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| Posted: 25 July 2018 at 09:42 | IP Logged
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NEW YORK, N.Y. - Michael Sam waited and waited. Hours
passed, rounds came and went, and eventually, there were
only eight more picks left on the third and final day of
the NFL draft. For just a moment, it looked as if his
chance of being picked by a pro team and becoming the
leagues first openly gay player might take a detour. Or
at least be delayed. The call finally came Saturday from
the St. Louis Rams, the team right down the road from
where Sam played his college ball at the University of
Missouri. Sam was selected in the seventh and final round
and admitted it was a frustrating wait. He said teams
that passed on him chickened out and he should have been
drafted sooner. "From last season alone, I shouldve been
in the first three rounds. SEC Defensive Player of the
Year, All-American," Sam said. He stopped short of
directly saying his stock dropped in the draft because he
came out. "You know what, who knows? Who knows? Only the
people who sit in the war room know," he said. "They saw
Michael Sam, day after day they scratched it off the
board. That was their loss. But St. Louis kept me on that
board. And you know what I feel like Im a (Jadeveon)
Clowney, a first draft pick. Im proud of where I am now."
Sam came out as gay in media interviews earlier this
year. His team and coaches knew his secret and kept it
for his final college season. He went on to have the best
year of his career: He was the co-defensive player of the
year in the NCAAs best football conference and had 11.5
sacks. The pick came after several rounds of suspense.
The first round of the day, No. 4 overall, came and went,
no Sam. Then the fifth and sixth, and finally, the day
was down to just a handful of picks. When Mike Kensil,
the NFLs vice-president of game operations, walked to the
podium at Radio City Music Hall in the drafts final
minutes to announce the Rams second-to-last pick, the
crowd got a sense something was up. Very few of the last
day picks were announced at the podium. Twitter lit up
with suggestions the Rams were about to make news. When
Kensil said: "The St. Louis Rams select ... Michael
Sam..." the fans gave a hearty cheer, chanting "Yes! Yes!
Yes!" and "Michael Sam!" Sam was in San Diego watching
with friends and family at the home of his agent, Joe
Barkett of Empire Athletes. ESPN and the NFL Network had
cameras there and showed Sams reaction. Sam was on the
phone bending over, with his boyfriend hugging him and
rubbing his left bicep. When Sam got off the phone, the
tears started. He gave his boyfriend a big kiss and a
long hug as he cried and his eyes reddened. After, they
shared cake — and another kiss. "Thank you to the St.
Louis Rams and the whole city of St. Louis. Im using
every once of this to achieve greatness!!" Sam tweeted
with a frenzied typo moments after he was picked, with a
picture of himself wearing a Rams cap and a pink polo
shirt. The six-foot-two, 255-pound Sam was considered a
mid-to-late round pick, far from a sure thing to be
drafted. He played defensive end in college, but hes
short for that position in the NFL and slower than most
outside linebackers, the position hell need to transition
to at the professional level. He was taken with the 249th
overall pick out of 256. Players from Marist, Maine and
Canadas McGill University — Redmen tackle Laurent
Duvernay-Tardif went in the sixth round, 200th overall to
Kansas City — were taken ahead of Sam. "In the world of
diversity we live in now, Im honoured to be a part of
this," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said during an interview on
ESPN. The NFL had no comment on Sam being drafted. The
impact of Sams selection goes far beyond football. At a
time when gay marriage is gaining acceptance among
Americans, Sams entry into the NFL is a huge step toward
the integration of gay men into professional team sports.
Pro sports have in many ways lagged behind the rest of
society in acceptance. "Michael Sam wouldnt have been
drafted five years ago," said former Viking punter Chris
Kluwe, who has accused Minnesota of cutting him in part
because of his vocal support for gay rights. In the last
year, NBA veteran Jason Collins has come out publicly as
gay, and is now playing for the Brooklyn Nets. Collins
said before the Nets playoff game against the Heat that
he was watching the draft and texted Sam after he was
picked. "Its a great day for Michael and his family and
for the NFL," Collins said. Publicly, most people in and
related to the NFL have been supportive of Sam. NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell has said Sam would be welcome
in the league and judged solely on his ability to play. A
few wondered whether teams would be reluctant to draft
Sam because of all the media attention that would come
with it. Fair or not, the NFL — coming off a season in
which a bullying scandal involving players on the Miami
Dolphins was one of the biggest stories in sports — was
looking at a possible public relations hit if Sam was not
drafted. He would likely have been signed as a free agent
and given a chance to make a team in training camp, but
to many it would have looked as if he was being rejected.
Now that hes there, it could be seen as an opportunity
for the NFL to show that crass locker room culture is not
as prevalent as it might have looked to those who
followed the embarrassing Dolphins scandal. But all the
reaction to Sams news wasnt positive from the league.
Miami safety Don Jones posted a one-word tweet,
"Horrible" shortly after Sam was drafted. It was later
taken down. The teams general manager said he was aware,
and was disappointed. Wade Davis, a gay former NFL player
who is now the executive director of the gay rights
advocacy group "You Can Play," said Sam only needs to do
his job to have an impact beyond the field. "Michael Sam
doesnt have to be a vocal advocate (for gay rights),"
Davis said. "His visibility is his advocacy."
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sign.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A 16-driver championship field
that would be whittled down to create a winner-take-all
season finale is among radical changes reportedly being
considered by NASCAR. NASCAR chairman Brian France has
repeatedly said he wants to place a greater emphasis on
winning, and hes never ruled out tinkering with the Chase
for the Sprint Cup championship format in an effort to
create the "Game 7 moments" he covets. The Charlotte
Observer first reported Friday night a possible overhaul
to the Chase format that France first introduced in 2004
and has made periodic changes to several times since.
Citing anonymous sources, The Observer outlined three
major changes beginning with expanding the field from 12
drivers to 16 -- meaning a win during the "regular
season" would virtually guarantee a driver a spot in the
field. Once the field is set, The Observer said NASCAR is
considering eliminations during the 10-race Chase. The
field would be cut after the third, sixth and ninth
races. The proposed eliminations would drop the lowest
four drivers from title contention after the third, sixth
and ninth races, leaving four drivers eligible for a
"winner-take-all" race in the season finale at Homestead-
Miami Speedway. The four remaining drivers would go into
Homestead with their points reset and tied in the
standings, The Observer said. A statement from NASCAR
chief communications officer Brett Jewkes was non-
committal on The Observer report. "NASCAR has begun the
process of briefing key industry stakeholders on
potential concepts to evolve its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
championship format," Jewkes said. "This dialogue is the
final phase of a multi-year process that has included the
review of extensive fan research, partner and industry
feedback and other data-driven insights. NASCAR has no
plans to comment further until the stakeholder
discussions are complete. We hope to announce any
potential changes for the 2014 season to our media and
fans very soon." But driver Denny Hamlin posted a series
of Tweets on Saturday afternoon that supported the format
if NASCAR ultimately moves forward with the changes.
NASCAR is expected to officially outline any changes
later this month. "This points system change is going to
be a really good thing. Trust in it and watch how
exciting each chase race is going to be," Hamlin posted.
Hamlin also Tweeted that every Chase race will now be as
exciting as the September race at Richmond, which is the
final race to set the Chase field. He also responded to
two fans who criticized the format. One arggued it was
"artificially construed excitement" instead of the
traditional consistency that NASCAR used for decades in
crowning its champion.dddddddddddd "Consistency will keep
you up top," Hamlin replied. Hamlin received support from
2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski, who replied on Twitter
to him that he also liked the reported new format. "Guess
we may be in the minority here," Keselowski said. NASCAR
has been working feverishly behind the scenes to improve
its on-track product, particularly at 1.5-mile tracks,
and at least some changes are expected to the points
system to meet Frances desire to put a greater emphasis
on winning. France was thrilled with the finish of the
March race at California, where feuding drivers Hamlin
and Joey Logano relentlessly raced for the win. The two
ended up wrecking -- Hamlin ended up with a broken bone
in his back that sidelined him for more than a month --
and Kyle Busch slid through the carnage for the victory
as a furious Tony Stewart nearly came to blows with
Logano on pit road. Its that kind of competitiveness,
compelling action and drama that France seeks every week.
Despite introducing The Chase in 2004, NASCAR has failed
to create many of those breathtaking "Game 7" moments in
the finale. The debut was successful as Kurt Busch beat
Jimmie Johnson for the title by eight points, and five
drivers went into the 2005 finale mathematically eligible
to win the championship. Then Jimmie Johnson reeled off
five consecutive championships, snapped only by Tony
Stewarts race-winning, championship-deciding showing in
the 2011 finale. Keselowski won easily in 2012 when
Johnson was felled by mechanical problems, and it was
Johnson, again, in an easy Sunday drive for win No. 6 in
November. So a shake up to the system wouldnt be
unexpected. But it may not necessarily look like what The
Observer reported -- the newspaper was clear the format
is only being considered -- because its not unlike NASCAR
to float ideas to gauge reaction. For example, NASCAR
officials met in October with drivers to discuss an
overhaul to qualifying procedures. Among the "potential"
changes discussed that day was road course-style
qualifying everywhere but Daytona and Talladega. NASCAR
said it was considering a 60-minute drafting session for
Daytona and Talladega qualifying. In reality, cars will
qualify as usual next month at Daytona while NASCAR is
now apparently considering three rounds of "knockout
style" qualifying -- similar to what Formula One and
IndyCar use -- everywhere else but Talladega.
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Topic: immie Johnson for the title by eight
