He went through a pre-shot routine. Then he twitched and waggled. And then he waggled some more, and pulled on the sleeve of his shirt. When that didn’t clear his mind and allow him to focus, he went through the whole interminable process again. Sometimes he’d go through the process completely and intentionally miss the ball with his swing, just to be able to start all over once more. Watching paint dry might have been more interesting.
The player in this case was the PGA Tour’s Kevin Na, who led the Players Championship going into the final round. Because of his antics, Na has become the focus of a heated debate on slow play and how it is affecting golf. And not just professional golf. Nope. Try playing on a mid-morning anywhere in North America and you’ll be in the midst of golfers hacking their way through five-hour rounds. It is painful, and the length of time it takes to play golf has been tagged as one of the reasons people are walking away from the sport.
“I do need to work on my pre-shot routine, I do need to play faster,” Na told reporters after his round, acknowledging a fact that was apparent to everyone. “But the average golfer has no clue how much pressure we’re playing under and how tough it is and how much of a fight for it it is mentally.”
The Dallas Mavericks have a lot of tough decisions to make this offseason, but one of them apparently wasn’t whether or not to keep their head coach. Despite their uninspired Playoff ouster by the Oklahoma City Thunder, Rick Carlisle has signed a fresh contract that will keep him in Dallas for the next four years. Carlisle, who has already coached four seasons with the Mavericks, is one of the most respected head coaches in the NBA and a no-brainer to re-sign after last year’s Championship run. He’s amassed a 198-114 record with the Mavs and 479-325 overall during his ten years as an NBA head coach and that kind of success brings with it a certain amount of job security.
At least as much as anyone can expect in the coaching profession.
While he was a Championship coach last year, and is one of only three active coaches to win an NBA title, he has been bounced out of the Playoffs in the first round twice with Dallas and once in round two. Dallas is an organization that, while not rich in Championship history, does have a reputation for being a tough out in the Playoffs, at least in the Mark Cuban/Dirk Nowitzki era. Like any franchise they’ve had their lean years, but they do not see themselves as the kind of club that is satisfied with first round exits. If Carlisle cannot start consistently driving his team deeper into the postseason he’s going to set Cuban’s eye a-wandering, especially with Nowitzki’s narrowing window to compete for another title.
In fairness to Carlisle, though, he can only coach the players that he is given. Cuban and Donnie Nelson made a controversial decision this season to let free agents like Tyson Chandler and J.J. Barea walk so that they could have some financial flexibility this summer. To justify that choice they are going to have to have something worth waiting for arrive in Dallas this summer, something that can give Carlisle a better shot at competing against Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Memphis than Vince Carter and Delonte West.
That’s a conversation for another day, though. By winning a title last season Carlisle easily cemented both his place in Mavericks history and in their immediate future. Their stumbling this season was more of an indictment of management than it was of coaching, and just about everyone associated with the team recognized that. His four-year deal is a testament to not only the importance of Carlisle to the Mavericks but also to the affection that the organization feels for him. He did for the Mavericks what no coach before him was able to do and this was the best gesture they could think of to thank him for that effort.
Of course, should he not be able to replicate that success, or at least come close, we’ll see how far that affection carries him whether he’s under contract or not.
In his short major league career, Brett Lawrie’s fierce intensity has been considered one of his biggest assets.
Never willing to concede that any ground ball off his bat is an out or that any ball hit in his direction is beyond his reach, Lawrie plays with unrivalled determination and tenacity.
And until an ugly incident last night – one that will earn him a significant suspension – most Blue Jays fans loved him for his personality.
With the count 3-1 on Lawrie in the ninth inning, home plate umpire Bill Miller called an outside pitch from Rays closer Fernando Rodney a strike. Assuming it was a ball, Lawrie had tossed his bat aside and jogged towards first base.
When he realized it had been called a strike, Lawrie paused and then retrieved his bat and returned to the batter’s box. Perhaps feeling like he was shown up by Lawrie, Miller proceeded to ring the feisty Canuck up on the next pitch, which was both high and outside.
Lawrie, who had again advanced towards first base, stopped and turned and began screaming at the umpire. In the process, the frustrated Canuck forcefully heaved his helmet into the dirt and it ricocheted up and hit Miller in the leg.
Blue Jays manager John Farrell, soon-to-be ejected himself, managed to intervene and push Lawrie towards the Jays dugout.
A contrite Lawrie insisted after the game that he didn’t intend to hit the umpire with his helmet.
“I’ve never, ever done anything to go at an umpire before in my life and I didn’t mean to tonight,” he told reporters. “I apologize for that. It took an unlucky bounce and I think it got him, so I apologize for that.”
Lawrie’s remorse will be one of the factors that league disciplinarians will consider when determining his punishment, which will likely be announced before tonight’s game against the Yankees. The fact that the helmet bounced before it hit the umpire and that Lawrie has no previous infractions should also be taken into account.
Last August, St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina received a five-game suspension for bumping umpire Rob Drake. And who can forget Roberto Alomar spitting in the face of John Hirschbeck after he was he called out on strikes on September 27, 1996 at the Rogers Centre. The Hall of Fame second baseman was handed a five-game suspension for his tantrum.
Lawrie’s suspension will likely be in the three-to-five game range. And while it’s understandable that he would be upset by the strike calls, he should know better than to throw his helmet anywhere in the vicinity of an umpire.
Some will say that such hotheaded antics are part of Lawrie’s intense package. I don’t buy this. Though he’s only 22, Lawrie has become a leader on this young club and is arguably the face of the franchise. He has to learn that he can’t let his temper hurt his team.
In listening to Lawrie’s post-game comments, it’s clear that he knows his actions were wrong. This incident will be a lesson learned for the promising young Canuck. Unfortunately, he’ll have about five games on the sidelines to digest this lesson.
It's a great time to be a sports fan in Southern California. For one thing, the Lakers and Clippers are playing in the second round of the NBA playoffs. It's familiar territory for the Lakers, not so much for the Clippers. And then there's the Dodgers. With a new ownership group in place, led by Magic Johnson, the Dodgers lead the National League West. Who knows how long that will last, but the positive vibe surrounding the franchise is a welcome change.
The Los Angeles Kings, meanwhile, have steamrolled opponents this spring and are within two games of playing for the Stanley Cup. Tuesday's 4-0 win over the Phoenix Coyotes was another dominant performance for the Silver and Black. Jeff Carter, who entered the game with just one goal in the post-season, notched a hat trick and Jonathan Quick made 24 saves for his second playoff shutout.
The Kings lead the Western Conference Final series 2-0 and are headed home for games 3 and 4.
L.A's accomplishments so far this spring include:
Seven straight road wins - tying an NHL record for a single playoff season last accomplished by the 2010 Blackhawks.
Seven playoff road wins to start the playoffs - tying the record set by the 1999 Colorado Avalanche.
The Kings have won nine consecutive road games dating back to last year, tying a record set by the Islanders in 1982 and 1983.
They are 10-1 in the playoffs. The 1988 Edmonton Oilers went 16-2, the best record since the NHL started requiring teams to win 16 games for the Stanley Cup. That record is suddenly in danger.
There's still plenty of hockey to be played. But the Canucks, Blues, and now the Coyotes, have proved no match for the Mighty Kings. They are the unquestioned favourite to raise the Cup this spring, especially when you consider the Eastern final between the Rangers and New Jersey appears to be a war of attrition.
Carter's hat trick was the first by a Kings' player in the post-season since Wayne Gretzky did it in Game 7 of the Western final against Toronto in 1993. The Kings won that game, advancing to the Cup final against Montreal. It was the high-water mark for a franchise that has had more lows than highs in its 40-plus years of existence.
The Kings went on to lose to the Habs in five games. Such a defeat this time around seems more improbable by the day.
Whoops! Well, there's a TV production intern in Los Angeles who will NOT be getting a glowing reference. During a segment on the city's playoff teams, NBC4 News in Los Angeles posted a screengrab for the Lakers, the Clippers and the Kings. Ah, but instead of the local hockey team, it was a Sacramento Kings logo.
Now, it's easy to get the two mixed up. Both named Kings. Both feature black, purple and silver. Only one of the logos, however, has the word "SACRAMENTO" in all caps across the top.
The L.A. Kings valiant Twitter handle got right on it. And NBC4 dutifully apologized.
@LAKings: You are correct & we are red-faced. Caught it when it was too late. We've corrected the graphic; you won't see that error again
Have you ever seen the episode of The Simpsons when the town of Springfield is dazzled into buying a pricey monorail that turns out to be a track to nowhere that costs the citizens tons of money?
It’s a great parody of the short-sighted enthusiasm we often have for pricey gew-gaws while other basic public infrastructure needs like roads or transit or schools are ignored.
When I read that Minnesota governor Mark Dayton signed into law a $975-million stadium deal for the Vikings Monday that will see the state and the city of Minneapolis contribute $498 million of public money to the deal, but will not allow the public to see the team’s books, it reminded me a lot of the slick-talking monorail huckster on The Simpsons voiced by Phil Hartman.
Ok, I understand that the city and the state will benefit from the new stadium in terms of taxes and job creation and the intangible civic pride that comes with watching an awful football team play in an awesome stadium, but if you’re going to accept public money, then you have to be prepared for a little financial scrutiny, don’t you?
Before the good people of Minnesota throw open their wallets, shouldn’t the Vikes throw open their books? Maybe they should throw open their playbooks as well; whatever proprietary information is in there isn’t working. The Vikes are coming off a 3-13 season. Not exactly the kind of surge that would make people overlook that you’ve taken their money and haven’t delivered much.
Opposition politicians are rightfully up in arms about the lack of disclosure requirements. Off in the distance, they may be hearing a monorail approach. And it's carrying a white elephant.
I hope the surly, self-absorbed Boston Red Sox right-hander eats fried chicken, drinks beer and gets in 18 holes before his 4:05 p.m. ET start against the Mariners.
And if his teammates are looking for last-minute suggestions on what to get him for a birthday gift, I’d recommend pooling their money and enrolling him in an attitude adjustment course.
Of course, at this point, Beckett’s teammates are probably just holding their breath that the brash, me-first right-hander can harness his inner Tiger Woods and Norm Peterson long enough to hurl six effective innings today. Because if Beckett doesn’t start pitching better (5.97 ERA in six starts), his teammates may start booking tee times for him on the days he’s scheduled to pitch.
In case you haven’t heard, Beckett was scratched from a start on May 5 with a sore lat muscle. That injury, however, didn’t prevent him from playing golf with Red Sox rotation mate Clay Buchholz just two days prior to his scheduled start.
Now there’s nothing wrong with playing golf, a large percentage of big leaguers do it. But hitting the links two days prior to a start that an injury is preventing you from making just looks bad.
But being the defiant egomaniac that Beckett has reportedly become, the Sox hurler testily deflected any questions about his golf outing in a press conference after he was lit up for seven runs in 2-1/3 innings by the Cleveland Indians on Thursday.
“We get 18 days off a year,” he told reporters. “I think we deserve a little time to ourselves.”
Of course, what Beckett failed to mention is that he has 18 days off in a seven-month season and that he only pitches every five days. And that last season, on the days he wasn’t on the mound, he felt it was OK to eat Popeyes chicken and drink beer in the clubhouse. It should also be noted that players have four months off in the winter and that Beckett is making $15.75 million this season, which equates to approximately $492,000 per start.
(Watch the video of the final five minutes -- now. Yeah, it isn't in any of Canada's official languages but you'll get the gist.)
"Survival Sunday" was one for the books as the Premier League came to a close in snatches of utter madness. Both Manchester United and Manchester City were in the running for the title and it was fairly assumed, going in, that City would take it on goal difference with the teams tied on points. But the British soccer gods had a more dramatic finale in store...
Make that any sport's gods. Sunday's drama couldn't have been more ridiculous had it been scripted. The United and City games were happening simultaneously so, when United won theirs with a couple of minutes of stoppage time -- and City was behind 10 man QPR by a goal, 2-1 -- United thought they had yet another title to throw in the hatchback. But, wait a second. The City/QPR match kept going, thanks largely to Joey Barton's thug-fest that saw him ejected in the 55th minute. City's Mr. Reliable, big Edin Dzeko, headed in a corner with authority and tied things in the beginning of stoppage. A tie wouldn't be enough for the title though... Then, in the 4th of 5 minutes of stoppage time allotted, Sergio Aguero played the ball of his life and won both the game and the title in the last gasp as Sir Alex Ferguson choked on his gum.
City had their first title in 44 years and Aguero will never buy a drink in Soccer City again. Insanity. We already can't wait for next season.
This came out over the weekend, but I wanted to post it in anticipation of tonight's Game 1 in the Eastern Conference final between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils. Rangers coach John Tortorella has been infamously tight-lipped with the media all throughout the playoffs -- and it's working. Well, the press might disagree but the Rangers are still alive.
DJ Steve Porter has remixed some of Torts' best bon mots and press conference performances into this one-minute montage. Which is waaaay longer than a typical Tortorella media session.
Does the coach's lack of gab really affect how we see the game? Reporters seem to be the only ones getting annoyed by these antics. It's the playoffs and we all know coaches just come out and spew the same boilerplate pap that illustrates their ability to say a lot about nothing more than anything else. It's just how it is. Like "upper body injury."
Tortorella's approach is just his version of the ol' Us vs The World mental game from the Esposito or Gretzky School of Tactics that team leaders often use to get any advantage they can, spiritual or otherwise. And so far this year, you can't argue with the results.
Dale Hunter’s tenure as coach of the Washington Capitals was short, sweet, and somewhat successful.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Hunter stepped down Monday, citing family reasons, which is another way of saying his heart never left the London Knights, the OHL team he has owned for the past 12 years.
Hunter amassed a record of 32-23-7 after taking over from Bruce Boudreau earlier this season. The Caps winning percentage with Hunter behind the bench was slightly worse than with Boudreau. Washington’s style of play, however, was much different. They struggled early on under Hunter, having difficulty adjusting to his no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners style. He insisted Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Semin pay attention to defence. He demanded players sacrifice their bodies in the name of victory – a philosophy that revealed itself through the Caps willingness to throw their bodies into shooting lanes.
Hunter also gave up on veteran goalie Tomas Vokoun and allowed rookie Braden Holtby to take the ball and run with it. Holtby was the Caps’ playoff MVP, helping them defeat the Boston Bruins in seven games, and leading them to a deciding game against the New York Rangers. As a result, Holtby is positioned as the Caps long-term solution between the pipes.
It’s clear Hunter changed the culture of the organization. He removed the sense of entitlement from high-priced veterans. Sure, he ruffled some feathers along the way. But the franchise is better off because Hunter cared more about winning than pandering to egos.
Why did he decide to implement such a sweeping change in direction?
Because he could.
Armed with a one-year contract, Hunter knew his relationship with Ovechkin wouldn’t last long. In some ways, it’s as though the Hunter regime was an experiment orchestrated by GM George McPhee. Perhaps he just wanted to see how his team would respond to a disciplinarian, with no commitment to that coach beyond this season.
As he begins the search for a new coach, McPhee can take the information he’s gathered and make a sound decision on the best long-term direction for the organization. Regardless, the Caps’ marriage to Ovechkin will continue. With Ovechkin earning an average of $9.5 million through the 2020-21 season, there’s no wiggling out of this commitment. The contract is immoveable given Ovechkin’s declining production.
And although Hunter would never admit it publicly, Ovie will soon be another coach's problem.
