NASCAR fines Kurt Busch $50,000 after Darlington (The Associated Press)
NASCAR fines Kurt Busch $50,000 after Darlington (The Associated Press)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) Kurt Busch was fined $50,000 by NASCAR on Tuesday for reckless driving on pit road at Darlington and a post-race altercation with Ryan Newman’s crew members. Busch was also placed on probation through July 25 for his actions Saturday night, which began when a flat tire caused him to wreck with six laps remaining in the race. He headed to pit road for repairs, and as he left, he did a burnout through Newman’s pit box. There were crew members over the wall and on pit road at the time, and they complained they could have been injured by Busch’s actions. Busch also ran into Newman’s car on pit road after the race, and several of Newman’s crew members confronted Busch. NASCAR also placed Newman crew chief Tony Gibson on probation through June 27 for failing to control his team, and crew member Andrew Rueger was fined $5,000 and placed on probation for failing to comply with a directive from a NASCAR official. Busch’s motorhome driver, Craig Strickler, was fined $5,000 and placed on probation through the end of the year for interfering with a member of Fox’s broadcast team. It’s just the latest dust-up for Busch, who was fined $50,000 by NASCAR last November for making an obscene gesture and being verbally abusive to a TV reporter during the season finale. Busch parted ways with Penske Racing soon after, and said he’s seeing a sports psychologist to help him better deal with adversity. But Newman insisted Saturday night not much has changed with Busch, and attributed his actions to a ”chemical imbalance.” ”It’s easy to see and it’s easy to say that Kurt blew a fuse again,” Newman told SI.com after the race. ”I’m not sure why he did it and tried to run over our guys and NASCAR officials. And nobody is.” Busch contended he accidentally ran into Newman’s car while taking his helmet off after the race, but Newman didn’t believe the explanation. ”Circumstances I think are that he lied and was so frustrated that he doesn’t know how to deal with his anger,” Newman said. Busch, the 2004 NASCAR champion, is driving for underfunded Phoenix Racing this season. He promised to make this year more fun, and said he took the job with James Finch’s team with an eye on proving he should return to a top-level team in 2013. Newman, meanwhile, is in the final year of his contract with Stewart-Haas Racing. Although team owner Tony Stewart indicated Tuesday he’d like to sign Newman to an extension, in theory, both Busch and Newman could be angling for the same seats right now. Busch and Newman were teammates for three seasons at Penske Racing, and Busch pushed Newman to the win in the 2008 Daytona 500.
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Angels fire hitting coach Mickey Hatcher (Yahoo! Sports)
Angels fire hitting coach Mickey Hatcher (Yahoo! Sports)
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) The Los Angeles Angels fired hitting coach Mickey Hatcher on Tuesday after Albert Pujols and many of his teammates got off to dismal offensive start this season. Hatcher’s dismissal was announced about 90 minutes after the Angels had 12 hits in a 4-0 victory over Oakland. A day earlier, Los Angeles lost 5-0 to the Athletics – its major league-worst eighth shutout loss already this season. Los Angeles promoted hitting coach Jim Eppard from Triple-A Salt Lake to replace Hatcher, who had been with the Angels since manager Mike Scioscia – his former Dodgers teammate – took over the club in 2000. A 12-year major league veteran as a player, Hatcher was the Angels’ hitting coach during their only World Series title run in 2002. ”Offensively we have underachieved, and everyone shares in the responsibility of what has transpired thus far,” Angels general manager Jerry Dipoto said. That’s putting it mildly for a club with one of the majors’ highest payrolls and enormous expectations for this season. Los Angeles (16-21) has scored just 134 runs, ranking 22nd in the majors while setting a club record for shutout losses at this point in the season. The Angels’ on-base percentage is .301, worse than all but three teams. Although Hatcher’s job description probably didn’t include fixing Pujols, the $240 first baseman is having trouble in his first six weeks with the Angels, batting .212 with just one homer. The three-time NL MVP boosted his average 15 points Tuesday with three infield singles, driving in two runs. Hatcher also angered Pujols a few weeks ago when he shared a few innocuous details about a team meeting with reporters. Pujols said he planned to talk to Hatcher about keeping clubhouse discussions private, although neither man commented about what happened after that. Just three seasons ago, Hatcher presided over a roster that set several franchise records for hitting and fielded a lineup with nine .300 hitters while the Angels reached the ALCS. These days, few Angels are having offensive seasons that aren’t embarrassing. Shortstop Erick Aybar, who got a $35 million contract last month, is batting .187, and outfielder Peter Bourjos has been benched after his .193 start. New catcher Chris Iannetta slumped to .197 before going on the disabled list, and Bobby Abreu was batting just .208 before Los Angeles released him. High-priced outfielder Vernon Wells is in his second straight middling season, batting .242 with five homers. Howie Kendrick, an All-Star last season, is batting just .273. Eppard worked with Bourjos, Mark Trumbo and Mike Trout in the minors while spending the last 10 years at Salt Lake. He played four years in the majors for the Angels and Toronto. Scioscia said nothing about Hatcher’s departure Tuesday after the Angels’ win over Oakland. ”We think the absolute world of Mickey as a person and thank him for all of his contributions to this organization,” Dipoto said.
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LA Kings roll home with impressive playoff lead (Yahoo! Sports)
LA Kings roll home with impressive playoff lead (Yahoo! Sports)
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) Jeff Carter realizes how smooth the Los Angeles Kings’ 6-1 run through the postseason must look from the outside. The power forward knows most people don’t realize how the Western Conference’s eighth seeds had to grind, scratch and scrape just to get a chance to look so good. ”The last month of the regular season, we were playing playoff hockey,” Carter said Tuesday after the Kings returned from consecutive victories in St. Louis to open their second-round series. ”We had to fight just to get in, and once you get in, anything can happen with how close the teams are,” he added. ”An eight seed doesn’t really mean anything once you’re in. Anything can happen. That month before the playoffs started has helped us. We just kept rolling the way we’ve been playing. It’s good.” And it keeps getting better heading into Game 3 on Thursday night. The West’s lowest seeds are in a commanding position after winning twice in St. Louis with gritty road efforts that left the hard-nosed Blues criticizing their own work ethic and defense. For a franchise with no Stanley Cup championships and just one playoff series victory in the previous 18 years, the Kings are adapting splendidly to the high stakes and physical style of the NHL postseason. After blowing out top-seeded Vancouver in the opening round, they’ve largely dominated the West’s top two teams. Yet the Kings know it’s not nearly as simple as it looked in Vancouver and St. Louis. Anze Kopitar believes there’s no chance of overconfidence against the powerful Blues when they return to Staples Center, where Los Angeles has lost six of its last seven postseason games. ”We’re definitely feeling good right now,” said Kopitar, whose deflating short-handed goal in Game 2 was set up by captain Dustin Brown’s hustle. ”Getting into that building (where) they’ve had so much success and winning both games puts us in a great spot, but it’s not over yet. They have a great team. They can turn it around pretty quick.” After replacing coach Terry Murray with Darryl Sutter at midseason, Los Angeles finished the regular season with a 9-2-3 push, earning a playoff spot right before its 81st game. Sutter might be the overseer of this playoff run, but the crusty veteran coach insists he’s ”just along for the ride” in this postseason surge, claiming the Kings figured it out for themselves from midseason onward. ”It made us a stronger team,” Kopitar said of Murray’s departure and their season-long offensive struggles. ”Mental toughness is a big part of 82 games plus the postseason. We’ve gone through a lot of stuff this season, and at the end of the day, it matters what the guys in the locker room think.” The Kings took control of Game 2 with an utterly dominant first period, starting with Mike Richards’ alert rebound goal just 31 seconds in. Kopitar then scored Los Angeles’ fourth short-handed goal of the playoffs, and the Kings added two late goals to take a four-goal lead that flat-lined the playoff emotion in St. Louis’ long-suffering crowd. ”It was embarrassing, the work ethic we had as a team, I think,” Blues forward T.J. Oshie said. ”For our team defense to be that poor, it’s embarrassing. … There were a lot of guys running around. Everyone’s working hard, but they’re not working hard and using their head at the same time. We’ve got to work hard but work smart.” The Blues didn’t practice Tuesday, taking a day for physical healing and mental resets before boarding a flight to the West Coast. While Los Angeles started the season terribly and finally got itself together, St. Louis was remarkably consistent after coach Ken Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne 13 games in, unexpectedly rising atop the conference standings for a long stretch. But the downside of that success could be a lack of late-season urgency. St. Louis was the first team to clinch a playoff spot and the first to clinch its division, although it didn’t hurt the Blues in their first-round elimination of dangerous San Jose. The Blues don’t blame their weak efforts against Los Angeles on the regular season, but they also realize they can learn a few things from the Kings’ desperate approach to the first two games. ”They don’t stop coming,” Blues captain David Backes said. ”They earned their two wins, and it’s kind of disappointing that we didn’t have more digging in and solidarity as a group to push them back and see what they are made of. We’ve got other levels we can get to, to hopefully make them earn it more.”
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Second-day gems: Top talents left on the board
Second-day gems: Top talents left on the board
(Getty Images) If you take out the first three picks in the first round, it’s easily arguable that the second round will see as much pure talent as did picks 4-32. Here are the best remaining players on the board, based on what we’ve seen. Coby Fleener, TE, Stanford: An elite pass-catcher at every part of the field, and a very underrated blocker. One of the elite red zone threats I’ve seen at the collegiate level in recent years. Basically, he’s Rob Gronkowski without the blocking, and in a league that features tight ends as pure pass-catchers more than ever before, he could be a foundation player. Courtney Upshaw, OLB, Alabama: Another player I’m very surprised to see fall out of the first round. Not only an outstanding pass-rusher; has the potential to be a two-level guy with some SAM ‘backer ability. Would have rather seen him go to the Jets than Quinton Coples, that’s for sure. Vinny Curry, DE, Marshall: Underrated pass-rusher who can play many roles. Has the burst to get 10 sacks a season as an edge rusher, the agility to play in LEO fronts (the Clay Matthews/Aldon smith role), and the upper-body strength to hold up as a straight run defender outside or in a five-tech role. Reminds me of Jason Pierre-Paul. Bobby Massie, OT, Ole Miss: Put simply, the best right tackle prospect in this draft class. Good in pass pro, but not quite agile enough to move to the left side. As a run-blocker, looked great especially against Alabama and LSU. People talk about the sack he gave up to Courtney Upsaw and forget that he gave Michael Brockers all he could handle. Janoris Jenkins, CB, North Alabama: Red flags abound, but Jenkins shut down some of college football’s best receivers over the last two seasons. The St. Louis Rams have three picks in the second round (so far), and given Jeff Fisher’s history with athletic marvels that also have character issues, that seems like a natural fit. Lavonte David, OLB, Nebraska: Too small/too slow? Well, yes. You don’t want to run a 4.65 40 at the combine when you stand 6-foot-1 and weigh 235 pounds. However, Davis is also one of those guys we like to call “just a football player” — when you turn on the tape, he’s thumping people in the box, and playing stay-at-home linebacker against the goofiest spread defenses. If I were the Vikings, I would have looked at David instead of Harrison Smith at the end of the first round. Cordy Glenn, OT, Georgia: Like Massie, Glenn is a pure masher, but I don’t see the move from right tackle to guard that some project, He’s a big man with surprising agility who could be a star in any offense in need of a front-side run protector who can also pass-protect in heavy roll-right offenses. (Getty Images) Rueben Randle, WR, LSU: Borderline first-round pick because he isn’t a pure speed guy, but reminds me of Donald Driver in his prime. Fearless over the middle, very route-correct, dynamic after the catch, and showed a lot more than people may think, given that he played in Les Miles’ Flintstones offense. Jerel Worthy, DT, Michigan State: The first note I made when I watched Worthy on tape: “He’s a constant pain in the ass.” Outstanding pursuit tackle who can also hold the point inside at one-tech if need be. Some compare him to Kevin Williams, and that might be why he’s fallen a bit — with more hybrid defenses than ever before, traditional 4-3 tackles don’t have quite the same cache. 10 years ago, he might have gone in the top half of the first round. I would love to see what he could do in Denver. Jonathan Martin, OT, Stanford: I was surprised that Stanford didn’t get three prospects in the first round (just Luck and DeCastro, as it turned out), but of the four possibilities, Martin was the guy I saw slipping to the second round, because I’m not sure what to make of him. Protected by a conservative offense and heavy tight ends sets, Martin comes up just short in several aspects when it comes to elite left tackles, but some enterprising offensive line coach will take a shot. Stephen Hill, WR, Georgia Tech: Two common criticisms of Hill don’t make a lot of sense. The fact that he had rotten stats doesn’t mean a thing when you remember that Georgia Tech is running Amos Alonzo Stagg’s old playbook. And the idea that he can’t play in the NFL because he runs a handful of routes — well, how may square-ins do you remember Randy Moss running in his prime? The Patriots would be a great landing spot, as much as they desperately need a speed receiver to keep opposing safeties from cheating up.
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Travis Zajac’s goal in overtime forces Game 7 (Yahoo! Sports)
Travis Zajac’s goal in overtime forces Game 7 (Yahoo! Sports)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) A one-game showdown to win their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. Neither New Jersey coach Peter DeBoer nor Florida coach Kevin Dineen is complaining about the prospect. The series between the sixth-seeded Devils and third-seeded Panthers has been close, so it’s appropriate it comes down to 60 minutes, or more. The Devils staved off elimination and forced the deciding contest when Travis Zajac scored at 5:39 of overtime in a 3-2 win over the Panthers on Tuesday night. Game 7 will be played in Sunrise, Fla. on Thursday night. ”They are fun to be part of,” said Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur, who has played in two Game 7s to decide Stanley Cup titles, not just series. ”When you’re a kid you always go out and say ‘this is Game 7 for all the marbles.’ It brings back good memories because of that. You don’t need to be nervous. You need to embrace the situation and make the best out of it.” Dineen smiled when asked about playing in a Game 7 that would give the Panthers their first series win since 1996. ”We’re fine,” he said. ”We’re going back home. This is where we are. It comes down to one game. Obviously you go to overtime and you’d like to put things to bed, but that’s the nature of it. It will make for a very exciting game on Thursday.” DeBoer hesitated for a split second when asked if he would have settled for one game to decide everything before the series began. ”At the start of the season?” he said, drawing some laughs. DeBoer then got serious. ”All you have to do is look around the league to appreciate how tough playoffs are,” the first-year Devils coach said. ”Look at the quality of some of the teams that are sitting on the sidelines right now. Absolutely, we’ll take one game. We’ve had one of the best road records in the league and guys are comfortable to play a good one.” Two other series in the conference are also headed to Game 7s. Washington will be at second-seeded Boston on Wednesday and Ottawa will be at the top-seeded Rangers on Thursday. The Devils had the better of the play in Game 6 at the Prudential Center, outshooting Florida 42-16. Steve Bernier and Ilya Kovalchuk staked the Devils to a 2-0 lead early in the second period but the Panthers rallied to tie the game on goals by Kris Versteeg and Sean Bergenheim. Zajac, who played in only 15 games this season because of an Achilles’ tendon injury that required surgery in August, ended the contest, scoring on a counterattack after the Panthers threatened the 39-year-old Brodeur in a scramble around his crease. Zajac cleared the puck from in front of the net and started a rush up the ice. Zach Parise took his cross-ice pass and gave the puck to Kovalchuk, who found Zajac skating down the left wing for a shot along the ice that beat former teammate Scott Clemmensen. ”It’s fun to be back competing and playing at this time of year,” said Zajac, who made his season debut in December before having to shut it down again until late March. ”When you have a setback, you never know what’s going to happen,” said Zajac, who also set up Kovalchuk’s goal. ”As I went through the process again, I felt better and better. It was just about being patient. I knew I would be back at some time in the new year. I was able to get a few games in and prepare for the playoffs.” Zajac’s third goal of the series sparked a wild celebration in the corner and sent both teams packing for a trip to Florida. ”It’s been a frustrating year for him,” Parise said of Zajac, who had played in 401 straight games before his injury. ”It’s got to be rewarding and satisfying for him to get that one. He’s played really well for us in the series. He’s a good guy to play with. He makes my job easier. He makes Kovy’s job easier.” Clemmensen was outstanding, making 39 saves in an emergency start for the injured Jose Theodore. ”I think he missed it, the shot,” Clemmensen said of Zajac’s last shot. ”My D also may have gotten a stick on it. I don’t think he was shooting where he wanted to, but went under the pad. I thought he was trying to shoot it high.” Despite being outshot 29-10 in the opening 40 minutes, the Panthers rallied from a 2-0 deficit and entered the third period tied at 2-all. The remarkable aspect was that the Panthers took only four shots in the second period and tallied on the two of the first three. Versteeg cut the deficit to 2-1 at 7:05 of the period. Stephen Weiss centered the puck from along the left sideboards and Versteeg’s shot hit off the skate of Devils forward Alexei Ponikarovsky and into the open side of the net. Brodeur never had a chance. The tying goal came at 12:49 after the referees ignored a slash by Bergenheim that knocked Kovalchuk to the ice. It led to a 4-on-2 rush. Brodeur made the initial stop on a shot from the between the circles by Tyson Strachan, but Bergenheim came late and tucked the rebound into an open net with teammate Marcel Goc hanging on the crossbar. ”This series has been going back and forth,” Bergenheim said. ”I have no doubts we will have the energy for Game 7.” Kovalchuk gave the Devils a 2-0 lead earlier in the period, slam-dunking a pass from Zajac into the net with 4 seconds left on a power play.. The Devils had a big territorial advantage in the final 10 minutes of the first period and it finally paid off when Bernier beat Clemmensen with a bad-angle shot at 16:37 of the period. NOTES: The NBA’s Nets played their final home game in New Jersey on Monday night and all the team banners and retired jersey numbers that hung from the rafters of the Prudential Center were gone on Tuesday. … Panthers D Jason Garrison, their leading goal scorer on the back line, missed his third straight game with a lower-body injury. …The Panthers did not discuss the nature of Theodore’s injury.
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Lynx draft Notre Dame’s Devereaux Peters (The Associated Press)
Lynx draft Notre Dame’s Devereaux Peters (The Associated Press)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The defending champion Minnesota Lynx didn’t have much room on their roster for rookies, so this year’s WNBA draft served a future purpose. Looking ahead for a potential replacement for 41-year-old center Taj McWilliams-Franklin, the Lynx picked Notre Dame’s Devereaux Peters with the third overall selection on Monday. They took five other players, but only two of them will even be at training camp. For the first time in their 14 seasons, the Lynx didn’t need the draft. They’ve already got a title contender assembled, and they’re hoping Peters can be a valuable piece. The 6-foot-2, two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year, who helped the Fighting Irish reach the last two NCAA championship games, finished her college career as only the second player in program history with at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 150 blocks and 150 steals. The Lynx acquired the selection before last season in a trade with the Washington Mystics for center Nicky Anosike. ”Although I believe Taj might play until she’s 50, there’s probably a more than likelihood that in a couple years, if not a year from now, we might have to replace her,” head coach Cheryl Reeve said. Peters, on a conference call with reporters, said her selection was ”just pure shock” because of how loaded the Lynx are. With McWilliams-Franklin, Rebekkah Brunson, Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus and Lindsay Whalen in the lineup, moving from biggest to smallest, the starting five is set. Candice Wiggins leads the list of reserves, with recent acquisition Erin Thorn and Monica Wright in the backcourt and Amber Harris and Jessica Adair in the post. After two ACL injuries earlier in her career, Peters played the last two seasons without any problems. She’s a strong rebounder and defender who’s used to playing a supporting role on a star-studded Notre Dame team. She’ll need to improve her jump shooting and cut down on her foul-prone play in the WNBA. ”I think I’ve made a big improvement,” Peters said. Reeve joked that Peters was as happy as any player to join the league this year, because ”she gets six fouls.” The Lynx also drafted Damiris Dantas of Brazil with the final choice of the first round, 12th overall. They then picked mid-major stars Julie Wojta of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Kayla Standish of Gonzaga before grabbing guard Nika Baric of Slovenia in the second round, with the 18th, 19th and 20th selections. In the third round, No. 31 overall, they took oft-injured USC point guard Jacki Gemelos. Wojta and Standish will be long shots to make the team, but the two forwards could challenge Wright or Harris for time. WNBA rosters are limited to 11 players. ”We’ve seen it before that you think you’re set, but you come in find out that someone is better and they’ll have that opportunity to prove that they can beat somebody out on our roster,” Lynx executive vice president Roger Griffith said. ”If that happens, we’ll all be stronger for it.” Said Reeve: ”I certainly won’t be drawing a depth chart for them. I think that’s rather disappointing. I won’t go that route. I want them to come in and be confident and be competitive.” Gemelos has torn the ACL in both of her knees twice each, most recently in December, so she won’t play this season. But the Lynx will hold her rights as long as she’s still recovering. The same goes for Dantas and Baric, who are both 19. They’re playing internationally – Baric is a teammate of Augustus in a Russian league – and won’t start their WNBA careers for some time. Dantus might not turn pro until after the Summer Olympics – in 2016. ”That’s not a timeline that scares us either,” Griffith said. — Follow Dave Campbell on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/DaveCampbellAP
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