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NFL Releases Preseason Sked

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CANTON – A new normal for the NFL and its preseason will return this summer, beginning with the Hall of Fame Game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 5. The annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game kicks-off a schedule of three preseason games for each team, down from four in previous seasons. The extra game has been tacked on to the regular season, with each team playing 17 games instead of 16.

In another Week 1 preseason game of interest, fans will get their first glance at the revamped Jaguars, led by new coach Urban Meyer and No. 1 overall draft pick Trevor Lawrence at quarterback, when the Cleveland Browns visit Jacksonville on Aug. 14.

The preseason wraps up Aug. 29.

The Cowboys will be featured in the regular-season opener, as well, when they visit the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 9.

The 2021 preseason week-by-week schedule, with all times Eastern:

WEEK 1
Thursday, Aug. 5
Pittsburgh and Dallas (Canton, Ohio), 8 p.m.

Thursday, Aug. 12
Washington at New England, 7:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 13
Tennessee at Atlanta, 7 p.m.
Buffalo at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Dallas at Arizona, 10 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 14
Miami at Chicago, 1 p.m.
Denver at Minnesota, 4 p.m.
New Orleans at Baltimore, 7 p.m.
Cleveland at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.

New York Jets at NY Giants, 7:30 pm

Cincinnati at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Houston at Green Bay, 8 p.m.
Kansas City at San Francisco, 8:30 p.m.
Seattle at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.

Los Angeles Chargers at LA Rams, 10 pm

Sunday, Aug. 15
Carolina at Indianapolis, 1 p.m.

WEEK 2
Thursday, Aug. 19
New England at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Aug. 20
Kansas City at Arizona, 8 p.m.
Cincinnati at Washington, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 21
Buffalo at Chicago, 1 p.m.
New York Jets at Green Bay, 4:25 p.m.
Baltimore at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Atlanta at Miami, 7 p.m.
Detroit at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Tennessee at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Houston at Dallas, 8 p.m.
Indianapolis at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Las Vegas at Los Angeles Rams, 10 p.m.
Denver at Seattle, 10 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 22
New York Giants at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
San Francisco at Los Angeles Chargers, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 23
Jacksonville at New Orleans, 8 p.m.

WEEK 3
Friday, Aug. 27
Indianapolis at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Carolina, 7:30 p.m.
Philadelphia at New York Jets, 7:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Kansas City, 8 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 28
Green Bay at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Baltimore at Washington, 6 p.m.
Chicago at Tennessee, 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay at Houston, 8 p.m.
Arizona at New Orleans, 8 p.m.
Los Angeles Rams at Denver, 9:05 p.m.
Los Angeles Chargers at Seattle, 10 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 29
Jacksonville at Dallas, 1 p.m.
Miami at Cincinnati, 4 p.m.
Las Vegas at San Francisco, 4 p.m.
New England at New York Giants, 6 p.m.
Cleveland at Atlanta, 8 p.m.

While We’re Young (Ideas) & Notes

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By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – The most telling “official” sponsorship package in all of sports might be the “official window” company for every sports franchise. The official window might determine the “window of opportunity” and just when the windows open and close for your local professional club.

Maybe you can blame it on the quick-changing New England weather, but here in Boston, the windows seem to be closing all too often these days. When quarterback and team leader Tom Brady departed from the New England Patriots and tight end Rob Gronkowski soon followed him to Tampa Bay, the window of opportunity closed on the Patriots, like a guillotine at Marie Antoinette’s execution.

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This spring, the double-hung windows at TD Garden were shuttered quite abruptly, as both the Boston Celtics of the NBA and the Boston Bruins of the NHL took early exits from their respective league playoffs.

After winning their 17th NBA Championship in 2007-08, the Celtics have remained (mostly) competitive with the exception of missing the NBA Playoffs in 2013-14. Boston made NBA Eastern Conference Finals appearances in 2016-17, 2017-18, 2019-20 (in the NBA Bubble).

This season, they advanced through a first-ever NBA Play-In game but lost to the Brooklyn Nets, 4-games-to-1, in the first round of the playoffs. Soon after, the Celtics accepted the retirement papers from their head of basketball, Danny Ainge, and decided to move their talented head coach, Brad Stevens, up the ladder to head-up basketball ops as GM.

While the Celtics’ core is young, strong and capable, team chemistry, size and frequent injuries remain as obstacles in front of the Celtics in order to advance in future NBA Playoffs. The window of opportunity for the current team seems to be closing before they could make it to the NBA Finals.

On the ice rink along Causeway Street, the Boston Bruins are realizing a similar fate.

Last season, the Bruins finished the “normal” season leading the NHL and in prime position for the approaching 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Then, the Coronavirus hit, and the Bruins lost momentum, and re-started by going 0-3 in the NHL bubble ‘seeding round.” The Bruins regained some confidence with a strong showing in the 2020 first round with a 4-1 series win over the Carolina Hurricanes but fell flat and dropped their second-round series to eventual champion Tampa Bay, 4-1.

This season, the Bruins finished third in a re-configured “East,” then won a competitive first-round series against the tough Washington Capitals before being eliminated, 4-games-to-2, against the upstart New York Islanders.

Suffice to say, the core of the Boston Bruins team is aging from the Stanley Cup Championship of 2011 and Stanley Cup Finals appearance and losses to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 and St. Louis Blues in the spring of 2019.

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“Every year, as you don’t achieve your goal and the further you go in your career, you get to realize it’s a year closer to retirement,” said veteran center and team captain Patrice Bergeron after the Bruins were eliminated. “So, obviously, it’s tough. From one year to the next, it’s always a missed opportunity and you want to keep going at it. It’s hard. As you get older, you know that you don’t have that many chances to achieve your goal and have a team that can actually compete for a Stanley Cup, so it’s always disappointing. About changes, I’m not sure. It’s not up to me. You always want to keep the same group and I feel like we have a great group here. We’ll see what happens.”

Unfortunately, in the world of sports, we all know what happens.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: For the Boston Bruins, the status of starting goalkeeper Tuukka Rask will be a key factor. Rask will soon have surgery for a torn labrum in his hip. The surgery will be scheduled within a month and recovery time could take five or six months from there. While some have speculated that Rask might test the free agent market upon return, much like former Bruins captain Zdeno Chara (now with the Washington Caps), Rask confirmed this week that it’s the Bruins or retirement. … “I’m not going to play for anyone else than the Bruins,” said Rask. “This is our home. We have three kids. The kids enjoy it here. They have friends in school. We have friends. At this point of my life and my career, I don’t see any reason to go anywhere else, especially with the health I’m looking at now and a recovery time of five or six months. Hopefully it works out that I recover well and we can talk about contracts when the time is right for that,” he concluded.

TRACK & FIELD AND TRACK SOME MORE? – According to The Japan Times, the Tokyo Olympic Organizing Committee plans to use GPS as a measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The GPS tracking devices are not intended to monitor the real-time whereabouts of people from overseas, but to trace and confirm their movements retroactively in the event infections are confirmed, Toshiro Muto, the Olympic Organizing Committee CEO said. … He told reporters that everyone entering Japan from abroad, including athletes, officials and members of the media, will be required to submit plans for their first 14 days in the country and turn on the GPS function on their smartphones. … “We’re not going to be tracking every single movement,” he told a news conference. “I want to trust they will follow the rules first.” … The system for possible COVID-19 contact tracing came at a high cost. Japan’s digital transformation minister Takuya Hirai said the development cost for the app was $35 million, according to the Tokyo-based newspaper Nikkei.

For the full collection of while we’re Young (Ideas), sent right to your inbox, click HERE.

PGA Tour: Final Round at Palmetto

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PGA Tour Brunch: Sunday at The Palmetto

*Play was suspended at 8:00pm EDT with only two groups who completed their 17th hole. Round 3 will resume at 7:30am (EDT) today and final round tee times will range from 8:05am – 1:50pm (EDT) off the first tee..

Chesson Hadley is closing in on second title on the PGA Tour but has to wait to complete his third round as play was suspended with the final two groups on the 18th hole at the Palmetto Championship at Congaree.

Hadley (-14) was (-3) through 17 holes, four shots ahead of playing partner Harris English (-4 through 17) with a partial score of (-10 – 136). Hadley had missed nine cuts in his last 11 outings.

Bo Van Pelt shot a third round five under (66) to move into a tie for fifth place with Tyrrell Hatton who carded four under (67).

*Palmetto Partial Leaderboard:

Chesson Hadley 65-66-xx (-3/17) – (131) (-14)

Harris English 67-69-xx (-4/17) – (136) (-10)

Two tied at (-8)

Two tied at (-7)

Seven tied at (-6)

PGA Tour: Moving Day at Palmetto

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RIDGELAND, SC – Chesson Hadley with an 11-under (131), holds the first 36-hole lead/co-lead of his PGA Tour career. He tied his career-best 36-hole total at (131): 2013 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (finished T-5), 2016 The RSM Classic (finished T-45).

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Dustin Johnson was tied for the lead on the 18th hole but closed with a double-bogey.

Monday qualifier Tain Lee opened with a 4-under (67) and followed that with a (68), good for third place on the leaderboard. This is Lee’s third start on Tour this season as a Monday qualifier and he made the cut in both prior events (T-69 at the Farmers Insurance Open, and T-59 at the Valero Texas Open.

Brooks Koepka missed his sixth cut of the 2020-21 season, marking the most missed cuts in one season of his career.

Palmetto Leaderboard:

Chesson Hadley 65-66—131 (-11)

Dustin Johnson 65-68—133 (-9)

Tain Lee 67-68—135 (-7)

Six players 136 (-6)

PGA Tour: 2nd Round at The Palmetto

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RIDGELAND, SOUTH CAROLINA – Wes Roach opened with 7-under (64), and holds his first career lead/co-lead after any round on the PGA Tour. Roach leads the field in Strokes Gained: Putting, setting his career-best in that category (4.775).

Dustin Johnson played to a bogey-free (65), his lowest first-round score since winning the 2020 Masters Tournament with the same first-round (65) score.

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Former Clemson University (SC) standout Doc Redman (T-2 at (-6) opened with a 65, his fourth career first-round score of 65 or better and second in his last four starts (64/AT&T Byron Nelson); Redman has three top-10s in 20 prior starts this season.

Erik van Rooyen (T-2 at (-6) entered the week with missed cuts in each of his last four starts on Tour, most recently carding 72-81 at the PGA Championship. Van Rooyen is a first-year member on Tour, earning status through the non-member FedExCup points list in 2019-20.

Monday qualifier Tain Lee opened with a 4-under (67). This is Lee’s third start on Tour this season as a Monday qualifier and he made the cut in both prior events (T-69 at the Farmers Insurance Open, and T-59 at the Valero Texas Open.

Palmetto Leaderboard After 18 Holes:

Wes Roach 64 (-7)

Doc Redman 65 (-6)

Dustin Johnson 65 (-6)

Chesson Hadley 65 (-6)

Erik van Rooyen 65 (-6)

Jhonattan Vegas 66 (-5)

USA Basketball Expands Deal with MGM

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LAS VEGAS – (Source: Official News Release) – USA Basketball and MGM Resorts International, a leader in the sports and entertainment industry, announced an expanded, multi-year partnership, tipping-off this July in Las Vegas. As part of the partnership, MGM Resorts will be the Official Training Camp home of the USA Basketball Men’s and Women’s National Teams, as well as an Official integrated resorts partner of USA Basketball and an Official USA Basketball exhibition tour partner.

As the new training camp home of the USA Basketball Men’s and Women’s National Teams, MGM Resorts, in partnership with USA Basketball, will host four additional countries in Las Vegas, creating a must-see international basketball competition prior to the teams’ departure for Tokyo.

Fans will have the opportunity to watch seven USA Basketball Men’s and Women’s National Team exhibition games July 10-18, as both teams take on top international opponents in preparation for this summer’s historic competition. The lineup includes a rare opportunity to see both the USA Men’s and Women’s National Teams play live on the same day, July 16 and 18, as well as opportunities to see three additional matchups between the other foreign national teams. Each of the five days of exhibition games will be doubleheaders. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, June 16 at 10 a.m. PDT, and ticket information is available online at https://axs.com/USABasketball.

“USA Basketball is proud to expand its partnership with MGM Resorts. We’re excited to bring our national teams to their properties as we prepare for the challenging competition that lies ahead this summer,” said Jim Tooley, USA Basketball CEO. “Training camps are such an important foundation for our preparation and having such a strong commitment from MGM positions us for great success.”

Lance Evans, Senior Vice President of MGM Resorts, Sports, said, “MGM Resorts and Las Vegas have an extensive history with USA Basketball. This expanded partnership will allow us to showcase our resorts as we host multiple USA Basketball games at Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay, as well as a variety of USA Basketball-related activities. We look forward to offering hoops fans another reason to visit the Sports Capital of the World.”

Tee-Off at The Palmetto Championship

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PGA Tour Brunch: Opening Round at The Palmetto

The 2021 Palmetto Championship at Congaree runs from June 7-13, 2021 and is the 37th of 50 FedExCup events on the PGA Tour. The Congaree Golf Club in Ridgeland, South Carolina will host the new event.

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Dustin Johnson, 36, of Coastal Carolina has 24 career PGA Tour wins but none have come in his home state of South Carolina. DJ is in search of first Top-10 on Tour since The Genesis Invitational. He holds the No. 1 position in the Official World Golf Ranking for 42nd straight week.

Brooks Koepka, 31, from Florida State is making first start on Tour since the PGA Championship when he was T-2 to Phil Mickelson. Koepka enters the week No. 17 in the FedExCup standings and No. 8 in the World. He has five Top-10s in 12 starts this season. Best: A win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

Sungjae Im, 23, of South Korea current ranks No. 30 in the FedExCup, No. 25 in the Official World Golf Ranking after earning his first Tour title at The Honda Classic in 2020. He has missed the cut in each of his last two starts (first time since 2019).

The Palmetto Championship at Congaree fills the date on the PGA Tour previously held by the RBC Canadian Open (canceled due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions) and will be the third tournament of the season held in the state of South Carolina.

California (8) hosts the most PGA Tour events this season, while Florida and Texas each host (5). Georgia hosts (4).

COURSE: Congeree GC (Ridgeland, South Carolina)

ARCHITECT: Tom Fazio

YARDS/PAR: 7,655 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,300,000 /$1,314,000

PAST RESULTS: New Course on Tour

PAST CHAMPIONS: New Course for Tour

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner: 2,989/550

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup

OFFICIAL SITE: (Palmetto Championship)

TV COVERAGE: Today and Friday, June 10 and 11: 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. On Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13, Golf Channel’s coverage runs from 1:00pm to 3:00pm (EDT) and CBS takes over from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) each weekend day.

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live offers streaming coverage of Featured Groups today and Friday from 7:05am to 6:00pm (EDT). On the weekend, PGA Tour Live expands coverage with Featured Groups and Holes. On Saturday, Featured Groups runs from 8:0am to 3:00pm (EDT) and Featured Holes from 3:00-6:00pm (EDT). On Sunday, streaming coverage runs from 8:00am to 6:00pm (EDT) with Featured Groups, then finishes off with Featured Holes from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE:  Beginning today, June 10 and continuing Friday, June 11, PGA Tour Radio coverage airs 12:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT). On Saturday and Sunday, hear live hole-by-hole coverage from 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) (or until completion of play). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

 

PGA Tour: First Look at Palmetto

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The Palmetto Championship at Congaree fills the date on the PGA Tour previously held by the RBC Canadian Open (canceled due to COVID-19 and travel restrictions) and will be the third tournament of the season held in the state of South Carolina, joining the RBC Heritage and PGA Championship. Just four other states have hosted or are scheduled to host more tournaments this season: California, Florida, Georgia and Texas.

COURSE: Congeree GC (Ridgeland, South Carolina)

ARCHITECT: Tom Fazio

YARDS/PAR: 7,655 yards/Par 71

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $7,300,000 /$1,314,000

PAST RESULTS: New Course on Tour

PAST CHAMPIONS: New Course for Tour

FEDEx CUP Points Available/Winner: 2,989/550

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup

OFFICIAL SITE: (Palmetto Championship)

TV COVERAGE: Thursday and Friday, June 10 and 11: 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) on Golf Channel. On Saturday, June 12 and Sunday, June 13, Golf Channel’s coverage runs from 1:00pm to 3:00pm (EDT) and CBS takes over from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) each weekend day.

STREAMING: PGA Tour Live offers streaming coverage of Featured Groups on both Thursday and Friday from 7:05am to 6:00pm (EDT). On the weekend, PGA Tour Live expands coverage with Featured Groups and Holes. On Saturday, Featured Groups runs from 8:0am to 3:00pm (EDT) and Featured Holes from 3:00-6:00pm (EDT). On Sunday, streaming coverage runs from 8:00am to 6:00pm (EDT) with Featured Groups, then finishes off with Featured Holes from 3:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT).

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE:  Beginning on Thursday, June 10 and continuing Friday, June 11, PGA Tour Radio coverage airs 12:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT). On Saturday and Sunday, hear live hole-by-hole coverage from 1:00pm to 6:00pm (EDT) (or until completion of play). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92) or online on PGATour.com.

How to Watch: In case of changes, see: (PGATourCom)

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Welcome to PGA Tour Brunch – 1st Look at The Palmetto

World No. 1 and reigning FedExCup champion Dustin Johnson will make his first start on Tour since missing the cut at the PGA Championship. Johnson, a native of Columbia, South Carolina, has won 24 times on Tour but is yet to win in his home state. The last time Johnson competed on the Tour on the week before a Major was in November (2020). He finished T-2 at the Vivint Houston Open and won the Masters Tournament the following week.

In his first start since finishing runner-up to Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship, eight-time Tour-winner Brooks Koepka will seek his second victory of the season. His win at the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open is one of three top-two finishes in his last six starts on Tour.

Two of the top amateur players are making their professional debuts this week, with John Pak and Davis Thompson set to compete on sponsor exemptions. Pak and Thompson finished 1-2 in the inaugural PGA Tour University ranking and recently participated on the victorious United States team at the Walker Cup.

In addition, 22-year-old South African Garrick Higgo will compete as an exempt international player designated by the PGA Tour Commissioner. Higgo has won twice in his last three starts on the European Tour (Gran Canaria Lopesan Open, Canary Islands Championship) and has moved to No. 54 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The Basics:

Tournament Tee Times begin Thursday at 7:00am (EDT) through 2:27pm (EDT).

Weather: Thursday’s forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with temps in low 80s, but a 20% chance of rain with 68% humidity. Friday forecast is similar.

Red Sox Defeat Marlins, 5-3

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BOSTON – Red Sox second baseman Christian Arroyo knocked-in two runs with a single in Boston’s half of the fourth inning, and the Sox defeated the Marlins 5-3 for their fifth straight victory.

Boston outfielder Alex Verdugo added two hits including an RBI double for the Red Sox, who were coming off their first three-game sweep at Yankee Stadium since June 2011.

Starling Marte hit a solo homer and had two base hits for Miami, which left 14 baserunners on base. It was the Marlins’ ninth loss in the last 10 games.

The Marlins completed a nine-game, 11-day road trip with just one win, with the first two losses coming in Fenway Park.

The Red Sox are a season-high 14 games over .500 at 37-23. The matchup was a makeup of the May 30 game that was rained out, with the conditions vastly different. The game-time temperature at Fenway Park was a stifling 90 degrees. When the Marlins were previously in town, it was chilly and rainy for the three days.

New York’s Thibs is NBA Coach of Year

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NEW YORK – New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was presented with the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2020-21 NBA Coach of the Year, the NBA announced. It was the second NBA Coach of the Year Award for Thibodeau, who earned the honor in the 2010-11 season with the Chicago Bulls in his first season as an NBA head coach.

Now honored in his first season as the Knicks’ head coach, Thibodeau has become the first person to be named NBA Coach of the Year in his first season as head coach with two different franchises. (Cotton Fitzsimmons won the award in his first season as the Kansas City Kings’ head coach, 1978-79, and again in the first season of his second tenure as the Phoenix Suns’ head coach, 1988-89.)

Thibodeau received 43 first-place votes and earned 351 total points to edge Phoenix head coach Monty Williams, who finished in second place with 340 points (45 first-place votes). The 11-point difference between the first- and second-place finishers marks the smallest margin since the current NBA Coach of the Year voting format was introduced in the 2002-03 season. Williams had two more first place votes and 10 more victories than Thibodeau.

Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder finished in third place with 161 points (10 first-place votes). Coaches were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters.

With Thibodeau as head coach, New York finished tied for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference (41-31) and made the NBA Playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season. The Knicks won 16 of their final 20 games to complete a turnaround from last season’s overall record of 21-45.