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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- The Ryder Cup is coming to Bethpage Black, and its going to be absolutely bananas. Just imagine a football game crossed with a stock exchange floor under a circus tent. And then imagine trying to play golf in that environment. No, not just golf. The most harrowing, nerve-inducing golf of your life.Unfortunately, none of this is happening for another eight years. Thats nearly a full decade to wonder about all the perils of contesting the biennial nail-biter in the New York-iest of muni courses. Better start clearing your throat now, just in case.This week, theres a nice, little convergence of those two worlds. The infamous Black course is hosting the Barclays, the first of four PGA Tour playoff events. There isnt exactly a Ryder Cup atmosphere in the air, but the upcoming version of that event is serving as an important subplot to these proceedings.This is the last tournament for U.S. players to claim the eight automatic qualifying positions that will constitute two-thirds of the American roster. Five of those spots already belong to Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Jimmy Walker and Brooks Koepka. Those are locked up. Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson appear fairly safe in the next two spots. Patrick Reed is firmly on the bubble at No. 8, with J.B. Holmes, Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar in close pursuit.Then theres Rickie Fowler.It isnt often that the player in 12th place on the points list entering the final week would garner so much attention, but it isnt often that the worlds eighth-ranked player would find himself in this position.Its less statistical anomaly than just two lists based on different numbers, but it still qualifies as a bizarre phenomenon. And it has left Fowler trying to play catch-up in a race to make the team.One hundred percent, he said when asked how much hes thinking about it. Thats the No. 1 priority coming into the year. Id say thats always one of the main goals, for sure, coming into a Ryder Cup year. ... It would be nice to have a chance to make that team without having to get picked.Fowler indeed has that chance this week, but hell need a strong result. So far, hes on the right track, with an opening-round 4-under 67 that left him tied for third, 2 strokes shy of 18-hole co-leaders Reed and Martin Laird.Afterward, he was still thinking about the Ryder Cup.Im thinking about it; the other guys are thinking about it, he said. So if its even on your mind at all, not that its pressure in a way, but its more to think about. I dont mind it. Ive always liked kind of being put up against the wall in a corner and having that on me. Going out, I knew that getting off to a good start today was going to be key. Im in a position where Im kind of put in a corner where I need to either earn my way on the team or at least prove that I should be there.I was excited about getting out there. The game is very close to being really good. Ive had some little glimpses of that with rounds here and there. Good, solid start. thats all we can ask for.Plenty of players talk about wanting to make the Ryder Cup team. Fowler is backing up that talk with his actions.He competed for the U.S. in the recent Olympics for more than simply Ryder Cup-related reasons, though his enthusiasm to represent his country certainly didnt hurt. Then last week, when most of his highly ranked peers stayed home, he played the Wyndham Championship, finishing in a share of 22nd place in an effort to move up the standings.Its a big deal to both of us, explained his longtime caddie, Joe Skovron, and its been a big part of our scheduling as of late. Thats why we went to Wyndham. Weve definitely paid attention to it.Fowler revealed that he hasnt spoken with U.S. captain Davis Love III lately, though he expects to in coming weeks. Whether thats a happy conversation might depend largely on how Fowler plays the next three days.Even though the Ryder Cup wont be here at Bethpage Black for another eight years, its definitely on the mind of many players this week. None more than Fowler.Chicago Bulls Gear . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. Chicago Bulls Pro Shop . The 29-year-old Baines has established himself as one of the top attacking full backs in the country and was the subject of two bids from United during the last off-season. Everton manager Roberto Martinez says that keeping Baines at the club is a "massive boost and exciting for the future" because he brings "maturity and football knowledge in a very specialized position on the pitch" and an "infectious and positive influence to the rest of the squad. https://www.cheapbulls.com/ . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Bulls Jerseys 2020 . Spiller left Week 3s 27-20 loss to the New York Jets with a thigh injury, but fully practiced with the team all week and expects to be ready to go on Sunday. Custom Chicago Bulls Jerseys . Bryzgalov stopped 25 shots on Saturday in the Oklahoma City Barons 4-1 victory over the Abbotsford Heat. The Oilers signed Bryzgalov to a one-year $2 million contract last Friday after shedding payroll by dealing defenceman Ladislav Smid to the Flames.CHICAGO -- Paul MacLean didnt want to take too much credit when accepting the Jack Adams Award as the NHLs coach of the year. He called himself a "representative" of a lot of other peoples hard work around the Ottawa Senators. But amid injuries to Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Erik Karlsson, centre Jason Spezza and goaltender Craig Anderson, it was MacLean who held it all together as the Senators managed to make the playoffs. "For me it was important that I continue to set the expectations of the team at a high level but also be realistic about those expectations," MacLean said. "We had Erik Karlsson injured, we had Jason Spezza injured. We didnt have those two players playing in Binghamton. For us to expect someone to come up and be able to be those two players is not realistic and its not fair to the players. "We try to stay as real as we could game-by-game and give the players realistic expectations and a realistic way to play the game to have success." Despite losing Spezza for all but five games and Karlsson for all but 17, the Senators had success in the form of a 56-point season. MacLean credited captain Daniel Alfredsson, the winner of the Mark Messier Leadership Award, along with Chris Phillips, Sergei Gonchar and Chris Neil, for providing a veteran presence given plenty of adversity. When the injury bug started to become an epidemic for the Senators, MacLean first wondered, "Whos next?" Then, the 55-year-old did some impressive coaching. "Thats what good teams do is find a way to win," he said. "So we were challenged early in the season to find ways to win and I think our leadership group accepted that, and the quality of our young players that we were able to bring up accepted that." Ottawa won with Kyle Turris as its leading scorer and players like defenceman Patrick Wiercioch and forward Mika Zibanejad playing major roles. MacLean also credited Anderson for his impressive season, along with young goalies Robin Lehner and Ben Bishop. The Chicago Blackhawks didnt have to deal with as much adversity this season in large part to the play of captain Jonathan Toews, who captured the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the leagues top defensive forward. "It meeans the world," Toews said.dddddddddddd "Its a tremendous feeling, I think, first of all, when youre mentioned in the same sentence after a full NHL season as guys like Pavel Datsyuk and Patrice Bergeron. To be able to go head-to-head with guys like that in the playoffs and to know them from the past, you understand how much they mean to their teams and how much they contribute offensively and defensively." Toews narrowly beat Bergeron of the Boston Bruins to win his first Selke Trophy, after a season in which he won 59.9 per cent of his faceoffs and had a plus-28 rating. The 25-year-old centre pointed to his time at Shattuck-St. Marys under coach Tom Ward as the point when he became a strong two-way player. "I really understood the importance of playing good hockey on both ends of the rink," Toews said. "Since then I really worked on every little part of my game that I could." Beat by Toews for Selke, Bergeron still got an award Friday, given the King Clancy for his humanitarian work. Tampa Bay Lightning right-winger Marty St. Louis won his third Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct. St. Louis already won the Art Ross Trophy by finishing the 48-game season with an NHL-best 60 points. Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins was named general manager of the year, and Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding, who battled back after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the off-season, got the Bill Masterton Memorial trophy for perseverance. On a much different scale, MacLean showed plenty of perseverance in getting the job as Senators coach. The long-time assistant wondered if he had passed the expiration date for becoming an NHL head coach. But experience kept MacLean from being "overwhelmed" by anything this season, and a berth in the playoffs provided validation that was only furthered by being coach of the year. "I just think that sticking to it and still believing in what I did as an assistant coach has helped me now that I get the opportunity to be the head coach," MacLean said. "This kind of gives us credibility that all those times when I was thinking that I could do this that now this kind of gives me the credibility that I was right, I could coach in the league." ' ' '