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How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Sharp confident Olympics won't burn Blackhawks out.
By Nina Falcone
Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Sharp
The Blackhawks haven't had much time to lay low since the lockout ended a year ago. From the busy regular-season schedule to their long postseason run, the last 12 months have flown by, but the team has consistently said they wouldn't want it to be any other way.
Now that busy schedule is about to be taken overseas for nearly half the Blackhawks' roster as 10 players prepare to play in the Olympics. So, naturally, talks of whether the Winter Games could potentially burn the defending champions out have taken place, but Patrick Sharp can't see that hurting his team.
"I don't expect a burnout just because we have 10 guys going to the Olympics," he said in an interview with 670 The Score. "I think it's just gonna make us stronger.
"These are players that show up to training camp every season in great shape, we all care about our jobs and want to get better every season. That's all about being a pro. That's why I think the Hawks have been a good team for a long time. We're always trying to get better as an individual, as a team, and that filters through the team."
Sharp has a lot to look forward to as February approaches, but for now, he says he still has plenty of work to take care of with the Blackhawks.
"It's very special, it's something my parents are thrilled about," he said. "They listen to the radio and turn on the TV and watch all the shows, they can't believe I finally got to that level. It's something I'll look back on, but for now I have 30 days to help win games for the Hawks."
Denied: Blackhawks' point streak snapped in loss to Rangers.
By Tracey Myers
The Chicago Blackhawks weren’t looking like themselves out of the game on Wednesday night. They were sloppy, they lacked the right amount of energy and Corey Crawford was struggling as much as the rest of his teammates.
And while the Blackhawks recovered to make it a game against the New York Rangers, they had another disappointing ending.
Jonathan Toews scored his 16th of the season, a power-play goal, but Carl Hagelin scored the game-winner with just under six minutes remaining of the Rangers’ 3-2 victory over the Blackhawks. It was the Blackhawks’ first regulation loss since Dec. 14, when they Toronto Maple Leafs drubbed them 7-3. This one obviously wasn’t as bad as that one. But for coach Joel Quenneville, a loss is a loss.
“We have too many guys right now not contributing to the level we saw most of the season,” Quenneville said. “Those are two disappointing losses at home. Late in the game, we should get it to overtime and go from there. We’re still not good enough across the board.”
Brandon Bollig scored his fourth goal and Duncan Keith recorded his 40th assist of the season for the Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks looked like a vulnerable bunch in the first period, Crawford included, and the Rangers were all too eager to capitalize. Brad Richards’ 11th goal of the season gave the Rangers a 1-0 advantage, and Mats Zuccarello scored several minutes later for a 2-0 advantage.
“We know what we have in here as a team. It’s just a matter of putting it together,” Keith said. “We showed it in spurts. It’s just a matter of doing it for a full 60 (minutes).”
Still, the Blackhawks looked ready to put together a good final 40 minutes. Toews’ power-play goal cut the Rangers’ lead to 2-1 about six minutes into the second period. Just 1:48 later, Bollig scored to tie it at 2-2.
That’s how it would stay until late in the third. The Blackhawks couldn’t clear their zone and Marc Staal fired a shot from the blue line. Crawford stopped that one, but couldn’t stop Hagelin’s rebound. The Blackhawks had a flurry of great scoring attempts on Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist down the stretch, but the netminder stopped them all. Lundqvist stopped 35 of 37 for the game.
“We just have to be focused from puck drop,” Kris Versteeg said. “We just have to get back to basics and really use that 60-minute effort. You want those expectations; you want to be expected to win every night. That’s what you strive for as a hockey player. Right now, a couple of bounces haven’t gone our way.”
The Blackhawks’ “rut” is a pretty minor one, obviously. We’ve reached that time during an 82-game season where dredging up the energy isn’t always easy. It’s not an excuse, and none of the Blackhawks were using it as one. Still, every team deals with it. But Quenneville said his team has to work through the mid-season grind.
“We found a way to get ourselves back in the game. We shouldn’t be looking for excuses, whether we’re tired. We get enough time away. You have to find meaning and purpose for every game. I know human nature that some nights it’s tough to get excited, but you have to find a way when you don’t have your “A” game or “A” pace. You play a smart game with a purpose.”
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery headed to the Pro Bowl.
By John Mullin
Chicago Bears Alshon Jeffery
Jeffery was added to the 2014 Pro Bowl roster on Thursday, replacing Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, who won’t participate in the Pro Bowl because of a knee injury that also forced him to miss the Lions’ final game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Marshall and Jeffery become the first Bears wide receivers to earn Pro Bowl appearances in the same season.
Jeffery, the Bears’ second-round pick in the 2012 draft, ranked sixth in the NFL in receiving yards (1,421) and seventh in yards from scrimmage (1,526; which ranked second in the league among wide receivers). Jeffery had 89 receptions and seven touchdown catches in his sophomore year in the NFL, ranking 10th in the league in receptions.
“Just being from where I came from to where I am now, what I’m doing…it’s just special to be part of the success we’re having as a team,” Jeffery said in a statement. “I want to thank my Mama and my family. I’m going to continue to make you all proud.”
His 1,421 receiving yards in 2013 are second most in single-season franchise history and his 89 receptions are sixth-most.
Jeffery is the third Bears player to be named to the 2014 Pro Bowl, joining Marshall and running back Matt Forte.
The Pro Bowl will be played on Jan. 26, with rosters being selected by a draft process by team captains Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders on Jan. 22.
Is there enough dough for the Bears defense?
By Chris Boden
The Bears went from having $44 million of reported salary cap space for 2014 on Dec. 26, to just $11 million of reported spending ability a week later.
The fresh paper given to Jay Cutler, Tim Jennings, and Matt Slauson a week ago, on top of new deals for Robbie Gould and Tony Fiammetta on Dec. 27, stole Phil Emery’s show in what was expected to be a 2013 post-mortem with the media, featuring him and Marc Trestman. As the Cutler buzz continued throughout cyberspace last Thursday, the general manager and head coach took turns accepting their share of the blame for the biggest reason their team didn’t make the playoffs: the defense.
So after locking up just one defender in those five signings, the question now becomes whether $11 million can fix this defense. Will there be a scheme change? Can and will Mel Tucker be the man teaching whatever scheme they go with? And once that’s determined, where are they going to get enough quality bodies with the money that’s left, to effectively execute said scheme, so we’re not asking the same questions a year from now?
If Julius Peppers is released, the Bears are only gaining a little more than half of his $18 million it would cost to keep him around, courtesy of about $8 million in dead money they’d be forced to eat. If not, the reliance on immediate-impact draft “hits” on the defensive side this May becomes even more crucial. The pressure will be on Emery, regardless. A Peppers exit also means the team has no one on the defensive line under contract with legitimate NFL playing experience, or is starter-caliber-ready. Henry Melton, Jeremiah Ratliff, and Corey Wootton are all free agents. If the Bears even want any of them back, are they willing to come back “on the cheap,” when each will draw varied levels of interest on the open market, potentially with a higher pricetag than the Bears can offer? This is assuming Shea McClellin is now a linebacker, too.
At that position, Lance Briggs and Jon Bostic are accounted for under that cap. Let’s assume those are two of the starters. Would D.J. Williams want (or draw interest for) more than, say, a $1 million deal? Would they want to bring back James Anderson, as well, if the status quo is good enough next season at linebacker?
In the backfield, Emery needs to find three bodies to start with Jennings. It’s hard to see him going back to free agent Major Wright, or expect Chris Conte (under contract one more year) to make that big of a turnaround. And he’d need a big one.
Emery also wants Josh McCown and Roberto Garza back. At what cost would they chop into the cap reservoir? $3-to-4 million, conservatively?
So if he gets the center and backup quarterback in the fold, and the current remaining 2014 salary cap space of $11 million is to be believed, Emery’s working with $7-to-8 million to pay a draft class and fill up a defense with starters and backups who can play special teams. If Peppers has played his last game as a Bear, tack about $10 million onto that number. Would he want to restructure Cutler’s $22 million first-year number this quickly? Emery always has a plan. This seems to be a very complicated one, and the path of the 2014 Bears clearly depends on it.
Just another Chicago Bulls Session… Bulls: The short-term/long-term ramifications of the Deng trade. By Aggrey Sam
In the long run, trading Luol Deng means the Bulls have committed to new possibilities, tacitly acknowledging that whether or not there was still a sliver of hope for the team's core to realize a championship, which was fully assembled back in 2010, it was time for a new direction.
As for the short term, it means third-year swingman Jimmy Butler, effectively taking on Deng's role as the Bulls' primary two-way option on the wing, must deliver on his potential — and stay healthy — for the remainder of the season. The Bulls can sign Butler to his second contract, a multi-year extension by next fall or let him become a restricted free agent after the 2014-15 campaign, so obviously his performance through rest of the regular season looms large.
For rookie Tony Snell, nicknamed "Little Lu" by his teammates, Deng's departure represents an opportunity. While the New Mexico product has played well when called upon — namely, when Deng and Butler have been out of the lineup — Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau has no choice but to play him consistent minutes now, meaning like Butler, Snell's play will be under greater scrutiny.
The Bulls' other wing, Mike Dunleavy Jr., has become one of the team's most reliable players as of late and now that not only his goal of competing of a title have been dashed by Derrick Rose's season-ending knee injury, but the team's chances of making the playoffs are decreased with Deng's trade, the veteran has to be dismayed about how his free-agency decision has turned out. At the same time, being an experienced, well-traveled professional — not to mention the son of a former player, coach and executive — Dunleavy understands how the league works and will keep the same demeanor, knowing that his shooting ability and reasonable contract make him a commodity as the trade deadline approaches and since the Bulls appear to be in asset-grabbing, cost-cutting mode, there's some probability that he could be moved, with potential suitors (such as Houston; according to a USA Today report, the Rockets are interested in acquiring Dunleavy) likely being playoff contenders needing to add his coveted perimeter marksmanship.
Bulls players other than the ones directly impacted by Deng's nightly minutes total will also be affected by his loss. It goes without saying that Deng's on-court versatility and consistent scoring will be missed, but so will his quiet leadership and ability to unite teammates in the locker room and on the sidelines, something the casual fan isn't privy to seeing.
Joakim Noah, already the Bulls' emotional leader, now takes on an even greater role and while the center has reprised his uncanny offensive facilitating for a team often light on point production in the aftermath of Rose going down, the All-Star must be counted on for stability, consistency and even scoring without Deng. Similarly, when fellow big man Taj Gibson, in the midst of a breakout season, has a double-figure scoring outing, it can no longer be looked at as a pleasant surprise, but a nightly necessity in Deng's absence, as replacing the team's leading scorer, though a collective effort, is a load that has to be shouldered by specific players, including the Bulls' top reserve.
Kirk Hinrich also catches some of the trickle-down effect, with opposing teams sensing that the Bulls are open to dealing — Golden State reportedly has him in its sights — could now target the veteran floor general to add valuable depth as a steady and experienced backup point guard, not a need to be taken lightly in this era of premier players at the position, many of whom, like Rose, have suffered significant ailments this season. Then there's the currently sidelined Carlos Boozer, who has to now wonder when, not if, the other shoe drops for him and although it's more likely to happen after the season, as Bulls executive vice president John Paxson hinted about the organization utilizing the amnesty provision on the much-maligned power forward during Tuesday morning's press conference at the United Center, the feeling of limbo on a non-contender can't be a good one.
That's just the reality, but none of that means the Bulls, now in sixth place in an Eastern Conference that isn't exceedingly difficult to climb in the standings, will hit an immediate downward spiral, as evidenced by Tuesday's home win over a competitive Phoenix squad and as Paxson said, not with players like Noah or a coach like Tom Thibodeau, not to mention a somewhat favorable schedule leading into a six-game West Coast trip beginning at the end of this month. Simply becoming a lottery team because Deng is gone isn't a given, so grabbing assets like the future draft picks acquired from Cleveland (and the protected selection from Charlotte from the 2010 Tyrus Thomas trade, which the Bobcats may or may not surrender this year) and accruing cap space for free agency has become a priority, regardless of whether the front office chooses to term it as rebuilding.
But is the aforementioned Thibodeau, who guided a conference finalist in his first season at the helm in Chicago, necessarily the ideal coach for a team with potentially lowered expectations moving forward? Both the coach and Bulls management have to be examining that issue as we speak, especially considering that Thibodeau's former boss, Doc Rivers, might have set a precedent for highly-regarded coaches with his move to the Clippers last summer.
Last month's popular rumor, that New York has interest in Thibodeau, a one-time Knicks assistant, replacing Mike Woodson next season, not only makes a little more sense now, but is a whisper gaining steam in NBA circles, particularly after the Bulls jettisoned arguably the coach's favorite player, even if it was a move that couldn't have taken him completely by surprise. Conversely, even considering Thibodeau's track record, a coach with more of a big-picture approach might be a better fit for an organization unsure of whether its franchise player returns to an elite level of play in the near future and if he does, exactly who or how experienced the supporting cast around Rose will be.
Capitalizing on the opportunities opened up by trading Deng is clearly the Bulls' goal, but the steps general manager Gar Forman takes to get there — from smaller maneuvers leading up to next month's trade deadline to more long-ranging personnel decisions in the coming offseason and beyond — will be the interesting part to monitor.
Hall of Fame: Up to BBWAA to propose vote changes.
By RONALD BLUM (AP Sports Writer)
The Hall of Fame says it's up to baseball writers to propose any changes in the selection process.
The Baseball Writers' Association of America has voted on Hall of Fame candidates since 1936, and elections have become more controversial in recent years as stars tainted by accusations of steroids use have fallen well short of the 75 percent needed for entry to Cooperstown.
Writers are limited to a maximum 10 votes, and some say there's a logjam as Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens, Mark McGwire remain on the ballot at a time new players are added.
The Hall electorate includes anyone who has been a BBWAA member for 10 consecutive years at any point. Some say the voting group should be expanded beyond writers.
''We're happy,'' Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said Thursday after a news conference to introduce 2014 electees Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas. ''We're in an age where everyone does want to be heard, but we really see this as an issue that needs to be dealt with by the BBWAA.''
Dan Le Batard was kicked out of the BBWAA for one year and barred from future Hall votes on Thursday after he turned over his 2014 ballot to the website Deadspin, which allowed readers to choose the selections. Le Batard, an ESPN host and longtime Miami Herald columnist, said Wednesday he gave his ballot to the website because he detests the ''hypocrisy'' in the voting process and it ''needs remodeling in a new media world.''
''The BBWAA regards Hall of Fame voting as the ultimate privilege, and any abuse of that privilege is unacceptable,'' the organization said in a statement.
BBWAA Secretary-Treasurer Jack O'Connell said ballots averaged 8.4 players this year and just over half of the 571 voters used all 10 picks.
''I don't think that in any situation one needs to react to a one-off and change an entire process,'' Clark said.
The BBWAA decided last month to form a committee to study whether the 10-man limit should be altered. The committee, chaired by BBWAA immediate past president Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle, is expected to report back to membership in July.
While the BBWAA long was limited to reporters for newspapers and news agencies, a small number of website writers have been allowed to join in recent years. Broadcasters and MLB.com reporters are excluded.
The Hall of Fame electorate includes anyone who has been a BBWAA member for 10 consecutive years at any point.
ESPN broadcaster Keith Olbermann advocates eliminating the 10-players restriction and increasing the voting pool.
''The idea of exclusively the baseball writers voting for the Hall of Famers is a vestige of state-of-the-art media of the '30s and '40s,'' he said. ''It was a very, very good and inclusive idea then. Shortly after it was instituted, it began to become less inclusive, to the point now where maybe baseball writers, the beat writers, are not a large enough group or may not be the most-informed group. Certainly they're not the exclusively informed group.''
He suggests voters include baseball experts such as broadcasters Vin Scully and Bob Costas, historian John Thorn and author Bill James.
''It would be I think appropriate if the fans had a small voice in this,'' Olbermann said.
''Maybe it literally is 1 percent of the vote is a fan poll. Why not?''
During the news conference, Maddux, Glavine and Thomas posed together as Hall of Famers for the first time. They will be inducted July 27 along with retired managers Bobby Cox, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa.
Maddux, Glavine and Cox will make it a special day for the Braves. Another former Atlanta pitcher, John Smoltz, will be on the ballot for the first time in December.
''I've given him grief,'' Glavine said. ''I told him he didn't have to go play another year - he would be up here with us.''
''It would have been cool if John was with us,'' Maddux said, ''but his day will be coming soon.''
The Hall plans to announce next week the caps to be used for the players' plaques, which also will contain brief descriptions of their careers. Asked what words they would like to see, Maddux said ''overachieve,'' Glavine ''competitor, stubborn'' or ''dependable or durable'' and Thomas ''consistent and driven.''
''I wasn't that blue-collar guy coming out,'' Thomas said. ''I guess I don't want to call myself a diamond, but it was many years of polishing my career and getting it to where I was. Very driven should be the word.''
Maddux, too, said it took time to evolve.
''The secret of pitching is to learn yourself, to learn the hitters, to get away from the brain-dead heaver philosophy,'' he said.
The trio has many accomplishments: 355 wins for Maddux, 308 victories for Glavine and 521 homers for Thomas. Yet they saved relatively little memorabilia from their careers.
Glavine does have some souvenirs of a special game.
''Pretty much everything I have or used in my 300th win that the Hall of Fame didn't take from me is at my house,'' he said.
Another year, another crop of promising players.
By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer)
John Peterson was in the 11th grade and thought no one his age could beat him. That changed when he was at a junior event in Texas, where he heard so much chatter about an eighth-grader from Dallas that he went out to watch him.
That was his introduction to Jordan Spieth, now one of his good friends.
''I heard he was good,'' Peterson said at the Sony Open, his first tournament of the year. ''I wanted to see what everyone was talking about. I'm a junior in high school, thinking no one could beat me, and here's this eighth-grader killing everybody, already as tall as me. We battled in junior golf. I got him in a playoff at the Jones Cup, and he's been beating me ever since.''
Spieth inspires him in a different way on the PGA Tour - just like Spieth was inspired by Sony Open defending champion Russell Henley.
Every year brings a new crop of rookies. Each year, the intimidation factor of playing alongside the best in the game deteriorates. To look at the latest group of newcomers gathered at Waialae for the first full-field PGA Tour of 2014 begs one question.
Who's next?
''It really helps when you see your peers compete - and win,'' Spieth said Wednesday. ''I watched Russell Henley last year. I was on the Walker Cup team with him, and he wins the first event of the year. When you see that, it gives you a mental edge. You're starting to see young guys on the leaderboard all the time, and these are guys who competed against for years.''
Spieth was among four rookies who won on the PGA Tour last year, joining Henley, Derek Ernst and Patrick Reed. It was one of the strongest rookie classes in years.
''I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again,'' Spieth said.
Peterson is a 24-year-old NCAA champion from LSU who has never been afraid to say what he thinks. He was still an amateur when he lost to fellow amateur Harris English - now a two-time winner on the PGA Tour - on the final hole of a Nationwide Tour event. He told Golf World magazine that day, ''I knew I could beat all those guys,'' and that the top 20 or 30 college players could hang with the top 20 or 30 on the PGA Tour with a few exceptions.
It's that fine line of confident and cocky, which Peterson is known to cross on occasion, that adds to the increasing depth and makes it harder on everyone to win.
''Jordan, Peter Uihlein, Harris English, Russell Henley ... all those guys we've played with the last six years, they're all doing big things,'' Peterson said. ''Peter is playing himself into the World Golf Championships. He's killing it. Guys are really starting to believe they can play with guys who have been here for 15 years. Twenty years ago, guys coming off the Nationwide or whatever the Web.com was called, they probably didn't believe they could beat these guys straight out.
''Now you're seeing it happen every year.''
Peterson was with Spieth in Colombia early last year when Spieth was at a crossroads. With no status anywhere, Spieth was about $4,000 short of full status on the Web.com Tour. He honored a commitment to play a PGA Tour event in Puerto Rico instead of going to Chile to wrap up his card.
''I was like, 'Dude, you've got to Chile,''' Peterson said. ''He went to Puerto Rico and proved everyone wrong again. He could have been out there with us all year. Instead, he went to Puerto Rico ... and wound up in the Presidents Cup.''
Peterson laughed at his bad advice. Their banter remains, and it's refreshing.
Spieth gives him a hard time for a full beard - Peterson spent the last two months with his hands on a rifle instead on a 6-iron, killing a turkey, two bobcats, a seven-point and 10-point buck, two does, two hogs and two raccoons on family property outside Abilene, Texas.
Peterson questioned whether Spieth could even grow peach fuzz.
''I'm just looking forward to calling him 'rookie' all year,'' said Spieth, who is three years younger and $3 million richer.
Peterson won the Web.com Finals last year by finishing among the top five in all four tournaments. That gives a high priority the entire season, along with a spot in The Players Championship. He already has made the cut in three majors, including a tie for fourth at Olympic Club in the U.S. Open.
The Sprint Unlimited lineup left to fan vote.
By Holly Cain
As the ultimate "fan" race, much is still be decided about NASCAR's traditional Daytona SpeedWeeks 75-lap opener, The Sprint Unlimited.
Fans will decide the race lap segments, starting order and final restart through online voting at NASCAR.com and NASCAR Mobile. But the one known entity for the Feb. 15 night extravaganza is which 20 drivers have earned a position on the starting grid.
The 17 pole-winners in 2013 plus three past winners of the event are eligible to settle this year's score.
Denny Hamlin (four poles) won the most poles last season and is joined by three-time pole-sitter Kyle Busch. Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards all qualified for The Sprint Unlimited after starting from pole twice.
Marcos Ambrose, Kurt Busch, last year's winner Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, and both 2013 rookies, Danica Patrick and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also earned berths.
Past winners of The Sprint Unlimited in the field include Terry Labonte (1985), Ken Schrader (1989-1990) and Tony Stewart (2001, 2002, 2007).And here's where the fun and gamesmanship starts. Fans will have until 7:30 p.m. the night of the race to decide how to set the grid order. And, depending on the fans' decision it will be based on career poles, 2013 championship points or final practice speeds set the day before the race.
Should fans select career poles as the criteria to set the field, the lineup would look like this:
Gordon (74 career poles) and Newman (51) would start on the front row, followed by Johnson (32), retired two-time champ Labonte (27), Hamlin (17) and Kurt Busch (16).
Stewart (14), Kyle Busch, (13), Earnhardt Jr. (13) and Edwards (13) would round out the top-10.
Former Cup champ and last year's title runner-up Kenseth (11) would start 11th followed by McMurray (9), Logano (7), Harvick (6), Keselowski (3), Ambrose (3) and Stenhouse Jr. (1) and Patrick (1).
If fans vote to base the start on 2013 championship points, obviously the grid looks much different.
Johnson and Kenseth would comprise the front row with Harvick and Kyle Busch on row two. Earnhardt, Gordon, Logano, Kurt Busch, Newman and Edwards would follow. And Keselowski and McMurray would move up dramatically -- starting ninth and 10th based on points instead of 12th and 15th based on career poles.
The final scenario for the starting order depends on the practice speeds, which would have put Hamlin on pole.
However in 2013, fans had an option not given this year and voted to start the field based on the order the drivers won their poles throughout the year, which gave Edwards the nod.
Leading up to last year's inaugural The Sprint Unlimited, drivers throughout the garage were in favor of the unique format and fan interaction.
"It makes it different for us but adds a fan element and that's kind of cool they have some say in what's going on,'' Kyle Busch said. "So that's good.
"It is a fun race, just having the format and atmosphere that you get and just going for broke.''
World Cup: Jurgen Klinsmann emphasizing soccer, not fitness in USMNT January camp.
MLSSoccer.com
Jurgen Klinsmann has made fitness the foundation of what he's building with the US national team. It's an integral part of every camp – but for once, it's not the focus of this year's January gathering.
This is not the “preseason” camp U.S. Soccer usually convenes to start the year, even if all but one player is MLS-based. With only 23 of the 26 training at StubHub Center slated to head next week for a two-week stay in Brazil, Klinsmann and his staff have the group focused on the actual soccer earlier than normal.
“It's not a camp where we build now fitness, fitness, fitness,” Klinsmann told reporters on Tuesday. “It's something where now we want to see them express themselves on the top level, and if you want to express yourself on the national team level, you've got to be fit. ...
The team is taking near-daily morning beach runs during their time in Southern California, and there were fitness tests – the VO2 max test, speed-shuttle runs, vertical-leap measurements and so forth – on Wednesday's schedule, to set baselines for newcomers and comparative figures from other camps for the veterans.
It's a valuable tool.
“It's crucial for us to benchmark them throughout the year and always have this data,” Klinsmann said last year on U.S. Soccer's website. “You need to be able to understand what players are going through, whether it's injuries, losing form, or sometimes losing focus.
We can tell them what they are lacking and where they can improve.”
These tests usually are the focus the first few days in January sessions, but with the World Cup just five months away, Klinsmann expected everybody to arrive fit. Now it's about honing that fitness and building toward game fitness, which will continue in Brazil before the squad returns to Los Angeles for the Feb. 1 friendly against South Korea.
These tests usually are the focus the first few days in January sessions, but with the World Cup just five months away, Klinsmann expected everybody to arrive fit. Now it's about honing that fitness and building toward game fitness, which will continue in Brazil before the squad returns to Los Angeles for the Feb. 1 friendly against South Korea.
The US hope fitness can be an advantage come June.
“Some of the late-game stuff you see from our team, that's been something that we've done is close games out well, score those goals and get results,” midfielder Graham Zusi told reporters on Tuesday. “A lot of that is fitness-based and being able to go longer than the opposition.”
Added midfielder Mix Diskerud: “I feel like one of our strengths is that we have good fitness. We're very athletic – that's something Americans are known for.”
Klinsmann said it would be clear if anyone lacked the requisite fitness – “When you play a little scrimmage, already you can see after five minutes someone getting tired legs, he may not have done his homework,” he said – and surely those who aren't are going to miss the upcoming trip to São Paulo.
It's all building blocks on the way to the World Cup, and there's more to come.
“The level in the World Cup is two or three levels higher, and the reality is that the last two years of World Cup qualifying and the Gold Cup don't give you the real picture,” Klinsmann told U.S. Soccer.
“The global picture is facing the strongest nations in the World Cup, and you need to be prepared. It’s not easy to put a number on it, but it requires at least 30 to 40 percent more than what we have needed so far."
Two-time plane crash survivor Austin Hatch sinks first shot in his return.
By Jeff Eisenberg
The most satisfying technical foul of Loyola High School coach Jamal Adams' career came midway through the fourth quarter of the Cubs' 87-59 victory over Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Wednesday night.
Loyola received it after its entire bench charged onto the floor to mob senior Austin Hatch in celebration of his first basket in a game in nearly three years.
Hatch, a survivor of two deadly plane crashes, has practiced with Loyola since moving from Indiana to Los Angeles in August, but he hadn't felt comfortable playing in a game until Wednesday night's league opener. The 6-foot-7 Michigan signee checked in early in the fourth quarter and buried his first shot four possessions later, a wide-open right-wing 3-pointer set up by two perfect off-ball screens.
"We've hit buzzer beaters and won league championships, but I haven't experienced a better moment on the basketball floor than that," Adams said Thursday. "Everyone was so excited for him. The whole bench was on the floor. The refs had no choice to call a tech for game interruption, but it was worth it. It was unbridled joy. There were parents weeping in the stands, half of our guys were crying. It was an unbelievable moment."
Such jubilation is typically reserved for game-winning buzzer beaters, but anyone familiar with Hatch's comeback story surely understood Loyola's heartfelt reaction.
Eight years after he and his dad walked away from a 2003 crash that killed his mother, 11-year-old sister and 5-year-old brother, Hatch had to cope with another eerily similar tragedy. His dad was flying the family between its Indiana home and a Michigan summer house in June 2011 when the small, single-engine plane plummeted nose-first into a garage along a residential street north of Charlevoix Municipal Airport, killing Hatch's father and stepmother and critically injuring him.
In addition to sustaining severe head trauma, a punctured lung, fractured ribs and a broken collarbone, Hatch also spent eight weeks in a coma as a result of the swelling in his brain. Doctors were still skeptical he'd ever play basketball again even after he emerged from the coma and gradually regained the ability to talk and walk.
Motivated by the goal of proving his doctors wrong and fulfilling his dream of fulfilling the commitment to Michigan he had made before the second crash, Hatch worked every day with returning to basketball in mind. Everything that was once routine for him became a milestone, from re-learning how to catch a ball or balance on one foot in the weeks after he left the hospital to practicing with his former high school team in Fort Wayne, Ind. in a limited capacity during the 2012-13 season.
Hatch could have played in his first game in Fort Wayne last February when doctors first cleared him to go full speed, but he vetoed the idea since he didn't feel he had sufficient strength, speed or coordination to be worthy of playing time.
"I told my therapists, my doctors and my coach, 'I'm not going to be an asset to my team,'" Hatch said in a press conference in November. "I don't want to be put in a game just because of who I am and what I've been through. If I'm not going to help the team win basketball games, I don't deserve to be out there."
Even after enrolling at Loyola in August after moving from Indiana to his uncle's home in Pasadena, Hatch still didn't want to rush his return to game action. He waited until Loyola's league opener 14 games into the season before assuring Adams he was ready to make his debut.
Adams would love to take credit for calling the play that freed Hatch for his first shot, but the truth is he had little to do with it.
"That was his teammates," Adams said. "The guys on the floor did it. I didn't call anything. My favorite part is the two kids who set the screens, you could have brought the U.S. Army and they weren't going to get to Austin on that shot. They gave him the time to get himself set and he took care of the rest."
The effort was worth it, judging by the response of Hatch's teammates to his first basket.
"Most amazing moment I've ever been apart of," tweeted Loyola guard Max Hazzard.
Added fellow guard Thomas Lapham, "Words, especially in 140 characters, cannot describe how amazing it was to see my brother @ahatch33 make that 3 today. Love you bro."
Perhaps the most telling response was that of Hatch himself. He tweeted, "My three was pretty cool, but, more importantly, we're now 14-0."
In five months at Loyola, Hatch has had a profound impact on his new teammates and coaches.
They've celebrated with him when flashes of his former athleticism return during practice. They've helped him through tough days when his recovery plateaus or his mind isn't as razor sharp. And they've gained perspective from him that there is stuff more important than basketball.
What Adams will remember most from Wednesday night was Hatch's reaction after he sank the shot.
"The guy with the driest eyes was Austin," Adams said. "He had the biggest smile. My favorite part was after he knocked it down, he told me, 'Coach I told you I'm always warm.' In the midst of people hugging and crying, it was business as usual for him."
Favorites for '14: Early picks for College Football Playoff.
By Danny Aller, The Sports Xchange
Monday's national title game was a thrilling farewell No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Auburn was a thrilling farewell to the BCS.
Now, the fun begins: Predicting who makes next season's inaugural four-team College Football Playoff.
The 2014 BCS Championship game will not be easily topped. Auburn led 21-10 at halftime before the Seminoles drove down the field with 1:19 left and scored a touchdown to finish the season undefeated and take the final crystal trophy back to Tallahassee with a 34-31 victory.
But chances are, with four powerhouse teams thrown into the fray next year, college football should be in for more fantastic finishes.
There will be favorites, contenders and -- as was the case of Auburn, which was 3-9 a year ago and winless in the SEC -- there are always dark horses the masses don't see coming.
Here's how we handicap the 2014 season more than eight months before opening kickoff:
FAVORITES
1. FLORIDA STATE: Another expected Top 5 recruiting class and a boatload of talent coming back means FSU should be the preseason No. 1. They return Heisman winner Jamies Winston and most of the Seminoldes' defensive stars. The only question mark is what will become of Winston's offense if as many as four underclassmen turn pro. If FSU can survive a Week 1 meeting with Oklahoma State in Dallas, the Seminoles are a threat to run the table again.
2. AUBURN: The Tigers, under Coach of the Year Gus Malzahn, aren't going anywhere. They return electric dual-threat QB Nick Marshall and most starters on offense (junior RB Tre Mason, a Heisman finalist, is undecided about a possible jump to the NFL), as well as more than half the 11 starters on defense. No one has truly solved Malzahn's offense no matter where he coaches, and he'll surely add more wrinkles. Auburn's biggest obstacle? A brutal schedule with games at Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
3. ALABAMA: The Tide boasts the nation's No. 1 recruiting class one month before Signing Day and return more than half their starters on offense and defense. But their quarterback situation is dicey. A.J. McCarron, a Heisman finalist who was 34-6 as a starter with two BCS rings, is gone. It's a tall order to ask a first-time starter to run the offense as well as McCarron did. Alabama's schedule next season, however, isn't fearsome, featuring one tough game: Nov. 8 at LSU.
4. OKLAHOMA: Surprised? Don't be. The Sooners won six of their last seven and dominated 17-point favorite Alabama in the Orange Bowl. They're legit. Sophomore QB Trevor Knight, who carved 'Bama up for 348 yards and four touchdowns, will be an early Heisman contender. Nearly all of Oklahoma's defense is returning.
5. OHIO STATE: The Buckeyes gagged away their chance to play for the BCS title and lost to the two best teams on their schedule (Michigan State, Clemson) to close the year. But they have two secret weapons: head coach Urban Meyer, who is 24-2 in two years, and star QB Braxton Miller. Seven defensive starters return, and their toughest road game is at Big Ten champ Michigan State.
CONTENDERS
1. STANFORD: Head coach David Shaw said no to the NFL, so the program has stability -- a must for recruiting. Star QB Kevin Hogan returns and the defense should once again be among the best in the country.
2. OREGON: One-time Heisman frontrunner Marcus Mariotta didn't go pro, and while the Ducks lose star RB De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon reloads as well as any team in the nation.
3. UCLA: Bruins star signal caller Brett Hundley also put the NFL on hold, and UCLA may have 15 starters return. Nearly every tough game -- Oregon, USC and Stanford -- is at home.
4. MICHIGAN STATE: The Spartans and their top-ranked defense closed with 10 straight wins. The 'D' should be even better after coordinator Pat Narduzzi opted to stay over becoming coach at UConn, and star first-year QB Connor Cook will be more experienced.
5. BAYLOR: Head coach Art Briles is staying, as is record-setting QB Bryce Petty, who led FBS' top-ranked offense last season. The Bears weren't great on defense and will have to replace six starters -- not a problem with the talent pool in Texas.
DARK HORSES
1. LSU: The Tigers lose 75 percent of their key players to graduation or the NFL, but QB Anthony Jennings looks poised to take over the offense after leading LSU to an Outback Bowl win. Beastly RB Jeremy Hill is leaning toward telling the NFL to wait, which can't hurt.
2. OLE MISS: With some of the top talent in the nation heading to Oxford, there's no reasons the Rebels shouldn't challenge Alabama and Auburn in the SEC West.
3. ARIZONA STATE: Breakout QB Taylor Kelly is back to lead one of the nation's most explosive offenses, and 2014's schedule is fairly weak.
4. NOTRE DAME: One season removed from playing for a national title, the Irish will get back star QB Everett Golson, who missed last year due to academic issues.
5. NORTH CAROLINA: The Tar Heels closed as one of the hottest teams in the country and may be the preseason favorite to win the ACC's Coastal Division.
6. WISCONSIN: RB Melvin Gordon (1,609 yards, 12 TDs) and star QB Joel Stave both return and the Badgers' get a break in their 2014 schedule, not playing Michigan, MSU or OSU in the regular season.
7. UGA: The Bulldogs haven't won a national title since 1980, but the way coach Mark Richt recruits and considering most of this year's injured stars are returning, the Bulldogs will once again challenge in the SEC and beyond.
A Rose by any other name. What's your take?
By Joe Posnanski
There are many people in and around baseball who believe that Pete Rose should never be reinstated and should never be allowed in the Hall of Fame. They have a very strong case.
1. Pete Rose as manager of the Cincinnati Reds gambled on baseball games when he knew — fully and completely understood — that the penalty for such gambling was permanent banishment from the game.
2. Rose voluntarily accepted a permanent ban from baseball.
3. Rose, for many years afterward, denied betting on baseball and denied betting on his own team even though he did both. There are many who believe he still lies when saying he never bet on his Reds to lose.
Put together, those three things certainly make a powerful argument against Rose ever being allowed back in baseball. But, like everything in life, there are caveats and subtleties and counterarguments if a person is open to them. Quickly, some of these might be:
1. Is a permanent ban from baseball for gambling on the game a fair penalty? Some say yes. But others would say no. Remember, we are not talking about conspiring with gamblers to throw games, which is at the heart of the 1919 Black Sox and at the heart of the rule. We are talking about betting on baseball. It’s bad. It reflects poorly on the game. It brings the validity of the game into question. Yes. All of it. But we don’t give lifetime sentences for too many crimes. Rose has been banned for 25 years. Isn’t that enough?
2. Rose (and his lawyers) gave up various rights and tactics and accepted the ban passively — Rose clearly believed that in return baseball would view his readmission efforts mercifully. Well, Rose actually believes he was all but promised that reinstatement would follow quickly. He thought they had a deal. Then Commissioner Bart Giamatti died, and Rose believes that baseball reneged.
3. Rose’s dishonesty after the fact is not defensible, but he admitted more than a decade ago that he bet on the game and on his own team. More than a decade ago. At what point has he been flogged enough?
Now, let me repeat: You may not buy any of those counterarguments and you may believe Rose blew his chances at redemption and permanent ban MEANS permanent ban, and you have the absolute power of the rules behind you. I think that’s what it comes down to — the power of the rules vs. the power of mercy. Does Rose deserve mercy in this particular case? I think yes. Others think no. And the beat goes on.
This week, though, former commissioner of baseball Fay Vincent — the man who replaced Bart Giamatti as commissioner until he was essentially booted by the owners — came out of his retirement in Vero Beach with a grumpy, somewhat fact-challenged anti-Rose screed. Vincent’s purpose for doing so was to counter a New York Times editorial by Kostya Kennedy, who has an upcoming book on Rose. I should say here that Kostya is a friend of mine and a fine writer but I have not read his book yet.
Vincent’s main shot is at Kostya’s sentence: “Consider, after all, the players who might have appeared on Hall of Fame ballots cast by baseball writers but did not because baseball had named them permanently ineligible. The list is printed here in its entirety: Pete Rose.”
This was too much for Fay Vincent.
“He ignores the the old Black Sox “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, who might have been a better hitter than Rose,” Vincent writes and he goes on to say, “Kennedy makes other errors but his failure to remember Jackson is damning.”
I cannot tell if Vincent is being willfully ignorant here or if he’s had a nasty case of amnesia. There is not even the slightest possibility that Kostya Kennedy “forgot” Joe Jackson. To suggest that the author of a new book on Rose “forgot” Joe Jackson would be like saying that Walter Isaccson, having just written about Steve Jobs, “forgot” about Bill Gates.
Shoeless Joe Jackson, as Vincent knows, was absolutely eligible for the Hall of Fame and actually received two votes in the very first Hall of Fame balloting and two more in 1946. Voters CHOSE not to vote for Jackson, but he and all other permanently banned players were absolutely allowed to be on the ballot until 1991, which is exactly what Kostya was saying.
What happened in 1991? Right. Pete Rose was about to become eligible for the ballot. And in what felt like an emergency session, a special committee of Baseball’s Hall of Fame got together and recommended that all permanently ineligible baseball players be ineligible for the ballot. The Hall of Fame board quickly approved the recommendation.
On the Hall of Fame board? Right. The commissioner of baseball. Fay Vincent.
Vincent was part of the process to keep ineligible players off the Hall of Fame ballot. He wasn’t just part of the process, he was the person running baseball at that very moment in time. He KNOWS this, so why would he write otherwise? I think it’s part of the piling on that never seems to stop when it comes to Rose.
Consider this amazing paragraph from Vincent:
Why would Rose be reinstated? The answer is he will not be unless some commissioner takes the risk that such reinstatement will not reduce the deterrent effect of the no-gambling rule. Suppose that deterrent is reduced and a virulent spate of gambling breaks out in baseball. One thing we know is the gambling prohibition works perfectly. Everyone in baseball is wary of gambling because the punishment is so severe. Gambling is the one capital crime of baseball, and it is well absorbed into the baseball DNA. The issues with performance enhancing drugs should not be confused with the gambling policies.Wow. With so many arguments against Pete Rose, THIS is the one he takes? Vincent is saying that reinstating a 73-year-old Rose — after TWENTY FIVE years of banishment — would reduce the deterrent effect of the no-gambling rule? Seriously, he’s saying that? He’s saying that people would look at Rose’s life the last 25 years and think, “Hmm, thats not too bad a punishment. I think I’ll gamble.” He’s saying, “Well, a lifetime ban — no, I’m not going to gamble. But if it’s a ban where I might someday in my 70s have a chance to be forgiven, sure, get my bookie on the line.”
And the bit about the gambling prohibition working “perfectly” — I’d be pretty wary of anybody saying that ANYTHING works perfectly.
Vincent also writes that Ted Williams did not want Rose in the Hall of Fame, which seems gratuitous. It’s not hard to quote numerous other Hall of Famers, like Joe Morgan, who thinks Rose deserves to be on the ballot.
Then he quotes Tom Seaver offering what he calls the killing question: “Look Commissioner, if Rose is allowed into the Hall of Fame, does that mean a pitcher like me with over 300 wins can bet on baseball?”
I don’t follow that the killing question at all — “No, Tom, if you bet on baseball you will be be banned from the game like Rose has for the last 25 years” — but then none of it makes too much sense. Pete Rose is not going to the Hall of Fame. He could be declared eligible tomorrow, and he would have exactly no chance of getting 75% of the vote no matter who is voting. I don’t see a scenario for Rose to get elected to the Hall of Fame even after he’s gone. Maybe that’s as it should be.
For me, the killing question is this: Should Rose be forgiven by baseball at some point here? You could argue yes, he’s served his time and he was a brilliant player who brought much joy to the game. You could argue no, permanent means permanent and Rose has not earned forgiveness. Both arguments have their merits and their drawbacks.
Or you could argue that reinstating Rose would encourage others to gamble on baseball.
I wish Fay Vincent would just enjoy retirement a little bit more in Vero Beach.
After reading this article, we'd love to know what you think? Should Pete Rose be eligible to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame? What's your take?
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