SB Nation Chicago: All Posts by Rodger Sherman

Giro d'Italia 2013 Stage 20: TV schedule, map, route and more

2013-05-25T10:00:06Z

Vincenzo Nibali is just two days away from a Giro D'Italia title, and snow might make his task even easier.

Nibali is fine with racing through the mountains -- in Stage 18, a power climb of an individual time trial, he bested the competition by 58 seconds and extended his lead over second-place cyclist Cadel Evans by a whopping 2 minutes 36 seconds -- but poor winter weather played into his favor. First, the race committee got rid of the two most treacherous mountain climbs of the Giro on Stage 19 through the Alps' foothills. Then, they cancelled the stage altogether, meaning instead of three stages for the opposition to catch up or capitalize on a potential slip-up, there will only be two. As Podium Cafe wrote, "NIbali has basically won the Giro."

More: Podium Cafe's full Giro coverage Mountains preview

The course for Stage 20 has been altered as well. Like the initial plan for an altered Stage 19, its been lengthened to 210 km and flattened, turning from a stage with multiple climbs and a difficult trek up the Passo de Giau to a relatively steady climb from Silandro Schlanders to Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Here's the map and profile, from Steephill.

Of course, the race organizers could once again choose to axe the event with regards to racer safety. Regardless, the race will return to lower altitudes to crown a champion -- most likely Nibali -- on Sunday.

Crowne Plaza Invitational 2013 results: Matt Kuchar leads with Round 2 play suspended

2013-05-25T00:08:55Z

With play done for the day at the Colonial, Matt Kuchar is the leader at the Crowne Plaza Invitational, storming past Graham DeLaet by shooting five strokes under par before play was stopped due to darkness.

The first thing that stopped play was rain, forcing golfers off the course for several hours. Many got their round done, but a few toward the top of the leaderboard -- including Kuchar and Colonial member Ryan Palmer -- got late starts and couldn't finish up.

Kuchar wasn't perfect, only hitting two-thirds of greens in regulation, but putted well: five birdies, and one-putts every time he needed one to save par, good enough to put him at 10-under. He still has three holes to play in the round. The 34-year-old has had a knack for reeling in wins in big events: his last three wins were the 2010 Barclays, the 2012 Players Championship and this year's WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. This would be a step down in terms of prestige, but it would be nice for him to get a stroke play win under his belt in 2013.

The Canadian DeLaet was one stroke back at 9-under after shooting a 3-under 67. Palmer was even through his first 12 holes Friday, but thanks to an 8-under in Round 1, he's just two strokes back of the lead. He's joined by Josh Teater and Jordan Spieth, who each shot 3-under on Friday, as well as Steve Flesch, who shot 6-under.

Freddie Jacobson and Chris Stroud are tied for seventh at 7-under. Zach Johnson, who has won two of the last three Crowne Plaza Invitationals, has himself back in the competition after going 5-under through his 16 holes to get to 6-under for the tournament.

Notables who are at this point very likely to miss the cut of 1-under include Charl Schwartzel, Rory Sabbatini, and Ben Crane (E), Ricky Barnes (1-over), Vijay Singh (2-over) and John Daly (3-over).

For a full leaderboard, head to Golf.com.

NFL OTA roundup: Anthony McCoy tears Achilles, Eagles QB battle even

2013-05-24T22:50:04Z

Friday was a relatively quiet day in the world of NFL OTAs but we went around and found the things worth noting from the around SB Nation's network of NFL blogs on the 32 squads going through offseason workouts.

We've got a bummer of an injury for the Seahawks, a quarterback battle that may or may not actually be even in Philadelphia, a punter battle(!) and some teams messing with new schemes.

Anthony McCoy tears Achilles

The Seahawks lose a tight end, possibly for the season. McCoy had 18 catches for 291 yards and three touchdowns last year -- a bit of a deep ball specialist -- and was expected to back up Zach Miller, although that backup position was a pretty significant role in an offense led by Russell Wilson. As SB Nation's Field Gulls notes, its unfortunate for McCoy, who was heading into a contract season and could miss the entire year. The beneficiary, if there is one, is Luke Willson, the fifth-round draft pick out of Rice who will try to prove his NFL worth.

No leader in Eagles' QB battle

Whether it be coachspeak or not, Eagles quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor says Michael Vick, Nick Foles and Matt Barkley are neck-and-neck-and-neck.

Eagles transitioning from 4-3 to 3-4

No surprise here, as there will be lots of changes under Chip Kelly and new defensive coordinator Bill Davis. Davis says -- like every other defensive coordinator of all time -- that his team hopes to be multiple, and that they'll play to the strengths of their players rather than a set scheme. Trent Cole and Brandon Graham project to be the outside linebackers in the new set.

Nnamdi Asomugha plays opposite Carlos Rogers

49ers fans had eagerly awaited practice reports on a big offseason acquisition, and the first news is good news: Asomugha reportedly looked good, if easily fatigued, at the team's OTA's. Chris Culliver appeared to be working with the team's second-string behind Asomugha and Rogers.

Mike Goodson to join Jets next week

Mike Goodson sat out Jets' OTAs this past week after picking up drugs and weapons charges, but after pleading not guilty, he'll rejoin the squad going forward. He'll hope to beat the charges and make an impact in the Jets' backfield, competing with Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell and Joe McKnight for snaps in a New York rushing attack that was dismal in 2012.

Greg Toler stands out for Colts

The Colts' addition of Greg Toler in their defensive backfield looks to be providing more value than initially thought: Stampede Blue writes that the former Arizona Cardinal is showing as one of the best players in OTAs in Indianapolis. After watching his play last year, they seem to think the strong production in May is likely to carry over into September.

Henry Hynoski should be back for regular season

The Giants' fullback suffered a knee injury in practice Wednesday, but SB Nation's Big Blue View writes that the Rhino could be back for Week 1.

Texas safeties are interchangeable

With Ed Reed coming in, one might think the Houston Texans would go out of their way to play into the strengths of the future Hall of Fame free safety. But Danieal Manning says that although he's the strong safety and Reed is the free safety, they will switch roles more often than not under Wade Phillips' defense -- and that it doesn't particularly bother him or Reed.

Falcons linebackers sitting out OTAs

Stephen Nicholas and Sean Weatherspoon won't be participating for Atlanta, as they recover from already known surgeries. SB Nation's The Falcoholic didn't seem too concerned, although both are important factors on the squad's defense.

Brian Moorman likely to win Steelers' punting job

It's between him and Drew Butler, and pretty much everybody seems to think the two-time Pro Bowler is going to win the job.

Bills 'exuberant' at OTAs

Good to hear!

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Rob Gronkowski injury: Patriots unsure how bad TE's back is

2013-05-24T20:49:24Z

The struggles for New England tight end Rob Gronkowski continue: although his fourth surgery on his once-broken, eventually infected left forearm appears to have gone well, the Pats' medical staff is now turning their attention to his back, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Gronkowski has experienced chronic pain in the back for about a year, dating back to before he injured his arm. He intends to see an expert in about a month to check it out. It seems the team isn't sure what to expect:

When I asked owner Robert Kraft about it this week, his response was, "I wish I knew as much as you'd like me to know." It seems that nobody really knows. Medical opinions haven't been formed. Kraft later told reporters that Gronkowski "still should be great. We'll see."

Rapoport suggests the Patriots take their time with the fourth-year tight end, who needs to heal his forearm for two months after the surgery regardless of the issues with his back. His long-term health is important to the the Patriots, having locked him up to a 6-year, $53 million dollar contract that extends through 2018. And they've already rushed him back from an injury once too quickly -- after breaking his forearm in Week 11 of the regular season, Gronkowski somehow managed to get back into form for the final week of the regular season, only to reinjure his arm in the team's first playoff game.

More: More on Gronkowski at Pats Pulpit

Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez make a versatile, dynamic tight end combination that was brilliant for Tom Brady when both were healthy in 2011. And the team doubled down by extending both to huge contracts while allowing Wes Welker to take a big deal with the Denver Broncos. Gronkowski's road to health has been a long and twisty one, but it's an important one for the Pats to remain elite offensively.

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2013 Crowne Plaza Invitational leaderboard: Graham DeLaet tops rain-delayed Round 2

2013-05-24T20:23:47Z

With a weather delay pushing play at the Colonial later than expected and a good portion of golfers through 36 holes, Graham DeLaet sits atop the leaderboard -- although Round 1's best Ryan Palmer still has yet to start play.

DeLaet had an up-and-down day, with seven pars tempered by four bogeys to finish at 3-under for the round. He improved his driving from his first day of play, but often struggled to find the green with his second shot, then made up for it with strong putting. The Canadian known for his brightly colored pants currently sits at 9-under, hoping to win his second professional event and first on the PGA Tour.

Josh Teater and Jordan Spieth kept pace with DeLaet by also shooting 3-under to finish the day at 8-under on the tourney. They're joined in a tie for second with Steve Flesch, who climbed the leaderboard with a 6-under, and Palmer, the hometown favorite. With a 4:43 Eastern start time, Palmer might have trouble finishing his round Friday.

Elsewhere on the leaderboard, Freddie Jacobson is alone in third at 7-under, Matt Kuchar is the most notable of a host of golfers tied at 6-under, and Zach Johnson -- who has won the event two of the last three three years -- isn't making much headway on the leaderboard, currently at 1-under as he begins his round.

Notables below the projected -1 cut line include Charl Schwartzel (E), Ben Crane (2), and Vijay Singh (4)

Charlie Weis buyout could cost Notre Dame $19 million

2013-05-24T14:28:57Z

Remember Charlie Weis, the guy who coached Kansas to a 1-11 record this season? Notre Dame certainly remembers him, because years after it fired him after going 16-21 over the course of three years with the Fighting Irish, it still owes him money. Lots of money. Per Brian Hamilton of the Chicago Tribune:

Weis received another buyout payment of $2,054,744 as part of the separation agreement for his firing in 2009, bringing the total amount paid to the ousted Irish coach and current Kansas head coach to nearly $10.8 million, according to federal tax documents the school provided the Tribune on Thursday. It is the second consecutive payment of $2,054,744 to Weis after the initial payment of $6,638,403 after his firing. The university is scheduled for "additional annual payments" through Dec. 2015, so four more installments of the same $2 million-plus figure would bring the total to $18,966,867.

Earlier this year, we wrote about how Charlie Weis was the most overpaid coach in the country this past season if we went by moneys received per win. Although it's quite silly that Kansas paid a coach who has never had any real success at the college level $2.5 million for a campaign wherein he won only one game, at least Charlie Weis was in Lawrence showing up to work every day and trying as hard as Charlie Weis could to win football games.

Weis hasn't been on campus in South Bend since the 2009 season, and they're still going to have to deal with this through 2015. Ugly.

There's good news for Notre Dame, though. First, the guy it brought in to replace Weis, Brian Kelly, is a relative bargain. Kelly has roughly brought them twice the success Weis ever did in half the time, and the school gave him just $1.088 million for the same time frame that they just paid Weis $2.054 million. (Kelly likely made more for his 12-1 2012 season, due to bonuses.)

That was less than the total compensation for both men's basketball coach Mike Brey and women's basketball coach Muffet McGraw. Yeah, the guy in charge of Notre Dame football, a worldwide famous brand, made less money in a fiscal year than the coach of Notre Dame women's basketball, which is a pretty damn good women's basketball team, but not as big a moneymaker. That's a bargain on Kelly. They extended him in early 2012 and he turned down the NFL in January to stay with the Irish, so they've likely upped his earnings, but still.

But the best news is that they can actually afford to do this. Iowa has a similarly prohibitive buyout for Kirk Ferentz that would see it owe the coach about $2 million a year through 2020 if it fired him. But they're not going to do that, so they're stuck with a guy who led the team to a 4-8 record this past year. As noted in February, his seat is cold as ice. Southern Miss fired Ellis Johnson after one dismal 0-12 season and was stuck with a $2.1 million buyout, forcing it to swap out a home game against Nebraska -- a unique opportunity for the program, both financially and in terms of on-field product -- for a trip to Lincoln that's guaranteed to be a lopsided loss. Idaho is squabbling with former coach Robb Akey over $100,000 from his buyout.

To Notre Dame, all that is chicken scratch. The Irish were financially able to do what they needed to in order to be successful, football-wise, no matter how much we can laugh at them for paying Charlie Weis $19 million to not coach their team.

Now let's laugh as hard as we can about the fact that Notre Dame is paying Charlie Weis -- CHARLIE DAMN WEIS -- $19 million -- 19 MILLION DAMN DOLLARS -- to not coach its team through 2015, which is abso-friggin-lutely hilarious.

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Chance Carter, Northwestern Wildcats football, No. 99

2013-05-24T13:00:06Z

It's that time of year again! We're under 100 days until football season, and that means each day we'll be profiling a Northwestern player as we get closer towards, you know, football!

Are many of these going to be pointless descriptions of players who won't have an effect on Northwestern? Perhaps. Will I put jokes in all of them? Probably. If you don't like the jokes, that's my fault, but this is more an exercise in passing away the long summer than it is one in relevance, and if you don't like exercises in passing away the long summer, go elsewhere, ya big dummie!

Today, we have Chance Carter, a 6'3, 270-pound defensive tackle playing in his backyard. Get to know him better!

Origin myth

Carter is a native Evanstonian - Evanstoner? Evan Stoner? Sup Evan - and went to Loyola Academy. He is proof that Northwestern is EVANSTON'S BIG TEN TEAM, so, Evanstoners, come to games, because dammit you shut down the Keg you selfish jerks. (Note to Jim Phillips: use "dammit you shut down the Keg you selfish jerks" as a marketing slogan to draw local fans.) Considered a defensive end, he was ranked the No. 18 player in Illinois by Rivals and had offers from Nebraska and Indiana alongside NU. He'd bulk up and move to the inside of the line - he was 235 pounds in high school, and is now 270, per his player page.

At Northwestern

Carter redshirted and only saw modest snaps as a redshirt freshman, but appeared in all 13 games last year as a spell defensive tackle, recording 15 tackles.

Career highlight

A TFL against Minnesota, wrapping up running back Rodrick Williams for a loss of two to bring up third-and-11. Two plays later, Minnesota would fake a punt that would come up short.

Anagram of choice

Discovering the true inner selves of the Wildcats through respelling their names

Chance Carter, anagrammed is:

THE CANCER CAR

Woah, this got off to an extraordinarily morose start.

(Rejected options: "Archer Accent" (h/t H. Jon Benjamin), "cheer Narc Cat!")

Relevant musical selections

"So Good", Chance the Rapper

He's weird. He's talented, playful, and clever. And most importantly, he's Chi! Why don't you listen to Acid Rap at least once a week/day?

"Mr. Carter", Lil Wayne ft. Jay-Z

I always really liked this song, despite the fact that you can somewhat track the descent of Wayne's lines into trash and the fact that Jay-Z appears to think there's something called a "Molotail Cocktail." I think it's because I appreciate Jay picking up Wayne's flow, in a Biggie-on-"Notorious Thugs" style. It's a weird moment in time: Wayne trying to tell everybody he's the best rapper alive, Jay-Z showing respect by giving him a verse, and a few years before these guys recorded diss tracks about each other.

Real name

"Chancellor Carter I", which, as if "Chance Carter" wasn't good enough, THE CHANCELLOR.

Number notables

COREY WOOTTON, DESTROYER OF WORLDS:

Also enjoy Woot scoring a touchdown for the Bears.

Corey was such a monster. I remember standing behind him in line at BK as a freshman and thinking "oh, THAT'S what football players look like." Unfortunately he had a knee injury in the Alamo Bowl -- a game where he was everywhere at the same time -- that slowed his production in what should've been a monstrous senior year, but that one play at Iowa shifted the perception of an entire season, even if it did unfortunately come at the expense of Mr. Stanzi's health.

How can he help?

As a defensive tackle with experience at defensive end, Carter's a little bit more athletic than your typical defensive tackle something that's shown in his playing time and to my eye in the spring practice. He brings a little bit of a pass-rusher's vibe to a spot where you want a run-stopper. And he hasn't seemed overmatched when it comes to plugging the gap in limited snaps.

Depth chart projection

We have Carter slated as a backup defensive tackle, although there's no reason he can't compete with a slightly more experienced Will Hampton for a starting spot opposite Sean McEvilly. Considering freshman Greg Kuhar is the fourth player in the mix, Carter should be the most commonly used backup if he can't win a starting spot.

Bears will retire Mike Ditka's No. 89 on Dec. 9

2013-05-24T12:53:27Z

Mike Ditka's playing days are less well-known than his coaching days, but the Chicago Bears will retire the No. 89 jersey he wore with the team as a tight end during the 1960's, per ChicagoBears.com.

Ditka, who became a mustached, sunglasses-wearing folk hero in Chicago for coaching the 1985 Bears to a Super Bowl, hasn't been on the best of terms with the team since being fired in 1992. But they appear interested in making amends with the Hall of Famer, beginning with the ceremony scheduled to be held during a Monday Night Football game against the Cowboys -- where Ditka also played and began his coaching career -- on Dec. 9.

They've chosen to do it by honoring his on-field career, although some have forgotten that the 73-year-old ESPN commentator was quite the player in his time: the fifth overall pick by Chicago in 1961, and would make the Pro Bowl each of his first five years with the team. He'd be a contributor on the 1963 team that won the NFL Championship, the team's last title before he coached them to one 22 years later. They'd trade him away in 1966 before bringing him back in 1982 as a coach. He'd have a .631 winning percentage over 11 years, winning 106 games.

No player currently wears No. 89 for the Bears. Thirteen other numbers are retired, including legends Bronko Nagurski, George Halas, Walter Payton, Gale Sayers, and Dick Butkus. Mike Singletary's number had remained out of usage from the time of his retirement until this upcoming season, when Singletary told linebacker James Anderson he could wear it.

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