Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica
"America's Finest Sports Fan Travel Club, May We Plan An Event Or Sports Travel For You?"
We offer: Select opportunities, For your convenience, At "Very Rare but Super Fair" pricing,
Because it's all about you!!!
Sports Quote of the Day:
"If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius." ~ Joseph Addison, Essayist, Poet, Playwright, and Politician
Trending: Swept out of St. Louis, Cubs waiting for trade market to accelerate. (See baseball section for details).
Trending: Blackhawks make seven picks in 2015 NHL Draft. (See hockey section for details).
Trending: NBA Draft Results 2015: Bulls get surprise in Portis. (See basketball section for details).
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks make seven picks in 2015 NHL Draft.
By Tracey Myers
Roy Radke had just been drafted by the Blackhawks on Saturday afternoon but he was already well acquainted with several players currently in the system.
“I’m good friends with Ryan Hartman, Anthony Louis, Vinny Hinostroza,” said Radke, who hails from Geneva, about an hour west of Chicago. “I grew up with all of those guys.”
The number of NHL prospects who either grew up near Chicago or who played in Chicago-area leagues is increasing, and the Blackhawks added another to their group when they drafted Radke with their sixth-round (164th overall) selection on Saturday. Mark Kelley, the Blackhawks’ senior director of amateur scouting, said it’s not necessarily the team’s plan to take kids from the area. It’s just those local kids have filled needs the past few years.
“I think what it’s really a product of us so many good players are coming from Chicago,” Kelley said.
And the Blackhawks aren’t the only team taking notice of Chicago-area kids. The Arizona Coyotes drafted Christian Fischer of Wayne, also about an hour from Chicago, with the 32nd overall pick.
“The youth program’s taken off there tremendously, and a lot is [due to] the Blackhawks,” Fischer said. “The kids go to the games, they see the whole deal there and they want to play. They have four travel teams there, a lot of guys coming in from Chicago. I think the Hawks have a lot to do with that.”
Radke is new to the Blackhawks organization but he’s already among friends, thanks to Chicago’s burgeoning hockey scene.
“Since Chicago’s been so good recently, a lot of young kids have been trying to play hockey in the area. That’s why it’s expanding so much,” Radke said. “I’ve always loved the Blackhawks, so it’s a dream come true.”
The Blackhawks got a little bit of everything from everywhere at Day 2 of the NHL Draft.
“This year we have a Slovakian, a Finnish kid, a Swedish kid, a Chicago kid, a Buffalo kid, a Boston kid,” Kelley said. “There’s seven of them, so it’s a United Nations.”
All locations aside, the Blackhawks were happy with their draft, which didn’t begin until Saturday morning when they selected Ontario native Graham Knott with the 54th overall (second-round) pick.
Knott had 25 goals and 18 assists in 59 games with the Niagara IceDogs (OHL) in 2014-15. The Blackhawks took four forwards and three defensemen. They also acquired something else that they’ve been lacking: size. Five of their picks are 6-foot-2 or taller.
“Any time you get size it’s nice,” Kelley said. “We’re always looking for players we think are smart and can skate. I think this year those guys are big, also.”
| Rounds | Player | Position | Country | Amateur League | Amateur Team |
| Round 2, 54th overall pick | Graham Knott | LW | Canada | OHL | Niagara |
| Round 3, 91st overall pick | Dennis Gilbert | D | United States | USHL | Chicago |
| Round 4, 121st overall pick | Ryan Shea | D | United States | HIGH-MA | Boston College H.S. |
| Round 5, 151st overall pick | Radovan Bondra | RW | Slovakia | SLOVAKIA | Kosice |
| Round 6, 164th overall pick | Roy Radke | RW | United States | OHL | Barrie |
| Round 6, 181st overall pick | Joni Tuulola | D | Finland | FINLAND | HPK |
| Round 7, 211th overall pick | John Dahlstrom | RW | Sweden | SWEDEN-JR. | Frolunda Jr. |
Blackhawks trade G Antti Raanta to Rangers for F Ryan Haggerty.
By Tracey Myers
Goalie Antti Raanta. (Kuva: AFP / Lehtikuva)
It wasn’t the big trade expected during the draft but the Blackhawks nevertheless parted with one of their players on Saturday afternoon.
The Blackhawks traded goaltender Antti Raanta to the New York Rangers for forward Ryan Haggerty about an hour after the 2015 NHL Draft ended. Raanta has one year ($750,000) remaining on the contract he signed last summer.
Raanta started the season as the Blackhawks’ backup, going 7-4-1 with a 1.89 goals-against average and .936 save percentage. But when Corey Crawford was injured in late November/early December, Scott Darling got several consecutive road starts and impressed. Darling signed a two-year contract on Feb. 22, and Raanta was reassigned to the Rockford IceHogs the same day. Now, Raanta gets to backup Henrik Lundqvist in New York.
The 22-year-old Haggerty had 15 goals and 18 assists with the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) last season. That included seven power-play goals, which were third most on the team. He also had six points in 14 playoff games.
Measuring the real impact of NHL’s new 3-on-3 overtime (Trending Topics)
By Ryan Lambert
Earlier this week, the NHL announced that its five minutes of 4-on-4 overtime would, instead, be replaced by five minutes of 3-on-3 for the coming season as a means of reducing the number of shootouts.
This is a good idea because the shootout is bad, and it stands to reason that more goals will be scored at 3-on-3 than 4-on-4. Remember, the AHL went to a sort of hybrid format for this past season: three minutes of 4-on-4 before another four of 3-on-3, then the shootout if nothing was decided.
And with that system — which the NHL did not fully adopt — 75 percent of overtime games were decided before the shootout became an option. That was more than double the previous season. So effectively, that shows how effective this can be in getting rid of the shootout which, again, is stupid and bad.
And since the shootout was implemented, the share of NHL games that went to overtime has always been between about 23 and 25 percent. In an 82-game season, that amounts to about 290-300 games, or roughly 10 loser points per team per season (though obviously not distributed evenly). And of those 290-300 games, it's usually about 50-60 percent that are decided in a shootout. Over a 10-season period, this is what it looks like:
So basically, everyone agrees 13 percent of all games (160 per year) is too great a portion to basically have games decided on a skills competition. Everyone is also right on that count. If the league can get that number down to the AHL's no-shootout success rate — I'm dubious of that for reasons we'll discuss in a second — that means only about 6 percent of all NHL games would be decided with a shootout. A little more than 1 in 16, which is a lot better than 2 in 15. Assuming that next year is a perfectly average season in terms of the number of games going to the shootout, this is about what the breakdown would look like:
If you're wondering, that means that only about 74 games out of the league's 1,230 next season would go to a shootout. You'd much rather have that than the current 158 or so.
But the reason I doubt that the league will have that level of success in reducing shootout instances is that, frankly, three minutes of 4-on-4 then four of 3-on-3 is going to give you a lot more goals than just five minutes of 3-on-3. The extra two minutes per game may not seem like a lot, but in terms of the impact it would have on goal-scoring, it's actually pretty big.
The first thing to keep in mind about the event rates for 3-on-3 hockey is that it's incredibly rare, and therefore subject to huge swings in a short amount of time. Over the past several years, in fact, teams have played a little more than 87 minutes at 3-on-3 (scoring nine goals in that time). Total. In the entire NHL. The other thing to keep in mind is that, because of this, no one really practices 3-on-3 hockey and so it's not much of a surprise that rates for everything but goals take a bit of a step back.
However, when you dig into the numbers a bit more, you find that while the number of shots on goal per shot attempt holts steady at around 56.8 (I use this as a kind of shorthand for shot quality; blocks obviously go way down with fewer people on the ice), The conversion rates on high-quality chances increase greatly. While it can't be reflected in the data, the eye test and common sense dictate that there would naturally be more odd-man rushes and breakaways at 3-on-3 than 4-on-4 or, certainly, 5-on-5. Those numbers are also reflected in shooting and save percentages.
The number that's most interesting there is, obviously, the fact that save percentages go down 20 points. Again, you're dealing with volatile numbers when you get down to only about 87 minutes of hockey, and I wouldn't normally expect a decline to be that sharp over a few thousand minutes. But the drop would probably still be fairly big, and that's why the AHL was only going to shootouts in 6 percent of its games as a result.
Moreover, because teams will soon be practicing 3-on-3 a hell of a lot more than 4-on-4 given these rule changes, I'd expect better quality of play and systems in those situations in general. That, in turn, probably boosts rates for attempts, shots, and high-quality chances at the very least. Goal numbers, then, end up taking care of themselves.
But the question becomes if the NHL can reasonably expect to avoid as many shootouts as the AHL — even given the higher skill level at the top level of the game — with a straight five-minute 3-on-3 OT versus the seven-minute mixed format. Using the numbers we have above, we can approximate success rates for so short a timeframe in each overtime game. And the answer is, “Nope.”
The number of shot attempts and shots on goal under an AHL format go up almost 43 percent each, high-quality chances increase 45 percent, but most crucially, goals rise about 31 percent. Basically what that last number means is the NHL's policy will probably reduce the number of overtimes going into a shootout, yes, but probably nowhere near as much as people seem to think right now. There would, obviously, be even sharper increases in goal-scoring if it were seven minutes of 3-on-3 instead of the AHL former. (It was the NHLPA, though, that balked at seven minutes of OT; who can blame them if they're getting paid the same?)
Again, right now about 57 percent of all overtime games go to a shootout. The new NHL 3-on-3 format, if these numbers hold up (though they probably won't), would reduce that to about 49 percent. Adopting an AHL 4-on-4-then-3-on-3 format would cut it to 33 percent or so. Going with my theoretical hybrid of the two would slash that to 28 percent.
That, at least, begins to approach the AHL number, which I am willing to bet is a result of variance rather than a hard-and-fast number we can expect every year from here on out. And please keep in mind that I'd expect the NHL numbers to change dramatically when we start dumping hundreds of minutes of this stuff into mix over the course of the season.
Mathematically, we can expect the 87 or so minutes of 3v3 time in the NHL seen since 2007 to have doubled by late October or so (if you assume the since-2005 average of 4.2 minutes of overtime per night of the NHL's 180 nights in a season, or 87 minutes approximately every 21 days).
But basically, the takeaway here is that the NHL currently sees a shootout once in every 7.5 games (13 percent). The new format will reduce that number to a little less than once per nine games (11.7 percent).
Meanwhile, though some have said it's likely to be a boon for goal scoring rates, if you're only adding 16 goals to the entire NHL total, it's a 0.24 percent increase. Negligible doesn't begin to describe the impact. If a player is extremely lucky and/or good at 3-on-3, he might wring an extra two goals out of this per season. Wow.
In all, this amounts to about 144 bonus points for winning in a shootout, down from the current 160ish. That means that, on average, each team will lose about half a point in the standings as a result of shootouts over the course of a season.
That's progress. But really, is it enough progress? You'd have to say no.
If anything, this looks to me like someone said, “Well 3-on-3 is going to give you more goals than 4-on-4,” without doing the math to support the hypothesis. And while they're technically right, the reduction in shootouts is going to be miniscule.
For people who want the shootout gone, these changes don't really show a dedication to that. They show a kind of lazy willingness to appear as though they're dedicated. But that's about it.
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session... NBA Draft Results 2015: Overall Franchise Grades and Hidden Gems.
bleacherreport.com
So, which players are likely to represent the best values from the 2015 class? Handing out grades for all 30 draft classes, let's zoom in on the most enticing picks from different levels of the draft. NBA Draft Grades, Team Grade, Boston Celtics B-, Brooklyn Nets B+, New York Knicks B+, Philadelphia 76ers A, Toronto Raptors A, Chicago Bulls A, Cleveland Cavaliers C, Detroit Pistons A, Milwaukee Bucks C+, Indiana Pacers A, Atlanta Hawks B, Charlotte Hornets C+, Miami Heat A, Orlando Magic B+, Golden State Warriors A-, Los Angeles Clippers INC, Los Angeles Lakers A-, Phoenix Suns A, Sacramento Kings B-, Houston Rockets A, Memphis Grizzlies B, New Orleans Pelicans C, Dallas Mavericks A-, San Antonio Spurs A-, Denver Nuggets A-, Minnesota Timberwolves A, Oklahoma City Thunder B, Portland Trail Blazers B-, Utah Jazz B+, *Clippers made no selections Best Lottery Value: Justise Winslow, SG/SF (Miami, Pick 10) A player who was arguably the draft's best wing was an absolute steal for the Heat.
Bulls get surprise in Portis.
By Bob Holt
Bobby Portis, right, poses for photos with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected 22nd overall by the Chicago Bulls during the NBA basketball draft, Thursday, June 25, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
Bobby Portis has been working out in Chicago for the past two months because that's where his agency, Priority Sports, is located.
That didn't stop the Bulls from taking Portis, a 6-11 forward from Little Rock Hall, with the No. 22 pick in the first round.
"I didn't know they were high on me," Portis told Comcast SportsNet Chicago. "I thought some other teams were high on me, but the dice didn't fall right then.
"I'm very grateful to be a Chicago Bull. It's a franchise that prides itself on winning, and I feel like I can help be a part of that winning culture."
Bulls General Manager Gar Forman said after the draft the team didn't have Portis in for a workout because of the belief he would be gone before Chicago's pick.
"We had him ranked as a late lottery pick going into the night," Forman said at a news conference. "The last couple days we talked about other guys more because we didn't think he would be there."
Most mock drafts had Portis going between the No. 13 and 17 picks. When Portis was still there at No. 22, Forman said the Bulls followed the formula of taking the best available player.
"Bobby's a guy that we've watched play the last few years at Arkansas and our entire staff has really liked him," Forman said. "We've had people just rave about his work ethic, how hard he plays, his makeup, his character and we really like his game.
"He's a big that can play inside, outside, 6-11, 250, 7-2 wingspan. As we saw him start to slip, we got excited about him and then we were surprised he was there."
Portis, 20, declared for the draft after being the SEC Player of the Year and a second-team All-American as a sophomore and averaging 17.5 points and 8.9 rebounds.
"We think he's a guy that has a lot of potential to get better," Forman said. "I think he's going to be a fit with our team. I think he's going to be a fit in our locker room."
New Bulls Coach Fred Hoiberg came to Chicago from Iowa State and faced Arkansas last season, when Portis had 19 points and eight rebounds in the Razorbacks' 95-77 road loss to the Cyclones.
"First and foremost, he moves very well for a kid that size," Hoiberg said at a news conference after the draft. "He's over 6-10 and runs the floor extremely well, which is very important with the pace we're going to want to play with.
"The thing I'm excited about is his ability to play all over the floor."
Hoiberg said all of the Bulls' officials agreed Portis was the best pick for them.
"Being in the draft room, it's not very often when you get to your pick, especially in the 20s, and it's unanimous," Hoiberg said. "It was a great pick for us."
Forman said the Bulls scouted Portis extensively.
"I thought for his age, his game was more mature," Forman said. "He's still a young guy and there will still be a lot of growth that he'll have to go through, but the encouraging thing is we know he's going to be a worker and he's going to come in this building every day and try and get better."
By Ron Clements
NFL logo (Photo/Getty Images)
Former NFL players awaiting money from a settlement over concussions could have to wait until next year for their payout.
A judge in April approved a resolution that could pay out as much as $1 billion to about 21,000 former NFL players over a number of years. But that payout could be delayed as appeals on the case are heard this fall, according to The Associated Press. "These appeals are without merit, and also heartbreaking for injured retired NFL players, many of whom suffer from terminally failing health and are in dire need of this settlement's benefits," said Christopher Seeger, one of the players' attorneys involved in the long negotiations with the NFL.
The settlement is designed to pay those players up to $5 million, depending on the severity of the neurological disorder they incurred. About 30 percent of the former players, or roughly 6,000 retirees, are expected to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or moderate dementia, medical experts on both sides say. The settlement would pay them an average of about $190,000. Several other players are expected to be diagnosed with Parkinson's or Lou Gehrig's disease.
The deal, originally reached in August 2013, has been criticized by many players who claim the variety of diseases covered was too few. The settlement was also delayed in May when former player Craig Heimburger filed an appeal.
The league faces a separate lawsuit from former players claiming that team doctors withheld medical information and pushed prescription painkillers, anti-inflammatories and other drugs to players in an effort to mask pain and minimize lost playing time.
U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody twice had negotiators tweak the settlement but rejected other complaints during a November hearing, including a lack of future CTE coverage. The degenerative brain decay can only be diagnosed post-mordem.
"The NFL parties were unwilling to settle claims based solely on a (diagnosis) ... rather than on manifest neurocognitive deficits," negotiators said in court papers. "Many of the behavioral and mood conditions claimed to be associated with CTE are prevalent within the general public."
White Sox fall apart late in loss to Tigers.
By Dan Hayes
The Detroit Tigers came back from the dead on Sunday afternoon to send the 2015 White Sox further into the abyss.
After they tied it by scoring four times off Jeff Samardzija in the eighth inning, the Tigers walked off a winner as James McCann hit a solo home run off Zach Putnam to send the White Sox to a 5-4 loss in front 39,455 at Comerica Park.
The White Sox, who are off on Monday, dropped to 32-42 on the season after relinquishing a four-run lead with six outs to go. Victor Martinez keyed the game-tying rally against Samardzija with a one-out, three-run double.
“He still had something left in the tank,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “Victor being a switch-hitter, you are taking your chances either way, whether you get up (Zach) Duke at that point or Put or Jake (Petricka). He still had enough in the tank to go get them and it didn’t work out.”
Samardzija was nearly flawless through seven innings with his pitch count at 86, but everything changed in the eighth.
Trailing 4-0, McCann singled to start the tying rally and Jose Iglesias drew a taxing, 10-pitch walk against Samardzija. Ventura stuck with Samardzija as Anthony Gose singled to center and Ian Kinsler forced in a run when Samardzija hit him. Samardzija managed to strike out Miguel Cabrera on three mid-90s fastballs but Martinez ripped a three-run double to right center on the first pitch he saw from the White Sox starter to tie the game.
“I felt good,” Samardzija said. “Absolutely. I feel fine. I can pitch, man. I felt good out there. It’s just about making the pitches.”
Putnam got two outs to strand Martinez but with one out an inning later, McCann sent a 0-2 pitch into the stands to win it.
“That’s a talented team, talented offense,” Putnam said. “You have to stay sharp the whole nine innings. If you give that team one inch of breathing room they’ll jump back into a game.
“Jeff was absolutely cruising, making it look easy. He had an inning where he got some base runners -- those can yield runs very easily. He did what he should have done and Jeff pitched his butt out there, kept us in the game for 8-plus innings. But it’s a game we should have won.”
Looking for a boost against left-handed pitchers and more production from the second spot, Ventura altered his lineup and moved Jose Abreu behind leadoff man Adam Eaton.
Abreu got things going against David Price with a leadoff double in the fourth inning and he advanced to third when Yoenis Cespedes fell down retrieving the ball. Avisail Garcia gave the White Sox a 1-0 lead with a sacrifice fly and cleanup hitter Melky Cabrera immediately increased the lead to two with a 450-foot solo homer to left off Price.
Cabrera’s homer was his first since May 6th, a span of 208 plate appearances, and first as a right-handed hitter this season. The outfielder later singled off Price and now as 10 hits in 21 at-bats versus left-handed pitchers after he started the season 4-for-50.
Eaton started a sixth-inning rally with a triple and after Price hit Abreu, Garcia singled in a run to make it 3-0. Adam LaRoche’s sac fly gave the White Sox a four-run lead.
For seven innings, Samardzija made it look plentiful.
He limited the Tigers to a walk and a hit over the first five innings, never allowing a runner to reach scoring position. All the while, Samardzija was economical with his pitches as he needed only 57 through five.
Samardzija worked around the first sign of trouble in the sixth with relative ease. Gose drew a one-out walk and Kinsler singled. But Samardzija retired Cabrera and Martinez on harmless fly balls and returned with a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh.
Samardzija allowed four earned runs and five hits with three walks in 7 1/3 innings.
“You are looking at where his pitch count was and then they didn’t really get much going off of him,” Ventura said. “I think at that point they had two hits. He was very strong as he was going through that.
“If you pull him out and somebody gives it up, you kick yourself for that one. If you leave him in and it goes like that, you kick yourself. You just live with it.”
Swept out of St. Louis, Cubs waiting for trade market to accelerate.
By Patrick Mooney
This isn’t fantasy baseball, and there aren’t many teams like the 2012-14 Cubs out there hanging “For Sale” signs right now.
Even if the Cubs wanted to overreact to getting swept out of Busch Stadium after Sunday night’s 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals — which finally ended at 12:05 Monday morning — they probably couldn’t. They still have to be patient after sitting through a tornado watch, two rain delays that lasted two hours and 29 minutes combined and a season-high five-game losing streak.
Setting aside the legitimate questions about how much financial flexibility the Cubs will have, the second wild card already changed the calculus for the July 31 trade deadline.
“There’s a chance this is one of the tightest markets we’ve ever seen,” general manager Jed Hoyer said. “We’re going to have to be creative. A lot of teams will have to be creative, because there’s not going to be a lot of sellers. We keep on assuming that the next four or five weeks will shake some of that out, but it may not.”
It’s fun to play connect the dots with Cubs hitters and New York Mets pitchers. You can wonder about which players to prioritize from the Oakland A’s — left-hander Scott Kazmir or super-utility guy Ben Zobrist? — when the Cubs don’t have a clear No. 5 starter and their lineup generated only four runs in 28 innings over the weekend in St. Louis, going 2-for-27 with men in scoring position.
Go ahead and debate over Twitter the prospects you would give up in a deal. But all that won’t change the illusion of contention when only three teams entered Monday more than eight games back in the wild-card race:
The Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ron Roenicke in early May and have sunk to 19 games under .500. But would they really trade within the division and with their rivals 90 miles south?
The Miami Marlins fired manager Mike Redmond in the middle of May and just lost superstar outfielder Giancarlo Stanton for at least a month with a broken bone in his wrist. Good luck trying to guess what happens next on that reality show.
Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg resigned last week before the Philadelphia Phillies could fire him as part of the major shakeup that franchise desperately needs. Ex-Cubs executive Andy MacPhail is reportedly on the verge of being named Philadelphia’s new head of baseball operations.
Delusional or not, teams like the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds can try to tell themselves they’re one good week away from jumping right back into this, or one good player away from being relevant.
“You never know how that’s going to work,” Hoyer said. “Some teams might claw themselves back into the race and decide not to sell. You have to think about it creatively. You have to think about what would happen if there weren’t deals to be made, because there may not be a lot of deals out there.”
This line of questioning certainly beats the trade talk that used to start as soon as pitchers and catchers reported to spring training.
Even at 39-35, the Cubs still have enough going for them — star manager Joe Maddon, young blue-chip talent, veteran leadership and good clubhouse vibes — to justify the investment in the big-league team.
“It’s the same balancing act that we always go through,” Hoyer said. “This is a very important season. Every season that you’re in the race you have to take seriously, because you can’t always count on tomorrow. As much as we’re built for the future, you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future.
“You don’t want to do anything that you’re going to look back on and say: That was hasty. But you never want to only look towards the future and ignore the fact that: Hey, this has been a really fun season with a lot of big positives. And can we improve some of the weaknesses we have to keep that going?”
Also remember the Cubs said things about the slow pace of deal-making at this time last year, just before shipping Jeff Samardzija to Oakland in the Fourth of July blockbuster that yielded potential shortstop of the future Addison Russell. The Cubs also “jumped the market” in 2013, flipping Scott Feldman to the Baltimore Orioles on July 2 and remaking their pitching staff with Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop.
“We’re going to have to wait awhile to see how this trade market shakes out,” Hoyer said. “But there’s a chance it’s an extreme sellers’ market with so few teams selling. And only the next 25, 30 games will tell whether more teams end up in that sellers’ column.”
History of the Chicago Cubs Logo.
Should the White Sox blow it up? I say they should double down.
ByKenWo4LiFe
Frazier does the sprinkler to improve his KenWar. (Photo/David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports)
I think the White Sox should be buyers at the deadline.
I admit it. I liked what the White Sox did this winter. You know what? I still like it. In spite of all of their troubles I think their starting pitching is highly impressive and is ready to compete. Yes, the book is quickly closing on 2015, but I think 2016 can be the year we breakthrough.
However, the rest of the Western world wants to rip the White Sox apart and trade anyone and everyone with a pulse, even Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, to rebuild the farm system. I personally think this is a huge waste of a potential great pitching staff.
Yes the offense has been garbage. That is proven fact. It's just not working. However, Adam Eaton has slowly but surely brought his stat line up to respectability. Melky Cabrera has been getting a few hits to drop lately, even though the power is still lacking.
Still the White Sox have major holes at three infield positions. Conor Gillaspie is not the answer at third base. That position is in need of an upgrade quickly. Micah Johnson struggles at second base and isn't ready to help out a team with aspirations of contending. Carlos Sanchez is doing a great job with the glove, but in spite of yesterday, that bat is putrid. Alexei Ramirez is struggling both with production and focus.
So this is where I propose the White Sox new trade deadline plan.
I think the White Sox should be buyers at the deadline. What? KenWo are you looney? Maybe. But no. The first thing I do is call the Cincinnati Reds and see what the cost is for Todd Frazier. Do they want minor league pitchers like Erik Johnson, Frankie Montas or Tyler Danish? How about Tim Anderson? Micah Johnson? Trey Michalczewski? You know what? Let's throw in Avisail Garcia. In short, I don't think the White Sox should pause at any of their minor league talent or even Garcia.
Let's put a package together to acquire Frazier. He is signed through 2017. He is an All-Star. If Garcia goes in the package, you make the play on Yoenis Cespedes, Justin Upton or Jason Heyward to take his spot in free agency. Suddenly a team that can have a lineup of Eaton, Abreu, LaRoche, Frazier and Cespedes (Heyward or Upton) looks very formidable. In fact, I'm willing to bet that we can put some kind of deal that also includes Brandon Phillips and John Danks. Phillips indeed is nearing the end of the line but is still far and away a better player than we can field at this time. The Reds will be looking for someone to eat innings and as much money as Danks costs, it is cheaper overall than what Phillips costs.
Secondly, instead of trading Jeff Samardzija, I am trying to sign him. I liked how he fit into the White Sox rotation when they traded for him and I still like him there moving forward. He's not the top of the line guys that are available like David Price, Johnny Cueto, Zack Greinke (if he opts out) or Jordan Zimmermann. Cole Hamels will be another pitcher on the move this off-season. I think the White Sox could play the game of musical chairs and end up with Samardzija. If the White Sox need money to support this, they can find some of it in the way of declining Alexei Ramirez' option. Heck, if you add Frazier and one of those outfield bats, you can live with Sanchez at shortstop.
Back in 2004, the White Sox made a few trade deadline moves with Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez out for the season when they acquired Freddy Garcia and Jose Contreras to be part of the 2005 rotation. That team is coming back next month for an anniversary party and a big part of it was acquired at the deadline in 2004.
The White Sox committed this last off-season. There is no reason to stop now. Take the next step like Toronto did. Go ahead Rick, Kenny and Jerry. I say, double-down. Improvements are available. Todd Frazier is out there. Go get him.
Golf: I got a club for that: Watson wins playoff to take second Travelers title.
Reuters; Reporting by Tim Wharnsby; Editing by Ian Ransom/Andrew Both
Bubba Watson won his second Travelers Championship the same way as the first, at the second extra hole.
Watson beat Englishman Paul Casey in a playoff on Sunday at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Connecticut.
In notching his eighth victory on the PGA Tour, left-hander Watson matched Canadian Mike Weir for second on the all-time southpaw list. Only Phil Mickelson has more left-handed wins, at 42.
"My goal always has been to get to 10 career wins," said Watson, who has won five of six playoffs.
"In this day and age with all the talent in the world, double digits is a pretty good number."
"In 2010, I proved to myself that I could win and I could win in a playoff," Watson, 36, said.
The two-time Masters champion began the final round a shot behind 54-hole leader Brian Harman. Watson, however, started with back-to-back birdies to grab the lead and extended it with an eagle at the par-five 13th.
But Casey, playing in a group ahead, had the best round of the day going. He holed out from 126 yards to eagle the par-four third en route to a five-under 65. Casey and Watson (67) finished at 16-under 264.
Former world number three Casey has 12 official European Tour victories, but remains in search of his second PGA Tour win after his 2009 Houston Open triumph.
He and Watson both parred the first extra hole but an errant tee shot put Casey in trouble when they played the par-four 18th again.
Casey, who is married to English television presenter Pollyanna Woodward, found the greenside bunker with his second shot and then flew his sand shot over the green to make Watson's victory a formality.
Watson put his opponent out of his misery with a 10-foot birdie putt.
Harman, meanwhile, started slowly, but a birdie-birdie finish enabled him to finish third at 15-under, one shot out of the playoff.
He earned an exemption into next month's British Open at St. Andrews, as did Canadian Graham DeLaet, Swede Carl Pettersson and former world number one, Englishman Luke Donald.
Report: Va. golfer makes 3 aces, shoots 57.
By Will Gray
The report that appears on the website golfstylesonline.com is, to put it mildly, an eye-opener.
Michael Keating, publisher of the GolfStyles Media Group, bluntly states in his first paragraph, "What happened at Laurel Hill Golf Club in Lorton, Virginia, on June 22 has been met with incredulity, astonishment, outright disbelief and, eventually, incomprehension."
That about sums it up.
"What happened," according to Keating, is that Patrick Wills, a 59-year-old retired Marine, while playing in a 54-hole summer solstice tournament, shot a 57 in the second round, highlighted by three holes-in-one. Two of them came on par-4 holes.
Wills' three playing partners were witnesses: sons Charlie, an engineer, and Christopher, an Afghanistan combat veteran, as well as Air Force major Matt Ghormley.
Wills plays to a plus-4 handicap and he shot a 58 in this same event a few years back. He understands, however, that this report will be met with skepticism in some quarters.
“I’ve been around the world 10 or 12 times, fighting for this country’s freedom," he said. "People are allowed to believe what they want to believe - I fought for that freedom. But I know what I shot, my playing partners know what I shot and the people at the tournament do as well. I mean, I’m an accomplished amateur. I set my first course record when I was 16, shot a 65 or 66, and I’ve added a few since then. Anyone that has ever played a competitive round with me, they know what I’m capable of. They’ve seen it. So people are entitled to believe what they want, but I’ve always been drawn to golf because it aligns with my morals. I’d rather call a penalty on myself, or even disqualify myself, because I respect the game.”
Laurel Hill, a par-71 layout which hosted the 2013 U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship, was set up by Keating, the tournament director, to get easier as the day of endurance progressed, meaning players moved up a tee box with each subsequent round. The second round was played from the white tees, which measured 6,021 yards.
Wills birdied four of the first six holes, even dropping a shot on the par-3 fourth hole. But the highlights began on No. 7, a par-4 measuring 278 yards. Wills said he lasered the distance as 250 yards to the front of the green, hit a "baby-draw 3-wood" and then went to go find the ball.
"I was trying to be realistic, so I started looking on the back of the green," Wills said. "I was pleasantly surprised to say the least."
Wills made the turn in 29. Three holes later, he hit a driver on the 311-yard 10th hole. The shot looked pretty good, but Wills was still shocked when his playing partners told him the ball was in the hole - again.
"I literally said to myself, 'Get real.' I thought they were teasing me," he said. "Never in my wildest imagination did I think I could get multiple ones in the same round."
His imagination needed to get even wilder. He pulled up to the par-3 14th hole, playing 176 yards uphill, and jarred a 5-iron. At this point, Wills' playing partners were "dumbfounded," but he tried to keep calm.
"I still had four more holes to play," he said. "I knew I had a special round going, and I didn't want to throw that away."
Wills played his final four holes in 1 under to post a 14-under 57, but the score could have been even lower. He reached the green on the par-5 18th in two shots, only to three-putt from 18 feet, drawing similarities to Dustin Johnson's painful close the same day at the U.S. Open.
"I almost would say that I can empathize with him now," Wills said.
The round is an all-time best for Wills, but he is no stranger to low scores. He said he has carded "numerous" rounds of 59 and entered the day with 22 career aces, including four on par 4s. Those numbers have now been beefed up to 25 and six, respectively.
Wills also took a shot at the Champions Tour upon turning 50, but he wasn't able to make it out of qualifying and had to put his competitive aspirations to the side when his wife's health took a turn for the worse.
Gene Orrico, Laurel Hill's director of golf, verified the score for GolfChannel.com.
"He's a good stick. A very, very good player," Orrico said. "I've been playing for 43 years, throw one of those aces at me."
Wills had a short turnaround time before the third round, shooting a 5-under 66 from the gold tees to close out the 54-hole event. But it's the middle round of his solstice journey that remains an all-timer.
"I had never imagined anything like this in my whole life," he said. "I was literally out of my mind."
NASCAR: Kyle Busch wins at Sonoma; the race to the top 30 is on.
By Nick Bromberg
Kyle Busch has his win for Chase qualification. Now he needs to get into the top 30 in points.
Busch held off his brother Kurt for the win Sunday at Sonoma, his second-career win at the California road course.
Kyle restarted seventh when the race went back to green with eight laps to go because of Casey Mears' broken axle. More importantly, Busch was the second driver with fresh tires. Clint Bowyer was the only driver who pitted under the caution flag that started ahead of Busch.
Busch got past Bowyer three turns after the restart when Bowyer made contact with Busch's teammate, Matt Kenseth. Busch then went on a tear, passing drivers one-by-one until he got to leader Jimmie Johnson, who he dispatched with ease with six laps to go.
Kurt Busch got past Bowyer with a few laps to go but could get close enough to his brother's back bumper to make a challenge for the lead. It's the first time the two have finished 1-2 in a Sprint Cup Series race.
Kyle Busch missed the first 11 races of the season after he crashed in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona. After trying to work his way to the front with teammate Erik Jones, Busch's car spun and went sliding into the Daytona infield. His hit into a bare concrete wall broke his right leg and left foot. When he returned, NASCAR waived the requirement that he had to attempt every Sprint Cup Series race to make the Chase.
However, he still had plenty of work to do. Drivers with a win are virtually guaranteed a berth in NASCAR's playoffs; assuming those drivers are in the top 30 in points. By missing 11 races, Kyle Busch had an uphill climb to get into the top 30.
And the hlll had gotten steeper since his return. In his first four races back, Kyle finished 36th and 43rd in two of them. To get to the Chase based off the points pace of 30th-place Justin Allgaier, he had to average an 11th-place finish over the final 11 races of the regular season.
Oh, and get a win too. He now has that. But the points are still not in his favor. Cole Whitt is now in 30th with 261 points. Busch has 125 points. He needs to make up 136 points over the next 10 races.
Can he do it? It's a tall task. His race to the top 30 is now a big storyline for a series that's been deprived of them so far in 2015.
With the way Busch drove at Sonoma, we know better than to count him out of making the Chase. But one bad finish could ruin those Chase hopes. The next race on the Sprint Cup schedule? Yup, Daytona. A place where every driver knows just how quickly good runs can become bad finishes.
Tony Stewart struggling to end worst slump of career.
By JENNA FRYER
Tony Stewart spent a rare week off traveling across Ohio as the hands-on owner of a sprint car series.
He spent time with the officials in charge of the All Star Circuit of Champions, the promoters and made sure the product was top-notch. Stewart returned to his day job refreshed and ready to get back to work with his NASCAR team.
It took just one practice session at Sonoma Raceway for Stewart's moment of Zen to end with a resounding thud. The balance was off in the No. 14 Chevrolet - again - and his laps lagged far behind the leaders.
The three-time NASCAR champion is stuck in the worst season of his career, with no idea how to snap the slump. He'll start seventh in Sunday's race on the Sonoma road course.
''If I knew what to do, I would do it,'' he told The Associated Press. ''I don't even know what to do to fix the problem. We don't know what the problem is.''
Stewart knows the issue isn't SHR's cars. Reigning Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick is the current points leader and he and Kurt Busch have each won two races. Danica Patrick has shown speed and is higher in the standings than Stewart, her boss and co-owner of the race team.
Stewart is 26th in the points, with just one top-10 finish through 15 races. He believes his issues begin with NASCAR's current rules package, but also takes responsibility for his inability to adapt to the lower horsepower and higher downforce combination.
''I would say it's me and the package - for some reason it just doesn't suit what I am doing,'' he said. ''All the cars I grew up driving had a much higher power-to-weight ratio than what we have right now. I've never really been good with low-horsepower cars.
''It's not how I'm used to making a living.''
The ongoing cycle of trying to figure out how to get comfortable in the car, to make a plan with crew chief Chad Johnston that will give him the feel he needs, has been maddening for Stewart.
Asked by AP about his current level of confidence, Stewart admitted he's suffering.
''What's that? I should google that and see if I can find the meaning of that word,'' he said. ''I don't have any confidence.''
Stewart has not, however, lost confidence in Johnston, the crew chief who stepped into the job at the start of the 2014 season. He inherited a driver who had been sidelined almost six months with a broken leg suffered in a 2013 sprint car crash.
Stewart trudged through last season, a flash here and there, but his leg bugged him and his feel for the cars was suffering. It wasn't shaping up to be a good season even before the August sprint car accident in which Stewart struck and killed another driver.
Stewart owns his issues and his problems, and defends the job Johnston has done.
''Every week we come here, we are optimistic we are going to have a good week. There's not a week that I show up and don't think I can win,'' he said. ''Chad shows up every week trying something different. I feel like I'm holding him back. I'm holding this whole team back.''
Stewart has at least a small voice in moving NASCAR closer to a rules package that suits his style.
He was voted by his peers onto the newly formed driver council that has met with NASCAR at least once to discuss ways to improve the on-track product. Stewart is clearly in the corner of drivers pushing for less downforce, and he's adamant that NASCAR needs to quickly figure out how to address the aerodynamic issue that is making passing so difficult.
''Make the aero not as important and make the mechanical grip more important,'' he said. ''Mechanical grip doesn't know where the air is, doesn't know if there's a car in front of you or behind you or wherever. That's my two cents and it comes from 37 years of driving 25 different types of race cars - but that's apparently not enough information for them to consider that valid.''
His frustration with the rules package is evident, but he's pleased that NASCAR is open to listening for the first time in his career.
''For the first time in 17 years that I've been in this series, we actually have a group from NASCAR that says 'What do you guys think?''' Stewart said. ''I think it's one of the coolest times, even though it's kind of a crisis situation, it's cool to see NASCAR and the teams working together.''
Whether it's happening fast enough to help Stewart remains to be seen. He dismissed the idea that a good finish Sunday on the road course at Sonoma or next week at Daytona will be the spark to save his season - that can only be done with strong finishes on 1.5-mile tracks, which comprise the bulk of the NASCAR schedule.
And he didn't answer when asked how long he can continue to race in NASCAR while finding so little joy in the race-to-race results.
The only thing he's certain of right now is what it will take to turn this season around.
''It's going to take more than one race,'' he said. ''We could win a race anywhere right now, and I wouldn't say 'We've got it fixed, we found it.' Consistency is what I'm looking for more than that one win.
''I'd honestly rather have five top-fives than just one win right now.''
SOCCER: US defender Krieger ready for familiar foe Germany in meeting of world's top two teams.
By Jeff Kassouf
(Photo/Getty Images)
Ali Krieger says she isn’t quite as sharp as she once was at speaking German, but her words still earn a thumbs-up from fluent German reporters.
The United States national team defender is fluent herself, having spent the majority of her professional club playing career in Germany with 1. FFC Frankfurt. There, she won the treble – UEFA Champions League, Frauen-Bundesliga and German Cup – in her first season with the team, 2007-2008.
Krieger remained in Germany through mid-2012 (with a brief stint in the U.S. in 2009), so she is very familiar with many of Germany’s players, who will serve as opponents in Tuesday’s Women’s World Cup semifinal. And as the only fluent German speaker on the U.S. team, she should be able to understand some of her opponent’s communication.
“Yes, but I don’t know how quickly I’ll be able to tell my teammates,” Krieger says, drawing a laugh. She also joked that she’s played more with the German players than against them.
Tuesday marks the meeting of No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the world, for the right to play in the World Cup final in Vancouver next Sunday. The U.S. trained indoors on a windy, rainy and unseasonably cool day in Montreal on Sunday. U.S. defender Christie Rampone was the only player who sat out training, due to a quad strain; a U.S. Soccer spokesman called Rampone sitting “precautionary.”
Germany arrived to this stage of the competition by finishing atop a relatively easy group before throttling world No. 5 Sweden in the round of 16 and escaping world No. 3 France in penalty kicks after being largely outplayed on the day.
The U.S. took an inverted path, finishing atop the tournament’s Group of Death and then getting what objectively could be viewed as the weakest combination of opponents — Colombia and China — in the knockout stage compared to the other three semifinalists.
And now the Americans are in Montreal, where they always aimed to be at this stage of the tournament, to take on an old rival which seven months ago stripped them of their No. 1 spot in the FIFA world rankings. Those numbers won’t matter much come Tuesday.
“This is what this tournament is all about, and I really am so happy that we are playing against the No. 1 team in the world,” Krieger said. “I think this is what makes it so fun. This is why we’re here. We want to beat the best team in the world. To win the trophy, that’s what you have to do.”
Despite the rich history of both teams, the Americans are 18-4-7 all-time against Germany. Three times the world’s leading women’s soccer nations have met at the World Cup and on each occasion, the winner of this heavyweight bout has gone on to win the World Cup (USA in the inaugural 1991 tournament and again in 1999; Germany in 2003).
“I did see that statistic, but I don’t know if we sort of think about it like that,” U.S. midfielder Heather O’Reilly said. “I think both teams are focused on eyes on the prize.”
It has been over two years since the teams last met, a 3-3 draw in Offenbach, Germany on April 5, 2013. The Americans haven’t lost to Germany since the 2003 Women’s World Cup semifinals.
On Tuesday, these two programs look to advance on a path to a third Women’s World Cup title. The U.S. won in 1991 and 1999, but the drought is now at 16 years. Germany won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2007 before crashing out in the quarterfinals in 2011 on home soil. They remain the only two programs in the world where, realistically, anything short of a World Cup title remains a failure.
“This is why we train our entire lives and what we train our entire lives for. These are the moments,” Krieger says.
The stakes don’t get much higher than they will be on Tuesday.
FIFA Women's World Cup Canada. 2015 Score Summary. 6 June - 5 July, 2015.
Friday 26 June 2015
Quarter Finals
Germany 1
France 1
China PR 0
USA 1
Saturday 27 June 2015
Quarter Finals
Australia 0
Japan 1
England 2
Canada 1
NCAAFB: SEC commish Greg Sankey opens door for expanded return policy for NFL Draft.
By JJ Stankevitz
(Photo/Getty Images)
As things currently stand, eligible college football players have to declare for the NFL Draft or decide to stay in school by mid-January. It’s a binding decision — once a player declares, he has to go through the draft process, even if he’s not selected. Maybe an injury crops up in before the NFL Combine and he can’t participate in that event.
But SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, in talking to The Sporting News’ Matt Hayes, wouldn’t rule out an expanded policy to allow players to return to school after declaring for the NFL Draft, as is the case with the NBA and college basketball.
“It’s not something that has been made portable for other sports,” Sankey said, “but I would not forgo that that direction could be pursued.”There are plenty of reasons why this would seem to make sense. It’d help the NCAA’s image, for one, which hasn’t exactly been shone in a positive light recently. More importantly, though, if players were allowed to return to school after declaring for the draft — let’s say after the NFL Combine in late February — we may not see so many players go undrafted with eligibility still remaining.
The NFL Draft Advisory Board only gives out three grades: First round, second round and a recommendation to stay in school. That’s the only outside analysis players are afforded when deciding whether or not to declare, and it’s generally ambiguous and is delivered sometime in December, five months before the draft.
Even if a player gets that stay-in-school recommendation, there’s still plenty of money in being a third or fourth-round pick and solidly being on an NFL roster. There’s plenty of risk, too, in declaring early, getting to the combine and being told you’re more like a sixth- or seventh-round pick, if that.
The safe bet for players in that situation would be to stay in school. But why not afford them an opportunity to work out in front of NFL teams in Indianapolis and decide after that?
Of course, there are roadblocks. Hayes points out scholarship restrictions — the NFL Combine is held a few weeks after signing day in February, and having a player or two’s status up in the air could create massive headaches for coaches trying to complete a recruiting class. Bleacher Report’s Barrett Sallee, in talking to a recently undrafted underclassmen, points out the general awkwardness that’d come with returning after declaring.
And what happens to these players after they declare? Plenty of them head to Florida or Arizona or somewhere well off campus to train, but if the possibility of returning to school existed, wouldn’t they have to remain enrolled and remain on campus?
It wouldn’t be an easy fix. But for football’s sake, both at the college and pro level, it’s a step in the right direction this discussion is even being had.
USBWA, North Carolina announce creation of Dean Smith Award.
By Raphielle Johnson
(Photo/AP)
The impact that the late North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith had on college basketball and society in general goes well beyond the 879 games and two national titles he won during his time in Chapel Hill. He was active in protests against segregation while also recruiting the school’s first African-American scholarship athlete in Charles Scott, and overall there were a number of causes he championed while also being one of the sport’s greatest coaches.
With that in mind the United States Basketball Writers Association and the University of North Carolina jointly announced the creation of the Dean Smith Award. The honor, which will be awarded annually, will be given to a person in college basketball (all levels, not just Division I) who best exemplifies “the spirit and values represented” by Coach Smith.
“The USBWA has a long history of supporting college basketball and honoring the men and women who make our game great, so I am thrilled that the USBWA would honor Coach Smith’s legacy with this award,” current UNC head coach Roy Williams said in the release. “The award will be especially meaningful because its criteria go beyond winning games in selecting people in college basketball who have made a significant impact on their communities.
“It recognizes the profound impact Coach Smith had on so many lives. I am proud that Carolina is teaming with the USBWA to establish the award and honor the recipients here in Chapel Hill.”
Per the release, the award will be given out at a dinner on the North Carolina campus just before the start of that particular season, with proceeds from the dinner going to the Dean Smith Opening Doors Fund. The fund aims to help students from low-income families with college expenses and professionals involved in the fields of education and social work.
NCAABKB: NCAA approves travel expense program a for another year.
By Rob Dauster
The NCAA announced on Friday that they have extended the family travel expense program for another year.
That means that the association will pay for the travel expenses for the families of the men’s and women’s basketball teams that reach the Final Four in 2016.
The reimbursements works like this: schools can pay out $3,000 to the family members of the players that reach the national semifinals and another $1,000 for the families of the players that reach the national title game.
“This program was a great benefit for the student-athletes and their families, and we want to make sure next year’s championship participants have the same family support available to them,” said Dan Guerrero, chair of the Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and athletics director at the UCLA.
The schools will distribute the funds to the family members, much the way that they did in 2015.
In 2013, the NCAA opted to give preferential — and free — seating to family members of the players involved in the Final Four, and in 2014, they hosted a special reception for the families. Anyone that has been to a Final Four knows how expensive it can get, and ensuring that the family members of the players can afford to watch their children, brothers and/or sisters play is a good decision in every way.
Tennessee set to make move to a lone 'Lady Vols' team.
By STEVE MEGARGEE
Tennessee's decision to eliminate the Lady Volunteers nickname in all sports but basketball is the latest move in a nationwide trend of schools moving away from separate team monikers for men and women.
The difference this time is the level of protests.
Tennessee announced in November that all women's teams - other than its storied basketball squad - would be nicknamed the Volunteers and would adopt the ''Power T'' logo used by the men's teams starting in 2015-16. Tennessee officials said it is an attempt at branding consistency.
Opponents have been vocal.
Fans sent a petition to Tennessee President Joe DiPietro seeking to preserve the Lady Vols nickname and logo for all women's sports. Susan Whitlow, a Lady Vols basketball season ticket-holder who helped spearhead the drive, said the petition now has over 16,000 signatures. Rallies have been held before games and Board of Trustees meetings, and the bringbacktheladyvols.com website includes about 35 letters from former Tennessee athletes.''I think they underestimated the anger they've caused in the Lady Vol fan base,'' said Tennessee state Rep. Roger Kane, whose daughter Holly was a track team member from 2007-11.
Tennessee's choice isn't unusual.
An Associated Press survey of all 65 schools from the five major conferences found that at least 28 had separate nicknames for men's and women's teams at some point in their histories. Only seven continue that practice, and in most cases they only have separate nicknames for certain women's teams. Texas Tech uses the Lady Raiders for women's teams in sports that also have men's teams: basketball, tennis, golf, track and cross country. LSU uses a similar strategy. An eighth school, Southern California, uses Trojans and Women of Troy interchangeably.
The only school other than Tennessee to have separate nicknames for all women's teams is Oklahoma State, where the men are the Cowboys and women's teams are the Cowgirls.
Tennessee's official transition date is July 1 to coincide with its switch to Nike as its apparel provider. Nike had conducted a brand audit of Tennessee that suggested maintaining the Lady Vols nickname and logo would be inconsistent with the university's ''One Tennessee'' theme.
School officials said Nike offered no formal recommendations and that the university made this decision on its own.
''We're moving as one,'' athletic director Dave Hart said. ''We've adopted the 'One Tennessee' mantra, if you will, and we're moving forward as one. It's been very gratifying internally because it's very real. We've become one Tennessee.''
Critics say the change takes away something that set Tennessee apart from other schools and damages a tradition that had been built for decades. School officials noted the women's basketball program will continue to be known as the Lady Vols out of respect for the legacy established by former coach Pat Summitt, who led Tennessee to eight national titles. That doesn't sound right to those who believe the nickname should be used for all women's teams.
''They said they were going to create a huge rebranding of the athletic department and turn it into this 'One Tennessee' brand,'' said Leslie Cikra, a former Tennessee volleyball player who started savetheladyvols.com. ''Keeping women's basketball as the Lady Volunteers completely refutes their argument that they're trying to rebrand.''
At least one women's group has no problems with the switch.
Deborah Slaner Larkin, the chief executive of the Women's Sports Foundation, would like to see all schools remove the ''Lady'' tags from nicknames of women's teams. Larkin said using the ''Lady'' term at the front of a nickname ''makes it seem not as important'' as the men's teams.
''You have to treat them equally,'' Larkin said. ''It's from the top down. When women are differentiated from men, it looks like the men are the top line and the women are second. We know that's not true. Women should be treated equally. It all comes down to respect. While people might not think they're denigrating women or the female athletes by doing that, we feel it is such.''
Some backers of the Lady Vols logo say Tennessee represents a special case because of the tradition and brand established by Summitt.
''It's their name,'' said Mollie DeLozier, who has helped lead rallies to preserve the Lady Vols nickname and logo. ''It's what they're known by. It's the rich history they have. You take that away, that's taking away part of someone's identity.''
Here's why the players at Wimbledon have to wear all white.
By Dennis Green
Roger Federer playing in Wimbledon, 2014. (Photo/Getty Images)
The players must wear white. All white. It's tradition.
The All-England Club, where the tournament is played, takes this rule very seriously.
The dress code dates back to the 1800s, when tennis was played at social gatherings.The sight of sweat spots through colored clothing was thought unseemly, especially for women, and "tennis whites" became an institution.
Wimbledon has carried on this strong tradition, even after the US Open allowed colored clothing in 1972.
Included in the decree are new rules revolving around the wearing of white, including stipulations like:
- "White does not include off-white or cream."
- There can only be “a single trim of color no wider than one centimeter.”
- "Any [colored] undergarments that either are or can be visible during play (including due to perspiration)” are not allowed.
In 2013's tournament, seven-time Wimbledon champ Roger Federer was told his orange-soled shoes were too much and he would need to switch them for the next match. "My personal opinion: I think it’s too strict," Federer said in a press conference.
Players have also claimed Wimbledon's argument of upholding tradition doesn't hold water. In 2014, Martina Navratilova — who has won the tournament nine times — was told the blue stripes on her skirt crossed the line. She questioned how that was possible, since she's worn the same type of outfits at Wimbledon throughout her long and storied career. Some of the pieces are even held by the Wimbledon Museum.
“I think they’ve gone too far,” she told The New York Times.
Looking ahead to Breeders' Cup Classic with American Pharoah.
By RICHARD ROSENBLATT
Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Then again, let's.
The Breeders' Cup is just about four months away, and if Triple Crown winner American Pharoah shows up for the $5 million Classic as planned, the race could turn into one of the biggest celebrations in the sport's history.
Mark the date: Saturday, Oct. 31; and the place: Keeneland Racecourse, Lexington, Kentucky.
''I'm sitting here, knocking wood,'' Breeders' Cup President Craig Fravel said Thursday. ''A lot of us in the industry are enjoying the triumph right now. Our first thought is let's keep our fingers crossed, and that he's in good form coming into the Classic.''
American Pharoah's next start since winning the Belmont Stakes on June 6 has yet to be decided, although trainer Bob Baffert has been clear that the Classic would be the colt's final race before he's retired to Ashford Stud, about 15 miles down the road from Keeneland.
The 3-year-old bay colt became the first horse to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 37 years, joining an exclusive 12-member club that includes Secretariat, Citation, Whirlaway and Affirmed. Since the Breeders' Cup didn't begin until 1984, it would be a first for racing's championships - now a two-day, 12-race affair - to host a Triple Crown winner.
It wasn't long after American Pharoah blew away the field in the Belmont that the Breeders' Cup began touting his try for a ''Grand Slam''' in the Classic. And why not? It's a term sports fans know well, from baseball to golf to tennis.
''It popped into our heads right after (the Belmont),'' Fravel said. ''We haven't had a Triple Crown, so it's not like we were waiting 10 years to whip out the term.''
The Classic is North America's richest race, and usually draws the top horses in training, 3-years-old and up. Last year, Bayern gave Baffert his first win in the Classic.
This year's field could be a doozy, especially if 2014 Derby and Preakness winner California Chrome returns to form and makes the race. In his Triple attempt, he finished fourth in the Belmont and then ran third in the Classic.
Among others under Classic consideration are 3-year-olds Firing Line, Dortmund, Frosted and Carpe Diem; and older horses Commissioner, Lea and Moreno.
Firing Line was second in the Derby and seventh in the Preakness, while Dortmund - also trained by Baffert - was 6-0 before running third in the Derby and fourth in the Preakness.
History does not bode well for Derby winners in the Classic. The last to win was Unbridled in 1990, with the current run at 0 for 13 - including three who ran in the Classic twice, Unbridled (1991), Strike the Gold (1991, 1992) and Funny Cide (2003, 2004).
The field for the 1 1/4-mile Classic is limited to 14 starters. Noble Bird has already qualified for a spot with his recent win in the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs. Another ''win and you're in''' race is Saturday's Gold Cup at Santa Anita.
For now, American Pharoah is back in Baffert's barn at Santa Anita. After the seventh race on Gold Cup day, he's scheduled to make a public appearance and be paraded for the crowd. He's then scheduled to resume training, with his next start still unclear.
It appears the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 2 in New Jersey is the favorite. Others under consideration include the Jim Dandy at Saratoga on Aug. 1 in upstate New York, the Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 22 in California and the Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 29.
When the Breeders' Cup decided to bring its event to historic Keeneland for the first time, Fravel said the reasoning was to celebrate the horse from birth to the breeding shed. And so it seems fitting that American Pharoah's father, Pioneer of the Nile, is a leading sire at WinStar Farm in nearby Versailles, Kentucky, and the Triple Crown winner will stand at stud on a farm near the track.
''It fits right in with the theme,'' Fravel said.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, June 29, 2015.
Memoriesofhistory.com
1897 - The Chicago Cubs scored 36 runs in a game against Louisville, setting a record for runs scored by a team in a single game.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio got a base hit in his 42nd consecutive game. He broke George Sisler's record from 1922.
1958 - Brazil defeated Sweden 5-2 in the World Cup. Pelé, at age 17, scored a goal in the game.
1998 - With negotiations on a new labor agreement at a standstill, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that a lockout would be imposed at midnight.
*****************************************************************