Russell Westbrook said following the Oklahoma City Thunder ‘s 123-112 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday that hitting referee Tre Maddox with the basketball was unintentional and that he would «never, ever disrespect the game like that. »
With 3:13 left in the first quarter, Westbrook threw the ball at Maddox’s head after the Thunder had called timeout. Maddox turned his head as Westbrook let go of the ball, and it hit the referee in the side of his face.
Westbrook was assessed a technical foul, his 10th of the season. He had two technicals from earlier in the season rescinded by the league earlier in the day.
«I called his name. He turned right at me and then looked away. I don’t know,» Westbrook said. «I don’t know what to tell you, brother. I really don’t. I’m not the type of guy… I would never, ever disrespect the game like that and throw the ball at the referee. I’ve never done it before. That’s just not even heard of in the game before. To get a tech, it’s crazy to me. But you take the good with the bad. »
The throw came after Westbrook didn’t get a call on consecutive drives to the basket. Westbrook has expressed frustration with not getting foul calls this season, saying he is not officiated like other players.
Westbrook was initially shielded by teammates, but he made it clear to Maddox and the other officials that it was accidental. Westbrook later appeared to apologize to Maddox.
«Instead of Russell giving the ball to the nearest official, he throws it in the area where Tre is and Tre’s not looking, and the ball hits him in the face,» head official Sean Corbin told a pool reporter after the game. «So that’s a technical foul. »
After the incident, Westbrook went into the tunnel with assistant coach Maurice Cheeks to cool off. It’s a tactic the emotionally charged Westbrook has used throughout his career. He finished the game with 33 points on 10-of-31 shooting with 15 rebounds and 8 assists.
Westbrook had another incident of throwing the ball earlier in the season, this one coming from half court during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers. The ball struck the stanchion, and initially Westbrook was assessed a technical foul. After the referees convened, they determined it was unintentional. Asked about that situation, Westbrook took exception.
«I don’t want to hear that s—, man. Come on, man,» he said. «I ain’t perfect, bro. I make mistakes like everybody else. The ball slipped in Portland. Don’t come up with that s—, man. Don’t do that. »
Westbrook is currently six technicals away from an automatic one-game suspension.

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© Source: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18410600/oklahoma-city-thunder-russell-westbrook-says-hitting-referee-ball-was-unitentional
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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama’s transition at offensive coordinator from Lane Kiffin to Steve Sarkisian is going smoothly as the team prepares to face Clemson in the College Football National Championship on Monday, coach Nick Saban said on Wednesday.
Sarkisian has led two practices since assuming coordinator duties after Saban and Kiffin «mutually agreed» to part ways following the Crimson Tide’s 24-7 win against Washington in the CFP semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl last Saturday.
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Alabama defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick says the Crimson Tide defense is approaching Monday’s national title game as if they lost last year’s matchup with Clemson.
«It’s been excellent,» Saban said of the players’ response to Sarkisian, who has been part of the staff as an offensive analyst since early September. «Very positive. Very upbeat. Practice has been good. The energy level has been really good. The attitude has been really, really good. »
Philosophically, Saban doesn’t expect to change anything on offense against Clemson.
While the transition at coordinator was abrupt, Saban said he felt that Sarkisian was well prepared.
«The guy has been with us the whole year, the whole football season,» Saban said. «He knows the offense. He knows the players. He’s worked on the game plans every week and knows the system inside and out and knows the terminology.
«I just feel like I have to make decisions about what’s best for the players to have the best chance of being successful. You know, we made the decision and we’re not talking about it anymore. We’re moving forward. We’re looking forward, and everybody is doing everything they can to support the people that are here now to make it work. »
Whether it was Kiffin or Sarkisian, work needed to be done to improve an Alabama offense that was sloppy at times against Washington.
Saban lamented 25 negative plays and a general lack of execution. Players were frustrated, he said, including freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Hurts, who won SEC Offensive Player of the Year with 30-plus regular-season touchdowns, threw for a season-low 57 yards against the Huskies.
«Jalen was a little frustrated with the way he played in the last game,» Saban said, «and puts a lot of pressure on himself to prepare well. But I think it’s our job as coaches to do a good job with him to help him prepare so that he feels comfortable and confident in going out there and being able to feel like he’s practiced the things that we’re going to ask him to do in the game. And he’s done it enough that he feels confident and feels good about it. »
Sarkisian and the rest of the staff, Saban said, need to get Hurts into «a little better comfort zone» this week.
The last time Sarkisian was a coach on the field was during his time as head coach at USC. Sarkisian was fired five games into the 2015 season after then-athletic director Pat Haden said Sark showed up in no condition to lead practice following a pep rally in which he appeared to be intoxicated while giving a speech.
Sarkisian later sought treatment for alcoholism and sued USC, alleging breach of contract and discrimination on the basis of a disability.
In his previous role as an analyst at Alabama, Sarkisian worked hand-in-hand with Kiffin, whom he’d spent time with on the staff at USC under former coach Pete Carroll.
Sarkisian was allowed to be part of the game-planning aspect of football at the time, but he could not coach players hands-on, whether in practice or during games.

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© Source: http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/18409762/alabama-coach-nick-saban-says-new-oc-steve-sarkisian-knows-system-out
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Oakland Raiders rookie quarterback Connor Cook will make his first career NFL start in Saturday’s wild-card playoff game against the Houston Texans , coach Jack Del Rio announced Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Cook has a total of 30 snaps in his NFL career, all in the regular-season finale when he replaced Matt McGloin, who left Sunday’s 24-6 loss to the Denver Broncos with a shoulder injury.
Cook was 14 of 21 for 150 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a lost fumble against the Broncos.
Cook will become the first quarterback in NFL history whose first start comes in the playoffs.
«It’s obviously not ideal, that’s why it’s never happened where a rookie gets his start in a playoff game,» Del Rio told reporters. «But he played well last week and he’s the healthiest option so it makes it really an obvious choice.»
The Raiders had no other choice with Pro Bowler Derek Carr out with a broken leg and McGloin’s shoulder injury causing him to miss practice.
Cook, a fourth-round pick from Michigan State, was the Raiders’ No. 3 quarterback for 15 games this season.
«I’m just ready (to) embrace this opportunity and give it everything I’ve got,» Cook said Wednesday.
Cook had a four-year career at Michigan State where he threw for 9,194 yards with 71 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
«He won a lot of big games at Michigan State,» Del Rio said. «I know this is a different level, but he’s got that kind of unflappable feel about him. We’re going to trust him to go out and lead us.»
Saturday will be Cook’s first football start since Dec. 31, 2015, when Michigan State lost 38-0 to Alabama in the College Football Playoff semifinal. He had wins last season against Michigan and Ohio State.
«We played in some big time games there. Going to try to take whatever I did there and put it to use on Saturday,» Cook said.
Del Rio said he hopes McGloin will be healthy enough to be Cook’s backup.
Texans head coach Bill O’Brien named Brock Osweiler as the starter on Tuesday over Tom Savage, who sustained a concussion in Sunday’s 24-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans .
Savage has not yet cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol, but O’Brien said there was still a chance Savage could be available to play although not as Osweiler’s backup. Now, Brandon Weeden will be active as the backup quarterback Saturday.

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© Source: http://www.upi.com/Sports_News/NFL/2017/01/05/Oakland-Raiders-QB-Connor-Cook-to-start-wild-card-game-vs-Houston-Texans/3751483603343/
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At 5:30 a.m. one Friday in December, I stood shivering in the cold at the Tel Aviv Port ready to go. A few family members and friends came to cheer and support.
“Why do I need this?” I kept asking myself. I was full of excitement but also worried. I feared that I would disappoint myself, that I would not complete my mission, that I would not even get close to it. I was going to begin the race of my life. Four days before my 66th birthday I was to kick off 66 kilometers. One kilometer for each year.
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It was supposed to be one more tough run. In the past I ran several ultra-marathons, 35 full marathons, hundreds of half-marathons, four Ironman competitions and more than 20 half-Ironmans. Every such exercise is hard, challenging and exciting.
Yet this run was special for me. I was more excited than I was in any other extreme sport event, partially because I knew I am getting older and this would be my hardest race, but also because I knew I would be running for important causes. I dedicated my run to raise money for three charities: Kesher, which supports families with special-needs children; Elifelet, which provides aid to African refugee children in Israel; and Israel Flying Aid, a group that delivers life-saving aid to communities, including Syrians, affected by natural disasters and human conflict.
Three months ago, I contracted a virus that made me fatigued and weak. Eventually the doctors diagnosed my illness, and when I was cured I began to return gradually to my normal self. After I resumed my running, I decided to celebrate my coming birthday for a cause. It was a spontaneous, even whimsical decision made without consulting my family or friends.
Weeks before my D-Day I increased my practice routine and ran more than 30 kilometers a few times. My longest distance was 39 km. From experience I knew it wasn’t sufficient preparation for a full marathon and a half. Despite misgivings about whether I could accomplish my goal, I was determined to try. For marathons and ultra-marathons, one needs mental strength, determination and readiness to suffer and absorb pain.
Such a run requires self-discipline; one has to run at the exact pace set in advance. Every small deviation, even of 10 seconds per kilometer, can be disastrous, and the runner will pay a heavy price at later stages. The pace I set for myself was seven minutes per kilometer (8.5 kph).
Accompanied by two friends, I began the run. We headed northbound on the promenade. After three kilometers, we returned, keeping religiously to the pace. After 42 minutes we passed the 6-km. mark. Only 60 to go. I drank two glasses of water and ate three dates. A few more runners who somehow heard via the running community about my race joined me. We ran southbound in the direction of Jaffa.
After more than an hour we touched the wall of the ugly and megalomaniac structure of the Peres Center for Peace, which is so foreign to Jaffa’s architectural style. I completed 15 km., almost a quarter of the distance. My pulse was fine – around 125 beats per minute – and despite the course’s rough concrete paving, my legs were fine. We headed back to the Tel Aviv Port. The sun rose and the Mediterranean was quiet, almost like a plateau, which had a calming effect.
After I finished 24 kilometers, “only” a full marathon remained ahead of me. I stopped for a few minutes to refresh myself with a banana, nuts, dates, water and isotonic drink to replace the salts and minerals that my body was losing. As I kicked off again, this time eastward inside the Yarkon Park, I fantasized that I could finish the full distance.
After a few kilometers I realized that my euphoria was premature. I tried harder and harder to keep the seven- minute pace, but slowly my pace was decreasing. 7:10, 7:20 and even 7:30. I tried to encourage myself that the pace mattered less as long as my legs were in motion. But when I completed only half the half distance (33 km.) after three and a quarter hours – I knew that the real battle was beginning.
I rested for 10 minutes, drank water and ate nuts. Every step was a struggle. Every height of even two meters felt like climbing a high mountain. My running mates encouraged me to keep running. Their words were confronted by inner voices that I began to hear. I called them “my little devils.” They tried to discourage me by whispering, “Stop it! Why suffer? You don’t owe anyone anything.”
In these moments of mental weakness I felt I was indeed ready to stop, but thinking about the sad children in Syria, Palestine and Israel, I somehow reached deep inside me and found the strength to go on, at least to complete the full marathon (42 km.), and then we would see. When I did it after nearly five hours, the Tel Aviv Port was my promised land. Though the weather was sunny and pleasant, I was covered with sweat, as though I had just emerged from a steam bath.
I sat on a chair and wanted to change my socks, but I couldn’t bend and reach my shoes. A friend helped me. I rested for more than 15 minutes, eating and drinking, and resumed my run, moving more slowly than ever. I looked at my wrist device and realized that my pulse was skyrocketing – 170. According to theoretical calculations I could be near clinical death. The final sentence of a book I wrote called Running Autobiography says, “I hope to finish my life by running all the way to my funeral.” Was I on the way there? I stopped to let my pulse drop and then began to run again.
After another hour or so I completed 50 km. A few minutes of rest and then off I went again at an even slower pace – nine minutes per kilometer – almost walking, but not quite. My thoughts shifted to the Japanese writer-runner Haruki Murakami, who wrote, “Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.” I ignored the pain and continued suffering. I kept running and counting: 53 km., 54 km., 55 km. I forced myself to keep going, but after 57 km. and more than eight hours, I stopped, burnt out. My legs refused to move. I quit. I could barely walk. I was disappointed, but also knew that whatever my condition would be, I would wake up the next morning and complete my mission.
The next day, even though all my muscles hurt and I could barely move, I forced myself to walk a while and then run. After an hour and 20 minutes, I completed nine kilometers, thereby completing the golden number – 66 km.
I paused for only a few seconds before deciding I would add another kilometer next year.
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Sentiment rank: -3.3

© Source: http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Run-for-a-lifetime-477533
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