CHICAGO -- Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts had dinner with president of baseball operations Theo Epstein in Arizona around the start of spring training.If Epstein had any doubt about a contract extension, it ended right there. And on Wednesday, it became official.Chicago announced a five-year extension, rewarding Epstein for an overhaul that has the long-suffering franchise eyeing its first championship since 1908.He started it off by saying some really nice things about me that might have hurt his leverage a little bit, and then I returned the favor by telling him that even if we couldnt work out a contract it would get awkward because I would just keep showing up to work, Epstein said. As an employee, I will. I kept ruining my leverage.The deal comes with the Cubs wrapping up one of the greatest seasons in franchise history and their fans believing this just might be the team to end the 108-year World Series title drought.Chicago reached 100 wins for the first time since 1935 and was a major league-leading 101-56 heading into Wednesdays game at Pittsburgh. The Cubs clinched the best record in the majors with more than a week left in the regular season.In the five years under Theos leadership, he has brought in a strong executive team and acquired and developed some of the best players in the game, Ricketts said. Now, the results are on the field.Terms were not disclosed.It looks like Epstein isnt the only Cubs executive with a new deal. He said contract extensions for general manager Jed Hoyer and senior vice president of scouting and player development Jason McLeod will probably be announced in the next day or two.Epstein, who was in the final season of a five-year deal when he left Boston in October 2011, had repeatedly said a new contract was a formality, that there were more immediate priorities. Ricketts had echoed that and indicated in the spring that he was prepared to make him one of the highest-paid executives in baseball.There was never any real drama throughout the summer, said Ricketts, adding the agreement was finalized a few days ago.What took so long?We sat down at spring training, had a nice dinner, talked about getting an extension done, Ricketts said. Basically, I told him I thought he was the best in the game at what he did. He told me no matter what I paid him he wasnt going to leave Chicago, so we were off to a good start. We checked back in on it a couple times during the summer. There was no real time pressure.The new deal is a reward for a striking transformation that began with the arrivals of Epstein along with Hoyer and McLeod -- his friends from Boston -- following the 2011 season.The Cubs tested some fans patience by taking the long approach rather than going for a quick fix, but they have seen the benefits the past two years. Chicago is eyeing even bigger things after breaking out with 97 wins and reaching the NL Championship Series last season.When you have great leadership at the top, it usually filters through the rest of the group, manager Joe Maddon said. A successful organization has that. We have that. I was very happy to hear the news. Im very happy for Theo and his family and of course, us. It is great. Its a feel-good story. He deserves it. Hes earned it. Im very happy for him.High draft picks such as 2015 NL Rookie of the Year Kris Bryant made big impacts, as did a number of trade acquisitions, including last seasons NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta, All-Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo and potential Gold Glove shortstop Addison Russell.The hiring of NL Manager of the Year Joe Maddon and signing of starter Jon Lester before the 2015 season showed just how serious the Cubs were about jumping into contention. And the additions of three-time Gold Glove outfielder Jason Heyward, pitcher John Lackey and veteran infielder Ben Zobrist along with the re-signing of outfielder Dexter Fowler this past offseason added to an already deep roster.Throw in the emergence of Kyle Hendricks as a Cy Young candidate, and the Cubs are widely considered a postseason favorite.There were missteps along the way, but the Cubs are in a far different and far better place than they were five years ago. And if they win it all under Epstein, it wont be the first time he helped end a long championship drought.Before he took aim at the Billy goat curse, he took down the Bambino.Epstein oversaw two World Series winners in nine seasons as Bostons general manager.In Chicago, Epstein parted with high-priced veterans and loaded up the minor league system while expanding the teams scouting and analytics operation as part of an overhaul that saw the organization get stripped to its studs.The Ricketts family also invested heavily in infrastructure in recent years, including new training facilities in the baseball-rich Dominican Republic and the spring training home in Arizona. They are also overhauling Wrigley Field and the surrounding neighborhood.There really wasnt anything important to me besides finding common ground, making sure that we could stay and see this thing through, Epstein said. Our mission has not been accomplished yet. Cheap Tennessee Titans Jerseys . Peter Gammons, an analyst for Major League Baseballs network and website, drew the ire of hockey fans on Sunday when he criticized the two NHL teams on Twitter for their physical game the night before. Cheap Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. http://www.cheapauthenticwholesalenfljerseys.com/ . Coach Mike Munchak says Fokou stretched ligaments in his left knee Oct. 13 against Seattle, which could keep out up to five weeks even though the linebacker didnt need surgery. Cheap Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. Authentic Jerseys Wholesale . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. On Monday night in Toronto, Eric Lindros was enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame for being one of the games most feared and dominant players of the 1990s. But, despite his reputation as a hard-hitting, glove-dropping, goal-scoring freight train of a player, Lindros legacy will also be his willingness to shed light on what remains a controversial topic: concussions in hockey.He was ahead of his time, said Pittsburgh Penguins assistant general manager Bill Guerin, who began his NHL playing career in Lindros rookie season of 1992-93. He had a pretty deep history with concussions; his family knows it well. Its not always the popular move to come forward with something like that. It was a difficult one, and he brought it to the forefront. He should be recognized for that. It was a big step.Lindros, 43, retired as a player in 2007 at the age of 33, after six concussions between 1998 and 2000 stripped him of what could have been the most productive years of his career. His decision to sit out the entire 2000-01 season heightened the NHLs awareness of concussions and how to treat them.Its not about the number, Lindros told ESPN.com. Its about the degree of each one and the makeup of each individual person. Everyone is completely different. Thats the hard part of this. Some guys will take a big hit and feel fine and not want to come out of a game. No one is ever going to question how tough these guys are. Thats why they had to take it out of the players hands.This season, the NHL and its players association enhanced the concussion protocol by adding a group of certified athletic trainers who are the central league spotters. They monitor every game from the player safety room in New York and are authorized to require a players removal from a game if he shows visible signs of a possible concussion.I think as a whole we understand theyre doing their best to try to look after us and that you sometimes have to be taken out of the situation, said Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who came into the NHL in 1996, one year after Lindros won league MVP (Hart and Pearson, which is voted on by the players). Theres no competitor who ever wants to be taken out of the situation. Sometimes, even if you feel like its in your best interest to sit out, you still go out there. In our sport, theres a lot of pride in proving that youre tough enough to keep going. Sometimes you can and sometimes you cant, and youve got to trust the people whose job it is to make that call.On Nov. 3, late in the third period of a game between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders in Brooklyn, Flyers captain Claude Giroux was removed from the game after taking a high stick in the nose from Casey Cizikas. The Flyers tied the score on the ensuing power play, and Giroux was seen motioning to an arena worker to open the door behind the net to let him back onto the rink in time to play the final minute of regulation and overtime. Giroux, who was cleared of a possible concussion, scored the winning goal for the Flyers in the shootout.I just got off the ice right away to get it out of the way, Giroux told reporters after the game. Because when you get hit in the head ... with the protocol ... I was just trying to get it out of the way so I could play in overtime.On Nov. 8, a concussion spotter requested that Rangers goaltender Antti Raanta be removed from a tie game against the Vancouver Canucks?after seeing Raanta hit the back of his head on the ice after a collision with forward Markus Granlund. Raanta, who suffered a concussion last season, was examined on the ice by Rangers athletic trainer Jim Ramsay after the collision, but he was removed from the game four minutes later at the request of an off-ice concussion spotter.The Canucks scored a pair of goals on Rangers replacement Henrik Lundqvist before Raanta, who cleared concussion protocol, returned to the game 6:19 of game time after he was removed. After the Rangers 5-3 loss, Lundqvist wondered what might happen if a similar incident occurred in a Stanley Cup playoff game.I think they really have to look into this rule because its not like a [skater], where you can sit out a shift, Lundqvist told the New York Daily News. A goalie, its a whole other ballgame. If hes saying hes fine, at some point youve got to go with it.dddddddddddd I think theres going to be an issue if this is the playoffs and you have guys calling from upstairs to make that decision. Im not going to go off easy, Im telling you that.Former and current players agree that pulling a player out of a game in November will prove far easier than pulling him out of a playoff game in April, May or June.You can always say, Ive been hit harder than this before and Im fine, Doan said. Youve got to watch that. You cant get caught up in trying to say that. Its always hard to be honest with yourself in the middle of the game. But with what we know now, its impossible not to be aware if your bells been rung and not want to figure out how bad it was.Guerin said the real test will come in the postseason.This is a game where everybody prides themselves on not missing a shift, and sometimes its not the best decision, Guerin said. I think theyre definitely on the right track of making things mandatory and taking it out of their hands and taking the pressure off them. I know sometimes players get frustrated with it, and it will become a real issue in the playoffs, but deep down they really know its for their own good.We know more than we did a year ago and certainly more than we did 20 years ago. You have to take the information you have and do the best for the human being. Players arent just players. They have wives and kids and parents, and you want them to live long, happy lives. If youve got to miss a couple shifts for that to happen, then so be it.Today, Lindros is a husband and the father of three young children -- 2-year-old Carl Pierre and 14-month-old twins, Ryan Paul and Sophie Rose. Hes also the honorary chairman of See the Line, a concussion research arm at the University of Western Ontario, and he spends much of his time raising funds for the London (Ontario) Health Sciences Center, which received a $5 million donation from Lindros shortly after his retirement in 2007.I feel lucky, he said. Overall, I feel good. But you dont have to go very far to come across someone having a tough time.Lindros said hes encouraged to see the NHL taking a hard-line approach to concussions but is concerned about the rise in open-ice hits and the long-term effects they might have on players. He believes the NHL should eliminate the two-line pass and consider widening the rinks.Ive been saying to put the red line back in for five years, Lindros said. But something else that can be considered is making the ice surface wider.Lindros said widening rinks would allow players to accept passes from angles that would make them less susceptible to open-ice hits like the one he took from former New Jersey Devils defenseman Scott Stevens in the 2000 Eastern Conference finals.Tie Domi, who racked up more than 3,500 penalty minutes in his 16-year NHL career, believes putting the red line back in would help protect players such as his son, Coyotes forward Max Domi, from predatory, blindside hits.The games just way too fast, Tie Domi said. Guys are getting hit recklessly and getting concussions. [Putting the red line back in is] something they may have to consider.Lindros and Domi played in an era in which neutral-zone trapping slowed the game to a crawl and led to the NHL allowing two-line passes in 2005. Detroit Red Wings defenseman Mike Green, who entered the NHL in that post-lockout season of 2005-06, says hes not sure making dramatic changes to the game will produce the desired result.Its been a while since we played with the red line, and its hard to remember what that was like, Green said. Those are opinions. Right now the game is fast and it seems to be selling.I think the league has done a good job of reducing those high hits, those impact hits that are in open ice or along the boards, where guys are in danger at times. I think guys arent running around and doing that anymore, and if they do, theyre getting suspended. Guys are still finishing their checks, but the speed, especially with these young guys, is as fast as its ever been. It makes for an exciting game every night. 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