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"Sports Quote of the Day"
"If you really want to be world class - to be the best you can be - it comes down to preparation and practice." ~ Robin S. Sharma, Writer and Leadership Speaker
TRENDING: Final Four Preview: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 7 South Carolina, No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 3 Oregon. (See the NCAABKB section for team news and tournament updates).
TRENDING: Columbus Blue Jackets Vs. Chicago Blackhawks, Game Notes, Friday 03/31/2017. (See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates and NHL news).
TRENDING: Bears Chairman George McCaskey sets 2017 demands for Ryan Pace, John Fox. (See the football section for Bears news and NFL updates).
TRENDING: Rumor: Bulls ready to move on from Jimmy Butler this summer. What's Your Take? (See the basketball section for Bulls news and NBA updates).
TRENDING: Cubs finalize Opening Day 25-man roster. The molding of a manager: How Rick Renteria (White Sox) evolved into the man he is today. (See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).
TRENDING: Full schedule for NASCAR Cup, Trucks this weekend at Martinsville. (See the NASCAR section for NASCAR news and racing updates).
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Columbus Blue Jackets Vs. Chicago Blackhawks, Game Notes, Friday 03/31/2017.
By Chicago Blackhawks Media Relations / chicagoblackhawks.com
By Chicago Blackhawks Media Relations / chicagoblackhawks.com
(Photo/zimbio.com)
LAST GAME
The Blackhawks defeated the Penguins 5-1 on Wednesday night at PPG Paints Arena. It marked Chicago's sixth straight victory over Pittsburgh dating back to Jan. 21, 2015; they have outscored the Penguins 20-8 during that stretch. Artemi Panarin, Tanner Kero, Richard Panik, Marcus Kruger and Marian Hossa each recorded goals for Chicago. Corey Crawford made 31 saves and improved to 31-16-3 on the season. Joel Quenneville won his 850th career game (850-485-199); he leads active coaches and ranks second in NHL history in wins.
VS. BLUE JACKETS
The Blackhawks hold a 46-25-2-7 all-time record against Columbus, including a 24-12-1-2 mark at the United Center. Tonight's contest marks the second and final regular-season matchup between the clubs. The Blue Jackets defeated the Blackhawks 3-2 on Oct. 21 in Columbus. Kane paces Chicago with 42 career points (15G, 27A) vs. CBJ.
GO GREEN
Through the their partnership with Constellation, the Blackhawks will host "Go Green Night" at the United Center on Friday in support of the organization's commitment to environmental sustainability. Constellation will supply Green-e Energy Certified Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to match the electricity use during the game with energy generated from environmentally responsible renewable resources minimizing the carbon footprint of the game. The first 10,000 fans to enter tonight's game will receive a Blackhawks jersey tote bag, sponsored by Constellation.
ROAD WARRIORS
Chicago's 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday marked their 24th road win of the season, matching a franchise record set during the 2014-15 campaign. Chicago holds the second-best road record in the NHL. The Blackhawks have won 14 of their previous 18 games away from the United Center. Panarin paces Chicago and shares fifth in the NHL with 38 points (14G, 24A) on the road this year. Patrick Kane ranks eighth in the league with 36 points (14G, 22A).
ONE-TIMERS
Kane recorded two helpers against the Penguins, reaching the 50-assist mark for the fourth time in his career. He is the fourth Blackhawk (Stan Mikita, Denis Savard and Jeremy Roenick) to accomplish the feat. Wednesday marked Kane's 23rd multi-point outing of the year, which shares second in the NHL ... Hossa scored against PIT with his 524th career goal, which ties Bryan Trottier for 34th in league history ... Ryan Hartman recorded an assist. His 30 points this season share fourth among NHL rookies ... Nick Schmaltz collected an assist. He has recorded seven helpers over his last six games.
THREE OPPONENTS TO WATCH
RW Cam Atkinson: Atkinson leads Columbus in points (61), goals (34), game-winning goals (8) and shots on goal (224). He has set career highs in goals, assists, points and power-play points (21) this season. He posted a career-long nine-game point streak (7G, 7A) from Dec. 5-23.
LW Brandon Saad: A former Blackhawk, Saad ranks third on CBJ in points (50), goals (22) and shots on goal (186). During the 2015-16 campaign, he led Columbus and set career highs in goals (31), points (53) and game-winning goals (7). He collected his 100th career CBJ point on March 13 at PHI.
D Zach Werenski: The 2015 first-round pick ranks second on the Blue Jackets in assists (36). He was named NHL Rookie of the Month for November after recording 10 points (3G, 7A) in 13 games. He notched his 40th point on March 10 vs. BUF, setting a franchise record for rookies.
Chicago's 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday marked their 24th road win of the season, matching a franchise record set during the 2014-15 campaign. Chicago holds the second-best road record in the NHL. The Blackhawks have won 14 of their previous 18 games away from the United Center. Panarin paces Chicago and shares fifth in the NHL with 38 points (14G, 24A) on the road this year. Patrick Kane ranks eighth in the league with 36 points (14G, 22A).
ONE-TIMERS
Kane recorded two helpers against the Penguins, reaching the 50-assist mark for the fourth time in his career. He is the fourth Blackhawk (Stan Mikita, Denis Savard and Jeremy Roenick) to accomplish the feat. Wednesday marked Kane's 23rd multi-point outing of the year, which shares second in the NHL ... Hossa scored against PIT with his 524th career goal, which ties Bryan Trottier for 34th in league history ... Ryan Hartman recorded an assist. His 30 points this season share fourth among NHL rookies ... Nick Schmaltz collected an assist. He has recorded seven helpers over his last six games.
THREE OPPONENTS TO WATCH
RW Cam Atkinson: Atkinson leads Columbus in points (61), goals (34), game-winning goals (8) and shots on goal (224). He has set career highs in goals, assists, points and power-play points (21) this season. He posted a career-long nine-game point streak (7G, 7A) from Dec. 5-23.
LW Brandon Saad: A former Blackhawk, Saad ranks third on CBJ in points (50), goals (22) and shots on goal (186). During the 2015-16 campaign, he led Columbus and set career highs in goals (31), points (53) and game-winning goals (7). He collected his 100th career CBJ point on March 13 at PHI.
D Zach Werenski: The 2015 first-round pick ranks second on the Blue Jackets in assists (36). He was named NHL Rookie of the Month for November after recording 10 points (3G, 7A) in 13 games. He notched his 40th point on March 10 vs. BUF, setting a franchise record for rookies.
Big first period paces Blackhawks over Penguins. (Wednesday night's game, 03/29/2017).
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
There are certain trends through which the Blackhawks tend to go sometimes. They can be so-so against teams on the bubble or out of the postseason. But face a playoff-bound team and the Blackhawks usually come with a top-notch game.
Exhibit A on that came on Wednesday.
Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane each had two-point nights, and Marian Hossa scored his 25th of the season as the Blackhawks beat the Penguins 5-1 on Wednesday night. The Blackhawks snapped a three-game winless streak and now have a nine-point lead over the Minnesota Wild in the West.
Corey Crawford stopped 31 of 32 shots and Richard Panik scored his 22nd goal of the season. Bryan Rust had the Penguins' lone goal 5:46 into the third period.
The Blackhawks had played well here and there over the last month but putting it all together has been a challenge. On Wednesday, however, the Blackhawks were looking more like themselves. From slick passes to opportunistic goals to playing the same from start to finish, it was a much-needed effort.
"We did a lot of good things. Great start, nice plays on the goals," coach Joel Quenneville said. "That Tampa Bay game [on Monday] was like that for 30 minutes, but I liked the continuation of today's game. A couple of shifts they had some good momentum but I think we stabilized it, played a safe and smart game with the lead."
The Penguins, much like the Blackhawks, entered this one with 103 points. But while the Blackhawks are missing Artem Anisimov right now, the Penguins are missing several, including Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Trevor Daley. Still, it's the Penguins, and you underestimate them at your own risk. The Blackhawks didn't.
Exhibit A on that came on Wednesday.
Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane each had two-point nights, and Marian Hossa scored his 25th of the season as the Blackhawks beat the Penguins 5-1 on Wednesday night. The Blackhawks snapped a three-game winless streak and now have a nine-point lead over the Minnesota Wild in the West.
Corey Crawford stopped 31 of 32 shots and Richard Panik scored his 22nd goal of the season. Bryan Rust had the Penguins' lone goal 5:46 into the third period.
The Blackhawks had played well here and there over the last month but putting it all together has been a challenge. On Wednesday, however, the Blackhawks were looking more like themselves. From slick passes to opportunistic goals to playing the same from start to finish, it was a much-needed effort.
"We did a lot of good things. Great start, nice plays on the goals," coach Joel Quenneville said. "That Tampa Bay game [on Monday] was like that for 30 minutes, but I liked the continuation of today's game. A couple of shifts they had some good momentum but I think we stabilized it, played a safe and smart game with the lead."
The Penguins, much like the Blackhawks, entered this one with 103 points. But while the Blackhawks are missing Artem Anisimov right now, the Penguins are missing several, including Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Trevor Daley. Still, it's the Penguins, and you underestimate them at your own risk. The Blackhawks didn't.
The Blackhawks got the early lead, then really pounced in the final five-plus minutes of the first period. The Blackhawks got stellar set-up passes from Patrick Kane, Ryan Hartman and Nick Schmaltz and finishes to accompany them. Two of their goals (Marcus Kruger and Hossa) came in the final minute of the first period for that 4-0 lead.
"We knew we wanted to have a good start. Sometimes you have guys in here who can see plays and things open up. A lot of good plays by everyone tonight, a lot of scoring across the board so that was good to see," Kane said. "That's kind of the game we've been hoping for the past few weeks. You get a great start that obviously helps the rest of the game."
The Penguins had the first six shots of the third. But the Blackhawks would score on their first of the period when Tanner Kero, who had another good game at second-line center, took the turnover from Justin Schultz and finished on a breakaway.
This road trip was a mixed bag for the Blackhawks. It started off in forgettable fashion. It ended the way the Blackhawks hoped, with the complete game they've been looking for the past few weeks.
"Really good start," Crawford said. "Obviously we scored a bunch of goals, but I thought our game was even better after that. We had some good kills, [didn't] give them momentum on their power play and it was great game, a full game for us."
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Bears Chairman George McCaskey sets 2017 demands for Ryan Pace, John Fox.
By John Mullin
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
When the 2014 season concluded, with all its drama, poor play and internal dysfunction, Bears Chairman George McCaskey passed along the unvarnished mood of Bears matriarch and owner Virginia McCaskey:
"She's pissed off," George McCaskey declared.
The 2016 season ended worse record-wise (3-13) than 2014 (5-11) but Bears ownership sees arrows pointing up, not down as they appeared after 2014, occasioning the jettisoning of the general manager and coaching staff.
"[Virginia] sees the progress, but like any Bears fan, she wants results," George McCaskey said, chuckling at the recollection of relaying his mother's mood. "That's the quote that won't go away."
"Progress" and "results" are vague terms, and sometimes relative. But Bears ownership is not setting a public fail-safe point for either general manager Ryan Pace or head coach John Fox to remain in place, although no scenario could presumably consider four wins actual "progress" from three.
"We want to continue to see progress, see the building blocks but there isn't any sort of particular threshold," McCaskey confirmed. "We're not on any particular timetable that somebody else is wanting to set for us. We're wanting to see continued progress toward our goal of sustained success."
"Sustained success" is not beyond the scope of possibility, assuming that a talent core can be established and includes a quarterback, which the personnel department under Pace believe it is on the brink of putting in place, whether around Mike Glennon, Mark Sanchez or a player to be drafted or traded for later.
"She's pissed off," George McCaskey declared.
The 2016 season ended worse record-wise (3-13) than 2014 (5-11) but Bears ownership sees arrows pointing up, not down as they appeared after 2014, occasioning the jettisoning of the general manager and coaching staff.
"[Virginia] sees the progress, but like any Bears fan, she wants results," George McCaskey said, chuckling at the recollection of relaying his mother's mood. "That's the quote that won't go away."
"Progress" and "results" are vague terms, and sometimes relative. But Bears ownership is not setting a public fail-safe point for either general manager Ryan Pace or head coach John Fox to remain in place, although no scenario could presumably consider four wins actual "progress" from three.
"We want to continue to see progress, see the building blocks but there isn't any sort of particular threshold," McCaskey confirmed. "We're not on any particular timetable that somebody else is wanting to set for us. We're wanting to see continued progress toward our goal of sustained success."
"Sustained success" is not beyond the scope of possibility, assuming that a talent core can be established and includes a quarterback, which the personnel department under Pace believe it is on the brink of putting in place, whether around Mike Glennon, Mark Sanchez or a player to be drafted or traded for later.
GM Phil Emery adopted the buzz phrase of "multiple championships," but current leadership does sound less grandiose and more grounded. And where Emery drafts proved disastrous, the Pace administration has had clear hits, injuries notwithstanding, as recently as the 2016 class, which McCaskey mentioned in the context of Pace building the roster exactly the way ownership prefers.
"We have confidence in Ryan and John," McCaskey said. "We want to build through the draft. Ryan said that in his interview when he said he was interested in coming to the Bears and we like how he's stuck to that plan. We saw it last year when we had three rookies on the Pro Football Writers of America all-rookie team; Cody Whitehair, Leonard Floyd and Jordan Howard.
"And that's what we need to keep doing; keep building through the draft. I told Ryan he should get ripped this time of year every year for not being more active in free agency and that's because we're developing our own guys and rewarding our own guys."
McCaskey supported the actions, or lack of same, by Pace in the pursuit of max-dollar free agents this offseason. The Bears dropped out of sweepstakes for cornerback Stephon Gilmore and safety Tony Jefferson, among others, when prices spiked far beyond the parameters set by the Pace staff.
"I've been very impressed with [Pace] as a leader, as an evaluator of talent," McCaskey said. "And one of the things I've been most impressed by with him is the discipline he's shown just as recently as this free agency period. He didn't want to overpay guys. Too often, I think, you overpay guys who don't come through for you and then you have a big hole in your salary cap and you're behind the 8-ball. So I like the discipline he has shown, the restraint he has shown in free agency."
Why the Bears finally feel like they're in striking distance of a winning team.
By John Mullin
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Where the relationship between Bears GM Ryan Pace and coach John Fox goes beyond 2017 remains to play out with their third season together. At this point, however, despite a combined total of nine wins over their first two, the critical bond between coach and general manager appears both clear and solid.
Which is no small state of affairs with the growing pressure on both and the organization, pressure that will only intensify if the on-field fortunes of their team does not begin to dramatically reverse. And both know it. Losing doesn't build character, it reveals it, and the same applies to a relationship; if there are cracks, adversity of the kind the Bears have endured the past 32 games will widen and expose them.
That relationship has been the subject of speculation virtually since its inception, when Pace hired Fox following the end of his tenure with the Denver Broncos. Much of it centered around who was in fact making the final decisions on personnel and who was the advisor, with some positing that Fox was in fact the final authority if only because age, seniority and experience. The primacy of Pace, however, has become clearer with each decision and traces or shadings of any fractiousness are conspicuously absent.
"His people skills are tremendous," Fox said Tuesday during the NFL owners meetings. "His evaluation skills are very good. I think humility is always a great quality in this business. And I've seen that. He's the same guy. He hasn't changed. Sometimes people get [elevated] positions, whatever position that may be and they change. It's just how some people react. And I haven't seen that."
Pace, who recently turned 40, is by his own description wanting buy-in on decisions. In the cases of free agency, which have involved the high-dollar commitments designed to have immediate payoff, he has identified pro targets and involved Fox in the decisions.
Looking for an immediate hit at linebacker to upgrade the entire defense about this time last year, Pace targeted Denver leading-tackler Danny Trevathan. Fox was his first consult.
"Just having drafted [Trevathan] and seeing him develop and get better and his work ethic and his preparation and study habits and how he is as a teammate in the locker room," Pace said of what insight Fox provided. "Those were all things that were taken into consideration."
This year, with the max need of improvement, the franchise-grade decision was to make a change at quarterback. Jay Cutler effectively made the decision on himself and he was out. Whether Mike Glennon is or is not an upgrade will play out this year, but Fox was involved in and endorsed the decision to go in a decidedly less-experienced direction.
Pace had attempted in the past to trade for Glennon, which Fox agreed with. Fox had familiarity with Glennon from his time coaching in Carolina.
"I was in North Carolina when [Glennon] was playing [at N.C. State], actually," Fox recalled. "I was exposed to two guys there. A good friend of mine was the head coach at NC State. Both Russell Wilson and Mike Glennon were coming through at that period in time, so I got exposed to them, watching games and kinda following them.
"And obviously evaluating both of them coming out, they were in different schools then. So I had a high opinion of them then. And then really [Glennon] was talked about a little bit before this year as a potential guy to get, and then this year, being free and without any kind of compensation, we dove in pretty good and feel good about it."
Most expectations are that the Bears will not repeat a three-win season, and that an improvement from the first two years keeps both Pace and Fox in their jobs. Key players (Trevathan, Eddie Goldman, Kyle Long, Kevin White) returning from injuries, free-agency upgrades on both sides of the ball and a draft class currently with two picks in the first 36 point to perhaps the kind of turnaround Fox has produced (in years two) at Carolina and Denver.
Fox did not dwell on what the roster was or wasn't when he arrived, or on how much of an overhaul Pace needed to do when he took over from Phil Emery and brought in Fox to replace Marc Trestman. But the reality was there.
"Going back to a lot of the changes, we've had a lot of change," Fox said. "I think we're better for it. Unfortunately, you can't walk around with your chest out about that because of our record the last two years. But I have total confidence and [Pace] has done an outstanding job and will continue to.
"I understand you have to win. And I finally feel like we're in striking distance."
Hub Arkush: New additions on offense for Chicago Bears give John Fox encouragement for 2017.
By Hub Akrush
(AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Going into the second year of a complete rebuild of a Chicago Bears team that had hit rock-bottom under his predecessors, John Fox was cursed by his own previous successes after taking a 7-9 Carolina team to 11-5 and the Super Bowl in his second season, and an 8-8 Broncos team to 13-3 in Year Two in Denver.
What happened to his 2016 Bears?
“Obviously there are always things that in hindsight you would change ... really at the end of the day, it’s kind of been what I thought it would be," Fox said. "But I kind of still feel really positive and encouraged for where we’re headed. I just saw it happening a little bit faster.”
Relaxing with a small group of media at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix, Fox was ready to talk about why he thinks his club will be better in 2017.
“At the quarterback position, the decision-making is critical," Fox said. "In Mike’s (Glennon) case, he’s been steady, he’s been consistent, he just hasn’t had a lot of opportunity. But everybody that I’ve known that’s been around him both in college football and pro football, people that I respect and know pretty well feel really good about him moving forward.”
Fox believes experience, just having another year under their belts, will be a big plus for his young Bears, too.
“With all of us, I think Year One with any job you do, there’s a learning curve, an adjustment. People talk about the rookie wall," he said. "Basically you’re going from training for the mile your whole career and now you’re going to the two-mile and you haven’t experienced it yet. There is a wall there.
“When you play a 12- or 13-game schedule (in college) and now you go to a 20-to-24-game schedule, it’s a big leap."
While it is fair to be excited about the 2016 rookie class, it is equally fair to point out every member of the Bears' 2015 rookie group – Kevin White, Eddie Goldman, Hroniss Grasu, Jeremy Langford, Adrian Amos and Tayo Fabuluje – took steps sideways or backwards in Year Two.
I asked Fox if he could start anywhere he wants what’s the one area he’d most like to add competition to this season?
Fox thinks Ryan Pace has given him a head start there in free agency. Markus Wheaton is a guy he’s excited about.
“Well I think some of that explosiveness I'm talking about he has," Fox said of Wheaton. “He did mostly slot work two years ago. He was a guy we had good grades on coming out and he was a good value for what we think his ability is."
Fox also likes his new tight end, Dion Sims.
“A guy that nobody has really talked about much is a guy like Dion Sims at tight end," Fox said. "... A guy who can block, a guy athletic enough and has good enough hands to be a threat in the passing game.”
Fox also thinks his offensive line is on schedule.
“A stat we keep is yards after contact for our backs and people with the ball, but we also keep track of yards before contact," he said. “I think we were second in the league in that, so our O-line has improved.”
This much is clear with Fox, he comes across as very genuine in his beliefs about where the team is at, he’s not a guy just defending his own resume.
The question is can he survive another year of small if steady steps forward, or does he need to win now if he wants to see this project through?
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... LeBron, reigning-champion Cavs no match for power of #TNTBulls in near-expected Bulls win.
By Vincent Goodwill
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Very few things are certain in this topsy-turvy unpredictable Bulls season, but the stage was set for something oh-so-inevitable, as soon as the schedule was announced eight months ago.
A Thursday night game in Chicago, in March, on national television.
It didn't matter that it was the defending-champion Cleveland Cavaliers coming into the United Center, saying all the right things about needing to get themselves right with a handful of games left in the regular season.
Thursday night on Madison.
On TNT.
With Nikola Mirotic.
Check, check, check.
The Bulls completed an improbable season sweep of the Cavaliers with a 99-93 win, pulling themselves to within a game of the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat for a playoff spot.
Mirotic continued his torrid month, hitting six triples and scoring 28 in 38 minutes, as many of his points were assisted from the capable hands of Rajon Rondo, who had a season-high 15 assists.
And as has been the recent formula in wins, just enough work was done early so Jimmy Butler could have the ball in his hands late and enough energy to put together a decent fourth quarter without being dog tired, scoring 10 of his 25 in the final quarter.
A quick spurt to start the final stanza, where Butler hit a corner 3, intercepted a LeBron James pass and then hit a mid-range jumper, pushed the Bulls lead to 88-78 at a time when the reigning champions were expected to get serious about things.
The Cavaliers certainly didn't look like a team playing with championship intensity or attention to detail and couldn't muster up the urgency the Bulls have to play with for the next two weeks.
Rondo led the brigade, baiting the Cavaliers into needless fouls, careless mistakes and an overall indifference for long stretches. And the Bulls took advantage in the second half while waiting for the inevitable James explosion that actually never occurred.
James finished with 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists but missed a critical 3-pointer that could've pulled the Cavs to a workable margin with less than a minute left.
James dominated a stretch to start the second quarter, beginning with a detonating dunk on a helpless Joffrey Lauvergne, following it up with two more dunks and pushing the Cavaliers' lead to 10.
Not to be outdone on the defensive end, he darted out in the passing lane to intercept a needless Denzel Valentine pass and had a chase-down block on Michael Carter-Williams that was reminiscent of so many in his younger days — except it's hard to tell the difference between a younger James and this version.
His 1-for-7 night from 3-point range was the only demerit on an otherwise sterling performance on a night that called for more from his co-stars.
Kevin Love was in foul trouble in the second half, picking up his fifth on the first possession of the fourth and then fouling out within moments of re-entering, fouling Butler on what turned out to be a three-point play opportunity.
Rondo hounded Kyrie Irving to a 7-for-20 night and disrupted the Cavs' offense just enough with deflections and tips, as the champions turned it over 15 times and shot 45 percent from the field.
Rondo was also the catalyst for a third-quarter explosion that turned the game around, as the Bulls outscored the Cavaliers 37-21 in the third, with Rondo dishing out eight assists and the Bulls hitting five triples in the period.
It's only one game, but for a night Bulls fans could say they expected this win, for once.
After all, it's Thursday night on Madison.
Rumor: Bulls ready to move on from Jimmy Butler this summer. What's Your Take?
By Kurt Helin
(Photo/nbcsports.com)
Predicting what the Chicago Bulls front office will do this summer is a game of roulette — the ball can land anywhere and it wouldn’t be a surprise. Is Dwyane Wade coming back? Is Nikola Mirotic part of the future? Fred Hoiberg? What kind of team are the Bulls trying to build, anyway?
Then there is the biggest one: Is Jimmy Butler still part of the long-term plan? Or is he going to be moved to facilitate a rebuilding process?
Last summer when the Bulls had the chance to trade him, they kept Butler to build around him… then made some interesting choices in trying to do that. They didn’t get enough shooting, players didn’t fit well, and others didn’t develop, and the Bulls are struggling to even make the postseason.
So what do the Bulls do this summer? One exec told Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer that the Bulls were going to move Butler.
Then there is the biggest one: Is Jimmy Butler still part of the long-term plan? Or is he going to be moved to facilitate a rebuilding process?
Last summer when the Bulls had the chance to trade him, they kept Butler to build around him… then made some interesting choices in trying to do that. They didn’t get enough shooting, players didn’t fit well, and others didn’t develop, and the Bulls are struggling to even make the postseason.
So what do the Bulls do this summer? One exec told Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer that the Bulls were going to move Butler.
“Paul George and Jimmy Butler were involved in trade rumors at the deadline, and all indications are that those conversations will resume this offseason. One front-office source told me recently that Butler is “as good as gone,” while George sounds like a player who wants out.”
Paul George wanting to contend (or if not, be in Los Angeles) is not news, but whether the Pacers decide to be serious about trading him this summer depends on a number of factors that we’re not going to get into here. This article is about Butler.
Do the Bulls want to trade Butler? Some in the front office do, some don’t. There were reports the Bulls wanted an All-Star level player for him so the team did not take a step back, but nobody was giving that up. Everyone in Chicago from ownership through management is not on the same page, which helps explain some of the stop-gap team building moves by the team. Chicago needs to decide if it wants to go for the full rebuild, which is what happens if they trade Butler. The playoffs are out of the questions for a few years if they do, but that’s not a bad thing if they draft well and commit to the plan. However, there is a sense that ownership thinks “this is Chicago, we don’t rebuild.”
All of which is to say, if the Bulls trade Butler it’s not a huge surprise. If they keep him, it’s not a huge surprise. But other teams — hello Boston — may be prepping for him to come back on the trade market around the draft.
Do the Bulls want to trade Butler? Some in the front office do, some don’t. There were reports the Bulls wanted an All-Star level player for him so the team did not take a step back, but nobody was giving that up. Everyone in Chicago from ownership through management is not on the same page, which helps explain some of the stop-gap team building moves by the team. Chicago needs to decide if it wants to go for the full rebuild, which is what happens if they trade Butler. The playoffs are out of the questions for a few years if they do, but that’s not a bad thing if they draft well and commit to the plan. However, there is a sense that ownership thinks “this is Chicago, we don’t rebuild.”
All of which is to say, if the Bulls trade Butler it’s not a huge surprise. If they keep him, it’s not a huge surprise. But other teams — hello Boston — may be prepping for him to come back on the trade market around the draft.
Chicago Sports & Travel Inc./AllsportsAmerica Take: Every time I see a story about the Bulls and the latest rumors that are swirling, I just get frustrated. Whether the rumors are true or not remains to be seen. The reason for my frustration is because the Bulls front office and coaching staff does not have a clue as to what they're doing. They've drafted some decent young talent and they've brought in a fine young man as the head coach but it's so obvious that no one currently on the Bulls coaching staff has a clue as to how to develop young talent. For some reason, the players do not seem to be buying into the program. There is too much inconsistency. They can get up to beat the good teams but constantly play down to the level of worse teams and consistently lose. I don't understand and it's evident that the front office and coaching staff can't either nor can they correct it. It's often said that a fish rots from the head down, so is the problem coming from the front office? Something's wrong, this has been going on for a couple of years now and there's no call or reason for it.
It's time that changes are made in the front office. None of their plans seem to be working. The ownership should give Paxton and Foreman two years to get into the playoffs or relieve them of their duties. Hopefully, they can sneak in this year but I don't see it. I know my frustration is getting the best of me but desperate times call for desperate measures. The city and the fans need the Bulls to be the once proud, dominant team they once were; it just enhances the city's pride. The Blackhawks and Cubs have made the transition, the Bears and Fire are acquiring young talent and are in the middle of their transition, so now it's the Bulls turn. Stop trying to put a team together by patchwork and build a team from the ground up. I think the world of Fred Hoiberg as a person but you need a coach that the players can respect, fear and desire to play for at the same time. I don't sense that with the Bulls. Something needs to be done and something needs to be done now!!!!!
This is just my opinion and I'm sticking to it. You've heard my thoughts, I'd love to know, what's your take? Please take a moment and go to the comment section at the bottom of this blog and share your opinion(s) with me.
I love hearing from you and I'm thanking you in advance for your time, consideration and frank response.
Marion P. Jelks, Chicago Sports & Travel Inc./AllsportsAmerica Editorial Director.
CUBS: Cubs finalize Opening Day 25-man roster.
By Tony Andracki
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Matt Szczur or Tommy La Stella on the Cubs Opening Day roster?
How about both?
Theo Epstein told reporters Wednesday morning the Cubs plan to keep both Szczur and La Stella on the Opening Day 25-man roster with relief pitcher Brian Duensing headed to the disabled list.
Duensing, 34, has been hampered by a back issue this spring.
Szczur is out of minor-league options, meaning the Cubs would have had to either keep him on the 25-man roster or place him on waivers, which would almost assuredly mean they'd lose him to another team.
La Stella has options left and already told manager Joe Maddon this spring he would head down to the minors if asked (something La Stella was unwilling to do in August last year when he refused assignment).
The move makes the most sense for the Cubs, as the need for eight relief pitchers is not as imperative in April when the team has five off-days in the first month of the season.
Of course, the Cubs still have four days left of exhibition action, but assuming nothing else changes, here's how the Cubs roster will look Opening Night in St. Louis Sunday:
Catchers
Willson Contreras
Miguel Montero
Infielders
Anthony Rizzo
Ben Zobrist
Javy Baez
Addison Russell
Kris Bryant
Tommy La Stella
Outfielders
Jason Heyward
Albert Almora
Jon Jay
Kyle Schwarber
Matt Szczur
Starting pitchers
Jon Lester
Jake Arrieta
John Lackey
Brett Anderson
Kyle Hendricks
Relief pitchers
Mike Montgomery
Justin Grimm
Carl Edwards Jr.
Pedro Strop
Hector Rondon
Koji Uehara
Wade Davis
The Cubs figure to eventually make room for Duensing on the roster as the bullpen could use another left-handed pitcher, but those decisions often take care of themselves with either health problems or trade options, etc.
Remember, there is a 10-day disabled list this year in the MLB, so placing a guy on the DL doesn't guarantee losing him for more than two weeks anymore.
On paper, have Cubs put together a better roster than last year's World Series team?
How about both?
Theo Epstein told reporters Wednesday morning the Cubs plan to keep both Szczur and La Stella on the Opening Day 25-man roster with relief pitcher Brian Duensing headed to the disabled list.
Duensing, 34, has been hampered by a back issue this spring.
Szczur is out of minor-league options, meaning the Cubs would have had to either keep him on the 25-man roster or place him on waivers, which would almost assuredly mean they'd lose him to another team.
La Stella has options left and already told manager Joe Maddon this spring he would head down to the minors if asked (something La Stella was unwilling to do in August last year when he refused assignment).
The move makes the most sense for the Cubs, as the need for eight relief pitchers is not as imperative in April when the team has five off-days in the first month of the season.
Of course, the Cubs still have four days left of exhibition action, but assuming nothing else changes, here's how the Cubs roster will look Opening Night in St. Louis Sunday:
Catchers
Willson Contreras
Miguel Montero
Infielders
Anthony Rizzo
Ben Zobrist
Javy Baez
Addison Russell
Kris Bryant
Tommy La Stella
Outfielders
Jason Heyward
Albert Almora
Jon Jay
Kyle Schwarber
Matt Szczur
Starting pitchers
Jon Lester
Jake Arrieta
John Lackey
Brett Anderson
Kyle Hendricks
Relief pitchers
Mike Montgomery
Justin Grimm
Carl Edwards Jr.
Pedro Strop
Hector Rondon
Koji Uehara
Wade Davis
The Cubs figure to eventually make room for Duensing on the roster as the bullpen could use another left-handed pitcher, but those decisions often take care of themselves with either health problems or trade options, etc.
Remember, there is a 10-day disabled list this year in the MLB, so placing a guy on the DL doesn't guarantee losing him for more than two weeks anymore.
On paper, have Cubs put together a better roster than last year's World Series team?
By Patrick Mooney
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
One minute into the media scrum outside the West Wing, a Washington reporter asked Theo Epstein if this season would be considered a disappointment if the Cubs don't win the World Series.
"Oof, I hadn't thought too much about 2017 yet today," Epstein said after President Barack Obama's final official White House event. "But, yeah, I mean, that's our goal. I think the organization has come such a long way and we have this talented young core. We're clearly in a very competitive phase where I think if we do our jobs, we could be as good, if not better, than any team in baseball.
"So if you're going to compete, you set your sights for the world championship. It doesn't always work out that way. But we see it as our jobs to do everything we can to be back at the White House next year."
Whether or not Epstein would actually go through with a Donald Trump photo op is a different story. But with the Cubs signaling their Opening Night roster – keeping outfielder Matt Szczur and infielder Tommy La Stella while lefty reliever Brian Duensing begins the season on the disabled list – you could make the case that the team breaking camp on Wednesday looks better on paper than last year's World Series winner.
"This is a crazy talented group," All-Star closer Wade Davis said. "There's 10 or 12 players on this team that are some of the best players in baseball."
That doesn't mean the Cubs will develop the same chemistry or sense of purpose, but this team is completely used to the national spotlight, hanging out with celebrity fans and being followed around like rock stars on the road.
Epstein compared this camp in Arizona with what the Boston Red Sox faced after ending the 86-year drought.
"I will never forget in '05 spring training, we had 5,000 people the first day, 3,000 fans every day," Epstein said. "I was expecting it to be as nuts. But it's been refreshingly normal, reflecting the personality of our players, taking everything in stride."
This doesn't mean the Cubs will stay as healthy as they did last year, when the projected rotation made 152 starts combined. But four-fifths of that group returns with Brett Anderson – given his natural ability, pitching IQ and extensive medical file – appearing to have a higher ceiling and lower floor than Jason Hammel.
As Anderson said: "It's not too often that you have a salty veteran with multiple rings (John Lackey) in front of you and a guy (Kyle Hendricks) that led the league in ERA behind you."
The 2016 Cubs won 103 games and scored 800-plus runs: without Kyle Schwarber contributing a single hit during the regular season; and with Jason Heyward finishing with a .631 OPS (or 103 points below the league average).
Manager Joe Maddon said Geek Department projections have this lineup generating even more offense with Schwarber as the new leadoff guy (even with a brace on his left leg), continued growth from young players like Addison Russell and Willson Contreras and Heyward not being one of the worst hitters in the majors.
The Cubs are also counting on a full season from Davis, instead of a half-season rental like Aroldis Chapman. Where last year's Opening Night bullpen featured three guys who would get DFA'd or traded by midseason (Neil Ramirez, Clayton Richard, Adam Warren), this version features three guys who've already notched the final out in a World Series (Davis, Koji Uehara, Mike Montgomery).
"All the additions are wonderful complements to what this team was already," Schwarber said. "Upgrades. It's going to be really cool to see how it all plays out this season with more guys getting another year of experience under their belt."
Ian Happ raising his profile and hitting around .400 in the Cactus League should help his trade value if the Cubs need to deal for pitching at the trade deadline. The combination of Albert Almora Jr. and Jon Jay in center field should be an improvement over Dexter Fowler for a team that led the majors in defensive efficiency last year.
As someone with fresh eyes – and the perspective from being on Los Angeles Dodgers teams that won back-to-back National League West titles – Anderson hasn't see any signs of complacency.
"Not at all," Anderson said. "The young guys are still hungry. And the handful of guys that weren't here last year makes you that much more hungry and itchy to get back where they were last year.
"It's a really good mix – if not a perfect mix – of young guys, veteran guys and a couple fresh faces that are eager to get back to what these guys accomplished last year."
Cubs: Ben Zobrist's path back to October and a possible three-peat.
"Oof, I hadn't thought too much about 2017 yet today," Epstein said after President Barack Obama's final official White House event. "But, yeah, I mean, that's our goal. I think the organization has come such a long way and we have this talented young core. We're clearly in a very competitive phase where I think if we do our jobs, we could be as good, if not better, than any team in baseball.
"So if you're going to compete, you set your sights for the world championship. It doesn't always work out that way. But we see it as our jobs to do everything we can to be back at the White House next year."
Whether or not Epstein would actually go through with a Donald Trump photo op is a different story. But with the Cubs signaling their Opening Night roster – keeping outfielder Matt Szczur and infielder Tommy La Stella while lefty reliever Brian Duensing begins the season on the disabled list – you could make the case that the team breaking camp on Wednesday looks better on paper than last year's World Series winner.
"This is a crazy talented group," All-Star closer Wade Davis said. "There's 10 or 12 players on this team that are some of the best players in baseball."
That doesn't mean the Cubs will develop the same chemistry or sense of purpose, but this team is completely used to the national spotlight, hanging out with celebrity fans and being followed around like rock stars on the road.
Epstein compared this camp in Arizona with what the Boston Red Sox faced after ending the 86-year drought.
"I will never forget in '05 spring training, we had 5,000 people the first day, 3,000 fans every day," Epstein said. "I was expecting it to be as nuts. But it's been refreshingly normal, reflecting the personality of our players, taking everything in stride."
This doesn't mean the Cubs will stay as healthy as they did last year, when the projected rotation made 152 starts combined. But four-fifths of that group returns with Brett Anderson – given his natural ability, pitching IQ and extensive medical file – appearing to have a higher ceiling and lower floor than Jason Hammel.
As Anderson said: "It's not too often that you have a salty veteran with multiple rings (John Lackey) in front of you and a guy (Kyle Hendricks) that led the league in ERA behind you."
The 2016 Cubs won 103 games and scored 800-plus runs: without Kyle Schwarber contributing a single hit during the regular season; and with Jason Heyward finishing with a .631 OPS (or 103 points below the league average).
Manager Joe Maddon said Geek Department projections have this lineup generating even more offense with Schwarber as the new leadoff guy (even with a brace on his left leg), continued growth from young players like Addison Russell and Willson Contreras and Heyward not being one of the worst hitters in the majors.
The Cubs are also counting on a full season from Davis, instead of a half-season rental like Aroldis Chapman. Where last year's Opening Night bullpen featured three guys who would get DFA'd or traded by midseason (Neil Ramirez, Clayton Richard, Adam Warren), this version features three guys who've already notched the final out in a World Series (Davis, Koji Uehara, Mike Montgomery).
"All the additions are wonderful complements to what this team was already," Schwarber said. "Upgrades. It's going to be really cool to see how it all plays out this season with more guys getting another year of experience under their belt."
Ian Happ raising his profile and hitting around .400 in the Cactus League should help his trade value if the Cubs need to deal for pitching at the trade deadline. The combination of Albert Almora Jr. and Jon Jay in center field should be an improvement over Dexter Fowler for a team that led the majors in defensive efficiency last year.
As someone with fresh eyes – and the perspective from being on Los Angeles Dodgers teams that won back-to-back National League West titles – Anderson hasn't see any signs of complacency.
"Not at all," Anderson said. "The young guys are still hungry. And the handful of guys that weren't here last year makes you that much more hungry and itchy to get back where they were last year.
"It's a really good mix – if not a perfect mix – of young guys, veteran guys and a couple fresh faces that are eager to get back to what these guys accomplished last year."
Cubs: Ben Zobrist's path back to October and a possible three-peat.
By Patrick Mooney
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Ben Zobrist is focused on a personal three-peat, not worrying about a changing of the guard or any awkward moments with Javier Baez. Cubs manager Joe Maddon has repeatedly said that Zobrist will be the primary second baseman and another "Javy Being Javy" highlight reel from the World Baseball Classic won't change that thinking right now.
Zobrist sees the big picture better than almost anyone else in the clubhouse after going undrafted out of Eureka High School in downstate Illinois, perfecting the super-utility role Maddon envisioned with the Tampa Bay Rays and helping transform the 2015 Kansas City Royals into World Series champions.
While Baez started all 17 playoff games at second base last year, bursting onto the scene as the National League Championship co-MVP, Zobrist became the World Series MVP with his clutch hitting and still has three seasons left on his $56 million contract.
Maddon didn't spare anyone's feelings during the playoffs, turning $184 million outfielder Jason Heyward into a part-time player, giving a quick hook to major-league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks and shunning relievers not named Aroldis Chapman.
"We haven't had an extended conversation about it," Zobrist said. "But at the beginning of spring, we talked about it. I think his words were: ‘I really think rest is the next improvement in player performance.' Learning what rest means, what good rest is for players and what kind of rest certain players need versus others.
"That doesn't necessarily mean just because you're 35. It could mean you're 25 and you still got to take care of yourself and make sure you're getting the proper rest. Because we have such a deep team, he's able to do that at any given point in time and still feel confident about the team we have on the field.
"It's a good problem to have when you have really good players not playing and sitting on the bench. We had that all last year and we had guys accept their role and just buy into the team concept.
"The makeup of this team is the same, basically. We've got a few new guys and they've got the same mindset, so I anticipate more of the same."
Injuries are one variable that prevents Maddon from getting too stressed out about dividing the playing time over 162 games while the NCAA tournament is still going. Zobrist's stiff neck felt good enough to hit leadoff and play right field in Tuesday afternoon's 10-7 loss to the San Francisco Giants, seeing his first Cactus League action since March 19.
Zobrist plans to play again on Wednesday in Mesa and catch up with more at-bats on the minor-league side of the complex. Assuming Zobrist and All-Star shortstop Addison Russell (stiff back) are ready for Opening Night, Baez will be an NLCS MVP, all-WBC talent waiting for the right matchup or break in the schedule or to sub in as a defensive replacement.
"It's pretty impressive, looking around at the young talent in this clubhouse," Zobrist said. "All throughout spring training, we've seen there's definitely other talent coming, so this team is poised to have a good, long run of success. If everybody stays healthy and we stay together, this is a very good team.
"The biggest thing that I go into the season with this year is we have to be healthy and we have to make sure that we don't relax too much. That's the temptation for teams that just won, to go: OK, well, we're tired, because we had a long season last year and you kind of just assume things are going to go as well as they did.
"You can't assume anything. No matter how good this team is, we have to still go out and execute and perform – and that's going to determine where we are in the standings."
In real time, as the Cubs experienced their lowest moments during last year's regular season, Zobrist correctly pointed out the exhaustion factor while the team played 24 days in a row, losing 15 of their last 21 games before the All-Star break.
What looks like overwhelming depth on paper should help the 2017 Cubs survive and advance into October.
"It's huge," Zobrist said. "It's up and down the lineup on offense. It's all throughout the pitching staff and on the defensive side. It's so deep that you can absorb a little bit of injury here and there.
"With that being said, there are certain guys that you just don't want to lose. So we got to protect everybody. We got to protect our horses – both on the mound and in the lineup – and just make sure that we have our key cogs in there. And if we do, we're as good, if not better, than anybody out there."
WHITE SOX: The molding of a manager: How Rick Renteria evolved into the man he is today.
By Dan Hayes
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Rick Renteria made such a lasting impression on John Boles 33 years ago that the former major league manager has kept Renteria in mind for job openings ever since.
Boles first noticed Renteria when their teams faced each other in the minors. Renteria was playing second base for Double-A Nashua, while Boles was coaching third base for the Glen Falls White Sox.
From Renteria's maturity to his leadership and attention to detail, Boles knew almost immediately that Renteria would one day make a good coach.
Boles believed in Renteria so much that nearly a decade later, he signed him to two minor-league playing contracts. And when Renteria retired, Boles reached out again, vowing to offer a coaching position every year until Renteria accepted — even as he repeatedly declined the offers.
With Renteria now the White Sox manager, Boles has the satisfaction of knowing that the organization he grew up rooting for and the one where he began a 33-year career is in great hands.
"I had it in my calendar," Boles recently said by phone. "I circled the date. This is ‘Call Rick Renteria Day.' I would have offered him any minor league position we had open, I was so sure that he was qualified to develop people.
"I watched this guy. He stood out. I watched his workouts. I watched his batting practice and his infield work. And I saw how he carried himself, how he wore his uniform, how hard he played and I always remembered him."
Renteria's high-energy morning meetings this spring have similarly distinguished themselves.
Bursts of laughter and rounds of applause have emanated from the big league clubhouse every day since mid-February. The sessions last anywhere from 15-60 minutes and feature a blend of entertainment and education.
About half of the gatherings have featured team-building exercises where unfamiliar teammates might be asked to act out a skit together, offer a fishing lesson or do a wild impersonation of their favorite WWE wrestler. An even bigger portion of each session is dedicated to reviewing the previous day's game — what went right and what went wrong — and what the staff expects players to accomplish in their workouts or games.
Veteran Todd Frazier said the meetings have provided the levity necessary to break up a lengthy spring schedule while also including an invaluable education.
"Fun, serious, indifferent," Frazier said of the meetings. "If guys get sent down, they're going to say ‘This is fun. This is where I want to be.'"
This is exactly what general manager Rick Hahn had in mind when he, chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and executive vice president Kenny Williams determined the White Sox would embark on their first rebuild since 1997.
With the team headed for a youth movement, Hahn wants an emphasis placed on player development. If the White Sox intended to load up on talented prospects, they need a staff centered on teaching to properly hone those players' skills.
One of Renteria's strengths is player development. He has eight seasons experience as a minor league manager and another with the Cubs in 2014.
Hahn knew of Renteria's reputation as a "baseball rat" and hoped to hire him right after the Cubs hired Joe Maddon. The White Sox reached out to Renteria during the 2014 winter meetings but he declined.
"Ricky was probably on a list somewhere in every front office throughout baseball," Hahn said. "He was known as a great teacher, great communicator, high-energy guy."
It was only after he took over as the White Sox bench coach last season that Hahn learned about Renteria's attention to detail and preparation.
The team's familiarity combined with Renteria's sterling reputation had Hahn convinced he wouldn't find a better candidate to take over as the team's 40th manager. Hahn quickly hired Renteria the day after last season ended.
Several months later, the White Sox are extremely pleased with the atmosphere Renteria has created within the clubhouse.
"It's one of the best teaching environments I've ever been in," Williams said. "The way this coaching staff, the way Ricky has brought them together and used it as an opportunity to get back to basics of how we want to play fundamentally, but have fun with it as well … this is one of the best environments I've been in the sport."
The work ethic and attention to detail that Boles immediately noticed in 1984 dates back to Renteria's childhood.
As a 9-year-old, Renteria spent weekends selling shoes to help his family, who had moved to Compton, Calif. from Guadalajara, Mexico in the late 1950s. Two of Renteria's older brothers worked at Thomas McAn shoes and were able to purchase several hundred pairs in bulk.
Renteria's father, Salvador, then received permission to have his son sell the shoes in front of the store where he worked as a cashier.
Nearly every weekend, Rick Renteria sat near the entrance of Duran's Market in the back of his parents' green late 1960s Dodge Monaco selling shoes for $1 per pair.
Renteria said he never saw a reason to complain because he figured it wouldn't have changed anything. Each of his four older brothers (Renteria is the fifth of nine children and the first born in the United States) always held down jobs. And every summer, Renteria's father found time for him to play baseball, including a trip to the Mickey Mantle World Series in Sherman, Texas when Renteria was 13.
"You were always working," Renteria said. "My dad was always working. My brothers have always worked. It's just a natural progression."
The work ethic and determination naturally carried over to Renteria's playing career.
The Pirates used the 20th overall pick of the 1984 amateur draft to select Renteria out of South Gate High School in South Gate, Calif. Even though Renteria wasn't a physical specimen, he was a notable player in a system that also included Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla. Williams said Renteria likes to downplay how talented a player he was.
"He could hit, run, field and was a fierce competitor," Williams said. "Always hustling."
Renteria made his major league debut in 1986 and appeared in 10 games for the Pirates. That December, he was traded to Seattle and Renteria played 43 games over 1987-88 for the Mariners.
Two years later, a practice mishap threatened to end the 28-year-old's career early. Playing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Philadelphia), Renteria was struck in the face by a line drive during batting practice. He suffered a broken left jaw and underwent two surgeries. He had plates and screws inserted in his jaw and chin during those procedures and was forced to sleep sitting up in a recliner for the next year.
Renteria tried to return later in that 1990 season but, "every time I took a swing, it just rung my face," he said.
Renteria played for Jalisco in the Mexican League in 1991 and was named the player of the year after hitting .442. He also won the award in 1985, 1992 and 1996. In August 1991, Boles signed Renteria to play for Montreal's Double-A Indianapolis club. But after 20 games, Renteria didn't think he had much of a shot to reach the majors and asked for his release. Though Boles didn't want to, he granted Renteria his release.
"Even then he says, ‘We're going to be in touch in the future,' " Renteria said. "I didn't think too much about it."
Renteria played for Jalisco again in 1992 and was two days away from heading down for a third straight season in 1993 when Boles called and asked if he wanted to sign a minor league deal with the expansion Florida Marlins.
Though it didn't include an invite to big league camp, Boles thought he could get Renteria into a few major league exhibitions and that he'd eventually win a job.
Renteria signed the deal. A few weeks into camp, Boles called and asked Renteria if wanted to play in the major league game only to be rebuffed.
"I was so excited," Boles said. "I called him into the big league office and said, ‘Hey, you're going to go play in a big league game today' and he said, ‘No thanks, I'm not ready.' That was the first time and the only time in my career than anybody ever said that to me.
"I went home that night and I told my wife, ‘I've got a first for you.'"
Boles made the same offer a few days later. After they shared a laugh, Renteria accepted. Renteria performed well enough that spring to earn a big league spot and accrued 342 plate appearances with the Marlins as a super utility man/pinch hitter between 1993-94.
"I just wanted to show everybody I could still do it," Renteria said. "I know there was concerns. It was a long journey. There was a lot of things in between. So getting back and I ended up staying a couple more years — I don't know if it was an affirmation or a validation. But just to be able to come back at the major league level was significant for me."
The players' strike of 1994 effectively ended Renteria's career. But he wasn't ready to retire and in 1996, he played for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos.
Though he wouldn't ever again reach the big leagues as a player, Boles thought that Renteria had the potential to do so as a coach and began to call him with offers.
"He was extremely intelligent, hard working, great personality, compassionate, organized, detailed," Boles said. "He checked every box you're looking for in a young manager."
When it was clear that his playing career had ended, Renteria decided it was time to go home. Boles hoped to lure him into coaching, but Renteria intended to help his wife, Ilene, raise their four children in Temecula, Calif.
So when Boles called in October 1995 to ask if he had any interest in coaching, Renteria declined.
"We've just continued to stay in touch through the years," Renteria said. "I always would reach out when something significant would happen. I'd make sure I gave him a call and just said hello."
Boles recalls that he wasn't taking no for an answer. He informed Renteria he would call every October to ask again. Meanwhile, Renteria looked to find a steady work. He started with a Life Agent license in 1995 and then learned how to be an electrical worker before he settled on construction in 1997.
"I was looking for a job," Renteria said. "I was trying to stay home. It was simply so I could stay home and be with my family."
Construction looked like it would be a viable option until Renteria needed surgery in 1997 to have the top of his left thumb sewn back on by doctors after an accident. It wasn't long after that Boles called again.
"The phone rang and I remember looking at Ilene and going, ‘It's time,'" Renteria said.
He first managed in the Florida Gulf Coast league in 1998 and after he led Single-A Kane County to a 78-59 mark in 1999, Renteria was named the Midwest League manager of the year.
Renteria spent two more seasons in the Marlins system. After a year off in 2002, he returned to coaching in 2003 at Single-A Lake Elsinore in the San Diego Padres system. He managed Lake Elsinore from 2004-06, which allowed him to coach at home (Lake Elsinore and Temecula are 17 miles apart).
Renteria took over at the Padres' Triple-A Portland club in 2007 before he was named the big league first-base coach in 2008. During six seasons in the majors, Renteria furthered his reputation as a hands-on, upbeat, hard-working coach centered in player development. He was credited with helping develop Rule 5 draftee Everth Cabrera from an inexperienced rookie to an All-Star in 2013.
"When (Renteria) attaches his name to something, it's the most important thing," said Cubs scout Terry Kennedy, who managed in the Padres' system from 2008-12. "When he gives his commitment to it, it's going to be 100 percent — all of his being, all of his effort.
"It's in his DNA, his being, his marrow and it's not that fake hustle to prove 'I have value.' It's who he is. He wants to put in quality and leave quality."
Promoted to Padres bench coach in 2011, Renteria's stock rose so much that the Cubs made him their manager in 2014. GM Jed Hoyer and assistant GM Jason McLeod wanted Renteria to develop their young core of prospects. Though dismissed in favor of Maddon after the 2014 season, Renteria was credited with aiding the development of Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo, among others.
Renteria said he quickly moved on from the Cubs and didn't sulk or wonder if he'd ever receive another chance to manager in the majors.
"It wasn't something I was consumed with," Renteria said. "I believed that at some point if it was going to happen, it was going to happen. But you can't force it. You can't force any of these positions.
"But I don't think I've ever lived my life too consumed with, 'Man, I hope this happens again.' It's kind of difficult to live your life that way."
A year later, Renteria took over as Robin Ventura's bench coach with the White Sox. He impressed Hahn so much in 2016 that Renteria was the easy choice to replace Ventura.
Now retired, Boles is pleased to see Renteria running the White Sox rebuild.
Born in Chicago, Boles grew up a huge White Sox fan. He went with his father to Midway Airport to greet the 1959 American League pennant winning club home after it clinched in Cleveland. Boles — who managed the Marlins in 1996 and from 1999-2001 — spent his first five seasons as a manager in the White Sox farm system.
Though he lives in Florida, Boles still feels very close to the White Sox. And he wouldn't have any one but Renteria in charge.
"I said, 'I'm going to keep calling until you say yes,'" Boles said. "Really I felt so strongly that we needed him in our organization, and that baseball as an industry needed people like Rick, that I wouldn't have retired until he said yes."
Boles first noticed Renteria when their teams faced each other in the minors. Renteria was playing second base for Double-A Nashua, while Boles was coaching third base for the Glen Falls White Sox.
From Renteria's maturity to his leadership and attention to detail, Boles knew almost immediately that Renteria would one day make a good coach.
Boles believed in Renteria so much that nearly a decade later, he signed him to two minor-league playing contracts. And when Renteria retired, Boles reached out again, vowing to offer a coaching position every year until Renteria accepted — even as he repeatedly declined the offers.
With Renteria now the White Sox manager, Boles has the satisfaction of knowing that the organization he grew up rooting for and the one where he began a 33-year career is in great hands.
"I had it in my calendar," Boles recently said by phone. "I circled the date. This is ‘Call Rick Renteria Day.' I would have offered him any minor league position we had open, I was so sure that he was qualified to develop people.
"I watched this guy. He stood out. I watched his workouts. I watched his batting practice and his infield work. And I saw how he carried himself, how he wore his uniform, how hard he played and I always remembered him."
Renteria's high-energy morning meetings this spring have similarly distinguished themselves.
Bursts of laughter and rounds of applause have emanated from the big league clubhouse every day since mid-February. The sessions last anywhere from 15-60 minutes and feature a blend of entertainment and education.
About half of the gatherings have featured team-building exercises where unfamiliar teammates might be asked to act out a skit together, offer a fishing lesson or do a wild impersonation of their favorite WWE wrestler. An even bigger portion of each session is dedicated to reviewing the previous day's game — what went right and what went wrong — and what the staff expects players to accomplish in their workouts or games.
Veteran Todd Frazier said the meetings have provided the levity necessary to break up a lengthy spring schedule while also including an invaluable education.
"Fun, serious, indifferent," Frazier said of the meetings. "If guys get sent down, they're going to say ‘This is fun. This is where I want to be.'"
This is exactly what general manager Rick Hahn had in mind when he, chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and executive vice president Kenny Williams determined the White Sox would embark on their first rebuild since 1997.
With the team headed for a youth movement, Hahn wants an emphasis placed on player development. If the White Sox intended to load up on talented prospects, they need a staff centered on teaching to properly hone those players' skills.
One of Renteria's strengths is player development. He has eight seasons experience as a minor league manager and another with the Cubs in 2014.
Hahn knew of Renteria's reputation as a "baseball rat" and hoped to hire him right after the Cubs hired Joe Maddon. The White Sox reached out to Renteria during the 2014 winter meetings but he declined.
"Ricky was probably on a list somewhere in every front office throughout baseball," Hahn said. "He was known as a great teacher, great communicator, high-energy guy."
It was only after he took over as the White Sox bench coach last season that Hahn learned about Renteria's attention to detail and preparation.
The team's familiarity combined with Renteria's sterling reputation had Hahn convinced he wouldn't find a better candidate to take over as the team's 40th manager. Hahn quickly hired Renteria the day after last season ended.
Several months later, the White Sox are extremely pleased with the atmosphere Renteria has created within the clubhouse.
"It's one of the best teaching environments I've ever been in," Williams said. "The way this coaching staff, the way Ricky has brought them together and used it as an opportunity to get back to basics of how we want to play fundamentally, but have fun with it as well … this is one of the best environments I've been in the sport."
The work ethic and attention to detail that Boles immediately noticed in 1984 dates back to Renteria's childhood.
As a 9-year-old, Renteria spent weekends selling shoes to help his family, who had moved to Compton, Calif. from Guadalajara, Mexico in the late 1950s. Two of Renteria's older brothers worked at Thomas McAn shoes and were able to purchase several hundred pairs in bulk.
Renteria's father, Salvador, then received permission to have his son sell the shoes in front of the store where he worked as a cashier.
Nearly every weekend, Rick Renteria sat near the entrance of Duran's Market in the back of his parents' green late 1960s Dodge Monaco selling shoes for $1 per pair.
Renteria said he never saw a reason to complain because he figured it wouldn't have changed anything. Each of his four older brothers (Renteria is the fifth of nine children and the first born in the United States) always held down jobs. And every summer, Renteria's father found time for him to play baseball, including a trip to the Mickey Mantle World Series in Sherman, Texas when Renteria was 13.
"You were always working," Renteria said. "My dad was always working. My brothers have always worked. It's just a natural progression."
The work ethic and determination naturally carried over to Renteria's playing career.
The Pirates used the 20th overall pick of the 1984 amateur draft to select Renteria out of South Gate High School in South Gate, Calif. Even though Renteria wasn't a physical specimen, he was a notable player in a system that also included Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla. Williams said Renteria likes to downplay how talented a player he was.
"He could hit, run, field and was a fierce competitor," Williams said. "Always hustling."
Renteria made his major league debut in 1986 and appeared in 10 games for the Pirates. That December, he was traded to Seattle and Renteria played 43 games over 1987-88 for the Mariners.
Two years later, a practice mishap threatened to end the 28-year-old's career early. Playing for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Philadelphia), Renteria was struck in the face by a line drive during batting practice. He suffered a broken left jaw and underwent two surgeries. He had plates and screws inserted in his jaw and chin during those procedures and was forced to sleep sitting up in a recliner for the next year.
Renteria tried to return later in that 1990 season but, "every time I took a swing, it just rung my face," he said.
Renteria played for Jalisco in the Mexican League in 1991 and was named the player of the year after hitting .442. He also won the award in 1985, 1992 and 1996. In August 1991, Boles signed Renteria to play for Montreal's Double-A Indianapolis club. But after 20 games, Renteria didn't think he had much of a shot to reach the majors and asked for his release. Though Boles didn't want to, he granted Renteria his release.
"Even then he says, ‘We're going to be in touch in the future,' " Renteria said. "I didn't think too much about it."
Renteria played for Jalisco again in 1992 and was two days away from heading down for a third straight season in 1993 when Boles called and asked if he wanted to sign a minor league deal with the expansion Florida Marlins.
Though it didn't include an invite to big league camp, Boles thought he could get Renteria into a few major league exhibitions and that he'd eventually win a job.
Renteria signed the deal. A few weeks into camp, Boles called and asked Renteria if wanted to play in the major league game only to be rebuffed.
"I was so excited," Boles said. "I called him into the big league office and said, ‘Hey, you're going to go play in a big league game today' and he said, ‘No thanks, I'm not ready.' That was the first time and the only time in my career than anybody ever said that to me.
"I went home that night and I told my wife, ‘I've got a first for you.'"
Boles made the same offer a few days later. After they shared a laugh, Renteria accepted. Renteria performed well enough that spring to earn a big league spot and accrued 342 plate appearances with the Marlins as a super utility man/pinch hitter between 1993-94.
"I just wanted to show everybody I could still do it," Renteria said. "I know there was concerns. It was a long journey. There was a lot of things in between. So getting back and I ended up staying a couple more years — I don't know if it was an affirmation or a validation. But just to be able to come back at the major league level was significant for me."
The players' strike of 1994 effectively ended Renteria's career. But he wasn't ready to retire and in 1996, he played for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos.
Though he wouldn't ever again reach the big leagues as a player, Boles thought that Renteria had the potential to do so as a coach and began to call him with offers.
"He was extremely intelligent, hard working, great personality, compassionate, organized, detailed," Boles said. "He checked every box you're looking for in a young manager."
When it was clear that his playing career had ended, Renteria decided it was time to go home. Boles hoped to lure him into coaching, but Renteria intended to help his wife, Ilene, raise their four children in Temecula, Calif.
So when Boles called in October 1995 to ask if he had any interest in coaching, Renteria declined.
"We've just continued to stay in touch through the years," Renteria said. "I always would reach out when something significant would happen. I'd make sure I gave him a call and just said hello."
Boles recalls that he wasn't taking no for an answer. He informed Renteria he would call every October to ask again. Meanwhile, Renteria looked to find a steady work. He started with a Life Agent license in 1995 and then learned how to be an electrical worker before he settled on construction in 1997.
"I was looking for a job," Renteria said. "I was trying to stay home. It was simply so I could stay home and be with my family."
Construction looked like it would be a viable option until Renteria needed surgery in 1997 to have the top of his left thumb sewn back on by doctors after an accident. It wasn't long after that Boles called again.
"The phone rang and I remember looking at Ilene and going, ‘It's time,'" Renteria said.
He first managed in the Florida Gulf Coast league in 1998 and after he led Single-A Kane County to a 78-59 mark in 1999, Renteria was named the Midwest League manager of the year.
Renteria spent two more seasons in the Marlins system. After a year off in 2002, he returned to coaching in 2003 at Single-A Lake Elsinore in the San Diego Padres system. He managed Lake Elsinore from 2004-06, which allowed him to coach at home (Lake Elsinore and Temecula are 17 miles apart).
Renteria took over at the Padres' Triple-A Portland club in 2007 before he was named the big league first-base coach in 2008. During six seasons in the majors, Renteria furthered his reputation as a hands-on, upbeat, hard-working coach centered in player development. He was credited with helping develop Rule 5 draftee Everth Cabrera from an inexperienced rookie to an All-Star in 2013.
"When (Renteria) attaches his name to something, it's the most important thing," said Cubs scout Terry Kennedy, who managed in the Padres' system from 2008-12. "When he gives his commitment to it, it's going to be 100 percent — all of his being, all of his effort.
"It's in his DNA, his being, his marrow and it's not that fake hustle to prove 'I have value.' It's who he is. He wants to put in quality and leave quality."
Promoted to Padres bench coach in 2011, Renteria's stock rose so much that the Cubs made him their manager in 2014. GM Jed Hoyer and assistant GM Jason McLeod wanted Renteria to develop their young core of prospects. Though dismissed in favor of Maddon after the 2014 season, Renteria was credited with aiding the development of Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo, among others.
Renteria said he quickly moved on from the Cubs and didn't sulk or wonder if he'd ever receive another chance to manager in the majors.
"It wasn't something I was consumed with," Renteria said. "I believed that at some point if it was going to happen, it was going to happen. But you can't force it. You can't force any of these positions.
"But I don't think I've ever lived my life too consumed with, 'Man, I hope this happens again.' It's kind of difficult to live your life that way."
A year later, Renteria took over as Robin Ventura's bench coach with the White Sox. He impressed Hahn so much in 2016 that Renteria was the easy choice to replace Ventura.
Now retired, Boles is pleased to see Renteria running the White Sox rebuild.
Born in Chicago, Boles grew up a huge White Sox fan. He went with his father to Midway Airport to greet the 1959 American League pennant winning club home after it clinched in Cleveland. Boles — who managed the Marlins in 1996 and from 1999-2001 — spent his first five seasons as a manager in the White Sox farm system.
Though he lives in Florida, Boles still feels very close to the White Sox. And he wouldn't have any one but Renteria in charge.
"I said, 'I'm going to keep calling until you say yes,'" Boles said. "Really I felt so strongly that we needed him in our organization, and that baseball as an industry needed people like Rick, that I wouldn't have retired until he said yes."
White Sox reward Jacob May with starting job after all-out performance.
By Dan Hayes
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The White Sox completed a deal on Tuesday that sent Bourjos to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash considerations or a player to be named later.
The move not only assures May that he'll be on the Opening Day roster, but the White Sox prospect should see significant playing time with Bourjos out of the picture. Manager Rick Renteria said May's all-out play this spring earned him the opportunity to play at least five days a week. May went 2-for-4 with a run for the White Sox in a 7-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium on Tuesday.
"I don't think it does us any good to bring up a young person like that and just sit him," Renteria said. "He would have to be a person that's going to end up playing a significant amount of time in center field.
"Jacob really ran with (the opportunity) a little bit. Defended really, really well, had some good at-bats."
A third-round pick out of Coastal Carolina in 2013, May has a strong baseball bloodline. His grandfather Lee May blasted 354 home runs in an 18-year career and his great uncle Carlos May was a two-time All-Star for the White Sox. May received congratulations from both on Tuesday morning.
But Jacob May entered camp below Charlie Tilson and Bourjos in the pecking order. Tilson was expected to get the first shot to be the starter until he experienced setbacks in his rehab, which opened the door for May. May said he used his underdog status as motivation and dazzled the White Sox with an array of nice catches and plus speed on the bases. A switch hitter, May entered Tuesday's contest hitting .339/.361/.525 with six extra-base hits and four steals in 61 plate appearances.
"I had nothing to lose," May said. "Honestly I came into this spring feeling personally as a darkhorse in this whole thing. Not someone that is really talked about a lot, which is fine with me. I don't really care about that stuff. It gave me a little chip on my shoulder. People didn't expect too much from me. I know the organization knows what I'm capable of doing, which is all that really matters."
May's performance made the White Sox comfortable enough to move Bourjos. He said initially heard from friends and family after word of the Bourjos deal spread late Monday night. But May didn't officially find out until he was pulled into Renteria's office on Tuesday morning and was informed of his new status.
Though May said the news is bittersweet because Bourjos mentored him this spring and became a friend, he couldn't help but smile.
"It's still kind of a little bit of mixed feelings," May said. "He's one of your friends and a teammate...
"I mean, my whole life I've been dreaming about this. Since I was a little kid, I've been around locker room and around players. It's a little surreal."
White Sox pitching staff nearly complete with prospect Zack Burdi headed to Triple-A.
By Dan Hayes
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
With Zack Burdi headed for the minors, the White Sox 12-man pitching staff is all but set.
The Opening Day roster won't be finalized until Sunday and the White Sox hypothetically could find an attractive candidate to claim off the waiver wire over the weekend. But barring that, it looks as if veteran Anthony Swarzak and second-year reliever Michael Ynoa have made the team after Burdi said Wednesday morning that he'd start the season at Triple-A Charlotte.
The No. 7 prospect in the organization, according to MLBPipeline.com, Burdi finished the spring with a 6.75 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 12 innings. Burdi finished his Cactus League on a high note with three strikeouts over an inning on Tuesday, including one of Kansas City four-time All-Star catcher Salvador Perez.
"Man, it's been crazy," Burdi said. "Coming in and being the young guy in the locker room and then just progressing and showing a little bit more (comfort) around the guys and the veterans and then just being able to pick their brains and go out every day and try to progress. You get to the innings and you are facing guys you've watched your last 10 years of your life. It has been crazy and definitely something I won't forget."
Burdi lasted the longest this spring out of the cache of highly-touted prospects the White Sox brought to big league camp. Prior to escaping a first-and-third, one-out jam Tuesday, Burdi looked like he would allow a run in a third straight game after a hot start to camp (he only allowed a run in one of his first 10 appearances). But Burdi battled back and struck out Perez on three pitches, one of two straight strikeouts to strand both runners.
Pitching coach Don Cooper has been impressed by Burdi throughout the spring. But he also wants to see the Louisville product continue to work on command in the minors.
"You can't not see his stuff," Cooper said. "Everybody gets excited when you see 99, 100, 101. But whether you throw it 101 or 83 like [Mark] Buehrle you have to throw it to the glove with command, change speeds and all that stuff. But he's a big part of our future going forward. He's one of the names."
Burdi said he plans to operate like he has already spring and not pay attention to any of the hype. Though he'd like to play in the majors, Burdi is excited to play alongside the likes of Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Carson Fulmer in Charlotte.
"Once you get a feel for all this stuff and you feel how cool it is to be in the locker room with all these guys and play with them, of course you want to get back up here," Burdi said. "But at the same time, a lot of my really good friends are on Charlotte and I couldn't be more excited to go down there and play with them and make the most of the season down there."
Golf: I got a club for that..... SHO 'nuff: Fowler gathering steam on way to Augusta.
By Will Gray
(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)
Weeks ago, Rickie Fowler carefully crafted a plan.
Every player constructs their own path leading into the year’s first major, an annual attempt to sharpen the game but not overextend the body.
For Fowler, it was important to play in the first Arnold Palmer Invitational since the death of the tournament’s namesake. But he refuses to play four weeks in a row, especially with the Masters on the back end of that stretch.
That left a choice among the two-week swing in Texas, where he opted for an unconventional approach. Fowler skipped the guaranteed payday and world ranking points offered last week at the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, choosing instead to make his final prep start at the Shell Houston Open.
So far, so good.
Fowler breezed through his opening round at the Golf Club of Houston, firing an 8-under 64 that was three clear of the next best score from the morning wave.
Fowler broke through for a much-needed victory last month at the Honda Classic, and he hasn’t slowed since. He tied for 16th in Mexico, finished 12th at Bay Hill and hasn’t been outside the top 20 since Torrey Pines. At a spot on the calendar when momentum becomes a highly-sought commodity, Fowler appears to be carrying more than his fair share.
“It’s definitely been trending and building this way. I felt very good the last few months,” Fowler said. “It’s been great. I’ve had a lot of confidence in the swing and the game. Kind of continue to tighten up.”
Fowler regularly plays his way into the Masters, and he has gathered up positive vibes in Houston before. He tied for 10th here last year, and notably finished T-6 in 2014 before starting his run of four straight top-5 finishes in the majors.
Even with a quick glance at Fowler, the confidence is apparent. He walked with purpose throughout the round, then laughed after it about his duties Thursday night throwing out the first pitch at a Houston Astros’ exhibition game.
Things are sure to tighten up a bit once he takes that trip down Magnolia Lane, but for now Fowler continues on an upward ascent that has been weeks in the making.
“He’s playing some good golf,” said Phil Mickelson. “It’s great to see because he’s such a talented player and, more than that, he has such an appeal to the public. To see him play well is a real asset to the game.”
Fowler spent last week far away from Austin Country Club, opting instead for some “down time” with friends. But he was quickly back to work this week at nearby Lochinvar Golf Club, practicing under the watchful eye of swing coach Butch Harmon alongside fellow Harmon disciple Jimmy Walker.
It’s a similar routine to the one that preceded his victory at PGA National, and one he hopes leads to another trophy in a few days.
“Really when you get that kind of one-on-one time, especially going out and playing on a golf course and just kind of going through and trying to simulate actual tournament rounds, it’s very beneficial,” Fowler said. “Very happy that we’re able to do that, and nice to kind of see that pay off with the start today.”
But it’s not just that Fowler has been able to wear his familiar grin while dropping birdie after birdie. The key to his recent stretch, and one he continued Thursday, is his ability to avoid trouble.
Fowler was bogey-free during his opening 64, and dating back to the third round at the Waste Management Phoenix Open he has now gone without a blemish in five of his last 15 competitive rounds.
“Just trying to stay away from making mistakes and getting in bad positions, because water is definitely in play on a lot of holes,” Fowler said. “That’s where I felt like my caddie, Joe (Skovron), and I did a good job of managing our way around.”
Even with a victory here, Fowler likely won’t crack the upper echelon of favorites to slip on a green jacket in 10 days’ time. But as he continues to rack up circles while steering clear of the squares, it’s evident that the itinerary he put into place last month is already paying dividends.
He has three more days to build upon that burgeoning momentum before heading east for the ultimate litmus test.
“I like playing my way into majors,” he said. “Just playing and going through the process and getting ready, makes things a lot easier when you go to tee it up Thursday next week.”
2017 Masters preview: 10 players to watch at Augusta.
By Geoff Shackelford
No. 1, Jordan Spieth
OWGR: 6
Best Masters finish: 1 (2015)
Last three Masters: T-2, 1, 2
This year: Picture of consistency, with a win and four top-10s on the West Coast swing.
Why he could win: Has tightened up his ballstriking, which is bad news for peers. Plus he has the same putter that led to two major titles in 2015.
Holding him back: Bad luck with the draw? Looming thoughts about his disastrous play at No. 12 last year? Both seem unlikely.
No. 2, Dustin Johnson
OWGR: 1
Best Masters finish: T-4 (2016)
Last three Masters: T-4, T-6, MC
This year: Took over top spot in world and has won three times. Might be peaking at the right time.
Why he could win: Led the Masters in putting last year with a sizzling 26.5 putts per round. Ability to overpower the course gives him a chance to lap the field someday.
Holding him back: Steady decline in greens in regulation stats at Augusta National.
No. 3, Hidecki Matsuyama
OWGR: 4
Best Masters finish: 5 (2015)
Last three Masters: T-7, 5, MC
This year: Three wins and two seconds on the PGA Tour since October.
Why he could win: Possesses all the tools to win at ANGC, where he played twice as an amateur. Closed with a 66 Sunday last year and has putted well there in all but his 2014 missed cut. Doesn’t seem fazed by the pressure that comes with being Japan’s great hope. Improvement in driving distance this year bodes well, as does his ability to consistently contend and rack up titles.
Holding him back: Finished T-7 last year despite so-so driving accuracy and distance compared to his normal game.
No.4, Rory McIlroy
OWGR: 2
Best Masters finish: 4 (2015)
Last three Masters: T-10, 4, T-8
This year: A rib injury curtailed plans for an ambitious pre-Masters schedule, potentially adding pressure to finally break through at Augusta National.
Why he could win: Power, confidence, maturity and desire to join the career Grand Slam club. When the course is rain-softened, few other players can still overpower the lengthened ANGC like McIlroy.
Holding him back: His bad days are bad. In ’14 and ’16 Masters, posted 77s to fall out of the hunt. Putting also needs improvement: After ranking fifth in his debut, never has ranked better than 27th.
No. 5, Rickie Fowler
OWGR: 9
Best Masters finish: T-5 (2014)
Last three Masters: MC, T-12, T-5
This year: Big win at Honda Classic along with top-6s his first five starts. The win vaulted him up the list of favorites despite some loose final-round shots at PGA National.
Why he could win: Past performance suggests he will continue strong putting at Augusta, where he has twice led the field in putting – he holds an edge over everyone in field but Spieth.
Holding him back: Shocking MC last year when coming in as hot as he is this season. Needs to improve fairly mediocre driving at Augusta.
No. 6, Justin Rose
OWGR: 13
Best Masters finish: T-2 (2015)
Last three Masters: T-10, T-2, T-14
This year: Knocking on the door with several strong showings. The 2016 Olympic Gold medalist has paced himself nicely and shown no signs of diminished ballstriking.
Why he could win: Veteran has plenty of solid Augusta memories, appears to be trending in the right direction and has local knowledge to finally don the green jacket.
Holding him back: The putter. While early season driving hasn’t been his best, Rose’s success here will come down to how he deals with the greens and avoids a big number such as last year’s second-round 77.
No. 7, Henrik Stenson
OWGR: 5
Best Masters finish: T-14 (2014)
Last three Masters: T-24, T-19, T-14
This year: Consistent 2016 has continued into early 2017 European Tour play, highlighted by a second in Dubai. He finished seventh at the Valspar before missing the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Why he could win: The British Open Champion (in spectacular fashion) has always driven well at Augusta and has improved his approach play over the past five years. Appears to be getting better and steadier with age.
Holding him back: Has posted some shockingly high numbers at ANGC, including three rounds in the 80s. Also needs to sort out struggles on the greens for a long-overdue contending role.
No. 8, Adam Scott
OWGR: 7
Best Masters finish: 1 (2013)
Last three Masters: T-42, T-38, T-14
This year: Top-15 machine in the fall, and early 2017 starts suggest Scott has come back sharp from off-season break. Early putting was strong, while the rest of short game has not been so hot.
Why he could win: Ballstriking prowess, power and extreme comfort makes him dangerous at Augusta every year. Raw emotions appear to have subsided after anchoring ban.
Holding him back: Putting is the key for Scott on a course where he has driven the ball consistently long and accurately in his 15 starts. Will he miss his long putter at Augusta National?
No. 9, Phil Mickelson
OWGR: 19
Best Masters finish: 1 (2004, 2006, 2010)
Last three Masters: T-2, MC, T-16
This year: Coming off of two sports hernia surgeries in the offseason, he has finished in the top 10 of both his starts this month.
Why he could win: Three-time champion is 46, and just as expectations were low in 1986 for Jack Nicklaus at the same age, there might be reduced pressure on Lefty. His power and short game remain as strong as ever. Last year’s runner-up and a heartbreaking loss in British Open show he still gets up for majors.
Holding him back: Normally impeccable iron player has struggled this year. Must fix that to contend given his tendency to hit a lot of greens at Augusta National, including last year when he hit 70.8 percent. Having not recorded a win since 2013 has to be bothering him, too.
No. 10, Thomas Pieters
OWGR: 34
Best Masters finish: First time
This year: Had a T-2 in his season debut at Riviera, where he won the 2012 NCAA Individual title. He added an impressive 5th-place finish at the WGC-Mexico event before missing the cut at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Suffered post-Ryder Cup fatigue but says his batteries are recharged.
Why he could win: 2016’s breakout star was fourth in the Olympics, stole Ryder Cup show with a 4-0 record and has a game that screams future Masters winner. Like Danny Willett last year, the 25-year-old Belgian is trending as this year’s sleeper pick from Europe. His steady old soul may make up for lack of local knowledge on a course that rewards a more conservative approach than many rookies realize.
Holding him back: Lack of experience.
Wie (68) back in attack mode with driver at ANA.
By Randall Mell
(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)
Michelle Wie is in attack mode.
With driver in hand, she played aggressively Thursday at the ANA Inspiration, opening with a 4-under-par 68 that left her one shot off the lead when play was suspended due to high winds in the afternoon.
“I’m hitting a lot more drivers than I have in the past, and it feels good,” Wie said.
Wie hit just six of 14 fairways, but it didn’t really matter. She played a nice game of bomb and gouge. Even when she missed fairways, she attacked, hitting 14 greens in regulation.
Wie averaged 295.5 yards per drive in the first round, fifth among the morning wave.
Swing coach David Leadbetter loved it.
“When Michelle was young, the driver was her key club,” Leadbetter said. “She loved hitting it, but over time she got a little negative with it as she got in trouble with it.
“This shows her inner confidence coming back.”
Wie has found a dependable swing, where she’s comfortable hitting baby fades hard.
“It’s all part of her playing more aggressively, rather than defensively,” Leadbetter said.
Three years ago, when Wie lost a final-round duel to Lexi Thompson at the ANA, she played conservatively, hitting a lot of 3-woods for position. Thompson won hitting driver just about everywhere, bombing and gouging her way around the Dinah Shore Course.
Wie’s new putting stroke continues to deliver. She needed just 26 putts in the first round. She holed a 35-footer for birdie at the 17th.
“I see the swagger starting to come back,” Leadbetter said. “We would like to see the swagger on the greens. She’s rolling it good.”
Wie’s using what Leadbetter calls a “modified claw” approach. Wie, who abandoned her “tabletop” stance after missing the cut in the season opener, is putting with an upright stance, where she puts her right hand on the club as if she’s going to use the Sergio Garcia-style claw grip, but then switches her hand back to a conventional grip just before making the stroke, leaving her elbows wide, as if she’s still using the claw. Leadbetter says it’s a “Reverse Sergio,” with Wie using a claw stance and claw stroke without the actual claw grip.
At year’s start, Wie made some big changes, with Nike getting out of the equipment business. She signed with Callaway, and she has been raving after nearly every round now about the Epic driver being a game changer for her.
NASCAR: Full schedule for NASCAR Cup, Trucks this weekend at Martinsville.
By Jerry Bonkowski
The three-race West Coast Swing is over and NASCAR returns back east for this weekend’s racing action at Martinsville Speedway.
The half-mile, paper clip-shaped oval celebrates its 70th year of operation this weekend. Martinsville is the oldest track on the NASCAR circuit, opening in 1947.
The NASCAR Cup Series will hold the STP 500 on Sunday. The Xfinity Series is off this weekend, while the Xfinity Camping World Truck Series races for the first time in nearly a month, since March 4 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Here’s this weekend’s NASCAR schedule with TV and radio information.
All times are Eastern.
Friday, March 31
9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Cup garage open
11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. – Cup first practice (Fox Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)
11:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Truck garage open
1 – 1:55 p.m. – Truck first practice (FS1)
3 – 3:55 p.m. – Truck final practice (FS1)
4:35 p.m. – Cup qualifying (multi-vehicle, three-round) (FS1, MRN)
Saturday, April 1
7:30 a.m. – Truck garage open
8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. – Cup garage open
10 – 10:55 p.m. – Cup second practice (FS1, MRN)
11:05 a.m. – Truck qualifying (multi-vehicle/three rounds) (FS1)
1:15 p.m. – Truck driver/crew chief meeting
1:30 p.m. – Cup final practice (FS1, MRN)
2:30 p.m. – Truck driver introductions
3 p.m. – Alpha Energy Solutions 250 Truck race (250 laps, 131.5 miles) (Fox, MRN, Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio)
Sunday, April 2
8:30 a.m. – Cup garage open
12 p.m. – Cup driver/crew chief meeting
1:20 p.m. – Cup driver introductions
2 p.m. – STP 500 NASCAR Cup race (500 laps, 263 miles) (FS1, MRN, Sirius/XM NASCAR Radio)
Upon Further Review: Team executives look ahead to key stretch of races.
By Dustin Long
(Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
As NASCAR Cup teams head to Martinsville Speedway for Sunday’s race, so begins a new series of challenges.
After an opening five-race stretch that had Cup teams racing at a restrictor-plate track, two 1.5-mile tracks, a 2-mile track and a 1-mile track, NASCAR teams enter a new phase of the schedule.
Three of the next five races are at short tracks (Martinsville, Bristol and Richmond). Teams also will go to Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile track that has been repaved and reconfigured. There wasn’t enough time for any testing, so teams will arrive uncertain of what they’ll face. The last track in this five-race stretch is the restrictor-plate track at Talladega.
Because the tracks are so different from the first five, what happened in the opening five races will have little impact on what happens in the next five.
Also what happens in this upcoming stretch is important because Martinsville, Texas and Talladega are among the tracks in the playoffs.
This week, NBC Sports talked to Cup team executives. They were asked to assess their organization’s start to the season earlier this week. Today, they explain what they’ll be focused on during this upcoming five-race stretch.
CHIP GANASSI RACING
Kyle Larson — Averages 48 points & 14 stage points per race
Jamie McMurray — Averages 32.4 points & 12.4 stage points per race
Team Manager Tony Lunders: “I’m actually looking forward and am actually excited to get to Martinsville this weekend. I think we’re going to be really strong there. I feel like Jamie is one of the top guys at Martinsville, and I felt like in the last two or three years he’s had great runs. He’s had a pole up there. Kyle, that wasn’t one of his favorite places to go, but he’s figured out over the last year or so to get around there a lot better and have more speed. I think both teams could very well go up there and win.
“Texas is going to be a little different for us. that will be a good test for the crew chiefs and engineering group to unload there and get the gaps, get the heights right on the car early and not try to use too much up practice-wise and tire-wise trying to dial it in. That will show some of the strength of our tools and our people back at the shop. At Bristol, I feel is a place both of our guys and teams run very well at. I would say that about everywhere.’’
FURNITURE ROW RACING
Martin Truex Jr. — Averages 41 points & 10.6 stage points per race
Erik Jones — Averages 23.2 points & 3.2 stage points per race
Team President Joe Garrone: “We have history with Martin, so on the 78 car I’m really looking at good races at these places and continuing to get more speed out of the cars as we learn more about the ’18 Camry. On the side of Erik, it’s going to be interesting to see how he does at Martinsville. We have no idea. I don’t know that he does, to be honest with you. What I can tell you is that he’s got a lot of smart people around him that are willing to help him as much as they can to understand what he might need to do and what to expect.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how we go through that stretch in particular with Erik. Martin, man, you’ve just got to love him. I truly feel we can go to any of these races and win.
“It feels that the field has certainly tightened up from last year in the competitiveness of all the cars. Everything has got to be dead on to win. I just feel real confident with Martin in that area right now.’’
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS
Chase Elliott — Averages 42.8 points & 12.6 stage points per race
Jimmie Johnson — Averages 21.8 points & 3.6 stage points per race
Dale Earnhardt Jr. — Averages 18.2 points & 2.4 stage points per race
Kasey Kahne — Averages 24.4 points & 0 stage points per race
General Manager Doug Duchardt: “We start to get into some of these tracks that the (playoffs) are run on. There’s a huge unknown with Texas. I think a key from my perspective, and I say this a lot, is that the season is a marathon. You have to stay within the week-to-week grind of the season and focus on the next week. Things are going to change. The NASCAR garage changes. Rules can change. Competition, whose good now and who is going to be good in three or four weeks, it can change quickly. You just have to stay focused on working together, working to get the cars and engines better and minimizing mistakes when you run the race. Typically that’s going to get you success.
“In the next five races, the one that is going to be the wildcard for sure is Texas. It will be interesting for the fans. Hopefully, we can optimize our tools and figure it out quickly and have success there. Martinsville has always been good for us. Bristol hasn’t been as good recently. Talladega is Talladega. I feel good about how our cars ran in Daytona, but Daytona and Talladega, interestingly, sometimes are two different places. We’ll see how it goes there. What I do feel real good about, I feel like our four teams are working very well together. Our four drivers are as close as I ever remember. They’ve been having fun together and working hard together.’’
JOE GIBBS RACING
Kyle Busch — Averages 27.2 points & 7.2 stage points per race
Denny Hamlin — Averages 24.6 points & 2.2 stage points per race
Daniel Suarez — Averages 20.4 points & 0 stage points per race
Matt Kenseth — Averages 14.6 points & 0.4 stage points per race
Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Jimmy Makar: “Martinsville is its own animal. Really nothing we’ve been to will apply to that. … I’m feeling like we should be able to be more competitive at Martinsville, even at Bristol and Richmond.
“I feel good about going into these races right now while we’re working on our mile-and-a-half (package), our higher speed tracks and the aero and chassis package.
“Who knows what (Texas) is going to be. You won’t know until you get there. I feel good about all those other races coming. Even Talladega. I felt like at Daytona we had good strong race cars, things didn’t pan out for us.’’
RICHARD CHILDRESS RACING
Ryan Newman — Averages 24.6 points & 3.8 stage points per race
Austin Dillon — Averages 18.4 points & 1 stage point per race
Paul Menard — Averages 17.4 points & 0 stage points per race
Director of Competition Dr. Eric Warren: “I felt like our Martinsville program went reasonably well last year. Had a good spring race and a good fall race, and I want to be able to continue that.
“Texas will be the interesting one. Lot of your bed is made on the ‘West Coast Swing.’ You can kind of adjust your car maybe for Fontana some, but a lot of times, with the travel and the cars being sent back and forth, the first few races, you’ve kind of got those cars built to spec, kind of laid out. New cars coming for Texas.
Hopefully, Texas will be a good gauge. If it wasn’t for a whole new corner and a whole new track, you could use that to learn from the ‘West Coast Swing.’ I expect you’ll see some performance balance change on who all is good the first little bit.’’
ROUSH FENWAY RACING
Trevor Bayne — Averages 22.8 points & 0.2 stage points per race
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. — Averages 17.2 points & 0.8 stage points per race
Competition Director Kevin Kidd: “Every track has its unique characteristics and problems, so we’ve just really focused on one race at a time. As simple and unsexy as that may sound, that’s what we do.
“Everything we do that goes into the car build side, the preparation side or the execution side, it’s all unique to that track that weekend. I’m a believer that wherever we’re going our process shouldn’t change. We build the car the best we know how that given week.’’
STEWART-HAAS RACING
Clint Bowyer — Averages 28.6 points & 3.6 stage points per race
Kevin Harvick — Averages 27.4 points & 8 stage points per race
Kurt Busch — Averages 23.6 points & 1.6 stage points per race
Danica Patrick — Averages 12.6 points & 1.4 stage points per race
Vice President of Competition Greg Zipadelli: “Winning races, get our cars locked in the Chase early. There’s a lot of learning going on for us as a group.
“Over the next four or five weeks … there’s a bunch of different race tracks. There’s a lot of different things thrown at us. (The key will be) if we can continue to perform at the level that we need to and that is expected of us from our ourselves and our sponsors and our partners, that’s the biggest thing, being able to maintain the level of performance.’’
TEAM PENSKE
Brad Keselowski — Averages 35.8 points & 11.6 stage points per race
Joey Logano — Averages 34.8 points & 7.6 stage points per race
Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers) — Averages 31.4 points & 6.2 stage points per race
Competition Director Travis Geisler: “After this next five, if you’ve gained or maintained a little bit on where you are in points, you’re going to be pretty established at that point. There’s going to be enough points scored that you feel like you start to get yourself in a stable spot. Right now, it’s still pretty volatile.
“If you have a couple of bad weeks, you’re going to move a lot in points right now. You look at these five and it’s like somebody is going to stumble here throughout this because of the type of race track, between Bristol, Talladega and (repaved Texas), there’s going to be a couple of hiccups in the group and you’ve just got to make sure that you can capitalize on that instead of being the one that has the issues.
“I think (the key) is minimizing the damage throughout the next few weeks and just trying to maintain good, solid performances and get your finishes. Qualifying becomes really important because you don’t have a ton of time to make up for it to score your stage points. I think that becomes something you’ve got to focus a little bit more. It’s always been important but when you had 500 laps, you go, ‘Well, OK, I qualified 20th at Bristol, I’ll get there.’ The first stage is going to come really quickly at Bristol. I think those are the things you’ve got to look at there.’’
Power Rankings: Just like Sunday, everyone's chasing Kyle Larson.
By Nick Bromberg
Kyle Larson couldn’t be caught Sunday. (Photo/Getty)
1. Kyle Larson (LW: 1): Welcome to NASCAR’s playoffs, Kyle Larson.
Larson is pulling a Kevin Harvick with his domination of the Cup Series through the first five weeks of the season. Heck, you can make the argument that he’s been even better than Harvick was in 2016.
With his win on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway, Larson’s average finish is 3.8 through the first five races. That’s just a tick better than Harvick, who had an average finish of fourth through the first five races a year ago. Anytime you’re being compared to Harvick’s Stewart-Haas Racing tenure you’re doing something right.
“I think the runway, you know, he’s got a lot of runway,” Larson’s car owner Chip Ganassi said. “We don’t have the engine spooled up yet. We have a lot of runway to go. I think he’s just scratching the surface in terms of what he’s capable of. I have no idea what he’s capable of. I mean, your guess is as good as mine.”
2. Brad Keselowski (LW: 2): Keselowski was a NASCAR yo-yo on Sunday, though the climb back towards the front was much slower than the quick drop to the back.
After starting third, Keselowski was spinning just a few laps into the race because of a flat tire. The tire was busted because of damage sustained at the start of the race when Denny Hamlin’s car didn’t accelerate ahead of Keselowski’s and the driver of the No. 2 got sandwiched between Hamlin and Ryan Newman.
With a bunch of hammers and tape, Keselowski’s team got his car drivable and he took advantage of late restarts to climb through the field and finish second.
“I don’t know if I would have had a shot at Kyle [on the final restart], but I would have liked to have seen,” Keselowski said. “We came from third on that last one and a couple of three-wide passes and what-not. Kyle was smart. He picked the outside lane and kind of pinned me behind a guy that had older tires, so by the time I cleared everybody Kyle was just too far gone.”
3. Martin Truex Jr. (LW: 5): Truex was Larson’s main contender throughout the race on Sunday and ended up finishing fourth after he was passed by Keselowski and Clint Bowyer on the final restart.
The third-place finish may not be what Truex remembers most about the race, however. The biggest memory may be the contact that led to a crash with quasi-teammate Matt Kenseth. Truex’s car slid up from the bottom line on a restart and made contact with Kenseth’s right-rear. The touch sent Kenseth sliding into the inside wall on the backstretch and destroyed his car.
4. Chase Elliott (LW: 4): Elliott was the first driver to head to pit road before the race’s final restart and we’re a bit miffed that he didn’t finish any higher than 10th. It may be because so many cars stayed out on the track before the two-lap shootout.
But we liked Elliott’s strategy. With Larson being so good throughout the entirety of the day, more cars should have taken tires in an attempt to chase after the lead. If you’re not going to play the fifth race of the season aggressively, are you going to be aggressive in the playoffs?
5. Kevin Harvick (LW: 6): Here’s another driver that had one hell of a comeback. Harvick sustained some serious damage to the front of his car when he got into the back of Newman on that kerfuffle at the start of the race. After losing a lap after his team attempted to fix the damage, Harvick got the lap back and ended up finishing 13th. He was proud of that finish.
“I feel like we won,” Harvick said. “Those are the days that championships are made out of right there. To wreck before we even get to the start-finish line, I don’t know exactly what happened in front of me, but, obviously, we got a caved-in grille. [The team] did a great job fixing it. We got some wave-arounds and made the car better and made something out of the day. That’s why these guys are who they are and won championships and races because they can make days like that happen.”
6. Ryan Newman (LW: 3): Last week’s winner ended up finishing 15th. Much like Harvick and Keselowski, the damage Newman suffered at the start of the race put him behind immediately.
“Then we battled an extremely tight-handling car that put us a lap down,” Newman said. “We finally raced back onto the lead lap with 19 to go. It certainly wasn’t the finish we wanted but it was a decent recovery.”
7. Joey Logano (LW: 7): Logano finished fifth after starting at the back of the pack because he didn’t get a chance to attempt a qualifying lap. He didn’t qualify because his car wasn’t through inspection in time.
Logano also came back from being a lap down, though he was a lap down late in the race after trying to pit off-sequence from the leaders and getting pinned because of a caution flag.
“We were good on short runs, but would fall off too hard on the long run,” Logano said. “We got caught with the caution while we were trying that green-flag cycle with 30 to go or so. We lost our track position, but were able to get enough cautions and allow us to fight back into the top-5. I thought, ‘Man, we’ve got a shot at winning this thing.’ We were catching them so fast with a newer tire, but another caution came out and we lost some track position on pit road and then we battled back and kept fighting to get back to fifth.”
8. Clint Bowyer (LW: 11): The resurgence of Clint Bowyer is real. Even though teammate Kurt Busch won the Daytona 500, it’s fair to say that Bowyer has had a better start to the year. He’s 25 points ahead of Busch in the points standings and with good reason. His finishes have been better.
“It’s just the opportunity you’ve been waiting on,” Bowyer said. “You know, I mean, everybody knows the situation. You know, this opportunity, this is something I signed up for a year and a half ago. I’ve been chomping at the bit to be with an organization like this, to have an army of people behind you like this, the teammates, the sponsors we have, the manufacturer in Ford, all of that.”
9. Daniel Suarez (LW: NR): After a rough few races to start the season Suarez now has back-to-back top-10 finishes. Much like Elliott, Suarez pitted late for tires and drove through the field to finish seventh, three spots of the driver of the No. 24.
10. Ryan Blaney (LW: 9): Blaney finished ninth after getting a mid-race pit road penalty that put him to the back of the pack. While he’s been good so far this season, he’d be even better if he and his team could avoid the pit road penalties.
11. Kyle Busch (LW: 10): Busch finished eighth and he’s now 10th in the points standings. Much like his teammate two spots ahead of him in the standings, Busch has two-straight top-10 finishes after finishing outside the top 10 in the first three races of the season.
12. Jamie McMurray (LW: NR): McMurray isn’t lagging that far behind his teammate Larson. He’s sixth in the standings and finished sixth Sunday at Auto Club. It’s clear that Ganassi has made organization-wide changes that have paid off at the beginning of the season. The test is now to see if CGR can stay at the top of the heap for the rest of the season.
“Our team and our whole organization has done an amazing job to get to the point that we are,” McMurray said. “It’s not one thing; it’s hundreds of small things. I’m so happy for all the guys at our shop that have worked hard. In our sport, every team works hard; and you’re not always rewarded for it. It’s awesome to be rewarded for all the work.”
The Lucky Dog: Erik Jones had a very late pit road penalty and still ended up finishing 12th. Tires!
The DNF: Poor Kenseth
Dropped out: Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson
SOCCER: Bastian Schweinsteiger says he is ready for new challenge with the Fire.
By Dan Santaromita
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
As far as first impressions go, Bastian Schweinsteiger made a good one on Wednesday.
The Chicago Fire's new German star smiled at every opportunity, said all the right things about playing hard and wanting to fit in with his new team and even elegantly danced around some 'tricky' questions.
Schweinsteiger opened by thanking fans for showing up to greet him at O'Hare on Tuesday and later said he has plenty left to give on the field.
"I'm 32 years old, I'm ready," Schweinsteiger said. "Of course I need more training sessions to have the right rhythm where I want to see myself. I want to use every minute to feel how it is, how the teammates are playing, which kind of runs they make, which kind of rhythm they have. So to know each other better, that is very important for me step-by-step and I hope you will get results soon because I don't like to lose or to draw."
The German's addition is a big deal to the Fire because he is a big name player who is drawing more attention to the team. That means the Fire will have to win more to capitalize and show the team is deserving of the extra attention.
Despite that extra attention, words of adoration from general manager Nelson Rodriguez and coach Veljko Paunovic saying he "can be the icon of the MLS in the future," Schweinsteiger said he is ready for the attention, but does not want to stand apart from his teammates.
"I had a lot of pressure in my career," Schweinsteiger said. "When you play a World Cup final or a Champions League final and the third time you have to win against Borussia Dortmund there is a lot of pressure on your shoulders so I can handle that. I don't want to say I'm a key player of Chicago Fire. Every player on the pitch has to be a key player and has to take the responsibility on the pitch and I would like just to get comfortable with myself and into the team so much as I can."
Talking about the importance of winning and showing humility? Check.
As for some of those 'tricky' questions, he was able to stay clean there as well. Will you root for the Cubs or Sox?
"First of all I like the Fire the most, of course," Schweinsteiger said.
Well played, Bastian.
Sorry, what was that? Schweinsteiger smiled politely, said he didn't understand the question and avoided getting egg on his face while the Internet exploded in laughter that he was asked about the chances a club team winning an international competition.
Schweinsteiger is the new face of the Fire and that face smiled, waved and shook hands on Wednesday amid all the pageantry.
Media savvy? Check.
As for how he will perform on the field, that's to come soon. Paunovic only gave a subtle hint as to whether Schweinsteiger will play in Saturday's home match against Montreal.
"Obviously he is going to be available," Paunovic said. "We are not going to reveal our plans here, but we still have a talk to have and discuss how he feels and more things about the team and how we want to play. Be ready, just be ready. We'll see."
Top PL Storylines: Merseyside Derby, relegation special.
By Kyle Bonn
(Photo/nbcsports.com)
The international break is over and the Premier League is back.
This stretch run begins now, as teams have around eight more matches left in league play with which to move up or down. Who will climb the table, and who will lose spots? The best picks are below:
Merseyside clubs clinging to European places
Liverpool vs. Everton — 7:30 a.m. EDT Saturday online via NBCSports.com
Everton and Liverpool doesn’t need any sideshows to hype up the heated rivalry, but a little added spice won’t hurt anything. Spice is what we have as the two teams clash at Anfield Saturday as both teams are battling for European places.
Liverpool comes into the game in fourth, four points ahead of Manchester United for the final Champions League spot. A return to Europe’s top competition is overdue for Jurgen Klopp and the Reds, having made the tournament just once since 2010. It’s been a dogfight all year at the top of the table (aside from Chelsea, of course), and Liverpool is right in the mix. A misstep here would give Manchester United the chance to climb just one point back, really putting on the pressure. For Everton, they sit in seventh, level with Arsenal on points and just two behind Manchester United. They still have a good shot at Europa League play, and any spot in a European competition is a welcome moment for an Everton team that has appeared just once since 2010.
Both teams have to contend with injuries suffered over the international break. Everton’s Seamus Coleman is out at least for the rest of the season after his nasty leg break, while Liverpool will miss Adam Lallana who aggravated a muscle injury while on duty with England and will likely be out a month.
Will Arsenal or City turn their season around?
Arsenal vs. Manchester City — 11:00 a.m. EDT Sunday online via NBCSports.com
Arsene Wenger continues to find himself under more and more pressure. It seems Pep Guardiola takes one step back for every one step forward. As the two managers meet at the Emirates on Sunday, will either man manage to get a high-profile win to boost its season’s fortunes?
The Gunners are in serious peril. Wenger has never missed the Champions League in his 20 seasons in charge, but that could all change this year as Arsenal sits in 6th on 50 points, six back of fourth position. There is little to no room for error the rest of the way, and even against a strong opponent, the Gunners cannot afford to drop more points. For Pep Guardiola, City still sits in an envious position in third place and five points clear of dropping off the top four, but it’s not been without bumps and bruises. City is without a win in its last three matches, having dumped out of the Champions League and drawn a pair in league play over that time. Both managers are struggling. Will either turn things around?
A relegation special
Swansea City vs. Middlesbrough — 8:30 a.m. EDT Sunday online via NBCSports.com
Middlesbrough is in the relegation zone. Swansea City isn’t out of the weeds yet. Premier League status could be on the line.
As the two teams meet at the Liberty Stadium, Middlesbrough can go a long way towards climbing out of the bottom 3, while Swansea City can build space from it. Boro sits in 19th place, on 22 points, five back of safety. In that final safe spot is Swansea, on 27 points, and depending on the results of this match, things could get hairy for the loser. A draw helps nobody, so expect both sides to go all out.
Spurs with a tough road test
Burnley vs. Tottenham — 10:00 a.m. EDT Saturday online via NBCSports.com
Spurs sit in second, 10 points off the top but in control of the tight Champions League battle. Yet, they face a difficult challenge on Sunday. Burnley has lost just twice all season long at home, the latest coming January 2nd. Their away form has been miserable, but at home, they’re a completely different team.
Enter Tottenham, who has won three Premier League games in a row, but it’s not all rosy for the title contenders. They’re still without Harry Kane, who has returned to light training but still remains sidelined with his ankle injury. Sean Dyche can coach with the best of them in the English top flight, and it remains to be seen if Mauricio Pochettino can break down a strong Clarets defense. Spurs managed a 2-1 home win over Burnley, but a similar performance won’t get it done at the fortress of Turf Moor.
Two months to go: What’s ahead for each Premier League club?
By Joe Prince-Wright
(Photo/Getty Images)
The sun is shinning in England this week as we head into April and there are just nine game week's remaining in the Premier League. Can you believe it?
After a long winter, the business end of the season is here and there’s still so much on the line when it comes to the top four race, relegation battle and maybe, just maybe, Chelsea will start to wobble as the edge closer to the title…
Let’s have some fun by summing up what lies ahead in the final two months of the season for each club in a single sentence. With no more international breaks to negotiate, we are entering the home-stretch of the 2016-17 campaign.
Ready? Here it goes.
Arsenal – Uncertainty in the air, Arsene Wenger‘s side have to regroup to secure a top four finish and try to win the FA Cup with Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil putting their contract issues aside and leading the way.
Bournemouth – Should be a stroll in the South Coast sun for the Cherries in the final few months of the season as Eddie Howe‘s side have picked up back-to-back wins and should be clear of relegation and able to express themselves.
Burnley – Well on course to retain their status as a Premier League club for the first time in history, Sean Dyche‘s side will hunt their first away win of the season and look to cause a few more shocks at home with relegation no longer a lingering fear.
Chelsea – All about the title for Chelsea as Antonio Conte‘s men can wrap things up before the end of April if other results go their way, plus the double is still up for grabs as Conte looks to cap off his first season in England in style.
Crystal Palace – Sam Allardyce the survival expert is at it again with three-straight shutout wins as he’s sorted out Palace’s defense but knows a huge challenge is ahead with all of the top six teams still to play.
Everton – The Toffees have top four aspirations and are the in-form team in the Premier League in 2017 as Ronald Koeman hopes Romelu Lukaku‘s goals can fire Everton to an unlikely top six finish.
Hull City – Survival is the key for the Tigers as Marco Silva’s men battle against all the odds to remain in the Premier League and they have a real fighting chance with some big games against relegation rivals still remaining.
Leicester City – After three-straight wins new manager Craig Shakespeare will look to secure Leicester’s PL status as soon as possible and then all the focus is on Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals… surely they can’t make the UCL’s last four?
Liverpool – Jurgen Klopp‘s preseason target of finishing in the top four is well within reach but you get the lingering sense that Liverpool’s fans are getting nervous as clashes with bottom half teams proving tricky all season long.
Manchester City – Top four finish (by no means a guarantee) and an FA Cup victory would be a decent first season for Pep Guardiola at City but after spending so much money there’s a feeling that better things are to come next season.
Manchester United – All the focus is on somehow qualifying for the Champions League next season, be that with a top four finish or winning the Europa League as Jose Mourinho’s injury-hit squad will be under intense pressure as the games come thick and fast.
Middlesbrough – The next three weeks will define Boro’s season as they face direct relegation rivals and caretaker boss Steve Agnew simply needs his team to start throwing caution to the wind and score some goals.
Southampton – Saints’ season is in danger of petering out after their Europa League exploits and EFL Cup final defeat as they aren’t close to the relegation zone and can’t finish any higher than eighth place in Claude Puel‘s debut campaign in charge.
Stoke City – Mark Hughes‘ Stoke are set for a fourth-straight top 10 finish but making that extra leap to try and challenge the top six is proving so difficult for not only the Potters but a host of well-run teams.
Sunderland – Survival is on the mind of David Moyes‘ side who have spent 91 percent of the campaign in the bottom three and they need Jermain Defoe to keep scoring and for their fans to pray for a miracle…
Swansea City – After picking up big wins when Paul Clement first arrived, the Swans have regressed in recent weeks and they need to win key games against relegation rivals in the run-in before some tough games to finish with.
Tottenham Hotspur – Mauricio Pochettino‘s youngsters believe they can still catch Chelsea and win the Premier League title with a favorable run of games to finish with, but another top four finish would be a great season and adding an FA Cup trophy would be the cherry on top despite their struggles in Europe.
Watford – Walter Mazzarri‘s men have had a really strange season and after losing three of their last four games the Hornets are starting to glance over their shoulders a little at the relegation zone with a tough finish to the season coming up.
West Brom – A phenomenal season so far for the Baggies as they aim to reach 50 points in a single season for the first time in club history and Tony Pulis‘ men will look to upset Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea in the process.
West Ham – Slaven Bilic and the Hammers probably can’t wait for this season to end but there’s still a very good chance they can finish in the top 10 with a favorable run-in giving them a chance to salvage a season riddled by injuries, the move to a new stadium and losing Dimitri Payet.
FIFA’s plan for 48-team World Cup; 6 slots for CONCACAF.
By Joe Prince-Wright
(Photo/Getty Images)
FIFA has announced where it thinks the 48-teams should come from for the largest-ever World Cup proposed for 2026.
In a statement on Thursday soccer’s world governing body released its recommendations for how many teams from each confederation around the planet should qualify for the tournament.
The recommendations will now be put forward for the ratification of the FIFA Council which next meets in Bahrain on May 9, two days before the next FIFA congress.
Here’s what they are proposing, with the CONCACAF region potentially having its number of direct slots increased from to six, while Europe will be increased from 13 to 16. Plus, the Bureau of the FIFA Council has also suggested a six-team tournament in 2025 to decide the final two spots in the World Cup.
- AFC (Asia): 8 direct slots
- CAF (Africa): 9 direct slots
- CONCACAF (North & Central America): 6 direct slots
- CONMEBOL (South America): 6 direct slots
- OFC (Oceanic): 1 direct slot
- UEFA (Europe): 16 direct slots
There is also more information below from FIFA on how that mini-tournament would work in 2025 as a test event ahead of the World Cup.
The above allocation accounts for 46 of the 48 participating teams. The proposal reviewed by the Bureau of the Council includes a play-off tournament involving six teams to decide the last two FIFA World Cup berths:
- One team per confederation with the exception of UEFA + one additional team from the confederation of the host country;
- Two teams to be seeded based on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking. The seeded teams will play for a FIFA World Cup berth against the winners of the first two knockout games involving the four unseeded teams;
- Tournament to be played in the host country(ies) and to be used as a test event for the FIFA World Cup;
- Existing play-off window of November 2025 suggested as tentative date for the 2026 edition.
NCAABKB: Final Four Preview: No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 7 South Carolina
By Rob Dauster
(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The first game of this weekend’s Final Four will feature the two outsiders that have crashed the final weekend of the college basketball season: No. 1 seed Gonzaga and No. 7 seed South Carolina.
This is the first Final Four for both Frank Martin and Mark Few, meaning one of the two will be playing for a national title on Monday night.
Here is everything you need to know about the Final Four opener:
WHEN: Saturday April 1st, 6:09 p.m.
BETTING LINE: Gonzaga (-6.5)
THREE KEY MATCHUPS
1. Who checks Sindarius Thornwell?: Thornwell has been the best player in the NCAA tournament to date, and it’s really not all that close. He’s not only the leading scorer in the NCAA tournament to date at 25.7 points, but he’s also been a lockdown defender for the Gamecocks.
But the reason Thornwell is going to be such a problem for Gonzaga is ability on the offensive end of the floor. At 6-foot-5 with long arms and the physicality of a nose tackle, Thornwell can bully guards in the paint. But you can’t guard him with a bigger defender because he is, after all, a guard. He’ll blow by them or shoot a three over them when given space.
Gonzaga doesn’t really have an answer for a guy like that. None of their guards are taller than 6-foot-4. Few put Johnathan Williams III on Trevon Bluiett in the Elite 8 and he slowed down the Xavier star, but Xavier trots out a small-ball line with Bluiett at the four. Thornwell will, at times, play the four for South Carolina, but the Gamecocks start two bigs. The easy answer is to double Thornwell on the catch, as South Carolina’s bigs, Chris Silva and Maik Kotsar, are non-shooters, which is why I expect South Carolina will eventually be forced to play small.
2. Can Gonzaga’s guards do anything against that South Carolina defense?: South Carolina and West Virginia play different defenses — WVU presses 94 feet while South Carolina plays half-court man-to-man or a 2-3 zone — but the point or their defenses are essentially the same: They want to force you out of the sets you want to run and make your playmakers try to beat their defenders one-on-one.
And the Mountaineers were totally successful. Nigel Williams-Goss was awful — 2-for-10 shooting five turnovers — and Josh Perkins was invisible, and the game became a rugby match, which is exactly how WVU and SC want to play. Offensively, Gonzaga is a similar team to Baylor in the sense that their guards aren’t great at creating off the dribble against players that are more physical and more athletic than them and they are at their best when they run offense through the post.
Baylor’s guards couldn’t do anything against South Carolina, and they lost by 20. Gonzaga’s guards are significantly better — Williams-Goss is an All-American — but if they struggle the way they did against West Virginia, Gonzaga might be in trouble.
3. Who wins the battle of the front courts?: Like I said earlier, Gonzaga’s offense is at its best when they are getting the rock to Przemek Karnowski and Johnathan Williams III in the post. As tough as South Carolina’s front court is, they are going to be at a serious size disadvantage against Mount Poland and JW3, and that’s to say nothing of Zach Collins, a McDonald’s All-American and a potential one-and-done prospect. If Gonzaga can force South Carolina to play big — with Thornwell at the three instead of at the four — they’ll have a much better shot at winning this game.
THE BEST STORY LINE: Both of these teams are programs that probably shouldn’t be in the Final Four.
And I don’t mean that as an insult.
Gonzaga, 25 years ago, was one of the worst programs in the WCC, but they’ve managed to hold on to a potential Hall of Famer in Mark Few for 18 years, and it’s paid off. They’re now a top 15 college basketball program in the Final Four. And South Carolina is a place with almost no basketball history to speak of. This is their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance since 1974. Prior to their upset of Duke in the second round of the tournament, South Carolina had never won back-to-back NCAA tournament games.
It doesn’t matter who wins.
It’s incredible that one of these two teams will be playing for a national title on Monday night.
CBT PREDICTION: I like South Carolina (+6.5). I don’t know if the Gamecocks can win this game, but I do think that they will be able to keep it close in a low-scoring game as Sindarius Thornwell as another big game and their defense keeps them in the mix.
Final Four Preview: No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 3 Oregon.
By Rob Dauster
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
The nightcap on Saturday should be a thrilling matchup between the two big dogs left in the tournament.
It’s something of a weird matchup: North Carolina wants to play fast but pounds the ball inside while Oregon is going to try and keep the tempo at a reasonable pace.
Here’s a look at the second game at this year’s Final Four:
WHEN: Saturday April 1st, 8:49 p.m.
BETTING LINE: North Carolina (-5)
THREE KEY MATCHUPS
1. Does North Carolina make Oregon go big or will Oregon force UNC to play small?: Without Chris Boucher available, Oregon has gone full-time to a small-ball look, playing Dillon Brooks at the four. North Carolina is never, ever going to play small-ball, as Roy Williams is one of the last remaining coaches that still plays two big men almost regardless of the situation. It’s part of the reason that the Tar Heels are the nation’s best offensive rebounding team.
Something is going to have to give. Maybe it’s Isaiah Hicks, the guy that will likely be tasked with chasing around Brooks for UNC and who has developed quite the habit of getting into foul trouble. Maybe Dana Altman will be forced to play Kavell Bigby-Williams and Jordan Bell together to keep the Tar Heels for controlling the paint. Hell, Bell could very well end up looking like Ben Wallace once again and control the paint all on his own.
However it plays out, I can see this matchup being what changes things one way or the other.
2. How do the Tar Heels deal with Oregon’s switching defenses?: The Ducks used a number of different looks against Kansas to take the Jayhawks out of a rhythm offensively. They played some man and they played some matchup zone, and it helped keep Josh Jackson and Devonte’ Graham from finding any kind of a rhythm on the perimeter. I don’t think it’s a hot take to say that more than anything, it was Kansas missing shots they normally make that cost them in the second half, and Oregon’s ability to change defenses and keep them off balance played a major role in that.
So how does North Carolina deal with those different looks? They’re fall less reliant on the three ball than Kansas is, and their size might be able to nullify Bell’s presence on the interior. It will also be interesting to see how the Ducks deal with Justin Jackson on that end, as they don’t really have a player on the roster than can handle his height (6-foot-8), ability to put the ball on the floor and shooting touch.
3. Is Joel Berry II or Tyler Dorsey better?: Justin Jackson is North Carolina’s best player and was deservedly named an All-American for the Tar Heels this season, but North Carolina goes as Joel Berry II goes. He rolled his ankle in UNC’s first round win over Texas Southern and shot 3-for-21 in two games during the first weekend, one of which was a near-upset at the hands of Arkansas. When he was back near 100 percent, he had 26 points on 8-for-13 shooting in a beat-down of No. 4 seed Butler in the Sweet 16.
Berry has a favorable matchup in the back court on Saturday, likely drawing freshman point guard Payton Pritchard when Oregon goes man-t0-man, and if he’s healthy, he should be able to take advantage of that. The problem? Berry rolled his other ankle against Kentucky on Sunday. He’ll have six days to get back to being himself, because the Tar Heels are going to need him.
Along those same lines, Brooks has been Oregon’s best player for two years, but Tyler Dorsey is playing as well as anyone in the country right now. When he’s putting up 24 points a night, Oregon is a different — a better — team. I expect that he’ll have to deal with Theo Pinson, who is UNC’s best perimeter defender and, at 6-foot-6, will have a size advantage on Dorsey.
Odds are pretty good at this point that one of those two is going to have a big game.
THE BEST STORY LINE: Everything about this North Carolina run is fascinating, so take your pick here:
- The Tar Heels, just a year removed from a brutal, heart-breaking, soul-crushing loss at the buzzer to Villanova are back in the Final Four as the favorite to win the national title.
- For the second straight year, the Tar Heels are in the Final Four with the weight of an NCAA investigation looming over them. The NCAA’s ruling on the academic scandal involving the athletic department keeps getting pushed back, which means that we’ll be hearing from plenty of people that UNC shouldn’t even be allowed to be eligible for this tournament. Trust me. It’ll be a thing.
- If North Carolina does win, where does Roy Williams rank among the greatest coaches of all-time? He’ll be one of just six with three national titles.
CBT PREDICTION: North Carolina (-5)
TCU defeats Georgia Tech to win the NIT.
By Terrence Payne
TCU’s first season under Jamie Dixon ended on a high note, steamrolling Georgia Tech, 88-56, to win the 2017 NIT championship on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Horned Frogs never trailed, scoring the game’s first eight points. They rout was officially on during the second half when they went on a 19-0 run to take a 79-49 lead.
Kenrich Williams, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, recorded 25 points and 12 rebounds. He registered five double-doubles in as many games during the course of the NIT.
Dixon took over his alma mater last spring, after a divorce with Pittsburgh. In 13 seasons, he took the Panthers to 11 NCAA Tournaments.
In 2008, Pitt won the Big East Tournament championship. The same arena could possibly be the location where he laid the foundation for an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018. TCU returns its top six scorers, which includes Williams, Vladimir Brodziansky, Alex Robinson and Jaylen Fisher. The Horned Frogs also bring in center Kevin Samuel and point guard R.J. Nembhard, both regarded as four-star prospects.
TCU was on the bubble until it lost seven straight to close out the regular season. Since then the Horned Frogs have won seven of eight postseason games. They upset top-seeded Kansas in the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, had to grind out an overtime road win at Iowa — TCU was 3-8 in true road games this season — before two wins in three nights in New York. Certainly that experience could come in handy next season.
It was a matchup of overachievers. Georgia Tech, in its first season under Josh Pastner, were expected to fight with Boston College for the bottom spot in the ACC standings. Instead, the Yellow Jackets won 21 games, including a 75-63 victory over North Carolina on Dec. 31. Enter the season, Georgia Tech’s top returning scorer, Quinton Stephens, averaged 5.0 points per game. While he graduates, Pastner is expected to bring back three double-digit scorers.
NCAAFB: SEC opposes any Arkansas efforts allowing concealed carry at sporting events.
By Nick Bromberg
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey. (Photo/Getty)
The SEC supports an amendment to Arkansas’ concealed weapons law that would prevent people from being able to legally bring concealed weapons into sporting events.
A law signed by Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) last week would have allowed concealed weapons holders who take eight hours additional training to bring a concealed gun into any sporting event in the state including Arkansas Razorbacks football games. The day after the law was signed, the Arkansas Senate overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the law that exempts sports — in addition to other locations — from the law.
“It is our desire to see athletic events and sports venues exempted from HB 1249,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement.
“Given the intense atmosphere surrounding athletic events, adding weapons increases safety concerns and could negatively impact the intercollegiate athletics program at the University of Arkansas in several ways, including scheduling, officiating, recruiting and attendance.
“HB 1249 creates concerns for the Southeastern Conferences and its member institutions. It remains our collective desire to provide a safe environment for student-athletes, coaches, officials and fans and will continue to closely monitor the status of this legislation.”
After the amendment was passed exempting sporting events from the new law, Hutchinson changed course and said he’d support the exemption. He previously cited football games while exclaiming about the law.
We’re guessing Hutchinson was also swayed, at least in part, by overwhelming feedback against the law. While Arkansas athletics haven’t issued an official statement on the issue, a spokesperson for the school has previously pointed to the fact that the school’s trustees have never voted to allow concealed weapons on campus.
The Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby: Field, Odds, & Post Positions.
By Teresa Genaro
Nyquist winning the 2016 Florida Derby, Mario Gutierrez in the saddle. (Photo/forbes.com)
On a chaotic road to the 2017 Kentucky Derby, the Florida Derby may—or may not—help to identify a favorite for the first Saturday in May. With earlier presumptive favorites missing training (Classic Empire) and injured (Mastery), and with this year’s 3-year-old crop taking turns winning prep races, this is as wide open a Kentucky Derby as we’ve seen in a while.
Last year at this time, the Florida Derby featured the match-up of unbeaten horses and co-favorites Mohaymen and Nyquist in one of the most anticipated races in the early part of the year. Nyquist emerged the victor and went on to win the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands as the 2-1 favorite.
This year’s renewal boasts no such superstars, and the winner of the first major prep at Gulfstream, Irish War Cry, faltered in the subsequent Fountain of Youth, and his trainer Graham Motion has elected to bypass the Florida Derby in favor of the Wood Memorial next week.
Gunnevera, the Fountain of Youth winner, does return here as the favorite. With 64 Derby points, he doesn’t even need to hit the board to guarantee himself a spot in the Churchill Downs starting gate, but a win may well solidify his position as the Kentucky Derby favorite, if only by default.
Field, post positions, and morning line odds for the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby
1) State of Honor
Trainer: Mark Casse
Jockey: Julien Leparoux
Morning line odds: 8-1
Earlier this year trainer Casse was likely thinking that his 2-year-old champion Classic Empire would be running here as his final prep for the Kentucky Derby, but training issues have forced that one to sit this one out. A veteran of nine lifetime starts, State of Honor boasts one win, that coming last fall over Woodbine’s synthetic surface. Since then he’s never been out of the top three, including a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby. He likes to run on the lead, a style that this inside post position doesn’t favor.
2) Talk Logistics
Owner: Hardway Stables
Trainer: Edward Plesa, Jr.
Jockey: Joe Bravo
Morning line odds: 30-1
After a promising debut at Parx last summer, Talk Logistics was away from racing for five months and has run strictly in stakes company since, though he hasn’t made it back to the winner’s circle. Fourth by 12 1/4 lengths in the Fountain of Youth, he’ll need a sharp form reversal to punch his Derby ticket here.
3) Charlie the Greek
Owner: Olympia Star, Inc.
Trainer: Mikhail Yanakov
Jockey: Leonel Reyes
Morning line odds: 50-1
The most experienced horse in the field with 12 races on his record, he’s got two wins, both in claiming races. He makes his stakes debut here, which is unlikely to be a winning one.
4) Always Dreaming
Owner: MeB Racing Stables LLC, Viola Racing Stables, St. Elias Stables, Brooklyn Boyz Stables, Siena Farm, and West Point Thoroughbreds
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: John Velazquez
Morning line odds: 4-1
Note that jockey John Velazquez is also named on Pletcher’s other entry here, Battalion Runner; word is that that one will scratch and this one will go. Never worse than third in four lifetime races, he was away from the track from August of last year to January of this year, breaking his maiden by 11 1/2 lengths in his comeback race and following that up with a four-length win at Gulfstream in early March. He’ll certainly face his toughest test on Saturday and he’ll need to finish at least third to have a shot at making the Kentucky Derby.
5) Quinientos
Owner: Rontos Racing Stable Corp.
Trainer: Enrique Sanchez
Morning line odds: 50-1
It took this gelding seven races to get to the winner’s circle, which he did at Gulfstream in December. Winless since then, he finished nearly 15 lengths behind Gunnevera in the Fountain of Youth in early March.
6) Coleman Rocky
Owner: Grupo 7C Racing Stable
Trainer: Gustavo Delgado
Jockey: José Ortiz
Morning line odds: 30-1
Another with just one win to his credit, and that on grass, Coleman Rocky is racing for the first time since January 29, and trainer Delgado picked a heck of a spot for a first-off-a-layoff start. Before the break he hadn’t shown that he was remotely competitive at this level or on this surface.
7) Unbridled Holiday
Owner: D P Racing
Trainer: Patrick Biancone
Jockey: Nik Juarez
Morning line odds: 30-1
He made his debut last July and won his first race in January in his sixth attempt. He finished fourth here in a minor stake in October. He was third last out against two of his rivals here Always Dreaming and fellow longshot Charlie the Greek, which doesn’t exactly bode well for his chances on Saturday.
8) Impressive Edge
Owner: N and K Racing
Trainer: Dale Romans
Jockey: Corey Lanerie
Morning line odds: 12-1
He comes to the race off an impressive indeed eight-length win in early March, albeit in an allowance/optional claiming race, competition not quite like he’ll face on Saturday. He was fourth by nine lengths in the Grade 2 Swale Stakes at Gulfstream in February, and he’s trying the Florida Derby’s nine-furlong distance for the first time, having never run beyond seven furlongs. Below, his final workout for Saturday's race.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Friday, March 31, 2017.
emoriesofhistory.com
1906 - The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was founded to set rules in amateur sports. The organization became the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1910.
1923 - King Clancy (Ottawa Senators) played all six positions in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. He played goalie for 2 minutes while Clint Benedict served a penalty.
1931 - Knute Rockne died in a plane crash.
1968 - Seattle chose the nickname Pilots for their new AL franchise.
1972 - The Major League Baseball Players Association voted to go on strike on April 1.
1973 - Muhammad Ali wore a $10000 robe with "The Peoples Champion" inscribed on it. Ali lost the fight to Ken Norton. Elvis Presley had given the robe to Ali on January 2, 1971.
1990 - Joe Sakic became the youngest person in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. He was also the first to do so with a last-place team.
1991 - Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) recorded his 86th goal of the season. It was the third best total in NHL history.
1992 - Cotton Fitzsimmons (Phoenix Suns) became the sixth coach in NBA history to get 800 career wins.
1997 - Martina Hingis, 16 years old, became the youngest women's tennis player to reach the world number-one mark.
1998 - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks debuted in the major league.
1998 - Pokey Reese (Cincinnati Reds) tied a major league record when he had four errors on opening day.
2003 - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the season opener between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
2004 - NFL owners adopted a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebrations. The penalty was added to the fines previously in place for choreographed and multiplayer celebrations. Also, if the infraction was flagrant the player would be ejected. The previous day the owners had instituted a modified instant replay system for five years.
1923 - King Clancy (Ottawa Senators) played all six positions in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. He played goalie for 2 minutes while Clint Benedict served a penalty.
1931 - Knute Rockne died in a plane crash.
1968 - Seattle chose the nickname Pilots for their new AL franchise.
1972 - The Major League Baseball Players Association voted to go on strike on April 1.
1973 - Muhammad Ali wore a $10000 robe with "The Peoples Champion" inscribed on it. Ali lost the fight to Ken Norton. Elvis Presley had given the robe to Ali on January 2, 1971.
1990 - Joe Sakic became the youngest person in NHL history to score 100 points in a season. He was also the first to do so with a last-place team.
1991 - Brett Hull (St. Louis Blues) recorded his 86th goal of the season. It was the third best total in NHL history.
1992 - Cotton Fitzsimmons (Phoenix Suns) became the sixth coach in NBA history to get 800 career wins.
1997 - Martina Hingis, 16 years old, became the youngest women's tennis player to reach the world number-one mark.
1998 - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks debuted in the major league.
1998 - Pokey Reese (Cincinnati Reds) tied a major league record when he had four errors on opening day.
2003 - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the season opener between the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates.
2004 - NFL owners adopted a 15-yard penalty for excessive celebrations. The penalty was added to the fines previously in place for choreographed and multiplayer celebrations. Also, if the infraction was flagrant the player would be ejected. The previous day the owners had instituted a modified instant replay system for five years.
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