“I am innocent and have done no wrong. I have never indulged in any spot-fixing and I have always played cricket in the spirit of the game,” the paceman said in a statement issued late on Tuesday through his lawyer.

“As a cricketer, I have learnt to take knocks along with accolades in my stride. I recognise that I am going through a tough period in my life.

“I have utmost faith in our judicial process and I am confident that with time, I will be proved innocent and my honour and dignity will be vindicated and restored,” said the cricketer, who played the last of his 27 tests against England at The Oval in August 2011.

Sreesanth, who is from the south Indian state of Kerala and represented IPL’s Rajasthan franchise this season, has been accused of taking money to concede a fixed number of runs in one of his overs during a May 9 match against Kings XI Punjab.

Legal sports betting in India is confined to horse racing, while illegal gambling syndicates thrive in the absence of a law dealing specifically with such corruption in sport.

Media estimates put the amount gambled on India’s top Twenty20 competition at $427 million in 2009.

India’s film industry has also been pulled into the controversy when Mumbai Police arrested a Bollywood actor, Vindu Dara Singh, on Tuesday for alleged links to a bookmaker.

(Editing by John O’Brien)

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/05/22/sports/cricket/22reuters-cricket-india-sreesanth.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

With the series shifting to Tennessee for Game 3 on Saturday, it’s just starting to get interesting.

Tony Parker had 15 points and a career playoff-high 18 assists, Tim Duncan scored San Antonio’s first six points of overtime and the Spurs bounced back after squandering a 13-point lead in the fourth quarter to beat the Grizzlies 93-89 on Tuesday night.

“I think everybody understands that we haven’t done anything yet,” Parker said. “We just protected our home court.”

After outplaying the Grizzlies by a wide margin for the first seven quarters, the Spurs finally showed a little weakness while letting Memphis finish regulation on a 15-2 run to tie it at 85 on Mike Conley’s runner with 18.2 seconds left.

Duncan opened the extra period with a layup, and then hit a tiebreaking putback on Parker’s missed jumper. He then made a runner that bounced high of the back iron and rattled in for a 91-87 lead with 1:08 to play.

The Grizzlies had a chance to tie after Jerryd Bayless hit a jumper and Parker missed one of two free throws with 14.6 seconds left, but Bayless’ 3-pointer from the left wing was off-target.

“I hate that we gave up that big of a lead in that situation,” said Duncan, who had 17 points and nine rebounds while missing most of the second half with foul trouble. “But we were resilient enough to go to overtime and not let it affect us.”

A 2-0 lead hardly seems safe for the Spurs, who certainly haven’t forgotten how they won the first two games of last year’s West finals before losing four in a row to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

And the Grizzlies have already rallied once after losing the first two games in a playoff series this year, coming back to beat the Los Angeles Clippers in six in the first round.

“We feel like we can get this next game and we have to play with that same confidence that we’ve always had at home,” said Conley, who had 18 points to match Bayless for the team lead. “This series is far from over, and we have to believe that.”

After trailing by as much as 18 in the second half, the Grizzlies got the chance to pull even after Manu Ginobili was called for a flagrant foul for pulling down Tony Allen by his left arm on a fast-break layup try with 26.1 seconds left.

Allen hit both free throws and Memphis got possession, setting up Conley’s tying basket at the end of a string of seven straight Grizzlies points.

“We were a bit tired. I could see it more in Tony. He was our engine for the whole game,” Ginobili said. “He was the one getting us shots and creating for others. We ran a little flat.”

Up until the final stretch, Parker had been in control for 2½ quarters.

Parker kept San Antonio humming along after Duncan went to the bench with four fouls, the last three picked up within a span of 30 seconds, early in the third quarter. Parker provided the assist on the Spurs’ first seven baskets of the second half, and then scored the next two on mid-range jumpers before getting pulled for a rest with a 72-54 lead.

The Grizzlies mounted a 16-6 comeback while Parker was on the bench, getting as close as 78-70 after Zach Randolph scored inside following back-to-back Bayless jumpers.

Parker checked back in and soon had the lead growing again, ducking under Darrell Arthur to hit a floater and then knocking down a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 83-70 with 8:14 to play. But then Parker finally went cold, missing five straight shots down the stretch as the Grizzlies rallied.

He had 14 assists in the second and third quarters and went past his career-high for the regular season of 17 during overtime.

“He was unbelievable,” Duncan said. “I know he’s exhausted. We asked a lot of him. He was controlling the ball every time down the floor and he was making every right play there was.

“He was finding people, and people knocked down shots for him.”

After Game 1, Memphis’ guards outlined a game plan that involved picking up their defense earlier on Parker to keep him from getting into the lane and putting the Grizzlies into the scramble mode that allowed San Antonio to hit a franchise playoff record 14 3-pointers in the opener.

It wasn’t until late that any of their plans started working.

“He’s a Hall of Fame guard, people. He’s been around, he’s done great things in his career,” Memphis coach Lionel Hollins said. “He just controlled the pace and got in the paint, found open guys. … We battled him, though, and we wound up being in the game.”

And maybe the series.

The Grizzlies had been blown out by 22 in the first game and were down 18 with 34 minutes gone in Game 2, only to mount one of their trademark comebacks. Since Hollins took over as coach in 2009, the Memphis has overcome 17-point deficits an NBA-best 11 times to win — including in Game 4 of the last round against Oklahoma City.

“This probably is what we looked like all year long if you haven’t seen us play,” Hollins said. “We scratch and claw and we find a way to get something working and we get back in the games, and we usually find a way to win.”

Notes: There was a moment of silence before the game recognizing the deadly tornado that hit Moore, Okla., on Monday. … The Grizzlies missed five shots on their next-to-last possession of the first half. Allen’s baseline drive was snuffed out by a Kawhi Leonard block and he also missed the putback before Randolph missed two putback tries — one of them blocked by Duncan. Tony Wroten then missed the final follow shot. … Parker’s previous career best in the playoffs was 14 assists against Utah on May 22, 2007. Johnny Moore holds the franchise postseason record with 20 against Denver in 1983. … Duncan became the first NBA player with 500 blocks in the playoffs. … San Antonio blocked eight shots in the second quarter.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/05/22/sports/basketball/ap-bkn-grizzlies-spurs-folo.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

New York squandered a one-goal lead in the third period and lost 2-1 on Tuesday night to fall into an 0-3 series hole. The Rangers can be ousted by the Bruins as early as Thursday in Game 4 at home.

“We’ll meet (Wednesday), practice, and we’re going to try to win a game,” Tortorella said. “That’s all you can do. Down 3-0, it’s a very tough situation, but I have full faith in our athletes. They will be ready to play another game.

“You try to win one and see where you go from there.”

After two losses in Boston, the Rangers seemed headed toward getting back into it. They had won nine straight at Madison Square Garden, dating to the final six games of the regular season, and hadn’t lost in regulation when leading after two periods in more than three years.

But defenseman Johnny Boychuk tied it 3:10 into the third and Daniel Paille scored the winner with 3:31 remaining to push the Bruins to the verge of the Eastern Conference finals.

Only three NHL teams have rallied from an 0-3 hole to advance. However, the Philadelphia Flyers did it to the Bruins in 2010.

“We haven’t talked about history at all,” Tortorella said. “We just try to go about our business.”

Bruins coach Claude Julien discussed it briefly, but only when asked about the collapse three years ago and another near one in the first round this year when Toronto nearly eliminated Boston after trailing the series 3-1.

“We can talk about it all we want, but that’s in the past,” Julien said. “We had to live with that and we still have to live with that.”

The Bruins did some rallying of their own in that one, erasing a three-goal deficit in the third period of Game 7 before winning in overtime.

“The Toronto series, I didn’t think our team was in the zone the way it is right now,” Julien said. “I anticipate — knowing my team — that we’re going to come out the same next game and certainly not be the Jekyll and Hyde team that we were in the first round.”

The Bruins shook off the 2010 collapse and swept Philadelphia in the conference semifinals the following year before going on to win the Stanley Cup.

The Rangers haven’t been swept since New Jersey did it to them in 2006 in the first round.

“You can’t look at it as you have to win four games,” said Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who stayed down on his knees for several moments after Paille’s goal. “You just have to focus on the next one. The season is on the line, so you have to leave everything out there.

“We definitely have to give everything right now, mentally and physically, and put it out there on Thursday.”

Boychuk tied it with his fourth of the playoffs after he netted just one in 44 regular-season games.

Boston thought it had grabbed the lead seconds before Paille scored when a shot deflected off the mask of Lundqvist, popped up in the air and landed on the goal line. Lundqvist couldn’t find it before Paille swooped in from behind the net and poked in the puck.

Taylor Pyatt had made it 1-0 in the second period for the Rangers, who were outscored 8-4 in two games at Boston. Lundqvist was sharp in making 32 saves. He bounced back well after allowing five goals in the Game 2 loss.

“You have to be pretty happy with the situation right now,” said Tuukka Rask, who made 23 saves for Boston. “We were really happy with our effort. I think this was our best defensive effort in a long, long time. We just have to stay calm, keep playing our style of hockey, and good things will happen.”

The Rangers again couldn’t get their power play untracked, failing in both of their chances and dropping to 0-for-10 in the series. New York has only two power-play goals in 38 opportunities during these playoffs.

Boychuk was credited with the tying goal after the puck appeared to deflect into the net off Rangers defenseman John Moore.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/05/22/sports/hockey/ap-hkn-bruins-rangers-folo.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Brent Burns got San Jose off to a fast start with a quick score and Logan Couture added a power-play goal early in the second period before the Sharks held on for a 2-1 victory Tuesday night to knot their series at two games apiece.

“We knew going into this series we’d have to win one game at Staples Center if we want to win this series,” Couture said. “We’ve done our job at home. We need to go into L.A. and win a game on Thursday. We’re looking forward to it.”

Captain Joe Thornton fueled the fast start with a dominant opening period, setting up Burns for his goal and helping the Sharks break out to a 15-3 shots advantage. San Jose fell into a shell the second half of the game, managing just four shots in the final 36:05 after taking a 2-0 lead.

Antti Niemi made 13 of his 22 saves in the third period to help the Sharks match Los Angeles’ two home wins to open the series with two of their own.

“They were really desperate and they came hard,” Niemi said. “Of course we wanted to start better and keep the puck in their zone, but they came hard. We were able to keep them out.”

Game 5 is Thursday in Los Angeles.

Mike Richards scored a power-play goal and Jonathan Quick made 21 saves for the Kings, who have lost 10 of 11 road games dating to the end of the regular season.

After falling behind 2-0, the Kings showed some fight in a dominant third period. They got on the scoreboard on a power play when Burns was sent off for boarding Anze Kopitar.

Los Angeles wore down San Jose’s penalty killers in the offensive zone and scored when Richards knocked in a rebound of Jeff Carter’s shot.

“I think we battled back and made it close but you don’t get much for making it close,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said.

The Kings outshot the Sharks 14-2 in the third period, holding San Jose without a shot for nearly 13 minutes, but couldn’t get the equalizer against Niemi.

Couture gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead early in the second period, deflecting a point shot by Boyle past Quick while Colin Fraser was in the penalty box for roughing Andrew Desjardins in the offensive zone.

The Kings started to generate the better scoring chances after that, getting denied a goal midway through the period on an early whistle by an official. Los Angeles was unable to generate a shot on goal during two power plays later in the period with Jake Muzzin, shooting high with an empty net to cost the Kings a golden opportunity at a goal.

“For us, it’s about how they dominated the first half of the game and then we dominated the second half of the game,” defenseman Rob Scuderi said. “But they buried their chances. They play well here and we didn’t learn from Game 3, so that’s on us for not learning from our own mistakes.”

The Sharks opened the game with one of their most dominating periods of the year to the delight of the boisterous crowd chanting “Beat LA! Beat LA!” from the start.

But San Jose had only one goal to show for that start thanks to solid play from Quick and a shot by Tommy Wingels that rang off the crossbar.

Led by the physically imposing line of Thornton, Burns and TJ Galiardi, the Sharks spent almost the entire first period in the Los Angeles zone.

San Jose jumped on top early when Thornton stole the puck from Slava Voynov on the forecheck and fed Burns, who shot was blocked. Thornton came up with the loose puck and slid a perfect cross-ice pass to Burns, who was not denied on his second chance, beating Quick with a one-timer.

“Burns has been shooting the puck real well so it was just a matter of time until he put one in the net,” Thornton said. “After the first shot, the puck just came right back to me. He was open again and I just made the pass.”

The Kings had to feel fortunate that was all San Jose managed for the period as they killed off two penalties and withstood constant pressure from the Sharks.

NOTES: F Kyle Clifford returned for Los Angeles after missing four games with an upper-body injury in place of rookie Tanner Pearson. … Kings D Matt Greene, who played only five regular season games because of back problems, was in the lineup for the first time this postseason in place of Keaton Ellerby. … F Tim Kennedy returned to the Sharks lineup in place of Marty Havlat, who left Game 3 after the first period with a lower-body injury.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/05/22/sports/hockey/ap-hkn-kings-sharks-folo.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

“We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken.” Garcia was heard to say.

Fried chicken has become a racial stereotype in the United States when referring to African-Americans – a reference to the days before the abolition of slavery when chicken was believed to be a staple part of the diet.

Garcia moved quickly to explain his remark, issuing an apology through the European Tour.

“I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during The European Tour Players’ Awards dinner,” he said.

“I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner.”

Garcia’s comments echoed those made by former Masters winner Fuzzy Zoeller in 1997 when he joked with reporters to tell Woods not to ask for “fried chicken or collard greens or whatever the hell they serve” at the next year’s Champions dinner.

Zoeller was subsequently dropped by two sponsors.

Garcia and Woods have been at loggerheads recently after the Spaniard blamed a roar from the crowd watching the 14-times major winner for an errant shot when the two featured in the same group at the Players Championship in Florida.

The gallery erupted during the Spaniard’s backswing upon seeing Woods reach for his five-wood for a daring escape from a tee shot deep into the trees.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by John O’Brien)

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/05/22/sports/golf/22reuters-golf-garcia-apology.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

The latest setback means the 24-year-old faces a race against time to be fit for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil with Germany well on course to qualify.

“Holger Badstuber underwent surgery on Monday (in the United States,” the club said in a statement. “Doctors estimate he will be out for 10 months. His professional career is not in danger.”

Badstuber had missed more than half of the current campaign with the initial injury he sustained in a Bundesliga match against Borussia Dortmund.

Bayern, who won the Bundesliga title this season, take on Dortmund in an all-German Champions League final in London on Saturday.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by John O’Brien)

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/05/22/sports/soccer/22reuters-soccer-germany-bayern-badstuber.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

The move will be widely popular with Raiders fans, many of whom staked out the team’s facility on Tuesday to greet Woodson on his visit and urge him to sign with the team.

They got their wish a few hours after he arrived when the team announced his signing. Agent Carl Poston said Woodson’s deal includes a $700,000 signing bonus and could be worth as much as $4.3 million in 2013.

Woodson, the fourth overall pick in the 1998 draft by Oakland, returns to a vastly different franchise than the one he left following his eighth season with the team in 2005. Owner Al Davis died in October 2011 and the team is now run by Davis’ son, Mark. Kicker Sebastian Janikowski is the only player left from Woodson’s eight years in Oakland that included three straight AFC West titles and a trip to the Super Bowl following the 2002 season.

The Raiders haven’t had a winning season or a playoff berth since, adding to the fans’ desire to bring back Woodson and a connection to past successes.

The 36-year-old was released by the Green Bay Packers in a salary-cutting move Feb. 15, with two years remaining on his contract. He had said he wanted to join a contender and visited with San Francisco and Denver but ended up signing with a rebuilding Raiders team coming off a 4-12 season.

Woodson, the 1997 Heisman Trophy winner at Michigan, is an accomplished cornerback and safety who will bring veteran leadership to Oakland’s secondary. The Raiders have a void at free safety after letting Michael Huff go in the offseason and also would like Woodson to tutor first-round cornerback D.J. Hayden.

Woodson, an eight-time Pro Bowler and 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, missed nine games during the regular season for Green Bay last year because of a broken right collarbone.

He spent seven seasons with the Packers, helping them win the Super Bowl following the 2010 season. He has 55 career interceptions, 17 sacks, 24 forced fumbles and 11 interception returns for touchdowns in 206 career games.

Woodson is very familiar with Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie, who worked in the front office in Green Bay for all but one of his years with the Packers.

Late in his first season with the Raiders, McKenzie talked about the difficult situation he inherited with the Raiders compared to the one his former boss Ted Thompson got in Green Bay.

“His rookie year he was able to get Charles Woodson. I would have liked to have done that,” McKenzie said in November.

McKenzie got his man but it remains to be seen how much Woodson has left.

___

AP Sports Writer Larry Lage contributed to this report.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/05/21/sports/football/ap-fbn-raiders-woodson.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

The league also voted at its spring meetings to give the 2017 game to Houston, which last hosted the big game in 2004.

“After losing a Super Bowl, it feels really good to win a Super Bowl,” said 49ers CEO Jed York, whose team lost to Baltimore in the NFL title game in February. “We are so excited to be able to put on the ‘Golden Super Bowl’ in the Golden State.”

The back-to-back, first-ballot votes also sent a message to South Florida that it needs to settle its squabble over renovations at the Miami Dolphins’ stadium before it will get a chance to host its 11th Super Bowl.

“I can tell you that I think the stadium is a very import part of any of these proposals. The condition of the stadium is a factor,” commissioner Roger Goodell said. “I think it’s the stadium, at the end of the day. Their proposal was really quite exciting. I think owners would like to be in Miami. But it’s competitive right now.”

The 49ers are preparing to begin play in 2014 in what they are billing as the most technologically advanced stadium in the world — the first cashless, ticketless venue in NFL championship history, with WiFi capability for 75,000 people. The 2016 Super Bowl will be the first in northern California since the 1985 game at Stanford Stadium.

When Goodell announced the 2016 decision, members of the San Francisco bid committee let out a roar of approval, then toasted each other with champagne. Asked what he believed swayed the owners to vote for San Francisco, York added: “It’s the willpower of an entire area that gave an overwhelming push for us.”

It was the first time in a decade that a Super Bowl was awarded on the first ballot. York said 25 percent of the proceeds from the game will be donated to fight poverty in the Bay Area.

“The Bay Area has been waiting for a (title) game since 1985. We have a stadium now,” said Daniel Lurie, a leader of the San Francisco bid. “We are just thrilled and couldn’t be happier about this.”

Houston staged the 2004 Super Bowl, which is perhaps best known for Janet Jackson’s halftime “wardrobe malfunction.” That was just two years after Reliant Stadium opened.

“I think a lot of them just felt like, ‘Hey, it’s Houston’s time,’” Texans owner Robert McNair said. “They knew we could do a good job. From 2004 to ’17, that’s 13 years. So I agree, I think it’s Houston’s time.”

Miami has hosted 10 of them — including the Jets’ upset of the Colts in 1969 — and is tied with New Orleans for the most. But South Florida got rejected twice after the Florida Legislature did not support financing to renovate Sun Life Stadium — a likely backlash over the Marlins’ new baseball stadium.

Multibillionaire Dolphins owner Stephen Ross contends $350 million in stadium improvements are badly needed, but he doesn’t want to pay for them by himself. Nor does he want a scaled-down renovation of the 26-year-old facility.

“I suspect there’s a couple of state reps down in Miami-Dade County where I live who are going to look at this and realize this was a huge mistake,” South Florida bid committee chairman Rodney Barreto said. “We had the better bid. I could just look at the body language from the NFL staff. It’s a shame. We may not see another Super Bowl for another 10 years.”

Ross said South Florida “won’t stop trying” to get one.

Next Feb. 2, the game goes outdoors in a cold-weather site for the first time, at MetLife Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. If that gamble pays off for the NFL, look for other cities in similar climates — Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver — to bid for future Super Bowls.

The 2015 game will be played in the Phoenix area.

Earlier Tuesday, owners approved a $200 million loan for stadium construction in Atlanta. The multipurpose stadium could cost as much as $1 billion, with team owner Arthur Blank committed to funding most of it. Blank called the decision by the team owners an “important milestone” in moving the project forward. The owners also approved financing for renovations of stadiums in Charlotte and Philadelphia.

Speaking with reporters after the votes, Goodell also said:

— The draft will be held between May 8 and May 17 next year because the venue, Radio City Music Hall, is hosting an Easter show in April. He expects the draft will remain in May, with other adjustments to the NFL’s calendar, including the dates for the combine and the opening of free agency, to be discussed with the players’ union.

— A third international game in upcoming seasons could be added now that both games for 2013 in London have sold out.

— The Pro Bowl could be moved from Hawaii back to mainland cities after the 2014 game, but will still be held on the Sunday one week before the Super Bowl.

— Expanding the playoffs, and cutting two games off the preseason, still are being discussed. A reduced preseason could happen with either the current 16-game regular season or with an 18-game schedule.

___

AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner contributed to this report.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/05/22/sports/football/ap-fbn-nfl-meetings.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Goodell emerged from an owners meeting Tuesday in Boston to announce that the 2016 Superpalooza — the 50th anniversary of the game — was awarded to a nearly-open-for-business stadium in Santa Clara that will be home to the 49ers, and that the 2017 game will return to Houston.

More telling than the argument Goodell and the owners made for either venue might be the one they aimed at the Miami Dolphins’ failed bid.

“I think the stadium is a very important part of any of these proposals,” he said after the vote. “I had a couple of owners express to me privately the condition of the stadium was an important factor to them in their votes.”

In case you haven’t been following the recent dust-up in South Florida over who’s going to pay for the nearly $400 million in improvements the Dolphins want made to SunLife Stadium, here’s all the background you need to know: Team owner Steve Ross wants taxpayers to foot the bill. In a rare bit of gumption, some state and local politicians blocked a referendum that would have put the matter to a vote.

What followed soon after were lamentations from Ross and his hired hands about all the money that South Florida was losing out on. Goodell delivered the same message in person to the state legislature earlier this month. But after Tuesday’s vote, he let Rodney Barreto, chairman of South Florida’s bid committee, rub it in.

“I suspect there’s a couple of state reps down in Miami-Dade County where I live who are going to look at this and realize this was a huge mistake,” Barreto said. “We had the better bid. I could just look at the body language from the NFL staff. It’s a shame. We may not see another Super Bowl for another 10 years.”

The last one in South Florida was only three years ago, and taxpayers there already shelled out much of the cash for new homes for the Heat and Marlins recently, but who’s counting? Certainly not Goodell. He’s made securing new stadiums for franchise owners — largely publicly-financed stadiums — every bit as much a signature issue as player safety. So far, as noted above, every town that helped build one since 2006 has been rewarded with a Super Bowl.

“It hasn’t been a strategy for the NFL. But it’s come to us as a happy consequence,” Frank Supovitz, the league’s senior vice president of events, told NFL.com — the day before the vote was taken.

That kind of arrogance may seem breathtaking, but it’s all just another day’s work for the NFL. Goodell runs a cartel that could teach the International Olympic Committee a thing or two about ruthlessness.

The NFL already rules the sporting landscape and the airwaves from coast to coast. Apparently, that’s not enough. Based on a few things Goodell let slip at the end of the owners meeting, it sounds like he’s working on plans for a Death Star.

Next year, the league’s draft will be moved back from April to between May 8 and 17, ostensibly to avoid a scheduling conflict with New York’s Radio City Music Hall, which is hosting an Easter show. It’s likely to stay there in following years, too. Never mind those dates likely means a conflict with Mother’s Day and the NBA and NHL playoffs, plus three more weeks of endless hype.

There’s also a good chance the league will push the scouting combine back from February to mid-March, inviting another scheduling conflict, this time with the NCAA basketball tournament’s Selection Sunday or its opening weekend of play.

If you think Goodell is worried about his empire running up against someone else’s, you never saw the bemused smile on his face when someone pointed out that pushing the Super Bowl from late January deeper into February would pit his biggest game against NASCAR’s season-opening Daytona 500.

The new NFL calendar will mean more work for clubs and their front-office personnel and more programming for the NFL Network, but less time for rookies, since many clubs are likely to cut out minicamps. There’s still talk of an 18-game season floating around, as well as expanding the playoffs, mercifully by cutting two preseason games.

The one thing that’s guaranteed to swell is the league’s bottom line.

“How much hype is enough? How big does the league need the golden goose to get?” SI.com‘s Peter King, one of the NFL’s sharpest observers, asked in a recent column without waiting for an answer.

“Silly question. We see it answered every day by an insatiable league.”

___

Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him at Twitter.com/JimLitke

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2013/05/22/sports/football/ap-fbn-jim-litke-052213.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

“Hopefully I can take some steps forward from this one,” Hughes said.

The Orioles ended a six-game losing streak when Nate McLouth hit a game-winning homer off reliever Vidal Nuno in the 10th inning. It was a rare miscue from the Yankees’ bullpen. Nuno said he wanted to throw a cut fastball away from McLouth. It did not cut enough.

“He took advantage,” Nuno said.

Hughes gave the Yankees six strong innings. He allowed five hits and two runs, while striking out five. He made two mistakes, surrendering two solo home runs to Chris Dickerson. Hughes did not figure in the decision, but his effort was cause for optimism amid an otherwise disappointing night for the Yankees.

“I’m encouraged,” Manager Joe Girardi said. “Hughesy’s run some pretty good streaks for us together. He hit a little rough spot. He’s come out of them before, so there was nothing that led me to believe he wouldn’t come out of it again.”

Facing Seattle last Wednesday, Hughes could not escape the first inning. He gave up seven runs on six hits and two walks before Girardi removed him with two outs. Hughes threw 36 pitches, each with more disastrous consequences than the last. It was, he said, a humbling experience.

On Tuesday, Hughes needed only 11 pitches to breeze his way through the first inning. It was clear from the beginning that Hughes wanted to lean on his fastball, though he said before the game that he would turn to his off-speed pitches if he was laboring with his location.

Command has been his biggest challenge this season, particularly early in games. Hughes tends to overthrow, which causes his mechanics to crumble like a sand castle. When that happens, his arm flies loose, outpacing the movement of his lower body, and he releases the ball sooner than he should. The end result is often a fastball that hangs high over the plate, as hittable as a piñata. Hughes described these pitches as “mistakes.”

He made one in the third against Dickerson. He tried to get Dickerson to chase a two-strike slider, but Dickerson let the pitch pass for a ball. On the 10th pitch of the at-bat, Hughes uncorked a fastball that he left up over the outer half of the plate. Dickerson sent it over the wall in center.

The damage could have been worse. Later in the inning, Adam Jones flied out to the warning track with two outs and two on. Center fielder Brett Gardner made the catch with about two feet to spare. Such was the razor-thin margin between a solid start for Hughes and a potentially disastrous one.

“I got out of a few situations,” he said.

Travis Hafner, the Yankees’ designated hitter, accounted for the team’s runs with two run-scoring singles off Baltimore starter Miguel Gonzalez. Aside from those miscues, though, Gonzalez sailed along and went seven innings.

It is a rare occasion, Girardi said, when a pitcher has all his best stuff working. More often, he will need to make adjustments. Girardi cited the right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, who has a knack for surviving even when he loses the feel for his slider. In Hughes’s case, he might need to mix in more sliders and changeups when his fastball misbehaves. Girardi said he had no choice but to trust that Hughes would know when to alter his approach.

“You can try to enforce it, but the enforcer is standing there with the baseball in his hand,” Girardi said, adding, “It falls upon his shoulders.”

Hughes was not impenetrable — he allowed four leadoff hitters to reach base — but he persevered. The fifth inning featured Dickerson’s second homer, a comebacker off the bat of Manny Machado and an error on shortstop Jayson Nix, which left two runners on base with one out. Hughes avoided trouble by striking out Nick Markakis and inducing an inning-ending groundout by Jones.

“That was an inning when I had to grind and battle out of a tough spot,” Hughes said.

It was that sort of night for Hughes: good enough to give the Yankees a chance, even if it was one they squandered.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/sports/baseball/hughes-has-solid-outing-but-yankees-lose-to-orioles-in-10.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

But after Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuk tied the score early in the third, a wacky play ensued for the winning goal. A shot from in front bounced straight up in the air in front of Lundqvist. Like an outfielder losing a fly ball in the sun, Lundqvist swiveled his head in a futile search from right to left. The puck plopped near his left skate, and Daniel Paille flicked it into the net with 3 minutes 31 seconds left.

The Rangers mustered little attack in the final minutes to lose, 2-1, and fall behind Boston three games to none, a playoff series deficit no Rangers team has surmounted.

“It was a tough night,” a sullen Lundqvist said after staring into space with his white goalie pads still on before reporters approached. “We gave our best mentally and physically, but it wasn’t enough.”

If any Ranger knows that annual rite, it is the 31-year-old Lundqvist, who often single-handedly carries the Rangers.

His back-to-back shutouts in Games 6 and 7 of the opening round against Washington gave the Rangers their third seven-game series victory in the past two seasons. But against the faster, bigger and speedier Bruins, who storm the Rangers’ end of the ice in waves, even Lundqvist can do only so much.

The Rangers lost the opener, 3-2, in overtime, and Lundqvist had a rough Game 2, as Boston cruised to a 5-2 win. Returning to Madison Square Garden was bound to change the tenor of the series, Coach John Tortorella said.

His team on the brink of elimination, Tortorella could not blame Lundqvist on this night.

“He was outstanding,” Tortorella said. “He was under a lot of pressure and he made a lot of great saves.”

Lundqvist made 32 in all, including a breakaway stop on Tyler Seguin in the first period and glove saves on Dougie Hamilton, Brad Marchand, Chris Kelly and Gregory Campbell. He even stopped his hulking former teammate Jaromir Jagr twice in the second from in front.

With the Rangers leading, 1-0, heading into the third period, a third shutout in five games seemed possible for Lundqvist. But the Bruins maintained their relentless pressure and came back to win.

The road triumph left Bruins Coach Claude Julien impressed with the opposing goaltender as well as his own.

“He did a great job keeping his team in the game,” Julien said of Lundqvist, while also praising his goaltender, Tuukka Rask. “When everybody is doing a great job in front, it makes everybody’s job easier,” Julien added.

But for Lundqvist and the Rangers, the task now is immeasurably harder. Lundqvist has had 30 or more saves 20 times in his playoff career. He will have to continue his majestic play if the Rangers are to have a chance of rallying against Boston.

“It’s unfortunate to have this game decided on a play where nobody saw the puck,” Lundqvist said. “The bounces just didn’t go our way.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/sports/hockey/with-a-shot-and-a-bounce-a-good-night-goes-astray-for-rangers-lundqvist.html?partner=rss&emc=rss