Kevin Seifert NFL Nation Close ESPN.com national NFL writer ESPN.com NFC North reporter, 2008-2013 Covered Vikings for Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1999-2008 Follow on Twitter The passing of Week 9 means that we’ve moved into the second half of the NFL season. More games have been played than will be
The Lakers were outscored 42-17 by the Raptors in the first quarter Sunday night to set a franchise mark for the most lopsided first-quarter deficit at 25 in the shot-clock era (since 1954-55).
CARLSBAD, Calif. — The Yankees have won 98 or more regular-season games 30 times, and on 28 of those occasions finished first in a league or division. The outliers were 1954, when they reached 103, but the Indians set the AL record at 111 that the 114-win 1998 Yankees would top. This past year, the Yankees
Our Yahoo Fantasy experts wrap up Week 9 on their latest podcast, where they discuss the players that let many fantasy owners down.
Sean Payton “wasn’t all fired up� about Michael Thomas’ touchdown celebration, but former Saints receiver Joe Horn loved it. Horn saw Thomas’ honorary touchdown celebration while working out in Tupelo, Mississippi, he told Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune. He immediately went online and bought Thomas
Mookie Betts was one of two Red Sox outfielders to earn the award, while Freddie Freeman was one of three Braves picking up hardware.
LAS VEGAS – Bryson DeChambeau was beaming from ear to ear as he cranked hard on the famous Las Vegas Knights air horn on Saturday night. The local National Hockey League crowd was whipped into a frenzy as the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open 54-hole co-leader used all his strength to elicit the famous sound. It was a fun moment for DeChambeau, particularly as his brother and his friends, plus his mother were in town. Until the adrenaline wore off and he looked down to see a blister on his right hand had been torn open. Then the anxiety set in. Just hours earlier DeChambeau had signed for a third round 6-under 65 to move into a tie with Peter Uihlein at TPC Summerlin as he chased a fifth PGA TOUR title and fourth since June. Now his hand was ripped up and perhaps with it … his chances. “I went a little too hard on the air horn and I ripped part my hand off,â€� DeChambeau confirmed after playing the final round taped up. “I was freaking out. I actually put Nu-Skin on it this morning and it dried up and dried my hands too quickly. Then I opened my hand and it cracked and split. “So now I’m like, wow, I’m really in some do-do.â€� When he arrived at the course Sunday he had the on-site trainers wrap it up. During his warm up he knew it was going to be another obstacle he would have to overcome. “Every time I clenched my fist a little bit too hard or hit a shot that was a little bit too steep I definitely felt a pull on it,â€� he said. But he convinced himself it was manageable. And as it turned out. He need not worry. DeChambeau is one of the hottest golfers in the world right now. His final round 5-under 66 was enough to best defending champion Patrick Cantlay by a shot and notch up his fifth career win. It was his third title in five starts on the PGA TOUR to go with his FedExCup Playoff wins at THE NORTHERN TRUST and the Dell Technologies Championship and was his fourth win since June where he took out The Memorial Tournament. In hindsight, the blister may have been a blessing. It gave him one singular focus instead of scattered thoughts and helped him to now be three for three in closing out 54-hole leads. He said he wouldn’t change the moment if he could, thanking the NHL team for their hospitality and the opportunity to be part of the game in such a unique way. “The Knights won last night. That’s all that matters, right?â€� DeChambeau smiled. “I gave that thing a whirl and got the crowd pumped up for the third quarter and they went on to win, so, hey, more power to them and more power to me I guess. I won this week too so it’s not a bad deal.â€� Winning is certainly becoming a habit for DeChambeau. He moved to fifth in the FedExCup and the world rankings with his latest triumph. No longer do we need to talk about his methods being quirky… instead we talk about them being effective. The proof is in the pudding. Single length irons. They work for him and can no doubt work for others. Calculating every variable possible to decide on a shot – be it wind, slope, barometric pressure, gravity, altitude, adrenaline … you name it. It works for him. “Bryson is always going to do things that other people don’t. That’s part of what makes him special,â€� Rickie Fowler said. “It’s kind of what makes him tick. It works well for him. He’s obviously a great player and he’s had a lot of success in the past year.â€� And being neurologically comfortable … yeah, his words … that works for him. But when asked to explain it? “No. That’s a secret,â€� he says. “I would say just on a general basis that it’s something that I’ve derived in my brain. It’s like I have this black space and it’s just of my hands and arms and body and I see it and I just take it back and have this neurological sensation or input that I have for applying force to the club. “There is a track to it. I see it and in that vision. Some people look and envision shots, do all that, but I just create it in my brain.â€� Some of you are still thinking he’s wacko. Some think he’s stranger than fiction. But the five trophies on his mantle are as real as anything. And the more time you spend with him, the more he can convince you. “I think this sport’s unique in that you don’t have to have too great of a reaction time,â€� he explains. “You have to be able to set things up properly. You’re not having a ball thrown at you, you’re not having to run down the court, you’re not having to judge where a puck is, if it’s coming at you. “The ball is sitting right there and you’re able to swing at it and hit it wherever you want to. You can take 40 seconds or whatever to hit it. So that time allows us the opportunity to do some pretty cool things that I will not give away.â€� A quick-fire poll of other players finishing had a consistent theme – they felt they probably couldn’t do things the way DeChambeau does. But innovators are always thought crazy in the beginning. Disrupters disrupt, but some of them change the world. Could this be the start of something bigger? “Well, they could. They’re just selling themselves short,â€� DeChambeau says of other players. “More power to everyone that does it their own way. Everybody is unique. Everybody does it in a different way. I believe I found a way that works really, really well for me and it allows me to be super consistent week in and week out. “You know what? I hope down the road it’ll keep happening. You never know. But so far it’s proven itself quite a bit.â€� Indeed it has.
Dalton Del Don delivers his Fantasy football recaps for every Week 9 game.
LAS VEGAS — Notes and observations from the fourth round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin where Bryson DeChambeau claimed his fifth PGA TOUR title. LEADING LIGHT Bryson DeChambeau revealed earlier this week he will most likely take advantage of putting with the flagstick in next year when rule changes in golf allow for it. On Sunday he showed why he thinks it’s an advantage, dropping in a 57-foot, seven-inch putt from the back fringe of the par-5 16th hole for a tournament defining eagle. To be fair the putt probably would have gone in regardless as it was tracking at perfect speed the whole way but it was clearly the moment of the final round, particularly as defending champion Patrick Cantlay had chunked a bunker shot just moments earlier. DeChambeau knew how important it was, producing a fist pump that will lead highlight reels for some time. It gave him a cushion up top on the leaderboard and although Cantlay birdied the last ahead of him DeChambeau was able to make a stress-free par on the last to claim a fifth PGA TOUR win, his fourth since June. “When I hit it it’s like, all right, it’s pretty solid speed off the start. Then I saw it about halfway down there and I was like, ooh, that might be a little fast,â€� DeChambeau said of the putt. “For whatever reason the slope gradually declined and went to about like a two percent slope and the ball started just rolling perfectly to the right just like I had envisioned. “It just held straight that last little bit and was able to trickle in. I haven’t given a reaction like that in a while. That was pretty cool.â€� OBSERVATIONS CANTLAY COMES UP SHORT: Defending champion Patrick Cantlay was left to rue a poor bunker shot on the penultimate hole of the tournament. After an impressive 8-under 63 on Saturday Cantlay made another run Sunday and took the outright lead with a birdie on the par-5 16th hole. But his tee shot on the par-3 17th faded a little right into a greenside bunker and he caught the second shot heavy, barely getting it out of the sand. “Tricky shot,â€� he said. “When I dug my left foot in it didn’t have a bunch of sand, and then obviously when I hit my shot there was more sand under the ball and didn’t anticipate that. It was just a poor shot at the wrong time.â€� Impressively he was able to rebound immediately with a clutch birdie on the last, forcing DeChambeau to make par behind him for his win. “I really got off to a slow start Thursday and Friday, and that was too much to overcome. Played really well this weekend and I’m proud of that,â€� he said of his defense. His runner up finish moved him to seventh in the FedExCup standings. FOWLER FIRES LATE: Rickie Fowler’s season debut finished with a serious flourish as a final round 8-under 63 moved him into a tie for fourth. The bogey-free eight birdie effort may have been a little too late to seriously contend for the title but it put a nice dent in his fall season FedExCup point goals. It was the lowest final round of his career. Fowler now heads to next week’s Mayokoba Golf Classic in Mexico in 38th spot on the points list knowing another decent result can give him the base he needs for a huge season. He was runner up in the event a year ago. “Got things rolling on the back nine birdieing the first four out there. Couple slid by, but solid back nine. Nice to finish on a high note,â€� he said. “It was nice to kind of shake a bit of rust off every day. Today is the best everything has felt all together. Putted better. Felt like full swing and irons and driver were good all week but made some good up and downs. Definitely happy about it.â€� RYDER MAKES A RUN: Sam Ryder might be one to watch as the fall series continues after a sensational 9-under 62 on Sunday moved him into third place. While ultimately he fell two short of DeChambeau’s winning total Ryder moved to 10th in the FedExCup after finishing 101st in his rookie season. Ryder ranked first in proximity to the hole on Sunday and first in Strokes Gained: Putting. With a T4 at the Safeway Open he now has two top four finishes in his last three starts. “It’s kind of just been the process of me throughout my career in a way. I played a couple summers on the Canadian Tour. First year struggled a little bit; kept my card, and killed it the second year,â€� he explained of his career trajectory. “The Web.com Tour I was kind of getting my feet the first year and had an awesome second year. And then kind of last year (on the PGA TOUR) was slow coming. I missed my first four cuts of the year being really tired from the Web season. But then started playing Sam Ryder golf in the middle of the summer moving into the playoffs. “Now I have a lot more confidence and I’m just comfortable out here. I feel like I know where I belong and where I fit in. I’m trying to get better and work on the things I know I need to work on to improve and try and be in that top tier of player.â€� QUOTABLES Guy yells, “mashed potatoesâ€� right at impact, and I snapped it and it hits a rock and goes out of bounds.Just made maybe the best ball striking round of my life. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 9-under 62 – Sam Ryder with a bogey-free nine birdie effort. Longest drive: 382 yards – Cameron Champ on the par-5 9th. Longest putt: 53 feet, 11 inches – Ryan Moore. Toughest hole: Par-3 8th played to 3.311 with just five birdies, 24 bogeys and two doubles. Easiest hole: Par-5 16th played to 4.338 with four eagles, 42 birdies and just one bogey. SHOT OF THE DAY CALL OF THE DAY
Three Red Sox players received more hardware, as Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Ian Kinsler were named as Gold Glove winners. Meanwhile, Nolan Arenado continued his perfect record with a sixth award.
