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Celtics Make Williams Deal Official

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BOSTON – (Source: Official Team News Release)  – The Boston Celtics extended the contract of center Robert Williams III. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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“Rob has worked hard to turn himself into a very impactful player, and his talent and selfless play give him an even higher upside to reach going forward,” said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens. “Rob has embraced being a Celtic from day one. He is a great teammate and is completely committed to getting better. We’re excited that he will continue to do so here in Boston.”

Originally selected by the Celtics in the first round (27th overall) of the 2018 NBA Draft, Williams III has averaged 5.7 points on 72.0% shooting, 5.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 steals, 1.5 blocked shots, and 14.7 minutes in 113 games (16 starts) over three seasons in Boston. He has increased his scoring, rebounds, and assists in each year since joining the NBA.

Playing in a career-best 52 games (13 starts) in 2020-21, Williams III produced a career highs in points (8.0 ppg), rebounds (6.9 rpg), assists (1.8 apg), steals (0.8 spg), blocked shots (1.8 bpg) and minutes (18.9 mpg) last season. The Shreveport, LA native tallied a career-high 20 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting on April 2 vs. Houston, making him the first Celtics player in franchise history to produce 20+ points, 8+ rebounds, and 8+ assists while shooting 100% from the field.

Williams III set (modern-day) franchise marks during the 2021 NBA Playoffs as well, becoming the first Celtics player ever to record nine blocked shots in a postseason game during the team’s series-opening game against the Nets on May 22. He played in three games during that First Round matchup, averaging 6.3 points (64.3% FG), 5.0 rebounds, and 15.3 minutes. (Note: Legendary Celtics center Bill Russell surely topped the numbers in the days before the NBA charted blocks).

PGA Tour: Finau Takes Northern Trust

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JERSEY CITY – The first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs concluded Monday after a day-long delay due to tropical storm Henri drenching the New York-New Jersey region and dumping some six-plus inches of rain on Liberty National.

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The NORTHERN TRUST became the third consecutive tournament – and third straight week on the PGA Tour schedule – with a playoff, marking the first time with three straight playoffs since 2019 The RSM Classic, 2020 Sentry Tournament of Champions, 2020 Sony Open in Hawaii. Overall, it was the 13th playoff of the PGA Tour season.

Tony Finau defeated Cameron Smith in the playoff, earning his second PGA Tour title in his 143rd start since his first victory on Tour back at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. In the 142 starts between victories, Finau recorded eight runner-up finishes and 39 top-10s. With the 2,000 FedEx Cup points for winning the NORTHERN TRUST, Finau moves to No. 1 in the FedExCup standings for the first time in his career.

World No. 1 Jon Rahm, who held at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds, played the final four holes in 2-over and finishes solo-third.

Keith Mitchell birdied each of the final three holes to move into the Top 70 in the FedExCup standings and he qualified for this week’s BMW Championship.

Six players moving into the Top 70 in the FedExCup standings and qualifying for the BMW Championship were: Alex Noren (T-4), Erik van Rooyen (7th), Tom Hoge (T-4), Harold Varner III (T-11), Mitchell (T-8), and Harry Higgs(T-16).

The six players moving out of the Top 70 were: Matthew Wolff, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Laird, Troy Merritt, and J.T. Poston who all MTC.

Final Leaderboard from THE NORTHERN TRUST:

Tony Finau 67-64-68-65—264 (-20)*

Cameron Smith 69-68-60-67—264 (-20)

Jon Rahm 63-67-67-69—266 (-18)

Alex Noren 69-64-70-66—269 (-15)

Tom Hoge 69-64-67-69—269 (-15)

Justin Thomas 63-69-67-70—269 (-15)

* defeated Cameron Smith with a par-4 on the first playoff hole (No. 18)

Full Leaderboard (link)

PGA Tour’s Reed Hospitalized in Houston

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HOUSTON – USA Olympian Patrick Reed, the No. 22 ranked pro golfer in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup points standings, was admitted Friday to Houston Methodist Hospital as his heath rapidly declined due to bilateral interstitial pneumonia, often referred to as “double pneumonia.”

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Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis and golfchannel.com writer Rex Hoggard first reported Reed’s condition, which is considered a “very serious infection that can inflame and scar lungs.”

“It got really bad very quickly,” Reed’s wife, Justine, told Lewis.

Reed played in The Open in the United Kingdom, the 3M in Minnesota, then was called upon by Team USA to fill Bryson DeChambeau’s spot on the US Olympic golf team in Tokyo and then returned to the United States and played at the WGC-FedEx-St. Jude tournament in Memphis.

After the WGC-FedEx-St. Jude, Reed did not play in the Wyndham Championship, withdrawing from a tournament only two days before it started. Reed won the Wyndham in 2013. A week later, again on short notice, Reed withdrew from the Northern Trust, the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. His withdrawal from the event placed his chances to participate for the USA in the Ryder Cup in serious doubt. Should his health improve, there would be a slight chance of being added to the USA team with a captain’s pick.

Today, via written statement, Reed confirmed he will not be able to play in the BMW Championship later this week, thus ending his season because of such a slight chance of playing in the PGA Tour’s Championship in Atlanta. It also severely limits his chances to make the USA Ryder Cup team. Reed had cited an “ankle injury” as the reason for withdrawing from the Northern Trust.

“I’m on the road to recovery,” Reed said in his statement. “Once I’m cleared from the doctors, I look forward to returning. I wish you all the best and I can’t wait to get back out there.”

In the statements and communications, the pneumonia case or complications of Reed’s condition as it might relate to COVID-19 and the disease was not mentioned in the statements, although a severe case of double pneumonia is frequently the end result of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and it can be quite dangerous. The optimistic words of improvement bode well for Reed’s overall health but such a severe condition will likely shut down his golf game for the few remaining weeks of the PGA Tour season.

Should the double pneumonia be the result of a COVID-19 infection, Reed would rank as the most acclaimed United States professional athlete from any sport to suffer such a severe case from the conditions effecting the human respiratory system.

 

PGA Tour: Monday Finish for NORTHERN TRUST

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JERSEY CITY – The final round of THE NORTHERN TRUST was delayed once again today and the final round began at 11:30 a.m. (EDT). That’s a four hour delay from the planned start this morning. Practice facilities are open.

Golf Channel began coverage at 12:30pm with the final group tee-off at 1:42pm.

Play will begin with a weather report showing cloudy skies, scattered showers with a 41% chance of rain by 1:00pm (EDT). Humidity is high (94% dropping to 70% by evening). Winds are at 10 mph.

Due to the heavy rain from tropical storm Henri and saturated onsite conditions at Liberty National Golf Club, the PGA Tour decided that the final round of THE NORTHERN TRUST will be played without spectators. The golf course saw six inches of rain fall on Sunday. The walkways and cart paths are impassable.

Players currently projected to move inside the Top 70 (5): Erik van Rooyen, Harold Varner III, Tom Hoge, Keith Mitchell, and Joel Dahmen.

Players currently projected to fall out of the Top 70 (5): Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Laird, Troy Merritt, and J.T. Poston.

The Top 70 advance to this week’s BMW Championship.

Leaderboard After 54 Holes:

Cameron Smith 69-68-60—197 (-16)

Jon Rahm 63-67-67—197 (-16)

Erik van Rooyen 69-67-62—198 (-15)

Justin Thomas 63-69-67—199 (-14)

Tony Finau 67-64-68—199 (-14)

Full Leaderboard (link)

PGA Tour: Final Round Postponed

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JERSEY CITY – A Tropical Storm warning was issued by the National Hurricane Center for the greater Metropolitan area, site of The NORTHERN TRUST. There will be no play on Sunday, August 22nd. Round 4 will be played on Monday, August 23rd. Tee times and groupings will be published on Sunday afternoon, with play on Monday slated to begin no earlier than 7:30 a.m.

On Saturday, Cameron Smith recorded a career-low 18-hole score and set the Liberty National course record with a (61). Smith enters the final round tied for the lead with Jon Rahm who holds at least a share of the lead for the third consecutive round.

Players currently projected to move inside the top 70 (5): Erik van Rooyen, Harold Varner III, Tom Hoge, Keith Mitchell, and Joel Dahmen.

Players currently projected to fall out of the top 70 (5): Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Laird, Troy Merritt, and J.T. Poston.

Only the Top 70 advance to this week’s BMW Championship.

Leaderboard After 54 Holes:

Cameron Smith 69-68-60—197 (-16)

Jon Rahm 63-67-67—197 (-16)

Erik van Rooyen 69-67-62—198 (-15)

Justin Thomas 63-69-67—199 (-14)

Tony Finau 67-64-68—199 (-14)

Full Leaderboard (link)

While We’re Young (Ideas) – August 22

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief

BOSTON – “And, now a word from our sponsor.”

For any sports fan, those are the most cringeworthy words of a broadcast. Throughout the rise of commercialism in sports, newspapers and magazines printed advertisements with their coverage of the big games, big stories and bigger-than-life personalities. Radio ran its commercial spots and television crammed every second of downtime for commercials and promo spots to the point where “tonight on 60 Minutes” was just as much a part of the Sunday afternoon CBS Sports broadcast of the NFL as were the Pittsburgh Steelers or New England Patriots.

Game Day is “brought to you by Allstate” … Starting line-ups … “brought to you by Budweiser,” … Halftime “brought to you by American Express” … and “stay tuned for the postgame show, “brought to you by Geico.”

Yes, we’ve all become quite accustomed to the in-game promo reads and rolling graphics. We’ve chalked it all up $1 million ads at every break “to pay the bills.” The repetitive advertisements drive us to hit “mute” on the remote or even change the channel at times.

With all of that a fact of life for a television viewing sports fan, what’s my beef?

A CAPITAL OFFENSE.

What marketer thinks they have any right to ask us to write THE NORTHERN TRUST this weekend when we are covering the PGA TOUR? Why can’t we simply tell the stories of the Northern Trust as part of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs? Just a few years back, the same exact golf tournament was The Barclays and a year or two before that, it was the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Sponsors come and sponsors go. Banks merge and golf-loving CEO’s move on. It’s all a part of the game. But what in the name of the E. W. Scripps National Spelling Bee do marketers have with the ALL CAPS stuff?

Although it is hard to confirm in the Sports Marketing record books, the belief is that the Miami HEAT started this mess. Not long after, the STAPLES Center came along and editors around the country started to balk.

It’s one thing to do a “first mention” sponsor drop-in for a story on say, “The Rose Bowl, presented by Northwestern Mutual,” but it starts to get dicey when publishers of sports pages are asked to plug, the Poulan Weed Eater Independence Bowl or the Bad Boy Mowers Gasparilla Bowl or the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl presented by Bridgestone.

That brings us back to the CAPS.

The PGA TOUR is the main culprit. Aside from THE NORTHERN TRUST, the pro golfers also stage THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK and the ZOZOChampionship. They refuse to write PGA Tour in their news releases and opt for the PGA TOUR, instead.

Other brands, trying to be clever and stylish, have gone the other way with lower case company names and logos. adidas, yahoo, xerox, at&t and target have all gone small while NIKE, IKEA, VISA and the likes of IBM, BMW and CNN stay large. Some say the ALL CAPS seems a bit revolting in the TXT message world which depicts ALL CAPS as SCREAMING or a RANT.

Lastly, we the journalists are all too often subjected to the use of extremely poor grammar within many a company logo or advertising motto. Remember: got milk? (Dairy Farmers) Or, Think Different (Apple)? Leggo my Eggo (Eggo brand waffles, by Kellogg’s)?

Where’s the AP Style Book (or is it the Associated Press’ style book)?

Nevermind.

The lone exception for acceptable use of a grammatically incorrect slogan was the 1996-97 WNBA’s use of the marketing phrase “We Got Next” when the league was about to launch in the summer of ‘97. The universally-utilized term to call for the next game on the playground basketball courts fit perfectly for the then-brand new women’s pro basketball league. Of course, the WNBA will soon celebrate the 25th anniversary of the league and WNBA@25 was not cool enough. Instead, they messed with the proper use of Roman numerals and went with:

The WNBA logo, for most Roman numerologists would go down as WNBA XXV but the strike-through was approved by Pythagoras himself. … So Be It.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Last week, the major injuries to Major League Baseball stars was underlined, noting that Ronald Acuna Jr., Mookie Bettsand Jacob deGrom to name a few. This week, it’s the U.S. Open tennis tournament that’s looking like M*A*S*H. … The great Rafael Nadal posted to his social media account(s) that he would miss the U.S. Open and the rest of the 2021 season due to a left foot injury. … Previously, Roger Federerannounced he had to skip The US Open due to the scheduled third surgery on his right knee. Add to the fact, defending men’s champion Dominic Thiemwithdrew due to a right wrist injury as the 2021 U.S. Open’s luster in the men’s draw has been defeated 6-0, 6-0, 6-0.

USA 3×3: Tokyo 2020ne was the inaugural 3×3 basketball tournament at the Olympic Games and was viewed as quite the success in the international basketball world as the the outdoor 3×3 vibes hope to duplicate for basketball what beach volleyball did for the traditional indoor volleyball game. On the homefront, there was an exception as the United States failed to qualify for the men’s basketball 3×3 competition at the just completed Tokyo Games. … Time to right the ship? … Nope.

San Juan (Puerto Rico) won their first-ever FIBA 3×3 World Tour event since t2012 when they won in Lausanne, Switzerland this weekend (August 20-21). … Just one day after losing their opener against Ub (Serbia) by nine points but winning their ticket to the knock-out stage with an overtime win, San Juan planted their flag on the 3×3 court with wins against the Riga (Latvia)) team that featured three Olympic gold medalists, and then the No. 1 ranked team in the world Liman (Serbia). San Juan then defeated the same Ub team in the final (21-13) to take honors. The USA? The two teams placed sixth and ninth. Here were the standings from this weekend:

LAUSANNE MASTERS STANDINGS

1. San Juan (PUR)

2. Ub (SRB)

3. Antwerp (BEL)

4. Liman (SRB)

5. Riga (LAT)

6. NY Harlem (USA)

7. Aachen Der Stamm (GER)

8. Graz (AUT)

9. Princeton (USA)

10. Novi Sad (SRB)

11. Lausanne Sport (SUI)

12. Gagarin (RUS)

13. Moscow Inanomo (RUS)

14. Alexandria (EGY)

For the FULL While we’re Young (Ideas) column, sign-up HERE

Red Sox vs Texas Rangers Postponed as Henri Approaches

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BOSTON – (Source: Official Red Sox News Release) – The Red Sox-Rangers game scheduled for today, Sunday, August 22, at Fenway Park has been postponed due to the potential impact of Hurricane Henri in New England. The current forecast calls for several bands of moderate to heavy rain throughout the day and sustained winds of 30-40 MPH in the Fenway area with more severe conditions including several inches of rain, flash flooding and hurricane force winds expected to the south and west. State and local officials are asking all residents to use caution throughout the day on Sunday and only travel if absolutely necessary.

Sunday’s game has been rescheduled for Monday, August 23, beginning at 1:10 p.m. Tickets for Sunday’s game will be good for admission to the rescheduled contest. Fenway Park gates will open 90 minutes before first pitch at 11:40 a.m.

There is rain in the forecast for Monday, so check listings and here on Digital Sports Desk.

Rahm Leads at Northern Trust

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JERSEY CITY – (PGA Tour Brunch) – Jon Rahm leads THE NORTHERN TRUST after recording the second-lowest 36-hole total of his PGA Tour career (130) while Tony Finau tied his career-best 36-hole total at (131) and sits in solo-second after 36 holes.

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Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth carded matching rounds of 9-under (62), both tying the course record at Liberty National G.C.

Defending champion and 2020 FedExCup Champion Dustin Johnson, FedExCup points leader Collin Morikawa both missed the cut.

Players currently projected to move inside the Top 70 (6): Keith Mitchell, Harold Varner III, Alex Noren, Tom Hoge, Erik van Rooyen, and Seamus Power.

Players currently projected to fall out of the Top 70 (6): Talor Gooch, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Laird, Troy Merritt, and J.T. Poston.

Only the Top 70 advance to next week’s BMW Championship.

Leaderboard After First Round:

Jon Rahm – 63-67—130 (-12)

Tony Finau – 67-64—131 (-11)

Justin Thomas – 63-69—132 (-10)

Keith Mitchell – 68-64—132 (-10)

Xander Schauffele – 70-62—132 (-10)

Full Leaderboard (link)

Thomas, Rahm Lead Northern Trust

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JERSEY CITY – Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm share the 18-hole lead after matching 8-under (63)s, three strokes better than any other player. Thomas and Rahm both entered the week in the Top 10 in the FedExCup standings and Top Five in the Official World Golf Ranking.

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Harold Varner III (FedExCup No. 72 entering the week) finished T3 at the NORTHERN TRUST at Liberty National in 2019, moving inside the top 70 to qualify for the BMW Championship.

Bryson DeChambeau (71) became the fourth player since the record was kept (1983) to make two or fewer pars and record a score of even-par.

Early Scoreboard Watching for Top 70 in FedEx Cup Points: Players currently projected to move inside the top 70 (6): Harold Varner III, Adam Scott, Andrew Putnam, Erik van Rooyen, Keith Mitchell, and Harry Higgs.

Players currently projected to fall out of the top 70 (6): Shane Lowry, Tyrrell Hatton, Talor Gooch, Martin Laird, Troy Merritt, and J.T. Poston.

Leaderboard After First Round:

Justin Thomas 63 (-8)

Jon Rahm 63 (-8)

Harold Varner III 66 (-5)

Six players 67 (-4)

Alabama Crimson Tide Ranked No. 1

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NEW YORK – (Wire Service and Staff Report) – Defending national champion Alabama will open the 2021 season in the same position it ended last year – at No. 1.

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The Crimson Tide are the favorites to repeat, receiving 47 first-place votes in the Associated Press preseason college football poll. Oklahoma is No. 2 with six votes and Clemson is third, also with six first-places votes. No. 4 Ohio State (one vote) and Georgia (three) round out the top five.

Alabama opens the season Sept. 4 against No. 14 Miami in Atlanta as the Tide seek a seventh national championship under coach Nick Saban. Clemson and Georgia will meet that day, as well, in Charlotte, N.C.

Texas A&M, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Notre Dame and North Carolina round out the top 10. The Cyclones match their highest national ranking ever. The Aggies and Fighting Irish finished No. 4-5 in the final poll of 2020.

The poll features five teams each from the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten and Pac-12, three from the Atlantic Coast Conference and three from the Big 12.

The Sun Belt Conference has two teams in the AP Top 25: No. 22 Coastal Carolina and No. 23 Louisiana.

The rest of the list:
11. Oregon
12. Wisconsin
13. Florida
14. Miami
15. Southern Cal
16. LSU
17. Indiana
18. Iowa
19. Penn State
20. Washington
21. Texas
22. Coastal Carolina
23. Louisiana
24. Utah
25. Arizona St.