Cowboys, Eagles, World Series, OH MY!

Well, it's that time of year again. We are right smack dab in the middle of football season and the World Series is in full swing. Hockey is getting it's groove back. It's a cornucopia if you will.

Week 8 of the NFL season and one undefeated team remains: The Green Bay Packers. And my oh my what a team they are. I literally watch in awe as Aaron Rodgers and his men take the field. The things this guy can do with a football, and the way he targets like 17 different receivers (that's just how good he is). The Packers have a bye this week, so they will remain undefeated for at least one more week... Speaking of the Pack, did anyone happen to catch that game on sunday? The one where Christian Ponder almost led his Vikings to a victory over their rivals? Probably not. Because you were too busy watching Tim Tebow highlights over his come from behind win against Miami. That's right folks, Tim Tebow won a game against the WINLESS Miami Dolphins... Really though? Is anyone shocked? I mean sure the Dolphins were up 15-0 in the fourth (which I think is the biggest shocker of them all) and Tim Tebow rallied the Broncos and sent the game into overtime where Matt Prater kicked the game-winning 52-yard field goal. But Tim Tebow threw for a paltry 161 yards and finished the game with a 91.7 passer rating. Matt Moore's was 92.6... Just saying. I must say I feel bad for other young QB's in this league. Tim Tebow's shadow is enormous and its a shame because there is a bevy of talent among these young bucks. Like I said before, Christian Ponder who came out in his first start and looked like a seasoned pro. Cam Newton, who has been lighting it up all season. Andy Dalton, out of TCU, who took over for Carson Palmer in Cincinnati. Blaine Gabbert... well never mind. But the other 3 are legit and I feel like their talent is being passed over because for some strange reason people are OBSESSED with Tim Tebow. Maybe his hypnosis spell hasn't hit me yet. Don't get me wrong, the guy's good, he's extremely talented. All I'm saying is he's not so talented that these other guys don't deserve to be looked at... Ya feel me?

Moving on... It's one of my favorite weeks because... America's team is headed to the chilly Northeast to face their foes of the North, the Philadelphia Eagles. Eagles/Cowboys games always provide for an intense match-up. This rivalry is violent, gritty... it's what football is all about. There is just such pure hatred from both sides. It brings back the days of Buddy Ryan putting bounties on Cowboys' players and the triplets (Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin) winning 3 Super Bowls in the 90's. This is definitely the match-up I'm looking forward to most. Any time these teams play, it could go either way. The Eagles are coming off a much needed win and then bye, and the Cowboys are coming off of a win as well, but with the Eagles' locker room in such disarray, who knows what will happen? It will be interesting this time however, with Rob Ryan on the other side of his dad's old team. Plus it is always entertaining to watch Andy Reid's belly jiggle on the sidelines... I always want to draw little thought bubbles, with cheesesteaks inside, popping up from his head. Side note: The Eagles have the second longest losing streak at home (5). Only the Dolphins are beating them in that area with 7. Game is on Sunday night at 8:20 on NBC. Oh yea, Faith Hill, I'm ready for some football.

The other Pennsylvania team, the Pittsburgh Steelers are playing the New England Patriots at 4:15 on CBS. This is also a good match-up. Tom Brady and the Patriots are 6-1 against the Steelers with 5 of those wins coming in "The Steel City." Tom's numbers are staggering against the Steelers at home. He's got a 114 passer rating, 9 touchdowns and only 1 INT in the last 4 meetings with the Steelers. The Patriots are still ranked first for their passing performance, but the Steel Curtain is ranked 2nd in defending the pass. Recently, a lot has been said about Patriots Tight-end, Rob Gronkowski spending his bye week shirtless, with a porn star. Come on people, at least he wasn't raping a girl in a bar bathroom (cough cough, Ben Roethlisberger). How players choose to spend their bye weeks should be of no consequence to us, or their teams. On the incident, Gronkowski has apologized to the organization and is 100% focused on this game in Pittsburgh. Oh and here's a little fun fact: For the last 10 years the AFC representative in the Super Bowl has been either the Patriots or the Steelers 7 times... No big deal.

Switching gears...

Game 6 of the World Series, which was supposed to be played last night, was pushed back to tonight (Thursday) due to bad weather. Both the Cardinals and Rangers were adamant that the move will not have affect on their pitchers for game 7. With game 6 being postponed, Rangers' manager, Ron Washington could have started Game 4 all-star, Derek Holland, but he felt confident in his original choice of Matt Harrison for game 7. As for tonight, Colby Lewis will face off against Jaime Garcia. If a game 7 is necessary, then Chris Carpenter could be a possibility for the Cardinals, who have struggled in the last 2. The Rangers have a chance to close it out tonight and win their first World Series ever. It should be a good game.

Anyone out there missing basketball? Me too.

The NBA labor talks, which went on for 15 hours yesterday, will resume today (Thursday) at 2:00 PM. Sources close to both sides are hopeful that a deal will get done within the next week. With the season now scheduled to begin November 1st, they better get a deal done.

Guess I should talk about hockey for all one of you Canadians who read my blog (thank you!) Let's see... What is there to say? Were roughly 10 games into the season and all the usuals are leading their divisions. Ya know, the Penguins, the Capitals, the Blackhawks... Not much else is going on. I'll keep you posted though, have no fear Jacques.

I think that's it for now... Next week we'll have the Bama/LSU game and lots more to look forward to!
Sports Truly

What the F is going on?

I don’t even know what to say… I feel like the sports world is in such total disarray right now.  All the conference re-aligning in college football, the Yankees and Phillies were eliminated from the post-season, there is no NBA right now, the Lions are 4-0… I really just have no idea what’s going on? 

Now what I am about to say may be hard to believe so read it carefully.  The Buffalo Bills are leading the AFC East.  I repeat, the Buffalo Bills are leading the AFC East.  I swear they are, you can fact-check me.  They aren’t the only “once again relevant” team though.  As previously mentioned the Lions are 4-0 for the first time in like history, I think?  And tonight they’re looking for their first Monday Night win since 1998.  With the way they’ve been playing lately I think it’ll be no problem.  The Bears are inconsistent and shaky at best…

In more NFL news, everyone was really looking forward to the Patriots/Jets game yesterday and I gotta say, it was kind of a let down.  Neither team “excelled” in a certain area, it was lackluster, I’ll say?  And I was waiting for a Vince Wilfork interception the entire time… Hopefully he’ll get Tony Romo next week.  I love seeing his jello-ness running down the sidelines, its great, like watching a whole team of super athletics tigers trying to take down a water buffalo.  Fantastic. 

So the Texas Rangers are back in the ALCS and for the first time in like a million years the Phillies are NOT in the NLCS, which makes me extremely happy… Wait what? Yeah.  In my expert opinion I’m calling a Brewers/Rangers series but we’ll see what happens.

Hockey season started… You don’t care do you?  We’ll talk more about that in the post-season.

Still no sign of the NBA which kinda makes me sad… The geriatric Celtics don’t have a lot of good playing time left and if this year is gone I fear that my beloved Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce will just crumble.  Seriously, I’m sure their bones are brittle, I hope their taking their calcium supplements. 

And the poor Colts… I really do feel bad for them.  Poor Peyton watching from the sidelines… Cursing the Madden gods, “you got the wrong Peyton, you morons!”

So this was kind of all over the place but so is life, so get over it.

Until next time…

Sports Truly

PS: I used a lot of ellipsis, and I’m sure not correctly but I like those little things.  So cute… for those of you who don’t know what an ellipsis is… Google it. 

FOOTBALL FAN

I remember it like it was yesterday.  A girl never forgets her first love.  That feeling I got when I looked into his greenish, blue eyes.  Sweat slowly dripping down his perfectly sculpted face.  It was as if he stared back into my eyes and said, “stay with me forever, I’ll never let you down.”  It was ten years ago.  And I have loved him more and more with every passing day.  Tom Brady led the Patriots to a victory that day.  And thus began my love affair with the greatest game on Earth.

After enduring this lockout for the past few months and finally seeing it end last week I’ve realized how important football is in my life.  I have been a fan since I was 12 and I don’t know what I would do without it.  I wish it could be football season all year round and I’ll never take this special thing for granted ever again.  Like Cowboys legend Tom Landry said, “football is an incredible game. Sometimes its so incredible, its unbelievable.”

Football teaches work ethic, leadership, discipline, heart and the importance of teamwork.  Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest coaches to ever coach the game said, “Leaders aren't born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”  Players, coaches, owners, everyone wanted to get back to work.  There have been a lot of bad things said about the NFL recently.  Things like, everyone is money hungry, greedy.  Aren’t we all?  I don’t think anyone in their right mind would pass up the opportunity to make more money.  Don’t be fooled by all the blur, players, coaches, owners, everyone, loves this game. 

Magical things happen on the field, things that don’t happen in real life.  Football is the ultimate reality TV.  The ultimate drama.  Stories unfold in front of us every week.  Whether it be team rivalries, players talking smack, Rex Ryan talking smack, football gives us what we want to see, even when they don’t try to.  Amazing Hail Mary passes that are caught in the end zone with no time left.  A player we love getting hit too hard and taken out of the game.  An amazing run where defender after defender are knocked to the ground.  An amazing catch that no one thinks is possible.  That’s what it is, with football, the impossible is possible.  Receivers seem to defy all laws of gravity when reaching for a ball.  Quarterbacks manage to escape hunter after hunter(after all it is like the defense is trying to hunt and kill the QB) to get the ball down the field.  Linebackers using their natural animal instinct to catch their prey and take them down.  It really is like the Discovery Channel, Soap TV, and sports all rolled in to one messy, gritty, dirty package. 

Football provides us all with an escape.  Watching a Patriots game is like my own personal Disney World.  My happiest place on Earth.  When I’m not watching football, I’m thinking about it, reading about it, talking about it.  I cannot get enough.  It truly is like a drug. And I’m addicted.  Everyone remembers where they were when Joe Namath actually won the Super Bowl he guaranteed he would, when Kevin Dyson scored a touchdown in what came to be known as “the music city miracle,” when Franco Harris made the “immaculate reception,” and David Tyree’s unbelievable grab in a sea of Patriot’s defenders to win Super Bowl 42.  Football is filled with moments like this.  Whether it be a heartbreaking loss, or an over time win, we stick with our team (unless it’s Miami’s fair-weather fans).  We as fans, are emotionally invested.  My happiness from September-January is based solely on how the Patriots play (For the most part, I’m happy.  14-2 last season).

So on Thursday, September 8^th, when you’re watching the first game of the 2011-2012 season, between the Saints and the Packers, forget about the lockout, forget about the greed and the money, forget that you hate this team or that, and remember why you love this game.  Remember all of those special moments.  Remember that at the end of the day, you are a fan, a football fan. 

Stanley Cup Finals Game 7 Short Preview

On Wednesday morning the Bruins are hoping to be the first team in NHL history to win a Game 7, 3 times in the post season. But, the Bruins skipped their morning skate... Bad idea? Boston's coach, Claude Julien said that his team was "focused and ready." But with a 3 game combined score the Bruins have only managed 2 goals in Canada. They are 0-3 at Rogers Arena. Can this team do the impossible, and win 3 different game 7's? The Bruins' goalie, Tim Thomas seems to think so, saying, "this is what every kid dreams about, game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals." Thomas has been absolutely stellar this postseason, allowing only 8 goals in 6 games in the finals.
The Canucks aren't going to sit back and let the Bruins just claim the prize though. Vancouver is obviously the favorite, being that their playing on home ice, and that has been THE trend in this series. Roberto Luongo has been inconsistent to say the least. After criticizing Tim Thomas after their game 5 win, he was embarrassed in game 6, being pulled out in the first period. Vancouver fans are clearly worried about their seasoned veteran goalie, but he remained calm simply stating that he just has to move on from game 6, and he has to believe himself.
The resilient Bruins and Canucks will face off for game 7 at 8:00 tonight on NBC. With the Bruins' backs against the wall, will they come out swinging? Or will Canucks fans see their team win the Conn Smythe Trophy for the first time? Stay Tuned...

This NFL Season... Absolute CRAZINESS

If we've learned anything the past 9 weeks it's that football is still completely unpredictable. You can try all you want to predict the outcome of a game, but more often than not you will be wrong.
I'm pretty sure this is why teams like the Saints and the Patriots lose to teams like the Browns. The Saints and Patriots went into their games against the Cleveland Browns thinking that they had it in the bag. They predicted that their teams would come out on top and as a result they did not work hard enough preparing to beat this so-called "easy" team. Cleveland may be THE most underrated team in the NFL. Colt McCoy shined in his third NFL start against New England. Cleveland's running back, Hillis, showed that there is more than one Peyton people should be scared of. He ran all over the Pats' D, for 184 yards and 2 touchdowns. Bill Belichick lost to his former friend, now ultimate foe, Eric Mangini. The evil genius (Belichick) was pissed. Another interesting story to come out of this game was that the Patriots lost their trusted kicker Stephen Gostkowski for the rest of the season to a thigh injury. We learned that Wes Welker can kick extra points and really is a clutch player. It's unfortunate that this game wasn't closer, because had the Pats been down by just a field goal, we could have seen Wes try his foot at that.

Heading to Dallas... I guess the safest bet at this point would be to bet against the Cowboys, because no matter what, it seems that they will lose. Jerry Jones did what he said he would not do on Monday, firing Wade Phillips and announcing that Jason Garrett would take over on an interim basis. Jason Garrett will use the remaining 8 games to prove that he is the best for the job. Can he turn the BIG D-saster around? We will find out. His first test is a tough one, playing the Giants in the meadowlands this Sunday.

This morning on SportsCenter Adam Schefter was asked who he thinks the mid-season MVP would be. He threw out all the usual names, Peyton, Tom, Philip... But the winner was, drumroll please... Michael Vick. The Eagles have won every game in which Vick was the starter. He has looked almost flawless this season. He has thrown for 1,017 yards, 7 touchdowns and zero interceptions. He's got the highest rating of any other quarterback and the Eagles are currently holding the number 2 spot in the NFC East. Is it to early to call this the best season of Michael Vick's career? Let's keep watching.

There's been a lot of talk about hitting in the NFL recently. Players will now face suspensions, not just fines for "illegal hits on defenseless players." Roger Goodell and other league officials claim that their main goal is to protect the players, yet they want to add two more games to the already grueling 16 game season. Isn't that a bit contradictory? I think so. James Harrison of the Steelers, Brandon Meriweather of the Patriots and Nick Collins of the Packers are just a few of the more recent players to be fined. There has been a lot of criticism on both sides of this issue and I will continue to research this in the coming weeks.

We just passed the halfway point of this season and the current division leaders are: the Giants in the NFC East at 6-2, the Packers lead the NFC North at 6-3, the Atlanta Falcons lead the South at 6-2, and the Rams lead the NFC West at 4-4. The Jets and Patriots top the AFC East, both at 6-2. The Chiefs lead the West at 5-3. Indy and Tennessee are tied at 5-3 for the AFC South and Baltimore and Pittsburgh share the lead for the North at 6-2.

Some recent news in the NFL is Randy Moss has arrived in Tennessee and has still not spoken to the media. When asked about the risk involved with signing Moss, head coach, Jeff Fisher said there was none, and he and Moss are both extremely happy about the move. Chad Pennington will replace Chad Henne as the starting QB in Miami and New England signed veteran kicker, Shayne Graham to replace the injured Stephen Gostkowski. It seems every team in the NFC is claiming that they are the best in the conference, but at this point I think the New York Football Giants have the rights the that title. As for the AFC, the title could go in any which way. The usual leaders (Steelers, Patriots, Colts and Ravens) all have a shot at the Championship. This Sunday Night on NBC, the Patriots will face off against the Steelers. May the better team win.

That's it for now, more to come soon.

Sports Truly,
Chelsea

Playoffs, College, NFL...

I'm going to have to break this one down... A lot's happened in this past week.

Starting with MLB playoffs... The Yankees swept the Twins (shocker) to advance to American League Championship where they will be playing the Texas Rangers, who are making their first appearance in the ALCS. Sorry Rays, maybe next year. The Giants beat out the Braves (Thank goodness Bay Area fans have them, their 49er's are still winless!) The Giants will take on the Phillies... yeah, yeah, yeah, Roy Halladay with his no hitter, and Cole Hamels with his full game shut out. It's no surprise, they've got the best pitching in baseball. Who's going to make it to the series? If I had to predict it, I'd say it's going to be an exact replay of last year's world series, and we know who took that one home.

In college football news, Alabama has been knocked off their high horse by the South Carolina Gamecocks. They lost their number one ranking and are now at #8. Things don't look like their getting better either, star receiver, Julio Jones broke his hand and may not be able to play to his best ability for awhile. The Ohio State University has been bumped up to number one. The Buckeyes are currently undefeated and will play the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday. One of the great college rivalries was played on Saturday. The Florida State Seminoles took on the Miami Hurricanes... Or they would have, had the Hurricanes actually showed up. This was the most awful display of Miami Hurricane football I have seen in a while. Jimbo Fisher outcoached Randy Shannon for the W on his birthday. Christian Ponder looked decent throwing for 173 yards, 2 touchdowns and one INT. Jacory Harris looked like, well, he looked like Jacory Harris. He went 19 for 47, 225 yards and no touchdowns. Ray Lewis needs to take a trip down to his old alma mater and have a talk with the Hurricanes. I do however need to make a shout out to Andrew Datko, #67, Offensive Tackle for the Seminoles, great game!

In his first game out of the hospital after suffering a heart attack, Mike Dantonio, coach of the Michigan State Spartans took on Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines. Both of these great lakes state teams were undefeated heading into Saturday's game in Ann Arbor. Denard Robinson, Heisman hopeful out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, did not give a Heisman-worthy performance facing his foes. Robinson went 17 for 29, 215 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. The Wolverines lost 34-17.

The University of Central Florida gave a stellar performance last Wednesday night against the University of Alabama... Birmingham (cough cough). The Knights won 42-7. Rob Calabrese and Jeffrey Godfrey shared time under center and Ronnie Weaver rushed for 2 touchdowns. The Knights defense shined against UAB's abysmal offense.

Moving on the the NFL, the Detroit Lions have won a game! That's right, the Lions won. Not only did they win, they scored a league-high 44 points against the Rams. Rookie, Max Hall led the Arizona Cardinals to an upset over the reigning champion Saints. The Indianapolis Colts handed the KC Chiefs their first loss of the season and the 49er's remain winless, after almost beating the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. The bye-week did not do the Dallas Cowboys any good, I think it slowed the momentum of their week 3 win against the Texans. The Cowboys lost to the Titans on Sunday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 3-1 under Raheem Morris and QB Josh Freeman after beating the Bengals with a last minute field goal. Let's hope this QB can retain his good image in a league where QBs are diminishing their reputations daily... This brings me to Brett Favre. Allegedly, while playing with the Jets, Favre fell for former FSU hottie, Jenn Sterger. He showed his affection by sending inappropriate texts, pictures and voicemails. May I also remind you that Brett is married, and this behavior, if true, is disgusting. The NFL is currently investigating this story further.

Despite all of the anticipation and controversy surrounding this past Monday's game between the Vikings and Jets, the first half was just plain old boring(the rain might have had something to do with it). Both teams failed to score a touchdown, but Nick Folk, for the Jets had quite the game, making 3 field goals in the first half to make the score 9-0. After halftime, the game started to pick up the pace. Randy Moss had his first touchdown as a Viking (well, this time around anyway), and the Jets scored 2 more field goals in the third quarter. 15-7 was the score. At the start of the fourth Brett threw a TD to Percy Harvin. They went for 2 points but didn't get it, so 15-13, it's getting good. Shonn Green scored the Jets' first touchdown and then Percy Harvin scored again. 22-20. Brett took the field to try to lead his team to victory. CHOKE! His pass, intended for Visanthe Shiancoe was intercepted by Dwight Lowery, who ran it back for another Jet TD. 29-20. Brett, again takes the field, hoping for a miracle. In the last Viking's drive of the game Favre only made 2 complete passes, one to Moss, one to Shiancoe. The clock ran out and the Minnesota Vikings claim the third spot in the NFC North at 1-3. They play the 1-3 Cowboys on Sunday. It'll be interesting to see the game between these one-win teams who are so often (now) compared to one another. The Jets sit atop the AFC East, with the Patriots following close behind.

The NBA preseason continues... More will come once the season actually starts. And as for the NHL, I really only like it when it gets close to the postseason.

That's it for now, Sports Truly

Special Edition: MNF 10/04/10

About 14 million viewers tuned into ESPN last Monday to watch the AFC East showdown between the Dolphins and Patriots. The first half was relatively boring and uneventful. The score going into halftime was 7-6 in favor of the Dolphins. Chad Henne threw a TD pass to Davonne Bess, an undrafted free agent, who played college ball at Hawaii. Tom Brady, Wes Welker and Randy Moss were left touchdown-less in the first 2 quarters, with Stephen Gostkowski kicking 2 field goals to give the Pats their 6 points.

Enter the third quarter. Brandon Tate runs for 103 yards to return the kickoff for a touchdown. Miami gets the ball back and goes 3 and out, they are forced to punt. Patrick Chung blocks the punt and BenJarvus Green-Ellis (say that name 5 times fast) ran 12 yards for another TD. The score is now 20-7. The Dolphins quickly answered with another touchdown. 20-14. Former Jet and Hard Knocks alum, Danny Woodhead caught a pass from number 12 to make the score 27-14. Miami's driving... Let's go to the fourth.

Chad Henne sloppily leads his team into field goal range. Dan Carpenter's kick is... BLOCKED! Patrick Chung with another block on special teams. The ball is recovered by Patriot, Kyle Arrington and he runs it in for a touchdown. 34-14. Nine minutes left in the game and the Dolphins are looking for the slightest glimmer of hope. They want to score. They want to win this game. They want to... Chad Henne is picked off for the third time and Patrick Chung gets a pick-6. Just to tally that up, that is 1 blocked punt, 1 blocked field goal, and a pick-6 for this second year player out of Oregon. 41-14. Tony Sparano puts Tyler Thigpen in for the Dolphins' last drive. He throws a pass intended for Hartline and he is picked off by safety, Jarrad Page. Tom Brady takes a knee for the last few drives and back-up Brian Hoyer finishes the game with a kneel. Tom Brady becomes the fastest starting QB in the Super Bowl era to reach 100 wins, and the Patriots tie the Jets for the lead in the AFC East.

Miami head coach, Tony Sparano later went on to say that the Dolphins' performance was "a mess and embarrassing." And less than 12 hours after their loss, the Dolphins let go of their special teams coordinator, John Bonamego. On another note, the notoriously apathetic, Bill Belichick was seen smiling on the sidelines after his special teams' stellar performance.

On Wednesday morning Randy Moss was traded to the Minnesota Vikings for a third round pick in next year's draft. It later came out that he and quarterback, Tom Brady, had a little "scuffle" in the locker room after the game. Brady told Moss to shave his face, and Moss told Brady that his hair made him look like a girl. Well, we saw how that turned out.

Both teams are coming off of their bye-week and the Dolphins will face the Packers in Green Bay, while the Patriots face the 4-1 Ravens at home on Sunday. Bill Belichick's record when coming off the bye is 14-4, and the Pats have won 12 of their last 13 "after-bye" games.

Sports Truly