Rocky Mountain Blog 1

In the midst of dealing with the economy, reelection and foreign affairs, President Barack Obama still loves his sports.

While known as a big basketball fan, President Obama also has had a few choice words for college football and the way it decides its national champion. After President Obama was elected in 2008, he mentioned that he’d like to see a playoff system in college football and as he nears the end of his term, he might get his wish.

The president sat down with Bill Simmons of the B.S. Report to give his thoughts about the changing climate in college football that could result in a four-team playoff.

When Simmons asked President Obama whether he was happy about the move to a potential playoff, the president had this to say:

Well, I’d rather see it eight teams, but four is a good place to start. I think that gets us on the right trend. Nothing is more frustrating than at the end of the season, nobody knows who won. And what, there is some poll? Coaches make a decision? Nobody knows what that means. Because part of what makes sports great, part of what makes March Madness great, the NFL playoffs great, is every once in a while something happens during the playoffs that shows the character of a team.

Look at the Giants this year. Nobody would have picked them. They wouldn’t have been crowned as champions if you had a coaches’ poll at the end of the year. But they made the plays when it counted.

This might be the one stance the president has taken on which all fans ? Democrats and Republicans ? can agree.

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Thanks toPeter Coughter for the heads up.

“Like” Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won’t see on the blog. And follow Dr. Saturday at its new home on Twitter: @YahooDrSaturday

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/video-president-obama-praises-college-football-move-toward-200455764.html

Clay Buchholz Clayton Kershaw Cliff Lee Cole Hamels Dallas Braden

Rory McIlroy just overtook fellow Eurpoean Luke Donald as the number one ranked golfer in the world with his win at the 2012 Honda classic this past weekend.

McIlroy has already surpassed the expectations of many on how good he would be on tour. However, there are many golfers on tour who came on with high expectations, some even being dubbed “the next Tiger Woods,” and have never met the expectations that were set for them. 

Winning a major championship on the PGA Tour is one of the biggest determinants of success. Many golfers on tour who are considered underachievers have won Major Championships. With as big of a deal as winning majors in golf is, none of the golfers on this list will be winners of major championships. 

Begin Slideshow

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1091783-the-5-biggest-pga-tour-underachievers

Carmelo Anthony Chauncey Billups Chris Bosh Danny Granger David West

Danny O’Brien might not be able to transfer to Vanderbilt, but Vandy coach James Franklin wants to make sure we all know it’s not because he tampered with the former Maryland quarterback.

When O’Brien and two other Maryland players, offensive lineman Max Garcia and linebacker Mario Rowson, were granted their release Monday, Maryland coach Randy Edsall noted that they couldn’t transfer to any ACC schools or Vanderbilt.

Franklin used to be the offensive coordinator at Maryland before Edsall was hired and he recruited O’Brien to College Park. O’Brien heading to Vanderbilt seemed like a no-brainer until Edsall blocked the move and questions started to surface as to whether Franklin may have tampered with the three Maryland transfers.

Franklin did not deny having contact with his former players. In fact, he seemed proud of his ability to maintain relationships despite switching schools. But he also maintained that in his contact with players he never did anything that would be considered tampering.

“I don’t like innuendos and comments being made about tampering and things like that,” Franklin told Nashville radio station 104.5 The Zone.

“You guys know me. I’m the type of guy, I’m going to have relationships with my players. I hope to have relationships with the guys that play for me for the rest of my life.

“But the fact that people would make accusations that we tampered or did this or did that, again, I’m just going to defend our program and defend our character and how we do things. But I think it’s ridiculous to think that I’m not going to have relationships with these kids after I leave places.”

However, NCAA rules restrict contact between coaches and student-athletes who are under a scholarship agreement with another school. Another school can’t contact a student-athlete until after the player has been released.

Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor of Athletics David Williams told the Nashville Tennesseean that he didn’t think his coaching staff had done anything wrong.

“Our coaches understand the rules and will abide by them and have abided by them,” Williams said. “I don’t believe we’ve made any illegal contact with these (three) kids. If we ever do that, we’ll be the first ones to turn ourselves in. When all of this started to surface I made sure that our compliance people were very, very clear that any discussions that are had had to be within the rules, not that I thought that our coaches wouldn’t do that, but just to reaffirm it.”

O’Brien’s high school coach Todd Willert told CBSSports.com that O’Brien plans to appeal Maryland’s decision not to release him to Vanderbilt. O’Brien is set to graduate at the end of this summer and will be eligible to play right away at whatever institution he chooses.

“This weekend, Danny and his family will sort through everything,” Willert said. “They think (Vandy) should be an option but I don’t know exactly what they’ll decide. It should be an option for him. Just be fair to everybody. Danny has no ill will towards anybody.”

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Curtsy (female version of the hat tip) to Nashville Tennesseean.
Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/james-franklin-denies-danny-o-brien-tampering-allegations-183813308.html

Brandon Jacobs Felix Jones Knowshon Moreno Jonathan Stewart Shonn Greene

Source: http://dallas.sbnation.com/dallas-mavericks/2012/3/6/2848380/mavericks-vs-knicks-preview-jeremy-lin-dirk-nowitzki

Matt Cain Max Scherzer Roy Halladay Roy Oswalt Shaun Marcum

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ? With 17 stock car wins at Daytona International Speedway, Tony Stewart is one of the most successful drivers in history at NASCAR’s most legendary track. His 17 victories rank second only to the 34 of Dale Earnhardt.

There’s just one tiny little problem with that statistic.

For all his success at Daytona, for all his mastery of this track, the biggest prize ? the Daytona 500 itself ? has eluded Stewart. In 13 starts at the Great American Race, Stewart has notched six top-10s, including a second-place finish in 2004 and a third-place finish in 2008. But you don’t race Daytona to get close to winning.

[ Related: What to watch for in the Daytona 500 ]

“It’s not a good feeling to not have that tally in the win column,” Stewart said. “Everything else we have pretty much accomplished in this sport that we want to accomplish. It’s the biggest race of the year; everyone wants to win that race. I won’t say that it is not a complete career if you don’t win it, but there is a lot of priority on this.”

Thing is, even though he’s as prepared as he could possibly be, even though he’s in the prime of his talent and his team harmony, Daytona in 2012 doesn’t exactly present the best opportunity for Stewart to win. The unholy combination of tandem and pack racing means every driver has a chance to run at the front, and every driver has a chance to get collected in a monstrous wreck. Skill is essential, yes, but extra helpings of luck and good fortune don’t hurt either.

Still, Smoke isn’t alone in his futility. Legends like Mark Martin have never won this race, and Stewart still has quite a ways to go before he equals Earnhardt’s 19-race Daytona losing streak. And if he wins on Sunday, he may not get the kind of salute Earnhardt received when he finally won in 1998: every member of every pit crew lining pit road to salute him. (Stewart, after all, isn’t lacking in accolades for his achievements these days.)

But even if he doesn’t win on Sunday, he’s got plenty of blessings to count, starting with those three championships. And as frustrating as the mounting losses may be, Stewart is patient:

“We’ve been leading late in these races, and so I feel like [with] the law of averages, we’re going to get one eventually,” Stewart said. “There have been a lot of them that have slipped away and slipped through our fingers. But we’ve had good luck here; we just haven’t had that good luck during the 500 yet. So we’ll just keep digging.”

Right now, he’s riding a win at the Duels on Thursday and a just-missed-it second-place finish at the Bud Shootout last Saturday night. On Saturday he’ll run the Nationwide event, a race he’s won an astounding four times in a row and six times of the last seven. Question is, is 2012 the year that he brings his Saturday Daytona dominance to Sunday?

Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
? New manager Bobby Valentine bans beer in Red Sox clubhouse
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? omg!: Sacha Baron Cohen allowed to attend Oscars as in dictator getup

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/tony-stewart-zeroing-daytona-500-170717624.html

Dorell Wright Dwight Howard Dwyane Wade Joe Johnson Josh Smith

At this time one month ago, Tennessee was 2-5 in the SEC, under .500 for the season and well on its way to a losing record.

Four weeks later, the Vols are somehow on the cusp of NCAA tournament contention in a supposed rebuilding year.

Tennessee has elevated itself from anonymity into the at-large picture by reeling off eight wins in its final nine games culminating in Saturday’s 68-61 victory over rival Vanderbilt. The Vols almost certainly wouldn’t be in the field if the season ended today, but they’ve given themselves an opportunity to make a realistic case if they can continue their torrid play in the SEC tournament and reach the title game.

At 18-13 overall and 10-6 in the SEC, Tennessee boasts a sweep of Florida, a victory over Vanderbilt and a non-league win against UConn. The Vols’ RPI is still in the mid 70s as a result of non-league losses against the likes of Oakland, Austin Peay and Charleston, but they can point to a 9-5 record since freshman forward Jarnell Stokes joined the team in mid-January.

What will give Tennessee a great chance of improving its profile next week in New Orleans is a potentially favorable SEC tournament draw.

Assuming Kentucky beats Florida in today’s SEC regular season finale, Tennessee would be the No. 2 seed in the tournament. That would mean the Vols would get a very winnable quarterfinal against either Ole Miss or Auburn and avoid the top-seeded Wildcats until a potential title game.

How has Tennessee overcome the departure of coach Bruce Pearl and last year’s stars Tobias Harris and Scottie Hopson? By adopting new coach Cuonzo Martin’s defense-first philosophy.

Once a run-and-gun up-tempo program under Pearl, the Vols have allowed the third-fewest points per possession in SEC play (.95) and have allowed teams to shoot just 39.3 percent against them. High-powered Vanderbilt shot just 39 percent from the field on Saturday with its star trio of John Jenkins, Jeff Taylor and Festus Ezeli combining to miss 25 of 37 shots.

After the Vanderbilt game, reporters asked Martin during his news conference whether the Vols belong in the field of 68.

“Are we an NCAA tournament team? Yes,” Martin said confidently. “Is there work to be done? I don’t know. I’m not on the committee. We’ve got to continue to win ball games. But if you’re talking about is this an NCAA tournament team? There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Martin’s either lobbying or being a tad over-optimistic there, but that shouldn’t discount what his team has accomplished. That Tennessee is even on the fringes of the at-large discussion is one of the college basketball season’s pleasant surprises.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger-college-basketball-blog/stunning-surge-tennessee-contention-ncaa-bid-140012457.html

Shaun Marcum Ted Lilly Tim Hudson Tim Lincecum Tommy Hanson

No. 1 Star: Ilya Bryzgalov, Philadelphia Flyers

Bryz earned his 26th career shutout and third of the year by making 34 saves and shutting out the Washington Capitals 1-0. Eric Wellwood’s second of the season in the second period was the only tally of the game not long after Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette called one of his famous timeouts. And stop asking Bryz how he’s playing.

No. 2 Star: Anders Nilsson, New York Islanders

Nilsson made 24 saves in his second career start and Kyle Okposo scored the game’s only goal as the Islanders blanked the New Jersey Devils 1-0. According to the AP, the win was historic for Nilsson as it was the first time in Islanders history that a goaltender earned their first NHL win with a shutout. The victory puts the Islanders five points behind the Winnipeg Jets for eighth in the Eastern Conference.

No. 3 Star: Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche

Newly-acquired Jamie McGinn recorded his first multi-goal game 8:25 into the first period and Varlamov made 30 saves as the Avalanche downed the Minnesota Wild 2-0. Peter Mueller and Stefan Elliott each recorded assists on McGinn’s goals. The shutout was Varlamov’s fourth of the season and eighth of his career. One of Varly’s saves came on the doorstep, robbing Dany Heatley of a goal:

Honorable mention: Derek Stepan’s goal 39 seconds after David Krejci tied the game ended up the game winner as the New York Rangers edged the Boston Bruins 4-3 in an afternoon matinee at Madison Square Garden. Marian Gaborik scored his 32nd of the year and Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves for his 31st win … Just 2:30 into his first NHL game, Lane MacDermid, son of former Hartford Whaler Paul, scrapped with Mike Rupp … Devils forward Petr Sykora played his 1,000th NHL game … Patrick Kane’s goal late in the second period would stand as the decisive tally as the Chicago Blackhawks got by the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 for their third straight win. Ray Emery stopped 23 shots and Patrick Sharp scored a goal and added an assist … Brad Stuart’s assist was his 300th NHL point … Loui Eriksson scored a shorthanded goal, assisted on Michael Ryder’s 28th of the year and later potted Dallas’ second tally in the shootout as the Stars nipped the Calgary Flames 3-2 to put themselves even on points with the Phoenix Coyotes atop the Pacific Division. Kari Lehtonen made 36 saves for his fifth win in six starts. Here’s Eriksson’s goal as described by the one and only Daryl Reaugh:

After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, the Florida Panthers roared back with four unanswered goals to defeat the Ottawa Senators 4-2. Jack Skille netted two points, including the insurance marker late in the third period, while Krys Barch put home his second of the season on a breakaway:

Did you know? The Bruins have lost nine of 11 games against the Rangers, including five straight.

Fight of the Night Milan Lucic vs. Brandon Prust:

Dishonorable mention: Jimmy Howard left the game after the first period with what the Red Wings were calling a “lower-body” injury. Detroit GM Ken Holland said Howard is day-to-day … Washington has been shutout in back-to-back games at home.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/sunday-three-stars-bryz-blanks-caps-historic-win-035302072.html

Paul Konerko Rajai Davis Robinson Cano Shin-Soo Choo Torii Hunter

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. ? Haters gonna hate, as Danica Patrick well knows. Latest on board the Danica-sucks train: one Ross Shimabuku, sports anchor for the Fox affiliate in San Diego, offering a bit of unsolicited opinion about Ms. Patrick and the “chip on her shoulder.” Bet Fox is just thrilled that ol’ Ross is trashing one of the key drawing cards for the biggest race they’ll telecast all year.

[Hat tip: Deadspin]

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/word-describes-danica-patrick-starts-b-134532444.html

Steven Jackson Ahmad Bradshaw Ray Rice Peyton Hillis Darren McFadden

And the rain-delay chats roll on … please welcome Brad Keselowski to talk with you about whatever you’d like. Fire away with your questions. Not like you’re going to watch the Oscars or anything.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/live-chat-brad-keselowski-233522812.html

Jonathan Stewart Shonn Greene Ryan Torain Marshawn Lynch Tim Hightower

The band Chicago has decided to dedicate its 2012 US tour to Paqui Kelly, wife of Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly.

Chicago has partnered with the American Cancer Society for the third consecutive year and not only is Paqui Kelly a friend of the band, she’s also a two-time breast cancer survivor.

Paqui Kelly was originally diagnosed in 2002 and underwent a double mastectomy in the spring of 2008. Two of Paqui Kelly’s sisters, Monie and Eli, also had mastectomies after bouts with breast cancer.

Since beating the disease, Paqui Kelly has devoted her time to the Kelly Cares Foundation, a non-profit focused on breast cancer education, prevention and research.

And her husband has gotten Notre Dame on board. During Notre Dame’s game against Air Force last October, the Irish wore pink accents on their uniforms and Brian Kelly wore pink ties to his midweek and postgame press conferences.

The band is also auctioning off a Sing with Chicago package that includes a meet and greet with the band among other perks and all proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

The only weird part of the tour? The band released 17 tour dates and none of them are in the state of Indiana (where Notre Dame is located) or in Chicago. The band said it is adding more dates soon.

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Thanks to Notre Dame sports information director Brian Hardin for the heads up.

“Like” Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won’t see on the blog. And follow Dr. Saturday at its new home on Twitter: @YahooDrSaturday

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/band-chicago-dedicates-2012-tour-brian-kelly-wife-214359409.html

Andre Johnson Dwayne Bowe Larry Fitzgerald Calvin Johnson Santana Moss

Of course, as a fan of a team you want them to win every game, especially when they are in a battle for a better playoff seeding. 

The Red Wings had been the NHL leader until a recent rash of injuries saw them hit a three game losing streak, dropping four of their last six games.  Since the skid, Vancouver and St. Louis have both caught the Red Wings and they have fallen to fourth in the playoff seedings.

The NHL playoff system rewards the winners of each division with a top-three seed, with the order of these spots determined by the amount of points accrued by each division winner.  Seeds four through eight then are based on the record of the rest of the teams.  Unfortunately, this system rewards teams from weaker divisions.

The Central currently has four of the five best teams in the conference.  Due to this system, though, two of them will fall below the fourth seed and not have home ice advantage.  Detroit, St. Louis, Nashville and Chicago all have more points than Dallas.  As the current leader of the Pacific though, Dallas would get the third seed and home ice for the first round.

Now, the top spot is enticing.  Having a potential game seven at home against Vancouver or an Eastern Conference team deep into the playoffs does have its benefits.  But Boston and Pittsburgh have shown in recent years that winning a game seven on the road is possible.

Why the second seed may end up being better comes down to matchups.  As it stands now, St. Louis and Nashville would face off in the first round, with the winner taking on the top-seeded team in the second round.  While every team in the playoffs is dangerous, most would rather see Dallas than St. Louis or Nashville.

Some may argue that St. Louis and Nashville would tire each other out and be weaker entering the second round.  

One only needs to look to last season, when both Vancouver and Boston were pushed to seven games in the first round, to see that teams who play a lot of games can still make it to the finals.  In fact, Boston played seven games in three of their four series en route to their championship.

Of course, there are still a lot of games to play, and the standings will change.  The other unknown is if a sixth, seventh or eighth seed pulls off a first-round upset.  The NHL reseeds after the first round, so if there is an upset, that team gets to play the top-seeded team.

So why the worry about seedings?  With the injuries to Datsyuk, Lidstrom and Ericsson and the losing streak, many have been pressing the panic button.  Combined that with what fans felt were not enough big moves at the trade deadline, and Red Wings fans are beginning to really worry for their team’s cup prospects.

While Presidents’ Trophies and number-one seeds are good, this team has a much bigger goal in mind.  In order to raise the Stanley Cup, they need to focus on getting their injured players healthy and their current players rested.

They are down to 16 games on the season.  Staying in front of the Central is important, but pushing themselves too hard in order the beat Vancouver or the New York Rangers for the top spot is not needed.   Fans need to relax and think about the long term goals.

PJ Sapienza is a featured columnist for the Detroit Red Wings and a writer of many other sports. You can also follow him on Twitter.

To read his most recent articles see:

Why Don Cherry gets it wrong about the Red Wings

With Pavel Datsyuk out, these players need to step up

Why no big Trade is ok

Read more Detroit Red Wings news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1092404-detroit-red-wings-why-winning-not-winning-the-west-is-ok

Clay Buchholz Clayton Kershaw Cliff Lee Cole Hamels Dallas Braden

The Daytona 500 is four days away and we’ve already had our first gruesome incident involving cone, as cone was violently run over when Kasey Kahne spun off the bumper of Juan Pablo Montoya.

The incident meant a backup car for Kahne in Thursday’s Gatorade Duels, and, unfortunately, a backup cone too. Kahne even apologized to cone via Twitter after the crash.

Our best wishes go out to the cone family on this tragic accident. And Godspeed to you, replacement cone. What exceptional courage to step in after such a tragedy. Though being at the pit road entrance may require less courage than this.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/cone-perishes-during-kasey-kahne-practice-spin-031743059.html

Derek Anderson Arian Foster Jamaal Charles Michael Turner Chris Johnson

Of course, as a fan of a team you want them to win every game, especially when they are in a battle for a better playoff seeding. 

The Red Wings had been the NHL leader until a recent rash of injuries saw them hit a three game losing streak, dropping four of their last six games.  Since the skid, Vancouver and St. Louis have both caught the Red Wings and they have fallen to fourth in the playoff seedings.

The NHL playoff system rewards the winners of each division with a top-three seed, with the order of these spots determined by the amount of points accrued by each division winner.  Seeds four through eight then are based on the record of the rest of the teams.  Unfortunately, this system rewards teams from weaker divisions.

The Central currently has four of the five best teams in the conference.  Due to this system, though, two of them will fall below the fourth seed and not have home ice advantage.  Detroit, St. Louis, Nashville and Chicago all have more points than Dallas.  As the current leader of the Pacific though, Dallas would get the third seed and home ice for the first round.

Now, the top spot is enticing.  Having a potential game seven at home against Vancouver or an Eastern Conference team deep into the playoffs does have its benefits.  But Boston and Pittsburgh have shown in recent years that winning a game seven on the road is possible.

Why the second seed may end up being better comes down to matchups.  As it stands now, St. Louis and Nashville would face off in the first round, with the winner taking on the top-seeded team in the second round.  While every team in the playoffs is dangerous, most would rather see Dallas than St. Louis or Nashville.

Some may argue that St. Louis and Nashville would tire each other out and be weaker entering the second round.  

One only needs to look to last season, when both Vancouver and Boston were pushed to seven games in the first round, to see that teams who play a lot of games can still make it to the finals.  In fact, Boston played seven games in three of their four series en route to their championship.

Of course, there are still a lot of games to play, and the standings will change.  The other unknown is if a sixth, seventh or eighth seed pulls off a first-round upset.  The NHL reseeds after the first round, so if there is an upset, that team gets to play the top-seeded team.

So why the worry about seedings?  With the injuries to Datsyuk, Lidstrom and Ericsson and the losing streak, many have been pressing the panic button.  Combined that with what fans felt were not enough big moves at the trade deadline, and Red Wings fans are beginning to really worry for their team’s cup prospects.

While Presidents’ Trophies and number-one seeds are good, this team has a much bigger goal in mind.  In order to raise the Stanley Cup, they need to focus on getting their injured players healthy and their current players rested.

They are down to 16 games on the season.  Staying in front of the Central is important, but pushing themselves too hard in order the beat Vancouver or the New York Rangers for the top spot is not needed.   Fans need to relax and think about the long term goals.

PJ Sapienza is a featured columnist for the Detroit Red Wings and a writer of many other sports. You can also follow him on Twitter.

To read his most recent articles see:

Why Don Cherry gets it wrong about the Red Wings

With Pavel Datsyuk out, these players need to step up

Why no big Trade is ok

Read more Detroit Red Wings news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1092404-detroit-red-wings-why-winning-not-winning-the-west-is-ok

Tom Brady Philip Rivers Aaron Rodgers Michael Vick Ben Roethlisberger

Jeff Carter returns to Columbus on Thursday for the first time since his trade to the Los Angeles Kings. He’s not sure what sort of reception he’ll receive from Blue Jackets fans. But he doesn’t believe those fans who claim he “never” wanted to be in Columbus are entirely correct.

From LA Kings Insider, Carter met the media on Wednesday:

Question: There’s a segment of the (Columbus) fan base, as you know, that has the opinion that you never really wanted to be here? What would you say to people who think that?

CARTER: “I think that’s tough to say. I don’t know if that’s completely true. Obviously when I got traded from Philly, it was hard on me, something that I didn’t expect. Over time, you get over that. I came in here [Columbus] with an open mind. There were a lot of expectations around the team, from the fans and the city and stuff like that. For whatever reason, it didn’t really work out that way, and things just started to snowball from there. When you’re losing games, like we did, and giving up leads late, it’s pretty tough on guys. It’s hard to kind of keep going. It was a tough year.”

Question: Do you have a sense of why things didn’t go well for the (Columbus) team this year?

CARTER: “It’s tough to say. All the things that you pointed out there, it goes into it, with bringing news guys in, and injuries and suspensions, not having everybody play together. All that stuff is a big part. I wish I could tell you one thing. If I knew, this probably wouldn’t be the situation.”

There’s always been a wicked irony about Carter being at a fan event when he discovered he had been traded to the Kings.

Jackets fans were ready to embrace him when he arrived from the Philadelphia Flyers, giving the franchise one of the most dynamic offensive players in its history. But his reputation as a dressing room problem in Philly and his initial frustration over the trade made Columbus fans recoil, long before injuries and the team’s lack of success soured them on him.

So how will he be received in Columbus? Considering the player and his time there, apathy would seem the appropriate response.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/jeff-carter-why-things-didn-t-columbus-blue-223122538.html

Nick Swisher Orlando Hudson Paul Konerko Rajai Davis Robinson Cano

Earlier this morning, former Penn State coach Tom Bradley was contemplating going to breakfast in Pittsburgh on Thursday, but didn’t want to go along.

So he sent out a tweet asking his followers if they wanted to go with him ? his treat.

Seriously.

Of course, the response was overwhelming and Bradley had to scale back his offer a bit. Instead of an open invite to his 13,297 followers (and a pretty hefty bill), Bradley said he’d pick four people at random, follow them on Twitter and direct message them the name and directions for Thursday’s 7:15 a.m. date.

I have to admit, this might be one of the coolest things a coach, former or otherwise, has ever done. You always read about guys bringing fans pizza when they’re waiting for tickets and stuff like that, but how often does a coach invite four fans, not boosters, just random fans, to a private breakfast? Um, never.

Joe Paterno was known to the Penn State community as a people’s coach and it appears as though Bradley is trying to embrace those same qualities.

If you were lucky enough to win an invite, direct message me on Twitter and let me know.

And if you weren’t lucky enough to score an invite, don’t worry. Bradley said he’s thinking of doing the same thing “once every two months or so.”

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Mad thanks to our buddies over at The School Philly.

“Like” Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won’t see on the blog. And follow Dr. Saturday at its new home on Twitter: @YahooDrSaturday

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
? Michael Jordan’s Chicago estate on the market for $29M
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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/tom-bradley-wants-breakfast-him-185421735.html

Victor Martinez Vladimir Guerrero Adam Wainwright Anibal Sanchez Brett Myers

At this time one month ago, Tennessee was 2-5 in the SEC, under .500 for the season and well on its way to a losing record.

Four weeks later, the Vols are somehow on the cusp of NCAA tournament contention in a supposed rebuilding year.

Tennessee has elevated itself from anonymity into the at-large picture by reeling off eight wins in its final nine games culminating in Saturday’s 68-61 victory over rival Vanderbilt. The Vols almost certainly wouldn’t be in the field if the season ended today, but they’ve given themselves an opportunity to make a realistic case if they can continue their torrid play in the SEC tournament and reach the title game.

At 18-13 overall and 10-6 in the SEC, Tennessee boasts a sweep of Florida, a victory over Vanderbilt and a non-league win against UConn. The Vols’ RPI is still in the mid 70s as a result of non-league losses against the likes of Oakland, Austin Peay and Charleston, but they can point to a 9-5 record since freshman forward Jarnell Stokes joined the team in mid-January.

What will give Tennessee a great chance of improving its profile next week in New Orleans is a potentially favorable SEC tournament draw.

Assuming Kentucky beats Florida in today’s SEC regular season finale, Tennessee would be the No. 2 seed in the tournament. That would mean the Vols would get a very winnable quarterfinal against either Ole Miss or Auburn and avoid the top-seeded Wildcats until a potential title game.

How has Tennessee overcome the departure of coach Bruce Pearl and last year’s stars Tobias Harris and Scottie Hopson? By adopting new coach Cuonzo Martin’s defense-first philosophy.

Once a run-and-gun up-tempo program under Pearl, the Vols have allowed the third-fewest points per possession in SEC play (.95) and have allowed teams to shoot just 39.3 percent against them. High-powered Vanderbilt shot just 39 percent from the field on Saturday with its star trio of John Jenkins, Jeff Taylor and Festus Ezeli combining to miss 25 of 37 shots.

After the Vanderbilt game, reporters asked Martin during his news conference whether the Vols belong in the field of 68.

“Are we an NCAA tournament team? Yes,” Martin said confidently. “Is there work to be done? I don’t know. I’m not on the committee. We’ve got to continue to win ball games. But if you’re talking about is this an NCAA tournament team? There’s no doubt in my mind.”

Martin’s either lobbying or being a tad over-optimistic there, but that shouldn’t discount what his team has accomplished. That Tennessee is even on the fringes of the at-large discussion is one of the college basketball season’s pleasant surprises.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger-college-basketball-blog/stunning-surge-tennessee-contention-ncaa-bid-140012457.html

Jason Campbell Carson Palmer Kerry Collins Alex Smith Ryan Fitzpatrick

For as much as people despise Lane Kiffin, he’s always been known for his sense of humor.

In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kiffin acknowledged the hatred many Tennessee fans still have for him after their breakup two years ago. And even though the spotlight shifted to current coach Derek Dooley after the season-ending 10-7 loss to Kentucky ? the first loss to the Wildcats since 1984 ? Kiffin still thought the ire of Tennessee fans might still be heading his direction.

“Are you sure I didn’t get blamed for the Kentucky game? I’m sure somebody somewhere blamed me for that,” Kiffin told the AJC with a laugh.

“After we left two years ago, and I don’t remember the timeline, there were some floods in Tennessee. So people around here were joking that was my fault ? that there were floods there.”

Can you blame Kiffin for thinking everyone in Tennessee hates him? He didn’t exactly leave on a high note and while he was there, he didn’t endear himself to his fellow SEC coaches, including then-Florida coach Urban Meyer. Kiffin and Meyer were battling over the same recruits and after Kiffin managed to score Nu’Keese Richardson, Kiffin quipped to a group of Tennessee supporters that “I love the fact that Urban had to cheat and still didn’t get him.”

But apparently, Kiffin has turned over a new leaf and he and Meyer, who is now at Ohio State are so close they’re just short of each having a half of a best friends broken heart necklace.

“Yeah, I’m glad Urban and I are where we are in our relationship,” Kiffin tld the AJC. “When you’re young, you make some mistakes. We’ve moved forward from that. Who would’ve guessed we are back at battling each other for recruits even though we’re a long ways away? I have tremendous respect for what Urban Meyer does.”

For the record, Meyer told CBSSports.com, “I was very childish.”

Love him or hate him, Lane Kiffin continues to evolve. While his Tennessee antics were just two years ago, the past couple years have shown that he’s matured to an extent. Perhaps that’s because he’s stayed out of trouble with the NCAA while having to deal with sanctions that were not of his doing.

Kiffin has the chance to bring USC back to the promised land in 2012 with a strong group of returning players and several potential contributors coming in. I wonder, if Kiffin wins the national championship at USC will Tennessee fans blame someone else for allowing him to leave Knoxville? Eh, probably not.

- – -
Go “Like” Dr. Saturday on Facebook for thoughtful discussions and things you won’t see on the blog. And follow Graham Watson on Twitter: @Yahoo_Graham

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/even-2-000-miles-away-lane-kiffin-still-201624475.html

Jon Kitna Kyle Orton Jay Cutler Eli Manning Jason Campbell

The Zone Read is your morning college football primer to make you seem like the smartest person at the water cooler even if you’re not.

Every week it seems like someone has a beef with BCS and this week the state of Nevada takes it’s turn.

The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that several Nevada higher education leaders are threatening to bring suit against the BCS for unfair distribution of BCS funds to FBS schools.

Um, get in line.

The payout from 2010-11 was $118 million to the Big Six conferences ? ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC ? and $27.2 million to be divvied up among the non-AQ conferences ? Conference USA, Mountain West, Mid-American, Sun Belt and WAC. The Mountain West earned the majority of that money at $12.75 million.

“What frustrates me is taxpayers are, in essence, funding the infrastructure of college football,” Regent Michael Wixom said. “In a decade or two, taxpayers are going to fund the entire system to the benefit of a few elite schools. It’s unsustainable.

“I’m infuriated by this nonsense,” he continued. “I want this stopped.”

With the BCS system likely changing in a couple years, it’s unknown how the new revenue will be distributed, but it’s fair to say that it probably won’t be much different than it is now and might be even worse given that just one of the remaining teams among the non-AQs (Hawaii) has ever played in a BCS bowl game and access to BCS bowl might be limited to some of the smaller schools.

Nevada and UNLV are both in the Mountain West, which is in the process of merging with Conference USA. If the two conferences can strike up a good television deal, it might be more lucrative than it is now, but the schools also will have to split that money among what could be 24 other schools just in their conference.

Off the hot seat: Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray said coach Mark Richt’s job status was an added stress for the Bulldogs a year ago.

After a 6-7 season in 2010, Richt was on the hot seat and many thought he’d be on his way out after 2011. But the Bulldogs rallied around their coach and managed a 10-4 season, which included an appearance in the SEC title game. Now that Richt is currently negotiating a contract extension, Murray said it should be easier to concentrate on football in 2012.

“One less thing to worry about,” Murray told the Macon Telegraph. “Last year the whole talk was you don’t get to the SEC championship game, you don’t win 10 games, blah blah blah, coach Richt’s gonna be fired. I know we don’t talk about it too much, everybody on the team felt like hey we don’t want coach Richt to leave, we love coach Richt, we love the rest of the coaches here.

“It was stressful, I think not only for us but the coaches. So I think this year everybody’s a little bit more (like) relax, let’s just go out there and play. I don’t think anyone’s on the hot seat or worrying about that.”

Can’t we all just get along?: Gary Pinkel wants all this nonsense about ending the Missouri-Kansas rivalry to stop. He said “when common sense takes over emotion” the two teams will play again.

“It will be a great continued rivalry and it could happen this year if we really wanted it to happen,” Pinkel told CBSSports.com. “It’s all choices. We’re ready to do it anytime.”

Right now, the Missouri-Kansas series, which has been played in football since 1892 and in basketball since 1902, has been suspended. Missouri said it was open to keeping the series afloat, but Kansas has been resistant. Now both schools are holding their ground. Pinkel said the entire discussion was comical.

“There will come a time when, without question, that in Kansas City at the beginning of the football season, hopefully Missouri and Kansas will play,” he said. “That will happen sometime, when common sense takes over emotion. There is sometime when, in Kansas City, Mo., KU and Mizzou will play basketball too.”

Sticky notes: Could former Maryland quarterback Danny O’Brien end up at Oklahoma State? One Oklahoma radio show says O’Brien’s interested? LSU is trying to move on from its poor performance in the BCS national championship? SEC ADs are not ready to make any decision on future schedules? And interim commissioner Chuck Neinas is getting credit for stabilizing the Big 12.

- – -
“Like” Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won’t see on the blog. And follow Dr. Saturday at its new home on Twitter: @YahooDrSaturday

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf-dr-saturday/zone-read-another-day-another-group-mad-bcs-170329057.html

Ryan Mathews Michael Vick Ricky Williams Michael Bush Jahvid Best

Snap judgments on Saturday’s best.

ROBOTICS ? Aaron Murray, Georgia.
Murray’s arm was calibrated to perfection, firing to the proper coordinates on 14 of 18 passes with four touchdowns to four different receivers in a 45-7 rout over Auburn. The machine-like display easily extended Murray’s lead as the most efficient passer in the SEC, and left him with a new school record for touchdown passes in a season (27).

The 38-point win was also the most lopsided in the series by either side since 1946, and put UGA within a game of its first division title since 2005.

Honorable Mention: Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson might as well have been throwing against air at Minnesota, carving up the Gophers for four touchdowns on 16-of-17 passing in a 42-13 blowout.

THERMODYNAMICS ? Oregon‘s Defense.
The Ducks successfully demonstrated that applying extreme heat to Andrew Luck can make even the most draft-ready quarterback in ages look human: Luck was sacked four times (a career high) and coughed up three turnovers (a career high) in a 53-30 blowout that reasserted Oregon as reigning Pac-12 overlord. (Thirty points was the Cardinal’s lowest output in nearly two years.) All three turnovers led directly to touchdowns, two on short-field “drives” covering 12 yards and 20 yards, respectively, and a third on an interception return by Boseko Lokombo to seal the upset in the fourth quarter.

MUNITIONS ? Casey Pachall, TCU.
Pachall dropped bombs all over the Boise State secondary, striking for touchdown passes of 74, 75 and 69 yards in the first half alone of the Horned Frogs’ 36-35 upset in Boise. Pachall ended the day with 473 yards and five TDs through the air, making him the first quarterback over 300 yards passing against the Broncos, in any location, since 2007.

For all the streaks TCU busted on the blue turf ? Boise State hadn’t lost a game in Bronco Stadium since 2005, a regular season game in Bronco Stadium since 2001 or a conference game in Bronco Stadium since 1998 ? it kept one of its own alive: The Frogs have now won 22 straight in Mountain West play dating back to 2008.

ETIQUETTE ? Kawann Short, Purdue.
Feeling one introduction wasn’t quite enough, Short introduced himself to Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller on three separate occasions in the Buckeye backfield, part of a five-sack afternoon for Purdue’s defense in a 26-23 upset. For his geniality, Short was named Walter Camp’s national Defensive Player of the Week and moved to No. 2 in the Big Ten for sacks on the season.

ENGINEERING ? Colin Klein, Kansas State.
Faced with a back-and-forth shootout against Texas A&M, the Wildcats put the entire offense on the back of their 6-foot-5, 230-pound quarterback, and rode him all the way across the finish line in quadruple overtime: Klein handled the ball as a rusher or passer on 63 of 79 offensive snaps, ultimately accounting for more than 90 percent of K-State’s total offense and six of its seven touchdowns in a 53-50 upset. His 35 carries for the game were the most by any Big 12 player this season, regardless of position.

EFFICIENCY ? Houston‘s Offense.
Not counting their final, clock-killing possession in the fourth quarter, the Cougars gained 735 yards and scored eight offensive touchdowns in a little under 18 minutes of possession time Thursday night in a 73-17 incineration of Tulane. Four of those scoring drives took less than a minute, and only one took more than two.

LOGISTICS ? Brandon Weeden, Oklahoma State.
Displaying his usual knack for delivering the ball anywhere and everywhere on the field it needs to be, Weeden hit nine different receivers for 423 yards and five touchdowns in the Cowboys’ 66-6 incineration of Texas Tech. OSU scored touchdowns on all six first half possessions and put it in the end zone twice more in the third quarter before mercifully taking its foot off the throttle.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP ? Fitzgerald Toussaint, Michigan.
If Toussaint hadn’t locked down the Wolverines’ starting tailback job before Saturday, he certainly did at Illinois, gouging a previously solid Illini defense for a career-high 192 yards on 27 carries in a 31-14 Wolverine win. The outburst was the best in either category by anyone not named “Denard Robinson” since the last time Michigan had a bona fide No. 1 tailback: Mike Hart in 2007.

CATCHES OF THE YEAR OF THE WEEK First prize this week goes to TCU freshman Brandon Carter, who refused to be denied on a high-flying tug-of-war for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown at Boise State:

Carter also contributed a 75-yard touchdown catch for the Horned Frogs’ first touchdown, at which point the Bronco secondary was officially exposed.

Next up, it’s Arkansas‘ Jarius Wright, whose juggling hot-potato grab against Tennessee may not have qualified as the highlight of the game, but does go down as arguably the most? let’s say, persistent catch of the season:

And as mediocre as everyone else on Iowa‘s offense looked at Michigan State, at least senior Marvin McNutt was locked in for his final home game, giving us the obligatory One-Hand Wonder of the day:

McNutt bid adieu to Kinnick Stadium with eight catches for 130 yards and a touchdown, the only bright spot in a 37-21 loss that effectively eliminated the Hawkeyes from the Big Ten race.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Superlatives-In-which-Aaron-Murray-terminates-A?urn=ncaaf-wp9823

Derrick Rose Dirk Nowitzki Dorell Wright Dwight Howard Dwyane Wade

TORONTO — Maybe Milan Lucic got off easy after all.

The biggest news to come out of Tuesday’s NHL general managers meeting concerned the hottest topic: Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic’s collision with Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller on Saturday night, and league disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan’s decision to sentence him time served — two minutes for charging.

About two-thirds of the GMs leaned toward supplemental discipline for such incidents, according to NHL senior vice president of hockey operations Colin Campbell. Sabres GM Darcy Regier left with the impression it would be called differently in the future.

“Based on our conversations in the room, I personally believe it would be,” Regier said.

Shanahan stopped short of saying he would have suspended Lucic had the GMs given him this direction before. But he reiterated that he doesn’t make policy, he enforces it, and he said there is “certainly a very heightened sensitivity” when it comes to protecting goaltenders.

“Certainly they’re not fair game,” said Shanahan, the NHL’s senior vice president of player safety and hockey ops. “I think that players have to understand that. The general managers expressed to me the importance of all the players on the ice but also the extreme importance of the goaltender in that position.

“As a message to the players around the league, if anybody does think that it’s a tactic and a tactic that is a smart gamble on their part, it won’t be.”

Lucic was racing for a puck in hopes of a breakaway. Miller rushed out of the crease and got to the puck first. Lucic ran right into him and received only a two-minute charging penalty, while Miller suffered a concussion.

Shanahan said Lucic should have made more of an effort to get out of the way, but he felt the hit was not worthy of a suspension because Lucic didn’t veer into Miller, didn’t raise a forearm or an elbow, and didn’t hit him in the head.

“I’m confident the right steps will be taken moving forward,” Regier said. “It’s not just my feelings; it’s the feelings of my counterparts. When you look at the position of goaltending ? they were never taught how to check, they were never taught how to take a check, they’re not equipped to do either. ?

“You’ve got 360 forwards in the league, you’ve got 180 defensemen and you have 60 goaltenders of which on any given night only 30 are playing. It’s significant that we take this seriously.”

Other issues:

? The GMs discussed the Philadelphia Flyers‘ refusal to advance the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s 1-3-1 system last week. The consensus was that this has happened only once in all the games played since the 2004-05 lockout, after which the league made major rule changes, and there is no need to legislate unless this becomes a regular problem.

“There’s no real way to mandate how a team plays,” Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said. “Speaking from the Philadelphia Flyers’ standpoint, I’d like to see us attack the situation a little bit differently than we did last game. But we’ll continue to monitor and see if it becomes an issue.”

? The GMs are taking a hard look at introducing hybrid icing, in which a linesman would determine who would win the race for the puck when the players reach the faceoff dot. The theory is that it preserves the excitement of the race, but eliminates collisions that could cause catastrophic injury.

The Edmonton Oilers‘ Taylor Fedun suffered a broken femur in a preseason game against the Minnesota Wild while going back for an iced puck.

Shanahan said the GMs watched a video that included some examples of hybrid icing. Campbell said they would talk about the issue at their March meeting and possibly vote on a rule-change proposal.

? Concussions are down 50-60 percent from where they were at this point last season. Cautioning that it was early, Shanahan called that a “significant improvement” and an indication that players were changing their behavior with new rules and a new approach to enforcement.

Shanahan said he sought clarification from the GMs on other types of collisions so they could clarify how they want them addressed.

“I tried to take the general managers through sort of the process of a suspension — what gets applied, how it gets applied, when it gets applied,” Shanahan said. “This isn’t the time of year for significant rule changes or policy changes. I think it was more of a discussion on the sensitivities of the job that I do and certainly the recognition that it’s not black and white. It’s gray.”

The GMs also saw some prototypes of new softer shoulder pads.

? The juiciest issue — realignment — wasn’t even discussed. Commissioner Gary Bettman gave the GMs an update on all the options on the table, but there were many options and no questions. The issue is supposed to be decided at the board of governors meeting Dec. 4-5 in Pebble Beach , Calif., but it is now uncertain whether it will be.

The issue is complex, and every team is fighting for its own interest. The future of the Phoenix Coyotes also still hasn’t been determined. At least two potential owners are bidding for the team, which is owned by the league.

“We’re still going through the process,” Coyotes GM Don Maloney said. “We remain cautiously optimistic things will work out.”

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/NHL-GM-Meetings-Protecting-goalies-Flyers-821?urn=nhl-wp17514

Hiroki Kuroda Jaime Garcia Jered Weaver Johan Santana Johnny Cueto

There has been a lot of talk this week about how the American side will be at a some kind of marked disadvantage due to their lack of knowledge about all of the “subtle nuances” at Royal Melbourne.

According to the Herald Sun, former Australian pro and renowned course designer Mike Clayton has called the American Presidents Cup team “incredibly naive” to think that they can learn how to play Royal Melbourne in a matter of days.

“Most weeks in America, if you hit a proper six-iron it will go close to the hole,” Clayton said.

“To get it close at Royal Melbourne, you’ve got to play it from the right part of the fairway, you have to hit the right shot and more often than not, you have to judge the wind, then you’ve got to land it in the right place to bounce the ball to the hole,” he continued.

Umm, sounds pretty similar to every single Open Championship, of which Americans have managed to win 11 of the last 17.

That also sounds very similar to each U.S. Open, of which Americans have won all but 12 since 1926.

Royal Melbourne was also designed by Dr. Alister McKenzie just two years before he completed work on Augusta National, which coincidentally is a course that no Australian golfer in history has won the Masters on.

In addition, when it comes to the Presidents Cup, there really is no home course advantage for the International side.

Just have a look at the 12 players that comprise this year’s International team.

Charl Schwartzel, K.J. Choi, Kyung-tae Kim, Retief Goosen, Y.E. Yang and Ryo Ishikawa would all be just as unfamiliar with Royal Melbourne as anyone on the American side.

Ernie Els set the course record at Royal Melbourne with a 60 at the 2004 Heineken Classic but has returned to the course few times in the last seven years.

In terms of the Australian players, well, you’ve got Jason Day, who lives in Dallas and up until last week, hadn’t played competitively in Australia in more than five years.

You’ve got Adam Scott, who is from Queensland and has been playing the PGA and European Tours for most of his career.

Then you’ve got Robert Allenby, Geoff Ogilvy and Aaron Baddeley, who may have grown up playing Royal Melbourne but who have each lived in America for the past decade.

So, this “big advantage” everyone seems to be bestowing upon the International side due to its “familiarity” with the golf course really only applies to three out of the 12 players on the International team, and even those three players would not have played Royal Melbourne very often in recent years.

Heck, Tiger Woods may have played more sandbelt golf over the past few years than many of the Australian players on Greg Norman’s International side.

The International team is extremely strong this year, and may very well send the American side home with their tails between their legs.

However, it will not be due to the American side’s lack of preparation or course knowledge.

These are professional golfers who play in every corner of the world and manage to conquer major championship layouts with a form of preparation that often includes nothing more than two practice rounds.

Patrick Cantlay (an amateur) set the course record at the 2011 Travellers Championship in just his second competitive round at TPC River Highlands.

Rickie Fowler recently tied the course record at the Korean Open in just his third ever round at Woo Jeong Hills Country Club.

Rory McIlroy set the course record at Quail Hollow in 2010 during his fourth ever round on a golf course that many believe to be as, if not more difficult than most major championship venues.

And these are young, relatively inexperienced pros (or an amateur in Cantlay’s case) we’re talking about here.

Royal Melbourne, although a very difficult golf course, is not some kind of mythical, magical layout.

It’s a golf course, and members of both teams have had very successful careers learning how to play new courses in a matter of hours, whether they’re in Scotland, England, America, Dubai, China, Wales, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia or anywhere else.

And Royal Melbourne will be no different.

Now, let the best team win.

For more golf news, insight and analysis, check out The Tour Report.

Read more Golf news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/940134-2011-presidents-cup-familiarity-with-royal-melbourne-will-not-be-an-issue

Sam Bradford Chad Henne Mark Sanchez Matt Hasselbeck Brett Favre

Source: http://dallas.sbnation.com/2011/10/29/2504950/dallas-cowboys-philadelphia-eagles

Luol Deng Manu Ginobili Michael Beasley Monta Ellis Nick Young

SAN DIEGO ? Immediately after Michigan State‘s Branden Dawson limped to the bench after tweaking a knee when he slipped on the sticker covering the jump ball circle, North Carolina forward John Henson walked over to investigate that spot on the floor.

He summed it up like this when he returned to the Tar Heels bench: “It’s a wet spot, pretty much.”

Fortunately Dawson returned to the game soon afterward and no other players were hurt slipping at center court, but the incident revived talk that decals on the court advertising a sponsor put players’ health at risk. Although both Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and North Carolina’s Roy Williams are aware that the money the stickers generate helps fund events like Friday night’s Carrier Classic, they argue the slipperiness makes them too great a hazard.

“I’ve hated those things. I think they’re stupid to put them out there with all the technology we he have,” Williams said. “If we want to give somebody some publicity, put it on there on TV only and don’t put the kids in danger of slipping and sliding.”

The center-court decal at the Carrier Classic was especially treacherous because the damp ocean air made the entire court slick. It was one of several factors players had to adjust to as a result of playing outside, along with gusty winds that altered jump shots and a shooting backdrop unlike any other.

“These are circumstances that are obviously different from what we’re used to,” North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall said. “Your hands are cold on the court. There’s a breeze. It’s something you’re not used to. We were telling them to wipe up the court, and they said, ‘There’s nothing we can do. You’re playing outside.’

“We found a way to get through it. Both teams had to deal with the circumstances, and you can’t really blame them on anybody.”

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Roy-Williams-again-calls-for-ban-on-treacherous-?urn=ncaab-wp6082

Nick Swisher Orlando Hudson Paul Konerko Rajai Davis Robinson Cano

With his sputtering team trailing Colorado State by five and in jeopardy of failing to earn a trip to New York for the Preseason NIT semifinals, Stanford‘s Gabriel Harris delivered the spark the Cardinal needed.

Harris grabbed the rebound of an errant Colorado State shot, looked up at the game clock as he took a dribble up court and then launched a three-quarters court prayer as the halftime buzzer sounded. Improbably the reserve guard hit all net, completing an 11-2 Stanford spurt to end the half and propelling the Cardinal to a 64-52 victory over the Rams on Tuesday night in Palo Alto.

“That was definitely a pick-me-up,” Stanford forward Josh Owens told the Palo Alto Daily News. “We were building some momentum and to close with that gave us all kinds of energy.”

Stanford’s comeback from a first-half deficit that ballooned as large as 11 points secured the Cardinal a date with either Oklahoma State or Texas-San Antonio at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. The low-post scoring of Josh Owens and the vast all-around improvement of guard Aaron Bright give Stanford hope of taking advantage of its national stage next week, but several facets must improve for the Cardinal to win a game against the likes of Syracuse, Oklahoma State or Virginia Tech in New York.

They need the sprained ankle that has sidelined talented forward Dwight Powell to fully heal. They need true freshman point guard Chasson Randle to stop over-dribbling and do a better job taking care of the ball. And they need highly touted sophomore wing Anthony Brown to regain his shooting stroke and stop trying to do too much when he has the ball.

Stanford hasn’t been to the NCAA tournament since Brook and Robin Lopez propelled the 2008 team to a second-place Pac-10 finish and a Sweet 16 appearance. The Cardinal are likely a year away from that level of success, but next week is an opportunity to prove the program is headed in the right direction.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Stanford-s-Gabriel-Harris-sinks-70-footer-to-spa?urn=ncaab-wp6206

Kerry Collins Alex Smith Ryan Fitzpatrick Shaun Hill Donovan McNabb

Source: http://boston.sbnation.com/boston-red-sox/2011/11/16/2566082/david-ortiz-rumors-boston-red-sox-mlb-free-agency-news

Dirk Nowitzki Dorell Wright Dwight Howard Dwyane Wade Joe Johnson

Every year since its inception, the Nationwide Tour has been played with the aim of graduating 25 golfers to the PGA Tour.

Each year, a few of those golfers experience immediate success on tour, although some who finish outside of the top 125 are once again relegated back to the Nationwide Tour.

Let’s take a look at the graduates that I think have the best shots at success. 

Begin Slideshow

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/933071-5-nationwide-tour-grads-with-the-best-chance-to-win-in-2012

Braylon Edwards Jabar Gaffney Anthony Armstrong Percy Harvin Chris Cooley

A Kansas loss to Pittsburgh State in its season-opening exhibition game on Tuesday night might not be much of an upset anymore.

The school announced Sunday night that starting guards Tyshawn Taylor and Elijah Johnson have been suspended for Kansas’ two exhibition games because of an undisclosed offseason team rules violation. Their absence could leave the already-shorthanded  Jayhawks with as few as five recruited scholarship players available Tuesday if top big man Thomas Robinson is unable to play on the hyperextended left knee he suffered Thursday.

Kansas coach Bill Self did his best to downplay the transgressions of Taylor and Johnson in the statement the school released.

“Tyshawn and Elijah have both been terrific since school began in August,” Self said. “They’ve not only performed well, they have been very responsible and disciplined the first few months of the school year. But during the offseason they violated a rule that I told them, because of some past experiences, their punishment was going to be severe and I was going to hold them out of the two exhibition games. They have been aware of this for several months and also are disappointed, but have had very positive attitudes about it.”

Kansas needs Taylor to emerge as a senior leader for its youthful team, so the concern is that this suspension suggests the senior still lacks the maturity he needs to fulfill that responsibility. Though Self has raved about Taylor’s commitment during the offseason, it’s difficult to forget that the point guard was also suspended for a team rules violation last February or that he was involved in the altercations between the Kansas basketball and football teams the previous year.

Aside from the potential of an exhibition loss increasing, the suspensions of Taylor and Johnson are not all that significant from an on-the-court standpoint. The only real ramification is that it devalues the exhibition games for the Jayhawks since they will not have a full complement of players, leaving them less prepared for their opener against Towson on Nov. 11 or their showdown with Kentucky four days later.

The five scholarship players Kansas will definitely have available Tuesday night are freshmen guards Naadir Tharpe and Merv Lindsay, junior forwards Travis Releford and Kevin Young and junior center Jeff Withey. Not exactly the juggernaut days of old, is it?

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Kansas-may-be-down-to-five-scholarship-players-f?urn=ncaab-wp5777

Vernon Wells Victor Martinez Vladimir Guerrero Adam Wainwright Anibal Sanchez

Joe Paterno didn’t get a chance to defend himself Tuesday after Penn State pulled the plug on his regular Tuesday press conference, leaving the embattled 84-year-old coach and his son to fend off a mob of reporters on his way to practice ? one of the few reminders that the Nittany Lions still have a crucial Big Ten game to play this weekend against Nebraska. But Paterno did get in a few words Tuesday night when several hundred students rallied outside his home in a show of support, at the end of a day that began with bold calls for his dismissal and saw the rest of the world begin to brace for his departure.

Paterno initially met the crowd at his front door, where he gave a brief pep talk, promising the crowd “we’re always gonna be Penn State, regardless of what happens to certain people,” and asking them to support the team on Saturday. A few minutes later, he emerged from the house to talk directly to the cameras that followed the rally to his front lawn.

“It’s hard for me to tell you how much this means to me. You guys live for the place, and I’ve lived for people like you guys and girls,” Paterno said. “The kids who were victims, whatever they want to say, I think we need to say a prayer for them. It’s a tough life when people do certain things to you.”

In this case, “certain things” includes dozens of instances of alleged sexual abuse against underage males by Paterno’s longtime defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, who is facing 25 felony counts of deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, endangering the welfare of a child and indecent assault against at least eight victims over more than a decade. New reports Tuesday night suggest that number may now be as high as 20 victims and growing as the publicity of the case generates new accusations.

On at least two occasions ? once in 1998, when Sandusky was the subject of an investigation by university police, and again in 2002, when Paterno was informed directly by a graduate assistant who said he saw Sandusky raping a 10-year-old boy in a locker room shower ? Paterno and other administrators had reason to at least suspect Sandusky was not only engaging in violent criminal behavior, but engaging in it on Penn State’s campus. Still, Paterno only passed the 2002 charge up the chain to the athletic director, Tim Curley, and left it at that.

Sandusky was neither disciplined nor reported to authorities, and (thanks to his “emeritus” status) continued to maintain an office in the football building and enjoy access to the locker room and other campus facilities as recently as last week. For their part, Curley and another administrator were indicted for perjury and failing to report Sandusky to authorities, and have lost their jobs. Paterno is not facing legal action from prosectors.

According to a new report by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the charity for at-risk youth which allegedly supplied Sandusky with his victims was aware of investigations in both 1998 and 2002, but didn’t sever ties with him until new accusations surfaced a decade later, in 2008. Three years later, the number of alleged victims continues to grow.

Given the increasing outrage everywhere else, the scene outside Paterno’s home Tuesday night may be the warmest respite of his final weeks as Penn State’s coach, aside from gameday itself. After Saturday ? almost certainly his last on the sideline of Beaver Stadium, or in the press box ? he could be in for a chillier ending than anyone could have dreamed just a few days ago.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Paterno-embraces-rallying-students-as-the-walls-?urn=ncaaf-412210

Monta Ellis Nick Young Pau Gasol Paul Millsap Paul Pierce

Freestyle Motocross rider Jim McNeil died Sunday after suffering injuries while practicing for a FMX exhibition before Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

McNeil, 32, was practicing in the midway area outside the frontstretch grandstands before the area was open on Sunday morning. He was taken by CareFlight to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

McNeil, who was known as “Jumpin’ Jimmy,” had competed in Freestyle Motocross for 11 years, and finished fourth overall in FMX at the X Games in 2006. He had been part of the Boost Mobile FMX team for nine years.

In Freestyle Motocross, riders are scored by judges based on a series of jumps and tricks. The most famous FMX rider may be Travis Pastrana, who is transitioning to NASCAR, or Carey Hart, who is married to the singer Pink.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Freestyle-Motocross-rider-dies-before-exhibition?urn=nascar-wp5151

Dwayne Bowe Larry Fitzgerald Calvin Johnson Santana Moss Steve Johnson

Charlie Strong is excited ? really excited. And who can blame him?

Louisville‘s 38-35 upset over West Virginia Saturday was the biggest win in Strong’s short career and gave the Cardinals a three-game winning streak, one win short of bowl eligibility before. This after no one expected anything from Louisville this season.

So after Saturday’s game ? before the team broke into a locker room version of West Virginia’s unofficial theme song, John Denver’s “Country Roads” ? Strong allowed his emotions to overtake him and he leaped into his sea of players and began to crowd surf.

It’s by far the best coach-team celebration caught on air (and available for public consumption) this season and frankly, a far better crowd-surfing job than that of Notre Dame hoops coach Mike Brey.

- – -
Curtsy (female version of the hat tip) to Kegsneggsblog.com

Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Charlie-Strong-goes-crowd-surfing-after-West-Vir?urn=ncaaf-wp9401

Kobe Bryant LaMarcus Aldridge LeBron James Luis Scola Luol Deng

On Tuesday, Stewart-Haas Racing officially announced a major new partnership for Ryan Newman‘s No. 39 Chevy in 2012, wrapping up one of the few open elements of the core Stewart-Haas Racing teams.

Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender, will be the primary sponsor for Newman’s team in nine races, and will serve as associate sponsor on all other races. Quicken Loans will also serve as an associate sponsor of Tony Stewart‘s No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevy in 2012.

Quicken will initiate its partnership this weekend with a wood-themed paint scheme honoring the upcoming Quicken Loans Carrier Classic. (You can check out the hardwood version of Newman’s Texas car right here, via SB Nation’s Jeff Gluck. Dig that fine wood grain!) The Quicken Loans Carrier Classic sounds appropriately awesome: a Veteran’s Day basketball game on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson between Michigan State and North Carolina.

The significance of this deal is obvious: it bring a new sponsor into NASCAR in an extensive arrangement. Stewart has been searching for sponsorship for Newman’s car for most of the season, and this will come as a welcome addition to SHR’s coffers.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Stewart-Haas-Racing-officially-announces-Quicken?urn=nascar-wp5019

Ubaldo Jimenez Wandy Rodriguez Al Jefferson Amare Stoudemire Andrea Bargnani

It didn’t take very long for the St. John’s student section to come up with a clever chant in honor of newcomer God’sgift Achiuwa.

Students in the “Red Zone” have already taken to chanting “God’s On Our Side” whenever the 6-foot-9 Erie Community College transfer blocks an opponent’s shot or makes a basket. They did it during the school’s Midnight Madness event earlier this month and again when he scored six of the team’s first eight points in a season-opening 11o-80 exhibition victory over Division II C.W. Post on Tuesday night.

“That really got me going because I believe in God so much,” the Nigerian-born Achiuwa said. “For fans to chant that, I think that was really motivating for me to start the game.”

The origin of the chant actually has nothing to do with Achiuwa, according to St. John’s spirit committee president Oscar Diaz. Students at St. John’s have traditionally chanted “God’s On Our Side” during games against fellow Catholic schools like DePaul or Providence, but Diaz said they’ve adapted it to support Achiuwa.

“It just kind of dawned on us,” Diaz said. “It’s definitely become more prominent since he got here.”

The story of how Achiuwa received his unusual first name has been well-chronicled since he emerged as one of the nation’s top junior college prospects last year. The Nigeria native’s father is a minister, so the first name he chose for his son is a reflection of the family’s devout religious beliefs.

It’s a name St. John’s fans are going to have to become very familiar with this season because Achiuwa is not only the short-handed Johnnies’ starting center but the lone scholarship big man on their roster. Achiuwa showed promise against C.W. Post with his soft hands and ability to run the floor, scoring 14 first-half points on 7-for-7 shooting and finishing with a team-high 21 points.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/St-John-s-delivers-early-favorite-for-new-seaso?urn=ncaab-wp5702

Mark Sanchez Matt Hasselbeck Brett Favre Derek Anderson Arian Foster

There are certain days you can see coming, that you can spot from way off in the distance, from miles away. Sometimes from years away. And still, when it finally arrives, you find you’re not really prepared for it.

For Penn State and college football in general, Joe Paterno’s retirement from coaching is one of those days. But never, in anyone’s wildest dreams, did they expect it to come beneath the headline, “Penn State Said to be Planning Paterno’s Exit Amid Scandal.”

According to the New York Times, Penn State’s board of trustees has initiated discussions about how to handle the 84-year-old standard bearer’s exit “within days or weeks,” amid allegations that Paterno effectively turned a blind eye to charges of sexual abuse by his longtime defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky. Another report, by the Associated Press, describes support for Paterno among the board as “eroding.” The precise timing hasn’t been determined, but the inevitable is a reality: Forty-six years after he was promoted to replace Rip Engle as Penn State’s head coach, this season will be Joe Paterno’s last. Saturday’s game against Nebraska will be his final home game in Beaver Stadium.

Presumably, he’ll receive a warmer greeting there than he has in the press or on campus since Saturday, when the Pennsylvania attorney general released a lengthy report detailing a multitude of charges against Sandusky, who played at Penn State in the mid-’60s and spent more than three decades on Paterno’s staff before his retirement in 1999. Sandusky is facing 25 felony counts of deviate sexual intercourse, aggravated indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, endangering the welfare of a child and indecent assault, along with 19 misdemeanors for contact with at least eight underage males over the course of more than a decade. Altogether, the charges could carry up to 90 years in prison and $160,000 in fines.

On two separate occasions ? once in 1998, when Sandusky was the subject of an investigation by university police, and again in 2002, when Paterno was informed directly by a graduate assistant who said he saw Sandusky raping a 10-year-old boy in a locker room shower ? Paterno and other administrators had reason to at least suspect Sandusky was not only engaging in dangerous criminal behavior, but engaging in it on Penn State’s campus. Still, Paterno only passed the 2002 charge up the chain to the athletic director, Tim Curley, and left it at that. Sandusky was neither disciplined nor reported to authorities, and (thanks to his “emeritus” status) continued to maintain an office in the football building and enjoy access to the locker room and other campus facilities as recently as last week.

Paterno himself has yet to speak publicly on the subject of Sandusky, what he knew about Sandusky’s alleged crimes, his future or anything else. He released an initial statement Sunday through his son, Scott, saying he was “shocked and saddened” by the charges against his former assistant. After instructing reporters to avoid scandal-related questions at Paterno’s regular Tuesday press conference, the university entered bunker mode Tuesday morning by canceling the press conference altogether.

Scott Paterno said Tuesday morning that his father was “disappointed” by the cancellation, is prepared to talk about Sandusky and will be holding an off-campus press conference of their own. JoePa was swarmed by reporters Tuesday as he left for practice ? there is still a game on Saturday, with major implications for the Big Ten championship on both sides ? but didn’t throw them any bones.

Curley and another administrator stepped down late Sunday night after being charged with perjury and failure to report. Paterno was cleared, legally speaking, but has spent the last 24 hours under a tidal wave of criticism that could only end in his departure. Now, it appears they’re going to get it.

Of all the reasons Paterno should have retired over the last decade ? his age, his health, his aloof status from the day-to-day operation of the program, his aloof status from recruiting, the general decline in recruiting, the general decline of the team as a whole ? the one that would have never crossed anyone’s mind was “integrity.” When college football writers began contemplating the obituaries for one of the legendary careers in sports each November, just in case this was the year, the word “scandal” was notable only for its absence. For at least 20 years, Paterno has been arguably the revered institution in college sports, the coach who built his program “the right way,” funded a library, defined his campus and his community and still won championships. If he’d left at the end of any of them, it would have been as the most respected figure in the history of his profession.

Now that the moment has come, he’s forced to duck reporters while an alum burns his diploma outside the administration building. At best, Paterno will be allowed to coach the final three games of the regular season, announce his pending retirement himself in December and ride off on his players’ shoulders at the end of a Jan. 1 bowl game, all without mentioning the name Jerry Sandusky. But there is no scenario now, and no combination of words, that can stop the most long-awaited denouement in the sport from becoming the most depressing.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

More Penn State scandal coverage
? Mothers of alleged Jerry Sandusky victims speak up
? Doubt and pain clouds everything in Happy Valley
? Joe Paterno statement in abuse case raises more questions

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/After-46-years-the-Joe-Paterno-era-ends-within?urn=ncaaf-wp9466

Manu Ginobili Michael Beasley Monta Ellis Nick Young Pau Gasol

With the UFC making its jump to network television this weekend, the entire MMA world is eagerly anticipating the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos.

With so much hype surrounding the main event, it almost feels like the UFC is at a standstill, but behind the scenes the ZUFFA machine is still moving along and they have got to be close to working on the next main event to air on FOX.

With the UFC set to have four fights on network TV next year, it seems obvious that they would do one in each quarter, and the earlier they capitalize on what is sure to be a huge event this weekend, the better.

Ideally, the next Fox event would take place in early March 2012, which leaves the UFC with two big fights that it could promote for the card.

The first is a light heavyweight battle between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans, which would be great, except that this scenario would depend on Jones defending his UFC title against Lyoto Machida at UFC 140.

The second is the most anticipated fight of 2012, Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II.

Putting Silva vs. Sonnen on FOX makes sense on so many levels, and the fact that it would be for the UFC middleweight title only strengthens the argument.

Over the past five years, no fighter has come close to dominating the sport like Anderson Silva has, taking out every fighter he has ever fought with relative ease.

The only fighter to have come close to defeating him was Sonnen.

Sonnen dominated the first fight against Silva for 23 minutes of the scheduled 25-minute fight, before “The Spider” miraculously pulled off a fight-ending triangle choke to save his championship.

While many fans have sworn that this fight just added to the legacy of the greatest fighter ever to  live, Sonnen supporters (and Sonnen himself) have repeatedly stated that the win was a fluke.

Sonnen’s insistence that Anderson got lucky is really what makes this fight so interesting.

No one in MMA can hold a candle to the verbal beatings that Sonnen dishes out every time a microphone is put in front of his face, and his constant barrage of insults towards the champion has made the upcoming fight even more interesting than the first.

While an argument could be made that the UFC should save this fight for PPV, it really doesn’t make sense.

Silva has never been a huge draw as far as PPV numbers are concerned, and outside of true MMA fans, the general public hasn’t even heard of Chael Sonnen, so why not throw the best fighter in the sport up against the best talker in the sport for the world to see.

As good as FOX has been at promoting the Velasquez-Dos Santos fight, neither fighter exactly oozes charisma the way that Sonnen does.

If the UFC can convince him to tone it down just a little, he can do as much promoting with his mouth as FOX can with its commercials.

To throw any other fight on FOX early next year would be the wrong business move for the UFC, and Dana White and company are some of the best businessmen in sports.

With that said, fans shouldn’t ask, they should beg Dana White to put the rematch for the middleweight title on FOX.

The UFC always says they give fans the fights they want to see, and by putting Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen II on network TV, they would give more fans a chance to do just that.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/935608-anderson-silva-vs-chael-sonnen-ii-is-the-perfect-main-event-for-ufc-on-fox-2

Felix Hernandez Francisco Liriano Gio Gonzalez Hiroki Kuroda Jaime Garcia

Last weekend, both Anaheim Ducks forward George Parros and Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty take pucks to the face. Parros, who doesn’t wear a visor, had surgery on his left eye Monday to fix a torn retina. He’ll be fine after taking the next four weeks to recover. Luckily for Doughty, he was saved by his visor and played the remainder of the game.

Early in the third period of tonight’s Boston Bruins and New York Islanders game, Daniel Paille took a Steve Staios slapshot directly to the face:

Via SB Nation Boston’s Jesse Holland, here’s the bloody mess Paille’s helmet was afterwards:

Very encouraging that Paille was quick to get up off the ice and down the runway on his own power. He didn’t return to the game and Bruins Head Coach Claude Julien said afterwards that Paille took it near the nose and will see a specialist tonight.

The Bruins separated themselves from the Islanders with a 3-goal third period en route to a 6-2 victory. Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton scored 49 seconds apart, just like Marc Savard predicted.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Video-Daniel-Paille-takes-slapper-to-face-in-gr?urn=nhl-wp16913

Joe Flacco Matt Cassel Matt Schaub Peyton Manning Matt Ryan

The Detroit Red Wings‘ longest losing streak in three years could not have come at a better time.

Nearly every team in the NHL goes through such slumps at least once during a season, but whether they’re a good or a bad thing for a team depends largely on when they occur in their 82-game schedule.

I recently opined that, because the Wings were slumping so beautifully now, they were in fact going to benefit from it later.

Since then, the Wings have gone 2-0 and seem to have solved their scoring woes that plagued them during their six-game losing streak.

While this hardly indicates they’re completely out of the woods (they still have a lot of ground to make up in the Central Division), it does bode well for their ability to win more games than they lose for the foreseeable future.

In fact, I feel completely confident in saying that, as losing streaks go, the Detroit Red Wings have put the worst they’ll see this season behind them.

If my confidence alone isn’t enough to convince you, well, here’s five reasons that should help persuade you I’m right.

Begin Slideshow

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/934506-detroit-red-wings-5-reasons-they-wont-lose-6-games-straight-again-this-season

Chris Ivory Brandon Jackson Ryan Mathews Michael Vick Ricky Williams

Martin Kaymer birdied nine of his last 12 holes in the largest ever come-from-behind win in a World Golf Championship.

Kaymer started the day five shots behind the leader, Frederick Jacobsen.

He started his fourth round with six straight pars until a chip-in from a greenside bunker on the seventh hole of play. He then recorded another birdie on the par-five eighth hole and would make the turn four shots off of the leader, Frederick Jacobsen.

He then ran off a remarkable string of four birdies to gain a share of the lead on the 13th, taking sole possession after a birdie on the 15th. 

He then recorded a birdie on the 71st and 72nd holes of the HSBC Champions to assume the title of “Clubhouse Leader” with Frederick Jacobsen still on the course. 

Moments later, Fredrik Jacobson missed a par putt from some 17-feet at the par-three 17th to give Kaymer his final margin of victory.

The victory is the first World Golf Championship for Kaymer, and he is now eligible to play in the PGA TOUR’s Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January.

His 63 topped Hunter Mahan’s 64 at the Bridgestone Invitational last year, setting the record for the lowest 18-hole total in a final round by a winner of a WGC Event. 

It was the second win of the year for Kaymer.

“It was an OK year,” Kaymer said. “But now it’s a good year.”

Jacobsen led by three shots until a three-putt bogey on the eighth. 

While Kaymer was charging, Jacobsen birdied twice more on the 12th and 14th, but it wouldn’t be enough, as his hopes for a title ended with a badly pulled drive on the 17th.

Graeme McDowell carded a 67 for a solo third place finish, and Rory McIlroy‘s 69 was enough to move him past fellow Brit Lee Westwood to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Rankings. 

Follow @juruni4

Read more Golf news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/927191-kaymer-shoots-63-records-largest-ever-come-from-behind-win-in-a-wgc-event

Joe Flacco Matt Cassel Matt Schaub Peyton Manning Matt Ryan

Ever since Oregon started using signs of pictures and words to make their play calls from the sidelines, teams have gotten creative with the way they relay plays to players on the field.

Even San Diego State even got in on the fad this year by using a cardboard cutout of coach Brady Hoke as a play call while the team was playing Michigan (Hoke’s team).

So, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see a photo of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective pop up on the Northern Illinois sideline during Tuesday’s 45-14 win over Bowling Green. The only strange thing about it was that the picture appeared to be in the coach’s personal play sheet. Odd? Maybe, but remember, Ventura once pretended to be a professional football player. Perhaps Ventura has been the muse behind the five-game winning streak that has the Huskies in first in the MAC’s West Division.

At least the Huskies were compelled to play defense against Bowling Green as compared to last week’s 63-60 win against Toledo, which was the fourth-highest scoring game in conference history. Oddly, the third highest was Tuesday’s Toledo-Western Michigan contest, which the Rockets won 66-63.

- – -
Curtsy (female version of the hat tip) to @KegsnEggs.
Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Northern-Illinois-calls-on-Ace-Ventura-to-call-i?urn=ncaaf-wp9534

Vernon Davis Braylon Edwards Jabar Gaffney Anthony Armstrong Percy Harvin

We’re suckers for medleys. Like on the Oscars, where ill-fitting songs and over-choreographed dancing create a casserole of awkward. Or these Lady Gaga cover(s) on YouTube that have been viewed 4.7 million times (if this is your particular brand of whimsy; if not, here’s a TV theme song medley).

Vancouver Canucks blogger Clay Imoo of Canucks Hockey Blog decided the best way to kick-start the team’s six-game road trip (and wash away their early-season funk) was with the power of a medley. And he decided to bring in a ringer: Vancouver Whitecaps FC anthem singer Marie Hui.

The result: a medley of “Man in the Mirror”, “Firework” and “Rolling in the Deep” that flips their lyrics for Canucks-centric ones. Part parody, part anthem ? all of it rather impressive. Enjoy.

Clay is one of 15 bloggers jockeying to be the next Canucks bloggers for The Province. Interesting little free labor competition they have going there.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Video-The-Vancouver-Canucks-medley-of-frustrati?urn=nhl-wp16909

Philip Rivers Aaron Rodgers Michael Vick Ben Roethlisberger Josh Freeman

Ken Hitchcock loves him some Kris Russell.

This tracks back to when Hitch was coaching the Columbus Blue Jackets and Russell was a rookie defenseman, as chronicled by the delightful Gare Joyce on Scouts Honour:

“(Russell) is just a good player. I don’t care (about his) height and weight, they just don’t come around very often like that ? The thing that everybody is worried about is how does he handle the traffic and the size. But because he has such excellent positioning, he handles it without a problem ? His stick positioning is something that takes you years to teach.”

Hitchcock is now coaching the St. Louis Blues and poaching his former players, apparently: The Blues traded 25-year-old defenseman Nikita Nikitin for Russell on Thursday night, per Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet.

After years of waiting for Russell to break out as a puck-moving defenseman, the Blue Jackets brought in James Wisniewski, saw Grant Clitsome emerge and have rookie Dave Savard lurking in the AHL. The Blues, meanwhile, add some speed and a left-handed shot to their blueline. He’s signed through 2013.

As for Nikitin ? well, Aaron Portzline of Puck-Rakers sounds a wee bit cynical:

Nikitin, 25, is a 6-3, 196 pounder. The book on him is that he speaks little English, doesn’t socialize much in the dressing room and is adequate on the power play point. In 41 NHL games, he has 1-8-9 and a minus-4 rating. The Blues were willing to trade him because he has a one-way contract worth $600,000 but was not able to hold down a regular spot in the lineup. In seven games this year, he has 0-0-0 and a minus-5.

There was a report that the Blue Jackets were trading for Evgeni Nabokov of the New York Islanders, but that was unfounded; furthermore, Arthur Staples of Newsday writes that Nabby has a no-trade clause ? he wants out of Long Island, but does he want the Blue Jackets?

All of this traces back to Steve Mason, of course. In their 6-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night, the Jackets saw Mason (a) give up the first goal and (b) give up an incredible softy to Jonathan Toews late in the first period to put the Jackets down 2-1 heading to the locker room.

These faux pas have become commonplace for Mason. The Jackets had given up 25 goals in their last five games, and are now 2-12-1. Something has to give, right?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Kris-Russell-escapes-Columbus-meets-Ken-Hitchco?urn=nhl-wp17155

Deron Williams Derrick Rose Dirk Nowitzki Dorell Wright Dwight Howard

Welcome to the latest Happy Hour mailbag! You know how these work: You write us with your best rant/ joke/one-liner at happyhournascar@yahoogroups.com on Twitter at @jaybusbee, we respond to your messages, everyone goes away with a smile on their face.

I was on-site at Talladega this weekend, and let me tell you, that’s my favorite track of all of ‘em. I love the way the campfire smoke hangs low over the entire valley, I love the instant society that springs up in the infield, I love the speed and the size and the very name and all of it. But oh, the negatives are fast starting to outweigh the positives for many of you …

I’m angry. I’m mad. I’m irritated. I’m pissed. Congrats, NASCAR! You have done it. You have ruined Daytona and Talledega. Boring races. Neither the best drivers nor best cars necessarily have a shot at winning, unless they have a dance partner. And now, we have an honest kid who admits he was told not to push an opposing Chaser in the final laps. No NASCAR driver should HAVE to rely on another driver or be over 10 mph slower than the rest of the 2 car tandems. This should absolutely not be a race in the Chase. I’d prefer that they put…ready for this?…Pocono as a Chase race than Daytona or Talledega. There are too many ramifications for “team orders” to dictate an outcome or affect the Title.

?Tony Manns

I received more negative letters on this subject than anything, ever. And I’m not talking the usual “NASCAR sucks ’cause it ain’t like when Senior was running and I’m done with it” kinds of rants that show up every week. No, I’m talking well-reasoned, well-thought-out, long emails of disgust at the two-by-two racing. There’s an old saying about writing that if you hand 10 people your work and they come back with 10 different critiques, you can safely ignore all of them, but if all 10 come back with the same critique, you’d better pay attention. Heads up, NASCAR: everybody’s saying the exact same thing.

So what can NASCAR do about this 2×2 racing? Glad you asked. Here’s an idea:

____________________

My father said never complain about anything unless you can offer some kind of solution, so here we go:

1. Weaken the front and rear bumpers on the cars.
2. Drastically decrease the pressure on the radiators forcing the cars to keep space between them to avoid over-heating ( i know they reduced it some, but nowhere near enough).
3. Allow drivers to only communicate to their crew chief and spotter.
4. Mandate that Goodyear manufacture a tire that will lose grip over a long green flag run, bringing pit strategy back to the race.

Just an opinion of a life long NASCAR fan that wants to see the sport to succeed.

?Kevin Mullins
Brandon, Miss.

All good ideas, but what about the most obvious one: just outlaw pushing entirely. Yeah, it’d make the cars go slower, but in relative terms, you wouldn’t really notice. Pushing a car isn’t like making secret under-the-hood modifications; it’s fairly obvious when one car is bumper-to-bumper on another.

What seemed to push things over the edge this time was the explicit reliance on team alliances in a way that absolutely affected the outcome of the race. Combine that with the fact that there’s absolutely zero purpose to the first 170 or so of 188 laps (anyone can get up front with enough planning and guts in those final laps) and you’ve got the makings of a race that’s more exhibition than competition.

I generally don’t have a lot of patience with the “it was better back when” argument, but in this case, it WAS better back when, and I define “back when” as recently as 2009.

____________________

You’re Trevor Bayne, lined up for a restart with three to go. Ahead of you is Matt Kenseth, to the outside of you is Jeff Gordon, and all three of you need a partner. Who you gonna go with? No matter what he indicated to Gordon over the radio, his allegiance lies with RFR and the Ford camp. I believe the backlash would have been even bigger had he left Matt out to dry. It was only logical to team up with another blue oval, especially if one was that close to him on the restart. He shouldn’t have even needed team orders to make that decision. He is a rookie and that is what rookies do?pay their dues. Besides, Jeff fights with his helmet on.

?Ned S.
Waterloo, Ill.

Poor Chocolate Bayne. I agree with you, his first loyalty needs to be to his team, and then his manufacturer. As others pointed out, he’s not a kid anymore, and while it’s cute that he’s still a bit starstruck by Gordon, this is a business.

He’s a little older and a little wiser for this experience. World’s a cruel place, and Gordon fans can be tough on a guy if they feel he cost their guy a win. But he’ll be fine. In the long run, he did the right thing.

____________________

Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton kept the pace extremely fast and this really prevented the 48 & 88 and the 99 & 16 from ever getting back to the front. It was clear they thought they could come to the front at will and then they discovered too late that the pace was just too high and the traffic too thick to make a dash forward. Clearly either intentionally or unintentionally Burton and Bowyer keeping the pace so high helped to cut the losses the 29 was going to have due to his own problems on the day. If intentional, it was a very effective strategy by Richard Childress Racing.

?Richard Lewis
Riverside, Calif.

I’m not sure you can attribute the low finishes of those cars to RCR strategy, but they absolutely played it right by staying in the front all day long. It seems Carl Edwards was content to stay out of the mess for most of the afternoon, but the Jimmie Johnson/Dale Earnhardt Jr. pairing really had a strategic misfire there, the second one in a row (after Daytona) where they’ve fallen short like that.

See? There’s still strategy involved in plate racing! Really! Come back! Where are you going?

____________________

I’m on the side of scrapping the Chase and all that nonsense in favor of just requiring points qualification to include at least one win. The fewest different winners since 2001 was 12 in 2008, and it seems to bounce in the 12-15 window (this year will probably be a record) so you’d have roughly the same number of drivers; you’d just be replacing those Chasers without a W with some of the winners who missed the cut after Richmond. This would result in the last handful of races (playoffs now) having 4-5 drivers within striking distance of a championship yet still needing to win one of those races just to qualify for the season championship (if the last three years are any indication).

It might not really make a difference; the championship always goes to a multiple-winner. But it makes sense, and it recognizes that the difference between winning and running strong is the difference between a champion and an also-ran. Isn’t this true in all endeavors?

?“3wide”

Well, in this scenario you’d bounce Tony Stewart, who might well win a championship without a “regular-season” win, but you’d keep Carl Edwards, who might well win a championship without a Chase win.

You know, I’ve seen about every iteration of the “new Chase” format you can imagine, but there is something elegantly simple about “win and you’re in.” (Yes, yes, we all know which driver would be on the outside looking in.) Still, it’s looking like the winner will come from the Edwards/Kenseth/Keselowski/Stewart quartet, with the outside chance of Harvick sneaking in … and would you be truly upset with any of those guys winning? All have been either consistent all season long or gotten hot at the right time. Each of them would be a worthy champion … but that’s a topic for another day.

____________________

So in a sport where champions are booed and Junior is the fan favorite, will Jimmie Johnson finally be respected for losing the Chase?

?Darrell
Harmony, N.C.

This is a classic case of “don’t know what you’ve got ’till it’s gone.” It’s all but mathematically certain that Johnson is finished, that his run will end at five Cups (which is four too many for most fans, but whatever). There’ll be plenty of talk about Johnson’s legacy, but let’s not forget: the dude ain’t going anywhere. He could be right back in the mix next year. And yes, with him off the podium, hopefully people will start to recognize that he’s one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history, period.

Unless he’s not done …

____________________

Jimmie Johnson is in the best position he could be in.  If he pulls out a miracle and wins the championship, every story written about NASCAR will be about him.  If he fails, everyone will still write about him, breaking down what went wrong, why he didn’t get #6, etc.  So win or lose, he wins and that will overshadow the stories that should be written about whoever unseats him.  So in the end Jimmie still wins.

?Deuce Deucer
Arlington, Texas

Hmmm. Not sure I agree with this line of reasoning. I think the best position he could be in would be, you know, still leading the points standings. And yes, Johnson’s run will get memorialized, but falling out of the hunt so early means it’ll happen in the next couple weeks, not at Homestead. Yeah, all things considered, I think Jimmie isn’t going to be celebrating the fact that there are articles written about his reign’s demise.

And on that note, we’re out. Thanks to all our writers this week. You want in? Fire up the computer and hit us with whatever’s on your mind, NASCAR-wise, at happyhournascar@yahoogroups.com, find us on Facebook right here, or hit us up on Twitter at @jaybusbee. Make sure to tell us where you’re from. We’ll make you famous!

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? World Series ratings don’t reflect quality of match
? Video: Should LSU and Alabama meet in title game rematch?
? Newlywed QB Tony Romo and wife expecting Li’l Cowboy
? Detroit girl excels for high school football team ? as offensive lineman

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Happy-Hour-You-people-really-hate-the-2-215-2-?urn=nascar-wp4853

Ryan Fitzpatrick Shaun Hill Donovan McNabb Sam Bradford Chad Henne

You know that guy in your office that wants to talk to you about the most random stuff at the most inconvenient times?                                                                                                

He can be pretty stressful, can’t he?

Professional golfers are no different, but the stressful co-worker in their situation comes in the form of a golf tournament. 

Begin Slideshow

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/924758-10-most-stressful-golf-tournaments

Marco Scutaro Michael Cuddyer Michael Young Miguel Cabrera Nick Markakis

One of the loudest ovations Florida fans delivered during Thursday night’s season-opening exhibition game went to a member of the visiting team.

That honor belonged to Billy Donovan, son of  Gators coach Billy Donovan and a sophomore guard on the team at Division III Catholic University. The 7,870 fans at the O’Connell Center stood and applauded for the younger Donovan after he exited in the final minute of  Florida’s 114-57 victory.

“That was really special,” said the younger Donovan, who scored a team-high 13 points. “I pretty much grew up here. That’s all I remember. It’s some of the greatest fans I’ve seen, so hearing that was really special.”

Whereas the younger Donovan spent much of his childhood in Florida colors sitting behind the Gators bench and supporting his dad’s team, his view was very different on Thursday night. It was his responsibility to stay in front of Bradley Beal, to contest Kenny Boynton’s shot or to endure Erving Walker’s defensive pressure.

The younger Donovan has witnessed his dad’s teams dismantle overmatched opponents numerous times before, but he came away especially impressed with how this Gators team performed. A Florida team that has shot poorly the past two seasons showed what its guard-heavy attack can do on Thursday night, sinking 20 of 40 three-pointers, storming to a 70-29 halftime lead and coasting the rest of the game.

“This is probably the best I’ve ever seen one of my dad’s teams shoot,” the younger Donovan told reporters after the game. “They were hitting everything.”

Florida warmed to the idea of facing Catholic in an exhibition game after Cardinals coach Steve Howes approached the elder Donovan about the idea during the summer. The younger Donovan’s mother wore a Catholic shirt in the stands and his father hugged him after the game and told him he was proud of the way he played in spite of the loss.

There probably was a spot for the younger Donovan at Florida as a walk-on if he wanted it, but he told reporters after the game that was never his plan.

“I kind of wanted to get out on my own, get out of Gainesville and experience the world for myself,” he said. Then with a smile he added, “And not be around dad. Even though I love him.”

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Florida-shows-no-mercy-on-coach-Billy-Donovan-s-?urn=ncaab-wp5882

Tony Parker Zach Randolph Tom Brady Philip Rivers Aaron Rodgers

Guillaume Latendresse of the Minnesota Wild has, shall we say, a challenge name to pronounce for the layman. The NHL’s official pronunciation guide tells us it’s GEE-OHM lah-TEHN-drehs.

YouTube sensation ‘Runforthecube’ disagrees, offering up an alternative on one of his 1,000 NHL player name videos: gully-OHM lah-TEEN-dress-aye.

Eh, close enough.

The videos produced by ‘Runforthecube’ first came to our attention in early October. Like much great comedy, it’s all about the simplicity and the oddity: The “How To Pronounce” videos run five seconds, don’t have any graphics other than white letters on a black screen, and feature an exaggerated male voice giving absurd line readings of names both large and small, easy and complicated.

For example, one instant classic for a recent Hall of Famer:

It’s one of those things that’s either going to strike you as the kind of nonsensical fun you have with your buddies at one in the morning at the pub, or the biggest waste of time on YouTube since people began filming themselves opening packs of hockey cards.

We’re squarely in the former group. Not every video works. But the ones that do are just ridiculously amusing: “Whiney Gret-sky?”

Who is this guy? Why is he doing this? Puck Daddy reached out to him and got some answers about his background, the making of the videos and ? why? Just ?. why?

‘Runforthecube’ wasn’t ready to reveal his name to the world quite yet, being that there’s still other sports to conquer (his NBA clips are gaining steam).

Here’s what we know: He’s 5-11, 165 pounds from Winnipeg. He’s 33 years old. He shoots left.

And now, our email interview with this genius/weirdo:

Q. Why? Just … why?

‘RUNSFORTHECUBE’: I remember in elementary school trading hockey cards with my friends and getting laughed at because I mispronounced Patrick Roy’s name. I was adamant that I was right until I watched Hockey Night in Canada and heard Don Cherry pronounce it ‘Patrick Wah’. From then on I referred to Don Cherry as my official pronunciation guru.

Unfortunately as a grown man, I’ve had to relive my childhood taunting as I’ve been pronouncing ‘Roberto Luongo’ and ‘Kevin Bieksa’ as ‘Roberto Lulongo’ and ‘Kevin Bieska’. From that moment I decided that I wouldn’t rely on anyone else to tell me how to pronounce athlete names and that I alone would become the official source of athlete name pronunciation.

There are too many inconsistencies across sports broadcasters and not a single resource that they can rely on as an industry accepted pronunciation guide. The video pronunciation service that I provide hopes to solve this need. Sadly, as far as I know there aren’t any broadcasters that have adopted the runforthecube pronunciation standard.

How many names are we up to, as of this moment?

We are currently sitting at just over 1,000 NHL player name pronunciation videos. There is a video for almost every current NHL hockey player. Every Saturday morning we create a few pronunciation videos of retired players that have been submitted by fans.

How many fonts did you use before settling on whatever the hell this is?

Selecting a font was pretty easy. I wanted something that was easy to read and had clean lines. I chose to use ‘Helvetica’ as it met all my requirements.

What was the first name you attempted and why?

Oddly enough, I actually started this channel with a couple of NFL quarterback names.

My initial plan was to conquer the NFL first, but the task seemed too daunting and my heart wasn’t into at that moment. I quickly shifted my strategy, deleted my first couple of videos and started to go through the NHL player list alphabetically. The first hockey player name that I did was Justin Abdelkader. I was battling a cold at the time the video was produced, so it’s not my best work.

What was the most challenging name for you to attempt and why?

I set a time limit on my videos to last only 5 seconds so the biggest challenge is trying to pronounce each name twice within that time frame.

The most difficult hockey videos to create so far have been Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond of the Calgary Flames (video here) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins of the Edmonton Oilers (video here). The hardest one to pronounce overall has been the basketball player Chukwudiebere Maduabum of the Denver Nuggets.

How many takes does a typical video take?

Most videos can be completed in one take. I listen back to the audio to see if there can be any improvements or minor tweaks to the delivery of my vocal performance. A video can be created from start to finish within 2-3 minutes. There isn’t any preparation or planning into how an individual video or pronunciation will be made. I’ve been able to create an assembly line type of video production schedule to whiz through creating up to 30-50 pronunciation videos a night.

First, I create the visual graphic of the player name within one minute, then I practice the pronunciation in my head while I load the image into my video editing software. I record my vocal performance within 30 seconds. The first time I vocalize my pronunciation is when the record button is pressed. I then upload the video to YouTube within a minute and move onto the next name. It needs to be a very systematic process in order to get through the volume of videos that I’ve done within the last month or so.

Which announcers and/or voice artists would you call your influences?

Russian singer and vocal artist Eduard Khil has had a major influence in my vocal performances. His vocal range is amazing and something that I would aspire to. In the shower I often try to sing like Chris Colfer from “Glee.” Fans comment that I sound more like Marvin the Martian from Looney Toons.

Play-by-play announcers and broadcasters that influenced my work include Bob Cole, Harry Neale, Jim Hughson, Tom Larscheid, John Shorthouse and Don Taylor.

It would appear that as the numbers have grown, the comedy has gotten broader, much like the track for the U.S. version of “The Office.” Do you agree?

I think Dwight Schrute should have become the Regional Manager, but enough about “The Office”.

I think as a vocal artist and performer you have to always experiment and try new ways of approaching things. This very low level of comedy can easily transfer across many sports and still have the same impact on the individual viewer. I don’t focus so much on the number of views a video gets. My most viewed videos are not the hockey superstars, they are the lesser known players like of Guillaume Latendresse, Petteri Nokelainen, and Dale Weise.

Are you surprised by the reaction to this bit of whimsy from hockey fans?

It’s been a very polarizing response from viewers. I never realized how serious hockey fans are about pronunciation, enunciation and intonation of hockey player names. It just goes to show you that fans are very passionate about their teams and their favourite players. Some of the back and forth bickering about proper pronunciation between fans can be amusing.

I’m surprised that this small video project that started out in my parent’s basement has caught the attention of hockey fans everywhere and garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

Are you surprised no one has done an electronica remix of the names?

I’m not surprised at all. I think people revere these videos as holy or untouchable. They respect the art form too much to alter it. Either that or they think it would be a colossal waste of time.

Are you surprised that the NHL hasn’t reached out to hire you for announcer seminars, teaching proper pronunciation for a nominal fee?

I think the NHL is probably scrambling to find a way to keep in-house arena announcers employed now that I’ve developed a way to automate the in-game experience. All they have to do is play the runforthecube pre-recorded names to announce all goals, assists, penalties, and 3 stars of the game. I can see EA Sports or another similar gaming company implementing a runforthecube announcer option in one of their upcoming NHL games.

What’s the end game for YouTube Hockey Names Guy?

I’d like to think that this is only the beginning of the 1st Period for the runforthecube YouTube channel. I’ve pretty much wrapped up creating pronunciation videos for current hockey players, but there are hundreds of retired players that could get featured. My ultimate goal is to have a pronunciation video for every athlete of every sport.

Some people say this project is too dangerous and shouldn’t be attempted. To them I say: “Did Theo Fleury quit hockey when he was told he was too small to play? Heck No! Did BizNasty2point0 quit Twitter when he was told he was too controversial? Heck No! Will I stop polluting the Internet with five second videos of odd sounding pronunciations? Heck No!”

PS ? Here’s a present for you!

(Ed. Note: The great Roger Ebert once said: “Now that I’ve inspired a character in a Godzilla movie, all I really still desire is for several Ingmar Bergman characters to sit in a circle and read my reviews to one another in hushed tones.”

This is like that.)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Interview-YouTube-Hockey-Names-Guy-tells-almos?urn=nhl-wp17024

Ichiro Suzuki Joe Mauer Johnny Damon Josh Hamilton Juan Pierre

Here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

After the referee said he didn’t like ‘Firefly’, Carlo Colaiacovo skated away in disgust.

Preview: Dallas Stars at Washington Capitals, 7 p.m. ET.

Two of the league’s top teams do battle as the Stars ride into the Verizon Center with the top record in the Western Conference, looking for their fourth straight win. The Capitals, meanwhile, are coming off a 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders, after which coach Bruce Boudreau said, “We started to become a little individualistic, and turnovers kill you.” I assume he was referring to apple turnovers. He should switch to phyllo dough. Less fatty.

Preview: Chicago Blackhawks at St. Louis Blues, 8 p.m. ET.

This one won’t be nearly as fun to watch without frequent shots of Davis Payne and that tiny patch of hair that was obviously covering a unicorn horn removal scar, but all eyes will be on Ken Hitchcock, whose era in St. Louis begins with the Blues kicking off a five-game homestand versus the Chicago Blackhawks. But don’t expect the advent of Hitchcock to be the most impactful return: Duncan Keith is also expected back after missing the past three games following a shot to the hand versus Nashville. The Blackhawks allowed 13 goals over that span.

Preview: Nashville Predators at Los Angeles Kings, 10 p.m. ET.

Did you know that Pekka Rinne posted a 4.68 GAA and .821 save percentage versus the Kings last season? I bring it up because he just signed a massive $7 million contract, and there’s nothing more entertaining than the crap that gets written about high-paid goaltenders after they have a bad game. If Rinne struggles versus the Kings continue into this year, especially considering how terrible Los Angeles is currently playing (they’re 0-3-2 in their last five) the first wave of many such columns could come tonight. Oh my God. So excited. (Of course, the Predators could also ruin everything by starting Lindback. Oh, look, they did.)

Evening reading:

? The 10 best bodychecks of Dion Phaneuf’s career. Better hurry up and watch it, because according to Don Cherry, no one does this anymore. [Backhand Shelf]

? After breaking his back in game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, Mason Raymond practiced with the Canucks for the first time today. Also: Sami Salo didn’t. Who would have thought that, by November, Mason Raymond would be healthier than Sami Salo? Actually, everybody, I guess. [Canucks]

? Stop the presses. The Rangers have acquired F Francois Bouchard from Washington in exchange for D Tomas Kundratek. [Rangers]

? Tampa Bay Lightning forward Mattias Ritola would rather play in Europe than Norfolk. The Lightning have placed him on unconditional waivers with the intention of terminating his contract. [St. Petersburg Times]

? On Jerred Smithson’s leadership for the Nashville Predators. Apparently, when he speaks, players listen. [The Tennessean]

? Leahy gave us a picture of Dale Weise lounging on an invisible couch a couple nights back. I spliced in the couch. And also put him on ski lift. [PITB]

Puck Buddy Comment of the Day: From Nukes, on Dustin Penner:

Dustin Penner: we’d trade him, but he’s the only one who knows how to fix the Wi-Fi when it goes out.

He’s super good at the Internet.

Bold Prediction: The Blues play exactly the same, but they have this one really good penalty kill shift and the St. Louis commentators chalk it up to improved coaching.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Puck-Previews-Preds-vs-Kings-Raymond-skates-wi?urn=nhl-wp16982

Gio Gonzalez Hiroki Kuroda Jaime Garcia Jered Weaver Johan Santana

A weekly primer.

GAME OF THE CENTURY OF THE CENTURY
LSU at ALABAMA (-4½) ? 8 p.m. ET, CBS.
What’s at stake: Well, let’s see?

? Sole possession of first place in the SEC West.
? Every No. 1 vote in every mainstream human poll.
? The No. 1 ranking in the BCS standings, with a clear path to the BCS Championship Game.
? Depending on the final score, the fate of all prospective one-loss contenders for the BCS Championship Game.
? Trent Richardson and Tyrann Mathieu‘s chances of winning the Heisman Trophy.
? The upper hand in the head-to-head series between Nick Saban and Les Miles, currently at two games apiece.
? The short-term emotional well-being of millions of adult citizens across at least four states.
? The trajectory of the global economy.
? Seismic activity far beneath the earth’s crust.
? The formation of black holes leading to alternate dimensions on the edge of the solar system.

Other than that? Not much, really.

Alabama wants: Alabama’s basic philosophy hasn’t changed since the introduction of the forward pass ? establish the run first, take care of the ball, play relentless defense ? and its dominance over the first two-thirds of the season only reenforces the template: The Crimson Tide come in boasting the most balanced offense, most intimidating running back and most overwhelming defense in the nation, without much argument on any front. It’s a team built for low-scoring slugfests, which just happens to be averaging just shy of 40 points per game.

As I wrote on Thursday, a slugfest with LSU begins with making the Tigers one-dimensional offensively by stopping the run, which Alabama does better than any other defense in the country, and maybe any other defense in a long time ? it’s on its way to historic numbers in terms of both yards per game and per carry. Eventually, that means opposing offenses are forced to either abandon the running game altogether or find themselves facing 3rd-and-death: 83 of the 121 third downs the ‘Bama D has faced this year (68.5 percent) have been 3rd-and-7 or longer. At that point, no matter who’s standing in the pocket, it becomes a feeding frenzy.

LSU wants: Ditto. Sorry if that’s a little short, but these teams are such mirror images of one another, both relying on blue-chip defenses and big, five-star workhorses to physically impose their will offensively, differentiating between them is like sizing up a pair of overgrown bullies on the playground: Their strategy is to beat the other guy up. In both cases, that means establishing the run on offense to keep the entire playbook open, and stopping the run on defense to make the not-so-intimidating quarterbacks uncomfortable for the first time this year.

On paper, LSU isn’t quite as overwhelming as Alabama on either side of the ball. But whatever the Tigers give up in statistical dominance ? which isn’t much ? they make up for in extreme opportunism: The offense has gone five full games without a turnover and scored on 21 consecutive trips inside the opposing 20-yard line. (If not for Stanford‘s perfect scoring rate in the red zone, LSU would lead the nation on both counts.) In terms of field position and margin of error, generally, no offense has had it easier, or done a better job of taking advantage of it.

Constants: Both offense will strike for big plays early. ? Both offenses will suffer through extended funks and multiple momentum swings. ? Both coaches will attempt a trick play in a crucial situation, most likely on special teams.
Variables: Which offense is able to more consistently establish the run? ? Which defense is able to bring more pressure on the opposing quarterback? ? Which team will deliver a big play in the return game?

The Pick: The hype may be inescapable, but this match-up is as advertised: An Immoveable Object/Irresistible Force showdown between a pair of talent-laden powerhouses that have not been challenged by any level of competition. I’m almost tempted to predict a blowout, based on the finely honed killer instincts on both sides, but I don’t know which side to pick. Anyone who claims he does is either indulging their rooting interest or splitting hairs so fine they’re barely even visible.

The only indisputable advantage is the home field for Alabama, which probably accounts for at least 4 points in the 4.5-point spread in the Crimson Tide’s favor. The rest comes from ‘Bama’s sheer dominance on paper: No team is outscoring or outgaining opponents by wider margins. And where LSU has a better reputation for creating big plays on defense, it’s easier to imagine Alabama slowly, steadily squeezing the life out of LSU’s offense over the course of four quarters than vice versa. If neither team has any glaring weaknesses, the Tide’s unparalleled strength on defense should be worth the edge and the biggest win of the season until Jan. 9.

SOUTH CAROLINA at ARKANSAS (-5) ? 7:15 pm ET, ESPN.
For a pair of top-10 outfits with shiny 7-1 records and legitimate SEC title hopes, the Gamecocks and Razorbacks have a few kinks to work out. On one hand, Arkansas has fallen into a double-digit hole two weeks in a row against league bottom dwellers Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, and last week needed a vintage Vandy choke job to get out of Nashville alive. On the other, South Carolina’s offense was languishing even before it lost a third of its production to Marcus Lattimore‘s injured knee, and has now failed to score more than 14 points in four of its last five games.

The fact that Carolina has still managed to win four of its last five games says a lot about its defense, but possibly more about its opponents in those triumphs: Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Tennessee are not what anyone would describe as “explosive” opponents. Arkansas is, still boasting the league’s most prolific passing attack going into a three-game home stand that could put the Razorbacks in position to lock up their second consecutive BCS bid (if not a share of the division title) in the season finale at LSU. If it comes down to the arms of Tyler Wilson at home and Connor Shaw on the road for the biggest start of his career, the dream should live to see another week.

KANSAS STATE at OKLAHOMA STATE (-21) ? 8 pm ET, ABC/ESPN2.
I’m not sure there was ever anything that would qualify as a proper “bandwagon,” but whatever semblance of momentum Kansas State rode to an unlikely 7-0 start was reduced to splinters last weekend by Oklahoma, and may be ashes by Sunday morning. This is the same secondary that just yielded a school-record 505 yards passing to Sooner quarterback Landry Jones, with Jones essentially taking the fourth quarter off in a 58-17 massacre. For Oklahoma State sharpshooter Brandon Weeden, those numbers are just targets to keep it interesting.

TEXAS A&M at OKLAHOMA (-14) ? 3:30 pm ET, ABC/ESPN2.
It hasn’t been two weeks since Oklahoma’s seven-year, 39-game home winning streak ended with a whimper in the middle of the night, courtesy of Texas Tech and a sleepy Sooner defense. But the oddsmakers are more than willing to forgive and forget in the wake of the bomb OU dropped on K-State ? and in this case, in the wake of the bomb Texas A&M dropped on itself against Missouri, the third time this season the Aggies have blown a double-digit lead in the second half.

If you’re so inclined, you could use that to paint the Aggies as an outfit that’s “better than its record,” only a dozen points away from a perfect 8-0. Or, you use it to cast them as underachievers who have consistently failed to adjust against competent competition: A&M has been outscored in the second half in four of its last six games, by a total of 64 points in those four games, and ranks dead last nationally in pass defense. Either way, it adds up to disaster against an offense that can hit the gas at a moment’s notice.

OREGON (-16½) at WASHINGTON ? 10:30 pm ET, FSN.
The Ducks are just banged up enough on offense, and had just enough trouble last week with Washington State, to give some tiny glimmer of hope to a Husky upset in Seattle. But Washington’s only previous efforts against ranked teams ? a 51-38 loss to Nebraska that wasn’t as close as the score and a 65-21 obliteration at the hands of Stanford ? were both lopsided losses that exposed the Huskies’ vulnerability against the run, spread and non-spread alike. Even when all else fails, Oregon is still a nightmare on the ground: Since their opening night loss to LSU, the Ducks have topped 40 points on well over 200 yards rushing in all seven.

MICHIGAN (-4) at IOWA ? Noon ET, ESPN.
An awful lot of Michigan teams have hit November with 7-1 records over the decades, and it’s doubtful any of them had as many lingering question marks as this bunch does going into Iowa City. The Wolverines have faced one ranked team, were convincingly dispatched, and had to rally in highly improbable fashion to knock off the only other team on the schedule that’s even appeared in the polls.

But the mystery is still better than Iowa, which knows all too well what kind of team it has after enduring upsets at the hands of Iowa State and Minnesota, failing to reach the end zone at Penn State and rallying in highly improbable fashion itself against Pittsburgh. As little as Michigan knows about itself at this point, at least it can be certain it would never lose to Minnesota.

TEXAS TECH at TEXAS (-14) ? Noon ET, FX.
Texas Tech may be going through a brief schizophrenic episode ? how is it even possible to follow up a road upset at Oklahoma with a 41-7 thrashing in your own stadium at the hands Iowa State? ? but the Raiders have been consistent defensively: Six straight opponents have scored at least 34 points, all but one of them exceeding 200 yards on the ground. That just so happens to be where Texas is beginning to forge an identity behind freshman workhorse Malcolm Brown, who’s well on his way to 1,000 yards and ought to keep things running smoothly for the Longhorns’ mewling quarterbacks. UT is still young, but this ? as opposed to last year’s collapse ? is what a young, rebuilding Texas team is supposed to look like.

MISSOURI at BAYLOR (-2½) ? 7 pm ET, FSN.
The proverbial teams going in opposite directions: Mizzou evened its record with a wild, come-from-behind upset at Texas A&M, just before Baylor was thrashed by Oklahoma State for its third loss in its last four. (With the win, the 4-4 Tigers moved up to No. 11 in Jeff Sagarin’s computer rankings, thanks to what his algorithm says is the toughest schedule in the nation.) So far, though, all three of the Bears’ losses have come on the road, against ranked teams. This is their last chance to turn the tide at home, against the very unranked Tigers, before Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas come to Waco in back-to-back-to-back weeks to make bowl eligibility a very dicey proposition.

NOTRE DAME (-16½) at WAKE FOREST ? 8 pm ET, ABC/ESPN2.
The Demon Deacons are the first of three straight ACC Atlantic also-rans in as many weeks for the Fighting Irish, whose internal issues shouldn’t stop them from reeling off four straight wins (beginning with last week’s blowout over Navy) ahead of a season-ending trip to Stanford. Wake is the best of those four at the moment, but the few hours it spent as a darkhorse ACC contender have been emphatically ended by lopsided losses to Virginia Tech and North Carolina, on either side of a one-point win at Duke. Whatever internal issues and distractions Notre Dame has, it shouldn’t have to dig too deep to overcome them here.

NORTH CAROLINA (-3½) at N.C. State ? 12:30 pm ET, Regional.
The only unambiguously good thing about Tom O’Brien’s tenure at N.C. State: Four straight wins over the Tar Heels since he and Butch Davis arrived at the same time in 2007, the last three as an underdog. Davis is no longer on the opposing sideline, but the blood is still running hot enough to keep the Pack’s streak alive at home, and keep O’Brien from another week of speculation about his job security.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Friday-Morning-Quarterback-Bring-on-the-main-ev?urn=ncaaf-wp9229

Josh Johnson Justin Verlander Mat Latos Matt Cain Max Scherzer

Kyle Busch has issued an apology. Saturday night, Busch sent an open letter apologizing for his actions in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race that resulted in NASCAR parking him for remainder of the weekend at Texas. Busch missed Saturday’s Nationwide race and will not be allowed to drive in Sunday’s Cup race.

Below is the text from that letter:

To all,

I’ve had a lot of time today to sit and reflect, and try to put my thoughts into words as best I can.

I want to sincerely apologize for my actions during Friday night’s Truck Series race at Texas.

I apologize to my fans, all my sponsors, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports.

After talking with my team, it’s great to have their support and encouragement to assure me that there are better days ahead. Even though this took place while driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, I am sorry for how difficult this has been for everyone associated with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series teams.

I’d also like to apologize to Ron Hornaday Jr., and everyone associated with the No. 33 team in the Truck Series.

I understand why I was taken out of the car for the rest of the weekend. NASCAR officials had to act, and I accept their punishment and take full responsibility for my actions.

As a racecar driver, the hardest thing to do is to sit on the sidelines listening to cars on the track when you know you should be out there competing. For this, I have no one to blame but myself.

Through a lot of support from the people around me, I feel like I’ve made a lot of strides this year, but this was certainly a step backward. Moving forward, I will do everything I possibly can to represent everyone involved in a positive manner. However, I know my long-term actions will have more of a bearing than anything I say right now.

Sincerely,

Kyle Busch

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Kyle-Busch-sends-open-letter-after-suspension-fo?urn=nascar-wp5146

Clayton Kershaw Cliff Lee Cole Hamels Dallas Braden David Price

Javier Mendez thinks so.

With more than 25 years of experience in various martial arts, Mendez is a former two-time world champion kickboxer that has become one of the premier trainers throughout the fight world, guiding the careers of some the best MMA fighters on the planet and competing out of the famed AKA gym in San Jose.

Bleacher Report caught up with Javier Mendez at today’s open workouts for UFC on FOX 1.

Mendez made the bold statement that fans can expect the best heavyweight fight in the History of the UFC. Mendez breaks down Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos and makes another big statement by saying that this is not the best Velasquez they can get…but he is better than the fighter that beat down Brock Lesnar back at UFC 121.

So fight fans: Will this be the best heavyweight fight in UFC history?

Be sure to tune in Saturday night for the inaugural UFC on FOX fight card.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/935362-can-ufc-fans-expect-the-best-heavyweight-fight-in-the-history-of-the-sport

Luke Scott Marco Scutaro Michael Cuddyer Michael Young Miguel Cabrera

This one’s a little old, and it’s not NASCAR, but Axis of Oversteer has just posted it and these days, with all the death we’ve seen in motorsports in recent weeks, it seems particularly poignant: “Countdown to Victory,” by Antti Kalhola. Enjoy. Bet you watch the whole four minutes straight on through.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/An-inspiring-motorsports-video-that-we-need-righ?urn=nascar-wp4920

Ahmad Bradshaw Ray Rice Peyton Hillis Darren McFadden Cedric Benson

On the stacked undercard of the UFC on Fox, Cub Swanson makes his much anticipated UFC debut against Ricardo Lamas.

Swanson was supposed to make his debut twice before against Erik Koch, but was forced out of the fight due to injury both times.

Lamas, on the other hand, made an incredible debut on the UFC on Versus 4 show. Lamas nailed a switch-head kick and some impressive ground and pound to defeat Matt Grice.

Both men will look to increase their title chances by putting on an exciting fight.

Begin Slideshow

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/935243-ufc-on-fox-cub-swanson-vs-ricardo-lamas-breakdown

Marshawn Lynch Tim Hightower Mike Tolbert Ronnie Brown Chris Ivory

In one of the wildest sports weeks in history, there has been yet another huge turn of events.

As the NBA endures Day 132 of the lockout, it looks like the two sides are on the brink of finally coming to a deal. Or so we think.

Here is one report from former president of the Knicks and Jazz Dave Checketts, who currently works for ESPN Radio:

However, you can’t start celebrating just yet. Especially when this tweet was sent out a mere minutes later by Sports Illustrated scribe Sam Amick:

This is nothing new. CBS Sports Ken Berger confirms that the Thursday session is still in full swing:

Just when you think the two parties have made serious progress, there is a setback. The main issues right now is the distribution of BRI (basketball related income), and it’s turning into an ego thing. Derek Fisher and the rest of the players’ union have reduced their demands to 51/49 in favor of the players. Considering it was 57 percent in favor of the players under the last agreement, it’s a large compromise.

Yet, that’s not the only issue. There are multiple-other system problems that are all intertwined with the revenue splits. It’s a complicated process and both sides are trying to play down progress to ensure they don’t get people’s hopes up on either side.

After another 12-hour marathon session on Wednesday night that lasted until after midnight, both parties sounded cautiously optimistic. But it’s hard to get excited when you hear David Stern make comments like, “We’re not failing and we’re not succeeding, we’re just there.”

In the end, even if an agreement is reached between the two parties today, Miami Heat beat writer for the Sun Sentinel Ira Winderman reminds us that the lockout still isn’t officially over:

So, for every positive story you hear about at this point, take it with a grain of salt. The same thing can be said for any negative story that surfaces. 

Such is life in labor negotiations that impact thousands of employees across the United States. 

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/935053-nba-lockout-conflicting-reports-as-negotiations-rage-on

Nick Swisher Orlando Hudson Paul Konerko Rajai Davis Robinson Cano

The “white out” that was originally planned for Penn State‘s senior day game against Nebraska on Saturday has been changed to a “blue out” thanks to a student movement that is helping raise finds and awareness to prevent child abuse.

The change is in direct response to the allegations levied against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who was caught molesting a young boy in the Penn State locker room showers in 2002 and has since been charged with 40 counts of child sexual misconduct.

Through a Facebook page, students advertised the selling of official blue out T-shirts that read: “Stop Child Abuse, Blue Out Nebraska” at local retailer McLanahan’s for $9.99. All proceeds for the shirts, after costs, will go to Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania.

“In addition to being the color of our team’s home game jerseys, blue represents the color of bruises that have too often been neglected,” the school said in a Facebook post. “Let’s make national news for our collective actions to show solidarity with both the victims and our fellow classmates on the field.”

However, while students are trying to make a quiet statement regarding their indignation over the allegations, the infamous Westboro Baptist Church plans to protest in front of the stadium from 10 a.m. to kickoff at noon. With an already tense crowd reeling from the firing of coach Joe Paterno, some students things could get ugly, especially with alcohol involved.

“It’s just really sad, all of it,” Allen Vickers, 21, a senior from South Jersey, told the Philadelphia Daily News. “There’s gonna be violence.”

- – -
Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Penn-State-turning-8216-White-Out-8217-to-?urn=ncaaf-wp9649

Brandon Lloyd Roddy White Reggie Wayne Greg Jennings Mike Wallace

Tanner Glass is the Hugh Jackman of the NHL, in that he has two very distinct sides. He’s a real softie, pretty much incapable of turning down a charity opportunity (such as when he raised nearly $10,000 playing Scrabble with some loser blogger for the Canucks For Kids Fund), but he’s also a noted pugilist, more than willing to bash a face in, should the opportunity arise.

Lucky for him, it often does in the NHL, such as in this major league tilt with Buffalo Sabres‘ forward Cody McCormick from the Sabres 6-5 overtime win versus the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday night.

Those are some serious haymakers. Glass takes one right on the jaw, too. Doesn’t even flinch. They should call him Tanner Adamantium.

To the naked eye, this might look like a slight victory for McCormick, who lands some heavy blows. But speaking of eyes, McCormick didn’t exactly walk away from this one unscathed. Check out the damage:

Yeah. He didn’t look like that when the fight started.

Of course, judging from the moment when Glass, wincing in the box, asks the timekeeper for ice, he didn’t exactly escape without his lumps either. Here’s hoping he didn’t wreck up that right mitt too badly, though. Scrabbling is as much about soft hands as it is about sharp minds ? those tiles are tiny.

It’s worth noting Glass initiates this fight, and I’m gonna guess that he wasn’t just trying to give his team a spark ? the Jets were leading 4-3 at that point.

This was personal. That fight was the final third of the very first Gordie Howe hat trick of Glass’s career.

He’s been after it for awhile. Prior to Tuesday night, Glass had registered a goal and an assist in the same game twice in his career, both with the Vancouver Canucks, but each time (in Ottawa and in Colorado), the assist came with under five minutes remaining in a blowout. With the score so lopsided, he’s been unable to find a willing dance partner to complete the trick, and with only five minutes remaining, he couldn’t risk taking an instigator penalty and the suspension that comes with it.

This time, however, McCormick obliged him, and Glass repaid the favour by busting his eye wide open. This is why hockey rules.

Source: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Tanner-Glass-bloodies-Cody-McCormick-gets-Gordi?urn=nhl-wp17005

Josh Hamilton Juan Pierre Luke Scott Marco Scutaro Michael Cuddyer

Welcome back to Battle of the Blades, the show with more ties than the pre-lockout NHL.

Yes, just like three weeks ago, we had yet another statistical dead heat in the Monday night results show, as only Tanith & Boyd were excused from the final skateoff of season three; everyone else found themselves tied for second like it was sports day at a kindergarten.

According to Ron Maclean, the split between second and third was .002%. I argued this last time, and again I would argue that this is not a tie. How the crap can something be a tie if you are able to ascertain a margin of victory, however narrow it might be?

The other problem with the three-way tie, of course, was that it forced us to rewatch three quarters of Sunday night’s program. The way this show recycles its content is shameless.

Anyway, the three pairs skated, each improving on Sunday night’s performances, leaving the judges a tough decision.

They unanimously chose Curtis and Elena.

That said, Christopher Dean claimed the difference between the three pairs was “infinitesimal.” Thank God no one from that crack audit firm was on the panel, otherwise they might have recommended another tie.

Speaking of the judges, one final thing: week in and week out, I’ve railed against them for their uselessness, and I feel fairly validated in my opinions, especially since Canada seems to agree. Bryan & Marie-France were given perfect scores all across the board on Sunday night, but the voters went in a completely opposite direction, sending them to the Monday night skateoff instead. Clearly, the 99% do not trust the judging acumen of this panel. Is it time to occupy the BotB judges?

Source: http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Battle-of-the-Blades-III-Review-another-3-way-t?urn=nhl-wp16940

Russell Westbrook Stephen Curry Stephen Jackson Tony Parker Zach Randolph

FORT WORTH, Texas ? Carl Edwards may still be on top of the Sprint Cup points standings, but man, it doesn’t feel that way, does it?

Despite Edwards’ second-place finish, he was once again overshadowed by Tony Stewart, who dominated the second half of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway to win his fourth Chase race.

Because he finished second, Edwards is still three points up in the standings. And now this Chase suddenly has the feeling of a team having the bases loaded with no outs in the bottom of the ninth trailing 3-2.

Yes, Edwards still has the lead and a seemingly unbeatable closer (Phoenix and Homestead-Miami are two of his best tracks), yet he’s facing a bases-loaded situation with Tony Stewart coming to the plate. Who do you think has the upper hand?

“I think we’re fortunate to have led the points for as long as we did this season and I think the guys, I know myself, we have a certain comfort level with it,” Edwards said. “At the end of the day it truly doesn’t matter what that 14 team does, what Tony does, or what anyone else does. All we can do is just go do the best we can do and it might feel comfortable to them to be in the position they’re in to have been gaining points, but truly, the past is history. We’ve got to go out and run these next two races and yeah, I don’t underestimate them for a second. I know how good they are. But we’re going to be good as well.”

But what Stewart is doing is defying all pre-Chase logic. Winless entering NASCAR’s playoffs, he’s now won half of the eight Chase races. And with two races to go, this run by Stewart may not have time to fall away, setting up a potentially epic two-man race to the championship.

“I don’t care about second or third in the points,” said Stewart, who’s going for his third championship. “After you’ve won it, second doesn’t really matter. To me, it’s about going out and getting that championship and doing everything you can to accomplish that goal and we’re not a group that’s going to sit here obviously and say we’re going to take the easy road and settle for second. I’d rather finish sixth or seventh in points knowing that we did everything we can to win.”

In the week leading up to Sunday’s race, TMS president Eddie Gossage cooked up billboards and banners like a promoter would for a prizefight between two championship boxers. Gossage went so far as to install boxing lockers for each driver in the media center.

In a way, it was somewhat of a risky gamble, as there was a chance that only one or neither would be in contention for the race victory. But boy, did it pay off. Stewart and Edwards qualified just two positions apart from each other, and never fell out of the top 10.

Edwards got Stewart on a restart on Lap 267, but eight laps later Stewart got a better bite as the green flag flew, taking the lead for the seventh time on the ultimate race-winning pass.

“It shows what this Chase is going to be about,” he said. “It’s a good battle right now. I mean, this was a good race today. We never really got far away from each other. At the end it was down to the two of us.

“I don’t know if you’re Brian France right now, I would say he’s giddy. If not, he should be, because this is the perfect scenario. It’s the perfect storm, so to speak, going into these last two weeks. That’s what you want. This is about as exciting as it gets, to have two guys that are down to three points with two weeks to go.”

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Tony-Stewart-wins-but-Carl-Edwards-remains-the-?urn=nascar-wp5157

Matt Hasselbeck Brett Favre Derek Anderson Arian Foster Jamaal Charles

“Silly season” is the name given to the events between the end of the Fall Series in October and the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January.

The events are played on some of the nicest courses in the world and offer some truly monstrous purses.

Many benefit charities and other foundations, and they draw popular golfers from all over the world.

Let’s take a look at the best events of the silly season.

Begin Slideshow

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/928784-the-top-5-silly-season-events

Chris Johnson Maurice Jones-Drew Adrian Peterson Rashard Mendenhall Steven Jackson

With Jimmer Fredette now a Sacramento King and Jackson Emery working for a start-up company called EcoScraps, BYU is in dire need of a new perimeter threat to complement frontcourt standouts Noah Hartsock and Brandon Davies.

Enter Charles Abouo, the senior who averaged 7.2 points per game last season and played stellar perimeter defense yet was often overshadowed by the higher profile members of the Cougars’ backcourt.

Abouo, a native of the Ivory Coast, spent his summer working on his rebounding skills, his conditioning and his ability to consistently bury his outside shot. The 6-foot-5 swingman spoke with me recently about his goals for his senior season, making the transition from his homeland to Milwaukee and why he thinks BYU is being overlooked.

JE: The national perception of BYU appears to be that you’ll still be good but that a big step backward from last season is inevitable. Do you and some of the other returning players draw motivation from that?

CA: We definitely do. It’s a different team and a different year, but we still have a lot of talent. Good programs always find a way to keep things going forward, and our coaches do a great job with that getting the best out of us and bringing new guys in. We’re excited for the challenge. We know what we’re capable of. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we know we’ll be successful.

JE: With Jimmer and Jackson gone, do you see an opportunity for yourself to have a breakout season as a senior?

CA: It’s a huge opportunity for me. I know a lot of other guys feel the same way. As a college player, you have four years and you try to get better each year so that you can rise to the challenge that presents itself. This year, I just want to help my team go as far as it can. That’s on the court and off the court. We’re all just focused on being leaders. If we all have that attitude, it can be another really special year for all of us.

JE: What did you do this offseason to prepare yourself for the greater opportunities you’ll have this season?

CA: I worked on pretty much everything. One of the biggest things for me is to be more consistent on everything from shooting the ball, rebounding the ball, finishing at the rim, playing better defense and trying to stay out of foul trouble. I wanted to become a more complete player and a better teammate. I tried to help guys in the summer when they needed it and needed someone to push them along.

JE: You were a soccer player as a kid growing up in the Ivory Coast. How did you go from that to basketball when your family moved to the United States?

CA: I was really into soccer, but when I came to the United States, I noticed basketball football and baseball were the biggest sports here. It was hard finding opportunities to play soccer with kids my age. But you could always find pickup games at the YMCA or church, so I decided to play basketball because there were more opportunities.

JE: How long did it take before you realized you might have a future in basketball?

CA: I was really bad when I started but I just kept getting better. I realized that from year to year, just by working hard, I could become better than other players. I just got addicted to the fact that hard work can take you where you want to go. I just kept doing that and I really started learning more about the game and enjoying it. It’s done so many things for me in my life. It has helped me meet some great people, see a lot of things, travel to new places. It’s just become a way of life.

JE: I’m sure the other kids had a head start on you in basketball since you hadn’t played much before you got to this country. How difficult was that at first?

CA: It was really tough. I had to work really hard to catch up. Part of the motivation for that was I wanted to be good at something and invest my time in something positive. Basketball is not only really fun but it can do a lot of things for you. It can pay for your education. My parents really liked the fact I was pursuing something like that to eventually help me get into college.

JE: Toughest part of going from the Ivory Coast to Milwaukee, the language or the weather?

CA: I would say the weather. It was fun to play in the snow and all that, but Milwaukee is really cold. Me and my family, everyone was freezing that first winter. But being a young kid about seven years old, it was just fun seeing some of the things you saw on TV. I know it was tough on my parents coming here and starting fresh, but as a kid I really enjoyed it. There were a lot of opportunities I had here, so I had a good time.

JE: So learning English wasn’t that bad?

CA: The climate was tougher. Language became easy. My mom let me watch as much TV as I wanted. She was never a big TV person, but when we first got here, she wanted me to watch all the shows because we could listen to the native language. It was good because I learned the language pretty quickly. It only took a few months to learn how to speak.

JE: You guys had a five-game exhibition tour of Greece in August. What did you learn about the team during that trip?

CA: One of the main things we learned was it’s definitely going to be a different team. We have a lot of talent, a lot of newcomers and experienced players coming back. Going to Greece allowed us to play with the new group of guys. It definitely helps them getting that experience in the summer rather than starting brand new in the fall.

JE: Do you think one of the main differences about this year’s team will be that you guys will have to be more frontcourt-oriented than in the past?

CA: Definitely, I think so. We have Brandon at the five position, Noah, who’s been one of our most consistent players the past few years. They’re ready. They’ve put in the work.  They’ve always been a huge part of what we do. That’s one thing coach Rose likes to do is play through our post guys. So I definitely think you’ll see both those guys being really aggressive from the get-go.

JE: Jimmer obviously was the go-to guy down the stretch in close games for you guys last season. Do you need a new No. 1 option this season or can that be done by committee?

CA: I think it can be both. Jimmer was amazing for us last year obviously, but there were a lot of guys on our team who made big shots. We just have to keep that confidence this year at the end of games and trust each other to make a play or hit a big shot. I think we’ll get to the point where we’ll be comfortable with that.

JE: Are you excited to be joining the WCC this year or disappointed to leave the Mountain West behind?

CA: It’s not that bad. We really enjoyed the Mountain West. The rivalries were fun and there were some really good programs in the league. So it’s kind of bittersweet. You’re going to miss playing some of those teams, but at the same time, it’s really exciting to go to a new league. You don’t know what to expect and you know you’re going to get everybody’s best shot. It’s a pretty exciting transition. Not many players get to play in two different leagues during their careers.

JE: Take me back to the day last month when Brandon Davies was formally reinstated. What was the mood of the team like?

CA: It was exciting. Being around him through the process, with him doing all the right things, we had a good feeling that was going to happen, but to have that certainty when it was announced was a really good feeling. We were thrilled and he was just as happy as we were.

JE: Brandon hasn’t spoken to the media yet about the entire experience. Can you share from your perspective how you think he’s handled all the scrutiny?

CA: He’s done a great job. It was a really tough situation, but he did a great job keeping that demeanor and focusing on the things he needed to, which were doing the right things and doing what was asked of him so he could be reinstated. He showed a lot of resiliency during the process, and I’m really happy for him.

JE: Do you ever allow yourself to think about how much further you potentially could have gone in the NCAA tournament last year if you had him in the lineup?

CA: You think about it a little bit, but we were happy with how our team responded and that he was able to be with us throughout the process. I think it was huge to have him there. We went to the Sweet 16 and lost a tough game, but we really didn’t think too much about whether it would have been different with him or not. That’s something we’ll never know.

JE: How realistic a goal is it for you guys to win the WCC and return to the NCAA tournament this year?

CA: Obviously it’s a long process, but we have a lot of confidence in our team. We have some great coaches that put us in the right position to do some great things. One of our goals is definitely to win our conference and make it back to the NCAA tournament. We definitely have the capability to do that with this team. It takes a lot of hard work and it’s really far away right now, but we believe if we put in the hard work, good things will happen.

More conference previews from the Dagger:

ACC: Lessons from the pros keep North Carolina humble and hungry, ACC projections and storylines to watch, Ex-Wake Forest star Ish Smith scouts the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league ACC games, Q&A with Florida State junior Michael Snaer

Atlantic 10: Temple’s Micheal Eric hopes to seize his chance, A-10 projections and storylines to watch, Ex-Xavier star Byron Larkin scouts the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league A-10 games, Q&A with St. Louis guard Kwamain Mitchell

Big East: For Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, suspension was a turning point; Big East projections and storylines to watch; Ex-Notre Dame forward Jordan Cornette projects the league; Ranking the 15 best non-league Big East games

Big Ten: How Zack Novak became Michigan’s emotional leader; Big Ten projections and storylines to watch ; Ex-Ohio State star Jim Jackson scouts the league; Ranking the 15 best non-league Big Ten games; Q&A with Michigan State forward Delvon Roe

Big 12: Big 12 projections and storylines to watch, Iowa State’s Royce White aims to capitalize on second chance, Ex-Oklahoma guard Michael Neal projects the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league Big 12 games, Q&A with Baylor point guard Pierre Jackson

CAA: Has VCU’s improbable Final Four run impacted its recruiting?; CAA projections, all-league teams and storylines to watch

C-USA: Marshall aims to end NCAA tournament drought; C-USA projections, all-league teams and storylines to watch.

Mountain West: San Diego State out to prove it’s no one-hit wonder; MWC projections and storylines to watch ; Ex-New Mexico forward Daniel Faris projects the league; Ranking the 12 best non-league MWC games; Q&A with UNLV guard Anthony Marshall

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/WCC-Preview-Q-amp-A-with-BYU-senior-guard-Charl?urn=ncaab-wp5653

Monta Ellis Nick Young Pau Gasol Paul Millsap Paul Pierce

Injured Boston Bruins center Marc Savard has been on Twitter for a while at @MSavvy91 but the account was widely verified on Monday. Like many fans, he was watching the Bruins take on the New York Islanders on VERSUS when he decided to make a little prediction:

Moments later ?

OR BOTH. AHHHHRGH! OMG! SOOTHSAYER. Joe Haggerty wants to call him Puckstrodamus. Some believe he has a time machine.

The downside to massive concussions: Your NHL career must come to an end. The apparent upside: You become Professor X.

Now, will someone please get Marc Savard an in-house Cerebro so he can tell us who wins the 2012 Stanley Cup or, at the very least, so he can use his mind to locate Kyle Okposo’s offense for the Islanders?

s/t to Texy for the inspiration.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Marc-Savard-apparently-has-developed-psychic-pow?urn=nhl-wp16914

Johnny Cueto Jon Garland Jon Lester Jonathan Sanchez Josh Johnson

The Detroit Red Wings ended a disappointing six game losing streak with a convincing 5-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night at home.

Although, the win was a convincing one, Detroit is still 1-5-1 in their last seven games, and they need to continue to play like they did Saturday night to keep their season moving in the right direction.

Detroit looked like a completely different team on Saturday night than in their previous six games.

Detroit didn’t settle for a one goal lead and try and hold onto that lead. Instead, they took their game to the next level, putting up a season high of 50 shots on goal.

But what exactly does Detroit need to do to keep their season going forward in a winning direction?

Read on my friends.

Begin Slideshow

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/927606-detroit-red-wings-10-necessities-to-maintaining-positive-momentum-from-win

Francisco Liriano Gio Gonzalez Hiroki Kuroda Jaime Garcia Jered Weaver

No no more waiting, no more hype: Weeks of speculation and posturing come down to three hours between the stripes. For the fate of the SEC, the BCS and the emotional well-being of millions of citizens across at least a half-dozen states, let’s get it on.

? What: Game day live blog, focusing on LSU-Alabama from Tuscaloosa. All colors and comments welcome, though preference is always given to snark.
? When: Game kicks at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, blog kicks roughly simultaneously, give or take some pregame banter. Tonight, it goes till it goes, possibly encompassing a late-night West Coast tilt from Seattle.
? Who: You and all your rowdy friends, and in honor of Les Miles, their best St. Augustine salad.
? How: Hit “Watch Now,” enter comments into the available box and do your part to accelerate the slow, agonizing death of conventional journalism.
? Why: If you have to ask, you wouldn’t understand.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Game-Day-Live-Blog-The-Game-of-the-Century-of-t?urn=ncaaf-wp9321

Ray Rice Peyton Hillis Darren McFadden Cedric Benson LeSean McCoy

Midway through the Washington State basketball team’s visit to the Pullman Senior Center in mid-September, an elderly woman made a comment to Marcus Capers that made the senior guard chuckle.

“She told me she was mad at her husband for not joining her at the retirement home, so I said, ‘That’s messed up,’” Capers recalled. “She said, ‘Well he has been dead for 12 years,’ and I was like, ‘Wow, can you really be mad at him for that?’”

Every Washington State player probably has a similar funny anecdote to that one because the Cougars spent so much of their offseason getting to know people in their community. They helped build a house for Habitat for Humanity in July, they signed autographs and ran the pop-a-shot booth at Pullman’s National Lentil Festival in August and they ran a handful of summer basketball clinics attended by kids from across the Pacific Northwest.

It was especially important for Washington State players to participate in such activities this offseason because the basketball program needed to rehabilitate its image after a flurry of legal problems last season.

Three of the team’s top four scorers last season were cited for separate marijuana infractions, with Klay Thompson and Reggie Moore serving suspensions. School officials took the negative publicity that followed seriously enough that athletic director Bill Moos told The Spokesman-Review, “We have to instill in our student-athletes a mentality that Saturday’s game is more important than tonight’s party.”

“We had a few issues off the court last season that were really embarrassing to me, to our athletic department and to the university,” Washington State coach Ken Bone said. “That is not who we are going to be. We made it clear that the culture was going to change after our last game against Wichita State at Madison Square Garden. Our guys have embraced that idea, carried through with getting very involved in the community this offseason.”

To ensure Washington State doesn’t have to endure any more off-the-court problems this season, Bone has led the team in discussions about the importance of character before practices this month. Capers and fellow senior Abe Lodwick have supplemented that by having 1-on-1 conversations with Washington State’s returners and its seven newcomers so that every player understands they cannot afford to be reckless.

“We know we’re under the microscope, and I don’t think a lot of players understood that last year,” Capers said. W”e have a better understanding now. We’re more focused. People know that everyone is watching you and your image is on the line. That’s some of the things we’ve been telling the younger kids.”

The early departure of Thompson and top big man DeAngelo Casto have diminished expectations for Washington State this season, but the Cougars believe they can emerge as a surprise contender in the Pac-12. Moore has regained his aggressiveness since recovering from the wrist injury that hampered him last year, senior Faisal Aden is capable of picking up some of the scoring slack in Thompson’s absence and Capers, Lodwick and junior forward Brock Motum are valuable role players.

As much as Bone wants to have success on the court, it’s equally important to him that his team is responsible off it.

“I’m really impressed with this year’s team so far,” Bone said. “We haven’t had any problems. Guys are doing a great job.”

More conference previews from the Dagger:

ACC: Lessons from the pros keep North Carolina humble and hungry, ACC projections and storylines to watch, Ex-Wake Forest star Ish Smith scouts the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league ACC games, Q&A with Florida State junior Michael Snaer

Atlantic 10: Temple’s Micheal Eric hopes to seize his chance, A-10 projections and storylines to watch, Ex-Xavier star Byron Larkin scouts the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league A-10 games, Q&A with St. Louis guard Kwamain Mitchell

Big East: For Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, suspension was a turning point; Big East projections and storylines to watch; Ex-Notre Dame forward Jordan Cornette projects the league; Ranking the 15 best non-league Big East games

Big Ten: How Zack Novak became Michigan’s emotional leader; Big Ten projections and storylines to watch ; Ex-Ohio State star Jim Jackson scouts the league; Ranking the 15 best non-league Big Ten games; Q&A with Michigan State forward Delvon Roe

Big 12: Big 12 projections and storylines to watch, Iowa State’s Royce White aims to capitalize on second chance, Ex-Oklahoma guard Michael Neal projects the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league Big 12 games, Q&A with Baylor point guard Pierre Jackson

CAA: Has VCU’s improbable Final Four run impacted its recruiting?; CAA projections, all-league teams and storylines to watch

C-USA: Marshall aims to end NCAA tournament drought; C-USA projections, all-league teams and storylines to watch.

Mountain West: San Diego State out to prove it’s no one-hit wonder; MWC projections and storylines to watch ; Ex-New Mexico forward Daniel Faris projects the league; Ranking the 12 best non-league MWC games; Q&A with UNLV guard Anthony Marshall

WCC: Kevin Foster aims to shoot Santa Clara into WCC title picture; Projections and storylines to watch next year; Q&A with BYU guard Charles Abouo

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Pac-12-Preview-Washington-State-cleans-up-its-t?urn=ncaab-wp5866

Wes Welker Anquan Boldin Ichiro Suzuki Joe Mauer Johnny Damon

Making the morning rounds.

? We have seen this “East” of which you speak, and it meets our specifications. The Idaho State Board of Education voted 7-1 Thursday to preemptively approve Boise State’s entry to the Big East, all but guaranteeing the Broncos’ exit from the Mountain West as soon as it has a formal invitation in hand. “[The MWC] is simply not the same conference that we first agreed to join,” said BSU president Bob Kustra, citing the departures of Mtn. heavies BYU, TCU and Utah since Boise was tapped for promotion from the WAC last year. “My hope for a competitive and compact geographic conference has been dashed on the hard facts of media dollars and BCS membership.”

On those fronts, the board of education projected joining the Big East will more than double Boise’s annual payout from the BCS to approximately $3.7 million, on top of much bigger bucks when the Big East’s television contract comes up for bid next year. By then, the conference should have at least 12 teams in the fold for 2012 ? not including outgoing Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia, all of which may be contractually pinned down for at least another year before escaping to their new leagues ? and a new championship game to sell. [Idaho Statesman]

? This is… not going as planned. At 2-7, Boston College is officially bound for its first losing season in 13 years after Thursday night’s 38-7 debacle against Florida State, a nationally televised invitation for another round of daggers aimed at doomed coach Frank Spaziani. Predictably, leading BC blogs Eagle in Atlanta and BC Interruption ? both of which have been calling for Spaz’s head for weeks ? took yet another opportunity to reiterate that “the problem is ? coaching and head coaching” and remind readers that Spaziani has now overseen all of the Eagles’ six worst losses since joining the ACC in 2005. No surprises there.

Then there’s former All-ACC offensive lineman Matt Tennant, who actually played for Spaziani’s first team in 2009 before moving on to his current role with the New Orleans Saints and felt compelled to air his grievances on Twitter shortly after halftime: “Spaz is defeated. Going to a low-tier bowl is not acceptable. And this year they get nothing. Things need to change.” Here’s guessing you’re going to get your wish before the month is out, Matt. [Eagle in Atlanta, BC Interruption, @MattTennant65]

Elsewhere on Thursday night? Tulsa came from behind in the fourth quarter to beat Central Florida, 24-17, keeping pace with Houston at the top of Conference USA’s West Division with the undefeated Cougars coming to Tulsa for a likely winner-takes-all finale on Nov. 26. ? Miami (Ohio) thumped Akron, 35-3. ? And an alert screenshot artist provided the #firecraigjames movement with an official avatar.

? I guess two wrongs do make a right. The Florida State Attorney’s Office will not pursue charges against Florida defensive tackle Dominique Easley or former Alabama defensive back Reggie Myles, who accused Easley of an unprovoked assault after the Crimson Tide’s blowout win in Gainesville on Oct. 1. “There are no clean hands in this situation,” said State Attorney Bill Cervone, who actually issued a release describing the incident between Easley and Myles as “offsetting penalties.” “There is also no harm done, despite protestations to the contrary, that outweighs these factors. Any harm to either party is in essence canceled out by the harm to the other party.” [Gainesville Sun]

? What can we say? We like corn. The “official” trophy for the winner of the newly minted Nebraska-Iowa rivalry remains a mystery until later this month, but student groups from both universities have agreed on a new idol to exchange amongst themselves: The Corn Bowl, an engraved metal bowl “illustrating harvest and abundance of corn in Iowa and Nebraska,” which beat out three other contenders with 35 percent of the vote to become the official rivalry trophy of the Iowa and Nebraska student bodies. The bowl will be exchanged annually based on the results of a “Penny War” for charity. [Lincoln Journal Star, NebraskaIowaTrophy.com]

Quickly? Ohio State running back Jordan Hall is likely out against Indiana with a sprained ankle. ? Wisconsin‘s secondary accepts the blame for Ohio State’s game-winning bomb. ? The Vanderbilt punt returner who was leveled by Arkansas‘ Marquel Wade last weekend received personal apologies from Wade and his mother via Facebook. ? And a Mississippi state trooper crashes Auburn’s Tiger Walk.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Headlinin-Boise-State-is-ready-when-you-are-B?urn=ncaaf-wp9213

Hiroki Kuroda Jaime Garcia Jered Weaver Johan Santana Johnny Cueto

It was probably right around the 11th minute John Scott played last night for the Chicago Blackhawks that one began to wonder what the hell is going on with this team right now.

Scott’s 11:16 wasn’t just a season-high in his five games in 2011-12. It’s the most he’s played since Oct. 11, 2010 ? as span of 41 games. He partnered with Steve Montador, as Coach Joel Quenneville wanted to give Scott an audition for ? well, who knows?

From Jon Fromi from The Third Man In:

Scott took a regular shift on defense for the first time that I can remember since he arrived in Chicago.  The verdict? He isn’t very good. I’m not sure we needed eleven minutes to come to that conclusion. Despite being badly outmaneuvered by Shattenkirk to set up the first goal, however, I can hardly pin this loss on him.

Of course not, even through they were both a minus-1 in the Blackhawks’ 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues. It was their third straight loss and a game many had circled after that 6-2 drubbing by the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday.

It was a loss that came after (another) set of line swapping for Joel Quenneville.

It was a loss that dropped the Blackhawks’ power play to No. 30 in the NHL.

To repeat: The Chicago Blackhawks, owners of the fourth-best power play in hockey last season (23.1 percent) have dropped below the castrated folly that is the Columbus Blue Jackets‘ power play, ranking last at 8.8 percent (5 for 57).

Scotty Bowman has said the Blackhawks were “dodging bullets” for a month while picking up some points they hadn’t earned.

Suddenly, Neo from “The Matrix” is getting clipped by Agent Smith.

They were 0-for-4 against the Blues last night, leading Captain Jonathan Toews to say this, via the Chicago Tribune:

“Our problem is we’re making the number out to be a big deal,” Toews said. “We want to win games and we want to be good on our power play. Right now, who cares about the stat? We know we have to be better. We have to keep working at it.”

Patrick Kane (4:03), Patrick Sharp (3:58) and Toews (3:48) are the Blackhawks’ ice-time leaders on the power play. They each have three points, which obviously needs to be better.

But the real concern lies beyond the big three: Marian Hossa, No. 4 in PPTOI for forwards, has one assist; Andrew Brunette, No. 5 in PPTOI for forwards, has two assists; Dave Bolland has a goal and an assist. Defenseman Nick Leddy, ostensibly the team’s puck-moving replacement for Brian Campbell, has the third highest PPTOI for Chicago defensemen and has yet to produce a point.

(Ah, yes, Brian Campbell. His power-play production was never as high as it should have been for the Blackhawks, generating 12 points in his last season before being traded to the Florida Panthers. But having him as a second unit blue-liner certainly made that group more dangerous. Barry Melrose is probably overplaying the significance of his departure, but it’s still a hole.)

So what ails the power play besides a lack of production from anyone besides the big three? Duncan Keith told ESPN Chicago that it’s a case of the fancy pants:

“We tried a lot of different things,” Duncan Keith said. “We need to keep it simple. We’re trying to make fancy plays. We’re all guilty of it. I’m guilty of it.”

Sam Fels of Second City Hockey sums up the power play thusly:

You knew we’d get to it. The power play. Q, you have to stop proving your genius by having a forward back there. It doesn’t work, and it provides too easy a clear. Two d-men on the point would at least have two players to keep pucks in, if nothing else. That’s more time in the zone, and more time in the zone will eventually lead the talent to break through. And tell your players that every time they try the back door, they have to wear Scott’s jock on their face for five minutes right after practice. The league is kind of on to it by now. They have TVs too.

Fels also wrote about the Blackhawks’ “rearranging the deck chairs” for NBC Chicago, as Quenneville shuffled up his lines:

The changing of the top line is an admission that Toews wasn’t working with the slow feet of Andrew Brunette and the scattered brain of Viktor Stalberg. While Tazer’s numbers aren’t glittering like Kane’s and Hossa’s, they’re certainly not bad. Secondly, Toews and Brunette were really making things work when they got to working behind the net. The line produced three goals in two games for Stalberg, and then another one for Toews the following game. It produced a plethora, buffet, and myriad chances for Stalberg against Tampa. It essentially had one bad night. Yes, Brunette is slow but there are ways to get around that. And he was always slow.

Compounding this is the breaking up of Bolland and Frolik, who despite recent struggles (which can be just as much attributed to the creaking and belching defense behind them) had formed quite the checking line axis of destruction. Maybe they think Fro’s offensive game needs a jump start, and he can be the playmaker that Sharp needs to score. We’ll just have to see. It leaves a wonky checking line with Brunette’s feet and Olesz’s…..well, general incompetence.

By the third period, the lines were shuffled again, with Toews and Sharp auditioning a few wingers.

Again, this is a stretch where the Blackhawks have one point in three games. If you want panic, go to Columbus, where the Hawks are heading this Thursday. But like Bowman said last month: This team has been dodging bullets. The Carcillo/Kane/Hossa line carried them for a few games. They hung on in a few one-goal victories.

Ken Hitchcock coached one game and St. Louis turned into a special teams success with strong goaltending. These things can shift on a dime. But there are some systemic problems here that are starting to come to the forefront.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Blackhawks-have-worst-power-play-in-NHL-Hey-wh?urn=nhl-wp17020

Felix Hernandez Francisco Liriano Gio Gonzalez Hiroki Kuroda Jaime Garcia

There were so many different high-quality wrecks this weekend that it’s impossible to sort ‘em all out, so we’re going to run ‘em all right here and let you sort ‘em out. Up top, we’ve got Jamie McMurray and Vickers battling to take each other out of the race; Vickers won that one.

Next up: Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth kill their own chances at a Cup:

And then Greg Biffle found himself the meat in a Chaser sandwich … or, maybe, the tomato, since nobody likes tomato in their sandwich:

And, finally, Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a little too close to the curb in just the 7th lap of the race, knocking around half a dozen other cars:

Wow. Going to take a while for all those hot feelings to cool down, yes?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Wreck-s-of-the-Week-Everybody-hates-everybody-?urn=nascar-wp4993

Luol Deng Manu Ginobili Michael Beasley Monta Ellis Nick Young

Source: http://boston.sbnation.com/new-england-patriots/2011/11/8/2547933/patriots-release-albert-haynesworth-a-look-at-his-time-in-new-england

Amare Stoudemire Andrea Bargnani Blake Griffin Brook Lopez Carmelo Anthony

Even though Oregon State‘s rebuilding process took a step backward during a nightmarish 20-loss season last year, fourth-year coach Craig Robinson appeared confident about the program’s future at Pac-12 Media Day last Friday.

“Over the past few years, we’ve been rebuilding the place at Oregon State, and I’ve sort of had to couch my statements with terms like, ‘Well, we’re going to try our best’ and all that kind of stuff,” Robinson said. “For the first time, I think I’ve got a team that can compete in every single game we play this season, and I couldn’t be more excited.”

One of the major reasons for Robinson’s optimism is the development of junior guard Jared Cunningham, a 6-foot-4 high flyer who averaged 14.2 points per game as a sophomore. Cunningham spoke with me recently about why he thinks Oregon State will be better this season, how he tried to improve his game over the summer and of course the dunk that landed him on national highlight shows last winter.

JE: The play you’re probably best-known for nationally is the tip dunk you had against Arizona, which was one of the best dunks of the season last year. Take me through your memories of that play.

JC: I remember Joe Burton shot the ball, I saw it in the air and there was nobody in front of me, so I just tried to crash the boards as fast as I could. The ball was in my hands, I threw it through and the crowd went crazy and my team went crazy. I was just glad it helped us pull out the victory. It took me a long time to realize how big a play that was, but after seeing the video and the replays, it still excites me. It was exciting for all of us.

JE: How long did it take for the calls and texts to start coming in after that dunk?

JC: I think I gained at least 50 new followers on Twitter. All my friends were calling me to congratulate me. It was on ESPN that night. It was pretty crazy.

JE: Your coach has said this is the first time in his tenure he feels you guys can compete with anyone on your schedule. What makes you guys confident this team is better than the ones that have struggled the past few years?

JC: We have a great group of players. Everyone brings something to the table. We’re changing some of our offensive scheme and we’re going to be playing more man-to-man on defense, which some of us are really going to benefit from. Everyone has a winning attitude right now. We’re working hard every day.

JE: You’ve been a 1-3-1 zoning team under Craig Robinson in the past. Will man-to-man benefit you guys because of your length and athleticism at guard?

JC: Man-to-man is good for some of us. The big men prefer zone, but because we’re so athletic on the perimeter, I think it will help our defense.

JE: I thought you guys had enough talent to maybe finish in the upper half of the Pac-10 last season. Can you explain from your perspective where it went wrong?

JC: I feel we struggled most with leadership and discipline. On the road, we couldn’t really get wins. We’d come in thinking about how fast we wanted to get out of there. This year, we’ve got to focus on going on the road, getting wins and coming back. We’ve got the talent. It’s more about staying focused and knowing your role on the team.

JE: One of the things that has hurt you guys in the past has been early-season losses to teams you probably should beat. Is there anything you guys can do to make sure that doesn’t happen again this year?

JC: We’re taking everything one game at a time. You can’t look ahead to other games and mark off on your schedule who you’re going to beat. If you focus on each game, that’s how we’re going to avoid that this year.

JE: There were high expectations for Roberto Nelson last season once he became eligible and he had an up-and-down season. Have you seen him take his game to a new level over the offseason?

JC: I’ve seen a lot. Roberto has a lot of offensive skill, but this year he’s focusing more on defense. His offense will come ? he can still shoot the ball and go past his defender. But I figure once he focuses on his defense, a lot of other things will come for him.

JE: You were a top 100 recruit out of high school, so there were high expectations for you too when you got to Oregon State. How difficult was the transition for you?

JC: They had a point guard already, Josh Tarver, and I came in as a freshman trying to get ready to play. Going through workouts  and weights for a full year was tough for me, but the coaches threw me out there early, I got experience and I took it from there.

JE: What areas of your game did you try to improve this offseason?

JC: In the spring and summer, I worked on my jump shot a lot. I just tried to perfect it and to work on knocking down shots from all areas of the court. My ball handling is still something I need to improve on. I’m still doing that. I see a lot of improvement, but you never can say you’re done with something. You’ve got to keep on working on it.

JE: Was there a specific part of your shot you felt wasn’t where you wanted it to be?

JC: One of the difficulties for me is keeping my arm in and getting the release and the rotation of the ball right. I just got up a lot of shots to try to get better at that. If I get my jump shot to be more consistent, I feel like it will be harder for defenders to guard me because I can pull up or go right past them. Incorporating that jump shot into my offensive repertoire, that could help me a lot.

More conference previews from the Dagger:

ACC: Lessons from the pros keep North Carolina humble and hungry, ACC projections and storylines to watch, Ex-Wake Forest star Ish Smith scouts the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league ACC games, Q&A with Florida State junior Michael Snaer

Atlantic 10: Temple’s Micheal Eric hopes to seize his chance, A-10 projections and storylines to watch, Ex-Xavier star Byron Larkin scouts the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league A-10 games, Q&A with St. Louis guard Kwamain Mitchell

Big East: For Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, suspension was a turning point; Big East projections and storylines to watch; Ex-Notre Dame forward Jordan Cornette projects the league; Ranking the 15 best non-league Big East games

Big Ten: How Zack Novak became Michigan’s emotional leader; Big Ten projections and storylines to watch ; Ex-Ohio State star Jim Jackson scouts the league; Ranking the 15 best non-league Big Ten games; Q&A with Michigan State forward Delvon Roe

Big 12: Big 12 projections and storylines to watch, Iowa State’s Royce White aims to capitalize on second chance, Ex-Oklahoma guard Michael Neal projects the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league Big 12 games, Q&A with Baylor point guard Pierre Jackson

CAA: Has VCU’s improbable Final Four run impacted its recruiting?; CAA projections, all-league teams and storylines to watch

C-USA: Marshall aims to end NCAA tournament drought; C-USA projections, all-league teams and storylines to watch.

Mountain West: San Diego State out to prove it’s no one-hit wonder; MWC projections and storylines to watch ; Ex-New Mexico forward Daniel Faris projects the league; Ranking the 12 best non-league MWC games; Q&A with UNLV guard Anthony Marshall

WCC: Kevin Foster aims to shoot Santa Clara into WCC title picture; Projections and storylines to watch next year; Q&A with BYU guard Charles Abouo

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Pac-12-Preview-Q-A-with-Oregon-State-s-Jared-Cu?urn=ncaab-wp5893

Zach Randolph Tom Brady Philip Rivers Aaron Rodgers Michael Vick

The band is on the field! Literally, crumpled on the field.

Northern Illinois freshman linebacker Jamaal Bass (above right, No. 6) threw a shoulder into a Toledo band member and knocked over another while the Huskies were running onto the field prior to Tuesday’s wild, 63-60 win over the Rockets.

For his assault on an unsuspecting undergrad with a feathered hat, Bass was suspended by coach Dave Doeren for next Tuesday’s game against Bowling Green.

“I want to publicly apologize to the Rocket Marching Band and to the University of Toledo,” Doeren said in a statement. “We are embarrassed at what occurred and take full responsibility for the situation. I will do whatever is necessary to ensure that something like this never happens again.”

Well, telling the freshmen during orientation not to cheap shot the opposing team’s band members might be a start. But also, what was the band doing in Northern Illinois’ path in the first place? Not that that excuses Bass blatantly jumping into one of the members, but I’d imagine there are people who time these things so that something like that doesn’t happen.

Regardless, Doeren made the right move with the suspension. He doesn’t want his team thinking that it’s open season on defenseless trombone players.

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Screenshot via Deadspin.
Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/NIU-linebacker-suspended-for-tackling-unsuspecti?urn=ncaaf-wp9154

Paul Pierce Ray Allen Russell Westbrook Stephen Curry Stephen Jackson

In one of the strangest races in recent memory, it’d be tough to pick a signature image, but one of the most bizarre had to be the sight of Kyle Busch‘s tire rolling down the track … without the rest of the 18 car attached.

A late-race wreck collected both Busch and Matt Kenseth, effectively ending the Chase hopes for both. Somehow in the ensuing pit-road chaos, as Busch’s team attempted to get him recovered and back onto the track, someone forgot to tighten a few, or any, lug nuts, and the left front tire spun right off the 18′s axle.

And, of course, the humor ensued. The tire stayed on the lead lap, the tire gets bonus points, the tire could finish ahead of Junior, et cetera et cetera. But you can forgive Busch for not laughing, as another season in which he posted the most regular-season wins on the circuit (tied, this time, with Kevin Harvick) came apart in the Chase.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Like-a-lost-tire-Kyle-Busch-s-Chase-hopes-roll-?urn=nascar-wp4959

Peyton Hillis Darren McFadden Cedric Benson LeSean McCoy Matt Forte

Welcome back to Puck Daddy’s coverage of Battle of the Blades, the show that — I can’t believe I’m saying this — is beginning to hold my interest.

I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Don’t get me wrong. BotB remains terrible: the judging is ridiculous, the figure skating is poor, Ron Maclean is simply not suited to host a reality program, the filler pieces are bland at best and pure crap at worst — pretty much everything about the show is bad. But damn it, after two months invested in this monstrosity, I care now.

All this in mind, it sucks to admit it, but I didn’t hate tonight’s episode.

The theme of the evening was duets, as each pair would be skating to a musical duet, and each performance would feature a brief moment where the hockey player had to break away and do 30 seconds of solo skating.

I know what you’re thinking: leave a successful group for some uninspiring solo work? Yes, it was very Geri Halliwell.

As usual, Sandra and Jeremy acted as the boatmen to Nonsense River as our two head judges. They were joined this week by Olympic ice dancing champion Christopher Dean, who was far and away the best guest judge to appear on the show this season. Granted, nothing he said was even remotely engaging, but it sure seemed like it was, because he had a British accent. I submit that a reality show without a British judge is not a reality show at all (except for The Sing Off, which rocks).

This is probably the least grumbly intro I’ve ever done, so let me take a moment to highlight the most ridiculous moment of the program: the weird and terrible duet by Ron and Kurt that precluded the performances.

Why did this have to happen? I have less than zero interest in watching Ron Maclean figure skate.

On the bright side, the figure skating could only get better.

Tessa & David went first, skating to “It’s Only Love”, by Bryan Adams and Tina Turner, which is a shame, because when I heard Bryan Adams was one half of the duet, I was really hoping for “When You’re Gone,” with Sporty Spice. Oh well, you can’t win ‘em all.

It was perhaps the weakest performance of the night, as the pair had a fall on an attempted throw, along with a handful of other wobbly moments. Tessa’s solo skate was downright uncomfortable too. Still, there were some bright spots, like the terrifying spin the couple did to close out the skate.

As usual, the judges comments were glowing, completely ignoring the fall in favour of glowing praise about carrying on. “The hardest thing to do is come back after a fall, but you came back so hard,” Sandra said. Seriously, who the crap has ever quit in the middle of a routine because they fell down? Everyone comes back.

I liked Christopher’s contribution: “You shone and you sparkled.” But that seems more in praise of her outfit. Jeremy upped the useless factor to its highest peak, saying, “I’m not even gonna look at the fall,” and adding, “They couldn’t have picked a better woman to come on the show than you.” Then the judges awarded two 5.9s and a 5.8. Absurd. Total score: 17.6.

Elena & Curtis were next, dancing to a cover of “Don’t let the sun go down on me” from two of the contestants on that show The Voice. Did that strike anyone else as a really strange choice? There are hundreds of famous duets out there, and you choose something from another reality show? Weird.

As for the skate, it was solid, featuring a nice throw, some decent chemistry, and zero falls. Additionally, I liked Curtis’s strategy of getting the solo element out of the way immediately. That was genius.

“I thought that was your best skate of the show,” Jeremy said, before Sandra went for the full-fledged simile fail, praising Curtis’s smoothness by saying, “You’re like a cat on the ice.” Cats on ice, huh? Anyway, then the judges gave this performance a lower score than David and Tessa, perhaps in an attempt to correct the absurdly high curve they’d set for themselves. Total score: 17.4.

Tanith & Boyd danced to “Falling Slowly” from the movie Once, which, unlike the last song, is a real song, which was nice. It was a perfect choice and, insofar as what the contestants on this competition are capable of, it was also a near-perfect performance, from Boyd’s solo foray to one incredible lift midway through the skate. I say near-perfect because there were a couple minor slips but, to my mind, these were the sorts of stumbles that could be forgiven.

Sandra raved, “You are a musical being. You’ve got knees, you understand music,” I guess because having knees is integral to understanding music. I would hate to be the poor bastard with no knees that therefore doesn’t understand of music. Sounds like a nightmare.

Later, Sandra tried to interrupt Jeremy with an actual figure skating observation, but Jeremy started gesticulating wildly until the attention was back on him and we never quite got to hear what it was. Total score: 17.7.

This is when the absurd score given to Tessa & David really bugged me. Tanith & Boyd’s performance was more than one tenth of a point better, but the judges were loath to give perfect scores when there were small mistakes, meaning the performances wound up with pretty much identical scores. Tell me why, exactly, the judges were unwilling to overlook mistakes this time? Is it because they’re pulling scores out of their asses?

Marie-France & Bryan closed out the show, dancing to ”If I Can’t Have You” by Harvey Fuqua and Etta James. Again, within the context of the show, it was fantastic. Bryan’s footwork was solid, the couple seemed completely in sync, and his solo bit was excellent. I’m biased, because I actually like this couple a lot, but I thought this was the best performance of the night.

But the judges thought so too. After joining in the crowd’s standing ovation, they praised it from top to bottom. “It was fun, it was sexy, it was soulful, it was great skating,” Sandra said, “It was everything this event should be, it was fantastic.” Then — and you knew this was coming, especially since they gave themselves nowhere to go after that first performance — the pair were given the first perfect score of the competition. Total score: 18.0.

Stay tuned next week for the show’s big finale. Oh, what a glorious day that will be, becaue this program will be over, and I can finally spend my Sunday nights watching Dexter and The Walking Dead like I used to before I picked up this stupid assignment.

Stray observations and things my wife said:

? A word on those garbage fluff pieces where two people drive around in a Ford: they’re stupid. This week, it was two of the choreographers in the car, heating one another’s seats, receiving e-mails on the touch screen, and completely failing to convince me they ride to work together announcing what nifty new Ford add-ons they’re using now.

? I don’t mention Maura Grierson often, primarily because I find her completely superfluous, but her ensemble tonight ? a black turtleneck and space pants ? was strange.

? In a shocking twist, the best pun of the evening went to Kurt Browning, not Ron Maclean, when he described the evening as “a very sixy night”. Boo.

? My wife: “Duets week seems like a missed opportunity for Marie-France and Bryan to dance to ‘Tale as Old as Time.’ And why didn’t anyone dance to ‘A Whole New World’? And why is that in my head now? A whole new world…“

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Battle-of-the-Blades-III-Review-Marie-France-a?urn=nhl-wp16838

DeSean Jackson Hakeem Nicks Miles Austin Marques Colston Brandon Marshall

For many of us in the northern parts of the U.S., golf season is over, our clubs are in the garage and our swings are one less thing to worry about until next spring. 

But professional golf has a schedule that never ends, and even though there might already be snow outside that double-paned window, the window of opportunity to watch golf is still wide open. 

The fall used to be called the “Silly Season,” with friendly skins games and other meaningless exhibitions, some of which—like The Wendy’s 3-Tour Challenge and the Shark Shootout—are still around.

But for the armchair golf fan there is now real drama with real consequences still ahead, including the final stage of the PGA Tour’s Q School and the European Tour’s conclusion of the Race to Dubai. 

And coming up from Down Under is the Presidents Cup which, along with the Ryder Cup, is now the annual gut check on the condition of American professional golf—a three-day physical to determine if we are better than the rest of the world. 

Our Presidents Cup opponent is the rest of the world without Europe, and we do better at this one than the Ryder Cup. The United States has won six of the eight Presidents Cups since the PGA dreamed up the event in 1994. 

But we do a 180 with the Ryder Cup, in which the Europeans have bested us six out of eight times since 1995. For golf lovers, the live broadcasts from Australia starting November 16—some going as late as 2 a.m. ET—will be like an early thanksgiving. 

Aussies Jason Day and Adam Scott, South African Charl Schwartzel and South Korean K.J. Choi are among the 12 players who will be hoping to tee-off on us at Royal Melbourne. The Americans will include Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Matt Kuchar and tarnished superstar Tiger Woods, who will undoubtedly be the most highly scrutinized competitor of them all. 

Who will be playing with whom in best ball and who will be playing against whom in singles is only known to captains Fred Couples and Greg Norman. It is a matter of speculation for the rest of us. But just for fun, let’s look at a totally different set of match-ups. After all, this is the Presidents Cup.

Facial likenesses are coincidental. Well, not really. I tried to find them.

Begin Slideshow

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/924304-presidents-cup-tiger-vs-jfk-and-other-chief-executive-matchups

Justin Verlander Mat Latos Matt Cain Max Scherzer Roy Halladay

If you’ve ever talked about NASCAR with anyone who doesn’t follow the sport, their first question is always, “How do the drivers … relieve themselves during a race?” At long last, thanks to Kevin Harvick, we have our answer:

Gah. I hope they burn those firesuits after every race.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/Kevin-Harvick-answers-the-age-old-question-of-ho?urn=nascar-wp4807

Hakeem Nicks Miles Austin Marques Colston Brandon Marshall Jason Witten

Fun fact: I heard about Ken Hitchcock being hired by the St. Louis Blues while watching a between periods debate on Sportsnet about how he’ll turn the Columbus Blue Jackets around when he replaces Scott Arniel.

Yeah ? about that.

The speculation that the former Jackets coach would reclaim the bench in Columbus was born out of a report in the Columbus Dispatch on Oct. 30 that claimed team president Mike Priest had contacted him to replace Arniel for the then 1-9-1 Jackets. It made sense: He was under contract as a consultant for another year, so it was all very much Jacques Lemaire-ian: Old coach cracks skulls, turns around terrible team.

Plus, the Jackets’ season is a gruesome horror show, and who better understands that kind of thing than a Hitchcock. (Insert “Psycho” theme here.)

But when asked about a return to Columbus in his introductory press conference, Hitchcock said:

“There was zero discussion for me to go back to Columbus.”

Can you blame him?

It’s not like Hitchcock wasn’t getting feelers from teams in a better position than Columbus, with a general manager that hadn’t already fired him once. From Hitch, after his presser on Monday:

“I’ve always wanted to get back into coaching. I interviewed four times during the summer, with four different teams in the National Hockey League. So I was starting to gear up. But as this season started, I started to get a little bit anxious in October, because I was ready. I didn’t realize how ready I was during the summer. I wasn’t energized. Starting in October, I was really energized.

“I think what got me going was going down and spending time with those American Hockey League coaches, and how excited they were. It really got me going, got me thinking again. “

(Four teams, eh? Speculation station: The Devils, Panthers, Stars and Wild. What say you?)

So Hitchcock wasn’t an option for the Blues, according to Hitchcock. Which means Doug Armstrong’s attempt to hire him wasn’t based on some ticking clock in Columbus.

Here’s Armstrong, who believes in the players in that room but not so much Davis Payne, apparently:

So what do the Blue Jackets do now? Via Aaron Portzline, there are no promises that Arniel will still be the coach on Thursday:

Arniel said he has neither sought nor received assurances that he’ll be behind the bench on Thursday when the Blue Jackets host Chicago. “No, I haven’t gone down that road,” Arniel said. “It’s like I’ve said: Control what you can control. If somebody wants to make a decision, then so be it.

“Really, I don’t give a rat’s (expletive). I mean, I care about my job. I don’t care whatever’s going on outside. I just care about my job as the coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets. I have to find answers. I’m trying to find them the best way I can.

“It started today. We’ll move on to tomorrow. I’ll keep showing up here until somebody tells me I’m not supposed to.”

That fact that the Blue Jackets allowed Hitchcock to make a deal with the Blues tells you that he wasn’t in line to replace Arniel. So who is?

Maybe no one. Maybe Arniel sees this through. Hell, Jeff Carter and Kristian Huselius skated today. Carter could be back by Thursday.

Maybe management’s not fibbing when they say they want to see this team as full capacity before passing judgement.

FYI: The Blues and Blue Jackets faceoff next on Nov. 27. Mark your calendars. You know the Jackets have.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Hitchcock-had-zero-discussion-about-Columbus-c?urn=nhl-wp16876

Stephen Jackson Tony Parker Zach Randolph Tom Brady Philip Rivers

Now in its seventh year, the College Football BlogPoll is a weekly effort of dozens of college football-centric Web sites representing a wide array of schools under the oversight of SB Nation. As always, this is an ever-evolving snapshot meant to judge teams exclusively on their existing resumés. It pays as little regard as possible to my guess as to what’s going to happen over the course of the season, or what would happen in a make-believe game “on a neutral field” or anywhere else. It’s subjective, but ideally, it’s not a guess: It’s a judgment on the evidence that actually exists. It is not a power poll.

After a month of splitting top billing in a weekly rotation with Alabama, it’s LSU‘s turn on top this week, this time all by itself. The Tigers’ ode to the field goal in Tuscaloosa wasn’t pretty, but it was effective, and it eliminated any and all doubts about No. 1 from here on out: With two elite heads on its wall from conquests of Alabama and Oregon, as long as LSU keeps winning, it keeps its crown.

? What happened back there? I spent a few minutes looking at Boise State‘s schedule, then at Oklahoma‘s, and very seriously considered jumping the Sooners into the top five. After all, how can I justify having a team that counts Tulsa as its second-best win of the season (see below) ranked in front of a team that counts Tulsa as its sixth-best win? The answer is: Because the former didn’t lose to Texas Tech.

Honestly, I’m still not sure how Oklahoma lost to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders’ upset in Norman is the most inexplicable of the year, coming on the heels of back-to-back Raider losses to Texas A&M and Kansas State and followed by back-to-back Raider losses to Iowa State (!) and Texas, both blowouts. At best, Tech is schizophrenic; at worst, it’s just another bad team that got unfathomably lucky on the Sooners’ worst day. Either way, that solitary lapse negates any claim Oklahoma has to anything until it redeems itself at Oklahoma State.

? B1G time. I’m admittedly feeling a little hostile toward the Big Ten this week, relegating a full third of the conference ? Michigan State, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan, all 7-2 ? into one block from No. 18 to No. 21, because they really do belong together: All four have suffered a loss to one of the other three, and all but Michigan have beaten at least one of the three. (And the Wolverines have beaten Notre Dame outside the conference, more or less the equivalent of a solid Big Ten win that the others do not have.) The only question was where to put the block: At the front of the line of two-loss teams that dominates the middle of the poll, or at the back?

Based mainly on the mediocre strengths of schedule in the Big Ten (see below) but also on my general weariness with a conference nobody wants to win, I chose the back end. And I moved unbeaten-but-untested Houston into the middle of the two-loss of the lineup just to drive the point home: Somebody needs to take command of this league.

On the other hand, with Penn State sneaking up on the top ten and suddenly competent Ohio State slipping into the bottom of the poll for the first time, the Big Ten also has more teams in the top 25 (6) than any other conference for the second week in a row. So parity has its virtues, I guess.

? Wow, Penn State is on the verge of the top ten? After struggling to put away Temple, Indiana and Illinois with one of the most low-octane offenses in the country, I know. What can you do? It’s just that kind of year.

? Proof. This week’s resumé grid for public consumption:

L: Losses
PPG: Average margin of victory (points per game)
YPP: Average margin per play (yards per play)
Sked: Strength of schedule (as calculated by Jeff Sagarin)

As always, everything will be completely different next week.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Top-25-LSU-puts-down-roots?urn=ncaaf-wp9497

LaDainian Tomlinson Thomas Jones Frank Gore Brandon Jacobs Felix Jones

If reports that West Virginia is Big 12-bound are true, then the consequences for college basketball are far different than past conference defections.

This is a move that creates a fun rivalry rather than destroying one.

Annual West Virginia-Kansas State matchups pitting Wildcats coach Frank Martin and mentor Bob Huggins will be a treat for Big 12 basketball fans. Martin coached under Huggins at Cincinnati and Kansas State before taking over as head coach of the Wildcats when Huggins left for West Virginia in 2007.

Maybe the only people who likely won’t be excited for those games are the two coaches themselves. Martin agreed to play West Virginia in Wichita on Dec. 8 because he believes it will be a good test for his team and because he believes Huggins deserves to hear applause from Kansas State fans, but he has misgivings about competing against his friend.

“I don’t like playing against friends,” Martin told reporters earlier this month. “When it’s people like that that I’m real close to. People that I know inside and out, they don’t like to lose and it’s been that way with me since my first days as a high school coach. It’s a difficult one.  The same as when we played Alabama with Anthony Grant. You know when we beat them two years ago, it was hard for me to enjoy that moment because I could see his face.”

In addition to an annual rivalry with Kansas State, West Virginia’s potential move to the Big 12 is a coup for both sides.

Although the geography isn’t an ideal fit, the Mountaineers find a spot in a more stable and lucrative conference than the Big East and the Big 12 lands a replacement for Missouri with strong football and basketball programs, albeit in not as big a TV market. Furthermore, West Virginia isn’t really sacrificing any traditional rivalries since Pittsburgh is already ACC-bound and its in-state foes are in smaller conferences.

Of course, the loser in this once again is the Big East, which continues to stand idly as its football-playing schools dwindle.

With West Virginia, Syracuse and Pittsburgh all likely gone, Connecticut, Louisville and Cincinnati all hoping to follow them out the door and TCU having reneged on its invitation, the Big East’s future as a football conference appears murky at best. Even if it replenishes its ranks with the likes of Houston, SMU, Central Florida and the service academies, its chances of retaining its BCS status in the longterm seem dim.

That’s not the Big 12′s concern, though. It has taken the necessary steps to ensure self preservation for the time being by getting its members to sign agreements guaranteeing they would stick together for at least five years and by replacing Texas A&M and likely Missouri with TCU and apparently West Virginia.

When Martin spoke of competing against Huggins earlier this month, he said it was “fitting to give him a chance to come back to the state and play.” Little did either man know at the time that it may soon be a regular occurrence.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Huggins-vs-Martin-will-be-fun-if-West-Virginia-?urn=ncaab-wp5669

Derek Anderson Arian Foster Jamaal Charles Michael Turner Chris Johnson

At UFC 137, Nick Diaz re-emerged into mixed martial arts consciousness. Not that he was out of the watchful eye of most fans and the media alike, though his star never shined brighter than in his October tussle with former two-time world champion BJ Penn.

Originally, Diaz was scheduled to take on Georges St-Pierre for the UFC belt, where the two would serve as the headlining act. However, a pair of no-shows to several pre-fight press junkets called an end to the match, when UFC officials yanked Diaz from the match.

A shuffle later re-booked Diaz with Penn and moved top contender Carlos Condit to the championship tilt with the Canadian. A subsequent injury sidelined St-Pierre, and Diaz and Penn later garnered main-event honors in the process.

From there, Diaz stole the show, deftly defeating Penn en route to a dominant decision victory, courtesy of his superior striking arsenal, which was on display, bloodying and bludgeoning “The Prodigy’s” face in a “Fight of the Night” worthy performance.

Though the victory in of itself may have been enough, Diaz put an exclamation in his position as the No. 1 contender to the title when he called out St-Pierre following his bout, stating “I don’t think Georges is hurt, I think he’s scared. I think he’s scared to fight everybody right now. Where you at Georges?”

The verbal assault was not the first time we’ve seen Diaz’ reputable villainous skills on display. In previous endeavors, Diaz was twice involved in near riot meltdowns inside a cage, first against rival KJ Noons under the EliteXC banner and most recently against Jason “Mayhem” Miller when Diaz and the Cesar Gracie crew jumped the “Bully Beatdown” star on a live CBS broadcasted event in Nashville last April.

If that wasn’t enough, in the lead-up to his UFC 137 tilt with the Hawaiian, Diaz still had a chip on his shoulder thanks to his removal from the title bout, and St-Pierre bore the brunt of several expletives, essentially reaffirming that Diaz moniker that St-Pierre was “scared, homie.”

The Stockton native’s methods are unconventional, doing what he wants, when he wants and on his own terms. His fighting style and his in and out the cage antics have made him the ultimate anti-hero to most, which is why he’s one of the most sought after a fighter as there is today, making him a fighter that we either hate to love or love to hate. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/932384-nick-diaz-is-the-fighter-we-love-to-hate

Zach Randolph Tom Brady Philip Rivers Aaron Rodgers Michael Vick

Few injuries this season will be more cruel than the ACL tear Virginia Tech forward J.T. Thompson suffered in practice Wednesday.

For Thompson, it’s the second straight year that he won’t play a single game as a result of a season-ending knee injury. And for Virginia Tech, it’s the kind of star-crossed luck that has kept the program from earning an NCAA tournament bid despite four straight seasons of 19 or more wins.

Thompson, the ACC’s sixth man of the year in the 2009-10 season, was likely to start at power forward despite being undersized at 6-foot-6. The fifth-year senior is an energetic spark plug-type player who averaged 7.3 points and 4.6 boards per game as a junior and scored in double figures nine times that season.

“I’m deeply disappointed for JT,” Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said in a statement. “To think of all he has been through, it’s disheartening that bad things happen to good people. Our main focus right now is his health and preparing him for his graduation this December.

“My heart goes out to JT. He has been a model student-athlete, despite all the obstacles that he has faced. He was back to playing at or above the level we had expected of him following last season’s surgery. Now is not the time to discuss a sixth year.”

What Virginia Tech will have to do now in Thompson’s absence is decide whether it wants to go with a small lineup or a bigger one. Greenberg can place an emphasis on post defense and rebounding with a frontline of 6-8 Victor Davila and 6-9 Cadarian Raines, or he could use 6-foot-7, 218-pound Jarell Eddie as an undersized power forward capable of creating mismatches with his quickness.

The good news for Virginia Tech is that Greenberg has no shortage of experience mixing and matching with a shorthanded roster.

The Hokies narrowly missed the NCAA tournament last season despite finishing the year with only seven scholarship players and just one healthy body taller than 6-foot-7. Greenberg at least has more options this season as he attempts to help his team overcome the injuries and finally hear its name called on Selection Sunday.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/J-T-Thompson-s-ACL-tear-is-more-bad-news-for-ha?urn=ncaab-wp5862

Blake Griffin Brook Lopez Carmelo Anthony Chauncey Billups Chris Bosh

Ryan from Flyers Goal Scored By ? has the latest adventure from our favorite KHL goon squad Vityaz Chekhov. And while we’d never criticize the officiating in Russia, mayhaps it’s a good idea to break up a fight before the guy standing up begins elbowing the head of the guy kneeling before Zod:

From Flyers Goal Scored By ?:

Until earlier this week it seemed that most of the Canadian tough guys who had ventured to the KHL for money, vodka, and mail-order brides (local postage) were mainly targeting Europeans and Russians with their ridiculous antics. That’s not longer the case, as Thursday night saw notorious AHL enforcer Jeremy Yablonski take on journeyman Darcy Verot – and litteraly drop ‘bows on him.

Both players were given fighting majors and game misconducts; and hopefully, in Verot’s case, the Russian equivalent of Excedrin.

Yablonski, by the way, leads the KHL in penalty minutes with 82 in five games. That’s a PIM-per-game average of 16:24.

Jeremy Yablonski averages more time-off-ice (16:24) than Milan Lucic averages time-on-ice (16:16).

What a world.

s/t Flyers Goal Scored By ?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Fight-Video-Jeremy-Yablonski-prefers-elbows-to-?urn=nhl-wp16691

Clayton Kershaw Cliff Lee Cole Hamels Dallas Braden David Price

Source: http://detroit.sbnation.com/michigan-st-spartans/2011/10/31/2526264/big-ten-football-standings-2011-legends-division

Wandy Rodriguez Al Jefferson Amare Stoudemire Andrea Bargnani Blake Griffin

Pablo Garza isn’t a household name among UFC fans, but if you bring up who was the guy who did the flying triangle at UFC 129 in Toronto, then the name rings a bell. That is nothing new for Garza (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) as he faces Dustin Poirier (10-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) on the preliminary card of UFC on Fox 1, which takes place Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

The card streams live on Facebook while a main event pitting heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez against challenger Junior Dos Santos airs live on FOX.

The flying triangle choke on Yves Jabouin at UFC 129 which netted Garza submission of the night, was something Garza said was never really practiced and likes to try new things.

I didn’t practice that at all. It’s a move that after jiu-jitsu classes, me and a couple friends will stick around and try these like crazy moves. It’s kind of like after basketball practice, you go to the halfway line and starting to launch balls to see if you can make it. That’s like the equivalent of what we do every once in a while. Hey let’s try this crazy move, or look at this crazy move I saw on YouTube and that’s the extent of practicing it. I’ve done it in jiu-jitsu tournaments. I’ve done flying triangles before, it’s a lot easier with a gi on.

For his submission of the night victory at UFC 129, Garza got received a $129,000 bonus which is the largest bonus ever given out at a UFC event. You would think Garza would have lived it up, but that wasn’t the case for the North Dakota native.

People think I went out and bought a Mercedes or some awesome car or something. That’s definitely not what I did. It took a lot a of sacrifice to get to the UFC. It took a lot of not paying bills and just getting really in major debt. So I ended up being smart about it and paid off my debt. I went off and used some of the money to buy a house now.

Garza struggled a lot to get this point mentally and financially and has advice for the guys who are trying to make to the UFC.

Just keep going, especially when can’t go anymore. When you absolutely think you have to quit, keep going. Sometimes you get that big break. There’s been two or three times when I told my coach, ‘you know, I’m done, I can’t do this anymore. I’m done trying to be a professional fighter.’ Then we made a deal, ‘you stick around for one more year and if nothing happens in that year, I’ll let you quit.’ That’s what my coach told me. Within that year, I got onto The Ultimate Fighter, got into the WEC, got into the UFC and have had two UFC fights since. Got real lucky.

Garza and Poirier are 2-0 this year and looking to cap their years undefeated. Garza has great respect and admiration for Poirier.

Very impressive, he’s a really tough guy. Really great striker, top contender, legitimate fighter. I have a lot of respect for him. I think it’s going to be a great fight for the fans to see, can’t wait.

The Garza-Poirier scrap was the first announced for the Fox show when the UFC and Fox agreed to a deal a few months back. Garza is really honored he was a part of the first fight announced and wants to put on a show on quite arguably the biggest day in the history of the sport.

I couldn’t believe I was chosen to be on that show. It’s the first time in history the UFC is going to be on Fox. I just felt really honored that the UFC thought I would be a good fight on there and could perform. I’m sure they are expecting they want people who are going to perform and have really good fights. So for them to have faith in me, to do that meant a lot. Gonna try and not disappoint.

To listen to the entire interview with Pablo Garza listen here.

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/932195-ufc-on-fox-1s-pablo-garza-is-glad-he-stayed-in-mma-one-more-year

Russell Westbrook Stephen Curry Stephen Jackson Tony Parker Zach Randolph

It’s been the week to beat on the defenseless.

First we had Arkansas’ Marquel Wade’s hit on Vanderbilt’s Jonathan Krause (which Wade and his mom both apologized for) then it was Northern Illinois linebacker Jamaal Bass and his assault on a Toledo band member. Now, we have footage of a TCF Bank Stadium security guard leveling Minnesota fans as they tried to rush the field after last week’s 22-21 upset win over Iowa.

According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, security guards were instructed not to stop fans from coming onto the field if the Gophers won, but to protect the goal posts from being uprooted and carried off. Apparently, this particular security guard, dressed in a bright pink jacket, didn’t get the memo as he lowered his shoulder and started picking off unsuspecting field rushers. A couple fell to the ground while others shook off the blows and continued to run toward the middle of the field. Minnesota athletic department spokesman Garry Bowman told the paper that the guard was hit in the head “and got angry about it and then started pushing fans down as they ran by him.”

Minnesota fans haven’t had a lot to celebrate this season, so why this security guard wanted to be a Bitter Betty killjoy is beyond comprehension, even if he was hit in the head.

Of course, hitting defenseless folks does come at a price. Wade was suspended a game by the SEC. Bass was suspended a game by NIU coach Dave Doeren. And our punchy security guard? Well, he was fired.

- – -
Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Video-Minnesota-security-guard-takes-out-frustr?urn=ncaaf-wp9230

Josh Hamilton Juan Pierre Luke Scott Marco Scutaro Michael Cuddyer

Midway through the Washington State basketball team’s visit to the Pullman Senior Center in mid-September, an elderly woman made a comment to Marcus Capers that made the senior guard chuckle.

“She told me she was mad at her husband for not joining her at the retirement home, so I said, ‘That’s messed up,’” Capers recalled. “She said, ‘Well he has been dead for 12 years,’ and I was like, ‘Wow, can you really be mad at him for that?’”

Every Washington State player probably has a similar funny anecdote to that one because the Cougars spent so much of their offseason getting to know people in their community. They helped build a house for Habitat for Humanity in July, they signed autographs and ran the pop-a-shot booth at Pullman’s National Lentil Festival in August and they ran a handful of summer basketball clinics attended by kids from across the Pacific Northwest.

It was especially important for Washington State players to participate in such activities this offseason because the basketball program needed to rehabilitate its image after a flurry of legal problems last season.

Three of the team’s top four scorers last season were cited for separate marijuana infractions, with Klay Thompson and Reggie Moore serving suspensions. School officials took the negative publicity that followed seriously enough that athletic director Bill Moos told The Spokesman-Review, “We have to instill in our student-athletes a mentality that Saturday’s game is more important than tonight’s party.”

“We had a few issues off the court last season that were really embarrassing to me, to our athletic department and to the university,” Washington State coach Ken Bone said. “That is not who we are going to be. We made it clear that the culture was going to change after our last game against Wichita State at Madison Square Garden. Our guys have embraced that idea, carried through with getting very involved in the community this offseason.”

To ensure Washington State doesn’t have to endure any more off-the-court problems this season, Bone has led the team in discussions about the importance of character before practices this month. Capers and fellow senior Abe Lodwick have supplemented that by having 1-on-1 conversations with Washington State’s returners and its seven newcomers so that every player understands they cannot afford to be reckless.

“We know we’re under the microscope, and I don’t think a lot of players understood that last year,” Capers said. W”e have a better understanding now. We’re more focused. People know that everyone is watching you and your image is on the line. That’s some of the things we’ve been telling the younger kids.”

The early departure of Thompson and top big man DeAngelo Casto have diminished expectations for Washington State this season, but the Cougars believe they can emerge as a surprise contender in the Pac-12. Moore has regained his aggressiveness since recovering from the wrist injury that hampered him last year, senior Faisal Aden is capable of picking up some of the scoring slack in Thompson’s absence and Capers, Lodwick and junior forward Brock Motum are valuable role players.

As much as Bone wants to have success on the court, it’s equally important to him that his team is responsible off it.

“I’m really impressed with this year’s team so far,” Bone said. “We haven’t had any problems. Guys are doing a great job.”

More conference previews from the Dagger:

ACC: Lessons from the pros keep North Carolina humble and hungry, ACC projections and storylines to watch, Ex-Wake Forest star Ish Smith scouts the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league ACC games, Q&A with Florida State junior Michael Snaer

Atlantic 10: Temple’s Micheal Eric hopes to seize his chance, A-10 projections and storylines to watch, Ex-Xavier star Byron Larkin scouts the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league A-10 games, Q&A with St. Louis guard Kwamain Mitchell

Big East: For Cincinnati’s Yancy Gates, suspension was a turning point; Big East projections and storylines to watch; Ex-Notre Dame forward Jordan Cornette projects the league; Ranking the 15 best non-league Big East games

Big Ten: How Zack Novak became Michigan’s emotional leader; Big Ten projections and storylines to watch ; Ex-Ohio State star Jim Jackson scouts the league; Ranking the 15 best non-league Big Ten games; Q&A with Michigan State forward Delvon Roe

Big 12: Big 12 projections and storylines to watch, Iowa State’s Royce White aims to capitalize on second chance, Ex-Oklahoma guard Michael Neal projects the league, Ranking the 15 best non-league Big 12 games, Q&A with Baylor point guard Pierre Jackson

CAA: Has VCU’s improbable Final Four run impacted its recruiting?; CAA projections, all-league teams and storylines to watch

C-USA: Marshall aims to end NCAA tournament drought; C-USA projections, all-league teams and storylines to watch.

Mountain West: San Diego State out to prove it’s no one-hit wonder; MWC projections and storylines to watch ; Ex-New Mexico forward Daniel Faris projects the league; Ranking the 12 best non-league MWC games; Q&A with UNLV guard Anthony Marshall

WCC: Kevin Foster aims to shoot Santa Clara into WCC title picture; Projections and storylines to watch next year; Q&A with BYU guard Charles Abouo

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Pac-12-Preview-Washington-State-cleans-up-its-t?urn=ncaab-wp5866

Jon Garland Jon Lester Jonathan Sanchez Josh Johnson Justin Verlander

The NBPA has officially rejected the NBA‘s latest CBA proposal, but the players would like to negotiate with the owners one more time prior to Commissioner Stern’s Wednesday deadline.

The league had stated that the offer was on the table until the close of business on Wednesday, but with the players rejecting that deal on Tuesday evening, the union is hoping that the two sides can sit down together once again in an effort to hammer home a deal.

After David Stern went on SportsCenter to talk about the proposal on Monday night to put the public pressure on the NBPA to accept the deal on the table, the union successfully spun that same pressure back onto the owners’ shoulders with their press conference yesterday.

There’s no question that the players have offered more than enough in givebacks to the owners throughout these negotiations. The owners have already won this battle by a whopping 35-point margin, but they’re going for a 50-point barn-burner of historic fashion.

NBPA President Derek Fisher was very clear when addressing the media following the players’ meeting on Tuesday, and the union is offering to come down on its share of BRI as long as their is a trade-off in the form of system issues which remain on the table.

Think about that for a second. The union, which has already come down significantly from 57 percent of BRI under the previous CBA, is now offering to go even lower on that number.

The focus is now clearly on the “system issues” that have divided the two sides, and Fisher was clear that those have to be had in order to broach the possibility of sewing up a deal.

There are things in the system that are not up for discussion that we have to have in order to get the season going again.

Without those improvements in the system, we don’t see a way of getting a deal done before tomorrow’s deadline.

The system issues that have been consistently referred to throughout this process as one seemingly insurmountable hurdle were laid out on the table yesterday.

Ken Berger of CBS Sports reports that there have been nine teams pushing for a hard-line stance in negotiations, and none of the clubs listed should come as a surprise considering market size and contracts that those teams have handed out in recent seasons.

According to those people, the teams holding the hardest line in negotiations have been Atlanta, Charlotte, Indiana, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Portland and Washington. These nine owners or ownership groups have been trying, with increasing success in recent weeks, to recruit more moderate owners to their cause.

Michael Jordan (Charlotte) has been identified as a leader among the owners in their stance, and he’s become the subject of increasing scrutiny considering his role in the 1998-99 negotiations.

When Jordan was a player, he famously told Abe Pollin that if he couldn’t make a profit, he should sell his team.

Upon being asked about Jordan’s reported stance in the negotiations, NBPA Executive Director Billy Hunter responded by saying that Jordan should take his own advice if he’s unhappy with the current state of his franchise.

The commissioner said that “as of Sunday at 3 A.M.” there was no wiggle room left in negotiations from the owners’ perspective, but Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that may not exactly be the case.

As one ownership source told Yahoo! Sports on Monday night, “If there were a couple of tweaks needed around the edges – not fundamental deal points – I believe there could be a deal if everything else is agreed upon. But there needs to be a meeting with David and Billy for anything to happen.”

And that’s the key. There has to be a meeting for anything to get done.

Hunter stated that he expects to sit down with Stern prior to the deadline, but the commissioner was non-committal on that front.

Fisher, Hunter and the union left little to the imagination about their position. The NBPA is willing to go down to a 50-50 BRI split if and only if owners are willing to make some changes to the system.

Some have referred to the players as the greedy party throughout this process, but that really couldn’t be further from the truth.

With the pressure mounting on both sides to get a deal done, it’s hard to imagine that the two sides won’t sit down with one another in an effort to find a resolution.

However, that can happen if and only if logic finally pervades and egos can be successfully put aside in the best interest of both sides, and that’s something that we haven’t seen happen to date.

There is a deal to be made, and if the owners fail to make the necessary compromises within the system to have an agreement between the league and its players, there is no doubt about where the onus of the blame should be.

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/932133-nba-lockout-with-deadline-looming-players-hope-to-make-deal-with-owners

Ted Lilly Tim Hudson Tim Lincecum Tommy Hanson Trevor Cahill

UFC on FOX comes to a head this weekend as the organization prepares for arguably its most pivotal venture to date. It’s a crowning achievement for the company as a whole, making its formal debut this Saturday as top contender Junior dos Santos fights champion Cain Velasquez in a heavyweight affair live on FOX. 

It’s the first venture of many that the UFC plans to bring to FOX over the next several years, while additional programming will be featured on FOX’s subsidiary networks in FX and Fuel TV, among others.

Leading into the monumental event, UFC president Dana White brings another video blog, this time detailing events of the past. The organization recently wrapped up two pivotal events, where in October Nick Diaz bested BJ Penn to become the new No. 1 contender to the welterweight title after a “Fight of the Night”-worthy performance.

Next, the UFC traveled back to Birmingham, England where UFC 138 was afoot, where Mark Munoz bested perennial contender Chris Leben en route to a second-round TKO finish, making him one of the visible top contenders to Anderson Silva‘s coveted middleweight title. 

White takes us behind the scenes for all the action and gives us a look into the pre-fight presser leading up to this Saturday’s pivotal heavyweight affair. 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/930157-ufc-on-fox-dana-white-video-blog-day-1

Adrian Peterson Rashard Mendenhall Steven Jackson Ahmad Bradshaw Ray Rice

Apparently still irritated by the way UCLA transfers Larry Drew and Travis and David Wear abruptly left North Carolina, a photoshop-savvy fan decided to poke fun at the ex-Tar Heel trio and their new school.

The above image on the left is the cover of next month’s SLAM magazine championing North Carolina as national championship favorites The above image on the right is a mock SLAM cover created by an unidentified fan touting UCLA as a potential .500 team.

The creative ribbing from North Carolina fans is a product of anger over the manner in which Drew and the Wear twins left the program.

The timing of Drew’s departure irritated North Carolina coach Roy Williams since the junior guard left soon after freshman Kendall Marshall supplanted him as starting point guard during conference play last year, leaving the team without a backup at the position. Williams also called it a “complete surprise” when he received a call from the Wear twins’ father in May 2010 informing him they were leaving the program, a decision that forced the Tar Heels to scramble during the summer to find a third big man last year.

The fact that UCLA begins the season ranked in most preseason top 25s and will likely finish well above .500 this season doesn’t make the faux magazine cover any less amusing to Tar Heels fans. In fact, even Marshall had to stifle a chuckle when a fan sent it to him on Twitter.

Drew won’t be eligible to suit up for UCLA until the 2012-13 season, but the Wear twins will have a chance to prove their Chapel Hill critics wrong beginning next month. They’re both expected to be integral parts of a deep, talented UCLA frontcourt ranked among the best in the nation.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Photoshop-savvy-Tar-Heels-fans-poke-fun-at-821?urn=ncaab-wp5643

Rajai Davis Robinson Cano Shin-Soo Choo Torii Hunter Vernon Wells

The Philadelphia Flyers are expected to unveil their 2012 NHL Winter Classic jerseys on Black Friday, which means we’ll finally be done with the design concepts and detail leaks that have spilled on the Interwebs for the last few months.

The latest concept comes from The Orange Update, a Flyers blog that has been on Winter Classic jersey watch for some time.

The basis for this concept is a hooded sweatshirt being sold amongst the Flyers fan gear. “This design, confirmed by people involved with the design and production of the jerseys, has been recognized as the ‘closest they’ve seen’ to ‘the actual thing,’” according to The Orange Update. From the site:

As you can see, the jersey utilizes the off-white, or cream shade in the color scheme, with very limited use of black. The orange seen in the picture of the sweatshirt is much brighter (due to the lighting) than what will be used on the Winter Classic threads. What we have been told is that the orange will be darker than what they currently use on their home and road uniforms.

? If you took notice to the Briere design (seen above), there is something different about the captain letters. The letters will be in the same font they currently use, only without an outline, and they will lay atop of a black keystone shape on the left front chest (confirmed).

Love love love the keystone for the captain and the alternates, if that’s where they’re going.

Again, this is a concept rather than a leak, but The Orange Update seems to think they’re on the right scent. Unlike the previous “leak” of the sweater, there are no black stripes or black shoulder pads; which actually gives us pause. Crossing Broad, in debunking the finality of that design, wrote that “indications are that they will be predominately orange and feature black shoulders.” So were did they go?

If this is the Flyers’ Winter Classic design, would you dig it? Is it unique enough?

UPDATE: From friend ‘o the blog Frank Seravalli of the Philadelphia Daily News: “Sent your link to a Flyers executive… He said that’s not the jersey.”

So the fun continues …

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/The-latest-Philadelphia-Flyers-Winter-Classic-je?urn=nhl-wp16861

Cedric Benson LeSean McCoy Matt Forte BenJarvus Green-Ellis LeGarrette Blount

A weekly primer.

GAME OF THE CENTURY OF THE CENTURY
LSU at ALABAMA (-4½) ? 8 p.m. ET, CBS.
What’s at stake: Well, let’s see?

? Sole possession of first place in the SEC West.
? Every No. 1 vote in every mainstream human poll.
? The No. 1 ranking in the BCS standings, with a clear path to the BCS Championship Game.
? Depending on the final score, the fate of all prospective one-loss contenders for the BCS Championship Game.
? Trent Richardson and Tyrann Mathieu‘s chances of winning the Heisman Trophy.
? The upper hand in the head-to-head series between Nick Saban and Les Miles, currently at two games apiece.
? The short-term emotional well-being of millions of adult citizens across at least four states.
? The trajectory of the global economy.
? Seismic activity far beneath the earth’s crust.
? The formation of black holes leading to alternate dimensions on the edge of the solar system.

Other than that? Not much, really.

Alabama wants: Alabama’s basic philosophy hasn’t changed since the introduction of the forward pass ? establish the run first, take care of the ball, play relentless defense ? and its dominance over the first two-thirds of the season only reenforces the template: The Crimson Tide come in boasting the most balanced offense, most intimidating running back and most overwhelming defense in the nation, without much argument on any front. It’s a team built for low-scoring slugfests, which just happens to be averaging just shy of 40 points per game.

As I wrote on Thursday, a slugfest with LSU begins with making the Tigers one-dimensional offensively by stopping the run, which Alabama does better than any other defense in the country, and maybe any other defense in a long time ? it’s on its way to historic numbers in terms of both yards per game and per carry. Eventually, that means opposing offenses are forced to either abandon the running game altogether or find themselves facing 3rd-and-death: 83 of the 121 third downs the ‘Bama D has faced this year (68.5 percent) have been 3rd-and-7 or longer. At that point, no matter who’s standing in the pocket, it becomes a feeding frenzy.

LSU wants: Ditto. Sorry if that’s a little short, but these teams are such mirror images of one another, both relying on blue-chip defenses and big, five-star workhorses to physically impose their will offensively, differentiating between them is like sizing up a pair of overgrown bullies on the playground: Their strategy is to beat the other guy up. In both cases, that means establishing the run on offense to keep the entire playbook open, and stopping the run on defense to make the not-so-intimidating quarterbacks uncomfortable for the first time this year.

On paper, LSU isn’t quite as overwhelming as Alabama on either side of the ball. But whatever the Tigers give up in statistical dominance ? which isn’t much ? they make up for in extreme opportunism: The offense has gone five full games without a turnover and scored on 21 consecutive trips inside the opposing 20-yard line. (If not for Stanford‘s perfect scoring rate in the red zone, LSU would lead the nation on both counts.) In terms of field position and margin of error, generally, no offense has had it easier, or done a better job of taking advantage of it.

Constants: Both offense will strike for big plays early. ? Both offenses will suffer through extended funks and multiple momentum swings. ? Both coaches will attempt a trick play in a crucial situation, most likely on special teams.
Variables: Which offense is able to more consistently establish the run? ? Which defense is able to bring more pressure on the opposing quarterback? ? Which team will deliver a big play in the return game?

The Pick: The hype may be inescapable, but this match-up is as advertised: An Immoveable Object/Irresistible Force showdown between a pair of talent-laden powerhouses that have not been challenged by any level of competition. I’m almost tempted to predict a blowout, based on the finely honed killer instincts on both sides, but I don’t know which side to pick. Anyone who claims he does is either indulging their rooting interest or splitting hairs so fine they’re barely even visible.

The only indisputable advantage is the home field for Alabama, which probably accounts for at least 4 points in the 4.5-point spread in the Crimson Tide’s favor. The rest comes from ‘Bama’s sheer dominance on paper: No team is outscoring or outgaining opponents by wider margins. And where LSU has a better reputation for creating big plays on defense, it’s easier to imagine Alabama slowly, steadily squeezing the life out of LSU’s offense over the course of four quarters than vice versa. If neither team has any glaring weaknesses, the Tide’s unparalleled strength on defense should be worth the edge and the biggest win of the season until Jan. 9.

SOUTH CAROLINA at ARKANSAS (-5) ? 7:15 pm ET, ESPN.
For a pair of top-10 outfits with shiny 7-1 records and legitimate SEC title hopes, the Gamecocks and Razorbacks have a few kinks to work out. On one hand, Arkansas has fallen into a double-digit hole two weeks in a row against league bottom dwellers Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, and last week needed a vintage Vandy choke job to get out of Nashville alive. On the other, South Carolina’s offense was languishing even before it lost a third of its production to Marcus Lattimore‘s injured knee, and has now failed to score more than 14 points in four of its last five games.

The fact that Carolina has still managed to win four of its last five games says a lot about its defense, but possibly more about its opponents in those triumphs: Vanderbilt, Kentucky, Mississippi State and Tennessee are not what anyone would describe as “explosive” opponents. Arkansas is, still boasting the league’s most prolific passing attack going into a three-game home stand that could put the Razorbacks in position to lock up their second consecutive BCS bid (if not a share of the division title) in the season finale at LSU. If it comes down to the arms of Tyler Wilson at home and Connor Shaw on the road for the biggest start of his career, the dream should live to see another week.

KANSAS STATE at OKLAHOMA STATE (-21) ? 8 pm ET, ABC/ESPN2.
I’m not sure there was ever anything that would qualify as a proper “bandwagon,” but whatever semblance of momentum Kansas State rode to an unlikely 7-0 start was reduced to splinters last weekend by Oklahoma, and may be ashes by Sunday morning. This is the same secondary that just yielded a school-record 505 yards passing to Sooner quarterback Landry Jones, with Jones essentially taking the fourth quarter off in a 58-17 massacre. For Oklahoma State sharpshooter Brandon Weeden, those numbers are just targets to keep it interesting.

TEXAS A&M at OKLAHOMA (-14) ? 3:30 pm ET, ABC/ESPN2.
It hasn’t been two weeks since Oklahoma’s seven-year, 39-game home winning streak ended with a whimper in the middle of the night, courtesy of Texas Tech and a sleepy Sooner defense. But the oddsmakers are more than willing to forgive and forget in the wake of the bomb OU dropped on K-State ? and in this case, in the wake of the bomb Texas A&M dropped on itself against Missouri, the third time this season the Aggies have blown a double-digit lead in the second half.

If you’re so inclined, you could use that to paint the Aggies as an outfit that’s “better than its record,” only a dozen points away from a perfect 8-0. Or, you use it to cast them as underachievers who have consistently failed to adjust against competent competition: A&M has been outscored in the second half in four of its last six games, by a total of 64 points in those four games, and ranks dead last nationally in pass defense. Either way, it adds up to disaster against an offense that can hit the gas at a moment’s notice.

OREGON (-16½) at WASHINGTON ? 10:30 pm ET, FSN.
The Ducks are just banged up enough on offense, and had just enough trouble last week with Washington State, to give some tiny glimmer of hope to a Husky upset in Seattle. But Washington’s only previous efforts against ranked teams ? a 51-38 loss to Nebraska that wasn’t as close as the score and a 65-21 obliteration at the hands of Stanford ? were both lopsided losses that exposed the Huskies’ vulnerability against the run, spread and non-spread alike. Even when all else fails, Oregon is still a nightmare on the ground: Since their opening night loss to LSU, the Ducks have topped 40 points on well over 200 yards rushing in all seven.

MICHIGAN (-4) at IOWA ? Noon ET, ESPN.
An awful lot of Michigan teams have hit November with 7-1 records over the decades, and it’s doubtful any of them had as many lingering question marks as this bunch does going into Iowa City. The Wolverines have faced one ranked team, were convincingly dispatched, and had to rally in highly improbable fashion to knock off the only other team on the schedule that’s even appeared in the polls.

But the mystery is still better than Iowa, which knows all too well what kind of team it has after enduring upsets at the hands of Iowa State and Minnesota, failing to reach the end zone at Penn State and rallying in highly improbable fashion itself against Pittsburgh. As little as Michigan knows about itself at this point, at least it can be certain it would never lose to Minnesota.

TEXAS TECH at TEXAS (-14) ? Noon ET, FX.
Texas Tech may be going through a brief schizophrenic episode ? how is it even possible to follow up a road upset at Oklahoma with a 41-7 thrashing in your own stadium at the hands Iowa State? ? but the Raiders have been consistent defensively: Six straight opponents have scored at least 34 points, all but one of them exceeding 200 yards on the ground. That just so happens to be where Texas is beginning to forge an identity behind freshman workhorse Malcolm Brown, who’s well on his way to 1,000 yards and ought to keep things running smoothly for the Longhorns’ mewling quarterbacks. UT is still young, but this ? as opposed to last year’s collapse ? is what a young, rebuilding Texas team is supposed to look like.

MISSOURI at BAYLOR (-2½) ? 7 pm ET, FSN.
The proverbial teams going in opposite directions: Mizzou evened its record with a wild, come-from-behind upset at Texas A&M, just before Baylor was thrashed by Oklahoma State for its third loss in its last four. (With the win, the 4-4 Tigers moved up to No. 11 in Jeff Sagarin’s computer rankings, thanks to what his algorithm says is the toughest schedule in the nation.) So far, though, all three of the Bears’ losses have come on the road, against ranked teams. This is their last chance to turn the tide at home, against the very unranked Tigers, before Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Texas come to Waco in back-to-back-to-back weeks to make bowl eligibility a very dicey proposition.

NOTRE DAME (-16½) at WAKE FOREST ? 8 pm ET, ABC/ESPN2.
The Demon Deacons are the first of three straight ACC Atlantic also-rans in as many weeks for the Fighting Irish, whose internal issues shouldn’t stop them from reeling off four straight wins (beginning with last week’s blowout over Navy) ahead of a season-ending trip to Stanford. Wake is the best of those four at the moment, but the few hours it spent as a darkhorse ACC contender have been emphatically ended by lopsided losses to Virginia Tech and North Carolina, on either side of a one-point win at Duke. Whatever internal issues and distractions Notre Dame has, it shouldn’t have to dig too deep to overcome them here.

NORTH CAROLINA (-3½) at N.C. State ? 12:30 pm ET, Regional.
The only unambiguously good thing about Tom O’Brien’s tenure at N.C. State: Four straight wins over the Tar Heels since he and Butch Davis arrived at the same time in 2007, the last three as an underdog. Davis is no longer on the opposing sideline, but the blood is still running hot enough to keep the Pack’s streak alive at home, and keep O’Brien from another week of speculation about his job security.

- – -
Matt Hinton is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Friday-Morning-Quarterback-Bring-on-the-main-ev?urn=ncaaf-wp9229

Alex Smith Ryan Fitzpatrick Shaun Hill Donovan McNabb Sam Bradford

Unexpected.

I beat Bill Haas to that description of his victory by a couple of hours because the leaderboard during the back nine reflected the winners in 2011. Not that it matters. He’s got the $10 million plus the Tour Championship’s first-place check.

His sudden-death playoff victory at the Tour Championship over Hunter Mahan was like golf in 2011—something different every time you turned around. It was also a lesson in the fact that no matter who has what level of talent, you can’t measure “want to.” 

Aaron Baddeley wanted to be on the Presidents Cup team because it is being played in Australia and his golf hero is Greg Norman. It is likely he will be selected because of his performance this week.

Luke Donald wants to be the money winner on two tours. He still has a shot at that. He’s going to Europe to play two events.

Jason Day wanted another PGA Tour victory, but it will likely have to wait until next season unless he plays some of the fall series.

Charles Howell III wanted to win again. It’s been four seasons since his last victory and four seasons since he made it to the Tour Championship.

Phil Mickelson wanted his major championship form back.  

Bill Haas wanted to be on the Presidents Cup team because his dad is an assistant captain. 

Like the story of Cinderella, only one foot would fit the glass slipper. This week, it was the Footjoy foot of Bill Haas.

“This is very unexpected, I guess,” Haas said after his victory. “Last week I had a terrible finish on Sunday, a terrible back nine, and tried not to let that get me down. Just tried to tell myself, ‘Try and put yourself in that same situation and try to prove to yourself that you can handle it.’”

“Last week, thinking about the Presidents Cup hurt him,” his caddy, Jay Haas Jr., said after team Haas won. “This week we decided to just play golf. Yesterday he was frustrated after the round, and I said, ‘At the beginning of the week, would you have taken a tie for fifth going into the Sunday round?’ And he said, ‘Yes.’”

“I was fortunate to get in a playoff. It was my third one this year, I was zero-for-two coming into this one,” Bill Haas explained. “I told myself, ‘It’s not over until it’s over. You never know what can happen. I could hole this chip, anything can happen.’”

Talk about being a master of the understatement.  

The playoff began on the par-three 18th. Both Haas and Hunter Mahan (who he tied with at the end of regulation) missed the green, but eventually made par. 

It was on to the 17th. 

Mahan was in the fairway off the tee. Haas’s tee shot hit in the right bunker. His shot to the green hit the putting surface, but low-hopped left and trundled down the slope toward the water.

Mahan’s second was on the green. 

Advantage Mahan.  

It looked like he would win. The people in charge of carrying the trophy made a golf cart caravan over to the 17th, anticipating the tournament’s end and a trophy presentation.

“I thought it [the ball] was in the water for sure and that we’d have to hole it for a tie,” Jay Haas Jr. said. 

Then they got to the ball and were surprised.

“It looked like he could play it. It was half to a quarter of the way in the water,” Haas Jr. added. “We were hoping to get on the green from there and then putt for par,”   

Brother Bill blasted out of the water hazard to about two feet from the pin and made the par putt to stay even with Mahan, who probably was wondering what he had to do to win. When he looks back on it, it may be the best 60-degree wedge of his life.

The trophy team piled back in golf carts and bustled back up the hill to the 18th.

“You play it like a bunker shot, for those of you that want to know, if there’s a little bit of water, if you don’t mind getting your feet dirty, and then blast it out of there. It came out perfect,” Bill Hass explained. 

He added that he was lucky. And he thanked FootJoy for the waterproof shoes. 

“It was an all-or-nothing shot, so if I don’t pull it off, I’m shaking Hunter’s hand, so it didn’t matter if my foot was dirty.”

They headed to the 18th tee. 

Neither golfer hit a good tee shot. Mahan found the right bunker and Haas was on the back fringe, 50-plus feet away. Mahan hit his sand shot beyond the cup—not a gimme par. 

Haas rolled his belly putter almost into the fringe because it was the only way he could get close to the hole with a putt. It stopped about four feet from the flag stick.  

Mahan missed his putt for par and Haas made it, eliciting a major-like roar from the crowd. 

Haas improved his playoff record and his bank account in one stroke.

But he was the last to know.

Immediately after the putt dropped, he did some television interviews and then returned to the 18th for the trophy presentation.

“Both trophies were there and there was no other player, so I kind of assumed, and I looked at my wife and she was there, and she nodded her head. So that was when I realized,” Haas said about the victory and winning the FedExCup. “I saw Tim Finchem, I said, ‘I didn’t know I had won this,’ and he was like, ‘Congratulations, you won both.’”

Haas thought that Luke Donald had possibly won the FedExCup and even congratulated him at the end of regulation. But it was not to be.

“I don’t know how many times I can say the word ‘fortunate,’ but if Webb [Simpson] plays a little bit better—or all these things had to happen for me to win and it did,”  Haas added. “My hands were shaking. My hands were shaking in regulation, in the playoff, that last putt there.”

Bill is not sure brother Jay will stay on the bag after their victory, but Jay did not look at all frustrated after the victory. He looked proud.

“My brother has been awesome,” Bill Haas said. “He’s taken more lip from me the last month-and-a-half than he ever deserves to. I’m sure he’ll take this cut he gets from this and probably run with it and say ‘See you later’! But it was awesome having him on the bag.”

As far as being picked for the Presidents Cup, he said he had done what he needed to do. It’s not in his hands anymore.

This playoff is not the only one in FedExCup history and is one of eight since the Tour Championship began in 1987. However, it is the only one that has decided both the tournament and the FedExCup winners.

In the FedExCup era, Camilo Villegas beat Sergio Garcia in 2008, but the $10 million, first-place check went to Vijay Singh that season.

Other Tour Championship Playoffs

1. Mike Weir defeated Ernie Els, Sergio Garcia and David Toms in 2001

2. Hal Sutton defeated Vijay Singh in 1998

3. Mark McCumber defeated Fuzzy Zoeller in 1994 

4. Craig Stadler defeated Russ Cochran in 1991

5. Tom Kite defeated Payne Stewart in 1989

6. Jodie Mudd defeat Bily Mayfair in 1990

7. Curtis Strange defeated Tom Kite in 1988   

Other FedExCup Finale Facts:

Matt Kuchar won more money without winning a tournament than any player in history: $4,192,187. And this was before the FedExCup payout.  

The round of the day belonged to Gary Woodland, with a minus-four 66. He will play in the World Cup, but said although the Tour Championship was “awesome and the course was perfect and the fans were great,” his offseason will be spent working on his game. 

Woodland said he has a lot of areas to improve.

“I need to get better,” he said simply. He repeated it for emphasis. In his first complete season on the PGA Tour, he has a victory and is now exempt in all four majors in 2012 and has a two-year PGA Tour exemption.

Not bad for a newbie, but he can still see areas for improvement. 

Kathy Bissell is a golf writer for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand or from official interview materials from the USGA, PGA Tour or PGA of America.

Read more Golf news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/865441-bill-haas-beats-hunter-mahan-wins-tour-championship-and-10-million-fedexcup

Johnny Cueto Jon Garland Jon Lester

If there’s a sliver of good news from reports that Kevin Parrom was shot in the right leg during a visit home to the Bronx early Saturday morning, it’s that it sounds like the injuries the Arizona forward sustained are not serious.

Gary Charles, Parrom’s travel ball coach with the New York Panthers, told the Arizona Daily Star on Sunday night that he spoke with his former player and the 6-foot-6 junior assured him he will be fine.

“He said, `Don’t worry. I’m OK. I can walk. I’m good,’ ” Charles said. “That was good enough for me.”

“I can tell you this: His voice sounded like regular. It wasn’t like, `Oh, coach, my God, I can’t believe this.’”

Parrom had returned to New York this weekend to visit his mother, who is in the hospital. The shooting followed a dispute that occurred around 1 a.m. Saturday at a residence in the Bronx, but details of exactly what led up to the incident are unclear at this point.

Parrom played in all 38 games for an Arizona team that won the Pac-10 and advanced to the Elite Eight last season, averaging 7.6 points and 3.4 rebounds and sinking 41.8 percent of his three-pointers.  Arizona coach Sean Miller issued the following statement about Parrom late Sunday night.

“I have been in contact with Kevin and his family throughout the weekend and look forward to his return to Tucson and being back in class this week,” Miller said. “Our focus is on Kevin’s health right now. Once we have more information, we’ll be able to address his potential return to team activities.”

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Arizona-forward-Kevin-Parrom-apparently-8216-O?urn=ncaab-wp4993

Fred Jackson LaDainian Tomlinson Thomas Jones Frank Gore Brandon Jacobs

The Detroit Red Wings were the oldest team in the NHL in 2010-11; they averaged about 30.16 years old per player.

That’s almost a whole year older than Calgary (ranked No. 2) who averaged 29.35 years old.

Why so old?

Well it’s simple really, Detroit’s nucleus has just been aging since their 1997 and 1998 Cup runs.

Detroit kept that nucleus of Shanahan, Yzerman, Fedorov (until he left for Anaheim), Lidstrom, Murphy, etc, until all of them moved on to retirement.

Lidstrom of course is still with the team, but he is now 41 years old, and leads another older nucleus in Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Franzen and company.

Detroit’s age always makes it easy for people to count the Red Wings out when it comes to the playoff success, and contending for a Stanley Cup.

However, in 2002 and 2008, the Red Wings defied the naysayers and won the Cup, almost repeating in 2009.

But the offseason retirements of Draper, Osgood, and Rafalski have left some pretty significant holes in the Detroit roster going forward into this 2011-12 season.

Which young players will fill in these gaps you might ask?

Read on and I will list the five players that must step up this season to replace those three retirees.

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Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/868781-detroit-red-wings-5-young-players-who-must-step-up-to-replace-departed-veterans

Danny Granger David West DeMar DeRozan Deron Williams Derrick Rose

Source: http://detroit.sbnation.com/detroit-lions/2011/10/2/2460841/2011-nfl-picks-week-4

Russell Westbrook Stephen Curry Stephen Jackson Tony Parker Zach Randolph

Owen Nolan’s tryout with the Vancouver Canucks, which ended Sunday, was an interesting mix of nostalgic hope and present-day practicality.

Anyone that watched the Canucks get bullied by the Bruins like a Yankees fan at a Boston pub understands their need for a power forward down the lineup. Anyone that saw what Mark Recchi did for Boston in the Stanley Cup Final (six points) knows the Canucks lacked the same kind of clutch geezer on the ice and in the room.

So there were practical reasons to hope Owen Nolan would make the cut, along with the fact that he was Owen [expletive] Nolan: 39 years old, born in Northern Ireland, called his shot in the all-star game and a captain who scored goals and dropped the gloves with equal dexterity.

If this cut is the end of Nolan in the NHL, he didn’t go out like a chump. No, he wasn’t fleet of skate; but he received praise from coach Alain Vigneault during his time with the Canucks for his effort and effectiveness. Alas, his absence from the power play late in the Canucks’ loss to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday telegraphed his fate.

But as Team 1040 reporter Jeff Paterson pointed out, there’s a reason Nolan’s a fan favorite:

“Good for Owen Nolan. Stopped for pictures and signed autographs for fans as he left Rogers Arena for last time minutes after being cut.”

As of Monday morning, there’s been no announcement of Nolan’s hockey future, but anyone as fiercely dedicated to hockey as Nolan is should find a way to stay in the game. Remember: This is a guy who saw his young kids for three weeks in five months as he played for Zurich in the Swiss League, primarily to earn a job back in North America.

It’s a shame he couldn’t find one with the Canucks.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Owen-Nolan-Cut-by-Canucks-considerable-class-a?urn=nhl-wp13400

Mike Tolbert Ronnie Brown Chris Ivory Brandon Jackson Ryan Mathews

There are many teams in the NBA that seem poised to make a move once the lockout is lifted. Many of these teams have players in contract years. Others have players who are expendable and can potentially draw in big-name free agents who would like to play for a contender.

New league rules may change all this, but here are four teams who have many assets and should make a move.

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Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/872973-nba-trade-speculation-5-teams-stacked-with-assets-that-should-make-a-move

Shin-Soo Choo Torii Hunter Vernon Wells Victor Martinez Vladimir Guerrero

(What If? is a weekly feature that will run throughout the Chase as we explore how previous Chases would have differed under the new NASCAR points format. Plus, we’ll also examine how this year’s Chase would look like under the old points system.)

In the second race of the Chase in 2008, Kyle Busch blew an engine 172 laps into the race at Dover. That meant a last-place finish and one point — 46 points fewer than race winner and fellow Chase competitor Greg Biffle.

In the old points system, Busch would have received roughly 18 percent of the points Biffle did for winning. Now? A last place finish is just over 2 percent of the winner’s points.

2004: Jeff Gordon left Dover with a one point lead over Kurt Busch. Under the new points system? It’s still a one point lead, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in third, four points back.

2005: Eventual champion Tony Stewart struggled at Dover and left 23 points behind Jimmie Johnson in fifth place. In the new points system, he’s just five points back in third place.

2006: After winning at Dover, Jeff Burton left with a six point lead over Jeff Gordon. Under the new system, he’s actually eight points behind Gordon.

2007: This was the most competitive Chase after two races as four drivers left Dover within 10 points of the lead held by Gordon. That’s true under the new system, but Carl Edwards, who was 28 points behind in sixth place, would be just two points back.

2008: After finishing third, Edwards held a 10 point advantage over Johnson and Biffle and would have a larger advantage under the new system.

2009: In real life, Mark Martin was the points leader by 10 over Johnson. Under the new points system, that’s essentially a 10 position swing and Martin would be eight markers behind Johnson.

2010: Denny Hamlin is still the points leader and nothing really changes at the top of the points standings. However, the gap between the top eight and the bottom four would be smaller under the new system.

2011: Stewart currently holds a seven point lead over Kevin Harvick, and an 11 point lead over Brad Keselowski. But because of Keselowski’s wins, Stewart would only be ahead of the Blue Deuce by three positions at the front of the pack.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/blog/from_the_marbles/post/What-if-Kyle-Busch-pulled-a-one-pointer-at-Dove?urn=nascar-wp4221

Josh Freeman Joe Flacco Matt Cassel Matt Schaub Peyton Manning

At 5:26 of the third period on Wednesday night, Brendan Smith of the Detroit Red Wings drilled Ben Smith of the Chicago Blackhawks with a check to the head, earning a match penalty. Smith on Smith crime ? is nothing sacred?

The hit came just about four minutes after Ben Smith scored his first of the preseason to tie the preseason game, which the Blackhawks eventually won, 4-3, on a Marian Hossa power-play goal. Ben Smith was down on the ice for several seconds before being helped off. Said Coach Joel Quenneville after the game (via Adam Jahns):

“Both referees said that’s a classic example of what we’re talking about, that’s the illegal hit. It’s pretty black and white.”

Well, that’ll be for Brendan Shanahan and the NHL player safety monks to decide, and here’s the language of the rule they’ll apply to it:

“A hit resulting in contact with an opponent’s head where the head is targeted and the principal point of contact is not permitted. However, in determining whether such a hit should have been permitted, the circumstances of the hit, including whether the opponent put himself in a vulnerable position immediately prior to or simultaneously with the hit or the head contact on an otherwise legal body check was unavoidable, can be considered.”

The bolded portion makes this a fascinating ruling, because the initial angle of the hit appears to show Ben Smith attempting to cut inside of Brendan Smith’s check and skate to the goal. Brendan Smith then puts a shoulder square into his noggin. Did he place himself in a vulnerable position, or is Brendan Smith checking him in the head either way?

The injury, the outrage and the fact that it does all come back to personal responsibility for the hitter likely means Brendan Smith gets a stout multi-game suspension. But we’re interested in seeing how Professor Shanahan diagrams this one on the justification video.

UPDATE: Ben Smith will undergo concussion tests on Thursday. Said teammate Jonathan Toews: “If it was a cheap hit, hopefully they take care of that the right way. It’s unbelievable. They’re cracking down, and it’s still happening.”

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Video-Smith-on-Smith-violence-as-Brendan-head-?urn=nhl-wp13632

Marco Scutaro Michael Cuddyer Michael Young Miguel Cabrera Nick Markakis

We don’t do a lot of feel-good stories here on Dr. Saturday, but every once in awhile, one falls into our laps that makes us smile and even get a little misty-eyed.

Meet 6-year-old Ross Keeler, a young man from New Mexico who is in remission from medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer. He’s the newest fan of the Rice football team.

Keeler was receiving treatment at the Texas Children’s Medical Center across the street from the Rice campus when he and his father decided to attend a football practice. Coach David Bailiff learned of Keeler’s condition and immediately took to him, as did the entire football team.

Rice did a fantastic piece about Keeler and his relationship with the team. It’s just a little feel good for a Wednesday evening.

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/blog/dr_saturday/post/Video-Rice-embraces-a-cancer-stricken-young-fan?urn=ncaaf-wp7075

Jahvid Best Danny Woodhead Justin Forsett Brandon Lloyd Roddy White

When Marc Gasol entered the NBA, everybody was curious to see how good he was because of his brother Pau’s NBA reputation. 

Pau was a respected player and an All-Star in the NBA prior to Marc’s arrival and everybody wanted to see how he stacked up. Marc came in and impressed mostly everybody in the world with his consistent play for Memphis. Now, a few years later, he’s improving, and fast.

Marc is a top-five center in the NBA and he even has some advantages over his brother Pau. Continue reading to see what they are. 

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Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/868188-marc-gasol-vs-pau-gasol-3-advantages-grizzlies-center-has-over-lakers-forward

Hiroki Kuroda Jaime Garcia Jered Weaver Johan Santana Johnny Cueto

On Friday, Zydrunas Ilgauskas officially announced his retirement from the NBA, ending a career that spanned nearly a decade and a half.

After being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1996, Big Z spent 12 seasons in Cleveland before signing with the Miami Heat for one last shot at a championship.  Z was also a part of the Wizards organization following a 2010 trade from the Cavs but was released and re-signed without ever playing a game.

It is likely Z will take a position in the Cavaliers front office if one is offered, as he will likely see his jersey number retired as he stands as the franchise all-time leader in games, rebounds and blocked shots.

Some will say his legacy in Cleveland and the NBA in general has been somewhat tarnished after going ring chasing with the leagues most hated team, but is that really the case?

Looking back, was it worth a shot at a title at the risk of alienating a fanbase that had grown to admire him for 15 years?

Certainly diehard Cavaliers fans will have varying opinions, but was Z wrong for what he did?

I say no.

Although it would have been nice to see Z spend his entire career in Cleveland, you can’t blame a man for trying to win a championship when he’s in the twilight of his career.  Especially a career where he’s given so much to the team who drafted him.

Think about this.

In 1999 despite missing most of the previous four seasons, Z kept working hard to come back from multiple surgeries and eventually was named a two-time All-Star.

In 2005, Z was playing some of his best basketball and could have signed with a lot of teams in need of a 7’3″ center, but he instead chose to re-up with the Cavs.

In 2010 he could have signed with anybody after being released from the Wizards, but he instead chose to wait 30 days just so he could re-sign with Cleveland; the team that had just traded him away.

This kind of loyalty is extremely rare in professional sports.

Was it initially disappointing to hear him sign with Miami?  Sure, but in the end, did it diminish anything he accomplished during his time in Cleveland?

Absolutely not.

Despite his stint in Miami, Z will always be a Cavalier through and through.

Happy retirement Z, we hope to see No. 11 hanging in the rafters very soon.

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/727228-zydrunas-ilgauskas-announces-retirement-was-signing-with-miami-heat-a-mistake

Jon Lester Jonathan Sanchez Josh Johnson Justin Verlander Mat Latos

Hoping to follow the lead of other top programs that have incorporated concerts into their Midnight Madness events to make them better recruiting tools, Syracuse has booked a rapper as its featured entertainment next month.

No, not a New York-born hip-hop heavyweight like Jay-Z or Nicki Minaj. Instead it will be Tone Loc, of all people, entertaining the orange-clad masses.

Maybe some of the 15- and 16-year-olds Syracuse is recruiting have a deep appreciation for old-school rap, but none of them were even born when Tone Loc was last relevant as an artist. “Wild Thing” and “Funky Cold Medina” both hit the Billboard charts in 1989, when Jim Boeheim still had a full head of hair and a closet full of plaid leisure suits.

The other schools who have booked rappers for their Midnight Madness events have not surprisingly gone with artists who will appeal to today’s high school and college kids. Rick Ross will be at Memphis Madness next month. Wale headlined Georgetown‘s event last year. And Jay Wright even managed to lure 50 Cent to Villanova‘s season tip-off five years ago.

As if to prove it’s not entirely out of touch with pop culture, Syracuse did book Deena from the “Jersey Shore” to sign autographs and mingle with the crowd next month. Of course, the school referred to her as “Deena from Jersey Show” in its press release, so we can’t be too sure exactly who is going to show up.

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that Tone Loc was Syracuse’s choice considering who the school booked for its Midnight Madness concert last year. The featured entertainment was hip-hop group Naughty By Nature, a platinum seller in the mid-’90s but now more past their prime than 6-week-old milk.

If Syracuse’s goal is to attract hip-hop historians, maybe Doug-E-Fresh will be on next year’s Midnight Madness lineup. Otherwise maybe it’s time the Orange try to book an artist whose last single didn’t hit the charts before the invention of dial-up Internet.

Other popular stories on Yahoo! Sports:
? Primer: Who will win weekend’s college football games?
? Stern may force union to blink first in NBA lockout
? College coach’s locker-room dance goes viral

Source: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Someone-at-Syracuse-is-a-bit-out-of-touch-with-t?urn=ncaab-wp5007

Mike Tolbert Ronnie Brown Chris Ivory Brandon Jackson Ryan Mathews

Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz have one thing in common and that is a fight with Urijah Faber in which both fighters won in impressive fashion.

Cruz was once a featherweight before a title fight loss to Faber derailed him. Now ten wins later, Cruz avenged that loss to Faber and seems nearly unstoppable at 135-pounds.

Aldo is the same way at featherweight. Dominating every opponent that is thrown at him and winning an impressive 12 fights in a row.

Only difference is Aldo has two more fighters to beat before he has effectively cleared out the division.

Aldo fights at UFC 136 against Kenny Florian and in my opinion will steamroll through Florian. Even after that Aldo still has a tough fight against Chad Mendes that could see the end to his reign as featherweight champion.

Mendes possesses the wrestling to take Aldo down and hold him there to squeak out a five round unanimous decision victory.

There is even one more name for Aldo to face. The No. 2 ranked featherweight in the world, Hatsu Hioki, has made his way to the United States and will begin competing in the UFC. So add yet another name to that list.

Cruz wouldn’t win this fight even if it were able to happen. Aldo is too good of a striker and too dangerous for Cruz. Not to say Cruz doesn’t possess the tools to beat Aldo with his wrestling and style of striking.

You can talk about the fight all you want, but it is still a pretty far off thought.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/874718-ufc-on-versus-6-results-is-it-time-to-talk-about-an-aldo-cruz-superfight

Tim Hudson Tim Lincecum Tommy Hanson Trevor Cahill Ubaldo Jimenez

Have Clips, Will Tailgate is a daily web clip show featuring the coolest guys in tailgating talking about the hottest clips in sports.

Today, Keith, Weston and Rollin break down the top five NBA Playoff buzzer beaters. From Alonzo Mourning sinking the Celtics to Reggie Miller’s amazing jumper, let’s count down the best buzzer beaters in NBA Playoff history.

Thanks for watching. Be sure to come back daily to see the newest tailgate location.

Read more NBA news on BleacherReport.com

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/873229-top-5-nba-playoff-buzzer-beaters-have-clips-will-tailgate-episode-14

Thomas Jones Frank Gore Brandon Jacobs Felix Jones Knowshon Moreno