Month: December 2019

The Patriots released a statement clarifying an earlier report related to a team videographer filming during last week’s Browns-Bengals game.

The New England Patriots released a statement Monday night in an attempt to clarify an earlier report from ESPN’s Diana Russini that a team-credentialed videographer was not in fact filming the Bengals’s sideline during the first quarter of last week’s Cincinnati-Cleveland game for competitive advantage purposes.

The team says that a production staffer was filming an episode of the team’s “Do Your Job” series for Patriots.com, focusing on the role of an advance scout. 

According to the team, the member of the production crew, “without specific knowledge of League rules—inappropriately filmed the field from the press box.”

“The sole purpose of the filming was to provide an illustration of an advance scout at work on the road,” the statement read. “There was no intention of using the footage for any other purpose. We understand and acknowledge that our video crew, which included independent contractors who shot the video, unknowingly violated a league policy by filming the field and sideline from the press box.

“When questioned, the crew immediately turned over all the footage to the league and cooperated fully… We accept full responsibility for the actions of our production crew at the Browns-Bengals game.”

The NFL is investigating the incident, a source told ESPN’s Dan Graziano, and the league has a copy of the video.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick told WEEI earlier Monday that the team’s football operation has nothing to do with the production side and that their scouts know the league’s policy about what you can’t film at games.

“They 100 percent know, all of our scouts, all of our video people and everything, they know what that is,” Belichick said. “Again, I have nothing to do with the TV production shows and stuff like that. I have no idea what they do. Or what their projects are and everything else.”

In 2007, New England was punished by the NFL for videotaping the Jets’ defensive playcalls on the sideline of a 38-14 Patriots victory. The Patriots were forced to give up their first-round draft pick in 2008 and Belichick was fined $500,000.

The team was also ordered to pay $250,000 for the “Spygate” incident.

The Patriots visit the Bengals this Sunday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET. 

Arsenal ended its worst winless run in 42 years by coming from behind at halftime to beat West Ham 3-1 in the English Premier League on Monday.

LONDON — Arsenal ended its worst winless run in 42 years by coming from behind at halftime to beat West Ham 3-1 in the English Premier League on Monday.

Arsenal’s nine-match winless streak looked set to reach 10 after a lifeless first half, in which the Gunners conceded to West Ham’s Angelo Ogbonna. They were booed off at the break.

For almost an hour the Gunners were characteristically woeful and listless, then out of nowhere Gabriel Martinelli scored his first league goal in his first league start, clinically finishing a cross from the left by Sead Kolasinac in the 60th minute.

Arsenal suddenly came to life. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang collected the ball outside the box and fed it out right to Nicolas Pepe, who curled the ball past goalkeeper David Martin to put Arsenal in front.

Moments later, Arsenal carved West Ham open again, Mesut Ozil fed Pepe on the right, and his cross found Aubameyang, who was just onside to fire in a crisp volley.

Three goals in a quickfire nine minutes from the Gunners prompted West Ham fans to depart the Olympic Stadium in droves.

The win lifted Arsenal to ninth in the standings and ended an alarming run of form which cost Unai Emery his job. Freddie Ljungberg was still coy on whether he wants to take the reins full-time.

”We won’t get carried away,” Ljungberg said. ”We have a lot of work to do.”

After Arsenal’s first win in the league since early October, Ljungberg believed they had no right to think they had turned the corner.

”First half, we were slow, a bit lethargic, and didn’t move or run, but that comes when players are low and have no confidence because you don’t do the things you need to,” Ljungberg added.

”It has been hard, but I felt, `Give it a go in the second half,’ and it was amazing for me to see.”

He will start planning for a Europa League group game at Standard Liege on Thursday, while his West Ham counterpart Manuel Pellegrini will still be hoping to be in a job by then.

West Ham has gone winless in five home matches, and was only a point above the relegation zone.

Le’Veon Bell missed Sunday’s Jets game against the Dolphins with an illness, but the RB was reportedly seen bowling at a local New Jersey bowling alley Saturday night until the establishment closed.

Le’Veon Bell missed Sunday’s Jets game against the Dolphins with an illness. But according to the New York Post, Bell was seen bowling at a local New Jersey bowling alley Saturday night until the establishment closed.

He was reportedly there from around 10:30 p.m. to close at 1 a.m. 

Bell was sent home Friday with an illness, missing his second straight day of practice. Head coach Adam Gase said he was not present at the team’s walk-through on Saturday, nor was he seen at MetLife Stadium on Sunday when the Jets beat the Dolphins 22–21.

Bell has been in the middle of one of the worst statistical seasons in his career. He’s rushed for only 589 yards on 183 carries, a career-low 3.2 yard-per-carry average. He has 55 receptions, the second most on the team, but he’s averaging only 83 total yards per game.

The Michigan State product, who signed a free agent contract worth $52.5 million over four years this past offseason, had just 10 carries in New York’s 22–6 loss to Cincinnati in Week 13.

“I would love to put the game on my back and take games over,” Bell said last week on his weekly podcast on Sirius XM. “I haven’t had one of those games this year yet. A lot of people don’t think I’m the same player or that I can’t do that. That’s just because I haven’t had the opportunity really to show. As time goes on, we’ll get better. We’ll find a way to make things shake.”

Gase told reporters Monday that Bell was “pretty close to 100%” and seemed to allude to him playing Thursday night at the Ravens. Kickoff is set for 8:20 p.m. 

The free-agent pitching market is hot—and no one will cash in more than Scott Boras and Gerrit Cole.

SAN DIEGO — When Stephen Strasburg re-signed with the Nationals for seven years and $245 million—the largest contract for a starting pitcher in MLB history—on Monday, there was little doubt that this offseason’s Winter Meetings wouldn’t be the snorefest they were in recent years.

In an instant, fears of increased labor animosity simmered and the rumor mill refocused on the $300 million question: How much will it take to sign Gerrit Cole?

Initial reports following Strasburg’s deal indicated Cole could get as much as $300 million for more years and a greater average annual value than what Strasburg got. Agent Scott Boras, who represents both Cole and Strasburg, knows how hot the market is for a pitcher of Cole’s caliber and age (29) with no history of significant injuries. If Strasburg, who’s 31 and had Tommy John surgery, could net such a deal from the team that drafted him and he likely had little interest in leaving, it’s hard to put a cap on what Cole will get with heavyweights bidding on him.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported the “Cole goal” (a Boras-ism at its finest) was a deal of 9-10 years worth at least $300. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweeted that a nine-year, $324 million deal for Cole ($36 million per year) probably would “not be a bad over/under,” and that he would take the over.

If we assume Cole is going to get a larger AAV than Strasburg, his contract would be more than $315 million for nine years, and more than $350 million if it’s a 10-year deal. If it’s the former, Cole would be the first pitcher, and fifth player ever to reach the $300 million threshold, and he’d be the only one to do so with less than 10 years. The latter would make Cole the second highest paid player in MLB history, behind Mike Trout (12 years, $428.17 million).

Either way, it’s clear Boras won’t go for anything less than $300 million for Cole, certainly not any time soon. Boras knows the market for Cole is hot, and he also knows that demand will only increase as each of the other top free-agent pitchers sign.

During a press conference Monday with Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, Boras was asked how Strasburg re-signing impacts the rest of the pitching market, especially Cole.

“I’m going to have a press conference tomorrow at noon and I’ll address all those things then,” Boras said. “I think I just want to confine this to Stras and the Washington Nationals.”

Instead of taking the time to vamp on how much money Cole deserves to make, and using the question as an opportunity to rip teams for lowballing his client, Boras decided to talk only about Strasburg. And that’s smart. Because anything said that makes Strasburg look worthy of such a massive contract only solidifies Cole’s value as at least $300 million.

The question is no longer if Cole is worth $200 million—that was answered a while ago—and it’s not even whether he’ll get $300 million. The only thing left to be determined is how much more than that Boras can get him.

South Carolina QB Jake Bentley, who started three seasons for the Gamecocks, will transfer to Utah for his final year of NCAA eligibility.

South Carolina’s Jake Bentley, who started three seasons for the Gamecocks, will transfer to Utah for his final year of NCAA eligibility, the quarterback announced on Twitter Monday.

Bentley, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in the Gamecocks’s first game of the season, announced his intent to transfer last week after he graduates in mid-December.

He finished his SC career with a 19–14 record as the starter, throwing 7,527 passing yards, 55 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. He started the final seven games of his freshman year and was named a captain his sophomore season, holding that title throughout his remaining time in Columbia.

South Carolina struggled in 2019, finishing the year with a 4–8 record.

Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley threw for nearly 3,000 yards and 18 touchdowns en route to the Pac-12 title game, but is a senior, opening the door for Bentley to potentially start next season. Utes backup Jason Shelley saw significant playing time in 2018 after Huntley suffered a broken collarbone, but attempted just 11 passes this season.

Bentley was a four-star prospect in the class of 2016.