drop?Best NFL players from rivalry, according to AV metric?Pace and Warfield are both members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brady and Woodson alm

In todays real world, 60 is said to be the new 50.In the slightly surreal world of elite tennis, there is a parallel paradigm: hope for those approaching 30 (and already beyond).Weeks before her 30th birthday, Francesca Schiavone won her first and only major, the 2010 French Open. Li Na, who took the crown a year later at Roland Garros at the age of 29, earned her second Grand Slam singles title, the 2014 Australian Open, one month shy of 32. Flavia Pennetta was 33 when she broke through at the 2015 US Open, defeating 32-year-old Roberta Vinci in the final.Stan Wawrinka won this years US Open, his third major title in three years, at 31, and 29-year-old Andy Murray became the oldest first-time No. 1-ranked player since John Newcombe in 1974.Add Angelique Kerber to the growing list of athletes who have blossomed spectacularly in their maturing years. After going 0-for-32 in nine previous seasons of Grand Slams, the 28-year-old German won this years Australian Open and US Open and supplanted Serena Williams as the No. 1-ranked player.What was she, No. 10 a year ago? asked ESPN analyst Brad Gilbert. Ten to one is pretty good.Coincidentally, thats the best such leap since Gilbert coached Andy Roddick from a No. 10 year-end ranking to No. 1 at the end of 2003.For Kerber to win two majors, almost out of nowhere, Gilbert continued, I did not see that coming.Who did? Perhaps only Kerber herself and longtime coach Torben Beltz.Her 2015 season was typical of the recent success that came with three consecutive year-end finishes in the top 10. The lefty won $1.9 million and four titles -- in the relatively modest venues of Charleston, Stuttgart, Birmingham and Stanford -- more than doubling her previous career victory total. Her match record was 53-22. A thoroughly professional effort, but her record in majors was only 6-4 and she failed to advance past the third round.This caused Kerber to rethink her career.A year ago, for whatever reason, Kerber realized she needed to be more consistently emotionally stable and engaged in all her matches, said Pam Shriver, who will join Gilbert next month as part of ESPNs Australian Open coverage. She also realized, although she was already pretty fit, she could take fitness to the next level. Upon those two things happening, things fell into place at Melbourne.Indeed, fitness was always a Kerber calling card. It allowed her to play long rallies and defend as well as any of her competitors. But that skill set came with a downside; there was usually a reluctance, particularly under duress, to go for the decisive shot.Kerber explained her dramatically changed 2016 mindset after beating Karolina Pliskova in the US Open final.Being more aggressive and go for it when I have the chance, she said. Not just hitting balls over the net. I know that when I [was] practicing I can be aggressive. Just make the transfer on the match court -- that was the challenge.And also, mentally being more positive, a little bit more stronger, and just focusing on the moment I am on court.In the past, adversity sometimes brought on bad body language that reflected her doubt. After losing the second set to Pliskova in New York, Kerbers manner remained upbeat.I just told myself, OK, stay positive. Believe in your game, Kerber told reporters after the match. I was thinking a little bit on the final in Australia, where I was also in the third set. I believed then in my game, and I did it today as well. So that was in my mind to stop the negative emotions and change it again in a positive way.For athletes, there is a powerful correlation between all things physical and mental. When world No. 1s Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic were nursing injuries this year, they sometimes became visibly and uncharacteristically frustrated on the court. Mind under matter, as it were.For Kerber, it was the other way around. After building a best-ever fitness base by bringing new intensity to her work in the gym and on the practice courts, she employed her more aggressive philosophy and, finally, in the moments that mattered most, prevailed.Before Kerber, the last WTA player to win two majors outside Serena was Belgiums Justine Henin, who took the French Open and US Open titles in 2007. She was 25 years old and subsequently would retire twice, never to win another major. The trajectory of Amelie Mauresmo is more similar to Kerbers. The Frenchwoman was 26 when she won her only two majors, the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon, and was ranked No. 1 for 34 weeks. She made the semifinals of the US Open that year, too, but in the 11 majors that followed never advanced past the fourth round.Kerber looked weary following the clay-court season, losing her first matches in Madrid, Rome and Paris. The opening-round loss to Kiki Bertens at Roland Garros was a bracing wake-up call for Kerber, who rallied to reach the finals at Wimbledon (losing to Serena) and the Rio Olympics (Monica Puig) before winning the US Open.There, she acknowledged the uncomfortable weight of being a Grand Slam champion.Im ready to have this pressure on my shoulder, she said, responding to a question about entering 2017 as the No. 1-ranked player. Because I think I get used to all of this, especially after my first Grand Slam in Australia. I had so much pressure after the title.The swiftly changing landscape at the top of the womens game should make for a fascinating 2017. What does Serena Williams have left? Can Maria Sharapova return to Grand Slam form when she comes back from a drug ban in the spring? When will Victoria Azarenka, soon due to give birth to her first child, get back on the court? Is Garbine Muguruza ready to build on her French Open win? Which of the young top-10 players -- Madison Keys, Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Johanna Konta -- will step up and win her first Slam??And what to expect from Kerber?It used to be, back in the day, that it was a damn good year if you won one, Gilbert said. Two is outrageous.The hardest thing to do after being great for the first time is to back it up. If she can be in the finals of two Slams and win one, that would be a great year.That doesnt sound like Kerbers goal for 2017.Being No. 1, of course now everybody will try to beat me and have nothing to lose, she said. I will try to take this challenge because it will be a little bit new situation for me. Now I can take the next step and try to [stay] as long as I can there. 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Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. In the event you hadnt heard, Rivalry Week is underway in college football. On Saturday, No. 2 Ohio State will host No. 3 Michigan (noon ET, ABC/ESPN App), and naturally, the only appropriate way to view the game is through an NFL prism.The schools provide an outsized segment of the NFL population, even though -- gasp! -- neither plays in the SEC. As such, we thought it would be fun to take a deeper look at the numbers behind their success as NFL talent providers, with a couple massive assists from ESPN Stats & Information senior statistics analyst Jacob Nitzberg and the bottomless database at Pro Football Reference.First, lets review the 2017 draft preview this game will provide. Michigan and Ohio State boast more than a dozen members of the top 150 draft prospects, as ranked by ESPN analyst Todd McShay. Keep in mind that the list includes underclassmen who might or might not declare.As you can see below, Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh -- a former NFL player and coach -- has nearly triple the number of high-level 2017 prospects that Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer has. (Yes, Ohio State fans, we know many of your best players arent draft-eligible yet, and you lost a truckload of talent to the pros last year.)Michigan junior safety Jabrill Peppers is the highest-ranked prospect in this game (No. 4). Ohio States top prospect, according to McShay, is cornerback Marshon Lattimore (No. 8).Perhaps its a cyclical thing. After all, Ohio State has produced twice as many first-round draft picks as Michigan since the common draft era began in 1967.Full Ohio State and Michigan NFL breakdownOhio States producing more than twice as many current NFL players as Michigan is a product of two factors: the Wolverines talent slump prior to Harbaugh and Meyers immediate success in recruiting and developing NFL talent since he arrived in Coolumbus four years ago.ddddddddddddFive Buckeyes were drafted in the first round last spring, the highest number from one school in 10 years. Overall, NFL teams drafted 12 players from Ohio State in 2016 -- tied for the second-most in the first seven rounds of a draft in the common era.Below is a closer look at Meyers success in getting players into the NFL while at Ohio State, beginning with the 2013 draft.Ohio State draftees under Urban MeyerDespite those numbers, Michigan has produced the two best NFL players from either school, based on Pro Football References Approximate Value. The AV metric attaches a number to each players NFL performance for the purpose of uniform comparison over time. Here is a more detailed explanation, but in essence, it gives us a way to examine quality apart from quantity.The career AVs for quarterback Tom Brady and cornerback Charles Woodson both exceed the top ratings for Ohio State lineman Orlando Pace and receiver Paul Warfield. Hows that for an old-school name drop?Best NFL players from rivalry, according to AV metric?Pace and Warfield are both members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Brady and Woodson almost certainly will get in during their first year of eligibility.Overall, Ohio State has a slight edge in producing Hall of Fame players who spent their entire college careers at one school. When you count players or coaches who have partial ties to each school, Ohio State can boast?10 connections to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, while Michigan has eight.Only Notre Dame (13) and Southern California (12) have more than the Buckeyes. Any way you look at it, these schools are two of the most historic and reliable NFL talent pipelines in the country. ' ' '