News sport : 2015 is not a banner year for paint schemes in the Cup Series

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If you're a NASCAR fan, one of the best parts of the approaching season is the unveiling of cars' paint schemes.


Through announcements and the first days of cars being on track at Daytona, we've gotten a glimpse of what most rides will look like in 2015. And, well, it's underwhelming.


We're admitted simpletons when it comes to paint schemes. The simpler and cleaner the better. Some cars in the Cup Series have that look going on. Some definitely don't.


Let's start with a couple of the cars we like. Nationwide's paint scheme for Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the best new design of the season.




It's a contender up against Brad Keselowski's No. 2 for best-looking car. Props to Team Penske for keeping the white look.




Carl Edwards' new No. 19 isn't bad, though the red numbers on the side seem to blend in a bit against the orange background.




We don't mind the black and red combination of Kurt Busch's car, but the diagonal side-stripe makes the car look a bit like a Texas Tech-themed Tetris puzzle.




They get worse from here. Denny Hamlin's FedEx schemes over the past couple years weren't bad. The addition of purple with orange trim are obviously for company colors, but the utilization is suspect. Especially with the purple roof.




Greg Biffle's Ortho car looks kind of like a red-faced anteater. Though given the sponsor's products, maybe that was the objective?




Danica Patrick's car may be the ugliest main paint scheme of the year. We've discussed our dislike of the combination in this space previously, but the car looks so 1990s that it's worth mentioning again.




What happened to the crispness of Patrick's 2013 car?




What schemes do you like or dislike? Drop us a line at happyhourmailbag@yahoo.com.


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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : North Carolina paid Duke over $27,000 for spray paint damages

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The North Carolina Tar Heels paint the victory bell after defeating the Duke Blue Devils 45-20 at Wallace Wade Stadium on November 20, 2014 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) As part of the rivalry between North Carolina and Duke, it is tradition for the winner of the annual football game to spray paint the Victory Bell trophy in their school color. The Tar Heels apparently took things a bit too far.


North Carolina paid Duke $27,170.44 for damages done with spray paint to the Blue Devils’ facilities following the Tar Heels’ 45-20 win on Nov. 20.


According to the News & Observer, $22,028.44 of the money went to replacing the carpet in Duke’s visitor’s locker room.


Per an open records request obtained by the News & Observer, Duke associate athletic director Gerald Harrison told UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham in an email that much of the carpet was not able to be cleaned.



According to an email sent from Gerald Harrison, the Duke associate athletic director who oversees football, to UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham, 60 carpet tiles were spray painted, and they weren’t able to be cleaned. That required a full carpet replacement throughout the facility, Harrison wrote.



Additional money was used to remove spray paint from Duke’s practice field and to paint the practice facility and “three panels in Wallace Wade Stadium.” In these instances, North Carolina players spray-painted “U-N-C” on the walls.


Cunningham and UNC head coach Larry Fedora originally apologized to Duke in a statement issued Nov. 24. Cunningham said he called Duke AD Kevin White, while Fedora reached out to Duke coach David Cutcliffe. Cutcliffe apparently never called Fedora back.


From the News & Observer:



In a formal apology letter to Duke athletic director Kevin White on Feb. 3, Cunningham said he was disappointed that Duke football coach David Cutcliffe never returned UNC coach Larry Fedora’s apology call, which came the Friday following the game.



Additionally, at the end of his letter to Duke, Cunningham decided to include a photo of spray paint damage to UNC’s South Building where “four pillars were tagged with the letters D-U-K-E on Feb. 19, 2014, before the Duke-UNC basketball game.”



“The University of North Carolina bore the cost of sandblasting these pillars and did not make public comments of the transgression. I acknowledge we have no idea who did this, but I simply included it to demonstrate that all fans, teams, coaches, students, etc. need to appreciate and respect the rivalry.”



Cunningham and Fedora split the costs with each sending personal checks for $13,585.22 to Duke in January while the UNC players completed community service.


For more North Carolina news, visit TarHeelIllustrated.com.


For more Duke news, visit DevilsIllustrated.com.


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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Young Ohio State fan thinks Ezekiel Elliott should win Nobel Peace Prize

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One young Ohio State fan thinks Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott should win the Nobel Peace Prize.


That’s what eight-year-old Jacob Taylor, a Buckeyes fan from Florida, wrote in a letter to Elliott late last week. Luckily for us, Jacob’s mother shared the letter on Twitter. Take a look.



Elliott ran for 696 yards in the postseason for the Buckeyes – including a 246-yard, four-touchdown performance in the national championship that earned him game MVP honors.


Clearly Jacob was impressed.


For more Ohio State news, visit BuckeyeGrove.com.


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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!







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Sherwood determined to keep Villa up

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Tim Sherwood inspired Aston Villa to a 2-1 FA Cup fifth round win over Leicester City and appeared equally upbeat when he met the media on Monday - his first official day as the club's new manager.


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Tim Sherwood inspired Aston Villa to a 2-1 FA Cup fifth round win over Leicester City on Saturday and appeared equally upbeat when he met the media on Monday - his first official day as the club's new manager.


Sherwood, watching Villa labour in a drab first half at Villa Park, went into the dressing room at the break and was punching the air in delight as Scott Sinclair's late strike put them 2-0 ahead after an improved second half performance.


Their run to the FA Cup quarter-finals has been Villa's one respite from a terrible league campaign which has seen them plummet after being second in mid-September.


Manager Paul Lambert paid the price for that slump when he was sacked on Wednesday with Villa 18th in the 20-team league, deep in relegation trouble with 13 matches to play.


Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Sherwood told reporters: “I know how to win matches in this league. I know how to galvanise players and get the best out of them - all I can do is prepare the team to the best of my ability.


“It's all about winning 13 cup finals now, and hopefully 14 if we do get to the Cup final itself.”


Sherwood, 46, said the squad was good enough to survive and he hoped that Belgium striker Christian Benteke, who has scored just three goals all season, will start finding the net again.


“He just needs a goal to restore his confidence. But you've got to try to win football matches. We've got good players who can play off the cuff,” he said.


“I remember playing against Christian Benteke as a manager and I know what a handful he can be. We need to get him back to that. There are a lot of big names in that squad and none of them want to get relegated.


“No-one at this football club does and it will hurt them to drop into the Championship. We have to make sure that does not happen.”


Villa have scored 12 League goals all season and have lost their last five league matches. They have not won in the league since another 2-1 win over Leicester on December 7 and Sherwood is only concentrating on survival.


“We are not in the position we are in for no reason.


“I believe in giving youth an opportunity but don't expect too many Under-18 players on Saturday - that's a long-term plan. For the short term, its all about winning, nothing else.”


Sherwood managed Spurs for the second half of last season and had been linked with the managerial posts at several clubs since leaving White Hart Lane in May. – Reuters






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Chiefs gave the ball away too much

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Kaizer Chiefs scored in injury time to beat Township Rollers of Botswana in their CAF Champions League preliminary first-leg clash.


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It was not pretty. But it got the result all right! And now Kaizer Chiefs will do their best to protect “that” goal against a Township Rollers side that is sure to believe they can pull the rug from underneath the feet of their more illustrious opponents.


Amakhosi’s 2-1 Caf Champions League preliminary round, first leg victory courtesy of a Tefu Mashamaite injury-time goal saved the Absa Premiership leaders some blushes in what was arguably their worst performance of the season.


“I’ve never seen our central midfield give the ball away as much as we did,” coach Stuart Baxter lamented after the match played at the FNB Stadium on Saturday night. “We gave them so much opportunity to counter (attack) us, it’s a miracle that they did not score. But I can’t envisage us giving the ball away so badly in the second leg.”


Yet he will do well to ensure his team are much more jealous in protecting the ball, Rollers showing themselves to be a very useful side in possession and going forward.


“We’ll gladly take the goal to Botswana and we will defend it fiercely.”


And they should given that Rollers now need only beat them 1-0 to progress to the first round via the away goal rule. “We always say it takes just one second to score. And I am happy we did so to win this match.”


Chiefs will thus need to be alert for the entire match when the two sides meet in Gaborone in two weeks making sure there’s no lapse of concentration for a second.


After all Rollers, who clearly came here in awe of their opponents, have now got the impression Chiefs are not as great a side as they thought them to be.


“We’ll be ready for Chiefs when they come to Gaborone,” said coach Madinda Ndlovu at the post-match conference “The boys are very sorry that they could not at least get a draw, but there’s smiles on their faces and a belief that they can make it.


“While my boys gave Chiefs too much respect in the first few minutes, we should have gone into the break at 1-1 but we missed a sitter. In the second half we played well and that’s why we got the equaliser.


“But then we lacked concentration in the last five minutes and that’s why we conceded from a set piece.”


Valuable lessons picked up from the first leg by both sides then to make for a fascinating second clash that promises to be tactically intense as Chiefs will strive to protect their lead while hoping to get that crucial away goal and Rollers go out for a win on home soil.


While the showing by Chiefs can well be termed an episode in the club’s fascinating 2014/15 drama best forgotten, Rollers will rewind the tape and watch it with some pride – the Botswana champions having managed to get behind the Chiefs rearguard on so many occasions they should have scored more than the one goal by Segolame Boy.


They were swift on the counter-attack as Chiefs looked out-of-sorts in midfield and their inter-passing impressed. In front of their home crowd in Gaborone they are sure to be even much sprightly and much more confident.


Chiefs will want Matthew Rusike to be much more clinical and quicker in his decision-making in the box than he was here.


Though he scored the opener on six minutes, the Zimbawean striker was good for a hat-trick on the night but fluffed a couple of good chances.


Not that Baxter was complaining.


After all, his team got the victory in the end. - The Star






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Lack of pace is United’s problem

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The problem with Manchester United - and the reason they are underperforming - is the lack of either pace or height in the strike force.


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The first thing we need to deal with - and put out of the way - is the long-ball question, because it is a red herring and utterly irrelevant to any conversation about Manchester United.


Sam Allardyce tried a few fun and games last week when he accused United of being a long-ball team but I was surprised that Louis van Gaal even responded by producing reams of charts at his press conference on Tuesday. All you are doing is legitimising what Allardyce is saying and looking like you need to justify yourself. Van Gaal didn't.


The problem with Manchester United - and the reason they are underperforming - is more subtle and tactical than that and it all flows from a critical flaw in the team: the lack of either pace or height in the strike force.


I'm not kidding you when I say that pace kills you as a central defender. If you had given me the choice as a central defender of being up against skills or a forward who can run like a whippet, I'd take the skills every day of the week. You can always use your technique to deal with them. But pace through the middle of the pitch? That does things to defenders. It makes you drop back three or four yards because that's the kind of head start you want to give yourself. And when the defence drops three or four yards, the midfield does because no side wants a gap between those two lines. It's a cardinal sin and it will lose you the game.


And here we get to the nub of it. No defence feels the need to drop those three or four important yards with the strike partnership Van Gaal has been settling on: Robin van Persie and Radamel Falcao. Both are very good strikers, but neither is going to stretch a defence with his pace and get in behind.


Both want to go short for the ball. Neither does that partnership provide the big man/small man combination that will also have defences worrying and playing deep. When there is a big target man in the partnership, central defenders will worry about him getting the knock-down for the smaller striker, who can get in behind. So back they go.


There are no such worries for the teams United have been up against. The centre-halves are following Van Persie and Falcao all the way out because they are not afraid of the second man in the partnership stretching them. The knock-on effect is that the midfield is able to play a high line, pressurising United's midfielders and not allowing them the time to move the ball forward at pace. I'd say that 90 per cent of the time United pick up the ball in midfield their backs are to goal because someone is right up their arse - to describe it as we'd describe it when I was playing!


There has been a lot of talk about there being a lack of pace in this United team but you can't tell me that players are going out lacking the intention or the instructions to do things at pace, the Manchester United way. Everything is about cause and effect in football. There is a reason why they are not shifting the ball quickly. It all stems from opponents not fearing that front line.


Liverpool were having the same problem earlier this season, too. We talked about it in this column. But Brendan Rodgers put Raheem Sterling, with his pace, up front, and now has Daniel Sturridge back. Defences are going back and allowing Liverpool that time and space.


So United need a different combination at the top of that team. Either James Wilson, their striker with pace, and Van Persie. Or Wilson with Wayne Rooney. Or Van Persie with Marouane Fellaini - creating that big man/little man combination I've mentioned, with Van Persie picking up the knock-downs. You only had to see the chaos Burnley caused United on Wednesday, with Danny Ings' pace stretching the defence continually and - as United retreated to deal with it - Michael Kightly, Ashley Barnes and George Boyd having so much time on the ball in the space created.


There have already been hints of what the kind of changes I'm talking about can do. Watch United's 3-0 win over Liverpool again and you'll see the way the threat of Wilson's pace forced Liverpool to play deep last December, even though he hardly had a touch early on. Fellaini's arrival at Upton Park in an advanced role also forced West Ham deeper. These are the equations which explain United's problems. A long-ball reputation is the last thing Van Gaal should be preoccupied about. – The Independent






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Wenger lauds Giroud

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Arsene Wenger paid tribute to his FA Cup match winner Olivier Giroud, recognising how the Frenchman has improved.


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London - Arsene Wenger paid tribute to his FA Cup match winner Olivier Giroud, recognising how the Frenchman has improved and become a more complete striker in his three years in London.


Giroud again demonstrated the quality which persuaded Cup holders Arsenal to pay around 10 million pounds ($15.42 million) for his services as he scored both goals in a decisive two-minute spell to sink Middlesbrough 2-0 in the fifth round.


The player who has not always convinced at Arsenal, despite that peacock strut about him, is these days properly showing off the feathers, this brace taking his tally for the season to 10 goals, even though he missed nearly three months of the campaign with a broken foot.


It was a year ago that Giroud's future at the club seemed up in the air after he apologised for taking a female companion back to the team hotel.


Yet even with Alexis Sanchez and Danny Welbeck having subsequently taken the spotlight from him, Giroud's huge and growing importance to Arsenal was again underlined by Wenger, who explained why his number 12 actually remained the club's most natural number nine.


“I believe that he is a different player today than the guy who arrived here,” said Wenger of the 28-year-old, who seems tougher and more industrious than when he joined the club.


“He understands what top level football demands, works with a great concentration in training and he has improved tremendously on his mobility, his technical quality. And, of course, his body is very strong. He uses it very well.”


Giroud's first goal came straight out of the Arsenal manual of beautiful team goals, a neat first-time finish to end some bewilderingly fine interplay involving all the players.


The second was the sharpest of instant volleys from Alexis Sanchez's corner. “A consequence of intelligence and technique,” said Wenger.


While Sanchez and Welbeck buzz around, there remains only one job for Giroud.


“I believe Welbeck's doing extremely well. He can play central striker like he did for a long time but the most natural centre forward we have is Giroud,” said Wenger.


“All the strikers we have can play in different positions. The only one who can only play centre forward is Giroud, so when Giroud plays the others have to move out wide.”


It seems simple enough; feed the peacock and he will score. – Reuters






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Welbeck struggling to fit in

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Danny Welbeck moved to Arsenal hoping to get regular starting time in his preferred position as striker having under-achieved at Manchester United.


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A few days before England’s World Cup squad flew out to Brazil last summer, Danny Welbeck made it clear that he expected to be given a run of games up front when he returned to Manchester United.


We are coming up to the anniversary of that conversation —which happened in the swanky resort of Quinta do Lago in Portugal — and nothing has changed, except his club.


Yesterday, wearing the colours of Arsenal in this FA Cup fifth round tie against Middlesbrough, the forward was shoe-horned into this team. Few could displace Olivier Giroud on his current form.


Instead, Welbeck is in familiar territory, forced on to the wing again because Giroud, one of the most under-appreciated players at the highest level of the game, is scoring at will.


In many ways Welbeck is a victim of his own versatility, squeezed out to the wing in this cup tie because Giroud is a first pick for Wenger when he is fit.


Wenger said: ‘If you look at the history of my strikers, most of them have been able to play in different forward positions over the year. The only one who hasn’t and probably has to play up front is Giroud, but the rest have been able to play wide if necessary.’ In the days of Thierry Henry he could pop up wherever he wanted, but Welbeck is playing with more tactical discipline as he works his way into this team.


Against one of the best sides in the Championship Welbeck started on the left and swapped with Alexis Sanchez to play on the right after the break. His afternoon ended when he was replaced by Theo Walcott in the 71st minute. Even though he is on the same pitch as some players with genuine pedigree — Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla operate at a different technical level from the others — this is not what he signed up to.


When he arrived from Manchester United at the end of the summer transfer window, Welbeck wanted to be the star of the show in an Arsenal shirt. Instead, we are waiting for him to really get going.


He touched the ball 38 times at the Emirates yesterday, a long way short of the the 128 touches taken by the imperious Cazorla and his midfield partner Ozil (116).


If it came down to work-rate in the Barclays Premier League, then Welbeck would win a place in this team every week.


He has scored some goals, netting his first for the club in a 3-0 victory at Aston Villa in September and scoring a hat-trick against Galatasaray in a 4-1 win the following month. Suddenly, though, he seems vulnerable.


Next month an England squad will be announced for the games against Lithuania and Italy.


Welbeck is coming under pressure from Harry Kane. He is a favourite of Hodgson’s, but to keep his place in the team for club and country the forward will need to play in his preferred position.


It seems that if Giroud is fit, he will always start ahead of Welbeck. The Frenchman has now scored 11 times in the FA Cup.


In a few weeks, as Arsenal power on for a place in the top four and another appearance in an FA Cup final, the competition will be fierce in this squad.


Heavyweights such as Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be making demands of Wenger as they enter a crucial phase of the season.


When that moment arrives, you begin to wonder where Welbeck will fit in. – Daily Mail






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Bradford rekindling FA Cup romance

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Bradford City were “living the dream” after knocking out another Premier League victim and powering into the FA Cup quarter-finals.


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Bradford City, a venerable third-tier English club with a history touched by tragedy, were “living the dream” on Sunday after knocking out another Premier League victim and powering into the FA Cup quarter-finals.


The Yorkshire club, whose indomitable spirit has never been extinguished in hard times over the 30 years since a fire at their stadium claimed 56 lives, wrote a new, uplifting tale at Valley Parade as they defeated Sunderland 2-0.


On the eve of the game, Bradford manager Phil Parkinson had said his League One side, perpetrators of one of the Cup's greatest upsets by winning 4-2 at Jose Mourinho's impregnable Chelsea fortress in the previous round, had saved the FA Cup by rekindling its romance and unpredictability.


Even though England's TV broadcasters had absurdly chosen not to screen the latest chapter of the fairytale live - a decision which left their fans chanting gleefully “Are you watching BBC?” - all eyes will now be on little Bradford as they are just 90 minutes from a semi-final at Wembley.


“With the form we're in at the moment we'll take anyone at home (in the sixth round),” ecstatic goalkeeper Ben Williams told the BBC as a crowd of 24,021, the biggest at Valley Parade for more than half a century, celebrated uproariously.


“We're just living the dream at the moment.”


With Arsenal and Liverpool already through and Manchester United, who visit Preston North End on Monday, favoured to also make the last eight, none of these aristocrats would savour a visit to a muddy bear trap to tackle a team which again belied its ninth place in League One with some quality football.


Nor will they fancy running into Jon Stead who, keeping up his record of scoring in the each of the previous four rounds of the Cup, scored the decisive second just after the hour, following John O'Shea's third minute own goal.


As against Chelsea, this was no fluke. Bradford can win on carpets or quagmires.


“We have kept that underdog spirit,” said Parkinson. “It was a good, old-fashioned cup tie, a really good advert for the FA Cup.”


Bradford, still collecting big scalps having accounted for Wigan Athletic, Arsenal and Aston Villa in cup competitions over the last three years, keep doing more than anyone to keep alive the traditions of the world's greatest domestic Cup competition. – Reuters






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Rodgers warns Reds of Europa curse

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This is the week the dynamic of Liverpool’s season changes. And just when things are moving in the right direction for Brendan Rodgers.


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Liverpool have kept just three clean sheets in their previous 20 matches in the FA Cup.


This is the week the dynamic of Liverpool’s season changes. And just when things are moving in the right direction for Brendan Rodgers.


Two defeats in 22 games have seen the Anfield side move to within four points of the Champions League places and secure an FA Cup quarter-final slot after Saturday’s win at Selhurst Park.


But how will the Merseysiders deal with the Europa League restarting this week?


It’s that Thursday-Sunday conundrum to which nobody seems to have the answer. Liverpool welcome Besiktas this Thursday before travelling to fellow Barclays Premier League top-four contenders Southampton on Sunday.


Four days later they face the return leg in Turkey, before welcoming champions Manchester City on Sunday.


So, is the Europa League a hindrance for Rodgers? ‘We want to play as many games as we can,’ said the Liverpool manager.


‘It will be tough but when you’re winning games it gives you energy. We had tough games this week but the players have been brilliant and came through it well.


‘Now we’ll recover and look forward to the Europa League because it’s a competition, like the FA Cup, we want to do well in.’ However, Rodgers is under no illusion that the competition will have an impact on the rest of Liverpool’s campaign.


‘There is no doubt that you’re always playing catch-up. It can be tough. But it’s a European competition, so it’s a very prestigious tournament. And a Champions League place for the winner makes it more attractive but there is still a way to go before you can think of that.


‘Certainly we’re very focused on doing well in it. The players are young and hungry and this is a group who can grow over the next couple of years. But we would like to get a trophy to signify that growth so the Europa League is a competition we will take seriously.’


Saturday’s win at Palace brought to an end Liverpool’s recent Selhurst Park hoodoo. When Palace took the lead through Fraizer Campbell, it looked as if Alan Pardew’s side would maintain their hold over Rodgers’ team. However, Liverpool hit back with two goals in nine minutes through Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana. So Pardew’s sole focus now is to ensure Palace retain their Premier League status, with the manager saying the appointments of Chris Ramsey at QPR and Tim Sherwood at Aston Villa will change the dynamic of the relegation battle.


‘A new manager is going to have an impact at some stage,’ said Pardew. ‘Players have got a new challenge, a new start to a degree. Those managers will be using those factors. Of course now it is going to be a really tough race. The prize is getting bigger and bigger each year and the pressure on the managers gets bigger and bigger.’


On the appointmentof Ramsey at Loftus Road, Pardew added: ‘I am very, very pleased that we have a black manager in the Premier League. It has been a long time coming and I am really pleased for him and for the Premier League.’


Palace find out today if they face a second investigation in a week over missiles thrown by their fans after an incident following Sturridge’s equaliser. A coin hit Newcastle’s Fabricio Coloccini during the draw at Selhurst Park on Wednesday.


CRYSTAL PALACE (4-4-1-1): Speroni 7; Kelly 6.5 (Guediora 63min, 6), Dann 7, Hangeland 6.5, Souare 6.5; Bolasie 6 (Zaha 72, 6), Ledley 6.5, Ward 6.5, Gayle 6.5; Chamakh 7 (Puncheon 46, 6); Campbell 6.5. Subs not used: Hennessey, Mariappa, Murray, Delaney. Booked: Chamakh. Scorer: Campbell 15.


LIVERPOOL (3-4-2-1): Mignolet 7; Can 7.5, Skrtel 6.5, Sakho 6.5; Markovic 6 (Balotelli 46, 7), Moreno 6.5, Allen 7, Henderson 8; Coutinho 7.5 (Lovren 79), Lallana 7; Sturridge 7 (Lambert 79). Subs not used: Ward, Johnson, Manquillo, Borini. Booked: Henderson, Can, Mignolet. Scorers: Sturridge 49, Lallana 58.– Daily Mail






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News sport : Russell Westbrook scores 41 to lead West past East in 2015 NBA All-Star Game

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Russell Westbrook celebrates after winning the MVP Trophy in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game. (Elsa/Getty Images) NEW YORK — Russell Westbrook scored a game-high 41 points in just 25 1/2 minutes of playing time to lead the Western Conference to a 163-158 victory of the East in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.


The Oklahoma City Thunder star made 16 of his 28 field-goal attempts, including five of nine 3-point tries, to set a new All-Star record for points scored in a half (27, besting the 24 managed by Glen Rice in 1997 and Kyrie Irving in 2014). He fell one point shy of matching the all-time All-Star single-game record set by Wilt Chamberlain in 1962.


LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers led the East with 30 points on 11-for-21 shooting to go with seven assists, five rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes. He has now scored 278 total points over the course of 11 All-Star appearances, sitting just two points shy of the career All-Star scoring record held by Kobe Bryant.


[Follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr: The best slams from all of basketball]


After a pregame concert headlined by Christina Aguilera and Nas, James got the MSG crowd hyped up right off the opening tip, beginning the evening's scoring with a pair of very loud dunks:



James got off to a white-hot start, scoring 12 points in the first six minutes and returning the favor to Washington Wizards point guard John Wall up for an alley-oop of his own on a fast-break give-and-go:



But despite LeBron putting up 15 points in the opening frame, the West held a 46-35 lead after 12 minutes, thanks in large part to the scoring skill of James Harden and the playmaking wizardry of Stephen Curry, which converged on this beautiful hookup on a lob by the Golden State Warriors triggerman that led to a lefty hammer by the Houston Rockets star:



The West also benefited from Westbrook's near-boundless athleticism, as he linked up with 2013 All-Star Game MVP Chris Paul of the Los Angeles Clippers on this halfcourt reverse finish:



... and later beat the first-quarter buzzer with a signature rim-punishing tomahawk:



Westbrook continued his energetic act in the secon, throwing down dunks and draining deep triples en route to 27 points by halftime on 11 of 15 shooting in just 11 minutes, 21 seconds of floor time.


Even so, the West couldn't pull away, as the East rode a balanced attack — every member of head coach Mike Budenholzer's club scored in the second besides Atlanta Hawks forward Paul Millsap — to draw within one point at the break, 83-82. (The 165 total points tied an All-Star record for total points scored in a half, which was also set last year in New Orleans.)


Perhaps the half's greatest highlight: long-in-the-tooth Dallas Mavericks power forward Dirk Nowitzki dunking an alley-oop feed from Curry, which is the sort of rarity that merits massive celebration:



The M.J. tongue, the Vince celebration, Tim Duncan's unbridled joy ... everything about it was just magnificent.


And speaking of rarities, Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry — evidently looking to show that, like fellow point men Wall and Westbrook, he too can muster some bounce — threw down a tip dunk that was his first slam since April 2008:



(Well, that sure shut me right up.)


With the atmosphere in MSG flagging a bit early in the third quarter, Lowry and LeBron provided a shot of adrenaline with a long-distance connection for a double-clutch reverse slam by the King:



Not to be outdone, the newly minted Three-Point Shootout champ took it upon himself to kickstart the Garden's heart by reminding us all that he is, indeed, magic:



The two sides traded blows in the third, finishing the frame knotted at 122 heading into the fourth. Neither side could gain much separation in the first half of the final stanza, but the West began to pull away late in the proceedings, keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Harden and five Westbrook points in the final 2:22 to seal the victory.


2015 NBA All-Star Game coverage from Yahoo Sports:



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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!



Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.






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News sport : Blazers' LaMarcus Aldridge to start for West in place of injured Anthony Davis

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LaMarcus Aldridge covers up a smile. (Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports) NEW YORK — After considering several high-class options to replace the injured Anthony Davis in the starting lineup for the Western Conference in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has made his choice — Portland Trail Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge.


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ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported Saturday that Kerr was leaning toward Aldridge — whom Portland expected to be on the shelf through the All-Star break due to a torn ligament in his left thumb before he decided to just tough it out and play through the injury — after initially considering both Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant and San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan for the slot, which Davis had to vacate due to a right shoulder sprain. And when the lineup sheets were printed up a couple of hours prior to tipoff on Sunday, the eagle-eyed Erik Gundersen of The Columbian caught the starter-denoting asterisk next to Aldridge's name:



It will be the first All-Star start for the 29-year-old in four career All-Star appearances, and it will mark the first time a Blazer has started the All-Star Game in 21 years, dating back to Hall of Fame guard Clyde Drexler lining up alongside Mitch Richmond in the Western backcourt back in 1994.


Aldridge said during his interview session on Friday that he wouldn't campaign for the starting gig, but he got it anyway, offering a bit of validation for a player whose game — built largely on a smooth but subtle low-post game and a sweet stroke from midrange (and, this season, from beyond, too) — doesn't necessarily seem suited to an exhibition geared toward displays of aerial artistry and hellacious handles.


"I don't jump high. I don't windmill," said Aldridge, who recently joked that he's a "boring" All-Star, albeit one well-deserving of an All-Star berth after ranking in the top 10 in scoring (a career-best 23.6 points per game), rebounding (10.3 caroms a night) and Player Efficiency Rating (22.7, well above the league-average of 15) in the first half. "I'm kind of like Dirk [Nowitzki], where I — maybe even less than Dirk. I don't do anything flashy. It's just, like, me being regular."


To some extent, though, "boring" is in the eye of the beholder — ask the Houston Rockets just how ho-hum they think LMA's game is. For what it's worth, Blazers and All-Star teammate Damian Lillard finds Aldridge much more exciting than the man himself does.


“I think there’s excitement to his game,” Lillard said. “I think he’s not the most outspoken person, he doesn’t play the game where he’s trying to dunk on people, stuff like that. But I don’t think he’s boring at all.”


Whether you find his style electric or enervating, Aldridge is now an All-Star starter, joining leading vote-getter Stephen Curry and Splash Brother Klay Thompson, league scoring leader James Harden of the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies center Marc Gasol in Kerr's lineup. He might find looks hard to come by as the four-man in the three-guard alignment, but after making just two of his nine tries in 13 minutes last year in New Orleans, he might not mind that too much.


"Last year I put 'em up early," a smiling Aldridge said Saturday, according to Mike Richman of The Oregonian. "It didn't go well."


2015 NBA All-Star Game coverage from Yahoo Sports:



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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!



Stay connected with Ball Don't Lie on Twitter @YahooBDL, "Like" BDL on Facebook and follow Dunks Don't Lie on Tumblr for year-round NBA talk, jokes and more.






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News sport : Jim Furyk managed to make par after driving his ball onto a Pebble Beach cliffside

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Jim Furyk was already off to a lousy start in the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Sunday. Then it got worse.


Furyk's drive at the par-5 sixth at Pebble Beach Golf Links went well right, ending up on a steep, rocky cliffside. The bulldog he is, Furyk figured out a stance and hit his ball back to the fairway. He eventually made par on the hole.


Furyk is looking for his first PGA Tour win since the 2010 Tour Championship. Sunday marked the 24th time in Furyk's PGA Tour career that he entered the final round with the lead. However, he has failed to close the deal each of the last eight times he's been in that position.



Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.







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News sport : Jeff Gordon wins pole for his final Daytona 500

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jeff Gordon will start first for the final Daytona 500 of his illustrious career.


Gordon posted the fastest lap in the final round of Sunday's qualifying session for the biggest (and first) NASCAR race of the year. He'll start alongside his teammate and six-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson on the front row.


The four-time Sprint Cup Series champion announced in January that 2015 would be his final full-time season in the Cup Series. While Gordon hasn't used the word "retirement" to describe his departure, he has ruled out running restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega again past this season.


The first two starting spots were the only two decided in Sunday's qualifying format. The other 41 spots for the race on Feb. 22 will be figured out via the Budweiser Duel qualifying races on Thursday evening.


Gordon and Johnson were two of the last cars out in the final qualifying session. It meant they got a draft off the 10 cars ahead of them and utlized the lack of air to their advantage. It's Gordon's second career Daytona 500 pole. The first time he won the pole, in 1999, he won the race.


Both drivers barely made it to the line to begin their laps. According to NASCAR's group qualifying rules, a car must start a lap before the time remaining in the session expires. Gordon and Johnson crossed the line with just under a couple seconds left as the entire field waited as long as possible to go out and make one lap.


Sunday's session was the first time that the group qualifying format, first introduced in 2014, had been utilized for the front row of the Daytona 500. Previously, all cars attempting the race went out one-by-one and the fastest car (on raw speed sans the draft) won the pole.


It was not well-received. Many drivers criticized the format including Tony Stewart and defending champion Kevin Harvick. The most vocal critic was Clint Bowyer, who was crashed out in the first round of qualifying. Bowyer let rip a huge rant towards NASCAR about the qualifying circumstances.


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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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News sport : Clint Bowyer unleashes incredible rant after crash in Daytona 500 qualifying

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- We can count Clint Bowyer as someone who isn't a fan of knockout qualifying at restrictor plate tracks.


Bowyer was taken out in a crash in the first round of pole qualifying for the Daytona 500 on Sunday. It's the first time NASCAR has tried the knockout qualifying format (introduced in 2014) for the Daytona 500. Instead of cars running one-by-one and the two fastest cars on raw speed earning the top two starting spots for the Daytona 500, cars are bunched into groups and drafting is imperative, just like it is in a race.


Bowyer got into the back of Reed Sorenson's car a lap earlier. The Impact crumpled Sorenson's right rear fender and a lap later, Sorenson spun in front of Bowyer (possibly as a result of a cut tire), collecting the driver of the No. 15, J.J. Yeley and others.



After being released from the infield care center (and animatedly having a word with Sorenson immediately after the crash), Bowyer unleashed his frustrations about what happened and the circumstances surrounding it.


"I wasn't behind [Sorenson]," Bowyer said. "He come flying around, come up on the apron, jumps in front of me then runs over [Justin Allgaier] in line, stacks us all up and I run in to him. It's idiotic to be out here doing this anyway. There's no sense in being able to try to put on some cute show or whatever the hell this is.


"And then you've got a guy out there in desperation doing this crap like this. I mean, it's just, there's no reason to be out here. These guys have spent six months working on these cars, busting their ass on these cars to have some guy out of desperation do that crap.


"But it ain't his fault. It's not. It's NASCAR's fault for putting us out here in the middle of this crap for nothing. We used to come down here and worry about who's going to sit on the front row and the pole for the biggest race of the year. Now all we do is come down here and worry about how a start and park like this out of desperation is going to knock us out of the Daytona 500.


"We've been in meetings for 45 minutes just trying to figure out what in the hell everybody's is going to do just so we could make the race. It's stupid. There's no sense in doing this."


Bowyer was caught up in a crash in Saturday night's Sprint Unlimited, meaning he totaled two cars in less than 24 hours. Sorenson's No. 44 team came without a backup car for Daytona and he said he was unsure of his team's plans after the crash.


While NASCAR has previously said it doesn't like drivers criticizing the on-track product (and drivers have been fined for doing so), Bowyer was hardly the only driver to disapprove of the qualifying format. He just was, understandably, the most vocal. NASCAR would be well-served to listen to drivers' criticisms constructively and not issue any fines for the mess that is a product of the qualifying rules the sanctioning body put in place.


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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!







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