GALESBURG, Ill. – RFMS Racing owner Don Fike has announced his team will not continue to participate in the ARCA Menards Series.

Fike, who has been involved in racing for more than 50 years, has decided to sell his race team and step away from ownership. Travis Braden, who won the Snowball Derby in December, drove for RFMS Racing the last two seasons.

“I almost sold the team after the 2017 season,” Fike said in a press release Thursday evening. “I had a bicycle accident that year, which ultimately made my Parkinson’s symptoms worsen. My doctor and I talked about reducing my stress, so I decided to stop racing. My wife and some of my closest friends could tell how miserable I was with my decision to sell, so they talked me into doing it another year or two. But it’s time now. As much as I love racing, I just don’t need the extra responsibility anymore.”

Fike has spent more than 50 years either driving a race car, working on a race car, sponsoring race cars or owning them. He developed his life-long passion during his college years, when he put together his first stock car. He competed in a six-cylinder races at local tracks in Illinois such as the Mazon Speedbowl, where he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.

Fike continued with his late model driving career for many years before developing RFMS Racing in 1996. RFMS Racing raced midgets and Silver Crown cars in the United States Auto Club, in addition to a number of different sanctioning bodies, including ARCA.

“I am very proud of finishing 4th in driver points and 7th in owner points in the ARCA Menards Series in 2019,” Fike said. “ARCA was such a competitive series, we learned a lot, and it was a fun change of pace from the open wheel stuff. One of the things I am most proud of in my career though is our USAC National Midget Championship in 2012 against some very tough competition. I will also always remember our Springfield wins in the USAC Silver Crown Car and the ARCA car with my son, A.J.. We were proud to win at that home track in both series. The most important thing though is all the friends I have made doing this. I really have some of my closest friends and best memories from being involved in racing.”

Fike plans to continue his Racing for Others Program, where adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are able to attend a race.

“We take them to the track, give them t- shirts, a meal, have drivers stop by and sign autographs,” Fike said. “They have a great time, and it is something that they wouldn’t normally be able to do. We cover all the expenses, and put them up in a suite and everything. It has become one of the things I look forward to the most.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A year ago, Oliver Jarvis broke a 36-year-old record on the 3.56-mile Daytona Int’l Speedway circuit to win the Motul Pole Award for the Rolex 24.

Jarvis didn’t quite break his own track record of one minute, 33.685 seconds on Thursday afternoon in qualifying for the 58th Rolex 24 At Daytona. But he did win his second consecutive Motul Pole Award in the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT-24P Daytona Prototype international machine and once again will roll off the grid at the head of the field on Saturday afternoon when the twice-around-the-clock classic gets under way at 1:30 p.m.

Jarvis posted a best lap of 1:33.711 (136.760 mph) eight minutes into what was supposed to be a 15-minute qualifying session to take the provisional pole. Four minutes later, with Jarvis still holding the top spot, Ricky Taylor spun and crashed the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi machine in the bus stop.

The checkered flag wave shortly thereafter Taylor’s incident, with Jarvis on the pole for the second straight year. It was the British driver’s fourth career IMSA pole.

RELATED: Tandy Sets Daytona GT Le Mans Qualifying Record

“What a car [the team] just gave me,” said Jarvis, who is co-driving the No. 77 with Tristan Nunez and Olivier Pla. “I cannot say ‘Thank you’ enough. This year feels different. This year feels business-like. Last year, there was a huge amount of emotion. It was the first time. This year, it feels like we came in to do a job and this is just a small part of what we want to achieve this weekend.”

Jarvis will share the front row with reigning WeatherTech Championship DPi champion Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05. Montoya – a three-time overall Rolex 24 winner – posted a best lap of 1:34.154 in the car he is sharing with his 2019 DPi co-champion, Dane Cameron, and 2019 Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud.

Third on the grid went to Jonathan Bomarito in the other Mazda Team Joest entry. Bomarito turned in a best time of 1:34.169 (136.095 mph) in the No. 55 DPi that he is co-driving this weekend with Harry Tincknell and 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay.

Brazilian Felipe Nasr, the 2018 WeatherTech Championship Prototype champion, qualified fourth in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R at 1:34.294 (135.915 mph) and Ryan Briscoe rounded out the top five in the 2019 Rolex 24-winning No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R. Briscoe’s best qualifying lap was a 1:34.442 (135.702 mph).

Texan Ben Keating claimed the second Motul Pole Award of his 10-year IMSA career and his first LMP2 pole with a best lap of 1:37.446 (131.519 mph) aboard the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA.

He’s pulling double duty this weekend, driving in both the LMP2 class in the No. 52 machine and the GT Daytona class in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3. Keating will have to complete at least four-and-a-half hours in each car and can’t drive more than four hours in any six-hour period.

Keating, who is sharing the No. 52 with Nick Boulle, Gabriel Aubry and Simon Trummer and the No. 74 with Gar Robinson, Lawson Aschenbach and Felipe Fraga, was pleased to earn the Motul Pole Award. He also believes the starting position offers significant benefits.

“I don’t feel like qualifying is a huge deal in a 24-hour race like this, but for the P2 class, it does give a big advantage,” Keating said. “At the beginning of the race, the GTLM cars are right behind us. They’re a little bit heavier and they get heat in their tires and warm up a little bit quicker. I feel like it’s one of their main objectives to pass as many of the P2 cars to separate themselves from the cars behind them.

“Being in front of the P2 class will give me a little bit more room to warm up my tires and get going. I’m very excited about it.”

Henrik Hedman qualified second at 1:37.728 (131.139 mph) in the No. 81 ORECA for the DragonSpeed USA team, which won the LMP2 class in last year’s Rolex 24. Hedman’s co-drivers this weekend are Ben Hanley, Colin Braun and Harrison Newey.

John Farano will start third in the LMP2 class after a best qualifying lap of 1:39.275 (129.095 mph) in the No. 8 Tower Motorsport by Starworks ORECA. He’ll go into battle this weekend with a trio of co-drivers that all have won at least one 24 Hours of Le Mans – Ryan Dalziel, David Heinemeier Hansson and Nicolas Lapierre. Dalziel also scored an overall Rolex 24 victory back in 2010.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In track record pace, Nick Tandy put the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR-19 on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans pole Thursday for the 58th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Tandy’s time of one minute, 42.207 (125.392 mph) bettered his own track record set a year ago. And it also marked the fourth time (2013, 2016, 2019, 2020) that Tandy has captured the pole for the WeatherTech Championship season opener, which ties Scott Pruett for the most Rolex 24 pole wins by a driver.

“It’s a great start to the year in our defense of the championship,” Tandy said. “I’ve got some new teammates this year, so it’s great to share it with those guys.

“A new car, and it all starts with a one-two, so I can’t be happier.”

RELATED: Jarvis & Mazda Claim Rolex 24 Pole

As Tandy referenced, the sister No. 912 Porsche GT Team car driven by Laurens Vanthoor completed the front row with a lap of 1:42.256 (125.332 mph).

While the Porsches swept the front row, the Corvette C8.Rs did the same for the second row. Antonio Garcia qualified the No. 3 Corvette Racing in third with a time of 1:42.545 (124.979 mph) and the No. 4 entry driven by Tommy Milner was fourth in 1:42.801 (124.668).

In GT Daytona, the new partnership between Pfaff Motorsports and Motul could not be off to a better start.

The No. 9 Pfaff Porsche 911 GT3 R claimed the first Motul Pole Award of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona season for the Rolex 24.

Motul, already the official motor oil of IMSA, struck up a partnership with the Canadian-based team in December following its first season in IMSA’s top-tier series.

Behind the wheel of the Porsche was Zacharie Robichon, whose time of one minute, 45.237 seconds (121.798 MPH), bested the previous track record by .02 seconds set in 2019 by Marco Gomes. The last time Porsche swept both GT pole positions was at Virginia Int’l Raceway in 2019, with both Tandy and Robichon the successors again in their respective classes.

“Last year, we had a couple of pole positions and that was the beginning of the relationship with Motul,” said Robichon. “As our first official race with them, it was nice to embrace it this way. I think there’s no better way to get the relationship started, but obviously it’s just the beginning and we’re looking forward to everything that comes next.”

In addition to two previous Motul Pole Awards last season, Robichon scored two victories with Pfaff in 2019 and was also crowned the inaugural WeatherTech Sprint Cup champion.

The car had been quick all day at the World Center of Racing on Thursday, with the No. 9 Porsche second on the charts in both of the day’s two practice sessions. Robichon will be co-driving in this weekend’s twice-around-the-clock event with Dennis Olsen, Lars Kern and Patrick Pilet.

While it won’t be hard to spot the plaid on track, it won’t be hard to spot the drivers in the paddock or in the pits as well. In addition to the new sponsorship, Pfaff is sporting new, eye-catching firesuits with bright red plaid from the waist up and dark grey solid print from the waist down.

“It ended up being quite popular last year, so we decided to take it a step further this year and do the suits,” said Robichon. To me, it feels natural. This is basically what I wear at home most of the time. I fit right in. We get a couple looks but I think most people are used to it by now. The first time we wore it, we did get a couple people looking at us sideways, but we cherish it and at least it gets people talking.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – An impressive, strategic lap in mixed conditions rewarded Kuno Wittmer and the AWA team with the first IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge pole position of the year.

In his first showing with AWA, the Quebecker posted a fastest lap of one minute, 52.951 seconds (113.465 mph) in the No. 13 McLaren GT4 for the team’s first Motul Pole Award since joining the series in 2017.

“It’s awesome, it’s hats off to the AWA team and McLaren and everyone involved,” said Wittmer. “This deal came together quite late and now it’s time to get the job done with (co-driver) Orey (Fidani) behind the wheel and myself tomorrow. We’ve got a pretty good strategy lined up.”

With a stacked 33-car Grand Sport class field, Wittmer described how the perfect lap came to be with perfect timing.

“The lap was not easy,” Wittmer said. “We saw the times clicking off and who was putting pace down. It was all about getting that gap and not getting hooked up with the slower traffic coming out of pit lane. The team did a great job. They guided me the right way. They told me when to go, it was the perfect amount of fuel in the car, the perfect tire pressure and you can’t do more than that. You just put the lap down.”

Carbahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing will kickoff their quest for back-to-back GS championships from outside the front row, with Jeff Westphal and Tyler McQuarrie returning to the lineup in the No. 39 Audi R8 GT4. Starting third will be Winward Racing’s No. 33 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Indy Dontje and Russell Ward.

In TCR, Florida’s own Tim Lewis made Pilot Challenge history on Thursday by earning the first Motul Pole Award for Alfa Romeo.

Piloting the No. 5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta in the TCR class, the Boca Raton native edged out the rest of the 18-car field with a qualifying time of 1:59.296 (107.430 mph). For the second consecutive year in this car, Lewis will be co-driving with Roy Block.

In the team’s initial season in TCR, the team’s only top-five finish came at the penultimate round in WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, coming home in fourth.

“It was a trying offseason, a lot of development was put into the car after a difficult 2019 season,” said Lewis. “We’re really proud to have the local Alfa Romeo of Daytona on the car and we’re looking forward to a good race tomorrow.

“To be honest, we were pretty off in the wet and it was mixed conditions. We went out in the 15-minute session before qualifying and it was drying up. I knew we needed to go to dry’s obviously and the track dried up just enough in one lane to get a good lap in.”

Hot on their tails with the second-best lap will be the No. 21 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Veloster N of Harry Gottsacker and 2019 TCR co-champion Mark Wilkins. Starting third in its IMSA debut will be Team Premat’s No. 18 Audi RS3 LMS, qualified by rookie Stephen Vajda and co-driven by Alexandre Premat.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Sharks owner Hasso Plattner gave general manager Doug Wilson a vote of confidence Thursday with his team mired in 13th place in the Western Conference.

Plattner said the entire organization is disappointed in the performance so far but he believes Wilson can lead the team back to contention.

"Doug has a long history of leading our team to success," Plattner said. "The last time we failed to meet our winning standards in the 2014-15 season, we were able to quickly rebound and re-establish a winning culture for the next several years. I am supportive of Doug's plan to get our team back on track."

The Sharks have missed the playoffs only once since Wilson took over as general manager in May 2003. The team made it fifth conference final last season under Wilson's leadership and made the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 in the season after his only missed postseason.

The Sharks have been one of the league's bigger disappointments this season with a 21-25-4 record. They are 11 points out of a playoff spot with 32 games to play.

San Jose ranks 28th out of 31 teams in goals per game with 2.56 as young players have failed to develop into legitimate threats in the NHL. The team also has the fifth-worst save percentage at .898 as starter Martin Jones struggled and has lost time to Aaron Dell.

Wilson fired coach Peter DeBoer last month and replaced him with interim coach Bob Boughner. The team has been unable to rebound since that change and could be looking to trade away some assets before next month's trade deadline.

Defensemen Brenden Dillon and Tim Heed and forward Melker Karlsson are all eligible to become unrestricted free agents next summer and could be dealt for draft picks or prospects.

The Sharks also announced that Jonathan Becher has been named sole president of Sharks Sports & Entertainment, effective immediately. Becher will also serve as an alternate governor for the franchise with the NHL.

John Tortora, who has served as co-president with Becher since 2017, will be leaving the organization to pursue other opportunities but will remain in an advisory position to the organization until the end of June.

Wilson will continue to oversee the hockey operations department and continue to report directly to Plattner.

ST. LOUIS -- Even when he skips the event, Alex Ovechkin is the talk of the NHL All-Star Game.

Ovechkin closed out the first half of the season with back-to-back hat tricks and eight goals in three games. He sits at 692 career goals, putting him just eight away from becoming the eighth player in NHL history to reach 700 goals. At 34, Ovechkin has a realistic shot at challenging Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL record of 894 goals.

"If anybody's going to do it, it's obviously him," said Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs on the eve of NHL All-Star Weekend. "I think when it's all said and done, he can break that record and I think it would be pretty sweet to see."

Patrick Kane of the Blackhawks, who has 381 career goals in 13 seasons, doesn't see a reason why Ovechkin couldn't break the record.

"I mean, 700 goals is a lot of goals and I think he's still pretty young to reach that milestone," he said.

But Ovechkin won't be scoring any goals in St. Louis this weekend. For the second straight season, he's skipping the All-Star Game and will serve a mandatory one-game suspension when the Capitals visit Montreal on Monday.

"I have to listen to my body. I have to get ready for the second half of the year. I have to be healthy and focus on different things," Ovechkin said in announcing his decision on Dec. 27.

Kane has yet to skip an All-Star Game in his career, having played in nine.

"I think it's important, first and foremost, to represent the NHL and the Blackhawks. It's an honor to be selected. It's pretty rare to see guys selected every year to be in the All-Star Game," he said. "And you don't want to take the rest and miss a game. You want to play as many games as you can."

Kane said he understands why Ovechkin made the decision.

"I think everyone's gotta make their own decision and all you can do is respect his. His team's in a good position," Kane said of the Capitals, who lead the NHL with 71 points. "He feels he needs to rest for them to go on a long playoff run. That's his decision, you know, I mean, I guess he can respect that, too."

The Blackhawks, meanwhile, are three points out of the last wild-card spot in the West.

"You look at his team, his team's first in their division, they're gonna make the playoffs," Kane said. "It's probably not that big of a deal for him to miss a game, right? And, you know for us, we're fighting for a playoff spot. I think it's an honor to be here. I think it's pretty special to create some memories here. And also for me, I feel like I wouldn't want to miss a regular-season game especially given the spot our team is in."

The NHL had little concern over Ovechkin's absence two years ago, after leading the Capitals to the Stanley Cup in the previous season. But skipping two All-Star Games in a row is "probably something we do need to address with the players' association, so it doesn't become a trend," deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the ESPN on Ice podcast this month.

Ovechkin's coach, Todd Reirden, will be behind the bench for the Metro Division. Naturally, he doesn't want to miss Ovechkin for a game. But he understands his winger's decision.

"Obviously, it's a difficult decision and a decision that he spent a lot of time with," Reirden said. "I think at this time of his career, he knows what he needs to do to make himself be the best player that he can in the second half of the year and, in particular, to go on the run that we had two years ago. He felt like this is the right thing. It's obviously difficult to be missing him for a [regular-season] game, but his ultimate goal is winning another Stanley Cup. If he thinks this is the best way to do it, then I'm all in."

The NHL appears to have gotten the message that its star players want the All-Star Game's skills competitions to be challenging but not debilitating.

It was outright painful to watch seasoned professionals struggle with carrying the puck through some convoluted, light-up gate or fruitlessly send 100 passes toward a tiny net on the other end of the ice. Those competitions were turfed for this year's All-Star Weekend in St. Louis. Instead, the NHL will have its players shoot pucks over the crowd at targets on the ice in an event that's part Topgolf, part Dude Perfect.

Now that's more like it.

Of course, there are many ways the skills competition could increase the fun factor even more. Here are 10 ways to make the All-Star weekend event an even greater spectacle.

Country vs. country

For years, the skills competition was tied to the All-Star Game by having the conferences and the divisions battle one another for superiority. As with the "bragging rights" on the line in the All-Star Game, no one really cared.

But hockey is a team sport, and palpable stakes can take any exhibition and make it more meaningful. What if the skills competition -- and the All-Star Game, for that matter -- were configured with teams made up of Canadians, Americans and two European factions battling for supremacy?

If you're down with this concept, great news: The NHL is planning to recalibrate All-Star Weekend into some kind of international affair next season. Does that mean a return to North America vs. The World, a previously used format? That isn't likely, given how much interest the Canada vs. USA rivalry generates.

Our modest proposal: USA vs. Canada vs. a Sweden/Finland team ... cue the WWE-esque "but can they work together?!" questions ... eh, who knows? Just call it Team Ovechkin and have all the Russians, Czechs, Slovaks and Anze Kopitar play under the banner. Maybe that'll get Ovi to actually show up for an All-Star Game.

Strike that: Next season's game is in South Florida. He's definitely showing up.

An 'American Gladiator'-style obstacle course

The NHL dumped its Puck Control Relay because it finally learned the difference between "difficult painful" and "difficult fun."

Painful: Having players look like helpless beer leaguers as they struggle to carry pucks through light-up gates.

Fun: Having players control the puck while being pummeled by those giant jousting Q-tips from "American Gladiators," wielded by opposing teams' All-Stars. This is exactly how it used to be in the slot every night before the slashing crackdown.

Sticking with the "Gladiators" theme, this could be a creative way for the goalies to get more involved in the competition. It's universally accepted that the best American Gladiators event was the one with the tennis ball cannons. Who among us doesn't want to see Jordan Binnington manning a Gatling gun and spraying Dunlop Pro Tours at the skaters? And don't give me the, "hey, that's dangerous" bit. These people step in front of Shea Weber slap shots.

Get nostalgic

There's a reason Vince McMahon keeps bringing back 50-year-old wrestlers for his biggest events: Nostalgia is an easy sell.

As much as the NHL has minted new stars in the past decade, there's always going to be a buzz in the crowd when the big names from yesteryear show up. In fact, some of the greatest moments from the league's outdoor games came from seeing retired players face one another in alumni exhibitions. Using retired players -- especially from the home market -- in the All-Star skills competition would have the same effect.

Now, it might be asking a lot to want Mike Gartner to still have his fastest skater wheels at 60 years old, but there are plenty of events in which a nostalgia act could thrive: Are you telling me Peter Forsberg or Sergei Zubov, to mention a recent Hall of Famer, don't still have the hands for something like shot accuracy? Or that Teemu Selanne couldn't shoot, and Martin Brodeur couldn't save, a breakaway attempt?

Considering how many ex-players live in the St. Louis area, this would be an ideal location to trot out some alumni. In fact, we'd be surprised if the NHL doesn't call on some of them for this weekend's events.

Score-O

Why do we watch sports? To witness the best athletes in the world do what we feebly attempt to do on playgrounds, in gymnasiums and during beer league games.

The same principle applies here: Let's see the NHL's top stars attempt to succeed at that time-tested, between-periods skills competition for the fans in which they shoot the puck from the red line through a tiny hole at the bottom of the net. And let's incentivize this thing properly: The winner of Score-O wins a car, just like the fans do.

Human bowling

You can keep your sumo wrestler suits and tricycle races. The single greatest between-periods gimmick I've ever witnessed at a game is human bowling, and it would be ideal for the NHL All-Star skills competition.

We are now slinging @WCPSS teachers down the ice in human bowling at the Cool School Field Trip✌???#Readvolution pic.twitter.com/R4wzZxa7hj

— Jon Chase (@JChasesthoughts) February 21, 2018

This is just the right amount of ridiculousness for the players. Plus, having an All-Star Game with Chris Kreider that doesn't feature him speeding down the ice before barreling into something seems like a missed opportunity.

The big switch

You know who doesn't get to have fun at the NHL All-Star skills competition? Goalies. It's true that they get their own event, the Save Streak, in which the netminders attempt to make the most consecutive saves in a row. But that's the goalies performing their normal task, which is depriving others of joy.

What if the roles were reversed? What if goalies were to take off their pads and masks, grab skaters' sticks and participate in the other side of the shootout? And what if skaters then strapped on the pads and masks, picked up goalie paddles and attempted to stop them? Aside from the potential of a groin tear by a novice goalie, this is an unbeatable idea.

Fastest skaters relay

Fact: Relay races are more fun than sprints. The dynamics of the race change during each leg. The handoffs -- and the risk of a dropped baton -- are thrilling. Also, relays accentuate teamwork, which, again, is a hallmark of hockey. While we love to see Connor McDavid fly solo in the fastest skater competition, the anticipation of his anchor leg in a hockey relay would be tremendous.

(Also, the baton should totally be a tiny Stanley Cup passed among players. If they're superstitious about touching it, even better.)

NHL Jam, multi-puck edition

Although it's rather unfathomable, there are some people who think 3-on-3 overtime is a bastardization of hockey. Those are the poor souls we have in mind when we suggest the following skills competition: 2-on-2 hockey.

Basically, make it NBA Jam for the NHL: a series of short, 2-on-2 games between skaters, with no goalies. Play within one zone, like a half-court hoops game. It'll be an exhibition of skill, a literal GIF fest. The only thing missing would be a flaming puck for hot shooters, as the NHL clearly frowns upon lighting equipment on fire at the All-Star Game.

But if we must have goalies, let's take it in this direction: Two skaters vs. two skaters plus the goalies, with multiple pucks on the ice at all times, and any of them can be used to score. Heck, make some of them "money pucks" worth more than one goal. Have fun with it.

This is a great idea because everything the NHL has ever imported from the NBA has worked brilliantly, like Gary Bettman.

Dodgeball

On-ice dodgeball used to be reserved for mascots and Rob Gronkowski -- so just "mascots," now that we think about it. But in a recent Storm Surge celebration, the Carolina Hurricanes brought dodgeball onto NHL ice:

Nobody makes me bleed my own blood. Nobody! pic.twitter.com/slAW7mfSvW

— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) January 22, 2020

Why not bring dodgeball into the NHL skills competition? It's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off.

Finally, make it truly the best of the best

Let's talk about Cedric Ceballos.

He played 609 games for five teams in the NBA. He led the Los Angeles Lakers in scoring during 1994-95 and led the association in field goal percentage in 1992-93. But if you remember him, you remember for one thing: winning the slam dunk competition in 1992 by throwing one down while wearing a blindfold. Mention his name nearly 30 years later, and that's still his legacy.

Skills competitions can forge the reputations of players who aren't otherwise perennial All-Stars. We saw that, in a way, with Dylan Larkin in the fastest skater contest. It's entirely possible that more people know him from that achievement than from any of his exploits with the Detroit Red Wings.

The NHL skills competition has become too insular. The NBA has players who aren't in the All-Star Game increase their profiles by participating in the skills competition. The same should happen in the NHL. Take Nikolaj Ehlers of the Jets. His 13.03 seconds at Winnipeg's recent in-house skills competition were faster than any time in the NHL All-Star fastest skater event.

Why not have Ehlers take on McDavid & Co. -- and maybe have that Cedric Ceballos moment?

Or are we missing the more obvious lesson to be drawn from Cedric Ceballos?

Blindfold NHL skills competitions. Maybe next season.

SAN DIEGO – It’s not as though Rory McIlroy had been plodding his way through life with a light touch, particularly not at last year’s Open Championship, but it was the Northern Irishman’s emotional week at Royal Portrush where he came to a curious conclusion.

Following his missed cut in the first major played in Northern Ireland in more than a half century, McIlroy said he realized that treading lightly and playing things safe really aren’t his thing.

“It doesn't serve me as a golfer to try to be careful, to try to play conservatively or the way maybe some other people play,” McIlroy explained this week at Torrey Pines. “I have my own style of play and most of the times it works, sometimes it doesn't, but sometimes I get into situations and I become a little too conservative and I become a little too careful.”

For those who might be curious what reckless abandon looks like, at least for McIlroy, it was a 309-yard drive down the fifth hole Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open that set up a two-putt birdie. Some would consider his play on the par-5 fifth hole effortless – artistic, even – but when he talks of the lessons learned from that gutting week at Royal Portrush, this is what he means – a bold drive over the edge of a fairway bunker and a long iron to 20 feet.

Although McIlroy already has two starts under his belt this wraparound season, including a playoff victory in China and a tie for third in Japan, Torrey Pines feels like a fresh start for the reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year following an extended hiatus that he desperately needed.

“I played 52 events, 53 including the Ryder Cup, in 2018 and 2019, so I was ready for a break,” said McIlroy, who is making his first start since November. “I had a busy couple of years. I played 27, 28 [events] including the Ryder Cup in 2018 and then I played 25 last year. I was ready for a few weeks off.”

McIlroy referred to the Farmers Insurance Open as a “standing start” but he didn’t show many signs of rust on Day 1. He made the turn on the more user-friendly North Course at 2 under and rebounded from a bogey at No. 13 with three birdies over his final five holes for a first-round 67 and a share of third place.

Considering how dominant he was to close the 2019 calendar it only makes sense he’d pick up where he left off, but McIlroy didn’t exactly begin the week with wild expectations. Like many players in the field, he’d been tinkering with a new driver that, until Wednesday’s pro-am, felt like the perfect fit.

“That driver (which he used for Round 1) went in my bag at about 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon, so no,” said McIlroy when asked if he expected to get off to a fast start. “There’s things that seem really good on the range, but once you actually play some rounds with them competitively and try to hit certain shots, things sort of appear. A couple things appeared that I didn’t like yesterday in the pro-am.”

McIlroy’s driver has always been his calling card, and despite the 11th-hour scramble to find a replacement, he hit 11 of 14 fairways Thursday and generally did what he does best by overpowering the North Course.

“I drove the ball as well as I’ve done in a long time today,” he said.

For Rory, this is what he means when he explains that a cautious approach really doesn’t work for him. That could change Friday when he transitions to the historically more demanding South Course, but don’t count on it.

On the line for McIlroy this week is a return to No. 1 in the world ranking if he were to win, as well as a jumpstart in his quest to win six times, which he revealed this week is his benchmark for this season.

“Five is the most that I've ever won and I would like to top that at some point, so I think that six number is still something that I strive towards,” he said.

Setting a mark like six victories is bold, just like his play on Day 1, which is exactly what McIlroy was hoping for.

SAN DIEGO – Tiger Woods was pleased with his play and his score, a 3-under 69 on the North Course, Thursday at the Farmers Insurance Open, but if his body language was any indication he was particularly happy with the way he drove the ball.

Although statistically his game off the tee wasn’t perfect, he hit 8 of 14 fairways, it was how he was able to shape and control his golf ball that gave him optimism following some high-profile equipment changes.

Woods switched to the new TaylorMade SIM driver this week as well as a new Tour B XS golf ball from Bridgestone.

“I felt like the start lines were a little bit tighter, which was nice. Felt like I shaped the ball well off the tees. I didn't quite get as many fairways as I needed to today, but overall all my misses were in good spots,” Woods said. 

Woods had also been experimenting with TaylorMade’s new SIM Max fairway woods but he didn’t make that switch on Day 1.

Woods said the new driver and golf ball combination have added speed to his swing, but he was more focused on being able to keep the ball in play at Torrey Pines.

“I kind of just chipped it around a little bit today and I didn't quite let it go,” he said. “I felt like I just had to miss the ball in the correct spots, which I was able to do all day today.”

SAN DIEGO – It was a milestone day for Tiger Woods.

He didn’t win his 83rd PGA Tour victory and eclipse Sam Snead on the all-time list. His first-round 69 on the North Course wasn’t even close to his best at the Farmers Insurance Open and his current tie for 21st is not exactly a reason to celebrate.

Thursday’s round was noteworthy because it marked the first time Woods was paired with a player in a Tour event who wasn’t born when he made his pro debut in 1996.

“Well, he's a lot younger than I am,” Woods said with a smile, when asked about playing with Collin Morikawa, a 22-year-old Tour winner. “It was great to be out there with him. He hits it solid. I mean, he's not a real big guy, but hits the ball very solid and has a very, very bright career ahead of him.”

Morikawa had a chance to meet Woods last fall in Japan and said it only took him a few moments to get back into his normal routine at Torrey Pines.

“I had to tell myself to just focus on golf after that first hole because I could just focus on Tiger and watch him the entire day and realize I forgot how to play golf,” said Morikawa, who finished a stroke behind Woods with a 2-under 70. “That's what I'm out here to do, I'm out here to win.”