CS&T/AllsportsAmerica Friday Sports News Update and What's Your Take? 05/01/2015.

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Sports Quote of the Day:

"Practice means to perform, over and over in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired." ~ Martha Graham, Modern Dancer and Choreographer

Trending: Mayweather-Pacquaio Fight Saturday night. This weekend can't get any better!!! (See the fight article in the last section of this blog).

Trending: Chicago Bulls annihilate the Milwaukee Bucks 120-66. Win round 1 playoff series 4-2. (See game update in Chicago Bulls section below).

Trending: Chicago Bears 1st round draft pick at #7, WVU wide receiver, Kevin White. (See pick update in Chicago Bears section below).

Trending: The 141st Kentucky Derby post is set for 6:25 p.m. ET on Saturday under the famed twin spires of Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

Excerpts taken from an article by Kurt Mensching

Here is a full look at the draw positions.

Post Position	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Elvis Trujillo	Jim Cassidy	50/1
2	Carpe Diem	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	8/1
3	Materiality	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	12/1
4	Tencendur	Manny Franco	George Weaver	30/1
5	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	30/1
6	MubTaaqhij	Christophe Soumillion	Mike de Kock	20/1
7	El Kabeir	Calvin Borel	John Terranova II	30/1
8	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	3/1
9	Bolo	Rafael Bejarano	Carla Gaines	30/1
10	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	12/1
11	Stanford	Florent Geroux	Todd Pletcher	30/1
12	International Star	Miguel Mena	Mike Maker	20/1
13	Itsaknockout	Luis Saez	Todd Pletcher	30/1
14	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	50/1
15	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	15/1
16	War Story	Joe Talamo	Tom Amoss	50/1
17	Mr. Z	Ramon Vazquez	D. Wayne Lukas	50/1
18	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	5/2
19	Upstart	Jose Ortiz	Rick Violette Jr.	15/1
20	Far Right	Mike Smith	Ron Moquett	30/1

How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Wild-Blackhawks Preview.

By JAY COHEN (AP Sports Writer)

Five games in 2013, a small speed bump in Chicago's run to the Stanley Cup title. Six games in 2014, a more difficult challenge for the Blackhawks.

Now the Minnesota Wild are in the second round for the second straight postseason, and standing in the way is their usual playoff roadblock. And even they are interested to see how they respond, beginning with Game 1 on Friday night in Chicago.

''We think we're in a better place, but we won't know until after,'' coach Mike Yeo said. ''All we have is an opportunity to keep pushing and prove that we are better and that we're up to the task of knocking off a great hockey team.''

Minnesota was in a bad spot during a six-game slide in January that dropped the Wild to 18-19-5. But a trade for goaltender Devan Dubnyk fueled a resurgence that continued with a six-game victory over St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs.

With a deep group of forwards and Dubnyk on the best run of his career, the Wild are looking forward to measuring their progress against one of the league's traditional powers.

''They've been the team to beat, them and L.A., in the Western Conference, they've been the teams to beat the last couple of years,'' winger Zach Parise said. ''When you get a chance, yeah, you see where you're at. If you want to get out of the West, you have to beat them.''

Chicago is going for its third Stanley Cup championship since 2010. It made it all the way to the conference finals a year ago, but its title defense ended with an epic seven-game loss to the eventual champion Kings.

Fast forward to this season, and the Blackhawks stumbled into the playoffs on a four-game losing streak. But they got Patrick Kane back from a broken collarbone in time for the series opener against Nashville, and their best players rose to the occasion once again in a six-game victory over the Predators.
 

Jonathan Toews is tied for the NHL lead with eight points in the playoffs, and defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook each made a couple of big plays in the first round. Mix in more brilliance from Marian Hossa and Kane's offensive presence, and the Blackhawks had enough to overcome a small goaltender controversy that concluded with starter Corey Crawford back in the net.
 

''In the Nashville series, I think we snuck out some games there, but for the most part we improved in a lot of areas and I think that's good news for us, but we're excited for the challenge,'' Toews said. 

Here are a few more things to watch when the Wild and Blackhawks meet:  

THOSE SPECIAL, SPECIAL TEAMS: Minnesota leads the NHL in power-play percentage through the first round of the postseason, converting four of its 12 tries against St. Louis. Chicago allowed a league-worst six power-play goals against Nashville. Special teams, always a crucial part of the playoffs, could take on added importance in this series between familiar foes. 

STOPPING BRYAN BICKELL: For all the talk about Toews, Kane and the rest of Chicago's biggest stars, Bryan Bickell has really hurt the Wild over the years. The rugged winger had four goals and two assists in last year's playoff series against Minnesota, and then collected four goals and an assist in five games versus the Wild this season. 

When Bickell is playing well, he gives Chicago a physical presence in front of the net. If Dubnyk has any difficulty with rebound control, Bickell could present a problem for Minnesota. 

 

''With Dubnyk in the net, he's a 6-foot-5-plus goalie who can see over - you name it,'' Bickell said. ''We need to get traffic and hopefully we get opportunities that way.''
 

HOME SWEET HOME: The Blackhawks are 22-4 in their last 26 home playoff games, outscoring their opponents 88-54 in that stretch. The Wild are winless in six postseason games at Chicago, managing just eight goals in those losses.
 

Minnesota, which won at St. Louis in Game 2 of the first round, will need at least one road win to move on. The good news for the Wild is they were successful on their last trip to the Windy City, with Dubnyk making 32 saves in a 2-1 victory on April 7.
 

''It's not a secret, we haven't had any success there in the playoffs the last couple of years,'' Parise said. ''It is a hard building. But like we've said the last little while and the last round, we've been playing well on the road. That's a good sign for us.''

MISSING VANEK: Thomas Vanek helped Montreal make it to the Eastern Conference finals a year ago, finishing with five goals and five assists in 17 playoff games. The winger then signed a $19.5 million, three-year deal with Minnesota, but managed just two assists in the first round against the Blues. Getting the veteran scorer untracked against the Blackhawks would provide a big lift for the Wild.

Notes: The Blackhawks said forward Kris Versteeg was out day-to-day with a lower-body injury that is ''not serious,'' coach Joel Quenneville said following Thursday's practice. ... Chicago forward Daniel Carcillo, who had a concussion, was cleared to play. He skated in only three of the final 25 regular-season games, and didn't play against Nashville.

Blackhawks looking to improve penalty kill vs. Wild.
 

By Tracey Myers 

Not that long ago, when the Blackhawks’ penalty kill took the ice, confidence always followed.

There was a good reason for that: the team’s kill was one of the best in the league. It was as strong as the power play was sketchy. But as the regular season ended and the playoffs began, that kill started giving up more than it stopped. Now as they enter the second round, the Blackhawks are looking for their kill to be effective again.

The Blackhawks allowed six power-play goals in their first-round series against the Nashville Predators, a garish number for a kill that used to be so stingy. The kill allowed 10 power-play goals over the entire 2014 postseason.

“Yeah we’re not happy with how we did on the penalty kill last series but we need to learn from that and get better,” said Marcus Kruger. “The biggest thing is getting some confidence, getting some big kills. We know we have a good system here and know we have the players to do it, too. I can’t see why we’re not going to do better here.”

The Predators’ power play cashed in on redirects, deflections and rebounds.

“In the past we don’t give up those type of goals,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “It’s something that we’ve got to rectify from our last series… let’s prevent their power play from getting excited.”

Special teams are always more critical in the postseason. As much as we wonder why the Blackhawks’ power play struggles when it does, teams have won Stanley Cups with that being underwhelming. The 2013 Blackhawks, 2012 Los Angeles Kings and 2011 Boston Bruins did not have great power plays. So if you’re going to have one working well – and it’s rare when a team has both – you’d rather have the kill. The Blackhawks killed off nearly 91 percent of their penalties in their 2013 Cup run.

“We definitely weren’t happy with how the PK worked out. We got scored on more than we’d like to,” Marian Hossa said of the first round. “Right now we talk about it. We looked at some films to be on the same page, that’s the key.”

The Blackhawks have long had a strong, confident penalty kill. It took its lumps in the first round. It has to be better in the second.

“Collectively, let’s get in a rhythm, a few [good kill games] in a row here, and build off that. We set the tone early in the regular season that gave our penalty killers a lot of confidence,” Quenneville said. “It would be nice to have some zero games.”

Is the Future of Hockey on Thin Ice? What's Your Take?

By Kyle Rabin

 (Photo/BigJohn36 via Getty Images)

The National Hockey League playoffs are in full swing as teams battle it out to lift Lord Stanley's Cup. For the younger generation, this is when life-long fans are made. Growing up, a few of my friends were diehard devotees -- it was the early 1980s and it was the heyday of the Islanders, the local team that won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1980 to 1983.

Hockey wasn't my thing -- I preferred football, basketball and baseball -- but I had a healthy respect for this sport's dynamic combination of speed, strategy and toughness. I occasionally joined in an intense pickup game of street hockey, which would inevitably end with someone's fingers or shins smashed up or worse, someone hunched over after a shot landed below the waistline.

I never played ice hockey, which was probably a missed opportunity since I lived a stone's throw from a lake that froze over most winters. While my friends donned their skates and went out onto that lake, I opted for football instead. To be honest, I was always a little uneasy about venturing onto the icy lake. We didn't know much about "global warming" back then, but today, climate change threatens to keep the next generation off the ice.

Last summer, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman expressed concern over this issue and the future of the sport. Commissioner Bettman explains in the foreword of a 2014 NHL Sustainability Report, a first-of-its-kind report which documented and disclosed the NHL's carbon footprint, that "major environmental challenges, such as climate change and freshwater scarcity, affect opportunities for hockey players of all ages to learn and play the game outdoors." He points out that before many of the NHL's players "ever took their first stride on NHL ice, they honed their skills on the frozen lakes and ponds of North America and Europe."

And the NHL has begun to act on its environmental concerns. This season, the league's Gallons for Goals program replenished more than 6.5 million gallons of water to rivers (more than 30 million gallons since 2011). The NHL is also working to reduce water consumption in team facilities. The league also announced it was going carbon neutral and named Constellation as its preferred energy provider to supply Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). These RECs represent the generation of more than 271 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power, matching the NHL's total electricity consumption for the 2014 - 2015 season.

The Green Sports Alliance hailed the announcement. Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, president of the GSA, called it the "most important environmental initiative ever made by a professional sports league globally." Hershkowitz hopes that the initiative will "influence other businesses and fans alike to embrace renewable energy options which are so desperately needed to protect our planet."

Back in February, the NHL proudly announced that it ranked number 17 on the EPA's National Top 100 list of the largest users of green power. It became the first professional sports league ever to achieve this important distinction.

It's worth pointing out that the carbon neutral initiative -- and the Gallons for Goals program -- have their roots in NHL Green, a comprehensive sustainability initiative created by the NHL in 2010 that was launched "as direct result of the groundswell of enthusiasm and support from fans and those within the League and hockey community."

That is uplifting. And this fervor and support will be crucial in helping to keep the worst impacts of climate change in check and to ensure that the next generation of hockey players have the opportunity to learn and enjoy the game on frozen lakes and ponds. Nothing should keep them off the ice. Well, unless they'd rather be playing football.

Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica Take: The NHL is pulling out all of the stops. They're insuring the longevity of their sport by growing it's mass appeal, protecting and improving the value of it's franchises and addressing any questionable issues including environmental concerns. They are covering all of their bases and have shown that they're just going to get better as time passes on. Kudos to the NHL. Lord Stanley's Cup is and will be in more demand than ever. Keep up the great work NHL.

Now, you know how we feel and what we think, we'd love to know, what's your take? Please go to the comment section at the bottom of this blog and let us know your thoughts on the NHL. The Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica editorial staff.

Just Another Chicago Bulls Session… Bulls storm into matchup with Cavaliers with laugher in Milwaukee 120-66.

By Vincent Goodwill

Onto Cleveland.

The series the NBA world has been curious to see is now upon us, after the Chicago Bulls finally decided to get desperate and do away with the Milwaukee Bucks with a runaway 120-66 Game 6 shellacking at the Bradley Center, the largest playoff win in franchise history.

Whether it was by four or 40, the Bulls needed to put the pesky Bucks away on the road as opposed to sitting on their hands and waiting for a seventh game in Chicago — and by the 48-minute display, one is left to wonder how this series was taken to a sixth game as opposed to it being ended a few nights prior.

Just like it was evident from the dawn of Game 5 the Bulls weren’t ready for what the Milwaukee Bucks were bringing, the reverse was definitely the case Thursday as the Bulls stopped playing tight and tightened up on the Bucks, jumping out to an 8-0 lead before methodically and systematically breaking the Bucks down piece by piece en route to a 34-point halftime lead that actually extended to 88-44 late in the third quarter.

After the offensive disaster that took place in Game 5, where the Bulls couldn’t hit much of anything, they needed a sterling offensive performance, a confidence booster of sorts.

Shooting 51 percent and 50 from three with 15 triples while holding the Bucks to 32 percent is the type of game film Tom Thibodeau won’t mind showing in preparing for the second round.

And when Mike Dunleavy comes out scoring 19 in the first half, you know it’s more than just a good night for him; it’s a night birthed from supreme ball movement, the recipient of open 3-point looks as the Bulls looked anything like the panicked outfit that took the floor three nights ago.

With the series against the Cleveland Cavaliers set to begin Monday, Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler needed to play well, together. Rose missed his first five shots but it wasn’t an indication of how well he ran the Bulls offense, as he assisted on the first three Bulls field goals and five of the first seven.

By the time he hit his first field goal, a runner which started a streak of seven straight points in the second quarter, the Bulls were already off and running, leading by 20 two minutes into the period.

In 24 minutes of effective work, Rose finished with 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds on six of 14 shooting. Butler, the man who opened his mouth about setting the tone and believing his teammates would follow with his defense, registered four steals and five rebounds to go along with his 16 points in 31 minutes.

That defensive mentality permeated to his teammates, as the Bulls prevented the Bucks from hitting the offensive glass, and forced nine turnovers to match their nine field goals by the time the score rose to 47-20 in the second.

All series long, the Bucks played with poise and composure, but as the game and series began to slip away, youth was served in a not-so good way. As Dunleavy spotted up for a transition triple, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo charged into him leading with his forearm and nailed him, perhaps payback for Dunleavy apparently hitting him in the face on a previous possession.

Dunleavy could be in danger for league review once they look at his shot to the neck of Michael Carter-Williams early in the first, which caused him to go to the locker room before he returned to exact some revenge with a low blow.

Antetokounmpo was ejected for his foul while Carter-Williams was given a flagrant one foul for his action.

All series long the Bulls reacted to the Bucks’ aggressiveness, and it took six games to fight back — six games of learning they can’t afford against the Cavaliers.

Onto Cleveland.

Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!! After trade flirtations, Bears invest No. 7 pick in WVU WR Kevin White.

By John Mullin

West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White poses after being selected number 7 by the Chicago Bears. (Photo/Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)

Ryan Pace took the next major step in his young tenure as Bears general manager on Thursday, using the No. 7 pick of the 2015 draft to select West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White, expected to start opposite Alshon Jeffery as well as replace the production traded to the New York Jets in the person of Brandon Marshall.

Pace and the Bears had options. The first six picks saw teams take two quarterbacks, a wide receiver, an offensive lineman and a defensive lineman, plus valued pass rusher Dante Fowler.

So when the Bears’ turn came, they had the options of White and edge rushers Vic Beasley from West Virginia and Kentucky’s Bud Dupree.

White is 6-3, 210 pounds, and caught 109 passes for the Mountaineers last year for 1,447 yards and 10 touchdowns.

“I’ve been through so much,” White said. “I’m ready to turn this city around.”

The process was not without some drama, real or imagined.

The Bears were a big part of the pre-draft blizzard of rumors and speculation. General manager Ryan Pace had said on Wednesday that he and the Bears had talked to all of the teams above them and some of those below No. 7, so it was not a complete surprise that the Bears were reported to be one of the teams talking to the Tennessee Titans and their No. 2 overall pick.

One scenario had the Bears looking to deal quarterback Jay Cutler as part of a package to move up in order to pick Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota, whom the Bears had brought to Halas Hall as one of their pre-draft visits. The Titans reportedly did not want Cutler in the deal, although Tennessee GM Ruston Webster denied the reports.

Multiple options

The Bears’ pick at No. 7 could have been used justifiably on either side of the football.

The Bears finished 30th in yardage allowed last season and 31st in points given up, coming on the heels of a dismal 2013 in which they also were 30th in both points and yardage allowed. They ranked no higher than 16th in any of the main defensive categories last season and the problems were both deep and consistent: 11 Bears opponents scored 20 or more points, including three with more than 40.

The offense failed to average 20 points per game for the first time since Kyle Orton and the 2005 playoff season. Over the final five games the Bears scored 17-15-14-9 points, with the lone exception being 28 against the Dallas Cowboys when the Bears trailed 38-7 before scoring 21 points in a throwaway fourth quarter.

Impact of Bears trade talk on Jay Cutler worth monitoring.

By John Mullin

Neither GM Ryan Pace nor coach John Fox have given anything close to a strong vote of support for Jay Cutler as the Bears’ No. 1 quarterback ever since their respective hirings. Any uncertainty swirling around Cutler reached a new level as the start of the draft approached on Thursday night.

Now the question becomes how that uncertainty will sit with Cutler.

Pace pointed more at the potential positive impact that the selection of West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White will have for Cutler rather than whether the Bears really wanted him or not.

“In my mind, we just got Jay another dynamic weapon,” Pace said. “That’s what I’m excited about it. I hope right now he’s fired up because we just gave him another powerful weapon. With this receiving corps, this only adds to Jay’s ability to distribute the ball.”

How Cutler does distribute the ball, something of a point of contention between Cutler and the previous coaching staff, is a matter for another time.

Offseason rumors of the Bears shopping Cutler were shot down by Pace and by sources with the Tennessee Titans, but the talk escalated on Thursday with the Bears linked to talks with the Titans. Reportedly the Titans weren’t interested in taking Cutler, and the fact that Cutler was the subject of any conversations sent a second message to Cutler that he is not the future in Chicago.

It would not be the first time that Cutler has gotten a strong message that his team doesn’t particularly want him.

When Josh McDaniels was hired to succeed fired Mike Shanahan with the Denver Broncos in 2009, McDaniels wanted Cutler gone. Relations between McDaniels and Cutler degenerated to the point where the Broncos were more than happy to send Cutler to Chicago.

Pace dismissed some of the angst over reported calls on Cutler with a laugh:

“Really in the days and the even the hours leading to the draft there are so many phone calls,” Pace said. “My first year doing it as a GM, it’s even more than I realized. And I think teams know with us being a new staff, new GM, new head coach, people call about a lot of our players, we call about other players.

“That’s going on way more than you ever realize. So there are calls all over the ballpark. I think that just occurs this time of the year.”

Brewers-Cubs Preview

By JACK CASSIDY (STATS Writer)

The Milwaukee Brewers got exactly what they needed from Mike Fiers in his first major league start in 14 months.

He'll try to build on that stellar effort and lead the Brewers to a split of their four-game road series against the last-place Chicago Cubs on Thursday.

After being called up from Triple-A Nashville on Saturday, Fiers gave up a solo homer, two singles and one walk in eight innings of a 4-1 win over the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. The right-hander, who had four relief appearances in his previous stint with the team in June, was making his first start in the majors since June 2, 2013.

"Here I am again," said Fiers, who held the Cubs to a run over 7 1-3 innings in a 3-1 win at Wrigley Field on Aug. 29, 2012 - his only previous start in this series. "Just trying to show them I can still pitch."

Fiers (1-1, 1.80 ERA) was put in the rotation because Matt Garza is on the disabled list with a strained left oblique. Another starter, Kyle Lohse, left after three innings of Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Cubs after aggravating a sprained right ankle.

Now, Fiers will try to help the Brewers (66-55) avoid a third consecutive defeat and their 13th in 18 road games. Despite those recent struggles away from home, they remain 1 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh and two in front of St. Louis atop the NL Central.

The Brewers were held to six hits for a second straight night Wednesday, while two by the Cubs in the third inning wound up making the difference. Cubs rookie Javier Baez led off the inning by hitting his first home run at Wrigley Field and fourth in nine games, and Anthony Rizzo followed with his 27th and second in as many contests since ending an 18-game drought.

"(Baez) showed you he can drive the ball the other way in situations, so he's making adjustments," manager Rick Renteria told MLB's official website. "He's aware of what he's got to do. It just takes time. He's 21 years old. They're pitching him pretty tough, too."

The Cubs (52-67), winners in 10 of 16, will send out Edwin Jackson (6-12, 5.61), who stymied the Brewers in his only other matchup this year.

The right-hander fanned a season-high 11 in seven innings of a 3-0 win May 17 and is 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA in his last two starts at Wrigley against Milwaukee.

Jackson opened August by allowing two runs in six innings in a 7-3 win over the Dodgers on Aug. 3 - his first in eight outings - but gave up four runs over six innings in a 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday.

"We can definitely finish on a pretty good note and show what's to come in the future," Jackson said. "Everyone's high intensity, and that's what it's going to take to win ballgames. We're going to lose some here and there, but we'll continue to battle. Things are definitely headed in a positive direction."

Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy is 9 for 23 against Jackson in the last three seasons with two homers and two doubles. Gerardo Parra has six hits in his last 13 at-bats in their matchups.

Cubs cleared of tampering in hiring of Joe Maddon.

By Chris Cwik

.

(Getty Images)

The Chicago Cubs did not break any tampering rules when they hired Joe Maddon in the offseason, Major League Baseball has concluded.

Maddon was hired by the club in October, just a few days after opting out of his deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. In the aftermath, reports surfaced that the Rays were convinced the Cubs enticed Maddon to walk away from his deal with Tampa Bay.

Shortly after the hiring, Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein made sure to outline the team's process with Maddon. Epstein said the team did not have contact with Maddon until he had become a free agent, according to Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.

“Last Thursday, we learned that Joe Maddon — who may be as well suited as anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us — had become a free agent,” Epstein said. 

“We confirmed the news with Major League Baseball, and it became public knowledge the next day. We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization. In this business of trying to win a world championship for the first time in 107 years, the organization has priority over any one individual. We decided to pursue Joe.”

The Rays were unconvinced, and filed tampering charges with the league. It took nearly six months, but the investigation finally concluded Wednesday.

Had the Cubs been found guilty of tampering, the commissioner's office would have determined the appropriate penalty. The team may have been fined, or forced to give up a player in return for Maddon.

That, obviously, did not happen, and all sides will proceed as usual. The whole situation seemed a bit sketchy at the time given the speed at which all parties acted, but it was likely difficult for MLB to prove any charges. If Maddon says the Cubs didn't contact him early, and the Cubs remain adamant that they never broke any rules, there's really no way for MLB to contradict them without making the situation messier.  

Now that the investigation is over, the Cubs can breathe slightly easier. Maddon can focus on managing his team, and won't have to worry about any fallout from his offseason move. The Rays are likely disappointed after losing Maddon, but Kevin Cash has them out to a surprising start thus far.

Both teams can focus on baseball now, and that's probably for the best.

Golf: I got a club for that: Fowler wins Thursday to secure spot Saturday in Match Play.

By DOUG FERGUSON (AP Golf Writer)

Rickie Fowler escaped with three big putts and beat Shane Lowry of Ireland on Thursday to secure his spot in the round of 16 at the Match Play Championship.

Fowler still has one more match to play on Friday, which effectively is a practice round in the middle of a tournament. He already has won two matches in round-robin play and is assured of having the best record to advance from his four-man group.

The second day at TPC Harding Park brought out a strange element for match play - scoreboard watching.

J.B. Holmes went 19 holes to beat Russell Henley and then stayed on the course to watch the match behind him. He knew Brooks Koepka had to win or else Holmes would be eliminated. Koepka won the last three holes and wound up beating Marc Warren of Scotland.

Fowler knew he would win his group provided Harris English beat Graeme McDowell, because Fowler had already defeated English. McDowell had a 3-up lead until English rallied to win five out of six holes for a 2-and-1 victory.

''I knew if I won and Harris won, I had a chance at being locked,'' Fowler said. ''Obviously, all I can do is take care of my match. Didn't exactly take care of it the way I wanted to. And the end of the day, I'm happy with it.''

The match was all square when Fowler made a 15-foot putt to halve the 15th hole, an 18-foot putt to halve the 16th hole and a 30-foot putt to halve the 17th. A birdie on the par-5 18th hole gave Fowler a 2-0 record and a match Friday against McDowell that is irrelevant.

''Definitely a stress reliever right there,'' Fowler said. ''Obviously, I still want to go out and play a good match and win the match. In a way, it will give me time to work on stuff and ... see if we can tighten the game up a little bit.''

John Senden also locked up a spot in the round of 16 with a victory over Bill Haas. Henrik Stenson's victory over Brendon Todd ensured that.

It wasn't all confusing.

Rory McIlroy went the distance to beat Brandt Snedeker, while Billy Horschel had no trouble dispatching Jason Dufner. McIlroy and Horschel are both 2-0 and play Friday to determine who advances to the weekend.

''It's win or go home,'' McIlroy said. ''So it's back to the usual format.''

McIlroy and Horschel have some history, though it's ancient at that. They faced each other in the 2007 Walker Cup, and McIlroy was a little irritated by what he perceived to be excessive emotions from Horschel. They split the two matches they played. Both have talked and laughed about those days, and there are no ill feelings. Then again, they haven't played each other in match play since then.

''Back then, we were a little bit younger and a little more emotional,'' McIlroy said. ''So it was pretty heated. I don't think tomorrow will be quite so much like that. But still, you need to win or go home. So it's an important game.''

Gary Woodland put away Ian Poulter, the Ryder Cup wizard who now has lost his last three matches in this tournament. That means Woodland and Webb Simpson, who beat Jimmy Walker, will play Friday for the right to advance.

More scoreboard watching will be in play Friday.

Koepka faces Holmes and only has to win to move on. If Holmes were to win, and if Warren wins his match, there would be a sudden-death playoff among Koepka, Holmes and Warren.

Fowler was hanging on by the brim of his flat-bill cap. Koepka was even more fortunate.

Warren was 3 up with three holes to play when he three-putted the 16th hole from 25 feet. Warren failed to save par on the 17th. And then he had a 3-foot birdie putt to win the match on the 18th and pulled it left. Koepka had to hole a 6-foot putt to save par on the first extra hole (No. 1), and then won it with a 7-iron to 4 feet.

''If I had lost that match, I think I was done,'' Koepka said. ''To be able to do that and come back from 3 down with three to play and get the 'W' is special. Hopefully, it bleeds over to tomorrow.''

African-American golf great Calvin Peete dead at 71.

By Ryan Ballengee

Calvin Peete holds his arms up in thanks to the gallery as they give him a standing ovation after he made a birdie on the 18th hole to win the Georgia Pacific-Atlanta Classic golf tournament in Atlanta. Peete, the most successful black player on the PGA Tour before the arrival of Tiger Woods, died Wednesday morning, April 29, 2015. He was 71. (AP Photo/Joe Holloway Jr., File)

African-American golf great Calvin Peete has died at the age of 71.

Born in Detroit on July 18, 1943, Peete notched 12 PGA Tour wins, including the 1985 Players Championship. He won four times in 1982, finishing fourth on the money list that year. He also had two-win seasons in 1983, '85 and '86.

Peete was a member of the 1983 and '85 Ryder Cup teams, earning a 4-2-1 mark. He won the 1984 Vardon Trophy, awarded to the player with the PGA Tour's lowest scoring average.

Despite suffering from a broken arm as a child that was never set right, Peete was one of the most accurate drivers of the ball in PGA Tour history. For 10 years, from 1981-1990, Peete led the Tour in driving accuracy. In 1983, he hit an astounding 84.55 percent of fairways. He's the only player in the last 35 years to lead the PGA Tour in both driving accuracy and greens in regulation, doing so in 1981, '82 and '83.

Peete posted three top-four finishes in the majors, including a T-3 finish in the 1982 PGA, and T-4 efforts in the 1983 U.S. Open and 1984 PGA.

Talladega NASCAR weekend schedule: From Friday's practices through Sunday's Sprint Cup race.

By Jerry Bonkowski

With nine races down, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series begins the second quarter of its 2015 season.

It will be a busy weekend at the longest track in NASCAR at 2.66 miles in length. Not only will there be the GEICO 500 Sprint Cup race on Sunday, there’s also the Winn Dixie 300 Xfinity Series race on Saturday.

And as an added appetizer, the ARCA series races Friday afternoon in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame 200.

Here’s how the weekend shapes up (all times listed are Eastern time):

THURSDAY, April 30

8:30 am – 6 pm – ARCA garage open

1 pm – 7 pm – Xfinity garage open

FRIDAY, MAY 1

7 am – ARCA garage opens

8 am – 7:30 pm – Sprint Cup garage open

8:30 am – ARCA driver, crew chief, spotter meeting

9:30 am – 7:30 pm – Xfinity garage open

9:30 am – 11:20 am – ARCA final practice

11:30 am – 1:50 pm – Final Xfinity practice (Fox Sports 1)

2 pm – 2:55 pm – Sprint Cup practice (Fox Sports 1/MRN)

3:30 pm – ARCA qualifying

4 pm – Xfinity Qualifying inspection begins

4:30 pm – 5:25 pm – Sprint Cup final practice (Fox Sports 1/MRN)

5:30 pm – ARCA drivers introduction

6 pm – ARCA race (76 laps, 202.16 miles) (Fox Sports 1)

SATURDAY, MAY 2

7 am – 3 pm – Sprint Cup garage open

9 am – Xfinity garage open

11 am – Xfinity qualifying (Fox Sports 1)

12:45 pm – Xfinity driver/crew chief meeting

1 pm – Sprint Cup qualifying and impound (Fox/MRN)

2:30 pm – Xfinity Series driver introductions

3:00 pm – Xfinity Series race – Winn Dixie 300 (113 laps, 300.58 miles) (Fox/MRN)

SUNDAY, MAY 3

8 am – Sprint Cup garage open

11 am – Sprint Cup driver/crew chief meeting

12:25 pm – Sprint Cup driver introductions

1 pm – Geico 500 (188 laps, 500.08 miles) (Fox/MRN)

Jeff Gordon to drive pace car at Indianapolis 500.

By Nick Bromberg

Jeff Gordon has never done the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 "double." He's not doing both races in the same day again in 2015, but it may be the closest he's ever come to trying it.

Wednesday, Chevrolet announced Gordon would drive the pace car at the Indianapolis 500 before he returns to Charlotte to drive in the 600 on May 24.

He's never competed in the 500.

"As I got older, I moved to Indiana," Gordon, who was born in California, said. "My first car was a Chevy. My second car was a Chevy. Now I get to drive Chevrolets every weekend on the racetrack and win in a Chevy.  To do it here in Indianapolis is the ultimate.

"There's only one thing that was missing, that was the Indy 500. This is as close as I think I'm going to get.  But this is pretty awesome."

The four-time Sprint Cup Series champion is retiring from full-time competition at the end of 2015. He grew up racing open-wheel cars but hasn't driven a CART or IndyCar Series race in his career. He ran his first Cup Series race in 1992.
 

He's won five Brickyard 400s at Indianapolis in the Cup Series, more than any other driver.

"Yeah, it's one that I always look forward to," Gordon said of watching the Indianapolis 500. "I've never been anywhere else on race day for like 20 something years, so this is going to be quite an experience.  It's one that I'm really looking forward to.

"I'm trying to get Rick Hendrick to come up here as well. I don't think he's ever been to an Indy 500. But my wife and kids are very excited. I took my son Leo to a race at Pocono a couple years ago.  He thought those cars were the coolest cars ever. He's pretty excited to come to this race and see these cars on the grid."

Fire: Watson suspended, fined for foul play vs. NYCFC.

By Danny Michallik

In his first start since the Fire's season-opening defeat to defending champion LA Galaxy, Matt Watson's studs-up challenge on New York City FC forward Adam Nemec in the 27th minute on April 24 has come back to haunt the midfielder.

On Wednesday, the MLS Disciplinary Committee handed the 30-year-old a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for serious foul play, a decision that will rule him out for the Men in Red's encounter with Sporting Kansas City on Sunday. The incident, seen here, initially warranted a yellow card to be drawn from the shirt pocket of match referee Ricardo Salazar and was Watson's first of the season.

Real Salt Lake’s John Stertzer and Sporting Kansas City’s Servando Carrasco were also suspended and fined, while the Houston Dynamo, Kansas City, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and D.C. United were all adjudged to have been in violation of the league’s mass confrontation policy in Week 8.

The Disciplinary Committee also fined Toronto FC’s Damien Perquis for simulation in the 83rd minute of Sunday’s match against Orlando City.

CCL final: Montreal Impact fall, 4-2 (5-3 agg.), to Club America.

By Andy Edwards

The latest heartbreak of a Major League Soccer side endeavoring to become the first to win the CONCACAF Champions League, in its current format, is now complete, as the Montreal Impact fell, and fell hard, 4-2 (5-3 on aggregate), to Liga MX side Club America in the second leg of the CCL final on Wednesday night.

Even the advantage of playing the second leg at home — as was also the case for Real Salt Lake in 2011 — wasn’t enough to push the team from salary cap- and roster-size-restricted league to CONCACAF glory. In truth, the Impact gave every last bit of effort they had, but ran out of gas — and belief — sometime around halftime.

The Impact started the game well enough, taking another early lead, just as they had in the first leg. Ignacio Piatti’s slaloming run along the end line, through three defenders, put the America defense into a scramble, which left the Argentine just enough space to slip Andres Romero through, where he dribbled sideways, past a pair of defenders of his own and fired a left-footed shot that beat Moises Munoz for a lead with just eight minutes on the clock.

The game and series were nearly leveled once again four minutes later, when Dario Benedetto nearly turned home a loose ball inside the penalty area, but could only put the ball onto the crossbar, mere inches from the whole of the ball crossing the line.

Piatti had a golden opportunity to doubled the Impact’s lead in the 24th minute, but his attempt to slide the ball under Munoz was thwarted after breaking in behind the America defense for a one-on-one chance.

America’s equalizer eventually came in the 50 minute, making Piatti and Montreal rue that golden chance missed 25 minutes earlier. Osvaldo Martinez’s cross found Bendetto all alone at the back post, where the Argentine forward unleashed a scissor kick from a tight angle that Kristian Nicht could do nothing to stop.

By the time the game (1-1) and series (2-2) were level, the wheels had fallen off for the Impact, who looked increasingly exhausted and second-best. Oribe Peralta headed home a loose ball from close range in the 64th minute, effectively giving America a two-goal series lead based on the away-goals tiebreaker, and Benedetto bagged his second of the game less than 90 seconds later, as he turned home Miguel Samudio’s cross to the near post. Just like that, 3-1 on the night and 4-2 in the series, with away goals on their side.

Benedetto completed his hat trick, and moved into a tie for the 2014-15 CCL Golden Boot in the process of doing so, in the 81st minute. Darwin Quintero played him through, Benedetto stopped on a dime to lose the closest defender and curled a left-footed beauty to the far post, past Nicht, to make it 4-1 on the night.

Jack McInerney played on and snagged a late goal, set up by Piatti, in the 88th minute, but it would prove to be nothing more than a consolation and an opportunity for the Impact faithful to rise to their feet and applaud and salute their side for their impressive, massively unlikely run.

The Impact return to MLS play next Saturday, for just their fifth game of the season, when they host the Portland Timbers at Stade Saputo, three days after they host Toronto FC in the first leg of the two sides’ Canadian Championship series.

LINEUPS

Montreal Impact: Nicht, Toia (Tissot 70′), Ciman, Soumare, Reo-Coker, Donadel (McInerney 67′), Mallace (Bernier 79′), Duka, Piatti, Romero, Oduro

Goals: Romero (8′), McInerney (88′)

Club America: Munoz, Aguilar, Alvarado, Aguilar, Samudio, Guerrero, Martinez, Sambueza (Mares 87′), Quintero (Maduena 82′), Peralta (Arroyo 85′), Benedetto

Goals: Benedetto (50′, 66′, 81′), Perlate (64′)

Jim Delany: Big Ten concussion penalties will evolve over time.

By Jon Solomon

The Big Ten made news in December by announcing new concussion protocol standards that include penalties if schools don't comply. Although short on details, the announcement was applauded by people who closely follow the concussion issue because, unlike the majority of NCAA members, the Big Ten appeared willing to attach an enforcement mechanism to concussion guidelines.

Five months later, though, it's not clear what Big Ten concussion penalties will look like headed into the 2015-16 academic year.

“Oh, I don't know,” Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said this week at the College Football Playoff meetings. “The penalties could be, ‘Do better.' The penalties could be any number of things. It would be up to the people who are reviewing it. It would be institutional control. We'd ask (universities) for health and safety to develop protocols and we'd expect you to follow them. If something happens and you don't, we're going to ask the question why.

“Maybe the first (penalty) is cure (the problem) to get better. But if you're thinking about TV probations or (penalizing) the doctors or trainers, I don't know what they would be. They'd be reviewed by the conference. We'll develop that over time.”

In December, the Big Ten announced that it would have independent athletic trainers in football replay booths to observe players. Also, the Big Ten said it would "move from best practices and minimum requirements for schools to regulatory standards by the conference," and that would include "reporting requirements, disciplinary actions for non-compliance and a higher level of accountability for conference member institutions." Delany emphasized this week that Big Ten schools will be expected to follow their own concussion protocol, not conference protocol.

“There could be penalties,” Delany said. “But our effort will be to understand what are they doing and how they are enforcing it. Because you can have a protocol, but if you don't follow it, if you don't practice it, anything could happen.”

The Big Ten knows this all too well. Last season, college football's highest-profile concussion occurred at Michigan, where quarterback Shane Morris was allowed to stay in a game and then return for one play despite obviously being woozy from a hit.
 Then-Michigan coach Brady Hoke initially told reporters his impression was Morris had not been diagnosed with a concussion. That story changed when then-Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon later confirmed the concussion and he apologized for a “serious lack of communication” allowing Morris to be reinserted without proper neurological testing.

The play caused Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), the co-chair of the Congressional Brain Injury Caucus, to call for Delany to investigate what happened and for the Big Ten to establish penalties for violations of concussion protocols. Michigan has said medical professionals will now be above the field to view hits with the ability to communicate to the sideline, and the school has reinforced its sideline communication process on how decisions are made.

Michigan recently denied CBSSports.com's Freedom of Information Act request to obtain more detailed internal documents regarding how the university mishandled the Morris play. In an effort to understand what caused Michigan's "serious lack of communication," CBSSports.com requested all written communications between seven Michigan employees regarding the play in the four days after it happened.

Six months after the request, Michigan provided only emails with Brandon's apology from Sept. 30, 2014, and his account of what transpired. Michigan said that under state law it's allowed to withhold certain communications that are advisory of nature and for privacy purposes.

“We believe that in this particular instance, public interest in encouraging frank communications between University employees outweighs the public interest in disclosure,” Michigan wrote.

The NCAA's inability to show how it can enforce new return-to-play guidelines was one of several reasons U.S. District Judge John Lee denied preliminary approval for a $75 million settlement between the association and a group of NCAA athletes. Lee said in part that he needs to understand the “range of actions” the NCAA may take against a member for either intentionally or inadvertently failing to comply with terms of the settlement.

Attorneys for the NCAA and the plaintiffs are attempting to keep the settlement intact amid objections from two former college football players. The proposed settlement calls for a $70 million fund to test thousands of current and former athletes, $5 million to be put aside for research, and changes to guidelines for medical care moving forward.

One criticism of the settlement is that it would cover only diagnostic medical expenses, not actual treatment. The case's court mediator, retired federal judge Wayne Andersen, recently stated in an affidavit he thought it was “unlikely” the plaintiffs could have obtained more benefits without years of discovery and trial “because they would face substantial risks of loss due to the difficulty to prove negligence on the part of the NCAA.”

Andersen wrote that because there was a “strong chance” the court would find no medical monitoring claim is available in many states, the settlement's ability to provide medical monitoring is “a significant achievement.” Also, Andersen said, the plaintiffs faced legal hurdles due to statute of limitations arguments, former athletes became concussed long before concussion science had improved, and former players assumed a risk when they chose to play.

None of these concussion issues are happening in a vacuum. The place where science, policy and liability meet remains a moving target in college sports, even as the NCAA, conferences and universities take the longterm risks of concussions more seriously.

For now, the Big Ten's concussion penalties are in a wait-and-see mode.

College Football Playoff announces rankings schedule for 2015.

By Jerry Palm

There is a minor change to the schedule for releasing the College Football Playoff rankings for the upcoming 2015 season. Like last year, they will begin the Tuesday after week 9 action. This year, that day is November 3rd. They will continue every Tuesday until the final rankings, which will be on the Sunday after the conference championship games. The announcement of the playoff matchups will be that day as well. The difference this year is that there will be only six rankings released instead of seven because the season is one week shorter.

The following is the dates that the CFP selection committee will release its rankings for the 2015 season:

November 3rd

November 10th

November 17th

November 24th

December 1st

December 6th

CBT Roundtable: What rule would you change in college basketball?

By Rob Dauster

(AP Photo)

On Monday night, news broke that college basketball could very likely be going to a 30 second shot clock, which is a move most in the game believe should be made. 

But that’s far from the only issue that our great sport dealt with this past season. We asked each of our writers what rule they would change if they were the college basketball commissioner for a day. Feel free to share your ideas in the comments:

Terrence Payne: Let’s stop secondary defenders from being able to draw charges. For instance, an offensive player beats his man to the basket only to have another defender slide in at the last possible moment, leaving that offensive player no chance to counter … that’s fair? So, bail out the primary defender for getting beat and punish the offensive player for getting to the rim?

Here’s an example of Butler’s Andrew Chrabascz from back in November at the Battle 4 Atlantis. He beats Mikael Hopkins off the dribble and actually eludes Paul White, the secondary defender, but is still whistled for a charge. And here’s Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell against Indiana in December. He’s already in an upward motion before Indiana’s secondary defender is even set. Call? Charge.

How do either of these calls make sense?

Force the primary defender to play defense. Let him beat his man to the spot and draw a charge. I’m tired of living in a world where this is a charge.

(Editor’s Note: These two were by far the worst charge calls of the season.)

Raphielle Johnson: How many times this season did we watch officials huddle around a monitor for far too long, only to fail to come to a conclusion regarding a controversial call? Or in some cases, still manage to get the call wrong? Let’s limit reviews to 60 seconds with an actual clock and buzzer (if the arena wants to use the scoreboard clock, even better). If you can’t figure it out by then, just stick with the original call. Or, better yet, let’s have a designated replay official. Just as people don’t tune in to watch some officials grandstand during games, they also don’t tune in to see guys huddled around a monitor.

Timeouts need to be cut down for sure, but this monitor issue is something else I’d like to see the rules committee address. And if crews consistently go past the 60-second mark, give them a warning and then fine them. Nothing helps a message hit home like losing a little money.

Scott Phillips: I’d really like to see college basketball examine the possibility of moving from two 20-minute halves to four 10-minute quarters.

There are multiple reasons for doing this.

For one, it matches what most of basketball is already doing. The NBA, FIBA and most high school basketball federations already go with the four-quarter system. Going back to Raphielle talking about there being too many timeouts, it also creates a natural break for one of the many television timeouts we see during college basketball games. It would also add some additional possessions at the end of quarters as teams try to get up additional shots to beat the clock. Maybe college basketball coaches would finally use the concept of the 2-for-1 at the end of a quarter?

But the biggest reason I’d like to see the four-quarter system is a reduction in the number of free throws we see start to build up so early during the current system of 20-minute halves. I’m tired of watching teams get in the bonus and double bonus with over 10 minutes left in a half and I’m sure much of America feels the same way. Nobody wants to watch a free-throw fest based on touch fouls. The quarter system could reduce the number of bonus and double-bonus free throws by implementing a system that resets after each quarter. Each quarter would be a fresh start for team fouls.

The FIBA and NBA model calls for bonus free throws starting on the fifth foul of each quarter, but we might have to tweak that for the one-and-one rule a little bit.

I haven’t done the proper math to equate the 20-minute bonus system to 10 minutes (and how it would be most fair to the current state of play) but it wouldn’t penalize teams in foul trouble so early in a long half. Free throws wouldn’t kill the flow of the game with so much time left on the clock. We’d get to see more basketball being played.

Rob Dauster: I’d love to see the NCAA not only adopt, but truly enforce the freedom of movement rules that were put into place during the 2013-14 season. Coaches have realized, and started taking advantage of, the fact that they know officials are not going to call fouls on every possession. They teach their defenses to grab, to hold, to use hand-checks and arm bars. The NBA went through this phase about 10 years ago, and after instituting a few changes to how defense is allowed to be played, we’ve reached a point where the game at the professional level is as good as it has ever been. In fact, the NBA’s popularity is one of the reasons that the college basketball regular season has taken a hit. What would you rather watch: two teams beat each other up while grinding out a game that doesn’t hit the 60-point plateau until free throws in the final seconds, or Steph Curry and Klay Thompson?

Nevada gambling records broken during 2015 NCAA tournament.

By Rob Dauster

The 2015 NCAA tournament didn’t just break records for television ratings.

It records for the amount of money gambled in Vegas, too.

According to a report from Covers.com, $375.5 million was bet on basketball in the month of March in Nevada sportsbooks, and roughly $260 million of that was wagered on the NCAA tournament. That number is a record, obliterating the previous record of $343.5 million, which was set in 2014.

That number is also a fraction of what was likely wagered on the NCAA tournament around the country, as it only factors in the bets made in the actual sportsbooks. How many people have bookies? How many people gamble on sports online? And, more importantly, how much money changes hands for the countless number of office pools?

There’s more.

Those sportsbooks reported a total $27.9 million in winnings, which is another state record.

Vegas always wins.

Boxing-Facts and figures on Saturday's megabout.

Compiled by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue

Saturday's heavily anticipated welterweight showdown between undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Filipino southpaw Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand Garden Arena is expected to be the richest prize fight of all time.

* A fight that was more than five years in the making, the clash between Mayweather and Pacquiao is projected to generate a record $300 million or more in pay-per-view revenue, according to Forbes, with at least three million customers paying to watch the action.

* Mayweather's defeat of Oscar De La Hoya in 2007 has the buy record of 2.48 million households, while his 2013 showdown with Canelo Alvarez has the revenue record of $152 million.

* Mayweather is likely to earn at least $180 million from the bout while Pacquiao, a 2-1 underdog, is expected to come away with more than $120 million. 

* The MGM Grand in Las Vegas is expected to pack in close to 16,500 fans for the fight for a live-gate of $74 million.
 

* Las Vegas resident Mayweather, who has a perfect 47-0 record as professional, will be fighting his 11th consecutive bout at the MGM Grand.
 

* Kenny Bayless has been appointed as referee for the fight by the Nevada State Athletic Commission while Burt Clements, Dave Moretti and Glenn Feldman were chosen as the three judges.

On This Date in Sports History: Today is Friday, May 1, 2015.

Memoriesofhistory.com

1883 - In Philadelphia, the first National League game was played since 1876.

1884 - Moses Walker became the first black player in major league baseball.

1901 - The Detroit Tigers committed 12 errors against the Chicago White Sox.

1901 - Herb McFarland hit the first grand slam in the American League.

1920 - Babe Ruth hit his first home run as a New York Yankee. It was his 50th career home run.

1920 - The Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves tied after a 26-inning game.

1922 - Charlie Robertson (Chicago White Sox) pitched a perfect no-hit, no-run game against the Detroit Tigers. The Sox won 3-0. Another perfect game did not come along until 46 years later.

1926 - Satchel Page made his pitching debut in the Negro Southern League.

1951 - Mickey Mantle hit his first home run.

1951 - Minnie Minoso became the first black player to play for the Chicago White Sox.

1962 - Bo Belinsky pitched a no-hitter in only his fourth start.

1969 - Leonard Tose bought the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles for $16,155,000.

1986 - Bill Elliot set a stock car speed record when he went 212.229 mile per hour.

1991 - Nolan Ryan (Texas Rangers) pitched his 7th no-hitter.

1992 - The Los Angeles Dodgers postponed three games due to riots due to the Rodney King case.

1992 - Rickey Henderson stole his 1,000th base.

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