Catch rule proposal up for a vote this week
Williams said. “I love it here. This was my first big win. I have a lot of great memories. I hope I can get another win this year. You never know.”
On the men’s side, Juan Martin del Potro won his 13th consecutive match by defeating No. 26 Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-2. The fifthseeded del Potro is coming off winning the title at Indian Wells last week. Secondseeded Marin Cilic knocked of Vasek Pospisil 7-5, 7-6 (4).
In other women’s action, Boca Raton’s Monica Puig remained alive by defeating Greece’s Maria Sakkari 6-3, 7-5.
“She was applying pressure there at the end,” Puig said. “I needed to serve it out. Just took the opportunities that I had and just tried to stay aggressive.”
Puig, who is from Puerto Rico, will play American Danielle Collins in the next round. Collins defeated Croatia’s Donna Vekic 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. For Puig, advancing in the tournament has continued her strong play since winning the gold medal in the 2016 Olympics.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Puig said. “Obviously, these results that I’ve had the last couple of days, it really feels good. I feel confident in my game. I feel like this year is all about just finding my opportunities and keep moving forward. The [Olympics] were the biggest moment of my life. I was only 22 years old when it happened. I was pretty young. It took me a while to settle in. I feel like I’ve matured so much in the last year and a half.” AUTO RACING: The NASCAR Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia was postponed until Monday because of rain and light snow that left little chance of getting the track cleared enough to race.
GOLF: Bubba Watson won his second World Golf Championships title at the Dell Technologies Match Play with a 7-and-6 victory over Kevin Kisner, the biggest blowout since the format switched to 18 holes in 2011. Watson never trailed in the 28 holes he played Sunday, taking out Justin Thomas 3 and 2 in the semifinals, which kept Thomas from reaching No. 1 in the world . ... Eun-Hee Ji had a hole-in-one to finish off Cristie Kerr and the other challengers at the Kia Classic in Carlsbad, Calif. Her lead cut from four strokes to one, Ji aced the 156-yard 14th with a 7-iron, the ball bouncing and rolling into the hole, to push her advantage to three shots. Ji finished with a 5-under 67 at Aviara for a two-stroke victory over Kerr and Lizette Salas . ... Steve Stricker pulled away on the back nine to win the Rapiscan Systems Classic in Biloxi, Miss., for his second straight PGA Tour Champions victory. He finished at 11-under 205 for a three-stroke victory over Billy Andrade.
NFL: Giants owner John Mara expressed disappointment in Odell Beckham Jr. but said the WR is not on the market. Mara said he is not angry with Beckham, who recently was seen in a video in bed with a woman and what appeared to be white powder, though the timing of the video and its content is uncertain. “It’s too often he allows himself to be put in bad situations,” Mara said, adding: “We certainly are not shopping him.” ... The Browns agreed to a two-year contact with free-agent QB Drew Stanton. Stanton, 33, will likely be a backup for Tyrod Taylor, recently acquired in a trade with the Bills . ... The Jets signed former Redskins WR Terrelle Pryor. Terms of the deal were not immediately known . ... Acting Jets owner Christopher Johnson said the team rescinded its offer to free-agent DT Ndamukong Suh. Johnson was vague on reasons for the move, saying it “didn’t seem to be in keeping with our long-term plan.”
TENNIS: Venus Williams squandered an early lead, fell behind late and then overcame three match points to rally past Kiki Bertens 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 in the third round of the Miami Open in Key Biscayne, Fla. Williams blew a 5-0 lead in the first set and was down 5-3 in the third set. But she swept the final four games, holding serve at love for the victory. Williams next faces defending champion Johanna Konta, who advanced with much less drama, beating Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-1. In men’s play, No. 5 seed Juan Martin del Potro extended his winning streak to 13 matches by eliminating Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-2.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Asia Durr scored 18 points, Myisha Hines-Allen added 16 and top-seeded Louisville earned its first Final Four berth since 2013 with a 76-43 rout of No. 6 Oregon State in the Lexington Region final in Lexington, Ky. The Cardinals completed their run through the region by an average victory margin of 27.5 points. In the Kansas City Region final, top-seeded Mississippi State made its way to the Final Four behind Victoria Vivians’ 24 points in a 89-73 victory over thirdseeded UCLA.
ORLANDO — For years, the NFL has struggled to get its hands around what should be the most basic of playing rules:
What constitutes catch?
The league will formally address that thorny issue this week at its annual March meetings, when team owners will vote on a proposal by the competition committee that the definition of a catch should be significantly simplified.
No more frame-by-frame analysis to ensure there isn’t any movement of the ball in the receiver’s hands; under the proposed rule, slight movement would be permissible. No more requirement that the receiver maintain possession while going to the ground for the catch to be legal.
The new proposal — which would need at least 24 of 32 votes to pass — stipulates that a receiver must: Control the ball. Get two feet down (or another body part).
Make a football move, whether taking another step or reaching the ball toward the goal line or yard marker. Such a football move would not be required if the catch were made in the end zone.
The NFL has spent the past two years deconstructing the current catch rule, then rebuilding it from scratch with the input of current and former coaches and players.
“The committee over the last two months and in particular this week did a phenomenal job of mapping out and really clarifying less is better,” Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, said in a conference call Friday.
“We think we got to a good place … We hope that we’ve addressed what the fans and most players and coaches think is something that’s been long overdue.”
Among the more controversial non-catches over the past several seasons include an apparent winning touchdown by Detroit’s Calvin Johnson in 2010, an overruled grab in the 2014 playoffs by Dallas’ Dez Bryant, and a would-be touchdown by Pittsburgh’s Jesse James against New England last season that all but decided home-field advantage in the AFC.
“On catch/no catch, Jesse James would be a touchdown,” said Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee and president of the Atlanta Falcons. “We tried to simplify the rule and make it a very definable, three-step process, which is: control, meaning a clean catch of the ball; two feet down or a body part; and then do anything with the ball that shows it’s a football act. That could be reaching for a goal line like Jesse James did, that could be reaching for a first down line, that could be tucking the ball away.”
The so-called catch committee also spent considerable legal Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee and president of the Atlanta Falcons
time on the word “slight” in relation to the allowable movement of the ball.
“What we saw on video, what we heard from the catch committee was that you can still have control but also have movement,” Vincent said. “The term ‘slight’ was something where a receiver could still have control of the ball and there still be movement. That was also something that was addressed in the language of the new proposal.”
Among the other playing rules and league bylaws up for discussion and possible vote at the meetings, which began Sunday and end Wednesday:
A rule that would permit assistant coaches to sign contracts with new teams while still working for their old teams. This would have applied to New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who had agreed to become the new coach of the Indianapolis Colts but couldn’t sign the deal until the Patriots’ postseason was over. McDaniels ultimately backed out of the agreement.
A rule that would eliminate the requirement that teams come back onto the field for a meaningless extra point after a walk-off, gamewinning touchdown.
A rule that would allow the league to use instant replay to review personal fouls such as roughing the passer and hits on defenseless receivers, and another that would allow the league’s head of officiating to make those calls from New York.
Further clarification of what would end an overtime game. A scenario under the current rules: Team A kicks a field goal, and Team B gets a chance to match. But if Team B is intercepted, the game immediately ends. The new rule would allow that final play to be played to its conclusion. If Team A were to fumble its interception, for instance, and Team B were to recover the loose ball and return it for a touchdown, Team B would win. That scenario has yet to happen in an actual game.