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"Sports Quote of the Day"

Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure. ~ Paulo Coelho, Lyricist and Novelist

TRENDING: Are Bears better than Texans, Broncos, Dolphins and others? Pro Football Focus says yes. (See the football section for Bears news and NFL updates).

TRENDING: Artemi Panarin’s rep: 'He’ll forever cherish his time in Chicago'. (See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates and NHL news).

TRENDING: SportsTalk Live Podcast: Did Bulls get fleeced? (See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates and NHL news).

TRENDING: Cubs down to only one All-Star starter in voting update. White Sox come back to beat Yankees on walk-off single by Jose Abreu. (See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).

TRENDING: 2017 Quicken Loans National: Field, Odds, Schedule. (See the golf section for PGA news and tournament updates).

TRENDING: NASCAR Power Rankings: Does Kevin Harvick move to No. 1? (See the NASCAR section for NASCAR news and racing updates).

TRENDING: Fire to resume U.S. Open Cup at packed house in Cincinnati. (See the soccer section for Fire news and worldwide soccer updates).

(Photo/USA TODAY)

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Are Bears better than Texans, Broncos, Dolphins and others? Pro Football Focus says yes. 

By Chris Boden

(Photo/USA TODAY)

Pro Football Focus has more than its share of both supporters and detractors of how it goes about grading NFL players. They break down every snap for every player, and while there are general agreements on what's seen by naked, untrained eyes who don't put the time and investment into its system that PFF does, there are other evaluations that seem to come out of the blue. While there's occasional guesswork on a player's particular assignment on a given play within its scheme, those of us who've watched and studied nuances of the game, or those who've played it, can usually identify how many jobs were done correctly.

Tuesday, PFF released its rankings of all 32 NFL rosters but in essence focused on the quality of each team's starting lineup, listing the Bears — are you sitting down? — 18th in the league. That's ahead of the likes of the Ravens, Saints, Texans, Dolphins, a Jaguars franchise that's had tons of high draft picks in recent years, as well as the Broncos and Lions (whom they rank 28th). The top five are the Falcons, Patriots, Titans, Packers and Steelers (the Bears play three of those teams in September alone). Among other Bears opponents, they rank the Panthers 10th, Vikings 12th, Buccaneers 13th and Eagles 15th.

Their evaluation is based on each player's final score from last season, "elite" and "good" being the top two levels, followed by "average" and "below average" to "poor." The only Bear earning elite status was inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman. Another nine Bears finished with good grades: Jordan Howard, Zach Miller, Josh Sitton, Cody Whitehair, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman, Danny Trevathan, Adrian Amos and Quintin Demps (who earned his grade in Houston).

Those earning average grades were Cam Meredith, Kendall Wright, Kyle Long, Charles Leno, Jr., Pernell McPhee and Prince Amukamara. Below average: Mike Glennon (in mop-up duty in Tampa Bay), Kevin White, Bobby Massie, Leonard Floyd and Jaye Howard. The only Bear earning a poor grade among projected starters was tight end Dion Sims (with Miami). The other potential flaw is that PFF lists Kyle Fuller (no grade) and Bryce Callahan (average) as starters when Marcus Cooper and Cre'Von LeBlanc likely have the inside track to start at cornerback and nickel back, respectively.

How did the Bears get to 18th, above three playoff teams and another that won the Super Bowl two years ago? Well, all of those other teams have more elite players at certain positions, but it's offset by a number of spots occupied by more players with poor or below average grades. The Broncos (25th) for instance, had four elite players, just another four falling under the good grade, but five players listed as poor.

Jordan Howard wants to lead Bears... and lead the league. 

By Chris Boden

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

So Jordan Howard finished second in the NFL in rushing in his rookie season, despite just a dozen carries in the first three games. The fifth-round pick joined the man who beat him out for the rushing title, Ezekiel Elliott, as one of just five rookies in history to average five or more yards per carry on over 250 carries. And he set the Bears' rookie rushing record with his 1,313 yards while becoming just the fourth in franchise history to rush for that many yards in a season.

Sounds pretty hard to top, like we might be set up for the dreaded sophomore slump.

But...

"Things are a lot different this year because I know what to expect," Howard said during the team's minicamp two weeks ago. "I know all the plays and things like that. I’m not out there thinking, so I can just play free and fast.

"I definitely feel like a veteran 'cause I know what to expect and can help the young guys on the plays that they're not understanding. I’m just more comfortable and want to be a leader."

One of the other things we learned about Howard last year is he's low-key, a man of few words. So the Indiana product by way of UAB will make his points verbally when needed, but his actions will speak louder.

"He was a rookie a year ago and didn't even go in trying to be a leader, telling a five-year guy what was up," said head coach John Fox. "I think with time, and obviously with production like he had, I think it's a role he can fall in to. We're in a performance-based business and even in that locker room, what they do on Sundays gives them some credibility."

One of the concerns about Howard coming out of college was durability, but he answered the bell once he became the starter in week four against Detroit. And he probably wasn't used nearly as much as he should have. The good news about that is he was subject to less wear and tear, averaging just 18 carries per game from that Lions game on.

But besides taking more of a leadership role, Howard wanted to work on his speed without sacrificing the strong base that, paired with keen vision and work by the offensive line, allowed him to hit holes quickly and charge toward the second level of opposing defenses.

"Just improving on the little things – my conditioning, my weight, catching passes. And looking for ways to finish runs better," says Howard. "I feel like I’m in much better shape than I was at this time last year, a little more toned-up."

"It's just training," said Fox. "When you get to that it's more like track speed than football speed and I think he proved pretty worthy of that a year ago as a rookie. Y'know we all can improve on things, and that's the expectation. He's trained hard.

"This time of year last year he wasn’t even practicing," Fox remembered. "I like where we are, we’ve brought in more competition, and he’s better for it. He’s kind of gotten used to an NFL season, he’s come back ready to roll, but he still has work to do before we get to training camp."  

Oh, and the 22-year-old has a couple of other goals he didn't mind sharing, besides being a leader and getting a little faster.

"First off, make the playoffs. Be the leading rusher, and just help the team in any way I can and stay consistent."

Ten Thoughts on the NFL and Beyond.

By Sam Householder

It’s the slow season for NFL news, so let’s have a little fun but we’re still talking football.

This is the worst part of the NFL offseason for football fans. Some are a fan of another sport but if the NFL is No. 1, as is the case for me, it’s difficult not to start daydreaming about tackling and touchdowns.

1. The NFL Network unveiled its final spots in their annual Top 100 Players list. Aaron Rodgers finished sixth and the top five were Kahlil Mack, Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Von Miller and Tom Brady.

The thing is, everyone always complains about the “player voted” listed and how much of a sham it is. JJ Watt was upset when he was voted the 35th best player in the league after missing 13 games. While in one regard he’s right, one the other hand, if being injured isn’t an object then I think everyone would say he is one of the 40 best players in the league.

The list gets a lot of things wrong and I feel like it is weighted too much on one season; last year Josh Norman was No. 11, this year No. 59; Derek Carr was 100th last year and was 11th this year. Matt Ryan went from unranked to No. 10.

Any of those players could be way back down the list even further with a bumpy 2017. It should just be NFL Network’s “Top 100 Players of Last Season.”

Either way, it gets clicks, views and ratings so it will keep filling the May-June portion of the offseason for a long time to come. If you have issues with the list though, just remember how the players vote when you wonder why journalists vote for the Hall of Fame and All-Pro lists.

2. There were no Chicago Bears on the list. That shouldn’t really surprise anyone considering how bad they were last year and how many injuries they had. With any kind of significant improvement this fall, they could land a player or two on the list next year. Which players are most likely? I’d say Jordan Howard, Leonard Floyd and Cody Whitehair. I am leaving off Kyle Long because there are some questions about his health right now.

Which Bears players do you think would be most likely to land on next year’s NFLN list?

3. It’s still too early for any real predictions for the 2017 season because there is still so much to be figured out: jobs to be won, depth charts to be set and, unfortunately, injuries to be had and also to be healed.

Injuries in August or players rehabbing often have the biggest impact on how teams will fare. Where will JJ Watt be come week one? What about Cam Newton? As I mentioned in my last note, there’s a lot of question around Kyle Long and where he is at in his rehab.

Long had serious injuries to his ankle and shoulder last year. He has put off surgery to his shoulder but even as he rehabs his ankle, he’s a candidate to begin camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list.

4. With that being said, there should be some teams that regress in 2017 and others that might impress.

Each season is full of some surprise teams and some that have large expectations attached to them and for whatever reason disappoint.

One team that I might expect to regress is the Atlanta Falcons. Super Bowl losers, for whatever reason, always seem to take a slight step back the next year. Another candidate for a regress, to me, is the Dallas Cowboys. A sophomore slump for Dak Prescott or Ezekiel Elliott would throw a major wrench into the team’s defense of the NFC East title. Plus, the NFC East is often wild.

5. Some teams that could be set for some surprising surges in their record this year are the Tennessee Titans and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Is picking two nine-win teams from a season ago to win more games really a “surge?” Well not exactly, but they have a lot of young talent, added some more in the draft and each is in a division that is not stacked with a ton of good teams.

The Titans could easily win two or three more games and the Bucs could win a couple more as well and be right in the playoffs.

Both should be models for what the Bears want to be in 2018 and beyond.

6. The writers here at WCG are an interesting bunch. Of course we all share a love of the Chicago Bears that really binds us together but we also all have plenty of other sports interests outside of the Bears and this blog.

For example, Robert is a passionate Blackhawks fan and wrote for our sister blog Second City Hockey.

Jack is a diehard Cubs and Bulls fan and writes extensively about the NBA and chimes in regularly on the GOAT conversation on his Twitter page.

Schweickert is also a diehard Cubs fan, Lester follows professional wrestling and the Detroit Tigers and Andrew Link is a White Sox fan.

We all have our teams and sports to pass the offseason. As for me, I enjoy the Cubs mainly and the Blackhawks and Bulls too but the other sport I follow with a similar fervor to football is Formula 1.

This season is very exciting so far. With eight races in the books, championship leader Sebastian Vettel is ahead of Lewis Hamilton by just 14 points. At the last round in Azerbaijan, the two collided under a safety car period while running 1-2 and Vettel received a penalty for his reaction, when he served into the race-leading Hamilton.

The two finished the race fourth (Vettel) and fifth (Hamilton) but the championship is going to be far more dramatic from here on out.

Anyway, I know it’s a niche sport in this country, but it’s a fun sport and one I will passionately talk about with others, if anyone is ever interested. Motor racing is a general interest of mine and F1 in particular is the one I follow closest.

What other sports do you follow when the NFL is off?

7. My wife Ashley and I bought our first house back in March.

Being a young couple without kids, I have been able to turn the basement into my “man cave.” It isn’t quite finished yet, but I do have some nice theater seating I received secondhand, a 55” TV, some recliners and a mini-fridge.

I’ve painted two walls navy and the other two walls will be painted orange, for obvious reasons. I’m calling it my “Bears den” and I plan on watching every Bears game I can from it this fall.

Just last week I bought the latest piece of wall art for it (of which there are many): an original Black & Blues Brothers offensive line poster. I’ve always wanted one of those and it will look great in my den!

I’ve found that old posters like that are a fun collector’s item that don’t have a ton of expense to them. They’re less expensive than autographed items and easier to display and store. The next poster I’ll be on the lookout for is the Junk Yard Dogs.

Any leads on one?

Once I get my basement further along I’ll post some photos of it and encourage you all to share yours.

For now though, what old school posters did you have? Any Costacos brothers or other promotional posters from the ‘80s or ‘90s?

8. I hope that readers of this blog have enjoyed the 30 Day Challenge as much as the writers have. They’re all a good chance to go out and get to know each other a little better. Hopefully, with a little more common ground and sharing the little squabbles and arguments that do pop up will be less likely to become the shouting matches and personal attacks that are too common everywhere on the internet, including here.

I know I haven’t commented on as many of the challenges as I’d have liked but I have been reading them. Here is a link to the entire set.

9. A shade over two years ago I posed the question on this blog if the Chicago Bears were the worst run professional Big Four team in Chicago and a whopping 51 percent said yes.

At that time the Bulls had just fired Tom Thibodeau, the Cubs were just starting to show their potential, the Blackhawks had just clinched their third Stanley Cup since 2010 and the White Sox were middling around.

The Bears were coming out of the Emery/Trestman regime and picking up the pieces. In many ways they still are. I wonder how that same poll would go today?

The Cubs just won the World Series but are floating around .500, the White Sox are deep into a rebuild of their own, 10 games below .500 but with an exciting group of prospects in the minors. The Blackhawks are re-tooling and reloading to fit under the salary cap and remain in contention. The Bulls just traded away their best player for an injured player and drafted a questionable player in the top 10.

I imagine the Bears would still win the poll. They still haven’t sniffed the playoffs and have actually gotten worse, record-wise in the last two years.

Maybe it’s a poll worth revisiting ahead of training camp. Do you think they’re still the worst run team in Chicago?

10. As the calendar turns to July I’ll start to get pumped for another fall of Chicago Bears football, even if expectations are relatively low. There’s a lot of intrigue surrounding the young team. Setting aside Mitch Trubisky, which player are you most excited about on each side of the ball?

Since I can’t pick just one player, I decided to go easy and make it one from each side. For offense I am excited to see what Cam Meredith can do. I’m not sold on him as a sure-fire 1,000-yards every year type receiver, but I think he can be a more-than-solid WR that can nail down a starting position for the foreseeable future.

On defense, I am really excited about seeing what Leonard Floyd can do in his second season. Hopefully he can put the concussion issues behind him and improve his form and just get better and better. Hopefully 2017 is a breakout season for the first-round pick a year ago.

10b. Have safe and fun Fourth of July next week! Enjoy the freedoms we have in this country and if you participate in blowing up fireworks, just be sure to use caution and safety. Have a happy Independence Day WCG!!

How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Artemi Panarin’s rep: 'He’ll forever cherish his time in Chicago'. 

By Tracey Myers

(Photo/USA TODAY)

A little more than two years ago Artemi Panarin had many NHL teams vying for his services, the Blackhawks winning the bidding war and signing him. On Friday the Panarin-Blackhawks union was over, the 25-year-old traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

But according to his agent, if Panarin had it to do all over again, he still would have signed with the Blackhawks.

Dan Milstein, who represents Panarin, said the Russian left wing is forever grateful to the Blackhawks for the past two seasons in which he put up stellar numbers in consecutive regular seasons.

“The experience, playing on the same line with [Artem] Anisimov and [Patrick] Kane, having coach [Joel] Quenneville and many other members of the organization help him along the way, providing the translation services and being there for him, the entire process made his transition to North America extremely easy,” Milstein said. “He’ll forever cherish his time in Chicago.”

Milstein was in Chicago on Friday morning when he got the call from Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman on the trade – Bowman told the media on Friday that the deal “came together pretty quickly.” Milstein immediately called Panarin, who was about to get on a plane for a fishing trip in Russia.

“Initially he was shocked. But as the day went on we kept in touch and he understands,” Milstein said. “He said, ‘I understand it’s a business. I accept the challenge.’ His last words were, ‘I accept the challenge.’”

The deal, which sent Panarin and his upcoming two-year deal worth $6 million per season to Columbus, brought Brandon Saad back to Chicago. Saad will likely bring stability to the Blackhawks’ top line, which has missed his presence since he was traded in the summer of 2015. Who Kane’s left wing will be this season remains to be seen. Quenneville said on Saturday that Nick Schmaltz will probably get a good chance there; he played with Kane when Anisimov was hurt last season.

Still, the chemistry between Kane and Panarin will be tough to match. Milstein said he saw Kane briefly at the NHL Draft on Friday night, and that he told Milstein, “just let [Panarin] know that I love him.”

Panarin, like most of the Blackhawks, had a very quiet postseason. After recording seven points against the St. Louis Blues, Panarin had just one assist in four games against the Nashville Predators. Not long after the playoffs Panarin was interviewed in Russian. One of the quotes, translated into English, read, “I was not in the best shape and didn’t have enough strength” for the playoffs. Milstein didn’t believe that was an accurate translation.

“If you know Panarin, in his native tongue he’s very funny. If you use a translator, sometimes it takes things out of context. But I don’t believe that’s what he meant,” Milstein said. “He put a good [regular] season together, a fair season, but the performance in the playoffs, obviously, he was disappointed. He was frustrated with his performance.”

Milstein said Panarin will probably head to Columbus in a few weeks; he’s currently waiting on visa issues. Panarin’s time in Chicago was shorter than most thought it would be but his agent said he’s ready for the next challenge.

“Artemi is looking forward to coming here,” said Milstein, who was in Columbus on Monday. “This will be a good opportunity to shine.”

Blackhawks re-sign defenseman Ville Pokka to one-year deal. 

By CSN Staff

(Photo/USA TODAY)

The Blackhawks signed Ville Pokka to a one-year contract on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old Pokka played in all 76 regular-season games for the Rockford IceHogs last season, recording six goals and 24 assists.

The Blackhawks’ defensive depth has already taken a hit this offseason, with Niklas Hjalmarsson traded to Arizona – Connor Murphy came here in the deal – and Trevor van Riemsdyk, selected by the Vegas Golden Knights, then traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. While the Blackhawks will probably explore free-agent options this offseason, Pokka could vie for an opportunity at training camp.

Blackhawks don’t extend qualifying offer to Dennis Rasmussen. 

By Tracey Myers

(Photo/USA TODAY)

Dennis Rasmussen was not tendered a qualifying offer by the Blackhawks, a source confirmed on Tuesday. Rasmussen will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Rasmussen was coming off a one-year deal worth $575,000. He was expected to be among those the Blackhawks extended qualifying offers – the deadline was Monday afternoon – but he was not.

The 26-year-old played 68 games for the Blackhawks this past season, recording four goals and four assists. He gave the Blackhawks some options, as he also played some wing and was part of the penalty kill. But he was a surprise healthy scratch more often than not as the regular season continued.

The Blackhawks will enter this season without Rasmussen and, if Marcus Kruger is traded, the team will have some holes to fill at center.

Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... SportsTalk Live Podcast: No Wade, no how.

By CSN Staff

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Jon Greenberg (The Athletic), Lauren Comitor (The Athletic) and Nick Friedell (ESPN 1000) join Kap on the panel. 

The Bulls have defined their direction, but will that direction include Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo? 

Kyle Schwarber strikes out 3 times in his Iowa debut.  How long will he be in AAA? Plus Joe Maddon doesn’t care about your lineup concerns, Jose Quintana auditions against the Yankees, and Scott Paddock talks NASCAR and NHRA

Listen to the SportsTalk Live Podcast now.

Bulls parting ways with guard Michael Carter-Williams. 

By Tony Andracki

(Photo/csnchicago.com)

Don't expect to see Michael Carter-Williams in the fold for the Bulls guard spots next season.

The organization is reportedly declining the qualifying option for the young guard, according to John Paxson on David Kaplan's radio show:

Carter-Williams, 25, was acquired in a trade with the Bucks last October in a move that sent Tony Snell to Milwaukee. Snell — the Bulls' first round pick (20th overall) in 2013 — turned in a career year with the Bucks, averaging 8.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game while making 80 starts.

Meanwhile, Carter-Williams appeared in only 45 games (19 starts) for the Bulls, suffering through the worst season of his professional career. He was drafted 11th overall in the same year the Bulls took Snell and Carter-Williams burst onto the scene with 16.7 points, 6.3 assists, 6.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game in his rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Carter-Williams was then traded to the Bucks in February 2015. He shot only 36.6 percent from the field in 2016-17 while averaging 18.8 minutes per game.

The Bulls are stacked at guard with Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo currently under contract plus 2016 first-round pick Denzel Valentine, Jerian Grant (acquired in the Derrick Rose trade), Cameron Payne (acquired in the Taj Gibson deal), Isaiah Canaan and then Kris Dunn and Zack LaVine (who were both acquired in the Jimmy Butler blockbuster last week).

SportsTalk Live Podcast: Did Bulls get fleeced?

By CSN Staff

(Photo/USA TODAY)

On the latest edition of the SportsTalk Live Podcast, David Kaplan is joined Anthony Herron (NBC Sports), David Haugh (Chicago Tribune) and Danny Parkins (670 The Score) to discuss the madness in Chicago this weekend.

The panel breaks down the crazy draft night for both the Blackhawks and Bulls while wondering if Tom Thibodeau fleeced Gar/Pax.

Then, Mark Buehrle had his number retired on Saturday. Even Kap loved it.

Listen to the SportsTalk Live Podcast now.

Cubs vs. Nationals makes it obvious: Jake Arrieta is no Max Scherzer. 

By Patrick Mooney

(Photo/USA TODAY)

Super-agent Scott Boras drove the Max Scherzer comparisons through the media, trying to frame Jake Arrieta’s Cy Young Award pedigree and pitching odometer against that seven-year, $210 million megadeal with the Washington Nationals.

Every inning in each Arrieta start shouldn’t be viewed like a stock ticker, but it became the impossible-to-miss backdrop on Tuesday night at Nationals Park, where Scherzer stared down the Cubs through his blue and brown eyes and dominated in a 6-1 game that didn’t have that same October energy.

Where Scherzer is headed toward his fifth straight All-Star selection, the Cubs can only guess what they will get out of Arrieta from one start to the next, which makes you wonder: How many teams would commit five or six years to an over-30 pitcher like that?

Coming off probably the team’s best win of the season the night before — and a strong last start at Marlins Park where he felt “really close” to where he wanted to be — Arrieta walked off the mound with no outs and two runners on in the fifth inning.

The Nationals ran wild, putting pressure on the Cubs and stealing seven bases off Arrieta and catcher Miguel Montero. Arrieta’s control vanished, walking six batters and throwing a wild pitch. The defense collapsed, with second baseman Tommy La Stella leading Anthony Rizzo off first base with one throw and Montero chucking another ball into left field. Scherzer had as many hits (two) and RBI (one) as the entire Cubs lineup.

“I can pitch at his level,” Arrieta said. “I just haven’t done it consistently. He’s been very good, obviously, throughout his career. It’s been up and down. I’ve had a couple good ones, a bad one, a couple good ones, a bad one, so I would obviously like to be more consistent throughout. I just haven’t been able to do that the way that I would like.

“I’ll beat myself up tonight and put in some work and be better next time out. That’s kind of the philosophy, regardless of the situation or the results. Just try and learn as best I can and come out and do better next time.”

Halfway through his platform season, Arrieta is 7-6 with a 4.67 ERA after giving up six runs (five earned) and losing this marquee matchup against Scherzer and the first-place Nationals (46-31).

“Not where I want to be, obviously,” Arrieta said, “but I’ll try and move forward and just be better.”

The Cubs (39-38) felt the whiplash effect from Scherzer’s violent delivery, the perfect game gone when he drilled leadoff guy Rizzo with a 95-mph fastball and the no-hitter over in the first inning when Kris Bryant knocked an RBI triple off the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center field.

None of it rattled Scherzer (9-5, 2.06 ERA), who gave up one more hit and zero walks across six innings. This is the third-fastest pitcher in major-league history to reach 2,000 strikeouts, a favorite to win his third Cy Young Award this year and the Game 1 starter the Cubs would face if they make it back to Washington for a first-round playoff series.

“It starts with his delivery and deception,” manager Joe Maddon said. “I think there’s a lot of intimidation, based on how he just delivers the baseball and the angle that he throws from, the ability to ride a fastball. I think the big thing, too, is the changeup has gotten devastatingly good.

“He’s an uncomfortable at-bat, just based on the way he winds up and throws the baseball. And then the stuff just moves so darn much. It’s a unique combination of factors that he has. He’s so strong and he pitches so deeply into games — and he does it consistently well for years. He’s just a different animal.”

That makes the Max comparison so untenable for Arrieta, who lost to Scherzer and the Detroit Tigers during his final start for the Baltimore Orioles on June 17, 2013. Arrieta immediately got shipped down to Triple-A Norfolk and traded to the Cubs 15 days later in a deal that would change baseball history forever.

Boras is right when he calls that the defining struggle of Arrieta’s career and says it took “World Series cojones” to handle that pressure. But just like Arrieta’s contract year, the Cubs are now in the great unknown.

Can you get back to that Scherzer level?

“No question about it,” Arrieta said. “Just nothing really went my way — or our team’s way — tonight.”

Cubs down to only one All-Star starter in voting update. 

By Tony Andracki

The Cubs are down to only one starter in next month's All-Star Game in Miami: reigning MVP Kris Bryant.

Jason Heyward lost his grip on the final starting outfielder spot to Marlins star Marcell Ozuna in the latest All-Star balloting update released by the MLB:

(Photo/twitter.com)

That may be for the best, as the Cubs are currently banged up (Heyward. Ben Zobrist and Kyle Hendricks are on the disabled list) and slogging through a season where they've hovered around .500. So maybe four days off in a row would be beneficial for the defending champs.

Heyward is 29,270 votes behind Ozuna and Zobrist is 118,248 votes behind Heyward. It appears as if Washington's Bryce Harper and Colorado's Charlie Blackmon are sure things for the top two outfielder spots in the NL.

Bryant is only 58,082 votes ahead of Nolan Arenado at third base. Anthony Rizzo trails Ryan Zimmerman at first base, Javy Baez comes in well behind Daniel Murphy at second base and Buster Posey has more than twice as many votes as runner-up Willson Contreras at catcher.

Addison Russell is third among shortstops. Kyle Schwarber — despite being demoted to the minors last week — is eighth among NL outfielders.

It's a far cry from 2016, when the Cubs made up all four infield spots in the NL starting lineup.

Voting ends in four days. Fans can head to MLB.com to vote.

Cubs show why they are defending champs while Nationals still have something to prove. (Monday night's game, 06/26/2017). 

By Patrick Mooney

(Photo/USA TODAY)

The Cubs already visited the White House. The Washington Nationals are still the team with so much more to prove.

Dusty Baker needs this October to cement his spot in Cooperstown, the way Joe Maddon put the final bullet point on his Hall of Fame resume. Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant took different routes out of Las Vegas, but only one has the World Series ring to go with the Rookie of the Year/MVP hardware. While the clock is ticking on Max Scherzer and that championship parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, the Jon Lester megadeal essentially paid for itself.

Cubs vs. Nationals is supposed to be a circle-your-calendar event. Except the Cubs rolled out a Cactus League lineup on Monday night and Nationals Park featured rows and rows of empty seats amid a crowd of 29,651 where the celebrity vibe became more George Will than A-Rod and J-Lo.

The Cubs still hung on for a 5-4 victory that might have been their best under-the-circumstances win in a season that will hit the halfway point this weekend, showing why they’re the defending champs.

“It is exciting – don’t get me wrong,” Maddon said. “It’s just that we’re attending with a different group than we thought we would be attending this party with.

“And that’s OK, because these guys now are getting the kind of experience that is going to be very beneficial to us in August and September.”

A rash of injuries forced the Cubs to start Jeimer Candelario at third base and Mark Zagunis in right field and Javier Baez kept making highlight-reel plays while Addison Russell rested his sore right shoulder, leaping to grab to a Harper line drive and racing across the left-field line and sliding into the wall to make another spectacular catch in foul territory.

“Games like this is what we need right now – competition,” said Baez, who struck out in his first three at-bats and finished at 2-for-5. “Playing tight games like this will make us make adjustments better and be more in the game.”

With Kyle Schwarber more than 1,000 miles away in Des Moines and hitting the reset button at Triple-A Iowa, Willson Contreras became the leadoff hitter of the day and launched Gio Gonzalez’s fifth pitch of the game into the left-field seats.

The young Cubs manufactured their next run in the eighth inning when Baez stole third base and scored on Albert Almora Jr.’s perfectly placed bunt into the no man’s land between the pitcher’s mound and the first-base line. The bullpen is Washington’s Achilles’ heel and showed with a three-run meltdown in the ninth inning.

Eddie Butler – who began the season in the Iowa rotation – neutralized a powerful Washington lineup while getting just one strikeout in five innings. Maddon pushed a lot of bullpen buttons, not going to Wade Davis for a four-out save and then summoning the All-Star closer when Hector Rondon couldn’t work with a five-run cushion.

In a dramatic finish, Davis survived giving up three hits, a walk and a wild pitch, striking out Ryan Zimmerman with a curveball to end a game that lasted 3 hours and 54 minutes.

“To play so well and not win that game would have really been awful,” Maddon said.

The Cubs needed this with Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg looming the next two nights. But for all of their talent and regular-season dominance – three division titles since 2012 and close to a 100-win pace this year – the Nationals still haven’t won a playoff series in a city where the Senators once won it all in 1924.

This could be an epic matchup in October, bursting with stars and pumping with bad blood. Just listen to Baker during his pregame media briefing, responding to a question about a power hitter like Anthony Rizzo batting leadoff: “I ain’t worried about the Cubs. They can do their thing.”

Or Baker dismissing Maddon’s mind games and the possibility of intentionally walking Harper when Zimmerman is a Triple Crown contender: “It’s a new time and a new day.”

The last word from Maddon, who keeps insisting the 39-37 Cubs have a hot streak in them and that he digs the youth movement: “If this was a spring training lineup, we might get a call.”

White Sox come back to beat Yankees on walk-off single by Jose Abreu. 

By Dan Hayes

(Photo/USA TODAY)

Jose Abreu was able to shake off an earlier disappointment once he got a second chance on Tuesday night.

Batting with the bases loaded for the second straight inning, Abreu took advantage of the moment and lifted the White Sox to a much-needed victory with a walk-off single. Abreu’s two-out, two-run single off Dellin Betances helped the White Sox snap a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 win in front of 18,023 at Guaranteed Rate Field. The White Sox also loaded the bases in the eighth inning but only scored once and were down to their final out before Abreu’s heroics brought them back.

“If you just focus on the bad things that happen then you’re just missing opportunities,” Abreu said through an interpreter. “In the inning after that at-bat that I struck out I was just thinking, ‘God, just give me one more opportunity. Give me one more opportunity to do my job’ and I was glad that I got it because I was able to win that game.”

“It was a very special moment. We needed it. We needed this game. We needed the celebration.”

It all came a little too late for Jose Quintana, who earned a no decision in spite of 6 1/3 scoreless innings. But given they had the winning run on board in a one-run loss on Monday and only scored once despite loading the bases with no outs in the eighth, the White Sox will take it.

Abreu, who struck out against Tyler Clippard in the eighth with no outs after three straight walks, got ahead of Betances 2-1 in the count before he singled through the left side to score the tying and go-ahead runs. Alen Hanson, who entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, scored the winning run. Hanson followed a one-out walk of Kevan Smith (the first of his career) with his second free pass in as many trips. Betances hit Yolmer Sanchez to load the bases with one out before he induced a Melky Cabrera short fly out. Abreu finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs and has driven in 51 this season.

“Today I can gladly say we didn’t fall short,” manager Rick Renteria said. “I can gladly say they finished out the game coming back, putting the final run on the board to put them over the top. They should experience that, enjoy it and use it to their advantage in terms of understanding what we are capable of doing.”

The White Sox were 0-40 this season when trailing after eight innings before Tuesday's rally.

Quintana earned the 63rd no decision of his career when the Yankees broke through in the eighth inning against Tommy Kahnle, who had a rare poor performance. Kahnle gave up a game-tying, two-out single to Aaron Judge and a two-run double to Gary Sanchez as the White Sox went from up a run to trailing 3-1.

The White Sox loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the eighth on all walks, but only scored once. Abreu struck out, Avisail Garcia flew out and Matt Davidson also whiffed to leave the bases loaded. The White Sox lone run came on a two-out walk by Todd Frazier.

The same offensive woes kept them from breaking out with Quintana on the hill. While they provided lavish run support in his previous two starts, the White Sox were back to their old ways with Quintana on Tuesday. They did give him a 1-0 lead when Abreu cued a two-out RBI double off Luis Severino in the third inning.

But Severino was otherwise a machine as he struck out 12 batters and walked none.

Quintana was even better, limiting the Yankees to nothing. He allowed two hits, walked four and struck out six. Though he didn’t earn the victory individually, Quintana was more than pleased to see his teammates pile onto Abreu in between first and second base after the walk-off single.

“That was what we want every time,” Quintana said. “We try to do the best on the mound and keep the games close and something good happens.”

How Tim Anderson's new glasses could benefit him at the plate.

By Dan Hayes

(Photo/USA TODAY)

Though he only has worn them for one game, Tim Anderson had been preparing to break in his new glasses for several weeks.

White Sox manager Rick Renteria said Tuesday evening that Anderson recently purchased new corrective lenses after he asked for additional testing beyond what teams normally offer. Though he’d recently worn the glasses around the clubhouse and in batting practice, Anderson didn’t break them in until Monday night. The second-year shortstop homered for the first time in nearly a month Monday and finished 2-for-5 with three RBIs in the club’s loss to the New York Yankees.

If the glasses help Anderson’s vision at the plate, the White Sox are all for it. Anderson entered Tuesday’s game hitting .253/.278/.377 with seven home runs and 24 RBIs in 285 plate appearances.

“The ball can travel anywhere from Shields' 69 miles per hour curveball to Chapman's 100 miles per hour fastball,” Renteria said. “It's very important to be able to see the baseball. It's obviously a split-second decision. It's very dangerous to be in there and not be able to see the ball. If that helps him, if that's a part of continuing to move forward, I hope that's part of what helps clear him up.”

Anderson said after Monday’s game he plans to wear the lenses the rest of the season, though he didn’t think the glasses make a huge difference. Still, the fact he homered after going 96 plate appearances in between round-trippers didn’t escape third baseman Todd Frazier, who made a joke suggesting Anderson downplayed the significance. Anderson said he’s spent several days recently adjusting to the glasses in preparation for the game and wears them at bat and in the field.

“I’ve been using them in BP,” Anderson said. “Trying to get used to them.”

Renteria said players get their vision checked every spring. Anderson’s request for additional screening isn’t out of the ordinary, Renteria said.

“Timmy just told us he wanted to get his eyes checked, so he did,” Renteria said. “Obviously, he's wearing the glasses that he wears now. He's trying to get comfortable with them. He'd had them for at least 2 1/2 weeks, 3 weeks. But he's kind of been hesitant to put them on. I know (Todd Steverson) spoke to him. He's going to use them, feel comfortable with them, start using them in the workouts and BP.”

Last-place White Sox ready to trade, but only if the right offer arises.

By JJ Stankevitz

(Photo/USA TODAY)

That the White Sox lost their fourth consecutive game doesn’t change the big picture plans of the franchise, which probably — but not definitely — will involve making at least one trade before the end of July.

Before the White Sox lost, 6-5, to the New York Yankees Monday at Guaranteed Rate Field, general manager Rick Hahn met with the media and delivered the same message he’s had since trading away Chris Sale and Adam Eaton in December. The White Sox are open for business, and would like to make a number of moves to further bolster their farm system, but won’t make a trade if they don’t receive what they view to be a fair return.

“Would I be surprised (if we didn’t make a trade)? No, because I try not to be surprised by the dynamics of this market,” Hahn said. “Would I be mildly disappointed? Sure. We are here to try to improve this club.

“We feel we have certain first and desirable players that would help other clubs and may fit better on their competitive windows then they do on ours right now. And we intend to be active each day in trying to further accomplish what we set out to do a year ago at this time.

“But do we have to do it? No. That would be using an artificial spot on the calendar to force decision-making. That would be the last thing we need to do. We need to take a long term view of what we are trying to accomplish.”

Hahn didn’t name names, but Todd Frazier, Melky Cabrera, David Robertson could be short-term fixes for contending clubs. Jose Quintana, who will start Tuesday against the Yankees, remains the team’s most valuable trade chip despite a 4.69 ERA that sits over run higher than his career average.

Frazier homered Monday and entered the game hitting .262/.351/.524 since Memorial Day. Cabrera similarly has found success after a slow start, slashing a healthy .324/.375/.482 in his previous 34 games before picking up two hits in four at-bats Monday. And Robertson, who’s been linked to the relief-starved Washington Nationals for months, has 41 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings with 11 saves.

“We want to be able to do as much as we can in our power to get this team to where it needs to be,” Hahn said. “Yes, there’s an element of competitiveness involved in that. There’s an element of patience involved in that. But at the end of the day, we have to — we get paid to be prudent in our decision making. We have to make the right decision.”

In the meantime, the White Sox looked the part of a rebuilding team with the worst record in the American League on Monday. Starter David Holmberg struggled, allowing six runs on five hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings — but only two of those runs were earned thanks to errors by Holmberg, Frazier and Matt Davidson.

As the Yankees took advantage of those miscues with three runs in both the fourth and sixth innings, Jordan Montgomery retired nine consecutive White Sox batters and went on to cruise with eight strikeouts over seven innings. The White Sox – as they’ve done quite a bit this year – still showed fight late, battling back in the ninth inning.

Tim Anderson ripped a three-run home run in the ninth inning off Yankees left-hander Chasen Shreve to bring the White Sox within two. Joe Girardi quickly turned to Aroldis Chapman, who allowed a run when Jose Abreu doubled home Melky Cabrera. But the tying run was stranded on second when Avisail Garcia grounded out and Frazier flew out to end the game.

Golf: I got a club for that..... 2017 Quicken Loans National: Field, Odds, Schedule.

By Tyler Bynum

(Photo/tourlala.com)

The 2017 Quicken Loans National golf tournament will be hosted for the first time at the TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm.

Taking place during the final weekend of June, it is the closest tournament on the PGA Tour for residents of the DMV area to attend. Hosted by Tiger Woods, it benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation. 

Since its founding in 2007, the Quicken Loans National has not been one of the major stops on the tour.

However, it always does attract a handful of top tier talent along with a strong showing of golfers from the middle of FedEx Cup rankings. Past notable victors include Tiger Woods, Justin Rose, and Nick Watney. In 2016, Virginia native, Billy Hurley III won the tournament, hitting under 70 in each round. 

2017 Quicken Loans National Information:

What: The 11th Quicken Loans National golf tournament

When: Thursday, June 29- Sunday, July 2, 2017

Where: TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm

TV Channel: Golf Channel, CBS Sports

Livestream: TBA

2017 Quicken Loans National Odds:

DraftKings and FanDuel have tournaments open for the Quicken Loans National, as does GolfChannel.com's Fantasy Golf game.

Rickie Fowler, who headlines the 2017 field, is also the betting favorite, with 15-2 odds. Justin Thomas, who is putting together a strong summer, has 11/1 odds of winning, with Patrick Reed right behind him at 12-1. That being said, CBS Sportsline isn't picking Fowler to win it all, projecting a third-place finish for the headlining star.

Here are the top 10 Quicken Loans National betting favorites:

Rickie Fowler: 15/2

Justin Thomas: 11/1

Patrick Reed: 12/1

Kevin Chappell: 20/1

Marc Leishman: 20/1

Brendan Steele: 25/1

Tony Finau: 25/1

David Lingmerth: 28/1

Russell Henley: 28/1

Danny Lee: 33/1

J.B. Holmes: 33/1

2017 Quicken Loans National Field:

The field for the 2017 Quicken Loans National features 120 golfers. (Top 200 PGA ranking as of Monday, June 26.)

Byeong Hun An (58)
Arjun Atwal
Aaron Baddeley (136)
Blayne Barber
Ricky Barnes
Zac Blair
Ryan Blaum
Jonas Blixt
Jason Bohn
Dominic Bozzelli (151)
Keegan Bradley (101)
Ryan Brehm
Wesley Bryan (42)
Roberto Castro (121)
Bud Cauley (98)
Alex Cejka
Greg Chalmers
Kevin Chappell (26)
K.J. Choi, 2007 Champion
Wyndham Clark
Ben Crane
Bryson Dechambeau (149)
Graham DeLaet (109)
Harris English (110)
Julian Etulain
Matt Every
Derek Fathauer
Tony Finau (65)
Martin Flores
Rickie Fowler (9)
Robert Garrigus
Brian Gay
Lucas Glover (100)
Fabian Gomez (158)
Jason Gore
Gavin Kyle Green
Cody Gribble
Bill Haas, 2013 Champion (38)
Adam Hadwin (53)
Brandon Hagy
James Hahn
David Hearn (191)
Russell Henley (55)
J.J. Henry
Jim Herman (82)
Morgan Hoffman (155)
J.B. Holmes (50)
Billy Horschel (47)
Sam Horsfield
Charles Howell III (70)
Mackenzie Hughes (108)
John Huh
Billy Hurley III, 2016 Champion (125)
Matt Jones
Sung Kang (87)
Smylie Kaufman (137)
Michael Kim
Si Woo Kim (30)
Whee Kim (172)
Chris Kirk (112)
Patton Kizzire (201)
Jason Kokrak (95)
Kelly Kraft (185)
Martin Laird (111)
Danny Lee (80)
Marc Leishman (35)
Spencer Levin
David Lingmerth (99)
Luke List (132)
Andrew Loupe
Curtis Luck
Peter Malnati
Ben Martin
Troy Merritt, 2015 Champion
Bryce Molder
Trey Mullinax
Grayson Murray
Kevin Na (67)
Seung-Yul Noh (195)
Geoff Ogilvy
Greg Owen
Rod Pampling (168)
C.T. Pan (148)
Cameron Percy
D.A. Points
Seamus Power
Jonathan Randolph
Patrick Reed (17)
Kyle Reifers
Patrick Rodgers (178)
Ryan Ruffels
Sam Saunders
Xander Schauffele (162)
Ollie Schniederjans (126)
J.J. Spaun (133)
Scott Stallings
Kyle Stanley (94)
Brendan Steele (52)
Shawn Stefani
Brett Stegmaier
Robert Streb (196)
Kevin Streelman (124)
Chris Stroud
Daniel Summerhays (88)
Hudson Swafford (85)
Nick Taylor
Vaughn Taylor (164)
Justin Thomas (12)
Michael Thompson
Cameron Tringale
Kevin Tway (179)
Tyrone Van Aswegen
Harold Varner III (135)
Jhonattan Vegas (68)
Camilo Villegas
Johnson Wagner
Jimmy Walker (39)
Nick Watney, 2011 Champion
Boo Weekley
Tim Wilkinson

Golf Digest Tournament Predictor: 2017 Quicken Loans National.

By Joel Beall

(Photo/Streeter Lecka)

Welcome to the Golf Digest Tournament Predictor. Each week we'll pit a machine's tournament forecast against our expert's picks.

Professor Lucius Riccio's Model picked the winner for the second straight week in Jordan Spieth, with three top-five picks and four top-10s. However, though machine was a blowout winner at Erin Hills, man came out on top at the Travelers Championship, as our expert not only picked Spieth, but runner-up Daniel Berger as well, finishing with four top-fives to squeak out the W.

The PGA Tour turns its attention to TPC Potomac for the Quicken Loans National. The course, which hosted the Kemper Open once upon a time, underwent a major facelift since the tour last visited. All 18 holes at Avenel Farm have been restructured to some degree, highlighted by a complete overhaul of holes 10, 11 and 13. Bunkers have been added, the course lengthened and par changed from 71 to 70.

TPC Potomac surrendered a 20-under-par winning score in its last PGA Tour event; factoring in the upgrades, expect that number to be cut in half this week.

Though the Quicken Loans doesn't boast the strongest of fields, it does have a handful of big names in Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed. It's also one of just five tour events with invitational status, meaning a truncated field (120 players).

Professor's Picks:

Rickie Fowler

Graham DeLaet

Marc Leishman

Luke List

Byeong Hun An

Patrick Reed

Justin Thomas

Russell Henley

Hudson Swafford

Brendan Steele

Professor's Explanation: This week’s event is at another TPC course which provides enough variety to enable many players to be competitive. So I think my list of ten players may not look as conventional as other weeks. My top pick, Rickie Fowler has (according to the Model) three times the chance of winning as the next pick, and the difference in winning probability between the Model’s second and tenth picks is less than one and half percent.

Expert Analysis: Frankly, I'm just glad Lou didn't go all chalk again. I'm all for a breezy task, but scrutinizing his picks was easier than dunking on a Little Tykes hoop. (Just kidding, professor.)

I like the Fowler pick; the new layout should put an emphasis on shotmaking, and few are better than Fowler. Same goes with Patrick Reed, who's coming off impressive displays at Erin Hills and TPC River Highlands. If the renovations achieve their intended results, this week's winner will be one who can keep the ball in the short stuff, an attribute both players command.

After that, however, the selections become questionable.

In one regard, credit to the Model for going off the grid. In that same tone, we're struggling to understand the basis for its belief. Hudson Swafford enters with four missed cuts in his past five outings, and shortcomings in his iron accuracy and short game don't seem to forecast success at this relatively short track. Also drawing a curious look is Luke List, who's one of the more dazzling players off the tee but has struggled -- five missed cuts in last seven outings -- as of late. Finally, while Graham DeLaet has been rejuvenated in 2017 and is a nice long-shot, selecting the Canadian as the second-best pick is a head-scratcher.

And yes, I realize the hypocrisy of hammering Lou for picking all favorites in the first two weeks, only to turn around and ridicule his dark horses. What can I say, this is war.

Expert Picks:

Kevin Chappell

Bill Haas

Brendan Steele

Xander Schauffele

Rickie Fowler

Charles Howell III

Patrick Reed

Jamie Lovemark

Justin Thomas

Si Woo Kim

Expert Analysis: Thomas and Fowler seem like copouts, but with a limited field -- both in size and prestige -- the cream should rise to the top. Look for Thomas to bounce-back from an early exit at the Travelers.

Chappell has followed up his win in Texas with a T-4 in Memphis and a top-25 finish at the U.S. Open. His approach performance hasn't lived up to last year's breakout standards, but Chappell remains an assassin with an iron in his hands and warrants a spot in your fantasy lineup.

While Bill Haas is 41st in strokes gained/approach, he does rank eighth in greens in regulation. Coupled with his scoring average (13th) and recent hot streak (T-12 at Colonial, T-4 at Erin Hills), Haas is a safe pick for another fine showing this week.

As for the wild cards, Si Woo Kim proved he's not a one-hit wonder at the U.S. Open with a respectable T-13. If Kim can avoid the big numbers -- and just as importantly, back aggravation -- he should be in the mix come the weekend. And though Lovemark's inconsistency is maddening, he does have reps at this course, playing it twice on the Web.com circuit. Look for that experience to pay off.

Spieth's Travelers win moves him to No. 3 in OWGR.

By Ryan Lavner

(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)

Jordan Spieth’s dramatic playoff victory at the Travelers Championship returned him to No. 3 in the world ranking.

Over the past month, Spieth had dropped as low as No. 7 in the world, his worst position since March 2015. He entered last week’s event in Hartford at No. 6, but now he is only behind Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama.

Daniel Berger, who lost to Spieth on the first playoff hole at TPC River Highlands, climbed from 28^th to a career-best 18^th in the world. It was his second top-2 finish in his past three weeks, following his title defense at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

Andres Romero, who snapped a 10-year winless drought by capturing the BMW International Open, made the biggest move of the week, rising from No. 837 to No. 182.

Here is the top 10 in the world, in order, heading into this week’s events: Johnson, Matsuyama, Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Alex Noren, Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka.

Ryu on being No. 1: 'I'm living the dream'.

By Randall Mell

(AP Photo/Michael Woods)

So Yeon Ryu didn’t know she was the new Rolex world No. 1 when she hoisted the trophy Sunday after winning the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

She said Tuesday that she was surprised by the news during a celebratory dinner later Sunday night with Inbee Park and other friends at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Rogers, Ark.

Ryu’s caddie, Tom Watson, said fellow player Marina Alex delivered the big news to the dinner party.

“I’m living the dream,” Ryu said from the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. “I still cannot believe it. I was No. 3 and thought I was kind of far away.”

Watson will be adorned with the Rolex world No. 1 caddie bib during a ceremony before Ryu hits her first tee shot Thursday afternoon at Olympia Fields Country Club’s North Course.

Ryu is a terrific iron player, which should set her up well at Olympia Fields this week as she bids to win back-to-back majors. Players are calling it a “second-shot course” with generous rough.

“Compared to the last two years, the rough’s length, I kind of hate to say this, is the easiest,” Ryu said of her three starts in the Women’s PGA Championship.

Ryu said the greens are an entirely different matter. She said they are small with lots of slope and will be a challenge if they remain as firm and fast as they are.

While Ryu is honored to hold the world No. 1 ranking, she said her focus is on winning her third different major. She won the U.S. Women’s Open in 2011 and wants to claim the career Grand Slam.

“That’s the goal I really want to achieve,” Ryu said.

NASCAR Power Rankings: Does Kevin Harvick move to No. 1?

By Nick Bromberg

1. Kevin Harvick (LW: 4): Screw it, let’s have some fun shuffling up the top of the rankings this week. Yeah, Harvick is in his 17th season so he’s been around a while. But the fact that there are just three tracks (Kentucky, Pocono, Texas) where he hasn’t won now that he got that Sonoma victory is proof of his overall — and possibly underrated — excellence.

He’s also a great example of the idea that NASCAR drivers peak in their late 30s. Since Harvick’s age-34 season in 2010 he’s won 25 races. Yeah, moving to Stewart-Haas Racing helps, but he had 11 wins from 2001-09.

2. Kyle Larson (LW: 1): Larson’s race got off to a bad start when he was collateral damage in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s turn 11 spin. Unlike Junior, his day didn’t rebound after the incident. And like Junior, he was involved in a three-wide kerfuffle that ended with Danica Patrick spinning and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s car in the garage.

Larson ended up a lap down in 26th.

3. Kyle Busch (LW: 3): Like many cars including Harvick’s, Busch had some significant front-end damage. But he ended up finishing fifth after charging through the field over the final stage because he had fresh tires.

Busch and team executed what appeared to be an unconventional strategy in the final laps of the second stage. With tires at a premium, Busch drove slowly to save his tires knowing that the caution was going to come out and he’d make up the track position.

4. Martin Truex (LW: 2): This is really harsh for Truex, who had the race’s fastest car. He won the first stage and looked primed to battle Kevin Harvick for the race win until an engine issue sidelined his car.

If the Truex luck is back, the No. 78 team better hope it goes away before the playoffs. But at the same time, Truex has logged so many playoff points (and is in line for a hefty bonus for being near the top of the points standings) that he can survive some bad luck at the beginning of the playoffs.

“For about the past 20 laps, [I had] been on seven cylinders,” Truex said after his engine bit the dust. “After we made that last pit stop, when we lost the lead to Harvick, soon as I left pit road, I lost a cylinder. I was surprised we were able to keep up with them as well as we could on seven, but just shows how strong the car was.”

5. Chase Elliott (LW: 5): Elliott finished eighth, which is impressive given that Sunday’s race was just his second Cup race at Sonoma. And that he wrecked his primary car in Friday’s second practice session.

As drivers in Elliott’s experience class keep winning, the pressure to win may seem like its piling up on the driver of the No. 24. But Elliott has been consistent since he stepped into the Cup Series and that’s a better sign of excellence than a fluke win.

Though if you ask Elliott about his performance on Sunday, he won’t give himself a very good grade.

“I don’t think I did a very good job,” Elliott said. “They made good calls on pit road that ended up getting me track position that we needed.”

6. Brad Keselowski (LW: 8): Keselowski was one of the last drivers to pit in the final stage, hoping that a caution would come out and he could stay near the front of the field as everyone else came to pit road with him.

That didn’t happen, but it worked out pretty well anyway. With fresh tires compared to many of his peers, Keselowski charged back up to third by the time of the checkered flag. Had there been a late caution, he could have finished even higher.

“You have to be patient and have to believe in your team because you know they can see things you can’t and obviously they made they made the right call to stay out there long,” Keselowski said. “And when we decided to come in and get tire we were able to move up the field quickly. A few more laps we could have gotten up to second.”

7. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 6): Johnson’s stage 2 win was his first stage win of the year. He ended up finishing 13th after pitting at the end of the second stage and being unable to work his way through the field as the strategy unfolded over the final half of the race.

All that strategy because of the stages was hard to keep track of, Johnson said.

“I had no earthly idea what was going on,” Johnson said. “I passed so many cars.  I don’t even know what strategy won. It was very difficult to know what was going on from inside the car.  I would assume that caused a lot of great viewing and entertainment that was fun to watch, but I had no clue what was going on out there.”

8. Jamie McMurray (LW: 7): McMurray started second and finished 10th. McMurray said he figured he’d finish higher than that, but as the final stage went green the entire way, his older tires didn’t pay off at the end.

“I thought we were going to be fourth or fifth and some of those guys pitted and actually ran us back down with tires, which you normally don’t see,” McMurray said. “We normally don’t have that long of a green flag run, but overall really good day for our Cessna Chevy.”

9. Denny Hamlin (LW: 10): Hamlin finished fourth, the highest-finishing driver who wasn’t in a Ford. He led the first 10 laps of the third stage after Johnson pitted and then worked his way back to the front as others pitted throughout the final stage.

10. Ryan Blaney (LW: 9): Blaney finished ninth, but he moves down a spot because Hamlin finished fourth. He said his team pitted early in the final stage thinking there would be a caution late in the race and the team would have a chance to pit for tires. That caution never happened, as you know from that being written about 50 times prior to Blaney’s entry.

11. Clint Bowyer (LW: NR): Bowyer’s second-place finish ties his best of the season and, more importantly, moves him ahead of Matt Kenseth for 11th in the points standings. With Harvick’s win, seven of the top 12 drivers in points don’t have a win. Kenseth is 12th.

Because nine drivers have official wins and Joey Logano is in encumbered purgatory, Bowyer is the last driver in to the playoffs on points at the moment.

12. Joey Logano (LW: 11): Logano finished 12th after he got a late pit road speeding penalty. He had high hopes for his race without the penalty.

“We had the winning strategy and scored a lot of stage points,” Logano said. “With a little more speed we maybe could have won the thing. I just sped down pit road and lost so much track position after that.”

Lucky Dog: Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished sixth.

The DNF: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got crashed out after his girlfriend Danica Patrick went spinning. He finished last.

Dropped Out: Matt Kenseth

Bump & Run: Is Daytona last true shot for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to make playoffs?

By NBC Sports

(Photo/nbcsports.com)

Kyle Petty, Slugger Labbe and Dale Jarrett join Leigh Diffey from 5:30 – 7 p.m. ET today on NASCAR America on NBCSN. Petty, Labbe, Jarrett, Nate Ryan and Dustin Long discuss this week’s hot topics.

Does Saturday night’s race at Daytona International Speedway mark Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s last true shot to win and make the playoffs?

Dale Jarrett: Certainly by what we’ve seen to this point, it would take something extraordinary for it to happen somewhere else. Even though they’ve run better.

There’s nothing telling me that they’re at that point that they can go win one of these other races without pulling some type of strategy. Yes, I think that this is it. It’s going to take a win for him to make the playoffs. He’s going to have to make that push Saturday night.

Kyle Petty: I don’t believe it’s his last shot, but it may be his best shot. I say that not because he’s run well enough to win anywhere this year, they just seem to be a step behind everywhere. I say “best shot” because throughout his career he’s always stepped up at the “storybook, Hollywood script” moments to win. Can his last Daytona be another one of those moments? Yes. Will it? Only the Racing Gods know.

Slugger Labbe: Unfortunately I believe Daytona is the last opportunity (which a win at Daytona would be AWESOME) for Dale Jr. and the 88 team. We just haven’t seen the performance and confidence in this team to be perfect and on the same page on a given race weekend and being perfect is about what it takes to win.

Nate Ryan: The answer seemed yes … until Michigan and Sonoma. Those are Earnhardt’s first consecutive top 10s this season, and that is meaningful for a streaky driver who always has thrived on confidence and momentum. If he doesn’t break through at Daytona, don’t expect a win at Kentucky, New Hampshire or Indianapolis … but if the No. 88 can continue a string of solid finishes, it doesn’t seem out of the question that Earnhardt still could sneak into victory lane at Pocono, Michigan or Bristol.

Dustin Long: I agree with Kyle that a win by Dale Jr. this weekend would mark another one of those “storybook’’ triumphs, but I think he can win elsewhere. It just keeps popping into my head that a storybook moment would be for Dale Jr. to win at Indianapolis, a track Hendrick Motorsports has had much success. After Indy, though, his chances will be limited to a maybe a couple of tracks.

What has been the biggest surprise this season?

Dale Jarrett: How intense the racing is in the early and middle parts of these races. I knew that the stage racing was going to change things, but it’s really opened up something totally different to me. To sit and watch an entire race now and see drivers pressing hard and the crew chiefs making decisions at times to gather playoff or more points, whatever it is that they are looking for there, and then putting themselves in a position that they have to try to find their way back to the front to try to win the race. That’s something more from teams that have the luxury of doing that that have won races, but it’s pretty entertaining.

Kyle Petty: Too many surprises to name only one. First-time winners, drivers that haven’t won, Kurt Busch at Daytona, how much stage racing has changed how teams/crew chiefs/drivers race. After this coming weekend, I may have to add “see answer to question #1.”

Slugger Labbe: How stage racing has changed our sport for the better, between known cautions (stage ends) that require different strategies and limited tire allotments. There have been races that have been just downright hard to predict, what is right or wrong, until they throw the checkers, and also the effects of the playoff points that are rewarded for stage victories!!

Nate Ryan: That there are 11 winners representing eight teams through the first 16 races – and that none is from Joe Gibbs Racing.

Dustin Long: I wouldn’t have guessed that Richard Childress Racing would have two wins and Roush Fenway Racing would have one victory while Joe Gibbs Racing remained winless with its driver lineup.

Kyle Busch is winless in his last 32 races, a streak that dates back to his win last year at Indianapolis. Does he win before next month’s race at Indy?

Dale Jarrett: I have to believe he will. There’s not a track that we will be going to between now and then that he doesn’t perform at a high level at. They continue to put themselves in position. I think at some point in time things will work out. Could be this weekend. I really believe it will happen certainly within the next four races.

Kyle Petty: Yes! Kyle wins before Indy. Honestly he should/could have won two or three races already this year. Driver, crew and pit call mistakes have kept them out of victory lane. They’ve beaten themselves. I believe with the tracks that are coming up that Kyle’s frustration ends.

Slugger Labbe: YES!! KB and the 18 team have been to me one of the best performers so far in 2017. They just need to seal the deal. Speed is not an issue, but they need to clean up a few things. I think it would be great for the garage to see KB win Daytona with a third-string crew chief. This team has had a shot at seven victories so far in 2017: Phoenix, Martinsville, Talladega, Charlotte, Dover, Pocono and Michigan. For KB to have a mic drop and a few F-bombs, I think he has done a remarkable job so far. Amazing that we are halfway through season and NO JGR team has been to victory lane yet!

Nate Ryan: He has three top fives in the past six restrictor-plate races between Daytona and Talladega, so I’ll be picking him Saturday night.

Dustin Long: Yes. The drought ends at Kentucky.

Cup Series playoff grid following Sonoma.

By Daniel McFadin

(Photo/Getty Images)

With the Coke Zero 400 set for 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday on NBC, the race will mark the start of a 10-race sprint to the playoffs in September.

Only 16 Cup drivers can make the playoffs and following Sunday’s race at Sonoma Raceway, Kevin Harvick made it 10 drivers locked in based on wins. It could have been 11 if not for Joey Logano‘s encumbered finish for his win at Richmond in April.

Kyle Larson leads the way with his two wins – Auto Club, Michigan – and 13 payoff points. Martin Truex Jr. is second and leads all drivers with 11 stage wins and 21 playoff points.

With 10 races left until the playoffs begin at Richmond, all 10 qualified drivers are in the top 20 in points. But six of the top 12 on the playoff grid don’t have wins. That group is led by Kyle Busch, who is fourth in points but has not won since last July’s Brickyard 400.

Jamie McMurray is in eighth and is the highest driver on the grid who has not earned any playoff points through 16 races.

Below is the full playoff grid.



SOCCER: Fire to resume U.S. Open Cup at packed house in Cincinnati. 

By Dan Santaromita

(Photo/USA TODAY)

Since arriving this winter, Dax McCarty has been the one to raise the expectations for the Chicago Fire and continued to do so after the Fire beat Orlando.

He raised the question to himself if it was realistic for the Fire to win MLS Cup, the Supporters’ Shield and the U.S. Open Cup and he said “Why not?”

The Fire’s U.S. Open Cup hopes take center stage on Wednesday when the team plays at FC Cincinnati in the round of 16. The Fire beat Saint Louis FC in the team’s first match in the tournament and even though Cincinnati is another USL team like St. Louis, things should be different.

Cincinnati is trying to showcase itself as a future MLS market and had a crowd of 30,160 for the 1-0 win against the Columbus Crew last round, which was a record for a U.S. Open Cup match played before the final. Another big crowd is expected when the Fire come to Nippert Stadium.

While cities like St. Louis and San Diego have run into trouble getting stadium deals done, Cincinnati has only had positive momentum so far in the expansion process. For example, there’s a story from USSoccer.com saying Cincinnati is the capital of American soccer.

Cincinnati’s ambition is clear in the statement from team president and general manager Jeff Berding when it was announced that Wednesday’s match will be broadcast on national TV.

“We look forward to showing off our great city as the hottest new soccer market to the rest of country,” Berding said.

To add to the spectacle of the match, a local brewery from each city placed a bet on the match in the name of charity.

The Fire brought mostly a first choice lineup to Missouri in the win last round. Of the Fire’s most common starters, only Bastian Schweinsteiger, David Accam, Nemanja Nikolic and Joao Meira sat out.

This time around Accam and McCarty will be out with their national teams. Nikolic did travel this time around.

The two teams met in the preseason, with the Fire winning 3-2 back on Feb. 22.

Cincinnati features a pair of former Fire players in Austin Berry (2012 MLS Rookie of the Year) and Corben Bone. Cincinnati is 5-5-5 in the USL this season, but as coach Alan Koch said after the team beat Columbus, “The beauty of cup soccer is anything can happen in one game.”

David Accam named MLS Player of the Week.

By Dan Santaromita

(Photo/www.chicagolandsoccernews.com)

In one of the least surprising bits of news to come out of Major League Soccer, Chicago Fire winger David Accam was named MLS Player of the Week.

Accam had a hat trick, the Fire’s first since Harry Shipp in 2014, and an assist in the 4-0 win against Orlando on Saturday.

The Ghanaian has 10 goals and six assists this year. The 10 goals match his previous high with the Fire (set in 2015) and the six assists surpassed his previous high of five, which he got last year. With 16 combined goals and assists, he is tied for the league lead with teammate Nemanja Nikolic and New York City FC’s David Villa in that category.

Accam’s first goal was an impressive backheel in the third minute. He is also in the running for Goal of the Week for that effort.

He had his second goal less than 10 minutes into the match, added an assist to Nikolic early in the second half and finished the hat trick with a penalty kick.

Nikolic previously won Player of the Week in April and Player of the Month in May.

Accam is currently with the Ghanaian national team for a pair of friendlies. He will be out for at least two Fire games, Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match at FC Cincinnati and the Saturday league game against Vancouver.

USMNT Gold Cup 23-man roster leaves some questions.

By Nicholas Mendola

(Photo by Joe Petro/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

We have Bruce Arena’s 23-man United States men’s national roster for the Gold Cup, and there are more than a few surprises left out of the bunch.

Often a chance to experiment, those who thought this year’s Gold Cup roster would be one aimed at reclaiming glory with authority may be surprised to see the status quo.

Jurgen Klinsmann brought most of his big guns to the 2015 party — which didn’t go well for Brad Guzan and Co. — but Arena will roll into this summer’s tournament without most of his big names. There’s no Geoff Cameron, John Brooks, Michael Bradley, Christian Pulisic, Clint Dempsey, nor Jozy Altidore.

Those aren’t huge surprises, though who Arena neglected from his original 40-man short list is a bit of a shock to the system (Players can be called into the mix after the group stage, which is a fairly simple affair for the USMNT to navigate versus Panama, Martinique, and Nicagarua).

Arena is going with Brad Guzan, Sean Johnson, and Bill Hamid in a trio that fails to impress. Hamid does have a big crowd of fans who’d like to see him get a chance to assert himself as the future, and hopefully either Johnson or Hamid finds time between the sticks against a serious opponent like Panama. No surprise that Tim Howard and Joe Bendik didn’t leap into the trio (EDIT: This post initially questioned the omission of Jesse Gonzalez, but his one-time switch from Mexico to the USMNT has yet to go through).

We’ll ignore the omission of Danny Williams for the most part considering he was absent from the 40-man list, but he must have said something seriously awful to Arena or someone at U.S. soccer.

The group of forwards leaves little to complain about, as Juan Agudelo and Dom Dwyer very much deserve their chances to compete for playing time with Sounders star Jordan Morris, but the midfield provides some head-scratching. Gyasi Zardes may be a longtime Arena favorite, but the Galaxy man has been ice cold in MLS. The 25-year-old has a single assist in almost 1000 minutes of play this season, and that came back on April 8. Tommy McNamara has not lighting the league on fire and Chris Pontius and his six assists are 30 years old, so much of the grief should be directed at the 40-man again, but Zardes has to embrace this opportunity. And maybe it’s a way to help the Galaxy and Zardes get a little mojo.

As an aside, Wil Trapp is among leaders in several MLS passing stats, which leads me to believe Arena is going to play Dax McCarty and Kellyn Acosta a ton and doesn’t see much of a need for Trapp in this tournament, not ever.

Defenders Steve Birnbaum and Jonathan Spector were not rewarded with looks, though Graham Zusi was included in what must be an arm reaching out for USMNT experience. Birnbaum is leading MLS in aerials won per game and Spector is by far Orlando’s top rated player since returning from England. Yes, Spector is 31 but this is about still qualifying for next summer’s World Cup, not the 2022 cycle. Spare a thought for Matt Polster, who has been decent since returning from a knee strain. This is nothing against Zusi, a consummate professional who won’t kill the team by any means and will be an tremendous asset in leadership.

What about you? Any other gripes? Or do you love the bunch?

Confederations Cup semifinal preview, picks.

By Joe Prince-Wright

(Photo/nbcsports.com)

The 2017 Confederations Cup will get back underway midweek with two semifinals taking place in Russia.

Group A winners Portugal face Chile in Kazan, while Group B winners Germany clash with Mexico in Sochi for a spot in the Confed Cup final in St. Petersburg on Sunday. This will get very tasty indeed.

Below you will find a preview for each game, while you can click on the links above or below to stream the games live.

Portugal vs. Chile – Kazan – Wednesday, 2 p.m. ET live online via Telemundo Deportes

Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Alexis Sanchez. That is all… Seriously, though, this is the most-anticipated battle of the Confederations Cup so far as the European champs collide with the South American champs with both teams having very similar styles. Both like to defend and hit opponents on the counter and both have a genuine superstar in Ronaldo and Sanchez.

With the future of both those stars up in the air, both will want to put on a show to rubber-stamp their world class ability, especially Sanchez as clubs line up to try and pry him away from Arsenal with just one year left on his current contract with the Gunners. Sanchez’s goal against Australia meant he set a new record as Chile’s all-time leading scorer with 38 and along with Arturo Vidal he will lead Juan Antonio Pizzi’s team. Chile looked tired in their 1-1 draw with Australia on Sunday so having a day less of rest should not be overlooked for this veteran squad as the South Americans haven’t quite got going yet.

Ronaldo is the leader for Portugal as he scored against Mexico and New Zealand, while playing in all three games thus far for Fernando Santos’ squad. With 55 goals in 54 games in all competitions this season, Ronaldo will aim to finish the campaign on a high. With his future at Real Madrid reportedly up in the air, the 32-year-old surely won’t miss a chance to shine with the world watching.

Prediction: Portugal 2-1 Chile – This will probably go to extra time and if it doesn’t go to penalty kicks, Portugal will just edge it as Ronaldo takes center stage.

Germany vs. Mexico – Sochi – Thursday, 2 p.m. ET live online via Telemundo Deportes

This promises to be a classic encounter as a young German squad comes up against a battling El Tri. Mexico fell behind in all three of their Confed Cup group games but Juan Carlos Osorio’s team fought back to beat Russia and New Zealand as well as snatch a late draw with Portugal.

As for Germany, they’re building momentum throughout the tournament, despite goalkeeping issues, as Timo Werner has been among the goals, while Julian Draxler, Leon Goretzka, Lars Stindl, Julian Brandt, Joshua Kimmich and Shkodran Mustafi have also impressed. Joachim Low has left the majority of his 2014 World Cup winning team at home, so if this young German side makes the final then everyone will sit up and take notice as Toni Kroos, Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil and Co. sit on the beach applauding, then possibly go for a jog as they worry about their starting spot next summer…

This won’t be a walk in the park for Germany. Mexico is a tough nut to crack and Osorio, despite his critics, has El Tri set up to defend first and then launch rapid counters with Hirving Lozano dangerous and Javier Hernandez and Oribe Perlata able to finish. Mexico’s added experience in high-pressure situations may be crucial, but losing captain Andres Guardado to suspension will hurt and injuries to Carlos Salcedo and Hector Moreno has left El Tri short in defense.

Prediction: Germany 2-2 Mexico (Germany to win on PKs) – This should be a thrilling encounter but Germany, of course, will likely win on PKs.

NCAAFB: Committee launched to formulate plans for college football’s 150th birthday.

By John Taylor

(Photo/Getty Images)

On Nov. 6, 1869, Princeton and Rutgers squared off in the first-ever college football game.  Nearly 148 years later, the powers-that-be in the sport are in the beginning stages of commemorating the momentous event.

The National Football Foundation announced in a press release that “[a] group of college football leaders announced plans today to launch a nationwide celebration to commemorate the game’s 150th anniversary.” The group will be headed by Kevin Weiberg, longtime college athletics administrator and former Big 12 Conference commissioner.

There are a baker’s dozen other individuals who will be involved in planning the festivities as part of the committee, including the two current athletic directors of the teams involved in the sport’s first game.

• Todd Berry, executive director, American Football Coaches Association
• Ari Fleischer, president, Ari Fleischer Communications
• Bill Hancock, executive director, College Football Playoff
• Steve Hatchell, president & chief executive officer, National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame
• Pat Hobbs, director of athletics, Rutgers University
• Chris Howard, president, Robert Morris University
• Mike Kern, associate commissioner, Missouri Valley Football Conference/FCS Managing Director
• Oliver Luck, executive vice president of regulatory affairs and strategic partnerships, NCAA
• Mollie Marcoux Samaan, athletics director, Princeton University
• Larry Scott, commissioner, Pac-12 Conference
• Jon Steinbrecher, commissioner, Mid-American Conference
• Bob Vecchione, executive director, National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics
• Wright Waters, executive director, Football Bowl Association

“This is a very exciting moment for fans of college football,” Weiberg said in a statement. “Across the country, college football is a deeply ingrained part of life for millions and millions of people. While it’s too soon to know our exact plans, we want to put something together that is big and special, something fans can be proud of. We will work closely with leaders from all divisions of college football to build a national celebration for fans to enjoy.

“No one could have imagined that since the first football game was played on November 6, 1869 that college football would grow to become one of America’s greatest traditions, beloved by tens of millions of fans every year,” said Scott. “At all divisions of play, college football is special and we intend to launch a nationwide celebration to mark the anniversary.”

NCAABKB: Adam Silver on lowering NBA Draft age minimum: ‘It’s on the table’.

By Rob Dauster

NBA commissioner Adam Silver joined Dan Patrick this morning and was again questioned about the potential of the NBA changing the age limit to declare for the draft.

“If you’d asked me that a year ago, I would have said ‘if I didn’t have to negotiate this with the union, I would have raised the age minimum to 20 from 19,'” Silver told Patrick. When pressed on it, Silver said, “It’s a possible option. It’s on the table,” adding that it will be discussed by the union and in an owner’s meeting, and that he still doesn’t know what he thinks the best answer is.

But the big news is that he’s actively considering a change.

I wrote a long piece about the one-and-done rule and why the topic of what’s best for the kids is incredibly complicated. Owners don’t want to pay teenagers millions of dollars to develop; they’d rather let them develop in college and have an extra season or two on the back-end, when the player is in his prime. The players don’t want to spend a year in college, but the marketing and branding opportunities for them — not to mention to booster money that is floating around on a college campus — makes going to college a better option that going to the G-League, and that’s to say nothing of the fancy dorms, private flights and perks of being a celebrity on a college campus.

The truth is probably this: The NBA is trying to take control of basketball’s feeder systems. And I’m not just talking about making the G-League a better option than the collegiate ranks.

“It’s no longer an issue of 19 to 18 or 19 to 20,” Silver said. “I think it means that we as the NBA need to do something that we’ve avoided, which is getting more involved in youth basketball. If you sit with the folks from Nike or Under Armour or Adidas, they can tell you who the top 100 14 year olds are in the world, and there’s a fairly close correlation between the top 100 at 14 and the top 100 at 18.”

“Then I look at some of the players coming in internationally who are becoming full time professional basketball players, as we see in soccer, at 16 years old,” he added. “And they’re on a better development program and a more holistic one, in terms of injury prevention and monitoring in terms of control over them.”

This is a really nuanced decision, and again, if it interests you, I would encourage you to read what I wrote last week before listening to the hot take mafia work this story line over.

Because the fact of the matter is that there is a lot more to consider here than simply whether or not high school seniors should be allowed to go directly to the NBA.

Legalized sports gambling just got one step closer.

By Dan Wetzel

Sports wagering is currently legal in Nevada and, in limited ways, three other states. (Photo/AP)

So is America finally going to have legalized sports wagering – a book on every street block taking NFL action, just like in Europe, or online bets done with taxable companies inside our borders?

Or is this just the latest in decades of big teases?

On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court announced it would hear an appeal to reinstate a 2012 New Jersey law that would legalize sports wagering at the state’s casinos and racetracks.

While there is still a long, long way to go, it is as significant of a development in the legalization of sports betting as there’s been in years.

A series of lower courts said the state law, championed by New Jersey governor Chris Christie, was in conflict with the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA). That law prohibits sports wagering outside of Nevada and, in limited ways, three other states.

Officially filed as New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association v. NCAA, et al, oral arguments will likely be heard during the court’s fall session. A decision is expected in 2018.

Efforts at legalizing sports wagering have always stalled, even as leagues such as the NBA and NHL have rescinded public opposition to it and began to see both the folly of the arguments against it as well as potential revenue and fan interest benefits. Even the staid NFL has softened its rhetoric and prepares to open a franchise just off the Las Vegas Strip and continues to eye another in London, where sports books dot the landscape.

There is certainly no guarantee the Supreme Court will rule in favor of New Jersey; every lower court has sided with the federal government. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals out of Philadelphia ruled 10-2 in favor of the feds. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, knew there would be a considerable legal fight, although he likely never anticipated losing every time.

The case will not be decided based on the public argument of why sports wagering should be legal, such as how the PASPA was based largely on unfounded fears of game fixing, how law enforcement actually sees legal wagering as its best tool against compromised games and how illegal wagering, an industry estimated to be worth hundreds of billions of dollars, is boon to no one but organized crime.

Instead it will focus on whether PASPA unfairly grandfathered in four states, most notably Nevada, at the expense of others, thus violating state sovereignty protections under the 10th Amendment.

There is considerable hope, though, because the Supreme Court decided to hear the case despite strong opposition from the Trump Administration, whose Solicitor General filed a brief this spring arguing the Supreme Court not hear the appeal. There had been hope within the gaming industry that the administration of Donald Trump, a former casino owner himself, would be an advocate. That hasn’t occurred.

Yet the Supreme Court took the case anyway, suggesting it has something to say on the issue.

“We are pleased the Supreme Court appears to have responded favorably to our arguments as to why they should hear this important case,” said Geoff Freeman, CEO of the American Gaming Association. “[PASPA] has failed to protect sports and fans … and is fueling an unregulated $150 billion illegal gambling market that continues to deprive states of vital public funding.”

The tax money argument is one thing. Protection for gamblers who now have to skirt the law is another. And the fact so much of illegal sports wagering either goes offshore or to organized crime, which the FBI says uses the cash to fund more nefarious operations such as human trafficking and street narcotics sales, is another.

Mostly it’s just outdated. In 1992, the major professional sports leagues, as well as the NCAA, used fear mongering to a socially conservative public to argue that legalizing sports wagering would lead to a rash of match fixing and point shaving scandals. Back then, casinos were almost exclusively in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Twenty-five years later, casinos are nearly everywhere (39 states), filled with aging baby boomers pulling slots. You can play Keno while waiting in line at 7-11 in many places. Forty-four states have a government-run lottery, with some games crossing lines. Poker is ubiquitous on television. Pro sports franchises take sponsorship money from casinos, lend their logos to scratch tickets or have owners as investors in daily fantasy sports that are essentially a form of sports gambling.

It’s why there is far less opposition now, even from pro sports leagues. While wagering on games is different than blackjack tables or mindless lotteries, the culture has accepted gambling in general.

“Times have changed since PASPA was enacted,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver wrote in the New York Times way back in 2014, officially changing the league’s course on the issue. “I believe that sports betting should be brought out of the underground and into the sunlight where it can be appropriately monitored and regulated.”

The ultra-conservative NCAA may never end its opposition, but it’s common for college sports programs to hold 50-50 raffles during games and conference college basketball tournaments have been staged in casinos in Nevada, New Jersey and Connecticut.

The New Jersey law would simply establish sports books in Atlantic City and at the state’s three horse racing tracks. However, by ending Nevada’s near monopoly on the sports wagering business, the floodgates would open as other states seek to tap into the tax revenue and economic activity of sports wagering.

If that happened, “Congress will have to step in to regulate the market,” Freeman said.

Freeman believes the mere fact the Supreme Court took the case will spur congressional action that could repeal PASPA.

“This Supreme Court decision signals to everyone that a new day is coming,” Freeman said.

We’re still a ways from that. The date in front of the Supreme Court guarantees nothing.

Except, they wouldn’t have gone against the arguments of the Trump Administration and taken the case if they were simply going to uphold the status quo and agree with the lopsided decisions of the lower courts, would they?

What are the odds of that?

On This Date in Sports History: Today is Wednesday, June 28, 2017.

Memoriesofhistory.com

1971 - The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the draft evasion conviction of Muhammad Ali.

1995 - The NBA Draft was held at the Skydome in Toronto, Ontario. It was the first time the draft was held outside the United States.

1996 - Darryl Strawberry hit his 300th home run.

1997 - Mike Tyson was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield's ear after three rounds of their WBA heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas, NV. 

2000 - Jeff Cirillo (Colorado Rockies) hit three home runs and a double against San Francisco.

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