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Who will win the Super Bowl and be this year's NFL Champion???
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Attention: Diehard NFL Fans: It's going to be a great year!!! Good luck to your favorite team, however, let it be known that the Bears are on a mission. Enhance your season and support your team with the challenge below. Try it, you'll love it. Good Luck.
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! Bears open preseason with victory.
By Larry Mayer
Cutler completed 9 of 13 passes for 85 yards with one touchdown and a 112.7 passer rating on two series before being replaced by
Trailing 28-17 midway through the third quarter, the Bears scored the game's final 17 points as
"It was a good win," said coach Marc Trestman. "It took all 90 guys to win this game. We had 90 Chicago Bears out there and we played four quarters. I was really excited about that."
The Bears defense excelled against Foles, who led the NFL with a 119.2 passer rating last season. Foles, who threw for 27 touchdowns and two interceptions in 2013, matched that interception total in the first quarter Friday night when he was picked off by
Cutler put the Bears ahead 7-0 with a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Zach Miller on a nifty back-shoulder throw late in the first quarter. Cutler sustained the drive with completions of 13 yards to Brandon Marshall on third-and-11 and 23 yards to Dante Rosario on third-and-10.
"We had a few backed-up situations, some long yardage we were able to convert on," Cutler said. "I was getting more of a comfort level with the O-line, sitting in the pocket. Things were going good."
After the Eagles took a 14-7 lead on Matthew Tucker touchdown runs of 4 and 1 yards, the Bears tied the score 14-14 on Palmer's 12-yard TD pass to a leaping Miller with 1:07 left in the first half . The score came after Palmer had been intercepted early in the second quarter by safety Nate Allen.
The Bears' top three quarterbacks—Cutler, Palmer and Clausen—combined to complete 65 percent of their passes for 339 yards with four TDs, one interception and a 119.1 passer rating.
The Bears struggled on special teams all night, however, most notably when they allowed a 102-yard TD return by Josh Huff on the ensuing kickoff as the Eagles took a 21-14 halftime lead.
After Gould's 26-yard field goal cut the deficit to 21-17 early in the third quarter, Eagles backup quarterback Matt Barkley capped a 12-play, 94-yard drive with a 14-yard TD pass on a screen to running back David Fluellen, widening the margin to 28-17.
Clausen answered with TD passes on back-to-back third quarter possessions, hitting a streaking Williams down the right sideline for 73 yards and a wide open Micheal Spurlock over the middle for 22 yards, giving the Bears a 31-28 lead.
Trailing 34-28, the Eagles reached the Bears' 33 with :02 remaining. But cornerback
"It turned out to be the type of game we are going to have throughout the year, these 58-plus-two games," Trestman said. "It's going to take all 60 minutes to win them. It's good for our football team, and good for the guys. It was very encouraging from that standpoint."
Martellus Bennett returns to Bears camp.
Posted by Josh Alper
When the Bears suspended tight end Martellus Bennett for conduct detrimental to the team last week after he slammed cornerback Kyle Fuller to the ground, it came with an indefinite length.
It wound up being a five-day ban as Bennett made his return to Bears camp on Sunday. Coach Marc Trestman said last week that there would be an open dialogue with Bennett before he returned to work and Bennett confirmed that he spoke with the coach without divulging the content of their conversations. He also didn’t discuss the conditions the team imposed before he’d be permitted back at practice beyond saying that he did everything the team asked “extremely well.”
“Everything in life is about learning lessons. Whatever situation you’re going on through life, you always learn from it. Whether it’s good or bad, there’s always a lesson or moral to the story,” Bennett said, via the Chicago Tribune. “I think I could have handled the situation differently. We could talk about it right now, but, really, any way differently from what I did.”
Assuming there are no further flare-ups, the Bears should have their 65-catch tight end in the lineup come September while also making Trestman’s point about the need to be trusting and respectful of your teammates.
After debut, Sam says 'I can play in this league'.
By Howard Balzer, The Sports Xchange
The St. Louis Rams opened their preseason schedule with a 26-24 loss to the New Orleans Saints on a night when 18 players including nine starters did not dress because of mostly minor injuries.
There was a solid performance by backup quarterback Shaun Hill, an interception by defensive end Chris Long and the usual first-game assortment of missed tackles and penalties.
Amid all that was the professional debut, albeit in a preseason game, of rookie defensive end Michael Sam, the first openly gay person to play in a NFL game.
Since being drafted on May 10, Sam has been a part of a probable record of five press conferences for a seventh-round pick. Friday night's media in attendance included reporters from USA Today, NFL Network, ESPN, Yahoo! Sports and Outsports.com.
The magnitude of the moment wasn't lost on Sam, although most of the pregame jitters he felt was simply because it was his first NFL game no matter his sexual orientation.
Asked whether he had any butterflies, he said he did, adding, "I did get those butterflies out early. Going out in that tunnel, there were some goose bumps. That was amazing. The smoke, the flames; just amazing. During the national anthem, I thought, 'Wow, this is the big stage.' As a child I never thought I'd be here. After I took my first snap, I felt this was a dream come true.
"The next game I'll be more focused and more relaxed."
When asked about making history and whether he tried to block that out at all or if he just embraced the moment, Sam said simply, "I was focusing in on the guy in front of me."
Sam acquitted himself well in the 35-plus snaps he was on the field with the defense.
Said coach Jeff Fisher the day after the game, "Mike played pretty well, got tired as well. But, he was in the 35- to 39-play range. Played with effort, made some mistakes. I would expect him to play much better this week after he gets whatever it is behind him like the rest of the rookie class, first-year guys. First preseason game is a little nerve wracking but I think he'll settle down."
Sam entered the game at left end for the first time with 4:57 left in the first quarter. When he left the game with 5:04 remaining in the third quarter, he didn't return. But he was glad to get this game behind him.
Asked if he considered this a successful debut, Sam said, "The hardest critic is going to be myself. I could have done a little bit better, but I'm not mad about my first game. I know I could have done better."
Sam was able to get some pressure on the Saints' quarterbacks, and was disappointed he wasn't able to take advantage of two sack opportunities.
On one, where he did a good spin move and chased quarterback Ryan Griffin toward the sideline, he said, "I should have dove at his legs earlier."
On the other, he appeared to a have clear path to Griffin, but slowed down and almost stopped. He explained, "I thought it was a screen. I think he thought it was a screen, but then thought, 'Oh crap, I'm going to throw this away.'"
With 12:05 remaining in the second quarter, Sam officially got his name on the statistics sheet as he was credited with a tackle, grabbing running back Khiry Robinson by the legs. Robinson seemed to slip away, but right into the grasp of several teammates. There was applause from the crowd when it was announced the tackle was made by Sam, just as there was earlier when his name was mentioned because of his pressure.
Sam said he didn't hear the applause, but was grateful for that being the case. He said, "I didn't really hear the crowd. When I'm in game mode, I'm in game mode, but if the crowd was yelling for me, that's cool."
He knows this is just the first step in trying to make the roster, which won't be easy on such a defensive-line rich team. He's also glad to be helped by those experienced line mates.
Asked about a conversation he had with defensive end Chris Long, Sam said, "He was giving me some pointers, some technique I could use against the tackle (Thomas Welch) I was going against. He gave me some good advice."
Said Long, "I told him once you show him one move, he's going to be sitting on it, expecting it, so just to set things up and maybe come back with power or something like that. Pass rush is a fluid thing; it's constantly changing through the game. You set your moves up. He'll get more opportunities to learn that as he goes, just like a lot of these young rushers. It's not like practice. It's a game and you're learning a new opponent."
One persistent notion is that Sam's ability to make the 53-man roster could hinge on special teams. However, against the Saints, he played a few snaps as a blocker on kickoff returns and some on the kick-block unit. Fisher put a damper on the idea that Sam could be a strong coverage player.
Fisher said, "Michael is a defensive end. He plays defensive end with his hand down. It's rare to find a defensive end playing special teams in the National Football League. They don't do it. It's the linebackers that do it and all the other position groups that do it. We have one that's unique on our team right now. Gene Sims plays right guard on our punt team. He's done it since he got here. And he's done it very very well.
"If Michael can find a way onto the core group of special teams, in which we are going to give him every opportunity to do so, that will help his opportunity to make this team. But there's not a lot of defensive ends that play special teams."
Sam knows he has to make an impact as a pass rusher, and he will have to show he can do that against top blockers, not backups. But for now, he is pleased with his first game and was clear about one thing.
When asked what he took away from his debut, Sam said, "That I can play in this league; that's the most important thing. I was kind of nervous. I got the nerves out today. It was a very good learning experience ... but I can play in this league."
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Four Blackhawks highly rated in NHL 15.
By Scott Powers
EA Sports released its top five players at each position throughout this past week for its upcoming NHL 15 release, and the Chicago Blackhawks' talent was again respected by the game’s makers.
Jonathan Toews tied with Pavel Datsyuk and Steven Stamkos for the second-highest-ranked center. All three players received a 93 overall rating and were just behind Sidney Crosby and his 96 rating.
EA Sports wrote of Toews, “Although the nickname Captain Serious holds up for Jonathan Toews, Mr. Everything is a better descriptor of what he actually brings to the ice every night. Whether it’s (95) rated Faceoffs, (93) Puck Control, or (89) Speed, Acceleration, and Agility – he really does do it all.”
Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa both landed in the game’s top-5 ratings for right wingers. Hossa was second with a 91 overall rating, and Kane was fourth with an 89 overall rating.
“Hossa might not have the same star power as the other players on this list, but make no mistake, he is arguably the best all-round right winger in the game,” EA Sports’ description included. “With five-star ratings in Puck Skills, Senses, Skating, and Defense – Hossa does it all.”
Kane’s offensive game was also shown some love.
“Kane possesses one of the highest skill sets in the entire league with five star Puck Skills, Shooting, Skating, and Senses,” the description included. “His Puck Skills are elite with (94) Passing and Puck Control, (95) Hand-Eye, and (96) Deking. The only thing lacking in his game is Physical ability – coming in at only two and a half stars.”
Duncan Keith finished second with a 92 overall rating behind Shea Weber's 93 rating among the game’s defenseman ratings.
“Last year’s Norris Trophy winner lacks that huge physical element to his game, but makes up for it with 5 star Puck Skills, Senses, Skating and Defense attributes,” the game’s description included.
The Blackhawks had six players in the game’s top-50 ratings last year, with Toews (92 rating) at No. 7, Keith (90) at No. 12, Hossa (89) at No. 24, Brent Seabrook (89) at No. 31, Kane (88) at No. 35 and Patrick Sharp (88) at No. 45.
NHL 15 will be released on Sept. 9.
Fans suing NHL over television rights will have case heard after ruling.
By Scott Powers
EA Sports released its top five players at each position throughout this past week for its upcoming NHL 15 release, and the Chicago Blackhawks' talent was again respected by the game’s makers.
Jonathan Toews tied with Pavel Datsyuk and Steven Stamkos for the second-highest-ranked center. All three players received a 93 overall rating and were just behind Sidney Crosby and his 96 rating.
EA Sports wrote of Toews, “Although the nickname Captain Serious holds up for Jonathan Toews, Mr. Everything is a better descriptor of what he actually brings to the ice every night. Whether it’s (95) rated Faceoffs, (93) Puck Control, or (89) Speed, Acceleration, and Agility – he really does do it all.”
Patrick Kane and Marian Hossa both landed in the game’s top-5 ratings for right wingers. Hossa was second with a 91 overall rating, and Kane was fourth with an 89 overall rating.
“Hossa might not have the same star power as the other players on this list, but make no mistake, he is arguably the best all-round right winger in the game,” EA Sports’ description included. “With five-star ratings in Puck Skills, Senses, Skating, and Defense – Hossa does it all.”
Kane’s offensive game was also shown some love.
“Kane possesses one of the highest skill sets in the entire league with five star Puck Skills, Shooting, Skating, and Senses,” the description included. “His Puck Skills are elite with (94) Passing and Puck Control, (95) Hand-Eye, and (96) Deking. The only thing lacking in his game is Physical ability – coming in at only two and a half stars.”
Duncan Keith finished second with a 92 overall rating behind Shea Weber's 93 rating among the game’s defenseman ratings.
“Last year’s Norris Trophy winner lacks that huge physical element to his game, but makes up for it with 5 star Puck Skills, Senses, Skating and Defense attributes,” the game’s description included.
The Blackhawks had six players in the game’s top-50 ratings last year, with Toews (92 rating) at No. 7, Keith (90) at No. 12, Hossa (89) at No. 24, Brent Seabrook (89) at No. 31, Kane (88) at No. 35 and Patrick Sharp (88) at No. 45.
NHL 15 will be released on Sept. 9.
Fans suing NHL over television rights will have case heard after ruling.
By Nick Friedell
Derrick Rose is looking forward to playing on the "most talented" Bulls team he has been on. (Sam Forencich/Getty Images)
Derrick Rose respects LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, but he isn't scared of them. He made that clear when the possibility of Love landing in Cleveland came up during Team USA camp last week.
"For us, I think it wouldn't change anything," Rose said. "We know that no matter who we play that we have a legit change to beat anyone in the league. But at the same time, we know it's not going to be easy at all because guys are getting better. You have guys going to different teams and it's going to be tough. But at the same time, that's why we're in the NBA and that's why we love this game, for the challenge."
Rose and the Bulls are up for the challenge of knocking off the Cavaliers, who reportedly have agreed to a trade with the Timberwolves that includes sending Love to Cleveland and top overall pick Andrew Wiggins going to Minnesota.
Rose said recently that these Bulls are the "most talented" team he's ever been on. Assuming that Rose is healthy -- and that's a huge assumption, given that he's played in just 49 games over the past three seasons, including just 10 in the past two because of two serious knee injuries -- the Bulls believe they have enough to win a championship this season.
Let's take a look at a few of the reasons why:
• Rose is back: It was just one week at Team USA's camp, but Rose offered a reminder that he can still be a special player. Players and coaches raved about the way he performed as he showed the speed and explosion that set him apart from the start of his career. Rose has the superstar ability to carry the Bulls at times, and everybody will feed off his presence on the floor. He must prove his body can withstand the grind of a long NBA season.
• Thibs' defense: Tom Thibodeau has implemented his hard-nosed defensive schemes over the past four years in Chicago. When teams play the Bulls they know they're in for a tough and physical game. Led by Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson and Jimmy Butler, the Bulls have the type of defensive prowess that is crucial to postseason success. The Cavs don't have that type of luxury. James is one of the best defenders in the game -- and has shown it in years past locking up Rose -- but Irving and Love have never been known as solid defenders. Thibodeau will make sure to have his players in the right place on defense and find a way to take advantage of the weaknesses of Irving and Love on the other end of the floor.
• Depth: The Bulls didn't land Carmelo Anthony this summer, but they did add several players who can make a difference in the regular season and in the playoffs. Pau Gasol has won championships and should provide an upgrade over Carlos Boozer. Doug McDermott lit up the Vegas Summer League and has proved throughout his college career that he can knock down shots. Aaron Brooks gives the Bulls insurance as a combo guard who can play alongside Rose and Kirk Hinrich. Nikola Mirotic is a great unknown on the NBA level, but he has played in many big games in Europe and can score. Tony Snell had a good run at Summer League and appears to be taking the next step in his progression. The Cavs have a solid team with a lot of talent, but the Bulls, along with the reigning NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, have arguably the deepest team in the league. That depth should help them in every area throughout the season.
• Continuity: This is the year for the Bulls to win a title. They are talented and deep and have proved they can win under Thibodeau. The Cavs have a lot of talented players (including the best player in the world in James), but like all teams, it's going to take them a little time to come together and learn new coach David Blatt's system. The Bulls run like a well-oiled machine under Thibodeau and trust each other on the floor. The core has been together now for five years, and they aren't getting any younger. It's up to Rose to stay healthy and lead them to where they want to go.
Jimmy Butler: Bulls 'can beat anybody at any given time'.
The Cleveland Cavaliers got a whole lot better yesterday when they agreed to a trade that will net them All-Star Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves. But Jimmy Butler isn't worried.
The Bulls shooting guard stopped by the Bulls/Sox Academy on Friday to speak with a few of the camps going on, and he admitted that while Cleveland becomes a tougher team with Love in the mix to go with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, the Bulls are confident in their own group.
"They're just another force we're going to have to go through," Butler said, referring to James' Cavaliers squad. "I don't think anybody plays this game to lose, that's for sure. I think we can beat anybody at any given time and I'm excited, I'm looking forward to it."
The Bulls missed out on Carmelo Anthony and couldn't put together a trade package equal to Cleveland's to make a true run at Kevin Love, but Tom Thibodeau's group didn't come away empty-handed over the summer, either. Pau Gasol and rookies Nikola Mirotic and Doug McDermott enter the fold on what should be a much deeper group and more perimeter-oriented offense. There's also the former MVP, Derrick Rose, returning healthy that has Butler confident the Bulls, under Thibodeau's guidance, can compete with the best of the best.
"We're ready for whatever," he said. "As long as we play the type of ball that we're capable of playing, and just stick to how hard that we play, I think we're going to be great as long as we stay healthy."
Butler enjoyed a breakout year in 2013-14, averaging 13.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 steals in nearly 39 minutes per game. He was named to the All-NBA defensive second team and will again start on a Bulls team that should go toe-to-toe in the Eastern Conference with James' Cavaliers.
"My role's going to be to help win games, whether it's on offense, on defense, on the bench cheering, whatever it may be," he explained. "I think that's all of our jobs, all of our role is help bring this city a championship."
Why A Chicago Team Has Become The Little League World Series' Biggest Story.
Bob Cook, Contributor
First baseman Trey Hondras, top, jumps into the arms of pitcher Marquis Jackson as their team, Jackie Robinson West, from Chicago, celebrates a 12-7 win over New Albany, Ind., in the Little League Central Regional baseball championship game in Lawrence, Ind., on Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014. Also shown are Josh Houston, No. 3, and Brandon Green, right. (AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Charlie Nye)
On Saturday, Jackie Robinson West of Chicago beat New Albany, Ind., 12-7 in Indianapolis to advance as the Great Lakes region representative to the Little League World Series. Since Jackie Robinson West’s last Little League World Series appearance, in 1983, one thing in baseball has changed appreciably — African-American representation in baseball has gone down significantly. That’s why in 2014, it will be much bigger story than 31 years ago that an all-black team made it this far in youth baseball’s most storied tournament.
In 2009, when Jackie Robinson West was on the cusp of a possible Little League World Series appearance (it’s a regular in the Great Lakes championship round), I wrote a story for a previous iteration of this blog detailing the backstory of the league, and why it was a success when urban baseball otherwise was suffering. You’ll probably hear a lot about Jackie Robinson West in the coming days, if you follow baseball at all, so consider this a quick history lesson for what you’ll see on ESPN.
On the morning of the day he leaves to watch his son’s all-star team play in a Little League tournament game, Bill Haley is doing two things at the Jackie Robinson West field on the south side of Chicago. One is keeping watch while a crew films a commercial for Harris Bank. “You’d think they were making Star Wars,” Haley says. The other is talking to me on the phone about how a normal thing for him and his league — African-American kids playing baseball — seems so unusual to most everyone else.
“I can understand why it’s news, but I don’t think it’s news,” Haley said.
In this previous piece on Jackie Robinson West, I talked about the long-term decline in the percentage of African-Americans in Major League Baseball, from about 30 percent in the late 1970s to around 10 percent now. I talked about how that has become a symbol of many blacks’ overall disengagement from the game, compared with earlier generations. And how an all-black team making the Little League World Series in 1983, as Jackie Robinson West did, is not big news, but that team making the LLWS this year could be a very big deal, given Major League Baseball’s greater sensitivity and awareness to its dwindling African-American base.
Jackie Robinson West’s second straight appearance in the Great Lakes Region final in Indianapolis, the last stop before South Williamsport, Pa., is a very big deal to Haley, but not for the reasons listed above. It’s a big deal because it’s his league — and his 12-year-old son, Adam — playing a big series. Black has nothing to do with it. For that matter, Jackie Robinson West’s playoff road is gravy to the real goal of the league, the stated goal of most local leagues — “give kids something to do, and provide an outlet for the adults.”
What makes Jackie Robinson West succeed as a league is the same as what makes any league succeed, no matter the players’ race, ethnicity or income status.
“It’s a combination of factors,” said Haley, a dispatcher for the Chicago Transit Authority. “Our league has a strong tradition. The coaches were once players. It’s taken hold in the community. You pull kids from a limited area, so there’s a sense of community to start out with. Being state champions (the league has won two Illinois championships in a row) is incidental to what we’re trying to do.”
The key, Haley said, is not the children. “It’s the adults. Baseball is a family game. It starts with just a dad playing catch with his kids. You’ve got a dad who hits pop flies on a Sunday. That’s where the connection comes in.
“That’s how it started for me.”
No surprise, because Haley’s father, Joseph, founded the Jackie Robinson West league in 1971. There was some sociological significance to that as well. In 1960, the Washington Heights neighborhood on Chicago’s south side was 88 percent white. Thanks to a decade of blockbusting, white flight and black emigration from other parts of the city and the South (Joseph Haley was from Louisiana), by 1970 the neighborhood was 75 percent black. (My suburb, Oak Lawn, had its big population boom in the 1960s thanks to white people fleeing Washington Heights and other south side areas that, as Chicago residents still diplomatically put it, were “changing.”) By putting the league together, Joseph Haley, who died four years ago, created a center for the mass of new arrivals in Washington Heights, not only a place to play baseball, but also a place for adults to meet and greet.
Like many neighborhoods and suburbs on Chicago’s south side, a lot of the people who now live in Washington Heights are people who grew up in Washington Heights. (My Oak Lawn is that way — my wife and I moved all over the country and ended up a mile from her childhood home. Like south siders say, they always come back.) Washington Heights is nearly 100 percent black. However, not all urban neighborhoods are created unequal. Washington Heights is a stable, working- to middle-class area where the likes of a Bill Haley are around and available.
It’s not just that there are fathers around. It’s that whole families and neighbors are invested in the league and its success. Washington Heights is not unique in Chicago — there are baseball leagues in neighborhoods on all sides of the area served by Jackie Robinson West. For any youth league of any kind in any area to survive and thrive, you need adults who are invested (hopefully in a productive way) in their children’s lives. You also need people who respect the league and its traditions. That’s easier to do when you have people like Haley, who played, and then coached (so does his brother). Haley’s 16-year-old daughter, once a Jackie Robinson West cheerleader, helps to coach the newest generation. The league has annual reunions of past players.
That’s not to say Washington Heights and all the kids at Jackie Robinson West are all about baseball. “What people don’t realize is the tremendous amount of energy and time that goes into basketball,” Haley said. “I can’t tell you how many kids we lose to basketball.” That’s become particularly acute since a few years back, thanks to the success of a recent graduate of the nearby high school, Simeon — the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose.
However, “we’re not in competition with basketball,” Haley said. The success of the older kids does help generate excitement in baseball, to be sure. “We’ve got a whole park of 7- to 10-year-olds watching these guys like they’re Alfonso Soriano, Derrek Lee and Milton Bradley.”
Some might read Haley’s naming of those three players as a way of holding up black role models in baseball (with Lee and Bradley among the relatively rare African-Americans in the majors). I tend to think of it as Haley not being a true south sider by rooting for the stinkin’ Cubs. Hey, if we want to talk African-American baseball role models, how about 2005 World Series MVP Jermaine Dye, or DeWayne Wise, who made the greatest catch ever to save a perfect game? Oh, did I mention I’m a White Sox fan by marriage?
Speaking of major leaguers, Haley isn’t sure about the various MLB initiatives to goose African-American participation and big-league representation.
The success of “our league is simple. The commitment of the adults in the community. They believe this is important for the kids to have. Without that, if it’s not organically grown, [a league or initiative] is just a good idea. Time well tell whether they have any success. Though I’m always concerned when the forces behind something like this is not at the ground level.”
In its first game in Indianapolis Thursday night, Chicago’s Jackie Robinson West beat Columbus, Ind.’s Bartholomew County 4-2 in the Architecture Bowl. It has round-robin play this week before the championship round. If Jackie Robinson West keeps winning, you’re likely to hear more about how something so ordinary to Haley seems so extraordinary to others. The goal is no more high-minded than having a good baseball league that kids enjoy and parents support.
By the way, Harris Bank wasn’t filming a commercial at Jackie Robinson West as some sort of statement. It just liked the field.
Female pitcher leads Philly's Taney Dragons to Little League World Series.
Golf: I got a club for that… Rory McIlroy wins the PGA Championship, cements himself atop the golf world.
Associated Press
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland celebrates his one-stroke victory on the 18th green during the final round of the 96th PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club on August 10, 2014 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)
The challenge finally arrived for Rory McIlroy, and he was better than ever to win the PGA Championship.
On a back nine filled with as much tension as a major can provide, McIlroy emerged from a four-man battle with flawless golf to outlast Phil Mickelson and the darkness Sunday at Valhalla and capture his second straight major.
McIlroy closed with a 3-under 68 and became only the fourth player in the last century of golf to win four majors at 25 or younger. The others were Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Bobby Jones, three of the game's greatest players.
Boy Wonder appears on his way to belonging in that group.
"I didn't think in my wildest dreams I'd have a summer like this," said McIlroy, only the seventh player to win the last two majors of the year. "I played the best golf of my life. I really gutted it out today."
But one of the greatest shows on soggy turf came with a most peculiar ending.
McIlroy hit a 9-iron from a fairway bunker on the 17th hole to 10 feet and made the birdie putt to take a two-shot lead to the par-5 18th. Because of a two-hour rain delay, darkness was falling quickly and it wasn't certain McIlroy would be able to finish.
He was allowed to tee off even before Mickelson and Rickie Fowler had reached their golf balls in the fairway. Both were only two shots behind and still in the game. McIlroy came within a yard of hitting into a hazard right of the fairway. Mickelson and Fowler had to stand to the side of the green to allow McIlroy to play his second shot.
The 25-year-old from Northern Ireland hit into a bunker and had to two-putt from 35 feet for a one-shot win.
Moments earlier, Mickelson came within inches of chipping in for eagle. He settled for a 6-under 66 and a runner-up for the ninth time in a major. Fowler, the first player in history to finish in the top five at all four majors without winning, also had a chance with a long eagle putt. He missed badly, and then missed the short birdie putt.
Fowler closed with a 68 and tied for third with Henrik Stenson, who also had a share of the lead until missing a 3-foot par putt on the 14th putt. He never recovered from that and shot 66.
McIlroy finished at 16-under 268. The victory was his third in a row, following the British Open and World Golf Championship event last week at Firestone.
A.J. Allmendinger holds off Marcos Ambrose for Watkins Glen win.
By Nick Bromberg
Quite simply, Sunday at Watkins Glen was a scenario the 2014 Chase format was designed to produce.
A.J. Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose, two drivers fighting not only for a win but their first-ever Chase berths, battled throughout multiple restarts during the final 10 laps of the race and Allmendinger took the win after forcing his way inside of Ambrose in turn six on the next-to-last lap.
Allmendinger got the pole position for the green-white-checker restart after a pass of Ambrose just before the caution came out for Denny Hamlin's crash. After a red flag to clean up the mess from Hamlin's crash, Allmendinger kept Ambrose at bay through turn one. The two traded contact up to the esses and after the duo entered the inner loop, Ambrose moved Allmendinger out of the groove in turn five. But Allmendinger kept his foot in the throttle and had the inside line into turn six. Once he slammed doors with Ambrose and cleared him off the corner, the race was his.
And so was a Chase berth as Allmendinger became the 12th driver in 2014 to win a race.
"I just knew the restart – if he could get to me he'd move me out of the way just like I'd do to him," Allmendinger said. "It wasn't rough. He didn't try to wreck me, he just moved me so I just leaned on him into the next corner. I knew if I could get a gap and get [Ambrose and third-place Kurt Busch] racing behind me it was game over, so that's what I did."
Ambrose is no stranger to crazy Watkins Glen finishes. He won at the track in 2012 after beating Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch in an oil-slicked final lap.
"First off, congratulations to A.J.," Ambrose said. "Because he really deserved that win. I gave him everything I had to rattle his cage and he withstood the pressure."
Quite simply, Sunday at Watkins Glen was a scenario the 2014 Chase format was designed to produce.
Before the season, the Chase was reformatted to include 16 drivers with berths virtually guaranteed if a driver won in the first 26 races of the season. While Ambrose and Allmendinger would have undoubtedly battled as hard as they did for the win under any points format, the redesign added significance to the battle. With 11 winners in the first 21 races, a win was a ticket to NASCAR's version of the playoffs because neither driver was going to get there without one.Neither was high enough in the points standings to fill any of the remaining non-winner Chase spots on points and both have distinguished road racing backgrounds. Oh, and neither Ambrose or Allmendinger has been exceptional on NASCAR's ovals. Both came to Watkins Glen with the race as their best – and maybe only – shot to get into the Chase. Allmendinger is now in. Barring anything unforeseen over the next four races, Ambrose is out.
And not only is Allmendinger qualified for the postseason, he's got his first-ever Sprint Cup Series win just two years after his Cup career was potentially over. In 2012, he was suspended by NASCAR for violating the sport's substance abuse policy.
He subsequently lost his ride with Team Penske and missed 15 races in 2012. In 2013, he landed a part-time Nationwide Series and IndyCar ride with Penske (where he won at Mid-Ohio in the Nationwide Series) and drove in 18 Cup races for two teams. In the limited Cup spell he impressed the owners at JTG-Daugherty Racing to give him another shot full-time in the Cup Series.
In victory lane, he was congratulated by Penske and Richard Childress, whose team has an alliance with JTG-Daugherty.
"That just means more than anything to me to have those guys being such a big supporter of mine," Allmendinger said. "Obviously Roger and the whole Penske Racing organization for what they did for me last year and R.C. for this whole alliance. He's opened the doors to this race team, given us everything we can have to go out there and compete and we won a race. We won a Sprint Cup race."
NASCAR's Stewart hits, kills driver on NY track.
AP Sports
NASCAR driver Tony Stewart struck and killed a sprint car driver who was walking on a dirt track during a race in upstate New York on Saturday night.
Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero said his department's investigation is not criminal and that Stewart was ''fully cooperative.''
Povero would not identify the driver, but said he was pronounced dead Saturday night at a hospital in Canandaigua.
A video of the crash at Canandaigua Motorsports Park showed driver Kevin Ward Jr. walking toward Stewart's car before being hit and hurtled 50 feet.
Povero said the 42-year-old Stewart, a three-time NASCAR champion and frequent competitor at local sprint car events, was questioned and released. The sheriff is asking for people who have video of the crash to contact the office so copies can be obtained for review.
''People that witnessed it were horrified,'' Povero said of the crash. ''They were extremely shocked.''
Calls to Stewart's representatives were not immediately returned, and he was scheduled to race in in NASCAR's event Sunday at Watkins Glen. There was no word on if Stewart would pull out of the race, which is critical for his championship chances.
Video of the crash at Canandaigua Motorsports Park showed Ward, in the No. 13 car, spin into a wall after contact with Stewart's car. The video showed Ward, wearing a black fire suit and black helmet, climb quickly from his car and briskly walk around it in what appeared to be an attempt to confront Stewart as he passed by in his own car, Stewart's familiar No. 14.
The video showed Ward to the right of Stewart's car, which seemed to kick out from the rear and hit Ward. The driver was hurtled through the air and emergency personnel quickly reached Ward as he lay on the track.
Michael Messerly, a fan who witnessed the crash, said it appeared Stewart - racing there on the eve of a race at Watkins Glen - hit a driver who was walking on the dimly lit track after they had collided on the previous lap.
He said Stewart struck the driver as he tried to speed past him.
''I didn't see (the other driver) anymore,'' he said. ''It just seemed like he was suddenly gone.''
The accident came just four days after Stewart marked the one-year anniversary of an accident in a sprint car race in Iowa, where he suffered a compound fracture to his right leg. The injury cost him the second half of the NASCAR season.
The track, about 30 miles southeast of Rochester, canceled the remainder of the race within five minutes and later posted a message on its Facebook page encouraging fans to ''pray for the entire racing community of fans, drivers, and families.''
It said a statement on the crash would come later Sunday.
Ward's website said he began racing go-karts in 1998 at age 4, but didn't start driving sprint cars until 2010. He was Empire Super Sprint rookie of the year in 2012 and this year was his fifth season racing the Empire Super Sprints.
Stewart was involved in a July 2013 accident at Canandaigua Motorsports Park that seriously injured a 19-year-old driver. He later took responsibility for his car making contact with another and triggering the 15-car accident that left Alysha Ruggles with a compression fracture in her back.
On Saturday, ambulances, fire trucks and police arrived within minutes of the crash, Messerly said.
Fans filed out in stunned silence, he said.
Fans filed out in stunned silence, he said.
Stewart only returned to sprint track racing last month, almost a year after breaking his leg in the crash at an Iowa track. He didn't return to racing in any form until February when preparation for NASCAR's season-opening Daytona 500 began.
He refused to stop his extracurricular racing despite the injury and was scheduled to race Sunday.
Stewart was a spectator at the Knoxville Nationals in Iowa on Tuesday, the one-year anniversary of the accident, and posted on his Twitter account: ''Thank you to everyone that worked so hard to get me back to where I'm at today. It's your life, live it!''
Roughly three hours after the accident in New York, Donny Schatz, a sprint car driver for Tony Stewart Racing, won the prestigious Knoxville Nationals in Iowa for an eighth time. Stewart had spent much of the earlier part of the week trackside in Iowa watching his drivers compete.
''I was just told there was an incident involving Tony. I don't know to what extent or what's happening,'' Schatz said.
Stewart, a three-time NASCAR champion, is co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. The four-team Sprint Cup organization fields cars for Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Danica Patrick. He's struggled a bit this year since returning, and heads into Sunday's race winless on the season and ranked 19th in the standings.
Stewart was scheduled to start 13th on Sunday at Watkins Glen International in south central New York state. He has just five races remaining to either score a win or move inside the top 16 in points to grab a valuable spot in NASCAR's championship race.
Update: Don't be too quick to judge Tony Stewart, let the experts do their jobs.
By Jerry Bonkowski
Editor’s note: NBCSports.com’s MotorSportsTalk writer Jerry Bonkowski has spent over 30 years as a sports writer, columnist and editor covering NASCAR and motorsports for USA Today, ESPN.com, Yahoo Sports and now MST. He also wrote this column from the unique perspective of having served more than 20 years as a fully-sworn, state-certified part-time police officer.
In the time span of just a few hours after a horrendous accident, Tony Stewart was charged, convicted and sentenced by many in the court of public opinion following Saturday’s fatal incident involving 20-year-old sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr.
So-called “experts” inundated Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other forms of social media, carelessly, recklessly and without any type of evidence throwing around words such as “intentional” and “murder.”
Those are very damning words for an incident that on the surface is an accident until proven otherwise – if it can be proven otherwise, that is.
How can they be so sure that Stewart intentionally struck and ran over Ward, leading to his death, which was confirmed about an hour or so after the incident by Ontario County (N.Y.) sheriff Phillip Povero, according to multiple media reports?
Were those people at the small dirt track just about an hour northwest of Watkins Glen International, site of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 NASCAR Sprint Cup race?
Even Povero told USA Today that Stewart was “fully cooperative” and that “the incident is not being investigated as a criminal matter.” If the investigating sheriff says it’s not a criminal matter or an intentional attack on the racetrack, how can so many people think otherwise? They base that opinion upon what they’ve heard or read or seen – and sometimes even that isn’t clear-cut enough to make such a serious value judgment as Stewart is being accused by so many.
To me, there are only a few undeniable facts that have emerged from the incident. Everything else is supposition, hyperbole and plain guessing:
* First, there was an on-track incident between Stewart and Ward. Based upon video that captured the incident, it appeared to be nothing more than a typical racing incident that happens hundreds of times each year on everything from Sprint Cup tracks to the smallest grassroots racing dirt tracks.
* Second, again, judging by the video, it appears the area where Stewart allegedly struck Ward was rather dimly lit, not unusual for short tracks such as that.
* Third, if investigating sheriff’s deputies believed Stewart did intentionally strike Ward, would he have been released from custody after fully cooperating with investigators?
* Fourth, do sane, normal and logically thinking individuals really believe a driver of Stewart’s caliber, who has done so much in his career, would throw it all away by intentionally hitting a mere kid on a tiny dirt track in the upstate New York hinterlands? Granted, Stewart has a temper – which has been seen countless times over his career – but would he completely lose control of his sense of right and wrong and go out and murder a kid that he had just spun in a racing incident? Just the thought of that is nothing short of ludicrous.
* Fifth, and this is perhaps the most important part of all: Ward got out of his spun race car. He walked down from the top of the racetrack and into the middle of, again, a dimly-lit area. This is where the true sense of speculation stems. Maybe Stewart didn’t see Ward. Maybe Stewart tried to avoid Ward and it was too late, again, partly due to the lighting in that area of the track and Ward walking down into the middle of the track dressed in a dark fire suit. As much as it pains me to say this, and I’m not attempting to be an “expert” about this event as it unfolded in any way, but what was Ward doing walking around in the middle of a racetrack with cars coming around still under power? That’d be like someone walking in the middle of a freeway to confront someone who he or she just had a fender-bender with. What did Ward try to accomplish by walking directly in front of Stewart, with the likely intent of shaking his fist or pointing a finger at the three-time Sprint Cup champ for spinning him only seconds earlier?
We can’t ever know.
This isn’t the first time a driver has killed someone – and I use the word “killed” in the sense that, yes, a fatality occurred as an end result, but not due to anything intentional on the driver’s part.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty struck and killed – again, I’m using that word in context that a death resulted, but it was not from an overt or intentional act upon Petty’s part – an 8-year-old boy during a drag race on Feb. 28, 1965 in Dallas, Ga.
Petty had temporarily left NASCAR racing that season in a dispute over the use of a new and potent 426 Hemi motor that the sanctioning body banned.
With NASCAR still a regional sport based in the Southeast, Petty moved to drag racing, which had caught fire in its Southern California birthplace a decade earlier and progressively moved east and grew into something that was arguably even bigger than NASCAR at the time.
Petty was in a race on that fateful day when something happened to his Plymouth Barracuda. Either something broke or he lost control – or both. Sadly, the end result was Petty’s car left the drag strip racing surface and plowed into a crowd of fans, killing little Wayne Dye and injuring several other spectators.
After a long and thorough investigation, the accident was ruled just that, and Petty was not charged with any type of offense that stemmed from the crash.
But Petty has carried that memory with him for nearly 50 years. To this day, he still gets upset talking about it, and more often than not simply refuses to discuss it. Stewart is also going to carry the memory of what happened Saturday night with himself as well for the rest of his life.
For now, regardless of what all the “experts” say or media types looking to grab attention with a flashy headline insist, we know only two things for certain:
One, Tony Stewart was involved in an accident, and two, a young man died. Everything else is an unknown until a thorough and proper investigation is performed, no matter how long it takes to complete.
And when that investigation is completed, it will be by trained and REAL experts who will come to a rational and logical conclusion based upon facts and evidence – and not opinion.
As someone once told me many years ago when I first got into journalism, “Opinions without facts are like noses. They both can smell.”
Update: Don't be too quick to judge Tony Stewart, let the experts do their jobs.
By Jerry Bonkowski
Editor’s note: NBCSports.com’s MotorSportsTalk writer Jerry Bonkowski has spent over 30 years as a sports writer, columnist and editor covering NASCAR and motorsports for USA Today, ESPN.com, Yahoo Sports and now MST. He also wrote this column from the unique perspective of having served more than 20 years as a fully-sworn, state-certified part-time police officer.
In the time span of just a few hours after a horrendous accident, Tony Stewart was charged, convicted and sentenced by many in the court of public opinion following Saturday’s fatal incident involving 20-year-old sprint car driver Kevin Ward Jr.
So-called “experts” inundated Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other forms of social media, carelessly, recklessly and without any type of evidence throwing around words such as “intentional” and “murder.”
Those are very damning words for an incident that on the surface is an accident until proven otherwise – if it can be proven otherwise, that is.
How can they be so sure that Stewart intentionally struck and ran over Ward, leading to his death, which was confirmed about an hour or so after the incident by Ontario County (N.Y.) sheriff Phillip Povero, according to multiple media reports?
Were those people at the small dirt track just about an hour northwest of Watkins Glen International, site of Sunday’s Cheez-It 355 NASCAR Sprint Cup race?
Even Povero told USA Today that Stewart was “fully cooperative” and that “the incident is not being investigated as a criminal matter.” If the investigating sheriff says it’s not a criminal matter or an intentional attack on the racetrack, how can so many people think otherwise? They base that opinion upon what they’ve heard or read or seen – and sometimes even that isn’t clear-cut enough to make such a serious value judgment as Stewart is being accused by so many.
To me, there are only a few undeniable facts that have emerged from the incident. Everything else is supposition, hyperbole and plain guessing:
* First, there was an on-track incident between Stewart and Ward. Based upon video that captured the incident, it appeared to be nothing more than a typical racing incident that happens hundreds of times each year on everything from Sprint Cup tracks to the smallest grassroots racing dirt tracks.
* Second, again, judging by the video, it appears the area where Stewart allegedly struck Ward was rather dimly lit, not unusual for short tracks such as that.
* Third, if investigating sheriff’s deputies believed Stewart did intentionally strike Ward, would he have been released from custody after fully cooperating with investigators?
* Fourth, do sane, normal and logically thinking individuals really believe a driver of Stewart’s caliber, who has done so much in his career, would throw it all away by intentionally hitting a mere kid on a tiny dirt track in the upstate New York hinterlands? Granted, Stewart has a temper – which has been seen countless times over his career – but would he completely lose control of his sense of right and wrong and go out and murder a kid that he had just spun in a racing incident? Just the thought of that is nothing short of ludicrous.
* Fifth, and this is perhaps the most important part of all: Ward got out of his spun race car. He walked down from the top of the racetrack and into the middle of, again, a dimly-lit area. This is where the true sense of speculation stems. Maybe Stewart didn’t see Ward. Maybe Stewart tried to avoid Ward and it was too late, again, partly due to the lighting in that area of the track and Ward walking down into the middle of the track dressed in a dark fire suit. As much as it pains me to say this, and I’m not attempting to be an “expert” about this event as it unfolded in any way, but what was Ward doing walking around in the middle of a racetrack with cars coming around still under power? That’d be like someone walking in the middle of a freeway to confront someone who he or she just had a fender-bender with. What did Ward try to accomplish by walking directly in front of Stewart, with the likely intent of shaking his fist or pointing a finger at the three-time Sprint Cup champ for spinning him only seconds earlier?
We can’t ever know.
This isn’t the first time a driver has killed someone – and I use the word “killed” in the sense that, yes, a fatality occurred as an end result, but not due to anything intentional on the driver’s part.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty struck and killed – again, I’m using that word in context that a death resulted, but it was not from an overt or intentional act upon Petty’s part – an 8-year-old boy during a drag race on Feb. 28, 1965 in Dallas, Ga.
Petty had temporarily left NASCAR racing that season in a dispute over the use of a new and potent 426 Hemi motor that the sanctioning body banned.
With NASCAR still a regional sport based in the Southeast, Petty moved to drag racing, which had caught fire in its Southern California birthplace a decade earlier and progressively moved east and grew into something that was arguably even bigger than NASCAR at the time.
Petty was in a race on that fateful day when something happened to his Plymouth Barracuda. Either something broke or he lost control – or both. Sadly, the end result was Petty’s car left the drag strip racing surface and plowed into a crowd of fans, killing little Wayne Dye and injuring several other spectators.
After a long and thorough investigation, the accident was ruled just that, and Petty was not charged with any type of offense that stemmed from the crash.
But Petty has carried that memory with him for nearly 50 years. To this day, he still gets upset talking about it, and more often than not simply refuses to discuss it. Stewart is also going to carry the memory of what happened Saturday night with himself as well for the rest of his life.
For now, regardless of what all the “experts” say or media types looking to grab attention with a flashy headline insist, we know only two things for certain:
One, Tony Stewart was involved in an accident, and two, a young man died. Everything else is an unknown until a thorough and proper investigation is performed, no matter how long it takes to complete.
And when that investigation is completed, it will be by trained and REAL experts who will come to a rational and logical conclusion based upon facts and evidence – and not opinion.
As someone once told me many years ago when I first got into journalism, “Opinions without facts are like noses. They both can smell.”
Transfer rumors: Why Falcao would be a gamble for Real Madrid.
By Robin Bairner
Radamel Falcao (AP Images)
The rumors persist. Radamel Falcao is wanted by a string of elite clubs, according to the press, who have linked the Monaco forward with Manchester City, Liverpool and, in particular, Real Madrid. Yet if the Colombia star was to make a summer move, it would represent a huge gamble for the buying club.
In January, the 28-year-old suffered an injury that dramatically altered the course of his career. His knee ligaments were seriously damaged during a Coupe de France match against Chasselay, leaving the striker to fight a hopeless battle to be fit for the World Cup — the event that should have been his crowning glory.
His move to Monaco was meant to be a pit stop before a switch back to Madrid, a necessary stepping stone to allow him to transition to the Bernabeu without breaking an agreement made to former employer Atletico Madrid. After his knee problems, it seems that he may well be marooned on the rocky principality on France’s Mediterranean Coast.
For Monaco, an asset of the notoriety of Falcao cannot be lightly parted with. After James Rodriguez’s move to Madrid, the club needs the Colombia striker both for his quality and for the prestige that he brings to the project.
The magnitude of Rodriguez’s move to the Spanish capital is another telling factor. It is estimated that the playmaker’s transfer, which was a deal that the Monegasques did not want to make, was valued at 80 million euros – going a long way to ensure that Financial Fair Play regulations will be met by the Stade Louis II side, which has cut back dramatically on its spending this summer.
While there is no obligation for Monaco to sell, there is little likelihood of Falcao departing for a knockdown price. He was bought for 60 million euros and surely cannot be sold at this stage for anything less than that figure.
A year ago, Falcao guaranteed goals, and while he made his mark by scoring in his return to action against Arsenal in the Emirates Cup, there are questions hanging over his ability to remain prolific for the first time since he established himself as a starter at River Plate.
His time in Monaco last season was, by his illustrious standards, rather modest. It had been expected that he would decimate Ligue 1 defenses, but prior to his injury he was enduring his worst season since moving to Europe. True, he still found the net at a rate of more than a goal every other game, but he did not look like the Falcao who so terrorized La Liga with Atleti mere months earlier.
And then came the injury, which was of the variety perhaps most serious to any professional. Of course, some, such as Alan Shearer, have successfully overcome such problems to remain fearsome until late in their careers, but there are others who have been forced to endure lengthy battles with such a problem.
Ronaldo, for example, managed only seven minutes of soccer between serious knee problems, restricting him to only 17 outings between November 1999 and mid-2000. Thereafter, he may have regained the World Player of the Year award in 2002, but he was never quite the player so devastating in the pre-injury phase of his career.
It would be a tremendous gamble for a club to take to stake 60 million euros or more on Falcao enjoying such a spectacular comeback, particularly off the back of a relatively mediocre campaign. Madrid has already tied Karim Benzema to a new contract, indicating its priorities lie in stability.
Starting on Sunday, when Monaco opens the season against Lorient at Stade Louis II, the onus is now on the striker to prove that the last six months have been a simple blip in an otherwise formidable career. If he can come back strongly, perhaps Madrid or Manchester awaits next summer.
Active Navy SEAL trying to make Northwestern's team as walk-on.
By Tom Fornelli
Here's a story to root for as the 2014 college football season draws ever closer.
Tom Hruby is a walk-on at Northwestern trying to make the team. Now, ordinarily, a walk-on making a college football team wouldn't be a very big deal. It happens all over the country every season, and sometimes those walk-ons perform well enough to earn a scholarship. But Hruby isn't your typical walk-on.
He's a student at Northwestern, but he also happens to be 32-years old and is married with three kids. Oh, and he's also a Navy SEAL. An active Navy SEAL. So why does he want to play football for Northwestern? For the challenge.
“I don't feel like where I'm at today is some outstanding or amazing thing,” Hruby told the Chicago Sun-Times. “It's just more of a challenging route . . . the way I kind of think about finding and accepting and trying to take on these challenges that most people would probably say are impossible, one, or very unlikely or just plain dumb.”
Hruby joined the Navy SEALS in 2006, and currently serves as an instructor at Great Lakes Naval Station, which is north of Evanston. While his missions remain classified, he told the Sun-Times he's spent time in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, doing work as a breacher. A breacher is an expert in explosives and forced entry.
He says he hopes to spend some time on special teams with the Wildcats, where he can blow up some return units if given the chance.
I hope he gets it.
What Venric Mark's suspension means for Northwestern.
By Vinnie Duber
Venric Mark can’t wait to get back into a football game.
Now his wait will be a little longer.
After missing nearly the entirety of last season due to injury, Northwestern unexpectedly announced a two-game suspension for the senior running back on Friday night. Mark, who violated an unspecified team policy, will miss the Wildcats’ first two games of the year against California and Northern Illinois.
The loss is obviously a surprising one, but how much effect will it have on Northwestern’s season?
Want some reassurance? Just look to last season, when Ohio State’s Carlos Hyde was suspended for the first three games of the Buckeyes’ schedule. He returned to run all over the Big Ten, and he was awarded the conference’s Running Back of the Year award at season’s end.
Then there’s the group behind Mark on the depth chart, which head coach Pat Fitzgerald has raved about all offseason. Guys like Treyvon Green, Warren Long and Stephen Buckley got a good deal of experience last season in Mark’s absence (while battling injury issues of their own), and now they can put that to good use here in the first two games. Expected to prepare to carry a big load anyway, now they’ll have the majority of training camp to prepare for the opener against the Golden Bears, where they'll have any even bigger role. It’ll provide the opportunity to get ready, unlike last season, when that sudden injury threw those guys into the fire.
But even with that heaping helping of caution taken, one can’t help but think Mark’s absence could again cause problems for the Northwestern offense. Mark is one heck of a talent, enough so that he was named an All American in 2012 as a return man. Coming back from injury this season, he is primed to make a big impact in the run game, as a receiver in the pass game and in the return game. Now that’s all put off another two weeks.
Individually, Mark has discussed how much sitting out last season took its toll. When the season starts, he’ll be sitting out again.
“The journey was tough,” Mark said Thursday during the team’s media day in Evanston, “but I have a good support system here at Northwestern that helped me get through it. I’ve never been hurt like that, that sidelined me for a whole entire season. Even throughout high school, I managed to stay healthy. Through my first four, three and a half years, I managed to stay healthy. It had a toll on me mentally, of course physically. But with the help of the O-line, Trevor (Siemian, quarterback), the receivers, everyone around me, my coaches, I felt like I had a good support system. I was able to come back in a good timely fashion. I’m feeling healthy right now, and I think I’m ready to go.”
Healthy or not, Mark will miss the first two games of the season.
“I made a mistake and am prepared to deal with the consequences of that,” Mark said in a statement released through Northwestern following his suspension Friday night. “There’s no one that holds me to a higher standard than the one I hold myself to, so nobody is more disappointed than I am. First and foremost, I feel like I let my teammates down, and that feels the worst. I’m grateful to have another season to compete with this team. My focus moving forward is on working as hard as I can in camp and supporting my teammates in practice and on game days so that we can achieve our goals this season.”
Nolan Richardson, Guy Williams elected to Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
By Scott Phillips
Two legendary college basketball head coaches were enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame last night as former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson and former Maryland coach Gary Williams were among the Class of 2014 inductees.
Both head coaches won national championships as Richardson took Arkansas to the title in 1994 and three Final Fours overall (1990, 1994, 1995) in a career that led to a 509-207 overall record. Williams led Maryland to a national title of its own in 2002 and compiled a career record of 668-380 during his college coaching career.
The coaches were inducted in Springfield, Massachusetts last night and each coach had a chance to give a speech.
Richardson touched on the team that helped get him to where he was in his coaching career while also speaking about the death of his 15-year-old daughter, Yvonne.
“I almost threw away basketball because of that,” Richardson said in his Hall of Fame speech. “And I’m trying to coach a team the first time at Arkansas. There was unbelievable pressure. I could care less if I ever win. Then I asked the good man upstairs what should I do. I knew she [daughter Yvonne] wouldn’t want me to quit.”
“So I rededicated myself again,” Richardson said. “When I think of winning, sometimes I think we do so for the ones we loved so much. I was happy, but it was different. Things went in the right perspective at that time.
What’s more important a life or a game? That’s what I was faced with. I will pick life every time.”
Williams spoke a lot about his former coaches and players as he told stories to the crowd and reflected on his long career, including some entertaining stories from his playing days.
It’s nice to see two really good coaches from the college game get their time in the spotlight by getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. With Richardson’s distinctive and memorable “40 Minutes of Hell” up-tempo style and Williams taking a team to a national championship without a McDonald’s All-American, both were very good at what they did in unique ways.
Court rules in favor of players in Ed O’Bannon case.
Posted by Brent Sobleski
Two days, two monumental and seismic events for the game of college football, assuring that the sport will never, ever be the same.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled Friday in favor a group of plaintiffs led by former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon.
In the 99-page ruling, the court issued an injunction which will prevent the NCAA “from enforcing any rules or bylaws that would prohibit its member schools and conferences from offering their FBS football or Division I basketball recruits a limited share of the revenues generated from the use of their names, images, and likenesses in addition to a full grant-in-aid.”
As it currently stands, the win for the plaintiffs is about more than the compensation they will receive.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Brandt Follow
@adbrandt
O'Bannon plaintiffs not about receiving damages, about enjoining (stopping) NCAA from imposing limits on what athletes can earn.
“The judge’s decision strikes down NCAA rules restricting their compensation and permits reasonable but significant sharing with athletes — both for the costs of education and to establish trust funds — from the billions in revenues that schools earn from their football and basketball players,” Isaacson continued in the statement.
The ruling also comes on the heels of the NCAA granting autonomy to the Power Five conferences. While the schools now have more power to govern themselves, the players gained plenty of leverage with Wilken’s ruling.
“The court finds that a submarket exists in which television networks seek to acquire group licenses to use FBS football and Division I basketball players’ names, images and likenesses in live game telecasts,” Wilken wrote. “Television networks frequently enter into licensing agreements to use the intellectual property of schools, conferences, and event organizers — such as the NCAA or a bowl committee — in live telecasts of football and basketball games. In these agreements, the network often seeks to acquire the rights to use the names, images and likenesses of the participating student-athletes during the telecast.”
As part of the ruling, the NCAA can still cap the amount of compensation an athlete receives, but it “will not be permitted to set this cap below the cost of attendance, as the term is defined in its current bylaws.” It also prevents the NCAA from making rules that wouldn’t allow a school from “offering to deposit a limited share of licensing revenue in trust for their FBS football and Division I basketball recruits, payable when they leave school or their eligibility expires.”
The ruling will not affect any recruit enrolled in college prior to July 1, 2016.
“Nothing in this injunction will preclude the NCAA from continuing to enforce all of its other existing rules which are designed to achieve legitimate pro competitive goals,” Wilken wrote.
Update: Emmert says NCAA will appeal O'Bannon ruling.
By MICHAEL MAROT (AP Sports Writer)
Mark Emmert said Sunday that the NCAA will appeal a ruling that opens the door for college athletes to receive some of the money they help generate in major sports.
In the NCAA president's first public comments since Friday's ruling, Emmert told ABC's ''This Week With George Stephanopoulos'' that college sports' largest governing body found a lot in the decision that was ''admirable'' and some parts they disagreed with so strongly that they could not let it go unchallenged in court.
''Yes, at least in part we will,'' Emmert said when asked whether the NCAA planned an appeal. ''No one on our legal team or the college conferences' legal teams think this is a violation of antitrust laws and we need to get that settled in the courts.''
''Yes, at least in part we will,'' Emmert said when asked whether the NCAA planned an appeal. ''No one on our legal team or the college conferences' legal teams think this is a violation of antitrust laws and we need to get that settled in the courts.''
The NCAA's decision to challenge the ruling is hardly a surprise.
Donald Remy, the organization's chief legal officer, had repeatedly said that if the NCAA lost, it would appeal the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if needed. Many legal experts think this case could be heading that direction, though it's unclear whether the nation's highest court would take it.
''We remain confident that the NCAA has not violated the antitrust laws and intend to appeal,'' Remy said in a statement released following the television show. ''We will also be seeking clarity from the district court on some details of its ruling.''"
Joseph Farelli, an attorney with the New York-based law firm of Pitta & Giblin who specializes in labor law, said the NCAA didn't have a choice after U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken on Friday shot down the NCAA's argument that its model of amateurism was the only way to run college sports. Wilken wrote that football players in FBS schools and Division I men's basketball players must be allowed to receive at least $5,000 a year for rights to their names, images and likenesses, money that would be put in a trust fund and given to them when they leave school.
''I would expect them to appeal it because now you're going to have a permanent injunction that says the NCAA can't regulate what colleges do with their student-athletes,'' Farelli told The Associated Press. ''If they don't appeal, now you have a federal court precedent.''
If the NCAA allowed that decision to stand, Farelli said, it could lead to even more litigation against the NCAA on hot-button topics such as Title IX and whether there should be any cap on how much money athletes should receive.
Emmert acknowledged Sunday that Wilken's decision could lead to a fundamental shift in college sports.
Historically, the NCAA fares better in the appellate system. According to a study released last month by Illinois professor Michael LeRoy, student-athletes suing the NCAA won 49 percent of the initial cases but the NCAA won 71 percent of the appeals in both the second and third rounds.
This time could be different because of the venue.
''The problem for the NCAA is that the appeal will be in the Ninth Circuit, and the Ninth Circuit is generally a labor-friendly circuit. Looking from the outside, it would likely favor O'Bannon,'' said Michael McCann, director of the sports and entertainment law center at the University of New Hampshire School of Law. ''It depends on which judges get the case and we won't know that.''
Emmert did applaud parts of the decision that allow the NCAA to enforce other rules and the imposition of the cap.
But by the time the payments are supposed to begin in 2016, the NCAA could be operating under new rules.
The board of directors voted Thursday to give the five richest conferences more authority to unilaterally change some of the rules, a move that paves the way for giving players enough money to defray all or most of their college expenses including those that go beyond current limit of tuition, room and board, books and fees.
''There's little debate about the need to do that,'' Emmert said, ''and I think this move will finally allow us to get there.''
How will college football panel pick top teams?
By RALPH D. RUSSO (AP College Football Writer)
Might as well call it Mission: Impossible.
Starting in mid-October, a panel of 13 football experts will begin meeting once a week to determine the four teams who will compete for the national championship in the very first College Football Playoff. Their goal is to choose the four best teams in the nation at the end of the regular season.
But how does someone answer a question for which there will almost always will be more than one correct answer?
''We need both faith and reason,'' said committee member and West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck. ''We have to use our logical skills and the deductive skills that the people in that room have.
But the college football world needs a little bit of faith that we all check our pasts at the door and we go about this in a very straightforward and honest manner.''
Where the College Football Playoff has the Bowl Championship Series beat is simply the number four. Twice as many teams will now enter the postseason with a chance to win the national championship. Most fans agree this is progress over an old system were deserving teams were left out.
How will the new panel decide on top teams? Will so-called great teams still be left out? As its first season unfolds, the group could create an all-new set of questions about whether the process works.
THE HUMAN ELEMENT
The biggest change in the process is that people - not computer rankings - are solely in charge of teams' fates. So the panel will have to learn how to effectively debate, compromise and even account for bias.
''This small number of human beings sitting across the table from each other can evaluate nuances to a much greater degree than the old system could,'' said Bill Hancock, the executive director of the College Football Playoff. ''There can be give and take. There can be questions and answers. That element just wasn't a part of the old system.''
The down side of that is with so few people, if there is bias in the room it can have a greater impact on the final decision. If someone consistently overrates the importance of offense over defense, for example, that can affect the process more so than when the teams were chosen by more than 100 voters in Harris and coaches' polls.
''With 13 people, if somebody really has it in their head that no matter what South Carolina is not that good, if one person votes them No. 15 even if everybody else has them around the top four, they're probably not going to get in,'' said Bill Connelly, a writer for SB Nation whose statistical rating system called F+ can be found at www.footballoutsiders.com .
On Oct. 21, the committee will release its first weekly rankings, a top 25 that will allow fans to see what the panel is collectively thinking down the stretch of the season.
Hancock has said the weekly rankings were a nod to college football tradition, and transparency. The ranking give fans a way to assess to some degree where teams stand in the championship race and they shine light on the process.
Maybe a little too much light?
''The obsession with transparency drives me crazy,'' Connelly said. ''I get the idea that it's good to know how somebody came up with what they come up with, but they have gone overboard. It's going to make it a far more painful process for them.''
Dave Bartoo, a data analyst, consultant and founder of www.cfbmatrix.com , said he anticipates the selection committee will rank teams similarly to other poll panels. Traditionally, college football poll voters tend to create tiers based on the number of loses and wins and adjust the teams within those tiers, making some alterations to account for perceived schedule strength.
''I feel that's what should happen because they (the committee) don't have enough information to do any better than the people who have been doing it,'' Bartoo said.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The committee has been instructed to place an emphasis on strength of schedule, head-to-head matchups and conference championships.
Strength of schedule has become a particular buzz phrase this offseason, with coaches and conferences already touting the virtues of their lineup.
Bartoo said it's misguided to emphasize strength of schedule because calculating it accurately is not possible, no matter how it's done.
''A lot of people want to believe that strength of schedule is a valid stat for separating teams,'' he said. ''It's not the best one or the worst one. They are all about a coin flip.''
There are not enough data points in college football to make a good sample size to study strength of schedule because teams play so few games and the best teams rarely play each other, Bartoo said.
ANALYZING THE DATA
The committee will have a virtual bank vault full of data at their fingertips, provided by a company called SportSource Analytics, to help them judge teams.
Bartoo is concerned about information overload and the committee using numbers that have not been properly vetted.
''Who is helping with oversight on that?'' he said. ''Can the playoff committee call me? 'We think this metric is valuable, can you back test it for that?'''
The BCS taught college football fans there is no perfect way of picking the best teams. That won't change with the College Football Playoff.
''They will do the best they can and I'm confident they'll pick the best four teams,'' Hancock said. ''Some other group of 13 people might come up with different teams, but our group will spend a season evaluating teams unlike any other group with fall. More time watching video and analyzing data than any other group.
''But I certainly know that another group of 13 might come up with something different.''
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, August 11, 2014.
MemoriesofHistory.com
1929 - Babe Ruth hit his 500th career home run.
1951 - The first major league baseball game to be televised in color was broadcast. The Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves 8-1.
1971 - Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins got his 500th and 501st home runs of his major league baseball career.
1984 - Carl Lewis won his fourth gold medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics.
1984 - The Cincinnati Reds honored major league All-Star and Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench by retiring his uniform (#5).
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