Madden retires from broadcasting, despite late efforts from NBC's Ebersol

John Madden, pictured August 5, 2006, retired from broadcasting Thursday, April 16, 2009, abruptly ending a career that altered the tone and content of sports analysis and made him an iconic, cross-generational media star. (Bob Larson/Contra Costa Times/MCT)

By Neil Best
Newsday
(MCT)

Boom!

Just like that, John Madden retired from broadcasting Thursday, abruptly ending a career that altered the tone and content of sports analysis and made him an iconic, cross-generational media star.

Why now? NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol, who flew cross-country Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to talk Madden out of it, said he knew his effort would fail when he heard the words, "It's time."

Cris Collinsworth will replace Madden beside Al Michaels for NBC's Sunday night NFL games.

"It's tough," Madden said during an emotional appearance on KCBS radio in San Francisco. "But I strongly feel this is the right time."

Madden said he "vacillated" over the past two months, but wanted to make his decision in advance of the NFL schedule being released last week. He first informed Ebersol on April 7.

Sandy Montag, Madden's agent and close friend for 25 years, said Madden, who turned 73 last Friday, is in excellent health and was in the middle of a six-year contract. He is believed to have earned about $5 million per season.

Madden said in a news release that nearing his 50th wedding anniversary and with his five grandchildren at an age "when they know when I'm home and, more importantly, when I'm not," it was time to give up a career that began in 1979 and included stops at all four major broadcast networks.

His grandchildren range in age from 3 to 8.

"I still love every part of it _ the travel, the practices, the game film, the games, seeing old friends and meeting new people," he said.

Wednesday, Ebersol offered Madden options such as working in September and November while taking October and December, off, but Madden declined.

Montag said one factor in Madden's decision was the weak state of the Raiders and 49ers, near his Bay Area home, which in turn has meant fewer prime-time games involving those teams. That in turn forced Madden into numerous trips to the East Coast _ all by bus, of course.

Madden's lucrative endorsement career will continue, Montag said, including the video game that bears his name and has made him familiar to young athletes and fans beyond his TV work and his prior career as a Super Bowl-winning coach.

Ebersol called Madden "a kind of Everyman," known for making a complex game accessible to fans and for endearing quirks such as his taste for Thanksgiving turducken.

His final game was a critically acclaimed performance at Super Bowl XLIII. But he said going out on TV sports' greatest stage was not a factor in his decision.

There were whispers in some quarters Madden had begun to slip _ notably in a Wall Street Journal story last season that infuriated many at NBC. "That's --- ," Ebersol said of the theory.

Before calling the Yankees' home opener for the MLB Network Thursday, Bob Costas said Madden is "on the very short list of the most significant figures in the history of television sports."

Michaels said in a statement, "Working with John the last seven years (at ABC and NBC) has provided memories I'll always treasure. My only regret is that it wasn't 27."

Madden had been with NBC since 2006. When Collinsworth took his place for one game last season to ease his travel burden, there was speculation a succession plan had begun to take shape.

"I'm not tired of anything, but I'm going away," Madden said on KCBS. "That's what makes it hard."

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© 2009, Newsday.

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IOC members met with protests in Chicago

By Kathy Bergen and David Heinzmann

Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

CHICAGO _ Protests punctuated the arrival of international Olympic officials in Chicago Thursday, the start of a six-day visit to size up the city and its bid for the 2016 Summer Games.

Adding to the tensions as the International Olympic Committee evaluation commission members flew into Chicago's O'Hare Airport was the expected indictment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and others on corruption charges later in the day, not the sort of image any city would be eager to cultivate.

Chanting "no contract, no Olympics," more than a thousand off-duty Chicago police officers formed a picket line ringing City Hall in the late morning to demonstrate their anger over troubled labor negotiations with Mayor Richard Daley's administration.

The protest occurred just hours before the first three members of a 13-member IOC delegation arrived at O'Hare, and later at the Fairmont Chicago, headquarters for their visit.

At 5 p.m., No Games Chicago, a group opposed to spending money on the Olympics rather than on basic needs such as housing and education, is expected to rally at Federal Plaza.

A third protest is expected during the visit, staged by Communities for Equitable Olympics, a coalition that is angry the City Council did not approve an ordinance requiring specific levels of community hiring, minority contracts and affordable housing prior to the visit. Plans for protests were being developed Thursday, a coalition spokesman said.

Asked about the prospect of protests during a press conference Wednesday, Daley said, "Everyone has the right to demonstrate. Let them demonstrate." Independent observers say protests have become quite common when cities are preparing to bid for or host Olympic Games.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

The first IOC member to arrive at the Fairmont was Nawal El Moutawakel, the evaluation chairwoman, from Morocco, who was riding in a black Suburban with Daley and Donna De Varona, a U.S. gold medalist in swimming.

Mounir Sabet, from Egypt, arrived next, with an Arabic-speaking member of the Chicago 2016 bid team, and Alexander Popov, from Russia, was third, riding with Olympics expert Charlie Battle, a consultant to Chicago 2016.

The entourage walked past a scrum of media at both locations, but did not comment.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

Chicago is the first stop on the evaluation committee's itinerary. It will visit Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid in the coming weeks, and the full IOC membership will select a host city from among the four finalists on Oct. 2.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE)

The police demonstration turnout seemed to please organizers, who were contemplating diverting some of the demonstrators across the street to Daley Plaza.

Police officers are angry that contract negotiations stretch on for years and this year Daley pulled a pay raise offer off the table and made the move public.

The demonstration drew the presence of the national Fraternal Order of Police President Chuck Canterbury, who flew in from South Carolina.

"These guys are expressing their constitutional right to be out here," he said, noting Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. that requires its officers to live in the city limits. "These officers are all citizens of this city, and they have the right to be here."

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© 2009, Chicago Tribune.

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Final Four teams not immune to injuries

By Mark Stewart

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

(MCT)

For Raymar Morgan, the hits just kept coming.

Trouble for the Michigan State junior started with a bout with the flu. But instead of going away after a few days, that illness sparked an upper-respiratory problem that led to walking pneumonia and then mononucleosis.

From about mid-January to about mid-February, one of the Big Ten's best players was a shell of himself, but Morgan proclaimed that he was back to his old self before the NCAA tournament. And just on cue, he caught a break.

Too bad it was to his nose.

"It's been incredible what he's gone through," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said.

Injuries are part of any game and the teams that will play in the Final Four Saturday evening at Ford Field in Detroit have not been immune.

Connecticut has been hit the hardest, losing junior guard Jerome Dyson, its second-leading scorer, to a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 11.

Ty Lawson's jammed right toe gave Tar Heels nation a reason to fret until he returned after a three-game absence and led North Carolina to a second-round victory over Louisiana State.

And Villanova's Dwayne Anderson, one of the team's most experienced players, missed the first seven games of the season because of a stress fracture in his foot.

Still, none of the remaining teams has endured as much as Michigan State. Freshman forward Delvon Roe, a highly regarded recruit, was slow to round into form after two knee surgeries within nine months, the latter coming in August. Senior Goran Suton, the Big Ten's top returning rebounder, missed six games early in the season with a knee injury.

Both of those players appear to have recovered from their injuries. The jury is still out on Morgan, who has worked his way back into the starting lineup but is averaging just 15 minutes per game in the tournament.

Since a 16-point, five-rebound outing against Robert Morris in the first-round of the tournament, Morgan's playing time has progressively decreased. He played just 10 minutes in the Spartans' 12-point victory over Louisville in the regional final.

He is averaging 5.8 points and 2.5 rebounds per game in the tournament. Last season, he led the Spartans in scoring (14.0 ppg) and was second in rebounding (6.1).

"After coming back and playing pretty well in some games, he struggled a little bit lately. But I still know how good he is," Izzo said. "And I still think he could be one of the surprise players in this tournament."

Morgan could figure prominently when the Spartans (30-6) face Connecticut (31-4) at 5:07 p.m. Saturday. The Huskies boast a powerful front line and Morgan will be needed to help against either All-Big East performer Jeff Adrien or Stanley Robinson, one of the team's hottest players.

And if that wasn't enough for Morgan to think about, there is his nose, which was broken in the regional semifinal against Kansas. The plan was for him to wear a mask during the Louisville game, but he wasn't comfortable with it and took it off after play began.

Perhaps his difficulties adjusting to playing with a broken nose _ besides the pain, it's tougher to breathe _ played into Morgan's 10-minute, four-foul effort against the Cardinals, but it doesn't explain his struggles for much of the rest of the tournament.

Before the first round, he said his health was fine.

"I'm back at 100 percent. I'm feeling well," he said last week. "My strength is back. It's just a matter of me getting my timing down, and I think that's back, so I am feeling all right."

Still, the experience took a lot out of him.

At his best, Morgan is a tough defender and rebounder with a nice mid-range game. When he's not 100 percent, it seems that his defense suffers the most, as he is prone to foul trouble.

Try as he might, he hasn't been the same player since he recovered from his illness.

Before Morgan got sick, he scored 20 points or more six times and opened the Big Ten season with three straight double-doubles in scoring and rebounding. Since his return, he has scored in double figures just three times in 12 games, although he showed signs of a breaking out in the final three games of the regular season, when he averaged 11.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

But that didn't carry over to the NCAA tournament. With the exception of the 16-point showing in the opening round, he has been largely ineffective.

Entering play Saturday, six of his teammates are getting more playing time.

The Spartans have gotten by, in part, because forward Draymond Green has played beyond his years. But how many times can Izzo go to the well and have the freshman deliver, especially against a team as physically mature as the Huskies?

The coach has to be hoping that one of his best players is ready to remind folks of what he can do.

"We need Ray more still," Izzo said. "He's still got a lot to give."

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© 2009, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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Burress hearing pushed back to mid-June

WRITETHRU


By Tom Rock

Newsday

(MCT)

NEW YORK _ It was the anti-Kentucky Derby _ the least-thrilling two minutes in all of sports _ but it gave Plaxico Burress and his attorneys another 2 ½ months to work on reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors on felony gun charges.

The New York Giants receiver, in a gray, checkered suit and accompanied by his wife, Tiffany, and defense attorney Benjamin Brafman, arrived in Part F of Manhattan Criminal Court at 9:14 a.m. Tuesday and at 9:24, he was standing in front of Judge Michael Yavinsky.

In less than two minutes, the sides formalized a previously agreed upon and expected adjournment, pushing Tuesday's scheduled pretrial hearing back to June 15. Burress then walked out of the courthouse and into a waiting black SUV while Brafman issued a brief statement in which he said there is no agreement in place but the two sides will continue working toward one.

"There's been a lot reported in recent days, a lot's been said that I don't think is necessarily accurate," Brafman said. "As we speak, there is no agreement of any kind. We're trying our best to see if there is a way to resolve the case."

The second-degree felony gun possession charges stem from the November incident when Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg at a Manhattan nightclub. Those two charges each carry a mandatory minimum of 3½ years in prison if Burress is convicted. Most people facing such second-degree charges plea to a lesser charge and serve less jail time or get probation.

Assistant District Attorney John Wolfstaetter, who is prosecuting the case, is said to be open to an agreement but is insisting on substantial jail time. It's believed he wants Burress to serve for a year. Burress clearly would like to avoid a lengthy jail sentence, which is perhaps the only way he can play for the Giants in 2009. He has expressed a desire to those close to him to return to the NFL.

Asked if Burress is likely to play for the Giants this season, Brafman said that was up to Burress, his management team and the Giants.

"It's not a legal decision, it's a sports decision," Brafman said. "I assume a lot will depend on how, when and if this case is resolved and June 15 is the next day we are back unless there is a reason to come back earlier."

The Giants have a mandatory veterans minicamp scheduled to begin June 16, the day after the new hearing date.

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© 2009, Newsday.

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Final Four teams are Familiar four

By Kate Hairopoulos

The Dallas Morning News

(MCT)

If you picked this Final Four, congrats.

Maybe, subconsciously, you channeled NCAA Tournament history. The advancement of Michigan State, Connecticut, Villanova and North Carolina to the party, which begins Saturday at Detroit's Ford Field, sets up several compelling connections to tournament lore.

Michigan State not only gets to play 90 miles from its East Lansing campus but returns to the Final Four for the 30th anniversary of its 1979 NCAA title. The famous showdown between Indiana State's Larry Bird and Michigan State's Magic Johnson that season helped shaped college basketball.

Two teams from the mighty Big East qualified, one shy of the record set by the Big East in the 1985 Final Four. No. 3 seed Villanova feels a connection to the program's upset championship run from that tournament almost 25 years ago.

"It's kind of eerie how this is playing out," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "I hope to God history repeats itself."

Meanwhile, No. 1 seed Connecticut can win its third national title since 1999. Top-seeded North Carolina, in all its blue-blooded glory, can win its fifth national title in its NCAA-best 18th Final Four appearance.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun and UNC coach Roy Williams have four NCAA titles and 15 Final Four appearances between them.

MICHIGAN STATE

Motor City, Motown, whatever. To the Spartans, Detroit is an extension of home.

"That's been a dream and a goal since the day they announced where the Final Four was," coach Tom Izzo said.

The comforts are a reward for the Big Ten regular-season champions, who are 9-0 all-time as a No. 2 seed _ the same seed they earned for the 1979 title run. Using stifling defense and Goran Suton's offense, the Spartans manhandled top overall seed Louisville on Sunday.

Izzo reached his fifth Final Four, all since 1999, joining the ranks of coaches such as Bob Knight, Lute Olson, Guy Lewis and Rick Pitino. MSU's 2000 championship is the Big Ten's most recent national title.

CONNECTICUT

The No. 1-seeded Huskies lost key guard Jerome Dyson a month before the tournament, and their program has been scrutinized for possible NCAA violations, but they got to their third Final Four anyway. UConn won it all in 1999 and 2004, and coach Jim Calhoun can become the fifth coach to win at least three NCAA titles.

"I'm very emotional about this team getting to a Final Four," said Calhoun, in his 23rd year at the school. "I mean, really emotional, because ½ellipsis¾ maybe at a particular point in time, I'm saying, 'Are these the guys to get us there?'"

The emergence of Kemba Walker _ along with guard A.J. Price, forward Jeff Adrien and the rebounding, defensive presence that is 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet _ helped Connecticut beat Missouri on Saturday.

UConn elected not to cut down the nets as the West Regional champs. "Hopefully we will have a chance to cut them down somewhere else," Price said.

Projected winner:

UConn

VILLANOVA

Point guard Scottie Reynolds' driving game-winner with 0.5 seconds left Saturday against No. 1 seed Pittsburgh brought back the feel of 1985, when eighth-seeded Villanova became the lowest seed to win the title.

A Catholic school of 6,500 located just outside Philly, Villanova is back in the Final Four for the first time since coach Rollie Massimino engineered the upset of Patrick Ewing's Georgetown team. Current coach Jay Wright worked as an assistant under Massiminio for five seasons.

Reynolds, a former Oklahoma signee, is one of a myriad of dangerous Villanova players _ see Dwayne Anderson, Dante Cunningham and Corey Fisher _ who are tested, and perhaps once overlooked, in the bruising Big East. Nova shot 22-of-23 from the foul line against Pitt.

NORTH CAROLINA

All-American Tyler Hansbrough liked college in Chapel Hill enough to come back for one last chance at a national title after being crushed by Kansas in a national semifinal last season.

With Danny Green, Wayne Ellington, Deon Thompson and apparently healthy point guard Ty Lawson all clicking, the top-seeded Tar Heels dominated Oklahoma on Sunday.

Coach Roy Williams is in his seventh Final Four _ and third with UNC, including the 2005 national championship. The Heels beat Midwest Regional winner Michigan State, 98-63, in December.

Projected winner:

North Carolina

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© 2009, The Dallas Morning News.

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Who doesn't love the annual trademarked hoops tourney?

By Reggie Hayes

The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.)

(MCT)

NCAA trademarks prevent newspapers and other media outlets from using common phrases associated with the upcoming basketball event involving college-aged men. Here are some alternatives, at no charge:

March Madness: "Pre-April Schizophrenia."

Elite Eight: "Exclusive Pairs of Teams in Four Predetermined Regions."

Final Four: "The Absolutely Last Three, Plus One."

The Road to Detroit: "Looking to Score off I-94."

WOULD YOU TAKE AN IOU?

Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler has requested the team trade him. The Detroit Lions have interest, but aren't sure they can meet the Broncos' steep demands for actual pro football players in return.

MANNY'S HAMMY

Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez aggravated his sore left hamstring on Sunday, leaving his status doubtful for the start of the regular season. The good news is his wrist remains healthy enough to keep endorsing paychecks.

INFLAMED THROWER

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland doesn't expect injury-prone pitcher Joel Zumaya to be ready for Opening Day because of inflammation in his shoulder. "I say that because he hasn't really pitched in two years," Leyland said.

To be fair to Zumaya, all the Tigers took last year off.

JONES' CAREER IN A SAND TRAP

Wide receiver Matt Jones was waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday for violating his plea agreement over a 2008 drug charge. He told a judge he failed a drug and alcohol screening because he had been drinking beer while golfing. He promised it wouldn't happen again. That's easy to say, but golf can be very addictive.

TURN LEFT, YOUNG MAN

Television ratings for the first four NASCAR races of the season are down 11 percent from last season. Too few lead changes and too many cautions are among the possible causes. NASCAR officials are contemplating potentially popular changes, such as allowing drivers to wreck one Busch per week without penalty.

A LITTLE LIQUID, A LITTLE LESS TIGER

Did you see where golfer Phil Mickelson was treated for heat exhaustion and mild dehydration at the CA Championship in Doral, Fla.? He toughed it out, won the event and looked up to see Tiger Woods a full eight strokes back. Turns out Mickelson can stand the heat after all.

WHAT'S THE STORY?

Detroit Pistons guard Allen Iverson hasn't been around the team lately while he recovers from a sore back. Coach Michael Curry said Iverson's absence is because "he doesn't want to be the story." Or at least that's what it said in the Detroit Free Press story all about Iverson.

JOHNNY B. BAD

Florida State will appeal an NCAA sanction that would take away wins in 10 sports. The penalty was assessed because 61 athletes who took a music history course where test answers were provided. Way to go, NCAA. It's about time athletes took challenging college courses like music history seriously.

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© 2009, The News-Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Ind.).

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Holmes Steals the Deal with Incredible Catch as Steelers Win Sixth Super Bowl

By David Haugh
Chicago Tribune



TAMPA, Fla. (MCT) - When the Pittsburgh Steelers won their fifth Super Bowl three years ago, the franchise dubbed it "one for the thumb."

Sunday night's 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII was one for the ages.

"If I could win any way, it would be like that," said winning coach Mike Tomlin, 36, the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl. "Steeler football is for 60 minutes. It's never going to be pretty."

History will remember this Super Bowl as a beauty.

Santonio Holmes' 6-yard touchdown catch with 35 seconds remaining capped a furious fourth quarter that included two lead changes, three TDs and a safety in the final 7 minutes 41 seconds.

On the game-winning play, Ben Roethlisberger bought time by shuffling to his right and fired a pass over three defenders to the only spot in the right corner Holmes could catch it. A fully extended Holmes kept both feet on the ground as he reached as far as he could to pull in the catch that instantly went into the Super Bowl time capsule.

It was Holmes' fourth catch on the game-winning eight-play, 78-yard drive, a series that started with the wide receiver making a request of his quarterback in the huddle.

"I said to (Roethlisberger) that I wanted to be the guy to make the play for this team," said Holmes, named most valuable player.

Holmes was put in the position to play hero only after his wide receiver counterpart, Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals, made a rescue necessary.

Arizona created Fitzgerald's opportunity to win the game by forcing a safety with 2:58 left. A holding call on center Justin Hartwig in the end zone for tackling a blitzing Chike Okeafor made it 20-16 and got the ball back for Kurt Warner.

On the Cardinals' second play, from the 36-yard line, Warner took advantage of the respect the Steelers defense was giving Fitzgerald. Before the snap, safety Troy Polamalu lined up 24 yards deep and was in no position to break up the quick slant to Fitzgerald.

Cornerback Ike Taylor had jammed Fitzgerald before releasing the receiver to safeties whose depth made it impossible to make a play. The resulting 64-yard TD gave the Cardinals a 23-20 lead and set up a happy ending so much of America had sought for Warner.

But the Steelers edited the script with a scene less sentimental but more dramatic.

"We're going down in history with one of the greatest games ever played in the Super Bowl," said Holmes, who caught nine passes for 131 yards and a touchdown.

It gave the Steelers franchise its sixth Super Bowl title, more than any other team. To many the victory will validate the Rooney family's surprising choice of Tomlin over in-house candidate Russ Grimm to replace Bill Cowher in 2007

"I would like to thank President Obama and all of Steeler Nation for supporting us through the year," owner Dan Rooney said.

Warner nearly ruined the night for the Rooneys and all of Pittsburgh. He became the first quarterback in Super Bowl history to have three 300-yard passing games by going 31 of 43 for 377 yards and three TDs.

Taking what the Steelers gave him for the first three quarters, Warner stayed away from the deep passing game that defines the Cardinals. The no-huddle offense that had been good to Warner didn't appear until the Cardinals trailed 20-7 with 11 minutes left in the game. Then Warner got hot.

He completed all eight of his passes on an 87-yard drive that pulled the Cardinals within 20-14. Then after the safety, Warner hit Fitzgerald in stride for the 64-yard TD that stopped the "Terrible Towels" in the partisan Pittsburgh crowd of 70,774 from waving.

"My whole goal was to make good decisions and I was just going to be patient this game," Warner said. "The unfortunate thing is we made too many mistakes."

The most pivotal one came from Warner himself.

Down 10-7, Arizona had first-and-goal at the 1 with 18 seconds left in the first half and lined up with wide receivers Anquan Boldin and Fitzgerald flanked to the left. Steelers linebacker James Harrison, lined up outside Cardinals left tackle Mike Gandy, faked as if he were rushing the passer before floating to the spot he anticipated Warner would throw. Warner never saw Harrison and threw it right into his hands.

Then the player who nearly quit to become a bus driver after getting cut four times weaved his way 100 yards through Arizona traffic and into the Super Bowl record books. He ran through Warner's tackle attempt, made a nifty cut and raced down the Cardinals sideline untouched until Gandy unsuccessfully tried knocking him out of bounds at the 10. Fitzgerald attempted to strip the ball at the end zone with the help of Steve Breaston, but Harrison prevailed, tumbling over the goal line to make it 17-7.

As Harrison, the NFL defensive player of the year, lay flat on his back after returning an interception 100 yards for a touchdown, Tomlin raced across the field to check on his man of steel.

Super man indeed.

"I would say it was the greatest play in Super Bowl history," defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, 71, said. "We don't win without (that) play."

When Harrison finally got up after several anxious moments, Tomlin gave him a long embrace.

"I can stay on an even keel, but I got a little emotional then," Tomlin recalled of seeing Harrison on his back.

An even bigger rush of emotion would hit Tomlin later as he clutched the Lombardi Trophy after a game that once again exceeded its hype.

"Some said that we could not top last year's Super Bowl," Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "But the Cardinals and Steelers did that tonight."
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© 2009, Chicago Tribune.
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SUPER BOWL