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Sports Quote of the Day:
"Life's battles don't always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can." Vince Lombardi, Legendary Two Time NFL Super Bowl Winning Coach
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blues up 2-0, but remember last year. Let's go Hawks!!!!!
By Rob Rains, The Sports Xchange
The St. Louis Blues were in exactly this same position a year ago, and defenseman Barret Jackman said they do not need any reminders about what happened next.
Jackman's goal 5:50 into overtime gave the Blues a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday, putting them up two games to none in their opening-round playoff series.
Last year, the Blues also defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Los Angeles Kings, in the first two games at home in the opening round, then promptly lost the next four and the series.
Jackman thinks the Blues will be better prepared this year when the series moves to Chicago for game three Monday night.
"We've got to stay on our toes," Jackman said. "We're going into a tough building and it's going to take everybody. Tonight we got a little but lucky. We let our foot off the gas and they got a couple lucky bounces.
"You've got a team down, 2-0, you've got to finish them and that's what we've got to do."
Jackman's goal, the second of his career in the playoffs, got past goalie Corey Crawford and trickled into the net. Crawford admitted he didn't see it very well.
"It was a little bit of a screen, but it went straight through," Crawford said. "I had my pads together, but there was a little space there and it just kind of squeezed through."
For the second game in a row, the Blues got a late goal, this time from right wing Vladimir Tarasenko with 6.8 seconds to play, to send the game to overtime. In the first game Thursday night, left wing Jaden Schwartz scored with 1:45 to play to tie the game, which the Blues eventually won in the third overtime.
Tarasenko's goal came after Blackhawks' defenseman Brent Seabrook was assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for charging Blues' center David Backes with 4:51 to play.
The Blues, who had a 5-on-3 advantage for 45 seconds after the hit but couldn't score, eventually pulled goalie Ryan Miller with 1:46 to play to have a 6-on-4 advantage when they came up with the tying goal.
That was the response the Blues wanted to the hit, which left Backes wobbly as he left the ice. St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock said his captain was "not great" after the game.
"At some points this year we've got too emotional and that kind of hindered our thought process," Jackman said. "We knew it was a five-minute major and we were down by a goal and no time for retaliation.
"Backes is a big boy and he's a big part of this team, but we've got to go forward."
Hitchcock would not comment on the Seabrook hit, saying he will let the league deal with it. He also was concerned after the game about the health of center Vladimir Sobotka, who sustained an injury earlier in the game.
"We needed to just calm down and play the right way again," Hitchcock said. "It's a series filled with a lot of emotion and intensity. Both teams battled like crazy. We're lucky we've held serve and now we've got to take it into Chicago and see if we can get a win."
Seabrook said he was simply trying to make a play on Backes, who was crunched into the boards with the high hit.
"I was coming down the wall and I just tried to finish my hit," Seabrook said. "I feel bad seeing a guy like that on the ice. I've been there myself. I wasn't trying to target his head or do anything like that. ... It wasn't my intent. I hope he's doing OK, that's all I can say."
The Blues carried a 2-1 lead into the third period before the Blackhawks got goals from Seabrook and defenseman Michal Rozsival in a span of 1:45 early in the period to take the lead.
Left wing Chris Porter and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored in the first period for the Blues, and defenseman Duncan Keith scored for the Blackhawks late in the second period to begin their comeback.
Keith's goal ended a streak of 53 consecutive saves by Miller after he allowed three goals on Chicago's first seven shots in the first period on Thursday night.
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville still expects a long series.
"We were right there, six seconds away and to end up losing it is a shame," Quenneville said. "I thought we battled back to get back into the game and did everything we could to win the game.
"We did a lot of good things. We've got to get back to our building and win a game and get some momentum back."
NOTES: Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said he will not contest a $25,000 fine imposed by the NHL for his inappropriate conduct in game one. "I can't complain," Quenneville said on Saturday. "It was a stupid move on my part." ... The Blues scratched LW Brenden Morrow to open a spot in the lineup for RW T.J. Oshie, the only change for either team from Game 1. ... Game 1 marked the eighth time in NHL history that the first game of a playoff series went to three overtimes or more. In each of the previous seven times, the team that won the game went on to win the series. ... The third game of the series will be played on Monday night in Chicago.
Chicago Blackhawks D Seabrook suspended.
By The Sports Xchange
Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook was suspended for three games for interference and charging against St. Louis Blues forward David Backes during Game 2 of their first round Stanley Cup playoffs series in St. Louis on Saturday.
The incident occurred at 15:09 of the third period. Seabrook was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for charging.
Bear Down Chicago Bears! Brandon Marshall expects big things from Marquess Wilson.
2014 NFL Draft: The Chicago Bears Will Pass On A Safety In Early Rounds
Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2014/04/18/2014-nfl-draft-the-chicago-bears-will-pass-on-a-safety-in-early-rounds/?KqsuhuK9bK4o0cog.99
Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2014/04/18/2014-nfl-draft-the-chicago-bears-will-pass-on-a-safety-in-early-rounds/?KqsuhuK9bK4o0cog.99
2014 NFL Draft: The Chicago Bears Will Pass On A Safety In Early Rounds
Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2014/04/18/2014-nfl-draft-the-chicago-bears-will-pass-on-a-safety-in-early-rounds/?KqsuhuK9bK4o0cog.99
By Josh Alper Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2014/04/18/2014-nfl-draft-the-chicago-bears-will-pass-on-a-safety-in-early-rounds/?KqsuhuK9bK4o0cog.99
The release of Earl Bennett in Chicago opens up a clear path for Marquess Wilson to be the Bears’ third receiver next season.
Coach Marc Trestman would only say that Wilson will have “a chance to compete” for that job, but one of the two receivers definitely ahead of Marshall on the depth chart is expecting a bit more than that. Brandon Marshall said in an interview with CBSSports.com that he’s feeling good and looking forward to his “best year ever,” but the subject of Wilson was more exciting for him.
“I really want to talk about Marquess Wilson,” Marshall said. “He came down and trained with us the whole offseason. We’re really looking for him to do some big things. This guy, he’s probably the steal of the draft last year. I’m going to say that. He came in, he put in the work, he looks like a body builder. Fast, strong, explosive. I’m looking forward to seeing him in OTAs.”
Wilson is 6-4, which would make him, Marshall and Alshon Jeffery one of the taller receiving trios in memory. Bennett wasn’t targeted all that often last season, but the Bears offense will be tough for defenses to measure up to in multiple ways if Wilson lives up to Marshall’s hype.
Just another Chicago Bulls Session… Wizards open playoffs with win in Chicago.
By The Sports Xchange
Washington power forward Nene had played in just four games since missing two months with a sprained left knee, but coach Randy Wittman leaned heavily on the muscular big man in the Wizards' first playoff game in six years.
Starting for the first time in nearly two months, Nene poured in 24 points to lead the Wizards to a 102-93 road playoff win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night at the United Center.
Washington, making its first playoff appearance since 2008, took a 1-0 lead in this first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. The Wizards were 22-19 on the road during the regular season, which was tied for best in the East.
"If I make the first basket, the butterflies in my stomach go away," Nene said. "You get nervous, you prepare yourself a little bit more. That is what I have tonight."
Nene missed two months with a sprained left knee but returned to appear in four games late in the regular season. He was back in the starting lineup for the first time since Feb. 23 and scored 14 points in the first half.
Forward Trevor Ariza added 18 points, guard John Wall scored 16, and center Marcin Gortat finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
The Wizards outscored the Bulls 30-18 in the fourth quarter and finished the game on an 18-6 run.
"This is what we have been trying to teach our guys all year," Wittman said. "Sometimes when you are a talented young player in this league, you think it all has to be done offensively. We preached all year that we have to learn how to win games when we don't have our 'A' game."
Washington took its initial lead of the second half when Ariza hit two free throws with 4:17 left to make it 88-87. After Bulls guard Jimmy Butler split two at the line to tie the score, a lay-in by Gortat and jumper from Nene gave the Wizards a 92-88 edge with 2:39 remaining.
After a tip by Chicago center Joakim Noah, Gortat was fouled while chasing an offensive rebound and hit both free throws to make it 94-90 with 1:51 left.
The Bulls missed jumpers on their next three possessions and Gortat helped put it out of reach with a putback that made it 96-90 with 34.2 seconds left.
After taking an 87-84 lead with 5:54 left, Chicago missed eight of its next nine shots.
"I didn't think our movement was as good as it normally is," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. "You've got to make quick decisions. We've got to move without the ball. We've got to screen better. We've got to pass on target. We have to finish stronger."
Guards Kirk Hinrich and D.J. Augustin led the Bulls with 16 points each. Butler finished with 15 points, forward Taj Gibson scored 12, and Noah produced 10 points and 10 rebounds.
After missing all five of his shots from the field in the first quarter, Chicago forward Mike Dunleavy scored 11 points in the opening six minutes of the second half, draining three shots from 3-point range and also scoring on an offensive rebound.
Dunleavy's flurry helped lift Chicago into a 69-57 lead. The Wizards answered with a 13-2 run to get back within a point and the game was tight the rest of the way.
"They're a very talented offensive team," Hinrich said. "We have to execute our coverages harder and more efficiently. There were times where we weren't on the same page with some things and there were times when we probably just weren't into them enough."
Fouls played a key role in the first half. After scoring five early points, Hinrich picked up his second foul with 5:06 left in the first quarter and went to the bench.
Washington held a 9-1 lead in free throw attempts in the first quarter, then the Bulls fouled their way into the penalty less than three minutes into the second quarter. Washington picked up its fifth team foul less than a minute later.
Neither team took full advantage. The Wizards hit 12 of 21 free throws in the first half and Chicago made 14 of 17.
The Bulls never trailed by more than six points in the first half but did not take their first lead until Augustin hit two free throws to make it 42-40 with 4:24 left before halftime. Chicago led 54-48 at the break.
After combining to attempt 38 free throws in the first half, the teams shot two each in the third quarter. Hinrich drew a technical foul during the quarter for arguing the lack of a call.
NOTES: Washington coach Randy Wittman returned F Nene to the starting lineup for Game 1. It was Nene's first start since Feb. 23, having missed 21 games late in the season with a sprained left knee. He returned to play in four games late in the season and scored in double figures all four times. "His intangibles are hard to replace -- basketball IQ, defending, knowing how to play smart," Wittman said. ... The last five playoff series Chicago has been involved in, during the past three years, the team winning Game 1 ended up losing the series. ... Washington ended a five-year playoff drought by qualifying for the postseason. In 2005, the Wizards ended a seven-year absence by playing Chicago and in 1997 snapped an eight-year dry spell with a first-round series against the Bulls. ... Washington has won just one playoff series in the past 32 years, against Chicago in '05. ... The Bulls produced the best record in the Eastern Conference since Jan. 1, going 36-16.
Boston Marathon defies terror attacks one year on.
By Mariano Andrade
The Boston Marathon returns Monday amid major security after last year's deadly bombings as a near record 35,660 runners get set to compete.
One million people are expected to line the route in a show of defiance and to honor the victims and survivors of the attacks that killed three people and wounded more than 260.
More than 3,500 police -- double the number in 2013 -- plus members of 60 different local, state and federal security agencies, will deploy to protect the race.
Organizers have drastically tightened security for participants and bags have been banned at the start in Hopkinton, along the course and at the finish line.
The Tsarnaev brothers, the presumed bombers, allegedly hid the explosive devices in backpacks. Glass bottles and large containers of any kind have also been banned.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick vowed the massive event, which coincides with the state's Patriots' Day, would be "very safe."
"We're very alert. We're very prepared, and we're assuring people as much as we can that it'll be a fun day and a safe one," he told CBS's "Face the Nation" show on Sunday.
But despite the beefed up police presence, "we've tried to strike a balance between enhanced security and preserving the family feel of this day," he said.
Across the city, people could be seen wearing "Boston Strong" shirts, with banners bearing the mantra proudly displayed in stores, restaurants and hotels.
Amid bright sunshine, hundreds of runners and onlookers stopped by a memorial -- decorated with flowers and shoes -- that had been set up to honor those who perished in the twin blasts on April 15, 2013.
"We will never forget them" read a sign by four crosses with the names of those killed -- including a police officer allegedly gunned down when he crossed paths with the attackers during the city-wide hunt for the two brothers.
Others plan to pay tribute on Monday during the race. Heather Abbott, amputated below the knee, will be standing close to the starting line to applaud those who saved her life, Peter Riddle and Erin Chatham.
"I'm really excited to be with them," she told AFP.
- Defying terrorism -
Many Bostonians and fans of the marathon, the world's oldest annual meet, see Monday as a chance to defy terrorism.
This year, organizers widened the number of entries from 27,000 last year to 36,000, close to the record 38,708 who ran in 1996 on the centenary of the race.
There will be more than 35,660 runners, 5,330 of whom come from 70 countries outside the United States.
Last year's win by Ethiopia's Lelisa Desisa passed almost unnoticed.
He returns to Boston, one of the six biggest foot races in the world and part of the prestigious World Marathon Majors circuit.
The 24-year-old has met several victims of the attacks calling them "an inspiration" and has said he will be running again to show that he has no fear.
Several former winners are also taking part on Monday, including America's Joan Benoit Samuelson, who won in 1979 and 1983, and Amby Burfoot (1968), who last year failed to complete the race in the wake of the attacks.
- Honoring the victims -
Josef Klobusnik, a Slovakian living in Minnesota, said he was still hurting because of what happened.
On Tuesday, Boston paid emotional homage to the victims, survivors and first responders, united in their determination to conquer the fear of last year.
Vice President Joe Biden led the tribute, calling the survivors an inspiration to people all over the world.
Monday's marathon, Biden said, would send a message to the rest of the world and "to the terrorists that we will never yield, we will never cower."
But in the evening, hundreds of people were evacuated and a 25-year-old man detained for questioning over two suspicious backpacks found near the finish line.
Authorities have announced an economic impact of $175.8 million in the Boston region, the highest in the history of the marathon.
The record so far was the 1996 rendition of the race, which generated $172 million.
The Tsarnaev brothers were identified as perpetrators of the attacks within days thanks to footage from cameras and thousands of photographs.
Tamerlan, 26, was shot by police on April 19, 2013, after killing an officer and Dzhokhar, now 20, was captured and stands accused of 30 federal charges. He is awaiting trial and could face the death penalty if convicted.
MLB’s Next Giant Headache: Cuba.
By Peter C. Bjarkman
Flashy, super-talented, and more than just a little mysterious, the latest wave of Cuban League refugees have become just about the hottest story on the big-league baseball scene in recent seasons. These high-profile “defectors” from Castro’s “evil empire” hold a special charm for so many flag-waving Americans if only because they have reportedly endured multiple hazards in their heroic struggle to find personal freedom and garner the untold riches offered by a showcase capitalist enterprise that doubles as America’s cherished national pastime.
A few years back, flame-throwing Aroldis Chapman, a wiry slingshot southpaw pioneered in Cincinnati with a record-busting $30 million contract and an unprecedented 105-mph fastball that sent radar guns into meltdown mode, shocked fans and sportswriters alike, and left most National League hitters immediately impotent. Next came slugging outfielder Yoenis Céspedes, busting down fences with his titanic home-run blasts in Oakland, to be quickly followed last summer by the even more impressive Yasiel Puig, who swept into the headlines with both on-field exploits and off-field antics perfect for media-rich Los Angeles. Puig almost single-handedly rescued the Dodgers’ sagging fortunes and led them to an abbreviated postseason run. Earlier this month, the new media darling was massive first baseman José Abreu (Puig’s former teammate in Cuba), whose rags-to-riches saga includes a stunning six-year $85 million deal from Chicago’s White Sox. In the new season’s opening three weeks alone, Abreu has already convinced doubters that he is indeed a legitimate candidate for this summer’s top rookie honors.
But there is an ugly underbelly to this otherwise charming story and it is not exactly a new wrinkle either. By the early ‘90s, Cuban players were beginning to “defect” in mere trickles from a Cuban system that for many decades had produced dominant squads on the international amateur baseball tournament scene, yet didn’t allow its loftiest stars to abandon the homeland for the free-agent riches offered by North American professional leagues. Early escapees from the island nation’s hidden communist baseball scene were promptly and perhaps inaccurately labeled by a North American press as “defectors” because they could only reach U.S. shores and thus big-league ballparks by sneaking off under the most mysterious circumstances, abandoning the system and government that had nurtured and trained them, and tossing away any immediate hopes of revisiting families, friends, and possessions left behind on native soil.
But there is an ugly underbelly to this otherwise charming story and it is not exactly a new wrinkle either. By the early ‘90s, Cuban players were beginning to “defect” in mere trickles from a Cuban system that for many decades had produced dominant squads on the international amateur baseball tournament scene, yet didn’t allow its loftiest stars to abandon the homeland for the free-agent riches offered by North American professional leagues. Early escapees from the island nation’s hidden communist baseball scene were promptly and perhaps inaccurately labeled by a North American press as “defectors” because they could only reach U.S. shores and thus big-league ballparks by sneaking off under the most mysterious circumstances, abandoning the system and government that had nurtured and trained them, and tossing away any immediate hopes of revisiting families, friends, and possessions left behind on native soil.
The very term “defector” was probably always misplaced, although from the beginning it seemed irresistible to a North American press corps enamored of the idea of political overtones buried in every Cuba-related story. Here were abused hero-athletes striking a blow at an oppressive Castro dictatorship at one of its proudest and most vulnerable corners. Baseball “defector” was a popular line that played well for most communist-hating Americans, especially those residing in South Florida. Nonetheless a “defector” is properly defined as someone “disowning allegiance to his/her own country” and former Cuban stars turned big-leaguers repeatedly denied that label by often speaking proudly of their Cuban identity and ironically praising the baseball system back home that had fostered and trained them.
Like any other craftsman or artisan, the Cuban ballplayer making his way north is only trying to turn unique skills to full profit, and perhaps also test himself against the highest competition level his sport has to offer. The reasons for flight from the peso-poor Cuban League to the dollar-rich big leagues have always been indisputably economic—never political in nature. In some senses, those ballplayers might be better compared to Mexican farm laborers or Canadian autoworkers who cross borders in Texas or Michigan in search of elevated salaries and better opportunities to sustain struggling families back home. Only an increasingly absurd six-decade Cold War defining U.S.-Cuba relations renders their cases so much more complex. And of course both risks and potential rewards are stratospherically higher when it comes to multimillion-dollar athletes. In the light of this week’s stunning revelations about Yasiel Puig, we are now suddenly finding out just how much higher.
The first glimpse of a hidden backstory came some 15-plus years ago with the unfolding saga of Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, a star Havana pitcher who had been suddenly suspended from league play and from his national team slot when half-brother Liván “defected” to join the Florida Marlins and emerged as a 1997 postseason MVP sensation. Orlando’s own flight took place in late 1997, and once the big right-hander turned up with the New York Yankees he did little to discredit the glamorous fictions swirling through the media about breathtaking ordeals on a flimsy wooden raft trapped in shark-infested Caribbean waters. But the inspired tale that almost earned El Duque a top-dollar Hollywood film deal alongside his fat Yankees contract turned out to be something other than first reported. Jon Wertheim and Don Yaeger—an intrepid pair of Sports Illustrated investigative journalists—eventually exposed a far-different escape scenario that found Castro-hating Miami-based sports agent Joe Cubas spiriting away his prize prospect (and potential meal ticket) with the aid of Florida-funded lancheros (skilled smugglers equipped with a high-speed power boat bound for the Bahamas). The smuggling game was already on.
El Duque for his part has always maintained that the story behind his dramatic flight is being reserved for an eventual personal memoir. Cuban ballplayers reaching North American pay dirt have universally remained tightlipped about their own nightmarish escape sagas for rather obvious reasons. There is far too much skullduggery in the details that might endanger their own well-being and that of friends, family, and helping hands along the way. And then there is also the issue of alerting Cuban authorities and blocking similar routes for teammates and countrymen choosing to follow a similar path.
Now two simultaneous and brilliant investigative reports have hit the print and Internet media with a considerable splash and seemingly blown the whole ballplayer-smuggling enterprise wide open. And it is hardly surprising that the feature player in this sordid saga would be Yasiel Puig, a mysterious high-profile wunderkind whose off-field antics have garnered as much press over the course of nine months as have his sensational slugging, blazing base-path exploits, and archery-like throwing talents. Jesse Katz, writing for Los Angeles Magazine, and Scott Eden of ESPN The Magazine, now combine to lay before us not only the dirt-smeared details surrounding the most celebrated recent Cuban defector, but also to lift the veil covering the grime embedded all along the Cuban-USA baseball pipeline. Yasiel Puig’s now unfolding escape story has only shed new light on a well-kept secret long buried within baseball’s inner circles, and the resulting picture isn’t at all pretty.
The story in its bare-bone details: Interviews with many of the figures involved, as well as court records from legal actions in Miami, combine to expose a harrowing tale of human-trafficking gone awry. In June 2012 (Eden claims it was April), Puig and several companions were spirited out of Matanzas harbor by members of the Mexican Los Zetas drug cartel and sped to a seedy motel on a largely abandoned island near Cancun. The trip was bankrolled by low-level Miami gangster Raul Pacheco, himself already on probation for attempted armed burglary. When Pacheco failed to deliver the promised cash, Puig and his fellow travelers were held captive for more than two weeks until Pacheco’s Miami gang daringly re-kidnapped their prize and whisked him off to Mexico City. Only months later did Puig ink his eye-popping $42 million Dodgers contract—a windfall that now promises 20 percent of the entire take plus all the superstar’s future earnings to Pacheco and his Miami crime-syndicate backers.
But the sordid tale now runs far deeper still and has already begun jeopardizing lives in Cuba, Mexico, and Miami. When the original Los Zetas smugglers were jilted without promised payment, they began threatening reprisals against Puig and fellow escapee Yunior Despaigne, a former Cuban boxer who had also run afoul of the sports authorities in Havana. Puig complained about the harassment to his former agent Gilberto Suarez, who seemingly then orchestrated a gangland-style assassination of one of the original smugglers back in Mexico. Left fearful, with few resources, and on his own dime in Miami, Despaigne was soon spilling details of the escape story to Miami lawyer Avelino Gonzalez, a fellow “defector” who has recently filed a pair of civil lawsuits on behalf of a pair of islanders claiming they were falsely accused and imprisoned back in Cuba when both Puig and Cincinnati star Aroldis Chapman ratted them out during their own attempts to ingratiate themselves with Cuban authorities (and also to cover their own future escape plans). One of the accusers is apparently now serving a seven-year prison term back in Cienfuegos after Puig apparently told authorities that the man had offered to smuggle him off the island. The latest Dodger superstar haul has obviously come at a very steep personal price for some caught in the crossfire. And this may only be the beginning of the unraveling tale.
The widely popular view here in the States has always been that a repressive Cuban government exploits its baseball stars merely to win propaganda points with international gold medals and also holds them captive at slave-labor wages when they could be earning millions elsewhere with their athletic prowess. But there is another side to that story from a Cuban perspective, one that argues for the preservation of a domestic league entertaining 11 million enthusiastic baseball-lovers on the third-world island where public entertainment is all too scarce. Cuban officials also contend that they would of course love to see their ballplayers better compensated at home and also freer to play abroad, but they are handicapped in both efforts by a U.S. embargo policy that has left the island in economic shambles. The Cuban Baseball Federation has recently attempted to stave off even more defections among elite players by allowing hand-picked stars to perform in foreign leagues (in Mexico, Taiwan, and Japan) during off-season summer months.
But baseball exchanges with Major League Baseball are still off the radar due to a pair of Cuba’s self-preservation demands—that players “lent” to foreign teams must remain under contract to the Cuban League for winter season play back on the island, and that Cuban MLB stars would be able to freely return much of their substantial earnings to families back on the island. The first condition is ruled out by the reigning MLB economic structure (MLB owns and doesn’t rent its players); the second is blocked by Helms-Burton embargo regulations. Thus the only door for Cubans dreaming of the baseball big-time remains the route through harrowing escapes orchestrated by petty gangsters and profit-greedy human traffickers.
It is easy enough to blame the Cubans for banishing free enterprise and throwing an iron curtain around their top athletic talent. But the issue here is far more complex than the worn storylines engendered by impotent Cold War policies bent solely on demonizing the image of Fidel Castro. It is also the rigid reluctance of Washington to bend on failed economic embargo policies limiting free travel and commerce between the two nations, as well as MLB’s own arcane edicts requiring Cubans to reach third-country ports in order to sign lucrative free-agent contracts that share equal blame with Cuba’s own imposition of travel limits on its most valued citizens.
The distasteful result on both sides of the Straits of Florida has now left Washington disingenuously casting a blind eye on a system of importing baseball stars via a tainted practice that has no other name than criminal human-trafficking. And it also has left Major League Baseball—for all its age-old pontifications about keeping the national sport free of the slightest hint of criminal elements—luring some of its highest-profile stars through deals struck with ruthless thugs who now apparently own substantial claims on at least some star ballplayers’ lives and salaries. Busy of late burying the aftermath of a “steroid era” that seriously threatened legitimacy of the game’s record books, MLB moguls may now be staring at an even more serious challenge to the sport’s ethical integrity.
Kuchar rallies, chips in for RBC Heritage win.
By PETE IACOBELLI (AP Sports Writer)
Matt Kuchar saw his well-struck 5-iron on the 18th hole at the RBC Heritage come up way short of the target and settle in a front bunker.
''Well,'' he thought as he walked toward the shot, ''there are a lot worse places to be.''
For Kuchar, there was no better place - and no better shot in the tournament.
He followed with a stunning chip-in on Harbour Town Golf Link's closing, lighthouse hole, to overcome a four-shot deficit for a one-stroke victory and end nearly a month of Sundays where he came close to a title only to lose at the end.
Kuchar shot a 64 to finish at 11-under 273, one stroke ahead of Luke Donald, who had his third second place and fifth top-three finish here in the past six years.
Donald's latest chance ended Kuchar's winning chip. He hit it solid, felt it was a good line and watched it rattle home. ''I heard the crowd go crazy,'' Kuchar said. ''Then I went crazy.''
Kuchar punched the air to celebrate, grabbed his cap and swung it around to the cheers of the crowd.
It was Kuchar's seventh career PGA Tour victory. He earned $1.044 million and his first trophy since the Memorial last June.
It also followed a stretch of golf were Kuchar was in contention nearly every week.
He was two shots behind winner Steven Bowditch at the Texas Open on March 30, then lost a playoff at the Houston Open a week later on Matt Jones' 42-yard chip in.
Kuchar was in the mix at Augusta National a week ago, having a share of the lead on Sunday before a four-putt double bogey at the fourth hole dropped him from contention.
Kuchar, at No. 6 in the world the highest-ranked golfer here, could've taken a break like other top competitors, but hoped the momentum would carry into Harbour Town.
''It's awfully sweet to have another chance,'' Kuchar said.
Kuchar made up the four shots on Donald with seven birdies in his first 10 holes. Then nearly gave away another tournament when he three-putted from less than eight feet away at the par-3 17th, a bogey that dropped him into a tie for the top spot - and set up the dramatic 72nd hole.
''I was in a little bit of shock,'' Kuchar said. ''But I think I did a good job of shaking things off.''
Donald had two holes to catch Kuchar after the chip but couldn't do it. He missed a 28-foot birdie putt at the 17th hole, then saw his own try at a chip-in birdie slide past the cup.
''Finishing second isn't what I was hoping for,'' he said. ''Disappointed, obviously, not to have won. Usually a solid 69 on a windy day with a two-shot lead is enough to get it done on Sundays. It's tough to win out here and hats off to Matt for a superb round.''
Donald was at 10-under 274 after his 69.
Ben Martin, who turned pro in 2010, shot 67 to finish tied for third at 9 under with John Huh, who shot 68.
Sunday finally brought the sunshine the tournament had lacked all week. Players got the bonus of easy, softened greens from three days of moisture.
The birdies were flying from the start, and Kuchar took full advantage. He birdied the first and second holes, then added a third from 20 feet or so at No. 4.
''When I made that putt, I knew it was going to be a really good day,'' he said.
Jack Roush discusses possible engine changes.
By Kenny Bruce
Roush, an owner in the series since 1988, isn't suggesting the use of restrictor plates similar to those used at Daytona and Talladega.
Instead, he said, a reduction of the throttle bore size "without a plate underneath" would accomplish the objective.
"(It is) straightforward and it is easily reversible if you decided that the quality of the racing was hurt by it," Roush told NASCAR.com during the Sprint Cup Series stop at Darlington Raceway on April 12.
"If they want to take 100 horsepower off ? reduce horsepower significantly, the least expensive and most palatable way to do that is with a restriction on the intake side."
Earlier this month, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France told Sirius XM NASCAR Radio that changes to the current engine packages used in the Cup Series are coming, perhaps as soon as next season.
France said such a move would be "part of the overall rules packages that we design that hopefully control costs, hopefully make the racing better."
Today's Cup engines, limited to 358 cubic inches, produce approximately 850 horsepower. Speeds have increased, in part due to a new rules package and the continued development of the Generation-6 car, now in its second year.
While officials with the three auto manufacturers currently involved at the series' top level, Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota, have been a part of the discussions, they say it is too early in the process to respond to potential engine changes.
Roush, who turns 72 on April 19, is the co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing. The organization has won the NASCAR Cup title twice ? with former drivers Matt Kenseth in 2003 and Kurt Busch in '04. The organization's 134 victories rank Roush Fenway fourth highest overall and No. 3 among current teams in the series.
He is also co-owner of Roush Yates Engines, which supplies engines to more than one dozen Sprint Cup Series teams.
"From an owner's standpoint, NASCAR has got to be mindful of ? what it costs," Roush said. "The race teams can only afford to change so many things at a time. With the expanding technology and the engineering costs that everybody has with the pressure for sponsorship and investment in the sport, a dramatic or unnecessary engine change would not be welcome in my world."
Roush said previous conversations with NASCAR officials have focused on two considerations.
"One of them is not a big-cost problem and the other one is," he said. "If NASCAR comes back and redefines the engine right away, says we're going to a 4-valve, twin overhead cam package, that would be a death knell for a lot of teams in terms of what it would cost to re-power these things.
"I don't think it would materially impact the competitiveness of the cars, or the quality of the product that the consumers buy either from watching it on TV or from buying a seat in the stands.
"The thing that NASCAR has talked about, that they've brought to my attention, is changing the displacement of the engine in an effort to reduce 100 horsepower; that gets thumbs down from me because the cost of crankshafts, and the obsolescence that are involved and the development that follows that are going to cost the teams millions of dollars.
"I think NASCAR has asked 'what about that?' but I don't think they are serious in wanting to push that."
Roush said it appears more likely that the change will involve lowering the engine RPM, "which would be less hard on the engine," and could include "a requirement that you use the engine for two races.
"I think that's more likely where they will wind up," he said.
Both the Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series currently operate with a "sealed engine" program.
Such a move at the Cup level would mean higher initial costs due to development and construction, but by making the engine last for two races a net savings could be realized.
"By reducing the RPM, you reduce the power available for the car without changing its restriction or changing its displacement," said Roush. "By making the requirement that an engine be run twice before it was subject to rebuild, we would have that opportunity to reduce costs to the teams."
Roush said there is also talk of moving away from flat tappet camshafts in Cup engines to a roller camshaft similar to what is currently used in the Nationwide and Truck series.
"Right now you have to search the world for the best steel and best coating process to be able to have the friction characteristics that will allow you to run a flat tappet camshaft competitively," he said.
"The roller camshaft lifter arrangement will be much easier to source from a component point of view and much easier for the marginal teams to be able to get camshafts in their engines that will be durable."
Norwich City 2-3 Liverpool: Sterling, Reds with one hand on the title.
By Kyle Bonn
Liverpool’s blistering start takes no prisoners, and Norwich were no exception as two goals in the opening 10 minutes set the tone and put Norwich City away.
The Canaries brought themselves one back after the break and looked promising, but it was too little too late as the Premier League leaders went five clear at the top with three to play.
It wasn’t easy, as Norwich fought and twice pulled within one, but they couldn’t find the deathblow and the Reds’ early dominance led the way to their three points.
Raheem Sterling opened things with a salivating strike inside four minutes, and Luis Suarez bagged his 30th goal of the season six minutes later.
Sterling’s goal was a wonderful job of creating his own chances, first looking for other options before he decided to take it by himself. The 19-year-old cut back inside to create space, and from five yards outside the penalty area unleashed a explosive shot just inside the near post and past a diving John Ruddy.
The youngster then fed Suarez to double the lead, as the Uruguayan faked a near post run to catch the Norwich defense off guard before cutting to the back post, and Sterling’s ball across the face found him for the tap-in.
Suarez is the first player in European play to reach the 30-goal mark, beating out Cristiano Ronaldo who sits on 28 in La Liga. He is the first Liverpool player to reach 30 in the English top flight since Ian Rush’s 1987/88 season.
Norwich would find little of their own in the first half, but they saw out the rest of the opening 45 without further damage, and interim manager Neil Adams kept the attacking shape to open the second.
Out of the break the Canaries looked bright, bringing some life to Carrow Road and pulling one back when Simon Mignolet bungled a punch and left Gary Hooper with an empty net.
Liverpool received a stroke of luck when a Sterling shot ricocheted off the heel of Bradley Johnson and looped perfectly over Ruddy and into the back of the net for a 3-1 lead and a half hour to go.
But Adams and Liverpool wouldn’t go quietly into the afternoon. Robert Snodgrass completed a great attacking spell in the 76th minute, leaping well over Jon Flanagan to head past Mignolet and bring the game back within one.
Things became very nervy for the Reds with 15 minutes to go, and the Canaries continued their strong spell with the home fans exploding from their seats and backing their team.
Ricky van Wolfswinkel came on for goalscorer Hooper, and had a brilliant chance to send tidal waves through the title race, but couldn’t finish as Mignolet denied him on 82 minutes. Rodgers brought on a third central defender in Daniel Agger to close up shop, which they did through a nervy last ten plus four added minutes.
Suarez produced one last selfless moment in the dying minutes. With a chance to tie the Premier League goalscoring record and the goal gaping, Suarez instead decided to pass to Lucas on the edge of the area. Lucas popped two shots on goal, one which was brilliantly saved by Ruddy and the other blocked well.
The win sees Liverpool go five points clear at the top of the table and successfully capitalize on Chelsea’s defeat at Stamford Bridge. They also go nine in front of Manchester City who have a game in hand. The match now looms next week with Liverpool hosting Chelsea at Anfield, where avoiding defeat would just about wrap things up.
LINEUPS:
Norwich City – Ruddy; Whittaker, Martin, Turner, Olsson; Johnson; Howson, Fer (Murphy 78′); Snodgrass; Redmond, Hooper (van Wolfswinkel).
Goals: Hooper 54′; Snodgrass 77′
Liverpool – Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan; Gerrard, Lucas, Allen (Agger 81′), Sterling, Coutinho (Moses 76′); Suarez.
Goals: Sterling 4′, 62′; Suarez 11′
NCAA president Mark Emmert continued his case against unions on Friday.
By Nick Bromberg
Not surprisingly, NCAA president Mark Emmert said again Friday that unions could be a doomsday scenario for the current structure of college sports.
The National Labor Relations Board ruled in March that Northwestern players were employees of the school and had the right to unionize. The players are set to vote on April 25 while the school appeals the decision to the NLRB's national office.
But as Emmert discussed the impact a "yes" vote from the Northwestern players could have on ESPN's Mike and Mike morning show Friday, he brought up issues that haven't had anything to do with the current debate about collegiate athletic reform.
"If you take students and you turn them into employees, in the simplest of worlds, you’re turning from higher education law to labor law," Emmert said. "And now we wouldn’t have to talk about insurance because they’d be covered by workman’s compensation. And I guess that’s a good thing, but we wouldn’t be dealing with it. So that would relieve one headache but now you’ve got do deal with really interesting things. Like what would it look like for age discrimination suits.
"So if I’m no longer recruiting a kid to play football for me but I’m hiring a kid to play football for me, why would I hire an 18-year-old? Why wouldn’t I get someone out of the Canadian league, why wouldn’t I get somebody who is no longer in the NFL? And if you finish your three years or four years, you’re not going to play in the league but you want to keep playing at a university, you can’t fire me. Why are you firing me? Because I’m old? You can’t fire me, I’m 22."
Emmert previously called union efforts a "grossly inappropriate solution."
There has been nothing in the Northwestern ruling that impacts the eligibility window for college athletes. In fact, it hasn't even been brought up until now. The unionization efforts have been centered around better benefits for players while they're in school. Not for the right to stay in school past current eligibility guidelines and playing college football for an infinite amount of time.
Bringing the NCAA's complicated eligibility guidelines into the equation changes the current debate immensely. He also didn't stop there.
"So it completely changes that dynamic and it completely changes the whole nature of the relationship between a coach and a player," Emmert continued. "So now they’re employees, they’re not students, they’re not coaches and a teacher and a mentor. He’s now an employee. He’s now your boss. It completely messes up all of the 'Olympic and non-revenue sports,' right? because you can’t have it in one place. Your daughter is a swimmer I bet she puts in as much time as a football player. "
(ESPN host Mike Golic's daughter is a swimmer at Notre Dame.)
"OK, so the relationship’s the same. So she’s going to be unionized, because you can’t say the football guys can be and she can’t be. You’d have every football team, because the bargaining unit according to the NLRB is the football team at Northwestern, you’d have 125 different football teams each with their own unions, each negotiating separately, not one union. In the south they don’t allow public unions, so I guess they’d be scab labor. It would completely blow up the collegiate model.
(ESPN host Mike Golic's daughter is a swimmer at Notre Dame.)
"OK, so the relationship’s the same. So she’s going to be unionized, because you can’t say the football guys can be and she can’t be. You’d have every football team, because the bargaining unit according to the NLRB is the football team at Northwestern, you’d have 125 different football teams each with their own unions, each negotiating separately, not one union. In the south they don’t allow public unions, so I guess they’d be scab labor. It would completely blow up the collegiate model.
"If what we want to do is fix all of the problems that are out there, of which there are plenty, that's the wrong answer."
Does anyone really not think the head coach of a college football team really isn't already in the role of a boss? Coaches have the final say in everything from playing time to scholarships, much like the supervisor of a company has when determining work roles. And besides, many bosses in a traditional workplace sense also serve as teachers and mentors. It's not an idea exclusive to college sports.
Emmert also glossed over one crucial fact in the Northwestern case. Since Northwestern is a private university, the NLRB ruling only applies to them. Other union efforts at state universities would be subject to state labor laws. Plus, 24 states in the United States – including many in the south – are right-to-work states, which means that employees in certain sectors aren't required to pay union dues to be employed.
Simply because Northwestern could potentially unionize doesn't mean that every other school in FBS will follow suit. A final decision on appeals in the Northwestern case could take months, if not years, and any successive efforts at other schools wouldn't be expedited either.
Simply because Northwestern could potentially unionize doesn't mean that every other school in FBS will follow suit. A final decision on appeals in the Northwestern case could take months, if not years, and any successive efforts at other schools wouldn't be expedited either.
The possibility of unions may not be the answer to collegiate athletic reform, but rather a starting point. However, most everyone outside of the NCAA's offices and school administration buildings can agree that the system is not a "fabulous" one like Emmert said it was on Friday. It needs changing, and the discussions on how to change it need to be held in reality.
As this can of worms gets opened more, it's obvious, this is going to be eventually handled and concluded by our legal system. And as we've stated before, college sports will never be the same when this issue is settled!!! Remember, you heard it here first. These are our thoughts and we're sticking to them. Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica.
Proposed rule change would prevent hardship transfers from gaining immediate eligibility.As this can of worms gets opened more, it's obvious, this is going to be eventually handled and concluded by our legal system. And as we've stated before, college sports will never be the same when this issue is settled!!! Remember, you heard it here first. These are our thoughts and we're sticking to them. Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica.
By Jeff Eisenberg
Amid complaints regarding the process of obtaining hardship waivers, the NCAA's Division I leadership council recommended a policy change on Friday intended to eliminate the criticism.
The proposed rule change would give athletes who transfer due to difficult life or family circumstances an extra year to complete their four years of eligibility but would strip them of the right to apply for immediate eligibility at their new school. Those athletes would instead have to sit out a full year before competing for their new school the way other transfers do.
The extra year of eligibility would likely only come into play in rare cases when an athlete transfers because of a hardship and has already used a redshirt year previously. In such situations, athletes would not forfeit a year of eligibility while sitting out after transferring because they would have six years to play four seasons instead of five.
“We hope this change will encourage student-athletes who must transfer based on hardships to focus on the circumstances prompting the transfer during their first year and adjust to their new school, while giving them a season back to complete their eligibility,” Amy Huchthausen, America East Conference commissioner and chair of the Leadership Council subcommittee, said in a release.
The reexamination of the transfer policy comes in response to intense scrutiny in recent years regarding how the NCAA determines which transfers are worthy of hardship waivers.
Many have complained that athletes abuse the spirit of the policy by embellishing a family tragedy in an attempt to gain immediate eligibility at their new school. Athletes who transfer because of insufficient playing time or issues with their coach will try to convince the NCAA that the real reason their changing schools is to be closer to an aunt or uncle who is ill.
At the same time, inconsistent decisions from the NCAA have also been a source of frustration.
Trey Zeigler received immediate eligibility at Pittsburgh in 2012 after transferring because his father was fired as Central Michigan's head coach, but the NCAA initially ruled last year that Kerwin Okoro had to sit out a full year despite transferring to Rutgers to be close to his mother after the death of his father and brother. National outcry eventually prompted the NCAA to reverse that decision and amend the rule to apply to the death of immediate family members in addition to those that are ill.
The Division I Board of Directors will review the potential rule change on April 24 and it would go into effect by the start of the 2015-16 school year if approved.
The greatest impact of the rule change would surely be diminishing the number of transfers each offseason. In college basketball, that number has regularly exceeded 500 the past few years.
Whereas the possibility of switching schools without having to sit out a full year has lured numerous athletes to transfer, that would no longer be an option if a hardship waiver doesn't grant immediate eligibility. As a result, athletes with a true hardship may still transfer but those who don't may feel more compelled to fight through difficult circumstances at their current school rather than leave at the first hint of adversity.
The proposed rule change would give athletes who transfer due to difficult life or family circumstances an extra year to complete their four years of eligibility but would strip them of the right to apply for immediate eligibility at their new school. Those athletes would instead have to sit out a full year before competing for their new school the way other transfers do.
The extra year of eligibility would likely only come into play in rare cases when an athlete transfers because of a hardship and has already used a redshirt year previously. In such situations, athletes would not forfeit a year of eligibility while sitting out after transferring because they would have six years to play four seasons instead of five.
“We hope this change will encourage student-athletes who must transfer based on hardships to focus on the circumstances prompting the transfer during their first year and adjust to their new school, while giving them a season back to complete their eligibility,” Amy Huchthausen, America East Conference commissioner and chair of the Leadership Council subcommittee, said in a release.
The reexamination of the transfer policy comes in response to intense scrutiny in recent years regarding how the NCAA determines which transfers are worthy of hardship waivers.
Many have complained that athletes abuse the spirit of the policy by embellishing a family tragedy in an attempt to gain immediate eligibility at their new school. Athletes who transfer because of insufficient playing time or issues with their coach will try to convince the NCAA that the real reason their changing schools is to be closer to an aunt or uncle who is ill.
At the same time, inconsistent decisions from the NCAA have also been a source of frustration.
Trey Zeigler received immediate eligibility at Pittsburgh in 2012 after transferring because his father was fired as Central Michigan's head coach, but the NCAA initially ruled last year that Kerwin Okoro had to sit out a full year despite transferring to Rutgers to be close to his mother after the death of his father and brother. National outcry eventually prompted the NCAA to reverse that decision and amend the rule to apply to the death of immediate family members in addition to those that are ill.
The Division I Board of Directors will review the potential rule change on April 24 and it would go into effect by the start of the 2015-16 school year if approved.
The greatest impact of the rule change would surely be diminishing the number of transfers each offseason. In college basketball, that number has regularly exceeded 500 the past few years.
Whereas the possibility of switching schools without having to sit out a full year has lured numerous athletes to transfer, that would no longer be an option if a hardship waiver doesn't grant immediate eligibility. As a result, athletes with a true hardship may still transfer but those who don't may feel more compelled to fight through difficult circumstances at their current school rather than leave at the first hint of adversity.
Boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter dies at 76.
By GREG BEACHAM (AP Sports Writer)
Rubin ''Hurricane'' Carter, the boxer whose wrongful murder conviction became an international symbol of racial injustice, died Sunday. He was 76.
He had been stricken with prostate cancer in Toronto, the New Jersey native's adopted home. John Artis, a longtime friend and caregiver, told The Canadian Press that Carter died in his sleep.
Carter spent 19 years in prison for three murders at a tavern in Paterson, N.J., in 1966. He was convicted alongside Artis in 1967 and again in a new trial in 1976.
Carter was freed in November 1985 when his convictions were set aside after years of appeals and public advocacy. His ordeal and the alleged racial motivations behind it were publicized in Bob Dylan's 1975 song ''Hurricane,'' several books and a 1999 film starring Denzel Washington, who received an Academy Award nomination for playing the boxer turned prisoner.
Carter's murder convictions abruptly ended the boxing career of a former petty criminal who became an undersized middleweight contender largely on ferocity and punching power.
Although never a world champion, Carter went 27-12-1 with 19 knockouts, memorably stopping two-division champ Emile Griffith in the first round in 1963. He also fought for a middleweight title in 1964, losing a unanimous decision to Joey Giardello.
In June 1966, three white people were shot by two black men at the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson. Carter and Artis were convicted by an all-white jury largely on the testimony of two thieves who later recanted their stories.
Carter was granted a new trial and briefly freed in 1976, but sent back for nine more years after being convicted in a second trial.
Thom Kidrin, who became friends with Carter after visiting him several times in prison, told The Associated Press the boxer ''didn't have any bitterness or anger - he kind of got above it all. That was his great strength.''
''I wouldn't give up,'' Carter said in an interview on PBS in 2011. ''No matter that they sentenced me to three life terms in prison. I wouldn't give up. Just because a jury of 12 misinformed people ... found me guilty did not make me guilty. And because I was not guilty, I refused to act like a guilty person.''
Dylan became aware of Carter's plight after reading the boxer's autobiography. He met Carter and co-wrote ''Hurricane,'' which he performed on his Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1975. The song concludes: ''That's the story of the Hurricane/But it won't be over till they clear his name/And give him back the time he's done/Put him in a prison cell but one time he could-a been/The champion of the world.''
Muhammad Ali spoke out on Carter's behalf. Advertising art director George Lois and other celebrities also worked toward Carter's release.
With a network of friends and volunteers also advocating for him, Carter eventually won his release from U.S. District Judge H. Lee Sarokin, who wrote that Carter's prosecution had been ''predicated upon an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure.''
Born on May 6, 1937, into a family of seven children, Carter struggled with a hereditary speech impediment and was sent to a juvenile reform center at 12 after an assault. He escaped and joined the Army in 1954, experiencing racial segregation and learning to box while in West Germany.
Carter then committed a series of muggings after returning home, spending four years in various state prisons. He began his pro boxing career in 1961 after his release, winning 20 of his first 24 fights mostly by stoppage.
Carter was fairly short for a middleweight at 5-foot-8, but he was aggressive and threw a lot of punches. His shaved head and menacing glower gave him an imposing ring presence, but also contributed to a menacing aura outside the ring. He was quoted as joking about killing police officers in a 1964 story in the Saturday Evening Post, which was later cited by Carter as a cause of his troubles with police.
Carter boxed regularly on television at Madison Square Garden and overseas in London, Paris and Johannesburg. Although his career appeared to be on a downswing before he was implicated in the murders, Carter was hoping for a second middleweight title shot.
Carter and Artis were questioned after being spotted in the area of the murders in Carter's white car, which vaguely matched witnesses' descriptions.
Both cited alibis and were released, but were arrested months later. A case relying largely on the testimony of thieves Alfred Bello and Arthur Bradley resulted in a conviction in June 1967.
Carter defied his prison guards from the first day of his incarceration, spending time in solitary confinement because of it.
''When I walked into prison, I refused to wear their stripes,'' Carter said. ''I refused to eat their food. I refused to work their jobs, and I would have refused to breathe the prison's air if I could have done so.''
Carter eventually wrote and spoke eloquently about his plight, publishing his autobiography, ''The Sixteenth Round,'' in 1974. Benefit concerts were held for his legal defense.
After his release, Carter moved to Toronto, where he served as the executive director of the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted from 1993 to 2005. He received two honorary doctorates for his work.
Carter's papers will be sent to the Rubin Carter/John Artis Innocence International Project at Tufts University outside Boston, Kidrin said.
Carter's papers will be sent to the Rubin Carter/John Artis Innocence International Project at Tufts University outside Boston, Kidrin said.
Director Norman Jewison made Carter's story into a well-reviewed biographical film, with Washington working closely alongside Carter to capture the boxer's transformation and redemption. Washington won a Golden Globe for the role.
''He's all love,'' Washington said while onstage with Carter at the Golden Globes ceremony in 2000. ''He lost about 7,300 days of his life, and he's love. He's all love.''
On Sunday, when told of Carter's death, Washington said in a statement: ''God bless Rubin Carter and his tireless fight to ensure justice for all.''
The makers of ''The Hurricane,'' however, were widely criticized for factual inaccuracies and glossing over other parts of Carter's story, including his criminal past and a reputation for a violent temper.
Giardello sued the film's producers for its depiction of a racist fix in his victory over Carter, who acknowledged Giardello deserved the win.
Carter's weight and activity dwindled during his final months, but he still advocated for prisoners he believed to be wrongfully convicted.
Carter wrote an opinion essay for the New York Daily News in February, arguing vehemently for the release of David McCallum, convicted of a kidnapping and murder in 1985.
Kidrin said Carter would be cremated, with some of the ashes given to his family. Two sisters are among Carter's survivors, though Kidrin said Carter was alienated from many relatives.
Kidrin planned to sprinkle Carter's remains in the ocean off Cape Cod, where they spent the last three summers together. Artis planned to bring some of the ashes to a horse farm in Kentucky the boxer loved.
Kidrin spoke with Carter on Wednesday.
''He said, 'You know, look, death's coming. I'm ready for it. But it's really going to have to take me because I'm positive to the end.'''
Hopkins becomes oldest to unify world titles.
By Jim Slater
Bernard Hopkins, the oldest world champion in boxing history at age 49, became the eldest fighter to unify world titles Saturday when he defeated Beibut Shumenov in a light-heavyweight showdown.
Two judges gave ageless wonder Hopkins a split-decision victory by the same score, 116-111, while the out-voted third saw Shumenov as a 114-113 winner.
"I had a great night," Hopkins said. "I'm special. Special is what it is. There is no definition for special."
Hopkins, who knocked down his younger and larger foe in the 11th round, kept his International Boxing Federation crown and took the World Boxing Association title from Kazakhstan's Shumenov.
Now his aim is to add the World Boxing Council title and become an undisputed champion before turning 50 next January.
"My job is not to worry about the judges. My job is to get ready to unify the championship before 50," Hopkins said.
Hopkins improved to 55-6 with two drawn and 32 knockouts while Shumenov fell to 14-2 before 6,823 at the Washington Armory.
"I wasn't concerned with the scorecard. I was concerned with the fighting," Shumenov said. "I chose the wrong strategy. I'm quite angry. It didn't happen that I could get the victory but I am a true warrior."
Hopkins used a left jab to set up a hard right that dropped Shumenov and summed up a masterful performance by Hopkins of wearing down a fellow champion physically and mentally.
"He ran right into it because he likes to spin into it," Hopkins said. "It was there the whole fight. I finally clicked in there and got it."
Fans chanted "B-Hop, B-Hop" in the final round, when Hopkins dropped his hands, leaned toward Shumenov and smiled, then attacked after his rival showed frustration.
"I'm a 15-round fighter," Hopkins screamed from the ring. "I'm a throwback."
It was the second title defense for Hopkins, who took the IBF title from Tavoris Cloud in March of last year. Hopkins decisioned Karo Murat last October.
Hopkins defended his middleweight crown 20 times in his prime but has made his fame in recent years by defying Father Time.
Hopkins wore a green alien mask when he walked into the ring, having nicknamed himself "Alien" due to his longevity.
- 'Boxing is a science' -
A tentative start saw each champion try to lure the other into mistakes and counter-attack with mixed results.
In the third round Shumenov looked irritated as Hopkins backpedaled away repeatedly, but Hopkins then pressed the attack, finding ways to work inside his rival's longer reach.
"Boxing is a science," Hopkins said. "If you don't have to get hit don't. You don't want anybody else counting your money."
Hopkins would lure Shumenov into lowering his fists, although it often meant he had to take a good punch in the exchange before they clinched.
In the fourth, Hopkins stuck out his tongue at Shumenov, disrespect that enticed the Kazak fighter into a hasty charge just as the crafty veteran desired.
Hopkins stung Shumenov with a hard right to the head in the fifth and landed an early combination in the sixth, then taunted Shumenov with quick tongue flicks.
Hopkins evaded and tied up to avoid Shumenov's attempts to land a powerful blow and was able to strike with quick single punches to keep the European guessing and frustrated, dancing to the American's tune.
Shumenov, who had been past the ninth round only once since 2010, began attacking and pulling back in the eighth round to better position himself for more punches and avoid clinches.
Hopkins answered with counter attacks and worked inside more frequently in the later rounds, Shumenov at one moment looking annoyed at an evasive move and in the next finding himself in an exchange against the ropes that favored the wily Hopkins.
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