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NFL General

Around the NFL: Week 13 Recap


1. Rex Grossman stinks: The Bears clinched the division title even though Rex Grossman went 6 for 19 for 34 yards, 0 TDs, and 3 INTs. At one point in the game, Rex’s passer rating was 0.0 and he had as many INTs as he had completions. The fans in Chicago must seriously be worried about their QB situation. The defense and Devin Hester can only bail you out so many times. And Brad Johnson won’t be giftwrapping 4 INTs in the playoffs. From the Chicago Tribune: “I’ve hit a little slump,” Grossman offered, which is kind of what the Titanic said to the iceberg.”

2. “Nobody celebrates like a Grammatica“: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman can make fun of Bill Grammatica all they want but Martin came up clutch against the Giants and the Cowboys now have a stranglehold on the NFC East, where they were previously 1-3. The Giants meanwhile are looking like the Raiders with their personal fouls and false starts at home. By the way, why does Tom Coughlin stare in disbelief after every single play. Yeah, Tom, it happened. Stop acting like some act of God went against your team and just focus on coaching up the next play.

3. Bush’s breakout game: Reggie Bush certainly was impressive in the Saints’ win over the Niners yesterday. He had 3 rushing and 1 receiving TD but let’s not go overboard and give him the rookie of the year award yet. He isn’t even the Rookie of the Saints. That distinction (and offensive ROY) belongs to Marques Colston with 54 catches, 869 yards and 7 TDs. While Bush’s 4 TDs in one game is impressive, Colston has been more of a consitent scoring threat this season and has been very important in Drew Brees’ stellar year and the Saints run to the playoffs.

4. So much for the Dolphins: Remember Joey Harrington’s “Why can’t we win 9 in a row?” statement? Well, Joey, because you threw an interception at the Jaguars’ 8 yard line and then you threw another interception at your own 23 yard line. Any talk of the Dolphins making a run to the playoffs with was squashed in a 24-10 loss to the Jaguars. Instead of being 6-6 and within a game of the wildcard, the Dolphins are 2 games out and behind 5 teams for the 2 wildcard slots. What if Nick Saban had gone with Drew Brees or even Joey Harrington from the get go?

5. We want Jake!: While most people agree that Jay Cutler will be a fine QB eventually, the move by Shanny to bench Plummer isn’t looking as good as Parcell’s decision to bench Bledsoe. Other than the 71 yard TD pass towards the end of the game, Cutler was completely underwhelming in his debut. The only lengthy drive that he steered was in the second quarter but that TD drive was mostly a result of a Tatum Bell 31 yard run and a 15 yard personal foul on the Seahawks. (Cutler did throw a nice ball to Stephan Alexander for the TD.) The road doesn’t get any easier as the Broncos head to San Diego next week. However, the rest of the season does include two games against JV secondaries (Arizona and SF) where Cutler can get tuned up for the playoffs.

6. BORRRRRRRRRING!: Finally, ESPN gets hosed again with another Monday Night matchup that shouldn’t be interesting to anyone not in Carolina or Philly. While NBC has been getting great games on the Sunday night broadcast, we’ve had to sit through such coma inducing games on MNF like Chargers @ Raiders, Packers @ Eagles, Patriots @ Vikings, Raiders (again?) @ Seattle, Bucs @ Panthers, and Seahawks @ Packers (again?). Why exactly were the Packers on MNF twice this season? Oh right, Theisman and Kornheiser made sure their contracts included ample opportunity to knob Brett Favre.

Categories
General Sports

Chris Rock is psychic

The payoff comes at the end but damn it’s uncanny isn’t it?

P.S. Chris Rock is a genius.

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Weekend Recap


1. The Kings of the Island
On Sunday night, the Islanders and Rangers battled it out for the crown of second-best team in New York (the Sabres play there too, remember). In the end, the Isles come away victorious, snatching a 7-4 win from their in-state rivals and moving to the top of the Atlantic Division. Viktor Kozlov had an incredible night for the boys in blue and orange, netting four goals for the first time in his 14 year career. His performance overshadowed the Rangers’ trusty veteran Brendan Shanahan, who posted a hat trick of his own on Sunday at the Garden. Defensively, Rick DiPietro had a nice night for the Isles, stopping 39 of 43 shots for win number 11 on the year. The Islanders have now won five of their last seven games.

2. Ovechkin’s rite of passage

Alexander Ovechkin’s 17th goal of the season in the first period of Saturday’s game helped the Washington Capitals down the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 7-4. Just one period later, he was thrown from the contest with a game misconduct- the first of his young career. Congratulations on the accomplishment, Alex. Of course you’ve never really solidified yourself in the NHL until you’ve been tossed from a game, as Mr. Ovechkin was for his check from behind on Buffalo’s Daniel Briere. Washington’s Matt Pettinger picked up the slack after Ovechkin left, slipping the puck past Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller two times in the game. It was the third win in a row for Washington, who has moved up to the middle of the pack in the Southeast Division.

3. Is Savard The Answer?
After his first three games behind the bench, the Chicago Blackhawks certainly think so. After a 4-3 overtime win over the Preds on Saturday in Nashville, Chicago improved to 3-0 on the year under new coach Denis Savard, who took the head coach spot from Trent Yawney a week ago. Chicago’s Jeff Hamilton netted a hat trick and added an assist in the game against Nashville, who has lost all three decisions against Chi-town this season. Who would have thought that nearly half of the Preds’ (who are second in the Western Conference) losses would come at the hand of the Hawks (who are in the bottom five in the Western)?

Check It Out
The Calgary Sun’s David Unkle talks about the Flyers’ season so far, and the youngsters they’re looking to for victories, thanks to injuries and poor play from the everyday veterans. Obviously it isn’t working out for Philadelphia this year, who are dead last in the Eastern Conference.

Game of the Night: San Jose at Dallas
Sharks look to improve to 4-0 on four-game road trip

The Last Shot
Hope Sebastien Caron’s parents weren’t in attendance:

Thanks to Off Wing’s Eric Mcerlain for the pointer.

Categories
Golden State Warriors

Nov 4 in Sports History: Latrell Sprewell chokes PJ Carlesimo



Damn I’d like to choke him again

In 1997: Latrell Sprewell of the Golden State Warriors was suspended for one year by the NBA for assaulting his coach, PJ Carlesimo. During a practice, Carlesimo supposedly criticized Sprewell’s passing, and after Carlesimo confronted him, Sprewell choked his head coach until he was pulled off by teammates. He later came back to practice and took a swing at Carlesimo. Not only was Sprewell suspended, but he was cut by the Warriors and his contract of four years, $32 million (that he had just signed in the offseason) was terminated. The suspension would later be reduced to 68 games (remember, he had a family to feed). Sprewell would not play a game (due to the lockout the following year) until he became a member of the New York Knicks in February of 1999. (nba.com/player file/Sprewell)

In 1968: Due to a lack of offense in Major League Baseball, the Rules Committee lowered the pitcher’s mound from 15 inches to 10 inches and the strike zone was modified from shoulders-to-knees to armpits-to-knees. In the “Year of the Pitcher,” the league batting average dipped to a paltry .236, runs scored per game were just 3.4, only three players drove in more than 100 runs, Bob Gibson of the Cardinals had a 1.12 ERA, Denny McLain won 30 games for the Tigers, and Don Drysdale of Los Angeles set a record by pitching 58.2 consecutive scoreless innings. The following year–aided by expansion, as well–saw the overall batting average increase by 20 points and scoring increased by 20 percent. (baseball-almanac.com, The Baseball Encyclopedia).

In 1956: Wilt Chamberlain made his college basketball debut for the University of Kansas as a sophomore (the rules at the time prohibited freshman from playing on the varsity). If you thought Greg Oden, the Ohio State phenom, was impressive in his debut on Saturday (14 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists), get a load of Wilt‘s numbers. He scored 52 points and grabbed 31 rebounds in a win over Northwestern. He would go on to average 30 points and 20 rebounds in his career at Kansas, and he led the Jayhawks to the 1957 NCAA title game. He also won the high jump at the Big Seven (the conference which precluded the Big 8 and Big 12) Track and Field Championships. No word on how far along the number of women (of the 20,000) the “Big Dipper”’s odometer was at this time. (www.kuconnection.org)

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Dishing Out a Different Kind of Rock



Long term contract

1. Happy Housewife
You might as well get his finger size now because this summer Tony Parker will receive his third ring since becoming a Spur. And he doesn’t even have to win the NBA Finals to get it. That’s because the guard will be marrying his long time girlfriend and Desperate Housewives hottie, Eva Longoria. While Parker is referred to as the student in the relationship’s more intimate of moments, he certainly taught the world how to properly squash a rumor. Not too long ago, these two were reportedly done with one another. Now, after two years of dating, it looks like Parker has finally learned the importance of having a good teacher.

2. Not Up His Alley
Allen Iverson failed to make a team function on Wednesday at, of all places, a bowling alley. Understandable, considering his history of bowling brawls. It’s not clear as to why Iverson failed to show but Maurice Cheeks said that he will be fined accordingly. If I had to guess, he probably didn’’t want to wear those hideous, thirty year-old shoes infested with foot fungus that have grown so powerful they are immune to the alley’s heralded “sterilizing” Lysol bath. Sure he upset a few fans and a few sponsors by not showing up, but in the end, what are we talking about? We talking about bowling, man. I mean, how silly is that?

3. All in a Quarters Work
Wow, Kobe Bryant did it again. Everybody knows that he can go off and any moment; last night he proved why you can never take your eyes off of him, not even for a quarter. The defensive minded Jazz got torched by Bryant for 52, including 30 in the third quarter alone. That’s a ridiculous total when you consider that only three players in the entire league average 30 for a full game. In the third, Bryant was nine of nine from the floor and ten of ten from the free throw line. The entire repertoire was on display last night; powerful slashing dunks, fade away jumpers, outside set shots, driving pull-ups, it was all there. While Kobe has serious competition for the title of best overall player in the league, there is no question that he is the NBA’s most explosive scorer.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Kobe Bryant vs. Utah Jazz 34 min, 52 pts (FG: 19-26, 3FG: 2-3, FT: 12-15), 4 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk

Friday’s Game to Watch: Sacrament (8-5) @ Dallas (11-4) Somebody has to beat Dallas eventually, right? The Mavericks have ripped off 11 straight victories after losing the first four games of the year. The Kings are on a winning streak of their own, although it’s not as impressive. After dropping three in a row to some tough competition, including San Antonio and Utah, Sac-Town has won three straight and could use a victory over an elite team to gain some serious confidence. Despite leaving the last game early because of blurred vision and then missing the following practice, Dirk Nowitzki is expected to start.

Buzzer Beater: Bozi Wells has consistently been an inconsistent player and a volatile element everywhere he has gone. Controversy has followed him throughout his career and now, Houston has to deal with his shenanigans. Apparently, Wells is simply too out of shape to get any playing time. Not injured, just fat. As a third option on the Rockets, this was Wells best opportunity to have an important role and be on a winning team, but he can’t even get conditioned well enough to set foot on the floor. Wells has always been conceded and selfish but now his raw talent can’t overshadow his behavior. What an embarrassment.

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Ducks Quacking Along



Ducks lead the Pacific

1. Call Them The Mighty Ducks
Even with the new look, the Anaheim Ducks are still mighty good. The boys from the Pond captured their fourth straight win on Thursday night in British Columbia, outlasting the Vancouver Canucks by a 2-1 score. Ryan Getzlaf, who has been on an absolute roll ever since the season started, tallied the game-winning goal in the 3rd period to give the Ducks the win (he also scored the game-winner on Tuesday against the Oilers). At an astounding 19-2-6, Anaheim has the best record in the NHL.

On Vancouver’s side of things, Alex Edler scored his first career NHL goal- he was the only player to get the puck by Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who earned his league-leading 15th win of the year. For the Canucks, it is essential to get back on the right track: having lost three of their last four, they’re second to last in the Northwest Division.

2. Atlanta’s Had Enough…
…of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ dominance. The Thrashers’ 5-0 victory on Thursday snapped an eight game losing streak to Toronto, dating all the way back to October of 2003. Give the credit to Marian Hossa for the offensive firepower–he added an assist to his Hat Trick, and let goaltender Kari Lehtonen do the rest on the defensive side. Lehtonen stopped 36 shots from Toronto for his fourth shutout of the season (he also had one on Saturday). Slava Kozlov produced for Atlanta with four assists on the night, capping off an impressive all-around performance for the Thrashers. It was Atlanta’s third straight win, sending the Maple Leafs to their third straight loss.

3. Brewing Up A Storm
The Carolina Hurricanes showed glimpses of last season’s squad on Thursday night as they defeated the Montreal Canadeiens in Raleigh, 4-2. Eric Cole had a nice game for Carolina, scoring two goals to help his team keep up with Atlanta, who is ahead of Carolina in the Southeast Division. The `Canes went into the 3rd and final period down by a goal, and were able to get a pair before the final buzzer sounded at the RBC Center in North Carolina.
Even with the loss, Montreal goalie Cristobal Huet had a nice night, saving 44 of the 48 shots he was peppered with.

Check It Out
We’re counting down the days until January, when the NHL is set to unveil their new jerseys. The new uni style will feature “increased flexibility” and is said to be “less bulky” than the ones currently in use.

Game of the Night: Detroit at Minnesota
Marian Gaborik of the Wild to play for first time in more than a month

The Last Shot
More developments in the NHL gambling ring investigation. According to the AP, a key cog in the scandal is to plead guilty on Friday, and could face up to a year in jail. Not much to say here, except the entire situation is just plain silly, and it is a shame that the NHL has to deal with something like this while they’re still on the road to recovery from the lockout.

Categories
NBA General

Dec 1 in Sports History: Basketball is invented


In 1891: The object of the game is to put the ball in your opponents goal (a peach basket at first). This may be done by throwing the ball from any part of the grounds, with one or two hands.

This simple idea was originated by Dr. James Naismith, a Canadian physical education teacher, to provide an “athletic distraction” to a group of bored teenagers during a brutal winter in Springfield, MA. “Basket ball” grew into one of the world’s most popular sports, with 300 million people playing around the globe today (not counting RJ’s sweet shot of a ball of tape into a trash can via a co-worker’s back that he totally meant to do). Naismith laid out 13 simple rules, which banned traveling (which is yet to be adopted by the NBA), dribbling (players had to shoot or pass when catching the ball), and included the five second inbounding rule and no goaltending. Naismith died on Nov. 28, 1939, almost 40 years to the day he invented basketball. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame (which adorns his name) in 1959. (hoophall.com)

In 1993: The Houston Rockets proved they were pretty good at Naismith’s invention by defeating the Knicks at Madison Square Garden 94-85, to win their 15th game in a row to start a season, tying an NBA record. Led by MVP Hakeem Olajuwon, the “Clutch City” Rockets won 22 out of their first 23 games and later beat the Knicks again to win their first of back-to-back NBA titles. (basketball-reference.com)

In 1967 Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers proved that he wasn’t so good at Naismith’s invention on this day as he set a record for missing 22 free throws in a 138-130 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Of course, we’re kidding about the not-so-good part, but foul shooting was an Achilles heel of the Stilt’s, as he shot only 51 percent from the line for his career (opponents originated the “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy on Wilt). (nba.com/history)

Categories
New Jersey Nets

The Nets like old people



Old people are funny

The Nets released the names of the 15 members to make up the team’s new dance squad, and then the Nets male fan base rushed off to Google pictures of the new grey haired bombshells. That’s right, grey haired! The Nets new dance team is made up of senior citizens ranging in ages from 59 to 82.


[The Senior Dance Team] will likely be performing to hip-hop once they take the court. That’s because Petra Pope, the Nets’ senior director of entertainment and event marketing who supervises in-game entertainment for the team, has seen how a swinging senior always draws the biggest applause during halfcourt dance contests. “We turn on hip-hop for the senior, to mix it up,” Pope said. “When they start dancing, the crowd goes crazy.

Come on Jay-Z, Jigga, Jay-Hova, Joe Camel, whatever your name is. How did Mr. Roc-A-Fella approve the formation of a group of geriatric gyrators instead of one made up from the normal groupies that can be found “shakin’ like a salt shaker” in all of his videos? Well, management had better make sure the batteries are charged in their medical alert bracelets before they hit the court.

Links:
[NJ.com]: Seniors show they haven’t lost a step

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Crisis in Canada



Chris Bosh’s raptor impersonation

1. Immune Deficiency
Chris Bosh has recently been diagnosed with Garnett’s Disease. Named after the most famous patient of the illness, the virus affects the entire franchise and leaves only one player to attempt to defend the well-being of the team as a whole. The human body is not built to withstand such an attack, but Bosh is considered to be an extreme case in which the patient actually defies the medical statistics and proceeds to thrive off of the virus. However, his life span remains in question as long as the infection goes untreated. One method of treatment involves an injection of new coaches, followed by a strict regiment of acquiring appropriate talent and drafting healthy bodies. The more controversial procedure involves transplanting the affected patient to a more stable environment conducive to playoff appearances. In the mean time, Bosh has been ordered to continue scoring 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds every game.

2. Carmelo’s Juice
Carmelo Anthony has been out-running, out-jumping and out-scoring opponents throughout November, and now we know what’s been giving him that extra edge. It’s his “ghetto Kool-Aid.” That’s how Melo refers to his new Mountain Dew, Red Bull concoction named C1.5 Extreme Energy Drink. The league might want to check into the contents of the beverage because Anthony’s been tweaking up and down the court for over 30 a game. The product is only available in the Syracuse, N.Y. area until late December when it will be unleashed on Denver. Rumor has it that the NBA’s version of Droopy Dog, Jeff Van Gundy, has been eagerly anticipating the national release.

3. Load Bearing Joints
Jason Williams had surgery on his right knee in July and has recently complained of frustration due to lingering pain that has kept him from making a full return. Why is this important? Well, Shaquille O’Neal recently had surgery on his left knee and claims that he will be able to make a full recovery. Now, White Chocolate is 6-1, 180 pounds and his knee can’t take the impact. How is Shaq’s knee going to hold up to 35 minutes of running underneath a 7-1, 325 pound frame? As dominant as the Diesel has been over his career, he is obviously in the declining years, and injuries to the knees have been known to end careers. I’ve heard Shaq say in interviews that he plans to play for at least another five years; unfortunately, I’m not sure his body can make the same long term plans.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Joe Johnson vs. Charlotte 43 min, 36 pts (FG: 13-24, 3FG: 5-11, FT: 5-5), 3 reb, 5 ast, 2 stl

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Utah (13-3) @ Los Angeles Lakers (9-5) The Lakers lost to the Jazz last Friday in Salt Lake City but Kobe and crew are a much better team inside the friendly confines of the Staples Center where they are 8-2. The Jazz got a big win last night over the Spurs to snap a two game losing streak; tonight they hope to avoid closing out the month of November losing three of four after starting off 12-1.

Buzzer Beater: Pacers forward Al Harrington will never live up to his potential. Sure, he’ll give you a glimpse of his true ability from time to time, like last night when he scored 28 against Golden State with 6-8 shooting from down town. Or the two games this season when he scored 32 points, both in wins. Or the two games in which he grabbed 18 and 14 rebounds. Inconsistency has always been his downfall; if he could string some of these games together then the All-Star votes would start coming.

Categories
General Sports

Nov 30 in Sports History: Brian’s Song


In 1971: ABC-TV aired “Brian’s Song,“ one of the most famous sports movies ever. The movie was a tearjerker about Brian Piccolo (played by James Caan) and Gayle Sayers (Billy Dee Williams), two Chicago Bears teammates who, despite their differences, became best friends, blah, blah, blah. Piccolo ends up dying of cancer, and we didn’t cry, there was just a lot of dust everywhere that day. (imdb.com)

In 1996: In a win over the Spurs, Michael Jordan of the Bulls scored 35 points and recorded his 25,000th career point. Jordan finished his 15-year career with over 32,000 points and a 30.1 average. Jordan was only the tenth player in NBA history to hit the quarter-century mark in points scored. (basketball-reference.com)

In 2005: The Boston Bruins made one of the worst trades in sports history, as they jettisoned captain, former top draft pick and franchise player Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks for Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau (not Keith, the better of the two brothers) and Brad Stuart. The Bruins immediately went into the tank, missed the playoffs and GM Mike O’Connell was fired, while Thornton flourished with the Sharks. He teamed up with Jonathan Cheechoo to lead the league in scoring and also won the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. (nhl.com)