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"Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement." ~ Marv Levy, NFL Hall of Fame Coach
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? LA Kings, Quick win Game 3, look for Stanley Cup sweep over Rangers.
By Greg Wyshynski
The Los Angeles Kings are one win away from another coronation.
Jeff Carter, Jake Muzzin and Mike Richards scored goals and Jonathan Quick was spectacular in a 3-0 Game 3 victory in the Stanley Cup Final at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. The win moved the Kings to 3-0 in the series, with a chance to sweep the Rangers on Wednesday night.
The Rangers couldn’t solve Quick, who had by far his strongest game of the series with and perhaps the playoffs. He robbed Mats Zuccarello and Derrick Brassard with this paddle. His positioning was stellar throughout the game, making 32 saves.
And his offense, for the first time in three games, scored first.
The Kings scored a soul-crushing goal at the end of the first period. Like, the very end.
Carter’s goal was scored with 0.7 seconds remaining in the period. The Garden fell silent.
It was two of the hottest scorers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs – Carter’s 10th goal, on Williams’ 23rd point – combining for the goal. It was one of the series’ most maligned defensemen, Girardi, accidentally deflecting the puck in.
The Kings struck again on the power play in the second period.
With Marc Staal in the box for a high stick on Alec Martinez, defenseman Jake Muzzin threw a shot from the blue line that went off the glove of the Rangers Marty St. Louis and past a Jeff Carter screen for the 2-0 lead at 4:17. It was his sixth of the playoffs.
The floodgates began to open later in the period, as a Mike Richards converted a 2-on-1 into a 3-0 lead.
Richards and Trevor Lewis were sprung from the defensive zone from Kyle Clifford, and they moved down on Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh. Richards attempted to send the puck to Lewis, but it hit McDonagh and went right back to Richards. He fired it past Lundqvist for the 3-0 lead at 17:14.
Now the Kings have a chance to not repeat the mistakes of the past. In 2012, when they won their first Stanley Cup, the Kings defeated the Devils in overtime in Games 1 and 2, shut them out in Game 3 but then lost Game 4.
Will they get to use their brooms against the Rangers on Wednesday?
Rangers hoping puck luck goes their way, beginning with Game 4.
By Sean Leahy
The Rangers woke up Tuesday morning hoping that the “puck luck” will start going their way.
Through three games of the Stanley Cup Final, the Los Angeles Kings have been able to capitalize on the bounces that have favored them. New York, meanwhile, is still waiting for their share.
Game 3 was a showcase of how this series has been coming up all Kings. Jeff Carter’s goal nicks off Dan Girardi’s skate and over Henrik Lundqvist’s glove. Jake Muzzin’s power play goal deflects off Martin St. Louis in front. Ryan McDonagh plays a two-on-one perfectly, but Mike Richards’ attempted pass to Trevor Lewis goes off the Rangers’ defenseman’s skate and back to Richards, who then pots LA’s third goal.
“It’s the game of hockey,” said Martin St. Louis on Tuesday. “You start throwing pucks at the net, sometimes they bounce in for you, sometimes they don’t. Hopefully, it starts going our way tomorrow night. We’ve got to create our own luck and our own bounces.
"You've got to keep working for your bounces. That's what we're planning on doing. If we keep putting that pressure and get a little puck luck and work for our puck luck, I like our chances.”
The Rangers have been working for their chances. In Games 1 and 2 the puck was getting behind Jonathan Quick. In Game 3, it was pretty evident that no matter what New York did, Quick was stopping everything, no matter if he could see it or not.
“Us talking about getting bounces, you don't talk about getting bounces,” said Brad Richards. “It’d be nice to have them, but you don't just talk and hope they come. You score a goal at the right time that helps and then you've gotta create more, get to the inside more.”
The Rangers know they can pull off a comeback. They’ve already won a series down 3-1 in Round 2. Of course, the situation of St. Louis’ mother’s passing brought the team together at the right time. Now, it’s a different, but similar circumstance, and the message is simple, according to Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault.
“We’re facing the same exact situation we were against Pittsburgh: we lose, we're done,” he said.
“If we don't want to be done, we’ve got to win.”
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Is Forte NFL's most underrated back?
By Larry Mayer
Matt Forte ranks second on the Bears' all-time rushing list behind Walter Payton.
Matt Forte could be the most underrated running back in the NFL.
At least that’s the opinion that was shared on NFL Network’s “NFL AM” in a segment featuring former Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis.
“[Forte] can catch the ball extremely well, runs the ball well, can block; he can do it all,” Davis said. “But for some reason he just doesn’t get the recognition like these other backs. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t do a whole lot of promoting. He’s very quiet.
“But he’s a workhorse. He goes to work and the guy just continues to have excellent seasons every year. He stays relatively injury-free and he plays well.”
Forte was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2013, ranking second in the NFL in rushing with 1,339 yards and third in yards from scrimmage with 1,933. Both are career highs and the most by a Bears running back other than Hall of Famer Walter Payton.
Forte rushed for nine touchdowns, the most by a Bears player since Thomas Jones had nine in 2005. Forte also caught 74 passes for 594 yards and three TDs. The 74 receptions are the most ever by a Bears running back, breaking his own record of 63 set in 2008.
Forte rushed for over 100 yards in four of the last five games of the season, giving him 20 100-yard outings in his career, tying Gale Sayers for the second most in franchise history.
Forte also became the first player in Bears history to top 1,000 yards as a rusher and 500 yards as a receiver in multiple seasons. He ranks second on the franchise's all-time rushing list with 6,666 yards, trailing only Payton (16,726).
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NFLPA to increase discipline for agents.
By The Sports Xchange
The NFL Players Association sent out a memo to its union members on Monday saying it will increase discipline for agents who violate its rules.
The memo was sent out after reports surfaced that Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson claimed his former agent, Drew Rosenhaus, bribed him.
The NFLPA stated that "effective immediately, the severity of discipline imposed ... shall be increased," according to the memo, which was obtained by CBSSports.com.
According to the memo, violations that previously merited a six-month suspension "going forward will be doubled to a one-year suspension" and "fines will be doubled as well." It also stated that "repeat offenders will also be more severely disciplined."
The union is imposing a three-strikes policy that would ban offending agents.
The union placed an emphasis on requiring agents to file "other agreements" they might have with their clients. They include "relevant documents relating to loans, lines of credit, or pre-combine or pre-draft services or benefits being provided to rookie clients," according to the memo. Agents must file "other agreements" to the union within 21 days of the memo or face discipline.
"This policy is imposed in response to recent comments made by (a) number of (agents) to the staff and our player leadership regarding the use of 'other agreements' in recruiting players as clients," the memo stated.
The union also made a change to its legal advice requirements. Agents must "first direct the player to consult with an NFLPA attorney about his case" before sending their client to "outside counsel" for issues including "injury grievances, non-injury grievances and drug policy appeals," according to the memo.
Jackson is appealing an arbitrator's decision that he must repay Rosenhaus for most of the money that Rosenhaus claims he loaned Jackson.
Just another Chicago Bulls Session… Report: Sixers, Bulls trying to move up in the draft. Isn't everyone?
By Kurt Helin
Now is the time of year when draft rumors abound, from ridiculous trade ideas (see the ‘Melo/Love to Boston rumors for example 1A) to teams throwing out smokescreens. All of which is to say, take your rumors with a grain or five of salt.
That said, the buzz from most around the league is there will be a lot of trades around the draft this year. After a quiet trade deadline a lot of teams are more willing to make moves.
That means a lot of rumors are floating around. For example, that the Philadelphia 76ers — already with the No. 3 pick — want to move up higher in the draft. The Bulls want to move up, too.
All that according to Chad Ford of ESPN in his latest mock draft ($$). (I first saw the story at CSN Philly.)
The Sixers actually have engaged the Cavs about moving to No. 1. They aren’t willing to give up both the Nos. 3 and 10 picks. But a combination of No. 3 and Thaddeus Young is a possibility. And it’s a great scenario for Wiggins, as well. Of the three top teams, his camp prefers the Sixers as the best possible fit. This could be a win-win for both.
The Bulls have been trying to move up in the draft to get an elite shooter. Their target has been Denver with an offer of the 16th and 19th pick for 11. If they get there, Gary Harris or Nik Stauskas will be the guy with them likely leaning toward Stauskas.While you should take all that with the aforementioned salt, we should note the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting the Sixers are looking to move Thaddeus Young. They shopped him around at the deadline but didn’t get an offer they liked, so he was stuck on a tanking team. He wants out. The Sixers will move him but want some decent value back.
Still, lots of questions about these rumors.
Are the Sixers that sold on Wiggins? If so, and if they believe Cleveland will take him, then that is a good trade for them. But it only works if the Cavaliers are not as sold on Wiggins and think the guy they really want (Jarbari Parker or Joel Embiid) would fall to No. 3. Young would be a good fit for the Cavs, but he has an early termination after next season so, much like Luol Deng, the Cavaliers would have to persuade him to stay. How much are they willing to really give up for that?
The Bulls are looking everywhere for more shooting, the draft is part of that search.
Spurs use record-setting half to down Heat in Game 3.
CBSSports.com wire reports
Kawhi Leonard and San Antonio Spurs shot their way into history -- and back into the lead in the NBA Finals.
Leonard scored a career-high 29 points, and the Spurs made a finals-record 75.8 percent of their shots in the first half in a 111-92 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night that gave them a 2-1 lead.
The Spurs made 19 of their first 21 shots and finished 25 of 33 in the first half, bettering the 75 percent shooting by Orlando against the Lakers in the 2009 finals.
They led by as much as 25 and were only briefly challenged in their second lopsided victory in the series.
Unlike Game 1, when they didn't pull away until the final minutes, the Spurs were way ahead before halftime in this one.
Returning to the arena where they were oh-so-close to winning a fifth championship last year, the Spurs came out playing like they were trying to build a lead that was impossible to blow.
They shot 13 of 15 in building a 41-25 lead after one, then hit their first six shots of the second in front of a stunned crowd in Miami while going ahead 55-30.
Leonard scored only 18 points in the first two games, looking frustrated while getting into foul trouble trying to defend James in Game 2. But he had his outside shot working early, and the effect on the Spurs' offense was obvious.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had 22 points for the Heat, who host Game 4 on Thursday.
The NBA Finals were back along the shores of Biscayne Bay for the fourth straight year, as much a part of the late-spring scene in Miami as beaches and boats. The last three NBA seasons ended in this building, the last two followed by championship parades.
But the Spurs nearly canceled the last one, building a five-point lead in the final half-minute of regulation of Game 6, a title seeming so certain that workers were already making preparations around the court.
But the Heat rallied to win in overtime and took Game 7, leaving the Spurs with a summer to think about the one that got away.
They're in good shape to get another chance.
With the NBA Finals scrapping the 2-3-2 format -- with the lower seed playing three consecutive home games -- the Spurs would have a chance to wrap it up in San Antonio on Sunday in Game 5 if they can win Thursday.
Chris Bosh took only four points and scored nine points for the Heat, who for the second straight year will have to overcome a 2-1 finals deficit after being blown out in Game 3.
This one came on their home floor, where they had been 8-0 this postseason and had won a franchise-record 11 in a row since the Spurs beat them in Game 1 last year.
Bernstein: Stopping Baseball’s Spiral Of Stupidity.
By Dan Bernstein, CBSChicago.com senior columnist
It all has to go, eventually, and it will.
Every last bit of the antiquated, indefensible laws of baseball machismo will somehow be fined and suspended out of the culture from the top down by people more concerned about player safety than hewing to the Code of Hammurabi. Sadly, those people are starting to care more due to the amount of money invested in the individuals and the economic stakes of the game rather than the inherent humanity.
No more self-deputized baseball police or on-field vigilantism to avenge the honor of those so righteously besmirched. Enough with the petty retaliations that have nothing to do with winning or losing. May we never again see the low comedy of the relief pitchers hurriedly dropping their idle conversations to run and join the angry swirl of crowing roosters.
The recent spasm of idiocy between the Orioles and Athletics was both the latest and silliest example of how baseball’s entrenched behavioral patterns allow games to be dictated by little moments of childishness that go un-parented by those supposedly in charge.
Baltimore’s Manny Machado got tagged firmly and properly by Oakland third baseman Josh Donaldson, and Machado fell down. Embarrassed, he threw his helmet in a fit of pique and confronted Donaldson, who smiled at the bizarre overreaction. Predictably, the responses escalated into brush-back pitches both ways, with Machado twice “accidentally” clocking A’s catcher Derek Norris with his bat, and then Machado chucking the bat down the third-base line on purpose.
Nobody was hurt, but too many were irresponsible. Sunday was proof that an end to the retributive reflexes of baseball culture won’t come from within, because that desire doesn’t seem to exist.
Machado, sensing a looming punishment, has already issued his perfunctory public apology. His manager, however, continues to deflect blame from his young star, preferring to employ pointless violence in the name of clubhouse cohesion.
Buck Showalter is an old-school baseball man, ya see, and he made sure not to stop his pitchers from throwing at Donaldson, because that’s just what you do: potentially injure an innocent opponent and put the rest of your team in the line of fire due to your own player’s foolishness, because that somehow brings the team together.
That’s not management from Showalter, but cowardice. Might as well replace him with a less expensive, equally effective look-a-like — a baked potato with an orange hat.
Here’s what should have happened then and what an actual manager should do when something like this occurs. After the initial fray subsides, he pulls his talented player aside and says “I understand that you felt bad when he tagged you out, but we aren’t going to be distracted from our jobs because you were embarrassed for a fleeting moment. He didn’t disrespect you, nor did he do anything unsportsmanlike. Concentrate now on what you need to do to help us win today, and we will support you by doing the same.”
And he tells the rest of his team: “My most important professional responsibility is to put each of you in the best position to succeed, and if I allow one player’s momentarily hurt feelings to impede that, then I am failing at my job. No decision of mine will ever expose any of you needlessly to potential injury. So no pitcher here is entitled to act recklessly on my team’s behalf, and no batter of mine will worry today about having his wrist broken because of something so trivial. We are bigger and smarter and better than that, and we will back our teammate not by trying to injure our opponents, but by outplaying them.”
U.S. Open course Pinehurst looks 'stunning' but there's no rough.
By NBC Sports
From graduated rough to no rough at all.
Welcome to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, where the championship’s evolution takes its most stunning turn yet under Mike Davis.
The restoration of the classic course to the natural design that Donald Ross intended may feel unnatural for a U.S. Open, but the USGA’s executive director sees all the elements important in keeping the championship true to its original mission still neatly in place.
While the idea of staging a U.S. Open without rough may seem like heresy to the old guard, Davis sees it differently.
Acknowledging the sandy waste areas that take the place of traditional rough could make scoring easier in this U.S. Open, Davis doesn’t see the setup as blasphemous. He sees the sacred challenges required to identify a true champion still in the rigorous test that will be offered.
“One of the things that everybody talks about is the U.S. Open being the hardest test in golf,” Davis said. “There's certainly some truth to that, relative to other events during the year. But, internally, when we talk about what we want it to be, you never hear us talk about wanting it to be the hardest test. That ends up almost being a byproduct.
“What we really want our national championships to be is an incredibly challenging test, where it challenges every aspect of the game, shot-making skills, your course-management skills, your ability to handle the pressure at certain times of the championship. We do it on some of this country's very best golf courses. So that's really what our championships are about, holding a challenging championship on some of the great courses in the country.”
But no rough at a U.S. Open? Really?
Somewhere in the cosmos beyond, Joseph Dey and P.J. Boatwright must have spit out their coffee when they got the news.
Dey and Boatwright served as USGA executive directors for five decades, their back-to-back reigns covering 1934 to 1980. Dey was in charge when Julius Boros survived the brutal combination of high winds and severe rough to win at the Country Club at Brookline with the highest U.S. Open winner’s score in the modern era (+9). Boatwright was in command for the Massacre at Winged Foot in 1974, when Hale Irwin (+7) emerged from the deep and penal rough as more sole survivor than winner.
No rough at a U.S. Open?
Isn’t that like King Arthur without Excalibur?
Or Leeds Castle without its moat?
Or Goldfinger without Odd Job?
Not necessarily.
Whether it’s graduated rough, or no rough at all, Davis has found a way to put players in tough spots when they miss fairways. He has found ways to test smarts and resolve, as well as skill, whether a missed fairway leaves a player in deep rough, as it did last year at Merion, or in waste areas, like it will at Pinehurst No. 2.
In fact, Davis seems to most relish seeing how players fare in the toughest spot of all. He relishes putting them in their own heads. He does that with setups that force players to think their way out of trouble more often now, versus putting them in spots where the sole choice is chopping out of trouble with a wedge.
“He’s learned that rough is a very weak protector of scoring,” says two-time PGA Tour winner Paul Goydos. “The best way to protect a score is not to have conditions necessarily like that. The best way to protect scores is to make players make decisions, because we are inherently terrible at it.
“Everyone’s bad at making snap decisions. You get yourself in a bad position, and the thing that gets in your way more than anything else, at least for me as a Tour player, is my ego. That ego causes me to make decisions I shouldn’t make, to bite off more than I can chew.”
Davis will create setups that tempt players to go for a glory shot, which often makes them their own worst enemy.
“Golf is a game of temptation,” said Joe Ogilvie, winner of the ’07 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. “If you give me an idea, put it in my mind that I can hit a shot, whether it’s borderline or not, the delta in my scores are going to be higher. In other words, the lowest score I shoot on a hole and the highest score are going to be pretty wide. But you give me 6-inch chop-out rough, I guarantee you I’m going to make a par or a bogey. I’m not going to make a double. It’s going to be less exciting.”
Goydos agrees.
“I’m a firm believer that chop-out rough takes decision making out of the process,” Goydos said. “Flier rough and chipping areas make you think. You get over there by the greens, and there’s no rough, you have options. I can putt from there, I can bump and run. All of a sudden, I have to make a decision on what shot I’m going to play, versus I’m going to open up a sand wedge and hit a bunker-type shot for every shot around the greens. It got to the point, quite frankly, where we got really good at that shot. Now, they’ve changed the game a little bit.”
The traditional U.S. Open setup philosophy was introduced in the ‘50s, when USGA president Richard Tufts steered a policy of consistently setting up the championship with firm-and-fast conditions, narrow fairways, penal rough and quick greens. Notably, Tufts was the owner of Pinehurst at the time.
Typically, a U.S. Open came to be set up with fairways 24- to 28-yards wide, framed by a band of interim rough 2 yards wide and then by deep, nasty rough, measuring 5 inches or deeper.
With graduated rough, there are 5 or 6 yards of intermediate rough between the small band of interim rough and the deep, nasty stuff.
“It’s based on the idea that the farther off line a guy hits it, the greater the penalty should be,” Davis said when he first unveiled the plan. “It’s always been my pet peeve that a guy who misses the first strip of rough by just a foot could have a worse lie than a guy who hits it out where the gallery has tramped the rough down.”
Davis first proposed the concept of graduated rough about 10 years ago, when he worked under David Fay, the executive director he would eventually succeed. The concept had been batted around in varying forms within the USGA in the past. Back in the early ‘90s, former USGA president Sandy Tatum internally floated the idea of 18 different rough heights, with a different height for every hole. Seven-time PGA Tour winner Peter Jacobsen pushed Fay for a form of graduated rough before Davis made his formal proposal.
Geoff Ogilvy won the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in 2006, the first year the USGA used the graduated rough concept, back when Davis did course setup as the senior director of rules and competition.
Ogilvy liked it.
“Golf is much more interesting to play and watch when we’re making decisions,” Ogilvy said. “Really, there is a reason why Augusta is so interesting to watch, because it’s in guys’ heads the whole time. Hopefully, Pinehurst, in a different way, will have the same sort of mental test. It will be interesting watching guys make decisions, sometimes really poor ones, and sometimes really great ones.
“Golf is definitely more interesting when the recovery shot is part of the game.”
Not everyone likes the concept. NBC analyst Johnny Miller, winner of the ’73 U.S. Open, complained that Torrey Pines was set up like “an old Andy Williams layout, except with distance,” after the U.S. Open was played there in ’08. Ogilvy said Torrey Pines was actually his favorite U.S. Open setup.
At Merion last year, there was no graduated rough, with the relatively short course protected solely by deep chop-out rough. Miller wondered going there if the championship was losing its identity. Now with Pinehurst featuring no rough, Miller doesn’t seem certain what to expect year to year at a U.S. Open.
“There’s no guarantee what the setup is going to be,” Miller said.
“I think in the last decade or so, as we saw this graduated rough come into play, it's lessened the importance of driving,” Chamblee said.
While Chamblee said he loves Angel Cabrera’s swing and the way he plays, he didn’t like seeing a guy miss as many fairways as Cabrera did when he won the U.S. Open at Oakmont in ’07.
“That’s not exactly what I envision being the U.S. Open,” Chamblee said.
Chamblee believes the USGA could do a better job of directing how the game should be played with its setups. He would like to see control more rigorously demanded from tee to green.
“In my opinion, the USGA has sort of acquiesced, to some degree, to how inaccurate players are off the tee,” he said.
Chamblee, however, believes Pinehurst No. 2 is an exception to the rule, with its generous fairways and lack of rough. While Pinehurst No. 2 doesn’t demand players hit their drives down narrow fairway corridors, he believes it will severely punish poor drives. He sees the nature of Pinehurst No. 2’s turtle-back greens being such a big part of the equation there, even back from the tee boxes.
“The golf course is so well designed from a position standpoint,” Chamblee said. “You have to be in the fairway. You have to have the right angle to have any chance to hit these greens.”
Ogilvy sees that, too.
“Pinehurst has always been about position and angles,” Ogilvy said. “There are going to be situations where you are better off with a bad lie in the right angle than a good lie in a wrong angle, which is what golf at its best is. Augusta is like that, and Pinehurst should be similar. It looks kind of like it’s supposed to look.”
With architects Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore finishing their restoration three years ago, Pinehurst No. 2 will feature fairways that sprawl wider than modern U.S. Opens have ever seen, framed by sandy waste areas, just the way Ross intended when he designed the course more than 100 years ago. It’s a stark contrast to the lush, wall-to-wall green grass look when Payne Stewart won the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in 1999 and Michael Campbell won it there in ’05.
A ball that misses a fairway at Pinehurst now could end up in a nice sandy lie, or in a foot print in the sand. Or it could end up on pine straw, or trapped under a small wire grass sprig, or amid some weeds.
“We think you’re going to see some of the most spectacular recovery shots in U.S. Open history,” Coore said.
Jim Furyk, winner of the ’03 U.S. Open at Olympia Fields, isn’t so sure.
“There is no skill in the escape, I don’t believe,” Furyk said. “You are either going to have a shot, with not that much skill, or you are going to be behind one of those clumps.
“I think, because of the way it plays, it’s going to take the aggressive play out of everyone’s hands, that’s the way I see it. That’s what I believe is going to happen, but I’ll wait to see it in tournament conditions and how those clumps look.
With no U.S. Open being played in a setup quite like Pinehurst No. 2 now offers, nobody is sure what to expect. There’s a lot of guess work going into this championship.
“I anticipated sand and wiregrass outside of the fairways,” said Curtis Strange, the two-time U.S. Open winner and ESPN analyst. “It is that and much more. It is what they want to call undergrowth. I call it weeds. It is everything that you have seen in your worst kept lawn. It is dandelions growing up 12 to 15 inches. It's low‑growing weeds, and in some cases, it's actually difficult to find the golf ball.
“It looks a little different than I anticipated. It's a different type of rough, and a different type of penalty, but it's still going to be penal and still going to be playing tough if you miss the fairway. The fairways are a little bit wider than normal U.S. Open standards, but they're going to be firm, and they slope. So they're still going to be tough to hit. I think it's going to be a hell of a test.”
While Davis wasn’t behind the restoration decision, he whole heartedly endorsed it. The restoration plays into his hands as the man who still sets up the U.S. Open. There will be an element of luck for balls running off fairways, but that only heightens the mind game a Davis setup offers.
Davis doesn’t just like to put players in tough spots in their heads off fairways. He likes to get them thinking twice about their decisions on tee boxes. He does that with variable tee boxes, where he will dramatically move up a tee, completely changing the nature of a par 4 or par 5.
We saw the dramatic effect that can have at the 16th tee at the Olympic Club at the 2012 U.S. Open. Furyk stepped to the tee box on Sunday of that tournament practically scratching his head. It was a 670-yard par 5 on the scorecard, but Davis moved the tees way up for the final round.
“The tee was 100 yards up,” Furyk said at the time. “I know the USGA gives us a memo saying that they play from multiple tees, but there's no way to prepare for 100 yards . . . I was unprepared and didn't know exactly where to hit the ball off the tee.”
Furyk decided to try to draw a 3-wood around the trees of that right-to-left dogleg. Instead, he snap-hooked his tee shot into the trees. He made bogey and ended up losing the U.S. Open to Webb Simpson by two shots.
That’s one of the defining moments in the Davis’ era of U.S. Open setups.
With Pinehurst calling for so many decisions from the tee boxes, rough and around the greens, it’s possible we will get more than one more defining moment in Davis setup at Pinehurst No. 2.
Here are your opening round pairings for the 2014 U.S. Open.
By Shane Bacon
The U.S. Open kicks off next week, and while we still have a FedEx St. Jude Classic to figure out, the USGA has released the pairings for Pinehurst and we have some really interesting groups for the first two rounds of play.
Phil Mickelson, who is looking to claim the final leg of his career Grand Slam, will be playing with the defending champion of this event in Justin Rose, with amateur Matthew Fitzpatrick rounding out that threesome.
Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Webb Simpson will be featured in the all-U.S. Open champion group, as will Bubba Watson, Adam Scott and Charl Schwartzel for the green jacket crew.
All the other pairings, and times, are below, so check out who will be playing together for the first two rounds of the U.S. Open and let us know which group you're most excited to watch.
(Thursday tee time/Friday tee time, all times EDT)
6:45/12:30 — Daniel Berger, Brett Stegmaier, TBD
6:56/12:41 — Marcel Siem, Brian Stuard, Andrea Pavan
6:56/12:41 — Chad Collins, Kyoung-Hoon Lee, Kevin Kisner
7:07/12:52 — Matt Every, Roberto Castro, Matt Jones
7:07/12:52 — Erik Compton, Pablo Larrazabal, Scott Langley
7:18/1:03 — Sergio Garcia, Jason Day, Brandt Snedeker
7:18/1:03 — Patrick Reed, Ryan Moore, TBD
7:29/1:14 — Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar, Lee Westwood
7:29/1:14 — Boo Weekley, D.A. Points, Stephen Gallacher
7:40/1:25 — Rory McIlroy, Webb SImpson, Graeme McDowell
7:40/1:25 — Zach Johnson, Angel Cabrera, David Toms
7:51/1:36 — Ian Poulter, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Thongchai Jaidee
7:51/1:35 — Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Matthew Fitzpatrick
8:02/1:47 — Nick Watney, Jonas Blixt, Joost Luiten
8:02/1:47 — Chris Kirk, Russell Henley, Brendon Todd
8:13/1:58 — Billy Horschel, Billy Hurley III, Robert Allenby
8:13/1:58 — Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Hideki Matsuyama
8:24/2:09 — Aaron Baddeley, Aron Price, Oliver Goss
8:24/2:09 — Kenny Perry, Jeff Maggert, Kevin Sutherland
8:35/2:20 — Tom Lewis, Justin Thomas, TBD
8:35/2:20 — Wen-Chong Liang, Maximilian Kieffer, Shiv Kapur
8:46/2:31 — Robby Shelton, Matthew Dobyns, Brady Watt
8:46/2:31 — Smylie Kaufman, Maverick McNealy, TBD
8:57/2:42 — Clayton Rask, Brian Campbell, Nicholas Mason
8:57/2:42 — Anthony Broussard, Will Grimmer, Nicholas Lindheim
12:30/6:45 — Garth Mulroy, Steven Alker, Bobby Gates
12:30/6:45 — Alex Cejka, Graeme Storm, David Oh
12:41/6:56 — Niclas Fasth, Kiyoshi Miyazato, Hudson Swafford
12:41/6:56 — Oliver Fisher, Casey Wittenberg, Andres Echavarria
12:52/7:07 — John Senden, Nicolas Colsaerts, Brooks Koepka
12:52/7:07 — Joe Ogilvie, Mark Wilson, Ken Duke
1:03/7:18 — Dustin Johnson, Jimmy Walker, Victor Dubuisson
1:03/7:18 — Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Bill Haas
1:14/7:29 — Stewart Cink, Justin Leonard, Y.E. Yang
1:14/7:29 — Brendon de Jonge, Kevin Stadler, Shane Lowry
1:25/7:40 — Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, Charl Schwartzel
1:25/7:40 — Luke Donald, Harris English, Paul Casey
1:36/7:51 — Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Louis Oosthuizen
1:36/7:51 — J.B. Holmes, Gary Woodland, Graham DeLaet
1:47/8:02 — Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer
1:47/8:02 — Retief Goosen, Geoff Ogilvy, Lucas Glover
1:58/8:13 — Hunter Mahan, Francesco Molinari, Jamie Donaldson
1:58/8:13 — Hyung-Sung Kim, Toru Taniguchi, TBD
2:09/8:24 — Bo Van Pelt, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Seung-Yul Noh
2:09/8:24 — Ryan Palmer, Rod Pampling, Kevin Streelman
2:20/8:35 — Danny Willett, Cory Whitsett, Luke Guthrie
2:20/8:35 — Azuma Yano, Ryan Blaum, David Gossett
2:31/8:46 — Kevin Tway, James Renner, Chris Doak
2:31/8:46 — Simon Griffiths, Fran Quinn, Donald Constable
2:42/8:57 — Cody Gribble, Chris Thompson, Andrew Dorn
2:42/8:57 — Hunter Stewart, Jason Millard, Zac Blair
Horse Racing Follow-Up: California Chrome co-owner apologizes.
The Sports Xchange
California Chrome co-owner Steve Coburn apologized Monday for his weekend tirade against Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist and the Triple Crown rules.
Coburn told ABC that he wanted to "apologize to everyone associated with Tonalist" and "all the horse racing in the world."
"Very ashamed of myself," Coburn said. "Very ashamed. I need to apologize to a lot of people."
After winning the first two legs of the Triple Crown -- the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes -- California Chrome finished the Belmont Stakes in a tie for fourth. No horse has won the Triple Crown in 36 years.
"It's just the emotion of the whole journey coming together at one time," Coburn said.
Colburn's wife, Caroline said: "I'm proud of him for coming up here and doing this. It was something we needed to do. Our story has given so much joy to so many people. I hope that this 30 seconds doesn't destroy all that."
Tonalist, who did not race in the Kentucky Derby or Preakness, won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday. That drew the ire of Colburn during interviews on Saturday and Sunday.
"It says Triple Crown," he told ESPN on Sunday. "You nominate your horse for the Triple Crown. That means three. Even the Triple Crown trophy has three points on it. So when you earn enough points to run in the Kentucky Derby, those 20 horses that start in the Kentucky Derby should be the only 20 allowed to run in the Preakness and the Belmont for the Triple Crown."
Coburn also made a strange analogy on Saturday that he repeated on Sunday.
"These people nominate their horses for the Triple Crown and then they hold out two (races) and then come back and run one," Coburn told ESPN. "That would be like me at 6-2 playing basketball with a kid in a wheelchair. They haven't done anything with their horses in the Triple Crown. There were three horses in this race that ran in the first two -- California Chrome, Ride on Curlin and General a Rod -- none of the other horses did. You figure out. You ask yourself, 'Would it be fair if I played basketball with a child in a wheelchair?' "
Coburn apologized to Tonalist's backers on Monday.
"I need to apologize to the winners," he said. "They run a beautiful race. They deserve that. I didn't mean to take anything away from them. ... Congratulations, you got a fantastic horse. He deserved to win. He won the race, fair and square."
2015 Daytona 500 tickets on sale now.
By NASCAR Staff report
Tickets for the 57th running of NASCAR's most prestigious race -- the Daytona 500 -- go on sale Tuesday, June 10 with new vantage points among the offerings.
Tickets, which begin at $65 for the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season opener, will include spots among the 40,000 new seats added nearest Turn 1 at Daytona International Speedway as part of the DAYTONA Rising renovation project. Tickets go on sale Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET.
In addition to tickets for the Great American Race, fans may also purchase tickets for all the events of Budweiser Speedweeks, the two-week festival of speed in Daytona Beach that includes the Sprint Unlimited exhibition for the Sprint Cup tour and officially kicks off the season for all three NASCAR national series.
"The Daytona 500 is the pinnacle of racing excitement, creating our sport's most memorable moments while crowning the legends of NASCAR each and every year," said Joie Chitwood III, Daytona International Speedway president. "In 2015, fans can enjoy all the pageantry and thrill of 'The Great American Race' in person, and preview some of the new amenities. ... All of Daytona Rising debuts in 2016 and the best way for fans to guarantee their spot for the grand opening is to be here next year and get on the renewal list early."
Special offers include reduced pricing on tickets for children 12 years old and under. Fans may also pre-purchase weekend infield camping for the Sprint Unlimited weekend before the Daytona 500, infield car parking packages for the Rolex 24 at Daytona for the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, and hospitality packages and pre-race/fan zone passes for all Speedweeks events.
Power Rankings: Jimmie Johnson's recovery keeps him the top spot.
By Nick Bromberg
1. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 1): Yes, it would be easy to rank a certain shop-mate of Jimmie Johnson's No. 1, but circumstances gave him a win on Sunday. Johnson and team overcame some pretty dicey circumstances and drove through the field to finish sixth. That's impressive stuff. You can argue that damage to the right-front of a Cup car can be the most critical, and that's where Johnson's car was beat up. But after a lot of work, it was still pretty damn fast.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 5): While it was a longshot win for Junior, it wasn't a fluky one. He had one of the day's best cars, he just wasn't out in clean air like Brad Keselowski was for most of the day. But when Junior was for the final five laps (he led 11 all day to Keselowski's 95), there was no way that Keselowski was going to get close enough to his bumper to make a move for the lead.
3. Jeff Gordon (LW: 3): There were a couple of Gordon Restart moments on Sunday that cost Gordon positions throughout the race. And hell, early on Sunday, it looked like Gordon was going to have one of the few cars that could hang with Keselowski all day. While Gordon's car stayed good, it just wasn't as good relative to the rest of the field as the day progressed. But hey, he still has the points lead.
4. Kevin Harvick (LW: 4): Another fast car, another something that went wrong for Harvick. This time it was a flat tire that derailed him while he was close to leading. Hey wait, didn't I write that last week? Yep, the only thing that was added in was "close to." After his team worked on the car, Harvick got his lap back and finished 14th. But yeah, he should have finished a lot higher than 14th. Very similar to his teammate and car owner.
5. Brad Keselowski (LW: 7): You can go two ways with Keselowski's move, and neither are wrong. First, since he had a win and was already in the Chase, he could have pushed his car to the breaking point in pursuit of a second win. Or, since he had the win in the bank and didn't need it for the Chase, he could play it like he did and see if he could get the debris off the grille and try to win the race. Consider it the 2014 version of whether or not to crash Kyle Busch at Watkins Glen.
6. Matt Kenseth (LW: 2): Wasn't that an odd circumstance with Jamie McMurray that gave Kenseth all the front end damage? McMurray got off the gas and onto the brakes a little earlier than Kenseth apparently was expecting and the just clattered into the back of McMurray's car. The damage put a huge hole in the front of Kenseth's bumper and even after fixing all the damage, he didn't have much speed, finishing 25th.
7. Carl Edwards (LW: 6): We are now deep in the black hole of Power Rankings. Edwards simply had nowhere to go after Kyle Busch ran Kasey Kahne up the track. By the time Kahne was in the wall and slowing down, Edwards was in the throttle and then into Kahne. And subsequently out of the race. The Cheez-Its deserved better. The best snack cracker in the world shouldn't have to go out like that.
8. Joey Logano (LW: 8): That was one ugly restart when Logano couldn't get going. Everyone behind him on the high side saw their chances of making positions up on the restart go away when Logano's car didn't accelerate at the drop of the green flag. Mechanical issues like that are another reason why double-file restarts may not be the most fair things in the world. A driver behind a car with issues can lose four or five spots to cars who are simply in a different line.
9. Jamie McMurray (LW: 9): McMurray certainly got the better end of the collision with Matt Kenseth. While the rear of his car was severely damaged, it wasn't in an as nearly aerodynamic place as Kenseth's damage. Because of it, he was able to stay near the front of the pack and ended up in 10th. Yet he wasn't the best car for Chip Ganassi Racing.
10. Kyle Larson (LW: 12): That goes to Kyle Larson, who apparently had issues shifting before the Pocono race. So Ganassi put him in a Camaro for the week to learn how to shift and then in the ARCA race, where he absolutely dominated the field. He was ahead by so much duirng the race that after committing a pit-road blend line violation under green, he was able to serve a pass-through penalty and still come out with the lead. Oh, and he finished fifth Sunday.
11. Denny Hamlin (LW: 11): Hamlin only led four laps after staring on the pole. That's because he got a bump in turn one on the first lap of the race and went skating up the track. While it wasn't the best on Sunday, Hamlin's car was extremely consistent and he had a good strategy game going with crew chief Darian Grubb that led to a fourth-place finish.
12. Kyle Busch (LW: 10): Busch finished 12th and had the incident with Kahne. It's an abyss down here, I tell you. Busch was also told by Joe Gibbs during the race to use better language on the radio after dropping some fox bombs while getting passed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Lucky Dog: It's Martin Truex Jr. again. Is that team turning things around? Truex finished ninth on Sunday.
The DNF: He's been referenced multiple times above, but it has to be Kahne, right?
Dropped Out: No one.
2014 World Cup Team Preview: United States.
NBC Sports; Richard Farley
The U.S.’s appearance in the semifinals of the first World Cup (1930) was a high point, but at the time, it wasn’t necessarily an isolated success. Counting the Olympics, a tournament that was considered a world championship at the time, the U.S. qualified for all five major competitions from 1924 to 1936. It wasn’t until the 1938 World Cup, when the U.S. withdrew from qualifying for financial reasons, that the Americans finally missed out on a big tournament.
Unfortunately, that absence became a pattern. Though the U.S. qualified when the World Cup resumed in 1950 (famously defeating England in Brazil), the team would miss the next nine tournaments. It wasn’t until Paul Caligiuri’s Shot Heard Round the World found the net at Port of Spain in 1989 that the U.S. returned to the international stage.
Brazil represents number seven, with the team finishing first in CONCACAF qualifying to get there. Over the past 24 years, the team has gone 4-13-5 at finals, advanced to three knockout rounds, and scored 20 times (while conceding 35).
Record in qualifying
With a 7-2-1 record in CONCACAF’s final round, the U.S. established itself as the clear leaders in its region, doubling the points of rival Mexico. Defeating El Tri 2-0 in Columbus on Sept. 10, 2013, the team booked its place in Brazil with two games to spare.
The U.S.’s final point total in “The Hex” (22) was the second-highest for any team since CONCACAF started using its six-term, round robin format in 1998. It was also two points more than the U.S. accumulated in 2010.
What group are they in?
The Group of Death moniker has become an empty cliché, but that doesn’t make the U.S.’s task any easier. The team should be considered slight favorites to beat Ghana, but it will be underdogs against both Portugal (FIFA’s third-ranked team) and Germany (ranked number two). If there is an early pecking order in Group G, the U.S. is number three.
Game schedule:
16 June, 18:00, Natal – Ghana vs. United States
22 June, 17:00, Manaus – United States vs. Portugal
26 June, 12:00, Recife – United States vs. Germany
Star player: Michael Bradley
Five years ago, as a still emerging midfielder playing under his father, fans used to see the current Toronto FC star as the beneficiary of nepotism. Seriously. As ridiculous as that sounds now – as ridiculous as that sounded at the time, to those around the team – fans wondered if the then-Borussia Möchengladbach player was an attacking talent being wedged into a defensive role. And the only possible explanation for that? Father Bob was intent on putting his son in the team.
One year later, Bradley was the U.S.’s best player at the 2010 World Cup. Now the central midfielder, who has settled into a box-to-box presence for both club and country, is unquestionably the team’s most important player. With a midfield built around Bradley’s high tempo, all-around talents, the U.S. will lean on the one-time object of derision in Brazil. On the few occasions the U.S. has had to play without him, the team looks like hollow.
Manager: Jurgen Klinsmann
A world champion as a player, Klinsmann became a hot commodity as a coach when he reshaped Germany ahead of the Nationalmannschaft’s 2006 semifinal appearance. The benefits of the youth movement he accelerated are still being felt in one of 2014′s favorites.
A brief spell at Bayern Munich dimmed that star, yet after the U.S. was beaten decisively by Mexico at the 2011 Gold Cup, federation president Sunil Gulati brought in Klinsmann to rebuild the national team. Dramatically expanding the player pool and changing the team’s style amid his long-term project, the 49-year-old Californian takes his rebuilding team into Brazil as reigning Gold Cup champions and decisive winners of CONCACAF’s qualifying tournament.
Secret weapon: Fabian Johnson
If fitness, speed, strength are going to be decisive in Brazil, then the U.S.’s versatile Gladbach wideman could be one of its most valuable weapons. Able to play midfield or defense, on the left or right, Johnson’s speed leaves him capable of patrolling goal-line to goal-line, something that will liberate the likes of Graham Zusi to pinch in and augment the U.S.’s two-man midfield. Expected to start at right back, his strength and fitness will be tested against the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Marco Reus, giving the U.S. a high-level European talent to matchup with their opponent’s high-level European stars.
Prediction: Third place is the fair pick, but the U.S. could finish anywhere from second to fourth in Group G. The key will be an opening match win over Ghana – a team that’s beaten the U.S. at the last two World Cups. With three points against the Black Stars, the U.S. creates a near win-and-in opportunity against Portugal.
16 Terms That Will Make You Sound Smart When People Are Talking About The World Cup.
By Tony Manfred
The World Cup starts on June 12.
Over the next four weeks you may find yourself in a bar or a large group of people, and you may feel the social pressure to say something coherent about the game you are watching.
Even if you've never seen a soccer game before, there is hope. Most conversations about sports are an exchange of well-worn phrases and cliches, and soccer is no different.
Here are 16 terms that you can drop casually in conversation, impress some folks, and then recede back into your soccer-less universe without anyone noticing.
1. Panenka — A penalty kick that's chipped slowly right down the middle after the goalie dives to either side. Typically employed by suave attacking midfielders from Mediterranean nations. A Panenka is the ultimate expression of self-belief, and literally the only thing that can redeem a penalty shootout.
2. Azzurri — The nickname for Italy's national team. Never underestimate the well-timed use of a nickname in a foreign tongue. Some others: Les Bleus (France), La Roja (Spain), El Tri (Mexico), Socceroos (Australia), Oranje (Netherlands), the Black Stars (Ghana), and, amazingly, the Indomitable Lions (Cameroon).
3. #USMNT — An abbreviation for "United States men's national team." It's the Internet's preferred nickname/hashtag/shorthand for the U.S. World Cup team. Throw a #USMNT at the end of a timely World Cup tweet and your opinion will be taken 5% more seriously.
4. Howler — Most popularly used when a goalie commits an error that results in a goal that wouldn't have otherwise been scored, drawing real-life LOL's (howls in the olden days) from the crowd.
Robert Green committed a howler in England's opening game against the U.S. in 2010, letting a half-hearted Clint Dempsey shot from distance squirt off his hands.
5. Parking the bus — The act of defending with all 11 players and not really trying to go forward to score, figuratively taking a bus and parking it directly in front of goal. Second-tier teams will do this against juggernauts like Brazil and Spain in order to earn a 0-0 draw. Teams that are leading late in games will do this to hold on to a result. Greece will do this at all times because it is, maddeningly, how they've been successful for a decade.
6. Dos a cero — Spanish for "2-0," the mystical final score in a freakish number of USMNT wins over Mexico in the last 15 years. The U.S. beat Mexico 2-0 in qualifying for the 2002, 2006, 2010, and 2014 World Cups. They also beat Mexico 2-0 in the knockout stages of the 2002 World Cup — the biggest game the two rivals have ever played. The phrase has now extended beyond Mexico, so feel free to use it when the U.S. beats Brazil 2-0 in the final at the Maracana.
7. Tiki-taka (pronounced "ticky-tacka") — A style of play, most popularly employed by Spain, that's based on short passing and keeping possession. Players will dink passes around the field in small triangles, eventually coaxing the defense out of position and tapping in a goal from a few yards out. When Spain is losing, say that tiki-taka is dead. When Spain is winning, say that tiki-taka is an inherently superior style that every team should adopt.
8. False 9 — A formation that doesn't include a traditional striker. Spain won Euro 2012 while using a false 9. This year, Germany, which only brought one nominal striker to Brazil, will likely try to do the same thing. The "9" in "false 9" refers to the absent striker, who traditionally wears the No. 9 shirt.
9. Dual national — A player that was eligible to play for two or more countries. Modern international soccer is a recruiting game. The USMNT has five German-Americans, an Icelandic-American, a Norwegian-American, and others who could have played for places like Haiti and Mexico. Diego Costa, a Brazilian-born striker who chose to play for Spain after living there for five years, may be the most hated man in Brazil.
10. Set piece — Any situation where a team has a goal-scoring opportunity on a stoppage in play — corner kicks, free kicks, and maybe some throw-ins near the box. Scoring a goal in soccer is one of the most difficult tasks in any sport. It takes creativity, organization, skill, and luck. The set piece is the great equalizer. A team can be getting dominated, only to earn a corner kick on a wacky deflection, fling a cross into the box, and have it skim off a body and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
11. Hold-up play — A forward's ability to receive a pass from long range with a defender at his back and retain possession. Strikers are ultimately judged by goals and goals alone. But if you want to prove yourself as a nuanced soccer watcher, go ahead and mention that a player's hold up play has been excellent even though he hasn't scored. It sounds smart and no one will question you on it.
12. Against the run of play — When a team scores a goal (or wins a free kick, corner kick, etc.) after getting dominated for most of the game. Soccer is a game where a team can totally and completely dismantle an opponent without scoring. If the team that's getting dismantled manages to muster a counterattack and score a goal out of thin air, the goal comes against the run of play.
13. Super sub — A star player who comes off the bench because his team is so ridiculously good. Typically applies to attacking players. Only the most adventurous among you will use this because it requires a rough knowledge of which players are good. But if you see the camera cut to an ominous shot of a hyper-focused player from Brazil, Spain, Argentina, or Germany waiting to come into the game, and the announcer's voice rises an octave in anticipation, you've probably got a super sub on your hands.
14. Golazo — An amazing goal. A goal that materializes out of nowhere from 30 yards out. A goal that bangs into the roof of the net from an impossible angle. A goal that swerves violently past a helpless, inanimate goalkeeper. You'll know it when you see it.
15. In form — Describes a player who has been playing well recently. "Form" is something a player is either "in" (playing well) or "out of" (playing poorly). This significantly affects how commentators talk about a team ("Neymar has been out of form for Barcelona, are Brazil doomed?!?"), but the funny thing about form is that you can fall out of it at any moment, and fall into it just as easily.
16. Final third — The last one-third of the field. The area immediately surrounding your opponent's box, where the level of skill and technique necessary to break down the defense increases, and games are won and lost. If your team lost and you're walking out of the bar despondent, lament the lack of "execution in the final third." Use those precise words, and then slink off quietly.
College Football: If passed, when will an early signing period officially begin?
By Kevin McGuire
The decision on whether or not to allow for an early signing period will come soon enough, but one of the biggest questions regarding it is when exactly it would become an official on the recruiting calendar. If it is approved this summer, do not expect it to take place until the Class of 2016 recruiting calendar gets started.
Sun Belt commissioner Karl Benson said it will take some time to work through the legislation before an early signing period would become official, which is to be expected. Benson suggests the earliest it could actually happen would be August 1, 2015.
“If there is a majority vote to move up the signing date, then that vote is conducted by the 32 conferences,” Benson told AL.com. “If that requires change in NCAA legislation, in terms of recruiting calendar, that then has to go through the NCAA process, which would more than likely go into the winter and early 2015. It’d be adopted, from my understanding, for implementation Aug. 1, 2015.”
While there appears to be plenty of open minds regarding the early signing period, there is a lack of consistency on how it should be added to the recruiting calendar. The SEC coaches are reluctant to add an early signing period but would prefer it to be just after Thanksgiving. The ACC has an earlier date in mind. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany says there needs to be more discussion on the subject to properly evaluate the beat course of action.
The Conference Commissioners Association will meet later this month to discuss the early signing period concept and potential details.
NCAA reaches $20M settlement of video game claims.
By MICHAEL MAROT (AP Sports Writer)
Sam Keller and his teammates used to eagerly await the annual release of the NCAA Football video game, the popular EA Sports product featuring lifelike depictions of every major team.
Judging the ability of his on-screen persona in the game was all in good fun, but once Keller's career was finished the former Arizona State and Nebraska quarterback felt something wasn't right. The pros collected royalties from EA's Madden NFL game, for example, but the collegians couldn't.
''It's a great game, but it was flawed,'' Keller said. ''It was wrong.''
The NCAA announced Monday that it will pay $20 million to former football and basketball players who had their images and likenesses used in video games, hoping the settlement will help keep amateurism rules intact for college sports.
Hours before the O'Bannon trial began in California challenging the NCAA's the authority to restrict or prohibit payments to athletes, the largest governing body in college sports said it had settled another potentially damaging lawsuit scheduled to go to trial next March. Keller's attorneys filed the class-action suit in May 2009 and contended the NCAA unfairly deprived college players of revenue.
''It wasn't until after I was done playing football that the light turned on in my head about what was really going on. When you're a student athlete you kind of become like a robot,'' Keller said in an interview with The Associated Press.
He added: ''Friends would share with me, 'Hey bro, I won the Heisman Trophy with you.' ... Meanwhile, we couldn't sell a jersey or do autographs or anything to profit from our likeness. It was all big corporations.''
The deal came a little more than a week after Electronic Arts agreed to a $40 million settlement of similar allegations.
The $60 million worth of settlements cover claims made in the Keller and O'Bannon cases against EA, along with two other cases, attorney for the plaintiffs Steve Berman said. The agreement announced Monday covers Division I men's basketball and Bowl Subdivision football players whose images, likenesses or names were included in game footage or in an EA video game after 2005. The $40 million settlement covers athletes to 2003, even if they were not in the video games.
Final details were still being worked out. How much each player gets will be determined by how many athletes file claims. Based on historical trends, Berman said, payments to Division I men's basketball and Bowl Subdivision football players are expected to range from $400 to $2,000 each.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in the Northern District of California must approve the settlement.
Last July, the NCAA said it would no longer allow Electronic Arts Inc. of Redwood City, California, to use its logo once the current contract expired this month. That ended a lucrative business deal with the multibillion-dollar video game industry giant, which is well known for Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer and other games. EA Sports first began making an NCAA Football game in 1998.
Berman estimated that more than 100,000 athletes are now eligible to seek compensation over EA video games they contend relied on close depictions of college football and basketball players.
''With the games no longer in production and the plaintiffs settling their claims with EA and the Collegiate Licensing Company, the NCAA viewed a settlement now as an appropriate opportunity to provide complete closure to the video game plaintiffs,'' NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy said.
The NCAA said current players who receive part of the settlement won't be at risk of punishment under rules that generally bar compensation for their athletic skills.
''In no event do we consider this settlement pay for athletics performance,'' Remy said.
With the NCAA increasingly becoming embroiled in legal cases, the playing field has changed.
CBS and Turner are paying the NCAA an average of more than $770 million per year to televise the men's basketball tournament, some schools are making millions more per year from deals made between television networks and conferences, and the new College Football Playoff will be putting another $7.2 billion over 12 years into the coffers of schools that play big-time college football. So when others profited from the video games, college athletes went to court to get a bigger piece of the pie.
Ed O'Bannon, the former UCLA basketball player, and other plaintiffs are asking U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken for an injunction that would allow athletes to sell the rights to their own images in television broadcasts and rebroadcasts. That trial began Monday in federal court in California.
While the long-term ramifications from the settlement in the Keller case are yet to be determined, the short-term implication is clear.
''Going forward, I think people will be on notice that if they are going to use players likenesses, they will have to pay for them,'' Berman said.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Wednesday, June 11, 2014.
MemoriesofHistory.com
1938 - Johnny Vander Meer (Cincinnati Reds) threw the first of two consecutive no-hitters.
1950 - Ben Hogan returned to tournament play after a near fatal car accident. He won the U.S. Open.
1972 - Hank Aaron tied the National League record for 14 grand-slam home runs in a career.
1974 - The Kansas City Scouts and Washington Capitals officially received their NHL franchises. The Scouts moved to Denver before the start of the 1976-77 season to become the Colorado Rockies and later the New Jersey Devils.
1988 - Rick Rhoden (New York Yankees) became the first pitcher to start as a designated hitter.
1990 - Nolan Ryan became the oldest player to throw a no-hitter. It was the sixth of his career.
1995 - Mark McGwire tied a major league record when he hit home runs in five consecutive games.
1995 - Lee Smith set a major league record when he got his 16th consecutive save in 16 appearances.
2010 - ESPN launched ESPN 3D.
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