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How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? NHL Playoff Power Rankings: Stanley Cup favorites & long shots.
The best part about the new playoff format? The bracket.
Yahoo Sports isn’t offering a billion dollars if you fill out a perfect NHL bracket, like we did during the NCAA tournament. But go ahead. Try. It’s a good bet you’ll go bust. There won’t be upsets by seventh or eighth seeds anymore, because there aren’t seventh or eighth seeds anymore. Still, there is sure to be a surprise somewhere.
So here we go, and here are our Sweet 16 power rankings. Teams are listed in order of how we view their current situation and Stanley Cup potential, not necessarily where they finished in the standings. We’ll recalibrate before the Elite Eight and the Final Four. Good luck.
The NCAA has March Madness. Now that NHL has gone to divisional playoffs, the league will have April Insanity and May Mayhem before the Stanley Cup final in June. You can print out your own bracket, trace the path for your favorite team and make your picks.
Yahoo Sports isn’t offering a billion dollars if you fill out a perfect NHL bracket, like we did during the NCAA tournament. But go ahead. Try. It’s a good bet you’ll go bust. There won’t be upsets by seventh or eighth seeds anymore, because there aren’t seventh or eighth seeds anymore. Still, there is sure to be a surprise somewhere.
So here we go, and here are our Sweet 16 power rankings. Teams are listed in order of how we view their current situation and Stanley Cup potential, not necessarily where they finished in the standings. We’ll recalibrate before the Elite Eight and the Final Four. Good luck.
1. Boston Bruins
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Chicago Blackhawks
5. St. Louis Blues
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
9. Montreal Canadiens
13. Minnesota Wild
14. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Bolts have been a great story. Steven Stamkos went down with a broken leg, but rookies Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson emerged as excellent two-way players. Martin St-Louis demanded a trade, but Ryan Callahan came back in the deal and Stamkos came back to the lineup at the same time. Victor Hedman developed into a top defenseman. Coach Jon Cooper improved the system. But Stamkos is still a shell of himself, even if he has managed to produce, and now goaltender Ben Bishop, a Vezina and Hart candidate, is hurt. He will miss Game 1. At least. Ryan Malone’s arrest cannot help, either.
15. Dallas Stars
16. Columbus Blue Jackets
The Jackets didn’t win a game in their only previous playoff appearance, in 2009. You wonder if they will win a game this time. They went 0-5 this season against their first-round opponent, the Penguins, and scorer Nathan Horton, who once starred in the playoffs for the Bruins, is out after having abdominal surgery. The positives? They have nothing to lose. They have budding star Ryan Johansen, who has earned comparisons to Ryan Getzlaf. They have a solid system. And of course they have goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who won the Vezina last year, played well this season and appeared in only one of those five losses to Pittsburgh.
NHL’s new playoff format is all about gambling, isn’t it?
By Greg Wyshynski
Every playoff in every sport has one at the start, but you can usually turn it into compost after the opening round when the higher seeds are shifted over to face lower seeds.
But the NHL has gone they way of March Madness – and this is no coincidence – in locking in the seeds through to the Stanley Cup Final. As inequitable as it is for the Boston Bruins to face a team with higher points than either the Rangers, Flyers or Blue Jackets (potentially) in Round 2, that’s the way it is: They’re locked into playing the winner of the Canadiens/Lightning series.
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Roster Reset: NFC North.
The Bruins won the Cup in 2011, went back to the final last year and should be the favorites this year. They can score. They can defend. They can roll four lines and three defense pairings, and they have elite players at each level – Patrice Bergeron up front, Zdeno Chara on the blue line, Tuukka Rask in net. In theory, because they play in the East, they should have an easier road to the final than the Western powers. The biggest concerns: sorting out roles on defense and staying focused. Locked in, they are a machine. Laid-back, they are vulnerable.
2. San Jose Sharks
Is this the year when the Sharks finally break through and come out of the West? They have many of the same faces – Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Dan Boyle. But they’re faster than the Sharks of old, and Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic have reached new levels. It will help if Tomas Hertl can add offense and Raffi Torres can add speed and sandpaper. Hertl is back from a serious knee injury; Torres might be ready to play. This team controls the puck and puts a ton of shots on net. The problem is in goal: Antti Niemi, who has won a Cup and been a Vezina finalist, struggled down the stretch.
3. Chicago Blackhawks
Last year, the Blackhawks became the first team to win two Cups in the salary-cap era. This year, they have a chance to go back-to-back and win the Cup for the third time in five years, the closest thing to a dynasty in today’s NHL. They were better than they looked in the regular season. They struggled in overtime and shootouts – and there won’t be 4-on-4 OT or shootouts in the playoffs. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane will return from injuries for Game 1. If healthy and humming, this team is every bit as good as the two that won it all.
It’s a shame the Sharks and Kings must meet in the first round. One will be gone. The other might be weakened the way the Kings were last year, when they beat the Sharks in a seven-game second-round series and had little left for the conference final. The Kings won the Cup in 2012 and were the best possession and defensive team this season. Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick are outstanding. But once again the question is offense. Mike Richards and Dustin Brown have had disappointing seasons. Can trade-deadline acquisition Marian Gaborik make a difference?
5. St. Louis Blues
The same can be said for the Blackhawks and Blues. One will be gone after the first round? The Blues can be a deep, structured, hard-to-play-against monster in the mold of Boston or L.A. They added goaltender Ryan Miller and agitator Steve Ott at the deadline, hoping Miller would make that extra save and Ott would push the envelope a little further. But Miller didn’t have an easy adjustment to facing fewer shots than he’s used to, and injuries struck. The Blues lost their final six games in the regular season. So much depends on the health of David Backes, Patrik Berglund, Brenden Morrow, T.J. Oshie, Vladimir Sobotka and Vladimir Tarasenko. Offense has been an issue in the playoffs in the past.
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
Sidney Crosby enters the playoffs healthy for the first time since 2010. The Penguins, depleted by injuries and illnesses this season, have Paul Martin and Kris Letang back and should have Evgeni Malkin back, too. But is the bottom six strong enough, the defense stout enough, the goaltending solid enough? Marc-Andre Fleury cannot afford to follow another good regular season with another awful playoff, which is why he started seeing a sports psychologist last summer and started working with a new goalie coach this season. There is no one to rescue him now. Backup Jeff Zatkoff has no playoff experience. Veteran Tomas Vokoun, who stepped in and led the Pens to the Eastern Conference final last year, just returned after missing the season because of a blood clot.
Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are two of the best players in the NHL, and the Ducks were the top team in the West, the stronger conference. Still, they have a lot to prove. Getzlaf and Perry were part of the Anaheim team that won the 2007 Cup, but they weren’t the leaders of that group and haven’t led the Ducks deep in the playoffs yet. They were outplayed last year by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg when the Ducks were upset by the Detroit Red Wings in the first round. Coach Bruce Boudreau won titles at lower levels and doesn’t get enough credit for what he has done in the NHL, but he hasn’t been past the second round.
We know goaltender Henrik Lundqvist is capable of winning 1-0 games in the playoffs. But the Rangers hope they won’t have to win as many squeakers now that they have replaced John Tortorella with Alain Vigneault. After a slow start, the Rangers adjusted to Vigneault’s style. They take more advantage of their speed and skill, but they haven’t lost all of their grit, even after trading captain Ryan Callahan. Martin St-Louis needs to get going, however. He was the one who demanded the trade to New York, and he had only one goal and eight points in 19 games. If he starts producing, the Rangers will become that much more dangerous.
9. Montreal Canadiens
Landing Thomas Vanek at the trade deadline was a huge coup for the Canadiens. Not only can he score, but he can pass at an elite level. He has been productive on a line with David Desharnais and Max Pacioretty, and that has slotted the rest of the forwards more effectively. The Habs have two excellent offensive defensemen in P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov, and they have one of the best goaltenders in the league in Carey Price. If any team in the East can beat Boston, it’s Montreal, given their history, and they could meet in the second round.
The Avs finished second in the West over 82 games. So why are they ranked so low? Leading scorer Matt Duchene is likely out for the first round with a knee injury. The Avs are weak on the blue line and were one of the worst possession teams in the regular season. Goaltender Semyon Varlamov was such a major part of the Avs’ success that he should win the Vezina and be a finalist for the Hart. For the Avs to come out of the West, let alone win the Cup, he will have to play well enough to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.
Craig Berube did a hell of a job after taking over for coach Peter Laviolette early in the season, making the Flyers skate more and play better without the puck. Claude Giroux rebounded from an awful start and might be a Hart finalist. If the Flyers get past the Rangers and face the Penguins in the second round, look out. Still, this is a team that doesn’t possess the puck enough and still has holes defensively. The Flyers finished 20th in goals against in the regular season, worst among the playoff teams. Although Steve Mason has claimed the No. 1 job, can he outduel Henrik Lundqvist in goal over a seven-game series?
12. Detroit Red Wings
Beware the Wings. They won their final four games to make the playoffs last season, then upset the Ducks in the first round and almost upset the Blackhawks in the second. A strong stretch drive put them in the tournament this time. Young players like Gustav Nyquist and Tomas Tatar carried them instead of veterans like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, and that will have to continue in the playoffs. Datsyuk will play but on a bad knee. Zetterberg will miss the first round with a bad back.
13. Minnesota Wild
The Wild relied too much on too few players in a five-game, first-round loss to the Blackhawks last season. Ryan Suter is still going to play a zillion minutes. Zach Parise, Mikko Koivu and Jason Pominville will still be important. But this team is deeper now thanks to the emergence of Mikael Granlund and Jared Spurgeon and the additions of Matt Moulson, Matt Cooke, Nino Niederreiter and Cody McCormick. Ilya Bryzgalov, of all people, calmed the goaltending situation down the stretch after being acquired at the trade deadline. One glaring weakness: special teams, especially penalty killing. The Wild was third-worst on the PK in the regular season; its first-round opponent, Colorado, was fifth-best on the power play.
14. Tampa Bay Lightning
The Bolts have been a great story. Steven Stamkos went down with a broken leg, but rookies Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson emerged as excellent two-way players. Martin St-Louis demanded a trade, but Ryan Callahan came back in the deal and Stamkos came back to the lineup at the same time. Victor Hedman developed into a top defenseman. Coach Jon Cooper improved the system. But Stamkos is still a shell of himself, even if he has managed to produce, and now goaltender Ben Bishop, a Vezina and Hart candidate, is hurt. He will miss Game 1. At least. Ryan Malone’s arrest cannot help, either.
15. Dallas Stars
Tyler Seguin had one goal and eight points in 22 playoff games for the Bruins last year, and he was traded to the Stars amid talk of too little professionalism and too much partying. He went from a role player on an established team to a leading man on an up-and-coming team, and he finished fourth in the league in scoring this season with 37 goals and 84 points. With Seguin at center, Jamie Benn went back to the wing, his natural position, and produced 34 goals and 79 points himself. Can Seguin take what he learned in Boston and translate it to the playoffs? Can he and Benn continue to be as dynamic at this time of year? Can the Stars, in the playoffs for the first time since 2008, pull off an upset?
16. Columbus Blue Jackets
The Jackets didn’t win a game in their only previous playoff appearance, in 2009. You wonder if they will win a game this time. They went 0-5 this season against their first-round opponent, the Penguins, and scorer Nathan Horton, who once starred in the playoffs for the Bruins, is out after having abdominal surgery. The positives? They have nothing to lose. They have budding star Ryan Johansen, who has earned comparisons to Ryan Getzlaf. They have a solid system. And of course they have goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who won the Vezina last year, played well this season and appeared in only one of those five losses to Pittsburgh.
NHL’s new playoff format is all about gambling, isn’t it?
By Greg Wyshynski
There are certain words and phrases that are synonymous with the Stanley Cup Playoffs – “sudden death,” “home ice advantage,” “Red Wings” – and the NHL had added one that it hopes will join the lexicon:
“Bracket.”
Every playoff in every sport has one at the start, but you can usually turn it into compost after the opening round when the higher seeds are shifted over to face lower seeds.
But the NHL has gone they way of March Madness – and this is no coincidence – in locking in the seeds through to the Stanley Cup Final. As inequitable as it is for the Boston Bruins to face a team with higher points than either the Rangers, Flyers or Blue Jackets (potentially) in Round 2, that’s the way it is: They’re locked into playing the winner of the Canadiens/Lightning series.
Sucks for them, but awesome for the NHL’s bottom line: The League now has a sponsored Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge on its home page, in which you pick the series winners, the number of games and, as a tie-breaker, the total goals scored in the Stanley Cup Final, just like you pick the total score of the NCAA men’s basketball final as a tie-breaker in March Madness – which, again, is no coincidence.
As PrintYourBrackets.com notes on its site, which allows fans to (spoiler) print their own brackets: “This allows you to now be able to run a bracket pick'em pool just like the March Madness Tournament!”
IMAGINE THAT?!
We’re sure there are other factors for the playoff format change – increasing division rivalries and all of that – but it also accomplishes something rather important for the NHL and its insatiable craving for casual fans: Simplifies the postseason and makes it wagerable.
Here’s what we know to be true:
1. Hockey, in general, is confusing as [expletive] to wager on. Casual fans don’t gamble on it, and hence aren’t addicted to watching the games on which they have money riding.
2. College basketball, in general, is super easy to wager on. Casual fans who wouldn’t know UConn from Conn Smythe tune to for March Madness because they filled out a bracket online or at the office and are playing along with the tournament.
3. According to the FBI, more than $2.5 billion was illegally wagered on the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in 2012 (that includes office pools) and over $12 billion was wagered worldwide on March Madness. That’s a lot of people with a financial lure to tune in for the tournament.
4. According to everyone who knows anything, wagering on the Stanley Cup Playoffs isn’t engrained behavior for the majority of sports fans.
So the notion that “bracketology” has come to the Stanley Cup Playoffs is actually exciting.
We’ve said for years that the inability of American fans to simply wager on NHL games is something that’s held the sport back from reaching those audiences; it also factors into keeping hardcore fans watching the playoffs long after their teams are eliminated.
So now it’s on us, dear fans, to begin the process of getting all those playoff fence sitters (a.k.a. basketball fans that don't know they're hockey fans) to understand that Cup Crazy = March Madness.
Get that office pool fired up, with the understanding that they’ll have to pay attention to something for the next two months when they can’t even stick with “Mad Men” for consecutive weeks. Hell, half the office is still going on bet with the “WELL A SHARK COULD PROBABLY BEAT A KING IN A FIGHT IF THEY FIGHT TOOK PLACE AT SEA” mindset.
The new playoff format has its share of obvious drawbacks.
Opening the door to simple wagering on the NHL postseason isn’t one of them.
By Gregg Rosenthal
The Green Bay Packers have high-class problems. The rest of the NFC North just has problems.
Minnesota and Detroit are starting over with new coaching staffs, the tell-tale sign of franchises in transition. The Lions have the talent base and the quarterback to bounce back quickly, but they've only produced one winning season in the Calvin Johnson era. Chicago has a quality coach and quarterback in place, but their defense ranks among the league's worst groups.
This free agency period hasn't changed the division dynamic dramatically. The Packers brought in Julius Peppers, but mostly focused on re-signing their own players. The Bears made big changes in an effort to re-make the roster, but it's still a team in transition. They lost almost as much talent as they signed. Minnesota and Detroit mostly made cosmetic changes.
To truly make up ground in the division, someone other Packers general manager Ted Thompson needs to hit a home run in the upcoming draft. The Lions, Vikings and Bears likely won't have the benefit of Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn starting games for the Packers this time around.
1. Green Bay Packers
Why the rest of the division should worry: Rodgers isn't the only Packers starter returning to the field. Green Bay missed scores of games from Clay Matthews, Bryan Bulaga, Randall Cobb, Casey Hayward, Nick Perry, Jerel Worthy and more. Our roster reset exercise is about what teams have improved. The Packers got better by getting healthier, and re-signing more key players than expected.
Cornerback Sam Shields cost a lot to bring back, but he was the team's best player at his position. Mike Neal is the type of young, promising player we expected to get more money elsewhere in free agency. B.J. Raji returned at a discount price, while James Starks and John Kuhn add depth to a suddenly dangerous backfield. Signing Julius Peppers was the type of high-risk, high-reward gambit Thompson rarely tries. And he made sure it wasn't too risky since it's essentially a one-year contract.
What's next:
» More OL help: The Packers could be looking for a starter at center and it wouldn't be crazy to add another option at tackle. It's hard to count on David Bakhtiari as an indefinite solution on the blind side.
» Safety: Micah Hyde could move to safety, but the Packers still need help here after giving up way too many big plays last year.
» Sign a wide receiver long term: The Packers probably can't sign both Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson this offseason, but they should get one big contract done. The team's depth at wide receiver makes the current hole at tight end not look quite as bad.
2. Chicago Bears
Why they improved: The Bears knew what wasn't working on their defense. Lamarr Houston, Jared Allen and Willie Young are an upgrade on Julius Peppers, Henry Melton and Corey Wootton. Melton didn't play last year. The Bears defense lacked an identity last season, unless that identity was "give up a lot of points." Now they have identified players to fix a broken defensive line, even if there are big problems elsewhere on the defense.
Coach Marc Trestman's ability to teach quarterbacks will help whoever they bring in to replace Josh McCown as their backup quarterback. At safety, the Bears went with quantity over quality by bringing in Ryan Mundy, M.D. Jennings and Danny McCray. Devin Hester was an emotional departure, not an impactful one.
What's next:
» Everything defense: We could pick a position or five (defensive tackle, safety to start), but it's not about the position. It's about finding young talent. The Bears need players to build around at every defensive position because their best players are veterans like Lance Briggs.
» Backup skill positions: Chicago's offensive line looks good and their starting lineup is formidable. But they have practically no one behind Jay Cutler and Matt Forte. (Josh Freeman would fit well here.) The team could also use another option at third receiver.
3. Minnesota Vikings
Why they are treading water: Matt Cassel, Christian Ponder and a rookie to be named later remain the quarterbacks. Mike Zimmer and Norv Turner were strong coaching hires, but they are taking over a mostly vanilla roster.
The team put huge faith in Everson Griffen, giving him $20 million guaranteed. That contract looked worse as the pass rusher market played out in free agency. Defensive tackle Linval Joseph and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn were both smart signings, solid veterans that can capably start. Guard Vlad Ducasse, cornerback Derek Cox and defensive tackle Corey Wootton were reasonable, low-cost gambits. The team will miss Jared Allen, and need to replace Toby Gerhart at running back.
This was a solid offseason thus far for Minnesota. They know they can't solve their roster in one month.
What's next:
» Draft a quarterback: They were burned by Christian Ponder, but can't let that scare them from drafting a quarterback every season until they find one that sticks. Teddy Bridgewater could fit in Turner's system well.
» Find secondary help: Zimmer has a great track record coaching up defensive backs. He still might need two starters, one at cornerback and safety.
» See if Kyle Rudolph will sign team-friendly deal: He's only going to get more expensive after a year under TE-friendly Turner.
4. Detroit Lions
Why they took a small step back: They have inexperienced coordinators on both sides of the ball. Golden Tate was a solid addition to the offense, but it's not like he's an above-average NFL starter out wide. The next biggest addition was ... James Ihedigbo?
Detroit didn't lose a ton to the market, but safety Louis Delmas, quarterback Shaun Hill and defensive end Willie Young had their moments. The Lions are betting on their new staff to develop their significant talent because the starting lineups won't be too different.
What's next:
» Sign Ndamukong Suh: Calvin Johnson, Stafford and Suh are an incredible trio, but they take up a huge portion of the Lions' salary cap. A long-term deal for Suh should happen, and should help position the team for 2015.
» Find cornerbacks: They have thrown a lot of different options against the wall, and little has stuck.
» More outside pass rushers: Detroit has a lot of potential here with Ziggy Ansah, Devin Taylor and Jason Jones, but not much to rely on. Consider it a good thing that the Lions don't have a more pressing concern than this. This is the second-best roster in the division. Getting them to play up to their talent is the tricky part.
After five straight playoff appearances and three straight division titles, Green Bay still stands apart in talent from their rivals. The Packers will never be more ripe to be dethroned than they were in 2013 when Aaron Rodgers missed seven games. Green Bay wasn't a particularly good team when they won the division; they were just fortunate to play in a division caught in a down cycle.
Minnesota and Detroit are starting over with new coaching staffs, the tell-tale sign of franchises in transition. The Lions have the talent base and the quarterback to bounce back quickly, but they've only produced one winning season in the Calvin Johnson era. Chicago has a quality coach and quarterback in place, but their defense ranks among the league's worst groups.
This free agency period hasn't changed the division dynamic dramatically. The Packers brought in Julius Peppers, but mostly focused on re-signing their own players. The Bears made big changes in an effort to re-make the roster, but it's still a team in transition. They lost almost as much talent as they signed. Minnesota and Detroit mostly made cosmetic changes.
To truly make up ground in the division, someone other Packers general manager Ted Thompson needs to hit a home run in the upcoming draft. The Lions, Vikings and Bears likely won't have the benefit of Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn starting games for the Packers this time around.
1. Green Bay Packers
Why the rest of the division should worry: Rodgers isn't the only Packers starter returning to the field. Green Bay missed scores of games from Clay Matthews, Bryan Bulaga, Randall Cobb, Casey Hayward, Nick Perry, Jerel Worthy and more. Our roster reset exercise is about what teams have improved. The Packers got better by getting healthier, and re-signing more key players than expected.
Cornerback Sam Shields cost a lot to bring back, but he was the team's best player at his position. Mike Neal is the type of young, promising player we expected to get more money elsewhere in free agency. B.J. Raji returned at a discount price, while James Starks and John Kuhn add depth to a suddenly dangerous backfield. Signing Julius Peppers was the type of high-risk, high-reward gambit Thompson rarely tries. And he made sure it wasn't too risky since it's essentially a one-year contract.
Key re-signings
|
Key arrivals
|
Key departures
|
|---|---|---|
What's next:
» More OL help: The Packers could be looking for a starter at center and it wouldn't be crazy to add another option at tackle. It's hard to count on David Bakhtiari as an indefinite solution on the blind side.
» Safety: Micah Hyde could move to safety, but the Packers still need help here after giving up way too many big plays last year.
» Sign a wide receiver long term: The Packers probably can't sign both Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson this offseason, but they should get one big contract done. The team's depth at wide receiver makes the current hole at tight end not look quite as bad.
2. Chicago Bears
Why they improved: The Bears knew what wasn't working on their defense. Lamarr Houston, Jared Allen and Willie Young are an upgrade on Julius Peppers, Henry Melton and Corey Wootton. Melton didn't play last year. The Bears defense lacked an identity last season, unless that identity was "give up a lot of points." Now they have identified players to fix a broken defensive line, even if there are big problems elsewhere on the defense.
Coach Marc Trestman's ability to teach quarterbacks will help whoever they bring in to replace Josh McCown as their backup quarterback. At safety, the Bears went with quantity over quality by bringing in Ryan Mundy, M.D. Jennings and Danny McCray. Devin Hester was an emotional departure, not an impactful one.
Key re-signings
|
Key arrivals
|
Key departures
|
|---|---|---|
Lamar Houston
| ||
What's next:
» Everything defense: We could pick a position or five (defensive tackle, safety to start), but it's not about the position. It's about finding young talent. The Bears need players to build around at every defensive position because their best players are veterans like Lance Briggs.
» Backup skill positions: Chicago's offensive line looks good and their starting lineup is formidable. But they have practically no one behind Jay Cutler and Matt Forte. (Josh Freeman would fit well here.) The team could also use another option at third receiver.
3. Minnesota Vikings
Why they are treading water: Matt Cassel, Christian Ponder and a rookie to be named later remain the quarterbacks. Mike Zimmer and Norv Turner were strong coaching hires, but they are taking over a mostly vanilla roster.
The team put huge faith in Everson Griffen, giving him $20 million guaranteed. That contract looked worse as the pass rusher market played out in free agency. Defensive tackle Linval Joseph and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn were both smart signings, solid veterans that can capably start. Guard Vlad Ducasse, cornerback Derek Cox and defensive tackle Corey Wootton were reasonable, low-cost gambits. The team will miss Jared Allen, and need to replace Toby Gerhart at running back.
This was a solid offseason thus far for Minnesota. They know they can't solve their roster in one month.
Key re-signings
|
Key arrivals
|
Key departures
|
|---|---|---|
What's next:
» Draft a quarterback: They were burned by Christian Ponder, but can't let that scare them from drafting a quarterback every season until they find one that sticks. Teddy Bridgewater could fit in Turner's system well.
» Find secondary help: Zimmer has a great track record coaching up defensive backs. He still might need two starters, one at cornerback and safety.
» See if Kyle Rudolph will sign team-friendly deal: He's only going to get more expensive after a year under TE-friendly Turner.
4. Detroit Lions
Why they took a small step back: They have inexperienced coordinators on both sides of the ball. Golden Tate was a solid addition to the offense, but it's not like he's an above-average NFL starter out wide. The next biggest addition was ... James Ihedigbo?
Detroit didn't lose a ton to the market, but safety Louis Delmas, quarterback Shaun Hill and defensive end Willie Young had their moments. The Lions are betting on their new staff to develop their significant talent because the starting lineups won't be too different.
Key re-signings
|
Key arrivals
|
Key departures
|
|---|---|---|
What's next:
» Sign Ndamukong Suh: Calvin Johnson, Stafford and Suh are an incredible trio, but they take up a huge portion of the Lions' salary cap. A long-term deal for Suh should happen, and should help position the team for 2015.
» Find cornerbacks: They have thrown a lot of different options against the wall, and little has stuck.
» More outside pass rushers: Detroit has a lot of potential here with Ziggy Ansah, Devin Taylor and Jason Jones, but not much to rely on. Consider it a good thing that the Lions don't have a more pressing concern than this. This is the second-best roster in the division. Getting them to play up to their talent is the tricky part.
Just another Chicago Bulls Session… Noah leads Bulls to 108-95 win over Magic.
By JOHN JACKSON (Associated Press)
There's just one game remaining in the regular season and the NBA playoffs begin on Saturday.
The Chicago Bulls still don't know their first-round opponent, but that's fine with Joakim Noah.
''Whatever happens, happens,'' Noah said after the Bulls' 108-95 victory over the Orlando Magic on Monday. ''Our mentality is just getting ready for the next game, getting ready for Charlotte. We're going to focus on out next opponent and everything will take care of itself.''
Noah had 18 points and 10 rebounds and eight assists, Mike Dunleavy scored 22 points and the Bulls pulled away late.
With one game left in the regular season, the Bulls are fourth in the Eastern Conference playoff race and looking at a first-round matchup with Brooklyn. To catch Toronto and finish third, the Bulls would need to win the season finale at Charlotte on Wednesday and have the Raptors lose at New York.
''The important thing is for us to continue to strive for improvement (and) finish the season as strong as we can and go from there,'' Thibodeau said.
Kyle O'Quinn led Orlando with 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting, and Andrew Nicholson added 19. Rookie Victor Oladipo was limited to 10 points after scoring a career-high 35 points against the Bulls earlier in the season.
''He's still getting better on a daily basis,'' Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said of O'Quinn. ''His challenge is going to be continuing to play every play. He's done a good job of being in the right position the majority of the time. Now the expectation will be continued to be raised.''
Jimmer Fredette had 17 points for Chicago.
With guard D.J. Augustin missing the game to attend the birth of a child, the Bulls' rotation was a bit off in the first half.
Fredette was the first player off the bench and he showed the rust of not playing much since being picked up at the beginning of March.
The Bulls led throughout the first half, often by double figures, but the Magic hung around and pulled within 67-64 with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.
Dunleavy, though, hit a 3-pointer to stop Orlando's momentum. Soon after, Fredette capped the third-quarter scoring with a pair of free throws to make it 81-70 heading into the fourth.
The Bulls quickly thwarted any hopes of a Magic comeback by opening the final quarter with a 13-7 to make it 94-77 with about seven minutes to go.
Fredette had nine points on 4-for-6 shooting in the fourth.
''I didn't know until I got here,'' Fredette said of his increased playing time. ''I was able to step in and help the team get a win.''
With a win in the season finale, the Bulls would get to 49 victories, a feat few thought possible following the injury to Derrick Rose and trade of Luol Deng earlier in the season.
''It feels great to be in this position right now, but we're definitely not satisfied,'' Noah said.
''We want more, we feel like we can do more. It's a group that's gone through so much adversity, to be in this position is definitely a blessing. But we're not satisfied.''
NOTES: The Bulls completed their recent roster shake-up on Monday by signing C Greg Smith and waiving F Toko Shengelia. ''We're excited that he is with us,'' coach Tom Thibodeau said of Smith. ''When he was healthy, he played very well. We feel we're fortunate to be able to pick him up.'' Smith had arthroscopic knee surgery in February and is still rehabbing. He averaged 5.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 89 games for the Houston Rockets. Shengelia was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets earlier this season for Marquis Teague. Last week, the Bulls signed Ronnie Brewer, Mike James and Lou Amundson to bring their roster to the maximum 15. . Orlando G Jameer Nelson missed his second straight game with a strained left groin. ... The Magic finished the year with a 4-37 road record, including 11 straight losses to end the season.
Bulls-Bobcats Preview.
By NOEY KUPCHAN (STATS Writer)
The Chicago Bulls are guaranteed home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason, but they still don't know who they're facing.
Neither do the Charlotte Bobcats, though they might be happy it won't be Chicago.
The visiting Bulls are one of the league's hottest teams heading toward the playoffs and will go for a season sweep of the Bobcats as both teams wrap up the regular season Wednesday night.
Chicago (48-33) has won eight of nine after closing its home schedule with Monday's 108-95 win over Orlando. Mike Dunleavy led six Bulls in double figures with 22 points, and Joakim Noah added 18 to go with 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Tied with Atlantic Division champion Toronto for third in the Eastern Conference, Chicago needs to finish ahead of the Raptors to secure that playoff seed. Toronto closes the season at New York on Wednesday.
"Whatever happens, happens," Noah said. "Our mentality is just getting ready for the next game, getting ready for Charlotte. We're going to focus on out next opponent and everything will take care of itself."
While many were ready to count out the Bulls when they lost Derrick Rose to injury and traded away Luol Deng, they've greatly exceeded expectations by playing hard night after night. Chicago is last in the NBA with 93.8 points per game but allows a league-low 91.8.
"We're hungry, we want this. We believe in one another. We believe in our system," Noah told the team's official website. "It's a group that's gone through so much adversity. To be in this position is definitely a blessing. But we're not satisfied. Expectations don't help you win games.
"... We believe we're going to be a tough out. We're going to go out there and give 'em hell."
The Bulls will face Brooklyn or Washington to begin the playoffs but probably wouldn't have minded getting the Bobcats (42-39). Chicago has won five straight and 10 of 11 in the series, including five in a row in Charlotte by an average of 22.4 points. Their last visit came down to the wire, though, winning 89-87 on Jan. 25 behind 28 points from former Bobcat D.J. Augustin.
Augustin is averaging 19.8 points in six games this month. He missed Monday's win due to the birth of his child, leaving his status for Wednesday in question.
The Bobcats surely wouldn't mind if he didn't play as they go for an eighth win in nine games. Charlotte stormed back from 15 down in the fourth quarter of Monday's 95-93 victory at Atlanta, winning on Chris Douglas-Roberts' six-footer as time expired.
Coach Steve Clifford, though, expected better against a Hawks team that was resting three starters.
"We didn't get the defense we needed out of the starters," Clifford said. "The big thing is to be playing well, which we're not."
Al Jefferson led the way with 27 points and 15 rebounds for the Bobcats, who are one game behind Washington for sixth place in the East but own the head-to-head tiebreaker. The Wizards are at Boston on Wednesday.
Jefferson has averaged 25.6 points and 13.4 boards while stringing together eight consecutive double-doubles, his longest such stretch of the season. The Bobcats are 19-4 when he puts up at least 23 and 10.
Jefferson is averaging 26.0 points and 11.0 boards in his last seven meetings - all losses - against the Bulls dating to his days with Utah.
Yankees-Cubs postponed; play two Wednesday.
By The Sports Xchange
Rain forced the postponement of Tuesday's series opener between the Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees, who will instead play a day-night doubleheader Wednesday at Yankee Stadium.
Tuesday's game was called before noon ET as rainfall pounded the area.
Wednesday's first game, a 1:05 p.m. ET first pitch, will be followed by the nightcap at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Planned pregame ceremonies honoring late South African revolutionary leader Nelson Mandela and baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson scheduled for Tuesday will be held Wednesday.
Mandela's grandson, Zondwa Mandela, was expected to be in attendance. South African Consul General George Monyemangene and Nelson Mandela Foundation CEO Sello Hatang were also announced as Yankees guests.
Additionally, Jackie Robinson's widow, Rachel Robinson, daughter Sharon Robinson and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had been expected to be at Yankee Stadium.
Ricketts: Cubs not interested in move to suburbs.
By AP Sports Writer
Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts thinks a move to the suburbs might be lucrative but says his team remains committed to refurbishing century-old Wrigley Field.
Why MLB's catch rules are now stricter than the NFL's.
By Tim Brown
Brandon Moss hadn't given much thought to the new emphasis on glove-to-hand transfers until he was awarded a hit on the technicality, which was great until he crossed paths with teammate Josh Donaldson, who, turned out, was going the wrong way between first and second base.
Eventually, Moss, who watched Seattle's Dustin Ackley make a wonderful catch on a fly ball in left-center field, and Donaldson, who saw the same play, wound up together at first base.
"In our opinion," Moss said, apparently speaking for the Oakland A's, "it makes the games more confusing.
We're learning that receiving and securing a pass in the NFL is a looser proposition than catching a fly ball in the major leagues. At least Anquan Boldin got credit for a catch without having to throw the ball back to Colin Kaepernick.
"It doesn't make too much sense," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said, "when you have the ball with your glove closed around it and it's not a catch."
The Cubs won approval from Chicago's City Council last July for a $500 million renovation that would include installation of a 5,700-square-foot video scoreboard at Wrigley, which turns 100 on April 23. The team also wants to erect a 650-square-foot sign in right field with a guarantee neighboring rooftop owners won't slow construction with a lawsuit.
A member of the audience Tuesday at the MLB Diversity Business Summit asked a panel that included Ricketts about the Atlanta Braves' planned move in 2017 from downtown to a suburban Cobb County and how the team could maintain a connection with the community near Turner Field.
Ricketts said the Cubs have been trying to avoid such an issue.
''We've been approached by several suburban sites and alternatives to move the Cubs to a new ballpark,'' Ricketts said, ''and although I haven't studied it thoroughly, I imagine that's probably an attractive proposition for us.
''But we've made it our priority to try to stay where we're at,'' he continued, ''try to stay in the city because of what it does mean to the neighbors and what it does mean to the city, both economically and just from the standpoint of quality of life in general.''
The Cubs have seen attendance drop each year since 2008, from 3.3 million to 2.6 million, and the team has lost 91 games or more in three straight seasons. Ricketts maintained the attendance drop provide opportunities.
''There are just way too many people in Chicago that have never been to a Cubs game,'' he said. ''We've worked really hard to get out to people, particularly on the South Side, and say, hey, bring your church, bring your school, just bring a group and we'll take care of you. I just want more people to at least come into Wrigley and experience it. And we have this opportunity right now where we do have a few seats open from time to time. We can bring people in and give them the Wrigley experience. And as we get better those opportunities will be harder to come by.''
Ricketts also said the Cubs have to better educate the young players at their complex in the Dominican Republic and told a story from his visit there in 2010. Ricketts recalled when he ''put my ear to the wall of the English class and I heard an English teacher say: 'My curveball is not breaking.'''
''And I realized at that point while we say we're teaching these young men English, we're really not doing the best,'' he said, going on to explain the team's new facility had an improved educational testing and programs.
''It's not really just about making sure that some of these players can speak English,'' he said. ''All of them really aren't all that great in Spanish. They've got second- or third-grade educations.''
Why MLB's catch rules are now stricter than the NFL's.
By Tim Brown
Brandon Moss hadn't given much thought to the new emphasis on glove-to-hand transfers until he was awarded a hit on the technicality, which was great until he crossed paths with teammate Josh Donaldson, who, turned out, was going the wrong way between first and second base.
Eventually, Moss, who watched Seattle's Dustin Ackley make a wonderful catch on a fly ball in left-center field, and Donaldson, who saw the same play, wound up together at first base.
"What happened?" Donaldson asked Moss, who was supposed to be out, in the dugout, anywhere but at first base, because everybody in the ballpark saw Ackley catch the baseball.
Except somewhere between his glove and his hand, between what was a clear catch and the need to heave the ball back toward the infield, Ackley lost his grip on the ball.
So Donaldson, not having seen that part, was returning to first base, and Moss, after the initial disappointment of the catch, noted an umpire signaling he was safe, and therefore was plodding toward second when, inconveniently, Donaldson charged past him in the opposite direction.
This was Saturday in Seattle. And in a period of baseball in which the game is getting comfortable with expanded replay and new guidelines governing the conduct of baserunners and catchers at home plate, we've also got a suddenly strict interpretation of when a baseball goes from secured to unsecured, which makes for maybe a few too many moving parts for everybody.
"In our opinion," Moss said, apparently speaking for the Oakland A's, "it makes the games more confusing.
"For a hundred years we've known if a guy has caught a ball or not."
Moss granted the new enforcement of transfer – from glove to hand – rules are intended to eliminate the gray areas of possession and exchange (particularly during double plays turned at second base), just like the new replay system is designed to offer more clarity. But after living through several iffy transfer calls and seeing replays of others in other games, Moss isn't so sure.
"In all honesty," he said, "they're creating more gray area."
Last Wednesday in Cleveland, Indians outfielder Elliot Johnson made a catch that survived several steps and a collision with the right-field fence, but not the exchange or the rigidity of the transfer rule.
We're learning that receiving and securing a pass in the NFL is a looser proposition than catching a fly ball in the major leagues. At least Anquan Boldin got credit for a catch without having to throw the ball back to Colin Kaepernick.
Besides, Johnson told reporters in Cleveland, he got, "Two feet in and possession of the ball."
"Can we get some common sense?" he asked.
It's going around. On Monday night in Texas, Rangers catcher J.P. Arencibia received a throw from pitcher Pedro Figueroa for a force play at home. He caught the ball, drew back his mitt, stepped away from the plate, and then juggled the ball on the exchange. Upon Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon's challenge, no out was recorded. Rangers manager Ron Washington was ejected for arguing.
"We've got to do something about it," Washington told reporters in Arlington, Texas. "I understand the rule and I understand their interpretation of it. I just don’t agree with it."
Said Arencibia: "I think it's not baseball."
Through two weeks, we've seen about a dozen or so of these calls, some borderline, others just ridiculously overthought. Or under-thought.
"It doesn't make too much sense," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said, "when you have the ball with your glove closed around it and it's not a catch."
The Angels lost an out when outfielder Josh Hamilton misplayed the transfer, also successfully challenged by McClendon.
The umpires are following the letter of the rule, as ordered in the offseason by MLB, which recently issued a statement on why all of these catches are not really catches. It read: "Umpires and/or replay officials must consider whether the fielder had secured possession of the ball but dropped it during the act of the catch. An example of a catch that would not count is if a fielder loses possession of the ball during the transfer before the ball was secured by his throwing hand."
While actual possession of the ball has long haunted the pivot-man at second base, and it seems second basemen and shortstops were the targets of the fresh emphasis on catch-transfer-throw, the rule has ensnared every position. A's manager Bob Melvin even challenged a tipped strike-three transfer by Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki, arguing the at-bat should continue, which, by the letter of the law, is rational enough. Umpires ruled otherwise.
During a team meeting before Monday night's game in Anaheim, Melvin reminded his players they must finish every play, and keep one eye on whatever transfer might be going on out there, and, presumably, guess correctly in case of a replay overturn. In the very game Moss and Donaldson became entangled between first and second, Yoenis Cespedes lined out to Ackley in left, peeled off the first-base line and – when Ackley again whiffed the transfer – was out, 7 to 6 to 3.
"We've had some stuff going on that's not too good," Melvin said. "You have to acclimate quickly because it looks like it's here to stay."
Maybe it is, and maybe MLB will recognize the literal interpretation of its rule is nullifying the actual point of playing defense, which is to catch the baseball. On the baseball field, under the new guideline, umpires are seeing dropped balls. In real life, many of those balls are caught long before they are dropped, are outs long before they are not.
"When it happened to me," Moss said, "I hit that ball well. Ackley made a great play. In my mind he caught it. All the truth of the matter is he caught that ball. He made an outstanding play and caught that ball."
We should leave it at that.
Notebook: Payne supports women joining R&A.
By PGA.COM
The Royal & Ancient Golf Club announced last week that its 2,400 members would vote in September on whether to accept females for the first time, a proposal that Secretary Peter Dawson said appears to have ample support.
That includes Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne.
"I'm proud to be a member of the R&A, and I bet you can guess how I'm going to vote," Payne said Wednesday.
The home of the Masters had no women as members for 70 years until an announcement in August 2012 that former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore had been invited to join.
"We readily and joyously welcomed our lady members when that happened a couple years ago, and it remains a very good decision on our part," Payne said. "We are so delighted - and I know I speak for everyone - that they are members."
He declined to say what kind of message it would send to the world of golf if the R&A takes on women as members.
"I would respect their process, their requirement to conduct a vote, and so the process will culminate in a decision," Payne said. "And as I've said, I know where one vote is going to be cast."
TAR HEEL SIGHTING: Aside from his 6-foot-9 frame, former NBA player Sean May fit right in at Augusta National on Wednesday.
May was wearing his golfing best for his first trip to the famed Masters course.
The 2005 first-round draft pick took up golf about a month ago and has "the itch really bad." He's playing just about every other day and decided to make the trip to Georgia for a look at the hallowed grounds.
"It's awesome," May said. "What's not to like? It's majestic."
It's been a big week for May, who also attended the Final Four in Arlington, Texas.
"I didn't think UConn had enough for Kentucky, but it's a testament to guard play and having a little extra motivation," said May, who led North Carolina to its fourth national title in 2005.
Asked about the Tar Heels' future, he added: "We'll be back."
NO CHANGES: The Masters is the only major that doesn't have a rules official assigned to every group on the golf course. And it will stay that way.
One of the suggestions that emerged from the Tiger Woods' ruling last year was that it might have been avoided if a rules official had been on the scene. Woods hit a wedge to the 15th green that hit the flagstick and caromed into the water. He said he purposely took his penalty drop a few yards back to avoid hitting the pin again.
That was a violation - the rule requires the drop to be as near as possible to the previous spot - and it led to a two-shot penalty. Woods was assessed the penalty shots after he signed his card, but he was not disqualified under Rule 33-7 because the rules committee felt it erred in not talking to him before Woods signed the card.
Augusta National, like the other majors, brings in rules officials from tours and golf organizations around the world.
"We have approximately 60 officials on the course, significantly more than any other tournament," Masters Chairman Billy Payne said. "We think we do it pretty good with the familiarity they acquire for the specific holes - some with as many as six officials on it. So we think the way do it is pretty good, which is not to say that we would never consider a change. But we kind of like the way we do it now."
TODDLERS RULE: The Par 3 Contest might as well have been a cutest kid competition.
The annual event at the Masters delivered some of the most adorable moments of the week Wednesday.
Ryan Moore's 18-month-old son, Tucker, pounded a plastic driver into the ground as he ran across the practice green. Scott Stallings' 14-month-old son, Finn, putted balls with a small driver and was a star on several holes, stumbling around as he balanced the whole walking and swinging thing. Kevin Streelman carried his 4-month-old daughter, Sophia, to the first tee before handing her off.
All the kids were decked out in white coveralls, the traditional attire for caddies at Augusta National.
Jason Day's 21-month-old son, Dash, watched his father on the practice range. At the end of the session, Day wrapped the boy's hands around a cut-down driver and teed one up for him. He made solid contact every time, sometimes only swinging with one hand on the club. Day couldn't keep the balls on the tee fast enough.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
Before long, the boy took his father's hand and walked with him over to first hole.
The children were as much part of the Par 3 tournament as their dads, with the older ones carrying bags and even getting a chance to putt in front of hundreds of spectators.
"It's really for the people," said two-time Masters champion Bernhard Langer.
Added 2008 Masters champ Trevor Immelman, who had his son and daughter in tow: "It's great. My little guy's been doing this since he was 1 or 2. They look forward to it all the time."
Moore won the competition, shooting a 6-under 21.
DIVOTS: Darren Clarke becomes the 25th player to make 500 starts on the European Tour when he tees off Thursday in the Masters. European Tour Chief Executive George O'Grady commemorated the milestone by presenting Clarke an engraved silver ice bucket. ... Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke have this going for them: The four majors that Tiger Woods has missed because of injury were won by Irishmen or Northern Irishmen - Padraig Harrington (2008 British Open, 2008 PGA Championship), McIlroy (2011 U.S. Open) and Clarke (2011 British Open).
Power Rankings: After his second win, Harvick is back in the fray but Gordon is still tops.
By Nick Bromberg
No. 1 Jeff Gordon (LW: 1): Gordon gets to keep this spot by virtue of his seventh place finish Saturday night though it could have been better. Gordon was plagued with another case of the dreaded Gordon Restarts at Darlington. On the next-to-last restart, Gordon, who was fifth, slipped heading into turn one and the drivers behind him attempted to take advantage, leading to contact between Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch.
No. 2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 5): If Junior had four tires he might have been able to hold off Kevin Harvick. But we're also not going to pretend it's a plausible scenario either. If Junior had four tires, he's probably not in front of Harvick to begin with. If Junior and crew chief Steve Letarte had been the only ones to take two tires, the strategy call would certainly be seen as a product of the new Chase by some. Thankfully, they weren't the only group to do it, and the discussion about the impact of the Chase format was nonexistent.
No. 3 Jimmie Johnson (LW: 4): Even though Jimmie Johnson won the 2013 Daytona 500 for a second time in February, he's still somehow winless this season? Have we harped on the winless streak enough? Can we even call it a winning streak? Look, Johnson is going to get a win and he's going to get a win soon. It's not even close to time to panic. It just may not happen at Richmond, a track where Johnson has struggled at recently.
No. 4 Matt Kenseth (LW: 6): Kenseth moves to fourth by finishing fourth. He's also on a 2014 winless streak too (oh no!) and it will be interesting to see which one of Johnson and Kenseth wins first. He was sixth and seventh at Richmond last year, so he may have the edge there. At Talladega and Kansas, it's a tossup. When one wins, we're going to guess the other one quickly follows suit.
No. 5 Kevin Harvick (LW: NR): After dropping out after Texas, Harvick vaults back into the top half of the standings. These aren't the points standings, and it'd be weird to see the only driver with two wins to his name near the bottom of this list. He's also been one of the best drivers around at Richmond over the last few years, so it wouldn't be crazy to see Harvick get win No. 3 before anyone else has the chance to get another one.
No. 6 Joey Logano (LW: 2): Logano's fall is blunted by his strong early performance at Darlington. After leading laps early, the speed his car had when the sun was up disappeared. But he was still heading for a solid finish until smoke from his car brought out a caution flag and made Harvick work much harder than he anticipated for the win.
No. 7 Kyle Busch (LW: 7): We couldn't let Busch fall down a spot after finishing sixth, so he slots in here with a pretty decent argument he should be ahead of Logano for sixth. Saturday night was also only the second time all season that Busch hasn't led laps in a Sprint Cup race. However, since Busch has spread around his laps led, he's only sixth in that category.
No. 8 Carl Edwards (LW: 3): For the second straight week, Edwards salvaged a decent finish after getting the Lucky Dog when he was a lap down. And he even bettered his Texas finish by one, finishing 13th. Greg Biffle did well at Darlington (5th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was 20th, so the Roush streak of one really good performance continued once again.
No. 9. Kyle Larson (LW: 8): After smashing into the wall during Friday's practice session and having to go to a backup car, Larson finished eighth at Darlington. It's his fourth top 10 in the past five races and he was running well at Martinsville before he spun there. Unless he gets a win, dreams of the Chase may be a bit premature, but Larson's either barreling through the learning curve or its not as steep as some people thought it was.
No. 10 Brad Keselowski (LW: 8): Keselowski falls two spots after finishing 17th at Darlington. And Richmond is the scene of where the 2013 season went south for the 2012 champion. After smashing the wall, Keselowski finished 33rd, the beginning of an 18 race stretch where he finished in the 30s (6) more times than he finished in the top 10 (4).
No. 11 Tony Stewart (LW: 11): For most of the race, Stewart was junk. He was mired in the 20s next to teammate Danica Patrick, and, for a while, was running behind her. Then the spate of late cautions was Stewart's best friend. He got back on the lead lap via the wavearound and took tires on the final caution to salvage a ninth-place finish.
No. 12 Ryan Newman (LW: NR): Newman hasn't been flashy in his first eight races at Richard Childress Racing. That's evident by the lack of screen time he's had on television. But after finishing ninth Saturday night he's ninth in the standings. He's in the top 10 heading into the first off week of the year thanks to some pretty good consistency. His highest finish is seventh (twice), but his lowest finish is 22nd, his only finish outside the top 20.
Lucky Dog: We briefly mentioned him in the Carl Edwards graph, but we'll go with Biffle in recognition of his fifth place finish.
The DNF: Kasey Kahne lost a tire and crashed (a crash that you didn't see at all if you were watching on TV) and finished 37th. He's 23rd in the standings, so it's time to panic, right? At this point in 2012, he was 26th. He finished fourth that year.
Dropped Out: Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers.
No. 2 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 5): If Junior had four tires he might have been able to hold off Kevin Harvick. But we're also not going to pretend it's a plausible scenario either. If Junior had four tires, he's probably not in front of Harvick to begin with. If Junior and crew chief Steve Letarte had been the only ones to take two tires, the strategy call would certainly be seen as a product of the new Chase by some. Thankfully, they weren't the only group to do it, and the discussion about the impact of the Chase format was nonexistent.
No. 3 Jimmie Johnson (LW: 4): Even though Jimmie Johnson won the 2013 Daytona 500 for a second time in February, he's still somehow winless this season? Have we harped on the winless streak enough? Can we even call it a winning streak? Look, Johnson is going to get a win and he's going to get a win soon. It's not even close to time to panic. It just may not happen at Richmond, a track where Johnson has struggled at recently.
No. 4 Matt Kenseth (LW: 6): Kenseth moves to fourth by finishing fourth. He's also on a 2014 winless streak too (oh no!) and it will be interesting to see which one of Johnson and Kenseth wins first. He was sixth and seventh at Richmond last year, so he may have the edge there. At Talladega and Kansas, it's a tossup. When one wins, we're going to guess the other one quickly follows suit.
No. 5 Kevin Harvick (LW: NR): After dropping out after Texas, Harvick vaults back into the top half of the standings. These aren't the points standings, and it'd be weird to see the only driver with two wins to his name near the bottom of this list. He's also been one of the best drivers around at Richmond over the last few years, so it wouldn't be crazy to see Harvick get win No. 3 before anyone else has the chance to get another one.
No. 6 Joey Logano (LW: 2): Logano's fall is blunted by his strong early performance at Darlington. After leading laps early, the speed his car had when the sun was up disappeared. But he was still heading for a solid finish until smoke from his car brought out a caution flag and made Harvick work much harder than he anticipated for the win.
No. 7 Kyle Busch (LW: 7): We couldn't let Busch fall down a spot after finishing sixth, so he slots in here with a pretty decent argument he should be ahead of Logano for sixth. Saturday night was also only the second time all season that Busch hasn't led laps in a Sprint Cup race. However, since Busch has spread around his laps led, he's only sixth in that category.
No. 8 Carl Edwards (LW: 3): For the second straight week, Edwards salvaged a decent finish after getting the Lucky Dog when he was a lap down. And he even bettered his Texas finish by one, finishing 13th. Greg Biffle did well at Darlington (5th) and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was 20th, so the Roush streak of one really good performance continued once again.
No. 9. Kyle Larson (LW: 8): After smashing into the wall during Friday's practice session and having to go to a backup car, Larson finished eighth at Darlington. It's his fourth top 10 in the past five races and he was running well at Martinsville before he spun there. Unless he gets a win, dreams of the Chase may be a bit premature, but Larson's either barreling through the learning curve or its not as steep as some people thought it was.
No. 10 Brad Keselowski (LW: 8): Keselowski falls two spots after finishing 17th at Darlington. And Richmond is the scene of where the 2013 season went south for the 2012 champion. After smashing the wall, Keselowski finished 33rd, the beginning of an 18 race stretch where he finished in the 30s (6) more times than he finished in the top 10 (4).
No. 11 Tony Stewart (LW: 11): For most of the race, Stewart was junk. He was mired in the 20s next to teammate Danica Patrick, and, for a while, was running behind her. Then the spate of late cautions was Stewart's best friend. He got back on the lead lap via the wavearound and took tires on the final caution to salvage a ninth-place finish.
No. 12 Ryan Newman (LW: NR): Newman hasn't been flashy in his first eight races at Richard Childress Racing. That's evident by the lack of screen time he's had on television. But after finishing ninth Saturday night he's ninth in the standings. He's in the top 10 heading into the first off week of the year thanks to some pretty good consistency. His highest finish is seventh (twice), but his lowest finish is 22nd, his only finish outside the top 20.
Lucky Dog: We briefly mentioned him in the Carl Edwards graph, but we'll go with Biffle in recognition of his fifth place finish.
The DNF: Kasey Kahne lost a tire and crashed (a crash that you didn't see at all if you were watching on TV) and finished 37th. He's 23rd in the standings, so it's time to panic, right? At this point in 2012, he was 26th. He finished fourth that year.
Dropped Out: Denny Hamlin, Brian Vickers.
USA 'ready to play' to win World Cup.
AFP
America is heading to Brazil "ready to play" in the 2014 World Cup, and Vice President Joe Biden will be leading the cheers for the US to bring home the coveted trophy for the first time.
"When it comes to soccer, America is coming on," Biden assured Monday's audience at the State Department, where the 2014 World Cup trophy made its first stop in the United States as part of a global tour before heading later to Brazil.
"It's not historically been our game... but 25 million people in the United States play soccer, 80 percent of them are young people who will be players and fans for years to come," Biden said.
"The world should know, we're coming ready to play."
With only nine weeks remaining before the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, coach Jurgen Klinsmann's United States currently stands 13 in FIFA's rankings.
The White House announced that Biden would travel to Brazil in June to attend the World Cup, saying he would attend a match by the US side.
World Cup fever was "like a jolt of electricity that's felt all around the world," Biden said.
And he thanked the tour organizers for "bringing the World Cup trophy to the United States, and my expectation and hope is that it will come back soon in the hands of our players, rather than being delivered by someone else."
He was joined at the ceremony by Secretary of State John Kerry and former US national team members Cobi Jones and Julie Foudy, who are both sports envoys for the State Department.
"Athletes can be some of our finest ambassadors," Kerry said, hailing their part in past "diplomatic breakthroughs."
"All you need is a ball, and you go out and play. And it's remarkable how it captures the imaginations of young people everywhere," Biden said.
But he acknowledged that the US, drawn against Germany, Portugal and Ghana, faced a daunting fight to advance out of their World Cup group and forward in the competition.
"We have a strong squad, and strong spirit," Kerry assured, promising that if Brazil and the US face off against each other, "we will both be rooting to bring the cup back to our hemisphere."
Report: Market value for college football player is $178,000 per year.
By Kevin McGuire
The latest buzz from the union movement sweeping the collegiate athletics nation has led to a new batch of fair market value numbers for college athletes at big time universities. The fair market value for an average college football player is $178,000 per year according to a report put together by the National College Players Association and Drexel University. That figure is estimated using data from 2011 through projected data for 2015.
“The bidding war for athletes would likely be in the millions,” said Ellen Staurowsky, a professor of sports management at Drexel University and co-author of the report. “However, I think it all depends on whether or not a players’ association ends up representing the teams and players. The salaries could be effectively bargained to have some sort of minimum guaranteed salary for all.”
The fair market value of a football player is almost $200,000 less than that of a basketball player. The NCPA and Drexel estimated the fair market value for a college basketball player is $375,000 per year. The numbers can vary depending on the player of course. Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel would have been worth an estimated $547,000 in 2011 and 2012 according to this most recent report. The top ten athletes in football would command a higher value, which would make sense if free agency in professional sports is any indication.
Of course, getting paid is far down the list of goals for the College Athletes Players Association movement ignited by football players at Northwestern. The goals of unionization are more about getting a voice heard by the players, although being paid is certainly a more long-term objective. Regardless, the movement is opening eyes around the business world.
“People are missing the point on all this,” said David Hollander, professor of hospitality, tourism and sports management at New York University. “It’s not whether we should pay college athletes but that if you are an employee and your job is to play sports, than you should get paid.”
“The bidding war for athletes would likely be in the millions,” said Ellen Staurowsky, a professor of sports management at Drexel University and co-author of the report. “However, I think it all depends on whether or not a players’ association ends up representing the teams and players. The salaries could be effectively bargained to have some sort of minimum guaranteed salary for all.”
The fair market value of a football player is almost $200,000 less than that of a basketball player. The NCPA and Drexel estimated the fair market value for a college basketball player is $375,000 per year. The numbers can vary depending on the player of course. Former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel would have been worth an estimated $547,000 in 2011 and 2012 according to this most recent report. The top ten athletes in football would command a higher value, which would make sense if free agency in professional sports is any indication.
Of course, getting paid is far down the list of goals for the College Athletes Players Association movement ignited by football players at Northwestern. The goals of unionization are more about getting a voice heard by the players, although being paid is certainly a more long-term objective. Regardless, the movement is opening eyes around the business world.
“People are missing the point on all this,” said David Hollander, professor of hospitality, tourism and sports management at New York University. “It’s not whether we should pay college athletes but that if you are an employee and your job is to play sports, than you should get paid.”
NCAA votes to allow unlimited food supply for players.
By Matt Norlander
Your jokes about the NCAA, cream cheese and bagels are officially off the table.
Because all of the food is on it.
The association's Legislative Council has deemed there shall be no bans on any food amounts for its Division I member schools and their student-athletes. This means players can eat as much as their schools allow. The grocery list for football teams just got gargantuan.
This news comes on the heels of UConn star and Final Four MOP Shabazz Napier telling the press in the lead-up to the Final Four he sometimes went to bed hungry. A didn't lead to B in this case (this was a long time coming), but the timing of the decision is incontestable.
"The provision of meals approved today is in addition to the meal plan provided as part of a full scholarship," the NCAA's statement said. "Prior to this change, scholarship student-athletes received three meals a day or a food stipend."
Let's make no mistake: Hunger on college campuses was not plaguing players across this nation. It was more the restrictive spirit of the provision that irked so many. Now, if schools can afford and choose, they can stuff the mouths of their athletes -- scholarship and walk-ons -- as much as they'd like.
Plenty on schools still won't be able to stock the shelves as much as necessary, but at least the NCAA has taken this out of its hands and put it on the universities. As always, it's a matter of money and budgets, and in this case the big schools operating in the black will have more to offer than the smaller programs.
This rule should be official at the Division I Board of Directors meeting on April 24 and become effective Aug. 1.
Other things passed in voting by the Legislative Council on Tuesday:
- A reduction in penalty for the first positive "street" drug test during/around championship play.
- Strength and conditioning coaches must be certified from "a nationally accredited certification body."
- "Require a school staff member certified in CPR, first aid and arterial external defibrillation to be present at all physical, countable athletic activities."
Pro sports becoming more open to paternity leave.
By JON KRAWCZYNSKI (AP Sports Writer)
Tony Perez was on the road with the Cincinnati Reds in 1966 when he got the call that his first child was on the way. There was no discussion about leaving the team to attend Victor's birth, no such thing as paternity leave.
''They didn't give you any time off when I was playing,'' the Hall of Fame slugger said, recalling that he got the news about noon before going to the ballpark. ''We played that night. We got a day off in Chicago the next day and I flew home on my own.''
These days, more pro athletes are taking time off to be with their families in the delivery room. Yet Major League Baseball remains the only one of the four major professional leagues in North America to have a standardized paternity leave policy. The NFL, NBA and NHL leave the matter up to individual players and their teams.
''There is stress on both sides,'' said Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg, who watched shortstop Jimmy Rollins miss a game against Texas this season to fly home to be there for the birth of his second child. ''Job stress and stress from the family side. So I think this being in place takes care of that, just makes it's a done deal for the player, and the team deals with it. It takes the pressure off the player.''
New York Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy was criticized on sports talk radio this month for taking three days, which is provided for in baseball's rules, to spend time with his wife and newborn son Noah. But in the days that followed, Murphy received wide support from players and coaches who say the times have changed.
''That's a negotiated right that is a win for everybody,'' said Marlins infielder Ed Lucas, who missed one game last September for the birth of his son. ''It shows compassion on the side of the team. It's the only major sport that has paternity leave. But we're also the only sport that plays every day.''
Players in the NFL, NBA and NHL all have several off days a week in most cases and rosters stocked with extra players, giving the teams and the athletes the freedom to work on a case-by-case basis. In baseball, a three-day absence usually means three games missed, so the burden on the team, and the potential guilt felt by the player, is much higher.
''I think, traditionally speaking, I think some guys were afraid to ask,'' Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. ''So many guys didn't want to ask because of job security. It was almost like a standard way of doing it that you didn't leave.''
Baseball's general managers and the players' union recognized this trend a few years ago. At the GM meetings in 2011, a rule was drafted to allow a team to place a player on the paternity leave list for three days and call up a replacement from the minor leagues.
''When you have a policy, it just makes it easier for clubs and players,'' said Dan Halem, MLB's executive vice president for labor relations who helped draft the policy. ''Everybody knows what the rules are and it's automatic. You place the player on the list and he goes and everybody knows when he's coming back.''
Halem said the measure received universal support among owners and union leaders. In the first three years of the policy, 73 players were placed on the list.
NASCAR recently made changes to be more accommodating. Until this season, a driver could not miss a race without giving up the chance to win a championship. This year, under the new format, a driver can miss a race and still make the Chase for the Spring Cup championship. Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard had standby drivers this season, with their wives due to give birth.
Both said they were willing to miss a race, if needed. Neither had to because both women gave birth on weekdays.
It doesn't always go so smoothly. In 1993, Houston Oilers offensive line coach Bob Young said right tackle David Williams ''let the guys down, and he let hundreds of thousands of fans down'' when he chose to miss a game against New England to stay by his wife's side while she gave birth to their son.
In Murphy's case, sports talk radio hosts Mike Francesa and Boomer Esiason questioned him for missing two games at the start of this season.
''One day I understand. And in the old days they didn't do that,'' Francesa said. ''But one day, go see the baby be born and come back. You're a Major League Baseball player. You can hire a nurse to take care of the baby if your wife needs help.''
Esiason quickly apologized after a host of athletes, coaches and family groups came to Murphy's defense. Rollins, Dodgers outfielder Carl Crawford and Twins reliever Brian Duensing have missed games already this year for child birth. Minnesota Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson missed three days of training camp in 2011 for the birth of his son. Little attention was paid to any of those absences.
Then there is Oakland reliever Dan Otero, who missed one game while attending the birth of daughter Kinsley in September. Did he get any grief?
''Not at all,'' Otero said. ''They were mad at me I came back early.''
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