A is for And we're back! After about a year and a half away from the blogging game, the blog is back. If you know me, you know how it is with me and sports. Just can't stay away. Gonna try and do a piece every Sunday, we'll see how it goes.
B is for the Brooklyn Nets. Thought to be a legitimate challenger to the Miami Heat in the NBA's Eastern Conference with a core of Kevin Garnett (15 All-Star Games, 1 MVP), Joe Johnson (6 All-Star Games), Paul Pierce (10 All-Star Games), Deron Williams (3 All-Star Games), and Brook Lopez (1 All-Star Game), the Nets dealt the Heat their first loss of the season back on November 1st, 101-100. Since that time though? Just 5 wins in 18 games and with a record of 6-14, they sit tied for 12th place in the Eastern Conference. Of their projected starting five, only Johnson has appeared in every game with Williams missing 11, Lopez 7, Pierce 5 and Garnett 2. On top of that Garnett's averaged a career low 6.5 points per game while shooting just 36% from the field. Their only saving grace? The East is so weak this season that the 8th place Bulls are just 8-10, a mere 3 games up on the Nets.
Photo Credit: http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports
C is for Cano. Robinson Cano and the Seattle Mariners have agreed to a 10 year, $240M contract as the AL West just keeps loading up on star power. The 31 year old second baseman has enjoyed 4 straight all-star seasons, and in the past five years has never hit less than .302 while adding at least 25 homers, 85 runs batted in, and 41 doubles. Seattle used 5 different second basemen in 2013 (Nick Franklin, Dustin Ackley, Robert Andino, Carlos Triunfel and Brad Miller), but none of them can compete with Cano in terms of numbers. In fact, the five of them combined to hit fewer homers (24) than Cano did last season (27). Still, 10 year contracts are a dangerous thing as evidenced to those previously given to Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols. That said, it's a definite upgrade for the Mariners right now.
18 points. 17 rebounds. 20 assists. Rajon Rondo tallied his second triple double of the week, and an absurd one at that, as the Celtics squandered a 15 point lead and then rallied for an overtime victory over the New York Knicks today by a score of 115-111. Rondo now has 4 triple doubles on the year while the rest of the league has combined for only six. Jeremy Lin finished with 14 points and 5 assists, but turned the ball over 6 times in the loss.
DOUBLE DEUCE ACTION
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com
Jozy Altidore may be enjoying a nice little run, but no American is enjoying greater success in Europe this year than Clint Dempsey. The American winger netted 2 more goals in today's Premier League match with Wolverhampton giving him 12 in league play and 18 across all competitions for the Cottagers. Pavel Pogrebnyak added a hat trick as Fulham cruised to a 5-0 win, its third in a row. Fulham now sits in 8th place in the Premier League.
KOBE GETS HIS REVENGE ON WADE
Photo Credit: thestar.com
Sometimes, the best place to hurt someone is on the scoreboard. There was no retaliation for Dwyane Wade's hard foul on Kobe Bryant in the All-Star Game, but the Lakers took it to the Miami Heat today winning 93-83. Bryant, still donning the mask, led all players with 33 points while Wade had a forgettable day fouling out midway through the 4th quarter after turning the ball over 5 times. The Heat clearly missed Chris Bosh, who hasn't played since the All-Star Game following a death in his family. Bosh's replacements, Udonis Haslem and Juwan Howard, missed all 10 of their field goal attempts in the loss.
USA WOMEN'S U-20s CRUISE TO SECOND STRAIGHT 6-0 VICTORY
Photo Credit: ussoccer.com
The U.S. Women's U-20s clinched a spot in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Under-20 Women's Championships today with a second straight 6-0 victory. This time the victim was Cuba as the U.S. wasted little time in getting after their Caribbean opponents taking the lead less than 5 minutes into the match on a goal by Wake Forest sophomore Katie Stengel. Stengel, the reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year, and Penn State sophomore Maya Hayes, the nation's leading scorer in 2011 with 31 goals, each scored twice in the first half as the U.S. was in control from the start. Vanessa DiBernardo (Illinois) and Chi Ubogagu (Stanford) each added goals after the intermission to complete the rout. The U.S. now gets ready to take on host nation Panama on Tuesday with first place in Group B on the line. Panama defeated Guatemala 3-1 tonight to also improve to 2-0 in the tournament.
STRASBURG DEBUT
Photo Credit: usatoday.com
Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg took the mound for the first time in 2012 and worked a solid 2 2/3 innings against the Houston Astros in his spring debut. Showing no ill signs of his 2010 Tommy John surgery, Strasburg threw 44 pitches, 26 of them for strikes, and while he was somewhat unhappy with the locating of his offspeed pitches, overall he should be pleased with the results. The only real mistake he made was a 3-1 "hit-me-fastball" to Chris Snyder who deposited it well beyond the left field fence. And now my Astros are 2-0 on the spring!! Hey, we're probably go lose close to 100 games again this year; I've got to get excited about the things that I can.
NEW GOLF NUMBER ONE
Photo Credit: dailymail.co.uk
22 year old Rory McIlroy won the Honda Classic today and took over the number one ranking the world from England's Luke Donald. Donald had held the spot for the past 40 weeks, but now that honor goes to the reigning U.S. Open Champion from Northern Ireland. McIlroy had to sustain Tiger Woods shooting an 8-under-par 62 six groups ahead of him, but was able to hold on for the 2 shot win.
The U.S. Women's U-20s destroyed Guatemala in their first match of the CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championships yesterday by a score of 6-0. We posted the summary earlier, now here are the highlights:
Lindsey Horan and company are back in action tomorrow when they take on Cuba. The Cubans lost their opener to Panama by a score of 2-1.
Over in the other group both Canada and Mexico improved to 2-0 today with wins over Jamaica and Haiti respectively. Mexico got a hat trick from Natalia Gómez-Junco in their 10-0 win over Haiti. Gómez-Junco, who has 4 goals in the tournament to lead all scorers, is finishing up her freshman year at the University of Memphis. She scored 8 goals in her first year with the Tigers. Memphis went 22-1-1 and didn't lose until the 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament when they were defeated 2-0 by Louisville. The 22 wins were a school record and the Tigers earned their first ever NCAA Tournament Win.
Photo Credit: gotigersgo.com
Mexico and Canada will play Monday with both teams already assured a berth in the semifinals.
The 2008 Coast Guard Academy Bears Soccer team won 13 games including the 2008 ECAC Division III New England Championship when they knocked off top-seeded Eastern Connecticut. Senior James Toohey, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, scored the game's only goal in the closing minutes of regulation sending the Bears to their third ECAC Title and first in over a decade.
Photo Credit: uscgasports.com
Sadly, one of the key members of that '08 Bears team is no longer with us. LTjg Thomas Cameron, one of team's tri-captains, was one of three Coast Guardsmen killed in a helicopter crash in Mobile Bay this week while a fourth crewman remains missing.
Cameron tied for the team lead in scoring his senior year with 7 goals and 4 assists and also tallied 7 goals as a junior including the game winner against rival Conn College. A key cog in a class of players that helped restore a winning tradition at the Coast Guard Academy under head coach Chris Parsons, Cameron was more than a just great player. By all accounts he was also a great teammate and just a great kid, and his loss will be felt by all those who had the privilege of knowing him.
A is for Aston Villa. Robbie Keane made his debut for Villa today coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute in their 1-1 tie with Everton and his L.A. Galaxy teammate Landon Donovan. Keane, currently on loan from the Galaxy, will be with Villa until the 25th of February. Aston Villa goalkeeper Shay Given was back in net for the first time since suffering an injury against Manchester United on December 3rd relegating American Brad Guzan back to his role as backup.
Photo Credit: uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Bis
for Bryant. Quite a week for Kobe as he scored 172 points in 4 games. Bryant went for 48 against the Suns, 40 against the Jazz, 42 points against the Cavaliers and then 42 more tonight in a losing effort against the Clippers. Tonight aside, the Lakers won all of those games. Bryant entered play tonight averaging a league high 31.2 points per game.
Photo Credit: nbcsports.msnbc.com
C is for Carlos Bocanegra. Bocanegra scored another goal today, only this one was against his own team. Still, the Rangers overcame the miscue thanks to a late goal by Croatian striker Nikica Jelavic giving them a 2-1 win over St. Johnstone. Bocanegra and Maurice Edu both played the full 90 minutes for Rangers while fellow American Alejandro Bedoya was an unused substitute. Rangers remain in second place, two points behind Celtic atop the Scottish Premier League.
Photo Credit: sportinglife.aol.co.uk
D is for Dudu Aouate. The Israeli keeper held the top team in Spain scoreless for 72 minutes as Mallorca nearly pulled off an improbable upset over Real Madrid. Real Madrid needed late goals from Gonzalo Higuaín and José Maria Callejón to steal a win and remain comfortably ahead of 2nd place Barcelona. Aouate, 34, has been with Mallorca since 2009. They are currently in 15th place in La Liga.
Photo Credit: zimbio.com
E
is for Everton. Landon Donovan set up Nigerian striker Victor Anichebe with the equalizer in the second half as Everton was able to salvage a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa today. Donovan, playing as a right side midfielder, now has two assists in his first four appearances since starting his loan. Tim Howard started in net once again and made 6 saves.
Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com
Fis
for Florida State basketball. Someone forgot to tell 3rd ranked North Carolina that they had a game today. The unranked Seminoles blew the Tarheels out of the building 90-57, their worst loss since 2003 when Steve Blake and Maryland beat them 96-56. Senior Deividas Dulkys had the game of his life for Florida State draining 8 3-pointers and finishing with a career high 32 points. Dulkys had scored 32 total points in the 9 games leading up to this one. North Carolina never led in this one as it was all Florida State from the opening tip until the final whistle. It was Florida State's first win over a ranked team this year.
Photo Credit: cfnews13.com
G is for the Ginger Prince. 37 year old Paul Scholes, who recently unretired and rejoined Manchester United, started for the first time in a Premier League game since May and scored the game's first goal in Man U's 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers today. It was Scholes' first goal since he scored against Fulham in August of 2010 and his first goal at home since scoring against Manchester City in January of 2010 in the Carling Cup. The win pulls Manchester United level with Manchester City on points at the top of the Premier League table. City plays at Wigan Athletic on Monday.
Photo Credit: soccer.indonewyork.com
H is for Heat. Feels like we've been here before. The Miami Heat have lost 3 in a row after starting the season 8-1 and suddenly the team that everyone was touting to be the favorite to win the NBA title is having problems closing out games again. First, against the Warriors they blew a 17 point lead and shot just 2 for 17 in the fourth quarter in an overtime loss. Then they missed 14 free throws, including 7 in the fourth quarter in an overtime loss to the Clippers. And then they went into Denver and got pummeled 117-104. And to top it off, Dwyane Wade suffered an ankle injury leaving him a bum foot on one leg and a bum ankle on the other. The only bright spot is that the Heat are off until Tuesday so they have some time to recover from what was a brutal road trip. The schedule doesn't get any easier though with upcoming games against the Spurs, Lakers and 76ers.
Photo Credit: nbcsports.msnbc.com
I is for Iowa. Florida State wasn't the only unranked team to knock off a ranked opponent today. Iowa easily handled 13th ranked Michigan 75-59, Northwestern beat 7th ranked Michigan State 81-74, and Oklahoma dropped 18th ranked Kansas State 82-73. Matt Gatens led the Hawkeyes with 19 points and held Michigan's Tim Hardaway junior to just 9 points on 2 for 13 shooting.
Photo Credit: cbssports.com
J is for Janet Evans. As we discussed yesterday 40 year old Janet Evans has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 400 meter freestyle at the Austin Grand Prix. Evans won her preliminary heat with a time of 4:17.27, but failed to improve upon it in the B final where she finished last her heat with a time of 4:18.15. Both of those times, however, were good enough to get her to Trials as she just needed to swim under a 4:19.39. Evans will swim in her main event, the 800 meter freestyle, tomorrow. For more on the Austin Grand Prix, click here.
Photo Credit: record.xl.pt
K is for Kerry Wood. The Chicago Cubs and Kerry Wood have agreed to a one-year contract with a club option for 2013. Wood, who returned to the Cubs in 2011, appeared in 55 games last year and had a 3.35 ERA with 21 holds. Unless the Cubs move incumbent closer Carlos Marmol, Wood should return to the setup role he had last season.
Photo Credit: csnphilly.com
L is for Leroux. With the first pick in the 2012 WPS Draft, the Atlanta Beat selected UCLA striker Sydney Leroux. The Beat, who finished a league worst 1-13-4 last year, should have their attack bolstered by the 5'7" Leroux who scored 16 times for the Bruins this past season. Leroux scored 30 goals for the U.S. U-20 Women's team between 2008 and 2010 and made her debut with the Senior National Team last year.
Photo Credit: dailybruin.com
M is for Mempis. Really Chris Broussard? "Mempis"? Guess those whiteboards don't come with spell check.
Photo Credit: sportsgrid.com
N is for Nowitzki. Dirk scored the 23000th point of his NBA career on Friday night in a 102-76 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. Nowitzki becomes just the 23rd player in NBA history to score at least 23000 points and joins Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett as the only other active players with at least that many points. Dirk and the Mavs have bounced back from a slow start and are 8-2 after losing their first three games.
Photo Credit: sfexaminer.com
O is for Omar Gonzalez. The 2011 MLS Defender of the Year underwent surgery Friday in LA to repair a torn ligament in his left knee suffered while on loan to Nuremberg in Germany. Gonzalez, who will start rehab at the end of the month, will be unavailable to the Galaxy for at least the next 7 to 9 months.
Photo Credit: losangelesinspiration.blogspot.com
P is for Pachuca vs Puebla. José Torres, a member of the U.S.'s 2010 World Cup team and Pachuca knocked off Puebla and his National Team teammate Damarcus Beasley in Mexican First Division Action tonight by a score of 3-1. Torres started and played the full 90 for Pachuca while Beasley came off the bench for Puebla.
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com
Q is for Queasy. Which is how Kings fans must have felt after watching their team score just 23 points in the first half of their game against the Mavericks tonight. Jason Thompson was the only King out of the eleven who got into the game to shoot 50% from the field as the Kings collectively made just 25.6% of their 86 shots. Sacramento is now just 4-9 to start the season.
Photo Credit: blogs.sacbee.com
R is for Ricky Rubio. The 21 year old Spaniard appears to be adjusting to the NBA game just fine. Rubio has already become a starter in Minnesota and has had double digit assists in 5 of his first 12 games. Rubio entered play tonight ranked 8th in the league with 8.0 assists per game. More than just a good passer though, he's also shown an ability to score points and tonight set a career high with 18 against the Hawks. He also added a career high 5 steals.
Photo Credit: usatoday.com
S is for Staples Center. The Lakers and Clippers share the Staples Center, but the Clippers owned it tonight knocking off the Lakers 102-94 behind 33 points from Chris Paul. The 33 points were a season high for Paul, and the new-look Clippers appear to be coming together reeling off back-to-back playoff atmosphere victories against the Heat and Lakers this week. The Clippers still have some depth issues, their bench scored only 11 points tonight, and Paul left the game late with a strained hamstring, but either way the Clips are now 6-3 and 5-1 at home.
Photo Credit: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
T is for Toronto. That's the site where the Chicago Bulls became the NBA's first 12-game winner tonight after a 77-64 defensive battle with the Toronto Raptors. Derrick Rose had 18 points and 11 assists to lead the offense and 3 different Bulls big men had at least 12 rebounds. The Raptors were without their leading scorer Andrea Bargnani and his absence showed as the Raptors shot just 34.9% from the field. Perhaps most embarrassing though was the fact that they made just 1 of 7 free throws.
Photo Credit: cbc.ca
U is for Unbeatens. #1 Syracuse, #4 Baylor and #14 Murray State all stayed unbeaten with wins today. The Orange (19-0) knocked off Villanova 78-55, Baylor (17-0) completed overwhelmed Oklahoma State 106-65, and Murray State (18-0) beat Tennessee Tech 82-74.
Photo Credit: blog.syracuse.com
V is for Victory. And it's something the Washington Wizards have only tasted once in 12 games after they lost yet again today, this time to Philadelphia 103-90. There were a few bright spots this time though. JaVale McGee had 23 points 18 rebounds and 5 blocks (all season highs), Nick Young scored a season high 27 points, and John Wall just missed a triple double finishing with 14 points 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Still, to call the season anything other than a huge disappointment at this point would be lying. The schedule doesn't get any easier either with games against Houston, Oklahoma City, Denver and Boston next week.
Photo Credit: tumblr.com
W is for Winning Streak Snapped. Notre Dame's 29 game home winning streak was snapped today by the 16th ranked Connecticut Huskies. UConn trailed at the half, but Notre Dame's outside shooting failed them after the intermission. After connecting on 5 of 11 3-point attempts in the first half, they hit just 1 of 15 after the break. Shabazz Napier led the Huskies with 16 points.
Photo Credit: cbssports.com
X is for X-hibition Game. The U.S. Men's National Team scrimmaged the U-23 team yesterday as both teams get ready for upcoming competitions. As you would expect, the Senior team buried their younger opponents 4-0. Chris Wondolowski opened the scoring, and the Senior team added goals by Benny Feilhaber, Teal Bunbury and Graham Zusi all before the intermission. Brek Shea caused all sorts of problems for the U-23s using his size and speed to overwhelm them on the left side and assisted on two of the goals. The two sides are set to play one more time on Tuesday before the U-23s head to Costa Rica for more exhibition matches and the USMNT prepares for next Saturday's friendly with Venezuela.
Photo Credit: soccerchris.com
Y is for Yakubu. Blackburn Rovers had their leading scorer Yakubu Aiyegbeni sent off in the 23rd minute but still defeated Clint Dempsey and Fulham 3-1 today behind goals from Morten Gamst Pedersen, David Dunn and Mauro Formica. The win was a huge one for Rovers as they move out of the relegation zone and into 17th place in the Premier League.
Photo Credit: telegraph.co.uk
Z is for Zak Whitbread. Finally healthy again, Whitbread has carved himself into a nice little nitch with Norwich City. After going a full 90 minutes today at center back in the City's 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion, Whitbread has now started and played the entire match in 7 straight contests for the Canaries. And now after today's win, Norwich City is 7-7-7 and in 9th place in the Premier League ahead of Everton, Aston Villa and Fulham. It will be interesting to see if Whitbread will be the beneficiary of Omar Gonzalez's injury with regards to attention from the U.S. National Team. Whitbread, 28, played for the U.S. U-20 team back in 2003, but has never been capped by the Senior Team.
Here's a rundown on the last couple days from A to Z.
A
is for Albert Pujols. One of the greatest players in St. Louis Cardinal history has moved on. Albert Pujols will be an Angel next season having signed a 10 year deal worth a staggering $254M. A lot is being made of this deal as Pujols will be 32 before the start of the season meaning he'll still be bringing in close $25M a year after his 40th birthday. Logic would dictate that he won't be worth that at that point in his career since most players start to see their physical skills decline at that point. And sure, maybe in the out years of this deal, Pujols won't be worth what he's making. But in the short term, there is no better hitter in baseball. And you could argue that Pujols is worth well over $30M a year right now and for the next 5 or 6 seasons provided he stays healthy. Plus, as an American Leaguer, Pujols won't have to play the field as he gets older. I understand that there is substantial risk that comes with this deal, but the bottom line is the Angels got Albert Pujols out of it. If they can afford his salary and it's not going to financially cripple the club to give it to him (which obviously it didn't since they also dropped about $80M on C.J. Wilson), why not do whatever it takes to get him? My only beef with this deal is that one of the bright spots of Houston moving to the AL West is that we wouldn't have to face Pujols 15-18 games a year. So of course, Albert decides to make a move to the AL West as well. Thanks a lot, Albert.
Photo Credit: zimbio.com
Bis for Billy Beane. So I just finished reading Moneyball the other day (I'm a little behind the times when it comes to reading books) and fittingly the Oakland A's GM made another deal this weekend sending starting pitcher Trevor Cahill and reliever Craig Breslow to the Arizona Diamondbacks for starting pitcher Jarrod Parker, outfielder Collin Cowgill and reliever Ryan Cook. The 25 year old Cowgill hit .354 in AAA last year with almost as many walks (51) as strikeouts (63), 13 home runs, 30 stolen bases and a .430 on base percentage. Cook allowed just 41 hits in 61 innings between AA and AAA while fanning better than a batter an inning and allowing just 2 home runs. The real prize in the deal though is Parker who was ranked 29th among the top 50 prospects in Major League Baseball by mlb.com before the start of the 2011 season. A former first round pick in 2007, Parker was 11-8 in 26 starts in AA last year. Already espn.com's Andy Katz his criticized the deal saying Oakland didn't get enough, but Cowgill seems like exactly the time of player Beane covets because he gets on base at a high level and Cook and Parker both have plus arms. Is this another case of Beane seeing value where others don't? Or am I just biased because I just read the book? We'll see what happens. Regardless of how it works of for Oakland, Arizona is getting a stud in Cahill.
Photo Credit: insider.espn.go.com
C is for Chris Paul. CP3 is still a Hornet. For now. After a proposed 3-team trade that would have sent him to the Lakers while yielding Kevin Martin, Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Goran Dragic, and a first round pick was deemed to be insufficient, the Hornets are now in talks with the Clippers although with the other L.A. just picking up Chauncey Billups, it seems unlikely that the Clips will meet New Orleans' asking price. It'll be interesting to see how all of this plays out because I'd say there's almost no way Paul stays in New Orleans after this season, especially when you look at the pieces that surround him right now. David West is gone leaving Emeka Okafor, Trevor Ariza, Jarrett Jack and Quincy Pondexter as the only complimentary pieces currently on the roster due to make over $1M this season. I would've taken the deal for Martin, Odom and company because now the Hornets could wind up in the same boat the Cavs were in with LeBron James. Anyhow, honestly as a Rockets fan I'm glad it didn't happen, because that seemed like an awful lot to give up just to get Pau Gasol. I highly doubt this will be the last time we talk about Chris Paul's future this season so stay tuned.
Photo Credit: sports.popcrunch.com
D is for DeMarco Murray. The Cowboys lost more than just a game and their division lead on Sunday night when they dropped a 37-34 thriller to the New York Giants. Star rookie running back DeMarco Murray, also the anchor on my fantasy football team, broke his ankle in the first quarter and is now done for the season. With Felix Jones the only remaining healthy tailback on the Cowboys 53 man roster Dallas was forced to go out and sign veteran Sammy Morris this week. Morris, 34, spent the past 4 seasons in New England, but hasn't played at all this season.
Photo Credit: rantsports.com
E is El Clasico. Chalk another one up for Barcelona. After conceding the quickest goal in the history of the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona (23 seconds in by Karim Benzema), Barcelona stormed back getting goals from 22 year old Chilean Alexis Sánchez, Xavi and Cesc Fábregas as Barca took the match 3-1. With the win Barcelona moves ahead of Real Madrid on goal differential in the standings although Real Madrid has played one less match so they will likely move back into the top spot when they take on Sevilla this coming Saturday.
Photo Credit: zimbio.com
Fis for Fabian Johnson. Johnson, who made his U.S. National Team debut last month against France, had a pair of assists in TSG Hoffenheim's 2-0 win over Nurnberg in Bundesliga action this weekend. Johnson, born in Germany, had played on German youth national teams at the U-19, U-20 and U-21 level amassing 20 appearances before changing allegiances this summer. Fellow American Timothy Chandler, who plays for Nurnberg, was sent off in the match late in the first half.
Photo Credit: spox.com
G is for Green Bay. The Packers moved another step closer to an undefeated regular season as they blew out the Oakland Raiders 46-16 on Sunday. Aaron Rodgers threw for 281 yards and 2 more touchdowns giving him 39 on the season as Green Bay improved to 13-0 with just a trip to Kansas City to take on the struggling Chiefs and home games against the Bears and Lions remaining on the schedule. Not all the news was good though as wide receiver Greg Jennings suffered a sprained left knee that will likely keep him out the rest of the regular season. The Packers do remain optimistic that he'll be back for their first playoff game in mid-January.
Photo Credit: detnews.com
H is for the Houston Texans. The Texans are going to the postseason for the first time in franchise history following their last second win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Kevin Walter's 6 yard touchdown reception with 2 seconds remaining gave the Texans a 20-19 win that coupled with a Tennessee Titans loss clinched the AFC South for the Texans. With that Houston ends what was the third longest active postseason drought entering play this year. Only the Lions and Bills have longer streaks with neither one having been in the postseason since 1999.
Photo Credit: hosted2.ap.org
I is for the Idaho Potato Bowl. Seriously, who comes up with the names of these things? Anyhow, the "Famous Idaho Potato Bowl" is one three bowl games this Saturday that will kick off this year's bowl season. First, Temple (8-4) will battle Wyoming (8-4) in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl. Then Ohio (9-4) will take on Utah State (7-5) in the Potato Bowl. And finally San Diego State (8-4) and the University of Louisana-Lafayette (8-4) will face off in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. I was actually thinking about going to the New Orleans Bowl this year since I haven't been to it yet in the 3+ years I've lived down here. Then I saw who was playing and I was reminded why that is.
Photo Credit: usustats.com
J for Jose Juan Barea. The Puerto Rican born sparkplug who helped lead the Mavericks to their first NBA Championship this year reportedly has a new home. After spending the first five years of his NBA career in Dallas, Barea signed a 4 year $19M dollar deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves went just 17-65 last season, last place in the Northwest Division, and Minnesota is hopeful that Barea along with Spanish rookie Ricky Rubio will provide a spark in their backcourt propelling them back into contention in the tough Western Conference.
Photo Credit: mirosport.net
K is for Kentucky. The Kentucky Wildcats dropped their first game of the year on Saturday night when Christian Watford drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Indiana Hoosiers a 73-72 upset win over the then-top ranked Cats. The unbeaten Hoosiers improved to 9-0 on the year with the win and jumped to number 18 in the AP polls. Kentucky meanwhile drops to number 3 while Syracuse, despite all of the controversy surrounding their program this year, is the new number one.
L is for Lamar Odom. What a week for Lamar. First he was almost traded to the Hornets in a 3-team blockbuster deal that would've sent Chris Paul to the Lakers and Pau Gasol to the Rockets. Then, after that deal was nixed by the commissioner David Stern, Odom requested a trade and was dealt to Dallas for an $8.9M trade exception and a first round pick. Odom joins a Mavs team looking to replace Tyson Chandler, JJ Barea and Caron Butler who will not be back to help the Mavericks defend their NBA Championship. The 32 year old Odom is an extremely versatile big man who averaged 14.4 points and 8.6 rebounds for the Lakers last year and was the winner of the Sixth Man of the Year Award.
Photo Credit: rumorsandrants.com
M is for Manchester. Both Manchester City and Manchester United, the two top teams in the English Premier League this year were eliminated from the Champions League this week. City finished a point behind Napoli in Group A after failing to beat the Italian side and were eliminated despite rounding out group play with a 2-0 win over group winner Bayern Munich. United's performance was slightly less forgivable as they dropped their final match 2-1 to Swiss club FC Basel. In two matches against Basel, United conceded 5 goals and ultimately that was enough to keep them out of the Round of 16. So while no one from Manchester is advancing, here's your participants in the next round: Bayern Munich, Napoli, Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Benfica, FC Basel, Real Madrid, Lyon, Chelsea, Bayer Leverkusen, Arsenal, Marseille, Apoel Nicosia (Cyprus), Zenit St Petersburg, Barcelona, AC Milan.
Photo Credit: zimbio.com
N is for the New Jersey Nets. The Nets owner, Russian bajillionaire Mikhail Prokhorov is apparently going to run for Russia's presidency this spring. I'm not even sure how to respond to that. Can you imagine Mark Cuban running for president in the United States?
Photo Credit: inflexwetrust.com
O is for Oguchi Onyewu. The 29 year old American defender helped lead Sporting Lisbon to a 1-0 win over CD Nacional de Madeira on Saturday scoring the game's only goal in 22nd minute. It was the second goal of the season for the 6'4" center back. Onyewu is in the first year of a three year deal with Sporting that he signed back in June.
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com
P is for PEDs. National League MVP Ryan Braun has tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug and faces a 50-game suspension if upheld. To say this is disappointing would be an understatement. One can only hope at this point that the positive test was a mistake, which it still very well may turn out to be, because this would be a huge black eye to one of the game's most exciting young players.
Photo Credit: fantasyknuckleheads.com
Q is for Quarterbacks. Quarterbacks Drew Brees and Tom Brady remain on track through 13 games to break Dan Marino's regular season record of 5084 passing yards. Brees currently sits at 4368 yards (on pace for 5376) while Brady is right behind him at 4273 yards (on pace for 5259). Aaron Rodgers fell off the pace a little bit this week getting subbed out in the 3rd quarter in Green Bay's rout of Oakland (on pace for 5077) while a fourth quarterback has now eclipsed 4000 yards this year and finds himself within striking distance of Marino as well as Eli Manning is now on pace to finish with 5052 yards. Prior to this season, only two quarterbacks had ever eclipsed 5000 yards in a single season - Marino in '84 and Brees in 2008.
Photo Credit: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
R is for RGIII. The Big 12 may have been slighted when it came to picking teams for BCS bowls, but not during the Heisman voting. Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III beat out Andrew Luck, Trent Richardson, Montee Ball and Tyrann Mathieu to win the award while leading Baylor to a 9-3 season and a berth in the Alamo Bowl. RGIII threw for 3998 yards and 36 touchdowns this year while throwing just 6 interceptions. He also ran for 644 yards and 9 more touchdowns. 4 times this season he threw for at least 400 yards (including 479 yards in an upset of Oklahoma) and he had three 5 touchdown games during the year. Griffin becomes the first Baylor player to win the Heisman having no player ever finish better than 4th in the voting prior to this year.
S is for the Southpaws. A couple of lefties made headlines last week signing with new clubs. Mark Buehrle signed a 4 year deal worth $58M to join his former manager Ozzie Guillen in Miami while C.J. Wilson signed a 5 year $77.5M deal to join Albert Pujols and the Angels. Apparently it's good to be left-handed.
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T is for Tim Tebow. Same old same old for the Broncos. Down 10 in the 4th quarter. Win the game in overtime. Matt Prater hit a 59 yarder at the end of regulation and a 51 yarder in overtime as the Broncos improved to 7-1 under Tebow and are now a full game ahead of the Raiders atop the AFC West. This wasn't the typical Tebow performance where he wasn't required to throw the ball at all. In fact, Tebow put the ball up 40 times, completing 21 passes for 236 yards (a season high) and a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas. It was Tebow's second straight 200+ yard game. The Bears meanwhile continue to struggle without Jay Cutler and with Matt Forte now sidelined as they drop to 7-6. Tebow and the Broncos get a serious test this weekend when Denver takes on Tom Brady and the Patriots.
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U is for UNC. The Tarheels are your 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Champions following a 1-0 over the Charlotte 49ers. Ben Speas scored the game's only goal, his third of the tournament lifting North Carolina to their first title in a decade.
V is for Villa. American Goalkeeper Brad Guzan earned his first ever English Premier League win this weeked in Aston Villa's 2-1 victory over Bolton Wanderers. Guzan, starting due to an injury to Shay Given, made six saves as 9th place Villa won for just the 4th time in 15 games this season. Guzan was a member of the 2010 U.S. World Cup Team playing behind Tim Howard.
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W is for Wild. There have been a lot of stories in this year's young NHL season from the streaking Bruins to the return of Sidney Crosby to the struggles of Alex Ovechkin. One that's gone a little under the radar though, at least in the circles I run in, is that the team with the best record in the NHL is not from Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, Washington, Detroit, Vancouver, Philadelphia, Dallas or Montreal. Instead it's the Minnesota Wild who have not made the playoffs since 2008 leading all teams with 43 points. Led by captain Mikko Koivu and offseason acquisition Dany Heatley, the Wild have quietly won seven in a row entering play tonight.
Photo Credit: zimbio.com
X is for Xavier-Cincinnati. By now you've probably all seen or at least heard about the melee that occurred in Saturday's Cincinnati-Xavier game that resulted in the game being called with 9.4 seconds remaining. The 8th ranked Musketeers 76-53 win was marred by an ugly brawl that saw multiple punches thrown and has subsequently led to numerous suspensions. Cincinnati suspended senior Yancy Gates, junior Cheikh Mbodj and freshman Octavius Ellis six games each and freshman Ge'Lawn Guyn for one game.
Xavier suspended freshman Dez Wells and walk-on Landen Amos for four games, junior guard Mark Lyons for two and senior guard Tu Holloway for one game. Now I'm a little torn about the length of the suspensions. Especially when you consider last year BYU suspended one of their best players for the season for violating their honor code in an off the court incident. Does six games seem like enough? I'm surprised it wasn't closer to ten, or even an indefinite suspension. It will be interesting to see if these two schools stick to their initial punishments or if they are extended. I watched Gates' apology today, and while I feel bad for him - he did start crying during the press conference - at the same time, he needs to be held accountable for his actions. I don't know if it's anger management he needs or what, but heated as things may have been during the game, there's no excuse for sucker punching a guy in the head.
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Y is for Yates. Houston's rookie quarterback T.J. Yates helped the Texans bounce back from a 16-3 halftime deficit and a 19-10 deficit in the 4th quarter in leading them to a come-from-behind win over the Bengals and their first ever division title. Making just his second career start, the rookie from North Carolina threw for 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns including the game winner 6 yarder to Kevin Walter as time expired as the banged up Texans won WITHOUT their star wide receiver Andre Johnson. Yates is now 2-0 as the Texans starting quarterback and at 10-3, Houston continues to hold on to the top seed in the AFC.
Photo Credit: cincyjungle.com
Z is for Zak Whitbread. 27 year old American born Norwich City defender Zak Whitbread made his first start since August and helped the Canaries to a 4-2 victory over Newcastle United on Saturday. Norwich City is 5-6-4 and in 10th place in the Premier League following this weekend's matches. Whitbread has played in England since 2003, but after 5 matches with the U.S. U-20 squad, he has yet to play for the Senior National Team. Whitbread was in camp with the team back in March for matches against Argentina and Paraguay, but was unable to play due to injury.
