A is for Asiata. With injuries to running backs Adrian Peterson and Toby Gerhart, the Minnesota Vikings were forced to turn to Matt Asiata in their tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles today. Asiata, undrafted out of Utah, entered the day with 3 carries in his CAREER, and none of those coming in 2013. The result? THIRTY carries for 51 yards (not that impressive), but hold on... THREE touchdowns. He also added 3 catches for 15 yards. I know Asiata isn't going to make anyone forget about Adrian Peterson, but Peterson hasn't rushed for 3 scores in a game since October of 2011.
B is for Ballon d'Or. The three finalists for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award have been announced by FIFA: Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), France's Franck Ribéry (Bayern Munich) and Argentina's Lionel Messi (Barcelona). Messi has won the award every year since its inception in 2010 but, thanks in large part to a torn thigh muscle, is considered to be out of the running meaning Ronaldo and Ribéry are the two front runners. While Ronaldo is no surprise having been the award's runner-up the past two years, the 30 year old Ribéry is a bit of an aberration. A staple with Bayern Munich since 2007, the French winger helped lead Bayern to wins in the Champions League, and DFB Pokal (German Tournament) as well as first place in the Bundesliga this past year. The winner will be announced in January at the Ballon d’Or award ceremony at the Kongresshaus in Zurich.
C is for Club World Cup. We're down to the Final Four in the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup: Guangzhou Evergrande (China), Bayern Munich (Germany), Raja Casablanca (Morocco), and Atlético Mineiro (Brazil). Raja Casablanca, the host club for this year's tournament, has pulled off a pair of upsets so far, knocking off OFC Champions Auckland City (New Zealand), and CONCACAF Champions Monterey (Mexico) by identical 2-1 margins. Guangzhou Evergrande punched their ticket to the semis by defeating Egyptian club, and the African champs, Al-Ahly 2-0. Monterey and Al-Ahly will now face one another for 5th place while the semifinal match-ups will feature Bayern Munich and Guangzhou Evergrande, and Atlético Mineiro and Raja Casablanca. Since the rebirth of the Championship back in 2005, only one country from outside of South America or Europe has reached the finals: TP Mazembe from the Democratic Republic of the Congo back in 2010.
So Agudelo is now playing for Chivas USA, and in return they get Heath
Pearce, money allocation, and future considerations. Who got the best
end of this deal, Chivas or the Red Bulls, and do you see this helping
Juan Agudelo's development as a player? - Cory L., Raceland, LA
Photo Credit: espn.go.com
I really think this is a great move for both sides. The Red Bulls have been devastated by injuries this year, particularly on defense, and Heath Pearce gives them exactly what they need to shore up what has become a very inexperienced backline. With plenty of firepower up front in Thierry Henry and Kenny Cooper, Juan Agudelo basically became expendable and Chivas USA is a perfect landing spot for him. The Goats have scored just 8 goals in 12 games so far this season and Agudelo gives them a legitimate weapon in his prime. This is also exactly the opportunity that the 19 year old Agudelo needs to continue to develop as a player. Stuck behind Luke Rodgers for much of 2011 and Kenny Cooper in 2012, Agudelo hasn't gotten the minutes you'd expect for a player with his potential. The move to the west coast finally gives him the opportunity to take his next steps forward as a player.
Ok, so Chelsea wins the Champions League title this past weekend after a
very exciting game that went all the way past extra time and into PK's.
Now they get to play Champions League ball even though they only
managed a 6th place finish in the EPL this year. Now that relegates
Tottenham to playing Europa ball, and knocks Liverpool out of playing in
Europe at all, correct? The whole thing seems a bit convoluted if you
ask me, but then again what do I know? Do I have it right? Do Liverpool
fans have yet ANOTHER reason to hate Chelsea? Is there any other
possible way for the powers that be to manage a situation like that? And
has their even been a situation like this before? - Cory L., Raceland, LA
Photo Credit: aderinola.wordpress.com
First of all, what an unbelievable run for Chelsea. I didn't even give them a puncher's chance against Bayern Munich, especially with the game in Munich, but as they say, that's why they play the game. Anyhow, as you mentioned, there are consequences as Chelsea, the 6th best team in the English Premier League this past season, wins the Champions League title and the automatic berth into next year's tournament that comes with it. Because England can only send four teams tom the Champions League, Tottenham Hotspur, the 4th place team in the Premier League had its spot in the Champions League revoked dropping them into the Europa League tournament instead. Now the Europa League is slightly more complicated. England gets 3 automatic berths there typically reserved for the winner of the Carling Cup (Liverpool), the 5th Place Premier League Finisher (Newcastle) and the 6th Place Finisher (Chelsea). With Chelsea's spot vacated, Spurs slot in nicely, so no one's really getting robbed of an opportunity here. Liverpool fans can rest easy.
Interestingly enough, Liverpool is actually the reason there is a contingency plan in place for a situation like this. In 2005, when Everton finished fourth,
and fifth place Liverpool won the Champions League, there was no provision in UEFA's
regulations for such an unlikely scenario where the champion wasn't an automatic qualifier for the next tournament. UEFA had simply presumed
that any team good enough to win its marquee tournament would also have
qualified for next season's competition by conventional means. As a result, the rules were rewritten so that if the circumstances of 2005 were
repeated, the reigning champ's entry would take precedence over the weakest league
qualifier, with a maximum of four clubs permitted from a single country. It's a tough break for Spurs, but considering they choked away a third place finish in the EPL they really have no one to blame but themselves.
With all the media surrounding the roger Clemens perjury trial, why is he testifying before elected government officials? Since when has the federal government cared about drug usage with sports? Why don't they go after Hollywood types for drugs if it's that big of an issue to them? I just see our tax dollars going to an odd place and I missed why Clemens, and Bonds for that matter, receive so much federal attention. - The Dude, Chesapeake, VA
Photo Credit: newyork.cbslocal.com
It's a legitimate question. With everything else going in the country, why did our Congress use its resources to address steroids in baseball? But, these are people we elected so I guess you get what you vote for. Or don't vote for. Anyhow... Agree or not with Congress's involvement, the fact remains that Clemens, and Bonds for that matter, were alleged to have made false statements while under oath. In Bonds' case, he was found guilty of obstructing justice stemming from his grand jury appearance in 2003. And then currently Clemens is on trial for six felony counts involving perjury, false statements and obstruction of justice. Two jurors have already been dismissed for falling asleep during the trial so that should tell you everything you need to know about whether people care or not.
That does it for this week. As always a special thanks to everyone who wrote in. And remember, as the great G$ Meyer says Reading is for Winners, especially when you read Smitty's Mailbag.
Got a question for the mailbag? Click on the link at the top of the
page or email us directly at smittysports.blogspot@hotmail.com.
Photo Credits Clockwise from top left: soccerbyives,net, mlssoccer.com, goal.com, goal.com
The UEFA Champions League wasn't the only tournament setting its quarterfinal matchups today as the Europa League (think European soccer NIT) did so as well. Four different U.S. National Teamers - Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Oguchi Onyewu (Sporting Lisbon) and Jozy Altidore (AZ Alkmaar) - saw their clubs advance to the quarterfinals this past week and surprisingly none of them will play one another in the round of 8. Here's a look at the bracket:
The first leg matches will be played on March 29th with the return legs on April 5th.
It was a good day for Americans in Europe as Jozy Altidore, Steve Cherundolo, Jermaine Jones and Oguchi Onyewu all saw their clubs advance to the Europa League Quarterfinals.
Photo Credit: msn.foxsports.com
Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar entered their second match with Udinese up 2-0, but defender Nick Viergever was sent off less than 2 minutes into the match forcing AZ to play a man down for basically the whole game. Antonio Di Natale converted the ensuing PK and by the 15th minute added a second goal putting AZ back on their heels. But 23 year old Erik Falkenburg scored what would be the game winner in the 31st minute as Udinese couldn't capitalize on the man advantage or a missed AZ penalty kick in the second half.
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com
Hannover 96 and their captain Steve Cherundolo jumped all over Standard Liege (Belgium) scoring in the first five minutes of the match and then getting some help with a pair of own goals from Antonio Kanu in a 4-0 win. Serge Gakpe was sent off in the 60th minute with a second yellow card with the score already 2-0 removing any doubt of Hannover's advancing.
Photo Credit: soccerbyives.net
Jermaine Jones turned in one of his best efforts in a Schalke uniform tallying a goal and an assist as Schalke 04 rallied from a 2-0 aggregate deficit with 4 unanswered goals in a 4-1 win over Twente Enschede. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, the second leading scorer in the Bundesliga this season, added a hat trick for the winners. Huntelaar leads all scorers in the tournament with 9 goals.
Photo Credit: mirrorfootball.co.uk
Oguchi Onyewu is still out injured, but his Sporting Lisbon teammates dispatched Manchester City after jumping out to a 2-0 first half lead and then holding on for dear life as City rallied for 3 goals in the second half. It wasn't enough though as Sporting advanced on away goals. Onyewu injured his knee three weeks ago and is expected to miss at least another five weeks.
Athletic Bilbao, Valencia, Atlético Madrid and FC Metalist Kharkiv (Ukraine) also advanced to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinal draw will be tomorrow.
Jozy Altidore stayed red hot tallying a pair of assists in AZ Alkmaar's 2-0 win in Europa League action yesterday. The assists were actually Altidore's first two this year for AZ in 38 matches, although as you may recall he did get the assist on Clint Dempsey's game winner versus Italy last week. In 4 matches over the past 2 weeks for club and country, the 22 year old striker has 3 goals and 3 assists. AZ and Udinese will now head to Italy next week for the second leg on Thursday.
Photo Credit: mlssoccer.com
In other Europa League action both Manchester clubs were upset with City dropping a 1-0 match in Portugal to Sporting Lisbon and United getting stunned at home 3-2 by Athletic Bilbao. Wayne Rooney scored both goals for United in a losing effort, but they're in big trouble as they will likely now need a 2 goal win in Spain in order to stay alive. Atlético Madrid, Olympiakos (Greece), Twente Enschede (Netherlands), and Valencia were among the day's other winners while Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 rallied for a 2-2 draw with Standard Liege (Belgium).
*He started for AZ Alkmaar for the first time in 2012 on Sunday and netted a brace in a 3-3 draw with Heerenveen.
*On Wednesday he assisted on Clint Dempsey's goal against Italy for the U.S.'s first ever win over the Italians.
*And finally today, he started for AZ once again, and again found the back of the net for his 10th goal in league play and 14th goal across all competitions.
Altidore, still just 22 years old, has really made the most of the move to his Dutch club after struggling to catch on anywhere after leaving the U.S. and Major League Soccer at the age of 18. With stints in Spain, England and Turkey under his belt, Altidore finally appears to have found his niche in the Netherlands. While it's true the Eredivisie isn't exactly known for its defense, the important thing is that he's getting an opportunity to play and with his scoring he is continuing to build confidence. We saw what that can mean for the U.S. on Wednesday against the Italians and if you're a U.S. fan you have to be excited for what's to come with World Cup Qualifying mere months away.
Altidore and AZ are in action on Thursday this week in the Europa League Round of 16 where they'll take on Udinese, currently in 3rd place in Serie A.
Here's a rundown on the last couple days from A to Z.
A is for AZ Alkmaar vs Anderlecht. The Europa League draw for the Round of 32 was announced this week and it's going to pit American striker Jozy Altidore and his Dutch club AZ Alkmaar against fellow American Sasha Kljestan and his Belgian club Anderlecht. Both clubs are in first place in their respective leagues with Alkmaar maintaining a one point lead over PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Eredivisie while Anderlecht is 5 points clear of Club Brugge in Belgium's Jupiler League. The Europa League resumes play in mid February.
Photo Credit: rsca.be
Bis for Bowl Games. Bowl Season kicked off yesterday with a couple of really good games. After Temple thrashed Wyoming 37-15 to win the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, the next two games went down to the final minute. First Ohio sophomore Tyler Tettleton scored on a quarterback keeper with 13 seconds left to win the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl (not just the Idaho Potato Bowl - but the FAMOUS Idaho Potato Bowl) 24-23 over Utah State. It marked the first bowl victory in school history for the Bobcats who finished the year 10-4. Then in the nightcap, Louisiana-Lafayette blew a 19-3 second half lead, and then came from behind getting a 50 yard field goal from Brett Baer as time expired to defeat San Diego State 32-30 and win the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Baer was in a position to be the goat in this one having missed two extra points earlier in the game, but drilled the 50 yarder - the longest kick of his collegiate career. This actually isn't the first time we've talked about Baer on the blog. If you'll recall back in November, Baer was the kicker we mentioned after the first Alabama-LSU game. Being from Mississippi, how is it that none of these SEC schools with terrible kicking games gave this kid a shot? Anyhow, Baer delivered the Ragin' Cajuns their first bowl victory as a Divison I FBS team. Hopefully these games are a sign of things to come for the rest of this year's bowl season.
C is for Concussions. 37 year old Philadelphia Flyers captain Chris Pronger's season is over due to severe post-concussion syndrome. Pronger has been out since mid-November and won't be returning to the ice any time soon as he's already been ruled out through the postseason. Doctors are hopeful that this injury won't be the end of Pronger's career, but that will all depend on how he recovers. Pronger's not the only high profile player dealing with concussion issues right now either as Pronger's teammate and the league's leading scorer Claude Giroux was also sidelined this week and is out indefinitely, while the Penguins have placed their star Sidney Crosby, who recently missed 11 months after suffering a concussion in January, on in the Injured List due to a recurrence of concussion-like symptoms. Rough month for Pennsylvania hockey.
Photo Credit: sportsillustrated.cnn.com
D is for Dempsey. Clint Dempsey, the highest scoring American in English Premier League history, added to his record yesterday with his 5th goal this season and 38th goal of his Premier League career in Fulham's 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers. Dempsey, who led Team USA with 5 goals in 2011, is also Fulham's leading scorer this season.
Photo Credit: nbcsports.msnbc.com
E is for English Premier League. Manchester City got a goal from David Silva in the second half and that was enough to hold off surging Arsenal by a score of 1-0 to maintain their lead atop the table. Manchester United stayed right on City's heels grabbing a 2-0 win at Queens Park Rangers today. Wayne Rooney needed just 52 seconds to put United on the board and Michael Carrick doubled the lead after the intermission as United won easily. Meanwhile Tottenham Hotspur, anchored in net by American Brad Friedel, took over third place following their 1-0 over Sunderland coupled with Chelsea's 1-1 draw at Wigan. Wigan's Jordi Gomez scored the equalizer in the 88th minute to deny Chelsea of the full 3 points.
Photo Credit: edition.cnn.com
Fis for FIFA Club World Cup Champions. Take a wild guess at which club won this title this morning. That's right. As per usual, Barcelona are the champs following their 4-0 rout of Brazil's Santos FC. A match that was touted to be a showdown between two of the world's top players, Brazil's Neymar and Argentina's Lionel Messi, was largely one-sided as Messi scored twice and the Spanish club brought home yet another piece of hardware. Xavi added a goal and an assist, Brazilian Dani Alves had a pair of assists and Cesc Fábregas also scored for Barcelona. This was the second time in the last three year's that Barcelona have won the FIFA Club World Cup having also done so in 2009. Qatar's Al-Sadd, the Asian Champions League Winners, took third place following a 5-3 shootout win over Japan's J-League Champions Kashiwa Reysol after the two teams played to a 0-0 tie in the consolation game.
G is for Griner. In a matchup of Women's College Basketball's top two teams, #1 Baylor and #2 Connecticut, it was Brittney Griner and the Baylor Bears who emerged victorious by a final score of 66-61. The 6'8" junior led the Lady Bears with 25 points, 9 rebounds and 9 blocks as Baylor improved to 11-0. Bria Hartley led Connecticut with 25 points in a losing effort as the Huskies fall to 9-1 on the season.
Photo Credit: womentalksports.com
H is for Heat. The Miami Heat, the closest thing the NBA has to a villain right now, had their preseason opener against their in-state rival the Orlando Magic tonight and absolutely dominated them. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined for 47 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists as the Heat cruised to a 118-85 win despite playing without Mike Miller and Shane Battier. Miami also got a solid performance from their first round pick in this year's draft Norris Cole. The point guard from Cleveland State who was selected with the 28th pick in the draft finished with 8 points and 8 assists in 20 minutes. If he plays like that all season, he should give Mario Chalmers a run for the starting job.
Photo Credit: npinopunintended.wordpress.com
I is for Indianapolis. The losing streak is over. The previously 0-13 Colts stunned their division rival the Titans 27-13 today finally getting their first win of the season. Donald Brown had the play of the game when after the Titans had cut the Colts lead to 7 late in the 4th quarter, he broke a tackle in the backfield and turned what would have been close to a five yard loss into an 80 yard touchdown run. Brown finished with 161 yards on just 16 carries and tied the franchise record for the club's longest run play from scrimmage. Dan Orlovsky didn't have a great game, but it was good enough to win, and he becomes the first Colts quarterback other than Peyton Manning to win an NFL game since 1997. Can you guess who that was? That would be current 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh. Most important though is with the win the Colts avoid becoming just the second team in NFL history to go 0-16. And obviously I will not be wearing my Titans hat to work this week.
Photo Credit: indiana.sbnation.com
J is for Jeff Green. The Celtics got some bad news yesterday as Green, acquired last year from Oklahoma City in the Kendrick Perkins deal, is going to be out for the entire year after a routine physical detected an aortic aneurysm. The 25 year old Green will need heart surgery and while the condition and procedure aren't necessarily career threatening, he will not be back before the start of the 2012-2013 season. Green will undergo surgery January 9th at the Cleveland Clinic. The loss of Green for the year is a big one for the Celtics. As ESPN's Bill Simmons put it in a tweet yesterday: "Best Celtics after Big 4 right now: Jermaine O'Neal, Brandon Bass, Chris
Wilcox, Keyon Dooling, Marquis Daniels, JuJuan Johnson. Yeesh."
Photo Credit: phatzradio.com
K is for Knickerbockers. The Knicks have added more depth at point guard this season reportedly signing Baron Davis to a one year deal worth $2.5M. The 32 year old Davis appeared in 58 games last year for the Clippers and Cavaliers averaging 13.1 points and 6.7 assists. Davis will join fellow veteran Mike Bibby and 25 year old Toney Douglas who has started just 21 games over his first two NBA seasons. The Knicks have a loaded frontline with Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler, but the backcourt is a huge question mark for the Knicks following the departure of Chauncey Billups. We'll see if the addition of Davis and Bibby are enough to propel the Knicks among the elite teams in the Eastern Conference.
Photo Credit: cleveland.com
L is for La Liga. Barcelona has been getting a lot of attention lately, but Real Madrid is a full 3 points clear atop the table following their 6-2 thrashing of Sevilla on Saturday. Cristiano Ronaldo netted a hat trick giving him 20 goals this season while José Maria Callejón, Ángel Di María and Hamit Altintop also scored for Real. In 16 matches this season, Real Madrid has outscored their opponents 56-15.
Photo Credit: heraldsun.com.au
M is for Marshawn Lynch. Somehow the Seattle Seahawks have quietly crept back into the NFC wild card conversation winning 5 of 6 games after a 2-6 start. Running back Marshawn Lynch is as big a part of that as anyone. With two rushing touchdowns today, he now has 12 touchdowns on the season and has scored at least one touchdown in 10 straight games and suddenly Seattle is 7-7. The Seahawks host San Francisco next week before finishing their season in Arizona. Speaking of Arizona, the Cardinals won today in overtime giving them 6 wins in their last 7 games and they too are now 7-7. The Cardinals now have 3 overtime wins this year. Here's a throwback Lynch highlight to Mario Brothers music. Close your eyes, Saints fans.
N is for Ndamukong Suh. Love him or hate him, you can't say that that the Lions polarizing defensive tackle isn't a difference maker. Suh helped preserve a remarkable come-from-behind victory for the Lions today blocking Sebastian Janikowski's 65 yard field goal attempt (not a typo) at the end of regulation. The Lions trailed the Raiders 27-14 midway through the 4th quarter before Matthew Stafford engineered a pair of scoring drives, the second culminating in a 6 yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson with 39 seconds remaining giving them a 28-27 lead. Stafford finished the day with 391 passing yards and 4 touchdowns.
Photo Credit: themajors.net
O is for Ochocinco. Remember that guy? There was an Ochocinco sighting in Denver tonight as the outspoken wideout hauled in a 33 yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady in New England's 41-23 win over the Denver Tebows. I mean Broncos. It was Ochocinco's first touchdown as a Patriot and the first time he'd found the end zone since last November against Buffalo. As for Tebow, his winning streak came to a close but he didn't play horribly. He finished 11 of 22 for 194 yards and also ran for 93 yards and 2 scores in a losing effort. Denver falls to 8-6 with the loss, but still lead the division by a game following Oakland's loss to Detroit.
Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com
P is for Philadelphia Phillies. The Phillies locked up shortstop Jimmy Rollins for at least the next 3 years with a deal worth $33M. Rollins hasn't hit over .270 since 2008, but he's helped lead the Phillies to 5 straight NL East titles. Rollins is a 3-time All Star, has won 3 Gold Gloves and won the 2007 NL MVP award. He's also 4th in Phillies franchise history with 1866 hits. Rollins becomes the 5th starting shortstop to sign a multiyear deal this offseason joining Jose Reyes (Marlins), Alex Gonzalez (Brewers), Rafael Furcal (Cardinals) and Clint Barmes (Pirates).
Photo Credit: phillysportscentral.com
Q is for Quarterbacks. The 1972 Dolphins may be celebrating today, but the 1984 Dolphins are probably getting nervous. Drew Brees had another video game-like performance throwing for 412 yards and 5 touchdowns in a little over 3 quarters of football today. Brees now needs just 305 yards to break Dan Marino's 27 year old record of 5084. Brees has thrown for under 305 yards just 3 times in 14 games this year and now he has two tries to get it done. Brees isn't the only one chasing history though. Tom Brady threw for 320 yards today putting him on pace to pass Marino as well. Brady needs just 492 yards to reach 5085.
Photo Credit: zimbio.com
R is for Rangers. No, not the Texas Rangers. And no, no not the New York Rangers either. We're talking about the Glasgow Rangers from Scotland. U.S. Men's National Teamers Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya and Carlos Bocanegra all started for the Scottish Premier League leaders yesterday as they defeated Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2-1 keeping them 4 points ahead of second place Celtic who won to keep pace this morning. Bocanegra scored his second goal of the season to open the scoring and Kyle Lafferty tallied the game winner in the 83rd minute. Rangers have now won three in a row.
Photo Credit: guardian.co.uk
S is for Semifinals. Fantasy Football Semifinals this weekend and we're headed to the Drydock League Championship for the first time since 2004. LeSean McCoy scored 3 touchdowns, and Nate Washington, Julio Jones and Santana Moss all found the end zone today as we overcame 4 Tony Romo touchdowns and cruised to a comfortable 30+ point win. After losing DeMarco Murray I really didn't think we had a shot, but here we are. One win away from glory.
T is for Two Hundred Three Yards. Reggie Bush, another reason my fantasy team is moving on, ran for a career high 203 yards against the Bills today highlighted by a 4th quarter 76 yard touchdown run in Miami's 30-23 win. Bush needs just 27 yards for his first 1000 yard rushing season in the NFL. Reggae Bush!
U is for Upset. As I mentioned earlier, the 1972 Dolphins are cracking the champagne after today's games. The Green Bay Packers went into Arrowhead Stadium today and were stunned by the Chiefs, just a week after they fired their coach. Interim Coach Romeo Crennel and his Chiefs came out inspired shutting out the Packers in the first half and the Chiefs outgained the Packers 438-315 for the game pulling off the improbable 19-14 upset. Kyle Orton, the guy Tim Tebow replaced in Denver, threw for 299 yards, Jackie Battle ran for a score, and Ryan Succop kicked 4 field goals to lead the offense and Tamba Hali sacked Aaron Rodgers 3 times to lead the defense in the win. The loss was Green Bay's first since December 19th of last year when they fell 31-27 to the Patriots with Matt Flynn at quarterback. The last time they lost a game with a healthy Aaron Rodgers was Week 12 of last year when Atlanta beat the Packers 20-17. Still, at 13-1, I don't think anyone's going to be feeling bad for Green Bay.
Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com
V is for Volquez. The Reds dealt Edinson Volquez, former first round picks Yonder Alonso (LF) and Yasmani Grandal (C), and minor league pitcher Brad Boxberger in a package to the San Diego Padres for 24 year old right-handed pitcher Mat Latos. Latos, who will be entering his 4th major league season, has a career record of 27-29 but an ERA of 3.37 and has averaged 187 strikeouts the past two seasons. He'll join a rotation featuring Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake, Homer Bailey and Bronson Arroyo that when healthy will be one of the toughest in the NL Central if not the entire National League. The price was certainly steep though as they part ways with Volquez (a 17 game winner with 200+ strikeouts in 2008), Alonso (the 7th overall pick in 2008 who hit .330 in 47 games with the Reds last year), Grandal (the 12th overall pick in 2010 who hit .305 with 14 homers between A ball and AAA last year) and Boxberger (a hard throwing righty who fanned 93 hitters in 62 minor league innings last year with a 2.03 ERA).
Photo Credit: zimbio.com
W is for Western Conference. In a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder faced off in preseason action tonight. While the Thunder's roster is still largely intact from last season, the Mavericks have undergone a makeover following the departures of Tyson Chandler, Jose Juan Barea and Caron Butler and the arrivals of Lamar Odom, Delonte West and Vince Carter - all of whom started tonight. Durant led all scorers with 21 points tonight as the Thunder won 106-92. Dirk Nowitzki did not dress for the Mavericks.
Photo Credit: theamericandishtv.com
X is for Xavier. In their first match since the brawl, the previously unbeaten 9th ranked Musketeers got hammered by Oral Roberts 64-42. With 40% of their scoring suspended following the Cincinnati game, Xavier struggled offensively shooting just 33% from the field, connecting on just 1 of 11 3-pointers and turning the ball over 17 times. The unranked Golden Eagles improve to 8-4 on the year with the win. In case you didn't know, Oral Roberts is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Photo Credit: american-school-search.com
Y is for the Yakult Swallows. Centerfielder Norichika Aoki may be headed to the NL Central after eight seasons with the Yakult Swallows in Japan. Aoki is a career .329 hitter and has won 3 batting titles and if signed could provide insurance for the Brewers if Ryan Braun is indeed suspended for the season's first 50 games. The Brewers have 30 days to work out a deal with the 29 year old Aoki having earned the exclusive rights to negotiate with him following their $2.5M bid.
Photo Credit: bleacherreport.com
Z is for Zbikowski. That would be the Baltimore Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski. And that's all I've got.
It's official. Chris Paul is going to be a Clipper next year. New Orleans sent their all star point guard to Los Angeles in exchange for guard Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round pick. The Clippers now head into the season with Paul, Blake Griffin, Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler and they suddenly look like contenders just a year after finishing 32-50. The Hornets meanwhile must now move on as for the first time since the 2004-2005 season Chris Paul won't be their starting point guard. They do all right in the trade though bringing in a legitimate scorer in the 23 year old Gordon (22.3 ppg last year), adding good size with the 7 foot Kaman, and getting another good big man in the 21 year old Aminu who appeared in 81 games as a rookie last year. The real prize though might be the draft pick because if the Wolves are anything like what they were last year, that could bring in a franchise player. The Hornets open up the 2011-2012 season at Phoenix the day after Christmas.
DEMPSEY SCORES AGAIN FOR FULHAM
Photo Credit: guardian.co.uk
Clint Dempsey scored for the third time in this year's Europa League, but Fulham blew a 2-0 lead against Odense BK (Sweden) dropping into third place in their group and out of the tournament. Substitute Baye Djiby Fall scored on a header 3 minutes into stoppage time for the equalizer and that, coupled with a win by Wisla Krakow (Poland), means the Cottagers are eliminated. Dempsey wasn't the only American to score in Europa League play today as midfielder Sacha Kljestan scored for Anderlecht (Belgium) in their 5-3 win over Lokomotiv Moscow. Anderlecht finished group play 6-0 outscoring their opponents 18-5. Kljestan joined the Belgian side last summer after 5 seasons in Major League Soccer with Chivas USA.
More bad news for Fulham as starting goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer
will be out 4-6 weeks after sustaining a compression injury to his
thoracic spine this past weekend. 21 year old
Neil Etheridge started in goal in his place marking the first time he'd ever
been in net with Fulham's first team. Fulham hosts Bolton Wanderers in Premier League action on Saturday.
ARAMIS RAMIREZ SIGNS WITH MILWAUKEE
Photo Credit: yourkillinmesmalls.wordpress.com
More shakeups in the NL Central this week as Aramis Ramirez has signed a 3 year deal worth $36M with the Milwaukee Brewers. Milwaukee, who may lose Prince Fielder to free agency and Ryan Braun to a 50 game suspension following a positive test for PEDs, gets a solid right handed bat who should be an upgrade over last year's third baseman Casey McGehee. McGehee hit just .223 last season and was essentially benched in favor of Jerry Hairston Jr. during the postseason. Both Hairston (Dodgers) and McGehee (Pirates) are no longer on the Brewers roster forcing Milwaukee to make a move. Ramirez hit .306 with 26 home runs last year for the Cubs.
RIP HAMILTON TO CHICAGO
Photo Credit: chicagonow.com
The Bulls finally made a move to bring in a legitimate scorer at shooting guard signing 33 year old Rip Hamilton to a 2 year $10M deal with a team option for a third year. The Bulls, who started Keith Bogans (4.4 ppg) all 82 games last season in addition to all 16 of Chicago's postseason games, were in dire need of an upgrade. Chicago still has Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver, but what Hamilton adds is a proven scorer to a team that struggled to find a second option late in games. If Hamilton can stay healthy - he has missed 77 games over the past 3 years - he should be able to take some pressure off of Derrick Rose. Hamilton averaged at least 17 points per game for 10 straight years before dropping down to 14.1 points a game with the Pistons last year.
