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Sports Quote of the Day:
"The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more." ~ Dr. Jonas Salk, Physician and Medical Researcher
Trending: The fact that the Chicago Bears report to training camp in two days has me like: "Let's go Bears, Let's go Bears, Let's go Bears!!!"
(See football section for details).
Trending: Phillies' Cole Hamels tosses first no-hitter against Cubs since 1965. (See baseball section for details).
Trending: Gary Bettman says the shootout is here to stay in NHL. (See hockey section for details).
Trending: Why Becky Hammon is the right coach at the right time for new NBA. (See basketball section for details).
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Settling the Seguin/Benn vs. Kane/Toews debate.
By Ryan Lambert
NHL--Dallas Stars' Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, Chicago Blackhawks' Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews
Last week on our own Marek vs. Wyshynski podcast, Jim Nill did a thing that got everyone good and riled up: He compared the two dynamic superstars on his team to the unassailable Good Winner Boys from his division.
The allegedly inflammatory quote in question:
“We’re not there but we think we’re on pace with where our players are at. The Benns and Seguins remind me of Toews and Kane when they were 22, 23, 24 years of age. I think we’re trying to get there.”
This in some ways is a general manager blowing smoke for His Guys. He was asked against which team he measures the Stars' progress, and he obviously said Chicago because it's hard not to measure yourself against the club that won three Stanley Cups in six years. That's a pretty good way of defining success; it's not as though they fluked their way to one Cup win five years ago. They've clearly built something that allows them to stay competitive despite a hell of a lot of roster turnover, which is something that Nill knows all about because he's gone so far out of his way to acquire former Chicago Cup winners this summer.
But in other ways, he's probably right. This in some ways is a general manager blowing smoke for His Guys. He was asked against which team he measures the Stars' progress, and he obviously said Chicago because it's hard not to measure yourself against the club that won three Stanley Cups in six years. That's a pretty good way of defining success; it's not as though they fluked their way to one Cup win five years ago. They've clearly built something that allows them to stay competitive despite a hell of a lot of roster turnover, which is something that Nill knows all about because he's gone so far out of his way to acquire former Chicago Cup winners this summer.
After all, we're talking about high-test players, and the reason people (over)rate Toews and Kane so highly is not only because they are, like, alarmingly good at hockey, but because they have an unbelievable team around them, and basically have ever since Marian Hossa came aboard and filled in that one last gap at a time when everyone came of age.
Chicago's success is based on repeatable skill, but a team with this much of a championship pedigree also has to get awful lucky to pull a Toews and a Kane and a Keith and a Seabrook and a Sharp and a Hossa and a Byfuglien and a Sharp and a Ladd and a Hjalmarsson and an Oduya and a Saad and a Shaw and a Crawford together at one time or another over a six-year period in a cap league.
Dallas has not been so lucky. Only in the last two seasons have they successfully put together these two dynamic players on the first line, and haven't really had the benefit of also getting good defense and goaltending and depth-forward support at the same time. Chicago does that because Stan Bowman somehow coalesced all that talent into one place repeatedly, while Dallas, well.. had Joe Nieuwendyk up until last April.
To say that Toews and Kane are Better Players straightaway because they have the rings to prove it is a little silly, because there are plenty of excellent players who wait years to win a Cup (like Kimmo Timonen), and some never do it at all despite being one of the best players in the league for a very, very long time (poor Jarome Iginla). It's hard to win Cups, yes, but doing so — even repeatedly — doesn't validate one player's credentials as an individual contributor over another. The people who would take Toews over Crosby because the former “knows how to win” are lunatics; Crosby on those Chicago teams instead of Toews would probably have the same number of Cups, if not more, because he is a better hockey player, while Toews has benefited from better teammates.
Thus, we have to look at things as independent from team factors as possible. In hockey, this isn't easy to do because everything is so team-dependent, but the good folks at War on Ice have come up with a single Wins Above Replacement (thus “WAR on Ice”) statistic that, while not yet totally nailed down, certainly serves to give a pretty good idea of player value relative to others, based on several factors (face-offs, penalties drawn and committed, shooting quality, shooting rates, and so on). And when examining that statistic, which pulls many others under one umbrella, we can see that hey, in the last two years, Benn and Seguin have individually been better than Toews and Kane.
With the acknowledgement that Kane and Toews have combined to miss 41 games over the last two years, versus just 12 for Seguin and Benn, we can still see where the impact the two Stars have had has outstripped even the quite-impressive numbers of their Chicago counterparts. (Although I will say this about the disparity in games-played: Durability has value as well, that's why these stats are called “above replacement.”)
NHL
As you might expect, all four of these guys currently deliver a lot of wins above what the average call-up would across a number of statistical categories. These are some of the biggest numbers in the NHL. This past season, Seguin's was fourth among skaters, Benn's 17th, Toews's 30th, and Kane's 47th despite him missing a good chunk of the season. And as you see above, this was actually something of a down year for Seguin.
Not that you need numbers like this to say the four guys in question here are very good, but you can plainly see that in the last two years — i.e. when Seguin moved to Dallas and started to be treated like the high-end offensive talent he clearly is and was — the combined win totals contributed by those two significantly exceeds that of Toews and Kane. It's 15.64 for Benn/Seguin and 10.7 for Toews/Kane, and while a little fewer than five extra wins over the course of two seasons doesn't seem like that much, it is about 50 percent better, so that's quite telling.
But then, those numbers don't account for age.
Toews just turned 27 at the end of April. Kane is about half a year younger than him, as he'll turn 27 in mid-November. Benn, meanwhile, just turned 26 a few days ago, and Seguin won't even be 24 until the end of January. So in that respect, there is a little wiggle room to say they're a young Toews and Kane. In that they are indeed younger. (On the other hand, Benn was drafted in the 2007 entry draft, same as Kane, but took two extra years to get to the NHL because sometimes you just need a little more time in the oven.)
And the crux of Nill's argument is that Benn and Seguin are as good now as Kane and Toews were in the years right before they hit their primes around 25 or 26. And again, the fact that Benn is roughly a year younger than Toews and eight months younger than Kane skews things a bit. But if we're comparing by age, let's do it:
NHL
So yeah, you can kind of see where Benn is roughly on Kane's level in some respects (but again, they're effectively the same age so it's not like he's a “Young Patrick Kane” and Seguin is more valuable to his team in terms of producing wins — The Ultimate Statistic! — than Toews was at his age. And you can probably make a case that the first three seasons of his career would have proved better if Claude Julien didn't punish him for being too good at hockey to deserve to play on Chris Kelly's line.
With Seguin not even being 24 yet, he's probably still got a few more years of improvement in him. That's not necessarily the case for Kane, Toews, and Benn. Not to say they're all going to turn into bums in the next three seasons, but Seguin at least still has the upswing going for him.
On that front at least, you'd therefore have to think Dallas gets more out of its two best players than Chicago will.
Dallas is clearly building something, and who knows if it ever amounts to anything even coming close to what Bowman's done over the last six years. But that won't be Benn or Seguin's fault; they've done more or less everything that could be asked of them. As for everyone else in Dallas, well, plenty to be desired. Not so for Chicago, which is why you see all that winning and so forth.
Supporting cast performance matters a lot more than star performance, on the whole. Especially when Chicago's supporting cast has been this good and Dallas's hasn't. But the point is: Nill's not crazy here. Benn and Seguin are just as good as Toews and Kane in their primes.
Mostly because Seguin is one of the best players in the league.
Followup; Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz: Toews and Kane 'worth every penny'.
By C. Roumeliotis
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have cemented themselves as two of the best players in the NHL for years, and now they're about to be paid like it.
After signing matching eight-year, $84 million contract extensions that kick in this season, the Blackhawks are already feeling the effects against the salary cap. But winning three Stanley Cups in six years makes it easier to swallow and the fact they're both below the age of 28, respectively, makes you believe some of their best hockey could still be ahead of them.
While Toews and Kane's new deals account for nearly 30 percent of the team's salary, Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz believes they're worth as much as they're getting paid.
“I think that they're quality individuals," Wirtz told the Chicago Tribune editorial board. "They're never satisfied. They're great leaders, and I think they're terrific for the city. As the eight-year contracts go on, I think we'll see they're worth every penny."
Not only that, but could Toews and Kane join Michael Jordan, Stan Mikita, and Bobby Hull with statues outside the United Center one day?
Wirtz briefly addressed that possibility, saying, "In the long run, we'll see if we get a couple of more statues."
Seeing what Toews and Kane have already accomplished in Chicago, it seems like it's only a matter of time when, not if, that happens.
Wirtz: Blackhawks recognition has grown after third Stanley Cup in six years.
#HAWKTALK
When Rocky Wirtz took over for the Blackhawks in 2007, it was his goal to do what was best for the organization.
Eight years and three Stanley Cups later, I think we can say he's doing a pretty remarkable job. Even he is surprised to see how successful the team has been.
"I think that you have people that would be fringe fans are now beginning to be fanatics. You talk to people in the elevator, you see people on the streets, you drive around. People give you the thumbs up. The recognition for the team and the organization has just grown," said Wirtz on Kap and Haugh Show Thursday. "(2010) was big, obviously the first time in 49 years. (2013) was big. But I just think (2015) and having it be at home really had it explode."
Similar to the 2010 offseason, the Blackhawks had to make some moves this summer because of the salary cap. Some trades were expected while others weren't.
Regardless, Wirtz understands that the moves had to be made, but admits it wasn't easy to see guys like Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad go.
"It's the business. It's the hard cap. These are very tough things," said Wirtz. "Unfortunately you got to put your emotions aside, but when you put your head in the pillow at night, you really are sorry to see these two quality individuals go."
Gary Bettman says the shootout is here to stay in NHL.
By Greg Wyshynski
Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) scores past Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo (L) during a shootout period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015, in Chicago. (Photo/Andrew Nelles/AP)
The NHL is introducing a new 3-on-3 overtime format next season because the majority of its member teams loathe the impact the shootout has on the standings and wanted to minimize how many are played. Which would signal that, in fact, the NHL’s teams don’t like the shootout.
But that doesn’t matter to commissioner Gary Bettman, who believes that “overwhelmingly fans like it,’ and hence it’s here to stay.
“I think to the extent some people wanted to see fewer shootouts, this will get us there, and that’s fine. The shootout isn’t going anywhere. You go to a building during a shootout, everybody’s on their feet, nobody is leaving, which is what it was designed to do. It’s exciting, it’s fun, it’s entertaining, and so if we’re going to try and reduce the number of shootouts, this may do it.”
He added, “I think you see some people in the hockey community say they’d rather see fewer shootouts, but this is a sport that had ties for so many years and nobody liked that. And we’re not in the position in the regular season for a whole host of reasons to play games to the end in sudden death the way we do in the playoffs.”
Look, there’s no denying that the shootout has some miniscule entertainment value, hidden under the rotten layers of predictably repetitive results and the brutal inequity of its influence on the standings. Sometimes players shoot the puck between the legs. That’s fun.
Going to 3-on-3 overtime is a step in the right direction, although I would have rather seen the AHL’s shootout-avoiding OT system (4 on 4 and then 3 on 3) implemented.
But when are we going to see the NHL finally go one step further and revamp the points system? Shouldn’t winning in the first 60 minutes matter the most? Shouldn’t the skills competition matter the least?
We’ve got the 3-on-3. When do we get the 3-point regulation win?
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session... Maya Moore leads West to 117-112 win over the East in WNBA All-Star Game.
Associated Press
Maya Moore scored a record 30 points to lead the West to a 117-112 victory over the East on Saturday in the WNBA All-Star Game.
The league's reigning MVP scored eight straight points in the final 2 minutes to turn a one-point deficit into a 113-106 advantage. After a basket by the East cut it to a four-point game, the Minnesota forward hit another deep 3 to seal the victory.
Moore surpassed Shoni Schimmel's 29 points in last year's overtime game. The former UConn great was honored as the game's MVP.
The West's victory was the All-Star swan song for Indiana star Tamika Catchings, who has played in a record 10 of them. She is planning to retire at the end of next season and the WNBA typically doesn't play All-Star games in Olympic years.
Catchings became the league's career leader in All-Star points with a putback in the second quarter right after she broke up a potential dunk attempt by Brittney Griner on a fast break. Griner later got a two-handed slam midway through the third quarter. She followed it up on the next possession with a 3-pointer that gave the West its first lead since early in the game.
The West opened up a double-digit lead before the East rallied behind Connecticut Sun star Alex Bentley, who was playing in front of her home crowd.
The game became tight in the fourth before Moore took over in the final minutes.
While Catchings played in her All-Star finale, the future of the league is bright with so many talented young stars, including Griner and the league's leading scorer Elena Delle Donne. Griner finished with 21 points for the West.
Delle Donne, who was the leading vote-getter this season, made her first All-Star appearance. The Chicago Sky star was voted in the last two years as a starter as well, but couldn't play because of injuries.
Playing in the game was just part of what was special for Delle Donne. She also wore a pair of shoes designed by Matthew Walzer, a 19-year-old college student who challenged Nike to make a shoe for people with disabilities. Delle Donne's sister, Lizzie, has cerebral palsy and is blind and deaf.
The All-Star met the designer on Friday and he was in the stands watching the game Saturday.
"It truly was the highlight of the weekend for me," Delle Donne said. "These are shoes that are going to make a difference for people."
Delle Donne wasn't the only All-Star making her debut. There were 10 first-timers — the most since 2011. One All-Star rookie was Plenette Pierson, who is in her 13th year in the league. Pierson had fun during one timeout, taking a cheerleader's pom-poms and leading the fans in a cheer.
Bentley, another All-Star newbie, responded by getting the fans, which included NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, to cheer even louder. Bentley left her mark on the court as well, converting a spectacular reverse layup in the second quarter by throwing the ball high off the glass before it dropped in the basket.
She led the East with 23 points.
The start of the game was delayed when water came down on the court from the ceiling during pregame introductions. The teams missed their first six shots before Schimmel, last year's game MVP, got things going with a 3-pointer.
The East was off and running, building a 34-24 lead after the first quarter.
Even without stars Skylar Diggins, Lindsay Whalen and Seimone Augustus, who were sidelined by injuries, there was still plenty of offense for the West. Injury replacement Kayla McBride, another first-timer, scored 13 points in the first half to help keep the West in the game. It trailed 59-58 at the break.
Why Becky Hammon is the right coach at the right time for new NBA.
By Ken Berger
One executive says Becky Hammon is a "short-list" worthy head coaching candidate. (USATSI)
In this evolving basketball universe, for this particular trailblazer named Becky Hammon, it's vaulted her name straight into the conversation to perhaps someday become the NBA's first woman head coach.
Commissioner Adam Silver said there's "no doubt" a woman will at some point occupy the first seat on an NBA bench. San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who hired Hammon as a full-time assistant last season, said the move wasn't a gimmick.
In conversations with multiple team executives and decision-makers around the NBA, there is no question Hammon has gained traction as a potentially serious head-coaching candidate. Just as important, the conventional thinking about what teams look for in a coach have begun to shift dramatically.
With some more huddles under her command, and more game plans up her sleeve, Hammon could prove to be the woman who arrives at the right place at the right time in a sports culture that is primed for new thinking.
"Why not?" one Eastern Conference executive told CBSSports.com. "She has the qualities necessary, and with an organization's backing, she could do it. She's obviously learned under the best."
Another Eastern Conference executive said, "She would be high on my list. She's short-list worthy."
But how? When? Where? What circumstances would make such a bold move viable -- or too problematic to pull off? When you delve deeper, you begin to understand how far Hammon actually is from breaking that barrier -- but also, how the dynamics for such bold thinking have begun to align across the NBA.
"I think she has a chance, but I do think it's premature," a prominent agent told CBSSports.com. "She's been an assistant coach for one year. From behind-the-bench assistant, there's a pretty long progression before they get a head coaching spot."
Hammon's knowledge of the game and accomplishments as a six-time WNBA All-Star are beyond dispute. Having been immersed in controversy after deciding to play for Russia in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, Hammon is no stranger to dealing with controversy or the media -- a daily concern for any NBA head coach.
Executives who know her well and who observed her work with the Spurs' Summer League team talk about her presence, her command of the huddle and her communication skills -- all key attributes of a successful coach, regardless of gender.
"She does have sort of a unique way about her," another Eastern Conference executive said. "She just connects with you on a personal level when you talk to her. … She has a genuine way that you feel comfortable when you're talking to her. It's not like there's an agenda. There's a genuine way about her. She's an honest communicator."
But coaching is a mostly thankless profession in which men have toiled for years -- or even decades -- all around the globe, doing grunt work and tossing their laundry into coin-operated washing machines. That's the gig; and forever, that's been the path. Your room key from the Best Western in Des Moines or Dubuque was your ticket to a bigger job.
Most such road warriors never get a chance to be a lead NBA assistant, much less a head coach. While Hammon was putting in work and guiding the Spurs to the Summer League championship, dozens of lifers with vastly more experience were sniffing around the NBA's summer home for any job they could find.
"Why don't we see if Pop has enough faith in her to move her onto the front of the bench before we make her a head-coaching candidate?" one Western Conference executive said.
As harsh as it sounds, that's a fair point. Hammon will have to blaze some of the same paths that are expected of her male counterparts, and rising to bench assistant -- and eventually lead assistant -- is part of the natural progression. She hasn't shied away from it, either.
But while Hammon, 38, is toiling in the relatively distraction-free, mature environment of the five-time champion Spurs, she isn't operating in a vacuum. All around her in the NBA, old thinking is being replaced by new. Conformist approaches to what makes for a difference-making coach are beginning to fade, opening avenues for head coaches that didn't exist even five years ago.
Among recent head coaching hires, the Jazz chose Quin Snyder, who developed his coaching chops in college, the D-League and internationally. Brad Stevens (Celtics), David Blatt (Cavaliers by way of Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Russian national team), Fred Hoiberg (Bulls) and Billy Donovan (Thunder) broke the traditional mold of the clipboard-carrying NBA assistants who've long been given a shot simply by putting in the time.
The Golden State Warriors ushered in Steve Kerr straight from the broadcast table, and he led the franchise to its first championship in 40 years. Derek Fisher and Jason Kidd have gone straight from the locker room to the head coach's office -- high-level players, no doubt, but neophytes in the coaching profession.
The notion of simply hiring long-retired former players, experienced assistants or recycled head coaches is viewed in some league circles as antiquated. Visions have been sharpened by fresh perspectives in NBA front offices and ownership suites over the past 5-10 years.
"There's a more creative group of people in the decision-making seats now, whether they're owners, GMs or presidents," one of the executives said. "And they're not being confined to people that are just going do it the way it's always been done."
Still, when a first-ballot Hall of Famer like Patrick Ewing has been paying his dues as an NBA assistant since 2002, it's difficult for traditional thinkers to move Hammon to the front of the line. Coaching trends go in cycles, and to some, experience still matters.
"She has a long way to go to learn the NBA game, learn how the NBA is, the personalities of the players," the agent said. "The environments aren't all the same like the Spurs. If she becomes the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, it's a different beast than working with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili."
In San Antonio, Hammon doesn't have to worry about egos, immaturity or ignorance getting in the way of doing the work and learning her craft. Rival executives agree there could be no more ideal environment for a head-coach-in-waiting.
"Becky had an amazing basketball career as a player, so there's no surprise that she would be an excellent coach," said Stephanie Ready, who in 2001 became the first woman assistant coach of a men's pro basketball team in the United States with the now-defunct Greenville Groove of the D-League.
"As l have always said when I was coaching, it doesn't matter your gender," she said. "Basketball is basketball. If you know the game, you know the game. Athletes, especially at the highest level, all they want is someone that can help them get better and understand the game better. If they're going to help you win, that's all that matters."
The executives who spoke with CBSSports.com about Hammon's head-coaching chances did not want to be identified because she is under contract with a competing franchise. And several agreed that if Hammon ever gets the leading role with a team, the franchise that first gave her a chance makes the most sense.
"I would think the place where she has the most equity would be the first stop, so San Antonio," another Eastern Conference executive said. "She's put herself on the radar for interviews, for sure."
For many team decision-makers, the analysis of Hammon as a head-coaching candidate reads the same as it would for a man. She's smart, engaging, articulate, knowledgeable and genuine. She's magnetic; she has "it," they say. She isn't guided by ego or afraid to put in the work.
One executive who knows her well said she wouldn't try to fool players with what she doesn't know; she'd surround herself with experienced assistants, he said, and wouldn't be averse to delegating. She's immersed in just such an environment with the Spurs, where Popovich reigns over all but gives his assistants -- like the world-renowned Ettore Messina -– the latitude and responsibility to make an impact.
"First and foremost, every coach has to have that self-belief, and she has it, by far," another Western Conference exec said. "Some people call it cockiness, swag, arrogance; she has it. She's comfortable with who she is, and that's far and beyond the most important thing."
Her players respected her and responded to her at Summer League. But would they do it during the grind of an 82-game schedule, when playing time, contracts and reputations are on the line every day -– month after month, season after season?
"I don't think she'd be a great fit for a veteran-oriented team, like when Brooklyn had KG, [Paul] Pierce and those guys," one of the Western Conference execs said.
"Maybe a team like Orlando -- a young team that's on the verge of going someplace. I don't think she's the right person for a complete rebuild. But a young, up-and-coming team? That would be the best fit."
One exec with an established playoff team said, "Today, I would not hire her for my team right now. … It wouldn't have anything to do with her gender, really. For some teams, it's really difficult to hire a rookie coach."
Regardless of roster makeup or competitive expectations, the question has to be asked: can a woman connect with and earn the respect of male players at the highest level of basketball? That brings us back to the changing landscape in a league that has become the bellwether of progressive thinking in American sports.
"There are a lot of positions in the NBA where actually it's an advantage to have a woman," one of the Eastern Conference execs said. "Some of the [players] are more open, coming from single-parent households where mostly moms, aunts and sisters were the authority figures. Those players tend to be more willing to open up and have an easier interaction with a woman than with a man. I don't know if that carries over in this case because I've never seen it done before."
Amanda Green has held a front-office position with the Oklahoma City Thunder since 2012. A former attorney with Proskauer Rose, the NBA's outside counsel, her role includes managing the salary cap, reviewing contracts and handling league office affairs. This past season, she was instrumental in identifying the Jazz as a trade partner in the deal that sent Reggie Jackson to the Pistons and brought Enes Kanter to Oklahoma City, league sources said.
Green started her front-office career as an intern with -- who else? -- the Spurs.
And while it was a small body of players who voted, the National Basketball Players Association last July took the unprecedented step of electing Washington, D.C. trial lawyer Michele Roberts as executive director of the union. She became the first woman to lead a make professional sports union in North America.
"With any of the candidates, it wasn't about race or gender," NBPA president Chris Paul said at the time. "It was about who was going to be the best person in that position."
Said Roberts, "My sense was, the only thing people cared about was my resolve."
So it will be with Becky Hammon. If and when she's ready, the NBA seems more than ready for someone like her.
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!! Chicago Bears countdown to training camp.
By Sam Householder
Vic Fangio (Photo/Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports)
The fact that the Chicago Bears report to training camp in two days has me like:
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But that's still two days away! Let's see, what Bears-related item could fit in with the number three?
How about the first number of the Bears' new defensive system.
That's right, the 3-4. This is the first time in the team's history that they have run a base 3-4 scheme. It is also the first time a John Fox-coached team will run a 3-4.
There aren't a lot of coaches that completely change up their coaching philosophy or schemes in the middle of their careers like Fox is doing, which is what makes it strange. Yes Bill Belichick changed from a base 3-4 to a 4-3 a couple years ago but that was long after he had established himself as an innovator and the smartest coach in football.
Coaches usually build through their time as an assistant in one system and then stick with it throughout the rest of their careers, especially on the side of the football that they specialize in.
Fox has worked his entire career inside the 4-3 philosophy but has changed it up with Chicago. In order to help him he brought in Vic Fangio, the best available 3-4 defensive coordinator on the market this offseason. Fangio's San Francisco Ds have been among the NFL's best and what he can bring to Chicago has Bears fans excited to get back to the "Monsters of the Midway" history.
What are your realistic expectations for the Bears new defense in year one?
Chicago Bears will have a new look at training camp.
By Bob LeGere
Bears head coach John Fox is eager to see his team put on the pads as training camp gets underway this week in Bourbonnais. (Photo/RockRiverTimes.com)
The Bears team that reports this week to Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais for the start of training camp will look vastly different from the one that limped home 5-11 last season, which isn't surprising.
Forty-seven of the 90 players on the roster at the June 16-18 minicamp were not on the 53-man roster at any time during the 2014 season. The Bears left last year's camp thinking playoffs but missed the postseason for the seventh time in eight years, losing five straight games to end the season.
That spelled the end for general manager Phil Emery and his hand-picked head coach, Marc Trestman.
But it's not just new general manager Ryan Pace and his personnel team, new scouts and an almost entirely new coaching staff led by John Fox that will give the Bears a different look.
The turnover in player personnel is greater this season than in most. Gone are two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Charles Tillman (to the Panthers) and seven-time Pro Bowl linebacker Lance Briggs (as yet unsigned), two of the top players in franchise history.
Gone, too, is five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was practically given away to the New York Jets because his propensity for distractions had begun to outweigh his production.
Roberto Garza was released after playing 10 of his 14-year career with the Bears, staring at center the last four years and at guard before that.
Defensive tackle Stephen Paea, the 2011 second-round pick who started 40 games the last three years, was allowed to leave for Washington in free agency.
Safety Chris Conte, taken a round later in the same draft as Paea, escaped to Tampa after being unfairly singled out the last two years for criticism that could have gone to just about everyone else on back-to-back defensive units that were among the NFL's worst.
This year's opening day lineup should have at least 10 different starters from opening day 2014, and even the returning players will be operating in different schemes.
New coordinator Adam Gase's offense is expected to place more emphasis on running the football, and Fox, who won the last four NFC West titles with the Denver Broncos, is an advocate of a power run game. Those are concepts that fell by the wayside in the pass-happy offense of Trestman and coordinator Aaron Kromer.
Gase's offenses in Denver racked up huge numbers the last two seasons. But instead of future first-ballot Hall of Famer Peyton Manning running his offense, Gase now has Jay Cutler, the NFL leader in turnovers last season.
"Obviously I feel good about Adam Gase's ability; we hired him," Fox said. "He's an outstanding coach. I've seen him operate before, as a coach and a play caller on game day. I think he'll help Jay but you've still got to perform."
What's new with Cutler? Well, he'll be working under a new coordinator and operating a new offense, a common theme during his Bears career. Gase is Cutler's fifth coordinator as he enters his seventh season in Chicago.
"You've got to try to forget the last (offense) as quickly as possible and just wipe the slate clean," Cutler said. "Maybe I've gotten better at that over the years; maybe not."
Cutler and Co. have to learn a new offense, but they have the advantage of familiarity. Marshall and Garza are the only two significant departures.
"I don't have to worry about getting to know certain guys, how they like the ball, what they're good at and what they're not," Cutler said. "I know these guys, and we can concentrate on the offense and getting the terminology down and going."
The defensive transition will be more difficult. A roster built to play a 4-3 scheme will be asked to work out of a base 3-4, a scheme the Bears have never before played.
There are only so many square pegs that a successful defensive coordinator such as Vic Fangio can pound into round holes, which is why the starting lineup will see so much turnover. But Fangio's track record is impressive. His 49ers defenses the last four seasons were always among the top five in the league.
At the conclusion of the mid-June minicamp, Fox expressed satisfaction with his first off-season in Chicago, but his enthusiasm was tempered.
"We've made progress, (but) we're by no means there yet," Fox said. "We've made a lot of changes; upstairs, downstairs, throughout the building. The guys have responded well. Guys have bought in and worked hard and that's all I can ask."
Fox knows his team has a long way to get back to respectability. But he has an exceptional record with reclamation projects. He took over a 1-15 Carolina Panthers team and went 7-9 his first year and made it to the Super Bowl the following season. Fox got the Broncos to those four straight postseasons after inheriting a team that was 12-20 in the two seasons before he arrived.
There's only so much any coach can learn about a new team in the off-season, when they practice in shorts or what Fox refers to as "underwear football." He'll get a better idea of what he has in Bourbonnais.
"Once you get into pads and play real football -- not underwear football, you get a better feel for that," he said. "That's part of coaching, putting guys in position to have success, and hopefully we get that figured out."
After Deflategate, NFL instructs refs to inspect footballs more closely.
By Michael David Smith
(Photo/AP)
NFL referees have been given detailed instructions for closely inspecting footballs in response to Deflategate.
In what former NFL head of officiating Mike Pereira terms “an overreaction” to the controversy, the NFL told officials this weekend that they will have to change the way they go about getting footballs ready for play.
Under the new rules, the referee will designate two members of his staff to inspect every football submitted by each team to make sure they’re inflated to between 12.5 PSI and 13.5 PSI. Any footballs that fall outside the prescribed specifications will be inflated or deflated to 13.0 PSI. The officials will also number each football submitted and keep a log of the level of inflation of each football.
The league is also giving additional responsibilities to the kicking ball coordinator and an onsite league security representative to make sure no one tampers with the game balls. At some randomly selected games, the league will also test the PSI levels of footballs at halftime and after the game.
That last part is important: Some defenders of the Patriots and Tom Brady have suggested that footballs could become partially deflated over the course of a game, and that the Patriots’ footballs in the AFC Championship Game were measured at under 12.5 PSI not because the Patriots deflated them but because they were measured after they had already been used in the game. Now the NFL’s halftime and post-game testing will determine to what extend footballs lose their pressure over the course of an NFL game.
It would really be something if these new procedures reveal that footballs routinely lose some air pressure during games, and that the whole Deflategate “scandal” was the result of nothing more than footballs losing a little air because they were used in a game.
Phillies' Cole Hamels tosses first no-hitter against Cubs since 1965.
By Scott Krinch
The only thing that could have stopped Cole Hamels on Saturday afternoon would have been a mid-game trade to the Cubs.
Hamels was near-perfect, hurling his first career no-hitter as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Cubs, 5-0, in front of 41, 683 at Wrigley Field. It marks the first time the Cubs have been no-hit in 7,930 games, the last coming on Sandy Koufax's perfect game on Sept. 9, 1965.
Hamels, a rumored trade target of the Cubs, tossed nine innings of no-hit ball to go along with 13 strikeouts and two walks in the Phillies' victory. The only two runners for the Cubs came via an Anthony Rizzo first inning walk and later a Dexter Fowler sixth inning free pass that broke a string of 15 consecutive batters retired by Hamels.
The closest the Cubs came to notching their only hit off Hamels came on consecutive batters in the eighth inning. David Ross flew out deep to left field, followed by a pinch-hitting Kyle Schwarber who sent a liner back up the middle that Hamels was able to snag.
The Phillies got in front early when Ryan Howard clobbered a Jake Arrieta two-out pitch to center for a three-run homer in the third inning. Philadelphia tacked on two more runs in the eighth inning when Freddy Galvis' doubled and came along to score along with Cody Asche on an ill-advised throwing error by first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
Arrieta didn't have his best stuff on Saturday, but still managed to toss a quality start. He allowed three runs on six hits to go along with eight strikeouts.
The last no-hitter in Phillies franchise history came on Sept. 1, 2014 when Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon combined for one in a 7-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
Cubs swept by Phillies after Sunday's 11-5 thumping.
By Scott Krinch
This was supposed to be the easy part of the Cubs' schedule.
It was assumed that the lowly Philadelphia Phillies, owners of the worst record in baseball, were going to be a welcome sign, but after this weekend's series, the Cubs (51-46) couldn't be more pleased to see them leave town.
Less than 24 hours after getting no-hit by Cole Hamels, the Cubs were throttled, 11-5, in front of 41, 123 Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field as the Phillies continued their scorching play since the All-Star break by completing a three-game sweep.
"Baseball is a great game because you don't know what you're going to get every day," Cubs starter Jason Hammel said. "On any given day any team can win. It's a 100-year-old game, and it's constantly changing. You never know what you're going to get.
"For those guys or whoever wants to talk about good teams playing bad teams, you really don't know who the good team or who the bad team is day in and day out."
The Phillies (37-63) carried over the momentum from Hamels' no-hitter from the get-go.
Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez led off the game with an infield single and came around to score on a Maikel Franco triple. Ryan Howard followed with a towering two-run homer to left field before Hammel recorded an out.
Hammel again found himself in trouble in the top of the fourth inning. Cody Asche tripled to deep right and scored on a Domonic Brown double. Cameron Rupp followed with an RBI double, and then opposing pitcher Aaron Nola singled to knock Hammel out of the game. Hammel, whose ERA rose from 2.82 to 3.20 on Sunday, allowed six runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings pitched.
It was the fourth time since the end of May that Hammel has failed to reach the fifth inning in a start.
"That wasn't the way the weekend was supposed to go," Hammel said. "My role today was just garbage. Unacceptable. Just too many pitches up in the zone. I didn't really stick with the gameplan at all."
Travis Wood, who replaced Hammel in the fourth, allowed two runs on three hits in 1 1/3 innings, while Yoervis Medina was touched up for three runs in three innings, highlighted by Howard's second homer of the game in the eighth to make it 11-2. The only Cubs pitcher that went unscathed on Sunday afternoon was catcher David Ross, who came in to pitch the ninth inning. He retired the Phillies in order, setting down Rupp, Darin Ruf and Hernandez on just eight pitches.
Ross continued to give the fans still left at Wrigley something to cheer about when he led off the bottom of the ninth inning with his first home run of the season.
"I don't really want to be out there first of all, to be honest," Ross said after the game. "But if it helps the team to pick up an inning late. I'm just trying to throw strikes to get the game over with as fast as possible and do the best I can. It was nice to get good defensive plays by Addy behind me. And then hitting. He hung me a slider, and I got the head out."
The Cubs offense couldn't muster much off Nola, failing to put a runner in scoring position all afternoon. Making just his second career start, the rookie allowed four runs and five hits in 7 2/3 innings. The only blemishes came on a Dexter Folwer third-inning homer and an Addison Russell eighth-inning blast.
This marks the second time the Cubs have been swept this season, the first coming at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals the weekend of June 26-June 28.
"Put this in the filing cabinet and come back and play a better game," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "We still have a chance for a .500 homestand."
'Why not us?' White Sox complete four-game sweep of Indians.
By Dan Hayes
The Carlos Connection powered the White Sox on Sunday afternoon.
Rookie Carlos Sanchez homered for the second day in a row, and fellow beginner Carlos Rodon struck out nine as the White Sox topped the Cleveland Indians, 2-1, in front of 17,751 at Progressive Field. The victory gave the White Sox their first four-game sweep since July 2010 and improved their record to 46-50.
Rodon — who walked 44 batters in his first 70 1/3 innings — didn’t walk any in 6 2/3 scoreless innings and became the fifth straight White Sox starting pitcher to not issue a free pass, the team’s longest streak since 1972.
“Once he realizes he does have stuff that if he does happen to throw it over the plate it doesn’t mean it’s going to get crushed every time,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “He made competitive pitches when he fell behind and one just landed in there and that’s what big leaguers do and he’s really turned himself into something.”
After walking 19 batters in his previous five starts (26 innings), Rodon was sharp from the outset, using all of his pitches effectively. For only the second start in 13, Rodon didn’t walk anyone, and it kept him out of trouble for most of the day.
“He did a great job getting ahead of guys,” catcher Tyler Flowers said. “That’s a big thing right there. He was locating his fastball pretty well. That gave us an opportunity to get a good feel for the slider. He threw a number of good changeups in there, too. So when he’s getting strike one early, then we have a couple of things to work with.”
Rodon threw strikes on 73 of 111 pitches, including 13 of 21 with his changeup. He also threw strikes on 32 of 48 fastballs.
In the first of two instances where Rodon got into a jam, his defense bailed him out. Brandon Moss and Roberto Perez opened the third inning with a single and a double. But Jose Abreu started a rundown on a Mike Aviles grounder for the first out, and Rodon induced a 6-4-3 double play off the bat of Jason Kipnis to end the third inning as Alexei Ramirez barehanded the grounder and flipped to Sanchez.
Ramirez also robbed Kipnis of an extra-base hit in the sixth inning.
But Rodon was otherwise effective into the seventh inning. That’s when Moss had a two-out single with a man aboard to end Rodon’s day. Jake Petricka struck out Perez to strand runners on the corners.
“He can get himself into some trouble, but what he has that most people don’t is he can get himself out of trouble,” Ventura said.
The White Sox offense did just enough to complete the sweep.
A day after he blasted his first big league homer, Sanchez hit one to nearly the same exact spot but eight feet further as his 412-foot blast in the third put the White Sox ahead 1-0.
“(It’s) not surprising,” Rodon said of the homer. “I’ve seen it before.”
Sanchez continued a hot streak that has seen him raise his average to .221 with two more singles. The latter, with one out in the seventh, led to the team’s second run. Tyler Saladino drew his third of three walks with two outs, and Melky Cabrera singled to score Sanchez. Cabrera went 2-for-4.
The White Sox have only begun to start to dig themselves out of a massive hole with the four-game sweep. They’re still four games under .500 and appear to be on track to trade Jeff Samardzija before Friday’s non-waiver trade deadline. But they’re still clinging to hope — they sit five games back in the wild-card race — after the offense has come to life and the defense has cleaned up.
“Why not us?” Rodon said. “That’s the mentality we’ve got to have. Why not us? Why can’t we do it? So just keep on winning, keep on plugging away, and this brand of baseball we’ve been playing this weekend should keep it going.”
MLB: Johnson, Martinez, Smoltz, Biggio enter Hall of Fame.
By JOHN KEKIS
Three pitchers who became dominant after trades and a rock-solid catcher-turned-second baseman have a new moniker - Hall of Famer.
Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday and basked in the spotlight one more time with at least 40,000 fans cheering from the sun-drenched field beyond.
For Martinez, the last to speak, the moment was magical as scores in the crowd waved Dominican flags for one of their own. Martinez, who also delivered part of his speech in Spanish, and former Giants great Juan Marichal, elected in 1983, are the only Hall of Famers from the Caribbean nation.
At the end of the ceremony, Martinez beckoned Marichal to the stage and they held their flag high, one last emotional gesture as the crowd roared.
''We waited 32 years for another Dominican,'' said Martinez, who wore a patch honoring his nation's flag on one shoulder and another honoring the United States on the other. ''I hope all Dominicans remember this. I don't think the Dominican Republic will have a better image than me and Marichal on Father's Day (in the Dominican Republic) to be up there.''
Playing through an era tainted by steroids and ruled by offense - compliments of bulked-up sluggers, a smaller strike zone and smaller ballparks - Johnson, Martinez and Smoltz proved indomitable. They combined for 735 wins, 11,113 strikeouts and nine Cy Young Awards.
Biggio, who played four positions in his 20-year career, all with the Houston Astros, was indefatigable, becoming an All-Star at second base and behind the plate.
''We changed the culture in Houston by making it a baseball city,'' said Biggio, who grew up on New York's Long Island. ''To the Astros fans, you guys are the greatest fans in the world.''
Martinez, 219-100 for his career, helped the Red Sox break an 86-year-old World Series drought in 2004 and is the first Boston pitcher inducted. He grew up with five brothers and sisters in a one-room home on the outskirts of Santo Domingo and credits brother Ramon, a starter with the Dodgers during Pedro's rookie season in Los Angeles, as a key to his career.
''I have a second dad,'' said Martinez, who won 117 games and two Cy Youngs in seven seasons pitching in hitter-friendly Fenway Park. ''Ramon, you are my second dad. I followed in his footsteps and it led me to where I am today.''
Remarkably, all three pitchers didn't stick around with their first clubs very long. Drafted by Montreal, Johnson made the Expos' roster in 1988 and midway through the 1989 season was traded to the Seattle Mariners.
Smoltz, signed by his hometown Detroit Tigers after being selected on the 22nd round of the 1985 amateur draft, was dealt to Atlanta for veteran Doyle Alexander in August 1987. And the Dodgers, thinking he might be too fragile at 5-foot-10 and 170 pounds for the rigors of the game as a starter, traded Martinez to Montreal after the hard-throwing right-hander with the pinpoint control had a solid rookie season in the bullpen.
On this day, that was ancient history.
Johnson, at 6-foot-10 the tallest player elected to the Hall of Fame, gave special thanks to his parents. His father died in 1992. His mother, Carol, was watching from the front row.
''Thank you, mom. You're the Hall of Famer,'' Johnson said.
Johnson became a 20-game winner in 1997 and won four consecutive Cy Young awards with the Arizona Diamondbacks, leading them to the World Series championship in 2001. He finished with 303 victories in 22 seasons.
Smoltz won the 1996 Cy Young award and reached the playoffs 14 times with Atlanta. The Braves won five pennants and the 1995 World Series with Smoltz on the roster. He's the first pitcher to win more than 200 games and save at least 150 games. He's also the first player inducted with Tommy John surgery on his resume.
Smoltz understood his debt to John.
''I'm a miracle. I'm a medical miracle,'' Smoltz said. ''I never took one day for granted.''
Smoltz also heaped praise on former manager Bobby Cox and teammates Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, who were inducted a year ago, and delivered a message to parents of the players of tomorrow as the number of Tommy John surgeries continues to escalate.
''Understand that this is not normal to have a surgery at 14 or 15 years old,'' Smoltz said to warm applause. ''Baseball is not a year-round sport. They're competing too hard, too early. That's why we're having these problems.''
Biggio became the only player in major league history with at least 3,000 hits, 600 doubles, 400 stolen bases and 250 home runs while being asked to play four positions in his 20-year career, all with the Astros.
He paid special thanks to coach Matt Galante, who worked tirelessly over six weeks of spring training as Biggio made the transition from catcher to second base.
As he spoke, Biggio looked into the audience at Galante, a baseball lifer who was near tears before the ceremony even began.
''I'm not here without that man,'' Biggio said.
Golf; I got a club for that: Day wins as Canadian drought continues in the Canadian Open.
By Ryan Ballengee
The Canadian drought in their national golf championship will extend to a 62nd year.
Canuck David Hearn, who carried a two-shot lead into the final round of the RBC Canadian Open, came up two shots shy of a maiden PGA Tour win and ending a winless Canadian streak dating back to Pat Fletcher in 1954.
Hearn's even-par 72 at Glen Abbey Golf Club paved the way for Jason Day to win for the second time in 2015, making birdies on the final three holes of the tournament to secure a one-stroke win over Bubba Watson, who himself birdied the final four holes. A 20-foot birdie putt on the par-5 finisher at the Jack Nicklaus-designed track completed a 4-under 68 to win in 17-under 271.
The win is Day's fourth on the PGA Tour and marks the first multi-win season of his career, backing up a playoff win earlier in the season at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Day has finished in the top 10 in each of the last two majors, including a T-4 finish on Monday at the British Open. Not that he wasn't already, but Day will now be considered even more highly as a contender for the PGA Championship in three weeks at Whistling Straits. When the Wisconsin venue last hosted the season's final major in 2010, Day finished tied for 10th place.
Golf-Thompson wins Meijer LPGA Classic by one shot.
Reuters; Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes, Editing by Larry Fine
Lexi Thompson surged past overnight leader Lizette Salas and held off a last-day charge by Gerina Piller to win her fifth career LPGA title by one shot at the Meijer LPGA Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Sunday.
Four strokes behind fellow American Salas heading into the final round, the long-hitting Thompson birdied five of the first eight holes on the way to a six-under-par 65 in bright sunshine at Blythefield Country Club.
Though she was briefly caught at the top by a red-hot Piller with eight holes to play, Thompson picked up two more shots over the closing stretch, along with a bogey on 17, to post an 18-under-par total of 266.
American Piller, bidding for her first win on the LPGA Tour, closed with an eight-birdie 64 to tie for second with Salas (70).
The 20-year-old Thompson, who will climb from 13th to sixth when the new world rankings are issued on Monday, earned a winner's check of $300,000 for her first LPGA victory of the season.
"It feels amazing," Thompson said after tapping in a two-footer to par the last. "It still hasn't really hit me yet because everything happened so fast.
"I was just trying to focus on my own game ... having fun in between shots and I think that's what helped me shoot six under today.
"It's definitely momentum going into the next week being a major," said Thompson, who left the course after her post-round interviews for Detroit Metro Airport to board a plane for Scotland and next week's Women's British Open at Turnberry.
Thompson, who won her first major title at last year's Kraft Nabisco Championship, made a sizzling start to the final round with birdies at the first, fourth and fifth to cut Salas' overnight lead to just one shot.
When Salas bogeyed the par-four seventh, she dropped back into a three-way tie at the top with Thompson and Piller, who had reeled off five birdies in the first eight holes.
Salas' challenge effectively ended with another bogey at the 10th and Thompson took control of the tournament with further birdies at the 10th, 11th and 15th.
South Korea's Ryu So-yeon (66) and American Kris Tamulis (68) finished joint fourth at 15-under while Korean world number one Park In-bee tumbled back into a tie for 44th after closing with a 76.
NASCAR: Kyle Busch wins Brickyard 400, his 4th win in 5 races.
By Nick Bromberg
Kyle Busch (18) celebrates after winning the NASCAR Brickyard 400 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, July 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Even if he doesn't make the Chase, Kyle Busch's streak is one of the most impressive accomplishments in recent NASCAR memory.
The driver of the No. 18 scored his fourth win in five races in Sunday's Brickyard 400, holding off Joey Logano on a green-white-checker restart.
The four wins put Busch in a tie with Jimmie Johnson for the series lead in wins.
However, Busch has run 11 fewer races than Johnson. He missed those races after breaking a leg and foot in an accident in the season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona.
The injury is why he's still not a lock for the Chase, though he's on pace to make it into NASCAR's postseason. Drivers must be in the top 30 of points to make the Chase and Busch is now 23 points out with five races to go before the Chase. He made up 35 points on 30th place on Sunday.
"Oh my gosh. I just can't believe this run right now," Busch said. "I can't believe what's going on ... It's really a treat to win at Indy."
Busch took the lead for the final time with eight laps to go. He was second to race leader Kevin Harvick on a restart and capitalized by hanging with Harvick into turn 1 and clearing him off turn two. Logano then passed Harvick on the next-to-last restart to set up the final challenge against Busch.
His win Sunday was also Toyota's first win at Indianapolis and the first time a non-Chevrolet driver has won at the track since Bill Elliott won in a Dodge in 2002.
Before winning at Indy, Busch won at Sonoma, Kentucky and New Hampshire. The only non-win in the stretch came at Daytona, where he recovered from hitting the wall to finish 17th.
It's natural to wonder where the last five races rank among similar streaks in NASCAR. If we're forced to rank the last five races right now, it's a five-race span that's behind Jimmie Johnson's four straight wins to seal the Chase title in 2007.
It doesn't rank with stretches like Jeff Gordon's seven wins in nine races in 1998 or Tony Stewart's five Chase wins in 2011. But let's be clear; any historical context of the ongoing run isn't official until it's over and we know if Busch makes the Chase. Currently slotting this run of Busch's behind any of those periods isn't a diss at all.
And to validate it, Busch needs to make the Chase. It's the harsh reality of NASCAR's current playoff format. If he misses the Chase, this summer swing will become overshadowed by the title drama NASCAR creates with the Chase's elimination format. And would also prove the routine boasts that "winning is everything" in NASCAR officially incorrect.
If he does make it, well, the focus will shift to Busch's performance in the Chase; an area where he's struggled. But the specter of what got him to the playoffs – considered an improbable achievement in May – will loom. And loom exceptionally large if he wins his first Sprint Cup title.
Though with five races to go before the Chase begins, Busch could have six or seven wins before the first race at Chicago. Would you be surprised if that happens? We sure wouldn't.
SOCCER: Maloney, Cocis on the score sheet as Fire, Revs share the spoils.
By Danny Michallik
Despite rallying from a 1-0 deficit in the first half, the Fire were unable to complete their second-half comeback against the Revolution, drawing, 2-2, Saturday night.
A 28th-minute strike from Lee Nguyen was canceled out by Shaun Maloney's penalty kick on the stroke of halftime. Razvan Cocis' tap-in 15 minutes from time was not enough, however, as Kelyn Rowe responded in the 77th minute to help the Revolution emerge with a valuable road point much to the dismay of the 14,159 on hand at Toyota Park.
"Gutted for the guys that, as a group, we got back into the game and then we went on to score what I thought was going to be the winning goal," a disappointed Frank Yallop told reporters after the match. "The last goal is not good. I don't know what to say after that, it just cost us the game."
All three of the Fire's designated players -- David Accam, Kennedy Igboananike and Maloney -- made the cut in Yallop's Starting XI, appearing together from the get-go for the first time since May 30 and only the fourth time all year. Accam and Igboananike replaced Patrick Nyarko and the suspended Jason Johnson, respectively, while Sean Johnson reclaimed his spot in goal to round out the three changes from the team that downed Orlando City SC in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Both sides enjoyed their share of possession in the early stages, with the Revolution dictating most of the run of play. Harry Shipp's corner-kick delivery in the 23rd minute was met by Cocis, who, with the goal at his mercy, fluffed his lines from six yards out and wasted a golden opportunity to put the hosts in front. In a tight affair with chances few and far between, the most dangerous opening fell to the visitors, resulting in the first goal. Scott Caldwell found room to work on the left flank and whipped a ball into the six-yard box, only to be cleared as far as Nguyen, who slammed it home in the 28th minute.
Just as it appeared as though the Revolution would keep their 1-0 advantage, the Fire answered with a goal of their own. Maloney's corner kick in the 43rd minute spilled out to Accam, who was brought down by New England defender Jose Goncalves inside the area, leaving referee Ricardo Salazar no choice but to award a penalty kick. Maloney stepped up, kept his nerve and buried his effort past a diving Brad Knighton on the stroke of halftime to give the Men in Red some much-needed momentum heading into the second 45.
Following the halftime interval, a tame opening to the second stanza was nearly turned on its head. Just past the hour mark, Cocis sidestepped a few Revolution defenders on his way toward unleashing a curling strike from outside the 18 that sailed just wide of Knighton's left post.
With a quarter of an hour left to play, the Men in Red found their second goal, courtesy of Cocis. After Joevin Jones' initial attempt bounced to Matt Watson, the Englishman's side volley was parried by Knighton into the path of the Romanian at the back post, who dispatched from a couple yards out to net his first goal since the 2-2 draw at New York City FC on May 15.
Two minutes later, the Fire's lead was nullified. A low, bending ball from Revolution defender Chris Tierney wasn't dealt with by the back line, and made its way to Rowe to slot past a powerless Johnson at the back post, helping Jay Heaps' side steal a share of the points.
"We've got to let this go and get three points next Sunday," Yallop added. "It was right there for us and it was just disappointing that we didn't get three points. We dropped two points tonight."
Following a taxing two weeks that saw the Fire contest five matches, the Men in Red have the next eight days to prepare for next Sunday's cross-conference clash against FC Dallas.
Chicago Fire Starting XI (subs)
(4-4-1-1): Sean Johnson; Matt Polster, Eric Gehrig, Adaílton, Joevin Jones; David Accam, Matt Watson, Razvan Cocis (C), Harry Shipp (Patrick Nyarko, 64'); Shaun Maloney (Michael Stephens, 80'); Kennedy Igboananike.
USA 1-1 (2-3 PKs) Panama: USMNT dominated again, fall in Gold Cup 3rd-place game.
By Andy Edwards
Mercifully, and not one millisecond too soon, the US national team’s humbling run at the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup is over after a penalty kick shootout defeat (1-1, 3-2 PKs) to Panama in the third-place game at PPL Park on Saturday.
The USMNT, out-shot 25 to 5 (12 to 2 on target) by Los Canaleros on the day, was thoroughly outplayed for the fifth time in sixth games (Honduras, Haiti, Panama, Jamaica and now Panama once again) at this Gold Cup. At home. By Panama.
After an opening 45 minutes that saw Panama create the game’s only real goal scoring chances — including a goal-bound ball cleared off the line by Tim Ream — Panama broke the scoreless deadlock in the 55th minute, when Roberto Nurse got in behind the USMNT back line, cut inside past a lumbering, lazy John Brooks challenge, and slotted the his left-footed shot around Brad Guzan and inside the far post.
The Americans responded just 15 minutes later, though, when Michael Bradley found a streaking DeAndre Yedlin making a diagonal run into the Panamanian penalty area, where the Tottenham Hotspur youngster chested the ball down and played it out wide to Clint Dempsey, who floated a right-footed shot into an open net for his seventh goal of the tournament (leading scorer).
After a scoreless 30 minutes extra time were played, Saturday’s consolation game was to be decided in a penalty kick shootout.
Aron Johannsson kicked things off and gave the USMNT a 1-0 lead. Roman Torres converted Panama’s first attempt from the spot. 1-1. Clint Dempsey dinked the Americans’ second spot kick down the center of the goal. 2-1. Abdiel Arroyo beat Guzan on Panama’s second try. 2-2.
Fabian Johnson was the first to miss in the shootout, blazing his right-footed attempt over the crossbar. Armando Cooper couldn’t capitalize with Panama’s third attempt, as Guzan saved his weakly-hit roller with ease. Still 2-2. Michael Bradley’s ensuing effort was saved by a fully outstretched Luis Mejia at his right-hand post. Harold Cummings then beat Guzan after the ‘keeper got a hand to his attempt. 3-2, Panama.
DaMarcus Beasley, in his final international appearance for the Stars and Stripes, saw the shootout’s final penalty attempt saved by Mejia. A fitting end — not to Beasley’s USMNT career — but the Americans’ tournament.
NCAAFB: Notre Dame's first year with ACC a success, coaches call for full membership.
By Colleen Thomas
Notre Dame loves its football independence. The rest of college football wishes the Irish would join a conference.
“I prefer them being all the way (in the ACC), but that’s just not the way it is right now,” said North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora on Tuesday at ACC Kickoff.
The Fighting Irish have resisted fully joining a conference — they are full ACC members in all sports except football and hockey — but have agreed to schedule five ACC games a year.
In 2014, Notre Dame played Syracuse, North Carolina, Florida State and Louisville and has Virginia, Georgia Tech, Clemson, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and Boston College on the slate in 2015.
That also puts them in a unique situation when it comes to vying for a spot in the College Football Playoff. And that doesn’t please Missouri coach Gary Pinkel.
So will the Fighting Irish add more ACC games to their schedule or fully join the conference? Not according to ACC commissioner John Swofford.
“The five is where we settled in a very long and extended negotiation,” he said. “I think it gives us what we felt like we needed bringing them in without football and it gave them the opportunity to schedule the way they want to schedule.
“They cherish their football independence and I understand and respect that. It gives them an opportunity to play coast to coast and that’s important to Notre Dame.”
One year into the agreement, Swofford likes what he sees.
“It’s gone extraordinarily well, and I think you’d get the same answer from Notre Dame,” he said at ACC Kickoff. “They’re a great addition, they’ve been terrific around the table, great to work with.
“As (Notre Dame athletic director) Jack Swarbrick told me as we walked off the floor after they won the basketball championship in Greensboro, N.C., he said, ‘Now I feel like we really belong’ and I understood what he was saying. It’s a great place, unique place and I’m pleased they’re a part of our league.”
NCAABKB: Canada stuns USA in Pan Am semis; Kentucky signee stars.
By Tom Gatto
Jamal Murray (Getty Images)
Once again, Kentucky has prevailed over Wichita State. To be more precise, Wildcats incoming freshman guard Jamal Murray was on the winning side in a matchup with Shockers senior Ron Baker.
Murray had 22 points, six assists and four rebounds Friday to help Canada beat the United States 111-108 in overtime in the men's basketball semifinals of the Pan American Games in Toronto.
"It means everything to be out here," Murray told ESPN2 after the game, according to ukathletics.com. "Playing on the two highest stages (for Canada and Kentucky) at this age (18) is just incredible. To have my great teammates and amazing NBA coaches aside me along the way is a learning experience for me."
Canada will play Brazil in Saturday's final. The Brazilians beat the Dominican Republic 68-62 in Friday's other semi. The U.S. and Dominicans will play in the bronze medal game Saturday afternoon.
Baker did what he could for Team USA, scoring 15 points, including four in the extra period. His second basket in OT gave the U.S. a 103-102 lead with two minutes remaining. After Canada moved back in front 110-106 a minute and a half later, Baker missed a 3-point try that would have cut the Americans' deficit to one.
Murray was in secondary school in Ontario when Kentucky ended Wichita State's dream of a perfect season in 2014. The Wildcats beat the top-seeded Shockers in the NCAA Tournament's Round of 32, a game that could have been an Elite Eight matchup. Baker, a sophomore at the time, scored 20 points in a losing effort.
Magic forward Andrew Nicholson, playing for Canada, led all scorers Friday with 31 points. Timberwolves forward Anthony Bennett added 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Tour de France at a Glance. Chris Froome wins 2015 Tour de France.
AP
A brief look at the 21th stage of the Tour de France on Sunday:
Stage: The last stage of the three-week race covered 109 kilometers (68 miles) from suburban Sevres to Paris, a mostly leisurely ride until the pace picked up and culminated with a final sprint on the Champs-Elysees.
Winner: Sprint specialist Andre Greipel of Germany collected his fourth stage win in this Tour.
Yellow jersey: Chris Froome. The Kenya-born Briton won his second Tour after his 2013 victory. It is also the third for his Team Sky after the 2012 victory of fellow Briton Bradley Wiggins. Just like two years ago, Froome's runner-up was Nairo Quintana of Colombia. Third place went to Quintana's Movistar teammate Alejandro Valverde of Spain, his first Tour podium finish.
The other jerseys: The green jersey for the best sprinter went to Slovakia's Peter Sagan, Froome also picked up the polka-dot jersey awarded to the Tour's best climber, and 25-year-old Quintana takes home the white jersey of the best young rider.
Quote of the day: "We won't be celebrating with water" — Greipel, of his victory and the end of the Tour more broadly.
Stat of the day: 450,000. The number of euros that Froome collects for winning cycling's showpiece event. That's about $494,000 (or 318,000 British pounds).
Gabby Douglas right on schedule for golden return.
By WILL GRAVES
Gabby Douglas is exasperated. Again and again and again the defending women's Olympic all-around champion emphatically slaps her right hand on one of the picnic tables that sit just past the front desk at Buckeye Gymnastics, the latest home in her nomadic career.
The 19-year-old isn't angry, exactly. She's just over the skepticism surrounding a ''comeback'' she insists isn't a comeback at all.
''I took a break,'' Douglas says between laughs, pounding on that poor table one more time. ''It's not like I retired for 30 years. I mean, come on. I'm still young. I'm still fresh.''
Competing in next year's Olympics in Rio de Janiero was always part of her plan. The day after she made history in London as the first African-American to reach the top of her sport with a show stopping performance at the 2012 Games, Douglas and then-coach Liang Chow talked about celebrating again four years later.
She just didn't imagine trying to become the first woman to repeat in nearly 50 years like this: in a new gym with a new coach, sky-high expectations and a reality film crew from the Oxygen Network on hand to capture it all.
With about a year to go until the flame is lit, Douglas will compete in the U.S. for the first time since the 2012 Olympic Trials on Saturday when she takes the floor for the Secret Classic in Chicago.
It will be an unveiling for Gabby Douglas 2.0: the older, wiser and decidedly more jacked version of the girl with the killer routines and the kilowatt smile who won over the world and an avalanche of sponsors on that brilliant August day three years ago.
On the surface, this weekend is a tune-up for the national championships next month. Beneath, however, is a quest to silence the doubt that surrounds Douglas' bid to become the first repeat Olympic all-around gold medalist since Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
''When people say I can't do something, I love it,'' Douglas said. ''I just say, 'all right, let's go. Let's get it.' I'm more confident. More courageous. More warrior-minded.''
Douglas will need to rely on that mentality heavily if she wants to soar to heights even the all-time greats - from Nadia Comaneci to Mary Lou Retton to Nastia Liukin - never reached.
All three Olympic champions tried to extend their careers following their golden moment. Comaneci came the closest to adding a second all-around gold, earning silver in Moscow in 1980. Retton retired barely a year after her triumph at Los Angeles in 1984. Liukin's late bid for a spot on the 2012 team ended when her throbbing shoulders finally said ''enough'' during Trials.
For all its beauty and eye-popping athleticism, gymnastics is really about the grind. The supernova Douglas became in London was chiseled during nearly a decade of a relentless and sometimes mind-numbing routine, one she blissfully hit pause on after stepping off the podium with gold draped around her neck.
There was the post-Olympic tour. The book. The biography that turned into a made-for-TV movie. A steady stream of appearances and speaking engagements. The perks that come with glory are also among the biggest obstacles to recapturing it.
''You feel like you have to choose,'' Liukin said. ''Are you going to take advantage of these opportunities or are you going to train?''
Douglas has remained pragmatic even if the plan she mapped out after London took a few unexpected turns. She left Chow's gym in Iowa to reunite with her family in Los Angeles in 2013. Barely six months later Douglas was back with Chow to begin the process of prepping for Rio only to leave abruptly last summer in search of a fresh start.
One problem: she couldn't find a new coach. Her mother, Natalie Hawkins, stresses the issue wasn't personal but practical. For all of Douglas' talent, taking her in also comes with inherent risk. Everything she does going forward will be judged against what she accomplished during that giddy night on Aug. 2, 2012.
The bar is set ridiculously high. So is the pressure to clear it.
Her next chapter is beginning at a thriving if modest converted warehouse in a north Columbus suburb. Linked with longtime Buckeye Gymnastics coach Kittia Carpenter through a mutual acquaintance, Douglas arrived last summer for a two-week tryout that turned into something more permanent.
She's different than the girl everyone watched three years ago. She's grown nearly 3 inches and push-upped her way to the kind of arm definition that could best be described as ''Serena Williams-lite.''
After the initial ''oh my gosh, is that Gabby Douglas?'' gapes that seemed to follow her arrival at Buckeye, Douglas soon settled into a new rhythm with Carpenter, who has spent more than 30 years as an athlete, coach and judge. Carpenter worried she was getting a diva. The concerns soon evaporated.
''There was never really a question on whether she was serious,'' Carpenter said. ''It just seemed so natural.''
It certainly looks that way. Douglas returned to competition in March, when she placed fourth at the Jesolo Cup in Italy behind three other Americans, including Olympic teammate Aly Raisman and two-time world champion Simone Biles. In a way it was the perfect start, understated but promising.
So the process continues in somewhat blessed anonymity. While Douglas worked through a world-class beam routine last week, a group of beginners finishing up gymnastics camp ignored her completely. It's just Gabby being Gabby, drilling through another six-hour day at the end of another six-day week on the path to another Olympics.
And that, Douglas insists, is why she's doing this. Not for the money. Not to extend her time in the spotlight.
Douglas doesn't expect to be the same girl who flew so effortlessly in London. She's different. Gymnastics is different. Biles, a good friend, is now the best on the planet. But a lot can happen in 13 months.
''The pressure is on, and I love pressure,'' Douglas said. ''It makes diamonds.''
And maybe - just maybe - gold.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, July 27, 2015.
Memoriesofhistory.com
1918 - Brooklyn rookie Henry Heitman made his major league debut and his last major league appearance in the same day. He pitched four straight hits to the St. Louis Cardinals, left the game and never played again in the majors.
1921 - Baseball fan Reuben Berman sued the New York Giants, claiming he suffered mental and bodily distress after refusing to return a foul ball May 16th at the Polo Grounds. Berman was eventually rewarded $100.
1937 - The United States captured the Davis Cup by beating Britain, four matches to one.
1946 - Rudy York (Boston Red Sox) hit two grand slams and drove in 10 runs to lead the Red Sox over the St. Louis Browns, 13-6.
1984 - Pete Rose passed Ty Cobb’s record for most singles in a career when he got his 3,503rd base hit.
1986 - Greg LeMond of the U.S. became the first non-European to capture the Tour de France cycling race.
1992 - Boston Celtics star Reggie Lewis died after collapsing on a Brandeis University basketball court during practice. He was 27 years old.
1992 - China's Fu Mingxia, only two weeks away from her 14th birthday, became the second youngest gold medalist in Olympic history when she won the women's 10-meter platform diving event.
1996 - At the Atlanta Olympics a pipe bomb exploded at the public Centennial Olympic Park. One person was killed and more than 100 were injured.
1996 - Canadian Donovan Bailey ran the Men's 100 Meter Dash with a time of 9.84. The previous record was 9.85 held by Leroy Burrell of the United States.
2001 - Deion Sanders announced his retirement from the NFL.
2003 - Lance Armstrong won his 5th consecutive Tour de France.
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