarre. It’s abnormal. It’s flagrantly unnatural, like Draymond Green’s flailing limbs or Luis Suarez’s chomping teeth.

And it’s confounding, even for coaches who knew Allen before he arrived at Duke. Both Martin and Brian Hoff, a Providence School assistant who was close with Allen, say there were never any kicking or tripping incidents during Allen’s high school and middle school days.

The closest Martin’s memory can come is a game in middle school. Allen and an opponent dove for a loose ball. After the whistle, both jumped up and stared each other down. “Both of them looked like that at the drop of a hat, there could be an incident,” says Martin. Allen was removed from the game.

“From that point on, the rest of JV and varsity, we never had any incidents,” Martin says. “But there was always that … ” — he pauses, choosing his words carefully — “as that competitor, there wasn’t a time we didn’t keep our eyes on him because of the intensity that he played with.

“He was that kid that you might have to go over to and say, ‘Hey, it looks like you’re taking this game a little too seriously. Next game I’m going to sit you out. Cool down a little bit.’”

None of that, however, explains Wednesday night. Nor Feb. 25. Nor Feb. 8. It doesn’t explain the abnormality or the bizarreness.

One thing that might, though there’s no way to be sure: Allen grew up playing soccer. And while sticking out a leg to trip an opponent who’s escaping up the field is by no means within the rules in soccer, it’s not as out of place as it is on a basketball court. It’s a foul. Perhaps a yellow card. But it happens, occasionally.

“I just wonder if he reverts back to an instinctual move,” Martin ponders. “As he’s on the ground, or he’s using his legs … basketball players, we foul. We foul with our arms. Somehow, he reverts to some weird soccer background that he has using his legs. Because it is bizarre.”

The soccer influence, in the end, is unknown. And neither Martin nor Hoff has talked to Allen since the incident; neither really has an explanation for it. But both are more certain that there’s a clear connection between Allen’s success and his transgressions. They agree that the Draymond Green comparison is apt on the court, though the two couldn’t be more different off it.

“He’s a chippy guy, he plays with an edge,” Hoff says. “It’s the same thing that makes him go. It’s the same thing that makes him so great.” So many similar quotes have been applied to Green.

“It’s kind of a fine line,” Hoff explains. “Obviously the tripping is too much. But it’s a fine line because you want him to play really, really hard, where he’s diving on the floor, playing physical, but you also don’t want him to cross the line. He’s gotta get better at playing as hard as he possibly can and as aggressive as he possibly can, but at the same time not crossing that line.”

Says Martin: “He plays reckless. Everybody’s seen Grayson dive on the floor, everybody’s seen him do crazy stuff. Reckless. I mean, when he goes and dunks on a guy, I still say, ‘Grayson, don’t do that, there’s too much risk for your body.’ Well, he’s the same guy who can’t turn it off when a guy’s about to beat him. And he thinks, ‘I gotta do something.'”

Of the three incidents, the one that both Martin and Hoff were most puzzled by was the second one, against Florida State. While last night was more violent, in a way, it was within the flow of play. So was the first. Perhaps, they say, it’s just Allen’s very unorthodox and very out-of-bounds, inexcusable way of stopping an opponent.

And finally, the outburst on the bench. Both Martin and Hoff immediately recognized what triggered it. It wasn’t anger at the call. It wasn’t petulance. It was a realization: I did it again … How’d I do this?

Allen knew what was coming. He was so acutely aware of the barrage of criticism that was inevitably going to fly his way. He knew he had just self-inflicted days and weeks of hell upon himself. That’s what brought him to tears.

“I guarantee you he’s a mess right now,” Martin says. “I guarantee you he’s a mess.”

By all accounts, Allen is a soft-spoken, humble guy. Both coaches say his apologies and remorse are as genuine as can be. But until this weird impulse of Allen’s — one that even a coach who was around him for seven years, a coach who says he talks to Allen weekly, can’t fully explain — is curtailed, the apologies will be hollow.

Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica Take: It's very obvious that this young man has a serious emotional problem. Every effort should be made to help him address it. Obviously he has some talent and a future with great potential to extend his basketball career. However, if it isn't handled properly, he could end up like another wasted talent, Johnny Manzel, NFL football failure. It is incumbent on all of the people that know him; parents, coaches and dear friends to encourage him to seek help. It's about more than a basketball career, it's about the quality of his life from this day forward. We're not saying, let's throw him away, we're saying, let's help him and save him so that he doesn't deteriorate and becomes a menace to himself and society..  

You've read the above articles and read our thoughts, we're very interested in hearing what you have to say and what's your take? Please go to the comment section and the bottom of this blog and share your thoughts with us. We love hearing from you and we value your opinions more than you can imagine.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts with us.

The Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica Editorial Staff. 

Why Holly Holm isn’t thinking about potential Ronda Rousey rematch.

By Dave Doyle

Holly Holm (above) will face Germaine de Randamie on Feb. 11 for the UFC women’s featherweight title. (Photo/Getty)

It doesn’t take rocket scientist – or even a license in fight promotion – to figure out the direction in which the UFC hopes to head with their star women’s fighters in 2017.

UFC 207 on Dec. 30 will be headlined by Ronda Rousey’s comeback fight, as she meets Amanda Nunes in Las Vegas in an attempt to regain the women’s bantamweight title Rousey lost in her last fight.

Of course, Nunes wasn’t the fighter who defeated Rousey for the belt. That was Holly Holm, who took the title via knockout with the head kick heard around the world at UFC 193 in Australia.

And just as Rousey returns to the scene, so does Holm. She’ll headline UFC 208 in Brooklyn against Germaine de Randamie in a bout that will crown the UFC’s first women’s featherweight champion.

Should Rousey defeat Nunes and Holm defeat de Randamie, the stage would be set for a Rousey-Holm rematch, with the added kick of a champion vs. champion confrontation, the first license-to-print-money megafight of 2017.

For her part, though, Holm isn’t cashing the checks from a Rousey rematch just yet.

“There’s a lot that has to happen,” said Holm, who was in Sacramento to support teammate Michelle Waterson in her UFC on FOX 22 victory over Paige VanZant. “That’s what I tell people when they ask about it and say, ‘Hey, don’t you want to rematch Ronda?’ Well, there’s still a fight that’s taking place Dec. 30 and a fight that’s taking place Feb. 11. Depending on how both of those go, that could be the make or break of everything. Who knows what’s going to happen in three months? Anything can happen in three months.”

First and foremost among the things that can happen, in Holm’s mind, is the way Rousey reacts to her first knockout loss. Holm has been there, in her prior career as a world boxing champion, rebounding to a stunning knockout loss to Anne Sophie Mathis by winning their rematch six months later.

True champions respond to losses in the manner of Holm and Conor McGregor, who won an immediate rematch with Nate Diaz, and then defeated Alvarez to become the first two-weight champion in UFC history. Rousey, for her part, has had 13 months between the Holm loss and the Nunes fight.

Holm says the early moments of Nunes-Rousey, more than a year removed from Rousey’s knockout loss to Holm, will tell the tale.

“I do think that coming back from a big loss, I’ve had some big losses before, and I know that after I’ve been laid out cold from being knocked out, going back, those first punches in a fight are kind of like, am I OK, am I OK,” said Holm. “I think that’s a make-or-break moment, and Ronda’s never been there in a fight before. So I don’t think there’s any way to tell how she’s going to be in those first exchanges until it happens.”

So that’s the first big question going into a potential Holm-Rousey rematch.

Then, there’s the other half of the equation: the credibility of the featherweight belt for which Holm will compete. There’s no dispute who is the world’s best 145 pounder, regardless who wins at UFC 208: That’s Cris “Cyborg” Justino, the current Invicta and former Strikeforce featherweight champion. Justino is 17-1 with 1 no-contest and a proven draw.

But for reasons known only to them, the UFC has made Justino undergo contortions they haven’t demanded of any other star, including getting down to 140 pounds for her last two fights just to compete in the UFC.

Now, after resisting the notion of making a 145-pound belt for quite some time, the UFC decided the belt had to be filled at UFC 208 and couldn’t wait for Justino, who fought three times in seven months, including twice at 140.

Justino declined, leaving the UFC to go ahead and book Holm, coming off losses to Miesha Tate and Valentina Shevchenko, and de Randamie, a fine fighter in her own right but not one who was on the short list for a title shot at bantamweight.

But such is life in the UFC’s WME era. The agency purchased the UFC over the summer for an eye-popping $4.2 billion and needs to make a return on its investment. There are only so many superfights one can create out of thin air, and McGregor, one of the proven few who can carry the load, is taking a chunk of time off at the start of 2017 after fighting four times in 11 months.

So the UFC will do its best to line up a champion vs. champion fight, preferably Rousey vs. Holm, while the fighter everyone knows is best (Cyborg) stays on the sidelines.

For their part, Holm’s camp at Albuquerque’s JacksonWink MMA was surprised to get offered a featherweight title fight. Trainer Mike Winkeljohn recently broke it down for MMAFighting.com, telling UFC president Dana White at first that Holm offered to fight Cyborg at a catchweight before the title fight idea came down.

“Dana came up with a 145-pound title and apparently Dana offered it to Cyborg before we even accepted that it was for a title,” Winkeljohn said. “And I think she turned it down as well. So, that’s all I know about it other than Holly has never turned down a fight in her life. She’s willing to fight, no doubt about it, even out of her weight division.”

Of that, there’s no dispute. Holm’s never been one to back down from accepting a challenge, whether it was jumping from MMA to boxing in the first place, accepting a matchup with Rousey when critics said she wasn’t ready, or defending the belt against Tate when conventional wisdom held that she should wait on Rousey.

People love a gamer and Holm never shies away from a battle. She can’t be blamed for taking an opportunity when it’s given.

On This Date in Sports History: Today is Friday, December 23, 2016.

Memoriesofhistory.com

1951 - A NFL championship game was televised nationally for the first time. The Los Angeles Rams beat the Cleveland Browns 24-17. The DuMont Network had paid $75,000 for the rights to the game.

1972 - The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders 13-7 in an NFL playoff game on a last-second play that was dubbed the "Immaculate Reception." Pittsburgh's Franco Harris caught a deflected pass and ran it in for the winning touchdown.

1991 - Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll retired after 23 seasons. He was the only coach to win four Super Bowls.

1995 - Tonya Harding and Mike Smith were married.

1997 - Jari Kurri (Colorado Avalanche) became the 8th NHL player to score 600 goals.

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