BCS moves toward college football playoff
BCS moves toward college football playoff
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — College football is on the verge of finally having a playoff, its own version of the final four.
For the first time, all the power brokers who run the highest level of the sport are comfortable with the idea of deciding a championship the way it’s done from peewees to pros. And the way fans have been hoping they would for years.
“Yes, we’ve agreed to use the P word,” Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said Thursday.
They want to limit it to four teams. That’s for sure. Now they have to figure out how to pick the teams, where and when to play the games and how the bowls do or do not fit in. The new postseason format would go into effect for the 2014 season.
As for the 14-year-old Bowl Championship Series, it’s on life support. Any chance that it survives past the next two seasons? “I hope not,” said Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive, who pitched a four-team playoff four years ago but was shot down at this same hotel beachside hotel.
Bobcats fall to Knicks, set NBA mark for futility
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The worst season in NBA history is over for the Charlotte Bobcats.
Meanwhile, the New York Knicks are looking ahead to the playoffs.
The Bobcats couldn’t even beat a Knicks team resting most of its starters, finishing with the lowest winning percentage in league history after a 104-84 loss on Thursday night.
Gerald Henderson had 21 points for the Bobcats, whose 23rd consecutive loss left them with a winning percentage of .106 (7-59) in the lockout-shortened season. The record was set 39 years ago, when the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers finished 9-73 (.110) in a full regular season.
NHL fans let loose with racism after loss
It had all the makings of a feel-good hockey moment — except the guy who scored the goal was black.
Soon after Joel Ward eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins on Wednesday with a Game 7 overtime goal for the Washington Capitals, Twitter erupted in a shower of n-words and other racial insults.
“Go play basketball, hockey is a white sport,” ‘’4th line black trash” and “white power” were some of the nicer phrases tweeted by angry Boston fans. One said the fact that a black player scored “makes this loss hurt a lot more.”
The Bruins and the NHL quickly condemned the tweets that cast a pall over one of the most thrilling moments of the season, and numerous Boston fans went online to denounce the racist tweets. But the outburst was a reminder of the difficulties hockey has had overcoming the idea that black people are unwelcome on the ice or in the stands.
“These classless, ignorant views are in no way a reflection of anyone associated with the Bruins organization,” the Bruins said in a statement.
Tringale, Duke on top
at Zurich Classic
AVONDALE, La. — Cameron Tringale and Ken Duke topped the Zurich Classic leaderboard at 7-under 65 on Thursday, leaving defending champion Bubba Watson six strokes back at TPC Louisiana in his first tournament since winning the Masters.
Tringale birdied the final four holes and finished the round with eight birdies and a bogey. Duke had seven birdies in a bogey-free round. Both players are winless on the PGA Tour.
Rosales leads at Mobile Bay LPGA Classic
MOBILE, Ala. — Jennifer Rosales birdied five of the first seven holes on the back nine and finished with a 5-under 67 in the Mobile Bay LPGA Classic for a share of the first-round lead with Katie Futcher, Lindsey Wright and Caroline Hedwall.
Crawford has sprained ligament in elbow
CHICAGO — Carl Crawford has a sprained ligament in his throwing elbow, and the Boston Red Sox left fielder will remain sidelined for a while.
The team released a statement Thursday night saying Crawford’s diagnosis was made by the Red Sox medical staff and confirmed by Dr. James Andrews. Crawford received a Platelet Rich Plasma injection and will be shut down from baseball activity “during the initial phase of his treatment.”
The club did not announce a timetable for Crawford’s return, but he is expected to miss at least another month or two — maybe more.
Nadal, Murray reach Barcelona quarterfinals
BARCELONA, Spain — Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray cruised into the Barcelona Open quarterfinals with straight-set victories on Thursday.
Nadal broke Robert Farah of Colombia in the first game on his way to a 6-2, 6-3 victory for his 31st straight win at the tournament. Nadal set up a quarterfinal match with fifth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic after the Serbian beat Frederico Gil 6-2, 6-2.
“It may sound stupid but against players like him you have to go for victory, if you look for a fight you’ve already lost,” Tipsarevic said. “Rafa is playing like he always does on clay, the best, but I’ll go out there looking to win and see what happens.”
Nadal beat Tipsarevic 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 in their previous meeting, which came in the Davis Cup three years ago.
Murray made quick work of another Colombian in a 6-1, 6-2 win over Santiago Giraldo, with the fourth-ranked Briton serving up nine aces in a quick victory.
Azarenka advances after Petkovic injury
STUTTGART, Germany — Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka advanced to the Porsche Grand Prix quarterfinals when Andrea Petkovic was forced to retire after injuring her right ankle on Thursday.
Azarenka was leading 6-2, 4-4 when the German stepped awkwardly and twisted her right ankle on the indoor red clay court. Petkovic didn’t even try to continue playing and had to be helped off the court.
Halep beats top-seeded Medina Garrigues in Fez
FEZ, Morocco — Two-time runner-up Simona Halep knocked out top-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-2, 6-1 to reach the semifinals of the Grand Prix SAR on Thursday.The fifth-seeded Halep, who lost the past two finals, did not face a single break point and broke Medina Garrigues’s serve five times.
By wire sources