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Photo by:Steve Franz, LSU Athletics Staff Photographer Men's Basketball Returns to Action Against Mocs Published: December 10, 2012, 07:32 PM (CT) by Kent Lowe (@LSUkent), Sr. Associate SID BATON ROUGE - The 5-0 LSU men's basketball team returns to action after a long break for final exams Tuesday night at 7 p.m. against Chattanooga at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Tigers, one of 14 remaining undefeated D1 teams, will try to avoid the rust of not playing since the rallying win over Seton Hall on Nov. 29 and will also play its first game since the announcement on Friday that point guard Anthony Hickey was "suspended indefinitely from the team for violation of athletic department and university policies." In the media session on Monday, Coach Johnny Jones suggested that both Corban Collins and Andre Stringer will see time at the point guard position moving forward. Collins is a freshman from High Point, N.C., who has seen time at the point with two starts this season, while Stringer, from Jackson, Miss., played as the primary point guard as a freshman in 2009 before playing primarily the two guard in 2010 as a sophomore. He has come off the bench in all five games this season, but has scored in double figures each of the last two games. The contest between the Tigers and the 2-6 Mocs will be regionally televised on Cox Sports TV/CSS and broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net. Tickets for the game can be purchased in advance at LSUtix.net. Those bringing a new toy as a donation for Toys To Tots to the upper concourse ticket windows on game night can purchase a game ticket for just $5. Santa Claus will also be on the course to take pictures with youngsters before the game and at halftime and fans will have a chance to win tickets to the Chick-Fil-A Bowl during the contest. This will be the final home game for the Tigers until after Christmas as LSU will embark on a lengthy three-game road trip that will be taken in two phases. LSU will leave Thursday for a Friday night game at Boise State University. LSU will then leave Boise on Saturday and set up shop in Irvine, Calif., in preparation for a Dec. 18 game with UC-Irvine. The Tigers will return home on Dec. 19. LSU will close out its pre-Christmas schedule with a Dec. 22 game at Marquette in a game that will be televised by ESPNU. The three games are the back part of home-and-home series with LSU getting wins over all three teams a year ago. Tuesday, the Mocs will come in with losses to Davidson, 81-55, in its SoCon opener and a 63-52 loss to Eastern Kentucky in its last game on Dec. 8. Listed in the probable starters are two Louisiana products, freshmen Casey Jones of New Orleans and Gee McGhee of Baton Rouge (Redemptorist). The game features two of the best teams in the country in offensive rebounds as LSU is second in the nation at 18.4 offensive boards a game with Chattanooga 14th in the country (15.8). Jones also said in his media session that 7-3 Andrew Del Piero could join Johnny O'Bryant III in the Tigers front court in the starting lineup that is expected to also include Shane Hammink with Carmouche and either Corban or Stringer in the backcourt. Here are some of the comments from today's media session with Coach Johnny Jones prior to Monday's practice session: Opening Statement ... "We're really looking forward to getting back on the floor on Tuesday and playing another game. It's been a real different and difficult week in terms of practice and preparation with finals going on. I'm not sure we had one day where we had everybody on the team practice either for the full amount of time, or if they were able to get to practice at the same time. Each guy had to take certain days off. With that being said, it's really tough to get into a rhythm of practice. Today, we look forward to getting back on the floor. Hopefully, we'll get an opportunity to sharpen up the game plan for a team in Chattanooga tomorrow which will be a really good test for us. We're talking about a team (Chattanooga) that really challenged and had Kansas down by 12 points at Phog Allen Fieldhouse early in the second half. We all know the caliber of team that Kansas is so we know we have to definitely be prepared and be ready for the challenge (Tuesday)." On preparing the team without Anthony Hickey ... "It's not anything of an emotional preparation. It's just like any time one of the guys is out be it injury or for whatever other reason. These guys get an opportunity to play and perform. That's what they come here to do. I think when one player is down because of an injury or a suspension; other players have to step up and may play more extended minutes. To be honest, I think they look for that. They certainly love having their teammates around, but when someone is not there it's definitely an on opportunity for someone else to step up and do something special. I don't think anything will be different than this team being able to perform (Tuesday)." On Anthony Hickey's status going forward ... "Anthony is still here in school. We've put out a release in terms of where he is and that he's suspended indefinitely. We just don't really have any further comments on it. We look forward to addressing that issue further possibly later in the week. He's not doing any team activities or anything with us right now. He's still a part of our program, but he's not presently engaged in any type of team activity right now ... At the end of the day ... at what point and for how long will probably be a dual decision. If the university should allow him to come back or be released, I would have to make a decision at that point if it's the right time for our basketball team. I whole heartedly think that anytime you have rules that have to be implemented, everyone here has really been fair in their assessment and their treatment." On preparing the team without key players..."I tell you, it's always difficult anytime when you have one of your team members go down and are not available for you. At the same time, it's a great opportunity for someone else. I think that when you have guys out there on scholarship, they're looking for that opportunity be it a freshman Corbin Collins or an experienced man like Andre Stringer. In this instance, both of those guys are looking for that opportunity to be out there on the floor. You definitely like to have your full complement of guys. When someone is down, we have to really make sure we prepare ourselves just like when Johnny O'Bryant III was down earlier in the season with an injury. These guys just have to step up and play." On Corban Collins and Andre Stringer at point guard ..."Corban has some great leadership qualities and skills. I tell those guys all the time that he's a different player than Anthony Hickey. I don't want him trying to play or be the player that Anthony is. I told them they're great quarterbacks out there. I alluded to it to him not to long about it. You look at one like a Michael Vick style player who likes to run it, tuck it and go, that maybe more like Anthony Hickey's style. You look at a Peyton Manning type, someone who's got to read the defense and stay in the pocket. That may be more of a Corban Collins. Both of them are effective quarterbacks and have been. I think that's what we'll see with these guys. They'll definitely get the job done, maybe just a little bit different. When you look at Andre Stringer, he's a little bit of a combination of both. We'll have an opportunity to look at him a lot. He's played a lot of point guard in his career, Andre has for this program. We'll definitely look at him in that spot because of the experience he has. At the same time, I think offensively what we do that he'll have an opportunity possibly to be successful in what we're running so I think it's more conducive for Andre's style to play point." On the lineup combinations for the guards ..."Preferably, I like to run those two guys at point and still push Stringer over at the two guard at times. I think the experience that Andre has and what he's capable of doing, he's a very effective player on the floor. He has been good the last few days in practice so Stringer is one of those guys we'll look at primarily for point guard spot for the next few games." On seeing Andrew Del Piero in the starting five for the future..."When I started Andrew the other day (against Seton Hall), I think I made it pretty clear that it wasn't a circus act or anything else. I think it's primarily because of the work he's put in during practice. He hasn't let up, he's continued to improve and we look forward to him starting for us again on Tuesday. He's actually part of our rotation, and we just hope that he can continue on the pace that he's on right now. If he's not starting, a very important part of our rotation right now. But he will be in the starting line up tomorrow." On Del Piero's confidence rising ... "I think we don't want to take too much credit because this guy has put in the work from April up until the start of practice. I think the coaching staff has done a tremendous job on working with him on his individual skill work. At the same time, I think because of what he's done, in terms of in the weight room and strength and conditioning, he's improved there. It has translated on the floor in being positive and more effective, as well as having more confidence. I think there's a combination of things, but he's put in the time to become a better basketball player so I definitely want to compliment him on what he's done." On the use of the press during the second half of the Seton Hall game going forward ..."It's going to be integrated into what we do. We're an up-tempo style basketball team. If we feel like we need to change the tempo of a game and it's going to affect some people, I think it will help us. The other thing is that it forces our opponents to spend some time in practice preparing for it, and hopefully taking away from some of the other things that they could possibly be working on to get better. We'll show a combination of things, and hopefully our opponents will work on and prepare for what we do defensively. Yes, you'll definitely see some type of press or form of press that we'll be running." On concern of rust by not playing in game situations in close to two weeks ..."That's one of the things coming off finals that you're always really concerned with, like how you'll perform and if the guys are hitting on all cylinders. You're generally coming off of a two-week break in the schedule. We haven't had an opportunity to not only play, but really not having full scale practices with everybody being there. It'll be a little bit different for us. It'll be challenging, but we'll be looking forward to it (Tuesday) to see exactly where we are. (Monday) will be one of the first days of practice that we'll have a full complement of players back since finals have started." On national attention LSU is receiving..."I was really shocked especially this early that we're possibly getting those type of votes (in the AP poll). I think it's a complement to our players, and what they've been able to do in this early part of the season. They've won five games and done it in a convincing manner. We've beaten another BCS school during the SEC/BIG EAST challenge. Receiving votes in the poll has been a real complement for the players, and it gives us something to continue to strive for." On Shavon Coleman's early season success ..."I think it's been special, I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't sure in what area Shavon would be in or how effective the impact that he'd have on our team this early part of the season. He has been a pleasant surprise. I can tell, what you see in Shavon on game night is what you see in practice. That's how he practices every day. He brings it in terms of his energy level on a daily basis. I think any time you can transfer your great practice habits to the game floor, some good things happen for you. That's what's really happened with Shavon. We've been really pleased with his effort, attitude and his approach to the game. One, possibly playing out of position. Two, coming off the bench and leading the team in scoring and best field goal percentage guy and second in rebounds, so he's really made a strong impact on our team." On facing Chattanooga players Casey Jones and Gee McGee's from Louisiana ..."I think any time that guys come back and play at home, there's a different energy level there. They will play with that. Players always want to play well in front of their hometown fans and their families. That's something that we have to make sure that we guard against and know that coming in. They're a good basketball team. At the same time, these guys are good players. They will come in and try and make sure they perform extremely well. Again, we have to guard against that." Men's Basketball Honors Team at Annual Banquet Jones Looks Back on 2013-14 Basketball Season Junior O'Bryant to Enter NBA Draft Mickey Among Freshman of the Year Finalists Men's Basketball Postseason Notebook Brown, O'Neal in Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame Men's Basketball Season Ends in NIT Second Round LSU Tigers in the NBA - 2013-14 Men's Basketball Continues NIT Road Tip at SMU

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St. Mary's rallies for win over Riddle RIDDLE — Daniel Seus did his job at the top of the batting order in St. Mary's season opener Tuesday.The senior leadoff hitter got on base four times and stole three bases to help the Crusaders post a 10-5, come-from-behind baseball victory against Riddle.Seus, the team captain and catcher, hit a triple and double and walked twice. He also threw out a runner stealing."(Seus) is an amazing athlete," said St. Mary's first-year coach Sean Gallagher. "He does everything well. He can really run."The Crusaders capitalized on six Irish errors and nine walks.St. Mary's starter Ryan Ross surrendered four runs in the first inning. Ross blanked Riddle over the next three innings, allowing just one hit, to collect the victory."(Ross) was real nervous to start," said Gallagher. "He struggled in the first, then settled down and was steady after that."St. Mary's broke the game open with an eight-run fourth inning. The Crusaders sent 11 batters to the plate and combined three hits with four walks and four errors. The big frame was highlighted by Christian Aviles' two-run double, and Joe Hammond knocked in two runs with a single.Hammond, the third St. Mary's pitcher, shut out the Irish over the last two innings and struck out three."It's an important win," Gallagher said. "We've had a string of losing years. Our kids are hungry. They were resilient and scrappy today."

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MSU football season was a memorable one — So many thoughts, so many memories. With the greatest three-game stretch of excitement in the history of the Minnesota State football program and Blakeslee Stadium still fresh on the brain, there is much to reflect on and appreciate. Here are a few of the highlights: The 25-21 comeback victory at St. Cloud State in Week 3 seemed to signal that something special was about to happen. Playing with backup quarterback Mitch Brozovich, the Mavericks scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:33 to play, then held the Huskies on four plays to grab a rare win at St. Cloud. Three weeks later came the rout at Augustana, in which the Mavericks played their finest offensive game for a 52-14 whooping. Minnesota State rushed for 262 yards and controlled the ball for more than 36 minutes to stun the Vikings, whose season didn’t go nearly as planned. The comeback against Southwest Minnesota State the next week, trailing by 14 points with 7:36 to play and then persevering in double overtime, showed that the Mavericks’ could win by throwing the ball. It was a confidence boost for quarterback Jon Wolf, who had just returned from injury, and the start of a really impressive eight-game streak for receiver Adam Thielen. Any win at Winona State is special, and that 30-20 victory on Oct. 20 pretty much eliminated any doubt that the Mavericks would be invited to the playoffs. The surprisingly easy 27-13 home victory against league newcomer Sioux Falls in Week 10 cemented the Mavericks’ playoff berth. The victories against Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western State were among the best games ever played at Blakeslee Stadium. It looked like the Mavericks would lose to Northwest, which had rallied from a 21-0 halftime deficit, but an interception by Justin Otto in the end zone in the second overtime set up Sam Brockshus’ game-winning field goal. The victory over Missouri Western was also in doubt until the Mavericks put together an impressive 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter that both produced a touchdown and ate up much of the remaining time. Even the loss to Valdosta State was exciting. The Blazers have a set of receivers not se

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News Calendars Forums Opinion Life Sports Special Community Info CU Ads Jobs Classifieds Contact Us Local Sports Columns « Local cross country runners... Philadelphia Phillies' skipper has survived long and rocky road By Bill Robinson Save | Post a comment | Perhaps you've heard or read about the lifelong trials and tribulations of Phillies' manager Charlie Manuel. Even if you have, it's worth recalling how tough his 64 years have been and that's why I'm more happy for him than anybody connected with the baseball champions of the planet. Manuel's birthplace was listed as Northfork, W. Va. but he was born Jan. 4, 1944 in the back seat of the family car on the side of the road as his mother, June Edmonds Manuel, was on her way to visit her mother, Ruby Edmonds, who made her home in the southern West Virginia coalfields. Manuel's grandma Ruby lived to be 100 and Charlie joked that he thought his mother would live that long, too. But she died at 87 after a brief illness at Roanoke (Va.) Memorial Hospital just hours before Game 2 of the National League Championship with the Dodgers. Charlie and sister Teresa, who lives in Buckhannon, W. Va, are among 10 of 11 children who survive. Charlie grew up in Buena Vista, Va. (population 6,349), located about halfway between Roanoke and Charlottesville. His dad, Charlie Sr., a local minister, died when he was 19. Manuel was a four-sport athlete in high school. Charlie often walked eight miles barefoot to play pickup basketball games all day at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington. North Carolina and Penn offered him a basketball scholarship but his mother encouraged him to sign for a $20,000 bonus with the Twins and he used part of the money to buy his mother a house in which she continued to raise nine brothers and sisters. The Twins looked at Manuel as their next great right fielder after Tony Oliva. But he was plagued by injuries, including a bone spur in his heel, and a bad temper. The toughness was there, however. Ex-Dodger and Pirates pitcher Jerry Reuss threw a fastball that broke his nose, fractured his jaw, and knocked out six of his teeth in a minor league game but Manuel played the next two games. While later playing in Japan, a pitcher broke his jaw and he was supposed to miss two months but he played in two weeks. Manuel batted only .198 in six Major League seasons, mostly with the Twins, and then he was off to Japan for six years. His fire was stoked with the Twins by volatile manager Billy Martin but later playing for the Dodgers he got calmed down by the great, unruffled Walter Alston. Playing for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan, he was Pacific League MVP in 1979, hitting .324 with 37 homers and 94 RBIs despite missing two weeks with that broken jaw. He hit 48 homers the next season, the same season the Phillies won their last World Series title, led by third baseman and Ohio University graduate Mike Schmidt who also belted 48 homers. Charlie then had two stints and eight total seasons as hitting coach with the Indians before taking over as manager in 2000. He won Triple-A titles at Indians' affiliates Colorado Springs and Charlotte. Manuel's 2001 Indians with Jim Thome, Roberto Alomar, Travis Fryman, Omar Vizquel, Kenny Lofton, C. C. Sabathia, Bartolo Colon and Co. won the American Central Division with 91 victories but lost to the Mariners in the AL Division playoffs. The winning pitcher in the 3-1 title game was Jamie Moyer, a guy who helped Manuel win a World Series championship. The Indians fired Manuel in 2002 after a 39-47 record and a third place division finish. The Indians played without Alomar and Lofton and Colon pitched in only 16 games before being traded to Montreal. The Colon trade paid off in recent years because the Indians got all-stars Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee but Sizemore didn't play for the Tribe until 2004 and Lee pitched in only two games in 2002. Manuel has survived a heart attack, quadruple bypass surgery, a blocked and infected colon, and kidney cancer. For four years he's survived a brutally critical Phillie fandom, absorbed numerous insults over sports talk radio about everything, including his syntax, but he's weathered it all and proved to be a good, no-nonsense manager and a genuine winner. Bill Robinson is a former Marietta Times sports editor. Save | Post a comment | Subscribe to The Marietta Times Marietta Weather Forecast, OH

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Site Team/Contact Budget Forecast Standings/Scoreboard A closer look at Marlon Byrd It seems like all day, all we've heard is Byrd could end up the starting right fielder, so it seems only fitting to take a closer look at his career. In discussing Byrd most reference his All Star year in Chicago but I was curious to find out whether he was a one hit wonder. Byrd had been a top prospect in the Phillies organization when he broke into the majors in 2002, appearing in 10 games. The next season he appeared in 135 games in which he hit .302 and came in 4th for the Rockie of the year award. It looks like he had a sophomore slump hitting only .228 in 106 games. For the second year in a row he struggled, which resulted in Philly trading him to Washington for Endy Chavez. In 2005 the Nats eventually sent him down after hitting .264 in 74 games, the next season he hit .223 in 78 games for Washington. In 2007 he would sign with the Texas Rangers as a free agent and then spend the next three years there as an arbitration eligible player. He thrived in Texas playing in 377 games and hitting .295 from 2007-2009. After the 2009 season the Cubs would sign him to a three year 15M deal and for the first two years the contract would work out as he hit .284 in 271 games. In April of 2012 Byrd was traded to the Red Sox for pitcher Michael Bowden, in 34 games for Boston he would hit .270. In a roster crunch he was designated for assignment but then tested positive for PED, even though he did not play again in Boston he severed his 50 games on the restricted list. His defense has never been questioned, he's always played a decent center field but can he produce offensively. I'll take .270 from a center fielder and Byrd has achieved that or better in 7 of 11 seasons and 2 other seasons he hit over .265, to be fair he has hit in the .220s in two other seasons... But Collins challenged those assumptions. “We’ve come into camp saying, ‘Well, we’re looking to platoon here, we’re looking to platoon there,’ ” Collins said. “If Marlon Byrd is the same offensive player that he’s capable of being, we don’t need to platoon. We’ve got that guy.” source NY Times Posted by Ed Ryan Mets Fever on Facebook Sports Spyder- Mets News My issue isn't Bourn it's the approach to the OF Rafael Arroyo becomes bullpen catcher.. Free Agents the Mets Shouldn't Dare Sign Post Game: Marlins Defeat Marlins 7-3 An early look at the roster moving into the off-season The #1-Selling Pitching Machine Company in the World Hit Counter - Since Dec. 2006 NewYorkBlips New York City Blog Rankings Member of theBoxxet Network Blog Strength Score: 30% Chris Matlosz Christopher Matlosz Lakewood Police Department Mets Fever is privately owned and operated, and in no way is affiliated with Mets.com, MLB.com or Sterling, IP. Mets Fever posts both rumors and opinions, as well as accurately reported information from other sources. Information on Mets Fever may contain errors or inaccuracies. Links to content and the quotation of material from other news sources are not the responsibility of Mets Fever.

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Marcus Colbert Hometown:Broken Arrow, Okla. High School:Broken Arrow High Position:Defensive Back At MSU: Marcus Colbert is the veteran of the Missouri State secondary as the only returning starter and third-leading tackler on the squad. He played in 10 games, starting seven, and tied for the team lead with six pass breakups. He had the team's only blocked kick, a blocked punt he returned 41 yards for a TD in the season finale vs. Western Illinois. Colbert missed was slow laste last year by injury. His best game was an eight-tackle effort against Western Kentucky. Colbert enjoyed a stellar sophomore season as he established himself as a fixture in the secondary. He started nine games in 2005 and ranked seventh on the team in tackles. He notched seven stops in the opener at Arkansas and six each against WKU and Illinois State. Colbert had an interception and pass breakup vs. ISU, and forced a fumble at WKU. He redshirted in 2003, then got four starts in 2004. Background: Colbert led his team to a state runner-up finish as a senior. He was an all-district pick and was District Defensive Back of the Year. He was on the Blue Chip list of top 25 players to watch in Oklahoma in 2002. He was first team all-state as a junior and second team as a senior. Personal: Aaron Marcus Colbert was born 4/6/85 in Clovis, N.M., the son of Robert and Donna Colbert. Colbert's major is hospitality and restaurant administration.

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OSU » Sooners cancel Cowboys' Fiesta plans, 33-24 Sat Dec 07, 2013, 05:17 PM CST STILLWATER — Oklahoma’s players scoffed at the notion earlier this week that they had been reduced to the role of spoiler against rival Oklahoma State. Led by quarterback Blake Bell’s remarkable performance in a relief role, the No. 18 Sooners lived up to their words — continuing their mastery of the rival Cowboys with a 33-24 win on Saturday. The win set off a frenzied celebration in a frigid Boone Pickens Stadium for visiting Oklahoma (10-2, 7-2 Big 12 Conference), while leaving No. 6 Oklahoma State once again suffering a bitter defeat at the hands of its fiercest rival. This level of disappointment was higher than most for the Cowboys (10-2, 7-2), whose hopes of a second Big 12 championship and BCS bowl game berth in three years were lost after Bell found Jalen Saunders for a 7-yard touchdown with 19 seconds remaining. “You just love it to see a guy who’s a competitor like that, who’s been sitting on the bench all game, to come in and play so well,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said of Bell. “He played great.” The shakeup in the BCS bowl picture, however, was the last thing on the mind of Bell — the Oklahoma junior who replaced injured starter Trevor Knight in the second half. After starting eight games earlier this season for the Sooners, including a win at Notre Dame, Bell began Saturday as Oklahoma’s third option at quarterback. He ended the game by leading the Sooners on a game-winning 66-yard drive in the closing minutes, going 5 of 8 for 57 yards on the drive and finishing 10-of-16 passing for 140 yards in relief of Knight and backup quarterback Kendal Thompson “I was just thinking that whenever I got my opportunity, I wanted to do the best I could with Trevor going down and Kendal coming in,” Bell said. “... Once I got into the rhythm of the play, I felt like everything was clicking.” Oklahoma State led for much of the game, only falling behind for the first time early in the fourth quarter when Oklahoma’s Michael Hunnicutt kicked a 39-yard field goal to put the Sooners up 20-17. Facing a late-game deficit, quarterback Clint Chelf appeared to rally the Cowboys for the win with a 7-play, 89-yard drive on which he completed five straight passes for first downs. Desmond Roland, who finished with 144 yards rushing and accounted for three touchdowns, capped the drive to put Oklahoma State up 24-20 with 1:46 remaining — appearing to secure the Cowboys’ eight-straight win as well as the Big 12 title and BCS bowl game berth. Bell, however, had other plans. The junior, who started earlier this season before losing the job to Knight, rallied the Sooners down the field and capping the drive with his touchdown pass to Saunders in the corner of the end zone. The touchdown came just five plays after Oklahoma State’s Justin Gilbert briefly appeared to intercept Bell, but the cornerback was unable to keep the ball from hitting the turf. Following Bell’s touchdown pass to Saunders, Eric Striker then ended the game for Oklahoma by recovering a fumble and scoring during a desperation series of Cowboys’ laterals. The Sooners were then pelted with snow balls from the rival crowd. Oklahoma has now won at least 10 games in four straight seasons, and Stoops is 8-1 in his career against Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy. “That was a heck of a football game,” Gundy said. “It’s unfortunate that we came up short. What the game really came down to was that Oklahoma made some key plays on fourth down, and we didn’t.” Oklahoma stayed close for much of the game thanks to the play of its special teams, doing so with Knight on the bench in the second half with a shoulder injury. Saunders returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown in the first half and Hunnicutt — who also kicked a pair of field goals — also caught a touchdown pass on a fake field goal attempt. Hunnicutt’s 8-yard touchdown catch from holder Grant Bothun tied the game at 17-17 late in the third quarter, and it came after Bothum darted to the left following the snap before finding a wide-open Hunnicutt. Stoops said the Sooners didn’t put the fake in their gameplan until Thursday. “They called it in about 15 seconds before, so we didn’t have too much time to think about it,” Hunnicutt said. “I was just super excited.” Oklahoma opened the second half with Thompson at quarterback, but Bell also saw limited action early. Neither provided the answer early on, with Thompson throwing an interception on the first play of the half and the Sooners going three-and-out on their next three possessions. Oklahoma State dominated for much of the first half, but it was unable to manage anything but a 10-10 tie at halftime — thanks to a spectacular punt return and timely scoring drive by Oklahoma. The Cowboys, seeking their second win in three years against the Sooners, took a 10-3 lead in the second quarter on Ben Grogan’s 41-yard field goal. At that point, Oklahoma State had outgained the Sooners 202-68 in total yardage and appeared in control defensively against an Oklahoma team whose lone big play was Saunders’ punt return late in the first quarter. “We didn’t really score points the way we wanted to, and we couldn’t put enough points on the board to help our defense out,” Roland said. The Sooners, however, responded to close out the half with their longest drive in terms of time of possession for the season — keeping the ball for more than eight minutes. Hunnicutt capped the 15-play, 60-yard drive with a 21-yard field goal to tie the game at 10-10 and keep Oklahoma well within reach heading into halftime. It was one of many answers the Sooners had throughout the game, with Bell providing the final one. “I’m just so proud and happy,” Bell said. “I think we’re all on cloud nine.” For Sooners and Cowboys, it was pure Bedlam April 17, 2014 OSU signs top Louisiana point guard April 16, 2014 Sooners defeat Cowboys on the diamond in 18 innings College spring roundup Hilldale grad uses sports background for career move Area college roundup College baseball and softball roundup OSU’s quarterback shuffle becoming clearer More OSU Headlines

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ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Connor Justus May 29, 2013 12:00 PM | 1550 views | 0 | 31 | | Connor Justus The Cartersville baseball team swept North Hall in the final tournament series last weekend and is the new GHSA Class AAA State Champions.Of the team’s players, one standout is Connor Justus.As a senior, shortstop Justus helped lead the team to a 30-7 record, a region championship and a state championship and said, “It’s the best feeling in the world. Probably the best thing I’ve ever felt in my life.”Justus is a four-year starter and according to head baseball coach Stuart Chester, he is a true baseball player.“He’s played so much baseball, it’s like breathing. It’s just second nature to him,” said Chester.Justus is the type of player that Chester said wants the ball when the game is on the line. Chester described him as having a lot of heart and competitiveness. “You couldn’t draw up a better player,” he said.This season, Justus said he is proud of his team and what they accomplished this year as they played a lot of tough teams to start the year.“I love the way our team came together as one,” said Justus.Since Justus began playing for Cartersville as a freshman, Chester said he has gotten better with each passing year. “You think he can’t get any better then he does as a sophomore, then again as a junior and as a senior,” Chester said.Justus signed a scholarship to play baseball at the college level for Georgia Tech in Atlanta.“He has a great future ahead of him,” Chester said. Athlete of the Week: Sydney Leverrett, North Paulding Athlete of the Week: Erynne Allen, South Paulding

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Yasmani Grandal suspended 50 games for testosterone use San Diego Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal had an .863 OPS in 60 games in 2012. / Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports by Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY Sportsby Gabe Lacques, USA TODAY Sports Filed Under San Diego Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal joined the ranks of those suspended for using testosterone when he received a 50-game suspension from Major League Baseball. Grandal, 23, the 12th overall pick in the 2010 draft by the Cincinnati Reds, was a key part of a deal that sent Padres ace Mat Latos to Cincinnati. He hit .297 with eight home runs and an .863 on-base plus slugging percentage in 60 games this season. Grandal will be forced to sit out the first 50 games of 2013."I must accept responsibility for my actions and serve my suspension," Grandal said in a statement. He's the third major leaguer to test positive for elevated levels of testosterone this season, joining Oakland Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon and San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera, who were suspended in August. Milwaukee Brewers All-Star and 2011 National League MVP Ryan Braun tested positive for testosterone 13 months ago, but was not suspended due to issues with his test sample.Grandal, who like Braun attended the University of Miami, was ranked the 53rd-best prospect before the season by Baseball America. He was dealt with former Hurricanes teammate Yonder Alonso and pitchers Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger from Cincinnati to San Diego in the deal for Latos.Colon, who turns 40 next May, was re-signed by the A's to a one-year, $3 million deal for 2013; he'll miss the first five games next year as he finishes his suspension. Cabrera, whose suspension expired after the Giants' Division Series victory over the Reds, was left off their rosters for the NLCS and World Series. He is a free agent. Grandal is among the youngest major leaguers ever suspended. "I apologize to the fans, my teammates, and to the San Diego Padres," Grandal said in his statement. "I was disappointed to learn of my positive test and under the Joint Drug Program I am responsible for what I put into my body." Copyright 2014 USATODAY.comRead the original story: Yasmani Grandal suspended 50 games for testosterone use A third MLB player earned a suspension for testosterone use A link to this page will be included in your message.

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NJIT Sports Dinner Will Honor Omaha Star Athlete Alum Who Became Air Force Colonel and Children�s Book Author NEWARK, May 4 2009 NJIT will induct former star soccer player and fencing alumnus Roland Barth into its 2009 Athletics Hall of Fame on May 9, 2009 in the Campus Center Atrium. Tickets for the event, which features a cocktail reception followed by dinner, are $75. For more information, please contact Kathy Dickerson, 973-596-3456. Making the Air Force his career for 30 years, Barth retired in 1990 as a full Colonel. A weather officer, he was stationed in Europe and Asia, as well as stateside in Tampa, Florida and in Omaha, Nebraska, where he still resides. Barth served in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star and later received the Legion of Merit award. He spent 15 years in Germany, where he met his wife of 45 years, Ingrid. They are the parents of a son and a daughter and they are the grandparents of five, the oldest of whom is 16. Since retiring from the Air Force, Barth has traveled all over North America and also to Europe, Central America and New Zealand. He wrote a series of children’s books and has studied and photographed nature, publishing two books on close to 500 plant species and creating a website that includes over 1,000 species of living things. Reflecting on his years at NJIT, Barth said: “Sports was a major part of my experience. The scientific method of problem-solving and the leadership skills I gained from being a team captain came in handy in the Air Force.” The traditions in men’s soccer and fencing are among the richest in the annals of Highlander sports going back to when the school was called Newark College of Engineering (NCE). As a star performer in both sports for NCE, Barth will receive this Hall of Fame recognition for his role in shaping those traditions. He was a four-year star in soccer from 1956 to 1959, joining with a young coach named Mal Simon and teammates that included fellow Hall of Famers Lou DeVito (’60) and Andy Brown (’63) to give the school its first strong soccer teams, culminating with the program’s first-ever postseason berth in the 1959 NAIA Tournament when they were seniors. At the urging of DeVito, Barth went out for fencing and became a three-year star in the epee under the tutelage of another NJIT/NCE legend, the late coach Paul Hausser. Barth, who immigrated with his family from Germany to Queens, NY, at the age of 13 in 1951, moved to Elizabeth, NJ, near the end of high school. Due to different course requirements between his original high school in New York and his new one in Elizabeth, Barth was required to take some night classes in order to graduate and the classes were held next door to NCE at Newark Central High. As he headed to college, Barth applied to Rutgers, Stevens and NCE and was accepted at the first two, but not at NCE. After he met with the admissions dean, the dean, in Barth’s words “relented” and Barth gained admission to NCE, a positive turn of events on many levels. The soccer part was easy, according to Barth. “I had played soccer since I could walk,” said the Hall of Famer, who had spent his early years in Germany. He was a center forward, playing a major role in the NCE offense his first two years. Then he moved to center halfback, where he continued to score goals and set them up, but his major job was anchoring the defense. Excelling in that spot, he was an honorable mention all-region honoree as a junior and a second-team all-American after his senior year. In addition, he, DeVito and Brown were invited to try out for the United States Pan American Games team following their senior season. Although Barth was a novice, he was convinced to go out for the fencing team as a sophomore and by the end of his career he led NCE’s epee team to a first-place finish in the 12-team North Atlantic conference championship meet. Individually, he won the silver medal. Comparing the two sports, Barth said: “Fencing is all skill and it’s one-on-one. Soccer is the ultimate team sport.” Barth majored in mechanical engineering and was also part of ROTC. His Air Force career began following graduation from NJIT when he was commissioned as a Lieutenant. Tagged: newark college of engineering, highlanders, athletics, athletics hall of fame, paul hausser, mal simon, roland barth, andy brown, lou devito, men's soccer

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Open the floodgates! Matthews scores five as Rush sink Mammoth, 14-7 By Nick Salen, Mammoth beat writer for NLL.com Edmonton's fourth-quarter scoring run key in runaway A fourth-quarter scoring run made the difference as the Edmonton Rush (3-4) doubled up the Colorado Mammoth (2-4) by a score of 14-7 before a crowd of 17,059 on Military Appreciation Night at Pepsi Center on Saturday. With the win, Edmonton earned a weekend sweep to rebound from a 1-4 start to the season. “It was a big weekend for us,” said Rush general manager and head coach Derek Keenan. “We had been playing well but not getting wins and we talked a lot about that this weekend in terms of building a winning culture. Tonight, I really thought we had a hard time finding our legs early, and that happens on a back-to-back, especially coming into here.” Edmonton rookie Mark Matthews continued his hot streak in his own backyard, carrying the team in both games this weekend. The Denver University graduate finished with five goals and a team-leading six points (5+1), but admitted it was a bit of a shell shock playing for the opposite team in the Mile High City. “It was weird, definitely weird not wearing a Denver jersey, but it is what it is,” Matthews said. “We were able to come in and get a ‘W’, which means the world to me right now.” After a scoreless six and a half minutes, Colorado was first on the board with three goals in a span of 73 seconds. In response, Edmonton would go on a five-goal run that would extend into the second frame. The Mammoth would remain scoreless for nearly 18 minutes of game time before making it a one-goal game, going into the half down 5-4. The teams would exchange goals in the third, but Edmonton would hold the advantage with a late goal by Curtis Knight to make it a two-score game going into the fourth quarter. Then it was all Edmonton from the faceoff by doubling their score in the final quarter, leaving an energized Pepsi Center in disbelief once again. Adam Jones, who recorded his 100th career point in the loss, led the team with four points (2+2) and was quick to respond about Colorado’s monstrous collapse in the last fifteen minutes of the game. “I don’t know, we start second-guessing our shot selection, and then one goal after the other for them kills the momentum both ways,” Jones said. “We’ve just got to regroup, work hard this week and get ourselves prepared and come back better next week.” The goaltender shuffle resurfaced once again for the Mammoth, as Matt Roik was chased from the net early on, replaced by backup Dan Lewis, who in turned played solid until the team came crashing back down to Earth in the fourth. “I don’t know what happened,” Lewis said. “We came out flat and it was just the wrong time to do so. At one point, we were down two or three, and had we come out on fire like we should have it could have been a whole different ball game.” Roik returned to the game in the fourth quarter, finishing with 17 saves on 26 shots while Lewis ended the night with 22 stops om 27 shots. Aaron Bold played all 60 minutes for the Rush for the second time this weekend, backstopping Edmonton’s defense with 34 saves, standing solid early on in the contest when the team’s offense was not performing as expected, according to Keenan. “[Aaron] Bold played extremely well,” Keenan said. “We needed him early and then we finally got our offense going and ended up with a big win.” The two teams flip-flopped positions in the West Division with the outcome. Colorado now sits at the bottom of the standings tied with Minnesota as they look ahead to their East Division matchup set for next Sunday against Philadelphia. Jones went on to say that despite the circumstances, Colorado still has time to settle down before the second-half season stretch begins. “Right now, we are too much in our own heads,” he said. “I think if everyone on our team takes accountability and does what they need to do to make our team better next week, we should be alright. I think good teams battle through adversity through the year.” Edmonton meanwhile will head back home as they host Minnesota next Friday at Rexall Place. Home Colorado Mammoth Edmonton Rush Back to Previous Page

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Knighthawks to raise banner, open season with rematch vs. Swarm By Knighthawks beat writer Travis Larner & Brent Hollerud for NLL.com Rochester to raise 2013 banner then take on Minnesota in playoff rematch Rochester Knighthawks host Minnesota Swarm at Blue Cross Arena on Saturday at 7:30pm ET to open the 2014 NLL season. (Photo: Larry Palumbo) The back-to-back champion Rochester Knighthawks begin their quest to become the first team in National Lacrosse League history to win three-straight titles when they host the Minnesota Swarm at Blue Cross Arena on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. The Knighthawks will raise their 2013 championship banner before opening up the 2014 NLL regular season. Watch the game live on YouTube via The Lacrosse Network by clicking here. The opener is a rematch of the 2013 East Division Finals, where the Knighthawks scored five unanswered goals in a span of 5:24 in the fourth quarter en route to their appearance in the Champion’s Cup Finals. While the Knighthawks are 6-0 in the last three weeks of the 2012 and 2013 seasons – the postseason – they are a mere 2-4 in the first three weeks of the season, a trend they hope to end this year. “Historically – you’d hate to say it – historically, Rochester has always been that slow starting team,” Rochester head coach Mike Hasen said. “The early part of the season is not generally our best. We’re always looking to improve on that and change that. This year I think, with the way the league is structured and the way playoffs are structured, we’re going to need that quick start.” In an attempt to counter this historic trend, Hasen said he has altered the tempo of the team’s practices. Rather than starting slowly and building the intensity throughout, he has the players working hard from the first whistle. In addition, the lack of roster turnover should prove to be beneficial. Many moves were made following the 2012 Champion’s Cup, including the blockbuster trade for the Dawson brothers. This offseason, only two new faces were added to the active roster: defenseman Mac Allen and backup goalie Mikey Thompson. This means the other 18 players are already fluent in the offensive and defensive schemes the Knighthawks employ. “We don’t have very many changes, so guys are very familiar with the systems and, first and foremost, our expectations this year,” Hasen said. “We’ve had just a couple of new faces on the team this year, so [training] camp has been pretty smooth so far,” said defenseman Mike Kirk, who is an assistant captain for the Knighthawks. Allen returns to Rochester after spending three seasons with the Colorado Mammoth. Allen was traded to Colorado in the deal that brought Matt Vinc to the Knighthawks in exchange for John Grant Jr. Allen was a Second Team All-Pro as a Knighthawk in 2009 and played in the 2011 All-Star Game, but has only played in five games over the last two seasons. Now healthy, he looks to help an already stout defensive unit in 2014. “Mac came into camp in really good shape,” Hasen said. “He’s a very up-tempo player; he’s an in-your-face player. He brings a gritty part to his game that we’re going to use and run with. So far, so good with Mac. We’ve liked what we’ve seen.” The Swarm defeated the Knighthawks, 16-15, in their first preseason game on December 7. The Knighthawks held leads of 4-0 in the first quarter and 13-9 in the fourth, but Minnesota rookie Scott Jones scored the game-winner with 1.3 seconds remaining. The Knighthawks played all of their rookies and backups in the preseason contest versus the Swarm, so a sharper performance is to be expected in the season opener. “I think it’s just progression,” Kirk said. “When we played Minnesota it was early in the year, but it was good to get a few kinks out of the way, and then get a little bit better against Toronto and then a little bit better against Calgary.” According to Kirk, the Knighthawks’ locker room is eager to begin the new season. The team received its 2013 championship rings at its Christmas banquet on Sunday, Dec. 22, but is well aware that it has a new trail to blaze in 2014. “I don’t think you could ask for a better Christmas present then to get back out there with the boys,” Kirk said. “We had a great year last year, but that was last year, so we’re looking forward to starting something new for the 2014 season.” Last May, the Swarm fell to the Knighthawks 12-10 at the Blue Cross Arena in the East Division Final; Rochester went on to beat the Washington Stealth for their second-straight NLL title. The playoff loss marked the second consecutive year Minnesota has ended up one win shy of playing for the Champion’s Cup while fielding the youngest team in the league. In 2014 the Swarm is determined to take the next step, powered by another phenomenal draft, where they were able to secure four first-round draft picks for the second straight year, including No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks F Logan Schuss and D Jason Noble. Taking into account the four first-round selections from the 2012 draft, the Swarm is loaded with young talent, boasting 10 players with either rookie or second-year pro status. Aside from the budding youth movement, the Swarm is returning much of their core that has propelled them to four straight playoff berths, including captain T Andrew Suitor, who is back in action after sustaining an ACL injury last season. Suitor is joined by 2013 leading scorer F Callum Crawford (32g, 63a), 2013 NLL Transition Player of the Year Jordan MacIntosh (27g, 28a) and veteran D Jeff Gilbert (3g, 12a), all who add experience and leadership to the team. Coach Joe Sullivan is markedly pleased at the status of his team entering regular season play, coming off a three-week training camp that was the most intense and competitive in team history. “Camp went extremely well, I am very excited about some of our young guys and our veterans are getting into the groove,” Sullivan explained. “We are a lot closer to where we want to be and further into our systems than we have been in past years, which I think will lead to better execution in game one.” The Swarm finished the preseason with a 2-1 record, highlighted by a 16-15 victory over Rochester at the Blue Cross Arena after a last-second goal by rookie F Scott Jones. Sullivan made it clear that one of his primary goals in training camp was to replicate the quality and intensity of regular-season play, which in his opinion meant playing in front of a hostile Knighthawks crowd. “Our intent in scheduling our preseason was to get used to playing in those environments,” Sullivan said. “If you are going to measure up to anyone it might as well be Rochester.” The Knighthawks (8-8 in 2013) return most of their roster from their championship winning team a year prior, including six of their top seven scorers. Rochester is led by 2013 leading scorers forwards Cody Jamieson (28g, 61a) and Dan Dawson (23g, 52a), as well as their goaltender Matt Vinc, who led the NLL last year with a 10.17 goals-against average an .803 save percentage. “They have a tough defense, a real gritty offense that can score, and an outstanding goalie,” Sullivan said. “They are well coached and have a great atmosphere at Blue Cross Arena. They have it all and that’s why they are two-time champions. According to Sullivan, the Swarm must utilize their team speed in order to find success, especially against the older, more experienced Knighthawks. “We are an exciting and fast team. We have to push them, make them make mistakes, and see if they can keep up.” Having come so close the past couple of years, Suitor speaks for the team’s expectations entering the 2014 season: “We want to win and we want to win now. We have the team to win this year and that is our goal.” Home Rochester Knighthawks Minnesota Swarm Back to Previous Page

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Agent: Bengals have deal with James Harrison (Updated Apr 19, 2013 at 11:29 pm) Linebacker James Harrison played on two Super Bowl championship teams with the Steelers. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) CINCINNATI – Former Steelers linebacker James Harrison is headed down the Ohio River to continue his career, agreeing to a two-year deal with the AFC North-rival Cincinnati Bengals. It won’t be long before he gets his first chance to show Pittsburgh what it’s missing. The Bengals play their first home game next season Monday night, Sept. 16 against the Steelers, the team they knocked out of playoff competition last year. Harrison, who turns 35 in May, got used to making deep runs in the playoffs with Pittsburgh. Now, he’s going to get a chance to try to get the Bengals their first playoff victory since 1990. Cincinnati has made the playoffs each of the last two seasons as a wild card team, losing to Houston in the first round both times. Agent Bill Parise said Harrison has passed a physical and all details of a two-year deal had been worked out on Friday evening. The Bengals didn’t confirm the deal because it hadn’t been signed. Parise said Harrison was working out in Arizona and would be in Cincinnati the second week of May to start working out with his new team. Harrison tweeted: “Whodey!!!!!!!!!!! Hello Cincinnati!!!!” The former Defensive Player of the Year was a casualty of Pittsburgh’s move to get under the salary cap. The Steelers and Parise negotiated but couldn’t reach a deal on a reworked contract. Harrison was entering the final two year of a $51 million extension signed in 2009. He missed the first three games last season with a knee injury, but finished with six sacks – tied for the team lead – as the Steelers finished No. 1 in defense for the fourth time since Harrison became a starter in their 3-4 alignment. He moves to a defense that finished sixth last season and lines up in a 4-3. Middle linebacker Rey Maualuga signed a new deal last month, keeping one of the Bengals’ captains. When he signs his deal, Harrison will have been under contract with three of the AFC North’s four teams. An undrafted free agent in 2002, Harrison played two seasons on the practice squad before he was signed by the Baltimore Ravens. They let him go, and he ended up back in Pittsburgh. He helped the Steelers win the Super Bowl in 2006 and was the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2008. He helped Pittsburgh win another Super Bowl that season by returning Kurt Warner’s pass 100 yards for a touchdown at the end of the first half of a 27-23 victory. His knack for big plays and his violent hits became a hallmark of the Steelers defense. He complained that he was being unfairly targeted for fines by Roger Goodell, and apologized for calling the commissioner a “crook” and a “devil” during an interview with Men’s Journal in early 2011. He was suspended for a game late in the 2011 season after his helmet hit Browns quarterback Colt McCoy in the facemask. He missed all of training camp last year with a knee injury and said he’d endured a dozen concussions during the course of his career. The Steelers will replace Harrison with 24-year-old Jason Worilds, who had five sacks in limited playing time last season.

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Cavs announce training camp roster The Cavaliers added point guard Kevin Anderson to their training camp roster, giving them 19 players with a 20th likely coming soon. NBA rules allow teams 20 players for training camp and the Cavs are expected to fill all 20 spots.Anderson, 23, is listed at 6 feet tall. He played collegiately at Richmond and was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year in 2010 before going undrafted, forcing him to sign in France. He averaged 12.5 points and 3.5 assists for Strasbourg IG last season. Cavs re-sign Alonzo Gee Alonzo Gee has agreed to a contract extension with the Cavaliers, the club announced on Monday. Terms were not disclosed, but a league source said it is a three-year deal worth about $10 million, although the final year is not guaranteed.Gee was a restricted free agent who was expected to return to the team even without the long-term deal. The two sides negotiated through the summer and finally agreed to the deal about three weeks before the start of training camp.

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Dellucci aims to lift spirits in clubhouse By Sheldon Despite the Indians' struggles the first month of the season, David Dellucci does not regard his primary task as mission impossible. "The most important thing I can do is loosen up the clubhouse, do what I do in there,'' said Dellucci, who was activated from the disabled list Friday after spending 11 days on a rehabilitation assignment in Columbus. Being the Tribe's head cheerleader is not an assignment given him by manager Eric Wedge, but even from a distance Dellucci could tell that the occupants of the clubhouse were a little glum. "It's always tough to watch your team play on TV, whether they're winning or losing,'' Dellucci said. ""When you're not winning on a consistent basis, you want to be there for the clubhouse effect. The way a team feels in the clubhouse is related to how it plays on the field. "My main goal is to get the clubhouse back to where we're playing loose. I could tell on TV that these guys were not having much fun. I need to tell some jokes, talk some trash. It's easier to do when you're winning. It's not so easy when you're not playing to your potential. But someone has to take on that role.'' Dellucci went on the DL March 30, two days after he was scratched from the lineup in an exhibition game with a strained left calf. Ever since, he has been working his way back. "It's kind of like I had spring training (in Columbus) at a more competitive level,'' he said. ""I've been swinging the bat really well (.414 average), and I'm hoping there will be a carry-over in confidence. Being down there gave me a chance to work on my swing.'' Dellucci was in the lineup Friday night as the designated hitter against the Tigers. With Travis Hafner sidelined with a sore shoulder, Dellucci might be called on to play regularly if he can produce. "He's been swinging the bat well and moving around well,'' Wedge said. ""We have available at-bats at DH right now, and that's probably where he will get most of his time. But we can also use him in left.'' Whatever Wedge asks of him is fine with Dellucci. "Eric didn't say anything to me today,'' he said. ""He didn't have to. I'll do whatever he wants, and he knows that. There's no need to tell me.'' PERALTA'S LOST SWING -- Jhonny Peralta has been in a deep slump since he collected three hits in the Indians' 22-4 win at Yankee Stadium April 18. "Jhonny's just fighting through a tough time,'' manager Eric Wedge said Friday. ""He's not swinging well, and he's pressing. We'll have to keep an eye on him.'' Going into Friday night's game, Peralta's average over his past nine games is .059 with 15 strikeouts in 34 at-bats. NEW MONTH, NEW START? -- The Tribe has to be happy that April is history. Maybe the month of May will mark a turnaround from an 8-14 record during the first month of the season. "When you get to May, it means better weather,'' Wedge said. ""By now, you have an idea what the team has gone through -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- and you have an idea how to fix it.'' Some April numbers: a .265 team batting average, 5.3 runs per game, a .358 on base percentage, .441 slugging percentage, 5.81 earned-run average. SHORT STAY -- To make room for Dellucci on the roster, the Tribe optioned lefty reliever Rich Rundles back to Columbus. Rundles was called up to shore up a temporarily fatigued bullpen on Wednesday but did not pitch. FARM FACTS -- Stephen Head had three hits and one RBI, but Columbus lost 6-3 to Durham... Matt McBride doubled and singled twice, driving in two runs, but Kinston dropped a 6-5 decision to Salem. Cord Phelps had two doubles.

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Hillcats Announce 2013 Field Staff - OurSports Central - Independent and Minor League Sports News Hillcats Announce 2013 Field Staff January 18, 2013 - Carolina League (CarL) Lynchburg Hillcats Lynchburg, VA - The Atlanta Braves have announced their 2013 minor league field staffs. Leading the Hillcats for a third straight season will be manager Luis Salazar. He'll be joined again by pitching coach Derek Botelho, also entering his third year with the club, and first year Hillcats' staff members, hitting coach John Moses and trainer Joe Teonjes [Ten - Jus].Salazar completed his 10th season as a minor league manager last year, and celebrated the milestone with his first managerial championship as the Hillcats took home the Mills Cup and Carolina League Title last September. Prior to joining the Braves organization and the Hillcats, he managed and coached in the Brewers and Dodgers organizations. He spent seven seasons with the Brewers, including one as the major league first base coach. From 2002-2009, Salazar served as a Rookie-level and Single-A manager, and Double-A hitting coach in the Dodgers organization.As a player, Salazar had a 13-year major league career in which he played for the San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox, Detroit Tigers, and Chicago Cubs. He was originally signed by the Kansas City Royals in 1973 out of his home country of Venezuela, but eventually made his big league debut with the Padres. Primarily a third baseman, he played every position on the field except catcher including two innings on the mound.Botelho will once again handle the Hillcats' pitching staff. He brings 35 years of professional baseball experience as a player and coach to the staff. He has served as a pitching coach for nearly every level in the Braves farm system, including three seasons with Triple-A. Last year, with the Hillcats, he won his third championship in his 11 years coaching in the Braves organization. He also won titles with the 2008 Mississippi Braves (Double-A) and the 2003 Gulf Coast League Braves (Rookie-level).Originally drafted as a shortstop in 1974 by Philadelphia, but eventually signed as a pitcher in 1976, again selected by Philadelphia. He compiled over 100 wins in the minor leagues, and had two stints in the majors in 1982 (Kansas City Royals) and in 1985 (Chicago Cubs).Joining the Hillcats staff for his first season will be hitting coach John Moses, who comes to the Braves organization after serving as the hitting coach for Double-A Corpus Christi (Astros organization) in 2011. In his only season with Corpus Christi, Moses was named the Mike Coolbaugh Texas League Coach of the Year. Prior to 2011, he spent three years as the Triple-A hitting coach in the Dodgers organization. Moses also played 11 seasons in the majors with Seattle, Minnesota, and Detroit, playing his final season in 1992.Lynchburg will also welcome Joe Teonjes as the new athletic trainer in 2013. Teonjes is entering his fourth season in the Braves organization, after spending his last two with the Gulf Coast League Braves.The Hillcats begin the 2013 season April 5 on the road against the Potomac Nationals. Their first home game will be April 9 against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. For ticket and schedule information visit lynchburg-hillcats.com or call the ticket office at 434-528-1144. • Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board... Carolina League Stories from January 18, 2013 Hillcats Announce 2013 Field Staff - Lynchburg Hillcats

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Q&A with Lotus' Nick ChesterMaldonado, Gutierrez clear the airLotus preview the Chinese GP'Unacceptable' fumes GrosjeanMaldonado confirms engine problemMore penalties for MaldonadoSun: Ferrari, STR, Lotus, MarussiaSat: Lotus, Marussia, Caterham Lotus preview the Korean GP Share: Lotus preview the Korean GP Kimi Raikkonen is hoping for another podium run in Korea while Romain Grosjean is feeling 'pretty positive' about his chances... Kimi Raikkonen:Q: How's the back?KR: It's better than it was on Saturday in Singapore which is when it didn't feel too good. The important thing was that I was able to race and we did a pretty good job with the podium finish. It's not the first time I've had a problem, as there have been some issues with my back for a long time. For sure, we will have to see how it is when I get out on track on Friday in Korea. Q: What are your hopes for Korea?KR: Let's hope we are able to maintain the strong form from Sunday in Singapore. The car felt good for the whole race and it was a nice feeling racing too. The main focus is to keep this positive feeling and benefit from it in the next races. Q: What do you think of the Korea International Circuit?KR: Last year was my first visit there and it's quite a tricky circuit to learn quickly, but I felt comfortable with it after a few laps. When the car is right, you can go well there. Last year we saw it's a good place to race with a good car. Q: How satisfying was your return to the podium in Singapore after two difficult races?KR: You always want to get the best finish and the most points you can, so it was certainly better than Spa or Monza. I had pretty good speed and could overtake a few people, then at the end I was following Jenson [Button] and could see that his tyres were going off so I just applied some pressure. I knew I had to get past him because obviously some other people had changed to new tyres and they were catching us quickly. I managed to pass him and pull away and luckily nobody managed to catch me in the end. So it was not too bad; especially after a weekend where we had some problems with my back and not the ideal setup. To finish third with all those things and where we were on the grid, I don't think we could have asked much more. Q: Your pass on Jenson looked pretty good, around the outside at Turn 14...KR: Maybe it looked more tricky than it was. Obviously you have more grip when you brake on the racing line and you know more or less where you have to brake; much more than you do on the inside. It wasn't an easy one but we managed to get past and that's the main thing. Q: Once again the E21 seemed to enable better tyre performance in the race that some of its rivals; how much does this help you?KR: It's pretty normal that different cars and drivers use their tyres differently. We had a plan and we knew that if the safety car came out we would have to try to run until the end. Luckily some other teams couldn't manage it and had to pit. Q: What's your objective for Korea?KR: The main target is to have a better weekend overall compared to what we saw in Singapore. Obviously, we didn't have the best qualifying and it makes things easier if you start in the top ten. Romain Grosjean:Q: How are you feeling heading to Korea?RG: I'm feeling pretty positive; we had a good car in Singapore and we should have a good car in Korea. Qualifying in the top three so late in the season shows that we still have good strength in our package, so if we can show comparable pace at the next few races it'll be a real strength for us. Q: What do you think of the circuit?RG: Last year was my first time at the Korea International Circuit and it's quite an interesting place. It wasn't so hard to learn, although there are three quite different parts to it with the long straight in sector one, high and medium speed corners in sector two and then the street course nature of the final sector. The trickiest parts are definitely Turns 11 and 12 which are not easy to get exactly right, but overall it's not too bad and I think the E21 should go well there. Q: How are you approaching the weekend?RG: Like any weekend, we want to achieve the best results we can. Hopefully there won't be a repeat of any of the issues we suffered in Singapore as they didn't make the weekend any easier. It would be nice to have some better luck and have a straightforward Friday, another good qualifying result and then a strong finish on Sunday. Q: Singapore must have been one of your toughest weekends of the year?RG: It terms of lost potential, it was a pretty hard end to the weekend when we had to retire. Friday was difficult as we didn't get much track time, then Saturday was fantastic to qualify in third on the grid. The race was going well before we had the problem and had to retire. I certainly wasn't happy. Q: What was possible in the race if you didn't have the problem?RG: I think a second or third place finish was a realistic prospect. We had a good strategy pitting under the safety car and we should have finished well, but unfortunately my engine had other ideas. We lost air pressure and the team tried to fix the problem by topping it up with an additional pit stop, but unfortunately that didn't work so we had to retire which is never what you want to happen. Q: What were the conclusions you could make after Singapore?RG: You're never very happy after a retirement and especially when you are going for a podium. That said we have a strong car, a good team and we will keep doing our best as we have been doing for the last few races to try to get back on top as quickly as possible. I'm looking forward to hopefully some better luck in Korea. Q: Korea is the first of three back-to-back race combinations; how does this affect you?RG: The back-to-back races can be quite tiring, but equally they work pretty well logistically as we stay on a similar time zone for a couple of weeks; certainly with Korea and Japan. It's also quite nice to be able to see some of the countries we visit with a little bit of time between the races. It's not so nice to be away from your family of course, but it makes for an interesting end to the season with the six races so close together. Setting Up In Shanghai

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Heidfeld: Webber can't beat VettelFriday 01-July-2011 09:35Nick Heidfeld says he's surprised by Mark Webber's failure to take the fight to Sebastian Vettel in this year's title race. Red Bull's RB6 has been by far the best car so far this season, however, only in the hands of Vettel. The German has claimed six victories and two runner-up results from eight races while Webber has managed just four podium finishes, one runner-up and three P3s. As such, the Aussie is lagging behind his team-mate in the Drivers' Championship, having scored 109 points to Vettel's 186. This has led Heidfeld to predict that, for the second year running, Webber will be beaten by his younger team-mate. "Of course Sebastian is doing a very good job but I am a bit surprised with how difficult it seems to be for Mark," Heidfeld told the Herald Sun. "Last year, even though Sebastian won the Championship, Mark was able to be very strong in parts of the season. It seems to be a bit more difficult for him this season." He added: "I think he can come back and be stronger. "But he certainly won't be able to do enough to beat Vettel for the Championship. But I do think, at some races, he will at least be able to give him a hard time." But while Heidfeld reckons Webber won't be able to get the jump on Vettel, that doesn't mean Red Bull's rivals won't as the title race could be turned on its head when the new ban on off-throttle blown diffusers comes into effect at the British GP. "There are still many races to go," the Lotus Renault driver said. "I think from Silverstone on we will have a regulation change with the diffuser and that might change things. "We can only guess what will happen with that and how it will affect everyone, so we will have to wait and see." Related Links'Matter of time before Webber sorts Seb out'

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Varsity Xtra: Last lap -- After 35 seasons Semler stepping down at NA Rebecca DrokeCoach Kirk "Corky" Semler leaves behind a legacy of swimming dominance at North Allegheny. Rebecca Droke/Post-GazetteNorth Allegheny swimming Coach Kirk "Corky" Semler talks with the team before practice begins Tuesday in McCandless. Semler is retiring after 35 years of coaching. By Craig Meyer Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Swimming is a sport that typically doesn't require footwear, but for Kirk "Corky" Semler, a feeling has slowly developed around his feet as he stands on the pool deck overlooking his team's practice. Having tirelessly devoted himself to his craft for decades, the North Allegheny swimming coach has noticed a constriction taking hold just below his ankles. Even if it's just in his mind, it's a sign, a sensation that is too strong to ignore. "My favorite saying, and I heard this years ago and it applies so well, is 'My favorite shoes are a little too tight,'" Semler said. For him, it's an aphorism that carries a simple message: No matter how much you might love something, there comes a time where you must let go, regardless of how hard it might be. At the end of this season, Semler will retire from North Allegheny, leaving his post as one of the most-decorated swimming coaches in local and state high school history. Symbols of Semler's 35-year tenure can be found anywhere one turns at the school's pool. There are the 24 WPIAL and nine PIAA championship teams he coached, represented by black banners arranged neatly in grids on opposite walls. The names of North Allegheny swimmers who attained All-America status, 132 under Semler, are compactly displayed in bold white lettering on a black bulletin board. Yet, for a man of his obvious accomplishment, there's a restraint in Semler's conversation when he speaks of his achievements. As he likes to phrase it, he's nothing more than "a spoke in the wheel," one of many who helped his team, the proverbial vehicle, churn at a torrid pace for so many years. "Let's put the question in perspective -- I haven't won any [titles]," Semler said when asked of his team's championships. "I tell the kids all the time, 'I haven't swum a stroke in any of these victories.' It's the kids who have done it. "Yes, I've been the coach and I appreciate the accolades and I appreciate the fact that people think I've won them, but the kids have won them." The championships are what stand out about Semler, defining his career, but they are just the highlights of a journey that began many years ago. After working as a car salesman and, as he put it, "essentially goofing off for a couple of years" after graduating from Kent State, Semler accepted a position as a physical education teacher and swim coach at North Allegheny in 1978. Taking over an already successful program that won its first girls' WPIAL championship in 1973, Semler was able to continue North Allegheny's budding tradition at a place whose high level of expectation matched his own. "I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to be in that environment," Semler said. "I think a lot of coaches would have been successful as well had they been given this opportunity." The winning began almost immediately as his boys team captured a WPIAL title in just his second season and the girls team won WPIAL championships in 1983 and 1984. The 1984 team also claimed a PIAA crown. Maybe the most successful stretch of Semler's coaching career came in the 1990s, when his teams combined to win seven WPIAL and six PIAA championships. The girls team did its best to turn the decade into its own personal dynasty, winning seven WPIAL and five state titles, a stretch that included three consecutive PIAA championships from 1995-97. The boys' team won consecutive state titles in 2009 and 2010 and is the defending WPIAL champion. They are feats that not only make for impressive bullet points on a resume, but also have made him and his teams an institution in the local swimming community. "I know that when people move into the Pittsburgh area and people talk about who you should train with as a swimmer, it always comes back to North Allegheny," said Jaime Workman, who graduated from North Allegheny in 1997. "That's because of Cork, because of his longevity here and what he has done for the swimmers and the program. The program is the best bar none." With this current track record of success, the natural question is why Semler, 59, is retiring, especially considering he exhibits few signs of slowing down, save for his graying hair and facial whiskers. At a recent practice, he laughed as some of his swimmers jokingly mocked the "Feeling blue today?" message he wrote on a whiteboard near the pool. Moments later, he passionately spoke as his team, seated around him, attentively hung on every word. For someone facing the potential stress of the WPIAL meet next Thursday, this is clearly not a man drained of will or enthusiasm for what he does. But in a sport such as swimming that demands practices well before sunrise and long hours of preparation that would keep him at the school until as late as 8 p.m., the work has become too much and fatigue, even if not entirely apparent, has set in. "Quite frankly, I think I'm just tired," Semler said. "Doing my favorite thing is now costing me more than it's rewarding me. I just need to step back here for a little bit." Stepping back may be a tough challenge for a man who devoted so much of himself not for his own advancement, but for those who benefited directly from his work -- his swimmers. It's a responsibility that Semler always felt went beyond the pool. "Most importantly, he's more about developing them as people as he is developing them as swimmers, and that's why he has so many who love him so much and why he's had so much success in the swimming arena," North Allegheny assistant coach Patrick Wenzel said. "It's not all about swimming -- it's about life, it's about learning, it's about becoming the right kind of person. He leads them in that direction really well." Marina Rozick, who graduated from North Allegheny in 2011 and currently swims at Westminster College, lauded Semler as "a father figure," noting that his level of care for his swimmers sets him apart from even his most compassionate colleagues. "Now that I'm in college, I look back and I wish so badly that I could still swim for him," she said. "No coach will ever be like him." With Semler's retirement on the horizon, the potential for a triumphant final act remains. Led by a strong group of swimmers -- his boys and girls teams are both 10-0 this season -- the WPIAL meet is less than a week away. If there's one group of people who want to provide Semler with a storybook ending to a distinguished career, it's his swimmers. "We want to send him out with a win," senior Anna Seethaler said. The exit of someone of Semler's stature brings about an inevitable void in numerous places. There's North Allegheny, which will have to look for a head swimming coach for the first time since the Carter administration. Wenzel, who was a state champion swimmer for the Tigers and heads up North Allegheny's youth program, is a potential successor. Though Semler said he will stay involved even in retirement, there is also the Western Pennsylvania swimming community, which will have to replace something of a patriarch. For both the school and the sport, it marks the end of an era, one defined by a man who found incessant joy in his profession not through individual accolades, but through the young lives he helped shape. Semler may have reached the point where he can no longer continue with the sport's grind, but his positive legacy, and not just the banners he helped win, will live on with the program, something that makes his retirement anything but morose. "I don't think it's so much sad," Wenzel said. "I think it's going to be a celebration. I don't think he's sad -- he's put everything he has into this for 35 years and he's left an indelible impact on North Allegheny." mobilehome - hsother Craig Meyer: [email protected] and Twitter: @craig_a_meyer. First Published February 22, 2013 5:00 AM Latest in HSOther West Xtra: West Allegheny soph pointing for javelin title West Xtra: Bridgers make a huge statement on volleyball court West Xtra: Beaver tennis team reloads on the run West/North Xtra: Quaker Valley girls enjoy 8-0 start to lacrosse season North Xtra: Senior twosome take lead for Fox Chapel. North Xtra: Depth makes Shady Side a WPIAL threat

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Monthly Archives: April 2008 April 30, 2008 — Scott Johnson Update to the VRWC Rush Limbaugh has officially lifted the operational pause in Operation Chaos: Operation Chaos is back at full speed, and we have no change in direction, orders from headquarters remain exactly what they are: You are to go out and sustain the Democrat primary season by virtue of voting for Hillary Clinton. Nothing has changed, ladies and gentlemen, nothing whatsoever. Now is not the time to go weak in the knees. » Read more... April 30, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff The Clinton attack machine comes up short It’s only one poll and the spreads aren’t significant, but the latest survey from Fox News has Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama by a 44-41 margin, and doing better than Barack Obama against John McCain. According to the survey, Clinton leads McCain by one percentage point, while Obama trails him by three. Hillary probably needs both confirmation from other polls that she’s more popular than Obama and bigger margins if » Read more... April 30, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff An all English final Europe’s soccer champion this year will be an English team (or at least a team that’s based in England). That outcome was guaranteed yesterday when Manchester United defeated Barcelona 1-0 on a glorious strike by the diminutive evergreen Paul Scholes. Scholes has been playing in European competition for United since 1994, but missed their victory in the 1999 final due to suspension (too many yellow cards). Now he’ll finally get » Read more... April 30, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff A not-so-sacred, not-so-lonely process An English professor at Dartmouth used to say, “I don’t really know what I think until I write it.” He was referring to the fact that thoughts crystallize when subjected to the rigors of the English language and its rules of usage and grammar. And he was paying homage to the magic of the lonely, and in his mind sacred, encounter between author and (in those days) paper. Scott McClellan » Read more... April 30, 2008 — Scott Johnson War and Decision: A word from Douglas Feith Douglas Feith served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from July 2001 until August 2005. His government service extends back to work at the NSC and the Pentagon during the Reagan administration. His work at the Pentagon during the Reagan administration earned him the Defense Department’s Distinguished Public Service medal, the department’s highest civilian award. Mr. Feith has now written War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the » Read more... April 30, 2008 — Scott Johnson His Early Life Dr. Larry Arnn is the president of Hillsdale College. He is also the former president of the Claremont Insitute. For three years (1977-1980) Arnn served as director of research for Sir Martin Gilbert, working with Sir Martin on Finest Hour: 1939-1941 (the link is to Simon Schama’s review of the book), Volume VI of the monumental authorized biography of Winston Churchill. Hillsdale College Press is now republishing the authorized biography » Read more... April 29, 2008 — John Hinderaker There’s A Sucker Born Every Minute… … but a sucker like Jimmy Carter comes along only once or twice in a century. There was lots not to like in Carter’s interview with Wolf Blitzer today, but let’s just focus on his version of events in the Middle East: BLITZER: Let’s talk about foreign policy, a very sensitive issue: Your recent trip to the Middle East, your decision to meet with Hamas, a group the U.S. government » Read more... April 29, 2008 — Scott Johnson Memo to the VRWC Rush Limbaugh has called for a pause in Operation Chaos. Rush is deliberating over his next order: You can’t vote in North Carolina and Indiana ’til Tuesday anyway, so there’s really no pause. It’s not as though the election is tomorrow. I just wanted you to know your commanding officers are eagerly, diligently, and effectively planning the next strategy here, based on [Obama's] speech and the reaction to it. Allahpundit, » Read more... April 29, 2008 — John Hinderaker Obama and Wright: How Far Apart Are They? As Paul noted earlier, Barack Obama denounced Jeremiah Wright today. While political realities no doubt contributed to Obama’s decision to break with Wright, I don’t doubt that most of what he said was sincere. Obama’s purpose, of course, was to make clear that Wright’s outrageous rants “don’t portray accurately my values and beliefs.” In support of this statement, Obama appealed to the evidence of his own writings: And anybody who » Read more... April 29, 2008 — Scott Johnson Why not him? part deux Minnesota Democratic senatorial candidate Al Franken titled his mock memoir of a presidential campaign Why Not Me?. Over the past few weeks, with his failure to pay workers’ compensation insurance in New York and his failure to file corporate tax returns in California, he has begun to answer the question he asked in the title of that book. Now the Star Tribune reports that Franken owes $70,000 in back taxes » Read more... April 29, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff Obama changes his tune Barack Obama has finally said that he is outraged by the positions of long-time spiritual adviser, Jeremiah Wright. This after having famously avowed in his “landmark” Philadelphia speech that he could no more disown Wright than he could disown the black community or his white grandmother. At the time Obama made those remarks, I called him courageous. I guess a downturn in his election prospects was all that was necessary » Read more... April 29, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff So sorry for the inconvenience During his interview with Chris Wallace on Sunday, this exchange occurred: WALLACE: Did you talk to reverend Wright recently about his decision to make a series of public appearances at this particular point? OBAMA: You know, I didn’t talk to him about that. I had talked to him after all this had happened, partly because I regretted — I always regret people who are civilians, essentially, being dragged into these » Read more... April 29, 2008 — Paul Mirengoff Name that Justice Yesterday, by a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court upheld the state of Indiana’s requirement that voters present photo identification before voting. Which Justice broke ranks with the four-member liberal bloc to conclude what common sense dictates — that the law is “amply justified by the valid interest in protecting the integrity and reliability of the electoral process?” The answer is: Justice Stevens, who wrote an opinion in which Chief Justice » Read more... April 29, 2008 — Scott Johnson A Thomas Eagleton moment? In his widely lauded Philadelphia speech, Barack Obama declared of Reverend Jeremiah Wright: “I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.” It wasn’t quiite up to George McGovern’s expression of “1,000 percent” support for Thomas Eagleton as his running mate after revelations of his shock therapy, but it left Obama and Wright closely joined. Something about the revelation of Eagleton’s shock therapy made his ultimate » Read more... April 29, 2008 — Scott Johnson And gladly would he teach The Spring issue of the Claremont Review of Books (subscribe here) has just been published. In the issue Daniel Oliver reviews the life and work of the late, great William F. Buckley, Jr. Much has been written of Buckley’s accomplishments lately, but Oliver reviews Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription, a recent collection of correspondence from National Review’s long-running Notes & Asides column, to remind us of Buckley’s singular wit, his » Read more... April 28, 2008 — John Hinderaker Soak the Rich? It always seems like a no-brainer to the Democrats: we’ll promise to take some money from the “rich” and give it to those most likely to vote for us; how could it go wrong? But those pesky voters–what’s the matter with Kansas?–don’t think it’s quite so simple. Rasmussen reports that by 65% to 16%, likely voters oppose the Democrats’ scheme to increase capital gains taxes. That’s partly because lots of » Read more... April 28, 2008 — Scott Johnson The Wright hemisphere, part 4 Another highlight of Reverend Wright’s talk at the National Press Club today occurred when Wright discussed Obama’s announcement of his presidential candidacy: MS. LEINWAND: Senator Obama has been in your congregation for 20 years. Yet you were not invited to his announcement of his presidential candidacy in Illinois. And in the most recent presidential debate in Pennsylvania, he said he had denounced you. Are you disappointed that Senator Obama has » Read more...

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RedsZone.com - Cincinnati Reds Fans' Home for Baseball Discussion > Baseball > Minor League Talk > A name to remember: Jason Chapman View Full Version : A name to remember: Jason Chapman savafan05-25-2006, 01:49 PMhttp://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/sports/ci_3864142 By TONY ADAME In August, Cindy Chapman drove to her sister Caroline's house in Truckee. Along for the ride with her were her husband, Kelvin, oldest son Jason, a soon to be high school senior, and youngest son Brett, then 12 years old. A thousand tears and a little boy's heartbreak later, three of them came back. Jason stayed behind. "Brett was absolutely not going to come home when we dropped Jason off," Cindy said. "It wasn't until he saw me crying that he changed his mind. People always ask me how I could let one of my children go away. I always tell them it was no harder than having him stay here and see what he would go through, the frustration. That's the truth of it." The truth of it now is this: Jason, an all-North Bay League outfielder and standout basketball player for Ukiah High School as a junior, didn't go to Truckee High School and have a very good year. Jason went to Truckee, which competes in Nevada prep sports, and had a Blow-the-doors-out, Call your crying mother and tell her how good you did, Outstanding, Believe the hype, College coaches want to know your name, Girls follow you home type of year * in both sports. "The first time I saw him play was in a pick-up game in August," Truckee head basketball coach Keith Crawford said in a phone interview Monday. "I watched him play once and told the first person I saw I'd got a Christmas gift in the month of August. He's a hell of a player. The only thing I was upset about was I didn't get him for two years." After tearing up the Truckee hardwood to the tune of 22.3 points per game this season and being named second team all-state, Jason went on to have a monster season on the baseball diamond. Jason played shortstop for the Wolverines and, batting leadoff, he hit .595 in league with a 1.276 slugging percentage. He had 20 RBIs, eight home runs, three triples, and four doubles in 47 at-bats. Jason also led the team with 31 runs and 19 stolen bases as Truckee set a new greater Nevada record with 141 stolen bases in 31 games. He led Truckee in all categories except for doubles. Chapman also set the Greater Nevada record by hitting successfully in all 31 of Truckee's games this year, breaking a six-year old state record. Statistics from Truckee's playoff games weren't available at press time. Now, with scouts from colleges and pro baseball knocking at his door, it begs just one question. Why did he leave Ukiah? It's safe to say Jason Chapman was living in a fish bowl from the moment he picked up a baseball bat. It's what happens when you're the son of an ex-major leaguer and probably the greatest athlete to ever walk the halls at Ukiah High School, where you're destined to end up. Expectations for Jason, suffice it to say, ran pretty high. And when it became obvious that Jason was a special athlete, those expectations got even higher. From the start, though, there appeared to be conflicts. Chapman is, by one coach's description, an "intense," athlete, as are a lot of elite prep athletes. Whether or not that played into the problem should be inconsequential. He's a teenager dealing with adults. Some felt that his father, Kelvin, a Ukiah native who played in the New York Mets organization for nine years, took too big a role. Some felt that Jason himself had a bad attitude. There was an incident where Jason got sent down from the varsity baseball team his sophomore year. There was an incident where he was benched on the varsity basketball team his junior year. Either way, things were said between coaches and family, coaches and player, and feelings got hurt. One Ukiah assistant coach went so far as to criticize Jason on an internet blog, which Cindy found out about and promptly had taken down after turning it into the district office. By the time his junior year ended, it was obvious to the Chapman family that a change needed to be made. Problem is, for somebody that goes to school in Ukiah, there aren't a lot of options. There was Deep Valley Christian, but they cut their athletic program. The Chapmans also considered Cardinal Newman and Montgomery, but Kelvin didn't want Jason to have to face his old teammates, kids he'd grown up playing with. "Philosophically, we needed to move on. We felt after his junior year he wasn't getting what he needed out of it," Kelvin said. "If you don't like or agree with the coaches at Ukiah you don't have a lot of options, so we decided on this." August 1, Cindy called Ukiah High School to let them know Jason wouldn't be returning. It was the family's last contact with the high school. "It seemed like they never embraced Jason here," Cindy said. "And I think maybe he got caught up in a lot of politics, which wasn't fair to him. We wanted to give him a chance to be just Jason, which he's always been to us, and not Kelvin's son', which meant taking him out of the fishbowl." In Truckee, Jason had a built-in support system in Caroline and her husband Bruce, a contractor Jason spent the previous summer working with and got along with great. There were also cousins to lean on for family. Cindy has got to see him play quite a bit more than Kelvin because of Kelvin's coaching responsibilities at Mendocino College, but it was a decision neither parent regrets. And, with both the boys basketball team and baseball team at Ukiah finishing in the middle of the North Bay League in both sports this season, Wildcats fans can only wonder: what if? Now, there's no telling what might happen to the boy who left Ukiah for Truckee. Kelvin has been contacted by both the Cincinnati Reds and the California Angels, although if either team drafted Jason he would most likely head to a junior college before or if he headed to the minors. It's a "draft and watch" process major league teams sometimes use on late-round draft picks. Santa Rosa Junior College (Kelvin's old school), Sacramento City and Consumnes River are all in the running for Jason's lethal bat and blazing 3.7 speed to first base, but nothing is certain yet. "The numbers are stuff you can't ignore," Kelvin said. "He's got legitimate baserunner speed for Major League Baseball. "He's had a great year in Truckee. He's made some great friends, lifelong friends. We're really proud of him." And, someday, Kelvin might just be known as Jason's dad.

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Tuesday, August 20, 2013 11:30 PM EDT Kvitova gives New Haven Open needed star power By Roger Cleaveland Republican-American NEW HAVEN -- It wasn't exactly a tournament-saving performance, but Petra Kvitova's 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Annika Beck certainly gave the New Haven Open a much-needed boost.In what is a critical year for the survival of the tournament in New Haven, an awful lot of good things need to happen this year to attract enough sponsorship to carry on. The start of this tournament did absolutely nothing to help the cause of tournament director Anne Worcester.Several days before the tournament began, it suffered a big blow when Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli retired from tennis. Then Monday night, after an irritating rain delay, four-time champion Caroline Wozniacki played poorly in losing her first set, but advanced nonetheless when opponent Shuai Peng retired from their match due to dizziness. Read more of this story and more!

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Newsletter Subscription Here | Search Sail-World sail-world.com -- New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup preview New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup preview Mon, 9 Sep 2013 It will mark the start of the third biennial New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup, when a global fleet takes to the waters of Narragansett Bay and Rhode Island Sound on Tuesday, 10 September, presented by Rolex. This unique sailing event, which promotes true Corinthian sporting spirit - a concept valued highly by Rolex - is a tough, demanding competition on a level playing field. The regatta is open to a limited number of the world's pre-eminent yacht clubs with crew composition strictly limited to non-professional sailors. The 20 teams will race identically tuned one-design Swan 42s and the 2013 regatta promises to be another test of ability and tactical expertise. The fleet is made up of host club the New York Yacht Club (NYYC), 2011 defending champion the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, 15 invited international clubs, and three American yacht clubs determined by a qualification series. All teams are instilled with fierce patriotism and the competitive skills displayed by the sailors are testament to the high regard in which the trophy is held. Among the clubs returning to the fray is the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS), one of three British clubs alongside Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Royal Southern Yacht Club (the latter of which is competing in the event for the first time). 'I am delighted to be returning to Newport,' acknowledged Glynn Williams helm of the RYS entry for a second consecutive time. 'It’s hard to find a comparison for the Invitational Cup as this event offers so much for the competitors.' Williams enjoys the opportunity to compete against other world-renowned yacht clubs and the tremendous atmosphere prevalent at NYYC’s Harbour Court during the event. Eight additional teams are participating in the Invitational Cup for the first time, including Royal Swedish Yacht Club (KSSS). Team Captain Douglas Eklund is sanguine in his assessment of the racing ahead: 'We know there are highly competent teams. We know that the races are tight and we have made great efforts to learn more about the sailing waters. We know how important teamwork is.' Eklund and his compatriots are honoured to be present: 'Newport is an historic place and this is a unique opportunity for us to be a part of [that].' A number of the teams will cross multiple time zones to reach the starting line. Four will cross the equator, including Yacht Club Argentino from Argentina, and three Australian teams: the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), organizers of the Rolex Sydney Hobart, along with Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. The Australian teams will travel more than 11,000 miles in their quest. Two clubs making a third consecutive appearance, and each hoping to convert their experience into victory are the Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC) and Real Club Nautico de Barcelona (RCNB). Anthony O’Leary is leading the Irish team: 'Good old-fashioned one-design skill and teamwork are of paramount importance at this event.' Four teams will be flying the Stars and Stripes of the United States. The host, New York Yacht Club, and the teams that emerged from a Qualifying Series that rewarded the top-three finishers with an invitation to the biennial main event. Larchmont, Seattle and San Francisco Yacht Clubs took the treasured places from a fleet of 24 teams. Shawn Bennett, helm for The San Francisco Yacht Club, accepts the event is a mental puzzle and an emotional and physical marathon: 'We have heard about the incredible hospitality and great shore side events, and know to expect to be competing against some of the best amateur sailors in the world.' by KPMS Our advertisers are committed to our sport, please support them! (Graphics)

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30 December 2002, 10:49 am Glasgow Takes the Lead on Leg 4 © Jim Malcolm Clipper 2002 Round the World Race Over the last 12 hours there has been an interesting split in the fleet. The wind has been blowing 20 knots from the north and London, Jersey and New York have taken advantage of this to blast downwind to the south. Glasgow however has chosen a slightly different tactic by heading a little more to the west and now sits about 50 miles to the north west of the southern group. Although it remains to be seen if this will prove a successful tactic in the long run, for today it has pushed them into first position just over 4 miles closer to the finish line off the island of Santa Cruz. The wind is however easing, and this will continue as the boats head further south. One could assume that this will favour the northern pack who should keep the wind for longer, however it has to be said that currently this looks unlikely. As the wind eases, it should also swing to the south, thus enabling the southern pack to set a good course to the islands whilst those to the north find themselves directly down wind of their target. The Admiralty Pilot for the area recommends that sailing ships leaving the gulf of Panama should head south, clearing the light winds of the Gulf to find the steadier south east trades. The reason for this is a meteorological landmark called the ITCZ (Inter-Tropical convergence zone) or doldrums, of which the crews have already experienced a taste. A belt of variable winds exists at the point where the south east and north east trade winds meet, currently about 5 degrees north of the equator. The southern boats will hope to break through this first and gain the benefit of the steadier breezes to follow. That at least is the theory! Tim Hedges/ISAF Secretariat

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2012 Olympics - Tennis Bryan Brothers Win Men's Doubles Gold Aug 3, 2012; London, United Kingdom; Bob Bryan (left) and his brother Mike chest bump after winning their semifinal match against the french team of Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet during the London 2012 Olympic Games at Wimbledon. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports Mike and Bob Bryan finally have their gold medal. The brothers captured the gold for the United States in the men's doubles final at the 2012 Olympic Games on Saturday. Saturday has been quite a day for the Unites States tennis team at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Just a short while after Serena Williams completed her career golden slam by winning the women's singles competition, Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan captured their first gold medals in the finals of the men's doubles event. The Bryans, who had previously won a bronze medal at the Summer Games, picked up the gold to add to their 11 major championships by defeating a French team of Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The second set went to a tiebreak, where the Bryan brothers took a 6-2 lead. On the gold medal point, they successfully broke serve with one of the most insane sequence of volley returns you're likely to see at Wimbledon. A smash from Tsonga was returned near the scoreboard -- and fell in. And that wasn't even the end of the point. The Bryan brothers won in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). For more on the Olympics, check out SB Nation's London 2012 Olympics hub.  Summer Olympics, Day 8: Complete Coverage From Saturday Great Moments In 'I Already Won' American Jamie Lynn Gray Wins Shooting Gold, Sets Olympic Record Team USA Vs. Lithuania Final Score: LeBron James Saves Americans In 99-94 Win Serena Williams Dominates Maria Sharapova To Win Olympic Gold

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It May Be Dark, But There Is Still Some Light By Actuarially Sound Scott Halleran Get the latest Los Angeles Lakers news with Silver Screen and Roll Follow Silver Screen and Roll on Twitter Like Silver Screen and Roll Facebook The light is dimming on the Lakers' promising season, but it is not completely dark yet. Share with Lakers friends 177 To say the Lakers have had a miserable start to the season is as big of an understatement as saying our country’s national debt is just a few bucks here and there. This season has been an epic disaster that I won’t bother recapping because it is simply too depressing. Last night’s loss has only further encouraged the mass of Lakers followers to jump off the bandwagon (notice I used the term "followers" and not "fans" because true Lakers fans never get off the ride). This season has turned into one of the darkest ever, but the light has not gone out yet. There is still reason for hope in Lakerland. For all the bad breaks the Lakers have caught (see C.A. Clark’s piece today), he failed to mention one gigantic break that may salvage the Lakers’ season: The Western Conference only has seven good teams. C.A. stated that the Lakers need to win 2 out of 3 games the rest of the way to reach the win total of the average 8th seed in the West over the last few years. While that statement is accurate, he is assuming that the requirement for post-season play is the same as prior years. It is not. In fact, odds are that the 8th seed will only need a .500 record to get in. To see what I am talking about you only need to look at John Hollinger’s playoff odds. He shows seven teams reaching 48 wins (Clippers, Spurs, Thunder, Grizzlies, Nuggets, Rockets, and Warriors). Unless the Lakers go on a run and start winning two out of three games, they won’t catch any of these teams. Where it gets interesting is the 8th seed. One glance at the teams fighting for that final spot and it becomes quite clear the Lakers may in fact have the inside track on that position. There are four teams fighting for that spot: Lakers, Timberwolves, Blazers, and Jazz. Relative to this group, the Lakers' odds don’t seem so dim and making the playoffs may still be more likely than not. Minnesota currently sits at 16-16, only 2.5 games ahead of the Lakers. Their margin of victory is -0.3 points per game, further supporting them being a .500 team. The biggest detriment to their playoff hopes is the recent injury to Kevin Love. The Timberwolves' best player will miss 8 to 10 weeks after re-breaking his hand. The best the Wolves can hope for is continued .500 basketball and a quick glance at their schedule over the upcoming few weeks suggests that will be a long shot. What may help the Lakers is that they play the Timberwolves twice during that span (Feb 1 and Feb 28). Two Lakers wins would significantly tilt the odds towards the Lakers finishing ahead of Minnesota. Hollinger projects them to be a 39 win team and I don’t see how they would exceed that. Portland currently sits in the 8th spot in the West with a 19-15 record, 4.5 games up on the Lakers. Many would take a quick glance at this record, the winning percentage of 0.56 and project them to be a 46 win team and thus the required record to make the playoffs. Unfortunately for Portland (and fortunately for LA), their record is overstated and they won’t continue to win games at that pace for two big reasons: they aren’t as good as their record indicates and they have feasted on an easy schedule. Margin of victory is more strongly correlated with future performance than win-loss record. While Portland is four games above .500, they have been outscored by two points per game, a margin typically reflective of a 35 win team. If Portland plays like a 35 win team the rest of the way, they would finish with a .500 record. It isn’t quite that simple though because no team in the West has benefited from an easier slate of games than Portland. Portland’s opponents have had an averaging winning percentage of only .470, By comparison the five other Western Conference teams with the easiest schedules so far (with opponent winning percentage) are: OKC (.494), Dallas (.498), Phoenix (.498), Golden State (.498), and Utah (.501). Basically if you are in the Western Conference then you have played against .500 teams on average. Portland meanwhile has played a schedule so light, most teams in the East are jealous. It doesn’t bode well for a team that has been outscored during a super soft schedule to finish above .500. Given that their next 4 games are against Miami, Golden State, Oklahoma City, and Denver, they could be back down to .500 by Tuesday. Hollinger projects them to win 39 games and I agree. Utah represents the biggest challenge to the Lakers post-season aspirations. They are currently 19-18 (three games up on LA), with a margin of victory of -0.3. By all accounts they are a 0.500 team. In fact, Hollinger projected them to finish 41-41 yesterday before their win against Charlotte last night bumped them up to 42-40. They have been virtually injury free all year. They have played an average strength of schedule, and have a remaining schedule that is more difficult than LA’s. I see no reason why the Jazz would suddenly become a much better team and finish more than a game or two above .500. It should be evident that the Lakers still have a good shot to make the post-season as an 8th seed. The Lakers have played the toughest schedule to date of the four teams – in fact the Lakers have played the 8th toughest schedule in the league and after Friday’s contest against OKC they will have played the 5th toughest. The Lakers' margin of victory suggests they are a better team than their record indicates and they have been ravaged by injuries. If any team has the potential to improve their performance over the latter half of the season it is LA. The Lakers are only three games back of Utah with 47 games left. If they win the final head to head match-up (Jan 25th in LA) they will only need to make up 2 games the rest of the way. Hardly sounds like the insurmountable odds that some have portrayed. At this point the Lakers simply need to get healthy and give effort. A trade may be needed to shake up the roster if the Lakers want to compete for the title, but as for making the playoffs the odds are still in their favor. Don’t turn the lights off yet. Dan on Fire: Kobe's the clear NBA MVP Silver Screen & LOL - 4/10/14

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2014 schedule ATP Tour Hewitt crushes Berdych Lleyton Hewitt (AFP) Querrey aces way into semis Serena pumped for super sixth Radwanska books final spot Melbourne - Lleyton Hewitt pronounced himself in near-perfect form after a 6-3, 6-2 demolition on Thursday of world No 6 Tomas Berdych sent the Australian into the final of the Kooyong Classic. Hewitt, who won the title on his first appearance at the eight-man exhibition in 2011, took 88 minutes to subdue his Czech opponent, who admitted he was struggling with his game. Former world No 1 Hewitt, about to play his 17th straight Australian Open, will face either Marcos Baghdatis or Juan Martin del Potro for the Kooyong title on Saturday. "In the end I felt really good," said the veteran Australian, now ranked 82nd after undergoing a second foot operation a year ago. "Berdych has such weight of shot and hits so cleanly, I needed a few games to get used to his game. "I got confidence and didn't allow him to dictate. It was a good scoreline for me, but it was tighter than it looked. "The body felt great, my confidence was up and I was really happy with my ball-striking. I attacked his serve and put him under pressure, more than he was giving to me," the 31-year-old added. Berdych said he had concerns about his game. "I'm not feeling myself on the court. It's not what I expect from myself. I need to speak with my coach about what he sees," he said. "It's nothing to do with an injury, it's just me and the timing of the ball. The comfort is not there. I need to feel strong from the baseline in my game and I need to get that back. "I was very tired at the end of a long 2012 season, but I need to deal with that and do my best next week (at the Australian Open)." Canada's Milos Raonic beat Croatian Ivan Dodig 6-4, 6-4 in the consolation round. Read more on: kooyong classic | lleyton hewitt | tennis NEXT ON SPORT24X

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Prestige Football; The UEFA Champions League Compare Bookmakers Sportsbet IASBet Centrebet Sporting Bet Being the most prestigious trophy among the European clubs, the UEFA Champions League (also known as the the European Cup or the Champions League) is a premiership football competition held every year since 1955. During its early years (meaning before 1992), the UEFA league was a standard competition focused on the usual knock-out mechanism; this method of elimination was changed in the 1990’s when the tournament began to need expanding, at which point it brought in more teams and adopted a round-robin approach. The strongest national leagues of Europe now provide a maximum of four teams each, which brings the total up to 76 or 77 teams altogether. UEFA Champions League tidbits: Worth noting is that while the prestigious UEFA Cup has been won by 21 different clubs, clubs who have won the cup multiple times only mount up to an amount of 12. Even more surprising is that a single club, Real Madrid, is the proud holder of nine championship victories, including the contested first five seasons. Ever since the change of tournament format however, there has not been two successive wins by any team. The group stage opens up with grid with 8 groups divided amongst all 32 teams. Teams from the same country may not be drawn into groups together. The top two teams from each group then undergo the knock-out phase titled the “round of 16″. General performances to note is that while Real Madrid may be the top team (9 wins and 3 runner-ups), they are closely followed by Milan (7 wins and 4 runner-ups). Even more surprising though is that despite the noticeable difference between the individual premiership football clubs, the countries hosting them do not have as large of scoring gaps. Spain, which is the current superior nation in the UEFA league, has 12 wins and 9 Runners Up, while Italy may only have 11 wins but also 14 runners up. So once the figure-balancing has been done, that’s a lot of pri

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SBJ / 20100607 / NHL sharpens European focus CBS is ready to renew deal with U.S. OpenTalk of warming trend in relations gets cool receptionNFL, partners push Back to FootballSuper sales for NFL and FoxIs football the next Farmville?Paciolan, StubHub launch ticket partnershipPGA Tour adds women’s, youth apparel licenseesUFC gets ex-NBA exec to lead Far East pushDiverse cast vies for NASCAR ride on BET showNo Headline SBJ/20100607/This Week's News NHL sharpens European focus By Terry Lefton & Tripp Mickle On Oct. 2, the Boston Bruins will put the strength of its city’s ethnic heritage to the test with a preseason game in Belfast against what will likely be a team of Irish all-stars at Odyssey Arena, marking the first visit by an NHL team to the Emerald Isle. As the NHL pushes its game onto the European continent as never before, it’s interesting to note that the Bruins will be playing hockey in a venue that also hosts international darts competitions and is situated on the former site of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, which produced the Titanic. With a record 13 regular-season and exhibition games in Europe this fall, the NHL is hoping for slightly better luck than what befell the great ship. For years, the popularity of hockey in Northern Europe has been the league’s hole card. Now it is hoping to cash in and build a foundation for a European business that would see increased distribution of NHL games, more international competition and expansion of its consumer products business, all possibly leading to European franchises in the future. Old-time hockey It’s not a new thought. The first tour of the continent by NHL teams was in 1938, when the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings played nine games at three different arenas in Paris and London at the conclusion of the season. Now, 72 years later, Europe’s influence on the game is greater than ever. The NHL has 230 European players under contract, more than one-quarter of its rosters. The Stanley Cup finalist Philadelphia Flyers have five Europeans on their roster, while the Chicago Blackhawks have seven. Around 20 percent of traffic to NHL.com comes from outside of North America, with fans from hockey-mad countries in Northern Europe like Finland, Sweden, Russia and the Czech Republic among the most-frequent international visitors, consuming more video than North American visitors. London’s O2 Arena, controlled by AEG, would be a likely location for future competitions outside North America involving NHL teams. No small catalyst for the NHL’s fall European invasion is that its current European TV rights deal expires after next season, the same time as the league’s U.S. rights. Since 2005, ESPN Americas (the former NASN) has carried three to five games a week across Europe and sublicensed to domestic broadcasters in 54 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The league’s strategy of syncing its U.S. and international TV rights was designed to appeal to international broadcasters, like ESPN and Fox, a move that could push up the value of those offerings. “TV is the biggest marketing platform that any league has, and especially overseas, our brand is bigger than our business,” said the NHL’s John Collins, who recently added more international responsibilities to his role as the league’s COO. “Outside North America, it’s always been about our potential, but we can’t rest on that any more.” The U.S. plan the league has pursued in recent years combines broad-based media supported by direct-to-consumer pushes in broadband, satellite and enhanced digital media and driven by big events like the Winter Classic outdoor games. It’s all supported by an uptick in corporate activation and dollars. League officials say the European strategy won’t differ, but there’s some talk of adjusting starting times for select regular-season games in North America to accommodate a more viewer-friendly European schedule. “There’s always been an abundance of potential,” said Ken Yaffe, a 16-year league employee who has been dedicated to international business longer than anyone at the NHL and is currently senior vice president, NHL International. “We’ve just reached the point where we are confident enough domestically as a league where we can now pay full attention to business development opportunities outside of North America.” As Howard Baldwin, former owner of the Hartford Whalers and parts of the Minnesota North Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins, put it, “Europe is there more for the NHL than any league. Internationally, you’ve already got a level playing field in hockey.” European numbers In advance of negotiating its new European TV rights, the NHL has quietly hired CAA’s sports media advisory unit as its negotiator. With Phil Lines, former English Premier League director of media operations and international broadcasting, as part of a CAA group that includes heavyweights like Peter Kenyon and David O’Connor, the NHL is clearly looking for a big multiple, though perhaps not as heady as the one Lines orchestrated when he increased broadcast revenue around 80 percent to $1.6 billion with the launch of a global EPL TV network this year. The Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues faced off in Stockholm, Sweden, last October at the Ericsson Globe. The NHL’s last European rights deal doubled revenue, but what about this time around? “The quality of the league’s European players is very good and getting better. We also see TV sports rights continuing to rise in a fractured media environment, so we’re excited about the NHL’s potential,” said Alan Gold of CAA Sports Media Venture, a partnership between CAA and Evolution Media Capital (EMC). Of course, there are differing opinions. However bright the future looks, the NHL is now at the bottom of the big four leagues in international revenue, with $20 million in revenue from outside of North America. “To use a football analogy, when it comes to building a European business, the NHL is closer to the red zone than ever but still nearer to midfield than the end zone,” said David Abrutyn, IMG senior vice president and head of global consulting, who formerly had sales and marketing slots with the Washington Capitals and at the NHL league offices. “But it’s moving in the right direction. When they come out of the next CBA [the current collective-bargaining agreement expires in September 2011], that’s when you’ll see the NHL and its associated partners really moving forward internationally.” There are other numbers that make the NHL optimistic about European growth, as well. For all the NBA’s global prowess, this past season, with Yao Ming injured, the league had just two non-North American players in its 2010 All-Star Game. While hockey’s larger rosters make comparisons a bit unbalanced, the NHL had 14 such players in its 2009 midseason showcase. (The NHL did not stage a 2010 All-Star Game because of the Vancouver Olympics.) The potential has been there perhaps as far back as that 1938 European tour, but more recently it’s been simply a matter of priorities. The league is less than six years removed from a lockout that canceled a season and literally rewrote the NHL’s rules on and off the ice. Still, looking at the success the NBA has had in China, one can’t help but wonder if Northern Europe, especially the Nordic countries and Russia, can be for the NHL what China has been for the NBA. Some mitigating elements are the fact that the Nordic countries where hockey is king and the NHL is the top sports brand are relatively small, while Russia, the most populous hockey hotbed, has yet to produce a player with the broad fame that Yao enjoys both in his native China and in the United States. In addition, while economics dictate that the best Russian players will almost always play in the NHL, as a more developed economy than China and one with its developing Kontinental Hockey League, Russia is a more difficult proposition for the NHL than China was for the NBA. All of the NHL’s fervent planning for European expansion comes as the hockey landscape on the continent has been shifting drastically. Leagues in Germany, Sweden, Finland and elsewhere have become more assertive and less deferential to their governing bodies. At the recent world championships in Germany, as many as 30 European clubs were talking about breaking from their respective leagues to form a pan-European super league. Russia’s two-year-old KHL also has talked about a super league that would include both Russian and European clubs, but most European teams have rebuffed those overtures. That hasn’t made the KHL change its goals, as it’s added a Ukrainian team. At a recent state of the league address, KHL President Alexander Medvedev said, “We continue to expand, looking for new hockey clubs from Europe. And we are confident that this trend is irreversible and in a couple of years we will see a first-class pan-European hockey league.” Swiss fans celebrate a Zurich goal against the Chicago Blackhawks in last September’s Victoria Cup match. Relations between the upstart KHL and NHL have been strained over player-transfer issues, among other things. Recently though, tensions have loosened enough that NHL teams this fall will play in Russia for the first time in 20 years. “We’re learning to coexist better,” said NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly. However, at his recent state of the league briefing during the Stanley Cup Final, Commissioner Gary Bettman cautioned not to place too much significance into the scheduled exhibitions. “You can conclude we’re not so mad at them that we never talk to them,” he said. “But this doesn’t signal a fundamental change in our relationship.” It is onto this uneven European hockey landscape that the NHL will try to build a European foundation. The NHL is the only one of the four American stick and ball leagues without offices overseas, and the shifting European hockey politics could keep it that way for some time. “We have to stand back and see how this plays out,” Daly said. “The politics are too complicated for us go in right now and set up our own operation.” Event strategy To support a new and expanded European TV deal and to flex its muscles during a time of factionalism in the global hockey world, the NHL needs to be as big as it can be in Europe. So, as Collins puts it, “The biggest question is, What kind of events do we want to create that will leverage our size and reach across from North America through Europe?” While NHL players seem united in their support of NHL participation in the Olympics every four years, NHL ownership is not. Reflecting that ownership uncertainty over the Olympics’ benefit to the NHL, Bettman has said that Olympic participation in Sochi in 2014 is “up in the air.” With or without the Olympics, one scenario gaining increasing support within the league is the resurrection of the World Cup, a league-owned and -operated event that was last held in 2004, when Mario Lemieux and his Canadian teammates topped Finland 3-2 in a tournament held just before the NHL’s season was canceled. If there will be another World Cup, its place on the calendar is a key issue. Various industry sources say that a World Cup held during the season would bring in three times as much revenue as one held before the season. Accordingly, a World Cup tournament, which could be called by another name, staged during the league’s annual all-star break is one scenario gaining traction. Under the plan, which wouldn’t take effect until 2012 at the earliest and is subject to NHL Players’ Association approval, the NHL would extend its all-star break to seven days and play the tournament in one central city, with NHL players facing off on behalf of their countries. That type of competition could ultimately travel to Europe, where the AEG-controlled O2 arenas in London and Berlin are possible sites. AEG also owns the NHL Los Angeles Kings and two teams in Germany’s Deutsche Eishockey Liga: the Berlin Ice Barons and the Hamburg Freezers. Holding that tournament along with, or instead of, an Olympic tournament, will be a tough balancing act for the NHL, which will also have to sell its players on the value of another mini-season. “Players like to have any opportunity to wear their country’s jersey,” said Brendan Shanahan, who won three Stanley Cups in 21 years as an NHL player and who has been the league’s vice president of hockey and business development since December. “When the Winter Classic was first proposed, no one jumped on it. Now, everyone wants to be in one. I’m sure the same was true of the first Canada Cup [in 1972].” However, for the NHL to expand its fan base in the region, it needs to convince European fans and players that the Stanley Cup is the “ultimate” hockey prize. Currently, that is not the case. “Unquestionably there’s NHL interest in Europe, more than ever,” said one-time NHL goalie Mike Liut, a former NHLPA general counsel who now holds the same title with Octagon’s hockey division. “But Olympics are at the top of the pyramid there, and annually, the European hockey season is geared to the [IIHF] World Championships. For players and fans there, that is the pinnacle. Before the NHL can monetize there to the same degree they do in North America, that mind-set needs to change.” COO, NHL Other ideas discussed include a champions hockey league, similar to the one in European soccer, where top clubs play each other in addition to their domestic schedule. While it’s clear which Euro soccer teams are the powers, the dilemma of which specific NHL teams would participate might be insurmountable. The NHL looked at buying the IIHF’s Champions Hockey League when the IIHF put it up for bid in 2009, hiring Dean Bonham to evaluate the opportunity, but it later decided not to bid because league officials didn’t believe financials for the CHL worked. Later this month in Los Angeles, league officials will present a blueprint for international growth to the board of governors for approval. “We know there should be a more robust business in Europe,” Collins said. “The biggest impediment there has been the lack of access to our game. We are the premier league in a global sport; we just have to act that way. There’s as much growth, if not more, for us outside of North America as there is here.”

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op/ed, game reviews, team updates and even rumors you will find all of it on Knicks 101. Have an opinion - join the discussion and drop a comment. If it's about the Knicks, it's on Knicks 101. Sponsors Fan PollWhich off season signing will most contribute to the Knicks' offense? Pablo Prigioni J.R. Smith Metta World Peace Tim Hardaway Jr. Andrea BargnaniView Results Loading ...Polls Archive News Topics Players Forwards Guards NBA Free Agency NBA Teams Centers Knicks 101 Features Injuries Coaches Knicks Front Office Former Knicks Quick Hits Atlantic Division Game Reviews Retired Knicks Sponsors News Feeds - RSSNewsCommentsThe DailyA once daily email with the top 5 most important stories from around Sports Media 101.Email ArchivesTagged: ‘James White’New York Knicks Decline James White’s One Year Team Option June 30th, 2013 at 1:50 PM An approximately one million dollar team option for Small Forward James White has been declined by New York Knicks. The athletic high flyer, James White, played 57 games and started 16 for the Knicks this past season. He also represented the Knicks in this years Dunk Contest. ***VIDEO1*** He only averaged about 2...New York Knicks Limp Out of Final Regular Season Game April 18th, 2013 at 1:00 PM Going into Wednesday night the New York Knicks already had the Atlantic Division won. They already claimed the second seed in the Eastern Conference. They only had two concerns left, finishing their last game healthy and influencing who got the fifth seed in the East. They successfully helped the Chicago...New York Knicks Discover New Combination of Starting Guards March 19th, 2013 at 10:32 AM Last night, the New York Knicks finally got a win on this five game trip to the west coast. The Knicks were superior to the Utah Jazz for most of the night and finally came away with a win after four straight losses. While the Knicks enjoyed memorable performances from...New York Knicks Search for Point Guard Help Answered in Delonte West? March 16th, 2013 at 8:00 AM The New York Knicks are in some trouble health-wise right now. Rasheed Wallace is out for the season and has only slim hopes of returning for the playoffs. Amare Stoudemire is out after requiring knee surgery and will too miss the rest of the season. Carmelo Anthony needed the liquid drained...New York Knicks Scouting the Key to Their Roster Depth March 15th, 2013 at 8:00 AM Some have called the New York Knicks roster long in the tooth. Others say it's veteran laden. Some come right out and say it's old. One thing everybody says is that the roster is deep. There aren't many teams who can say that the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th man on...Camelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire Questionable, Expect New York Knicks to Use Chris Copeland March 9th, 2013 at 6:00 PM The New York Knicks have faced an injury bug all year but at this point in the season the injuries seemed to multiply. Rasheed Wallace is still out, Carmelo Anthony has missed 2 straight games, and Amare Stoudemire is listed as questionable with a knee injury. ***PHOTO1*** With all these injuries, especially...Could the New York Knicks Add Aaron Brooks to Their Roster? March 2nd, 2013 at 8:00 AM The New York Knicks have shown some interest in Aaron Brooks for several years. When he was fighting with Houston Rockets coaching staff the Knicks attempted to trade for him. When he was a member of the Phoenix Suns the Knicks tried to bring him to New York. Now that...New York Knicks Hoping for Focus February 27th, 2013 at 12:40 PM Something the New York Knicks have been missing lately has been focus and determination. At the beginning of the season, it seemed like no team wanted to win more than the Knicks. They were focused for every single game and refused to lose without a fight, but lately, that hasn't...The New York Knicks are Suffering from Simplicity February 17th, 2013 at 8:00 AM This season started off very well for the New York Knicks. They were playing hard-nose defense, hitting a lot of three's and most importantly putting wins up on the board. However, a lack of consistency and Mike Woodson's simple approach to the offense has led to opponents knowing how to...New York Knicks’ Tyson Chandler Believes the Team Needs More Urgency February 16th, 2013 at 8:00 AM Tyson Chandler is one of four members of the New York Knicks to win a NBA Championship. Rasheed Wallace won one with the Detroit Pistons in 2004, James White won one with the San Antonio Spurs in 2007, Jason Kidd and Chandler won one with the Dallas Mavericks in 2011....Is Ronnie Brewer the Player the New York Knicks are Missing the Most? February 13th, 2013 at 11:38 AM ***PHOTO1*** You would think the New York Knicks would have improved when Iman Shumpert returned to the court this season from rehabbing a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. After all, what team couldn't use a young and athletic defense-first player? However, Shumpert's minutes have cost Ronnie Brewer his playing time,...New York Knicks Interested in Phoenix Suns’ Jared Dudley February 9th, 2013 at 5:00 PM ***PHOTO1*** The New York Knicks are a win-now team. They are in second place in the Eastern Conference and have Amare Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler, Raymond Felton and J.R. Smith all in the prime of their careers. As a result, they are looking around the league to see if...New York Knicks’ James White to Take Flight in NBA Dunk Contest February 9th, 2013 at 8:00 AM The NBA Slam Dunk Contest use to be one of the highlights of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Weekend. It was started by the American Basketball Association (ABA) in 1976 at its All-Star Game in Denver. The winner was Julius Erving of the Nets. After the ABA-NBA merger later that year no other slam dunk contest was held...Veteran Point Guard Mike Bibby’s Time with New York Knicks Likely Over August 31st, 2012 at 11:19 AM In the most obvious of New York Knicks moves, Mike Bibby's time with the Knickerbockers is likely over. Bibby is 34 years old and is too under productive to be brought back to a roster with three point guards that are locks to make the team. He only averaged 2.6 points,...The New York Knicks Sign James ‘Flight’ White to a One Year Deal July 12th, 2012 at 11:00 AM The New York Knicks are looking everywhere to fill their roster with as much talent and depth as they can afford. Leaving no stone unturned the Knicks have signed James 'Flight' White to a one year deal for slightly less than the veteran's minimum upon international scout Kevin Wilson's recommendation. James... Search News Archive Search for: MembersLoginSign Up X WritersMatt AgneAbout Matt AgneDan StackAbout Dan StackDan BentonAbout Dan Benton Knicks Fact of the Day John Starks holds the Knicks record for 3 pointers made with 982. Divisional NewsComing Soon!!! Knicks 101 Tweets Tweets by @knicks_101 Knicks 101 on FacebookShare this page on Facebook Knicks 101 User Survey Take Our Survey Avatars by Sterling Adventures KNICKS 101FOLLOWPART OFAboutMeet(Up) The StaffContactAdvertiseAwards Knicks 101 is not affiliated with any professional sports team or organization. All views expressed on this site are solely those of the author or commenter.Home | Sitemap | TOS | PrivacyCopyright © 2014 Sports Media 101 Inc

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Trent Yawney Quotes "A shoulder. That's all I know." Author: Yawney Quotes "We have some guys coming back, so there is going to be competition for playing time. We can only dress so many players." "The power-play goals were all missed assignments. We abandoned what worked in the first period: That was shooting the puck. We wanted to pass the puck into the net." "We want more efficient minutes out of Adrian. It's not the time he plays [that's important]." "He wasn't doing anything to not be put in in that situation. After just one game, it's too early to judge him. He was really nervous, which was understandable. But I saw enough of him in the minors to know what we're getting." "We've still got some work to do. It's a work in progress." "When they play a collective team game, it's better than the coach telling them about it. We've always talked about it. Tonight, we had more guys on than off." "It'll be a new lease on life for Anton. I hope he gets consistent with his game and has a real long career. I still believe Anton will develop into the player everybody thought he would." "Waivers make it more difficult. No manager wants to lose a player for nothing. To lose a player after you've invested all this time and money in him is like cutting your nose off to spite your face." "You look at the goal at the end of the [second] period and the shorthanded goal against. That's not going to win you too many games."

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Nick Watney birdies to win Buick AFP , SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA Tue, Feb 10, 2009 - Page 20 Nick Watney birdied the 18th hole on Sunday to win the Buick Invitational by one stroke, capturing the second USPGA Tour title of his career.“If you’re going to lead for one hole, this is the time to do it,” Watney said of seizing the victory at the 72nd hole, after starting the day five shots off the lead.Watney arrived at the par-five 18th on the Torrey Pines South Course and completed a four-under 68 for 11-under 277 with his birdie putt from within three-feet.Watney set up his winning birdie with a lag putt from 63 feet with his third shot.Overnight leader Rollins then missed a 12-footer for birdie and tapped in for a par to complete a 74 for a 10-under total of 278.Rollins had started the day with a three-shot lead over Colombian Camilo Villegas, and still led by three at the turn.Watney picked up three of his five birdies in his last six holes, including a monster putt at the 16th, where Rollins bogeyed from a greenside bunker.“I played the US Open here last year and actually three-putted that green on Sunday with a back left pin,” Watney said of his 39-footer at 16. “I had an idea that it breaks a ton right there. I was really just trying to hit good speed. There was pretty good slope about halfway through, and with about eight or 10 feet I saw that it was on a good line. And then I wasn’t sure if it was going to catch the front lip or not, but it did, and I’m very happy about that.”The two-shot swing proved to be all the momentum Watney needed.“It looked like it was going to run out of steam just a little bit at the hole, but it sort of wriggled back to the right as it lost speed and fell in the front door,” Rollins said. “It’s just inches from a possible miss, and who knows what that could have changed. But that was a great putt.”Villegas, also playing in the final group, finished tied for third after a 72 for 279. He was joined by Lucas Glover, who closed with a 68.Torrey Pines was the site of last year’s epic US Open victory for Tiger Woods, who won a 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate despite playing with a torn ligament and stress fractures in his left leg.Woods then underwent reconstructive surgery on his knee and has yet to return to competition.

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger targets Napoli striker Edinson Cavani in January transfer window Arsenal manager Arsene Weger has expressed his interest in signing Napoli striker Edinson Cavani in the January transfer window. Hot shot: Edinson Cavani is one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe Photo: AFP By Telegraph Sport 12:47PM GMT 17 Jan 2013 Arsenal have plenty of cash reserves, bolstered by the £24 million summer sale of Robin van Persie to Manchester United. Wenger maintains the Gunners are ready to spend big should they find the right man - and have been heavily linked with the Uruguay international "I like him as a player," said Wenger. "Will he cost a lot of money? That's for sure. Nobody would deny that. "Our banker lives just next to me at the moment and he is ready if we find the right player." Should needs be, Wenger is happy to play a waiting game as the transfer clock ticks on. Related Articles Wenger '99 per cent' Walcott will sign Wenger: 'I like Cavani as a player' Wenger: Wilshere complete player Arsenal 1 Swansea City 0 £20m Walcott cannot buy a goal Chelsea v Arsenal: match preview "The prices go always up at the start of the transfer market and go down in the last week. Sometimes as well they go up in the last week, but it depends," he said. "Most of the time they go down in the last week and you know as well that 90 per cent of transfer activity happens in the last week if not in the last 48 hours." Wenger, meanwhile, has revealed his surprise at Pep Guardiola's decision to take over at Bayern Munich in the summer. The former Barcelona coach, who turns 42 tomorrow, earlier this week expressed his desire to one day coach in England, but his next destination will be the Bundesliga after penning a deal which ties him to the Allianz Arena until June 2016. Wenger was taken aback to learn of Guardiola's appointment in Bavaria, particularly after encouraging him to move to the Premier League. "He asked me a few times and told me a few times he would like to come to England, so I am bit surprised he has chosen to go to Germany," the Frenchman said. "Bayern Munich are an interesting club, Germany is an interesting league, well managed so it is defendable what he has done. "I stayed here for such a long time because I feel this is the most interesting league in the world. "I always encouraged him to come to England." Wenger feels Guardiola's decision was made with one eye very much on the future. "It is not a backward step," he said. "In Germany, maybe along with Spain they are a country with the best young players. "If you look at the results of Germany in the Under-17s, U18s and U19s, in the last three seasons, they beat everybody. "It is the football of tomorrow. Tomorrow's football will be played in Germany, certainly." Arsenal football tickets In Arsenal Wenger's top 100 players Wenger's worst Arsenal XI Wenger's greatest Arsenal XI Quiz: Wenger, Brent or Nietzsche? Arsene Wenger's 1000 games: his rivals Arsenal action photos » Arsenal action photos: The best full-colour action images for Arsenal Football Club. Arsenal Fixtures Arsenal Results Arsenal Action Photos Arsenal Players Arsenal Statistics Arsenal Fantasy Stats

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Raiders coach Dennis Allen fires back at Terrelle Pryor's agent Coach Dennis Allen has the Oakland Raiders at 4-11 this season. / Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports by Lindsay H. Jones, USA TODAY Sportsby Lindsay H. Jones, USA TODAY Sports Filed Under Oakland Raiders coach Dennis Allen fired back Tuesday at the agent of quarterback Terrelle Pryor, a day after Jerome Stanley called it "ridiculous" that Allen has decided that Pryor will start Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Stanley, in an interview with CSN Bay Area, said he believed the decision to play Pryor now is a plot by the Raiders to set Pryor up to fail. "First, I'd say that's the stupidest thing I've ever friggin' heard," Allen said Tuesday to reporters. "This isn't the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. This isn't made-for-TV drama. This is football. We make our football decisions based solely based on that, nothing other than that. So I don't really give it a lot of thought. I can't control the ignorance that might come out of somebody else's mouth." Allen said he called to Pryor to talk about Stanley's comments, and that Pryor was very apologetic. Pryor started eight games this season for the Raiders, and played in two others. But Allen and his staff decided to start rookie Matt McGloin since mid-November. Allen had said previously that McGloin would remain the starter for the rest of the season. That changed this week, when Allen announced on Monday that Pryor would start the final game. "I think it was just time to give another opportunity to take a look at Terrelle and give Terrelle another opportunity to prove the things he can do," Allen said. Allen said he hoped the six games Pryor spent on the bench as McGloin's backup was useful. Pryor threw five touchdowns and 10 interceptions while he was the Raiders' starter. He threw another interception two weeks ago against the Raiders when he came in the game after McGloin. Pryor has also rushed for 527 yards and two touchdowns. "I think sometimes as a young player, when you're out there and going through it you're learning, but sometimes it's a good situation to kind of sit back and be able to see it from the sideline, see how the game develops and take a back seat and really evaluate what's going on," Allen said. "I think it's been good for Terrelle. Obviously, he's excited. I'm excited; we're all excited about giving him another opportunity." Copyright 2014 USATODAY.comRead the original story: Raiders coach Dennis Allen fires back at Terrelle Pryor's agent He says decision to start Pryor is a football decision and nothing else. A link to this page will be included in your message.

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Ohio Lax in the News - Vol. 14 11/5/12 9:00 AM More Ohio High School Player College Commits Long stick midfielder and defenseman J.B. Smith from Dublin Jerome verbally committed to Fairfield. Smith, a Titanium Elite member, started on Dublin Jerome’s defense that surrendered a 3.64 GAA while capturing the NSCLA, OCC and Emerald Cup championships. Ohio State Men’s Lacrosse Release 2013 Schedule The Ohio State University Men’s Lacrosse team released its 2013 schedule, including six home games beginning February 9 against Detroit. The Buckeyes ended the 2012 season ranked 18 and will be taking on four 2012 NCAA tournament teams and six teams that finished in the Top 20 last season. Click here to see the entire schedule. Burning River Lacrosse Raises More Than $14,000 for Breast Cancer Research Through the 2nd Annual Fall College Lacrosse Showcase, Burning River Lacrosse raised more than $14,000 for the Stefanie Speilman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at the Ohio State's James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. The event included scrimmages between Mercyhurst University, Seton Hill University, Lake Erie College, The College of Wooster, University of Mount Union, Ohio Wesleyan University, Otterbein University and the Rochester Institute of Technology. Titanium Elite Alum Settles Into College Lacrosse Life Titanium Alumni Goaltender and Ohio native Connor Hinson recently settled in as a freshman at Hampden-Sydney College and was kind enough to answer a few questions about his path to becoming a freshman lacrosse player in the NCAA. Click here to read more about his new life with lacrosse. 04/26

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Manning believes Jones will turn Vols around Written by Admin Friday, 12 April 2013 14:33 View Comments Tuesday, 25 March 2014 08:04 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Peyton Manning is back at his alma mater this week endorsing new Tennessee coach Butch Jones and preaching patience from the Volunteers' fan base.``He's got it all mapped out,'' the Denver Broncos quarterback said. ``I like his slogans, his philosophies, the things that he believes in. He's really preaching accountability to his players. It seems like the players have really bought in. ... The most inspiring thing is how excited he is to be here. This is the job that he wanted, and this is where he wants to stay and wants to retire. Those are the kind of people we want here at Tennessee, the people who are all-in Tennessee Vol. I can tell he is that.''Manning, the 1997 Heisman Trophy runner-up, returned to campus to speak at Tennessee's spring coaches clinic. He met Tennessee's coaching staff on Thursday night, spoke to the team on Friday morning and talked to about 1,000 clinic participants later that day.The four-time NFL MVP said he believes Jones will turn around a Tennessee program that has posted three straight losing seasons for the first time since 1909-11. Jones is replacing Derek Dooley, who was fired after going 15-21 in three seasons.``I think it's an exciting time for Tennessee football, I really do,'' Manning said. ``People need to stay committed to it and stay patient with it. It doesn't happen overnight. But I sure like what I've heard the last two days.''Manning also discussed his health status and his recent $500,000 donation to the Pat Summitt Foundation during a session with reporters. And his return to campus gave him an opportunity to clear up something Jones had mentioned during his introductory press conference.Jones, who spent the last three years at Cincinnati, turned down an offer to take over Colorado's program before Tennessee approached him. Jones said back in December that when he was considering whether to stay at Cincinnati or head to Colorado, he received a text message from Manning selling him on the Colorado opportunity.Manning said he was acting on a request from Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway, who had a friend leading the Colorado search. Manning noted that Tennessee hadn't contacted Jones regarding its vacancy at the time.``When the boss asks you to make a phone call, you have to make a phone call,'' Manning said. ``I said, `I don't really know anything about Colorado.' He said, `Well, you tell him this is a good place to play football and it's a nice place to live.' I said, `I can do that. I don't know anything else about the University of Colorado.' So that's what I did.``I think it causes some confusion, that I was recruiting a guy to come to Colorado. I recruit for one school and one school only - the University of Tennessee.''Manning threw for 4,659 yards and 37 touchdowns while leading the Broncos to a 13-3 record in his debut year with Denver, but he indicated he's still working his way back from neck surgery that caused him to miss the entire 2011 season.``I kind of wish certain things would come back a little bit more, but I have learned to adjust and compensate in the state that I am,'' Manning said. ``I'd still like to make some more improvement. I still work at it. Obviously I think I can perform kind of status quo, but I still have hopes and am determined to try to seek more improvement. I'm certainly better than I was last year, but I'm still not quite where I was before I was injured.''Manning's trip back to Tennessee also allowed him to sign a ceremonial check Thursday for the $500,000 donation he and his wife are making to the Pat Summitt Foundation. Manning is an honorary co-chair of the advisory board for the foundation, dedicated to fighting Alzheimer's disease. The Mannings' donation was first announced Saturday.Manning called the former Tennessee women's basketball coach a confidante and said she was one of the first people he sought for advice while deciding whether to enter the NFL Draft or return to school for his senior year.``Pat's fighting a tough fight and has got a whole new challenge, and I'm just proud of her for stepping out in front of this challenge and this disease,'' Manning said. ``I just wanted to make a contribution to help her because I believe in her. I do believe with Pat Summitt out in front leading any type of game plan - a basketball game, a fight against a terrible disease - I know she will win.''

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Ray Emery recovered from hip injury, trying for comebackThe Canadian Press1/28/2011 5:02:10 PMOTTAWA -- He's recovered from a career-threatening hip injury and now Ray Emery is ready to get back in the game. It's a comeback that would be nothing short of extraordinary. Last year, the former NHL goaltender was diagnosed with avascular necrosis, a disease where the interruption of blood supply causes bone tissue to die. It's the same disease that cut Bo Jackson's career short. In Emery's case, the ball in his right hip had deteriorated nearly to its core. In many cases, a hip replacement would have been the answer, but Emery underwent an operation in April where doctors grafted bone from his lower leg and inserted it into the ball of the hip. After months of recovery, the 28-year-old Emery is healthy again and hoping to land a contract in the coming weeks. He was in Ottawa on Friday taking part in an on-ice training session with goaltending coach Eli Wilson. "I'm ready to go and start training in the American Hockey League and know that my body can take that kind of exertion," Emery said. "The hockey's not all the way there. I feel like a player at the end of the summer who needs some training and some games to get a feeling for the game again." Following the surgery, Emery spent a month in a hospital bed at his parents' home in Hamilton. That was followed by months on crutches before he finally started some light rehabilitation. But it wasn't until August when he started working with Matt Nichol, a former trainer for the Toronto Maple Leafs, that Emery fully realized the magni

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Previewing the 2013 UNC Asheville Volleyball Team 2013 Schedule The UNC Asheville volleyball team begins preparations for the 2013 season today. Below is a preview of the upcoming season. The UNC Asheville volleyball program looks to get back to its winning ways in 2013. A young Asheville squad, faced with a difficult non-conference schedule, struggled at times in 2012 but still managed to go .500 in Big South Conference play (7-7) and advance to the semifinals of the Big South Tournament for the seventh time in the last eight years. The Bulldogs finished with a 12-20 overall record, their first season below .500 in five years. However, Frederico Santos’ second Asheville squad battled through a lot of challenges last year that should pave the way for success in the future. “We knew last season with so many young players that it would take time to develop chemistry that you need to have,” explained Santos. “Throw in a tough non-conference schedule, and we had some growing pains. “But to our team’s credit, we kept working hard, and it began to pay off in conference play,” added Santos. “We had some great wins and were able to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.” Despite being such a young team, the Bulldogs learned to win close matches. Asheville was 5-1 in five-set affairs in 2012 with four of those wins against league foes. Now it’s time to take the next step in 2013. The Bulldogs’ roster is an interesting mix this season. Five seniors and one junior make up the upper class. Asheville’s eight remaining players are either freshmen or sophomores. “We want to be more consistent this season,” commented Santos. “We’ve added some talented new players to the mix but hopefully they’ll jell with our returners quickly. “I’m excited about the potential of this team,” added Santos. “This may be the tallest team we’ve ever had here at UNC Asheville. We enjoyed a good spring and everyone appears to be on the same page.” The Bulldogs will be led this year by their five seniors, and all should make key contributions to the Asheville effort. “We’ve got five seniors who know this is their final year of playing,” admitted Santos. “They want to go out winners and are determined to accomplish as much as they can.” Middle blocker Anna Moore should be one of the top players in the Big South this season. She’s a two-time second team All-Conference selection and made the league’s preseason All-Conference team. The N.C. State transfer led Asheville in blocks (0.94), service aces (0.22) and hitting percentage (.267) and was second on the club in kills (2.62). “Anna is the glue that holds our team together,” declared Santos. “She is a great offensive player and an excellent blocker on defense. Anna is a hard worker who brings a lot of leadership. She’s a calming influence on everyone and brings us some real stability. I’m looking for her to have a great senior season.” Senior middle blocker Meredith Foster joins Moore along the front row. Foster, a two-sport athlete who also excels as a high jumper on the track and field squad, was second on the club in hitting percentage (.242) and blocks (0.66). “I’m looking for Meredith to have a big senior season,” stated Santos. “She has great quickness and is really focused for the year. When Meredith gets going, she’s tough to stop.” Senior libero Rachel Wells has been a great story for the Bulldog program. She came to Asheville as a walk-on and has turned into one of the best liberos in the league. Wells earned Big South All-Tournament honors for her play in last season’s event. She led Asheville in digs (3.65) and will compete for All-Conference honors this year. “Rachel constantly pushes the envelope to be better and is doing everything to make sure we have a great season,” explained Santos. “She keeps getting better and could be the top defender in the Big South this year.” Senior Alex Stewart joined the 1,000-dig club last year and brings a lot of experience to the back row. She can be a libero or a defensive specialist. “We believe Alex and Rachel can form a pretty good defensive back row,” said Santos. “Alex is an experienced player who can provide a lot of things on defense for us this year.” Senior Jaimie Dorfman is a versatile player who can be a setter and play in the back row. She’s an excellent server and was among the league’s leaders in service aces in 2011. “Jaimie really helped us at the end of the season last year,” explained Santos. “Her serving is very tough to stop and she has embraced her role in the back. We believe she can help us as a setter if we need her.” There’s just one junior on this year’s club, and that’s setter Lisa Riggsbee. “We really like Lisa’s work ethic,” commented Santos. “She is a player who continues to improve and will compete for playing time during the year.” Asheville’s sophomore class is headed up by setter Katie Davis. The Myrtle Beach, S.C. native was one of the top freshmen in the Big South in 2012 and earned a spot on the All-Freshman team as she averaged 9.07 assists per set. This summer, Davis was placed on the Junior National team and played in Europe this past July. “Katie did a nice job coming in and getting synched with the rest of the team which is not easy for a freshman,” explained Santos. “She had a great year as a freshman and is only going to get better. Like all of our freshmen last season, Katie grew under fire and learned a lot during the year. She’ll be prepared for this year and be one of the top setters in the Big South.” Sophomore outside hitter Christine Lakatos came on strong as the year progressed in 2012. She finished the year third in kills (2.18) for the Bulldogs. “Once Christine started to figure out that she could put the ball away, she began to really contribute,” commented Santos. “Christine was a key reason for our second-half surge, and she’s only going to better for it this season.” Catherine Fischer, a sophomore right side, didn’t play much as a rookie due to ankle injury. She was healthy in the spring, enjoyed a fabulous season and was a key part of a Bulldog spring tournament title at Tennessee that included wins over Appalachian State and the Lady Volunteers. “Catherine is a versatile player who can play on the right side and in the back row,” admitted Santos. “She’s a good passer who really showed how good a player she could be in the spring. We’re anxious to see her on the court this season.” Local player Emily Bare can play either on the right side or as an outside hitter. The former Roberson standout was another Bulldog who played well in the spring. “We believe Emily could challenge for playing time in 2013,” declared Santos. “She has worked extremely hard to improve, and that was evident in the spring when she really played well.” Sophomore Bryn Pfeiffer played in the back row for the Bulldogs a year ago and also has the ability to be a libero. “Bryn made a lot of good defensive plays last year,” admitted Santos. “Her serving improved as the year continued. She did a solid job in the spring and could give Rachel a battle this fall at the libero spot.” Santos and his staff have brought in three freshmen who could help right away. Start with local player Taylor Sauer from nearby Enka HS in Candler. She’s an outside hitter who set state-wide records for kills in her senior season. “We’re excited about Taylor’s potential,” stated Santos. “She’s had a great prep and club career and is physically ready for the college game. Taylor just needs the experience.” A 6-1 outside hitter, Shelby Erickson, comes to Asheville from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. “Shelby can play anywhere along the front row. She can be used as a middle blocker, outside hitter or on the right side,” explained Santos. “Shelby is quite strong for someone 6-1 and we’re looking forward to seeing where she can play.” Asheville’s final signee is 6-3 middle blocker Madison Vaughn from North Iredell HS in Statesville. “Madison is going to push Anna and Meredith,” declared Santos. “She is prepared to play and isn’t shy about putting the ball down. Madison is a tremendous prospect who has a lot of potential.” OVERALL COMMENTS “The biggest thing we need in the preseason is to develop chemistry. You’re always concerned about how chemistry will come together. “One of our biggest strengths this year is going to be our depth. It’s been a while since we’ve had this kind of depth at Asheville. We have a deep bench, which gives us options throughout the year. Our starters are going to have to work hard all the time to keep their spot. When you have that kind of depth, everyone gets better and you become a better team. “The Big South will be quite challenging this year. You have a lot of coaching turnover, which means new coaches with new systems and renewed enthusiasm. Liberty remains the favorite until someone knocks them off. “We hope to be competing for a conference championship and to be playing our best volleyball at the end of the season.” Rachel Wells Leads the Nation in Digs for 2013 Volleyball Has Three Players Honored by NCCSIA Bulldogs Fall To Liberty At Big South... Volleyball Faces Liberty in BSC Quarterfinals Five Bulldogs Earn All Big South Volleyball Honors

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Healing Hands: NHL Massage Therapist His Hockey Dream Cut Short, Sabres Massage Therapist Takes A Hands-On Approach To Stay Close To The Game By: Randy Schultz Chuck Garlow always dreamed of playing hockey in the National Hockey League. That was until an automobile accident cut short his hockey-playing career. But it didn’t derail his dream from coming true. As a massage therapist for the Buffalo Sabres, Garlow will be the first person to tell you that he is lucky to have the job that he has today. “There are only 30 jobs like this in the world because there are only 30 teams in the National Hockey League, and I’m very fortunate to have one of those 30 jobs,” said Garlow, a native of Ransomville, N.Y., and a 1989 graduate of Wilson Central High School. “For me, it is the one way to be in the NHL. I never fulfilled my dream of playing in the NHL, which a lot of kids have when they’re growing up. “So if I couldn’t make it as a player, being here as a massage therapist means I’m as close to the action as anyone on the team. The only thing missing for me is lacing up a pair of skates and being on the ice.” It took some time for Garlow to recover from his accident following his senior year of high school, both mentally and physically. As his injuries began to heal, he was faced with some tough decisions about the rest of his life. “Fate stepped in, which ended any thoughts of playing hockey in college,” said Garlow. “I had played from the time I was a little kid until I graduated from high school. After the accident, though, I knew I couldn’t play at the level I had before the accident.” So it was on to Plan B. After graduating from the State University College of New York at Fredonia, Garlow spent five seasons as a massage therapist with the Buffalo Blizzard indoor soccer team. As luck would have it, the Sabres shared the same facility, which allowed Garlow to stay close to the game he loved. After three periods of meeting checks and the ice, Buffalo players are happy to have Garlow's skills available. “I would help the Sabres out any time I could by doing odd jobs around the team,” recalled Garlow. “I just kept it up until a job opened up with the Sabres. They didn’t have to ask me twice when they offered me the job.” In his six seasons with the Sabres, Garlow has made the most of his opportunity, despite his hectic schedule. There are only 30 jobs like this in the world ... and I’m very fortunate to have one of those 30 jobs. During the Sabres’ regular season schedule he is with the team both at home and on the road. He is also at all of the team’s practices, both at home and on the road. It all makes for quite a busy schedule. “The hours can be long, especially when you are on the road and traveling from city to city,” he said. “You can be going from early morning until late at night.” As part of the training staff, Garlow revels in his role, working as part of a team environment where he does what he can to keep Sabres’ players on the ice and in peak physical condition. “The biggest proponent for an athlete is time for recovery. Massage is something that helps speed up that time for recovery,” said Garlow, who earned his New York State license from the New York Institute of Massage. “ “No matter if it is from an injury or fatigue, you are trying to maintain the level of performance that the player needs to have for every game they play in. They are using their bodies and the muscles in their bodies every day. So they have to be in top shape.” Working closely with Sabres’ trainer Tim Cacre and team doctors, Garlow makes it his job to know about every ache and pain a player may have and be able to relay that information to the Sabres’ coaching staff. On game nights, Garlow keeps a close eye on the ice, keeping a mental note of every crushing check in the corner and collision at center ice. And in case Cacre is taking care of an injured player, Garlow has to be ready to help out. “That is the only time that I get the chance to be on the ice with the players,” he said. “For those few moments I’m on the ice, when I get the chance to think about it, it is still quite a thrill for me to be there.”Amazingly, even with everything Garlow has going with the Sabres, he has his own private practice in Lewiston, which is a short drive from the rink. “During the Sabres’ season I will try and squeeze in as many patients as I can. During hockey’s offseason I can work a more normal schedule,” said Garlow. “With it all, it makes it a very active and exciting life for me. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Photos - Janet Schultz, Getty Images Issue: 2009-01 Tags: massage, hockey trainer, Buffalo Sabres Type: Feature Issue Features I Spy With My Little Eye Healing Hands: NHL Massage Therapist Play Like A Girl USA Hockey 2012 National Champions Issue Departments Tips from the Stars: Timing And Toughness Help In Front Of The Net Next American Star: Pavelski Brings Winning Ways To San Jose Coaches Playbook: Hockey Skating Pushes And Speed

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VSU to induct new Hall of Fame class Saturday Ed Hooper VALDOSTA — It will be a busy weekend of Valdosta State athletics, starting Thursday with a pair of games against Union University. On Saturday, the university will take some time out of its busy schedule to induct the newest class of its Hall of Fame. Eight inductees make up the school’s 17th Hall of Fame class, including contributors Jerry and Kay Jennett, who also have a university building named after them. The induction ceremony will be held Saturday at noon inside the University Union Ballroom. The inductees include five former players, Jerry and Kay, and a former athletic trainer. All eight inductees will be honored later that night at the home basketball games against North Alabama. Inductees for Saturday’s ceremony include: Annika Biro, women’s tennis One of the greatest Lady Blazer tennis players of the last decade, Biro starred for Valdosta State from 2003 through 2006. She held down one of the top spots in both singles and doubles in all four years she competed for the Blazers, and was named an All-American as a junior in 2005 while leading VSU to the national semifinals. Biro compiled a 19-2 doubles mark in in 2005, as well as a 17-1 singles record, helping lead the John Hansen-coached team to a Gulf South Conference championship. On her career, Biro compiled a 62-26 doubles record and a 53-20 mark in singles action and is one of only 11 players in conference history to be named first team All-Conference all four years of their career. Jon Good, golf Good was a stalwart on the Blazer teams that dominated the Division II golfing landscape during the mid-1990s. Earning All-America honors as both a junior and a senior, Good led the Blazers to an average team score of 75.8 as a senior in 1996. The Blazers finished 10th in the country that year. Good’s score counted in 23 of 31 rounds played throughout the 1996 season, as he compiled four Top 10 finishes on the year. He helped direct the 1995 squad to a third place finish at the 1995 NCAA Championship while averaging 75.9 strokes per round. He saw his score count in 32 of 34 rounds played on the season and tallied four Top 10 finishes on the year. He also finished 18th in the individual tournament at the NCAA Championships. Andre Hampton, football Hampton was a four-year letterman for the football team from 1991 through 1994. He dominated the defensive side of the ball for the Blazers, ending his career as the school’s all-time leader in sacks with 34, including 12 his senior season. Hampton earned second-team All-Conference honors as a sophomore before garnering first-team honors as both a junior and senior and helped guide VSU to its first NCAA Regional appearance in 1994. He later played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL). Jerry and Kay Jennett, contributors The Jennetts are long-time Valdosta State supporters, who have been friends of the university since moving to Valdosta in the early 1970’s. While specifically being recognized for their tremendous support over the years for VSU Athletics, the couple has also played pivotal roles in the growth of academic scholarships, the arts and facility enhancements at the University. Arthur Blank donned traditional soccer garb to mark his newest venture — an MLS team for Atlanta. Blazer barrage downs No. 23 Georgia College Valdosta State unleashed a season-high 19 hits and tied a season-best in runs as the Blazers defeated No. 23 Georgia College 15-8 in non-conference baseball action at John Kurtz Field Wednesday evening. Showtime in the Down Under Just a junior in high school, Valwood’s Chandler Cargile has already seen things that most people don’t get to experience in a lifetime. Cargile recently returned to Lake Park from Mulwala, Australia, where he competed in the Barefoot Water Ski World Championships. The competition hosted participants from 15 countries and lasted for two weeks last month. Valdosta State tennis gears up for GSC Tournament The Valdosta State men's and women's tennis teams are set to compete against the rest of the league in the Gulf South Conference Tournament, scheduled to be played this week in Montgomery, Ala. for the seventh straight season. SGMC earns VISTA Award South Georgia Medical Center was awarded Wednesday with an American Society for Healthcare Engineering Vista Award. Another step closer Vikettes blank Wildcats 6-0, while Vikings win 4-1 Former Blazers participate in Falcons’ workouts Former Valdosta State wide receivers Regginald Lewis and Seantavius Jones took part Tuesday in "local day" workout in Atlanta VSU’s Calhoun recognized after no-hitter Caitlyn Calhoun named Gulf South Conference Pitcher of the Week No Drew for Yankees; Steinbrenner ‘pretty content’ Drama-free finish Blazers Blog Click here for more Blazers Blog stories

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Skaters in Burton get a boost from bands by ELIZABETH SHEPHERD, Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber Staff Jul 20, 2010 at 12:44PM The Pharmacy, a band that got its start on Vashon, is part of a three-band lineup on Saturday at Burton Adventure Recreation Center. — image credit: Adarsha Benjamin Photo Islanders can spend the day at the Burton Adventure Recreation Center this Saturday, taking part in a lively event that will include a high-stakes Frisbee golf tournament and an outdoor concert featuring the rocking sounds of three well-known bands. Best of all, the day’s events will raise money for a good cause — to support the construction of Vashon Park District’s new outdoor skate park on the site. “The construction of the skate park has been a dream in the making for over a decade,” said Allison Shirk, an Island grant writer and organizer who is one of the forces behind Saturday’s event, which is dubbed “The Burton Throw Down.” Another organizer, Pete Welch, said he is hoping for a big response to the event. “Our motto is, you don’t have to come, but you do have to buy a ticket — that is what is going to get this skatepark built,” he said. The recreation center is currently home to a small indoor skate park, but construction of a much more expansive outdoor space moved one step closer this spring, when the Park District hired Gridline Skateparks to design a new skate park — a process that resulted in a plan to build the park in four phases. And if the Park District can raise $100,000 by the end of 2010, construction will being next year on the first phase of the project — a 2,683-square-foot rectangle with skate-able stairs, benches and ramps. Future phases of the design include a bowl, volcano and a skate loop. Supporters of the new park, including Shirk and Welch, believe it will help provide Vashon youth with a healthy alternative to drug and alcohol use. A recent study showed that Vashon teens use drugs and alcohol at a higher rate than their peers statewide. Saturday’s youth-friendly event is meant to demonstrate the kind of substance-free fun that can be found at the recreation center. The day will kick off with Vashon’s second annual Disc Golf Tournament, where entrants will compete on the center’s 18-hole Frisbee golf course. Islander Brian Forsythe, who designed the challenging course in 2000, said he was excited about the upcoming tournament. “Last year we were amazed at the number of novice and first time players that made it out to compete,” Forsythe said. “Everyone had a great time, regardless of their experience or skill level.” A number of medals and jury awards will be doled out to tournament winners at the conclusion of the competition. The lineup of bands, which includes The Lonely H, Rishloo and The Pharmacy, will commence at 2 p.m. The Lonely H is a rock and roll band from Port Angeles. The band formed in the early 2000s while its members were still in high school. “I had them out to play an all-ages show at the Red Bicycle recently, and everyone loved them,” said Welch. “They look like a young Led Zeppelin — everybody went crazy.” Welch is also a fan of the Seattle band Rishloo, which has diverse influences ranging from The Beatles to Pink Floyd to Radiohead. The group tours constantly, Welch said. The Pharmancy, whose members grew up on Vashon, is comprised of drummer Brendhan Bowers, guitarist and singer Scott Yoder and keyboardist Stefan Rubicz. The Pharmacy has toured widely, released a number of acclaimed recordings and just returned from playing in Europe. “They’ve really made a name for themselves, and they are homegrown,” said Welch. The Burton Throw Down will take place from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, July 24, at Burton Adventure Recreation Center, 10500 S.W. 228 Road. The Frisbee golf tournement, staring at noon, costs $5. Tickets for the concert, which starts at 2 p.m., cost $10 and can be purchased at Vashon Island Music, Vashon Park District’s office and by e-mailing Pete Welch at [email protected]. All proceeds raised on Saturday will be matched by a grant from Seattle’s Lucky Seven Foundation. ELIZABETH SHEPHERD, Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber Staff [email protected] or 206-463-9195 0 Postal service slashes Burton office’s hours Festival brings world music to Burton New pastor comes to Burton church New Burton shop brings art home Triathlon returns to Burton Body of missing Vashon woman found in Burton | Updated A Burton church begins a new chapter

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Another Black Eye For Cycling Posted: Wed 4:59 PM, Jul 25, 2007 / Article Doping is once again overshadowing racing at the Tour de France. An Italian rider was thrown out today for failing a drug test, was detained by police and had his hotel searched. Cristian Moreni's positive test for testosterone also prompted the withdrawal of his entire team. The case of the Italian rider is fueling the deep sense of crisis already hanging over the race and the sport as a whole. It comes one day after star rider Alexandre Vinokourov and his entire team were sent home after the Kazakh rider tested positive for a banned blood transfusion. French riders staged a protest at the start of today's 16th stage to express disgust at the repeated doping scandals that have left cycling's credibility in tatters. The vice president of the World Anti-Doping Agency suggests that the sport could be withdrawn from the Olympics. Jets Sign Former ECU RB Chris Johnson Pirate Cam

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City land Robins starlet Swindon youngster arrives at Eastlands for undisclosed fee By Richard Bailey | Last Updated: 10/06/10 12:35pm Man City: Complete signing Manchester City have beaten off competition from a number of Premier League clubs to land highly-rated Swindon youngster Alex Henshall. The 16-year-old moves for an undisclosed fee having caught the eye when making two substitute appearances the Robins in League One last term. Swindon chairman Andrew Fitton admitted that there was interest from a number of top flight clubs, including Liverpool, but City managed to secure the services of the England youth international. "They have come up with a deal which is good for all parties," Fitton said. "We've been approached by a number of Premier League sides and that includes a discussion with Liverpool." Fitton also admitted that a deal had been struck between the two clubs over a possible relationship in the future. "Part of the deal is an understanding about what we might do together in the future and a first refusal on him coming out on loan to us," he added. "He's a special talent but he's also young so he's got a lot of learning to do." Man City fixtures Man City stats Man City forum Alex Henshall

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April 11, 2012Southwest Elite 7-on-7 among premier passing camps Dallas Jackson is the Senior Analyst for RivalsHigh. Email him your question, comment or story ideas to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter. In just its fourth year, the Southwest Elite 7-on-7 has grown into one of the best passing tournaments in the country. The two-day event will be played at Springdale (Ark.) Shiloh Christian and feature five defending state champions and numerous teams that were ranked in the RivalsHigh 100 during the 2011 season. The 32-team field will be competing on July 13-14 for an automatic-qualifying spot in the prestigious National Select 7-on-7 Tournament to be held at Hoover (Ala.) High the following weekend. The affiliation with the National Select event - along with previous high-profile players and teams - has made it easier for event organizer and Shiloh Christian head coach Josh Floyd to land nationally relevant participants. "The more it's grown, the easier it has been to draw teams," he said. "A lot of the teams know about Shiloh (Christian), and so that has been a good starting point a lot of the time. "Then when you can sell what programs have been here, the athletes that have played in it, all that helps. Obviously being paired with Hoover and the National Select event helps, too." This season it has helped bring Illinois Class 3A champion Aurora (Ill.) Christian and Mississippi Class 5A champion Olive Branch (Miss.) High to the event as two out-of-state champions in a field that boasts programs from nine different states. Three Arkansas state champions from 2011 will take the field as well: Class 3A winner Charleston (Ark.) High; Class 6A power El Dorado (Ark.) High; and reigning 7A titlist Fayetteville (Ark.) High are all committed to playing. Joining the teams that won state titles will be six other schools that have been nationally ranked in the RivalsHigh 100 within the last five years: Bastrop (La.) High, Broken Arrow (Okla.) High, Indianapolis (Ind.) Warren Central, Midwest City (Okla.) High, Springdale (Ark.) Har-Ber, and host-school Shiloh Christian. The quality of the field has made this event a great place for teams to compete and see where they stand before the opening of the summer practice schedule. "The competition is the best part," Floyd said. "It's the middle of July, and you get the opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the region. It doesn't necessarily guarantee you to win games in the fall, but it does help prepare your team." Part of the preparation the teams will get is in the ability to go up against some of the best individuals in the nation. The list of past participants is headlined by the No. 1 player in the class of 2012, Dorial Green-Beckham, but it also includes multiple U.S. Army All-American Bowl players such as Barry Sanders and Kiehl Frazier. This year the event has only one player ranked inside the Rivals 250 - Warren Central linebacker Tim Kimbrough, who was ranked No. 119 - but that does not mean there will not be plenty of talent on display. Floyd, who set many Arkansas state records as a quarterback and saw some of them broken by his former quarterback Frazier, is excited to see another passer this year. "Austin Allen (is a guy I am excited about) from Fayetteville," Floyd said. "But there are a lot of other kids." Allen led Fayetteville to a state championship as a junior last year and now is getting a lot of attention as a three-star prospect and the No. 17 rated pro-style quarterback in the country. Rivals.com regional analyst Brian Perroni is excited to see Allen during the passing-season circuit. "Allen is a big kid with a really strong arm," he said. "He is not one to make a lot of throws outside the pocket, but he fits the 7-on-7 game very well. He is accurate and is a good decision maker who has no problems getting rid of the ball quickly or checking down to his second or third options." Among the other prospects who will be in the game is a local tight end, Nick Byrne from Har-Ber, and cornerback Cre Moore from Broken Arrow. Both are three-star prospects, and according to Perroni they can use this event as a showcase for his individual talents. Byrne, in particular, can start to close the gap between himself and the top-rated tight end in Arkansas, Hunter Henry. "Byrne does not get nearly as much attention as Hunter Henry, but he is a good receiving target at the position," Perroni said. "He is actually built more like a wide receiver at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, and that should translate well to 7-on-7 play." Moore, who enters the year slightly under the radar due to sharing the defensive backfield with Missouri signee Levi Copelin, can elevate his stock as a strong cover corner in an event that usually puts the spotlight on the offense. "Cre more than held his own against some very good receivers (last year)," Perroni said. "He was especially good against nationally-ranked Jenks [(Okla.) High] when I saw the two teams play. He is a bigger corner, so he does not get muscled around by big receivers." While the individual matchups may be what the fans want to see, it is the coach in Floyd that thinks these types of events can help bond a team together, and that is the biggest reward for the summer season. "I think it can definitely help with confidence," he said. "It's all about getting better. At the end of the day, we just want to compete and get better." MORE: Recruiting: Why it's hard to project elite centers | Southwest Elite 7-on-7 website Talk about it in The BunkerFEATURED PRODUCT

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Tuesday Tiger Notebook PowerMizzou.comIn February of 2010, Missouri signed the nation's 21st-ranked recruiting class. It is the TIgers' highest ranking under Gary Pinkel. On Saturday, that class was pivotal in a 51-48 four-overtime victory over Tennessee.Two-and-a-half years ago, Marcus Lucas (the nation's No. 25 wideout), Jimmie Hunt (No. 43) and Bud Sasser (No. 67) provided one of the nation's top classes at the receiver position."We talked about it ever since we were freshmen in the dorms until now," Hunt said. "All three of us, we sit around our house and joke about how it's going to be us out there making plays and contributing and just really setting the tone for the receivers. We were just living in the moment during that game. We'd come off, see each other make a great play and celebrate with our teammates and talk about it, just 'Keep it up, keep balling.'"The talk lasts well beyond the sidelines, the locker room or even the team plane home."We're all roommates so we kind of talk about that stuff all the time," Lucas said. "We all three just get really excited for each other whenever we're doing well. It was great to put together a whole game with us three kind of making plays along with the rest of the offense and the defense." ...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now!

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November 15, 2010Week 12 Watch: Avoiding the big upsets Whether it's rubbing Howard's Rock at Clemson, the 12th man on the kickoff team at Texas A&M, the "Black Shirts" at Nebraska, rolling Toomer's Corner at Auburn or the carrying the lunch pail at Virginia Tech, tradition is an honored part of college football. Yet, this season some of the traditional powers have taken -- or may have to take -- a back seat to upstarts and also-rans. South Carolina has won the SEC East for the first time and will vie for its first SEC championship against Auburn, which unexpectedly won the West. Oklahoma State never has represented the South in the Big 12 championship game, but leads the division with two games to play. Player under the gun Iowa State QB Jerome Tiller Iowa State didn't merely lose a game in its 34-14 setback at Colorado. The Cyclones (5-6) also lost starting QB Austen Arnaud to a knee injury that will sideline him for their regular-season finale. That means Iowa State's chances of earning a bowl bid rest on whether Tiller can step in for Arnaud and lead the Cyclones to an upset of Missouri. Tiller engineered one of the biggest victories in the program's recent history last season when the Cyclones won 9-7 at Nebraska, though the Huskers helped him quite a bit by committing eight turnovers. The Cyclones are counting on him to come through again. N.C. State and Maryland are in strong contention in the ACC Atlantic Division, Michigan State is in a three-way tie with Ohio State and Wisconsin for the Big Ten lead, and Syracuse, USF and Connecticut are in the thick of a wide-open Big East race. Even SMU leads Conference USA's West Division by virtue of its victory over Tulsa. None of those teams can win conference crowns or division titles in Week 12, but all need victories to keep moving toward championships. In fact, the 12th week of the season is more about avoiding big upsets than posting big wins. Three of the four remaining unbeaten teams (Auburn, Oregon and TCU) have open dates, and Boise State puts its perfect record up against Fresno State in a non-traditional Friday night matchup. Best game: Ohio State at Iowa, 3:30 p.m., ABC. The Buckeyes try to keep pace in the tight Big Ten race in one of the week's few games involving ranked opponents. Iowa, coming off a loss to Northwestern that basically ended any Big Ten title hopes, is hoping to avenge last season's 27-24 overtime loss in Columbus. Wisconsin and Michigan State fans will watch closely; the Badgers want Ohio State to win, while the Spartans will be pulling for the Hawkeyes. Don't overlook this one: Stanford at California, 3:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net. A wild week in the Pac-10 ended with Cal losing 15-13 to Oregon and Stanford needing a fourth-quarter touchdown to beat Arizona State 17-13. The close calls last week adds another layer of intrigue for the "Big Game," as Stanford remains in the BCS mix and Cal still is seeking bowl eligibility. The biggest thing working in Cal's favor is that the game is in Berkeley, where the Bears have outscored opponents 189-34; they have been outscored 158-81 on the road. On the midweek marquee: Fresno State at Boise State, Friday, 9:30 p.m., ESPN2. This is Boise State's second game in a three-game stretch on Friday nights. TCU has faced its toughest conference opponents in the past two weeks (Utah, San Diego State), and Boise State now faces its toughest WAC competition with Fresno State this week and Nevada in Reno next week. Fresno State gave Nevada a scare Saturday night, but the Wolf Pack escaped with a 35-34 win. Bulldogs RB Robbie Rouse has rushed for 503 yards and accounted for four touchdowns in the past two games. Best coordinator chess match: Stanford offensive coordinator David Shaw vs. California defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. Pendergast's defense did a phenomenal job against Oregon last week, holding the Ducks to 15 points and 317 yards; it was the first game this season in which Oregon did not score a rushing touchdown. Cal's defensive line won its share of the battles up front, and it must do so again against another one of the nation's best offensive lines. Stanford has a more sophisticated passing attack than Oregon, but the Cardinal don't have as much speed as Oregon. Cal has allowed more than 200 passing yards just three times, and they've held five foes to fewer than 175 passing yards. How often will Shaw have QB Andrew Luck put the ball in the air? BCS-buster watch: Houston at Southern Miss, 8 p.m., CBS College Sports. The Cougars (5-5, 4-3 Conference USA) are coming off a tough home loss to Tulsa, while the Golden Eagles (7-3, 4-2) notched a big victory over UCF. Each program is still in the hunt to win its respective division in C-USA, but a loss here would prove fatal to those division hopes. Southern Miss also is dealing with off-field concerns after three players were shot during a fight at a Hattiesburg, Miss., nightclub early Sunday morning. All three were in fair condition. Coach under the gun Illinois' Ron Zook Just when it seemed as if Zook had coached his way off the hot seat, Illinois' 38-34 home loss to Minnesota put him back under the microscope. Zook's job probably is safe if he can get Illinois to a bowl. But Illinois (5-5) needs one more win to become bowl eligible and faces Northwestern (7-3) at Wrigley Field on Saturday before traveling to Fresno State (6-3) in its regular-season finale. Illinois has lost six of its past seven meetings with Northwestern, and the Illini fell to Fresno State at home last season. Best individual matchup of the week: Ohio State OT Mike Adams vs. Iowa DE Adrian Clayborn. Clayborn has struggled through what is, for him, a mediocre season. He has 42 tackles and 3.5 sacks; last season, those numbers were 70 and 11.5. He needs to come up big Saturday against Adams; actually, he and his linemates need to come up big if the Hawkeyes are to bounce back from last week's loss to Northwestern and beat the Buckeyes. Their work against the run is going to be big; the way to beat Ohio State remains forcing Terrelle Pryor to the air. Ohio State is allowing 2.0 sacks per game but also averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Best unit matchup of the week: Texas A&M wide receivers vs. Nebraska secondary. A&M is third in the Big 12 and eighth in the nation in passing offense, averaging 308.1 yards per game. Jeff Fuller is one of the more underrated receivers nationally; he has 61 catches for 923 yards, and 11 receptions have gone for TDs. Ryan Swope also has 61 catches and is the consummate possession receiver. Uzoma Nwachukwu is an effective No. 3 receiver. Nebraska, though, leads the nation in pass efficiency defense; the Huskers have 16 interceptions and have allowed just 10 TD passes. Prince Amukamara is one of the nation's best cornerbacks, even though he has no interceptions, and the Huskers have solid complementary talent surrounding him. A key to the game will be how often A&M QB Ryan Tannehill has to throw to his backs instead of his wide receivers. Injury report: Iowa State's bowl hopes may be dashed with the loss of QB Austen Arnaud to a season-ending knee injury. The Cyclones (5-6) have one game left, at home against Missouri. Iowa State must win to go bowling. Northwestern will be without junior QB Dan Persa for the rest of the season after he ruptured an Achilles' tendon after tossing the winning touchdown pass in the closing minutes of the Wildcats' 21-17 victory over Iowa. At 7-3, Northwestern already is bowl eligible. But losing Persa could cost the Wildcats' bowl positioning. With Persa out, NU will turn to redshirt freshman Evan Watkins, who will make his first career start vs. Illinois on Saturday at Wrigley Field. Record watch: For the first time since 1970, Wrigley Field will host a football game when Northwestern and Illinois face each other in Chicago. Illinois and Northwestern last played there when the Illini defeated the Wildcats 29-0 on Oct. 27, 1923. Wrigley isn't the only baseball venue hosting a college football game. Army and Notre Dame return to Yankee Stadium (the new one) for the first time since 1946. The old Yankee Stadium was the home of the "Win one for the Gipper" speech in 1928. Coaching connection: Bill Curry, who went 26-10 at Alabama from 1987-89, returns to Tuscaloosa as a head coach for the first time in 14 years. Now coach at FCS member Georgia State, Curry last faced Alabama as Kentucky's coach, losing 35-7 in 1996. Georgia State, in its first season of football, is 6-4, including a loss to South Alabama two weeks ago. Talk about it in The FortFEATURED PRODUCT

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Davis talks about visit to UVa for Arizona game CavsCorner.comAmong the high-profile visitors at Virginia's game with Arizona on Sunday night was Ed Davis. The 6-foot-9, 215-pounder from Benedictine High School in Richmond, Va., is a consensus top-10 recruit nationally in the class of 2008. Davis has been to UVa in the past, but like the other recruits on hand, this was his first chance to see the Cavaliers in their new arena. Davis gave CavsCorner an exclusive interview about his visit."I just went up for the game. I went with my mom and my uncle and a friend," Davis said. "I had seen the gym twice when it was being built, but this was my first time seeing it done. It's a great gym and it was a really good game." ...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now!

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Fox's Dawgs prepare for Wofford UGASports.comGeorgia basketball coach Mark Fox had an idea the numbers regarding his team's defense against New Orleans might be a tad deceiving.After watching the tape, Fox's fears were justified.So, although Georgia (1-0) held the Privateers to 38.2 percent from the floor (21-of-55) and out-rebounded New Orleans 44-31, there are still certain areas that Fox wants to see improvement when his Bulldogs host Wofford (0-1) Tuesday night (7 p.m.). "I had a hunch that our defensive numbers for the game were much better than our actual defense," Fox said before practice Monday. "I felt that way before I watched the tape and I think the tape confirmed that. We did not play very goo defensively, in my eyes. With any first game there are a lot of things to address and improve on and this team has a LOT of areas to address."No doubt offense tops the list.Georgia shot just 44 percent from the field (22-of-49>), but that percentage would have been even lower if not for Trey Thompkins and Jeremy Price who combined to go 15-for-21. Price hit all five of his shots, while Thompkins scored a career-high 25 and finished with his fourth career double-double.The Bulldogs did commit 17 turnovers, but Fox wasn't overly concerned, considering his new triangle offense will be work in progress the entire season. "I anticipated that our offense wouldn't be very efficient, or proficient, as it might be for the first game, but the turnover numbers weren't bad except for most of those came from our big players," Fox said. "Trey had a string of turnovers late in the game, but fatigue was the issue. It was mostly driven by that but we're a work in progress offensively, and will be for most of the year."Fox hopes to keep point guard Dustin Ware out of foul trouble as well.The Bulldog coach blamed himself for allowing the sophomore to pick up four fouls against New Orleans, which limited him to just 21 minutes.With Ware out, Ricky McPhee and Vincent Williams took their turn at the point. "I put Dustin in a very bad position. When he started to foul I tried to steal a couple of more minutes out of him, but I put him in a tough position and he picked up his fourth foul. He had to sit a great deal," Fox said. "Late in the game they were very good together, but Dustin was in foul trouble the second half and Ricky was able to get some time at the point, which I think in the long run will be good for him and good experience for him. But when they're together, they're probably our best guard combo at this time."Georgia will likely need to be at its best against Wofford.The Southern Conference Terriers took Pittsburgh to the wire Friday night before falling 63-60. "The game went along pretty true to form," said head coach Mike Young. "We could not handle some things at about the nine minute mark and we gave up a couple easy baskets. We missed a couple of lay-ups as well. What an unbelievable atmosphere and it is tough to come in here and win. We had our crack and I am disappointed that we did not finish the deal, but this team will be just fine."But even if that game doesn't convince the Bulldogs, the fact that the Terriers nearly beat Georgia last year in Athens, should.Georgia and Wofford went to overtime before former Bulldog Zac Swansey hit a three as time expired to win 74-73. Wofford finished last season with a 16-14 overall record and in the SoCon the Terriers finished with a 12-8 mark that was fourth in the South Division. The sixteen wins were tied for the most since moving to NCAA Division I and it also marked the first winning season as a Division I team. "They're an excellent basketball team. They pass the ball extremely well and are a very good shooting team," Fox said. "They're extremely balanced. It's an excellent basketball team that presents challenges for us all over the court." Wofford at GeorgiaWHERE: Stegeman ColiseumTIME: 7 p.m.RECORDS: Georgia 1-0; Wofford 0-1.TV/RADIO: GXtra/Georgia Bulldog Radio Network. ...More... To continue reading this article you must be a member. Sign Up Now!

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December 30, 2012Burke hopes to seize opportunity MORE: U.S. Army All-American Bowl SAN ANTONIO -- Rated three stars, West Palm Beach (Fla.) Cardinal Newman tight end Matt Burke is one of the lowest-ranked players in this week's U.S. Army All-American Bowl, but he arrived in San Antonio ready to prove he can compete alongside the nation's best. "I am just coming out here, trying to have fun, enjoy the week with everyone, enjoy the game, show off my skills and show that I got selected to this game for a reason," Burke said. Burke is one of several prospects who comes into this game uncommitted, but unlike many of his fellow All-Americans he is open to new teams extending offers. Boise State, Florida International, Marshall and San Diego State have extended offers, while others continue to evaluate the 6-foot-6, 215-pound tight end. "I have been talking to a bunch of other schools, and hopefully they pull the trigger after this game if I have a good performance," Burke said. "The Boise State coaches definitely said they will be watching the game and looking for me." Among the schools Burke is in communication that have not yet offered are Vanderbilt, Purdue, Duke, Boston College and Tulane. He has three official visit spots open for trips in January. His first was to Boise State the weekend of Dec. 7. "It was just a great environment, great people, great coaches, and I liked everything," Burke said. "Everyone was really nice out there, and I could see myself out there. It definitely is a huge difference going from 80 degrees outside to 20s and snowing, but eventually you would get used to it." Burke went from one temperature extreme to another when he paired the Boise State official visit with an official visit to San Diego State in the same weekend. "It was a complete environment change with a big city and great weather," Burke noted. "We got to see the campus and see the town. Coach [Rocky] Long and Coach [Tony] White were great." The Ivy League schools are another option for Burke, who carries a 3.9 GPA. With the exposure his appearance in this week's Army Bowl will give him, however, Burke's recruitment could change drastically in the coming weeks. Talk about it in Commodore War Room Vanderbilt NEWS[More]Latest Headlines:Resources:CommitmentsThe TickerProspect DatabaseSend to a FriendPrint This Page[More]NATIONAL NEWS FROM RIVALS.COMPollard dreams of USC offer

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March 16, 2013Kanoff changes course VandySports.com Talk about it in the Vanderbilt Message BoardsNorth Hollywood (Calif.) quarterback Chad Kanoff will not be a Commodore after all. Despite signing a national letter of intent with Vanderbilt on Signing Day, the three-star prospect out of Harvard-Westlake High has chosen to continue his education at Princeton University. Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin confirmed the move with VandySports.com on Saturday. "We found out about it last night. We wish him all the best in the future." The 6-foot-3 standout committed to Vanderbilt on May 28th of last year after a recruitment that started shortly after his sophomore year when he made the trek to Nashville to perform in front of the Commodore staff at one of the program's summer camps. Kanoff stuck with his commitment throughout the process despite the push from his family that he should show more interest in potential Ivy League suitors. Ivy League schools, as well as military academies, do not participate in the National Letter of Intent program, so Kanoff is free to enroll at Princeton without any eligibility penalty. Kanoff released a statement through Harvard-Westlake about his change of plans. "Vanderbilt is a great school, with a strong football program, and a terrific coaching staff, and I'm grateful for the opportunity that was offered to me. However, after thoroughly thinking it through, I believe that Princeton is the best fit for me as a student-athlete."Rivals250 quarterback signee Johnathon McCrary enrolled at Vanderbilt in January and is currently practicing with the Commodore football team. FEATURED PRODUCT

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Athlete of the Week honors awarded to Ngugi, Caldwell FOR RELEASE Huntington, Ind.—The Huntington College athletic department announced its Athletes of the Week for the week of October 13 – 19, 2003. Cross country junior Elizabeth Ngugi and men’s soccer junior Luke Caldwell earned the honors for their excellent efforts during the week’s competitions. Elizabeth Ngugi Elizabeth Ngugi, a psychology and Bible/Religion double major from Nairobi, Kenya, led the Forester cross country team to a team championship at the Manchester College Invitational on Saturday. Ngugi posted her best time of the season, 19:35, on her way to a sixth place finish to lead the team. Huntington and Kalamazoo tied at 60 points each, but the Foresters' #6 runner, Courtney Gullickson, finished 34th, two places ahead of Kalamazoo's sixth runner to give Huntington the team title. The Foresters will travel to Goshen College on Saturday, October 25 for the Mid-Central Conference championship. Luke Caldwell Luke Caldwell, a sociology major from Mansfield, Ohio (Mansfield Christian High School) scored a goal and dished out two assists for the week. In the Foresters’ 2-1 overtime win over Rochester College, Caldwell gave Huntington the lead with his goal in the 60th minute and then set up Phil Lamb with a great pass for the game-winner eight minutes into the extra period. In Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to Indiana Wesleyan, Caldwell assisted freshman Matt Gerlach for the first goal of his career. The Foresters next travel to Marian College on Tuesday, October 21 at 3:30 p.m. # # # The Huntington College Foresters compete in 14 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past seven years, Huntington has produced 45 NAIA All-American honors and 71 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington College is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 60 academic concentrations. US News & World Report ranks Huntington among the top comprehensive colleges in the Midwest. Founded in 1897 by the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, Huntington College is located on a contemporary, lakeside campus in Huntington, Indiana. ###

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« Sending brainwaves: Speciali... Come fresh and early» Vardon Golf Club is open for business It’s a new beginning for a historic golf course August 4, 2013 KIM FUNDINGSLAND ([email protected]) Save | Post a comment | A very distinctive sound the crack of the driver striking flush against a golf ball once again can be heard through the trees and across the water at old Minot Country Club. Renamed, reseeded and reopened, the Vardon Golf Club is ready for public use. After a lengthy hiatus forced by flood damage, the course opened for play Saturday. The scenic layout was on the front line of the disastrous 2011 flood. Dikes protecting the facility were topped or torn apart by the rampaging Souris River. Deep floodwater inundated the course for so long that it killed grass on tees, fairways and greens. When the water receded, it left behind a heavy layer of silt covering much of the course. The flood's current wreaked havoc on sand traps, too. Repair seemed improbable, too distant to comprehend. What was once a picturesque mixture of brilliant green hues had been turned to pale gray. Hundreds of evergreens, trees sensitive to too much water, began to turn brown and die. The signature clubhouse, where golfers gathered to discuss shots made and missed and holiday buffets attracted numerous customers, was mangled so badly that it had to be torn down. The swimming pool was damaged beyond repair. Facing a seemingly impossible task of rebuilding, the Minot Country Club sold the grounds to a group of Minot investors who are passionate about golf and the course they long enjoyed. Months of hard work followed. Remarkably, the golf course that has been part of Minot since 1929, is hosting golfers once again. "The history of the course is one thing that appealed to us," said John Zimmerman, co-owner. "It has 85 years of history in Minot and still has ties to a lot of the old founders. We kind of look at this as a privilege to put this back together. We think this is going to be a real asset to the community. We are open to the public." A familiar face at the Vardon Club is Todd Lee, long-time professional who served the old Minot Country Club. Lee has been busy helping oversee renovation projects at the new course, including the restoration and restocking of the Pro Shop, but he is most impressed with the condition of the renovated course. "There's better conditions on tee boxes and fairways than there was pre-flood. No doubt," said Lee this past week. "I haven't seen grass like this here as long as I can remember. I think we've enhanced the layout and it's going to be a better golf course. Every time I come out here now it is amazing." Golfers familiar with the previous Country Club will notice changes throughout the course. Some of the changes are subtle; others more obvious. A big change is the mixture of grasses on the fairways. Golf balls sit up on lush landing areas, producing an excellent lie for iron shots. A few sand traps have been added in challenging locations. The overall length of the course has also changed. "From the back tees it will play a little over 6,600 yards," said Lee. "That's about 300 yards more than what it was before from the championship tees." Ironically, for the time being, par at the Vardon Club is 71, not 72 as was the old layout. The difference comes from a change on the eighth hole, where a tee box has been moved up as a safety precaution, changing a par 5 to a par 4. "I think golfers will see a very similar course, at least in elements," said Zimmerman. "The front nine is very similar with some small tweaks on a few holes. Some greens are a little bit larger. On the back nine, where it was hit harder by the flood, we made some changes on some holes. We'll let the golfers experience it. We're interested in what people think about the changes. This is a work in progress." The contour of several greens has been changed, a process that would normally involve the shutting down of play for several months to allow grass to grow. However, with an entire course to be replanted, the opportunity and time was there to make grade adjustments. "We know there's going to be some rough edges, but we're fine with that," explained Zimmerman. "Our focus has always been, first and foremost, on the course. We've worked hard to make sure it was ready to go. The integrity of the old course is still very much there." Floodwater took a toll on trees throughout the course. Many succumbed to sitting in water for too many days. Some were older trees that had grown so large that, over time, golfers had to adjust their shots to avoid them. In all, 550 trees were removed from the course. "Maybe, in a strange way, Mother Nature was doing some extreme pruning for us," said Zimmerman. "In the same way, it gives us a fresh start on the course. I think we'll see a better quality of play, speedier play as well. The chances of getting caught in a pine tree is a lot less now." While veteran players of the previous Minot Country Club course will almost certainly notice the absence of some trees, newcomers to the layout are likely to marvel at tree-lined fairways and treed backdrops to greens. Despite the losses, thousands of trees remain throughout the course, giving it a very pleasant and protected appearance. Even with fewer possibilities of a golf ball ending up on pine straw underneath low, overhanging limbs, the course still delivers an excellent balance of challenging shots for golfers of all skill levels. Additionally, many of the trees that were removed had begun to "choke" certain points on the course. With those trees gone, new grass is responding quickly to additional sunshine. Although the old clubhouse was razed due to flood damage, the newer Pro Shop building fared far better. It has been completely renovated. The front portion of the building has a similar appearance to the old one, but the back portion has changed significantly. It now houses a bar and grill, complete with an outside deck. "That gives us a gathering place for golfers to relax before and after a round of golf," said Zimmerman. "The restaurant is open to the public as well." © Copyright 2014 Minot Daily News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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« Derrick Rose Says He's the Best Player in the NBA | Main | Patience Is Key with Redskins' RG3 » ThursdayJul252013 Tim Hudson Breaks Right Ankle Tweet Comments Off Share Article Mike Stobe/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Atlanta Braves pitcher Tim Hudson suffered a broken right ankle after he collided with Mets outfielder Eric Young at first base during the seventh inning of the Braves' 8-2 win on Wednesday night. Young was hustling down the line and spiked Hudson at first. Hudson was taken away on a stretcher. "The way it goes sometimes," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It's a freak play, two guys going for the bag and E.Y. just stepped on him. You cover the bag thousands of times and that stuff never happens." Young spoke with Hudson as the EMS tended to him on the field. "I'm hustling down the line like I always do, going for the base," Young said. "I saw his foot, as I'm going for the base, right there in the middle, as I came down, I knew I didn't get any of the base. I know I got all of his foot. I pretty much knew it was probably broke right as I did it, and that's why I sprinted right back to him and tried to console him as much as I could and apologize. "I was able to see Tim before they took him to the hospital. He told me it wasn't my fault, just one of those freak plays that happened." Hudson improved to 8-7, but is expected to miss the rest of the season. Thursday, July 25, 2013 at 2:12AM Tommy Byrne Permalink tagged Atlanta Braves, Eric Young, Fredi Gonzalez, New York Mets in MLB About

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Now 0-6, will the Giants now play for pride? Jamie C. Harris | 10/17/2013, 4:08 p.m. There comes a time when reality stems idealism. For the Giants, who two weekends ago still held a glimmer of hope that they could somehow fight their way back into contention for the NFC East title, the truth unforgivingly visited them last Thursday night in Chicago. After a late fourth quarter drive by the Giants ended on an errant pass from quarterback Eli Manning to tight end Brandon Myers, cementing a 27-21 loss and 0-6 record, the voice of truth authoritatively informed the dispirited team that their postseason ambitions had just died. It was a difficult moment for a proud group of competitors, many who had experienced the exhilaration of winning a Super Bowl and some, like Manning, having won two. It must have felt like a Shakespearean tragedy for Manning, the MVP of both Super Bowl XLII and XLVI. Individually, by his own admission, Manning’s play has been awful, the Giants’ fate mirroring that of its offensive leader. Although Manning is fourth in the league in passing yardage with 1,721, he has thrown an NFL high 15 interceptions and only nine touchdowns, wallowing behind a compromising offensive line and 28th-ranked running game. But Manning’s faulty performance is hardly the primary or even secondary cause of the Giants’ hardship. As they prepare to host the 1-4 Minnesota Vikings at MetLife Stadium on Monday night, an assessment of each offensive and defensive unit will reveal glaring flaws and underachievement. In the fishbowl that is the New York metropolitan area, there is no escaping the incessant criticism that comes with such disastrous results. “Is it repetitive? Yeah,” answered safety Antrel Rolle earlier this week when asked about the superfluous questions directed at players and coaches. “The losing has also been repetitive. We’re not happy with ourselves at all … but right now we have 10 games left to go. “Are we still playoff bound?” pondered Rolle. “Who knows! That’s not the most important thing right now. The most important thing right now is coming together as a team, going out there and playing together as a team and focusing on getting a win. Everything else at this point is just going to take care of itself.” Unfortunately for the Giants, nothing has taken care of itself thus far. Share This Story Problems on both sides of the ball haunting the Giants Cruz right on as the Giants, not Seattle, killed the Giants The door leading to the playoffs remains open for the Giants Giants off the donut after 27-7 win over Vikings Featured Videos

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Syracuse's zone defense key to Final Four run Syracuse Orange head coach Jim Boeheim reacts during the first half of the semifinals of the East regional against the Indiana Hoosiers at the Verizon Center. / Bob Donnan, USA TODAY Sports by Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sportsby Nicole Auerbach, USA TODAY Sports Filed Under Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is stubborn. Maybe that's too strong a word. Or perhaps it's perfect �?? to describe both the coach and his approach to his 2-3 zone defense. "Coach is like, 'We're going to do it, and you're going to have to figure it out,' " longtime Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. " 'You get your best chess game, I'll bring my best chess game.' "There's a reason he's won 900 and whatever games. He's a genius. �?� He doesn't get caught up in people saying, you need to play more man or you need to do that. That's what makes him special. A lot of people wouldn't have the strength, toughness or thickness of skin to not change. He knows what he wants and he does it." But, more than anything, Boeheim's stubbornness is evident in his masterful 2-3 zone, a defense that has been so dominant this postseason it has reached the point of mythologizing �?? which means it's time to quickly separate fiction from fact. Fiction: Boeheim's teams have always been known for the zone. Fact: He's always used it, but until 2003, he mixed in some man-to-man defense, even if it just showed up during non-conference games or scrimmages. When the Orange won the national championship in 2003, they "pretty much played all zone," Boeheim said. He'd sprinkle in man-to-man occasionally until the 2009-10 season, in which Syracuse lost to Division II Le Moyne in an exhibition game. "That's what convinced me not to play man again," Boeheim said, adding that preparing to play man-to-man defense required a great deal of time in practice prepping for specific opponents. "So finally it dawned on me after about 27 or 28 years, finally �?? it takes me a while �?? that if we played zone all the time and didn't waste time playing man-to-man and put some wrinkles in the zone because we had more time to practice it, that our defense would be better. "Now, we spend much more time on it, our zone is better, and you don't have that decision that people are always saying to me, well, 'Why don't you switch to your man-to-man?' Well, you can't switch to something you don't have. They stopped asking." Players said it takes each of them a few months to learn the zone because they've grown up playing man-to-man defense in high school and on AAU teams. Even within the zone, they are constantly making adjustments based on the types of players Syracuse has and the strengths of their opponents. "It's basically the same great defense," said Michigan coach John Beilein, who will face it on Saturday in the Final Four. "The names change, the personnel, but the ability stays the same. �?� It certainly withstood the test of time." Beilein compared it to playing Temple and John Chaney's matchup zone. Hopkins, the Syracuse assistant, said it's like the Princeton offense. It's a trademark style that forces opponents to mold their game plan to beat yours. "The biggest thing is, if you a play a team like, say, Indiana, they might have 80 man-to-man plays," Hopkins said. "Most teams that you play might have three or four zone offenses. �?� You don't see it a lot. It gives you a little bit of an advantage. Our adjustments we can make on the fly, based on how people attack us. We've seen everything." What makes this particular breed of Syracuse 2-3 zone so intimidating is its players' length. The average height of a Syracuse player on this roster is 6-6 (the second tallest in all of college basketball this season, behind Princeton). The Orange's shortest starter is guard Brandon Triche, at 6-4. Point guard Michael Carter-Williams is 6-6, and the rest only get taller. "You just can't simulate the length," Marquette assistant and former DePaul head coach Jerry Wainwright said. "You can talk about slides all you want. You and I could list five fundamentals -- great concepts and everything else. But those guards are big. Those wings are big. And long. And fast. All of a sudden, it distorts your angles and you have to do a lot of different things (than you're accustomed to doing)." Syracuse is averaging 6.25 blocks and 11 steals per game during four NCAA tournament games. During that stretch, opponents are shooting just 29% from the field. Beilein said Monday he may tape paddles to his scout team players' arms to make them six-to-eight inches taller and more difficult to face as he prepares to face these Orange defenders. "Right now, how they're playing, you've got to basically play perfect," Marquette guard Junior Cadougan said. He would know; the Golden Eagles shot just 22.6% from the field and 12% from beyond the arc against the Orange. That's the mark of this great Syracuse defense �?? opponents know what they're going up against, but they still flail. "(We're) not trying to do everything good," Hopkins said. "We're going to do a couple of things great. We know who we are. That's one of the reasons we've been so good for so many years." Copyright 2014 USATODAY.comRead the original story: Syracuse's zone defense key to Final Four run Author Gabriel Garcia Marquez dies Chelsea Clinton is pregnant S&P 500 closes higher for 4th day; Dow drops Yasiel Puig receiving death threats from smugglers Exclusive: Nike unveils the Jordan XX9 Facebook rolls out 'Nearby Friends' feature Most Viewed Jim Boeheim's defense has been so dominant it has reached the point of mythologizing. A link to this page will be included in your message. Flip, shop and save on specials from your favorite retailers in Asheville, NC 28802 Sign up for access today! POTTERY SCULPTURE POTTERY EXHIBIT Cullowhee, NC Ohio State University Alumni Club of WNC Black Mountain News News Record & Sentinel WNCParent Asheville Scene Asheville Beer Engine High School Huddle Eat Scene Jarrett's Journal Girls Gone Outdoors Headlines from the Citizen-Times are now available on Facebook and Twitter. Don't miss a single headline!

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No Super Comeback: Jets Place CB Revis on IR By DENNIS WASZAK Jr., AP Sports Writer on October 13th, 2012 New York Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis ((AP Photo/Bill Kostroun) There will be no dramatic Super Bowl return for Darrelle Revis. advertisement The New York Jets placed the star cornerback on season-ending injured reserve on Friday, a few weeks after coach Rex Ryan said the team would wait until after knee surgery in case there was a “0.0002 chance” Revis could recover in time to play in the NFL’s big game. “We’re going to need that roster spot,” Ryan said. “I said it was a 0.0002 percent chance. Well, it’s not that high.” Ryan said Revis will have surgery next week to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee suffered almost three weeks ago at Miami. With safety Eric Smith being sidelined by a knee injury this week, Revis’ roster spot was filled by rookie safety Antonio Allen, the team’s seventh-round draft pick who was signed from the practice squad. Revis was injured in the third quarter of the Jets’ 23-20 overtime victory Sept. 23, falling awkwardly and grabbing his knee without making any contact with another player. An MRI exam confirmed the Jets’ worst fears that the ACL was torn. He has been working out at the team’s facility, and was there Friday walking on a zero-gravity treadmill. Typically, patients with similar injuries wait a few weeks before surgery but begin the rehabilitation process to strengthen the leg in hopes that that will help expedite the healing after the operation. Two weeks ago, Ryan said he wanted to wait until after Revis had surgery to make a definitive decision on his status for the season. If there was a chance Revis could play in the Super Bowl — the way Rod Woodson returned from reconstructive knee surgery in the same season in 1995 for Pittsburgh — Ryan wanted to keep that option open. But after talking to the doctors and getting their feedback on the situation, Ryan decided to make the move now. Ryan also clarified that the Jets won’t put Revis on the NFL’s new injured reserve/designated for return list, which teams can use for one player per season. That player would be able to return to practice after six weeks and play in a game after eight. “I was kind of holding out hope,” Ryan said. “He’s not going to be back (this season).” The Jets have been playing one player short on their roster the last two games, with 52 instead of 53, but Ryan said that hasn’t been an issue. “When Eric went down for the week, we needed the roster spot now,” Ryan said, adding that he probably would have continued to wait to make the move on Revis until after the surgery if Smith hadn’t gotten hurt. Smith sprained a knee in practice Wednesday while trying to knock down a pass. Ryan initially thought it was a serious injury, but tests revealed it was a sprain that could sideline him a week or two rather than the rest of the season. Revis is the sixth Jets player placed on injured reserve this season, joining wide receiver Santonio Holmes (foot), linebacker Josh Mauga (pectoral muscle), defensive back Royce Adams (knee), and tight ends Josh Baker (knee) and Dedrick Epps (knee). Holmes had surgery to repair the injury to his left foot on Wednesday. He was hurt late in the Jets’ 34-0 loss to San Francisco two weeks ago after catching a short pass, suffering a Lisfranc injury, which usually involves a tear of the ligament in the middle of the foot that holds the first two toes together. Mauga had surgery Friday to repair a torn pectoral muscle, suffered Monday night in the 23-17 loss to Houston. Ryan said both had “successful” procedures, and the players are expected to be ready to participate in offseason workouts. Allen was waived after the preseason on Sept. 1, but the Jets signed him to the practice squad the next day. In four seasons at South Carolina, Allen had 198 tackles, including 20 for a loss, four interceptions and six forced fumbles. NOTES: G Matt Slauson had no comment on his planned appeal for his $10,000 fine by the league for his peel-back block on Houston’s Brian Cushing, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on the play Monday night. Both he and Ryan have insisted that it was a legal hit. “I don’t really want to get into it,” Ryan said. “I’ve said from Day 1 and I’ll stick with it: I know the intent of Matt Slauson was never, never to injure Brian Cushing. It’s unfortunate that that happened. Cut blocks happen all the time in this league and we’re a team that very rarely cuts people and things. It’s an unfortunate part of the game and you don’t wish that on any player. Matt obviously felt terrible when the young man was injured, as we all did.” … Colts backup QB Drew Stanton recently told The Indianapolis Star that the Jets told him he “was going to get a chance to play” if Mark Sanchez struggled after they signed him in the offseason. “I don’t remember that,” Ryan said. “I just know this: I read part of his comments, I felt that we had our quarterback, that we weren’t going to draft a quarterback because we felt really good about our quarterback situation.” Less than a week later, the Jets traded for Tim Tebow and fulfilled Stanton’s request to be dealt. “With Drew, it wasn’t like we said, ‘OK, now we’ve got you under contract and you’re going to be here regardless,” Ryan said. “We never wanted to mess him over. That wasn’t our intent when we signed him.” … Ryan, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, linebacker Bart Scott and other Jets are wearing blue “CHUCKSTRONG” shirts, and will take a photo and send it to Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano, who is hospitalized while being treated for leukemia. Ryan, Pettine and Scott spent time in Baltimore with the Ravens together. More articles filed under Sports Tags: highlight-sports Posted on Saturday, October 13th, 2012 at 8:38 am and filed under Sports.

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Brian France: Drivers backed my Denny Hamlin fine NASCAR CEO Brain France says many drivers supported his fine of Denny Hamlin for comments about the Gen 6 model. / Sam Sharpe, USA TODAY Sports by Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sportsby Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports CONCORD, N.C. - NASCAR CEO Brian France said drivers supported his decision to fine Denny Hamlin for derogatory comments about the sanctioning body's new Gen 6 car in March. France told reporters Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway that drivers are allowed to say "rowdy things" and "can criticize us," but they are not allowed to put down the racing product in any way. Hamlin was fined $25,000 after the Phoenix race for saying the new cars did not race any better than the old cars. His fine was viewed as an overreaction by many in the garage, but France said he heard otherwise. "I can't tell you how many drivers came up to me after the Denny Hamlin comment and said, 'You've got to do that or we won't be able to help ourselves from time to time. I'm glad you did that,' '' France said. "They all know the line. They all know exactly where it is, because we talk about it. I talk about it directly with every one of the drivers, every one of the owners. No disputing that." But Hamlin apparently didn't buy France's explanation about drivers backing the penalty decision. "Someone's nose is growing," Hamlin tweeted afterward. Among other topics France touched on the day before NASCAR's longest race, the Coca-Cola 600: -Speedway Motorsports Inc. chairman Bruton Smith's threat to move the fall race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, one of eight tracks he owns, to Las Vegas Motor Speedway has not been requested in a formal manner, France said. But even if it was, France said his preference was to "keep the event here in Charlotte. "We have gotten a long way with our position in motor sports because we've had historically important events, like this weekend, that happen every year that people can count on," he said. "That said, if for one reason or another a certain market is not performing as well, it may be a better opportunity." He also said there will not be a new track on the 2014 schedule. - France said he was "disappointed" to have some of NASCAR's penalties reduced under appeal this year, including penalties to Penske Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. The appeals process works, he said, but NASCAR will evaluate whether it is "making our case as strongly as we could have. "The teams certainly are," he said. "They're very good at that." - The new Gen 6 car is off to a good start, France said, but there's still more work to be done. France said NASCAR is going to "use a lot more science than art" in trying to have the closest, tightest competition possible. "That's the hallmark of NASCAR," he said. "We boldly say that. We don't talk about, 'That's sort of part of it.' That's the steak on the plate for us. Our fans have come to expect us to deliver on that as much as possible." - On the topic of TV negotiations, France said he prefers to stay with ESPN but added, "that's why you have negotiations and discussions." Fox has already extended its deal to air the first part of the Sprint Cup season in 2015, but TNT and ESPN have yet to renew. - France said TV ratings are "fine" and says the track-drying Air Titan has helped "give us better ratings" because of how it sped up the drying process at Talladega. He said the Air Titan saved the industry "well over a million (dollars)" by getting the races finished that weekend and called for all tracks to use the new track dryers. Currently, International Speedway Corp. tracks (owned by the France family) have embraced the NASCAR-created Air Titans, but the Smith-owned SMI tracks have not. He acknowledged paying NASCAR for use of the Air Titan has some tracks balking but said ISC has a "fan advantage" by using them. "In fairness to different tracks, they hadn't seen that work in a real live condition," he said. "Now they have. My hope is that we will get the cost down and that every track who is in risk of having rain will be using the system. It just takes the industry a little time to realize that it really works (and for) all of us to get together and implement it." - Safety continues to be a focus for NASCAR, but France said installing SAFER barriers on every inch of every track is not part of that focus. Tracks such as Auto Club Speedway in California and Texas Motor Speedway have significant gaps on the inside walls where there are no SAFER barriers. Hamlin broke his back after colliding with one such spot in California. "From NASCAR's standpoint, we look at that very carefully," he said. "We were all over the California circumstance. When we need to put additional SAFER barriers anywhere, we will do it." France said there was "nothing that prevents us" from putting the barriers everywhere except NASCAR already thinks "we have them in all the right places." "If we don't, we'll make an improvement, like anything else," he said. - NASCAR stopped releasing attendance figures this year, but France said attendance has been up "at a number of events." He cited Phoenix, Las Vegas and Fontana as examples and said Atlanta's Labor Day weekend race is selling tickets at a faster pace than last year. - France said it's "not on our front burner" to work with Indianapolis Motor Speedway on start times for next year's Indy 500/Coke 600 to allow a driver to do the "double." Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck Copyright 2014 USATODAY.comRead the original story: Brian France: Drivers backed my Denny Hamlin fine NASCAR CEO holds court on variety of topics, including safety, penalties and the Air Titan A link to this page will be included in your message.

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Updated Dec 5, 2012 - 2:31 pm John Skelton will start at QB for Cardinals at Seattle Originally published: Dec 5, 2012 - 1:32 pm Well surprise, surprise. Just a week after Ken Whisenhunt stayed with rookie quarterback Ryan Lindley in a rough performance against the New York Jets, the Arizona Cardinals head coach is swapping signal callers once again. Third-year pro John Skelton will start Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks at Century Link Field. Arizona Sports' Kyndra de St. Aubin tweeted out the news: Whiz says Skelton will start Sunday— Kyndra de St. Aubin (@Kyndra620) December 5, 2012 Skelton hasn't played since being replaced by Lindley in the first half of a loss at Atlanta November 18. The Fordham product, who won the starting job in training camp, has started five games this season, completing 98-of-179 passes for 1,058 yards with two touchdown passes and five interceptions. "There's a number of reasons that go into it, but John is going to start for us this week up in Seattle, and we'll go from there," Whisenhunt said. The head coach was vague about the reasons why he's switching back to Skelton. "Some of it has to do with Seattle -- playing up there, having played against them once already this year," he said. "There are a lot of factors, but I'm not going into each one of them." Skelton suffered an ankle injury in the season opener against Seattle at University of Phoenix Stadium and didn't see the field again until Week 6 against Buffalo when Kevin Kolb suffered a rib injury. Skelton started the next four games before being replaced by Lindley. "It's another opportunity, you can't take any opportunity for granted if it comes at the beginning of the season, the end of the season, whether you're losing or when you're winning, you just have to take advantage of every opportunity you get," Skelton said after practice Wednesday. share this story: Attention ArizonaSports.com Comment Users: We have recently changed our comments boards.

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Cardinal Corner: Nate Davis By Alan Rucker For BallStateInsider.comPosted Sep 17, 2009 BallStateInsider.com is pleased to offer up the following story from our friends over at Over The Pylon, a blog devoted to Ball State football. This time, the OTPer's sit down with former Ball State and current San Francisco 49er QB Nate Davis to chat. This season, OTP is proud to continue one of the most well-liked and well-read features on the site… Cardinal Corner. It’s our chance to catch up with former Cardinal footballers and sort of bridge the generations of this program. In 2008, we saw guests like Jason Whitlock, Lavar Charleston, David Gater, Blair Kramer, Cortlan Booker, and Chris Allen. 2009 has already seen Trey Buice visit the Cardinal Corner. In today’s edition, OTP was truly fortunate to touch base with one of the most memorable Cardinals in recent memory, and one of the driving reasons behind the success of 2008. Nate Davis set school records, MAC records, and most importantly, led this Cardinals team to an undefeated regular season, a second consecutive bowl berth, and most impressive… a 5th round draft selection by the San Francisco 49ers. It was an honor and a pleasure to touch base with Nate, the newest, but hopefully not the last, Cardinal playing football on Sunday afternoons. OverThePylon: Normally we ask about what you’ve been up to since suiting up for the Cardinals, but all of us and all of the fans of the program are well aware of your travels to San Francisco. How has your adjustment been since transitioning out of Muncie and to the professional level? NateDavis: It’s been a big difference traveling from Muncie, IN to San Francisco, CA and moving all my stuff out here. It’s been a big challenge, but I’m still working through it. OTP: The fan base seems to be panicking a bit after the season opening losses at BSU. Just as many people are stepping up and saying this is the time when the team needs supporters the most. It’s a similar situation to your early years at Ball State. What do you think these fans can do to help this team succeed? Have you got a chance to see any of the games? ND: The thing is that they need to keep showing the players support. That’s what happened with us when I was playing. When I first arrived at Ball State, students were like ‘why should we even go to a game? They’re terrible.’ During my junior year everyone was like ‘we can’t wait.’ It was Monday, and they couldn’t wait until Saturday. Everybody couldn’t wait to go to the game.” We just have to continue getting support year after year and it will just build up. I have not gotten a chance to watch any of the games. Maybe on my bye week I might be able to swing by there. OTP: One of the biggest differences this season has been the change in offensive production. Is that due to only youth? Is there something else that the casual fan may be missing? How can this offense improve? ND: We’ve lost a lot of guys, that’s what it all comes down to. When you lose four of your five starting linemen that becomes a big loss. When you lose other players, you lose one of your best receivers that has ever attended Ball State and then we had Louis Johnson, and we lost our tight end Darius Hill, that’s a big factor. But they’ve got to just keep on working and push through it. Definitely keep it rolling. Coach Stan Parrish will get them through. OTP: Is there a difference in coaching from the sidelines? Coach Parrish’s offense seemed to click dramatically when he was in the press box and could see exactly what the defense was doing. Since his move to the sidelines and assuming the duties of head coach, that seems to have changed. ND: I really couldn’t tell you much about that because I don’t know what’s going through his mind being down on the field. It’s hard for me to answer however, I think that whatever is best for the team, they should use. OTP: This week’s game at Army gives the team a chance to get away from the fans, the students, the pressure, etc. but is also the team’s first road game. Do you see a road game now as a positive or negative? Why? ND: It’s definitely a positive because it’s another game. It’ll be another great day to go out there and play football and that’s just another chance to go out there and have fun. That’s the thing that they have to do is to go out there and have fun. Don’t worry about what everybody else is talking about. That’s one thing that I’ve always taken to heart. Don’t listen to what people are saying, they’ll talk all good about you then the next day you lose that may change. Just go out there and have fun and just play your game. OTP: As a new California resident have you had the chance to touch base with Brady Hoke who is now at San Diego State? Did his leaving Ball State help in your decision to leave early for the NFL Draft? Have you kept in touch with Coach Parrish? ND: I have kept in touch with coach Hoke. I talk to him and coach [Jeff] Hecklinski a lot. It was a bit of a factor for me leaving but they were also a lot of other factors for me leaving. As for keeping in contact with Coach Parrish, I always do. Coach Parrish and I will always have a great relationship. He’s the one that gave me a chance to play at Ball State. He gave me a lot of help, not only on the field but off of it as well. OTP: Last season saw the Cardinals ring up maybe the greatest year in athletics in school history. What has to be done to ensure those types of seasons are the norm and not the exception? ND: I truly believe that Coach Parrish will get it done. All they have to do is to keep on working hard. They just have to have heart. OTP: Can you give us your favorite memory as a football Cardinal? ND: As a matter of fact, it was last year against Western Michigan. Watching the scoreboard hit double zeros and we went undefeated. That was my most exciting memory at Ball State. The fans gave us so much support. I’ve never seen that much encouragement. OTP: Any last words for Cardinal fans? ND: Thanks for all of the support. GO CARDS! Tremendous thanks and gratitude to Nate and the San Francisco 49ers for letting this interview take place. It is truly an honor and privilege to bring this to the fans. It’s certainly good to get the sort of perspective on the success of the program and the ability of the players and staff from one of their own. Good luck in your rookie season, Nate, and like he said… Go Cards!! 'Boys talk with underrated QB -by CowboysToday.com Mar 4, 2009 Nate Davis: From Ball State to Big Time -by FalconInsider.com Feb 24, 2009 Nate Davis lands with 49ers -by BallStateInsider.com Apr 26, 2009 Don't miss any news or features from BallStateInsider.com. Subscribe to our newsletter to have our newest articles emailed to you on a daily or weekly basis. QB Nate Davis (profile) Football > Ball State Football > Bellaire HS > Alumni

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Does Mark Rogers Have What It Takes to Be an Ace with the Milwaukee Brewers? By Conner Boyd Justin K. Aller/Getty Images 1.0K The Milwaukee Brewers are having a tough season. At the time of writing this article (Aug. 29), they are currently 61-69, 16.5 games behind the division leading Cincinnati Reds, and 9.5 games behind one of the two Wild Card spots up for grabs.The fat lady hasn't sung yet though, and the Brewers have actually been clicking pretty well lately. One player that I don't really think anyone expected to see contribute to the major league this season is Mark Rogers, who has quietly been pitching quite well for the Brew Crew.Rogers' stat-line isn't overly impressive off the cuff. He's boasting a 4.28 ERA, which isn't terrible, but not great either. His biggest struggle this season has been command—he's often prone to being a bit wild with his fastball and/or leaving his breaking balls hanging in the zone too much.But when you look past those numbers, you see that Rogers is actually doing quite well. He's pitched in 33.2 innings over the course of six starts, and in those 33.2 innings, he has 36 strikeouts. His high strikeout rate has given him a respectable 3.00 strikeout to bases on balls ratio, and it's proof that Rogers, despite all of the problems the former first rounder has faced up to this point, still has what it takes to be great.Rogers was originally drafted fifth overall by the Brew Crew in 2004. At the time of his signing, the 18-year-old was viewed as a lock to be a future ace for the still-developing team. Despite injuries, Rogers still has a cannon of an arm. His fastball was, and still is a real heater, sitting comfortably in the mid-90s, and with a little extra sauce, he can touch 97 or 98. It's a lively fastball, and when he has control over it, it's a dominating pitch.He also has a couple of solid breaking balls, a slider in the mid-80s, a change-up in the low-to-mid-80s, and the occasional curveball in the upper-70s.Ace-like pitches to be sure, but injuries have plagued Rogers in his path to the majors. Yovani Gallardo, drafted in the second round of that same 2004 draft, has instead become Milwaukee's ace, and Rogers has toiled in the minors trying to stay healthy and keep his command.A brief, but successful call-up in 2010 led many to believe that Rogers was finally ready. He was named the Brewers best prospect prior to the 2011 season, and he looked like a surefire major league call-up player. Instead, he only pitched in 44.1 innings in the minors in 2011 due to injury, and posted a ghastly 9.37 ERA.The most telling statistic of that year was all of the walks. He issued a shocking 42 walks compared to 40 strikeouts in 2011, and it looked like his career had sunk. To add insult to injury, Rogers was slammed with a 25-game suspension for the use of a banned substance at the end of 2011 that carried over into this season.But call it perseverance, call it luck, call it whatever you want...Mark Rogers is a starter for the same major league team that drafted him way back in 2004, and he's doing quite well after you consider everything I've just told you. What are the chances of Rogers being on the opening day Roster for the Brew Crew in 2013? Yes, for sure Barring another injury (which certainly isn't out of the question), Rogers should be competing for one of the five rotation spots next season. He'll have a lot of pitchers to beat out, namely guys like Chris Narveson, Mike Fiers, Tyler Thornburg and Wily Peralta, not to mention whoever the Brewers (hopefully) pursue in free agency.It's not a sure thing...in fact, I'm not sure he should even be on the opening day roster. Maybe if he has a great spring training, and shows his command problems have improved, but I don't think it would be out of line to start him in Triple-A Nashville again next year, just to be sure.But, that being said, Rogers can still be an ace. He has the pure firepower to do so, and he obviously has the work-ethic, as few players with all of the problems he has faced make any substantial contributions to a professional team.A couple of days ago, I posted an article about how Carlos Gomez is finally living up to his potential. I think it's fair to say that Rogers is getting there as well. The two players have taken remarkably different paths to approach and surpass the barrier, but they're both doing it at the same time.Rogers is only 26 years old, and as long as the Brewers don't overwork him, Rogers will be a valuable pitcher in this system. Control is always going to be an issue for a guy who throws a fastball with a ton of movement at 95 MPH, but it's certainly much better than last year.Perhaps Rogers will soon be the No. 2 starter behind Gallardo, and perhaps he'll be the pitcher scouts saw in him back in 2004. He deserves it, and the Brewers sure could use him.

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Want more real-time Ligue 1 news? 5 Foreign Players Who Could Be Headed to Ligue 1 This Summer By Nicholas McGee Jasper Juinen/Getty Images 382 Most of the time when the summer transfer window rolls around the main discussion surrounds which players will be leaving Ligue 1 but while an exodus of top players will undoubtedly be of concern for a number of clubs, it is likely that a number of stars from other leagues will be coming in the other way.Indeed, the spending power of Paris Saint-Germain and now Monaco looks set to attract more big names to France's top tier, with a multitude of big names linked with a move to the division's two financial powerhouses.The reputations of Marseille and Lyon will always be a draw for the slightly lesser names, and therefore, it promises to be another busy window across the country.Speculation will always be rife in transfer season, but who are the foreign players that appear destined to choose Ligue 1? Bleacher Report looks at five men who look set to make the move to Le Championnat. Alex Livesey/Getty Images Disgruntled, outcast and reportedly severely unsettled at Manchester United, Wayne Rooney is, according to The Sun, a player angling for a move away.The England international has been the subject of speculation throughout this season, with the 27-year-old supposedly unhappy at being, pushed out of the United starting XI by Robin van Persie despite playing for a team which won the Premier League title.David Moyes' introduction as Sir Alex Ferguson's replacement is unlikely to improve Rooney's relationship with the Old Trafford club. The new man at the helm on the red half of Manchester is not known for seeing eye-to-eye with Rooney following past disagreements during their time together at Everton, and a change of scenery may well be the best option for the striker.One club certainly interested in offering Rooney an escape route is Paris Saint-Germain,The Guardian reports that the club's Qatari owners are willing to match his wages at United and appear to have their heart set on bringing the Liverpool-born forward to the Parc des Princes.Family concerns may play a part in Rooney's eventual decision, but having seen the success of David Beckham at PSG, and with English speakers Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gregory van der Wiel embedded within the squad in Paris, the French capital club's quest to secure European glory could be the perfect new challenge for the England star. Denis Doyle/Getty Images It had long been presumed that if Atletico Madrid striker Falcao was to leave the club, it would be for their city rivals Real or another of football's great European footballing institutions.However, that presumption has since been subverted, with newly-promoted Monaco, to the shock of everyone in the game, reportedly holding the inside track on securing the Colombian's services.Monaco's status as a club owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev but yet exempt from the same tax rules as the rest of the clubs in the French league system has caused much controversy, and the Stade Louis II outfit are currently locked in a legal dispute with the country's governing body, who have demanded the Ligue 2 champions to relocate, pay €200m to remain at their current location or face expulsion from Ligue 1 (NBC Sports).That has not deterred Monaco though, and they appear set to launch an assault of top-flight and eventual European success with a spending spree which looks set to threaten PSG's superiority.Falcao is at the top of Rybolovlev's shopping list and, although suggestions that Falcao's move to the Cote d'Azur is a done deal remain unconfirmed, it appears to be only a matter of time before he is playing in the red and white stripes of the principality club. Claudio Villa/Getty Images After narrowly missing out on Champions League football with present club Fiorentina last week, attacking midfielder Stevan Jovetic is a highly-rated player expected to be on the move this summer.The Montenegrin has enjoyed an excellent season, notching 13 goals and providing five assists, but it was not enough to ensure a top-three spot for the Tuscan outfit, and the vultures are now likely to start circling.Arsenal had reportedly been the club holding the most interest in Jovetic, but after Fiorentina's sporting director described their interest as "non-existent" (ESPN), the likes of PSG and Monaco could well be able to strike and move in for the 23-year-old.Jovetic is likely to want to move to a team in Europe's premier club competition; therefore, PSG would be the likely front-runners from a French perspective.Javier Pastore, Ezequiel Lavezzi and Jeremy Menez all possess the tools to break down defenses; however at times this season, the champions have appeared to lack a plan B. Jovetic's presence could provide them with an exciting new option next campaign. Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images After promising young right-back Nampalys Mendy revealed his desire to leave Monaco (TeamTalk), Claudio Ranieri's men could well be in the market for a new right-back.The 2004 Champions League finalists can hardly be considered to be short of cash, and therefore they are far from limited in terms of their remit if they are to look for a replacement for the 20-year-old defender.One player to be linked with a move to the Stade Louis II is Barcelona full-back Dani Alves, who, despite enjoying great success with the Catalan giants, refused to refute suggestions he could be primed for a move from the Camp Nou (Goal).Monaco would likely have to pay both big money and big wages to land the Brazilian and could face competition from PSG for his services, but with finances no problem for the seven-time Ligue 1 champions, do not be surprised if Alves decides to trade Spain for France. Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images One of the most sought after players in world football, Edinson Cavani is likely to have a number of suitors come the summer.The Uruguayan was said to have agreed a deal with Paris Saint-Germain earlier in the season (Metro); however, those rumors proved to be unfounded, and now deposed Premier League champions Manchester City are said to be holding in an interest in his services (Metro).Both City and PSG have lured players from Serie A in recent seasons, but the Parisians greater progress in this season's Champions League could well prove crucial if Cavani is left to make a head-to-head choice between the two teams.The presence of former AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti may well have had an influence on Cavani's decision, but with the Italian expected to leave at the end of the season, one of the first tasks for PSG's new manager could be to convince Cavani to choose the Parc des Princes outfit as his newest club. Ligue 1 Team StreamTM Ranking Top French Ligue 1 GKs Report: LFC, Arsenal Eyeing Move for Lille Teen

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The Legend of Ruggiano? By R.J. Anderson // It wasn’t too long ago when Sam Fuld was the darling of the baseball community. Fuld, a small speedy outfielder with an interesting back story, took the league by storm with a combination of base hits and defensive wizardry. Since then, a massive slump has left Fuld on the bench and another longtime minor league outfielder in the spotlight. The Rays acquired Justin Ruggiano in a 2006 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Texas A&M product looked to be a throw-in with the chance to turn into a bench player down the road, but attitude and performance issues led to him being removed from the 40-man roster in the spring. Out of options, but clearly not optimism, Ruggiano put in his work at Triple-A, hitting .301/.382/.514 with six home runs in 167 plate appearances. Ruggiano is encroaching on 50 plate appearances and has an OPS over 1000 and three home runs to show for it so far, leading some to wonder whether they should try to ride the wave, much like they did with Fuld. It’s a risky proposition, more so in Ruggiano’s case than Fuld, because of the timing. With the Super Two date quickly passing, Brandon Guyer—who was already recalled once this season—could be in line for a promotion. Not only that, but arguably the Rays top prospect, Desmond Jennings—should arrive in St. Petersburg within the next four weeks, and the only logical spot for him to play is left field, unless the Rays trade B.J. Upton by then. In danger of stating the obvious: Ruggiano is not going to keep this pace up. His career Triple-A line is .289/.362/.472 and he has proved prone to the strikeout. It’s a nice story, and for a short-term fix, he could provide some power, but don’t start sewing the Legend of Ruggiano shirts just yet. For access to the top baseball analytics and fantasy tool Bloomberg Sports Front Office visit BloombergSports.com

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Trojans run through Hawks by Aug 27, 2013 | 2251 views | 0 | 56 | | East Side's Taquille Eatmon puts distance between him and the Shaw defense on a big run Friday. Eatmon finished with 106 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns. East Side defeated Shaw 32-12. For the past seven years Kendrick Woodard roamed the sidelines as an East Side assistant, but on Friday he stalked the freshly cut grass of Leroy Byars Stadium as the Trojans' head coach.Woodard and the Trojans welcomed the high flying Shaw Hawks into town Friday, but it was a ground attack from the "Men of Troy" that made the difference as East Side ran their way to a 32-12 victory. East Side improved to 1-0, while Shaw fell to 0-1. "We wanted to come in and run behind that experience offensive line. That line is a good group and we wanted to make sure we let them lead the way for us. We tried to be physical with those guys from the jump because we knew we had a depth advantage over them so we lined up and ran that ball right at them," said Kendrick Woodard. The Trojans netted 271 total yards, with 261 on the ground on 34 carries and four touchdowns. The Hawks tallied 127 total yards (77 rushing, 50 passing). Despite the win, Woodard was not pleased with the turnovers his team committed. "It was the first game and even though I preached that we couldn't turn the ball over we did and that really held us back. We got in the red-zone a few times and couldn't do anything with it because we turned the ball over. Shaw has a great team and they are going to do great things. We have to continue to get better and protect that football. We can't win games constantly turning the ball over," said Woodard.For Shaw head coach Kendrick Smith it was a long night filled with much of nothing."We came out here and we didn't play with any heart or any emotion. We just showed up and that's on me. I'm the coach and I'm suppose to have my kids ready to play," said Smith."Next week we're going to do some soul searching," said Smith. Shaw opened the game with the ball, but was forced to punt. East Side took over the ball on the Hawks' 35-yard line after a short punt. With 8:03 remaining in the first quarter East Side's Dy'monquae Pates scored from six yards out. Barron Burns added the two-point conversion for an 8-0 East Side lead.Shaw's next possession ended in a fumble by Andre Pruitt, but East Side could not do any better as they turned the ball over on downs. Shaw's next possession was stalled and the Hawks had to punt again. This time the punt from Pruitt was tipped by Barron Burns and caught by Phillip Williams, which gave the Trojans the ball on the Hawks' 21-yard line.On East Side's first play after regaining the ball, Taquille Eastmon marched on a 21-yard touchdown run with 23-seconds left in the first quarter. The conversion attempt failed, but East Side led 14-0.In the second quarter Shaw was forced to punt again with 11:03 on the clock. East Side responded by putting together a strong drive, but the Hawks defense came up clutch and forced an Eatmon to fumble and Shaw's Lerandel Allen recovered on the 35-yard line.The Hawks managed to open things up when Pruitt connected with Octavius Stimmage for a 42-yard reception down to the East Side five-yard line. Pruitt later rushed for a four-yard touchdown with 7:00 left in the second quarter. The point after attempt failed, but Shaw cut the lead to 14-6, which is what the score remained at halftime.The Trojans opened the third quarter running the football and with 9:01 left in the third Barron Burns scored on a 29 yard run. The conversion attempt failed, but East Side led 20-6.The Hawks managed to put more points on the board with 1:52 left in the third quarter when Xavius Loggins recovered a fumble in the end zone for Shaw. The extra point attempt failed, but East Side closed the gap 20-12.Shaw seemed to gain the momentum when Keveon Shepherd Jr., intercepted a pass from Pates, but the Hawks drive stalled and the team was forced to punt.As the game rolled over into the fourth quarter, the Trojans made sure they put distance between them and the Hawks as Eatmon scored from six yards out with 9:37 left in the game and with 3:55 remaining Burns intercepted a pass from Pruitt and returned it 48 yards for a score to put the nail in the coffin and secure a 32-12 win.Eatmon led the Trojans with 106 yards on 14 carries with two touchdowns, Burns added 50 yards on six carries with a touchdown and Pates had 14 yards on 4 carries with a touchdown. Jalen Thomas had 34 yards on six carries and Perry Henry added 48 yards on three carries. Defensively Burns led the way with four tackles with an interception return for a touchdown, a sack and a blocked punt. Adrian Gooden led the team with eight tackles and Caleb Silas finished with seven tackles with a sack. Pates also recorded a sack.Shaw was led offensively by Pruitt who finished with 28 yards on 15 carries with a touchdown and completed 2-of-12 passes for 50 yards with an interception. Stimmage had two catches for 50 yards. Allen led the defense with 11 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. Loggins had eight tackles with a fumble recovery for a touchdown and Justin King added seven tackles.East Side will be back in action Friday on the road in Mound Bayou. Shaw will be at home as they host the Leland Cubs. Both games will kick off at 7 p.m. Copyright 2014 The Bolivar Commercial. All rights reserved. Hawks slide by Jags Tigers tear up Trojans Hawks flying high at 7-1 Teamwork, the main ingredient for Shaw

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New-look Astros bring enthusiasm There’s a good chance the Astros will be starting three rookies in most games the rest of the season. Call it throwing in the towel or looking towards the future, but the bottom line is the Astros had to shake things up. One player said Tuesday it felt like Opening Day all over again, coming to the ballpark and knowing Jason Castro, Chris Johnson and Jason Bourgeois would be in uniform. The Astros were getting little offensive production from their catchers and had top prospect Castro waiting in the wings. Pedro Feliz has been a huge disappointment at third base since signing as a free agent and with Johnson tearing it up at Triple-A Round Rock, the move made sense. Tommy Manzella has been starting at shortstop since Opening Day and appears to have settled down defensively, while the Astros hope he can make more strides on offense. Despite the high-price contracts of franchise icons Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt and left-fielder Carlos Lee, the future is the Astros is in their young players. Players like Castro and Johnson and Double-A pitcher Jordan Lyles, who will pitch in the Futures Games this year. “Obviously when you’re in the situation we are, having gone through a little more than a third of the season and you’re still sucking wind, you get to the point where you’re like, ‘Hey, let’s try something,’” Berkman said. “I think, that’s kind of where we are now at this point.” Berkman admits he feels old, but not necessarily because he’s surrounded by fresh-faced youngsters. “I don’t think we’ve had as many young guys as this probably since the early ’90s when Craig [Biggio] and Jeff [Bagwell] and those guys started infusing the organziation with the next wave of new talent,” Berkman said. “You had those playoff teams, good teams in mid ’80s and a few good teams in there and that wave came and went and you’ve got some new guys coming in. I don’t think this is dissimilar. In any organization, you’ve got cycles and it’s time for some of these new guys step in and see what they can do.” Filed in: Dailies Tags: Astros, Chris Johnson, Jason Bourgeois, Jason Castro, Lance Berkman Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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Subplots litter Super Bowl’s Big Easy return Barry WilnerAssociated Press Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS — The journey to this Super Bowl wound through bounties and replacement refs, eventually bringing the big game back to the Big Easy — with a replacement quarterback, a sibling rivalry and a grand exit for one of the NFL’s greatest players, clouded by the obscure healing powers of deer-antler spray.It is a Super Bowl of comebacks, of firsts and lasts, and — if San Francisco wins — the best.A win over the Baltimore Ravens tonight gives the 49ers six championships, matching Pittsburgh’s titles in the Super Bowl era. Unlike the Steelers, the Niners have never lost one.Of course, they haven’t won one in 18 years, either.“There’s a tradition with the San Francisco 49ers, but I think these guys are paving their own way,” said Hall of Fame receiver and three-time champion Jerry Rice. “They’re playing with a lot of swagger.”Or, as owner Denise DeBartolo York said, “We’ve come full circle and the dynasty will prevail.”New Orleans has come full circle, too. Ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, losing a quarter of its population, abandoned by the Saints for an entire season, the city couldn’t imagine hosting another Super Bowl. But as New Orleans recovered and rebuilt, it envisioned staging what Patriots owner Robert Kraft calls “the pre-eminent sporting event.”The NFL agreed it was time to return. And even if commissioner Roger Goodell is despised here after slapping the Saints with suspensions and fines in the bounty scandal, the vibes from the French Quarter and Warehouse District this week have been supportive, even uplifting.“It’s also terrific for us to be back here in New Orleans,” Goodell said, joking about voodoo dolls in his likeness. “Our 10th Super Bowl here, the first since Katrina, and it’s clear this city is back bigger and better than ever.”There’s the tale of the head coaching brothers, Baltimore’s John and San Francisco’s Jim, the first siblings to face off in a Super Bowl. And Ray Lewis, the pre-eminent linebacker of his generation on his self-proclaimed last ride. (His farewell party was somewhat sidetracked for two days this week when Lewis waved off a report that he tried to get unusual products like deer-antler spray to speed his recovery from an arm injury that sidelined him for 10 games.)“There are so many storylines to this game that make it bigger than just the Super Bowl,” 49ers CEO Jed York said.Such as the Harbaughs plot about sons of a lifetime coach who took different paths to the top of the NFL.John, older by 15 months, has made his career standing on the sideline with a headset. He’s the only head coach to win playoff games in his first five seasons; his quarterback, Joe Flacco, has the same distinction as he heads into his first Super Bowl. Jim Harbaugh was a first-round draft pick and quarterbacked four teams in 14 pro seasons before going into coaching. He was an immediate success at San Diego — the Toreros in the college Pioneer League, not the Chargers in the NFL — and Stanford before the 49ers won a bidding war for him in 2011.This week’s family reunion has been light-hearted, though that figures to change tonight.“It’s probably a little tougher emotionally,” John Harbaugh said of facing his brother. “It’s a little tougher just from the sense of I don’t think you think about it when you’re coaching against somebody else; it’s more about the scheme and the strategy. There’s a little bit of a relationship element that’s more strong than maybe coaching against someone else.“I’ll have a better answer for you after the game. I’ve never been through this before. This is all new.”And oh-so-new for the QBs, Flacco and Colin Kaepernick.Flacco is no fluke, holding the career record for road playoff wins with six. But until outplaying Peyton Manning and Tom Brady this year, he hadn’t gotten the Ravens to the Super Bowl. He has eight touchdown passes and no interceptions in the postseason, padding a resume that soon will make him one very highly paid quarterback: Flacco’s contract expires after this game. Even with a franchise tag applied by Baltimore (13-6), he’ll make about $14.6 million next season.“I think when you talk about winning as quarterbacks in the playoffs,” Flacco said, “I would think that all of them have Super Bowl victories. So that’s really the only one that matters, and that’s what we’re trying to get.”Naturally, so are the 49ers (13-4-1), whose midseason adoption of the pistol offense to best use Kaepernick’s dynamic versatility added a dimension no one has been able to stop. The Niners might never have taken such a huge step had incumbent Alex Smith, in the midst of his best season, not sustained a concussion on Nov. 11. Kaepernick took over and the offense took off.Once Smith was healthy, he no longer was the starter. Jim Harbaugh gambled by sticking with the raw second-year quarterback who brought more game-breaking skills to the position.Difficult decisions like that are sometimes foolhardy, sometimes inspired.This one worked superbly, and Kaepernick stands one victory from joining Joe Montana and Steve Young as a 49er Super Bowl champion.“It was tough watching this team do well and not being able to contribute,” said Kaepernick, more recognized before his promotion for his collection of tattoos than for his strong arm and sprinter’s speed. “For me, what kept me going was the fact that I might get an opportunity to get out there. When I did, I needed to take advantage of it.”The 49ers hope to take advantage in the same Superdome where they were at their most dominant, beating Denver 55-10 in 1990 in the biggest rout the Super Bowl has seen.The Steelers are recognized as the true powerhouse of the Super Bowl era, which is nearly a half-century old. Four of those titles came in the 1970s, with Mean Joe Greene and the Steel Curtain shutting down opponents while Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris and Lynn Swann were scoring on them.But the last two were in 2005 and 2008, and they’ve been perennial playoff qualifiers, too. That kept them in the football forefront.For the 49ers the golden years of Montana, Rice, Young and Ronnie Lott ended with the 1994 season. They didn’t even make the playoffs from 2003-10, and this is their first trip back to the Super Bowl.Rice sees Super Bowl win No. 6 coming tonight.“I just think we had players who played well in the big game,” he said. “My best football that I played, I think, happened in the playoffs and in the Super Bowl. I think it’s the same with these players.”None of whom, except for center Jonathan Goodwin and linebacker Clark Haggans, has won a title. That’s still one more ring than the Ravens have: Lewis is the sole NFL champion in Baltimore.Lewis hungers for these teammates to taste their first title — and to do it in his last game.“I’ve touched the Lombardi (Trophy), and I know how it feels,” the perennial All-Pro said. “For these guys who’ve made this journey with me to feel that, it would be the perfect ending for my career.”Like Lewis, 49ers receiver Randy Moss also could be suiting up for the final time, although he hopes to play another year.Grabbed off the scrap heap after his career spiraled into oblivion and no team would touch him in 2011, Moss didn’t do much on the field (28 catches, 434 yards) this season. His loudest headlines came this week when he proclaimed himself the greatest receiver ever; maybe he’s never seen Rice’s numbers.Teammates say Moss was very influential as a mentor and teacher.“Randy’s like my older brother,” said Michael Crabtree, who emerged as a top receiver in his fourth pro season. “An older brother you would have that’s been through a lot that you just can learn from just talking to him, watching him.“He’s a legend and I hope he’ll be here next year.”Lewis won’t be. He’ll don the face paint, put on his No. 52 for the final time, and see if he can replicate the championship of a dozen years ago.“You can never top the first one, because that’s an unknown feeling,” Lewis said before adding with a chuckle, eyes widening, “but a second one — that might be the only way you really can top it.” Broncos' Demaryius Thomas makes trip home to Georgia Jason Halcombe, The Courier Herald Soda sales in US decline at faster pace Mason studies up on superstar QB Brady Paul NewberryAssociated Press Sports Writer Miller re-signs with 49ers Janie McCauleyAssociated Press Sports Writer

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Expert AdviceStep by Step/Vendor Viewpoint Club Industry Reports Web Savvy Fitness Studies Club Industry Show TrendsManagement Nutrition/Weight Loss Training/Group Exercise Advertisement Home > News > Interview with Geoff Dyer, CEO of Lifestyle Family Fitness Inc., St. Petersburg, FL Interview with Geoff Dyer, CEO of Lifestyle Family Fitness Inc., St. Petersburg, FL Lifestyle Family Fitness Inc., St. Petersburg, FL, is projected to gross more than $100 million in revenue by the end of 2007. It has grown from seven clubs in 1999 to more than 40 clubs in Florida, North Carolina and Ohio. Geoff Dyer | Club Industry EMAIL Comments 0 Advertisement Q: For someone who’s never been to a Lifestyle Family Fitness club, give me an idea of what your clubs are like and the look and feel of the facilities, programming and membership demographics. A: Our facilities are typically in the 32-35,000 square-foot size. When we open in a new market, we would typically open five to 10 clubs, depending on the size of the area, and we would also build a 50,000-square-foot facility in that same area, so that we have the opportunity to provide multi-club access for those members who want to buy that. In our typical club, 32-35,000, typically we have a very large workout area, 10,000 square feet, a large cardio area, with approximately 100 pieces of cardio equipment. Group fitness is big part of what we do, and typically about 4,000 square feet for that area. In our group fitness area, we use all the Les Mills International programs, BodyPump, BodyStep, BodyFlow, BodyAttack. These programs are important for consistent experience across all clubs. Spinning room, we have tanning that we provide. We’re a Florida-based group and tanning is still important to Floridians, so we provide that service. Also, in the general exercise area, we’re providing a separate private training area for our members, where personal trainers and their clients can exercise in a separated area that requires a special key to access that area. We feature the Kinesis wall and more high-end finishes in that particular area. We’ve tested in one club, and we’re introducing it to more of our facilities. Locker rooms, typically we allocate about 10 percent of our total space for the locker rooms, and that would include a sauna and wood-faced lockers and things of that nature. We try to build our clubs with products that don’t show wear and tear. We stay away from carpeted materials that typically you have to replace or steam clean frequently. We try to finish our clubs in such a way that they always look clean and they’re easy to maintain. Our membership types are typically one-club facilities that are not yet fully mature, in other words aren’t fille

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Mike Modano To Retire If Red Wings Make Stanley Cup Final By Ryan Weiss When Mike Modano was brought to Detroit over the summer, the general consensus was that he'd be a one-season rental. Modano seemed to reiterate that sentiment, saying that he'll probably retire if the Red Wings reach the Stanley Cup Finals. ↵↵"If we go that far, if we get to the Stanley Cup Finals, it would be it for me," he said after the morning skate Friday.↵"Yeah," he said, "If we can get a nice, two-month run at the end here, I'd be happy with that. It would be worth it to have a nice long run to make this whole year worthwhile. It hasn't gone exactly how we all printed it up."↵↵Modano won a Stanley Cup (albeit controversially) in 1999 with the Dallas Stars. After being forced out of Dallas by the club, he signed with his hometown Red Wings for one more shot at glory. He missed most of this season after a brutal encounter with R.J. Umberger's skate in November, severing a tendon in his wrist that forced him out of the lineup until late February. Modano has just four goals and 11 assists this season and has struggled to catch up.↵↵"The last couple of weeks I've felt pretty good," he said. "I feel like I've built a base. Now it's just a matter of getting my mind right and getting mentally prepared for a tough playoff stretch. I've not played in the playoffs the last two years, so there's going to have to be a bit of a refresher. But I feel fortunate that I can fall back on those past experiences and accomplishments."↵↵With the injury to Henrik Zetterberg it's highly unlikely that Modano will be left out of the lineup, although there has been some discussion. Head coach Mike Babcock said he will treat Modano like everyone else, but Modano's veteran experience will give him a strong edge for playing time. 

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Penn's heartbreak is Harvard's happiness By Dana O'Neil | ESPN.com Editor's Note: On Tuesday night, Andy Katz caught up with a happy 86-year-old in Ohio -- a man who played on Harvard's one and only NCAA tournament team in 1946. To read Katz's piece, click here. PRINCETON, N.J. -- The most avid Princeton fan in the country sat home with his family on Tuesday night, rooting hard for the Tigers and all the while trying to maintain a little perspective. “You know what I’ve learned in the 100 or so years I’ve been through this? You’ve got to just play it out,’’ Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “Who knows how things are going to develop or shake out? It’s going to be what it’s going to be.’’ On the last regular-season game of the 2011-12 college basketball season, fate finally decided it was going to rule in favor of Harvard. In 40 minutes, Princeton ruined the dreams of its basketball rival and delivered the dreams of its academic enemy, beating Penn 62-52 to hand Harvard the outright Ivy League crown and the school’s first NCAA tournament berth since 1946. The final score led to raw emotion up and down the Northeast Corridor. [+] EnlargeAP Photo/Tim LarsenPenn's loss to Princeton means Harvard will get its first NCAA Tournament berth since 1946.In Boston, there was pure joy. Amaker, who purposefully didn’t gather his team to watch the game, was returning giddy phone calls and text messages from his players, waiting anxiously to see them in practice the next day -- "I just want to hug 'em and touch 'em," he said. In Princeton, there was a weird sense of euphoria. The Tigers had a kiss-your-sister sort of evening, preventing rival Penn from getting even a share of the Ivy crown yet delivering the conference title on a plate to Harvard. "It was an interesting game coming in," Princeton's Patrick Saunders said. "We don’t have much love for either team. It was nice to get a win, but it was kind of tough to swallow knowing our win put Harvard in the tournament." And in Philadelphia, there was equal parts anger and anguish. The Quakers will spend a year reliving this one, not because they lost but because of how they lost. Penn, which had won nine games in a row to force Harvard into a corner, played Ole' defense on the Tigers, allowing Princeton to do whatever it wanted offensively. "How can a team that's playing for nothing play harder than a team that's playing for something?" Penn coach Jerome Allen wondered. It’s a question without answer but one that will at least temporarily rewrite the Ivy League record books. For the better part of the Ancient Eight, when Penn and Princeton met on the final Tuesday of the season it was to decide the fate of the conference. Only not like this. Back then, either the Quakers or the Tigers would claim the crown. But both programs had fallen on tough times, giving way first to Cornell and more recently to Harvard. Princeton enjoyed its rebirth last season, returning to the NCAA tournament by nudging the Crimson out of the way in a thrilling one-game playoff. Two seasons ago, the Quakers were more the Quagmires. Glen Miller was fired in December, almost unheard of in Ivy circles, and Allen was tagged as the interim coach. It was the nadir for a once-proud program that had become worse than bad, it had become irrelevant. Allen, who owned the Ancient Eight as a player, quickly restored order in West Philadelphia, perhaps more quickly than anyone expected. The Quakers were picked only fourth at the start of the season. And so theoretically and even statistically, Penn ought to be happy with an 11-3 Ivy record and a second-place finish. "No, no, I don't think we got this program back," said senior Zack Rosen, who made like a sherpa and toted the Quakers on his back the entire season."Coming close isn’t what Penn is about. Penn is about numbers and banners and championships." Now those championships go to a newbie. Harvard celebrated its share of the title a season ago, but that will pale in comparison to the party the Crimson can enjoy now. "This is significant for us," Amaker said. "It's a chance for us to be a part of something special at one of the most special places in the world, arguably the No. 1 school in the world. It’s been forever and so it means so much to so many people." A year ago, Amaker was in a high school gym recruiting, learning via text-messaged scores that his team would need to win a one-game playoff game. This season he chose to stay home, which was better but no less nerve-wracking. "I was in and out," he said. "I watched most of it." Most important, he watched the end -- and even if he couldn’t hug his players, he felt their excitement buzzing through his cell phone. Now instead of worrying about where Harvard will have to travel to get to a neutral playoff site, Amaker is busy making much better plans. "We've got to decide what we're going to do about watching the Selection Show," he said. "I want them to enjoy the moment because we know how hard these moments are to come by. You've got to be good and you've got to be lucky." And finally, on the last day of the regular season, Harvard was a little of both. Dana O'Neil | emailCollege BasketballFollowArchive College basketball reporter. Joined ESPN in 2007. Graduate of Penn State University. Tags:Ivy, Harvard Crimson, Princeton Tigers, Pennsylvania Quakers Previous PostLunardi's late-night Bracketology updateNext PostHighlights: South Dakota St 52, W Illinois 50

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Lerentee McCray is ready for the limelight By Edward Aschoff | ESPN.com Lerentee McCray has been through and seen a lot during his long Florida career. The fifth-year senior linebacker/defensive end has seen the highs of winning a national championship and the lows of the school’s first losing record in conference play since the 1980s. As he prepares to suit up for his final season in Gainesville, McCray wants to be a major component in what he hopes is a revival for the program in 2012. “Whatever it takes to win, I’m ready to do it,” McCray said. He’ll certainly get his chance, as he fills in for the injured and ever-popular Ronald Powell at the Buck position. Powell, who was the nation’s top recruit two years ago, had his best spring as a Gator this year before suffering an ACL injury during the spring game that should keep him out for most of the fall. While McCray missed all of spring recovering from shoulder surgery, Florida’s coaches didn’t hesitate to name him as Powell’s replacement. [+] EnlargeKim Klement/US PresswireFifth-year senior Lerentee McCray is in line for more playing time this fall.And why would they? McCray is basically a bona fide hybrid. He began his career as an outside linebacker, but has since moved back and forth between linebacker and defensive end. He even got some action at Buck last year when Powell went down with an injury against Auburn. He doesn’t have the name or hype Powell does, but McCray might have a little more fire and hunger, considering the up-and-down career he’s had in his four-plus years at Florida. The former U.S. Army All-American participant and ESPN 150 member made the 50-plus-mile journey from Dunnellon, Fla., to Gainesville with lofty expectations. Along with just about everyone in his hometown, McCray expected to immediately compete for a starting spot and certainly expected a healthy amount of playing time as a freshman. But things didn’t exactly work out, as the 202-pound frosh played in just eight games, mostly on special teams, during the Gators’ national championship run. He played in just three games in 2009, receiving a medical redshirt. Even with frustration mounting, McCray took time to learn from veteran playmakers such as Brandon Spikes, Ryan Stamper and Jermaine Cunningham. Sitting and watching motivated him and created a fierier attitude when it came to working out and practice. But to make the kind of impact he wanted, McCray had to get bigger, so he was placed in Florida’s famed “Breakfast Club” where he turned into a real eater, inhaling as much steak, lobster and shrimp as he could during team feeding hours. “I wasn’t a big eater before I got here, but they made me eat,” said McCray, who is at a comfortable 253 pounds that he hopes to maintain this fall. Now that McCray has the will and the size, he’s looking to make a statement. He’s enjoyed a national championship and has seen Florida defenses rack up accolades, but he feels empty knowing he hasn’t been a tremendous help to his team yet. “It’s been a high and low experience,” McCray said. “That’s life.” That could change this fall, as McCray, who was named to the Butkus Award watch list, sees his role increase. He’s only appeared in 30 career games with just five starts, but had his best season yet in 2011, recording 24 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks, giving coach Will Muschamp the impression that McCray could shine in 2012. “I’m expecting a big year out of him,” Muschamp said. “I really am.” Senior linebacker Jon Bostic feels the same way, but he’s always expected McCray to be a star. The first sign was during his freshman year, when Bostic recalls watching a scrawny McCray consistently put offensive linemen on their backs in practice. “Regardless of what weight he was, he wasn’t going to back down from anybody,” Bostic said. “He’s one of those hard-nosed guys that’s going to run right down the middle at people. “He makes somebody feel the pain before he does.” McCray hopes to inflict even more pain this fall. And he isn’t concerned about any added pressure that will come with replacing Powell, who led Florida in sacks last year. He embraces the test and plans to finally make a name for himself. “I’m a person who likes to take on challenges,” he said. “I came from the bottom. I’d like to get to the top. That’s what I’m looking to achieve, so I really don’t feel any pressure because I’m already the underdog.” Edward Aschoff | emailCollege FootballFollowArchive ESPN.com SEC reporter Wrote for The Gainesville Sun Tags:SEC, Florida Gators, Will Muschamp, Ronald Powell, Jon Bostic, Lerentee McCray Previous PostPSU players to attend media days after allNext PostWhittingham has the line on his mind

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- Noah Spence in UA All-America Game Noah Spence in UA All-America Game By Jamie NewbergESPN Recruiting Five-star defensive end Noah Spence, who's No. 4 in the ESPNU 150, hasn't decided on a college yet, but he has decided on an all-star game. Spence, from Harrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevitt, will play in the Under Armour All-America Game. Best Of The Best Dante Fowler Jr. is one of the top prospects who have already committed to play in the 2012 Under Armour All-America Game. 2012 UA Game roster "It feels really wonderful to get the opportunity to play in the Under Armor game," Spence said. "I was supposed to play in the US Army All-American Bowl but I decided I want to play in this one. I've always watched it and it seems like so much fun. It's also a great opportunity to compete with the best players in the country. I just feel real blessed and humbled by it." Spence, 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, is the nation's No. 2 defensive end prospect and decided this was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. "We looked over all the materials," said his father Greg Spence. "And we just decided that we wanted to be a part of this great game. We are all very excited. "We always hoped for it. We always told Noah to try his best, stay humble and stay hungry and we would see what happens. We have watched the game and now he will be a part of it. The whole family is very excited." While Spence remains wide open in the recruiting process with a couple dozen offers, he looks forward to seeing just how college ready he'll be by playing against many of the nation's top players. "That's real exciting for me," Spence said. "It will be a very good measuring stick before college, especially going up against those offensive linemen."

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Steelers Fever Forums > Steelers Football > Pittsburgh Steelers > Q&A with Steelers DE Eason View Full Version : Q&A with Steelers DE Eason 83-Steelers-4309-09-2007, 07:01 AMQ&A with Steelers DE Eason By The Tribune-Review Sunday, September 9, 2007 Nick Eason will see the Steelers-Browns rivalry from a decidedly different side today when the two teams meet in Cleveland. Eason, a defensive end, played the previous three seasons for the Browns before signing with the Steelers last April. The 6-foot-3, 305-pounder goes from a team that is again expected to finish last in the AFC North to one that is a year removed from winning the Super Bowl. Then again, Eason's probably been called a lot of things during his life, but dummy is not one of them. He earned a degree in sociology from Clemson in three years and is currently working toward a master's degree. Eason recently talked about moving from one rival team to another and how he pursued academic excellence better as well as he did quarterbacks when he was at Clemson. Q: Does it go without saying this game will be a little more special for you since it's the first time you're returning to Cleveland? "Of course. To get a 'W' would be more special for me. Obviously, they didn't think I belonged there, otherwise I would still be there. That's the way I look at it, so you kind of take it personal. Both teams will be up for this game, and I'm just looking forward to being a part of it." Q: What's the best thing about being in Pittsburgh? A: "I feel at home. You come from a rival team and you kind of don't know what to expect from your teammates. I've probably exchanged words with these guys when I was wearing the orange helmet, but now I'm in black and gold and there are a lot of quality guys here. I'm glad to be here and glad to be a part of the Steeler Nation." Q: With whom did you exchange words? A: "Of course, linebackers are known for that here and defensive backs. I got into a little jabbering with (Ryan) Clark and (Ike) Taylor after the game when it was a pretty close game (in Cleveland last season). It's all in the past. I'm just glad to be a part of this team right now." Q: How did you graduate from Clemson in three years, especially given how time-consuming football is? A: "My parents are both educators and, quite interestingly, my mom really didn't believe I was graduating so soon. I told her 'Well, I've got to order my cap and gown' and she told me 'You just got there a couple of years ago.' It was kind of amazing to her because sometimes you can take courses in high school to get college credit but I didn't do that and to be able to (graduate in three years) was just a great accomplishment. At the time, I was the first Clemson football player in school history to do that." Q: Did your mom believe you enough to show up for the graduation ceremony? A: "She showed up. It was an August ceremony and so the family came up and I had practice that evening because we were still in training camp. From there on out, I was announced (at Clemson games) as a graduate student. It's an honor for me." http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_526463.html

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Rick Brown: Iowa’s Big Ten title climb just got steeper, no matter the makeup date [ 0 ] February 18, 2014 | Rick Brown Tweet A sign at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Ind., greets visitors with the news of the postponement of Tuesday night’s Iowa-Indiana basketball game. (Chris Howell/AP) DANVILLE, Ill. – Tuesday’s game at Indiana was to be a big contest, on a national stage, a chance for Iowa’s men’s basketball team to take another step closer to an elusive Big Ten title. Instead, the steel beam that fell from the ceiling in the northwest corner of Assembly Hall in Bloomington, about 6 1/2 hours before the scheduled tipoff Tuesday, made that title chase a bit more daunting. Iowa is facing a three-game week somewhere down the stretch. “I mean, if you look at the schedule, it’s almost a probability, right?” McCaffery told me Tuesday evening, before the team returned to Iowa City. “There’s no other way around it.” First, it must be said that we’re lucky that the steel beam broke loose when it did. Had it happened later, when people were in those Section F seats, that is a sobering thought. Life and death replacing winning and losing. Fate won that game. Both McCaffery and Indiana coach Tom Crean agreed. “It’s just one of those things, out of your control,” McCaffery said. “You deal with the consequences. What are you going to do? It’s a safety issue. We’ll figure out a day to play it, and we’ll play it.” When — and where — remains up in the air. Iowa, 19-6 overall and 8-4 in the Big Ten, was three games back in the loss column of the Big Ten standings less than two weeks ago. Now, they’re one game behind Michigan and Michigan State. The Hawkeyes haven’t won a share of the regular-season title since 1979. That year, Coach Lute Olson’s team shared the championship with Purdue and Magic Johnson’s Michigan State Spartans. “Obviously, we are disappointed,” Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said in a statement. “Fran and his team are in contention for a Big Ten title and were looking forward to the opportunity to getting back on the court.” Barta and McCaffery both said they agreed with the decision to postpone. Indiana athletic director Fred Glass said at a news conference Tuesday that a decision would be made by noon Wednesday whether or not Assembly Hall would be available for a March 2 game against Ohio State. That seems to make it a real possibility that Iowa and Indiana will play at another site. Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis offered the facility for Wednesday, with the NBA’s Indiana Pacers on the road. That offer was declined, Glass said, because of “logistical challenges.” This Thursday? That’s not happening, not with Iowa playing an 11 a.m. game against Wisconsin Saturday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. And playing early the week of the Big Ten Tournment doesn’t look like a possibility, either. “I don’t think they would do that,” McCaffery said. Indiana plays at Northwestern on Saturday, when Iowa is hosting Wisconsin. On Tuesday, Feb. 25, the Hoosiers play at Wisconsin when Iowa plays at Minnesota. And here’s the window, as unappealing as it is: Iowa hosts Purdue on Saturday, March 1. Indiana hosts Ohio State on March 2. Feb. 27 seems a likely destination. This is the second straight season Iowa’s Big Ten schedule has been adjusted on the fly. A year ago, Iowa’s Feb. 21 game at Nebraska was postponed two days because of an expected blizzard that never arrived. The Hawkeyes lost that Saturday game. A game, it turns out, that might have gotten them in the NCAA Tournament. The stakes are biggest this time. An NCAA bid is tantalizingly close. More importantly, a Big Ten title is within reach. And the news of Tuesday made that climb a bit steeper. McCaffery has preached a one-game-at-a-time mentality, and his players have bought in. McCaffery acknowledges that the challenge ahead has grown. But his plan is to embrace that challenge, not complain about it. “That’s just how you have to look at it,” he said. “You can’t overanalyze it. You can’t get upset with it. You just deal with it and move on. That’s the approach I take with the players and my staff. You know what happened. We’ll deal with it.” Print Friendly Tags: Assembly Hall, Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Fran McCaffery, Gary Barta, Indiana Hoosiers, Iowa Hawkeyes, Rick Brown Category: Big Ten, Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball About Rick Brown: Rick Brown covers men's basketball for The Des Moines Register and Hawk Central. He's married and the father of two. He also covers golf for the Register. View author profile. Comments closed Latest Updates Patrick McCaffery scheduled for second surgery today

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Vikings vote Peterson courage award winner EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) - The Minnesota Vikings have voted Adrian Peterson as the team's winner of the Ed Block Courage award. The Vikings announced the vote on Tuesday. Peterson has been one of the feel-good stories of the NFL this year. He tore the ACL in his left knee last December, and has returned to lead the league in rushing this season. Peterson needs 294 yards in the final two games to eclipse Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record of 2,105 yards set back in 1984. His 1,812 yards this season are already a career high. The Ed Block Courage award is given to one player on each team who exemplifies commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage.

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Lee Rubin Speaks Lee’s Books Think and act like a WINNER. Lee Rubin will show you how… Lee Rubin, the wildly-successful speaker who is tapped to motivate and invigorate audiences at Fortune 500 corporate events, top athletic teams, charities, and churches across the country, has gathered his insights into his three books: WIN: Simple Insights to Help STUDENT-ATHLETES Win the Game of Life Based on the overwhelming demand for copies of his original book from the parents, coaches and athletic directors of STUDENT-ATHLETES, Lee revised the original book to create a version of WIN specifically for that population. Just $9.95 The first 500 copies pre-ordered will be personalized and autographed! WIN: Simple Insights to Help You Win the Game of Life Just $12.95 + s/h Drawing from his experience as a major collegiate athlete and corporate professional, Lee Rubin is a renowned speaker who provides clear insights, compelling stories, and inspiring quotes that will help you think and behave like a winner. Once you pick either of these books up, you won’t want to put it down til you’ve taken in all of what Lee has to offer. You’ll come away feeling refreshed, energized, and ready to apply a new sense of mind. Through years of competitive sports that culminated in Lee’s role as a CAPTAIN of the PENN STATE FOOTBALL TEAM, he has learned the basic principles of how to win in any situation. Lee shares them with you in a way that you can understand and apply IMMEDIATELY. “Lee knows the road to success. You would be wise to listen.” -Joe Paterno, College Football’s Winningest Coach Defensive MVP of the 1994 Florida Citrus Bowl Partial List of Clients/Appearances: WIN for Student-Athletes Manalapan, NJ 07726 [email protected] Networking Tips © 2011 Lee Rubin Speaks Regulus by Ben @ Binary Moon

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Greetings Yankee Fans! And welcome to the 11th Edition of Yankee Yapping. Away we go! My thoughts on… The Baltimore Series The Yankees did not look sharp for the better part of this past weekend. Coming off a four-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Bombers lost two out three to the pesky Baltimore Orioles. It was the first time since June 17-18 (vs. the Washington Nationals) the Yankees lost two in a row at home. On Friday night, Andy Pettitte did not look as dominating as he did the last time he faced the O’s on Aug. 31. Flirting with a perfect game, Pettitte tossed eight innings and only gave up one run on two hits. He allowed no walks in that start and struck out eight. In contrast to Aug. 31, Pettitte only lasted five innings and gave up three earned runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out five. The bullpen didn’t offer any help, giving up seven runs in the four innings following Pettitte’s departure. The Yankees were beaten, 10-4. Saturday was yet another ugly day to be a Yankee fan, as the Orioles topped the Bombers, 7-3. I really can’t understand A.J. Burnett at this point. He is an enigma, it seems. In his last game (in the night half of the doubleheader against Tampa Bay on Labor Day) he made a quality start: six innings, three runs, four hits, eight strikeouts. On Saturday he was touched up for six earned runs in the second inning. Five of the six second-inning runs given up by Burnett came off the bats of Nolan Reimold and Brian Roberts. Reimold smacked a solo home run in the inning while Roberts crushed a grand slam. After the six-run second, Burnett allowed no more runs and only one other hit in the seven innings he pitched. While Baltimore made the second inning a big one, the Yankee offense was basically lulled to sleep by rookie Brian Matusz. He tossed seven innings of four hit, one-run ball and looked good with three strikeouts. Finally on Sunday the Yankee offense broke through, scoring 13 runs on 20 hits. Although they broke it out and scored runs, they still looked very sloppy; it seems they got very complacent. I almost lost my mind when Johnny Damon lost track of how many outs there were and allowed Jeff Fiorentino to score from second base in the top of fourth. But the Yanks’ offense was able to pull it out. They also received yet another great game out of their ace, CC Sabathia. He didn’t look like he had good command of his pitches but he was still able to give the Yankees a quality start. In Sunday’s game I saw a side of skipper Joe Girardi I have never seen before. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad thing, to be honest. I suppose it was good because it fired the team up. In the bottom of the fourth, Alex Rodriguez was called out on a third strike that looked well off the plate. Obviously Rodriguez didn’t like the call and let home plate umpire Marty Foster know it. When he went out to his position he argued with the umpire again. Foster did not appreciate Rodriguez’s words and ran him from the game. Girardi dashed out of the dugout and got right in Foster’s face. Just seeing the vein on the manager’s neck bulge out made me cringe; Girardi was extremely unhappy and just infuriated. He was just screaming and so fired up, I have never seen Girardi that annoyed, and of course he was also tossed out of the game. That was Girardi’s fourth ejection as Yankee manager, and from my point of view he certainly got his more than his money’s worth with his vehement argument. His last ejection came in the sixth inning on June 24 in Atlanta during inter-league play against the Braves. The Yankees were down 1-0, but came back to win 8-4 after umpire Bill Welke ran Girardi from the game. After the game Sunday, Girardi gave his reason for the tirade. “It was premature,” he said to the press of Rodriguez’s ejection. “All Alex told Marty was that there were a couple balls outside. There were no obscenities said by Alex, there were no warnings issued, and I took objection to it.” It seems legitimate to me; Girardi was just trying to win a game after losing two in a row and Rodriguez didn’t say anything wrong, he just expressed his thoughts without being told to stop. Girardi said usually the umpire will say something like, “one more and you’re out,” or “stop or I’ll eject you.” They never said that to Rodriguez, and that got Girardi upset. Not to mention the game was tied 3-3 when Rodriguez was tossed; Girardi didn’t want to lose his cleanup hitter, and for good reason. Foster already has a strained relationship with the Yankees. Back in the month of July he called Derek Jeter out at third base when he was clearly safe, prompting Jeter to argue with him–arguing with an umpire is something Jeter rarely ever does. Rodriguez has called Foster “unprofessional” twice, and said he doesn’t know what his problem is with the Yankees. I, for one, hope he’s not umpiring the Yankees’ playoff games. But despite the battle between Foster and the Bronx Bombers, Hideki Matsui hit a three-run home run, Melky Cabrera knocked in four runs, and like I said, the Yankees’ offense just sparked. Sunday’s 13-3 win marked the 46th come-from-behind win this season and the 17th win of the year for Sabathia. Now the Yankees will play a potential playoff opponent, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, in a makeup game tonight followed by two more home games against their division rivals, the Toronto Blue Jays. When they finish up the home stand, the Yanks will make a west coast trip this coming weekend to play the Seattle Mariners for three games followed by the Angels for another three-game set. This next week will be a true test of the Yankees’ toughness. Another Milestone for Derek Jeter Although the Yankees were beaten on Friday night, history was once again made by Derek Jeter. The Yankee Captain led off the bottom of the third inning with a single, his 2,722nd career hit. With that he passed Lou Gehrig on the all-time Yankee hits list and is now the all-time Yankee hits leader. Until Friday night, the Yankee hits record stood for 72 years, five days. I’m not sure if there will even be another player that will come along and break that record. Jeter just might hold it for the rest of time. If there was one player to break the record, Jeter was the man. He now holds four all-time Yankee records: most hits, most singles, most at-bats, and most hit-by-pitches…the fourth record doesn’t sound so good, but the rest of them do. Jeter also needs just eight more hits this season to get to 200. If he does hit safely eight more times, it will be the seventh time in his career he had recorded 200 hits in a season. That gives you an idea of why he is now the franchise hits leader. And it just seems that Jeter keeps on chasing the Iron Horse. In Sunday’s win over the Orioles, Jeter scored his 100th run of the year. He has now scored 100 or more runs 12 times in his career, which puts him in second place on the Yankees list in that category. Gehrig has scored 100 or more runs 13 times in his career and sits in first place on the “100-run seasons list,” if you will. If Jeter scores 100 next year, he’ll tie Gehrig and if he can manage 100 runs scored in 2011, he’ll be the leader. In the seventh edition of Yankee Yapping I blogged about Jeter’s 2,674th career hit, which put him at the top of the all-time shortstop hit list as he passed Luis Aparicio; in other words he has the most hits among any other shortstop in the history of baseball. I said last week that Jeter keeps putting lines in his history, and it looks like he’s going to be doing that until the day he dies. Last night after the New York Giants were finished beating the Washington Redskins 23-17, former defensive end Michael Strahan even pointed out Jeter’s accomplishment and remarked how extraordinary it is that Jeter holds the record. I think that’s a great sign of respect from Strahan, and it just goes to show how much Jeter is admired amongst his peers. After the game last night I read that Jeter received a phone call from the boss, George Steinbrenner. He told Jeter how proud he was of him for setting the record and even issued a statement about Jeter’s milestone. “For those who say today’s game can’t produce legendary players, I got two words for you: Derek Jeter,” the statement read. “Game in and game out he just produces…Jeter is one of the finest young men playing the game today.” I couldn’t agree with Steinbrenner more. In fact, I think Jeter is the finest player in the game today and he is so humble. When he tied Gehrig on Wednesday night, he even remarked how he didn’t want to disrespect the Tampa Bay players by acknowledging the crowd. Bottom line: Jeter is a class act. He is an amazing ballplayer bound for the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. I can’t say enough good things about the man, and I hope to God he wins the Most Valuable Player Award this year. If he doesn’t, I think it’s a major rip-off. On the Yankee Yapping Facebook page, someone went as far as saying Jeter is the “god of baseball.” In a lot of ways he is god-like to us fans, similar to Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Reggie Jackson, and Don Mattingly. You can mention Jeter with the all-time Yankee greats, but in all likelihood, Jeter is in a class all by himself. Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher Both of these guys have surprised me this year. At the beginning of June I wrote an article about why I thought the Yankees should trade Hideki Matsui. I noted that he is aging and can no longer play the outfield with his bad knees. I suggested maybe a trade for Jermaine Dye of the Chicago White Sox (although they are the same age, Dye can still play the field and hit for power) I also brought up trading Matsui to a team that has fallen out of their race, like the Oakland Athletics or the Cleveland Indians. I didn’t think Matsui had it in him anymore but he has definitely proven me wrong. Showing a clutch facet of his game, Matsui belted a huge walk-off homer on July 20 to beat Baltimore at home. That was basically the moment where I thought to myself, “Matsui is alright. He can stay.” But I think he’s gone above and beyond his expectations this year. I don’t think at the outset of this season the Yanks expected him to hit 24 home runs and average .275 with 81 RBIs, which are the numbers he has posted this year to this point. Matsui even earned himself Pepsi Clutch Performer of the Month for his ability to carry the Yankees throughout the month of August. He played in 24 games in August and averaged .281 with eight homers and 25 RBIs. His biggest series came the weekend of Aug. 21 at Fenway Park in Boston against the Red Sox. Matsui crushed four homers over the three-game weekend in Boston and averaged .400 in close-and-late situations. He was also the first Yankee since Mickey Mantle in 1966 to homer multiple times in a game over a seven-game stretch, and he is the second Yankee to win the Pepsi Clutch Performer honors in 2009. Melky Cabrera won the title in the month of May. And then there’s Nick Swisher. On Thursday Nov. 13, 2008 the Yankees made a deal with the White Sox that sent Wilson Betemit to Chicago. The Yanks got Swisher in exchange and it looks like the trade was a steal for the Yanks. In 2008 Swisher hit 24 home runs but only averaged .219. I thought he would just be a bust with the Yankees, maybe putting up numbers similar to Betemit’s while being a full-time bench player. Now consider Xavier Nady’s injury; He was slated to be the everyday left fielder with Swisher as his backup. But with Nady going down with an elbow injury (consequently needing Tommy John surgery) Swisher stepped up his game and has enjoyed some decent success this year. Swisher has become a huge part of the Yankees’ loose attitude; he’s always laughing and keeping everyone loose. Swisher never seems stiff and I think that rubs off on the rest of the team. Do you think if Nady never went down, he would have made the same impact? I’m not so sure. Maybe it was a good thing Nady went down, who knows. I do know that Nady’s injury allowed Swisher an opportunity to shine, and he certainly has. He had demonstrated his ability to play hard on the road, hitting 21 of his 27 long balls away from Yankee Stadium. Swisher has also shown versatility, hitting home runs from every spot in the batting order except the number one and nine holes. At press time Swisher has 27 homers and 79 RBIs, and like Matsui, I feel he has gone above and beyond his expectations. I’m sure the organization expected him to play to the best of his ability (like they expect every player to) but I’m not sure if they expected him to post the kind of numbers he’s put up. On Wednesday Sept. 8, Swisher hit his first walk-off home run as a Yankee, capping a two-home run night and procuring the Yankees’ 90th win of the year–quite a feat considering the Yanks never even reached 90 wins all of last year. After the game he could barely speak, he was so happy with what he had done. Both players have done very well this year; a resurgent Matsui and an off-season trade that has paid off royally in Swisher. I can only hope both players keep on swinging their hot bats in the autumn month of October. The Yankee Starters I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about the starting pitching right now. At this point, I could care less about individual numbers. CC Sabathia has 17 wins. Andy Pettitte has 13. A.J. Burnett has 11. Heck, Alfredo Aceves has 10 victories in relief. That amounts to 51 wins among those four pitchers alone. And I really don’t care. The only thing I’m concerned with is the inconsistency among the majority of the starters and how they will pitch in the post-season. The only rock in the Yankees’ starting rotation has been Sabathia. The rest of the pitching staff is totally up in the air. Some of them go out and just puzzle the opposition one game and the next look totally lost. Since I’ve blogged about Burnett (and defended him to his critics) I’ll start with him. Like I said before, I have no clue what to make of him anymore. YES Network analyst and former pitcher Al Leiter made the best comparison yesterday: he said Burnett has almost taken on a “Jekyll and Hyde” persona. There are games he can take the mound and just make pitches and get hitters out with his breaking ball while taking good command of his fastball. Yet there are other games where he takes the mound and is just totally lost, leaving pitches up and out over the plate for hitters to feast upon. He seems to get rattled too easily and lets bad innings kill him. He is fiery some games and you can tell he wants to win, but there are other games where he has almost that “gunslinger” mentality and he walks too many guys and gives up home runs. Joe Girardi said they will straighten him out and I sure hope they do. If they don’t, the Yankees’ bid for a 27th World Series title is in jeopardy. The Yankees need Burnett to be dealing come the playoffs. Consider Burnett’s numbers: in his first 11 starts he posted a record of 8-2 with 2.08 ERA while only allowing five home runs. It seemed everything was going according to plan with him until the nine starts that followed. In those nine starts he went 1-5 with a 6.14 ERA and gave up nine homers. Those kinds of stats are exactly like what Leiter described: Jekyll and Hyde. Joba Chamberlain is next. This poor kid was doing just fine until the Yanks put him back on the “Joba rules.” Right out of the stretch after the All-Star break he went 4-0 with the Yankees winning his first five starts. I have to admit, Chamberlain looked great; his velocity in the mid-to-upper 90s and his changeup fooling a lot of hitters. Everyone talked about his downtime over the break and how he sort of “found himself” during that period. But then he made a start in Seattle on July 16 and lost. Since then he has yet to win a game and has lost twice since that start against the Mariners. I have to defend him; it’s not all his fault. He made one bad start at Seattle and since then hasn’t thrown more than four innings. If you don’t allow him to throw he’s never going to get any better. The problems with his command and the quality of his stuff are not going to get any better if they don’t stretch him out. The problems are just going to continue to get worse, which is what has seemed to happen. I heard that Chamberlain is on the innings limit for his last handful of regular season starts. In his final start before the playoffs they say he will throw six innings. I don’t even know what to expect from him. Hopefully Chamberlain can go out and pitch effectively in his last few starts and that will continue through the playoffs. I am also hearing that they don’t know yet what role Chamberlain will take for the playoffs–starter or reliever. Whether he is a starter or reliever, I just hope he can do it. I can’t fully blame him for not pitching well. Chamberlain doesn’t know what he’s doing and it’s not his fault. I blame the innings limit. If they had kept him on a normal schedule I think he’d be enjoying a lot more success than he is now. Message to the Yankees: the year is 2009, Chamberlain’s third season in the big leagues. If you’d like to baby him, send him to the minors. Take the leash off and let the dog run, already. Then there’s Andy Pettitte. There was a stark contrast between the start on Aug. 31 at Baltimore and the start he made this past Friday at home vs. Baltimore. Obviously he wasn’t bidding for a perfect game on Friday like he was on Aug. 31, but he only went five innings and gave up five hits. That was somewhat surprising to me since he had pitched at least six innings his previous three starts. Pettitte has certainly been extremely more consistent than the rest of the pitchers (other than Sabathia) especially through the month of August when he went 4-0. He’s also a big time pitcher when the post-season rolls around, as noted last week when I said he’s pitched in World Series clinching games. We’ll need to see that version of Pettitte show up in the ALDS and the rest of the post-season. And finally we come to Sabathia. The ace has been the only constant in the Yankee rotation all year. Just looking at his numbers since the All Star break he is 9-1 with a 2.75 ERA. Obviously there’s a huge difference between him and everyone else on the pitching staff. This is why the Yanks signed Sabathia–to put up these types of Cy Young Award-worthy numbers. And I seriously meant it when I said he is a “second half player.” Historically Sabathia puts up his best work in the second half of the year, and this season is no exception. Despite all the worries and negativity about the starting pitching, I have to say, they’ve done well this year. The Yankees would not have 92 wins without each and every one of the starters throwing the ball well. All of them have contributed to the Yankees’ success. I also have to point out their ability to pick each other up. When Pettitte was scuffling in July, Burnett was on fire, going undefeated in the hot summer month. But when Burnett was struggling in August, Pettitte picked him up by going 4-0 that month. If they maintain that same formula in the post-season, there’s a lot of room for success and winning. Not saying I want one pitcher to be hot and the rest of them cold, but they can still find ways to win despite struggling. However, if history has showed us anything, it’s that a team cannot go into a playoff series with cold pitchers. The starters have to be rolling and keeping the other team off the board, giving their offense a chance to win the game. Come Oct. 6 (game one of the ALDS) we’ll see if that happens for the Yankees. Well that does it for this week. The regular season is almost over, days are closing in, and hopefully we’re on our way to more positive history in the Bronx. See you next week with more highlights, analysis, and topics. Until then, Go Yankees!!! Filed in: Dailies Tags: A.J. Burnett, Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, Joba Chamberlain, Joe Girardi, Johnny Damon, Melky Cabrera, Nick Swisher Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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Report: Patriots Among Five Teams Interested in DT Amobi Okoye by Connor Rose on Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 7:45PM The Patriots haven't made a ton of noise this offseason, staying fairly conservative in their approach to free-agents. Now, with much of the top-tier talent off the boards, the Patriots have set their eyes on a former first-round pick. Defensive tackle Amobi Okoye was drafted 10th overall in 2007 and had his best season as a rookie in Houston. He recorded 5.5 sacks in his rookie campaign to accompany 32 tackles, but has yet to reach that sack total since. According to Comcast SportsNet, the Patriots aren't the only team taking a look at the 6-foot-2, 302 pound Nigerian. The Buccaneers, Broncos, Bears, and Bengals — who have already scheduled a workout with Okoye — have also expressed interest. Though Okoye hasn't lived up to his billing after being the 10th overall pick, his speed and power make him worthy of another shot. It's not like the Patriots are shy about giving underachieving or disgruntled players an opportunity to prove themselves. As a reserve for the Bears last season, Okoye had 4 sacks and 27 tackles. Patriots on TwitterMy Tweets NESN Team

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OKC Thunder: Kendrick Perkins opens up about his best friend — his grandfather Raymond Lewis Oklahoma City Thunder: In an exclusive interview with The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City big man Kendrick Perkins talks about his grandfather, Raymond Lewis, who passed away Nov. 11. by Darnell Mayberry Kendrick Perkins knew his best friend's days were numbered. He just didn't know when that sorrowful day would come. The inevitable happened a day after Perkins celebrated his 29th birthday. Kendrick Perkins and his grandfather, Raymond Lewis, at Perkins' wedding. Lewis served as his grandson's best man. PHOTO PROVIDED Raymond Peter Lewis, Sr. passed away on Nov. 11. He was Perkins' grandfather, the man who raised the Thunder's center since he was 5 years old and helped shape everything he stands for today. Lewis was 78 years old. For the last few years, Lewis had battled dementia. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease and Parkinson's. Perkins recently missed two games to be with his family following his grandfather's death, and he was excused from practice this past Tuesday to attend the funeral in Beaumont, Texas. In an exclusive interview with The Oklahoman, Perkins discussed the life and legacy of his late grandfather and how he's juggled such demanding professional obligations while overcoming such a personal loss. Q: What did your grandfather mean to you? A: That was my best friend. He was the best man at my wedding, so that should tell you a lot. My mom died when I was 5. My grandparents took me when I was up for adoption. He was around 49 so he was a young grandfather. He took me in and just raised me. Me and him were best friends all through the years. Everywhere he went I went. He's the one that first taught me how to cut grass, to fish; we had chickens and ducks and stuff, how to do all that stuff. He's the one who taught me how to be who I am today. He put up my first basketball goal, but he also was the one who kept me in church. Words can't really express what he meant to me. It's like when I lost him, I lost a piece of my soul. But at the end of the day, I know he's in a better place. Where do you think you would be without him? I don't know. Well, I know I wouldn't have been with my family because I was up for adoption at the time. So they're the only people that stepped up to the plate. But I wouldn't be the guy that I am today as far as, not the on the court person but the off the court person. I think you've been around me pretty much to know my personality off the court. It's not the same guy that's on the court. Like, I don't have that anger that I play with on the court or whatever it is. I'm actually a good family, give-the-shirt-off-my-back type guy, and that's the way he raised me. So I wouldn't be that type of guy. I wouldn't know how I'd be. What will you remember most about him? Man, our fishing trips. That was the best times, me and him going fishing together. Where would you two go? Man, we were out in the Gulf of Mexico. Out there in Beaumont, right off the Gulf. He had a boat. I remember just going out there catching reds. We would prep up that night. At about 7 that night, we'd make sure all our reels and stuff were straight. Got our tackle box. Make sure the boat had gas. The boat was already on the trailer. We were all ready to ride out by about 5 in the morning every time, me and him. What made those trips so special? Just the time. It's just you two together. We just sitting up there seeing what kind of fish we'd catch, the biggest fish we'd come home with. The talks we had. I can remember when I was like 16 and I went fishing with him. He always used to drink Miller Lites. I kind of squeezed the question in, like, 'Pop, let me get one of them.' He was like, 'Gon' 'head, boy.' It was kind of like the first step probably to what he thought I was taking into manhood. He didn't know I was already graduated by then. For those who didn't get the opportunity to meet him, what would you want them to know about him? That out of all the people that knew him, you could go pick 300 people that knew him and I guarantee you that only about 10 people would have something bad to say about him. He was a guy that was at every funeral. In the church, he was the head usher. At one time, he was the guy that would go cut the older people's grass. He was, like, 74 years old before he really took sick, and he would go cut grass for an 80-year-old woman who didn't have nobody to cut her grass. The pastor said at his funeral that he was the true definition of a volunteer member of the church. Most people go to church and expect something, but he was really a volunteer and really stood by that. So rather than going to get something, he was going to give something? Article Gallery: OKC Thunder: Kendrick Perkins opens up about his best friend — his...

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Of Pain and Pride: Hard Lessons from Israel’s No-Medal Olympics No Israeli came home with a medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Thirty-seven Israeli athletes competed in eight sports. Two athletes came in sixth place, but alas, no medals. For Jews and Israelis around the world, however, this Summer Olympics was overshadowed by the campaign to convince the IOC to hold a moment of silence for the 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian terrorists at the 1972 Munich games. The campaign consumed the media in advance of the games and even caught the attention of world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama.

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The Year of Jose Reyes By Allen Barra | 04/06/09 1:14am Jose Reyes, running off the field after a great play with a grin on his face that makes Tom Sawyer look like Mickey Rourke, seems to have no idea of the burden he carries around. Major League Baseball has become, largely, a Latin game. Other great Latin players came here after All-Star careers on other teams, but we’ve had Jose since age 20. Dominican-born Reyes is the first great Latin superstar to begin his career with the Mets. He’s ours, and with any luck he will never wear anything but orange and blue. That is if Jose Reyes is a superstar. A great many baseball analysts say he is. For instance, in Baseball Prospectus 2009 he is called, simply, “The Most Exciting Player in Baseball.” Now you can’t really be that and not be a superstar – can you? Though his career so far is running neck-and-neck with Derek Jeter’s at the same age, a lot of Mets fans still aren’t sure. One wonders what their hesitation is. Last year he hit .297 with 16 home runs, stole 56 bases in 71 attempts, led the National league in hits, and had 19 triples. That’s a pretty good season. Reyes hits with consistency, knows how to get on base when he doesn’t hit (career on base percentage of .336), is a dazzling fielder at shortstop, and is flat-out the best base stealer in baseball (258 steals in his last four seasons). So what are Mets fans waiting for? Well, for one thing, that superstar breakout season that all great players are supposed to have. A World Series ring wouldn’t hurt either; getting to the World Series might do for starters. “He’s our igniter,” said Mets third baseman David Wright two years ago. “As he goes, we go.” Well, for the last two years, Reyes has gone with the Mets down to the wire, only to fade at the end. His BA for the last two seasons from September on has been a hugely disappointing .223 over 52 games. It would be ridiculous to blame the team’s collapses at the end of the 2007 and 2008 seasons on Reyes – but a super star is supposed to be able to prevent something like that from happening, isn’t he? At least that’s the way the Mets’ following looks at it, and they’re not likely to see it any way different until their team wins the World Series. In New York that’s what a superstar is supposed to – ignite the team in important games. It would be wrong to say that Jose Reyes isn’t a fan favorite; he’s one of the two or three most popular regulars in New York baseball right now. But in a very real sense, New York fans are still waiting for him to arrive. Reyes isn’t so much competing with great players of the past as with himself – the Jose Reyes of his potential. In 2007 Mets announcer Gary Cohen called him “the most fabulously gifted player in the game, and the most exciting player baseball has had so far in this century.” I don’t care what century you’re talking about, that’s a lot of potential to live up to. Willie Randolph, a few months before his departure from the Mets, told me, “I can’t remember the last time I saw such a combination of power, speed and enthusiasm. He might have more sheer talent than any player I’ve ever seen.” Constantino Viloria of El Dairio thinks that Reyes “has a great chance of bringing people together in this town as no Latino player ever had.” Meaning if the Mets win. No one put anything like that on Derek Jeter’s shoulders. But by the time Jeter turned 26, he already had three rings. Or, stated another way, by the time Jeter was 26, no one was talking about his potential, they were talking about what he had already done. Over the winter, Mets manager Jerry Manuel stirred things up by hinting that during the season, Luis Castillo might lead off instead of Reyes. As is usual with Manuel, there was no really coherent reason offered for the possible switch – a few vague statements about needing to “rein Jose in” and make him “a more viable team player.” Exactly how batting later in the order, which would result in fewer runs for the team, would make Reyes a better team player was not explained. To the relief of Mets fans, Manuel seems to have abandoned the idea, and Jose can, happily, continue his progression towards future comparisons with the greatest leadoff man in baseball history, Rickey Henderson. Meanwhile, the window of opportunity to win that World Series may be closing. Johan Santana is probably the best pitcher in the league. But he’s 30, and who knows how much longer he can continue to carry an increased workload (his 234 innings pitched last season were a career high). David Wright, like Reyes, is 26 and may be just hitting his peak. But Carlos Delgado is 37 and Carlos Beltran turns 32 in a couple of weeks, and it can’t be assumed that they will continue to perform at superstar level. Perhaps Jose Reyes smiles so easily now because he does not understand the burden on him. But it looks like this is the season for Reyes to be the player he can be and to erase the humiliations of the last two years. The chance may never come again. FacebookTwitterGoogleLinkedInPrintEmail Filed under: Derek Jeter, Jose Reyes, New York Mets More from our network

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Patterson's comeback falls short against Benicia Patterson High’s varsity football team nearly engineered a remarkable comeback against the visiting Benicia High Panthers on Friday, Nov. 9, in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs.After trailing 21-0, the home team scored 24 unanswered points to take the lead. But the rally was erased when the Panthers returned a fourth-quarter kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown, downing the Tigers 27-24 before a boisterous crowd at Patterson Community Stadium. The defeat eliminated No. 8 Patterson (7-4 overall) from the playoffs and propelled the No. 9 Panthers (8-3) to a game against No. 1 Oakdale High (10-1) on Friday, Nov. 16.Patterson coach Nick Marchy applauded his team for its tenacity in the face of a huge deficit.“We fought until the end. We never gave up,” Marchy told his players as they gathered at midfield following the defeat. “You cannot say that the guy next to you didn’t give it their all. This loss is going to hurt. But do not be upset about the effort you gave.”While rain threatened overhead and the temperature hovered around 45 degrees, Benicia did its best to drive fans from the stands in the opening quarter, posting touchdowns on its first three possessions of the contest. But those who stayed — to cheer and whoop and holler for their home team — were rewarded with a riveting finish.“We knew we had to go out and play with heart, because this could be our last game,” said Patterson senior Dominic Dawkins. “We talked about every guy going hard on every play. We needed to go full throttle.”Benicia reached into its bag of tricks on the first play from scrimmage, using a double-reverse flea flicker that ended with quarterback Ryan Bohnet finding a wide-open James Hyde Jr. for an 83-yard touchdown.After an eight-play drive by the Tigers that yielded no points, the Panthers took over. On fourth-and-2 from the Panther 40-yard line, it appeared Patterson would hold its ground and keep Benicia from scoring again. But Drae Randolph took a handoff from Bohnet and burst up the middle before beating Patterson defenders to the outside for a 60-yard touchdown that made it 14-0.On the next Tigers possession, it was Patterson that tried a trick. On fourth-and-5 from their own 36, the Tigers faked a punt and tried to run for a first down. But the Panthers’ special teams stopped the try and took over at the Patterson 40.Then it was the Panthers facing fourth-and-8 from the Tigers’ 24. Bohnet fired a ball over the middle from a standard formation, and DeMariae Richardson rumbled to the end zone for a three-score advantage with 13 seconds left in the first quarter. The Tigers were down, but they weren’t out.“Life is about ups and downs,” Marchy said. “If we get knocked down, we stand back up and get back at it.”The bounce-back began with Dawkins, who ignited the sideline and sent the home crowd to its feet with an electrifying 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at the end of the opening period.Patterson’s defense followed with a three-and-out stop on the next drive.A long punt return by Dawkins set up the offense in scoring position, and the Tigers stormed 35 yards on five plays, capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by senior Drake Vatuvei to make it 21-14.“My job is to do the best I can when I get the ball,” Dawkins added. “I’m not the type of guy who lets up. I wanted to try and put the team on my back.”Dawkins’ 76-yard punt return with 36 seconds remaining before halftime continued the field position advantage for the Tigers, setting up Patterson for a first-and-goal at the Panthers’ 4-yard line.From there, Vatuvei bulled into the end zone to tie the score at halftime.“We went nowhere in the first quarter,” Marchy said. “(Dawkins) gave us a big spark with his returns. It just took off from there. The intensity level went from the bottom to the top.”In the second half, Benicia placed a strong emphasis on kicking the ball away from Dawkins.Still, Patterson stitched together a late third-quarter drive that leaked into the fourth and capped the 15-play, 84-yard possession with a 33-yard field goal by senior Bryan DeAnda. “We never hung our heads. We still worked. We still competed,” Dawkins said. “We wanted to show people what we were all about.”The momentum was short-lived, however, as Hyde returned the ensuing kickoff for a go-ahead score for Benicia.With a little more than two minutes left in the game, Patterson had the ball. But the drive stalled at the Panther 46-yard line, and the Tigers turned it over on downs.With time winding down, Benicia was content to kneel on the ball twice to run out the clock and move on to the next playoff round, ending the high school career of Tiger senior quarterback Joey Lopes.But in a postgame speech to his teammates, Lopes urged those who will return to the gridiron in fall 2013 to learn from the season that ended moments before.“I have two things to say,” Lopes said. “No. 1, I love every single one of you. No. 2, to the juniors, you have two days to think about this game — then it’s time to hit the weight room. Keep working. Be a better team than 7-4.”Contact Marc Aceves at 892-6187, ext. 28, or [email protected]. Tennis match against Central Valley rained out Girls soccer defeats Los Banos in blowout victory Police, PJUSD at odds over school security nodoubt | To the boys of the 2012 Varsity PHS Football Team and their coaching staff...thank-you for the memories! This has been quit a season for each of you. At times a roller coaster ride….with it’s high and it lows, but always a thrill. What fun it was to watch this group of boys, who stood in the shadows of the great players of the 2011 season, come into their own. To the parents and family of these boys, thank-you for bringing them to this game and for supporting them through it all. Regardless of a win or a loss, you were always there for them; to keep them on track and lift them up when they needed it the most.For the seniors....those who take this game to the next level and those who don't, I wish you Godspeed! May good luck, best of health and happiness follow you always! Lastly, to my son…as I watched you walk off the field this evening for the last time, a little part of me is sad to see your football years come to an end. However, I am grateful for the life lessons that you will take away from this game such as discipline, patience (when you played second string :)), determination and teamwork….not to mention the friendships and bonds that you made along the way! I will miss the Friday night lights but I look forward with anticipation to the years ahead as you take a new path in life. I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed watching you play football and how proud you have made me……for this and so much more….I thank you for the memories! Reply

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CYCLING; Landis's Ailing Hip Will Need Surgery After Bid for Tour By SAMUEL ABT Second over all in the Tour de France and a strong favorite to win the race when it ends July 23, Floyd Landis confirmed on Sunday a report that he had been riding in severe pain for four years because of a degenerative hip condition he had kept secret. He said he was planning to have his right hip replaced in an operation. ''If I hadn't had a bicycle-racing career, I would have had the hip replaced two years ago because I don't really want to deal with the pain,'' said Landis, the 30-year-old American leader of the Phonak team from Switzerland. Describing the pain, he said in an interview at his team hotel in Ch?aubourg before the Tour's eighth stage, ''It's bad, it's grinding, it's bone rubbing on bone. ''Sometimes it's a sharp pain,'' he continued. ''When I pedal and walk, it comes and goes, but mostly it's an ache, like an arthritis pain. It aches down my leg into my knee. The morning is the best time, it doesn't hurt too much. But when I walk it hurts, when I ride it hurts. Most of the time it doesn't keep me awake, but there are nights that it does.'' He said he intended to compete after the operation. He also confirmed that two years ago he had an operation, which he concealed from team doctors, to alleviate the condition, which is called avascular necrosis or osteonecrosis. ''One or the other, they're both the same,'' Landis said after spelling them. The operation left his right leg an inch shorter than his left. The condition, he explained, is caused when ''scar tissue closes the blood vessels in the hip and the ball on the hip collapses'' so that the bone does not swivel. He developed the condition after a crash during a training ride near his home in Southern California in October 2002. Landis said he was talking about it publicly now because ''I'm going to have to tell it at some point and everybody's here'' at the Tour, ''so they might as well hear it now.'' Phonak team officials, who were told by Landis about the condition early this year, plan to show his X-rays and discuss the situation Monday in Bordeaux, where the race will have a day off. Landis first spoke of his degenerative hip condition and intention to have surgery for an article that will appear in next Sunday's New York Times Magazine. The article is now online at nytimes.com/sports. Landis's team supports him, General Manager John Lelangue said Sunday morning. ''Floyd was honest enough to speak to me about this,'' he said. ''It didn't change any of our plans. Since January, the objective was and remains the Tour de France. His condition was not a problem to our objective. ''We knew about the condition and that was important. I know we're talking about hip surgery, but if it's done well and planned for a good moment, I'm confident he will return to training normally and there won't be any problem next season.'' Landis's contract with Phonak expires at the end of the year. The team will also change sponsors, with iShares, a financial services company, taking over. None of its officials were available for comment. Discussing Landis's pain, Dr. Allen Lim, his physiologist, said it was worse than Landis acknowledged. ''In the last Tour, he'd come out of the team bus and try to look good, but he'd tell me, 'I just want to vomit right now I'm in so much pain.' '' Landis added that he had taken a cortisone shot recently to help with the pain. ''It doesn't work completely, but it makes it better,'' he said. The shot, ordinarily banned in the sport, has been permitted by racing authorities because of his condition. ''He's not the type to whine,'' said Dave Zabriskie, an American rider for the CSC team and Landis's roommate in Girona, Spain. In an interview Sunday morning, Zabriskie added: ''This condition could be having a good effect on his career because he knows his time might be limited, so he's going for it. He's on a rampage.'' Landis finished second in a long time trial Saturday and trails the race leader, Serhiy Honchar, by a minute. Sunday, he finished in the main pack on the stage to Lorient in Brittany. This season he has won the Tour of California, Paris-Nice and the Tour de Georgia, all multiday races. The hip replacement, he explained, may be done as early as this autumn. ''I know that it's getting worse,'' he said. ''It's a slow process. Cycling doesn't increase the speed of the process. But if it hurts too much, something needs to be replaced. ''It's unlikely that it will fail catastrophically because it's a slow process, but it's getting bad. ''I've got to do some research to find out what the odds are that surgery will work. Maybe I'll deal with it at the end of the year.'' If he does have the operation soon, Lim said, ''he will come back and be much, much stronger than he is now.'' ''People haven't seen more than 80 percent of Floyd,'' he said. Photo: The American Floyd Landis is second over all in the Tour. (Photo by Reuters)

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Tightly Focused Johnette Howard For Miami Dolphin coach Don Shula and his quarterback Dan Marino, it may be 1995 or never Was there ever any doubt? "Until I did it, yeah, there was always a question," Marino says. "You try to visualize what it will be like—to move, to get hit. And am I going to be able to move to avoid hits? You try. But you don't know." Even Marino wasn't sure what he had lost because of his Achilles injury. But his success has never depended on rolling out like Joe Montana or scrambling like John Elway. Marino is a classic drop-back passer. And he still has a gunslinger's mentality, the confidence to think that he can rifle a ball into double coverage and it will thread its way to his receiver's arms. Most remarkable is Marino's lightning ability to decide where to throw the ball. He's so good at predicting touchdowns before breaking the huddle that even grizzled veterans like Byars and Sims feel a ripple of awe, as if Marino really is Ruthian in his ability to call his shot. Marino says he emerged from his Achilles rupture with a powerful feeling of having been robbed of precious time. Before the injury, says Marino of his career, "I thought it would go on and on...." And Marino thought he alone would decide when it would end. While he is reluctant to characterize a Super Bowl win as some grand obsession, he concedes, "It starts to hit you: Next year you might not be playing. Obviously, I think I'm going to be. But one day you're a little kid, seven years old, and then all of a sudden the thing you love to do is over." Marino has long played games in a near comical, unshakably bad mood—eyebrows knit, blue eyes ablaze and mouth drawn in a taut, angry line. And teammates say that his blast-furnace intensity has increased even more in the last few years. He says he would like to play at least three or four more years, but Marino shares his teammates' conviction that their time to get a Super Bowl title is now. Lately he has begun saying that no matter how hard he tries, a Super Bowl victory "just might not happen for me." But the concession is unconvincing to anyone who has watched him play, or watched him persevere through those nine leg operations, or listened to how that playoff game against the Chargers still bothers him when he's in his car, by himself, late at night. Marino says that he watched 33-year-old Clyde Drexler's recent run to his first NBA title with the Houston Rockets. Marino says that he also watched as the New Jersey Devils dissolved into sobs at mid-ice after winning the Stanley Cup last month. "To see how much it meant to them all to win it together, man, that was good stuff," he says. He smiles fondly. And he sighs. When asked if he ever allows himself to imagine what he would do if he were to finally win a Super Bowl, Marino smiles again and jokes, "I'll probably cry. Laugh. Jump around and dance. Get a tattoo—all of it." He swears he doesn't need a championship ring to make his storied career complete. Shula would probably say the same thing about his third title. You can buy that if you like.

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Phoenix Suns Blog Phoenix Suns Weekly Player Rankings: January 20 - January 26 Posted on Jan 27, 2013 1. Goran Dragic Weekly Average: 13 points, 10 assists, 2 rebounds in 33 minutes of play Nobody had a better week for the Suns than Goran Dragic. Not only was his scoring up over the past few weeks, the most noticeable difference was his assists...averaging 10 per game for the week. This is the type of play Suns fans have been expecting from Goran on a more consistent basis. 2. Marcin Gortat Weekly Average: 12 points, 8 rebounds, and 1 block in 33 minutes of play Gortat had another very productive week for the Suns, and has become a very consistent player over the last couple of months. Marcin seemed like he was on a roller-coaster with his up-and-down play and production early in the season, but he seems to have found a nice balance and is giving the Suns quality play in the low post. 3. Michael Beasley Weekly Average: 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists in 23 minutes of play Beasley gets the nod for most improved player this week, and did so well he not only jumped out of the bottom of the rankings, but leaped to a very strong third place overall. Nobody has seemed to benefit more from the change in coaching than Beasley, who has earned more minutes and been much more productive. Beasley has been a different player over the past couple of weeks, and is starting to finally live up to some of the expectations the team and fan base had for him when he was signed. But can he keep it up? 4. Luis Scola Weekly Average: 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assist in 32 minutes of play Scola is the most consistent player on the roster. I rarely have to change his stat line from week to week by more than one or two digits in each category. We all know what we can expect from Scola game after game...Solid play, veteran savvy, and one of the best ground games in the league. 5. Jared Dudley Weekly Average: 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists in 27 minutes of play Dudley came back to Earth a little bit this week after stringing together a long list of impressive games. Dudley had his best game against the Spurs last night scoring 23 points, grabbing 5 boards, and dishing 5 assists. But he only scored 3 points against the Clippers and only 8 against the Kings which brought down his totals for the week. 6. Markieff Morris Weekly Average: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist in 24 minutes of play Morris continues to improve each and every week, and is quietly becoming one of the best all-around big men on the team. He is developing some very nice offensive moves to complement his rebounding and defense, and is earning more minutes in the process. 7. P.J. Tucker Weekly Average: 7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists in 30 minutes of play Tucker's minutes increased quite a bit this week but his overall production went up only marginally. As always, you can't really judge Tucker's impact by the stats alone, and his defensive contributions are what keeps him on the floor. Still, with 30 minutes of playing time, I would like to see a little more production. 8. Shannon Brown Weekly Average: 8 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist in 20 minutes of play Brown capped off a bad week with a flagrant-2 ejection last night vs. the Spurs. Shannon's minutes have been on the decline over the last three games, and you wonder if Hunter's style of coaching and his focus on defense is a part of that. We'll see if Brown can bounce back this week. 9. Sebastian Telfair Weekly Average: 4 points, 3 assists in 15 minutes of play Telfair has kept his job as the back-up point guard thus far, but for how much longer? Speculation over Hunter's plans to play Kendall Marshall more have so far been wrong, but with Telfair doing little to keep his job as the number two, you have to wonder if Marshall will get his shot soon. 10. Wesley Johnson Weekly Average: 0 points, 2 rebounds in 7 minutes of play Jermaine O'Neal didn't play at all this week, and the only other player that even registered a stat was Wesley Johnson who played a grand total of 7 minutes against the Kings and grabbed two rebounds during his time on the floor. Johnson gets the last spot by default not because of bad play, but based on his impact for the Suns this week, which by little fault of his own wasn't much at all. So there you have it...Feel free to voice your opinion in the comments below! Source: Bright Side of The Sun Web Links

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Al Harrington injury: Magic forward frustrated with not playing By Randy Booth @rcbooth Chris Humphreys-US PRESSWIRE Harrington has yet to play for Orlando this season. Orlando Magic forward Al Harrington is growing frustrated as he is nursed back from a staph infection, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Harrington, who was traded to the Magic in the four-team deal that sent Dwight Howard to Los Angeles, hasn't played a game yet this season for his new club: "It's been tough," Harrington said. "I've been hurt before, but I've never been hurt in the beginning of a season. I've played in every home opener my whole career. "The fact that I'm not playing yet is just frustrating for me, because I know how much I could help this team, and I just love to play the game of basketball. For me, this is the greatest job in the world. It's just eating me up that I can't go out there and compete with my teammates." The Magic could use the 14-year veteran, too. Orlando is 5-8 this season and sits in fourth place in the Southeast Division. The only team the Magic can lay claim to be better than in their division is the Washington Wizards, who are 0-12 this year. Harrington, 32, could give the team a much-needed boost. Even as a player off the bench for the Denver Nuggets last season, Harrington averaged 14.2 points per game. He started just one game but played in 64. Over his career, Harrington has averaged 13.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Harrington said he has an idea for when he wants to return, but "I can't tell the media," according to the Sentinel.

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TJB Hall of Fame: Joe Fields Sometimes, the players who mean the most to the team are the ones who are often overlooked by outsiders – even sometimes by themselves. In 1975 on an April evening at Widener University, Woodbury New Jersey native Joe Fields was readying for a road trip with some of his friends when the phone rang. The caller identified themselves as a member of the New York Jets front office and they wanted to speak with Joe Fields. Joe answered and was told he’d be talking with Jets coach Charley Winner in a moment. Fields waited patiently and Winner came on the line, congratulating Fields, telling him he was the newest member of the Jets. I am pretty sure one of two things happened. Either that road trip was totally awesome or it never actually happened. Fields, was the Jets 14th round draft pick from the 1975 NFL Draft went on to play for 13 years with the Jets, was voted the team’s co-captain eight times, was a two time All-Pro selection, was a Pro Bowler, was honored by New Jersey Sports Writer as Athlete of the Year, was an Ed Block Courage Award winner and was the very first center named John Madden’s First All-Pro team in 1984. While Joe didn’t start as a rookie in ’75, he took over snapping the ball in 1976 and started every single regular season game from then on as a Jet, an amazing accomplishment for one of the most punishing positions in football. Fields was the anchor of the offensive line in the 80s when the team regained relevance nationally. As a veteran by that point, Fields was the constant through his final year with the team in 1987. Hard-nosed and smart, Joe Fields was essential in establishing the line of scrimmage in the Jets favor and had a nickname to match. Fields was nicknamed “The General” and some argue that Fields might have gotten more recognition nationally, if only the Jets were a relevant team earlier in his career, but since the team didn’t have a resurgence until 1981, Fields’ didn’t get the accolades he might have truly deserved. Longtime TJB commenter SackDance99 gave his thoughts about Fields play for the Jets during the 70s and 80s. He was the foundation for a OL that led the league in rushing, was part of a high scoring offense and, until Freeman and O’Brien came along, did it with substandard QB and RB play. Name 3 of the top 5 centers in NFL history and people will say Langer, Webster and Stephenson, who blocked for Griese, Bradshaw and Marino. There was only one center during their stranglehold on the All-Pro team in the 70s and 80s that snuck in to the top spot: Joe Fields. He was great at every part of being a center and did it without snapping to a Hall of Fame quarterback or blocking for a Hall of Fame running back. [....] That’s what I remember about Fields. As a kid I’d argue that he was as good as the other 3, but he rarely got the same notoriety. But that’s likely fine with Fields. Beyond his humble introduction to the league, Fields was no stranger to service, frequently volunteering his time in the community as this 1982 article from the Evening Independent indicates, Fields learned about service growing up in his own home. Fields’ brother Robert has Down’s Syndrome and he realized that giving of himself was an easy choice. On visiting his brother’s group home, Fields told the paper that “it’s nothing for me to come here, it’s just a little bit of time and we all have time. It’s great, anything we can do to brighten up their day.” More recently, in 2010 Joe Fields was honored at being included in a special celebration associated with the 75th NFL Draft. As part of the anniversary, Fields was included as one of 319 pre-selected players chosen by a panel of NFL experts to be voted on by fans as one of the Most Valuable Draft Picks of All Time. While Fields didn’t make the cut, he was humbled to be selected from a pool of 20,000 players chosen for this distinguished honor. “Just to be included in this group amazes me” Fields told the Gloucester County Times back in 2010. Fields was an incredible find for the Jets and helped lead them back to prominence. For being a man who was steadfast in his performance both on and away from the field, it’s my honor to recognize Joe Fields as part of our Hall of Fame. Share your own thoughts and memories of Joe Fields in the comments section.

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Dale Earnhardt Dies After Crash in Daytona 500 Aired February 18, 2001 - 7:00 p.m. ET ANNOUNCER: This is CNN BREAKING NEWS. BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Brian Nelson at the CNN Center in Atlanta. We have some very sad news to report at this hour. According to Associated Press, NASCAR giant and legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. has died in a hospital in Daytona Beach from injuries sustained in an accident at the Daytona 500 this afternoon. Let's bring in CNNSI's John Giannone, who can bring us up to speed on the details -- John. JOHN GIANNONE, CNNSI CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we are awaiting word on a press conference held by NASCAR President Mike Helton, which is expected to occur shortly here at the racetrack. Dale Earnhardt was involved in an accident in the final turn of the final lap of this race this afternoon, a race won by Michael Waltrip, who was driving a car owned by Dale Earnhardt. The race -- the crash occurred as Earnhardt was racing toward the finish line. The back of his car bumped into the front of Sterling Marlin's car and then it skidded up the track. It collided with Ken Schrader's car and then went straight on into the wall at about 190 miles an hour. Now, Earnhardt was taking by ambulance to Halifax Hospital, about 2 miles from the racetrack. He was unconscious when paramedics arrived and they cut off the top of the car to get him out. Dale Earnhardt Jr. climbed out of his car, raced on foot to his father and accompanied him to the hospital. Dale Earnhardt is the winningest driver in the history of the Daytona International Speedway. He's won here 34 times. He's also a seven times Winston Cup point series champion, and that equals the record set by the great Richard Petty. And this week, Dale Earnhardt made it clear that was his goal for 2001, to become the best of the best. In fact, he said, "The best is yet to come: There's championship to win." Again, right here at the racetrack, we're awaiting a press conference with NASCAR President Mike Helton. That should be happening shortly. For now, though, let's go back to Atlanta. NELSON: John, we have -- CNN has just confirmed now the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. That happened this afternoon as a result of the accident you just described. We have also received some word through some of the wire services that he sustained massive chest injuries. Do you have any details on his condition? GIANNONE: Well, the information that I received from the hospital when I spoke to a person there moments ago was just that he was in serious condition, he did have chest injuries. They didn't want to reveal any other information. But usually, that is what occurs when you run head first into a wall at 180 or 190 miles an hour. And Neil Bonnett, who was a NASCAR driver, a champion driver, died here when he hit the wall at about 200 miles an hour back in 1994. In fact, this is the third death of a NASCAR Winston Cup driver in the last nine months. 19-year-old Adam Petty, who was the son of Kyle Petty and the grandson of the great Richard Petty, he died back last May. And then Kenny Irwin died in July, and both of those deaths occurred at the same track in New Hampshire. So NASCAR and the Winston Cup world rocked for a third time in nine months by the death of a driver. NELSON: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s -- I'm sorry. Dale Earnhardt's son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was with his father presumably at the time he was in the hospital. Has anyone had the chance to speak to him since? GIANNONE: No, in fact, this is -- this news is so new and so fresh I would imagine that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is probably still at the hospital. In fact, as I had said, as soon as he finished the race and got back to the pit area -- he finished second in the race -- he was informed by one of his pit crew members that his father was involved in an accident. They didn't know at the time that the accident was as serious as it was. But he immediately climbed out of his car and sped as fast as he could to his father's side and did accompany him to the hospital. So I would imagine he's probably still there. NELSON: OK. Thank you, CNNSI's John Giannone. We'll be back to you later. I want to bring in by phone now Linda Sharp, who's a friend of Dale Earnhardt Sr. She is joining us by telephone. Ms. Sharp, were you there at the Daytona 500 to witness the crash? LINDA SHARP, FRIEND OF DALE EARNHARDT: No, sir. I was not at the Daytona 500. I was listening to the race on the radio on the way home. We had been down in Daytona for Speed Week, but came home today. NELSON: You were a very close friend of Dale Earnhardt Sr. You must be devastated. SHARP: Well, I am devastated. My husband is actually the person that was -- he had been a business associate of Earnhardt's. My husband worked for Richard Childress Racing for 10 years in the engines department and was there for five of Dale's championships. And I had in social occasions on many times met Dale, and as a member of the media had met him in press functions, and as a former racer, respect to Dale as the consummate race-car driver. NELSON: He was a very competitive individual. How did he approach accidents, like the one we just witnessed? SHARP: Well, you know, I think everyone in the racing community pretty much approaches it the same one, that when you live life on the edge, it's part of the risk you take. And you live hard, sometimes it ends hard. The racing community as a whole tends to try to look at it from the standpoint that, well, if you have pass away in the sport, you do it doing what you love to do, and you understand that it's part of the risk when you take this occupation. NELSON: Ms. Sharp, I'm reading an article from the "Sports Illustrated" December edition of 19 -- I'm sorry -- of 2000. And in there, it describes a crash that Dale Earnhardt Sr. suffered in March of '99. And in the wake of that, I understand he was giving some consideration to retiring because of the pain in his neck. Are you familiar with his thoughts on it at the time? SHARP: I'm not specifically familiar. I know he had surgery in the last year, so to have some stuff removed. But you know, Dale Earnhardt was -- I mean, he was the icon of NASCAR. I mean, Richard Petty is, yes, the king, but Richard Petty was sort of from the first generation and Dale Earnhardt was the modern-day era, and the sport as a whole has -- had become much more competitive in the last 10 or 15 years. You know, whether or not he was ready to retire, he was probably waiting until Dale Jr., you know, was a little bit more established, and then would just past the baton on, onto his son. NELSON: Well, Dale Jr. came in second in that race today. SHARP: Yes, I mean, Dale Jr. is a very talented young man, he's a very talented driver. Whether or not he is the equal to his father remains to be seen. But I think that you will see the NASCAR community, the fan community transfer their loyalty from Dale Earnhardt to Dale Jr. I also think that you will see a similar situation in what happened when Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, because they died before... NELSON: Died before their time. SHARP: Yeah, before their -- I mean, granted Dale Earnhardt was about to be 50, but he had -- he was still active and he was still a participant. He wasn't retired. You know, so I think that his legend will grow and live on even more so now under these circumstances. And another true irony is that he died almost in the exact same spot that his best friend, Neil Bonnett, passed away some years ago. NELSON: Ms. Sharp, as a viewer of the NASCAR sense, what do you think this is going to do to auto racing and NASCAR? SHARP: Well, I mean, initially right now, it definitely casts a giant dark cloud over NASCAR. And there were also some comments from some of the drivers from the first accident, the one that involved Tony Stewart, where the new rules implementation of the little spoiler on the front of the roof is a recipe for disaster. I don't think that was the case in Dale Earnhardt's accident. I don't think that was what caused that accident from what I understand. But NASCAR is a very strong entity. They are traditionally survivors. You know, I think they'll pick up all the pieces and they'll go on. On the other side of it, this is the most major disaster they've ever had. I mean, Dale Earnhardt unquestionably was the most popular driver. While he didn't win the award that he actually coveted very much and never won -- Bill Elliott has won that award countless times -- Dale Earnhardt did sell more souvenirs than any other single driver on the NASCAR circuit. And that's pretty much a testament to the fact that he was the star. You go to a NASCAR race and you see more Dale Earnhardt apparel than anything else. So I mean, this is a major, major loss to the sport. And you know, everybody thought of Earnhardt as the intimidator, as being invincible. And it may weigh much more heavily on the minds of other drivers now than other losses have. NELSON: Ms. Sharp, was Dale Earnhardt an especially big risk- taker compared to some of the other drivers in NASCAR? SHARP: I don't think that I think Dale Earnhardt was a bigger risk-taker. I think, in my opinion -- and you have to understand that I am a consummate Dale Earnhardt fan as a former race -- I think there has been no one ever more talented to hold a steering wheel in their hands in stock car competition than Dale Earnhardt. And what other people might have perceived as a risk, Dale Earnhardt had an innate talent to make a car do things that other people weren't capable of doing. So to say that he was a bigger risk- taker, I don't think that would be a fair comment. NELSON: What can you tell us about his family beyond his son who was there at the -- in the race today and who joined him in the hospital? SHARP: Well, Dale has four children. His oldest son, Kerry, is from his first marriage, and then his daughter Kelly and Dale Jr. were from his second marriage. And then Teresa Nicole-- excuse me, Taylor Nicole, his youngest daughter is, oh, about 12, I guess, now. And I mean, he was -- he was -- even though he had multiple wives, he was very close with all his children. He was a good father. And I mean, a real testament to how good a father he was, was what a fine young man Dale Jr. is. NELSON: Very much so. He -- he calls home a 500-acre ranch in North Carolina, and as I understand it, one of his big things was always to get up early in the morning. SHARP: Oh, he was a very early riser. He -- you know, he would say that he would hit the floor running before the sun came up. He wasn't one to lollygag around. He was as very driven individual. But you know, he lived life to the fullest, and while it definitely is a tragic loss -- it's a tragic loss to me personally -- probably no one has ever lived life more fully than Dale Earnhardt. NELSON: Ms. Sharp, my final question is this: How do you think NASCAR could suitably memorialize the name of Dale Earnhardt Sr.? SHARP: Oh, boy, is that a tough question? You know, I don't know that there's any one single act. I mean, you know, they've put statues of Bill France Sr. and they've named grandstands for other people. But Earnhardt was a unique entity. You know, they might have a memorial race for him or something like that. But probably Dale Earnhardt has done more to memorialize himself by his life than anything that anyone else could do. NELSON: Well, our condolences to you and to his fans and to his family. Linda Sharp, a friend of Dale Earnhardt Sr., who has dies in a hospital in Daytona Beach. Ms. Sharp, thank you for taking the time to join us. SHARP: My pleasure. NELSON: And now NASCAR officials have apparently held a news conference, which we now want to bring to you on tape. And the spokesman here is Mike Helton. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MIKE HELTON, PRESIDENT, NASCAR: This is undoubtedly one of the toughest announcements that I've ever personally had to make, but after the accident in turn four at the end of the Daytona 500, we've lost Dale Earnhardt. And I have with me Dr. Steve Bohannon, who's a prominent doctor here in Daytona that's worked several events here at the speedway, and he can explain the medical practice that went on at the accident scene and over at the hospital. In a timing issue, we're here to tell you what we know. We don't know a lot. We don't know enough to answer all your questions. Our prayers and wishes and our effort right now this moment is with Theresa and the Earnhardt family, Richard Childress and his family, and Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. But I'll have Dr. Bohannon take it from here for right now. DR. STEVE BOHANNON: I was on one of the ambulances that responded to the accident. I was about the third or fourth ambulance, and when I arrived, there were a number of paramedics attending to him. There was a paramedic in through the passenger window applying oxygen by a mask. Dr. Tim Allison (ph), who's a trauma surgeon from Flagler county, who was in through the driver's window and was delivering CPR. And there was another paramedic in the window with him helping maintain the C-spine, holding the head. There were a number of firefighters that were on top of the car attempting to remove the roof, which was subsequently done. That took about five or 10 minutes, during which time we did CPR. When the roof came off, Dr. Allison and I both identified this was a vary bad situation, a load-and-go situation. We -- immediately, we moved him and transported him to the area level 2 trauma center, Halifax Hospital. Transport time was about a minute to a minute-and-a-half, during which time we continued CPR. There was a full trauma team there to meet him. A trauma neurosurgeon, Dr. Bill Koon (ph); trauma surgeon, Dr. Demuga (ph). There were several emergency room doctors there as well. We all did everything we could for him. Additionally, there was an anesthesiologist who helped us maintain the airway. But he had what I feel were life-ending type injuries at the time of impact and really nothing could be done for him. He arrived at the hospital at 1654. The full trauma resuscitation was attempted for about a little over 20 minutes, at which time he was placed on a ventilator. Multiple IV lines were given, IV fluids, chest tubes, various diagnostic tests. He never showed any signs of life, and subsequently was pronounced dead by all the physicians in attendance at 1716. His wife was there at the bedside. And that's about all I know at this time. He has been turned over to the medical examiner's office and will be a medical examiner's case. I suspect an autopsy will be done, probably tomorrow, for the exact cause of death. My speculation as an emergency physician would be head injuries, particularly to the base of the skull, that ended his life. He was unconscious, unresponsive from the time of the first paramedic's arrival. He was not breathing and had no palpable pulse from the time of the paramedic's arrival at the scene, and remained -- remained that way throughout. That's all I have. QUESTION: Dr. Bohannon... BOHANNON: Yes. QUESTION: I understand (OFF-MIKE) if you think that that's the kind of device that (OFF-MIKE)? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please let me repeat the question for those up in the press box. The question was for Dr. Bohannon about the Haunt (ph) device: if Dale Earnhardt had been using that, would that have saved his life? BOHANNON: I really don't know if that would have or not. That would be pure speculation at this point, not knowing the exact cause of death. I know a full-face helmet would not have made any difference whatsoever. He had no evidence of facial injuries. I don't know if the haunt device would have helped or not. I suspect not. QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)... BOHANNON: B-O-H-A-N-N-O-N. First name's Steve, M.D. I'm an emergency physician at Halifax Hospital. QUESTION: Since when? BOHANNON: Since 1986. And I'm also the EMS medical director of the emergency medical services here at the speedway. QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) BOHANNON: He had blood in his airway. He had blood in the ears that we see with Baesler (ph) skull fractures, but really no other external evidence of trauma, no. QUESTION: Sir, could you repeat (OFF-MIKE)... BOHANNON: Steve Bohannon. HELTON: Folks, there's no question that this is a very difficult time. I think Bill France's quote that the speedway and NASCAR will put out there in a second sums it up for the moment. There will be other press conferences and other opportunities to answer questions as we get more answers. But his quote is, is that "NASCAR has lost its greatest driver ever," and I have personally have lost a great friend. And that's Bill France's quote, and I think that pretty well sums it up for the NASCAR community right now. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. (END VIDEOTAPE) NELSON: You've been listening to NASCAR -- I'm sorry -- NASCAR President Mike Helton, saying that NASCAR has lost the "greatest NASCAR driver ever." And Dr. Steve Bohannon, the EMS director at the Daytona International Speedway, describing the final moments of the life of 49-year-old Dale Earnhardt, the NASCAR giant and legend. He was fatally injured in a crash this afternoon at the Daytona 500. He was taken in serious condition to hospital and he died of massive chest injuries. Let's bring in CNNSI's John Giannone for more details -- John. GIANNONE: Yeah, in fact, word just starting to filter around the racetrack, and there's a small group of fans standing behind me right now. And you can just see the pain etched on their faces. Dale Earnhardt was an enormously popular driver, has been on the Winston Cup circuit since 1979, is a seven-time Winston Cup point series champion, and that was a record he tied with the great Richard Petty last year. It was a record he stated flat-out he wanted to break some time this year or next. In fact, earlier this week he said: "The best is yet to come. I still have a championship to win." But as we know now, Dale Earnhardt died earlier today in a terrible accident on the final turn of the final lap of this race, a race won by Michael Waltrip, who was driving a car owned by Dale Earnhardt. The person who came in second, Dale Earnhardt's son, Dale Jr. He climbed out of his car immediately after the race was over, raced to his father's side, spend the entire trip to the hospital with him, and was by his side when Dale Earnhardt passed away. And Dale Earnhardt won 34 races at this track. Nobody ever won more, and that's the legacy he will leave here. Dale Earnhardt, 34 race victories at Daytona. In fact, he had a victory here in each of the last 10 years. His greatest victory occurred three years ago in 1998, when he stood on the podium right behind me and accepted the trophy as the Daytona 500 champion. So again, tremendous pain on the faces of the fans here at Daytona. Word has not yet filtered to the drivers, because most if not all of them have private jets and leave the track immediately after the race. So most of the drivers are either en route to or already at their homes. And certainly, the shock and the reality will begin sitting in when news reaches them that Dale Earnhardt has died. NELSON: John, this was the second accident of the day, wasn't it? GIANNONE: Yeah, in fact, that's the amazing part of it, is the 18-car collision that occurred on lap 173 was actually more vicious- looking. I mean, a few cars went air-bound. One car landed on the roof of another car. But really, no serious injuries in that. One driver, Tony Stewart, suffered an injured collarbone. But other than that, there were really no injuries, and that was really a testament to how safe these cars are. But the problem is when you go straight on into a wall going 180 miles an hour, as Dale Earnhardt did, there's really very little that can happen. Neil Bonnett, a great Winston Cup driver, died here at this track by running into a wall at 200 miles an hour back in 1994. And in fact, this is the third fatality among NASCAR Winston Cup drivers in the last nine months. 19-year-old Adam Petty, the grandson of the great Richard Petty and son of Kyle Petty, died last May, and then in July Kenny Irwin died in New Hampshire at the same New Hampshire track as Petty. NELSON: I was asking a friend of Earnhardt's just a moment ago about an accident they had in 1999, at the end of which he was giving some consideration to retirement. Do you know much about that? GIANNONE: Yeah, there obviously is talk when you get up in age a little bit and you have an accident of that magnitude. But I think Dale Earnhardt was really rejuvenated last year when he realized that he might still be able to win a Winston Cup points championship. He finished second last year to Bobby Labonte, and that really revved his engines for this year. And as I said before, his stated goal was to win an eighth Winston Cup point series championships and truly be considered the greatest driver of all time. So while there were times -- I know a few years back Dale Earnhardt suffered a broken collarbone and he also was having problems with blacking out at the wheel, if you can believe that, at almost 200 miles an hour, those problems were rectified. And Dale Earnhardt was absolutely rejuvenated in the last two years and anxiously looked forward to trying to break that record. NELSON: John, he was 49 years old. Are there many drivers that age? Was he the oldest on the track at the time? GIANNONE: No, not the oldest. There are drivers who are older than him. In fact, Dave Marcus (ph) is a driver who didn't qualify this year for the Daytona 500, but he's a driver who is up around 61, 62 years of age. So while 49 isn't young, it isn't really old either. And Dale Earnhardt was beginning to branch out, was beginning to expand his business. As I said, the drivers who finished one and two in this race -- Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- were driving Chevrolet Monte Carlos that were owned by Dale Earnhardt. So certainly his business was branching out. He lived on an enormous farmhouse, a beautiful mansion in North Carolina. He had a private plane, as most drivers do. He made $41 1/2 million in career earnings on the Winston Cup circuit. So certainly Dale Earnhardt still had the passion for driving, and all you had to ever do was watch him behind the wheel of a car during a race to know just how passionate he was about the profession. So there really was no evidence or no sign that Dale Earnhardt was ready to pack it in as a driver. NELSON: John, could you give us your sense of what this is going to mean in the way of a loss to NASCAR? GIANNONE: Enormous. I wish I could come up with an adjective worse than that, or you know, that would better portray the image. Again, I just look at the faces of the people who are standing behind my camera right now, probably a group of about 20 of them, who are just devastated by this news. I mean, standing there stone-faced, no expression other than you can just tell the abject -- the abject amount of pity they have not only for Dale and his family, but also just the sense of loss of, as I have described before, an enormously popular NASCAR driver, somebody who, as I said, you couldn't go five feet in the infield at Daytona or any track on the Winston Cup circuit without seeing some kind of Dale Earnhardt paraphernalia, whether it's shirts of flags or hats. And he was just enormous, and this is just a monumental loss. NELSON: All right. Thank you, CNN's John Giannone, for your insight. We appreciate it. Once again for our viewers who are just joining us, 49-year-old Dale Earnhardt has died as a result of injuries sustained in a crash in the last lap of the Daytona 500 this afternoon. His son was with him at the time in the hospital at the Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. And all of NASCAR, all of his fans are now in mourning. We will continue to follow this story throughout the evening, and we will take a short break, then join "LATE EDITION," which is in progress, after this break. Back to the top © 2003 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.Terms under which this service is provided to you.Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.

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Posts made in 2008 » Match Of The Week: FA Cup Second Round – Histon 1-0 Leeds United By Ian on Nov 30, 2008 in Non-League | 0 comments Three times they have been the champions of England. FA Cup winners thirty-six years ago. Leeds United’s mere presence in the early rounds of the FA Cup is a powerful symbol of how far from grace they have fallen in recent times. In contrast, ten years ago Histon were a village club playing in the Eastern Counties League. Their rise towards the top of the Blue... By Ian on Nov 29, 2008 in Finance | 0 comments It’s probably safe to assume that Donal Macintyre isn’t that much of a football fan. Not because he gives the impression of being someone that hates football, even though his previous dalliance with the game was an expose of the “Chelsea Headhunters” for the BBC. I say this because, if he was familiar with the peculiar way in which football... France, England & The Future Of European Football By Ian on Nov 27, 2008 in English League Football, Finance | 0 comments France and England have a complex relationship. Both are considerably more like each other than either would like to admit and, even after thirty-five years of European integration, any attempts by the French to dictate European political policy are likely to be greeted with honks of derision in the British press. This is exactly what has happened with (what now... Review: 1966 Uncovered by Peter Robinson et al By Ian on Nov 27, 2008 in Latest | 0 comments Some events in human history, a sage once noted, are so great that even those that weren’t born at the time can remember what they were doing at the time. A large number of these events come, perhaps unsurprisingly, from the 1960s, when satellite technology first tentatively fired live television images around the world. Whether the 1966 World Cup Finals fall... Scenes From Football History – 1982/83: How Fulham Blew It By Ian on Nov 26, 2008 in English League Football | 1 comment From the mid-1960s on, football grew massively as a passive spectator sport. The realisation that football could evolve as a spectator sport for people that weren’t even at the match was a revolution in terms of the perception of the game. By 1983, moves for live televising of league football for the first time were already well in motion. By the end of 1983,...

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Share Valpo Names Rex Walters Assistant Men's Basketball Coach Thursday, September 11, 2003Valparaiso University head men's basketball coach Homer Drew announced the addition of Rex Walters as an assistant coach. Walters joins the Valpo staff after serving as a graduate assistant at Emporia (Kan.) State University during the 2003 year. Before embarking on a seven-year NBA playing career, Walters became nationally recognized for an outstanding collegiate career at the University of Kansas and Northwestern University. While playing for Roy Williams at Kansas, Walters helped the Jayhawks capture the Big Eight Championship in 1992 and 1993, earning First Team All-Big Eight honors both years. In 1993, Walters was selected as the Big Eight Athlete of the Year after helping UK to the NCAA Final Four. As a freshman and sophomore (1988-90), Walters played at Northwestern, earning Honorable Mention All-Big Ten status. In 1993, Walters was the #16 selection in the first round of the NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets. A guard, Walters played with the Nets for two seasons before joining the Philadelphia 76ers from 1995-97. He concluded his NBA career with the Miami Heat (1997-00), which won the Atlantic Division Championship in 1998 and 1999. Walters took his basketball skills to Spain, playing in Leon in 2000 and the Canary Islands in 2001-02. He also played for the Kansas City Knights of the American Basketball Association in 2000 and 2002, helping the Knights win the ABA Championship in 2002. As a coach, Walters has been influenced by the likes of Williams, Pat Riley and Larry Brown. "Rex brings a wealth of knowledge to our program and has gained a lot of experience with some great coaches at the NBA and collegiate levels," Drew said. "He also possesses an outstanding work ethic which helped him endure a long playing career. "As a player, Rex was always the first in the gym and the last to leave. That type of work ethic will serve as a great example for our basketball team." Walters spent the 2002-03 season as an assistant coach at Blue Valley Northwest High School, which won the 2003 Kansas Sub State Championship. He also directs his own basketball academy, which he has run since 2001. A 1993 graduate of the University of Kansas, Walters earned a Bachelor of Science in education.

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Dartmouth swim team on St. Croix for both fun and work By AARON GRAY (Daily News Staff) Dartmouth College swim team members train at the St. Croix Dolphins Pool on Wednesday morning. ST. CROIX - Who says you can't work hard during vacation?The Dartmouth College swim team is well aware of the physical endeavors that awaited after fall semester exams were done and the rest of the student body returned home for the holidays."It's called winter season training and it always kicks our butts," senior co-captain Mark Chu said from a crowded deck at the Country Day School pool Wednesday morning. "It's like vacation, but we're training."Chu and the other 46 Dartmouth swimmers had just completed a 2-hour, 20-minute workout and even though another arduous workout awaited in the afternoon, most of the athletes were smiling."I think the kids love it," said Dartmouth coach Jim Wilson, who is in his 18th year with the program and has been at the helm of both the men's and women's teams since 2006. "The goal is to do this every four years, so no one graduates without making a trip like this. Getting out of the cold weather and training outdoors - that's why they're smiling."Dartmouth is an Ivy League school located in Hanover, NH, where the thermometer registered an icy 19 degrees on Wednesday. Instead of training at the school's indoor facility, Wilson decided to bring the Big Green to St. Croix. It's the third time he's brought a Dartmouth squad to the territory. The team has been on island since Dec. 9 - only one day after final exams concluded - and will leave today for an immediate 6-day training stint in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.Many college kids visit the Caribbean to cut loose during spring break, but Dartmouth's visit is strictly business."It's break time in our season, but we are here for conditioning," said Wilson, who has been visiting St. Croix since the 1980's, and before taking over at Dartmouth, he brought two teams down from the University of Utah. "We've gone up against Harvard, Cornell and Brown already. We're working hard because we still have the bulk of our competition when we get back."Harvard and Duke are also scheduled to visit St. Croix in the coming weeks for similar training visits.Because there isn't a single diving board in the territory, the Big Green's seven-member diving team remained in San Juan for diving workouts. They will rejoin the swimmers this week when they make a smooth transition from their comfy beachfront condos to something these college students will be more used to."It's been a great stay so far on St. Croix, but I think the kids are in for a rude awakening when they shack up in the college dorm rooms at UPR-Mayaguez," Wilson said. "They may be a little smaller than their hotel rooms, but it doesn't matter because we're here to work."The swim team is comprised of students from across the country along with athletes from Slovenia and Mexico. For many, this is their first visit to the territory, so in between workouts, a little fun was had.There's been a couple lounge sessions at the beach, a scuba diving trip and a "workout" at nearby Buck Island."It was the first time I've ever gone scuba diving and we went down 40 feet," said Chu, who competed at last year's Ivy League Championships in the 400-meter Individual Medley and 200m Butterfly events. "When we swam around the reef at Buck Island, another captain and I just decided to swim around the whole thing. It was good training."Bob Halk, who runs the Buccaneer Hotel and happens to be a Dartmouth alum, made the swim team feel right at home. From his kayak, he led the swimmers on a 3-part open swim, during which the Big Green got intimate views of the coral reef and a shipwreck near Buck Island.Halk (Dartmouth Class of '94) then welcomed the entire team to dinner at his house and left quite an impression on the student athletes."Bob said he will always welcome the Dartmouth team into his house whenever we come to the islands," Dartmouth freshman Arenne Clark wrote in a team blog post. "I think we all felt extremely privileged and lucky as we're reminded, once again, that we are all part of an exciting and special Dartmouth community."- Contact sports reporter Aaron Gray at 774-8772 ext. 352 or e-mail [email protected].

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Katie Couric Lands Manti Te'o 'Exclusive' Share Tweet E-mail Comments Print By Mark Memmott Originally published on Mon January 21, 2013 9:09 am Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o before the BCS National Championship game against Alabama on Jan. 7 in Miami. Marc Serota UPI /Landov The big "get" goes to Katie Couric. While Notre Dame football star Manti Te'o has spoken to ESPN — and said he did not participate in the hoax about a "dead" girlfriend who turned out to be neither real nor dead — that wasn't on camera or recorded. Which is why ABC-TV's Katie Couric can say her sit-down with Te'o and his parents will be the player's "first TV interview." The show hasn't said when or where the interview will be recorded. But is it letting everyone know it will be broadcast on Thursday. And it wouldn't be a big surprise to see the show release some video highlights before then to build anticipation. You can find a station near you that broadcasts Katie by clicking here.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread.

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Masters fans should prepare for possible thunderstorms Posted: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 12:01 a.m. UPDATED: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 8:24 a.m. Tweet Spectators and players at the Masters could face the challenge of bad weather during the early rounds of the famous golf tournament in Augusta. There is a threat of thunderstorms from late Thursday into Friday morning, according to the National Weather Service in Columbia. It's possible the storms will be severe with damaging winds and hail. Masters Par 3 Contest fun for patrons, golfers Balanced Woods ready for Masters Zen of the Bubba: Masters champion shares his unique opinions in return to Augusta Masters celebrates tradition Three I see who could win the Masters Tiger the not-so-shocking favorite Augusta Nationals' Payne addresses changes to qualification, cut Local courses swing into gear for Masters Week Who's your favorite golfer? ‘Bubba’s shot’ adding to Masters lore Kuchar’s major breakthrough could come at Augusta Pacers take in practice round, child's play and a proposal Masters etiquette: Know before you go Masters 2013: What to watch Aiken businesses prepped for Masters crowd influx City of Aiken Historic Tours extend for Masters Week Masters tournament a tradition for fans “A cold front will move through the area, and the latest information we have is that the best chance for thunderstorms will be Thursday night,” said Jeff Linton, a National Weather Service meteorologist. “We're looking at models and this is not an exact science, so the front could get in here a little bit earlier.” Thursday's forecast for the Master's first round calls for mostly cloudy skies, a 40 percent chance of rain and winds of 10 to 20 miles an hour from the south. Temperatures will climb into the mid-80s. The possibility of precipitation will increase to 70 percent Thursday night. “It is very warm and moist ahead of the cold front, and in the upper part of the atmosphere it's cold; the winds aloft are very strong,” Linton said. “When you get thunderstorms in an environment like that, some of those strong winds in the upper part of the atmosphere may mix down to the surface. Tornadoes aren't out of the question, but right now it looks like the main threats are damaging straight-line winds and hail.” Friday's forecast for The Masters' second round is for partly cloudy skies, a 30 percent chance of rain, and winds of 20-25 miles from the southwest to west. Temperatures will reach the lower 80s. “The cold front may be out of the area by 8 a.m.,” Linton said. An entire round at The Masters hasn't been completely lost to rain since 1983, according to bleacherreport.com. When there is inclement weather, a weather warning sign that shows clouds and a lightning bolt is displayed on the scoreboards/message boards at Augusta National Golf Club. The club advises spectators to take precautions even before play is suspended. The sounding of an air horn or a similar alert will signal suspension of play. For The Masters' final two rounds Saturday and Sunday, skies will be partly cloudy. Highs will be in the mid-70s on Saturday and in the low 80s on Sunday. There is a zero chance of precipitation for Saturday and a 20 percent chance on Sunday, according to the Weather Channel.

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Aiken couple weds at Clemson football game UPDATED: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 2:12 p.m. Tweet Aiken residents Bill Stephens and Vickie Desourdy were married on Saturday at a ceremony held outside Clemson’s Memorial Stadium during halftime of the Tigers’ game against S.C. State. Tim Northcutt, right, a lay minister and friend of the couple, officiated. A fall wedding – especially in the South – often means a few disgruntled college football fans missing a game, but one Aiken couple found a way to combine their love of football and their love for each other and were married at the Clemson football game on Saturday. Bill Stephens and Vickie Desourdy tied the knot during halftime of the Clemson versus S.C. State game on Saturday. The wedding took place at the couple's tailgating spot behind Memorial Stadium in front of at least 60 guests, including their two children, with the roar of 83,000 fans and the strains of “Tiger Rag” in the background. Aiken residents Vickie Desourdy and Bill Stephens bow their heads for a prayer during their wedding, which was held outside Memorial Stadium during Clemson’s game against S.C. State on Saturday. Aiken residents Vickie Desourdy and Bill Stephens exchange rings during their wedding ceremony, which was held outside Memorial Stadium during Clemson's game against S.C. State on Saturday. “He graduated from Clemson, and we both really love football and knew that we wanted to get married in the fall,” said Desourdy, a graduate of Penn State University. “We didn't want to interfere with football season.” A friend of the couple who is a lay minister performed the ceremony. Desourdy and Stephens wore orange Clemson football jerseys with the names “Bride” and “Groom” on the backs. The wedding spread included barbecue and ribs, tiger paw cookies and a Clemson-themed cake complete with tiger ornaments, all surrounded by purple and orange decorations, Desourdy said. After the ceremony, some went back into the stadium for the remainder of the game, which Clemson won 52-13. Others stayed and tailgated. The couple originally wanted to have the ceremony on the sideline of the football field, but the athletic department denied their request. The tailgate was the alternate plan. “We like football, and we just wanted everybody to come and have a good time. That was the goal, more than anything,” Desourdy said. The S.C. State game would provide less complications with travel and parking for guests compared with other larger games at Clemson this year, such as the season opener against Georgia. Desourdy said she and Stephens, who are both former military, met two years ago at a function for military officers. They realized they were both at a Clemson game before Stephens graduated in 1984. “We sat pretty close to one another,” she said. They talked about a football wedding for about eight months and spent the last two months planning the festivities. Angela Nixon, a spokeswoman for the university, said it's not often people get married at Clemson athletic events. “We have people get married on campus at different places, but this is the first time I can recall it happening at a football game,” she said, adding that she has been at the school for 12 years but couldn't speak for the athletic department. “We've had people propose in the stadium. We wish them well, and we're happy for them.” Desourdy said she and Stephens go to every home Clemson game. Their game day wedding plans were met with surprise and enthusiasm. “They said, 'Are you guys crazy?'” she recalled. “After that, everybody was really on board with it, and they're all football fans as well. They were wondering how we were gonna pull it off, but it worked out well.” Teddy Kulmala covers the crime and courts beat for the Aiken Standard and has been with the newspaper since August 2012. He is a native of Williston and majored in communication studies at Clemson University.

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Former Lions captain hopeful of heading to Australia James Mortimer 02 Jan 2013 Getty Images Irish lock Paul O'Connell still believes he can play a part in the British and Irish Lions Tour to Australia, despite undergoing back surgery in Dublin on New Year’s Eve. A bulging disc in his back led to the former Lions and Ireland captain taking the option to have surgery, and is targeting an April return to push for selection honours.He is one of a few Irish elder statesman, including centre Brian O’Driscoll, who have expressed a desire to play in the tourists trip down under this season, with three Tests against the Wallabies taking place amidst a host of ‘midweek’ matches.O’Connell said that all had agreed the surgery was a success and that he was a good chance to make a return in the next four months."I'm delighted with the way the operation went,” he said. “More importantly, so too are the medical team who carried out the operation and I am very grateful to all concerned.”“My aim now is to start rehab as soon as is practicable. In terms of a return, I'd be looking at early April when hopefully Munster will be in contention for trophies (Heineken Cup and RaboDirect Pro12) on two fronts."This is not the first time O’Connell has had issues with his back, having surgery in 2002, while a re-occurring complaint in 2008 was at the time managed without having to go under the knife.

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NHRA Drag Racer Mark Niver Killed in Accident in Seattle Jul 11, 2010 – 8:29 PM Holly Cain National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) veteran driver Mark Niver, 60, of Phoenix, was pronounced dead Sunday afternoon after crashing his Top Alcohol class dragster during a national event at Pacific Raceways outside Seattle. This is the second fatal accident in an NHRA event in the past 31 days. Top Alcohol Funny Car driver Neal Parker was killed in a crash in Englishtown, N.J., on June 11. Like Parker, Niver's dragster crashed in the shutdown area of the track. A female spectator was killed Feb. 21 in Phoenix, when a tire came off Antron Brown's Top Fuel dragster during a first round elimination. According to witnesses, Niver's car slammed into the safety netting at the end of the track after his parachutes did not fully deploy. The King County Sheriff's Department halted race activities for more than an hour to investigate the crash, but NHRA officials eventually resumed and completed the event. The NHRA issued a statement saying it, along with Pacific Raceways, extended its "deepest sympathies to the entire Niver family" and promised a full investigation. According to the Seattle Times, winning driver Chris Demke presented his winner's trophy to Niver's wife, Tanis, his children and grandchildren who were at the event. "We hope his last memory was seeing his win light," Demke told The Times. "Losing him is like losing an elder in the sport. It chokes me up." Greg Anderson, who later in the afternoon won the Pro Stock class, told the Times, "I've known Mark forever and when I found out it was him, my heart stopped." One of Niver's two career Top Alcohol dragster wins came at Pacific Raceways two years ago. Sunday's accident happened seconds after Niver defeated Shawn Cowie in the semifinals which would have earned him a place in the championship round. According to the Tacoma News-Tribune, Niver's parachute "broke" when it was deployed and his dragster "buckled" after hitting the safety net, with the front end bending upward toward the cockpit. His finish-line speed was estimated to be 271 mph. Demke would have raced against Niver in the final round had the crash not occurred. Demke chose not to appear in the final out of respect to Niver. "Mark was always warm, friendly, joking," Demke told The Times. "He was honest and raced on his own budget. It was a family operation and he ran a mean and lean team. There's no way to think anything about bad him. He's a legend and we're going to miss him."

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Courtesy: Arkansas Berna earns academic honor FAYETTEVILLE – University of Arkansas sophomore Calli Berna was selected to the Capital One Academic All-District 6 First-Team the College Sports Information Director’s announced today. Berna was selected to the first-team and moves on to the national ballot with an opportunity to earn academic All-America honors announced later this month. The Fayetteville, Ark., native has a 3.73 grade point average in broadcast journalism at Arkansas and is one of five players named to the first-team in District 6. The Academic All-District teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. Berna leads the Razorbacks into Southeastern Conference action tonight at Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. The Razorbacks have just one win in Oxford and are in the midst of a two-game SEC road swing that continues at Mississippi State Sunday. Berna is the first women’s basketball player to earn first-team all-district honors since the 2007-08 season when Sarah Pfeifer was honored. She is the sixth Razorback in program history to earn first-team honors and the ninth honoree ever for Arkansas. Arkansas has had six selections to the national ballot. Stay Connected to the Razorback Women's Basketball Team

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Auburn vs. South Carolina Quotes Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery Quoting Auburn Head Coach Tony Barbee On coming out strong in the second half... "Let me say this. I keep saying we're getting closer, and we are because it's finally starting to click that if you will guard with that sense of urgency, that sense of toughness on every possession, then no matter what you do offensively, you're going to give yourself a chance to win. We are what we are offensively. We're going to go through droughts, and we're going to struggle to score. We only have two guys in double figures. From two of our other starters, we got one point combined. We are what we are, but if we will defend and guard and scrap and hustle with that sense of urgency, you're going to give yourself a chance in every single game. Then, when we do get on a little bit of a run, you can go on those 8-9-0 runs, and then you can create a little space like we did at LSU. We just weren't able to put it over the top, but we were able to today. Great team win. We did a better job in the second half of taking care of the ball and finding the open guy getting to that third or fourth level of the offense. What I talked about coming into this game against their zone, getting to that third, fourth, fifth pass. That third, fourth or fifth drive, and then you'd find guys wide open behind the three, wide open in front of the rim, and that's exactly what happened." On Josh Wallace's defensive effort... "Your defense starts up front on that ball. Josh gives you that. When you have a smaller guard, they have to play a certain way to be successful. They do, and he does that. He pressured 94 feet. He pressured (Bruce) Ellington and harassed him for the majority of the game, and then Varez (Ward) was able to come in and feed off of that momentum and do the same thing. So Josh was a big key to what we did tonight." On winning a conference game that didn't come down to the wire... "I call them the Phil Jackson games. I always like the Phil Jackson games when I can sit there with my legs crossed and not have to get off the bench late in the game." On Allen Payne giving the team a boost on defense... "Everybody played well who played tonight. We had great energy. The guys are understanding their roles better, and unfortunately we weren't able to do this earlier. We were hurt. We were injured. Guys were suspended. Now we have the majority of our pieces, guys are starting to really understand what their roles are on this team. It was good to see Allen Payne play well because he was a guy who had the position early and let it go because of his performance, but he didn't sulk. He didn't pout. He kept battling. He kept fighting, and it's like I say, your opportunity is going to come, or it's going to come back around if it slipped away, and he's been ready for his opportunity. That's why he's back in the rotation." On if he was pleased with the transition to open the second half... "Well you can do that when you get stops. When you get stops, you can do that. The ball was getting a little stuck in our hands in the first half. We got stops in the first half, but we weren't getting the ball out quick enough and getting it up the floor quick enough, and that's probably the best way to beat that defense, their zone, is to not have to play against it. We talked about it. We worked on it before the game, and for some reason we didn't do it in the first half. In the second half, we talked about it at halftime. Let's play off of these stops. We're guarding our butts off. Let's just try to rebound a little bit better in the second half. We did. Then, we were able to get out off those rebounds into transition, and we got some easy layups, some easy jump shots." On if the basketball lettermen feeling welcomed was a result of something Barbee wanted... "No question. Your program is only as good as your former players. Like I said, I'm not here to build a team. I'm going to be able to do that. A very successful team. I'm here to build a program and sustain it over the long haul, and you can't do that if your former players are disconnected. I was out in (Los Angeles) recruiting recently, and I didn't get a chance to see Chuck (Person) because they had just started training camp, but I talked to Chuck Person while I was out there, and he'd been helping me with some things. (Charles) Barkley is a key, but all of them, even the guys that their names aren't up in the lights. Those guys, from the golf tournament I put on, to the Lettermen's Club thing that we do every year here during the season which was last night, and then having them back, you can't move forward as a program if you don't connect your present with your past." Quoting Auburn players Josh Wallace, Jr., G On enjoying his expanded role... "Yes sir. I mean, I still have the same role, being the defensive maniac and setting up guys. I was coming in for more minutes, so I'm embracing it and just doing what I have to do on the court." On the challenges today against Bruce Ellington... "It's tough. He's fast, but I believe I'm just as fast as him, so I stepped up to the challenge today, and I believe I did a great job." On defense... "It's very fun. When we get to playing like that, the crowd gets into it, and that's when it just goes to a whole new level. I believe we had a 10-0 run the second half, but when the crowd gets into it, it's just fun. I can't even explain it." On their defensive game as a team... "As I team, I believe we did pretty good." On changing things up in the second half... "We would get stops, and the four or five man would just hold it. When we got out and got to running, it was a whole different game, so I believe we fixed that in the second half." On the crowd... "I can't really explain it. When the crowd gets to rocking like that, and we're getting stops like we did, I can't even explain it. The crowd was a big help tonight." On Allen Payne... "It's great to see. Coach says, if you're not getting the minutes you want, just stay strong and stay tough. When your time comes back around not to pout and to just make the best of it, and I believe that's what he's done." Frankie Sullivan, Jr., G. On his progress the last few games... "First, I would just like to thank God. I really got back into The Bible and getting my life right, and then hard work. Hard work has been paying off. Late nights and early mornings in the gym, before class, getting shots up and free throws with the coaches, watching film, and it really turns your game around once you go back to the basics. I like watching film, because you get a chance to see what you're doing wrong and having trouble with to get better." On the changes made in the second half... "Defense. Team defense. Everyone was in tune. I think that the players are coming around and see what Coach wants. He wants hard defense. That's what he wants every night, and I think we're showing that for him. It's showing on the scoreboard." On enjoying the second half... "It was fun, because the fans are really starting to get into it, and starting to support us more, and they see that we're trying to build a foundation here with basketball just like football. I thank the fans for coming out, and I think that once we have it Like this every night. It's going to be hard for teams to play here." On momentum... "Momentum is everything. When the crowd gets going, the energy just gets into you and it makes us want to play better defense, we want to lock up, and go hard. The crowd is doing a great job of giving us a lot of energy." Kenny Gabriel, Sr., F. On the second half.... "What we were doing well was just playing defense. We're not going to make shots every time we're down on the court, but if we just play defense as hard as we can. It will create opportunities for fast breaks and to get fouled." On the game... "It was fun. Playing like is rewarding. Making the other team use timeouts, we feed off of that." Quoting South Carolina head coach Darrin Horn Opening statement... "I don't think that it is hard to figure out what the story of the game for us was turnovers. I have to give credit to Auburn. I think that they played aggressively on defense and that's why we were having problems turning the ball over. It is going to be hard to beat any team when you have the amount of turnovers that we did. I think that we defended really well in the first half and well enough in the second half, but we never could get into an offensive flow because of our turnover situation. It is hard to fight through situations like that and overcome the amount of turnovers that we had." On the amount of turnovers in the game... "We just have to be strong with the basketball and make good decisions. The thing that really hurt us was that many of our turnovers were transition turnovers. That does not have anything to do with Auburn's defense, that falls completely on us. Those are turnovers that not only take away potential points for us but often times it leads to baskets for them on the other end." On offensive performance... "We never got into a flow offensively of being able to establish multiple possessions in a row. We had a couple stretches in the first half we had some really positive things happen, but when you turn over the ball the way we did, it makes it difficult to get things going on offense. Transition turnovers turned out to be big difference makers." Quoting South Carolina Players Malik Cooke, R-Sr., F. On having offensive struggles with positioning and defense... "I think it might have been a little mixture of both. We just had to get after it a little bit and that was pretty much it." On remaining winless in the SEC... "I am not going to say it is discouraging. It is a learning tool. We have just got to come back and get ready for tomorrow." On if the team will lose confidence moving forward... "No, not at all. We just have to keep on fighting and keep on pushing and I think we will do that." On if the team is lacking a go-to player... "I can't say that. We just have to play together and get through those lulls, as team." On if the team has players that demand the ball... "Yea, I think we have guys of that character that can do that. I think all of our players are capable of doing what they do well. We have just got to do it." On mood in the locker room... "We are just trying to stay focused and get ready for the next game. We just have to learn from our mistakes. Auburn Tigers Men's Basketball Home

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Big name appeal of Seattle doesn't overshadow Sacramento's efforts Sacramento is up against a city that is responsible for Starbucks, Nirvana and Pearl Jam. It’s a place that is used as the setting for Grey’s Anatomy and where Frasier lived. Seattle is where Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan went "Sleepless." Well, Tom Hanks went to Sacramento State for a while, so take that Seattle. OK, let’s face it, Seattle has more “big name” appeal than Sacramento. But in no way does that mean Seattle is more creative, more passionate or more dedicated to its community than Sacramento is. Being involved in this whole Kings relocation saga over the last couple of years, I have had the privilege to meet some incredibly talented local people. From graphic artists, to musicians, to filmmakers, to writers, to media members, to business owners. There are a lot of great folks who make up this community, and they all care about the future of the place they call home. I won’t name any specific person or business because I don’t want hold any higher than another, but they know who they are and the willingness of them to fight has been nothing short of amazing. It is this fact that makes me proud of what this city has brought to the table as we enter the last leg of this drama. In Sacramento, we have a built-in inferiority complex thanks to the shadow of San Francisco, and many openly joke about it – embracing the cow town label is a tradition here. But it's clear that when Sacramento is threatened, it responds, and it responds with force. Mayor Kevin Johnson is the elected representative that embodies the fighting spirit. He is the man responsible for getting us where we are today. But if you listen to him closely, he will often refer to the people as the driving force. To some, that is political speak. But to me, it’s sincere. It’s the willingness of the community he speaks of, the will of a community. The willingness of Kings fans to pledge money for season tickets at the drop of a hat. The willingness of Kings fans to show up to city council meetings and speak their minds. The willingness of Kings fans to spend their hard-earned dollars to show up at the games despite the uncertainty. The willingness of a business to deck its building out in purple. The ability for the local media to cover this whole thing like champs. It’s all of that that the mayor is referring to when he says those things. This is bigger than any one person or entity, as Vivek Ranadivé often says. It’s what has made me proud to live here and it shows how important keeping the Kings and building a new arena is to this community. If the NBA doesn't end up returning to Seattle it would be rough on starving Sonics fans because they do deserve a team. But outside of the diehards, would the city really feel it? A recent study by the Seattle Times showed that the Seattle/Tacoma area ranks in the top 10 metro areas with the lowest interest in the NBA. To be fair, that study was conducted while there was no NBA team in town (2011-12), but the rumblings of a return were going on at the time. Seattle has the Seahawks, the Mariners, the Sounders, the Storm and the Washington Huskies. Would the sports scene and the local economy feel the impact of no Sonics over the long-term? Sure, there are many in Seattle who would say yes. But even if that were the case, it would pale in comparison to the impact that losing the Kings would have on Sacramento. A new arena at the Downtown Plaza site could potentially attract two million new visitors to Downtown Plaza each year and create $7 billion dollars in economic impact over seven years, according to Think Big. The Kings currently employ 800-1,000 people in our region. The Kings are the one thing (outside of state legislation that makes its way through the Capitol) that gets the city mentioned at a national level. Having the franchise is our key to unlocking professional entertainment outside of basketball. I’m preaching to the choir on these points for most Sacramentans, but my point is this: There is a reason why this city fights the way it does, because this is it for us. And we are quickly closing in on a conclusion. We will find out over the coming weeks what the fate of the Kings will be next season. Even if the team should leave, which I don’t believe it is going to, the people of this community have made the battle all worth it. They have risen above the idea that we can’t win because we aren’t as good as the Emerald City. (And there will be ways for fans to get involved and make their voices heard leading up to the NBA Board of Governors meetings on April 18-19.) This quote from Chris Hansen at his press conference in New York City last week is evidence enough that we can and should win. “You have to lose something you hold precious and dear to realize how much it means to you,” said Hansen. In Sacramento, we haven't lost the Kings and we already know how much having a professional franchise means and how precious it is. Posted 8th April 2013 by Blake Ellington Labels: Chris Hansen Kevin Johnson NBA Relocation Sacramento Seattle 0 Bleed Black and Purple A Sacramento Kings blog Magazine Flipcard Timeslide

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Sanders' career focused on serving community he loves by Dec 28, 2012 | 2688 views | 0 | 14 | | Robert Sanders He's big, he's tall and he has a quarter century of law enforcement experience under his belt."People have always called me Big Rob," said Robert Sanders, Cleveland alderman and current Mississippi Valley State University police chief."I'm 6'6" and sometimes people are intimidated by my height and size, but once they have a chance to interact with me, people see I'm just a guy with a big heart with concern for others."And Sanders's biography is as intriguing as his stature.The Shaw native first made a name for himself on the basketball court, bringing statewide attention to the Shaw High Hawks by making it to division championship games in 1979 and 1980.His skills led to stardom at Mississippi Valley State University where he was recognized as a two-time All-American and all-conference player before graduating in 1984.The campus of MSVU was rocking with the success of Sanders on the court and fraternity brother Jerry Rice on the football field.For a long time, Sanders was sure basketball would be his only career — he even signed as a free agent rookie with the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association.While he never made a regular season NBA roster, Sanders spent four years in Europe and South America developing his game."I have nothing but good memories from playing ball in Holland and Argentina," said Sanders. "It was such a learning experience."But the Delta roots within Sanders and his wife, Tracey, who also joined him abroad, lured the young couple back to their home state."The Mississippi Delta is where I'm from," said Sanders. "Playing basketball and traveling were great opportunities, but leaving for a while and coming back made me appreciate life here even more."He returned for a short stint of coaching and teaching at Shaw High before transitioning to a long-time career of public service. "I always had an interest in law enforcement, which is why I'm extremely thankful for former Sheriff H.M. "Mack" Grimmett for giving me my first deputy job with the Bolivar County Sheriff's Department in 1988."Growing up in the Delta means you are going to face challenges — as I did. But I've learned to use the challenges as motivation to make things better."So a commitment to better Cleveland, the county and state has been Sanders' driving force for 25 years.During this time he has served in many capacities, including: police officer with the Cleveland Police Department, chief of police in Shaw, D.A.R.E. officer in Cleveland and sergeant-at-arms in the Mississippi State Senate in Jackson."Serving as the sergeant-at-arms for four years was one of the highlights of my career because it was truly an honor to protect the lieutenant governor, state senators and the staff."The position also gave me insight and broadened my skills to come back and offer my services to the citizens within the Cleveland community.Working hand-in-hand with state politicians encouraged Sanders to run for Cleveland Board of Alderman, where he has represented Ward 2 since 2009."Being on the board is about improving the quality of life for everyone in Cleveland," he said. "This means we hear the concerns of all citizens and help lead the way as problem solvers."I think our town has come a long way and we've seen substantial growth — from the upcoming Grammy museum, the baseball World Series, downtown business development, walking and biking trails, parks and even our streets and sewage systems."Cleveland is one of the best cities to live in because we have great citizens and leaders."Sanders continues to dedicate his time as a quality local leader and shows no signs of slowing down."I look forward to serving our city as an alderman and any other capacity deemed necessary.The secret to his dedication and success — his wife, who he met as a student in 1979 when his Shaw Hawks basketball team came to Cleveland to play the Wildcats."Tracey's been by my side every step of the way," Sanders said. "She's fascinating and has helped me get through everything I've done in life."The couple raised their three daughters in Cleveland, a town they will forever love, serve and protect. State title long time coming for Davis 2014 President’s Volunteer Service Award Recipients Smith to coach at Byhalia

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Random Thoughts on USA Game Day Rajon Rondo and Team USA take on Lithuania on Saturday in their first exhibition game since leaving the USA and arriving in Spain. The game will be at 3:00 PM ET and will be televised on ESPN and ESPN 3. Team USA will also be playing Spain on Sunday at 3:00 PM. Spain is considered by most to be the favorites to win the gold and so this will be a challenge for the US team. The game vs Spain will be carried on ESPN 3. Both games will be streamed online on FibaTV.com. I hope Rondo plays well and I hope USA wins, but most of all, I hope Rondo stays healthy and doesn't get hurt. Remember Robert Swift? For years, Swift was reported to be on Danny's wish list. Swift was picked 12th by Seattle in the 2004 draft just before the Celtics nabbed Al Jefferson at 15. Reports persisted for years that Danny was trying to trade Al for Swift and that Danny still really liked him. Last year, Danny finally got his man, sort of, when Swift came to play for the Celtics Summer League team. After a couple of knee surgeries and a lack of playing time, Swift was out of shape and wasn't very impressive. Now, Swift, who has more tatoos than playing time, has signed to play in Japan with the Tokyo Apache. Hopefully this closes the chapter on Danny wanting Robert Swift in Boston. I love the Grand Theft Rondo tee shirts. If you haven't gotten yours yet, check them out here. Personally, I'm waiting for the Grand Assault Perk shirts. Or, the Grand Jumper Ray shirts. Or even maybe the Grand Concussion Scal shirts. The league really needs an overhaul from the top down. The referees are corrupt. The star players are getting together to skirt around the rules to make "super teams". LeJerk and his ego are running wild and making demands and making a mockery of the league. The latest is that part of ESPN's deal with LeJerk is that they have to feature him in an article weekly through the offseason. And yet, the one thing that the league chooses to investigate is Rudy Fernandez asking for a trade. And, they fined him $25,000 for "public statements detrimental to the NBA." And Herr Stern doesn't think the refs very obviously fixing a game by calling 21 fouls on one team and just 6 on the other in the 4th quarter of a game 7 isn't detrimental to the NBA? If an independent company took a poll of all NBA fans, I would hazard a guess that at least 80% would say that the officials are corrupt or incompetent. In doing the Comments from the Other Side last season, I saw a LOT of fans ready to give up on the league because of the poor officiating and the star treatment and the obvious bias toward certain teams in the league. Something needs to change. The Globe had a report on Perk's progress with his rehab, his thoughts on Shaq and Danny's comments that he would have to earn his starting job back once he returns. "I don't see it threatening me at all," he said. "I gotta work hard. I know I gotta fight to get back to where I was. It's no problem with me. Hard work is not a problem."Ho can you not love this guy? Hard work is not a problem. And having to fight for his starting job, even though he should have earned it already, isn't a problem. He's got to be one of the hardest workers in the league and he will be back 100% this season. I have no doubt. He also said that he is fine with the team signing Shaq. Perk is a team player and he just wants to win He will do whatever it takes for the team to win regardless of his personal situation. I love Perk. Kobe was very vocal about being one up on Shaq when he got his 5th ring. Bill Simmons has a theory that Shaq signed with the Celtics because of Kobe's boasting. The Celtics are Shaq's best bet to get that 5th ring and best of all, get to throw it in Kobe's face that it was the Celtics who beat him. In one sense, I really want the Celtics to beat the Fakers in the finals this year to win the rubber match. But, another part of me would love to see the Fakers get beat in the first round. But, the bottom line is that Shaq wants that ring bad. And I can see him showing up in great shape and really helping this team as they win Banner 18 this season. Don't forget to check out the Celtics Green Boards. FLCeltsFan http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Paul-Pierce-wants-to-finish-his-career-in-Europe?urn=nba-263910just sharing...

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Rondo Report: RonDo Big D? Posted by paul on July 30, 2013 at 6:50 PM It looks like things are finally starting to settle down around Rondo in the Celtics fandom. Danny has effectively asserted in both action and deed that he is rebuilding around Rondo. Brad Stevens has shown in word and deed that considers Rondo to be essentially an equal. Rondo's young teamates speak of him with respect. Sully says that the Cs will not give up because 'we still have Rondo'. Kris Humphries says that he wants to earn Rondo's respect. Early in the summer, it looked to me like Danny was setting up Rondo to be the Fall Guy, but now it looks more like Danny is determined that this team will be Rondo's team. Even in the blogs anti-Rondo craziness seems to be receding, and sensible voices are being heard, at long last. Bob Ryan has been fairly quiet, and ESPN's Forsberg says that Rondo will be named team captain, surely, later this summer.Is Rondo perfect? No. In fact I think that this is one of the things that infuriates many fans about Rondo. Most great players come into the league fairly well formed. Their games continue to evolve over their careers, but the basic player is there from their first season. Rondo, by contrast, has taken an evolutionary step as a player each year he has been in the league. This was true even last year, in a number of ways, as disappointing a season as it was in other respects. It seems to be very hard for many fans and writers to wrap their minds around the notion that a player whose game is continuing to evolve could ever be a reliable player. It flies in the face of what they have known, for the most part. I suspect that this is particularly true for Boston fans and writers, because they were so spoiled by Larry Bird. When Larry came into the league, he was like Dave Cowens, only he was much better than Dave Cowens, and this was right away. And the thing is, people today forget how great a player Cowens was. Cowens was a truly great player, and in some ways, he changed the game as much as anyone, I would say. Cowens is seen today as a lumbering dufus, but he was a very athletic player, and a very skilled player, with a great understanding of the game as a whole. He was a forerunner of today's versatile big man. He could play anywhere on the floor, on both ends. He didn't particularly like to switch off onto a guard, but he wasn't afraid of them, nor was he afraid at all to bang bodies in the paint. In fact, he did that with a zest that one never sees today. One year he led the team in all major statistical categories. This has very rarely been done. It was a tribute to Cowen's wide-ranging skills. Inside, outside, passing, shooting, defending, rebounding, etc. Cowens had a short career, but it was as brilliant as any career has been, just about. Even so, Bird was better, a lot better, and you could see it all right away. Compare that to Rondo. If Allen Iverson was The Answer, Rondo is The Question. I guess a lot of folks don't want a question. They want a sure thing. You see this, I think, as the deeper reason behind all the fake reasons haters give for not liking Rondo. They want the next Larry, or the next Lebron, which I suppose accounts for the fixation on Wiggins. I guess I'm made a little different, though. I like a sure thing, but I love a bit of mystery .... and maybe that's partly because I realize that most sure things only become sure things in retrospect. Even Rondo's biggest fans recognize that, for Danny to be able to build another championship team around him, he will have to step up in a number of ways. He will have to recover fully from his injury, and he will have to show that he can play hard more consistently, while also avoiding the injuries that have plagued him over the past several years, starting with 2010-2011's plantar-fascitis. He will have to show that he can score more consistently, and that he can keep defenses honest by shooting more effectively from middle and long distances, while continuing to run the offense and assist at a high rate, but without dominating the ball quite so much. Perhaps most importantly, Rondo will have to lead on the defensive end. Our guard corps has to be the defensive backbone of this team. Rondo has to lead by example, picking and choosing when to roam and when to dig in, when to press and when to loosen up, and so on. If Rondo plays hard on D, the rest of the team will follow, and we may have a backcourt of legendary prowess. But Rondo must also lead vocally on defense, as the player who knows what the other team is running better than they do, as a player who understands the concept of team defense better than anyone. Above all, Rondo must show that he can pick his spots when it comes to creating ruckus, and he must show that he can build an constructive relationship with Stevens, where he does not either kowtow to Stevens, nor run roughshod over Stevens. It must be a partnership.But I think the defensive end is where we will see it next year, if Rondo is fully recovered and truly ready to lead. I think Shawn and rcraig have also talked about this. C'slife 12:31 AM on July 31, 2013 " If Allen Iverson was The Answer, Rondo is The Question." Love that line, and your point about the sure thing is genius. Why didn't I put that together sooner. 1:35 AM on July 31, 2013 A lot of people are sold that Rondo can't lead this team to banner 18, and all I have to say is that he don't care about what u think. 2:43 AM on July 31, 2013 Thankyou C'slife - I thought that was pretty good - The Answer vs The Question! It's not just that there are so many questions about just how good Rondo can be. There's also something about the uncanny element in his game, and the way that you never quite know what he is going to do, and it might be awful sometimes, but it might be just amazing sometimes, even spellbinding. 2:47 AM on July 31, 2013 Greg says...A lot of people are sold that Rondo can't lead this team to banner 18, and all I have to say is that he don't care about what u think. They mystify me. I spoke too soon about anti-Rondo folks at CelticsBlog finally quieting down. They are at it again - it seems they'd take almost any good pg in the league over Rondo. This kind of crap flabbergasts me sometimes. For God's sake, the guy is plainly a great player, who at his best transcends anyone playing pg today, and begs comparison with the greats of all time, a point that other greats - such as Magic, Cousy and Archibald - would clearly agree with. I don't know if Rondo can lead us to a championship, but my God, how could riding with Rondo not be a chance well worth taking?!! Do folks even watch the games ever?! Do they just go by PER or something?! Do you not recognize greatness when you see it people? 2:57 AM on July 31, 2013 Rondo has a lot to prove this year. He has a lot of questions to answer. There's so much about him that remains hard to evaluate, hard to take the measure of. Building around him is a risk. But damn, ten times out of ten I would make that choice to build around him, and I wouldn't hesitate either. Rondo clearly is a player with very, very special gifts, with loads of greatness. We are amazingly lucky to have him, to have the chance to try to build a championship team around him. There are no guarantees, but there never are. But you don't miss a chance like this. Rondo has that gift, that special crazy that is something to do with genius, the thing that Russell had, that Cowens had, that Bird had, that KG has. He's got it. It's the thing that you've got to have. 11:00 AM on July 31, 2013 @paul, too many young folks who get to use the internet. They have this videos game like mindset. 2:03 PM on July 31, 2013 Franklin says...@paul, too many young folks who get to use the internet. They have this videos game like mindset. It's such an interesting point, Franklin. Life drained of its mysteries.

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