House votes to award Gold Medal to Nicklaus (AP)
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Author: House votes to award Gold Medal to Nicklaus (AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) The House has voted to bestow the Congressional Gold Medal on golfing great Jack Nicklaus. Nicklaus was cited for his golfing achievements, including a record 18 major championships, and his humanitarian work. Nicklaus heads the Nicklaus Children’s Health Care Foundation and has raised more than $12 million to support pediatric health services. The Congressional Gold Medal is awarded to prominent military leaders, public servants, athletes and artists. It was last given in 2010 to Japanese-American World War II veterans. Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., sponsored the bill. Nicklaus golfing contemporary Arnold Palmer received the award in 2009. The legislation now goes to the Senate for a vote.
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Stormy buildup to Masters classic at Augusta (AFP)
Stormy buildup to Masters classic at Augusta (AFP)
Tiger Woods tees off during a practice round Wednesday prior to the start of the Masters in Augusta, GerogiaTimothy A. Clary, AFP/Getty Images Overnight storms had Augusta National groundstaff scurrying to clean up debris on the course on Wednesday morning as players completed their preparations for the most hotly anticipated Masters in years. With more rain and storms in the forecast for Thursday and Friday and plunging temperatures predicted over the weekend, there was some trepidation over how the famed course will play. Three-time former winner Phil Mickelson, for one, believes that the prevailing conditions over the next few days will be crucial in deciding who will win the 76th edition of the tournament. “It seems that some of the planning I have made may go by the wayside. As soft as the golf course is, you can fire at a lot of the pins. The greens are soft,” he said after sampling the course on Tuesday. “I don’t want to say they are slow, but it’s just not the same Augusta. It’s wet around the greens, and there’s no fear of the course. You’ve got to attack it this week. “Unless something changes, and I know they have SubAir (greens drying system) and hopefully they will be able to use it, but unless they change it, it’s going to be a birdie fest.” Tiger Woods, installed as tournament favourite after his victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month ago ended a 28-month winless streak, agreed that the course was as spongy as he could recall in 17 previous Masters appearances. “The golf course is a little bit wet out there. Obviously we got some pretty good rains here,” he said after completing nine holes of practice on Tuesday. “Today I played nine holes with Freddie (Couples) and Sean O’Hair and seven drives and had seven mud balls. Rickie Fowler walks past debris on the fairway after a overnight storm at AugustaTimothy A. Clary, AFP/Getty Images “So hopefully it will dry out, but I think the forecast is for more rain. “It looks like it’s going to be a great week, got a great field and really looking forward to it.” The return to top form of Woods and whether he can crown his revival with a fifth Masters title and 15th major triumph, nearly four years after his last, is just one of a tantalising array of plots and sub-plots on display this week. Much has been made of the potential showdown between the 36-year-old Woods and 22-year-old Irishman Rory McIlroy, seen by many as the most exciting talent to emerge in the sport since Woods himself two decades ago. McIlroy is back at Augusta National 12 months after the roller-coaster ride that saw him soar into a four-stroke lead going into the final round only for a back nine collapse of epic proportions left him in tears. Two months later, he remarkably put it all behind him to win the US Open – his first Major – by an astonishing eight strokes, a domination not seen since Woods was in his youthful prime in 2000. McIlroy says he can now look back on what happened last year, have a wry laugh to himself and try to learn from the experience. “I learned a lot,” he said. “One of the things I learned was that as a person and as a golfer I wasn’t ready to win the Masters, wasn’t ready to win a Major. “Mentally, now I feel like if I get myself in a position (to win) again, I’ll be able to approach it a lot better.” McIlroy is the poster boy of a three-pronged British challenge which also includes world number one Luke Donald and number three Lee Westwood, both of whom are sagging under the burden of never having won a Major. Both bristled when it was suggested that the only show in town this week was the Woods-McIlroy faceoff. “You know, Rory has never won here, Tiger has not won here since 2005. So I think everybody in this (press) room would have to be naive to think it is a two-horse race, wouldn’t they,” said Westwood, a runner-up here two years ago. “There’s more. I think Phil (Mickelson) might have a little bit of something to say about that. Luke (Donald) might. I might.” Other sub-plots see Mickelson seeking to match Woods with a fourth Masters win, Charl Schwartzel trying to become just the fourth player in Masters history to win back-to-back titles and a batch of young Americans out to make their breakthroughs. The field is set at 96 following the withdrawal through injury of Dustin Johnson, with 50 players coming from outside of the United States.
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SC’s Ingram, Gilmore, Jeffery work out for NFL (Yahoo! Sports)
SC’s Ingram, Gilmore, Jeffery work out for NFL (Yahoo! Sports)
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP)—South Carolina receiver Alshon Jeffery hopes he’s finally put the criticisms aside and changed his fortunes for next month’s NFL draft. The slimmed down, sure-handed Jeffery had a solid 40-yard dash performance and was among the main attractions for NFL personnel attending the school’s pro day on Wednesday. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan was on hand to watch Jeffery and other standouts, including defensive end Melvin Ingram and cornerback Stephon Gilmore during the workout at South Carolina’s stadium. The throng of people, many with timers, gathered around as Jeffery stepped up to run the 40, something he didn’t do at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. While Jeffery said he didn’t hear his time, Twitter posts from scouting services pegged the lanky, 6-foot-3 wideout in the 4.5-second range. “I just tried to let everybody see what I’ve got,” Jeffery said. “I gave it my best shot.” Jeffery’s future looked set last summer. He was heading into camp off a record-setting season of 88 catches for 1,517 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s college football preview and the only questions seemed to be by how many receptions would he surpass his old mark. Jeffery was a certain top-five draft pick if he chose to leave, according to several preseason mock drafts. Instead, Jeffery never found the form or production from 2010. He played at a huskier 233 pounds and was not the offensive focal point as the Gamecocks struggled to pass downfield. It didn’t help when Stephen Garcia, South Carolina’s starting quarterback, was kicked off the team midway through last season. Coach Steve Spurrier went to a more ground-oriented attack behind less-experienced sophomore quarterback Connor Shaw. Jeffery was spectacular at times—he was the Capital One Bowl MVP for his 51-yard Hail Mary grab before halftime that swung momentum in the Gamecocks 30-13 win over Nebraska—but still ended the year with just over half the catches (49) and yards (762) of a season earlier. Jeffery worked hard since declaring for the draft in January and weighed 213 at pro day. He also put on his trademark show of catching nearly everything thrown in his direction. Garcia was back at Williams-Brice Stadium to pass to his former teammate— Garcia was the Gamecocks starter during Jeffery’s breakout 2010 season—who made several nice grabs including one deep in the right corner of the end zone. Jeffery got a big smile, a handshake and several words of praise from Ryan, whose team has the 16th pick overall in April’s draft. Ryan “said I looked real good and just keep working hard,” said Jeffery, expected to go in the NFL’s second-round draft. Plenty of NFL scouts came to shore up their high opinions of Ingram and Gilmore. Ingram was a first-team All-American at defensive end projected as a top-10 pick next month. He’s had a feature on ESPN’s Sports Science and has been invited to New York City by the NFL for the draft. Several scouts nodded approvals as Ingram finished off some defensive line drills. “I just try and come out here and work for it. I don’t try and focus on making myself money or all that,” Ingram said. “I want to work hard and lay it on the line and I think the results will take care of themselves.” Gilmore is an early entry cornerback who helped himself at last month’s combine with a 4.40-second showing in the 40, third best among corners. He’s also projected as a late first-round selection. He did not run Wednesday. A humbled Garcia also was grateful the school allowed him to take part in pro day after his troubled college career. Garcia was suspended five times, finally dismissed for good when he failed a test for alcohol last October. Garcia had agreed to a zero-tolerance policy as a condition of his reinstatement from suspension No. 5. Garcia said he’s gotten his head straight in auditioning for keep his football career good. Garcia said he’s gotten good feedback from NFL teams and hopes to catch on this spring. “I’ve got my eyes on one goal and that’s the next level,” Garcia said. “We’ll see what happens.”
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Rinne leads Predators past Blackhawks (Yahoo! Sports)
Rinne leads Predators past Blackhawks (Yahoo! Sports)
CHICAGO (AP)—Even with their top point producer sidelined by an injury, the Nashville Predators had plenty of offense. And they had Pekka Rinne in goal Sunday night. That combination helped them rout the Chicago Blackhawks 6-1 and move into fourth place in the Western Conference. “I liked our response to anything that happened in the game. We got good efforts from everybody, from the goal out, we really did,” Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. “The overall playoff picture probably doesn’t really matter to me right now. The most important thing is we’re going to focus on ourselves. We can’t worry about anything else.” The victory gave the Predators 96 points, one more than Detroit and four more than the sixth-place Blackhawks, who had their five-game winning streak snapped. It also gave Nashville a 4-0-1 record against Chicago this season. Nashville’s Martin Erat, who has tied a career high with 57 points, was scratched because of an upper-body injury after logging 19 minutes Saturday night in a win over Winnipeg. “It doesn’t matter who we have in the lineup and how many offensive guys we have. That’s our game. We have to be solid defensively and work hard and keep it simple and the offensive part of the game is going to come,” said Rinne, who made 24 saves. “I think tonight is a good example of that. We still have a lot of skill on the team and when we get our scoring chances, guys put the puck in the net.” Chicago played its first game without suspended defenseman Duncan Keith. Keith got five games for elbowing Vancouver’s Daniel Sedin in the head in the Blackhawks’ previous game Wednesday night. “It doesn’t matter who’s playing. We’ve been winning a lot of games with guys out,” Chicago defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said. “We’ve got to do a better effort out there. That’s what it’s all about. … They were better than us, pretty much, all over the ice.” Matt Halischuk, Andrei Kostitsyn, Patric Hornqvist, Francis Bouillon, Shea Weber and Mike Fisher scored for the Predators, who matched their season high with the six goals. Viktor Stalberg had Chicago’s lone score. Halischuk scored from the slot at 6:16 of the first, a goal set up by some nice passing behind the net by Brandon Yip and Paul Gaustad. Later in the period, Kositsyn’s shot from high in the left circle sailed over Corey Crawford’s blocker and into the net, giving the Preds a 2-0 lead. Rinne had 11 first-period saves, three early in the game, and helped turn away two Blackhawks power plays to set the tone. Chicago was 0 for 4 on the power play without getting off a shot. “I thought we were well-prepared for their power play. We have a strong penalty kill and it’s big again tonight,” Rinne said. Hornqvist was credited with a deflection goal on the power play when Weber’s hard shot from the high slot broke the stick of Chicago’s Marian Hossa, went off Alexander Radulov’s skate and trickled past Crawford for a 3-0 lead in the second. The goal was upheld by video replay. And after Bouillon’s long wrister from way out on the left boards eluded a screened Crawford two minutes into the final period to make it 4-0, Crawford was pulled in favor of Ray Emery. Crawford gave up four goals on just 15 shots. “That wasn’t our team. That wasn’t me,” said Crawford, who’d won five straight. “Just got to forget about it plain and simple. …. It seemed like everything wasn’t going our way.” Four minutes later, right after a Chicago power play ended, Stalberg scored from the left circle, ending Rinne’s shutout bid. But 36 seconds later, immediately after a faceoff, Weber rifled in a shot past Emery to restore Nashville’s four-goal lead. Fisher scored with 2:27 left. Notes: Former Blackhawks G Ed Belfour was honored by the team. He spent parts of eight seasons with Chicago during a 20-year NHL career and had a Blackhawks’ franchise-record 43 wins in 1990-91, his first full NHL season. His play helped the Blackhawks make the Stanley Cup finals in 1992. He also played for San Jose, Dallas, Toronto and Florida and was inducted into the Hall of Fame last November. He finished with a 484-320-125 record. … The Preds’ Jordin Tootoo, who was involved in a fight with Chicago’s Brandon Bolllig early in the game, didn’t return after the altercation in which he was knocked to the ice. He was said to have an upper-body injury … Chicago captain Jonathan Toews missed his 16th straight game with a concussion.
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Phillies starter Halladay says he’s fine (Yahoo! Sports)
Phillies starter Halladay says he’s fine (Yahoo! Sports)
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP)—Roy Halladay is just fine despite ugly numbers. The two-time Cy Young Award winner said he’s not injured and criticized a report suggesting something may be wrong with him because he’s struggled in spring training. Halladay got rocked for five runs and seven hits before getting yanked in the third inning of Philadelphia’s loss to Minnesota on Wednesday. A report later surfaced quoting two unidentified scouts expressing concern that Halladay’s velocity is down and his sharpness is off. “Poor reporting on the extreme end of poor reporting,” Halladay said Thursday. “It couldn’t be further from the truth.” Halladay, an eight-time All-Star, has a 10.56 ERA in three spring starts. He acknowledged his velocity is down, but isn’t worried because it’s still early. “Yeah, I’m 34 and (with) 2,500 innings, it does take a while to get going,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to that. The older you get, the more you throw, the longer it takes you to get yourself going. When I came up, I threw 98. Last year, I was throwing 92-93. It’s not unusual. When you get older, it takes you longer. The more innings you throw, the more it takes to get yourself going again.” Halladay is 40-16 with a 2.40 ERA, 17 completes game and five shutouts in his two seasons with the Phillies. He threw a perfect game, a postseason no-hitter and won the NL Cy Young Award in 2010. Halladay’s success makes people expect dominant performances each time he takes the mound, even in meaningless exhibition games. Many pitchers use spring training to work on different pitches, grips, arm angles and various mechanics. Halladay is no different. He understands the importance of making sure he’s ready to go when the games matter, and even more so, in the postseason because the Phillies have World Series-or-bust aspirations. “I think it’s hard, the older you get and the more spring trainings you’re around, you can try and have as much intensity as you can, but it’s just not the same,” he said. “I think once you get closer and you’re really not working on stuff and you’re trying to pitch, it’s a little different level of competition. It’s all part of it. Would I like to be throwing 98 right now? Yeah. That would be great. But I don’t expect that’s going to happen.” Neither pitching coach Rich Dubee nor teammates are concerned about Halladay’s rough spring. “He’s a guy that can figure it out right away,” catcher Carlos Ruiz said. “It’s nothing we have to worry about because he said he feels great.”
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Middle school coach Timothy Forbes bites off part of opposing coach’s ear following loss ()
Middle school coach Timothy Forbes bites off part of opposing coach’s ear following loss ()
In one of the most bizarre and troubling incidents in recent youth sports history, an assistant coach of a Massachusetts middle school basketball team channeled his inner Mike Tyson after a 6th grade basketball championship, attacking the coach of a team which defeated his side and biting his opponent’s ear. According to Springfield, Mass. news network WWLP, 34-year-old Timothy Forbes was charged with mayhem, assault and batter and disorderly conduct on Monday in Springfield District Court after turning himself in to police. The charges follow Forbes’ attack on an unnamed fellow middle school basketball coach at Springfield (Mass.) Holy Name School following his Springfield Heat’s loss to the Sprinfield Migs in the Springfield Catholic Youth Organization middle school basketball finals. According to WWLP and NBC Connecticut, among other sources, Forbes was enraged following his team’s loss and instigated a fight with the Migs coach. In the midst of that scuffle, he then bit the Migs coach’s ear, allegedly removing part of it in the process. The victim, a fellow 34-year-old Springfield resident, was rushed to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and had his ear reattached. He was released shortly thereafter. While Forbes was named as a coach in the Heat organization by Springfield police, Heat officials themselves denied that the man was a coach for the team and argued that he was not on the organization’s roster. Regardless of official roles, Springfield Heat president John Maloney told WWLP that the entire incident was shocking for all involved. “I think everyone who heard it couldn’t believe it and it was certainly very devastating to the program to have something like this happen,” Maloney told WWLP. “We feel it hasn’t happened before and we hope it will never happen again.” One can only hope that will be the case, given the severity of Forbes’ bizarre attack. Want more on the best stories in high school sports? Visit RivalsHigh or connect with Prep Rally on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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Braun homers for first hit of spring training (Yahoo! Sports)
Braun homers for first hit of spring training (Yahoo! Sports)
PHOENIX (AP)—Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer for his first hit of spring training but Chris Heisey had an RBI triple and Juan Francisco hit a solo homer in a four-run fifth inning to lead the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday. Reds starter Mike Leake gave up three hits in two innings, but one hit was a solo home run to Mat Gamel in the second inning. Mat Gamel also homered for the Brewers, who got a solid, two-inning effort from starter Zack Greinke.
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Suns get 1st win over Mavericks in 9 tries (Yahoo! Sports)
Suns get 1st win over Mavericks in 9 tries (Yahoo! Sports)
PHOENIX (AP)—Jared Dudley scored 12 of his 18 points in a third-quarter comeback and Phoenix held on to beat Dallas 96-94 on Thursday night, the Suns’ first victory over the Mavericks in nine tries. Grant Hill scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half for Phoenix, but missed two free throws with 15.4 seconds left. Dallas had two chances after that, but Rodrique Beauboi missed a driving layup, then couldn’t hit an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer. Marcin Gortat added 16 points and 12 rebounds as the Suns won their fourth straight home game, their longest streak in nearly two years. Steve Nash had 11 points and 11 assists. Vince Carter and Dirk Nowitzki had 18 points apiece for Dallas in the Mavericks’ fifth road loss in a row.
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McIlroy’s run of birdies keeps him in the hunt (AP)
McIlroy’s run of birdies keeps him in the hunt (AP)
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida (AP)—Tiger Woods had a terse exchange with a reporter over excerpts from former swing coach Hank Haney’s book. The volley ended with Woods refusing to answer the question, staring him down for five seconds and saying sarcastically, “Have a good day.” The topic Wednesday at the Honda Classic was Haney’s contention that Woods seriously thought about becoming a Navy SEAL at the peak of his career. And so began a bumpy road to the Masters for Woods, who has gone more than two years without winning on the PGA Tour. If the book didn’t get under his skin, there were 10 questions related to his putting. Woods is coming off a second-round loss in the Match Play Championship when he missed a 5-foot putt on the last hole.
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Preds add Gaustad, reunite Kostitsyns (AP)
Preds add Gaustad, reunite Kostitsyns (AP)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP)—The Predators won their first playoff series last spring. Now general manager David Poile thinks three trades within the past two weeks positions Nashville to do much more this season. “We’ve certainly got ourselves in a real good position here in the playoff race, and I think with these trades we’ve certainly given us a chance to play with the big boys this year when we get in the playoffs,” Poile said Monday after making two trades before the NHL deadline. “So we’re done. Like I said, I’m really happy.” The Predators paid a big price, sending a first-round pick in the 2012 draft to Buffalo for center Paul Gaustad and a fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft. Earlier Monday, Nashville picked up forward Andrei Kostitsyn from Montreal earlier Monday in exchange for a second-round and conditional fifth-round pick in the 2013 draft. Nashville had received the conditional fifth-round pick from Montreal 10 days ago along with defenseman Hal Gill in the first of Nashville’s three big trades before the deadline. Poile said he feels he filled the needs for a big defenseman in Gill, added more scoring with Kostitsyn in re-teaming him with his brother Sergei in Nashville and a strong center in Gaustad who can fight and move up and down the lineup while handling faceoffs in the final minute. “We paid a big price, but again it’s a specific player to play a specific role,” Poile said. “Everybody pays their prices at different times. Most clubs pay big money at July 1st. We haven’t been too notorious in doing that. I feel real good about paying a little bit more if that’s the case on Feb. 27 when you have 20 games left in the season to challenge for the playoffs and to challenge for the Stanley Cup.” Gaustad, traveling to join Nashville in North Carolina, said Monday night on a conference call he had tried to forget about the season-long talk he would be traded after spending about 12 years in western New York with the Sabres. Now the 30-year-old center will be playing in the postseason again with the Predators. “Playing against them is very hard,” Gaustad said. “They play hard. They play the system hard. I mean you look from the goaltender to the defense and the forwards, it’s a balanced attack. I’m excited to join that group.” The Predators went into Monday night’s game with the Los Angeles Kings fifth in the Western Conference, six points behind Central Division leading Detroit. Nashville gave up nothing but draft picks in these three trades, though the Predators did send forward Jerred Smithson to Florida for a draft pick on Friday. The Predators won their first postseason series last year against Anaheim but lost in six games to Vancouver. Then they were criticized last summer for letting players like Steve Sullivan, Joel Ward, Marcel Goc, J.P. Dumont and Shane O’Brien leave. Poile wanted to give some of his younger players time to develop, and now the Predators have 10 players having scored 10 goals apiece. Nashville also ranked first in the NHL on the power play Monday for the first time in franchise history. If these moves pay off with a deep playoff run, then the biggest dividend might be convincing defenseman Ryan Suter to re-sign with Nashville. Suter becomes a free agent July 1, and he had made it clear he wanted to see how committed team owners were to winning. Captain Shea Weber will be a restricted free agent after this season as well. Poile said he hopes Monday’s moves show all the Predators how committed ownership is to winning. “Hopefully a big playoff run here will get Ryan signed up,” Poile said. Sabres general manager Darcy Regier said two teams offered first-round picks for Gaustad with the first not from Nashville. But one team withdrew its offer, and the deal was on at midnight and off Monday morning only to be revived this afternoon. Then the calls came about 90 minutes before the deadline. Gaustad is in the final year of a four-year, $9.2 million contract. “He was born and raised with the Buffalo Sabres,” Regier said. “But when we looked at it, we thought long and hard about whether or not to trade him, and if so, under what conditions to trade him. And we set the standard high, and the standard was we had to be able to acquire a first-round pick and if we couldn’t acquire a first-round pick in that process, then we were not going to trade him.” Nashville came through with the right offer. Poile likes Gaustad’s size at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds that Nashville wants to match up with the rest of the Western Conference in the playoffs. Gaustad has seven goals and 10 assists in 56 games this season. In his seventh full NHL season, Gaustad is a reliable checking forward and a good face-off specialist that Nashville needed after trading away Smithson. Both Gaustad and Andrei Kostitsyn are expected to join the Predators in North Carolina where they play the Hurricanes on Tuesday night. “I’ve been on the short end of a lot of 2-3 games,” Poile said. “Hopefully this year we’ll be winning them 3-2.” ——— AP Sports Writer John Wawrow, in Buffalo, N.Y., contributed to this report.
