After winning a pair of overtime thrillers to open the Stanley Cup Final, the Los Angeles Kings blitzed the New York Rangers 3-0 Monday night in Game 3, giving Los Angeles a commanding three-games-to-nil lead in the NHL’s championship series. Needless to say, things are looking quite dire for the Rangers’ faithful. But are their prospects hopeless?When any North American professional sports team leads a best-of-seven playoff series 3-0, it tends to win the series. Of the 320 teams that found themselves in that scenario in MLB, the NBA and the NHL, 315 (or 98.4 percent) went on to win, and 204 (65 percent) closed out the series in the next game.But the odds of a comeback are slightly better in hockey than in other sports.Four of the five all-time comebacks from a 3-0 deficit have happened in the NHL: the Toronto Maple Leafs over the Detroit Red Wings in 1942 (in the Stanley Cup Final, no less); the New York Islanders over the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1975; the Philadelphia Flyers over the Boston Bruins in 2010; and these very LA Kings when they beat the San Jose Sharks in April. It’s likely in the nature of hockey, possibly the least deterministic sport out of North America’s “Big Four,” to produce more 3-0 comebacks simply because the outcome of any given game — whether in building the 3-0 lead or in erasing it — is fueled by a lot of luck in addition to skill.Now, four wins in 177 tries still implies just a 2.3 percent chance of a comeback. But there is also selection bias at work, in terms of the types of matchups that tend to go to 3-0. According to Hockey-Reference.com’s Simple Rating System (SRS), a team power rating that adjusts goals-per-game differential for strength of schedule, the average expansion-era (1968-present) playoff series featuring a 3-0 lead/deficit came between teams 0.45 goals per game apart. But in the regular season, the Rangers trailed the Kings by just 0.14 goals per game of SRS, meaning they’re less representative of the typical team to go down 3-0 in a series.Furthermore, the way Games 1-3 played out might give New York hope. The Rangers lost each of the series’ first two games by a goal apiece in overtime; even after losing 3-0 in Game 3, their cumulative goals-per-game differential in the series is just -1.7. Since 1968, the average series in which one team led 3-0 saw the leading team outscore the opponent by 2.4 goals per game in Games 1-3, with only 18.1 percent of those games going into overtime. Again, this is an area where New York isn’t like the typical team that finds itself down 3-0.Those considerations boost the Rangers’ chances somewhat — but probably not by enough. Even if we thought both New York and Los Angeles were perfectly even in talent — a charitable assumption, with the only difference between the teams being home-ice advantage (typically, home NHL teams win about 55 percent of the time) — the Rangers would only have a 6.1 percent chance of winning four games before the Kings won one.That’s better than the 1.6 percent showing by all teams trailing 3-0 across all sports. But the Rangers still have a lot of work to do if they want to recapture the spirit of ’94. read more

Source: Pro Football Reference 2015Marcus MariotaTennessee Titans2 2013Geno SmithNew York Jets39 1998Ryan LeafSan Diego Chargers2 1990Jeff GeorgeIndianapolis Colts1 Rookie starters in Week 1 since 1970 1973Joe FergusonBuffalo Bills57 Chicago surprisingly cut starter Erik Kramer in July of 1999 and had invested a high first-round pick on Cade McNown. But until he was ready, it was Shane Matthews who won the starting job. Matthews went undrafted in 1993, and threw a total of 17 pass attempts prior to the 1999 season, started the first five games of the year before Chicago handed the job to the first-round pick; a similar situation could play out in Denver with Siemian and Lynch. YEARQUARTERBACKTEAMDRAFT PICK 2011Andy DaltonCincinnati Bengals35 2012Andrew LuckIndianapolis Colts1 1971Archie ManningNew Orleans Saints2 2012Ryan TannehillMiami Dolphins8 2011Cam NewtonCarolina Panthers1 1989Troy AikmanDallas Cowboys1 1971Jim PlunkettNew England Patriots1 2015Jameis WinstonTampa Bay Buccaneers1 2014Derek CarrOakland Raiders36 1973Bert JonesBaltimore Colts2 2013EJ ManuelBuffalo Bills16 1977Randy HedbergTampa Bay Buccaneers196 1993Rick MirerSeattle Seahawks2 1970Terry BradshawPittsburgh Steelers1 2003Kyle BollerBaltimore Ravens19 1982Mike PagelBaltimore Colts84 2012Brandon WeedenCleveland Browns22 2001Chris WeinkeCarolina Panthers106 1993Drew BledsoeNew England Patriots1 1983John ElwayDenver Broncos1 2009Matthew StaffordDetroit Lions1 2001Quincy CarterDallas Cowboys53 2005Kyle OrtonChicago Bears106 1978Doug WilliamsTampa Bay Buccaneers17 Like the Bears, Philadelphia also spent a high first-round pick on a quarterback in 1999 — on Donovan McNabb. Head coach Andy Reid was in his first season in Philadelphia after spending the previous two years as the Packers’ quarterbacks coach. Reid brought along Green Bay backup Doug Pederson, an undrafted free agent in 1991. Pederson, now the new head coach of the Eagles, made his first career start in the Eagles season opener in 1999.Warner, McNown and Pederson were all undrafted, and are the only such quarterbacks in the last 30 years to make their first NFL start in their team’s season opener.These are strange times for quarterbacks in the NFL, and especially the Cowboys and Broncos. But the highly unusual nature of their predicaments means Prescott and Siemian don’t have to be Kurt Warner to be successful — most fans would settle for somewhere north of Randy Hedberg. 1975Steve BartkowskiAtlanta Falcons1 2010Sam BradfordSt. Louis Rams1 2008Matt RyanAtlanta Falcons3 1998Peyton ManningIndianapolis Colts1 2009Mark SanchezNew York Jets5 The Cowboys aren’t the only team in an unusual situation: The Broncos have named Trevor Siemian as the team’s starting quarterback. Siemian was a seventh-round pick from Northwestern in 2015, and has never started a game. Teams almost never go into the season with a starting quarterback who’s both unproven and lowly drafted, but Siemian appears to have beaten out both Mark Sanchez and first-round pick Paxton Lynch.In 1999, three teams opened the season with undrafted quarterbacks who had never started a game: the Rams, Bears and Eagles.St. Louis lost projected starter Trent Green to injury in the preseason that year, opening the door for undrafted Kurt Warner to make his first NFL start in Week 1 of the 1999 season. Dak Prescott was the 135th pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Teams don’t use low selections on quarterbacks and expect an immediate contribution, but that is the situation the Dallas Cowboys now find themselves in. Star quarterback Tony Romo, with a broken bone in his back, will be out for at least six to 10 weeks, leaving Prescott as the team’s likely Week 1 starter.It’s not easy for rookie quarterbacks to start in the NFL, and it’s pretty rare for them to start in Week 1 of the NFL season. For the most part, that honor belongs to those highly drafted players taken by a team that intends to build around a rookie signal caller. Last year, only the top two picks of the draft — Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota — were opening day starters. And in the last 10 years, Russell Wilson (a third-round pick) is the only rookie quarterback to start his team’s opening game despite not being drafted in the first two rounds. Kyle Orton, an early fourth-round pick in 2005, was the last rookie quarterback to start in Week 1 despite not being drafted in the first three rounds. But even that comparison doesn’t quite line up with Prescott, as Orton was the 106th pick in the draft; Prescott was a compensatory draft selection used by Dallas almost a full round of selections later.This is rarely charted territory in modern history: In the last 30 years, only three rookie quarterbacks drafted outside of the top 100 picks started their team’s season opener: Orton, Chris Weinke in 2001 and Steve Beuerlein in 1988.1In addition, no undrafted quarterbacks since the NFL merger have started as rookies. Dieter Brock (1985) and Warren Moon (1984) both started their team’s season openers after going undrafted, but neither was a professional rookie, as both had extensive experience in the Canadian Football League before coming to the NFL. And while Jim Zorn (1976) started as a “rookie” for Seattle in 1976, that was only after being undrafted in 1975 and spending training camp with the Dallas Cowboys. You have to go all the way back to 1977 to find a quarterback not selected in the first 130 picks of the NFL draft who then went on start his team’s season opener as a rookie.That player was Randy Hedberg, who started for the terrible Buccaneers franchise in 1977. Hedberg is one of the worst quarterbacks in NFL history — he finished his career with 0 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, completed 27.8 percent of his passes and averaged 2.7 yards per attempt. He was sacked 15 times in his career and completed 25 passes. He finished his career with a 0.0 passer rating. And, to date, he is the only quarterback since the merger in 1970 to be drafted outside of the top 130 picks and then start in his team’s season opener just a few months later.The table below shows every quarterback to start as a rookie in his team’s opening game since 1970 along with the draft pick used on that player. 2012Russell WilsonSeattle Seahawks75 2002David CarrHouston Texans1 2008Joe FlaccoBaltimore Ravens18 2012Robert GriffinWashington Redskins2 read more

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Retired NBA star Ray Allen believes he is a victim of “catfishing,” and has asked a court to throw out a case where he is accused of stalking someone he met online.Allen filed an emergency motion in Orange County, Florida, on Tuesday, one day after Bryant Coleman told the court he is being stalked by the 10-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion.Allen said Coleman is the one who is stalking.“Coleman pretended to be a number of attractive women interested in Ray Allen,” read the motion filed on Allen’s behalf. “Ray believed he was speaking with these women and communicated with them.”Allen said Coleman threatened to reveal details of those conversations, and that the sides eventually struck a deal to keep everything private. Allen said that deal has been violated and that Coleman has continued to harass him and his family through several social-media accounts.“He posted about Ray’s wife, Ray’s children, Ray’s dog, Ray’s homes, Ray’s wife’s restaurant, and numerous other personal items,” read the motion. “Coleman not only posted about these things, he would actually post while physically located inside Ray’s wife’s restaurant in Orlando. And he would make sure they knew it, tagging Ray and his wife on those posts.”It was not clear if Coleman has an attorney, and a working phone number for him could not be found.Allen is the NBA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made. He won championships with Boston in 2008 and Miami in 2013, the second title coming after he made one of the most dramatic shots in playoff history — a game-tying 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left in regulation of Game 6 of The Finals against San Antonio, a game that the Heat would win in overtime to extend the series to a seventh game.Allen also played for Milwaukee and Seattle, and last appeared in the league in 2014. He and his family have lived in the Miami area since. read more

Antonio DanielsSuperSonics2003-0410554.8 Blake GriffinClippers2014-1511965.0 Jusuf Nurkic is the most whacked player in over 20 yearsNBA players who’ve induced the highest share of opposing flagrant fouls since the 1996-97 season Kobe BryantLakers2005-0611054.5 *Through Jan 10, 2018.Source: ESPN Stats & Information Group Blake GriffinClippers2010-11117108.5 Perhaps better than anything else, player statues exemplify what NBA greats were known for during their careers. A bronzed Michael Jordan is soaring over defenders for a dunk in Chicago; John Stockton and Karl Malone look as if they’re completing another successful pick and roll in Utah; and Magic Johnson, who led the Showtime-era Lakers, is leading a fast break.If Jusuf Nurkic ever reaches this level of immortality — which, OK, is probably a long shot — his statue would display him getting elbowed in the mouth. The 23-year-old Trail Blazers center is good at many things, but he stands alone in the NBA when it comes to getting whacked in the face.Video Playerhttps://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/nurkicreel.mp400:0000:0000:00Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.Nurkic was dealt last February to a Portland team that wears black and red, but his 2017 calendar year could best be described as black and blue. He lost two teeth after getting nailed in the mouth while going for a rebound (yet was still hit with a loose-ball foul). Then, while wearing a protective mask to safeguard the replacement dental implants he’d received after that gory episode, Nurkic got elbowed in the forehead — a play that left him with a concussion. So it was only fitting that he’d require stitches during the final week of the year after a bloody collision with the Sixers’ J.J. Redick.These instances were merely the most painful knocks for Nurkic, who’s absorbed at least a dozen considerable dings over the past year or so. One indication of how often he takes one for the team: The Bosnian product has induced a league-high four opponent flagrants this season, twice as many1Quick caveat: It’s not possible to perfectly track who was flagrantly fouled on a given sequence using play-by-play data. The best way to estimate who drew the flagrant is to look at which player shoots the free throws immediately after. But a severe injury that forces someone to leave the game would allow that player’s team to send a different free-throw shooter to the line in his place. as any other NBA player. Setting him apart even more: Midway through the 2017-18 campaign, the flagrant foul calls for roughing up Nurkic have accounted for more than 9 percent of all the flagrants recorded this season — the highest rate induced by a single player in the 21 years that ESPN’s Stats & Information Group has tracked the metric. Aside from the flagrant fouls he’s induced, Nurkic also managed to trigger at least five opponent technical fouls in 2017. Manu GinobiliSpurs2004-058744.6 PlayerTeamSeasonLeague TotalPlayer% of Total Blake GriffinClippers2012-1312065.0 Blake GriffinClippers2011-129255.4 Blake GriffinClippers2013-149988.1 Jusuf NurkicTrail Blazers2017-18*4349.3% Flagrant Fouls Bob SuraCavaliers1996-9713364.5 The real question in all this, of course, is why Nurkic gets hit as often as he does. When I asked him about this trend, the 7-footer suggested that opponents see it as the only way to hold him in check.“People know what I bring to the table and try to slow me down. I’m not saying they always do it on purpose, but it’s happened like that before,” said Nurkic, who averages nearly 15 points and 8 boards. He was wearing a bandage on his nose at the time when I talked to him, but when I asked if he wears the battle scars with pride, Nurkic seemed confused. “There’s nothing to be proud of when you keep getting hit in the face. It hurts. I’m getting a little tired of it, and I feel the league should protect me a bit more from the hits, but it is what it is. It’s gonna be all right.”It’s unclear what, if anything, the league could realistically do about the blows to the face of Nurkic, who, unlike a high-flying scorer like Blake Griffin, is getting drilled mostly while playing defense.2An NBA spokesman declined to comment, saying the league doesn’t address the way individual players are officiated. In fact, of the eight video clips we just highlighted of Nurkic getting hit, seven involved him standing in the restricted area on defense or trying to grab a board in a loose-ball scenario.In other words: He’s often sitting in the area of the floor where players are most likely to use brute force in order to gain a scoring or rebounding advantage. As a result, he’s caught more than his fair share of stray elbows when standing that close to the basket.Yet there’s some validity to the idea that Nurkic directly or indirectly brings some of these headaches upon himself. While Nurkic denied embellishing contact during our conversation — “Hopefully the referees see it all, because I’m not faking,” he said — instant replay makes it clear that he occasionally baits refs into thinking he’s been hit.“He did a good job of acting it out,” then-Hawks center Dwight Howard said last season after landing a tech for what he deemed to be a Nurkic flop. “He should find a way to make it to Hollywood. Or they are doing films in Atlanta now. He can find a good film right here and do some acting.”And this play, in which Nurkic drew an offensive foul against Denver’s Paul Millsap on a 3-point jumper, is perhaps the best example of him fooling officials without actually putting himself in harm’s way.Video Playerhttps://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/clearflopbruh.mp400:0000:0000:09Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.Painless flops like this are a rarity, though. In fact, last week, Nurkic basically flopped his way into a nasty blow to the head. In the midst of trying to draw an offensive foul on LeBron James — one the officials called, despite limited contact between Nurkic and the four-time MVP — Nurkic’s momentum carried him to his right, and he drifted into Jae Crowder’s forearm. All this just to save two points.Retaliation sometimes comes into play, too, particularly with players — even max-contract-level stars — who feel Nurkic has gotten away with a foul or a dirty play. The hard screens he sets, sometimes illegal, may infuriate his opponents and are completely by design — a product of Nurkic’s time in the highly competitive EuroLeague. “(Overseas) we set Zaza screens,” he told Sports Illustrated, referring to Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, who had the third-highest offensive foul rate on a per-minute basis last season. “You set a screen, and someone gets injured immediately. You need to earn the points.”Video Playerhttps://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/crush.mp400:0000:0000:30Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.Video Playerhttps://fivethirtyeight.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/hardscreen.mp400:0000:0000:00Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.“Guys like that frustrate you a little bit, because I’m trying to get around the screen, but there’s no way to do it when he’s moving,” said Josh Richardson, the Heat guard who gets knocked to the floor at half court in the video above. “If it’s one time, you can just move onto the next play. But if it keeps happening, and there’s no call, some guys might try to send a message.”The son of a 7-foot, 400-pound pound policeman, Nurkic likes to infuse physicality into his play while insisting he’s not a dirty player. On the offensive side, his screens have freed up 194 immediate shot opportunities, the eighth-highest number in the NBA, according an analysis run by STATS SportVu at FiveThirtyEight’s request. On defense, he’s spoken of trying to develop an attitude in Portland similar to that of the rough-and-tumble Pistons from the “Bad Boys” era.Yet ratcheting up the nastiness could result in bringing even more pain Nurkic’s way — an unfortunate reality, given that he’ll want to enter restricted free agency this summer fully healthy.Blazers guard C.J. McCollum, asked why he believes Nurkic takes so many blows, described his teammate like the final boss on a video game. “I think Nurk is so big that you have to hit him harder than anyone else in order for him to actually feel it. He’s just huge,” McCollum said. “People feel like they have to foul him hard to send a message.”Check out our latest NBA predictions. read more

Cliff Floyd2002MONBOS12.40.9 Cliff Lee2010SEATEX16.32.4✓PHI CAL PlayerYearfromTo3-YR. Pre-tradePost- tradeMadeWonTEAM Year AFTER BOS Rickey Henderson1993OAKTOR14.30.5✓✓OAK David Cone1992NYMTOR13.91.3✓✓KCR BOS Ben Zobrist2015OAKKCR10.71.3✓✓CHC NYY CHW ARI ? Mark Langston1989SEAMON12.83.8 tradedWAR*World Series Lance Berkman2010HOUNYY12.1-0.2 NYM David Price2015DETTOR12.32.6 CC Sabathia2008CLEMIL13.65.1 Randy Johnson1998SEAHOU11.83.5 * Three-year WAR includes the season in which the player changed teams, through his stint with the trading team. Post-trade WAR is for the season in question, from the moment the player changed teams onward.Source: FanGraphs, Baseball-Reference.com Mark Teixeira2008ATLLAA12.13.6 After months of speculation (and an entire day of “a deal in place” with an unnamed team), Baltimore is finally pulling the trigger on a trade of star shortstop Manny Machado. In the midst of Tuesday’s All-Star Game festivities, the Orioles reportedly agreed to send him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a collection of prospects.For the Dodgers, the move bolsters an infield that was diminished when shortstop Corey Seager went down with a season-ending elbow injury in April. Chris Taylor has done an admirable job filling in at short, with a .786 on-base plus slugging this season, and Max Muncy has been a revelation (1.013 OPS) in the infield as well, but Machado’s presence will free those two up to move around the diamond as necessary. It will be a juggling act for manager Dave Roberts to sort out everyone’s playing time, but that’s a good problem to have — as we’ve written about the trade deadline before, there are no diminishing returns to acquiring more talent in baseball because the postseason is such a crapshoot.L.A.’s acquisition does, however, signal that Machado is probably an old-fashioned deadline rental — presumably, he won’t be back next season, with Seager returning to reclaim his familiar spot at shortstop and third baseman Justin Turner also under contract through 2020. If that’s the case, Machado is having one of the best rental seasons of all-time, at least as a hitter. He currently ranks fifth in the majors in adjusted OPS1Which measures a player’s OPS relative to the league and ballpark in which he played. and is tied for sixth in home runs with 24, both very impressive numbers for a shortstop.2Machado’s once-stellar defense at short has been shaky this year, but that’s another discussion.Deadline rentals of this caliber are fun — there’s something cool about seeing a star player in a strange uniform for a brief spell, where you can look back years later and say, “Remember when that happened?” On the other hand, it’s worth noting that these kinds of stints don’t usually result in championships. In terms of wins above replacement3Averaging together the WAR values found at Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs. over the previous three seasons, here are the best players to be moved midseason — and then not stay with their new team the following season — since 1901: Manny Machado2018BALLAD12.8? STL NYM Bartolo Colon2002CLEMON12.22.2 Carlos Beltran2004KCRHOU13.64.2 Shane Victorino2012PHILAD10.70.9 NYY Rentals like Machado sometimes win — but usually don’tMost WAR in previous three seasons for players who changed teams midseason and didn’t return to that team the next season, 1901-2018 Each of the top three players on this list did end up boosting his new club into the World Series — in fact, Toronto’s big deadline moves helped it win championships in back-to-back seasons, when the Blue Jays picked up David Cone in 1992 and Rickey Henderson in 1993. But those are more the exceptions than the rule. Most big in-season pickups do fine with their new clubs, but the nature of these deals usually means that the player is helping a team on the edge of contention make a big push to solidify its playoff chances, rather than tacking talent onto a team that was already a World Series favorite.The Dodgers might be a little different, though. For one thing, they’re the defending National League champs, and although they suffered a horrendous start to the season, they’ve mostly righted the ship, going an NL-best 37-17 since May 17 and taking the NL West lead for the first time all season just last week. The FiveThirtyEight model gives Los Angeles an 11 percent chance of winning the World Series, which is second only to the Cubs among NL teams. (Forget for a moment how stacked the AL is in terms of World Series odds, with the Astros, Red Sox, Yankees and Indians claiming a combined 59 percent chance of winning it all.) Our research suggests that the Dodgers are exactly the type of team that should be going for it at the trade deadline, to maximize their odds of winning a championship with the opportunity in front of them.And if not, we’ll still have fleeting memories of Machado in a Dodgers uniform to think about when he potentially ponders which hat to wear on his Hall of Fame plaque.Check out our latest MLB predictions. read more

2012U-17 WCYouth32.00 Dynasty Points are awarded for success in a tournament. A team gets 1,000 points for winning the tournament, 250 for losing in the semifinals (with a 100-point bonus for finishing third), 115 for losing in the quarters and 40 for losing in the Round of 16.* Ties are counted as a half-win.Source: FIFA YearTournamentTypeMatchesWins*Dynasty Points 2015World CupSenior76.51000– 1991World CupSenior66.01000– 2004U-19 WCYouth65.0350– Wherever it lands in the upcoming World Cup draw — which will be held in Paris on Saturday at noon ET — the United States Women’s National Team will go into next year’s tournament in its familiar perch as favorites. The U.S. has been the most dominant team in the history of the event (which began in 1991), capturing the Cup three times and winning more matches (33) than any other country. Along the way, Team USA has given us multiple generations of superstars, the latest of which includes names like Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and Tobin Heath — all of whom figure to represent the Stars and Stripes in France next summer.But this won’t quite be the same roster as the one last seen hoisting the World Cup in 2015 (or even the one America sent to the 2016 Olympics). Likely gone are goalkeeper Hope Solo, forward Abby Wambach, midfielder Lauren Holiday and defenders Meghan Klingenberg, Christie Rampone and Ali Krieger, among others. And while the U.S. has perpetually been able to retool on the fly with the emergence of even greater young talent than before (remember Morgan’s breakout performance as a 22-year-old at the 2011 World Cup?), there’s growing concern that the next generation won’t be as ready to carry the torch.Specifically, the U.S. results at the youth level — including both the Under-17 and Under-20 Women’s World Cups — have been pretty mediocre in recent years. The U.S. didn’t advance out of its group in either tournament this year and has advanced past the quarterfinals just twice at the youth level since 2008.1That year, Morgan helped power the U.S. to the championship at the Under-20 Cup with this ridiculous goal. 2002U-19 WCYouth66.01000– 2003World CupSenior65.0350– Is the USWNT’s youth-level talent pipeline drying up?Results for the United States at both the World Cup and youth-level tournaments Obviously, those 2018 youth players won’t be old enough in 2019 to figure into the senior team’s World Cup fortunes. But the lack of earlier success could suggest a down period coming for the Americans in upcoming World Cups. At least, that’s assuming youth-level results are predictive of future senior-team outcomes. But is that true?Fortunately for the U.S., the relationship there is only a moderate one. To measure this, I’m using a system called “Dynasty Points,” which I’ve used before to track a team’s postseason success over multiple years. In each tournament, you get 1,000 points for winning the whole thing, 500 for finishing second, 250 for losing in the semifinals (with a 100-point bonus for finishing third), 115 for losing in the quarters and 40 for losing in the Round of 16 (when applicable).2These values are roughly scaled to reflect how many teams you needed to beat out in order to reach a given level of the tournament, while keeping the value of winning at a constant 1,000. If a team’s performance at the youth level was cause for concern or optimism for later iterations of the senior team, we’d expect a strong relationship between World Cup dynasty points and dynasty points produced by the youth teams in the decade between five and 15 years before.But looking at the 2007, 2011 and 2015 World Cups (and weighting by the number of youth tournaments that led up to each — meaning 2015 had more of a sample, since the era of two youth tournaments didn’t begin until 2008), the correlation coefficient between youth performance and World Cup success is 0.49. That’s not a nonexistent relationship by any means, but it also indicates that about three-quarters of the variation between countries in World Cup success is explained by something other than youth-level results in the years beforehand.Broadly speaking, if a team consistently finishes well in the Under-17 and Under-20 events, it tends to do better at the World Cup as well. Many of the most successful youth-level countries — such as Germany, the U.S. and Japan — are also among the best World Cup teams. But the relationship isn’t perfect. According to Dynasty Points, North Korea is the most successful youth-level team since 2002, winning four tournaments and finishing second on two other occasions. Yet North Korea has advanced out of the group stage just once in its World Cup history.3The North Korean team was banned from the 2015 World Cup after a doping investigation. Meanwhile, Norway and Sweden have been incredibly successful at the World Cup level (they rank third and fifth in all-time Dynasty Points, respectively) and have combined to advance out of the group stage of a youth tournament just twice since 2002.The U.S.’s own history is instructive in the imperfect relationship between youth results and World Cup outcomes. Although it dominated junior tournaments from 2002 to 2008 — winning two events, finishing second in another and never losing before the semifinals — it has also made two World Cup Finals and won Olympic gold with the senior squad since its ongoing youth-level dry spell began in 2010. 2007World CupSenior64.5350– 2008U-17 WCYouth63.5500– 2010U-20 WCYouth42.5115– 2008U-20 WCYouth65.01000– 2011World CupSenior64.0500– 2012U-20 WCYouth64.51000– 1999World CupSenior66.01000– 1995World CupSenior64.5350– 2016U-17 WCYouth31.00 2018U-20 WCYouth31.50 2014U-20 WCYouth42.0115– 2006U-20 WCYouth64.0250– 2018U-17 WCYouth31.00 2016U-20 WCYouth63.0250– It bears mentioning that the 2012 Under-20 squad also won gold, so the U.S.’s recent youth results haven’t been completely devoid of success. And it’s also important to note that the senior team can poach promising young stars from the youth level, inherently limiting the U.S.’s performance in U-17 and (especially) U-20 tournaments in favor of bolstering the main roster.It’s true that next summer’s team will be asking more of some players who hadn’t taken on full-fledged starring roles in previous major tournaments. But a number of those have drawn rave reviews during friendlies and qualifiers with the national team this year, including Lindsey Horan and Crystal Dunn, both of whom also logged time on the 2016 Olympic team. And forward Mallory Pugh, who will turn 21 just a few months before the World Cup, is as promising as any member of the U.S.’s next generation. Pugh returned from injury to score six goals and set up three others in 10 international games this year — and could be just scratching the surface of her talent.According to ESPN’s Stats & Information Group, the average age of Team USA in its 2018 games was 26.4 years old, compared with the average age of 32.6 for the group that took the field in the 2015 World Cup. A few standbys do remain from the rosters of old — Lloyd and Rapinoe are still the anchors of this team, while Morgan remains at the top of her game, having scored or assisted on 14 goals in 15 games with the national team this year. But the 2019 World Cup will also serve as a transition of sorts into a new era for the USWNT. And although America’s youth-level results leading up to next year aren’t great, we shouldn’t assume that the U.S.’s senior-team dominance will end any time soon. read more

An OSU helmet sits on the field before the 45th annual BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 1 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. OSU won 44-28. Photo Credit: Samantha Hollingshead | Photo EditorIt might have been a National Signing Day devoid of drama, a day in which Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and the Buckeye faithful had no reason to sit on the ends of their couches waiting to see which hat an elite high school prospect would proudly place on his head, but it was still a day of success for the Buckeyes.OSU’s 2016 recruiting class went without a hitch, as the 25 prospects who were all expected to ink scholarship offers with Meyer’s program did just that. Seven of those players were early enrollees who joined the program in mid-January.According to 247Sports’ prospect rankings, the Buckeyes’ class is made up of seven three-star prospects, 17 four-star prospects and one five-star: defensive lineman Nick Bosa out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.The first player to sign on did so bright and early. Jake Hausmann, a tight end from Cincinnati, was welcomed to the program by OSU Director of Player Personnel Mark Pantoni on Twitter at 7:04 a.m. The last, receiver Binjimen Victor, was made official at 10:37 a.m., putting an early end to the annual festivities.Meyer said that almost immediately after the paperwork arrives and the player is a Buckeye, it is time to get the ball rolling.“Work starts immediately. Recruiting is over for that class,” he said. “The minute that fax showed up, now it’s get to work and they’re going to get a strength program immediately.”All in all, 247Sports ranked Meyer’s 2016 recruiting class as the fourth best in the country behind the groups going to Alabama, Florida State and LSU. The second-best Big Ten class behind OSU was No. 5 Michigan, followed by No. 19 Penn State.“They’re recruiting their tails off,” Meyer said. “Big Ten is on fire right now. And I can tell you on a national respect, I can feel it. I’ve heard about it. Guys are really working. So it’s very good for the Big Ten Conference right now.”Meyer showed off his national reach with the class, inking prospects from 11 states, including 10 players from Ohio, three from each of Florida and Maryland and one from Michigan.As he has now done in four of his first five OSU recruiting classes, Meyer added exactly one quarterback to the program: four-star Dwayne Haskins of Potomac, Maryland, who was ranked by 247Sports as the seventh-best signal-caller nationally.“He’s been here several times,” Meyer said of Haskins. “I know he’s a big Ohio State fan growing up. And the relationship instantly was right exactly where it was when we went our separate ways. He’s an impact recruit.”Meyer went on to say that the 6-foot-3 quarterback has fundamentals “as good as I’ve ever seen in a young quarterback.”Untrue to form, however, Meyer dipped into the junior college ranks, picking up offensive lineman Malcolm Pridgeon, who comes over from Nassau Community College. He’s just the third junior college player to sign with OSU in the last 10 years.“We don’t recruit junior college — nothing against junior college guys, but we try to build from the youth up,” Meyer said. “And they kept telling me about this player, offensive tackle from Nassau, and I saw his size and watched the videotape, very impressive guy … He came on his visit and stole everybody’s heart.”The presence of true freshmen getting major snaps has been a mixed bag for Meyer’s teams. In 2015, none of OSU’s first-year college athletes made too much of an impact, with the freshmen contributors being those of the redshirt variety.But several of OSU’s defensive starters last season were once true freshmen who were quickly inserted into the rotations. Players like safety Vonn Bell and linebacker Raekwon McMillan were major contributors in their freshmen seasons in smaller roles, eventually becoming the anchors of their sections of the field.Meyer referred to Bosa as an “automatic” to see significant time on the field during the 2016 season. The coach said Bosa is “a little ahead” of where his older brother, Joey, was at this time in 2013, before going on to pick up 7.5 sacks as a true freshman. Jonathon Cooper could potentially find himself in the same boat at defensive end, inheriting the job that Sam Hubbard had as a redshirt freshman in 2015.“This class, I would anticipate a lot of guys playing,” Meyer said.Regardless of if their contributions come in 2016 or further down the line, the newest class of Buckeyes came at an important time for a program that is in a transition period after losing 16 offensive and defensive starters. The class might not erase the many question marks heading into spring camp, but it does give OSU some added depth and players to watch.The first look at the seven early enrollees is set to come on April 16 at the annual Spring Game at Ohio Stadium, with kickoff time yet to be announced. The full list of 2016 signees, by 247Sports star classification, can be found below. An “E” designates an early enrollee.Five-star:Nick Bosa, defensive linemanFour-star:Malik Barrow, defensive tackle – ETuf Borland, linebacker – EJonathon Cooper, defensive end – EWayne Davis, cornerbackLuke Farrell, tight endJordan Fuller, athleteTyler Gerald, guard – EDwayne Haskins, quarterbackJake Hausmann, tight endKierre Hawkins, tight endKeandre Jones, linebackerMichael Jordan, offensive tackle – EAustin Mack, receiver – EDemario McCall, H-backMalcolm Pridgeon, offensive tackleBinjimen Victor, receiverAntonio Williams, running back – EThree-star:Rodjay Burns, cornerbackDrue Chrisman, punterGavin Cupp, offensive tackleKareem Felder, cornerbackMalik Harrison, athleteJahsen Wint, athleteJack Wohlabaugh, guard read more

During last weekend’s match at Saint Francis, the No. 1 Ohio State men’s volleyball team struggled to maintain a lead early in the first set. The Buckeyes settled in during the second and third sets, establishing scoring runs that propelled them to a victory in straight sets.“We kind of expected (a big crowd). (Saint Francis) usually bring out a pretty good crowd when we go out there,” said senior libero Gabriel Domecus. “They were definitely loud and getting in everyone’s ear, but I think we managed — after the first set — to kind of get used to it and use it to our advantage to play better.”OSU (6-0) now has a quick turnaround hosting No. 14 Penn State on Tuesday at St. John Arena at 7 p.m. It will be the teams’ 110th meeting since 1971.“The good thing is that we know Penn State pretty well.” OSU coach Pete Hanson said. “We’ve got enough veteran guys on our team that know enough about the veteran guys on Penn State to where that’s a pretty easy preparation.”The Nittany Lions come into the matchup after falling to 3-3 last Thursday in a heartbreaker to No. 10 Loyola-Chicago in five sets. Penn State is 71-38-1 against OSU all-time, but has only managed to win one of the last five meetings, including losses in both meetings last season.A win on Tuesday would move the Buckeyes’ winning streak to 30 games. The school record is 32 games set at the end of the 1969 and beginning of the 1970 seasons.“I actually didn’t even know that was the school record to be honest,” Domecus said. “We’re just trying to keep playing well. We keep getting better on a daily basis. I wouldn’t say we’re trying to go out there and specifically break any records.”The Buckeyes will have to watch out for Penn State’s top-hitter, senior outside hitter Chris Nugent. He leads his team with 92 kills on the season. OSU faces stiff competition at the net on offense as well with Penn State’s defense ranking 10th in digs per set. Redshirt sophomore libero leads Penn State with 70 digs.OSU will counter Penn State’s defense with its leading scorers in junior outside hitter Nicolas Szerszen and senior opposite Miles Johnson. Johnson leads the team in kills with 80. He gained in 1000th career kill in OSU’s game against Stanford on Jan. 14, becoming the 15th Buckeye to reach the mark.“I think when you have zero expectation of something like that and you earn it, it’s a pretty crazy feeling,” Johnson said. “I don’t even know how to describe the feeling. I was kind of in awe.”After Penn State, OSU has back-to-back matches on Friday and Saturday against Barton College and No. 4 Long Beach State at St. John Arena. read more

OSU and Michigan players fight on the field during The Game Nov. 30 at Michigan Stadium. OSU won, 42-41.Credit: Shelby Lum / Photo editorANN ARBOR, Mich. — It seemed like it was going to be a normal play — a kickoff following a touchdown in arguably the biggest rivalry in sports.But when Ohio State freshman running back Dontre Wilson fielded the Michigan (7-5, 3-5) kickoff at the goal line, what ensued might have been the result of bad blood between the two schools. Wilson was taken down at the OSU (12-0, 8-0) 16-yard line by two defenders, both of which laid on him a little longer than normal, prompting the 5-foot-10-inch freshman to shove back. Wilson was then surrounded by six Wolverines, invoking a fight between the two squads that saw many other players from both sides leave their respective benches to get involved.Fists, flags and even Wilson’s helmet went flying during the scrum, and the end result was three ejections — Wilson, teammate and redshirt-senior offensive lineman Marcus Hall and sophomore Michigan linebacker Royce Jenkins-Stone.“I’m disappointed with that,” OSU coach Urban Meyer said about the fight after OSU’s 42-41 win. “We had a little chat about that and that’s not acceptable.”After learning of his disqualification from the game, Hall threw his helmet in disgust and showed both his middle fingers to the crowd as he walked into the tunnel to the locker room.Many other players were involved in the fight, notably junior quarterback Braxton Miller, sophomore defensive lineman Noah Spence and junior cornerback Doran Grant. Miller’s entrance on the field prompted pursuit by redshirt-senior center Corey Linsley, who said after the game he partially blamed himself for Hall’s disqualification.“At the time, it was just shock in and awe. I figured it was going to be another little scuffle that happens at an Ohio State-Michigan game. It escalated, obviously, and I saw Braxton run out there and I was like, ‘Man, I gotta go get that guy,’” Linsley said after the game. “That’s actually what started the whole pull, was me running out there. So I feel a little bit of responsibility from that, for Marcus getting ejected. He saw me run out there and I shouldn’t have done that no matter what.”Hall issued an apology Sunday via his personal Twitter account, @bigmarc79.“I would like to apologize to The Ohio State University, The University of Michigan, my teammates, my family, the fans and the TV viewing audience for my behavior during yesterday’s game. Wearing the scarlet and grey uniform is a privlege (sic) and an honor,” the tweet read. “I let my emotions get the best of me and didn’t conduct myself properly in the heat of the moment. My actions do not reflect who I am as a person and teammate. I love The Ohio State University and appreciate everything it has done for me. From the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry and hope everyone can accept my sincere apology.”Meyer said he isn’t worried about losing either Wilson or Hall’s services for the Big Ten Championship next Saturday against Michigan State. The Buckeye coach did say, however, that he would be providing punishment for Hall, who left the field by flashing two middle fingers to the crowd at Michigan Stadium.“I’ll take care of that,” Meyer said. “Disappointed.”Hall’s gestures blew up on social media, but losing him for the game was strange for some of his teammates.“It was kind of surreal, because you never want to see a player get ejected,” senior left guard Andrew Norwell said after the game. “And it was one of our guys, so it was hard.”Miller chuckled softly after the subject was brought up to him postgame, opening his response with a question of his own before giving a reason for his involvement.“Why y’all bring that up man? Dang,” Miller said. “I seen little Dontre — he’s a little guy and I see he was getting mugged and pushed and I was just running out there to help him out as a leader.”Was the fight a product of the pepped up emotions that come with such a large rivalry game? We’ve seen tempers flare in The Game before, and two instances in particular were pointed out by Linsley, who said such things “shouldn’t happen in any game” regardless of its magnitude.“I guess it’s a consequence of the emotion, but both teams … we’re better than that. They’re better than that, we’re better than that. The thing is, the media, they advertise the fights,” Linsley said. “When (former OSU wide receiver) David Boston and that guy are punching each other, when (former OSU defensive back) Grant Schwartz and (former Michigan running back) Mike Hart get into that fight in the tunnel and we see it all the time. Really and truly, we’re a more disciplined team than that. They’re a more disciplined team than that. On both sides it was disappointing.”OSU junior linebacker Ryan Shazier blamed the fight on each side being too excited up for the game, but said the fight itself happening was not exactly shocking.“You don’t want anybody to fight but that’s a lot of emotions going on both sides,” Shazier said. “A lot of guys are really hyping and things just happen. When two guys are hyped and they meet, sometimes things happen. It’s not acceptable, but I’m not surprised that it happened.”Hall was replaced by redshirt-freshman Pat Elflein, whom Linsley said is “going to be a heck of a player” for OSU in the near future. Elflein also blamed the intensity of the rivalry for the altercation.“This is my first time being up here in (Michigan Stadium), but I’ve watched before and the rivalry’s so intense and it’s a great rivalry so I wasn’t really surprised,” Elflein said after the win. “I knew there was going to be some words exchanged but this is part of the rivalry.”Regardless if it was a result of the ferocity, emotions or greatness of the rivalry that is OSU versus Michigan, the Buckeyes came out on top — which Linsley said was the most important thing even though his heart plummeted when his cohort, Hall, was kicked out of the game.“We just hugged each other (after the game), he cried and we told him we did it for him and we truly did. That just tells you how close our whole offensive line is,” Linsley said. “Me and Jack (Mewhort) were talking after the game, Jack was like ‘my heart sunk’ and so did mine. It was surreal. I’ve never felt a surreal moment before like that in my life where it’s surreal from the standpoint of love.”The No. 2 Buckeyes now turn their attention to what might be their biggest game of the season, as they are set to travel to Indianapolis to take on the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans (11-1, 8-0) at 8:17 p.m. Saturday. read more

Ohio State redshirt senior quarterback J.T. Barrett (16) throws a pass under pressure in the second quarter against Rutgers on Sep. 30. Ohio State won 56-0. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo EditorWith a little more than four minutes to go in the second quarter of Ohio State’s 56-0 romping of Rutgers, quarterback J.T. Barrett dropped back and hit wideout Johnnie Dixon for 10 yards as he stood open in the middle of the field after crossing from the right slot. The receiver, with the help of a key block from tight end Marcus Baugh, did the rest of the work as he raced to the end zone for a 39-yard touchdown.That play was just the latest in a series of crossing routes Ohio State has integrated to boost an offense, which struggled mightily late last season and for much of the team’s lone loss to Oklahoma in Week 2.The speed of redshirt junior H-back Parris Campbell and Dixon fits the scheme well, but Ohio State believes easy wins against UNLV, Army and Rutgers don’t replicate a fix in the offense.“The good thing about this team and coaching staff, you’re not walking around with blinders on,” head coach Urban Meyer said at a press conference Monday. “We’re optimistic and we’re pleased with the progress, but we’re also realistic.”Co- offensive coordinator Ryan Day prior to the OSU- Oklahoma game on Sep. 9. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Photo EditorThe Buckeyes showed their first glimpse of the play design in the second half of the game against Indiana. Crossing routes sprang Dixon for a 39-yard score and Campbell snagged a pass and raced for a 74-yard touchdown. “[Co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach] Ryan Day brought us that whole package to us. It’s been dynamic,” Meyer said. “The big hits we had against Indiana were the same package. So now about seven, eight different concepts off of that.”The realistic approach with guarded optimism has allowed Ohio State to expand beyond simple, short crossing concepts as the Buckeyes have once again begun to focus on nailing deep balls, a part of the offense that has seemingly been absent since wide receiver Devin Smith left Ohio State for the NFL after the 2014 season.Barrett found sophomore 6-foot-4, 195-pound wideout Binjimen Victor in the corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He also connected with Dixon, who beat man-to-man coverage down the field for a long touchdown that was called back due to offensive pass interference. But, what was important to Dixon is that he came down with the reception the reception, something Barrett and his receivers have failed to do often. After Saturday’s game, Meyer said he was disappointed in the lack of success hitting the deep ball early in the game. However, just connecting once, even though it was called back, might give Barrett the confidence in his wideouts to throw more deep balls he was missing.In January, Kevin Wilson and Day were hired as co-offensive coordinator to replace Tim Beck and Ed Warinner to reinvigorate a once-dynamic, now-predictable and lethargic offense. The changes have been less radical and obvious than expected. Many people anticipated Wilson to enter Columbus and make radical changes to speed up the offense. That has not happened.In fact, given the concepts Day has brought to the offense, Wilson might not be the most impactful hire at offensive coordinator.“A lot of times they get questioned about when you hire a coach, do you let them enhance your offense?” Meyer said. “Ryan Day enhanced our offense. It’s been very successful.” read more