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Brees Shoulders Responsibility for NFL Future

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees appeared in San Diego Wednesday to promote a upcoming charity golf tournament, there weren't too many questions about golf.Despite his polite request, Brees couldn’t avoid questions about the lawsuit he recently filed along with six other NFL players seeking an injunction to block the league's lockout.

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The league and players failed to forge a new collective bargaining agreement on March 11.That same day, Brees, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and six other current NFL players filed the antitrust suit and injunction request in federal court, and the NFL owners locked out the players, putting the 2011 season in jeopardy.

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When asked why he stepped up and put his name on the anti-trust lawsuit, Brees said, “I understand the sacrifices that guys made before me, veteran players, former players, retired players.Brees Shoulders Responsibility for NFL Future Brees Optimistic a SettlementWill Be Reached

PHOTOSPro Athletes' Wives &Girlfriends: Kim's...“I feel it is my responsibility to represent not only those guys, not only current players but future players and the future of this league,” he said.Brees, who said he's been approached by many players thanking him for taking a stance, defended the players' actions saying, "This fight was brought to us.”Right now, players are locked out of league facilities, unable to work out or practice.U.S.

District Judge Susan Richard Nelson has scheduled an April 6 hearing in Minnesota on the players' bid to stop the lockout.As for the tournament, it's the 2011 Cox Celebrity Championship, an annual event in San Diego that the former Charger has been a part of for years.Fifty of the best celebrity golfers are expected to compete for the $100,000 purse May 20-22 at Morgan Run.

Since its inception in 1999, the event at Morgan Run has raised more than $1 million on behalf of numerous San Diego-based charities including the Brees Dream Foundation established bin 2003 by Drew and his wife, Brittany.

Source: Brees Shoulders Responsibility for NFL Future | NBC San Diego 

NBA Analysis: Time for Rondo's Slump to End

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As much of a story as Boston's recent slide had been, it was the play of star point guard Rajon Rondo that has really bugged fans around New England.
Aside from being a phenomenal writer, Jackie MacMullan's most famous skill is the way she gets players to open up. That's no less the case in her most recent column for ESPNBoston.com, where she talks to Rajon Rondo about his recent slump. 

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Included is perhaps one reason Rondo hasn't looked quite like himself in recent weeks. The departure of his good friend, Kendrick Perkins.
"We were best friends," Rondo told MacMullan. "It's been tough. I know other guys have been through it, but I haven't. We went through everything together, right from the beginning. I missed the USA basketball camp so I could be at his wedding."

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Life for Rondo has certainly been different since the trade.

Not only off the court -- where he's lost his favorite person to hang out with -- but on it as well. 

Rondo is often called the quarterback of the team. Rondo's role is to set his teammates up with the best possible shot. He's elevated himself into the discussion of the NBA's best point guards not for his scoring ability, but for the way he sees the floor. 
He's lead the league in assists per game all year with 11.5, now just .2 above Steve Nash. He makes everyone around him better. His team leads the league in field goal percentage, shooting 48.8 percent and Rondo's the main reason why his hall of fame counterparts, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, are each shooting career-highs in the latter parts of their careers.
However, as much of an effect Rondo has on his team when he's playing well, he has just as much of an effect when he isn't.
"When I don't play well, we seem to lose more," he said. "Now I'm sure that's also partly true when it comes to KG, Paul, Ray. But the ball is in my hands so much, and I've seen what happens when I spark the team.
"It's not about making shots. It's getting those guys shots, it's grabbing a rebound, it's making a defensive play."
In the beginning of the season, it seemed a disappointment when Rondo would only dish out 11 assists. The way things stand now? Boston fans would kill for 10. Rondo hasn't reached double-digit assists since he had 16 back on March 4th against Golden State. 
As Rondo has slumped, so has the team. The Celtics entered last night's game against the Hornets losing four of their last six. Amidst the downward slide, Rondo has averaged just 6.7 assists per game and shot a measly 28.6 percent.
Despite sharing a roster with four future hall of famers, the 25-year old point guard is the Celtic's undisputed MVP. He put the team on his back in an intense seven-game first round series against the Bulls in 2009 and then strapped them on again last year against the Cavaliers and Magic. As Rondo goes, so does the team.
So, needless to say, his recent play has been a bit concerning to Celtics fans. It was an encouraging sign against the Hornets last night when he showed signs of life by knocking down 4-of-8 jumpers and scoring nine points. Yet, the Celtics need more than one game from Rondo going forward.
Many have questioned Rondo's health. And with good reason. Rondo's importance to the team is obvious. Because of that he's had to be on the floor a lot. His minutes have steadily increased each year that he's been in the league. This season, he's averaging 37.1 minutes per game -- the highest total of his career. That's a lot for a point guard who's battled ailments with his hamstring, ankles and plantar fascia during the 2010-11 campaign.
MacMullan also points to a pinky injury that's hampered Rondo for the past two weeks. It was the pinky that he aggravated -- and perhaps broke -- last night against the Hornets. It made his hand go numb and forced him to watch from the bench from when there was 7:12 left in the third quarter until 6:12 left in the game.
With Delonte West and Carlos Arroyo on hand to spell Rondo and give him some much needed rest, he's been given an opportunity to get healthy and focused heading into the playoffs.
Whatever the reason, whether it's been fatigue, injuries, or the loss of his best friend. One thing is clear. The Celtics need Rondo to look like his old self if the team's going to accomplish their goal of raising Banner 18.

Would rules change hurt Leon Washington?

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The Seattle Seahawks recently re-signed Leon Washington to a four-year contract. 

WashingtonThey did so largely because Washington re-established himself as a big-play kickoff returner. 

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Washington should only get stronger in his second season back from a severely broken leg. But with the NFL considering significant rules changes for kickoffs, Washington and other returners might have to adjust. 
First, let's look at the changes to kickoffs NFL owners will consider adopting at their meetings that begin Monday:Moving kickoffs from the 30- to the 35-yard line;Allowing only the kicker to line up within five yards of the kickoff line;Giving teams possession at the 25 instead of the 20 on touchbacks;Eliminating wedge blocks, even among only two players.
Kickoffs out of bounds would still result in the receiving team taking possession at its own 40-yard line. 
We could see more touchbacks unless teams feared giving offenses an extra five yards of field position. Proponents of the changes think limiting running-start distances for coverage teams would make for less violent collisions. 
These sorts of changes can produce unintended and unanticipated consequences. The NFL previously moved back kickoffs from the 35 to the 30 because the league wanted to produce more exciting returns. The recent emphasis on safety has changed feelings. 
The chart breaks down Washington's regular-season kickoff return averages by where he caught the ball, according to ESPN Stats & Information. 
I'll be interested in speaking with him for thoughts on how these changes might affect him. First, though, it might be a good idea for me to dive into the NFC West chat that was supposed to begin 40 minutes ago. Oops! 

Notes: Jaroslav Halak activated; Luca Sbisa gets extension

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The St. Louis Blues have a formidable task, needing to make up a 10-point deficit to reach the playoffs.But at least they'll have their No. 1 goaltender for the stretch drive.St.

Louis activated Jaroslav Halak from the injured list after he missed 11 games with a hand injury. The Blues won their first two games without him but lost seven of their next eight before pulling out a 5-4 shootout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.

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They changed goaltenders in three of those games.Halak is 19-17-6 this season with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .

907 save percentage.Last year, with Montreal, Halak went 9-3-3 down the stretch to secure the final Eastern Conference playoff berth, though the Canadiens were already sitting in a playoff position at the start of that run. He then upset the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins in the first two rounds, but he was dealt to the Blues during the summer as Montreal decided to stick with Carey Price.

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The Blues sent 6-7 goalie Ben Bishop to their American Hockey League affiliate in Peoria, Ill. He went 3-4 with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .

899 save percentage during Halak's absence.Sbisa gets four-year extensionAnaheim Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa, who has become a physical presence in his first full NHL season, will be sticking around for four years.The Ducks on Tuesday signed him to a $8.7 million extension through 2014-15.

By Ron Chenoy, US PresswireAnaheim defenseman Luca Sbisa, checking the Colorado Avalanche's T.J. Galiardi, is second on the Ducks with 131 hits.Sbisa, 21, a former Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick who arrived to Anaheim in the 2009 Chris Pronger trade, is averaging 16 minutes, 23 seconds a game and has eight points in 52 games. But he has been more notable for his physical play, leading Ducks defensemen with 131 hits, two behind captain Ryan Getzlaf.He got off a slow start this season and was sent to the minors in mid-October but returned to the NHL on Nov. 10.

The 6-2, 204 defenseman's ice time has jumped this month, including playing more than 20 minutes in his last game."He has a bright future ahead of him and we look forward to watching him continue to develop," Ducks general manager Bob Murray said.The contract will pay Sbisa annual salaries of $1.2 million, $2 million, $2.6 million and $2.9 million. He makes $875,000 this season and would have been a restricted free agent next summer.

NFL Draft 2011: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Draft Board Is Mark Dominik's Mystery

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Love mock drafts, don't you?
What the heck do those folks know, anyway?
As the NFL draft creeps closer and closer, the mystery that shrouds the draft board at One Buccaneer Place is starting to sound like yet another sequel to The Da Vinci Code.

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"I think a lot of people have pigeonholed us about what we're going to do in the draft," general manager Mark Dominik said recently. Sure enough, every mock draft has the Bucs taking a defensive end. Perhaps, just perhaps, this is going to fall into the old adage that "the obvious is obviously wrong."
It was a pretty simple call last year when the Bucs picked third. What threw a lot of guys for a loop was the back-to-back defensive tackles that Dominik went with.
Which brings us to the 2011 NFL selection meeting.
When you drop down to 20th, well, things get tougher to predict, no doubt—especially when you hear Dominik say things like this:

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"Any chance you have to keep him (Josh Freeman) healthy in terms of protecting him, or give him more toys or weapons to work with, we're going to do that."
Hmmmmmmmmm.
Is that a smoke screen?
If you are to take Dominik at face value on this one, then perhaps it might shock everyone if he doesn't go defense with that first-round pick.
Would it surprise you if the Bucs don't pick a defensive end in the first round?
A: I'd be absolutely, totally stunned.B: Nope, not at all.Submit Vote vote to see resultsOffensive lineman?
This all depends on what "The Board" looks like.
Would the Bucs take the fifth-best defensive end or the second-best guard or tackle?
Dominik says the Bucs will "stay true to our board and we take the best player that can help us."
Raheem Morris already weighed in and said teams get in trouble when they put need ahead of the best available player.
All we know is that when you look at the needy side of the football, it's the defense.
When you look on the other side, there's Josh Freeman.
So what do you do? Help Freeman or stop the run?
This 2011 Tampa Bay pick, if you listen to Dominik, "may not be the position that everybody thinks we should take first."
Smoke screen or draft day shocker?
Only the board knows for sure.

What they said: Graeme McDowell

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MORE INTERVIEWS: WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship transcript archive

PAUL SYMES: Congratulations on another win, Graeme. You said you didn't play your best perhaps today, but got it done.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, that's probably a fair description. It was an interesting day this morning, obviously playing against Ross, one of my good friends. It's tough to have that killer instinct you need. You have to put the blinkers on and get down to business.

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We both played well this morning. The front nine was reasonable quality golf. The back nine disintegrated to a comedy of errors. I threw him the hole. And on 14, he threw it straight back to me again. So that was really the key to the match. That was really the key to the match, you know.
I'm making the turn. I made a great birdie on 9 to make the turn at 2-up. Like I say, middle of the fairway on 10, and threw him that one, and he had a chance to get back into it, but just didn't drive the ball the way I'm used to seeing Ross Fisher drive the ball. I'm sure he's disappointed.

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I'm very happy to have survived another day. And it gets fun from here on. It's nice to be into the Friday match for the first time in this tournament for me. I'll be lying if I said I felt completely in control of my game this week. I haven't been -- I've been a little frustrated. I haven't been playing my best. But I'll be feeling better as the days have gone on and hopefully my confidence will continue to grow.
PAUL SYMES: Give your thoughts about your opponent tomorrow, he's in good form.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, Stewart Cink is a hell of a match player, as I found out from the Ryder Cup in the past. And obviously Y.E., he's a solid player, got a great short game. He's going to be a tough competitor. So I'm looking forward to the match.
It's been an interesting couple of days. A lot of big names going out in some style. But it's the nature of the beast on this event. You don't have to shoot 65 every day, all you've got to do is win and stay standing. Looking forward to tomorrow and I'll just say hopefully I can continue to keep playing better and give Y.E. a good game tomorrow.
Q. You put the play down to a little business of the rust since you've been off for a while and had your teeth yanked and been to the Super Bowl. Maybe laying low, as simple as that?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Yeah, I think so. My coach came into Orlando on Friday, had two days on the range, Saturday and Sunday. My game felt great on the range Saturday and Sunday.
Came here Monday and took it on to the golf course, didn't play well Monday or Tuesday. I was a pretty frustrated man.
I walked off the range yesterday morning after my warm up, I wasn't too confident on the first tee. I hit the ball well yesterday.
Today I feel better, apart from a couple of scrappy holes I played okay today. It's just getting the confidence back, getting the sort of -- I don't know, getting on to the golf course and getting the feel back. I'm not a guy who can simulate tournament play very well in my time off. I'm a guy who needs to get on to the golf course, and match play this week and get out and see where it's at. It's been a frustrating week for me so far, but still alive and kicking, so anything can happen.
Q. Can I just ask you about Rory's match. Can you believe that?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: No, no, I can't really get my head around that right now. Ben Crane is a hell of a player. But this golf course sets up for the Rory McIlroy type driver of the ball. Ben Crane is not really known for length.
It's an interesting one. I know his caddie has been a bit sick this week, but he doesn't hit the shots. Yeah, I mean -- what was the scoring like? Was it good? Bad? Ugly?
Q. Crane is 7-under.
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Well, a hot putter can wear you out in match play. That's probably my only thing I can sort of say in Rory's defense there. A guy who is just holing everything on you can wear you out, a Harrington or like a Ben Crane, a guy who will get it up-and-down from everywhere. Just when you think you're going to win a hole, boom.
Q. You've played Rory a lot, have you ever beaten him 8 and 7?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: I've never beaten him 8 and 7. We practice a lot. I couldn't see me beating him anytime 8 and 7. It's interesting in this tournament, you just run into the wrong guy on the wrong day and you're sent packing. It's not nice.
Q. How will he respond to such a beating?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: You know, talking to Rory early in the week there, I think he's responding well. I'm sure the weekend in Dubai was a tough -- tough to accept for him. And I think he's looking inside as to how he can continue to get better, you know. And I think he's -- listen, I mean, everyone's career is going to have setbacks, and this is just a mini setback. Dubai was a mini setback.
As long as he can learn from those and put what he learns to good use, it's only a matter of time in my opinion until he becomes a phenomenal player, and a prolific winner. That's a tough beat this morning. If a guy is 7-under par against you, this golf course is not that easy. These greens are firm, the pins are not easy. That's pretty good golfing out there.
Q. Perhaps it's a commentary on your mental fortitude that you can dog it out on days like this, where you don't feel you're hitting it well, and something that Rory has got to learn, maybe?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Perhaps. I guess I was lucky in that Ross wasn't on his game either today. I just feel fortunate, I suppose. But there's no doubt, you know, to be the best Rory can be, he's got to develop that dogginess side to him. He's one of these guys that makes the game look so incredibly easy. It's an easy game to be positive and enjoy it when everything is going great. But how do you respond when things aren't going so well? I haven't played a lot with him competitively. It's tough to sit here and judge the guy. Like I say, I think he makes the game look unbelievably easy. Maybe he has to learn how to deal with the tough days and just grind it out.
This is probably an unfair judgment because you have a tough day out here and you're going home, generally. There's no turning 72 into a 69 out there today. If you get beat, you get beat. It's not like stroke play, you can hang tough and hope to shoot 65 tomorrow. It's a pretty brutal format, this, and I've been on the wrong side of it many times. And like I say, I'm feeling pretty fortunate to be still alive and kicking right now.
Q. Is there a particular hole or shot on this course that gets your attention more than others?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Par-3s are pretty tough on this golf course because the greens are extremely firm and very undulating, so I think there are really good stiffs out of par-3s on this course.
I like what the TOUR does, they move the tees around a lot and they really give us a lot of different looks at holes. I think that's really something the PGA TOUR does very well. They change it up, they keep guys on their toes in regards thinking their way around the golf course. Like I say, I think the greens, the greens are this golf course -- anytime you've got a medium iron or long iron getting into some of these targets, it's a pretty tough test.
Q. I think you're all but guaranteed to go up to No. 3 in the rankings now. How does it feel to be a better golfer than Tiger Woods?
GRAEME MCDOWELL: Wow, you know, yeah, I'm perhaps a better golfer than him in the last 12 months, but he's definitely the greatest player that's ever lived, I think. The World Rankings are -- it's very nice. It makes nice reading right now. Of course, if someone told me at some point in my career I would be No. 3 in the world, I'd be proud of that fact. But it's no God given right to do anything. It would be nice to slip past Tiger for a little while.
Q. Did you get a new club deal, do you have a No. 1 clause in there?
ManasseroManasseroGRAEME MCDOWELL: I don't know, I'll have to have a little look at that, cross that bridge when we come to it. That's what I have one of the greatest agents on the planet for. I say just go do it, Lawrence, you know. So hopefully is the answer. (Laughter)