Sports Radio 1400 WSJM @wsjmsports wsjmsports.com Thursday, October 09, 2014
NFL – National Football League – Week 6
Tonight
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans, 8:25 p.m.
NFL – Prater hopes to take advantage of another chance
Matt Prater says he entered a 12-step program to deal with his alcohol problem, and he’s hoping to make the most of another chance to kick in the NFL. The Detroit Lions signed Prater to a one-year deal, and he was in the locker room before practice Wednesday. Prater is coming off a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. The Denver Broncos cut ties with him last week after seven years. Prater made 25 of 26 field goals last season, including a record-setting 64-yarder against Tennessee. The Lions became increasingly desperate for kicking help after rookie Nate Freese went 3 of 7 on field goals and Alex Henery went 1 of 5.
NFL – Bears sign backup safety Shamiel Gary
The Chicago Bears signed safety Shamiel Gary to a one-year contract Wednesday. Gary entered the NFL this season as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots. He made 47 appearances at Oklahoma State (2012-13) and Wyoming (2009-10), recording 311 tackles, six interceptions, 26 passes breakups and one forced fumble. The Bears also signed defense end David Bass to the practice squad. He appeared in 13 games last season, finishing with 20 1/2 tackles, a sack and an interception return for a touchdown.
NFL – NFL discuss league’s conduct policy, approve Pegulas
NFL owners spent five hours discussing the league’s personal conduct policy, domestic violence and discipline for misbehavior during their fall meetings Wednesday. Owners listened to a presentation on domestic violence after unanimously approving the sale of the Buffalo Bills to Terry and Kim Pegula. After the meeting, commissioner Roger Goodell said it’s up to a neutral arbiter to decide whether he should testify during an appeal of Ray Rice’s indefinite suspension.
NHL – National Hockey League
Last Night
Montreal Canadiens 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 3
Boston Bruins 2, Philadelphia Flyers 1
Vancouver Canucks 4, Calgary Flames 2
San Jose Sharks 4, Los Angeles Kings 0
NHL – Game On!!!
The Los Angeles Kings raised their second Stanley Cup banner in three years on Wednesday before opening their NHL season with a 4-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Tommy Wingels scored twice and Patrick Marleau added a power-play goal and an assist to support Antti Niemi’s (AN’-tee nee-EH’-meez) 28th career shutout. Jonathan Quick stopped 26 shots for the Kings. The Kings defeated San Jose in the first round of the playoffs last year, coming back to win the series in game 7 after trailing the series three games to none.
Tonight
Boston Bruins at Detroit Red Wings, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago Blackhawks at Dallas Stars, 8:30 p.m.
NHL – Blackhawks F Versteeg out with lower-body injury
Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg will be sidelined for about three weeks after he left practice on Tuesday with a lower-body injury. Chicago coach Joel Quenneville says Versteeg’s injury “is not a surgical case,” and he doesn’t think the winger will be placed on long-term injured reserve. Versteeg had 10 goals and 19 assists in 63 games for Chicago after he was acquired in a trade with Florida last November. He was coming off a strong training camp, and Quenneville said Wednesday that the forward was “very upset” about the injury. Ben Smith will move up to Versteeg’s spot on the third line, beginning with Chicago’s season opener at Dallas on Thursday night. Smith had 14 goals and 12 assists in 75 games with the Blackhawks last season.
NCAA Basketball – Men’s – Michigan St’s Izzo has successful hernia surgery
Michigan State says coach Tom Izzo had successful hernia surgery Wednesday. He is expected back in the basketball office later this week. The operation was performed by Dr. Troy Ferguson at McLaren Greater Lansing. The 59-year-old Izzo is entering his 20th season as Michigan State’s coach. The Spartans open the regular season Nov. 14 at Navy.
NCAA Basketball – Women’s – New year, same goal for Notre Dame women
Notre Dame basketball coach Muffet McGraw isn’t sure how the Fighting Irish will start the season. She knows how she wants them to finish. McGraw says the goal is the same as it always is: a national championship. The Irish haven’t done that recently, but they’ve come close. They’ve lost in the title game in three of the past four seasons and in the semifinal game in the other. McGraw says tough early season games against Michigan State, Maryland and Connecticut will help provide the map of where the Irish need to improve. She says the Irish are young, so they could struggle early. Struggle is a relative term when it comes to the Irish, who have lost a total of seven games the past three seasons.
NCAA Football – Notre Dame balances run production vs. promise
Sixth-ranked Notre Dame is looking for ways to improve its running game this week against North Carolina. So far this season, the Irish running game has come down to a balance of production vs. promise. Senior captain Cam McDaniel represents production, while sophomores Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston represent potential and promise. Kelly says the Irish depended heavily on McDaniel in a 17-14 win against Stanford because he has a tendency to err toward going with a senior captain in those kinds of hard-hitting games. Kelly says the Irish know they can get more production from Bryant and Folson. He says the Irish are committed to running the ball better. He also says the offensive line that was shuffled two weeks ago is continuing to improve.
NCAA Football – Offense good, but defense still rules in Big Ten
There are 10 Big Ten teams scoring at least 26 points per game. Rest assured, however, that the late Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler would still recognize the conference where they once relied on rock-hard defenses. After all, even though it seems every game ends up 45-38 and that spread offenses are running rampant, defense still has an often overlooked foothold in the 14-team league. The Big Ten is represented by six of the top 20 teams in the nation in total defense, five of the top 20 in scoring defense and five of the top 25 in stopping the run and interceptions.
NBA – National Basketball Association Preseason
Tonight
Milwaukee Bucks at Detroit Pistons, 7:30 p.m.
NBA – Fines and suspensions from Wizards-Bulls game
The NBA has doled out punishment stemming from an altercation between Wizards forward Paul Pierce and Chicago’s Joakim Noah during Monday’s preseason game. Wizards players DeJuan Blair, Nene, Daniel Orton and Xavier Silas were each suspended for one regular-season game for leaving the bench area during the incident. Noah was fined $15,000 for initiating the altercation by pushing Pierce in the chest. Pierce was fined $15,000 for hitting Noah in the forehead with his left index finger.
MCCAA – Junior College Sports
Tonight
Women’s Volleyball
Kalamazoo Valley at Lake Michigan College, 6:30 p.m.
MHSAA – High School Sports
Yesterday
Girls Volleyball
St. Joseph 3, Benton Harbor 0 (25-10, 25-8, 25-15)
Lakeshore 3, Portage Northern 1 (13-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-23)
Portage Central 3, Niles 1
Boys Soccer
Lake Michigan Catholic 8, Gobles 0
Hartford 2, Buchanan 1
Bangor 1, Kalamazoo Christian 1 – TIE
Wolverine Conference Soccer Tournament – Final Round
Paw Paw 3, Plainwell 2 – 2 OT – Wolverine Conference Championship
Sturgis 5, Edwardsburg 3 – 3rd place
Otsego 1, Allegan 0 – 5th place
South Haven 6, Dowagiac 2 – 7th place
Vicksburg 4, Three Rivers 1 – 9th place
Today
Boys Soccer – SMAC Tournament Finals
Mattawan at Portage Central – SMAC Championship Game
Kalamazoo Central at Portage Northern – 3rd place game
St. Joseph at Battle Creek Central – 5th place game
Niles at Battle Creek Lakeview – 7th place game
Lakeshore at Gull Lake – 9th place game
Kalamazoo Home School at Kalamazoo Loy Norrix – 11th place game
Boys Soccer
Bangor at Bridgman
Kalamazoo Christian at Lake Michigan Catholic
Coloma at Comstock
Bloomingdale at Howardsville Christian
Hartford at New Buffalo
Cassopolis at Brandywine
Girls Volleyball
Eau Claire at Lake Michigan Catholic
Howardsville Christian at Michigan Lutheran
Berrien Springs at South Haven
Cross Country
Dowagiac Rock ‘N Run Invitational, 5:00 p.m.
St. Joseph, Lakeshore, Lake Michigan Catholic, Dowagiac, Berrien Springs, Buchanan, Cassopolis, Bridgman, Coloma, Delton-Kellogg, Eau Claire, Edwardsburg, Fennville, Hartford, Kalamazoo Christian, LaPorte-LaLumiere (IN), Battle Creek Lakeview, Lawton, New Buffalo, Niles, River Valley, Three Rivers, White Pigeon.
Girls Swimming
Otsego at St. Joseph
