NBC Will Air Day 2 of Ryder Cup on Tape Delay

by Hal Spivack

Filed under: Ryder Cup, Sports Business and Media

Faced with a five-hour time difference between Wales and the east coast, NBC will be showing day 2 of the Ryder Cup next Saturday from Celtic Manor on tape delay.

Day 2 of the tournament usually provides the most excitement for viewers. It builds upon the opening day's matches and sets the final 12 singles matches for the tournament finale on Sunday. A large piece of the tournament is decided on day 2.

 

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Brandon Marshall Fires Back At Sterling Sharpe and NFL Network

Filed under: Dolphins

DAVIE, Fla. -- One thing is for sure: Brandon Marshall won't be sitting down for dinner with Sterling Sharpe or his fellow NFL Network analysts Mike Mayock and Solomon Wilcots anytime soon after responding to the criticism they dished out on a recent episode of AFC Playbook.

"What those guys are saying, that's just them trying to, I don't know, sound good and sound like they know what they're talking about," said Marshall, a Pro Bowl wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins has caught 100 or more passes in each of the last three seasons. "Those guys never coached and I don't honestly think that those guys were elite players, including Sterling Sharpe. I've got to turn on the film and see what he was able to do. I know he's done some good things, but from my understanding he's not a Hall-of-Fame player."

Clearly, Marshall watches the NFL Network and didn't need to be reminded about what took place on the segment -- but he was as he addressed a group of South Florida reporters this afternoon inside the locker room. Mayock, Wilcots and Sharpe broke down the final four offensive downs of last Sunday night's 31-23 Miami loss to the New York Jets, which took place after Marshall made a 30-yard catch to set the Dolphins up inside the Jets' 10.

 

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US referee chief addresses Olsen-Kinnear ejections

NEW YORK ? A handshake between coaches that led to a double ejection and a penalty kick call reversal represented the most controversial calls of the last MLS weekend. US Soccer Director of Referee Development, Paul Tamberino, addressed both incidents with MLSsoccer.com and revealed the rationale...

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Latest Shame Just Another CONCACAF Embarrassment

Filed under: International Soccer, MLS, US Soccer

We interrupt your regularly scheduled CONCACAF Champions League action for yet another regularly scheduled CONCACAF embarrassment.

It seems that Jack Warner, the confederation president who's part neighborhood gangster and part outlandish James Bond villain, is refusing to pay promised bonuses to the Trinidad and Tobago players who qualified for the 2006 World Cup (Warner negotiated the bonuses and is a high-ranking member of the country's parliament). And Warner and his yes-men at the Trinidad and Tobago Football Federation are refusing to pay despite repeated rulings requiring them to do so.

According to this story from the Trinidad and Tobago Express and this piece from The Observer (London), both the international Sport Dispute Resolution Panel and the Port of Spain High Court have ruled that the TTFF owes more than $3 million in promised bonuses and legal costs to at least 13 Soca Warriors. Perhaps even more troubling for Warner, the TTFF has been told it must open its books to an independent auditor.

 

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Jaguars' New Addition Trent Edwards Listed as Third QB

Filed under: Jaguars, AFC South

If Trent Edwards didn't know before, he knows now the NFL is a business.

That said, Edwards said his business with the Jacksonville Jaguars doesn't include worrying much, or discussing much, what happened with his former team, the Buffalo Bills. Edwards said his concern now is getting acclimated in Jacksonville.

Whatever happens next . . . well, happens.

"Playing football and winning football games, that's what brings me to Jacksonville," Edwards said as the Jaguars (1-2) prepared to play the Indianapolis Colts (2-1).

How much Edwards will get a chance to do that remains a question. And it could be an ongoing question in the coming weeks.

Edwards, who started the past two seasons for the Bills, also started the first two games of this season. Then, he lost his job to Ryan Fitzpatrick and a week later, he was released.

With starter David Garrard struggling, and with backup Luke McCown out with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, the Jaguars were awarded Edwards off waivers Tuesday. Jaguars' Head Coach Jack Del Rio said he expects Edwards to be the third quarterback Sunday.

 

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Be Vince or Be Gone Time for Carter

Filed under: Magic, NBA Preseason

ORLANDO, Fla. - Either Vince Carter will arrive this season like a belated birthday card -- better late than never -- or this homecoming will be shorter than he ever thought.

They still could stamp him "return to sender.''

Carter arrived in a trade last summer billed as the final piece to a championship team, then painfully became the package of damaged goods, leaving the Orlando Magic without the consistent perimeter star they needed for the playoffs.

He was thrilled to be back near his hometown of Daytona Beach, but he rarely played like it, looking more like a burden than a blessing when he wilted in the Eastern Conference finals against Boston, leading to an embarrassing end for a team with such high expectations.

"I expect him now to be Vince Carter, and last season he wasn't,'' said Magic general manager Otis Smith. "We expect more from him.''

Carter, 33, is facing a pivotal season, beginning the final guaranteed year ($17.3 million) of his contract. Unless Carter plays well early and the Magic look like serious contenders against Miami and Boston, they will try and unload his potentially expiring contract before the trade deadline in February. And if they can't, they already have decided not to pick up the team option on an extra year, leaving him on the open market next summer.

 

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US referee chief addresses Olsen-Kinnear ejections

NEW YORK ? A handshake between coaches that led to a double ejection and a penalty kick call reversal represented the most controversial calls of the last MLS weekend. US Soccer Director of Referee Development, Paul Tamberino, addressed both incidents with MLSsoccer.com and revealed the rationale...

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Disgraced Ex-NHL Agent David Frost Turns Up in California

Filed under: NHL Police Blotter

David Frost, the former junior hockey coach and NHL agent who has been banned from several Ontario hockey leagues, has resurfaced at a hockey academy in Southern California.

Frost denied he was teaching children at the Laguna Niguel facility, telling the Los Angeles Times he was writing protocols for hockey training equipment.

Frost, who has been working under the alias Jim McCauley, told the paper he had changed his name for business purposes.

"I'm certainly not running a hockey school," Frost said. "I'm certainly not here on an alias. We're not ducking. I'm completely legal. The company is completely legal. It's above board."

 

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Jim Furyk Leads and History Waits

Filed under: PGA, PGA Championship, FedEx Cup

ATLANTA -- Here at East Lake Golf Club, the course Bobby Jones once called home, Sunday's final round of the Tour Championship offers a chance for someone to make significant history of their own.

So who's up to the task?

Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, Luke Donald come on down. And, just to keep it interesting, you too, Paul Casey.

Actually, it's a lot like Little League -- there's plenty of trophies to go around. Or some player could be selfishly greedy and leave with everything.

With so many stories within the story, it's hard to keep track of what exactly what is a likely result.

"A lot can happen," Goosen said, following Saturday's 66. "Nobody really knows who's going to win it yet."

There is brilliance in the simplicity of Goosen's insight.

First, but not necessarily foremost, is the tournament title that most likely will be worth far more than the already sizable $1.35 million first prize. That's because also to be decided is the FedEx Cup playoff bonus of $10 million. In addition, Sunday's finish will greatly influence PGA Tour's Player of the Year balloting -- a result of no one so far having done much of anything to truly distinguish themselves.

Gentlemen, start your lob wedges. It's time to earn those millions.

 

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Matt Kemp Predicts 40-40 Season in '11

Filed under: Dodgers, MLB Milestones

As 2010 winds down, players who aren't on a playoff team or one fighting for a playoff spot are already beginning to look ahead to 2011.

Matt Kemp's Dodgers were a bit disappointing this season, failing to defend their back-to-back NL West titles and falling out of the playoff race right after the All-Star break. That apparently hasn't stopped Kemp from thinking big, as he told the Los Angeles Times Wednesday that he's aiming for a 40-40 season in 2011.

I'm not one to rain on a man's parade, but if Kemp predicted that he was going to ride out to center field on a unicorn on Opening Day 2011, that would only be slightly more implausible than his actual prediction.

Consider the following facts: Kemp has never hit more than 26 home runs in a season, he plays in a very good pitcher's ballpark, he's never stolen more than 35 bases in a season and in 2010 he stole successfully just 19 times in 34 attempts.

 

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Dirty Dozen: Best, Worst Head Coaches in NFL Right Now

Filed under: 49ers, Chicago Bears, Bills, Browns, Chiefs, Cowboys, Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, Giants, Raiders, Vikings, NFL Coaching, NFL Analysis

Pittsburgh fans are patient folks, as you can be when you've won six Super Bowls, two in the last five seasons. So when Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for the first four games of 2010, many fans wrote off the season, figuring that the Steelers would start 1-3 or 0-4 without Ben and never make up the ground.

Fortunately for them, Mike Tomlin doesn't think that way. His philosophy is what all coaches preach: "next man up,'' whether it be Dennis Dixon or the ancient Charlie Batch (actually he's only 35, not too old to play quarterback. He just seems older).

So while it's hard to make a judgment after three games, Tomlin's job with the Steelers has probably been the best in the NFL early in the season. Who else? The six best and six worst so far, not necessarily in line with their team's record:

1. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh. Actually, the Steelers won the first two games with their defense -- they scored one offensive touchdown, the game-winner in overtime against Atlanta. Again, credit Tomlin. Credit Dick LeBeau, the 72-year-old defensive mastermind, who is almost twice Tomlin's age. "Next man up'' means turning to a unit that was subpar by Pittsburgh standards last season without Troy Polamalu and Aaron Smith. They've returned and so has cornerback Bryant McFadden, brought back from Arizona to shore up what had been a weakness last season.

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Top Five Not-So-Great Glen Sather Signings

Filed under: Rangers, NHL Free Agency, NHL Economics

When the Rangers bought out the contract of defender Wade Redden earlier in the week, it brought to a close the case of one of the worst free agent signings the team has made over the past decade. The Rangers have long been big players in the free agent market both under current GM Glen Sather and prior to his tenure. However, making a big splash in the free agent market does not guarantee on-ice success, as the team has made some questionable signings that have kept it from advancing past the second round of the playoffs since 1997.

In the summer of '08, Sather gave big money to Redden -- six years, $39 million -- and to say the move didn't work out is putting it nicely. With Redden now gone, there's probably no better time to take a look back and see where it ranks among the top five worst signings Sather has made.

 

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Nick Collins Fan Altercation Video

Filed under: Chicago Bears, Packers, NFL Video

Shortly after his team lost to the Chicago Bears on Monday night, Green Bay Packers defensive back Nick Collins had an altercation with a Bears fan.

Collins accused the fan of shouting offensive racial comments at the safety and later apologized in an off-camera interview, but other details have been scarce. On Wednesday, video of the altercation surfaced.

 

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Overheard and Understood: How King Felix and CC Sabathia Can Both Win

Filed under: MLB Awards

This week, members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America will fill out ballots for the BBWAA's postseason awards. Meanwhile, it's important for us to point out that voting patterns and criteria evolve.

The Most Valuable Player award, for example, has come to be based on something other than a strict definition of "value" -- something many critics of the BBWAA fail to understand. The way I explain it is that the MVP goes to the player who has the greatest impact on the outcome of the league as a whole. That's my way of tailoring the definition to the way the voting has evolved: giving the award to the player on a playoff team who has the best season, unless none stands out (i.e., Alex Rodriguez in 2003).

Likewise, the Cy Young Award voting continues to evolve. As recently as 2004, Roger Clemens won the National League version by going 18-4 -- second in wins and first in winning percentage -- while not finishing in the top four in innings, strikeouts or WHIP.

After all, the award is named for a guy who had 511 wins.

But in the past five years, BBWAA voters have de-emphasized wins. In 2008, 18-game winner Tim Lincecum beat out 22-game winner Brandon Webb in the NL, and last year, Lincecum and Zack Greinke won the award with 15 and 16 wins, respectively.

Which brings us to this year's race. Felix Hernandez has clearly been the best pitcher in the AL. He leads in ERA and innings and is second in strikeouts. But he also plays for the worst offensive team since the 1981 Blue Jays, and thus his record is only 12-12.

 

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The Tour Championship Roundtable: Mickelson Looks to Defend

Filed under: PGA, FedEx Cup

The big winner at last year's Tour Championship was golf.

It can't get much better for the game than having Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods pick up titles on the same day.

Mickelson took the Tour Championship with a final-round 5-under 65 that carried him from four shots behind to a three-shove victory, while Woods made two late birdies to finish second and secure the FedEx Cup and its rich bonus.

It finished a season in which Woods won six times and was no worse than second in nine of his 17 tournaments.

As for Mickelson, the tournament title capped off a tumultuous summer at home, providing his first victory since learning his wife, Amy, and mother, Mary, were diagnosed with breast cancer in the spring.

Woods collected $10 million in bonus money, while Mickelson earned $1.35 million for the Tour Championship title.

"I like the way today went," Mickelson said after the final round. "I was two back of him, I beat him by three. He gets the $10 million check, and I get $1 million. I've got no problem with that. I just love holding this finally."

Mickelson finished at 9-under. It was his third win of the season, and put him No. 2 in the world behind Woods, a spot he continues to hold.

"It means a lot to finish the year off on such a good note," Mickelson said after the win. "We've been through a lot, and I'm very proud of my wife and my mom on the fight that they've been through. We're in good shape. Although day-to-day is tough, and it's not easy for them, we're fortunate that our long-term outlook is good."

But there's a new story of misfortune in 2010: Woods has had well-documented troubles off the course, remains winless on the season and has failed to qualify for the Tour Championship. With the world's No. 1 golfer on an early vacation, can Lefty finally take the No. 1 ranking, or will another player step up at the Tour Championship? The answers to those questions, and more, in this week's FanHouse Roundtable.

 

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MLS Thermometer: LA show warmth, Fire still cold

The horror! The horror! The season is over for the LA Galaxy after a 2-0 loss to New York on Friday night at the Home Depot Center. All is lost! Oh, the humanity!Well ? no. Not actually. The Thermometer is back for another week, and a quick check of the temperature in Los Angeles indicates there is...

Rose Byrne Rose McGowan Roselyn Sanchez

Academy midfielder Patrick Foss joins United States U-17 side

Washington, D.C. (September 27, 2010) - Following success in the 2010 SUM Cup in Houston on July 29, D.C. United Academy midfielder Patrick Foss has been called into the United States U-17 Residency team in Bradenton, Fla. Foss is a member of United?s U-16 Academy side, and he has been named to a...

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Auburn Uses a Simple Plan as Its Guide Against South Carolina

Filed under: Auburn, South Carolina

AUBURN, Ala. -- South Carolina wasn't confused Saturday night.

What happened at Jordan-Hare Stadium wasn't a function of trickery or intellectual profundity or even strategy. Auburn, a team pushed around by Clemson seven days earlier, decided that being dominated along the line of scrimmage is unpleasant.

So the Tigers did something about it.

Their 35-27 win over the Gamecocks became a statement of purpose. Offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn eschewed his innovative attack and instead made things surprisingly simple.

Auburn ran. And Malzahn promised to stop only if South Carolina found a way to foil that plan.

How did that go?

"We weren't stopping them, so they kept running," South Carolina defensive end Cliff Matthews said.

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Hans, Not Henry, May be the Key to Red Bulls' Resurgence

Filed under: MLS, New York Red Bulls

The New York Red Bulls, who traveled across the country without their best player and easily defeated Major League Soccer's top team last Friday, are a championship contender thanks to the summer arrival of designated players Thierry Henry (who missed the 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy) and Rafa Márquez.

But they are winners thanks to Hans Backe.

For years, we all wondered what it would take to turn the Red Bulls into a real soccer team. The Austrian energy drink company took over in 2006 and got to work on building the new stadium, but things didn't improve on the field. The surprising run to the 2008 MLS Cup Final was erased by last year's five-win debacle, and in January Red Bull named Backe as the franchise's 12th coach in 15 seasons.

Hans Backe? I had to Google him, too.

 

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Jim Furyk Pockets $11.35 Million with $39 Used Putter

by Hal SpivackFiled under: Ryder Cup, FedEx Cup, Sports Business and MediaGolfer Jim Furyk took home $11.35 million this weekend, winning the $1.35 million Tour Championship winner's check and the $10 million bonus for finishing atop the 2010 PGA FedEx Cup playoffs. Believe it or not, he did it with a $39 used putter.

Furyk bought the "Yes! Sophia" putter from Joe & Leigh's Discount Golf Pro Shop at Pine Oaks Golf Course in Easton, Mass., earlier this month. He first bought the putter after a visit to the shop following the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship at TPC Boston in Norton, The Enterprise of Brockton first reported.

According to The Boston Globe, the $39 used putter Furyk bought off the discount shelf was traded in by two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Szep, who worked as an editorial cartoonist for the Globe from 1967-2001. A longtime shopper at Joe & Leigh's, Szep is a self-professed putter addict -- "estimating the number in his possession at any one time at roughly 100," according to the Globe.  Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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Black Colleges, Universities to Form Television Network

by Milton KentFiled under: Sports Business and MediaWith most of the major conferences and a few independents having gone into the television programming and distribution game, most of the nation's historically black colleges and universities are poised to start their own channel.

The HBCU Network, which will draw from games involving the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Southwestern Athletic Conference, the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, is expected to launch in August, though Curtis Symonds, the channel's CEO, told Multichannel News there might be a soft launch in February.

The amalgam of leagues, which covers schools such as Howard, Morgan State, Grambling, Southern, North Carolina A&T, Jackson State, Morehouse, Tuskegee, Virginia Union, covers a broad swath of land from the Mid-Atlantic to the Midwest and South.

Channel executives are negotiating with some of the nation's largest cable carriers and satellite providers and are hoping to launch with about 10 million subscribers. ESPN, which holds the rights to MEAC and SWAC football games, will have its pick of games before the HBCU Network. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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Penn State Still Has Temple's Number

Filed under: Penn State, TempleSTATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- The idea, not just around Temple's program but in many pockets around college football, was that this would be the year the Owls finally took their in-state rivals down.

It was a good idea, but only that. Temple, which last defeated Penn State in 1941, led the Nittany Lions 13-6 in Beaver Stadium Saturday afternoon, but eventually was worn down and defeated, 22-13, for its first loss of the season. It also was the 28th straight loss to Penn State by Temple (3-1), including five straight under head coach Al Golden, who played for and coached under Joe Paterno.

The 23rd-ranked Nittany Lions (3-1) finally went ahead late in the third quarter on Collin Wagner's fifth field goal, then marched 96 yards for a game-clinching fourth-quarter touchdown, a one-yard run by sophomore Michael Zordich.


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Brandon Phillips, Reds Ready for 'Great Headache' That Comes With Clinch

Filed under: Reds, NL CentralSAN DIEGO -- For folks in Flyover Land, the moonshine jar remains half full, even if their Cincinnati Reds haven't yet grabbed the playoff berth that seemed a fait accompli several days ago.

What's a little more waiting to a franchise that's gone 15 years since its last postseason?

"I don't care as long as it gets done," Reds pitcher Homer Bailey told West Coast Bias, the only non-cliche I heard from him.

Bailey and the Reds did their part Sunday, beating the Padres 12-2 in San Diego, but like Chicagoans every summer, the Reds were let down by the Cubs, whose loss to the second-place Cardinals denied the National League Central leaders a clinch party hereabouts.

Too bad, said Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips from San Diego's ballpark, because he and his teammates wanted to "tear this clubhouse up."

Phillips has never tasted champagne but said he'll make an exception for Cincinnati's first playoff berth since 1995.

"I was trying to get my drink on for the first time," he said. "It would have been a great headache. It would have been a beautiful thing, but, obviously, I've got to wait for that."

All it'll take is one Cardinals defeat or one Reds victory to reintroduce the majors' oldest franchise to the playoffs.

With six games left, the Reds shouldn't have to wait long. The not-so-mighty Central could be theirs before they play again on Tuesday against the visiting Houston Astros. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

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Olsen: We let each other down, again

WASHINGTON ? D.C. United played well against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday night, controlling possession, combining crisply, creating chances and defending in organized numbers.

The problem was, they only did so for 66 minutes, and only had one goal to show for it.

Houston erased all that...

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Roster predictions ahead of US friendlies

When the United States take on Poland on Oct. 9 and Colombia on Oct. 12, it will mark the genuine beginning of Bob Bradley's second tenure as the US national team's head coach.

The European leagues will be on a break, meaning he can call on his regulars across the Pond ? although expect elder...

Alice Dodd Alicia Keys Alicia Witt

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