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"Sports Quote of the Day"
“Never say that you can't do something, or that something seems impossible, or that something can't be done, no matter how discouraging or harrowing it may be; human beings are limited only by what we allow ourselves to be limited by: our own minds. We are each the masters of our own reality; when we become self-aware to this: absolutely anything in the world is possible.” ~ Mike Norton, Independent Author and U.S. Military Veteran
“Never say that you can't do something, or that something seems impossible, or that something can't be done, no matter how discouraging or harrowing it may be; human beings are limited only by what we allow ourselves to be limited by: our own minds. We are each the masters of our own reality; when we become self-aware to this: absolutely anything in the world is possible.” ~ Mike Norton, Independent Author and U.S. Military Veteran
Trending: Food for thought on Bears training camp. (See the football section for Bears and NFL updates).
Trending: Blackhawks need youth to seize opportunity. (See the hockey section for Blackhawks and NHL updates).
Trending: Chris Sale good in return but White Sox lose to the Cubs. (See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).
Trending: Chris Sale good in return but White Sox lose to the Cubs. (See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).
Trending: Big Ten football coaches say plenty, but we know what they mean. (See the college football section for NCAA football updates).
Trending: What's Your Take? The Pros and Cons of NCAA Satellite Football Camps. (See the last section on this blog for What's Your Take? particulars).
Trending: Cubs and White Sox road to the "World Series".
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Food for thought on Bears training camp.
By Chris Boden
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Bear-ly Possible? Maybe Not…
As the Bears prepare to take the field for the first time in Training Camp-apalooza 2016, we present a little food for thought here that Leonard Floyd was too full to finish. As Ryan Pace continues to build this roster, this team’s injury margin for error remains smaller than the Minnesotas, Green Bays, Carolinas, Seattles and Arizonas of the NFC. Idle football off-season minds can start working with actual news and reality as teams charge toward the first full week of September. But here are a few thoughts about this team that’ve passed between my ears over the past week or so, and you can decide whether I should’ve slathered the top of my head with sunscreen, too.
2nd and 3rd before 1st
As we anxiously await Saturday’s first contact practice at camp to see how Leonard Floyd stands up to attacking NFL linemen, the thinking here is guard Cody Whitehair and defensive linemen Jonathan Bullard will play a greater role for the Bears this season than their top draft pick. Even with his role simplified compared to what it was at Georgia, there’s still a physical and mental learning curve that might not be as steep for the two guys in the trenches. Whitehair started for four years at Kansas State, Bullard the equivalent of three at Florida, and many scouts believed both could’ve been drafted even higher than where they landed with the Bears. I’m still confident Vic Fangio can turn Floyd into the player the team projects, and will make some impact plays in 2016. I just think the steadier contributions will come from the other two.
White will be a Beast
….eventually. Call him an “advanced” rookie because he had to settle for just being around the team, getting a knack for NFL life, as well as mental playbook reps and a month of actual on-field practice. And that will help him now. He had an big-target NFL body before his injury a year ago and that size and speed figures to win a lot of battles down the road, along with his share this season. But his limited route tree he had at West Virginia has to grow, and how quickly that happens immediately affects the level of his impact this fall. Is 65 to 70 catches (4-plus per game) too much to ask? If….if…he, Alshon Jeffery, Eddie Royal and Zach Miller don’t miss significant time and those weapons are available options all season, White’s numbers could exceed that.
Top 10 “D”
Consider Coordinator Vic Fangio taking over a unit that had its two worst seasons in franchise history, and taking it from 30th overall in 2013 and 2014, to 14th in 2015. And he didn’t have close to the pieces he needed. So many square pegs for round holes. Now, add Danny Trevathan and Jerrell Freeman as an inside linebacker tandem that can’t be surpassed elsewhere around the league. Throw in an end who can anchor one side of the line in Akiem Hicks to pair with an ascending young nose tackle in Eddie Goldman. Pernell McPhee’s knee needs to be ready, with Willie Young and Lamarr Houston rotating in. With health, that’s a front seven to be excited about for the first time, post-Lovie. Now, the secondary is another issue, needing Tracy Porter to stay healthy, Kyle Fuller to put it all together and Adrian Amos and a safety-to-be-determined required to make more plays on the ball. Between the improved first two lines of defense and Year Two of defensive back tutorship under Ed Donatell, I’m sayin’ there’s a chance.
Four-win First
The Houston Texans are a better team than the Bears right now, and should be a better team this season. But if they open the season without J.J. Watt (back surgery), Brock Osweiler feels the weight of $72 million ($37 million guaranteed) with a green receiving corps outside of DeAndre Hopkins, and the new-look Bears defense can create some chaos and uncertainty for the hosts, it’s not out of the realm of possibility the Bears could steal that opener, depending on their health going in. So after that? It’s Philadelphia at home, what should be a dreadful Cowboys defense in Dallas, then Detroit at Soldier Field. Of course, this franchise has to figure out a way to beat the Lions, which they haven’t done since 2012. The biggest test to a four-win first month would seem to be the first one. They pull that off, maybe that baby bear baseball team won’t steal all the attention come October. If they get there.
In closing, I have not been sipping the Bears Kool-Aid that on-air partner Dan Jiggetts loves to swig. But who knows? Maybe I needed to shampoo with some of that sunscreen, after all.
Bears approaching 2016 with change in attitude.
By John Mullin
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
When John Fox succeeded Marc Trestman as Bears coach early last year, at the top of his to-do list was changing what was a palpable losing culture that had come to hang over the organization and Halas Hall. That involved changes of personnel, practices and even to the point of placing an emphasis on winning preseason games, not simply treating them as evaluation exercises.
This year, attitude adjustment is the least of his concerns. Besides the improvements even amid a season that ended 6-10 but was within a pair of missed field goals of going past .500, the additions of critical players have brought with them exactly what Fox wants, beginning with inside linebacker Danny Trevathan, bringing a Super Bowl ring from the Denver Broncos.
“I’ve experienced a lot of new attitudes here the past few years,” said guard Kyle Long. “This is above and beyond my favorite attitude that we’ve adopted.
“People throw the word ‘culture’ around, [but] it’s just taking pride in what you’re doing. You don’t get paid to play. You get paid to win. I’ve heard John Fox say that a million times and I’m sure I’ll hear him say it 2 million times this year.”
Culture means nothing unless it translates into wins because of a collective mindset. Trevathan, linebacker Jerrell Freeman, defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, offensive linemen Ted Larsen and Bobbie Massie – all came from going to the playoffs at least twice in the past four years, Freeman and Trevathan three times.
The change was particularly evident during offseason sessions when members of the defense worked at a practice level that initially irritated some on offense, with coaches even joining in the chirping.
“I’m all about attitude and hustle and just playing ball,” said Trevathan. “I don’t care what happened before. You can always make up for it, just go 100 miles per hour and have fun.
“This game is short. Your attitude carries over to the team. There’s a lot of time when a team’s down you put your head down. I hate that. Even if we’re down we’re going to fight until the end. That’s what it’s all about, having that band of brothers and that attitude and going to, I won’t say ‘war,’ but going out there and battling together.”
One word that surfaced from multiple players during offseason sessions was “hungry.” That was not something that was heard even as recent as last season despite the change in coaches. Without that as a starting attitude, mediocrity was not surprising in recent seasons.
“I think with this group the thing that kind of stands out is just how good a group a group of guys it is, and how important football is to them,” said quarterback Jay Cutler.
“I think you look at OTAs and you look at minicamp and you saw how competitive offense and defense and even special teams were. There weren’t any days where guys were laying off of it. Every single day, guys were getting after it trying to get better, and the competition level I felt was extremely high for being in OTAs and minicamp. Whether that’s gonna translate to wins, I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
Kevin White not looking like a rookie as Bears open training camp.
By John Mullin
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Call it a linebacker’s worst nightmare. Twice.
First it was outside linebacker Lamarr Houston, who found himself with wide receiver Kevin White on a pass route that made the wideout — he of 4.35 speed in the 40 — the coverage responsibility of a 274-pound defender whose specialty is going after quarterbacks.
White streaked away from Houston and caught Jay Cutler’s pass for a win for the offense.
Two snaps later it was inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman, whose first NFL interception was of a Cutler pass while Freeman was a member of the Indianapolis Colts, and who suddenly became the latest Bear defender to understand that with White, “if he’s even, he’s leavin’." To his credit, Freeman never lost sight of White, but neither was the overmatched linebacker more than a minor annoyance on the route that ended with another completion from Cutler.
“You know I think having our receivers out there healthy and able to practice, whether it’s Kevin or Alshon [Jeffery] or even Eddie Royal,” head coach John Fox said. “I think you feel the difference when they are out there playing.”
(Motion seconded by Messrs. Houston, Freeman.)
White was not done looking like anything but an inexperienced young player who’d missed his rookie season and virtually all of training camp with a stress fracture to his left leg. He made a twisting grab of another Cutler toss in the 7-on-7 drill, and later worked himself open on a broken play, making a sliding catch to save a pass from Cutler on the run.
Cutler and White spent time together in the offseason, away from football, and one result is the receiver understanding what his quarterback needs and demands.
“If he wants me at 9 yards, at 10 yards, come back down the line or run back to him, that’s what I have to do,” White said. “We’re continuing to do that.”
White was practicing late last season before the Bears opted to leave him shut down after their season all but ended with the disappointing losses to San Francisco and Washington. The lost season set him behind on his learning curve, particularly given his relative inexperience playing at the highest level at West Virginia.
But the Bears also gave White’s injury time to heal rather than rush their No. 7-overall draft choice onto the field. The time off allowed more than just the stress-fracture surgery to mend.
“I had a whole year to recover, mentally and physically,” White said. “If we’d had had this talk last year, it would have mentally been a little rough as far as getting on my routes and trying not to run with a limp. And obviously taking a hit.
“But I’ve had a whole year to get it right. I thank the organization for giving me the time, and so I’m ready mentally and physically.”
Rough first camp day for Kyle Long, Bears No. 1 draft pick Leonard Floyd.
By John Mullin
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The first day of 2016 Bears training camp was one with players not in full pads as the team eases players into the rigors of the most intense practice stretch of the football year. “No pads” may suggest less grueling, but Thursday saw the Bears finish practice with two of their last four No. 1’s departing early with health issues, even as last year’s top pick was finally back on the field where his rookie season effectively was closed out.
Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd left practice early on a trainer’s cart, while guard Kyle Long finished his day in a walking boot. Neither situation was initially considered dire, but both were in disappointing contrast to the excellent first day of wide receiver Kevin White, whose 2015 season had ended with a stress fracture in his left leg.
Outside linebacker Leonard Floyd left practice early on a trainer’s cart, while guard Kyle Long finished his day in a walking boot. Neither situation was initially considered dire, but both were in disappointing contrast to the excellent first day of wide receiver Kevin White, whose 2015 season had ended with a stress fracture in his left leg.
The feeling that swept over the practice fields on the Bears’ first day of practice in Bourbonnais was a mixture of shock and disbelief: Floyd, the Bears’ No. 1 draft choice, was leaving the field on a cart, typically one of the more ominous ways a player can exit a field. After Kevin White’s season was lost last year to a stress fracture suffered in practice even before training camp, the prospect of another Bears No. 1 pick going down before even a first practice in pads was one scenario that organization could hardly have contemplated.
Fortunately, Floyd was down with what he described as a “stomach bug” that had bothered him earlier in the week, and the rookie was expected to be practicing on Friday — subject to trainers’ OK.
“I’m feeling good right now,” said Floyd, who had tried to talk his way back onto the field initially. “What happened today was I’ve been a little under the weather the past couple of days and the trainers knew that. They told me to go out and give it a shot today and then they shut me down.
“I really was begging them to let me go back out there. They told me to shut it down and shut it down tomorrow. I’m basically just trying to get back healthy and get back out there ... because I don’t like to sit out. They recommended that I take it easy today. They didn’t want me to injure myself further.”
Long left practice late with a calf issue, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
Long has started since day one as a rookie in 2013 and missed only one game over the span of three NFL seasons, all ending with his selection to the Pro Bowl.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Blackhawks need youth to seize opportunity.
By Nicholas J. Cotsonika
(Photo/Chase Agnello-Dean)
Jobs remain available in Chicago for young forwards.
OK, so who's it going to be? Nick Schmaltz? Tyler Motte? Ryan Hartman? Vincent Hinostroza? Tanner Kero?
Who's going to seize the opportunity with the Chicago Blackhawks this season? Who's going to grab the job openings at forward on a team that has won the Stanley Cup three times since 2010? Who's going to play in a lineup that includes Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa?
"The one thing I've told all those players was, 'I'm not sure which of you guys is going to make the team, but we're hoping you make the decision easy for us,'" Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman said. "I think the one thing that's different this year is they don't have a lot of veteran guys ahead of them, so they're essentially fighting amongst themselves. We've got a group of six to eight young players. A number of them are going to make it."
Who makes it could have a huge effect on how far the Blackhawks make it.
Bowman has faced the same challenge since the Blackhawks won the Cup in 2010: keeping his core intact and surrounding it with a strong supporting cast, while staying under the salary cap. It hasn't been easy. He parted with half the roster in 2010 and has had to tinker every year since to varying degrees. But he has had success finding players through the draft, the trade market and free agency.
After losing in the Western Conference First Round in 2011 and 2012, the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2013, went to overtime of Game 7 of the Western Conference Final in 2014 and won the Stanley Cup again in 2015. Then they lost in the first round last season and parted with forwards Andrew Ladd, Andrew Shaw, Teuvo Teravainen and Dale Weise.
Bowman has had to pay the price for players like Kane and Toews, who have the highest NHL salary-cap charges at $10.5 million each. Defenseman Brent Seabrook's salary-cap charge is $6.875 million. Goaltender Corey Crawford's is $6 million. Defenseman Duncan Keith's is $5.538 million. Hossa's is $5.275 million. There is only so much cap space to go around.
"You talk about the core players and players that are up for new contracts and raises and things like that," Kane said. "Those players deserve those raises and earned them. At the same time, you look at our core group, you can say it's still there. It's still intact. Whether it's kind of filtering players in and out to help advance the lineup as much as possible, that's just part of the business."
Kane pointed out how the Blackhawks lost players, won with new players and then lost those new players.
"Now you're looking for other players to step up," Kane said.
Last offseason, Bowman scored by signing Artemi Panarin as a free agent. Panarin had 30 goals and 47 assists on a line with Kane and Artem Anisimov, winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year and helping Kane win the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL scoring champion and the Hart Trophy as most valuable player. Panarin carried an $812,500 cap charge. He has one more season at that number before becoming a restricted free agent.
This offseason, Bowman made more low-cost moves that could turn out to be savvy. He solidified his defense by signing Brian Campbell to a one-year contract worth up to $2.25 million and Michal Kempny to a one-year, $700,000 contract. Campbell, a member of the 2010 Stanley Cup team, fits perfectly in the top four as a smart, skilled puck-mover.
Kempny, who played in the Kontinental Hockey League last season, is slated for the third pair with a quiet, solid style. Bowman also signed gritty veteran forward Jordin Tootoo to a one-year, $750,000 contract.
Jobs remain open up front and the cap remains tight, however. Schmaltz, the 20th pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, and Motte, a fourth-round pick in 2013, showed offensive ability at the University of North Dakota and University of Michigan, respectively. Each left school early. Hartman, the 30th pick in 2013, had 15 goals and 20 assists in 61 games for Rockford of the American Hockey League last season. Hinostroza, a sixth-round pick in 2012, led Rockford in scoring with 51 points in 66 games. Kero tied for second on Rockford with 20 goals in 60 games. Hartman, Hinostroza and Kero each has played a handful of games for Chicago.
Can Schmaltz and Motte make the leap straight to the NHL and continue to produce? Can Hartman play the kind of prickly game Shaw did? Can Hinostroza be effective in the NHL at 5-foot-9? What can Kero do?
"The exciting thing for us is to really give some opportunities, real opportunities, for these young players to be able to find a spot on the team," Bowman said. "A lot of these guys have been in our system for several years, and in the past, it's been tough. We've had fewer openings.
"So I think right now our mindset is to go with the group that we have under contract right now, and it's a constantly changing picture. We'll assess it as it goes along. If we don't feel that it's the right thing, we can always look to do something later. I think I want to give these guys a chance to show they belong."
It's up to them.
"I think there's going to be a lot of competition to see who is that guy," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "That's how close it is in certain situations. That'll sort itself out."
Blackhawks announce 2016 preseason broadcast schedule.
By Chicago Blackhawks
In conjunction with official television broadcasting partners Comcast SportsNet and WGN-TV Channel 9, the Chicago Blackhawks today announced its 2016 preseason broadcast schedule.
All six of Chicago’s preseason contests will be carried on television for the second straight year. Three Blackhawks preseason games will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet (Oct. 1 vs. St. Louis, Oct. 4 vs. Detroit and Oct. 8 at St. Louis), in addition to two games (Sept. 28 vs. Pittsburgh and Oct. 2 at Detroit) on Comcast SportsNet Plus and one contest on WGN-TV (Sept. 30 at Pittsburgh). WGN Radio AM-720 will air all six of the team’s preseason tilts. The preseason matchups can be also heard on wgnradio.com/listen or on mobile devices, including the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, BlackBerry and Droid. For more information log on to wgnradio.com/mobile.
Ticket information for the 2016 preseason will be announced at a later date.
| Date | Opponent | TIME (CT) | NETWORK | Radio |
| Wed., 9/28 | Pittsburgh | 7:30 p.m. | CSN+ | WGN |
| Fri., 9/30 | Pittsburgh | 6:05 P.m. | WGN-TV | WGN |
| Sat., 10/1 | St. Louis | 7:30 p.m. | CSN | WGN |
| Sun., 10/2 | Detroit | 5 p.m. | CSN+ * | WGN |
| Tues., 10/4 | Detroit | 7:30 p.m. | CSN | WGN |
| Sat., 10/8 | St. Louis | 7 p.m. | CSN | WGN |
* Will join in progress on Comcast SportsNet
CUBS: New bullpen clicks as advertised in Cubs victory over White Sox.
By Tony Andracki
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The Cubs bullpen has gone from a problem area to a seemingly automatic endgame.
Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon and Aroldis Chapman preserved a tight lead as the Cubs beat the White Sox 3-1 Thursday night in front of 41,157 fans at Wrigley Field, evening up the season series between the two Chicago teams.
Manager Joe Maddon got to employ his best-case scenario as John Lackey accounted for six innings before Strop pitched the seventh, Rondon got two outs in the eighth and then Chapman came in for the final four outs.
Rondon got into a little trouble as Tyler Saladino led off the eighth with a double into the left-field corner, but the former Cubs closer struck out Adam Eaton and got Tim Anderson to ground out.
With Melky Cabrera — who has been swinging a hot bat — up next, Maddon came out to replace Rondon with the new 105 mph closer.
Chapman didn't even mess around with offspeed stuff, just blowing the ball right by Cabrera to end the threat.
The Cubs tacked on a run in the bottom of the eighth as Ben Zobrist led off with a double, advanced to third on Adam Eaton's error and then scored on Addison Russell's ground out.
Dexter Fowler was his classic "you go, we go" self, scoring the Cubs' first two runs against Sox ace Chris Sale — first on an RBI double from Kris Bryant on the Cubs' second batter of the game and then later on Zobrist's single up the middle in the third inning.
Lackey allowed only the one run and it came in the first inning when Tim Anderson reached on an infield single and then scored on Cabrera's double into the right-field corner.
Pedro Strop, Hector Rondon and Aroldis Chapman preserved a tight lead as the Cubs beat the White Sox 3-1 Thursday night in front of 41,157 fans at Wrigley Field, evening up the season series between the two Chicago teams.
Manager Joe Maddon got to employ his best-case scenario as John Lackey accounted for six innings before Strop pitched the seventh, Rondon got two outs in the eighth and then Chapman came in for the final four outs.
Rondon got into a little trouble as Tyler Saladino led off the eighth with a double into the left-field corner, but the former Cubs closer struck out Adam Eaton and got Tim Anderson to ground out.
With Melky Cabrera — who has been swinging a hot bat — up next, Maddon came out to replace Rondon with the new 105 mph closer.
Chapman didn't even mess around with offspeed stuff, just blowing the ball right by Cabrera to end the threat.
The Cubs tacked on a run in the bottom of the eighth as Ben Zobrist led off with a double, advanced to third on Adam Eaton's error and then scored on Addison Russell's ground out.
Dexter Fowler was his classic "you go, we go" self, scoring the Cubs' first two runs against Sox ace Chris Sale — first on an RBI double from Kris Bryant on the Cubs' second batter of the game and then later on Zobrist's single up the middle in the third inning.
Lackey allowed only the one run and it came in the first inning when Tim Anderson reached on an infield single and then scored on Cabrera's double into the right-field corner.
CUBS Retorspect: The Aroldis Chapman Show begins at Wrigley Field.
By Patrick Mooney
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Rage Against the Machine’s “Wake Up” blasted from the Wrigley Field sound system at 9:51 p.m. on Wednesday as Aroldis Chapman trotted toward the mound. Nothing would get lost in translation as the Cubs unleashed their new closer on the White Sox.
Chapman didn’t feel the full rush of adrenaline, because a revived offense scored five runs in the eighth inning, ending the save situation and any real suspense for the crowd of 41,166. The game within the game became looking up at the 3,990-square-foot LED video board in left field for the velocity reading after each pitch and listening to the oohs and aahs.
Chapman made it look easy against the middle of the White Sox lineup, with 13 of his 15 pitches clocked between 100 and 103 mph in the ninth inning of an 8-1 victory. That triple-digit default setting, fluid left-handed delivery and intimidating presence showed why the Cubs made a game-changing trade with the New York Yankees.
The first impressions from Tuesday’s press conference apparently bothered Chapman enough that he initially refused to speak to the reporters waiting around his locker after his debut. There had been questions about his 30-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, the off-the-field expectations from chairman Tom Ricketts and where the wires got crossed with coach/translator Henry Blanco.
After taking a shower – and listening to a few associates inside the clubhouse – Chapman agreed to two minutes of questions with catcher Miguel Montero acting as his translator.
“It happened,” Chapman said when asked about his portrayal in the Chicago media. “Don’t want to go further with it.”
The controversy will begin to fade after Chapman struck out Jose Abreu swinging at a 91-mph slider that almost scraped the dirt, forced Todd Frazier into a routine groundball and struck out pinch-hitter Avisail Garcia looking at a 103-mph fastball.
“It’s just entertaining to watch the gun, beyond everything else,” manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s a different kind of a pitcher. You don’t see that every 100 years or so. He’s just that good. Everybody talks about the fastball. How good is the slider? The slider is devastating.
“He was very calm in the moment. He was able to get through the last couple days to go out there. It was almost good it wasn’t a save situation just to get his feet on the ground.”
Picture the drama and the excitement when Chapman isn’t throwing with a seven-run lead and has to get the final three outs in a playoff game at Wrigley Field.
“I’m not impressed – I thought we were getting a guy that threw 105,” winning pitcher Jason Hammel joked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.
“It’s jaw-dropping. To see that type of velocity and command, it’s almost unfair to have a slider and off-speed pitches after that, too.”
This is what the Cubs envisioned when they decided to weather the media storms and absorb the PR hits, how Maddon could reimagine the entire bullpen and the whole team would sense the game-over feeling when the ball is in Chapman’s left hand.
“That’s a confidence-booster for us and it’s a morale kick for anybody out there,” Hammel said. “For the other side, it’s got to be black clouds: ‘Oh man, we can’t let the bullpen get in there.’”
WHITE SOX: Chris Sale good in return but White Sox lose to Cubs.
By Dan Hayes
Chapman didn’t feel the full rush of adrenaline, because a revived offense scored five runs in the eighth inning, ending the save situation and any real suspense for the crowd of 41,166. The game within the game became looking up at the 3,990-square-foot LED video board in left field for the velocity reading after each pitch and listening to the oohs and aahs.
Chapman made it look easy against the middle of the White Sox lineup, with 13 of his 15 pitches clocked between 100 and 103 mph in the ninth inning of an 8-1 victory. That triple-digit default setting, fluid left-handed delivery and intimidating presence showed why the Cubs made a game-changing trade with the New York Yankees.
The first impressions from Tuesday’s press conference apparently bothered Chapman enough that he initially refused to speak to the reporters waiting around his locker after his debut. There had been questions about his 30-game suspension under Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, the off-the-field expectations from chairman Tom Ricketts and where the wires got crossed with coach/translator Henry Blanco.
After taking a shower – and listening to a few associates inside the clubhouse – Chapman agreed to two minutes of questions with catcher Miguel Montero acting as his translator.
“It happened,” Chapman said when asked about his portrayal in the Chicago media. “Don’t want to go further with it.”
The controversy will begin to fade after Chapman struck out Jose Abreu swinging at a 91-mph slider that almost scraped the dirt, forced Todd Frazier into a routine groundball and struck out pinch-hitter Avisail Garcia looking at a 103-mph fastball.
“It’s just entertaining to watch the gun, beyond everything else,” manager Joe Maddon said. “He’s a different kind of a pitcher. You don’t see that every 100 years or so. He’s just that good. Everybody talks about the fastball. How good is the slider? The slider is devastating.
“He was very calm in the moment. He was able to get through the last couple days to go out there. It was almost good it wasn’t a save situation just to get his feet on the ground.”
Picture the drama and the excitement when Chapman isn’t throwing with a seven-run lead and has to get the final three outs in a playoff game at Wrigley Field.
“I’m not impressed – I thought we were getting a guy that threw 105,” winning pitcher Jason Hammel joked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.
“It’s jaw-dropping. To see that type of velocity and command, it’s almost unfair to have a slider and off-speed pitches after that, too.”
This is what the Cubs envisioned when they decided to weather the media storms and absorb the PR hits, how Maddon could reimagine the entire bullpen and the whole team would sense the game-over feeling when the ball is in Chapman’s left hand.
“That’s a confidence-booster for us and it’s a morale kick for anybody out there,” Hammel said. “For the other side, it’s got to be black clouds: ‘Oh man, we can’t let the bullpen get in there.’”
WHITE SOX: Chris Sale good in return but White Sox lose to Cubs.
By Dan Hayes
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Following a nine-day layoff, including a five-game suspension for insubordination and destruction of team property, Sale pitched well enough for a victorious return. But John Lackey and the Cubs bullpen were even better and the White Sox fell 3-1 in front 41,157 at Wrigley Field and had to settle for a Crosstown Cup series split.
Sale, who also singled in two at-bats, allowed two runs and six hits with three walks in six innings. The White Sox dropped to 50-52 as they head to Minneapolis for a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins.
Nobody quite knew what to expect as Sale returned to his team for the first time since he was sent home Saturday for destroying the 1976 throwback uniforms the team was supposed to wear that night.
“It could go a lot of ways,” catcher Dioner Navarro said. “But I expect him to show up. He’s mature enough and he knows what he’s doing.
“It’s weird. It’s a crazy situation, but I think if somebody can handle it it’s him. Hopefully, he deals today and we won’t talk about this for a little bit.”
Wearing a suit for the road trip to Minneapolis, Sale smiled as he arrived in the visiting clubhouse at 4:42 p.m. Upon entering the constricted confines of the visiting clubhouse, Sale was greeted by a series of fist bumps and hugs. Seated on the floor, outfielder Melky Cabrera shouted “my man” and jumped up to bear hug Sale, stealing a second hug as the pitcher walked away. Todd Frazier and J.B. Shuck also instantly met Sale before he headed to his corner of the clubhouse and teammates Navarro, Matt Albers, Carlos Rodon and Tyler Saladino walked over, too.
With his return coming in the midst of the Crosstown Cup finale, teammates were uncertain what kind of atmosphere Sale would face at Wrigley.
“I know the crowd’s going to be a little crazy,” Frazier said. “I think everybody in the world kind of knows what happened, and we’re on the North Side, so we’re going to hear some crazy stuff here.”
About 40 minutes before first pitch, Sale began to warm up in right field. Near the end of his long-toss session with Navarro, Sale walked to the bullpen and handed a young girl wearing a Sale T-shirt a baseball. As he began to throw off the mound, a number of curious fans began to snap pictures with their phones (even a beer vendor briefly stopped). Another, wearing a green pinstriped Jon Garland White Sox jersey, took a selfie as Sale warmed up. Though a few wisecracks were made, the scene was relatively tame.
With Sale returning only hours before he took the mound, Ventura -- who hadn’t talked to his pitcher in several days -- didn’t expect the left-hander would have much time to address teammates. He thought Sale might talk to players a few at a time over the next few days, though Frazier believed it might happen before he pitched Thursday. Asked if he thought Sale would apologize, Frazier said: “That’s a good question. I think he knows what he did wrong. I think he’s a guy of his word. I think he understands how much winning means to him. I’ve had an opportunity to talk to him and, you know, he’s ready to go. He just wants to play. I’m sure he’ll talk to us before the game. Whatever he has to say, if it deals with winning, we’ll take it.”
The White Sox offered their All-Star a welcome back gift with an early run when Melky Cabrera doubled in a run in the first inning.
But Lackey found a rhythm and retired 16 of 19 after Cabrera’s double. No out was bigger than the last of the sixth inning as Lackey induced a pop up on the infield from Jose Abreu with the go-ahead run at first.
Down 2-1, the White Sox threatened once more in the eighth inning as Saladino doubled off Hector Rondon. Rondon recorded two outs before Aroldis Chapman took over and struck out Cabrera with the tying at third.
The effort was enough to outdo Sale, who was hurt by walks in the first and third innings.
Dexter Fowler drew a nine-pitch leadoff walk in the first inning and Kris Bryant, who homered off Sale in the All-Star Game earlier this month, nearly did it again, settled for an RBI double off the centerfield fence. Sale stranded the go-ahead run however, retiring Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist and Willson Contreras to keep it tied at 1.
After Sale hit Fowler and walked Bryant to start the third, Zobrist hit a comebacker just past Sale in the third for an RBI single and a 2-1 Cubs lead.
But even though he wasn’t pinpoint, Sale never broke.
After stranding a runner at third base in the first inning, he did it again in the fifth. He also struck out pinch-hitter David Ross with two on in the sixth. Though it didn’t result in a victory, Sale gave the White Sox what they needed.
“He's a great kid,” Ventura said. “This doesn't change that. We've seen him do some really great stuff. I know I've done some stuff that I wouldn't want people to know. We're in an age where in what he's doing is his job, but sometimes you don't get that luxury. I think for him, he's just going to go pitch and we'll move on from there.”
WHITE SOX: Anthony Ranaudo becomes first White Sox pitcher since Mark Buehrle to hit a home run. (Wednesday night's game, 07/27/2016).
By JJ Stankevitz
(Photo/USA Today Sports Images)
Anthony Ranaudo hadn’t reached base in eight major league plate appearances and hadn’t got a hit since his high school days in New Jersey. He didn't have any at-bats in the minor leagues, and wasn't given an opportunity to hit while playing for college baseball powerhouse LSU.
But in his second trip to the plate in the White Sox 8-1 loss to the Cubs Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, Ranaudo lifted a solo home run into the right field bleachers off right-hander Jason Hammel. It was a bizarre (in a good way) moment for a guy who also took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against one of baseball’s best offenses.
“I figured it was going over Heyward’s head,” Ranaudo said. “I thought it was a double at first. I thought it got stuck in the ivy and I kind of pulled up at second base. I looked back at (the White Sox dugout) and realized it was a home run, from the way everybody was reacting and stuff, and I had to finish out the jog. I think it took me a little longer than I wanted it to, but it was a good experience. It was fun.”
Ranaudo last homered nine years ago as a senior at St. Rose High School (Belmar, N.J.), where he actually once faced White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier (Toms River, N.J.) during a state tournament as a freshman. He also blasted a home run in the New Jersey state championship game as a sophomore in 2005.
With his fifth-inning solo home run, Ranaudo became the first White Sox pitcher to homer since Mark Buehrle blasted a dinger against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on June 14, 2009. He joined Buehrle and right-hander Jon Garland as the only White Sox pitchers to hit a home run in the designated hitter era (1973-present).
Ranaudo also became the first pitcher to homer in his White Sox debut since Jack Salveson went deep in a 16-11 loss to the Washington Senators on June 14, 1935. He’s also only the second American League pitcher to homer at Wrigley Field, joining Detroit Tigers left-hander Daniel Norris, who took one out on Aug. 19, 2015.
Ranaudo, who entered Wednesday with a 17.18 ERA in 2016, had his one-man show spoiled by home runs he allowed to Kris Bryant and Javier Baez. But the former first-round pick out of LSU still won’t forget his White Sox debut thanks to his no-hit bid and mighty wallop.
“Yeah, that was definitely cool,” Ranaudo said. “Definitely something I’ll remember the rest of my life.”
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... Bulls: Jimmy Butler says he no longer wears a chip on his shoulder.
By Vincent Goodwill
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The biggest thing on Jimmy Butler—next to his haircut—has likely been the golden nugget-sized chip on his shoulder he proudly wore on his journey from non-entity to All-Star and Olympian.
However, Butler claims that invisible attribute that has taken him to unforeseen heights is gone as he’s two months away from leading a Bulls team that has undergone the most significant roster overhaul in his career.
Perhaps it’s a tacit admission about changing his leadership style, but it’s certainly a change on face value.
“I don’t think I have a chip on my shoulder anymore,” Butler said at USA Basketball practice at the United Center Thursday, one day before an exhibition against Venezuela. “I don’t think I have too much to prove like back in the day. That doesn’t mean I don’t work hard or anything. I just think I go about things a little differently.”
He didn’t actually specify how he’ll do things differently but perhaps the quest for validation that has driven him to insatiable heights and a few questionable moments on the way is over.
With Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose dispatched to New York, followed by the surprising additions of ring bearers Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo, perhaps he’s feeling more secure about where he ranks on the team masthead.
“I think I have to catch up with them, with the winning mentality,” Butler said. “I think I can learn a lot from those guys. D-Wade, multiple championships. Rondo bringing in his intensity.”
Wade and Rondo have the championship receipts that Butler doesn’t have, so Butler feels he’ll learn more from them as opposed to worrying about the on-court fit that on paper, doesn’t seem to be ideal.
“I don’t do the analytics and numbers. D-Wade has put the ball in the basket for a number of years,” Butler said. “He’s a great player because of the way he can score. I don’t think you can call him a non-shooter because he can shoot the ball.
“Rondo, call him what you want but he’s effective at what he does. Same thing with myself. You gotta be able to knock down shots.”
Before those new acquisitions, Butler had to deal with the belief he had Rose shipped out as a mark of some type of organizational power, as the two were never fully able to maximize their partnership on the floor to the tune of playoff success or even chemistry.
Then, in a stunning turn of events that seemed to indicate his fingerprints couldn’t be on much of anything, Butler had to endure trade rumors of his own the next day during the NBA draft.
He hasn’t spoken many times this offseason with the exception of summer league and an ESPN media tour in Los Angeles, but the proverbial scars are there and he addressed the rumors.
“That has nothing to do with me, I don’t move guys,” Butler said. “People are gonna think what they’re gonna think. I don’t let it bother me. I know where I stand, I know who I am. It’s one more thing for people to talk about. I don’t pay too much attention to it.”
He has spoken to Rose since the trade, as Rose attended an USA Basketball game in Los Angeles and the two chatted during the contest. And he exchanged texts with Noah after Noah broke the bank for a $72 million deal with the New York Knicks in free agency.
“We’ll always have love for each other because we’re always teammates, we’ve been in the trenches together.”
Tom Thibodeau on Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah leaving Bulls: 'It doesn't last forever'.
By Vincent Goodwill
However, Butler claims that invisible attribute that has taken him to unforeseen heights is gone as he’s two months away from leading a Bulls team that has undergone the most significant roster overhaul in his career.
Perhaps it’s a tacit admission about changing his leadership style, but it’s certainly a change on face value.
“I don’t think I have a chip on my shoulder anymore,” Butler said at USA Basketball practice at the United Center Thursday, one day before an exhibition against Venezuela. “I don’t think I have too much to prove like back in the day. That doesn’t mean I don’t work hard or anything. I just think I go about things a little differently.”
He didn’t actually specify how he’ll do things differently but perhaps the quest for validation that has driven him to insatiable heights and a few questionable moments on the way is over.
With Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose dispatched to New York, followed by the surprising additions of ring bearers Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo, perhaps he’s feeling more secure about where he ranks on the team masthead.
“I think I have to catch up with them, with the winning mentality,” Butler said. “I think I can learn a lot from those guys. D-Wade, multiple championships. Rondo bringing in his intensity.”
Wade and Rondo have the championship receipts that Butler doesn’t have, so Butler feels he’ll learn more from them as opposed to worrying about the on-court fit that on paper, doesn’t seem to be ideal.
“I don’t do the analytics and numbers. D-Wade has put the ball in the basket for a number of years,” Butler said. “He’s a great player because of the way he can score. I don’t think you can call him a non-shooter because he can shoot the ball.
“Rondo, call him what you want but he’s effective at what he does. Same thing with myself. You gotta be able to knock down shots.”
Before those new acquisitions, Butler had to deal with the belief he had Rose shipped out as a mark of some type of organizational power, as the two were never fully able to maximize their partnership on the floor to the tune of playoff success or even chemistry.
Then, in a stunning turn of events that seemed to indicate his fingerprints couldn’t be on much of anything, Butler had to endure trade rumors of his own the next day during the NBA draft.
He hasn’t spoken many times this offseason with the exception of summer league and an ESPN media tour in Los Angeles, but the proverbial scars are there and he addressed the rumors.
“That has nothing to do with me, I don’t move guys,” Butler said. “People are gonna think what they’re gonna think. I don’t let it bother me. I know where I stand, I know who I am. It’s one more thing for people to talk about. I don’t pay too much attention to it.”
He has spoken to Rose since the trade, as Rose attended an USA Basketball game in Los Angeles and the two chatted during the contest. And he exchanged texts with Noah after Noah broke the bank for a $72 million deal with the New York Knicks in free agency.
“We’ll always have love for each other because we’re always teammates, we’ve been in the trenches together.”
Tom Thibodeau on Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah leaving Bulls: 'It doesn't last forever'.
By Vincent Goodwill
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The winds of change are becoming as constant in the NBA as it is in the NFL, as players and coaches are seemingly more associated with their own brands than they are their employers.
Former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is living proof of that and wasn’t surprised the winds caught his former bookends Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, as both will start next season as members of the New York Knicks.
Rose was traded before the draft in a multi-player deal while Noah signed a $72 million deal in free agency to go back to his native city.
“It’s sort of the nature of the league. It doesn’t last forever,” said Thibodeau, as the USA Men’s National Basketball team prepares for the Olympics with an exhibition contest against Venezuela Friday night at the United Center. “That was a special group of guys. From where they started, and unfortunately the injuries derailed it some but it was a very prideful group, a proud group.”
Rose and Noah’s best years were with Thibodeau on the sidelines, with Rose winning Most Valuable Player in 2011 and Noah finishing fourth in voting in 2014 before injuries caught them both.
“They never gave up, never succumbed to the circumstances,” Thibodeau said. “They found different ways to win, different guys stepped up. That’s the way the league works. Over time, people leave with free agency, change teams. I’m happy for those guys that they’re gonna get another opportunity. They’ve earned it.”
Former Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is living proof of that and wasn’t surprised the winds caught his former bookends Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah, as both will start next season as members of the New York Knicks.
Rose was traded before the draft in a multi-player deal while Noah signed a $72 million deal in free agency to go back to his native city.
“It’s sort of the nature of the league. It doesn’t last forever,” said Thibodeau, as the USA Men’s National Basketball team prepares for the Olympics with an exhibition contest against Venezuela Friday night at the United Center. “That was a special group of guys. From where they started, and unfortunately the injuries derailed it some but it was a very prideful group, a proud group.”
Rose and Noah’s best years were with Thibodeau on the sidelines, with Rose winning Most Valuable Player in 2011 and Noah finishing fourth in voting in 2014 before injuries caught them both.
“They never gave up, never succumbed to the circumstances,” Thibodeau said. “They found different ways to win, different guys stepped up. That’s the way the league works. Over time, people leave with free agency, change teams. I’m happy for those guys that they’re gonna get another opportunity. They’ve earned it.”
Thibodeau’s five-year run in Chicago certainly ended controversially and definitely left many wondering “what if”, but it he knew it wouldn’t be long before taking another position like the one he accepted to become coach and president of the Minnesota Timberwolves this spring.
As usual, he was gracious about the time he spent in Chicago, and the city itself.
“A lot of great memories. Five years coaching and I stayed last year,” Thibodeau said. “I love the city, the fans were great to me the whole time. You look back, you think of all the great memories you have. Great history, great tradition and we had great guys. It was very enjoyable to coach that team.”
Surprisingly, the workaholic coach said the time off was good for him, as it likely gave him a chance for reflection and an opportunity to rejuvenate himself physically and mentally from the unforgiving NBA grind.
“When you take a step back, and you don’t have the next team to worry about, you take a broader view of things,” Thibodeau said. “You get a lot of new ideas, it’s a chance to recharge. You learn a lot. Sometimes taking a step back is a good thing.”The next time Thibodeau walks across the United Center floor after Friday night, he’ll be in game-time mode as head coach of the Timberwolves, doing everything he can to get a win.
The smiles will dissipate and the general ease in which he interacts with the media and
other personnel will disappear. But for right now, he’s an assistant to USA Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski for another Olympic run, hoping to help keep the United States on top of the global basketball world.
“This has been an incredible experience for me, to be around the great players and the hall of fame basketball people you’re around,” Thibodeau said.
Bulls release 2016 preseason schedule.
By CSN Staff
The Bulls announced their preseason schedule on Thursday that will feature five games aired on Comcast SportsNet.
The Bulls, who traded Derrick Rose and added Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade during a busy offseason, will debut their new-look roster on October 3 against the Milwaukee Bucks at the United Center. They'll also square off against the defending champion Cavaliers on October 14 and will play in Omaha against the Atlanta Hawks on October 20.
Bulls 2016 preseason schedule
1. Monday, October 3: vs. Milwaukee (7 p.m.)
2. Thursday, October 6: at Indiana (7 p.m.)
3. Friday, October 14: vs. Cleveland (7 p.m.)
4. Saturday, October 15: at Milwaukee (7:30 p.m.)
5. Monday, October 17: vs. Charlotte (7 p.m.)
6. Thursday, October 20: vs. Atlanta (7 p.m.)
Golf: I got a club for that..... Walker breaks out of funk with -5 under 65 at PGA.
By Will Gray
(Photo/Golf Channel)
Stale and stagnant.
They’re not words that any player wants tied to his game, but those are the two that Jimmy Walker chose to describe his form entering the PGA Championship.
It may not seem like much time has passed since Walker was racking up wins en route to a spot inside the top 10 in the world rankings, but he turned up at Baltusrol Golf Club in danger of slipping outside the top 50 for the first time in nearly three years. Such are the consequences of going more than a year without a victory and 11 starts without a top-10 finish.
But Walker rekindled his 2014 form in Thursday’s opener, spinning a 5-under 65 that included six birdies and gave him the early lead at the season’s final major.
It’s not a cure-all, but it certainly qualifies as a start.
“It’s just ebbs and flows of golf. Just haven’t been scoring,” Walker said. “Just a lot of even par to a couple under golf, and it’s equated to a bunch of 20th-place finishes this year.”
Walker’s strong opener is even more surprising given his play in the previous three majors. He missed two cuts, hadn’t broken 70 and was a cumulative 32 over par across his last 10 rounds in majors dating back to Whistling Straits.
For Walker, the prime culprit for his recent struggles is clear. After finishing second on Tour in strokes gained putting last season, he has slipped to 55th in the same category this season and simply hasn’t rolled in the mid-range putts required to contend on a consistent basis.
“They just haven’t been going in. For whatever reason, they just haven’t,” he said. “I hit a lot of good putts and they all look like they have got a good shot. For whatever reason, they lip out or quit breaking. I just haven’t been making a whole lot.”
Despite slipping down the rankings this summer, Walker believes he turned a corner last week at the RBC Canadian Open, where a final-round 68 led to a T-14 finish, his best result since the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March.
“I felt like personally, I did a lot of things right, and that’s what I’ve been kind of looking to do that I haven’t been doing,” he said. “So I felt like I was ready to go, I honestly did this week.”
Walker admits that his current plight is far from ideal, especially considering he hasn’t factored in any Ryder Cup discussion two years after entering the PGA Championship with his spot at Gleneagles already secured.
But one week can make a big difference – especially at an event with major implications. It could even help Walker leave “stale and stagnant” behind him.
“Sometimes it’s hard, I’m not going to lie. It’s tough,” he said. “You feel like you’re killing yourself and you’re giving it all you’ve got, and you’re just not seeing it. Sometimes hard work doesn’t pay off. But over time, I think it will.”
Rory, Phil, Day approach Baltusrol vastly differently.
By Rex Hoggard
(Photo/Golf Channel)
Baltusrol is a big hitter's golf course. Baltusrol demands a driver that is equal parts long and straight. Baltusrol is no place for the timid.
That’s been the company line this week at the PGA Championship, echoed by any and all who have been asked; yet on Thursday with scorecards in hand three of the game’s longest played the New Jersey gem with three vastly different styles.
The most glaring example of this divergent game plan unfolded when the threesome of Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson stepped to the 18th tee midway through their opening round (they teed off on No. 10).
Rory McIlroy did what Rory McIlroy does, launching a driver high into the hot and humid skies 320 yards, but missed the fairway. Day, however, teed off with a 3-iron, finding the fairway some 40 yards behind the Northern Irishman.
Day would par the hole, going with 3-iron with his second shot that sailed wide into an awkward lie. McIlroy also made par. It was the story of Day 1 for the high profile three-ball, with Day taking a decidedly measured approach to a course that by all accounts rewards power over all else.
McIlroy went with a game plan that, when clicking, has delivered majors by ridiculously large margins. It was a scheme that made sense given the prevailing thoughts on Baltusrol. A blueprint that could have sent the brutish course and the field spinning had his long game cooperated – but it did not.
On this sweltering day McIlroy found just 9 of 14 fairways and struggled to a 4-over 74 despite being among the field’s top 10 in driving distance (308 yard average).
“I obviously want to play well, but I was trying my hardest out there to make birdies, and I was giving myself chances in the last few holes, and didn't quite convert them,” said McIlroy, who failed to make a birdie for the first time in 29 rounds at the PGA Championship. “Hopefully I'm not shutout tomorrow. I can't remember the last round I had without a birdie.”
By comparison, Day hit just five drivers on Friday and although he connected with 8 of 14 fairways his misses were manageable enough that he was able to find 17 of 18 greens in regulation.
“If I can get iron in my hand, get it down the middle, give myself an opportunity, that's the main goal,” said Day, who was a half dozen strokes better than McIlroy after a 2-under 68.
Although he managed just a single practice round this week at Baltusrol, the byproduct of feeling under the weather when he arrived in New Jersey from last week’s RBC Canadian Open, that conservative approach was set in motion after his caddie, Colin Swatton, walked the course earlier this week.
“I told him there are one of two ways to play this course, be aggressive or try to play to your strengths, which is his iron game,” Swatton said.
It quickly became clear Day opted for the latter in his quest to become the first player to win back-to-back PGA Championships since Tiger Woods in 2007.
But then Day has long adhered to the slow and steady approach when it comes to major championships despite a power game that ranks alongside McIlroy and Dustin Johnson.
“It's probably a little bit more conservative than I usually am, only because it’s a major championship,” said Day, who was three strokes off the early lead when he completed his round. “Any given week on the PGA Tour, there's usually a guy that gets to 7 or 8 under. I think with a major championship, you have got to be patient, take your opportunities when you can and work yourself up to the lead come Sunday.”
Mickelson, the third member of the morning’s marquis threesome, seemed to embrace a strategy somewhere in between Day and McIlroy, but if he became more aggressive later in his round it was likely the byproduct of a dismal start.
Lefty bogeyed his first hole, added two more miscues before the turn and was 4 over through 11 holes before he finally turned things around.
“When you get into a major championship and the penalty for a miss is severe, it's very easy to steer it, try to control it and not swing freely,” said Mickelson after rallying late to finish with a 1-over 71. “That was what I did early on today, I kind of steered a lot of shots. I didn't swing freely. Took me a little while, I kind of got into the flow there towards the end.”
Those who crunch numbers will point to McIlroy’s putting, more so than his driver, that cost him on Thursday and there’s certainly something to that.
McIlroy finished with 35 putts and was spotting the field 3.82 shots in the strokes gained-putting statistic midway through Round 1; but then that ignores Day’s own troubles on the greens.
The world No. 1 took 33 putts and was minus 1.57 shots in strokes gained-putting and yet was still in contention.
Arm-chair quarterbacking only goes so far when it comes to how players plod their way around golf courses and in fairness to McIlroy, and Mickelson, any plan is only as good as the execution.
Yet the results on Thursday were rather straightforward. Among the dichotomy of game plans Day’s less-is-more approach was more than enough for big, bad Baltusrol.
Nicklaus changes stance on Olympic withdrawals.
By Will Gray
(Photo/Golf Channel)
When it comes to golf in the Olympics, the Golden Bear would like a mulligan.
Jack Nicklaus admits that when top players first began to withdraw from golf's return to the quadrennial Games, he found it to be "a little selfish" for current stars not to do their part to grow the game globally. But with the Rio Olympics less than two weeks away, Nicklaus has reversed course.
"I started thinking more about it, and I thought maybe I shouldn't have said that because it's not about that," Nicklaus told the UPI. "They aren't about growing golf right now. They are into playing golf. I'm into growing golf because I'm past my time. I look to the future of what happens to it. These guys are thinking, 'How do I make a living, how do I perform?' If they get sick, and then all of a sudden they have a family that gets sick, then they've got another issue other than what they are trying to do."
While 60 men will compete next month in Rio, more than 20 have withdrawn from the competition including each of the top four players in the world rankings: Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. All four have cited a personal combination of reasons for their withdrawals, ranging from the Zika virus to more general health and security concerns.
Nicklaus believes that the threat of Zika "has been a large part of it," as has the compressed summer schedule that moved the PGA Championship into late July. But he added that the position of the Olympics within golf's current hierarchy also hasn't helped.
"The thing is, for most sports, the Olympics are the pinnacle of that sport. Tennis and golf, the Olympics aren't the pinnacle of those sports," he said. "Wimbledon, U.S. Open, the Masters, British Open are the pinnacles of our sports. It has done OK with tennis, which has survived through the Olympics and went very well. I think golf has to get started and understand."
Jack Nicklaus admits that when top players first began to withdraw from golf's return to the quadrennial Games, he found it to be "a little selfish" for current stars not to do their part to grow the game globally. But with the Rio Olympics less than two weeks away, Nicklaus has reversed course.
"I started thinking more about it, and I thought maybe I shouldn't have said that because it's not about that," Nicklaus told the UPI. "They aren't about growing golf right now. They are into playing golf. I'm into growing golf because I'm past my time. I look to the future of what happens to it. These guys are thinking, 'How do I make a living, how do I perform?' If they get sick, and then all of a sudden they have a family that gets sick, then they've got another issue other than what they are trying to do."
While 60 men will compete next month in Rio, more than 20 have withdrawn from the competition including each of the top four players in the world rankings: Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. All four have cited a personal combination of reasons for their withdrawals, ranging from the Zika virus to more general health and security concerns.
Nicklaus believes that the threat of Zika "has been a large part of it," as has the compressed summer schedule that moved the PGA Championship into late July. But he added that the position of the Olympics within golf's current hierarchy also hasn't helped.
"The thing is, for most sports, the Olympics are the pinnacle of that sport. Tennis and golf, the Olympics aren't the pinnacle of those sports," he said. "Wimbledon, U.S. Open, the Masters, British Open are the pinnacles of our sports. It has done OK with tennis, which has survived through the Olympics and went very well. I think golf has to get started and understand."
NASCAR: Clinch scenarios for Pocono Raceway.
By Kelly Crandall
(Photo/nbcsports.com)
Five drivers have officially locked themselves into the 2016 Chase for the Sprint Cup and there’s the possibility for another to join them this weekend.
Having earned multiple wins through the first 20 races, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth are the first five of what will be 16 drivers filling out the Chase grid. Should the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday be the second win for one of five drivers, they too will have officially clinched a spot in the Chase.
Looking to clinch at Pocono:
Four of the five drivers have won at Pocono in the past.
Kurt Busch is the most recent winner as he picked up his third Pocono win in June. Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. both have a lone win at Pocono with Logano victorious in June 2012 and Truex going to victory lane in June of 2015.
Denny Hamlin leads the way with four Pocono wins. As a rookie, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver swept the races at Pocono in 2006 before picking up his next two in August 2009 and June 2010. Harvick, meanwhile, is winless at Pocono in 61 career starts with an average finish of 14.0.
There is the possibility none of these five drivers clinch should Sunday’s winner be a driver who wins for the first time this year or is a driver who has already clinched their spot.
NASCAR weekend schedule at Pocono and Iowa.
Having earned multiple wins through the first 20 races, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth are the first five of what will be 16 drivers filling out the Chase grid. Should the Pennsylvania 400 at Pocono Raceway on Sunday be the second win for one of five drivers, they too will have officially clinched a spot in the Chase.
Looking to clinch at Pocono:
- Kevin Harvick (1 win, 671 points, +434 points ahead of 31st) – clinches with a win
- Kurt Busch (1 win, 627 points, +390 points ahead of 31st) – clinches with a win
- Joey Logano (1 win, 606 points, +369 points ahead of 31st) – clinches with a win
- Martin Truex Jr. (1 win, 573 points, +336 points ahead of 31st) – clinches with a win
- Denny Hamlin (1 win, 542 points, +305 points ahead of 31st) – clinches with a win
Four of the five drivers have won at Pocono in the past.
Kurt Busch is the most recent winner as he picked up his third Pocono win in June. Joey Logano and Martin Truex Jr. both have a lone win at Pocono with Logano victorious in June 2012 and Truex going to victory lane in June of 2015.
Denny Hamlin leads the way with four Pocono wins. As a rookie, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver swept the races at Pocono in 2006 before picking up his next two in August 2009 and June 2010. Harvick, meanwhile, is winless at Pocono in 61 career starts with an average finish of 14.0.
There is the possibility none of these five drivers clinch should Sunday’s winner be a driver who wins for the first time this year or is a driver who has already clinched their spot.
NASCAR weekend schedule at Pocono and Iowa.
By Kelly Crandall
The Sprint Cup Series is back in action at Pocono Raceway this weekend, its second trip to the ‘Tricky Triangle’ in less than two months.
The Camping World Truck Series will join the Cup Series in Pocono with John Wes Townley making his return after missing the last two events because of concussion-like symptoms.
The Xfinity Series makes its second trip of the season to Iowa Speedway.
(All times listed are Eastern):
FRIDAY, JULY 29
AT POCONO
8 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage opens
9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Camping World Truck garage opens
11 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. – Sprint Cup practice (NBCSN)
12:30 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. – Camping World Truck practice (Fox Sports 1)
3 p.m. – 3:55 p.m. – Final Camping World Truck practice (Fox Sports 1)
4:15 p.m. – Sprint Cup qualifying (NBCSN)
AT IOWA
2 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. – Xfinity garage opens
5 p.m. – 5:50 p.m. – Xfinity practice (Streaming online at 5 p.m.; NBCSN at 5:30 p.m.)
7 p.m. – 8:20 p.m. – Final Xfinity practice (NBCSN)
SATURDAY, JULY 30
AT POCONO
6 a.m. – Camping World Truck garage opens
9 a.m. – 3 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage opens
9:05 a.m. – Camping World Truck qualifying (Fox Sports 1)
10:45 a.m. – Camping World Truck driver/crew chief meeting
11 a.m. -12:20 p.m. – Final Sprint Cup practice (NBCSN, MRN)
12:30 p.m. – Camping World Truck driver introductions
1 p.m. – Camping World Truck Pocono Mountains 150 (60 laps, 150 miles) (Fox Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
AT IOWA
11:30 a.m. – Xfinity garage opens
4:15 p.m. – Xfinity qualifying (NBCSN)
6:15 p.m. – Xfinity driver/crew chief meeting
7:30 p.m. – Xfinity driver introductions
8 p.m. – Xfinity U.S. Cellular 250 (250 laps, 218.75 miles) (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
SUNDAY, JULY 31
AT POCONO
7:30 a.m. – Sprint Cup garage opens
11:30 a.m. – Sprint Cup driver/crew chief meeting
1 p.m. – Sprint Cup driver introductions
1:30 p.m. – Sprint Cup Pennsylvania 400 (160 laps, 400 miles) (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
NASCAR announces return of lower downforce package at Michigan next month.
By Nate Ryan
The Camping World Truck Series will join the Cup Series in Pocono with John Wes Townley making his return after missing the last two events because of concussion-like symptoms.
The Xfinity Series makes its second trip of the season to Iowa Speedway.
(All times listed are Eastern):
FRIDAY, JULY 29
AT POCONO
8 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage opens
9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Camping World Truck garage opens
11 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. – Sprint Cup practice (NBCSN)
12:30 p.m. – 1:55 p.m. – Camping World Truck practice (Fox Sports 1)
3 p.m. – 3:55 p.m. – Final Camping World Truck practice (Fox Sports 1)
4:15 p.m. – Sprint Cup qualifying (NBCSN)
AT IOWA
2 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. – Xfinity garage opens
5 p.m. – 5:50 p.m. – Xfinity practice (Streaming online at 5 p.m.; NBCSN at 5:30 p.m.)
7 p.m. – 8:20 p.m. – Final Xfinity practice (NBCSN)
SATURDAY, JULY 30
AT POCONO
6 a.m. – Camping World Truck garage opens
9 a.m. – 3 p.m. – Sprint Cup garage opens
9:05 a.m. – Camping World Truck qualifying (Fox Sports 1)
10:45 a.m. – Camping World Truck driver/crew chief meeting
11 a.m. -12:20 p.m. – Final Sprint Cup practice (NBCSN, MRN)
12:30 p.m. – Camping World Truck driver introductions
1 p.m. – Camping World Truck Pocono Mountains 150 (60 laps, 150 miles) (Fox Sports 1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
AT IOWA
11:30 a.m. – Xfinity garage opens
4:15 p.m. – Xfinity qualifying (NBCSN)
6:15 p.m. – Xfinity driver/crew chief meeting
7:30 p.m. – Xfinity driver introductions
8 p.m. – Xfinity U.S. Cellular 250 (250 laps, 218.75 miles) (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
SUNDAY, JULY 31
AT POCONO
7:30 a.m. – Sprint Cup garage opens
11:30 a.m. – Sprint Cup driver/crew chief meeting
1 p.m. – Sprint Cup driver introductions
1:30 p.m. – Sprint Cup Pennsylvania 400 (160 laps, 400 miles) (NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)
NASCAR announces return of lower downforce package at Michigan next month.
By Nate Ryan
(Photo/nbcsports.com)
In a rules bulletin Thursday morning, NASCAR announced it will run the lower downforce rules package in the Aug. 28 race at Michigan International Speedway.
The changes, which include a shortened spoiler, a reduced splitter and the elimination of rear skew that generated sideforce, also were used in the June 12 race at Michigan, the July 9 race at Kentucky Speedway and at the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. The objective is enhancing the ability of drivers to pass.
NASCAR vice president of innovation Gene Stefanyshyn said the same rules likely would be used for the 2017 season. NASCAR still is considering a few tweaks that including shifting some downforce from front to rear, removing some rear downforce or adding some sideforce.
“These are all fine tuning in nature and not any big changes,” Stefanyshyn said during a conference call Thursday morning. “It will help the delicate balance of the car. This is a car relying more on mechanical than aero grip. Teams have a lot more tools with suspension and camber at their disposal.”
Any further tweaks will be made in collaboration with teams after the Aug. 28 race at the 2-mile oval. Stefanyshyn said there were more setup combinations to try after experimenting with the new rules at Michigan in June.
“A lot of teams think they have some fine tuning they can do,” he said.
Stefanyshyn said it’s unlikely the proposed 2017 rules will be tried again in a race this season as NASCAR wants to keep the rules consistent during its final 10 playoff races.
In another bulletin released Thursday, NASCAR announced new specifications for chassis construction for 2017 races at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
The structural changes are designed to strengthen the cars’ interior in areas around the floorboard, anti-intrusion plating, firewall and footbox, helping protect a drivers’ feet and legs in a crash. The changes also include the rear roll cage behind driver and left-side door, helping lessen driver movement in an impact.
The updates are optional for 2016, mandatory at Daytona and Talladega next year and at all tracks in 2018.
The chassis improvements are an outgrowth of several safety projects launched by NASCAR after Austin Dillon’s airborne crash in the July 2015 race at Daytona International Speedway.
SOCCER: Veljko Paunovic talks Fire's identity, home vs. away record and positive signs.
The changes, which include a shortened spoiler, a reduced splitter and the elimination of rear skew that generated sideforce, also were used in the June 12 race at Michigan, the July 9 race at Kentucky Speedway and at the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. The objective is enhancing the ability of drivers to pass.
NASCAR vice president of innovation Gene Stefanyshyn said the same rules likely would be used for the 2017 season. NASCAR still is considering a few tweaks that including shifting some downforce from front to rear, removing some rear downforce or adding some sideforce.
“These are all fine tuning in nature and not any big changes,” Stefanyshyn said during a conference call Thursday morning. “It will help the delicate balance of the car. This is a car relying more on mechanical than aero grip. Teams have a lot more tools with suspension and camber at their disposal.”
Any further tweaks will be made in collaboration with teams after the Aug. 28 race at the 2-mile oval. Stefanyshyn said there were more setup combinations to try after experimenting with the new rules at Michigan in June.
“A lot of teams think they have some fine tuning they can do,” he said.
Stefanyshyn said it’s unlikely the proposed 2017 rules will be tried again in a race this season as NASCAR wants to keep the rules consistent during its final 10 playoff races.
In another bulletin released Thursday, NASCAR announced new specifications for chassis construction for 2017 races at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.
The structural changes are designed to strengthen the cars’ interior in areas around the floorboard, anti-intrusion plating, firewall and footbox, helping protect a drivers’ feet and legs in a crash. The changes also include the rear roll cage behind driver and left-side door, helping lessen driver movement in an impact.
The updates are optional for 2016, mandatory at Daytona and Talladega next year and at all tracks in 2018.
The chassis improvements are an outgrowth of several safety projects launched by NASCAR after Austin Dillon’s airborne crash in the July 2015 race at Daytona International Speedway.
SOCCER: Veljko Paunovic talks Fire's identity, home vs. away record and positive signs.
By Dan Santaromita
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Veljko Paunovic has talked about the Chicago Fire forming an identity throughout his first season as the club’s coach.
Now that he is nearly five months into the season, he says the team is starting to form that identity.
“We are committed to our style now, which is being tough,” Paunovic said on Wednesday during a conference call with reporters. “Our identity is being a tough team at home, a team that fights until the end of the game, to win the game and we have that positive result for us. We fight to defend it.”
Despite being in last place in Major League Soccer, Paunovic says he has seen enough positive things from the club, at least in terms of improvement compared to the start of the season. The Fire are unbeaten in eight straight games at Toyota Park and have won three straight league games there.
Now the road record, that’s another story. Even if you forgive the part of the current league-record 35-match road winless streak that Paunovic didn’t oversee, the Fire have been bad on the road this season, and have gotten worse. Since two promising draws at Orlando and New York City FC in the beginning of the season, the Fire have lost eight in a row away from home.
Paunovic hasn’t been shy about addressing that record, but that doesn’t fit as well with this identity he says the team is forming. The Serbian coach remains an optimist though.
“I think we improved overall, especially with the addition of Michael de Leeuw we improved in our performance in attack,” he said. “Then also it was very important for me to see in the last game in New England we were very, very close to winning. I’m not saying to tie the game, we were very close to winning. If we scored the opportunities that we had, if we scored one goal I think we would win that game. Again it was a learning experience for us. We finally had that feeling that we can win on the road and we’re just going to help build and improve on that.”
In a few other Fire news tidbits from the conference call and training on Wednesday, Paunovic said Razvan Cocis and Joey Calistri are nearing returns from injury, but are still not at 100 percent. Calistri, who had to pull out of Wednesday’s MLS Homegrown Game as part of the All-Star Game festivities, was in training on Wednesday and sounds like the closer of the two to returning.
Paunovic remained tight-lipped when asked about potential additions before the transfer window closes Aug. 3. The Fire have 19-year-old South Korean forward Jung-Hyun Seo, who was at Wednesday’s training session, with the team on a trial.
Ranking the Olympic teams at Rio 2016.
By Joe Prince-Wright
(Photo/AP)
There are just six days to go until the Olympic soccer tournament kicks off in Brazil.
We’ve already ranked the top 20 players in the men’s and women’s soccer tournaments at Rio 2016 and now it is time to look each team.
With host nation Brazil the clear favorites in the men’s competition, the U.S. women’s national team is also head and shoulders above the rest as they aim to pick up a fourth-straight Gold medal.
Below you can find the “power rankings” if you will, of the teams competing this summer for a place atop podium.
We’ve already ranked the top 20 players in the men’s and women’s soccer tournaments at Rio 2016 and now it is time to look each team.
With host nation Brazil the clear favorites in the men’s competition, the U.S. women’s national team is also head and shoulders above the rest as they aim to pick up a fourth-straight Gold medal.
Below you can find the “power rankings” if you will, of the teams competing this summer for a place atop podium.
Men’s
- Brazil
- Germany
- Mexico
- Argentina
- Nigeria
- Portugal
- Sweden
- Japan
- Korea Republic
- Denmark
- Colombia
- Algeria
- Iraq
- Honduras
- South Africa
- Fiji
- USA
- Germany
- France
- Brazil
- Sweden
- Australia
- Japan
- China
- Canada
- Colombia
- South Africa
- Zimbabwe
By Joe Prince-Wright
(Photo/Getty Images)
The finishing touches are being put on the biggest transfer in history.
A report from ESPN FC claims that Paul Pogba’s agent, Mino Raiola, is locked in talks with Juventus to finalize an offer of $132 million from Manchester United.
Pogba, 23, has been chased by United all summer and it finally appears that Jose Mourinho has his man.
The report goes on to state that Pogba could have a medical in Miami on Friday (where he is currently on vacation) as United aim to tie up the deal by the weekend.
This week it had been reported that a major snag in the deal had arrived due to Raiola demanding over $22 million for brokering the deal. However it seems as though any talk of an impasse has now passed and United are now close to sealing the huge deal for the French international midfielder.
Pogba left United for a $1.2 million compensation fee in 2012 after he failed to break into Sir Alex Ferguson‘s team. Now, just four years later, he will return to Old Trafford with four Serie A titles in his trophy cabinet plus he was named as the best young player at the 2014 World Cup.
Real Madrid and Barcelona were previously linked with Pogba but United’s riches, despite the Red Devils not being in the UEFA Champions League next season, seem to have prevailed.
Mourinho said in his first press conference as United’s manager that he wanted four key players to arrive as part of his rebuild.
He got Eric Bailly. He got Zlatan Ibrahimovich. He got Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Now it looks like the fourth, and most important, player will arrive.
NCAAFB: NCAA recommends reduction in full-contact practices.
By Sam Cooper
(AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
The NCAA is aiming to take another step to make college football safer for student-athletes.
The Division I Football Oversight Committee formally recommended Wednesday that D-I programs reduce the number of “live-contact” practices from two to one per week during the season. The NCAA defines live-contact practices as “any practice that involves live tackling to the ground and/or full-speed blocking.” That includes both full-pad practices and half-pad practices (AKA “shell”) when a player wears shoulder pads and shorts.
These new guidelines, the NCAA said in a release, go into effect “six days before each team’s 2016 regular season opening game” and continue “through the final regular season game or conference championship game.”
Player safety was the impetus for the recommendation.
“The committee made the recommendation in an effort to improve player safety, believing it could decrease athlete exposure to concussion, including repeat concussion and overall head impact exposure,” the release said. “Data indicate that football players are more frequently diagnosed with sport-related concussion on days with an increase in frequency and higher magnitude of head impact.”
The recommendation does not include “thud tackling,” which are practices where players do not tackle to the ground. Additionally, players who won’t compete in the upcoming game in a particular week may “participate in an additional live-contact practice to work on skill development and master proper techniques.”
Division I programs are allowed to have as many as four full-contact practices a week – including one two-a-day session – during the preseason.
The oversight committee’s decision comes nearly five months after the Ivy League’s coaches unanimously voted to eliminate full-contact practices during the season altogether. The Ivy League also agreed last week to move kickoffs to the 40-yard line instead of the 35-yard line in conference games this season. The change will serve as an experiment to see if “altering the kickoff location will bolster safety by increasing the number of touchbacks.”
That data from the 2016 season will be reported to the NCAA Football Rules Committee in February. In conjunction with the change, touchbacks will be moved from the 25 to the 20-yard line.
The D-I Oversight Committee has already had preliminary discussions with the American Football Coaches Association about potentially removing kickoffs from the game completely. It’s unclear if the Ivy League’s study will play a role in those discussions.
CBS, which first broke the news of the discussions, reported that any change for kickoffs at the FBS level “probably” wouldn’t until “after the 2017 season.”
Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, the chairman of the oversight committee, said the kickoff is “the most dangerous play in the game.”
Big Ten football coaches say plenty, but we know what they mean.
By Rob Oller
Big Ten football media days just completed a two-day run in Chicago, where the only thing deeper than the pizza was the manure coming from coaches’ mouths.
One account had reporters wearing hip waders to step through the spin. So inflated was the hype that media members were tasked with holding guide ropes to keep coaches’ heads from floating away. One rumor had Jim Harbaugh’s ego being invited to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
All unsubstantiated, of course.
As with rhetoric at political conventions, it takes a trained ear to translate what is said into what it really means. Fortunately, we here at Snarknado headquarters are adept at interpreting coachspeak.
For example, when Penn State coach/salesman James Franklin says — “(With) the challenges that we’ve been through over the last couple years, I feel great about our locker room right now” — what he really means is, "We have bigger worries than what happens to JoePa's statue."
And this from Indiana coach Kevin Wilson: “You guys make sure you keep the TV turned on, because it’s going to be a lot of fun watching the Hoosiers play.”
Translated: “I guarantee we’ll be more riveting than The Weather Channel.”
Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio is one of the Big Ten’s straighter shooters, but that doesn’t mean what he says is what he believes.
Dino said: “That game (against Alabama in the playoff semifinal) sort of got out of hand. My wife tells me, get over it. She says, ‘Get over it, you lost.’ ”
What he believes: “We didn’t lose. We just didn’t win.”
Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst sounded excited about having the Badgers open against LSU, which is expected to begin the season in the top 10.
“It certainly does grab a player’s attention when you know you’re playing against a heck of an opponent for your first game,” Chryst said.
What was he actually thinking? “It grabs us coaches by something other than our attention, if you know what I mean.”
Ohio State coach Urban Meyer speaks in code at these media gatherings, knowing his words will find a way into the ears of his players, where he can use them for psychological motivation.
Ciphered: “We have to find a way to replace arguably one of the best group of players ever to come through college football,” he said, setting the bait.
Deciphered: “No one believes in the Buckeyes. We’re being disrespected. It’s us against the world.”
Then there is Harbaugh, the Michigan coach whose oddball antics are either staged — making him the Andy Kaufman of college football — or else he really means what he says. It is impossible to know.
When Harbaugh said Tuesday that “only uptight white people” don’t like his rap video, it could mean: a) Only uptight white people don’t like his rap video; b) I don’t really like my rap video, either, but I’m trying to connect with recruits, so … ; c) Diet Frostie root beer is one of my favorite beverages; or d) I enjoy wearing sombreros.
Say this for Harbaugh, he goes against the grain. Whether that is good or bad depends on how the Wolverines fare this season and beyond. If Michigan makes the four-team playoff, Harbaugh looks like a genius. But his shtick — if it is shtick — will wear thin among UM’s wine and cheese crowd if he fails to deliver a Big Ten title this season or contend for a national championship over the next few years.
Captain Khaki will not admit that, of course, because late July is smoke-and-mirrors time for coaches. What you see — and what they say — is not what you get.
CFP Abandons Plan to Play Most of Its Semifinals on Dec. 31.
By Ralph D. Russo
In this Dec. 31, 2015, file photo, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson (4) poses with the Orange Bowl trophy following an NCAA college football semifinal playoff game against Oklahoma, in Miami Gardens, Fla. The College Football Playoff has abandoned a plan to play its semifinals on most New Year's Eves after television ratings tumbled last year, moving the dates of future games to ensure they will be played either on a Saturday or a holiday. The changes will start with the 2018 season. (AP Photo/Joe Skipper, File)
The College Football Playoff has abandoned a plan to play most of its semifinals on New Year's Eves after television ratings tumbled last year, moving the dates of future games to ensure they will be played either on a weekend or a holiday.
The changes will start with the 2018 season. The TV ratings for last year's semifinal games played on Thursday, Dec. 31, dropped 36 percent from the semifinals played the season before on New Year's Day.
This season's semifinals are still set for Saturday, Dec. 31. Next season's playoff is scheduled to be back on Jan. 1. In 2018, the games initially scheduled to be played on New Year's Eve, will now be played Saturday, Dec. 29.
The 2019 games will move to Saturday, Dec. 28.
The other seasons affected by the change are 2024, when the semifinals will be moved to Saturday, Dec. 28, and 2025, when the games will be played on Saturday, Dec. 27.
"We had a healthy discussion with a lot of people who love college football and we concluded that making these changes would be the right thing to do for our fans," College Football Playoff Executive Director Bill Hancock said in a statement.
In a phone interview with the AP, Hancock said after looking at data provided by ESPN that considered all the factors that contributed to the drop in ratings, such as the lopsided scores and participating teams, it was clear the single greatest factor was when the games were played.
Hancock said several options for altering the schedule were discussed, including giving the College Football Playoff a permanent home on New Year's Day, but that didn't get far.
"It was clear from the get go that our group wanted to honor the traditions of the game, including the Rose Bowl, including the Sugar Bowl getting back to New Year's Day, which they really cherish," Hancock said. "That one didn't stay on the table for long."
Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany, whose conference is partners with the Rose Bowl along with the Pac-12, said earlier this week the Rose Bowl would not be giving up its traditional New Year's Day afternoon time slot. The Big 12 and Southeastern Conference now have a similar partnership with the Sugar Bowl and have locked up the time slot after the Rose Bowl.
Hancock said it was important to keep the semifinals in what he called the holiday period between Christmas and New Year's Day because it best allows fans to travel to the games.
ESPN's Burke Magnus, executive vice president, programming and scheduling, said the network, which is paying about $470 million annually for the media rights to College Football Playoff, was pleased with the decision.
"They did engage in a really thoughtful analysis of what could make the CFP more fan friendly and ultimately they got to the right place, which we're happy about," Magnus said.
Magnus said ESPN was not directly involved in the decision nor did it exert any pressure on the CFP to change its schedule. He said there was also no pressure from advertisers.
"No, it never went anywhere near that kind of conversation," Magnus said in a phone interview. "There was never any ultimatum's issued."
The first College Football Playoff set ratings records for ESPN on New Year's Day 2015. The semifinal between Oregon and Florida State was played at the Rose Bowl and Alabama and Ohio State played at Sugar Bowl, with the Rose kicking off at about 5:20 p.m. ET.
The semifinals moved to New Year's Eve last season for the first of eight initially scheduled times throughout the 12-year contract the CFP has with ESPN.
College football officials said they were going to start a new tradition on New Year's Eve and that people would incorporate watching big games into their party plans. The initial returns showed that was not happening. Not only did the games have to compete with parties at night, but much of the country was still working when the Orange Bowl between Clemson and Oklahoma kicked off around 4:30 ET. That was 3:30 local time in Oklahoma.
"We tried to do something special with New Year's Eve, even when it fell on a weekday," Hancock said. "But after studying this to see if it worked, we think we can do better. These adjustments will allow more people to experience the games they enjoy so much. For these four years, our previous call is reversed."
NCAABKB: 2016 early season college basketball tournaments: Known matchups, brackets.
By Jon Rothstein
Alvin Ellis III and Michigan State are headed to the Bahamas in November. (Photo/USATSI)
Louisville and Michigan State could meet in finals of Battle for Atlantis. Here's all the known matchups.
In another sign the college basketball season is just around the corner, matchups are being set for many of the 2016 early season tournaments and events.
The latest is the Battle for Atlantis, which features a strong field and the possibility of a final featuring Michigan State and Louisville on Nov. 25 in Paradise Island, Bahamas.
Here's what the championship bracket looks like for the Battle for Atlantis and other notable early season tournament and events with matchups (if known).
Maui Invitational
Lahaina, Hawaii
Quarterfinals, Nov. 21
Tennessee vs. Wisconsin, 2:30 p.m.
Georgetown vs. Oregon, 4:30 p.m.
Oklahoma State vs. UConn, 9 p.m.
North Carolina vs. Chaminade, 11:30 p.m.
Semifinals, Nov. 22
Tennessee/Wisconsin winner vs. Georgetown/Oregon winner, 8 p.m.
Oklahoma State/UConn winner vs. North Carolina/Chaminade winner, 10:30 p.m.
Championship, Nov. 23
Semifinal winners, 9:30 p.m.
Battle for Atlantis
Paradise Island, Bahamas
Quarterfinals, Nov. 23
VCU vs. Baylor
Michigan State vs. St. John's
Louisville vs. Old Dominion
Wichita State vs. LSU
Semifinals, Nov. 24
VCU-Baylor winner vs. Michigan State-St. John's winner
Louisville-Old Dominion winner vs. Wichita State-LSU winner
Championship, Nov. 25
Semifinal winners
Wooden Legacy
Quarterfinals, Nov. 24 at Fullerton, Calif.
UCLA vs. Portland
Dayton vs. Nebraska
Virginia Tech vs. New Mexico
Texas A&M vs. Cal-State Northridge
Semifinals, Nov. 25 at Fullerton, Calif.
Finals, Nov. 27 at Anaheim, Calif.
Preseason NIT
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Semifinals, Nov. 24
West Virginia vs. Illinois
Florida State vs. Temple
Finals, Nov. 25
Puerto Rico Tip-off
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Quarterfinals, Nov. 17
Xavier vs. Missouri
Clemson vs. Davidson
Arizona State vs. Northern Iowa
Oklahoma vs. Tulane
Semifinals, Nov. 18
Finals, Nov. 20
AdvoCare Invitational
Orlando, Fla.
Quarterfinals, Nov. 24
Gonzaga vs. Quinnipiac
Seton Hall vs. Florida Iowa
State vs. Indiana State
Miami vs. Stanford
Semifinals, Nov. 25
Finals Nov. 27
Cancun Challenge
Cancun, Mexico
Semifinals, Nov. 22
Purdue vs. Utah State
Auburn vs. Texas Tech
Charleston Classic
Charleston, S.C.
Nov. 17, 18, 20
Villanova vs. Western Michigan
Wake Forest vs. UTEP
Mississippi State vs. UCF
Boise State vs. College of Charleston
Las Vegas Classic
Semifinals, Dec. 22
DePaul vs. Wyoming
USC vs. Missouri State
Finals Dec. 23
Las Vegas Invitational
Semifinals, Nov. 24
Arizona vs. Santa Clara
Butler vs. Vanderbilt
Finals, Nov. 25
Legends Classic
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Nov. 21-22
Texas, Notre Dame, Northwestern, and Colorado
Paradise Jam
U.S. Virgin Islands
Quarterfinals, Nov. 18
Loyola (Chicago) vs. Saint Joseph's
Oral Roberts vs. Ole Miss
Montana vs. NC State
Washington State vs. Creighton
Semifinals, Nov. 20
Finals, Nov. 21
2K Sports Classic
New York
Nov. 17-18
Michigan, Marquette, Pitt, SMU
Global Sports Classic
Las Vegas
Semifinals, Nov. 25
UNLV vs. TCU
Washington vs. Western Kentucky
Finals, Nov. 26
CBE Classic
Kansas City
Semifinals, Nov. 21
Kansas vs. UAB
Georgia vs. George Washington
Finals, Nov. 22
Hall-of-Fame Tipoff Classic
Uncasville, Conn.
Naismith Bracket Semifinals, Nov. 19
Duke vs. Penn State
Cincinnati vs. Rhode Island
Naismith Bracket Finals, Nov. 20
Men Who Speak Up Main Event
Las Vegas
Nov. 21, 23
BYU, Valpo, Alabama, Saint Louis
Barclays Center Classic
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Semifinals, Nov. 25
Maryland vs. Richmond
Boston College vs. Kansas State
Finals, Nov. 26
Holiday Festival
New York City, N.Y.
Dec. 18
St. John's vs. Penn State
Rutgers vs. Fordham
What's Your Take? The Pros and Cons of NCAA Satellite Football Camps.
Excerpts from Touch The Banner
As the 2016 NCAA football season approaches, we're going to see a lot of new young players. Coaches in the Power Five and other smaller conferences have a variation of opinions on satellite camps. Many like it and many don't. It's a recruiting tool where coaches have to compete for recruits and brings the phrase, "Competition breeds excellence" to fruition. There will be no protected areas or regions of the country where certain conferences have an upper hand in recruitment for young, talented college candidates. Below is a list of Pros and Cons of this recruitment tool and we'd love for you to read them and supply some of yours, if you wish, and share your position with us. Are satellite camps useful and can they help college programs or should it be struck down?
PROS
CONS
Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica position: We have our opinion on this issue and will state it in next week's what's your take? In the meantime, share your thoughts with us. Some of your thoughts and opinions may help change our position on this issue. We look forward to hearing from you and totally respect your opinions. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.
Marion P. Jelks, Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica Editorial Director.
PROS
- Student-athletes have more opportunities to be seen and noticed by college coaches. In Michigan’s case, several under-the-radar prospects earned scholarship offers in 2015, including Kiante Enis, Antwaine Richardson, Victor Viramontes, and Rashad Weaver, all of whom committed to Michigan.
- Student-athletes have more opportunities to interact with role models. The average player who attends the camps does not sign with an FBS program and will rarely, if ever, get the chance to work with luminary coaches and former players like Jim Harbaugh, Tyrone Wheatley, etc. Like a book signing or autograph booth, this was a chance for Joe Schmoe to see how elite coaches/players approach the game and have a good story to tell someday to their friends/kids or around the water cooler.
- Competition breeds innovation. Like the capitalists we are, competition forces teams to think outside the box and improve their products in order to remain relevant. A boring/lame camp will mean nobody wants to come (the following year, at least), so teams would have to think of how to keep players interested and engaged.
- Football programs increase their reach for recruiting and branding. After some down years at Michigan, satellite camps gave a boost of energy and attention in parts of the country that were difficult to reach beforehand. Michigan has made some inroads in the states of Alabama and Florida, for example, that might have otherwise been more difficult to build.
- Players get to learn the great game of football. Jim Harbaugh has repeatedly talked about the importance of learning the game of football, teamwork, determination, etc., and how those lessons apply to the average person’s life.
- Camps bring coaches closer to the players. Rather than families/student-athletes paying to travel across the country or a couple states away, the cost of some of the travel is translated to programs with multi-million dollar budgets.
CONS
- The American Idol Effect. My problem with American Idol and shows like it has always been that if you were meant to be discovered and famous as a singer, someone probably would have discovered you and made you famous already. In the cases of the players mentioned in the first bullet point above, they signed with Indiana, Maryland, Cal, and Pitt, respectively. Those are okay programs, but they’re not Michigan, Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, USC, etc. Those players were ultimately set up for disappointment and negative attention when they didn’t sign with Michigan, and Michigan didn’t come out of it looking so hot, either. Perhaps Michigan gave them the juice to earn those other scholarships, or maybe Indiana, Maryland, Cal, and Pitt would have come calling, anyway. It’s hard to say.
- Unmitigated interactions with players/families leads to shady dealings. Michigan may not be a “dirty” program – though it’s probably naive to think that some Wolverine somewhere doesn’t cross the line – but bringing college teams and all their various personnel to random cities leads to all kinds of opportunities for inappropriate interactions. Parking lots, diners, under the bleachers, etc., there are oodles of places to meet for $500 handshakes and questionable contact. If a coach or a booster wants to give $500 to a player, he can make it happen on campus or elsewhere. But there are compliance officers, athletic department employees, and spying eyes everywhere when players come to campus. That’s not the case in, say, Prattville, Alabama. The NCAA can’t handle the investigations already in its queue, let alone the additional ones that would invariably pop up with 128 teams holding traveling circuses around the country.
- An overabundance of camps. As a high school coach, I see parents/student-athletes who frequently waste their time and money by traveling to and paying for camps around the country. There are players who aren’t even Division II talent who go to NFL players’ camps, National Underclassman Combines, Division III camps, FBS schools’ camps, etc. Parents take days off work, kids work summer jobs to blow money on their entrance fees, gas gets wasted. Meanwhile, if you’re not attending every camp that travels through town but the kid at your rival high school does, then you risk getting overlooked. Additionally, all these camps could potentially take place on school days or during times when students would previously have relaxed and enjoyed summers with their families. And while I realize this borders on the SEC’s take on spring break practice at IMG Academy (“The players need their spring breaks not to play football, but to go get drunk in Florida!”), there is a very real issue with high schoolers getting burned out with the various commitments necessary to play multiple sports, excel in the classroom, and participate in other extracurricular activities for college applications.
- Coaches have lives, too. Maybe this is lowest on the priority list of the cons, because nobody’s worried about the millionaires or hundred-thousandaires who are FBS coaches. But coaching is a high-profile job. Coaches are never off the clock, rarely take vacations, sleep very little, etc. You have to be passionate about the job if you want to keep the job, and the money doesn’t hurt. But even as a high school coach, I never stop working. Whether it’s reading about the game, watching film, recruiting future players, running workouts, going to clinics, keeping an eye on current players, working on fundraisers, etc., it’s not a job you leave at the office. When Michigan ran its satellite camp series last year, the coaches on staff were taken away from their wives and children for almost two weeks. It’s yet another task to add to the job that already consumes coaches 365 days a year. Jim Harbaugh has mentioned before that the only “vacation” he takes each year is to go on a mission trip to Peru each summer. To “keep up with Joneses” coaches would have to set up satellite camps in other parts of the country, taking them away from those families and adding to their work hours. Again, nobody’s going to feel sorry for a guy making a million dollars a year, but that doesn’t account for the guy’s wife and kids.
- They favor the big boys. Michigan, Ohio State, Alabama, USC, etc., have the money to set up camps, travel the country, and do these types of things. I don’t know that San Jose State, Old Dominion, UTSA, and Middle Tennessee State, among others, have the budget to do so. If the NCAA is looking for any semblance of parity, allowing teams with big budgets to hold camps all over the country further separates the high-profile teams from the ones on the lower end of the spectrum.
Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica position: We have our opinion on this issue and will state it in next week's what's your take? In the meantime, share your thoughts with us. Some of your thoughts and opinions may help change our position on this issue. We look forward to hearing from you and totally respect your opinions. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration.
Marion P. Jelks, Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica Editorial Director.
On
emoriesofhistory.com
1754 - The first international boxing match was held. The 25-minute match was won when Jack Slack of Britain knocked out Jean Petit from France.
1874 - Major Walter Copton Winfield of England received a U.S. patent for the lawn-tennis court.
1940 - John Sigmund of St. Louis, MO completed a 292-mile swim down the Mississippi River. The swim from St. Louis to Caruthersville, MO took him 89 hours and 48 minutes.
1983 - Steve Garvey (Los Angeles Dodgers) set the National League consecutive game record at 1,207.
2003 - Bill Mueller (Boston Red Sox) became the first player in major league baseball history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in a game. He had a total of three home runs in the game and collected 9 RBIs. It was only the 12th time that a player hit two grand slams in a single game.
2003 - Marcus Giles (Atlanta Braves) tied a major league record when he went 5-5 to give him hits in nine straight at-bats. The record was shared by 10 players at the time.
1874 - Major Walter Copton Winfield of England received a U.S. patent for the lawn-tennis court.
1940 - John Sigmund of St. Louis, MO completed a 292-mile swim down the Mississippi River. The swim from St. Louis to Caruthersville, MO took him 89 hours and 48 minutes.
1983 - Steve Garvey (Los Angeles Dodgers) set the National League consecutive game record at 1,207.
2003 - Bill Mueller (Boston Red Sox) became the first player in major league baseball history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in a game. He had a total of three home runs in the game and collected 9 RBIs. It was only the 12th time that a player hit two grand slams in a single game.
2003 - Marcus Giles (Atlanta Braves) tied a major league record when he went 5-5 to give him hits in nine straight at-bats. The record was shared by 10 players at the time.
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