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How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Wild 2, Blackhawks 1.
By Jess Myers, The Sports Xchange
The Minnesota Wild got just enough offense via first period goals by right winger Jason Pominville and left winger Matt Cooke to outlast the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 on Thursday.
Minnesota goaltender Darcy Kuemper, making his fifth consecutive start, stopped 33 shots as the Wild improved to 8-3-0 in their last 11 games.
Chicago got 17 saves from goaltender Antti Raanta, but could not solve Kuemper until just 31.2 seconds remained. Right winger Patrick Kane got his 24th goal of the season with Raanta on the bench for an extra attacker. It was the second loss in as many nights for the Blackhawks, who fell 5-4 in a shootout to the Red Wings in Detroit on Wednesday.
The Wild scored on their first shot of the game, capping off a 3-on-2 rush to the Chicago net when center Mikael Granlund pulled Raanta out of position, then passed across the goalmouth to Pominville for a virtual tap-in.
Later in the period, during a scramble in front Raanta, two Blackhawks were whistled for minor penalties, giving the Wild two full minutes of a 5-on-3 power play. But despite controlling the puck for nearly the entire man advantage and getting a trio of shots on goal, the Wild could not add to their lead until later in the first.
Cooke scored his seventh goal of the season late in the opening period, throwing a low shot on net that fooled Raanta.
The middle period was scoreless, despite Chicago's best efforts. The Blackhawks had an 11-6 edge in shots and killed off a pair of Minnesota power plays.
Minnesota left winger Zach Parise played for the first time in a month Thursday. He last played Dec. 22 and missed time recovering from a broken left foot. Raanta, who had last played in a Jan. 12 home win vs. Edmonton, fell to 12-2-3 with the loss.
NOTES: Chicago D Duncan Keith was scratched for the first time this season Thursday due to an illness. Keith, with 43 assists in 52 games, leads all NHL defensemen in helpers. ... Wild D Nate Prosser played in his 100th career game Thursday, all of them with Minnesota. Last week he became the first Wild defenseman ever to score the winning goal in consecutive games when he got his second and third career goals vs. Edmonton and Dallas, respectively. ... A second period shot by Chicago LW Brandon Bollig hit Wild G Darcy Kuemper in the facemask, damaging his helmet. Kuemper skated to the Wild bench at the next whistle and after a delay played a few minutes wearing Wild G Niklas Backstrom's helmet until his own helmet was repaired. ... The Blackhawks get a two-day break before hosting the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday in Chicago -- their final home game prior to the Olympic break. The Wild are heading out on a four-game road trip which starts Saturday night when they visit the San Jose Sharks.
Is it time to rethink overtime in the NHL? What's your take?
CSN Staff
Should the NHL get rid of shootouts in regular-season games, or at least consider changing overtime?
CSN Chicago producers Tom Cooper and Danni Wysocki debated that earlier today in the AT&T U-verse Lounge, noting that this season more than 60 percent of the games that go to overtime eventually go to a shootout as well. With just five overtime minutes, there aren't ample chances for teams to light the lamp.
Wysocki said the answer is to increase offense by decreasing goaltenders' pads and widening the nets.
"You just need to make goalie equipment smaller and the nets bigger because the whole entire point of the shootout is to see skill, to see finesse players, to see wrap-arounds and dekes and spin-o-ramas," she said. "And by making the goal equipment smaller and the nets bigger, you are going to see that in regulation with overtime."
Wysocki admitted that she likes overtime, while Cooper said it just doesn't feel like hockey or the correct way to decide a winner after 65 minutes of fast-paced action.
"To me, that's not hockey," he said. "It's just a guessing tournament for the goaltender."
After reading this article and from your experience watching many games, what do you think? Should the NHL consider changing overtime scoring? What's your take?
Safety a concern for US Olympians at Sochi Games.
CSN Staff
The Olympics: a time when athletes can represent their respective countries, compete on the world stage and put so many years’ worth of training into obtaining gold.
The Olympics also have their safety concerns; and with unrest and violence erupting near Sochi, Russia, where the Winter Games will be held next month, the topic has overshadowed just about everything else.
For the Olympic-bound Chicago Blackhawks, including Team USA’s Patrick Kane, you think about security but not to the point of distracting you from the games.
U.S. officials are cautioning their athletes not to wear their Team USA colors too prominently in Sochi, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Kane, who talked about the Olympics in Detroit, the day before this report came out, said he was focused on hockey.
“To be honest with you, if I’m worried about that, my head’s in the wrong area,” Kane said. "I’m worried about going over, playing the game and doing well for my country. You hear different stuff, obviously you're going to be scared at first. Think a little bit about it, but obviously hope everything gets figured out."
The spotlight on Sochi has been glaring and negative recently, as violence has broken out near the resort town.
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Bears fill pair of defensive coaching vacancies.
By Chris Boden
Ten days ago, the Bears made their only offseason coaching staff moves, parting ways with defensive line coach Mike Phair and linebackers coach Tim Tibesar. The two had combined for 30 years of coaching experience. They're being replaced by a pair with 75 years of coaching experience.
Former Connecticut and Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni had already been seen with other Bears representatives scouting Senior Bowl practices this week in Mobile, Ala. He will replace Phair, while while Reggie Herring - a star linebacker three decades ago at Florida State - will be in charge of a group at that position that includes recent draft picks Jonathan Bostic, Khaseem Greene and converted defensive end Shea McClellin.
The 54-year-old Herring has been a coach for 33 years, the last six in the NFL, split between the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans under Wade Phillips. DeMarcus Ware blossomed into a perennial Pro Bowler under Herring's guidance in a 3-4 scheme with the Cowboys. Upon moving on to Houston, he oversaw Pro Bowl linebackers Brian Cushing and DeMeco Ryans, while Mario Williams moved back and forth between as a stand-up rusher on the outside and an edge rusher with his hand on then ground.
Between his two college head coaching jobs, Pasqualoni spent time in the NFL in Dallas and Miami as a defensive coordinator with both clubs, in addition to time in charge of linebackers and the defensive line with the Cowboys.
The Bears officially announced the hirings Thursday morning.
Just another Chicago Bulls Session… Is this year Thibodeau's best coaching job yet?
By Mark Strotman
Tom Thibodeau saw his best player suffer a second season-ending injury (Derrick Rose) and his second-best player traded away in the same division (Luol Deng; Cavaliers). Still, the Bulls are 21-20, have won eight of the last 10 and sit in the No. 5 seed in the woefully bad Eastern Conference. Despite nagging injuries to Jimmy Butler, Carlos Boozer, Kirk Hinrich and, in preseason, Joakim Noah, the former NBA Coach of the Year has kept his team afloat and in playoff contention for a fourth straight season.
That prompted the SportsTalk Live panel to debate: is this Thibodeau's best year coaching the Bulls?
In his first season he was named the NBA's Coach of the Year and tutored league MVP Derrick Rose; the Bulls tied the NBA lead for wins (50) in the 2011-12 lockout season and the Bulls won 45 games while dealing with the media circus created by Rose missing the season in 2012-13.
"Ask that question again at the end of the regular season," The Score's David Schuster said. "But right now they're on a really good roll."
David Kaplan, who posed the original question, thinks this year has been Thibodeau's best yet, that the Bulls head coach is using the front office's decision to trade Deng as motivation for his team to succeed.
Clippers-Bulls Preview.
By TAYLOR BECHTOLD (STATS Writer)
The Los Angeles Clippers were cruising along without Chris Paul, but now they'll have to recover from a somewhat surprising setback on their road trip.
The Chicago Bulls, meanwhile, seem to keep winning no matter how many players are missing from their lineup.
The Clippers will try to avoid consecutive losses for the first time in a month while the Bulls seek their 10th win in 12 games Friday night at the United Center.
Los Angeles (29-15) had averaged 108.6 points - 3.2 better than its season average - while winning six of eight since its six-time All-Star went down with a sprained right shoulder Jan. 3.
The Clippers, though, shot 6 for 26 from 3-point range as they failed to reach 93 points for the second time in three games in a 95-91 loss at Charlotte on Wednesday.
Since averaging 17.5 points on 65.9 percent shooting in his first four starts, Darren Collison has scored 10.2 while shooting 35.6 percent in his last five.
Since averaging 17.5 points on 65.9 percent shooting in his first four starts, Darren Collison has scored 10.2 while shooting 35.6 percent in his last five.
"We got great 3-point looks," coach Doc Rivers said after his club fell to 2-2 on a seven-game trip. "Some nights they go in and some nights they don't.''
While Blake Griffin has become more of a focal point with 26.9 points per game in his last seven, he was limited to one point in the final 12 minutes Wednesday and missed a pair of layups in the final 20 seconds.
Facing another one of the league's top defensive clubs after struggling against the Pacers and Bobcats, the Clippers could have a difficult time bouncing back as they try to avoid their first back-to-back defeats since Dec. 25-26.
The surging Bulls (21-20), who rank second in the NBA with 92.5 points allowed per game, moved over .500 for the first time in two months with a 98-87 win at Cleveland on Wednesday.
D.J. Augustin finished with 27 points and Taj Gibson matched a career high with 26 as those two filled in for injured starters Kirk Hinrich and Carlos Boozer. Augustin has played a key role in the resurgence with 21.6 points per game over his last five while hitting 19 of 33 from 3-point range.
''It's one of the things I respect about our team,'' coach Tom Thibodeau said. ''They respond to every challenge. They have a lot of heart. They're playing together. Each day they have the right approach. If someone's out, the next five get in there and get the job done.''
Joakim Noah also has been solid in the middle, averaging 13.8 points and 14.4 boards during a career-best streak of 14 consecutive double-digit rebounding games.
Though Hinrich is expected to miss several games with a hamstring injury, Boozer could return from a strained right calf. He's totaled 49 points in two career meetings with the Clippers at the United Center.
Griffin had a combined 51 points and 22 rebounds in those contests - both Los Angeles victories. He also had 15 points and 12 boards in a 121-82 win over visiting Chicago on Nov. 24 as the Bulls played their first game without Derrick Rose.
The Clippers' 39-point margin of victory was the largest in franchise history.
Los Angeles has won 10 of 12 at the United Center.
No team logos on plaques for Maddux, La Russa.
AP Sports
Greg Maddux and Tony La Russa will not have logos on their Hall of Fame plaques.
The decision was announced Thursday by the Hall, which said Joe Torre's plaque will have the logo of the New York Yankees.
Plaques for Tom Glavine and Bobby Cox will have Atlanta Braves logos, and Frank Thomas' will have the logo of the Chicago White Sox.
The six will be inducted during ceremonies on July 27. The managers were elected last month by the Hall's expansion-era committee and the players were chosen this month by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Of the 300 previous Hall members, 86 have caps with logos and 42 don't have caps.
Maddux began his big league career with the Chicago Cubs from 1986-92, winning the first of his four Cy Young Awards in his final season at Wrigley Field. He was with the Braves from 1993-03, winning Cy Youngs in his first three seasons in Atlanta, then returned to the Cubs from 2004-06. He also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 2006-08.
''I feel good about it, I spent half my career in Chicago and half of my career in Atlanta,'' Maddux said during a news conference in Arlington, Texas. ''I love both places. Obviously, I feel like I had more success as a Brave. We did get a World Series there, but I kind of came up a Cub. For me, I couldn't pick. I really couldn't. ... So I'm going to go in neutral, I guess.''
Hall President Jeff Idelson said a logo makes sense for those ''whose most compelling contributions clearly took place with one team'' and not having a team logo is ''equally acceptable'' for those whose careers were built significantly among multiple teams.
''Regardless of the selection, a Hall of Famer belong to every team for which he played or managed, as well as every fan who followed his career,'' Idelson said.
La Russa managed the Chicago White Sox (1979-86), Oakland (1986-95) and St. Louis (1996-11), winning World Series titles in 1989, 2006 and 2011.
''The Chicago White Sox gave me my start in the game as a big league manager for my first eight seasons in my 33-year managerial career,'' La Russa said. ''In Oakland, we recorded four first-place finishes in 10 years, winning three pennants and a World Series. And in St. Louis, our clubs won three pennants and two titles in 16 years. It's the totality of the success of each of those three teams that led me to Cooperstown, so I am choosing to not feature a logo so that fans of all clubs can celebrate this honor with me.''
Torre managed the Yankees from 1996-07, winning Series titles in 1996 and from 1998-00. He also managed the New York Mets (1997-81), Atlanta (1982-84), St. Louis (1990-95) and the Dodgers (2008-10).
''When I became the manager of the New York Yankees, it was an opportunity to realize my lifelong dream of winning the World Series,'' Torre said. ''We were fortunate enough to succeed in our first season in 1996, and in the years that followed, we wrote some great new chapters in Yankee history.''
Decisions were relatively simple for the others.
Glavine pitched for the Braves from 1987-02 and in 2008, spending 2003-07 with the Mets.
Choosing the Braves was easy for Glavine, who said he knew it had to be a tough decision for Maddux because of his time with the Cubs. Still, Glavine is surprised about Maddux choosing no logo.
''It still was a lot of fun for me to be his teammate,'' Glavine said before the annual dinner of the Boston chapter of the BBWAA.
Cox managed the Braves from 1978-81, managed Toronto from 1982-85, then returned to Atlanta as general manager. He became the Braves' manager again in 1990 and stayed through 2010, leading Atlanta to 14 straight division titles and a World Series championship in 1995.
Thomas was with the White Sox from 1990-05, then split 2006-08 between Oakland and Toronto.
Cink in control at Torrey Pines, Tiger cards a 72.
Reuters; Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue
Stewart Cink, seeking his first PGA Tour title in five years, charged into a one-shot lead at the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday as Phil Mickelson also moved into early contention despite nursing a troublesome back.
Mickelson, who frequently winced at the top of his backswing because of muscle pain down his side, carded a three-under 69 on the easier North Course while seven-times champion Tiger Woods opened with an even 72 on the brutal South layout.
Cink, who has not triumphed anywhere since his playoff victory over Tom Watson in the 2009 British Open at Turnberry, fired a flawless 64 on the North to seize control of the PGA Tour event at picturesque Torrey Pines outside San Diego.
The 40-year-old Cink birdied four of his last six holes to end a mainly sunny day which began with a fog delay of 30 minutes one stroke in front of fellow American Gary Woodland, who also started out on the North.
Australians Jason Day and Marc Leishman, South African Tyrone van Aswegen and American Jim Herman opened with 66s while American Pat Perez, with a 67, was the only player in the top 16 who played on the more difficult South layout.
Tour veteran Cink was delighted with his opening round, despite totaling just one birdie on the four par-five holes.
"If you drive it well on the North Course, you're going to have birdie opportunities and I drove it very well most of the day," the tall American told Golf Channel.
"It was just a different game from the short grass out there. You've got some shorter holes and I took advantage of a lot of those holes ... the par-fives, I didn't play those very well. It was a very calm, very relaxed kind of round."
Cink, a six-times winner on the PGA Tour, knows he will face a very different challenge in Friday's second round on the South Course, which played almost four strokes harder than the North on Thursday.
"It's definitely a tale of two golf courses here," he smiled. "The South we all know is one of the most difficult courses on the tour and it pretty much requires all facets of the game to be on.
"I have been playing fairly well this year … so I am looking forward to the challenge. It's a big golf course to really test yourself and see where you stand this time of year."
PLAYING TOUGH
Woods, competing in his first tournament of the year, offset two birdies with two bogeys on a South layout playing tougher than usual because of firm conditions, narrow fairways and thick rough.
"Well, even par's not too bad, but I didn't play the par-fives worth a darn today," said the world number one, who clinched last year's Farmers Insurance Open by four shots in a fog-delayed Monday finish.
"I played them even par, parred all of them ... to try to get any kind of scoring on the South course you've got to take care of the par-fives because there's not a lot of holes you can make birdies here.
"It (the South) has got to be playing right around three shots easier, so I'm going to have to go out there and get it a little bit tomorrow to not be so far behind come Saturday or Sunday."
San Diego native Mickelson, a three-times champion at Torrey Pines, mixed four birdies with a lone bogey to climb the leaderboard and was thankful he had played his opening round on the less daunting North.
"I kind of milked my way around the golf course and I was able to do that on the North Course because the penalty wasn't as severe as it is on the South," the American left-hander said.
"I am able to kind of get it up by the green and get up and down and salvage par. I made a couple of birdies but it won't hold up on the South Course so I've got to get it better."
Asked to explain what was wrong, Mickelson replied: "From the top (on the swing), it just kept locking up and giving me a shooting pain. I kind of flinch.
"If I overdo it, it's just prone to getting a little bit tight. It's just a muscular thing. My back feels fine, it's just a muscle on the side. I think it will go away in a short period of time. I don't think it's anything serious."
However, Mickelson said he would consider withdrawing from the event if his muscle pain did not respond sufficiently to treatment over the next 24 hours.
Tour, Finchem continue to review rules of golf.
By Ryan Lavner
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem again reinforced the idea Wednesday that the sport, at both the pro and recreational level, would benefit from a streamlined version of the rules.
Progress, however slow, has been made in recent months. In November, the USGA announced a new rule that would protect players from being penalized when a ball’s movement was detected only through the use of enhanced technology. Still, the possibility exists that a player could be disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard if a different violation (marking, points of relief, etc.) occurs.
Finchem said that the issue at hand has more to do with the rules themselves, and whether they are applied reasonably and fairly.
“I think making a mistake – an unintentional mistake that could lead to disqualification – to me is too extreme,” he said Wednesday on the eve of the Farmers Insurance Open.
There has been some worry that simply ignoring video evidence would make players less motivated to learn the rules. Said Finchem: “At this level, a two-shot penalty is all you need as a motivation to know the rules. Two shots is huge. So losing a player for a week because of some silly mistake to me is not consistent.”
Finchem also said that the Tour is continually exploring its options when it comes to viewer call-ins. Though a rules official doesn’t currently monitor the TV coverage, the Tour has experimented with that option in the past and could again in the future.
New qualifying format will be a knockout indeed.
By David Caraviello
You can almost hear the buzz building now, coursing over those high banks, storming through the turns and heading toward the start/finish line. Gone is the agonizing three-hour wait as one car after another makes individual laps around NASCAR's biggest race track. Qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway -- along with everywhere else -- has been transformed by virtue of a single rule change.
Now it will be an absolute storm, with drivers almost certainly working the draft in an effort to secure the top starting position (and its accompanying first pit stall selection) in the frantic final session that caps the new group qualifying format announced Wednesday across all three of NASCAR's national series. No place stands to benefit from the change more than big, bad Talladega, where the issuing of one news release has changed the track's qualifying process from a grind into 50 minutes of must-see-TV.
Although NASCAR refers to the new process simply as a group qualifying format, other circuits like Formula 1 that have successfully utilized similar concepts call it "knockout" qualifying -- and in many places, the new procedure could prove to be just that. Beginning with this coming season, all cars will qualify on the track at the same time in an atmosphere that more closely simulates race conditions. The faster vehicles advance through two or three sessions, depending on the track's size, always culminating with the quickest 12 cars deciding the top spot among themselves.
After year upon year of single-car qualifying, this is a revolutionary change for NASCAR. While the old format had its merits -- the can-you-top-this element of single-car qualifying occasionally had its own knockout feel -- the sheer duration it took for all those cars to make all those laps on their own often dragged the session down. Weather was always a concern. Now, the process has been standardized -- qualifying in one hour, everywhere, under a format that will surely ratchet up the entertainment value and have track promoters giddy over the prospect of better Friday afternoons at the gate.
From a competitive standpoint, it's going to be interesting to see how strategy and timing play a part. The opening session of group qualifying -- mark your calendars, it's Feb. 21 when the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualify at Daytona -- won't begin with all entered vehicles charging toward the green flag, but instead starting from pit road. They can exit pit road at any time, and drivers can make as many laps as they want during the course of the session. Crews can even make minor adjustments between segments, though the cars can't be jacked and the hoods can't be raised. Go to the garage area, you're done.
The format will debut in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Phoenix in the second race of the season. Needless to say, there are a lot more variables at play here than just holding down the accelerator for two laps, and that's without mentioning the random draw that will decide the order in which cars are lined up on pit road prior to the session. No question, that draw could loom large, depending on the track and the situation -- say for instance you're Jimmie Johnson in the thick of the championship hunt, and you arrive at Martinsville Speedway with four races remaining, and you draw pill 45 on a tight half-mile track. Stranger things have happened.
That cars will start on pit road, able to come and go as they please over the length of the session, and makes you wonder -- will teams with poor starting draws try to game the system, staying put and gambling that a few cars will come back in or head to the garage area, easing the traffic just enough to rip off that one good qualifying lap? Or will everyone make a mad dash for it from the start, since the first qualifying laps are usually the best ones? Since all vehicles will begin with a full fuel load and use just one set of tires, will some teams stay out longer trying to trade tire wear for weight? Will teams tape off the front end, wait until the final minutes, and make one bomber run with the clock running down?
"It's hard to anticipate what they'll do. But I would imagine that many of them will think that their first couple laps on the race track, engines will be cold, things of that nature, will be their best laps in that first segment. But it's hard to imagine what strategies these guys will work on and have play out over the course of the qualifying session," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition and racing development, and a longtime crew chief at the sport's top level.
"I think as we move through the season it will take on a life of its own at different places where they will have different strategies, whether it's working on the race setups, or if they want to be aggressive in one round or kind of lay?up in the other round, saving tires to just squeak into the final round and have the best tires. Comes to mind what you would have to do with tire management for (Auto Club) Speedway or Atlanta, Homestead and some others. I think there are opportunities there for different crew chiefs to take advantage of some of these situations."
Either way, we're guaranteed to have multiple cars on the track at the same time, which means we're guaranteed to have incidents at some point. Get wrecked, by the way, and your qualifying time is the best one you posted in the most recent session you were a part of. While it wasn't unheard of for teams to unload backup cars because of qualifying accidents under the single-car format -- particularly on fast, slick intermediate layouts -- that prospect certainly looms larger under this new procedure. And then there's the question of the draft, and how much teams will use it for qualifying at Talladega and the summer Daytona event, and whether somebody will jump out of line and go for that pole position just as if they were going for the win.
Indeed, there are a lot of moving parts to this, a qualifying format that's more complicated yet more concise all at the same time. None of this should be a surprise to competitors, who were made aware in a meeting last fall that NASCAR was considering such a shift for all points events outside of the Daytona 500 and the Truck Series race at Eldora Speedway. Two weeks ago at Preseason Thunder testing, Pemberton effectively said a move was forthcoming, although he didn't specify the Sprint Cup Series at the time. If there were voices of dissent coming from the garage area, surely we would have heard them by now.
If anything, the reaction among fans and competitors has been almost universally positive, save those malcontents who lurk on the fringes of social media and are never happy about anything. "I really like what NASCAR is doing to add more excitement," wrote Kasey Kahne on Twitter, and he was far from alone in that sentiment. Track operators get a better product, television networks get a more manageable window, officials get more flexibility in dealing with weather. Certainly, May 2 at Talladega now shapes up as a far more interesting day on the NASCAR calendar. As does every qualifying session, thanks to a new format that promises to be a knockout indeed.
Juan Mata: Chelsea's Trash is Manchester United's Treasure.
By Shahan Ahmed
Juan Mata was Not Treated Well by Jose Mourinho, but Chelsea's Decision to Sell to Manchester United is an Interesting One.
COMMENTARY I More than simply flirting with mediocrity, Manchester United was on the verge of marrying the middle of the table with David Moyes saying the vows and overseeing proceedings.
Suddenly, a rumor surfaced. Juan Mata was linked to the Red Devils and United finally showed signs of life. With the deal rumored to cost the Red Devils about $60 million, the club with the most Premier League titles in history opened the bank and has made an incredibly positive move in the transfer market.
On the pitch, however, Moyes' United continued to falter and fail. Wednesday's League Cup semifinal defeat to Sunderland was yet another black eye on a face that is covered with more bumps and bruises than a badly beaten boxer after 12 rounds.
Going to penalty kicks against a team deep in the relegation zone was embarrassing enough, but converting one penalty out of five tries was disgustingly poor. Over 180 minutes, Sunderland deserved to get past Manchester United. In the penalty shootout, neither team deserved to go on, but United was the lesser of the two sides.
Even before Wednesday's disappointment, Manchester United required a spark, and Mata may be the perfect man to be the catalyst.
Throughout the day on Wednesday, the League Cup defeat was deservedly overshadowed by news that United had agreed to terms with Chelsea. The gifted Spanish midfielder was considered surplus to Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho's plans.
United finally spent money on a proven Premier League midfielder who possesses the proper quality to change a match (i.e. not Marouane Fellaini).
Even if he did not play an integral role in every competition, Mata was on teams that won the Under-19 European Championships, Under-21 European Championships, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, FA Cup, European Championships and the FIFA World Cup.
At only 25 years of age, Mata likely has his best football ahead of him, but the former Real Madrid youth product's experience is well beyond his age. For whatever reason, the Mourinho and Mata marriage failed from the start, and the Portuguese tactician forcibly froze out the Spaniard.
Mata was an unused substitute in five of Chelsea's last seven matches, including all three spotlight fixtures against Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. Across all competitions this season, Mourinho only employed Mata from the opening whistle until the final whistle on three occasions, and one of those occasions was a League Cup match.
This is probably the proper time to point out that Mata was Chelsea's Player of the Year two seasons in a row leading up to the current campaign. He was a fan favorite and considered the class of Chelsea's future. When placed alongside his fellow musketeers, Oscar and Eden Hazard, Mata was considered the brightest of the bunch. However, Mourinho never saw it that way.
Ultimately, Chelsea and Mourinho decided they no longer required the Spaniard's services, and Chelsea's trash is United's treasure. Given the transfer price, United gave Chelsea a treasure chest for a player that Mourinho regularly treated like trash.
Still, Chelsea deciding to sell a proven Premier League performer of Mata's quality to Manchester United is blasphemous. To a certain extent, the decision to sell to United is a thinly veiled insult. Chelsea's decision to sell indicates that the Blues do not consider United to be direct rivals. Considering the Blues are in a domestic title race and are in position to play in the Champions League next season, that reality cannot be entirely ignored by the Red Devils.
Case and point, Chelsea made a bid for Wayne Rooney before the close of the summer transfer window, but that bid was viewed as being derisory by United. In United's eyes, it was an unthinkable to sell a quality player to a rival the likes of Chelsea.
Five months later, Chelsea's 3-1 demolition of United proved that the Red Devils were hardly rivals this season. Subsequently, Chelsea did not hesitate to unload Mata to United because Mata's addition to United hardly fixes the leaky defense, injured front line or lack of quality throughout the squad.
Mata finally provides Manchester United with quality worthy of the crest, but he is only the first step on the path to recovery. That path likely requires a season out of the Champions League and more spending. Sooner rather than later, it may even require a new manager.
For now, though, Mata is a good start.
To build the camaraderie needed to win together, Arizona first had to live together.
By Jeff Eisenberg
Shortly after he began searching for a house to rent in Tucson for the 2013-14 school year, Arizona guard Nick Johnson became worried he wouldn't find what he wanted.
Johnson envisioned a house spacious enough for him and most of his teammates because he believed living together would help the Wildcats build the chemistry they lacked the previous year, but the few seven- or eight-bedroom houses on the market were each too expensive.
Just as Johnson was ready to scrap his idea, his girlfriend urged him to check out a duplex someone she knew was building less than a mile from campus. Johnson and Arizona center Kaleb Tarczewski were ready to sign a lease on the spot after their tour revealed two generously sized yet reasonably priced four-bedroom, five-bathroom houses separated only by a courtyard. There was even a Wildcats logo painted on the floor in the living rooms of both houses.
"Kaleb and I immediately knew it was perfect," Johnson said. "We picked out our bedrooms right away. It's hard to find a house in Tucson that can fit seven or eight guys, but that's really what we wanted to do. We had it in our minds from the start. If it didn't work out, we'd have broken up into groups of two or three, but I'm thankful we found what we wanted."
Empty pizza boxes or takeout containers sometimes clutter the living room and dirty dishes often pile up in the sink, but Arizona players have happily bonded amid the occasional mess. In fact the Wildcats cite the cohesiveness forged by living together as one of the unsung secrets to their 18-0 start and ascension to the No. 1 spot in both polls.
Seven Arizona players call the duplex home, with Johnson, Tarczewski, starting point guard T.J. McConnell and reserve guard Chris Johnson in one house and starting forward Brandon Ashley and reserves Gabe York and Zach Peters in the other. Freshmen Aaron Gordon, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Elliott Pitts are required to live on campus, but they spend as much time watching movies and NFL games or playing Xbox at the duplex as they do hanging out in their own dorm rooms.
"Chemistry on the court comes from chemistry off the court, so living together has definitely helped," Tarczewski said. "We had a great team last season and did some special things, but the chemistry this year is on a different level. Last year, the older guys hung out by themselves a lot. There were a few groups of guys that would always be together. This year, everyone's always together. We look at each other as a family. When everyone gets along so well, it helps the team out so much."
Selling his teammates on the idea of living together was easy for Johnson because they all wanted to prevent cliques from forming the way they did the previous season. Though Arizona won 27 games, finished tied for second in the Pac-12 and reached the Sweet 16, the talent-rich Wildcats headed into the offseason wondering if they could have accomplished more had they been more close-knit.
It wasn't as though members of last year's team hated one-another or constantly bickered. It was more that the oldest and youngest players on the team rarely hung out together off the floor and didn't always seamlessly mesh on it.
Arizona's 2012-13 team featured a four-man freshman class considered one of the best in the nation and three senior standouts trying to prove their worth to professional scouts. Seniors Solomon Hill, Kevin Parrom and Mark Lyons led by example rather than nurturing the freshmen and often made it clear they weren't ready to cede control of the team to the newcomers just yet.
"Last year it was a house divided," Arizona assistant coach Book Richardson said. "Not necessarily in a bad way, but you had three seniors playing for their proverbial basketball lives and four freshmen feeling their way around. Everyone was trying to figure out, 'How's this going to work?' The older guys wanted to prove to the younger guys, there's a pecking order. The older guys wanted to lead by example and say follow my lead.
"This year, you had two McDonald's All-Americans and Elliott Pitts coming in, and Nick has welcomed them with open arms. Instead of just leading by example, he has pulled them under his wing and said guys, this is how it goes."
One of Johnson's inspirations for trying to do what he could to bring the Arizona locker room together this season was Louisville's run to the national championship last spring. Johnson was struck by the Cardinals' tearful reaction to Kevin Ware's gruesome broken leg and to their vow to win the title in his honor eight days later.
"Their togetherness ultimately propelled them to a national championship," Johnson said. "That brotherhood you saw when some of the players and coaches cried, that's what we needed."
That closeness Arizona has achieved this season has arisen from anything from afternoon barbecues, to heated late-night games of NBA 2K14, to evenings when the entire team will stay in and watch a movie or order a UFC fight.
The house chef? "Kaleb and Chris," Johnson said without hesitation. "They're always watching the cooking channel."
The messiest roommate? "I'd have to say T.J.," Tarczewski answered quickly. "We always assign T.J. cleaning jobs because otherwise he doesn't really do it."
The Xbox champion? "I would say Brandon is the best at it," Johnson said. "The rest of the guys might get mad at me for saying that."
And the biggest prankster? "I guess it's Nick," Chris Johnson said after a pause. "He's taken all the toilet paper out of my bathroom before and put it into his room to mess with me."
The camaraderie built by spending so much time together has helped the Wildcats win several games they might otherwise have lost this season.
Nick Johnson pointed to the Drexel game in the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals when Arizona fell behind by 19 points in the first half before staging a huge rally to pull out a 66-62 victory. Tarczewski also mentioned the Wildcats' poise down the stretch at UCLA after blowing a 13-point lead in the final minutes.
"On any other team, that's a breaking point right there," Tarczewski said. "Toward the end of the game when a team goes on a run, it's easy to be overwhelmed, especially on the road. We never felt nervous or pointed fingers on the court. We knew exactly what we needed to do to get ourselves out of the situation. It really does show how close we are."
Of course, living together isn't the only reason Arizona's team chemistry is so strong. There's no reason for bickering when the Wildcats have an unbeaten record, an unselfish pass-first point guard and a short rotation in which all the key players know their roles.
Still, to a man, Arizona players insist spending more time together away from basketball has translated into better communication on the floor. Johnson is even hopeful the duplex could become known as the Arizona basketball house in the future if returning players decide to keep renting it each year.
Why not? If this charmed season at Arizona has proven anything so far, it's that the team that lives together, wins together.
Which schools are hurt worst by rash of underclassmen declaring for NFL draft?
By Rand Getlin
With the deadline to declare for the 2014 NFL draft having passed, 98 underclassmen made the leap – leaving a sizeable dent in several college football powerhouses.
This year's total exceeds the previous high for early departures by a whopping 25 players, mowing down last season's record of 73. As always, the reasons for the increase vary – but sources in the agent industry say the spike this season is another sign that players are more frustrated than ever with the lack of profit sharing with athletes in the college football system.
Agents are also amplifying the point in cases to players, arguing that the risk of injury while playing another year of college football without pay far outweighs whatever benefit they may receive by staying in school. That helped to drive the early departure total to within sight of triple digits – a number that is likely to be exceeded for the first time in NFL history next year.
With that in mind, here are the four programs hit the hardest by early departures in 2013:
LSU:
One season after losing 11 players with eligibility remaining to the 2013 NFL draft, the LSU Tigers lost six more to this year's selection process. That's a two-year landslide of 18 players that threatens to put the SEC powerhouse's national championship hopes on hold in 2014.
Last year's departures saw LSU lose considerable experience and production on the defensive side of the ball. This year, it's the offense that will suffer from the attrition, including four skill-position players and a three-year starter on the offensive line. All told, players departing with remaining eligibility accounted for 4,390 yards from scrimmage and 35 touchdowns for the Tigers last season.
And while LSU has reloaded well in recruiting historically, there are plenty of questions about whether the team will have the experience necessary to win 10 or more games for the fifth consecutive season.
Offensive production lost:
Jeremy Hill, RB (sophomore): 1,582 yards from scrimmage, 16 touchdowns
Jarvis Landry, WR (junior): 1,193 yards receiving, 10 touchdowns
Odell Beckham Jr (junior): WR: 1,210 yards from scrimmage, 8 touchdowns
Trai Turner, OL (sophomore): Second Team All-SEC
Alfred Blue, RB (senior with eligibility): 405 yards from scrimmage, 1 touchdown
Jarvis Landry, WR (junior): 1,193 yards receiving, 10 touchdowns
Odell Beckham Jr (junior): WR: 1,210 yards from scrimmage, 8 touchdowns
Trai Turner, OL (sophomore): Second Team All-SEC
Alfred Blue, RB (senior with eligibility): 405 yards from scrimmage, 1 touchdown
Defensive production lost:
Ego Ferguson, DT (junior): 58 tackles, 1 sack, 3.5 tackles for loss
Anthony Johnson, DE (junior): 35 tackles, 3 sacks, 9 tackles for loss.
USC:
As the Steve Sarkisian era begins in Los Angeles, the USC Trojans will have to replace one of the best wideouts in college football, a talented (albeit underutilized) tight end, and an interior offensive lineman who started 33 games for the Trojans.
Still trying to reclaim its dynastic form after NCAA-imposed sanctions stripped the program of its once-lauded depth, USC can ill-afford the loss of five starters from a team that needed a late-season run to finish 10-4.
Offensive production lost:
Marqise Lee, WR (junior): 798 yards from scrimmage, 4 touchdowns
Xavier Grimble, TE (junior): 25 receptions, 271 yards, 2 TDs
Marcus Martin, OL (junior): 2013 first-team All Pac-12
Xavier Grimble, TE (junior): 25 receptions, 271 yards, 2 TDs
Marcus Martin, OL (junior): 2013 first-team All Pac-12
Defensive production lost:
Dion Bailey, S (junior): 62 tackles, 5 interceptions, 6 passes defended,1 forced fumble
George Uko, DT (junior): 36 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 forced fumble
George Uko, DT (junior): 36 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 forced fumble
Alabama:
A juggernaut on the recruiting trail, Alabama has rarely suffered greatly from losing NFL-bound underclassmen under head coach Nick Saban, but replacing four leaders on the defensive side of the ball will present some challenges for the Crimson Tide.
Losing two safeties who started for Alabama (when healthy and eligible) will sting, but Alabama is likely to turn to talented sophomores Geno Smith and Landon Collins to fill the void.
Offensive production lost:
Cyrus Kouandjio, OT (junior): All-SEC first team
Defensive production lost:
HaHa Clinton-Dix, S (junior): 52 total tackles, 2 interceptions, 6 passes defended
Adrian Hubbard, OLB (junior): 33 tackles, 3 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss
Jeoffrey Pagan, DE (junior): 34 tackles, 2 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss
Vinnie Sunseri, S (junior): 20 tackles, 2 interceptions, 4 passes defended
Notre Dame:
The Fighting Irish lost a solid platoon running back and a tight end that appeared to be ready to blossom into one of the country's best in 2014. But it's on the defensive side of the ball where Notre Dame took the biggest hit, losing two monsters on the defensive line who were among the best in the nation at their position.
Brian Kelly has won eight or more games in each of the four seasons he has been Notre Dame's head coach, and he reached the national championship game in 2012. But Kelly will have to figure out a way to keep players like Nix and Tuitt in South Bend for their final seasons if he expects his teams to consistently finish among college football's elite.
Offensive production lost:
George Atkinson, RB (junior): 606 yards from scrimmage, 3 touchdowns
Troy Niklas, TE (junior): 498 yards receiving, 5 touchdowns
Troy Niklas, TE (junior): 498 yards receiving, 5 touchdowns
Defensive production lost:
Louis Nix, DT (senior with eligibility): 27 tackles, 2 tackles for loss
Stephon Tuitt, DE (junior): 49 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks
Stephon Tuitt, DE (junior): 49 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks
Super Bowl XLVIII: Date subject to change.
Reuters
Super Bowl XLVIII is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 2, but the NFL put contingency plans in place to play the game any time between Friday and Monday next weekend.
A storm of massive proportions would have to be in the forecast for the league to make those contingencies a reality.
"We are embracing the weather," commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday. "Football is played in the elements."
The current forecast for Super Bowl Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J. is for a high of 40 and 30 percent chance of rain or snow. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:25 p.m. ET.
If a major storm or severe temperatures impacts the region, the game could be played anywhere from Friday, Jan. 31 to Monday, Feb. 3. But the NFL said that's a worst-case scenario with a low probability based on current weather models.
NFL officials are hoping fans embrace the first outdoor, cold-weather Super Bowl in league history. They will receive ear muffs, hat, lip balm, mittens, cup holder, scarf, tissues, a radio to listen to the game, hand warmers, a seat cushion and a waist-wrap, quarterback-style hand pocket.
Those "comfort" items won't go a long way toward ensuring safety, which Goodell and NFL officials are stressing is most important on their long list of logistical concerns. Wednesday, MetLife Stadium officials and more than 1,000 workers removed 13 inches of snow from the bowl seating area as an impromptu test run for the upcoming week.
"I think that the various events that we have are going off without a hitch and in fact have already begun because staging this stadium is an event in and of itself," NFL vice president of operations Eric Grubman said. "We don't have a crystal ball on weather, but we're confident we'll be able to have our events."
New Jersey governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency on Tuesday. Grubman said a similar call Feb. 2 -- restricting local travel and traffic that would be funneling from all directions toward MetLife Stadium starting early in the afternoon -- would be a consideration for delaying or moving the game.
The 80,000 fans who will attend the game would be impacted in different ways. Fans and thousands of media credentield to cover the event, including hundreds of international reporters, could face challenges adjusting travel and lodging schedules.
"Based on the long-range forecast, all that I would even hazard to guess is that it is probably going to be cold. I doubt we are going to have an unusual warm spell," Grubman said.
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