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"Sports Quote of the Day"

"Don't lower your expectations to meet your performance. Raise your level of performance to meet your expectations.” ~ Ralph Marston, 1029 Professional Football Player 

Trending: Scott Darling backstops Blackhawks to fifth win in a row over Sharks. (See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates and NHL news). 

Trending: That's cold: Bears' 17-point fourth quarter for naught as Packers win on walk-off field goal. (See the football section for Bears News an NFL updates).

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Trending: Detroit Pistons vs. Chicago Bulls Preview, 12-19-2016. (See the basketball section for Bulls news and NBA updates).

Trending: White Sox plan to give prospects more time to develop. (See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).

Trending: Tiger to design golf course in Chicago. (See the golf section for tournament news and PGA updates).

NFL SCORES, Sunday 12/18/2016.

Los Angeles Rams 3

Seattle Seahawks 24

Miami Dolphins 34

New York Jets 13

Green Bay Packers 30

Chicago Bears 27

Jacksonville Jaguars 20

Houston Texans 21

Cleveland Browns 13

Buffalo Bills 33

Philadelphia Eagles 26 

Baltimore Ravens 27

Tennessee Titans 19

Kansas City Chiefs 17

Detroit Lions 6

New York Giants 17

Indianapolis Colts 34

Minnesota Vikings 6

Pittsburgh Steelers 24

Cincinnati Bengals 20

New Orleans Saints 48 

Arizona Cardinals 41

San Francisco 49ers 13

Atlanta Falcons 41

New England Patriots 16

Denver Broncos 3

Oakland Raiders 19 

San Diego Chargers 16

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20

Dallas Cowboys 26

Carolina Panthers            Monday night's game

Washington Redskins      12/19/2016

How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Scott Darling backstops Blackhawks to fifth win in a row over Sharks.

By Charlie Roumeliotis

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

If there was any doubt that Scott Darling couldn't handle the workload that comes with being a No. 1 goaltender, he dismissed them on Sunday.

In his ninth straight start — and second in as many nights — Darling delivered again by stopping 33 of 34 shots, including 27 of 28 in the final two periods, in the Blackhawks' 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks at the United Center.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said before Sunday's game that the coaching staff had a "good discussion" about whether or not to give Darling a rest in favor of Lars Johansson.

It's a good thing they didn't.

Darling was sharp from the get-go and improved his home record to 6-1-1 this season one night after he allowed four goals that ignited some speculation that he was fatigued.

"That many games and traveling and all that stuff, it catches up to you," Darling said after the win. "But we work hard to be ready for that stuff. Mentally, it’s tiring, too. But the only game I felt like I didn’t really bring it was last night, let in two bad goals.

"Sometimes that’s all you need to just start over and have an off game and we were lucky to get the win and you can kind of reset it, get it out of the way and move forward."

The victory extended the Blackhawks' winning streak to five games, making it the second time they've won at least five in a row this season.

In what was expected to be an entertaining bout against the NHL's first-place team and the reigning Western Conference champions, the Blackhawks and Sharks got off to a sluggish start.

San Jose was heading into Sunday's contest playing their fourth road game in six nights while Chicago was on the second of a back-to-back. It showed.

After a scoreless and uneventful first period, things began to heat up. Sort of.

The Sharks, who hadn't recorded a shot on goal in the final 12:39 of the first period, jumped out in front 73 seconds in the second when Joe Pavelski redirected Brent Burns' shot from the point, which isn't the first time. 

The Blackhawks, who overcame four one-goal deficits in last night's 6-4 victory over the St. Louis Blues, did the same again when Duncan Keith blasted home his first goal of the season with 3:11 left in the period.

"It was good," Keith said of getting his first goal out of the way with. "Obviously it was a while, so it was nice to finally get one and contribute to a big win against a good team."

Ryan Hartman broke the 1-1 tie after he snapped home a wrist shot off an offensive zone faceoff, giving the Blackhawks their first lead of the game early in the third period. It turned out to be the game-winner, his second of the season in that department.

Vinnie Hinostroza iced the game when he snuck a shot past Martin Jones five-hole, and Patrick Kane padded the lead with an empty-netter.

It's the second straight game Hinostroza scored at a crucial moment, and he received some praise from the coach that showed faith in him to step up in Artem Anisimov's absence.

"He made a good shot. I think that every game, or every shift is gonna be different," Quenneville said of Hinostroza. "I liked his speed out there today and I think he gives us that dimension where there’s some offense to his game, and some quickness. Working in an all-around game is something that’s a work in progress.

"Certainly, he has the ability to make plays, and score goals and add an element of speed to our team.”  

The Blackhawks strengthened their season record to 22-8-4, and remain atop the NHL with 48 points.

Five Things from Blackhawks-Sharks: The kids deliver in the clutch again.

By Charlie Roumeliotis

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

1. The kids come up big again.

For the second straight game, a Blackhawks rookie delivered in the clutch. Vinnie Hinostroza, who scored the game-winning goal in Saturday's 6-4 win over St. Louis, found the back of the net once again and added an assist on Ryan Hartman's goal that turned out to be the game winner.

Hinostroza was rewarded by being promoted to the second line with Artem Anisimov out, and logged a season-high 15:52 of ice time. Hartman turned in his first multi-point effort of the season, and snapped an 11-game goal drought.

2. Fatigue not an issue for Scott Darling.

Despite starting in his ninth consecutive game — and second in as many nights — Darling showed no signs of fatigue, turning aside 33 of 34 shots, including 27 of 28 in the final two periods. His record improved to 10-2-2 on the year while bumping up his save percentage to .927, which matches Corey Crawford's.

Perhaps the most important sequence came late in the second period when Darling denied a flurry of Sharks chances that could have easily made it a 2-0 game, but instead, the Blackhawks went the other way shortly after and tied it up that killed any momentum San Jose was building.

3. Duncan Keith scores first goal of the season.

Finally. After going 33 straight games without a goal to start the year, Keith snapped his drought and he did so at a perfect time. It evened up the score at 1-1 just when it looked like the Sharks would extend their lead after hitting the post twice in the same shift shortly before Keith blasted one home from the point.

Keith's career-low goal total in an 82-game season is six in 2013-14. He said after the game that it wasn't weighing on his mind, but it certainly doesn't hurt to contribute in the goal column.

"Obviously it was a while, so it was nice to finally get one and contribute to a big win against a good team," he said.

4. Artemi Panarin climbing in the NHL's scoring race.

Panarin added two more assists, extending his point streak to five games. He now has 11 points (four goals and seven assists) during that stretch, and increased his point total to 34, which ranks No. 1 on the team and tied for third in the NHL with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

5. Blackhawks' penalty kill unit out of the basement.

The Blackhawks killed off both penalties in Sunday's win, and officially no longer own the worst penalty kill unit in the league at 73.9 percent. Buffalo is now in the basement at 73.6 percent.

In October, the Blackhawks allowed 15 power-play goals on 30 tries. Since then, they've killed off 53 of 62 penalties for an 85.4 percent success rate. That's more like it.

"That start was, it was hard to believe that it got to be that bad," Quenneville said. "I've never seen numbers like that. ... The PK is night and day compared to the way it started."

Blackhawks rally to beat Blues, extend winning streak to four games. (Saturday night's game, 12/17/2016.

By Tracey Myers

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

The Blackhawks have relied heavily on their goaltending throughout the season, Corey Crawford for most of it but Scott Darling lately. When offense was sputtering, goaltending was allowing few goals.

But on Saturday night Darling admittedly he wasn’t at his best. So for the second consecutive game, the Blackhawks’ offense did its part to support its goalie.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and two assists and Vinnie Hinostroza scored the game-winning goal as the Blackhawks came back to beat the St. Louis Blues 6-4. The Blackhawks stay atop the Western Conference with 46 points; they have a six-point lead over Minnesota and an eight-point lead on the Blues.

The Blackhawks could be down a forward again, however, as Artem Anisimov suffered an upper-body injury in the first period and did not return. Coach Joel Quenneville listed Anisimov as day-to-day; he wasn’t sure if Anisimov would play against the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night.

Dennis Rasmussen, Brian Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson also scored for the Blackhawks, who tallied three third-period goals to overcome the 4-3 deficit they faced after 40 minutes. Panarin’s goal was an empty netter with 49 seconds left in regulation. Patrick Kane scored his first goal since Nov. 26.

Darling, who played in his eighth game since Dec. 3, may be feeling signs of fatigue. He was just unlucky on the second goal, when Kyle Brodziak’s shot hit a broken stick. But Darling knows he wasn’t at his best but he said he’s not tired.

“I mean when you play this much, just like any goalie, there’s going to be some games where you have some bad bounces or bad luck. You’re not going to have shutouts every game. You just have to roll with it and be happy and grateful that we won,” Darling said. “Put it in the rearview mirror and get ready for the next one.”

Whether that next one is Sunday against the Sharks remains to be seen. Quenneville, who sees the workload likely affecting Darling, said the Blackhawks will discuss who starts that game. Backup Lars Johansson was recalled on Dec. 4 but has yet to play in an NHL game.

But as Darling said, he had a good support system on Sunday. The Blackhawks offense is waking up, scoring 11 goals in its past two games.

Hjalmarsson’s fourth of the season came one minute into the third period, tying the game at 4-4. Then Hinostroza put a pretty backhand shot past Jake Allen for a lead the Blackhawks wouldn’t relinquish.

“I was just trying to screen the goalie, [Marian Hossa] passed it up to [Brent Seabrook] and I was trying to screen the goalie. There was a rebound at my feet. I just tried to kick it to my stick and shot to an open net. it was exciting,” said Hinostroza of his goal, his first NHL game winner. “It definitely feels good. It’s been a while since I scored last but I feel like I’ve been getting a lot of chances, so good to see one hit the back of the net.”

The Blackhawks ran the gamut on this road trip. They beat the New York Rangers with great goaltending and defense. They gave up plenty against the New York Islanders and Blues but still won. The Blackhawks goaltending has come up big through most of this season. Every now and then, Crawford or Darling is going to have off nights. On Saturday, Darling got the goal-scoring support to get through a tough one.

“A couple bad luck, but some bad goals, too. I have to be better than that and you know it’s nice when you don’t have a good game and somehow still get the win,” Darling said. “The guys played great and really picked me up out there. That’s huge.”

Corey Crawford could return to action for Blackhawks before Christmas.

By Charlie Roumeliotis

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Corey Crawford is nearing a return for the Blackhawks, and there's a chance it could happen before Christmas.

Joel Quenneville said Sunday that the team is planning to get their starting goaltender back on Dec. 23 against the Colorado Avalanche, which would put him inside the two-to-three-week timetable that the Blackhawks initially projected.

Crawford underwent an emergency appendectomy on Dec. 3 in Philadelphia, and skated for three straight days while the Blackhawks were on their three-game road trip.

The next step is getting a full practice in.

“He was out there today with some players, so he got some good work again,” Quenneville said. "[He'll practice on] Tuesday, and we’ll look at the 23rd as an option.”

Crawford was having a Vezina-type season before the surgery, possessing a 12-6-2 record with a 2.27 goals against average, .927 save percentage and two shutouts in 20 starts.

The Blackhawks are 5-2-1 in his absence entering Sunday, due in large part to Scott Darling, who's been fantastic and earned a ninth straight start against San Jose.

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! That's cold: Bears' 17-point fourth quarter for naught as Packers win on walk-off field goal.

By Tony Andracki

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Matt Barkley and the Bears are nothing if not consistent.

The third-string quarterback led the Bears on yet another late comeback, but history repeated itself again as the Bears shot themselves in the foot once more down the stretch.

After the Bears tied the game with fewer than 90 seconds to go, a breakdown in pass coverage handed the Green Bay Packers a 30-27 victory in one of the coldest games in Soldier Field history (10 degrees at kickoff with a feel of minus 4).

Aaron Rodgers hit Jordy Nelson with a 60-yard pass over Cre'Von LeBlanc on third and 11, setting up Mason Crosby's game-winning field goal as time expired.

The two teams got out to something of a slow start, entering half at a 10-10 tie.

The Packers stormed out of halftime with 17 unanswered points in the third quarter, aided by Barkley turnovers on three straight possessions to begin the second half.

But Barkley never stopped firing, leading the Bears on back-to-back touchdown drives to start the fourth quarter — including Alshon Jeffery's second score of the season — and then to a game-tying field goal with 1:23 left in the game.

On their final drive, the Bears actually had first and goal at the three-yard line, but tight end Logan Paulsen was called for holding and Barkley couldn't find a way to punch it in from 13 yards out. A week ago, the Bears were flagged twice for holding on the final drive to thwart another Barkley comeback attempt.

Barkley finished with 362 passing yards and two touchdowns, while Deonte Thompson (eight receptions, 110 yards) and Cam Meredith (nine receptions, 104 yards) topped the century mark. Jeffery had 89 yards and the touchdown on six catches.

Jordan Howard had another impressive game with 113 total yards and a score.

The Bears forced somebody besides Rodgers to beat them, watching as receiver-turned-running back Ty Montgomery stepped up for Green Bay with a monster game (163 total yards, two touchdowns).

The Packers entered the game with only 98.6 rushing yards per contest but exploded for 210 yards on the ground in the first three quarters as Montgomery averaged 10.1 yards per carry and Christine Michael added a 42-yard touchdown rush.

It was the first time since the start of 2010 that Rodgers had finished a game against the Bears without a touchdown pass. He also did not throw for a score on Nov. 4, 2013, but only attempted two passes before leaving that game with an injury.

Bears offense continues to progress behind Matt Barkley's fighter mentality.

By Tony Andracki 

(Photo/csnchicago.com

Matt Barkley is 1-3 as a starting quarterback in the NFL, but he could just as easily be 3-1 or even 4-0.

In all three losses over that span, Barkley has given the Bears an opportunity to win in the game's final minutes.

The NFL is a results-based business (like any professional sport), so Barkley and the Bears aren't looking at what could have been.

Still, Barkley's resiliency and mental toughness has helped win over teammates and the Bears coaching staff.

The 26-year-old quarterback turned the ball over on four straight possessions from the end of the first half through the third quarter in Sunday's loss to the Packers, but he led his team back from a 27-10 deficit with 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to tie the game with less than 90 seconds left.

"I talked to him right after that first pick," receiver Cameron Meredith said. "We were all like, 'Keep battling, we're all behind you.' I think it speaks a lot about his mental toughness and how he was able to bounce back even after four turnovers.

"We had the opportunity to win, so you can't ask much more than that."

Barkley finished with 362 yards and 2 touchdowns while completing 70 percent of his passes Sunday. In his four starts, he's averaging 270.5 passing yards per game with 6 touchdowns against five picks.

"He kept his poise out there," center Cody Whitehair said. "Really didn't panic or anything, just sat back in the pocket and did what he did. Matt's a great player and it doesn't surprise us.

"We never got the feeling he was down or had less confidence in himself [after the turnovers]. He just kept doing what he was doing and he did a nice job today."

Over these four starts, Barkley hasn't received much help from his teammates between all the drops, holding penalties, failed routes, etc. 

For the second straight game, the Bears' final offensive drive saw a backbreaking holding penalty, this time on tight end Logan Paulsen.

Of Barkley's four turnovers, but one came on a Hail Mary at the end of the first half, one when former Bears star Julius Peppers blew by left tackle Charles Leno Jr. for a strip/sack and one when rookie Daniel Braverman ran the wrong route.

Yet he refuses to throw any of his teammates under the bus, consistently taking the blame for the offense's lack of execution.

With Barkley at the helm, the Bears have seen three of their four highest scoring outputs of the season — 27 points Sunday vs. Green Bay; 26 points in the win over San Francisco; 21 points in the loss to Tennessee (they also scored 23 points in a Week 5 loss to the Colts).

Barkley's Bears have averaged 23.5 points per game in his four starts, the first of his young NFL career.

Behind Jay Cutler and Brian Hoyer and their combined 19 years of experience, the 2016 Bears averaged 15.7 points per game. And they had Alshon Jeffery to work with in every game, while Barkley played three of four without the star wide receiver.

"I think we've seen progression every week," Barkley said. "It's just really a matter of execution for four quarters. We've been so close in a number of games now for the last couple of weeks.

"We are still shooting ourselves in the foot. I can only imagine what we would look like if we were consistent in executing for four quarters. There's a positive outlook, knowing we are capable of winning games.

"It's really just a matter of executing. It starts with me and it starts with getting everyone on the field on the same page. It's about being consistent."

Bears last-second loss to Packers another character statement for the future more than the present.

By John Mullin

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Willie Young chose his words deliberately, with purpose, in the aftermath of the Bears’ 30-27 loss to the Green Bay Packers on a final-second field goal Sunday.

“Right now it’s all about building, figuring out what we have, figuring out the kind of guys… ,” Young paused on “the kind of guys.”

“Right now I’ll roll with everybody we’ve got next year,” he said emphatically. “Finishing this year with all the adversity we’ve dealt with, is going to make us a stronger team. We’re going to know how to deal with every possible situation you could think of. At the end of the day, this team can plug away, and the fight that I see in this team is amazing.”

“We could’ve gone in the tank a couple weeks ago once we knew we weren’t going to the playoffs. That’s not what we did.”

A mantra of coach John Fox is that the NFL is a performance-based business, and performance is defined as wins. Most of the time, anyway.

So at this point of a 3-11 season, what exactly do you take away from another try-hard game that the Bears again fell just short of winning?

Actually, quite a bit.

For the fourth time in as many Matt Barkley starts, the Bears have been either pulling away (vs. San Francisco) or playing their way back into position to win a game with a play in the fourth quarter of a game. (Jay Cutler once got a $126 million contract from a Bears general manager on the strength of one late-2013 comeback against the Cleveland Browns. Wonder what three of these comebacks, the latest against a Packers team now 7-4 and in position to win the NFC North, will be worth? But that’s an offseason talking point between the Bears and Barkley’s agent.)

This time it was the defense that dropped the ball, figuratively this time, rather than a Bears receiver doing it. But the result was the same.

Sunday’s loss, which ties the all-time Bears-Packers series at 94-94-6, the first time it’s been tied since 1933, was the Bears’ sixth in their last seven, as usual with enough blame to give just about every phase two helpings. The offense turned the ball over on the first three possessions of the second half, leading to 17 points and a 27-10 Green Bay lead. The defense, with abysmal tackling and big plays allowed that were their own nightmare negatives, allowed a season-high 451 yards.

But Aaron Rodgers has done that to far loftier defenses, including the final dagger of the 60-yards heave over cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc to Jordy Nelson to set up that field goal.

Coaches are hired or fired based on wins and losses, and another story, later retracted, surfaced last week that Fox was likely gone after this season. Considering what the Bears are doing with a lot of spare parts (nine starters were missing from Sunday’s game) and taking playoff-grade teams (Detroit, Green Bay, Tennessee,  New York Giants, all in the span of the last five weeks) to final-play brinks, Fox clearly has built something that isn’t covered in just the win-loss record.

"We're not about moral victories and stuff, but it was a good finish and a good character fight for our team,” said rookie center Cody Whitehair. “Obviously we wanted to win, but it's good to show that fight and character."

Fodder for second-guessing

The easy second-guesses are of Fox’s decisions, first, to opt for a tying field goal instead of a possible go-ahead touchdown at the Green Bay 4 and 1:23 remaining, and second, to decline the 10-second clock runoff the Bears could have taken because of the Packers needing a fourth timeout due to an injury on their final possession.

Fox went for the tie on the premise that his defense had stopped the Packers on consecutive three-and-outs earlier in the fourth quarter, allowing a combined five yards net. Taking the three points then gave his team the shot at a win with another stop and then a field goal.

As for the option of going for the touchdown and a 31-27 lead, “that’s one of those decisions,” Fox said. “We tied the game, had an opportunity to go to overtime, didn’t quite get there. I’m sure we’d have questions if we had gone for it on fourth down and didn’t get that, either.

“It comes with the territory and we managed not to win the game.”

Taking the 10 seconds by rule would’ve given Rodgers 10 fewer seconds to perpetrate whatever mischief he could. As it turned out, the Packers stopped the clock with four seconds left after Rodgers’ 60-yard completion to Nelson to set up Green Bay’s winner.

But Fox wanted those 10 seconds, not for Rodgers, but for his own offense, which was suddenly unstoppable on fourth-quarter drives of 75, 69 and 80 yards. If his defense makes a stop – and it had the Packers exactly where it wanted: third-and-11 at the Green Bay 26 – the Bears have the football back with perhaps time for a move into position for the win.

“We didn’t really forecast a 60-yard play down the middle there, actually letting the clock run,” Fox said. “It would be aggressive… .It’s third-and-[11], we have to make a play. That wasn’t exactly a play we were looking for.”

Ironically, it was a play that the defensive players specifically cautioned against in their final huddle.

But second-guessing and hindsight are always easy. Playing to win when there’s really nothing to win isn’t.

“It’s never all for nothing,” said wide receiver Cameron Meredith, who led the Bears with 9 receptions for 104 yards, 4 of the receptions in the Bears’ 17-point fourth quarter. “It’s all about the little things, the details.”

Bears Grades: Offense rebound from turnovers but not far enough in loss to Packers.

By John Mullin

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Too often this season the Bears lament is that they failed to finish, whether plays or games. Losing Sunday to the Green Bay Packers traced more to not starting, at least not soon enough.

The Bears rang up 27 points, their highest point total of the season, and 449 yards, second to the 522 at Indianapolis, on a Green Bay defense that was allowing 347 yards per game. They dominated the Packers in the fourth quarter, but the yards and points were anything but garbage-time stats, with the Bears tying the game in the final minutes before watching the Packers close out the game with a field goal at the expense of the defense.

The problem offensively was that the Bears took so long to really assert themselves offensively, tied 10-10 at halftime but being shut out in the third quarter before quarterback Matt Barkley redeemed himself from four turnovers (leading to 17 third-quarter Packers points) to engineer the near-comeback.

“Obviously we dug ourselves a hole,” said coach John Fox. “But [Barkley] responded, our team responded. That’s the good news. [The bad news is we didn’t do the things necessary to win the game. We’d like to avoid those picks and hopefully at some point we will.”

Quarterback: B

A difficult critique to do, because of the mixture of excellence and egg-laying. A revealing measure of a player is typically how he responds to a problem, and Barkley revealed a resilience that will only enhance his appeal next offseason when he becomes a free agent.

After a largely turnover-free run of games as the starter, Barkley played alternately like Aaron Rodgers and then Jay Cutler. He turned the football over on four straight possessions, albeit with the first coming on an interception of a Hail Mary into the end zone, resulting only in a touchback on the final play of the half. But the Packers continued to profit by his mistakes in the third quarter, with 17 points off turnovers.

He failed to be aware of where he was vulnerable to pressure, suffering a strip-sack by Julius Peppers when Peppers was against Charles Leno with no backside help. Barkley, who continues to throw a very catchable ball, was not helped (again) by drops of catchable balls by wide receivers in the first half but put passes generally where his receivers or no one could make the catches.

But he badly overthrew tight end Daniel Brown for one interception and was undone when rookie wideout Daniel Braverman appeared to run a route too deep and the ball was intercepted.

But Barkley’s performance in the fourth quarter, again putting his team in position for a win on a final possession, was exemplary (15 for 20, 166 yards, TD, zero INT).

“He just sat back in the pocket and did what he did,” said center Cody Whitehair. “Matt’s a great player and it doesn’t surprise us. . . We never got the feeling that he was down [after the interceptions]. He never lost confidence in himself. He just kept doing what he was doing. He did a nice job today.”

Running back: A-

Jordan Howard ignited Soldier Field with a physical nine-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter to bring the Bears to within a stop and a score of tying or taking the lead on the Packers. He finished with 90 yards to give him 1,059 for the season, and six TD’s. He also caught all four passes thrown to him for an additional 23 yards.

Jeremy Langford and Ka’Deem Carey each carried once and Langford caught one pass. The backs collectively contributed to pass protection in isolated situations.

Failure to run the football more than 19 times limited what Bears backs could do.

Receivers: A-

Josh Bellamy shook off an earlier pass drop to take a flanker screen at the Green Bay 10 in the second quarter and take cornerback Demarious Randall one-on-one into the end zone.

Cam Meredith had gainers of 34 and 17 yards on conservative calls, Meredith breaking tackles for significant yards after catch and after contact. Meredith led the Bears with nine catches for 109 yards, and Deonte Thompson caught eight for 110 yards.

Alshon Jeffery marked his return with a third-down drop to end the Bears’ first possession. Bellamy, whose drops in game-changing situations two of the past three weeks, was unable to hold onto a third-down heave from Barkley after the quarterback had managed to elude a Green Bay blitz. Bellamy also let a third-quarter sideline throw go through his hands.

Braverman got on the field in the third quarter but appeared to run a crossing route too deep, resulting in Barkley’s pass to him to be intercepted.

Offensive line: B+

The zone blocking of left guard Josh Sitton and tackle Charles Leno was textbook, with center Cody Whitehair getting to the second level with interference, all combining for Howard’s nine-yard TD in the fourth quarter. 

Leno was beaten to the outside by Peppers for a strip-sack on the Bears’ first possession of the third quarter, giving the Packers possession at the Chicago 17. Ted Larsen, who had false start and holding penalties in the loss to Detroit, committed a first-down false start in the third quarter.

But the Bears averaged 5.0 yards per carry with no run longer than 13 yards. And Barkley was sacked just once in 44 dropbacks.

Coaching: F

The Bears played with effort and intensity, if not always with NFL ability, for the better part of 60 minutes, which counts for something when a team is 3-10 and then falls behind 27-10 after three quarters. So Bears coaches score well on attitude prep. After that… .

The “quarters” coverage that the Bears were in on the Rodgers-to-Jordy Nelson completion to set up the winning field goal was a tipping-point call. The Packers clearly had a sense of what defense they would find the Bears in, and the Bears were in something that could have a rookie cornerback covering a Pro Bowl wide receiver. The down-and-distance were ideal (third-and-long) and players were aware of possibilities, but coaches did not put players in the best positions to be successful.

Against one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks the Bears were able to survive some coverage and pass-rush shortcomings, but not many. The glaring issues were tackling failures on runs of 61 and 37 yards by Ty Montgomery, although the defensive staff was working without linchpin nose tackle Eddie Goldman (ankle) as well as the two starting inside linebackers.

The rush scheme was controlled and did not generate enough pressure to help the secondary, which was having its own problems in run support.

The play calling on offense remains simply difficult to understand, with the Bears, despite a 10-10 halftime score, throwing 16 passes in the half and running just eight times, combining to be part of converting none of the three third-down opportunities in the half. Midway through the third quarter the Bears had thrown seven passes to Thompson and only handed off to Howard eight times, plus two passes to Howard.

The game saw 24 touches by Bears backs (19 carries, five receptions), vs. 39 other pass plays despite the Bears averaging 5.0 yards per carry for the game. Barkley turned the ball over three times in the third quarter, and why the game plans so consistently place the principal load on a third-string quarterback when a 1,000-yard rookie rusher is standing within handoff range of him.

Bears Grades: Defensive breakdowns sink Bears in loss to Packers.

By John Mullin

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

One of the signature positives for the otherwise-dismal 2016 Bears season has been the development of the defense, from historic lows two and three years ago, to respectability in last season’s transition year to a 3-4 base, to a top-10 unit this year.

And then there was Sunday against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.

The abacus that was needed to count the dropped passes by Bears receivers in previous games against Tennessee and Detroit should have been repurposed Sunday to tally missed tackles and poor execution by members of a Bears defense that entered the game against the Packers ranked seventh in yardage allowed per game, sixth in pass defense and giving up 107 rushing yards per game.

Green Bay heaped 451 total yards on the Bears, the most by any offense this year and the highest total since the Detroit Lions piled up 546 in an overtime win in Oct. 2015. The Green Bay offense, ranked 29th averaging 98.6 rushing yards per game, trampled the Bears for 226 ground yards, including 162 and two touchdowns by Ty Montgomery, a converted wide receiver.

“Obviously when you have that many rush yards, there is an issue,” said coach John Fox. “It was one of those things we talked about was going to have to happen and our ‘must’ to win the game, and we came up short.”

The pass defense collapsed at the defining moment of the game, with wide receiver Jordy Nelson getting behind rookie cornerback Cre’Von LeBlanc to haul in a 60-yard pass from Rodgers to set up the game-winning field in the final minute.

An alarming aspect of that situation was that the Bears were specifically alerted to the big-play possibility by one of their defensive leaders and still were beaten.

“Having played those [Green Bay] guys for a while and knowing the type of quarterback that Aaron Rodgers is, I kind of had a feeling that they didn’t want to go to overtime,” said cornerback Tracy Porter. “They were trying to win the game. So, they were going to try and take a shot at some point.

“I kind of told the guys to keep their antennas up. I said that even though this is a tied game and under a minute left, I felt like he wasn’t looking to go into overtime. He was looking to win the game and go home. So, we had to have our awareness up and I tried to relay that to as many guys as I could.”

Call it lost in translation, or transition, or transmission. Whatever the specific failure, whether LeBlanc’s for allowing Nelson to turn him and blast by him or a safety’s for not providing deep help against the No. 1 receiver in their offense, the damage was done.

The Packers had eight plays of 20 yards or longer (the Bears had four) and four of those eight were running plays as the Bears repeatedly took poor angles and failed to make tackles either one-on-one or, surprisingly, in group swarms.

With a chance to keep the Packers in their end in the second quarter, no fewer than three Bears missed tackles to turn a short gainer into a 61-yard ramble by receiver-turned-tailback Montgomery.

The defense had given the offense a much-needed reprieve after a lost football on a strip-sack of Matt Barkley by Julius Peppers on the first play of the third quarter. Holding the Packers to a field goal kept the game within one good drive by the offense. The offense, however, turned the ball over to the Packers twice more in the quarter on interceptions, converted into touchdowns by Rodgers.

“It was just too many big plays,” said defensive end Mitch Unrein. “Too many big plays. And that’s not like us.”

Defensive line: D-

With Goldman out, C.J. Wilson opened at nose tackle and managed a sack of Rodgers in the first quarter. Akiem Hicks managed a sack that was negated by a holding penalty on the secondary.

But the interior linemen were generally ineffective and not able to stop or even slow too many Green Bay runs before those were into the second level of the Bears’ defense. Wilson led the linemen with three solo tackles but only Hicks (an assisted tackle, two quarterback hits) was credited with any sort of impact play.

The lack of pressure on Rodgers, who was too often allowed as much as 6-7 seconds to get a throw off, was disturbing.

Linebacker: C-

Pernell McPhee closed out a Green Bay possession in the fourth quarter with a sack of Rodgers. McPhee finished with two sacks and three tackles for loss and was around the football repeatedly. McPhee was credited with three tackles for loss.

Nick Kwiatkoski delivered a major solo stop of a shovel pass on the Packers’ next-to-last play to set up the desired third-and-long. But Kwiatkoski had a free run at Rodgers on a first-possession blitz but Rodgers stepped away from the sack. Kwiatkoski lost tight end Jared Cook in coverage and took a poor angle that contributed to Montgomery getting through the middle for 37 rushing yards in the second quarter.

John Timu was credited with six tackles, two for loss, but missed tackles that contributed to too much yardage after contact by Packers ballcarriers.

Leonard Floyd was a non-factor in a game where the Bears needed his speed to hurry Rodgers. Floyd failed to register a tackle, quarterback hit or any other impact play.

Secondary: F

The pass rush too often allowed Rodgers huge blocks of time to wait on one of his receivers breaking open, which they did for 252 yards. But the secondary contributed too many missed tackles and other mistakes.

A major portion of blame falls on LeBlanc for his and the safeties’ failure to keep Nelson in front of them on the 60-yard completion to set up the game-winning field goal.

Porter failed to make the tackle or edge-seal on Montgomery’s four-yard touchdown run at the end of the first Packers possession. He then negated a third-down sack of Rodgers with a hold to give Green Bay an automatic first down.

LeBlanc lost the edge to allow a 13-yard run outside in the first quarter. He also struggled in man coverage as the Packers went often with four and five out in patterns. LeBlanc also missed the deflection and then the tackle on a 19-yard completion to Davante Adams in the third quarter. He compounded all of that with a weak tackling attempt that allowed running back Christine Michael loose for a 42-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. That score put the Packers up 27-10 going into the fourth quarter and effectively beyond the reach of a turnover-prone Bears offense.

Demontre Hurst allowed Cook loose for a 27-yard third-down conversion in the first quarter, eventually leading to Green Bay’s TD on the opening possession. Hurst, who did sack Rodgers on a corner blitz in the first half, failed completely to stop Montgomery in traffic at the line of scrimmage on a 26-yard run that led to Green Bay’s second touchdown.

Special teams: B

Pat O’Donnell and the coverage unit gave the defense a boost with a punt downed at the Green Bay 1 in the first quarter. Josh Bellamy celebrated his second-quarter touchdown catch with a stop at the Green Bay 15 on the ensuing kickoff.

Connor Barth got the Bears their first points on a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter and converted the tying field goal from 22 yards late in the fourth quarter.

Deiondre Hall was flagged for a block in the back on a punt return that didn’t happen because the ball went out of bounds.

Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... Detroit Pistons vs. Chicago Bulls Preview, 12-19-2016.

Scores & Stats

The Chicago Bulls are enduring a three-game losing streak in a stretch with losses in six of eight and found a new low in a 95-69 home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday. The Bulls, who were booed by their own fans on the way off the court after Friday's loss, with try to bounce back when they host the Detroit Pistons on Monday.

Chicago shot 30.4 percent from the floor and scored a season low while getting trounced by the Bucks for a second straight after losing 108-97 in Milwaukee on Thursday. "Don't nobody come out to watch us get beat the way we got beat," Bulls star guard Jimmy Butler told reporters. "The way that we've been playing, it's unacceptable, especially for this city." The Pistons are enduing a slide of their own with back-to-back setbacks and losses in five of the last eight after dropping below .500 with a 105-90 home loss to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday. "In our offense, the ball is not moving, it's sticking, guys are letting the offensive frustration get to them at the defensive end," Detroit coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters. "We're not in a good place right now, you go through it at times during the season and we're not very good right now."

TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, CSN Chicago

ABOUT THE PISTONS (14-15): Detroit leads the Eastern Conference in scoring defense, allowing an average of 96.9 points, but surrendered 113.5 in the last two losses. "We are not playing defense," point guard Reggie Jackson told reporters. "That is what it comes down to. We have been a pretty good defensive team throughout the season. We just haven't been good as of late. We got to figure it out and find a way to string together stops and compete for 48 minutes; understand that there are ups and downs in games and find a way to get wins." Jackson was one of the bright spots on Saturday with 19 points and 10 assists in his first double-double since returning to the lineup on Dec. 4.

ABOUT THE BULLS (13-13): Chicago was outscored 34-15 in the first quarter on Friday and never made a push to get back into the game as Dwyane Wade (12 points on 5-of-14 shooting) was the only starter to score in double figures. Butler's seven points marked the first time this season he failed to score in double figures. "We know what we're capable of, we know what to do," Butler told reporters. "Go out there and execute, do what we're supposed to be doing. We don't need to sit in a circle and hold each other's hands and talk about all of that. We don't talk that much out there on the floor. That's where the problem begins. We got to help each other, we got to be vocal."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pistons SF Tobias Harris is 2-of-15 from 3-point range in the last four games.

2. Chicago PF Nikola Mirotic fell out of the rotation and did not play in the last two games.

3. Detroit earned a 102-91 home win over Chicago on Dec. 6 despite Butler's 32 points.

PREDICTION: Pistons 102, Bulls 96

Bulls: Michael Carter-Williams could return Christmas Day.

By Vincent Goodwill 

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Bulls guard Michael Carter-Williams is a step closer to returning to action, as he was without his soft cast on his left wrist in the Bulls locker room before Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks.

It’s possible he can return by Christmas Day if all goes well with conditioning and getting caught up physically, a welcome addition considering he hasn’t played since Oct. 31.

"I got my other cast off today,” Carter-Williams said. “I'm going to do some strength exercises this week, and then try to get back on the court if everything feels right.”

Calling a Christmas Day return “realistic”, Carter-Williams has been working out with trainer Chip Schafer in the interim, doing a lot of running to keep himself in as good of shape as possible.

"That's what I'm going for. It feels pretty good,” Carter-Williams said. “Like I said, I've still got to do some strengthening for this week, but that's what I'm hoping for. It's nothing really guaranteed, but that's what I'm going for.”

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg has at times lamented the lack of perimeter pressure defensively, something Carter-Williams has taken pride in during his short time as a Bull.

Missing a starting-caliber point guard has been felt offensively, too, especially as second unit lineups has shuffled.

“There’s been guys out, me, Doug (McDermott), (Rajon) Rondo, a team loses three guys like that, it starts to look a little different,” Carter-Williams told CSNChicago.com. “As a whole when you lose guys it’s hard when you have guys who haven’t played together, you’re mixing and matching.”

The Bulls’ bench was already a point of contention before the season started, so Carter-Williams’ absence only magnified concerns when he injured his knee and wrist in the same game, a blowout win over the Brooklyn Nets on Halloween.

“It’s been tough,” Carter-Williams told CSNChicago.com. “If it was just my leg, I could do a lot of upper body stuff. If it was just my wrist, I could do more with my legs. I’ve been learning a lot just by watching. Can’t wait to get back. Just want to be out there so bad.”

The Bulls have tried plenty to make up for his absence, shuffling players in and out the lineup to mask the lack of a true backup point guard. Like McDermott when the Bulls desperately wanted him back from his concussion scare, the same goes for Carter-Williams.

But just like McDermott, things won’t be in a state of utopia when he does return, as there are plenty of holes in terms of performance.

“With anybody, and they have a role on a team, they think they can help out,” Carter-Williams to CSNChicago.com. “At times, I do think I can be out there to help us win. We’ve had a lot of great moments. It’s hard to see us struggle as a team when you think you can help out and make a difference.”

Bulls tally season-low in points in embarrassing loss to Bucks. (Friday night's game, 12/16/2018).

By Vincent Goodwill   

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Fred Hoiberg punched a basketball in disgust as some unusual effort from his team went unrewarded — as Jimmy Butler dove on the floor to retrieve a loose ball, only for Rajon Rondo to throw it to nobody in particular, leading to a Jabari Parker uncontested dunk.

The play wasn’t symbolic of the Bulls’ effort because that would imply the result of the home-and-home set with the Milwaukee Bucks had something to do with tough luck.

The Bulls didn’t show up after being embarrassed Thursday, deciding to test their act out in front of their home floor with a 95-69 drubbing, a third straight loss and one that ranks among the worst showings in the Hoiberg era.

“Coaches, players, we’re all accountable,” Hoiberg said. “Starting with me, I gotta get us playing more consistently.”

Pushed back to .500, the Bulls are seemingly back to square one. Count Butler among those who aren’t the big believers in team meetings and get-togethers to hash things out.

“It’s all hype. We know what we’re capable of. We know what to do,” Butler said. “We gotta go our there and execute. We don’t need to sit in a circle and hold each other’s hands and talk about all of that. We don’t talk that much on the floor, that’s where the problem begins.

“We gotta help each other. We gotta be vocal. We don’t have to feel sorry for ourselves and sit around in a circle and pat each other on the back.”

They weren’t patted on the back by the unforgiving United Center crowd, as it booed though most of the night, especially as the Bucks lead ballooned to 72-44 in the third quarter.

“I don’t wanna hear no boos, nobody in here wanna hear no boos. We’ll be better next game,” Butler said.

If there were any positives, Hoiberg was likely loathe to locate them. The Bulls shot 30 percent, had a season low in points and allowed the Bucks to run all over the floor, with Giannis Antetokounmpo doing chin-ups on the rim with show-off dunks and plays — earning a technical foul for his efforts midway through the fourth quarter with his team up 24 points.

“Collectively we have to find a way to get out of it,” Hoiberg said. “We have to find a way to regroup, we have to do it together and play together through this rough patch, that’s the only way we know how, is to work.”

The law of averages did not work out, as Antetokounmpo scored 22 with 11 assists and seven rebounds in 35 minutes. He routinely worked the Bulls’ bigs in pick and roll situations as the de-facto point guard, finding players like John Henson or Greg Monroe for easy layups.

Six Bucks scored in double figures, and they seemingly showed no fear to the Bulls being a somewhat formidable veteran team, with Monroe scoring 14 points and grabbing 12 boards off the bench.

Emboldened by handling the Bulls for the better part of 40 minutes as opposed to discouraged by not winning by a larger amount, they immediately restarted the dismantling from the outset.

Once again, they were quicker and faster, jumping higher and playing stronger. And with 24 hours to get the Bulls ready and motivated, they conjured next to nothing in the way of meaningful adjustments.

“They got us again with rebounding and turnovers and not getting back and building a wall defensively,” Hoiberg said. “It starts with communication and we’ve taken a step back in that area.”

Whether Hoiberg doesn’t have the horses to perform in the way of the young players or his message isn’t getting across, the Bucks seem to be the perfect team to exploit their weaknesses — a model other teams are sure to follow in the coming weeks as the Bucks ran the Bulls out of their own building, and the Bulls had nothing to fall back on.

“I don’t wanna talk about the gameplan,” Butler said. “That stays in the locker room with all due respect. We didn’t come out and execute or do whatever the gameplan (called for).”

Leading by 19 after the first quarter, the Bucks either made the Bulls quit or the Bulls failed to show up — as Nikola Mirotic didn’t make it to the afternoon walkthrough after he didn’t play Thursday night and Hoiberg likely punished him for this offense by leaving him as the only Bull in uniform not to play.

But it wasn’t like the ones who did play brought anything besides their bodies, as they shot 22 percent in the first quarter and didn’t cross the 30 percent mark until late in the fourth quarter, when members of their roster who have shuffled back and forth from the D-League finished the game.

Butler looked a little slow for the second straight night, scoring just seven points with six assists and seven rebounds in 31 minutes. Dwyane Wade scored 12 points on five of 14 shooting.

The Bulls started off December with confidence, buoyed by a strong road mark in November. But midway through a home-laden schedule, one has to wonder if this will get very, very ugly.

“If we don’t believe in ourselves, it can get pretty bad pretty fast,” Butler said.

Indeed, it can.

CUBS: Cubs roll out minor league coaching staffs, coordinators.

By Tony Andracki

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

The Cubs rolled out their minor league coaching staffs and coordinators for the 2017 season.

The managers remain the same: Marty Pevey (Triple-A Iowa), Mark Johnson (Double-A Tennessee), Buddy Bailey (Advanced Class-A Myrtle Beach), Jimmy Gonzalez (Class-A South Bend) and Jesus Feliciano (short-season A-ball).

Carmelo Martinez is managing the rookie level in Mesa again while Lance Rymel and Pedro Gonzalez head up the Dominican teams.

Here are the complete coaching staffs at all levels:

The Cubs also announced their minor league coordinators:

Tim Cossins — Field and catching coordinator
Jim Brower — Pitching coordinator
Andy Haines — Hitting coordinator
Jose Flores — Infield coordinator
Doug Dascenzo — Outfield/base running coordinator
Dave Keller — Latin America field coordinator
Mike Mason — Assistant pitching coordinator
Tom Beyers — Assistant hitting coordinator
Josh Lifrak — Director, mental skills program
Rey Fuentes — Latin coordinator, mental skills program
Darnell McDonald — Mental skills program coordinator
Doug Jarrow — Strength and conditioning coordinator
Nick Frangella — Athletic training coordinator
Chuck Baughman — Assistant athletic training coordinator
Ron Villone — Rehab pitching coordinator
Jose Alvarez — Latin America training coordinator

WHITE SOX: Jose Abreu, White Sox avoid arbitration, agree to one-year deal.

CSN Staff

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

The White Sox have avoided going to arbitration with first baseman Jose Abreu as the two sides agreed to a one-year, $10.825 million deal on Saturday.

Abreu originally opted to go into arbitration earlier this offseason and was slated to make $10.5 million in 2017 as part of the original contract he signed with the White Sox in 2013.

The 29-year-old Abreu played in 159 games with the White Sox last season, slashing .293/.353/.468 with 25 home runs and 100 RBI. He became the first White Sox player in franchise history to record three-straight seasons of 30-plus doubles, 25-plus home runs and 100-plus RBI to start his career.

Abreu joined Joe DiMaggio (1936-42), Hideki Matsui (2003-05), Albert Pujols (2001-10), Al Simmons (1924-34), Pinky Whitney (1928-30) and Ted Williams (1939-43, 1945-49) as the seventh player in MLB history to drive in 100-plus RBI in each of his first three seasons.

Abreu, who signed with the White Sox as a free agent out of Cuba in 2013, has appeared in 458 major-league games. He has a career slash line of .299/.360/.515 with 91 home runs and 308 RBI. 

White Sox plan to give prospects more time to develop.

By Dan Hayes

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Out of necessity, the White Sox in the past often expedited a prospect's development plan to get him to the big leagues to fill a vacancy. Carlos Rodon, Carson Fulmer and Tim Anderson are the most recent examples of young players whose paths were sped up in order to potentially play a big role for a contending club.

But now that they're enduring their first rebuild in nearly 20 years, the White Sox say they plan to change the way they operate. With no immediate designs to contend for the postseason, general manager Rick Hahn's focus on the long-term health of the organization will extend to player development, where the White Sox intend to take more time with minor leaguers. While the team's current crop of top prospects — three accrued service time in 2016 — could easily reach the majors next season, the White Sox say there's no rush.

They've decided to embrace their position and will essentially slam on the brakes for the betterment of their young players.

"No guy is going to get to Chicago until we feel they’re ready to have success at the big-league level, that they’re ready for that finishing element of their development that happens at the big-league level," Hahn said last week at the Winter Meetings. "No one’s going to be promoted any time in the foreseeable future simply because there’s a need at their position."

Zack Collins offered many pluses when the White Sox selected him with the No. 10 pick in the 2016 amateur draft. Not only could he potentially be the team's catcher of the future, but Collins' plate approach is so advanced he could have found himself in the majors as a designated hitter by as early as mid-2017 if all went well.

Given 2017 was expected to be the third year of their contention window, Collins potentially gave the White Sox another left-handed hitting option.

But now that they're focused on the future and only the future, Hahn said the White Sox will take their time and try to develop Collins' catching skills. He's likely to start 2017 at Single-A Winston-Salem.

"If he was a bat-only player he would come more quickly because the bat is more mature, more close to big league ready than the receiving," Hahn said last month. "However, we think he has a very good chance to be an everyday catcher with a premium bat and we're going to take the time to bring along the defense at the rate it requires."

The same goes for infielder Yoan Moncada, who after a meteoric rise through the minors had 20 big league plate appearances in 2016. Acquired from Boston in the Chris Sale trade, the White Sox want Moncada, 21, to work on his defense and plate approach. He could start next season at Double-A Birmingham.

While Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez both pitched for Washington last season, last week Hahn said both are likely to begin 2017 in the rotation at Triple-A Charlotte. Same goes for Fulmer, who was in the majors last July, only 13 months after he was drafted. After he struggled in a relief role in the big leagues, Fulmer rebounded with three great starts for Charlotte to end the 2016 season. While Fulmer is close enough to ready for the big leagues, the White Sox may prefer for him to further develop in the minors and force the issue.

The past two seasons the club promoted Rodon and Anderson with the idea that they would take their final development steps in the majors. Each was needed to fill a critical void for a team hopeful it could reach the playoffs. Both have made tremendous strides and proven to be very capable big leaguers. Both also at times exhibited signs they could have used more development in the minors.

But now that they're rebuilding for the first time since 1997 that same rush isn't as likely to occur in the short term. It's the advantage of the White Sox knowing where they're headed and embracing the plan.

"Perhaps the last couple of years, we’ve walked out of these meetings and addressed a number of holes at the big-league level and you get that excitement about wanting to see it all come together," Hahn said. "Your time horizon was much shorter. You were only a few months away from putting it together and seeing it on the field. This is going to be a lot longer than a few months. ...

"It’s going to be about putting them in the best position for their long-term development.

Golf: I got a club for that..... Tiger to design golf course in Chicago.

Associated Press

Tiger Woods will work on the Chicago project that hopes to be completed by 2020. (Photo/Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Tiger Woods has reportedly agreed to be the lead golf course designer for a $30 million project on the South Side of Chicago that would give the area championship facilities with hopes of attracting a top-level PGA TOUR event.

The Chicago Tribune reported Friday that the renovation of Jackson Park and South Shore golf courses would include an 18-hole championship course, and either a short course or a par 3 course.

"This project can create incredible possibilities for the community on the South Side," Woods said in a statement by TGR Design released to the newspaper. "We want to design a course that everyone will enjoy."

A spokesman for Woods said Friday that nothing has been announced.

Woods, whose seven victories in the Chicago area include two PGA Championship titles at Medinah, first toured the area in August with Mark Rolfing, an NBC Sports golf analyst with Chicago ties.

The Tribune said Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Sunday will announce the formation of the Chicago Parks Golf Alliance, a nonprofit aimed at improving Chicago Park District courses and golf facilities, expand youth programs and raise money for the Jackson Park-South Shore project. Emanuel said "restoring these historic golf courses will create another economic and recreational asset for the South Side." The renovation would hope to be completed by 2020, though Jackson Park would remain open the next two years.

The Tribune said an initial routing plan shows the No. 1 tee would be at Jackson Park, not far from the planned $500 million Barack Obama Presidential Center. The newspaper cited unidentified sources as saying Obama became personally involved in the project and encouraged Woods to be the lead designer.

TGR Design recently opened its first domestic course outside Houston called Bluejack National.

The CPGA would partner with the Chicago-based Western Golf Association to promote a caddie program that could lead to scholarships. The WGA runs the Evans Scholarship Foundation that has helped more than 10,000 caddies attend college since 1930.

The WGC also runs the BMW Championship, a FedExCup Playoffs event for the top 70 players. The tournament will be held at Conway Farms in Lake Forest next year and at Medinah in 2019. The tournament's next open date in Chicago would be no earlier than 2021.

Woods won the BMW Championship five times when it was held at Cog Hill, a public course.

"I appreciate the support of Chicago-area fans," Woods said. "They know golf and have been a big part of my victories at both Medinah and Cog Hill. I hope this project will draw more local kids to the game in this fantastic sports town."

Ko: Leadbetter split my decision - not parents'.

By Bailey Mosier

(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)

When David Leadbetter announced on December 7 that he was parting ways with Lydia Ko, he said that he believed Ko’s father, Gil Hong Ko, and her, mother, Tina, were heavily involved in the decision to fire him. Leadbetter thought they were also behind the firing of Lydia’s caddie, Jason Hamilton, during the Asian swing this fall.

“My parting words to Lydia were that I think she needs to take control of her life and her golf game,” Leadbetter said. “She’s the No. 1 player in the world. She isn’t 15 anymore; she’s nearly 20. Her parents have done a great job bringing her up and getting her to a certain level, but she is old enough now to where she should be making her own decisions.”

Now, a little more than a week later, the Rolex world No. 1 is publicly speaking out about the split for the first time, and she's setting the record straight.

“I think I have, yes, sometimes been too reliant on my parents because I am so used to being with them. But I think I need to learn more about taking ownership and making my own decisions.”

Ko continued, "Of course I discussed my decision [to split from Leadbetter] with my parents. They gave their opinions, too. But at the end of the day I made the final decision to change. ... My parents are a big part of my golfing career and I know I wouldn’t be here without them."

Ko's split with Leadbetter and caddie Hamilton aren't the only changes the 19-year-old will be navigating this off-season. She's reportedly switching to PXG equipment in advance of 2017 - a year she hopes comes with less drama.

“I think playing my first tournament of the 2017 season I will get a whole new feeling, just like playing in the Bahamas in my first event as a rookie,” said Ko. “My biggest goal when playing is to enjoy and have fun. Hopefully these changes will give me more confidence.”

NASCAR: Martinsville Speedway breaks ground to install lights, unveils new 70th anniversary logo.

By Jerry Bonkowski

(Photo Getty Images)

Hey, got a light?

Martinsville Speedway does – or more precisely, will have a lot of lights soon.

And you know what that means, right?

NIGHT RACING!

The oldest track in NASCAR broke ground Wednesday to install lights around its .526-mile paper clip shape. While it has not yet been determined when the first race under the lights will be held, when that decision comes about, the Speedway will be ready to flick the “on” switch.

The Speedway also debuted a new logo to celebrate its 70th anniversary of its opening in 1947, which takes place in 2017. The logo highlights the phrase “The Original,” in honor of it being the only track still hosting NASCAR races from the 1949 season.

“Seventy (70) years is something to be really proud of and something we’re taking great pride in,” Martinsville Speedway President Clay Campbell said in a statement. “We wanted to give an iconic look to such an iconic place; a place that’s a true piece of NASCAR history. I think the logo does just that by focusing on the past, while also celebrating the present.”

(Logo Photos/Twitter.com)

The southern Virginia track, which is owned by NASCAR parent company International Speedway Corporation, held its first NASCAR race in 1949 and has since played host to 136 premier series events, as well as 34 Xfinity Series and 36 Camping World Truck Series races.

The new lights and logo are just a part of what is going to be a very season for the Speedway and its officials.

Track founder, the late H. Clay Earles, will be honored next month during the NASCAR Hall of Fame inductions by being awarded the Landmark Award for Outstanding Contributions to NASCAR.

“I can’t think of a more fitting way to kick off the celebration of 70 years,” said Campbell, who is Earles’ grandson. “This track and this sport were his passions and to have him honored this year is truly amazing.”

Official NASCAR 2017 Preview and Press Guide to return after hiatus.

By Jerry Bonkowski

(Photo shown is a mockup of the planned front cover.)

After a nearly four-year hiatus, a popular NASCAR souvenir will be returning in time for the 2017 Daytona 500.

The Official NASCAR 2017 Preview and Press Guide – a full-color reference magazine that includes in-depth features, driver biographies and statistics across all three major NASCAR series – will be produced by Clearwater, Florida-based Professional Media Group (PMG).

It’s not too late for fans to be part of the magazine, too. Go to the Official NASCAR 2017 Preview and Press Guide Facebook page to ask driver questions or post some of your favorite NASCAR memories for a chance to be included in the issue.

According to a press release, “Fans can purchase The Official NASCAR 2017 Preview and Press Guide in advance at a special discounted rate on www.RaceMags.com and be automatically entered for a chance to win a 2017 Daytona 500 VIP experience.

“Beginning in 2017, fans can purchase The Official NASCAR 2017 Preview and Press Guide at the NASCAR Trackside Superstore and NASCAR.com Superstore.”

Matt Kenseth uses two wheels to sharpen his four-wheel game.

By Jerry Bonkowski

(Photo/Getty Images)

With one championship and 38 career Cup-level wins, Matt Kenseth knows how to wheel his way around racetracks from Concord to Fontana on four wheels.

But the soon-to-be 45-year-old (March 10) native of Cambridge, Wisconsin is also pretty slick on two wheels, too.

In a recent story on Bicycling.com, Kenseth’s love for two-wheel riding was made quite evident. He rides a high-tech Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod, wears a heart rate monitor under his jersey, and typically rides with friends including seven-time NASCAR premier series champ Jimmie Johnson and fellow driver Josh Wise, among others.

“We’ve been racing for so many years that when we get away and we go out and ride, it’s kind of a release,” Kenseth told the website/magazine. “The last thing you’re really feeling like talking about (while riding bikes) is (NASCAR) racing.”

While Kenseth will start his 18th full-time season in NASCAR’s top level in 2017, he’s only been riding a bike for about three years.

But he’s proven to be a quick learner, first mountain biking and then road racing.

“I started mountain biking a few years ago with my crew chief, Jason [Ratcliff],” Kenseth told Bicycling.com. “A lot of the guys at Joe Gibbs Racing like to ride mountain bikes, and Jimmie (Johnson) has a group; we started riding MTB Tuesday afternoons after our team meetings.”

Johnson has been one of the biggest influences when Kenseth indulges his two-wheeled alter-ego.

“Of the people I race against, Jimmie is probably the one I ride with the most time, and we’ve always gotten along really well,” Kenseth told Bicycling.com. “Where some people don’t care if you’re behind them or not – because they’re fast and they don’t wanna ride with you – Jimmie’s the guy who’ll ride with you all the time and if he’s in one of his days where he’s really fast and you’re in one of your days where you don’t feel so good, he’ll typically stop somewhere and wait.”

While he has no fear taking chances on an auto racetrack, Kenseth is totally different on two wheels.

As author Hannah Weinberger wrote:

“What Kenseth doesn’t do, though, is take risks. He’s signaling turns, staying out of the drops, and hugging the shoulder because he believes it safer. It’s a cautionary approach markedly different from the way he races (in a race car).”

Bike riding is more than just a passion for Kenseth; it’s also helping him keep his game sharp on the racetrack. He’s one of the oldest full-time racers on NASCAR’s top-level circuit and pedaling 50 miles or more at a time keeps him in tip-top shape both in and out of a race car.

“Certainly you can’t stop the clock, and I think that also has been some of the motivation about me exercising more often and harder than I ever have before,” Kenseth told Bicycling.com. “As the number gets bigger, you certainly spend a little more time thinking about it and certainly, you know, fighting it.

“… There’s not many things worse for me than standing inside of the gym and running on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike. Cycling is more fun. And I get to see a lot of different parts of the country I wouldn’t otherwise. And I’ve got a lot of friends and people I know ride as well so, it turned into a little bit of a social event, too. Instead of going to the gym by yourself, you get to see some friends, you get to meet and ride with a lot of cool people.”

Click here for the full story about Kenseth on Bicycling.com.

SOCCER: Tottenham 2-1 Burnley: Rose finds way through as Spurs pummels Burnley.

By Kyle Bonn

(Photo/nbcsports.com)

It will go down as a come-from-behind win, but Tottenham was clearly the better side, pummeling the Burnley goal until finding the winner with 20 minutes to go as Danny Rose led the way to all three points at White Hart Lane.

Spurs had a good chance in the opening few minutes as Harry Kane flashed a cross along the face of goal but it was just out of reach of Christian Eriksen. However, it was Burnley who will feel they truly should have gone in front. Tottenham finished with 30 shots (9 on target) while Burnley could muster just five efforts, with just two on target.

11 minutes in, Stephen Ward found space down the left, and his cross fell right to a charging Andre Gray in the heart of the box, but his poke was straight at Hugo Lloris who rejected the shot, leaving Gray with his head in his hands.

The game snoozed its way past the 20th minute, and just like that, Burnley went in front on a bit of sloppy play from Spurs. Harry Winks hung Kyle Walker out to dry on the Spurs right, and that let the visitors work the ball into the box. George Boyd spun and delivered the ball in front of net, and it pinged off the foot of Moussa Dembele right into the path of Ashley Barnes who slid to poke it into the back of the net.

The goal for Burnley is just the club’s second on the road all season, and the first from open play, with their only other away goal coming from the penalty spot back in October against Southampton.

That seemed to push Spurs into life, and they would respond almost immediately. Walker got space down the right, and he fizzed in a cross to the penalty spot, where Dele Alli stepped right in front of Harry Kane to power it in for the equalizer. Kane had one more go four minutes before halftime, but his shot was saved awkwardly by Tom Heaton.

After the break, Burnley made a point to push Spurs out wide, where they seemed slightly uncomfortable. Dembele out wide in the 50th minute found Eriksen in space centrally well outside the box, and the Danish midfielder ripped a dangerous effort that stunningly just grazed over the bar with Heaton beaten.

Eric Dier made a dangerous challenge with Grey free, but just got a clip of the ball to keep him from being cautioned or worse. Just down the other end, Eriksen again should have scored right in front of net, but bungled the chance. Danny Rose pressure on Matthew Lowton deep in the corner saw Rose come out with the ball, and he dinked it over to Eriksen in the box, but his header was directly at Heaton.

Alli nearly had a stunner past the hour mark, but he just missed the top corner by inches with a turn and clipped shot. Spurs continued to pummel the Burnley goal, and a loopy, dipping ball from Eriksen forced a great save by Heaton on 64 minutes.

Burnley wouldn’t be able to hold on forever, though, and it was Rose to put Spurs in front. A good ball from substitute Moussa Sissokho, he fed Rose on the left, and instead of touching inside, he hit it quick and beat Heaton to the near post to put Spurs in front.

The visitors had a spell of pressure toward the end looking to make their way back in the game, but there was no way through. The three points for Spurs sees them pull within one of Arsenal, who lost to Manchester City on the road. Burnley remains in trouble, three points above the relegation zone in 16th.

Manchester City 2-1 Arsenal: Stunning goal sees Guardiola earn signature win.

By Kyle Bonn

(Photo/nbcsports.com)

An unbelievable pass and fine finish saw Manchester City complete its comeback and give Pep Guardiola his biggest win of the season as City took down Arsenal 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium.

Kevin De Bruyne delivered one of the assists of the season and Raheem Sterling finished it off in style as Manchester City moved to third in the Premier League table. Theo Walcott had put Arsenal in front early, but they had little else to offer and allowed City to slowly build their way back in. Leroy Sane was the one to equalize just minutes after halftime before Sterling’s winner.

Arsenal was content to sit back and see City come at them, and when they got on the ball, they were immediately incisive. Unpressured, Alexis Sanchez was able to dribble forward and feed through Theo Walcott, who had snuck behind Nicolas Otamendi, and the English international struck home clinically for the opener just five minutes gone by.

Right down the other end, it should have been 1-1, but the home side missed a huge chance. De Bruyne ripped a perfect cross into the box, and Sterling was there to meet it, but he blasted his header just wide right with the goal gaping.

The game slowed down following that chance, with few chances past the half-hour mark, but Arsenal held much of the meaningful possession. Walcott headed just wide from a Gabriel cross on 35 minutes, and David Silva earned the game’s first yellow card minutes later as he brought down Francis Coquelin on a break.

Pablo Zabaleta appeared to be slowing by halftime, and out of the break Guardiola replaced him with Bacary Sagna. Hardly even out of the break, Manchester City was level. A chipped ball from David Silva caught the Arsenal back line napping, and it slipped Sane through to charge into the box and tap home jus two minutes after the restart. Replay showed Sane was just a hair offside, but the margin was very slight.

Petr Cech saved the game for the Gunners on the hour mark, as Sane nearly put City in front. Fernando won the ball in midfield, allowing de Bruyne to feed Sane again as he stayed clearly onside this time, but Petr Cech came off his line to smother the chance and Sane subsequently shot right into the chest of the Arsenal goalkeeper.

Then, the moment of the match and maybe a moment of the season. One of the most incredible passes you’ll ever see, Kevin de Bruyne got the ball on a throw-in and somehow contorted his body to clip the ball 40 yards across the pitch while facing his own goal. The ball fell right into the lap of Sterling, and still with work to do, he cut inside and beat Cech to his near post to put Manchester City in front. A stunning goal from start to finish, fitting to win this match.

The win for Manchester City sees them jump the Gunners into third place on 36 points, relief for Pep Guardiola now on two straight wins after the rare pair of losses. For Arsenal, they fall to fourth and now sit just a point above rival Spurs after Tottenham downed Burnley.

La Liga & Serie A: Barca cruise in derby; Mertens bags four for Napoli.

By Andy Edwards

(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

A roundup of Sunday’s action in Spain and Italy’s top flights…

Barcelona 4-1 Espanyol

The gap between Barcelona and Real Madrid is now just three points after the Blaugrana thrashed Espanyol in the Catalan derby on Sunday (though Madrid now have a game in hand due to their trip to the Club World Cup). Luis Suarez scored twice, his 11th and 12th goals of the 2016-17 La Liga season, with Lionel Messi and Jordi Alba also netting for Barca.

Suarez’s second, and Barca’s second, stands out as the pick of the litter, not for the Uruguayan’s finish, but for the mesmerizing passage of dribbling by Messi during the build-up (WATCH HERE). Messi was made to wait until the 90th minute to notch his 10th goal of the league season, but it was well worth the wait, even if only for the sequence of passes between himself and Suarez.

Elsewhere in La Liga

Deportivo La Coruña 2-0 Osasuna

Leganes 1-1 Eibar

Team	GP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Home	Away	PTS
Real Madrid	15	11	4	0	40	14	26	6-2-0	5-2-0	37
Barcelona	16	10	4	2	41	16	25	4-3-1	6-1-1	34
Sevilla	16	10	3	3	32	21	11	7-0-1	3-3-2	33
Villarreal	16	8	5	3	25	11	14	6-1-1	2-4-2	29
Real Sociedad	16	9	2	5	28	21	7	5-2-1	4-0-4	29
Atlético Madrid	16	8	4	4	29	14	15	5-2-1	3-2-3	28
Eibar	16	6	5	5	22	20	2	5-2-1	1-3-4	23
Athletic	15	7	2	6	20	18	2	5-1-1	2-1-5	23
Espanyol	16	5	7	4	20	22	-2	2-4-2	3-3-2	22

Napoli 5-3 Torino

Dries Mertens scored not one, not two, not three, but four goals as third-place Napoli blitzed ninth-place Torino early and held on for dear life late. Mertens had his hat trick after 22 minutes, and former Tottenham Hotspur defender Vlad Chiriches made it 4-1 (following Andrea Belotti’s league-leading 12th goal of the season) after 70 minutes.

Then came the comeback attempt, as Torino pulled one back six minutes later, only to be rebuffed by Mertens’ fourth of the game in the 80th minute, followed by another for Tottenham man, Iago Falque, pulling the visitors back to within two goals. The victory pulls Napoli to within a point of Roma in the race for second, but still only fourth in the league table after Lazio made easy work of Fiorentina to remain third.

Lazio 3-1 Fiorentina

Keita put the home side ahead after 23 minutes, and Lucas Biglia made it 2-0 during first-half stoppage time. Former West Ham United forward Mauro Zarate pulled Fiorentina back to 2-1 in the 64th minute, but that’s as close as the Viola would get, as Stefan Radu put a tidy bow on the victory in the 90th minute.

Elsewhere in Series A

Sassuolo 0-1 Inter Milan

Udinese 2-0 Crotone

Pescara 3-0 Bologna

Chievo 2-1 Sampdoria

Genoa 3-4 Palermo

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	17	11	2	4	36	17	19	8-0-0	3-2-4	35
Napoli	17	10	4	3	37	18	19	6-2-1	4-2-2	34
Lazio	17	10	4	3	32	18	14	6-1-2	4-3-1	34
AC Milan	17	10	3	4	27	20	7	6-2-1	4-1-3	33
Atalanta	17	9	2	6	25	20	5	5-0-3	4-2-3	29
Inter Milan	17	8	3	6	25	21	4	5-2-1	3-1-5	27
Fiorentina	17	7	5	5	25	21	4	4-4-0	3-1-5	26
Torino	17	7	4	6	35	27	8	5-2-1	2-2-5	25

PL roundup: Chelsea go 9 points clear; in-form Man Utd win again.

By Andy Edwards

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

A roundup of Saturday’s action in the Premier League…

Crystal Palace 0-1 Chelsea — FULL RECAP

Have Chelsea already won the PL? It’s a question which Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Mustoe and Kyle Martino tackled (below video) even before the Blues moved to 11 league games without dropping a point with another dominant defensive display, away to Crystal Palace. Diego Costa scored the game’s only goal, his PL-leading 13th of the season, two minutes before halftime, and that was all Antonio Conte‘s side would require. In those 11 wins, Chelsea have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 25-2, including three straight 1-0 victories since last conceding a goal to Manchester City on Dec. 3.

West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Manchester United — FULL RECAP

Speaking of winning streaks — albeit of the significantly shorter variety — Zlatan Ibrahimovic fired Man United to their third straight victory, away to West Brom, with a goal early in each of the first and second halves. Jesse Lingard set up the first with a delightful cross from the right wing after five minutes (WATCH HERE), and Wayne Rooney fed the big Swede for his second of the game, his 11th of the season, 11 minutes into the second half. The Red Devils are now level with Tottenham Hotspur (who play on Sunday) on 30 points for fifth in the league table, just four and three back of Arsenal and Manchester City (who play each other on Sunday) for third and fourth, respectively.

Stoke City 2-2 Leicester City — FULL RECAP

Jamie Vardy was sent off after 28 minutes for a lunging challenge on Mame Biram Diouf, and the Foxes duly fell 2-0 behind before the halftime interval, thanks to Bojan Krkic‘s penalty kick in the 39th minute and Joe Allen‘s fifth goal of the season two minutes into stoppage time. Then, it all came crashing down for the Potters, who conceded twice in 14 minutes at the tail end of the second half, first to Leonardo Ulloa and finally, in the 88th minute, to Daniel Amartey, in settling for a 2-2 home draw against the defending champions.

Middlesbrough 3-0 Swansea City — FULL RECAP

Another game, another putrid defensive display from Swansea, who have now conceded 11 goals in their last four league games (three losses, one win). Alvaro Negredo finished from near the penalty spot after 18 minutes, and directly from the penalty spot just before the halftime hour. Marten De Roon completed the rout on 58 minutes, and just like that, Bob Bradley‘s Swans suddenly find themselves back in 19th place, only clear of 20th on goal differential.

West Ham United 1-0 Hull City — FULL RECAP

West Ham are another side suddenly streaking, having won two league games in a row for the second time this season, and the first time since Oct. 22. Saturday’s home triumph over Hull, in which Mark Noble scored the game’s only goal from the penalty spot in the 76th minute, propels Slaven Bilic‘s side to the dizzying heights of 13th place in the league table.

Sunderland 1-0 Watford — FULL RECAP

Patrick Van Aanholt, ever the goal-scoring threat at left back, put Sunderland ahead of Watford in the 49th minute, and that’s how proceedings would finish at the Stadium of Light. With their fourth win of the season (and third in six games), David Moyes‘ Black Cats are up to 18th and now just a single point behind Crystal Palace one place outside the relegation zone.

Serie A roundup: Juve beat 2nd-place Roma, go 7 points clear.

By Andy Edwards

(Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

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

Juventus 1-0 Roma

The calendar says it’s mid-December once again, which means it’s just about time for Juve to all but wrap up the Serie A title and flick the cruise-control switch for the rest of the season. Ahead of Saturday’s clash with second-place Roma, their lead was a manageable four points. After Gonzalo Higuain scored his 10th league goal of the season, 15 minutes into proceedings at Juventus Stadium, the gap had grown to seven points with just two games remaining before the halfway point of the campaign.

AC Milan 0-0 Atalanta

With Roma dropping all three points, Milan would have moved back to level with the Romans on points, after losing the two sides’ head-to-head battle on Monday, with a victory over sixth-place Atalanta. It wasn’t to be for Vincenzo Montella’s side, as 59 percent of the game’s possession was converted into just 11 shots (3 on target), having bested in both statistical categories (14 and 4). Milan will finish the weekend in fifth if both Napoli and Lazio, who presently sit on 31 points, win on Sunday.

Elsewhere in Serie A

Empoli 2-0 Cagliari

La Liga roundup: Atleti snap poor run of results, still sit 6th.

Associated Press

(Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

Atletico Madrid beat Las Palmas 1-0 to snap a three-game winless streak and avoid losing more ground to the leaders in the Spanish league on Saturday ahead of the winter break.

Saul Niguez scored with a well-placed shot from outside the area in the 59th minute at Vicente Calderon Stadium, hitting the far corner with a curling left-foot shot to put an end to the team’s recent struggles.

“This goal comes at the right time in what has been an up-and-down season,” Niguez said. “It helped the team win and it brings confidence.”

Diego Simeone’s squad was coming off a 3-0 loss to Villarreal and a 0-0 home draw against Espanyol in the league. It also lost 1-0 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, a result that kept the team from finishing the group stage with a perfect record.

“It was an extraordinary year,” coach Simeone said. “We have to improve in the league, it’s true, but our fans should be proud of the year that we had.”

Atletico remained sixth in the league, nine points behind leader Real Madrid, which was in the Club World Cup final in Japan.

Third-place Barcelona, six points off the lead, hosts Espanyol on Sunday.

Striker Luciano Vietto scored a pair three minutes apart in the first half to lead 10-man Sevilla to victory.

Ben Yedder and Victor “Vitolo” Machin also scored before halftime as the hosts won for the fourth time in their last five league matches.

Malaga scored through forward Sandro in the 62nd, just a couple of minutes after Sevilla defender Adil Rami was sent off for a second yellow card.

Sevilla was second in the standings while Malaga, winless in three matches, stayed 11th.

Villarreal stayed near the top with a comfortable win over struggling Sporting in Gijon.

Jonathan dos Santos, Nicola Sansone and Alexandre Pato scored in Villarreal’s first away win since September.

Sporting’s consolation goal was by Carlos Carmona in the 89th.

The result marked Sporting’s fifth loss in its last six games, leaving the club 18th in the 20-team standings, inside the relegation zone.

Real Sociedad got goals from Jon Bautista and Juanmi in the second half to win its second in a row and lie fifth.

Granada, which has won only one game in the league so far, stayed with nine points after 16 matches, two points ahead of last-place Osasuna.

NCAAFB: AAC gets off to bumpy 0-2 start to the bowl season.

By Kevin McGuire

(AP Photo/David Becker)

The American Athletic Conference may be, arguably, the strongest and deepest of the Group of Five conferences in college football, but the bowl season has not gotten off to a good start for the conference that sells itself is the sixth power conference. Houston and UCF both took losses in the two bowl games involving teams from the AAC on Saturday, getting the conference off to a disappointing 0-2 start to the season.

Houston suffered a blowout loss in the Las Vegas Bowl against Mountain West Conference champion San Diego State, with Donnel Pumphrey setting the new all-time NCAA rushing record in the process. The Cougars were a five-point favorite heading into the matchup with the Aztecs and returned home with a 24-point loss in the head coaching debut of Major Applewhite. For a team that knocked off top five opponents Oklahoma and Louisville in the regular season, ending the year with a 9-4 record and a Las Vegas Bowl loss (and a head coach to Texas) was a bitter ending to a promising season. UCF’s loss to Arkansas State was not quite as shocking of an upset, with the Knights coming into the Cure Bowl as a slight favorite against the Sun Belt co-champions.

The image problem for the AAC is it just suffered two losses to champions from two other Group of Five conferences right out of the gate. And it is not as though the AAC had a stellar postseason last year either. The AAC went just 2-6 in postseason bowl games a year ago, the worst overall record of any conference. The bowl record a year ago was overshadowed by Houston’s victory over Florida State in the Peach Bowl, but the AAC went winless against Conference USA (0-2), the MAC (0-1), and the Mountain West Conference (0-1) last bowl season. The American went 2-3 in bowl games in 2014 and 2013 too.

If the AAC is going to come together and support its case to be the top Group of Five conference, it will have its work cut out for them the rest of the bowl season, although there may be some favorable matchups to come.

Tulsa will take on Central Michigan in the Miami Beach Bowl, and the Golden Hurricane should be a decent favorite in the game. But one should never count out the Chippewas this time of year. Memphis gets a tough draw against Conference USA champion Western Kentucky, although the Hilltoppers are going through a coaching change that could impact the team in the Boca Raton Bowl. Navy’s matchup with Louisiana Tech could be a challenge given recent depth concerns for the Midshipmen from their last two games played against Temple and Army.

Two AAC teams, Temple and USF, will take on power conference opponents, Wake Forest and South Carolina, respectively. Both the Owls and Bulls should stand a good chance to boost the AAC’s record and to do so against the ACC and SEC would be a good finish for the conference. But if the AAC comes up with another losing record and tacks on more losses against Group of Five conference opponents, the talk about the AAC’s pedigree among non-power conferences will be tarnished for an entire offseason.

San Diego State RB Donnel Pumphrey sets FBS rushing record.

By Sam Cooper

Donnel Pumphrey broke Ron Dayne’s record in the Las Vegas Bowl. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

The all-time rushing leader in FBS history is now Donnel Pumphrey.

With a 15-yard gain in the fourth quarter of the Las Vegas Bowl against Houston, the San Diego State senior passed Wisconsin’s Ron Dayne and jumped to first all-time in career rushing.

Pumphrey entered Saturday’s game needing 108 yards to pass Dayne’s mark of 6,397 yards. Things didn’t look good early. Pumphrey had minus-1 yards on his first seven attempts before breaking off a 30-yard gain early in the second quarter.

By the time halftime rolled around, Pumphrey was up to 58 yards as the Aztecs clawed back from an early deficit to cut Houston’s lead to 10-6. Pumphrey was bottled up early in the third until he broke through the line for a 32-yard touchdown to give the Aztecs the lead.

That score put Pumphrey 10 yards behind Dayne. And when San Diego State regained possession early in the fourth, it didn’t take long for Pumphrey to set the record. On first down, Pumphrey took a pitch and followed his blockers around the edge for a 15-yard gain and the new record.

Dayne established the high mark during his Heisman Trophy-winning season in 1999. However, the NCAA did not include bowl statistics in its record books at that time. If you add postseason numbers to his total, Dayne has 7,125 yards. On Twitter, he reacted accordingly:

Ron Dayne ✔

                @Ron33Dayne

Congratulations young man #GOAT #7125

5:13 PM - 17 Dec 2016

Pumphrey finished the game with 115 yards on 19 carries to give him 6,405 yards for his career. San Diego State won the game, 34-10.

Heartbreaking Loss in Celebration Bowl Caps NCCU’s Historic Season.

North Carolina Central University

North Carolina Central University's historic gridiron season came to a heartbreaking end in the Air Force Reserve Celebration Bowl, as the upset-minded Eagles suffered a 10-9 loss to Grambling State University in the Georgia Dome on Saturday afternoon.

No. 18 NCCU (9-3) held No. 14 Grambling (11-1) to less than half of its lowest-scoring game this season (previous low of 21 points) and the Tigers' fewest points in a contest since Sept. 6, 2014 – a 47-0 loss at Houston. However, a handful of miscues, including a blocked extra-point kick the would have tied the score with a little more than two minutes remaining in the contest, proved to be the difference.

On the opening possession of the game, Grambling quarterback DeVante Kincade's pass into the end zone was deflected by Jaquell Taylor and intercepted by Alden McClellon for a touchback.

On its ensuing drive, NCCU marched 74 yards on 13 plays to kick a 23-yard field goal by Brandon McLaren for a 3-0 advantage. That edge stood at halftime.

Grambling got on the scoreboard with 9:14 left in the third quarter courtesy of a 32-yard touchdown run by Martez Carter to take a 7-3 lead over the Eagles.

The Tigers added a 26-yard field goal by Jonathan Wallace, which was set up by a sack-fumble recovery, to push the cushion to 10-3 at 2:50 of the third frame.   Late in the fourth quarter, needing a touchdown drive to tie the game, the Eagles regained possession of the ball with 4:03 on the clock. NCCU quarterback Malcolm Bell rushed for seven yards, then connected with Jalen Wilkes for 15 yards to move the pigskin to the Grambling 37-yard line. On third down and 12 to go, Bell scrambled out of the pocket and found Quentin Atkinson in the back of the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after the scoring play moved the extra-point kick back 15 yards, then McLaren's extended 1-point try was blocked to preserve the win for the Tigers.

Bell accounted for 271 yards of total offense, completing 18-of-32 passes for 240 yards and rushing for a team-best 31 ground yards.

NCCU wide receiver Khalil Stinson returned to his home state with six receptions for 40 yards, while LaVontis Smith caught four passes for 82 yards.

Linebacker Reggie Hunter tallied a game-high 11 tackles, including a stop for a loss, to finish the season with a team-best 84 takedowns. Taylor contributed nine tackles and McClellon had eight stops with an interception and two pass break-ups. Antonio Brown, Frederick Henry-Ajudua and LeGrande Harley each recorded sacks for NCCU.

NCCU's 301 yards of total offense against Gambling provided the Eagles with 4,614 yards of total offense this season, which is a new school record, breaking the standard of 4,500 total yards in 1993.

The 2016 Eagles made more history this season by becoming the first NCCU football team to win a third consecutive conference championship and posted the most wins (9) in the program's Division I era.

NCAABKB: SATURDAY’S SNACKS: Kentucky, Purdue, Butler all land critical wins.

By Scott Phillips

(Photo/Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

GAME OF THE DAY: No. 6 Kentucky 103, No. 7 North Carolina 100

It might end up being the game of the year. There are a lot of things to note here, the most important of which is that Malik Monk had 47 points on 28 shots. You can watch all of those 47 points here. The five most important takeaways from that game can be found right here.

WIN OF THE DAY: Bob Huggins picked up career win No. 800 as No. 12 West Virginia ran away with a 112-67 win over UMKC. Seven Mountaineers finished in double-figures as they forced 24 turnovers. NBC’s Rob Dauster and Raphielle Johnson have more on how Huggins reached 800 wins by changing his philosophy.

IMPORTANT OUTCOMES

No. 15 Purdue 86, No. 21 Notre Dame 81: Quality comeback win for the Boilermakers as they were down 14 points at the half. I have more on what Purdue did to make its comeback on the Irish.

No. 18 Butler 83, No. 9 Indiana 78: The Bulldogs got 28 points from Kelan Martin in a statement win over Indiana. We wrote all about that game here.

No. 19 Arizona 67, Texas A&M 63: The Aggies tried to act like it was last year’s NCAA tournament against Northern Iowa, but it was too little too late. Arizona was able to withstand an 18-0 Texas A&M run that made this a two-point game with under 30 seconds left. Arizona looked good for 35 minutes as their defense looked impressive at times. Dusan Ristic led four Wildcats in double-figures with 18 points.

No. 17 Xavier 69, Wake Forest 65: The Musketeers picked up another Skip Prosser Classic win thanks to 20 points from Trevon Bluiett and 17 points from Edmond Sumner. This Xavier team badly needs Myles Davis back, but it’s still unclear when he will be back from his indefinite suspension.

Georgetown 78, Syracuse 71: After the transfer of former highly-touted recruit Isaac Copeland this week, Georgetown responded with a huge win at Syracuse. The Hoyas have five straight wins since their disastrous ending in Maui as L.J. Peak had 23 points and 11 rebounds. Syracuse finally got the first-round-pick Tyler Lydon we’ve heard so much about as he went for 29 points and nine rebounds in a losing effort. This was Syracuse’s last chance for a semi-decent win in non-conference play (you don’t count, St. John’s) so this was not a great loss.

STARRED

Malik Monk, Kentucky: Enough said.

B.J. Johnson, LaSalle: The guard poured in 35 points on 10-for-16 shooting in a home win over Florida Gulf Coast. Johnson was also 12-for-14 from the free-throw line and added four steals on the day.

Yante Maten, Georgia: Is there a more underrated player in the country than Maten? He finished with 30 points in a win over Charleston Southern today.

Mike Daum, South Dakota State: Daum had a career-high 39 points, including 10 in overtime, as SDSU knocked off Murray State.

Naz Long, Iowa State: Long had 37 points, six boards and five assists, hitting 8-for-12 from three, as the Cyclones knocked off Drake.

STRUGGLED

Steve Vasturia, Notre Dame: The senior had a day to forget as he was 1-for-8 from the field for only three points in a loss to No. 15 Purdue in the Crossroads Classic. Vasturia fouled out and also had three turnovers.

Creighton: The No. 10 Bluejays barely hung on to beat Oral Roberts 66-65 on Saturday. ORU is now 2-10 and ranked 274th in KenPom. This was one to forget.

Wichita State: The Shockers, playing at home in a game they really needed to secure a chance at getting an at-large bid, got smacked around by Oklahoma State, 93-76. In other news, this is a really solid win for a Cowboys team that appears to be better than anyone realized.

TOP 25

• It wasn’t even an ‘A’ game for No. 2 UCLA and its high-powered offense but they still won over Ohio State. Bryce Alford and Aaron Holiday both had 20 points while Lonzo Ball had eight points, nine assists and nine rebounds.
• No. 4 Baylor cruised to a 25-point win over Jackson State.
• Easy win for No. 11 Louisville as they raced past Eastern Kentucky for a home win. The Cardinals holding the Colonials to 16 first-half points is impressive. Donovan Mitchell led with 15 points.
• Devon Hall and Kyle Guy both had 13 points to lead No. 13 Virginia past Robert Morris.
• It didn’t come easy for No. 16 South Carolina but they pulled away for a road win at South Florida. The Gamecocks trailed at six at the half as they once again played without senior Sindarius Thornwell. P.J. Dozier had 23 points as South Carolina outscored the Bulls by 17 in the second half.
• Dwayne Bacon had 16 points to lead No. 23 Florida State to a home win over Manhattan. Xavier Rathan-Mayes and Trent Forrest each had 10 points for the Seminoles.
• Reaching triple digits was No. 25 Cincinnati as they had a big win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Kevin Johnson paced the Bearcats with 18 points while Jacob Evans added 17 points.

NOTABLE

• The chances of Northwestern getting to the NCAA tournament got better today as they beat Dayton, 67-64. Northwestern was up 23 points at halftime and managed to hold on for the win.
• Texas Tech won its only non-Big 12 road game on the season with a victory at Richmond. The Red Raiders had 17 points and 10 rebounds from forward Zach Smith. Sitting at No. 27 in Kenpom entering the day, a true road win at a top-150 team won’t hurt Texas Tech.
• Nice overtime road win for Memphis over Oklahoma as they rallied from a halftime deficit after dealing with an injury to senior center Chad Rykhoek. Dedric Lawson had 26 points, 12 rebounds and four assists while K.J. Lawson added 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Michigan State’s tournament profile a question mark after Northeastern loss.

By Rob Dauster

(Photo/Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

It’s time to start talking about whether or not Michigan State has cost themselves a shot at getting to the NCAA tournament.

On Sunday night, once again playing without starting forward Miles Bridges, the Spartans fell to 7-5 on the season with a 81-73 loss to Northeastern. That’s the same Northeastern team that won at UConn earlier this season, which seems like it may not be all that bad of a loss until you consider that A) UConn is not good this season, and B) Northeastern has also lost to Boston U., LIU-Brooklyn, Stony Brook, Cornell and Harvard.

Here’s the situation that the Spartans are in right now. They don’t have a quality non-conference win unless you consider their win over Wichita State, who lost by 17 at home to Oklahoma State on Saturday, a quality win. They also, however, only have one catastrophic loss, and that loss came with Bridges out of the lineup, something that the selection committee will take into consideration.

The determining factor, then, is going to be how Michigan State does in Big Ten play, and there are a couple of factors to be worried about here. For starters, the Big Ten appears to be tiered this year. Wisconsin, Indiana and Purdue look like they are the clear-cut top three teams in the league. Once you get past that, there is a logjam of teams that look like they’ll end up being in contention to get an at-large bid without really being good enough to threaten for the league title. The Michigans and Marylands and Ohio States and Northwesterns of the world.

The Spartans right now probably fall somewhere in the back end of that tier.
And that’s concerning.

But the other issue is that Tom Izzo’s team will only get four chances against that elite group. They play Indiana twice and get both Purdue and Wisconsin in East Lansing.

My guess?

Michigan State needs to go at least 11-7 in Big Ten play and get two wins against the top three teams in the league to avoid missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1997.

I’ll let you decide whether or not they’re actually capable of doing that.

No. 8 Gonzaga beats Tennessee, 86-76, improves to 11-0.

Associated Press

(Photo/William Mancebo/Getty Images)

Mark Few wondered how his eighth-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs would handle a nine-day break for exams, traveling cross country and playing in front of a heavily orange crowd.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes saw enough Sunday to think Few and Gonzaga still might be undefeated when March rolls around.

Nigel Williams-Goss scored 20 points, and Gonzaga remained unbeaten by holding off Tennessee 86-76.

“I thought they did good, especially the way we started the first half,” Few said. “Usually when you come out of finals like this, you’re a little bit concerned about losing rhythm. We had some pretty good rhythm going into finals. Gave them several days off, I was a little bit worried about that. They responded.”

Gonzaga (11-0) hadn’t played since beating Akron on Dec. 10 and looked strong as it scored the first eight points and never trailed. The Bulldogs led 27-6 on a jumper by Zach Collins with 12:06 left, 43-29 at halftime and 64-48 midway through the second half.

Tennessee (6-5) went on a 10-3 run and got within 75-71 on a jumper by Robert Hubbs III with 2:26 left.

Josh Perkins then hit a jumper as Gonzaga held on for its fourth straight win in the five games between these teams.

“Obviously we weren’t perfect, but to come in here and beat a good Tennessee team by double digits, and pretty much control the entire game, I thought we did a good job,” Williams-Goss said. “But there’s room to grow.”

This was billed as the Battle of Broadway played at Bridgestone Arena, so technically it was a neutral court – except for all the fans wearing Tennessee orange in the seats. Those fans got very loud as the Vols made their run.

Barnes wasn’t happy with how the Vols started, and he’s tiring of coming close in losses.

“It’s one thing being talked about as being a scrappy team that fights all the time, but at some point in time we’ve got to want to be more than that,” he said. “We’ve got to want to play 40 minutes, and we haven’t done that at any point in time this year.”

Detrick Mostella led Tennessee with 17 points and Hubbs had 10.

The Vols played without 6-foot-7 freshman John Fulkerson, who missed his first game since dislocating his right elbow in Thursday night’s win over Lipscomb. Fulkerson is expected to miss six weeks with the injury.

BIG PICTURE

Gonzaga: The Bulldogs came in as one of six undefeated teams in the Top 25 and did nothing to hurt their stock after their break. … They improved to 12-8 all-time against Southeastern Conference teams and 2-0 this season. Gonzaga beat Florida last month. … With 7-1 center Karnowski and 6-9 Johnathan Williams, the Bulldogs outrebounded Tennessee 42-38.

Tennessee: This was the Vols’ fourth game in eight days, a stretch that started a week ago with a 73-71 loss in Chapel Hill to No. 7 North Carolina. … Barnes now is 0-5 against Gonzaga and 0-4 against Few. … Freshman Grant Williams scored 30 points in the Vols’ last game and finished with 11.

QUOTABLE

“I think he’s got as good a team as he’s ever had,” Barnes said of Few. “I think he’s going to become an even bigger story in college basketball because if you look ahead, he’s always done tremendous things with his team in the league and he could be the first time in a long time that you’ve got a team capable of being undefeated heading into postseason play.”

FOUL TROUBLE

The officiating crew of Karl Hess, Jamie Luckie and Brent Hampton called 56 fouls combined. Gonzaga and Tennessee each had a player foul out with Silas Melson playing 18 minutes before his fifth foul for the Bulldogs, while Jordan Bowden had nine points in 27 minutes for the Vols. Gonzaga finished the game with four players having four fouls apiece.

UP NEXT

Gonzaga: The Bulldogs host South Dakota on Wednesday.

Tennessee: At East Tennessee State on Thursday night.

Bernard Hopkins knocked out of ring in final fight of career.

By Kevin Iole

Joe Smith (back to camera) knocks Bernard Hopkins through the ropes, ending the 51-year-old legend’s career Saturday in the eighth round of their bout at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. (Photo/Getty Images)

Bernard Hopkins’ legendary career ended bizarrely Saturday during a fight at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., in which he looked every one of his 51-plus years.

Hopkins was knocked out of the ring by a left-right-left combination from Joe Smith Jr. Hopkins fell backward to the floor with a thud, and couldn’t beat referee Jack Reiss’ 20-count to get back into the ring.

When he failed to do so, his final fight ended ignominiously, with him on the losing end of an eighth-round technical knockout. He said the outside of his right ankle was throbbing.

Hopkins, who is a month away from his 52nd birthday, said he was pushed out of the ring, but replays clearly showed that was not the case. It was clean punches from Smith that knocked Hopkins into and ultimately through the ropes.

It was the first, and only, loss in his 67-fight career by knockout. Hopkins, who had a long stint as middleweight champion and was also the light heavyweight champion, ends his career at 55-8-2.

“I know for a fact that if I had not been pushed out of the ring after I had made him miss, the second half of the fight, where I’m known for coming back and I’m known for going after it when I’m down multiple rounds, I believe he was starting to fade out,” Hopkins said to HBO’s Max Kellerman in his locker room after leaving the ring.

But Smith showed little signs of fading. The ending was reminiscent to two prior Hopkins fight, against Robert Allen in Las Vegas in 1998 and against Chad Dawson in Los Angeles in 2011. Both of those were no contests.

This, though, was clearly a KO or TKO, because Hopkins went down and out of the ring from clean punches and couldn’t get back in.

His denial of that is simply the competitiveness of a man who is among the greatest of his era and will be remembered as one of the finest of all-time.

Smith was leading on two of the three cards at the time of the stoppage. Thomas Taylor had it 69-64 and Tim Cheatham had it 67-66 for Smith. Pat Russell had it 67-66 for Hopkins. Yahoo Sports scored it 68-65 for Smith.

Hopkins landed some flush shots, but didn’t have the ability to hurt Smith with them as he did to prior opponents. He spent much of the night backing up and moving away, which in and of itself wasn’t unusual. Hopkins was a crafty, defensive wizard who didn’t just mindlessly attack.

On this night, though, even though he lured Smith into his web, he couldn’t do much with him. Smith landed all of the clean and hard shots in the fight and seemed to hurt Hopkins on several occasions.

Even for legends, there comes a moment when the body can’t do what the mind asks it to, and that was this night for Hopkins. He looked in amazing shape for a 51-year-old, but his body lacked the definition that it had throughout much of his career. It was just the most obvious example that even one of the greatest can’t beat the calendar.

His pride, though, which pushed him to so many victories, wouldn’t allow him to accept he’d lost.

“Even if they would have called it a no-contest or called it a whatever, but not a loss, because I don’t think it was warranted like that,” Hopkins said.

It was, for Smith, the biggest win of his career. He promised to put pressure on Hopkins and he did that, even if a younger version of Hopkins likely would have chopped him up.

Smith, 27, got a massive win that is going to land him some other big paydays.  He is now 23-1 with 19 knockouts.

“I just was doing my job, because this is my coming out party, too,” Smith said. “I had to finish him. It was either my career was going to end or his was going to end. I needed mine to continue.”

Hopkins said he won’t fight again, and there is no reason to do so. He’ll be elected to the Hall of Fame on the first day he’s eligible and he’ll long be remembered for a career in which he milked every last ounce of talent out of his body.

He made 20 successful middleweight title defenses, in 2011 became the oldest man to ever win a major world title and in 2014, at 49 years old, he became the oldest every to successfully defend a world championship belt.

Age caught up to him on Saturday, but he had to know it would sooner or later.

Youth prevailed on this night, but despite the outcome, Hopkins was no loser.

He’s now committed to the historians, and this bout will be long forgotten when the final story of Bernard Hopkins is told.

On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, December 19, 2016.

Memoriesofhistory.com

1887 - Jake Kilrain and Jim Smith fought in a bare knuckles fight which lasted 106 rounds and 2 hours and 30 minutes. The fight was ruled a draw and was halted due to darkness.

1917 - The first regular season games of the new National Hockey League (NHL) were played. Five teams made up the league Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers. Quebec did not actually begin operations until two years later. Dave Ritchie (Montreal Wanderers) scored the first goal in NHL history.

1959 - Penn State’s Nittany Lions beat Alabama, 7-0, in the first Liberty Bowl football game.

1964 - ABC used an overhead camera for the first time. The event was the Liberty Bowl.

1979 - ESPN televised its first NHL game. The teams were the Washington Capitals and the Hartford Whales.

1984 - Wayne Gretzky, 23, of the Edmonton Oilers, became only the 18th player in the National Hockey League (NHL) to score more than 1,000 points. He did it in his 424th career game. The previous record was held by Guy Lafleur who did it in 720 games.

1984 - Scotty Bowman became the NHL's all time winningest coach with his 691st victory.

1985 - Jan Stenerud announced his retirement from the NFL. The football kicker held the record for the most career field goals with 373.

1985 - ABC Sports announced that it was severing ties with Howard Cosell and released ‘The Mouth’ from all TV commitments. Cosell continued on ABC Radio for another five years.

1986 - Michael Sergio was sentenced to 100 hours of community service and fined $500. Sergio, a Mets fan, had parachuted into Shea Stadium during Game 6 of the World Series.

1988 - The NCAA placed the Oklahoma Sooners football program on probation for violations.

1989 - Larry Bird (Boston Celtics) began a NBA free throw streak of 71 games.

1990 - Bo Jackson (Los Angeles Raiders) became the first athlete to be chosen for All Star Games in two sports.

1991 - Pitcher Steve Howe (New York Yankees) was arrested for cocaine possession.

1999 - Orlando Brown (Cleveland Browns) was ejected from a game for pushing referee Jeff Triplette to the ground. Triplette had accidentally hit Brown in the eye with a weighted penalty flag.

2003 - The baseball that was deflected by a fan in the stands during a Chicago Cubs game was sold for $106,600 at auction. The foul ball appeared to be headed for the glove of left fielder Moises Alou in Game 6 of the National League Championship series. The Florida Marlins ended up winning the game 8-3. The Cubs then lost Game 7.

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