Sports

Raptors' Fred VanVleet rips NBA officials with expletive-filled tirade – Yahoo Canada Sports

Published

2 years ago

March 9, 2023

Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet opted to “save his money” instead of criticizing the officials after a controversial loss to the Denver Nuggets earlier this week.

That wasn’t the case following Wednesday’s 108-100 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, as the 29-year-old delivered a profane tirade against NBA referees, specifically targeting Ben Taylor. Paraphrasing the rant wouldn’t do it justice, so here it is in full:

“I’ll take a fine, I don’t really care. I thought Ben Taylor was f—ing terrible tonight. For most nights, out of the three [officials] there’s one or two that just f— the game up,” VanVleet said. “It’s been like that a couple games in a row. Denver was tough, obviously. You come out tonight competing pretty hard, in the third quarter, I get a bulls—t tech, [it] changes the whole dynamic of the game, changes the whole flow of the game.

Most of the refs are trying hard, I like a lot of refs, they’re trying hard, they’re pretty fair, they communicate well, and then you got the other ones who just want to be d—cks. It just kind of f—ks the game up. Nobody’s coming to see that s—t, they come to see the players. I think we’re losing a bit of the fabric of what the NBA is and was. It’s been disappointing this season.

You can look it up, most of my techs this year have been with Ben Taylor officiating. At a certain point as a player, you feel it’s personal. It’s never a good place to be. That’s not why we lost tonight, we got outplayed but it definitely makes it tougher to overcome.

There’ve been certain times this year where I feel our team is getting consumed with the way the whistle is going, especially after the night we just had in Denver, the way that finished. There were a couple calls early that we all disagreed with, and if I say to my team ‘Come on guys, let’s keep playing through the bulls—t’ and that warrants a tech, I think that’s a little bit crazy.

What are we doing? There’s a fine line, obviously, I understand that but I think the jurisdiction and the power trip that we’ve been on this year with some of our officials in this league is getting out of hand. I’ll take my fine for speaking on it but this is f—ing ridiculous.”

Fred VanVleet (23) is clearly not a fan of the way Ben Taylor (46) officiates. (John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports)

The technical foul VanVleet referred to was assessed midway through the third quarter. It was his eighth of the season, with three of them doled out by Taylor. The Clippers were leading by seven points at the time.

Frustration has been running high all season long for Toronto, with the team falling short of preseason expectations. The Raptors’ playoff hopes are quickly slipping away, as they trail the sixth-seeded Brooklyn Nets by six games with 15 to play. It’s looking more and more likely the Raptors are destined for the play-in tournament this spring.

VanVleet has also had a frustrating campaign from an individual standpoint. He’s averaging 19.3 points and 6.9 assists per game, but is shooting a career-worst 34 percent from 3-point range. He was the subject of numerous rumours around the NBA trade deadline, but the Raptors opted to keep him.

The Rockford, Ill., native is expected to decline his $22.8-million player option for 2023-24 and test free agency this summer.

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Sports betting roundup: NFL and college football were all about the favourites

Published

18 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.

The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.

Trends of the Week

The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.

In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.

When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.

Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.

Coming up

Right after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series, odds for the 2025 World Series were released.

The Dodgers have the best odds at +400, while the Atlanta Braves and Yankees are next at +800.

The Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies round out the top five, both at +1100.

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

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Longtime rivals Ovechkin, Crosby join Necas as NHL’s three stars of the week

Published

18 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.

Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.

The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.

Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.

Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Oliveira, Mitchell named as finalists for CFL outstanding player award

Published

5 days ago

October 31, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.

Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).

Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.

Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.

Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.

Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.

The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).

The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.

The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.

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