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:
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. ~ Calvin Coolidge, The 30th President of the United States of America.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Time's getting tight for salary cap-squeezed Blackhawks.
By Allan Muir
Stan Bowman is figuring out what former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli learned the hard way last summer.
Clearing cap space is hard to do.
Bowman’s Blackhawks currently sit roughly $718,000 over the cap, according to General Fanager. That’s not a problem today. Teams can carry salaries that total up to 10% over the cap during the off-season. They simply have to be in compliance by Oct. 7.
But Bowman also wants to clear space to re-sign free agents Johnny Oduya and Marcus Kruger. And that’s going to require some deep cuts.
That also means that Patrick Sharp, Bryan Bickell and Kris Versteeg might want to retain the services of a reputable realtor. For Chicago to ensure compliance with the salary cap, one or more of those veterans must be wearing a different sweater come opening night. The trick for Bowman is that no one seems all that interested in taking his problems off his hands.
The Hawks would love to move Bickell and his $4 million cap hit, but the 29-year-old winger is coming off a pair of unproductive seasons. It’s possible that he could be dealt if Chicago retained, say, 50% of his salary, but that would be only a stopgap move.
Versteeg counts just $2.2 million against the cap—the Panthers are paying half his salary—and showed in the first half of last season (27 points in 33 games), and again in the Stanley Cup Final against the Lightning, that he can be a valuable middle-six player. Again, moving him could get the Blackhawks under the cap, but it would be a short-term solution.
That’s why moving Sharp is viewed as the most appealing option. He carries a cap hit of $5.9 million both this year and next, and while he has a no-trade clause, that’s not expected to be a problem.
Clearing cap space is hard to do.
Bowman’s Blackhawks currently sit roughly $718,000 over the cap, according to General Fanager. That’s not a problem today. Teams can carry salaries that total up to 10% over the cap during the off-season. They simply have to be in compliance by Oct. 7.
But Bowman also wants to clear space to re-sign free agents Johnny Oduya and Marcus Kruger. And that’s going to require some deep cuts.
That also means that Patrick Sharp, Bryan Bickell and Kris Versteeg might want to retain the services of a reputable realtor. For Chicago to ensure compliance with the salary cap, one or more of those veterans must be wearing a different sweater come opening night. The trick for Bowman is that no one seems all that interested in taking his problems off his hands.
The Hawks would love to move Bickell and his $4 million cap hit, but the 29-year-old winger is coming off a pair of unproductive seasons. It’s possible that he could be dealt if Chicago retained, say, 50% of his salary, but that would be only a stopgap move.
Versteeg counts just $2.2 million against the cap—the Panthers are paying half his salary—and showed in the first half of last season (27 points in 33 games), and again in the Stanley Cup Final against the Lightning, that he can be a valuable middle-six player. Again, moving him could get the Blackhawks under the cap, but it would be a short-term solution.
That’s why moving Sharp is viewed as the most appealing option. He carries a cap hit of $5.9 million both this year and next, and while he has a no-trade clause, that’s not expected to be a problem.
What is a problem is finding a taker. If Bowman held out any hope that a bidding war might erupt for the high level, versatile forward, those chances ended when the Penguins acquired Phil Kessel and the Capitals added Justin Williams and T.J. Oshie. Without those Eastern Conference rivals in the mix, interest in Sharp has been tepid. So, o might take him on?
Florida might seem like an obvious option. GM Dale Tallon is a frequent trading partner and has plenty of cap space. He also has a team that’s leaning young and might benefit from Sharp’s veteran presence. The only problem with that theory is that the Panthers don’t appear to be interested.
The Islanders are reportedly out as well. Garth Snow’s top need at the moment is a veteran defenseman.
The Canadiens are another club that is mentioned as a possible destination for Sharp, but they have cap problems of their own. Montreal has to work out a deal with Alex Galchenyuk and has just over $7 million in cap space. That’s enough to sign the promising restricted free agent (RFA), but it wouldn’t leave enough room to add Sharp without making other moves that could significantly weaken the team.
The Rangers? They have over $10 million to work with, but only nine forwards under contract. RFA center Derek Stepan is going to eat up more than half of that.
Boston? The Bruins need another forward, but after engineering several moves to create $5 million in space they’re not going to splurge on Sharp and put themselves back in cap hell.
The Flyers? They’d benefit from bringing Sharp back but have even less cap space than Boston.
That leaves Bowman with a small group of talent-challenged teams to work with. The Sabres are in the midst of one of the most dramatic makeovers in years and could be in the mix. The Devils’ offense ranked among the league’s worst last season and they’re desperate to upgrade their talent. The Maple Leafs might view Sharp as another asset to be cashed in at the deadline.
None of these teams are likely to floor Bowman with their offers, but at this point what he receives is secondary to the cap space a trade would clear this year and next, when top-four defenseman Brent Seabrook will be looking for a sizable raise.
The return for Sharp might be a couple of picks now, but his value will only decrease as the summer wears on. As Chiarelli learned last year, no one’s in a rush to help a top team out of a salary-cap jam. The longer Bowman waits, the tougher it’ll be to create the space he needs.
By C. Roumeliotis
The Blackhawks have signed forward Dennis Rasmussen to a one-year contract, the team announced Thursday.
Rasmussen, 25, registered 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 73 regular-season games with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League last season. The Swedish native had previously spent three years in the Swedish Hockey League with the Växjö Lakers, where he compiled 40 goals and 45 assists in 149 career games, including 40 points in 2013-14 which ranked 10th in the league.
Rasmussen also helped Team Sweden capture the bronze medal in the 2010 World Junior Championships and 2014 World Championships.
The Blackhawks still have some salary shedding to do this offseason, but continue to sign depth players at a low cost which will certainly come in handy next season.
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session... McDermott, Portis headline Bulls' Summer League roster.
By Mark Strotman
Doug McDermott
The Bulls announced their official Summer League roster, headlined by first round draft picks Bobby Portis (2015) and Doug McDermott (2014). Fred Hoiberg will coach the 12-man roster.
The Bulls begin play on July 11 against first overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns and the Minnesota Timberwolves at 5:30 p.m. CT. They'll then square off against the Toronto Raptors on July 12 at 5 p.m. CT, followed by a date with the Brooklyn Nets on July 14 at 4 p.m. After those three preliminary games the Bulls will be seeded in a 24-team tournament to determine the champion on July 20. Each team is guaranteed at least five games.
Here's a look at the Bulls Summer League roster.
Cameron Bairstow, F, New Mexico
The first-year power forward appeared in 18 games for the Bulls last year, including one start.
Vander Blue, G, Marquette
A former teammate of Jimmy Butler's at Marquette, the second-year guard played in two games for the banged up Lakers. He went for 15 points, seven rebounds and eight assists in 48 minutes against the Kings on April 15.
Cristiano Felicio, F, Brazil
The 6-foot-9 Felicio went undrafted in 2015. He averaged 5.5 points and 4.9 rebounds in 48 games for Flamengo in the Brazilian NBB League. Flamengo won the 2014-15 championship.
Ramon Galloway, G, La Salle
The A-10's second leading scorer in 2013, the 6-foot-3 guard has played overseas the past two seasons. He competed with the Nuggets during the 2013-14 Summer League.
Diante Garrett, G, Iowa State
A former Cyclone under Fred Hoiberg, Garrett appeared in 71 games for the Utah Jazz last season, averaging 3.5 points and 1.7 assists in 14.8 minutes per game.
Amere May, G, Delaware State
The MEAC's leading scorer as a senior, the 6-foot-1 point guard averaged 21.0 points and 2.6 assists per game before going undrafted in 2015.
Doug McDermott, F, Creighton
The Bulls' 2014 first-round pick will get an extended look from Hoiberg after appearing in just 36 games as a rookie.
Tyrus McGee, G, Iowa State
Another Cyclone under Hoiberg, McGee played in Germany and Italy last season, averaging 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 28 games.
Bobby Portis, F, Arkansas
The Bulls' 2015 first-round pick averaged 17.5 points and 8.9 rebounds as a sophomore at Arkansas and was named the SEC Player of the Year.
T.J. Price, G, Western Kentucky
The 6-foot-4 Price led C-USA in 3-point field goal percentage (41.3 percent), averaging 17.1 points and 4.0 assists before going undrafted in 2015.
Rayvonte Rice, G, Illinois
The Fighting Illini's leading scorer a year ago (16.5 points per game) also shot 47 percent from the field, including better than 43 percent from beyond the arc in 2014-15.
Darrell Williams, F, Texas A&M-Commerce
A Chicago native, Williams averaged 18.5 points and 12.4 rebounds in 32 games for the Division II Lions.
NBA 2015-16 salary cap rises to all-time high of $70 million.
By BRIAN MAHONEY
The NBA salary cap was set Wednesday for next season at $70 million, a higher-than-expected number that paves the way for free agent contracts to be signed.
The league said the cap increased by 11 percent from last season's $63.1 million and the 2015-16 cap will be the highest ever - though it will be shattered next summer. It had been projected to come in closer to $67 million until recently.
With the cap set, the league's moratorium will be lifted at midnight, and deals and trades that were agreed to since free agency opened on July 1 can become official beginning Thursday at 12:01 a.m. EDT.
Also, the tax level increased 10.3 percent to $84.7 million. Teams whose payrolls exceed it will be subjected to penalties.
The salary cap is derived in part on league revenues. It is expected to vault to about $90 million for the 2016-17 season, when the league's new national TV contracts begin.
In the meantime, there's plenty of money for teams and players next season. Maximum salaries will rise, because they are based on a percentage of the cap, depending on a player's years of service.
LeBron James, should he sign for the max, would make $23 million next season with more than 10 years in the league.
There will be three spending exceptions available to teams. The non-taxpayer mid-level for this season is $5.5 million, the taxpayer mid-level is $3.4 million and the mid-level for a team with room under the salary cap is $2.8 million.
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!! Alshon Jeffery snubs Jay Cutler, Bears offense to workout with former teammate Brandon Marshall. What's your take?
By Sam Householder
Last season the Bears were undone by a tsunami of factors, one of which was the health of key players. Injuries are an unavoidable part of contact sports, but can the team get healthier? (Photo/Robert Deutsch USA TODAY Sports)
I came across an article last week that was actually first published in March of this year. How it slipped past me I don't know but it was full of interesting information i thought was worth digging into.
Football Outsiders has an Adjusted Games Lost metric which can determine how teams were affected by injuries. They do this by accounting for players on the injury report who played, and give more weight to starters and key contributors than to injured benchwarmers.
Before I jump back to some of the trends, I'll get you the Bears' ranks. The Bears finished last season 27th in AGL with 101.6, a steep drop from their 14th ranked AGL in 2013 of 62.4. The vast majority of those AGLs were on defense (60.6 AGL, ranked 26th in the league) while they actually ranked worse for offensive injuries (27th) with fewer AGLs (41.0).
The Bears lost Charles Tillman early in the year and Lance Briggs at the midway point. Kyle Fuller played through a couple of injuries. They also lost games from Jeremiah Ratliff, Chris Conte and Jared Allen, among others. On offense they missed Kyle Long, Matt Slauson, Jordan Mills, Jermon Bushrod and Roberto Garza at various points. Alshon Jeffery played through an injury, as did Brandon Marshall before landing on IR late in the year.
Now, the first thing that jumps out to me is that many people would say that injuries are a matter of being lucky or unlucky, because one year a team can get a rash of injuries to a bunch of starters and it just sinks their season; then there are years where teams, for whatever reason, don't suffer those debilitating injuries and remain healthy.
SharpFootballAnalysis.com took FO's metrics and put them into some awesome easy to read charts. For starters you will notice that there is a degree of randomness or luck to injuries because in 2013 the Denver Broncos scored 83.6 AGL, ranking 25th but last season finished first with only 36.9 AGL. The Broncos overcame a lot of injuries on their Super Bowl run but last season, when healthier, still managed to be one-and-done in the postseason.
On the other end of things, the Green Bay Packers of 2013 were second-to-last in AGL with 103 AGL, but rebounded last year to finish third with 41.9 and then they went on to the NFC Championship Game. So clearly injuries can factor in to a team's season, but not always to the detriment fans and analysts believe.
Then there is the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles lead the league in health over the past two years. Eagles coach Chip Kelly is noted for bringing sports science to Philly with him and it seems to be paying dividends. From FootballOutsiders:
Philadelphia, noted for Chip Kelly's foray into sports science last year, had the best AGL in 2013 and ranked fifth this season. They are only the third team since 2002 to lead the league in AGL and finish in the top five the following season. Maybe this team is onto something with preventing soft tissue injuries. The big problems for the Eagles were focused along the offensive line, plus a broken collarbone for Nick Foles and a torn Achilles for DeMeco Ryans. Sometimes bones are going to break in tackles regardless of how much prep work goes into each week.
In a copycat league with more and more teams turning to sabermetrics like AGL, if Kelly keeps his team in the top five in AGL, look at other teams to turn to sports science and hiring "sports science coordinators."
As for the Bears, the new regime was concerned about the number of soft tissue injuries under the Phil Emery/Marc Trestman regime and brought wholesale changes to the program this offseason. There are a couple of charts on the Smart Football Analysis link that illustrate the regression the Bears took as their AGL spiked last season. It's ironic too that coach Fox overhauled the conditioning department, seeing as former GM Emery actually was a conditioning coach at one point in his career.
Ideally the team will immediately reap the benefits of these changes and be healthier this season. SFA does list the Bears as a team that should improve based on the law of averages:
Some specific teams of interest who theoretically "should" be healthier in 2015, who were well below league averages in 2014, include:
49ers - were at 82 AGL in 2013 with 12 wins, but dropped to 102 in 2014 and registered only 8 wins.
Bears - dropped from 8 to 5 wins while moving from 62 AGL down to 102 in 2014.
As is the case with most advanced stats, they tell only part of the story; health goes a long way in determining success but who is healthy and who is not goes a long way too, as does coaching and players, etc.
What catches your eye about the Bears' injuries and their outlook for 2015?
Federal judge orders cancellation of Redskins trademark registration.
By Ryan Wilson
This isn't the first time the Redskins have had their trademark registration canceled. (Photo/USATSI)
A federal judge in Northern Virginia ordered the cancellation of the Washington Redskins federal trademark registrations on Wednesday, according to the Washington Post. The decision comes 12 months after the United States Patent and Trademark Office canceled the Redskins' trademark registration because it considered the team's name “disparaging to Native Americans."
More from the Post:
The cancellation doesn't go into effect until the Redskins have exhausted the appeals process in the federal court system. But even if the Redskins ultimately took the case to the Supreme Court and lost, the team can still use “Redskins” and seek trademark protections under state law. The team has argued, however, that a cancellation of its trademarks could taint its brand and remove legal benefits that would protect against copycat entrepreneurs.U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee's decision affirmed an earlier ruling last year by the federal Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, which voted 2-to-1 that "Redskins" was offensive to Native Americans and ineligible under the Lanham Act for status in the federal trademark registry.
"This is a huge victory," Jesse Witten, one of the attorneys for the Native Americans, told the Post. "Getting this ruling from a U.S. District judge is a watershed event. The team has been fighting this case so hard and leaving no stone unturned and scorching every square inch of earth that it's hard to imagine they will not appeal."
A Redskins spokesperson told the Post that the team is reviewing the decision and considering its legal options.
In June 2014, shortly after Patent Office's decision to cancel the team's trademark registration, Redskins trademark attorney, Bob Raskopf, issued this statement: "We've seen this story before. And just like last time, today's ruling will have no effect at all on the team's ownership of and right to use the Redskins name and logo. We are confident we will prevail once again, and that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's divided ruling will be overturned on appeal."
There's still a chance that could happen (it happened 16 years ago when a judge ruled in favor of the Redskins), but what are the implications for the team if the ruling is upheld?
As USAToday.com explained last year: "The effect would be large because federally registered trademarks keep others from selling items with the team's logos, although even then the team could try to keep unauthorized merchandisers from using the marks through common law and state statues."
NFL games coming to London EPL club Tottenham's new stadium.
By ROB HARRIS
The NFL will stage at least two regular-season games each season at Premier League club Tottenham's new London stadium over a 10-year period under a deal announced Wednesday.
Tottenham is hoping to move into a new 61,000-seat venue adjacent to its current White Hart Lane stadium in 2018. It will feature a retractable grass field with an artificial surface underneath that would be used for American football.
''With growing enthusiasm for the NFL in the United Kingdom, we are committed to hosting NFL games in world-class venues and are excited to partner with Tottenham Hotspur to play games at their future stadium,'' NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said the Tottenham deal will ''help us take another step towards our goal of having a permanent NFL franchise here.''
The NFL currently has two years remaining on its deal with Wembley Stadium, the 90,000-seat north London venue where 11 regular-season games have been played since 2007. England's national soccer stadium will host three more NFL games this year.
The NFL said it was ''optimistic'' the relationship with Wembley would be extended beyond 2016, with the 10-year Tottenham deal not preventing games being played elsewhere in Britain.
The Jacksonville Jaguars has a four-season deal, which expires in 2016, to play at least one-regular season home game at Wembley. The Jaguars have been touted as a potential future London franchise, given that owner Shad Khan bought London soccer club Fulham in 2013.
''We've seen incredible growth in the Jaguars' international following that can be traced specifically to our agreement to play a home game at Wembley Stadium through 2016,'' Khan said in a statement, which didn't detail the Jaguars' post-2016 plans in the British capital.
Although Tottenham will be rivaling Wembley as an NFL venue, the team might need to use the venue to play games during the final phase of construction work at its home for the last 116 years.
Although Tottenham will be rivaling Wembley as an NFL venue, the team might need to use the venue to play games during the final phase of construction work at its home for the last 116 years.
Tottenham has been trying to move out of White Hart Lane for several years, with the 36,000-capacity hampering the club's money-making abilities. North London rival Arsenal has been playing for almost a decade at the Emirates Stadium, which has around 60,000 seats.
''We have an opportunity now to deliver one of the most unique sporting and entertainment venues in the world, bringing together the EPL and NFL for the first time,'' Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy said.
Tottenham failed in a bid to take over London's Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. It will become the new home of Premier League club West Ham in 2016 and is also seeking NFL games.
Cubs, White Sox enter Crosstown series on different paths.
By JJ Stankevitz
Cubs Manager Joe Maddon (L), White Sox Manager Robin Ventura (R)
Joe Maddon caused a minor uproar on the South Side when he dared to compliment the White Sox on Wednesday.
“I look at their lineup, and I know these guys. They’re good,” Maddon said. “They’re really good. I’ve seen it firsthand.”
The White Sox offense hasn’t been good this year — there’s no way to sugarcoat that, not when it’s scored 3.45 runs per game and only managed two runs against Toronto Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, who entered his start Thursday at U.S. Cellular Field with a 5.02 ERA. But Maddon’s positivity isn’t without merit, not while guys like Melky Cabrera, who’s played much better lately, Adam LaRoche and Alexei Ramirez hit well below their career averages.
That’s the dilemma facing the White Sox right now: Should the team enter sell mode over the next few weeks, or should Rick Hahn & Co. continue to wait for an under-performing offense to start hitting at the level they expected coming into the season?
“It is hard having now seen this for 81 games, to not trust what your eyes are showing you,” Hahn said earlier this week. “And it’s showing you it’s not clicking for whatever reason and you’ve got to change this mix.
“Those are the two avenues in front of us right now.”
The White Sox, at this point, just need wins. After Jeff Samardzija’s four-hit shutout of Toronto on Thursday, they’re 39-44 — which leaves them one extended hot streak away from legitimately climbing back into the AL Wild Card race. It also leaves them one extended losing streak away from possibly seeing some of their teammates dealt in the coming weeks.
“We know the situation,” first baseman Jose Abreu said through a translator. “We know what part of the year we are in. But we don’t have the power to control it. We just have to play our game and let the front office do their job.”
The Cubs are in a decidedly different position heading into this weekend’s three-game Crosstown series at Wrigley Field.
The questions on Clark and Addison center around who the Cubs should consider adding at the trade deadline. The Cubs could always use more pitching to solidify their status as legitimate Wild Card contenders.
A young, talented roster enters the weekend with a healthy 46-38 record and three-game lead on the New York Mets for the second Wild Card spot. The San Francisco Giants, the defending champions, are fading while the Arizona Diamondbacks and Atlanta Braves have done well to hang around .500 and the playoff race.
But the Cubs aren’t getting ahead of themselves as they try to end a seven-year postseason drought.
“It’s only a half,” All-Star third baseman Kris Bryant said. “I think we have a long way to go, but we’re playing pretty good.”
This is a team that was legitimately disappointed to not take a four-game series from the first-place Cardinals this week, with Jhonny Peralta’s go-ahead two-run home run in the ninth inning Wednesday a gutting blow to the clubhouse. That was the kind of game the Cubs feel like they’ll have to win to stay in the playoff race and make and impact in October.
While the White Sox enter this weekend squarely below .500, they do represent another important hurdle for the Cubs to clear. This is a team that’s played well against teams like the Pirates (6-4) and Mets (7-0) but has struggled against a handful of teams near the bottom of their respective divisions.
“If you really want to play in October and you believe that’s your goal, then you have to — the teams that are really, really good right now that are playing at a high level, of course, you’re almost looking to stay with them," Maddon said. "The teams that are not playing that well, there’s probably a reason why they are not. You really do need to take advantage of those moments.”
But Crosstown games can be unpredictable. The Cubs were eight games over .500 in 1999 before the White Sox dealt them a three-game sweep at Wrigley Field — and by the time the series returned to the South Side, the Cubs were four games under .500. The two teams split six games in 2005, four months before the White Sox went on to win the World Series.
While you’ll hear refrains of "it’s just another game” emanating from the home and away clubhouses at Wrigley Field over the next few days, there is a different dynamic to these games — even with both the Cubs and White Sox at different positions heading into the weekend.
“Everybody downplays it,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said, “but there’s always a little more energy in either stadium, whichever one you’re playing in, when you’re playing in those games.”
Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant To Compete In Home Run Derby.
cbschicago.com
Kris Bryant, left, is congratulated by Anthony Rizzo. (Getty Images)
Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo and third baseman Kris Bryant will compete in the Home Run Derby on Monday night as part of the festivities at the All-Star Game at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
It will be the first time each player has participated in the Derby. Rizzo is making his second All-Star appearance, while the rookie Bryant is making his debut. Rizzo has 16 homers this season, tied for 20th in baseball. Bryant has 12 homers, though he missed nearly two weeks at the start of the season because of service time considerations.
Bryant hasn’t “officially” asked his father, Mike, to pitch to him in the Derby, he said in an ESPN interview, but it’s likely that’s who he’ll choose. Bryant admitted the two had talked through the years how cool it would be for Mike to pitch to his son.
In a new format, Rizzo is the sixth seed and faces Toronto’s Josh Donaldson in the first round. Bryant is the eighth seed and will face the Los Angeles Angels’ Albert Pujols in the first round. There’s eight players in the field, and they were seeded by home run totals.
This season, the Derby will be a bracket-style, single-elimination competition. It will also have timed rounds, with each player getting five minutes to hit as many homers as he can. There’s no longer a set number of “outs” that brings a player’s round to a close.
Participants can also receive bonus time for hitting two homers in the same round projected at 420 feet or more or one homer projected at 475 feet or more.
By Brendan Kennedy
Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija. (Photo: Jeff Haynes/AP)
Before Thursday’s series finale against the White Sox, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was asked for his thoughts on Chicago’s starting pitcher Jeff Samardzija, whom the Jays have reportedly pursued as a trade target.
“We’d love to have him,” Gibbons said unabashedly, perhaps hoping his general manager could somehow pull off a trade for the six-foot-five Indiana native in the hours before first pitch.
Unfortunately for Gibbons, the game opened with Samardzija on the opposing mound and he went out and dominated the Jays, throwing a complete-game shutout while holding Toronto’s league-leading offence to just four hits to lead the White Sox to a 2-0 victory.
“There’s a reason he’s one of the most sought-after guys out there,” Gibbons said after it was over.
The loss is the Jays’ eighth in their last 11 games as they sink back to .500 while stumbling through yet another disappointing road trip.
The lack of offence overshadowed what was an encouraging start for R.A. Dickey, who went toe-to-toe with Samardzija in the early going and held the White Sox scoreless until the sixth. That’s when Adam Eaton tripled and scored on a passed ball that knuckled by Russell Martin’s outstretched glove, bouncing to the backstop. The catcher’s gaffe mattered little, as two batters later former Blue Jay Melky Cabrera lined his fourth homer of the season over the right field wall.
It was all the offence Samardzija would need.
The loss aside, Dickey felt good about his outing on a personal level.
“If anything I’m going to take today as a really good sign for the rest of the year,” he said. “My arm felt really good and I’m looking to spring board into the second half.”
The 40-year-old knuckleballer concludes his first half with a middling 4.87 ERA, but has pitched to a more-respectable 3.73 mark since the beginning of June. He gave himself a C-minus when asked to assess his first half.
“I feel like there’s a lot of improvement I can make over the next 15 or 16 starts or however many I have left. But I’m definitely capable of what you saw today consistently and that’s what I’m going to go for.”
Samardzija, meanwhile, no-hit the Jays into the sixth inning before Ryan Goins and Devon Travis notched back-to-back singles. They were stranded at the corners and that was the extent of the damage the Jays did to the man nicknamed “Shark.” The 30-year-old right-hander will be a free agent next season and he’s expected to be dealt whenever the last-place White Sox are ready to cede the season and retool for next year.
Samardzija is not at the same elite level of a Johnny Cueto or Cole Hamels — two other starting pitchers expected to be made available before the July 31 trade deadline — but he will no doubt be a boon to whichever team is able to nab him.
For the time being, the Jays will try to right the ship in Kansas City before the all-star break. Dickey said he has faith the team can get back on track, saying they are more “resilient” than in years past.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a snowball-kind-of-thing for us here.”
Golf: I got a club for that: Thomas sets early pace at John Deere Classic.
Reuters; Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes, Editing by Larry Fine
Long-hitting PGA Tour rookie Justin Thomas birdied four of his last five holes to surge into an early one-shot lead in the opening round of the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois on Thursday.
The 22-year-old American, shrugging off the disappointment of a poor finish to last week's Greenbrier Classic, putted superbly on a cool day at the TPC Deere Run to pile up 10 birdies and just two bogeys for a sparkling eight-under-par 63.
Charles Howell III opened with a seven-birdie 64 to end the round a stroke in front of fellow Americans Daniel Summerhays, Robert Garrigus and PGA Tour veteran Steve Stricker, a three-time winner of the John Deere Classic.
Masters and U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth, the pre-tournament favorite who claimed his maiden PGA Tour title here in 2013, was among the day's late starters.
Thomas rebounded in style from his closing 75 at Greenbrier last week where he had briefly led early in the final round after opening with scores of 67, 67 and 66.
"It's probably more satisfying putting myself where I am after the first day (here) than what happened last week," Thomas told PGA Tour Radio after taking just 26 putts in his round.
"It's hard not to shoot really low when you make that many putts. I made just about everything I looked at today.
"I had two terrible three-putts too, which was crazy but it was a really good day."
Stricker, 48, who has triumphed 12 times on the PGA Tour where he now competes on a greatly reduced schedule, was delighted to regain form on the greens after a surprising lean spell.
"I got off to a nice start, was hitting some really good quality shots and gave myself some opportunities," he said. "And I putted better, that's been my bugaboo this year."
McIlroy rules himself out of British Open.
By Ryan Lavner
Rory McIlroy ruled himself out of the Open Championship on Wednesday, two days after he announced that he had ruptured a ligament in his left ankle.
The world No. 1 posted a photo of his foot in an air cast on Instagram with the caption: “After much consideration, I have decided not to play in the Open Championship at St. Andrews. I’m taking a long term (sic) view of this injury and, although rehab is progressing well, I want to come back to tournament play when I feel 100% healthy and 100% competitive. Thank you all for your support and best wishes. I hope to be back on the course as soon as I can.”
McIlroy, who became the first reigning Open champion since Ben Hogan in 1954 not to defend his title, did not offer a timetable for his return. He was scheduled to play four events in a six-week span, a run that included two majors and a World Golf Championships event.
The Open released a statement via Twitter that read: “We are naturally very disappointed that Rory will be unable to defend his title at St. Andrews next week. Rory will play in many more Open Championships and our primary concern is for his complete recovery. Everyone associated with the Open wishes Rory the very best as he looks to return to full fitness.” On Monday, McIlroy revealed that he had suffered a “total rupture” of a ligament in his left ankle while running toward a soccer ball on July 4.
He withdrew from this week's Scottish Open but said that he was taking the situation “day by day.”
McIlroy was the defending champion at the Open and the betting favorite at St. Andrews, where in 2010 he tied the major-championship record with an opening 63. He eventually tied for third on the Old Course.
McIlroy’s next scheduled start is his title defense at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, which begins Aug. 6. The PGA Championship at Whistling Straits is Aug. 13-16.
With McIlroy out of the mix, Jordan Spieth’s odds of capturing the third leg of the Grand Slam have increased from 6-1 to 9-2. McIlroy was replaced in the Open field by Russell Knox.
NASCAR: Kevin Harvick can be first driver to clinch a Chase Berth Saturday at Kentucky.
By Jerry Bonkowski
(Photo/Getty Images)
With nine races remaining until the start of the Chase for the Sprint Cup, the field of title contenders is coming into focus.
Defending Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick can be the first driver to clinch a berth in the Chase in this Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
To clinch, a driver needs multiple wins, as well as enough points to mathematically guarantee a spot in the top 30 through the regular-season finale Sept. 12 at Richmond International Raceway.
Harvick has two wins and a series-leading 656 points through 17 races. Harvick officially assures himself of a Chase berth by starting at Kentucky (and then provided he starts each of the eight remaining races in the regular season).
Dale Earnhardt Jr., who earned his second win this season Monday to jump from fifth to second in the standings, also can clinch a playoff berth at Kentucky.
But Earnhardt, who trails Harvick by 63 points, will need to earn the maximum 48 points at Kentucky (a win and leading the most laps) to clinch.
Jimmie Johnson, who has a series-high four wins, is ranked third, 67 points behind Harvick. Johnson could clinch his spot in the Chase next week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Here’s the current Chase Grid heading into Kentucky:
1 – Jimmie Johnson (4 wins) … 589 points
2 – Kevin Harvick (2 wins) … 656 points
3 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2 wins) … 593 points
4 – Kurt Busch (2 wins) … 508 points
5 – Joey Logano (1 win) … 581 points
6 – Martin Truex Jr. (1 win) … 569 points
7 –Brad Keselowski (1 win) … 520 points
8 – Matt Kenseth (1 win) … 501 points
9 – Denny Hamlin (1 win) … 480 points
10 – Carl Edwards (1 wins) … 408 points
11 – Jamie McMurray (0 wins) … 526 points
12 – Jeff Gordon (0 wins) … 500 points
13 – Kasey Kahne (0 wins) … 496 points
14 – Paul Menard (0 wins) … 480 points
15 – Ryan Newman (0 wins) 472 points
16 – Clint Bowyer (0 wins) … 465 points
DRIVERS OUTSIDE A CHASE SPOT
17 – Aric Almirola (0 wins) … 24 points behind 16th
18 – Kyle Larson (0 wins) … 70 points behind 16th
19 – Greg Biffle (0 wins) … 73 points behind 16th
20 – Danica Patrick (0 wins) … 79 points behind 16th
NASCAR unveils details of Indianapolis and Michigan rules tweaks.
By Nick Bromberg
Sprint Cup Series cars will have more drag at Indianapolis and Michigan this summer.
Cars at the Brickyard 400 and the August Michigan race will have a higher spoiler than has been the norm in 2015. The spoilers on the cars will be nine inches (currently six) and the cars will have a one inch wicker with bigger radiator pans and leading edges of the splitters.
The goal of the higher spoiler and other tweaks is to allow trailing cars to gain a speed advantage over the car ahead, especially on the straightaways. Turbulent air from a car ahead, especially if it isn't far in front, can make the trailing car slower in the corners.
"When you look at a lot of the data, and obviously you see it play out on the racetrack, but the belief is that the second-place car, if they're lined up maybe two, three, four, five, could have a five-mile-an-hour difference between the leader," NASCAR vice president Steve O'Donnell said. "As an example, if you came out of Turn 2 and you had a four-car-length lead, it's the belief that second and third, if they hooked up, could head into Turn 3 up on the bumper of the leader and potentially have kind of that – more that slingshot that you used to see and the ability to pass. A lot of that we've got to see in the real world once we're out there at Indy, but that's the effect we believe it'll have."
O'Donnell later added on Twitter that lap speeds at both tracks could drop about 10 miles per hour.
At Indianapolis especially, the ability for cars to pass on the straightaways is imperative. Cars are unable to go through the corners two-wide at anywhere close to the pace of a car by itself. Kasey Kahne might have had a faster car than Jeff Gordon at the end of last year's race, but once Gordon beat Kahne on a restart and got out front, Kahne was not able to make a charge.
Drivers and teams also played the race backwards. With track position being of the utmost importance, teams pitted as early as possible to make it to the finish so they could make up spots on strategy.
The Indy and Michigan tweaks are much different than the rules changes NASCAR is making for Saturday night's race at Kentucky. The spoilers, splitter edges and radiator pans are smaller than normal. The goal of the tweaks for Kentucky are to reduce the down-force on the cars. The lack of down-force should slow corner speeds, meaning more time off the gas for drivers and, theoretically, more passing.
The Kentucky configuration will also be used at Darlington over Labor Day weekend. Will we see an appreciable difference in racing in a few days? We're anxious to find out.
Track-specific rules packages update: NASCAR to try new aero packages at 3 additional tracks.
AP - Sports
NASCAR will use track-specific rules packages at three more race tracks as the sanctioning body continues to try to improve the racing.
A unique rules package already had been announced for Saturday night's race at Kentucky. NASCAR executive Steve O'Donnell said Tuesday a similar low down-force package will be used at Darlington in September.
Teams will use a higher drag rules package at Indianapolis Motor Speedway later this month and Michigan International Speedway in August.
The Kentucky package is expected to cut about 1,000 pounds of down-force from the cars. Drivers have cautioned not to expect too much from Kentucky because Goodyear can't provide a soft enough tire to match the lower down-force package.
But Goodyear was able to determine a tire for the Darlington package during a one-day test last week with Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski.
''The ideal package for us is matching the tire with lower down-force, and when we looked at the schedule, the most ideal venue for that was Darlington, so we feel like we have the lead time for Goodyear to come in and build that specific tire, so that's why we moved forward on the Darlington package,'' O'Donnell said.
For Indy and Michigan, the aero package will feature a 9-inch spoiler and 1-inch wicker bill; a rear fascia extension panel similar to what is currently used for superspeedway events; a 2-inch leading edge on the splitter; and a 43-inch splitter extension panel. That high drag package could cut speeds by nearly 10 mph.
''You'll see some significant mile-per-hour differences,'' O'Donnell said. ''I think we we're looking at over 200 (mph) before, and kind of the 191 range that we'd be looking at now.''
Additional track time will be added to Indy, Darlington and Michigan to test the new package, and Kentucky opens Wednesday for teams to try the rule changes.
NASCAR is not expected to use any unique rules packages in the 10-race championship playoff series.
Danica Patrick to make 100th career Sprint Cup start Saturday.
By Jerry Bonkowski
Danica Patrick (Getty Images)
This will be a milestone weekend for Danica Patrick at Kentucky Speedway, where she will make her 100th career Sprint Cup start in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400.
Patrick will become the first female to reach that marker in NASCAR history, adding to a few other notable accomplishments:
* Her six top-10 finishes rank first time among female drivers.
* She is the only female driver to earn a Sprint Cup pole (2013 Daytona 500).
* She is one of only 16 female drivers who have competed in the Sprint Cup Series.
Patrick’s career-best finish was sixth last August at Atlanta Motor Speedway. She has two top 10s this season: seventh at Martinsville Speedway and ninth at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Patrick is trying to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the first time in her career. She will enter Saturday ranked 20th, 55 points out of 16th place, which is the cutoff mark to qualify for the Chase on points.
Here are Patrick’s thoughts about racing at Kentucky:
“It’s one of those tracks where I have experience but, obviously, not a lot of it in a stock car,” Patrick said in a team media release. “I’ve been there a lot, but I’ve only run four stock-car races there. I ran a lot of IndyCar races at Kentucky but, obviously, those aren’t really going to benefit me this weekend.
“The track definitely has character to it with the bumps, and we mainly practice during the day and then race at night on Saturday, so the track conditions can change a lot during the race. When you add all that up, it’s a challenging place.
“… It’s a tough place and the pavement is old, but it creates some good racing. Hopefully, we can have a good night.”
SOCCER; Gold Cup Preview: USMNT to face Group A underdogs Haiti.
By Andy Edwards
(Timothy Chandler, USMNT & Andy Najar, Honduras)
If the US national team’s victory over Honduras in their 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup opener was rough at times — and it certainly was — then Friday’s clash with Group A underdogs Haiti (8:30 pm ET, Fox Sports 1/UniMas) will be a welcome downshift in competition and a chance to right a handful of wrongs as Jurgen Klinsmann’s side continues its defense of the Gold Cup.
Before the USMNT labored to their 2-1 victory at Toyota Stadium on Tuesday, a desperate and gritty Haiti side was busy fighting back from a 1-0 deficit to snatch a 1-1 draw against Panama.
Klinsmann hinted on Thursday that a few changes might be made to the starting lineup for Friday night’s game, given the short, three-day turnaround between games during the group stage. In particular, the midfield, which struggled badly at times against Honduras, will likely be rotated with Mix Diskerud and Alejandro Bedoya spelling Kyle Beckerman and Gyasi Zardes.
The midfield, which was frequently overrun by heavy, high pressure from their Honduran counterparts, will have to be much more stable in order to avoid similar struggles against an extremely athletic Haiti side. Though out-possessed by more than two-to-one against Panama, the Haitians posed a serious threat on the counter attack and very much deserved the draw.
The “every game is a battle in this tournament” mantra will certainly continue when the Yanks and Les Grenadiers do battle at Gillette Stadium. Haiti were whistled for 24 fouls and shown two yellow cards (which could have easily been three times more) in the draw against Panama, which was a blatantly obvious part of their game plan — to limit prolonged periods of Panamanian possession and create a sense of disjointedness in the build-up.
For the USMNT, a victory over Haiti would not only secure their place in the quarterfinals, but would go a long way toward locking up the top spot in Group A. With Honduras and Panama set to battle for second place, Friday could end with a four-point lead on the rest of the group.
SOCCER: Explaining how USMNT fell seven places to 34th in latest FIFA rankings.
By Joe Prince-Wright
(Photo/Getty Images)
The latest FIFA world rankings are a bit of a head scratcher.
After marquee friendly away wins away to Germany and the Netherlands, you’d expect the U.S. national team to have shot up the latest rankings, right?
Nope, quite the opposite is true. Jurgen Klinsmann’s side have fallen seven places to 34th in the rankings released by world soccer’s governing body on Thursday.
A combination of qualifiers for the European Championships and the 2015 Copa America have something to do with this, as wins earned in meaningful matches mean more than victories the U.S. picked up in friendlies, points wise. However, there is another factor which comes into play here.
These rankings are the first set which have devalued the points gained at the 2014 World Cup as all of the USA’s points gained in 2014 are now worth half their value. Therefore, all three of the CONCACAF teams who made the knockout rounds in Brazil last summer (Costa Rica, Mexico, USA) have fallen drastically. What does “devalue” mean in terms of FIFA’s ranking system?
Well, here is the official word from FIFA’s website as they state that the match average points from the previous year now only stands at 50 percent of its previous value. The points total for the year before that now stands at 30 percent, and the USA’s results from four years ago are only worth 20 percent of their original value. Results longer than four years ago do not count towards the current ranking. Add all that up, and the average score over the past four years equals the current ranking.
Stay with me. Because the U.S. has had no meaningful matches since the World Cup in 2014, like the rest of CONCACAF, their ranking always takes a hit around this time of the four-year World Cup cycle while nations in Europe and South America have their ranking boosted due to continental competitions taking place.
Even though the USMNT are down in 34th, they are now actually the highest-ranked CONCACAF team as Costa Rica slid an incredible 27 places down the rankings to 40th and Mexico are down 17 places to 41st. Small victories. Small victories.
Stepping away from the CONCACAF outrage, we have a new world number one as Argentina sit in first place despite Lionel Messi and Co. losing to Chile on penalty kicks in the Copa America final this summer. Wales have surprisingly moved into 10th place, while England and Romania also move into the top 10 at ninth and eighth respectively.
Below is the new current top 20 of world soccer, as there were incredible movements up and down the rankings.
FIFA men’s world rankings – Top 20
Below is the top 20, as Europe continue to dominate with 31 nations inside the globe’s top 50 teams.
1. Argentina
2. Germany
3. Belgium
4. Colombia
5. Netherlands
6. Brazil
7. Portugal
8. Romania
9. England
10. Wales
11. Chile
12. Spain
13. Uruguay
14. Croatia
15. Slovakia
16. Austria
17. Italy
18. Switzerland
19. Algeria
20. Czech Republic
34. USA
NCAAFB: 40 schedule observations for this college football season.
By Pat Forde
1. Toughest September: BYU. The Cougars open at Nebraska, home against Boise State, at UCLA, at Michigan. Just for kicks, BYU follows that Michigan game with a short-turnaround Friday contest against Connecticut on Oct. 2. Being an independent is fun, isn’t it, Bronco Mendenhall?
2. Toughest October: Miami. The Hurricanes are at Cincinnati on a Thursday, then at Florida State, home against Virginia Tech and Clemson, and at Duke on Halloween. Combined 2014 record of those opponents: 49-18.
3. Toughest November: Baylor. The Bears are at Kansas State on a Thursday night, home against Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State and at TCU on the day after Thanksgiving with the Big 12 (undisputed!) title perhaps on the line in that one.
3. Toughest November: Baylor. The Bears are at Kansas State on a Thursday night, home against Oklahoma, at Oklahoma State and at TCU on the day after Thanksgiving with the Big 12 (undisputed!) title perhaps on the line in that one.
5. Kudos to bluebloods daring to leave home early. Ohio State’s Labor Day game at Virginia Tech is the Buckeyes’ first on-campus road opener since 1998, when they played at West Virginia. Texas’ Sept. 5 game at Notre Dame is the Longhorns’ first true road opener since 1995, when they played at Hawaii. Michigan’s Sept. 3 opener at Utah is the Wolverines’ first true road opener since 1998, at Notre Dame.
6. Jim Harbaugh takes an eight-game, five-year-old winning streak as a college coach into Salt Lake City.
7. For the first time since 1915, Notre Dame does not play a single team from the Big Ten. The Fighting Irish play six opponents from their pseudo-home conference, the Atlantic Coast.
8. Fire The Coach schedules: Virginia might have kept Mike London for one more season simply to spare the new guy from facing UCLA, Notre Dame and Boise State in the first month. Miami’s aforementioned October could have Al Golden under intolerable heat heading into the home stretch. Iowa State’s Paul Rhoads better have some wins in the bank by mid-October, because the Cyclones close with seven straight against the top seven in the Big 12 last year (TCU, at Baylor, Texas, at Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, at Kansas State, at West Virginia).
9. Save The Coach schedules: Rutgers coach Kyle Flood likely saved himself last year with upset wins over Michigan, Maryland and North Carolina, but he could get some added insurance this season with a non-conference slate of Norfolk State, Washington State, Kansas and Army (combined 2014 record: 12-34). Scott Shafer of Syracuse starts work under a new boss with a full September of home games, and if things go really well he could be 6-1 heading into a difficult closing gauntlet. Larry Fedora has only four true road games in year four at North Carolina, and the Tar Heels leave the state only three times.
10. Schools that need to put on their big-boy scheduling pants: Baylor (non-conference lineup of SMU, Lamar, Rice); Oklahoma State (Central Michigan, Central Arkansas, UTSA); Kansas State (South Dakota, UTSA, Louisiana Tech, in a return to Bill Snyder’s weakling schedule roots); Arizona (UTSA, Nevada, Northern Arizona); Penn State (Temple, Buffalo, San Diego State, Army); Mississippi State (Southern Miss, Northwestern State, Troy, Louisiana Tech); Mississippi (UT Martin, Fresno State, New Mexico State, Memphis); North Carolina State (Troy, Eastern Kentucky, Old Dominion, South Alabama).
11. Arizona might not have scheduled much in terms of non-conference rigor, but it also did not give itself a break. Literally. The Wildcats play 12 straight weeks without a bye, ending the year early (Nov. 21) against arch-rival Arizona State. Strap up, training staff.
12. The Big 12 gifted four teams with back-to-back headaches: league favorites Baylor and TCU in succession. Oklahoma is at Baylor on Nov. 14, hosts TCU on Nov. 21; West Virginia is at Baylor on Oct. 17 and at TCU on Oct. 29; Texas Tech hosts TCU on Sept. 26 and plays Baylor in Arlington on Oct. 3; and Iowa State hosts TCU on Oct. 17 and is at Baylor on Oct. 24. Enjoy!
13. On the flip side, the Big 12 also has bestowed back-to-back games against league lightweights Kansas and Iowa State to five teams. Oklahoma rests up for that Baylor-TCU double with games against the Jayhawks on Oct. 31 and Cyclones on Nov. 7; Texas gets Iowa State on Oct. 31 and Kansas on Nov. 7; Kansas State hosts Iowa State on Nov. 21 and is at Kansas on Nov. 28; West Virginia is at Kansas Nov. 21 and hosts Iowa State on Nov. 28; and Texas Tech has Iowa State at home Oct. 10 and visits Lawrence on Oct. 17.
14. Texas A&M does not leave the state of Texas until Oct. 24, when it plays at Mississippi. Prior to that are four true home games and pseudo-neutral-site games against Arizona State (Houston) and Arkansas (Arlington).
15. Penn State doesn’t leave the state until Oct. 17. The only road game in the first six is the opener at Temple, and there likely will be more Nittany Lions fans than Owls backers in attendance for that one. Don’t be shocked if Penn State is 6-0 going to Ohio State – and then gets absolutely shellacked by the Buckeyes.
16. The downside of the Penn State schedule: it plays the first 10 weekends without a bye, and catches both Maryland and Northwestern coming off open weeks.
17. Temple won’t have a true home-field advantage in a game until Oct. 10, when it hosts Tulane. Of course, that assumes some Owls fans – or fans of any team – show up for that game.
18. Georgia is not breaking the bank on travel expenses. All 12 games are played within the state or in an adjoining state – the longest road trip is 300 miles to Nashville to play Vanderbilt. A potential 13th game in the SEC championship game would also be in the Peach State. A victory there could put the Bulldogs in Florida for an Orange Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal. Thus if the season goes ideally for Georgia, its 15th and final game – the national championship game in Arizona – would be the only one that required leaving the Southeast.
19. Mississippi visits Florida for the first time since The Promise. That’s when the Rebels upset the Gators in 2008, which led to this Tim Tebow declaration, which is now memorialized on a plaque outside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Why? Because Florida won out in ’08, including the national title. Promise kept.
20. Fresh matchups: Alabama-Wisconsin (first meeting since 1928); LSU-Syracuse (first regular-season meeting); Auburn-Louisville (first meeting since 1974); Texas A&M-Arizona State (first meeting); Michigan-BYU (first regular-season meeting); Nebraska-BYU (first meeting); Virginia Tech-Purdue (first meeting); California-Texas (first regular-season meeting since 1970); Clemson-Notre Dame (first meeting since 1979); Boise State-Virginia (first meeting).
21. That LSU trip to Syracuse is the only time an SEC team will play north of Columbia, Mo. That includes bowl games. Naturally, the one trip true north will be indoors.
22. The last time Notre Dame played at Clemson, Joe Montana had to lead a fourth-quarter rally from 10 points down for a 21-17 victory in November 12, 1977. The Fighting Irish went on to win the national title.
23. Pat Narduzzi starts his head-coaching career at Pittsburgh the hard way, with five of the first seven on the road and just one home game before Oct. 10. First thing Narduzzi needs to do is open with wins over Youngstown State (home) and Akron (road) – teams predecessor Paul Chryst lost to in his three seasons at Pitt.
24. Similarly – but less easily – new Nebraska coach Mike Riley has consecutive October opportunities to prove he’s an upgrade over fired Bo Pelini. The Cornhuskers face Wisconsin on Oct. 10 and Minnesota on Oct. 17 – teams Pelini lost to ignominiously in his last two meetings with each. Nebraska gave up 129 points in its last two losses to the Badgers, and lost as double-digit favorites in its last two meetings with the Gophers.
25. Toughest two-week travel stretch: Hawaii goes to Wisconsin on Sept. 26, then to Boise State on Oct. 3. That’s about 21 hours of flying time round-trip to Madison and another 16 hours round-trip to Boise, if the Warriors return to Honolulu between games.
26. Toughest two-week travel stretch, non-Hawaii Division: East Carolina is at SMU on Oct. 3, then at BYU on Oct. 10. That’s about 7,000 miles round-trip for both games combined.
27. Sonny Dykes isn’t the happiest camper at California, and the stretch from Sept. 19-Oct. 10 probably won’t improve that. In that time the Golden Bears are at Texas, at Washington, home against Washington State (which is coming off a bye) and at Utah (which is coming off a bye).
28. Should Stanford be nervous as a likely heavy road favorite at Northwestern to open the season? Maybe. The Wildcats’ last four wins of 2014 were all as an underdog, and the Cardinal lost four times last year as a favorite. Oh, and the game kicks off at 9 a.m. PT.
29. Cross-divisional lottery winners: Texas A&M (draws Vanderbilt and South Carolina from SEC East); Iowa (Maryland and Indiana from Big Ten East); Arizona (Stanford, Oregon State, Washington State, Washington from Pac-12 North); Duke (Boston College and Wake Forest from ACC Atlantic); East Carolina (SMU, Tulsa and Navy from American Athletic Conference West); Boise State (Hawaii, UNLV and San Diego State from the Mountain West's West division); Akron (Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan from Mid-American West); Old Dominion (UTSA, UTEP and Southern Miss from Conference USA West).
30. Cross-divisional lottery losers: Georgia (draws Alabama and Auburn from SEC West); Minnesota (Ohio State and Michigan from Big Ten East); California (Utah, UCLA, USC and Arizona State from Pac-12 South); Georgia Tech and Miami (both play Florida State and Clemson from ACC Coastal); Tulsa (East Carolina, Central Florida and Cincinnati from AAC East); Hawaii (at Boise State, at New Mexico and Air Force from Mountain West Mountain); Ohio and Miami Ohio (Northern Illinois and Western Michigan from Mid-American West); North Texas (Western Kentucky, Marshall and Middle Tennessee from Conference USA East).
31. Keeping it real: North Carolina is the only FBS team that will play every game on God’s own grass.
32. Nothing but artificial ingredients: Oregon State, Kansas State, Hawaii, UNLV, Toledo, Northern Illinois, Ohio, Kent State, Miami Ohio, Old Dominion, Charlotte, UTEP, Southern Miss, UTSA and Louisiana-Lafayette will play all their games on fake grass.
33. Bobby Petrino is undefeated (10-0) in season openers as a head coach. That perfect record will get a serious challenge Sept. 5 when Louisville faces Auburn in the Georgia Dome.
34. Rice leaves the state of Texas once all season: Oct. 10, at Florida Atlantic. It plays five road games in the state: at Texas, North Texas, Baylor, UTEP and UTSA.
35. “MACtion,” as the Mid-American Conference’s midweek glut of games is affectionately known, is back again in 2015. Seven MAC teams will play the entire month of November on week nights.
36. Power Five teams willing to grant a true road game to opponents outside their gated communities: Oklahoma State at Central Michigan, Sept. 3; Duke at Tulane, Sept. 3; Washington at Boise State, Sept. 4; Purdue at Marshall, Sept. 6; Missouri at Arkansas State, Sept. 12; Minnesota at Colorado State, Sept. 12; UCLA at UNLV, Sept. 12; Arizona at Nevada, Sept. 12; Kansas State at UTSA, Sept. 12; Pitt at Akron, Sept. 12; Utah at Fresno State, Sept. 19; Iowa State at Toledo, Sept. 19; North Carolina State at Old Dominion, Sept. 19; Wake Forest at Army, Sept. 19; Virginia Tech at East Carolina, Sept. 26; Miami at Cincinnati, Oct. 1. (Miami at FAU, Penn State at Temple, Mississippi State at Southern Miss and others don’t count. They will be de facto home games.)
37. Wake Forest, an original ACC member dating back to 1953, will play games in Syracuse, N.Y.; West Point, N.Y.; Chestnut Hill, Mass.; and South Bend, Ind. Three of them are scheduled by the ACC.
38. Boise State plays on Friday night more than some high school teams. The Broncos have six Friday night games: Washington, Idaho State, Virginia, Utah State, Air Force and San Jose State.
39. For $150 per season ticket ($25 per game), you can get end-zone seating at Connecticut’s Rentschler Field to see a home schedule of Villanova, Army, Navy, South Florida, East Carolina and Houston. Surprisingly, tickets are still available. (Yes, the biggest loser in realignment is UConn.)
40. Tennessee plays Kentucky on Halloween. It’s the first time the (one-sided) rivals have met outside the month of November since 1944, when they played twice and the first meeting was in September. The only other times the Volunteers and Wildcats have played prior to November were in 1893, 1908 and 1909.
NCAABKB: Kansas/USA rolls past Switzerland in World University Games group play finale.
By Raphielle Johnson
(Photo/Getty Images)
One night after wrapping up a spot in the quarterfinal round of the World University Games with a one-point win over Serbia, Kansas/United States took on Switzerland in its final group play match Wednesday night in Gwangju, South Korea. And Bill Self’s team didn’t have much trouble with the Swiss either, scoring 12 of the game’s first 15 points and going on to win by the final score of 96-57.
The leading scorer for the Americans was one of the two players on the roster who will not suit up for the Jayhawks this coming season in guard Julian DeBose, who plays his college basketball at FGCU. The rising senior led the way with 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting to go along with four rebounds.
DeBose was one of four players to score in double figures, with Wayne Selden tallying 16 points and Perry Ellis and LaGerald Vick adding 11 apiece. Vick also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Nic Moore, who was the American Athletic Conference Player of the Year at SMU last season, dished out six assists with Kansas’ Frank Mason III racking up five himself.
The Americans shot 59 percent from the field (which includes a 5-for-16 fourth quarter), and one night after struggling mightily from beyond the arc against Serbia they rebounded to shoot 10-for-17 from three. Next up for Self’s team will be Lithuania in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
Wimbledon Update: Serena mauls Sharapova to reach Wimbledon final.
Reuters; Reporting by Toby Davis, Editing by Ken Ferris
Serena Williams feasted on familiar prey as she reached an eighth Wimbledon final with a superb 6-2 6-4 victory over Maria Sharapova on Thursday, her 17th win in a row over the Russian.
The five times champion is one match away from reinforcing her stranglehold on the women's game by holding all four grand slam titles at the same time, a feat she will achieve for the second occasion if she beats 20th-seeded surprise package Garbine Muguruza of Spain in Saturday's final.
"I'm so excited. I got a bit nervous because it was a semi-final and it's a long time since I've been this far," said Williams, who last reached the Wimbledon final in 2012.
"I'm excited to get through it.
"Maria played well and when she stepped up, I managed to step up. It wasn't easy, it was interesting."
Sharapova could not deal with the ferocity of the Williams return, her serve crumbling as the American increased the pressure.
The Russian is one of the game's most powerful hitters but looked overawed at times in the face of Williams's sledgehammer game.
Double faults are a familiar flaw for Sharapova, but three in the opening game handed an early break and the initiative to her opponent.
Sharapova could not deal with the ferocity of the Williams return, her serve crumbling as the American increased the pressure.
The Russian is one of the game's most powerful hitters but looked overawed at times in the face of Williams's sledgehammer game.
It was then one-way traffic as a cool-headed Williams set about savagely dismantling her opponent.
The world number one launched an attacking barrage, breaking twice in the first set, which she clinched in 33 minutes with a scorching backhand winner.
The second set was closer as Sharapova ditched all caution and came out swinging, but when Williams broke for a 3-2 lead, the outcome seemed inevitable.
Sharapova saved one match point on her own serve, but the reprieve lasted just one game as Williams brought up another match point with an ace and thundered down a huge serve to clinch a one-sided victory.
Stybar wins Stage 6 as teammate Martin crashes near finish.
By NBC Sports
The yellow jersey seems to be an unlucky charm at this Tour de France.
German rider Tony Martin started Thursday's sixth stage in the lead and ended it in the hospital after breaking his collarbone in a crash that he caused near the finish line. He became the second race leader to pull out of the race, after Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara fractured two vertebrae in his lower back on Monday."The collarbone is in lots of pieces, so it was a major impact," Martin's Etixx Quick-Step team doctor Helge Riepenhof said. "One of the pieces came through the skin, which means it's an open fracture."
The crash also dragged down defending champion Vincenzo Nibali and fellow Tour contender Nairo Quintana, but they escaped with cuts and bruises. Czech rider Zdenek Stybar rode away amid the chaos to clinch his first Tour stage win.
While neither Martin nor Cancellara was a contender for the overall victory, the injuries they sustained highlight how tough this Tour has been already - and the battered riders haven't even reached the mountains yet.
There was intense heat on day 1, ferocious side winds on day 2, a huge crash on stage 3, scary cobblestone sections on stage 4, and lashing rain on stage 5.
And on the sixth day, another crash.
"This has been like a movie, an emotional roller coaster at this Tour," Martin said.
Frenchman William Bonnet injured his neck after causing Monday's crash, which brought down 30 riders, while Australian rider Michael Matthews finished Thursday's ride despite having two broken ribs sustained on the third stage. He is in last place overall.
With Martin out, 2013 Tour champion Chris Froome moves into the overall lead. The Briton may elect not to wear the yellow jersey on Friday - a sign of respect toward Martin under cycling's etiquette guidelines.
And he may be better off without it.
Martin, his yellow jersey shining, moved near the front during the final kilometers in order to put teammate Mark Cavendish in a good position to attack.
He lost control of his bike with about 900 meters to go. It swerved to the right, clipped another bike and then brought down some eight other riders.
Moments later, he was sitting against a railing, staring into space as the dazed riders looked around for their bikes.
Unable to hold his handlebar, with his left arm in a sling position, Martin rolled slowly over the line with several teammates alongside him.
Two-time Tour champion Alberto Contador of Spain and Froome have escaped all the crashes - although the British rider almost fell when Nibali's bike swerved into his.
In the confusion, Nibali actually thought Froome was to blame.
Then, after Froome came to Nibali's Astana team bus to clear things up, the Italian rider performed a swift U-turn and apologized to his Tour rival.
"I was very upset with him. But then, after watching the video I said sorry to him," Nibali said. "I moved right, (into) Froome, thought it was his fault. Did we clear it all up? Yeah. We are not footballers, we are cyclists."
With bikes piled up and riders slowing down, Stybar rode ahead while Martin sat up on the side of the road.
"I don't get it yet that I have won a stage on the Tour," said the 29-year-old Stygar, a former Cyclo-cross rider who is Martin's teammate.
"It's an amazing feeling, but on the other hand I feel really sorry for Tony," Stygar said. "It's the Tour de France; it's just crazy, crazy. You don't know what will happen around each corner."
Peter Sagan of Slovakia, chasing a fourth straight green jersey as the Tour's best sprinter, finished in second place, two seconds behind.
Quintana had blood dripping from his right arm and elbow as he crossed the line. Froome was relieved to come through the melee with just a minor graze to his knee.
Froome leads Contador by 36 seconds; Nibali by 1:38 and Quintana by 1:56.
Froome leads Contador by 36 seconds; Nibali by 1:38 and Quintana by 1:56.
Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot became the first African to seize the polka-dot jersey for best climber after scoring points while part of an early three-man breakaway.
"It's huge for African sport," said Teklehaimanot, the first rider Eritrean to ride in the Tour.
Friday's seventh stage is another for sprinters. It starts from Livarot in the Normandy region - home to a cheese of the same name - and ends 190.5 kilometers (118 miles) later in Fougeres, nestled in the Brittany region.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Friday, July 10, 2015.
Memoriesofhistory.com
1943 - Arthur Ashe, the first African-American inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, was born. He had won 33 career titles.
1951 - Sugar Ray Robinson was defeated for only the second time in 133 fights as Randy Turpin took the middleweight crown.
1969 - The National League was divided up into two baseball divisions.
1984 - Dwight ‘Doc’ Gooden (New York Mets) became the youngest player to appear in an All-Star Game as a pitcher. He was 19 years, 7 months, and 24 days old.
1993 - Kenyan runner Yobes Ondieki became the first man to run 10,000 meters in less than 27 minutes.
1999 - The U.S. Women's soccer team defeated China to win the 1999 World Cup tournament.
*******************************************************************
Please let us hear your opinion on the above articles and pass them on to any other diehard fans that you think might be interested. But most of all, remember, Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica wants you!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment