Chicago Sports & Travel Inc./AllsportsAmerica
"America's Finest Sports Fan Travel Club, May We Plan An Event Or Sports Travel For You?"
We offer: Select opportunities, For your convenience, At "Very Rare but Super Fair" pricing
We offer: Select opportunities, For your convenience, At "Very Rare but Super Fair" pricing
Because it's all about you!!!
"Sports Quote of the Day"
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” ~ Helen Keller, Author, Political Activist and Author
TRENDING: Quality more important than quantity for Bears in 2017 NFL Draft. (See the football section for Bears news and NFL updates).
TRENDING: Bulls comeback falls flat as Celtics tie series at 2-2. (See the basketball section for Bulls news and NBA updates).
TRENDING: What's done and what lies ahead: Five thoughts on the Blackhawks.
(See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates and NHL news).
(See the hockey section for Blackhawks updates and NHL news).
TRENDING: GM Jed Hoyer breaks down the season so far and how 2017 Cubs need to create their own identity. (See the baseball section for Cubs and White Sox updates).
TRENDING: Chappell edges Koepka for breakthrough win at Valero. (See the golf section for PGA news and tournament updates).
Bear Down Chicago Bears!!!!! Quality more important than quantity for Bears in 2017 NFL Draft. By John Mullin
(Photo/AP)
NFL teams typically wants as many draft picks as possible. The theory: The needier the team, the more picks required for those needs.
Not sure that this is the true situation confronting the Bears in 2017, however. In fact, something nearly the opposite, a variation on a less-is-more theme, is truer.
For the Bears approaching the 2017 NFL Draft, quality is more important than quantity. “Best available” player is fine, but for a team in major need of true impact difference-makers, a “best-possible” player is paramount. How GM Ryan Pace and his personnel posse accomplish that will be one of the most closely watched and far-reaching dramas of this draft. Because it may require some creativity on the clock, with a dizzying array of scenarios popping up in front of them by virtue of possible picks by the Cleveland Browns at 1 and San Francisco 49ers at 2.
Pace already has been about the business of giving himself the option of going after best-possible rather than simply waiting, staying with the draft board and selecting best-available.
The Bears were among the NFL’s most active teams in free agency. That has taken care of some “quantity” issues (cornerback, wide receiver, tight end), with an eye toward freeing the draft for the pursuit of true excellence, something too few Bears drafts have managed to secure (which is how teams miss playoffs nine times in 10 years and find themselves on third different GMs and coaches in the span of six years).
As he has always had within the context of the overall direction of the football franchise, Pace has a draft plan. More specifically, he also has a structure within which to execute that plan.
Draft “bands”
Besides an overall top-to-bottom ranking of players, the Bears establish various “bands” of players they identify as being worth a pick at a certain spot. Not all players in the band are graded equally, and the Bears may move to trade up if a significantly higher-graded players in the band is within reach, or if they fear other teams leap-frogging them to grab a targeted player.
But the bands allow the Bears to weigh trading back and still being able to select one of the talents in that band. With the Bears sitting at No. 3 this year, the first band in this draft will be a small one.
“We’ll have an elite group of names that we’re confident will be there [at No. 3],” Pace said at the recent owners meetings. “Three names, yeah. But beyond that, [we say,] ‘OK, there’s some pretty good depth in this draft, too, so are there scenarios’ — and it’s easier said than done — ‘where we can trade back.’ Those things will be discussed.”
They’re being discussed right now. The phone in Pace’s Halas Hall office has been increasingly active the past couple weeks — calls ingoing and outgoing — and will become more so this week as the Bears and most of the NFL take the temperatures of trade ideas going into the start of the draft Thursday night. It happens every year about this time: general managers looking to satisfy sometimes-conflicting objectives, one of adding draft picks via trades down where possible, and the other of adding best-possible players, sometimes necessitating trades of picks or players to move up.
For the Bears, this year is a bit out of the ordinary, if only because they hold the No. 3-overall pick in a draft considered extremely talent-rich at certain positions and extremely less so at others. Loosely put, a position such as cornerback is rated deep enough that quality starters can be had even down into the fourth round, so teams likely need not trade up to land a blue-chipper. Conversely, the quarterback position, the one most often targeted for round-one trades up, is short of consensus elites, so again, teams are less likely to trade up to secure one.
The Bears are in position to select a franchise quarterback but opinions vary widely on whether there are clear ones to be had as high as where the Bears draft, as the order now stands. Pace, who established last year his willingness to trade up for what he considers “elite,” is like any other personnel executive in wanting more selections.
The Bears do not want to slip out of a band entirely. When they sat with No. 7 in the 2015 draft, the Bears identified a quiver of eight players deemed worth the seventh-overall pick. Those ranged from quarterback Marcus Mariota to wide receiver Amari Cooper to defensive lineman Leonard Williams, and included Kevin White, one of two from the eight not already selected by that point.
Because the goal was a player judged to be elite, trading down was not a realistic option because of the risk of getting none of their targets and instead settling for the next, lower tier of prospects.
Dealing with market forces
But what will the market allow this time?
“Yeah, and based on the talent of the guys in those bands, what it would require for us to go back?” Pace said. “Those things are all being talked about and studied now, and we’ll keep on fine-tuning it.
“But you’ve got to have a partner willing to do that, too.”
Pace has been a willing partner for trades either up or down, sometimes in the same draft.
Last year, holding the 11th pick, the decision was made to trade up to No. 9 because of their grade on Georgia edge rusher Leonard Floyd, and the concern that either the New York Giants would take Floyd at No. 10 or another team would leap-frog the Bears and grab him. The Bears wanted a pass rusher and the falloff from Floyd was viewed as significant. Clemson’s Shaq Lawson was the next edge rusher taken (No. 19), he was less the speed player that Floyd was, and concerns about Lawson’s shoulder issues proved valid, requiring offseason surgery that cost him most of his rookie season.
On day two, Pace traded down twice with an eye toward landing one of his top second-round-band talents: Kansas State offensive lineman Cody Whitehair.
For 2017 Bears, more at stake than just win total.
By John Mullin
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The release of the Bears’ schedule is something of secondary news, since the opponents for every team are set no later than the final game of the final Sunday. For that matter, 14 of every team’s 16 games are known years in advance simply because of the divisional rotation the NFL uses.
No, the overarching question for the Bears after their 6-10 and 3-13 seasons under John Fox is what kind of results from that schedule are needed for Fox to see year four as a head coach in Chicago. The schedule coming out didn’t really change that situation; the Bears were always going to play Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Green Bay sometime.
The same macro-question might be said of GM Ryan Pace’s fate. But nothing has indicated that Pace is standing at the brink of the abyss; the organization believes Pace has drafted well, in addition to making a real effort at trying to make a go of it with Jay Cutler as quarterback while there were millions in guaranteed money.
For that matter, so have Fox and his staff, who inherited Cutler and a talent cupboard with some very empty shelves.
But none of this is really about Cutler, who got his expected release earlier this offseason. It’s about whether senior team management likes what it is seeing, and while the records have been disasters, positives were seen “because we’re developing our own guys and rewarding our own guys,” Chairman George McCaskey said during the recent owners meetings. And frankly, isn’t that what most of BearNation wants, too?
So as far as McCaskey is concerned – and he specifically referred to the rookie impacts of Leonard Floyd, Cody Whitehair and Jordan Howard – Fox and his staff are getting Pace’s draft picks up and running, or at least the healthy ones.
If the Bears win seven or eight games this season, the win total by itself will represent some sort of progress over seasons of six and three wins. And folding the schedule into this: The early season with its Atlanta-Tampa Bay-Pittsburgh-Green Bay start is a crucible. But of the Bears’ final six opponents, only one (Detroit 9-7) had a winning record in 2016.
Meaning: Even with an anticipated rough start, with a still-jelling roster against some of the NFL’s best, the Bears could propel Fox into a clear year four with a finishing kick.
The reality is that no one really has a fix on what the mindset of McCaskey (and the Board) will be as the season plays out. Recent history has defined chaos and impulsiveness at more than one level.
The Bears opened 7-3 in 2011, Jay Cutler broke his thumb and the season unraveled behind Caleb Hanie. The result was McCaskey firing GM Jerry Angelo for an 8-8 season that came the year after falling a touchdown short of an NFC championship and trip to a Super Bowl.
Lovie Smith started 7-1 the year after the Angelo firing, limped to a 10-6 playoff miss and was fired by then-GM Phil Emery, who brought in Marc Trestman. Trestman started his second season 2-1 on the strength of two road wins, only to see the season and the entire football operation blow apart in a year many predicted would see a Bears next-step after Trestman’s 8-8 first season.
But McCaskey and the organization want their coach and GM to succeed, and obviously want an end to the kind of turnover that both results from and perpetuates failure. The Bears' First Family does worry about fan apathy and anger, but senior management also knows that fan loyalty reignites quickly; rebounds from abysmal times under Dave Wannstedt and Dick Jauron didn’t take long, just some wins, baby.
Anyone who’s observed the Bears for any length of time knows that a modest recovery in ’17 would do it. If the Bears win, say, seven games, one or two of those would likely have been “good” wins. It does happen; one of the Bears’ three ’16 wins was over playoff-bound Detroit; in ’15 they beat Kansas City and Green Bay, both playoff teams. What if the ’17 Bears stumble in at 6-10 but beat the Packers in Green Bay, the Lions in Soldier Field and one of the first three opponents on the schedule?
All of which is hypothetical/speculative/theoretical/all of the above. But the ’17 season will contain its own internal intrigue, beyond the schedule.
No, the overarching question for the Bears after their 6-10 and 3-13 seasons under John Fox is what kind of results from that schedule are needed for Fox to see year four as a head coach in Chicago. The schedule coming out didn’t really change that situation; the Bears were always going to play Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Green Bay sometime.
The same macro-question might be said of GM Ryan Pace’s fate. But nothing has indicated that Pace is standing at the brink of the abyss; the organization believes Pace has drafted well, in addition to making a real effort at trying to make a go of it with Jay Cutler as quarterback while there were millions in guaranteed money.
For that matter, so have Fox and his staff, who inherited Cutler and a talent cupboard with some very empty shelves.
But none of this is really about Cutler, who got his expected release earlier this offseason. It’s about whether senior team management likes what it is seeing, and while the records have been disasters, positives were seen “because we’re developing our own guys and rewarding our own guys,” Chairman George McCaskey said during the recent owners meetings. And frankly, isn’t that what most of BearNation wants, too?
So as far as McCaskey is concerned – and he specifically referred to the rookie impacts of Leonard Floyd, Cody Whitehair and Jordan Howard – Fox and his staff are getting Pace’s draft picks up and running, or at least the healthy ones.
If the Bears win seven or eight games this season, the win total by itself will represent some sort of progress over seasons of six and three wins. And folding the schedule into this: The early season with its Atlanta-Tampa Bay-Pittsburgh-Green Bay start is a crucible. But of the Bears’ final six opponents, only one (Detroit 9-7) had a winning record in 2016.
Meaning: Even with an anticipated rough start, with a still-jelling roster against some of the NFL’s best, the Bears could propel Fox into a clear year four with a finishing kick.
The reality is that no one really has a fix on what the mindset of McCaskey (and the Board) will be as the season plays out. Recent history has defined chaos and impulsiveness at more than one level.
The Bears opened 7-3 in 2011, Jay Cutler broke his thumb and the season unraveled behind Caleb Hanie. The result was McCaskey firing GM Jerry Angelo for an 8-8 season that came the year after falling a touchdown short of an NFC championship and trip to a Super Bowl.
Lovie Smith started 7-1 the year after the Angelo firing, limped to a 10-6 playoff miss and was fired by then-GM Phil Emery, who brought in Marc Trestman. Trestman started his second season 2-1 on the strength of two road wins, only to see the season and the entire football operation blow apart in a year many predicted would see a Bears next-step after Trestman’s 8-8 first season.
But McCaskey and the organization want their coach and GM to succeed, and obviously want an end to the kind of turnover that both results from and perpetuates failure. The Bears' First Family does worry about fan apathy and anger, but senior management also knows that fan loyalty reignites quickly; rebounds from abysmal times under Dave Wannstedt and Dick Jauron didn’t take long, just some wins, baby.
Anyone who’s observed the Bears for any length of time knows that a modest recovery in ’17 would do it. If the Bears win, say, seven games, one or two of those would likely have been “good” wins. It does happen; one of the Bears’ three ’16 wins was over playoff-bound Detroit; in ’15 they beat Kansas City and Green Bay, both playoff teams. What if the ’17 Bears stumble in at 6-10 but beat the Packers in Green Bay, the Lions in Soldier Field and one of the first three opponents on the schedule?
All of which is hypothetical/speculative/theoretical/all of the above. But the ’17 season will contain its own internal intrigue, beyond the schedule.
Eddie Macon, first African-American to play for the Bears, dies at 90.
By Michael David Smith
(Photo/nbcsports.com)
Eddie Macon, who in 1952 became the first black player in Chicago Bears history, has died. He was 90.
Born in 1927, Macon joined the Army as soon as he turned 18, just as World War II was ending, and was stationed in Japan for seven months. When he returned home he enrolled at the University of the Pacific, where he would recall years later that he was mostly treated well as the school’s first black football player.
An exception to that, however, came when the team traveled to face LSU. Macon made the trip thinking he would play in the game, only to find out when he got there that LSU refused to play against a black player. Pacific’s team was also repeatedly refused service at restaurants because Macon was there, and when the team could finally dine together Macon was forced to use a back entrance.
“You never get used to that,” Macon recalled in 2005. “It’s demeaning.”
After three seasons at Pacific, Macon was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 1952 NFL draft. As the only black player on the Bears he would say later that he was generally treated well, though there were some exceptions.
“I had no problems with the fans,” Macon said. “The team that I really had problems with was the Detroit Lions. They beat me in the face, twisted my legs. When I got in a pile, I tried to come out of that pile because I knew what they were going to try to do.”
Macon chose to leave the Bears after two years and play for his Pacific coach, who had taken a job in the Canadian Football League. That infuriated Bears owner George Halas, and as a result the Bears for decades did nothing to honor their first African-American player.
After quitting football in 1955 to become a longshoreman, Macon changed his mind and returned to the CFL in 1957, played three more seasons there, and then joined the upstart American Football League in 1960, where he was an All-Pro defensive back for the Raiders.
Macon retired from football the following year and returned to work as a longshoreman. He said in an interview four years ago, “I had the dream and lived the dream.”
Macon is survived by his high school sweetheart and wife of 71 years, Jessie, as well as four children, 12 grandchildren, “more than three dozen” great-grandchildren and 10 great-great grandchildren.
Born in 1927, Macon joined the Army as soon as he turned 18, just as World War II was ending, and was stationed in Japan for seven months. When he returned home he enrolled at the University of the Pacific, where he would recall years later that he was mostly treated well as the school’s first black football player.
An exception to that, however, came when the team traveled to face LSU. Macon made the trip thinking he would play in the game, only to find out when he got there that LSU refused to play against a black player. Pacific’s team was also repeatedly refused service at restaurants because Macon was there, and when the team could finally dine together Macon was forced to use a back entrance.
“You never get used to that,” Macon recalled in 2005. “It’s demeaning.”
After three seasons at Pacific, Macon was selected by the Bears in the second round of the 1952 NFL draft. As the only black player on the Bears he would say later that he was generally treated well, though there were some exceptions.
“I had no problems with the fans,” Macon said. “The team that I really had problems with was the Detroit Lions. They beat me in the face, twisted my legs. When I got in a pile, I tried to come out of that pile because I knew what they were going to try to do.”
Macon chose to leave the Bears after two years and play for his Pacific coach, who had taken a job in the Canadian Football League. That infuriated Bears owner George Halas, and as a result the Bears for decades did nothing to honor their first African-American player.
After quitting football in 1955 to become a longshoreman, Macon changed his mind and returned to the CFL in 1957, played three more seasons there, and then joined the upstart American Football League in 1960, where he was an All-Pro defensive back for the Raiders.
Macon retired from football the following year and returned to work as a longshoreman. He said in an interview four years ago, “I had the dream and lived the dream.”
Macon is survived by his high school sweetheart and wife of 71 years, Jessie, as well as four children, 12 grandchildren, “more than three dozen” great-grandchildren and 10 great-great grandchildren.
Just Another Chicago Bulls Session..... Bulls comeback falls flat as Celtics tie series at 2-2.
By Vincent Goodwill
By Vincent Goodwill
(Photo/USA TODAY)
By the numbers it looks like the series has gone to form but it certainly feels like the Bulls lost more than control of it with their 104-95 loss to the Celtics at the United Center Sunday evening.
The series is tied at two games apiece but it certainly has the feel of a Celtics advantage, and not just because they have two of the last three games in their building in a series that hasn't seen a home team win a game.
It looks as if the Celtics have figured the Bulls out, taken their best shot and delivered some serious blows of their own, in the form of a 5-foot-9 dynamo who produced a signature moment of his own when his team needed him desperately.
If Isaiah Thomas isn't the best player in this series, he was certainly the freshest star when it counted, spearheading a 15-2 run to finish the third quarter when the Bulls made a resounding comeback to look as if they would ride a wave of emotion to an improbable 3-1 lead.
Thomas scored or assisted on the next 20 Celtic points, getting into the lane at will along with finding shooters and buckets inside, the biggest stretch of his 33-point night, as he added nine assists on 10 of 21 shooting and hitting 12 of his 13 free throws.
It didn't matter that the Bulls missed a grand opportunity to exploit one of the most vulnerable defensive players in the league in Thomas, as they refused to attack him after he picked up his fourth foul early in the third.
He kept attacking the Bulls, jumping on the expressway known as the Bulls' paint and finishing multiple times against taller defenders to restore order and press the lead back to 10 at the end of the third.
The Bulls were gassed after coming back from a 20-point deficit, with Jimmy Butler literally doing everything on his way to a 33-point night with nine assists and five rebounds. After a game where he didn't go to the foul line at all, he took every bump and every bruise on his way to 23 free throws.
Nikola Mirotic and Isaiah Canaan scored 13 with Dwyane Wade adding 11, but it was Wade's missed fast break layup that resulted in an Al Horford 3-point play after a dunk that made it 92-80, ending a relatively serious Bulls' threat.
Horford scored 15 with 12 rebounds while Brad Stevens' adjustment from Game 3, Gerald Green, scored all 18 of his points in the first half, helping the Celtics take control as they again gouged the Bulls from the 3-point line in the opening moments—starting with Thomas' patience against an aggressive Bulls defense.
The game was an instant replay early, with the Celtics jumping out to an 11-4 lead and methodically increasing it throughout. Hoiberg gave his struggling point guards another chance, but Grant and Carter-Williams were again not up to task, with Hoiberg pulling them in favor for Isaiah Canaan.
Canaan hasn't played meaningful minutes in months and certainly has been little more than an afterthought since early April but provided a spark in 33 minutes, being a plus-20 and at least bothering Thomas on defense.
Canaan took a charge on Thomas and then hit a triple, bringing the deficit to five midway through the period. The Bulls took their first lead with a Robin Lopez duck-in hook shot at 65-63 before Thomas sliced inside for two layups on consecutive possessions.
Lopez began picking away at the Celtics on the glass, but only played 22 minutes as Hoiberg opted to go away from him and switch to a smaller lineup. It was a tactic that backfired, as the Bulls lost their advantage in paint scoring with each scoring 48 after the Bulls had dominated that department in their first two wins.
Among many things the Bulls tried, competing was their best counter and it'll have to be that in spades from here—because it looks like the Celtics have all the big faces, even if it's in a small package.
The series is tied at two games apiece but it certainly has the feel of a Celtics advantage, and not just because they have two of the last three games in their building in a series that hasn't seen a home team win a game.
It looks as if the Celtics have figured the Bulls out, taken their best shot and delivered some serious blows of their own, in the form of a 5-foot-9 dynamo who produced a signature moment of his own when his team needed him desperately.
If Isaiah Thomas isn't the best player in this series, he was certainly the freshest star when it counted, spearheading a 15-2 run to finish the third quarter when the Bulls made a resounding comeback to look as if they would ride a wave of emotion to an improbable 3-1 lead.
Thomas scored or assisted on the next 20 Celtic points, getting into the lane at will along with finding shooters and buckets inside, the biggest stretch of his 33-point night, as he added nine assists on 10 of 21 shooting and hitting 12 of his 13 free throws.
It didn't matter that the Bulls missed a grand opportunity to exploit one of the most vulnerable defensive players in the league in Thomas, as they refused to attack him after he picked up his fourth foul early in the third.
He kept attacking the Bulls, jumping on the expressway known as the Bulls' paint and finishing multiple times against taller defenders to restore order and press the lead back to 10 at the end of the third.
The Bulls were gassed after coming back from a 20-point deficit, with Jimmy Butler literally doing everything on his way to a 33-point night with nine assists and five rebounds. After a game where he didn't go to the foul line at all, he took every bump and every bruise on his way to 23 free throws.
Nikola Mirotic and Isaiah Canaan scored 13 with Dwyane Wade adding 11, but it was Wade's missed fast break layup that resulted in an Al Horford 3-point play after a dunk that made it 92-80, ending a relatively serious Bulls' threat.
Horford scored 15 with 12 rebounds while Brad Stevens' adjustment from Game 3, Gerald Green, scored all 18 of his points in the first half, helping the Celtics take control as they again gouged the Bulls from the 3-point line in the opening moments—starting with Thomas' patience against an aggressive Bulls defense.
The game was an instant replay early, with the Celtics jumping out to an 11-4 lead and methodically increasing it throughout. Hoiberg gave his struggling point guards another chance, but Grant and Carter-Williams were again not up to task, with Hoiberg pulling them in favor for Isaiah Canaan.
Canaan hasn't played meaningful minutes in months and certainly has been little more than an afterthought since early April but provided a spark in 33 minutes, being a plus-20 and at least bothering Thomas on defense.
Canaan took a charge on Thomas and then hit a triple, bringing the deficit to five midway through the period. The Bulls took their first lead with a Robin Lopez duck-in hook shot at 65-63 before Thomas sliced inside for two layups on consecutive possessions.
Lopez began picking away at the Celtics on the glass, but only played 22 minutes as Hoiberg opted to go away from him and switch to a smaller lineup. It was a tactic that backfired, as the Bulls lost their advantage in paint scoring with each scoring 48 after the Bulls had dominated that department in their first two wins.
Among many things the Bulls tried, competing was their best counter and it'll have to be that in spades from here—because it looks like the Celtics have all the big faces, even if it's in a small package.
Celtics storm Bulls in Game 3 for possible series-turning win. (Friday night's game, 04/21/2017).
By Vincent Goodwill
(Photo/USA TODAY)
One player can change a game, a playoff series, a direction of a franchise.
That player is Rajon Rondo, as his absence robbed the Bulls of their structure, their confidence and their edge. His absence gave the Boston Celtics new life, turning this surprising series on a trifle as they stormed into the United Center and took Game 3 of the first-round playoff series with a 104-87 win Friday night.
The Celtics have a chance to reset the series on Sunday evening with a win as the Bulls looked nothing like the confident outfit that stole two games in TD Garden to start the series.
The direct effect of Rondo being in a sportcoat was highlighted by Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade’s statsheet and the mere sight of Jerian Grant and Michael Carter-Williams, things that should scare even the most ardent Bulls optimist.
Butler couldn’t find decent driving lanes all game, and along with Wade, was forced to try too much one-on-one play, feeding right into the Celtics’ hands.
The two combined to shoot 13 for 39, part of a miserable, disjointed and ugly offensive performance where they shot just 38 percent and tallied only 11 assists compared to 28 in Game 2 and 22 in Game 1.
“You got a guy who's been in so many playoff series, finals, championships,” Wade said. “You can't replace that. Our guys gotta come in and be better. But we can't replace what Rondo brings. With every injury and every blow, it hurts the team in the moment and we have to move past it. We have to, with our point guards and young players on this roster, to be better.”
Butler, who goes to the line nine times a game in the regular season and averaged the same amount in the first two games, didn’t see a free throw at all due to solid defense from Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley.
“Shot a lot of jump shots,” Butler said simply. “When you do that, you don't get to the free throw line. I like my shots, I'm okay with that. I have been to the free throw line a lot this year and I think it's helped. But you gotta take what the defense gives you. I shot jumpers.”
Add to the fact Grant and Carter-Williams could barely get the ball upcourt and certainly couldn’t be counted on making simple entry passes made for an easy win for the Celtics, who were desperate for a win.
Seven of the Bulls’ 17 turnovers came from the point guards, who combined to shoot three for 10.
“We do have confidence on those other guys,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “The experience of getting that first start for Jerian, we’ll go back and watch the film on what we’re gonna do. Anytime he’s filled in that spot, he’s done a solid job for us.”
It didn’t translate and now Hoiberg has to instill some level of confidence in his point guards if he’s going to continue to play them for the remainder of the series, as they looked downright spooked in the atmosphere of the postseason—at home, no less.
“I think human nature might have a bit of that but you can’t allow that to happen,” Hoiberg said. “We have confidence in our guards, they’ve given us good play this year. We need to put in things that are simple, try to create some confidence for those players.”
Without Rondo, they’ve missed more than stability at the position and pace and smarts; They’re without their version of a Celtics cheat code and the pendulum of confidence seems to have swung.
“I'm sure some of our young guys, being in the game without Rondo, it wasn't ideal for those guys,” Wade said. “He means so much to our team, he's been a great leader to those guys. Once the ball goes up, you gotta play.”
“We're not gonna put this all on missing Rondo because if that's the case you might as well not show up because we'll be missing him for awhile.”
The Celtics’ confidence showed in their approach to the game, as they took a 20-10 lead and stretched it to 18 before the end of the first by stretching their range, hitting seven of their 17 3-point baskets.
“Bottom line, tonight they came and threw the first punch. It took us a whole quarter to respond,” Hoiberg said.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens made a lineup change before the start, leaving Al Horford as his only true big and inserting wing Gerald Green in the first five instead of Amir Johnson. Green scored just eight but the personnel change allowed the Celtics to play faster as they spread the floor and relentlessly zigged and zagged until the Bulls said “Uncle”.
Horford was getting dominated by Robin Lopez on the glass in the first two games but rebounded in a big way, scoring 18 with eight rebounds and six assists. Even though the Bulls wound up restoring a bit of order in the second by playing Butler, Wade and Paul Zipser to create length against the Celtics guards, cutting a 20-point lead down to one only lasted for so long before the Celtics again took control in the third with a 32-22 advantage.
“We have to. We feel we have to play better defensively,” Wade said. “Offensively will take care of itself. They came out offensively and put it on us. The offense is the shiny part of it but if we do what we need to do defensively, we'll be fine.”
The Celtics didn’t turn the ball over as much as they did at home, and had balanced scoring across the board as Bradley was efficient on offense and hellish on ballhandlers, finishing with 15 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in 36 minutes.
Crowder was just six of 15 but was a plus-23 and scored 16, as every Celtic starter hit at least two triples, keeping the Bulls on their heels all night.
“It’s a totally different team,” Crowder said. “We felt like with the switching we’d really throw a curveball at him. Try to make them stagnant as possible without the primary ball handler which is Rondo, passing the ball and creating for others. We had a good game plan going into it.”
Isaiah Thomas showed his value once he wasn’t hounded by Rondo, making Wade and Butler work on the defensive end and freeing things up on the outside. He didn’t have an offensive explosion, although he drew enough attention to find Horford multiple times for duck-ins and dunks.
His nine assists to go with his 16 points displayed a smart enough floor game, but one would think he’s going to find his range sooner rather than later—which should scare the team that has to face him Sunday afternoon.
A series can turn on a trifle, and that trifle has turned.
That player is Rajon Rondo, as his absence robbed the Bulls of their structure, their confidence and their edge. His absence gave the Boston Celtics new life, turning this surprising series on a trifle as they stormed into the United Center and took Game 3 of the first-round playoff series with a 104-87 win Friday night.
The Celtics have a chance to reset the series on Sunday evening with a win as the Bulls looked nothing like the confident outfit that stole two games in TD Garden to start the series.
The direct effect of Rondo being in a sportcoat was highlighted by Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade’s statsheet and the mere sight of Jerian Grant and Michael Carter-Williams, things that should scare even the most ardent Bulls optimist.
Butler couldn’t find decent driving lanes all game, and along with Wade, was forced to try too much one-on-one play, feeding right into the Celtics’ hands.
The two combined to shoot 13 for 39, part of a miserable, disjointed and ugly offensive performance where they shot just 38 percent and tallied only 11 assists compared to 28 in Game 2 and 22 in Game 1.
“You got a guy who's been in so many playoff series, finals, championships,” Wade said. “You can't replace that. Our guys gotta come in and be better. But we can't replace what Rondo brings. With every injury and every blow, it hurts the team in the moment and we have to move past it. We have to, with our point guards and young players on this roster, to be better.”
Butler, who goes to the line nine times a game in the regular season and averaged the same amount in the first two games, didn’t see a free throw at all due to solid defense from Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley.
“Shot a lot of jump shots,” Butler said simply. “When you do that, you don't get to the free throw line. I like my shots, I'm okay with that. I have been to the free throw line a lot this year and I think it's helped. But you gotta take what the defense gives you. I shot jumpers.”
Add to the fact Grant and Carter-Williams could barely get the ball upcourt and certainly couldn’t be counted on making simple entry passes made for an easy win for the Celtics, who were desperate for a win.
Seven of the Bulls’ 17 turnovers came from the point guards, who combined to shoot three for 10.
“We do have confidence on those other guys,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. “The experience of getting that first start for Jerian, we’ll go back and watch the film on what we’re gonna do. Anytime he’s filled in that spot, he’s done a solid job for us.”
It didn’t translate and now Hoiberg has to instill some level of confidence in his point guards if he’s going to continue to play them for the remainder of the series, as they looked downright spooked in the atmosphere of the postseason—at home, no less.
“I think human nature might have a bit of that but you can’t allow that to happen,” Hoiberg said. “We have confidence in our guards, they’ve given us good play this year. We need to put in things that are simple, try to create some confidence for those players.”
Without Rondo, they’ve missed more than stability at the position and pace and smarts; They’re without their version of a Celtics cheat code and the pendulum of confidence seems to have swung.
“I'm sure some of our young guys, being in the game without Rondo, it wasn't ideal for those guys,” Wade said. “He means so much to our team, he's been a great leader to those guys. Once the ball goes up, you gotta play.”
“We're not gonna put this all on missing Rondo because if that's the case you might as well not show up because we'll be missing him for awhile.”
The Celtics’ confidence showed in their approach to the game, as they took a 20-10 lead and stretched it to 18 before the end of the first by stretching their range, hitting seven of their 17 3-point baskets.
“Bottom line, tonight they came and threw the first punch. It took us a whole quarter to respond,” Hoiberg said.
Celtics coach Brad Stevens made a lineup change before the start, leaving Al Horford as his only true big and inserting wing Gerald Green in the first five instead of Amir Johnson. Green scored just eight but the personnel change allowed the Celtics to play faster as they spread the floor and relentlessly zigged and zagged until the Bulls said “Uncle”.
Horford was getting dominated by Robin Lopez on the glass in the first two games but rebounded in a big way, scoring 18 with eight rebounds and six assists. Even though the Bulls wound up restoring a bit of order in the second by playing Butler, Wade and Paul Zipser to create length against the Celtics guards, cutting a 20-point lead down to one only lasted for so long before the Celtics again took control in the third with a 32-22 advantage.
“We have to. We feel we have to play better defensively,” Wade said. “Offensively will take care of itself. They came out offensively and put it on us. The offense is the shiny part of it but if we do what we need to do defensively, we'll be fine.”
The Celtics didn’t turn the ball over as much as they did at home, and had balanced scoring across the board as Bradley was efficient on offense and hellish on ballhandlers, finishing with 15 points, seven assists and seven rebounds in 36 minutes.
Crowder was just six of 15 but was a plus-23 and scored 16, as every Celtic starter hit at least two triples, keeping the Bulls on their heels all night.
“It’s a totally different team,” Crowder said. “We felt like with the switching we’d really throw a curveball at him. Try to make them stagnant as possible without the primary ball handler which is Rondo, passing the ball and creating for others. We had a good game plan going into it.”
Isaiah Thomas showed his value once he wasn’t hounded by Rondo, making Wade and Butler work on the defensive end and freeing things up on the outside. He didn’t have an offensive explosion, although he drew enough attention to find Horford multiple times for duck-ins and dunks.
His nine assists to go with his 16 points displayed a smart enough floor game, but one would think he’s going to find his range sooner rather than later—which should scare the team that has to face him Sunday afternoon.
A series can turn on a trifle, and that trifle has turned.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Stan Bowman 'completely, completely disappointed' with Blackhawks.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/USA TODAY)
But there was nothing usual about Saturday, a day the Blackhawks should have been hosting the Nashville Predators for Game 5 of their first-round series. Instead, the Blackhawks general manager was leading off the team's locker-cleanout day. It was much earlier than expected and he was predictably angry about it.
"I'm completely, completely disappointed. It's unacceptable to be where we are today," Bowman said. "I'm frustrated, I'm angry. This was a tough, tough loss for us all to take. Standing here April 22 is not the way we expected our season to end. And it's a complete failure when you measure it against the expectations that we have of ourselves. We did not come even close to reaching the standard we have set over the years here. And that's unacceptable."
Bowman used the word "unacceptable" numerous times, and understandably so. After a great regular season, the Blackhawks crashed and burned in the first round. Considering how poorly it went, Bowman said there will absolutely be changes this offseason.
"There will be change moving forward; change comes in many different ways. So the specifics of how we're going to change things into next year are not really meant for this forum. But I can promise you we need to be better," Bowman said.
There has been plenty of change for the Blackhawks in every offseason, but usually that's been due to cap. This being due to poor performance is something they haven't dealt with in a while.
"I understand that they're upset. Going out the way we did was not acceptable and if Stan thinks we need a change, you know, we might need a change," Niklas Hjalmarsson said. "He's pretty good at what he's doing, so I guess we'll see what happens over the summer."
So how do you make changes on a team loaded with lengthy contracts, many of which comes no-movement clauses? It can be done, but it's up to finding a team with some cap room and a player who's willing to OK the deal. The Blackhawks have made that work before; in the summer of 2011 they traded Brian Campbell and Campbell's then-sizeable control to the Florida Panthers. But one way or another, be it with different players or a different attitude, the Blackhawks say they need to find what they lacked in these playoffs.
"It seems like Nashville had more bite and more aggression. In the playoffs you have to bring it and we didn't answer," Duncan Keith said. "I know I could've played better and we all could've played better. As a team you have that aggressiveness and energy and bite and pushback. Just seemed like it wasn't there."
One area that won't change is at coach. Bowman said, "Joel [Quenneville] is our head coach. He will continue to be our head coach. And Joel and I are going to work together to make sure that this never happens again.
Outside of that, however, it sounds like the Blackhawks will take a thorough look at things this summer, reassess and see what they can do to be better. The Blackhawks thought they were in good shape heading into the playoffs. But their lack of performance there, proved otherwise. Anything they accomplished in the regular season seemed worthless.
There's no doubt the Blackhawks will look long and hard at things this offseason, which came a lot faster than anyone expected.
"I guess anger is probably as good a word you can express with where we're at and how I feel. After the game, you had a sense over the last couple of games and series that it was one of those, whether frustration or whatever word is a negative connotation that jumps out, explains where we're at and how we're feeling," Quenneville said. "Figuring it out is the process now."
What's done and what lies ahead: Five thoughts on the Blackhawks.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo.csnchicago.com)
The end came quicker than most of us expected on Thursday night when the Blackhawks were swept by the Nashville Predators, their second first-round exit in as many seasons.
Where do the Blackhawks go from here? General manager Stan Bowman, coach Joel Quenneville and Blackhawks players will address the media on Saturday as part of their locker clean-out day. Before they do, a few thoughts on the abrupt end of this season and the look ahead.
1. Quenneville taking the blame is wrong. Quenneville said it was on him that the Blackhawks didn't reach the necessary level in the postseason, that he didn't find "whatever buttons you have to push." As a coach he's responsible for finding the right combinations, for recognizing a player's strengths and weaknesses and adjusting accordingly. But when it comes to realizing it's the postseason and you've got to play that much better? That's on the players. These are grown men with very robust annual paychecks that serve as reminders on how they're supposed to play, especially during the postseason. Quenneville is responsible for certain things. Making sure a player's appetite to win is there in April is not one of them.
2. It wasn't about the goalie. There are still a few (albeit very few) who think if Scott Darling would've been in net at some point against the Predators, there would've been a different outcome. Well, we'll apply the same logic there as we did with Corey Crawford: Unless the Blackhawks' goaltenders were going to score some goals themselves, it didn't matter. Crawford wasn't the problem. Out of this four-game mess, he was probably the most consistent player. You get a slight argument on Game 3, but not much past that. The Blackhawks scored three goals in four games. They had more goals in the first game of this series two years ago.
3. Don't look to the past anymore. On paper, both the Brian Campbell signing and Johnny Oduya re-acquisition looked like good ideas. Neither cost much. Neither were expected to be the go-to guys. But neither ended up being what the Blackhawks needed. This is the fourth time since 2013 the Blackhawks have brought back guys from previous Stanley Cup teams (Campbell, Oduya, Andrew Ladd and Kris Versteeg), but the moves usually didn't bring the desired results. It's great to think you can recapture the magic with former players, but years go by and times change.
4. Be ready for changes. Don't expect front-office changes. What Bowman and Quenneville have done over the past few seasons is tremendous, especially in the salary-cap era. While this result is shocking and beyond disappointing, it's not reason enough to start dismantling the brain trust. Roster changes, however, won't be a surprise. They never are with this team. It would be a surprise if either Oduya or Campbell are back. Do they consider moving a bigger contract? Maybe, but that depends on having a willing trade partner and the player (likely) having to OK it. But the Blackhawks have to start looking forward more.
5. Take heart in the future. The Blackhawks got a glimpse into what the next generation can bring this season, and most of it is good. Ryan Hartman had an outstanding rookie season. Nick Schmaltz had the growing pains that accompany a player making the jump from college straight to the pros, but the skill is there and he should keep developing. Tyler Motte was outstanding at the start of the season. If he can reach pre-injury levels again this fall, he'll be valuable. Let's not forget Alex DeBrincat, who put up an astounding 127 points and set and/or tied a few Ontario Hockey League records with the Erie Otters this season. He's been great in the playoffs, too, with 22 points through 11 games.
Where do the Blackhawks go from here? General manager Stan Bowman, coach Joel Quenneville and Blackhawks players will address the media on Saturday as part of their locker clean-out day. Before they do, a few thoughts on the abrupt end of this season and the look ahead.
1. Quenneville taking the blame is wrong. Quenneville said it was on him that the Blackhawks didn't reach the necessary level in the postseason, that he didn't find "whatever buttons you have to push." As a coach he's responsible for finding the right combinations, for recognizing a player's strengths and weaknesses and adjusting accordingly. But when it comes to realizing it's the postseason and you've got to play that much better? That's on the players. These are grown men with very robust annual paychecks that serve as reminders on how they're supposed to play, especially during the postseason. Quenneville is responsible for certain things. Making sure a player's appetite to win is there in April is not one of them.
2. It wasn't about the goalie. There are still a few (albeit very few) who think if Scott Darling would've been in net at some point against the Predators, there would've been a different outcome. Well, we'll apply the same logic there as we did with Corey Crawford: Unless the Blackhawks' goaltenders were going to score some goals themselves, it didn't matter. Crawford wasn't the problem. Out of this four-game mess, he was probably the most consistent player. You get a slight argument on Game 3, but not much past that. The Blackhawks scored three goals in four games. They had more goals in the first game of this series two years ago.
3. Don't look to the past anymore. On paper, both the Brian Campbell signing and Johnny Oduya re-acquisition looked like good ideas. Neither cost much. Neither were expected to be the go-to guys. But neither ended up being what the Blackhawks needed. This is the fourth time since 2013 the Blackhawks have brought back guys from previous Stanley Cup teams (Campbell, Oduya, Andrew Ladd and Kris Versteeg), but the moves usually didn't bring the desired results. It's great to think you can recapture the magic with former players, but years go by and times change.
4. Be ready for changes. Don't expect front-office changes. What Bowman and Quenneville have done over the past few seasons is tremendous, especially in the salary-cap era. While this result is shocking and beyond disappointing, it's not reason enough to start dismantling the brain trust. Roster changes, however, won't be a surprise. They never are with this team. It would be a surprise if either Oduya or Campbell are back. Do they consider moving a bigger contract? Maybe, but that depends on having a willing trade partner and the player (likely) having to OK it. But the Blackhawks have to start looking forward more.
5. Take heart in the future. The Blackhawks got a glimpse into what the next generation can bring this season, and most of it is good. Ryan Hartman had an outstanding rookie season. Nick Schmaltz had the growing pains that accompany a player making the jump from college straight to the pros, but the skill is there and he should keep developing. Tyler Motte was outstanding at the start of the season. If he can reach pre-injury levels again this fall, he'll be valuable. Let's not forget Alex DeBrincat, who put up an astounding 127 points and set and/or tied a few Ontario Hockey League records with the Erie Otters this season. He's been great in the playoffs, too, with 22 points through 11 games.
Two days later, Blackhawks still stunned, 'embarrassed' by quick exit.
By Tracey Myers
(Photo/USA TODAY)
The Blackhawks convened on Saturday for their annual locker clean-out/player evaluation day. It was a day that came a lot quicker than they expected, and two days after being swept out of the postseason, the bitter feelings hadn’t diminished a bit.
“Yeah, it’s embarrassing,” Duncan Keith said. “When you go into the playoffs you expect a long run and all of a sudden you’re out four straight. There’s no other way to describe it. Shocked, embarrassing, to me those are the words.”
There really wasn’t much to say on Saturday, as the Blackhawks still tried to figure out what went wrong in their lopsided series loss to the Nashville Predators. It wasn’t about losing that Stanley Cup-winning feeling, they said. But there was no doubt the Predators were the hungrier team; that, nobody among the Blackhawks denied.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt,” Patrick Kane said of the Predators wanting it more. “If you watch that series or re-watch games, they seem like the faster team, the hungrier team. Maybe we were in a situation where we were maybe looking past a team like Nashville and thinking that we were going to go on, and it was going to be an easy series and we were just getting ourselves ready for what was to come down the road. It’s easy to say all of this stuff now, but I guess if you look back and watch the games, you could say they wanted it a bit more.”
Marian Hossa agreed.
“You know, there’s something right about it,” he said of Kane’s assessment. “In the regular season we had games where we beat them and maybe he’s right. But you have to give them so much credit because they gave us a hard time to try and make something happen. I don’t remember a series ending so early like this in my career and so few goals. It’s a tough pill to swallow.”
It’s tough because any resemblance between the Blackhawks who garnered 109 regular-season points and the Blackhawks in that first-round series was purely coincidental. It was night and day.
“I think everyone thought they were at their best and it was the exact opposite. I think we’re missing what we had all year and it showed. It showed and against a team that maybe played or had one of the best defensive efforts I’ve seen. They were all over the ice and it was a tough series to play in, especially when you expect so much,” Corey Crawford said. “We just weren’t the same team. I think anyone who was watching could pretty much see that.”
There was plenty of blame to go around and all among the Blackhawks, be it the brass or the coaches or the players, took their share of it. General manager Stan Bowman said it fell on him to field the best team. Coach Joel Quenneville said it was up to him to have the Blackhawks ready. Individual players pointed to what they didn’t do. But what’s done is done for this season. The Blackhawks failed, and while they say and know they need to move on, this will stay with them for a while.
“It’s not the fact that we lost. It’s how we lost I think when you look at it. I’m embarrassed — the way we played,” Brent Seabrook said. “It’s going to be a tough summer and that’s about it.”
CUBS: John Lackey struggles as Cubs drop series finale to Reds.
By CSN Staff
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
With his high leg kick and below-the-radar breaking balls, Bronson Arroyo showed the Cubs a little old-style pitching. Who needs to throw 90 mph to beat the World Series champions?
The 40-year-old righty gave his best performance yet in his long comeback from elbow problems, pitching three-hit ball over six innings on Sunday, and the Cincinnati Reds salvaged a 7-5 victory . Arroyo worked fast, varied the angles of his deliveries, and kept `em guessing with his minimalist pitches.
"I'm happy for him, to see him back up," Chicago catcher Miguel Montero said. "He's a tough pitcher to face. Obviously he's throwing below hitting speed right now."
Arroyo (2-2) needed more than two years to recover from Tommy John surgery. The Reds gave him what amounted to a final chance this spring, and he's back to fooling `em with his unusual repertoire. Jon Jay saw pitches of 67, 74, 83, 75 and 70 mph during one at-bat.
"I don't want to say I had pinpoint control, but I was throwing the breaking ball down and out where it was almost impossible to hit," Arroyo said. "They knew where I was going, but I still had enough late movement to surprise them."
Arroyo allowed Anthony Rizzo's two-run homer - his third of the series - and struck out seven batters for the first time since May 13, 2014.
"This was the first time he looked like the Bronson of his first time through here," manager Bryan Price said, referring to Arroyo's 2006-13 stay in Cincinnati.
Raisesl Iglesias gave up a pair of runs in the ninth before finishing off the Reds' 3-7 homestand.
Patrick Kivlehan's bases-loaded double highlighted a four-run sixth inning off John Lackey (1-3) and decided a matchup of up-in-years starters. The 38-year-old Lackey and Arroyo have combined for 793 starts in the majors.
Despite the loss, the defending champs took two of three in the series and moved back into first place in the NL Central. No surprise that it happened in Cincinnati - the Cubs have won 17 of their last 22 at Great American Ball Park. They've taken 20 of their last 25 overall against the Reds.
"I have nothing to complain about," manager Joe Maddon said.
Rizzo extended his hitting streak to 12 games - matching his career high - with his two-run homer in the fourth inning. His three-run shot with two outs in the ninth helped the Cubs rally for a 6-5, 11-inning victory in the series opener. He had another three-run homer during a 12-8 win on Saturday.
The Cubs have homered in their last 15 games at Great American. They hit seven in all during the series.
The 40-year-old righty gave his best performance yet in his long comeback from elbow problems, pitching three-hit ball over six innings on Sunday, and the Cincinnati Reds salvaged a 7-5 victory . Arroyo worked fast, varied the angles of his deliveries, and kept `em guessing with his minimalist pitches.
"I'm happy for him, to see him back up," Chicago catcher Miguel Montero said. "He's a tough pitcher to face. Obviously he's throwing below hitting speed right now."
Arroyo (2-2) needed more than two years to recover from Tommy John surgery. The Reds gave him what amounted to a final chance this spring, and he's back to fooling `em with his unusual repertoire. Jon Jay saw pitches of 67, 74, 83, 75 and 70 mph during one at-bat.
"I don't want to say I had pinpoint control, but I was throwing the breaking ball down and out where it was almost impossible to hit," Arroyo said. "They knew where I was going, but I still had enough late movement to surprise them."
Arroyo allowed Anthony Rizzo's two-run homer - his third of the series - and struck out seven batters for the first time since May 13, 2014.
"This was the first time he looked like the Bronson of his first time through here," manager Bryan Price said, referring to Arroyo's 2006-13 stay in Cincinnati.
Raisesl Iglesias gave up a pair of runs in the ninth before finishing off the Reds' 3-7 homestand.
Patrick Kivlehan's bases-loaded double highlighted a four-run sixth inning off John Lackey (1-3) and decided a matchup of up-in-years starters. The 38-year-old Lackey and Arroyo have combined for 793 starts in the majors.
Despite the loss, the defending champs took two of three in the series and moved back into first place in the NL Central. No surprise that it happened in Cincinnati - the Cubs have won 17 of their last 22 at Great American Ball Park. They've taken 20 of their last 25 overall against the Reds.
"I have nothing to complain about," manager Joe Maddon said.
Rizzo extended his hitting streak to 12 games - matching his career high - with his two-run homer in the fourth inning. His three-run shot with two outs in the ninth helped the Cubs rally for a 6-5, 11-inning victory in the series opener. He had another three-run homer during a 12-8 win on Saturday.
The Cubs have homered in their last 15 games at Great American. They hit seven in all during the series.
GM Jed Hoyer breaks down the season so far and how 2017 Cubs need to create their own identity.
By Patrick Mooney
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The Cubs survived the season's first 15 games without the kind of devastating injury that sidelined Kyle Schwarber last year or the steroid suspension that just took down Starling Marte and might sink the Pittsburgh Pirates. There's value in just avoiding the catastrophic event, like the Toronto Blue Jays starting 2-11 and already sparking speculation about a sell-off.
The Cubs don't have to worry about their window suddenly closing or wonder if buying would make sense at the trade deadline. There are no free agents in Year 1 of megadeals in the clubhouse, the way Jon Lester and Jason Heyward had to get acclimated to a new team and different expectations. The 108-year drought is finally over.
Maybe 8-7 isn't exactly what the Cubs expected when they left Arizona at the end of spring training. But they also headed out on a 10-day road trip that begins Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds feeling like they already weathered a storm.
"One of the things about coming off a world championship," general manager Jed Hoyer, "is that I do think there's a tendency to feel like: ‘OK, we have the same group together, the same things are going to happen again.'
"Every team has to create their own identity. Every team has to go through that process again. Maybe this is good for us, in a way. It forces our guys to realize that just bringing back a lot of the same guys on a really good team — it doesn't just happen overnight.
"It takes time. It takes building that identity and working through some problems together."
It's not that the Cubs needed a wake-up call. It's more the reality of a 162-game schedule, the emotions and distractions during that first banner-raising/ring-ceremony homestand at Wrigley Field and the target on their backs. Next weekend's showdown against the Boston Red Sox will be billed as a potential World Series preview, but the Cubs don't need national TV or a backdrop like Fenway Park to know they will be getting everyone's best shot.
"Even in the games we've won, I don't think we've still been quite as clean or quite as efficient as we were a year ago," Hoyer said. "But one of the nice things about bringing back almost exactly the same team is we know we can do it. Virtually the same group won 103 games last year and obviously was very dominant at times. I think we'll get back to that."
The Cubs have committed 12 errors, while still being a top-seven team in the majors in terms of defensive efficiency. The rotation has made only six quality starts, but that group has an overall 3.60 ERA, even with Kyle Hendricks off to a slow start. The bullpen has blown four saves, but new closer Wade Davis is 2-0 with three saves and a 0.00 ERA.
The Cubs rank 13th in the National League with 13 homers — Bryzzo Souvenir Co. has produced three so far — and have scored more runs than only six other NL teams. But Schwarber (.814 OPS) is a force at the top of the lineup and Heyward is hitting .294 after breaking down and rebuilding his swing.
"April's difficult — we're drawing big conclusions based on tiny sample sizes," Hoyer said. "That's just the nature of it. That said, I don't think we've played the kind of baseball we played last year, that's for sure. We've been sloppier, at times, than we were last year. We didn't do that last year. We were very clean. We took care of the ball. We didn't give other teams outs.
"The offensive part — I have zero concerns about that. That's just a matter of time. We have such a talented lineup with guys with track records that actually even have upside beyond what they did last year. The offensive part will come around."
Back-to-back comeback wins over the Milwaukee Brewers this week at Wrigley Field also gave the Cubs flashbacks to 2016.
"It's not like we're playing poorly," manager Joe Maddon said. "When you don't hit, sometimes the definition is that you're not playing well. We're just not hitting up to our capabilities yet. The defense, overall, has been really good. The starting pitching, for the most part, has been really good. The bullpen, confidence-wise, (is getting there).
"We will start to hit. That's going to happen. And then as these bullpen dudes get their confidence…just keep moving it forward. I like where we're at."
The Cubs avoided a last-minute signing this winter to bolster their bullpen, so they could conserve resources for the trade deadline. Prospects like Ian Happ then went out and made a strong impression in spring training, showing the farm system still has high-end talent.
Happ generated six homers in his first 14 games at the Triple-A level and has already played second base and all three outfield spots for Iowa, with the idea that he might also work out at third base to boost his versatility and marketability.
But it's too early to tell how the trade market will shake out, where the Cubs might see a match in a deal for pitching or if other unforeseen needs might arise between now and then.
"We're a long way from that," Hoyer said. "The way the game is, I feel like April and May are sort of evaluation months. People don't try to make massive decisions before Memorial Day. And then once you get into June, trades and transactions become a lot more realistic. But we're still 45 games from that really becoming a reality."
The Cubs don't have to worry about their window suddenly closing or wonder if buying would make sense at the trade deadline. There are no free agents in Year 1 of megadeals in the clubhouse, the way Jon Lester and Jason Heyward had to get acclimated to a new team and different expectations. The 108-year drought is finally over.
Maybe 8-7 isn't exactly what the Cubs expected when they left Arizona at the end of spring training. But they also headed out on a 10-day road trip that begins Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds feeling like they already weathered a storm.
"One of the things about coming off a world championship," general manager Jed Hoyer, "is that I do think there's a tendency to feel like: ‘OK, we have the same group together, the same things are going to happen again.'
"Every team has to create their own identity. Every team has to go through that process again. Maybe this is good for us, in a way. It forces our guys to realize that just bringing back a lot of the same guys on a really good team — it doesn't just happen overnight.
"It takes time. It takes building that identity and working through some problems together."
It's not that the Cubs needed a wake-up call. It's more the reality of a 162-game schedule, the emotions and distractions during that first banner-raising/ring-ceremony homestand at Wrigley Field and the target on their backs. Next weekend's showdown against the Boston Red Sox will be billed as a potential World Series preview, but the Cubs don't need national TV or a backdrop like Fenway Park to know they will be getting everyone's best shot.
"Even in the games we've won, I don't think we've still been quite as clean or quite as efficient as we were a year ago," Hoyer said. "But one of the nice things about bringing back almost exactly the same team is we know we can do it. Virtually the same group won 103 games last year and obviously was very dominant at times. I think we'll get back to that."
The Cubs have committed 12 errors, while still being a top-seven team in the majors in terms of defensive efficiency. The rotation has made only six quality starts, but that group has an overall 3.60 ERA, even with Kyle Hendricks off to a slow start. The bullpen has blown four saves, but new closer Wade Davis is 2-0 with three saves and a 0.00 ERA.
The Cubs rank 13th in the National League with 13 homers — Bryzzo Souvenir Co. has produced three so far — and have scored more runs than only six other NL teams. But Schwarber (.814 OPS) is a force at the top of the lineup and Heyward is hitting .294 after breaking down and rebuilding his swing.
"April's difficult — we're drawing big conclusions based on tiny sample sizes," Hoyer said. "That's just the nature of it. That said, I don't think we've played the kind of baseball we played last year, that's for sure. We've been sloppier, at times, than we were last year. We didn't do that last year. We were very clean. We took care of the ball. We didn't give other teams outs.
"The offensive part — I have zero concerns about that. That's just a matter of time. We have such a talented lineup with guys with track records that actually even have upside beyond what they did last year. The offensive part will come around."
Back-to-back comeback wins over the Milwaukee Brewers this week at Wrigley Field also gave the Cubs flashbacks to 2016.
"It's not like we're playing poorly," manager Joe Maddon said. "When you don't hit, sometimes the definition is that you're not playing well. We're just not hitting up to our capabilities yet. The defense, overall, has been really good. The starting pitching, for the most part, has been really good. The bullpen, confidence-wise, (is getting there).
"We will start to hit. That's going to happen. And then as these bullpen dudes get their confidence…just keep moving it forward. I like where we're at."
The Cubs avoided a last-minute signing this winter to bolster their bullpen, so they could conserve resources for the trade deadline. Prospects like Ian Happ then went out and made a strong impression in spring training, showing the farm system still has high-end talent.
Happ generated six homers in his first 14 games at the Triple-A level and has already played second base and all three outfield spots for Iowa, with the idea that he might also work out at third base to boost his versatility and marketability.
But it's too early to tell how the trade market will shake out, where the Cubs might see a match in a deal for pitching or if other unforeseen needs might arise between now and then.
"We're a long way from that," Hoyer said. "The way the game is, I feel like April and May are sort of evaluation months. People don't try to make massive decisions before Memorial Day. And then once you get into June, trades and transactions become a lot more realistic. But we're still 45 games from that really becoming a reality."
Kris Bryant has the best-selling jersey in baseball, Cubs have four of top five.
By CSN Staff
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
You don't really need any more evidence to know that the Cubs are a pretty popular squad.
But here's some anyway.
Since the end of the World Series, four of the five top-selling jerseys in baseball belong to Cubs players. Kris Bryant leads the league, with Anthony Rizzo right behind at No. 2. Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber claim the fourth and fifth spots on the list, released Friday by Major League Baseball and the MLBPA.
Wowie.
The only guy breaking up the Cubs mojo is Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, coming in at No. 3. Of course, Kershaw couldn't quite do that when it counted back in October, giving up five runs in five innings — including a home run to the aforementioned Rizzo — in Game 6 of the NLCS.
Bryant can add this title to his list of accomplishments: He's got the best-selling jersey in baseball since the start of the 2015 season.
Here's the full list of the 20 top-selling jerseys in the game:
1. Kris Bryant, Cubs
2. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs
3. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
4. Javier Baez, Cubs
5. Kyle Schwarber, Cubs
6. Noah Syndergaard, Mets
7. Corey Seager, Dodgers
8. Buster Posey, Giants
9. Gary Sanchez, Yankees
10. Mike Trout, Angels
11. Yadier Molina, Cardinals
12. Madison Bumgarner, Giants
13. Yoenis Cespedes, Mets
14. Mookie Betts, Red Sox
15. Bryce Harper, Nationals
16. Francisco Lindor, Indians
17. Freddie Freeman, Braves
18. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
19. Jose Altuve, Astros
20. Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays
But here's some anyway.
Since the end of the World Series, four of the five top-selling jerseys in baseball belong to Cubs players. Kris Bryant leads the league, with Anthony Rizzo right behind at No. 2. Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber claim the fourth and fifth spots on the list, released Friday by Major League Baseball and the MLBPA.
Wowie.
The only guy breaking up the Cubs mojo is Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, coming in at No. 3. Of course, Kershaw couldn't quite do that when it counted back in October, giving up five runs in five innings — including a home run to the aforementioned Rizzo — in Game 6 of the NLCS.
Bryant can add this title to his list of accomplishments: He's got the best-selling jersey in baseball since the start of the 2015 season.
Here's the full list of the 20 top-selling jerseys in the game:
1. Kris Bryant, Cubs
2. Anthony Rizzo, Cubs
3. Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers
4. Javier Baez, Cubs
5. Kyle Schwarber, Cubs
6. Noah Syndergaard, Mets
7. Corey Seager, Dodgers
8. Buster Posey, Giants
9. Gary Sanchez, Yankees
10. Mike Trout, Angels
11. Yadier Molina, Cardinals
12. Madison Bumgarner, Giants
13. Yoenis Cespedes, Mets
14. Mookie Betts, Red Sox
15. Bryce Harper, Nationals
16. Francisco Lindor, Indians
17. Freddie Freeman, Braves
18. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox
19. Jose Altuve, Astros
20. Josh Donaldson, Blue Jays
White Sox snap skid by forcing, capitalizing on Indians' mistakes.
By JJ Stankevitz
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
The White Sox quickly ended their 23-inning streak of offensive futility and didn't look back.
A three-run first inning propelled the White Sox to avoid getting swept with a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Indians in front of 24,444 at Guaranteed Rate Field Sunday afternoon.
Tim Anderson led off the bottom of the first with a double, and after Tyler Saladino dribbled a ground ball through the left side, he came around to score on Melky Cabrera's sacrifice fly. The White Sox last run before that came in the fourth inning of their 9-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
After Cabrera's flyout, Indians right fielder Abraham Almonte made a mess of Jose Abreu's line drive single, allowing it to skip past him to the wall. That error brought Saladino home and allowed Abreu to reach third, and Abreu later scored on Leury Garcia's two-out single to tag a third run on Cleveland starter Danny Salazar.
Salazar was shaky over his five innings, striking out nine but allowing seven hits and issuing three walks. The White Sox struck again in the fifth inning when Avisail Garcia launched an RBI double off the top of the center field wall.
Cleveland's inability to catch the ball helped the White Sox push across another run in the sixth inning. After Omar Narvaez drew a leadoff walk, Jacob May put down a sacrifice bunt and hustled to first, where second baseman Michael Martinez — covering for charging first baseman Carlos Santana — had to awkwardly stretch for Santana's underhand toss. Martinez dropped the ball, allowing May to reach.
Following strikeouts by Anderson and Saladino, Cabrera lined a single to left, and Narvaez was aggressively waved home (a common practice with two outs in an inning). Brandon Guyer's throw easily beat Narvaez to the plate, but Indians catcher Roberto Perez dropped it, allowing Narvaez to score the fifth run of the game.
Another Indians defensive miscue led to the White Sox sixth run in the eighth, when an Abreu ground ball kicked off Santana's spikes and into center field, allowing May to score.
A three-run first inning propelled the White Sox to avoid getting swept with a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Indians in front of 24,444 at Guaranteed Rate Field Sunday afternoon.
Tim Anderson led off the bottom of the first with a double, and after Tyler Saladino dribbled a ground ball through the left side, he came around to score on Melky Cabrera's sacrifice fly. The White Sox last run before that came in the fourth inning of their 9-1 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday.
After Cabrera's flyout, Indians right fielder Abraham Almonte made a mess of Jose Abreu's line drive single, allowing it to skip past him to the wall. That error brought Saladino home and allowed Abreu to reach third, and Abreu later scored on Leury Garcia's two-out single to tag a third run on Cleveland starter Danny Salazar.
Salazar was shaky over his five innings, striking out nine but allowing seven hits and issuing three walks. The White Sox struck again in the fifth inning when Avisail Garcia launched an RBI double off the top of the center field wall.
Cleveland's inability to catch the ball helped the White Sox push across another run in the sixth inning. After Omar Narvaez drew a leadoff walk, Jacob May put down a sacrifice bunt and hustled to first, where second baseman Michael Martinez — covering for charging first baseman Carlos Santana — had to awkwardly stretch for Santana's underhand toss. Martinez dropped the ball, allowing May to reach.
Following strikeouts by Anderson and Saladino, Cabrera lined a single to left, and Narvaez was aggressively waved home (a common practice with two outs in an inning). Brandon Guyer's throw easily beat Narvaez to the plate, but Indians catcher Roberto Perez dropped it, allowing Narvaez to score the fifth run of the game.
Another Indians defensive miscue led to the White Sox sixth run in the eighth, when an Abreu ground ball kicked off Santana's spikes and into center field, allowing May to score.
White Sox starter Derek Holland was solid in his six innings, allowing only a solo home run to Francisco Lindor with three walks and six strikeouts. His toughest test came in the top of the fifth, when he issues a two-out walk to Santana to load the bases but struck out Lindor to end the frame. Holland lowered his ERA to 1.99 with his six innings of one-run ball Sunday.
The Indians tacked on a late run when David Robertson threw a wild pitch that allowed Lonnie Chisenhall to score with two out in the ninth.
Sick bay: White Sox not worried about Zach Putnam, Melky Cabrera back in lineup.
By JJ Stankevitz
The Indians tacked on a late run when David Robertson threw a wild pitch that allowed Lonnie Chisenhall to score with two out in the ninth.
Sick bay: White Sox not worried about Zach Putnam, Melky Cabrera back in lineup.
By JJ Stankevitz
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
White Sox manager Rick Renteria said Zach Putnam theoretically is available to pitch in Sunday’s series finale against the Cleveland Indians, but he’s unlikely to use him after the right-hander left Saturday’s game with right elbow tenderness.
Putnam was initially listed as being day-to-day, and nothing changed on that overnight.
“He’s available but would I use him? Probably not,” Renteria said.
Melky Cabrera, who jammed his wrist chasing down a foul ball Saturday night, was back in the White Sox lineup at designated hitter on Sunday.
Left-hander Carlos Rodon was spotted saying hi to teammates in the White Sox clubhouse before Sunday’s game, and is being evaluated as the team figures out what the next step in his recovery process from bursitis in his left biceps.
Right-hander Jake Petricka was around the clubhouse on Sunday, too, as he works his way back from a strained right hip.
“He’s been getting worked on inside there,” Renteria said. “We still have to see where he’s at. I don’t know what he’s going to do on the field yet. That’s to be assessed.”
Matt Davidson stays mentally involved for fourth consecutive game off.
By JJ Stankevitz
(Photo/csnchicago.com)
Matt Davidson, despite a .324 batting average and 1.010 OPS, hasn't been in the White Sox starting lineup in four consecutive games.
For Sunday's series finale against the Cleveland Indians, Melky Cabrera got the start at designated hitter (he banged up his wrist running into a wall in left field foul territory Saturday night) with Jacob May playing in left field. Cody Asche, who started at DH in the White Sox last three games and went 0-10, is on the bench.
A few things to note about Davidson's absence: They've come against four of the American League's best right-handers in New York's Masahiro Tanaka and Cleveland's Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar. Entering Sunday's game, though, the White Sox haven't scored in their last 23 innings and only have had one runner reach second base in their last 20 frames.
Manager Rick Renteria said ostensibly poor matchups for Davidson, who has 12 strikeouts in 23 plate appearances against right-handers this year, haven't been why he hasn't played him.
"It's not so much the matchup," Renteria said. "I think we have other guys we want to go ahead and give them the opportunity to face who they are facing today. Matty has shown he can hit anybody. It has nothing to do with it. It has more to do with putting the guys we have right now in a particular situation to experience this particular club."
Davidson said the gap in starts hasn't been an issue for him, since he's already dealt with a lull in playing time earlier this year. Davidson made his last Cactus League start March 28 and only had one at-bat between then and his regular season debut April 6, when he went 2-4 with a home run, a walk and three RBIs.
"I'm just staying with my approach, I'm watching video and staying up just like I'd be playing," Davidson said. "As long as I'm doing that I think I'll give myself the best chance I can."
Davidson, who made his four seasons ago with the Arizona Diamondbacks, spent nearly three years in Triple-A after the White Sox acquired him in exchange for closer Addison Reed in December of 2013. When he finally broke through with the White Sox last year, he broke his foot in his first game back in the major leagues and missed the rest of the season.
So while Davidson's starts and at-bats have been sporadic this season, he's not taking the chances he gets for granted.
"All of a sudden you spend a couple more years in Triple-A and you see the same thing over and over again, and you really appreciate being up here," Davidson said.
The White Sox upcoming three-game series should provide opportunities for Davidson to get back in Renteria's lineup, with left-handers Jason Vargas and Danny Duffy starting the first two games of the series for the Kansas City Royals.
"You will see him in the lineup coming up a little bit more," Renteria said. "But we will continue to mix and match to do what we can to make sure everybody stays capable of what they need to do."
Golf: I got a club for that..... Chappell edges Koepka for breakthrough win at Valero.
By Will Gray
(Photo/Golf Channel Digital)
After 180 starts, Kevin Chappell finally has his name on a PGA Tour trophy. Here's how things ended up at the Valero Texas Open, where Chappell held off a hard-charging Brooks Koepka for his maiden victory:
Leaderboard: Kevin Chappell (-12), Brooks Koepka (-11), Kevin Tway (-9), Tony Finau (-9), Aaron Baddeley (-8)
What it means: After holding a share of the 54-hole lead on three prior occasions without getting the job done, Chappell carried a one-shot advantage into the final round and managed to close it out, albeit in dramatic fashion. The most notable of that group was Koepka, who posted the clubhouse lead after a closing 65, but Chappell's birdie on the final hole gave him the winning margin and led to an epic post-victory celebration.
Round of the day: Koepka started the day four shots off the pace, but he made a quick move up the standings with five birdies over his first eight holes. While he stumbled on No. 9 and missed a short birdie on No. 14, Koepka still found three more birdies on his inward half to give himself a shot at the victory and notch the lowest score of the day by two shots.
Best of the rest: Chappell didn't slow down from the pole position, as the clinching birdie finished off a round of 4-under 68. The highlights included stiffed approaches on Nos. 7 and 10, but the one he'll remember came on No. 18 where he got up and down from 88 yards to edge Koepka and ditch the label of best player still without a Tour win.
Biggest disappointment: Branden Grace started the day one shot behind Chappell and was expected to challenge for another trophy, but instead he faded with a final-round 73. Grace's birdie on No. 2 proved to be his only circle on the day, as he played the next 16 holes in 2 over to drop back into a tie for 10th.
Shot of the day: Chappell appeared to feel the nerves on No. 17 when he failed to convert a great birdie chance, but he steeled them on the final hole when he rolled in the winning putt from just over 8 feet with Koepka warming up nearby on the range.
Quote of the day: "I'm just excited I don't have to answer that question again, what do I have to do to win." - Chappell
Wiesberger wins plyoff to capture Shenzhen International.
Leaderboard: Kevin Chappell (-12), Brooks Koepka (-11), Kevin Tway (-9), Tony Finau (-9), Aaron Baddeley (-8)
What it means: After holding a share of the 54-hole lead on three prior occasions without getting the job done, Chappell carried a one-shot advantage into the final round and managed to close it out, albeit in dramatic fashion. The most notable of that group was Koepka, who posted the clubhouse lead after a closing 65, but Chappell's birdie on the final hole gave him the winning margin and led to an epic post-victory celebration.
Round of the day: Koepka started the day four shots off the pace, but he made a quick move up the standings with five birdies over his first eight holes. While he stumbled on No. 9 and missed a short birdie on No. 14, Koepka still found three more birdies on his inward half to give himself a shot at the victory and notch the lowest score of the day by two shots.
Best of the rest: Chappell didn't slow down from the pole position, as the clinching birdie finished off a round of 4-under 68. The highlights included stiffed approaches on Nos. 7 and 10, but the one he'll remember came on No. 18 where he got up and down from 88 yards to edge Koepka and ditch the label of best player still without a Tour win.
Biggest disappointment: Branden Grace started the day one shot behind Chappell and was expected to challenge for another trophy, but instead he faded with a final-round 73. Grace's birdie on No. 2 proved to be his only circle on the day, as he played the next 16 holes in 2 over to drop back into a tie for 10th.
Shot of the day: Chappell appeared to feel the nerves on No. 17 when he failed to convert a great birdie chance, but he steeled them on the final hole when he rolled in the winning putt from just over 8 feet with Koepka warming up nearby on the range.
Quote of the day: "I'm just excited I don't have to answer that question again, what do I have to do to win." - Chappell
Wiesberger wins plyoff to capture Shenzhen International.
Golf.com/AP News
(Photo/Golf.com/AP News)
Austrian Bernd Wiesberger beat England's Tommy Fleetwood in a playoff on Sunday to win the Shenzhen International.
Wiesberger went into the final round with a three-shot lead and eight shots ahead of Fleetwood but the Englishman fired a 63 to finish tied at 16 under.
Wiesberger's 71 featured par saves on the 12th and 17th and he nearly hit the pin with his approach to the last hole but was forced to settle for a par and a trip back up the 18th.
Wiesberger hit his drive in the playoff over the water off the tee and ended up in the bank while Fleetwood played safely onto the fairway and found the heart of the green with his second shot. The pressure was on Wiesberger and he delivered, placing his approach to five feet and making the putt for a birdie.
"I'm feeling a bit relieved now I have to say," said Wiesberger. "I've had a stretch of really good events the last couple of months and it's really nice to have a trophy again."
Wiesberger's fourth win on the European Tour came in his 200th event and was his first in a playoff after losing the previous three times he had gone to extra holes. Fleetwood birdied the second, sixth and seventh and chipped in to eagle the ninth. Another birdie followed on the 13th before three straight from the 15th took the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner to the top of the leaderboard.
Zurich previews Presidents Cup pairings.
By Mark Williams
Zurich previews Presidents Cup pairings.
By Mark Williams
Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace will team up again at the Zurich Classic. (Photo/Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
When the new two-man team format consisting of foursomes and four-ball was announced for this year’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, there was never a doubt that South Africa’s dynamic duo of Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace would be a prominent team at the event.
“I spoke to him immediately and he said he was up for playing and it was a fairly easy decision,” Oosthuizen said.
“Simple as that,” agreed Grace.
The team with the excellent Presidents Cup pedigree will be worth paying close attention to in New Orleans. Grace and Oosthuizen were unbeatable at the 2015 Presidents Cup in Korea, winning all four team matches together. Grace also defeated Matt Kuchar (2 and 1) in singles for a 5-0 record, while Oosthuizen halved with Patrick Reed to go 4-0-1.
This will be the first appearance in the Crescent City for both Oosthuizen and Grace and the pair are keen to win.
“We’ve been mates for a long time and we play good together,” Grace said. “Obviously with our history at the Presidents Cup, it’s been great and I think this is a good chance to get a win under the belt as a team.”
Grace admires the consistency of Oosthuizen’s game and the fact that neither of them make too many mistakes.
“At the Presidents Cup in Korea, we both played a type of game where neither of us really did anything wrong. Neither of us made any silly mistakes and that’s really the key, especially in a team format,” he said.
Added Oosthuizen: “We gel well together. There’s not a lot of ‘sorrys’ from either of us when you hit a bad shot because we are obviously not trying to hit bad shots. Once Gracie gets his putter going, he can make quite a few birdies in a round. That’s always nice and can come in handy, especially in the best-ball format.”
“I spoke to him immediately and he said he was up for playing and it was a fairly easy decision,” Oosthuizen said.
“Simple as that,” agreed Grace.
The team with the excellent Presidents Cup pedigree will be worth paying close attention to in New Orleans. Grace and Oosthuizen were unbeatable at the 2015 Presidents Cup in Korea, winning all four team matches together. Grace also defeated Matt Kuchar (2 and 1) in singles for a 5-0 record, while Oosthuizen halved with Patrick Reed to go 4-0-1.
This will be the first appearance in the Crescent City for both Oosthuizen and Grace and the pair are keen to win.
“We’ve been mates for a long time and we play good together,” Grace said. “Obviously with our history at the Presidents Cup, it’s been great and I think this is a good chance to get a win under the belt as a team.”
Grace admires the consistency of Oosthuizen’s game and the fact that neither of them make too many mistakes.
“At the Presidents Cup in Korea, we both played a type of game where neither of us really did anything wrong. Neither of us made any silly mistakes and that’s really the key, especially in a team format,” he said.
Added Oosthuizen: “We gel well together. There’s not a lot of ‘sorrys’ from either of us when you hit a bad shot because we are obviously not trying to hit bad shots. Once Gracie gets his putter going, he can make quite a few birdies in a round. That’s always nice and can come in handy, especially in the best-ball format.”
Oosthuizen played in the World Cup of Golf in 2011, an event which used the identical format the Zurich Classic will use this week – foursomes (alternate shot) in rounds one and three, and four-ball in rounds two and four – and he likes the format.
“There are not many tournaments where we can play as a team, so in that respect the Presidents Cup is a highlight for our careers, but I would love to get a victory at the Zurich Classic,” Oosthuizen said.
Grace suggested the Zurich Classic might offer indications of potential teams for both sides at the Presidents Cup and he won’t be surprised if there is a couple of international pairings in New Orleans that could appear at Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey later this year.
A perfect example would be Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, No. 2 in the FedExCup standings and No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking, who will team up with fellow Japanese star Hideto Tanihara, who reached the semifinal of the recent World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. Tanihara is currently No. 11 in the International Team standings and seeking to make his first Presidents Cup team.
South American pair Jhonattan Vegas, 14th in the International Team standings, and Fabian Gomez, No. 32, are another team to keep an eye on.
South Korean’s Seung-Yul Noh and Byeong-Hun An have history at the Zurich Classic, with Noh winning his first PGA TOUR title at TPC Louisiana in 2014 and An finishing runner-up last year to Brian Stuard after a three-man playoff that also included Jamie Lovemark. Both players are 25 years of age.
However, age and experience should never be underestimated -- especially when a two-man team has a combined age of 100. Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly, both 50-year-old Wisconsin natives who currently play PGA TOUR Champions, might go under the radar at the Zurich Classic given the stellar field that features six of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking.
“I look at these two weeks, the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, as the two most fun weeks out of the year for me,” Stricker said. “When we were playing the QBE Shark Shootout at the end of last year, we had an opportunity to win in Naples, and I said, ‘we could pull off the trifecta.’ Jerry was like ‘what’s that?’ I said the Shark Shootout, Bass Pro and Zurich – all team events.”
Stricker knows a thing or two about team events, having competed on five President Cup teams, three Ryder Cup teams and one Dunhill Cup. He also won the 2013 CVS Charity Classic (with Bo Van Pelt).
Later this year he will lead the U.S. Presidents Cup Team at Liberty National. He and Kelly teamed to win the 2009 Shark Shootout in Naples, Florida, and finished as the runner-up at the same event late last year. Last week, they played as a team at the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf on PGA TOUR Champions.
“We get along so well in these team events and feed off one another and I think it’s that competitive nature that both of us have,” Stricker said. “If one of us hits a good shot, the other guy doesn’t want to be outdone so he tries to step up and hit a better shot.”
The pair have 31 combined appearances at the Zurich Classic with earnings of more than $1 million each at this event. Kelly’s win in New Orleans in 2009 helped his total reach $1,569,184, while Stricker has earned $1,098,040 in 15 appearances.
Kelly, a member of the winning U.S. Team in the 2003 Presidents Cup, suggests the mentality required for team play is different from playing as an individual.
“It’s really tough knowing that he’s relying on me and that’s the hardest part,” he said. “You can let yourself down and that’s not really a big thing but to let your friend down, that’s a whole other level of pressure. That’s what brings us up to that next level. We’ve done it so many times it could get ordinary. But it’s never ordinary for us.”
NASCAR: NASCAR Cup race postponed until Monday.
Stricker knows a thing or two about team events, having competed on five President Cup teams, three Ryder Cup teams and one Dunhill Cup. He also won the 2013 CVS Charity Classic (with Bo Van Pelt).
Later this year he will lead the U.S. Presidents Cup Team at Liberty National. He and Kelly teamed to win the 2009 Shark Shootout in Naples, Florida, and finished as the runner-up at the same event late last year. Last week, they played as a team at the Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf on PGA TOUR Champions.
“We get along so well in these team events and feed off one another and I think it’s that competitive nature that both of us have,” Stricker said. “If one of us hits a good shot, the other guy doesn’t want to be outdone so he tries to step up and hit a better shot.”
The pair have 31 combined appearances at the Zurich Classic with earnings of more than $1 million each at this event. Kelly’s win in New Orleans in 2009 helped his total reach $1,569,184, while Stricker has earned $1,098,040 in 15 appearances.
Kelly, a member of the winning U.S. Team in the 2003 Presidents Cup, suggests the mentality required for team play is different from playing as an individual.
“It’s really tough knowing that he’s relying on me and that’s the hardest part,” he said. “You can let yourself down and that’s not really a big thing but to let your friend down, that’s a whole other level of pressure. That’s what brings us up to that next level. We’ve done it so many times it could get ordinary. But it’s never ordinary for us.”
NASCAR: NASCAR Cup race postponed until Monday.
By Dustin Long
(Photo/Dustin Long)
Rain has postponed the Food City 500 until Monday.
The race will be held at 1 p.m. ET Monday and will air live on Fox and PRN.
It rained most of the morning Sunday and the forecast called for rain all day. The area around the track is under a flash flood watch until early Monday.
The garage will open at 9 a.m. Gates open at 11 a.m. There will be a competition caution at Lap 60.
The wunderground.com weather site states it will be 62 degrees with a 15 percent chance of rain at 1 p.m. Monday in Bristol.
Burton: NASCAR drivers should remember that Bristol was built on the bottom, baby.
By Jeff Burton
(Photo/Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Editor’s note: The debate over racing at Bristol Motor Speedway has raged since the track was repaved in 2007, changing its single-groove dynamics. NBCSN analyst Jeff Burton, who won at Bristol in 2008, was at the 0.533-mile oval this weekend, and he disagreed with the opinions of drivers who believe the high line should be an option. Here are the thoughts of Burton:
The glory days of Bristol Motor Speedway remain fresh in my mind. The noise from the grandstands during prerace ceremonies was so loud, it felt as if the entire facility was vibrating. You could feel the energy and excitement throughout the weekend.
“It’s Bristol, baby!” wasn’t built on top-lane, multi-groove racing. It was built on a single groove on the bottom.
That was where you had to be, and the race was to get there. Drivers did what they had to do to make that happen.
It was really hard to pass, so you had to move someone or rely on patience and ability to get it done. At times during the race, you had to make a hole to keep from losing everything you had gained through hours of work.
It created the racing that we all clamor to watch. It made winning mean more because it wasn’t just difficult. It was really damn difficult.
So now I hear some claim the track isn’t fun or racy with the groove on the bottom.
I do agree that when the groove moves to the top, it is better to have multi-groove racing, but I don’t think that’s as good as one lane on the bottom.
It’s by embracing and remembering what it used to be and doing what it takes it get it back.
Erik Jones overcomes penalty to win Xfinity race at Bristol in three-lap shootout.
By Daniel McFadin
(Photo/usatoday.com)
A speeding penalty against Erik Jones on Lap 230 wasn’t enough to keep Erik Jones from winning the Xfinity Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway 70 laps later.
Jones outmaneuvered Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez on a restart with three to go and raced untouched to win the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is the first repeat Xfinity winner of 2017 following his win two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s Jones’ second straight win in the spring race at Bristol.
“It’s a day kind a little bit like last year,” Jones told Fox Sports 1. “Didn’t really know if we had a winning car or not. To come back from a pit road penalty like that, especially with not much green flag racing was a lot of fun. It’s a race I won’t forget for a long time.”
Jones took the lead for the last time when he nudged Blaney out of the groove entering Turn 1 with 20 to go.
“That’s just a racing incident,” Blaney said. “I don’t have any hard feelings about it.”
Rookie Daniel Hemric won the Dash 4 Cash bonus of $100,000 by finishing fifth in the race. It’s his first career top five.
“This makes it real when you’ve got your name on it,” Hemric told FS1 as he was handed a large check. “I was hoping we could get both of them there. Starting on the bottom hurt us those last couple of restarts. All in all, such a great performance from our guys. Coming from a lap down, getting the Lucky Dog. … Every stop was a true testament to my group of guys. Can’t thank everyone enough. Hopefully this is the start of a lot of thing for us.”
Stage 1 winner: Kyle Larson
Stage 2 winner: Daniel Hemric
Jones outmaneuvered Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez on a restart with three to go and raced untouched to win the Fitzgerald Glider Kits 300.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is the first repeat Xfinity winner of 2017 following his win two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s Jones’ second straight win in the spring race at Bristol.
“It’s a day kind a little bit like last year,” Jones told Fox Sports 1. “Didn’t really know if we had a winning car or not. To come back from a pit road penalty like that, especially with not much green flag racing was a lot of fun. It’s a race I won’t forget for a long time.”
Jones took the lead for the last time when he nudged Blaney out of the groove entering Turn 1 with 20 to go.
“That’s just a racing incident,” Blaney said. “I don’t have any hard feelings about it.”
Rookie Daniel Hemric won the Dash 4 Cash bonus of $100,000 by finishing fifth in the race. It’s his first career top five.
“This makes it real when you’ve got your name on it,” Hemric told FS1 as he was handed a large check. “I was hoping we could get both of them there. Starting on the bottom hurt us those last couple of restarts. All in all, such a great performance from our guys. Coming from a lap down, getting the Lucky Dog. … Every stop was a true testament to my group of guys. Can’t thank everyone enough. Hopefully this is the start of a lot of thing for us.”
Stage 1 winner: Kyle Larson
Stage 2 winner: Daniel Hemric
WHO HAD A GOOD DAY: Kyle Larson started from the pole, led 180 laps and finished seventh after rebounding from losing a right-rear tire and a commitment line violation … Elliott Sadler finished fourth for his third top five of the year and his best finish … Blake Koch and Michael Annett finished ninth and 10th respectively. Koch’s result was his first top 10 of the season.
WHO HAD A BAD DAY: Ryan Reed finished 38th after his right-front tire rolled off his No. 16 Ford and sent him into the wall on Lap 80 … Brendan Gaughan crashed with 57 to go after Darrell Wallace Jr. caught his left rear exiting Turn 4. Gaughan hit the inside wall. Gaughan, who had been competing for the Dash 4 Cash bonus, finished 35th … Wallace’s day ended on the ensuing restart. Wallace spun after the field bottle-necked ahead of him and he was hit by Garrett Smithley. Both drivers were OK. Wallace finished 33rd, ending his stretch of five sixth-place finishes in a row … Cole Custer‘s damage from the restart incident ended his day in 32nd, his third finish below 30th this year.
NOTABLE: During the first rain delay, Jeremy Clements came up behind Ross Chastain to discuss their issues on the track. Clements turned Chastain around. Chastain responded by punching Clements. Clements went to the infield care center because to ice his swollen eye. He returned to race. … Ryan Blaney’s No. 22 Ford was found to be too low in the left front in post-race inspection.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I think that’s three second (place finishes) this year. That’s getting old.” – Ryan Blaney, who has finished second in all three of his Xfinity start this season.
WHAT’S NEXT: ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond International Raceway at 12:30 p.m. ET on April 29 on Fox Sports 1
Elliott Sadler leads top-three sweep by JR Motorsports in Xfinity points.
By Daniel McFadin
(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
With a season-best fourth-place finish Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway, Elliott Sadler increased his lead in the Xfinity Series points standings.
Sadler leads JR Motorsports teammate William Byron by 16 points.
Justin Allgaier, who trails Sadler by 60 points, gives JR Motorsports the top three spots in the standings.
The top five is completed by Ryan Reed (76 points behind Sadler) and Daniel Hemric (80 points behind Sadler).
Sadler leads JR Motorsports teammate William Byron by 16 points.
Justin Allgaier, who trails Sadler by 60 points, gives JR Motorsports the top three spots in the standings.
The top five is completed by Ryan Reed (76 points behind Sadler) and Daniel Hemric (80 points behind Sadler).
By Michelle R. Martinelli
(Photo/www.elle.fr)
It's well-documented that Danica Patrick is a yoga master, and her many skills are the result of practicing for years.
To stay healthy and in shape for racing, she does a variety of cardio and weight training, and yoga remains an important part of her regimen. But does it actually help the 35-year-old NASCAR driver on the race track in the No. 10 Ford?
Absolutely.
"The most common (thing it helps with) is breathing and recognizing how the breath controls everything, and so if you get nervous or anxious or gripping the wheel too tight, it's pretty automatic for me to just take deep breaths to calm down," Patrick told For The Win.
"On another level, I think that when you bend, you don't break. So I think it's just good for someone doing sports to have flexibility because it's inevitable that at some point you're going to bend pretty far."
That's especially true for high-impact wrecks common in NASCAR, and Sunday during the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway - one of the sport's shortest tracks at .53 miles - the cars are likely to get pretty banged up.
Patrick - who's currently 29th in the driver standings through the first seven races - said her favorite yoga pose to experiment with is the handstand, which she first conquered a couple years ago after four months of intensely practicing it. And now she's really good.
She regularly incorporates handstands into her routines and said toward the end of her workout Thursday, she did eight rounds of 25-foot handstand walks. 200 total feet. On her hands.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver described the feeling after a successfully held handstand "a mood lifter." But she also admitted it's just cool because not everyone can do it.
From a mental perspective, Patrick explained how practicing yoga helps her remain patient through the ups and downs of racing. Her best 2017 race finish so far is 17th in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
She also joked that maybe she's more friendly during the race weekends that follow a week of several yoga sessions.
"The practice of doing yoga is about being mindful and about allowing what your body will give you and accepting what your body will give you," Patrick said. "Some days, it's there, and some days, it's not. Some days you balance like a guru, and then other days, you just don't so it (helps with) accepting as well."
To stay healthy and in shape for racing, she does a variety of cardio and weight training, and yoga remains an important part of her regimen. But does it actually help the 35-year-old NASCAR driver on the race track in the No. 10 Ford?
Absolutely.
"The most common (thing it helps with) is breathing and recognizing how the breath controls everything, and so if you get nervous or anxious or gripping the wheel too tight, it's pretty automatic for me to just take deep breaths to calm down," Patrick told For The Win.
"On another level, I think that when you bend, you don't break. So I think it's just good for someone doing sports to have flexibility because it's inevitable that at some point you're going to bend pretty far."
That's especially true for high-impact wrecks common in NASCAR, and Sunday during the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway - one of the sport's shortest tracks at .53 miles - the cars are likely to get pretty banged up.
Patrick - who's currently 29th in the driver standings through the first seven races - said her favorite yoga pose to experiment with is the handstand, which she first conquered a couple years ago after four months of intensely practicing it. And now she's really good.
She regularly incorporates handstands into her routines and said toward the end of her workout Thursday, she did eight rounds of 25-foot handstand walks. 200 total feet. On her hands.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver described the feeling after a successfully held handstand "a mood lifter." But she also admitted it's just cool because not everyone can do it.
From a mental perspective, Patrick explained how practicing yoga helps her remain patient through the ups and downs of racing. Her best 2017 race finish so far is 17th in the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
She also joked that maybe she's more friendly during the race weekends that follow a week of several yoga sessions.
"The practice of doing yoga is about being mindful and about allowing what your body will give you and accepting what your body will give you," Patrick said. "Some days, it's there, and some days, it's not. Some days you balance like a guru, and then other days, you just don't so it (helps with) accepting as well."
SOCCER: Sebastian Giovinco scores twice in Fire's loss at Toronto.
By Dan Santaromita
(Photo/USA TODAY)
The Chicago Fire showed improved home success in a recent three-game homestand, but road success again eluded them Friday in Toronto.
A trademark move from Sebastian Giovinco got things started for the hosts and Toronto FC cruised to a comfortable 3-1 win against the Fire at BMO Field.
Giovinco, the 2015 MLS MVP, showed why he is one of the best players in the league with his goal in the 28th minute. He got some space just outside the box, set up his right foot and drilled a low shot past goalkeeper Jorge Bava.
Four minutes later Toronto doubled the lead following a short corner kick. Justin Morrow's cross found Eriq Zavaleta, who headed in the goal.
After falling down two goals, the Fire (3-2-2, 11 points) gained a larger share of possession and finished the first half with a majority of the possession. However, Toronto (2-1-4, 10 points) was happy to play on the counter with Giovinco and the Fire were unable to get a shot on target until the 88th minute.
Giovinco added his second goal on a free kick that went in under the bottom of the crossbar in the final 10 minutes.
The Fire went 2-0-1 in the past three matches, all at home, and won consecutive matches for the first time in coach Veljko Paunovic's tenure. However, Friday's loss on the road looked like many of the 14 road defeats the Fire suffered last season. The Fire were down two goals in the first half and were unable to threaten Toronto's goal for a comeback until the final few minutes.
David Accam, who came off the bench for the second straight game, scored a consolation goal for the Fire. Him and Luis Solignac combined on a counter. Solignac centered the ball from the right and Accam scored with a first-touch finish. That was the Fire's only shot on target while Toronto had nine.
Paunovic went with the same starting lineup that started the 3-0 win against New England last weekend.
Arsenal beats Manchester City 2-1 in extra time to reach FA Cup final.
By Leander Schaerlaeckens
(Photo/Getty Images)
The first hour was painful to watch, the second scintillating.
And maybe it was sort of fitting that the two English juggernauts having disappointing and forgettable seasons should produce an FA Cup semifinal that was, for a long time, completely disappointing and utterly forgettable.
Because at first, Arsenal vs. Manchester City certainly was that, as they played 62 mirthless minutes of a kind of overarching fecklessness that has marked two talented teams not having the sort of season they had hoped.
The contrast was razor-sharp with Saturday’s other semifinal between Chelsea, the Premier League favorites, and Tottenham Hotspur, the last best credible challengers. They produced a euphoric 4-2 romp won by Chelsea, positioning the Blues to do the domestic double.
Finally, mercifully, the game roused from its deep slumber after the hour, when Sergio Aguero put City ahead, Nacho Monreal equalized and Arsenal’s framework twice rescued it before the contest went to extra time. Arsenal, in the end, prevailed 2-1 on Alexis Sanchez’s winner.
Arsenal has now reached the FA Cup final for a third time in four seasons and will seek to claim the lone record with a 13th title.
But the most exciting thing to happen until then was a ball maybe or maybe not going over the back line before Raheem Sterling finally smashed it in. And after that, it was City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo dribbling around some Arsenal attackers. It was, for a long while, that sort of game.
In the 15th minute, David Silva went close with a header, pawed away by Petr Cech, but he had to come off soon after with an injury. Laurent Koscielny, meanwhile, had an offside goal rightly disallowed for Arsenal.
Aguero had a penalty shout at the half hour but was denied on the challenge from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. In another moment of controversy, Leroy Sane cut back a cross on the end line that was adjudged to have gone behind, although it probably didn’t, on careful replay scrutiny – for which you can hardly blame the assistant referee. Aguero’s subsequent shot was then saved by Cech, probably also just over the line, before Sterling whacked it home. But it would not stand.
City was utterly dominant in the first half, gobbling up 70 percent of possession and outshooting the Gunners 7-1. So it was ironic that when Arsenal finally found a foothold in the game, the Citizens found the go-ahead goal.
In the 62nd minute, Monreal lost the ball outside City’s box. Yaya Toure dumped the ball over the top for Aguero to latch onto. He ran away from the chasing Monreal and chipped Cech. That made it a dozen goals in a dozen matches, across all competitions, for Aguero.
Monreal, however, would redeem himself 10 minutes later, when he ran onto a deep cross by Oxlade-Chamberlain at the far post.
City twice came close to a winner. First when Toure hit a volley that Cech only just slapped off the post.
And again when Fernandinho smacked a header off the crossbar from a corner.
At the other end, Danny Welbeck snuck his way past Nicolas Otamendi but just missed the upper 90 from a tricky angle in a chance to end the game in regulation.
In the end-to-end extra time, Alexis, who had a rare anonymous game, scrambled in a loose ball in the goalmouth for the 101st-minute winner.
His teammate Hector Bellerin, who came on as a substitute in spite of an intolerable new haircut, made a crucial challenge on Fabian Delph’s finish, pushing it off the near post to diffuse City’s final big chance – the third time the Citizens struck the woodwork.
The prospect of a third FA Cup trophy since 2014 might ease the pressure on embattled Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger ever so slightly, although his side hardly gave a vintage performance. It seems a great many Gunners fans would still rather see his expiring contract left to run out, whether Wenger wins a seventh FA Cup or not.
On the other coach’s seat, Pep Guardiola was robbed of the chance to win something in his first year in charge of City. It’s been apparent for most of the year that he has some rebuilding to do of the aging team that had won two Premier League titles in the years before his arrival. A barren campaign only reinforces this notion. The Spaniard is, of course, a long way from being under pressure, but an early trophy is always helpful in a long-term project.
For Manchester City, there is now just next year.
For Arsenal, a fairly disastrous season might be redeemed somewhat with a trophy at Wembley on May 27.
Chelsea 4-2 Spurs: Blues onto FA Cup final in thriller.
By Nicholas Mendola
(AP Photo/Tim Ireland)
Willian bagged a brace and Eden Hazard nabbed a match-winner as Chelsea overcame giving away a pair of leads to beat Tottenham Hotspur 4-2 in an FA Cup semifinal at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Nemanja Matic finished the scoring with an absolutely thrilling hit.
Chelsea will get the winner of Manchester City and Arsenal’s Sunday semi on May 27 as the Blues’ bid for a double stays alive.
Willian opened the scoring early, bending a shot around the wall and past a leaning Hugo Lloris.
Kane equalized when he stooped to nod Christian Eriksen‘s cross overhead and inside the far post. It was a classy finish.
David Luiz was felled by a scary-looking stamp but returned to the match after treatment. Dele Alli caught Luiz on the right leg and then stamped down on ankle. Dele was looking away from the action, but his reputation will have a few questioning the intent.
Eric Dier nearly headed a cross home in the 36th minute, but he turned it just past the far post.
Heung-Min Son then gave away a penalty in the 42nd minute when he took down Victor Moses inside the 18. Moses jumped over the sliding Son and hit the deck to win the penalty, which Willian converted to make it 2-1.
Dele broke through in the 52nd minute, latching onto a fantastic ball from Eriksen. The ball swerved around and between David Luiz and Cesar Azpilicueta, and Dele lashed a half-volley by Thibaut Courtois.
Both pass and finish were sensational.
Antonio Conte replied by taking off Willian and Michy Batshuayi for Eden Hazard and Diego Costa. Decent players to have on your bench, we guess.
And better players to have on your pitch. Hazard have Chelsea its third lead of the afternoon in the 75th minute, collected a partially cleared corner kick and hammering it through traffic to make it 3-2.
They don’t come much harder than Matic’s goal, a hammered shot from distance that barely hard reason to rotate en route to the upper 90. What a hit.
Kane came close to making it 4-3 in stoppage time, as his free kick slipped under Courtois but spun back from the line.
Premier League Weekend Summary, 04/22, 23/2017.
yahoosports.com
Saturday, 04/22/2017
AFC Bournemouth 4-0 Middlesbrough
AFC Bournemouth recorded their first win in five Premier League matches as they beat Middlesbrough 4-0 at the Vitality Stadium.
Josh King continued his excellent form, prodding in the opener after just two minutes, before Benik Afobe beat the offside trap to double the hosts' lead on 16 minutes.
Boro were down to 10-men four minutes later when Gaston Ramirez was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Marc Pugh.
In the second half, Pugh and Charlie Daniels both netted with long-range efforts five minutes apart.
AFC Bournemouth have a five-point advantage over Hull City in 17th, while Middlesbrough remain 19th and without a league win since December.
Hull City 2-0 Watford
Second-half goals from Lazar Markovic and Sam Clucas gave 10-man Hull City three important points as they beat Watford 2-0 at the KCOM Stadium.
There was little to separate the two sides in the opening 45 minutes, but Tigers striker Oumar Niasse was shown a red card.
After the break, Hull took the lead thanks to Markovic. The ex-Liverpool man had initially headed the ball onto the underside of the crossbar and while the Goal Decision System showed the ball was not in, he made sure with the rebound.
Ten minutes later, Watford cleared a corner as far as Clucas, who chested it down and unleashed a stunning volley into the top corner from 30 yards.
Hull, in 17th, are two points off the relegation zone after Swansea City's win, while Watford remain in 10th.
Swansea City 2-0 Stoke City
Stoke City were made to pay for a missed penalty by Marko Arnautovic as Swansea City boosted their prospects of preserving their Premier League status with a 2-0 victory.
The hosts went in front on 10 minutes when Gylfi Sigurdsson swung in a corner and Fernando Llorente directed a superb header past Jack Butland on his return to the Stoke team.
After the break Xherdan Shaqiri was fouled in the penalty area, but Arnautovic blasted the spot-kick high over the crossbar with 21 minutes left.
Swansea soon doubled their lead through Tom Carroll, whose long-range effort was deflected in.
With 17th-placed Hull City defeating Watford, Swansea stay in 18th position, two points adrift of safety. Stoke remain 11th.
West Ham United 0-0 Everton
West Ham United could not find a way past a determined Everton defence in a goalless draw at London Stadium.
Havard Nordtveit and Cheikhou Kouyate went close in the first half for the hosts, while the visitors did not muster a shot on target.
Attacking midfielder Manuel Lanzini orchestrated West Ham's best work, and they exerted pressure on Everton as defender Jose Fonte threatened with a late header.
Everton move up to sixth place, a point above Arsenal, while Slaven Bilic's side also advance one place into 12th, leapfrogging Leicester City.
Sunday, 04/23/2017
Burnley 0-2 Manchester United
Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial scored their first Premier League goals since January and February respectively as Manchester United east past Burnley at Turf Moor.
Martial marked his return to the starting XI for United with a counter-attack goal on 21 minutes.
United broke from a Burnley free-kick and Martial scored after a one-two with Ander Herrera.
Rooney celebrated his first start since 4 March by doubling the lead five minutes before half-time, reacting first to squeeze home the ball after Martial's shot had been saved.
United stay fifth but the win moved them to within a point of Manchester City. The two play each other at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday.
The defeat means Burnley are 15th on 36 points, five above the relegation zone.
Liverpool 1-2 Crystal Palace
Christian Benteke scored twice against his former club to give Crystal Palace a victory that boosts their hopes of avoiding relegation.
Liverpool started well and Philippe Coutinho put them ahead on 24 minutes with a curling free-kick.
Palace got back into the contest just before half-time when Benteke converted a Yohan Cabaye cross.
Liverpool piled on the pressure after the break but Palace claimed the winner, Benteke heading in after Jason Puncheon's flick from a corner.
Palace's third PL win at Anfield in a row lifts them to 12th, seven points off the bottom three.
Liverpool remain in third but are two and three points ahead of Manchester City and Manchester United respectively, who both have two matches in hand.
NCAAFB: Brian Kelly takes the blame for Notre Dame’s struggles last season.
By Bryan Fischer
(Photo/www.chicagonow.com)
Notre Dame wrapped up spring football with the Irish’s annual spring game on NBC Sports Network on Saturday afternoon in South Bend and front and center was not surprisingly head coach Brian Kelly.
While fans of the team were probably most interested in how quarterback Brandon Wimbush looked, Kelly did go into detail about what the offseason has been like after last year’s disappointing 4-8 campaign. While the coach has been known to be a bit defensive when it comes to the team’s struggles, he did open up during a sit-down interview and was transparent in taking the blame for the way 2016 went.
“When you have a losing season, you have to look at yourself first,” Kelly told NBC Sports’ Jac Collinsworth. “I’ve always felt like there isn’t a bad football team but there is bad leadership and I don’t think I provided the kind of leadership (last year). It starts with yourself.”
Kelly goes on to discuss the significant changes to the Irish coaching staff, how this team is very much a work in progress and how Wimbush is handling taking over as the starting signal-caller.
The Gold team ended up winning the spring game 27-14 over the Blue team behind a strong defensive performance. If Saturday’s outing was any indication, Notre Dame should be much improved this upcoming season and that seems to start from the top on down.
Nick Saban on title game loss to Clemson: “I’ll never get over it”.
By Bryan Fischer
(Photo/Getty Images)
As much as college football coaches preach about moving on to the game in front of them, past results have a history of lingering in their minds.
Even Nick Saban, when not sparring with assistants, tends to dwell on losses and perhaps none was more painful to the Crimson Tide head coach than losing to Clemson in the final second of the national title game. While the future Hall of Famer is clearly focused on the 2017 season in Tuscaloosa, it seems a part of him still can’t get past what happened this past January.
“I’ll never get over it because you never do with those kind of losses,” Saban told ESPN. “I never got over the returned field goal at Auburn. I never got over playing poorly against Ohio State and losing that game late. And then in this game, we didn’t play very well, and Clemson did when they had to. That’s what eats at you.
“Something happened to our team from the SEC championship game to the playoff. You look at the Clemson game, and our really good players didn’t play very well. But Clemson was a damn good team. They were the best team we played against with the best quarterback, and where we needed to play well, we didn’t.”
Saban isn’t exactly breaking any news with that kind of message and continued to take blame for not getting the team ready to play after winning the conference title. He also downplayed losing offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin after the Peach Bowl and bringing in Steve Sarkisian, noting it didn’t have as much of an impact as many thought given how defensive lapses down the stretch plagued Alabama in the title game.
The Tide wrap up spring football on Saturday with their eyes focused on avenging that loss and getting back to the College Football Playoff once again but Saban, true to his self, cautioned that getting back to the promised land wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” he added about this year’s team.
Even Nick Saban, when not sparring with assistants, tends to dwell on losses and perhaps none was more painful to the Crimson Tide head coach than losing to Clemson in the final second of the national title game. While the future Hall of Famer is clearly focused on the 2017 season in Tuscaloosa, it seems a part of him still can’t get past what happened this past January.
“I’ll never get over it because you never do with those kind of losses,” Saban told ESPN. “I never got over the returned field goal at Auburn. I never got over playing poorly against Ohio State and losing that game late. And then in this game, we didn’t play very well, and Clemson did when they had to. That’s what eats at you.
“Something happened to our team from the SEC championship game to the playoff. You look at the Clemson game, and our really good players didn’t play very well. But Clemson was a damn good team. They were the best team we played against with the best quarterback, and where we needed to play well, we didn’t.”
Saban isn’t exactly breaking any news with that kind of message and continued to take blame for not getting the team ready to play after winning the conference title. He also downplayed losing offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin after the Peach Bowl and bringing in Steve Sarkisian, noting it didn’t have as much of an impact as many thought given how defensive lapses down the stretch plagued Alabama in the title game.
The Tide wrap up spring football on Saturday with their eyes focused on avenging that loss and getting back to the College Football Playoff once again but Saban, true to his self, cautioned that getting back to the promised land wouldn’t be a walk in the park.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” he added about this year’s team.
SEC commissioner confirms graduate transfer rule changes will be discussed at spring meetings.
By Bryan Fischer
(Photo/Getty Images)
We’re still over a month away from the SEC’s annual spring meetings down in Destin, Fla. but one item we might be able to confirm is on the agenda will be the graduate transfer rules for the conference.
It’s a hot topic around the league and particularly so at Florida, which is in the mix to land Notre Dame graduate transfer Malik Zaire but can’t officially take him due to restrictions from the conference office.
That may change however, as SEC commissioner Greg Sankey confirmed in a radio interview on Friday with ESPN Gainesville.
“It will come up,” Sankey said, according to SECCountry.com. “I do think we need to look where we’ve been restrictive in the past because of the absence of national rules and look at reducing some of those restrictions. I’m one who would position it as interest in freeing things up without just removing every restraint, because I think the restraints have been healthy for us.”
At the heart of the issue is a rule that limits schools from taking additional graduate transfers if previous graduate transfers failed to meet academic requirements after enrolling. The move was designed to prevent a number of situations where players would transfer over just to play and not really go through coursework at their new school.
Other NCAA conferences have failed to follow the SEC’s lead in this area however and now the league is being put at a bit of a disadvantage on the graduate transfer market. This is particularly an issue with the Gators this offseason but it seems as though there will be quite the discussion down in Destin among athletic directors and head coaches about changing the rules to be on more of a level playing field with other conferences on this front.
NCAABKB: March Madness 2018 Dates and Schedule.
(Photo/Bob Donnan/USA Today Sports Images)
Note: The NCAA post "March Madness" Tournament information so that fans may make advance transportation and lodging reservations. Accommodations are generally filled up when dates and locations are released.
North Carolina has been crowned the National Champion and it's time to look ahead to San Antonio in 2018.
Here's the complete March Madness schedule for 2018:
March Madness 2018 dates and schedule
North Carolina has been crowned the National Champion and it's time to look ahead to San Antonio in 2018.
Here's the complete March Madness schedule for 2018:
March Madness 2018 dates and schedule
Round
|
Site
|
Date(s)
|
|---|---|---|
Selection Sunday
|
N/A
|
March 11
|
First Four
|
Dayton
|
March 13-14
|
First/Second
|
Pittsburgh
|
March 15&17
|
First/Second
|
Wichita
|
March 15&17
|
First/Second
|
Dallas
|
March 16&18
|
First/Second
|
Boise
|
March 16&18
|
First/Second
|
Charlotte
|
March 17&19
|
First/Second
|
Detroit
|
March 17&19
|
First/Second
|
Nashville
|
March 17&19
|
First/Second
|
San Diego
|
March 17&19
|
Midwest Regional
|
Omaha
|
March 23&2
|
West Regional
|
Los Angeles
|
March 22&24
|
South Regional
|
Atlanta
|
March 22&24
|
East Regional
|
Boston
|
March 23&25
|
Final Four
|
San Antonio
|
March 31, April 2
|
Take this information on the go with the Catch Sports app. You can also set game start reminders, see which games are most exciting and DirecTV users can even change channels from directly within the app
Kentucky Derby Preview: Vegas Picks To Win The Run For The Roses.
By vegasinsider.com
Kentucky Derby Preview: Vegas Picks To Win The Run For The Roses.
By vegasinsider.com
2016 Kentucky Derby Odds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Note: The Kentucky Derby is 13 days from today. Please check the odds as they are subject to change.
On This Date in Sports History: Today is Monday, April 24, 2017.
Memoriesofhistory.com
1961 - Sandy Koufax (Los Angeles Dodgers) struck out 18 batters becoming the first major-league pitcher to do so on two different occasions.
1963 - The Boston Celtics won their fifth straight NBA title.
1994 - David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) scored 71 points against the Los Angeles Clippers.
2003 - The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim defeated the Dallas Stars 4-3 in 5 overtime periods in game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Petr Sykora scored 48 seconds into the fifth overtime ending the game as the fourth longest game in NHL history. The final time was 140 minutes and 48 seconds.
1963 - The Boston Celtics won their fifth straight NBA title.
1994 - David Robinson (San Antonio Spurs) scored 71 points against the Los Angeles Clippers.
2003 - The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim defeated the Dallas Stars 4-3 in 5 overtime periods in game 1 of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Petr Sykora scored 48 seconds into the fifth overtime ending the game as the fourth longest game in NHL history. The final time was 140 minutes and 48 seconds.
**************************************************************
Please let us hear your opinion on the above articles and pass them on to any other diehard fans that you think might be interested. But most of all, remember, Chicago Sports & Travel, Inc./AllsportsAmerica wants you.
No comments:
Post a Comment