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2014 Sochi Olympics Medal Count (Final).
CS&T/AA Graphics
Updated: 2/23 9:35 AM
| # | Country | G | S | B | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russia | 13 | 11 | 9 | 33 |
| 2 | United States | 9 | 7 | 12 | 28 |
| 3 | Norway | 11 | 5 | 10 | 26 |
| 4 | Canada | 10 | 10 | 5 | 25 |
| 5 | Netherlands | 8 | 7 | 9 | 24 |
| 6 | Germany | 8 | 6 | 5 | 19 |
| 7 | Austria | 4 | 8 | 5 | 17 |
| 8 | France | 4 | 4 | 7 | 15 |
| 9 | Sweden | 2 | 7 | 6 | 15 |
| 10 | Switzerland | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 11 | China | 3 | 4 | 2 | 9 |
| 12 | South Korea | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 13 | Czech Republic | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| 14 | Slovenia | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| 15 | Japan | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 16 | Italy | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 17 | Belarus | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 18 | Poland | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 19 | Finland | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 20 | Britain | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 21 | Latvia | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 22 | Australia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 23 | Ukraine | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 24 | Slovakia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 | Croatia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 26 | Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
When will the Olympics return to the United States?
By Dan Wetzel
Scott Blackmun, the CEO of the United States Olympic Committee, was asked Saturday about whether there were any plans for one of the northern U.S. cities to make a bid to host the Winter Games in 2026.
Blackmun noted the recent snowy weather back in the States and figured there was no reason to be geographically restrictive.
"Now Atlanta is in the mix for a [Winter] bid," he joked.
The truth is, the USOC isn't sure exactly when it is even going have a U.S. city enter the IOC bidding process again, let alone when the Olympics might return to America.
The last Olympics on U.S. soil were the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. With future bids set – or the process too far advanced – the first opportunity for a return is the 2024 Summer Games, a gap of at least 22 years. That's the longest such stretch since the 28 years between the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games and the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Games.
The U.S. has hosted eight Olympics in all, including four from 1980 to 2002. Suddenly, there is nothing.
Where and when the next one will be is the question. The USOC doesn't even know if it will mount a bid soon, perhaps still smarting after Chicago's seemingly strong effort to get the 2016 Summer Games wound up fourth out of the final four. The winner was Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"We are evaluating now whether we want to bid for 2024 [Summer Games]," Blackmun said. "We're talking to a handful of cities, and if we determine that a 2024 bid is not in the interest of the Olympic movement in the U.S., then we will shift our analysis to whether or not the 2026 [Winter Games] makes sense."
In other words, your guess is as good as the USOC's.
Rio will host the 2016 Summer Games; PyeongChang, South Korea, the 2018 Winter Games; and Tokyo the 2020 Summer Games. The location of the 2022 Winter Games has yet to be determined, but the process is in the final stages, with Oslo, Norway, and Almaty, Kazakhstan, as the perceived favorites.
There are myriad challenges in getting the Olympics back to the United States.
There's the high expense, even if perception can often be greater than reality and the Olympics can even be profitable against operational costs.
There's concern over inconvenience, environmental impact and security among the public, especially in world-class cities such as New York that aren't in need of a public-relations boost and may be less than eager to draw a terrorist bull's-eye on them.
There is the lack of federal backing. Not only is the USOC the only non-government-funded organization of its ilk – due to the partisan political culture of Washington – but you won't see a sitting president truly go to the wall for a bid as in other nations. It's not worth the backlash. The IOC likes to be courted … and to have huge public works projects put into play.
Then there is the frustrating bid process and voting tendencies of the elites from the IOC, where wining and dining, horse-trading and even alleged bribes or favored business deals tend to win out. The U.S. isn't alone in that complaint.
The single best bid the U.S. could put out there is to have Salt Lake City host the Winter Olympics again – the infrastructure and venues are already in place, so costs would be minimal. The IOC, however, tends to frown on returning quickly to host cities. Places such as Los Angeles (twice) and London (three times) have hosted multiple games, but 40 or 50 years apart.
It would be easier if they rotated around to a few ideal spots, the way the Super Bowl and Final Four do. Instead IOC arrogance asks for a new city, which might be limited – Atlanta jokes aside – to either Denver/Aspen or Lake Tahoe/Reno. Each would require plenty of work, basically starting from scratch.
The United States' best bet for the 2024 Summer Games is probably San Francisco, which aligns with sophisticated IOC tastes. That would, however, also require a major buildup of facilities – essentially getting the region or the state of California to build new stadiums in the area of the East Bay currently used by the Oakland Raiders and Athletics. Then there would be a host of other smaller competition venues.
Considering how endless the battle has been to get a relatively simple basketball arena built in San Francisco for the NBA's Golden State Warriors, that seems a challenge.
Almost any new construction or altering of San Francisco in any way generates protests and local opposition. Places such as Russia and China can bulldoze through that. It's not so easy in Northern California. And did we mention the traffic? Or the environmental questions?
Finding the right city, with the right climate, with the right majority of local support is the forever challenge.
When Chicago lost its bid, badly, despite being set up as an ideal summer host, momentum in America seemed to slow down.
The IOC can shrug. They'd prefer to return to the U.S. because of its wealth and number of corporate and media partners.
However, there appears to be an endless parade of developing areas that are so desperate for the attention and credibility the Games provide that they are willing to do nearly anything to gain favor.
Each Olympics seems to get bigger, more opulent and more expensive. Here in Sochi, the Russian government displaced citizens and built an entire Olympic Park from scratch along the Black Sea. The cost, Russia says, is $51 billion. What will remain behind of any use remains to be seen.
PyeongChang, South Korea, has budgeted $9 billion for the next Winter Games, infrastructure included, but it's a reasonable price to get introduced on a global stage.
"Thirty years ago the world saw the developing country of Korea through the 1988 Games in Seoul," said Jin-sun Kim, president of the organizing committee. "In 2018, the world will be able to see a truly developed country of Korea through the Pyeongchang Games."
For South Korea that might be worth the money. Would a city in America feel the same way, especially when the billions might not include federal backing? Is the U.S. eager enough anymore?
Even if the U.S. tried, can they even beat these nations' willing to do virtually anything for the Olympics? Beijing spent billions on the 2008 Summer Games, and even though many of the venues now sit empty and rotting, it is bidding for the 2022 Winter Games. One problem is the Chinese capital sits some 120 miles from any usable mountains.
China's solution? Government construction of a ultra-high-speed rail capable of cutting travel time to a little over a half an hour.
That's impressive.
Think we could run one of those from Atlanta to Vail?
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Canada's Toews (Blackhawks Captain) emerges from Crosby's shadow.
Reuters; By Julian Linden; Editing by Frank Pingue
While he may not get the same accolades or the fanatical following that Sidney Crosby enjoys, Jonathan Toews is also proving himself to be Canada's man for every moment.
On Sunday, Toews scored the winning goal in Canada's 3-0 win over Sweden in the gold medal game of the men's ice hockey tournament at the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Toews also netted Canada's first goal in the final against the United States at the 2010 Vancouver Games although his score was later overshadowed by Crosby's overtime winner that decided the gold medal.
Crosby stole Toews's thunder again on Sunday when he scored his team's second goal on a breakaway before Chris Kunitz put the result beyond doubt with his first of the tournament.
"It's an amazing feeling to be part of a team like that, whether your role was big or small. We were just an amazing team to watch, the way we worked together and the way we were all over them. It was a fun team to be a part of," Toews said.
"You look at the skill we have across our line-up and it is amazing to see the guys who have the raw talent and ability to commit themselves to doing all the little things right.
"We knew that is what it was going to take to win the championship."
Like all the Canadian players, Toews is used to being upstaged by Crosby even though he's quietly been building a resume that is just as impressive as his revered team mate.
Both have two Olympic gold medals and both captained their National Hockey League teams to win the Stanley Cup, with Crosby winning with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 and Toews with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010 and 2013.
Toews also won a world championship with Canada in 2007 - one of the few tournaments Crosby has never won - and remains the youngest member of ice hockey's elite Triple Gold Club - for players who have the won the Olympics, world and NHL titles.
Canadian forward Jeff Carter said having Crosby and Toews at the top of their games gave all the players a lift.
"They are leaders for a reason and they brought everything they had," Carter said. "When you get your top guys going like that, it is pretty easy for the rest of the team to follow."
While Crosby was a seemingly obvious choice to be named as Canada's captain for the Sochi Olympics, the high regard in which Toews is held made it a difficult choice for the team management.
Even Crosby, who is almost a year older than Toews, asked for his younger team mate's blessing before accepting the role.
Toews said he was fine with the decision and agreed to be the team's assistant captain and the pair once again hit it off on the ice.
"With all this pressure in the tournament," Toews said. "You play special just to find a way to win and to make your country proud."
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Sunday notes: Heard around the combine.
By Rich Cimini
Notes and observations from the NFL scouting combine:
1. Backs to the wall: This comes as a bit of a surprise, but I hear the New York Jets are exploring free-agent running backs -- namely Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and Ben Tate (Houston Texans). Obviously, their greatest needs are wide receiver and tight end, with running back thought to be a secure position with Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell. But general manager John Idzik is a big believer in competition and depth. It also could mean that the troubled Mike Goodson is on thin ice. The bad boy from last offseason has legal issues, a surgically repaired knee and an upcoming $650,000 roster bonus. Why would the Jets pay that for a player in Goodson's situation? Both Brown and Tate have above-average running skills and they can catch the ball, a much-needed skill in the Jets' backfield.
2. Money to burn: When free agency opens March 11, the Jets should have at least $22 million in salary-cap space (not counting the anticipated veteran purge), but that doesn't mean they'll be spending like Kim Kardashian in a designer clothing store. Idzik still believes in building through the draft. "The draft is your lifeline," he said. "Free agency is phone-a-friend." That said, the Jets are expected to use the phone a few times. The feeling in the organization is they will sign a No. 2 wide receiver, a tight end (if they lose Jeff Cumberland), a veteran backup quarterback, a running back and a kicker (if they lose Nick Folk). They're optimistic about their chances of re-signing tackle Austin Howard. Yes, they have a fairly lengthy shopping list, but I don't see them breaking the bank for anyone with an $8-million-a-year-type deal. They will use the draft to find a potential No. 1 receiver and a pass-catching tight end, along with plugging some holes on defense.
3. QB quest: The Jets met with at least two quarterbacks, LSU's Zach Mettenberger and Eastern Illinois' Jimmy Garoppolo. The 6-5 Mettenberger, in the final stages of knee-surgery rehab, is an interesting prospect. Idzik, who scouted him in person during the season, is looking to add a developmental quarterback at some point in the draft. Mettenberger could be just that in the late rounds. I see the Jets going to training camp with Geno Smith, Matt Simms, a new veteran backup and a rookie.
4. Off the Mark: If the Jets decide they want to retain Mark Sanchez (unlikely), they will try to get him to swallow a massive pay cut. The amount of their proposal will tell Sanchez just how much they really want him. If they try to slash his base pay from $9 million to $1 million, it would be insulting, a strong indication he'd have no chance to unseat Smith. If they offer in the $3 million-to-$5 million range, with a chance to make more money with incentives, it would show they consider him a viable starting option.
4a. Butt fumble revisited: Former longtime GM and current ESPN analyst Bill Polian believes Sanchez has been unfairly stigmatized by the "butt fumble." "Unequivocally, the butt fumble wasn't his fault," Polian told me. "It's been played ad infinitum. The guard (Brandon Moore) got driven into him. Perception is often times reality, and that's what people think. If you ask the average person what they think of Mark Sanchez, they'd say the butt fumble. It wasn't his fault."
5. Legal tampering: The combine is the place where agents and teams meet to discuss free-agent deals. Technically, it's not allowed, but no one says anything. Curiously, a number of agents told me that teams are reluctant this year to discuss specific dollar amounts. It's likely that teams, concerned about having their offers shopped around, are waiting for the March 8-11 exclusive negotiating period to get serious.
6. Seen around Indy: Former Jets colleagues Mike Tannenbaum and Eric Mangini lunched together. Despite the awkward parting in 2009 (actually, Woody Johnson was the driving force behind Mangini's ouster), Tannenbaum and Mangini have remained close friends. Mangini, named last week as the tight-ends coach of the San Francisco 49ers, is working his way up the ladder on the offensive side of the ball. If he makes it to coordinator some day, he'll have the rare offensive/defensive coordinator on his résumé.
6a. Seen around Indy II: Rex Ryan and twin brother, defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, took a break from the combine to eat at a local Hooters restaurant. Naturally, they ended up on Twitter, posing in a picture with a group of Hooters' waitresses.
7. Give that man a pair of ear plugs: Former Jets defensive coordinator Mike Pettine's experience in a circus-type environment (the Jets, 2009-2012) should serve him well in his new job as the Cleveland Browns' coach. He got the job after 23 people turned it down (only a slight exaggeration), saw the two men that hired him get whacked (Joe Banner and Mike Lombardi) and was hit Friday with the news that the Browns reportedly came close to hiring San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh before turning to him. Pettine called the Harbaugh story "noise -- and my goal is to quiet the noise." He recently held a staff meeting in which he used a Power Point presentation to underscore the challenge before them -- two playoff appearances, one playoff win and 141 coaches since 1991. Said Pettine: "To turn around a franchise, you have to be extraordinary." Here's wishing him luck; he'll need it.
8. Best and worst: I thought Michael Sam handled himself extremely well Saturday in his first news conference since sharing he is gay. Facing perhaps the largest news conference in combine history, Sam was confident, yet not cocky, projecting the image of a young man who just wants to play football. On the other side of the news-conference spectrum was Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin, who fumbled his way through a Q & A that focused on the bullying scandal. He was all over the place, accepting responsibility in one breath but pleading ignorance in the next. How they fired longtime trainer Kevin O'Neill, portrayed in a negative light in the Wells report, was a low-class move. The Dolphins flew him to the combine and then fired him, two days before he was to receive an award in Indianapolis as the league's top trainer. He didn't attend the ceremony, but received a standing ovation when his prepared remarks were read to the crowd.
9. Respect for JC: It was interesting to hear offensive linemen talk about South Carolina's Jadeveon Clowney, the possible No. 1 overall pick. Said Michigan tackle Michael Schofield: "I played a series against Clowney, and that was probably the hardest series of my life." Other linemen echoed similar sentiments. The Houston Texans, picking first, have a tough choice. They need a quarterback, but Clowney is the best talent in the draft.
10. Johnny Football speaks: Clearly, Johnny Manziel's mission at the combine was to shatter his image as a rock star-party boy quarterback. Asked to describe the difference between Johnny Football and Johnny Manziel, the former Texas A & M star shifted into third person. "Johnny Manziel is a guy ... I’m from a small town of Kerrville, Texas, 20,000 people. People make me out to be a big Hollywood guy, (I'm) really just still a small-town kid" -- who jets off to Vegas to party with the rich and famous.
Just another Chicago Bulls Session… Heat beat Bulls as James sits out with broken nose.
By Walter Villa, The Sports Xchange
Chris Bosh has "reinvented" himself.
That's the assessment of Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who has seen his 6-foot-11 forward transform himself over the past two years.
On Sunday, with Heat star forward LeBron James out with a broken nose, Bosh provided 28 points, 10 rebounds and no turnovers to lead Miami to a 93-79 win over the Chicago Bulls 93-79 at AmericanAirlines Arena.
The Heat also got 23 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists from guard Dwyane Wade and held the Bulls to .358 percent shooting, forcing seven 24-second violations.
Bosh made 4 of 9 on 3-pointers as the Heat won while playing its first home game in 20 days.
"(Bosh) has been an incredibly accurate shooter from 18 feet for a long time," said Spoelstra, who earned his 300th career win in the NBA. "It just took just a little extra work to extend his range."
That extra work, Spoelstra said, began two years ago when Bosh was injured during a playoff series against the Indiana Pacers.
"I distinctly remember that's when we started the process," Spoelstra said. "We had him working on threes every day as part of his routine.
"Then, from there, he has just started to ramp it up a little bit more. Each year, we become a little more comfortable with him on the perimeter. He has reinvented himself after 10 years in the league for the necessity of this team.
"For a guy to have that understanding and that willingness to do that is amazing. We knew that would open up the door to a flood of criticism. 'What is he doing out there? What is a big man doing shooting threes?'"
What it's done is give the Heat spacing and allowed them to win even on days when James is out. In fact, the Heat is 2-0 this season without James, and Bosh had 37 points against Portland in the only other game that Miami's superstar missed this season.
"I think (3-point shooting) will help extend my career," Bosh said. "I just want to give different dynamics to my game and be as versatile as possible."
With Sunday's win, the Heat (40-14), who have won five in a row, are just one game behind the Pacers in the battle for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls (29-26), who are in fourth place in the East, had their five-game win streak snapped.
The Heat's next game is Thursday, when the New York Knicks visit. James is expected to return for that game, which would give him exactly one week of rest since he got hurt while driving to the rim against Oklahoma City. James was hit by Thunder center Serge Ibaka, although no foul was called.
Wearing a light-gray suit, James sat on the Heat bench Sunday, giving his teammates instructions and, at one point, flipping a ball underhand and in the basket from out of bounds -- a couple of feet behind the corner three-point line.
James watched as Bosh scored seven of his points in the third quarter, when the Heat went on a 16-2 run that, in essence, won the game. The Heat led 65-52 after three quarters, following a first half in which neither team led by more than five points.
With James out, the Heat started center Greg Oden, who entered the game having played a combined total of just 78 minutes all season. It was just his 11th game of the season and his first start in nearly five years.
Oden had five points and five rebounds in 13 minutes.
Miami also got 12 points and nine assists from Mario Chalmers, the Heat's point guard.
Chalmers said that even though James did not play, he still helped.
"LeBron has a lot of knowledge of the game," Chalmers said. "He gives me different pointers, and I put them to use."
Chicago was led by center Joakim Noah's 20 points and 15 rebounds.
Noah, though, said his team played hard only in spurts.
"The Heat has ended our seasons a lot -- you have to hate playing them," he said. "Every time we play them, our intensity has to be high the whole game. This was disappointing."
The Bulls also got 20 points and 10 rebounds from reserve forward Taj Gibson.
Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau was pleased with the first half -- when the teams were tied 40-40 -- but seemed frustrated about what happened next.
"In the second half, (Miami) ended up with 53 points," he said. "We can't win on the road like that. The Heat played harder than us in the second half."
NOTES: Bulls SG Jimmy Butler sat out Sunday due to a ribs injury. ... Rookie SG Tony Snell started in place of Butler. It was the 11th start of the season for the first-round pick (20th overall). ... Since Jan. 1, the Bulls have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. ... The Heat entered Sunday 39-14 -- the same exact record they have had all three years of the LeBron James Era. ... Since the end of last season, the Heat have gotten rid of three players in an effort to save money in luxury taxes -- SG Roger Mason, SG Mike Miller and C Joel Anthony. ... Mason was the most recent one, getting traded to the Kings on Thursday in a deal that also gave the Heat roster flexibility should they want to pick up a released player before the end of the regular season. ... While the Heat made, at best, a lateral move with Mason at the trading deadline, their chief rival in the East, Indiana, acquired a standout guard in Evan Turner. ... Next up for the Bulls is Tuesday's game at the Atlanta Hawks.
By Bill Peterson
Former Los Angeles Angels Shortstop, Manager Remembered for Love of Baseball.
COMMENTARY | The Los Angeles Angels lost their first outstanding player and their first championship manager a week ago, when Jim Fregosi died early on the morning of Feb. 14 after suffering a stroke in the Cayman Islands.
The game of baseball lost one of its most charming lifers. Fregosi spent 53 years in professional baseball before he died in a Miami hospital at age 71.
Seemingly everyone who came into his contact appreciated his directness and absolute fire for the game. In the week since his passing, stories have flowed from journalists and baseball people to illustrate the depth of his understanding and his reverence for the game's folkways.
For the longest time, the name of Jim Fregosi was associated with the short end of the rather lopsided trade in which the Angels sent him to the New York Mets for Nolan Ryan after the 1971 season. By then, Fregosi's years as an everyday player were behind him and Ryan's days as a Hall of Fame pitcher were in front of him.
But those in the game knew a man who didn't mince his words or opinions, and whose words and opinions were always sharp. In my own capacity as a reporter 20ish years ago, when Fregosi was managing the Philadelphia Phillies to the 1993 World Series, I asked him why clubs in those times were increasing their pitching staffs to 11 and, sometimes, 12 pitchers. Fregosi didn't pretend there were particular strategic nuances involved.
"It's a shortage of (expletive) quality," he said.
One of the more revealing stories came from Rick Bozich, the former Louisville Courier-Journal columnist now with wdrb.com in Louisville. Bozich recounted a time from 1985, when Fregosi managed the Louisville Redbirds. The Iowa Cubs were in town with their young shortstop, Shawon Dunston, who had failed in a trial with the big league club.
Thinking Fregosi and Dunston would make good fodder for a piece about trying to hack it as a big league shortstop, Bozich interviewed Fregosi, then attempted to interview Dunston. But Dunston declined. Told of Dunston's reticence as Fregosi and Bozich chatted in the dugout, Fregosi summoned his starting pitcher for that night and instructed him to flip Dunston.
As Bozich quoted Fregosi talking to his pitcher: "That guy hasn't done anything in the big leagues and now he's acting like that? The first time he comes up, I want you to knock him on his butt."
When the pitcher carried out the order, Fregosi looked toward the press box and gave Bozich big thumbs up.
Fregosi was big on people paying their dues, as longtime Baltimore Sun baseball writer Peter Schmuck recounts here. He held writers to that same standard as players, which is pretty deep and, ultimately, deeply appreciated by the writers.
Fregosi made six All-Star teams playing shortstop for the Angels in the 1960s. During his best year, 1964, he notched an OPS-plus of 145 and his bWAR reached 7.9, all but an MVP season.
His playing career ended after the 1978 season, during which he played sparingly for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Angels wanted him back as their manager. He answered the call in a big way, bringing the Angels to their first American League West championship. He later managed the Chicago White Sox, the Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Angels retired Fregosi's number 11 in 1998.
For the last 13 years of his life, Fregosi worked as a top scout for the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta General Manager Frank Wren told the Los Angeles Times that Fregosi "was involved in every player decision we made. He had so much insight, so much understanding of players and how to put teams together. He was a real valuable member of the team and just a wonderful guy."
He was.
Day survives the magic of Dubuisson in Match Play.
By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer)
Jason Day never stopped believing he would win the Match Play Championship, even in the midst of so many shots by Victor Dubuisson that simply defied belief.
With his ball at the base of a cactus, Dubuisson took an all-or-nothing swing though the sharp needles and a TV cable and incredibly hit it to 4 feet to save par. Seemingly out of it on the next playoff hole, the 23-year-old Frenchman somehow whacked a wedge through a desert bush and rocks and onto the green for another par.
Day finally ended the madness Sunday on the 23rd hole with a pitch to 4 feet on No. 15 for birdie.
Mon dieu!
It was the first time the championship match went overtime since the inaugural year in 1999 at La Costa, when Jeff Maggert chipped on the second extra hole of a 36-hole final. That was like watching paint dry compared to the show Dubuisson put on.
Day, with his first World Golf Championship, walked away with his second PGA Tour title that will take the Australian to No. 4 in the world.
This tournament might better be remembered for Dubuisson's magical escapes.
''Vic, man, he has a lot of guts,'' Day said. ''He has a great short game - straight out of the cactus twice. For a 23-year-old kid, he's got a lot of game. We're going to see a lot of him for years to come.''
Even the great Seve Ballesteros would have saluted this performance.
Two holes down with two holes to play, Dubuisson rapped in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole and then took advantage of a rare lapse by Day, who bogeyed the 18th hole with a three-putt from 50 feet on the upper tier. The Frenchman saved par from the bunker to force extra holes.
It looked like it would be over quickly.
From the first fairway, Dubuisson went so far long that bounced hard off the back of the green and into the desert, the ball nestled at the base of a cholla. During regulation, he would have taken a penalty drop. In this case, he felt he had no choice.
He stepped up to the ball and, with nothing to lose, swung away. The club got caught on a TV cable, and the ball scooted up the slope of 3-inch grass and onto the green.
It was reminiscent of the shot Bill Haas pulled off at East Lake from shallow water on the 17th hole.
This was better.
And it came with an encore.
On the next extra hole, the par-5 ninth, Dubuisson tugged his shot left of the green, left of the bleachers and into a desert bush surrounded by rocks. He took another crack at it, and the shot came out perfectly through thick grass and onto the green.
Day could only laugh, though he had every reason to believe this was not his day.
After matching bogeys and pars on the next two holes - this time from the green grass - the match ended on the 333-yard 15th hole when Dubuisson 's drive strayed too far right into side of a hill, leaving him an awkward pitch.
''I'm disappointed because I made some terrible shots,'' Dubuisson said, ignoring the two that were as close to a miracle as golf allows.
Day won $1.53 million. Lost in all the theater was that he never trailed over the final 53 holes of this fickle tournament.
Dubuisson earned $906,000, all but assuring a PGA Tour card for next year. And he all but clinched a spot on the Ryder Cup team in September, moving to the top of the points table by the equivalent of about $1.5 million.
In the morning semifinals, Day beat Rickie Fowler 3 and 2, and Dubuisson topped Ernie Els 1 up. Fowler beat Els in 19 holes in the third-place match.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins Daytona 500 after a frantic two-lap sprint to the finish.
By Nick Bromberg
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is now a two-time Daytona 500 champion.
Junior was leading on the rain-delayed race's final restart with two laps to go and held on for the win over Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon. It's Earnhardt's first win since Michigan in 2012.
The race began on time but 38 laps in rain began to fall, halting action for more than six hours. The race restarted just after 8:30 ET.
But more on that in a moment.
The finish was not without drama, as a piece of debris – either a trash bag or a piece of tape from a damaged car – got lodged on the front of Junior's grille. He couldn't get it off. But it didn't matter.
Heck, it might have helped. A smaller grille opening can actually make these racecars go faster.
The debris certainly didn't hurt. After choosing the low side on the restart, Junior pulled ahead into Turns1 and 2 and no one was able to get alongside him. His closest pursuer was Hamlin, who made a move to his outside as the field hurtled toward the checkered flag, but the caution flag flew for a big crash behind the leaders with Junior still a few hundred yards from the stripe.
Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and others were involved in the wreck, and Busch even drove his car across the finish line in reverse to ensure that he completed every lap.
"Winning this race is the greatest feeling you can feel in this sport outside from obviously accepting the championship trophy," Junior said. "I didn't know if I'd ever get a chance to feel that again. And it feels just as good, if not better than the first year because of how hard we've tried year after year, after year. Running second all them years and wondering why and what we needed to do."
Junior's first Daytona 500 win came in 2004, when he beat Tony Stewart to the checkered flag. He's finished second three of the last four seasons, including last year when Jimmie Johnson won. For Junior, it's just his second victory since 2008.
Sunday night's win came in the first race for the No. 3 car since the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. in the 2001 Daytona 500. Austin Dillon, the driver of the No. 3 car, started first and finished eighth, despite getting spun around in one accident and being involved in contact to spur two others.
For Junior, the win give him one thing his father never had – a second Daytona 500 victory.
Earnhardt Sr. won his only Daytona 500 in 1998.
As far as the Chase, in January NASCAR announced it was expanding its playoff field to include 16 drivers. The field will include race winners and the highest ranking remaining winless drivers. Since the Chase's inception in 2004, no season has had more than 16 different winners in the first 26 races, so unless 2014 becomes an outlier, Junior's a sure bet for NASCAR's postseason.
He was also a winner in Saturday's Nationwide race. Regan Smith, the race winner, drives for JR Motorsports, Junior's team.
Liverpool 4-3 Swansea. Sturridge and Henderson bag braces as hosts spurn two comebacks.
By Kyle Bonn
The visitors didn’t give in after falling behind 2-0 in the opening quarter of an hour, storming back to tie it up at 2-2 before being forced to come back again at 3-3.
But it was ultimately Henderson who would deny the visitors any fruit for their labors, scoring with 15 minutes remaining for just his third of the year.
Holding most of the opening possession, the visitors coughed up possession to Raheem Sterling, who immediately found a streaking Sturridge. The red-hot striker caught out Swansea’s back line and beat a helpless Michel Vorm giving Sturridge an empty net to calmly place the ball into.
With the score, Sturridge has goals in eight straight matches, dating back to before his injury spell.
Swansea continued to pass all over their half of the pitch, but offered nothing on the other end, and Liverpool soon capitalized again.
Sturridge turned creator, cutting in from the right flank on 20 minutes and dishing to Henderson in space at the top of the box. The Englishman decided to have a go from distance, leaving Vorm rooted to his spot and unable to keep out a second goal.
The visitors were in trouble but not discouraged. Finally they put together their first real attack, and got themselves right back into the game with a goal strikingly similar in nature to Liverpool’s second scored just minutes earlier.
Nathan Dyer cut in from the right – much like Sturridge did – and he dished to Jonjo Shelvey. The 21-year-old didn’t waste any time, chipping one-time into the top right corner, clattering the crossbar and ricocheting downwards over the line. Shelvey decided to mute his excitement, choosing not to celebrate at his former club and receiving a kind applause from the home crowd for his respect.
Swansea stunningly did not cease in their quest to restore order. Martin Skrtel committed a yellow card offense, giving the visitors a free kick midway into the attacking half. It was taken well, and found Wilfried Bony for a header in the box. The effort took a deflection off Skrtel’s shoulder and nestled past the near post in the back of the net.
Just like that, Swansea had broken under Liverpool’s early pressure like so many teams had before them, but mounted an instantaneous comeback to level things up once again. And all while a quarter of an hour had barely gone by.
It wouldn’t last long though. The combination of Liverpool strikers struck as they have come to so often, and it was Sturridge once again on the end product. Luis Suarez chipped in a cross from the left edge of the box, and it floated over defenders to Sturridge for a free header past Vorm.
The goal is now Sturridge’s 18th on the season in 19 matches, and marks his 10th in his last eight games.
Swansea continued to pass confidently, probing for space before Bony looked for another equalizer on 43 minutes but Simon Mignolet was up to the task for the first impressive display of goalkeeping in the match.
The first-half drama continued directly after the break, as Skrtel was penalized for a foul in the box on Bony just a minute after the restart, and the Ivorian converted for another level score.
The dangerous build-up play continued for both sides, and after a few wasted chances Liverpool would find the winner. Steven Gerrard‘s long ball found Suarez at the top of the box, who fired a rocket on goal. It was blocked, but the ball fell to Henderson who rifled on goal. That was also saved, but on the third time Henderson found the back of the net with Vorm on the ground.
Gerrard would hit the post later on as Liverpool saw out the victory in another late gut-check in front of the home fans at Anfield.
The win again will give the top sides something to think about, as it would take a few stumbles but Liverpool maintain a reasonable shout as an outside title contender, just a point behind Manchester City.
Swansea will be hard done by to leave with nothing to show for their efforts, and they remain in a nervy position just four points above the drop.
LINEUPS:
Liverpool – Mignolet; Johnson, Flanagan, Skrtel, Agger (Toure 63′); Gerrard, Henderson, Sterling (Allen 58′), Coutinho; Suarez, Sturridge (Moses 79′).
Goals: Sturridge (3′, 36′), Henderson (21′, 74′)
Swansea – Vorm; Rangel, Chico, Williams, Taylor; Britton, de Guzman (Hernandez 73′), Shelvey (Canas 45′), Dyer (Ngog 78′), Routledge; Bony.
Goals: Shelvey (23′), Bony (27′, 46′)
With Syracuse falling twice this week, who should be the new No. 1?
By Jeff Eisenberg
When top-ranked Syracuse followed a stunning loss to Boston College on Wednesday with another another setback at Duke three nights later, it didn't just guarantee the Orange would cede the top spot in the polls on Monday.
It also raised the question of who would replace them.
Is it a Florida team that has won 19 straight games? Is it a Wichita State team that has yet to suffer a loss? Or is it an Arizona team that spent two months atop the polls and may have a better resumé than either the Gators or Shockers?
The most likely to ascend to No. 1 is Florida since the Gators have been second to Syracuse the past two weeks. Florida has not been No. 1 since the 2006-07 season when Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer led the Gators to their second of two straight national championships.
If voters are willing to look beyond last week's poll, however, they'll discover that Wichita State and Arizona both have intriguing arguments as well. Here's a side-by-side look at the resumés of all three contenders:
Five best wins: Kansas, at Kentucky, Memphis, at Tennessee, Missouri
Losses: at Wisconsin, at UConn
Case to be No. 1: Had Florida not endured a flurry of early-season injuries and suspensions, the Gators might be unbeaten today. They lost at Wisconsin by six on Nov. 12 despite playing without Scottie Wilbekin, Dorian Finney-Smith and Chris Walker. They lost at UConn on Dec. 2 on a Shabazz Napier buzzer beater despite playing without Walker and Kasey Hill and losing Wilbekin to an injury late in the game. Since then, Florida has parlayed a stifling defense and balanced offense into 19 straight wins and a stranglehold on first place in the SEC. The Gators struggled with both Auburn and Ole Miss this past week, but they've still won their 14 SEC games by an average of 11.4 points apiece.
Five best wins: at Saint Louis, BYU, Tennessee, Indiana State, at Indiana State
Losses: None
Case to be No. 1: Thanks to the return of three starters and a slew of key reserves from last year's Final Four team, Wichita State is showing signs it may be capable of a return trip. The Shockers are two victories away from completing the first unbeaten regular season since St. Joseph's achieved the same feat a decade ago. What has made Wichita State the most polarizing elite team in the nation is its modest strength of schedule, but the Shockers have beaten every team brave enough to schedule them. They're 17-0 against the RPI top 150. They have a road win over a Saint Louis team that just cracked the top 10 in the polls. And they've won their 16 Missouri Valley League games by an average of 14.8 points per game.
Five best wins: at San Diego State, Duke, Michigan, at UCLA, at Colorado
Losses: at Cal, at Arizona State
Case to be No. 1: If the criteria for the No. 1 ranking is simply who has accomplished the most so far this season, then Arizona has a strong case. The Wildcats boast four victories over RPI top 25 teams including Mountain West leader San Diego State, Big Ten leader Michigan and ACC contender Duke. They also have nine RPI top 50 victories, more than any team in the nation except Kansas, which has 11. What might prevent Arizona from ascending to No. 1 are questions about whether the Wildcats are the same team without Brandon Ashley, but the Pac-12 leaders have showed signs of late they're figuring out how to play without their third-leading scorer. They won at Utah on Wednesday even though the Utes had only lost once at home all season. Then they pummeled NCAA tournament-bound Colorado by 27 points on Saturday in Boulder.
Northwestern coach testifies against unionization.
By MICHAEL TARM (Associated Press)
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald testified for three hours Friday about a push by his players to form the nation's first union for college athletes, sometimes putting himself awkwardly at odds with his senior quarterback.
Sporting a tie in team-color purple, Fitzgerald answered questions before the National Labor Relations Board, which must decide in coming weeks if the football players qualify as employees under U.S. law. If so, they have rights to unionize.
The decision is being closely watched across the country since a decision in favor of an athletes' union could change the landscape of college athletics. The NCAA, Big Ten Conference and Northwestern all maintain that college athletes cannot be placed in the same category as factory workers, truck drivers or other employees in the traditional sense.
Union supporters, however, say football generates millions of dollars in revenue and is a commercial enterprise reliant on laborers - the players.
Fitzgerald, a former star for Northwestern, said his program is about far more than football.
''We want (players) to be the best they can be ... athletically, academically, socially ... to be a champion in life,'' he said. He tells players, he said, that academics ''is their priority.''
Quarterback Kain Colter, who has exhausted his eligibility, painted a very different picture.
Testifying earlier this week for the proposed union, the newly formed College Athletes Players Association, Colter said a player's performance on the field was more important to the school than his performance in class.
''You fulfill the football requirement and, if you can, you fit in academics,'' Colter said. He said he abandoned his own aspiration to take pre-med courses because of the enormous time demands of football.
Fitzgerald, however, said he's known players who ended up going to medical school; he also cited his time juggling football and academics when he was an All-American linebacker at Northwestern in the 1990s.
''I had plenty of time to do both,'' he said.
Colter also said he couldn't recall an instance where a coach ever told a player to leave practice and go study, but Fitzgerald said it does happen. He said there have even been instances when players who needed more study time were allowed to skip a game.
On Jan. 28, when Colter, CAPA and the United Steelworkers announced their intent to form the union, Fitzgerald tweeted that: ''Kain and our student-athletes have followed their beliefs with great passion and courage. I'm incredibly proud of our young men!''
Union attorney Gary Kohlman suggested that Fitzgerald's primary mission was to prepare his players to win games.
''I'm trying to teach them to be prepared for life,'' the coach responded. ''Football is a part of that.''
Asked by Kohlman if he got class credit for playing football when he was at Northwestern, Fitzgerald answered: ''No. But I was getting unbelievable life experience.''
Union attorneys suggested that the highly regimented structure of football at Northwestern, and the tight control of players' daily lives, essentially make it a business, and the relationship of the school to the players was one of an employer to employee.
Fitzgerald acknowledged that a long list of rules applies to football players but not to other students. That includes random drug tests and requirements that leases for off-campus housing for players be approved by the coaching staff.
Kohlman also walked through the time demands on players, singling out a day before and the day of an away game in 2012 against Michigan, which the Wildcats lost 38-31 in overtime.
While the players attended team meetings and took a five-hour bus trip to Michigan, official NCAA logs on time the team spent on football that day was 1 hour, 8 minutes. After waking at 7:30 a.m. on game day, playing the game and returning home after 10 p.m., the log said players spent three hours on football, Fitzgerald said.
The logs were done according to strict criteria set by the NCAA and no one accused Fitzgerald or the school of fudging the numbers.
Asked if Fitzgerald agreed that effort put into football by a player constituted a job, Fitzgerald hedged, saying, ''It's a full time job from a responsibility standpoint.''
Colter has said that nearly all of the 85 scholarship players on the Wildcats roster back the union bid, though only he has expressed his support publicly.
While Fitzgerald clearly attempted to fortify the university's position against the union, he never said directly on the stand that he opposed the establishment of a union.
Outside the hearing, the designated president of the proposed union, former UCLA linebacker Ramogi Huma, said he thought Fitzgerald's testimony as a whole helped the union position.
And he didn't think the pro-union players would hold a grudge against him.
''We told the players the university will disagree (with unionization) and (that Fitzgerald) is a part of the university,'' he said. ''I don't think any of the players will hold his testimony against him.''
Olympic diploma awarded to athletes that don't medal.
Sochi Minute
The IOC has awarded athletes who don't earn gold, silver or bronze for decades. The Olympic diploma actually goes all the way back to 1896 and has been given to competitors who finish in fourth through eighth place since 1981.
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