Categories
General Sports

Nov 22 episode of Poor Man’s PTI

Welcome to another episode of Poor Man’s PTI. We’re back after a couple of weeks off. Did you miss us?

You can download this week’s podcast directly (running time 30 mins) or subscribe to the feed.  

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This week’s topics include:

  • Ohio State – Michigan and the BCS
  • Tony Romo – Jessica Simpson rumor
  • If we talked about OJ Simpson, here’s how we’d do it
  • Free Agent talk: Matsuzaka, Soriano, Bonds
  • NBA Hoops
  • What we’re watching on TV

Hope you guys enjoy the podcast.  If you did enjoy it, please give us a good rating below so we can rise up in the rankings. If you didn’t, send us an email ([email protected]) and give us some suggestions. Thanks for listening.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Cleaning the Glass


1. 20-20 Vision
At the tender age of 20, Orlando’s Dwight Howard is working hard to break some of the most impressive feats by the league’s best big men. When the Magic host the Pacers tonight, Howard will look to become the first player in 15 years to record three consecutive games of 20 points and 20 rebounds. On Saturday versus Charlotte Howard posted 24 points and 21 rebounds, he followed that effort up with a 24 point, 23 rebound game at Memphis on Monday. Tim Duncan was the last player to have back-to-back game of 20 and 20 in 2002-03. Shaquille O’Neal had nine 20/20 games in 1999-00, the most by anyone in the past ten years. Kevin Willis posted 12 in 1991-92, the most by any player in the last 20 years. Howard currently has three such games this season alone. He posted 21 points and 22 rebounds earlier in the season at Minnesota. While the records by O’Neal and Willis might be in reach for the kid this year, the true record is far out of reach. Moses Malone recorded 31 games of 20 points and 20 rebounds in 1978-79. Furthermore, Howard is trying to become the youngest player in NBA history to win a rebounding title; he currently leads the league with 14.1 per game.

2. Texas Heat Wave
Despite all the criticism Dallas received for starting slow and dropping their first four, the team is now riding high as they sit at 7-4 after pulling off a seven game winning streak. What’s more impressive is that they have done so without their talented small forward Josh Howard. Even with their current winning streak, the team still sits behind San Antonio, New Orleans and Houston in the southwest division. Much of the team’s success can be attributed to their scoring output, and more recently, an improved defense. Over the first four games of the season, Dallas averaged 89 points per game; in the next seven their total scoring increased to 105.3. In their last three contests, the Mavs have given up an average of 83 points to their opponents. MVP candidate, Dirk Nowitzki, has lead the team in scoring in every contest since their seven game winning streak began. Over that span, Nowitzki has averaged 23.7 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists. Dallas takes their win streak on the road to San Antonio on Friday where the team will play a tough Spurs team for the second time this month.

3. Block Party
While the Charlotte Bobcats might not exactly be a ferocious franchise just yet, they definitely have found a defender that guards they rim with a fury. In his third season, Emeka Okafor is has suddenly become a defensive force to be reckoned with. After averaging a respectable 1.8 blocks per game over his first two seasons, Okafor has increased his rejections to over four a game, 4.1 to be exact. Okafor leads the NBA in blocks this season and during his ten games, he has recorded at least two blocks in nine of them. Okafor has one game with two blocks, three with three blocks, one with four, one with five, one with six, one with seven and one with eight. And he’s not just blocking shots out there. At 24, Okafor leads his team in minutes (38.4), points (20.1), field goal percentage (57.5), offensive rebounds (4.0), defensive rebounds (8.0) and total rebounds (12.0). He also ranks third in steals (1.2) and fourth in assist (1.7). If this guy doesn’t remind you of a young David Robinson, both on and off the court, then nobody will.

4. R.I.P.
After 15 years of pick and rolls, made famous by the classic connection of John Stockton to Karl Malone, the Utah organization will soon play in a newly named area. That’s because the Jazz have sold the naming rights of the building to a radioactive waste disposal facility 75 miles west of Salt Lake City. EnergySolutions purchased the rights to the building known as the Delta Center and on Monday there were huge EnergySolutions banners waving outside the building and inside, on the court, was a new logo that read “EnergySolutions Arena.” CEO Steve Creamer hopes that people can look past the stigma that is associated with nuclear waste. Good luck with that Steve. Why not just call it the “Chernobyl Center”?

Tuesday’s Player of the Day: Kobe Bryant vs. Los Angeles Clippers 38 min, 40 pts (FG: 12-23, 3FG: 1-1, FT: 15-18), 5 reb, 5 ast, 3 stl

Wednesday’s Game to Watch: Miami (4-6) @ San Antonio (9-2) This game lost some sizzle when Shaq went down but it is still a match-up between the last two NBA champions. Tim Duncan leads a solid Spurs team who, while perfect on the road, has struggled to win on their home court where they are 3-2. Dwyane Wade is still adjusting to life without Shaq as the double teaming has become more frequent. But he continues to thrive; however, the team is only 1-3 since the surgery on O’Neal’s knee.

Categories
Philadelphia Phillies

Ron Howard can direct and he’s MVP!


Philly sure does know how to celebrate its heroes. After winning the MVP, Phillies 1B Ryan Howard got a giant banner on city hall, a Liberty Bell statue and a mayoral proclamation. Problem is that Mayor Street is a moron.


We are enormously pleased and we are very, very proud of our Phillies, and we are certainly proud of Ron Howard and his great achievements. We have somebody who we can really say, ‘It’s all right to be like Ron.’

….
for us, Ron Howard is a symbol of freedom that we’re going to have when we bring a world championship right down, you hear me? We are going to be free.

After a while, someone finally stepped to his side and whispered to Street that Ryan was the one with 58 homers and 149 RBI. But we’re sure Opie is very proub to be a symbol of freedom and world championship.

Links:
[Philly.com]: Cheers for whatzisname

[Philly.com]: Ryan toast of the town as NL MVP winner
[Answers.com]: Ryan Howard info

Categories
Boxing

Nov 22 in Sports History: Before Mike Tyson went insane



Devil on his shoulder

In 1986: Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion in history at 20 years old after he knocked out Trevor Berbick. Tyson, like he did to many fighters early in his career, made quick work of Berbick (who in an odd piece of trivia was Muhammed Ali’s last opponent), knocking him out in the second round. After winning the WBC title from Berbick, Tyson went on to become the undisputed heavyweight champion the following year by claiming the rest of the alphabet soup titles. Berbick, sadly, quickly declined after the Tyson fight and was recently murdered in Jamaica. (nytimes.com)

In 1917: The National Hockey League was formed as a result of the disbanding of the National Hockey Association. Charter members included the Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Wanderers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Arenas and Quebec Bulldogs. It didn’t get off to a great start, as the Bulldogs dropped out of the league before playing a game; while the Wanderers played six games before their home arena burnt down. The Arenas won the Stanley Cup after defeating the Vancouver Millionaires of the Pacific Coast Hockey League. The next season was tougher on the fledgling NHL, as only three clubs fielded teams and the Stanley Cup Finals were cancelled after five games due to an influenza outbreak that killed Canadiens defenseman Joe Hall. (nhl.com/history)

In 2003: The Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers played the first outdoor game in NHL history. The game was played at the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos’ Commonwealth Stadium. 57,167 fans braved the well-below zero temperatures to witness two historical games. First, an exhibition called the Mega Stars game featured Oilers versus Canadiens greats, including Wayne Gretzky (who suited up in blue and orange for the first time since being traded in 1988) and Mark Messier for Edmonton. In the night cap, the NHL squads played an official game, with the Canadiens prevailing 4-3 on a late Richard Zednik goal. It was so cold that most players had to wear thermal underwear and ski caps under their equipment. (cbc.com)

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: The E-Train is still running


1. Stars Stymie Avs
In a crazy see-saw battle on Monday night in Dallas, the Stars defeated a stuttering Avalanche club, 5-4. Brenden Morrow scored two early goals for the Stars before leaving with an injury, setting up Dallas for what would be a satisfying comeback victory. After Marty Turco gave up two first period goals, he was unexpectedly pulled and replaced by backup Mike Smith, who stopped 16 of 18 shots on the night. An early 3rd period goal by John-Michael Liles gave Colorado a 4-3 lead, but it would not last long. Halfway through the frame, Colorado (back then Quebec) draft pick Eric Lindros tied it up with his fifth goal of the year. Less than three minutes afterward, Antti Miettinen got the puck by Peter Budaj to give the Stars the eventual 5-4 victory. For Colorado, it was their fifth loss in the last seven games.

2. Sabres’ Spectacular 2nd
Last night, Buffalo hosted another dominant Sabres victory as the guys with the ugly logo downed the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-2. The night was highlighted by a bananas 7 goal 2nd for Buffalo, who received a nice 24 save performance from goaltender Ryan Miller on the other side of the ice. Offensively, Paul Gaustad and Thomas Vanek were hot, scoring two goals each (Gaustad also added an assist). Ales Kotalik also had a good night tallying a hat trick for assists with three. This was Buffalo’s fifth game in which they’ve scored six or more goals, so they certainly have everything covered on offense. If there was no such thing as the second period, Tampa’s Marc Denis would have had an awesome game between the pipes. Unfortunately, 22 saves was not enough to beat the Sabres, who still have not lost back-to-back games this season.

3. He knows it’s the Flyers, right?
One month after being booted up to the position of head coach for the Philadelphia Flyers, John Stevens has signed a two-year deal to remain in that spot (what was he thinking?). He replaced Ken Hitchcock as head-honcho 12 games ago, and has posted a 4-7-1 record. A coach cannot win the games for the Flyers– they have to get it done on the ice, and that’s what this team is missing. Their offense is defunct, and the defense couldn’t keep the other team away from the net if it were two states over. In goal, Antero Niittymaki has been anything but impressive since taking over the #1 spot, posting a 3-10-2 record this season.

Check It Out
Kevin Allen of USA Today takes a look at the youth of today’s NHL, and how it is impacting the game. It is clear that the kids have taken over… just take one look at the trio on the Pens (Staal, Crasby, and Malkin)–those youngsters are the new image of the NHL.

Game of the Night: San Jose at Anaheim
Sharks have won six of last seven games

The Last Shot
Pittsburgh defeated Philadelphia 5-3 last night, improving the Penguins’ record against Philly this year to 4-0.

Categories
NBA General

Around the Rim: Mistake in Minnesota


1. One Way Ticket?
The rumors are everywhere. Minnesota should trade Kevin Garnett and begin again with more youth and more talent in return. Sounds like a good idea, but if Garnett doesn’t ask for a trade, then it would be a slap in his face to ship him off. This is a player who has been the face of the T-Wolves for twelve years now. The Big Ticket has won an MVP, an All-Star MVP and has been on multiple All-Star teams, All-NBA First teams and All-Defensive teams. He has meant so much to the franchise over the years, both on and off the court, and he has been a model citizen his entire career. Don’t forget that Garnett was a groundbreaker when he entered the league out of high school as a kid; he was the first player to do so since Moses Malone. Since then, he has bled for this team, suffered for this team and, most importantly, he’s single handedly carried this team. Trading KG is more than a business move at this point. The organization owes him the courtesy of allowing him to finish his career anywhere he desires. He’s earned the right to demand a trade, should he desire. But, if Garnett doesn’t want to leave Minnesota, regardless of reasons, management should respect his wishes.

2. Will the Real Kobe Bryant Please Stand Up?
Kobe Bryant came into this season with a scoring average of 28.5 points per game over the last six seasons. Last year he averaged a career high 35.4. Currently, Bryant is averaging 22 points a game, his lowest average since his first year as a starter in 1998-99 when he was getting 19.9. He’s only averaging 14 shots a game despite being known to jack up 40 shots in a single contest. He did drop 81 on the Raptors, right? Even though Bryant’s scoring is down, the team is 7-3 overall and 5-3 when Kobe has played. Oddly enough, Bryant’s season high of 32 points came in an 11 point loss to Portland. Could it be that Bryant is finally turned the leaf from selfish ball-hog to dedicated leader? Possibly, but the Kobe of old will return if the winning in LA stops and the team begins to struggle. Bryant’s not one to sit back and watch his team fail. If he’s going to go down, he’ll want to go down shooting.

3. Kidd and Carter Combo
As far as guards go, Jason Kidd and Vince Carter might be the best tandem going. The two Nets are attributed with a league high average of points, rebounds and assists by a backcourt. Together they average 69.4 per game. The other teams to average 60 weren’t even close to Kidd and Carter. Phoenix’s Steve Nash and Leandro Barbosa average 61.8, Atlanta’s Joe Johnson and Tyronn Lue get 60.2; Detroit’s Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton are good for 60.2 and Milwaukee’s Michael Redd and Maurice Williams average 60. The Nets duo is the second highest scoring backcourt, the best rebounders and rank third in assists. They are the only backcourt in the league to rank in the top five of all three categories. Both guards are great in their own rights, but together they are simply dominant.

4. Mr. Wizard
Gilbert Arenas is good, in fact, he’s on his way to becoming the one of the greatest scorers ever to not be picked in the first round. Arenas was taken with the 31st pick in 2001-02 by Golden State and currently has 22 games of 40 points or more. That’s good for 4th on the list of non-first rounders with games of 40+ since 1966. Ahead of Arenas is George Gervin with 68, Nate Archibald with 37 and Alex English who has 33. Don’t expect The Assassin to catch Gervin any time soon but at his current pace he could surpass English this season. In nine games this season, Arenas has already scored 40 or more on three occasions. Currently, he ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 28.4 points per game. Health will be the major factor that could keep Arenas from moving up the list, however, over the last two seasons he has missed only a total of four games. At 24, Arenas should have long career ahead of him filled with open jumpers.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Dwight Howard @ Memphis 41 min, 24 pts (FG: 9-12, FT: 6-8), 23 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Los Angeles Clippers (6-2) @ Los Angeles Lakers (7-3) This is the match-up that many wanted last year during the playoffs. It’s been a long, long time, if ever, since the battle of LA was a competitive contest. Well, those days are over and these two teams now have a genuine feud with one another that is only going to intensify further this year. Not that it really matters, but the Lakers are 6-1 at home this year while the Clippers are 0-2 away from the Staples Center. Despite their record, the Clippers have to love their chances on the “road.”

Categories
Philadelphia Eagles

RIP Andre Waters


While many people will think of cheap shot artist and “Dirty” when thinking about Andre Waters (thanks a lot Dan Dierdorf, you dick), Eagles fans will remember the undersized safety that played with a passion and intensity that was indicative of the Buddy Ryan era Eagles and especially of the 1991 Gang Green defense, a defense so dominant that they were ranked #1 against the pass, the run, and overall.

Reaction to the suicide of Andre Waters from around the web:

[Philly.com]: Suicide of ex-Eagle Andre Waters hits hard

[Totally Delco]: A story about Andre Waters

[Eric Schmeltzer]: Andre Waters: “Our” Player is Gone

[Blinq]: Andre Waters, 44

And for the forums comes this anecdote about Andre Waters:

I went to an Eagles practice back in 90′, at the old JFK ( had an old friend, Harper le Bel, who long snapped for the Eagles for a season) he got me in. Anyway I took my camera and got some great pics (me and Reggie, me and Buddy). So I go up to Andre (in the middle of practice) he was on the sideline where I was standing, and I said “hey Andre can I get a picture w/ you”. He told me he had to practice at that moment and to ask him later….So about 40 minutes go by, and i’m just walking around( w/ my sister) taking it all in (living the moment) and i’m in the middle of taking a picture of Randall, as he’s throwing the ball, and I feel a tap on my shoulder…so I turn, and it’s Andre and he says” hey man, did you still want that picture?”….The guy friggin came and tracked ME down….I never forget that ,whenever I think of Andre. People used to say how dirty he was, I always thought yeah maybe, but what a good guy.

RIP Andre Waters.

Categories
NFL General

OJ’s book and TV special cancelled



Back to selling cars

In a rare showing of decency (or was it the negative backlash?) Fox has decided to pull the OJ Simpson special and book titled “I killed them and this is how I did it you suckers. Now I’m going to go play golf” … or something like that. Rupert Murdoch, head of Fox pulled the plug on Monday.


I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project,” Murdoch said. “We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.

Nicole Brown Simpson’s sister (god, we thought we’d seen the last of her) said that News Copr offered them all the proceeds of the television special and book as “hush money” but the family rejected it. Meanwhile, some copies of the book were already shipped to retailers but will be recalled and destroyed… so, uh, look for it on ebay any day now.

Links:
[MSNBC]: Simpson’s `If I Did It’ book, TV special canceled

Categories
New York Yankees

Nov 21 in Sports History: There’s where Joltin’ Joe went


In 1934: The New York Yankees officially became a dynasty as they made the seamless transition from aging, hot dog-gorging Babe Ruth to young, starlet-banging Joe Dimaggio by purchasing his contract from the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. Dimaggio, who tuned up for his 56-game hitting streak in 1941 with a 61 game streak as an 18-year-old Seal in 1933, joined the Yankees full-time in 1936 and was an instant superstar. He started every game in centerfield and led New York to a World Series that October. Dimaggio became a fixture in the Fall Classic, playing in 10 of 13 Series’ (winning nine) during his career (of which he missed 3 seasons due to military service). He was also an all-star in every single year he played and was named the game’s greatest living player at the centennial celebration of baseball in 1969. (baseball-library.com)

In 1982: Hard as it might be to believe, the NFL was once just as dumb as baseball and hockey as a 57-day player’s strike finally ended. A shortened, nine-game season was the result, with a hokey eight-team “tournament” to temporarily replace the traditional playoffs. As of press time, we’re still not sure if the 4-5 Lions or Browns of 1982 have hanging banners that proclaimed themselves “Wild Card” teams.

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Weekend Recap


1. Jagr Scores #600
Jaromir Jagr etched his name into the hockey record books on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. With his first period goal, Jagr became only the sixteenth player in NHL history to hit the twine 600 times (he also added two assists in the game to contribute to a 4-1 win over the Lightning).
Jagr epitomizes everything that makes the NHL great–an incredible intensity, relentless passion, and an unmatched motivational drive to be great. A first-round draft pick of Pittsburgh in 1990 (what’s the deal with all of these great Penguin 1st rounders?), he played 11 seasons for the Pens before moving on to a brief stint with the Washington Capitals. During the 2003-’04 season, he packed his bags to move along to New York, where he’s become the captain of the Rangers. Currently, he is only 46 points shy of 1500 for his career.

2. Dunham Dominates

Getting a rare start in net was just what Islander Mike Dunham needed on Saturday night. Rick DiPietro’s backup stopped 43 shots in a victorious 4-1 effort against the Florida Panthers at the Bank Atlantic Center in Fort Lauderdale. The Islanders have played well on this five-game road trip, posting a record of 3-0-1. They will complete the road stand tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, then head back to the Nassau Coliseum for a contest with the Hurricanes on Wednesday. New York needs help from their primary goaltender to stay on the right track; so far this year, DiPietro is a sub-par 6-5-1. The Isles are sitting hot on the heels of their New York counterpart for 2nd in the Atlantic Division.

3. Flames Are Hot

The Calgary Flames put an end to the Detroit Red Wings’ nine game winning streak on Friday night, coming away with a 4-1 win. Perhaps more importantly, it was the sixth straight win for Calgary–throwing them right into the mix of things in the Western Conference after a less than stellar start. Mikka Kiprusoff is looking like his usual self on this hot streak, giving up only six goals and posting two shutouts. The Flames will go for their 7th win in a row when they face the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.

Check It Out

Columnist Paula Wolf tries her best to explain the woes of the Philadelphia Flyers this season. You have to praise Paula for even trying, because this Philly club is a bit of a mystery. At 5-13-2, they’re simply playing with no life–and the on-again-off-again injuries of captain Peter Forsberg are never a welcome sidestory for Flyers fans.

Game of the Night: Florida at Boston
Bruins going for 5th straight win

The Last Shot
Jaromir Jagr is not the only Ranger to reach the 600 goal plateau… Brendan Shanahan scored #600 in New York’s first game of the season.