Mourinho's silent treatment

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Jose Mourinho gave his humiliated Chelsea stars the silent treatment following their shock FA Cup loss to Bradford.


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London - Jose Mourinho gave his humiliated Chelsea stars the silent treatment following their shock FA Cup loss to Bradford.


The Portuguese, who headed into the away dressing room to congratulate Phil Parkinson’s side, said: “What did I say to my players? Not a word. It wasn’t a moment to speak to them.”


Mourinho used Sunday’s training session at the club’s Cobham HQ to begin an inquest.The Chelsea manager was at his desk by 8am, ahead of his players’ arrival, with the priority ensuring there is no hangover in Tuesday’s Capital One Cup semi-final against Liverpool. The first leg finished 1-1.


Key defensive trio John Terry, Nemanja Matic and Branislav Ivanovic were rested against Bradford but Mourinho refused to use their absence as an excuse for defeat.


“Did we miss Terry’s leadership? No,” he said. “We’ve played lots of games without John. We played Bolton, Shrewsbury and Watford without John and the team coped well. I trust my squad. I am not going to change because of this disappointment.


“It is easy for you to understand now why I play almost every game with the same players. I try to keep stability. Maybe now you can understand a bit better why I do that.


“This result doesn’t alter may plans in the transfer market. I’m happy to go with the squad I have. This is Chelsea, proud of thinking of numbers and Financial Fair Play and so on.”


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News sport : Brent Grimes makes insane, back-to-the-ball interception in Pro Bowl

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — In a game with 1,063 combined yards of offense, it was a defensive play that was the highlight of the Pro Bowl.

Miami Dolphins cornerback Brent Grimes — aka "Optimus Grimes" — was one of the few defenders who really showed up to play in the 32-28 Team Irvin over Team Carter game. J.J. Watt might have won defensive MVP honors, but Grimes' interception was ridiculous.


Covering Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, Grimes never turned around to find the ball on a fade route in the end zone, instead playing the receiver. No problem — Grimes reacted to the ball when Hilton leaped to make the catch, and Grimes — without ever really seeing the ball — just stole it. Like it was his lunch money.


Grimes' interception this season while covering Detroit Lions wideout Calvin Johnson was the better play because it happened against Megatron in a heated tight, regular-season game. But this Pro Bowl pick might have had an even higher degree of difficulty.


It was that good.





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News sport : NFL wants to make it tougher on kickers, but is that a good thing?

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GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Pro Bowl goal posts just looked weird.


The NFL trotted out experimental goal posts that were much narrower than regulation, and the uprights were much higher, too.


Adam Vinatieri was not a fan.


The Indianapolis Colts kicker, one of the most accurate ever and probably the kicker with the best chance to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday, missed two extra points and a field goal to the narrow goal posts. The NFL narrowed the goal posts from 18.6 feet to 14 for the Pro Bowl. They also had kickers attempt extra points to the 15-yard line for a 33-yard try instead of the normal 20-yard attempt. All of Vinatieri's misses were barely wide.


"I probably would have made all my kicks today and walked out of here feeling a little happier than I am now," Vinatieri said.


Kickers have gotten much better over the years. Extra points are automatic and field goals were made at better than an 80 percent clip this past season. Adjusting the goal posts and/or moving the distance for extra points would bring those percentages way down.


"It's a game changer," Vinatieri said.


In a league that likes scoring, this is a rare move to suppress it. Vinatieri said if the NFL follows through on making it tougher on kickers, there will be changes in strategy.


"I doubt there will be as many 50-yard field goals attempted, because your percentages are going to be way down," Vinatieri said. "That's another thing you have to think about. If you want to move extra points back, if you want the skinny posts, you have to be prepared for the results."


Is that what we want? Do we want more missed extra points deciding games? It wouldn't be a better game for a team to score an apparent game-tying touchdown in the final minute, just for a kicker to miss a 33-yard extra point to skinny goal posts. Nobody has ever asked for kickers to have a bigger impact on games. "More missed field goals and extra points" has never been pitched as a way to improve the NFL game. But it seems we're headed toward some type of rule change.


Vinatieri said he was disappointed with how he kicked in the Pro Bowl, taking responsibility for his misses. He also said he sees the "wheels of change" turning and wouldn't be surprised if new rules are implemented for the regular season in the near future. The NFL experimented with longer extra points in the preseason too.


"Any time you make our job more difficult, no kicker is going to sign off on that, no kicker is going to be happy with that," Vinatieri said. "Ask a receiver if they take their gloves off because they catch the ball too well."


Vinatieri, who is 42, is close to wrapping up a great career. He has an 83.7 percent success rate on field goals in his 19 seasons. If the NFL goes forth with some of these rules changes for kickers, it's hard to imagine anyone coming close to that mark again.


"I feel bad for the young bucks who will have to deal with that their whole career," Vinatieri said.


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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!






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News sport : Odell Beckham was 'never really healthy' as rookie with two hamstring tears

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GLENDALE, Ariz. – New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. put on another show in the Pro Bowl, which is no surprise because that's what he did in just about every other game he played as a rookie.


He had five catches for 89 yards in the Pro Bowl and even among the game's best players he stood out. What's more amazing is what he shared in the locker room afterward.


"I was never really healthy," Beckham said about his rookie season.


Come again? That 91-catch, 1,305-yard, 12-touchdown rookie season (in just 12 games, by the way) was on a bad leg?


He said he had two separate hamstring injuries, and the second time he found out he had two tears in the hamstring, in the semitendinosus and the biceps muscles in the hamstring. Beckham missed four games to start the season because of his hamstring.


"I maintained it the best I could," Beckham said. "Still working on it. Trying to get it 100 (percent) for next year."


So this was a limited version of Beckham we saw rewrite the rookie record books. He's a heavy favorite to win the NFL offensive rookie of the year award on Saturday night. But he spoke about his season like he wasn't completely satisfied because his health wouldn't allow him to play full speed.


"I could never have that last gear I wanted to have," Beckham said. "You look at the Colts game and the Philly game, every time I went to break away I'm stumbling and trying to fall over. My hamstring wasn't strong enough to maintain all that. It's still something I'm working on today and will work on in the offseason."


He said he'll shut it down for a few weeks this offseason and then start working back. He said there's a possibility it won't get to 100 percent by next season, but that's a long way off still.


He looked just fine on Sunday in the Pro Bowl. He looked great in just about every game of an amazing rookie season. So how much better could he in his second year if he's 100 percent?


"I guess we'll have to see," Beckham said.


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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!






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News sport : NHL All-Star rookies thrown into spotlight Sunday

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad sat on the Team Toews bench at the 2015 NHL All-Star Game and started to get a little nervous. There was such anxiousness in the 18-year-old’s body that he started to shimmy a little.


“I was sitting on the bench getting the shakes a little bit. I was trying not to try too hard,” he said. “That’s kind of like the thing to do almost. It is hard to do. I got chirped a little bit for trying too hard.”


An All-Star Game for a first year player is tough. You want to play at your regular season pace. You want to look good in front of your boyhood heroes. You don’t want to embarrass yourself. But really, it’s just a glorified exhibition.


“That was like summertime hockey,” Ekblad later said.


With several players pulling out at the last minute before the mid-winter classic/sponsor-fest, there were few replacements close and available. So the league had to add its pool of rookies it originally designated for the Saturday skills competition.


Ekblad, Nashville's Filip Forsberg and Calgary's Johnny Gaudreau all found their way into the big game Sunday and all found out about it during the weekend. This led to some interesting emotional drama for the youngsters and some travel rearrangements.


“I heard some rumors I was playing at first and I got kind of a little bit excited. I heard I wasn’t playing, which wasn’t very fun,” Gaudreau said. “Then I got a chance to play and I was extremely excited about it.”


Ekblad led the way with four assists. Forsberg notched two goals and ‘Johnny Hockey’ notched two assists. Interestingly, Gaudreau and Forsberg played on a line with one another.


“You just have to try to make plays when they’re there,” Forsberg said. “Just try to have some fun out there and I think everyone did a pretty good job at that.”


At points, the two rookie forwards were lined up with crafty veteran Patrik Elias, the oldest player in the game at age 38. And Elias didn’t need to calm down the youngsters. In fact they brought him up to speed when he notched an assist on Forsberg’s first goal.


“I think they fit in fine. I think we had a really good group of guy here and made it easier for them to be around us,” Elias said. “Their skills, their hands. You can see the game they play, the vision. It was pretty impressive.”


But all in all they were still rookies and still got the young guy treatment. When it was brought up to Florida's Roberto Luongo that Ekblad had four assists, he gently ribbed his Panthers teammate.


"Did he? But how many was he on the ice for against?" Luongo said.


Ekblad was a minus-2 in a game with no penalties, Bobby Lu.


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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!


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News sport : Tom Brady expects to talk to NFL about deflate-gate after Super Bowl

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For those expecting swift and harsh justice for the New England Patriots over the deflate-gate issue, with huge suspensions for the Super Bowl, you're likely out of luck.


Patriots quarterback Tom Brady reiterated during a remote Pro Bowl halftime interview with ESPN that he hasn't spoken to the NFL about the issue and doesn't expect to until after the Super Bowl. So unless Brady is really wrong on his assumption, you can probably put the pitchforks away for a while.


"No, no. I believe they're going to do after the season, so we'll deal with it after this game," Brady told ESPN. "I think everybody's locked in, ready to go for this Super Bowl. It's a great opportunity for us, you know, and our guys have worked really hard so, hopefully we can go out there and play our best on Sunday."


While some have figured the NFL would wrap up an investigation on this in a few days, that probably wasn't realistic. Especially because there hasn't been a hint of an admission of guilt from Bill Belichick, Brady or any of the Patriots about the under-inflated footballs in the AFC championship game, and there hasn't been any evidence of wrongdoing. Presumably Brady would tell the NFL exactly what he said in a lengthy news conference on Thursday. He basically said he doesn't want his footballs tampered with after he picks them out and he couldn't tell the difference during the game if the balls were at the proper inflation or below it because he doesn't squeeze the ball. There's no reason to think he'd tell the NFL anything different in a private meeting, and there's nothing in his statements from Thursday to justify punishing him now.


Belichick made it clear during his news conference on Saturday that he was going to share everything he knew and that would be it on the matter. It's a pretty good bet he told his team not to discuss the issue in Arizona. So outside of the very remote possibility of the NFL wrapping up an investigation in a day or two after surprisingly talking to Brady in Arizona and also finding enough evidence to warrant a Super Bowl suspension (the NFL very rarely suspends any player late in the week; it's unfair for teams that have game-planned all week with that player), this might be the signal that the significant news on deflate-gate is drying up heading into Super Bowl week.


That doesn't mean people won't keep talking about it right up until the game, however. It's just that the conversation won't include Brady and NFL investigators.


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Jubilation as Balboa, Salvador score

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Equatorial Guinea’s pulsating victory over Gabon sparked celebrations across the country.


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Ebebiyin, Equatorial Guinea - Equatorial Guinea sparked jubilant celebrations around the country on Sunday as the hosts snatched an unlikely African Nations Cup quarter-final place after a pulsating 2-0 win over neighbours Gabon.


The victory in Bata ensured a second-place finish in Group A behind Congo, who beat Burkina Faso 2-1 in Ebebiyin to condemn the 2013 runners-up to an embarrassing early exit.


Equatorial Guinea's progress to the knockout stages defied all odds as they only secured a place in the tournament after stepping in as hosts at late notice in place of Morocco. As a result they had only a month to prepare for the tournament and appointed a coach just two weeks before kick off.


But the Argentine-born Esteban Becker and his young charges were the toast of the tiny African nation after second-half goals by Javier Balboa and substitute Iban Salvador gave them a memorable win in front of 35 000 roaring fans.


Having soaked up incessant pressure throughout the match, Equatorial Guinea took the lead when striker Balboa blasted home a penalty in the 55th minute after being fouled.


Substitute Salvador rounded off a swift break in the closing stages, sweeping home a rebound after Gabon keeper Didier Ovono parried an Emilio Nsue shot straight into his path.


Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper Felipe Ovono was central to their success, having produced a string of superb saves to deny Gabon forwards Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Frederic Bulot.


The win sent people on to the streets in a country better known for its torrid post-independence history but where an oil boom allowed them to step in as African Nations Cup hosts after Morocco were stripped of the right to stage the tournament when they requested a postponement due to concerns over the Ebola virus.


Equatorial Guinea have to wait until Monday to find out the identity of their quarter-final opponents when Group B is concluded but they are set to play in the 5 000-seater Ebebiyin stadium on Saturday.


Congo will return to Bata as Group A winners after Fabrice Ondama scored their winner in a 2-1 triumph over the Burkinabe.


“The luck was not on our side,” Burkina Faso coach Paul Put told reporters.


Burkina Faso had a magical run through the 2013 finals but there was no resemblance of that sorcery after yet another limp performance. They had lost to Gabon and drawn 0-0 with Equatorial Guinea in their opening two group matches.


Thievy Bifouma put Congo ahead in the 51st minute but the prospect of a grandstand finish was created when Burkina Faso finally scored their first goal of the tournament after more than four hours.


Aristide Bance equalised by converting a square pass from Issiaka Ouedraogo in the 86th minute to set up a potentially thrilling final four minutes only for a goalkeeping error to allow Ondama to restore Congo's lead within one minute.


Germain Sanou punched his clearance straight onto Ondama for Congo's winner. - Reuters






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Congo through to last eight

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Thievy Bifouma has helped Congo to reach the knockout stages of the Afcon tournament for the first time since 1992.


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Ebebiyin, Equatorial Guinea - Thievy Bifouma scored his second goal of the African Nations Cup to set Congo on their way to a 2-1 win over Burkina Faso and propel them into the knockout stages for the first time since 1992.


The win, sealed by a second goal late on from substitute Fabrice Ondama, eliminated the group favourites, who had been runners-up at the last finals in South Africa two years ago.


Congo finished top of Group A with seven points, followed by hosts Equatorial Guinea, who beat Gabon 2-0 in Bata.


Burkina Faso had to win to have any chance of advancing but were on the back foot after Bifouma scored in the 51st minute.


The Congo striker, who also scored on the opening day, slid in to bundle home a square pass from Ferebory Dore.


Burkina Faso had a magical run through the 2013 finals but there was no resemblance of that sorcery after yet another limp performance. They had lost to Gabon and drawn 0-0 with Equatorial Guinea in their opening two group matches.


They finally scored their first goal of the tournament after more than four hours when Aristide Bance equalised to set up a potentially thrilling final four minutes only for a goalkeeping error to allow Ondama to restore Congo's lead within one minute.


Bance converted a square pass from Issiaka Ouedraogo in the 86th minute but any chance of a grandstand finish ended when Germain Sanou punched his clearance straight onto Ondama for Congo's winner.


Congo now play in Saturday's quarter-final in Bata against the runners up in Group B, which will be determined on Monday.


Congo last appeared at the Nations Cup finals 15 years ago and have only twice made it past the first round, in Cameroon in 1972, when they won the tournament, and in 1992, when they were knocked out in the quarter-finals. - Reuters






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News sport : Watch J.J. Watt and Odell Beckham show off field-goal skills

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GLENDALE, Ariz. – J.J. Watt would have fit in perfectly in the single-platoon era, when players stayed on the field and played both sides of the ball.


The Houston Texans defensive end is a wrecking machine on defense. He can catch touchdowns from the tight end position, because his size and agility makes him an incredibly tough matchup. And he can even kick field goals.


OK, so Watt wasn't exactly going kick-for-kick from Adam Vinatieri from 50 yards out during Pro Bowl practice this week. It was a short one he attempted with the cameras rolling, about extra-point range. But wouldn't you know it, the best player in the NFL this season hit it high up into the net and good. It's not an easy task, and you don't see many 289-pound men who can pull it off (Ndamukong Suh, we haven't forgotten your kicking skills).


The Pro Bowl is a time for crazy experiments. It's where we saw Watt line up at receiver a couple years ago, something the Texans used in real games this season, and he caught three touchdowns. John Harbaugh, who coaches Watt's Team Carter in the Pro Bowl, told NFL.com he's prepared to use players at unusual positions. So get ready, we might see Watt doing some really fun things in the game.


And he's not the only NFL superstar who could be called upon for a kick. In the pregame, Colts punter Pat McAfee took a video of New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. nailing a 46-yard field goal before the Pro Bowl, with a nice little celebration afterward.


It's even more impressive when you consider that the NFL is using skinny goal posts in the game as an experiment.



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News sport : Watch John Tavares' dazzling goal in NHL All-Star Game (Video)

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John Tavaras just cost Kevin Shattenkirk the Norris Trophy.


Ok, maybe that's a little too severe of a conclusion considering it's was a scoring play in the All-Star Game.


Puck handling against Shattenkirk as he crossed the blue line, Tavares dangles the puck behind his skate, brings it back to the front, skates around the front of the net and fires a wrister at Carey Price from an awkward angle. At first the announcers thought Price made an unconventional semi-pad stack/turtle on its shell save, but alas, Tavares had scored.


The video is way better than words can express:



The goal tied the game at 4-4 with 57-seconds left in the first period. The camera caught the New York Islanders captain enjoying the replay of his goal from the bench and the look on his face is about as magical as his puck handling.


Via Stef (@myregularface):




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News sport : Richard Sherman: Patriots won't be punished because of 'conflict of interest'

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PHOENIX — The first shot by Richard Sherman has been fired.


The Seattle Seahawks cornerback, in the team's introductory media press conference on Sunday, was asked about potential discipline that could come down on their Super Bowl counterparts, the New England Patriots, in response to the Deflate-gate incident.


Sherman, as expected, threw a haymaker at the NFL, the Patriots, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and league commissioner Roger Goodell.



Well, now.


In case you were not aware, Goodell and Kraft were photographed together before the now infamous AFC championship game, underlying what many have said before: that Goodell and the NFL owners (especially certain ones) are far too cozy for comfort.



The deflated balls story has been going on now for a week strong. And now a new chapter has been written by Sherman a day before the Patriots are scheduled to arrive and speak to the media.


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News sport : Michael Cuddyer brings card tricks, optimism to Mets clubhouse

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After finalizing a seven-year, $210 million contract with free agent Max Scherzer, it appears the rest of the NL East will need nothing short of a miracle or perhaps even some magic to overcome the Washington Nationals. With that in mind, it's probably a good thing the New York Mets had already gone out and hired a magician this offseason, signing outfielder Michaal Cuddyer a two-year, $21 million deal in November.


And no, we're not exclusively referring to Cuddyer baseball skills, though many times he has looked like a magician at the plate. Especially 2013, when he took home the NL batting crown. He's actually a magician with a wide range of card tricks. It's a unique talent, but it's a talent he's used for years in the clubhouse to keep teammates loose and entertained.


On Thursday, Cuddyer spent part of his afternoon sharpening his skills in the Mets clubhouse. Only this time, he had a different audience. The Mets brought in students from PS 92 in Queens, and as you might expect, the kids were quite impressed with Cuddyer's slight of hand.



As you also might expect, because this is New York after all, the topic of the day eventually turned to the Mets outlook this season. In this case, Cuddyer didn't attempt to the pull wool over anyone's eyes. He acknowledged the Nationals are the team to beat, but made it known that the Mets will also compete for that position.


From MLB.com:



"I don't see why we couldn't. Obviously, they're going to have a great staff, there's no question about it. They've got All-Stars on the staff. They've got ERA champions on the staff, strikeout champions on the staff. But at the same time, we've got guys that can compete with that as well. I think the 'Baseball Almanac' would be written a lot differently if you donned a champion in February every year."



Admittedly, Cuddyer can't see the future, but he does make good points. Often times the favorites in February are afterthoughts by August. However, the Nationals are a different animal. Their starting rotation is as loaded as we've ever seen in recent years, and should they elect to not immediately trade from that depth, will be equipped to handle absorb some adversity.


Where the Mets should make some noise is in the wild-card race, and we don't think that will require magic. Just good health should do the trick. If Cuddyer, David Wright and returning ace Matt Harvey can hold up for 162 games, the Mets will have staying power and an opportunity to reappear in the postseason following an eight-year absence.


Actually believing they can do it won't hurt either.


BLS H/N: Cut 4


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News sport : Ganassi's No. 02 with Dixon, Kanaan, Larson and McMurray wins Rolex 24

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Chip Ganassi's IndyCar and Sprint Cup Series drivers are pretty good at sports car racing.


The No. 02 team of IndyCar drivers Scott Dixon and Tony Kanaan and Sprint Cup Series drivers Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray won the Rolex 24 sports car race at Daytona Sunday afternoon, beating the No. 5 Action Express team which was driven by IndyCar driver Sebastian Bourdais at the finish.


The main competition for the No. 02, which was piloted by Dixon for the final three-plus hours, was the No. 10 of Wayne Taylor Racing. But WTR made a critical miscalculation late in the race and essentially handed the win over to the No. 02.


The No. 02 was leading with the caution came out for a crash with approximately 15 minutes to go. Presumably, the ensuing restart was going to give the No. 10, driven by Jordan Taylor, a chance to go after Dixon for one more shot at the win. However, Taylor was called to the pits during the caution and told he had to get out of the car.


Drivers in the Rolex 24 can drive four hours in a six-hour period and 14 hours overall. Taylor had driven the third-to-last stint for the No. 10 and Max Angelelli was apparently not in the car long enough in the second-to-last driver segment to satisfy the buffer requirement for Taylor. Had he driven the car to the finish, he would have gone over the limit and WTR realized it too late to fit it into their race strategy.


The No. 10 ended up third as Ricky Taylor drove it to the finish. The team has finished second, second and third in the past three Rolex 24s.


The Rolex 24 win is the sixth for Chip Ganassi Racing, which last won in 2013. The team was almost flawless throughout the entire event, as all four drivers posted stellar lap times and the car never fell lower than fourth as the race churned on throughout the night. The team pitted a race-high 34 times and thanks to the team's strategy and car's speed, it wasn't a detriment.


McMurray also became the third driver to win both the Daytona 500 and Rolex 24, joining A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti. Not terrible company.


"It's about Scott Dixon for me today," McMurray said. "He got in with three-and-a-half hours to go and just really did an amazing job. I'm so proud of him. Scott's become a good friend of mine and I'm honored to call him a friend."


The No. 3 Corvette, piloted by IndyCar Series driver Ryan Briscoe, former F1 driver Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia, won the GT Le Mans Class. The No. 93 Dodge Viper won in GT Daytona and the No. 52 won in PC. The No. 54 dominated the PC class for the entirety of the race, however it was the cause of the final caution flag.


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News sport : Former UNLV coach Bobby Hauck joins San Diego State staff

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San Diego State hired a familiar name as its special teams coordinator.


The school announced Friday that former UNLV coach Bobby Hauck would join the coaching staff. The Rebels are in the Mountain West Conference along with the Aztecs.


“I’m excited about being here and working for Coach [Rocky] Long first of all,” Hauck told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “They are really good guys on this staff, and this is a tremendous place to live, so I’m enthused about that.”


Hauck, 50, coached at UNLV for five seasons and had an overall record of 15-49 before he resigned at the end of the 2014 season. His Rebels went to a bowl game after the 2013 season, losing to North Texas in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. In that season, UNLV was 7-6, meaning Hauck was 8-43 in his other four seasons.


“You kind of know what we’re going to get and know the league,” he also told the Review-Journal. “Certainly, that makes the transition easier.”


The most recent memory of San Diego State's special teams isn't a good one. The Aztecs lost to Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl after a missed field goal late in the fourth quarter.


Before coaching at UNLV, Hauck coached at Montana. UNLV hired Tony Sanchez as his replacement. Sanchez previously coached at Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas.


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Ivory Coast has ‘lots’ to play for

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Ivory Coast will be hoping they’re not eliminated from the Afcon finals in a drawing of lots as was the case 27 years ago.


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Malabo, Equatorial Guinea – Ivory Coast will be hoping history does not repeat itself and they are eliminated from the African Nations Cup finals by the drawing of lots as was the case 27 years ago.


The very real scenario of a draw being needed to separate the teams in Group D has developed after Saturday’s matches at the tournament in Equatorial Guinea again ended in stalemates.


Cameroon, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and Mali are all level after two rounds of games, each ending in a 1-1 draws.


Should that be the case again when Cameroon meet the Ivorians in Malabo and Mali take on Guinea at the same time in Mongomo, then the Confederation of African Football will have to dust off its glass bowls and balls and conduct a draw to determine which teams to advance to the quarter-finals.


The drawing of lots could also take place if one of the games ends all square and the other produces a victory, or in the case of different score draws determining who is the group winner and runner-up.


Twice before the Nations Cup finals have turned to the cruel lottery to determine the fate of teams level after the first round.


The Ivorians lost out to Algeria at the 1988 finals in Morocco after both finished on three points with two goals scored and two each conceded.


In 1972, Congo advanced to the semi-finals after they were level with Morocco on points and goal difference after the first round. – Reuters






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