CS&T/AllsportsAmerica Wednesday Sports News Update, 02/04/2015.

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Sports Quote of the Day:

“The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” ~ Helen Keller, Author, Political Activist and Lecturer

Trending: Adam Silver has spoken to sports commissioners about legalized gambling.

By Matt Moore

Adam Silver is an advocate for legalized sports gambling (USATSI) 

In an interview with ESPN the Magazine, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said that he has approached the other sports commissioners on the issue of legalization of sports gambling in the United States.

"I have talked to the commissioners in the other leagues about [legalizing sports betting]," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in an exclusive interview with ESPN The Magazine in late January at the league's Manhattan office. "I leave it to them to make any public statements they want to make on it. I will say that certainly all of them are interested in having a better understanding of the issue, and I know have assigned people in their organizations to study intensively the issue as well." 

In addition to the conversations between the commissioners, there have been other private meetings between council for the leagues to discuss the pros and cons of legalization, multiple sources with direct knowledge told ESPN. 

While discussions are ongoing behind the scenes, Silver is the only active commissioner to publicly support legalization. He wrote an op-ed in The New York Times in November that called for Congress to create a federal framework and allow states to authorize betting on pro sports.

via Adam Silver discussed sports gambling with commissioners from other leagues - ESPN. 

Silver went on to explain the league's participation in opposing a New Jersey bill that would have legalized gambling. Silver advocated for federal legislation, to avoid a "hodgepodge of regulations" with regards to state-by-state legislation. Silver also advocated for federal legislation in an effort to protect the sports' "integrity."  

The comments come just months after Silver wrote an op-ed in favor of legalizing sports gambling. Silver's position is that the league is safer from potential scandals like the Tim Donaghy investigation if the league itself has a hand in the establishment and regulation of gambling. It's also of course tied to inherent interests the league has in profiting off any such ties, though how that would work remains uncertain. 
 

Either way, this represents another step in Silver's progressive approach to moving legalized sports gambling beyond Nevada into the national conversation.  

How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks fall to Wild, suffer second straight shutout loss.  

By Tracey Myers 

In recent losses the Blackhawks have talked about doing a lot of things well before late mistakes cost them.

 

On Tuesday, they didn’t do much of anything right.

Mikko Koivu had a goal and an assist and the Blackhawks looked AWOL through most of this one as they lost 3-0 to the Minnesota Wild. It was the first time the Blackhawks have been shut out in back-to-back games since early in the 2006 season. The Blackhawks have now lost three of their first four games on an Ice Show Trip that won’t be getting any easier with Winnipeg and St. Louis looming.

“It’s unfortunate we have the record we do on this trip,” Jonathan Toews said. “We played good games in L.A. and San Jose and just didn’t find ways to win those games. It looks ugly on paper but up until tonight we played good hockey. We just have to keep consistent with that and find the results we want. Tonight we didn’t deserve it one bit, so we have no one to blame but ourselves.”

The Blackhawks were coming off a day or two in Las Vegas but still should’ve been ready for the Wild, who were 5-1-1 in their last seven coming into this one. Instead the Blackhawks sputtered, struggled to complete passes and didn’t generate any time in the Wild’s zone. They didn’t test Devan Dubnyk much, either, firing just 24 shots on the Wild goaltender; 10 of those came in the third period. No one was using that Vegas excursion, one the team takes pretty much every season, as an excuse.

“It’s a matter of us being better period to period, shift to shift,” Patrick Sharp said. “We saw some good stretches in the third but not nearly enough to win a game on the road.”

The Wild, meanwhile, were flying. They fired 24 shots on Corey Crawford in the second, a team record for shots in a period. They played like a team desperately trying to get back into a playoff race because, after a horrid mid-December/mid-January stretch, they are.

“We’ve had a couple of tough games and this is definitely one of them,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “We were standing still looking up ice for plays and they had coverage on top of us. Then they came back, regrouped and had speed and we didn’t have any.”

There have been games this season where the Blackhawks have had, perhaps, a tough period here or there. It’s been rare when they’ve been bad from start to finish but that’s what they were on Tuesday night. Crawford allowed three goals on 43 shots in an outing Quenneville called “rock solid,” but the performances past that were dismal. The Blackhawks, usually speedy, looked like they were stuck.

“It seems like we were unloading the puck a lot quicker than normal,” Sharp said. “One of the keys to our team is patience with the puck and our team speed. It feels like we were just getting rid of it in areas we didn’t need to. But we need to be a lot better, whether it’s puck moving, skating, hitting, aggressiveness, you name it, we need to be better.”

Despite their third loss in four games the Blackhawks can live with some of their other recent outings. Tuesday’s game, however, prompted a different reaction.

“We did the right things [in the other two losses]. Tonight was just the opposite,” Quenneville said. “We’ll throw it in the garbage can come back and do things the right way.”

The Blackhawks aren’t gaining any ground in the Central Division. Tuesday’s game was one of their worst in some time and Winnipeg and St. Louis are just around the corner. They’ve talked about playing better. Now they have to put it into action.

“We have to look to each other to step it up and answer the call in the next one,” Toews said. “We have to be big boys and play like it in the next one.”

Patrick Sharp finds his comfort level again with Blackhawks.

By Tracey Myers

Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Sharp (Photo/Chicago Tribune)

Patrick Sharp has found his comfort level again.

The Blackhawks winger is in a nice lineup spot, skating on the second line with Brad Richards and Patrick Kane. He’s completely 100 percent health-wise, fully healed from a knee injury suffered in November. And the player dubbed “Shooter” has been garnering plenty of… assists?

“Kaner always says, ‘Just make the right play, whatever it is. If it’s a shot or if it’s a pass, do it.’ It’s just taking what’s out there, taking what’s given,” Sharp said recently. “I’ve never cared if I scored a goal or gotten an assist. Either way, it’s helping the team and it’s helping the lines.”

Sharp has been helping the Blackhawks with plenty of helpers lately, including four against the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night. It was the third time in his career Sharp had that many in one game. Coach Joel Quenneville, specifically pointing to that game, said Sharp’s been rewarded for strong work.

“Some hard-working plays in some tight areas, the more he gets inside the more he’ll generate,” Quenneville said. “Whether he’s shooting or creating, there’s more there.”

The fact Sharp is fully recovered from his right-knee injury helps. It wasn’t that he was playing hurt when he returned in early December; it’s just that, with some injuries, the best way to get the dexterity and full mobility back is through play.

“The more you’re on the ice and out there playing and the better you take care of yourself off the ice you’re going to feel better on the ice. That’s kind of how things have played out,” Sharp said. “There’s nothing better than jumping on the ice and feeling confident in your body, feeling confident in wanting the puck and making plays. That’s where I feel [I’m at] now and a lot of my teammates do as well.”
 

Speaking of teammates, Sharp and Kane have rekindled the on-ice chemistry in recent games. Their longtime friendship off the ice has been a big reason why things have worked so well on it.

“Ever since he came into the league we’ve always had that relationship where we’re joking around with each other and picking on each other. We kind of have the same sense of humor, we both care a lot about the game and improving every year,” Sharp said. “We both kind of think the same way on the ice. I’m not going to put myself in his category of making plays and producing offense but I certainly think that way and I like to jump in and get involved whenever I can.”

Sharp’s known for being a shooter for good reason. Lately, he’s been connecting more on setup passes than shots on goal. He’ll take it.

“It’s just one of those stretches where I seem to be getting a lot of assists. Just like I’ve had them in the past where I don’t get an assist for 20 games and I’m scoring goals,” he said. “I’ll take it either way.”

Just Another Chicago Bulls Session… Bulls-Rockets Preview. 

By JACK CASSIDY (STATS Writer)

The Houston Rockets have done well without Dwight Howard during his various absences this season, though signs of trouble to come bubbled up in their most recent defeat.

As they prepare to be without their center for the foreseeable future, the Rockets may again face interior struggles Wednesday night against Pau Gasol and the Chicago Bulls.

Howard has been dealing with knee trouble most of the season, but the Rockets (33-15) are 11-5 in games he's missed and won three straight in his absence Jan. 23-28.

That streak came to an abrupt halt Saturday in a 114-101 loss at Detroit in which Pistons big men Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond combined for 30 points and 28 rebounds.

Chicago (30-19) does not boast as formidable a front line, but the duo of Gasol and Joakim Noah should still cause problems for Houston. Gasol, who has earned his first All-Star selection since 2011, has averaged 15.4 points and 14.7 rebounds in his last nine games, while Noah has averaged 10.8 rebounds in five games since returning from injury.

To help stop the Bulls' inside presence, the Rockets will turn to Donatas Motiejunas, Terrence Jones, Josh Smith and Joey Dorsey.

"Our four bigs, D-Mo, T.J. and Josh and Joe are going to have to hold down the court," coach Kevin McHale told Houston's official website. "They're going to have to rebound and they're going to have to defend and we're going to have to be better as a team just to get by this stretch until Dwight comes back."

Motiejunas has started 39 games this season and averaged 16.3 points and 6.1 rebounds, while Smith had averaged 14.5 points in the four games prior to Saturday's defeat.

Dorsey has started the last four in Howard's place but has managed only 11 total points, and Jones hasn't logged more than 22 minutes since returning from injury Jan. 28.

"They're all going to have to step up and play well," McHale said.

James Harden continues to pace the Rockets' offense regardless of Howard's status. He leads the NBA with 27.0 points per game, though he was held to 20 in the most recent meeting with Chicago - a 114-105 loss in the Windy City on Jan. 5.

Gasol scored 27 in that victory and Jimmy Butler added 22.

Butler, who also was named an Eastern Conference All-Star, has continued his breakout season with 57 points over the last two games, though the Bulls dropped both.

Chicago has lost nine of 14 after Friday's 99-93 defeat in Phoenix. The recent struggles have coincided with the absence of Mike Dunleavy, who has been sidelined since Jan. 3 with an ankle injury.

"They've (the reserves) got to play better," coach Tom Thibodeau told Chicago's official site. "Part of it is with Mike being out we are moving more guys around, so they've lost a little bit of their continuity. But there are things they can do a lot better that they are not doing now that we have to correct."

The Bulls have lost on their last two trips to Houston, most recently with a 109-94 defeat Dec. 18, 2013.

What is the deal with the baffling Bulls?  

CSN Staff

It hasn't exactly been smooth sailing for the Bulls of late.

Even after a marquee victory like what they pulled off last week against the Warriors, the Bulls then fell in two consecutive contests to the Lakers and Suns.

The Bulls are losers of nine of their last 14 games.

So what exactly is the deal with these baffling Bulls?

The SportsTalk Live panel attempted to answer that very question Monday.

"No. 1, it's the lack of continuity because when this team does have all its starters healthy, which has been for something like maybe 12 games, they've been one of the best teams in the league," the Sun-Times' Seth Gruen said. "No. 2, I think it's the health of Joakim Noah. People all preseason talked about Derrick Rose and will he be healthy enough to take this team to a championship. But they didn't realize Joakim Noah was a very important piece of the puzzle. He's the MVP of that defense, the defense is based on basket coverage. And I think his immobility at times as he works his way through these injuries has really hurt this team."

Do you agree? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Super Bowl contributors set the bar for Bears and rest of NFL.

By Chris Boden

 

By my non-scientific count, the Bears had 14 players who entered the NFL as undrafted free agents on their 53-man roster at the end of this season.

They ranged from Christian Jones and Michael Ola and Jay Feely to Demontre Hurst, Al Louis-Jean and Blake Annen. That’s an unusually large number, and it speaks to the troubles they’ve had drafting long-term contributors, especially since they last appeared in the Super Bowl eight years ago.

Here are just some of the undrafted free agents who played in Sunday’s Super Bowl, and what some did in the game:

Seahawks

DL Michael Bennett

WR Chris Matthews (4 receptions, 109 yds., TD, 44-yd. reception that set up TD)

WR Ricardo Lockette (3 receptions, 59 yards)

WR Jermaine Kearse (3 receptions, 45 yards)

WR Doug Baldwin (1 reception, 3 yards, TD)

Patriots

CB Malcolm Butler (game-saving goal-line INT)

WR Danny Amendola (5 receptions, 48 yards, TD)

CB Brandon Browner

OL Marcus Cannon

It’s the quality, not the quantity filling out rosters of two franchises that have drafted well in recent years. Those four Seattle wideouts caught 11 of Russell Wilson’s 12 completions in the game. They’re hungry - sometimes last-chance - players who’ve stuck to their dreams (in some cases, four or five years) to play a factor on sports’ biggest stage.

We’re about to see how good this new Bears regime of Ryan Pace, Josh Lucas, and John Fox is at identifying, implementing and coaching up pieces for a roster that needs a lot of work. For the first time, the NFL is conducting a veteran free agent combine March 22^nd at (ironically) the Arizona Cardinals’ training facility after the names above displayed the possibilities in Glendale Sunday.

It’s a piece of the puzzle as we also consider some of the other starters on that field:

Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor were fifth-round draft picks and Byron Maxwell was a sixth rounder. That’s three-quarters of that Legion of Boom secondary. Last year’s Super Bowl MVP, Malcolm Smith, was a seventh round pick along with starting guard J.R. Sweezy.

The Patriots started fifth-round selection Marcus Cannon on the offensive line. Former seventh-round choice Julian Edelman caught nine passes for 109 yards, and Lincoln-Way Central High School product Rob Ninkovich was a fifth-round choice of New Orleans, only to be tossed aside by the Saints (hello, Mr. Pace?) and Dolphins before being signed off the scrap heap by the Pats 5 1/2 years ago.

Oh, and as we all know by now, they were led by third- and sixth-round quarterbacks.

2015 NFL Draft may set up precisely as Bears would like.

By John Mullin

Because of the Olympian achievements of various personnel oversights – undrafteds and castoffs like Patriots hero DB Malcolm Butler and Seahawks insta-star WR Chris Matthews – a focused spotlight has understandably turned to talent development and undiscovered nuggets.

But the Bears are looking up at the NFC North because of draft shortcomings. Lessons in the schemes and styles of Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll are one thing; talent in the draft is the foundation, and incoming GM Ryan Pace made that clear from the outset of his tenure.

“We'll be a team who looks at every single avenue in improving our roster,” Pace said. “We'll be aggressive in our approach, but I understand the Bears, for the Bears to have sustained success, we must build through the draft.”

An obvious reality in Chicago is that Jerry Angelo was defrocked as general manager in large part because of high-pick draft misses. Phil Emery succeeded Angelo with isolated hits – Alshon Jeffery, Kyle Long, Kyle Fuller – but an overall portfolio of misses and just-OK selections beginning with Shea McClellin and on through the 2014 draft stalled any progress vs. the rest of an NFC North that was adding impact players virtually every year.

Super Bowl-wise, the Seahawks grabbed Bruce Irvin a couple picks ahead of McClellin and the Patriots landed Chandler Jones shortly after the Bears passed on him in favor of McClellin.

Pace has been conducting in-depth evaluations of the talent he and new coach John Fox have on hand. But the draft-related evaluations have been underway all the way back through the last couple college seasons, during which Pace was in charge of player personnel, college and pro, for the New Orleans Saints. And with the NFL Scouting Combine starting mid-February, the emphasis will be on “future” talent as well.

So often the trail of breadcrumbs leading to someone’s future trace into their past. The records of both Pace and Fox, and members of the staffs, provide some tantalizing indicators of where the Bears will look first in the 2015 draft.

Fox, Fangio firsts

With Fox as their head coach (2011-14), the Denver Broncos used their first pick in all four of their drafts on defense:

2014                CB Bradley Roby

2013                DT Sylvester Williams

2012                DT Derek Wolfe (2)

2011                LB Von Miller

In the 2011 draft, tasked with rebuilding a defense, Fox and the Broncos used four of their first five picks on defense. In 2013, they used three of their top four.

Patterns were present in Carolina while Fox was Panthers head coach. The Panthers were desperate at quarterback and didn’t have a No. 1 in 2010 when they took quarterback Jimmy Clausen. But from the first pick for Fox in 2002 – defensive end Julius Peppers – through 2009, the Panthers used five of their eight first picks on defense. In 2009, Carolina’s first three picks were invested in defense.

Where Fox’s predispositions become even more interesting is the commitment to running the football. The Panthers selected running backs in either round 1 or 2 in four of the eight drafts from 2002-2009, including No. 1’s in 2006 (DeAngelo Williams) and 2008 (Jonathan Stewart).

One more element: Fox brought in Vic Fangio as his defensive coordinator. Fangio moved the San Francisco 49ers’ defense into the NFL’s elite almost immediately after his arrival in 2011. The 49ers’ first pick in the 2011 draft was rush linebacker Aldon Smith.

Smith was the No. 7 pick of the 2011 draft.

The Pace portfolio

Pace, himself a defensive end at Eastern Illinois, was not in overall charge of the New Orleans drafts during his 14 years there. But he was director of player personnel for 2013 and 2014, and he was part of a successful organization that, once it had the quarterback situation resolved with Drew Brees, committed to a strong defense, in part to counter what Fox was doing over in Carolina.

In Pace’s last four New Orleans years, the Saints opted for defense with two of their first three picks in each of the four drafts. In 2014, four of New Orleans’ first five went to defense. When the Saints took wideout Brandin Cooks at No. 20 of last year’s first round, it broke a string of six straight drafts in which the Saints went defense with their first pick.

In the 12 drafts from 2002-2013, the Saints selected a defensive player first eight times, nine if you include 2002 when they used their second first-round pick on defensive end Charles Grant (47 career sacks).

It is one thing to have a plan; it is quite another if circumstances don’t square with that plan. This year, however, the draft may set up precisely the way Pace and Fox would like it to anyway.

The 2015 outlook

“I think it’s a good defensive draft,” said ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay via conference call. “Leonard Williams from USC, Randy Gregory, the Nebraska defensive end, Shane Ray from Missouri, DE/OLB, Dante Fowler from Florida – there’s a little bit of drop-off after the first six or seven players…

“There’s just not a lot of offensive line talent early in this draft. That’ll wind up pushing some of those defensive players up. I think with the front seven, it’s a really good group, especially on the perimeter.”

Bears: 12 unrestricted free agents.

Originally written on 60 Max Power O

NFL unrestricted free agents An unrestricted free agent (a player who has completed four or more accrued seasons) may sign with any team without any compensation owed to his old team through the first scheduled day of training camp in late July.  At that point, if his old team makes a tender offer by June 1st (110% of last year's salary), his rights will revert back to his old team. The team then has until the Tuesday after the 10th week of the season to re-sign him. If he's not re-signed, he must sit out the season. Without a tender offer by June 1st, a player can be signed by any team at any time throughout the season. Chicago Bears UFAs (per NFL.com 1/17): Lance Briggs, OLB Charles Tillman, CB Chris Conte, S D.J. Williams, ILB Stephen Paea, DT Brian De La Puente, C Jimmy Clausen, QB Dante Rosario, TE Josh Morgan, WR Eben Britton, OT Zach Miller, TE Jay Feely, K

Bovada: Where Bears rank among Super Bowl 50 odds.

CSN Staff

Just hours after the Patriots defeated the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX, Bovada released its updated odds on who will win it all in 2016.

The Seattle Seahawks lead the way in the early get-go with 5/1 odds to win Super Bowl 50, followed by the New England Patriots and 7/1 odds and the Green Bay Packers at 8/1 odds.

The Chicago Bears, who will be entering the upcoming season under a new staff led by general manager Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox, open up at 40/1 odds. At this time last year, they were projected at 25/1 odds before their season fell apart.

Here's a full look at the odds to win Super Bowl 50:

Seattle Seahawks	5/1
New England Patriots	7/1
Green Bay Packers	8/1
Denver Broncos	10/1
Dallas Cowboys	14/1
Indianapolis Colts	14/1
Philadelphia Eagles	20/1
San Francisco  49ers	20/1
New Orleans Saints	22/1
Pittsburgh Steelers	25/1
Arizona Cardinals	33/1
Baltimore Raven	33/1
Detroit Lions	33/1
Atlanta Falcons	40/1
Carolina Panthers	40/1
Chicago Bears	40/1
Cincinnati Bengals	40/1
Houston Texans	40/1
Kansas City Chiefs	40/1
Miami Dolphins	40/1
Minnesota  Vikings	40/1
New York  Giants	40/1
San Diego Chargers	40/1
St. Louis Rams	40/1
Buffalo Bills	66/1
Cleveland Browns	66/1
New York Jets	100/1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers	100/1
Tennessee Titans	100/1
Washington Redskins	100/1
Jacksonville Jaguars	200/1
Oakland Raiders	200/1

A letter from Commissioner of Baseball, Robert D. Manfred, Jr.

Received over the Internet

Dear Fans: On the night of August 14, 2014, I left a Baltimore hotel after being elected Commissioner of Baseball. As I began to reply to the overwhelming number of congratulatory messages coming in, it hit me that I'd just been entrusted to protect the integrity of our National Pastime and to set a course that allows this great game to continue to flourish - now and in the years to come. Needless to say, I was deeply honored by the trust the owners placed in me. Today is my first day as Commissioner, and I am incredibly excited to get to work. I am grateful to Commissioner Selig for his expertise and friendship. His leadership set a direction that led to historic success.   The mission before us is clear: To honor the game's history while welcoming new people to our great sport - people who will one day pass their love of baseball down through the generations. That is what our parents and grandparents did for us, and it is what we are doing for our own children. Baseball is a game firmly rooted in childhood experiences, and its vitality and growth rely heavily on giving young people from all backgrounds the opportunity to play and watch baseball. This notion that baseball is the game of children is central to my core goals as Commissioner. Maybe that is because my own Little League experience in upstate Rome, New York was such an important part of my childhood. I will never forget my intense dedication to that club and to my teammates - each of whom I can still name to this day - and being part of a perfect game. My top priority is to bring more people into our game - at all levels and from all communities. Specifically, I plan to make the game more accessible to those in underserved areas, especially in the urban areas where fields and infrastructure are harder to find. Giving more kids the opportunity to play will inspire a new generation to fall in love with baseball just as we did when we were kids. Expanding Little League, RBI and other youth baseball programs will also help sustain a steady and wide talent pool from which our clubs can draw great players and create lifelong fans. As Commissioner, I will draw closer connections between youth baseball and MLB. I want to inspire children's interest in baseball and help parents and coaches foster that passion. In the coming years, MLB will work with college, high school, amateur and youth baseball programs to help grow our game and to ensure that the best players and talent have the opportunity to pursue their dreams. I call it "One Baseball" - a partnership between all professional and amateur groups involved in our game.   Our children can look at MLB today and find a wave of new stars worthy of emulating both on and off the field. Players like Andrew McCutchen, Buster Posey, Giancarlo Stanton and Mike Trout and aces Madison Bumgarner, Felix Hernandez and Clayton Kershaw have powerful stories to tell - and MLB will tell them across every platform. We will continue to internationalize our game and to celebrate the fact that we have the most diverse rosters in the world. Our mission is to build upon this recent success by creating opportunities for the next wave of baseball talent. We also must continue to nurture inclusive environments for all the contributors to our game and our loyal fans. Another priority for me is to continue to modernize the game without interfering with its history and traditions. Last season's expanded instant replay improved the game's quality and addressed concerns shared by fans and players. We made a dramatic change without altering the game's fundamentals. I look forward to tapping into the power of technology to consider additional advancements that will continue to heighten the excitement of the game, improve the pace of play and attract more young people to the game. The Major League Clubs have bestowed an extraordinary opportunity upon me. My pledge is to work every single day to honor their faith in me and your love of this game.

Pace of the game could use some work, but let’s not get drastic.

By Tim Brown.

 

The games are longer. At times, more tedious. That’s decided. There are a dozen reasons why, at least as many well-meaning remedies and one overwhelming sense that if we don’t pick the right reason and the right remedy – right now – we might lose the game and never get it back.

It is, perhaps, Rob Manfred’s first crisis. That, and the dearth of offense, a conversation he himself plied with shots of defensive shifts before sobering with a cold shower of backpedaling.  

If nothing else, we have for the moment skittered past steroids as the conversation topic most likely to cause a self-inflicted, pen-to-the-neck episode.

The two – length of games and monotony in them – have joined up, one triggering the other, unless it’s vice-versa. Just the other day Manfred said the game should conduct itself “in tune with the way we live our lives,” which is either a keen observation or a threat. I mean, has he seen the way we live our lives recently? Do we really want the game to run alongside that mess? Or, worse, into a little light blue rectangle that constantly begs, “What’s happening?”

Maybe nothing’s happening. Maybe that’s OK.

But in considering solutions to so many endless baseball games in which not enough happens, solutions that apparently must be more sophisticated than, “Hey you, throw the ball. And you, get in the box,” I began to consider how I viewed the game back when it wasn’t a job. Granted, that was a long time ago, when a nine-inning game was more likely to be a 2 1/2–hour experience, when you could take in a Sunday afternoon doubleheader in about the time the Yankees and Red Sox bang out a Sunday night quest for hardball enlightenment.

Remember when the games weren’t long enough? When you’d sit somewhere up in the cheapest seats at Shea Stadium (or wherever), be mortified to discover it was the seventh inning already, and privately hoped the visitors would tie it up, so there’d be more baseball, so you wouldn’t have to leave?

Then you grew up, got on with your life, found you had stuff – serious stuff – to do with your time, and for God’s sake do we really have to start matching up in the fifth inning? You know, I got stuff to do.

Twenty-or-so years ago, when it seemed the game had begun to dawdle, a reporter registered a mild complaint to Tommy Lasorda (for like the 12th time), and Lasorda said something along the lines of, “You know the only people who hate long games? Baseball writers. I’ve never heard a single fan say the games are too long.”

(You can tell that’s paraphrased because it’s suitable for this website.)

Anyway, in the same era, a different reporter – this one exasperated by the confluence of the late hour and his looming deadline – mentioned this issue with a different manager, who responded, “There’s two things in this world I don’t give [an expletive] about: your deadline and [boobs] on a bull.”

Which summed it all up nicely. I thought they were right. Nobody who means anything wants shorter baseball.

Of course, the games have become longer still, and so in the opposite direction of our attention spans, which means baseball on TV has started to resemble golf on TV; a program you can kind of watch while doing other – you know, important – stuff, like checking your phone.

Fans do complain now. The games sometimes do go on forever. They can end too late. And after three or four hours, the lasting impression may be the superb situational relief work and the clever implementation of shortstop-as-rover and the casual nursing of the walk-up song. When did a slow game get so damned slow? More, why?  

On the other hand, the ballparks are pretty full, television is happy enough with the product to dump billions into it, the owners are making their money, and the game is – as far as we know – fairly clean. There are some great players on which to hang the game, and a lot of good ones.

Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t worry about the product, though. There isn’t enough scoring to suit some, and the games can drone on like your drunken Uncle Lou at Thanksgiving. So maybe it’s the shifts (it’s probably not the shifts), or the pitching changes (it certainly doesn’t help), along with the amazing amount of dawdling that takes place in and around the pitcher-batter relationship.

But, tell you what, before we go messing with things like where a shortstop can and can’t stand or what pitcher may or may not face which batter, let’s spend a season enforcing the most basic of events: Hey you, throw the ball. And you, get in the box.

Can’t we start there, see where it takes us?

I do respect a pitcher’s need to consider his options. His job is not to get little Rebecca home early on a school night. It’s to figure a way around Miguel Cabrera. Still, can’t we work all that out on the mound? You know, work fast, throw strikes, all that?

And the batter, must every pitch propel him toward reassessment of his life’s journey? It’s so difficult, what he does. Indeed, it’s what he does and for that moment it is who he is. Still, we’re talking an at-bat, not landing on an aircraft carrier. So, leave a foot in the box. Stay close. Be ready.

We’re not back at 2 ½-hour games, probably. But it helps. The game keeps moving. Let’s start there. Put a clock on them. Assess balls and strikes. Something. Nothing rash, because it’s not broken. Not yet. But let’s think small, put the pitcher on the mound, put the batter in the box and get on with it.

Because, you know, there’s two things in the world I don’t give a crap about: your batting gloves and boobs on a bull.

Golf: I got a club for that; Caddies file $50 million lawsuit against PGA Tour.

By Will Gray

Damon Green, caddie for Zach Johnson, is part of a $50 million lawsuit against the PGA Tour. (Getty Images)

A group of caddies have filed a class-action lawsuit against the PGA Tour, seeking $50 million in compensation for wearing bibs adorned with the logos of tournament sponsors.

Filed Tuesday in the U.S. Northern District of California Court, the suit estimates the value of sponsorship on caddie bibs at $50 million annually, and notes that caddies neither receive a share of that revenue nor have they given their consent to the Tour for "commercial use of their likenesses or images."

The suit alleges that the Tour has "treated caddies as second-class participants in the game," citing an example from the 2013 Barclays during which the wives and children of caddies were kept outside of a caddie-designated shelter during a rain storm. The suit also notes the lack of "basic health care coverage and access to pension plans" for caddies. 

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View .pdf of caddie lawsuit against the PGA Tour

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The list of 82 plaintiffs is headlined by Mike Hicks, a 33-year veteran who has carried the bag for Greg Norman, Payne Stewart, Steve Stricker and Justin Leonard. Other plaintiffs listed on the lawsuit include Damon Green, Paul Tesori and Micah Fugitt, who currently caddie for Zach Johnson, Webb Simpson and Billy Horschel, respectively.

The suit was filed in the same district court as basketball player Ed O'Bannon's class-action lawsuit against the NCAA, which proposed similar arguments about the use of likenesses and images of college athletes.

Tiger Woods out of top 50 in world rankings, may miss Doral.

By Ryan Ballengee

Tiger Woods was last No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking on May 17, 2014. Since then, Woods has played in just five tournaments, missing the cut in two, finishing tied for last in a no-cut event and shot a career-worst 82 in Round 2 of last week's Phoenix Open. As you might guess, then, Woods has taken a tumble down the Official World Golf Ranking.

Woods finds himself No. 56 in the latest ranking, his lowest ranking since checking in at 52nd on Nov. 27, 2011. The 14-time major winner was ranked 58th before winning his first PGA Tour event in Las Vegas in October 1996.

The ranking is common sense, but it has a real implication for Woods' upcoming schedule. Woods must get inside the top 50 in the OWGR or he will be ineligible for the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral in March. Woods can earn enough points in his upcoming starts at this week's Farmers Insurance Open or the Honda Classic to qualify. If he doesn't, however, it will mark just the second time in his career that Woods wasn't eligible for a World Golf Championships event (2011 WGC-HSBC Champions).

For a player in desperate need of tournament starts to get past a clear mental block, missing out on Doral would be as much of an inconvenience as it is an embarrassment. Woods has not indicated if he can't play Doral if he would insert another start elsewhere on the road to the Masters.

LPGA phenom becomes youngest World No. 1 in history of golf.

NBC on Yahoo Sports

LPGA's Lydia Ko (Photo/AP)

Lydia Ko officially ascended to No. 1 in Monday’s release of the newest Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, becoming the youngest player in golf history to reach the top spot.

With her tie for second Saturday at the Coates Golf Championship, the 17-year-old barely overtook Inbee Park, ending Park’s most recent 14-week reign at No. 1. Ko is just three hundredths of a point in front of Park, who overall has spent 73 weeks atop the world rankings.

With No. 1 Ko, No. 2 Park and No. 3 Stacy Lewis all in the field at the Pure Silk Bahamas Classic this week, the No. 1 ranking will be up for grabs again. Ko sits atop the rankings at 9.70 average points. Park is at 9.67 and Lewis at 8.83.

“I think it's going to be really hard to catch Lydia with the points system,” Park said. “She hasn't played that many events. Her averages are really good, so you have to play really good from now on in.”

The world rankings are based on points accumulated over a two-year rolling window, with the points average based on a player’s number of starts, with a minimum divisor of 35 starts. Ko’s points are divided by her 43 tournament starts over the last two years, Park’s by 55 and Lewis’ by 56. While Ko is beginning just her second season as an LPGA member, her 43 starts are the same as Karrie Webb, who is No. 9 in the world.

NASCAR changes start times for 2015 Sprint Cup races.

By Bob Pockrass

So much for consistent start times.

NASCAR has in recent years tried to start all races at either 1 p.m., 3 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Now it will start races at a variety of times in 2015 as NBC Sports begins telecasting the second half of the season.

Here are the start times (all Eastern) for Sprint Cup races this year:

Feb. 14, Sprint Unlimited (Fox), 8 p.m.

Feb. 19, Daytona 500 qualifying races (FS1), 7 p.m.

Feb. 22, Daytona (Fox), 1 p.m.

Mar. 1, Atlanta (Fox), 1 p.m.

Mar. 8, Las Vegas (Fox), 3:30 p.m.

Mar. 15, Phoenix (Fox), 3:30 p.m.

Mar. 22, California (Fox), 3:30 p.m.

Mar. 29, Martinsville (Fox), 1 p.m.

Apr. 11, Texas (Fox), 7:30 p.m.

Apr. 19, Bristol (Fox), 1 p.m.

Apr. 25, Richmond (FS1), 7 p.m.

May 3, Talladega (Fox), 1 p.m.

May 9, Kansas (FS1), 7:30 p.m.

May 15, Sprint Showdown (FS1), 7 p.m.

May 16, Sprint All-Star Race (FS1), 7 p.m.

May 24, Charlotte (Fox), 6 p.m.

May 31, Dover (FS1), 1 p.m.

June 7, Pocono (FS1), 1 p.m.

June 14, Michigan (FS1), 1 p.m.

June 28, Sonoma (FS1), 3 p.m.

July 5, Daytona (NBC), 7:45 p.m.

July 11, Kentucky (NBCSN), 7:30 p.m.

July 19, New Hampshire (NBCSN), 1:30 p.m.

July 26, Indianapolis (NBCSN), 3:30 p.m.

Aug. 2, Pocono (NBCSN), 1:30 p.m.

Aug. 9, Watkins Glen (NBCSN), 2 p.m.

Aug. 16, Michigan (NBCSN), 2:30 p.m.

Aug. 22, Bristol (NBCSN), 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 6, Darlington (NBC), 7 p.m.

Sept. 12, Richmond (NBCSN), 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 20, Chiciagoland (NBCSN), 3 p.m.

Sept. 27, New Hampshire (NBCSN), 2 p.m.

Oct. 4, Dover (NBCSN), 2:30 p.m.

Oct. 10, Charlotte (NBC), 7 p.m.

Oct. 18, Kansas (NBC), 2:15 p.m.

Oct. 25, Talladega (NBCSN), 2:30 p.m.

Nov. 1, Martinsville (NBCSN), 1:15 p.m.

Nov. 8, Texas (NBC), 2 p.m.

Nov. 15, Phoenix (NBC), 2:30 p.m.

Nov. 22, Homestead (NBC), 3 p.m.

NASCAR issues several rule updates for coming season.

By Dustin Long

(Photo/Getty Images)

NASCAR issued a bulletin Monday with updated rules for the coming season for Sprint Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.

Among the updates:
 

• Only drivers who are licensed and approved for competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will be eligible to participate in a NASCAR-approved tire test.
• The March 2-3 NASCAR tire test at Atlanta has been canceled. That was to have been held Monday and Tuesday after the Atlanta race and just before the Cup series begins its three-week West Coast swing. Teams that were to have taken part in that test: Richard Childress Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing.
• NASCAR clarified that should a vehicle pit out of its assigned stall and the crew begins to remove the tire(s), the crew must reinstall the tire(s) before moving the car back into its assigned stall to avoid a penalty. This is for Cup, Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series.
• Any crew member interfering with another crew’s pit stop, causing the other team to incur a penalty or not, may incur a penalty. This is for each of the three national series.
• Additional crew member(s), assigned to servicing the car or not, who purposely assist from an adjacent pit box on the work service side of pit road may be counted toward the limit of seven crew members over the wall. This is for each of the three national series.
• NASCAR clarified the refueling procedure. Refueling can begin once the car is stopped in its assigned pit stall. The fueler may continue to refuel the car as it departs and crosses the front line of the pit box provided any equipment used and/or the fueler do not cross over the front or the side line of the pit box. Also, fueling cans or any other equipment must not be tossed or thrown over the pit service wall at any time. This is for each of the three national series.
• NASCAR lists violating the private team test ban as a P6 penalty for all three series.
• NASCAR mandates that the switch for the driver-adjustable track bar motor in Cup be located on the dash panel with the other accessory switches on the steering wheel or on the left or right side of the seat or seat leg extensions.
• NASCAR clarified that added ballast must be in block form using minimum five-pound blocks. NASCAR clarified that the added weight must be in blocks.

 
What Europe's top pro soccer leagues can learn from the NFL.

By Leander Schaerlaeckens

Roger Goodell's NFL has a business model that would work for Europe's top soccer leagues.   

 

This might be something like heresy in soccer circles, but there's a lot the world's game can learn from the NFL. From a business standpoint, anyway. 

In the 1980s, as soccer was beginning to make real inroads in the American youth sports scene, the notion was instilled that this newfangled folly from Europe – as it was perceived, even though soccer has been seriously over here for a century – represented everything that was supposedly wrong with the Old Continent.

"I think it is important for all those young out there, who someday hope to play real football, where you throw it and kick it and run with and put it in your hands, a distinction should be made that football is democratic, capitalism, whereas soccer is a European socialist sport." So spoke U.S. Congressman Jack Kemp in 1988, taking to the House floor to announce his opposition to the notion of hosting the 1994 World Cup in the United States. We should probably note here that Kemp, one of the brains behind Reaganomics and the Republican vice presidential nominee in 1996, was a former professional football (handegg) player himself. 

Actually, it's the exact opposite.

We could argue that soccer, in its free-flowing nature and dearth of instruction, is far more democratic as a sport – whereas football is carefully planned by plays and implemented by a strict head coach-offensive coordinator-quarterback hierarchy. We could also argue that whereas soccer would allow any 11 random people who formed a club to enter the professional ranks if only they won enough games – thanks to its open pyramid structure of promotion and relegation, in just about every country – football operates in a closed market with prohibitive barriers to entry (monster expansion fees and endless demands, whenever the league actually deigns to let a new team in, which has happened just six times since 1976).

In soccer – and we'll speak of the sport broadly, and exclude Major League Soccer for these purposes, as it's the exception to the rule – what's yours is yours. Every dollar you make is for you to keep and spend as you please. In the NFL, however, the 32 teams share some $6 billion from $10 billion in total revenues. That is to say, about 60 cents out of every dollar made – from broadcast deals, ticket sales and merchandise income – is thrown onto a pile and divvied up equally. Everybody gains from everybody's gains. Consequently, the wealth gap between the richest and the poorest, while unknown, can't possibly be all that big.

In soccer, however, the rich only get richer, at the expense of the poor, just as in most any scenario where capitalism is left unfettered. Last month, Deloitte put out its annual Football Money League, which tracks and ranks the revenues of the richest teams in soccer. As every year, it demonstrated that the gap is only getting bigger. The majority of clubs in professional soccer are struggling just to stay in business. A select few are rolling in cash. And even among this elite, a few are pulling away.

During the 2013-14 season, Real Madrid, the top earner in the game for a 10th consecutive year, generated $623 million (by Monday's exchange rate). That was almost six times as much as what it took in during the 1997-98 season: $108 million. And it was 3.8 times more than even the 20th highest grossing team in the world, Everton at $163.4 million. Just a decade ago, the gap between numbers one and 20 was a factor of 3.3.

Consider also that in the last five years, just three teams have managed to break into the top 10 that hadn't previously been in it. One, Schalke 04, was already a big, rich club that got marginally bigger and richer. The other two – Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain – were propped up by billion-dollar investments from new owners from Abu Dhabi and Qatar, respectively.

But that can't happen any longer. Through its Financial Fair Play scheme, UEFA, European soccer's governing body, has practically guaranteed that the status quo will be ossified for all eternity. At the penalty of exclusion from continental competition like the Champions League and Europa League, teams have to break even, come close to it or prove that they're on a path towards solvency. This is a defensible ploy, designed to root out the rampant financial excess that has marred much of pro soccer. But it also prevents significant investment from ownership, ensuring that nobody can really break into the upper crust.

This has a profound effect on the sport. Most of Europe's leagues are very top-heavy and no more than a threesome of teams can compete. You can argue about the merits of parity on ideological grounds, but the truth is that much revenue comes from prize money in soccer – especially when reaching the lucrative Champions League. So the lack of competitive balance dooms the have-nots to perpetual mediocrity – at best.

Any NFL team, no matter how bad at present, is potentially just a few years away from getting to the Super Bowl. Talent is forever spread around to ensure that nobody stays good or bad for too long. But in soccer, there are no more than 10 clubs from Europe's 54 domestic leagues that could realistically hope to reach the Champions league final – just eight teams have been to that summit in the last seven years. They are also the richest clubs, rather predictably, since the correlation between payroll size and success is extremely high and those teams have no qualms about hoarding talent.

Since there are almost 1,000 top-tier clubs across those leagues, this tiny bunch is literally the 1 percent of soccer.

In his book, "Football Business: How Markets are Breaking the Beautiful Game," Dutch economist Tsjalle van der Burg tracks the game's historical arc from benevolent, socially oriented institutions to publically listed companies and argues that, left unobstructed, soccer will only polarize further. He doesn't seem to be wrong. The rich hold the power through their appeal to the TV viewer. There is no incentive to relinquish it, as short-term sporting ambition always seems to trump a view to sustainability. Barcelona and Real Madrid, for instance, are quite happy to forcibly claim up 6½ times as much TV revenue as the smaller teams in La Liga, most of whom are in dire financial straits.

UEFA president Michel Platini believes Financial Fair Play is vital for European soccer's future.

Soccer, like all markets left entirely unregulated, threatens to devour itself. In their zeal to gobble up silverware, the rich clubs are happy to let the poor ones starve. And for years, they have made noises of breaking away and creating their own "Super League" featuring the biggest teams of every major league. This seems to have been conceived as a competitor to the Champions League, ensuring that the teams get to keep all the revenue – rather than a large share of it – while keeping others out of their select club. But it isn't inconceivable that they'd eventually lose interest in their domestic leagues altogether, leaving erstwhile peers to do business without their marquee competitors. (We're seeing a similar effect take place in big-time college sports.)

Like the NCAA having to tolerate the arms race between conferences, there isn't a whole lot that soccer's federations or governing bodies could do. It would doom all but the biggest brands in the game. But even if none of that comes to pass, the current economic trajectory the game is on forecasts a very bleak future for the 99 percent of soccer clubs all the same.

The NFL, for its many flaws, is in a constant state of competitive flux. It's unfathomable that just two teams would win its championship 26 times in a mere three decades, the way Barcelona and Real Madrid have in the Spanish league, one of the world's best. This balance in the NFL may have been achieved artificially, through all of those revenue-sharing instruments and talent-redistribution mechanisms, but it brings riches to all, not just a few.

The NFL, you might have argued to Mr. Kemp – he passed away in 2007 – is an undeniably socialist construct. And soccer, that old socialist sport, would serve itself well to replicate some of it.

Why Louis van Gaal is the right man to manage Manchester United.

By Shahan Ahmed

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal waves to supporters before the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and Stoke City at Old Trafford Stadium, Manchester, England, Tuesday Dec. 2, 2014. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Win, lose or draw, Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal continues to exhibit the strong personality that makes him the right man to lead the Red Devils out of the dark era of David Moyes and emerge from the tall shadows cast by Sir Alex Ferguson.

In January, Van Gaal ignored the media's frenzied freak-out after a string of mediocre results and head-scratching team tactics. In the face of a public flogging, the Dutchman did not waver. When the month ended, United logged six matches across all competitions and only counted one defeat. Three wins, two draws and one loss despite playing mediocre football, United still remains alive in the FA Cup and sits in third place in the Premier League.

Conceivably, Manchester United's best football under Van Gaal is still ahead, and a 3-1 victory over Leicester City on Saturday hinted that fans and media may have significantly overreacted to a minor blip of poor form and curious tactical tests.

Everything considered, Van Gaal may not be as tactically astute as supporters had originally hoped, but he still possesses the right personality for the job. Multiple times recently, he made glaring errors to start matches. Starting Angel Di Maria as a striker, leaving Radamel Falcao on the bench and having Phil Jones take corner kicks had fans screaming from the stands.

To his credit, Van Gaal has been sharp in his mid-match adjustments, as he consistently fixed formations and made substitutions that paid off. When results did not go his way, he did not sulk or sound lost. He defiantly stood tall and challenged the microphones and cameras with an air of arrogance that radiated confidence.

After drawing League Two Cambridge in the FA Cup, the pitchforks and torches came out. Van Gaal answered the angry mob with defiance.

"I'm not like you," the Dutchman sternly answered reporters who expected him to be embarrassed by the result. "I know it is very difficult to beat opponents in these circumstances. I know that. In advance, I have said it in my press conference before Yeovil Town … we know in advance that everything is against us."

While pundits shamed the Red Devils, the manager faced the spotlights without a shred of embarrassment showing on his face or in his voice. For all the jokes of Manchester United's poor result against Cambridge, the 0-0 result meant a replay at Old Trafford. United should win that match on their home ground, and the net result would be advancement past the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Both Chelsea and Manchester City crashed out to lower league opposition in the same fourth round, so United's draw turned out to be the best result when comparing the top three sides in the Premier League. 

Beyond results, Van Gaal's tactics continue to evolve in the right direction. After forcing his side to perform in the 3-5-2 formation with marginal results and often playing players wildly out of position, Van Gaal appears to be accepting that 4-4-2 may be the best look. 

Against Leicester City, Daley Blind returned to playing as the deep playmaker at the base of the diamond in midfield. Whether wearing the orange shirt of the Netherlands or the red shirt of United, Blind is a brilliant passer from the deep position. Accepting the ball from the defense and intelligently spreading the ball into attacking positions are vital functions he performs effortlessly. 

Also against Leicester, Robin van Persie and Falcao both scored goals, as the pair of world-class strikers started together for only the second time since the start of 2015. Di Maria served as an attacking threat bursting through the midfield, and Falcao's goal resulted from a rebound off Di Maria's shot. Almost overnight, United found the formula. 

To fully illustrate Van Gaal's ability to change, Wayne Rooney stepped up to take corners, and one of those corners resulted in United's third goal against Leicester City. 

Entering the seventh month of the 2014-15 campaign, Van Gaal may not always come away looking like a tactical genius, but his supreme confidence in his ability and his defiant strong stature continue to make him the perfect personality to manage Manchester United. 

Ultimately, Van Gaal is a boss in every sense of the word, and that is exactly the caliber of leader United requires at the moment. 

Seven things to know about college basketball now that football season is done.

By Rob Dauster

Karl-Anthony Towns #12, Devin Booker #1 and Tyler Ulis #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats look on against the Texas Longhorns during the SEC/Big 12 Challenge at Rupp Arena on December 5, 2014 in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky defeated Texas 63-51. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)

Now that the Super Bowl is in the past and football is in our rearview mirrors, let’s get you caught up to speed on the college basketball season.

Here are seven things you need to know to know this season:

1. Kentucky should be undefeated entering the NCAA tournament: That’s how good Kentucky is this year, particularly when compared to the rest of the SEC. We’re midway through the regular season, and the Wildcats already hold a three-game lead over everyone in the league except for Texas A&M. No other SEC team is ranked, and while the Wildcats will likely have some battles on their hands — particularly when they have to play on the road — there isn’t anyone in the conference that has the talent, depth or size that should allow them to beat the nation’s best team.

That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Kentucky does suffer a loss at some point. There have been times during league play where they have looked almost bored. When there isn’t one game on your regular season schedule to circle or to look forward to — when the highlight of your regular season is playing in the Champions Classic or a non-conference game against Louisville — it’s hard to be amped about traveling to Baton Rouge to play LSU.

2. The ACC’s obscenely loaded at the top: Virginia may be coming off of a loss at home to Duke, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Cavaliers are the best team in the ACC this season. They’re probably the best team this side of Kentucky, which should tell you a thing or two about the Blue Devils, who now own wins at Louisville and at Wisconsin, in addition to at Virginia.

But that’s not it. Notre Dame is one of the nation’s most potent offenses this season while Louisville has seemingly found a rhythm offensively and North Carolina has bounced back from a rough start to the year. The ACC has five of the top 11 teams in the country playing in their conference, and they may not have another NCAA tournament team.

3. The Big 12 is the toughest conference, but do they have a title contender?: Kansas is once again the best team in the Big 12 and look like they’re on track to win yet another regular season title in the league. But they also are anything-but a finished product at this point in the season, as consistency from Kelly Oubre, Cliff Alexander and Wayne Selden is not something that they’ve been able to consistently get.

And beyond that, the conference is loaded with good teams, none of which look like a favorite to make the Final Four. Iowa State is entertaining to watch but doesn’t play all that much defense, and West Virginia is a nightmare to play against but they can go through scoring droughts when their press isn’t effective. Texas has fallen off the map to start league play. Oklahoma’s inconsistent and doesn’t quite have enough depth. I’m not sold on Baylor or Oklahoma State being a second-weekend team, and Kansas State is in a bad spot if they are going to make the tournament.

 4. Gonzaga might be a No. 1 seed, but the title Best of the West still runs through Tucson: I know you probably feel like we say this every year, but this is the best team that Mark Few has ever had at Gonzaga. That includes the Adam Morrison years and the 2013 season, where the Zags were a No. 1 seed and lost in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Kevin Pangos is as good as any point guard in the country, the Zags have size, athleticism and scoring on their wings, and their front court is as deep and as balanced as anyone in the country. They may not lose another game before the NCAA tournament, so a No. 1 seed in the West is attainable.

But Arizona is the best team on the left coast, and I’m not just saying that because they beat Gonzaga in Tucson earlier this season. Stanley Johnson is starting to come into his own, their front line is overpowering and T.J. McConnell is making plays and scoring at the point guard spot like he’s still at Duquesne. Gonzaga may be the higher seed, but Arizona will be the favorite to run through the bracket.

5. The Player of the Year race has just four contenders: Duke’s Jahlil Okafor has been the favorite pretty much all season long, with Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky right on his heels. Notre Dame guard Jerian Grant is as important as any player in the country — and could very well be the nation’s Most Valuable Player — while Ohio State’s D’Angelo Russell is the nation’s most entertaining player.

6. The Big Ten makes no sense after Wisconsin: The Badgers are going to win that league title. There aren’t many people that are going to dispute that notion. But after that? Who is the second-best team in the conference? Is it Maryland, who just lost by 24 at Ohio State? Is it Ohio State, who is 5-3 in the league and winning right now because of just how good Russell has been this season? It’s not Iowa, not the way they’ve played the last two weeks. And it’s not Michigan, not with their injuries. Indiana is streaky, and Michigan State has some talented pieces but they’ve yet to play as tough as Tom Izzo teams generally do.

7. A number of elite programs aren’t elite this season: UConn, UCLA, Memphis, Michigan and Pitt are destined for the NIT this year. Syracuse and Florida have some issues to work out and some wins to land before they’re considered anything more than a bubble team. Even Texas is a question mark to make the tournament at this point. That’s a lot of name programs struggling this season.

NCAA Top 25 Basketball Poll February 2, 2015.

AP - Sports

Associated Press Top 25   1. Kentucky 2. Gonzaga 3. Virginia 4. Duke 5. Wisconsin 6. Arizona 7. Villanova 8. Kansas 9. Louisville 10. Notre Dame 11. Iowa State 12. North Carolina 13. Utah 14. Northern Iowa 15. West Virginia 16. Wichita State 17. Maryland 18. VCU 19. Baylor 20. Ohio State 21. Oklahoma 22. Butler 23. Southern Methodist 24. Georgetown 25. Texas   02/02/2015

Coaches Poll   1. Kentucky 2. Gonzaga 3. Virginia 4. Wisconsin 5. Duke 6. Arizona 7. Villanova 8. Louisville 9. Kansas 10. Notre Dame 11. Utah 12. West Virginia 13. North Carolina 14. Iowa State 15. Northern Iowa 16. Maryland 17. Wichita State 18. VCU 19. Baylor 20. Ohio State 21. Oklahoma 22. Butler 23. Southern Methodist 24. Georgetown 25. Indiana

The Rivals recruiting rankings of the top teams from 2010-2014.

By Nick Bromberg

With National Signing Day approaching on Wednesday, we wanted to see how teams performed relative to their recruiting rankings.

Recruiting, as we know, is an inexact science. There are many stories of five-star recruits not becoming the college stars we thought they would be and one and two-star recruits becoming high NFL draft picks.

And ranking a team's annual performance relative to its recruiting rankings is an inexact science too. There are transfers and early departures. And on the whole, freshmen classes don't contribute to a team as much as a junior and senior classes.

With that up front, we'll admit that this post is not a definitive guide. However, it does give us a chance to identify which teams outperform their Rivals recruiting rankings and which teams underperform and what the possible reasons are for the over and underachieving. As you'll see below, the biggest underperformers are very recognizable.

We used the final AP poll rankings for the past five seasons including the 2014 season. We then went and found the four-year composite of those teams' Rivals.com rankings. So for the 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes, we used the rankings from the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 recruiting classes. We took the average of those four rankings and then compared it to the AP poll rank. The difference is shown in the "Difference" column.

Let's start with 2010.

2010 

 

 

TCU's overachievement gives us our first indicator of a possible trend. You'll see that the best overachievers relative to average Rivals recruiting rankings are teams not in a Power Five conference (TCU didn't join the Big 12 until 2012). And it's not fair to Alabama to say the Tide "underachieved" because as you'll see over the last five years, it's basically impossible for Alabama to "overachieve."

Notable teams that didn't finish in the top 25 with strong four-year averages are Florida (Average Rivals rank of 4.25), USC (4.25), Texas (6.75) and Tennessee (14.25). You'll also notice that these four teams have a significant discrepancy between their recruiting ranking success and their on-field success. And that they've all gone through coaching changes recently and one has had NCAA penalties. We don't think those are coincidences.

2011

 

See, we told you it was hard for Alabama to overachieve. Kansas State is the best team in the Power Five conferences relative to its Rivals rank, but that's because Bill Snyder is a wizard. Boise State holds the non-Power Five mantle while Houston is a close second. Their common denominator? Great quarterbacks. Boise State had Kellen Moore while Houston had Case Keenum.

Teams with great average recruiting rankings outside the top 25 were Auburn (12.5), Texas (6.25) and Florida (7). We promise we're not doing this to spite you, Gator and Longhorn fans.

2012

 

All hail Chuckie Keeton. Utah State crazily outperformed its average as Keeton was first team All-WAC as a sophomore. San Jose State is up there because of, you guessed it, a good quarterback. The Spartans had David Fales while NIU had Jordan Lynch. And hey, Texas and Florida are in the top 25!
 

Our underachievers in 2012 are headlined, predictably, by USC (4). Also on the list are Auburn (10) and Miami (19).

2013

 

 

You'll notice Wisconsin is a consistent overachiever. So is Missouri, as this is the second of three appearances for the Tigers with a solid performance relative to its Rivals rank. UCF takes the non-Power Five mantle with help from Blake Bortles and seven teams with Rivals rankings higher than their AP ranks in 2013 is the most of these five seasons.

The teams outside the top 25 with great recruiting marks are headlined by, you guessed it, Florida (5.25) and Texas (7.25).

2014 

 

Georgia Tech's differential looks non-Power Five-like while Kansas State is there again being Kansas State. Memphis officially leads the non-Power Five teams after its Miami Beach Bowl win over BYU.

Yes, Florida (6.75) and Texas (11.5) are outside the top 25 again. They're joined by LSU (8) and Notre Dame (11) along with Tennessee (14). All four of those teams struggled with quarterback play in 2014.

It's not a surprising coincidence. You'll see that in a lot of cases of extreme differential among these teams that quarterback performance correlates with the differential. Recruiting rankings can give us a pretty good idea of a team's future success – you'll see that there aren't a lot of big differences throughout the charts. But the performance of a quarterback helps immensely.

 

Anderson Silva, Nick Diaz both fail UFC 183 drug screens.

By Kevin Iole

 

Anderson Silva (L) and Nick Diaz each failed their UFC 183 drug test. (Getty)

 

In a stunning development, both fighters who competed in the main event of UFC 183, Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz, failed their drug tests.

 

Silva, the legendary ex-UFC middleweight champion who is widely regarded as the greatest mixed martial arts fighter in history, tested positive for two anabolic steroids, drostanolone and androstane. For the third time in his career, Diaz had elevated levels of marijuana metabolites in his system.

Even more stunning news about Silva is that the drostanolone and androstane were discovered as part of an out-of-competition test given by the Nevada Athletic Commission on Jan. 9. But the Salt Lake City-based Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory did not return the result to the commission until Tuesday.

Commission chairman Francisco Aguilar could not explain why he did not receive the test result sooner. He referred questions to Dr. Daniel Eichner of SMARTL, but Eichner could not be reached.

Aguilar did say that had he gotten the results in a timely manner, he would not have allowed Silva to fight.

"I would have had no problem calling the fight once I had this result," Aguilar said. "Those are not acceptable substances. But at the very least, by doing this out-of-competition test, we found this. We wouldn't have known had we not done the out-of-competition test."

Silva's two post-fight tests have yet to be returned. That includes one screen for drugs of abuse and another screen for performance enhancing drugs.

Silva was making his return to MMA competition Saturday after suffering a gruesome broken leg in a title fight against Chris Weidman on Dec. 28, 2013. He won a unanimous decision over Diaz in the non-title main event of UFC 183 at the MGM Grand by scores of 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46.

The UFC issued a statement but made no other comment:

On February 3, 2015, the UFC organization was notified by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that Anderson Silva tested positive for Drostanolone metabolites on his Jan. 9 out of competition drug test. UFC’s understanding is that further testing will be conducted by the Commission to confirm these preliminary results. Anderson Silva has been an amazing champion and a true ambassador of the sport of mixed martial arts and the UFC, in Brazil as well as around the world. UFC is disappointed to learn of these initial results. The UFC has a strict, consistent policy against the use of any illegal and/or performance enhancing drugs, stimulants or masking agents by its athletes.

Silva will face a disciplinary hearing. On Feb. 17, the Nevada commission will move to temporarily suspend his license pending a full hearing. First offenses in Nevada generally receive a nine-month suspension.

Diaz tested above Nevada's 150 ng/ML allowable limit for marijuana metabolites, meaning he'll face discipline as a third-time offender. Diaz previously tested positive for marijuana after a Pride card in Las Vegas on Feb. 24, 2007, and after UFC 143 on Feb. 4, 2012.

The level of marijuana in Diaz's system is not yet available. Quest Diagnostics, which analyzed Diaz's sample, only noted that it was above the 150 ng/ML cutoff.

Ed Soares, Silva's manager, did not return a call from Yahoo Sports. UFC president Dana White declined comment and pointed to the UFC's statement.

The commission will have to debate what to do with the result of the fight, but it is likely going to be ruled a no-contest.

On This Date in Sports History: Today is Wednesday, February 4, 2015.

Memoriesofhistory.com

1924 - The first Olympic Winter Games opened in Chamonix, France.

1932 - The first Winter Olympics in the United States opened at Lake Placid, NY. The games were opened by New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

1952 - Jackie Robinson was named Director of Communication for NBC. He was the first black executive of a major radio-TV network.

1969 - John Madden was named the head coach of the NFL's Oakland Raiders.

1970 - John Lennon and Yoko Ono gave a Michael X a bag of their cut hair in return for a pair of genuine Muhammad Ali boxing shorts.

1973 - The New York Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres played an entire game with no penalties called.

1993 - The Boston Celtics retired Larry Bird's #33.

1997 - A civil jury in California found O.J. Simpson liable in the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Goldman's parents were awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages.

1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) scored his 600th National Hockey League (NHL) goal during his 719th game. Lemieux reached the milestone second fastest in history. Gretzky had reached the plateau during his 718th game.

2001 - Jimmy Buffet was ordered by NBA referee Joe Forte to give up his courtside seat due to the use of profanity. After a several-minute delay, the game between the Miami Heat and the visiting New York Knicks continued.

2002 - Minnesota's Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal by the Minnesota Twins of an injunction that would force the Twins to fulfill their lease at the Metrodome.

2003 - Jaromir Jagr (Washington Capitals) scored his 500th career goal. He also got his 11th career hat trick in the game.

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