Chicago Sports & Travel Inc./AllsportsAmerica
"America's Finest Sports Fan Travel Club, May We Plan An Event Or Sports Travel For You?"
We offer: Select opportunities, For your convenience, At "Very Rare but Super Fair" pricing
"America's Finest Sports Fan Travel Club, May We Plan An Event Or Sports Travel For You?"
We offer: Select opportunities, For your convenience, At "Very Rare but Super Fair" pricing
Because it's all about you!!!
"Sports Quote of the Day"
"Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity." ~ Bo Bennett, Businessman
TRENDING: Bears training camp preview: 3 burning questions for coaching staff. (See the football section for Bears news and NFL updates).
TRENDING: Who goes where? Quenneville is already plotting the options. (See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates and NHL news).
TRENDING: Grading the CHI front office moves so far. (Another fan's opinion taken from sbnation.com/fanpost). (See the basketball section for Bulls news and NBA updates).
TRENDING: Willson Contreras is playing his butt off right now for first-place Cubs; Royals think White Sox have done 'phenomenal job' acquiring young talent. (See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).
TRENDING: Spieth wins Open, captures third leg of grand slam; I.K. Kim makes Marathon second win of year. (See the golf section for PGA news and tournament updates).
TRENDING: Kasey Kahne outduels Brad Keselowski to capture a wild Brickyard 400; William Byron beats Paul Menard in duel to win Xfinity race at Indianapolis. (See the NASCAR section for NASCAR news and racing updates).
TRENDING: Familiar problems for Fire in loss at New York City FC; Jamaica upset Mexico to reach 2nd straight Gold Cup final, face USMNT. (See the soccer section for Fire news and worldwide soccer updates).
TRENDING: Chris Froome wins fourth Tour de France. (See the Tour de France articles at the bottom of this blog for a summary of the 21st stage and the overall winner of the race).
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Bears training camp preview: 3 burning questions for coaching staff.
TRENDING: Chris Froome wins fourth Tour de France. (See the Tour de France articles at the bottom of this blog for a summary of the 21st stage and the overall winner of the race).
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Bears training camp preview: 3 burning questions for coaching staff.
By Chris Boden
(Photo/USA TODAY)
1. Can John Fox find a balance between necessary snaps, and staying healthy?
Fox tweaked the workout schedule in Bourbonnais with more consistent start times (all in the 11 a.m. hour), mixing in off-days and walk-throughs. Yet there are heavy competitions to sift through, particularly at wide receiver, cornerback, and safety, and projected starters must learn to get used to each other (and the offense get used to Mike Glennon) so that miscommunication is at a minimum. The Falcons, Buccaneers, Steelers and Packers won’t wait for them to get on the same page over the first 19 days of the regular season.
2. How does Dowell Loggains divide up quarterback snaps?
His starting quarterback basically hasn’t played since 2014 and is trying to master a new system, working with new receivers. All while Mike Glennon tries to be “all systems go”-ready on Sept. 10. Loggains is also in charge of developing the quarterback of the future, who never previously worked under center or called a huddle. If Mitch Trubisky isn’t the backup to start the season, Mark Sanchez, who missed all of minicamp with a knee injury, has to gain enough of a comfort level with the playbook and his receivers to slide in in the event of an emergency. These practices usually top out at about two hours, maybe a bit longer. Will there basically be two practices going on at the same time? If so, how can Loggains and the offensive assistants not overdo it for those at other positions?
3. Are Vic Fangio and Leonard Floyd tied at the hip?
The defensive coordinator still oversees all the position groups, but will focus particularly on the oustide linebackers and the prized pupil, Leonard Floyd. Fangio says he liked what he’s seen of the 2016 first-round pick this off-season, once he recovered from his second concussion. But he said all the bumps, bruises, strains, pulls, and bell-ringing didn’t mean anything more than an incomplete rookie grade. At this point, he’d probably like to be joined to Floyd’s hip in Bourbonnais, because that means he’ll be staying on the practice field, learning. “3b” in this category would be Ed Donatell sorting through a long list of young defensive backs to find the right pieces to keep for the present and future, in addition to finding four starters who’ll take the ball away a lot better than they’ve done the past two seasons.
Bears training camp preview: Three burning questions for the offensive line.
By JJ Stankevitz
(Photo/USA TODAY Sports Images)
1. Will Kyle Long and Josh Sitton flip spots, and will it be effective?
One of the more intriguing storylines to come out of the Bears’ offseason program was the possibility of a Kyle Long-Josh Sitton guard swap, with Long moving from right to left and Sitton to left to right. The prevailing wisdom is that Long’s athleticism would be better suited for the pulls needed at left guard, while Sitton has made Pro Bowls at both positions. But is it prudent for the Bears to make this switch with Long still recovering from November ankle surgery and some nasty complications that came after it? He’s shown he’s skilled enough to already make one position switch on the offensive line (from right tackle to right guard), so there’s no reason to doubt he couldn’t handle another so long as he’s healthy. We’ll see where he is next week.
“You want flexibility,” coach John Fox said. “You don’t want as much flexibility as we had to use a year ago because we had to play so many guys due to injury. But we’re messing around with (Sitton) and Kyle both playing opposite sides, whether one’s on the left, one’s on the right. We’ll get those looks in camp, we got plenty of time.”
2. Can Charles Leno Jr. capitalize on a contract year?
Leno has been a pleasant surprise given the low expectations usually set for seventh-round picks. He started every game in 2016, checking off an important box for John Fox — reliability. Whether Leno can be more than a reliable player at left tackle, though, remains to be seen (if the Bears thought he were, wouldn’t they have signed him to an extension by now?). He has one more training camp and 16 games to prove he’s worthy of a deal to be the Bears (or someone else’s) left tackle of the future. Otherwise, the Bears may look to a 2018 draft class rich in tackles led by Texas’ Connor Williams and Notre Dame’s Mike McGlinchey.
“I know if I take care of my business out here, everything else will take care of itself,” Leno said.
3. Will Hroniss Grasu survive the roster crunch?
A year ago, Grasu was coming off a promising rookie season and was in line to be the Bears’ starting center. But the Oregon product tore his ACL in August, and Cody Whitehair thrived after a last-minute move from guard to center. If the Bears keep eight offensive lineman this year, Grasu could be squeezed out: Leno, Long, Whitehair, Sitton and Bobby Massie are the likely starters, with Eric Kush and Tom Compton filling reserve roles. That leaves one spot, either for fifth-round guard Jordan Morgan or Grasu. The Bears could try to stash Morgan, who played his college ball at Division-II Kutztown, on the practice squad and keep Grasu. But Grasu doesn’t have flexibility to play another position besides center, which could hurt his case.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Confident Blackhawks youth ready to take the next step.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/USA TODAY)
“It’s feeling like I should be there,” he said on Friday. “Maybe sometimes when you first get called up, you’re like, ‘Wow, I’m here,’ and you’re still thinking about that.
Now it’s just feeling like hockey for me and how it’s always supposed to be.”
More confidence is there for Hartman, as well as a few other young Blackhawks players who cut their teeth last year. That’s good, because those guys, having shown what they can do, will likely get more responsibility this season.
That includes Nick Schmaltz, who will either get first crack at the second-line left wing vacancy or help the Blackhawks at center, which he says is his preference “but I’m fine with wing, too.” Schmaltz struggled to start last season but following a few games in Rockford, he returned a more confident player. He played well with Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik on the top line and filled in for Artem Anisimov later in the season.
“I was nervous coming in. I didn’t know if it was going to work and I gained confidence game by game and felt more comfortable,” he said. “I was making the plays I’m used to making.”
When Tanner Kero was recalled right before Christmas, it was because of Anisimov’s injury. But outside of a bye-week return to Rockford Kero turned that call-up into a full-time gig, giving the Blackhawks another bottom-six center option and earning himself a two-year contract. With Marcus Kruger and Dennis Rasmussen no longer here, Kero is expected to have that third- or fourth-line center role; thanks to experience gained last season, Kero’s more comfortable now.
“It was great,” he said. “Going in, you’re not sure. It’s day-to-day to start and you just want to prove yourself and get those opportunities, get trust and more ice time. As the season went on I got more confident, trusted my game more. Going into the season I’m going in with a lot more confidence.”
John Hayden felt fairly comfortable when he joined the Blackhawks last spring thanks to his senior season at Yale – “I needed that fourth year as a player and a person,” he said. Still, getting in some NHL games, getting a feel for the pro level and gaining familiarity with the Blackhawks will benefit him in September.
“It’s important considering it’s my first training camp and I’ll know a lot of the guys, which helps a ton. From an on-ice standpoint, I have that experience,” he said. “I’ve spent a ton of time addressing areas in need of improvement all in all I’m excited for training camp.”
But Hartman and others don’t see it as weight on their shoulders.
“I don’t think there’s pressure,” Hartman said. “When you look back you want to see improvements every year, you want to see yourself becoming a better hockey player. That’s something I want to do, I want to be able to look back and say I had a good career my first year but each year I got progressively better. That’s where my mindset is at.”
There’s more opportunity for the young players but Hayden says that’s true of everyone.
“I don’t really analyze opportunity. Regardless of the team, it’s going to be competitive,” he said. “Every summer you have to have a hard-working mindset and do what you can to show up in the fall in the best shape of your life.”
The Blackhawks’ young players have all set the bar at a certain level and will be expected to improve. It takes confidence to take that next step. Thanks to experience gained last season, they’re feeling good about taking it.
For the Blackhawks defense, change is the new normal.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/USA TODAY)
Ulf Samuelsson saw the changes the Blackhawks made this season, his hiring as assistant coach being one of them. Soon he’ll be working with the team’s defensemen, another area that’s had some upheaval.
“I think there’s a lot of opportunity here, some uncertainties and some moving parts that I probably, typically haven’t seen going into a season. So that makes it even more interesting and challenging,” Samuelsson said. “So I’m looking forward to this opportunity to really develop and work with some of the younger players.”
From its immediate coach to its personnel, the Blackhawks’ defense is dealing with plenty of change that will continue when the season begins this fall. The Blackhawks have had some addition (Connor Murphy, Jan Rutta and Jordan Oesterle) but dealing with the subtraction (Niklas Hjalmarsson and Trevor van Riemsdyk) will nevertheless be tough. Coach Joel Quenneville said on Friday that pairings are a work in progress.
“We’re going to see when we’re putting the pairs together, whether we're going to reunite [Duncan Keith] and [Brent Seabrook] or look for some balance,” he said. "There are a lot of options. We’ll look forward to that and sorting it out.”
For Murphy, who was acquired in the deal that sent Hjalmarsson to the Arizona Coyotes, there are no set expectations as to where he fits yet.
“With any team you go into training camp proving where you’re going to be.
Everyone has to come in and earn certain positions, especially me being a guy who they’re not as familiar with; I have to show what I can do,” Murphy said. “I definitely want to bring a more physical edge to defending at times and be able to skate well, have a good reach, make smart reads and try to help out with whatever’s needed with that.”
As for young players, the opportunity is there. Gustav Forsling admits he wasn’t happy that fellow Swede and role model Hjalmarsson was traded. But Forsling, who looked strong coming out of camp last September, knows he has to take advantage of the situation.
“Of course, I want to take the next step and play more,” he said. “I want to keep progressing my game and keep developing.”
The same goes for Jordan Oesterle, who the Blackhawks signed to a two-year deal on July 1.
“When I wanted to come here the opportunity was tremendous. Just the chance to come in and try to make the top six is there, it’s a battle with a number of us guys but that’s all you ask for in the situation I’m in,” he said. “Just the amount of opportunity that is in front of me just drives me even more. I want to be here and force their hand to keep me here.”
Again, the Blackhawks could re-address defense once they implement Marian Hossa’s long-term injured reserve after the season begins. General manager Stan Bowman said there’s “no exact plan” right now on how they use that space – “that’s probably going to be dictated by where we’re at when we get to October, how the team’s playing, what areas are strong, what areas we want to add to,” he said.
It remains to be seen on that front. Regardless, from coaching to personnel, much has changed with the Blackhawks defense.
Who goes where? Quenneville is already plotting the options.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
For hockey coaches, thinking the game never really stops. With the Blackhawks likely not to make many more changes, at least among the forwards, coach Joel Quenneville is already thinking about line combinations, especially with those top two lines.
“You’ve got [Nick Schmaltz] who can play center or can play wing. [Artem Anisimov] in the middle, he can play with [Patrick Kane] so you’ve got some options there. With [Patrick Sharp] coming back and [Brandon Saad] coming back you’ve got some looks up front, some continuity from history and reacquainted again with [Jonathan Toews] and Saader on the line,” Quenneville said. “And Sharpie and Kaner is a possibility.”
Yeah, there are a few options, some of which changed after the Blackhawks re-acquired Sharp on July 1. How it all turns out come early October is still to be decided but players are ready to move up, down, to center or wing if necessary.
“I think about a lot of different possibilities with the Hawks lineup,” Sharp said at the Blackhawks convention on Friday. “Playing for Joel for as long as I have in the past, I know that combinations can get moved around quite a bit depending on the game, depending on the time of year and the way different guys are playing. That’s something I’m prepared for and something I’m looking forward to, as well. I had my best years playing for Coach Q, and I know wherever he puts me in the lineup is probably going to be best for me and for the team, as well.”
OK, but the possibility of playing with Kane again has to be enticing for Sharp, even if he doesn’t want to say so. Past chemistry, past success, for a team that’s still working in younger players and will look to avoid the constant line shuffling of the past two years, those things matter.
When Quenneville talked at the NHL Draft in late June, he said Schmaltz would likely get first crack at the second-line left-wing vacancy. But with Sharp’s return, coupled with no Dennis Rasmussen (not qualified) and no Marcus Kruger (traded to Vegas and then to Carolina), the Blackhawks may need Schmaltz more at center. Schmaltz liked the instant chemistry he had with Kane last season but that was at center, his more natural spot, and he’s fine going back there if necessary.
While the top line should stabilize with Saad’s return, the second line could be the one trying to figure things out at left wing this season. Artem Anisimov was “shocked and surprised” when Panarin was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets in June, but knows it’s a business and that adjustments will have to be made.
“I’m prepared for anything to come my way. I’ll try to work with anybody, coach Q puts on the left side,” he said. “We’ll work out what the best [combination] is going to be and the three of us will just go and play.”
“Every day you write down different combinations. You look at probability, the likelihood of who will be compatible with who,” Quenneville said. “So I think it will be fun trying to go through that process, not just on paper, but when you get them together and out there playing. We certainly have a lot of options up front.”
Don Granato thrilled to be working with 'calm' Q again.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
For Don Granato, working with coach Joel Quenneville again was a chance he couldn’t refuse. Granato was a young coach with the Worcester IceCats, the St. Louis affiliate when Quenneville was the Blues’ head coach, and Granato learned plenty.
“The presence,” Granato said of Quenneville. “He has a really good presence, a calming influence.”
Wait. Quenneville calm?
“Without a doubt, calming,” Granato said. “It was almost like, ‘Hey, we’re in it together.’ And again, that’s the calm behind the scenes. He helps players and in that case he helped me perform as well as I could at that point. I think he’s good at that, because he’s a people person. That’s what I remember most. It’s more of a feel.”
Granato, who general manager Stan Bowman called “a great communicator,” is happy to be back in the Quenneville coaching fold this season. Granato will be watching the games from upstairs and will bring another voice to a Blackhawks group that is looking to take a fresh approach after a second first-round loss. Assistant coach Kevin Dineen said having another perspective will help.
“I’m looking forward to having Donny here,” Dineen said. “I like to talk. I sit there and talk through things. When you have someone working with you on a specific area of the game you can have those debates. It’s the same thing with players but you’re teaching. With another coach a good, healthy voice like that with Donny’s experience can be great for us.”
Where Granato will help most – and where that calm he learned from Quenneville could be most critical – is with the Blackhawks’ younger players. He’s worked with several already through the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, including John Hayden and Nick Schmaltz, both of whom appreciated Granato’s tutelage.
“It’s so obvious he knows the game so well. I think coaches who know the game well and know how to teach the game well are hard to come by,” Hayden said. “It goes back to what I’ve said about meeting the coaching staff and the rest of the players. You feel comfortable in that regard. With coaching changes that process happens all over again, but I was fortunate to spend two years in the World Juniors with coach Granato, who did an incredible job with coaching and development.”
Granato will have a voice with the Blackhawks and will especially have an impact with their young players. The impact Quenneville made on him is still being felt.
“When he left St. Louis, he and my brother [Tony] coached together in Colorado. So the connection stayed. And I’ve always tried as a head coach to play the system that Joel played. So I’ve always tracked and watched the Hawks and the Avalanche and whoever Joel was playing,” Granato said. “That was fun, that’s the impact he had on me, from not only a presence, but the tactics, as well.
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... Grading the CHI front office moves so far. (Another fan's opinion taken from sbnation.com/fanpost).
Boy, what a summer it has been. Tensions are high, fan morale is low (as evidenced by a fan-funded #FIREGARPAX billboard at the West Loop in Downtown Chicago) and the front office is captivating fans with their ineptitude. Tanking is one thing but do it without any direction at all is ridiculous.
Lets take a look at CHI head scratching moves made so far offseason this offseason
Lets take a look at CHI head scratching moves made so far offseason this offseason
Jimmy Butler + 16th pick to MIN for Kris Dunn + Zac Lavine + 8th pick
The Bulls essentially traded Jimmy Butler for one knee, a disappointing 2016/17 lottery pick and the 8th pick (Lauri Markonnen) but also included the 16th pick (MIN selected Justin Patton). Yeah sure Lavine can score and give the Bulls what they need but adding 2 more guards to a pre-existing roster with 7 other guards is ludicrous. There has been suggestion that Thibs wouldn’t have done the deal if CHI hadn’t included the first-round selection but I detest. Thibs has never been enamored with draft picks and I don’t believe for a second he was seeking a lottery choice. This is evidenced by the addition of former Bull Taj Gibson to MIN and the selection of big man Justin Patton. Why on earth would Thibs want another centre on the roster to hang out with KAT and Cole Aldridge? Don’t question my intelligence front office. This move was an absolute pearler.
Grade: C+
They still got something for Butler which is better than nothing I suppose. I don't mind Zac Lavine but I am low on Kris Dunn and given that he is coming to an organization embedded with disorder, I do not believe he will improve. Combine this with the fact he has to share time with 9-other guards, I don't like his chances. Trading Jimmy Butler? Well, he was the only thing we could cheer for regularly and now he is gone.
Sold rights to 35th pick Jordan Bell to GSW for 3.5million dollars
Jordan Bell. Coming out of college this guy was an absolute defensive juggernaut. My gripe isn’t with the selection because Bell does not fix their spacing issues but it’s the pick itself. Yeah sure second round selections are more often than not useless, but the Bulls could have selected a SF. Dillon Brooks and Jaron Blossongame are two guys that immediately come to mind. When the draft came along, I had a scoring 3 in the mix for CHI as Paul Zipser was very disappointing and didn’t show a great deal of feel for the game. Out of Oregon, Brooks averaged 16/3/3 on .51/.40/.74 while Blossongame of Clemson put up 18/7/2 on .57/.26/71 split. Brooks would have been perfect for the Bulls because the guy gets buckets and I really liked Blossongame for his desire to score and rebound, most noticeably on the offensive boards (averaging near 2 per game). Dreams are free and instead CHI sold their draft pick in the name of "business" despite the move contradicting the rebuilding direction.
Grade for Jordan Bell (as a player): B
Grade (for fit in CHI): C-
Overall Grade (following being sold): D
They got money out of it and they saved a roster spot for someone but it totally contradicts what a rebuild actually is. Had they not traded Bell, I would have upgraded the draft pick to a B- because they didn't draft a small forward but Jordan Bell is nice.
Withdrew qualifying off on C/PF Joffrey Lavergne
Joffrey makes a little more sense. He has a very high IQ but needs the right system for his skillset to be effective. This is why he failed so miserably in CHI. With no spacing, a poor playbook and hardly any off-ball movement, Lavergne was victim of the system rather than his ability to play. There is a reason the big man was picked up by SA. He will fit their system wonderfully. But what this move strange is he was on a low contract that could have been moved easily and he was one of four big men on the roster. CHI have 9-guards now with only 3 legitimate big men. Mirotic gets an honorary mention because he isn’t much on the inside offensively or defensively. He can also shoot the 3 so I was surprised they pulled his offer.
Grade: B
Frees up roster spot and didn't fit in Hoibergs space and pace system that he is (apparently) trying to implement. Better to give that roster spot to someone else that isn't a guard.
Claiming David Nwaba off Waivers.
Why would you make this move? Another shooting guard added to a growing collection of guards who cannot shoot from the outside. He is athletic and shows promise but so does Payne, Dunn and Valentine. Adding Holiday and Grant to the roster alongside Wade and one-knee acquisition Zac Lavine, it makes no sense to add another 2-guard. What in the world are they doing?
Why would you make this move? Another shooting guard added to a growing collection of guards who cannot shoot from the outside. He is athletic and shows promise but so does Payne, Dunn and Valentine. Adding Holiday and Grant to the roster alongside Wade and one-knee acquisition Zac Lavine, it makes no sense to add another 2-guard. What in the world are they doing?
Grade: D-
Nothing against Nwaba but this is an absolute dude move by CHI. 9 guards is ridiculous for 1 voters, especially since only 1 can shoot from the outside and the other has a decent mid range game despite being 35 years old.
The biggest mistake of all is making NO moves. Being one of the few teams with cap space, why don’t CHI make a move to acquire big contracts and get assets? Trade low on poor guards for second round picks? Give D-league guys a shot on minimum contracts or search for an out of rotation SF and bring him in for a season or two. They need to hand over the keys to someone else. Start Portis, move Mirotic and properly build the franchise.
For the sake of your fans, choose a direction.
For the sake of your fans, choose a direction.
Chicago Sports & Travel Inc./AllsportsAmerica Opinion: We keep saying we're going to stop commenting on the Bulls moves and see what happens. Granted, we're not in the Bulls front office and don't have all of the facts or are not privileged to the information that the front office has but any diehard fan that is proud of the city of Chicago and has an undying love for the storied Bulls legacy can see what's going on. It appears that the ship is just drifting rudderless and the last few years seems to confirm that. We're frustrated as are many Bulls fans but it's hard to accept that there seems to be nothing going on. 9 guards????? Com'on, let's acquire some big men and some savvy veterans for guidance and leadership. Believe me, the fans are just in a quandary and want the best for Gar/Pax/Hoiberg, but there just doesn't seem to be any logic to their plan or moves. All we can do is just wait and see and hope for the best. Only time will tell...............
CUBS: Willson Contreras is playing his butt off right now for first-place Cubs.
By Tony Andracki
By Tony Andracki
(Photo/USA TODAY)
This really is becoming Willson Contreras' team.
Since the All-Star Break, Contreras has crushed four homers and three doubles while driving in 11 runs in just eight games.
The Cubs have won seven of those games, including Sunday night when Contreras' two-run shot in the sixth inning turned out to be the game-winner that pushed the Cubs into a first-place tie with the Milwaukee Brewers. (The Cubs also won the only game Contreras hasn't started since the Break.)
In the span of nine games, the Cubs have already erased the 5.5 game deficit they had in the National League Central entering the midseason break.
"He's just playing his butt off, literally, right now," Joe Maddon said. "Everything he's doing is pretty darn good. He plays with enthusiasm, also. You gotta feel that in the stands.
"There's some times he might get over-enthusiastic. I prefer toning people down as opposed to pumping them up all the time. He's doing everything. He's hitting fourth, he's catching, he's handling a really good pitching staff, he's throwing people out, he's blocking the ball really well and he's hitting homers, so God bless him."
Contreras' offense has been amazing, but Maddon credits the young catcher's block on a Wade Davis pitch in the dirt last week in Atlanta with helping to save the season. That play helped ensure a victory by not permitting the tying run to score from third base as the Cubs rattled off six straight wins to start the second half of 2017.
It's at the point now where Maddon cannot rationally find ways to get Contreras out of the lineup, even though the veteran manager is a huge proponent of rest and wants nothing more than to keep his players healthy and playing at a high level late in the season and into the playoffs.
Contreras is like the Energizer Bunny out there, hopping all around behind the plate to block balls, throwing guys out, pumping his chest, screaming obscenities at his first base coach after home runs. He even plays long toss (from the warning track in left-centerfield to about the spot the second baseman normally plays) before games with catching coach Mike Borzello.
The 25-year-old just does not turn down for anything when he's at the ballpark.
So does he ever get weary?
"I do get tired, but when I get home," he said. "When I'm here, I'm never tired. This is my job, this is what I love and you're gonna see me like that all throughout my career."
Contreras credits the Cubs coaching staff with helping him make the mental adjustments that has him in the conversation as one of the best catchers in baseball.
"He's growing up," Anthony Rizzo said. "He's really taking control behind the plate, which is nice. His at-bats just keep getting better and better and it's really fun to watch."
Contreras is on pace for 25 homers and 87 RBI, second only to Kansas City's Salvador Perez in both categories among catchers.
"He definitely has the abilities to be one of the elite catchers," Maddon said. "You gotta consider him one of the elite catchers in the National League already. Because he just does everything so well.
"The biggest next hurdle is just — without pulling him in too much — controlling his emotions a tad more without losing that enthusiasm that he has. Really understanding the game and calling the game and working his pitchers.
"Mike Borzello does a great job with him. He started out this year and wasn't so good — missing his pitches, missing fastballs, fouling stuff off. But he stayed with it and now you see what he's capable of doing. He is really good right now and he's gonna get better."
With mysterious injury behind him, Kyle Hendricks has returned to the Cubs and brought jokes.
By Tony Andracki
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Kyle Hendricks has returned at the turn of the tide for the Cubs and he brought his sense of humor.
Basically, his middle finger hurt every time he threw certain pitches.
"That's probably the problem — flipping the bird to people," he joked. "Maybe it's too much driving in Chicago, I don't know."
Joe Maddon cracked up when he found out his stoic pitcher delivered a joke.
"He didn't say that. He did? That's very tongue-in-cheek, Dartmouth-in-cheek, right?" Maddon said. "He's like the most mild-mannered, wonderful fellow. It's just such an awkward injury to get and come back from.
"Right now, he's feeling great. [Cubs trainer PJ Mainville] feels really good about it, also. I think his velocity was up a bit also in the minor leagues in a couple starts. All that are good indicators. An unusual injury, but we're happy to have him back."
Kris Bryant injured his finger diving into third base Wednesday, but only missed one full game, using his freakish healing powers to do what Hendricks struggled to do in a month.
"100 percent [wish I could heal like Bryant]," Hendricks said with a smile. "I wish it wasn't the middle finger. If it was another finger, maybe it would've been easier. But a lot of things you wish, I guess, at the outset.
"But you just have to look at it — it was what it was and I'm done with it now. Now just go play."
The finger/hand injury is still largely a mystery to both Hendricks and the Cubs. They don't know how it popped up, beyond just excessive throwing (including pitching into November last season).
He said he felt the issue pop up right before he went to the disabled list and it affected him every time he threw his curveball or sinker, because he used his middle finger more on those pitches. But with his changeup and four-seamer, there was next to no pain.
Moving forward, Hendricks will still throw the curve and sinker just as much in bullpens, but he will cut back on how much he throws overall in between starts, etc. It's too early to address the offseason, but Hendricks — who likes to throw a lot during the winter — will likely have to fine-tune that as well.
Hendricks returns right as the Cubs have appeared to turn their season around. They won the first six games coming out of the All-Star Break and after a rough loss against the Cardinals Friday, pulled off an epic, 2016-esque comeback Saturday vs. St. Louis.
The Cubs trotted out Jose Quintana Sunday and will do the same with Hendricks Monday, making it back-to-back starts from guys who weren't a factor in the Cubs rotation for most of June and July.
"I understand the cliche, but it's actually true this time [that players coming off the DL gives a team a boost]," Maddon said. "To get these two guys coming on board at this time in the season.
"Getting Kyle back with this particular group is really interesting to watch right now. I think that's also gonna be a shot in the arm with the group, just like Jose in Baltimore. You definitely could feel the difference in attitude and I think when Kyle takes the mound, you're gonna feel the same thing, too."
Immediately after hitting the DL, Hendricks had to endure weeks of doing nothing and waiting around until the inflammation subsided. Then he spent the next few weeks building his arm strength back up after going so long without throwing.
"It's just an obstacle and you have to look at it as positive in a way," he said. "I used it to get my body in shape, get my cardio going, get my shoulder work and my arm strong. Just try to take every positive out of it that I could.
"Take a little breather in a way, too. Get away from it. But now, I'm ready to go. Mentally, definitely need this, need to be back and need to have baseball back in my life."
Hendricks and the Cubs are also optimistic his time off could mean he's strong for the stretch run.
Maddon and Co. had been looking for ways to bring the starting pitchers along slowly this season after pitching so many innings so deep into last fall.
The starters were held back in spring training, have been held under 100 pitches in most outings this season and get an extra day off whenever possible.
"The guys are all grinding it out while I'm sitting here getting healthy," Hendricks said. "They're wearing down a little bit, so the guys that are healthy by the end of the year, they can provide a little extra for us."
With Kyle Hendricks back in the mix, Cubs set rotation for Crosstown series with White Sox.
By Vinnie Duber
(Photo/USA TODAY)
Kyle Hendricks is finally making his return to the Cubs' starting rotation.
Hendricks, last year's ERA champ who's been on the disabled list since June 5 with tendinitis in his right hand, will start Monday's series-opener with the White Sox at Wrigley Field, the first game of this season's Crosstown series.
Hendricks' return should provide a big boost to a rotation that struggled to find consistency during the Cubs' sub-.500 first half. Combined with the acquisition of Jose Quintana and the better-of-late pitching of Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta, Hendricks' return should make for a formidable starting five as the Cubs enter what could be a knock-down, drag-out, months-long race for the National League Central crown.
Hendricks' 2017 hasn't looked much like his 2016 — something that could be said for many Cubs players during this slow-to-get-going quest for a World Series repeat — with the righty boasting a 4.09 ERA in his first 11 starts. After finishing third in NL Cy Young voting last season, he surely won't come close to that this time around, but the Cubs are hoping simply for a return to normalcy, which would go a long way in stabilizing that starting staff, the inconsistency of which was likely the team's biggest problem through the season's first three months.
That rotation lines up like this moving forward: After Hendricks pitches against the White Sox on Monday, it will be John Lackey in the second game on the North Side, with Arrieta and Lester pitching the two Crosstown games Wednesday and Thursday on the South Side. Quintana won't pitch against his former team, throwing Sunday's series finale against the Cardinals and then, presumably, the first of next weekend's three-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers.
With Hendricks returning to strengthen the rotation, the bullpen also gets a boost with Mike Montgomery returning to the relief corps. He'll be available out of the 'pen as soon as Saturday, manager Joe Maddon said before the Cubs' second game against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. The bullpen also received the addition of Felix Pena, called up from Triple-A Iowa on Saturday, with infielder Tommy La Stella sent down. The bullpen could use an immediate influx of assistance after Friday's nightmarish eighth inning, in which Carl Edwards Jr., Hector Rondon and Justin Grimm combined to yield nine runs.
Between Kris Bryant returning to the Cubs' lineup Saturday, Hendricks returning to the rotation Monday and the team's recent six-game winning streak that has them a game out of first place, things are starting to look a little more like they were expected to look for the defending champs.
WHITE SOX: Royals think White Sox have done 'phenomenal job' acquiring young talent.
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Only six years after they had the “best farm system of all time,” the Kansas City Royals see a bright future ahead for the upstart White Sox.
Through four major trades and the signing of international free agent Luis Robert, the White Sox boast a system that features 10 top-100 prospects, according to MLBPipeline.com. Baseball America ranks eight White Sox prospects in their top 100. While the system isn’t yet ready to compete with the 2011 Royals for the unofficial title of best ever, it’s pretty impressive nonetheless.
“Have you seen what they’ve gotten back from tearing it down?” Yost said. “MLB ranks the top 100 prospects. Most teams have one or two. I don’t think we have any. They have 10. They’ve done a phenomenal job of restocking their system with incredibly talented young players.”
Not everything is identical between how these organizations built their farms.
The Royals headed into 2011 with nine top-100 prospects and five in the top 20 alone (Eric Hosmer 8, Mike Moustakas 9, Wil Myers 10, John Lamb 18, Mike Montgomery 19). The Kansas City Star in 2016 reviewed the best-ranked systems of all-time and determined by a point value system (100 points for the No. 1 prospect and one point for the No. 100 prospect) that the 2011 club was better than all others with 574 points.
But that group was the byproduct of a painstaking stretch in which the Royals averaged 96 losses from 2004-12. The slower path taken by Kansas City allowed its young core to develop and learn how to play together in the minors. As pitcher Danny Duffy noted, “we went to the playoffs every year.”
They won at Rookie-Burlington, Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Triple-A Omaha took home three titles. Working together was a big key to the team’s success at the major league level, said catcher Salvador Perez.
“We didn’t come from different teams,” Perez said. “We all came from here. We had a young team together. We learned how to win and win in the big leagues.
“We learned how to win together, play together and play for the team. It was really important.”
The only time the Royals didn’t win was at Advance-A Wilmington Blue Rocks, Duffy said.
“You learn how success feels and how some failure feels,” Duff said. “We lost in Wilmington and you would have thought the world was coming to an end.”
According to the Star, the Royals haven’t had much recent competition for the best system. Until now.
The 2006 Diamondbacks accrued 541 points and the 2000 Florida Marlins had 472. The 2015 Cubs scored 450 points.
After the addition of Blake Rutherford on Tuesday (the No. 36 prospect on BA’s current top 100 list), the White Sox have 483 points. But the 2017 Atlanta Braves are even better with 532 points, the third-highest total of all-time.
The White Sox farm system has created excitement among the fan base that had wavered in recent years. Not everyone is on board, but the majority seems to be and that can create hysteria.
“We had people at the games who were super excited about the wave of prospects,” Duffy said. “Obviously they have a stacked system over there, very similar to what we had coming up. There was a lot of excitement. It was crazy.”
But excitement didn’t immediately translate into victories. Though a fair amount of the 2011 class graduated to the majors by later that season, the Royals didn’t get on track in the big leagues for a few years.
It wasn’t until the second half of 2013 that the Royals got going. The 2014 club ended a 29-year playoff drought with a wild-card berth that led to an American League pennant. They followed that up with a World Series title in 2015. Had it not been for a Herculean effort by Madison Bumgarner, Kansas City might have had consecutive titles.
Still, getting there takes time.
“The first thing you had to do was get them here,” Yost said. “Experience has taught me that it’s generally 2 1/2 years before they can get to a point where they can compete. They just have to gain that experience at the major league level because it’s definitely a much more difficult style of play up here. The talent is just so incredibly good that it takes a while for talent or players to adjust to where they’re productive. It just takes time then being able to go out and play every single day.”
Even though that means the White Sox will experience difficult times the next few years, Duffy and Co. think it’s worth the wait. While Duffy imagines losing Jose Quintana and David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle and Todd Frazier isn’t fun, he has a good sense what is headed this direction.
“Losing Quintana stings, but they got a king’s ransom back,” Duffy said. “It’s the way of the game. But they’re going to have a really good time in the next few years.”
What White Sox 'fireman' Anthony Swarzak has done to increase trade value.
By Dan Hayes
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Anthony Swarzak held a high-leverage audition for a potential contender on Sunday long before the Kansas City Royals walked off the White Sox.
But Swarzak continues to thrive in the opportunities handed to him and could make for an interesting trade chip before the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline.
“He’s been excellent,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “He’s become for us, with (Nate Jones) going down and (Jake Petricka) going down he’s actually become a fireman. He’s come in in some of the highest-leverage situations we could possibly get. And then we use him for multiple innings.”
A free agent after the season, Swarzak has 50 strikeouts and a 2.30 ERA in 47 innings for the White Sox this season. He also has only allowed nine of 33 inherited runners to score (27.2 percent), including two on Sunday. The American League average for inherited runners scoring entering Sunday was 30 percent, according to baseball-reference.com.
All this has come in a season where Swarzak went to camp with the White Sox with no certainty of making the 25-man roster. The right-hander not only thrived in camp, he came out strong in April with 19 2/3 scoreless innings to start the season.
Combined with early injuries to Jones and Zach Putnam, Swarzak’s performance helped him climb the totem pole in the White Sox bullpen from the outset. His stature has grown even more of late with the injury to Petricka as well as the trades of Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson.
“As far personal expectations, I’m right where I want to be,” Swarzak said. “More to accomplish for this year, absolutely. But I like what I’ve done so far and I like the opportunity that I have to accomplish even more.
“That’s the situation we all work so hard. That’s the situation we want and it’s why we all work so hard in the offseason in general is for situations like that.”
Swarzak took over for starter Derek Holland in the fifth inning with the White Sox ahead 4-3 and runners on the corners. He threw three straight sliders to Jorge Bonifacio and struck him out to strand the pair.
“It was huge, what he did coming in right there,” Holland said.
As significant as it was, it only held off the Royals for the time being. And as much as Swarzak has enjoyed things on a personal level, it isn’t making what the thinned-out White Sox roster is experiencing any easier to handle.
“Everything going on around here right now is pretty hard to swallow,” Swarzak said. “We’re going out there losing 8-0, 6-0, we’re up 6-0 and we end up losing. We lost a 1-0 game against the Dodgers and the next night we lose 10-1. We’re kind of losing all types of ways right now, which is really hard to swallow because as a bullpen guy we take pride in holding the lead and right now it seems like we’re not getting it done at all, any aspect of it, as a group.”
With eight more shopping days left before the deadline, chances are high that Swarzak may not be part of the current group much longer. He has already seen the departures of Robertson and Kahnle and knows his impending free agency could result in a trade elsewhere. But the veteran reliever is doing his best to keep his focus on the mound.
“It all comes back to quality pitches and getting guys out,” Swarzak said. “If you’re getting guys out, you’re going to get some attention from the league and if you’re not they’re going to close the book on you. It’s very straight forward for a pitcher, for a major league baseball player in general: Do better. Get it done and you’re going to play for a long time and you’re going to have the success that goes along with getting it done. That’s really all I’m worried about is continuing to make good pitches and hopefully get the results I’m looking for.”
Golf: I got a club for that..... Spieth wins Open, captures third leg of grand slam.
(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)
On the back of a roller-coaster 1-under 69 and one of the most entertaining back nines of his career, Jordan Spieth won the 146th Open Championship on Sunday by three strokes over Matt Kuchar. Here’s how Spieth emerged from the practice area's equipment trailers to claim the claret jug on Sunday at Royal Birkdale:
Leaderboard (click here for full field scores): Spieth (-12), Kuchar (-9), Haotong Li (-6), Rory McIlroy (-5), Cabrera Bello (-5), Matthew Southgate (-4), Marc Leishman (-4), Alex Noren (-4)
The Champion Golfer of the Year: The win gives Spieth his 11th career Tour victory, his third major championship, and the third leg of the career Grand Slam. He did not make it easy on himself. Spieth squandered his three-shot lead in four holes and went to the back nine tied with Kuchar at 8 under after going out in 3-over 37. Still tied at 8 under through 12, Spieth played one of the most unforgettable holes in golf history at 13. After sailing his drive into a dune, he took an unplayable, walked onto the adjacent practice area, took relief from the parked equipment trailers and somehow – over the course of a half-hour – made bogey. Seemingly refocused and re-energized by the ordeal, he followed up with a birdie at the par-3 14th and an eagle at the par-5 15th and another birdie at the par-4 16th to take a two-shot lead with two to play. Thanks to yet another birdie at 17 and a par at 18, Spieth played his final five holes in 5 under to win by three - the same margin he started with on Sunday. He is now just one of two players – along with Jack Nicklaus – to win his third different major before the age of 24. He will have his first chance to complete the slam in three weeks at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.
The runner-up: While Spieth performed his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde routine, Kuchar made four birdies and three bogeys en route to a steady, workmanlike 1-under 69. This is the 39-year-old's best ever finish in a major and his fourth career major top-5. In the last year, Kuchar has walked away with both an Olympic bronze medal and The Open's silver salver.
Round of the day: Li fired the 32nd round of 63 in major championship history to go from 12 shots back to start the day to solo third. Li was bogey-free Sunday and birdied each of his final four holes. The 21-year-old 107th-ranked player in the world just earned his first Masters invite.
Best of the rest: Aaron Baddeley posted 6 under, but McIlroy, Leishman and Southgate all used rounds of 65 to finish in the top 10. Southgate, who overcame cancer two years ago, has made it into the field via Final Qualifying the last two years in a row, but won’t need to worry about doing so next year. His T-6 finish exempts him into The 2018 Open at Carnoustie.
Shot of the day: Spieth’s eagle at the 15th to retake the lead he’d never again relinquish.
Drop of the day: Spieth’s European vacation at 13.
(Photo/nbcsports)
Follow up: Drop of the day; The unplayable lie.
Excerpts from an article by Cork Gaines
Everything started when Spieth decided to take an unplayable lie. At this point, Spieth has three options under Rule 28:
- Stroke-and-distance option: This is simply go back and re-hit the tee shot.
- Lift-and-drop option 1: This would be simply to drop the ball within two club lengths of where the ball came to a rest, but not nearer to the hole.
- Lift-and-drop option 2: This would be to drop the ball anywhere behind the unplayable lie, but along the same line as the hole.
Spieth would later say that he did not want to go back to the tee because a shot from there would be no closer to the hole and thus would have ultimately cost him two strokes — one for the drop and one for hitting the tee shot just to get back to the same distance he was at with the unplayable lie.
Taking the first lift-and-drop option didn't make sense because the entire point was to get away from the rough on the back side of the hill.
That left Spieth with Option 3, the one he ultimately chose.
The practice area was not out of bounds.
(Photo/nbcsports)
This one is technically a grounds rule, but if not for this little quirk at Royal Birkdale, Spieth may have never decided to take the unplayable lie.
R&A Chief Referee David Rickman explained that the first thing he was asked during the chaos was whether or not the practice area is in bounds.
"I was asked to confirm that the practice ground was in bounds and therefore it was available to Jordan, which it is," Rickman told The Golf Channel. "It's in bounds for the members here at Birkdale and therefore we kept it in bounds for the Championship."
This left Spieth with the uneasy task of deciding where to drop the ball on the practice grounds.
The "temporary immoveable obstructions."
R&A Chief Referee David Rickman explained that the first thing he was asked during the chaos was whether or not the practice area is in bounds.
"I was asked to confirm that the practice ground was in bounds and therefore it was available to Jordan, which it is," Rickman told The Golf Channel. "It's in bounds for the members here at Birkdale and therefore we kept it in bounds for the Championship."
This left Spieth with the uneasy task of deciding where to drop the ball on the practice grounds.
The "temporary immoveable obstructions."
(Photo/nbcsports)
Once Spieth decided to take the unplayable lie and move back to the practice range, he then needed to establish a line to the hole. The problem was that there were several trucks along the edge of the practice area which fall under the provision of "temporary immovable obstructions" or TIOs.
As we saw during the broadcast, and later confirmed by Rickman using NBC's aerial images, Spieth's "line of sight" to the hole ran right through the middle of the trucks.
As we saw during the broadcast, and later confirmed by Rickman using NBC's aerial images, Spieth's "line of sight" to the hole ran right through the middle of the trucks.
"You get what we call 'line of sight,' if that temporary immovable obstruction is on your line of sight," Rickman said. "Unplayable-ball rule gets us into the truck, and then line-of-sight relief takes us not nearer the hole. We swing around on an arc and we come over [to where Spieth dropped]."
At this point, Spieth would move over until he was lined up with the edge of the TIO. From there he would move an addition length of "more than one, but less than two" club lengths.
That led Spieth to this spot where he was able to get close to the green — thanks to a huge call by his caddie Michael Greller — save bogey, and eventually surge on the final five holes to win The Open and be named Champion Golfer of the Year.
That led Spieth to this spot where he was able to get close to the green — thanks to a huge call by his caddie Michael Greller — save bogey, and eventually surge on the final five holes to win The Open and be named Champion Golfer of the Year.
I.K. Kim makes Marathon second win of year.
By Associated Press
(Photo/Golf Club Digital)
In-Kyung Kim rallied to win the Marathon Classic on Sunday to become the LPGA's second two-time winner this season.
Two strokes behind 18-year-old Nelly Korda entering the round, Kim birdied six of the first nine holes and finished with an 8-under 63 for a four-stroke victory over Lexi Thompson.
Kim also won the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June in New Jersey. The six-time LPGA winner joined fellow South Korean player So Yeon Ryu as the only multiple winners this season.
Two strokes behind 18-year-old Nelly Korda entering the round, Kim birdied six of the first nine holes and finished with an 8-under 63 for a four-stroke victory over Lexi Thompson.
Kim also won the ShopRite LPGA Classic in June in New Jersey. The six-time LPGA winner joined fellow South Korean player So Yeon Ryu as the only multiple winners this season.
After playing the front nine in 6-under 28, the 29-year-old Kim and added birdies on Nos. 15 and 16. She finished at 21-under 263 at Highland Meadows.
Thompson closed with a 66. Gerina Piller, the leader after each of the first two rounds, had a 68 to tie for third at 15 under with Peiyun Chien (68). Korda shot a 74 to tie for eighth at 12 under.
Lydia Ko, winless since her victory last year at Highland Meadows, tied for 20th at 9 under after a 69. She also won the 2014 event.
NASCAR: Kasey Kahne outduels Brad Keselowski to capture a wild Brickyard 400.
Lydia Ko, winless since her victory last year at Highland Meadows, tied for 20th at 9 under after a 69. She also won the 2014 event.
NASCAR: Kasey Kahne outduels Brad Keselowski to capture a wild Brickyard 400.
By Nate Ryan
(Photo/www.follownews.com)
Kasey Kahne beat Brad Keselowski on a restart in overtime Sunday, winning a wild Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Snapping a 102-race winless streak in the Cup Series, Kahne qualified for the playoffs with his first victory since September 2014 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
“To win at this track is unreal,” Kahne told NBC. “I’m exhausted. An unbelievable win; the team just kept working.”
After complaining of severe cramping on his radio late in the race, Kahne was treated in the infield care center after his 18th career victory in 488 starts.
Keselowski, trying to give Roger Penske his first NASCAR win at Indy, finished second after leading on the final restart of a race that featured a record 14 caution flags. Keselowski had seized the lead on the previous restart from Kahne, who also chose the outside.
Kahne took the lead when most of the field pitted during a Lap 151 caution (Kahne made his final stop just before the yellow flag flew). He fended off a three-wide challenge by Keselowski and teammate Jimmie Johnson on a Lap 159 restart (which resulted in Johnson hitting the wall, apparently when the engine began expiring in his No. 48 Chevrolet).
The race, which started at 2:44 p.m. and was delayed by rain for one hour and 47 minutes, ended just before 9 p.m. There were two red flags in the last 17 laps — one after the race had gone into overtime. Those two stoppages lasted 44 minutes.
Ryan Newman finished third, Joey Logano was fourth, and Matt Kenseth took fifth.
Kahne, who has a contract for 2018 but whose future hasn’t been confirmed by the team, was the only Hendrick Motorsports driver to finish the race, outlasting teammates Johnson (27th, crash), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (36th, crash) and Chase Elliott (39th, engine).
Kahne’s win was a record 10th at Indy for Hendrick (five by Jeff Gordon, four by Jimmie Johnson).
The race’s complexion was altered significantly when the two fastest cars were eliminated in a crash with 50 laps remaining in the scheduled distance.
Kyle Busch’s bid to become the first driver to win three consecutive races on the 2.5-mile layout ended on a restart on Lap 111 when he crashed after contact with leader Martin Truex Jr.
Truex’s No. 78 Toyota bobbled entering the first turn, sliding up the track into the left rear of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota.
“I just got loose and wrecked him,” Truex said. “Totally my fault. Didn’t really know what to expect in that position and didn’t really realize that he was going to drive in that deep and suck me around. I will take the blame for that and obviously it was my fault. I hate it for Kyle. He had a great car and we did as well, but that’s racing.”
Said Busch: “That’s the way it goes, just chalk it up to another one that we figure out how to lose these things by. It’s very frustrating and I hate it for my guys, they build such fast Toyota Camrys and the Skittles Camry was really good again today. Had wanted to go out there and put ourselves in the record books for three in a row, but not happening.”
The last driver to win three consecutive races at Indianapolis was seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher, who won four straight from 2003-06 on the track’s road course.
STAGE 1 WINNER: Busch
STAGE 2 WINNER: Busch
WHO HAD A GOOD DAY: Ryan Newman finished third, his second top five in four races. … Joey Logano (fourth) scored his first top five in more than a month. … Daniel Suarez (seventh) scored back to back top 10s for the second time in his career. … JTG Daugherty Racing put both of its cars in the top 10 for the first time (Chris Buescher ninth, AJ Allmendinger 10th). … Matt DiBenedetto (eighth) earned his first top 10 since the Daytona 500.
WHO HAD A BAD DAY: Erik Jones crashed out of his second consecutive race (after leading 10 laps). … Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch were involved in wicked hits in the same wreck.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We had a top 10 car for sure. It’s kind of frustrating because I was really enjoying being out there. Hopefully our luck’s going to turnaround. It’s been pretty tough and this is a difficult one to put up with.” – Earnhardt, who finished 36th in his final start at Indianapolis
WHAT’S NEXT: The Overton’s 400 at 3 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 30 on NBCSN at Pocono Raceway.
Kasey Kahne’s Brickyard 400 win leaves four open spots on playoff grid.
By Daniel McFadin
(Photo/Getty Images)
With Kasey Kahne‘s win in the Brickyard 400, there are now only four open spots on the 16-driver playoff grid.
There are six races left in the regular season. Any spot not filled by a new winner will be filled based on points.
If Joey Logano‘s win at Richmond was not encumbered due to failing post-race inspection, there would only be three spots left.
Kyle Busch is the highest-ranked driver without a win. He is fourth in the standings, 107 points back from leader Martin Truex Jr.
The other top drivers without wins are Jamie McMurray (-181), Chase Elliott (-192), Matt Kenseth (-214).
Click here for the full points standings.
William Byron beats Paul Menard in duel to win Xfinity race at Indianapolis.
By Daniel McFadin
(Photo/www.cupscene.com)
In his first race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, William Byron outdueled Paul Menard in the closing laps to win the Xfinity Series’ Lilly Diabetes 250.
The 19-year-old is the youngest NASCAR driver to win at the 2.5-mile track. It is the rookie’s third win.
Fighting a tire vibration, Byron led the final 16 laps. He beat Menard, Joey Logano, Elliott Sadler and Cole Custer to the win.
The victory comes three weeks after Byron also won at Daytona International Speedway.
“I just have to thank God, it’s amazing to be here,” Byron told NBCSN at the start-finish line.
“I got a lot of great people around me. This is very humbling to be at Indianapolis and win. I can’t believe that tire held on.”
Byron led 26 laps in a race that saw a track-record 16 lead changes among eight drivers, the result of a new package that includes restrictor plates.
“We had vibrations for probably the last 20 laps or so, and it kind of leveled off,” Byron said. “I’m not a tire expert, so I was just trying to think about what it would do. It held on, and I’m thankful for that.”
Stage 1 winner: William Byron
Stage 2 winner: Elliott Sadler
WHO HAD A GOOD DAY: Paul Menard finished second for his best result of the year. His previous best in five starts was seventh at Michigan … Elliott Sadler led 22 laps from the pole and finished fourth for his eighth top five of the season … Cole Custer finished fifth for his third top five … Kyle Busch, who won the last two Indy Xfinity races, finished 12th after leading 44 laps. He pitted from the lead with 18 to go because of concern for tire wear.
WHO HAD A BAD DAY: Tyler Reddick was eliminated on Lap 38 after plowing through the grass in Turn 4 to avoid an accident with Ryan Sieg and Spencer Gallagher. Reddick finished 37th with his second DNF of the year. … Justin Allgaier finished 35th after multiple mishaps on pit road, including hitting his jack man (who was uninjured) and later leaving his pit box while his right-front tire was being removed, which caused severe damage to his No. 7 car.
NOTABLE: Byron’s win snaps Busch’s streak of four straight NASCAR wins at Indianapolis over the Xfinity and Cup series … Erik Jones‘ No. 20 Toyota had one unsecured lug nut following the race.
QUOTE OF HE DAY: “They wanted to slow down the fastest guy here so the rest of the field could keep up and they did.’’ – Kyle Busch
WHAT’S NEXT: U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC on July 29.
Elliott Sadler continues to lead Xfinity points standings after Indy.
By Daniel McFadin
(Photo/Getty Images)
Elliott Sadler still leads the Xfinity Series point standings after finishing fourth in the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Sadler led 22 laps from the pole and won Stage 2, bringing his total of playoff points to five.
Even though he has no wins this season, Sadler has a 40-point lead over his JR Motorsports teammate William Byron, who won his third race of the year. Byron now has 17 playoff points.
Justin Allgaier is third (-133), followed by Brenna Poole (-192) and Daniel Hemric (-207).
Click here for the points report.
SOCCER: Familiar problems for Fire in loss at New York City FC.
By Dan Santaromita
(Photo/USA TODAY)
A game which paired two of the top teams in the MLS standings didn’t deliver in a traditional sense, but did produce a wild game on Saturday.
The Chicago Fire looked like a team coming off a break in Saturday’s 2-1 loss at New York City FC. The Fire played up a man from the 12th minute on, but defensive lapses throughout and a lack of crispness in front of goal cost the Fire.
After a first half in which the Fire (11-4-5, 38 points) were outshot 7-4 despite the man advantage, NYCFC (11-6-4, 37 points) scored twice in the first five minutes of the second half and held off the Fire’s late surge.
For much of the match, the Fire struggled to complete passes and couldn’t even put shorthanded New York City under pressure. Once the Fire fell behind 2-0, David Accam, who entered the match as a halftime sub, got the Fire within one with a long-range effort that slammed in off the bottom off the crossbar.
The final 30 or so minutes resembled the Fire’s previous struggles this season of playing against teams defending deeply. The Fire couldn’t score against Orlando when the Lions were down two players on June 4. Later in June in the U.S. Open Cup, the Fire couldn’t score against USL opponent FC Cincinnati which defended deep the entire match.
The Chicago Fire looked like a team coming off a break in Saturday’s 2-1 loss at New York City FC. The Fire played up a man from the 12th minute on, but defensive lapses throughout and a lack of crispness in front of goal cost the Fire.
After a first half in which the Fire (11-4-5, 38 points) were outshot 7-4 despite the man advantage, NYCFC (11-6-4, 37 points) scored twice in the first five minutes of the second half and held off the Fire’s late surge.
For much of the match, the Fire struggled to complete passes and couldn’t even put shorthanded New York City under pressure. Once the Fire fell behind 2-0, David Accam, who entered the match as a halftime sub, got the Fire within one with a long-range effort that slammed in off the bottom off the crossbar.
The final 30 or so minutes resembled the Fire’s previous struggles this season of playing against teams defending deeply. The Fire couldn’t score against Orlando when the Lions were down two players on June 4. Later in June in the U.S. Open Cup, the Fire couldn’t score against USL opponent FC Cincinnati which defended deep the entire match.
NYCFC took the lead two minutes into the second half on a David Villa volley where Fire goalkeeper Matt Lampson was screened on the shot. A few minutes later Frederic Brillant rebounded his own header on a set piece to double the lead.
Accam’s goal finished off a stretch of three goals in eight minutes, but the Fire couldn’t beat former goalkeeper Sean Johnson again despite 25 shots.
The loss snapped the Fire’s 11-match MLS unbeaten run and tightened up the Eastern Conference race. Toronto FC, which tied NYCFC in Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, is up a point on the Fire. NYCFC is now a point behind the Fire with an extra game played.
Before the red card, the Fire caught a big break when a Bastian Schweinsteiger turnover nearly led to a penalty kick. Johan Kappelhof slid to knock the ball away from Herrera in the fourth minute, and appeared to miss the ball, but the ref did not give the penalty to the hosts.
Fire defender Brandon Vincent was announced as a starter before the match, but the club said he suffered a left quad strain in warmups and was replaced by Michael Harrington in the lineup.
Fire defender Brandon Vincent was announced as a starter before the match, but the club said he suffered a left quad strain in warmups and was replaced by Michael Harrington in the lineup.
Jamaica upset Mexico to reach 2nd straight Gold Cup final, face USMNT.
By Andy Edwards
(AP Photo/Jae Hong)
For the second straight tournament, Jamaica are headed to the final of the Gold Cup after knocking off Mexico, the side which beat them in the 2015 final, in the 2017 semifinal on Sunday.
New York Red Bulls defender Kemar Lawrence scored the game’s only goal in the 88th minute, making the most of Andre Blake’s man-of-the-match goalkeeping performance which spanned the entirety of 90 minutes.
Blake put forth a stellar display of goalkeeping in the game’s opening 45 minutes, facing three shots on target and denying El Tri’s attackers on each and every occasion.
The pick(s) of the litter came in the 12th minute, when the Philadelphia Union ‘keeper pulled off a stunning double-save to deny Jesus Dueñas and Erick Torres. Dueñas fired first, aided by a wicked deflection, but Blake pulled off the reflexive kick-save, followed by Torres’ powerful strike through traffic seconds later.
15 minutes later, Torres earned himself a yellow card for what was undoubtedly, unquestionably a red-card, lunging “challenge” against Damion Lowe.
The second half consisted of much the same things as the first, as Blake continued his clinic in the 65th minute. Jesus Gallardo fired a free kick through the Raggae Boyz’ wall, a knuckling shot which Blake didn’t see until very late but managed the put two fists behind the ball and punch it anyway.
Blake’s counterpart, Jesus Corona, joined the fun in the 78th minute. Lowe rose highest to get to Owayne Gordon’s free kick, heading it inside Corona’s right-hand post, but the Cruz Azul ‘keeper was quick to scramble across his goal and palm the ball away at full-stretch.
Two minutes before full-time, Lawrence produced the game’s only piece of purge magic, a curling peach of a free kick from 24 yards out. Corona went one way, Lawrence went the other and Jamaica are headed to their second straight Gold Cup final.
Jamaica will take on the U.S. national team in Wednesday’s final, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
With four games left, here's what USA needs to happen to qualify for World Cup.
By Roger Gonzalez
The road to Russia is a lot shorter and clearer since Bruce Arena took over.
Forget the fact that we are just a year away from the 2018 World Cup, there are only four matches left for each team in CONCACAF qualifying. Action returns in September after the June fixtures, and things are a lot clearer for the United States after the shaky 0-2 start.
Since Bruce Arena joined late last year, the U.S. is undefeated in qualifying and has eight points from four matches, an impressive collection. Their chances were helped by Tuesday night's result where Honduras and Panama drew 2-2.
Below are the standings, predictions and projecting where the U.S. finishes. In history, 13 points is usually good enough to get the fourth-place spot, which takes the team to a playoff for a spot in the World Cup; 15 to 16 points is usually enough to clinch third place and direct qualification.
Current standings
| POS. | TEAM | W | D | L | GD | PTS |
| 1. | Mexico | 4 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| 2. | Costa Rica | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 11 |
| 3. | USA | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 4. | Panama | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 5. | Honduras | 1 | 2 | 3 | -8 | 5 |
| 6. | Trinidad and Tobago | 1 | 0 | 4 | -6 | 3 |
Remaining schedule and predictions
1. vs. Costa Rica on Sept. 1
Prediction: Win
2. at Honduras on Sept. 5
Prediction: Loss
3. vs. Panama on Oct. 6
Prediction: Win
4. at Trinidad and Tobago on Oct. 10.
Prediction: Draw
That would give the U.S. seven points and 15 in the standings. Battling Panama right now for third, the Panamanians have to go to Mexico, host Trinidad, go to USA and host Costa Rica. The best they can probably do there is seven points, which would still see the U.S. finish ahead. The most likely amount of points for Panama from those four matches is four, which would solidify the Americans' spot in third.
Here's how we predict the teams will finish
2 - Costa Rica, 16 points
3 - United States, 15 points
4 - Panama, 11 points
5 - Honduras, 10 points
6 - Trinidad and Tobago, 5 points
So, after four games with Arena, the USA's qualifying campaign went from severe to in good health. With four games to go, if the U.S. takes care of business at home, it should be enough to get to Russia next year.
Pique with the scoop? Neymar “staying” at Barcelona.
By Andy Edwards
(Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
While the entire world waits for official word — any word, really — on the possible world record-shattering transfer of Neymar from Barcelona to Paris Saint-Germain, Gerard Pique just became the world’s most appreciated breaker of transfer news.
Pique, Neymar’s teammate for four seasons at Barca, tweeted (and posted to Instagram) a photo of himself and Neymar, captioned, “Se queda,” or, “He stays.”
Whether he stays or goes this summer, Neymar is about to get paid, and deservedly so. An unquestionable top-five (or -three?) player in the world, he doesn’t turn 26 for another seven months. There has to be someone awaiting the passing of the torch from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez, both four years Neymar’s senior, some day soon(-ish), so it should come as no surprise that Barca appear to have moved heaven and earth to retain their Brazilian superstar.
NCAAFB: Big Ten preseason media poll overwhelmingly favors Ohio State in 2017.
By Ben Kercheval
The Buckeyes are big favorites to win the Big Ten's East division as well as the conference title.
The Big Ten doesn't do an official preseason poll like other Power Five conferences at their respective media days. So it's been up to votes tallied through Cleveland.com to do the conference's work instead.
This year's preseason poll has a familiar team at the top: Ohio State.
The Buckeyes are overwhelming favorites -- B1G favorites, you might say -- to take the Big Ten East title and win the conference championship game. Ohio State garnered 34 first-place votes for the East and 29 votes for the Big Ten championship over three different opponents.
Penn State, last year's Big Ten champion, had seven first-place votes for the East, while Michigan received a single first-place vote. Here's how the entire East division is being projected ...
Big Ten East (First-place votes)
1. Ohio State, 260 points (34 )
2. Penn State, 231.5 (7)
3. Michigan, 192 (1)
4. Michigan State, 128
5. Indiana, 114
6. Maryland, 100.5
7. Rutgers, 38
Similar to Ohio State, Wisconsin is the big favorite to win the conference's West division with 259 total points and 31 first-place votes. Northwestern and Nebraska were the only other teams to receive first-place votes.
Big Ten West (First-place votes)
1. Wisconsin, 259 points (31)
2. Northwestern, 219 (5)
3. Nebraska, 176.5 (2)
4. Iowa, 164.5
5. Minnesota, 131
6. Purdue, 57
6. Illinois, 57
And here's how the various voters projected the Big Ten Championship Game would play out ...
Ohio State over Wisconsin (22)
Ohio State over Northwestern (5)
Ohio State over Nebraska (2)
Wisconsin over Ohio State (3)
Wisconsin over Penn State (1)
Penn State over Wisconsin (4)
Michigan over Wisconsin (1)
Ohio State made the College Football Playoff last season despite not even making it to the Big Ten Championship Game. The Buckeyes were then blanked by Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal matchup. Though it's hard to imagine an 11-2 season as a "rebuild" of any kind, the 2017 Buckeyes should be even better. Picking them to take the conference title was, as a certain famous half-Vulcan would say, "logical."
Concern over star players skipping bowls hasn't slowed among coaches, NFL execs.
By Dennis Dodd
What if, Nick Saban wonders, recruits start skipping their senior year of high school football?
Nick Saban cannot contain himself. Such is the case when an issue impacts his ability to coach football at the highest level.
It's been seven months since Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey skipped their bowl games, but their actions have created one of the hottest topics of the offseason.
What if, Saban wonders, ducking out for the pros before a bowl game becomes a college trend? Or worse …
"Same thing will happen in high school if they make the signing day before the season," Saban told CBS Sports. "It will take a few years, then some kid will say, 'Hey, I'm going to Notre Dame. I'm not playing my senior year.'
Nick Saban cannot contain himself. Such is the case when an issue impacts his ability to coach football at the highest level.
It's been seven months since Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey skipped their bowl games, but their actions have created one of the hottest topics of the offseason.
What if, Saban wonders, ducking out for the pros before a bowl game becomes a college trend? Or worse …
"Same thing will happen in high school if they make the signing day before the season," Saban told CBS Sports. "It will take a few years, then some kid will say, 'Hey, I'm going to Notre Dame. I'm not playing my senior year.'
It's the consequences. Neither player's draft evaluation was affected, but if it is a trend, it's just getting started.
"You've got to judge that as an NFL general manager," McKay said. "They could look negatively on [leaving early] just as well."
NFL and college coaches alike crave few things more than roster stability and loyalty. The NFL can buy loyalty with salary. College coaches can only demand it as a concept. Never mind they can skip town whenever they for a new job.
That's why, when McCaffrey and Fournette announced in December they were skipping their bowl games, it hit a nerve that twitched all the way from practice fields to front offices.
"It's a major negative to me because it takes away from the team aspect of the sport," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "… Are we going to get to a point where someone commits to a college and says, 'I don't want to play my [high school] senior year for fear of injury?'"
To question those players' loyalty is a bit misguided. McCaffrey touched the ball more than 800 times in his Stanford career. When healthy, Fournette was one of the most intimidating forces in the game.
Still, is the lure of the pros (and to preserve a high draft spot) going to lead to a cascading effect?
"Both are running backs. Both were not 100 percent healthy," said Phil Savage, Senior Bowl executive director and a former NFL GM. "They were in games that were not the classic New Year's Day bowl games. I think if LSU or Stanford had been in the playoff, both guys would have played."
Wright Waters isn't concerned. The Football Bowl Association executive director said, "If I'd been Fournette, I wouldn't have played."
LSU coach Ed Orgeron last week said Fournette came to him "in tears" before the Citrus Bowl saying he couldn't play because of a ankle injury.
"I said, "Leonard, I understand, we will not put you in jeopardy, son,'" Orgeron shared.
While the loss of those players hurt the marketing of the Sun Bowl (Stanford vs. Miami) and Citrus Bowl (LSU vs. Louisville), the situation highlighted the exhibition nature of those games.
The consensus of most interviewed in the offseason was reflected by Savage: Both players would have participated if it had been a New Year's Six or College Football Playoff game.
"The predictions of this being the demise of the bowls is grossly premature and overstated," Waters said. "When a Heisman Trophy winner does not show up, will that disappoint fans? Is it the demise of college football? No."
But the basic reason for both players' absence -- health -- could potentially open the gates. Why risk your body and impact your draft status for a meaningless bowl game?
McKay said he would rather have players be upfront about their health than dog it in a bowl game to protect their bodies.
"I have seen players in my time … that didn't play the bowl game the way they played the season," said McKay, son of legendary USC coach John McKay. "And my dad didn't take it well. Neither did the teammates."
Saban has sometimes questioned certain players' diligence in preparation for the postseason because they are distracted by the draft.
"It's not going to change unless the NFL says, 'You know what? Guys that mess with agents that aren't supposed to, they're going to get suspended in the NFL for four games without pay,'" Saban said.
Some form of the Uniform Athlete Agent Act has been adopted in at least 43 states. It was passed in 2000 partially at the urging of the NCAA. It requires agents to register with and be licensed by states.
If those agents run afoul of NCAA bylaws, they get prosecuted. But a player doesn't necessarily have to be directly influenced by an agent. They can merely "hear" they're going high in the draft -- from friends, family, internet sites, TV, whatever.
"The problem with that is, I would say 60 [junior] players shouldn't come out for the draft of the 100 that did. Maybe it's 70," Saban said. "If a guy didn't get drafted in the first or second round, he [should] have kept his ass in school."
Twenty-eight of 95 early entrees in the April's draft (29 percent) went undrafted, according to NFL.com.
That 29 percent figure is the second lowest since an all-time high 39 percent of draft-eligible juniors went undrafted in 2014.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, attorney Bryan Fisher told CBS Sports in March, "What you saw is the tip of the iceberg. You're going to see a whole lot of kids skipping."
Fisher works with players and their families vetting disability and loss of draft value insurance policies. The landscape has evolved in that space so that most of the players projected to go in the first three rounds have such policies. Fisher said specifically the risk of injury weighed against what is sometimes that meaningless bowl game will cause more players to miss postseason games.
"I definitely sympathize and see both sides of it," Smart said. "I don't want to sound like the selfish coach that only thinks of himself. Also, think of the purity of the game. You're playing for more than the coach. You're playing for a team, a university."
But is it worth it for a player to put his body on the line when he is also playing for himself, his future and his family?
McCaffrey's Stanford teammate, defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, played in that same Sun Bowl. Thomas definitely boosted his draft stock with seven tackles, including a late sack, against North Carolina.
Florida State's Dalvin Cook could have sat out the Orange Bowl. Instead, his FSU legacy now includes an Orange Bowl MVP. Cook accounted for 207 yards on 23 touches in a win over Michigan.
In those cases, at least, the reward outweighed the risk.
"That's the nature of the game," Waters said. "You can get hurt walking across the street."
This year's preseason poll has a familiar team at the top: Ohio State.
The Buckeyes are overwhelming favorites -- B1G favorites, you might say -- to take the Big Ten East title and win the conference championship game. Ohio State garnered 34 first-place votes for the East and 29 votes for the Big Ten championship over three different opponents.
Penn State, last year's Big Ten champion, had seven first-place votes for the East, while Michigan received a single first-place vote. Here's how the entire East division is being projected ...
Big Ten East (First-place votes)
1. Ohio State, 260 points (34 )
2. Penn State, 231.5 (7)
3. Michigan, 192 (1)
4. Michigan State, 128
5. Indiana, 114
6. Maryland, 100.5
7. Rutgers, 38
Similar to Ohio State, Wisconsin is the big favorite to win the conference's West division with 259 total points and 31 first-place votes. Northwestern and Nebraska were the only other teams to receive first-place votes.
Big Ten West (First-place votes)
1. Wisconsin, 259 points (31)
2. Northwestern, 219 (5)
3. Nebraska, 176.5 (2)
4. Iowa, 164.5
5. Minnesota, 131
6. Purdue, 57
6. Illinois, 57
And here's how the various voters projected the Big Ten Championship Game would play out ...
Ohio State over Wisconsin (22)
Ohio State over Northwestern (5)
Ohio State over Nebraska (2)
Wisconsin over Ohio State (3)
Wisconsin over Penn State (1)
Penn State over Wisconsin (4)
Michigan over Wisconsin (1)
Ohio State made the College Football Playoff last season despite not even making it to the Big Ten Championship Game. The Buckeyes were then blanked by Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal matchup. Though it's hard to imagine an 11-2 season as a "rebuild" of any kind, the 2017 Buckeyes should be even better. Picking them to take the conference title was, as a certain famous half-Vulcan would say, "logical."
Concern over star players skipping bowls hasn't slowed among coaches, NFL execs.
By Dennis Dodd
What if, Nick Saban wonders, recruits start skipping their senior year of high school football?
Nick Saban cannot contain himself. Such is the case when an issue impacts his ability to coach football at the highest level.
It's been seven months since Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey skipped their bowl games, but their actions have created one of the hottest topics of the offseason.
What if, Saban wonders, ducking out for the pros before a bowl game becomes a college trend? Or worse …
"Same thing will happen in high school if they make the signing day before the season," Saban told CBS Sports. "It will take a few years, then some kid will say, 'Hey, I'm going to Notre Dame. I'm not playing my senior year.'
Nick Saban cannot contain himself. Such is the case when an issue impacts his ability to coach football at the highest level.
It's been seven months since Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey skipped their bowl games, but their actions have created one of the hottest topics of the offseason.
What if, Saban wonders, ducking out for the pros before a bowl game becomes a college trend? Or worse …
"Same thing will happen in high school if they make the signing day before the season," Saban told CBS Sports. "It will take a few years, then some kid will say, 'Hey, I'm going to Notre Dame. I'm not playing my senior year.'
It's the consequences. Neither player's draft evaluation was affected, but if it is a trend, it's just getting started.
"You've got to judge that as an NFL general manager," McKay said. "They could look negatively on [leaving early] just as well."
NFL and college coaches alike crave few things more than roster stability and loyalty. The NFL can buy loyalty with salary. College coaches can only demand it as a concept. Never mind they can skip town whenever they for a new job.
That's why, when McCaffrey and Fournette announced in December they were skipping their bowl games, it hit a nerve that twitched all the way from practice fields to front offices.
"It's a major negative to me because it takes away from the team aspect of the sport," Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. "… Are we going to get to a point where someone commits to a college and says, 'I don't want to play my [high school] senior year for fear of injury?'"
To question those players' loyalty is a bit misguided. McCaffrey touched the ball more than 800 times in his Stanford career. When healthy, Fournette was one of the most intimidating forces in the game.
Still, is the lure of the pros (and to preserve a high draft spot) going to lead to a cascading effect?
"Both are running backs. Both were not 100 percent healthy," said Phil Savage, Senior Bowl executive director and a former NFL GM. "They were in games that were not the classic New Year's Day bowl games. I think if LSU or Stanford had been in the playoff, both guys would have played."
Wright Waters isn't concerned. The Football Bowl Association executive director said, "If I'd been Fournette, I wouldn't have played."
LSU coach Ed Orgeron last week said Fournette came to him "in tears" before the Citrus Bowl saying he couldn't play because of a ankle injury.
"I said, "Leonard, I understand, we will not put you in jeopardy, son,'" Orgeron shared.
While the loss of those players hurt the marketing of the Sun Bowl (Stanford vs. Miami) and Citrus Bowl (LSU vs. Louisville), the situation highlighted the exhibition nature of those games.
"The predictions of this being the demise of the bowls is grossly premature and overstated," Waters said. "When a Heisman Trophy winner does not show up, will that disappoint fans? Is it the demise of college football? No."
But the basic reason for both players' absence -- health -- could potentially open the gates. Why risk your body and impact your draft status for a meaningless bowl game?
McKay said he would rather have players be upfront about their health than dog it in a bowl game to protect their bodies.
Saban has sometimes questioned certain players' diligence in preparation for the postseason because they are distracted by the draft.
"It's not going to change unless the NFL says, 'You know what? Guys that mess with agents that aren't supposed to, they're going to get suspended in the NFL for four games without pay,'" Saban said.
Some form of the Uniform Athlete Agent Act has been adopted in at least 43 states. It was passed in 2000 partially at the urging of the NCAA. It requires agents to register with and be licensed by states.
"The problem with that is, I would say 60 [junior] players shouldn't come out for the draft of the 100 that did. Maybe it's 70," Saban said. "If a guy didn't get drafted in the first or second round, he [should] have kept his ass in school."
Twenty-eight of 95 early entrees in the April's draft (29 percent) went undrafted, according to NFL.com.
That 29 percent figure is the second lowest since an all-time high 39 percent of draft-eligible juniors went undrafted in 2014.
Fisher works with players and their families vetting disability and loss of draft value insurance policies. The landscape has evolved in that space so that most of the players projected to go in the first three rounds have such policies. Fisher said specifically the risk of injury weighed against what is sometimes that meaningless bowl game will cause more players to miss postseason games.
"I definitely sympathize and see both sides of it," Smart said. "I don't want to sound like the selfish coach that only thinks of himself. Also, think of the purity of the game. You're playing for more than the coach. You're playing for a team, a university."
But is it worth it for a player to put his body on the line when he is also playing for himself, his future and his family?
McCaffrey's Stanford teammate, defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, played in that same Sun Bowl. Thomas definitely boosted his draft stock with seven tackles, including a late sack, against North Carolina.
Florida State's Dalvin Cook could have sat out the Orange Bowl. Instead, his FSU legacy now includes an Orange Bowl MVP. Cook accounted for 207 yards on 23 touches in a win over Michigan.
In those cases, at least, the reward outweighed the risk.
"That's the nature of the game," Waters said. "You can get hurt walking across the street."
NCAABKB: How strength coaches are taking over college basketball.
By Myron Medcalf
Much of Cincinnati's success on the court comes from what happens away from the court in the weight room. (Photo/Courtesy of Mike Rehfeldt)
When his team gathered last week for summer workouts, Notre Dame star Bonzie Colson watched freshman D.J. Harvey and Connecticut transfer Juwan Durham saunter around campus with the same limp he remembered from his first season.
But the soreness that followed Notre Dame strength and conditioning coach Tony Rolinski's workouts and instruction proved worthwhile. Colson, the doughy forward who arrived with more than 20 percent body fat his freshman season, will enter his senior season as a 6-foot-5, 225-pound preseason All-American.
"He's been everything," Colson said of Rolinski in a conversation with ESPN.com. "He's one of the realest. He's done everything to help me shape my body."
The growing significance of Rolinski and his peers in college basketball demonstrates the philosophical shift within the game that has made strength coaches pivotal assistants, not the stereotypical meatheads who just scream at players while they throw weights around a few days per week.
"Each athlete is different," Rolinski said. "You want to get to know them. I want to climb inside their soul and figure them out. They all have different attributes, and everybody's got different needs. ... I have their best interests in mind. I know they're not coming here on a weightlifting scholarship. They're coming here to play basketball, so let's look, and let's identify your weakness and teach you how to turn it into a strength."
A past generation of basketball players resisted strength training.
"If you look at the players that played in yesteryear, no one ever touched a weight," NBA legend Jerry West told NBA.com in 2008.
But Michael Jordan's renowned strength training regimen in the 1980s and 1990s, encouraged by the clotheslines and elbows he caught from the brutish Detroit Pistons, challenged old-school ideas about the value of the weight room. Years later, LeBron James, equipped with the frame of an all-pro tight end, arrived and has won multiple MVPs and championships in the NBA.
As young players tried to emulate James and embrace the weight room, nutrition guidelines and other tools to pack muscle onto their frames, college basketball programs began to chase the top strength coaches in the country -- a pursuit championed for decades by ambitious college football powerhouses.
Per USA Today, 41 college football strength coaches made more than $200,000 per year last season. Two years ago, Rob Harris, Kentucky basketball's strength coach, made just under $100,000, per a Lexington Herald-Leader database from 2015.
The money for strength coaches in college basketball does not come close to matching the cash flowing into the bank accounts of their college football counterparts, but their importance is expanding.
Indiana's Archie Miller called new strength coach Clif Marshall "a difference-maker" in a recent statement announcing the hiring of the notable NFL trainer whose client list includes Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green.
"They're every bit as important as the college football strength coaches because we're always sensitive to who is the guy in the weight room with our guys," Notre Dame's Mike Brey said. "It can be quite a little bidding war."
In 2012, the NCAA adopted legislation that allows college basketball coaches to spend two hours per week with their players on the court and another six hours with players off the court, a stretch most programs use for strength and conditioning work during the summer.
"In basketball, it has really evolved," Jay Wright said. "It used to be you can't lift weights because it's going to hurt your shot to now, it's nutrition, flexibility, sleep and nutrition. ... It's not just gains in strength."
Last year, Richard Pitino led Minnesota to a 24-win season and the school's first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2013. He credits the additions to the team -- players such as freshman standout Amir Coffey and transfer Reggie Lynch -- for the 16-win improvement over the previous season. But he also calls strength coach Shaun Brown, a key asset in Minnesota's physical development, his most important assistant.
"My strength coach is maybe the most important person in the program," Pitino said. "I tell recruits this a lot: If there's two people beside yourself who are going to be the most important people in your lives that you see today, it will be me and the strength coach. He's not just a strength coach. He does a little bit of everything."
For many schools, it's an expansive role that encompasses strength training, nutrition, injury prevention, recovery and the development of relationships with players. Villanova strength coach John Shackleton helped national title game hero Kris Jenkins and his flabby frame -- he played center in high school -- into a sleek, 6-foot-6, 235-pound athlete who played on the perimeter during his senior season.
This season, Wright wants Shackleton to do the same work with Omari Spellman, a promising big man. That's a challenge that begins with educating the redshirt freshman.
"In the summer time, I'm spending probably the most time with these guys," Shackleton said. "Obviously, we're in the weight room -- that's a big part of it. Outside of the weight room, I'm meeting with guys for food, nutrition, teaching them about nutrition. I take them out to different restaurants around the area. We sit down and talk about the nutrition."
When Kyle Washington transferred to Cincinnati in 2015, he weighed 218 pounds. After conversations with Cincinnati strength coach Mike Rehfeldt, Washington realized that he had to eat better to develop an elite body and battle others at his position.
Last season, the 6-foot-9 power forward weighed 235 pounds and averaged 12.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 1.2 BPG. He's in the weight room in the morning and evening. And in those hours, he has bonded with Rehfeldt.
"He does exercises that translate to the court," Washington said. "He knows everybody's bodies. He's our nutritionist. Sometimes, he's our therapist. He does everything."
And even more when the team hits the road.
"I travel," Rehfeldt said. "I'm at the hotel. I'm the 'bed-check' guy. I'm the 'wake-the-guy-up-for-breakfast' guy. I wear a lot of hats."
Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said strength coaches feed off their relationships with head coaches. He said he trusts Rehfeldt and tells his players to treat sessions with Rehfeldt the same way they treat sessions on the court with other coaches.
"The key is you've got to empower him," Cronin said.
Sometimes Colson, Notre Dame's star, texts Rolinski, the school's longtime strength coach, with pictures of his meals and asks for tips and instructions to help him stay lean. He trusts Rolinski, who helped him develop his body and evolve into one of the sport's stars.
When Rolinski tells Colson and his teammates to skip a workout and recover, they listen. On Thursdays, Notre Dame does yoga. It's a holistic process that has changed Colson's career.
Even after three years -- and counting -- with Rolinski, however, Colson said he is still learning.
"I love cheese," Colson said. "I'm trying not to eat as much cheese. Now it's more protein, more sleep, drinking more water. It takes time to develop your body."
Unthinkable upset of Arrogate jolts horse racing.
But the soreness that followed Notre Dame strength and conditioning coach Tony Rolinski's workouts and instruction proved worthwhile. Colson, the doughy forward who arrived with more than 20 percent body fat his freshman season, will enter his senior season as a 6-foot-5, 225-pound preseason All-American.
"He's been everything," Colson said of Rolinski in a conversation with ESPN.com. "He's one of the realest. He's done everything to help me shape my body."
The growing significance of Rolinski and his peers in college basketball demonstrates the philosophical shift within the game that has made strength coaches pivotal assistants, not the stereotypical meatheads who just scream at players while they throw weights around a few days per week.
"Each athlete is different," Rolinski said. "You want to get to know them. I want to climb inside their soul and figure them out. They all have different attributes, and everybody's got different needs. ... I have their best interests in mind. I know they're not coming here on a weightlifting scholarship. They're coming here to play basketball, so let's look, and let's identify your weakness and teach you how to turn it into a strength."
A past generation of basketball players resisted strength training.
"If you look at the players that played in yesteryear, no one ever touched a weight," NBA legend Jerry West told NBA.com in 2008.
But Michael Jordan's renowned strength training regimen in the 1980s and 1990s, encouraged by the clotheslines and elbows he caught from the brutish Detroit Pistons, challenged old-school ideas about the value of the weight room. Years later, LeBron James, equipped with the frame of an all-pro tight end, arrived and has won multiple MVPs and championships in the NBA.
As young players tried to emulate James and embrace the weight room, nutrition guidelines and other tools to pack muscle onto their frames, college basketball programs began to chase the top strength coaches in the country -- a pursuit championed for decades by ambitious college football powerhouses.
Per USA Today, 41 college football strength coaches made more than $200,000 per year last season. Two years ago, Rob Harris, Kentucky basketball's strength coach, made just under $100,000, per a Lexington Herald-Leader database from 2015.
The money for strength coaches in college basketball does not come close to matching the cash flowing into the bank accounts of their college football counterparts, but their importance is expanding.
Indiana's Archie Miller called new strength coach Clif Marshall "a difference-maker" in a recent statement announcing the hiring of the notable NFL trainer whose client list includes Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green.
"They're every bit as important as the college football strength coaches because we're always sensitive to who is the guy in the weight room with our guys," Notre Dame's Mike Brey said. "It can be quite a little bidding war."
In 2012, the NCAA adopted legislation that allows college basketball coaches to spend two hours per week with their players on the court and another six hours with players off the court, a stretch most programs use for strength and conditioning work during the summer.
"In basketball, it has really evolved," Jay Wright said. "It used to be you can't lift weights because it's going to hurt your shot to now, it's nutrition, flexibility, sleep and nutrition. ... It's not just gains in strength."
Last year, Richard Pitino led Minnesota to a 24-win season and the school's first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2013. He credits the additions to the team -- players such as freshman standout Amir Coffey and transfer Reggie Lynch -- for the 16-win improvement over the previous season. But he also calls strength coach Shaun Brown, a key asset in Minnesota's physical development, his most important assistant.
"My strength coach is maybe the most important person in the program," Pitino said. "I tell recruits this a lot: If there's two people beside yourself who are going to be the most important people in your lives that you see today, it will be me and the strength coach. He's not just a strength coach. He does a little bit of everything."
For many schools, it's an expansive role that encompasses strength training, nutrition, injury prevention, recovery and the development of relationships with players. Villanova strength coach John Shackleton helped national title game hero Kris Jenkins and his flabby frame -- he played center in high school -- into a sleek, 6-foot-6, 235-pound athlete who played on the perimeter during his senior season.
This season, Wright wants Shackleton to do the same work with Omari Spellman, a promising big man. That's a challenge that begins with educating the redshirt freshman.
"In the summer time, I'm spending probably the most time with these guys," Shackleton said. "Obviously, we're in the weight room -- that's a big part of it. Outside of the weight room, I'm meeting with guys for food, nutrition, teaching them about nutrition. I take them out to different restaurants around the area. We sit down and talk about the nutrition."
When Kyle Washington transferred to Cincinnati in 2015, he weighed 218 pounds. After conversations with Cincinnati strength coach Mike Rehfeldt, Washington realized that he had to eat better to develop an elite body and battle others at his position.
Last season, the 6-foot-9 power forward weighed 235 pounds and averaged 12.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 1.2 BPG. He's in the weight room in the morning and evening. And in those hours, he has bonded with Rehfeldt.
"He does exercises that translate to the court," Washington said. "He knows everybody's bodies. He's our nutritionist. Sometimes, he's our therapist. He does everything."
And even more when the team hits the road.
"I travel," Rehfeldt said. "I'm at the hotel. I'm the 'bed-check' guy. I'm the 'wake-the-guy-up-for-breakfast' guy. I wear a lot of hats."
Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said strength coaches feed off their relationships with head coaches. He said he trusts Rehfeldt and tells his players to treat sessions with Rehfeldt the same way they treat sessions on the court with other coaches.
"The key is you've got to empower him," Cronin said.
Sometimes Colson, Notre Dame's star, texts Rolinski, the school's longtime strength coach, with pictures of his meals and asks for tips and instructions to help him stay lean. He trusts Rolinski, who helped him develop his body and evolve into one of the sport's stars.
When Rolinski tells Colson and his teammates to skip a workout and recover, they listen. On Thursdays, Notre Dame does yoga. It's a holistic process that has changed Colson's career.
Even after three years -- and counting -- with Rolinski, however, Colson said he is still learning.
"I love cheese," Colson said. "I'm trying not to eat as much cheese. Now it's more protein, more sleep, drinking more water. It takes time to develop your body."
Unthinkable upset of Arrogate jolts horse racing.
By Bryce Miller
Jockey Mike Smith rides Arrogate in an unfamiliar spot not at the front of the pack. Arrogate came in fourth place in a race at Del Mar. (Photo/Hayne Palmour IV/San Diego Union-Tribune)
This was Miracle on Ice, on hooves. This was Buster Douglas KO’ing Mike Tyson, on dirt. This was mouths collectively agape, faces stunned and eyes drained of answers.
As Arrogate, the No. 1 ranked horse in the world, entered the starting gate Saturday at Del Mar in the San Diego Handicap, it was so ridiculously favored that the 1-20 odds produced too many digits to show on the track’s big board.
The sport’s biggest star didn’t win. Or finish second. Or third.
Accelerate, who beat Arrogate during his rookie debut last April before the celebrity in waiting piled up a record $17 million and change, roared to the front, never surrendered an inch and delivered the unthinkable.
That quickly mixed with the unfathomable: Donworth and Cat Burglar romped to the line before Arrogate too.
“I’m dumbfounded,” said jockey Mike Smith, who rode Arrogate when he battered Saratoga’s record in the Travers, humbled California Chrome not once but twice and showed Gun Runner that no lead is safe in Dubai.
“I have no idea. Your guess is as good as mine, to be honest with you. I’m at a loss for words.”
The moment, arguably the most monumental big-stage upset since Bing Crosby welcomed fans at the gates in 1937, spelled victory for the anything’s-possible crowd.
Be on the lookout: The sun might stubbornly steal the spotlight and rise in the west.
Dan Smith, Del Mar’s senior media coordinator who’s been around the track for 54 years, said he’d never seen money lean like this: Of the $2,671,938 bet in the win, place and show pools, an astounding $2,457,472 was wagered on the horse that finished fourth.
Donworth crushed records for place and show prices that had stood since 1955, at $119.80 and $67.40 respectively.
This was even more of a brain-melter, in Smith’s estimation, than Dare And Go snapping Cigar’s 16-race win streak at the 1996 Pacific Classic. In that race, Cigar finished second.
Arrogate was so regally regarded that the trumpeting lungs of Del Mar’s Les Kepics belted out the theme from “Superman” before the call to the post and Charlie Rose of “60 Minutes” shadowed trainer Bob Baffert’s every move.
The streak of seven consecutive wins, never to reach eight. The air of invincibility, snuffed. The predictability of champions, bruised purple.
Arrogate, astonishingly, lumbered to the line a staggering 15 ¼ lengths off the pace.
“He just laid an egg,” Baffert said.
Anyone wonder if trainer Keith Desormeaux, who scratched his horse Dalmore in a valor-be-darned shift to Sunday’s Wickerr Stakes, wants a do-over?
The San Diego Handicap has done a number on a couple of international stars. Silver Charm, winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Dubai World Cup, sputtered to fifth out of five during the 1998 race.
“We ran against the best horse in the world,” Accelerate trainer John Sadler said, “so it’s a huge win.”
The plan for jockey Victor Espinoza, Sadler said: Take the lead if you can, step on the champ’s throat and hold your hoof there until the sport found itself shaken and shocked.
What did it mean?
“Anything can happen,” Espinoza said.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. This couldn’t happen, right? As the race neared, trainer Peter Miller said of the field that included his horse El Huerfano: “Everyone’s running for second. That’s a win.”
Sports, at its most glorious and blood-pumping, crumples truths and certainties before running them through the wood chipper. It’s why we watch. It’s why we wiggle to the edge of our chairs.
Sometimes, Accelerate wins.
When asked if he ever felt a fraction of in-race comfort against Arrogate, who pieced together a mind-boggling, last-to-first run in Dubai, Sadler proved as efficient as his upset-minded horse.
“No,” he said.
This wasn’t a bad start or a bad trip for Arrogate. This was a horse that seemed to have more gears than any on the planet, suddenly lacking one. This was a champion, out-kicked, out-hearted, out-everything’d for the first time.
About an hour after the buzz subsided, Baffert texted that health didn’t offer answers, either: “All seems fine with him so far.”
“I took him outside, like I did in Dubai,” Smith said. “He just didn’t respond. No response. Hopefully, we’ll go back and regroup and get back on track.”
Without warning, Del Mar’s $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 19 added intrigue in bucket-fulls. Now, the Breeders’ Cup Classic thundering toward the turf and surf in November found drama almost no one expected.
Only 16,568 saw history being made and the notion of “untouchable” torched.
Where will the sun rise next? At this point, it’s anybody’s guess.
2017 Stage XX Tour de France Summary.
You TubeAs Arrogate, the No. 1 ranked horse in the world, entered the starting gate Saturday at Del Mar in the San Diego Handicap, it was so ridiculously favored that the 1-20 odds produced too many digits to show on the track’s big board.
The sport’s biggest star didn’t win. Or finish second. Or third.
Accelerate, who beat Arrogate during his rookie debut last April before the celebrity in waiting piled up a record $17 million and change, roared to the front, never surrendered an inch and delivered the unthinkable.
That quickly mixed with the unfathomable: Donworth and Cat Burglar romped to the line before Arrogate too.
“I’m dumbfounded,” said jockey Mike Smith, who rode Arrogate when he battered Saratoga’s record in the Travers, humbled California Chrome not once but twice and showed Gun Runner that no lead is safe in Dubai.
“I have no idea. Your guess is as good as mine, to be honest with you. I’m at a loss for words.”
The moment, arguably the most monumental big-stage upset since Bing Crosby welcomed fans at the gates in 1937, spelled victory for the anything’s-possible crowd.
Be on the lookout: The sun might stubbornly steal the spotlight and rise in the west.
Dan Smith, Del Mar’s senior media coordinator who’s been around the track for 54 years, said he’d never seen money lean like this: Of the $2,671,938 bet in the win, place and show pools, an astounding $2,457,472 was wagered on the horse that finished fourth.
Donworth crushed records for place and show prices that had stood since 1955, at $119.80 and $67.40 respectively.
This was even more of a brain-melter, in Smith’s estimation, than Dare And Go snapping Cigar’s 16-race win streak at the 1996 Pacific Classic. In that race, Cigar finished second.
Arrogate was so regally regarded that the trumpeting lungs of Del Mar’s Les Kepics belted out the theme from “Superman” before the call to the post and Charlie Rose of “60 Minutes” shadowed trainer Bob Baffert’s every move.
The streak of seven consecutive wins, never to reach eight. The air of invincibility, snuffed. The predictability of champions, bruised purple.
Arrogate, astonishingly, lumbered to the line a staggering 15 ¼ lengths off the pace.
“He just laid an egg,” Baffert said.
Anyone wonder if trainer Keith Desormeaux, who scratched his horse Dalmore in a valor-be-darned shift to Sunday’s Wickerr Stakes, wants a do-over?
The San Diego Handicap has done a number on a couple of international stars. Silver Charm, winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Dubai World Cup, sputtered to fifth out of five during the 1998 race.
“We ran against the best horse in the world,” Accelerate trainer John Sadler said, “so it’s a huge win.”
The plan for jockey Victor Espinoza, Sadler said: Take the lead if you can, step on the champ’s throat and hold your hoof there until the sport found itself shaken and shocked.
What did it mean?
“Anything can happen,” Espinoza said.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. This couldn’t happen, right? As the race neared, trainer Peter Miller said of the field that included his horse El Huerfano: “Everyone’s running for second. That’s a win.”
Sports, at its most glorious and blood-pumping, crumples truths and certainties before running them through the wood chipper. It’s why we watch. It’s why we wiggle to the edge of our chairs.
Sometimes, Accelerate wins.
When asked if he ever felt a fraction of in-race comfort against Arrogate, who pieced together a mind-boggling, last-to-first run in Dubai, Sadler proved as efficient as his upset-minded horse.
“No,” he said.
This wasn’t a bad start or a bad trip for Arrogate. This was a horse that seemed to have more gears than any on the planet, suddenly lacking one. This was a champion, out-kicked, out-hearted, out-everything’d for the first time.
About an hour after the buzz subsided, Baffert texted that health didn’t offer answers, either: “All seems fine with him so far.”
“I took him outside, like I did in Dubai,” Smith said. “He just didn’t respond. No response. Hopefully, we’ll go back and regroup and get back on track.”
Without warning, Del Mar’s $1-million Pacific Classic on Aug. 19 added intrigue in bucket-fulls. Now, the Breeders’ Cup Classic thundering toward the turf and surf in November found drama almost no one expected.
Only 16,568 saw history being made and the notion of “untouchable” torched.
Where will the sun rise next? At this point, it’s anybody’s guess.
2017 Stage XX Tour de France Summary.
Chris Froome wins fourth Tour de France.
NBC Sports
Riding a yellow bike to match his jersey, defending champion Chris Froome finished off his fourth Tour de France title on Sunday.
The 32-year-old British rider started from Montgeron in the Essone suburb south of Paris as he headed to the finish 103 kilometers (64 miles) away on Paris’ famed Champs-Elysees.
The stage was won by the Netherlands’ Dylan Groenewegen in a bunched sprint. Froome crossed the finish line with the main group, winning the Tour by 54 seconds over Colombian Rigoberto Uran.
Froome chatted casually with two-time Champion Alberto Contador, the Spanish veteran, as if they were on a training ride.
Right in front of them, Frenchman Warren Barguil — wearing the best climber’s red-and-white polka dot jersey — swapped race anecdotes with Australian Michael Matthews, wearing the green jersey awarded for the Tour’s top sprinter.
Froome’s teammates wore a yellow stripe on the back of their Team Sky shirts. They allowed themselves a flute of champagne, chinking glasses with leader Froome, as they casually rolled through the streets under cloudy skies with cheering fans packing the roads into Paris.
There will be plenty more bubbly flowing on Sunday night.
Froome started the day with a 54-second lead over Colombian rider Uran and won a third straight title. His first came in 2013.
Froome did not win a stage this year.
Froome all but sealed his win on Saturday, finishing third in the time trial in Marseille and putting more time into Uran and Frenchman Romain Bardet, who dropped from second to third.
Froome is edging closer to five-time Tour winners Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, July 24, 2017.
Memoriesofhistory.com
1978 - Billy Martin was fired for the first of three times as the manager of the New York Yankees baseball team.
1984 - Terry Bradshaw retired from the National Football League.
2005 - Lance Armstrong won his seventh consecutive Tour de France.
1984 - Terry Bradshaw retired from the National Football League.
2005 - Lance Armstrong won his seventh consecutive Tour de France.
************************************************************
Please let us hear your opinion on the above articles and pass them on to any other diehard fans that you think might be interested. But most of all, remember, Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica wants you.
No comments:
Post a Comment