A Little Bit of Everything

FROM THE PITCH

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Today was a good day to be a Manchester fan as both Manchester City and Manchester United cruised to comfortable wins in midweek Premier League action. Manchester City got a pair of goals from Argentinian Sergio Agüero as they cruised to a 3-0 win at home over Stoke City. The win guarantees City the top spot in the Premier League on Christmas Day; the first time they've been there on Christmas since 1929. Meanwhile Manchester United kept pace with a big win of their own blasting Clint Dempsey and Fulham 5-0. 38 year old Ryan Giggs had a goal and a pair of assists as 5 different United players scored goals today. Manchester United trails City by 2 points through 17 matches.



In other Premier League action today, Tim Howard only needed to make one save in Everton's 1-0 win over Swansea City. It was just Howard's third clean sheet of the season as Everton improved to 6-8-2 on the year. Fellow American keeper Brad Guzan wasn't quite so fortunate as his Aston Villa squad fell short against Arsenal by a score of 2-1. Guzan was beaten on a Robin Van Persie penalty in the first half and then surrendered the game winner to Yossi Benayoun in the 87th minute.

BOWL GAME UPDATE

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At the top of any list of ridiculous bowl names has to be the Beef O'Brady's Bowl. I mean, at least the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl was played in Idaho. Anyhow, Marshall defeated Florida International 20-10 last night denying FIU what would have been a school record 9th win. Marhsall Freshman quarterback Rakeem Cato threw a pair of touchdown passes to Aaron Dobson, the second of which broke a 10-10 tie in the 4th quarter.

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And then tonight we had the San Diego Country Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl or SDCCUPB for short... If you thought the only reputable football school in Louisiana was LSU, this bowl season would suggest otherwise. Already we saw Louisiana-Lafayette shock San Diego State, and tonight we almost saw Louisiana Tech take out TCU - the team that wrecked Boise State's perfect season. TCU needed to score 14 unanswered 4th quarter points tonight to come away with a 31-24 win. Sophomore quarterback Casey Pachall hit Skye Dawson on a 42 yard touchdown pass with 4:26 to play for the game winner. TCU wraps up the season with 8 straight wins.

Here's a look at the bowl results thus far by conference:

FROM THE HARDCOURT

David Lee scored 30 points and had 13 rebounds in last night's tilt with the Kings, but the Warriors saw their starting point guard Stephen Curry leave the game with a sprained ankle. Curry was going to be reevaluated today to determine how much time if any he will miss. Curry was hampered by an ankle injury last year as well, but still averaged 18.6 points and 5.8 assists in 74 games.

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Derrick Rose had 12 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists in last night's win over Indiana, but more important for Chicago fans, Rose signed a 5 year extension and has expressed a desire to remain a Bull for the remainder of his NBA career. The 23 year old already has an MVP award to his name and his game has made major strides in each of his first three seasons. This is a huge deal for the Bulls and if they're able to get him a sidekick moving forward, expect to see more great things.

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Still no Mike Miller or Shane Battier on the court in Miami and the Heat blew a 23 point lead against Orlando tonight. LeBron James led all scorers with 27 points and Dwyane Wade chipped in 21 in a losing effort. The Magic's reserves were led by Big Baby Davis and his 18 points. Both teams are set to open their seasons on Christmas Day.

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All Kevin Love does is record double-doubles. Tonight's line, 27 minutes, 22 points, 16 rebounds. Wolves win again.

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Good news, Connecticut fans. There's potential for a front court pairing of former Husky teammates Hasheem Thabeet and Jeff Adrien following Adrien's signing with the Houston Rockets. The duo led the Huskies to 31 wins and a Final Four appearance in 2009, but have combined to average just 4.8 points per game in the NBA.

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