With some serious injuries dotting the beginning of the N.F.L. season, William C. Rhoden asks if our national love for football has made us blind to its dangers.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Pac-12 Conference calls off expansion plans for now
The Pacific 12 Conference released a statement Tuesday night saying it was not pursuing expansion plans at this time.
"After careful review we have determined that it is in the best interests of our member institutions, student-athletes and fans to remain a 12-team conference," Commissioner Larry Scott said in the statement.
The decision came after Scott met with conference presidents.
There had been wild speculation in recent days that Oklahoma, Texas, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech were close to leaving the Big 12 and joining Scott's conference, making it the Pac-16.
The conference, though, has decided for now it will stay at 12 teams. It expanded last year from 10 to 12, adding Colorado and Utah, after a deal to form the Pac-16 fell through at the last minute.
Texas and Oklahoma were a part of those plans at the time.
More details to come later at latimes.com/sports.
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At USC, football really is a numbers game
Big East and Big 12 talk of merger
Arizona State expects to face a motivated USC
-- Chris Dufresne
Photo: Pac-12 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott. Credit: Ed Andrieski / Associated Press
Everything goes to plan for Angels in rout of Blue Jays
Every B-grade adventure movie has a scene in which the intrepid hero, finding himself in a fix, comes up with an escape plan that has seemingly no chance of succeeding.
That’s where the Angels find themselves now. Despite Tuesday’s 10-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, the Angels trail Texas by 4 1/2 games in the American League West pending the result of the Rangers' night game in Oakland.
In the wild-card race, Boston, which was still playing when the Angels' game ended, is only slightly closer. And there are only eight games left in which to catch the Red Sox.
Yet in the Angels’ clubhouse, hope remains.
“We still have a plan,” outfielder Torii Hunter said. “All is not lost. [But] we’ve got to make it happen. We’ve got to battle.”
No news on Doughty; ailing Simon Gagne to miss exhibition opener
Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi said Tuesday he had not spoken to Don Meehan, who represents the unsigned restricted free agent. Lombardi also said that persistent rumors that he will trade Doughty are false. “There’s no way,” Lombardi said.
Some of those rumors appeared on Twitter on Monday from the account of someone impersonating Canadian Sportsnet personality Nick Kypreos, and Lombardi said he initially thought it was the real Kypreos coming up with those trade scenarios. Lombardi said he was irked until he was told the account didn’t belong to Kypreos.
The only other news Tuesday was that winger Simon Gagne was scratched from Wednesday’s split-squad game against Phoenix at Staples Center because of the flu. Gagne missed practice Tuesday and Coach Terry Murray said there was no reason to rush Gagne back.
Brad Richardson, who had been scheduled to travel to Glendale, Ariz., to play in the other split-squad game, instead stayed in Los Angeles and will play at Staples Center. Scott Parse skated alongside Mike Richards and Dustin Brown on Tuesday, with tryout player Cam Paddock on a line with Kyle Clifford and Jarret Stoll. However, Murray said he will have Parse with Stoll and Clifford on Wednesday and will put Richardson on the left side with Richards and Brown.
No men allowed, but 41,000 still attend soccer game in Turkey
Turkey's soccer association is trying something new in an effort to prevent violence at soccer games involving teams sanctioned for unruly fan behavior -- ban men and give free tickets to women and children under 12.
On Tuesday, Fenerbahce gave out free tickets -- to women and children only -- for its game against Manisapor in Istanbul. Long lines formed around Sukru Saracoglu stadium, with some women carrying babies in team colors, and more than 41,000 tickets were given away.
"This really is a historic day," Yasemin Mercil, a female member of Fenerbahce's executive board, said before the game. "For the first time in the world, only women and children will watch a game. The women know all the chants. The same anthems, the same chants will be sung."
The experiment seems to have been a success. Players tossed flowers at the fans before the game, and the visiting team received applause, according to the Anatolia news agency.
“This memory will stay with me forever," Fenerbahce captain Alex de Sousa said. "It's not always that you see so many women and children in one game."
Manisaspor midfielder Omer Aysan added: "It was such a fun and pleasant atmosphere."
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-- Chuck Schilken
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Photo: More than 41,000 women and children filled Sukru Saracoglu Stadium in Istanbul to watch Fenerbahce play against Manisapor in a Turkish League soccer match Tuesday. Credit: Turkpix / Associated Press
Angels facing uphill fight to stay in contention
The Angels may not be standing with their backs against the wall just yet. But they can clearly feel the wall from where they stand.
The team entered Tuesday's game in Toronto trailing the Texas Rangers in the American League West by five games with nine to play. In the wild-card race they're 4 1/2 behind the Boston Red Sox with Tampa Bay, at two back, in between.
That leaves the Angels with very little room for error. Even if they win their next six games against Toronto and Oakland, the Rangers would have to lose at least twice during that span to make the teams' season-ending three-game series in Anaheim meaningful. The Rangers' magic number for winning the division race entering Tuesday was five, meaning any combination of Texas wins and Angel losses equaling five eliminates the Angels.
The scenario in the wild-card race is only slightly less desperate -- and the Angels have to hope two teams, both Boston and Tampa Bay, collapse there.
"Man, it's been desperate for me since August. I've been hungry since August," outfielder Torii Hunter said. "For me, it's the same thing. Take it the same. I'm going to have my same approach as any other day."
With time running out, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia opted against starting 15-game winner Dan Haren on three days' rest and went instead with schedule starter Joel Pineiro, who has struggled this season. That will leave Haren, Ervin Santana and 18-game winner Jered Weaver on track to start the final three games on regular rest.
By then, however, those games could be little more than exhibitions.
"At this point we need help," Scioscia said. "We’re not in range with Texas yet for those three games at the end to be meaningful."
The lineups:
Angels
CF -- Peter Bourjos
3B -- Alberto Callaspo
2B -- Howie Kendrick
DH -- Torii Hunter
1B -- Mark Trumbo
LF -- Vernon Wells
RF -- Mike Trout
SS -- Erick Aybar
C -- Bobby Wilson
P -- Joel Pineiro
Toronto Blue Jays
SS -- Mike McCoy
LF -- Eric Thames
RF -- Jose Bautista
1B -- Edwin Encarnacion
2B -- Kelly Johnson
3B -- Brett Lawrie
CF -- Colby Rasmus
C -- J.P. Arencibia
DH -- Adam Loewen
P -- Brett Cecil
-- Kevin Baxter, reporting from Toronto
Are tennis players justified in their complaints about the schedule?
Novak Djokovic's incredible season has finally taken its toll
Another year, another debate about the tennis schedule. The pontifications and proliferations over how much tennis the world's leading players are forced to play is an annual exercise that rears its ugly head almost like clockwork. The US Open finishes, the four grand slams are complete, and yet the players have to keep playing. Not fair, they say.
Do they have a point?
The rules of the Association of Tennis Professionals, the ATP, require that men ranked in the top 30 in the world must play: the four Grand Slams, eight of the nine Masters 1000 events (Monte Carlo is optional) and four of the 11 ATP 500 events. If they feel so inclined, they can add another two ATP 500 or ATP 250 events on top of that. And if they are among the world's best eight players at the end of the season, add the Barclays ATP World Tour finals onto that. Which brings us to the round figure of 18 or 19 tournaments in a calendar year.
Of course, that could well be 18 or 19 first rounds. That's akin to a jog in the park. But if you are Novak Djokovic, or an aspirant Djokovic, you are in line for up to seven matches at a slam, up to five or six at a Masters 1000, up to five at an ATP 500, and at least three, up to five at the World Tour Finals. Multiply all those by 19, and that's a lot of matches.
And, add Davis Cup, and exhibitions, and you've got even more matches.
Not only that, it's also worth taking into account where all these various tussles take place. Djokovic again is the obvious example, somewhat ironic considering that he is one of the few players yet to jump on the complaints bandwagon, although he did have a word or two to say about the length of the season last year. And is now injured.
This has been his year so far…
December 31 Fly from Belgrade to Perth
January 1-8 Hopman Cup, Perth – 3 matches
January 17-31 Australian Open, Melbourne – 7 matches
Fly from Melbourne to Belgrade, then Belgrade to Dubai
February 21-28 ATP 500, Dubai – 5 matches
March 10-20 ATP Masters 1000, Indian Wells – 6 matches
Fly from Indian Wells to Bogota, Colombia, for exhibition (1 match) then to Miami
March 23 – April 10 ATP Masters 1000, Miami – 6 matches
April 25-May 1 ATP 250, Belgrade – 4 matches
May 1-8 ATP Masters 1000, Madrid, 5 matches
May 8-15 ATP Masters 1000, Rome, 5 matches
May 22-June 3 Roland Garros, Paris, 6 matches
Fly from Paris to Belgrade, then Belgrade to London
June 14-17 Boodles exhibition, 1 match
June 20-July 3 Wimbledon, London, 7 matches
Fly from London to Belgrade
Fly from Belgrade to Montreal
August 8-14 ATP Masters 1000, Montreal, 5 matches
August 14-21 ATP Masters 1000, Cincinnati, 5 matches
August 29-September 12 US Open, New York, 7 matches
Fly from New York to Belgrade
September 16-18 Davis Cup, Belgrade, 1 match
And there are still three months of the season left to run. Metz and Bucharest, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Tokyo, Shanghai, Stockholm and Moscow, Vienna and St Petersburg, Valencia and Basle, Paris, London. And the Davis Cup final.
Adam Helfant, the ATP's head honcho, who leaves at the end of this year, has brought the end of the season forward by two weeks for 2012, but that is by running Paris and London back-to-back, rather than reducing the number of events or mandatory events.
So put like that, it is a lot. Even if you do get to join every frequent flyer club in the world, all that travel, and all those matches, takes its toll. Add to that the fact that the women's tour requires only 10 mandatory events rather than 12 (on top of the four Slams), and finishes a whole month earlier, it's no wonder the gents are feeling a little hard done-by.
But, there are also reasons why they shouldn't be.
1. They choose to play exhibitions and more events. Rafael Nadal, for example, did not need to play Barcelona, Monte Carlo, or Queen's. It's great for those tournaments that he did. But he didn't have to.
2. They asked for Davis Cup to be moved the week after the grand slams. In October 2006, Nadal, along with 17 of the top 20 players, including Roger Federer and Andy Roddick lobbied for the move, the ITF agreed, and from 2009, that is how it has been.
3. They don't get fined for missing events. They lose ranking points.
4. What they complain about may not be such a problem for the lowly-ranked. How many tournaments does a journeyman pro need to play to break even? A lot, I imagine.
5. Would the likes of Nadal and co be where they are now if they hadn't been able to play as many tournaments in the past and crank up the points? Who knows.
6. Would the sport be able to pay them in prize and appearance money if there weren't so many events? Probably not.
Admittedly, this year's debate has been rather more furious than usual. The debacle that was the US Open didn't help – the weather, the courts, the misinformation and miscommunication all were less than ideal.
It has also been fuelled by the chipping in of various ex-pros to either agree or disagree. Michael Stich, who played 99 singles & 54 doubles matches in the year he won Wimbledon in 1991, has launched himself in like the Hindenburg.
“I think the players forget that all the tournaments out there provide them with jobs," he said. "They are not playing more than 10 or 15 years ago. It’s just like they are running after exhibitions, they are trying to make more money and don’t even fulfil their commitments to the smaller tournaments sometimes. Murray doesn’t even play four rounds of Davis Cup throughout the year. Perhaps they need to look out for their bodies and pick their tournaments better?”
In response to Herr Stich, it has to be recognised that today's tennis is far more physical than yesterday's. Of that there can be no doubt. But is that enough reason for the current state of hullabaloo?
The elephant in the room, of course, is how to fix it. Reduce the number of mandatory events for the top dogs? Lop off a week here and there? Change the rankings system? The upcoming players' meeting in Shanghai aims to provide a one-size-fits-all solution. We shall have to wait and see if it can.
NFL setting records on offense (despite the Chiefs and Jaguars)
NFL fans in Kansas City and Jacksonville may find this hard to believe, but there has been a record number of touchdowns scored so far this season.
Teams have combined to score 172 touchdowns, the most ever in the first two weeks of the season. The surprising Buffalo Bills have entered the end zone 10 times, more than any other team.
They are followed by another team that appears to have turned around its fortunes, the Detroit Lions, who have nine touchdowns, as do the not-so-surprising Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots.
The Chiefs and Jaguars have crossed the goal line just one time each.
Fans who watched Donovan McNabb's debut with Minnesota may not believe this, but quarterbacks have thrown for a record 15,771 net passing yards through the first two weeks.
The Patriots (463 yards per game) and Carolina Panthers (403) lead the way, with the Vikings (120) and Chiefs (110.5) bringing up the rear.
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-- Chuck Schilken
Photo: Buffalo Bills wide receiver David Nelson catches a pass for the winning touchdown against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. Credit: Kevin Hoffman / US Presswire
USC football: Lane Kiffin says Armond Armstead will redshirt
USC Coach Lane Kiffin announced Tuesday that defensive lineman Armond Armstead, who has not played this season because of an unspecified medical condition, will redshirt.
Armstead, a senior from Sacramento, has not been allowed to practice since last spring, when he experienced chest pains. Armstead has said he did not have a heart condition. He said last week that he had sought opinions outside of USC, but that only USC doctors could clear him.
"After meeting with everybody involved, everyone has come to the same conclusion: the best thing is to redshirt him right now, being this late in the season and having missed so much practice time and so much game time," Kiffin said after practice. "It's the best thing for his future so we’ll look to the future for it. He's going to probably ... finish his degree this semester and [we'll] have him back next year."
Asked if USC doctors had cleared Armstead to play, Kiffin said, "I'm not really going to go into that. That's family business." He added later: "We know whether he is or he isn't but that's not for [the media] to know. If the family wants to tell you, that’s their business."
Armstead was not at practice and not immediately available for comment.
Kiffin said he hoped that Armstead would return to play at USC in 2012, but acknowledged that he might seek to turn pro, saying Armstead was "a great player. I'm sure he'll look at that."
More later at latimes.com/sports.
-- Gary Klein
What will happen to remaining Big 12 and Big East teams?
Check back throughout the day for more responses and feel free to join the discussion with a comment of your own.
Chris Dufresne, Los Angeles Times
Think "blended family." You know, like "The Brady Bunch."
If Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech leave the Big 12 for the Pac 16, look for the depleted Big East to join the depleted Big 12 to form The Leftovers. Should Rutgers and Connecticut eventually join Pittsburgh and Syracuse in the ACC, the geographic edge goes to the Big 12.
Assume Missouri becomes the SEC's 14th team. The "Mid" East might be Baylor, Kansas State, Kansas, Iowa State, Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida, West Virginia, Texas Christian. Then bulk up by adding Boise State, SMU, Houston. Or maybe add some Rice if you're thinking academics.
This patchwork life raft might hold until the next big expansion wave. Or not.
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Surpassing Numbers From Tom Brady and Cam Newton
In Week 1, Tom Brady and Cam Newton were outstanding. Among all quarterbacks since 1960:
As great as those two were in Week 1, Brady and Newton served up some excellent encores. Facing two of the best defenses in football — the Packers finished the 2010 season second in points allowed, 3rd in net yards per pass allowed and 5th in passing yards allowed, while the Chargers led the league in yards allowed, passing yards allowed and net yards per pass allowed — didn’t intimidate Newton or Brady. Newton torched the Packers for 432 passing and added 53 more yards on the ground. Tom Brady lighted up the Chargers for 423 passing yards.
Newton became the third-youngest quarterback to throw for 400 passing yards, a week after becoming the second youngest. Brady became the first quarterback to throw for a 500-yard game and a 400-yard game in consecutive weeks. Newton’s start to his career has been both entertaining and eye-opening: here were the top 10 leaders in passing yards in a player’s first two games before 2011:
Newton didn’t just break the record, he obliterated it, throwing for 854 passing yards in his first two games. In fact, immediately after Newton’s performance, he became just the seventh quarterback — of any age or experience — since 1960 to pass for 850 yards or more in consecutive games. But by the end of the day, he was passed by Brady, who finished five yards shy of tying the record for most passing yards in consecutive games:
Record-Setting Day in Detroit
The Detroit Lions are one of the oldest franchises in the N.F.L., dating to their days as the Portsmouth Spartans in 1930. The Lions won three N.F.L. titles in six years in the ’60s, and played in their 1,122nd regular-season game Sunday. Never had Detroit won a regular-season game by more than 44 points, as it did against the Chiefs (48-3) in its home opener on Sunday. Whenever a team as old as Detroit sets a franchise record, that’s impressive. In 1957, the last year the Lions won a championship, Detroit crushed the Cleveland Browns, 59-14. Lions fans can only hope that this year’s edition continues to evoke comparisons to the ‘57 team.
Meanwhile, things went from bad to worse for Kansas City. After being blindsided by the Bills, 41-7, at Arrowhead in Week 1, the Chiefs somehow managed to look even worse in Week 2. The Chiefs are last in the league in points scored and last in the league in points allowed; that’s what happens when a team starts off the season by being outscored, 89-10. How bad has Kansas City been? Over the last 75 seasons, only three N.F.L. teams and one A.F.L. team have been outscored by more points in their first two games:
Adding insult to injury for the Chiefs? Before becoming Buffalo’s coach, Chan Gailey was hired as the Kansas City offensive coordinator in 2008; three games into the 2009 preseason, Coach Todd Haley, in a stunning move, fired him. Gailey got his revenge in Week 1; the Buffalo offense exploded for five touchdowns. Gunther Cunningham coached for 11 seasons in Kansas City (including two seasons as coach in ‘99 and ‘00), but was relieved of his defensive coordinator duties as part of the regime change from Herm Edwards to Haley. Cunningham’s defense dominated the Chiefs’ offense on Sunday, and the Lions gave Cunningham a Gatorade bath in the final minute. After the game, Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew ignored etiquette and refused to acknowledge Chiefs General Manager Scott Pioli. Why did Mayhew turn his back on Pioli? Last year, the Chiefs and Pioli filed tampering chargers against the Lions, alleging that Cunningham contacted Chiefs safety Jarrad Page (and perhaps other defensive players). Detroit’s punishment was levied via the 2011 draft, as the league took away the Lions’ seventh- round pick and forced the two franchises to switch fifth round selections (which moved Kansas City up 14 spots). Haley and Pioli haven’t made many friends in Kansas City, and it seems as if opposing teams aren’t shy about exacting their revenge against the Chiefs on the field.
Profiles in Futility
The Chiefs are in the running for worst team in the league, also known as the Andrew Luck sweepstakes. But while no one has equaled the depths of Kansas City’s ineptitude, Kansas City is not alone in looking ugly.
No team has been worse on the road than the Seattle Seahawks. After being shut out in Pittsburgh, 24-0, the Seahawks have now:
The Indianapolis Colts were annihilated on opening day by the Texans. The Peyton Manning-less Colts fared better on Sunday, falling, 29-17, to the Browns. But consider how far the Colts have fallen. From 2000 to 2010 — ignoring Week 17 games in which the Colts announced their intention to rest most of their starters — Indianapolis was a home underdog only one time in that 11-year stretch, and that was when they faced the ‘07 Patriots. This was only Cleveland’s second double-digit victory in its last 62 road games.
Come for the nightlife and scene, stay for the win: The Miami Dolphins have now lost 11 of their last 12 home games. Miami became just the fourth team in the past eight seasons to start the season by losing at home in Weeks 1 and 2.
Pay money to star running back, lose leads late, anyway: From 2000 to 2010, only 12 teams lost two games after jumping out to double-digit halftime leads in the same season. No team lost three. After two weeks, the Minnesota Vikings are 2 for 2 in 2011. The Vikings stunned the Chargers in Week 1, jumping out to a 17-7 lead at halftime. The Vikings did not score in the second half, and San Diego won, 24-17. In Week 2, the Vikings stunned the Buccaneers, jumping out to a 17-0 halftime lead. The Vikings were held to just a field goal in the second half, and lost, 24-20. Adrian Peterson has 218 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns, but his teammates have not been as productive.
Chase Stuart contributes to the Pro-Football-Reference.com blog and to Footballguys.com.
Victory but Same Concerns for Giants
Sam Borden writes that despite a 28-16 victory over St. Louis on Monday, the defense — for both good and bad — is still the story for the Giants, and the offense remains somewhere between inconsistent and nondescript. The Giants did enough to improve to 1-1, but Tuesday’s day-after review of the game film will not be cheerful. Many of the same problems in the Week 1 loss to Washington resurfaced, including a porous secondary and a choppy offense. Read the article here and come back to comment.
Rugby World Cup 2011: From Sleepless in Sydney to Eyes Wide Shut
Arrived in Sydney this morning, en route to the RWC, and absolutely shattered after a flight that seemed to never end.
I'd liked the idea of flying Emirates with refuelling stops in Dubai and Bangkok. You know, a bit of duty free shopping at the first, and a decent green curry at the second, all while giving the old legs a good stretch. Harrumph! Neither happened as both stops were taken up by constant standing in line and OTT security checks. Off the plane, queue, unpack hand luggage, repack, queue again, back on to the plane.
So I arrive in Sydney at 8am with legs like jelly and eyes as grainy as the Dubai surrounds. What's a man to do when a full day lies ahead in this magnificent city but the body is protesting loudly? Drink a truckload of Red Bull? Invite dodgy looks from receptionists when asking for a hotel room for one hour?
Step forward my dear mate Shelley Winter, who recommended the 'sleep pod' at MBF health insurers in the heart of the CBD. Free for 30 minutes for non-members, it's an oasis of sleep-inducing darkness and calming music. Half an hour of shut-eye later, and I'm ready for that kangaroo steak on the barbie and a schooner of beer. Worth checking out if you stop here on your way to the main event.
Next stop, Auckland – in time for that mammoth collision between New Zealand and France.
This blog is supported by Maximuscle, suppliers of Whey protein to Courtney Lawes, Joe Simpson and the Welsh Rugby Team.
Family of Kings scout Mark Bavis settles Sept. 11 suit
Bavis (pictured at right) and fellow scout Ace Bailey were traveling to the Kings' training camp aboard United Flight 175 when highjackers took control of the plane and crashed it into the World Trade Center. The suit was the last wrongful death suit filed in New York related to the attacks. It had been scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 7.
Bavis’ brother, Mike, had recently said the family was determined to see the suit through. However, the family’s lawyer, Donald Migliori, told the Associated Press that Bavis’ mother, Mary, decided to settle after learning there would be a three-week limit for the trial and the family would be facing other legal restrictions.
Huntleigh Security USA, a security contractor for United, had also been named in the suit.
--Helene Elliott
Photo credit: Associated Press
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