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...