Lupul, MacArthur score in 3rd for Maple Leafs, who spoil Rangers’ long-awaited home opener

The New York Rangers said they weren’t going to make excuses following their season-opening, seven-game road trip that spanned three countries.

Once they finally got back to New York, the Rangers were already searching for answers why they went flat in the final 40 minutes of the home opener after they played one of the best periods of the young season.

Joffrey Lupul and Clarke MacArthur scored 4:22 apart in the third period as the Toronto Maple Leafs broke open a tie game and spoiled the Rangers’ long-awaited return to renovated Madison Square Garden with a 4-2 victory on Thursday night.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead and fired a season-best 16 shots in the first period, but generated little the rest of the way.

“You could tell the momentum shifted,” struggling forward Brad Richards said. “They started turning pucks over on us, we didn’t get the zone time and the pressure like we did in the first, but we were still going into the third in a 1-1 game.

“We were very confident, it just didn’t happen.”

Lupul scored off a rebound in a scrum in front of Henrik Lundqvist to make it 2-1 with his fifth of the season, and MacArthur made it a two-goal edge with his first — firing a shot from the left circle during a 2-on-1 break that eluded Lundqvist’s leg at 6:33.

Matthew Lombardi scored his first in the second period, and Mike Brown made it 4-1 in the third.

Dan Girardi scored in the first, and Michael Del Zotto got it to 4-2 with 4:34 remaining for the Rangers, who went 3-2-2 on a season-starting road trip because of the work being done at their home rink. New York’s home opener, the last in the NHL, kicked off a six-game homestand.

Lundqvist finished with 32 saves, and counterpart Jonas Gustavsson stopped 28 shots for the Maple Leafs (6-2-1).

“We had to fight through the first period,” Gustavsson said. “They came out strong. The second and third periods were probably the best we’ve played so far.”

While the renovations created a distinct new look at MSG, the crowd was noticeably quiet throughout, even during pregame introductions. One banner hung from the upper level in support of exiled forward Sean Avery, who has been sent to Hartford of the AHL. Chants of “We want Avery” broke out in the third period once the outcome was no longer in doubt.

New York appeared to build on its early lead, but twice had goals waved off after captain Ryan Callahan ran into Gustavsson.

As disappointed as the Rangers were to lose the potential goals, they agreed with both calls.

“It’s tough,” Callahan said. “You see the two pucks go in the back of the net, you want them to be in especially when we’re struggling scoring. (The referee) thought I bumped him. I made some contact with him.”

The Rangers have mustered only 16 goals in eight games, and the lack of quick chemistry between Richards — New York’s prized free-agent acquisition — and top scorer Marian Gaborik has been a big reason why. Gaborik assisted on Girardi’s goal to give him five points this season. Richards also has five.

“It would be great if we came in here and clicked perfectly, but realistically we have some work to do,” Richards said. “We’ve got to get to know each other on the ice. We’re both used to having the puck, and that’s a work in progress for sure.”

New York was already in front on Girardi’s goal 6:23 in when Callahan appeared to double the advantage at 9:45 when he deflected a shot by Del Zotto. The goal was immediately waved off.

With 7:27 left, Callahan crashed the net in pursuit of a rebound. The puck bounced in front, and Brandon Dubinsky’s return shot was stopped. Callahan knocked over Gustavsson, and the puck got past the goalie.

“Definitely I got pushed, so I didn’t get a chance to save it,” Gustavsson said. “Every time a goal goes by you are rattled but you just try to forget about it.”

In between the two no-goals, Lundqvist protected the slim advantage when he made a right pad save to turn away Phil Kessel — set up by new centerman Tim Connolly. Kessel, the NHL leader so far in goals and points, didn’t get everything on the shot that was stopped by Lundqvist as he slid to his right across the crease.

Toronto shook off its shots disadvantage in the first and outshot the Rangers 16-7 in the second.

The Leafs needed just 1:20 to get the tying goal from Lombardi on a drive Lundqvist would likely want back. Lombardi’s shot from the left circle squeezed in under Lundqvist’s blocker.

“I don’t really have an explanation for a couple of goals, why I was surprised,” Lundqvist said. “I was already thinking about the next play and being ready for that. I was too far ahead of myself. I have to be better.”

NBA veterans content with missing games, possibly season

 All along, the expectations were low among NBA players that the 2011-12 season would start on time.

They greeted Tuesday’s news — after talks stalled between NBA owners and the players association — with shoulder shrugs. There was hardly a ripple here among them.
Seventy-plus players will compete during this two-week Impact Basketball Competitive Training Series, also dubbed The Lockout League. There likely will be more.

“The players union did a great job preparing us for this summer. That’s why you see guys out here, because we believe (the season is) not going to start on time,” said Boston Celtics center Jermaine O’Neal, who has played 15 seasons. “If there’s no adjustments from the owners, we can’t meet halfway. We’ll probably be here for quite some time.”
Union president and Los Angeles Lakers guard Derek Fisher has been frank in his assessment of the negotiations, which have shown some but not significant movement.

“I don’t think we’ve minced our words in terms of our guys understanding that this was a moment we expected to find ourselves in, starting over two years ago. … We expected to be here,” Fisher said at the talks in New York. “We felt like our owners were strong enough in their position that they’d be possibly willing to risk time lost in the season to get the things they needed. … So we’ll continue to carry the same message. ‘Continue to prepare yourself physically and mentally for whatever circumstances play out.’ “
There is a solidarity among NBA players they didn’t have during the 1998-99 labor stoppage that resulted in a 50-game season.
“Last lockout, obviously, we weren’t prepared,” said Washington Wizards forward Rashard Lewis, a rookie then. “A lot of guys wanted to hurry and play to get checks. … Not last season, but the one before that they told us we’ve got to save, save, save so we don’t get to a point that we accept any deal just because we want some money.”
The core issue O’Neal has with owners is their lack of revenue sharing which he believes must be worked out before bringing a deal to the players. Commissioner David Stern says 23 clubs lost money last season.
“If owners are really concerned about some of the small-market teams struggling with attendance, then why aren’t you profit-sharing?” O’Neal says. “The top market teams, they’re going to pack the house, they have the highest ticket sales.”
On revenue sharing, Stern said at the talks in New York: “It hasn’t been presented at the table, but we spent a substantial time (Tuesday) talking to the (labor relations) committee about a revenue sharing plan. We have forwarded the outlines of one to the planning committee. We’ll be discussing it (at the Board of Governors meeting) in Dallas on Thursday. And it’s a substantial revenue sharing plan.”
Stern said owners have not shared that outline with the union. He said he has told the union there will be a revenue sharing plan, and he expects it to be around $180 million, nearly three times what it is now.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Tony Allen is firmly behind union executive director Billy Hunter.
“I believe in him. I’m honoring whatever he’s saying. He’s old enough and has been in this league to know what’s right,” Allen said. “If there ain’t a season, I can’t dictate none of that. I’m just riding with the association — to the fullest.”

NBA Playoffs: Must win game for Spurs against Grizzlies? Yup.

If the fact Rebecca Black has a hit was not proof enough we live in a Bizzaro World, I bring you this:

The San Antonio Spurs must beat the Memphis Grizzlies tonight on the road, or their path out of the playoffs is as slippery as a Slip ‘n Slide.

Win and the series is 2-2 heading back home to San Antonio. Lose and Memphis has a commanding 3-1 lead in a series where they have been the more physical team.

We said coming into this series that it could be tough on San Antonio because it was a bad matchup — what the Spurs want to do is shoot three pointers or get their buckets in the paint, and stop you from doing those very two things.

Problem is, outside of Richard Jefferson (10-for-18) nobody on the Spurs is knocking down threes — they are shooting 32 percent as a team (down from 39 percent in the regular season).

And Memphis’ Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph have dominated the paint. On both ends. Memphis is still getting quality points from its big men — they have combined to average 37.7 points per game this series — and Memphis is owning the offensive glass. As for the Spurs defending the three, the Grizzlies don’t really care about that anyway. They don’t shoot many.

At some point, the Spurs are going to have to drop the extra defender into the paint and give up the perimeter shots. That may cost them, but they are not winning the way things are going now.

If the Spurs are going to win this, their guards are going to have to dominate. Tony Parker is shooting 34 percent for the series and being held in check by Mike Conley. Manu Ginobili has been good attacking and getting to the line, he has created chances, but he has got to knock down more than 20 percent of his threes and 40 percent of his shots overall.

For the first half of the season, the Spurs were the best team in basketball. They are not that team right now, the execution on the offensive end that made them so impressive has gone missing. Their three point shooting is on walkabout. The Grizzlies have taken away and contested the corner three that the Spurs so dearly love and San Antonio has not made them pay for that with buckets in the paint.

These are the Spurs. It’s been a while since the glory years but you still expect the execution, them beating you how they want to beat you. Not this series. The Grizzlies have dictated the terms and played it their way. Physical.

That will change Monday night, or the Spurs are on the Slip ‘n Slide right out of the playoffs.

Sides still far apart in NFL talks

The NFL and NFL Players Assn. participated in almost 10 hours of negotiations Tuesday — their longest of 13 mediation sessions — and emerged still far apart on their biggest issue: how to divide the league’s $9 billion in annual revenue.
Owners, who currently get $1 billion off the top before the remaining money is divided, are seeking an additional $1 billion to help cover such investments as new stadiums, emerging media opportunities and international initiatives.

The players are resistant to changing the current system, and have been unyielding in asking owners to open their financial books.
“We’re being asked to give back almost a billion dollars, so it’s important for us to adequately analyze and interpret the little bit of information that’s been provided,” Cleveland linebacker Scott Fujita said in a telephone interview with the Associated Press and NFL Network. “And ultimately, if they’re unwilling to provide full audited statements, then we need to know what other information we need to make a sound decision.”
The union has hired an international investment bank, one it has declined to identify, to help decide whether the league’s offer to share more information is enough to constitute full disclosure.
According to a New York Times report, the union rejected an offer from the owners to turn over audited profitability data from all 32 teams for the last several years. It was the first time owners offered to show more financial data than what is required by the collective bargaining agreement.
The expiration deadline on the current CBA is when Friday turns to Saturday on the East Coast, as the cutoff was pushed back a week to continue mediation in Washington.

 

UCLA thwarts Michigan State rally; leads 56-39 midway through second half

UCLA might have withstood Michigan State’s final run.
The Spartans cut a 20-point deficit in half before Tyler Honeycutt drove the lane for a layup, blocked a shot and then spotted up for a three-pointer that gave the Bruins a 56-39 lead midway through the second half of their NCAA tournament opener Thursday night at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas is still scoreless and seems to be giving up looking for his shot. He has missed all nine of his attempts.

Honeycutt has 14 points and is showcasing an all-around game with three assists, three steals, two rebounds and one blocked shot.
UCLA needs to hold on to set up a third-round rematch with Florida, which knocked the Bruins out in the Final Four in 2006 and ’07.
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Which team had only 32 minutes of NCAA tournament experience again?
UCLA made Michigan State look like the postseason neophyte in the first half of their Southeast Region opener Thursday night at the St. Pete Times Forum, thoroughly flustering the Spartans on the way to taking a 42-24 halftime lead.
Live scoreboard of Thursday’s games
Bruins guard Malcolm Lee and his teammates held Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas scoreless on eight shots, a stunning display of inefficiency for a player who had dropped 30 points on Purdue last week in the Big Ten Conference tournament.
Sophomore forward Tyler Honeycutt had nine points to lead a balanced attack for UCLA, which is a complete collapse away from playing Florida in the third round Saturday. Sophomore forward Reeves Nelson has eight points, Lee seven and junior guard Jerime Anderson six for the Bruins, who shot 41.4% to Michigan State’s 28.6% in the first half.
One concern for UCLA: freshman center Joshua Smith, who was back in the starting lineup for the first time since January, picked up his second foul with 4 minutes 8 seconds remaining until halftime and sat out the rest of the way. Another concern: Honeycutt grabbed his shoulder in apparent discomfort late in the first half after making a steal.
The Bruins are being much more physical than the Spartans, holding a 21-10 rebounding edge. Guard Durell Summers has 12 points for Michigan State, which has made only one of eight three-pointers and hardly resembles the team that went to Final Four in each of the last two years.
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Things are tilting UCLA’s way in the early going of its NCAA tournament opener.
The Bruins got the cohesive start they needed and have contained Michigan State guard Kalin Lucas, holding him scoreless through the first eight-plus minutes of their Southeast Region second-round game Thursday night at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Tyler Honeycutt has six early points for UCLA, which has a 14-8 lead over the Spartans. The Bruins are expending admirable effort on defense, keeping Lucas in check after he missed his first three shots.
Durrell Summers has five points for Michigan State, which already has seven turnovers less than halfway through the first half.
Pregame
The early going of the late game here could determine whether UCLA is one and done in the NCAA tournament.
If the Bruins come out with energy and focus in the first five minutes of their Southeast Region opener against Michigan State at the St. Pete Times Forum, it will go a long way toward helping them collect their first postseason victory in two years.
Lackluster starts have plagued UCLA throughout much of an up-and-down season, and it’s usually apparent not long after the opening tip whether the Bruins are bringing it. It was obvious against Washington State in their regular-season finale that the Bruins didn’t come to play, and it was even more evident last week during a loss to Oregon in the Pacific 10 Conference tournament.
“It’s very clear the first five minutes,” junior guard Jerime Anderson said. “I think it’s going to be really crucial that we come out and have a good start because this is not the time to be playing from behind, so we have to come out and play hard and play smart and get good shots.”
UCLA will likely look to work the ball inside to freshman center Joshua Smith, who is starting for the first time since Jan. 9. The Spartans don’t have anyone who can match the 6-foot-10, 305-pounder’s size.
“Nobody has anybody the size of Josh,” Bruins Coach Ben Howland said earlier this week.
Sophomore forward Reeves Nelson also must be engaged on both ends of the court for UCLA to have a chance to knock off a team that advanced to the Final four the last two NCAA tournaments.
And junior guard Malcolm Lee will need to contain dynamic guard Kalin Lucas, preventing him from replicating his 30-point performance last week against Purdue in the Big ten Conference tournament.
“I haven’t got to watch any film on him yet,” Lee said Wednesday, “but I heard he can get in the lane and shoot jumpers. It’s going to be a tough matchup.”

Anticipation and excitement mount as the Philadelphia Union gears up for the 2011 season

Anticipation and excitement build as the Philadelphia Union gears up for the 2011 season. This season looks to be action packed with much buzz about the team’s sights on the playoffs. Read on for one Philadelphia Union fan’s high hopes and expectations for the 2011 Major League Soccer Season.
Philadelphia Union Has High Hopes for the Playoffs
The Philadelphia Union opens their 2011 season on Saturday, March 19, 2011 in Houston at Robertson Stadium where they will play the Houston Dynamo. Expectations are running high with the fans this year, especially after hearing Philadelphia Union player Sebastian Le Toux express his hopes for the upcoming season. Le Toux said “I’m excited and ready for our second season. We have so much potential. We have made some changes, and I feel bad seeing some of those guys go. But we have the potential to do so well this season. I see the playoffs as a very respectable goal for us to have. It’s about preparation and getting ready.”

Changes to the Roster
Le Toux certainly proved to be an asset to the Philadelphia Union in their first season. Le Toux boasts a record of 14 goals and 11 assists. Le Toux is accompanied by a team of talented and driven athletes with one goal: To win it all. During the offseason there were some definite changes to the Philadelphia Union roster. Some notable losses include Alejandro Moreno, Michael Orozco Fiscal and Shea Salinas. Luckily, the Philadelphia Union was able to pick up some notable talent in the off season. A few of the new athletes that I expect to make a significant splash include Faryd Mondragon, Brian Carroll and Carlos Valdez.
High Expectations from the Fans
The Philadelphia Union is a talented and driven group of athletes. I expect that the Philadelphia Union will pursue the playoffs and succeed. They have picked up some new talent to spice the roster up, and I look forward to seeing how the new players mix it up with the standing team. With the caliber talent that the Philadelphia Union currently possesses, combined with determination and an iron will, this season will certainly be one that keeps us on our toes.
Growing Fan Base
Another thing the team has going for them is an ever growing fan base. The Philadelphia Union formed in 2010, and since then, their fan base has grown exponentially. Philadelphia is known for having some of the most passionate sports fans. Philadelphia fans are passionate, dedicated and loyal. Philadelphia fans cheer with the wins, groan with every defeat, but always stay true to our teams. Because the fans know what the Union is capable of, they will demand only the finest performance from it’s team, The Philadelphia Union. The Philadelphia Union has set the bar, and now, we the fans, wait with high expectations.

Under Current Bowl System, Red Ink Part Of The Game

There has always been a way to solve one of the biggest problems in college football.
But a change has to come at the top, and that’s not about to happen. So as the Bowl Championship Series is now set up, it should not be surprising that UConn lost more than $1.6 million on its trip to Arizona for the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl.
It has long been argued that for parity’s sake a college football playoff is the way to go in the Football Bowl Subdivision. It’s what most fans want and likely would be more financially suitable for the schools.

University of Hartford President Walt Harrison, a former vice president at the University of Michigan, said the current system should be blown up in favor of a playoff system and national championship game. He said that would ultimately lead to better balance sheets for the schools involved.
“The whole BCS structure is very complicated and difficult and very political and very much about who controls the money,” Harrison said Thursday. “You could straighten things out considerably if there was more NCAA control of bowl games. You get into these big bowl games, BCS games, and really the only programs that are making money are the ones with the great tradition and probably Notre Dame.”
UConn, in its first trip to a BCS game, lost to traditional power Oklahoma 48-20 on the football field and lost about $1.6 million off the field largely because of mandated ticket purchases and travel expenses. Expenses were $4,863,008 while revenue was $3,199,448, including about $2.5 million from the Big East, which pools its bowl money and distributes it to its eight teams.
The school sold fewer than a third of the 17,500 tickets allotted for the game in Glendale, Ariz., and spent more than $1.2 million in travel costs for its band and cheerleaders ($547,583) and the team, coaches and members of the administration ($713,517).
UConn took a hit, but there is money coming in. UConn officials told The Courant they will receive a base check from the league for $3.8 million that includes regular season TV revenue. All eight conference football teams get that check whether or not they go to a bowl. There’s also money to be earned from the $7 million marketing contract UConn has with IMG, as well as merchandise sales.
A large part of UConn’s loss resulted in tickets being purchased from secondary outlets such as StubHub, where fans could find tickets for as low as $20. UConn had to sell tickets at face value, anywhere from $105 to $255. UConn said it sold about 4,600 tickets, including 2,771 to the general public and the rest for the university’s obligations, such as the band and players’ families and to fulfill corporate sponsorship packages. But with an allocation of 17,500, UConn was left holding a bag full of tickets it had to purchase under bowl rules.
That wouldn’t be the case, Harrison said, if the NCAA was in control.
“The [BCS] basically has set up structures that are unregulated,” said Harrison, who has held NCAA leadership positions including chair of the NCAA Executive Committee. “They can do almost anything they want, so what happens is, individual bowls want to break even because they have a lot of expenses. They’ve developed all these policies like guaranteeing tickets and those kinds of things.
“The bottom line is, since there is no NCAA control of bowl games you have a system that’s been allowed to develop over the years where the bowls have to find some financial parameters that don’t make it so difficult for teams. Really, unless you’re a premier team playing in a premier bowl, it’s pretty tough to make money. I give UConn a lot of credit for being so forthcoming with their financial information on this. It really shows how tough things can be.”
While that loss might look big to some, it’s hardly unprecedented. Virginia Tech had poor ticket sales and lost $1.7 million at the Orange Bowl in 2009. Some conferences pick up the tab for unsold tickets to bowl games. Oklahoma didn’t sell its full allotment this year, but the Big 12 will take care of it for them. The Big East has no such policy. So unlike UConn, that’s a loss Oklahoma won’t have.
Big East commissioner John Marinatto is open to changes, he said. He’s willing to listen to member schools.
“It’s not an uncommon policy to have some protection in place in case something like this happens,” Marinatto said. “The membership could certainly make a decision to have what’s in place now, or change to more of a fluctuating policy where schools, in a particular year, would be responsible to contribute a portion of their bowl monies back to the school that’s trying to cover cost when it can’t sell its tickets. It’s a reasonable thing to do. … I expect it to be discussed this spring.”
Despite the loss, UConn said the residual effects of the trip to Arizona were worth it. The school said bowl games help with admissions and fund-raising, among other positives.
“Ultimately, schools feel that it’s worth their while to do this for a variety of reasons, some of which are financial and some of which aren’t,” Harrison said. “In other words, there’s a lot of school pride involved and how do you put a dollar amount on that? People in Connecticut were very proud of UConn going to the Fiesta Bowl. That’s very hard to put a dollar figure on. You can go on and on and on about everything not being measured by an accountant.
“Having said that, what is wrong with the financial systems of bowl games? I’m one of those people that believe the entire system would be improved if there were an NCAA championship in football in what’s now called the FBS. Every other sport has a championship and if you really wanted to do it, you could do it and I would point to the fact that the FCS — Football Championship subdivision or Division I-AA — is able to do it in football, why not the FBS? I think many of the issues here would be solved.”