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2B Daily News – Friday, February 3, 2012 Super Bowl Notebook INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The head of the NFL Players Association insists the league won't ''bully'' its way to a test for human growth hor- mone. At his annual Super Bowl news conference, NFLPA executive direc- tor DeMaurice Smith said talks con- tinue in a bid to resolve the impasse over adding HGH to the NFL's testing program — six months after the labor deal ending the lockout included a provision to allow checking for that performance-enhancing drug once players approved the process. Originally, the league hoped it could start testing for HGH as soon as Week 1 of this season. Now there's no certainty it'll happen by the beginning of next season. ''No one will bully us into a test,'' Smith said Thursday. ''No one will force the players to accept something that's unfair. How could we?'' The union has raised questions about the detection methods and appeals process. ''We are going to continue to fight and ensure that due process is some- thing that is not thrown away at the expense of just having the test,'' said Smith, who is up for re-election in March. A year ago this week, he fielded question after question about then- ongoing negotiations for a new col- lective bargaining agreement. Even- tually, there would be a lockout — NFLPA spokesman George Atallah referred Thursday to the ''L word'' — before a new 10-year labor deal was signed. ''We have had a tumultuous and event-filled year in the business of football, but it is a great feeling to stand here today knowing that the conversations about our business and our union will not be about how to save them but about the agenda we are looking to set so we can grow them together,'' Atallah said. Smith said the issues of most con- cern now are current players' health and safety, health care for former players, and painkillers, a topic not frequently discussed in such settings. Smith spoke about confronting the ''issue of painkillers and the use of painkillers, not only on game days and practice days, but how that issue of using painkilling drugs continues to be an issue for our players and our men and their families long after foot- ball is over.'' By JON KRAWCZYNSKI AP Sports Writer After every Minneso- Asked about last month's announcement that the St. Louis Rams would play one game in Lon- don in each of the next three seasons, Smith said that plan ''raises some sig- nificant concerns about the health and safety of the players, given the trans- portation, given the jet lag. ... One significant issue for our players is the length of time they have to travel in planes before and after games.'' He said he thought the London games should be discussed by the NFL and NFLPA. Smith also did not rule out the pos- sibility of returning to a discussion of an 18-game regular season, some- thing the NFL pursued at the outset of labor negotiations. ''The lesson from the ... lockout and the labor fight was that it is important to consider everything,'' Smith said. ———— BREES TALKS DEFENSE: Record-setting Saints quarterback Drew Brees thinks the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl might be more of a defensive struggle than expected. The Giants and Patriots have two of the NFL's top offenses — but also two of the weakest defenses. ''It's interesting how those games shake out, though,'' Brees said Thurs- day at an appearance for NFL PLAY 60 at Super Bowl headquarters. ''The minute you start talking about two high-powered offenses, the defenses take exception to that and they come out and play exceptionally well.'' Case in point: During the 2007 season, the Patriots beat the Giants 38-35 in the regular-season finale, and a few weeks later, the Giants won the Super Bowl 17-14 and ended New England's bid for a perfect season. ''Anything can happen,'' he said, declining to predict a winner. ''You're talking about two great teams, two great coaches, two elite quarterbacks. So it should be a great game.'' ——— BRANDON THE BOXER: Giants running back Brandon Jacobs is proud of his athletic achievements on the football field — and in the boxing ring. Although it's been a long time since Jacobs put on boxing gloves, he readily brings up his 35-2 record as an amateur heavyweight. He won the Louisiana AAU state championship before giving it up and sticking to football at Southern Illi- nois. ''They are two whole different sports,'' Jacobs said. ''Nothing about them is the same. ''Boxing is not a team sport; everything depends on you in that ring. In football, one guy can rely on another to help him succeed. In box- ing, if you don't succeed, it's only because of you.'' Jacobs makes it sound as if he wasn't much of a stylist in the ring. Now 6-foot-4, 264 pounds, he was a bit less imposing physically back then. Not much less imposing, though. ''I'd go in and catch 'em with a few good left hands and stop them. It never got to the point that I knocked anybody out cold,'' he said. ''I have no regrets about boxing, and I still got the true AAU state trophy at home. It doesn't matter if you knock out some- one or not.'' Jacobs didn't need to debate long which sport to pursue. ''I wasn't certain if I wanted to do it,'' he said about boxing, ''and if you have doubts or questions about doing something that dangerous, you shouldn't do it.'' ——— RECORDS IN JEOPARDY: Super Bowl records could fall when two of the top five passing attacks in the NFL take to the air on Sunday. Tom Brady's New England Patri- ots averaged 317.8 yards passing, sec- ond most in the league. Eli Manning's New York Giants ranked fifth at 295.9. Kurt Warner has the three most productive games in Super Bowl his- tory, topped by the 414 yards he threw for when the St. Louis Rams beat the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in 2000. Brady and Drew Brees share the record for Super Bowl completions with 32. This season, Brady averaged 25.1 completions, Manning 22.4. Receiving marks also could be erased. Each team vying for the Lom- bardi Trophy has three dangerous pass-catchers: Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez for the Patriots, and Hakeem Nicks, Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham for the Giants. Welker led the NFL with 122 catches, 7.6 per game. He already shares the Super Bowl record of 11 with Jerry Rice, Dan Ross and teammate Deion Branch. Rice holds the record for most yards receiving with 215. Condensed season challenging NBA players' bodies ies. ta Timberwolves game, Anthony Tolliver can be found sitting in front of his locker with ice packs on his knees and wrist and a heavy wrap on his lower back. Tolliver took a nasty fall early in the season when he was undercut near the basket, and the NBA's break-neck, con- densed season doesn't offer much time to recover. The games keep coming, and so do the injuries as the abbreviated training camp and condensed game schedule take their toll. ''What's kind of stunk about this presea- son was that it was so short,'' Tolliver said. ''Our bodies didn't get acclimated to playing this many games in this many nights. ... You'll probably see more injuries, on average, this year, than other years because of that fact.'' The lockout prevent- ed players from work- ing out with athletic trainers at team head- quarters all summer long and shortened the preseason from eight exhibition games to two before they started a regular season that crams 66 games into about four months. According to STATS LLC, 727 games were missed during the first 307 games of the regu- lar season due to injuries and illness. That's actually 111 fewer games missed than at the same point last season, but the nature of the injuries that are cropping up hint at the stress being put on the players' bod- Pulled muscles, twisted ankles, turf toe - - all ailments that are typically seen in ath- letes who step onto the court unprepared for the rigors of a game played at full speed. Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose, Dwyane Wade, Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Eric Gor- don, Luol Deng, Richard Hamilton, JJ Barea and Stephen Curry are among the many players who have missed time early this season with injuries. ''It's something that you really can't prepare for, no matter what you've done in the sum- mertime,'' Celtics cen- ter Jermaine O'Neal said. ''It's kind of a quick schedule, every- thing is compressed, so you've just got to try and do the best thing you can do. You've already seen a lot of injuries throughout the league, kind of like football.'' Then there are guys like Manu Ginobili (broken hand) and Kwame Brown and Al Horford, both of whom are out more than three months with torn pec- toral muscles, who have suffered more serious injuries. ''Those are strange (injuries) in basket- ball,'' Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said of Hor- ford and Brown. ''You just don't see that. Those are football and weight-lifting injuries. You see a lot of defen- sive linemen, offensive linemen and weightlifters get those injuries. The time I've been in the league, I can't remember another guy with a torn pec. It's a strange injury for our league.'' This has quickly become a strange sea- son. Players watched union leaders battle the league's owners all summer, a feud that stretched into Novem- ber before both sides finally reached an accord. And once they did, it was a frenetic push to get started and save as many games as possible. Some players proba- bly assumed that the season was lost, and instead they were essen- tially given two weeks to get into game shape. That wasn't enough time for Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki, who recently sat out four games to work on his conditioning and rehab a sore right knee. ''Players and athletes are creatures of habit,'' Kings coach Keith Smart said. ''They have a time and a clock in their body makeup as to where their bodies need to be at a certain time. That was changed dras- tically this year, but we're just glad every- one's back in the busi- ness of playing basket- ball. ''But you didn't have that luxury of a long training camp where guys can work them- selves into shape, so you can put more stress on your body.'' The stress is like no season that has come before it. Teams are occasionally playing three times in three nights, and a two-day break to rest and rehab aching body parts is a rarity. Even some of the most durable players in the game are being affected. Kobe Bryant is playing through the pain of an injured right wrist and Barea, who missed a total of eight games over the last three years for the Mav- ericks, has already missed 15 games in his first season in Minneso- ta because of a strained left hamstring and sprained left ankle. ''Everybody's get- ting hurt,'' Barea said. ''You've just got to be patient and you have to really be honest and just know when you're right and know when you have to sit out. It's super hard.'' No matter how seri- ous the injury, missing time carries greater consequences this sea- son. If a player sat out a week to rest a pulled hamstring in most years, he might miss three games. This year? Could be as many as five. ''Nobody's been through anything like this,'' O'Neal said. ''There's only a handful of us that have even been through the 1998- 99 lockout season that are still in the NBA. So it's a transition for everybody.'' NCAA Top 25 Schedule Thursday's results No. 7 Duke 75, Virginia Tech 60 No. 10 Murray St. 81, SE Missou St. 73 No. 12 Florida 74, South Carolina 66 No. 18 Saint Mary's 84, San Diego 73 No. 24 Gonzaga at BYU, late Today's games No games scheduled Saturday's games No. 1 Kentucky at South Carolina, 3 p.m. No. 2 Syracuse vs. St. John's at Madison Square Garden, 9 a.m. No. 3 Ohio St.at No. 19 Wisconsin, 11 a.m. No. 4 Missouri vs. No. 8 Kansas, 6 p.m. No. 5 North Carolina at Maryland, 1 p.m. No. 6 Baylor at Oklahoma St., 10:30 a.m. No. 10 Murray State at UT-Martin, 4 p.m. No. 11 UNLV at Wyoming, 1 p.m. No. 12 Florida vs. No. 25 Vandy, 10 a.m. No. 13 Creighton at Northern Iowa, 2 p.m. No. 14 Georgetown vs. S. Florida, 8 a.m. No. 15 Marquette at Notre Dame, 10 a.m. No. 16 Virginia at No. 21 Florida St., 10 a.m. No. 17 San Diego State vs.TCU, 7 p.m. No. 20 Indiana at Purdue, 4 p.m. No. 22 Mississippi St. vs. Auburn, 1 p.m. No. 24 Gonzaga at Pepperdine, 7 p.m. Sunday's games No. 7 Duke vs. Miami, Noon No. 9 Mich. St. vs.No. 23 Michigan, 10 a.m. Giants' DeOssie will start Super Bowl with: Tails INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — One word from Giants special teams captain Zak DeOssie will begin the Super Bowl. With more than 100 million people watching in the Unit- ed States alone, the long snapper from New York, other Giants captains and their counterparts from New England will see referee John Parry display both sides of a special commemorative coin for the opening toss. Then, DeOssie will choose his side. ''I've called 'tails' every single time this year, and that's what it's going to be this weekend,'' DeOssie said in an inter- view Thursday. Chances are, he'll be right. The National Conference has won the last 14 Super Bowl coin flips, though that hasn't turned out so well in the end. The American Conference has won nine of those 14 title games. Want to pick the Super Bowl winner? Might as well just flip a coin. The team that's won the opening toss is only 22- 23 in the title game, evidence that it has very little impact on whatever happens next. It's still a special moment, one that gamblers lay money on and businesses build promotions around. One chain is offering its rewards program customers a free pizza if the coin comes up heads. It's also significant in another way: A rare game decision left entirely up to the players. ''I'm out of that one,'' Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Thursday. ''We have our captains and they decide who's going to make that call. We do keep track of who wins and who loses, thank you very much.'' DeOssie, whose father Steve also played in the NFL, got the honor on a whim. He and the other two Giants captains — quarterback Eli Manning and defensive end Justin Tuck — were walking toward midfield before the season opener in Washington when the subject came up for the first time. ''Eli turned to Tuck and said, 'You want to call it?''' DeOssie said. ''And Tuck said, 'Nah, I don't feel like it. I don't need to call it. Zak, you want to call it?' I said yeah, sure.'' It was his job the rest of the way. COACH (Continued from page 1B) the NFL in rushing last sea- son with 131.9 yards per game. With Allen in his first head coaching job at any level, there has been increased focus on the type of staff he would put togeth- er. He has been barred from talking to some assistants under contract with other teams but did previously hire Knapp as offensive coordi- nator. The Raiders are still searching for a defensive coordinator among other vacancies. NFL.com reported that Oakland has asked Green Bay for permission to inter- NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA SHARKS 28 14 6 62 137 110 Kings Dallas 26 21 2 54 132 138 Phoenix 22 21 8 52 131 138 Ducks 19 24 7 45 130 151 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA Detroit 34 16 1 69 163 118 Nashville 31 17 4 66 146 135 St. Louis 29 13 7 65 124 102 Chicago 29 16 7 65 168 155 Columbus 13 32 6 32 117 172 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA Vancouver 31 15 4 66 161 124 Minnesota 25 19 7 57 120 131 Colorado 26 25 2 54 133 148 Calgary 23 22 6 52 121 140 Edmonton 20 26 5 45 133 148 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA N.Y.Rangers 32 12 5 69 136 100 Philadelphia30 14 6 66 167 145 Pittsburgh 29 18 4 62 157 132 New Jersey 28 19 3 59 138 142 N.Y. Islanders20 22 7 47 120 145 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Boston 32 15 2 66 175 108 Ottawa 27 20 6 60 160 164 Toronto 26 19 6 58 156 152 Buffalo 21 24 6 48 122 151 Montreal 19 23 9 47 134 142 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Florida 23 15 11 57 126 138 Washington 26 20 4 56 141 145 Winnipeg 24 22 6 54 128 145 Tampa Bay 22 23 5 49 141 170 Carolina 19 25 9 47 135 164 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. —————————————————— Thursday's results Dallas at San Jose, late Carolina 3, Boston 0 Edmonton 8, Chicago 4 Minnesota 1, Colorado 0 New Jersey 5, Montreal 3 Philadelphia 4, Nashville 1 Winnipeg 2, Tampa Bay 1, OT Detroit at Vancouver, late Today's games N.Y. Islanders at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. Winnipeg at Florida, 4:30 p.m. Los Angeles at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Chicago at Calgary, 6 p.m. Columbus at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Saturday's games San Jose at Phoenix, 5 p.m. New Jersey at Philadelphia, 10 a.m. Pittsburgh at Boston, 10 a.m. Washington at Montreal, 11 a.m. Vancouver at Colorado, Noon Buffalo at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Florida at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m. Los Angeles at Carolina, 4 p.m. Toronto at Ottawa, 4 p.m. Minnesota at Dallas, 5 p.m. St. Louis at Nashville, 5 p.m. Detroit at Edmonton, 7 p.m. Through Feb. 1 NHL Scoring Leaders GP G A PTS Evgeni Malkin, Pit 44 27 32 59 Claude Giroux, Phi 45 18 37 55 Steven Stamkos, TB 49 33 21 54 John Tavares, NYI 49 22 31 53 Marian Hossa, Chi 50 20 33 53 Pavel Datsyuk, Det 50 14 39 53 Henrik Sedin, Van 50 11 42 53 Daniel Sedin, Van 49 22 30 52 Joffrey Lupul, Tor 51 20 32 52 Jonathan Toews, Chi 50 27 24 51 Phil Kessel, Tor 51 26 25 51 Jason Spezza, Ott 53 20 30 50 James Neal, Pit 51 27 21 48 Erik Karlsson, Ott 52 8 40 48 25 16 10 60 114 113 NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Clippers Lakers Phoenix WL Pct GB 13 6 .684 — 13 9 .591 1.5 8 13 .381 6 WARRIORS 712 .368 6 KINGS 615 .286 8 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 15 9 .625 — Dallas Memphis Houston 14 9 .609 .5 12 10 .545 2 12 10 .545 2 New Orleans 4 19 .174 10.5 Northwest Division WL Pct GB Oklahoma City 17 4 .810 — Denver Utah Portland 14 7 .667 3 12 8 .600 4.5 13 9 .591 4.5 Minnesota 10 12 .455 7.5 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Philadelphia 16 6 .727 — Boston New York WL Pct GB 11 10 .524 4.5 New Jersey 8 15 .348 8.5 Toronto 8 14 .364 8 7 16 .304 9.5 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 16 6 .727 — 16 7 .696 .5 13 9 .591 3 Miami Atlanta Orlando Washington 4 18 .182 12 Charlotte Central Division Chicago Indiana 19 6 .760 — 15 6 .714 2 Milwaukee 10 11 .476 7 Cleveland Detroit 8 12 .400 8 5 4 20 .167 14.5 —————————————————— Thursday's results Portland at Sacramento, late Utah at Golden State, late Chicago 105, New York 102 Memphis 96, Atlanta 77 San Antonio 93, New Orleans 81 Denver at L.A. Clippers, late Today's games Cleveland at Orlando, 4 p.m. Miami at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Washington at Toronto, 4 p.m. Milwaukee at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Minnesota at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m. Memphis at Oklahoma City, 5 p.m. New York at Boston, 5 p.m. Phoenix at Houston, 5 p.m. Indiana at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Denver, 7:30 p.m. Saturday's games Golden State at Sacramento, 7 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Washington, 4 p.m. Orlando at Indiana, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Dallas at Cleveland, 4:30 p.m. New Jersey at New York, 4:30 p.m. New Orleans at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Houston at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Chicago at Milwaukee, 5:30 p.m. Oklahoma City at San Antonio, 5:30 p.m. Charlotte at Phoenix, 6 p.m. L.A. Lakers at Utah, 6 p.m. Denver at Portland, 7 p.m. NBA LEADERS Through Feb. 1 Scoring GFG FT PTS AVG Bryant, LAL 22 243 143 659 30.0 James, MIA 21 225 156 623 29.7 Durant, OKC 21 198 129 558 26.6 Love, MIN 22 178 159 556 25.3 Anthony, NYK 18 143 115 426 23.7 Rose, CHI 19 154 104 438 23.1 Aldridge, POR 22 201 94 497 22.6 Westbrook, OKC21 175 96 459 21.9 Griffin, LAC 19 169 71 410 21.6 Martin, HOU 20 144 82 419 21.0 Ellis, GOL 18 139 79 375 20.8 Jennings, MIL 21 162 56 432 20.6 D. Williams, NJ 22 154 98 452 20.5 Bosh, MIA 22 172 97 448 20.4 Howard, ORL 22 158 127 443 20.1 J. Johnson, ATL 22 156 65 421 19.1 Lee, GOL 18 140 54 334 18.6 Granger, IND 20 123 83 366 18.3 Irving, CLE 20 137 64 361 18.1 Gay, MEM 21 155 49 376 17.9 Rebounds G OFFDEF TOT AVG Howard, ORL 22 82 257 339 15.4 Love, MIN 22 91 209 300 13.6 Bynum, LAL 18 57 161 218 12.1 Varejao, CLE 20 93 136 229 11.5 Griffin, LAC 19 63 150 213 11.2 Cousins, SAC 20 87 134 221 11.1 Gasol, MEM 21 46 177 223 10.6 Humphries, NJ 21 82 138 220 10.5 Chandler, NYK 21 72 140 212 10.1 Gortat, PHX 21 49 163 212 10.1 Assists G ASTAVG Nash, PHX 19 189 9.9 Rondo, BOS 13 122 9.4 Paul, LAC 14 127 9.1 Rubio, MIN 22 192 8.7 D. Williams, NJ 22 186 8.5 Calderon, TOR 23 193 8.4 Lowry, HOU 20 159 8.0 Rose, CHI 19 147 7.7 Parker, SAN 23 176 7.7 Wall, WAS 22 159 7.2 3 20 .130 13.5 WL Pct GB view cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. for the coordinator job.