Duensing was once a pleasant surprise and now he’s public enemy number one among Cubs’ fans. The lefty has a 7.34 ERA and 1.83 WHIP after allowing two more runs on four hits and walk Thursday night against the San Diego Padres.
The dramatic decline since May for Duensing has been incredible, giving up 24 earned runs in his last 16.2 innings. He was placed on the DL in July and before Friday’s game against San Diego the Cubs sidelined him again.
Taking his place was fellow lefty Randy Rosario.
The #Cubs today placed LHP Brian Duensing on the 10-day DL with left shoulder inflammation and recalled LHP Randy Rosario from @IowaCubs. pic.twitter.com/dHvDhyJMXB
Rosario was optioned down a few days ago, when newly acquired reliever Brandon Kintzler was added to the bullpen. Someone had to go and Rosario was the odd-man out, although it should have been Duensing in the first place.
Joe Maddon confirmed that Rosario was upset about the demotion, but the good thing for the pitcher and the Cubs is that it didn’t last long.
Theo Epstein was on 670 The Score Friday morning and said they just really want to get Duensing right.
Theo Epstein on sending Randy Rosario to Triple-A: "He's going to be here. It's not going to be a long absence … (Brian) Duensing is a guy we're trying to get right."
In what can only be billed as a “gambler’s dream,” golf icons Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have agreed to an 18-hole duel over Thanksgiving weekend at Shadow Ridge Golf Club here in Las Vegas. The match, which has yet to be finalized, will be a winner-take-all for a $10 million pot.
Ticket information is unavailable, at this point, and it has not yet been revealed who will be coming up with the money for the event. Both can afford it. Tiger’s net worth is estimated to be $740 million while Lefty’s is roughly $365 million. The match is expected to take place either Nov. 23 or 24 at the North Las Vegas golf course.
In other words, golf and gambling fans, it is going to happen!
For golf fans like me, this is enough to make your head explode. Two of the most iconic golfers, who both have made Las Vegas a second home, putting it on the line for more money than I’ll ever see in my lifetime. The World Series of Poker is exciting but this raises the stakes to unprecedented levels.
Forget LeBron James playing one-on-one against Kevin Durant. Never mind Clayton Kershaw facing Mike Trout. Pay no attention to Conor McGregor fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov. Forget a young Floyd Mayweather actually fighting any great fighter in their prime (since he likes to duck until they age out, then poach the victory after they’re washed up). This is two of the most iconic and marketable golf stars in modern history, with six green jackets between the two of them. They are ranked No. 1 and 2 on the PGA’s All-Time Earnings List, with a combined $200 million earned on the links alone.
This doesn’t include marketing and endorsement deals, much like this awful commercial released by the Mickelson camp yesterday.
Tiger has regularly hosted his own charity celebrity golf tournament, Tiger Jam, here in Vegas since 1998. Mickelson frequently visits Vegas for its amenities like gambling and, well, more gambling. Of course, Vegas has its own drawbacks for both golfers.
Arguably the greatest golfer of all time, Woods — who was married at the time — and his perfectly crafted public image was destroyed back in 2009 when he was linked to at least 13 young women here in Vegas. It started the drastic downfall of Nike’s top earner, and derailed a career many expected to be long, successful and dominant. Nothing was more frightening than a Sunday with Tiger in his traditional red shirt.
Fast forward to today, and the gifted former prodigy has battled injuries (a few of which may or may not have come from his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, when she learned of his cheating ways), Nordegren left him soon after and was awarded a $100 million settlement, and Woods hasn’t won a PGA tournament since the Bridgestone Invitational 2013. Coincidentally, Woods is competing in the Bridgestone this weekend, a tournament he has won eight times.
Perhaps the announcement is no coincidence. A good showing this weekend mixed with an announcement of this magnitude, can’t help but boost his social media mentions and notoriety. And, let’s be honest: Golf is always better when Tiger Woods is in the hunt and the PGA conversation.
It’s not like Las Vegas doesn’t have any demons for Mickelson either. The gifted left-hander was investigated by the federal prosecutors, who broke down a series of stock trades made by “Lefty” in 2012. The investigation also identified an alleged $1.9 million debt related to renowned local Vegas gambler William “Billy” Walters. It’s not like Mickelson’s gambling was a secret. Golfers gamble. It’s part of the unreported aspects of the game within the game, with golfers frequently upping the ante and living for the gambling rush, even in practice rounds.
His gambling exploits are epic. The man likes action, and — here in Vegas — so do we. Eventually, Mickelson was forced to pay a $1 million fine to the SEC after he paid back said gambling debt using earnings gained via insider trading. Like always, Lefty dodged the bullet and gave up what amounts to a drop in the bucket for him just to move on.
Make no mistake about it: This will be the biggest duel in golf history. It’ll make Rannulph Junuh’s three-man duel with Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen in “The Legend of Bagger Vance” seem like a tea party. There is more than money at stake. These two have been dueling for decades now on the links and neither has been following a life path Bagger Vance would approve of. Plenty of ego and pride will be on the line.
None of that matters. Come Thanksgiving weekend here in Vegas, two of the greatest golfers of all-time are going to finally give what so many have tried to simulate on the EA Sports game “Tiger Woods PGA Tour” for years.
Tiger vs Lefty: Is there anything more exciting in modern golf history? Highly doubtful, but I guess we’ll have to wait for Turkey Day to find out. I’d “bet” dollars to donuts it will most definitely be one for the ages.
Javier Baez tied his career high in home runs, drilling a solo shot to right field off Tyson Ross on Friday.
Baez now has 23 home runs, matching his total from all of 2017. He also jumped back into first place for most RBIs in the National League at 84 with the opposite field bomb at Wrigley Field.
There’s been an ongoing debate about who the Chicago Bears breakout player of 2018 will be. Probably the favorite at this moment is quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Everything the Bears did during the offseason was in some shape or form mean to help him get better. The wide receiving corps was overhauled. Matt Nagy brought in a brand new offense much more tailored to Trubisky’s game.
Yet he’s not the only one in the race. Expectations are sky high for running back Tarik Cohen as well. After being misused quite often as a rookie, he has a chance to become a terror in the diverse Nagy offense. Then there’s linebacker Leonard Floyd who has teased his pass rush skill the past couple years and is due for a breakout season.
An undercurrent of experts have hinted on numerous occasions that people aren’t watching the right name in regards to this offense. Trubisky and Cohen are fine choices, but the man who stands to really take off in 2018 is their newly signed tight end.
Trey Burton gaining steam as 2018 Chicago Bears breakout player
A lot of people shrugged when the Bears signed former Eagles tight end Trey Burton. They felt they were overpaying for what was essentially a backup player made famous for being part of one of the most pivotal plays in Super Bowl history. Don’t tell that to several noted football experts who continue to insist Nagy and GM Ryan Pace know exactly who they’re getting.
Trey Burton has a chance to be a top 10 TE in 2018. Versatile receiver and blocker.
Rather than a backup, the Bears feel they’re getting a starter who was trapped on a loaded depth chart. Indeed Burton had to play behind quality veteran Brent Celek and Pro Bowler Zach Ertz for his entire career. It’s hard to see the field when that the case. This will mark the first time he gets genuine starter reps in an offense, and the expectations are high.
Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus is among those buying into this idea, ranking Burton as his #9 best tight end of 2018.
“As we get to the close of this top 10 list, we look to potential and small sample sizes. Burton’s entire NFL career is just 741 snaps old over four seasons, but the Bears still signed him to a four-year, $32-million contract to be their receiving weapon at the position. While they already have Adam Shaheen, this move suggests he is slated to become more of their blocking tight end while Burton becomes the matchup weapon in the passing game.
Though the sample size is small, his PFF grade last season was a top-10 figure, and he has flashed dynamic playmaking ability. A 2018 that fulfills that potential would justify this place on the list.”
Burton certainly has looked the part in training camp thus far.
His ability as a pass catcher is impressive. He routinely beats defenders off the line and finds space to make big catches. He knows the offensive system inside and out, having seen most of it the past two years in Philadelphia. So it makes sense he would be the breakout candidate. Perhaps too many people got hung up on Adam Shaheen being the guy. They didn’t recognize that not everybody was going to benefit from Nagy’s arrival.
Maybe that will still be true. For the time being though, this feels like Burton’s time in the spotlight. He seems ready, willing and able to take advantage.
With start times still unannounced, Rebel fans have had plenty of time to pore over the 2018-19 basketball schedule. When the schedule was released, most of the attention went to the conference schedule and the non-conference games that will matter to the committee in March. Some of these have “revenge” written all over them
UNLV taking on BYU has its own history stretching back decades. Former UNLV coach Dave Rice was an assistant coach there when Brazilian forward Jonathan Tavernari magically enrolled at Bishop Gorman — coached by Rice’s brother Dave — after spending his junior year at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah. Literally in the shadow of BYU, Tavernari’s visa situation wouldn’t allow him to play his senior season at Timpview, so he moved in with Gorman booster for his senior year with the Gaels.
Tavernari was temporarily ruled ineligible in 2006, citing a long-established NIAA law requiring any transfer not residing with a parent or guardian to sit out 180 days before participating with his respective team. The well-connected Gorman legal team went to work and appealed before an arbitrator in December of 2005, and lost, only to have a court of law deem Tavernari — a legal adult — emancipated on Jan. 5, and therefore eligible to play by NIAA standards.
Shenanigans, indeed. Justly, Gorman failed to win the state title that year.
Of course, Tavernari immediately left Vegas seconds after he graduated and headed back to Provo, where he excelled for BYU and was a thorn in UNLV’s side for his entire college career. The rivalry was never hotter, thanks to Rice and the way he used his brother’s Gorman connection to help BYU out, not UNLV. Some fans never forgot or forgave Dave Rice for this, which is a story for another day.
But the most aggressive, and revenge-filled game of the season will be the easily-overlooked matchup with Southern Utah University. While a home game against a team that finished 13–19 in the Big Sky Conference is easy to ignore for Rebels fans, it’s the “Game of the Year” on the other side.
Even though the Thunderbirds will also face USC and San Jose State next season, the UNLV game will be emotionally charged for several members of the SUU team and it all starts at the top. For the past two season, the Thunderbirds head coach has been Todd Simon. The same Simon who had been a part of the Las Vegas/UNLV community since 2004.
He was an assistant coach under Lon Kruger for one year before becoming an assistant at Findlay Prep in Henderson. While at Findlay Prep, he aided in getting future NBA draft pick Anthony Bennett to enroll at UNLV. He coached there before returning to the Rebels in the 2013 season, becoming an integral member of the coaching staff in terms of gameplay and recruiting.
As an assistant, and later interim head coach, with the Rebels he coached six players into the NBA in Khem Birch, Chris Wood, Stephen Zimmerman Jr., Derrick Jones Jr., Rashad Vaughn and Patrick McCaw.
Despite coaching the team to a 9–8 record as the interim coach, Simon wasn’t seriously considered for the head coaching job. Three days after Simon joined the Thunderbirds, Chris Beard was selected as UNLV’s next head coach. While Simon’s tenure is enough to consider this a “revenge” game, a look at the roster adds extra fuel.
The Thunderbirds roster includes four players with Las Vegas connections. Freshman Dillon Glendenning from Findlay Prep, senior Elijah Graves, who graduated from Liberty High School, and senior Matthew Johnson, from neighboring Coronado High School, all went to high school in southern Nevada.
One of the team’s newest members is a former Rebel steeped in controversy.
Dwayne Morgan was signed by the Thunderbirds on Oct. 27 and immediately become a go-to scorer for the team. Morgan’s tenure with the Rebels can only be remembered as rocky at best. After growing into playing time in his first two seasons, he was hampered by shoulder and hip injuries in his junior year. In spite of those injuries, his future was bright at UNLV.
That is, until May 10, 2017. That’s the day that Morgan was arrested for disorderly conduct with a cabdriver. Only two days later, it was reported by the Las Vegas Sun that he behaved erratic through the encounter with the driver and the police. Morgan was then suspended indefinitely, and that suspension became permanent when he left the team in August on his path to Cedar City.
When the Thunderbirds and Rebels do tip-off, SUU will be looking for revenge. The Rebels? They’ll probably just be looking for a win.
The pass rush was far and away the biggest concern for the Bears going into the preseason. People just weren’t sure if the team had enough bodies to get after the quarterback. Then, with Leonard Floyd and Akiem Hicks watching from the sideline, the defense delivered eight sacks on the evening. Fears have since eased, but with one problem gone others crop up. It seems their biggest issue may be the Chicago Bears offensive tackles.
For 2018 the team appears stable at the position with starters Charles Leno Jr. and Bobby Massie. Both have been in their respective spots since 2016. However, the bigger concern is what’s behind them. Thursday night revealed the Bears offense may be thinner at that critical position than they’d care to admit.
So much in fact that Rashaad Coward, who was converted from defensive tackle this offseason, started the entire game at right tackle. That wasn’t helped by the fact that Bradley Sowell, their supposed primary backup had a rough game against what was all backups for the Ravens defense.
Chicago Bears offensive tackles may need shuffling before season
It’s ironic that everybody talked about the Bears barely addressing the pass rush this offseason when in reality they did even less at offensive tackle. The play above illustrates Sowell’s issues. He was beaten almost immediately off the snap, allowing the defender to get immediate pressure on quarterback Chase Daniel. He was forced to unload the ball before he was ready, which clunked off the helmet of guard Jordan Morgan and was intercepted.
If Sowell can’t do his job against backups, why should people feel comfortable with him going against Danielle Hunter or Ezekiel Ansah if Leno were to get injured? This leads to the possibility that there may be some shuffling along the offensive line before the start of the season in September.
Roster cuts from all 31 other teams are still to come. There’s a strong possibility the Bears could pursue help at tackle from the many players who could become available. Veterans like Donald Penn, Jeremy Parnell, and Menelik Watson are considered possible cuts by various sources. Any of them could at least offer the Bears some serviceable depth.
Much of this will depend on whether Sowell can bounce back from his ugly outing. Thankfully for him, there are four more preseason games, so there’s enough time. One can bet the Bears coaching staff is watching him more closely than ever.
One of the most divisive draft strategies floating around for the past few years is Zero RB Theory. The idea is that running backs have higher injury and bust rates than their wide receiver counterparts, so the savvy drafter passes on the position for at least five rounds. Instead choosing to accumulate valuable high-upside depth at other skill positions. With the league becoming more pass happy, the risk-reward ratio of early-round running backs just does not compute. At least not according to Zero RB Theory proponents.
If you’ve spent much time following fantasy content this off-season you have probably heard that Zero RB Theory is actually a terrible fallacy, the province of bearded hipsters that know more about upcycled flannel and mustache wax than football. You’ve likely heard that you absolutely must take a running back in the first few rounds of your draft. But is that true?
PAST SEASONS:
Let’s jump in the Wayback Machine and take a quick trip through space-time back to 2016. After years worth of wide receiver dominated seasons, 2016 turned out to be the year of the running back. In fact, nine running backs scored 200 or more fantasy points in the 2016 season. That was quite the turnaround from 2015 when only two backs managed the feat.
Then 2017 rolled around and the running back Renaissance continued. A total of seven backs put up 200 or more points last year. David Johnson was injured, Zeke was suspended and Howard got John Fox’d. Those three guys should have made the total 10.
ZERO RB THIS YEAR:
So Zero RB Theory is garbage, right? Not necessarily. Last year was an incredible year for the running back position in fantasy. When quarterbacks are removed from the picture for the 2017 season, only 11 of the top 24 players in fantasy were running backs. Of those 11 players, five of them were taken outside of the first two or three rounds. The running back position offered plenty of value. So much value, in fact, that Alvin Kamara was a waiver wire pick up in most leagues.
Unsurprisingly, early ADP shows people are going absolutely crazy at the running back position this year. Thus far, eight of the top 12 picks in drafts this year are running backs. There is a very good chance that most of the people in your league will be following this trend and taking running backs early and often. Your opponents going running back early means they will have to take receivers in the mid-rounds where 40% of top backs went last season. This is very good news for the conscientious drafter.
Now is the time to zig while the rest of your league zags. Zero RB Theory, or a modified version of it, won’t work in every situation. No strategy is all-encompassing. But it can help you win this year. By using this strategy you will stockpile great WR and TE weapons in the early rounds and grab great running back value in the mid rounds. High upside guys like Royce Freeman, Ronald Jones and Tarik Cohen. That is how you win a league.
The Hall of Fame game was predictably awful in terms of its overall football quality. The Chicago Bears as a team looked erratic, especially on offense in their loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Of course, the end result meant nothing. Games like this are more about the evaluation of personnel in a game situation.
In those conditions, the Bears coaching staff actually did get some encouraging tape. Most of it came from the team’s 2018 draft class. Keep in mind that the entire top half of the group did not play. Roquan Smith is still holding out over his contract. James Daniels and Anthony Miller were kept on the sidelines. Joel Iyiegbuniwe has been out with a shoulder issue.
Yet somehow the class still had a significant impact on the game. Not just the occasional flash either, but consistent playmaking moments. If that doesn’t offer encouragement about how good this group might be, nothing does.
All of Chicago Bears draft class who suited up made big plays
The man to start things off was sixth round pick Kylie Fitts. The outside linebacker from Utah didn’t have the best start to the game but he began to make noise late in the first half when he had multiple pressures on the quarterback, including a sack. He showed not only some quickness off the snap but a considerable power element as well.
Kylie Fitts overwhelms rookie TE Nick Keizer from Grand Valley St. for the sack pic.twitter.com/6imQrh0byS
Fellow defender and fifth round pick Bilal Nichols out of Delaware got in on the action in the second half. He knifed into the backfield a number of times, causing problems for the Ravens offense before finally dropping Lamar Jackson for a sack. Not only that but he also made three key plays to force a three-and-out late in the game, giving his team a final chance to win. His explosion for a guy who is 300 lbs is rather impressive. It’s easy to see why the Bears liked him.
Yet the player of the night for the Bears was undoubtedly seventh round pick Javon Wims. The Georgia wide receiver was the primary spark on offense the entire second half, making some impressive catches to keep drives alive. He showed off both his 6’3 frame and his strong hands as well, finishing with seven catches for 89 yards.
Given all the talk about Allen Robinson and Anthony Miller, Wims was the forgotten man. Some even wondered if he might make the roster. Yet after a brutal showing by Bennie Fowler and Marlon Brown, who combined for three drops on the night, he no doubt rocketed up the depth chart with that performance.
If that’s the sort of play the Bears were able to get from the bottom half of their draft class, one can just imagine how things might be when the top half finally starts playing in games.
The Chicago Bears surprised a lot of people with their lack of maneuvers during the offseason in regards to their pass rush situation. This after they lost three veterans in Pernell McPhee, Willie Young, and Lamarr Houston. Were they really that confident in who they already had on the roster and the pieces they did add? Or is it they had little confidence in the bigger names that were available?
Either way, things didn’t look good on paper coming into the preseason. Leonard Floyd was the only proven talent at the edge rush position they could realistically depend on for sacks. After that, it’s a series of question marks. Sam Acho has been a backup most of his career. Aaron Lynch has been effective since 2015 and is still nursing a hamstring issue. After them, it’s nothing but young bucks with no proven chops.
The Bears needed somebody to step up in the Hall of Fame game. Somebody to help make their decision to be passive at such a critical position look wise. Thankfully two young men stepped up to do just that.
Chicago Bears get big contributions from Isaiah Irving and Kylie Fitts
Leave to the two unsung kids to spark a ray of hope for this team. Isaiah Irving, a former undrafted free agent, and sixth round pick Kylie Fitts came into the night with plenty to prove. They’d some good things in practice during training camp but this marked the first time they would see live game action against another opponent.
All things considered? It went well. Irving was active early in the game. He had a strip-sack of Robert Griffin III that was called back due to an offsides penalty (by him). He made up for it though, sacking Griffin again a series later to force a Baltimore field goal.
Fitts struggled a bit early on with some mental errors but seemed to find his footing in the second quarter. His signature play came when he blew up a Ravens tight end staying in to block and forcing the quarterback to hit the deck for a sack.
Yes, this was done against second and third-string players but it would’ve been far more concerning had they not done anything at all. This was the first revelation that the Bears may have had an idea of what they were doing when they stayed passive for the most part on the pass rush end. They felt they had some pieces that could get the job done at an affordable price. Not to mention the talent available was considered somewhat weak.
UNLV head coach Marvin Menzies is still looking to build a good core for future generations of UNLV basketball teams. The Runnin’ Rebels are in a never-ending struggle to find consistency in an ever-changing amateur sports landscape. The first two seasons (and even more before) of the “Menzies Era” has seen a different point guard in each, and this year will be third but this year’s ball-handler, sophomore Amauri Hardy, can be the one to change that pattern.
In his freshman year, Hardy was fighting for playing time behind senior guards Jovan Mooring and Jordan Johnson, while also stuck behind returning starter Kris Clyburn. He did, though, appear in all 33 games and averaged nearly 19 minutes per contest behind the previously mentioned crowded backcourt. That alone gives him some much needed experience, which is never bad.
“He has the confidence because he’s been there, he knows what it looks like, at least at the high school level, and to be a target,” Menzies told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last year. “Confidence is built by how you roll and how you handle your business daily, so it wasn’t surprising to me, much like Brandon (McCoy). Guys that have a lot of accolades in high school usually have seen some form of what would be pressure, but have had some experience handling it.”
Coming into the program as a 3-star prospect, he’s got the talent to be a score-first guard, much like former hometown hero Anthony Marshall. That might be exactly what UNLV needs coming into this season. After losing three of its top four scorers from last season (Mooring, Johnson and Brandon McCoy), the Rebs have to manufacture their next scoring option behind star forward Shakur Juiston. Hardy will be able to penetrate the paint with elite scoring ability and also be capable of dishing down under to JuiceBox or Tervell Beck, if his shots start getting contested.
Defensively, Amauri has the quickness to stay in front of opposing team’s guards. He’s also capable of getting his hands in to disrupt passing lanes or knock the ball loose off of dribbles. As with many young players, being coachable is the biggest key when it comes to overall defense as a player progresses to higher levels of play, and Hardy seems to be all-in. Don’t expect him to make an all-defense team yet, as he will continuously get better with more reps and more playing time.
Marvin Menzies’ has a choice to make coming into this season, and even if Noah Robotham gets the nod to start the season as the primary ball handler, still expect Hardy to get plenty of playing time as the season goes forth. Maybe he can start at shooting guard and split the duties of PG with Robotham, much like last season with Mooring and Johnson, or maybe he will get his chance to take the reins of the school from opening night and continue it into the rest of his Rebel career.
Or maybe Antavion Collum (see: Baby LeBron) decides to commit to UNLV next year and we can have this whole conversation again. In that case, let’s make it an even 4-for-4. Either way, it’a a good problem to have, if the player handling the ball gets the job done.
