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"Sports Quote of the Day"
"The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort." ~ Colin Powell, American Statesman and Retired Four Star General
Trending: Chicago Blackhawks lose game 7 to St. Louis Blues, (See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates).
Trending: 3 things Bears GM Ryan Pace must accomplish in this week's NFL draft. (See the football section for Bears updates).
Trending: Cubs' Arrieta responds to PED speculation. (See the baseball section for Cubs updates).
Trending: Cubs and White Sox road to the "World Series".
Trending: Cubs' Arrieta responds to PED speculation. (See the baseball section for Cubs updates).
Trending: Cubs and White Sox road to the "World Series".
Cubs 2016 Record: 15-5
White Sox 2016 Record: 15-6
(See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? After heartbreaking loss to Blues, Blackhawks deal with abrupt end to the season.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? After heartbreaking loss to Blues, Blackhawks deal with abrupt end to the season.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/Associated Press)
The Blackhawks’ locker room was just about empty. The few players who were in the room following the team’s Game 7 loss were understandably stunned.
After three seasons of playing to at least the Western Conference finals – with two of those seasons ending with Stanley Cups – the Blackhawks were done earlier than they expected.
As Patrick Kane said, “It just doesn’t really feel right.”
Nevertheless, that’s the reality for the Blackhawks, who were eliminated 3-2 by Central Division foe St. Louis Monday night. A season filled with high expectations and potential was finished in April.
“That’s the division we’re in, the conference we’re in, the best in the game. You have to win four series against tough teams and tough opponents and we had the toughest matchup you could have faced in the first round,” coach Joel Quenneville said. "That's the draw and we didn’t get it done.”
Considering the Blackhawks’ success in recent years, this abrupt exit comes as a disappointment. But was it a complete surprise? As good as the Blackhawks’ regular-season record was, there were certain trends forming all season that made one wonder if they could repeat.
Patrick Kane was stellar throughout, earning an Art Ross Trophy for the most productive regular season of his career. Corey Crawford was too, and he led the league with his seven shutouts. Artemi Panarin was exactly what the Blackhawks hoped he would be: A boost to the offense who found an immediate connection with Kane.
But there were also inconsistencies. The Blackhawks’ usual four-line rotation was difficult to attain. Their defensive depth was depleted. The players they acquired at the trade deadline (Andrew Ladd, Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann) didn’t bring what the Blackhawks were hoping they would (in Weise’s case, he didn’t get his real opportunity until late in the first round).
Couple all of that with the Blackhawks facing an improved Blues team, and here we are.
If you’re a hockey fan, the Blackhawks-Blues series supplied all you could have hoped for: Great goaltending, tremendous overall play, fantastic finishes and six of seven games being decided by one goal. I could go back on my soapbox of why this format is cheating us – this series was Western Conference final-worthy, and it’s a damn shame one team had to be eliminated. But that’s another story.
If you’re a Blackhawks fan, you’re feeling a little hollow today. Even though this season’s Blackhawks weren’t as deep as the 2013 and 2014-15 squads, you get used to seeing them pull games – even series – out of the fire. This season, it wasn’t meant to be.
The Blackhawks will deal with salary cap fun again this offseason. They’ll pay Panarin his performance bonuses; those bonuses will constrict the cap even more and will likely cost the Blackhawks another key player – possibly Andrew Shaw. They'll once again look to Rockford to fill voids and they’ll look for their core to lead them again in 2016-17.
The end came a lot sooner than the Blackhawks expected. As Kane said, it doesn’t feel right. The Blackhawks have found a lot of success lately with the right combination of core and supporting cast. This season, it just didn’t work.
“It’s obviously weird,” Jonathan Toews said. “At the end of the day, I think a lot of people recognize this as two teams with the potential to go far and obviously someone had to go home. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t give ourselves a chance to go deep again.”
After three seasons of playing to at least the Western Conference finals – with two of those seasons ending with Stanley Cups – the Blackhawks were done earlier than they expected.
As Patrick Kane said, “It just doesn’t really feel right.”
Nevertheless, that’s the reality for the Blackhawks, who were eliminated 3-2 by Central Division foe St. Louis Monday night. A season filled with high expectations and potential was finished in April.
“That’s the division we’re in, the conference we’re in, the best in the game. You have to win four series against tough teams and tough opponents and we had the toughest matchup you could have faced in the first round,” coach Joel Quenneville said. "That's the draw and we didn’t get it done.”
Considering the Blackhawks’ success in recent years, this abrupt exit comes as a disappointment. But was it a complete surprise? As good as the Blackhawks’ regular-season record was, there were certain trends forming all season that made one wonder if they could repeat.
Patrick Kane was stellar throughout, earning an Art Ross Trophy for the most productive regular season of his career. Corey Crawford was too, and he led the league with his seven shutouts. Artemi Panarin was exactly what the Blackhawks hoped he would be: A boost to the offense who found an immediate connection with Kane.
But there were also inconsistencies. The Blackhawks’ usual four-line rotation was difficult to attain. Their defensive depth was depleted. The players they acquired at the trade deadline (Andrew Ladd, Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann) didn’t bring what the Blackhawks were hoping they would (in Weise’s case, he didn’t get his real opportunity until late in the first round).
Couple all of that with the Blackhawks facing an improved Blues team, and here we are.
If you’re a hockey fan, the Blackhawks-Blues series supplied all you could have hoped for: Great goaltending, tremendous overall play, fantastic finishes and six of seven games being decided by one goal. I could go back on my soapbox of why this format is cheating us – this series was Western Conference final-worthy, and it’s a damn shame one team had to be eliminated. But that’s another story.
If you’re a Blackhawks fan, you’re feeling a little hollow today. Even though this season’s Blackhawks weren’t as deep as the 2013 and 2014-15 squads, you get used to seeing them pull games – even series – out of the fire. This season, it wasn’t meant to be.
The Blackhawks will deal with salary cap fun again this offseason. They’ll pay Panarin his performance bonuses; those bonuses will constrict the cap even more and will likely cost the Blackhawks another key player – possibly Andrew Shaw. They'll once again look to Rockford to fill voids and they’ll look for their core to lead them again in 2016-17.
The end came a lot sooner than the Blackhawks expected. As Kane said, it doesn’t feel right. The Blackhawks have found a lot of success lately with the right combination of core and supporting cast. This season, it just didn’t work.
“It’s obviously weird,” Jonathan Toews said. “At the end of the day, I think a lot of people recognize this as two teams with the potential to go far and obviously someone had to go home. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t give ourselves a chance to go deep again.”
Five Things: A quiet captain in Blackhawks-Blues Game 7.
By Tracey Myers
The time ticked away for the Blackhawks a lot faster than normal this postseason.
Gone is the chance to win back-to-back Stanley Cups, something an NHL team hasn’t done in about 20 seasons. The Blackhawks were stunned and frustrated moments after their 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, who eliminated them in seven games. For hockey fans, it was a thrilling series full of twists, turns and one-goal games. For the Blackhawks, it was a bitter pill to swallow.
Gone is the chance to win back-to-back Stanley Cups, something an NHL team hasn’t done in about 20 seasons. The Blackhawks were stunned and frustrated moments after their 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, who eliminated them in seven games. For hockey fans, it was a thrilling series full of twists, turns and one-goal games. For the Blackhawks, it was a bitter pill to swallow.
But there it is nonetheless. So before we make that one final drive up Interstate 55, let’s look at Five Things to take from the Blackhawks’ loss to the Blues.
1. It’s a former teammate’s moment. Troy Brouwer joked on Sunday that his Game 7 record wasn’t the greatest; he was 2-4 entering this one. But he made up for that record with his game- and series-winning goal for the Blues. The Blues didn’t have much Game 7 experience coming into this one; certainly not compared to the Blackhawks. Brouwer, who won a Cup with the Blackhawks in 2010, gave the Blues the big-game experience, and goal, the team needed. Said Brouwer on scoring the winner, “It means a lot to me. It means a lot to the team and the franchise. We've had a long, tough season and to see us get rewarded like this, especially against a division rival like the Hawks in such dramatic fashion, it’s all smiles around here right now.”
2. Tough series for Jonathan Toews. Last postseason, Toews had some of the team’s biggest goals at the most critical times (please see Game 7 against the Anaheim Ducks in last spring’s Western Conference final). Toews had six assists in this series, but no goals. It was a surprise sight, considering Toews usually has a say in games like this. Toews said, “There’s always second-guessing and thinking what you could’ve done differently. I like to think I had my chances and times in the past. Kept telling myself, I think it was going to be an important time where I find a way to score a big one and right to the end I was telling myself that on those last draws in their zone. Just didn’t get to the puck. Obviously it’s kind of tough to think of what you could’ve done differently in those situations to alter the result.”
3. Andrew Shaw, Blackhawks leading scorer. Didn’t think you’d see that through the first round, did you? But there it was nonetheless. Shaw’s power-play goal in the second period gave him a team-leading four goals in his six games of this series – he was suspended for Game 5. Shaw can commit the bad penalties. He can also supply those greasy goals, and he did that plenty in the first round.
4. Andrew Ladd’s quiet postseason. When the Blackhawks acquired Ladd from the Winnipeg Jets, they knew what they were getting. They knew what he did in 2010 and hoped he would bring firepower in the postseason. But Ladd had just one goal and one assist and both of those came in Game 6. The combination of he and Toews was supposed to bolster the Blackhawks’ scoring. It didn’t.
5. Playing with fire too often. For the second consecutive time the Blackhawks trailed by two goals at some point. This time it was early, as the Blues took a 2-0 lead in the first 14 minutes of the game. Yes, the Blackhawks tied it in the second period. But they knew the Blues were going to come out strong, knew the Blues were going to try to prove they could finally best the Cup champions. The Blackhawks couldn’t dig their way completely out of this hole.
Game 7 loss, elimination 'really doesn't feel right' to Blackhawks.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Brent Seabrook’s shot caromed off one goal post before skidding through the blue paint and hitting the other, remaining out of the net.
In all of their success these past few seasons, the Blackhawks have gotten the clutch performances and some of those bounces. They didn’t get enough of either this postseason. And for the first time since 2012, the Blackhawks are done playing hockey in April.
Andrew Shaw scored his fourth goal of the series but former Blackhawks forward Troy Brouwer supplied the winner as the St. Louis Blues eliminated the Blackhawks 3-2 in Game 7 of their first-round series on Monday night.
The Blackhawks are done after the first round for the first time since 2012, when the Arizona (then Phoenix) Coyotes eliminated them in six games.
That team was still trying to rebuild after the post-2010 Stanley Cup purge. This one felt it could go farther, and was tremendously disappointed that it didn’t.
“Huge disappointment for me,” said coach Joel Quenneville. “We didn’t get that excitement factor, we didn’t get that investment to take off.”
The Blackhawks went to the Jonathan Toews-Patrick Kane combination heading into Game 5. Pairing them usually leads to scoring. But not this time: Kane had one goal and Toews had none. Nevertheless, the Blackhawks nearly advanced despite Toews' and Kane’s quiet postseason.
“You get that feeling that it’s going to be one of those things again, we feel from the get-go this season that we got the team to do it again,” Toews said. “I guess it’s obviously a long regular season and you get a tough matchup like St Louis, I guess at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter when you look at the other teams we could have been up against in our division, we’re gonna get a tough matchup in the first round. For a while people were saying this series looked like it was probably going to come down to one goal at the end, and it did.”
Yes it did.
And as much as the Blackhawks were denied on a bounce in their attempt to tie the game, the Blues took advantage of a bounce when they went ahead. Brouwer’s first shot, off a Robby Fabbri pass, hit the post. But he steadied himself and backhanded it past Corey Crawford to give the Blues that lead 8:31 into the third period.
“That was the ugliest goal I've ever scored and probably the most timely goal I've ever scored,” Brouwer said. “I was joking with [broadcaster Darren Pang] that if I didn't put that one in I might quit hockey. I just tried to stay with it; knowing the magnitude of the game, knowing how everything's been going. We've been having great opportunities but haven't been able to put them in.”
The Blackhawks were down 2-0 just 14 minutes into this one, thanks to goals from Jori Lehtera and Colton Parayko.
But just as they had come back from a two-game deficit in the series and a two-goal deficit in Game 6, the Blackhawks came back to tie this one. Marian Hossa scored late in the first period and Shaw added his power-play goal in the second. But that’s where the comeback stopped.
Crawford stopped 23 of 26 in the loss.
“It just doesn’t really feel right. Pretty quick right after to put everything right after into words. Obviously not the outcome we were looking for,” said Kane. “It’s not the exact start you want when you go down 1-0 first shift. That was disappointing. We fought back to get it to 2-2. Obviously they got that goal there in the third and you’re trying to play catch-up again. Maybe one too many times in the hole.”
The Blackhawks aren’t used to this, being done so early in the postseason. They’ve had a lot of success lately but that doesn’t take the sting away this spring. They thought they had enough to make a run at another Cup. They thought they had one more comeback in them. They didn’t.
“Obviously the last three years we’ve had a lot of success in the playoffs,” Duncan Keith said. “I think it’s fun. This is what we play for: these type of games, and these series and playing late into the year. It’s fun having short summers. Obviously, we’re going to have a longer summer this year.”
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! 3 things Bears GM Ryan Pace must accomplish in this week's NFL draft.
By Dan Wiederer
Chicago prepares to host the 2016 NFL draft from April 28-30. (Photo/chicagotribune.com)
The day after last season ended, Bears general manager Ryan Pace stamped a hopeful epilogue onto a season that produced only six wins and failed to elevate the franchise out of the NFC North cellar.
Yet amid all the game-day failures, Pace was convinced he had seen important signs of progress.
"I'm telling you guys, the atmosphere and the culture in the building just feels really good right now," Pace said then.
Even as the NFL postseason began without the Bears for the eighth time in nine years, the vibe at the top of the front office was enthusiastic. And much of Pace's optimism stemmed from his own self-confidence, his belief that he has the vision and patience to reshape the roster in a way that will expedite the Bears' return to relevance.
This offseason, Pace knew, would be busy, full of tough decisions and roster overhauls. And now, this week, the renovation project reaches a turning point.
The NFL draft has arrived. And in the big picture, there may be no more pivotal stretch in Pace's tenure as Bears GM than the 46-hour period that begins Thursday night and ends Saturday.
The Bears own the No. 11 overall pick plus eight other selections. A strong draft can propel the Bears back into the playoff picture. A handful of costly misses, however, will leave the franchise spinning its wheels.
It's impossible to forecast which players the Bears will emerge with when Draft Town announces last call Saturday. And it may take years before anyone can offer a fully informed assessment of the 2016 draft class. Yet it's not difficult to identify a few key prerequisites that will make this a successful draft for the Bears.
So what, in general terms, must Pace accomplish this weekend?
By the end of last season, the Bears were humming the hymn of a perpetual loser. They lamented their close losses — five defeats by four points or less and a sixth in overtime. And they insisted those narrow misses were proof that the team was on the verge of turning a corner.
In reality, those losses offered evidence of a roster lacking enough big-play talent to consistently succeed.
As Pace himself asserted when the season ended, "We need to add more playmakers to help us finish close games. And we'll do that."
In all, the Bears were 4-6 last season in games decided by four points or fewer. Yet in order to flip that script, it's paramount that Pace find contributors who can change a game in the clutch.
On defense specifically, the Bears know they need to create more takeaways, more sacks, more quarterback pressure. And with nine picks in this week's draft, it would be an absolute failure if the Bears didn't significantly upgrade their D.
Last season, the Bears ranked 28th in the league in takeaways (17), their lowest single-season takeaway total since the team began keeping track of the stat in 1940.
The Bears also ranked 22nd in sacks (35). And more troubling than all of that, in the five games the Bears lost after holding a lead or being tied in the fourth quarter, the defense was on the field for 109 snaps in the fourth quarter and overtime (not including kneel-downs) yet produced only five sacks and one takeaway.
That's important context to understand Pace's biggest motives this weekend. The defense needs help. And this draft should offer an opportunity to secure it.
Draft a quarterback
You can love Jay Cutler and feel good about his recent progress and still acknowledge this much: the Bears absolutely need to add a quarterback.
Cutler hasn't started 16 games in a season since 2009. That means that at least once in each of the last six seasons the Bears have had to use another starter at some point during the season.
So, yes, they'd better be prepared to do so again this fall.
The only other quarterbacks under contract are David Fales and Matt Blanchard. Neither has taken a snap in a regular-season game. Collectively, they have thrown all of 112 passes in preseason action.
Cementing either player into a No. 2 role without competition would be reckless. So at the very least, the Bears should aim to come out of the draft with another passer who can challenge for backup status.
In a best-case scenario, Pace will scoop up a quarterback with future starting potential. This draft cannot simply be about securing depth for 2016. Pace has to keep his vision on building his rosters for 2017 and 2018 and beyond. And from that vantage point, it's not too early to be browsing for Cutler's successor.
Find a safety
Here's one suggestion: Vonn Bell, Ohio State.
Thumbnail scouting report: great quickness, impressive closing burst, playmaking prowess.
If Bell is still available when the first round ends, Pace should begin making calls about a possible trade up from No. 41.
Right now, the Bears' limited depth at safety is undeniable. Adrian Amos had a promising rookie season and figures to be a long-term starter. But Antrel Rolle missed nine games last season and will turn 34 in December. So the Bears, while still complimentary of the veteran safety's savvy and leadership, need to assess whether his 2015 drop-off was simply due to injury setbacks or whether it was evidence that Rolle's now an aging player in decline.
Behind Amos and Rolle, the only safeties on the Bears roster are Chris Prosinski, Harold Jones-Quartey and Demontre Hurst. Adding depth is a must. Finding another potential starter should be the goal.
Which brings us back to Bell.
"Vonn Bell to me is the best cover safety in this draft," ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said. "When you watch him on tape, it jumps out to you how quick he is, how agile he is, the body control."
Bell is not the only option, of course. See also: Boise State's Darian Thompson, Clemson's T.J. Green and LSU's Jalen Mills. But somewhere in the coming days, the need at safety must be addressed.
Bears honor Adrian Amos, Zach Miller as Piccolo Award winners.
By John Mullin
In its fifth decade, the Piccolo Award — named for running back Brian Piccolo, who lost his battle with cancer in 1970 — still remains one of the most prestigious honors within the Bears organization. On Tuesday the awards — one for a rookie and one for a veteran judged by teammates to best exemplify courage, loyalty, dedication and sense of humor in the Brian Piccolo tradition — were presented to tight end Zach Miller and rookie safety Adrian Amos.
“I’m grateful for this award because it’s voted on by my teammates,” said Amos, a 2015 fifth-round draft pick who started all 16 games and led the Bears with 108 tackles. Amos gave special thanks to “my mother and father, who were always there when things didn’t go right, and there to congratulate me when they did.”
For Miller, the 2015 season was a redemption of sorts, playing 15 games after sitting out from early 2011 through last season because of a discouraging run of injuries. His thanks included the Bears’ organization for taking a chance on him after his lost years.
“They gave me a chance to revitalize my career,” said Miller, who led the Bears with five receiving touchdowns from his 34 receptions, topped by an 87-yard catch-and-run against the then-St. Louis Rams, the longest TD catch by a tight end last season. "Being out of the league for those couple of years,” Miller said, “I’m just blessed to be here.”
Some of that “blessed” was reciprocal, with the Bears benefitting from having a second option when Martellus Bennett had in-season issues with his role in the offense. The Bears were in search of a second tight end before last season when tight ends coach Frank Smith told the staff, “We already have a second tight end,” which was Miller’s opportunity.
Cubs stay hot, knock off Brewers in series opener.
Thumbnail scouting report: great quickness, impressive closing burst, playmaking prowess.
If Bell is still available when the first round ends, Pace should begin making calls about a possible trade up from No. 41.
Right now, the Bears' limited depth at safety is undeniable. Adrian Amos had a promising rookie season and figures to be a long-term starter. But Antrel Rolle missed nine games last season and will turn 34 in December. So the Bears, while still complimentary of the veteran safety's savvy and leadership, need to assess whether his 2015 drop-off was simply due to injury setbacks or whether it was evidence that Rolle's now an aging player in decline.
Behind Amos and Rolle, the only safeties on the Bears roster are Chris Prosinski, Harold Jones-Quartey and Demontre Hurst. Adding depth is a must. Finding another potential starter should be the goal.
Which brings us back to Bell.
"Vonn Bell to me is the best cover safety in this draft," ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay said. "When you watch him on tape, it jumps out to you how quick he is, how agile he is, the body control."
Bell is not the only option, of course. See also: Boise State's Darian Thompson, Clemson's T.J. Green and LSU's Jalen Mills. But somewhere in the coming days, the need at safety must be addressed.
Bears honor Adrian Amos, Zach Miller as Piccolo Award winners.
By John Mullin
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
In its fifth decade, the Piccolo Award — named for running back Brian Piccolo, who lost his battle with cancer in 1970 — still remains one of the most prestigious honors within the Bears organization. On Tuesday the awards — one for a rookie and one for a veteran judged by teammates to best exemplify courage, loyalty, dedication and sense of humor in the Brian Piccolo tradition — were presented to tight end Zach Miller and rookie safety Adrian Amos.
“I’m grateful for this award because it’s voted on by my teammates,” said Amos, a 2015 fifth-round draft pick who started all 16 games and led the Bears with 108 tackles. Amos gave special thanks to “my mother and father, who were always there when things didn’t go right, and there to congratulate me when they did.”
For Miller, the 2015 season was a redemption of sorts, playing 15 games after sitting out from early 2011 through last season because of a discouraging run of injuries. His thanks included the Bears’ organization for taking a chance on him after his lost years.
“They gave me a chance to revitalize my career,” said Miller, who led the Bears with five receiving touchdowns from his 34 receptions, topped by an 87-yard catch-and-run against the then-St. Louis Rams, the longest TD catch by a tight end last season. "Being out of the league for those couple of years,” Miller said, “I’m just blessed to be here.”
Some of that “blessed” was reciprocal, with the Bears benefitting from having a second option when Martellus Bennett had in-season issues with his role in the offense. The Bears were in search of a second tight end before last season when tight ends coach Frank Smith told the staff, “We already have a second tight end,” which was Miller’s opportunity.
Cubs stay hot, knock off Brewers in series opener.
By Patrick Mooney
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Two years ago, Matt Garza sent a message to Jeff Samardzija through the media: The Cubs are a team without hope. Pitch your way out of Chicago.
Garza had heard enough trade rumors and was riding high with the Milwaukee Brewers during the first season of a four-year, $50 million contract. The Brewers improved to 17-6 after Garza beat his old team on April 25, 2014 at Miller Park and would finish that month with 20 wins and a five-and-a-half-game lead in the National League Central.
But the Brewers finished that season in third place – only two games over .500 – and Garza is now on the disabled list with a right lat strain. A Milwaukee franchise that once resisted the full-scale teardown and thought bigger than its small market isn’t going for it this year. The Brewers will also probably punt on the 2017 and 2018 major-league seasons and try to follow The Cubs Way.
Hope? That’s so 2014. The Cubs are now a destination where free agents actually take less guaranteed money for the chance to play at Wrigley Field and make history. This is a team that goes into every game expecting to win and even built a Celebration Room into a state-of-the-art clubhouse.
Tuesday night’s 4-3 victory pivoted in the sixth inning with a big swing from Addison Russell, the young shortstop acquired from the Oakland A’s two years ago in the blockbuster – wait for it – Samardzija deal on the Fourth of July.
Russell – who’s only 22 years old and still just scratching the surface of his potential – drilled a Carlos Torres fastball into the right-center field gap and hustled for a two-out, two-run triple that broke open a tie game.
This began a stretch where the Cubs will play 16 of 19 at Wrigley Field, with six straight games against the Brewers and wait-until-next-year Atlanta Braves. Tanking or reloading or retooling or whatever you want to call it isn’t as easy as the Cubs made it look.
It takes good scouting, strong player development, big-market spending power and a certain amount of luck. Between 2012 and 2014, the Cubs identified 10 major trades and gave up 13 players (average age: 31) – like Garza – and eight years of future control for 17 prospects (average age: 22.5) and 95 years of future control.
Within that churn, the Cubs picked up Kyle Hendricks from the Texas Rangers in the Ryan Dempster trade minutes before the July 31 deadline in 2012. Hendricks – who is as reliable and as competitive as just about any No. 5 starter in baseball – allowed one run across five innings to improve to 2-2 with a 3.52 ERA.
Hector Rondon – a Rule 5 pick after the 2012 season – worked a scoreless ninth inning to notch his fourth save.
The Cubs are now 15-5 and on pace for 120-plus wins. The Brewers are an 8-12 last-place team. Good luck trying to hit Jake Arrieta in the bone-chilling cold on Wednesday night in Wrigleyville.
Jake Arrieta says taking PEDs 'would be a ridiculous mistake'.
By Kyle Ringo
Considering how great Jake Arrieta has been for the Chicago Cubs over much of the past year, it was only a matter of time before someone began speculating that the 30-year-old right-hander was somehow cheating.
Turns out, Arrieta already has heard those accusations from some of his fellow major leaguers and others and he seems pretty comfortable in blowing them off. In fact, in an interview with USA Today, Arrieta found a way to view what is certainly an insult as a compliment by saying that anyone accusing him of cheating must think he’s pretty good.
“I’ve heard players, and I’m talking about some of the best players in the league, question whether I’ve taken steroids or not. Some of the things I hear are pretty funny, and some people are idiots, frankly.
“I’ll see on Twitter, ‘My close source revealed to me he’s on steroids.’ Well, the 10 tests I take a year say otherwise. I eat plants. I eat lean meat. I work out. And I do things the right way.
“If there are guys still on it, I hope they get caught. I care about the integrity of the game. I wouldn’t want to disappoint my family, my friends, my fans. That’s a huge motivating factor in doing it the right way.
“There are so many people that are counting on you, and leaning on all of us in this clubhouse to do some special things for the city of Chicago. To jeopardize that by taking banned substances, would be a ridiculous mistake.’’
Garza had heard enough trade rumors and was riding high with the Milwaukee Brewers during the first season of a four-year, $50 million contract. The Brewers improved to 17-6 after Garza beat his old team on April 25, 2014 at Miller Park and would finish that month with 20 wins and a five-and-a-half-game lead in the National League Central.
But the Brewers finished that season in third place – only two games over .500 – and Garza is now on the disabled list with a right lat strain. A Milwaukee franchise that once resisted the full-scale teardown and thought bigger than its small market isn’t going for it this year. The Brewers will also probably punt on the 2017 and 2018 major-league seasons and try to follow The Cubs Way.
Hope? That’s so 2014. The Cubs are now a destination where free agents actually take less guaranteed money for the chance to play at Wrigley Field and make history. This is a team that goes into every game expecting to win and even built a Celebration Room into a state-of-the-art clubhouse.
Tuesday night’s 4-3 victory pivoted in the sixth inning with a big swing from Addison Russell, the young shortstop acquired from the Oakland A’s two years ago in the blockbuster – wait for it – Samardzija deal on the Fourth of July.
Russell – who’s only 22 years old and still just scratching the surface of his potential – drilled a Carlos Torres fastball into the right-center field gap and hustled for a two-out, two-run triple that broke open a tie game.
This began a stretch where the Cubs will play 16 of 19 at Wrigley Field, with six straight games against the Brewers and wait-until-next-year Atlanta Braves. Tanking or reloading or retooling or whatever you want to call it isn’t as easy as the Cubs made it look.
It takes good scouting, strong player development, big-market spending power and a certain amount of luck. Between 2012 and 2014, the Cubs identified 10 major trades and gave up 13 players (average age: 31) – like Garza – and eight years of future control for 17 prospects (average age: 22.5) and 95 years of future control.
Within that churn, the Cubs picked up Kyle Hendricks from the Texas Rangers in the Ryan Dempster trade minutes before the July 31 deadline in 2012. Hendricks – who is as reliable and as competitive as just about any No. 5 starter in baseball – allowed one run across five innings to improve to 2-2 with a 3.52 ERA.
Hector Rondon – a Rule 5 pick after the 2012 season – worked a scoreless ninth inning to notch his fourth save.
The Cubs are now 15-5 and on pace for 120-plus wins. The Brewers are an 8-12 last-place team. Good luck trying to hit Jake Arrieta in the bone-chilling cold on Wednesday night in Wrigleyville.
Jake Arrieta says taking PEDs 'would be a ridiculous mistake'.
By Kyle Ringo
Considering how great Jake Arrieta has been for the Chicago Cubs over much of the past year, it was only a matter of time before someone began speculating that the 30-year-old right-hander was somehow cheating.
Turns out, Arrieta already has heard those accusations from some of his fellow major leaguers and others and he seems pretty comfortable in blowing them off. In fact, in an interview with USA Today, Arrieta found a way to view what is certainly an insult as a compliment by saying that anyone accusing him of cheating must think he’s pretty good.
“I’ve heard players, and I’m talking about some of the best players in the league, question whether I’ve taken steroids or not. Some of the things I hear are pretty funny, and some people are idiots, frankly.
“I’ll see on Twitter, ‘My close source revealed to me he’s on steroids.’ Well, the 10 tests I take a year say otherwise. I eat plants. I eat lean meat. I work out. And I do things the right way.
“If there are guys still on it, I hope they get caught. I care about the integrity of the game. I wouldn’t want to disappoint my family, my friends, my fans. That’s a huge motivating factor in doing it the right way.
“There are so many people that are counting on you, and leaning on all of us in this clubhouse to do some special things for the city of Chicago. To jeopardize that by taking banned substances, would be a ridiculous mistake.’’
We get it. Baseball has gone through more than a decade of denials, investigations and debate about performance enhancing drugs and just about anyone who starts playing at a level nobody else seems to be achieving is going to raise some eyebrows. It’s not fair, but the blame for that falls on the knuckleheads from years gone by who chose to break the rules and the few who continue to do so hoping they will slip through the cracks.
It’s also understandable that some folks are skeptical of Arrieta becoming the second coming of Sandy Koufax over the past 12 months after going 24-27 with a 5.23 ERA through his first four seasons in the major leagues. The fact that Arrieta looks like he was chiseled from stone by a world famous artist and he spends a lot of time in the gym adds to the speculation for some.
It’s a shame everyone can’t just sit back and appreciate the roll Arrieta has been on and chalk it up to a man’s handwork paying off and maybe a guy reaching his potential a little later than some do.
Arrieta will take the ball again Wednesday against Milwaukee in Wrigley Field. He is coming off his second no-hitter in his past 11 starts. He is 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA in his first four starts this season with 26 strikeouts. He is 26-6 since the start of last season with a 1.66 ERA.
Only one pitcher in MLB history has thrown consecutive no-hitters. Johnny Vander Meer did so in 1938 while pitching for the Cincinnati Reds. It’s very unlikely Arrieta will match Vander Meer’s feat, but imagine where the speculation might go from there if he did.
White Sox bats come alive in blowout win over Blue Jays.
It’s also understandable that some folks are skeptical of Arrieta becoming the second coming of Sandy Koufax over the past 12 months after going 24-27 with a 5.23 ERA through his first four seasons in the major leagues. The fact that Arrieta looks like he was chiseled from stone by a world famous artist and he spends a lot of time in the gym adds to the speculation for some.
It’s a shame everyone can’t just sit back and appreciate the roll Arrieta has been on and chalk it up to a man’s handwork paying off and maybe a guy reaching his potential a little later than some do.
Arrieta will take the ball again Wednesday against Milwaukee in Wrigley Field. He is coming off his second no-hitter in his past 11 starts. He is 4-0 with a 0.87 ERA in his first four starts this season with 26 strikeouts. He is 26-6 since the start of last season with a 1.66 ERA.
Only one pitcher in MLB history has thrown consecutive no-hitters. Johnny Vander Meer did so in 1938 while pitching for the Cincinnati Reds. It’s very unlikely Arrieta will match Vander Meer’s feat, but imagine where the speculation might go from there if he did.
White Sox bats come alive in blowout win over Blue Jays.
By Associated Press
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Chris Sale won again, pitching eight sharp innings and leading the Chicago White Sox over the Toronto Blue Jays 10-1 Tuesday night for their fifth straight win.
Sale (5-0) has won all of his starts this season and leads the majors in victories. The lefty ace has a 1.66 ERA.
Sale carried a one-hitter into the seventh inning, retiring 13 straight batters before Edwin Encarnacion homered. Sale gave up four hits in eight innings, striking out six and walking two.
Dioner Navarro hit a two-run homer and Avisail Garcia and Adam Eaton added solo shots for Chicago.
The three home runs, 15 hits and 10 runs were all season highs for the White Sox.
R.A. Dickey (1-3) allowed six runs and eight hits in six innings. The knuckleballer is winless in his last four outings and dropped to 2-6 in 12 career games against Chicago.
Austin Jackson got three hits and drove in two runs. Every White Sox batter had at least one hit.
Chicago won its fifth in a row against the Blue Jays.
Sale had two streaks end in the victory, giving up his first earned run after 22 consecutive innings without one, and seeing his active MLB-best streak of 76 batters without a walk end in the first when Jose Bautista earned a free pass.
Garcia hit his third home run, a drive that smacked the facing of the second level beyond the center-field wall.
The White Sox broke it open with three runs in the fifth. They loaded the bases with none out after they successfully challenged Brett Lawrie being called out at third, after he turned for home only to find the coach sending him back to the bag.
Jackson hit a two-run double and Eaton added a sacrifice fly.
Chicago chased Dickey in the seventh, with Navarro homering against his former team.
Encarnacion hit his third home run of the season, and 200th as a Blue Jay, into the fan deck on the second level above the center-field fence in the seventh inning.
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... Derrick Rose counting on "underdog mentality... to get back on top'.
By K.C. Johnson
(Photo/Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Contrary to the growing perception Derrick Rose is disengaged or lacks awareness or shows no emotion, there are moments when he lets his guard down.
They typically happen when the arena is mostly empty. He will dote on his toddler son before an early-evening workout at home games. Or he will belly-laugh postgame with friends he has had since grammar school.
"What, you're asking me if I'm going to leave or something?" Rose interrupted, laughing, during a recent interview with the Tribune.
Rose interjected during a question about how the team's struggles will affect his 2017 free-agency outlook, especially since the Bulls' guard had just finished reiterating how his main goal remains bringing a championship to his hometown.
"I'll think about that when that time comes," Rose said. "As far as right now, the only thing I can think about is this offseason. I've had that mentality ever since my injuries. I learned to deal with reality and live in the moment. I feel I'm doing all I can for this team, myself and my family. And that's all I can control right now."
Rose overcame a slow start in large part from the left orbital fracture he suffered on the first day of training camp to average 16.4 points and 4.7 assists. He played in 66 games, five more than in his three previous seasons combined.
One season remains on the five-year, $94.3 million rookie-scale extension Rose signed in December 2011. Back then, he could do no wrong. After the league's lockout, he stood poised to begin his defense of the youngest most valuable player season in NBA history.
Three knee surgeries and assorted injuries later, it's fair to ask: Who is Derrick Rose, the player? And who is Derrick Rose, the person?
Physical scars or not, the former still possesses flashes of the speed and athleticism that strike fear in opposing coaches and land on scouting reports. Emotional scars or not, the latter still can move past a seemingly criticism-hardened exterior to offer introspection.
"I always say to myself that people are going to appreciate me after I'm done," Rose said. "Especially the players in the future when they look back on my career. Hopefully they learn from some of the things that I achieved and how I achieved them.
"I sometimes feel people forget I've endured three surgeries, three rehabs. But even when I was younger, I always had the underdog mentality. People always would put people in front of me. I always had to fight my way to the top.
"In this league, having the success that I had so early and then having the injuries that I had, it kind of put me in the same place. I'm familiar with it. It's not foreign ground. I've been here before and there's nothing but hard work to get back to the top."
Notice Rose said get back to the top because he knows he's no longer there. Once on anybody's short list for the game's best player, he no longer lands on the same list for game's best point guard, a stacked field in today's game.
Bulls top basketball executive John Paxson called out Rose's defensive issues in management's season-ending postmortem. And the team has had a feel of being hostage to Rose's unfortunate injuries because he was signed to that no-brainer max extension and management waited to see it out.
Physical scars or not, the former still possesses flashes of the speed and athleticism that strike fear in opposing coaches and land on scouting reports. Emotional scars or not, the latter still can move past a seemingly criticism-hardened exterior to offer introspection.
"I always say to myself that people are going to appreciate me after I'm done," Rose said. "Especially the players in the future when they look back on my career. Hopefully they learn from some of the things that I achieved and how I achieved them.
"I sometimes feel people forget I've endured three surgeries, three rehabs. But even when I was younger, I always had the underdog mentality. People always would put people in front of me. I always had to fight my way to the top.
"In this league, having the success that I had so early and then having the injuries that I had, it kind of put me in the same place. I'm familiar with it. It's not foreign ground. I've been here before and there's nothing but hard work to get back to the top."
Notice Rose said get back to the top because he knows he's no longer there. Once on anybody's short list for the game's best player, he no longer lands on the same list for game's best point guard, a stacked field in today's game.
Bulls top basketball executive John Paxson called out Rose's defensive issues in management's season-ending postmortem. And the team has had a feel of being hostage to Rose's unfortunate injuries because he was signed to that no-brainer max extension and management waited to see it out.
If soreness develops or something doesn't feel right in an area — hamstring, ankle, obviously a knee — that could affect where he has gone under the knife three times, he will sit. If not, he will wear a mask to protect his surgically repaired eye socket and rush back to play the season opener not in game condition or try to play one-handed with an elbow injury.
Rose took several seconds to collect his thoughts when asked how much the eye injury affected his 2015-16 season.
"For sure, it was a setback," he said, finally. "I wouldn't say it messed with me mentally. I was more hurt about the injury. I couldn't see right for weeks. Mentally, I was always fine because I've been through so many injuries. Just sitting there being bored and not being able to do anything, that sucked. But I knew even then that hard work would take care of all this.
"All these injuries, I had to learn my body and know my body. I have to be the only one to determine when and when not to go. But I always thought that I was going to get back to the way that I played but even better. I love the way I'm playing, picking and choosing my spots. I love the way I'm playing on balance, not being reckless. And I love the pace that I'm playing with."
Rose long has had a tendency to flash defiance when backed into a corner. Even the November 2014 day after he uttered his infamous comment that he's managing his body because he didn't want to "be at my son's graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past," he doubled down and reminded that anyone who has endured multiple knee surgeries has to think long-term.
Even today, Rose answers quickly when asked if he has second thoughts about sitting out the 2012-13 season, a decision that convinced some to turn on Rose.
"Hell nah, I never regret that," he said. "I never regret any decisions that I make in my life. I feel all the decisions that I make, I'm a man. I can live up to the consequences and my own decisions."
Despite his stated focus to live in the moment, Rose's mind does drift. He's the one, after all, who first raised his 2017 free agency. He did so in unsolicited fashion to boot on the team's media day last September.
And he sometimes thinks back to more innocent times, when the love affair between he and his hometown bloomed. Remember: Rose didn't ask for an opt-out in his maximum extension back at a time when opt-outs were all the contractual rage.
And Rose insists he still loves playing in Chicago.
"Playing here has made me a mentally stronger person," he said. "And it made me work as hard as I do in the gym. I feel like when people turn on you or say stuff, it's not their fault. I always say it's a thin line between love and hate. They want to see me play so much that they hate whenever I get injured. That's the approach I take with it."
With Rose's free agency looming, next season feels like it could be a circus. Quiet by nature, he observes plenty from afar, more aware than the public perception of him.
Wherever Rose is playing beyond this contract, his confidence in unlikely to wane.
"I feel I'm an All-Star right now," Rose said. "I could go the rest of my career and not be an All-Star. But as long as I'm out there showing you how much I work on my game and helping the team win, that's cool. I'm blessed to play. I realize that."
Marc Gasol thinks brother Pau should sign with Spurs.
By CSN Staff
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Pau Gasol has long been expected to opt out of the final deal of his contract with the Bulls this offseason.
And while there was a time when the interest in Gasol returning to the Bulls on a new deal appeared mutual, the likelihood is now that Gasol plays his 16th NBA season in a different uniform.
His brother, Marc Gasol, seems to think so, too.
***********************
Twitter tweets from Peter Edmiston @peteredmiston:
Marc Gasol: "My advice to Pau, at his age with the things he cares about, not that (we've talked); my advice would be to go to San Antonio."
Marc Gasol, on why Pau should sign w/ SA: "The way (the Spurs) manage everything, they way they work as a franchise from top to bottom..."
Remarkable to me that Marc advised Pau to sign with San Antonio. He was not joking. Never seen a player advise another to sign with a rival.
Marc Gasol: "My advice to Pau, at his age with the things he cares about, not that (we've talked); my advice would be to go to San Antonio."
Marc Gasol, on why Pau should sign w/ SA: "The way (the Spurs) manage everything, they way they work as a franchise from top to bottom..."
Remarkable to me that Marc advised Pau to sign with San Antonio. He was not joking. Never seen a player advise another to sign with a rival.
***********************
When Gasol signed with the Bulls in 2014, he was also considering the Spurs, who at the time were the defending champions. Gasol chose Chicago over San Antonio and Oklahoma City, where he was twice named an All-Star and averaged 17.6 points and 11.4 rebounds in 150 games.
But he didn't have the success he expected when he signed. The Bulls were knocked out in the second round last year and missed the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons this year.
Gasol would make sense with the Spurs, who both tout a long track record with international players and veterans. It would also give him one last shot at earning a third NBA title, something he wasn't able to accomplish in two seasons with the Bulls.
Golf: I got a club for that..... Power rankings: Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
By Ryan Ballengee
The PGA Tour makes its annual stop in the New Orleans area this week, with TPC Louisiana hosting the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Justin Rose is the defending champion here, going deep last year on a wet host course.
World No. 1 Jason Day headlines this field, which also features Rickie Fowler and Valero Texas Open winner Charley Hoffman.
Here are our top five players for this week:
1. Justin Rose -- He's the defending champion and the only guy in the field with more than two top-15s here in the last five years. He has four. He likes this place.
2. Jason Day -- Day is looking for his third win of the PGA Tour, again on a Pete Dye course, on which he has won two of his four starts. Tied for fourth in 2015.
3. Charley Hoffman -- I'm probably overrating Charley Hoffman this week after a Texas Open win. However, he was fifth here in 2014. Of course, he's riding high, which could be bad.
4. Billy Horschel -- The 2013 winner here, Horschel is playing very good golf. He's been knocking on the door for weeks, with another top-five finish at the Texas Open.
5. Rickie Fowler -- Fowler makes NOLA a consistent part of his schedule, but he rarely plays extremely well here (T-10 in 2012). That said, he won The Players on a Pete Dye track, has been a top-10 machine this year and is rested after his Bahamas vacation.
Golf-Tiger registers for US Open but return date still unknown.
Reuters; Reporting by Steve Keating, Editing by Frank Pingue
Aug 15, 2015; Sheboygan, WI, USA; Tiger Woods hits his tee shot on the 16th hole during the continuation of the second round of the 2015 PGA Championship golf tournament at Whistling Straits. (Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports)
Tiger Woods has registered to play in June's U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania but has not set a timetable for his return to the PGA Tour.
The United States Golf Association confirmed on Monday that Woods, who has not competed since last August while recovering from back surgeries, registered for the year's second major on April 4, well ahead of Wednesday's deadline.
While the 14-times major winner has registered for the June 16-19 U.S. Open, there is no guarantee he will be at Oakmont, one of the most difficult courses on tour.
Last year, the former world number one also registered to play at the U.S. Open but backed out after saying he was not fully recovered from back surgery.
Speculation, however, has been mounting that the three-times U.S. Open champion could make his PGA Tour return within the next month.
There have been multiple media reports that the 40-year-old American has been ramping up his practice routine while at home in Florida and could make a return to the PGA Tour as early as May 5-8 Wells Fargo Championship.
Woods has not won a major title since he clinched the 14th of his career at the 2008 U.S. Open and his form has slipped dramatically in recent years due to injuries and the mastering of a new swing.
His top-10 finish at the PGA Tour's Wyndham Championship in August, following a dismal 2014-15 season in which he missed three cuts in the majors, gave him encouragement before his health again intervened.
Three weeks later, he had a second microdiscectomy surgery to alleviate pressure on a disc in his lower back, before needing another procedure on Oct. 28 on the same area.
Woods' world ranking has plummeted to 486th and earlier this month he missed the Masters for only the second time since his tournament debut in 1995.
Oakmont's Par-3 8th Might Reach 300 Yards Again for US Open.
By Sean Zak
(Photo/Sports Illustrated/John Biever)
Famous for playing 300 yards during the 2007 U.S. Open, the 8th hole at Oakmont Country Club could match that distance again in 2016. USGA Executive Director Mike Davis said as much Monday from U.S. Open Media Day at the course.
"As we said in 2007, before everybody thinks we have lost our marbles making a par-3 300 yards, when you go back and you read historically about what HC and WC Fownes wanted, they designed that hole to be a driver, 3-wood hole," Davis said. "The only way to get it to that way now days is to get something back there.
"And what's so neat about that design is, the 8th is one of the largest greens at Oakmont and candidly it's one of the flatter greens there. And you can land, I think there's a cross bunker there the Sahara bunker that if you fly, you got about 43 yards to bounce your [shot], before you even get to the green, where it's nice and firm, slight downhill slope. So, you could play even if you were playing it 300 yards, you might be able to hit it 250, 260 in the air and have it bounce up there. So it's great strategy, but it's nonetheless a tough hole."
A tough hole, indeed. The 8th played .452 strokes above par on average in 2007, making it the 5th-toughest hole during that week. It was only reached in regulation on 26.7% of attempts that year.
NASCAR: Power Rankings: Some clarity as Carl Edwards stays No. 1.
By Nick Bromberg
Power Rankings: Some clarity as Carl Edwards stays No. 1. (AP Photo/Chet Strange)
1. Carl Edwards (LW: 1): After struggling to figure out who deserved the top spot last week, there's no such mental gymnastics needed this week. Edwards gets to stay at No. 1 after he knocked teammate Kyle Busch out of the way for the win at Richmond. While his move for the win has gotten a lot of attention, it's imperative to not forget what Edwards did in the closing laps of that race. He got in position to make the bump on Busch by pressing the issue every lap. He was trying different lines and driving styles to force Busch to push as hard as possible. And it eventually paid off.
2. Kyle Busch (LW: 3): Busch has every right to be mad after what happened. No one likes losing a race, and no one likes getting knocked out of the way to lose a race. But there's a difference between being unhappy and being angry/compelled to retaliate, and what Edwards did to Busch falls in the unhappy category. And if you're unhappy about the finish -- and you aren't a Kyle Busch fan -- what the hell is wrong with you?
3. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 4): Johnson finished third on Sunday, so he gets to move up to the matching position in Power Rankings. He had one of the best cars of the day, but it wasn't the best car. That honor could have gone to three or four other drivers and teams. But the No. 48 team stayed near the front all day and didn't make any mistakes to jeopardize their great track position. As boring as that sounds, it's becoming a bigger and bigger accomplishment in the Cup Series.
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (LW: 2): Junior ended up 13th. He could have gotten a better finish had there not been so many cautions in the second half of the race. He had a long run car and his car ended up getting real tight over the final two runs of the race. And going back to the Kyle Busch entry for a moment, here's what Junior said about the finish. “It was awesome. I know Kyle was probably disappointed, but it’s short track racing man. The fans come to see something like that. If you can reach them, if you can get to them on the last lap you better be leaning on them a little bit. He didn’t wreck him; as long as you don’t put a guy in the fence."
5. Joey Logano (LW: 5): Logano came back to finish eighth after going a lap down at one point in the race. As the vast majority of the top 10 starters stayed in the top 10 for most of the day, Logano had a fight to get back to the top 10. He started second but simply didn't have any long-run speed to start the race. Given that the first caution of the race came on lap 158, that was a problem. At one point, Logano fell as far back to 25th, but with some good adjustments and the Lucky Dog on lap 269 after contact with Tony Stewart cut Stewart's tire, Logano was back on the lead lap.6. Kevin Harvick (LW: 6): Harvick finished fifth and once again got a top five finish and led multiple laps (63) with a car that was far from perfect. 41 of those laps led came during the middle sections of the race -- and with good reason. That's when Harvick said his car was performing the best. He was too loose to start, and then it wasn't as good at the end as it was in the middle. "We threw a lot at it and just never could find that magic balance for the car that we had there in the middle of the race," Harvick said.
7. Kurt Busch (LW: 7): Before the final caution of the race it certainly looked like the battle for the win was going to come down to Kurt or Kyle Busch. Instead, Kurt lost four spots on pit road and ended up playing a lot more defense than offense as he slid back to 10th during the race's final 36 laps.
8. Brad Keselowski (LW: 9): Keselowski and the No. 2 team were the only top 10 team to try a tire strategy move for track position. It was worth the shot even if it didn't pay off. He inherited the lead on lap 275 following a six-lap green flag run as the rest of the field pitted behind him. Six laps on his tires felt like 60 laps as Keselowski kept the lead for six of the next seven laps before ceding to Kurt Busch. He finished 11th.
9. Chase Elliott (LW: 8): Elliott was a spot behind Keselowski in 12th. We're going to mainly take this time to emphasize just how awesome his four-wide move on an early-race restart was. You know, the one Tony Stewart said was "sexy." Elliott timed the restart perfectly and occupied the lane at the top to go around Stewart. Stewart, who was ahead of Elliott, tried the same thing, just a fraction too late and as Elliott was already alongside him. The rookie has very little fear.
10. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 10): Truex started 22nd and finished ninth. He was one of only two drivers who finished in the top 10 that didn't start there. He's 10th in the points standings through nine races, ahead of drivers like Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth and Ryan Newman. Yet it feels like a bit of a slump given that Truex was third in the standings after Richmond last season.
11. Kasey Kahne (LW: NR): Kahne got his best finish of the year at Richmond with a fourth. Is everything trending upwards for the No. 5 team? "I think it's more being together, being a group, a solid team," Kahne said of his team's recent performance. "As we do that, we've been getting better each week. To me that started three, four weeks ago. Each week it seems to get better from the previous week. We're going to keep heading in that direction, I know that, and hopefully the performance stays the same."
12. Denny Hamlin (LW: NR): Hamlin came back to finish sixth at what's considered his home track. He had to pick his way through the field early in the race after his team was penalized for an uncontrolled tire violation on pit road. But to counter that early miscue, his team ended up being the fastest of the day over seven stops.
Lucky Dog: Matt Kenseth got his second top-10 of the season. Yet his seventh-place finish put him fourth out of the four JGR teams. That feels appropriate.
The DNF: All 40 cars were running at the end of the race, so we'll give it to Brian Scott. He was the driver that dropped the most spots from his starting position (20th) to his finishing position (35th). But he did have a taco truck parked in the driver lot all weekend.
Dropped Out: Trevor Bayne, Matt DiBenedetto
Sprint Cup Drivers Council action shows group is evolving.
By NBC Sports
The undertones could be unsettling, but drivers say it’s not like that.
The action was surprising, but drivers say they had to act.
The growth is worth watching. That’s the way drivers want it.
The decision by the Sprint Cup Drivers Council to publicly criticize NASCAR for fining Tony Stewart $35,000 was a dramatic change for the 11-month-old group. Created to help improve the sport, the Council’s action had mostly been kept quiet — other than the push for the low downforce package, which universally was supported by drivers.
Thursday’s statement was a sign of how this nine-member organization has grown. It is learning what it can be and should be.
Multiple members told NBC Sports that they were displeased that NASCAR fined Stewart, saying they didn’t think what he said disparaged the sport, especially because it dealt with the safety matter of loose wheels. Other drivers not on the Council told NBC Sports that they were encouraged by the group’s action to stand up for Stewart.
The unified action by the Council makes it easy to wonder that if it disagrees with a fine, what’s next? Is this the beginning of a power play? Could it make the first step toward a union?
“I don’t think it was us putting our foot down or trying to get in NASCAR’s way,’’ Dale Earnhardt Jr., a Council member, told NBC Sports. “We just didn’t really agree with what they did there in that particular instance.’’
Drivers contend that they need to work together with owners and NASCAR to provide the racing wanted by fans. They stated that butting heads with series officials won’t accomplish that goal.
Still, the drivers know they need to be heard.
“As a group, we talk every week, it may not be every day, but as a group there are conversations going on that are in 100 percent the best interest of the sport,’’ said Kevin Harvick, a Council member, Friday at Richmond International Raceway. "Obviously, our opinions aren’t 100 percent of the equation, but maybe it hasn’t been a third up until the last two years, but we are going to fight hard to have our third of the opinion heard.”
They should because they’re the ones taking the biggest risks. Of course, that doesn’t mean everything they want is right or will be best for the sport. That’s where NASCAR officials must weigh input from owners, drivers, fans, sponsors and television, among various groups.
That leads to many challenges for NASCAR in trying to appease everyone.
“As a sport we have some major decisions to make as to how we want to be identified,’’ said Brad Keselowski, a Council member. “How do we want to compete? What are those aspects? Whether that is NASCAR themselves, the drivers, (Race Team Alliance), the fans, we have to make a decision of what tools do we want to determine who is a winner and who is great. Who is not?’’
Keselowski notes how the role of pit road has become more significant in who wins races. That’s more a measure of a team’s ability as opposed to a driver’s. He said that in the past, a fast car could make up for a bad pit stop because the competition wasn’t as balanced. Now, it’s more difficult to overcome something such as that.
“Do we want to determine who is great off of pit road?’’ Keselowski said. “Then we should just have a pit road competition every weekend if we come to that conclusion. I don’t think we want that. I don’t think we want pit road to mean nothing, either.’’
Those and other issues are what the Council will discuss, debate and help NASCAR decide in the days ahead.
Thursday showed that the group could present a clear message. Of course, that was easy because they felt one of their own had been wronged.
They should because they’re the ones taking the biggest risks. Of course, that doesn’t mean everything they want is right or will be best for the sport. That’s where NASCAR officials must weigh input from owners, drivers, fans, sponsors and television, among various groups.
That leads to many challenges for NASCAR in trying to appease everyone.
“As a sport we have some major decisions to make as to how we want to be identified,’’ said Brad Keselowski, a Council member. “How do we want to compete? What are those aspects? Whether that is NASCAR themselves, the drivers, (Race Team Alliance), the fans, we have to make a decision of what tools do we want to determine who is a winner and who is great. Who is not?’’
Keselowski notes how the role of pit road has become more significant in who wins races. That’s more a measure of a team’s ability as opposed to a driver’s. He said that in the past, a fast car could make up for a bad pit stop because the competition wasn’t as balanced. Now, it’s more difficult to overcome something such as that.
“Do we want to determine who is great off of pit road?’’ Keselowski said. “Then we should just have a pit road competition every weekend if we come to that conclusion. I don’t think we want that. I don’t think we want pit road to mean nothing, either.’’
Those and other issues are what the Council will discuss, debate and help NASCAR decide in the days ahead.
Thursday showed that the group could present a clear message. Of course, that was easy because they felt one of their own had been wronged.
What about other issues?
“We’re all in this together as the drivers,’’ Denny Hamlin, a Council member said. “We want to have one voice because that one voice is obviously a little louder and clearer to NASCAR when we go into meetings talking about where it’s going to head from competition to safety and amongst other things.’’
NASCAR adds penalties for teams that ignore lug nuts.
AP - Sports
NASCAR has added mandatory fines and other penalties for teams caught without five lug nuts on each wheel.
The move announced Monday comes less than a week after three-time series champion Tony Stewart urged NASCAR to take action. The series had stopped monitoring lug nuts during pit stops, and some teams were using fewer than five, allowing them to send cars out faster in hopes of getting better position and a better finish.
NASCAR can only check for every lug nut before and after a race, but may call a car back to pit road during a race.
The series said a tire falling off in a Sprint Cup race due to ''improper installation'' would mean a minimum four-race suspension of the crew chief and other pit crew members involved. If lug nuts are found missing after a race, Cup teams face at least a $20,000 fine and a one-race suspension for the crew chief.
Veteran crew chief Rodney Childers, who works with 2014 NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick, reacted to the change on Twitter by saying ''I will sit at home for a week at some point.'' Childers noted that rarely does his car end a race with all 20 lug nuts still attached.
The penalties are less for the Xfinity and Truck series, but still substantial for the lower-funded teams.
''Our job is whenever there's a safety improvement to make or a policy to enhance things, we will just do that,'' NASCAR CEO Brian France said Monday during an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. ''It's as simple as that. There's not a controversial thing. Our whole system is based on safe and competitive racing. If we can make an adjustment to make things safer, we just simply will.''
Stewart was fined $35,000 for his criticism, and that fine stands.
NASCAR said a ''long-term solution'' was in the works.
''They're just trying to get it right and we're trying to get it right,'' France said. ''And, by the way, we will. We have for 60 years and we will always sort out, especially when it comes to safety - you can mark that down - that we will get to the right to the right place as fast as we can. That's Job 1 for us.''
SOCCER: Chicago Fire eager to return after bye week.
By Dan Santaromita
After losing to Montreal on April 16, the Chicago Fire had a bye week, which meant the team had to stew in that home defeat seven extra days.
Now the team is preparing to take on D.C. United on Saturday at Toyota Park. The team is back to a regular week of practice, but the extra wait after a loss is something the team has had to endure.
“After we lost our game against Montreal, you wanted the next game as soon as possible, but also we believe that we have to be patient," Paunovic said in his weekly conference call with the media on Monday. "We have to understand that we have a possibility to work for two weeks like we did, we have to take advantage of it.
"It’s always helpful when you have two weeks to prepare for the next game and recover and think about down the line and everything necessary in order to be better prepared for the next game after you lose a game. At the same time the guys who like to compete, and I think I am one of them and also in the locker room, we have a lot of guys who are impatient about next game, which is good. I like that very much because they want that payback. They want to show that we can be better."
One of the players who is certainly eager to get back to game action, but hasn't been able to do so for weeks, is David Accam. Without any game action to talk about, Paunovic's weekly David Accam injury update became a focal point of the conference call. For the first time in a few weeks, Paunovic finally sounded more optimistic about Accam, but also downplayed the chances of him coming back against D.C.
“The good news is he is progressing," Paunovic said. "He is at least feeling less pain and it is very located, which is good news. Having a meeting this morning with our doctors, they feel very comfortable with how he is improving and we will see. I don’t know for this game, but in the next couple of weeks we believe that David can be good to go.”
Accam has been in the Fire locker room after home matches while being out with injury and the usually jovial Accam at times looked like a kid who couldn't play in the park with his friends. Paunovic talked about Accam's mentality and gave a bit more detail about the ligament injury.
Ever since Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber said the league plans to expand to 28 teams eventually, expansion rumors have heated up.
First it was Sacramento that got some love in the form of an in-person visit by Garber last week. Then Garber said St. Louis was also a frontrunner in this next wave of MLS expansion.
Now, Detroit's expansion push is getting a boost from some familiar names to American sports fans. Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert have teamed up in an effort to create an MLS expansion team in the Motor City. The pair made some not so subtle hints on Twitter today.
Now the team is preparing to take on D.C. United on Saturday at Toyota Park. The team is back to a regular week of practice, but the extra wait after a loss is something the team has had to endure.
“After we lost our game against Montreal, you wanted the next game as soon as possible, but also we believe that we have to be patient," Paunovic said in his weekly conference call with the media on Monday. "We have to understand that we have a possibility to work for two weeks like we did, we have to take advantage of it.
"It’s always helpful when you have two weeks to prepare for the next game and recover and think about down the line and everything necessary in order to be better prepared for the next game after you lose a game. At the same time the guys who like to compete, and I think I am one of them and also in the locker room, we have a lot of guys who are impatient about next game, which is good. I like that very much because they want that payback. They want to show that we can be better."
One of the players who is certainly eager to get back to game action, but hasn't been able to do so for weeks, is David Accam. Without any game action to talk about, Paunovic's weekly David Accam injury update became a focal point of the conference call. For the first time in a few weeks, Paunovic finally sounded more optimistic about Accam, but also downplayed the chances of him coming back against D.C.
“The good news is he is progressing," Paunovic said. "He is at least feeling less pain and it is very located, which is good news. Having a meeting this morning with our doctors, they feel very comfortable with how he is improving and we will see. I don’t know for this game, but in the next couple of weeks we believe that David can be good to go.”
Accam has been in the Fire locker room after home matches while being out with injury and the usually jovial Accam at times looked like a kid who couldn't play in the park with his friends. Paunovic talked about Accam's mentality and gave a bit more detail about the ligament injury.
“He understands that he has to do his treatment and keep his emotions under control and not get frustrated," Paunovic said of Accam. "So far I believe everything in the process of recovery has been the natural process of a ligament injury where you need 6-8 weeks. Right now we are at six weeks. Six weeks of natural recovery helping the treatment with everything he is doing so far. I think we have to understand it’s not a minor injury and we have to be very, very smart in our approach to how we are going through this process of his recovery. He of course would like as quickly as possible to come back, but he is also very smart in how he is managing that excitement and desire to come back and start playing as soon as possible and help the team.
“We have to understand that we don’t want to make this injury worse.”
In addition to being given the OK from the Fire's medical staff, Accam will have to regain fitness after not being able to play. He has been able to be a partial participant in some practices during the injury so he won't be starting from scratch, but getting Accam back up to 90-minute fitness might take an additional week or two.
Pistons, Cavs owners joining with hopes of getting MLS in Detroit.
By Dan Santaromita
First it was Sacramento that got some love in the form of an in-person visit by Garber last week. Then Garber said St. Louis was also a frontrunner in this next wave of MLS expansion.
Now, Detroit's expansion push is getting a boost from some familiar names to American sports fans. Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores and Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert have teamed up in an effort to create an MLS expansion team in the Motor City. The pair made some not so subtle hints on Twitter today.
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Twitter tweets from Dan Gilbert @cavsdan and Tom Gores @TomGores:
Hey @TomGores, you know what's great about sports? One moment you're rivals & the next day, you can be rooting for the same team…
You're right, @cavsdan. Let's “kick around” some ideas and try to make something happen. https://twitter.com/cavsdan/status/725003105704771584 …
The timing is a bit comical with Gilbert's Cavs sweeping Gores' Pistons out of the NBA Playoffs on Sunday, but both are from Michigan and are Michigan State graduates. With those two leading the charge, it explains why Detroit has suddenly been mentioned frequently in MLS expansion rumors.
Garber will meet with the ownership group on Wednesday and have a press conference. That could indicate an intent to create a team, similar to when David Beckham's Miami franchise had a press conference with Garber. Miami still does not officially have a team set for expansion, although it is assumed it will still happen.
Manchester City 0-0 Real Madrid: Citizens withstand late pressure to earn draw.
By Kyle Lynch
After a relatively drab opening hour, Manchester City withstood a flurry of late pressure from Real Madrid to earn a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.
By keeping a clean sheet, Manchester City can now advance to the final with a win or score-draw in the second leg in Madrid next week.
NCAAFB; Report: Department of Justice looking into satellite camps.
Garber will meet with the ownership group on Wednesday and have a press conference. That could indicate an intent to create a team, similar to when David Beckham's Miami franchise had a press conference with Garber. Miami still does not officially have a team set for expansion, although it is assumed it will still happen.
Manchester City 0-0 Real Madrid: Citizens withstand late pressure to earn draw.
By Kyle Lynch
(Photo/Getty Images)
After a relatively drab opening hour, Manchester City withstood a flurry of late pressure from Real Madrid to earn a 0-0 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal.
By keeping a clean sheet, Manchester City can now advance to the final with a win or score-draw in the second leg in Madrid next week.
The biggest talking point of the match came before a ball was even kicked, as Cristiano Ronaldo was not included in the Real Madrid team. Ronaldo was expected to be fit after nursing a thigh injury, but he was not even on the bench at The Etihad on Tuesday.
The game started a bit cautiously, with much of the play staying in the middle of the pitch as each side got settled in.
Around the half-four mark City began to create a bit more going forward, utilizing their playmakers Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva. However, just as Pellegrini’s men gained some steam, Silva went down with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Kelechi Iheanacho was called on from the bench, a massive stage for the 19-year-old Nigerian making just his third Champions League appearance.
With the match still 0-0 at the break, Zinedine Zidane brought on Jese for Karim Benzema. Benzema’s fitness had come into question leading up to the match, and the French striker was only able to go 45 minutes, leaving Real without their top two scorers for the second half.
However, Real started to find their game after the break and saw much more of the ball than City. Jese almost found a crucial away goal in the 71st minute on a near perfect header, only to see his ball loop over Joe Hart and bounce back off the crossbar.
From then on City was under constant pressure, with Hart forced to make a few key stops including a huge kick-save on another well-placed header, this time from Casemiro.
City would hold on for the final minutes, which included another stunning save from Hart on Pepe, as the match ended a scoreless draw. Both sides will be relatively content with the result, as the tie will now be decided at the Bernabeu on May 4.
NCAAFB; Report: Department of Justice looking into satellite camps.
By Sam Cooper
NCAA president Mark Emmert. (Photo/AP)
The debate about satellite camps has reportedly reached the federal level.
According to a report from USA Today, the United States Department of Justice “has begun an informal inquiry” into the camps, which were banned via a vote from the NCAA’s Division I Council on April 8. Representatives from the DOJ have reached out to “coaches, conference commissioners and college administrators,” the report says.
From USA Today:
The DOJ's interest, according to one of the people who spoke to USA TODAY Sports, is based on whether an NCAA ban of satellite camps — a term used to describe off-campus coaching clinics attended by prospective student-athletes — could jeopardize or lessen opportunities for youth players to be seen or have access to college football coaches.
Some coaches – Jim Harbaugh from Michigan, most notably – used the camps to extend their recruiting footprint into different parts of the country, mainly the South. The decision to ban the practice had some unintended consequences, however. Coaches from smaller schools are no longer allowed to attend camps hosted by Power Five programs. This can limit opportunities for exposure and potential scholarship offers for some prospective student-athletes.
The vote, which came via conference representatives, passed 10-5 (a Power Five league vote was worth two) in favor of the ban.
The Big Ten was the only Power Five conference to vote against the ban, but Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott told reporters last week that 11 schools from his conference were not in favor of the ban. Despite this UCLA athletic director Dan Guerrero, who represented the league, voted to ban the camps because he thought it would pass no matter the Pac-12’s vote. Because of this, Guerrero said he voted in favor of the ACC’s proposal to ban the camps (as opposed to the SEC’s version of legislature) because it believed it’d best benefit the Pac-12.
A Harvard man can be an NFL man.
By CRAIG HALEY
(Photo/AP/Yahoo Sports)
Harvard is usually occupied with trying to earn the No. 1 ranking among U.S. colleges and universities.
But the numbers usually add up for Harvard's football team as well. At this time of the year, the Crimson are often readying for some of their players to be taken in the NFL draft.
An Ivy League champion each of the past three seasons, Harvard had six former players on NFL rosters last season, none more in the spotlight than New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. No other Ivy school had more than two former players on rosters.
Veteran Crimson coach Tim Murphy has had 25 players get drafted or sign professional contracts.
The mix of athletics and academics, said James Frazier, director of strength and conditioning, "makes it more competitive for us to be able to go out and get players, kids like Zack (Hodges) and Nick (Easton, both 2014 FCS All-Americans playing in the NFL) and, obviously, Cole Toner and Ben Braunecker and those guys to come to a school like Harvard when a lot of those guys have scholarship opportunities at some of the bigger schools."
This week, the Crimson are expecting to have two or three players from last year's 9-1 squad selected in the three-day draft, most likely on the final day Saturday - Toner, an offensive tackle, and Braunecker, a tight end, with center Anthony Fabiano another possibility.
The 6-foot-6, 306-pound Toner dominated Ivy competition throughout his career, starting all but the first four games of his freshman season. He is aggressive in run blocking and times his moves well in pass protection. He was among 12 FCS players to participate in Senior Bowl week.
Braunecker, 6-3, 250, is generally considered the top prospect from a good group of FCS tight ends. He is athletic in gaining space on routes, but also not afraid to get physical as a blocker.
Fabiano, 6-5, 290, prides himself on having a "nasty, tough" side to his playing style, which is evident in his run blocking. He appears suited for a zone blocking system.
NCAABKB: Minority coaches struggle to get opportunities in NCAA.
By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
When Dave Dickerson's five-season run at Tulane came to an end in 2010, he joined Thad Matta's staff at Ohio State to work with one of the most respected coaches in the game, help the Buckeyes win and apply what he learned in his first head coaching job to be more successful the second time around.
It's a path that so many coaches have taken over the years, including seven who have worked for Matta and gone on to take Division I jobs. And yet six years, five NCAA Tournaments, three Sweet 16s and a Final Four trip later, Dickerson is still waiting for another chance.
''At one time in this profession, if you were a part of a winning program and demonstrated the qualities of being able to coach and being able to run a program and being able to relate to young men, you had opportunities,'' Dickerson told The Associated Press. ''But now I think the benchmark has changed.''
As a black coach, the odds are stacked against Dickerson and many of his colleagues. According to the latest annual report from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, hiring for minorities in college sports - including football and men's and women's basketball - continues to lag behind practices in the professional ranks.
College sports had the lowest grade for racial hiring practices among all sports groups or organizations reviewed the institute, while only the NFL had worse numbers when it came to gender hiring practices of the professional and college sports leagues the organization tracks.
For men's basketball, 23.8 percent of schools had coaches of color, which Richard Lapchick, the director of TIDES and the primary author of the report, called ''a major area of concern.'' The picture is even bleaker for minority women, who held just 11 percent of the Division I basketball jobs last season.
''We need more black coaches, period,'' former NBA and Auburn star Charles Barkley said at the Final Four.
Dickerson, who won a national title as an assistant at Maryland and has coached on staffs that have advanced to three Final Fours, is still optimistic that his time is coming.
But he has had trouble escaping his 71-85 record at Tulane, even though Hurricane Katrina decimated the region four months after he took the job and forced his team to uproot and move to Texas A&M.
''People can talk about not having this, not having that, not being afforded the time,'' Dickerson said. ''We didn't have a campus. We didn't have our gym. We didn't have game uniforms. We didn't have dorms. We had nothing. No coach in the history of college basketball had to deal with what I dealt with. There was nothing in the coaching manual to teach me how to deal with that.''
In his second and third seasons there, Dickerson posted the first back-to-back winning seasons the program had seen in more than a decade. His replacement, Ed Conroy, was fired this season and replaced by former NBA coach Mike Dunleavy.
''My hope is that my tenure at Tulane doesn't define who I am as a coach,'' Dickerson said. ''If that defines who I am as a basketball coach, then God help this profession.''
Dickerson is now 49 years old. Many colleges seem to be turning to younger, more inexperienced coaches in hopes of finding the next Shaka Smart or Brad Stevens.
''There's been a dramatic shift in the last two years to young coaches, which has really overlooked a lot of racial and ethnic minority coaches who played by the rules, have done everything right, and then when opportunities have occurred, athletic directors and head coaches have reached down and picked the young non-minority coach who has had limited experience and promoted him over the minority coach,'' said Merritt Norvell, executive director of the National Association for Coaching Equity and Development, a group led by some of the most prominent minority coaches in the country.
That's what happened in Hawaii this year, where the Warriors hired 33-year-old Eran Ganot over 47-year-old interim head coach Benjy Taylor, who led Hawaii to a 22-13 record and the Big West Conference Tournament championship game after taking over for a coach and assistant who committed several NCAA violations.
''If I wasn't going to get the job, you would just hope that all the hard work you put in, the job would be given to someone where you step back and say, 'Well, I can't blame that choice,''' Taylor said after parting ways with Hawaii. ''But it's very hard to swallow the resumes. This is about resumes.''
Ganot ended up guiding Hawaii to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2002, but Taylor strongly believes he would have done the same thing. Taylor wound up working at an Audi dealership in Hawaii before accepting an assistant job at Southeastern Missouri.
Dickerson, meanwhile, is enjoying working at Ohio State.
''I'm excited about the future,'' Dickerson said. ''I wouldn't trade my career that I've had for anything. But I would love to have a second chance to be a head coach again.''
By Pat Forde
For years, people have been asking when NCAA justice would be delivered unto North Carolina for its 18 years of academic misconduct that benefited more than 1,000 athletes.
Those questions intensified as the Tar Heels men's basketball program – whose players were proportionally one of the most enthusiastic participants in the African and Afro-American Studies bogus classes scandal – advanced to this year's NCAA tournament championship game. The sense among many fan bases was that the Tar Heels were getting away scot-free, and those fan bases wanted to know when the hammer would fall.
Today, we are closer to an answer.
And that answer looks even more like never.
The school received an amended NCAA Notice of Allegations Monday, nearly 11 months after the initial notice arrived. There still are five Level I allegations – the most serious violations in the NCAA penalty structure – but some things have changed.
The charge of "impermissible benefits" to athletes who were enrolled in the so-called "paper classes" is gone. Taking that off the table certainly has the appearance of a softened stance by NCAA Enforcement.
I asked North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham on a conference call Monday what his reaction was to the removal of the impressible benefits charge.
"I think that is a question for the NCAA," he said. "I've got to deal with the five we have."
Also of note: The most complete of North Carolina's myriad internal investigations (the Wainstein Report) dates the fake classes back to 1993. But the two allegations within the NOA which could pertain to football and basketball misdeeds – lack of institutional control and a failure to monitor – date from the fall of 2005. That happens to be several months after the Heels won the '05 national title, with multiple players who were AFAM majors. So there appears to be little if any leverage for the NCAA to take down that championship banner.
So what North Carolina basically has are a couple of broad institutional charges that target no specific sport, and do not mention basketball coach Roy Williams anywhere in the new report. And a whole lot of ammo aimed at women's basketball.
Now more than ever, it looks like that program is going to pay the piper. While it's possible that nobody else does.
How will that go over outside of North Carolina state lines? Not terribly well.
The release of this NOA looks like the latest step in a savvy legal maneuver by the school to navigate through this mess with minimal risk to its flagship program.
Recall that this amended Notice of Allegations came about because the school asked in August for an extension in filing its response to the original, citing new potential rules violations in women's basketball and men's soccer. North Carolina asked for and received an extra 60 days to respond, a key chunk of time that effectively pushed the timeline for the outcome of the case past the end of the 2015-16 basketball season.
Why was that important? Because North Carolina was a title contender, in August and all the way to the very last shot of the season. Pushing a hearing and potential penalties past the end of the season ensured that the Heels would be able to play unimpeded.
So, whatever became of those additional violations? The women's basketball ones were folded into the new NOA, but there was no mention of men's soccer in there. Cunningham was asked about that Monday.
The men's soccer violations "have been fully adjudicated," he said, adding that some recruiting restrictions were imposed. He said there were "a couple other penalties" but did not name them, and said the violations were Level III – which is basically the NCAA equivalent of jaywalking.
Two months for that. Nice stall ball.
Why it took the NCAA another six months to respond with a new Notice of Allegations is another matter entirely, and no answers were forthcoming Monday. But one look at the NOA says that the institution rethought things more considerably than was expected.
And the result could be an even softer list of allegations than the last one, which did nothing to satiate the national bloodlust.
So if you're waiting for the hammer to drop on North Carolina, keep waiting. And when it does drop, it could well be wrapped in velvet to cushion the blow.
Breeders' Cup to return to Churchill Downs in 2018.
By BRUCE SCHREINER
The Breeders' Cup is returning to its old Kentucky home at Churchill Downs.
Ending a hiatus stretching several years, the two-day event of championship racing will return to the iconic twin spires in early November 2018, Breeders' Cup and Churchill officials said Monday.
The track, home of the Kentucky Derby, has hosted the Breeders' Cup eight times, most recently in 2011.
''There's nothing like the Breeders' Cup under the spires,'' said track President Kevin Flanery.
The announcement capped a campaign by Churchill executives in the past year to lure back the event. The Louisville track has undergone more than $67 million in upgrades since the last time it hosted the Breeders' Cup. The projects include improvements to the clubhouse, a VIP section known as The Mansion and a gigantic video board.
Neither side delved into questions about the Breeders' Cup's absence from Churchill.
Breeders' Cup President and CEO Craig Fravel praised the track for its many upgrades, and acknowledged that Churchill sometimes gets ''less than a fair shake'' in the equine community.
''From my part, there's never been any question of hostility or antagonism or competition or anything else between the Breeders' Cup and Churchill Downs,'' he said.
The event is a two-day series of races in the fall that marks the end to thoroughbred racing season.
Churchill has hosted some memorable Breeders' Cup races, including in 2011 when Drosselmeyer passed Game On Dude in the stretch to win by 1 1/2 lengths.
Churchill's first Breeders' Cup in 1988 was also notable. It was run in near-darkness, which didn't matter to Alysheba. Jockey Chris McCarron guided the 1987 Kentucky Derby champion through the shadows to take charge at the beginning of the stretch and fight off Seeking the Gold to win by a half-length.
Monday's announcement at the track comes nearly six months after Keeneland, located 75 miles east in Lexington, hosted the Breeders' Cup for the first time.
American Pharoah capped his brilliant career there with a dominant victory in the after he became racing's first Triple Crown champion since 1978.
The Breeders' Cup has had a West Coast tilt. This year's event will be at Santa Anita Park and next year's races will be at Del Mar. Both tracks are in California.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer said the city has added thousands of downtown hotel rooms and taken a bigger plunge into bourbon tourism since the 2011 Breeders' Cup. Fischer said the Breeders' Cup return is something the city's racing fans have been wanting for a long time.
''There is no other horse racing city in the world like Louisville, Kentucky,'' he said. ''So in my mind, it is just proper that the Breeders' Cup certainly is a regular here.''
A decision on the site for the 2019 event will be made sometime after this year's Breeders' Cup, Fravel said.
Candace Parker disappointed, will not be on US hoops roster.
By DOUG FEINBERG
Candace Parker was shocked when the two-time Olympic gold medalist learned that she will not be on the U.S. women's basketball roster for the Rio Games.
"I was surprised and disappointed," Parker said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. "Having gone to last two Olympics, I know what it means to represent the USA. I wish everybody on the team good luck. The USA is going to win a sixth gold medal."
Parker received a call from national team director Carol Callan last week informing her of USA Basketball's decision.
"I was surprised, very surprised, but it's tough on her," Parker said. "I was looking forward to this summer. I played well up until this point. Played well in both camps. I felt like my game is still in its prime."
USA Basketball declined to comment on Parker not being on team, but is expected to announce the Olympic roster on Wednesday.
Parker helped the U.S. win gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics. She was the team's leading rebounder in the London Games four years ago. She is a two-time WNBA MVP and was fifth in the voting for the award last year despite sitting out the first half of the season to rest injuries. When Parker did return, she averaged 19.4 points, 10.1 rebounds and a career-high 6.3 assists.
She'll miss wearing the red, white and blue uniform.
"You feel it's bigger than yourself, representing your entire country," Parker said. "It means a lot to put that USA across your chest. I wore it with a lot of pride, didn't carry it lightly."
Parker had 21 points and 11 rebounds against France in the gold medal game in the London Games.
With Parker off the team, it is likely that Elena Delle Donne and Breanna Stewart, who play the same position as Parker, will make their first Olympic rosters.
Delle Donne won the WNBA's MVP last year and Stewart helped UConn win a fourth straight national championship earlier this month. She was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft and also has helped USA Basketball win gold medals at nearly every level she's played.
"I feel like any 12 of our top 25 players on the USA team, you put them out there and they'll win a gold medal," she said. "I'm disappointed because this is one of the best teams to play USA basketball that I can remember. It hurts a little bit not to be part of it."
Parker is perhaps the most accomplished player in her prime to not make a U.S. Olympic roster. Los Angeles Sparks co-owner Magic Johnson tweeted out his support of his star player Monday night.
"I'm very disappointed @Candace_Parker wasn't selected to the USA Basketball Women's Olympic Team," he tweeted. "I feel @Candace_Parker is the best all around women's basketball player in the world!"
The U.S. has won without Parker in the past, winning both the 2010 and 2014 world championships. The Los Angeles Sparks star player missed both of those tournaments because of injuries.
The Americans will be trying for a sixth straight Olympic gold medal in Rio.
Parker, a former All-American at Tennessee, could still potentially make the team as an alternate. With the WNBA season set to begin on May 14, there is a chance that one of the 12 members of the team could get injured before the Olympics.
"I'll cross that bridge when it happens," she said. "I'm older and more mature and feel like I take things as they come. They made their decision and I have to respect it."
On
emoriesofhistory.com
1903 - Jamaica Race Track opened in Long Island, NY.
1938 - A colored baseball was used for the first time in any baseball game. The ball was yellow and was used between Columbia and Fordham Universities in New York City.
1947 - "Babe Ruth Day" was celebrated at Yankee Stadium.
1963 - Brian Sternberg set the pole vault record 16 feet, 5 inches.
1983 - Nolan Ryan (Houston Astros) broke a 55-year-old major league baseball record when he struck out the 3,509th batter of his career.
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