http://www.realclearsports.com/ en Copyright 2008 Sat, 18 May 2013 08:38:00 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/?v=3.33 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sat, 18 May 2013 02:25:26 -0500 Pia Catton, Wall Street Journal This is the year. This is really, quite possibly, the year of the first Triple Crown since 1978. Because if Kentucky Derby-winning Orb can edge out from his rail post to win Saturday's Preakness Stakes (NBC, 4:30 p.m. ET), then there is no question—barring all superstitions and acts of God—that he can win the June 8 Belmont Stakes. I say this now because after Orb shines in Baltimore, everyone will declare they knew it all along. Commentators will pontificate. People will scramble for tickets to the Belmont. If you're remotely interested, fire up your credit card and buy...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/orb_just_might_be_the_one_for_triple_crown_111975.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324767004578487034184131390.html100111975AM Update 189452 Fri, 17 May 2013 15:45:22 -0500 Shaun Powell, Sports on Earth CHICAGO — A large gathering of NBA personnel gathered here over the last few days to blow their expense accounts, gossip about the latest events, network for jobs, talk shop and, oh yeah, look at a few dozen players who have no chance at becoming a star anytime soon, if ever.   That’s what a number of GMs and scouts said about this year’s incoming rookie crop, a collection of players who should’ve stayed in school or made plans for another occupation. And some players who’ll be snapped up in the draft lottery next month...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/nba_draft_to_mimic_nfl_039not_a_lot_to_look_at039_111969.html http://therotation.sportsonearthblog.com/the-drafts-biggest-question-mark/100111969AM Update 189620 Fri, 17 May 2013 21:10:48 -0500 Adam Schupak, Golf Week Ken Venturi, winner of the 1964 U.S. Open and the voice of golf for CBS Sports for 35 years, died Friday afternoon.   Venturi's son, Matt, broke the news of the death to the San Francisco Chronicle, Venturi's hometown newspaper.   Venturi, who turned 82 on Wednesday, had been hospitalized for several months in Southern California. His son said he had developed an infection and pneumonia. Venturi had been unable to travel across country to attend his induction ceremony into the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., on May 6.   Venturi's U.S. Open victory at...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/with_venturi039s_death_golf_lost_a_legend_111973.html http://golfweek.com/news/2013/may/17/ken-venturi-82-left-his-mark-golfer-broadcaster/100111973AM Update 189652 Sat, 18 May 2013 02:24:56 -0500 Mike Freeman, CBS Sports There are people who have feared Titus Young, and a father who fears for him. He has morphed into many things -- a punchline, a storyline, a timeline of chaos. But before Young engaged in an alleged crime spree that included him running not from defenders on a football field, but police officers on foot, there was a violent hit to the head.   It was 2011 and Young was a rookie with the Detroit Lions. A former teammate of Young's, who asked not to be identified, remembers a game early in the season when Young returned to the bench complaining about some sort of collision he had on the...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/is_titus_young_suffering_from_a_brain_injury_111974.html http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/22259804/is-titus-young-the-latest-nfl-player-suffering-from-hits-to-the-head100111974AM Update 189653 Sat, 18 May 2013 00:11:22 -0500 Graham Hunter, ESPN The only thing which will be quivering more than the woodwork at the Bernabeu will be Jose Mourinho with indignation.    For a bad loser at the best of times, this defeat, Real Madrid's first to Atletico Madrid in 14 years, means that if he leaves this imperious club at this juncture, he'll have won in three years -- after the investment of hundreds of millions of euros -- the same number of trophies, three -- as Atletico's Diego Simeone, who inherited a relegation-menaced club 17 months ago. Who's the Special One in reality ...?  And when you...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/grit_trumps_star_power_in_copa_final_111984.html http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/laliga/id/461/atletico-grit-trumps-pouty-madrid-in-copa-final?cc=5901100111984AM Update 189670 Fri, 17 May 2013 22:42:16 -0500 Mark Kiszla, Denver Post For more than 100 years, angry baseball fans have been shouting: "Kill the ump!" They might finally get their wish. In 2014, major-league baseball is going to be dragged into the 21st century with umpire Angel Hernandez and his crew kicking and screaming. It appears expanded use of instant replay on the diamond is a near certainty. "Replay ... I'm all for it," Rockies outfielder Michael Cuddyer said Thursday. "It boils down to getting things right. And I think everybody that pays to see the games deserves that. I think everybody that plays deserves that. And I...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/mlb_instant_replay_careful_what_you_wish_for_111979.html http://www.denverpost.com/kiszla/ci_23263543/kiszla-baseball-might-not-be-making-right-call100111979AM Update 189663 Fri, 17 May 2013 21:52:51 -0500 Yahoo! Sports If early returns are any indication, 2013 could be the year of the pitcher in Major League Baseball. Eight starting pitchers have totaled at least 50 innings and have earned-run averages below 2.00. How special is that? Well, consider that the last six Cy Young Award winners posted an average ERA of 2.45. And while eight starters with a sub-2.00 ERA is a crazy number at this point in the season, three pitchers came up just short of joining the club — Anibal Sanchez of the Tigers (2.05), Madison Bumgarner of the Giants (2.18), and Travis Wood of the Cubs (2.03). Here are the eight starters...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/baseball039s_elite_8_pitchers_with_sub_200_eras_111977.html http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/the-nasty-nine-mlb-pitchers-with-sub-2-00-eras-1368710011-slideshow/100111977AM Update 189657 Sat, 18 May 2013 00:56:12 -0500 Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer BOGER CITY Many people only knew racecar driver Dick Trickle because he had one of the most unusual names in NASCAR history – a name that constantly was used as a punch line during the 1990s on ESPN's "SportsCenter.”   But there was a man behind that name. And to those who knew that man well, Trickle was a delight. Fun-loving. Big-hearted. Fiercely competitive.   So Trickle's suicide at age 71 Thursday – he shot himself in a Lincoln County cemetery – stunned the racing community. Few people had seemed to love life more than Trickle did.   Trickle had struggled...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/family_chronic_pain_led_trickle_to_suicide_111981.html http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/17/4048499/driver-dick-trickles-life-was.html100111981AM Update 189666 Fri, 17 May 2013 15:51:24 -0500 Mike Ozanian, Forbes The NBA is staying in Sacramento. The Maloof family has agreed to sell the Kings to a group led by tech entrepreneur Vivek Ranadive, 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark Mastrov and former Facebook executive Chris Kelly for $535 million, according to the Sacramento Bee, a record amount for  a team without ownership of an arena. The Maloofs paid $156 million for the Kings in 1998.   The Sacramento group beat out a competing offer from hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft Steve Ballmer, who wanted to move the team to Seattle. The Seattle group was offering $625 million, but...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/sacramento_deal_nothing_but_net_for_stern_111970.html http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2013/05/17/maloofs-agree-to-sell-sacramento-kings-to-ranadive-group-for-535-million/100111970AM Update 189623 Fri, 17 May 2013 16:15:25 -0500 Mike Lupica, New York Daily News All night long you kept looking at the scoreboard after the Pacers had missed another free throw or made another turnover, and kept expecting to see the Knicks up by more than they were on the night when they were playing for their season. But they were not. On this night, the night of Game 5, with next season in the Garden, they wanted the place to carry them, and all they were doing in the second half was making the place too scared. And much too quiet. "I felt like we should be up by 15 or 20,” Mike Woodson would say when it was over, and one one-game season for his team, in New...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/knicks_get_ugly_and_gritty__finally_111972.html http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/knicks/lupica-ugly-must-win-melo-pretty-gritty-article-1.1346759100111972AM Update 189630 Fri, 17 May 2013 23:35:56 -0500 Bob Ford, Philadelphia Inquirer No NBA general manager who wants to get his roster from Point A to Point B ever begins that process by trying to construct a four-team trade.   Simple is best and that is certainly what Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak was shooting for last summer when Dwight Howard made it clear he would be leaving the Orlando Magic for the Lakers and only the Lakers and you guys in the suits figure out how that's going to happen.   The true superstars of the game can dictate their paths that way, using the blackmail of their impending unhappiness as leverage. There...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/76ers_must_solve_the_bynum_conundrum_111982.html http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20130519_The_Sixers_and_the_Long_Shadow_of_Andrew_Bynum.html100111982AM Update 189668 Fri, 17 May 2013 21:57:05 -0500 Monte Poole, Oakland Tribune OAKLAND -- They were globally insignificant and, on the whole, an object of civic ridicule. There had been so much failure and futility, so much shameful history, so many years of shoddy product peddled by an infernally inept ownership. So how could Warriors CEO Joe Lacob's brash promise -- to truly, seriously fix this franchise -- be greeted with anything but skepticism? Even optimists were withholding judgment and until there was tangible proof. And now, a mere 30 months after the Lacob-Warriors marriage was consummated with a solemn vow of superior quality and eternal commitment, we...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/re-made_warriors_inspire_pride_loyalty_111978.html http://www.insidebayarea.com/warriors/ci_23270514/poole-players-actually-want-stay-warriors-organization100111978AM Update 189659 Sat, 18 May 2013 02:20:17 -0500 Jason Whitlock, Fox Sports There's no reason for me to pretend this Derek Fisher-Billy Hunter feud isn't personal for me. It became personal the moment Fisher publicly threatened to sue me because I reported a major rift between Hunter and Fisher, the former executive director and current president of the NBA players union, respectively, during the 2011 NBA lockout.   In Oct. 2011, I wrote a column revealing that sources close to the labor negotiations told me Hunter and a member of the NBPA executive committee confronted Fisher regarding their suspicion that Fisher had undermined the union's...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/lawsuit_proof_nbpa_needs_new_president_too_111976.html http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/billy-hunter-lawsuit-against-derek-fisher-nba-players-association-jason-whitlock-051613100111976AM Update 189655 Fri, 17 May 2013 22:51:11 -0500 Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press It is never good, in the sports world, to be worried about your “own end,” not in horse racing, not in sumo wrestling and certainly not in hockey.   But the Red Wings’ own end is where trouble is brewing, and has been brewing, and it needs to be fixed if they want to keep going in this year’s playoffs.   I thought the series against Anaheim had way too many turnovers and sloppy plays close to the Red Wings’ net. But Game 1 against Chicago on Wednesday night felt as if the building had been constructed on a slant, and the...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/red_wings_need_to_get_out_of_own_way_111980.html http://www.freep.com/article/20130517/COL01/305170024/mitch-albom-red-wings-blackhawks100111980AM Update 189665 Sat, 18 May 2013 01:11:01 -0500 Steve Buckley, Boston Herald The hockey experts got this one right. Man, did they ever.   They said this Bruins-Rangers Eastern Conference semifinal was going to be one of those nail-biting, could-go-either-way, intangibles-on-parade extravaganzas — and that's exactly what you got for your dough, hockey fans.   What, you were expecting a Red Sox-Yankees slugfest? It ended in overtime, of course, and it ended with the Bruins emerging with a 3-2 victory in Game 1 last night at the Garden, Brad Marchand doing the honors when he converted a feed from Patrice Bergeron. But before we get to the game-winning goal,...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/bruins-rangers_was_worth_the_wait_111971.html http://bostonherald.com/sports/bruins_nhl/boston_bruins/2013/05/buckley_forty_years_75_minutes_needed_for_bruins_to_beat_ny100111971AM Update 189660 Fri, 17 May 2013 23:52:00 -0500 Steven Crist, Daily Racing Form In many years, a Kentucky Derby winner who won the roses on a wet track with a modest Beyer Speed Figure of 104 would be only a tepid favorite for the second leg of the Triple Crown. On Saturday, however, Orb will be even money or less in the 138th Preakness Stakes – and it’s hard to argue with either his price or his prospects of victory.   There are three good reasons why Orb deserves to be a shorter price than his bare credentials might suggest. First, he probably is an even better horse than he looks on paper, with plenty of room for improvement. Second, he...]]> http://www.realclearsports.com/2013/05/18/rest_of_the_field_is_out_of_his_orbit_111983.html http://www.drf.com/news/steven-crist-each-orbs-races-better-last100111983AM Update 189669