Under an hour or so after Mike Hurd was cut through the Bears, defense attorney Brett Greenfield stated his client planned to battle federal drug charges and wanted it made obvious he never offered drugs with other National football league gamers. Greenfield hopes to place any gossips to relaxation because the wide receiver prepares to battle charges that may put him in jail for 4 decades, and assess a $two million fine, if he's charged of conspiracy to own using the intent to distribute a lot more than 500 grams of cocaine, or half a kilogram.
“Sam has requested me to deal with some point, regarding the gossips that Mike continues to be delivering drugs with other people from the National football league, from respect towards the National football league, from respect to teammates and from respect with other gamers, he 100 % declines that allegation,’’ Greenfield stated. “It is patently and totally false. It simply didn’t happen.’’
National football league spokesperson John McCarthy stated the league was carefully monitoring the problem.
Requested in regards to a are convinced that government bodies have a listing of National football league gamers with ties towards the drug situation, McCarthy stated, “We do not know such a listing.’’
US Justice of the peace Youthful Kim purchased Hurd to surrender his passport and then any guns. Hurd is anticipated to become attempted in Texas, in which the criminal complaint was filed now through the US attorney.
Hurd waived an initial hearing, meaning the next thing is for prosecutors to consider their situation before a great jury, and was launched on $100,000 bond.
Harrison must sit
The National football league refused Steelers linebacker James Harrison’s benefit of a 1-game suspension for any helmet-to-helmet hit on Browns quarterback Colt McCoy. The ruling came after National football league-NFLPA on-area appeals officer Ted Cottrell examined the hit that came the initial suspension on Tuesday. The National football league reported Harrison’s good reputation for flagrant hits - it was his fifth on the quarterback - for making him the very first player suspended under more stringent recommendations for player safety. Harrison will sit out Monday evening in the 49ers.
Browns QB still out
McCoy won't accompany they to Arizona for tomorrow’s game, but is anticipated to recuperate from his concussion and play again this year. Exactly the same can’t be stated for tight finish Benjamin Watson, who had been positioned on hurt reserve after keeping his third concussion since This summer in last week’s reduction in Pittsburgh . . . Ben Roethlisberger was limited used and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians both stated they’d want to see him practice at least one time more before determining if he’ll play Monday at Bay Area. Safety Troy Polamalu is anticipated to experience versus. the 49ers despite missing practice yesterday . . . 49ers left tackle Joe Staley is recuperating from the concussion and hasn’t participated used now.
Hasselbeck is probably
Barring a setback, Leaders quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will begin from the Colts tomorrow, after practicing yesterday despite an hurt left calf. Receiver Nate Washington shows up as questionable but is anticipated to experience, while running back Javon Ringer (damaged right hands) and linebacker Gerald McRath (left ankle, knee) were declared by the Leaders . . . Raiders running back Darren McFadden and wide receiver Jacoby Ford will miss tomorrow’s game from the Lions with feet injuries . . . Jets running back Joe McKnight and defensive lineman Mike DeVito will return tomorrow at Philadelphia, but defensive back and special teams ace Marquice Cole (knee) is going to be out.
Manley to sit down again
The Texans is going to be without Andre Manley from the Panthers tomorrow, once the receiver misses his second straight game having a strained left hamstring . . . Vikings running back Adrian Peterson’s ankle sprain responded well to elevated repetitions used now and that he is probable for tomorrow’s game from the Saints after missing three games . . . Right tackle Jammal Brown (groin) and tight finish Mike Retailers (right elbow) were ruled by the Redskins for tomorrow’s game from the Titans . . . Whales quarterback Matt Moore (concussion) and tackle Mike Lengthy (back) are listed as questionable for tomorrow’s game in the Bills.
Packers shorthanded
Eco-friendly Bay’s high-powered offense is going to be without receiver Greg Jennings (knee) and perhaps a couple of its three running backs from the Chiefs tomorrow. James Starks (knee, ankle), the team’s leading rusher, and rookie Brandon Saine (concussion) are questionable and will also be game-time choices. Defensive finish Ryan Pickett was eliminated having a concussion. Linebacker A.J. Hawk is anticipated revisit the beginning selection after missing two games having a calf injuries, but Desmond Bishop (calf), the team’s other beginning linebacker inside, will miss another straight game.
Jags’ owner has vision
Shahid Khan, the Jaguars’ new owner, includes a lengthy-term vision for that small-market team. Khan wants they to grow its group of followers, even when this means playing overseas. Khan, born in Pakistan, visited The city of jacksonville yesterday the very first time since purchasing the franchise for $760 million. The Jaguars lost towards the Falcons, 41-14, Thursday evening in Atlanta.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Rams QBs Bradford, Feeley uncertain for Monday versus. Seahawks
The St. Louis Rams possess a full-blown quarterback quandary on the hands.
Rams backup quarterback A.J. Feeley includes a small fracture in the right thumb, departing his availability for next Monday's game at Dallas uncertain. Starter Mike Bradford's status is iffy, too, after he sitting the 26- loss towards the Bay Area 49ers.
Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo stated they most likely knows much more about Feeley's status Tuesday. It is a similar situation to that particular of Bradford, who did not practice much a week ago due to a higher ankle sprain before he was deactivated. Spagnuolo stated Bradford have been prepared to start but occured out since the team did not wish to risk further injuries.
"We're not really sure until we cope with today and most likely into tomorrow in which a.T. is," Spagnuolo stated, based on the team's official website. "That's clearly very concerning in line with the situation Mike is within at this time, therefore it is something we've got to exercise.Inch
The main one healthy quarterback around the roster is Tom Brandstater, who had been signed in the practice squad Saturday.
Offensive guard Jacob Bell has a much more significant injuries, departing the overall game in Bay Area by having an ligament tear in the right knee. Spagnuolo stated Monday that Bell could miss per month, meaning he'd be out for that relaxation of year.
Rams backup quarterback A.J. Feeley includes a small fracture in the right thumb, departing his availability for next Monday's game at Dallas uncertain. Starter Mike Bradford's status is iffy, too, after he sitting the 26- loss towards the Bay Area 49ers.
Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo stated they most likely knows much more about Feeley's status Tuesday. It is a similar situation to that particular of Bradford, who did not practice much a week ago due to a higher ankle sprain before he was deactivated. Spagnuolo stated Bradford have been prepared to start but occured out since the team did not wish to risk further injuries.
"We're not really sure until we cope with today and most likely into tomorrow in which a.T. is," Spagnuolo stated, based on the team's official website. "That's clearly very concerning in line with the situation Mike is within at this time, therefore it is something we've got to exercise.Inch
The main one healthy quarterback around the roster is Tom Brandstater, who had been signed in the practice squad Saturday.
Offensive guard Jacob Bell has a much more significant injuries, departing the overall game in Bay Area by having an ligament tear in the right knee. Spagnuolo stated Monday that Bell could miss per month, meaning he'd be out for that relaxation of year.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Texas QB Schaub returned to practice to help Leinart
Injured quarterback Matt Schaub returned to practice in Texas is Thanksgiving Day, wearing a boot to protect his right foot as he kept staring at his replacement, Matt Leinart.Sustained a Lisfranc Schaub hurt the Rockets 37-9 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on November 13, but had to give up hope to return this season foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson, the meeting Wednesday in Charlotte.Houston (7) placed in the injured Schaub keep starting Leinart will be the first time on Sunday (3 - 7) Jackson.Schaub is expected to surgery next Wednesday in Charlotte. Doctors have assured him that his injury is not used and can not happen again when he returned to action."Once I told everyone, not really an option, in addition to its substantial long-term view," Schaub said. "It is positive as long as surgery, have been restored, and able to complete the back, play, sunny day."Coach Gary Kubiak said Schaub travel team this weekend to support Leinart, TJ, and rookie third-stringer Kellen · Clemens on Wednesday signed in Houston."He needs to keep very active participation," Kubiak said. "I think there is one he can help this team, so we give him a chance to do this is hard to see him standing on the" backSchaub, but Kubiak did not know how much he can help after surgery. Schaub said he faces a long recovery from non-weight-bearing 6 - 8 weeks of activities."This is not a quick turnaround on time until recovery," Schaub said. "This offseason will be a right, the preparation of training camp."Schaub has been since 2007, starting pitchers in Texas after the transactions made in Atlanta. He missed five games the year before, in his team, and excited because of a shoulder injury, then sat for five years, a disease and four with a knee injury recovery.Critics question his durability, but Schaub silent from the start of each game, they in 2009 - 10, the top ten of these games. Injured his foot to face Tampa Bay in the second quarter, in its entire second half, said he was not injured more seriously stay in the game."With the doctors, nothing I can do worse, in addition to new things," he said.So far, the Rockets have survived very well go on another one of the key players were injured, 10 in the control of the AFC South after the best start in franchise history.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Flacco-to-Smith TD lifts Ravens past Steelers
In a pro football season replete with scoring orgies, Sunday night's Baltimore-Pittsburgh divisional confrontation was a classic defensive slugfest between two of the league's most vicious units, one filled with sledgehammer collisions, shoves and taunts.
It also featured one fantastic NFL ending with plenty of late-game offensive fireworks after neither team punctured the end zone in the first half.
"They came out swinging, we came out swinging,'' said Ravens running back Ray Rice, who landed a 76-yard touchdown haymaker on the first play of the game only to have it nullified by a holding penalty against rookie receiver Torrey Smith.
The courageous, injury-wracked Steelers were within eight seconds of exacting revenge for a Week 1 blowout at Baltimore — until Ravens' quarterback Joe Flacco heaved a game-winning 26-yard touchdown to Smith, who atoned for multiple gaffes, for a critical 23-20 AFC North victory. Smith beat Steelers cornerback William Gay and safety Ryan Clark was late coming over to help his teammate.
"Joe was the same way he was in the huddle every single play — calm, confident and actually a little more fired up like, 'Let's go win this game,' '' said Smith, who let a potential game-winning touchdown pass slip through his fingers in the end zone with 35 seconds left in the game.
"He was really relaxed and definitely confident that we could get it done. It's like we practice all the time, our two-minute drill. Perfect scenario.''
Asked if this was the kind of moment he lived for, Flacco joked, "I think you live for 50-0 blowouts, but if you are going to make it tough on yourself, this is probably the most fun way to do it.''
The winning touchdown toss capped a furious and dramatic 92-yard drive consummated in 13 plays and 2:06 that left Heinz Field in stony silence.
It was a crushing home defeat for Pittsburgh (6-3), which dropped a half-game behind the Ravens (6-2) and the Cincinnati Bengals (6-2). The Steelers play the Bengals on Sunday.
The Steelers had won their last seven home games, where they are a dominant force. Baltimore entered the game with a 5-10 all-time record at Pittsburgh, including losing five of the last six, and the Ravens never have defeated the Steelers on the road in the playoffs (0-3).
"This is the toughest place in the world to win,'' said Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs.
"Boy, that's a tough defeat for us,'' said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
The Steelers decided against attempting a 52-yard field goal in the final couple of minutes that might have given Pittsburgh a seven-point lead after a critical delay of game penalty because of Tomlin's admitted indecision. Pittsburgh had a new holder because punter Daniel Sepulveda was placed on the injured-reserve list a day earlier and kicker Shaun Suisham is suspect when it comes to being reliable on longer kicks.
"With one more first down, we probably could have kneed it and ended the game,'' said Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey. "But it didn't happen that way. We just didn't do the right things to pull out the win. And it sucks.''
The Steelers punted with 2:34 left and the quarterback they call "Joe Cool,'' demonstrated he could be a resilient leader despite critical drops by his receivers. Flacco finished with 300 yards passing and no interceptions. He also capably led a key drive at the end of the first half that ended with Billy Cundiff kicking a 51-yard field goal for a 9-6 Ravens lead.
"As you can see, Joe Flacco and company did a nice job,'' Tomlin said in classic understatement.
It was the first time Flacco defeated a Ben Roethlisberger-quarterbacked team in Pittsburgh in five attempts. Flacco and the Ravens won here last year but Roethelisberger did not play because he was suspended.
Flacco also overcame a sack by James Harrison and his subsequent fumble as the Ravens were trying to extend a 16-13 lead in the fourth quarter.
"Nobody shined brighter than Joe Flacco in this game,'' said Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
A major reason the Ravens won was their success on third downs against the NFL's No. 5-ranked defense: Baltimore converted 14 of 21 attempts (67%). Conversely, the Ravens' red-zone defense contributed to their come-from-behind victory as it permitted the Steelers to a 25% success rate (1 of 4). Baltimore entered the game with the league's No. 1 defense.
The Steelers did overcome a 10-point deficit in the final quarter. Roethlisberger, who committed five turnovers in a Sept. 11 defeat at Baltimore, rifled a 25-yard scoring strike on third down to wide receiver Mike Wallace with less than five minutes remaining for a 20-16 advantage.
The Steelers had not allowed 20 points in a game since being routed 35-7 by the Ravens in the season opener. They were playing without injured star linebackers LaMarr Woodley and James Farrior. Veteran Steelers receiver Hines Ward was knocked out of the game in the first half with a "stinger'' after being drilled by Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed.
The Steelers took the second half kickoff and launched a quick-strike drive that reached the Ravens' 14. But the Steelers' offense line failed to cut down linebacker Terrell Suggs, the self-acknowledged "enemy of the state'' who stepped in front of Roethlisberger's quick throw from the shotgun formation at the 20 and picked it off to thwart the red-zone opportunity.
Early in the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger scrambled and sprinted toward the goal line for an 8-yard gain, where he fumbled the ball into the end zone as Steelers receiver Antonio Brown recovered. After a review, Roethlisberger was ruled down at the half-yard line.
On the next play, Rashard Mendenhall bounced off right tackle and scored, trimming the lead to 16-13 with 14:45 remaining.
Roethlisberger finished with 330 yards passing and became the franchise's first signal-caller to throw for more than 300 yards in three consecutive games. Asked if the defeat was the most gut-wrenching loss he had ever experienced, Roethlisberger replied, "Every loss stinks to me.''
In the end, it was Flacco's game heroics in a hostile environment that bailed out Baltimore. For at least one Sunday, he silenced some of his harshest critics who do not believe he can lead the Ravens back to the Super Bowl. Harbaugh said "it's not the critics who count.''
"It's the man who is in the arena whose face is covered with blood, sweat and dust,'' the coach said. "He will never be with those poor and timid souls who know no victory or defeat. So that's what I say to those people. They don't count.''
It also featured one fantastic NFL ending with plenty of late-game offensive fireworks after neither team punctured the end zone in the first half.
"They came out swinging, we came out swinging,'' said Ravens running back Ray Rice, who landed a 76-yard touchdown haymaker on the first play of the game only to have it nullified by a holding penalty against rookie receiver Torrey Smith.
The courageous, injury-wracked Steelers were within eight seconds of exacting revenge for a Week 1 blowout at Baltimore — until Ravens' quarterback Joe Flacco heaved a game-winning 26-yard touchdown to Smith, who atoned for multiple gaffes, for a critical 23-20 AFC North victory. Smith beat Steelers cornerback William Gay and safety Ryan Clark was late coming over to help his teammate.
"Joe was the same way he was in the huddle every single play — calm, confident and actually a little more fired up like, 'Let's go win this game,' '' said Smith, who let a potential game-winning touchdown pass slip through his fingers in the end zone with 35 seconds left in the game.
"He was really relaxed and definitely confident that we could get it done. It's like we practice all the time, our two-minute drill. Perfect scenario.''
Asked if this was the kind of moment he lived for, Flacco joked, "I think you live for 50-0 blowouts, but if you are going to make it tough on yourself, this is probably the most fun way to do it.''
The winning touchdown toss capped a furious and dramatic 92-yard drive consummated in 13 plays and 2:06 that left Heinz Field in stony silence.
It was a crushing home defeat for Pittsburgh (6-3), which dropped a half-game behind the Ravens (6-2) and the Cincinnati Bengals (6-2). The Steelers play the Bengals on Sunday.
The Steelers had won their last seven home games, where they are a dominant force. Baltimore entered the game with a 5-10 all-time record at Pittsburgh, including losing five of the last six, and the Ravens never have defeated the Steelers on the road in the playoffs (0-3).
"This is the toughest place in the world to win,'' said Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs.
"Boy, that's a tough defeat for us,'' said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin.
The Steelers decided against attempting a 52-yard field goal in the final couple of minutes that might have given Pittsburgh a seven-point lead after a critical delay of game penalty because of Tomlin's admitted indecision. Pittsburgh had a new holder because punter Daniel Sepulveda was placed on the injured-reserve list a day earlier and kicker Shaun Suisham is suspect when it comes to being reliable on longer kicks.
"With one more first down, we probably could have kneed it and ended the game,'' said Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey. "But it didn't happen that way. We just didn't do the right things to pull out the win. And it sucks.''
The Steelers punted with 2:34 left and the quarterback they call "Joe Cool,'' demonstrated he could be a resilient leader despite critical drops by his receivers. Flacco finished with 300 yards passing and no interceptions. He also capably led a key drive at the end of the first half that ended with Billy Cundiff kicking a 51-yard field goal for a 9-6 Ravens lead.
"As you can see, Joe Flacco and company did a nice job,'' Tomlin said in classic understatement.
It was the first time Flacco defeated a Ben Roethlisberger-quarterbacked team in Pittsburgh in five attempts. Flacco and the Ravens won here last year but Roethelisberger did not play because he was suspended.
Flacco also overcame a sack by James Harrison and his subsequent fumble as the Ravens were trying to extend a 16-13 lead in the fourth quarter.
"Nobody shined brighter than Joe Flacco in this game,'' said Ravens coach John Harbaugh.
A major reason the Ravens won was their success on third downs against the NFL's No. 5-ranked defense: Baltimore converted 14 of 21 attempts (67%). Conversely, the Ravens' red-zone defense contributed to their come-from-behind victory as it permitted the Steelers to a 25% success rate (1 of 4). Baltimore entered the game with the league's No. 1 defense.
The Steelers did overcome a 10-point deficit in the final quarter. Roethlisberger, who committed five turnovers in a Sept. 11 defeat at Baltimore, rifled a 25-yard scoring strike on third down to wide receiver Mike Wallace with less than five minutes remaining for a 20-16 advantage.
The Steelers had not allowed 20 points in a game since being routed 35-7 by the Ravens in the season opener. They were playing without injured star linebackers LaMarr Woodley and James Farrior. Veteran Steelers receiver Hines Ward was knocked out of the game in the first half with a "stinger'' after being drilled by Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed.
The Steelers took the second half kickoff and launched a quick-strike drive that reached the Ravens' 14. But the Steelers' offense line failed to cut down linebacker Terrell Suggs, the self-acknowledged "enemy of the state'' who stepped in front of Roethlisberger's quick throw from the shotgun formation at the 20 and picked it off to thwart the red-zone opportunity.
Early in the fourth quarter, Roethlisberger scrambled and sprinted toward the goal line for an 8-yard gain, where he fumbled the ball into the end zone as Steelers receiver Antonio Brown recovered. After a review, Roethlisberger was ruled down at the half-yard line.
On the next play, Rashard Mendenhall bounced off right tackle and scored, trimming the lead to 16-13 with 14:45 remaining.
Roethlisberger finished with 330 yards passing and became the franchise's first signal-caller to throw for more than 300 yards in three consecutive games. Asked if the defeat was the most gut-wrenching loss he had ever experienced, Roethlisberger replied, "Every loss stinks to me.''
In the end, it was Flacco's game heroics in a hostile environment that bailed out Baltimore. For at least one Sunday, he silenced some of his harshest critics who do not believe he can lead the Ravens back to the Super Bowl. Harbaugh said "it's not the critics who count.''
"It's the man who is in the arena whose face is covered with blood, sweat and dust,'' the coach said. "He will never be with those poor and timid souls who know no victory or defeat. So that's what I say to those people. They don't count.''
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
NBA commissioner cancels first 2 weeks of season
NBA Commissioner David Stern cancelled the first two weeks of the season Monday after owners and players were unable to reach a new labour deal and end the lockout.
Top negotiators for both sides met for more than seven hours Monday, returning to bargaining about 14 hours after ending talks Sunday night.
Stern said both sides are "very far apart on virtually all issues. ... We just have a gulf that separates us."
The cancellation includes all games scheduled to be played through Nov. 14.
"Despite extensive efforts, we have not been able to reach a new agreement with the players' union that allows all 30 teams to be able to compete for a championship while fairly compensating our players," NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
With another work stoppage, the NBA risks alienating a fan base that sent the league's revenues and TV ratings soaring during the 2010-11 season. And the loss of the first two weeks of games will hurt workers with jobs dependent on pro basketball's six-month-plus season. A few teams have already trimmed their staff and more layoffs could be forthcoming.
Then there are those who don't work directly for an NBA team but who still depend on the excitement the league brings to town. Ushers, security personnel, parking lot attendants, concession workers, restaurant employees and others all stand to have their hours cut or join North America's unemployed.
The success of last season, on the court, at the box office and in the headlines, convinced many that the sides would never reach this point.
But small-market owners were hardened after watching LeBron James leave Cleveland for Miami, Amare Stoudemire bolt Phoenix for New York, and Carmelo Anthony later use his impending free agency as leverage to secure a trade from Denver to the Knicks. They wanted changes that would allow them to hold onto their superstars and compete for titles with the big-spending teams from Los Angeles, Boston and Dallas who have gobbled up the last four championships.
Owners locked out the players July 1 when they couldn't reach a deal before the expiration of the old collective bargaining agreement. Opening night was scheduled for Nov. 1.
As the lockout drags on, Stern's legacy as one of sports' best commissioners is weakened. He turned 69 last month, and although he hasn't said when he will retire, he did say this will be his last CBA negotiation after nearly 28 years running the league.
He has insisted all along he wouldn't worry about the damage to his reputation and that his only concern would be getting the deal his owners need.
It's uncertain when that will be. The sides didn't agree until Jan. 6 in 1999, just before the deadline for cancelling that entire season. The league ended up with a 50-game schedule, often plagued by poor play as teams were forced to fit too many games into too small of a window.
They could keep meeting now and agree to a deal much sooner this time. Or perhaps the divide is still too great and they will decide there's no reason to rush back to the table.
On Monday Stern, Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver, owners Peter Holt of San Antonio, Glen Taylor of Minnesota and James Dolan of New York, and senior vice-president and deputy general counsel Dan Rube met with union executive director Billy Hunter, president Derek Fisher of the Lakers and vice-president Maurice Evans of the Wizards, and attorneys Jeffrey Kessler and Ron Klempner.
Though both sides have said they believe bargaining is the only route to a deal, the process could end up in the courts. Each brought an unfair labour practice charge against the other with the National Labor Relations Board, and the league also filed a federal lawsuit against the union attempting to block it from decertifying.
Union officials thus far have been opposed to decertification, a route the NFL players initially chose during their lockout. But Hunter has said it might eventually be considered.
Players say they have prepared for a shortened season for a couple of years, knowing it could be the inevitable outcome of a difficult negotiation. The owners' initial proposal in early 2010 for a new CBA, calling for salary reductions and rollbacks, shorter contracts and a hard cap of US$45 million, got the process off to a tense start.
When the sides couldn't agree to a new deal before the old one expired on July 1, Hunter said it had been difficult for the players to overcome the setback the initial proposal caused.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
No News Is Bad News in N.B.A. Labor Talks
The time to broker an N.B.A. labor deal without harming the preseason had most likely already passed by the time negotiators gathered Thursday morning in Manhattan. When they parted ways in the afternoon, a deal still out of reach, it guaranteed that training camps and exhibition games would be canceled for the second time in league history.
Commissioner David Stern was not ready to make that concession publicly, but the decision is inevitable and could cheap jerseys come as soon as Friday.
“I have no announcement to make today,” Stern said, looking grim-faced, “but the calendar is not our friend.”
Training camps are supposed to open in 11 days, on Oct. 4. The first exhibition games are scheduled for Oct. 9. Without a handshake deal, there is no time to draft an agreement and sign free agents, and still keep that schedule.
The N.B.A. has not lost a game, preseason or regular season, to a labor dispute since the 1998 lockout. That year, league officials started canceling exhibition games on Sept. 24 and regular-season games on Oct. 13.
Realistically, the league needs at least four weeks to prepare for the regular season, so the actual deadline for a deal is closer to Oct. 4. Opening night this year is scheduled for Nov. 1. Asked if negotiations were far enough along to start the season on time, Stern said: “I don’t have any response to that. I don’t know the answer.”
Stern has a conference call scheduled on Friday with the owners who make up the labor committee. Any announcements would probably come after that.
None of the principals in Thursday’s five-hour meeting would characterize the proceedings, other than to say that it is still worth talking. They plan to meet again next week.
“We’ll keep talking until we figure it out, until we get a fair deal done,” said Derek Fisher, the president of the players union.
Asked if anything had changed from last week, when union leaders expressed deep pessimism after another long meeting, Fisher said, “No.”
If body language and tone meant anything, the signs Thursday were discouraging. The usually talkative Fisher spoke for just two and a half minutes. He sounded weary after taking an overnight flight from Los Angeles, and surely disappointed at the lack of a deal. Stern, who celebrated his 69th birthday on Thursday, was as dour as he has been since the lockout began three months ago.
Stern turned more light-hearted when someone mentioned his glum demeanor.
“No, actually my demeanor is flat, because I don’t have anything to say,” Stern said. “We told them we wouldn’t say anything, I’ve told you I wouldn’t say anything. And so I don’t want to say anything. If you’d like me to smile, I’m happy to smile.”
The owners and players remain divided over both financial and structural issues, although they have closed the gap significantly in recent weeks. The players are prepared to reduce their share of revenue to 53 percent or less, from the current 57 percent, with every percentage point representing about $40 million. But the union has conditioned that offer on retaining a soft salary cap.
Owners have been insisting on a hard cap and are seeking no worse than a 50-50 split of league revenue. But Stern signaled last week that the cap structure was negotiable, opening the door to a potential compromise.
“We have to address both,” Stern said. “We’ve been consistent. We need an economic system, and we need a system where teams can compete, and fans know their teams can compete. And that’s where we’re at.”
Commissioner David Stern was not ready to make that concession publicly, but the decision is inevitable and could cheap jerseys come as soon as Friday.
“I have no announcement to make today,” Stern said, looking grim-faced, “but the calendar is not our friend.”
Training camps are supposed to open in 11 days, on Oct. 4. The first exhibition games are scheduled for Oct. 9. Without a handshake deal, there is no time to draft an agreement and sign free agents, and still keep that schedule.
The N.B.A. has not lost a game, preseason or regular season, to a labor dispute since the 1998 lockout. That year, league officials started canceling exhibition games on Sept. 24 and regular-season games on Oct. 13.
Realistically, the league needs at least four weeks to prepare for the regular season, so the actual deadline for a deal is closer to Oct. 4. Opening night this year is scheduled for Nov. 1. Asked if negotiations were far enough along to start the season on time, Stern said: “I don’t have any response to that. I don’t know the answer.”
Stern has a conference call scheduled on Friday with the owners who make up the labor committee. Any announcements would probably come after that.
None of the principals in Thursday’s five-hour meeting would characterize the proceedings, other than to say that it is still worth talking. They plan to meet again next week.
“We’ll keep talking until we figure it out, until we get a fair deal done,” said Derek Fisher, the president of the players union.
Asked if anything had changed from last week, when union leaders expressed deep pessimism after another long meeting, Fisher said, “No.”
If body language and tone meant anything, the signs Thursday were discouraging. The usually talkative Fisher spoke for just two and a half minutes. He sounded weary after taking an overnight flight from Los Angeles, and surely disappointed at the lack of a deal. Stern, who celebrated his 69th birthday on Thursday, was as dour as he has been since the lockout began three months ago.
Stern turned more light-hearted when someone mentioned his glum demeanor.
“No, actually my demeanor is flat, because I don’t have anything to say,” Stern said. “We told them we wouldn’t say anything, I’ve told you I wouldn’t say anything. And so I don’t want to say anything. If you’d like me to smile, I’m happy to smile.”
The owners and players remain divided over both financial and structural issues, although they have closed the gap significantly in recent weeks. The players are prepared to reduce their share of revenue to 53 percent or less, from the current 57 percent, with every percentage point representing about $40 million. But the union has conditioned that offer on retaining a soft salary cap.
Owners have been insisting on a hard cap and are seeking no worse than a 50-50 split of league revenue. But Stern signaled last week that the cap structure was negotiable, opening the door to a potential compromise.
“We have to address both,” Stern said. “We’ve been consistent. We need an economic system, and we need a system where teams can compete, and fans know their teams can compete. And that’s where we’re at.”
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Texas' Hamilton hits slam in 9-1 win over Indians
Billy Hunter hoped to deliver good news when he meets with NBA players on Thursday in Las Vegas.
Instead, the executive director of the players' association isn't even sure how he will answer all their questions.
No progress was made toward ending the 2-month lockout during a meeting with owners Tuesday, and Hunter might have to tell players to look elsewhere if they want to be paid to play basketball anytime soon.
"There are a lot of guys, many marquee players now, who have offers to go outside the country. And the question is, what do they do?" Hunter said. "I mean, do they hold off making the decision, or do they wait in hopes that we get a deal in place sometime in the immediate future?"
Hopes of that diminished after Tuesday's meeting between the union's executive committee and the owners' labor relations committee ended with the sides still divided over the salary cap system, despite a hint of economic compromise.
And with Hunter and union president Derek Fisher of the Lakers warning that the season might not open on time, where do players go from here?
Overseas?
A court room, to sue the league after dissolving their union?
Back to NBA arenas, playing under a deal they hate?
Hunter makes the latter two options seem unlikely for now, reiterating Tuesday that players are unified in their refusal to accept the owners' current proposal.
But players might be considering overseas alternatives now more than ever.
"As time passes, guys are going to definitely defect, and you won't be able to find the same combination of skill and talent and character that the 450 of us NBA players possess," NBPA vice president Maurice Evans of the Wizards said. "You're not just going to go out and find that at random to replace this product; that should definitely be noted."
To date, Nets All-Star point guard Deron Williams' deal with Turkish team Besiktas is still the only one signed by a top NBA player since the lockout began July 1. Commissioner David Stern has downplayed the overseas option, believing there isn't the money or comforts to entice his superstars. But lower-level players might choose any contract over no guaranteed payment back home anytime soon.
More than 40 players are in Las Vegas this week taking part in a league at the Impact Basketball academy, so union leaders decided to go there to speak with them. Meanwhile, owners will be meeting in Dallas. Stern has said there won't be any decisions at Thursday's session to cancel training camps, which were scheduled to begin in less than three weeks.
Despite Tuesday's lack of progress, Fisher said his message won't change much Thursday — because it's been cautious all along.
"I don't think we've minced our words in terms of our guys understanding that this was a moment that we expected to find ourselves in starting over two years ago," Fisher said. "We expected to be here, we anticipated that, we felt like our owners were strong enough in their position … that they'd be possibly willing to risk time lost in the season to get the things they needed in this particular round of collective bargaining."
Hunter and Fisher likely will have to address the concept of decertification during their presentation. NFL players dissolved their union this year so they could file an antitrust lawsuit against the league, though they ultimately resolved their dispute with owners.
Hunter's preferred course has been to wait for a ruling on a charge the union filed against the league with the National Labor Relations Board for unfair bargaining practices.
"We've never really had any discussions about decertification," Hunter said. "As you're aware, we've obviously been experiencing some pressure, at least in the media, from some of the agents about decertification. But that's not a message that's crossed our lips."
Hunter added he hoped for a ruling from the NLRB by the end of this month.
That would be too late to save the opening of training camps, but time remains to open the regular season as scheduled on Nov. 1. Hunter hopes that at some point a split will develop between big-market and small-market owners — if it's not already there — and the big spenders who have more incentive to play without massive changes to the structure will push for a settlement.
"I think there's probably a division of interest within their group, and I think trying to develop a consensus within the group is the issue," he said.
In the meantime, Fisher is instructing players to train as normal.
"Continue to prepare yourself physically and mentally for whatever circumstances play out, and if we start on time, you should be physically ready to go," he said. "The way it looks right now we may not start on time, and you should continue to make the decisions and the plans accordingly to your individual situation."
Instead, the executive director of the players' association isn't even sure how he will answer all their questions.
No progress was made toward ending the 2-month lockout during a meeting with owners Tuesday, and Hunter might have to tell players to look elsewhere if they want to be paid to play basketball anytime soon.
"There are a lot of guys, many marquee players now, who have offers to go outside the country. And the question is, what do they do?" Hunter said. "I mean, do they hold off making the decision, or do they wait in hopes that we get a deal in place sometime in the immediate future?"
Hopes of that diminished after Tuesday's meeting between the union's executive committee and the owners' labor relations committee ended with the sides still divided over the salary cap system, despite a hint of economic compromise.
And with Hunter and union president Derek Fisher of the Lakers warning that the season might not open on time, where do players go from here?
Overseas?
A court room, to sue the league after dissolving their union?
Back to NBA arenas, playing under a deal they hate?
Hunter makes the latter two options seem unlikely for now, reiterating Tuesday that players are unified in their refusal to accept the owners' current proposal.
But players might be considering overseas alternatives now more than ever.
"As time passes, guys are going to definitely defect, and you won't be able to find the same combination of skill and talent and character that the 450 of us NBA players possess," NBPA vice president Maurice Evans of the Wizards said. "You're not just going to go out and find that at random to replace this product; that should definitely be noted."
To date, Nets All-Star point guard Deron Williams' deal with Turkish team Besiktas is still the only one signed by a top NBA player since the lockout began July 1. Commissioner David Stern has downplayed the overseas option, believing there isn't the money or comforts to entice his superstars. But lower-level players might choose any contract over no guaranteed payment back home anytime soon.
More than 40 players are in Las Vegas this week taking part in a league at the Impact Basketball academy, so union leaders decided to go there to speak with them. Meanwhile, owners will be meeting in Dallas. Stern has said there won't be any decisions at Thursday's session to cancel training camps, which were scheduled to begin in less than three weeks.
Despite Tuesday's lack of progress, Fisher said his message won't change much Thursday — because it's been cautious all along.
"I don't think we've minced our words in terms of our guys understanding that this was a moment that we expected to find ourselves in starting over two years ago," Fisher said. "We expected to be here, we anticipated that, we felt like our owners were strong enough in their position … that they'd be possibly willing to risk time lost in the season to get the things they needed in this particular round of collective bargaining."
Hunter and Fisher likely will have to address the concept of decertification during their presentation. NFL players dissolved their union this year so they could file an antitrust lawsuit against the league, though they ultimately resolved their dispute with owners.
Hunter's preferred course has been to wait for a ruling on a charge the union filed against the league with the National Labor Relations Board for unfair bargaining practices.
"We've never really had any discussions about decertification," Hunter said. "As you're aware, we've obviously been experiencing some pressure, at least in the media, from some of the agents about decertification. But that's not a message that's crossed our lips."
Hunter added he hoped for a ruling from the NLRB by the end of this month.
That would be too late to save the opening of training camps, but time remains to open the regular season as scheduled on Nov. 1. Hunter hopes that at some point a split will develop between big-market and small-market owners — if it's not already there — and the big spenders who have more incentive to play without massive changes to the structure will push for a settlement.
"I think there's probably a division of interest within their group, and I think trying to develop a consensus within the group is the issue," he said.
In the meantime, Fisher is instructing players to train as normal.
"Continue to prepare yourself physically and mentally for whatever circumstances play out, and if we start on time, you should be physically ready to go," he said. "The way it looks right now we may not start on time, and you should continue to make the decisions and the plans accordingly to your individual situation."
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Nadal beats Roddick, sets up US Open semifinals vs Murray
Defending champion Rafael Nadal set up a meeting with fourth-ranked Andy Murray in the semifinals of the U.S. Open by overwhelming home favourite Andy Roddick in straight sets in the last eight on Friday.
Whipping passing shots from all angles and returning superbly, the No. 2-seeded Nadal beat No. 21 Roddick 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the semis at Flushing Meadows for the fourth consecutive year.
The Spanish star compiled a stunning 22-0 edge in forehand winners and broke Roddick’s powerful serve six times.
“It was quick. Obviously, it was a combination of things that probably weren’t going to work out today,” said Roddick, who had trouble pushing off on his fatigued legs and was massaged by a trainer during a medical timeout in the third set. “It was evident pretty early that he was in full control.”
Nadal took the first four games against the 2003 U.S. Open champion thanks to two breaks in the opening 18 minutes, and then took 16 of the last 17 points to close the second set. In the third set, Roddick had both of his legs massaged by a trainer during a medical timeout.
“The beginning of the match was really important,” Nadal said. “Andy had a really tough match yesterday. Probably, he was tired. Sorry for him.”
Seeking his 11th Grand Slam title, Nadal has yet to drop a set heading into Saturday’s semifinal against Britain’s Murray, who beat No. 28 John Isner 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) earlier Friday.
The other semifinal was set up by Thursday’s quarterfinals and will feature No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 3 Roger Federer, who has won five of his record 16 Grand Slam championships at the U.S. Open. For the second time in the last three major tournaments, the final foursome is filled by the top four men in the game but it hasn’t happened at the U.S. Open since 1992.
“They’re pretty firmly the best players in the world right now,” Roddick said. “They certainly deserve the numbers next to their names.”
Djokovic is 62-2 with nine titles in 2011, including at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. His first loss this season came when Federer ended Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak in a thrilling French Open semifinal.
Nadal has won 12 of 16 matches against Murray, including a win in the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon this year.
Murray figures to face more of the same trouble in New York if Nadal plays as well as he did Friday.
“It will be a very tough match for me,” Nadal said, “and hopefully for him, too.”
The exits by Roddick and Isner with first lady Michelle Obama sitting in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium meant that this will be the 32nd Grand Slam tournament in a row without a male champion from the United States, extending the country’s longest drought, which dates to Roddick’s 2003 triumph in New York.
Not all that long ago, the 29-year-old Roddick wasn’t even sure whether he’d be able to compete at the U.S. Open this year because of a torn abdominal muscle. Struggling with various injuries, the former No. 1-ranked player has endured a tough season, dropping outside the top 20 for the first time in a decade.
At the U.S. Open, though, Roddick’s serve was broken only six times in four matches until Friday. Then again, he hadn’t faced anyone anywhere close to the talent of Nadal.
Early in the second set after Roddick was broken yet again, seven-time major champion John McEnroe said on the CBS broadcast- “So far, he looks like he’s in slow motion.”
A couple of games later, Roddick double-faulted to get broken at love and fell behind by 4-1 in that set.
Roddick, meanwhile, wasn’t able to threaten Nadal’s serve until the start of the third set, but the Spaniard saved all four break points there the only four he faced all match.
Similarly, Murray dealt well with Isner’s big serve, ending the marathon man’s best run at a major tournament.
Murray, like Nadal one of tennis’ top returners, weathered 17 aces at up to 140 mph from the 6-foot-9 Isner but repeatedly got back serves topping 130 mph and managed to break twice in a row bridging the first two sets.
“It’s so frustrating playing against him because you feel like you’re playing good tennis, and it’s so hard to break him,” said Murray, who has won his past 10 matches.
While Murray is a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, Isner was playing in his first such quarterfinal, and he acknowledged that jitters affected him at the outset.
“I wasn’t swinging out like I felt like I should have early on in the match. I was just guiding the ball,” said Isner. “That was a little bit of nerves. It just took awhile to free up.”
To date, Isner is best known for winning the longest match in tennis history, 70-68 in the fifth set in Wimbledon’s first round in 2010, when he pounded 113 aces over its record 11 hours, 5 minutes.
Isner repeatedly has said he aims to be known for a more important victory in the late stages of a top tournament, but that’ll have to wait.
“It’s been a good run for me, but I’m still disappointed right now,” Isner said. “I’m not satisfied.”
Murray’s past Grand Slam final appearances include losses to Djokovic at the Australian Open in January and to Federer at the U.S. Open in 2008. He’s seeking to become the first British man since 1936 to win a Grand Slam title.
As it is, Murray is only the seventh man in the Open era to reach at least the semifinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single season. Three of the others are Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
Trying to push Murray to a fifth set, Isner got the fourth into a tiebreaker, where his serving is usually a significant advantage.
Not this time.
Isner’s play was littered with mistakes down the stretch. He double-faulted to trail 2-1, slapped what he later called a “gimme volley” into the net to make it 5-2, put a drop shot into the net for 6-2, then missed a forehand return on match point, ending things after 3 hours, 24 minutes.
“He put a ton of pressure on me,” Murray said. “It was a relief to win that fourth-set ‘breaker.”
Whipping passing shots from all angles and returning superbly, the No. 2-seeded Nadal beat No. 21 Roddick 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 to reach the semis at Flushing Meadows for the fourth consecutive year.
The Spanish star compiled a stunning 22-0 edge in forehand winners and broke Roddick’s powerful serve six times.
“It was quick. Obviously, it was a combination of things that probably weren’t going to work out today,” said Roddick, who had trouble pushing off on his fatigued legs and was massaged by a trainer during a medical timeout in the third set. “It was evident pretty early that he was in full control.”
Nadal took the first four games against the 2003 U.S. Open champion thanks to two breaks in the opening 18 minutes, and then took 16 of the last 17 points to close the second set. In the third set, Roddick had both of his legs massaged by a trainer during a medical timeout.
“The beginning of the match was really important,” Nadal said. “Andy had a really tough match yesterday. Probably, he was tired. Sorry for him.”
Seeking his 11th Grand Slam title, Nadal has yet to drop a set heading into Saturday’s semifinal against Britain’s Murray, who beat No. 28 John Isner 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2) earlier Friday.
The other semifinal was set up by Thursday’s quarterfinals and will feature No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 3 Roger Federer, who has won five of his record 16 Grand Slam championships at the U.S. Open. For the second time in the last three major tournaments, the final foursome is filled by the top four men in the game but it hasn’t happened at the U.S. Open since 1992.
“They’re pretty firmly the best players in the world right now,” Roddick said. “They certainly deserve the numbers next to their names.”
Djokovic is 62-2 with nine titles in 2011, including at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. His first loss this season came when Federer ended Djokovic’s 43-match winning streak in a thrilling French Open semifinal.
Nadal has won 12 of 16 matches against Murray, including a win in the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon this year.
Murray figures to face more of the same trouble in New York if Nadal plays as well as he did Friday.
“It will be a very tough match for me,” Nadal said, “and hopefully for him, too.”
The exits by Roddick and Isner with first lady Michelle Obama sitting in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium meant that this will be the 32nd Grand Slam tournament in a row without a male champion from the United States, extending the country’s longest drought, which dates to Roddick’s 2003 triumph in New York.
Not all that long ago, the 29-year-old Roddick wasn’t even sure whether he’d be able to compete at the U.S. Open this year because of a torn abdominal muscle. Struggling with various injuries, the former No. 1-ranked player has endured a tough season, dropping outside the top 20 for the first time in a decade.
At the U.S. Open, though, Roddick’s serve was broken only six times in four matches until Friday. Then again, he hadn’t faced anyone anywhere close to the talent of Nadal.
Early in the second set after Roddick was broken yet again, seven-time major champion John McEnroe said on the CBS broadcast- “So far, he looks like he’s in slow motion.”
A couple of games later, Roddick double-faulted to get broken at love and fell behind by 4-1 in that set.
Roddick, meanwhile, wasn’t able to threaten Nadal’s serve until the start of the third set, but the Spaniard saved all four break points there the only four he faced all match.
Similarly, Murray dealt well with Isner’s big serve, ending the marathon man’s best run at a major tournament.
Murray, like Nadal one of tennis’ top returners, weathered 17 aces at up to 140 mph from the 6-foot-9 Isner but repeatedly got back serves topping 130 mph and managed to break twice in a row bridging the first two sets.
“It’s so frustrating playing against him because you feel like you’re playing good tennis, and it’s so hard to break him,” said Murray, who has won his past 10 matches.
While Murray is a three-time Grand Slam runner-up, Isner was playing in his first such quarterfinal, and he acknowledged that jitters affected him at the outset.
“I wasn’t swinging out like I felt like I should have early on in the match. I was just guiding the ball,” said Isner. “That was a little bit of nerves. It just took awhile to free up.”
To date, Isner is best known for winning the longest match in tennis history, 70-68 in the fifth set in Wimbledon’s first round in 2010, when he pounded 113 aces over its record 11 hours, 5 minutes.
Isner repeatedly has said he aims to be known for a more important victory in the late stages of a top tournament, but that’ll have to wait.
“It’s been a good run for me, but I’m still disappointed right now,” Isner said. “I’m not satisfied.”
Murray’s past Grand Slam final appearances include losses to Djokovic at the Australian Open in January and to Federer at the U.S. Open in 2008. He’s seeking to become the first British man since 1936 to win a Grand Slam title.
As it is, Murray is only the seventh man in the Open era to reach at least the semifinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single season. Three of the others are Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.
Trying to push Murray to a fifth set, Isner got the fourth into a tiebreaker, where his serving is usually a significant advantage.
Not this time.
Isner’s play was littered with mistakes down the stretch. He double-faulted to trail 2-1, slapped what he later called a “gimme volley” into the net to make it 5-2, put a drop shot into the net for 6-2, then missed a forehand return on match point, ending things after 3 hours, 24 minutes.
“He put a ton of pressure on me,” Murray said. “It was a relief to win that fourth-set ‘breaker.”
Sunday, August 14, 2011
dia day: 'No excuses' for not winning at Michigan
Michigan football coach Brady Hoke will not give an inch.
Even though there is an overhaul of the offense and defense and a new coaching staff, he has embraced U-M’s tradition and won’t let it go.
At today’s U-M media day, he was asked how long a turnaround will take.
"This is Michigan; there aren’t going to be any excuses,” he said. “If we don't win the Big Ten championship, we failed these kids as coaches."
He’ll put players through three days of two-a-day practices, capped by a Saturday scrimmage.
“We’re going to see adversity,” Hoke said. “Every team has adversity during the course of a season, during the course of a game. We’re going to have some adversity because we’re demanding and there’s an expectation how you show up in this building and we’re going to see if they can handle that. It’s just a struggle, part of fall camp. It’s got to be hard.
“We’re going to scrimmage pretty good there in six days, on Saturday, put them in a lot of different situations and see how we respond.”
The majority of his time has focused on the defense, which is his specialty.
That might not be a positive for the players at this point.
“I don’t think we’ve played to the standard that’s going to be acceptable to this point,” he said. “We need to be more physical at the point of attack, we need to have an urgency … We have to have a mentality of how we want to attack the football. It’s coming, but it’s not where you want to have it.”
That urgency can be coached and he has no expectation to accept anything less than he wants.
If not, he said there will be a price.
“If we accept them not to get to the football, if we’re not chasing them, if we’re not doing what we need as coaches, you accept a lack of urgency,” Hoke said. “We’re not accepting that. That’s not how we’re going to play defense. It’s a culture you’ve got to always stay on top of. If guys don’t play that way, don’t practice that way, we’re not going to play them. We’ll take (only) 23 kids on defense and go play games.”
Monday, August 8, 2011
Keselowski sprints to win in Poconos
Brad Keselowski raced all 500 miles of Sunday's Sprint Cup stop at Pocono Raceway with a broken left ankle.
As if that wasn't enough, he somehow managed to win.
Competing with a brace on his ankle, Keselowski sped off on the final restart late in the race to pick up his second victory Cheap Custom Jerseys of the season. He gingerly climbed out of his car to celebrate with his crew in Victory Lane.
"It doesn't feel good, but I'll be all right," he said.
Keselowski was an unlikely winner after he crashed head-on into a wall on Wednesday during a test session at Road Atlanta. He slammed a section of wall at 100 mph and was forced out of the Nationwide Series race.
He insisted during practice this weekend he wouldn't leave the No. 2 Dodge, no matter how much pain he was in.
Wasn't necessary. Keselowski had some rest during a 1 hour, 40-minute rain delay.
"I was amazed he raced the full race," third-place finisher Kurt Busch said.
Keselowski's victory thrust him into prime position to claim one of two wild-card spots available for the Chase for the championship. The top two drivers with the most victories in 11th to 20th place earn a wild-card spot for the playoffs.
Keselowski, in 18th place, is the only one of the wild-card contenders with two victories. Only five races remain until the field is set. The top 10 drivers in the points standings automatically qualify.
Kyle Busch was second, Jimmie Johnson fourth and Ryan Newman fifth.
Kurt Busch and Johnson had a heated exchange after the race because of some last-lap contact and had to be separated by their crews. The star drivers took turns bumping into each other on the final lap. Busch said it was simply hard racing and Johnson, the five-time defending Cup champion, overreacted.
"You want to race, let's race," Busch said. "I raced him smart, raced him clean, and he wants to come back here and (complain) about it. Why can't we race each other like this and put on a show for the fans?"
There was a racing tripleheader after rain halted the Trucks Series race on Saturday and wiped out the ARCA race. Kevin Harvick won the Trucks race, Ty Dillon took ARCA and Keselowski capped it all with his gutsy performance.
"There are moments in our sport that need to be documented as an `Iron Man' type of day," Kurt Busch said. "It's amazing what the body can do."
Rain hit Pocono hard the last two days and when the red flag came on lap 125, Joey Logano had the lead. He took a break in soccer jerseys the ESPN broadcast booth where he was asked if he wanted the rain to stop or keep coming.
"I think it's a dumb question," he said.
Logano faded hard and finished 26th. Points leader Carl Edwards, who signed a multiyear extension with Roush Fenway Racing, was seventh.
Once the rain stopped, Kyle Busch build a sizable lead until it was wiped out on a final caution.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
49ers, WR Edwards agree to 1-year deal
Wide receiver Braylon Edwards agreed Thursday to a one-year, $3.5 million US contract with the San Francisco 49ers.
Edwards' agent, Ben Dogra, confirmed the deal to The Associated Press, less than an hour before San Francisco's free agents could take the field for the first time under new coach Jim Harbaugh — who, like Edwards, is a former Michigan man.
The Niners made an announcement about getting Edwards shortly after practice started.
Yet Edwards also tweeted that he agreed to a deal with the 49ers, who will certainly count on the playmaking wideout to make an immediate contribution for a franchise that hasn't had a winning record or reached the playoffs since 2002.
Michael Crabtree is sidelined at the start of training camp for the third straight year, nursing a left foot injury sustained during offseason workouts that has him sporting a walking boot.
"It's official," Edwards said. "We have moved to Dallas Cowboys the bay. I'm a proud member of the San Francisco 49ers."
Dogra was hopeful his client would be on the field alongside quarterback Alex Smith and the rest of the Niners' offence for the first workout Thursday if everything was finalized in time.
The 28-year-old Edwards had 53 receptions for 904 yards and seven touchdowns last season in his second year with the New York Jets. He spent his first five NFL seasons with Cleveland.
"He's really excited about the offence with Jim Harbaugh," Dogra said. "He has a legitimate chance to play early and often. He's looking for a fresh start and felt good about his conversations with Coach Harbaugh and [general manager] Trent Baalke. That's what made the biggest difference for him. If he does well, hopefully there's an opportunity to prolong his career there."
Safety Donte Whitner also said on Twitter that he has joined San Francisco, then sent a tweet to Edwards.
"Bray I signed there today also...let's get a RING!"
The 26-year-old Whitner, the eighth overall pick out of Ohio State in 2006, ranked fifth in the NFL with 140 tackles last season for Buffalo and also had one forced fumble, an interception and half a sack. He apparently had been close to signing with the Cincinnati Bengals.
With the addition of Edwards, the Niners now have the No. 1 (Smith), No. 3 (Edwards) and No. 9 (cornerback Carlos Rogers) overall picks from the '05 draft.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Rory McIlory fires 65, leads U.S. Open by 3
Rory McIlroy didn't take long to show that his Masters meltdown two months ago didn't leave any major scars.
Four birdies in the first 10 holes – starting on Congressional Country Club's tougher nine – carried the 22-year-old pro to another strong first-round run in a major. By the end, a 6-under-par 65 was good for a three-stroke lead over his nearest pursuit.
"I felt very comfortable," McIlroy said. "It doesn't feel like a typical U.S. Open, for some reason. The golf course is going to get harder and going to get trickier, but I think it's quite fair."
McIlroy opened last year's British Open with a 63, matching the record for a major championship, and led the Masters after a first-round 65. A couple of major champions head the chase pack – current Masters titleholder Charl Schwartzel and former PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang, both with 68s.
"It's always easier to be in front than to be chasing," said Yang, who famously became the first man to chase down Tiger Woods in a major when he did it two years ago at Hazeltine.
British Open titleholder Louis Oosthuizen was another shot back, overcoming a bogey/bogey start to head an international six-pack of players who posted 69s. He was joined by Spain's Sergio Garcia, Brazil's Alex Rocha, Australia's Scott Hend, South Korea's K.T. Kim and American Ryan Palmer.
Early-day drizzle gave way to mostly cloudy skies at Congressional, encouraging players to take aim at more birdies. Even so, the average score through the first wave of players was 73.9.
"No one's going crazy," said defending champion Graeme McDowell, five shots back after an opening 70. "The pins were really generous in places and no one's really going deep."
Well, except McIlroy. The Northern Ireland lad hardly sniffed the threat of bogey all day, missing just one green – and saving par from a bunker at No.14.
It was a far cry from his most recent nine in a major – started when a wild drive at Augusta National's No.10 sent him crashing out of the Masters lead with a triple bogey. A bogey and double bogey followed – giving back six shots to par in three holes.
"You just move on; that's all you can do," the Ulsterman said earlier in the week. "It's not the end of the world. You analyze it, you pick things from it what you think you could have done better. And when you get yourself into that position again, you try and put those things that you want to do better into practice."
It promised to be a far better day than any of the top three players in the world rankings. Playing in the same threesome, No.1 Luke Donald, No.2 Lee Westwood and No.3 Martin Kaymer combined to shoot 10-over par.
"It just didn't work out," said Westwood, whose 4-over 75 was the worst of the bunch. "We'll shoot better scores tomorrow, hopefully."
Donald and Kaymer each carded 75s.
"We're just hoping for a better score tomorrow," Kaymer said. "Luke's always a very consistent player - fairways, greens. But he was struggling a little bit, Lee was struggling. We couldn't get anything going."
Westwood said: "It's just not a very good score - and [birdies were] there for the taking. ... I thought the golf course was in great shape. I thought somebody could go out and shoot 66."
Tiger Woods is sitting out this week, remaining home in Orlando to let an ailing left knee and Achilles tendon heal. He has played just nine competitive holes since the Masters, withdrawing midway through his opening round at The Players Championship.
It's also the first major Woods has missed since the 2008 British Open and PGA after he underwent reconstructive surgery on the left knee. He hadn't missed a USGA championship since his 1991 debut at the U.S. Junior Amateur.
Four birdies in the first 10 holes – starting on Congressional Country Club's tougher nine – carried the 22-year-old pro to another strong first-round run in a major. By the end, a 6-under-par 65 was good for a three-stroke lead over his nearest pursuit.
"I felt very comfortable," McIlroy said. "It doesn't feel like a typical U.S. Open, for some reason. The golf course is going to get harder and going to get trickier, but I think it's quite fair."
McIlroy opened last year's British Open with a 63, matching the record for a major championship, and led the Masters after a first-round 65. A couple of major champions head the chase pack – current Masters titleholder Charl Schwartzel and former PGA Championship winner Y.E. Yang, both with 68s.
"It's always easier to be in front than to be chasing," said Yang, who famously became the first man to chase down Tiger Woods in a major when he did it two years ago at Hazeltine.
British Open titleholder Louis Oosthuizen was another shot back, overcoming a bogey/bogey start to head an international six-pack of players who posted 69s. He was joined by Spain's Sergio Garcia, Brazil's Alex Rocha, Australia's Scott Hend, South Korea's K.T. Kim and American Ryan Palmer.
Early-day drizzle gave way to mostly cloudy skies at Congressional, encouraging players to take aim at more birdies. Even so, the average score through the first wave of players was 73.9.
"No one's going crazy," said defending champion Graeme McDowell, five shots back after an opening 70. "The pins were really generous in places and no one's really going deep."
Well, except McIlroy. The Northern Ireland lad hardly sniffed the threat of bogey all day, missing just one green – and saving par from a bunker at No.14.
It was a far cry from his most recent nine in a major – started when a wild drive at Augusta National's No.10 sent him crashing out of the Masters lead with a triple bogey. A bogey and double bogey followed – giving back six shots to par in three holes.
"You just move on; that's all you can do," the Ulsterman said earlier in the week. "It's not the end of the world. You analyze it, you pick things from it what you think you could have done better. And when you get yourself into that position again, you try and put those things that you want to do better into practice."
It promised to be a far better day than any of the top three players in the world rankings. Playing in the same threesome, No.1 Luke Donald, No.2 Lee Westwood and No.3 Martin Kaymer combined to shoot 10-over par.
"It just didn't work out," said Westwood, whose 4-over 75 was the worst of the bunch. "We'll shoot better scores tomorrow, hopefully."
Donald and Kaymer each carded 75s.
"We're just hoping for a better score tomorrow," Kaymer said. "Luke's always a very consistent player - fairways, greens. But he was struggling a little bit, Lee was struggling. We couldn't get anything going."
Westwood said: "It's just not a very good score - and [birdies were] there for the taking. ... I thought the golf course was in great shape. I thought somebody could go out and shoot 66."
Tiger Woods is sitting out this week, remaining home in Orlando to let an ailing left knee and Achilles tendon heal. He has played just nine competitive holes since the Masters, withdrawing midway through his opening round at The Players Championship.
It's also the first major Woods has missed since the 2008 British Open and PGA after he underwent reconstructive surgery on the left knee. He hadn't missed a USGA championship since his 1991 debut at the U.S. Junior Amateur.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
NFL, NFLPA negotiators making some progress
Negotiations completed for the day and likely the week, NFL owners are setting sights on their upcoming meeting in Chicago. Many players are looking beyond then — with optimism — toward getting back to work.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and several owners completed two days of talks Wednesday with NFL Players Association chief DeMaurice Smith and a group of players in Maryland. A person with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press that the two sides have been making progress at several such meetings in the last three weeks.
The person, who spoke anonymously because details cheap jerseys of the discussions aren't supposed to be made public, also said a new collective bargaining agreement is not imminent.
Nonetheless, several players expressed confidence that a deal will get done soon and training camps will open on time late in July.
“I know that we've been talking pretty extensively over the last few weeks,” said New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, one of 10 players whose names are on an antitrust lawsuit against the league. “It seems like things are moving in the right direction, which is very positive. It's what we always hoped for as players because obviously we're getting to crunch time here.”
Close enough to it.
Although no deadlines have been set for the opening of camps, the 32 teams soon must decide whether to delay them, particularly those clubs that stage a portion of camp out of town. Settling early in July almost certainly would provide for full training camps at previously planned locations, although the Minnesota Vikings have said they could delay until July 18 an announcement on whether they will train at their usual site in Mankato.
“I think everyone kind of has that feeling, that this thing's starting to end,” said Bengals tackle Andrew Whitworth, the team's player representative. “I feel like that's the attitude that everybody has, and you can see everybody preparing that way.
“When you look at the timeline for both sides, it starts to get real serious around this time.”
The lockout is in its fourth month. During that time, there have been mediation sessions, court actions in Minnesota and Missouri, and clandestine meetings between Goodell and Smith, a handful of owners and players. Some of those talks have included lawyers on both sides, some haven't.
Such sessions have been critical in past NFL negotiations, dating to the 1980s.
Brees said to be wary of reports that specific portions of a framework for a new CBA are completed.
“Little steps is good. ... I think the gap is being narrowed in a lot of different areas,” he said. “It's hard to give any kind of prediction at this point, so any percentages that are thrown out there by unknown sources is something that, you can't necessarily believe everything you hear. But there is progress and that's a good thing.”
Movement toward an agreement is in both sides' best interest after a federal appeals court judge warned the owners and players they might not like the upcoming decisions in legal actions sparked by the lockout. Indeed, the court could delay any rulings if a new CBA appears to be near.
If a deal were struck, a free agency period would follow soon after, along with the signing of undrafted rookies. Teams would hold minicamps, which have been put off by the lockout that began March 12.
The labour impasse also has cost the league and some teams advertising and sponsorship money, and some players have not collected workout bonuses. At least seven teams have instituted pay cuts or furloughs of employees who are not players.
The economic pain may not be over. The dealmaking could all come crashing down if one side decides compromise is not in its interest.
“Much can still go wrong — every negotiating session is unique to itself,” said Don Yee, who represents Tom Brady and is an adjunct law professor at USC. “Just because one day was good doesn't mean the next day will be, too.”
That the lockout has lasted this long is frustrating to at least one player.
“In all honesty, being a professional now in an industry that's as big as the NFL is, it's kind of embarrassing that we're even in a lockout,” said Bengals running back Cedric Benson, who will be a free agent once a new CBA is in place. “And having to go through these things and having to come to (the University of Cincinnati) campus and work out and not having a trainer. It's slightly embarrassing, but it is what it is and I have no control over those type of things.
“But it is comforting to hear those guys coming up with a solution.”
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Game 6 sets CBC hockey ratings record
The CBC says Monday's Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final between Vancouver and Boston was the network's highest-ever rated NHL game.
The game, which saw the Bruins defeat the Canucks 5-2 to tie the series 3-3, averaged an audience of 6.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched NHL broadcast in CBC history, the network said.
The introduction of a new measuring system in September 2009 has seen sports TV ratings skyrocket in Canada.
The game peaked at 8.1 million viewers near the end of the first period and reached a total of 16.2 million viewers — the most ever for the final on CBC.
This is the first Stanley Cup final featuring a Canadian team since the Ottawa Senators played the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.
Game 7 of the series goes Wednesday night in Vancouver.
The game, which saw the Bruins defeat the Canucks 5-2 to tie the series 3-3, averaged an audience of 6.6 million viewers, making it the most-watched NHL broadcast in CBC history, the network said.
The introduction of a new measuring system in September 2009 has seen sports TV ratings skyrocket in Canada.
The game peaked at 8.1 million viewers near the end of the first period and reached a total of 16.2 million viewers — the most ever for the final on CBC.
This is the first Stanley Cup final featuring a Canadian team since the Ottawa Senators played the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.
Game 7 of the series goes Wednesday night in Vancouver.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Long on talent, short on execution
Talent gets you only so far. The rest is up to execution.This much was painfully clear for the Miami Heat in Game 6. The game of basketball is played on 94 feet of hardwood. It is not played on a preseason stage full of pyrotechnics. It is not played in a cloud of hype.
Put away the MVP trophies. Toss out the All-Star appearances. Forget the ring count.
Ultimately, to win the elusive championship, a team must simply play better basketball over the course of a seven-game series, and the Heat failed in that endeavor.
Why did the Heat lose to the Mavericks in the Finals?
The truth is in the details. With a top-heavy roster, the Heat were long on talent, but short on execution.
“They played great, we came up short, and that's really it,” Chris Bosh said after the game.
They came up short. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra used that phrase four times during his postgame presser, with each echo underlining the sobering fact that his team failed to reach its goal of winning the title. Spoelstra stressed all season that the Heat needed to execute their game plan and stay focused on the task at hand, or else they’d fall short.
And on Sunday, they didn’t just fall short. They looked completely lost in the confines of their home arena. It genuinely appeared as if Sunday was the first time the Heat had played together on a basketball court. They dribbled the ball off their own feet, passed it to the ankles of their teammates, and jumped in the air without a purpose. There was no precision, decisiveness or polish.
All the work they put in since training camp at the military base, all the chemistry that Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Bosh seemed to build during the regular season, all the poise we witnessed down the stretch against Chicago and Boston -- all of that disappeared before the millions who watched Game 6. We expected their bubbling talent to rise to the top. Instead, it vanished into thin air.
“The habits that we built all season long would suggest that how we played at times during this series was very uncharacteristic,” Spoelstra said. “That's not how we played during the season, and that certainly wasn't the way we played in the first three rounds.”
Spoelstra then diplomatically tipped his cap to the Mavericks.
“A large part of this [struggle] would probably be the competition,” Spoelstra said. “Yes, we will beat ourselves up about so many things we could have done better. But ultimately, that's what this stage is about. And sometimes as tough as it is to admit, sometimes you get beat by a team that it was their time.”
Of all the statistics printed on the page of the box score, none of them carried more weight than the 17 turnovers tallied by the Heat. The miscues alone dragged on the Heat’s offense, but the crushing blow was the fact that the 17 turnovers -- including six by James and five by Wade -- led to 27 Mavericks points.
Let’s start with James. We’re not psychologists so it’s not worth trying to speculate what’s going on between his ears. We can only talk about what we saw -- and boy, was it a train wreck.
One of the most head-shaking moments of the game came with 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter and the Heat down by five. Jason Terry had just missed a 3-pointer. Mike Miller handed the ball to James after pulling down the rebound. James took possession and started dribbling up the court. As James made his first couple trots down the floor, DeShawn Stevenson stepped up to defend James in the backcourt and to put some light pressure on him. But as soon as Stevenson got in his crouch in front of James, the two-time MVP panicked, immediately picked up his dribble and passed the ball to Miller.
The only problem? Miller wasn’t looking. He had already put his head down and started jogging down the court, but James decided to pass to Miller anyway. The ball subsequently bounced off Miller’s heels behind him. Miller had no idea that James had passed it to him until the ball ricocheted off his shoes. Stevenson picked up the loose ball behind the Mavericks 3-point line and drained a 3-spot on the Heat as James helplessly looked on underneath the Mavericks' basket.
It was just one of James’ mind-boggling errors in Game 6, but it illustrated how even the slightest sign of pressure swallowed him whole. James may be 6-foot-8 but he remains one of the best ball handlers in the game, but that moment spoke volumes about how James appeared like a different player on this Finals stage.
James barely penetrated into the paint, but when he did manage to pierce the Dallas defense, he inexplicably passed out at the first touch of resistance in the lane. That led to turnovers too. This was not the same James we were accustomed to seeing muscle his way through multiple defenders and propel himself to the rim like a wrecking ball.
No, James actively avoided contact. Instead of taking it to the rack, he dished it to Juwan Howard -- Juwan Howard! – on multiple occasions in the lane in the second half. James took four free throws during the entire game, and he was lucky to rack up that many considering how timid he looked with the ball.
Of course, Wade wasn’t much better. The Heat can survive if one of the members of the dynamic duo has an off game, but not both. Wade had five turnovers of his own, two coming in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Down seven points with just under 10 minutes left, Wade let Terry strip him 40 feet away from the basket. Turnover, going the other way.
A couple possessions later, Wade lost focus and straight-up dribbled the ball off his foot out of bounds. Wade was supposed to represent the steady hand of a guy who’s been there before, but he was no less shaky than James.
And Bosh? Almost all of those backbreaking offensive rebounds by the Mavericks in the fourth quarter occurred because Bosh failed to either box out his man or get his hand on a live ball. All those Tyson Chandler tip-outs? That was Bosh’s guy. Each one of those offensive rebounds was Bosh’s ball to lose.
Sure, Bosh could have probably used a couple more touches on offense -- he recorded only nine shot attempts from the floor -- but he let Chandler beat him to the ball at the worst possible moments.
The Big Three came up short. The most talented trio in the NBA totaled 57 points in an elimination game at home, 10 points fewer than their average in the postseason.
Playing on their home court, Wade, Bosh and James were upstaged by the Mavericks in nearly every facet on the game. The fluid cohesion that we expected to see from the Big Three on the big stage? Nowhere to be found.
The NBA is not a fantasy league. This will be a lasting message of the Heat’s 2010-11 season. You can’t just assemble a talented trio, add up all the individual stats, and start collecting the rings. Basketball is more complicated and more nuanced than that.
For all the hours of highlight reels that the Heat accumulated over the course of the season, the Big Three will remember other things. James will be haunted by all the times he couldn’t puncture the Mavericks' defense. Wade will run through all the shots that he missed and the balls that he coughed up down the stretch. Bosh won’t forget all the rebounds that Chandler stole from his grasp.
You can have all the talent in the world, but the chemistry and execution matters most.
“It’s like a puzzle,” Wade explained after the game. “And their pieces came together a little bit better than ours at the end.”
After the first trial of the NBA's great experiment, the puzzle is still waiting to be solved.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Jeter to become first in pinstripes to 3,000 hits
The 3,000 Hit Club is an elite group of baseball's greats. Musial. Ripken. Cobb. Mays. Not one of the 27, though, joined while wearing a Yankees uniform.
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig never did it. Neither did Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle. Same for Bernie Williams and Don Mattingly. There's an All-Star roll call of Yankees who came up short for reasons that include illness, injury, wartime service and, frankly, not being wanted any longer in win-now New York.
No. 2 from Kalamazoo is about to change that.
Sometime in the next week or so, Derek Jeter will hold up his right hand to ask the plate umpire for time, give his bat one more ritualistic twirl and then, perhaps take an iconic inside-out swing and send another liner to right field to become the 28th player - and first in four years - to reach the magic number.
Entering the season needing 74 hits for 3,000, this spring was supposed to be more or less a victory lap for the 36-year-old team captain. Instead, it's maybe been the most trying stretch in a charmed career, that after six hitless at-bats, began with a single off Seattle's Tim Belcher on May 30, 1995.
Jeter goes into this week seven away.
"We've always tried to keep things in a positive perspective - that doesn't mean we're not realistic," said Charles Jeter, Derek's dad. "One of the things I admire in my son is the fact that he's able to not dwell on things and to say, 'I'm not going to talk about it' and move on."
The kid from Michigan's ability to "move on" certainly has helped him unlike many other Yankees who played for the blustery George Steinbrenner in media-saturated New York.
Hall of Famers Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson and Wade Boggs all played in pinstripes before they reached 3,000. In fact, only one Yankees player has gotten a hit after getting there - Paul Waner's last hit, No. 3,152, came during a seven at-bat stint with them in the mid-1940s.
Winfield was one of those players run out of town despite going to eight straight All-Star games in nearly a decade in the Bronx. He is all too familiar with the pitfalls of playing in New York and thinks it's the toughest place to play, which could help explain why no Yankee has reached the milestone.
"I would say it is, just because you have to really focus on playing ball each day more than anywhere else. So if you struggle along the way it could be difficult," said Winfield, an ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst. "They even gave Derek some grief early in the season."
Jeter has managed to stay above the fray for most of his 16-plus consistently stellar seasons - when Steinbrenner criticized him for partying, the owner and young star turned the spat into a lighthearted TV commercial.
Jeter did face the dark side of the organization this winter. General manager Brian Cashman challenged him to find a better offer during contentious contract negotiations that ended in a new three-year deal with a player's option.
Those surprisingly public talks were only the beginning. After hitting a career-low .270 last year, Jeter fiddled with his swing. As he slumped to a .219 average on April 20, he faced relentless scrutiny.
Just when the 11-time All-Star shortstop started looking more confident at the plate after abandoning an attempt at a no-stride swing, Jeter got caught in the middle of Jorge Posada's meltdown. The catcher-turned-designated hitter was dropped to No. 9 in the batting order and once again, Jeter was in the place he tries to avoid nearly as much as losing: the middle of turmoil.
"For a while we weren't even talking about baseball around here, so you can't enjoy anything when you're not talking about baseball," Jeter said.
Still through it all, there was Jeter joking at the cage during batting practice or chatting up a young fan while in the on-deck circle.
"I'm pretty sure he just thinks about going out there and winning a ballgame and everything takes care of itself," said Posada, a longtime friend and teammate. "He keeps everything away, the negativity he puts it behind. He's very good at what he does and he's been doing it for a long time so that helps."
Sure, his .259 average doesn't approach his career .312 mark, but Jeter has reached base in 22 of the 25 games since standing up for Posada. In Oakland, he passed Henderson's franchise record for most steals with his 327th.
Sports talk hosts, columnists and scouts may clamor that two weeks shy of his 37th birthday, Jeter is washed up as a star, but his No. 2 jersey is the No. 1 seller with fans. He's only 1 1/2 seasons removed from a fifth World Series title, winning the Roberto Clemente Award and being chosen as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year - first Yankees player to earn that honor, too.
"I think the way he's gone about his business, with consistency and just as a professional, being just stubborn enough to be great. He's been a joy to watch," Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said. "He's everybody's favorite player."
Confident, respectful and as graceful as one of his jump throws from the hole, Jeter won four World Series championships in his first five years. He's noted for playing with a team-first, win-at-all-cost attitude - remember the catch and bloody dive into the stands against Boston.
"He respects the game, he does everything the right way," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "I'm a huge fan of his except for when he's hitting."
Major League Baseball plans to have a representative in attendance when Jeter reaches the mark, and at least a dozen licenses for gear commemorating the event will be issued. Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation is marking the occasion with DJ3K bracelets, and the Hall of Fame has talked to him about acquiring game-used mementoes from the day.
"Three thousand hits is pretty good," Yankees great Yogi Berra said in an e-mail. "But I think Jeter cares more about winning than the other stuff."
Always preferring to deflect attention away from himself and onto his teammates, Jeter has been reluctant to talk about the pursuit. He has said he does feel pressure to reach the mark at home, as he did in 2009 when he passed Gehrig for most career hits as a Yankee.
"I'd be lying to you if I told you I haven't been thinking about it," Jeter said after moving within seven hits Sunday. "It's impossible for that not to be in your head, because I'm around that all the time."
Winfield said the Minnesota Twins held him out of the lineup on the road several times, something he understood but wasn't happy about, in order for the University of Minnesota star to notch the historic hit in front of his hometown fans.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi is doing everything he can to keep Jeter in the lineup before he club begins a road trip to Chicago and Cincinnati on June 17.
Returning home from a West Coast trip needing 14 hits in 10 games, Jeter has gone 7 for 28 (.250) in the first six.
Craig Biggio, the last to reach 3,000 in June 2007, understands how those last few can be the hardest.
"I was just grinding and working and not thinking about the number and just going out there playing and trying to win baseball games," the former Houston star said. "Then you get your hits along the way, scratch some off and finally get there. It's an exciting time."
When he does add Mr. 3,000 to the list of nicknames he's earned - Captain Clutch, Mr. November - Jeter will be in some good company, at least until his next hit. He will tie Roberto Clemente, whose namesake award he won for excellence on the field and service off it in 2009.
"That's quite a welcome to the club," Charles Jeter said. "Not only in terms of baseball accomplishments but for his legacy."
Once thought to have a chance at becoming just the third player with 4,000 hits, a more realistic number may be 3,500 - only five have done that.
"That's ways off," Winfield said. "There's a lot that can happen."
AP Sports Writers Tim Booth in Seattle, Josh Dubow in Oakland, Calif., Mike Fitzpatrick in New York and Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.
Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig never did it. Neither did Joe DiMaggio or Mickey Mantle. Same for Bernie Williams and Don Mattingly. There's an All-Star roll call of Yankees who came up short for reasons that include illness, injury, wartime service and, frankly, not being wanted any longer in win-now New York.
No. 2 from Kalamazoo is about to change that.
Sometime in the next week or so, Derek Jeter will hold up his right hand to ask the plate umpire for time, give his bat one more ritualistic twirl and then, perhaps take an iconic inside-out swing and send another liner to right field to become the 28th player - and first in four years - to reach the magic number.
Entering the season needing 74 hits for 3,000, this spring was supposed to be more or less a victory lap for the 36-year-old team captain. Instead, it's maybe been the most trying stretch in a charmed career, that after six hitless at-bats, began with a single off Seattle's Tim Belcher on May 30, 1995.
Jeter goes into this week seven away.
"We've always tried to keep things in a positive perspective - that doesn't mean we're not realistic," said Charles Jeter, Derek's dad. "One of the things I admire in my son is the fact that he's able to not dwell on things and to say, 'I'm not going to talk about it' and move on."
The kid from Michigan's ability to "move on" certainly has helped him unlike many other Yankees who played for the blustery George Steinbrenner in media-saturated New York.
Hall of Famers Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson and Wade Boggs all played in pinstripes before they reached 3,000. In fact, only one Yankees player has gotten a hit after getting there - Paul Waner's last hit, No. 3,152, came during a seven at-bat stint with them in the mid-1940s.
Winfield was one of those players run out of town despite going to eight straight All-Star games in nearly a decade in the Bronx. He is all too familiar with the pitfalls of playing in New York and thinks it's the toughest place to play, which could help explain why no Yankee has reached the milestone.
"I would say it is, just because you have to really focus on playing ball each day more than anywhere else. So if you struggle along the way it could be difficult," said Winfield, an ESPN Baseball Tonight analyst. "They even gave Derek some grief early in the season."
Jeter has managed to stay above the fray for most of his 16-plus consistently stellar seasons - when Steinbrenner criticized him for partying, the owner and young star turned the spat into a lighthearted TV commercial.
Jeter did face the dark side of the organization this winter. General manager Brian Cashman challenged him to find a better offer during contentious contract negotiations that ended in a new three-year deal with a player's option.
Those surprisingly public talks were only the beginning. After hitting a career-low .270 last year, Jeter fiddled with his swing. As he slumped to a .219 average on April 20, he faced relentless scrutiny.
Just when the 11-time All-Star shortstop started looking more confident at the plate after abandoning an attempt at a no-stride swing, Jeter got caught in the middle of Jorge Posada's meltdown. The catcher-turned-designated hitter was dropped to No. 9 in the batting order and once again, Jeter was in the place he tries to avoid nearly as much as losing: the middle of turmoil.
"For a while we weren't even talking about baseball around here, so you can't enjoy anything when you're not talking about baseball," Jeter said.
Still through it all, there was Jeter joking at the cage during batting practice or chatting up a young fan while in the on-deck circle.
"I'm pretty sure he just thinks about going out there and winning a ballgame and everything takes care of itself," said Posada, a longtime friend and teammate. "He keeps everything away, the negativity he puts it behind. He's very good at what he does and he's been doing it for a long time so that helps."
Sure, his .259 average doesn't approach his career .312 mark, but Jeter has reached base in 22 of the 25 games since standing up for Posada. In Oakland, he passed Henderson's franchise record for most steals with his 327th.
Sports talk hosts, columnists and scouts may clamor that two weeks shy of his 37th birthday, Jeter is washed up as a star, but his No. 2 jersey is the No. 1 seller with fans. He's only 1 1/2 seasons removed from a fifth World Series title, winning the Roberto Clemente Award and being chosen as Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year - first Yankees player to earn that honor, too.
"I think the way he's gone about his business, with consistency and just as a professional, being just stubborn enough to be great. He's been a joy to watch," Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson said. "He's everybody's favorite player."
Confident, respectful and as graceful as one of his jump throws from the hole, Jeter won four World Series championships in his first five years. He's noted for playing with a team-first, win-at-all-cost attitude - remember the catch and bloody dive into the stands against Boston.
"He respects the game, he does everything the right way," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "I'm a huge fan of his except for when he's hitting."
Major League Baseball plans to have a representative in attendance when Jeter reaches the mark, and at least a dozen licenses for gear commemorating the event will be issued. Jeter's Turn 2 Foundation is marking the occasion with DJ3K bracelets, and the Hall of Fame has talked to him about acquiring game-used mementoes from the day.
"Three thousand hits is pretty good," Yankees great Yogi Berra said in an e-mail. "But I think Jeter cares more about winning than the other stuff."
Always preferring to deflect attention away from himself and onto his teammates, Jeter has been reluctant to talk about the pursuit. He has said he does feel pressure to reach the mark at home, as he did in 2009 when he passed Gehrig for most career hits as a Yankee.
"I'd be lying to you if I told you I haven't been thinking about it," Jeter said after moving within seven hits Sunday. "It's impossible for that not to be in your head, because I'm around that all the time."
Winfield said the Minnesota Twins held him out of the lineup on the road several times, something he understood but wasn't happy about, in order for the University of Minnesota star to notch the historic hit in front of his hometown fans.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi is doing everything he can to keep Jeter in the lineup before he club begins a road trip to Chicago and Cincinnati on June 17.
Returning home from a West Coast trip needing 14 hits in 10 games, Jeter has gone 7 for 28 (.250) in the first six.
Craig Biggio, the last to reach 3,000 in June 2007, understands how those last few can be the hardest.
"I was just grinding and working and not thinking about the number and just going out there playing and trying to win baseball games," the former Houston star said. "Then you get your hits along the way, scratch some off and finally get there. It's an exciting time."
When he does add Mr. 3,000 to the list of nicknames he's earned - Captain Clutch, Mr. November - Jeter will be in some good company, at least until his next hit. He will tie Roberto Clemente, whose namesake award he won for excellence on the field and service off it in 2009.
"That's quite a welcome to the club," Charles Jeter said. "Not only in terms of baseball accomplishments but for his legacy."
Once thought to have a chance at becoming just the third player with 4,000 hits, a more realistic number may be 3,500 - only five have done that.
"That's ways off," Winfield said. "There's a lot that can happen."
AP Sports Writers Tim Booth in Seattle, Josh Dubow in Oakland, Calif., Mike Fitzpatrick in New York and Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Yankees RHP Chamberlain to Have Tommy John Surgery
Yankees reliever Joba Chamberlain is scheduled to have season-ending Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow next week.
Chamberlain has a torn ligament in his right elbow and is expected to be sidelined for at least a year. Noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews will perform the procedure Thursday in Pensacola, Fla.
"It's easy to deal with. I know I'm going to get better, and it's not life or death," Chamberlain said. "I'm just happy cheap jerseys that I can fix it and come back and be stronger for it and hopefully have a long career."
In other injury news affecting the Yankees, catcher Russell Martin was out of the lineup for the third straight game Friday night against Cleveland because of a stiff back. Francisco Cervelli was behind the plate, and Martin said there's a "good chance" he'll be ready to play Sunday.
"That's what we're hoping," he said.
Martin had an MRI on Thursday and the results were negative. He said his back was feeling better and he plans to hit and throw Saturday.
"Still a little bit of discomfort, but compared to the first couple days, it's night and day," Martin said.
With his No. 1 catcher out, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said designated hitter Jorge Posada could move behind the plate in a pinch. Posada spent the past 14 years catching for New York, but lost that job after last season.
"If we're using him, as I said, it'll be an emergency situation," Girardi said. "My hope is he hasn't forgotten."
A test Thursday morning revealed Chamberlain's ligament tear. That came one day after the Yankees put the right-hander on the disabled list with a stiff elbow, the latest setback for their injury-depleted bullpen.
Looking for help, New York selected the contract of right-hander Kevin Whelan from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before Friday's game and optioned outfielder Chris Dickerson to its top farm club.
To make room for Whelan on the 40-man roster, Chamberlain was transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.
Chamberlain and the Yankees said they had no idea his injury was so severe when he went for the additional checkup Thursday. The team sent reports to Andrews, discussed the situation with him and surgery was scheduled.
The recovery time for elbow ligament replacement surgery, often referred to as Tommy John surgery in reference to the first patient, is usually listed as 12 to 18 months.
"This is a surgery that a lot of people have, that people understand that you know you can come back from this," Chamberlain said. "Surgery is just one-third of it. The rehab is two-thirds of what's going on. So that is an important part and the most important part. Obviously, the guy doing it I think has done it a few times, so I'm pretty confident that he'll do a good job. But the rest lies on me and making sure that I get back to where I can be and even stronger."
Chamberlain said he has spoken with Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett and others who have had the operation about the long rehab ahead and what to expect.
"Every case is different," he said. "Everybody's body reacts different and everybody handles it different."
The 25-year-old Chamberlain is 2-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 27 games. The Yankees also are missing setup man Rafael Soriano, out with inflammation in his right elbow, and lefty specialist Pedro Feliciano, who has not pitched this year because of a tear in his shoulder.
Chamberlain's father, Harlan, sat in his wheelchair outside the Yankees dugout during batting practice again Friday. The pitcher said his dad was scheduled to be in town until next week.
Chamberlain has a torn ligament in his right elbow and is expected to be sidelined for at least a year. Noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews will perform the procedure Thursday in Pensacola, Fla.
"It's easy to deal with. I know I'm going to get better, and it's not life or death," Chamberlain said. "I'm just happy cheap jerseys that I can fix it and come back and be stronger for it and hopefully have a long career."
In other injury news affecting the Yankees, catcher Russell Martin was out of the lineup for the third straight game Friday night against Cleveland because of a stiff back. Francisco Cervelli was behind the plate, and Martin said there's a "good chance" he'll be ready to play Sunday."That's what we're hoping," he said.
Martin had an MRI on Thursday and the results were negative. He said his back was feeling better and he plans to hit and throw Saturday.
"Still a little bit of discomfort, but compared to the first couple days, it's night and day," Martin said.
With his No. 1 catcher out, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said designated hitter Jorge Posada could move behind the plate in a pinch. Posada spent the past 14 years catching for New York, but lost that job after last season.
"If we're using him, as I said, it'll be an emergency situation," Girardi said. "My hope is he hasn't forgotten."
A test Thursday morning revealed Chamberlain's ligament tear. That came one day after the Yankees put the right-hander on the disabled list with a stiff elbow, the latest setback for their injury-depleted bullpen.
Looking for help, New York selected the contract of right-hander Kevin Whelan from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before Friday's game and optioned outfielder Chris Dickerson to its top farm club.
To make room for Whelan on the 40-man roster, Chamberlain was transferred from the 15-day disabled list to the 60-day DL.
Chamberlain and the Yankees said they had no idea his injury was so severe when he went for the additional checkup Thursday. The team sent reports to Andrews, discussed the situation with him and surgery was scheduled.
The recovery time for elbow ligament replacement surgery, often referred to as Tommy John surgery in reference to the first patient, is usually listed as 12 to 18 months.
"This is a surgery that a lot of people have, that people understand that you know you can come back from this," Chamberlain said. "Surgery is just one-third of it. The rehab is two-thirds of what's going on. So that is an important part and the most important part. Obviously, the guy doing it I think has done it a few times, so I'm pretty confident that he'll do a good job. But the rest lies on me and making sure that I get back to where I can be and even stronger."
Chamberlain said he has spoken with Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett and others who have had the operation about the long rehab ahead and what to expect.
"Every case is different," he said. "Everybody's body reacts different and everybody handles it different."
The 25-year-old Chamberlain is 2-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 27 games. The Yankees also are missing setup man Rafael Soriano, out with inflammation in his right elbow, and lefty specialist Pedro Feliciano, who has not pitched this year because of a tear in his shoulder.
Chamberlain's father, Harlan, sat in his wheelchair outside the Yankees dugout during batting practice again Friday. The pitcher said his dad was scheduled to be in town until next week.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Melvin steps in at right time to save A's
At one point in Moneyball, Michael Lewis quotes an anonymous A's player as saying it wouldn't affect the team at all if then-manager Art Howe was fired.
The manager didn't matter, the player told Lewis. Not with the Billy Beane A's.
Nine years later, the manager does matter. Bob Melvin steps in at the perfect time to prove it.
On Thursday's conference call to announce that Melvin would replace Bob Geren, Beane kept talking about the "challenges" Melvin will face, with four starting pitchers on the disabled list.
"It's the situation Bob inherits," Beane said.
True, but this is also the situation Bob inherits: He takes over a team that was begging for a change. He takes over a clubhouse that Geren had more than lost weeks, months or years ago.
He comes in as the manager who will rescue these players from Bob Geren, which means he couldn't come in at a better time, or in a better place.
"They'll take to him like ducks to water," Phil Garner predicted Thursday afternoon.
Garner should know, because he's been there. Been there with Melvin, who was his bench coach with the Brewers and Tigers, and been there as the guy brought in to rescue a team at midseason.
In 2004, Garner took over a 44-44 Astros team at the All-Star break, when Jimy Williams was fired. Garner's Astros went 48-26 the rest of the way, and came within a win of the World Series. A year later, they went to the World Series.
Garner and Melvin have different personalities, though. Jim Tracy may be a better comparison, but that's fine, too.
Tracy took over the Rockies from Clint Hurdle when they were 18-28 in late May 2009. They went 74-42 the rest of the way, to make the playoffs.
Plenty of other midseason changes haven't worked (including the one the 2009 Diamondbacks made, when they fired Melvin and replaced him with A.J. Hinch). But if there's a team ready to respond to a new voice, this is the one.
And if there's a general manager ready to be convinced that a new manager can make a difference, Beane might be the one.
"Bob's got the rest of this year to make an impact," Beane said, after naming Melvin as the interim manager. "He's got a big job ahead of him. We'll see how it goes. I have a lot of confidence Bob will have a positive impact."
It's not always easy to manage for Beane. It's not going to be easy to turn around a team that has already lost Dallas Braden for the year, and likely won't get Brett Anderson back, either. It's not easy to manage a team that is this offensively challenged, although part of the problem scoring runs may have been that Geren did such a poor job of putting his players in the right spot.
A's players complained about Geren's communication skills, most notably when Brian Fuentes erupted a couple of weeks back in Anaheim.
So it's significant when Garner says that Melvin is a very good communicator.
"Bo does a fabulous job with a pitching staff," Garner said. "And he will communicate."
Melvin has had two previous chances to manage. He replaced Lou Piniella in a difficult situation in Seattle, won 93 games his first year and then lost 99 with an aging club the following year.
He took over for Bob Brenly in 2005 in Arizona, and two years later had the Diamondbacks in the playoffs as the National League West champions. His relationship with his players remained solid even as his relationship with general manager Josh Byrnes deteriorated, eventually leading to Melvin's firing in 2009.
"He's well-respected and very intelligent," Beane said. "He's got a great reputation."
Beane wouldn't say whether he believes Melvin is taking over a team that can or should make a run at the playoffs. He mentioned the injuries when asked if this A's team is good enough to win, saying, "I think we've yet to know that."
I'm not sure they are good enough, but I am fairly certain we were never going to find that out with Bob Geren as the manager.
And I am fairly sure that a manager can make a difference.
Even with the Moneyball A's.
The manager didn't matter, the player told Lewis. Not with the Billy Beane A's.
Nine years later, the manager does matter. Bob Melvin steps in at the perfect time to prove it.
On Thursday's conference call to announce that Melvin would replace Bob Geren, Beane kept talking about the "challenges" Melvin will face, with four starting pitchers on the disabled list.
"It's the situation Bob inherits," Beane said.
True, but this is also the situation Bob inherits: He takes over a team that was begging for a change. He takes over a clubhouse that Geren had more than lost weeks, months or years ago.
He comes in as the manager who will rescue these players from Bob Geren, which means he couldn't come in at a better time, or in a better place.
"They'll take to him like ducks to water," Phil Garner predicted Thursday afternoon.
Garner should know, because he's been there. Been there with Melvin, who was his bench coach with the Brewers and Tigers, and been there as the guy brought in to rescue a team at midseason.
In 2004, Garner took over a 44-44 Astros team at the All-Star break, when Jimy Williams was fired. Garner's Astros went 48-26 the rest of the way, and came within a win of the World Series. A year later, they went to the World Series.
Garner and Melvin have different personalities, though. Jim Tracy may be a better comparison, but that's fine, too.
Tracy took over the Rockies from Clint Hurdle when they were 18-28 in late May 2009. They went 74-42 the rest of the way, to make the playoffs.
Plenty of other midseason changes haven't worked (including the one the 2009 Diamondbacks made, when they fired Melvin and replaced him with A.J. Hinch). But if there's a team ready to respond to a new voice, this is the one.
And if there's a general manager ready to be convinced that a new manager can make a difference, Beane might be the one.
"Bob's got the rest of this year to make an impact," Beane said, after naming Melvin as the interim manager. "He's got a big job ahead of him. We'll see how it goes. I have a lot of confidence Bob will have a positive impact."
It's not always easy to manage for Beane. It's not going to be easy to turn around a team that has already lost Dallas Braden for the year, and likely won't get Brett Anderson back, either. It's not easy to manage a team that is this offensively challenged, although part of the problem scoring runs may have been that Geren did such a poor job of putting his players in the right spot.
A's players complained about Geren's communication skills, most notably when Brian Fuentes erupted a couple of weeks back in Anaheim.
So it's significant when Garner says that Melvin is a very good communicator.
"Bo does a fabulous job with a pitching staff," Garner said. "And he will communicate."
Melvin has had two previous chances to manage. He replaced Lou Piniella in a difficult situation in Seattle, won 93 games his first year and then lost 99 with an aging club the following year.
He took over for Bob Brenly in 2005 in Arizona, and two years later had the Diamondbacks in the playoffs as the National League West champions. His relationship with his players remained solid even as his relationship with general manager Josh Byrnes deteriorated, eventually leading to Melvin's firing in 2009.
"He's well-respected and very intelligent," Beane said. "He's got a great reputation."
Beane wouldn't say whether he believes Melvin is taking over a team that can or should make a run at the playoffs. He mentioned the injuries when asked if this A's team is good enough to win, saying, "I think we've yet to know that."
I'm not sure they are good enough, but I am fairly certain we were never going to find that out with Bob Geren as the manager.
And I am fairly sure that a manager can make a difference.
Even with the Moneyball A's.
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