Since the investigation into Aaron Hernandez and his possible connection with a homicide began early this week, reports have repeatedly stated that he’s not viewed as a suspect. This latest report from CBS Boston is the exception.

Citing an unnamed law enforcement source, the report indicates that Hernandez hasn’t been ruled out as a possible suspect in the North Attleboro investigation. That same source added that Hernandez currently isn’t cooperating with the authorities, meaning his attitude has apparently changed from last night when police entered his home, and arrested two men who tried to leave during the search. Police also left with a box of some kind.

Earlier this morning Hernandez drove away with a woman in the passenger seat of his Audi. The link between Hernandez and the body discovered by a jogger Monday (later identified as 27-year-old Odin Lloyd of Dorchester) is a rented Chevrolet Suburban. Both the car and the victim’s body (Odin has been referred to as an “associate”) were found roughly a mile away from his home.

I’ll update this post with further information when/if it’s available.

Today’s not your typical Systems Analyst post in which I break down a play that led to a goal or scoring opportunity. Earlier in the week I wrote this post that goes over the “Bruins’ defensive system” that you always hear about, and explains that they use layers to stop the opposition from cashing in after a single breakdown. That was last Wednesday.

That night the Stanley Cup Final opened, which saw Chicago win the game in triple overtime by a score of 4-3. I thought the Hawks did a good job at times of making quality support passes to soft areas in the Bruins layers, so when I did my 10 takeaways from Game 1, I wrote this:

3. Blackhawks passes to soft areas in the offensive zone

One thing I noticed early (and I wrote this note about 10 minutes into the game) was Chicago creating opportunities by finding the soft areas in Boston’s coverage, and making great passes. And to be clear, I don’t mean the usual soft areas, this was different. It’s something elite teams can do that the dregs can’t. Use vision and skill to pass to areas you don’t usually see players. It was pretty clear they’ve taken a long, hard look at how Boston defends and decided to make the conscious effort to avoid the normal “set” offensive spots.

I don’t love how I worded that, because when I wrote it I was thinking about a few three-to-five foot passes the Hawks made to get the puck to dangerous areas, and it was effective. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s live episode of The Fix starts at 11am ET. Click here to vote in today’s poll. GAME SEVEN.

The Lead

I feel like ever since the release of the filmed version of Nick Hornby’s memoir Fever Pitch (the one with with Colin Firth in 1997), the release of the season fixture lists in the summer has become a meta event, a reason to get excited for a season that’s still two months away from kick off. For some people (actual season ticket holders) it’s a time to make entries in google/normal calendars and plan weekend trips. For others, it’s a time to set aside a weekend to ensure that a vital top of the table clash is not missed. For the media, it’s a time to scan the dates for an obvious thread, one that almost always involves a series of difficult fixtures, and report back on the challenge this will pose to X team led by Y manager. Here for example is the verdict on David Moyes’ “trial by fire” at Man United:

David Moyes will come up against José Mourinho in the second game of the season when Chelsea visit Old Trafford for the new Manchester United manager’s first home game.

Before that, Moyes opens the 2013-14 campaign at the League Cup winners Swansea on 17 August and then after hosting Chelsea, United go to Liverpool on 31 August.

The champions then take on promoted Crystal Palace before making the short journey to the Etihad Stadium for the first Manchester derby against last year’s runners-up with their new manager Manuel Pellegrini. The return Manchester derby at Old Trafford is scheduled for March 21.

“Lively start to the season! Let us at them,” the United defender Rio Ferdinand tweeted.

Here is question I think there might be an objective answer to: does a high number of matches against equal or higher quality opponents in a short time frame within a particular part of the season (in this case the start) have an overall negative effect on a club’s final points total than if those matches were more spread out?

There is already some controversy over the relationship between volume of matches in a short time period and skill depreciation. Even so, I’m skeptical that a skilled team facing a number of equally skilled opponents in a short time frame would see an overall negative effect. Moreover, a “difficult stretch of games” implies there will be an “easier stretch of games” at some point in the season too, so any negative effects would theoretically be counterbalanced. Something to look into.

As for clubs actually doing dumb things to threaten their future well-being, Derek Llambas has resigned apparently in protest to Joe Kinnear’s appointment as director of football at Newcastle United. Despite Llambas’ missteps, he understood more than many other clubs the vital importance of increasing commercial revenue. His departure and Kinnear’s leadership could, arguably, have a far more profound effect than David Moyes’ so-called “trial by fire.”

It appears as though Manny Ramirez is finished with baseball in Taiwan. Devoted Manny in Taiwan blogger Brandon DuBreuil relayed a series of reports early this morning, noting that Ramirez is expected to leave the country on June 21.

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Yasiel Puig fans rejoice as a new roster update for MLB 13: The Show is out, and this update feature Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig. Though the Dodgers are in last place, Puig is off to one of the best rookie starts in MLB history.

Puig has an overall rating of 87, “A” potential, and a 92 arm strength. Be sure to download the update for your PS3’s.

As Tim Leiweke stressed the need for improvement for an organization that wasn’t good enough and Masai Ujiri talked about building his own small staff here in Toronto, many of us were able to foresee the organizational house cleaning around the corner. So when guys like Ed Stefanski and Jim Kelly were let go, I don’t think anyone around the team was exactly floored.

But I don’t know how many people saw this coming, as fans and media alike were surprised to hear the news on Monday that former fan-favourite Alvin Williams had been relieved of his duties as a scout. In addition, Doug Smith reports that CEO Tim Leiweke made the decision and that General Manager Masai Ujiri never spoke to Alvin.

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Coming into Sunday at the 113th U.S. Open, the story was all about Phil Mickelson and his pursuit of his national championship. With five runner-up finishes, the most in the history of the event, Mickelson had some unfinished business with this tournament and the USGA. As is the case usually on U.S. Open Sunday, the winner would be crowned on Father’s Day, and with Mickelson seen as the ideal family man and loving father, the golf media worked itself into quite the lather leading into the final round. Did I mention that Sunday was also his 43rd birthday? You couldn’t write this stuff. The problem is, nobody told Justin Rose that he wasn’t supposed to win.

Even for the most ardent of golf fans, Rose has been a bit of an enigma. He first appeared on the national stage as an amateur in the 1998 Open Championship, where he ended up tied for fourth place at 17 years old. He turned pro the next day but struggled with his game, going winless until the 2002 Dunhill Championship. His father Ken, who had been fighting cancer, passed away soon after that victory. A few more wins and inconsistencies followed until Rose hired Sean Foley at the end of the 2009 season, leading to victories at huge PGA Tour events like the Memorial, AT&T, BMW and WGC-Cadillac, but the major championship still eluded him.

Highs and lows are common on the golf course, even for the professionals, but it’s magnified at the U.S. Open, where the USGA does it’s very best to manipulate the course in a way that protects par, as if the best players in the world breaking it would cause some kind of cataclysmic event. The list of players who missed the cut on Friday was littered with some of the game’s best, including twelve major champions. Another nine major winners who made the cut never threatened the leaders on the weekend.

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