A-11 offense now has to play defense

Kurt Bryan, the football coach at Piedmont (Calif.) High School, has heard the wail of protests against his A-11 offense. Deceiving, skirting the rules, unsportsmanlike. It has been labeled gimmicky and it has its enemies.

That's why he can only imagine that the worst is in store for his and Steve Humphries' offense in the next week.

The A-11 offense, a super-sized spread with eligible receivers popping up all over the field, has been banned by some high school state associations. Bryan is worried the National Federation of State High School Associations is going to adopt rule changes for 2009 that will ruin the scheme in the states where it is used.

The football rules committee of the NHFS met Jan. 24-26 in Indianapolis and Bryan said the committee discussed proposals that would effectively take the fledgling A-11 off the chalkboard.

Brad Garrett, the assistant executive director of the Oregon Activities Association and vice chairman of the NFHS Rules Football Committee, said rules committee members cannot talk about proposed rule changes or how they voted.

The rules committee makes recommendations to the NFHS national governing board, which votes whether to accept recommendations, but the board typically passes what it is presented by the rules committee. The board is expected to release rule changes for 2009 in the next week.

One of the proposals the committee discussed, which would curtail the A-11, was to take away an exception to rule 7-2-5b that allows players with jersey numbers 1-49 and 80-99 to be down linemen, and eligible pass receivers, in a scrimmage kick formation.

The A-11 (A11Offense.com) creators used that exception to have all of their players wear numbers 1-49 or 80-99, numbers reserved for receivers, and said if the numbering is allowed for scrimmage kicks it should be allowed for all offensive plays. Referees working A-11 games, Bryan said, have not thrown flags for ineligible receivers and allowed the offense to proceed throughout the game.

Bryan and Humphries, who is Piedmont's director of football operations, said the National Federation might institute rules to block the use of the A-11 by member schools, but that is not going to make the offense go away.

"There is a demonstrative benefit of using the A-11 offense, and there is room in America for more than one style of football," Bryan said. "There is a loud, ugly minority out there that is against this offense.

"This is standing up for the little guy in football, the schools without the numbers of kids or the big linemen. There is a huge disconnect between the players on the ground, the kids that play in this offense and the National Federation."

Bryan said if the National Federation adopts rules curtailing the use of the A-11 among NFHS members, then there will be a movement to create a federation for schools that want to use the A-11.

"What is ridiculous is there already are A-11 teams playing non-A-11 teams without incident," Bryan said. "We are playing within the rules."

Bryan said as far as he knows the opponents of the A-11 offense have not been to a game to watch the offense and examine it closely.

In the A-11, players do not wear the traditional jersey numbers for linemen: they use 1-49, and 80 through 99, which is legal. This means that all 11 players on offense can be eligible for a pass.

In essence, the offense creates an island for 11 players, spreading the defense out, and looking for one-on-one matchups.

If a player gets set on the line, and another player lines up outside that player, the inside player is ineligible to catch a pass. What the A-11 can do is have offensive players wait until the final seconds of the play clock and then take positions on the line making it difficult for the defense to know, until the last moment, which receivers are eligible.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association declared the A-11 offense was an "unsporting act" and banned its members from using the offense.

Officials from state associations who say their members cannot use the offense said the A-11 uses a loophole in the rules to deceive opponents. That loophole could get closed in the next week.

"The rule was written for a scrimmage kick exception, the number requirement, to aid in terms of long snappers and blocking situations," said Mark Dreibelbis, the supervisor of officials for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. "They are taking a rule book exception for a scrimmage kick and putting it [in] place every down of the game and that is not the intent of the rule and it is outside the spirit of the rule code and it is an attempt to deceive and attempts to deceive are unsporting acts."

Dr. Ralph Swearngin, the executive director of the Georgia High School Association, warned schools in Georgia during the 2008 season about using the A-11 because he said it broke National Federation rules.

On its Web site, the GHSA's warning said any player in a game in a scrimmage kick situation (punt, field goal, extra point) wearing jerseys 1-49 to 80-99 still "must assume an initial position on his line of scrimmage between the ends and he remains an ineligible forward-pass receiver during the down."

Bryan said it is not his intent to try and lead schools to break away from the National Federation. He has proposed a sub-federation for schools that want to play A-11 football.

"Allowing teams the right to use A-11 football if they want to is extremely viable," Bryan said. "And there are plenty of people who will be ready to help set that up so everybody wins."

Meet Bar Refaeli

Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue recently hit newsstands and this year's cover model, Bar Refaeli, is lighting up the Buzz. The drop-dead stunner is absolutely huge in Search. Ready or not, Refaeli-mania is upon us. Here's a primer on what you need to know...

Is she single?
Doubtlessly, this will be the first question asked by males, aged 13 to 99. Alas, Ms. Refaeli is off the market, and frankly, you have no shot. She's currently dating Hollywood A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio. Interestingly, rumor has it that the Titanic star campaigned to get his special lady on the cover. The men of the world thank you for your dedication, Mr. DiCaprio.

Where is she from?
Is she an alien from the planet Ogle? Was she genetically created by an elite crew of Maxim scientists? Neither, actually. Ms. Refaeli is the first Israeli model to grace SI's cover. In an interview with Time magazine, the model revealed that while she can't participate in the upcoming Israeli elections, she'd probably vote for Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

How long has she been a model?
Proud of yourself because you were bagging groceries at 15? Big whoop. Ms. Refaeli had her first modeling gig when she was 8 months old. The ad was for a baby bib, and in the Time interview, Ms. Refaeli says that it still airs on TV in her native land.

Does she "act"?
It seems like a near certainty: Pose on Sports Illustrated's cover in a bikini (or less) and you're guaranteed an acting career. Kathy Ireland, Elle Macpherson, Paulina Porizkova, Gisele Bündchen, Tyra Banks... The list goes on, but is Bar going to be on it? Yep. According to IMDb, she's set to star in a "psychological suspense drama-thriller" in which a doctor becomes obsessed with a beautiful patient. You'll never guess who Bar plays.

Alex Rodriguez admits used steroids

NEW YORK (AP)—Already the highest-paid player, Alex Rodriguez wanted to prove himself one of the greatest. Instead, he wound up atop another list: the highest-profile player to confess to cheating in baseball’s steroids era.

The All-Star third baseman, responding to a weekend Sports Illustrated report that he flunked a drug test, told ESPN on Monday he used banned substances while playing with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03 to justify his 10-year, $252 million contract.

“Back then it was a different culture,” Rodriguez said. “It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naive, and I wanted to prove to everyone that, you know, I was worth, you know—and being one of the greatest players of all time.”

He said he didn’t do it before that and quit during spring training in 2003, before the first of three AL MVP seasons, because “I’ve proved to myself and to everyone that I don’t need any of that.” He was traded to the New York Yankees before the 2004 season, and said he hasn’t used since.

The admission came two days after Sports Illustrated reported on its Web site that Rodriguez was among 104 names on a list of players who tested positive for steroids in 2003, when testing was intended to determine the extent of steroid use in baseball. The results weren’t subject to discipline and were supposed to remain anonymous, but were seized by the government in 2004 and remain under seal.

“When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day,” Rodriguez said.

“And I did take a banned substance and, you know, for that I’m very sorry and deeply regretful. And although it was the culture back then and Major League Baseball overall was very—I just feel that—You know, I’m just sorry. I’m sorry for that time. I’m sorry to fans. I’m sorry for my fans in Texas. It wasn’t until then that I ever thought about substance of any kind.”

In his first prime-time news conference, President Barack Obama called Rodriguez’s admission “depressing” news.

“And if you’re a fan of Major League Baseball, I think it tarnishes an entire era, to some degree,” Obama said. “And it’s unfortunate, because I think there were a lot of ballplayers who played it straight.”

Rodriguez said part of the reason he started using drugs was the heat in Texas.

“Can I have an edge just to get out there and play every day?” he said to himself. “You basically end up trusting the wrong people. You end up, you know, not being very careful about what you’re ingesting.”

Though Rodriguez said he experimented with a number of substances, he never provided details.

“It was such a loosey-goosey era. I’m guilty for a lot of things. I’m guilty for being negligent, naive, not asking all the right questions,” Rodriguez said. “And to be quite honest, I don’t know exactly what substance I was guilty of using.”

SI reported Rodriguez tested positive for Primobolan and testosterone.

He said he stopped using during spring training 2003, when he sustained a neck injury. It was just as baseball started its drug-testing survey. It was only in 2004 that testing with penalties began.

Rangers owner Tom Hicks said the admission caught him by surprise.

“I feel personally betrayed. I feel deceived by Alex,” Hicks said in a conference call. “He assured me that he had far too much respect for his own body to ever do that to himself.”

During those three seasons, Rodriguez led the American League in homers each year and averaged 161.7 games, 52 homers, 131.7 RBIs and a .615 slugging percentage. In the other 10 full seasons of his career, he averaged 149.2 games, 39.2 homers, 119 RBIs, and a .574 slugging percentage, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“This is three years I’m not proud of,” Rodriguez said.

The 33-year-old Rodriguez ranks 12th on the career list with 553 homers, including 52, 57 and 47 in his three seasons with the Rangers. He is 209 behind Barry Bonds’ record 762.

Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who sits on the House committee that brought Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and other baseball players to Capitol Hill in recent years, favored a congressional hearing with Rodriguez.

“It would be good perhaps for us to sit down and talk to him,” Cummings said in a telephone interview. “I would think that he would want to cooperate with us so that the Congress would have the information it may need.”

Rather than hold a news conference, as Giambi and Pettitte did for their confessionals, Rodriguez chose the controlled setting of an interview with ESPN, one of Major League Baseball’s television partners.

The interview left open many questions:

— From whom did Rodriguez obtain drugs?

— How did he pay for them?

— Did anyone help him to obtain them?

Monday’s ESPN interview directly contradicted a December 2007 interview with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” when Rodriguez said “No” when asked if he had ever used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance.

“I wasn’t even being truthful with myself,” he said Monday. “Today, I’m here to tell the truth.”

SI also reported that Gene Orza, the union’s chief operating officer, tipped off three players in September 2004 that they would be tested. Orza has denied that he did so, saying he merely reminded them late in the season that if they had not yet been tested, baseball’s drug agreement required them to be tested by the end of the regular season.

Fehr reiterated in a statement that there was no improper tipping of players.

“Any allegations that Gene Orza or any other MLBPA official acted improperly are wrong,” he said.

Rodriguez said Orza told him in August or September 2004 about the list of names that had been seized by federal investigators.

“He said there’s a government list. There’s 104 players in it. You might or might not have tested positive,” Rodriguez said.

On Friday, Rodriguez is still expected to attend an event at the University of Miami, which is renaming its baseball field in his honor.

He gave $3.9 million to the school in 2003, the largest gift ever to the Hurricanes’ baseball program and money that provided much of the resources needed for renovating the existing on-campus stadium. In return, the baseball complex will be called Mark Light Field at Alex Rodriguez Park.

Despite the scandal, the facility will continue to bear Rodriguez’s name.

Associated Press Sports Writers Dan Gelston in Philadelphia, Stephen Hawkins in Dallas, Tim Reynolds in Miami and Howard Fendrich in Washington contributed to this report.

Ferrer, Chardy reach SA Tennis Open semifinals

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Seeded favorites Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and David Ferrer cruised to easy wins and spots in the SA Tennis Open semifinals on Friday.
Top-seeded Tsonga beat seventh-seeded Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-4, 6-1, while second-seeded Ferrer defeated eighth-seeded Marcos Baghdatis 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
On Saturday, Tsonga will meet unseeded Frederico Gil of Portugal, playing in his first ATP semifinals, while Ferrer faces fifth-seeded Jeremy Chardy.
Tsonga started slow before taking advantage of a double fault that turned the momentum. He then raced through the second set in 21 minutes.
Ferrer also started slow but broke in the 11th game when Baghdatis sent a backhand long. The Spaniard then broke twice more in the second set and saved the only break point he faced.
Chardy beat Sebastien de Chaunac 7-6 (4), 6-3 in an all-French match, and Gil upset fourth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (5), 6-3.

Mexico voodoo promo gets new partner, Blockbuster

MEXICO CITY (AP)—After Radioshack dropped out, a Mexican newspaper has found a new U.S. corporate sponsor to help put a voodoo hex on the U.S. national soccer team—and end Mexico’s decade-long losing streak.

Blockbuster stores in Mexico City began trading Record newspaper coupons for voodoo-doll likenesses of U.S. soccer players Friday. The back of the dolls’ jersey reads, “Gringos.”
They should be used to wish for a Mexico goal during the World Cup qualifier Wednesday in Colombus, Ohio, according to the instructions.

Mexico has not beaten the Americans on U.S. soil in 10 years.
“Hold a needle firmly between your thumb and index finger and prick slowly the part of the doll where you want to affect the opponent,” the instructions say.
Electronics retailer RadioShack, of Forth Worth, Texas, dropped out as a distribution partner last week after learning details of the campaign.
But Record merely had to go to Dallas to find another co-sponsor, DVD and video game rental chain Blockbuster Inc. A phone message left with the company’s public relations office was not returned Friday.

But Record spokesman Daniel Paz said the promotion is lighthearted.
“In soccer, training and practice are what determine the results. The best team will win,” he said. “But without any doubt, this little doll can help the good vibes of the Mexican fans to change the history of Mexico and turn things around.”
Mexico fan Mauricio Munoz, picking up one of the Blockbuster dolls, said he doesn’t believe black magic will have any effect on his team or the winless streak.
“But in any case,” he said, “it’s a good way to have fun.”

No. 9 Xavier beats Temple 83-74

CINCINNATI (AP)—No one at Xavier has done this since David West was knocking them down.
B.J. Raymond scored 24 points and led a 3-point barrage that swept Xavier to its 11th straight win Thursday night, an 83-74 victory over Temple that kept the ninth-ranked Musketeers perfect atop the Atlantic 10.
Facing a defense that clamped down inside, Xavier (20-2, 8-0) made most of its big shots from far away, following Raymond’s lead. The senior forward went 5-of-7 from behind the arc, and freshman Brad Redford made four 3s as Xavier knocked down 11 in all.
It was Raymond’s fourth straight 20-point game, the best such scoring streak since West was a sophomore eight years ago.
“That’s my specialty—I’m a shooter,” Raymond said.

It’s been more than that. Raymond has taken it upon himself to take shots at big points of the game, even when he’s tightly guarded.
“B.J. Raymond is arguably playing right now as well as any player in the country at his position,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said.
Temple (12-9, 4-3) was looking for a bookend Top 10 upset—the Owls knocked off No. 8 Tennessee in December—but couldn’t come close as Xavier made sure the conference’s top scorer got few open shots. Dionte Christmas had only 12 points on 6-of-16 shooting.
Christmas leads the conference in scoring for the third straight season, averaging 20.5 points per game. Raymond stuck with him in Xavier’s man-to-man defense, making sure he didn’t get an open shot. Christmas missed his first four attempts—one an air ball—against the tight coverage.
“That was probably one of the best defensive performances I’ve had,” Raymond said. “It helped also that he got in foul trouble.”
Christmas seemed to get frustrated as the game went along. He picked up his third foul for bumping hard into a player he was guarding at midcourt—a poor decision. In his last two games, Christmas is 0-for-9 from behind the arc.
“They didn’t do anything special,” Christmas said. “They just played hard-nosed defense. They had B.J. Raymond on me. He has a large wingspan and is a great defender.”
Someone else would have to come up with a big game to keep Temple in it. Surprisingly, Sergio Olmos was the one to do it.
The 7-foot center didn’t even attempt a shot in Temple’s 74-65 win over Richmond on Saturday. He made hook shots and jumpers while scoring 10 points in the first half, which ended with Xavier ahead 38-34. Olmos and Lavoy Allen scored 18 of Temple’s first 20 points while Xavier chased Christmas around the court.
Xavier is one of the nation’s best at getting the ball inside and drawing fouls, so Temple took away the pass inside, leaving the perimeter open at times. The Musketeers took advantage by going 7-for-11 from behind the arc in the first half, with Raymond hitting four 3s.
In a one-minute span, Raymond and Redford combined on three 3s.
“They created some havoc for us in the first half,” Owls coach Fran Dunphy said. “The versatility—that’s what makes them so strong. We didn’t defend them very well. Their balance is terrific.”
Raymond hit another 3 during a 10-point run that put the Musketeers in control 52-39 with 13 minutes left. Reserve forward Jamel McLean had five rebounds, a putback and a free throw during the spurt.
Olmos and Lavoy couldn’t keep up their first-half pace, and things got grim for the Owls when Christmas picked up his fourth foul with 11:48 to go. Consecutive 3s by Redford pushed the lead to 17 points midway through the half. Temple never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Xavier point guard Terrell Holloway sprained his left foot during an 82-80 win over Massachusetts on Saturday, leaving his availability in doubt. He started and moved well, but was ineffective—finishing with five turnovers and was 0-for-4 from the field.
“Terrell has to play better,” Miller said. “The (foot) is fine. We’re playing in spite of him. He’s got to make better decisions. He can’t throw the ball to the other team.”

NBA corrects stats, LeBron loses triple-double

CLEVELAND (AP)—LeBron James never saw this steal coming.
Two days after Cleveland’s superstar recorded an apparent historic triple-double in a 107-102 win against the New York Knicks, the NBA stripped James of one of his 10 rebounds after reviewing game tape. The league said the rebound with 39.3 seconds left should have been credited to Cavaliers center Ben Wallace, who tapped a loose ball that James grabbed.
Wallace finished with two rebounds but probably should have had more as several tip-outs were not scored as rebounds by the stats crew at Madison Square Garden.
A release from the league said: “All NBA games are reviewed to ensure the accuracy of the game statistics.”
James finished with 52 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
If his triple-double had stood, it would have been the first 50-point game in a triple-double since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. Instead, James lost it and the Cavaliers were dealt a second slap from the league as point guard Mo Williams was not picked—for the second time—as an All-Star reserve on Thursday.
With Orlando guard Jameer Nelson out with a shoulder injury, commissioner David Stern selected Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen over Williams, a slight that drew criticism from Cleveland owner Dan Gilbert and several Cavaliers. Williams, who is averaging 17.1 points for the Central-leading Cavs, was also left off the team in a vote by Eastern Conference coaches.
“Ben Wallace was right when he called Mo originally being passed over for the All-Star game a shamockery,” Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said in a tongue-in-cheek e-mail to The Associated Press. “But not naming him as the natural and obvious replacement for the unfortunately injured Jameer Nelson is stupidiculous, idillogical and preposterageous.”
Earlier this week, James called Williams’ initial snub as “a total smack in the face.”
The Cavaliers, who will put their 23-game home winning streak on the line Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers, are using Williams’ omission as motivation.
“He has played so well all year long and we’ve played great,” forward Wally Szczerbiak said. “Obviously LeBron is what makes our team tick, but there are other guys out there on the floor, especially Mo, who are contributing a lot. It’s a real injustice that Mo didn’t make it. I don’t know, maybe the coaches haven’t seen him enough. I can’t understand why.
“He’s made big shots and made big plays for us. What are you going to do? We’ll just move forward and use it as motivation.”
Cleveland will be represented in Phoenix by James as well as coach Mike Brown and his staff. Brown, though, feels the Cavaliers deserved more.
“It’s unfortunate that at the end of the day Boston has three guys and Orlando has three guys and we have one,” he said after practice on Friday. “LeBron is a hell of a player, but I wonder in people’s minds, what does that say about the rest of our team? Defensively we’re No. 1. I think our points per game differential is No. 1 Obviously, our record is what it is.
“There are a lot of things stat-wise that show we’re a pretty good team. For us not to be represented by multiple guys is disappointing.”
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