Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 5-10-16 Online Edition

SportsBucs Teammate Guarantees Jameis Winston
Lightning Oust Islanders With Game 5 Rout
Lightning defenseman Vic- tor Hedman scoring in the first period.
The end came quickly, and somewhat mercifully, for the- Islanders, who acquitted themselves well even as they will lament two soul-crushing overtime home losses in their Eastern conference semifinal series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But amid the quiet, clipped answers in the Islanders’ locker room and clatter of team gear being packed, the haunting facts remained.
After winning Game 1 here at Amalie Arena, the Islanders lost the next four games, swept aside by a combination of su- perior Tampa Bay talent and tough luck. It culminated in a 4-0 shutout in Game 5 on Sun- day that ended the Islanders’ longest playoff run in 23 years and lifted the Lightning to their second consecutive ap- pearance in the Eastern Con- ference finals.
Tampa Bay will face the winner of the Pittsburgh- Washington series for a chance to reach the Stanley Cup finals.
Bucs Sign Hargreaves To A 4-Year, $14.2M Deal
Will Win MVP Award
On Friday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced they had signed their first-round pick from the University of Florida, Vernon Harg- reaves. Hargreaves agreed to a 4-year, $14.2 million dear that included an $8.5M sign- ing bonus and a fifth-year club option.
After agreeing to the con- tract, Hargreaves who at- tended high school locally at Wharton, went outside and started working out. He led the defensive backs through drills at rookie minicamp, showing his quick feet, smooth transition, and charge of direction.
While competing against the offense, Hargreaves moved from outside playing cornerback to the slot inside as the nickel during passing downs without a problem.
Entering the 2015 NFL season, there were a couple skeptics who thought former FSU football star was going to be a bust in the pros after being the top overall pick in that year’s draft.
When the 16 regular sea- son game schedule was done, Jameis Winston be- came just the third rookie quarterback to throw for over 4,000 yards in his first season in the pros. Win- ston would end the year with 4,042 yards, 22 touch- downs and just 15 intercep- tions (with eight of those coming in a three game pe- riod).
As the offseason work be- gins for the 2016 season, the
JAMEIS WINSTON
sky is the limit for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season with Winston under center. One of his teammates, de- fensive tackle Gerald McCoy, thinks Winston will end the season as the best player in the league based off his current practice schedule.
VERNON HARGREAVES
Winning with his home- town team would mean more to Hargreaves. On Friday, he wore the Under Armour cleats he broke out at the combine in February with “Tampa” painted on the sides. Over the next two nights, he and his rookie teammates will stay in hotel but he planned to visit his mother for some of her fa- mous chicken fettuccine and garlic bread as soon as prac- tice ended Sunday.
Pender Accused Of Choking Woman, Dragging Her By Hair
Steve Kerr: Stephen Curry Making Progress But Doubtful For Monday
Florida State University running back Mario Pen- der was arrested Saturday after police say he dragged his girlfriend by her hair and choked her.
The 22-year-old, who was dismissed from the team Saturday evening, faces charges of domestic battery by strangulation and resist- ing an officer without vio- lence.
A Tallahassee Police De- partment report released early Sunday morning said the incident occurred during an argument on Sharkey Street, a little more than a half mile south of Doak Campbell Stadium.
A 911 caller told dispatch- ers about 9:50 a.m. that a man and a woman had been arguing in the front yard. The two then started walking down the street. At one point, the man dragged the woman by the hair about 50 feet to the house. The caller told dispatchers similar inci- dents involving the two had occurred before.
The first TPD officer on the scene heard a woman screaming inside the one- story home and a man yelling at her. Court docu- ments said the officer
MARIO PENDER
pushed the front door open and found Pender strad- dling the woman with his hands around her neck.
The officer then pointed their gun at Pender and commanded him to get off the woman and lie on the ground. Pender, court doc- uments said, told the officer the two were "just wrestling." He got off the woman and was handcuffed.
The woman, who is the mother of Pender's 1-year- old child, told the officers the two were in the process of ending their 10-year rela- tionship. She was disheveled and injured. The officer said she had scratches to her left temple and chest, a bruised right eye and several scratches and marks on her neck. Pender's shirt was tornandhehadacutonhis lip, court documents said.
Paul George Posts Touching Message To Former Pacers
Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr on Sunday characterized the status of point guard Stephen Curry as doubtful for Game 4 versus the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
"I would just say he's doubtful for tomorrow but slowly and surely making progress," Kerr said.
Curry hasn't suited up for action since he sprained his right MCL when he slipped on a damp spot of the floor in a win over the Houston Rock- ets in Game 4 in the first
STEPHEN CURRY round. Although Curry said
earlier last week that he hoped he could play in Game 3 of this series, the Warriors have exercised caution with him and eased him into on- court drills.
Coach Frank Vogel
For the
first time in
his NBA ca-
reer, Indiana
Pacers star
Paul
George will
have a head
coach not PAUL GEORGE named
Frank Vogel. The Pacers opted last week not to renew Vogel's deal despite guiding the team to the playoffs five of the six years he was head coach.
George, a three-time All- Star under Vogel, posted a photo of himself and his for- mer coach, thanking Vogel for being "one of the most influen- tial men in my life!"
"To one of the most influen- tial men in my life," George writes. "Our relationship and love doesn't end here.. Thank you for the journey and the memories we shared together! This pic sums up our relation- ship the best.. You talk I lis- ten... And we figure it out together! Look forward to the wink the first basket I make while you're coaching against me."
Michael Jordan Says Tiger Woods Wishes He Could Retire
Begay that he "knows" his next comeback will be his last, while Jordan does not sound optimistic that it would be a success. Woods will likely still go down as the best golfer of his generation if not of all time, but the ques- tion of what place Tiger Woods' personal legacy to himself will hold in his heart is yet to be decided. He posted on his website the Fri- day before Masters week, "I've been hitting balls and training daily, but I'm not physically ready". Once, while speaking with Thompson for the story, MJ tried calling Woods.
No date has yet been re- vealed of when Woods will return to professional action, Reports from America claim he is now practising on courses near his home but is not near a return to the PGA Tour. I don't know if it had anything to do with color.
TIGER WOODS
Dan Sullivan, tourna- ment director at The Memo- rial, was out of town until Monday and could not be reached for comment. "So I had talks with him I can say, Tiger is moving step by step towards his goal". ESPN's Wright Thompson wrote a lengthy and compelling pro- file, published Thursday, of the 14-time major champion who has fallen from grace fol- lowing his father's death in 2006.
Woods' agent Mark Steinberg, however, told Golf Channel "there is no timetable" for the player's re- turn.
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2016