An MMA fight in Michigan over the weekend had to be stopped when a fighter began throwing up in the middle of the ring mid-round. That’s your warning, turn back now if you don’t want to see it.
The fighters were both clearly tired and possibly dehydrated, judging from the video, and it’s tough to know how you can continue a fight when one guy is covering the mat in puke — so the ref called the fight. Smart move.
Unfortunately it was the first fight of the evening. Hopefully there was a good cleanup crew.
Between the Scot McCloughan firing and the bungled Kirk Cousins negotiations, it’s been yet another offseason of turmoil in D.C.
Sometimes it feels like the Washington NFL franchise is allergic to organizational stability. In 2015, they won the NFC East title, found their franchise quarterback of the future, and had a highly regarded general manager, Scot McCloughan, building a rock-solid roster. Head coach Jay Gruden helped develop Kirk Cousins into a good quarterback, a fortunate turn of luck for a franchise still reeling from the Robert Griffin III flameout.
Although Washington missed the playoffs last season, things were looking up, or so it seemed.
But the good feelings couldn’t last, because Dan Snyder’s operation is driven to drama and dysfunction like flies to trash. McCloughan got fired amidst an ugly power struggle, leading to Bruce Allen taking the reins. Cousins is almost certainly on the way out after the team failed to sign him to a long-term deal — he’s stuck playing under the franchise tag for the second straight year. Several key pieces left in free agency and offensive coordinator Sean McVay took the head coaching job with the Los Angeles Rams.
This is not to say that all hope is lost — there’s still a lot of talent on this team, Gruden is a quality coach, and if Cousins keeps exceeding expectations they should be on the fringes of playoff contention. However, the front-office turmoil and lack of long-term vision remains a persistent problem with this franchise, one that won’t be going away any time soon.
What happened to McCloughan?
A respected talent evaluator going back to his days with the Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and San Francisco 49ers, McCloughan got his big break in 2015 when Washington hired him as general manager. Under his watch, the team went 9-7 in 2015 and 8-7-1 last season, barely missing the playoffs after a Week 17 loss to the New York Giants.
Whatever the exact details were, it seems pretty obvious that McCloughan was locked in a power struggle with Allen, a battle he ultimately lost. Allen served as the GM from 2010-14 before being given the title of team president. He reportedly clashed with McCloughan multiple times and things came to a head this offseason. Now McCloughan is gone and it appears that Allen is calling the shots again, presumably getting what he wanted all along.
If this all seems bizarre and petty, well, that’s business as usual in D.C.
Was told late in the season of jealousy up top and how they'd one day use McCloughan drinking as an excuse to can him. Exactly what happened
Cousins might actually be a pretty good quarterback, after all. Largely considered an afterthought in the 2012 NFL Draft, Cousins went in the fourth round and was expected to just back up Griffin. But when injuries and coaching dysfunction derailed RGIII’s career, Cousins stepped up to the starting role and acquitted himself fairly well.
Turnovers are still a big concern for Cousins — he has 42 interceptions in 46 games and lost 24 fumbles. However, he’s otherwise been an efficient passer with occasional flashes of greatness. In 2016, Cousins set a new career high with 4,917 passing yards, while averaging 8.1 yards per attempt, completing 67 percent of his passes, and putting up a 97.2 QB Rating.
His season did end on a sour note, throwing a back-breaking late interception to cost Washington a playoff spot, but for the most part Cousins is worth committing to as a starting quarterback. There are plenty of teams who would to have someone at his level, and pay him like a franchise guy.
Now here’s the catch: Washington hasn’t committed to Cousins for the long term. They gave him the franchise tag last offseason, which made sense at the time — hedge your bets in case Cousins turns back into a pumpkin. But after another solid season, Washington still couldn’t lock up Cousins to a multi-year deal. He got the tag for a second time and the July 17 deadline came and went with no new contract.
One of the biggest sticking points, at least on Cousins’ end, was the guaranteed money. Although the offer Washington made public contained $53 million in guarantees, it’s barely more than what Cousins would’ve already earned with the franchise tag money. He made $19.953 million last year and will take home $23.943 million this season. He’s now set to be a free agent next offseason, and if Washington tags him a third time, his salary will balloon to well over $30 million. Cousins owns the leverage now, and Washington only has itself to blame.
Though Cousins said that he’s open to returning to Washington, let’s be realistic — he’s probably gone. The 49ers are the most obvious candidate for Cousins’ services next year, especially since Kyle Shanahan took the head coaching job. The two have a history together with Shanahan being Cousins’ offensive coordinator from 2012-13, so it’s a natural fit. Other QB-needy teams like the New York Jets and Cleveland Browns will have plenty of salary cap space to afford Cousins’ contract. If Washington doesn’t tag him again, he’ll be the most coveted quarterback on the open market next spring.
In essence, Washington handed Cousins around $43 million in two years, threw him under the bus for doing so, and likely won’t have anything to show for it. That’s not good, especially with no in-house options to replace Cousins. The only other quarterbacks on the roster are Colt McCoy and Nate Sudfeld. Unless we’re still trying to make McCoy happen in 2018, what’s the plan here? What is Washington trying to accomplish by alienating Cousins, who is still the 2017 starter?
There’s a slight chance Washington could get one of the top QBs in next year’s draft — like Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, or Josh Rosen — but it’s a long shot at best. Unless things fall apart, this roster isn’t bad enough to secure a top-10 pick, and if they can’t swing a trade like they did grab RG3 five years ago, they don’t have a lot of options left.
It didn’t have to be this way, but thanks to the team’s hardline stance with Cousins’ contract, their situation under center is completely up in the air. But for the moment, Cousins is still here, so let’s take a look at his supporting cast.
Lots of turnover at wide receiver
Last year’s leading receivers for Washington were DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon. Neither is on the team anymore, with both men bolting in free agency. That’s kind of a problem.
In fairness, WR isn’t a total black hole like you might expect. Washington signed Terrelle Pryor, who impressed in his first full season as a receiver with the Cleveland Browns. Pryor only signed a one-year deal, so he’ll have to prove that 2016 wasn’t a fluke. (For what it’s worth, Pryor and Cousins have already developed good chemistry.)
The rest of the pass-catching unit has promise but is largely unproven and injury-prone. Playing next to Pryor will be Jamison Crowder, who had a quiet breakout season with seven touchdowns and figures to play a larger role in the offense. Josh Doctson’s rookie season was mostly wiped out by a lingering Achilles injury, but the 2016 first-round pick stayed healthy through OTAs and still has a lot of upside.
Jordan Reed remains one of the league’s premier tight ends, but he simply can’t escape the injury bug — a concussion and shoulder ailment limited him to 12 games last year. Washington needs him to stay on the field because he is Cousins’ most reliable red zone weapon, with 17 touchdowns over the last two years.
The running game is something of a muddled picture right now. Rob Kelley usurped Matt Jones as the starter last year, but he’ll be pushed by fourth-round rookie Samaje Perine, while Chris Thompson returns as the pass-catching back. Despite playing second fiddle to Joe Mixon at the University of Oklahoma, Perine was impressive in his own right and could have a clear path to the starting job if he outplays Kelley in training camp and preseason.
Defense was a clear weakness, but there’s room for growth
Washington’s defense could be best described as “it exists.” Despite boasting some star power, this unit was mediocre at best in 2016. Washington ranked 28th in yards allowed, 19th in points allowed, and 25th in DVOA, with Pro Football Focus ranking the secondary at No. 21 heading into this season.
There were some bright spots, to be sure. Washington won the Josh Norman sweepstakes after the Carolina Panthers rescinded his franchise tag. He wasn’t quite as good as his 2015 All-Pro campaign, but Norman is still one of the better cornerbacks in football. Linebacker Ryan Kerrigan earned his second Pro Bowl trip with 11 sacks, and Trent Murphy had nine of his own. Bashaud Breeland recovered from early-season struggles to be a capable No. 2 cornerback.
Washington went out of its way to upgrade defense in the offseason. Defensive tackle was a particular point of emphasis, with the team signing Stacy McGee and Terrell McClain in free agency, and drafting Jonathan Allen in the first round. They also addressed their secondary with free agent safety D.J. Swearinger, third-round cornerback Fabian Moreau, and fourth-round safety Montae Nicholson.
The team also ousted defensive coordinator Joe Barry, promoting linebackers coach Greg Manusky to replace him.
There are a lot of new faces, but with better injury luck and growth from the young players, this defense should be much better than the unit that got burned way too many times last season.
Where does the team go from here?
It’s been yet another chaotic offseason, but at the end of the day, Washington still has football games to play. As far as 2017 goes, it wouldn’t be surprising if this team makes a playoff push — they’re only two years removed from a division title and have some quality playmakers.
But in a division that keeps getting better and more competitive, Washington cannot afford any backslides. The Dallas Cowboys found their own franchise QB in Dak Prescott, the New York Giants made a quick turnaround, and the Philadelphia Eagles could be back in the mix if Carson Wentz is the real deal. Washington doesn’t have the easy path it did in 2015, when 9-7 was enough to win the NFC East. The stakes are much higher this time.
Of course, the real questions start piling up after 2017. What does this team do after Cousins is gone? They have several other key players (Pryor, DeAngelo Hall, Zach Brown, Murphy) hitting free agency next year, with no guarantee that all of them will stay. How many of them follow Jackson and Garcon out the door to avoid the constant drama?
It wasn’t that long ago that Washington had a franchise QB and tantalizing potential, only to see the whole thing implode over in-fighting and power struggles. They got lucky with Cousins waiting in the wings after RGIII’s demise, but with Cousins almost certainly leaving, they once again have more questions than answers. This franchise seems destined to repeat the same mistakes over and over again.
All the trade rumors and completed deals in one convenient place.
The non-waiver trade deadline is July 31, and even if every whispered potential deal won’t come to pass, you still need to be able to keep up with said whispers just in case they do. That’s where we come in, as we’ll keep track of not just the completed trades, but any rumors out there worth paying attention to.
But we still don’t know whether AHL players on two-way NHL contracts will be eligible.
AHL players signed to minor league contracts will be eligible to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics, reports Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press. The news clears up one question while opening others as the fallout continues from the NHL’s decision not to participate in the upcoming games in Pyeongchang.
A memo sent to the teams on Wednesday informed them that players on AHL contracts can be loaned to national teams in February “for the purposes of participating in the Pyeongchang Olympics,” as confirmed to Whyno by league president David Andrews.
The loan period announced by the AHL runs from Feb. 5-26. The Olympic men’s ice hockey tournament is set to begin Feb. 9, with the gold medal game scheduled for Feb. 25.
The other key information to note here is that the memo only referred to players on AHL contracts. The status of players on NHL contracts who are assigned to the AHL remains uncertain at this time.
A CBC report on Wednesday said that AHL players on two-way NHL contracts would be allowed to participate in the Olympics, but NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly denied that to Whyno. Apparently no final determination has been made for how the league will handle players on two-way contracts who want to play in the Olympics.
Players on one-way NHL contracts will not be allowed to participate in the Olympics barring an unexpected change in the league’s stance.
AHL players could help provide depth to the U.S. and Canadian national teams, which will lose most of their best options as a result of the NHL’s absence from the Olympics. The brief loan period will complicate matters, however, as players will not be able to participate in exhibitions if they conflict with their professional duties.
So if Team Canada wants, say, Rockford IceHogs defenseman and 2016 OHL defenseman of the year Darren Raddysh, who is on an AHL deal right now, it’ll have to hold that spot for him without having him play in any games with the team beforehand. The Blackhawks, Rockford’s NHL affiliate, could also sign Raddysh to an NHL deal before February, which would make him ineligible.
But as the U.S. and Canada try to ice competitive teams for the Olympics even without the NHL, they’ll need all the help they can get. We already know the Russian national team will be loaded with stars from the KHL, and Sweden can still mine the SHL for talent. For North America’s teams, AHL players on AHL contracts will be one option.
In the immortal words of the Rolling Stones, you can’t always get what you want.
Le’Veon Bell is stuck with the franchise tag after he and the Steelers were unable to work out a long-term deal. One of the sticking points for Bell is that he wants to be paid for what he really contributes on the ground and as a receiver.
He’s got a point. Last season, he was sidelined for three games for missing a drug test, but he still led the team in rushing yards with 1,268. He was also second on the team for receiving yards with 616 and contributed nine total touchdowns.
"I'm arguably the top running back in the NFL and the No. 2 receiver on the Steelers, even though I play running back,” Bell said, via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “Their career receiving total vs. mine, they don't have more yards than me."
That breaks down to an average of $15.7 million per year. Bell will make $12.1 million this year under the franchise tag. McCoy’s per-year average is the next-highest in the NFL, and he’s making right around $8 million.
Keep going down the list of the league’s top-paid running backs and second receivers. Doug Martin’s deal pays him, on average, $7.1 million per year. Lamar Miller’s average annual payout is $6.5 million. The Lions, before Calvin Johnson retired, made a deal with Marvin Jones to be their No. 2 receiver for an average of $8 million per season. Atlanta’s Mohamed Sanu gets an average of $6.5 million per year.
You don’t have to go very far down the pay scale for top running backs and No. 2 wide receivers until the combined amount gets into the ballpark of Bell’s current one-year payout of $12.1 million on the franchise tag.
The Steelers reportedly offered Bell a five-year deal with a total of $42 million over the first three seasons, but that amount was not guaranteed. Bell opted for the tag instead.
So now it’s on Bell to demonstrate his worth as a rusher and a receiver this season. However, $15 million, or more, per year still feels like a stretch.
Bell carries some risk. He’s missed 14 regular season games over the past two years due to a combination of injuries and suspensions.
He’ll be 26 next spring, and his next contract should carry him through his 30th birthday, the age when running backs historically start to slow down.
The young blueliner is signed until the 2021-22 season.
The St. Louis Blues came to terms with 24-year-old defenseman Colton Parayko on a five-year, $27.5 million deal, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. The deal comes out to an average annual cap hit of $5.5 million.
Parayko was in the last year of his entry-level deal, so this new five-year contract will start next season and run until the 2021-22 when the young defenseman will be 29 years old.
In 81 games played last season, Parayko had 35 points as one of the Blues’ premiere defensemen. He projects to be a member of the St. Louis defensive core for years to come, and his skill set is well liked by many. In his rookie season in 2015-16, Parayko put up 33 points in 79 games.
The Blues and Parayko were headed to arbitration Thursday morning, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as the two sides were stuck on the financials. Reportedly, the Blues submitted two separate two-year deals of $3.4 million and $3.6 million each and Parayko countered with $4.85 million for one year. The deal struck Thursday is $650,000 more than Parayko’s ask, meaning the Blues likely settled for a higher AAV to get the young defenseman locked into a longer deal.
After the deal, the Blues have a projected $3.08 million in cap space to deal with for the 2017-18 season with just a few RFAs remaining to sign, according to Cap Friendly.
For more coverage on the Parayko signing, check out our St. Louis Blues blog at St. Louis Game Time.
The Panthers are progressing nicely, but this season is probably a bump in the road.
In my North Carolina preview, I mentioned how Larry Fedora had the unstable program achieving at a strangely normal rate. The Tar Heels are now recruiting and playing at a top-30 level. They cannot be called underachievers.
Narduzzi has pulled off a similar feat.
It felt like I was bringing it up in the Pitt preview every year just to twist the knife: the Panthers had, over the course of two decades, experienced brutal close-game luck.
Since Johnny Majors retired and Walt Harris took over, Pitt has had a winning record in one-possession games just five times and has been at least two games under .500 in such games nine times. In this nearly two-decade sample, the Panthers are 35-53 in these contests, a 0.397 win percentage.
The Panthers have managed to attend 13 bowls and share two conference titles in these 18 years. If these demons that have taken over Heinz Field ever relinquish their powers, Pitt could easily become an annual ACC Coastal contender.
I wrote in 2015 that bringing in a guy who helped kill the “Sparty, No!” meme was a deft one.
Baggage: shed. Sort of. Narduzzi is still struggling to get his classes balanced and takes on a massive rebuild of the two-deep, but not only have his Panthers reminded everyone of the program’s upside, they’ve finally won their share of close games.
Pitt is 7-7 in one-possession finishes over the last two years. For this program, that feels like 14-0. Last year they beat two Power 5 champions — Penn State early and national champ Clemson in November — by a combined four points. They were two of the most exciting, symbolic Pitt wins of the last decade. They survived shootouts with Georgia Tech (37-34) and Syracuse (76-61) and finished 20th in S&P+, their best finish in seven years. They fielded maybe their best offense since Dan Marino was quarterback. They took on a brutal schedule, one featuring six S&P+ top-25 teams, and landed punches.
There were still regrets, though.
There was the 45-38 loss to Oklahoma State, which could have been a win with one fewer deep-ball breakdown.
There was the 37-36 loss at UNC, in which the Tar Heels scored the winning touchdown with two seconds left.
There was the 39-36 loss to Virginia Tech, which could have flipped if the Panthers had managed a minus-2 turnover margin instead of minus-3.
There was the 31-24 bowl loss to Northwestern, which could have flipped had the Panthers held NU’s Justin Jackson to 150 rushing yards or so instead of 224.
2016 was huge. But the Panthers still left wins on the board, and despite the top-20 S&P+ finish, they ended 8-5. The demons aren’t vanquished just yet, and last year’s pangs might feel a little stronger as Narduzzi attempts a third-year rebuild.
Pitt has to replace star running back James Conner, quarterback Nathan Peterman, tight end Scott Orndoff, All-American guard Dorian Johnson, all-conference tackle Adam Bisnowaty, four of five defensive linemen (including Ejuan Price and Shakir Soto), three of four linebackers, and three of five defensive backs. Plus, Canada leaves Watson with nearly impossible expectations.
The Panthers are not without star power; dynamic rusher/receiver Henderson is back, as are leading receiver Jester Weah, cornerback Avonte Maddox, and, of course, 2016 Piesman Trophy winner Brian O’Neill. And if some high-profile transfers find niches, Pitt will have more than enough talent to challenge good teams.
Still, it’s going to be nearly impossible to match last year’s upside, and Pitt’s success might end up defining how we look back at 2016. Was it the year a corner was turned, or was it a year of dramatic upside and too many missed opportunities?
From a symbolism standpoint, you could do worse than this:
Narduzzi is 16-10 after two years, ranked 20th in S&P+ in his second year. He faces a third-year setback.
Mentor Mark Dantonio at Michigan State: 16-10 in his first two years, 23rd in S&P+ in year two, and 6-7 in year three.
Beginning in year four, Dantonio went 65-16 over his next six seasons.
The offense was not only good; it got better against better teams. Unfortunately, the defense was demonstrably worse.
Pitt vs. S&P+ top 50 (3-5): Avg. percentile performance: 68% (80% offense, 36% defense) | Avg. yards per play: Opp 6.6, Pitt 6.5 | Avg. score: Opp 40, Pitt 36
Pitt vs. everyone else (5-0): Avg. percentile performance: 78% (60% offense, 54% defense) | Avg. yards per play: Pitt 7.0, Opp 4.9 | Avg. score: Pitt 50, Opp 28
Against top-50 competition, the offense averaged just 0.4 yards per play fewer than it did against lesser squads, but the defense allowed 1.7 yards per play more. As a result, Pitt games were virtually guaranteed shootouts; only the first and last games of the season finished with fewer than 70 combined points. Not what one would expect from either Pitt or a Narduzzi team.
The most encouraging thing I can say about Watson is that Canada hadn’t proved himself before coming to town either. In nine seasons as a coordinator, Canada had never fielded an Off. S&P+ top 20 offense, and his average finish was 51.9. His first Pitt offense was 46th before his second surged to fourth.
Watson’s track record hasn’t been sterling either. Including his time at Texas — even though he was technically QBs coach and associate head coach, he was at worst a co-coordinator in Charlie Strong’s strange arrangement — he has spent 15 years as an OC with an average Off. S&P+ ranking of 45.7. Since ranking in the top 10 in 2007-08 at Nebraska, that average has ballooned to 64.9. At Louisville, with Teddy Bridgewater at QB, he peaked at 47th in 2013.
Narduzzi and Watson worked together at Miami (Ohio) 25 years ago, and apparently the bond was a good one.
For his struggles as an OC, Watson is still regarded as a good quarterbacks coach. In Peterman’s absence, the Panthers turn to either USC grad transfer Max Browne or sophomore Ben DiNucci. Whereas Peterman averaged 15.4 yards per completion in last year’s explosive offense, Browne and DiNucci combined to average just 8.6. And creating explosiveness will be a key now that Conner, a wonderful grinder in the backfield, is gone.
Photo by Justin Berl/Getty ImagesQuadree Henderson
Then again, you don’t have to throw deep to Henderson for him to end up going deep. The 5’8 junior was one of the most thrilling players in the country, gaining 631 rushing yards in just 60 carries. One in five carries went for at least 20 yards, and while he lined up all over the field (he was also targeted with 42 passes), it appears he will begin as Pitt’s No. 1 receiver.
That leaves relative unknowns at running back, but there’s size and upside. Sophomore Chawntez Moss (5’11, 210) and juniors Darrin Hall (5’11, 220) and Qadree Ollison (6’2, 230) combined for 111 carries and 514 yards in 2016. That’s an average of just 4.6 yards per carry, 0.5 below Conner’s pace, but while Conner was far more explosive, this trio was actually more efficient. Plus, two incoming freshmen — Todd Sibley Jr. (5’9, 215) and A.J. Davis (6’0, 205) — are four-star prospects per the 247Sports Composite.
There’s quite a bit of potential in the backfield, and there’s even more up front. Losing Johnson and Bisnowaty hurts, but Piesman-winner O’Neill was a third-team all-conference selection, guards Alex Officer and Alex Bookser have combined for 51 career starts, and size won’t be a problem: the 10 players on the OL two-deep average 6’5, 319. Combined with the bigger backs, that’s quite a bit of meat.
Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty ImagesBrian O'Neill
The receiving corps could be a thrill as long as Weah and Henderson don’t get hurt.
Weah’s return gives the Panthers one sure big-play threat. He was one of the nation’s most underrated receivers, combining a 24.2 yards-per-catch average with a 51 percent success rate. He caught fewer than three passes per game but still nearly finished with 900 receiving yards. Henderson was a nice possession option near the line of scrimmage. The tight end position, meanwhile, has quite a bit of potential as well between four-star sophomore Chris Clark, senior Devon Edwards, Rutgers transfer Matt Flanagan, and incoming four-star Charles Reeves Jr.
Size isn’t an issue here either. Weah is 6’3, backup sophomore Aaron Mathews 6’4, and Reeves is listed at a whopping 6’5, 280.
A single injury could be devastating, though. After Weah and Henderson, Mathews, sophomore Maurice Ffrench, and junior Rafael Araujo-Lopes combined for just nine catches last year.
Defense
The offense has potential, but there’s almost nowhere to go but down. That means the defense will have to pick up the slack. Easier said than done.
A Narduzzi defense is nothing if not aggressive. He is willing to give up big plays in the name of making some. He wants to force college players to make plays college players typically can’t, and that’s great as long as he has the personnel. But his first two Pitt defenses ranked just 50th and 62nd in Def. S&P+. Last year’s Panthers made plays up front but gave up too many big plays; meanwhile, the pass defense was strangely conservative (and still gave up too many big plays).
Pitt allowed 213 gains of 10-plus yards (120th in FBS) and 24 of 40-plus (121st). And that was with Price and Soto up front. That duo combined for 33 tackles for loss and 17.5 sacks, and of the nine players to record at least 4.5 TFLs last season, six are gone.
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsRori Blair
The end position still has plenty of potential. Rori Blair and Allen Edwards combined for seven TFLs as complementary pieces, and four-star Tennessee transfer Dewayne Hendrix had a good enough spring to be listed as a starter. But there’s a massive void at DT, where the three leading tacklers are gone.
Shane Roy and Amir Watts combined for 6 tackles, and that’s the extent of your experience in the middle. Big things are expected of four-star redshirt freshman Keyshon Camp, but he’s still a redshirt freshman. There’s still plenty of size here, thanks to players like junior Mike Herndon (6’4, 315) and incoming freshman Jalen Twyman (6’2, 315), but there are no proven pieces.
There aren’t many at linebacker either; junior Oluwaseun Idowu is the only of last year’s top four tacklers to return, though senior Quintin Wirginis and sophomore Saleem Brightwell showed some potential in backup roles.
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY SportsAvonte Maddox
Last year, opponents had to be wary of the run defense and took to the air. They ran just 49 percent of the time on standard downs (123rd in FBS) and 24 percent on passing downs (126th), a sign that there wasn’t much fear of the secondary. Maddox took advantage of the extra attention, combining for 8.5 TFLs and 11 passes defensed, but opponents still completed 64 percent of their passes with a 143.6 passer rating. Pitt basically turned every quarterback into Washington State’s Luke Falk (145.6).
Opposite Maddox will be some combination of sophomores Dane Jackson, Damar Hamllin, and Malik Henderson, junior Phillipie Motley, and redshirt freshman Therran Coleman. Blue-chip freshman Paris Ford could help, but he needs to secure his eligibility first.
Safety was less of an issue last year, but it remains unsure. Free safety Jordan Whitehead returns, and junior Dennis Briggs had 2.5 TFLs and a breakup and might be a play-maker. But once again, if someone gets hurt, there’s almost nothing proven after them.
Special Teams
Chris Blewitt made the biggest field goal of his life against Clemson but still left something to be desired from a consistency standpoint. Pitt ranked just 85th in field goal efficiency, and while punter Ryan Winslow’s leg was strong (42.6 average), the Panthers ranked just 103rd in punt efficiency because of an eight-yard return average.
When you grade poorly in those, you’re going to grade poorly in Special Teams S&P+. Pitt ranked 81st, losing about 0.4 points per game, despite Henderson’s superhuman averages (30.5 yards per kick return, 15.8 yards per punt return, four combined touchdowns). Winslow is back, but Blewitt is replaceable, and Pitt isn’t likely to fall further here.
Ten years ago, Pitt pulled one of its biggest upsets ever, when a team that had lost seven of its last nine games went to Morgantown and took down No. 2 West Virginia, 13-9.
It was the biggest possible rivalry move — we can’t make anything of our season, but we’re going to destroy yours — and it was a springboard. Pitt went 19-7 over the next two seasons, their best two-year win total since 1981-82.
It’s hard to imagine that happening again following last year’s PSU and Clemson wins. The Panthers just have too much to replace. And that’s fine — sometimes it takes a while to get your classes balanced, and Narduzzi’s mentor experienced a third-year blip before he got rolling at Michigan State.
But as with UNC, newfound normalcy will be tested by a 2017 blip. If Pitt manages a top-40 performance and wins seven or eight games, that could set up a nice run in 2018 and beyond. This team doesn’t have many seniors, after all.
In the increasingly talented ACC, a top-40 performance could take on a lot of looks in the win column. S&P+ projects Pitt 33rd, which means three likely wins (Youngstown State, Rice, Virginia), one likely loss (at Penn State), and a whopping eight relative tossups with win probability between 37 and 59 percent. Pitt has played 14 one-possession games in two years; unless the Panthers fall further than expected, that average probably won’t go down.
That means 4-8 and 10-2 are technically on the table, depending on the bounces that eluded the Panthers for so many years.
Jason Day’s choice of leggings during Thursday’s crisp opener of the British Open offered yet another example of the double standard facing women in sports.
Players sported all manner of cold-weather clothing (how ‘bout that Under Armour armless sweater, Jordan Spieth!).
So in on Spieth this week. The bulletproof vest, all of it.
“What’s he wearing, his joggers?” Faldo wondered as Day prepared to hit his approach from the right rough on the par-4 third hole early into his first round.
Funny, that — unless you’re a woman on the LPGA who has just been informed by the fashionista police that the leg warmers Rickie Fowler regularly wears are absolutely forbidden in any tour event.
“Joggers are NOT allowed,” reads a line in an email to Golf Digest from the dress-code overlords, who, as of July 17, prohibit women golfers from competing in plunging necklines, leggings or short skirts, and workout gear.
While the strictures against what male pro golfers may wear have loosened considerably over the years — what with collarless polos increasingly making the scene on the PGA Tour, men in shorts during European Tour practice rounds, and John Daly’s Loudmouth couture — restricting how women express themselves fashion-wise seems positively retro and disrespectful.
No such limitations for men, who are rather unlikely to tee it up dressed in skorts or racerbacks. And it should be noted that LPGA players like Stacy Lewis and the flamboyant Christina Kim have no problem with the new mandate.
But joggers? Really, LPGA?
The only problem Sands had with Day’s britches was whether they could withstand the brisk temperatures at Royal Birkdale.
“Seems like his ankles would be a little chilly out there,” observed Sands, who was mighty impressed when Day nailed the shot, landing it neatly below the pin.
“Keeps hitting shots like that, he can wear whatever he wants,” he opined.
Nike, by the way, would prefer that Day’s “joggers” be called “flex pants.”
Taking a look at the online battle that almost certainly dominates the 2017-18 Premier League.
"In hindsight, we should have seen something coming. Lukaku going to Chelsea, then — surprise! — joining United. Morata set for United, then picked up by Chelsea. It was always going to be a mess."
Alan Nonymous looks bitterly into the grey Manchester sky. His hand shakes as he sips his coffee, and my eye is drawn to a network of scars on the back of his left hand. He sees me looking, and smiles ruefully, before taking me back to the beginning of what would become one of the strangest conflicts in recent history.
"There were even jokes about it, during preseason. That running tally of goals during friendly matches, everybody going back and forth online. It was funny. Well, some of it. Then opening day happened, and it all suddenly … exploded."
On Saturday 12 August 2017, Alvaro Morata, who had moved from Real Madrid to Chelsea for around £60m, made his first competitive start for the club at home against Burnley. Though he played well, and looked busy, he didn't score. The following day, Romelu Lukaku made his first competitive start for Manchester United at home to West Ham. He scored. Twice.
According to Sue Donym, sports editor of a major tabloid newspaper, "It didn't matter that Joe Hart, West Ham's new goalkeeper, was probably at fault for both goals, or that United didn't look particularly good. It was exactly what we wanted. One of them to score, and the other to draw a blank."
With United having spent all summer stringing Morata along, only to suddenly gazump Chelsea, and with Chelsea having to swing back to Morata as a result, the press smelled an opportunity.
"We went pretty big, of course we did. MOR-LIKE-A-WASTE-OF-MONEY-ATA, after the Burnley game. And then, LUKA-COOL-AS-YOU-LIKE. We did some comedy photoshops and published a couple of slightly overheated opinion pieces. And then I went home."
Four hours later, after a frantic call from her boss, Donym was back in the office. What the press hadn't realised was that the Lukuku-Morata transfer was the spark that would set the internet ablaze.
"The photoshops, and those opinion pieces — within hours, they were the most viewed pieces on our website for the months. Within 24 hours, they were among the most viewed on the website ever. Ever. It was astounding. And the comments … the numbers went surging up in real time."
Alison Lias, professor of media studies at the University of West Anglia, believes that a perfect set of circumstances kicked off the perfect storm. "So first of all, you had two extremely large transfers, both to clubs who desperately needed a striker. We had already begun to see that online interest in football actively increased between seasons, thanks to transfer rumours, and these were two huge examples.
Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images
"Then you had all the other stuff. Which player was the first choice of which club? There were stories that [Chelsea's then-manager] Antonio Conte had been texting Lukaku almost up until he joined United, and equally, there were stories that United preferred Morata but got fed up with waiting for Madrid to lower their price. Naturally, all this manifested itself in questions about the players' ability: is Lukaku just a flat track bully? Does Morata do everything except score goals? And the biggest question of all: why had the other club got it wrong?
"The whole thing coalesced into a multi-faceted flame war that boiled down, at heart, to 'yeah, well, we didn't even fancy him anyway.’ And as everybody knows, there’s no position that has to be defended so strongly."
The argument quickly spilled over from the comments sections of sports websites and football-specific Twitter into everything else. By the time Christmas rolled around, with Lukaku leading Morata by 11 goals to 9, nowhere on the internet was safe. Facebook threads would start with a heartwarming video of a cat confused by a mirror and end, 300 comments later, with families torn apart over Lukaku’s possibly-dodgy first touch.
Everybody was sucked in. Football fans that didn't care about either side still found themselves wading into arguments. Even people with no interest in football found themselves angrily taking sides. One individual, who we'll call Monica, confessed to spending "night after night trolling through various computer game forums, insisting that Morata's off-the-ball work was more beneficial to the team as a whole than Lukaku's goalhanging. I didn't watch football then. I don't now."
By February, when Morata overtook Lukaku's tally for the first time, the ongoing row was threatening Britain's online infrastructure. Twitter in the UK began to experience outages at weekends. Bans were evaded with anonymous, temporary accounts with names like @BigRom420 or @Moratology. Google searches were redirecting to football stats pages. On Facebook, various filters and blocking mechanisms were unable to stem the tide.
It's probably fair to conclude that the press didn't help. Or perhaps, couldn't help themselves. In a world driven by clicks and page impressions, publishing something — anything — relating to Lukaku, Morata, or both, was like injecting steroids into the numbers.
"Take viral articles about Neymar during the World Cup in Brazil, then double, triple, quadruple the numbers," recalls Donym. "It was astonishing. Nobody cared what the piece said, nobody cared if it was exaggerated, hysterical, or barely coherent. They just wanted to look at it, and then argue underneath it."
I asked her if she regretted her newspaper's contributions to the conflagration. "No. Not in the slightest. We were just giving the people what they wanted."
Even that piece about Lukaku buying more Capri Sun than Morata?
"Look, it's not on us that they just wanted ammunition."
In March, following an adorable but futile attempt by Arsenal fans to somehow shoehorn Alexander Lacazette into the debate, things came to a head. With vast swathes of the internet virtually unusable, Britain's Conservative government introduced far-reaching legislation that severely limited internet access throughout the country. All major newspapers closed down their comments sections completely, except for the Guardian. And Mourinho and Conte released a joint video statement, though Mourinho was later accused by a Chelsea official of reading his lines "sarcastically.”
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
It's unclear how many actually saw this video — ironically, the Government's internet filters may have prevented its distribution online — but robbed of its battleground, the war died down. The football itself probably helped: Lukaku finished the season with more goals, 26 to 22; Chelsea fans were able to take consolation from Morata's higher number of assists. But neither Chelsea nor United won a trophy that season, finishing third and fourth in the league respectively. and both players were outscored by three of their peers: Harry Kane, Sergio Aguero, and Player of the Year Jermain Defoe.
Finally, after a brief flurry at the 2018 World Cup, the argument blew itself out over the summer. Conte left Chelsea, and United broke their transfer record again. Most of the articles have now vanished from their respective websites, and the comments sections have been purged. A change of government in the UK has seen the internet restrictions relaxed, and now all that remains are memories, the occasional screengrab, and a strange mutual shame that hangs heavily over football fans from the time. Plus, of course, a few scars.
"I got them after a Lukaku goal, funnily enough." Nonymous chuckles to himself. "He scored, so I turned to my tablet, and the first thing I saw was a Chelsea fan saying he'd shinned it. I just lost control. Punched clean through the thing. Severed everything in my hand there was to sever."
He stands, and shakes his head. "It was a strange time."
The Hokies could win the division again, but it won’t be any easier this time.
No hire is truly a sure thing. You can never know a new coach's fit ahead of time, you don't know which recruiting battles he's going to win and lose, etc. You only know how good he's been in his previous job(s).
Taking over for a legend is never easy, but Beamer did Fuente one final favor by lowering the bar. After winning at least 10 games in a season 13 times in 17 years between 1995-2011, the Hokies had settled into a seven-win existence, going either 7-6 or 8-5 in each of his final four seasons on the job.
Fuente inherits a team with talent and flaws, and he doesn't have to win 10 games right out of the gates. This is a nice arrangement for both parties.
Sometimes a hire inspires thousands of words of thought and exploration. There are so many unique traits for every school and every coach that we never know what will and won’t work out. Even when we think we know for sure, we’re not right. After all, Will Muschamp to Florida was a slam dunk if ever one existed, right?
That said, when Virginia Tech hired Fuente in the winter of 2016-17, it was hard to come up with an opinion more nuanced than, “Yeah, that seems about right.” Fuente had proven himself in turning around Memphis. Virginia Tech had a nice infrastructure and culture, and he was taking over a program that had high, but not too high, expectations.
And while he didn’t have to win 10 games right out of the gates, that’s what he did.
Tech might not’ve been 10-win quality. In terms of post-game win expectancy — which looks at the key stats of a game and says “You could have expected to win this game X percent of the time” — the Hokies won three games (Pitt, Duke, Notre Dame) they probably should have lost while losing just one they should have won (Georgia Tech). But that’s a technicality. In Fuente’s first year, he helped to produce Tech’s best offense in five years while Bud Foster’s defense rebounded to top-20 level.
After falling to 49th and 59th in S&P+, Fuente’s Hokies surged back to 17th. They were mostly great early and good enough later, and they capped the year with a thrilling bowl comeback over Arkansas.
Fuente needed no time to get Virginia Tech looking like Virginia Tech again. But in 2017, Fuente’s program-building abilities will take over. He did nicely with the talent he inherited, but a lot of it is already out the door.
The Hokies are without last year’s top two quarterbacks, three of their top four running backs, three of their top four receiving targets, and two all-conference offensive linemen. Depth has taken a massive hit on offense, and the defensive line will rely on sophomores and juniors after half the two-deep departed.
That’s the bad news. The good news: virtually everybody else in the ACC Coastal is also starting over offensively. Miami and Georgia Tech have new quarterbacks. UNC and Pitt have new everythings. Virginia and Duke enjoy a little continuity, but they both went 1-7 in conference last year.
The Hokies still have a chance to make another division title run. They have to face Clemson as an inter-division opponent, and they have to travel to face primary contender Miami. But if they come up with a more favorable QB solution than the other contenders, they’re probably fine.
Virginia Tech was proof of why the transitive property is a bunch of crap. We like to think “Yeah, but Team A beat Team B, so Team A’s definitely better!” is an important, relevant line of logic. But using that to understand the Hokies’ 2016 just ties you in knots.
Tech wore down Clemson and nearly pulled off a huge comeback in the ACC title game. The Hokies destroyed North Carolina and Miami by a combined 71-19. They outlasted Pitt and Notre Dame on the road. They destroyed every bad team on the schedule.
They also lost to Syracuse by 14 points, at home to Georgia Tech by 10, and by 21 to a Tennessee team worse than North Carolina or Miami.
Tech fared better against top-40 teams than teams ranked between 41st and 80th. Not a lot of sense to be made of that.
VT vs. S&P+ top 40 (4-2): Avg. percentile performance: 69% (~top 40) | Avg. score: VT 34, Opp 29 | Avg. yards per play: Opp 5.6, VT 5.5
VT vs. No. 41-80 (2-2): Avg. percentile performance: 51% (~top 60) | Avg. score: Opp 27, VT 24 | Avg. yards per play: VT 5.5, Opp 5.2
VT vs. No. 81-plus (4-0): Avg. percentile performance: 90% (~top 15) | Avg. score: VT 48, Opp 10 | Avg. yards per play: VT 6.3, Opp 3.8
For Tech’s offense, there was a difference of only about 0.8 yards per play between when the Hokies were playing great or terrible teams.
The range on defense, however, was more like 1.8 yards per play. If the Hokies had an athleticism advantage, you weren’t moving the football. (And if they didn’t have that advantage, you were still only moving the ball so well.)
Wideout Cam Phillips caught 76 balls and averaged 10.1 yards per target with a 59 percent success rate. He should pretty easily pass 200 career receptions in 2017, and he came on strong after a slow start last year — he had 20 catches through six games, then caught 56 over the final eight. He also rushed 30 times for 140 yards.
Running back Travon McMillian led Tech backs with 145 carries and 671 yards. He wasn’t particularly efficient — nobody was, as Tech ranked 88th in rushing success rate — but he showed decent open-field ability and averaged 10.9 yards per catch (anything over 10 is pretty solid for a running back) with a 67 percent receiving success rate.
Receiver C.J. Carroll caught only 18 passes as a sophomore, but he averaged 10.3 yards per target with a 64 percent success rate, and he came up big in the win over Notre Dame, with three catches for 80 yards.
Tight end Chris Cunningham is a pretty incredible red zone threat in the making. He only caught six passes as a freshman ... but four were for touchdowns.
Tackle Yosuah Nijman, guard Wyatt Teller, and center Eric Gallo have combined for 69 career starts up front.
As the base for an offense, you could do worse than that, though for a pass-first attack like this, you’d love for your second-leading receiver (Carroll) to have had more than 18 catches the year previous.
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY SportsCam Phillips
The problem is that after this group, you go straight to newcomers and unknowns.
The backup running backs will be players like Steven Peoples (16 carries last year), D.J. Reid (12), Deshawn McClease (eight), or Terius Wheatley (true freshman).
Henri Murphy is the only other returnee targeted at least five times last season. He had three catches. Redshirt freshmen Phil Patterson and Samuel Denmark will be asked to contribute quickly, as will sophomore Eric Kumah and probably at least one true freshman.
Up front, guards Kyle Chung and Cole Pettit have combined for five starts and a decent amount of rotation time, and senior Parker Osterloh and junior Braxton Pfaff have been around for a while. But Pettit will probably be used mostly as a blocking tight end, and if anyone gets hurt, a redshirt freshman is potentially playing a major role.
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY SportsWyatt Teller (57)
This is a tenuous situation from a depth perspective, and I haven’t yet mentioned quarterback.
Tech offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen rushed for more than 2,000 career yards as an eventual school hall-of-famer at Division II Missouri Southern, so he was able to figure some things out with the skill set of last year’s starting quarterback, JUCO transfer Jerod Evans. Evans was by far the Hokies’ most efficient runner and topped 1,000 yards, if you remove sacks from the equation. Tech passing downs often consisted of Evans making a couple of reads, then breaking for the chains.
Evans found more passing success than he got credit for, though. There wasn’t a ton of big-play potential in last year’s passing attack, but Evans completed 64 percent of his passes with 29 touchdowns to just eight picks.
Evans and backup Brenden Motley are gone, and for the season opener against West Virginia, the Hokies will trot out either redshirt freshman Josh Jackson, JUCO transfer A.J. Bush, or true freshman Herndon Hooker to line up behind center.
Jackson was impressive enough as a true freshman in fall camp that he was able to stay in the QB race for a while with Evans and Motley. That alone might make him the surest thing on the board. Bush, originally a Nebraska signee, completed 46 percent of his passes with three touchdowns to eight INTs in 2016 at Iowa Western CC, and this time last year Hooker was prepping for his senior season at Greensboro (N.C.) Dudley High. Either way, the QB position was green last year and is far greener this time around.
Defense
That Fuente was able to keep Foster was his first recruiting coup. With what Foster’s done at Tech over the last two decades, the 57-year-old would be College Football Hall of Fame-worthy, if the Hall didn’t have a dumb rule barring coaches who were only assistants. The Hokies’ average Def. S&P+ ranking in the four years before he took over was 49th. In the 22 years since, they’ve ranked outside of the top 30 just four times.
One of those times was in 2015, however. With a couple of key injuries and a feeble offense as a complement, the Hokies got too aggressive at times, gave up a ton of big plays, and fell to 37th in Def. S&P+. But with a more stable lineup and an offense that actually scored points, Tech was able to stay a little safer, trading slight regression in efficiency with far better big-play prevention.
The result: a rebound back to 17th. There were still big pass plays to deal with, but Tech was sturdy against the run and created more than its fair share of havoc in the back.
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY SportsTremaine Edmunds
That structure and personality should remain, though the line makes me nervous. Tech returns an exciting young foursome — ends Vinny Mihota and Trevon Hill and tackles Ricky Walker and Tim Settle (combined: 26.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, seven pass breakups) — but it’s the same problem as with parts of the offense: you go straight from an interesting first string to an unknown second.
With Mihota and Hill out with injury in spring ball (they should be fine this fall), sophomore Xavier Burke and redshirt freshman Emmanuel Belmar got first-string reps; that’s probably not a bad thing. Plus, there are certainly plenty of former star recruits in this bunch — Settle was a blue-chipper, and junior end Raymon Minor and freshman ends Nathan Proctor and TyJuan Garbutt were all four-star guys per the 247Sports Composite. But the knowns are minimal here.
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY SportsMook Reynolds
In the back, however? A bounty of knowns. Every linebacker returns, including junior OLB/wrecking ball Tremaine Edmunds (18.5 TFLs, 18th in FBS and sixth among linebackers). There’s a nice combination of upside (Edmunds, plus four-star freshmen like Devon Hunter and Dylan Rivers) and senior leadership (Andrew Motuapuaka, Anthony Shegog, Sean Huelskamp) here.
The secondary, meanwhile, has to replace free safety Chuck Clark, but that’s it. After so many injuries in previous years, the DBs stayed mostly healthy in 2016 and thrived. Brandon Facyson and Adonis Alexander are back after combining for six TFLs and 20 passes defensed, and Greg Stroman finished with more passes defensed (13) than tackles (10), which is almost unfathomable. You have to be either an incredible ball defender or the worst tackler in the county to pull that off. I’m leaning former.
Junior safeties Terrell Edmunds and Mook Reynolds are basically your Bud Foster safety prototypes; they combined for a ridiculous 12 TFLs, six INTs, and nine breakups, and because of the stability at cornerback, they should be able to remain aggressive and exciting.
If the thin defensive front holds up, the rest of the defense should bring to the table all the best traits of a Foster defense.
Special Teams
The first Tech special teams unit of the post-Beamerball era was solid. If Joey Slye had just a little bit more range (he was 19-for-20 on field goals under 40 yards but just 1-for-7 outside of 40, resulting in a FG efficiency ranking of just 90th), the Hokies would have had a top-30 unit.
Slye’s struggles were confusing because the dude has a cannon for a leg. He led the nation in kickoff efficiency with a 79 percent touchback rate, and punter Mitchell Ludwig’s punts were mostly unreturnable, too. Tech had some major field position assets, especially including return man Greg Stroman. Ludwig left the team, but Stroman and Slye are back, at least.
The ACC Coastal is in transition. That’s good news for Tech, because while Fuente appears to be setting things up well long-term — after securing Tech’s first 10-win season in five years, he inked Tech’s first top-25 class in four — the Hokies are dealing with quite a bit of churn on the two-deep, especially on offense.
Injury could determine Tech’s place in the race. The Hokies have more known quantities than most of the division, but if injuries strike at receiver or on either line, youth could lower Tech’s floor quite a bit, especially considering Tech’s quarterback will either be a freshman or a JUCO transfer far less proven than Evans.
The schedule should cooperate, though. The Hokies head in with a win probability of less than 63 percent in just three games: 31 percent against Clemson, 39 percent at Miami, and 50 percent at Georgia Tech. (Here’s your reminder that S&P+ hates season-opening opponent West Virginia this year.) That feels a little too optimistic, but awesome defense and athletic potential will get you pretty far.
This wasn’t a Louisville sequel, sources told SB Nation.
Hugh Freeze’s resignation from Ole Miss comes in the middle of an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations. It was phone records of calls to an escort service, not his NCAA problems, that directly led to his departure, SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey reports.
The dots could seem to connect easily: Freeze was calling escorts for recruits. But he wasn’t. Sources told Godfrey that Freeze’s calls to the service weren’t like ones made several years ago from the Louisville basketball program.
Louisville got into NCAA trouble because a staff member reportedly set up recruits with escorts. Freeze wasn’t doing that, these sources say.
Nonetheless, Freeze wasn’t in position to survive an escort scandal on top of the NCAA investigation that’s roiled his program for nearly a half-decade
Why a man calls an escort service is a personal decision.
Why he does so on a university-issued phone subject to public records requests is a tactical critique. In that framework, Freeze is an inexplicable failure. Hubris? Sloppiness? Self-sabotage? It doesn’t really matter.
The listed cause of firing is the escort service: “a failure of character standards for a head coach.” It’s not the NCAA. Of course, Ole Miss is invested in emphasizing the former, as the latter still looms.
Maybe Freeze could’ve maneuvered past the escort service call(s). Hell, probably! This is college football! If it occurred in a vacuum, I think he survives. (“Common” doesn’t begin to quantify the infidelity rumors I hear among coaches.)
But not alongside an NCAA investigation.
And not transposed against his public persona of the archetypical Evangelical Christian, which drove his critics in the industry and the media absolutely mad. His ceaseless proselytizing in defense of his character was at times such a gratuitous, repetitive tic that it invited other Christians, myself included, to sin by doubting its validity. Such is the failing of faith as a commodity.
Ole Miss got the phone records that undid Freeze from the lawyer of Houston Nutt, his predecessor on the Oxford sidelines.
Nutt is suing the school, alleging that it unfairly pinned NCAA allegations on him. All the while, Nutt says, Freeze and the school mounted a PR campaign to paint Freeze as a spiritual, godly man. That persona doesn’t mesh well with calls to escorts, along with Ole Miss’ unspecified other findings, and that conflict made Freeze’s situation unacceptable.
The Washington Nationals will look to stay profitable against the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend, sending their ace to the mound on Friday night in the series opener.
The Washington Nationals are 16-6 in their last 22 games against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Nationals hope to continue that success in a three-game road series against the Diamondbacks that starts Friday night.
The Nationals used the trade market to bolster their MLB-worst bullpen, acquiring a pair of strong relievers in Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson from the Oakland A's. With an improved bullpen to complement the National League's most productive offense and a great starting staff, Washington is in prime position to make a run at the pennant and a World Series title.
Scherzer has been outstanding all season, boasting a 2.01 ERA and an 0.80 WHIP with 183 strikeouts in 134.1 innings. The Nationals are 16-3 in Scherzer's last 19 road starts, per the OddsShark MLB Database.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona also improved its team before the trade deadline, adding J.D. Martinez to an offense that was already sixth best in the majors. The Diamondbacks entered this week's series against the Cincinnati Reds in the midst of a 1-8 slump, but picked up two of three in that one. In their last 16 home games against Washington, the Diamondbacks are just 4-12.
The OVER is 6-0 for totals bettors at online sports betting sites in the last six games between these two teams in Arizona.
This should be an exciting series between two of the National League's top teams. Tanner Roark is projected to start against an undecided pitcher for the Diamondbacks on Saturday, and the series will wrap up on Sunday with a matchup between Stephen Strasburg and Robbie Ray.
He needs to embrace his role instead of believing he can chase past glory. There’s one team that can help him do that.
Success in life is about setting appropriate goals, and fighting like hell to achieve them. Luck (or chaos, depending on your amount of nihilism) plays a massive role. Yet, we each control our own destiny to a degree.
This goes double in the workplace. External forces can derail or enhance your ability to achieve success. But the goals you set and the work you do to achieve them are what’s most important in the formula.
This is why Derrick Rose should join the Cavaliers. It would be a departure and a role reversal for the former Most Valuable Player, but it would also set a new path for a career that has grown stale.
First, Rose needs to accept that he is no longer the player who captured the MVP six years ago. Even at just the age of 28, Rose’s body has already betrayed him. He plays like a 34-year-old point guard who still relies on the athleticism of his peak.
Rose still put up numbers in New York because he’s still a high-volume lead guard. What was troubling is that Rose put up those numbers despite being paired with Hall of Fame scorer Carmelo Anthony and burgeoning star Kristaps Porzingis last season. Rose’s goal was to be a star point guard despite his physical ailments and several seasons of anti-glory. In that quest, he put up surprisingly decent, albeit hollow, numbers.
Despite having his best season since 2012 (when he was an All-Star), Rose was still miscast as a featured player. The Knicks’ record spells out the bottom line: New York was bad, and only won 40 percent of their games with Rose available.
He needs a different goal as he transitions into the next phase of his career. As the free agent market showed, no one wants that old D-Rose anymore, at least not at the salary he’s expecting.
But as several aging former stars have shown us, there’s hope yet for Rose. He needs set new goals and work to achieve them.
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
He can do that with Cleveland.
Consider Shaun Livingston, who suffered perhaps the most gruesome injury in NBA history 10 years ago. Unlike Rose, Liv wasn’t yet a star. He was on that path, and then his knee blew it all up.
Liv didn’t quit, though. After three years playing sparingly and rehabbing religiously, he set new goals and accepted a new role. He changed his game and his mindset. He’s now an important cog on a two-time champion at age 31.
You sense Rose believes he’s more than Livingston, that he can be better than an important cog on a champion. What Rose has to do to look within and determine what’s truly better than that while being within the realm of possibility.
Is becoming an All-Star again within the realm of possibility? It could be, in the right situation. History shows us that if you score a lot of points, you have an inside track on winning an All-Star spot. But no team (with one exception) has been willing to give Rose an opportunity to be its offensive focal point this summer. Without opportunity there is no achievement.
Is becoming an important cog on a champion possible? That is absolutely what Rose could become for Cleveland, even though the Cavaliers remain massive underdogs against the Warriors.
Rose is a better player right now than Deron Williams, who arrived midseason to serve as the supplemental shot creator needed to let Kyrie rest and LeBron play off the ball. But Williams was wildly overmatched throughout the playoffs. Rose gives Cleveland a better chance as long as he plays within the system, tries hard on defense, and defers to the Cavaliers’ brighter stars.
There’s no chance he’d score 18 a night as a Cav, or sniff an All-Star nod. But he’d be on screens across the world in May and June, and he just might get to hoist a trophy in front of the Q.
Perhaps more importantly, LeBron has the standing to help Rose reset his goals. No one in the league is more successful on and off the court than LeBron. He speaks with authority. Plus, when he’s on the court, Rose isn’t going to be able to take over the offense. LeBron doesn’t let that happen. (Ask Kyrie Irving or Dion Waiters.)
Is Rose ready to sacrifice his personal numbers and his narrow potential for a return to stardom -- potential he likely believes to be greater than what we believe it to be — to find a new brand of success? We’ll see.
On the Lakers, Rose will challenge Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Jordan Clarkson for minutes. He’ll get plenty -- not start-level as he did in New York, but more than he’d likely get in Cleveland. L.A. won’t be good, though, and Lonzo is the future. There’s no runway for Rose with the Lakers. It’d be yet another pit stop.
We can all agree that going back to Chicago would just be plain weird. But here’s the thing: that team doesn’t have any lead scorers other than Dwyane Wade at the moment. Zach LaVine will almost assuredly miss the beginning of the regular season while recovering from ACL surgery, and odds are Chicago will bring him along slowly given the low likelihood the Bulls will be competitive.
Wade remains an incredibly odd fit, and there’s a chance he finds a new home before the season begins through a buy-out or trade. Rose is much better than Kris Dunn at this point, to say nothing of Cameron Payne. There’s no scoring in the frontcourt, even with Nikola Mirotic still unsigned, so Rose would get plenty of minutes and plenty of points. Rose’s best shot at personal success — his best shot at putting up numbers like the Derrick Rose of old -- is returning to Chicago, if the Bulls even truly want him.
But that’s not where Rose’s future lies. He almost assuredly can’t be a high-volume player on a good team. This is a critical moment in his transition. How he is remembered in the future and how he gets paid in his 30s depend on what sort of career he molds for himself now.
It’s all about finding an achievable role and excelling in it. Cleveland offers that. We’ll soon find out if Rose agrees, or if he still believes he’s capable of being a star.
After thanking his caddie for ripping him a new one, Rory McIlroy plays himself into contention at Royal Birkdale.
Rory McIlroy, only six holes into round one of the British Open, was well on his way to missing the cut at Royal Birkdale when his caddie kicked him in the ass. Figuratively, that is, because it was actually an R-rated admonition from J.P. Fitzgerald that lifted McIlroy out of the doldrums and a certain early exit and into contention at Royal Birkdale.
With his boss at 4-over through five holes — and with McIlroy on pace for his third straight MC and fourth in his last five starts — Rory’s longtime looper had seen enough and let the four-time major champion know it.
“‘You’re Rory McIlroy,’” the golfer recalled Fitzgerald saying Thursday, after an opening round in which he went out in 5-over 39 and came in with a 4-under 32. “‘What the f*** are you doing?’”
McIlroy said he paid the advice no mind at the time but realized later it was just the talking-to he needed after he pulled his game together on the back nine and finished at 1-over, just six shots back of 18-hole co-leaders Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, and Matt Kuchar.
“I mumbled and said, ‘Whatever.’ But it … definitely helped. It kept me positive. So he did a great job,” said McIlroy, who noted that such stern lectures from J.P. were rare but not unheard of.
“Thankfully he's not had to do it too often. But, yeah, he's had to do it a few times. And he's never afraid to do that. And I feel today it helped a lot more than at other times because I needed something,” McIlroy conceded. “I couldn't look within myself. I was trying to look within myself. But J.P. kept me positive out there, so that was very much appreciated.”
Rory’s 2010 Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie concurred with McIlroy’s sentiments.
“You miss two putts in a row, 5-over at the turn, of course self-doubts creep in,” Monty said Friday morning on the Golf Channel. “That is when the caddy earns his stripes. Definitely. That is when you need a good caddy.”
Montgomerie’s colleague, Brandel Chamblee, also gave Fitzgerald credit for Rory’s rebound.
“Everyone loves a good comeback story, and boy do we have a good one brewing here at The Open being authored by a man who won four major championships, but perhaps being inspired by his caddy J.P. Fitzgerald,” Chamblee said. “It [Fitzgerald’s conversation with McIlroy] did the job and sparked quite a comeback yesterday, which has continued today.”
McIlroy did make a bit of a charge during Friday’s second round, making six birdies in his first six holes to get to 3-under for the week.
His stiffed approach on the par-4 sixth was vintage Rory, who easily made the 4-foot putt.
He hit a speed bump coming in, with bogeys on Nos. 13 and 15. But an unlikely birdie on the par-5 17th, after his flushed iron shot flew the green and he chipped up close from the back of the green, rekindled Rory’s bravado.
McIlroy finished with a 68, and at 1-under heading into the weekend, he no doubt gave Spieth and Koepka something to think about before they teed off in the afternoon wave.
Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison is a strong guy — don’t believe it? Just watch his workout, which consists of him pushing 1,800 pounds of weights on a sled:
A post shared by James Harrison (@jhharrison92) on
Jeez.
At this point, it feels like Harrison is just showing off. We know he’s strong, but he just keeps finding more and more absurd ways to show it. First it was stuff like this...
A post shared by James Harrison (@jhharrison92) on
...and now he’s out here casually pushing 39 plates on a sled.
And do I need to remind you he’s 39 YEARS OLD?!
So if you’re looking for a little #fitnessmotivation, check out Harrison’s Instagram. But be careful because you're definitely not as strong as James Harrison.
A post shared by Draymond Green (@money23green) on
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year shut down the notion Golden State would have trouble defending the Trail Blazers if they landed another All-Star this summer. It was a response to Lillard, who told Joe Freeman of The Oregonian that the Trail Blazers would be difficult to guard if Anthony joined him, C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic.
"I can only imagine what it would be like having him iso'ing on one side, and C.J. in a corner, and me on the opposite wing and Nurk (Jusuf Nurkic)...I can only imagine how hard it would be to guard us when it's already hard to guard us.
"We can compete with anybody in the West, but I think when you get to those teams like Golden State, if we happen to run into them in a playoff situation now—we getting in the paint, and if they want to help off someone like Melo...good luck."
Both Lillard and McCollum have tried to sell New York’s All-Star forward ever since the potential three-team trade between the Trail Blazers, Rockets and Knicks broke down in early July.
"I spoke to him," Lillard said, via The Oregonian. "Because, obviously, he makes us a better team. Obviously with that being out there and that being a real possibility, I don't see why I wouldn't reach out to him and let him know the interest is mutual if he's interested in us.
"We had a conversation ... so he knew that it wasn't just the team -- but it was myself and CJ -- (that) would love to have him here. So I reached out to him."
"He can help us a lot; we can help him," McCollum added in a July 19 story via The Oregonian. "He wants to play in the playoffs and be competitive. He's a very talented player. I think if we get him -- when we get him -- I think [we're] top three in the West, easy."
Asked about Anthony’s response to the sales pitch, Portland’s shooting guard said: "I think he's interested. Obviously, I feel like he wants to play with friends, with Banana Boat friends. I know he wants to play with (Chris Paul) and LeBron (James). Those are very good teams, very good options. But I feel like we're also a very good option."
The Knicks’ forward reasserted his desire to be traded after waging a season-long war against New York president Phil Jackson, who parted ways with the team after the NBA Draft. Anthony was expected to head to Houston in a deal that would have sent Ryan Anderson to Portland and a wealth of young players and trade assets to New York.
The deal was seen as a perfect match, pairing him with close friend Chris Paul and MVP runner-up James Harden to create the league’s most formidable Big 3.
The Trail Blazers, however, did not want to take back the additional three years at over $60 million on the 29-year-old Anderson’s contract. Neither did the Knicks. And with New York’s signing of Scott Perry as general manager, trade negotiations have been on standby.
Knicks’ president Steve Mills told reporters a buyout is not an option at this stage for Anthony, who is owed $53 million over the next two years of his contract. And if Melo isn’t willing to waive his no-trade clause to head to Portland, it could be slim pickings for suitors elsewhere.
This is not exactly how you're supposed to play the 5th hole at Royal Birkdale, but the world No. 1 will take it and the resultant birdie.
You hear about the lucky breaks and bounces in golf at The Open Championship more than any other major. Two players may hit two equally poor shots and end up in completely different positions. We see it repeatedly across all tours, but at The Open, where you never know what kind of junk a wayward ball is flying into, you're truly at the mercy of the golf gods, if you believe in that kind of thing.
On Friday, Brooks Koepka's worst shot of the day just dodged a gorse bush that would have been death and ended up in some trampled-down hay that allowed him to put a full swing on the ball. No harm. Justin Thomas hit an awful shot into the junk, and took three hacks to get it out, nearly lost his club, eventually lost his ball, made a 9, and missed the cut.
On Saturday, Dustin Johnson's worst swing of the week ended up with the luckiest break of the championship so far. DJ's ball at the short par-4 5th was so far left that it actually flew past all the intervening muck, slammed into a grandstand, and bounced perfectly onto the green. Johnson is the longest hitter in the world, so going for the green was a fine and wise play, but a yank that bad usually gets penalized. A great bounce off the grandstands isn't the kind of golf luck indigenous only to links golf, but DJ will take it right now.
The world No. 1 two-putted from there for birdie and is 3-under through his first five holes. He's moved 24 spots up the leaderboard and is currently tied for 11th.
The 440 foot shot was so big that it almost left Safeco Field. Judge now has 31 home runs on the year, leading MLB — and there’s no sign of stopping. At this point we can only marvel at baseball’s Paul Bunyan, and Judge’s feats of strength are stunning his teammates too.
“It’s not fair. It’s like he is playing on a Little League field,’’ David Robertson said of Judge’s 31st home run that came within three rows of clearing the back wall of the ballpark in left field and was measured at 440 feet. “I have never seen anyone hit a home run like that.’’
Let’s just enjoy the ride. We’re witnessing something very special.
Kyle Busch had a deal in place and was going to run in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 before team owner Joe Gibbs interceded and asked the former NASCAR Cup Series champion to reconsider.
Busch revealed the news Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s Cup Series race, saying he had the team and sponsorship put together to compete in the open-wheel race but what he didn’t have was Gibbs’ permission.
“I had it done — sold and everything ready to go — and I’ve got a boss that said, ‘No,’” Busch said. “I thought that I had a great opportunity to do it.”
Gibbs’ reluctance to sign off on Busch’s plan centered on Busch having no experience driving an open-wheel car. Busch said racing in the Indianapolis 500 would be a “unique opportunity” and is something he’s always wanted to do.
“The biggest thing that scares my boss is that I’ve never driven those cars,” Busch said. “A Cup car or an Xfinity car or a truck or something like that like, I know what to feel and how to feel and when something bad starts to happen, I can straighten it out or normally I can try to fix it.”
“That’s probably the biggest fear, is just not knowing what those cars do when you get into a bad situation.”
Drivers attempting Indianapolis without any seat-time in an Indy car is not uncommon. Kurt Busch, Kyle’s older brother, raced in the 2014 Indianapolis 500 and later that same day competed in the Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch finished sixth and was named Rookie of the Year.
Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso skipped this year’s Monaco Grand Prix to race at Indianapolis. He qualified fifth and led 27 laps of the race before an engine failure ended his victory bid. He too was named Rookie of the Year.
“I’m kind of glad it didn’t come together because Alonso kind of stole the headlines,” Busch said. “In the future, there may be more [Formula One] guys coming over to run that race, so I may have to split the limelight if you will with somebody else that kind of wants to do that race.
UFC returns to Fox with a packed night of fights, and we’ve got all you need to know to watch the action.
UFC on Fox 25: Weidman vs. Gastelum is set to go down on Long Island on Saturday. The free televised card features a main event between Chris Weidman and Kelvin Gastelum and a full slate of undercard bouts that are more than worth your time. The co-feature will see featherweights Dennis Bermudez and Darren Elkins face off.
The main card is set for 8 p.m. ET on Fox and will be preceded by two hours of prelims, also on Fox. As usual, there will be UFC Fight Pass prelims live streaming prior to that, beginning at 4 p.m. Live streaming of the night’s bouts can be found at Fight Pass, UFC.TV, the UFC YouTube and Fox Sports GO.
Weidman has dropped his last three fights since losing his middleweight title, and he’ll be in free fall if he loses to Gastelum on Saturday. Gastelum has some quality wins under his belt, including a decision over Johny Hendricks and a knockout of Vitor Belfort that was overturned when he tested positive for marijuana.
Gastelum has been considered a middle-of-the-road fighter, and though Weidman has three straight losses, he’s still a former champion. A win over Weidman would be huge for him, while a win for Weidman would just be the first stepping stone back to title contention.
Bermudez last fought in February, when he had a two-fight winning streak stopped in a knockout loss to Chan Sung Jung. He’s 16-6 as a pro, while Elkins is 22-5 and coming off four consecutive wins.
Patrick Cummins will face Gian Villante in the second fight on the main card. Cummins had two straight knockout losses to Glover Teixeira and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira going into his last fight, a majority decision win over Jan Blachowicz. He’s 9-4 as a pro and desperately needs to keep winning.
Villante is 15-8 and coming off a TKO loss to Mauricio Rua. He’s alternated wins and losses in his last six fights, so if that’s anything to go by, he’s due for a win.
The main card will open with a bantamweight bout between Jimmie Rivera and Thomas Almeida.
Below is the full list of fights for Saturday’s card, and below that is what you need to know to watch the action.
Middleweight: Chris Weidman vs. Kelvin Gastelum Featherweight: Dennis Bermudez vs. Darren Elkins Light heavyweight: Patrick Cummins vs. Gian Villante Bantamweight: Jimmie Rivera vs. Thomas Almeida
Fox Preliminary Card (6 p.m.)
Welterweight: Lyman Good vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos Middleweight: Rafael Natal vs. Eryk Anders Welterweight: Ryan LaFlare vs. Alex Oliveira Heavyweight: Damian Grabowski vs. Chase Sherman
Fight Pass Preliminary Card (4 p.m.)
Featherweight: Kyle Bochniak vs. Jeremy Kennedy Bantamweight: Brian Kelleher vs. Marlon Vera Heavyweight: Timothy Johnson vs. Júnior Albini Featherweight: Shane Burgos vs. Godofredo Pepey Lightweight: Chris Wade vs. Frankie Perez
How to watch UFC on Fox 25: Weidman vs. Gastelum
Time: Prelims 1 at 4 p.m.; prelims 2 at 6 p.m.; main card at 8 p.m.
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8877149/Untitled.png)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859333/PittOffRadar.png)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859339/625991930.jpg)
Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859341/613365898.jpg)
Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859335/PittDefRadar.png)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859343/usa_today_9583516.jpg)
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859345/usa_today_9772287.jpg)
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8883979/673484870.jpg)
Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8883987/692659032.jpg)
Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859791/VaTechOffRadar.png)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859797/usa_today_10158932.jpg)
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859803/usa_today_8794815.jpg)
Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859793/VaTechDefRadar.png)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859805/usa_today_9722375.jpg)
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8859807/usa_today_9785632.jpg)
Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8890237/506501090.jpg)
Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images
