Talk » Martina Navratilova established the longest womens win run

Big Ten football is coming to Friday nights in 2017 and beyond.The conferences new TV contract, which begins next season, will include a package of six Friday night games. The news was first reported by the Chicago Tribune?and later announced by the Big Ten.The Friday night games will be limited to September and October and wont include every team. Schools with huge stadiums, such as?Penn State and Ohio State, wont be asked to host them. And Michigan has declined to participate in Friday night games at home or on the road, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told the Tribune.The Big Ten plans to announce the 2017 Friday night schedule within the next four to seven days.Several assistant coaches in the Big Ten told ESPN that they thought Friday night games would negatively affect recruiting. Friday nights are traditionally high school football nights.Friday night games would put the Big Ten in a recruiting disadvantage, said one Big Ten assistant coach. No other conference has the game-day atmospheres of this league. Combined with two teams, or whoever is playing, would not have the opportunity of going to recruit on Friday nights, as well [as] to watch prospects play.As another assistant said, It kills us with recruiting. One of the best things about our place is the game-day environment. Those kids wont be able to experience that, because they will all have their games.And another assistant added, There is [no advantage]. Most, if not all, high school kids play on Friday nights, which means you would lose one game for recruiting.Both the Wisconsin Football Coaches Association and the Michigan High School Athletic Association expressed disappointment about the decision.?The Friday night games will continue through at least 2022, the Big Ten said.We had hoped that the Big Ten Conference would stay above this, MHSAA executive director John E. Jack Roberts said. We think this cheapens the Big Ten brand. Fans wont like this. Recruits wont like this. And high school football coaches wont like this.?Penn State released a statement on Wednesday making it clear that if Delany changes his mind about not asking the school to host a Friday night game, it would decline the request.?Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith told ESPN that the school would be able to host a Friday night game only during its autumn break, which typically occurs the second week of October.We dont have classes on campus that Thursday or Friday, so operationally, it works because were not dealing with parking issues or classes or any of those conflicts that a game would get in the way of.Ohio State would be open to playing Friday night road games in September.Michigan State said Wednesday it would agree to host a Friday night game -- but only on Labor Day weekend. The Spartans previously have hosted Friday night games on that holiday weekend; but according to the MHSAA, that didnt conflict with the high school schedule in Michigan, because most of the states prep games are played that week on Thursday.?Wisconsin also said?it is open to hosting games at Camp Randall on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend in selected years, but it has not committed to hosting them at any other time.Badgers athletic director Barry Alvarez said he had great respect for the tradition and importance of Friday night high school football games in the state of Wisconsin and throughout the Midwest. But he also said it was the right time to explore additional opportunities for exposure on Friday nights on a limited basis.Indiana AD Fred Glass told the Indianapolis Star that the Hoosiers have agreed to play a conference opponent on Friday night once every three years.Glass told the Star that he and Purdue counterpart Mike Bobinski spoke with the head of the states high school athletic association before agreeing to play occasional Friday night games. The Boilermakers also agreed to play on Friday nights. Illinois also says its on board with hosting Friday night games.Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle wrote in an email to The Associated Press, We will play the schedule assigned to us by the Big Ten.Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel confirmed in a statement that the Wolverines dont plan to play at all on Fridays. Manuel said his chief concern was more for fans that would have to make long trips to the games earlier in the week.With our large fanbase, Michigan fans and alumni travel significant distances to attend games, making Saturdays our preferred day for all football games, he said.The Friday night slate will include three nonconference games and three conference contests. Until now, the league has resisted playing on weeknights, with the exception of the opening week of the season. The Big Ten has no plans to play on Thursday nights, senior associate commissioner Mark Rudner told the Big Ten Network.ESPNs?Tom VanHaaren, Adam Rittenberg, Dan Murphy and Jesse Temple contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press also was used. Isaiah Thomas Jersey . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Tom Heinsohn Jersey . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. https://www.cheapceltics.com/ . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Bill Russell Jersey . R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. K. C. Jones Jersey . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. ROME -- Novak Djokovic cant seem to find any consistency on clay courts. And with the French Open less than 10 days away, he will enter Roland Garros on the back of two early defeats. The top-ranked Serb wasted a chance to serve out the match and was beaten 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 by sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the Italian Open quarterfinals Friday. In the semifinals, Berdych will face six-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal, who defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. While he struggled at times, Nadal appeared sharper than in his three-set win over Latvian qualifier Ernests Gulbis a day earlier. In the other half of the draw, Roger Federer overcame an early break in the second set to edge rising Polish player Jerzy Janowicz 6-4, 7-6 (2) in a night match at the Foro Italico. Attempting to win this tournament for the first time, Federers next opponent will be Benoit Paire. The 36th-ranked Frenchman routed Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-1, 6-0 to reach his first Masters series semifinal. In the womens tournament, top-ranked Serena Williams rolled past Spanish opponent Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-0 to extend her winning run to a career-best 22 matches. Williams will next face Romanian qualifier Simona Halep, who rallied past two-time Rome champion Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 6-0, 7-5. Meanwhile, two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova withdrew before her quarterfinal against seventh-seeded Sara Errani due to illness. Errani, the first Italian semifinalist in this tournament since Raffaella Reggi won the 1985 event in Taranto, will face third-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who held off ninth-seeded Sam Stosur 6-4, 1-6, 6-3. Its the second consecutive week that Djokovic has struggled, having also lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the second round of the Madrid Open after being bothered by a right ankle injury. Djokovic said he had been playing pain free this week. Still, he will need to get his game in shape in a hurry with the French Open, the years second Grand Slam, starting May 26. "I know I can play well on clay and so I shouldnt allow myself to have these drops, and lets hope it wont happen for Roland Garros," Djokovic said of the only major he hasnt won. "Im fine. I just lost my rhythm." Djokovic served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, but Berdych ripped a backhand winner that landed on the line on his first break point and won the final four games of the set. "Its a very strange situation," Djokovic said. "I played very well and was two points from winning. Then the entire match changed and I was a different player." Its the first time Berdych has reacheed the semifinals in eight appearances in Rome, having been eliminated four times in the quarters.dddddddddddd The tall Czech took control of the match with his big first serve, and by coming forward to angle shots into the corners to set up easy volleys. Djokovic had trouble returning Berdychs first serve and also complained about the courts surface early on. In the third set, Berdych went ahead with an early break and then shook off some nerves to close the match out on his fourth match point with a big serve out wide that Djokovic could barely get his racket on. As overcast skies gave way to sunshine, the court dried out, favouring Berdychs power game. "I lost the concentration," Djokovic said. "I started playing more defensively. ... He started playing more confidently, stepping into the court and taking advantage of his opportunities." It was only Berdychs second win in 15 career meetings with Djokovic, with his only previous victory coming in the 2010 Wimbledon semifinals. It was also only Berdychs fourth win versus a top-ranked player in 20 attempts, with all three previous wins coming against Federer. "He has been for quite a few years just behind the top four," Djokovic said. "Hes able to play big matches. He has proven that. So (he) is definitely a very dangerous player on any surface with a serve like that." Djokovic was 148-4 when winning the first set since 2011, according to the ATP. Williams had twice won 21 in a row before, although both of those runs came a decade ago, in 2002 and 2003. "Ive been pretty consistent, and pretty healthy -- knock on wood," Williams said. "I feel great -- never felt better." Martina Navratilova established the longest womens win run in the Open Era at 74 matches in 1984. Williams only title here came in 2002, when she beat Justine Henin in the final. That was also the year she won her only French Open title. Last year in Paris, Williams lost in the opening round of a major for the first time, falling to 111th-ranked Virginie Razzano of France. Sharapova said he was struggling with an illness she first contracted last week, when she was runner-up to Williams in Madrid, although she showed no problems Thursday as she beat 16th-seeded Sloane Stephens 6-2, 6-1. "I was already a bit off in Madrid and played though it and it came back last night and I got sick again and its not smart to compete again," said Sharapova, adding that she had a fever after beating Stephens. "Obviously with the French Open coming up it is important to make smart decisions." ' ' '