Monthly Archives: May 2018

With Sports Gambling (Almost) Legal, Here Are Some Tips for 1st-Time NFL Bettors

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The Supreme Court just overturned the federal laws that kept sports gambling illegal across most of the country. Betting parlors will be open for business at one New Jersey racetrack by Memorial Day, with more across the nation opening as soon as states scramble to adjust to the new laws, or lack thereof. By the start of football season, the opportunity to wager 100 percent legally on NFL games (and other less interesting sporting events) may literally be at your fingertips!

As law-abiding American citizens, most of us have never placed a bet on any sporting event in our lives, except maybe in March Madness pools that are really “for entertainment purposes only” (wink, wink). That means our first tentative experiments with sports gambling will be much like our honeymoon nights and our first sips of alcohol on our 21st birthdays: exciting, mysterious, somewhat clumsy maiden journeys into uncharted territory.

How bets are really currently placed: Bettors call their college roommate or bartender’s cousin or some other side-hustling local bookie about 20 minutes before kickoff, right after Jay Glazer announces the final injury reports on the Fox pregame show. That person processes bets for someone else, with several intermediaries before any money leaves the suburbs and gets anywhere near a character from Goodfellas. Your friendly neighborhood bookie deals in small sums and doesn’t have knuckle-breakers on their payroll. They’re more likely to tattle to a tardy gambler’s spouse or parents, which is a far more effective deterrent against getting in trouble.

Those rules were simple: teams don’t have to be on the show if they have a first-year head coach, have been in a playoff game in the past two seasons, or have appeared on Hard Knocks in the past 10 years. That left the Browns, 49ers, Broncos, Chargers, Ravens, and Washington.

We’re hopeful the Browns can provide more excitement than recent seasons of the show. Last season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had its moments, but was so-so overall. The year before, starring the Los Angeles Rams, was perhaps, the dullest season of Hard Knocks yet.

The Browns, coming off an 0-16 season, have been so bad for so long and have several potentially interesting storylines entering 2018. Here’s what we want to see when the new season of Hard Knocks debuts on Tuesday, Aug. 7:

It’s not like we’re rooting for chaos. The Browns coming off well and gaining some support from the general NFL fan base would be great to see! They’re underdogs (even if it’s mostly their fault), and presenting a likable team would be a win for the Browns.

NFL free agency rumors: Colts visit with safeties Kenny Vaccaro, Tre Boston

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The Colts are interested in a pair of defensive backs.

Indianapolis met with safeties Tre Boston and Kenny Vaccaro on Monday, according to a report by the NFL Network.

Vaccaro, who has spent his entire five-year career with the Saints, recorded 60 tackles and a career-high three interceptions in 2017. He also visited with the Dolphins this offseason, the report says.

He’s referring to the 2016 run to the Calder Cup Final in the American Hockey League for the Hershey Bears, the Capitals’ affiliate. They lost in the championship round, but their loss was a gain in experience for many of the young players who have populated the Capitals’ roster this season: Boyd, Walker, Vrana, Stephenson, Bowey and Djoos were all there.

“Going to the finals in Hershey obviously helps. To get a taste for it, the level of how much higher a pace it is in the regular season. But I mean, the NHL is a lot different in terms of speed and strength of guys,” said Stephenson.

Philadelphia ended the season with a Super Bowl win over the Patriots. Foles earned the game’s MVP honors after he tallied three touchdowns and 373 passing yards.

The Browns selected Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield with the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. They drafted Georgia running back Nick Chubb with the pick that was included in the potential deal for Foles.

“The way that LeBron and the team wore the clothing proves their confidence in being true individuals,” Browne wrote. “This should be inspiring to everyone and everyone should embrace seeing things differently.”

The rapper Drake piled on during the Raptors series, when he and Perkins got into a bizarre midcourt shouting match during Game 1 of the second round. Drake made a comment on Instagram afterward, sarcastically explaining that the incident happened because “I just said I liked the hem on his capris.”

The Cavs are 3-4 on the road in the playoffs, which means they are 3-4 in the suits (including 0-2 in the Eastern Conference finals heading into Game 5 on Wednesday in Boston), but the practice has become ingrained at this point, regardless of the record.

Ravens considered taking Lamar Jackson at No. 16

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The last draft of Ravens G.M. Ozzie Newsome included two trades down in round one and a trade back into the first round to get a quarterback. Making the moves more impressive is the fact that the team initially considered taking Lamar Jackson with the 16th overall pick.

Per multiple sources, there was a movement in the Baltimore draft room to take Lamar Jackson with the 16th overall pick.

Friday’s PFT Live came the morning after the first round of the draft. So the Friday PFT Live draft focused on which players will make an immediate impact.

For the back and forth through three rounds, check out the video. And even though Simms won the toss (because the toss is #rigged), I still came up with a better trio of options.

And tune in Monday for another edition of PFT Live, along with another PFT Live draft. If you have any ideas for a PFT Live draft that we can steal borrow, drop it in the comments.

But Dorsey has been willing to take chances before. He took Tyreek Hill in the fifth round for the Chiefs when other teams were unwilling to touch him at all because of a domestic violence arrest.

Now Callaway gets to join Josh Gordon in the Browns receivers room, giving the team plenty of talent but plenty of potential headaches as well.

As the draft has shifted from a New York-only experience to a traveling roadshow, one dynamic hasn’t changed: By the third day, the thrill is gone.

This year in Dallas, it has happened again. Shots from inside AT&T Stadium show a very sparse (to put it kindly) collection of fans in the stands. And while a moderate number of fans are still present on the floor of the venue, both NFL Network and ESPN have shifted their main desks outside the building, possibly due to the noticeable difference in size and energy.

Washington adds three more undrafted wide receivers

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Former Indiana wide receiver Simmie Cobbs and former San Diego State wide receiver Mikah Holder were part of a group of four undrafted rookies who signed with Washington on Monday and the team added three more wideouts to the roster on Tuesday.

That last tweet may have given more away than Warner had intended. One of his best coaching friends is Ken Whisenhunt, who currently coordinates the offense of the L.A. Chargers. The Chargers signed Geno Smith on April 3, which would mesh with his original comment that the conversation ended when the unnamed teamwent out and signed somebody.

The Rams’ defensive coordinator is entering his fifth decade of coaching in the league, his first job being an assistant coach for the Houston Oilers under his father, Bum Phillips, back in 1976.

But even as he’s been in and around the NFL significantly longer than head coach Sean McVay has been alive, Phillips laughed and saidNo when asked this week if it ever gets old to him.

“I have a job to do, and we’re really looking forward to this season, and what we’re going to be doing off the field here, and future stadiums in Washington.”

Allen worked with Gruden in Oakland and in Tampa Bay, and the speculation probably won’t go away even with the casual dismissal. Especially if he ends up at second base tonight.

During the season, Elliott and the Cowboys maintained the running back was not affected by the process. In 10 games, he ran for 983 yards and seven touchdowns on 242 carries.

Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner turns 47 next month. And he recently made clear his potential interest in returning to play, more than eight years after he retired.

I was actually ready to, for this coming season, I actually talked to a coach and my wife said, ‘Go for it, I think it would be great,’ Warner recently said during a St. Louis Cardinals broadcast.

How Manning, Roethlisberger react to Giants, Steelers drafting QBs

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Indeed Giants fans polled by NJ Advance Media before the draft favored Barkley over quarterbacks Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh and Allen, defensive end Bradley Chubb and offensive lineman Quenton Nelson, all of whom were on the board with the Giants were on the clock.

Accorsi set the Giants up with quarterback Eli Manning in 2004, when he swung a draft day draft for Manning after he went No. 1 to the Chargers. The Giants selected quarterback Phillip Rivers with the No. 4 pick that season and Barkley is the highest pick since then.

Since 2015, with a minimum of 100 catchable passes, Baldwin’s 2.76 percent drop rate is the lowest in the entire NFL, just ahead of the Saints’ Michael Thomas and the San Francisco’s Pierre Garcon. The Seahawks’ Pro Football Focus twitter account also pointed out Baldwin only dropped one out of 76 catchable balls that were thrown to him last year. Baldwin, who was recently ranked No. 99 on NFL Network’s Top 100 players, hauled in 75 catches for 991 yards and eight touchdowns in 2017.

He is down in Tampa, Boone said before Tuesday’s game against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. He is doing baseball activities outside.

He was actually under the weather (Monday) so he was sent home (Monday) but he’s fairly healthy and outside and running and hitting and doing all that so hopefully on his way to again to getting to a point where we can consider getting him into some games.

But I would think that’s a little ways off. But he is doing all baseball stuff outside and running and hopefully on his way.

Austin cracked a smile hearing when he heard what Kelly said for the first time.

He’s worried about that? Austin said. Nobody’s going to throw anything at him. And I don’t want anything to happen. I don’t want anybody to throw things at a player. That’s how you can get hurt.

Rob Gronkowski ends speculation, tells Patriots he’s playing this year

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Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, met Tuesday with New England coach Bill Belichick, telling him that Gronkowski will play for the Patriots this season. The decision ends speculation that Gronkowski could retire.

“It was very positive, and Rob is committed,” Rosenhaus told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

A source told Schefter that Gronkowski will not be traded this season.

Saunders identified the suspected driver detained after the incident as Alek Minassian, a 25-year-old from the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill.

Authorities released few details in the case, saying the investigation was still underway, with witnesses being interviewed and surveillance video examined.

“I can assure the public all our available resources have been brought in to investigate this tragic situation,” Peter Yuen, deputy chief of Toronto Police Services, said.

The incident occurred as Cabinet ministers from the major industrial countries were gathered in Canada to discuss a range of international issues in the run-up to the G7 meeting near Quebec City in June.

Canada’s minister of public safety said it was too soon to say whether the incident is a case of international terrorism.

After losing 108-98 on Wednesday to go down 3-2 in the first-round series, the Wizards return to Washington, where they’ve won eight straight playoff games, including Games 3 and 4 against the Raptors.

The Wizards led 87-82 with 8:52 remaining in Game 5 when Toronto turned things around with an 8-0 run that saw Wall uncharacteristically get the ball stripped twice.

Washington’s All-Star backcourt of Wall and Bradley Beal missed 8 of 9 shots in the final nine minutes and were limited to a total of three shot attempts in the last three minutes.

“We felt like we let one slip away,” said Wall, who finished with 26 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 7 turnovers. “But at the same time, we played aggressive, we just didn’t make shots. They made the bigger shots at the end of the game. Other than two or three turnovers, we got all the looks we wanted in the fourth quarter.

“Look at the percentages — to shoot 41 percent and then be 5-for-26 from 3 and have a chance to win it on the road … you couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Washington forward Kelly Oubre Jr. said the Wizards’ mood after the game remained upbeat.

Cubs aim for third win in a row over Brewers

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As the Chicago Cubs have spent the first month of the season toiling around .500, manager Joe Maddon has remained patient with a starting rotation that until now has struggled with consistency.

But after back-to-back impressive outings from Kyle Hendricks and Yu Darvish in consecutive victories over the Milwaukee Brewers, Maddon hopes his starters will continue to find their footing.

Jose Quintana will look to give the Cubs a third straight win over the Brewers, who entered this weekend’s four-game series having won eight straight games. After Hendricks and Darvish were instrumental in two one-run wins — including Friday’s 3-2 victory in which Darvish struck out eight and allowed just one run in six innings — Quintana hopes to keep the Cubs rolling in the right direction.

Meanwhile, the Brewers will look to get back to their winning ways. While each of their eight straight wins before Thursday’s 2-1 loss came against losing teams, the Brewers have now dropped four of five games to the Cubs this season.

“I’m getting there for sure,” Curry claimed Friday. “I’ve done a lot in the last two weeks, especially with my feet, getting back to movements that I may do in a game. My knee feels pretty good. I don’t have any pain.”

Curry, who suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee in a collision with teammate JaVale McGee in a game against Atlanta, missed the most recent game against the Pelicans on April 3.

New Orleans won that game 126-120 to salvage one win in the four-game season series.

That win was one of just two the Pelicans have managed against the Warriors in their last 28 meetings, including Golden State’s first-round sweep in 2015 en route to their first of two titles in the last three seasons.

What the Warriors saw earlier this month, however, was impressive, as the new-look Pelicans, without injured center DeMarcus Cousins but with newcomer Nikola Mirotic, were firing on all cylinders on Golden State’s home court.

Bradley Chubb excited to pair up with, provide help for, DE Von Miller

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If Von Miller’s happiest of happy dances is any indication, there may not be anyone with the Denver Broncos more fired up about defensive end Bradley Chubb being their first-round draft pick than Miller.

And Friday, in his first visit to the team’s suburban Denver complex, Chubb said the feeling is certainly mutual. Miller, in Las Vegas, had posted a video on his Instagram account of his over-the-top reaction after the Broncos’ selection of Chubb was broadcast live Thursday night.

Broncos coach Vance Joseph said Bradley Chubb will play outside linebacker in the team’s 3-4 scheme. He weighed 272 pounds at the scouting combine and offered Friday he was “about 268.”

Finally, it boiled over in the fourth quarter, as Jae Crowder and Carmelo Anthony got into it, with Crowder hitting Adams with an elbow to the jaw. Crowder was assessed a technical and ejected.

“It’s basketball. It’s the playoffs,” Jazz forward Derrick Favors said. “Guys get physical doing certain things. As long as you don’t hurt yourself and don’t do anything crazy, just got to keep your composure and get on to the next play sometimes.”

Leafs coach Mike Babcock said the team was saddened by news of the “senseless deaths” from Monday’s incident.

“We’re fortunate to live in such a fantastic city with great first responders, and the work they’ve done,” Babcock said during his postgame media availability. “But it’s so important that we rally around these people, help out and do whatever we can. We have a fantastic city. We can’t let this get in the way of what we’ve got going. Tragic to say the least.”

“We’re sending all our love,” said Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner, who scored the tiebreaking goal and added an assist in Toronto’s 3-1 win. “This is a big win for us after an emotional day.”

Five years ago, the Bruins and Leafs met in the first round of the playoffs two weeks after the Boston Marathon bombings occurred. Bombing victim Jeff Bauman served as the Bruins’ Game 2 banner captain.

Michael Vick to be offensive coordinator in new football league

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Former NFL quarterback Michael Vick, who rose to stardom as a member of the Atlanta Falcons, will be an offensive coordinator for Atlanta’s Alliance of American Football team.

The Alliance of American Football, the professional football league that is scheduled to debut next February, announced Wednesday morning that it will have a team in Atlanta that will play at Georgia State Stadium.

“This is his team,” Vick said of Childress. “I’m just a guy here to help players develop. Obviously to dive into the offense and make suggestions, be a crutch for Coach, but we’re going to follow his lead. When he thinks I’m ready I’ll graduate to the next level along with everybody else.”

It has been quite the comeback for Vick, who was an outcast after he spent 18 months in prison for his involvement in a dogfighting ring. After his release, he played seven more seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Jets and a brief stint with the Pittsburgh Steelers, ending his playing career in 2015.

Vick filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008, saying that he owed $17.6 million to creditors. Vick paid back $17.4 million of it. Not having faith that Vick would do so, the Falcons sold the $6.5 million he owed them to a bank at a discount.

The ill will between Vick and the Falcons has since been pushed aside. In June, the team honored Vick, who was named to three Pro Bowls during his six seasons (2001-06) in Atlanta, where he threw for 71 touchdowns on 11,505 yards passing. He also became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

“He scored going to the net, dirty areas,” said Cassidy, whose team opens the second round against the Lightning in Tampa Bay on Saturday. “That’s always the first thing: play inside, be willing to get hit, fight for your space. That’s playoff hockey. They weren’t freebies. They’ve been real greasy, as advertised.”

Five years after rallying from a three-goal, third-period deficit and beating Toronto in Game 7 of their first-round series, the Bruins again scored four straight goals to eliminate the Maple Leafs. After Kasperi Kapanen put Toronto ahead 4-3 with a short-handed goal in the second, Torey Krug tied it, DeBrusk gave Boston the lead with 14:35 to play.

Despite the final score, the teams were tied or separated by one goal for the first 2 1/2 periods, until David Pastrnak made it 6-4 with 8:21 to play. Brad Marchand flipped one into the empty net with 51 seconds left to set off a celebration in the stands.

NHL attempts to explain rationale behind recent rash of head-shot bans

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Drew Doughty watched other playoff games this season and couldn’t believe that George Parros, the NHL’s discipline czar, had suspended him for a head shot.

“I saw four hits last night that deserved more than that,” the Los Angeles Kings defenseman said.

Meeting with Associated Press sports editors last week, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman insisted there was nothing new about the subject. Asked about player safety, Bettman said Parros is off to a good start in the former enforcer’s first season as vice president of player safety. He said he is proud of player safety’s transparency in the form of videos detailing the reasons for suspending a player.

“Sometimes we get accused of splitting hairs, but that’s exactly what they have to do,” Bettman said. “I think he’s reached the appropriate conclusion when it’s been a hockey play that doesn’t transcend the rules, and I think he’s been appropriately punitive in cases where it warranted it. There’s never going to be a shortage of critics of what they do.”

Top draft prospect Josh Allen took responsibility for tweets he sent while he was in high school after they were made public Wednesday night, noting that their release put him “in a panic.”

“If I could go back in time, I would never have done this in a heartbeat,” Allen told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen on Thursday. “At the time, I obviously didn’t know how harmful it was and now has become.

He said some of the messages might have been sent by friends, as they occasionally took each other’s phones to send tweets.

Allen noted that the attention the tweets have garnered marred the run-up to the first round of the NFL draft Thursday night.

“It sucks,” Allen told Mortensen. “My family is hurting. We never envisioned a day or night like this.”

A team with a top-five draft pick told Schefter that it knew nothing about the tweets and that it had “never heard anything but positives” about Allen.