behind love

Down 6-0, Nationals rally to tie Dodgers

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 19 September 2012 | 19.42

WASHINGTON (AP) -- - A mischievous grin stretched across Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson's mug while discussing which pitcher might fill in a gap in the rotation after Tuesday night's scheduled game against the Los Angeles Dodgers was postponed by rain.

"I'm sure 'Stras' would volunteer," Johnson said, chuckling at his reference to the famously shut-down Stephen Strasburg . "He is right-handed. He has been chompin'."

For the first time since baseball returned to Washington in 2005, September pitching choices made by the Nationals' skipper really do matter. Despite coming off a three-game sweep by the Atlanta Braves , the Nationals own the best record in the majors at 89-57.

Indeed, Washington announced it will put tickets for potential postseason games on sale Friday. The team hasn't finished higher than third place since arriving from Montreal.

"We're close, but the thing is, we're going to do what we've been doing all year, and that's kind of keep our head down and worry about one game at a time. Especially late in the season like this, if you get ahead of yourself, you can get yourself in trouble," reliever Drew Storen said. "We've done a good job all year of not really getting caught up in all that stuff."

With Tuesday's rainout, the 76-71 Dodgers - who are second in a long line of teams fighting for the NL's second wild-card spot - and Nationals will play a single-admission doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. Johnson expected to use Tuesday's scheduled starter, right-hander Jordan Zimmermann , and left-hander John Lannan ; Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Aaron Harang and Josh Beckett will be his pitchers.

Harang (9-9, 3.79 ERA) is 0-2 with a 4.71 ERA over his last four starts but 1-1 with a 2.19 ERA in his past four versus Washington, while Beckett - facing the Nats for the first time since 2005 - is 1-2 with a 3.38 ERA in four starts since joining the Dodgers.

Zimmermann (10-8, 3.01) has struggled over the last month, going 1-2 with a 6.03 ERA, and he'll get his first look at Los Angeles since 2009. Lannan (3-0, 2.41), meanwhile, is 4-0 with a 2.28 ERA in his last four starts in this series.

Looking further down the line, Johnson figures he'll need to plug someone into what would have been Zimmermann's next start, on Sunday at home against Milwaukee. He mentioned righties Craig Stammen and Chien-Ming Wang as possible fill-in starters.

"I just don't want any of my good, young pitchers to (come back) on short rest at this point. And I don't think 'Zim' has done it, and he's had a little bit of that inflammation there," Johnson said. "I think he could do it, and have no problem, but it's not something I'd like to do to any of those in the rotation, at this point."

There was good news on a couple of injured Nationals players, second baseman Danny Espinosa and left fielder Michael Morse .

Espinosa thought he might have a torn labrum in his aching left shoulder, but instead found out that it's a bone bruise in the socket. He got a cortisone shot Monday to relieve the pain and hopes to be able to play as soon as Wednesday.

"This is the best news that we could have gotten," Espinosa said. "If this was a rotator cuff tear or a labrum tear, it would have lingered the rest of the season. I would have had to have surgery in the offseason."

Morse was slated to start in the outfield and hit fifth if Tuesday's game had been played. He missed the past four games with a bothersome left wrist.

"It's another day to heal," Johnson said. "Mike was feeling pretty good. He was good to go. We were anxious to have him in the lineup."

The Dodgers got some potentially positive news as well. Closer Kenley Jansen , who has 25 saves, has been cleared to pitch again after being held out since late August because of an irregular heartbeat.

Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw , meanwhile, was examined by a hip specialist who said the left-hander can continue to pitch without risking damage to his sore right hip.

The Dodgers, who plan to have Kershaw re-start a throwing program, aren't so certain about his status.

Asked whether Kershaw will pitch again this season, Mattingly replied: "Yeah, maybe. Sounds like there's a chance of it."

20 Sep, 2012

-
Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/gameflash/2012/09/19/43608/index.html#boxscore?xid=si_topstories
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

19.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Stewart Mandel: Alabama-LSU national title rematch remains unlikely; more Mailbag

Though they're currently ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in the AP Poll, Alabama and LSU are unlikely to again play for the national title.

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

The Mandel Initiative Podcast

John Walters joins the show to talk Notre Dame. Stewart and Mallory preview this weekend's big lineup of games.

Later in this column, we're going to take a trip down memory lane and revisit a prominent figure from Mailbags past. Hint: It's a lady.

In the meantime, looking back at more recent history, the first Mailbag mention last year of a possible Alabama-LSU rematch came on Oct. 18. I, of course, dismissed the notion as silly and presumptuous. Whoops. I should probably not repeat that mistake ... but c'mon. We haven't even reached Week 4!

Here we go again! Everyone has said two SEC teams will never be in the National Championship Game again. Being still early in the season, LSU and Alabama are head and shoulders above the rest of college football. If the game Nov. 3 in Tiger Stadium is close, what's the chance we possibly see a repeat of last year?
-- Derek, Baton Rouge

So with USC now out of the picture (sure they could bounce back, but let's be real, their lack of depth was exposed), are we doomed to another year of SEC oppression?
-- Adam Lienau, Not the South

News flash: USC was never the country's lone non-SEC team capable of winning a national championship. The reason it may seem that way is because several other viable contenders have yet to play their first meaningful game.

Oregon, overlooked all preseason amid the USC hype, has continued to fly under the radar thanks to three opening games against non-AQ opponents. This week the third-ranked Ducks face No. 22 Arizona, and if Chip Kelly's team hangs half a hundred on Rich Rodriguez's Wildcats (Oregon is averaging 54.0 points), I expect Oregon will become a standard part of the conversation. No. 4 Florida State plays a showcase game against Clemson this week. If it wins, people are going to start looking at the Seminoles' schedule and realizing just how few obstacles they have the rest of the way. No one's really seen No. 6 Oklahoma play yet, but they will against No. 15 Kansas State this weekend. In fact, it feels like the entire Big 12 has had a bye to this point. I'm eager to see No. 8 West Virginia and No. 12 Texas face tougher conference competition.

And as vulnerable as USC looked last weekend, I wouldn't rule the Trojans out just yet, either. They lost on the road to a team that went 23-3 over the last two years. It happens.

It's entirely possible Alabama and LSU are indeed the cream of the crop again. The Tide have outscored their first three opponents (including two preseason top-10 teams) 128-14, and a purportedly inexperienced defense has pitched consecutive shutouts. I'm certainly not picking against them anytime soon. Meanwhile, the Tigers have won their first three games by a margin of 145-31, but I'd like to see them play someone better than Washington, which has the look of a 6-6 team, before fully jumping on board. This week's opponent, Auburn, might not be any better.

That brings up a different point. One reason to feel confident in Alabama and LSU running the table outside of their head-to-head meeting is the rest of the SEC West, which doesn't look nearly as imposing as it did before the season. In fact, it's pretty darn bad. On the other hand, the East may produce a champion this year (possibly Georgia) with an actual chance of winning in Atlanta.

Finally, at the risk of looking stupid again, I'd be willing to bet three months of Andy Staples' barbeque expenses that voters will not allow another SEC rematch this year. There was too much backlash to last year's game, and even though it's not voters' fault the second game was lopsided (Alabama may well have beaten a different opponent by far more than 21 points), the dissatisfaction is still going to factor into their thought process this time. The people desperately want to see the SEC play someone else, and they're going to get their wish. I don't know who that team will be, but you might want to tune in this weekend for possible clues.

This Saturday, I would watch Florida State-Clemson, Oklahoma-Kansas State and Notre Dame-Michigan if they were televised in separate time slots. Instead, I will watch only one of those night games and none earlier in the day because there are none worth watching. Do the networks really garner better overall ratings by having such premier games go head-to-head at night rather than spreading them throughout the day?
-- Gary Swider, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

The migration of more big games to prime time began six years ago when ABC figured out it could draw better ratings on Saturday nights by showing college football instead of scripted dramas or second-rate reality shows. We had previously counted on the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) to show the biggest games in the afternoon, with evening spots primarily reserved for ESPN's SEC and ACC broadcasts or Fox Sports Net's old late-night Pac-10 games. But with FOX joining the fray this year, yet another marquee game moves from 3:30 p.m. ET to 7:30 or 8 (like Kansas State-Oklahoma). Even NBC is even doing it now, with Michigan-Notre Dame this week.

The result, unfortunately, is that fans are now forced to pick and choose between high-profile matchups. Last year in Week 3, ABC garnered a very good 5.8 rating for its prime time game, Oklahoma-Florida State. A year earlier it notched a 4.7 for Texas-Texas Tech. This year it got just a 3.2 for Notre Dame-Michigan State. ESPN's Florida-Tennessee broadcast, which overlapped during the second half, produced a 3.1, and FOX's USC-Stanford showing netted a 2.5. Granted, there was a lot more buildup leading into that Oklahoma-Florida State game last year, but networks can usually count on Notre Dame to draw a big audience, especially against a top-10 team. However, if you combine the ratings for the head-to-head ABC and FOX games you get 5.7 -- almost identical to ABC's number last year.

On the bright side, the afternoon options should improve once teams get into conference play and there are multiple games of interest in each league. Unfortunately, though, the cluttered prime time lineup is here to stay.

Stewart, through three weeks, Ohio State's Braxton Miller has accounted for 988 yards, 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions. Through three weeks in 2007, Tim Tebow had 1,027 yards, 13 touchdowns and only one interception. Does Miller have any chance to repeat Tebow's feat of winning the Heisman as a sophomore playing for Urban Meyer? Or will the Buckeyes' lack of postseason eligibility take him out of the race?
-- Josh L., Columbus, Ohio

It's a good question. Miller is already starting to pop up in the top five of various Heisman watches -- but it's early. I certainly think he can continue putting up his current numbers over the course of the season (though probably not Tebow's 51 touchdowns in 2007), but as the year progresses, our attention will increasingly turn toward the BCS race, one in which the Buckeyes won't be involved. Will Miller get overlooked? It's possible. Last year, USC folks felt the Trojans' ineligibility cost Matt Barkley a trip to New York. Then again, Barkley and his team started slow and had to play catch-up. Miller is already gaining acclaim, and his team has yet to lose.

My guess is if Miller has a truly spectacular season, his team's postseason status won't affect him very much. Ohio State needs to win, and he needs to perform well in big games. Other than that, he plays for one of the most visible teams in the country, and the votes are tallied before the bowl games. And lest we forget, Tebow's team lost three regular-season games the year he won the Heisman. Florida was playing for the Capital One Bowl by late October, yet he still ran away with the trophy. Miller could do the same, but he'd have to truly distinguish himself. If, for example, Geno Smith keeps putting up the same gaudy numbers and West Virginia contends for the Big 12 title, the advantage goes to Smith.

Just when I thought you were going to ignore another classic, absolutely bizarre Holy War, you go and post something like this ... AND TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF.
-- Nick Driggs, Los Angeles

If I know Utah fans like I think I do, they'll invite me right in for tea and strumpets.

20 Sep, 2012

-
Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/stewart_mandel/09/19/alabama-lsu-national-title-contenders/index.html?xid=si_topstories
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

19.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Chavez tested positive for marijuana

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (above) tested positive for a banned substance — reportedly marijuana — after Saturday's fight with Sergio Martinez in Las Vegas. (AP)

Former middleweight titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. tested positive for a banned substance following Saturday's unanimous-decision defeat to Sergio Martinez. Chavez's promoter, Top Rank, confirmed the positive test.

According to multiple reports, the banned substance was marijuana.

"Top Rank is reviewing the situation," Top Rank publicist Lee Samuels said in a statement. "Julio Cesar Chavez Jr will have the opportunity to explain this situation to the Nevada State Athletic Commission."

The positive test is the second for Chavez in Nevada. In 2009, Chavez tested positive for Furosemide, a known diuretic that helps with weight loss, after his win over Troy Rowland. Chavez was suspended for seven months and fined $10,000 by the commission. The official result was changed to a no-contest.

Last week, Chavez cited that positive test as one of the turning points of his career.

"I thought about it, and I said, 'What am I doing here? Do I need to be serious about this?'" Chavez said. "'Do I really want this? How much do I want it?'"

NSAC executive director told SI.com there is no mandatory suspension length for a second positive test. Kizer said any violation can result in a fine of up to 100 percent of the fighter's purse — Chavez was guaranteed $3 million against Martinez — and/or a one-year suspension.

The positive test is the latest act of immaturity from the 26-year old Chavez. Last January, Chavez was arrested for suspicion of DUI. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to probation. Before teaming up with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, Chavez had a reputation for being lazy in the gym. Though he seemed to shed that reputation over the last year, in the weeks before the fight with Martinez, Chavez routinely skipped out on training sessions, often preferring to work out at home late at night rather than at the gym.

Roach said he will continue to work with Chavez but that "the first day he misses something, I'm going home."

– Chris Mannix

20 Sep, 2012

-
Source: http://mma-boxing.si.com/2012/09/19/julio-cesar-chavez-jr-tests-positive-for-banned-substance-after-sergio-martinez-fight/?xid=si_topstories
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

16.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Blue Jays at Yankees

As one veteran has faltered of late, the New York Yankees are hoping another can deliver in his return.

Andy Pettitte makes his first start in nearly three months Wednesday when the Yankees open a three-game series with a day-night doubleheader against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays.

Owning a 10-game lead atop the AL East at one point, it could have been argued the Yankees (83-63) might not have missed the 40-year-old left-hander that much after he suffered a fractured ankle on a line drive off the bat of Cleveland's Casey Kotchman on June 27.

But with CC Sabathia losing three of his last four starts and New York now tied with Baltimore atop the division, Pettitte (3-3, 3.22 ERA) will be thrown right into the mix in the first game after throwing 55 pitches in a simulated game Sept. 11.

Manager Joe Girardi likely will limit Pettitte to 70 pitches, and Tuesday's rainout made the left-hander more antsy to get back on the mound.

"I ain't gonna lie to you, I'm tired of talking about it," he told the Yankees' website after the rainout was made official. "I just want to go out there and pitch, and hopefully give this team a chance to win that ballgame (Wednesday), and move forward from there.

"I'm just ready to get out there. It's all about mechanics out there and getting into a good rhythm, stuff like that, so I think all that's going to be fine."

Pettitte did not face the Blue Jays this year before getting hurt. He is 21-12 versus Toronto - his second-most victories against any team - but is only 6-7 in 19 home starts.

The Yankees seem to have found some solid footing of late, taking two of three from both Boston and Tampa Bay, capped by a 6-4 victory over the Rays on Sunday when Russell Martin 's three-run homer highlighted a five-run third.

The Blue Jays pushed Tuesday's scheduled starter Ricky Romero (8-14, 5.87) to the nightcap of this twinbill, opting to send Henderson Alvarez (9-12, 4.91) to face Pettitte. The right-hander is trying to match a season high by winning a third straight start, also accomplished April 29-May 10.

Alvarez has been given 13 runs of support in his previous two outings and limited Seattle to three runs and five hits in seven innings of an 8-3 win Thursday. He failed to register a decision in either of his two starts versus the Yankees this year, giving up six runs and 10 hits - three of them home runs - in 9 1-3 innings.

While Alvarez has had some issues against the Yankees, Romero has had plenty versus New York - and every opposing team for nearly three months.

The left-hander is 0-13 with a 7.91 ERA in 14 starts since beating Miami on June 22, and his losing streak has tied a club record established by Tom Underwood from Aug. 28, 1978-June 10, 1979. New York has made a significant contribution to Romero's stretch of misery, giving him three of those defeats by reaching him for 11 runs in 20 innings.

Romero's woes continued versus Seattle on Wednesday, when he allowed three runs and eight hits with four walks and was pulled after four-plus innings in a 3-2 defeat. Despite the ongoing futility, manager John Farrell refuses to give up on the pitcher who won 42 games his first three years in the majors.

"We're not abandoning Ricky Romero ," Farrell said. "We're going to continue to work with him, we're going to continue to finish this year on a positive note and that is our intent going forward."

Romero is trying to avoid becoming the first pitcher to lose 14 consecutive decisions as a starter in a single season since Mike Parrott did so with the Mariners in 1980, accomplishing that dubious feat in 15 starts spanning April 15-Sept. 13, 1980.

Curtis Granderson , whose next home run will make him the first Yankee outfielder to have back-to-back 40-homer seasons since Mickey Mantle in 1960-61, is 4 for 21 with one home run and eight strikeouts versus Romero. Jayson Nix , though, is 7 for 12 with a double.

With no off days until the end of the regular season, the rainout forced Girardi to shuffle his rotation, and he will use rookie David Phelps (4-4, 3.39) in the second game. The right-hander pitched two-thirds of an inning versus Tampa Bay Sunday in relief, giving up one hit and one walk, but got a win in his last start Sept. 12 by limiting Boston to one run in 5 2-3 innings of a 5-4 victory.

Phelps's lone outing versus Toronto came Aug. 27, when he yielded four runs and five hits in 6 1-3 innings of an 8-7, 11-inning loss.

The Blue Jays will be without shortstop Yunel Escobar after the team suspended him for three games Tuesday for wearing eye-black displaying a homophobic slur written in Spanish during Saturday's game against Boston.

20 Sep, 2012

-
Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/gameflash/2012/09/19/43605/index.html#boxscore?xid=si_topstories
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

16.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

ABC to interview Sandusky abuse case's Victim 1

ABC will interview the young man whose sexual-abuse allegations launched the investigation against former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ABC will interview the young man whose 2009 allegations of sexual abuse led to the Penn State scandal and the criminal conviction of former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

Attorney Michael Boni, who represents the teenager known in court papers as Victim 1, said Wednesday that ABC landed the first interview with his client, who has a book coming out this fall.

It's unclear when the ABC interview would air. ABC didn't immediately return a phone message left Wednesday seeking comment. The New York Post was first to report the ABC exclusive.

Sandusky was convicted in June of dozens of criminal counts of sexual abuse of 10 boys on and off campus. At age 68, he awaits sentencing, which likely will send him to prison for the rest of his life.

Victim 1 and his mother reported Sandusky to the boy's high school and the Clinton County child protective agency in November 2009. Their complaint triggered a state investigation that last year resulted in criminal charges against Sandusky and against two university officials accused of failing to report suspected child abuse and of lying to a grand jury.

According to a lawsuit that Victim 1 filed against Penn State, he met Sandusky about eight years ago, when he was 11 and was a first-year participant in a camp sponsored by Sandusky's charity, The Second Mile. In his second year, he drew Sandusky's attention and accepted invitations to spend nights at the coach's State College home and to attend professional sports events, the lawsuit said.

Sandusky was accused of fondling the boy and performing oral sex on him multiple times over a period of several years.

Sandusky, who is jailed, didn't testify at trial but maintains his innocence. He has acknowledged he showered with boys but denied molesting them. His wife, Dottie Sandusky, testified that she never saw him doing anything inappropriate with boys he took to their home.

20 Sep, 2012

-
Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/ncaa/09/19/abc-sandusky-abuse-interview/index.html?xid=si_topstories
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

16.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

NHL wipes out Sept. preseason games

Due to the lockout, NHL nets will remain in storage until October.

Danny Moloshok/Icon SMI

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NHL canceled its entire September preseason game schedule on Wednesday, the first on-ice casualty of the four-day lockout.

The league is wiping out all games through Sept. 30, a move it deems "necessary because of the absence of a collective bargaining agreement" with the players' association.

The NHL also said the 2012 Kraft Hockeyville preseason game, scheduled for Oct. 3 in Belleville, Ontario, has been postponed until 2013, bringing the total to 60 games called off on Wednesday.

The regular season is scheduled to begin on Oct. 11.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league has "no set policy on cancellations" of other games.

Also Wednesday, a person familiar with the plan says NHL employees at the league offices will switch to a four-day work week Oct. 1 because of the lockout.

The move will effectively cut salaries by 20 percent. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the NHL hadn't made the plan public.

HACKEL: Collateral damage mounting

The news was first reported by The Canadian Press.

The Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators have let staff go because of the lockout, while several other teams have said they don't have any plans to do so as of now.

The league locked out its players at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, its fourth shutdown since 1992.

The preseason cancellations included a Washington Capitals game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sept. 26 in Baltimore.

Last year, in the inaugural Baltimore Hockey Classic, the Capitals hosted the Nashville Predators and drew a sold-out crowd.

20 Sep, 2012

-
Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/hockey/nhl/09/19/nhl.lockout-preseason-games-cancelled.ap/index.html?xid=si_topstories
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

15.12 | 0 komentar | Read More

Giants' Nicks, Bradshaw won't play vs. Carolina

It's been anything but a healthy start to the season for Hakeem Nicks.

Richard A. Brightly/Icon SMI

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) The New York Giants will be without NFC offensive player of the week Hakeem Nicks for Thursday's game against the Carolina Panthers (1-1).

Nicks, a wide receiver, has a foot injury, adding to the list of absentees when the Super Bowl-champion Giants (1-1) play their first road game of the season. New York made the announcement late Wednesday afternoon after already labeling running back Ahmad Bradshaw, offensive tackle David Diehl and another receiver, Domenik Hixon, out as well.

Nicks did not practice this week, but hasn't practiced much since sitting out almost all of training camp while recovering from a broken foot suffered in May. In the initial injury report Wednesday, rookie defensive end Adewale Ojomo also was listed as out.

Bradshaw (neck), Diehl (knee) and Hixon (concussion) were hurt in Sunday's win over Tampa Bay and did not practice this week.

20 Sep, 2012

-
Source: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/nfl/09/19/ahmad-bradshaw-david-diehl.ap/index.html?xid=si_topstories
--
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com

14.02 | 0 komentar | Read More

Pettitte returns, pitches Yankees past Blue Jays