Is David Haye really serious about a comeback against Vitali Klitschko ?

If murmurings are to be believed, David Haye has returned from a Caribbean holiday, looked deep into his soul, conversed with former undisputed world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis – and will now abandon his retirement plans.

Nothing is official. But the boxing rumour mill was grinding away yesterday, the shredding news was that having seen Vitali Klitschko, elder brother of his heavyweight nemesis Wladimir defeat Tomasz Adamek on Saturday night, Haye wishes to challenge the WBC champion.

“I’ve ­reconsidered everything after talking to my family and meeting Lennox in Montego Bay. We chilled out and Lennox gave me some tips on how to beat Vitali, just like he did in 2003. Vitali should give me the chance, if he dares,” Haye was quoted as saying by the website British Boxers on Tuesday.

Haye was adamant that he would walk away from boxing next month, his 31st birthday. There may have been a u-turn.

Vitali fancies it. "David Haye is world famous, not from boxing skills but from his long tongue," Vitali told Sky Sports.

"He is the world's biggest trash-talker and that's why everybody knows him. He touched me and my brother personally and I want to knock him out. I'm serious. I want to knock David Haye out – I can do that. It would be a great to fight in Great Britain."

It's likely to unfold over the coming week. If Haye is serious, that is. And if he is to face Vitali, he'd better be.

Should Colts pull plug on Peyton Manning and try for Andrew Luck? [Updated]

Writers from around Tribune Co. discuss the quarterback situation in Indianapolis, with Colts superstar Peyton Manning out indefinitely and potential future superstar Andrew Luck of Stanford looming as the top pick in next year's draft.

Check back throughout the day for more responses, vote in the poll and weigh in with a comment of your own.

Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times

We're one game into the season. One game! It's silly to suggest that after one week a team should just tank it, write off the season and give up in hopes of finishing with the NFL's worst record. A lot of things can happen between now and April, not the least of which could be Manning healing quicker than expected or Luck getting hurt.

Besides, it's not as if Luck is the only possible solution; there are other quarterbacks out there. Maybe he's a generational player, maybe he isn't. To suggest the Colts call it a season now is just dumb.

Boise State cited for violations in five sports, including football

Boise State was placed on probation for three years and received other sanctions from the NCAA on Tuesday for major violations in several sports, including football.

Under the sanctions, the football team loses a total of nine scholarships through the 2013-14 season, six fewer than the program's self-imposed sanctions announced earlier this year. The Bulldogs will also be limited to fewer practices during the same time period.

The women's tennis, cross country and track and field teams will be prohibited from recruiting prospective international student-athletes for two years. Also, the women's tennis team is banned from postseason play for one year following the 2011-2012 season.

The NCAA said it found a lack of institutional controls necessary to fully comply with rules governing collegiate athletic programs. The case involved numerous violations involving more than 75 prospects and student-athletes in five sports during a span of five years, with the Division I Committee on Infractions noting a particular concern with the early arrival of international student-athletes who in some cases were not yet academically qualified to enroll full-time.

The committee also cited recruiting, impermissible-housing and transportation violations involving 63 prospects in the football program during the summers of 2005-09.

ALSO:

Manny Ramirez out of jail, ordered to have no contact with wife

Bill Plaschke: Oakland Raiders could use some brains with their brawn

-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NBA labor talks break off with no progress reported

 
Representatives of NBA owners and players were unable to make any progress on a new labor deal during a five-hour meeting in New York on Tuesday.

Billy Hunter, executive director of the players' union, told reporters afterward that he was "a bit pessimistic" that season openers scheduled for Nov. 1 would start on time.

"We were prepared to compromise somewhat on the position that we'd staked out previously in the hopes that we could get a deal, save dollars and maybe start the season on time," Hunter said. "Unfortunately, after the negotiations, the discussions we've had, which have gone on all day, we're a bit pessimistic and discouraged at, one, the ability to start on time, and we're not so sure that there may not be further damage or delay trying to get the season started.

"The owners are not inclined at this stage to move off the position where they've anchored themselves."

Hunter told reporters the union had proposed reducing player salaries while retaining a version of the existing economic structure, including a flexible salary cap. Owners met to consider the proposal before rejecting it, Hunter said.

"We did not have a great day," NBA Commissioner David Stern told reporters.

No further talks are scheduled, threatening the scheduled start of training camps Oct. 3 and preseason games Oct. 9.

ALSO:

An NBA dream deferred -- until now

Manny Ramirez out of jail in Florida incident

Victor Ortiz keeping camp loose before Mayweather bout

-- Ben Bolch

Photo: NBA union chief Billy Hunter, left, Theo Ratliff, center, and Derek Fisher arrive at the bargaining session Tuesday. Credit: Mary Altaffer / Associated Press

Should Colts pull plug on Peyton Manning and try for Andrew Luck?

Writers from around the Tribune Co. discuss the quarterback situation in Indianapolis, with Colts superstar Peyton Manning out indefinitely and potential future superstar Andrew Luck of Stanford looming as the top pick in next year's draft.

Check back throughout the day for more responses, vote in the poll and weigh in with a comment of your own.

Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times

We're one game into the season. One game! It's silly to suggest that after one week a team should just tank it, write off the season and give up in hopes of finishing with the NFL's worst record. A lot of things can happen between now and April, not the least of which could be Manning healing quicker than expected or Luck getting hurt.

Besides, it's not as if Luck is the only possible solution; there are other quarterbacks out there. Maybe he's a generational player, maybe he isn't. To suggest the Colts call it a season now is just dumb.

ALSO:

Should Tim Tebow be the Denver Broncos' starting QB? [Poll]

Bill Plaschke: Oakland Raiders could use some brains with their brawn

Tom Brady, Wes Welker make New England Patriots history with 99-yard play

Photo: Andrew Luck. Credit: Chuck Liddy / The News & Oberserver

Manny Ramirez out of jail, ordered to have no contact with wife

Manny Ramirez was released from Broward County Jail on $2,500 bail Tuesday, a day after being arrested on a domestic-battery charge and accused of slapping his wife at their South Florida home.

The former Dodgers star was ordered by Broward Circuit Judge Jon Hurley to have no direct contact with his wife, Juliana.

Ramirez was met by several family members when he left jail just before noon EDT and had little to say to reporters while getting into a white Cadillac Escalade. "Let me see, where's my family?" he said in response to questions from the gathered media.

One reporter pressed him, saying, "You have to give us something." Ramirez responded, "Not my problem."

He did speak to another TV reporter in Spanish and put his arm around two of the female reporters.

A woman who refused to give her name spoke briefly before rolling up the car window: "He's my brother, we love him no matter what. He's an amazing guy, and we love him no matter what."

Broward County sheriff's officials say the former World Series MVP with the Boston Red Sox slapped his wife's face during an argument Monday, causing her to hit her head on a headboard. Ramirez has denied hitting his wife, authorities say.

ALSO:

Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and boxing's age-old issue

Bill Plaschke: Oakland Raiders could use some brains with their brawn

-- Chuck Schilken

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo: Manny Ramirez leaves the Broward County Jail. Credit: Joe Cavaretta / South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Serious competition starts now for British swimmers chasing Olympic qualification

Swim to Stratford: Team GB's swimmers like Gemma Spofforth have work to do in the next few months (Photo: GETTY IMAGES)

With the Shanghai World Championships firmly consigned to history, now is when it gets serious for swimmers contemplating a spot at the London Olympics.

Eleven months may remain before the world's best congregate in Stratford, but in the pools and gyms of Britain the hard work has already started for those harbouring ambitions of joining them.

Most of Britain’s swimmers have been enjoying some downtime after their exertions in the Far East, taking advantage of the one part of the year when they are not expected to be training.

For most this has meant three weeks out of the pool and the opportunity to take a holiday to recharge the batteries for the journey ahead, knowing this could be the most important training cycle of their careers.

That journey takes Britain’s swimmers to the Aquatic Centre in March 2012 for the British Championships and their one chance of securing Olympic selection.

The meet is an all or nothing race for qualification, so getting it wrong in March will prematurely end Olympic ambitions. Some events are sufficiently competitive that just qualifying could prove as challenging as competing in the Games themselves.

With that thought in mind, the hard work has already started and in many places has begun out of the pool. Much was made of the introduction of ballet to the Loughborough University squad’s training regime earlier this year, but since their return to training they have also been trying out badminton in combination with their swimming.

In a similar vein, Glasgow’s swim team have taken up judo and Bath’s group spinning, all in order to explore any avenue to improve pool performance.

The cross-training approach has its own hazards. One hundred metre backstroke world record holder Gemma Spofforth recently headed out on a 15-mile cycle ride as part of her efforts to get in shape only to find herself face down on a concrete pavement and in need of a trip to A&E.

Fortunately the damage was limited to a broken nose, a broken toe, and cuts and bruises, so Spofforth expects to back in the water imminently, but the fragility of the athletes’ lot was brought into sharp focus.

Expect to see swimmers being wrapped in cotton wool the closer that trials get and again before the Games.

Some have also been trying out new training bases to kick start their Olympic campaigns. Notable amongst these is Beijing open water bronze medallist Cassie Patten, who has moved across the Pennines from Stockport Metro to train with the City of Sheffield squad.

As a result of the world title won by her team-mate Kerrie-Anne Payne in Shanghai and the strict selection criteria laid down by governing body FINA, Patten is now no longer eligible to compete in the 10km open water event in London.

Instead, she is widely expected to turn her attention to the 800m freestyle in the pool, an event she also contested in Beijing.

At trials, that means she will cross swords with World and Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington and rising star Jazz Carlin who were Britain’s representatives in Shanghai.

Selection is therefore far from assured. Just as the great Ian Thorpe found himself disqualified from the Australian selection trials of 2004, leaving places open for others, anything can happen on the day.

It really is a case of having a lane and having a chance and Carlin in particular will not be taking Patten’s challenge lightly.

British Swimming has also joined in the search for any possible advantage, installing a state of the art traveling overhead camera into the pool at Loughborough that allows a swimmer’s stroke to be monitored directly from above so flaws can be identified and corrected.

Not to be outdone, Australian Swimming has installed an altitude training simulator into their training facility in Sydney to allow swimmers, including world champion James Magnussen, to reap the benefits of training at altitude without having to fly around the world to do so.

Whatever approach is taken, and whatever technological assistance is provided, the next few months will be pivotal.

This will be the one opportunity for Britain’s current crop of swimmers to experience a home Olympics and no-one will want to miss out through a lack of dedication or preparation.

The swim to Stratford really has begun.

• Follow the pullbuoy blog for the latest from the world of swimming – http://www.pullbuoy.co.uk/

Athletics fails its fans by robbing them of competition for Usain Bolt

Competition: Usain Bolt needs to race rivals, not pose for photos (Photo: AP)

Athletics may still regard itself as the blue riband sport of the Olympic Games but it seems determined to alienate its dwindling band of fans.

On Friday, the track and field season reaches its conclusion at the Diamond League final in Brussels, where the cast list includes Usain Bolt and fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake -  the man who dethroned Bolt as world 100 metres champion after the Olympic champion was sensationally disqualified for false-starting in last month’s final in Daegu.

The Ivo van Damme Memorial meeting is one of the best attended on the circuit, and with an expected sell-out crowd of 48,000 it offered the perfect stage to re-run the world-final-that-never-was, testing Bolt’s boast that, had he not been red-carded, he would have been too quick for Blake and the rest of the 100m field in South Korea.

Only the match-up will not be taking place. Unbelievably, the two athletes will be kept apart in different races in Brussels, with Bolt competing in an invitation 100m and Blake running the 200m.

And people wonder why athletics has declined in popularity since its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Diamond League, which is reaching the end of its second year of existence, was meant to promote more head-to-head clashes between the biggest stars yet the sport continues to shoot itself in the foot by allowing athletes to avoid each other so flagrantly.

In fact, since the last World Championships in Berlin in 2009, you can count on one hand the number of genuinely competitive 100m races Bolt has had – one against Tyson Gay in Stockholm in 2010 and two against Asafa Powell in Paris in 2010 and in Rome earlier this summer.

The world 100m final in Daegu would have been the first time Bolt had raced Blake this season had he not been disqualified. He competed against him only twice last year.

Now call me old-fashioned, but I tend to think that sport works best when competition is involved.

Since the Beijing Olympics, Bolt has been a godsend to meet promoters, more than justifying his eye-watering appearance fees by putting bums on seats and bringing in sponsorship revenue, but building meetings around what is essentially a one-man exhibition is not sustainable in the long term.

I have seen Bolt in action perhaps a dozen times in the last three years and there are already signs that the pre-race theatrics, the lightning-bolt gestures and the laps of honour are starting to

wear thin.

The Rome and Olso crowds lapped it all up this season because he was making his first appearance at their meets, but in Paris, where he was returning for the second successive year, the atmosphere was noticeably more muted – not helped by a dismal 200m race delayed by a faulty start.

What the recent World Championships showed is that true head-to-head competition is the heartbeat of athletics rather than exhibitionism for its own sake.

The moments that stick in the memory are Ethiopian Ibrahim Jeilan hunting down and catching a distressed-looking Mo Farah in the 10,000m final, or Grenadian teenager Kirani James pipping Olympic champion Lashawn Merritt on the line in the 400m final.

They are the kind of moments we can look forward to being repeated in the Olympic Stadium next summer, though outside the major championships, competition appears to be a dirty word.

A 100m clash between Bolt and Blake in Brussels would have been a fitting climax to the season. Instead, the 48,000 paying customers have been outrageously short-changed.

Tom Brady, Wes Welker make New England Patriots history

Tom Brady to Wes Welker -- it's a combination Miami Dolphins fans probably never want to hear about again. Unfortunately for those fans, they're going to be hearing about a particular play involving the two New England Patriots players from Monday night's game between the two AFC East rivals for a long, long time.

With just under six minutes left and trailing by 14, Miami failed to score from the New England 1. But with the Patriots backed into their own end zone, the Dolphins still had hope.

Not for long. On the first play of the drive, Brady lined up in shotgun with an empty backfield and hit Welker near the 30. The Patriots receiver took it from there, all the way to the Miami end zone to complete the longest scoring play in team history.

The Patriots would go on to win, 38-24. Brady gave Welker all the credit for what was only the 12th 99-yard touchdown reception in NFL history.

“I only threw it 25 yards. Wes did all the work,” said Brady, who finished with 517 yards and four touchdowns, including another one (a mere 2-yarder) to Welker.

RELATED:

NFL Week 1: What was the biggest surprise?

Carolina's Cam Newton exceeds expectations in debut

Tony Romo getting bashed after Dallas Cowboys' loss to N.Y. Jets

-- Chuck Schilken

Left photo: Tom Brady celebrates a touchdown against the Dolphins on Monday night. Credit: Marc Serota / Getty Images

Right photo: Wes Welker runs for a 99-yard touchdown in Miami. Credit: Bill Ingram / Associated Press / Palm Beach Post

Bill Plaschke: Oakland Raiders need some brain with their brawn

They were great. They were gross.

They hit hard. They also hit late, cheap, sometimes without helmets, and often without conscience.

As always, I couldn’t stop watching them. But, as always, I could barely stomach what I was seeing.

The Oakland Raiders played perhaps the toughest football of the NFL’s first week Monday, overpowering the Denver Broncos with three forced turnovers and five sacks while rushing for 152 more yards in a 23-20 victory.

They also played absolutely the dumbest, most thuggish football of the first week with 15 penalties for 131 yards, more penalties than were assessed the New Patriots, Green Bay Packers and New York Jets combined.

The Jets, incidentally, had zero penalties while mounting a bruising comeback against the Dallas Cowboys, proving it is possible to use both your muscles and your brains, sometimes even at the same time.

Are Bills That Good, and Chiefs That Bad?

This time last year, I wrote that an opening day loss wasn’t necessarily a harbinger of things to come. But Week 1 isn’t meaningless, and no team knows that better than the Chiefs. Last season, Kansas City pulled off the biggest upset in Week 1 and rode a hot start directly into a division championship.

This past weekend, no team exceeded expectations like the Buffalo Bills. The Bills were initially listed as 6.5-point underdogs to the Chiefs, although speculation about Matt Cassel’s injury drove the point spread down to 3.5 points by kickoff. But by either measure, a 34-point victory was nothing short of shocking. The Bills covered the point spread by either 40.5 or 37.5 points, depending on your perspective. The largest opening day “cover” in modern history came in 1997, when the  Jets shocked the Seattle Seahawks, 41-3. The Jets were coming off a 1-15 season and were 6.5-point underdogs in Bill Parcells’ first game with the team. The season ultimately ended with a 9-7 mark.

From 1978 to 2010, only seven teams (1) were an underdog in their season opener, (2) covered the point spread by at least 30 points, and (3) won 6 or fewer games in the prior season. Five of those seven teams ended up winning at least half of their games, and two (the ‘00 Eagles and ‘06 Ravens) made the playoffs. The Bills have a good chance to run their record to 2-0, as the schedule makers did Al Davis’s team no favors. Oakland has to make a cross-country trip on a short week and play in Buffalo with a 1 p.m. kickoff. A win over the Raiders win would set the stage for the biggest game in Buffalo in years, a Week 3 showdown against the Patriots. So what was the key to the Bills’ success?

They’re not going to make anyone forget Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, but the Bills have a nice set of triplets. Ryan Fitzpatrick was flawless against the Chiefs and passed for four touchdowns; since the start of last season, Fitzpatrick and Tom Brady are the only quarterbacks with three games with four passing touchdowns or more.

Fred Jackson has been underrated by many the past few seasons, including by his own coaches. Jackson has a career 4.5 yards per carry average, and recorded the 8th 100-yard rushing game of his career on Sunday. Steve Johnson had a breakout season last year, his third in the league, gaining 82 catches for 1,073 yards and 10 touchdowns. Johnson had 66 yards and a score against the Chiefs.

But the Bills’ defense didn’t play second fiddle to the offense in Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City’s first three drives ended with three punts and 20 total yards. Five more drives ended in punts, with all of them gaining 20 or fewer yards. The Bills intercepted Matt Cassel, stripped Jamaal Charles, and allowed just one touchdown.

Are the Chiefs horrible? Are the Bills great? Is neither team, to quote Denny Green, who we thought they were?

On the surface, the 2010 Chiefs were a much stronger team than the Bills. Kansas City won the A.F.C. West and had a 10-win season, while Buffalo stumbled to an 0-8 record and ended the season tied for the second-worst record in the league, at 4-12. But dig beneath the surface, and these two teams weren’t nearly so far apart.

Buffalo had the hardest schedule in the A.F.C. last season, while the Chiefs had the conference’s most forgiving slate of opponents. According to Pro-Football-Reference, the difference between the Bills’ and the Chiefs’ schedules was worth, on average, 7.5 points per week. Consider this: both franchises went winless in 2010 against teams with 10 or more wins (Buffalo, 0-9; K.C. 0-2, including playoffs). Each team won 75 percent of its games against teams with six or fewer wins (Buffalo 3-1; K.C. 4-2). Against teams with seven to nine wins, the Bills went 1-1 with Fitzpatrick at quarterback (1-2 over all), while the Chiefs went 4-3.

Here’s another reason to be optimistic about Buffalo. In 2010, the Bills had the worst turnover margin in football, a metric that — although long accepted in certain football statistical communities — is often misunderstood by football fans. Jason Lisk recently examined all of the teams with the worst turnover margin in the league for every season since 1990. On average, those teams won just 4.6 games, but the following season, the group averaged 7.9 wins. Turnovers play a huge part in explaining whether a team wins or loses, but is not a strong predictor of future performance. Teams with terrible turnover margins tend to lose a lot of games, but are also unlucky; as such, they are usually good picks to outperform public perception the next season.

Thanks to a brutal schedule and a horrific turnover margin, the Bills won only four games in 2010. As any Chiefs fan will tell you, it’s a new season. Buffalo’s offense looks more than capable, while the defense looked significantly improved. Buffalo wasn’t a trendy pick this off-season; bringing back Chan Gailey and Fitzpatrick looked more like a concession than a plan. But the Bills were a tough out last season — recall that Johnson dropped the potential game-winning touchdown in overtime against Pittsburgh last season — and with an easier schedule and more talent, they are capable of being the surprise team in 2011. It’s far too early to understand the playoff picture, but the A.F.C. West and A.F.C. South seem unlikely to send multiple teams to the playoffs. Edging out New England, Baltimore, Pittsburgh or the Jets may be too tall a task for the Bills, but don’t be surprised if Buffalo keeps at least one of those teams sweating until the final weekend.

As for the Chiefs? It’s been an ugly couple of months in Kansas City. First, Jonathan Baldwin and Thomas Jones made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Then Todd Haley and the fantasy football community continued to exchange fisticuffs. Kansas City went 0-4 in the preseason, and lost starting TE Tony Moeaki for the regular season in the process. In the opener, Kansas City’s promising young safety Eric Berry was lost for the year. The Chiefs defied expectations last year, in large part thanks to a soft schedule. I don’t like to overreact to Week 1, but the 2011 Chiefs seem more likely to resemble the 2009 squad than the division-winning champion version from last year.

Chase Stuart contributes to the Pro-Football-Reference.com blog and to Footballguys.com.

How Many Wins Is Peyton Manning Worth?

Before the season, the N.F.L. statistical community pulled out its protractors — do they still use protractors? — to determine how damaging the absence of Peyton Manning might be.

It’s no longer a math exercise, with Manning most likely out for the season. (Even if he’s ready to return late in the season, the Colts may be out of the playoff hunt by then, so why risk re-injury by rushing him back? If the Colts really nosedive, they also may have a shot at drafting Andrew Luck as Manning’s eventual replacement, another reason not to hurry Manning back.)

In light of the Colts’ opening week debacle, let’s review some of what the analysts wrote:

Brian Burke of Advanced NFL Stats:

Since 2000 (as far back as my data goes), Manning played in 176 regular-season games and accumulated a total of 43.0 WPA, for an average of 3.8 WPA per season. This equates to 0.24 WPA per game, which means that Manning (and his passing offense) would give an otherwise perfectly average team a 74% chance of winning a game. In other words, he would take an 8-win team and make them an 11.8-win team.

In terms of points, Manning totaled 1,617 Expected Points Added (EPA) over those 176 games since 2000. That’s a 9.1 net point advantage per game. This means that Manning and his passing offense generated just over 9 points per game more than an average NFL passing game would have. It appears the odds makers agree, dropping the point spread in the upcoming Colts-Texans game by about that amount when Manning was declared doubtful.

Jason Lisk, The Big Lead:

The average Hall of Fame QB–guys like Marino, Fouts, Kelly, Montana and Young, were worth about 2.6 wins over their backups over the course of a 16 game schedule. I think Manning is worth a little more than that, and working off the average projection (the over/under was 9.5 to 10 on season wins before this news) would make them about a 7 win team.

I was on the under for the Colts even before this news, so I’m going to say about 3 wins off my expectation for them this year makes them about a 6-10 team as my official prediction. I don’t see them challenging for the #1 pick, and I think they will still be equivalent or better than Jacksonville or Tennessee.

Chase Stuart, Pro-Football-Reference.com:

I’m less optimistic than most. I’m not going out on a limb if I tell you that the Colts are going to implode, but I think that’s what’s going to happen. If Manning is gone for 16 games, I would probably take the “under” even at 6 wins.

The Colts aren’t now going to try to win with defense, because the defense isn’t built that way. Indianapolis won’t try to win by running, because the offense isn’t built that way. The Colts are going to try to plug and play, essentially keeping the high-octane, aerial attack that tries to get leads early, but by deploying Kerry Collins in lieu of Peyton Manning. That is a recipe for disaster.

In 2009, the Colts set a record for the largest disparity between passing and rushing first downs. Last year, they actually passed for 12 more first downs than they did the year before. Indianapolis is built around a lethal passing attack; Kerry Collins is going to kill the passing attack. Building a team around an almost 39-year-old recently retired quarterback who has two weeks of training is a train wreck waiting to happen. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t miss at least a few games this season, and the Colts will be even worse when he’s out.

The Colts won’t pass effectively. They won’t run effectively. When those things happen, the defense will be more exposed than ever. And after an ugly start, I think the most talented veterans on the team will lose their motivation. The Colts could very well bottom out to 3-13. It’s not about how good Peyton Manning is, or how valuable he is; it’s about how the team was built around him.

Extra point How many wins do you think Peyton Manning is worth?