Midwest Sports Fan Blog

Today marks one month since Davis Payne became head coach of the Blues, and it’s been a busy month.

Payne has stressed the need for more practices, but with three days between the Blues’ last game and their matchup Wednesday against Chicago, the team decided that rest was more important.

The players were given Sunday off, and when they returned Monday, they were notified that practice was optional. Nine players were on the ice for less than an hour.

The point of the optional was “making sure they took today for what they needed, whether that was a mental break or a physical break,” Payne said. “I think it serves us well with all the hockey we’ve played and certainly all the hockey we’re about to play.

“We’ve been grinding pretty hard in the month of January. These opportunities are tough to find with the way the schedule is. We thought this was an important time for guys to recognize the importance of recharging their minds, making sure we’re fresh for (today’s practice) to prepare for our Wednesday game with Chicago.”

Click here to read the full article – By St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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More than 15 minutes after the final horn, thousands of Kansas State fans lingered in the stands to savor a hard-earned victory.

No floor-rushing celebrations, no hopping on the scorer’s table, just a loud, sustained ovation.

Even against the nation’s No. 1 team, Kansas State and its fans, many wearing fake beards in homage to high-scoring Jacob Pullen, expected to win.

Jamar Samuels scored 15 of his 20 points in a dominating first half and the Wildcats (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 10 AP) withstood a gut check rally to knock off top-ranked Texas 71-62 on Monday night.

“Teams rush floors when they do something phenomenal,” said Kansas State forward Curtis Kelly, who had 17 points and eight rebounds against one college basketball’s best front lines. “It’s flattering. They knew we were going to win. They didn’t have to rush the floor because they believed in us.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig admitted at baseball’s quarterly meetings that he agonized over the statement he put out in reference to Mark McGwire’s admission that he took steroids during a good portion of his career.


Selig was unwilling to take his commissioner hat off and give his reaction to McGwire’s statement as a baseball fan.

“Look, I am the commissioner,” Selig said. “My public statement, which I wrote over and over and over, says exactly how I feel on the matter. I just don’t want to add to that. I painstakingly went over it. I went over and over it while I watched the Packers game Sunday night. They gave up so many points and scored so many that I had about five hours to re-write it about 100 times.”

Selig said he found out McGwire was going to speak up about his steroid use before the public did.

“I knew beforehand, but not much,” he said. “I’ve talked a lot about it to [St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa] and [Cardinals owner] Bill DeWitt. We’ve talked about it since they made him their hitting coach.”

Click here to read the full article – By Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com

As expected, the Kansas City Chiefs have officially hired Romeo Crennel to be their new defensive coordinator, a source close to the situation tells ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Crennel, who replaces Clancy Pendergast, reunites with general manager Scott Pioli and offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, who all worked together in New England during their Super Bowl runs. Weis was hired by Kansas City last week following his ouster as Notre Dame’s coach.

The Chiefs informed Pendergast early Wednesday that they would be terminating his contract one year after hiring him from Arizona, sources close to the situation told Schefter. Potential landing spots for Pendergast could include Atlanta, which did not renew the contract of defensive backs coach Emmitt Thomas.

Crennel will not start work for Kansas City for a couple of weeks because of a prior commitment — he’ll be the head coach of the East Team in the East-West college football all-star game on Jan. 23 in Orlando, Fla.


Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

Coming out of a timeout late in the first half, Kansas coach Bill Self called for a substitution. The player who was supposed to enter the game didn’t hear him, leaving the Jayhawks with four players on the court for about 15 seconds.

“It was great because it was probably our best offensive possession of the game,” Self said with a smile. “I was really proud of our team how they totally baffled their defense and were able to make a great play.”

Self can joke now, but he knows his team needs to pull it together with the Big 12 season just around the corner.

Cole Aldrich dominated inside with a double-double and six blocked shots, and No. 1 Kansas overcame a lack of focus in the first half to wear down Belmont 81-51 on Tuesday night.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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All that Miami speed was no match for the big, bad Badgers.

John Clay had 121 yards rushing and two touchdowns, powering Wisconsin (No. 25 BCS, No. 24 AP) past Miami (No. 15 BCS, No. 14 AP) 20-14 in the Champs Sports Bowl on Tuesday night.


Clay ran through, over and around the Hurricanes to help the Badgers (10-3) earn their first victory over a ranked opponent this season and claim a big win for the Big Ten.

“That’s Wisconsin football, just wearing a defense down,” said Clay, who was selected bowl MVP. “The third quarter, fourth quarter, I could just see them sucking wind and holding their waists.”

Scott Tolzien threw for 260 yards, and Montee Ball added 61 yards rushing for a Wisconsin team touted as too big and too slow for the dynamic Hurricanes. None of that seemed to matter when the Badgers were powering the ball down the field.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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The Oklahoma City Thunder seemingly have found a winning formula — Kevin Durant and a lot of defense.

Durant matched his season high with 40 points and the Thunder defeated New Jersey 105-89 Monday night, sending the Nets to their 10th straight loss — their second double-digit losing streak of the season.

The key for the Thunder was the final 17 minutes when they limited New Jersey to 17 points, including 13 in the final quarter.

“I was so pleased with the how we played in the fourth quarter,” said Durant, who made 15 of 22 shots and excited the road crowd with a couple of big dunks. “No matter if I got 40 or not, we played so hard in the fourth and limited their touches, limited them to one shot and out and we got some easy baskets. That was a great effort in the fourth.”

The win was a season-high third straight for the Thunder (16-14).

“We have a long ways to go,” Durant said. “We still have a lot of slip-ups in games, but we are getting better. Hopefully, we peak at the right time.”

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

When the Blues’ power play finished 30th in the NHL two seasons ago, Andy Murray felt there was a need for change, so he took over the coaching duties from assistant Ray Bennett.

But the unit has fallen back to 30th this season, and whatever Murray has tried to improve it hasn’t worked. The changes have been both structural and in personnel, including removing Paul Kariya for a stretch of games.

So now Murray has removed himself. He handed the power-play duties back to Bennett and fellow assistant coach Rick Wamsley before the Blues faced the Dallas Stars on Nov. 25.

“The power play wasn’t working,” Murray said. “It wasn’t the message that was being given. The whole thing wasn’t working. So I thought it would be good to change. It’s team coaching. At times, I’ll have Ray speak in front of the team and I’ll have ‘Wammer’ speak. At this point, I wanted them speaking to the power-play guys.”

Murray said he was not coaxed into the move by Blues management. “It was entirely my decision,” Murray said. “In fact, I didn’t even consult Larry (Pleau) or John (Davidson) … I just did it myself.

Click here to read the full article – By St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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“When Blues owner Dave Checketts delivered his “It’s time to win” speech on Nov. 13, team President John Davidson was standing just a few feet away.

In three-plus seasons in St. Louis, Davidson has attained credibility among Blues fans with his communication skills and honesty. But Davidson had no qualms about taking a step back for a day and allowing Checketts to vent his frustration.

“One thing about Dave, he understands sports,” Davidson said. “He’s got a résumé to back that up. He cares as much, if not more, than anybody. As the man in charge, he has the right to give his opinion. I’m all for it.

“To me, if he didn’t understand sports and he made wild statements, I’d shudder … it would aggravate me. In fact, I wouldn’t work for him. But this is a real, true sportsman.”

The night after Checketts’ message, the Blues played a hard-fought game but lost 3-1 to San Jose. Since then, the Blues are 4-1-1, earning nine of 12 possible points.”

Click here to read the full article – By St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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