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2B Daily News – Tuesday, November 22, 2011 Goldson says he lost his Verlander wins AL MVP, cool in throwing punches SANTA CLARA (AP) — San Francisco 49ers safety Dashon Goldson insists his fight with Ari- zona wide receiver Early Doucet was a one-time transgression and said he addressed his teammates and coaches after Sunday's 23-7 win over the Car- dinals regarding the mistake. At the end of a play early in the fourth quarter, Goldson was down away from the ball when he got blindsided and slapped on the back of the helmet by Doucet. Goldson jumped up, confronted him and both began swinging wildly. Goldson then threw a series of punches to Doucet's facemask and received a 15-yard personal foul penalty before being ejected. ''What happened is he was running his route and we kind of ran into each other and we both fell. I'm looking around to see if the ref saw anything and all I feel is two punches to the head,'' Goldson said Monday. ''I just got up and retaliated. It wasn't a smart thing. It wasn't a smart decision on my behalf. I kind of lost it. That's just something I can't do as a vet and as a leader on this football team. I expressed that to my football team yester- day and to my coaches and let them know I'm will- ing to accept my punishment whatever the case may be and it won't happen again.'' NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in an email that the league doesn't plan to suspend Goldson, who will get word on a potential fine when they are handed down Friday. Doucet said after the game that Goldson took a ''cheap shot'' but he also expects to be fined. ''The ball was thrown and he took a cheap shot at me,'' Doucet said. ''I fell, then I got up. The refs didn't throw the flag. Then I just lost my cool, then I went after him and we had the little scuffle.'' 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, whose team is riding an eight-game winning streak and has been in con- trol of the NFC West lead for weeks, questioned the idea that a player can't retaliate. He would like to see referees also flag the first offender, which in this case he says was Doucet. ''Dashon was punched in the back of the head. And then retaliated. What I think needs to be addressed is this mindset that you can't retaliate,'' Harbaugh said. ''Obviously they're not going to see the first one — it's always the second guy that gets caught. And that's the one who's going to get flagged. ... But the first one needs to get addressed. It needs to be officiated and it needs to be a foul. Otherwise, and you wonder if people do it, as soon as the whistle's blown, 'Hey, get the first shot in.''' The 27-year-old Goldson signed a one-year con- tract as a free agent in August and has started every game during the 2009 and '10 seasons. He has eight starts this year, with 45 tackles, three inter- ceptions and a forced fumble. Goldson — a fourth-round draft pick out of Washington in 2007 — has spent his entire career with San Francisco. Whatever the circumstances on Sunday, Goldson said he won't lose his cool like that again. ''It was more kind of anger and disrespect, all those things. I really didn't feel anything, I just felt two punches, like it was kind of a cheap shot and I retaliated,'' he said. ''Just adrenalin going in the heat of the moment. You're just out there throwing punches.'' NFL (Continued from page 1B) now Jackson is taking a different tack. ''At the end of the day, we still need to get better at doing what we do, but on top of that I just want to make sure that just because we do need to get better in some areas people aren't saying, 'OK, let's have a great day throwing this flag today because there's the Raiders out here,''' Jackson said. ''I think it's been addressed and we'll go forward.'' In years past, penalties played a role in the Raiders' struggles. Oak- land has committed at least 100 penalties every year since 2000, including dur- ing a run of eight straight seasons without a winning record. So far, the Raiders (6-4) have been able to over- come the penalties and are in first place in the AFC West. ''We've got better play- ers than we had in the past,'' Kelly said. ''I've been around here eight years so I pretty much know what we've had in this locker room and we have better players. But we're also making the job a lot harder than we have to. We say that to ourselves a lot on the sideline. But in the end all you've got to do is win the game.'' Notes: K Sebastian Janikowski is still hampered by an injured left hamstring and had a 49-yard FG attempt blocked. ... WR Darrius Heyward-Bey was feeling better a day after being carted off the field with his neck stabilized after a scary collision with Minnesota linebacker E.J. Henderson. ... Jackson said he would not know the status of running back Darren McFadden and receiver Jacoby Ford until later in the week. Both players have been sidelined by a sprained foot. 1st starter in 25 years NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Verlander figured time had run out on his chance to become the first starting pitcher in a quarter-century to be voted Most Valuable Player. Last Tuesday, he found out about 12:40 p.m. that he was a unanimous winner of the AL Cy Young Award. It was closing in on 1 p.m. Monday, and he still hadn't gotten word on the MVP. ''I had told myself that it wasn't going to happen,'' he said. ''I figured somebody else got the call.'' Not to worry, there was just a slight delay because Verlander didn't give the Baseball Writers' Associa- tion of America his telephone number, forcing the BBWAA to relay the news through Brian Britten, the Detroit Tigers' director of media relations. Britten telephoned Verlander at 12:56 p.m., about one hour before the announcement. ''It was just a weight off my shoulders,'' Verlander said, ''and pure elation, really.'' After winning the AL's pitching triple crown by going 24-5 with a 2.40 ERA and 250 strikeouts, Ver- lander received 13 of 28 first-place votes and 280 points. He became the first pitcher voted MVP since Oakland's Dennis Eckersley in 1992 and the first starting pitcher since Boston's Roger Clemens in 1986. ''Obviously pitchers are not just written off all of a sudden because they're pitchers,'' Verlander said. Boston center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury was second with four firsts and 242 points, followed by Toronto right fielder Jose Bautista with five firsts and 231 points, Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson with 215 and Detroit first baseman Miguel Cabrera with 193. Recent history has been against pitchers. Since Eckersley's win, only once had a pitcher finished as high as second. In 1999, Boston's Pedro Martinez was 13 points behind Texas catcher Ivan Rodriguez after going 23- 4 with a 2.07 ERA and 313 strikeouts. Martinez had eight first-place votes to seven for Rodriguez, but La Velle Neal of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and George King of the New York Post left Martinez off their ballots. ''Not even in my wildest dreams had I thought of this,'' Verlander said during a conference call from his home in Virginia. ''I want to say this is a dream come true. I can't say that because my dream had already had come true ... to win a Cy Young. And the next dream is to win a World Series. This wasn't even on my radar until the talk started. And then all of a sudden it was a this-could-actually-happen type of thing.'' Verlander had the most wins in the major leagues since Oakland's Bob Welch went 27-6 in 1990. Ver- lander pitched his second career no-hitter at Toronto on May 7. His season reopened debate over whether pitchers can be MVPs. ''I think that a starting pitcher has to do something special to be as valuable or more so than a position player,'' Verlander said. ''Obviously, having the chance to play in 160-some games in the case of Miguel, they can obviously have a huge impact every day. That's why, I've talked about on my day, on a pitcher's day, the impact we have is tremendous on that game. So you have to have a great impact almost every time out to supersede (position players) and it happens on rare occasions, and I guess this year was one of those years.'' Verlander, the 2006 AL Rookie of the Year, joined the Brooklyn Dodgers' Don Newcombe as the only players to win all three major awards in their careers. ''I think this set a precedent,'' Verlander said. ''I'm happy that the voters acknowledged that, that we do have a major impact in this game and we can be extremely valuable to our team and its success.'' Verlander appeared on only 27 ballots and was omitted by Jim Ingraham of The Herald-News in Ohio, who voted Bautista first. Sheldon Ocker of the Akron Beacon Journal voted Verlander eighth. Ingraham doesn't think pitchers should be eligible. ''I'd wrestled with this for a long time. If I was ever going to vote for pitcher for MVP, it would be him this year,'' Ingraham said. ''He hasn't appeared in 79 percent of their games, any starting pitcher real- ly doesn't appear in 79 percent of his team's games in a year. ''Would you vote for an NFL quarterback for MVP if he only appeared in three of his team's 16 games, which would be 21 percent? So that's part of it. Another part of it is I think they're apples and oranges. The guys that are in there every day, there's a grind to a season that a starting pitcher doesn't, I don't think, experience the way the everyday position players do playing 150, 160 games.'' Other pitchers to win MVP and Cy Young in the same year are Newcombe (1956), Los Angeles' Sandy Koufax (1963), St. Louis' Bob Gibson and Detroit's Denny McLain (1968), Oakland's Vida Blue (1971), Milwaukee's Rollie Fingers (1981) and Detroit's Willie Hernandez (1984). Since Mickey Cochrane (1934), Hank Greenberg (1935, 1940) and Charley Gehringer (1937), all Tigers voted MVP have been pitchers, with Verlander joining Hal Newhouser (1944 and 1945), McLain and Hernandez. ''He deserved it,'' Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski said. ''He should have won it, but I did- n't know how voters would respond because the talk of some people not wanting to vote for a pitcher.'' NOTES: While Verlander earned a $500,000 Friday November 25th ONE DAY ONLY! Gift Certificates Available 3 month student membership $ 150 3 month couple special $ 20% off 6 month and annual memberships $ 20 1 month unlimited tanning All sales are final. 2 month limit on tanning per person. 20% discount on membership compared to monthly rates. No refunds on any gift certificates. Tehama Family Fitness Center 2498 South Main St. • 528-8656 www.tehamafamilyfitness.com 89 bonus for winning the Cy Young, he didn't have an MVP bonus provision. Tampa's Evan Longoria receives $25,000 for finishing 10th. ... The NL MVP winner will be announced Tuesday, with the Los Angeles Dodgers' Matt Kemp the favorite and Milwaukee's Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder also receiving attention. Pats beat Chiefs FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The Tom Brady- Rob Gronkowski connec- tion kept clicking. So did the New England Patriots' defense and special teams. Brady threw two touch- down passes to Gronkowski, Julian Edelman returned a punt 72 yards for another score and Kyle Arrington had two interceptions to help the Patriots beat the Kansas City Chiefs 34-3 on Monday night. The Patriots (7-3) increased their AFC East lead to two games. The Chiefs (4-6) weren't expected to do much on offense behind untested quarterback Tyler Palko, making his first career start with Matt Cassel injured. And they didn't, managing just a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Succop with 1:30 left in the first quarter for their only lead. With Gronkowski col- lecting his ninth and 10th TD receptions of the year, the Patriots had their second straight dominant game after beating the New York Jets 37-16. The Chiefs lost their third straight. The Patriots didn't gener- ate much of an attack during their first four series. There were with three punts and a fumble by Brady that was recovered by Kansas City's Allen Bailey on the first play of the second quarter. And on his next series, Brady was sacked twice. Then the protection NCAA FOOTBALL Top 25 Schedule Friday's games No. 1 LSU vs. No. 3 Arkansas,11:30 a.m. No. 8 Houston at Tulsa, 9 a.m. No. 22 Nebraska vs. Iowa, 9 a.m. Saturday's games No. 2 Alabama at Auburn, 12:30 p.m. No.4 Stanford vs.No.22 Notre Dame, 5 p.m. No. 6 Vir.Tech at No. 24 Virginia, 12:30 p.m. No. 7 Boise State vs.Wyoming, 11 a.m. No. 9 Oregon vs. Oregon St., 12:30 p.m. No. 10 Southern Cal vs. UCLA, 7 p.m. No. 11 Michigan St. at Northwestern, 9 a.m. No. 12 Oklahoma vs. Iowa State, 9 a.m. No. 13 Georgia at No.25 Ga.Tech, 9 a.m. No.14 S. Car. vs.No. 18 Clemson, 4:45 p.m. No. 15 Wisc. vs.No.20 Penn St., 12:30 p.m. No. 17 Michigan vs. Ohio State, 9 a.m. No. 21 Baylor vs. Texas Tech, 4 p.m. NFL AFC West WL T Pct PF PA RAIDERS 64 0 .600 235 254 Denver 5 5 0 .500 205 247 Kansas City 4 6 0 .400 144 252 Chargers 4 6 0 .400 236 259 East WL T Pct PF PA N. England 7 3 0 .700 293 203 N.Y. Jets 5 5 0 .500 228 217 Buffalo 5 5 0 .500 237 253 Miami South Houston 7 3 0 .700 273 166 Tennessee 5 5 0 .500 203 195 Jacksonville 3 7 0 .300 125 180 Indianapolis 0 10 0 .000 131 300 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 7 3 0 .700 256 176 Pittsburgh 7 3 0 .700 220 179 Cincinnati 6 4 0 .600 236 195 Cleveland 4 6 0 .400 145 193 NFC West WL T Pct PF PA 49ERS 91 0 .900 256 145 Seattle 4 6 0 .400 168 209 Arizona 3 7 0 .300 190 236 St. Louis 2 8 0 .200 120 247 East Dallas WL T Pct PF PA 6 4 0 .600 250 206 N.Y. Giants 6 4 0 .600 228 228 Philadelphia 4 6 0 .400 237 213 Washington 3 7 0 .300 160 205 South WL T Pct PF PA N. Orleans 7 3 0 .700 313 228 Atlanta 6 4 0 .600 235 213 Tampa Bay 4 6 0 .400 182 268 Carolina 2 8 0 .200 225 286 North Green Bay 10 0 0 1.000355 212 Detroit WL T Pct PF PA 7 3 0 .700 301 219 Chicago 7 3 0 .700 268 207 Minnesota 2 8 0 .200 200 271 —————————————————— Week 11 results Thursday's result Denver 17, N.Y. Jets 13 Sunday's results Oakland 27, Minnesota 21 San Francisco 23, Arizona 7 Atlanta 23, Tennessee 17 Baltimore 31, Cincinnati 24 Chicago 31, San Diego 20 Cleveland 14, Jacksonville 10 Dallas 27, Washington 24, OT Detroit 49, Carolina 35 Green Bay 35, Tampa Bay 26 Miami 35, Buffalo 8 Philadelphia 17, N.Y. Giants 10 Seattle 24, St. Louis 7 Monday's result New England 34, Kansas City 3 Week 12 schedule Thursday's games San Francisco at Baltimore, 5:20 p.m. Green Bay at Detroit, 9:30 a.m. Miami at Dallas, 1:15 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27 Chicago at Oakland, 1:05 p.m. Arizona at St. Louis, 10 a.m. Buffalo at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m. Carolina at Indianapolis, 10 a.m. Cleveland at Cincinnati, 10 a.m. Houston at Jacksonville, 10 a.m. Minnesota at Atlanta, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Tennessee, 10 a.m. Washington at Seattle, 1:05 p.m. Denver at San Diego, 1:15 p.m. New England at Philadelphia, 1:15 p.m. Pittsburgh at Kansas City, 5:20 p.m. Monday's game N.Y. Giants at New Orleans, 5:30 p.m. 3 7 0 .300 193 186 WL T Pct PF PA improved and Brady, who had thrown for just 19 yards in the first quarter, took advantage, leading three consecutive scoring drives. He connected with Gronkowski for a 52-yard score when which the tight end caught the ball over the middle and scampered the last 35 yards, barely manag- ing to remain inbounds on the right side as he neared the end zone. Arrington, who leads the NFL with seven intercep- tions, got his first of the game on Kansas City's next series and Stephen Gostkowski made it 10-3 at halftime with a 21-yard field goal. The Patriots got the ball to start the third quarter and marched 85 yards on nine plays, scoring on Brady's 19-yard pass to Gronkows- ki, who somersaulted into the right corner of the end zone after being hit by Der- rick Johnson. Gronkowski has 20 touchdowns in 26 games. NCAA HOOPS The Top Twenty Five The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first- place votes in parentheses, records through Nov. 20, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking: 1. N. Carolina (62) 3-0 1,621 1 2. Kentucky Record Pts Prv 4-0 1,528 2 3. Ohio St. (1) 4. UConn (2) 5. Syracuse 6. Duke 7. Louisville 8. Memphis 9. Baylor 10. Florida 13. Alabama 14. Kansas 15. Michigan 16. Marquette 17. Pittsburgh 18.Vanderbilt 19. Gonzaga 20. California 21. Missouri 22. Florida St. 23. Arizona 3-0 1,493 3 4-0 1,426 4 4-0 1,353 5 4-0 1,305 6 3-0 1,186 8 1-0 1,123 10 3-0 1,079 11 2-1 998 7 11. Wisconsin 3-0 916 14 12. Xavier 3-0 912 13 5-0 820 16 1-1 717 12 3-0 587 17 4-0 558 21 2-1 524 9 3-1 468 18 3-0 454 22 3-0 420 23 3-0 327 24 4-0 323 25 4-1 273 15 24. Mississippi St. 4-1 215 — 25. Texas A&M 3-1 108 19 Others receiving votes: Cleveland St. 94, Michigan St. 58, Creighton 48, Cincinnati 30, Washington 27, UNLV 23, Villanova 18, Temple 14, San Diego St. 12, Saint Mary's (Cal) 9, Kent St. 7, Oregon St. 7, Belmont 6, Saint Louis 6, Long Beach St. 4, New Mexico St. 4, Notre Dame 4, Pur- due 4, Texas 4, Harvard 3, Georgetown 2, Illinois 2, Middle Tennessee 2, Marshall 1, Minnesota 1, West Virginia 1. Top 25 Schedule Monday's results No. 3 Ohio State 85, North Florida 50 No. 6 Duke 77, Tennessee 66 No. 15 Michigan 73, No. 8 Memphis 61 No. 10 Florida 78 Wright State 65 No. 14 Kansas vs. Georgetown, late No. 16 Marquette 59, Norfolk State 57 No. 18 Vanderbilt 64, Oregon State 62 No. 20 California 70, Georgia 46 No. 21 Missouri 87, Notre Dame 58 No. 24 Miss. St. 78 Louisiana-Monroe 63 Today's games No. 1 N. Carolina vs. Tenn. St., 4:30 p.m. No. 6 Duke vs No. 15 Michigan, 4 p.m. No. 7 Louisville vs. Arkansas State, 4 p.m. No. 8 Memphis vs Tennessee, 11 a.m. No. 9 Baylor vs. S. Carolina St., 7 p.m. No. 11 Wisconsin vs. UMKC, 5 p.m. No. 14 Kansas vs TBD No. 17 Pittsburgh vs. La Salle, 4 p.m. No. 20 California vs. No. 21 Missouri NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA SHARKS 12 5 1 25 57 43 Dallas 12 8 0 24 53 55 Phoenix 10 6 3 23 54 49 Kings Ducks Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Chicago 12 6 3 27 71 67 Nashville 10 5 4 24 53 48 Detroit 11 7 1 23 53 43 St. Louis 10 7 2 22 48 43 Columbus 5 13 2 12 47 70 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Minnesota 12 5 3 27 47 40 Edmonton 10 8 2 22 51 49 Vancouver 10 9 1 21 58 57 Colorado 9 11 1 19 56 65 Calgary 8 10 1 17 42 51 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA Pittsburgh 12 6 3 27 65 50 Philadelphia11 6 3 25 73 62 N.Y. Rangers10 4 3 23 47 38 New Jersey 10 8 1 21 52 54 N.Y.Islanders 5 10 3 13 35 61 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 12 7 0 24 65 39 Buffalo 12 8 0 24 58 51 Toronto 11 8 2 24 63 69 Ottawa 10 9 2 22 62 70 Montreal 9 9 3 21 53 50 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Florida 11 6 3 25 60 51 Washington 11 7 1 23 62 59 Tampa Bay 9 8 2 20 54 60 Winnipeg 8 9 3 19 58 65 Carolina 8 11 3 19 53 72 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. —————————————————— Monday's results Boston 1, Montreal 0 Carolina 4, Philadelphia 2 Columbus 4, Calgary 1 Dallas 4, Edmonton 1 Florida 4, New Jersey 3 Pittsburgh 5, N.Y. Islanders 0 Washington 4, Phoenix 3 Today's games Los Angeles at St. Louis, 4:30 p.m. Toronto at Tampa Bay, 4:30 p.m. Edmonton at Nashville, 5 p.m. Wednesday's games Chicago at San Jose, 7:30 p.m. Boston at Buffalo, 4 p.m. Calgary at Detroit, 4 p.m. Columbus at New Jersey, 4 p.m. Montreal at Carolina, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Winnipeg at Washington, 4 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Florida, 4:30 p.m. Nashville at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Los Angeles at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Anaheim at Phoenix, 6 p.m. Vancouver at Colorado, 6:30 p.m. 10 7 3 23 49 48 6 10 4 16 41 61