There will be no need for an introduction, let’s just get into it.
Let’s start with the bad. About two week ago, there was an obscure NHL game featuring the Atlanta Thrashers and the Florida Panthers. After the Panthers turned the puck over in their own zone, Thrasher’s star winger Ilya Kovalchuk took the puck down the ice, and scored on Panther’s goaltender Thomas Vokoun. Now, inexplicably, Florida defensemen Keith Ballard took his stick, and made a baseball swing attempt to break it over the net. I say attempt because Ballard actually broke his stick over Vokoun’s helmet. Vokoun would be shipped to the hospital, where he would be released. Ballard shouldn’t be suspended. He should be released and blackballed from the NHL. Getting your stick up and accidentally clipping someone in the face, happens. When two players connect knee-to-knee, that happens. This should never happen. It was stupid and unnecessary.
Moving to college football, the University of Cincinnati Bearcats played the University of Pittsburgh Panthers in the Big East championship. Scenario: fourth and 10, Pittsburgh has the ball down by 1, on their own 18 yard line. And for the one shot play, the very last play they run a… play action fake? Are you serious? Do you really think that anyone on the Pittsburgh defense is going to bite on a run fake when you need at least 60 yards to kick a game winning field goal? Who gets paid to make that decision?
Still with me? Let’s go to the 2010 World Cup draw. The US got a favorable draw, with powerhouse England, and lesser powered Algeria and Slovenia. As long as the US can beat Algeria and Slovenia equally, they will be in with the second seed to advance in group C along with England. The US has never been past the quarterfinals in the World Cup. This draw could be what does it.
How about in the NBA? During a game last Saturday featuring the Bulls and the Toronto Raptors, guard Jarret Jack was dribbling at the top of the key when he realized… his shoes were untied. Simple, right? Call a timeout; tie your shoes and game on, right. Wrong. Instead, Jack curls the ball under his arm and proceeds to tie his shoes. If that’s not enough, the entire Bulls defense makes no attempt to make a steal. For once this season, the New Jersey Nets don’t look like the most pathetic team in the NBA. On a sadder note, Greg Oden is going to miss the rest of the season after successful knee surgery. It is just sad to see a great player such as Oden being set back by injury over and over again. Did I miss something? I really feel like I am forgetting something. Oh yeah, Allen Iverson is back in Philadelphia where he started his soon to be Hall of Fame career. He was introduced last week in a very teary press conference, very different from his press conference about “Practice”.
Have I hit everything yet? Oh I got it, disappointment. The South Eastern Conference (SEC) Championship game was played with #1 Florida playing #2 Alabama, with the winner securing a spot in the Citi© Bowl Championship Series(BCS) National Championship. Florida was down 32-13 with just over 13 minutes to play. I know what you were all thinking, because I was thinking it as well. When is he gonna do it? When will Florida star quarterback Tim Tebow take the team on his back, give his speech about “15 minutes for the rest of their lives”, and lead Florida to another SEC championship. But it never happened. It felt like that one Christmas when you finally figured out Santa Claus wasn’t real. Then the second part of the National Championship picture was painted when Heisman trophy candidate Colt McCoy and the University of Texas Longhorns won on a last second field goal to beat the University of Nebraska.
This might be one of the greatest bowl series in a decade. Of course the National Championship Game will be against the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns, one that will obviously be talked about. But the best matchup will be a match-up of undefeated teams that aren’t playing in the National Championship Game, Boise State going up against Texas Christian University (TCU) in the Fiesta Bowl. The high powered Boise St. offense will have to get through a hard-nosed TCU defense, in order to lay claim to the Fiesta Bowl once again.
The NFL weekend was exciting. The undefeated New Orleans Saints took on the lowly Washington Redskins; a game that most thought the outcome was already set. But, that’s why they play the game. It took a late Saints touchdown with just over a minute left to keep the Saints from being upset, and keep their undefeated record. The other undefeated team, the Indianapolis Colts, took down the streaking Tennessee Titans in stunning fashion to also remain undefeated. The Oakland Raiders beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, on a touchdown pass from quarterback Bruce Gradkowski to wide receiver Louis Murphy with nine seconds remaining. The Arizona Cardinals destroyed the Brett Farve’s Minnesota Vikings to nearly put the NFC West division out of reach, after the Seattle Seahawks squeaked an out a win against the San Francisco 49ers on game-winning field goal with zero seconds on the clock. Eagles quarterback and wild-cat specialist Michael Vick played his first game back in Atlanta, and scored a rushing and passing touchdown.
So what does that all add up to? 12 wins for the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints, 11 losses for the St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cleveland Browns, 10 plus stitches in Thomas Vokoun’s ear, 9 seconds left when the Raiders beat the Steelers, 8 NHL teams have scored 75 or fewer goals, 7 games lost in a row for the Cleveland Browns, 6 NFL teams have scored less than 200 points, 5 undefeated college football teams (Boise St, Texas, Alabama, TCU, and Cincinnati), 4 NBA teams are 10 or more games back in there division, 3 game winning field goals, 2 touchdowns for Michael Vick… oh yeah, and a partridge in a pair tree.
The Pirates' Log > Blogs > The Extra Point
Bear with me, this could get ugly.
Then again there was a lot of ugly in these past two weeks
Published: Friday, December 11, 2009
Updated: Friday, December 11, 2009
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