This Tiger Woods comeback is different from the others

The latest Tiger Woods comeback got off to a good start Wednesday.

First, Woods announced that he had signed an endorsement deal with Rolex. Second, he said he felt strong after finishing a pro-am leading up to this week’s Frys.com Open at CordeValle in Northern California.

“I’m able to walk the golf course,” he said. “This is a golf course I [previously] would have a very difficult time walking.”

Health alone makes this comeback different from others that have fallen flat, Woods told reporters during an afternoon news conference. He is scheduled to tee off in Thursday’s first round with Louis Oosthuizen and UCLA star Patrick Cantlay.

“I’ve got my strength back, the explosiveness in that leg,” he said. “That’s from having time to heal and train.”

Failing to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs meant extra days at home, playing 36 or more holes a day, looking to regain the sharpness that had faded with an inconsistent, injury-plagued schedule in recent years.

It also gave him time to continue working on major swing changes with coach Sean Foley. Woods seemed upbeat just days after falling out of the top 50 in the world rankings for the first time in more than a decade.

“I’ve done the legwork,” he said. “Now it’s time to go play.”

ALSO:

Tiger Woods misses the cut at PGA Championship

Bill Dwyre: Tiger Woods RSVPs for Frys.com Open; euphoria ensues

-- David Wharton

david.wharton@latimes.com

twitter.com/LATimesWharton

Photo: Tiger Woods tees off during the Frys.com Open pro-am on Wednesday. Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press

 

 

Rangers, Devils and Islanders Set Their Opening Night Rosters

Although the waiving of Sean Avery by the Rangers made headlines, there were few surprises among the three local N.H.L. teams when final rosters were submitted on Wednesday afternoon. In a league of one-way contracts, in which veterans are compensated equally whether they are in the N.H.L. or demoted to the minors, training camp competition is largely a myth.

The 2011-12 regular season starts Thursday night, with the Rangers debuting first among the locals with a 1:00 EST matchup on Friday against the Los Angeles Kings in Stockholm. On Saturday, the Islanders host the Panthers and the Devils play the Flyers at Prudential Center. Here are the final rosters for each team, followed by some news and views.

RANGERS

Goaltenders: Martin Biron, Henrik Lundqvist, Scott Stajcer

Defensemen: Brendan Bell, Stu Bickel, Michael Del Zotto, Tim Erixon, Steve Eminger, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Sauer, Marc Staal (injured)

Centers: Artem Anisimov, Brian Boyle, Erik Christensen, Brad Richards, Derek Stepan

Wings: Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubnsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, Marian Gaborik, Brandon Prust, Mike Rupp, Wojtek Wolski, Mats Zuccarello

Notes: The Rangers may have been in denial or just employed wishful thinking in the case of No. 1 defenseman Marc Staal, who continues to suffer from concussion symptoms and has not been cleared for contact. Staal is not joining the team for the games in Europe and is out indefinitely. General Manager Glen Sather recalled Tim Erixon, resulting in a nice story as the New York-born, Sweden-raised defensive prospect may make his N.H.L. debut at home. Sather is reportedly in discussions with the representatives for Paul Mara, at this point in his career a third-pair defenseman but a capable puck-mover.

Coach John Tortorella is opting to put Dubinsky to the left of Richards and Gaborik on the first line to start the season. Christensen is expected to start the season as the Rangers’ extra forward. If Wolski cannot get his game together – he failed his first audition to play with Richards – Tortorella won’t hesitate to call on Christensen and his shootout prowess.

Stacjer remains as the third goaltender, allowed by the league for all teams opening the season in Europe. When the Rangers return home on Sunday, the young goalie will be bound for the minors.

DEVILS

Goaltenders: Martin Brodeur, Johan Hedberg

Defensemen: Mark Fayne, Andy Greene, Adam Larsson, Bryce Salvador, Henrik Tallinder, Anton Volchenkov

Centers: Adam Henrique, Jacob Josefson, Bradley Mills, Travis Zajac (injured), Dainius Zubrus

Wings: Eric Boulton, David Clarkson, Patrik Elias, Cam Janssen, Ilya Kovalchuk, Nick Palmieri, Zach Parise, Mattias Tedenby

Notes: Sykora was signed to a one-year contract after attending camp as a tryout. He will start his comeback on a line with his longtime teammate, Elias, at center and Parise at left wing.

Anton Stralman, also a tryout, is still with the team but has yet to be signed to a contract. The Devils will have to remove a roster player if they decide to sign the big defenseman.

The Devils named Parise captain on Wednesday. The selection was made by General Manager Lou Lamoriello and Coach Peter DeBoer.

ISLANDERS

Goaltenders: Rick DiPietro, Al Montoya, Evgeni Nabokov

Defensemen: Mark Eaton, Travis Hamonic, Milan Jurcina (injured), Andrew MacDonald, Mike Mottau, Steve Staios, Mark Streit

Centers: Josh Bailey, Frans Nielsen, John Tavares, Marty Reasoner, Ryan Strome

Wings: Blake Comeau, Trevor Gillies (injured), Michael Grabner, Matt Martin, Matt Moulson, Nino Niederreiter (injured), Kyle Okposo, Jay Pandolfo, P. A. Parenteau, Brian Rolston, Ryan Strome

Notes: The Islanders signed Strome, the 5th overall pick in the 2011 draft, on Tuesday. At 178 pounds, the gifted 18-year-old center is not ready for regular action at the N.H.L. level, but the Islanders will keep him around for a while to watch and possibly substitute since Niederreiter is sidelined with a groin injury.

The Islanders’ acquisitions for this season are all over 33 years of age: Reasoner (34), Pandolfo (36), Nabokov (36), Staios (37) and Rolston (38). The team’s youngsters required mentoring by experienced players. The first half of the season should tell whether the Islanders added the right ones.

According to the website Capgeek, the Islanders have a salary cap number of $52.6 million. But take away buyouts (Alexei Yashin, Brendan Witt) and bonuses – many highly unattainable – and the Islanders have a payroll of $38 million.

Sam Farmer discusses Week 5 in the NFL [Video]

Avery Clears Waivers

Rangers agitator Sean Avery cleared N.H.L. waivers on Wednesday, 24 hours after the Rangers placed him there and he was assigned to their American League affiliate in Hartford, the Connecticut Whale.

It came as little surprise that Avery went unclaimed by another team, which would have to pay him $2 million this season, high for a player who scored three goals last season.

When Avery was waived, his agent Pat Morris said he could explore avenues for Avery to play in Europe. The Rangers would have to agree to that, but likely would.

The Rangers also placed defenseman Marc Staal on injured reserve as he recovers from the effects of a concussion and recalled defenseman Tim Erixon from the Whale.

Where and when will Terry Francona manage next? [Updated]

Writers from around Tribune Co. discuss the future of Terry Francona, who stepped down last week after eight seasons and two World Series titles as manager of the Boston Red Sox. Check back throughout the day for more responses and weigh in with a comment of your own.

Dom Amore, Hartford Courant

Has to be the Cubs, doesn’t it?

The Cubs are bedeviled by the most hideous curse in sports, so what do they need? A manager who has d he can break such things. There are only two out there who have d then can win with organizations that haven’t in 80 years or more. The Cubs let Ozzie Guillen slip out of town and manage the Marlins. That leaves Terry Francona, the man under whom the Red Sox told the ghost of the Big Bam to scram once and for all in 2004.

Seriously, though, Francona, like most fired managers, will land in a place where he represents the opposite approach to his predecessor. The Cubs have tried the ranting of Lou Piniella and gone with a solid, longtime minor league organization man in Mike Quade. Francona would bring the gravitas of two championships, exciting the fans, and with his major league playing, coaching and managing experience, he has the ability to handle big stars in a big market and put out brush fires rather than start them.

He could work across town with the White Sox, too, or perhaps one day in New York, should abrasive Terry Collins wear out his welcome with the Mets. But the Cubs seem like a great fit. 

Moneyball: Did the Yankees once sign a player without ever seeing him play?

 

BASEBALL URBAN LEGEND: The Yankees signed a player sight unseen based solely on his statistics in an independent league.

One of the main (if not the main) conflicts in Michael Lewis' book Moneyball and the recent film of the same name is between "traditional" scouting (people who judge players by watching them play in person) versus statistical scouting (making decisions about players based on their statistical achievements). In the film, traditional scouting is portrayed as almost an archaic way of doing business but in reality, there is not a single Major League Baseball team today that does not place a great deal of emphasis on traditional scouting, including the Oakland Athletics. The differences between the various teams is how much emphasis they each give to statistical scouting in augmenting traditional scouting, not replacing it. While nowadays there is a general acceptance that the two modes of thinking are complimentary and not adversarial, it admittedly seemed pretty darn adversarial during those first few years after Moneyball came out. And in 2007, a 26-year-old relief pitcher became a symbol of the divide between traditional scouting and statistical scouting when the story came out that the Yankees signed Edwar Ramírez without seeing him in person.

But was that actually what happened? Read on to find out!

The Importance of a True No. 1 Receiver in the N.F.L.

Something that has really stood out on film this season is the significance of wide receivers. With the N.F.L. seemingly entirely pass-oriented these days – the four most productive weeks in league history in terms of passing yards have been Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the 2011 season – weapons in the passing game have never been more important.

The tight end position is experiencing a meteoric rise that we’ll examine more closely as the season goes on and we’ve had time to confirm that Jermichael Finley and Jimmy Graham are indeed human. In the meantime, one pronouncement we can make is that if you don’t have a wideout who can create big plays, you’re in trouble.

Look at the bottom-ranked pass offenses (in terms of yards per attempt): Jaguars 32nd; Rams 31st; Browns 30th; Colts 29th; and Vikings 28th.

One thing that these teams – save for the Colts – have in common is the absence of a true No. 1 wideout. They don’t have someone who can consistently command double teams or stretch the field. The Jags have a respectable young possession target in Mike Thomas, but he’s not quite fast enough to make up for his smallish size.

The Rams have a decent option in Mike Sims-Walker, but he’s inconsistent and struggles at times to get open. The Browns have no one, unless you think that Mohamed Massaquoi’s often heavy feet and slow change of direction aren’t a problem (they are). As for the Vikings, they refuse to treat Percy Harvin as a No. 1 (he’s not a true No. 1 but he’s certainly more than the traditional slot receiver that they’ve been primarily using him as). And so they’re stuck with Bernard Berrian and Michael Jenkins, two veterans who simply can’t separate against press coverage.

A reading of the pass offense rankings would show that the general theme of this trend holds true for all 32 slots. Teams near the top of the pass rankings have elite receivers; teams in the low-20s – like the Seahawks, who had been without Sidney Rice; the Bucs; the injury-plagued Broncos or Redskins – don’t.

It’s not just that potent wideouts produce big plays – it’s that they also compel defenses to be conservative with their safeties. This stretches a defense, which creates bigger passing lanes. It also limits what defenses can do with blitz packages. These factors create the horizontal and underneath passing windows that so many offenses are exploiting these days (especially on first and second down).

It used to be that the key to a great offense was having a dominant running back who could force a safety to creep up as an eighth defender in the box. This would open things up over the top. Now, the key seems to be having a dominant receiver who can force a safety to creep back and help keep short passing lanes open.

Andy Benoit is an NFL analyst for CBSSports.com and founder of NFLTouchdown.com. He can be reached at andy.benoit@NFLTouchdown.com or @Andy_Benoit.