SB Nation Minnesota: All Posts by James Brady

NCAA Lacrosse Tournament 2013 results: Syracuse, Duke set for the finals

2013-05-26T00:32:28Z

The finals of the 2013 Men's Division I Lacrosse Championship are now set, as No. 7 Duke will take on No. 1 Syracuse following their victories in Saturday's semifinals.

Duke managed to take down Cornell in the semifinals, with David Lawson scoring the winning goal with under seven minutes to go. Ultimately, Duke won the game, 16-14, and are after their second National championship. Their first came in 2010, the last time they played in the finals.

Cornell had the lead in the third quarter, but Duke recovered from their 5-2 deficit with a 7-1 run in the third, and they didn't give up the lead from there. Cornell briefly rallied late but Duke was able to hold on for the win.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Syracuse once again had to rally, but they won their game and that's all that matters. Denver held a 7-4 lead entering the fourth quarter, and the Orange didn't lead until Derek Maltz's game-winner with 19.2 seconds left in the game. In the end, Syracuse walked away with a 9-8 victory and a spot in the finals.

Syracuse and Duke will play on May 27 for the championship -- you can view an updated bracket here.

NFL news roundup: Anthony McCoy tears Achilles, Mike Goodson returning to practice next week

2013-05-25T12:11:04Z

The Seattle Seahawks have done a lot to revamp their offense around quarterback Russell Wilson, but they took a step back on Friday as tight end Anthony McCoy suffered an Achilles tear and will likely miss a large amount of time. McCoy isn't the top tight end -- that's Zach Miller -- but he's been getting better each year in the league and many expected him to take another step forward in his development this season.

Unfortunately, his injury could mean he'll miss the entirety of the upcoming season. Over at Field Gulls, they expressed their disappointment:

Regardless - huge bummer for McCoy, who enters (and will likely miss) his contract year. The 4th year player has been one of my 'sleeper' breakout picks the past two seasons, and while he played well in 2012, I had thought he could make another nice jump in production in 2013. The Hawks will now have to test more of their depth, and keep an eye on roster cutdowns across the league.

Here's what else went down on Friday that you may have missed.

Pats unsure on Gronk's back injury

The New England Patriots are a much better team when tight end Rob Gronkowski is on the field. Unfortunately, he's been dealing with injury concerns that extend further than the problems with his forearm (he recently had his fourth surgery on the arm). Gronkowski has back issues, but when asked about the problems on Friday, team owner Robert Kraft said he doesn't have enough information himself and that the Patriots are unsure what to think about it. Uncertainty can never be a good thing in this situation.

Goodson to return next week

Many questioned whether or not the New York Jets would part ways with running back Mike Goodson after his arrest, which included possession of marijuana. However, as reported on Friday, it looks like Goodson will be back practicing with the team next week. The Jets have released a few players recently for drug-related issues and some thought Goodson, despite signing a three-year deal this offseason, could be a casualty in a "zero tolerance," policy. That appears not to be the case.

'Nothing serious' for Seymour

Richard Seymour seems as though he has some productive snaps left in him at the NFL level, but he remains unsigned. There were some recent reports that Seymour was close to signing with the Atlanta Falcons, but on Friday, that was debunked with the news that there is "nothing serious" between the Falcons and Seymour at this time.

Nalen admits trying to injure Olshansky

Former Denver Broncos offensive lineman Tom Nalen admitted that he was trying to injure Igor Olshansky when he went low on a play back in 2006. Nalen thinks that what he did doesn't qualify him as a "dirty player," but the intent to injure can't be interpreted as much else. Nalen is retired, of course, so he NFL has no way to reprimand him for his statements at the team's press conference.

Shanahan thinks RGIII can be an all-time great

Robert Griffin III has a long way to go on his road to recovery, but Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan thinks that he has a bright future ahead of him. On Thursday, Shanahan said that Griffin can be among the all-time NFL greats if he can replicate his 2012 production for the remainder of his career. Given Griffin's stats, it's hard to argue with him.

More from SB Nation:

• Bears will retire Mike Ditka's number

• Cardinals give Honey Badger 4-year deal

• Ndamukong Suh rides a Zamboni | #Lookit

• RG3 says he could be ready for Week 1

• Jared Allen not interested in pay cut

• The great Super Bowl stadium swindle

Crowne Plaza Invitational 2013: TV coverage, schedule for Saturday

2013-05-25T12:00:03Z

Friday's second round at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial was halted due to the worsening weather. It's set to resume on Saturday. The start of round three will come after the golfers finish up their second rounds -- there are 54 players who have yet to complete the round.

Matt Kuchar, the highest-ranked player in FedExCup points in the field, is currently the leader at 10-under for the tournament. That said, Kuchar had just struck his tee shot on the 16th hole when play was halted, so he has more to come before he's "officially" in the lead.

More: Stay up to date on all of SB Nation's coverage of the Crowne Plaza Invitiational

Graham DeLaet is the clubhouse leader after finishing his second round at 9-under. Three golfers are tied for third place at 8-under: Jordan Spieth, Josh Teater and Steve Flesch. Ryan Palmer is also at 8-under, but he has yet to finish his second round.

The projected cut line following the second round is 1-under. Some notable names who have finished the round and are under that cut line include Charl Schwartzel, Corey Pavin and David Hearn. Play will resume for the second round at 8:15 a.m. ET on Saturday.

The Golf Channel will carry the earliest TV coverage on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m., and CBS will pick up coverage at 3 p.m. ET, though they should be well into round three at that point.

Golden Nuggets: Nnamdi Asomugha practices! Woooh!

2013-05-25T09:00:07Z

Everybody stop -- hold the phone! Nnamdi Asomugha practiced on Friday, and for me, that's big news. I'm often extremely pessimistic regarding free agent signings and the like .. it's those undrafted free agents I'm crazy about. But with Asomugha, I think he's got a lot to offer and I personally believe he will be the best cornerback on the team next season.

The Philadelphia Eagles wrongly used Asomugha in so many ways. He's not a zone corner by any definition and if he can keep himself in shape, I expect him to do very well in man-to-man this season. I'm still excited for Chris Culliver going forward, but Asomugha has a couple good seasons left, I think.

Anyway, we're just going to go with quick links today. I've been making an effort at adding more substance but I'm absolutely swamped tonight. Enjoy the links, folks.

Goodwin agrees to pay cut to remain on team (Maiocco)

Bridging logic gap on Grabtree, Harvin (Sando)

Bill Barnwell on the state of the San Francisco 49ers (Grantland)

Lockette, Jenkins, Patton will compete for Crabtree's spot (Maiocco)

Nnamdi Asomugha -- Inside his first open OTA practice (Lynch)

QB matters most, with or without Crabtree (Sando)

Putting Michael Crabtree's 2012 production into perspective (Cohn)

49ers' Crabtree gets encouraging words from Broncos receiver (Press Democrat)

49ers' Reid Soaking it all in at Safety (NBA Bay Area)

Harbaugh Looks for Young WRs to Emerge (49ers)

From Candlestick to Levi's (CSN Bay Area)

Mike Shanahan believes Robert Griffin III can be an all-time great

2013-05-25T02:02:25Z

Robert Griffin III is still on the road to recovery and nobody is confident in giving a time frame for his return, though the hope is that he'll be ready in Week 1. The Washington Redskins gave up a lot to get Griffin, but his injury has not dimmed their opinion of him. As noted by NFL.com, head coach Mike Shanahan believes Griffin can be one of the all-time greats when it's all said and done.

"If Robert plays like he did (in 2012) the rest of his career, he'll go down as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game," Shanahan said Thursday following one of the team's organized team activity sessions. That's a lot of praise, given that the NFL is essentially defined by the great quarterbacks to play the game.

More: Visit Hogs Haven for more analysis on the Washington Redskins

Washington gave up three first-round picks and a second-round pick to move up and select Griffin in the 2012 NFL Draft. He injured his knee in Week 14 last year, and controversy arose when Griffin played on the injured knee in the Redskins' Wildcard matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. Whether or not staying in will ultimately hurt his career is anybody's guess.

But if Griffin plays to his 2012 numbers, would he be considered an all-time great? He definitely had some good numbers last year. In 15 games, Griffin completed 258 of 393 passes, good for a completion percentage of 65.6. He threw for 3,200 yards and had 20 touchdowns against just five interceptions. Putting up those numbers over a course of 10 years or so would certainly help his case.

A big part of the Griffin hype is due to the fact that he took a Redskins team that won five games in 2011 to the playoffs in 2012. The NFC East has been contested by all four teams in the division in recent years, but the Redskins look like they can take a stranglehold on the division if Griffin doesn't regress with his injury.

More from SB Nation:

• Bears will retire Mike Ditka's number

• Cardinals give Honey Badger 4-year deal

• Ndamukong Suh rides a Zamboni | #Lookit

• RG3 says he could be ready for Week 1

• Jared Allen not interested in pay cut

• The great Super Bowl stadium swindle

Tom Nalen admits trying to injure Igor Olshansky in 2006

2013-05-25T01:13:16Z

Former Denver Broncos offensive linemen Tom Nalen admitted to trying to injure defensive lineman Igor Olshansky in a game against the San Diego Chargers in 2006, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Nalen is a player who didn't say much throughout his NFL career aside from the occasional "no comment," but now that he's retired, all bets are off. When NFL players retire, they're no longer subject to league penalties and things of that nature and, as such, we often get to hear them speak much more freely about a wide variety of things.

Nalen was being introduced as the next member of the Bronco's Ring of Fame, and among the topics covered over his 30 minutes or so of talking, Nalen said that he intentionally tried to injure Olshansky during a game against the Chargers.

More: Mile High Report: Tom Nalen: Mum's the Word

"I wanted to blow his knee out on that play because of what happened the play before," Nalen said, "But that, you know, is that dirty? I don't know."

Nalen prefaced that statement by saying he didn't consider himself a dirty player. The play he's referencing came when the Broncos were lining up to spike the ball and stop the clock near the end of the game. Nalen dove into Olshanksky's knee instead of simply standing up, which the rest of the players did.

Olshansky then threw punches at Nalen and was ejected from the game. Nalen was fined $25,000 for the cheap shot and Olshanksy was fined $10,000 for his retaliation when it was all said and done. Nalen justified his actions by suggesting that Olshansky grabbed his facemask on the previous play.

There's not going to be uproar about this or anything, but given the normal definition of "dirty player," Nalen would seem to qualify. Intentionally targeting another player for injury is just bad news, and if Nalen were playing today, he'd be in big trouble for his comments given the league's struggle to maintain the appearance of running a safe league.

More from SB Nation:

• Bears will retire Mike Ditka's number

• Cardinals give Honey Badger 4-year deal

• Ndamukong Suh rides a Zamboni | #Lookit

• RG3 says he could be ready for Week 1

• Jared Allen not interested in pay cut

• The great Super Bowl stadium swindle

Golden Nuggets: Life without Michael Crabtree, rookie signings and more

2013-05-24T09:00:02Z

Every time I've got myself convinced that the San Francisco 49ers will be fine without Michael Crabtree, I see a video of him making a great play, or a still image of him in the midst of a great catch. Crabtree hasn't yet had blow-you-away stats, but the guy made some incredibly clutch catches last year and missing that is what I'm worried about.

Colin Kaepernick will have plenty of touchdowns, some receivers will step up and we'll have the yardage that Crabtree would have brought. What I'm worried about are those really clutch catches -- who will replicate that? I'm hoping that between Mario Manningham and Anquan Boldin, we get enough clutch-ness. Most of all, tight end Vernon Davis rebounding and having a great year would just be swell, wouldn't it?

Anyway, some more rookies signed, OTAs are going, the 49ers are awesome and all that jazz. Onto your links for the day.

At the end of the day, I do think the 49ers will be fine without Crabtree. At worst, they have a top two pairing of wide receivers who we know can put up decent production and at best, we have a trio of young, explosive pass-catchers showing each other up week-in and week-out. | Michael Crabtree injury: How 49ers will respond to loss of WR (Brady)

The 49ers got to work on their second-round picks yesterday, signing both tight end Vance McDonald and defensive end Tank Carradine. I gotta say, I'm really excited for both players, though I expect McDonald to have more of an impact this season, especially following Crabtree's injury. I mean, provided these guys are all healthy, as it's getting kind of hard to remember who is and isn't hurt right now. | 49ers sign both second-round picks (Maiocco)

If you're in the mood for even more stuff that has nothing to do with Crabtree or rookies signing their EXCITING CONTRACTS, why not blame some quarterbacks? We all do it for lots of things anyway, so let's start holding them accountable for some of those sacks. | When getting sacked is the quarterback's fault (BA Sports Guy)

Crabtree aftermatch: Do you need great No. 1 WRs to win titles? There really is no recent correlation (Kawakami)

49ers' 90-man roster: Which receivers will step up (Maiocco)

Bowman on ESPN: 'Guys are going to have to step up, and we have that type of team' (Inman)

49ers grant 'team voice' Ted Robinson five-year extension (CSN Bay Area)

Manningham on his knee: 'I'm not rushing it but I am going hard on my knee' (Inman)

Loss of Crabtree Will Force Kaepernick to Grow (NBC Bay Area)

Crabtree's recovery route has several recent examples to follow (Inman)

McDonald Enjoys Mentorship Role (49ers)

Eric Reid Recaps First Week of OTAs (49ers)

Kendall Hunter Works His Way Back(49ers)

Sean Payton surpasses Bill Belichick as highest paid U.S. coach

2013-05-23T16:27:04Z

New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton has surpassed Bill Belichick as the highest-paid coach in the NFL and the highest paid coach in the United States, according to a new list from Forbes. They have Payton getting paid an estimated $8 million per year over the course of his five-year contract, half a million more than Belichick at No. 2.

Every year, it seems like a new player is looking to set the record for "highest paid player at this position." Quarterbacks, in particular, are starting to get a little out of control. That doesn't show any signs of slowing down, so good luck to teams such as the Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks, who have young, talented quarterbacks.

But there are other competitive contracts in the NFL: the ones signed by head coaches. There are plenty of things a head coach considers that are important, from the power he'll have over the roster to the general manager he's working with, but money talks. Payton's contract extension was voided by the NFL in the wake of the Saints bounty scandal, and the Saints immediately snatched Payton back up when he became a free agent.

Would another team have signed Payton if the Saints gave him a low-ball offer? It's possible, but Payton is valuable to the Saints. It seems like their window of opportunity might be closing, but he led the Saints to their first ever Super Bowl championship in 2010 and has a 62-34 record as a head coach.

Belichick is probably the best coach in the NFL, and his contract is in-line with that. He's below Payton on the pay list, but he's got an annual salary of $7.5 million; it's hard to imagine him ever getting ousted in New England. He'll be there until he's done.

The other noteworthy thing about the Forbes list is that Andy Reid, a new hire, is tied for No. 2 with Belichick. He's making an estimated $7.5 million annually with the Kansas City Chiefs and hasn't coaches a single game for them. That said, he took the Philadelphia Eagles to five NFC Championship games and has a career record of 130-93.

Pete Carroll is listed in third place with an annual salary of $7 million, with a 58-54 record, though he has started to turn the team around. He had to get a high contract, given that the Seahawks were luring him away from USC, where he was doing quite well. Jeff FIsher and Mike Shanahan are tied with him at $7 million, and their coaching pedigrees are unquestioned.

Tom Coughlin ($6.67 million per year) and Chip Kelly ($6.5 million) round out the NFL coaches. The only non-NFL coaches on the list are from the NBA: Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers ($7 million) and San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich ($6 million).

More from SB Nation:

• NFL rookies review 'Star Trek Into Darkness'

• NFL rookies step outside the playbook

• Jed York, 49ers reach end of long road

• Santa Clara, Houston awarded Super Bowl 50, 51

• Geno Smith signs with Jay-Z's agency

• Charles Woodson officially a Raider once again