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John Deere Classic: Luke Clanton knows professional golf can wait john,deere,classic,luke,clanton,knows,professional,golf,can,wait,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

On: July 2, 2024 By: admin

Luke Clanton played phenomenally, finishing tied for 10th at last week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit. The Florida State golfer is back on the PGA Tour for the second consecutive event as he is in the field for the John Deere Classic.

Heading into the final day of play, Clanton sat two strokes off the lead. Many felt he could join Nick Dunlap and become the second amateur golfer in six months to win a PGA Tour event. Instead, he shot an even-par 72 on Sunday.

Despite that level of success against PGA Tour players, the rising junior is not worried about professional golf just yet.

“I want to win a national championship with the team,” Clanton said ahead of the John Deere Classic.

“That’s been my number one goal in college, and we came pretty close this year. All of us back home are very driven this year to do it. Again, I think whatever happens happens. I’m still 20 years old. I’m still learning the ropes as much as I can. I’m going to do what I do.”

Clanton finished as the second-lowest amateur to Neal Shipley at Pinehurst in the U.S. Open and kept the momentum going in Detroit with a 14-under total score. His driver was his best club, as he was No. 2 in strokes gained off the tee at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Clanton is a rising junior at Florida State University and helped the Seminoles get to the national title match against Auburn. He fell 2 & 1 in his final match to J.M. Butler.

However, the 20-year-old had one of the most impressive spring runs. He won three consecutive events, was runner-up in the NCAA Individual tournament, recorded 10 top 1s in 14 starts, and finished with the lowest single-season average in FSU history at 69.33.

He likes to keep it simple on the golf course. Regardless of what he has won in his young career, it is all about golf.

“I’m out here to play the best I can. Simple as that,” he said. “If I put four days together and it gets me more accelerated points, awesome. Number one goal is to play as good as I can.”

Even though he could have won over six figures last week, the youngster is determined to finish school. Clanton knows that professional golf will be there when he accomplishes the goals he set for himself in college.

“I would say I’m probably pretty close to where I wanted to be,” Clanton said. “I would say I think I had pretty big goals growing up, a lot of expectations for what I wanted to do. There is one thing I want. I think that’s pretty obvious of course. I think we’re just going to see what happens in the next couple of weeks.”

That goal is not a PGA Tour victory but an individual and team national championship with Florida State.

For the first two rounds of the John Deere Classic, Clanton is paired with Pierceson Coody and Joe Highsmith. They tee off at 2:44 p.m. ET on Thursday and at 9:24 a.m. ET on Friday.

The youngster’s next tournament will be the ISCO Championship in Nicholasville, Kentucky, from July 11 to 14. Clanton received a sponsor’s exemption. It is the opposite field event to the Genesis Scottish Open. He will also play in the 3M Open on an exemption at the end of July.

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.

PGA Tour: Can Jordan Spieth win John Deere Classic again? pga,tour,can,jordan,spieth,win,john,deere,classic,again,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

On: July 1, 2024 By: admin

Jordan Spieth arrives at the John Deere Classic as one of the betting favorites, according to DraftKings. But the three-time major winner has hardly played like a tournament favorite throughout the 2024 season.

He has had a frustrating campaign, especially after missing the cut at Augusta National. Since then, Spieth has made eight starts. He missed the cut twice and did not post a finish better than T-29. That somewhat respectable result came at the Wells Fargo Championship, where he shot only one round in the 60s: an opening round 2-under 69.

But these last few months have served as a microcosm of Spieth’s career over the past seven years—a stretch filled with disappointment and agony, considering his stature and accomplishments. He has won only two tournaments since his Open Championship triumph at Royal Birkdale in 2017: the 2021 Valero Texas Open and the 2022 RBC Heritage.

Since then, he has had a few calls, finishing runner-up to K.H. Lee at the 2022 AT&T Byron Nelson and losing to Matt Fitzpatrick in a playoff at the 2023 RBC Heritage. He has 13 top 10s dating back to April 2022 but has missed 11 cuts since that juncture, too.

And yet, despite those ups and downs, Spieth, now 30 years old, has a tremendous perspective on where he is at this point in his career.

“Once I know what I’m capable of, I want to obviously stay there. If you fall from that even a little bit, it frustrates you, and then if you fall quite a bit from that, you can be wondering what in the world is going on,” Spieth said ahead of this year’s Charles Schwab Challenge in mid-May.

“It can overtake you, and it did for me for a little while. I think I have a better perspective now, but at the same time, the drive to get to where I know my ceiling has never been higher. So, every day I’m not there, I still walk away feeling like I progressed towards it; I walk away really pleased with my day. But some days, I feel like I didn’t, and instead of being okay with that, I lose a little patience because I know what I am capable of, and not sustaining that every year is something that I’m not okay with personally.

“I think it’s something I wouldn’t change anything that’s ever happened to me. I’ve accomplished pretty much all the goals that I had in golf, albeit, you know, in a short period of time, but the nature of sustaining that is something that I would like to have another opportunity at, and I’ll continue to work towards.”

Spieth went on to tie for 37th that week at Colonial, the course not far from his hometown of Dallas, Texas. He then missed the cut at the Memorial, tied for 41st at the U.S. Open, and most recently struggled at the Travelers Championship, finishing T-63—almost dead last.

But now, after a week off, Spieth arrives in the Quad Cities hoping to establish some momentum before the season’s final major. He has won the John Deere Classic twice, in 2013 and 2015, but nothing says he cannot make it a third time this year—especially since the best player in the field, Patrick Cantlay, withdrew.

Jordan Spieth, PGA Tour, John Deere Classic — Jordan Spieth won the 2013 John Deere Classic in a five-hole playoff. He was only 19 years old then.

And yet, the question is, how?

For starters, Spieth has to gain some confidence in his short game again, an attribute that has been very un-Spieth-like this season. He ranks 78th on tour in strokes gained around the green and 80th in putting—a surprising figure given how good he was with his flat stick when he was at the height of his powers.

Spieth also has to improve his ball striking. He is 110th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained: approaching the green, 70th in greens in regulation percentage, and 86th in proximity to the hole. He has especially struggled with his wedges, ranking 130th in approaches from inside 100 yards, another jarring statistic that is very un-Spieth-like.

So this week, at TPC Deere Run, a course that yields plenty of birdies, Spieth should play to the middle of the greens and look to avoid the big numbers. He already makes tons of par breakers, making more than four per round, but the problem is that Spieth drops too many shots. He makes bogey nearly 17% of the time this season, ranking 139th on tour in bogey avoidance—a reality that will not win you many golf tournaments.

Thus, Spieth must play conservatively and not press too much on a golf course that gives the player a green light in more ways than one. And if he can do that, Spieth will have a good chance of doing a victory lap in one of those famous green John Deere tractors on Sunday night.

That would undoubtedly shake off his frustrations.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

UFC 303 paths to victory: How can Jiri Prochazka get revenge on Alex Pereira? ufc,paths,to,victory,how,can,jiri,prochazka,get,revenge,on,alex,pereira,sbnation,com,front-page,mma,ufc,ufc-events-ppv,golf-news

On: June 28, 2024 By: admin

Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka are set to run things back.

This Saturday, Pereira and Prochazka rematch their UFC 295 light heavyweight title fight in the main event of UFC 303. The first time these two met, Pereira knocked Prochazka out in the second round to become the UFC’s ninth two-division champion. This time, the two meet on short-notice as they step in to save the day following Conor McGregor’s withdrawal from the event due to injury.

How will each man approach this fight, and how do they take home the win? Let’s take a look.

Paths to Victory for Alex Pereira at UFC 303

When these two first fought, I picked Pereira to win with relative ease because Prochazka’s offense, while potent, is not backed up by elite defense, meaning Pereira would have ample opportunity to counter. That’s less than ideal for Prochakza given that Pereira is one of the hardest punchers in the sport. And I was half right. Yes, Prochakza did walk headlong on to Pereira’s offense repeatedly, but what actually did him in was the low kicks.

Pereira is perhaps the best calf-kicker in MMA. He’s so adept at kicking the legs without any setup, making it extremely hard to read. And that’s especially bad for Prochakza who operates from a long stance with a lot of weight on the front foot. Aleksandar Rakic chopped the lead leg out from Prochakza, and was dominating the fight, until Prochazka went wild man on him and simply overran him with offense. That’s a much more difficult proposition against someone with the firepower and technique of Pereira.

What this means is that for Pereira, the path forward is simple: make this fight like the first one. Chop the front leg, defend takedowns, and clip Prochazka when he starts to get wild. On top of that, Pereira also should look to double jab, setting up the straight right hand. Because Prochakza fights with his hands down, his first instinct on defense is to slip and then slide back. The double jab with a follow up puts Prochakza in the tough spot of being at the end of his defense when the power shot comes in. Double jabs and calf kicks, that’s the name of the game on Saturday for Pereira.

Paths to victory for Jiri Prochazka at UFC 303

Despite the fact that he got stopped in the first matchup, Prochakza enters Saturday saying he’s not going to change the gameplan. That seems like a bad idea. After all, the definition of crazy is doing the same thing and expecting different results.

In the first fight, Prochakza approached it in the same way he approaches most people, a little bit of everything. He shows Pereira a ton of different looks on the feet, scored one takedown, and even stunned Pereira in the second round with a barrage of long punches that “Poatan” didn’t see coming. It’s a smart way to fight most people: but Pereira is not most people.

Keeping opponents on their toes is usually a good strategy. The more they have to consider, the harder things get for them. Except in this circumstance, when Prochakza spent the second round consenting to a striking battle with Pereira, that was just playing to his opponent’s strength. Sure, you can win that way. But it’s wiser not to.

The simplest way to beat Pereira is to take him down. That almost entirely negates his offense, meaning Prochakza has the best chance to win the fight. And while Pereira is better than many believe at wrestling and grappling, Prochakza proved he can do it. His first plan of attack should always be getting this to the floor and once it’s there, it should be about control. Prochakza’s wild tendencies extend to the ground as well and that’s how Pereira stood up in the first fight. The focus should be getting Pereira down and then keeping him there. Let offense come afterwards.

Of course that doesn’t mean be afraid of Pereira’s striking. No fighter can win a fight if they just punt on one phase of the game entirely. Prochakza had a good amount of success on the feet using a ton of feints to keep Pereira off balance. Using plenty of that, plus more body work should be the focus in striking. Prochakza has a sneaky front kick to the body that would serve him well, and the body work should open up other opportunities both up top and into clinches, where Prochakza than then look to take things to the floor.

X-Factors

According to Prochakza, the biggest x-factor is Pereira’s use of “spiritual forces” to gain an unsporting advantage in the fight. But any good samurai should be able to negate the mystical powers deployed against him, so I’m calling that a wash. No, the x-factor in this fight is the short-notice.

Per most reports, Pereira was not originally keen on stepping in to save this event on just a few weeks’ notice, and was in fact in Australia at the time. Add in that he’s recovering/still dealing with some broken toes (coincidentally the same issue that led Conor McGregor to withdraw from the event) and it’s fair to wonder what version of Pereira will step into the cage on Saturday. No fighter competes at 100 percent, but is Poatan even at 75? We’ll see.

On the other side of things, Prochakza is also stepping in on short notice but rumor has it he was training like normal. If so, that’s definitely an advantage heading into this fight.

Could all of this be nothing? Of course! It’s rumor, speculation, and conjecture. But if Pereira shows up and can’t move as well or runs out of gas in the later rounds, everyone will look back and think we should have seen this coming.

Prediction

Because of the short notice, I do believe this fight is closer than last time, but I’ll guess the same result happens. Prochakza has some tools to make things difficult, but his insistence that he’s not changing the plan and his odd obsession with Pereira’s “spiritual powers” makes me think “BJP” didn’t learn any real lessons from the first encounter. In that case, Prochakza is basically hoping to high-roll a knockout blow against Pereira, which could always happen, but the more likely outcome is another fight where Jiri runs headlong onto Pereira’s best weapons.

Alex Pereira def. Jiri Prochazka via knockout (punches) — 4:34, Round 3.

Poll

Who wins the rematch at UFC 303?

The wild Kyle Filipowski ‘girlfriend’ saga, explained as best we can. the,wild,kyle,filipowski,girlfriend,saga,explained,as,best,we,can,sbnation,com,front-page,nba,nba-draft

On: June 28, 2024 By: admin

Kyle Filipowski should have been a Top 20 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, especially this NBA Draft. When you’re a seven-foot stretch four from Duke who averaged 16 points and 8 rebounds, when most of the 2024 class is full of Hail Mary picks and “what ifs,” it doesn’t matter that there are concerns about your athleticism or shot creation — you get picked early.

Instead, we saw one of the more puzzling draft drops in recent memory. In the span of 24 hours, Filipowski went from being mocked as high as the early teens to falling out of the first round altogether — earning the unfortunate “reward” of turning up to the NBA Draft green room for likely first-round draft picks, then waiting all night without hearing his name called without getting picked (he was eventually taken in the second round, on Day 2 of the Draft, with the Utah Jazz selecting him 32nd overall).

Obviously, something had teams spooked about Filipowski, but nobody could have predicted how this saga would unfold over the internet on Thursday.

Concerns of an older “girlfriend”

The first reports of something being off in the Filipowski camp came on Thursday morning as ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony explained on The Lowe Post Podcast what he’d heard from teams in regards to the Duke big man.

“NBA teams are talking about the fact that they had questions about his girlfriend being so much older than him, why was he estranged from his family because of this whole situation. It’s a very, very odd situation. I personally don’t understand why it would cause him to drop like this into the second round.”

Just to establish things: Caitlin Hutchinson is being referred to as Filipowski’s “girlfriend,” however the couple are engaged as of April 18 — with the intent of getting married in August.

As it pertains to draft stock: Filipowski is 20 years old, and Givony said his fiancee is 25 — sure, the age difference is a little unusual, but it’s hardly the kind of earth-shattering revelation that would normally tank a draft stock. Similarly, there have been plenty of prospective rookies who have been estranged from their parents, and it didn’t cause them to fall like Filipowski was.

There was a missing piece to this puzzle, and it wasn’t long before the internet began to try and work out what was going on here.

What we know about Caitlin Hutchinson

An Alabama native, there is little concrete information on who exactly Filipowski’s fiancee is. Most information can be gleaned from past social media posts, which as of writing are still public.

Trying to ascertain Hutchinson’s age is critical here, and that will become very apparent in a moment. A Facebook post from December 23, 2018 shows Hutchinson graduating from Alabama.

Another post Hutchinson is tagged in from Instagram shows her in a high school graduation gown in May of 2015.

While it’s possible she graduated from high school or college early, if she stayed on a standard track she is either 27 or 28 years old, with her now being 6 years removed from college. Again, that’s not really an issue. As we’ve established, a 20-year-old dating someone in their late-20s might be odd — but it’s not exactly a major red flag.

But this is.

The prom photo

As people combed through social media on Thursday morning a photo of Filipowski and Hutchinson from his high school prom began catching everyone’s eye. It shows the couple together and is dated May 21, 2022.

Filipowski was born in November of 2003. At the time of this photo he was 17 years old, and Hutchinson was (probably) 25 or 26. Even if we assume the first time they met was at this prom, that’s still an adult dating a minor. However, a now-deleted comment on the Filipowski prom photo from Hutchinson read: “one year with my favorite person.”

This would mean that they started their relationship when he was 16 years old and she was likely 24 or 25.

The Filipowski family weighs in

A critical component of this story, in addition to the relationship, were reports Filipowski had become estranged from his family over dating Hutchinson.

It wasn’t long before people claiming to be Kyle’s older brother Daniel, and his mom Becky were on Twitter explaining their side of things — and trying to track down Jonathan Givony to tell their side of the story.

If we combine the accounts of the Filipowski family, they appear to be alleging that Caitlin Hutchinson began a relationship with Filipowski as a high schooler with the intent of grooming him and converting him to the mormon religion. According to their allegations, that includes a long-term play to become engaged to him shortly after he left Duke, and with the NBA on the horizon. This appears to have caused friction between Filipowski and his family, with Kyle seemingly choosing his relationship with Caitlin over his family, and — again, according to their tweets and Givony’s accounting of what NBA executives are saying — severing a relationship with them.

What can we make of all this?

If everything outlined above is to be believed, Filipowski could be viewed as a victim. Again, if the facts outlined above are actually what happened, it would appear an adult entered a relationship with a high school basketball player, one who was highly touted and seemed destined for the NBA.

Then, the same relationship reportedly damaged his draft stock by making Filipowski either too uncomfortable to talk about in interviews, which scared off teams — or by raising red flags about Hutchinson’s influence on his life.

As of right now, it does not appear there is anything illegal going on. Filipowski is 20, his fiancee is in her late-20s, so they can do what they want. However, this story isn’t going away, and it may be only a matter of time before more information comes to light about the nature of this relationship and how it’s damaged the Filipowski family. At the very least, given how much this has blown up on the internet and appears to have damaged his draft stock enough to drop a likely lottery pick out of the first round entirely, it seems probable that Filipowski will get asked about it by NBA media at some point, when maybe we will get his and Hutchinson’s side of the story.

Travis Kelce joined Taylor Swift in London for ‘I Can Do It With a Broken Heart’ travis,kelce,joined,taylor,swift,in,london,for,i,can,do,it,with,a,broken,heart,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,dot-com-grid-coverage

On: June 24, 2024 By: admin

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour hit London over the weekend, and it’s no surprise that her boyfriend of nearly one year, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, was there. But what was unexpected was Kelce joining Swift on stage.

The European tour kicked off in May and saw the Eras setlist rearranged a bit. Taylor’s three-hour set opens with songs from her album Lover, then goes to Fearless, Red, Speak Now, Reputation, and she’s condensed and combined the set from Evermore and Folklore, which is a switch from the previous leg of the tour. The iconic 1989 is up next, and then comes Taylor’s new section from her latest, The Tortured Poets Department. That’s where Kelce comes in.

The song Kelce joined Taylor on stage for is one of my favorites from TTPD. It’s called ‘I Can Do It with a Broken Heart’ and it’s about how Taylor’s had to keep performing no matter what personal and professional heartbreak she’s experiencing. It’s a bop with incredibly honest lyrics:

I’m so depressed, I act like it’s my birthday
Every day
I’m so obsessed with him, but he avoids me
Like the plague
I cry a lot, but I am so productive
It’s an art
You know you’re good when you can even do it
With a broken heart

The intro to this one about broke the internet — even without Kelce involved — when Swift performed it during the Paris show that kicked off the European tour.

The coolest thing about this is just how much fun Kelce appears to be having being a part of it.

And Kelce seems to be having the time of his life cheering on Taylor whether he’s on stage or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L96vYJ3oiYU

Especially when she changed the lyrics to her song ‘Karma’ to, “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me.”

The Tortured Poets Department is the first Taylor Swift album that features songs written about Travis Kelce. My personal favorite is called ‘So High School,’ a sweet song about how fun and easy their relationship feels. There’s also speculation that the last verse of ‘But Daddy I Love Him,’ a song that’s otherwise assumed to be about Taylor’s ex, The 1975 front man Matty Healy (aka ‘The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived,’ another song off of TTPD) is about Travis. Those lyrics:

And I’m dancin’ in my dress in the sun and
Even my daddy just loves him
I’m his lady, and oh my God you should see your faces
Doesn’t it give some perspective
And no, you can’t come to the wedding
I know he’s crazy, but he’s the one I want

As a matter of fact, Taylor goes straight from the end of that song into a snippet of ‘So High School’ in the current version of her Eras show, which is helping fuel that speculation. And she and her backup dancers even swag surf during it — which has got to be a nod to Chiefs fans.

Taylor Swift has performed with former flame John Mayer, but it was way back in 2009. She brought Taylor Lautner of Twilight fame — who she dated in 2009 — onstage at Arrowhead Stadium last July and introduced him, but he didn’t perform with her and it was more than a decade after they’d dated. As far as I can tell (from Google and polling every Swiftie I know), this marks the first time Taylor Swift has had a love interest come onto stage and perform with her in any way.

Swift has been criticized endlessly for her relationships in ways men aren’t — something she addresses on her song ‘The Man’ off of Lover:

They’d say I played the ﬁeld before I found someone to commit to
And that would be OK
For me to do
Every conquest I had made would make me more of a boss to you

But this relationship with Kelce seems very healthy, happy and mutually supportive. Here’s hoping they keep having this much fun together.

Can Scottie Scheffler win staggering 6th victory at the Travelers can,scottie,scheffler,win,staggering,th,victory,at,the,travelers,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-opinions,golf-news,liv-golf

On: June 23, 2024 By: admin

Welcome to Playing Through’s new morning ritual: Golf Talk Today.

Each morning will feature a Golf Talk Today, in which the crew will discuss various elements of the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and other professional golf tournaments.

The final round of the Travelers Championship is here, and to no one’s surprise, Scottie Scheffler is in contention. His best friend, Tom Kim, continues to hold the lead by one stroke, but will he be able to hold off the two-time Masters winner?

Sunday will look different. The PGA Tour moved up tee times for the final round and put the guys into threesomes. With bad weather lurking in the afternoon, the leaders will tee off at 11:15 a.m. ET.

Kim, Scheffler and Akshay Bhatia are in the last group of the day. Let’s discuss Championship Sunday.

Travelers Championship’s final round will be wild:

Saturday saw Cameron Young shoot a historical 59, but his play quickly got overshadowed by Scheffler, Kim, and Bhatia’s play.

He finished tied with Kim at 13-under, but by the end of Saturday’s round, he trailed by five shots.

The afternoon wave fought another weather delay, but that did not matter as the conditions were so soft.

While Kim played well the first three days, Scheffler and Bhatia also did well. They all shot 65 or better in the first three rounds.

Determining a winner on Sunday will likely come down to who can limit mistakes and sign for the most birdies.

Scheffler already has five victories in 2024. He won three Signature Events, the most recent being The Memorial, the 2024 Masters, and The Players.

Can he earn his fourth Signature Event win? Scheffler is so hard to beat right now, so it will be interesting to see if two young bucks like Kim and Bhatia can keep up.

Not to mention, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im and Tony Finau lurk in the groups ahead.

Scheffler did not play well at the U.S. Open, but his game returned to normal on Thursday. Regardless, Championship Sunday will be wild for the Travelers as records could get broken.

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The story of baseball can’t be told without Willie Mays the,story,of,baseball,can,t,be,told,without,willie,mays,sbnation,com,front-page,mlb

On: June 19, 2024 By: admin

When someone who was larger than life passes on from this life, you often hear people say that it’s “impossible to put into words” just how important that particular person was. While that might be 100 percent true when it comes to the legendary Willie Mays, it’s also true that maybe words are the best way to talk about The Say Hey Kid and his impact on the game of baseball. Simply put, you can’t tell the story of baseball without talking about Willie Mays — it is impossible to overstate just how much of an impact he had on the game.

I could go on and on about his on-field exploits. If you’ve watched baseball on TV for, let’s say, the past 70 years then there’s a near 100 percent chance that y’all have seen the astonishing over-the-shoulder catch that he made in the abyss that was deep center field at the Polo Grounds during the 1954 World Series a million times now. Even now, watching him make that catch is just like how commentator Jack Brickhouse describes it: It’s like looking at an optical illusion.

It’s also one of those plays that only gets more impressive the more you watch baseball since it becomes clear that this isn’t the type of thing that happens often — or at all, really. Jim Edmonds made an absolutely incredible catch back in 1997 — a catch that was immediately compared to what Willie Mays had done 43 years earlier and both catches are still firmly implanted in every baseball fan’s imagination here in 2024. What sets Willie Mays apart from the rest of the pack is that if you ask him, that wasn’t even his best catch.

Instead, he told Bob Costas on MLB Network back in 2010 that his actual best catch happened on April 11, 1970. That was when he took flight and robbed not only Bobby Tolan of what would’ve at least been extra bases but he also robbed Bobby Bonds of making the catch on his own merits. That’s because Mays sped towards where the ball was going to land, took flight and made like the Jumpman logo about 18 years before the Jumpman logo came into existence in order to rob the home run and keep the Giants up 1-0 at that point in the game. If the man himself says that this was the best catch that he ever made, then who are we to argue with him? I’m not about to argue with Willie Mays!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDmwdJug57c

The fact that Mays himself was 100 percent certain that he was going to make that catch says everything about the unique type of ballplayer that Mays was — right along with the fact that both he and Bonds stayed in the game after Mays essentially knocked himself out while making the catch. Everything about that sequence of events shows just how much Willie Mays loved baseball and the fact that we’re still talking about it to this day is an example of how the game loved him back. It’s also amazing to consider that he did this when he was 39 years old!

The circus catch took place during the season before his age-40 season in 1971, which is when he proceeded hit .271/.425/.482 with a .406 wOBA, 18 home runs and a 157 wRC+ for the season. His 5.9 fWAR as a 40-year-old in 1971 is still the best single season by a player 40-or-older in MLB history. Most baseball players could only dream of producing a six-win season at any point in their career but Willie Mays was not like “most baseball players.” There was only one Say Hey Kid and Willie Mays absolutely left a unique mark on the game of baseball like few other players could.

When I say that the story of baseball can’t be told without Willie Mays, I really and truly mean it. If you want to talk about Barry Bonds and what he did to the record books, you can’t go long without mentioning that Willie Mays was his godfather and served as a constant source of wisdom and inspiration for the future career leader in home runs. If you want to talk about Ken Griffey Jr., it’s impossible to do so without eventually bringing up how The Say Hey Kid influenced The Kid on both a professional and a personal level. Griffey and Bonds are two absolute titans of the sport and as great as they were, they’ll also be the first two people to say that Willie Mays was the best to ever do it in the game of baseball.

The story of baseball also includes Negro League baseball and Willie Mays will forever be a part of that legacy as well. Even though he’s only credited with 13 games played in 1948 with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro American League, those 13 games are now formally considered to be the beginning of Mays’ big league career. It would’ve been incredibly fitting to see Willie Mays in attendance for the big game at Rickwood Field on Thursday. It’s where the legend started his illustrious career and it would’ve been an incredible moment to see him get recognized at the newly-revitalized gem of a ballpark with the eyes of the baseball world set squarely upon Birmingham, Alabama.

Instead, the Rickwood game will now surely be a tribute to not just all of the Negro League baseball players from the past but it will especially serve as tribute to Willie Mays and the impact that he left on the sport of baseball. While he wouldn’t have been able to make the trip had he hung on for a bit longer, that doesn’t change the fact that he will be remembered like the baseball royalty that he was. The recognition that he will receive won’t be enough, just like the recognition that the baseball world gave him wasn’t enough even while he was still with us.

That’s not for lack of trying — I’m sure that whatever is in store for the game at Rickwood Field on Thursday will be spectacular and one good thing I can say about the culture of baseball is that Willie Mays definitely got his roses from the baseball community while he could still smell them. This sport truly idolizes its legends and Willie Mays was treated as such even long after he had retired. We’re talking about a legend who was banned from baseball for life for simply taking on a job as a part-time greeter at a casino, only to get reinstated (alongside Mickey Mantle) almost immediately as soon as Bowie Kuhn’s successor took the job. The new commissioner didn’t even make any changes to the rules or anything like that — this was just a case of restoring the feeling. Baseball just ain’t baseball without guys like Mickey Mantle and especially Willie Mays and that’s why they were both reinstated.

Willie Mays lived to be 93 and it’s obvious that he made the most of every single one of the years that was blessed to live for. There are very few baseball players who captured the imagination like The Say Hey Kid did when he played. He continued to live on as a legend long after he finished playing and to say that his impact on the game is still being felt to this day would be a complete and utter understatement. The game lost a legend with his passing but as the fictional version of Babe Ruth put it, “Legends never die.” As long as baseball exists then Willie Mays will be remembered. If you don’t believe me, then come back to this article in 2054 when they’re celebrating 100 years since that catch at the Polo Grounds and then we can chat again.

3 ways the NFL can make an 18-game schedule work ways,the,nfl,can,make,an,game,schedule,work,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,dot-com-grid-coverage

On: June 19, 2024 By: admin

The NFL is inching closer and closer to an expanded schedule, which will likely mean an 18th game is coming in the not-so-distant future.

In an April interview with ESPN’s Pat McAfee, commissioner Roger Goodell said the conversation surrounding an extra game has already begun.

“If we got to 18 (regular season) and 2 (preseason games), that’s not an unreasonable thing,” Goodell said. “The other thing it does, [Super Bowl Sunday] ends on up Presidents’ Day weekend, which is a three-day weekend, which makes it Sunday night and then you have Monday off.”

When the league moved from 16 games to 17 in 2021, it gave the owners some leeway in trying to push for 18. However, the players pushed back and a compromise of 17 was agreed upon. But it’s only a matter of time before 18 is the new norm.

Once again, if the league adds another game, the players will need some type of compromise. There’s already pushback from players saying that a 17-game schedule is grueling enough, so some changes will have to be made if and when the league adds another game.

The NFL can also get creative when expanding to 18 games, so here are three ways the league’s schedule can change by adding an additional contest:

Labor Day Weekend Kickoff

Obviously, a week or two will have to be added in order to expand the schedule, and the easiest way is by starting the season a week earlier.

Let’s take this year’s calendar as an example: Labor Day is Sept. 2 on a Monday. But with a big kickoff weekend, let’s stretch this out as much as possible and get teams on national TV.

We can start with the annual Thursday night kickoff on Aug. 29 between the defending Super Bowl champions hosting an opponent of intrigue. Then, as seen with this year’s Friday night kickoff game, this turns into more of a weekend.

Saturday is for college football, as always. So the NFL takes a rest.

There are 14 remaining games up for grabs for Sunday and Monday, but these games can and should be spread out as much as possible. Let’s have a mere four games on in the early window, two games late, one for CBS and another for FOX, and a Sunday Night Football matchup on NBC in primetime.

And then, let’s repeat that on Monday. After all, it is a holiday, so football should be part of it.

This gives each fan base a chance to not only see their team on in a (mostly) uninterrupted setting, but it gives the national base a chance to see a bunch of games to kick off the season when there already is the added anticipation from preseason and training camp.

Add a second bye for all teams

Before 2002 when the NFL had 31 teams, it was customary for teams to have multiple bye weeks. So that should also be the case if the league adds one more game.

Teams should have a bye in October during Weeks 7-10, and another in December between Weeks 13-17.

In each bye week, two divisions, one from the AFC and one from the NFC, will all be totally off. Then they will each play a division rival the following week. This will eliminate any advantage with each team coming off a bye, and it also allows these teams to be as healthy as possible going into a divisional matchup.

With two bye weeks and 18 games, this means there will be 20 weeks of play during the regular season. The final week of games would take place on the third Sunday of January.

President’s Day Weekend Becomes Super Bowl Weekend

Every year, workers say that Super Bowl Monday should be a holiday, and this schedule change would (sort of) make that a thing — at least for people who don’t have to work on President’s Day.

If the playoffs didn’t start until the end of January, we’re looking at Conference Championships going into February and the Super Bowl would take place two weeks later on the Sunday of President’s Day Weekend.

Perhaps a schedule change like this would move the country one step closer to officially making Super Bowl Monday a national holiday.

U.S. Open: Rory McIlroy can beat Bryson DeChambeau, but how? u,s,open,rory,mcilroy,can,beat,bryson,dechambeau,but,how,sbnation,com,front-page,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news,liv-golf

On: June 16, 2024 By: admin

After posting a 1-under 69 on Saturday, Rory McIlroy enters the final round at 4-under, trailing 54-hole leader Bryson DeChambeau by three strokes.

Despite the deficit, McIlroy feels confident that he can get the job done and win his first major championship since 2014. So, what does McIlroy need to do to win the 124th U.S. Open?

First, he will need some help from DeChambeau. If DeChambeau shoots anything lower than a 1-under 69, the championship is his. The former SMU Mustang has carded three straight rounds in the 60s, so for him to fire another under-par score is not out of the question but rather the likeliest of possibilities.

Still, DeChambeau has fought some left misses off the tee. He has also taken some aggressive lines, most of them paying off to this point. But one bad bounce here or another unfortunate bounce there can lead to a double-bogey, which would bring McIlroy and company back into the fray.

Nonetheless, what can McIlroy control?

First, he has to be patient. If he goes flag hunting on this course, Pinehurst No. 2 will clap back and bite him in the ass. Trying to push to make birdies and taking aggressive lines can lead to bogies or worse quickly, especially with some of these diabolical pins tucked in the corners of these ‘Turtleback’ greens.

With that said, the 3rd and 5th holes present early birdie opportunities. I think he has to play those holes in 1-under, at a minimum. By the time he reaches the 6th tee, he needs to be at -5 overall.

Rory McIlroy, U.S. Open — Rory McIlroy on the 14th tee.

He also needs to take advantage of the par-5 10th. Earlier in the week, I wrote about how par-5 scoring is imperative for McIlroy, something he has struggled with this season. But he must birdie both par-5s on Sunday to put pressure on DeChambeau. He failed to take advantage of the par-5s last year at the Los Angeles Country Club, even making a bogey on the 14th, a big reason why he lost by one. If you recall, Wyndham Clark birdied that par-5, thanks to his stellar 3-wood that found the green. That was the difference.

I would also add the shortened par-4 13th into the mix of holes McIlroy has to make a move on. Measuring only 325 yards on Sunday, McIlroy should uncork his driver and try and get it up by the green. The pin is right in the middle, but a large slope in front of it will ricochet shots off the front. That false front starts a mere feet before the cup, requiring exquisite precision with pitches and chips. McIlroy has the talent to get it close, as he did on Saturday at 13, but he will need to do that again on Sunday.

Finally, McIlroy will have to make some putts. He is currently 45th in strokes gained putting while playing beautifully from tee to green. If he can pick up a stroke on the field with his putter on Sunday, and perhaps hole a long-range bomb, he has a great chance.

But it all comes down to DeChambeau. If DeChambeau shoots 72 and McIlroy shoots 68, there you have it. Yet Bryson is the key piece to this puzzle, as it’s his championship to lose.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

24 Hours of Le Mans: How Jenson Button can join an exclusive club this weekend hours,of,le,mans,how,jenson,button,can,join,an,exclusive,club,this,weekend,sbnation,com,front-page,formula-one,2024-formula-one

On: June 15, 2024 By: admin

The world’s biggest motorsport endurance race gets underway later today, as the 2024 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans gets underway.

And one of the drivers in the field has a shot at joining one of motorsport’s most exclusive clubs.

Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula 1 Drivers’ Champion, is back in the Le Mans field this season. A year ago Button made his Le Mans debut, driving in the “Garage 56” entry with Hendrick Motorsport that finished 39th.

But this year, Button is driving for Hertz Team Jota, which qualified 17th for the race, part of the triple crown of motorsport. And if Button were able to be part of a winning team at Le Mans, he would become just the sixth F1 champion in the history of motorsport to taste victory at Le Mans.

Mike Hawthorn was the first driver to win both a F1 Drivers’ Championship and Le Mans, but he tasted victory in the endurance race first, winning the 1955 installment with Jaguar. He went on to claim an F1 title three years later, in 1958 with Ferrari.

Next up was Phil Hill, who like Hawthorn climbed to the top of the endurance mountain first. Hill, along with Olivier Gendebien, captured victory at Le Mans for Ferrari in 1958, the first of three wins at Le Mans. Then in 1961 he and Gendebien again win at Le Mans for Ferrari, but Hill also won the F1 Drivers’ Championship for Ferrari.

The next driver to win both was Jochen Rindt, although his is one of the sadder tales in motorsport. Rindt was part of a team that won Le Mans in 1965, and then during the 1970 F1 season he established a commanding lead in the Drivers’ Championship standings while participating for Lotus-Ford.

However, during practice ahead of the 1970 Italian Grand Prix Rindt’s Lotus experienced a brake shaft failure, and he crashed heavily near the Parabolica corner, and tragically passed away as a result of his injuries. Despite his tragic death with four races remaining in the season, Rindt’s lead in the Drivers’ Championship was insurmountable, and he was posthumously awarded the F1 title.

Graham Hill is the only driver to have captured each leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, having won the F1 Monaco Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. His first F1 Drivers’ Championship came in 1962 with BRM, but he finally captured a win at Le Mans in his tenth and final start, winning in 1972 alongside Henri Pescarolo for Matra-Simca.

Hill remains the only driver to have won each leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

The fifth and final member of this club? Fernando Alonso. He won back-to-back F1 titles in 2005 and 2006, and then pulled off a similar double in Le Mans, capturing wins in both 2018 and 2019 with Toyota Gazoo Racing.

Should Button taste victory this weekend, he would become the sixth member of that club.

And it is something he is absolutely aiming for.

“There is every chance we can fight for a win at Le Mans, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it,” said Button last year. “I’m not interested in just being on the grid after the career I’ve had.”

We will see if he joins that club over the next 36 hours.