Category: Saturday Sports Slam

Fox gets Thursday night football for 5 years, $3B

By BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writer
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Fox and the NFL have agreed to a five-year deal for Thursday night football games.
Those games previously were televised by CBS and NBC, two of the league’s other network partners. Fox announced Wednesday that it will televise 11 games between Weeks 4 and 15, with simulcasts on NFL Network and Fox Deportes.
Fox, which has the Sunday afternoon NFC package, will produce all of the games under the deal, which is worth a little more than $3 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge of the terms of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the league didn’t announce its value.
“This is a single partner deal, we are not splitting the package,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a conference call. “We had tremendous amount of interest from all the broadcast partners, all of whom wanted it exclusively. We felt this was the best opportunity for the NFL to grow the Thursday night package.”
Goodell added that the league is exploring partnerships with digital outlets, also in conjunction with Fox.
The NFL has broadcast deals “five years out” with its other partners — ESPN has the Monday night package — so five years on this agreement made sense.
“Fundamentally, Fox was built on football,” said Peter Rice, president of 21st Century Fox, nothing that 25 years ago, the NFC package “helped launch a fledgling network into what it is today.”
“These opportunities come along very, very infrequently,” he added. “You either have the rights to the most-watched content in media or you don’t. If you don’t take the opportunity, this won’t come up again for five years. We believe in buying the very best rights, and the best rights are the NFL.”
CBS and NBC each paid $450 million for the previous two-year package.
“We explored a responsible bid for Thursday Night Football but in the end are very pleased to return to entertainment programming on television’s biggest night,” CBS said in a statement. “At the same time, we look forward to continuing our terrific long-term partnership with the NFL on Sunday afternoons, with more than 100 games per season including next year’s Super Bowl 53.”
Fox could have a conflict if weather causes a World Series game to be postponed from Wednesday to Thursday. In recent years, Series Game 2 and 6 have been scheduled for Wednesday.
“In that hypothetical kind of a scenario, the World Series game would stay on Fox and our Thursday night game would become an FS1/NFL Network simulcast,” Fox spokesman Eddie Motl said.
Goodell noted that the Thursday night games are a place for innovation.
“One of the things we’ve taken into consideration with Thursday night in general is to evolve this package, to use it as an opportunity to learn, to understand where these various platforms are going, and what we can do to make it a more attractive experience for our fans,” he said. “We will look at that in that context, and the term will be consistent with what it will take to make sure that we continue to evolve that platform as well as the experience for our fans.”
That means streaming outlets, of course.
“We have accepted bids for digital partners,” Goodell said. “We have very healthy competition. In fact, I would say it’s unprecedented competition from a number of digital partners.
“As I say, we put our focus on the broadcast package first. … We are not required to go coterminous with the broadcasts. We can do any length of deal that we get to an agreement on with that digital partner. As I mentioned earlier, we will be doing this in cooperation with our Fox partners.”
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Miami hands Pitt 10th straight loss, 69-57

By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Hurricanes showed they can win without star guard Bruce Brown Jr. — at least against woeful Pittsburgh.
And if they have Lonnie Walker IV.
The freshman guard scored 16 points Wednesday, and Miami regrouped after blowing a 13-point second-half lead to hand the Panthers their school record-tying 10th consecutive loss, 69-57.
Miami (16-5, 5-4) won in its first game since losing Brown , who is expected to be sidelined for about six weeks with a left foot injury that was diagnosed Monday.
“Not having him was a little bit of an upset moment,” Walker said. “He’s one of those players who gets everyone going. We’ve just got to get used to fighting without him.”
Walker did that, scoring on three consecutive possessions during a 7-0 run by the Hurricanes immediately after Pittsburgh had scored 14 consecutive points to go up 44-43. Pitt never led again.
“I don’t like losing at all,” Walker said. “I felt like I had to take over. I felt like I can do what I want to if I really put my mind into it.”
The Panthers (8-15, 0-10 Atlantic Coast Conference), off to their worst conference start ever, matched the longest losing streak in program history. Pitt also lost 10 in a row in 1968-69 and 1992-93.
Coach Kevin Stallings said his team played Miami much more competitively than in December, when the Hurricanes won by 14.
“Our team is getting better,” Stallings said. “We don’t have wins to show for it, and I feel horribly for my guys for that, because they’ve been as coachable as any group I’ve ever had. Hopefully we keep getting better and we’ll knock one off.”
The Panthers have lost 14 consecutive ACC regular-season games since last season under their second-year coach.
But Walker said Miami didn’t take Pitt lightly.
“We treat every team like they’re No. 1 in the country,” Walker said. “It was definitely a challenge for this game not having one of our key players.”
In Brown’s absence, freshman Chris Lykes played a season-high 33 minutes and totaled 13 points and five assists. Anthony Lawrence added 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Jared Wilson-Frame led Pitt with 17 points, including five 3-pointers, but was limited to 29 minutes because of foul trouble.
The Hurricanes, who were 16-point favorites, led 43-30 but then went nearly six minutes without a point as the Panthers rallied. Once the Hurricanes fell behind they switched to a zone, and that cooled Pitt off.
“At the end we missed a bunch of open shots,” Stallings said.
Miami rebuilt its advantage to 11 points with five minutes left. Walker’s run of seven consecutive points included two free throws, a layup and a long 3-pointer.
“That was pretty amazing,” Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga said. “I was calling a play, and he was launching an NBA 3.”
BIG PICTURE
The Hurricanes have won five in row against Pittsburgh, including both meetings this season. Miami improved to 8-1 at home this season.
DISPARITY
Pitt went 3 for 3 at the free throw line, while Miami went 17 for 23. When asked about the disparity, Stallings said, “We shot our free throws well.”
INJURED GUARD
Brown watched from the bench and is scheduled to undergo surgery Thursday.
“I feel badly for the kid because he’s one of my favorite players in the league that doesn’t play on my team,” Stallings said. “He’s a difference-maker. They’re deep enough to absorb his loss for a while, but obviously any team would be better with him.”
UP NEXT
Pittsburgh: The Panthers play the second of three consecutive road games Saturday at No. 19 North Carolina.
Miami: The Hurricanes play at Virginia Tech on Saturday.
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Former big league outfielder Oscar Gamble dead at 68

By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Oscar Gamble, an outfielder who hit 200 home runs over 17 major league seasons and was famous during his playing days for an Afro that spilled out of his helmet, died Wednesday of a rare tumor of the jaw. He was 68.
His second wife, Lovell Woods Gamble, said he was diagnosed with a benign tumor, ameloblastoma, about nine years ago. It became ameloblastic carcinoma in 2016 and he had the first of several operations that August. Gamble, who lived in Montgomery, Alabama, entered UAB Hospital in Birmingham on Jan. 22 and died there early Wednesday. His wife said he never chewed tobacco.
A left-handed hitter known for the crouch in his batting stance, Gamble had a .265 batting average and 666 RBIs while playing for seven big league teams.
He spent seven seasons with the New York Yankees in two stints. He had an endorsement deal with Afro Sheen but had to trim his hair to comply with owner George Steinbrenner’s grooming policy when he joined the Yankees for the 1976 season.
“Pete Sheehy told him no uniform until the haircut,” Steinbrenner said in 1991, referring to the Yankees’ longtime clubhouse man. “I said, ‘Oscar, I’ve got a barber.’ They brought this guy in and he butchered him. Absolutely butchered him. I was sick to my stomach. I told Oscar, ‘It looks good,’ but I thought to myself it was absolutely the worst. There were blotches in his scalp.”
After helping win the AL pennant, Gamble became expendable when New York signed Reggie Jackson, and Gamble was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Bucky Dent. While with Texas in 1979, Gamble was dealt back to the Yankees for Mickey Rivers, and Gamble reached the World Series again with New York in 1981.
“I will not only remember Oscar for his abilities on the field, but also for his great sense of humor and the way he treated me as a young player,” former Yankees teammate and current Miami manager Don Mattingly said in a text message.
In an era of constant turmoil dominated by Steinbrenner and manager Billy Martin, Gamble described the clubhouse by saying: “They don’t think it be like it is, but it do,” according to Dan Epstein’s book “Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s.”
Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1968 after he was scouted by Buck O’Neil, Gamble made his big league debut at age 19 on Aug. 27, 1999, at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field. He pinch hit and walked at the start of the resumption of a doubleheader nightcap suspended after seven innings that June 15.
Gamble hit .225 over 24 games that year and was traded with pitcher Dick Selma to Philadelphia during the offseason for outfielder Johnny Callison. He had the last hit at Connie Mack Stadium in 1970 and after three seasons as a platoon player for the Phillies was dealt to Cleveland for outfielder Del Unser. He became a presence in the middle of the Indians’ batting order, hitting 54 home runs over three seasons.
His biggest postseason hits for the Yankees were a pair of tying home runs off Milwaukee’s Moose Haas in Games 1 and 5 of the 1981 AL Division Series. He hit .358 for the Rangers and Yankees in 1979 but had only 327 plate appearances, far fewer than needed to qualify for a batting title.
Gamble later played for San Diego and the Chicago White Sox.
In addition to his second wife, he is survived by his first wife, Juanita Kenner; two daughters from his second marriage, Kalani Lee Gamble and Kylah Lee Gamble; a daughter from his first marriage, Sheena Maureen Gamble; and two sons from his first marriage, Shane Oscar Gamble and Sean Gamble. A former minor league baseball player, Sean Gamble is a scout for the Colorado Rockies.
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Patriots’ Gronkowski expects to play in Super Bowl

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (AP) — New England Patriots star tight end Rob Gronkowski says he expects to play in Sunday’s Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Gronkowski has been in the league’s concussion protocol after taking a hit from Jacksonville’s Barry Church in the AFC championship game. He made his first public appearance on Tuesday night while playing former teammate and current Eagles running back LeGarrette Blount in a game of “Madden 18” at the Mall of America.
Gronkowski said he’s still in the concussion protocol and would leave his status up to those in charge of making medical decisions.
“Hopefully by (Wednesday),” he said. “We’ll see how it goes. I’m not the guy to say I’m out of the protocol. That’s the doctors’ calls.”
Gronkowski led the Patriots with 69 receptions for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns this season. He missed last year’s Super Bowl win against Atlanta because of a back injury.
Blount, who won two Super Bowls with Gronkowski and the Patriots before joining the Eagles, dominated his virtual matchup on Xbox in front of a packed crowd of Patriots fans at a Microsoft store. They left disappointed as Blount led his Eagles to a 33-13 win over Patriots.

Goodell wants league to look deeply into catch rule

By BARRY WILNER, AP Pro Football Writer
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Roger Goodell wants to see the mystery of the NFL’s catch rule solved, and he’s ensured that the process has begun.
The commissioner said at his annual Super Bowl news conference Wednesday that he personally sees that rule as the most obvious to address.
Asked about the scrutiny that NFL officiating came under this season, Goodell said “on the catch/no catch rule, we need to find a rule we think will address that. We certainly need to get this rule right so everyone can appreciate.”
Goodell recently spent three hours with former players, including Pro Football Hall of Famers, going over 150 plays. He said there were many good ideas offered, but as for the specifics of what should be a catch, there was little consensus.
“There were a lot of people with different perspectives and lot of disagreement in the room,” he said.
So the competition committee will dive into not only this rule, but perhaps refining the rulebook.
“I would like to start back, subtracting from the (catch) rule and look at the rule fundamentally from the start. These rules are very complex.”
He added that there were more video replay interruptions in 2017 “and I think we can look at that. How do we make the game more attractive with less stoppages is one of the things we focus on.”
“How do we use replay to ensure correcting obvious mistakes but making sure it doesn’t interrupt the flow of the game.”
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Breaking News !!! Pirates acquire Josh Smoker from the Mets!!!

The Pittsburgh Pirates today acquired left-handed relief pitcher Josh Smoker from the New York Mets in exchange for minor league pitcher Daniel Zamora and cash considerations. The announcement was made by Executive Vice President, General Manager Neal Huntington.

The 29-year-old Smoker went 1-2 with a 5.11 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 54 relief appearances last year for the Mets. He was a member of New York’s Opening Day roster before being optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on May 9.

Smoker, who was designated for assignment by New York on January 26, broke into the big leagues in 2016 and went 3-0 with a 4.70 ERA  and 25 strikeouts in 20 relief appearances. Since breaking into the big leagues, he has averaged 11.68 strikeouts per 9.0 innings in 74 appearances.