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"Sports Quotes (2) of the Day"
“It’s good to have friends, but you want to beat them just like you do your enemies.” ~ Buddy Ryan, NFL Head Coach Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. Also Architect of Super Bowl XX Chicago Bears "46 Defense"
“Success is a project that’s always under construction.” ~ Pat Summitt, College Basketball Head Coach Who Achieved The Most Wins In NCAA Basketball History of Any Coach, Male or Female
Trending: Deaths
Iconic Defensive Coach, Buddy Ryan Dead At 85. (See the football section for updates).
Legendary Tennessee Basketball Coach, Pat Summitt Dies At Age 64. (See the college basketball section for updates).
Iconic Defensive Coach, Buddy Ryan Dead At 85. (See the football section for updates).
Legendary Tennessee Basketball Coach, Pat Summitt Dies At Age 64. (See the college basketball section for updates).
Trending: Kris Bryant's three-homer, two-double night powers Cubs' win over Reds. (Monday night's game, 06/26/2016). (See the baseball section for the record breaking story).
Trending: Kris Bryant's three-homer, two-double night powers Cubs' win over Reds. (Monday night's game, 06/26/2016). (See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).
Trending: NASCAR: Power Rankings: Figuring out where to slot Tony Stewart. (See the NASCAR section for racing updates).
Trending: Cubs and White Sox road to the "World Series".
Cubs 2016 Record: 47-22
White Sox 2016 Record: 50-26
(See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Buddy Ryan changed the NFL game forever – and more than once.
By John Mullin
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Buddy Ryan is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame; he should be, but that’s for another discussion, another time. Because the simple fact is that if you were indeed writing a history of the National Football League, that history would be incomplete without Buddy Ryan.
“I think Buddy changed the game of football,” said Mike Ditka, Bears head coach with Ryan as his first, albeit inherited, defensive coordinator. “He is the reason why teams started going to all these three- and four-receiver sets.
“He never let offenses do what they wanted. The game of football is what it is today because of Buddy.”
Ryan did not create great defense. That had been done wholly or in parts by others – Bill George, George Allen, Dick Butkus, and so on. But what Buddy Ryan did echoes down through the history of the NFL, in more a few of its defining moments.
Super Bowl III is always remembered as Joe Namath’s day. Obscured by all that Namath and the New York Jets’ offense did was what the defensive line of Buddy Ryan was doing to the Baltimore Colts, specifically holding them to exactly seven points, on a late afterthought touchdown, a team that was coached by Don Shula and included John Mackey, Jimmy Orr and averaging nearly 29 points per game.
Super Bowl III was beyond cataclysmic for the growth of the modern NFL. And all that was long before Super Bowl XX.
Maybe the best measure of how truly great a coach Ryan was lay in the fact that he managed to turn OFFENSIVE players into fire-breathers.
“He’d say to the offensive line, ‘you fatasses can’t block anybody in practice, how you gonna do it in a game?’” recalled Hall of Famer Dan Hampton. “And [left tackle Jimbo] Covert and [left guard Mark] Bortz would just turn into animals.”
Ryan loved his players. But it was tough love, affection that had to be earned, and once earned, was something they treasured.
At the end of Otis Wilson’s rookie (1980) season, No. 55 may have been the team’s first-round pick, but Ryan was publicly blunt.
“We did OK, but that ‘55’ killed us," Ryan said after one game.
Wilson turned the humiliation into something, becoming a student of the game, his craft, even to the point of cramming for Ryan’s legendary written tests.
“'I’m out of school, Buddy,'" Wilson said he wailed. “'Why you givin’ me these exams?'"
“You need to understand the total package,” Ryan ordered. “I want you to know what everybody’s doing.”
Today that sounds almost quaint; everybody’s supposed to know everybody else’s assignments. But never lose sight of the originator, who beat that concept into every head on his defense.
In the end, Ryan belonged to more than Chicago. He was a Jet. He was a Viking. He was Bear. He was an Eagle. And finally a Cardinal.
He belonged to the NFL, which, exactly as Ditka said, was changed forever by him.
Mike Ditka on Buddy Ryan: 'We never were as good separately as we were together'.
By John Mullin
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
They feuded, on the practice fields, on the sidelines, in locker rooms, even in showers. Yet Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan were joined in football history in one of the great “whole is greater than the sum of the parts” in all of sports.
“We had a helluva run,” Ditka told CSNChicago.com. “Buddy had a helluva run. Was it always as smooth as it might have been? Noooo. But I don’t think Buddy would’ve wanted it any other way.
“We accomplished so much together and we were never as good separately as we were together.”
Ditka saw Ryan about eight months ago.
“I knew he wasn’t doing real well. But you know, he was always a tough guy, right to the end.”
Ryan was Ditka’s defensive coordinator, inherited by Ditka when Ditka was hired by George Halas in 1982 to restore the lost passion to one of the NFL’s charter franchises. Ryan’s players convinced Halas to keep Ryan as defensive coordinator even as head coach Neill Armstrong was dismissed.
Ryan refused to run the Dallas Cowboys’ “flex” defense that Ditka wanted, bluntly declaring that Halas had hired him, Ditka didn’t. Ditka ran the offense, Ryan the defense, and the fire was never far from the surface.
Ryan didn’t care if his defensive players went hard in practice to the point of blowing up Ditka’s offense.
“He’d get those guys going, and I remember yelling at him, ‘Check the schedule. We're not playing the Chicago Bears this week,’” Ditka said. “But he made us a great offense.
“He attacked you. Always attacked you. All the time. He made you – made every offense – adjust to what he was doing.
“He changed the game of football forever.”
“We had a helluva run,” Ditka told CSNChicago.com. “Buddy had a helluva run. Was it always as smooth as it might have been? Noooo. But I don’t think Buddy would’ve wanted it any other way.
“We accomplished so much together and we were never as good separately as we were together.”
Ditka saw Ryan about eight months ago.
“I knew he wasn’t doing real well. But you know, he was always a tough guy, right to the end.”
Ryan was Ditka’s defensive coordinator, inherited by Ditka when Ditka was hired by George Halas in 1982 to restore the lost passion to one of the NFL’s charter franchises. Ryan’s players convinced Halas to keep Ryan as defensive coordinator even as head coach Neill Armstrong was dismissed.
Ryan refused to run the Dallas Cowboys’ “flex” defense that Ditka wanted, bluntly declaring that Halas had hired him, Ditka didn’t. Ditka ran the offense, Ryan the defense, and the fire was never far from the surface.
Ryan didn’t care if his defensive players went hard in practice to the point of blowing up Ditka’s offense.
“He’d get those guys going, and I remember yelling at him, ‘Check the schedule. We're not playing the Chicago Bears this week,’” Ditka said. “But he made us a great offense.
“He attacked you. Always attacked you. All the time. He made you – made every offense – adjust to what he was doing.
“He changed the game of football forever.”
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks' Patrick Kane nominated for ESPY Award as NHL's best player.
By Charlie Roumeliotis
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Shortly after he collected a handful of hardware at the NHL Awards last week, including the Hart Trophy for league MVP, Patrick Kane may have another accolade coming his way.
The Blackhawks superstar has been nominated for an ESPY Award as the NHL's best player in 2016 following a season in which he set career highs in goals (46), assists (60) and points (106).
He also set a new American-born record and franchise mark by earning at least a point in 26 straight games, the longest point streak since Mats Sundin (30 games) did it in 1992-93.
Kane looks to make history with Jonathan Toews, who captured the same ESPY Award in 2015, as the first set of teammates to have won in back-to-back years.
The four other nominees are Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, Washington's Braden Holtby and Alex Ovechkin, and San Jose's Joe Pavelski.
The winner will be selected on July 13 at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles. Click here to cast your vote.
The Blackhawks superstar has been nominated for an ESPY Award as the NHL's best player in 2016 following a season in which he set career highs in goals (46), assists (60) and points (106).
He also set a new American-born record and franchise mark by earning at least a point in 26 straight games, the longest point streak since Mats Sundin (30 games) did it in 1992-93.
Kane looks to make history with Jonathan Toews, who captured the same ESPY Award in 2015, as the first set of teammates to have won in back-to-back years.
The four other nominees are Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, Washington's Braden Holtby and Alex Ovechkin, and San Jose's Joe Pavelski.
The winner will be selected on July 13 at the ESPY Awards in Los Angeles. Click here to cast your vote.
No Whining about the Andrew Shaw Trade.
By Steve Rosenbloom
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
I'll keep this short because I can’t get worked up about the trade of a bottom-six forward that is another numbing and regularly scheduled outcome forced by the hard salary cap demanded by late Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz.
And while I love his reckless, relentless game, he’s still a bottom-six forward. That’s what the Blackhawks sent to the Canadiens in exchange for two second-round draft picks Friday.
But again, that’s a bottom-six forward. The Hawks still have five top-six forwards in Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov. I’m sure the Habs would rather have them than Shaw.
Keep that in mind, people. That’s the most important consideration in Bill Wirtz’s hard salary cap world. Count your top-six forwards and your top-four defensemen. And your world-class goalie. Don’t forget your world-class goalie.
Count them. Pay them. Keep them. And win when your window is open. That’s what the Hawks have done and will try to continue to do, as least as much as Bill Wirtz’s hard salary cap will let them.
In my world, last summer’s exodus hurt worse than this offseason’s exits of Shaw, Teuvo and Bryan Bickell.
Yeah, Teravainen might grow up to be a top-six forward, but he wasn’t that guy here and now, and here and now is all that matters. Bickell, meanwhile, was an IceHog, and we’ve discussed Shaw.
Compare and contrast with last summer’s carnage that included trades of top-six forwards Patrick Sharp and Brandon Saad and the defection of top-four defenseman Johnny Oduya.
The Hawks never replaced Oduya. They held tryout after tryout for someone to play Ringo behind the John, Paul and George of Duncan Keith, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Seabrook. Never happened. Never found that guy.
And, oh no, there’s Erik Gustafsson giving away the puck in the third period of a tied Game 7 that helped the Blues score the goal that sent the defending Stanley Cup champions home after the first round.
That hole remains. That hole is bigger than Shaw’s exit. Stan Bowman has to fix that first.
Maybe that’s old friend Brian Campbell, but whatever, fix that first. It’s a long-standing hockey metric that I just made up: A zero in the top four is worse than a zero in the bottom six.
Canadiens agree to six-year deal with former Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw.
By CSN Staff
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The Blackhawks probably would've liked to be the ones to sign Andrew Shaw to a long-term deal. Instead, it was the Montreal Canadiens.
The Habs announced Monday they agreed to terms on a six-year contract with Shaw, who according to reports will take home an annual average salary of $3.9 million.
"We are very pleased to have agreed to a long-term deal with Andrew Shaw," Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said in the announcement. "As I mentioned last Friday following his acquisition, we are adding a solid character player to our team, a reliable player who plays with grit and a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks over the past five seasons. Andrew will add more leadership to our team. I had the opportunity to discuss with him over the past few days, and I sense his determination and excitement in joining the Canadiens’ organization for many years to come."
The Blackhawks, in another salary-cap squeeze this offseason, traded Shaw to the Canadiens last week in exchange for a pair of draft picks.
In five seasons with the Blackhawks, Shaw totaled 137 points, scoring 70 goals and tallying 67 assists. He was a key member of a pair of Stanley Cup winners in 2013 and 2015. In 67 playoff games, he registered 35 points.
The Habs announced Monday they agreed to terms on a six-year contract with Shaw, who according to reports will take home an annual average salary of $3.9 million.
"We are very pleased to have agreed to a long-term deal with Andrew Shaw," Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin said in the announcement. "As I mentioned last Friday following his acquisition, we are adding a solid character player to our team, a reliable player who plays with grit and a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Chicago Blackhawks over the past five seasons. Andrew will add more leadership to our team. I had the opportunity to discuss with him over the past few days, and I sense his determination and excitement in joining the Canadiens’ organization for many years to come."
The Blackhawks, in another salary-cap squeeze this offseason, traded Shaw to the Canadiens last week in exchange for a pair of draft picks.
In five seasons with the Blackhawks, Shaw totaled 137 points, scoring 70 goals and tallying 67 assists. He was a key member of a pair of Stanley Cup winners in 2013 and 2015. In 67 playoff games, he registered 35 points.
Cubs win wild 15-inning thriller over Reds
Associated Press
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Kris Bryant singled home the tiebreaking run in the 15th inning and the Chicago Cubs used three pitchers in left field while beating the Cincinnati Reds 7-2 on Tuesday night in the longest game of the season for both teams.
With the Cubs out of position players, relievers Travis Wood and Spencer Patton (1-0) alternated between left field and the mound in the 14th inning, which ended with Patton getting the final out. Wood then finished it off with reliever Pedro Stropin left.
Bryant's only hit on Tuesday - a single off J.J. Hoover (1-2) - snapped the tie. Javier Baez added a grand slam in the 15th, the sixth career allowed by Hoover, which is a Reds record.
The National League's top team went 1-6 last week but has pulled out of the downturn by winning the first two games of a series against the Reds. The Cubs hit five homers - three by Bryant - while taking the opener 11-8.
Eugenio Suarez singled home the tying run with two outs in the ninth off Hector Rondon, his third blown save in 16 chances, setting the game on its meandering course.
Ben Zobrist led off the game with a homer off left-hander John Lamb. Left-hander Jon Lester singled home another run and allowed only one hit until the eighth inning, when Billy Hamilton homered. The Cubs' closer couldn't hold on.
A lot of the focus Tuesday was on Bryant, who was coming off a historic performance.
Bryant became the first major league player to hit three homers and two doubles in a game on Monday night. He set a Cubs record with 16 total bases and became the youngest Cubs player to hit three homers in a game since Ernie Banks did it in 1955, also at the age of 24.
Bryant broke his three-homer bat the first time up on Tuesday, cracking it on a groundout.
The bat boy retrieved it and took it to the Major League Baseball authenticator, who labeled the bat and safely stored it. Bryant flied out, walked twice, fouled out with two runners aboard for the final out in the 10th, and struck out in the 13th before driving in the go-ahead run.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Reds: RHP Homer Bailey felt fine a day after throwing an inning in his first rehab start.
Bailey, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery 13 months ago, is expected to pitch again on Saturday ... 2B Brandon Phillips fouled a ball off the inside of his left foot in the first inning. He fouled another pitch off the same foot in his next at-bat and got hit in the left side by a pitch from Rondon in the ninth.
UP NEXT
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (5-6, 2.76) is 1-5 with a 3.79 ERA in seven road starts this season. He's 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in seven home games.
Reds: Cody Reed (0-1, 6.75) makes his third career start. In his first appearance at Great American Ball Park last Friday, he gave up five runs in five innings of a 13-4 loss to the Padres.
With the Cubs out of position players, relievers Travis Wood and Spencer Patton (1-0) alternated between left field and the mound in the 14th inning, which ended with Patton getting the final out. Wood then finished it off with reliever Pedro Stropin left.
Bryant's only hit on Tuesday - a single off J.J. Hoover (1-2) - snapped the tie. Javier Baez added a grand slam in the 15th, the sixth career allowed by Hoover, which is a Reds record.
The National League's top team went 1-6 last week but has pulled out of the downturn by winning the first two games of a series against the Reds. The Cubs hit five homers - three by Bryant - while taking the opener 11-8.
Eugenio Suarez singled home the tying run with two outs in the ninth off Hector Rondon, his third blown save in 16 chances, setting the game on its meandering course.
Ben Zobrist led off the game with a homer off left-hander John Lamb. Left-hander Jon Lester singled home another run and allowed only one hit until the eighth inning, when Billy Hamilton homered. The Cubs' closer couldn't hold on.
A lot of the focus Tuesday was on Bryant, who was coming off a historic performance.
Bryant became the first major league player to hit three homers and two doubles in a game on Monday night. He set a Cubs record with 16 total bases and became the youngest Cubs player to hit three homers in a game since Ernie Banks did it in 1955, also at the age of 24.
Bryant broke his three-homer bat the first time up on Tuesday, cracking it on a groundout.
The bat boy retrieved it and took it to the Major League Baseball authenticator, who labeled the bat and safely stored it. Bryant flied out, walked twice, fouled out with two runners aboard for the final out in the 10th, and struck out in the 13th before driving in the go-ahead run.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Reds: RHP Homer Bailey felt fine a day after throwing an inning in his first rehab start.
Bailey, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery 13 months ago, is expected to pitch again on Saturday ... 2B Brandon Phillips fouled a ball off the inside of his left foot in the first inning. He fouled another pitch off the same foot in his next at-bat and got hit in the left side by a pitch from Rondon in the ninth.
UP NEXT
Cubs: Kyle Hendricks (5-6, 2.76) is 1-5 with a 3.79 ERA in seven road starts this season. He's 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA in seven home games.
Reds: Cody Reed (0-1, 6.75) makes his third career start. In his first appearance at Great American Ball Park last Friday, he gave up five runs in five innings of a 13-4 loss to the Padres.
Kris Bryant's three-homer, two-double night powers Cubs' win over Reds. (Monday night's game, 06/26/2016).
By Associated Press
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
When Kris Bryant reached the dugout after his record-setting third homer, thousands of Cubs fans in the stands cheered for a curtain call. A few teammates wanted him to take a bow, too.
Bryant became the first major leaguer to hit three homers and two doubles in a game, and Jake Arrieta added a solo shot in the ballpark where he threw a no-hitter in April, setting up an 11-8 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night.
The Cubs pulled out of their 1-6 slide behind a tandem that's had some huge moments in Cincinnati.
"The last couple of weeks haven't been what I've wanted, so I figured I'm due," said Bryant, who hit three homers one time during a college game with San Diego.
Arrieta (12-2) threw his second career no-hitter on April 21 during a 16-0 win over the Reds. Bryant led the way with a pair of homers in that game, including a grand slam that gave him a career-high six RBIs.
Arrieta struggled in his return to Cincinnati, giving up a season-high five runs in five innings, but Bryant drove in six runs again to help the right-hander pull through. Bryant's 16 total bases were a Cubs record, and his five hits marked a career high.
"That keeps you back from those 0-for-20 stretches when you have a game like this," Bryant said.
Bryant doubled home a run in the first, hit a solo homer in the third and added a three-run shot deep into the upper deck in left field in the fourth off Dan Straily (4-5). His solo shot in the eighth came off Ross Ohlendorf, who also gave up a homer to Anthony Rizzo.
Most of the 31,762 fans wore Cubs blue and demanded a curtain call after the third homer. Bryant wouldn't oblige, considering it inappropriate on the road.
"He enjoys the moment, but he doesn't go over the top with it," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "He's very old school. He doesn't spike the ball in the end zone. He just lays it down or hands it to the official."
Arrieta hit an opposite-field drive — his fourth career home run — in the fifth inning off Michael Lorenzen for an 8-3 lead.
The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner became the league's first 12-game winner despite his worst pitching performance of the season. Arrieta walked a season-high five batters in five innings, and four of them scored. The five runs allowed were his most since he gave up six during a 7-2 loss at Great American Ball Park on Aug. 28, 2014.
"I was my own worst enemy tonight," Arrieta said. "I'm not happy about it."
Adam Duvall had a two-run double in the first inning, Jay Bruce singled home a run and Joey Votto hit a two-run homer off Arrieta, who threw 93 pitches in five innings.
"He still had his stuff," Bruce said. "He just wasn't locating it very well. We had some walks and put some hits together. That's baseball."
The Cubs have the best record in the majors at 49-26 despite their slump last week, characterized by a lack of clutch hitting and poor relief pitching. The bullpen gave up three runs and four hits Monday, including Votto's second homer in the ninth inning.
The Cubs improved to 7-1 against the Reds this season and have won 10 of their last 11 vs. their NL Central rivals.
White Sox offense struggles in front of Quintana in shutout loss to Twins.
By Dan Hayes
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The White Sox haven’t had many big hits in their last dozen games.
The White Sox never seem to deliver any timely knocks in Jose Quintana starts.
Those two forces collided in a 4-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night in front of 22,072 at U.S. Cellular Field.
Quintana allowed two Brian Dozier home runs, including a decisive three-run shot in the sixth inning, and dropped a seventh straight decision. His offense finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position as Kyle Gibson twirled seven scoreless innings.
Outfielder Melky Cabrera also left the game early with a sore left wrist.
“We didn’t do nothing as hitters,” third baseman Todd Frazier said. “We have to find a way. We had an off day. Everybody was nice and relaxed coming back. We’re professionals here as hitters. We have to find ways to get guys in.”
The White Sox didn’t have many shots against Gibson.
They butchered those that they did.
No opportunity was bigger than the third inning, which began with singles by J.B. Shuck and Tim Anderson in front of the team’s 2-3-4 hitters. But Gibson delivered and the White Sox failed yet again.
Down 1-0, Adam Eaton couldn’t move the runners over as he flew out to center. Jose Abreu followed suit and flew out to center before Cabrera — who left in the top of the seventh and is listed as day-to-day — popped out to second.
One inning earlier, Brett Lawrie was stranded in scoring position when Gibson got Avisail Garcia to chase a two-strike pitch off the plate and in the dirt. It was more of the same in the fifth when Eaton flew out to center with a man on second. And again in the seventh when Shuck flew out and Anderson grounded into a fielder’s choice with two aboard.
“It started out well,” manager Robin Ventura said. “You get them on there. Any time we seemed to get something going against Gibson, he just really started going soft and using your aggressiveness against you. I think that's part of what played into it.
He had a very good changeup, he used his curve when he had to. He went a little bit backwards. Any time we got into an aggressive count, he just took a little off. We couldn't get anything going against him.”
The team’s effort was the continuance of a nasty trend.
The White Sox are 12-for-98 (.122) with runners in scoring position in their last 12 games. The lengthy slump dropped them from hitting a formidable .260 with RISP, which ranked in the top half of the league, to below .240, which ranks in the bottom third.
That the performance arrived with Quintana on the mound should come as no surprise.
Whereas the White Sox scored 25 runs in Quintana’s first seven starts, they’ve relapsed into their old non-scoring selves whenever he takes the hill. Over his last nine starts, Quintana has had nine runs of support.
The left-hander said the lack of support isn’t something he focuses on because it’s out of his hands.
“I don’t have control on the runs,” Quintana said. “I say the same every time. But I don’t have control, man. I try to keep going. I try to be better next time and keep going. Next time be better out there, better outing and better everything.
“I never think about that. I just try to pay attention and do my job, focusing on throwing the ball well and that’s it.”
Quintana made two mistakes in seven otherwise solid innings.
Dozier’s solo homer to leadoff the second inning gave the Twins, who improved to 25-51, a one-run lead.
Eduardo Nunez then led off the sixth inning with a single and stole second base. He advanced to third on a passed ball. Quintana then walked Joe Mauer and Dozier made him pay when he got enough of a 2-1 curveball low and in to drive it out for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead.
Quintana — who is 5-8 despite a 3.18 ERA — allowed six hits, walked one and struck out eight.
“I’m sure inside he’s frustrated,” Frazier said. “I would be too. He’s a competitor, gives it his all. One bad pitch.”
The White Sox never seem to deliver any timely knocks in Jose Quintana starts.
Those two forces collided in a 4-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night in front of 22,072 at U.S. Cellular Field.
Quintana allowed two Brian Dozier home runs, including a decisive three-run shot in the sixth inning, and dropped a seventh straight decision. His offense finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position as Kyle Gibson twirled seven scoreless innings.
Outfielder Melky Cabrera also left the game early with a sore left wrist.
“We didn’t do nothing as hitters,” third baseman Todd Frazier said. “We have to find a way. We had an off day. Everybody was nice and relaxed coming back. We’re professionals here as hitters. We have to find ways to get guys in.”
The White Sox didn’t have many shots against Gibson.
They butchered those that they did.
No opportunity was bigger than the third inning, which began with singles by J.B. Shuck and Tim Anderson in front of the team’s 2-3-4 hitters. But Gibson delivered and the White Sox failed yet again.
Down 1-0, Adam Eaton couldn’t move the runners over as he flew out to center. Jose Abreu followed suit and flew out to center before Cabrera — who left in the top of the seventh and is listed as day-to-day — popped out to second.
One inning earlier, Brett Lawrie was stranded in scoring position when Gibson got Avisail Garcia to chase a two-strike pitch off the plate and in the dirt. It was more of the same in the fifth when Eaton flew out to center with a man on second. And again in the seventh when Shuck flew out and Anderson grounded into a fielder’s choice with two aboard.
“It started out well,” manager Robin Ventura said. “You get them on there. Any time we seemed to get something going against Gibson, he just really started going soft and using your aggressiveness against you. I think that's part of what played into it.
He had a very good changeup, he used his curve when he had to. He went a little bit backwards. Any time we got into an aggressive count, he just took a little off. We couldn't get anything going against him.”
The team’s effort was the continuance of a nasty trend.
The White Sox are 12-for-98 (.122) with runners in scoring position in their last 12 games. The lengthy slump dropped them from hitting a formidable .260 with RISP, which ranked in the top half of the league, to below .240, which ranks in the bottom third.
That the performance arrived with Quintana on the mound should come as no surprise.
Whereas the White Sox scored 25 runs in Quintana’s first seven starts, they’ve relapsed into their old non-scoring selves whenever he takes the hill. Over his last nine starts, Quintana has had nine runs of support.
The left-hander said the lack of support isn’t something he focuses on because it’s out of his hands.
“I don’t have control on the runs,” Quintana said. “I say the same every time. But I don’t have control, man. I try to keep going. I try to be better next time and keep going. Next time be better out there, better outing and better everything.
“I never think about that. I just try to pay attention and do my job, focusing on throwing the ball well and that’s it.”
Quintana made two mistakes in seven otherwise solid innings.
Dozier’s solo homer to leadoff the second inning gave the Twins, who improved to 25-51, a one-run lead.
Eduardo Nunez then led off the sixth inning with a single and stole second base. He advanced to third on a passed ball. Quintana then walked Joe Mauer and Dozier made him pay when he got enough of a 2-1 curveball low and in to drive it out for a three-run homer and a 4-0 lead.
Quintana — who is 5-8 despite a 3.18 ERA — allowed six hits, walked one and struck out eight.
“I’m sure inside he’s frustrated,” Frazier said. “I would be too. He’s a competitor, gives it his all. One bad pitch.”
Chris Sale 'would like to see' Mark Buehrle retire in White Sox uniform.
By Dan Hayes
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
While Chris Sale doesn’t know if Mark Buehrle will pitch again, he’s certain about one thing — Buehrle should retire as a member of the White Sox.
His future plans still undeclared, the legendary pitcher made the rounds at U.S. Cellular Field this weekend to visit ex-teammates from two of the three clubs he played for during his 16-year career. Buehrle, who won a World Series title and 161 games and threw a perfect game and a no-hitter in 12 seasons with the White Sox, has yet to sign retirement papers. Whether or not Buehrle would pitch again was speculated upon often this spring even though he struggled down the stretch in 2015 and failed to eclipse 200 innings for only the second time in his career.
Were he to officially call it quits, Sale hopes Buerhle does it here.
“For me personally, I would like to see it,” Sale said. “When you think of Mark Buehrle, you think of him in a White Sox uniform, wearing the black jersey with the pinstripes on the bottom.
“I don’t think he could go out any other way. Especially it would be nice to see him in a White Sox hat when he goes to the Hall of Fame.”
Buehrle spent the first dozen years of his career with the White Sox before agreeing upon a four-year deal with the Miami Marlins in 2012. His stay in Miami lasted only one season before the club held a fire sale and dealt him and shortstop Jose Reyes among others to the Toronto Blue Jays. Buehrle played the last three seasons in Toronto and won 40 games. He won 15 games last season but finished four outs shy of a 15th straight 200-inning campaign.
Sale said he didn’t talk any business with Buehrle during their visit and doesn’t know if he still wants to pitch.
“It was definitely good to see him,” Sale said. “It gives you a little boost. Any time you see guys like that come back around, it’s always fun. He looks good. He looks like he could pitch again.
“We don’t talk about business when he comes around. It was good to see him and whatever unfolds, I think it will be fun regardless of what happens.”
His future plans still undeclared, the legendary pitcher made the rounds at U.S. Cellular Field this weekend to visit ex-teammates from two of the three clubs he played for during his 16-year career. Buehrle, who won a World Series title and 161 games and threw a perfect game and a no-hitter in 12 seasons with the White Sox, has yet to sign retirement papers. Whether or not Buehrle would pitch again was speculated upon often this spring even though he struggled down the stretch in 2015 and failed to eclipse 200 innings for only the second time in his career.
Were he to officially call it quits, Sale hopes Buerhle does it here.
“For me personally, I would like to see it,” Sale said. “When you think of Mark Buehrle, you think of him in a White Sox uniform, wearing the black jersey with the pinstripes on the bottom.
“I don’t think he could go out any other way. Especially it would be nice to see him in a White Sox hat when he goes to the Hall of Fame.”
Buehrle spent the first dozen years of his career with the White Sox before agreeing upon a four-year deal with the Miami Marlins in 2012. His stay in Miami lasted only one season before the club held a fire sale and dealt him and shortstop Jose Reyes among others to the Toronto Blue Jays. Buehrle played the last three seasons in Toronto and won 40 games. He won 15 games last season but finished four outs shy of a 15th straight 200-inning campaign.
Sale said he didn’t talk any business with Buehrle during their visit and doesn’t know if he still wants to pitch.
“It was definitely good to see him,” Sale said. “It gives you a little boost. Any time you see guys like that come back around, it’s always fun. He looks good. He looks like he could pitch again.
“We don’t talk about business when he comes around. It was good to see him and whatever unfolds, I think it will be fun regardless of what happens.”
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... NBA Validation for Valentine came in the United Center last season.
By Vincent Goodwill
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
On a national stage and on the United Center floor last November, Valentine put up one of the best stat lines in college basketball, leading Michigan State to a comeback 79-73 win over Kansas, a team ranked No. 4 in the nation at the time.
If he had any doubts about his future, a 29-point, 12-rebound and 12-assist performance served as the confirmation he was on an upward trajectory.
“I knew I could play in the NBA when I started my career at Michigan State,” Valentine said to CSNChicago.com after his introductory news conference. “Playing against guys like (Victor) Oladipo, (Cody) Zeller and those guys, I knew I could play in the NBA but I didn’t know I would be a first round, 14th pick. But I realized that this year after my triple double against Kansas.
“I realized I could be the best player in the country. It was very important because I got off to a good start and it helped me throughout the year.”
That night, the Bulls were rolling right along at 7-3, headed out West for a four-game trip and looking every bit like a team that would be in the thick of Eastern Conference contention. The likelihood of a marriage between a player billed as a mid-lottery pick and the Bulls seemed improbable if not damn near impossible.
But the Bulls hit several roadblocks and landed in the draft lottery, while Valentine put together one of the more complete statistical seasons in recent memory, averaging nearly 20 points and almost eight rebounds and eight assists.
Valentine hit a roadblock of his own with draft preparation, as word about prospective teams red-flagging his left knee began to trickle out, raising questions about his long-term availability.
At least one team in the lottery definitively passed on Valentine because of fears surrounding his knee, which was surgically worked on in high school and followed by a minor procedure in December, causing him to miss four games.
“It did surprise me because I’m healthy now,” Valentine said. “I only missed four games. I can control what I can control and let the chips fall that it may. I was a little surprised, a little angry that people were texting me asking if I were hurt. And I was like ‘what?’ But at the same time, I could control what I could control and I’m happy to be here.”
Missing a few practices here and there seemed to be the biggest side effect for Valentine through the season, as accolades followed nonetheless with him winning National Player of the Year over Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield, who went sixth in last Thursday’s draft.
“He’s gonna go out there and fight,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “He’s been in so many high-pressure games at Michigan State. For a guy that played in Final Fours, made big play after big play. He’s been a part of winning cultures since high school. That's huge, great experience for Denzel. If he can suit up, he can play.”
The awards are certainly not a precursor for pro success, as more than a few collegiate POY’s have wound up as professional carcasses in an unforgiving game.
But the qualities Valentine was noted for in college could translate to the NBA, and from the sounds of things he’ll get every opportunity with the Bulls to show off his versatility.
He’ll be thrown into the shallow end of the pool, so to speak, in Summer League next month. New acquisition Jerian Grant (via the Derrick Rose trade), Cristiano Felicio, Bobby Portis and Spencer Dinwiddie (acquired for Cameron Bairstow) will also join Valentine in Las Vegas.
“He's a basketball player,” Hoiberg said. “That's the big thing I got from talking to coach (Tom) Izzo, is you can play him all over the court. He's a facilitator. He's an excellent positional rebounder. He can bust out with the ball. And he gives you the opportunity to play in so many ways.”
Valentine wasn’t given a definitive position, and perhaps there’s no natural one over the other. But having the ability to be a floor-spreading point guard with Jimmy Butler handling or even a small-ball power forward leaves Hoiberg and the Bulls plenty of options.
“And I think how we want to play with our young core, how Fred we wants to play, we think it's a perfect fit in regards to his skill level and his basketball IQ and what he brings to the floor,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said.
Bulls' Jimmy Butler named to Team USA for Rio 2016 Olympics.
By Mark Strotman
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Butler reportedly accepted the invitation to compete last week and will mark the first member of the Bulls to compete in the Olympics since Scottie Pippen in 1996.
Butler is one of 10 players on the roster who will compete for Team USA in the Olympics for the first time. The only returning members from the 2012 Gold-medal team are Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony; Anthony also won Gold in 2008, and could become the first player ever to win three gold medals in basketball.
Joining Butler, Durant and Anthony in Rio will be Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes, DeMarcus Cousins, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and DeAndre Jordan.
Though Team USA is still the prohibitive favorites to win gold for the third straight Summer Olympics, the team is void of some of the NBA's best current players including LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. Jordan is the only member of this year's All-NBA First Team on the Olympic roster.
Butler will compete with Team USA for the first time, but he's no stranger to USA Basketball. A groin injury prevented him from participating on the Team USA Select Team in 2014, but he was named to the USA Basketball roster the following summer. He was named one of 30 finalists for a spot on the Olympic roster in January.
Butler's inclusion on the team was no surprise after he averaged 20.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Bulls a year ago. He also added 1.6 steals per game and was named to the All-NBA Defensive Second Team for the third consecutive season. Butler's passing improved as much as any aspect of his game this past season, and he averaged 6.1 assists per game after the All-Star break. That will come in handy in Rio, as Irving and Lowry are the only two true point guards on the roster.
Butler will be one of two Bulls competing in this summer's Olympics. Their second round pick, small forward Paul Zipser, is a member of the German national team and will compete for his country. Pau Gasol, who spent two years with the Bulls and will opt out of his contract this summer, will compete for the Spain national team, which won silver medals in 2008 and 2012.
Denzel Valentine wore No. 45 Jordan jersey before he was drafted by Bulls.
By #BullsTalk
The Bulls introduced their first round draft pick Denzel Valentine on Monday at the Advocate Center, announcing the versatile forward will be wearing the No. 45 jersey during his rookie campaign.
Bulls fans will remember Michael Jordan returning from retirement and donning the number in 1995, before ultimately switching back to No. 23 and winning three more NBA titles.
The wild thing about Valentine being selected by the Bulls last week and now wearing No. 45, is that technically he already has. Well, off of the court, during a visit to Rodeo Drive with his girlfriend more than three weeks before the NBA Draft.
(Photo/Instagram)
The foreshadowing is astounding. How did he know?
Valentine is also rocking the Air Jordan IV's (along with a summertime Canadian tuxedo) in the photo. The shoes were released in 1989, four years prior to Valentine's birth.
Valentine is also rocking the Air Jordan IV's (along with a summertime Canadian tuxedo) in the photo. The shoes were released in 1989, four years prior to Valentine's birth.
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
And get this. Valentine wasn't even two years old when Jordan last wore No 45. Weird.
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
What is also strange is that three other Bulls players have worn the number since "His Airness". Brace yourselves. The trio consists of Paul Shirley (2004), Luke Schenscher (2006) and Rasual Butler (2011).
But I guess we shouldn't be that shocked by the number choice, considering Valentine has been tied to it during his entire stay at Michigan State.
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Golf: I got a club for that..... WGC-Bridgestone preview.
By Golf Channel Digital
Ryan Ballengee observation: The PGA Tour is getting into the meat of its Olympics-influenced schedule, with the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational moving up from the week before the PGA Championship into the July 4 weekend.
Shane Lowry is the defending champion of a 61-player field, somewhat depleted because the European Tour chose not to co-sanction the event this year in favor of supporting the 100th French Open.
Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson headline an all-star field at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Here are the key stats heading into Firestone.
• Defending champion: Shane Lowry (had a four-shot lead after 54 holes at the U.S. Open)
• Firestone CC: Most difficult fairways to hit on PGA Tour last season
• Firestone CC: Most difficult fairways to hit on PGA Tour last season
Jason Day
• Seven wins since July 26, 2015 (no other player has more than three in that span)
• Leads PGA Tour in strokes gained putting this season
• In last 21 official starts, he’s finished outside the top 25 just twice while winning
seven times
• Five straight top-10s in majors (longest active streak)
• Best scoring average, most rounds in 60s and most top-10s in majors since 2013
Jordan Spieth
• Eight PGA Tour wins at age 22 (second in PGA Tour history to do that)
• Third start in this event (best: T-10 last year)
Dustin Johnson
• First start since winning U.S. Open at Oakmont CC
• Nine straight PGA Tour seasons with win (longest active streak)
• Leads Tour in scoring average, top-10s, proximity 50-125 yards, par breakers and par 4 scoring
• Each of the last two times DJ won, he followed it up with a top-10 finish in his next tournament
Phil Mickelson
• Has played in this event every year it has existed (18th start)
• Second in scoring average this season
• Only player this season with a better scoring average than Mickelson is DJ
Jim Furyk
• 26 rounds under par at Firestone in the last 10 years (most of any player in that span)
• Seven wins since July 26, 2015 (no other player has more than three in that span)
• Leads PGA Tour in strokes gained putting this season
• In last 21 official starts, he’s finished outside the top 25 just twice while winning
seven times
• Five straight top-10s in majors (longest active streak)
• Best scoring average, most rounds in 60s and most top-10s in majors since 2013
Jordan Spieth
• Eight PGA Tour wins at age 22 (second in PGA Tour history to do that)
• Third start in this event (best: T-10 last year)
Dustin Johnson
• First start since winning U.S. Open at Oakmont CC
• Nine straight PGA Tour seasons with win (longest active streak)
• Leads Tour in scoring average, top-10s, proximity 50-125 yards, par breakers and par 4 scoring
• Each of the last two times DJ won, he followed it up with a top-10 finish in his next tournament
Phil Mickelson
• Has played in this event every year it has existed (18th start)
• Second in scoring average this season
• Only player this season with a better scoring average than Mickelson is DJ
Jim Furyk
• 26 rounds under par at Firestone in the last 10 years (most of any player in that span)
Muirfield members will vote again on admitting female members.
By Ryan Ballengee
Muirfield members voted six weeks ago on changing their club's constitution and admitting female members for the first time. They came up just short of the two-thirds majority required to make that change.
The fallout has been substantial, including the R&A removing Muirfield from the British Open rotation until the club changes its membership policies. That and further fallout from that failed vote, largely driven by just 33 members of the club, has spurred interest in trying this vote for a second time.
The fallout has been substantial, including the R&A removing Muirfield from the British Open rotation until the club changes its membership policies. That and further fallout from that failed vote, largely driven by just 33 members of the club, has spurred interest in trying this vote for a second time.
The club's male-only membership will pursue a follow-up vote on the question, announcing the decision on Monday.
“A substantial majority of our members voted for change and many have voiced their disappointment with the ballot result and with subsequent events,” said Henry Fairweather, captain of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.
“The Club Committee believes that a clear and decisive vote in favor of admitting women as members is required to enable us to begin the task of restoring the reputation of the Club that has been damaged by the earlier ballot outcome."
In the May vote, 64 percent of voters wanted to admit female members for the first time in the club's history.
Club members seemingly would like for Muirfield to remain in the Open rotation and continue on hosting beyond the 16 times it has already been site of the world's oldest major golf championship.
This year's Open host, Royal Troon, will vote on Friday to combine its separate male and female memberships. In a test ballot, 75 percent of the membership suggested support for the measure.
2017 PGA Tour Schedule: 7 Changes for the New Season.
By GOLF.com Staff
(Photo/Paul Hundley)
The PGA Tour season is far from over, but 2016-17 is already upon us, at least in terms of a tournament schedule. Here are seven ways the Tour will look different next season:
1. START WITH SAFEWAY
The opening event of the new season (formerly known as the Frys.com Open) will now be named the Safeway Open. It will still take place at Silverado Country Club in Napa, Calif., (from Oct. 13-16) and will feature Phil Mickelson for just the second time in his career.
2. QUAIL HOLLOW TURNS MAJOR
The course that typically plays host to the Wells Fargo Championship will take a year off from that event as it welcomes the 2017 PGA Championship, Aug. 10-13. The Wells Fargo will move to Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C.
3. SOUTH OF THE BORDER
The WGC event formerly held at Trump National Doral is moving to Mexico. (Insert punch line here.) The event will now be called the WGC-Mexico Open and will be conducted in Mexico City, though a host course has not been selected.
4. RENAME AT RIVIERA
The Tour returns to one of its favorite stops at Riviera Country Club in February, but the event will no longer be known as the Northern Trust Open. Instead, it will be named the Genesis Open after Hyundai became the lead sponsor.
5. BACK TO BIRKDALE
In 2017, the British Open returns to Royal Birkdale in Lancashire, England. The last Open champion at Birkdale was Padraig Harrington in 2008, when his score of three over par was good enough for a four-stroke victory over Ian Poulter.
6. BYE BYE, BARCLAYS
Northern Trust has moved its sponsorship east, to the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, replacing The Barclays. The tourney, scheduled to start Aug. 24, will now be called the Northern Trust and will be held at Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, N.Y.
7. ERIN GO BRAGH
The U.S. Open will make its first trip to Erin Hills in Hartford, Wisc. The course previously hosted the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2011, which was won by Kelly Kraft.
NASCAR: Power Rankings: Figuring out where to slot Tony Stewart.
1. START WITH SAFEWAY
The opening event of the new season (formerly known as the Frys.com Open) will now be named the Safeway Open. It will still take place at Silverado Country Club in Napa, Calif., (from Oct. 13-16) and will feature Phil Mickelson for just the second time in his career.
2. QUAIL HOLLOW TURNS MAJOR
The course that typically plays host to the Wells Fargo Championship will take a year off from that event as it welcomes the 2017 PGA Championship, Aug. 10-13. The Wells Fargo will move to Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C.
3. SOUTH OF THE BORDER
The WGC event formerly held at Trump National Doral is moving to Mexico. (Insert punch line here.) The event will now be called the WGC-Mexico Open and will be conducted in Mexico City, though a host course has not been selected.
4. RENAME AT RIVIERA
The Tour returns to one of its favorite stops at Riviera Country Club in February, but the event will no longer be known as the Northern Trust Open. Instead, it will be named the Genesis Open after Hyundai became the lead sponsor.
5. BACK TO BIRKDALE
In 2017, the British Open returns to Royal Birkdale in Lancashire, England. The last Open champion at Birkdale was Padraig Harrington in 2008, when his score of three over par was good enough for a four-stroke victory over Ian Poulter.
6. BYE BYE, BARCLAYS
Northern Trust has moved its sponsorship east, to the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, replacing The Barclays. The tourney, scheduled to start Aug. 24, will now be called the Northern Trust and will be held at Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, N.Y.
7. ERIN GO BRAGH
The U.S. Open will make its first trip to Erin Hills in Hartford, Wisc. The course previously hosted the U.S. Amateur Championship in 2011, which was won by Kelly Kraft.
NASCAR: Power Rankings: Figuring out where to slot Tony Stewart.
By Nick Bromberg
(Photo/yahoosports.com)
1. Kurt Busch (LW: 1): The Kurt Busch top-10 train is still on the tracks. Busch got his 14th top-10 finish in the first 16 races by finishing 10th. He qualified fourth, though quickly fell towards the back of the top 10 once the race got going. Busch said his struggles were because of a lack of rear grip; something that's imperative at Sonoma.
2. Joey Logano (LW: 4): We don't blame you if you looked up at the end of Sunday's race and went "Wait, Joey Logano was third?" His drive to the front was overshadowed by the battle between Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart. Logano now has top-seven finishes in his last five road course races. And he's the defending champion at Watkins Glen, the only other road course race on the schedule.
3. Kevin Harvick (LW: 3): Much like his teammate Busch, Harvick not-so-stunningly got a top 10 on Sunday. But Harvick didn't start near the front. After starting mid-pack, Harvick had to finish sixth with a combination of pit strategy and passing a bunch of cars.
2. Joey Logano (LW: 4): We don't blame you if you looked up at the end of Sunday's race and went "Wait, Joey Logano was third?" His drive to the front was overshadowed by the battle between Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart. Logano now has top-seven finishes in his last five road course races. And he's the defending champion at Watkins Glen, the only other road course race on the schedule.
3. Kevin Harvick (LW: 3): Much like his teammate Busch, Harvick not-so-stunningly got a top 10 on Sunday. But Harvick didn't start near the front. After starting mid-pack, Harvick had to finish sixth with a combination of pit strategy and passing a bunch of cars.
4. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 6): Truex looked like he was going to be Stewart's biggest challenger over the race's final 20 laps. But it quickly became apparent that he needed to play defense against Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch instead of going after Stewart. After Hamlin got by, Truex lost spots to Carl Edwards and Logano over the race's final 10 laps.
5. Brad Keselowski (LW: 5): Keselowski finished 15th on Sunday, his third-best finish in seven Sonoma starts. His best finish at the road course is 10th, and that happened in his second start. Since then, he's gone 12th, 21st, 22nd, 19th and now 15th.
6. Chase Elliott (LW: 3): Elliott certainly had a weekend of learning at Sonoma. It was his first competitive trip to the road course so he spent the weekend doing double duty with the K&N Pro Series West race. He won that after starting on the pole and ended up 21st in the Cup Series race.
7. Carl Edwards (LW: 8): Edwards had the fastest car through Friday and Saturday but didn't end up with enough long-run speed to claim the title on Sunday. He finished fourth after a flurry of late passes and led 24 of the race's 110 laps. Four drivers led 20 or more laps while Danica Patrick was No. 5 on the laps led chart with three.
8. Tony Stewart (LW: NR): This seems about right for Stewart after a win, doesn't it? As we said on Sunday night, he'd be 16th in the points standings if he had run all the races and he gets an immediate post-win boost. Stewart celebrated the win by shooting off a metric crap ton of fireworks on Monday night in Indiana. How do we know that? He put the festivities on Periscope. You know he's happy when he's utilizing Periscope.
9. Jimmie Johnson (LW: 9): Johnson finished 13th, but it certainly looked for a long while that Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus had outsmarted the competition when it came to pit strategy. The No. 48 hit pit road on the first caution of the day for fresh tires. Hitting pit road on lap eight not only meant Johnson could charge through the field, it also meant he had offset his pit strategy enough to gain a bunch of track position via green flag pit stops. It ultimately didn't work after there were just two more sets of green flag stops the rest of the race.
10. Kyle Larson (LW: 10): With the way Larson is running and qualifying, we're at the stage in his career where virtually every week will have a "Is this the week Kyle Larson wins a race?" article from a media outlet. No, Sunday was obviously not that week, though Larson finished 12th after starting fifth. Daytona may not be the best place for a "Is this the week?" post, but expect more of them at Kentucky, especially if he qualifies well.
11. Matt Kenseth (LW: 7): Kenseth was the slowest of the four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. Or of the five Toyotas if you want to count Martin Truex Jr. Kenseth ended up finishing 20th and is still looking for his second top-10 finish at Sonoma. In 17 career starts, Kenseth's best finish is eighth, though he's finished in the top 20 on 12 occasions.
12. Denny Hamlin (LW: NR): Hamlin has shown speed at Sonoma before, so it wasn't an incredible shock to see him lead 33 laps on Sunday. And the more we think about Sunday's race, the more we're wondering just how much of a no-win situation Hamlin was in entering turn 11 on the last lap. Had he taken a defensive line on the inside he would have likely gotten punted out of the way by Stewart as he would have been forced to brake earlier to defend his position.
Likely recognizing that, Hamllin went aggressively into the corner. But he drove in too aggressively and missed the corner altogether, opening the door for Stewart.
Lucky Dog: We almost had a three-way tie for 12th. Kyle Busch finished seventh after a porous stretch of races and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the fastest he's ever been throughout an entire weekend at Sonoma. His finish just didn't reflect that speed after he got caught three-wide with Edwards and Logano and suffered significant left-front damage.
The DNF: Clint Bowyer is having a rough season.
Dropped Out: Austin Dillon
Practice speeds no longer used for qualifying if qualifying washed out.
By Nick Bromberg
(Photo/yahoosports.com)
NASCAR announced Tuesday that practice speeds will no longer be used to set the starting lineup for a Sprint Cup Series race if qualifying is rained out.
Instead, owner points will be used to set the field, meaning it's a boost to teams at the top of the standings. If qualifying was rained out and first practice was held (and NASCAR deemed every team got an opportunity to practice), the speeds from the first practice were used to set the field.
The sanctioning body also announced a change in the Chase that will help Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers' No. 21 car if Blaney makes the Chase. The Wood Brothers are one of the few teams in the sport without a charter and are classified as an "open" team. If an open team makes the Chase, NASCAR said Tuesday that it will be guaranteed a berth for all 10 Chase races and not be forced to qualify via speed.
The sanctioning body also announced a change in the Chase that will help Ryan Blaney and the Wood Brothers' No. 21 car if Blaney makes the Chase. The Wood Brothers are one of the few teams in the sport without a charter and are classified as an "open" team. If an open team makes the Chase, NASCAR said Tuesday that it will be guaranteed a berth for all 10 Chase races and not be forced to qualify via speed.
"These changes provide a more even competition field for both Charter and Open teams, rewarding strong performances over the course of a season," NASCAR vice president Jim Cassidy said in a statement. "Earning a berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is extremely difficult and requires consistent elite performance. Those teams should be guaranteed an opportunity to race for the title, and this ensures that will be the case."
All 36 teams with charters are guaranteed starting positions in each race, leaving the four other spots available to open teams. But given the lack of teams attempting Cup Series races this season, there is little chance the No. 21 would miss a Chase race. Sunday's race at Sonoma was just the fourth race of 16 this season where more than 40 cars attempted to qualify for the 40 spots available in a race.
Blaney is currently 17th in the points standings. Assuming Tony Stewart gets into the top 30, Blaney is currently the second driver on the outside of the Chase behind Kasey Kahne. Counting Stewart in the top 30, Jamie McMurray is the last driver in the Chase. he's 13 points ahead of Kahne and 16 ahead of Blaney.
All 36 teams with charters are guaranteed starting positions in each race, leaving the four other spots available to open teams. But given the lack of teams attempting Cup Series races this season, there is little chance the No. 21 would miss a Chase race. Sunday's race at Sonoma was just the fourth race of 16 this season where more than 40 cars attempted to qualify for the 40 spots available in a race.
Blaney is currently 17th in the points standings. Assuming Tony Stewart gets into the top 30, Blaney is currently the second driver on the outside of the Chase behind Kasey Kahne. Counting Stewart in the top 30, Jamie McMurray is the last driver in the Chase. he's 13 points ahead of Kahne and 16 ahead of Blaney.
SOCCER: David Accam scores twice in Fire's Open Cup win against Crew.
By Dan Santaromita
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
David Accam seems to like the U.S. Open Cup.
The Chicago Fire forward scored a goal and the clinching penalty kick in the Fire’s win against Indy Eleven earlier this month. On Tuesday Accam added to his Open Cup goal tally with a pair of goals in the first half to lead the Fire to a 2-1 win against the Columbus Crew in the round of 16.
The Fire advanced to a quarterfinal to be played at Toyota Park on July 20. The winner of the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers and Orlando City match, to be played on Wednesday, will head to Bridgeview for that quarterfinal.
Accam gave the Fire an early lead in the seventh minute. John Goossens, making his first start since April 16 due to injury, made a driving run with the ball and found Accam on the left wing. Accam cut inside to score with his right foot from the corner of the box.
The Ghanaian doubled the lead in the 29th minute when he redirected a well-delivered cross from Rodrigo Ramos into the net.
The Fire fielded a full strength lineup, but the Crew did not. Already without playmaker Federico Higuain due to injury, coach Gregg Berhalter also left key players in Wil Trapp and Ethan Finlay on the bench. Both Trapp and Finlay came on at halftime, but weren’t able to spark a two-goal comeback.
Finley did get one back for the Crew when his shot in the box deflected off Johan Kappelhof’s arm for a handball and penalty kick. Finlay converted the penalty in the 79th minute, but the Fire held onto the lead.
England open to hiring foreign manager as FA chief calls team “brittle”.
By Kyle Lynch
(Photo/Getty Images)
Hodgson resigned immediately after England’s loss to Iceland at EURO 2016, but The FA forced him to answer questions the next day, much to the dismay of the veteran manager.
On the podium, Hodgson was joined by FA chief executive Martin Glenn, who was visibly upset with England’s recent performances.
When asked about potential suitors for the now-vacant England job, Glenn said they would explore all possible options, including foreign managers. He also said the team must go deeper into tournaments and not be so “brittle” on the big stage.
England has only had two foreign manager in its history, Sven-Goran Eriksson (2001-06) and Fabio Capello (2008-12).
Current England U-21 manager Gareth Southgate is the early favorite to take the job, at least on an interim basis until a full hire is made.
EURO at the quarterfinal: Who are the favorites to make the final?
By Nicholas Mendola
(Photo/Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Eight teams remain in this bizarre EURO, a tournament taking twists and turns at almost every chance.
Witness Hungary and Iceland finishing first and second in a group with Portugal and Austria.
Witness that same Iceland team shocking England in the Round of 16.
And witness Spain, Italy, Germany and France and their 15 combined finals, all starting on the same half of the bracket.
It’s all so nuts, which makes the final three rounds of play difficult to predict.
Top half
Poland’s stingy defense meets up with a Portugal team that fires at will. Cristiano Ronaldo will relish the challenge, and teammate Nani has thrived under the radar. With Robert Lewandowski start finishing his chances with just a few matches to go?
The winner faces the winner of Wales and Belgium, and will have an extra day of rest on its semifinal adversary. We’ve learned not to bet against Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Wales, but Belgium looked terrific in breaking down a solid Hungary unit.
Favorites to advance to final:
1. Belgium
2. Poland
3. Portugal
4. Wales
Witness Hungary and Iceland finishing first and second in a group with Portugal and Austria.
Witness that same Iceland team shocking England in the Round of 16.
And witness Spain, Italy, Germany and France and their 15 combined finals, all starting on the same half of the bracket.
It’s all so nuts, which makes the final three rounds of play difficult to predict.
Top half
Poland’s stingy defense meets up with a Portugal team that fires at will. Cristiano Ronaldo will relish the challenge, and teammate Nani has thrived under the radar. With Robert Lewandowski start finishing his chances with just a few matches to go?
The winner faces the winner of Wales and Belgium, and will have an extra day of rest on its semifinal adversary. We’ve learned not to bet against Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Wales, but Belgium looked terrific in breaking down a solid Hungary unit.
Favorites to advance to final:
1. Belgium
2. Poland
3. Portugal
4. Wales
Bottom half
This was set to be a quartet of perceived giants, battling to outlast each other to be a favorite in the final.
Then came Iceland.
Strákarnir okkar have knocked off England set up a match-up with hosts France, and the latter will be heavy favorites not just to win, but to rudely end the terrific story.
Should France hold up its end of the bargain, Les Bleus will face a tall task in the winner of Germany and Italy. A win for Gli Azzurri would give it the chance to accomplish the incredible feat of beating Spain, Germany and France in the same tournament.
Favorites to advance to final:
1. Germany
2. France
3. Italy
4. Iceland
Then came Iceland.
Strákarnir okkar have knocked off England set up a match-up with hosts France, and the latter will be heavy favorites not just to win, but to rudely end the terrific story.
Should France hold up its end of the bargain, Les Bleus will face a tall task in the winner of Germany and Italy. A win for Gli Azzurri would give it the chance to accomplish the incredible feat of beating Spain, Germany and France in the same tournament.
Favorites to advance to final:
1. Germany
2. France
3. Italy
4. Iceland
NCAAFB: Key FCS conference games not on schedule.
By CRAIG HALEY
(Photo/yahoosports.com)
You've no doubt been reading about all the big FCS games in 2016 - conference matchups, intersectional matchups, the potential upsets of FBS opponents.
Unfortunately, there also are games you won't see in the FCS - conference matchups, no less.
There's little avoiding it, however, in the larger FCS conferences.
It wasn't that long ago the 2014 national championship game between North Dakota State and Illinois State was the first final between two teams in the same conference. Ironically, it took until the season's final game for the Missouri Valley Conference co-champs to square off because they didn't face each other in the regular season. The 10-team Valley plays an eight-game conference schedule, with each team missing out on one other squad.
Out of the seven FCS conferences with at least 10 teams, only the Southwestern Athletic Conference plays a full conference schedule. But that 10-team league plans to drop from nine to seven conference games after this season.
There's always going to be missed games In the 13-team Big Sky Conference - the largest in the FCS. This year, reigning champ Southern Utah won't face perennial power Eastern Washington, which won at least a share of the 2012, '13 and '14 titles.
But this year's missed games in the Big Sky are basically concentrated to 2015 runner-up Portland State, which won't face either Montana school (Montana and Montana State), North Dakota and Northern Arizona, and upstart North Dakota, which won't face Montana and Eastern Washington as well as Portland State.
In CAA Football, Villanova hopes to send out retiring coach Andy Talley with an FCS playoff berth. That possibility is made easier with the Wildcats not facing 2014 champ New Hampshire and 2015 tri-champ William & Mary in the 12-team conference's unbalanced schedule.
Also in the CAA, New Hampshire gets to skip Richmond, one of the tri-champs last year and a national semifinalist. Playoff hopeful Towson will miss the other reigning tri-champ, James Madison.
Most of the top returning teams in the 11-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference will face off, with the biggest omission being perennial power South Carolina State not facing North Carolina Central, which is coming off a share of its second straight title.
In the Missouri Valley, Illinois State and North Dakota State will meet in the regular season for the first time since 2013, but Illinois State gets to sub in national power Northern Iowa as the one missed on its schedule.
San Diego will go for a fifth Pioneer Football League title in six seasons and won't face title contenders Jacksonville and Morehead State in the 11-team, coast-to-coast league.
The Southland has done well for an 11-team conference. National power Sam Houston State won't face Southeastern Louisiana, but that's not too bad considering the latter is coming off a 3-8 record after winning conference titles in 2013 and '14.
At least, there are many, many big games throughout the 2016 FCS season.
At least, there are many, many big games throughout the 2016 FCS season.
Pitt joins trend of stadium-wide beer sales for football games.
By John Taylor
(Photo/nbcsports.com)
Ohio State announced earlier this month that it would be offering cold beers to all of-age fans during football games this fall in The ‘Shoe. A couple of weeks later, a fellow FBS member to the east has followed suit.
As part of its press release on new fan initiatives for the 2016 season, Pittsburgh announced that beer will be sold stadium-wide throughout Heinz Field this upcoming football season. Prior to this season, alcohol sales were only permitted to those ticket holders in the club and suite sections of the stadium.
The first opportunity for fans to take advantage of the new policy is the home opener against Villanova Sept. 3. The ACC opener Oct. 8 against Georgia Tech.
From the press release:
As part of its press release on new fan initiatives for the 2016 season, Pittsburgh announced that beer will be sold stadium-wide throughout Heinz Field this upcoming football season. Prior to this season, alcohol sales were only permitted to those ticket holders in the club and suite sections of the stadium.
The first opportunity for fans to take advantage of the new policy is the home opener against Villanova Sept. 3. The ACC opener Oct. 8 against Georgia Tech.
From the press release:
The expansion of this amenity will coincide with the implementation of appropriate safety measures for Pitt game days, ensuring the continuation of a fan and family friendly environment for all. (Such measures are already in place for Steelers home games. Aramark, Heinz Field’s official food and beverage concessionaire, provides comprehensive staff training in the sale of alcohol.) A portion of the funds from beer sales proceeds will be dedicated to drug and alcohol education programs for the overall student body through Pitt’s Division of Student Affairs.According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, there are now nine Power Five members with a similar beer policy for football games. One of the nine is West Virginia, with the Post-Gazette writing that athletic director Scott Barnes cited data from WVU “suggesting that beer sales in the stadium could actually cut down on alcohol-related incidents.”
NCAABKB: Pat Summitt passes away at 64 years old.
By Rob Dauster
Pat Summitt, the legendary Tennessee women’s basketball coach who led the Lady Vols to eight national titles during her 38-year tenure with the program, died on Tuesday.
She was 64 years old.
Summitt had been battling early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type, for the past five years. She coached for a season after getting diagnosed. Since January, she had been living in what her son, Tyler, termed as an ‘upscale retirement resort’, and over the weekend, friends and family started making their way to Knoxville for what was expected to be their final goodbyes.
Summitt was a legend in coaching the same way that Prince and David Bowie were legends in the music industry and Muhammad Ali was a legend in the American sporting landscape and the civil rights movements. How many people in sports get awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom? Summitt did in 2012.
That’s how important she was, not just to the coaching industry but to women’s sports. She died at 64 years old, so it’s easy to forget that she spent 38 years heading up the Lady Vols. She took over the program when she was just 22 years old, two years after the introduction of Title IX and two years before she would win a silver medal in the 1976 Olympic Games.
At the time she took over the program, women’s basketball wasn’t even an NCAA sanctioned sport. Tennessee competed in the AIAW — Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women — because the NCAA didn’t offer championships in women’s sports until 1982. That didn’t stop Summitt from turning Knoxville into the center of the women’s basketball universe, amassing 32 combined SEC titles, seven National Coach of the Year awards, an NCAA Division I record 1,098 wins (Coach K is second with 1,040) and a record 18 Final Fours, which is six more than John Wooden recorded.
But perhaps more impressive was that she made her basketball team its own brand, the ‘Lady Vols’. The women’s sports teams even had their own athletics director.
That’s what Summitt helped build.
She made the Tennessee Women’s Basketball a brand in a sport that wasn’t even a sport when she started her coaching career.
And there aren’t too many people that can make that claim in any walk of life.
A look at Pat Summitt’s milestone wins.
Associated Press
Here’s a look at some of the milestone victories Pat Summitt achieved on her way to posting the most career victories of any NCAA Division I men’s or women’s coach:
– No. 1: Jan. 10, 1975 – In her second game as a head coach, the 22-year-old Summitt (then known as Pat Head) led Tennessee to a 69-32 victory over Middle Tennessee State in front of 53 fans in Knoxville, Tennessee.
– No. 100: Jan. 13, 1979 – She reaches the century mark in her fourth season with a 79-66 victory over North Carolina State in Raleigh, North Carolina.
– No. 200: Dec. 3, 1982 – She needs even less time to earn her second 100 wins than it took to get her first 100. Three seasons later, the 200th comes as a 69-56 victory over St. John’s in Detroit as part of the Coca-Cola Classic.
– Olympic gold: Aug. 7, 1984 – Chery Miller has 16 points and 11 rebounds as a U.S. Olympic team coached by Summitt breezes by South Korea, 85-55, in the championship game, giving the U.S. its first gold medal in women’s basketball.
– No. 300: Jan. 4, 1987 – Summitt earns her 300th victory in an 87-68 win over North Carolina in Knoxville in what will become Tennessee’s first national championship season.
– No. 319: March 29, 1987 – She wins her first national championship in Austin, Texas, when Tennessee rolls to a 67-44 victory over Louisiana Tech, which had beaten the Lady Vols nine straight times. Seven times before, Summitt had led Tennessee to an AIAW or NCAA semifinal without winning the title.
– No. 385: April 2, 1989 – Bridgette Gordon scores 27 points as Tennessee beats Auburn 76-60 in Tacoma, Washington, to give Summitt her second national championship.
– No. 400: Jan. 25, 1990 – Tennessee edges South Carolina 70-69 in Columbia, South Carolina, for Summitt’s 400th career victory.
– No. 442: March 31, 1991 – In the first NCAA women’s basketball final to go to overtime, Dena Head scores 28 points as Tennessee wins its third national title with a 70-67 victory over Virginia in New Orleans.
– No. 500: Nov. 21, 1993 – Vonda Ward’s 17 points and 11 rebounds help Summitt earn her 500th career win with an 80-45 rout of Ohio State in the inaugural State Farm Classic in Jackson, Tennessee. Ohio State is coached by Nancy Darsch, who had been an assistant on Summitt’s Tennessee staff from 1978-85.
– No. 596: March 31, 1996 – After beating Connecticut in an overtime semifinal, Tennessee rolls to an 83-65 win over Georgia in Charlotte, North Carolina, to give Summitt her fourth national championship. Chamique Holdsclaw and Tiffany Johnson each score 16 points.
– No. 600: Nov. 23, 1996 – Summitt receives a cake from Vermont Gov. Howard Dean after Tennessee beats Marquette 83-68 in the Howard Bank Classic at Burlington, Vermont. The victory improves Summitt’s career record to 600-134.
– No. 625: March 30, 1997 – Chamique Holdsclaw scores 24 points as Tennessee earns its second straight national title with a 68-59 win over Old Dominion in Cincinnati. The latest title gives Summitt a career total of five national championships.
– No. 664: March 29, 1998 – Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Semeka Randall combine for 62 points and 25 rebounds as Tennessee caps an undefeated season by winning its third straight national title with a 93-75 victory over Louisiana Tech in Kansas City, Missouri. The 39-0 season ends with Summitt’s sixth national championship.
– No. 700: Dec. 5, 1999 – Tennessee’s 85-62 victory over Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, allows Summitt to join Texas’ Jody Conradt as the only women’s basketball coaches at the time with 700 career wins.
– No. 800: Jan. 14, 2003 – Summitt gets a cake during a postgame ceremony that includes fireworks, balloons and flowers after Tennessee trounces DePaul 76-57 in Knoxville.
– No. 876: March 4, 2005 – Summitt ties Adolph Rupp for second place on the all-time wins list by any men’s or women’s coach as Tennessee beats 64-54 Auburn in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals at Greenville, South Carolina.
– No. 877: March 5, 2005 – Summitt passes Rupp when Tennessee beats Vanderbilt 76-73 in the semifinals of the SEC tournament in Greenville, South Carolina. Tennessee would go on to win the tournament.
– No. 879: March 20, 2005 – Tennessee’s 94-43 over Western Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Knoxville allows Summitt to tie Dean Smith for first on the all-time win list among men’s or women’s coaches.
– No. 880: March 22, 2005 – Summitt passes Smith when Tennessee beats Purdue 75-54 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Knoxville. The school honors the coach in a surprise ceremony by naming its basketball court at Thompson-Boling Arena “The Summitt.”
– No. 900: Jan. 19, 2006 – Alexis Hornbuckle scores 15 points as Tennessee rallies from a 14-point deficit to give Summitt her 900th career victory in an 80-68 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee.
– No. 947: March 3, 2007 – Candace Parker scores 17 points and Nicky Anosike gets 16 rebounds as Tennessee beats Rutgers 59-46 in Cleveland to give Summitt her seventh national championship.
– No. 983: March 8, 2008 – Candace Parker’s 17 points help Summitt win her eighth and final national title with a 64-48 victory over Stanford in Tampa, Florida.
– No. 1,000: Feb. 5, 2009 – Summitt becomes the first men’s or women’s coach in college basketball history to reach 1,000 wins when Tennessee trounces Georgia 73-43 in Knoxville. Tennessee had lost 80-70 to No. 2 Oklahoma at Oklahoma City three days earlier in Summitt’s first attempt at the 1,000th win.
– No. 1,098: March 24, 2012 – Meighan Simmons scores 22 points off the bench as Tennessee rallies from 14 points down to give Summitt her final victory in an 84-73 regional semifinal win over Kansas at Des Moines, Iowa. Tennessee would lose 77-58 to eventual national champion Baylor two days later.
She was 64 years old.
Summitt had been battling early onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type, for the past five years. She coached for a season after getting diagnosed. Since January, she had been living in what her son, Tyler, termed as an ‘upscale retirement resort’, and over the weekend, friends and family started making their way to Knoxville for what was expected to be their final goodbyes.
Summitt was a legend in coaching the same way that Prince and David Bowie were legends in the music industry and Muhammad Ali was a legend in the American sporting landscape and the civil rights movements. How many people in sports get awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom? Summitt did in 2012.
That’s how important she was, not just to the coaching industry but to women’s sports. She died at 64 years old, so it’s easy to forget that she spent 38 years heading up the Lady Vols. She took over the program when she was just 22 years old, two years after the introduction of Title IX and two years before she would win a silver medal in the 1976 Olympic Games.
At the time she took over the program, women’s basketball wasn’t even an NCAA sanctioned sport. Tennessee competed in the AIAW — Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women — because the NCAA didn’t offer championships in women’s sports until 1982. That didn’t stop Summitt from turning Knoxville into the center of the women’s basketball universe, amassing 32 combined SEC titles, seven National Coach of the Year awards, an NCAA Division I record 1,098 wins (Coach K is second with 1,040) and a record 18 Final Fours, which is six more than John Wooden recorded.
But perhaps more impressive was that she made her basketball team its own brand, the ‘Lady Vols’. The women’s sports teams even had their own athletics director.
That’s what Summitt helped build.
She made the Tennessee Women’s Basketball a brand in a sport that wasn’t even a sport when she started her coaching career.
And there aren’t too many people that can make that claim in any walk of life.
A look at Pat Summitt’s milestone wins.
Associated Press
Here’s a look at some of the milestone victories Pat Summitt achieved on her way to posting the most career victories of any NCAA Division I men’s or women’s coach:
– No. 1: Jan. 10, 1975 – In her second game as a head coach, the 22-year-old Summitt (then known as Pat Head) led Tennessee to a 69-32 victory over Middle Tennessee State in front of 53 fans in Knoxville, Tennessee.
– No. 100: Jan. 13, 1979 – She reaches the century mark in her fourth season with a 79-66 victory over North Carolina State in Raleigh, North Carolina.
– No. 200: Dec. 3, 1982 – She needs even less time to earn her second 100 wins than it took to get her first 100. Three seasons later, the 200th comes as a 69-56 victory over St. John’s in Detroit as part of the Coca-Cola Classic.
– Olympic gold: Aug. 7, 1984 – Chery Miller has 16 points and 11 rebounds as a U.S. Olympic team coached by Summitt breezes by South Korea, 85-55, in the championship game, giving the U.S. its first gold medal in women’s basketball.
– No. 300: Jan. 4, 1987 – Summitt earns her 300th victory in an 87-68 win over North Carolina in Knoxville in what will become Tennessee’s first national championship season.
– No. 319: March 29, 1987 – She wins her first national championship in Austin, Texas, when Tennessee rolls to a 67-44 victory over Louisiana Tech, which had beaten the Lady Vols nine straight times. Seven times before, Summitt had led Tennessee to an AIAW or NCAA semifinal without winning the title.
– No. 385: April 2, 1989 – Bridgette Gordon scores 27 points as Tennessee beats Auburn 76-60 in Tacoma, Washington, to give Summitt her second national championship.
– No. 400: Jan. 25, 1990 – Tennessee edges South Carolina 70-69 in Columbia, South Carolina, for Summitt’s 400th career victory.
– No. 442: March 31, 1991 – In the first NCAA women’s basketball final to go to overtime, Dena Head scores 28 points as Tennessee wins its third national title with a 70-67 victory over Virginia in New Orleans.
– No. 500: Nov. 21, 1993 – Vonda Ward’s 17 points and 11 rebounds help Summitt earn her 500th career win with an 80-45 rout of Ohio State in the inaugural State Farm Classic in Jackson, Tennessee. Ohio State is coached by Nancy Darsch, who had been an assistant on Summitt’s Tennessee staff from 1978-85.
– No. 596: March 31, 1996 – After beating Connecticut in an overtime semifinal, Tennessee rolls to an 83-65 win over Georgia in Charlotte, North Carolina, to give Summitt her fourth national championship. Chamique Holdsclaw and Tiffany Johnson each score 16 points.
– No. 600: Nov. 23, 1996 – Summitt receives a cake from Vermont Gov. Howard Dean after Tennessee beats Marquette 83-68 in the Howard Bank Classic at Burlington, Vermont. The victory improves Summitt’s career record to 600-134.
– No. 625: March 30, 1997 – Chamique Holdsclaw scores 24 points as Tennessee earns its second straight national title with a 68-59 win over Old Dominion in Cincinnati. The latest title gives Summitt a career total of five national championships.
– No. 664: March 29, 1998 – Chamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Semeka Randall combine for 62 points and 25 rebounds as Tennessee caps an undefeated season by winning its third straight national title with a 93-75 victory over Louisiana Tech in Kansas City, Missouri. The 39-0 season ends with Summitt’s sixth national championship.
– No. 700: Dec. 5, 1999 – Tennessee’s 85-62 victory over Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, allows Summitt to join Texas’ Jody Conradt as the only women’s basketball coaches at the time with 700 career wins.
– No. 800: Jan. 14, 2003 – Summitt gets a cake during a postgame ceremony that includes fireworks, balloons and flowers after Tennessee trounces DePaul 76-57 in Knoxville.
– No. 876: March 4, 2005 – Summitt ties Adolph Rupp for second place on the all-time wins list by any men’s or women’s coach as Tennessee beats 64-54 Auburn in the Southeastern Conference tournament quarterfinals at Greenville, South Carolina.
– No. 877: March 5, 2005 – Summitt passes Rupp when Tennessee beats Vanderbilt 76-73 in the semifinals of the SEC tournament in Greenville, South Carolina. Tennessee would go on to win the tournament.
– No. 879: March 20, 2005 – Tennessee’s 94-43 over Western Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Knoxville allows Summitt to tie Dean Smith for first on the all-time win list among men’s or women’s coaches.
– No. 880: March 22, 2005 – Summitt passes Smith when Tennessee beats Purdue 75-54 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Knoxville. The school honors the coach in a surprise ceremony by naming its basketball court at Thompson-Boling Arena “The Summitt.”
– No. 900: Jan. 19, 2006 – Alexis Hornbuckle scores 15 points as Tennessee rallies from a 14-point deficit to give Summitt her 900th career victory in an 80-68 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee.
– No. 947: March 3, 2007 – Candace Parker scores 17 points and Nicky Anosike gets 16 rebounds as Tennessee beats Rutgers 59-46 in Cleveland to give Summitt her seventh national championship.
– No. 983: March 8, 2008 – Candace Parker’s 17 points help Summitt win her eighth and final national title with a 64-48 victory over Stanford in Tampa, Florida.
– No. 1,000: Feb. 5, 2009 – Summitt becomes the first men’s or women’s coach in college basketball history to reach 1,000 wins when Tennessee trounces Georgia 73-43 in Knoxville. Tennessee had lost 80-70 to No. 2 Oklahoma at Oklahoma City three days earlier in Summitt’s first attempt at the 1,000th win.
– No. 1,098: March 24, 2012 – Meighan Simmons scores 22 points off the bench as Tennessee rallies from 14 points down to give Summitt her final victory in an 84-73 regional semifinal win over Kansas at Des Moines, Iowa. Tennessee would lose 77-58 to eventual national champion Baylor two days later.
Tour de France 2016: Contenders, teams, riders
The Sporting News
(Photo/The Sporting News)
The 103rd Tour de France is just around the corner! Twenty-two teams consisting of nine riders each will depart from enchanting Mont Saint-Michel on July 2 with hopes of riding into Paris on the Champs-Élysées in the yellow jersey.
Below is all the personnel information you’ll need, from who’s competing to who the favorites are for the yellow jersey.
Below is all the personnel information you’ll need, from who’s competing to who the favorites are for the yellow jersey.
Who are the contenders for this year’s Tour de France?
Chris Froome: It should be no surprise last year's winner tops the list of favorites. Everyone will be gunning for the Brit as he goes for his third Tour win in four years. Froome, who won in 2013 and 2015, is fresh off a victory at the Critérium du Dauphiné, which he won prior to winning the Tour both years. Seems like a pattern here...
Alberto Contador: Though he humbly said this year's Tour will be a duel between Froome and Quintana, don't count out Contador. He's a two-time winner (2007 and 2009) and is well-rested heading into this year's race.
You'll notice two big names are absent from the favorites list: Vincenzo Nibali and Alejandro Valverde. In any other year, both would be team leaders and gunning for a win. But this is an Olympic year, and since the road cycling event begins just two weeks after the Tour ends, Nibali and Valverde are going for gold instead of yellow. They will play second-fiddle as super-domestiques to their teammates Fabio Aru — who could be a dark horse — and Nairo Quintana, respectively.
Also, keep your eye on Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet and Richie Porte. The French are banking on Pinot or Bardet to win the first Tour for the host nation in 31 years. Both are young — Pinot is 26, Bardet is 25 — and each have had strong showings on the Tour. Pinot won best young rider at the 2014 Tour in addition to a podium finish (third), and Bardet finished sixth in 2014 and ninth last year.
Porte, who helped Froome to victory in 2013 and 2015 and Bradley Wiggins in 2012, is stepping out of the shadows and finally getting a chance to lead a team. He's a co-leader of BMC Racing alongside Tejay van Garderen, the top American.
How many riders and teams are from the United States?
The three United States-based teams from last year return, albeit with slightly different sponsors: BMC Racing, Cannondale Pro Cycling and Trek-Segafredo.
As for riders, we see an increase in American participation from 2015 — up from three to five — but it's still a thin U.S. corps. Tejay van Garderen (BMC), Brent Bookwalter (BMC), Lawson Craddock (Cannondale), Alex Howes (Cannondale), Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo) are the five riders, with van Garderen sporting the best shot at the yellow jersey. He finished fifth in 2012 and 2014 and has the most Tour experience (six starts) of any American rider.
Where can I find a full list of participants?
Right here, of course:
AG2R La Mondiale (France): Won team classification in 2014
Team leader: Romain Bardet (France)
Other riders: Jan Bakelants (Belgium), Mikaël Chérel (France), Samuel Dumoulin (France), Ben Gastauer (Luxembourg), Cyril Gautier (France), Alexis Gougeard (France), Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy), Alexis Vuillermoz (France)
Astana Pro Team (Kazakhstan)
Team leader: Fabio Aru (Italy)
Other riders: Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark), Andriy Grivko (Ukraine), Tanel Kangert (Estonia), Alexey Lutsenko (Kazakhstan), Vincenzo Nibali (Italy), Diego Rosa (Italy), Luis Leon Sanchez (Spain), Paolo Tiralongo (Italy)
BMC Racing Team (United States)
Team leaders: Richie Porte (Australia), Tejay van Garderen (United States)
Other riders: Brent Bookwalter (United States), Marcus Burghardt (Germany), Damiano Caruso (Italy), Rohan Dennis (Australia), Amaël Moinard (France), Michael Schär (Switzerland), Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium)
Bora-Argon 18 (Germany)
Team leaders: Sam Bennett (Ireland), Emanuel Buchmann (Germany)
Other riders: Shane Archbold (New Zealand), Jan Barta (Czech Republic), Cesare Benedetti (Italy), Bartosz Huzarski (Poland), Patrick Konrad (Austria), Andreas Schillinger (Germany), Paul Voss (Germany)
Cannondale Pro Cycling Team (United States)
Team leader: Pierre Rolland (France)
Other riders: Matti Breschel (Denmark), Lawson Craddock (United States), Kristijan Koren (Slovenia), Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania), Sebastian Langeveld (Netherlands), Alex Howes (United States), Dylan Van Baarle (Netherlands), Tom-Jelte Slagter (Netherlands)
Cofidis, Solutions Credits (France)
Team leader: Nacer Bouhanni (France)
Other riders: Borut Bozic (Slovenia), Jérôme Cousin (France), Arnold Jeannesson (France), Christophe Laporte (France), Cyril Lemoine (France), Luis Angel Mate (Spain), Daniel Navarro (Spain), Geoffrey Soupe (France)
Direct Energie (France)
Team leaders: Sylvain Chavanel (France), Bryan Coquard (France), Romain Sicard (France), Thomas Voeckler (France)
Other riders: Antoine Duchesne (Canada), Yohan Gène (France), Fabrice Jeandesboz (France), Adrien Petit (France), Angelo Tulik (France)
Etixx-Quick Step (Belgium)
Team leader: Marcel Kittel (Germany)
Other riders: Julian Alaphilippe (France), Iljo Keisse (Belgium), Dan Martin (Ireland), Tony Martin (Germany), Maximiliano Richeze (Argentina), Fabio Sabatini (Italy), Petr Vakoc (Czech Republic), Julien Vermote (Belgium)
FDJ (France)
Team leader: Thibaut Pinot (France)
Other riders: William Bonnet (France), Matthieu Ladagnous (France), Steve Morabito (Switzerland), Cédric Pineau (France), Sébastien Reichenbach (Switzerland), Anthony Roux (France), Jeremy Roy (France), Arthur Vichot (France)
Fortuneo-Vital Concept (France)
Team leader: Eduardo Sepulveda (Argentina)
Other riders: Vegard Breen (Norway), Anthony Delaplace (France), Armindo Fonseca (France), Brice Feillu (France), Dan McLay (Great Britain), Pierre-Luc Périchon (France), Chris Anker Sorensen (Denmark), Florian Vachon (France)
IAM Cycling (Switzerland)
Team leader: Mathias Frank (Switzerland)
Other riders: Jérôme Coppel (France), Stef Clement (Netherlands), Dries Devenyns (Belgium), Martin Elmiger (Switzerland), Reto Hollenstein (Switzerland), Sondre Holst Enger (Norway), Oliver Naesen (Belgium), Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia)
Lampre-Merida (Italy)
Team leader: Rui Costa (Portugal), Louis Meintjes (South Africa)
Other riders: Yukiya Arashiro (Japan), Matteo Bono (Italy), Davide Cimolai (Italy), Kristijan Durasek (Croatia), Tsgabu Grmay (Ethiopia), Luka Pibernik (Slovenia), Jan Polanc (Slovenia)
Lotto Soudal (Belgium)
Team leader: André Greipel (Germany)
Other riders: Lars Bak (Denmark), Thomas De Gendt (Belgium), Jens Debusschere (Belgium), Tony Gallopin (France), Adam Hansen (Australia), Greg Henderson (New Zealand), Jürgen Roelandts (Belgium), Marcel Sieberg (Germany)
Movistar Team (Spain): Won team classification in 2015
Team leader: Nairo Quintana (Colombia)
Other riders: Winner Anacona (Colombia), Imanol Erviti (Spain), Jesús Herrada (Spain), Gorka Izagirre (Spain), Ion Izagirre (Spain), Dani Moreno (Spain), Nelson Oliveira (Portugal), Alejandro Valverde (Spain)
Orica GreenEDGE (Australia)
Team leaders: Simon Gerrans (Australia), Michael Matthews (Australia), Adam Yates (Great Britain)
Other riders: Michael Albasini (Switzerland), Luke Durbridge (Australia), Mathew Hayman (Australia), Daryl Impey (South Africa), Chris Juul-Jensen (Denmark), Ruben Plaza (Spain) and Adam Yates (Great Britain)
Team Dimension-Data (South Africa)
Team leader: Mark Cavendish (Great Britain)
Other riders: Natnael Berhane (Eritrea), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway), Steve Cummings (Great Britain), Bernhard Eisel (Austria), Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (South Africa), Serge Pauwels (Belgium), Mark Renshaw (Australia), Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eritrea)
Team Giant Alpecin (Germany)
Team leader: Warren Barguil (France)
Other riders: Roy Curvers (Netherlands), John Degenkolb (Germany), Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands), Simon Geschke (Germany), Georg Preidler (Austria), Laurens ten Dam (Netherlands), Ramon Sinkeldam (Netherlands), Albert Timmer (Netherlands)
Team Katusha (Russia)
Team leaders: Alexander Kristoff (Norway), Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain)
Other riders: Jacopo Guarnieri (Italy), Marco Haller (Austria), Alberto Losada (Spain), Michael Morkov (Denmark), Jurgen Van den Broeck (Belgium), Angel Vicioso (Spain), Ilnur Zakarin (Russia)
Team Lotto NL-Jumbo (Netherlands)
Team leader: Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands)
Other riders: George Bennett (New Zealand), Dylan Groenewegen (Netherlands), Bert-Jan Lindemen (Netherlands), Paul Martens (Germany), Timo Roosen (Netherlands), Sep Vanmarcke (Belgium), Robert Wagner (Germany) and Maarten Wynants (Netherlands)
Team Sky (Great Britain)
Team leader: Chris Froome (Great Britain)
Other riders: Sergio Henao (Colombia), Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus), Mikel Landa (Spain), Mikel Nieve (Spain), Wout Poels (Netherlands), Luke Rowe (Great Britain), Ian Stannard (Great Britain) and Geraint Thomas (Great Britain)
Tinkoff-Saxo (Russia)
Team leader: Alberto Contador (Spain), Peter Sagan (Slovakia)
Other riders: Maciej Bodnar (Poland), Oscar Gatto (Italy), Robert Kiserlovski (Croatia), Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic), Rafal Majka (Poland), Matteo Tosatto (Italy), Michael Valgren (Denmark)
Trek-Segafredo (United States)
Team leader: Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland)
Other riders: Markel Irizar (Spain), Bauke Mollema (Netherlands), Gregory Rast (Switzerland), Fränk Schleck (Luxembourg), Peter Stetina (United States), Jasper Stuyven (Belgium), Edward Theuns (Belgium), Haimar Zubeldia (Spain)
On
emoriesofhistory.com
1897 - The Chicago Cubs scored 36 runs in a game against Louisville, setting a record for runs scored by a team in a single game.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio got a base hit in his 42nd consecutive game. He broke George Sisler's record from 1922.
1958 - Brazil defeated Sweden 5-2 in the World Cup. Pelé, at age 17, scored a goal in the game.
1998 - With negotiations on a new labor agreement at a standstill, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that a lockout would be imposed at midnight.
1941 - Joe DiMaggio got a base hit in his 42nd consecutive game. He broke George Sisler's record from 1922.
1958 - Brazil defeated Sweden 5-2 in the World Cup. Pelé, at age 17, scored a goal in the game.
1998 - With negotiations on a new labor agreement at a standstill, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that a lockout would be imposed at midnight.
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