I Dig Sports
OCALA, Fla. – Big Frog Motorsports has announced that Tanner English will drive the M&W Transport No. 58 Dave’s Towing/XR1 Rocket Chassis/Clements Racing Engine Super Late Model in select events.
“I began talking about possibilities with Tanner a month or so ago after his deal with Randy Weaver Racing dissolved. We both thought it would be a good fit to have him drive our team’s car, but we just couldn’t find dates that worked for both of us,” said Big Frog Motorsports owner Augie Burttram. “We recently talked again, and decided to give this deal a shot, so he’ll be piloting our car in the Schaeffer’s Oil Spring Nationals races on April 19-20.
“We’re going to reevaluate after that first weekend, and see how it works out for both of us and what we can do together to be successful. Tanner is a super-talented driver, and I’m excited to have him behind the wheel of our team’s car.”
English is the two-time defending Schaeffer’s Oil MARS Racing Series champion. He previously inked a deal to drive for Randy Weaver Racing this year, but it fell apart when the team shut down.
“Augie [Burttram] and I decided to take this deal on a race-to-race basis and see if it’s a good fit for both of us,” the 25-year-old English said. “Big Frog Motorsports has top-notch equipment, and I’m grateful for this opportunity. I’ve got some races already committed in my personal car and a couple of other rides for the remainder of this year, but I’d love to race with Big Frog Motorsports, whenever makes sense for both of us. Hopefully, we can gel and enjoy success together.”
English will make his debut in the Big Frog Motorsports No. 58 on April 19-20 in Schaeffer’s Oil Spring Nationals competition in Georgia. The weekend opens on Friday night at Blue Ridge Motorsports Park in Blue Ridge, Ga., with a $4,000-to-win race before shifting to Toccoa (Ga.) Raceway on Saturday night for a $10,000-to-win affair.
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Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily: Lightning shocked, rookies rule
Published in
Hockey
Thursday, 11 April 2019 06:37
They say anything can happen in the Stanley Cup playoffs, and yet one of the greatest regular-season teams in NHL history blowing a three-goal lead to lose on home ice to the lowest seed in its conference felt stunning to the point where "anything" wouldn't cover it.
Here's what happened last night -- check out replays of every playoff game on ESPN+ -- and what to watch for tonight, in today's edition of ESPN Stanley Cup Playoffs Daily:
Jump ahead: Last night's games | Three Stars
Play of the night | Tonight's games | Social post of the day
About last night...
Game 1: Columbus Blue Jackets 4, Tampa Bay Lightning 3. The Lightning jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, and the team that tied the record for most regular-season wins ever (62) looked like it was going to roll through the playoffs. But then a sloppy Ryan McDonagh pass resulted in a Nick Foligno goal in the second period that ignited the Blue Jackets' physical and forechecking games. Defenseman David Savard undressed Victor Hedman on a goal in the third. Less than four minutes after that, Josh Anderson scored a short-handed goal to tie the game, and Seth Jones's power-play goal at 14:05 of the third gave them the lead. Sergei Bobrovsky went from Game 1 goat to a 16-save savior in the final two periods.
The Lightning are the 10th team in the history of the Stanley Cup playoffs to blow a three-goal lead in their first game of a postseason. Only two of the previous nine recovered to win the series. Uh-oh. Meanwhile, John Tortorella lit a fire under his team (and nearly burned down the dressing room):
�� VOLUME UP ��
Think this fiery Torts pep talk had anything to do with the @BlueJacketsNHL>#CBJ>pic.twitter.com/gmhAAyVXz1 - FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) April 11, 2019
Game 1: New York Islanders 4, Pittsburgh Penguins 3 (OT). Nassau Coliseum was deafening at times during the Islanders' Game 1 victory, although the Penguins tried to do their best to stun them into silence with Justin Schultz's goal at 18:31 of the third period to tie the game at 3-3. But the fans blew the roof off the old barn when Josh Bailey tucked home the game winner at 4:39 of overtime, thanks to an incredible move from Islanders star Mathew Barzal to set it up, deking several Penguins out of their skates:
Bailey wins it in OT! pic.twitter.com/2edd3msKlN - NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 11, 2019
Game 1: St. Louis Blues 2, Winnipeg Jets 1. Tyler Bozak scored the game winner with 2:05 left in regulation on a pass from Patrick Maroon, and it might have been the most meaningful assist in Maroon's career: He dedicated the win to his late grandfather, who passed away at 95 years old on Tuesday. "It's been emotional, tough days for me," Maroon said. "But being with the guys and having them by my side has been really good." Rookie goalie Jordan Binnington did the rest, with 24 saves in his first playoff start.
Game 1: Dallas Stars 3, Nashville Predators 2. Rookie defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored two goals, becoming the youngest player to score a playoff goal in franchise history, while goalie Ben Bishop and the team's defense did the rest in their win over the Predators. Mats Zuccarello, the Stars' trade deadline pickup, had the game-winning goal. So desperate for offense were the Predators that coach Peter Laviolette pulled goalie Pekka Rinne with 3:13 left in the game and Nashville on the power play. "We lost our way, we lost the game," Laviolette said. "There's nothing encouraging about tonight. We know we're capable of playing at high speed with high gears and competitiveness. Like I said, it went their way."
Game 1: San Jose Sharks 5, Vegas Golden Knights 2. It was an ugly game, and not just because Sharks captain Joe Pavelski got his mouth mangled by deflecting the first goal in with his jaw. The Sharks ruled in puck possession through two periods, building a 4-1 lead and limiting the Golden Knights' attack. They pummeled them physically and dominated them defensively. Brent Burns (1G, 1A) and Erik Karlsson (2A) controlled play. Martin Jones was steady in making 24 saves. Mark Stone scored two goals for Vegas in his playoff debut for them, one of the few highlights in a forgettable game for the Knights.
Three stars
1. Jordan Binnington, G, St. Louis Blues. The rookie sensation announced his arrival in the Stanley Cup playoffs by skating into the most hostile of territories -- the White-Out crowd of Winnipeg -- and stopping 24 of 25 shots . That included 17 saves in the first two periods, many of them spectacular, to give the Blues a chance to rally. The showstopper, literally, was this stop on Mark Scheifele late in the third, the same player who was penalized earlier in the game for charging into him:
Jordan Binnington absolutely robs Mark Scheifele in the final minute to seal the deal for the Blues in Game 1 https://t.co/4Y4rFvj8ka>pic.twitter.com/OtcKm4Q7iG - Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) April 11, 2019
2. Miro Heiskanen, D, Dallas Stars. Another sensational rookie making his mark, the Stars defenseman scored a power-play goal in the second period to tie the game and an even-strength goal in the third for the lead in their eventual 3-2 win over Nashville. He was second on the team in ice time at 23:24. Heiskanen is just the third teenager to record a multi-goal game in the playoffs over the past 20 seasons, joining Sean Couturier (hat trick in 2012) and teammate Tyler Seguin (2011).
3. Seth Jones, D, Columbus Blue Jackets. Along with scoring the game-winning goal, Jones was instrumental in helping the Jackets keep the Lightning's top players scoreless in their Game 1 stunner.
Play of the night
It's a one-goal game thanks to @dsavy58.>#StanleyCup>pic.twitter.com/QFhLzWWOmh - NHL GIFs (@NHLGIFs) April 11, 2019
Oh, nothing to see here except David Savard of the Blue Jackets looking like Bobby Orr while undressing Victor Hedman, one of the best defensemen on the planet, before lasering home the second goal of their rally.
Dud of the night
The Lightning's stars. As lackadaisical as the Tampa Bay defense was in allowing the Blue Jackets to rally, the fact that Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point combined for 16 shot attempts, eight shots on goal, a minus-4 and zero points was even more shocking.
On the schedule
Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins, Game 1, 7 p.m. ET
The rivalry continues for these two, one year after the Bruins eliminated the Leafs in seven games. But this Toronto team has a few new tricks: Namely star center John Tavares and veteran defenseman Jake Muzzin. Will things be different this time, or are we in store for another year of Toronto media complaining about the playoff format because Boston owns the Leafs?
Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals, Game 1, 7:30 p.m. ET
The underdog Canes play their first postseason game since May 26, 2009, in taking on the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Capitals dominated Carolina in the regular season to the tune of 4-0-0. Do these ''Bunch of Jerks'' from Raleigh have more defiant magic in the postseason, or are the Capitals just too talented for an upset?
Colorado Avalanche at Calgary Flames, Game 1, 10 p.m. ET
The Avs will get big boost entering this one with the return of Mikko Rantanen to the lineup, and, one assumes, to the line that has Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. Colorado has a red-hot goalie in Philipp Grubauer (8-1-2 in his past 11 games), but is he enough to handle a Flames offense that was third in the NHL at 3.52 goals per game?
Social post of the day
Torts complains the interview room smells like BO then ends his presser, reporter stands up and smells himself ������ pic.twitter.com/AxnqyRKrrs - CJ Fogler (@cjzer0) April 11, 2019
John Tortorella left the locker room and walked into the interview room -- which smelled like a locker room. He noted the body odor as Torts does, and then walked out ... leaving a member of the great unwashed (aka the media) to administer a sniff test. Wow.
Quotable
"The only critics that matter are the ones in the room, and there aren't any. I don't think he cares about whether he silenced you guys, and I don't think we care either." -- Sharks coach Pete DeBoer on goalie Martin Jones, and whether his Game 1 performance quieted his critics.
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Day receives treatment on course after tweaking back
Published in
Golf
Thursday, 11 April 2019 07:14
Jason Day's Masters is suddenly in question.
After hitting his tee shot on the par-5 second hole Thursday at Augusta National, Day gingerly picked up his tee and immediately headed off to the side of the tee box to receive medical treatment on his back.
According to ESPN, Day re-injured his back after picking up his daughter, Lucy, before the round.
83rd Masters Tournament: Scores | @GolfCentral Masters tracker | Full coverage
Day withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational last month and told Golf Channel that an MRI revealed an annular tear in the disk between his L4 and L5 vertebrae along with additional “facet problems.” He's played three times since, tying for eighth at The Players, missing the cut at Valspar and failing to make it out of group play at the WGC-Dell Match Play.
Day did resume his round after being stretched out and went on to make birdie on the second hole.
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Conners continues unlikely run with hot start at Augusta National
Published in
Golf
Thursday, 11 April 2019 07:27
AUGUSTA, Ga. – This Masters was always going to be special for Corey Conners but Thursday’s opening round began even better than expected.
Playing in the day’s first group, the Canadian ventured out to the first tee early to watch Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player hit the ceremonial first tee shots.
“I was able to stand on the back of the tee and watch them tee off and really appreciate what they have done for the game of golf,” said Conners, who spoke briefly with Nicklaus who congratulated him for his victory last week. “Being in the first group following them, that was pretty special.”
Conners’ day only improved from there.
He was 10 strokes better than his last opening round at the Masters in 2015 when he struggled to an 80 on Day 1, but the way he’s been playing the last two weeks there was always going to be improvement.
Conners’ last six rounds include a 68 on April 1 and a playoff to qualify for the Texas Open, a career-changing week at TPC San Antonio with rounds of 69-67-66-66 for his first PGA Tour victory, and on Thursday he played Nos. 13-15 in 4 under par to move into the hunt at Augusta National.
It was another unlikely chapter in what has been a wildly unlikely few days for Conners who couldn’t have imagined he’d be in this position when he teed off last week in the Monday qualifier.
“I did not think it was likely [to play the Masters],” he laughed. “I’m a math and statistics guy and I didn’t think it was likely at all.”
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Player, Nicklaus rail against the golf ball, green-reading books
Published in
Golf
Thursday, 11 April 2019 07:34
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Modern technology struggles to get inside the gates at Augusta National Golf Club. Cell phones will get you thrown out, and green-reading books can be left in players’ courtesy cars.
It’s an idyllic trip back in time for some, but for Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, it’s simply a step in the right direction.
Nicklaus and Player reprised their annual role as honorary starters Thursday morning, kicking off the 83rd Masters with opening tee shots in front of thousands of eager patrons. The two men, who have combined to win nine green jackets, then went to the press building where they reminisced about decades spent together at the club as well as the state of technology in the modern game.
It was on that latter point that they formed a consensus.
“The golf ball has gotten ridiculous. I have so many things on that,” Nicklaus said. “The golf ball from 1930 to about ’95 gained about six yards. From 1995 to 2005, about 15 yards, and that’s a big difference. Probably the organizations won’t tell you that, but that’s exactly about what happened.”
It’s a familiar refrain from Nicklaus, who has railed against the technological advancements in the game for the last several years. He was joined in support by Player, who offered a warning that the governing bodies need to create a bifurcated ball of some sort, lest players begin driving the 445-yard first hole at Augusta National.
“We’d better start thinking. They are going to hit wedges to all the par-5s, and golf courses like St. Andrews, this marvelous golf course, is completely obsolete. They can drive probably six greens,” Player said. “So I don’t know where we’re going. And our leaders of such have got to get together now and form a ball for professionals that’s different to the amateurs. Let the amateurs have anything they’d like. … But we have got to stop this, otherwise it’s going to be a joke, in my opinion.”
Player didn’t just stop with his thoughts on the ball. The 83-year-old also expressed his distaste for green-reading books, which are not allowed at Augusta National and whose details was recently reined in by the USGA and R&A.
“Bobby Locke was the best putter that ever lived, and Tiger Woods was the best putter and so on. I never saw him take out a book to read the damn green,” Player said. “To read the green, you’ve got to look at a book. Well if you can’t read a green, you should be selling beans. It’s part of the game. Where are we going? Everything is so artificial.”
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It's almost as if he was just laying up to an angle and a number off the tee.
Coming off a birdie at the the par-5 13th, Woods sniped his drive at the par-4 14th left of the fairway.
From 152 yards, he managed to loft his approach over the trees to 25 feet, setting up a putt for birdie.
The birdie pushed Woods to 3 under par through 14 holes and into a tie for the lead.
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Marcos Alonso's late header helped Chelsea to a hard-fought 1-0 win away to Slavia Prague in their Europa League quarterfinal first leg on Thursday.
Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri fielded a strong XI in Prague, including an in-form Eden Hazard, who was outstanding in a two-goal outing on Monday as the Blues beat West Ham to move into third place in the Premier League.
However, the visitors found chances hard to come by over the course of the first 45 minutes as the league leaders in the Czech top flight dug in with a raucous home crowd urging them on in a scoreless first half.
Despite a lack of goals, the second half provided some entertaining end-to-end football, with Slavia Prague's Ibrahima Traore stinging Kepa Arrizabalaga's palms from distance on 70 minutes and Chelsea seeing a goal ruled out for offside shortly after.
Alonso's header from an inswinging Willian cross as full-time approached wound up being the difference for Chelsea, who return home for the second leg on April 18 with an important away goal giving them the upper leg for passage to the semifinals.
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Spurs: No timeframe on Kane's 'significant injury'
Published in
Soccer
Thursday, 11 April 2019 13:44
Tottenham Hotspur's England striker Harry Kane suffered serious ankle ligament damage in Tuesday's 1-0 Champions League victory over Manchester City, the Premier League club said on Thursday.
Kane rolled his left ankle in the second half of the quarterfinal first leg after a hefty tackle on City defender Fabian Delph and left the field immediately.
Spurs gave no timeframe for when Kane might be fit again.
"Following assessment over the past two days, we can confirm that Harry Kane has sustained a significant lateral ligament injury to his left ankle following a challenge in our Champions League quarterfinal, first leg win against Manchester City," Spurs said on their website.
"Investigations are ongoing and he will continue to be assessed by our medical staff over the coming week."
Kane tweeted on Wednesday that he was "gutted to go off injured but every setback is a chance to come back stronger than ever."
Following Tuesday's win, Spurs boss Maurio Pochettino said: "It's very, very sad. It's going to be tough and we're going to miss him -- maybe for the rest of the season."
The England captain, who has scored 24 goals in all competitions this season, left the club's new stadium on crutches with a protective boot on his foot. Kane had previously missed six weeks of action after injuring the same ankle during a Jan. 15 Premier League match against Manchester United.
The club also confirmed that Dele Alli fractured his left hand during Tuesday's fixture.
The England midfielder will be assessed to determine his availability for this weekend's match against Huddersfield Town.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
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Ander Herrera is set to join Paris Saint-Germain this summer despite a last-minute attempt from Manchester United to keep the midfielder at Old Trafford, sources have told ESPN FC.
The Spaniard is on the verge of signing a three-year £180k-a-week deal to join the French champions when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Herrera's preference was to extend his stay at United but, after growing frustrated at a lack of communication from the club, is ready to commit his future to the Ligue 1 side. The move is set to be announced at the end of the season.
Sources have told ESPN FC that Herrera was left in the dark for three months at the start of the year and that it was only after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was confirmed as permanent manager that United made an improved offer to the 29-year-old -- bettering the terms on the table from PSG -- but by then it was too late.
Herrera, who missed the Champions League defeat to Barcelona with a muscle injury, is set to leave on a free transfer after five seasons following his £29 million move from Athletic Bilbao in 2014.
He has won the League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League and was named player of the year in 2017.
United could also lose Juan Mata for free in the summer. Sources have told ESPN FC that the Spaniard has been offered a one-year extension but with other Champions League clubs interested, the 30-year-old's future is still up in the air.
Captain Antonio Valencia is also set to leave on a free transfer after the club decided against triggering a one-year extension in the defender's contract.
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Liverpool are in advanced talks with Nike over a new long-term kit deal which is expected to exceed the value of Manchester United's £750 million agreement with Adidas and become the biggest ever struck by a Premier League club, sources with knowledge of the negotiations have told ESPN FC.
The Anfield club's deal with suppliers New Balance -- worth £45m a year -- is due to expire at the end of the 2019-20 season and the American sportswear company, sources said, have a "matching clause" within their contract which enables them to retain and extend their deal by equalling any rival offer.
But have told ESPN FC that Nike are leading the battle to secure the Liverpool contract due to their readiness to put the club in the same earnings league as United.
Liverpool have also held discussions with Adidas and Puma in an effort to secure the highest possible figure for their new kit deal, but the club are deep into negotiations with Nike as they attempt to reach an agreement before the New Balance contract enters its final year.
Barcelona's £100m-a-year, 10-year deal with Nike, which began in 2018, is the biggest in football, eclipsing the £98m-a-year, 10-year deal struck between Real Madrid and Adidas in 2015.
And while Liverpool are unlikely to clinch a package of the same magnitude as Barca or Madrid, market research commissioned by the club's managing director, Billy Hogan, has shown that the five-time European champions can command a deal at the same level, or even higher, than United.
There were initial concerns at Anfield that Nike's deals with Barca, Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham and Chelsea, and Adidas' big-money partnerships with Real, United and Bayern Munich, had saturated the market to the extent that Liverpool would not be able to command a United-style figure.
But the club has been told that the rarity value of their kit deal becoming available, combined with the prominence of the Liverpool brand, driven by manager Jurgen Klopp and star players Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino, has strengthened their ability to secure a deal that would put them in the same bracket as football's global elite.
Liverpool, who are in contention win the Premier League and Champions League this season, announced record-breaking financial figures in February by posting a pre-tax profit of £125m for the year ending May 2018.
And the American-owned outfit are determined to maintain their financial strength by securing a kit deal which they believe reflects the club's global fanbase.
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