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
We offer: Select opportunities, For your convenience, At "Very Rare but Super Fair" pricing
Because it's all about you!!!
Note: This edition was prepared for publishing yesterday and we had computer problems and were unable to send it out. It's here for your viewing pleasure and we will publish our regular Wednesday edition tomorrow. Thanks for your patronage and your patience.
The Chicago Sports & Travel Inc./AllsportsAmerica Editorial Staff
"Sports Quote of the Day"
"Effort without talent is a depressing situation... but talent without effort is a tragedy." ~ Mike Ditka, Former NFL Player, Coach, Sportscaster and College and Professional Football Hall of Fame Member
TRENDING: Game Recap: Turnovers cost Bears in lopsided loss to Buccaneers. (See the football section for Bears news and NFL updates).
TRENDING: Blackhawks Camp Notes: Top lines, tinkering and Day 1 tidbits. (See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates and NHL news).
TRENDING: Lottery reform might not be all bad for rebuilding Bulls. (See the basketball section for Bulls news and NBA updates).
TRENDING: Cubs' 6th straight win has Cards 6 back; 10 reasons for optimism as Cubs enter the final two weeks of 2017 season; White Sox held to 1 hit by Boyd in Detroit. (See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).
TRENDING: Leishman wins BMW Championship by five; Nordqvist wins second major in rainy Evian playoff. (See the golf section for PGA news and tournament updates).
TRENDING: Martin Truex Jr. roars back from mishaps to win Cup playoff opener; Great late-race restart propels Justin Allgaier to Xfinity win at Chicagoland; Johnny Sauter wins Truck Series race at Chicago. (See the NASCAR section for NASCAR news and racing updates).
TRENDING: Why it was a near-perfect weekend for the Fire; Should MLS change its current playoff format? La Liga & Serie A: Real Madrid cruises, Napoli nets six. (See the soccer section for Fire news and worldwide soccer updates).
TRENDING: NCAA reforming transfer rules by tying them to academics. (See the NCAABKB section at the bottom of this blog for NCAA basketball news and conference updates).
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Game Recap: Turnovers cost Bears in lopsided loss to Buccaneers.
By Larry Mayer
On a warm, humid day in Florida, the Bears treated the football like a hot potato.
After not committing any turnovers in last week's season opener against the Falcons, they coughed up the ball four straight times to begin Sunday's game, enabling the Buccaneers to race to a 23-0 second-quarter lead en route to a 29-7 victory at Raymond James Stadium.
"Basically it was not a good day at the office," said coach John Fox. "Anytime you go out and you have four giveaways in the first half, it's not good news. I thought the guys hung in there in the second half really in all three phases. Unfortunately, we dug ourselves too big a hole against a real good football team at their place."
Quarterback
"We just didn't put our team in a good situation to succeed, and that falls on me," Glennon said. "I've got to clean that up."
With the loss, the Bears fell to 0-2 for the third straight season.
After Nick Folk's 42-yard field gave the Buccaneers a 3-0 lead midway through the opening period, Glennon completed his first six pass attempts for 53 yards. But his seventh throw over the middle intended for tight end
It appeared that the Buccaneers would go three-and-out when
On the next play, receiver Mike Evans caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jameis Winston on a fade in the right corner of the end zone, beating
The Bears then committed their third straight turnover when Glennon fumbled while being sacked by defensive end Noah Spence. The ball popped into the air and was caught by linebacker Lavonte David at the Bears' 35.
The Buccaneers converted the turnover into Jacquizz Rodgers' 1-yard TD run, widening the margin to 17-0 with 7:30 remaining in the half. The score came one play after
Things then went from bad to worse as Glennon's pass intended for
Folk made amends, however, drilling a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to increase the Buccaneers' lead to 26-0. Folk added a 23-yarder early in the fourth quarter to make it 29-0.
By then, unfortunately, it was too little too late.
"You've got to give a little credit to our opponent," Fox said. "There were some poor decisions made and we paid the price. Any time you play in the NFL and you turn the ball over four times in the first half, that's about what it looks like."
What you need to know from Bears-Bucs: A change at QB looks necessary.
By JJ Stankevitz
(Photo/USA TODAY)
If the Bears are going to play a quarterback who's prone to making mistakes, why not put in the guy who can make more plays out there?
The Bears can talk up Mike Glennon’s ability to win at the line of scrimmage and operate the offense all they want, but none of that matters if he’s losing after the ball is snapped. That’s what happened on Sunday, with Glennon throwing two interceptions — including a pick six — and losing a fumble in a 29-7 battering by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium.
Glennon started off with an efficient drive into Buccaneers territory, completing his first six passes and looking comfortable while doing so. But on the seventh pass, he threw a quick pass to tight end Dion Sims, who was blanketed by multiple defenders. Kwon Alexander picked that ill-advised pass off.
Glennon’s response to his first regular-season interception in a Bears uniform was just as bad, if not worse, than that pass. He lost a fumble when hit by Noah Spence and then threw an egregious pick-six later in the half. That’s no way to keep a job when you have the No. 2 pick and future of the franchise standing on the sideline as your backup.
Glennon was good but not good enough to beat the Atlanta Falcons in Week 1. We saw how bad the offense can look with him at quarterback in Week 2. Week 3 seems like a good time to find out what Mitchell Trubisky can do.
More September woes
With Sunday’s loss, John Fox’s Bears teams are 0-8 in September and have combined to lose by 125 points in those games (an average of 15.6 per game). Teams that begin the season 0-2, historically, have an 88-percent chance of missing the playoffs. That’s now three consecutive years in which the Bears have been effectively eliminated from postseason contention halfway through September.
Injuries continue to pile up
Both linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski (pec) and offensive lineman Tom Compton (hip) suffered first-half injuries that ruled them out of the rest of the game. Each of those players’ units has already dealt with a confirmed or possible season-ending injury since the start of training camp — linebacker Jerrell Freeman (torn pectoral muscle) and offensive lineman Eric Kush (torn ACL) — further thinning the depth at both positions.
Kwiatkoski, filling in for Freeman, was the Bears’ early leader with four tackles, while Compton started in place of Kyle Long for the second consecutive game. Josh Sitton (ribs) left the game in the fourth quarter, too, with Bradley Sowell filling in for him and Cody Whitehair moving from center to left guard to right guard over the course of the day.
The Bears were going to need good injury luck to be competitive in 2017; they’ve had the opposite of that.
Under Center Podcast: Buccaneers dominate the Bears.
By CSN Staff
(Photo/USA TODAY)
Laurence Holmes, Jim Miller and Alex Brown break down what went wrong versus the Buccanneers. Why do the Bears continue to have slow starts?
They also discuss Glennon's disappointing return to Tampa and debate whether or not it's Trubisky time.
Finally, the guys look ahead to next week's tilt against the Steelers.
Listen to the full episode at this link.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks Camp Notes: Top lines, tinkering and Day 1 tidbits.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/AP)
Patrick Sharp was understandably apprehensive entering the last offseason, when a hip surgery and a 4-6-month recovery loomed. But from the skating he’s done since the summer and the fitness tests he and the rest of the Blackhawks took on Thursday, Sharp is back to where he wants to be.
When the Blackhawks reacquired Sharp on July 1 he said he’d be ready to go come training camp, and he was when the Blackhawks convened at the United Center on Friday. Sharp was naturally concerned of how he would rebound coming off the surgery. But the 35-year-old, who played with Artem Anisimov and Ryan Hartman during Friday’s scrimmages, feels great.
And much like during his first stint with the Blackhawks, he scored strong on the fitness tests.
“I was up there. I’ve got a couple of years on these guys, so I use that as an excuse. And a surgery to fall back on,” Sharp said. “But I was really pleased with my results, how I feel on the ice, ready to go.”
Coach Joel Quenneville said Sharp hasn’t missed a step.
“He looks quick, he looks sharp, he looks ready and he looks like he’s hungry and happy to be here,” he said. “We’re looking for a great contribution from him. His jump and his quickness right off the first step looked like it was caught your eye.
Good first look
You take Day 1 of training camp for what it is: a chance to look at some combinations, most of which probably won’t be finalized until later. But Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik, the Blackhawks’ expected top liners, were together right away and had a pretty good first showing.
“We were racking up minuses today,” Toews said. “It was a tough first day. We had a lot of chances and for me as a center man a lot of time you’re coming into the O-zone with the defensemen, you literally just have to throw it off either wall and both those guys can skate. It’s fun to be out there with two players of Panner and Saader’s caliber. We had a lot of chances so tomorrow we’ll start putting them in and be a little bit better defensively too.”
Saad said it was just like old times. Sort of.
“I think being reunited with a guy you played with before helps a little bit but it's still going to take a little bit just to get used to everything,” he said. “But for the most part, I think it went pretty well today.
Briefly
Nick Schmaltz played alongside Patrick Kane on Friday. The two meshed well last season and, while it’s uncertain whether or not Schmaltz ends up on the second line or center another one, it’s always an option. “We’ve been skating a lot together, chemistry’s been pretty good,” Kane said of he and Schmaltz. “We were tired there in the first half but as the game went on started to make some plays, have some chemistry.”
Tommy Wingels, who suffered a hairline fracture in his foot in July, was fine in his first day at camp. “(The injury) forced me to change the way I train a little bit, just because I was limited in what I could do when I was in a walking boot, but in no way did it take away from my ability to prepare for the season,” he said. “I feel good out there. I feel healthy. I’ve been cleared to play. Mentally and physically, I feel like I can contribute from Day One and it was good start to camp today.”
Nathan Noel suffered an injury in the rookie tournament in Traverse City and will not be participating in the Blackhawks’ training camp, general manager Stan Bowman said on Friday. Bowman added that veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival did not pass his training-camp physical and is not yet cleared to practice.
Blackhawks' Jan Rutta embracing Chicago both on and off the ice.
By Tracey Myers
Jan Rutta spent no time in America prior to Blackhawks training camp but he loves what he’s seen in Chicago thus far, from a walk along Michigan Avenue to seeing his favorite band, the Offspring, at a recent concert to taking in the Bears season opener last Sunday.
And he’s a big American football fan now — “Oh yeah,” he said. “Big time.”
Be it the city or training camp, they’ve both had the same impact on the Czech defenseman.
“The city’s quite big, that’s a difference,” said Rutta, who hails from Pisek, a small town about 90 minutes from Prague. “Here [at camp], it’s also bigger, everything is bigger and faster. But everyone’s been kind to me, so that helps a lot.”
Rutta’s transition to Chicago has been a relatively smooth one. It helps that he has a few fellow Czechs here at camp, including Michal Kempny and David Kampf. Kempny, who paired with Rutta at Sunday’s scrimmage and was a national teammate of his in the past, has been especially helpful. Language isn’t a problem, either, as Rutta already has a strong command of English. He credits that in part to former Chomutov Pirati teammate and close friend Brett Skinner, a Canadian defenseman who also spent some time with the Rockford IceHogs in 2013-14.
The on-ice adjustment hasn’t been so bad, either. As with anyone coming over from Europe, playing on the smaller ice surface is always a question. But Rutta said that’s not the big concern.
“I’d say it’s more about the players because they’re faster. You just have to make plays faster,” he said. “That’s the main thing.”
Coach Joel Quenneville said Rutta’s had a very steady presence in his first few days here.
“Sometimes you talk about defenseman a guy quietly goes about his business and you say he didn’t jump out at you. But I find those defensemen who are very predictable, safe and reliable, they’re getting the job done,” Quenneville said. “I like his size, the way he thinks the game, the way he moves. Getting acclimated to the smaller ice is a work in progress but he’ll only get better as we go along. It’s been a good camp for him.”
Where Rutta fits in on the Blackhawks roster — or if, right now — remains to be seen.
He’s enjoying his time in America, off and on the ice. Obviously he’d like to be part of the Blackhawks starting roster but whether he’s here or in Rockford, he’s ready to adjust his game on this side of the pond.
“I came here to give it a shot, to try my best and I’m not going to quit after a camp either way it goes,” Rutta said. “Hopefully I’ll be with the Blackhawks. I’ll just do my best.”
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... Lottery reform might not be all bad for rebuilding Bulls.
By Mark Schanowski
When the Blackhawks reacquired Sharp on July 1 he said he’d be ready to go come training camp, and he was when the Blackhawks convened at the United Center on Friday. Sharp was naturally concerned of how he would rebound coming off the surgery. But the 35-year-old, who played with Artem Anisimov and Ryan Hartman during Friday’s scrimmages, feels great.
And much like during his first stint with the Blackhawks, he scored strong on the fitness tests.
“I was up there. I’ve got a couple of years on these guys, so I use that as an excuse. And a surgery to fall back on,” Sharp said. “But I was really pleased with my results, how I feel on the ice, ready to go.”
Coach Joel Quenneville said Sharp hasn’t missed a step.
“He looks quick, he looks sharp, he looks ready and he looks like he’s hungry and happy to be here,” he said. “We’re looking for a great contribution from him. His jump and his quickness right off the first step looked like it was caught your eye.
Good first look
You take Day 1 of training camp for what it is: a chance to look at some combinations, most of which probably won’t be finalized until later. But Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik, the Blackhawks’ expected top liners, were together right away and had a pretty good first showing.
“We were racking up minuses today,” Toews said. “It was a tough first day. We had a lot of chances and for me as a center man a lot of time you’re coming into the O-zone with the defensemen, you literally just have to throw it off either wall and both those guys can skate. It’s fun to be out there with two players of Panner and Saader’s caliber. We had a lot of chances so tomorrow we’ll start putting them in and be a little bit better defensively too.”
Saad said it was just like old times. Sort of.
“I think being reunited with a guy you played with before helps a little bit but it's still going to take a little bit just to get used to everything,” he said. “But for the most part, I think it went pretty well today.
Briefly
Nick Schmaltz played alongside Patrick Kane on Friday. The two meshed well last season and, while it’s uncertain whether or not Schmaltz ends up on the second line or center another one, it’s always an option. “We’ve been skating a lot together, chemistry’s been pretty good,” Kane said of he and Schmaltz. “We were tired there in the first half but as the game went on started to make some plays, have some chemistry.”
Tommy Wingels, who suffered a hairline fracture in his foot in July, was fine in his first day at camp. “(The injury) forced me to change the way I train a little bit, just because I was limited in what I could do when I was in a walking boot, but in no way did it take away from my ability to prepare for the season,” he said. “I feel good out there. I feel healthy. I’ve been cleared to play. Mentally and physically, I feel like I can contribute from Day One and it was good start to camp today.”
Nathan Noel suffered an injury in the rookie tournament in Traverse City and will not be participating in the Blackhawks’ training camp, general manager Stan Bowman said on Friday. Bowman added that veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival did not pass his training-camp physical and is not yet cleared to practice.
Blackhawks' Jan Rutta embracing Chicago both on and off the ice.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/AP)
Jan Rutta spent no time in America prior to Blackhawks training camp but he loves what he’s seen in Chicago thus far, from a walk along Michigan Avenue to seeing his favorite band, the Offspring, at a recent concert to taking in the Bears season opener last Sunday.
And he’s a big American football fan now — “Oh yeah,” he said. “Big time.”
Be it the city or training camp, they’ve both had the same impact on the Czech defenseman.
“The city’s quite big, that’s a difference,” said Rutta, who hails from Pisek, a small town about 90 minutes from Prague. “Here [at camp], it’s also bigger, everything is bigger and faster. But everyone’s been kind to me, so that helps a lot.”
Rutta’s transition to Chicago has been a relatively smooth one. It helps that he has a few fellow Czechs here at camp, including Michal Kempny and David Kampf. Kempny, who paired with Rutta at Sunday’s scrimmage and was a national teammate of his in the past, has been especially helpful. Language isn’t a problem, either, as Rutta already has a strong command of English. He credits that in part to former Chomutov Pirati teammate and close friend Brett Skinner, a Canadian defenseman who also spent some time with the Rockford IceHogs in 2013-14.
The on-ice adjustment hasn’t been so bad, either. As with anyone coming over from Europe, playing on the smaller ice surface is always a question. But Rutta said that’s not the big concern.
“I’d say it’s more about the players because they’re faster. You just have to make plays faster,” he said. “That’s the main thing.”
Coach Joel Quenneville said Rutta’s had a very steady presence in his first few days here.
“Sometimes you talk about defenseman a guy quietly goes about his business and you say he didn’t jump out at you. But I find those defensemen who are very predictable, safe and reliable, they’re getting the job done,” Quenneville said. “I like his size, the way he thinks the game, the way he moves. Getting acclimated to the smaller ice is a work in progress but he’ll only get better as we go along. It’s been a good camp for him.”
Where Rutta fits in on the Blackhawks roster — or if, right now — remains to be seen.
He’s enjoying his time in America, off and on the ice. Obviously he’d like to be part of the Blackhawks starting roster but whether he’s here or in Rockford, he’s ready to adjust his game on this side of the pond.
“I came here to give it a shot, to try my best and I’m not going to quit after a camp either way it goes,” Rutta said. “Hopefully I’ll be with the Blackhawks. I’ll just do my best.”
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... Lottery reform might not be all bad for rebuilding Bulls.
By Mark Schanowski
(Photo/USA TODAY)
Under the current plan, the team that finishes with the worst record has a 25% chance of winding up with the top pick and selects no lower than fourth. The odds then decrease for teams that finish between two and 14.
The new plan would flatten the odds for the bottom four teams, all given a 14% chance to win the top pick in the lottery. The idea is teams will no longer have an extra incentive to lose if it doesn't help them end up with better draft position.
But here's where the Bulls come in. Even though the new plan is expected to be approved by league owners, it won't be implemented until the 2019 draft. That's crucial for a Bulls' team that is likely to have one of the worst records in the league in 2017-'18, but could improve pretty quickly with some good fortune in the summer of 2018.
If the Bulls land a Top 3 pick next June, they could draft one of two elite forward prospects, Missouri's Michael Porter Jr. or Duke's Marvin Bagley III, or 18-year-old international star Luka Doncic. Then they could go into free agency with somewhere between 40 and 50 million dollars of cap space to land a couple free agents to give the roster a big time boost.
I understand the Bulls' record in free agency has not been all that great over the years, and they're not going to convince LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Paul George or Russell Westbrook to come to a rebuilding team. But with so few teams expected to have significant cap space, why couldn't the Bulls make a run at next level stars like DeMarcus Cousins, Isaiah Thomas (if healthy) or DeAndre Jordan? Plus, they could always go the route of adding two solid rotation players like Avery Bradley, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Wilson Chandler or Danny Green rather than shoot for one max contract All-Star.
Say the Bulls get Porter Jr. in the draft to handle the small forward spot, then sign Cousins in free agency to play center. All of a sudden you've got a starting line-up of Cousins, Lauri Markkanen, Porter, Zach LaVine and Kris Dunn, all lottery picks. At that point, the Bulls wouldn't be thinking about finishing near the bottom of the league to improve draft position. They'd be thinking about what moves they could make to get back to the playoffs.
So, when you read these articles about lottery reform, don't look at it as a huge negative for the Bulls. If all goes according to plan, they'll only have one season of being in strong contention for the No. 1 pick, and the rules aren't expected to change for the 2018 lottery.
Report: Dwyane Wade waiting for Bulls to come to him with buyout offer.
By Grey Papke
(Photo/Larry Brown Sports)
Dwyane Wade is ready to leave the Chicago Bulls, but he reportedly isn’t going to rock the boat to make it happen.
According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, Wade has made it clear that he wants a buyout from the Bulls, but has not gone directly to the front office with his request. Instead, he intends to wait for the front office to come to him with what he considers to be “suitable” compensation.
Wade is willing to be a good teammate and quietly report to camp, and is set to make $24 million this season for doing so. He is, however, clearly uninterested in being part of a long-term rebuilding project, which is exactly what the Bulls have become.
A buyout for Wade feels like a matter of when, not if at this point, and he has a couple possible destinations in mind when it does happen.
CUBS: Cubs' 6th straight win has Cards 6 back.
(Photo/mlb.com)
"We're just going one at a time, one game at a time, especially where we're at," said Kyle Schwarber, who hit his 27th home run in the win. "We're taking it day by day, pitch by pitch."
Jason Heyward smacked a clutch tiebreaking RBI single with two outs in the seventh inning, and the bullpen did the rest. The crowd of 39,498 held its collective breath as Dexter Fowler flied out to deep center against Wade Davis for the final out. Fowler had hit a three-run homer to tie the game in the sixth, but the wind had shifted by the ninth.
"I did [think it was out]," Maddon said of Fowler's ball in the ninth. "Then I looked up and, 'Oh, the flags.' Thank you."
"I thought it was off the scoreboard," said Davis, who instead remained perfect with 31 saves in 31 chances. "I thought it was for sure gone. I looked to the third-base dugout and saw the fans yelling. I thought, 'Oh, my goodness.'"
The Cubs are a season-high 17 games over .500 and 11-4 against the Cardinals this season with four more games between them, Sept. 25-28, at Busch Stadium. The second-place Brewers remain four games back in the NL Central after their win over the Marlins on Sunday.
"We're not officially eliminated, so until that comes, we have to do everything we can to grind it out and figure out how to win games," said Cardinals starter Lance Lynn, who allowed three runs on five hits in four innings. "We got beat this series. They beat us. We didn't give away games, we got beat."
Schwarber went deep in the fourth, sandwiched between two Ben Zobrist RBIs as the Cubs opened a 3-0 lead behind Jose Quintana, but Fowler tied the game against his former teammates with a three-run homer off Quintana with two outs in the sixth.
Matt Carpenter started the inning with a double to left on a ball Schwarber misjudged and couldn't chase down. Quintana walked Paul DeJong between a pair of strikeouts before Fowler spoiled what had been one of his best starts since joining the North Siders.
What happened to Schwarber on the Carpenter ball?
"I was giving it everything I got and obviously came up short," Schwarber said. "That's a ball I want to catch, personally. I felt terrible when Dexter hit that home run. … [Heyward] got the big hit there. That was perfect timing and exactly what we needed at that time."
"It was a different ballgame," Fowler said of the mood swing after his homer. "But they came back fighting and put pressure on us right away."
With the game tied at 3 in the seventh, Tyler Lyons hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch, although the umpires had to review to make sure. Pinch-hitter Javier Baez then singled, and one out later, Lyons (4-1) was lifted for Matt Bowman to face pinch-hitter Ian Happ. Bowman got Happ to hit a potential double play ball, but the Cardinals could only get the force at second. Heyward worked Bowman to a 3-2 count, then lined a single to left to score Rizzo.
The Cubs' relievers came through with clutch performances, including Brian Duensing, who struck out Carpenter to leave the bases loaded in the eighth.
"Both teams wanted to win the game, both sides pitched really well," Maddon said. "It was just an intense, intense baseball game."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Momentum shift: The Cubs' defense contributed to a mess in the fourth. Tommy Pham singled to lead off and Quintana then struck out DeJong. Jose Martinez reached on a single that center fielder Albert Almora Jr. dived for but couldn't corral, and Fowler was safe on a fielding error by third baseman Kris Bryant to load the bases. But Quintana got Yadier Molina to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the threat. Schwarber then led off the Chicago half with his home run.
"These are the kinds of games that are swayed by a big hit," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny, whose club finished the series 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position. "We did have some opportunities; it just didn't happen. I've said it before -- [it's] easier said than done because you have guys making big pitches. In those situations, they're not giving you anything."
Relief: Carl Edwards Jr. replaced Quintana and struck out Randal Grichuk to strand two runners in the sixth. With the game tied at 3 in the seventh, the Cardinals had runners at second and third with two outs, but Pedro Strop got Martinez to ground out and end the inning, which got a fist pump from the reliever.
"I think we've been feeding off each other a little bit, especially today," Duensing said. "Today was a high-emotion-type game. That's a big win."
QUOTABLE
"Tomorrow's an off-day. I'm taking the boys out to Ava [Maddon's restaurant] -- whoever wants to show up. I'm going to ride my bike on Bayshore two consecutive days. We'll play the Rays. That's all I'm concerned about." -- Maddon, whose club is heading to St. Petersberg, when asked whether he's looking ahead to upcoming series vs. the Brewers and Cardinals
"I had my best fastball velocity of the year. You see as the season goes on, you feel stronger and stronger and you start pitching with stuff that you didn't know you had, and that's something that I have to corral and learn how to use again. I haven't had it for a year and a half or two years, so I have to figure out how to use it again." -- Lynn, on finding the feel for his command in his first season back from Tommy John surgery
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
The Cardinals finished with a 1-8 record at Wrigley Field this season, their worst winning percentage (.111) at the ballpark since 1918, when they went 0-9.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
With two outs in the third, Bryant was safe on an infield single that the Cardinals challenged, saying third baseman Carpenter made the throw in time. After a review, the safe call was confirmed. Rizzo then walked to load the bases, but Lynn struck out Alex Avila to end the inning.
WHAT'S NEXT
Cardinals: The Cardinals will spend an off-day in Cincinnati on Monday before opening a three-game series against the Reds at 6:10 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Rookie Jack Flaherty will be making his fourth career start, still seeking his first win. Flaherty allowed three runs over 4 1/3 innings against the Reds last week.
Cubs: After an off-day on Monday, the Cubs face the Rays in a two-game Interleague set, starting Tuesday. Jon Lester will get things started, making his 30th career start against the Rays, tied for his most against an opponent. He has a 13-10 career record vs. Tampa Bay. First pitch from Tropicana Field is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. CT.
10 reasons for optimism as Cubs enter the final two weeks of 2017 season.
By Tony Andracki
(Photo/USA TODAY)
As the Cubs begin their final day off of the regular season, they ride into the last two weeks of 2017 on a serious high.
The Cubs played 20 games in 20 days before their off-day a week ago, but since then, they've won six straight and are a season-high 17 games over .500. They have a four-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central and a six-game jump over the St. Louis Cardinals.
That's quite a swing of events after all the panic skirting through the Cubs fanbase at this time last week following a sweep at the hands of the Brewers.
"We're definitely playing at the highest level of mental energy we've played with all year, period," Joe Maddon said Sunday following the Cubs' sweep of the Cardinals. "It's coming at the right time."
I'll say.
The Cubs entered the weekend series with the Cardinals needing a strong showing and turned in an absolutely dominating performance instead.
They're now 11-4 against the Cardinals in 2017, the best record since 2007 against their in-division rivals.
Here are 10 reasons Cubs fans have to count their blessings before the final road trip of the year:
1. Post All-Star Break stars
The Cubs have been on a roll since the All-Star Break, going 40-21 with a +106 run differential.
Which is the norm under Maddon in Chicago, as the Cubs have gone 140-69 in the season's second half over the last three years.
2. The Windy City
Wade Davis is still a perfect 31-for-31 in save chances, but Sunday may have been his closest call yet.
Dexter Fowler — who already homered earlier in the game to account for all three of St. Louis' runs — drove Davis' last pitch into deep center field, causing Davis and Cubs fans everywhere to react in anguish.
But the wind blew it back into play and into the waiting glove of Leonys Martin.
"I thought it was going to the scoreboard," Davis joked after the game.
Instead of a go-ahead homer, it was the final out and the Cubs were owners of a three-game streak.
3. Starting staff
Jose Quintana made one mistake Sunday, a three-run shot to Fowler in the sixth inning.
The Cubs' big summer acquisition was one out away from another quality start, but he was also the victim of some shoddy fielding behind him. Kris Bryant made an error and Kyle Schwarber failed to catch a flyball a few batters before Fowler's shot.
Quintana acknowledged he saw Kyle Hendricks' gem Saturday and wanted to go out and deliver his own strong outing.
The Cubs' starters are feeding off each other in a positive way at just the right time.
"We're competing at a pretty good level [as a team]," Davis said. "Our starters have really been carrying us the last 4-5 games. That's really been a big deal."
4. Solidfying the bullpen
The bullpen accounted for nine innings against the Cardinals and did not allow a run.
Davis and Carl Edwards Jr. appeared in all three games, teaming with Pedro Strop (two appearances) to get 21 outs combined.
Even Justin Wilson got into the mix, picking up a big strikeout in the only batter he faced Friday, helping swing the momentum in the Cubs' favor.
This is the time of the year where the bullpen earns their money and the Cubs will need to rely on Davis and Co. heavily with eight games remaining still against the Brewers and Cardinals.
The day off Monday helps add another opportunity for rest for Hector Rondon (elbow) and Koji Uehara (knee, back).
5. Regaining health
Even with Rondon and Uehara leaving the bullpen a little short, the Cubs have gotten great reports on frontline starter Jake Arrieta, who threw a 42-pitch bullpen Saturday and reportedly felt "grrreat." There is no word yet on when Arrieta will start, but it's possible the Cubs get him back early on this road trip.
Addison Russell, meanwhile, is back in a big way. He reached in all five plate appearances over the weekend, hitting a pinch-hit homer Saturday and collecting a single and three walks Sunday.
Willson Contreras is also showing no ill effects after missing about a month with a hamstring injury. He is hitting .444 with a 1.111 OPS in five games since returning from the DL and Contreras catcher served his one-game suspension Sunday, so he'll be ready to roll from Game 1 of the road trip.
6. Addison's back
Not only is Russell back, but he's already at the top of his game.
With several slick defensive plays over the weekend, Russell also has not made an out at the plate since Aug. 2, the last game he played before landing on the disabled list with a foot injury.
"Everything he's doing is looking good," Maddon said. "Great at-bats, no expanding of the zone. A lot like Contreras. Willy did the same thing coming back; he did not expand the strike zone. Addison played really well."
Russell's return also allows for a break for Javy Baez, who has had to play nearly every inning over the last six weeks. And when the two young infielders play at once, the Cubs have a pair of elite level defenders up the middle of the field.
The weekend served as a reminder to the baseball world how much the Cubs have missed Russell's presence this season and with two weeks left, his return to form couldn't have come at a better time.
7. Cardinals faltering
The Cardinals have had several moments over the course of the season where they looked down and out but they were simply overmatched in the three-game set at Wrigley Field. They threw their three best starting pitchers — Carlos Martinez, Lance Lynn and Michael Wacha — and still couldn't pull out a victory in a crucial series.
The Cardinals are still within striking distance at six games back in the division and they host the Cubs for four games next week, but with just 13 games remaining on the schedule, time is fast running out for the Redbirds.
8. Their fate is in their own hands
The Cubs don't have to do too much scoreboard watching. They constantly talk about how their main focus is taking care of their own business and if they do so in the final two weeks, they'll have accomplished their first 2017 goal: Make the playoffs.
The Cubs don't have to rely on anybody else for their fate and can put away the Brewers next week with a strong showing (and then that four-game set in St. Louis immediately following).
9. All hands on deck
The Cubs got 19 players in both Friday and Sunday's games and played 15 different guys Saturday as Maddon didn't hesitate to use his full complement of weapons with the expanded September rosters.
Maddon loves when a lot of guys get involved because it gives them all a feeling of "ownership" in the victories.
The Cubs have remarkable depth on their roster and there are still questions that have to be answered before any sort of postseason roster (assuming they make it) can be constructed. These last few weeks are giving Maddon and Co. a glimpse of what everybody can do.
10. State of the offense
The Cubs lineup has been relentless over the last week, scoring 55 runs in six games. None of the Cardinals' top three starters could make it out of the sixth inning, with Lynn managing to get just 12 outs Sunday.
The Cubs now lead the NL in runs scored and any questions doubters had about their ability to score runs off championship-caliber pitching have been put to rest for at least a little while.
Cubs can't afford to abandon hope on Justin Wilson in ailing bullpen.
By Tony Andracki
The Cubs played 20 games in 20 days before their off-day a week ago, but since then, they've won six straight and are a season-high 17 games over .500. They have a four-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central and a six-game jump over the St. Louis Cardinals.
That's quite a swing of events after all the panic skirting through the Cubs fanbase at this time last week following a sweep at the hands of the Brewers.
"We're definitely playing at the highest level of mental energy we've played with all year, period," Joe Maddon said Sunday following the Cubs' sweep of the Cardinals. "It's coming at the right time."
I'll say.
The Cubs entered the weekend series with the Cardinals needing a strong showing and turned in an absolutely dominating performance instead.
They're now 11-4 against the Cardinals in 2017, the best record since 2007 against their in-division rivals.
Here are 10 reasons Cubs fans have to count their blessings before the final road trip of the year:
1. Post All-Star Break stars
The Cubs have been on a roll since the All-Star Break, going 40-21 with a +106 run differential.
Which is the norm under Maddon in Chicago, as the Cubs have gone 140-69 in the season's second half over the last three years.
2. The Windy City
Wade Davis is still a perfect 31-for-31 in save chances, but Sunday may have been his closest call yet.
Dexter Fowler — who already homered earlier in the game to account for all three of St. Louis' runs — drove Davis' last pitch into deep center field, causing Davis and Cubs fans everywhere to react in anguish.
But the wind blew it back into play and into the waiting glove of Leonys Martin.
"I thought it was going to the scoreboard," Davis joked after the game.
Instead of a go-ahead homer, it was the final out and the Cubs were owners of a three-game streak.
3. Starting staff
Jose Quintana made one mistake Sunday, a three-run shot to Fowler in the sixth inning.
The Cubs' big summer acquisition was one out away from another quality start, but he was also the victim of some shoddy fielding behind him. Kris Bryant made an error and Kyle Schwarber failed to catch a flyball a few batters before Fowler's shot.
Quintana acknowledged he saw Kyle Hendricks' gem Saturday and wanted to go out and deliver his own strong outing.
The Cubs' starters are feeding off each other in a positive way at just the right time.
"We're competing at a pretty good level [as a team]," Davis said. "Our starters have really been carrying us the last 4-5 games. That's really been a big deal."
4. Solidfying the bullpen
The bullpen accounted for nine innings against the Cardinals and did not allow a run.
Davis and Carl Edwards Jr. appeared in all three games, teaming with Pedro Strop (two appearances) to get 21 outs combined.
Even Justin Wilson got into the mix, picking up a big strikeout in the only batter he faced Friday, helping swing the momentum in the Cubs' favor.
This is the time of the year where the bullpen earns their money and the Cubs will need to rely on Davis and Co. heavily with eight games remaining still against the Brewers and Cardinals.
The day off Monday helps add another opportunity for rest for Hector Rondon (elbow) and Koji Uehara (knee, back).
5. Regaining health
Even with Rondon and Uehara leaving the bullpen a little short, the Cubs have gotten great reports on frontline starter Jake Arrieta, who threw a 42-pitch bullpen Saturday and reportedly felt "grrreat." There is no word yet on when Arrieta will start, but it's possible the Cubs get him back early on this road trip.
Addison Russell, meanwhile, is back in a big way. He reached in all five plate appearances over the weekend, hitting a pinch-hit homer Saturday and collecting a single and three walks Sunday.
Willson Contreras is also showing no ill effects after missing about a month with a hamstring injury. He is hitting .444 with a 1.111 OPS in five games since returning from the DL and Contreras catcher served his one-game suspension Sunday, so he'll be ready to roll from Game 1 of the road trip.
6. Addison's back
Not only is Russell back, but he's already at the top of his game.
With several slick defensive plays over the weekend, Russell also has not made an out at the plate since Aug. 2, the last game he played before landing on the disabled list with a foot injury.
"Everything he's doing is looking good," Maddon said. "Great at-bats, no expanding of the zone. A lot like Contreras. Willy did the same thing coming back; he did not expand the strike zone. Addison played really well."
Russell's return also allows for a break for Javy Baez, who has had to play nearly every inning over the last six weeks. And when the two young infielders play at once, the Cubs have a pair of elite level defenders up the middle of the field.
The weekend served as a reminder to the baseball world how much the Cubs have missed Russell's presence this season and with two weeks left, his return to form couldn't have come at a better time.
7. Cardinals faltering
The Cardinals have had several moments over the course of the season where they looked down and out but they were simply overmatched in the three-game set at Wrigley Field. They threw their three best starting pitchers — Carlos Martinez, Lance Lynn and Michael Wacha — and still couldn't pull out a victory in a crucial series.
The Cardinals are still within striking distance at six games back in the division and they host the Cubs for four games next week, but with just 13 games remaining on the schedule, time is fast running out for the Redbirds.
8. Their fate is in their own hands
The Cubs don't have to do too much scoreboard watching. They constantly talk about how their main focus is taking care of their own business and if they do so in the final two weeks, they'll have accomplished their first 2017 goal: Make the playoffs.
The Cubs don't have to rely on anybody else for their fate and can put away the Brewers next week with a strong showing (and then that four-game set in St. Louis immediately following).
9. All hands on deck
The Cubs got 19 players in both Friday and Sunday's games and played 15 different guys Saturday as Maddon didn't hesitate to use his full complement of weapons with the expanded September rosters.
Maddon loves when a lot of guys get involved because it gives them all a feeling of "ownership" in the victories.
The Cubs have remarkable depth on their roster and there are still questions that have to be answered before any sort of postseason roster (assuming they make it) can be constructed. These last few weeks are giving Maddon and Co. a glimpse of what everybody can do.
10. State of the offense
The Cubs lineup has been relentless over the last week, scoring 55 runs in six games. None of the Cardinals' top three starters could make it out of the sixth inning, with Lynn managing to get just 12 outs Sunday.
The Cubs now lead the NL in runs scored and any questions doubters had about their ability to score runs off championship-caliber pitching have been put to rest for at least a little while.
Cubs can't afford to abandon hope on Justin Wilson in ailing bullpen.
By Tony Andracki
(Photo/USA TODAY)
The Cubs aren't abandoning hope on Justin Wilson in the final two weeks of the season.
It's not like they have much of a choice, however.
We've officially entered the most important time of the season for the bullpen and the Cubs have a closer who's gone 31-for-31 in save chances, but there are serious question marks ahead of him.
Hector Rondon is nursing a sore elbow while Koji Uehara has a knee infection and a minor back issue. Pedro Strop has come on strong lately and Brian Duensing has been consistent all year, but Carl Edwards Jr. has had bouts of control/confidence issues this year, Justin Grimm's ERA is almost six (5.98) and Wilson has allowed 28 baserunners in 13 innings since joining the Cubs.
That's a big reason why the Cubs moved Mike Montgomery out of the starting rotation and gave Jen-Ho Tseng his first big-league start Thursday against the New York Mets.
No team can ever predict injuries, but the Cubs knew they had an issue in the bullpen leading up to the trade deadline, which is why they parted with top prospect Jeimer Candelario for Wilson and veteran catcher Alex Avila.
Time is running out for Wilson to correct his issues and get back to the dominant force he was with the Tigers earlier this season (2.68 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 12.3 K/9, 13 saves).
The bullpen issues were highlighted over the weekend as Wade Davis, Edwards and Strop were called upon to get a combined 21 outs and needed 116 pitches to do so. Both Edwards and Davis worked in all three games. If Wilson was performing at the level the Cubs expected when they acquired him, he could've taken some of the load off.
"Clearly I need to pitch better so I can pitch more," Wilson said.
Wilson and the Cubs believe Friday could've been a spark for the 30-year-old southpaw.
When John Lackey was ejected from the game with two outs in the fifth inning Friday, Wilson was suddenly called on to face Cardinals star Matt Carpenter with runners on second and third and the game hanging in the balance. Wilson responded by striking out Carpenter on a full-count pitch, giving the Cubs offense time to come back and take the first game of the all-important series against St. Louis.
It was only one out, but Wilson called it a "step in the right direction" and believes the sudden nature of the appearance might've helped him just go out there and pitch without much time to overthink anything.
"I think coming into that situation where you have no room for error was good for him," said Avila, who entered Friday's game at the same time as Wilson when starting catcher Willson Contreras was also ejected. "Those are the situations he's been pitching in all season. There's no thought process for him as far as working on pitches, working on mechanics, things like that.
"I know he hasn't pitched well, as well as he would've liked, but coming into a situation where there's no room for error and you're really not thinking about that. You're just, 'Here it is, this is my stuff vs. you and whoever wins, wins.'
"It was a good outing on him. He looked similar and normal to me from what I had seen earlier in the year. I've always had confidence in him. He's the type of guy that you don't have to worry about if he's prepare or if the situation is too big."
A couple hours before that strikeout, Cubs president Theo Epstein discussed how one pitch or one outing is all it takes sometimes to get a guy on a hot stretch.
"The story's not written on [Wilson]," Epstein said. "He's a really quality major-league relief pitcher who's really struggling right now.
"So what do you do with those guys? You work to get them feeling good about themselves, you work to get them locked in and you look for the right opportunity because they are always just one outing away from getting locked in and becoming a weapon again."
Prior to Friday, Wilson had given up a run in three straight outings, surrendering five runs in a span of 1.2 innings in September thanks to five walks. He entered an 8-2 game against the New York Mets last Tuesday and couldn't throw strikes, only managing to get one out before Joe Maddon was forced to make a change.
Before September, Wilson actually looked like he had gotten things smoothed out with five straight scoreless appearances from Aug. 23-31. He didn't walk a batter in 5.1 innings while striking out seven.
Epstein and the Cubs thought Wilson had turned a corner.
"Then there was a little bit of a setback," Epstein said. "I think he was starting to feel pretty good about himself. Then you get a little bit of mixed feedback from an outing or two and then you try to make adjustments when maybe the best thing to do is you try to be yourself.
"That's part of the issue — simplifying it for him, helping him believe in himself and his fastball. He's got a special fastball. He doesn't have to be too fine with it. He's an aggressive pitcher.
"Guys are working with him. He still believes in himself. He still wants the ball. Seen it before — guys get traded and you can have a really brutal month or something and one good appearance and it clicks."
Maddon admitted the Cubs are working hard to make sure they're not overwhelming Wilson with too many things to work on or too many voices in his ear.
The Cubs also admit it's at least partially a mental thing with Wilson, who has a career 3.32 ERA in six big-league seasons and has never come close to any walk issues like he's had in blue pinstripes.
With the postseason bearing down on the Cubs, will Willson be able to find a way into Maddon's circle of trust at the most important time of the year for relievers?
"He could be a linchpin to a lot of this stuff right here," Maddon said. "Look at his numbers in Detroit. They're outstanding; not just OK. For whatever reason, he's struggled a bit with his strike zone since he's been here.
"But we get this guy right, that could make a big difference down the stretch run and hopefully into the playoffs. We do need to get him back on track because he can be very influential."
When the Cubs acquired Wilson, he was one of the top relievers on the open market who came with experience pitching in the most intense part of games, four postseason appearances and a left-handed arm that approaches triple digits.
The Cubs hoped he would be a valuable weapon in the regular season but also providing another late-inning option against the left-handed power of teams like the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers in October.
"All relievers are going to go through ups and downs over the course of the season," Avila said. "That's just part of the ebb and flow of the season. Like I've told him and a lot guys — talking to Joe too: There's gonna be a time where we need him like today and he's gonna come through and hopefully he gets hot."
White Sox held to 1 hit by Boyd in Detroit.
(Photo/mlb.com)
On the same day former Tiger Justin Verlander made his first start in Houston as an Astro, Matthew Boyd fell an out shy of becoming the first Tigers pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Verlander six years ago, tossing a one-hit shutout in a 12-0 Tigers win over the White Sox Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park.
Rob Brantly's two-out walk in the third inning was all the White Sox could muster against Boyd (6-10) until Tim Anderson doubled over the Tigers' outfielders in right-center field with two outs in the ninth. Anderson had one thing on his mind when he stepped up to the plate.
"Just try not to let this happen," Anderson said. "Try not to let him throw a no-hitter."
With a constant change of speeds, a sneaky breaking ball and some help from his defense, Boyd held down a White Sox lineup that had roughed up Tigers pitching for 29 runs over the first three games of the series and had pushed Detroit's ERA to 7.19 for September entering the day.
"It was just one pitch at a time, attack. The current pitch, that's it," Boyd said. "You start to get beyond that, that's when you start to take away from what you can do in the moment. That's what the emphasis was today."
Boyd retired Chicago's first eight batters, helped by a highlight play from shortstop Dixon Machado, before walking Brantly. Boyd recovered to retire the next 19 White Sox. He racked up just five strikeouts and eight groundouts for the afternoon, but kept hitters off-balance while using his defense to his advantage, including an over-the-shoulder catch from Efren Navarro behind first base to end the sixth and a ranging grab from JaCoby Jones to retire Jose Abreu in right-center.
"Probably the fifth inning, I noticed he's got no hits," catcher Bryan Holaday said. "And then I just tried to not think about it, not think about it, keep your mind occupied with other stuff. And then each inning that goes by, you're like, 'Oh, wow, three outs, I'm running off the field.' You start realizing how quick these innings are going. That eighth inning, you start looking around."
Boyd ran off nine consecutive outs on balls in play, starting with Navarro's over-the-shoulder catch, including a pair of inning-ending groundouts converted by rookie Jeimer Candelario, who ran down an Adam Engel popup in foul territory to start the ninth inning. Pinch-hitter Kevan Smith grounded out to second before Anderson sent a 2-0 pitch 348 feet into the gap and over the head of right fielder Nicholas Castellanos, bringing back memories of Armando Galarraga's perfect-game bid here against the Indians in 2010. That, too, ended with one out to go on a missed call from first-base umpire Jim Joyce.
"Off the bat, I knew he hit it hard," Boyd said of Anderson's hit. "My first instinct was, 'Aw, I left it up.' But he struck it well, man, and he hit it to a big part of the park. So hat's off to him.
I beat him on that pitch earlier in the day. He was ready for it that time."
Manager Brad Ausmus said he did not consider a defensive replacement for Castellanos, who spent most of the season at third base before moving to right field a couple weeks ago.
"Nobody catches that ball," Ausmus said.
Castellanos led the Tigers' offense with a two-run double in the third inning, part of an early onslaught off White Sox starter Dylan Covey (0-6), and a two-run homer in the sixth.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Machado magic: Returning to the Tigers' lineup for his first start since paternity leave, Machado pulled off the kind of acrobatic play Tigers fans expect to see from Jose Iglesias. He ranged deep into the hole on Avisail Garcia's ground ball leading off the second inning, then went airborne for a throw that Efren Navarro, starting at first base for injured Miguel Cabrera, reached out to grab for the out.
"You don't think about it. You just grab it and throw it," Machado said. "In the beginning, I thought I was going to tread too much to the left side, but Navarro did a good job to pick it up. He made it look super easy. I'm glad that he did."
Castellanos' drive puts game away: Castellanos thought he had driven a ball over Engel's head before the speedy White Sox center fielder ran down the 391-foot drive from shallow center to strand the bases loaded in the fourth. Two innings later, Castellanos put a drive where Engel couldn't run it down, sending it over the deepest part of the left-field fence for a two-run homer and a 9-0 lead.
QUOTABLE
"I wasn't thinking about that. Honestly, I was just trying to grab a bat." -- White Sox manager Rick Renteria, on whether he thought of the July 9 game when the White Sox broke up Kyle Freeland's no-hitter in ninth inning at Colorado
SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
While Ausmus didn't consider a defensive replacement for Castellanos, he did play him shallow in right against Anderson to defend against a single, which cost him some distance on the hit. According to Statcast™, Castellanos' average starting position in right field has been 302 feet, while the average starting depth for right fielders against Anderson has been 285 feet. Castellanos was 277 feet away when Anderson hit the ball.
WHAT'S NEXT
White Sox: The Sox head to Houston on Tuesday for the final leg of a three-city, 10-game road trip. Right-handed rookie Lucas Giolito (2-2, 2.41 ERA) takes the mound in Tuesday's 7:10 p.m. CT start still in search of his first career road win.
Tigers: Detroit's final homestand continues with a visit from the Oakland A's, against whom they'll open a three-game series starting Monday with a 7:10 p.m. ET game at Comerica Park. Buck Farmer (4-3, 6.62 ERA) gets the start having alternated wins and losses over his last four outings since rejoining the Tigers' rotation.
White Sox prospect Alec Hansen thinks 2018 season could be even better than breakout season.
By Dan Hayes
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Look out for Alec Hansen.
The White Sox prospect thinks 2018 could be even better with all that he’s learned about managing himself in his first full season. That's pretty scary when you consider that Hansen, who finished at Double-A Birmingham, led the minors in strikeouts and earned two promotions in 2017.
The No. 6 White Sox prospect (No. 95 overall according to MLBPipeline.com) is even more optimistic about his second full season.
“(The first full season) was great that it taught me about my arm and how my arm is going feel in between every start and how my body is going to feel throughout the season,” Hansen said on a conference call. “I can go into this offseason and work out and get my body the way I want it to going into spring training and be able to maintain that throughout the season next year.”
“I'll have a lot more confidence and experience. By the end of next year that experience and confidence in my body will be where it needs to be to be in the major leagues for good.”
Hansen has plenty of reason to feel confidence. The No. 49 pick of the 2016 draft followed a stellar pro debut with an outstanding 2017 campaign in which he struck out 191 batters in 141 1/3 innings. Believed to have No. 1-starter type stuff, Hansen put it all together and carved a niche for himself in an organization loaded with pitching prospects.
Hansen said the final two starts of the season at Double-A Birmingham, in which he struck out 17 batters in 10 1/3 innings, further convinced him how his stuff would play at higher levels.
"That’s something I'll remember for the rest of my life that I led the minor leagues in strikeouts this year, which is pretty cool,” Hansen said. “You got to think, it was at the lower levels, it was in A-ball where guys swing a lot and are pretty aggressive at the plate. But it was nice to see I went up to Double-A and still had quite a few strikeouts. That was kind of reassuring.”
So, too, were the promotions.
Hansen started the season at Single-A Kannapolis and made 13 starts before he was sent to Single-A Winston-Salem after striking out 92 batters in 72 2/3 innings. He also excelled for the Dash, striking out 82 batters in 58 1/3 innings. Right before the season ended, Hansen got the call one last time. He went 11-8 with a 2.80 ERA and struck out 191 batters in 141 1/3 innings over 26 starts.
“Honestly, I had no idea what was going to happen to me this year,” Hansen said. “If you asked me at the beginning of the season where do I expect to end up, I wouldn’t have said Double-A. But if you asked me toward after the All-Star break and after a couple of starts at Winston-Salem where I started to pick it up a little bit, then I was kind of hoping I was going to finish at Double-A.”
Golf: I got a club for that..... Leishman wins BMW Championship by five.
By Nick Menta
(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)
Thanks to a final-round 67, Marc Leishman rode a five-shot 54-hole lead to a five-shot victory Sunday at the BMW Championship. Here’s how things played out at the second-to-last event of the PGA Tour season.
Leaderboard: Leishman (-23), Justin Rose (-18), Rickie Fowler (-18), Jason Day (-16), Matt Kuchar (-15), Jon Rahm (-15)
What it means: This is Leishman’s third PGA Tour victory and his second this year following his win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March. Up five to start the final round, Leishman ceded ground at different points throughout the day and saw his lead shrink to just two shots on two separate occasions on the back nine, as Rose gave charge. But each time the lead slipped to two, Leishman responded with a birdie, at the 15th and 16th holes, to pad his cushion and pave his walk to the winner’s circle. The victory moves Leishman to fourth in the FedExCup standings, meaning he would be guaranteed to claim the FedExCup and its $10 million prize with a follow-up win next week at the Tour Championship.
Who advanced to East Lake: Four players who started the week outside the top 30 are now heading to season finale. They are Tony Finau (39th to 24th), Sergio Garcia, (34th to 25th), Xander Schauffele (32nd to 26th), and Patrick Cantlay (41st to 29th). Jason Dufner dropped five spots from 25th but held on to the 30th and final position. Players who qualify for the Tour Championship are automatically exempt into the following year’s Masters, U.S. Open, and Open Championship.
Who did not: Four players moving into the top 30 meant that four players had to slide out. They are Louis Oosthuizen (24th to 31st), Henrik Stenson (26th to 32nd), Brendan Steele (27th to 33rd), and Bill Haas (30th to 35th). Other notables who saw their season come to an end on Sunday included Phil Mickelson (34th), Players champion Si Woo Kim (55th), and next week’s defending champion Rory McIlroy (58th). Mickelson missed the top 30 by a single shot. Had this pitch shot on the 72nd hole gone down, he would be on his way to East Lake.
Round of the day: Brooks Koepka and Kevin Na fired the rounds of the week with 8-under 63s. Koepka will move on to the Tour Championship, while Na will call it a season after finishing 45th on the points list.
Best of the rest: Finau, Zach Johnson and Dustin Johnson carded 64s. Finau capped his round with a chip-in birdie at 18, guaranteeing him his first Tour Championship and Masters appearances.
Save of the day: Garcia needed upwards of 20 minutes to finish the 18th hole after finding the greenside creek with his second shot. Garcia – after a lengthy discussion with a rules official – was able to move his ball within the hazard without incurring a penalty stroke. He needed yet more relief one shot later from the grandstands. But an up-and-down from the rough resulted in a closing par and a trip to the Tour Championship.
Nordqvist wins second major in rainy Evian playoff.
By Associated Press
(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)
Anna Nordqvist beat unheralded American Brittany Altomare in a playoff in driving rain and hail at the first extra hole to win the Evian Championship on Sunday.
Nordqvist sank a 4-foot putt for a bogey 5 on the soaked 18th hole while the 102nd-ranked Altomare had a six.
Course workers removed pools of standing water from the 18th green as the players approached the putting surface after their third shots. The par-4 hole had played long all afternoon and was near-treacherous for the playoff.
''I am from Sweden and I'm freezing,'' said Nordqvist, who just two months ago was confined to bed for two weeks by a bout of mononucleosis.
The 30-year-old Nordqvist earned $547,500 for the win, her first major since the 2009 LPGA Championship.
Altomare got $340,000 for only her second career top-10 finish, three weeks after the 26-year-old secured a third-place tie at the Portland Classic.
Nordqvist and Altomare both shot 66 for 9-under totals of 204. It was a 54-hole event after weather-affected play on Thursday was scrapped.
Second-round leader Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand and two-time major winner Lydia Ko of New Zealand fell out of the playoff by dropping shots on the 18th.
Jutanugarn (72) and Ko (69) finished in a tie for third with Katherine Kirk of Australia, whose 70 included bogeys at the 16th and 17th as the chilling rain fell.
Nordqvist's victory ensured 10 different major winners in the last two seasons.
Last year, Nordqvist lost a playoff for the U.S. Women's Open after a rules violation on the second extra hole - for touching sand with her club in a fairway bunker - was relayed to her on the next hole. Brittany Lang of the U.S. won that major title.
Jutanugarn was seeking to follow her younger sister Ariya, the 2016 Women's British Open winner, as the first siblings ever to each win a women's major title.
Leading by one hole overnight, Jutanugarn reached the turn two shots ahead at 10 under after sinking a 10-foot putt for birdie at the ninth.
She lost her lead when Nordqvist surged, going five under over five holes. While the 23-year-old Thai was making bogey-6 at the 13th, Nordqvist got an eagle-3 at the 15th and a birdie at the 16th to move into sole possession of the lead at 10 under.
Nordqvist fell back on the 18th, getting a bogey-5 after pulling her tee shot into the rough. As she approached the 18th green, Altomare sank a short birdie putt at 17 to advance to 9 under.
It was soon a five-way tie for the lead when Kirk made birdie at the par-5 15th and Jutanugarn managed only par when her birdie putt rolled round the lip of the hole.
Mickelson misses Tour Championship by a single shot.
By Will Gray
(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)
After a full season of tournaments and three playoff events, Phil Mickelson fell one shot short of a return to the Tour Championship.
Mickelson’s last-gasp eagle pitch on the 72nd green rattled the hole, but it ultimately didn’t fall. Even after converting the subsequent birdie putt, Mickelson only moved up two spots to No. 34 in the season-long points race.
Mickelson felt confident about his chances to crack the top 30 entering the final round at Conway Farms Golf Club, but he bogeyed three of his first seven holes and signed for a 1-under 70 that left him in a tie for 20th.
“It’s unfortunate. I didn’t score the best today,” Mickelson said. “I had a little rough front nine, but had that chip on 18 gone in, it would have been enough. I missed by a shot.”
It’s the close of another winless campaign for Mickelson, who still has not lifted a trophy since The Open in 2013 and who parted with longtime caddie Jim “Bones” Mackay in June. Looking back in hindsight, he described his season as “interesting.”
“I had a very consistent, solid year until I got to the British, but yet I didn’t have very high finishes,” Mickelson said. “I feel like I’m finally starting to play well enough to get in contention and do well.”
While he won’t be at East Lake, it doesn’t mean that Mickelson will be taking any time off. He’ll be back in action later this month at the Presidents Cup, and he has also committed to the season-opening Safeway Open in Napa the following week.
Mickelson also explained that he expects to play the WGC-HSBC Champions in China next month, another rare fall start for a player who often puts the clubs in park during the closing months of the year.
“It’s disappointing, but I like the fact that I’m starting to play well,” Mickelson said. “I want to add a few events.”
NASCAR: Martin Truex Jr. roars back from mishaps to win Cup playoff opener.
By Jerry Bonkowski
(photo/accesswdun.com)
The third time was the charm for Martin Truex Jr.
After losing the lead – and the potential wins – in the final five laps of the last two races (Darlington and Richmond), Truex was not to be denied in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup playoff opener.
After losing the lead – and the potential wins – in the final five laps of the last two races (Darlington and Richmond), Truex was not to be denied in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup playoff opener.
Leading 77 of the 267 laps, Truex earned his fifth win of the season, his 12th career Cup victory and the first win of the NASCAR Cup playoffs, capturing Sunday’s Tales of the Turtles 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.
“This is awesome, man,” Truex said to NBCSN on the front stretch after climbing out of his car. “I’m so excited. This is the playoffs. This is what it’s all about.”
Truex won for the second straight year at the 1.5-mile facility. He’s won four of the seven races on 1.5-mile tracks this year.
“This is the best position I’ve ever been in, you can’t deny it, everything’s going the way we need it to,” Truex said.
It was definitely a statement win by Truex, even though he downplayed it.
“I don’t care much about statements, I’m just having fun,” Truex said. “I’m proud of our pit crew for doing what they did and everyone on this team. It’s important to
come here and not let the pressure get to you and I think we did a good job of that.”
After giving his victory lane interview to NBCSN, a smiling Truex was joyously covered in green slime by his pit crew.
“It’s a lot better to watch people get slimed than to get slimed,” Truex joked afterward.
Truex won by 7.179 seconds over runner-up Chase Elliott. Kevin Harvick was third and followed by Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski.
“A much improved day from where we’ve been, which is nice,” Elliott said. “We didn’t have anything from Martin, but to be where we were from where we’ve been is where we deserve to be. It’s nice to see we can do it if all things are good.”
The highest-finishing non-playoff driver was Joey Logano, who was seventh, followed by playoff drivers Jimmie Johnson (8th), Matt Kenseth (9th), Jamie McMurray (10th) and Ryan Blaney (11th).
Early in the race Truex had to make two pit stops to fix loose lug nuts and was also penalized for being too fast on pit road. But he and his team never gave up and mounted a great comeback to take the lead from Kevin Harvick on Lap 190 and — with the exception of one lap (212) that Harvick regained the lead — powered on to victory.
“You have to go out and get it done,” Truex said. “There’s no guarantee the first race of the next round is going to be the same.”
Just as the final stage began, Jamie McMurray spun after making contact with Ryan Newman on Lap 169. The damage was minimal, as McMurray was back in the top-10 with more than 40 laps to go.
Kurt Busch had been consistently running in the top 10 before pitting on Lap 200 due to a loose wheel. He was then penalized for speeding on pit road, dropping him to 21st position, two laps down.
STAGE WINNERS: Stage 1, Kyle Busch. Stage 2, Chase Elliott.
WHO ELSE HAD A GOOD RACE: For much of the race, Chase Elliott appeared poised to earn his first NASCAR Cup win. Even though he didn’t, he still had an excellent finish of second. Also, Brad Keselowski, who has been bashing Toyotas the last week, finished sixth.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Playoff drivers that got off to bad starts included Kyle Busch (finished 15th), Austin Dillon (finished 16th), Kurt Busch (19th), Kasey Kahne (21st), Ryan Newman (23rd) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (25th).
NOTABLE: Jimmie Johnson turned 42 Sunday. The defending Cup seven-time Cup champion continues to remain winless in 16 career starts at Chicagoland Speedway, one of only three tracks he has never won a Cup event at (others are Kentucky and Watkins Glen). … Matt Kenseth’s car was found to have one lug nut loose in post-race inspection. Crew chief Jason Ratcliff faces a likely $10,000 when penalties are issued later this week.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Without some luck, we weren’t going to beat the 78 today. We need more days like this.” – Runner-up Chase Elliott.
WHAT’S NEXT: ISM Connect 300, Sunday Sept. 24, 2 p.m. ET (NBCSN), New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr. leaves postseason opener with 58 playoff points after win.
By Daniel McFadin
(Photo/www.dailymail.co.uk)
With his win in the NASCAR Cup playoff opener, Martin Truex Jr. grabbed his fifth win of the season and banked five more playoff points to bring his total to 58.
Two races remain in the first round. Among the 16 playoff contenders, the top five in points are Truex, Kyle Larson (-27), Kevin Harvick (-35), Brad Keselowksi (-41) and Kyle Busch (-41).
Only 12 drivers will advance to the second round. The bottom five drivers are Austin Dillon and Kurt Busch (tied at -76), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (-80), Ryan Newman (-81) and Kasey Kahne (-83).
Click here for the full points standings.
Great late-race restart propels Justin Allgaier to Xfinity win at Chicagoland.
By Jerry Bonkowski
(Photo/accesswdun.com)
Justin Allgaier had a great restart with eight laps to go to hold off Kyle Larson and JR Motorsports teammate Elliott Sadler to capture Saturday’s TheHouse.com 300 NASCAR Xfinity race at Chicagoland Speedway.
While Erik Jones made a surge to catch Allgaier on the restart, Jones was penalized for changing lanes prior to reaching the start-finish line.
Allgaier earned the second Xfinity career win at Chicagoland Speedway (other was in 2011) in his home state (he was born in Riverton, Ill., about 2 1/2 hours from Joliet), his second of the season and fifth of his career.
Allgaier was consistently in the top-five for much of the race but did not take the lead until Lap 185, passing low and then held on for the remaining 15 laps of the 200-lap event, including the last restart.
“How cool is that? This is awesome,” Allgaier said over his team radio shortly after taking the checkered flag.
Sadler earns the first Xfinity regular season championship and both drivers will carry the momentum into next weekend’s start of the Xfinity playoffs at Kentucky Speedway.
“It means a lot to me and my family,” Sadler said. “We were able to win the first Xfinity playoff race last season and now this. There’s a lot of firsts in my career, which means a lot to a small-town boy from Virginia.
“This just gives us some incentive to try and get both trophies at Homestead.”
Larson finished second after a last lap surge past Sadler.
“I had a shot to win it, sped on pit road and had to restart at the back,” Larson said. “I definitely didn’t anticipate coming back and finishing second.”
Daniel Hemric finished fourth and Austin Dillon rounded out the top-five.
Sixth through 10th were Matt Tifft, Cole Custer, Ty Dillon, Blake Koch and Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr.
Due to the restart zone penalty, Jones saw a great day go for naught. Jones dominated the race, leading 94 of the event’s 200 laps, but the miscue cost him deeply, finishing a disappointing 18th place.
“I was surprised for sure,”Jones said. “It was close, yeah, for sure, but NASCAR said they’re not in the business of really making calls, but I’d say that was a race-affecting call.
“It is what it is. We were either going to see a really good finish between me and the 7 (Allgaier) or him run away. It’s unfortunate. It was close. I was surprised to see the call.’’
The race determined the 12 drivers that will advance to the seven-race Xfinity playoffs: William Byron will start as the points leader (2,025), followed by Allgiaer (2,023), Sadler (2,020), Daniel Hemric (2,009), Brennan Poole (2,006), Ryan Reed (2,005), Jeremy Clements (2,005), Cole Custer (2,005), Blake Koch (2,005), Matt Tifft (2,004), Brendan Gaughan (2,003) and Michael Annett (2,001).
STAGE WINNERS: Erik Jones (Stage 1, Laps 1-45), Erik Jones (Stage 2, Laps 46-90)
WHO ELSE HAD A GOOD RACE: Cole Custer led 41 laps and looked like he may have a chance to win, but tailed off near the end. Still, he finished seventh.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: William Byron pitted on Lap 28 and took his car to the garage with reported transmission problems. While he returned to the race, he finished 33rd, 34 laps behind the leaders.
NOTABLE: Allgaier becomes the first Xfinity Series regular to win on a 1.5-mile track this season.
QUOTE OF THE RACE: “It’s an honor and humbling to become the first regular season Xfinity Series champion.” – Third-place finisher Elliott Sadler
WHAT’S NEXT: VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300,Saturday, Sept. 23, Kentucky Speedway, 8 p.m.
WHAT’S NEXT: VisitMyrtleBeach.com 300,Saturday, Sept. 23, Kentucky Speedway, 8 p.m.
Points reset: William Bryon is No. 1 seed heading into Xfinity playoffs.
By Jerry Bonkowski
(Photo/Getty Images)
The playoffs begin next Saturday at Kentucky Speedway, and Byron comes in with the narrowest of leads. He has a two-point edge over Saturday’s race winner, Justin Allgaier, and a five-point edge over Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate, Elliott Sadler.
Coming into the race, 13 drivers were in contention for the 12 playoff spots. After the checkered flag, Dakoda Armstrong was the one who fell short of making the playoffs.
Click here for the reset Xfinity points following Saturday’s race.
Johnny Sauter wins Truck Series race at Chicago.
By Daniel McFadin
(Photo/Getty Images)
Johnny Sauter led the final 28 laps to win the Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland Speedway.
The win, in the regular-season finale, is the second of the year for the GMS Racing driver.
Sauter beat Chase Briscoe, Christopher Bell, Ryan Truex and Grant Enfinger. Sauter took the lead from Bell before racing to the win.
“This is what we needed, this is the momentum, this is the shot in the arm,” Sauter told Fox Sports 1.
Ben Rhodes, who finished sixth, earned the last spot in the playoffs via a tiebreaker over Truex.
Rhodes bounced back from a pit penalty and a second pit stop under yellow to race into the playoffs.
“Man, I still can’t believe it,” Rhodes told FS1. “They gave me the (playoff) hat and I’m like, ‘Are you sure this is ours?’ They said we were tied and we got the tiebreaker. I can’t believe it. The truck, all night we struggled. Ever since we unloaded here this has been by far our worst performance overall. It couldn’t come in a worse week to do it. I’m glad we’re in. Overall, everything worked out for us.”
Competing for the Truck Series title will be Bell, Sauter, John Hunter Nemechek, Matt Crafton, Briscoe, Austin Cindric, Rhodes and Kaz Grala.
Truex lost out on a playoff spot after sitting on his first pole and leading 30 laps.
STAGE 1 WINNER: Ryan Truex
STAGE 2 WINNER: Christopher Bell
WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: John Hunter Nemechek finished seventh for his eighth top 10 … Myatt Snider finished 10th after bouncing back from a spin with six laps to go in Stage 1. It’s his second top 10 in five Truck Series starts … Regan Smith finished 12th. He’s finished in the top 15 in eight of his nine starts. He’s finished 12th four times. … Tyler Young finished 13th for his best result in six starts this season.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: After making contact with Rhodes during the Stage 3 restart, Matt Crafton dropped through the field before spinning on Lap 106. He finished 16th … Gray Gaulding only made it one lap before his No. 15 truck stalled, bringing out the caution. He continued but fell out on Lap 25 with a fuel pump issue.
NOTABLE: Christopher Bell enters the postseason as the regular-season champion thanks to his four wins. That gives him 15 extra playoff points … Chase Briscoe remains winless despite five finishes in the top three this season.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “It’s tough, but it’s racing. We did everything we could aside from win.” – Ryan Truex after missing out on the playoffs due to a tiebreaker with Ben Rhodes.
NEXT: UNOH 175 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway at 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 23 on Fox Sports 1.
Christopher Bell enters Truck playoffs with 15-point lead.
By Dustin Long
(Photo/Getty Images)
Christopher Bell, who won a season-high four races, enters the Camping World Truck Series playoffs with a 15-point lead on Johnny Sauter, who won Friday night’s race at Chicagoland Speedway.
“It’s huge, thankfully this year we were able to accumulate some points to have a little bit of a cushion going into the playoffs and just really thankful to be here at Kyle Busch
Motorsports driving this No. 4 SiriusXM Tundra and not just SiriusXM, but all of our partners at JBL, TRD, Toyota and everyone at Kyle Busch Motorsports, there is a whole group there that builds these Tundras and they do an excellent job and it really shows week in and week out.”
The Truck playoffs begin next weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Click here for points report
SOCCER: Why it was a near-perfect weekend for the Fire.
(Photo/USA TODAY)
As the Fire struggled in July and August it may have seemed that the world was collapsing around them. The team was struggling and the chasing pack in the Eastern Conference were almost all putting positive runs together.
This weekend will feel like a nice change of pace for Fire fans after the forecast for the team's playoff position seemed to be getting worse with each week. Not only did the Fire pick up a 3-0 win against D.C. on Saturday, but the four other teams the Fire (14-9-6, 48 points) is jockeying for playoff position with all failed to win. Here's a look at how everything seemed to break the Fire's way this weekend.
Atlanta 3, Orlando 3
Atlanta's record: 12-8-7 (43 points)
Games remaining: 7 (5 home, 2 away)
The national media is going to focus on the league-record crowd of 70,425 that showed up to Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, but the home team couldn't use the crowd to pick up a win. With Leandro Gonzalez Pirez suspended due to yellow card accumulation, the Atlanta defense struggled. Only another Josef Martinez hat trick, his second in a row, kept Atlanta from losing.
Atlanta is five points behind the Fire, but has two games in hand and five more at the Benz. Atlanta still controls its destiny as far as passing the Fire and the next five games are all against teams outside the playoffs, but the Fire did get some extra breathing room.
Vancouver 2, Columbus 2
Columbus' record: 13-12-5 (44 points)
Games remaining: 4 (2 home, 2 away)
The Crew's draw in Vancouver is actually a positive result on its own. Vancouver took the Western Conference lead on Wednesday and had won three in a row entering Saturday's game.
However, Columbus blew a lead in the 92nd minute, meaning the point probably feels more like a missed opportunity than a solid result. The Crew have the fewest games remaining of the Eastern Conference playoff contenders, but does host the New York Red Bulls in a game next Saturday.
Colorado 1, New York City FC 1
NYCFC's record: 15-8-6 (51 points)
Games remaining: 5 (2 home, 3 away)
NYCFC led for most of the game at last-place Colorado, but, like Columbus, blew the lead late. Dominique Badji tied the game in the 88th minute, allowing the Fire to move within three points of second place.
The Fire host NYCFC on Sept. 30 in a game which now could move the Fire into second place if the standings hold for another week. That game will also be the third in eight days for both teams.
New York Red Bulls 0, Philadelphia 0
Red Bulls' record: 12-10-6 (42 points)
Games remaining: 6 (3 home, 3 away)
Of the four draws this weekend, the Red Bulls will probably be the most disappointed. New York hosted a Philadelphia team that is out of the race on Sunday, but couldn't score despite peppering the Union goal. Andre Blake came up with eight saves for Philly, which hosts the Fire next Saturday.
Key players Bradley Wright-Phillips, Sacha Kljestan and Tyler Adams came off the bench in an effort to keep them rested for Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup final in Kansas City. A trip to Columbus three days later is a big one for playoff seeding.
Elsewhere, Montreal and New England lost to significantly dent their fading playoff hopes. Montreal wasn't likely to catch the Fire even before losing at home to Minnesota, but the Impact would have been within three points of the Red Bulls with a win. Unless multiple shocking things happen, the six-team playoff field in the Eastern Conference appears set. It's all about finding out how teams 2-6 rank.
The reason the top seed isn't in question is because Toronto FC is in another stratosphere right now. The Reds traveled to LA without Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore (28 goals and 11 assists this season between them) and won 4-0 at the Galaxy anyway. Toronto is 11 points clear of NYCFC in the Supporters' Shield race and could clinch a first-round bye Wednesday against struggling Montreal.
Even shorthanded, Fire produce 'encouraging' performance in win.
By Dan Santaromita
(Photo/USA TODAY)
Since the Fire rampaged through May and June, the team and its fans have been aching to see that level of play again.
Saturday’s 3-0 win against D.C. United wasn’t quite there yet, but without Bastian Schweinsteiger, Juninho, Michael de Leeuw and Joao Meira (who played but didn’t start) this game was never going to be about style points. It’s just win, baby time and the Fire did that.
Saturday’s 3-0 win against D.C. United wasn’t quite there yet, but without Bastian Schweinsteiger, Juninho, Michael de Leeuw and Joao Meira (who played but didn’t start) this game was never going to be about style points. It’s just win, baby time and the Fire did that.
The Fire’s struggles in July and August, combined with hot runs from other teams in the Eastern Conference, have made a first-round bye an outside shot and even a first-round home playoff game is still in question. However, with only five games remaining after Saturday’s victory, it’s just about getting three points and keeping pace.
“The name of the game is when you get to this point in the season, five games left, it’s about peaking at the right time,” midfielder Dax McCarty said. “It’s about getting momentum through wins and through solid performances and getting shutouts and making sure you’re solid defensively and making sure your attacking players are creating chances. We won 3-0 and I thought Bill Hamid made five or six ridiculous saves to keep them in the game so you have to say it’s not an unbelievable performance. We’ve had better performances this year. It certainly was a step in the right direction heading towards the playoffs.”
With all the absences (de Leeuw due to yellow card accumulation and the other three due to injury), the starting lineup more closely resembled something the Fire would have sent out a year ago, plus Dax McCarty and Nemanja Nikolic. Even if D.C. is last in the Eastern Conference, this was not the game to expect the Fire to dominate. D.C. entered having won three out of four after summer August additions boosted the team.
“Maybe the (score) says more than actually happened because I think they pushed us very hard,” coach Veljko Paunovic said. “The first 15 minutes was very tough for us. The first 15 minutes of the second half also. I think they had better opportunities in these moments, but also it was a great moment for our team.”
Despite admitting D.C. had dominant stretches of the match, United finished with 57 percent possession and 66 percent in the second half, Paunovic thought Saturday’s showing was a sign that the Fire may be returning to its best form.
“We were today what we were looking for the whole season,” Paunovic said. “I think we managed very well the game. From this basis I would say that, yes, Chicago Fire with the performance in attack was finally the Chicago Fire that we were used to seeing this year. A little bit different. The approach obviously was different.”
The key for the Fire going forward is what the team will look like once Schweinsteiger et al return. Three of the last five games are on the road and the team remains in third place.
“We’re starting to pick up positive results again,” McCarty said. “That’s encouraging. We went through a rough patch where even though we played some good games and we played well, we weren’t getting results. Playing well without getting results means nothing to be honest. Right now we’re getting good results and we’re probably playing a little bit more pragmatic than we have in the past.”
“We’re starting to pick up positive results again,” McCarty said. “That’s encouraging. We went through a rough patch where even though we played some good games and we played well, we weren’t getting results. Playing well without getting results means nothing to be honest. Right now we’re getting good results and we’re probably playing a little bit more pragmatic than we have in the past.”
Should MLS change its current playoff format?
By Dan Santaromita
(Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
As Major League Soccer has grown over the years, so has the number of teams that entered the playoffs.
With the season extending in length over recent years, MLS is reportedly looking into another change to its current playoff format, according to FourFourTwo USA.
The report states that the MLS regular season would extend roughly an extra week to two weeks in order to sync up with the FIFA international break that always runs during November. In doing so, the MLS Cup playoffs would then start after that break, but the postseason would be condensed down to three weeks.
Under one proposal, the biggest change to the actual format of the playoffs would be that each matchup would be single-elimination, thus doing away with two-legged affairs where clubs play home-and-home fixtures.
The biggest question is; does the MLS playoff format need a makeover or should the league leave its current situation intact?
A notable issue with MLS playing into November and December is the international break that occurs during the former. Clubs have been hampered by getting hot to start out the postseason only to be slowed down by the time off.
By starting the playoffs after the break and moving to single-elimination, the league would be putting greater emphasis on the regular season, which benefits the top-seeded teams — who would ultimately host each match instead of having a home-and-home series.
The proposed format wouldn’t drastically change the length of the season, and more importantly, MLS would have a bigger buffer during the regular season so that it could potentially have teams avoid playing during over international breaks throughout the season.
Here’s a look at how the proposed format would look using the 2017 calendar as a blueprint.
All matches are single-elimination
FIFA break (November 6-14)
First round — (November 18-19)
- Top two teams in each conference have a bye
- Teams seeded third host sixth-place, fourth place takes on fifth
- First-seeded teams in each conference host highest-seeded team, 2nd place takes on lowest-seed club
- Best-seeded teams remaining host
- Team with most points from regular season hosts the final
- Final remains on a Saturday to avoid competing with NFL football
League Cup preview: Enter the giants.
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
Here come the big boys.
The League Cup hits the third round this week, with clubs competing in European competitions joining the fray.
Two of those clubs get trickier draws, with Man City heading to the Hawthorns to face West Bromwich Albion and Liverpool off to Leicester City.
What we don’t know yet is how seriously these clubs, or really most of the Premier League clubs, are going to treat the competition.
Are Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte, and Jose Mourinho looking at the sides as deep ones capable of maintaining a run for a double or treble?
Do Arsenal, Liverpool, and Everton crave something shiny for their trophy cases? And what about clubs like Swansea and West Brom? Is making their fans happy worth the risk to their table standing?
It’s the 58th edition of the tournament, one in which Liverpool has appeared in (12) and won the most (8).
Manchester United is the reigning champion, having knocked off Southampton last season.
The League Cup has been a tourney which has produced some surprise European competitors, with Swans winning in 2013, Middlesbrough in 2004, and Birmingham City in 2011.
It also may be a chance for Americans to get runs. Bournemouth’s Emerson Hyndman‘s only bench appearance this season came in the League Cup, while Sunderland’s Lynden Gooch has been a regular sub for the Black Cats and could get a starring role at Everton.
Speaking of Everton, English-American left back Antonee Robinson is on loan at Bolton, and playing regularly at left mid for Phil Parkinson. Bolton is off to West Ham United.
Tuesday matches
Aston Villa vs. Middlesbrough
Bournemouth vs. Brighton and Hove Albion
Brentford vs. Norwich City
Bristol City vs. Stoke City
Burnley vs. Leeds United
Crystal Palace vs. Huddersfield Town
Leicester City vs. Liverpool
Reading vs. Swansea City
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Barnsley
West Ham United vs. Bolton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Bristol Rovers
Wednesday
Arsenal vs. Doncaster Rovers
Chelsea vs. Nottingham Forest
Everton vs. Sunderland
Manchester United vs. Burton Albion
West Bromwich Albion vs. Manchester City
La Liga & Serie A: Real Madrid cruises, Napoli nets six.
By Matt Reed
(David Ramos/Getty Images)
A roundup of Sunday’s action in Spain and Italy’s top flights…
Real Sociedad 1-3 Real Madrid
No Ronaldo. No problem for Real. Despite facing a stiff test from Sociedad on Sunday, Los Blancos used its depth to replace its Portuguese star. Borja Mayoral scored the game’s first goal for Real, ironically the 20-year-old’s first La Liga goal, before the home side equalized nine minutes later. The lead was restored in the 36th minute off of a Kevin Rodrigues own goal, while Gareth Bale tacked on the third for Real after the hour mark. Sociedad remains ahead of Madrid in the La Liga table, but the gap is now just one point between the two sides.
Girona 0-1 Sevilla
Sevilla remained unbeaten through the opening four rounds of play on Sunday after facing a difficult road trip to Girona. The hosts had several opportunities throughout the match, but failed to notch a shot on target, which helped Sevilla make them pay. Luis Muriel scored the game’s lone goal in the 69th minute after the forward finished off the Franco Vázquez cross.
Elsewhere in La Liga
Alaves 0-3 Villareal
Las Palmas 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
Napoli 6-0 Benevento
No Ronaldo. No problem for Real. Despite facing a stiff test from Sociedad on Sunday, Los Blancos used its depth to replace its Portuguese star. Borja Mayoral scored the game’s first goal for Real, ironically the 20-year-old’s first La Liga goal, before the home side equalized nine minutes later. The lead was restored in the 36th minute off of a Kevin Rodrigues own goal, while Gareth Bale tacked on the third for Real after the hour mark. Sociedad remains ahead of Madrid in the La Liga table, but the gap is now just one point between the two sides.
Girona 0-1 Sevilla
Sevilla remained unbeaten through the opening four rounds of play on Sunday after facing a difficult road trip to Girona. The hosts had several opportunities throughout the match, but failed to notch a shot on target, which helped Sevilla make them pay. Luis Muriel scored the game’s lone goal in the 69th minute after the forward finished off the Franco Vázquez cross.
Elsewhere in La Liga
Alaves 0-3 Villareal
Las Palmas 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
Napoli 6-0 Benevento
When Napoli is clicking, they are a really difficult team to beat. The Serie A leaders remained unbeaten on Sunday after comfortably handling upstarts Benevento behind a Dries Mertens hat-trick. The hosts found the back of the net just three minutes into the match through Allan, before Lorenzo Insigne, Jose Callejon and Mertens each scored before halftime. Napoli now boasts an impressive +13 goal differential after only four matches in domestic play.
Sassuolo 1-3 Juventus
Paulo Dybala’s hat-trick helped give Juventus its fourth win of the new Serie A season to remain level on points with Napoli. For Dybala, the Argentine surpassed the 50-goal mark with the Bianconeri with his first finish, before adding two more goals in the second stanza. Meanwhile, the home side scored almost immediately after Dybala’s second to make the match close, but Sassuolo couldn’t find a second.
Elsewhere in Serie A
AC Milan 2-1 Udinese
SPAL 0-2 Cagliari
Torino 2-2 Sampdoria
Chievo Verona 1-1 Atalanta
Genoa 2-2 Lazio
Manchester United 4-0 Everton: Red Devils ruin Rooney return.
By Nicholas Mendola
Ex-Everton striker Romelu Lukaku helped ruin Wayne Rooney‘s return to Old Trafford, picking up a goal and an assist against his former team as Manchester United topped Everton 4-0 on Sunday.
Antonio Valencia, Anthony Martial, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored for United, which has the joint-most points in the league but sits behind Man City by alphabetical order alone.
Starting up top, Rooney provided several clearcut chances for Everton, but Lukaku had an assist before punching in an 89th minute goal and celebrating wildly at Old Trafford.
The ex-Toffees striker was also a threat, picking up a late assist, and will rue chipping a simple finish wide of the goal in the first half.
Everton is now winless in 11-straight away PL matches, a league-high, and remains 17th with four points.
Jordan Pickford didn’t have much of a chance on Valencia’s wonderful opener. A quick free kick was played short to Nemanja Matic, who hit a ball across the arc of the 18 for Valencia to smash home.
Romelu Lukaku snapped into action against his former club as the match neared the 20-minute mark, just shades away from providing a goal or assist as United looked to build on its lead.
That’s when Rooney nearly tied it up. Playing up top, he cut Cuco Martina‘s pass across his body but wide of the far post.
Lukaku then let Everton off the hook when he opened up 1v1 with Pickford and shot it wide of the far post.
Tom Davies was rightly deemed offside on a 29th minute chance that ended up in the back of the goal.
With all the focus on Lukaku, it was another former Toffee who nearly made it 2-0 when Marouane Fellaini challenged Pickford for a 50-50 ball but saw his effort miss the mark.
Rooney almost bulled his way to an equalizer in the second half’s first minute, sliding to win a shot that De Gea blocked with his right leg.
A Pickford giveaway led United to a free kick and Ashley Williams to a yellow card when the defender shouldered Juan Mata to turf in the 63rd minute.
Mata’s left-footed free kick wrapped around the wall to clank off the post, and United couldn’t do anything with the ensuing corner.
Left back Ashley Young set Jesse Lingard up for a left-footed chance, but the attacker’s shot was rushed by Ashley Williams and skied over the frame.
Williams stopped Lingard from getting full purchase on a point blank shot in the 78th minute, but no penalty call arrived after Pickford stooped to collect the tame effort.
Mkhitaryan provided the much-sought equalizer in the 84th minute with Williams giving the ball away to Lukaku, who cued up the ex-BVB man for a finish past Pickford.
That’s when Lukaku scored, continuing United’s penchant for piling on late goals. And Morgan Schneiderlin gave away a penalty to Anthony Martial that the Frenchman finished to make it 4-0.
Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal: Chippy affair ends scoreless.
Antonio Valencia, Anthony Martial, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored for United, which has the joint-most points in the league but sits behind Man City by alphabetical order alone.
Starting up top, Rooney provided several clearcut chances for Everton, but Lukaku had an assist before punching in an 89th minute goal and celebrating wildly at Old Trafford.
The ex-Toffees striker was also a threat, picking up a late assist, and will rue chipping a simple finish wide of the goal in the first half.
Everton is now winless in 11-straight away PL matches, a league-high, and remains 17th with four points.
Jordan Pickford didn’t have much of a chance on Valencia’s wonderful opener. A quick free kick was played short to Nemanja Matic, who hit a ball across the arc of the 18 for Valencia to smash home.
Romelu Lukaku snapped into action against his former club as the match neared the 20-minute mark, just shades away from providing a goal or assist as United looked to build on its lead.
That’s when Rooney nearly tied it up. Playing up top, he cut Cuco Martina‘s pass across his body but wide of the far post.
Lukaku then let Everton off the hook when he opened up 1v1 with Pickford and shot it wide of the far post.
Tom Davies was rightly deemed offside on a 29th minute chance that ended up in the back of the goal.
With all the focus on Lukaku, it was another former Toffee who nearly made it 2-0 when Marouane Fellaini challenged Pickford for a 50-50 ball but saw his effort miss the mark.
Rooney almost bulled his way to an equalizer in the second half’s first minute, sliding to win a shot that De Gea blocked with his right leg.
A Pickford giveaway led United to a free kick and Ashley Williams to a yellow card when the defender shouldered Juan Mata to turf in the 63rd minute.
Mata’s left-footed free kick wrapped around the wall to clank off the post, and United couldn’t do anything with the ensuing corner.
Left back Ashley Young set Jesse Lingard up for a left-footed chance, but the attacker’s shot was rushed by Ashley Williams and skied over the frame.
Williams stopped Lingard from getting full purchase on a point blank shot in the 78th minute, but no penalty call arrived after Pickford stooped to collect the tame effort.
Mkhitaryan provided the much-sought equalizer in the 84th minute with Williams giving the ball away to Lukaku, who cued up the ex-BVB man for a finish past Pickford.
That’s when Lukaku scored, continuing United’s penchant for piling on late goals. And Morgan Schneiderlin gave away a penalty to Anthony Martial that the Frenchman finished to make it 4-0.
Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal: Chippy affair ends scoreless.
By Nicholas Mendola
Arsenal supporters will be heartened by its club’s even performance at Stamford Bridge as the Gunners drew reigning champions Chelsea 0-0 on Sunday.
Chelsea’s 10 points are three back of leaders Manchester City, while Arsenal’s seven place it 12th.
David Luiz was given a straight red card in the 87th minute, and will miss the next three matches.
Petr Cech was tested twice in the first three minutes, the second a low lash from Pedro, as Chelsea came out of the gates with vigor.
Alvaro Morata then turned a header toward goal off a cross from the right in what’s becoming a trademark for the Spaniard, but the flag was up.
Arsenal hit Chelsea on the counter, and Danny Welbeck came very close to heading Hector Bellerin‘s cross into the upper 90. And Thibaut Courtois had to get low to block an Alexandre Lacazette shot moments later.
The Gunners had grown into the game, and Sead Kolasinac troubled Courtois with a shot through traffic in the 20th minute.
That said, Pedro soon looked to be 1v1 with Cech, though his trouble in controlling the ball helped Laurent Koscielny hamper the breakaway and keep things scoreless.
Aaron Ramsey‘s incredible, physical dribble found him hitting the post in the 41st minute, with Lacazette missing horribly with a wide-open doorstep rebound.
David Luiz plowed into the advertising boards before halftime and needed help to stand while tenderly holding his wrist.
NCAAFB: 2017 NCAA FBS Football Rankings, 09/18/2017.
AP
Chelsea’s 10 points are three back of leaders Manchester City, while Arsenal’s seven place it 12th.
David Luiz was given a straight red card in the 87th minute, and will miss the next three matches.
Petr Cech was tested twice in the first three minutes, the second a low lash from Pedro, as Chelsea came out of the gates with vigor.
Alvaro Morata then turned a header toward goal off a cross from the right in what’s becoming a trademark for the Spaniard, but the flag was up.
Arsenal hit Chelsea on the counter, and Danny Welbeck came very close to heading Hector Bellerin‘s cross into the upper 90. And Thibaut Courtois had to get low to block an Alexandre Lacazette shot moments later.
The Gunners had grown into the game, and Sead Kolasinac troubled Courtois with a shot through traffic in the 20th minute.
That said, Pedro soon looked to be 1v1 with Cech, though his trouble in controlling the ball helped Laurent Koscielny hamper the breakaway and keep things scoreless.
Aaron Ramsey‘s incredible, physical dribble found him hitting the post in the 41st minute, with Lacazette missing horribly with a wide-open doorstep rebound.
David Luiz plowed into the advertising boards before halftime and needed help to stand while tenderly holding his wrist.
NCAAFB: 2017 NCAA FBS Football Rankings, 09/18/2017.
AP
RANK
|
SCHOOL
|
POINTS
|
RECORD
|
PREVIOUS
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama (45) | 1504 | 3-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Clemson (15) | 1446 | 3-0 | 3 |
| 3 | Oklahoma (1) | 1432 | 3-0 | 2 |
| 4 | Penn State | 1306 | 3-0 | 5 |
| 5 | USC | 1241 | 3-0 | 4 |
| 6 | Oklahoma State | 1154 | 3-0 | 9 |
| 7 | Washington | 1141 | 3-0 | 6 |
| 8 | Michigan | 1081 | 3-0 | 7 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 1031 | 3-0 | 10 |
| 10 | Ohio State | 1015 | 2-1 | 8 |
| 11 | Georgia | 940 | 3-0 | 13 |
| 12 | Florida State | 922 | 0-1 | 11 |
| 13 | Virginia Tech | 730 | 3-0 | 16 |
| 14 | Miami | 606 | 1-0 | 17 |
| 15 | Auburn | 596 | 2-1 | 15 |
| 16 | TCU | 553 | 3-0 | 20 |
| 17 | Mississippi State | 532 | 3-0 | NR |
| 18 | Washington State | 419 | 3-0 | 21 |
| 19 | Louisville | 356 | 2-1 | 14 |
| 20 | Florida | 308 | 1-1 | 24 |
| 21 | South Florida | 272 | 3-0 | 22 |
| 22 | San Diego State | 201 | 3-0 | NR |
| 23 | Utah | 194 | 3-0 | NR |
| 24 | Oregon | 158 | 3-0 | NR |
| 25 | LSU | 153 | 2-1 | 12 |
Others receiving votes: West Virginia 114, Colorado 93, Maryland 84, Vanderbilt 83, Notre Dame 57, Memphis 21, California 19, Stanford 16, Kentucky 11, Kansas St. 10, Duke 10, Tennessee 6, Texas Tech 4, Iowa 2, Wake Forest 2, Michigan St. 1, Houston 1
Vandy upsets No. 18 K-State, wins first over ranked non-conference team in 70 years.By John Taylor
(Photo/Associated Press)
There were a lot of people who didn’t see this one coming, although I can guarantee you that the rest of the SEC East is sitting up and taking notice.
Coming into their Week 3 game against 18th-ranked Kansas State, Vanderbilt was somewhere between a 4-6-point underdog at home. After 60 minutes Saturday night, Vandy proclaimed they could be a force to be reckoned with in conference play as a stifling defense played a huge role in dropping the Wildcats by the score of 14-7.
The Commodores took a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter, with the Wildcats tying it up very early in the second. That 7-7 score would stay static for the next 36 minutes or so of game time until quarterback Kyle Shurmur‘s two-yard touchdown run (of course) proved to be the difference in the game.
K-State had a chance to tie the game late, but quarterback Jesse Ertz was stopped a yard short on a fourth-and-8 that originated from the Vandy 19-yard line.
Neither team did much offensively, with the Wildcats accounting for 277 yards of offense to the Commodores’ 270. Vandy averaged 4.9 yards per play, K-State 4.4.
With the win, Vandy is 3-0 to start the season for the first time since 2011, James Franklin‘s first of three with the program. This also marks the first time since 1946, a 7-0 win over No. 20 North Carolina State, that Vandy has beaten a ranked non-conference opponent.
With the struggles of Florida and Tennessee, Vandy is slowly becoming the trendy pick to challenge Georgia for SEC East supremacy. Buyer beware on that front, though, as they will face No. 1 Alabama (home), No. 24 Florida (road), No. 13 Georgia (home) and undefeated Ole Miss (road) the next four weeks.
For now, though, the Commodores will bask in the glow of the biggest win, outside of last year’s upending of No.24 Tennessee, of Derek Mason‘s time in Nashville.
Alabama’s national title odds take minor hit as Clemson puts oddsmaker on notice.
By Kevin McGuire
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
After Week 3 of college football has been given time to settle in and reflected upon, Bovada still feels Alabama is the clear favorite to win the national championship this season. But that confidence was shaken a tiny bit after the performance turned in by Clemson at Louisville on Saturday. While Alabama’s national title odds of 2/1 are still heavily in Alabama’s favor, the Tigers crept up a bit this week.
Alabama’s national title odds were listed at 7/4 a week ago and have now been dropped to just 2/1. Clemson improved their title odds from 14/1 to 11/2 following a thorough road win at Louisville for a second straight win against a ranked opponent. Despite being 3-0, USC saw their odds drop slightly from 6/1 to 7/1 over the weekend, while Oklahoma stayed firm with 8/1 odds.
Ohio State saw their odds improve too, going from 8/1 to 17/2 this weekend. Oklahoma State is right behind the Buckeyes with 9/1 odds, followed by Penn State at 12/1 and Michigan at 20/1.
Mississippi State jumped onto the board this week following their blowout of LSU and are now listed with 40/1 odds. Six teams came off the board this week: Colorado, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, South Carolina, and UCLA.
Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield is currently Bovada’s favorite for the Heisman Trophy with 7/4 odds. Louisville quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson is tied for second-best odds with USC’s Sam Darnold at 11/2. Penn State running back Saquon Barkley and Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph share the same 9/1 odds as well. Players jumping from off the board include Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins (40/1)m Oregon’s Royce Freeman (25/1) and Justin Herbert (25/1), and Stanford running back Bryce Love (66/1).
Tennessee State football earns second-highest ranking since 1999.
By Mike Organ
Tennessee State is ranked No. 20 in both FCS polls. (Photo: Sam Jordan / Tennessee State Athletics)
Tennessee State climbed to No. 20 in both FCS national polls on Monday, which is the second-highest ranking for the Tigers since being No. 1 in 1999.
After defeating Florida A&M 24-13 on Saturday in the Tampa Classic at Raymond James Stadium, the Tigers improved to 3-0 and moved up in both the STATS FCS and Coaches polls.
The Tigers were 22nd in the STATS poll and 24th in the Coaches poll heading into that game.
"What I like about the ranking is that it's not only recognition for the football team and the athletic program, but it also puts Tennessee State on the map," coach Rod Reed said. "You can look in the newspaper and all the other media platforms and see TSU there every day for a solid couple of weeks. It's great marketing for the university."
TSU’s highest ranking ever came in 1999 when the Tigers went 11-0 in the regular season under coach L.C. Cole. That team lost in the first round of the national playoffs to North Carolina A&T.
The best ranking since then came in 2012 when Reed led the Tigers to a 7-0 start. That team climbed to No. 17 in the Sports Network (now the STATS) poll and No. 18 in the Coaches poll.
The Tigers got off to a 4-0 start last season and were ranked 25th in both polls before losing in Week 5 to Eastern Illinois (35-34).
"We had a good start last year, too," Reed said. "But we've got to try to remain healthy this year and keep playing well. It's great to be recognized, but we've only scratched the surface for where we want to be."
TSU is the only undefeated team in the OVC with league play beginning this week. The Tigers play at UT Martin (2-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
TSU is the only undefeated team in the OVC with league play beginning this week. The Tigers play at UT Martin (2-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday.
The Skyhawks cracked the Top 25 on Monday at No. 24 in the STATS poll after beating previously No. 15-ranked Chattanooga on Saturday. UT Martin is not ranked in the coaches poll.
Ogundeko's status: TSU played most of the game against FAMU without defensive end Ebo Ogundeko, who suffered a leg injury in the first quarter.
Reed said on Monday that the severity of Ogundeko's injury has not been determined. A scheduled MRI will provide more details.
Reed also said he expects starting safety Terrell Bonds to play this week. Bonds suffered a knee injury in the season opener at Georgia State.
"Bonds could have played last week, but we didn't want to push it," Reed said.
"Bonds could have played last week, but we didn't want to push it," Reed said.
NCAABKB: NCAA reforming transfer rules by tying them to academics.
By Ralph Russo
(Photo/Keith Srakocic/AP/BDN)
The NCAA is in the process of reforming its rules for athletes who transfer — and the mere suggestion of changes that could make it easier for football and basketball players to leave one school and play immediately for another was enough to stir things up.
“How can you plan a roster or a team when every player is a free agent at the end of the season?” Alabama football coach Nick Saban said last week.
There is much work to be done and any drastic changes to transfer rules across all NCAA sports are likely a few years away at least. But change is coming, and guiding principles already have been established by the university presidents who make up the NCAA board of directors.
One thing is clear: New transfer rules will be rooted in academics, according to a statement released last week by the Division I Council group working on the topic.
Students with better grades could face fewer restrictions if they want to transfer, and schools may end up with less control over where athletes go. Athletes who have graduated could still transfer with immediate eligibility, but the so-called free agent market could be chilled by other steps, such as a different way of counting grad transfers toward a team’s academic performance.
“We put a survey out about a week ago which really was to gain some feedback from every area of the membership that could help us understand the different perspectives,” said South Dakota State athletic director Justin Sell, who is heading the council’s transfer working group. “Are we headed down the right path? Are these some things that can really enhance the student’s experience? And hopefully at the end of the day create positive stories of graduation when a kid transfers.”
Students with better grades could face fewer restrictions if they want to transfer, and schools may end up with less control over where athletes go. Athletes who have graduated could still transfer with immediate eligibility, but the so-called free agent market could be chilled by other steps, such as a different way of counting grad transfers toward a team’s academic performance.
“We put a survey out about a week ago which really was to gain some feedback from every area of the membership that could help us understand the different perspectives,” said South Dakota State athletic director Justin Sell, who is heading the council’s transfer working group. “Are we headed down the right path? Are these some things that can really enhance the student’s experience? And hopefully at the end of the day create positive stories of graduation when a kid transfers.”
Transfer rules have been a nagging issue for the NCAA for years. There are 16 pages of Division I transfer rules in the NCAA manual. Rules vary in lower divisions and even within D-I there are differences from sport to sport. Most notably, in all sports — but not in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball or hockey — athletes can use a one-time exemption that allows them to transfer from one school to another without having to sit out a season the way they do in the revenue sports. Conferences also have their own restrictions. Waivers overriding various restrictions are often granted to athletes.
The current rules give coaches the ability to prevent an athlete from receiving an athletic scholarship from another school, essentially blocking a move to a desired school or preventing a transfer all together. Conflicts between amateur athletes and millionaire coaches about transfers are almost always a loss for the NCAA in the court of public opinion . Inconsistency is the norm.
Research shows athletes who transfer are less likely to graduate and more likely to become ineligible, and men’s basketball transfers have reached epidemic levels in the eyes of many coaches. The NCAA said 90 percent of those players indicate they leave for athletics reasons.
Hence the emphasis on academics for Sell and his group of administrators, coaches and members of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
The working group is considering no longer requiring athletes to ask their current schools for permission to contact other schools about transferring. Instead, athletes would notify schools of their intention to transfer, potentially eliminating a coach’s ability to stand in the way.
The group has also discussed creating uniformity in all sports. Ideas there include eliminating those one-time exemptions for non-revenue sports, perhaps making all athletes sit out a year after transferring or creating academic benchmarks that could allow athletes to transfer and be immediately eligible.
“As you look at the transfers world, where everyone starts to panic is the ability to play right away,” Sell said. “But we’re really looking at it from an academic perspective.”
Coaches fear that the combination of immediate eligibility and an inability to block transfers could increase poaching, forcing staffs to recruit their own players just to stick around. Sell said his group hopes to propose regulations and penalties as early as next year that would address unethical recruiting and tampering.
There is already back-channel recruiting of transfers through third parties that is nearly impossible to stop, according to John Infante, a former compliance director at Colorado State and Loyola Marymount.
“I think coaches may be almost underestimating how much of this is going on and how much of their job has become, yes, you need to recruit your current athletes by showing them the same level of interest and making sure you treat them consistently,” Infante said.
Brady Bramlett, a former University of Mississippi baseball player and chairman of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, said changing from permission to notification would bring much-needed transparency to the transfer process.
“Once the student-athlete has reached that point where they’re in the coaches office saying, ‘Hey, I’m transferring because of X, Y and Z,’ then why create more blockades for that student-athlete if they are already at that point?” Bramlett said.
Still, Bramlett said the SAAC supports restricting athletes from transferring within a conference and added there is no interest in creating a “free-agency model, where any student-athlete can go anywhere they want anytime.”
As for graduate transfers, there is concern that a rule originally meant to give athletes more options when pursuing graduate degrees has created, as Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby has called them, “hired guns” in college sports.
Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick disagreed.
"If you’ve got your degree I want to give you as much freedom as you possibly can.” Swarbrick said. “I think people perceive an abuse in it that frankly I don’t.”
Sell said his group is looking at changing rules regarding grad transfers so they are counted toward a team’s Academic Progress Rating more similarly to the way undergraduates are counted. That would mean docking APR points if postgraduate athletes are not progressing toward a degree. An even stricter measure would require a school to commit the scholarship it gives to a grad transfer for the length of the program the athlete enters — even if the athlete leaves earlier.
Infante said the effectiveness of any new legislation regarding transfers will be in the details. The general philosophy, he said, is clear.
“If this really looks like an athlete who is going to go on to the next school and probably get a degree there, then we want to encourage those transfers,” he said. “The ones that look like that by transferring the athlete is going to become less likely to graduate, we’re going to still have restrictions in place or add new restrictions to frustrate those transfers or cool the market.”
“If this really looks like an athlete who is going to go on to the next school and probably get a degree there, then we want to encourage those transfers,” he said. “The ones that look like that by transferring the athlete is going to become less likely to graduate, we’re going to still have restrictions in place or add new restrictions to frustrate those transfers or cool the market.”
Penny Chenery, owner of Triple Crown champ Secretariat, dies.
By Beth Harris
(AP Photo/Ed Reinke, File)
Penny Chenery, who bred and raced 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat as well as realizing her ailing father's dream to win the Kentucky Derby in 1972 with Riva Ridge, has died. She was 95.
Chenery died Saturday in her Boulder, Colorado, home following complications from a stroke, according to her children. They announced her death Sunday through Leonard Lusky, her longtime friend and business partner.
In 1973, Secretariat captured the imagination of racing fans worldwide when he became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, sweeping the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. He won the last leg by a whopping 31 lengths in one of the greatest performances in sports history.
The previous year, Riva Ridge won the Derby and Belmont Stakes.
Both colts were inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
''We are deeply proud of our mother, her accomplishments, and her courage,'' daughter Kate Tweedy said. ''As we mourn her loss, the example of her strength, her intelligence and her enduring spirit continue to inspire us.''
Chenery developed a love of horses as a child and learned to ride at age 5. She attributed her affinity for horses to her father, Christopher Chenery, who founded Meadow Stable, a thoroughbred racing and breeding operation, in Caroline County, Virginia.
After graduating from Smith College in 1943, Chenery worked as an assistant for a company that designed landing craft for the Normandy invasion. Before the invasion, she quit her job and at her father's urging, she volunteered for the Red Cross. In 1945, Chenery traveled to France as a Doughnut Girl to help war-weary soldiers transition to ships headed home at the end of World War II.
Chenery returned from Europe in 1946, and at her father's urging, she attended Columbia University's business school, where she was one of 20 women in her class. Six months from graduation, she got engaged to Columbia Law graduate John ''Jack'' Tweedy. Her father encouraged her to quit and focus on her wedding. The couple married in 1949.
For nearly 20 years, Chenery was content to be a housewife and mother to the couple's four children in the Denver area. She and her husband helped found and raise the initial money for Vail ski resort in the early 1960s.
Her life changed in 1968 when her father's health and mind began failing and her mother died. His Meadow Stable, which had been profitable, began losing money. Her two siblings had planned to sell it when their father could no longer run the operation.
Chenery took over management of the racing stable, with the help of siblings Margaret Carmichael and Hollis Chenery, and her father's business secretary. The operation was losing money and few took her seriously. Chenery commuted monthly from Colorado to Virginia, but after two more years in the red, selling the stable seemed almost inevitable.
By 1971, her colt Riva Ridge swept the juvenile stakes and won 2-year-old of the Year honors. In 1972, Riva Ridge won the Kentucky Derby, fulfilling her father's dream in the last year of his life. That same year, Secretariat burst onto the scene, so dominating the 2-year-old races that he won Horse of the Year honors.
In 1973, Secretariat became a pop culture icon with his Triple Crown victory, landing on the cover of Time magazine. For the next four decades, Chenery served as a careful steward of the colt's legacy.
She charmed as an engaging and quick-witted owner who represented her equine champions with poise, dignity and a keen business sense.
''The horse can't talk, but I can,'' she said.
Chenery was portrayed by actress Diane Lane in the 2010 movie ''Secretariat.'' Chenery had a cameo role as a spectator at the Belmont Stakes.
''We have always been overwhelmed and amazed by the love and support Mom received from her many fans,'' son John Tweedy said.
Born Helen Bates Chenery on Jan. 27, 1922, in New Rochelle, New York, she was the youngest of three children of Christopher and Helen Chenery, for whom she was named.
Following Secretariat's retirement, Chenery became an ambassador for thoroughbred racing and remained so after the colt's death in 1989.
She served as the first female president of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and president of the Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation. She became one of the first women admitted to The Jockey Club and helped found the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation.
Chenery created the Secretariat Vox Populi award annually honoring racing's most popular horse, as well as the Secretariat Foundation, which assists and supports various charities within the racing community.
She received the 2006 Eclipse Award of Merit for lifetime contributions to the thoroughbred industry, and in recent years, she advocated for laminitis research and care advancement as well as efforts to ban the use of performance-enhancing drugs in racing.
Chenery's marriages to Tweedy and Lennart Ringquist ended in divorce. She is survived by her children from her marriage to Tweedy: Sarah Manning, Kate, Chris and John. Her other survivors are seven grandchildren and stepson Jon Ringquist.
Lusky said a public memorial was pending.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, September 18, 2017.
Memoriesofhistory.com
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, September 18, 2017.
Memoriesofhistory.com
1915 - The first asphalt covered automobile race track was opened in Cranston, RI.
1956 - Mickey Mantle hit his 50th home run.
1962 - Charlie Finley was denied permission to move the Athletics to Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX.
1965 - Mickey Mantle played in his 2,000th game.
1972 - Art Williams became the first black umpire in National League history.
1993 - The Anaheim Mighty Ducks played the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first NHL pre-season game.
1997 - Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo were elected to World Golf Hall of Fame.
1956 - Mickey Mantle hit his 50th home run.
1962 - Charlie Finley was denied permission to move the Athletics to Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX.
1965 - Mickey Mantle played in his 2,000th game.
1972 - Art Williams became the first black umpire in National League history.
1993 - The Anaheim Mighty Ducks played the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first NHL pre-season game.
1997 - Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo were elected to World Golf Hall of Fame.
**************************************************************
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