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Sports Quote of the Day:
"Across professions, consistency is a direct product of work ethic." ~ Harsha Bhogle, Cricket Commentator and Journalist
Trending: It's all about the Bears and training camp right now. (See football section for details).
Trending: The Cubs are playing great right now and are in the hunt for the playoffs. (See the baseball section for details).
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!! Bears addressing center transition with rare outsider.
By John Mullin
The Bears ended an era last April when they released veteran center Roberto Garza. Now, for the first time in more than 30 years, the team is tasked with staffing that vital position on the offensive line with a starter who wasn’t with the team the previous year or longer.
For the better part of the last 16 seasons the Bears went through myriad permutations of offensive lines. But throughout that stretch there was one anchor of continuity, that of the center position. That is changing in 2015.
For seven of those 16 seasons their centers represented the Bears in the Pro Bowl. Olin Kreutz, who won the starting job in 1999, went to six Pro Bowls, and Garza was selected as an alternate in 2011, his first year starting after Kreutz and the Bears separated over a contract impasse.
And even when Kreutz left, his successor — Garza — had been lined up to his right for the five previous seasons. That would be the epitome of “continuity.” Garza stepped in at center during the 2011 training camp in Kreutz’s absence, a move that became permanent in part because quarterback Jay Cutler instantly developed a liking for Garza’s handling of the position.
Garza retired last offseason, and the Bears were tasked with filling a need/vacancy that hadn’t existed for more than 30 years, back through Garza, Kreutz, Casey Wiegmann, Jerry Fontenot and Jay Hilgenberg.
The Bears acquired Oregon center Hroniss Grasu with a 2015 third-round pick — the same round in which the Bears drafted Fontenot (1989) and Kreutz (1998). This after first securing the position with some experience, signing former Denver center Will Montgomery this off-season to replace Garza.
“(Montgomery) is familiar with the system,” said coach John Fox, who saw Montgomery work in the system of then-Broncos and now-Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase. “There’s a lot to the center. He’s kind of the quarterback of the O-line. So we know how he fits that way and what his demeanor is.
“That’s why a lot of coaches and staffs move around, they bring players with them they’re familiar with. He’s adapted well. I think he’s helped the growth of our offensive line with that knowledge of the system.”
Montgomery has been ensconced as the starter since his acquisition. That has set him up with difficult match-ups in Jeremiah Ratliff and rookie Eddie Goldman during much of practice. Grasu has worked against Goldman and Terry Williams, a 329-pounder. Grasu responded Monday with a stout stop of a bull rush by Williams, one of the surprise rookies of camp. Both have had wins and losses against some of the stoutest interior linemen in camp.
Running back
The competition for roster spots got interesting on Monday as multiple backs produced impact plays. Diminutive Jacquizz Rodgers turned the corner and extended a sweep with quality moves on Kyle Fuller and Antrel Rolle. Quarterback Jay Cutler also went to Rodgers with a short flip that Rodgers took through traffic to the goal line. Rookie Jeremy Langford broke a run off the right side, got to the second level and reached the ball into the end zone for a score. That helped make up for being stuffed in the backfield by a power rush from defensive tackle Brandon Dunn.
Ka’Deem Carey is running with more confidence in his second training camp, hitting holes and executing blitz-pickup assignments like someone who has been in his playbook, which he said he has been. Daniel Thomas, the power back on the roster at 230 pounds, broke a run around the left side with a spin move that caused whiffs by two defenders who mercifully will remain nameless here.
Upsized Bears Cornelius Washington exploding at all-new position.
By John Mullin
At a time when a long list of Bears former defensive ends — Jared Allen, David Bass, Lamarr Houston, Willie Young — have been focused on trying to become linebackers, Cornelius Washington has gone precisely in the opposite direction.
With striking results.
It is still only practice, and he is not always matching up against the No. 1 offensive line yet. But that time could be coming sooner rather than later for Washington, who has had one sack in each of the Bears’ five practices and added a pass batted down in Monday’s session.
Particularly noteworthy, the third-year former sixth-round draft pick is doing it, not from a stand-up linebacker spot but rather from a five-technique/defensive tackle spot.
“I’m glad they thought of me first to move down [inside], that I’m a guy they already have in-house, teach him the position and see,” Washington said.
Washington is playing his new position with a new Washington.
Washington was the epitome of an athlete at 265 pounds, coming out of Georgia with a 40-inch vertical jump and blinding time in the 40-yard dash. But the Bears’ move away toward a 3-4 defense created a need for power-based down-linemen, particularly after the Ray McDonald move failed, and Washington has muscled up to 285 pounds to fit into the new position and role.
“So far it’s not bothering me or hindering me in any way,” said Washington, whose lone career sack came last season and whose best work was on special teams. “They wanted the weight on, but I felt like it was going to be a problem for me to be this big. But it hasn’t been.”
His gut reaction is to get the weight back to his “normal” levels, but “I’ve been fine doing the running,” he said, laughing, “and I’ve been looking in the mirror trying to figure out where I’m going to lose the weight.”
Washington’s body fat moved up only slightly (to 13 percent) with the added bulk, and “at this point I need to gain a few more pounds,” Washington said. “When you train in the offseason, you try to get down and come in in the best shape you can. But with the position change, I need to gain a little extra pounds.”
That is going to show up in another area.
Washington has been on the No. 1 kickoff unit (seven special-teams tackles in 2014). In the tradition of special-teams standout Israel Idonije, Washington likes the added intimidation that comes with his new mass.
“The thing about it is,” he said, with a sinister smile, “you’re getting out of the way.”
Robbie Gould thinks PAT rules change puts pressure on head coaches.
By Jeff Dickerson
By Jeff Dickerson
Robbie Gould said that the change to the PAT rules will definitely effect the way the games are played. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Chicago Bears veteran place kicker Robbie Gould believes the NFL's decision to increase the distance of extra points will affect head coaches more so than kickers.
"The whole game is going to change. It's going to put a heavy onus on the head coach to make decisions," Gould said Sunday.
The league's owners voted 30-2 in favor of pushing the extra point back to the 15-yard line, which is the equivalent of a 32-yard field goal attempt. Two-point conversions will remain at the two-yard line, but the new rules gives the defense the ability to score two points if they return a blocked extra point or failed two-point try for a touchdown.
"You're going to see teams taking knees in certain situations because if the other team blocks it and returns it you could go from being up a point to being down a point," Gould said. "Obviously it's time related and clock management related too, but you're going to see some of those situations pop up that are not going to be fun for fans to watch."
Gould added: "I think the rule is being put in place to see more two-point conversions. Coaches are still going to kick the extra point. It's not like you're making a change from a 35 yard field to a 45 yard field goal where the percentages of makes are 25-to-35 percent different. Two guys missed from 32 yards last year in the preseason. But you're going to see two-point conversions probably when you get into late December in Chicago and the wind is howling. It's going to be a change for the head coaches, but also a change for the players as well."
Bears head coach John Fox said this week he plans to take the extra point rules change seriously.
"It's still a critical thing," Fox said. "I know it's simple. ... It looks easy. But to snap the ball is a lot harder than you think. To hold the ball is a lot harder, requires a skillset. And kicking the ball; that is an important skillset. Moving it back, if you do elect to kick, to try to go for two-points, we practice it every day. And it needs to be practiced every day. Like a three-foot putt, you still got to practice it."
Fox is fortunate to have inherited arguably the greatest kicker in franchise history.
Gould -- the longest tenured Bears player on the roster -- is the sixth-most accurate kicker in NFL history, converting on 242 of 283 career field goal attempts (85.6 percent). He has the second most points (1,080) in franchise history, trailing Kevin Butler by just 36 points heading into the 2015 season.
Gould was 9-of-12 (75 percent) on field goal attempts last year.
It's That Time Of Year Again, Are You Ready For Some Football? If You Are, Prove It!!!!!
It's five weeks until the start of the 2015 NFL season. Time to consider participating in the2015 CS&T/AllsportsAmerica NFL Office Pick 'em Pool. Some of you have played before and know how much fun it is. The season last for 17 weeks. The entry fee is the same as it's always has been, $35.00. We usually have 35 players but this year we are looking for 50 players. Again, the entry fee is the same but we're looking forward to doubling the payouts. We need your help, if you've played before, we're asking you to bring in one additional player. It can be a fellow employee, friend from the sports bar, relative, neighbor or general acquaintance. If you haven't played before, now is the time to take the plunge and join in the fun. The pool is conducted over the internet and you have 24/7 access to the website, statistics, scores, weekly winners, etc. This is strictly an office pick 'em pool for entertainment purposes only and rewards are paid out weekly every Tuesday morning.
We need 50 diehard football fans that love the sport and have confidence in their knowledge of the game their ability to pick winners. The entry fee is $35.00 for 17 weeks which also includes weekly payouts of: 1st place - $50.00 and, 2nd place - $30.00. We also have bonuses for the 1st and 2nd place players with the most accumulated points at the end of the season: 1st place - $200.00 and 2nd place - $100.00.
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With Jeffery leading pack, no shortage of options for Bears.
''I mean I'm not looking forward to anything,'' he said. ''I'm just doing my job whatever it takes for us to win. I mean whether that's me blocking, catching the ball. It doesn't matter. It's not one guy who stands out on our team. It takes 11 guys on the field. So each one of us has our part.''
Jeffery has a big one as the Bears try to shake off a miserable five-win season that led to general manager Phil Emery and coach Marc Trestman being fired.Ryan Pace and John Fox were hired to replace them and reinvigorate a franchise with just one playoff appearance since the 2006 team's Super Bowl run.They're banking on an improved defense and a balanced offense, one that puts more emphasis on a run game that seemed neglected under the previous regime.
That does not mean the Bears are abandoning the pass. The trade of Brandon Marshall to the New York Jets created an opening for a No. 1 receiver, and the most logical candidate to fill it is Jeffery, a Pro Bowl pick two years ago.
After all, that he is one of only five Bears receivers with two 1,000-yard seasons. And he is one of four to hit that mark in back-to-back seasons.
The 6-foot-3 receiver finished with 1,133 yards a year ago despite being a bit banged up after gaining 1,421 yards in 2013 - second only to Marshall's 1,508 in 2012.
With his reach and agility, Jeffery has shown he can be a key contributor and make highlight-reel catches.
''From the outside, I knew he was a great player, just watching all the highlight plays he makes,'' said veteran receiver Eddie Royal, who signed with Chicago in the off-season.
''Seeing it up close, he does it every day. It's not just one freak play that he makes; he's consistently making those plays. And his work ethic. He's a hard worker. He's not the most outspoken guy, he's quiet, so it could go under the radar.''
It still remains to be seen if he can be a true No. 1 receiver after teaming with Marshall his first three years. That could also have a big impact on his future, given his expiring contract.
''I think a receiver is a receiver; whether you are a 1,2,3 - all that matters is that you are on the field playing,'' Fox said. ''But I've liked what he's done and like the way he competes. He's got a big wingspan and a big ball radius as far as plucking catches away from defenders. I've liked what I've seen.''
Even if Jeffery struggles, it's not as if the Bears lack options. With rookie Kevin White, Royal and Marquess Wilson in the mix at receiver not to mention the presence of tight end Martellus Bennett and running back Matt Forte, quarterback Jay Cutler should have no shortage of offensive targets.
''I think when we throw Eddie in the mix, you've got a real viable guy that you can move around a lot,'' Cutler said. ''He's got experience in the slot. He's got experience outside. With Alshon, I think he's had a great spring, a great summer. Kevin White, Marquess. We've got some guys that can make some plays in some different spots for us.''
The Bears are hoping White, drafted with the seventh overall pick, can form an effective tandem with Jeffery once his shin injury heals. Fox has described it as minor, but it has kept him sidelined so far in training camp.
Royal, signed to a three-year deal, should fit neatly into the slot. He caught 62 passes for 778 yards and seven touchdowns last season for San Diego, and he has a history with Cutler, Fox and Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase from their time in Denver.
Royal spent his first four seasons with the Broncos and caught a career-best 91 passes as a rookie in 2008, when Cutler was their quarterback.
''Just being familiar with each other,'' Royal said. ''It's just good to be together with him. We had a lot of success in Denver and hopefully it can carry over.''
Notes: Fox said Jeffery sprained his shoulder and DL Jarvis Jenkins dislocated his finger Sunday. Both returned to practice. ... LT Jermon Bushrod (back) practiced after sitting out Saturday as did TE Dante Rosario, who was excused for personal reasons the previous two days.
Yahoo Sports
The National Hockey League is passing its digital puck to Major League Baseball in an unusual sports partnership.
Major League Baseball will distribute the hockey league's Internet streaming service and run the NHL's cable-television network as part of an alliance announced Tuesday.
Terms of six-year contact between the two sports leagues weren't announced.
The deal entrusts the baseball league with the NHL GameCenter app that allows fans to watch most hockey games live on smartphones, tablets and other Internet-connected devices. Annual subscriptions to the NHL app typically have cost $160, though the pricing for the upcoming year wasn't announced Tuesday.
Major League Baseball is taking over the app rights from NeuLion in January. The NHL's cable-TV network will operate from the Secaucus, New Jersey, headquarters of the MLB network.
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session... Stacey King: Expect Derrick Rose 'to make the All-Star team'.By Mark Strotman
If Derrick Rose's playoff performance is any indication, the Bulls point guard could be in for a giant 2015-16 season.
That's according to CSN's Bulls color commentator Stacey King, who spoke at the Bulls/Sox Academy Tuesday and believes the league's youngest MVP is getting back to that old form.
"I expect him to have a big year this year, I expect him to make the All-Star team, I expect him to be back to the elite player that we are used to seeing," King said of the three-time All-Star (2010-2012). "I can't wait to see him."
King's comments come on the heels of a report last week that Rose, 26, is still undecided about participating in Team USA's mini-camp in Las Vegas next week. Rose was a part of last year's USA Basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, a decision that came with some scrutiny as he had just missed all but 10 games of the 2013-14 season with a torn meniscus.
Rose suffered a second meniscus tear in February that cost him 20 games, but a surgery that removed the meniscus rather than repair it allowed for a quicker recovery time. Rose returned for the Bulls' final five regular season games, helping Chicago earn the No. 3 seed in the East.
In the playoffs Rose averaged 20.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists in nearly 38 minutes per game, giving the Chicago native some momentum heading into the beginning of the Fred Hoiberg era.
But King would rather Rose take time before training camp begins in September to rest his knees.
"Derrick knows his body. And me personally, I'd like to see him not play because this is an opportunity that the Bulls have a championship run in them and they need Derrick Rose healthy," he said. "If Derrick Rose is healthy and he can play in Team USA, I would say go. But over the last couple of years he's had those major injuries that have cost him some time."
When Rose does begin his seventh season with the Bulls - with his third head coach - King believes Hoiberg's free-flowing, up-tempo offensive system will fit Rose perfectly.
"Fred's going to give them a breath of fresh air and bring fun back to basketball," He said. "Derrick and Jimmy are going to enjoy playing for him."
Stacey King: Doug McDermott could be NBA's most improved player.CSN Staff
The only direction for Doug McDermott to go is up. Stacey King believes he could be trending that way in a hurry this season.
Speaking at the Bulls/Sox Academy in Lisle on Tuesday, the Bulls' color commentator said McDermott could earn some hardware All-Star Jimmy Butler took home a year ago.
"I totally would not be surprised if Doug McDermott is the most improved player in the NBA this year," King said. "I know his minutes are going to go up. This is a kid who was a lottery pick, the Bulls gave up a lot to get him."
The No. 11 pick in last June's NBA Draft, McDermott had a largely forgettable rookie campaign. He appeared in just 36 games after needing knee surgery in November, and averaged 3.0 points and 1.2 rebounds in 8.9 minutes per game. Part of McDermott's quiet campaign stemmed from former coach Tom Thibodeau's apathy toward playing rookies, something King also noted.
"Tom Thibodeau is one of those old-school coaches; he doesn't play younger players. Jimmy Butler didn't play his first year and the only reason he played his second year is because Rip Hamilton and Marco Belinelli got hurt, and we may not have seen Jimmy prosper into the player he is now," he said. "So I expect the same kind of improvement from Doug McDermott under Fred Hoiberg. He's going to play."
McDermott got his first taste of life under Hoiberg in the Las Vegas Summer League; McDermott averaged 18.8 points on 49 percent shooting in five games, and should see a larger role in Hoiberg's up-tempo offensive system.
King also touted Tony Snell, and surmised that the front office's faith in both McDermott and Snell were reasons they felt comfortable not adding another wing or shooter this off-season. The team selected power forward Bobby Portis with the No. 22 pick and re-signed Mike Dunleavy to a three-year, $14 million contract.
"A lot of people say, 'you need to go out and get a swing player.' Well, you've got two quality young players that can help you right now that if given the time can really do some special things," King said. "I'm excited to see these younger players play. It's going to be a fun year."
Why playing stupid is smart move for Cubs in pennant race.By Patrick Mooney
Jon Lester’s “Play Stupid” campaign makes sense to Joe Maddon.
They were the haves and the have-nots in the American League East while Lester pitched for the super-rich Boston Red Sox and Maddon managed the small-market Tampa Bay Rays.
The Cubs committed $180 million to Lester and Maddon to give the next phase of their rebuilding project some credibility. Lester looks around and sees the same nothing-to-lose attitude and young blue-chip talent that transformed Maddon’s 2008 Rays from a last-place team into a World Series contender.
“I kind of like he said that we played stupid, because I think that’s actually complimentary,” Maddon said. “But it really comes down to a naïvete. You’re just out there like full throttle. You’re not over-analyzing anything. You’re just in the moment. You’re playing hard and you believe you can do it.”
The Cubs are now 11 games over .500 after Tuesday night’s 5-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, riding a six-game winning streak and a why-not-us? sense of momentum.
The Rays built their franchise around young pitching. While the Cubs don’t have the same stockpile of elite arms – or blank canvas when it comes to franchise history – Jake Arrieta (12-6, 2.50 ERA) continues to look like someone who could start Game 1 of a playoff series.
“We were definitely full throttle all the time,” Maddon said. “There’s the point where you really like to have a lot of experience to rely upon in those difficult moments.
“And there are other times – you can think about your own life experience – where you didn’t know well enough to just walk into a difficult moment and just nail it because you didn’t overthink it.”
Arrieta shut down the Pirates (61-44), throwing seven scoreless innings while allowing only two hits and three walks before handing the game over to hard-throwing relievers Tommy Hunter and Justin Grimm.
The Cubs (58-47) knocked out J.A. Happ – one of Pittsburgh’s trade-deadline additions – in the fifth inning and finished with 14 hits (while leaving 15 men on base). Anthony Rizzo (4-for-5) is already on fire while Starlin Castro (two RBI doubles) showed signs of maybe ending this cold streak.
Jason Hammel pitched on that 2008 Rays team and believes the Cubs have a core that rivals Evan Longoria, B.J. (now Melvin) Upton and the tight-knit group that won 97 games that season.
“No offense to those guys, but these guys are even more impressive,” Hammel said. “It’s a very young lineup, and they’re going to take their lumps. But right now, it’s pretty fun to watch.”
The Cubs signed veterans with World Series rings like Lester and David Ross – and happily made Maddon the day-to-day public face of the franchise – so that they could shift the focus and take some of the heat off their young players.
But story time is just about over. These final 56 games will be revealing. Did anyone order the “Play Stupid” T-shirts yet?
“I can sit here until I’m blue in the face and talk to these guys about what to expect in the stretch run,” Lester said. “It doesn’t matter until you actually do it. The biggest thing that these guys can learn is just going through it, whether we’re there at the end or not. You just got to go through it and then you build on those experiences.”
Chris Sale has second rough start as Rays drub White Sox.By Dan Hayes
It hasn’t been pretty for the White Sox since their winning streak ended, and Tuesday night was downright ugly.
Chris Sale had a second straight poor start, and the Tampa Bay Rays took advantage as they dispatched of the White Sox, 11-3, in front of 18,499 at U.S. Cellular Field.
Sale allowed seven runs, including two of the four home runs hit by Tampa Bay. Since they won seven straight games, the White Sox have lost five of six games and have been outscored 51-26. Avisail Garcia hit his first homer since June 8 in the losing effort.
What had been a controlled burn turned into a five-alarm fire in the top of the sixth inning.
Already ahead by two runs, Tampa Bay put the game out of reach with Sale’s help. The All-Star pitcher loaded the bases with no outs as Asdrubal Cabrera singled in between walks to Logan Forsythe and Richie Shaffer.
Sale struck out Mikie Mahtook, whose fifth-inning solo homer gave the Rays a 3-1 lead. But Kevin Kiermaier dumped one into shallow center to drive in a run. On the play, Adam Eaton retrieved the ball, and his throw home dribbled between the legs of Tyler Flowers, which allowed Cabrera to score as Sale wasn’t there to back up the throw. Flowers was charged with an error.
Daniel Webb — who later gave up solo homers to Cabrera and Richie Shaffer — took over, and Rene Rivera’s RBI single made it 6-1. Grady Sizemore’s RBI fielder’s choice put the Rays up by six, and Evan Longoria singled in a run to make it 8-1.
Sale — who allowed 12 hits and seven runs in his previous start last Thursday in Boston — gave up six earned runs and six hits with three walks in 5 1/3 innings. Forsythe had a two-run blast in the first off Sale, who struck out nine. His earned-run average has climbed from 2.85 to 3.52 in his past two starts.
Tyler Saladino hit a solo homer in the third, but the White Sox couldn’t otherwise solve Chris Archer, who struck out seven and allowed two runs in seven innings.
This is the latest round of a season-long habit by the White Sox, who have developed an M.O. for falling off the mark for a half-dozen games, correcting their poor play and winning until the verge of the .500 mark only to drop off yet again. Previous instances occurred in mid-May, mid-June, at the All-Star break and again last week before the non-waiver trade deadline.
The most recent instance couldn’t have come at a worse time for the club and its fans as it likely prevented the White Sox from trading Jeff Samardzija. At the same time, the White Sox also reportedly flirted with bringing in a big-name bat to help maintain the team’s offensive uprising. Ultimately, general manager Rick Hahn determined it was best not to pay a heavy ransom to bring in a rental player when his club’s chances mostly are limited to a potential spot in the wild-card play-in game.
Despite another run of rough play, the White Sox have only lost two games off in the wild-card race. Tuesday’s loss dropped them to 4 1/2 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays, who hold the second spot. But five teams now stand in between Toronto and the White Sox, who had crept within 2 1/2 games of the spot last week.
National Baseball Congress suspends use of batboys following death.By Kirstie Chiappelli
(Photo/Getty Images)
The National Baseball Congress suspended its batboy and batgirl program Monday following the death of Kaiser Carlile.
Carlile, the 9-year-old batboy for the Liberal Bee Jays, died Sunday night after accidentally being struck in the head by a warm-up swing during an NBC World Series game in Wichita, Kan. on Saturday. He was wearing a helmet, as is mandated by the league, but still suffered a fatal injury when one of the team's batters accidentally made contact with Carlile's helmet as he was retrieving a bat.
"We suspended the program for the rest of the tournament because of the situation that happened this weekend," Jason Ybarra told USA TODAY Sports.
The Mobile Bay Bears set up a GoFundMe account for Carlile in hopes of raising money to donate to his family.
The World Series has five days left with eight teams remaining.
Golf; I got a club for that; Power rankings: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
By Ryan Ballengee
Golf; I got a club for that; Power rankings: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
By Ryan Ballengee
The PGA Tour offers its final pair of events before the season's final major, with the world's best gathered in Akron, Ohio, for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy won't be a part of the festivities at Firestone C.C. -- and it's increasingly looking like he won't be at the PGA Championship either -- so Jordan Spieth is the headliner on a long, difficult golf course.
Here's a look at our top five players this week:
1. Jordan Spieth — Spieth was T-49 here in his first start in this event last year. However, Spieth is a different player since then, and he’s ready to give a go to a third major this year. He’s been a winner or close in every pre-major start this year.
2. Adam Scott — Scott has been brilliant since bringing back Steve Williams on the bag. He was the 2011 champion here and has been in the top 15 the last two years.
3. Rickie Fowler — Fowler finished runner-up at the Quicken Loans National and is coming off an overseas win in Scotland. He’s on form, but his Bridgestone Invitational record is somewhat mixed.
4. Jason Day — Day has one top-five finish in four completed starts here (pulling out last year after two rounds with vertigo-like symptoms). However, Day is at the top of his game and is on the verge of a major breakthrough.
5. Justin Rose — Rose is a good pick this week, just as he was a week ago at RTJ. He’s got two top-five finishes here in his last three starts and has been in the top six in three of his last four PGA Tour starts.
If PGA goes well, Tiger Woods could play Wyndham, make run at playoffs.By Robby Kalland
Tiger Woods will decide on the rest of his schedule after the PGA Championship. (Photo/USATSI)
Tiger Woods currently sits at 185th in the FedEx Cup rankings, 85 spots outside of the cutoff to make the playoffs. If he is going to make it into the field at the Deutsche Bank Championship -- a tournament he and his foundation host -- he'll have to make up a lot of ground in a short amount of time.
The first challenge is the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, where he'll need a very strong performance to rack up as many FedEx Cup points as possible. However, even a solid finish there wouldn't be enough.
At Deutsche Bank Championship media day on Monday, Woods said that he could enter the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC, for the first time in his career, pending his PGA Championship performance.
“Playing well in the PGA, that determines whether or not I play Wyndham (Championship) and obviously the rest of the FedEx Cup playoffs," said Woods.
It will take an incredible last-minute flurry from Woods to get himself into the Top 100. Woods has only tallied 147 FedEx Cup points in his nine events this season and currently sits 379 points behind Jason Dufner -- currently ranked 100th with 526 points.
The PGA Championship offers an opportunity to earn extra points -- 600 points are awarded to the winner, compared to 500 at a normal PGA Tour event -- but Woods will likely need Top 10 or 15 finishes at the PGA and Wyndham to move up high enough to make the Playoffs.
Whether he makes the Top 100 or not, Woods will be there at the Deutsche Bank Championship. He just hopes he gets to participate.
“I'll be there,” Woods said of the Deutsche Bank. “I have my normal duties as tournament host, and my foundation runs the event. Hopefully, I can get off my butt and get into the top 100 and play the event.”
John Daly wants to be U.S. Ryder Cup captain.
By Ryan Ballengee
John Daly of the United States tees off on the 2nd hole during the second round of the 144th Open Championship at The Old Course on July 17, 2015 in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
John Daly thinks he would be the perfect man to lead the U.S. Ryder Cup team into a future biennial match against the Europeans.
The 49-year-old two-time major champion said at last week's Paul Lawrie Match Play in Scotland that he hopes to get a chance to be captain of a team he never played on in his career.
"Hopefully I would one day be a captain, it would be fun," Daly said. "I don't know if I fit the mold. I don't know if I fit what the PGA of America would want. All I know is my team, if I was a captain, we'd have a blast. I'd make sure they had a blast. You don't want to wear a tie, don't wear a tie. Have fun. It's supposed to be fun."
Daly subscribes to the same viewpoint that made Fred Couples so popular with players when he led the U.S. to three consecutive Presidents Cup wins. There's no doubt his would be a fun-first captaincy. That might just be the secret to ending a slide which has seen the U.S. lose eight of the last 10 Ryder Cups.
"I think we just get wrapped up in it," Daly added. "I think when you're favored to win so many years like the Americans have been, I think we get uptight. Even the matches that we are getting killed in, we are favored in.
"I think we put too much pressure on ourselves. Just go out and play golf. It's great to play for your country, but it's still a gentleman's game at the end."
The timing of Daly's remarks is interesting considering that, during the process of the PGA of America's Ryder Cup task force, Daly said Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson would make excellent captains. With their turns certainly coming down the line, it would seem extremely unlikely that Daly would get slotted in line.
NASCAR: Did Kyle Busch stay at No. 1 run out of gas?
By Nick Bromberg
1. Kyle Busch (LW: 1): Two miles of fuel would have gotten Busch his fifth win of 2015 and his fourth straight. The two miles of fuel may not have been enough to make it to the end, but Busch had a 16-second lead on teammate Matt Kenseth. He would have been able to coast around to the end and beat Kenseth, even if it would have been fairly close. Instead, Busch ran out of gas and he did it in a terrible spot; on the front stretch past pit road. He ended up 21st. But after qualifying first and putting himself in position for a potential win, we're not going to punish him.
2. Kevin Harvick (LW: 2): Harvick represents the conundrum of this week's Power Rankings. Our top three all had poor finishes while eight of the nine drivers in Nos. 4-12 finished in the top 10. It's impossible to put Jimmie Johnson in first after finishing sixth, and it's impossible to make a convincing case for anyone else below to leap above Busch, Logano and Harvick. So here we are, with a guy who finished 42nd in second. That's what happens when you blow up while running at the front of the field.
3. Joey Logano (LW: 3): The fuel gamble was a worthy one for Logano, who was looking for his second win of the year and is in the Chase. Though when you look in the context of how short of fuel he was (running out with three laps to go), you have to wonder how his team thought he was going to be able to make it. Despite his 20th-place finish, his run at Pocono can be looked at by NASCAR's marketing department as a perfect encapsulation of the Chase. If he was worried about minimizing a bad finish, he likely would have pitted. A win trumped that because of the Chase implications, so the No. 22 team went for it.
4. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 4): Here's the power of Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus. When they pitted for fuel with 38 laps to go they inspired everyone else to head for pit road too. If Johnson waits a couple laps to pit, we may not have the fuel mileage race that we do. But in the copycat world of NASCAR, once Johnson made his stop, other teams felt they needed to get to pit road as soon as they could, hoping for a caution period in the final laps. It didn't happen and Johnson finished sixth after making a splash-and-go stop near the end.
5. Matt Kenseth (LW: 10): Here's our biggest leap of the week because of the fuel misfortune of the three drivers running ahead of him in the final laps of Sunday's race. It was a perfect Kenseth win. Oh there he was, driving a very good but somewhat boring race and in position to steal the spotlight from other drivers who had gotten most of the attention. And even his crew chief Jason Ratcliff thought there would be a caution at the end of the race. "123 was about a lap – we knew it was a lap early, maybe a lap and a half, but if you look back over the last five or six races, you always get a caution," Ratcliff said. " ... So it was worth a gamble and everybody was taking that gamble ... I'm shocked there wasn't a caution, but I'm really glad there wasn't one, obviously."
6. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 6): Hey, here's another driver who needed a caution. Truex ran out gas between Logano and Busch. He was second at the time after moving up a spot because of Logano's lack of gas. And because of it, he missed out on being the eighth driver to sweep both Pocono races and the first driver to do it since Dale Earnhardt Jr. all the way back in 2014. Those races were so, so, so long ago. Truex could have made history.
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 7): Don't lie, you made a "Windows 10 crashed" joke when Junior's Windows-sponsored car went spinning on lap 73. If you didn't, you either have a lot of self-restraint or no sense of humor at all. We applaud the former and mourn the latter. After he spun, Junior worked his way through the field and capitalized on the mess at the end to finish fourth. Is this where we joke that Windows is the fourth-best operating system?
8. Brad Keselowski (LW: 8): The lasting image of Keselowski's Pocono race won't be that he finished second but of his crew members flying through the air as he slid through his pit box. After the race, Keselowski said he thought it had been two years since there was a round of green flag pit stops and a full fuel run to the end of a race without a caution flag. So we went back and looked at recent races to see the last time a race ended with a very long green flag run that included pit stops. While it wasn't a fuel-mileage race, the September Dover race went green for the final 140 laps and winner Jeff Gordon pitted for tires and gas for the final time with more than 70 laps to go.
9. Kurt Busch (LW: 5): Busch told Motorsport.com that he has a handshake deal to return to the seat of the No. 41 in 2016. It shouldn't be that surprising given the success that Busch has had in his second year with Stewart-Haas Racing. And it also shouldn't be surprising because there's nowhere else for Busch to go. Hendrick is full. Joe Gibbs Racing is full. He's already driven for Penske. A move anywhere else wouldn't be a lateral one and he would need to find sponsorship. He's in a great spot.
10. Jeff Gordon (LW: 12): Gordon finshed fifth and is now back in the top 10 in the points standings after his disastrous final Brickyard 400. He could move as high as eighth at Watkins Glen depending on how Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray do. Gordon is more than likely in the Chase, he just needs to get a win. And a win at Watkins Glen for old times' sake would be a fitting end to his Cup road course career. Though he'd probably just take a top 10 at this point. After winning four races in five years from 1997-2001 at the Glen, Gordon is winless and has finished in the top 10 just twice.
11. Carl Edwards (LW: 11): Edwards finished 10th at Pocono after starting eigth. Edwards had a top 10 car for most of the day but wasn't fast enough to challenge for the lead. Edwards was short on fuel and ended up playing it safe at the end by pitting. The move probably got him the top 10 because if he was getting the mileage that Kyle Busch was he would have ended up somewhere in the mid-20s.
12. Clint Bowyer (LW: NR): It's now two-straight top-10 finishes for the man who has been the story of the garage for the past week. Will Bowyer end up at Ganassi in 2016? Who knows, but we're going to guess that whatever team he's driving for in 2016, be it Ganassi, Michael Waltrip Racing or a hybrid of the two teams, he won't be in a Toyota. Given MWR's lack of an agreement with the manufacturer in 2016 and Ganassi's Chevy relationship, we're betting heavily Bowyer's back in a car with a bowtie on it.
Dropped Out: Denny Hamlin
Lucky Dog: Greg Biffle. While his Roush teammates either crashed (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) or had a piece of metal go through the radiator (Trevor Bayne), Biffle finished fifth.
The DNF: Kasey Kahne, who fell out of the "in the Chase right now" standings with his pit road crash.
SOCCER: Fire adjust to demands of altered approach vs. FC Dallas.
By Danny Michallik
A new beginning or another false start?
With their second win over a Western Conference opponent in 22 days, the Fire roused a crowd of 14,209 Sunday night with a 2-0 victory over an FC Dallas outfit that saw the potential of the visitors' sixth consecutive league triumph – a club-record winning streak – snapped by a committed, loyal and collective effort from the Men in Red.
From front to back, head coach Frank Yallop’s starting lineup cooperated with a ‘different’ tactical approach. The positional flexibility and matureness from Designated Players David Accam and Shaun Maloney – who provided both goals on the night – shed light on a group of players that, little by little, is making strides toward grasping the philosophy and style of play.
“The big thing is, you saw a team last night that wasn’t fighting against what we were trying to do,” Yallop told reporters Monday via teleconference. “It’s a team game; it’s not an individual game. If we ask Shaun to do a little bit more extra work, he was fine with it. Does he want to play a different position to be a bit more attacking? Maybe, but in the end, hard work, endeavor and fight won that game last night. And, tactically, catching them like we did worked.”
Despite being thoroughly out possessed and out passed, the Fire’s unrelenting drive to refuse to sit back and conversely push on for another goal paid dividends. Refreshed by an eight-day break and the return of Jeff Larentowicz to the back line, the Fire refused to sit on their propitious 1-0 lead, bucking the trend of last week’s disappointing 2-2 draw against the New England Revolution.
After keeping a red-hot Dallas and the likes of Mauro Díaz, Fabián Castillo, Michael Barrios and David Texeira at bay, the question lingers as to whether this performance can be reproduced in four days time. While the tactics on display against Óscar Pareja’s side – favoring the counterattack as opposed to possession – were specific to the Dallas game, Friday night’s trip to face the Portland Timbers will truly show if the Men in Red can muster that same endeavor and grit to string consecutive wins together in regular season play for the first time since the three-match winning streak experienced from late March to mid April.
“Dallas are a side that likes to manipulate the ball on the edge of the box, and we wanted to counterattack them and try to catch them, which we did,” Yallop added. “Having David in that role was good, it frees him up to better explode into those areas and do well.
“Shaun did a great job defensively behind on that left side to support David. We may play David in that spot again if we feel a team is going to be pushing and we can catch them on the counter.”
The trip to the Pacific Northwest could see Ty Harden and newly acquired Designated Player Gilberto enter the fold.
After dealing with niggling hamstring issues upon signing with the team, Harden will be available for the trip. Gilberto, meanwhile, is expected to get his visa soon to hopefully be able to join the Fire in Portland on Friday, which would present another dilemma for Yallop in team selection should the Brazilian's fitness be up to snuff. Lovel Palmer, who left Sunday's game in the 68th minute with a sore knee, is expected to be a feature in the squad. Mike Magee is a risk, however, as the 2013 MLS MVP did not train on Monday.
NOTE: Eric Gehrig and Matt Polster were named to the MLS Team of the Week for Week 22, the league announced Monday. Sean Johnson was named to the bench.
NCAAFB: In Defense of the FCS.
By JJ Stankevitz
(Photo/AP)
The FCS doesn’t exactly have a good reputation when its three letters are brought up by Power Five conferences and teams.
The Big Ten last week forbade its members from scheduling future games against FCS opponents. Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly likes to call games against FCS teams — the Irish have never played against an FCS opponent — “glorified byes.” Fans of teams vying for a playoff spot roll their eyes when Alabama plays Western Carolina in the penultimate week of the regular season.
But not all FCS games are created equal. And it’s not always a bad thing to play a team from college football’s third tier (since there’s a clear difference between the Power Five and rest of FBS at this point).
Consider this: Of the top 100 teams in Jeff Sagarin’s 2014 ratings, 14 played at the FCS level. Twenty-four FCS teams ranked higher than the worst Power Five team (Wake Forest, No. 125). Powerhouse program and four-time reigning champion North Dakota State (32) finished higher than the two teams that played in the Fiesta Bowl (Boise State, 36; Arizona, 37). The team that narrowly lost to NDSU in the FCS Championship, Illinois State (41), ranked better than nine ACC programs.
It’s hardly uncommon for an FCS team to jump up and beat a Power Five team on a given week. NDSU beat an FBS team every year from 2010-2014, including a 20-point thrashing of Iowa State in Ames last year. Oregon transfer Vernon Adams made a name for himself in 2013 when, with Eastern Washington, he engineered a shootout win over Oregon State.
All FCS games are not created equal, obviously. There are plenty of bad FCS teams that find their way on to Power Five schedules. Ole Miss didn’t deserve any credit for blowing out Presbyterian (No. 166 in Sagarin), 48-0, last November.
But there’s a difference between playing an FCS team in September and one in November. Because FCS teams are only allowed 63 scholarships — 22 fewer than FBS teams — a lot of these teams have awfully thin depth in November. Nobody’s suggesting one of these FBS teams could, in its current state, move up a level and compete in the Big Ten or ACC.
“We like the stage, we like the challenge of playing that big FBS game,” NDSU coach Chris Klieman said earlier this year, “but to do it nine or ten weeks in a row like a Big 12 or a Big Ten level, I think we’d get beat up too badly.”
In a one-off game in September, when their best 22 players are probably healthy, FCS teams provide just as tough a challenge as some group of five doormats. The upper-echelon FCS programs are often tougher wins than low-to-mid level Power Five teams, too.
Should a Power Five team, one holding loads of cash and more scholarships, ever lose to an FCS team? No. But it happens, and it’s not always an embarrassment.
College Football Playoff to provide $2500.00 per athlete for family travel.
By Robby Kalland
The College Football Playoff announced on Tuesday that it would be expanding its travel assistance for families of players playing in the semifinals and final. The Playoff will provide a $2,500 stipend per student-athlete to help with travel, hotel accommodations and meals for families (up to 100 student-athletes per school).
"We were pleased to implement this expense-reimbursement program for the first College Football Playoff National Championship and we received warm and sincere positive feedback from the family members,” said Bill Hancock, executive director of the CFP, in a statement. “Extending support to the Playoff Semifinals will be another terrific benefit for folks who will be thrilled to be present to celebrate the accomplishments and experiences of their student-athletes.”
Last year, under pressure from Urban Meyer and Ohio State, the College Football Playoff provided $500,000 in travel assistance for families of Oregon and Ohio State players to get to the National Championship game. The new policy will extend that level of travel assistance to the four teams participating in the two semifinal games as well.
NCAABKB: Illinois has a point guard problem with Tracy Abrams out for the year.
By Jeff Eisenberg
The bad luck that has haunted the Illinois basketball program during John Groce's tenure doesn't seem likely to subside anytime soon.
The Illini will have to play without their starting point guard for a second straight season next year after Tracy Abrams tore an Achilles tendon during a workout on Monday.
The injury to Abrams is especially galling because he had missed all of last season too as a result of a torn ACL suffered in early November. The fifth-year senior had been on the verge of playing at an all-conference level prior to the injuries, having averaged 10.6 points and 3.5 assists as a sophomore and 10.7 points and 3.2 assists as a junior.
Abrams' return had been expected to shore up the point guard position for Illinois, a problem area all of last season for an Illini program that faded late in Big Ten play and missed the NCAA tournament for a second straight year. Now Illinois will have to rely on unproven players or converted wings for a second consecutive season.
The most likely candidate to start at point guard is Jaylon Tate, the lone natural point guard on the roster. The junior sees the floor well but he isn't a great defender and his jump shot is a major liability, as evidenced by his 1-for-12 shooting from behind the arc.
Another option might be freshman combo guard Jalen Coleman-Lands, a consensus top 50 recruit from La Porte, Ind. The problem is Coleman-Lands has more experience at shooting guard than point guard and is sidelined by a stress fracture that will likely sideline him until October.
Beyond that, the options are even less promising. Returning standouts Kendrick Nunn or Malcolm Hill could play out of position and help with ball handling or incoming freshman D.J. Williams could slide from wing to point guard in a pinch as well.
Groce has dealt with plenty of adversity his first three seasons, from Abrams' season-ending injuries, to Rayvonte Rice and Aaron Cosby each goin down with ill-timed injuries last January.
He'll need to find a way to make it work next season in what could be a make-or-break year for him and his staff.
His conference is loaded with elite teams. His fan base is eager to get back to the NCAA tournament. And now his point guard position is in flux for a second straight season.
Austin Peay selects Ryan Ivey as its athletic director.
AP - SPORTS
Austin Peay has hired Ryan Ivey as its athletic director.
Ivey had been athletic director at Division II program Texas A&M-Commerce since January 2013. He replaces Derek van der Merwe, who announced in March he was stepping down to become Austin Peay's vice president for advancement, communication and strategic initiatives.
In a school release Tuesday, Ivey said he was ''extremely humbled and honored'' about taking over the position.
The 34-year-old Ivey is a former Memphis punter who lettered for the Tigers from 2002-04 and worked as a holder for Stephen Gostkowski, now the New England Patriots' kicker.
Ivey worked as McNeese State's assistant director of athletics before coming to Texas A&M-Commerce.
It's Floyd Mayweather's show and he's going to do what he wants.By Kevin Iole
Floyd Mayweather poses for a picture during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. (Photo/Getty)
Andre Berto has done nothing to earn a championship fight, let alone a crack at the man who is boxing's biggest star in what will purportedly be his final fight.
None of that matters much to Floyd Mayweather, though, who on Tuesday confirmed via social media one of the worst-kept secrets in sports: He'll meet Berto on Sept. 12 at the MGM Grand Garden in a pay-per-view bout distributed by Showtime.
Mayweather's six-fight contract with Showtime expires after the Berto fight, and he insists that he's planning to retire upon its conclusion. If he wins, as expected, Mayweather would be 49-0. With a swank new arena opening on the Las Vegas Strip in April, speculation has been rampant that Mayweather would love to be the opening act in the new building.
But Mayweather says the Berto fight will be it, new arena or not, 50-0 or not. So he'll spend the next seven weeks pushing the pay-per-view on a bout that no one has asked for. And then later, if he changes his mind, he can fight once more in the new arena.
Berto began his career 27-0 and won a version of the welterweight title in the process. But he was coddled at every step along the way and had the benefit of favorable matchmaking, which helped him to not only win a world title, but to become a wealthy man in the process.
Since 2011, though, he's just 3-3 in his last six bouts, though even at his best, he hasn't reminded anyone of Sugar Ray Seales, let alone Sugar Ray Leonard.
It's going to be offensive to the hardcore boxing fans, but Berto's qualifications, or lack thereof, don't really matter.
Given that Mayweather says it's his final fight, there will undoubtedly be all sorts of tributes to him from Showtime and CBS. It will be more like a celebration of Mayweather's brilliant career than a sporting event.
If the best possible fight was sought, Berto would need a ticket to get in. Keith Thurman is one of boxing's most exciting young fighters. He is unbeaten, holds a welterweight championship, and is managed by Al Haymon, the same man who directs Mayweather's career. That fight should have been easy to make.
But Mayweather was never interested in fighting Thurman. At an impromptu meeting with reporters at his gym on June 17, Mayweather said he'd narrowed his next opponent down to either Berto or Karim Mayfield. He said he thought Thurman should face 2012 Olympian Errol Spence Jr. next.
How he settled on Berto is anybody's guess. And no one can reasonably argue that Berto did anything to earn this bout, unless you consider victories over unheralded Steve Upsher Chambers and Josesito Lopez in his last two fights as earning a match with the greatest fighter of his time.
Still, a fight with Berto can't be any worse than the May 2 fight with Manny Pacquiao that shattered the pay-per-view record when it sold 4.4 million. For all of his faults, Berto is an offensive fighter who always comes to fight.
He's easy to hit and the next time he slips a punch might be the first, but his bouts are generally good television. And so he'll put pressure on Mayweather and get counter-punched countless times.
Now that the announcement has been made, there will be a lot of complaining about the choice of Berto as the opponent. The beauty of pay-per-view, though, is that nobody is forced to buy it.
The group of fans who demand the two most worthy contenders to fight for a title probably aren't going to plunk down the money to buy this one.
But the much larger group who are fans of Mayweather won't care that it is Berto instead of, oh, Thurman or Shawn Porter or any one of a number other possible opponents. They're buying to see 'Money May' and everything that goes with that. It's not sports so much to them, as it is sports entertainment.
They want to see the pomp and the rappers and the movie stars and the big-time athletes who inevitably descend upon Las Vegas for a Mayweather fight. And they want to see Mayweather do his thing and wind up his career 49-0.
Historians will look askance at it, but even in that regard, there can be no question that Mayweather has cemented a spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame with what he's done to this point. Regardless of whether he fights Floyd the Barber or King Kong in his final fight, and regardless of whether he wins or loses, he's going to the Hall of Fame the moment he's eligible.
That's a fact. And another fact is that Mayweather doesn't really care about the opinion of the boxing writers or the boxing historians.
In a sport where so many who are praised so lavishly are penniless, homeless and brain damaged in their retirement years, Mayweather is going to retire as rich as any athlete who ever lived and with his faculties intact.
So, outrage or not, the Berto fight is a go and then Mayweather says he's calling it quits. The odds of Mayweather losing to Berto are about as long as the odds that UFC star Ronda Rousey would lose to a Brazilian former accountant, so it's a good bet he'll be 49-0 and have to decide if he wants to do it one more time to make it a perfect 50-0.
It's his career and he's handled it his way. It's been unconventional, to say the least, but no one can say it hasn't turned out better than even the most cockeyed optimist could possibly have hoped when he turned pro after the 1996 Olympics.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Wednesday, August 5, 2015.Memoriesofhistory.com
1921 - The first play-by-play broadcast of a baseball game was done by Harold Arlin. KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh, PA described the action between the Pirates and Philadelphia.
1960 - For the first time two major league baseball clubs traded managers. Detroit traded Jimmy Dykes for Cleveland's Joe Gordon.
1984 - Toronto’s Cliff Johnson set a major league baseball record by hitting the 19th pinch-hit home run in his career.
1999 - Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) hit his 500th career home run. He also set a record for the fewest at-bats to hit the 500 home run mark.
2013 - It was announced that 13 players had accepted 50-game suspensions for violation of MLB drug policies.
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