Patrick Kane heads to long term injured reserve, opens Chicago trade options

Patrick Kane’s reported bad upper-body injury appears to be quite as awful as feared for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The team put the NHL’s leading scorer on long-term injured reserve Wednesday and recalled Teuvo Teravainen from its American Hockey League affiliate it announced.

Though we still don’t have definitive detail on Kane’s problem, outside of the ever descriptive “upper-body” problem, this at least lends some further clarification on his timeline. For one, it’s going to be long, at least 10 games or 24 days.

Second, this gives the Blackhawks some flexibility as to what to do moving forward. According to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times, the Blackhawks will have around $5 million of extra salary cap space because of the LTIR decision.

So if you’re a scoring winger, and you’re grumpy, and you want out – Chicago probably wants you. Or maybe you’ve just worn out your welcome where you are. Or maybe your name is Antoine Vermette, and you’re a decent rent-a-player until when Kane comes back.

Said coach Joel Quenneville after Tuesday’s game against Florida where Kane was hurt via CSN Chicago:

 

“He’s leading scorer on our team and certainly a very valuable asset. He makes a lot of things work for us,” Quenneville said. “Certainly Kaner doesn’t miss much. You miss a valuable guy, a buddy. He’s having one of those years that’s very noticeable. But guys still have to stick with it, go with what you’ve got and contribute as best you can.”

 

At least even in injury times, the Blackhawks continue with the whole absurd use of nicknames thing.

Regardless, there’s no way whoever Chicago will get can replace Kane and what he brings to the lineup. He’s won two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe Trophy. He’s a megastar in every sense of the term. Ouch.

Derrick Rose to undergo surgery for torn medial meniscus in right knee

Derrick Rose is set to undergo serious knee surgery for the third time in three years. The Chicago Bulls announced Tuesday night that the star point guard and 2011 MVP will undergo surgery to repair the medial meniscus in his right knee. A timetable has not been set. Rose told team officials of the pain at practice Tuesday and received an exam and MRI soon after.

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune has tweeted that a source believes the damage is not as substantial as the meniscus tear that forced Rose to miss all but 10 games of the 2013-14 season, although details will not be known until after the surgery.

The news is the latest in a string of unfortunate knee injuries for Rose, one of the league's most popular players. Rose suffered a tear to the same medial meniscus in his right knee just 10 games into the 2013-14 season and missed the remainder of the campaign. That injury came roughly 18 months after tearing the ACL in his left knee in the first game of the 2011-12 playoffs that kept him out of that postseason and the full 2012-13 season.

Rose returned to action in 2014-15 and impressed with regularity in his 46 games prior to this announcement. While he had missed games intermittently due to various ailments, the 26-year-old Chicago native had appeared to be in reasonably good health and remained a key part of the Bulls' hopes of title contention.

Although Rose's 2014-15 pre-injury season included many positives, it had been clear that he was not the same player he had been before his injuries. Rose is currently averaging 18.4 ppg on just 40.7 percent shooting with 5.0 apg, well below his MVP averages of 25.0 ppg on 44.5 percent shooting and 7.7 apg in 2010-11. If NBA fans and observers became excited every time he put up 30 points, then they also had to contend with the disappointment of seeing him struggle to play efficiently his next time on the court.

Regardless, questions about Rose's ability to perform at an elite level seems like welcome problems in the face of his current predicament. No matter how much time he misses due to this surgery, Rose will encounter doubts over his ability to come back and perform at the level that his reputation and prior success suggest he is capable of. It's hard to imagine he won't ever play in the NBA again — Rose is extremely competitive and set to make more than $41 million in the two seasons following this one — but worrying about his future seems like a prudent response to such an awful situation.

Despite the loss, the Bulls should be able to remain a respectable playoff team in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls sit at third in the East at 36-21, just a half-game ahead of the surging Cleveland Cavaliers. While it would not be shocking to see Chicago fall below the Washington Wizards and lose homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs, their core is fairly used to playing without Rose and will win its fair share of the final 25 games. The front line of Joakim Noah, Pau Gasol, and Nikola Mirotic is among the best in the NBA and Jimmy Butler has become an All-Star shooting guard.

However, it might be best to leave these forecasts for later. Right now, the proper perspective finds Rose at another difficult moment in his career. One of the most talented and explosive guards of his generation may never regain that form again. It's enough to feel sad for Rose and anyone who found joy in watching him play.

After release from Detroit Lions, what's next for Reggie Bush?

The Detroit Lions basically chose Theo Riddick over Reggie Bush on Wednesday.

The Lions cut Bush and his $3.5 million base salary for 2015, according to multiple reports, opting to go with the cheaper and younger Riddick in the role Bush had with the Lions. And now what for Bush, who will turn 30 on March 2?

Running backs usually don't have much of a market into their 30s, and Bush had just 297 rushing yards in 2014. Bush had a 3.9-yard average, his lowest since 2008. Even assuming Bush finds another opportunity, it's unlikely he'll ever reach the NFL stardom he seemed destined for when he was dominating at USC.

Bush was the No. 2 overall pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2006, and it was a major controversy that he wasn't No. 1. Mario Williams surprisingly went first to the Houston Texans. A running back hasn't gone in the first round in two straight years, but most people figured Bush would go first overall nine years ago. He was a special talent.

He has been good in his nine NFL seasons, but not great. He never had more than 1,086 rushing yards or six rushing touchdowns in a season. He was, however, a very dangerous receiver out of the backfield and that's the role he settled into. That's not what you generally expect from the second pick. He was part of the Saints' first Super Bowl championship team at the end of the 2009 season but wasn't a big factor in the NFC championship game or the Super Bowl that season. In those two games combined he had 12 carries for 33 yards, and six catches for 71 yards. That sums up his NFL career in a way.

Bush will probably be better known for his college greatness (and there's no doubt about his legend on that level), although he had occasional NFL highlight plays that reminded you of him weaving through defenses when he was a Trojan.

Bush still has a chance to add to his NFL accomplishments, but it won't be in Detroit. It probably will be in a part-time role as a weapon in the passing game out of the backfield. That's what he has done best in his NFL career, and he has been good at it. Back in 2006, however, we expected a lot more out of his time in the pros.

Packers release veteran inside linebacker A.J. Hawk

Linebacker A.J. Hawk had a hunch after Green Bay's season ended that he might be looking for a new team.

So he wasn't surprised after the Packers released him Wednesday following nine years with the only club he has played with in the NFL.

Hawk is not bitter, either.

''I wasn't taken by surprise. I kind of had a feeling it might happen,'' Hawk said on a podcast he released Wednesday after the team made the move. ''The Packers actually let me know. ... They've stayed awesome throughout this whole process, been super classy.''

Hawk, a respected locker room presence, leaves Green Bay with 1,118 tackles, tops in the franchise since 1975. He appeared in 142 out of a 144 possible regular-season games with 136 starts since being drafted in the first round in 2006 out of Ohio State.

But Hawk lost playing time in the second half of this past season as Green Bay tried to shore up its run defense.

Green Bay has also released veteran inside linebacker Brad Jones this offseason. The Packers' defense improved after giving outside linebacker Clay Matthews more snaps in the middle and alongside Sam Barrington.

''A.J. is a consummate Packer and we are grateful for all that he has given and how he represented the organization over the past nine seasons,'' general manager Ted Thompson said in a statement. He called Hawk a ''durable and consistent contributor'' to the team's success.

Hawk agreed to a pay cut two years ago after the Packers restructured his deal. He was scheduled to be paid $3.6 million in 2015 with an $800,000 roster bonus in 2015.

''I have no bitterness or animosity toward anyone,'' Hawk said.

The move might make inside linebacker even more of a priority in this year's draft. Coach Mike McCarthy said last month that he still viewed Matthews as an outside linebacker.

Hawk said he was looking forward to his next opportunity in the NFL, but would cherish his years as a Packer.

Playoff hero, dancing star Jacoby Jones cut by Ravens

They'll always remember Jacoby Jones in Baltimore.

Jones was cut on Wednesday, the team announced. He vanished from the offense and was used mostly as a returner, although he was good in that role. The Ravens didn't need the 30-year-old receiver anymore, less than a year after signing a four-year, $12 million deal.

He'll leave a special place in franchise history.

Jones was one of the Ravens' playoff heroes at the end of the 2012 season, making a trio of huge plays including one of the most famous catches in NFL history.

Jones and Joe Flacco hooked up for a 70-yard touchdown to tie a divisional round playoff game at Denver with just 31 seconds left. It was one of the greatest plays in NFL history, dubbed the "Mile High Miracle," and the Ravens went on to win in double-overtime. Against the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII a few weeks later, Jones had a 56-yard touchdown catch and a 108-yard kickoff return for a score. Those plays were enormous in a 34-31 win over San Francisco.

Jones parlayed those plays (and his touchdown dances) into a spot on "Dancing With the Stars," but his football career never really took off into stardom. While he remained a good returner, he had just nine catches for 131 yards last year. And now he's looking for a new job.

Jones doesn't have a spot on the Ravens' roster anymore, but once he's done playing he'll always be welcomed back in Baltimore to celebrate what he did during a great Ravens Super Bowl run.

Council OKs Los Angeles-area stadium backed by Rams owner

The Inglewood City Council late Tuesday night approved plans to build a football stadium that includes St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke as a partner, clearing a path for a return to the Los Angeles area of the NFL for the first time in two decades.

The council approved the $2 billion plan with a 5-0 vote after a meeting with several hours of public comment and many vocal Rams fans wearing jerseys in attendance.

With only a small handful of dissenters, most of the commenters exuberantly supported the move.

They included Henry Yet, 54, of Brea, a board member of the Southern California Ram boosters.

''I'm not going to sleep, I'll probably stay up all night just thinking about it,'' he said after the vote. ''This is a monumental step.''

Another commenter, Eric Geller, urged the council to ''plant those shovels in the dirt tomorrow morning.''

The vote adopts a new redevelopment plan without calling a public vote, effectively kickstarting construction and sidestepping lengthy environmental review of issues such as noise, traffic and air pollution.

It adds the 80,000 seat, 60-acre stadium to an existing 2009 plan to redevelop the former Hollywood Park racetrack site with homes, offices, stores, parks and open space and a hotel.

Kroenke is part of the Hollywood Park Land Co. development group that is promoting the project. But a plan is also in the works in St. Louis in hopes of keeping the team with a 64,000-seat stadium on the city's north riverfront.

Yet said he believed Kroenke and the team would make the move, even if there are legal or other obstacles.

''He knows he's going to be in litigation, but he has the money and the firepower to do it, and the city says yes,'' Yet said.

New urgency for Inglewood came to the issue last week with the announcement that the Oakland Raiders and the San Diego Chargers are planning a shared stadium in suburban Carson if they don't get their current hometowns to cough up enough money to replace their aging stadiums. Another stadium plan remains alive for downtown Los Angeles, but has no team attached.

Stadium proponents said it is important to approve the concept as soon as possible to avoid delays in the redevelopment that already is underway. They would like construction to start by year's end to have a venue ready for the 2018 football season.

A Feb. 20 consultants' report to the city manager backing the stadium notes that the developer, not the public, would pay the cost of building the stadium and says the plan would allow the city - once home to the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings before they moved to Los Angeles - ''to continue its legacy of providing the region with world-class sports and entertainment.''

Christopher Meany, executive vice-president of the Hollywood Park Land Development Company said that the plan is important for the community and said at the meeting Tuesday night that the project is ''really going to be the new heart of Inglewood.''

''Their vision is being realized here,'' Meany said.

Meany has emphasized that the plan does not include any taxpayer dollars.

Mayor James Butts Jr. said the project was ''the best financial arrangement in the history of stadium deals in this country.''

But while the deal does not include upfront tax money, the development group expects to recoup up to $100 million in local tax dollars in the first five years of operation, which would cover costs ranging from installing street lights and fire hydrants to running shuttle buses and providing police security on game days.

Supporters also said the stadium would bring the city more than 10,000 jobs and tens of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue.

Larry Sanders explains his exit from the NBA: 'Right now [...] it's not there for me'

For about two months, we've been wondering what's going on with Larry Sanders, the gifted and mercurial shot-blocking big man who parted company with the Milwaukee Bucks around Christmas amid conflicting reports about his desire to continue playing professional basketball before receiving a 10-game suspension for a fourth violation of the league's anti-drug policy relating to marijuana use. Just before the All-Star break, the former Virginia Commonwealth standout suggested that answers were forthcoming.

On Wednesday, one week after Sanders and the Bucks agreed to terms on a buyout of the four-year, $44 million contract extension he signed in August 2013, the 26-year-old offered his side of the story surrounding his departure in a first-person piece and video published by The Players' Tribune.

In the piece, Sanders confirms that he's not planning an immediate return to the NBA: "I love basketball, and if I get to a point where I feel I’m capable of playing basketball again, I will." He also clarifies the reason for his separation from the Bucks:

Well, I know I disappeared for a while, and people were wondering where I was. I actually entered into Rogers Memorial Hospital, and it was a program for anxiety, depression and mood disorders. It taught me a lot about myself. It taught me a lot about what's important and where I would want to devote my time and energy.

I think I love basketball. I'll always be playing basketball. But for it to be consuming so much of my life and time right now, that's — it's not there for me. It's not that worth it. [...]

I wish I could have said goodbye formally to the Bucks at the arena, at the Bradley Center. I want them to know that it was never about them. It was never about the fans or how they treated me, because that was awesome. These decisions are for my family.

Sanders also addressed his unapologetic use of marijuana, which has led to multiple run-ins with the league office:

Cannabis came later on in my life. It was, for me, used medically, for some of the symptoms that I was having due to a lot of stress and the pressure I was under, given my work. [...]

You come into the league, you get dropped this large amount of money out of nowhere. People automatically change around you. That just happens. You become an ATM to some people. You have to be correct in your statements. You have to state things a certain way. You give up your freedom of speech, for real. You really can't say how you feel. There's no one really, you know, trying to guide, teach you what you should do and shouldn't do.

Sanders understands that many people might hear his comments and respond with, essentially, "That's what the money is for." The stresses, pressures and responsibilities associated with being a high-profile athlete seem to be part and parcel of his chosen profession — an at-times unpleasant part, to be sure, but one for which he was being compensated to the tune of $11 million a year by a Bucks franchise that invested in him with the expectation that he'd be the centerpiece of their defensive foundation.

"I think this seems to be a desirable, lucrative job and position, so people say, 'How could you be unhappy there? How could that be a place you don't want to be?'" Sanders said. "Values and the relationships with the people I love — that's, like, my real riches. That's my lasting wealth. [...] Happiness is an internal thing."

And, in Sanders' case, pursuing that happiness and those relationships means walking away from tens of millions of dollars — the terms of his Bucks buyout stipulate that he'll receive roughly half of the remaining value of his extension, according to Yahoo Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski — in a decision that, ultimately, only really needs to make sense to him.

People really like labels. You get to identify something with something else that you may think. It makes sense to you. You may rationalize it. I just ... don't neglect the "and," you know? Don't neglect the "and." That's what I'll say. You say I'm selfish. And I'm loving. And I'm caring. And I'm fearful sometimes, and I'm also brave. We all are more than just one thing. [...]

I'm a person. I'm a father. I'm an artist, I'm a writer, I'm a painter, I'm a musician. And sometimes I play basketball.

Right now, though, he doesn't. And considering the complicated, ongoing and oftentimes non-linear process of addressing the sorts of issues that have led Sanders away from the game, maybe that's the best thing for everyone involved.

As my colleague Eric Freeman wrote two years ago during our coverage of the complicated relationship between Royce White and the Houston Rockets relating to his anxiety disorder, "Certain jobs and responsibilities don't make sense for someone with this condition, and those specifics differ from person to person." It would be unduly speculative to conflate the conditions of White and Sanders without more information about their individual cases, but the general point holds — if specific elements of the job trigger specific serious problems for Sanders, and he and his team have been unable to find a viable path toward resolving those issues in a way that works for all parties, then maybe Sanders and the NBA just aren't a good match right now.

I'd love to see a player as unique, talented and evidently thoughtful as Sanders find his way back. For his own sake and for the sake of those close to him, I'd rather he find the internal happiness that's unfortunately eluded him in the context through which we've come to know him.