Archive for September, 2008

LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS:WHITE SOX STILL ALIVE, FOOTBALL ROUNDUP

Baseball

Thanks to Alexei Ramirez’s grand slam, Chicago White Sox beat Detroit Tigers and now force a one-game playoff with Minnesota Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field for the AL Central title. Due to a coin flip, the White Sox will host the Twins.

The Winner will face the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series.

Football

The St. Louis Rams fired Scott Linehan after the fourth loss of the season. Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett was named the new head coach. Trying to revive this franchise will not be easy. They have lost 17 of their last 20 games. Is it just me, or does Haslett look like Ian Ziering (the guy who played Steve Sanders from 90210)?

Carson Palmer (QB, Cincinnati Bengals) says he is ok to will play in Dallas next week…but NOT on my fantasy team! We played him last week (and he was injured so we didn’t get any points). We’re not taking any more chances…we’re over him!

Jeff Reed kicked a 46-yard field goal in overtime to help his injured Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-20 on Monday night.

Watercooler Discussion: Does anyone else think the Old Spice commercial with the half man/half donkey is kind of creepy?

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LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS:SUNDAY’S NFL ROUNDUP

This NFL season has been nothing short of exciting.  Since the loss of Tom Brady in Week 1, it seems to be anybody’s game.  Would you bet your savings on any of these teams?  Yeah, exactly.  Here are Week 4 highlights:

1) Two words:  Brett Favre.  Last week, Favre looked shaky and fragile against the Charagers, but this week… oh man.  He threw, count ’em, 6 TOUCHDOWN PASSES!  That’s a record high for him, and the Jets offense looked unstoppable.   And it appears Favre has found a favorite target in Laverneus Coles, as he hauled in 3 Touchdown passes and accumulated a total of 105 receiving yards.  Favre said after the game that he knows this won’t happen every weekend, but it sure gives NY Jets fans a reason to get REALLY EXCITED!  NY Jets 56, Arizona 35.

2) The explosive Denver offense was shockingly stifled by the abysmal Kansas City Chiefs.  Experts expected the Broncos to roll all over the Chiefs, but that didn’t happen whatsoever.  Broncos QB, Jay Cutler, still passed for 361 yards, but still threw 2 picks and connected for only one touchdown.  Kansas City was led by their all-star RB, Larry Johnson.  Johnson had been stagnant the first two games of the season.  He turned it on last week, but this week he exploded for 198 yards and 2 TDs.  Maybe the Chiefs aren’t dead after all.  Kansas City 33, Denver 19.

3) Yes, it’s true, the Buffalo Bills are a perfect 4-0, as they trounced the befuddled St. Louis Rams.   The Bills have an incredibly stingy defense, and a very well controlled offense.  It’s even possible that the Bills, a team that has been pretty putrid for the past decade, might actually win the AFC East.  The Dolphins don’t pose much of a threat, the Patriots look confused, and the Jets… well, the Jets could be a problem.  We’ll have to see how this plays out, but for now, the Bills look serious.  Buffalo 31, St. Louis 14.

4) Packers QB Aaron Rodgers got off to an impeccable start, but his last two games have been relatively subpar.  He got a little banged up this week against the Buccaneers, and now it’s hard to really tell how good the Packers actually are.  Can Rodgers even stay healthy?  In other news, this game was a special one for Buccaneers kicker, Matt Bryant.  He lost his 3-month son this week, and still played in the game — even booting 3 crucial field goals.  It must have been incredibly tough for him to even grace the field, but his teammates and the Tampa Bay fans were behind him.  Tampa Bay 30, Green Bay 21.

5) And finally, ladies and gentleman, the Washington Redskins.  They started off the season losing the opening game, and were pretty much of an afterthought in the brutally competitive NFC East.  Now, they look like they could beat anybody — even win the division.  They were able to march into Cowboy stadium, and beat their long-time rival Dallas Cowboys.  No Redskin coach has done that in their first year since the 1980s.  Just an incredible coaching job by 1st year coach, Jim Zorn.  And in another interesting Redskin development… their quarterback, Jason Campbell, looks GOOD.  He threw for 231 yards and 2 TDs, and still has yet to throw an interception this season.  Can you believe it… the Washington Redskins have a passing game again.  The NFC East right now is on fire; it’s completely unpredictable.  (And, in one of the most bone-headed moves of the season, our fantasy football team played injured Bengals’ Carson Palmer this week instead of Jason Campbell.) Washington 26, Dallas 24.

The Super Bowl now… anybody’s guess.

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LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS:COLLEGE ROUNDUP, PHILLIES NL EAST CHAMPS

College Football

It seems like Oregon State’s wild upset of USC on Thursday night set off a SERIES of upsets this weekend.

First off, the #3 Georgia Bulldogs came into Saturday’s game against Alabama, hoping to win and be in line for the #1 seed.  But that’s not at all what happened.  The Crimson Tide rolled all over the Bulldogs, even jumping out to a 31-0 lead.  The Bulldogs were absolutely shocked, and even though they rallied, they just couldn’t catch up.  Alabama 41, Georgia 30.

The #4 seed,Florida, with last year’s Heisman Trophy Winner, QB Tim Tebow, also jumped on the choke train.  They lost a nail biter to Ole Miss, 31-30.

So, it seemed the only team that REALLY wanted it was #2 Oklahoma, and they absolutely destroyed TCU, 35-20.  They will most likely grab the #1 spot in the next pole, but LSU and Texas will certainly loom close.  This is good news for the Sooners, as their program really hasn’t been as dominant in the past couple years.  And everyone in Oklahoma expects Sooner football to be on top.  They won’t settle for anything less.

But, in some comeback news, the Penn State Nittany Lions are 5-0.  Penn State was a juggernaut in the 90s, but have been only so-so in the last 8 years.  Are the Nittany Lions finally back on track?  Can they run the table?  Either way, they are back in contention, even with the over-80 Joe Paterno at the helm.  Very impressive considering coaching football is practically a 20-hour-a-day job.

Baseball

And good news for Philly fans, as the Philadelphia Phillies nabbed the NL East crown.  It hasn’t been a good decade for the Philadelphia area, with the 76ers playing sub-par basketball, the Eagles losing multiple times in the NFC Championship, and the Phillies practically being non-existant.  But now, the Phillies look great, and are certainly a contender to win the World Series.  Philly fans are definitely crossing their fingers, but… excited nonetheless.  Good luck to the Phillies, even though they may not need it.

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LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS:COLLEGE ROUNDUP, RAMS NEED WIN, JOHN ELWAY SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

With the USC loss on Thursday night, the heated rivalry game on Saturday between Georgia and Alabama has larger implications than just bragging rights.  Georgia will be fighting for the #1 spot if they win.

However, there’s another team with their eye on the empty top spot:  Oklahoma.  The Sooners take on the always frisky TCU horned frogs.  TCU might not be a dangerous college football program, but they were the last team to beat the Sooners at home.  Since the loss against TCU, Oklahoma has won 20 straight home games.  This time, however, they really need to keep the streak alive.

NFL

In the pros, Rams star Running Back, Stephen Jackson has criticized the Rams organization for benching their starter, Marc Bulger.  Jackson called the move, “the wrong decision”.  Jackson said, “you just rewarded this man with a new contract last year, millions of dollars, and you bench him. Then if things do not work out with Trent, you go back. I don’t like it at all,”.  He then went onto say, “I think there’s a lot more people that could take the blame for this. I don’t think it’s fair that one person takes the blame.”  Whatever the Rams decide to, they really need to win a game to get back on track.

And, for some gossip, former Broncos star QB and Hall-of-Famer, John Elway, has made an interesting marital decision.  He will be marrying Paige Green, a former Oakland Raiders cheerleader.  Hey, it’s great that John’s in love and proposed to her in Italy, but… any true Broncos fan knows that all other teams in the AFC West (Chiefs, Chargers, and especially the RAIDERS) are bitter enemies.  Somewhere in Denver, there’s some fan who idolized Elway, and can’t bear the thought of him having anything to do with the Oakland Raiders.  It’s sleeping with the enemy.

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LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS:OREGON STATE STUNS USC, RAYS STILL NEED WIN, HOUSTON IS BACK

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Thursday night is kind of like what Monday Night Football is to the NFL.  A featured game that the whole country can enjoy.  Last night, the spectacle was USC v. Oregon State.  Now, the reason why this game was televised was because Oregon State beat the dominant USC two out of their last three meetings.  And since USC is the clear No. 1 team right now, the game bore relevance.  Un-be-lieve-a-ble!!!  That’s the only way to say it, as Oregon State pulled ANOTHER shocker and stunned top ranked USC.  Before this game, many college football experts said that the Pac 10 was becoming a much tougher conference.  But, if unranked Oregon State can build up a 21 point first half lead, then stave off the #1 seed in the nation, then maybe USC wasn’t so tough after all.  Sure, they beat Ohio State, but many think the Big 10 (Ohio State’s division) is weak as well.  Plus, Ohio State was without it’s star RB, Beanie Wells.  Either way, now USC is simply hoping other teams lose, so come the end of the year, they will still be in contention for a national championship.

BASEBALL

Nope, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays couldn’t finalize the underdog story just yet.  They only needed to beat the Detroit Tigers to clinch the AL East, but they lost.  All they need is one win, but they simply can’t grab it.  Saturday, they will get another chance against this pesky Detroit team.

BASKETBALL

Golden State Warriors shooting guard, Monta Ellis, made the typical, num-nut young player mistake.  These guys get paid millions just to play basketball.  This means they have to do their best to keep their bodies in perfect physical condition, and… not get hurt.  That’s why pick-up basketball games on the street are absolutely forbidden.  Yet, some NBA pros still insist on doing dangerous stuff for fun. Monta Ellis drove a mo-ped, got into an accident, and now has a sprained ankle.  He will be ready for the season, but the Warriors organization is still going to charge him a hefty penalty.  Pro athletes seem to love fast, dangerous vehicles.  This led to extremely young careers ending too quickly.  Former Duke all-pro PG and #2 draft pick, Jason Williams for example.  He liked motorcycles, and got into an accident that ended a promising pro career.  The Warriors are simply trying to keep their huge investment in Monta Ellis safe and secure.  So for any kids out there looking for promising athletic careers, it’s probably best to stay away from the skateboard (unless, of course, that’s your sport).

On Thursday, Allan Houston signed with his former team, the New York Knicks. 37 year old Houston retired in October of 2005 due to knee pain. Houston still ranks fourth on the Knicks’ all time career scoring list. This is the best news for the team. I’m excited to watch them now!

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LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS: Millen Fired, Plaxico Out a Game, Anderson in and Rays Close

Whoa, big news in the NFL.  The Detroit Lions have been one of the worst franchises in professional sports over the last decade.  And many Detroit fans blame this on their leadership.  Specifically — Matt Millen.  This is the guy who essentially decides whom they draft, trade, and sign.  He has made some atrocious decisions over the years (especially with draft picks — Joey Harrington, anyone?), and it was his decision to stick with Harrington for 3 consecutive years even though he was playing horribly.  They even had 6 straight 10 loss seasons under his tenure.  When you see a Lions game on TV, you will often see fans holding up “FIRE MATT MILLEN” signs.  Well, now, with the Lions at 0-3, they finally fired Matt Millen.  This won’t turn them around over night, but it will put their fan base at ease.

Plaxico Burress (Giants WR) was suspended one game by the Giants. Apparently, the organization was not too pleased when Burress failed to show up for practice (and didn’t call). EVERYONE has a cell phone, blackberry or some multi-media device these days (unless of course you’re a Kid and mean ol Mom and Dad won’t buy you one), so there really is no excuse for not alerting the team about his absence. Plaxico is on my fantasy football team, so shame on you Plaxico.


Over in Cleveland, the big news is that QB Derek Anderson, the surprise success story of the 2007 season, will remain at quarterback for now — regardless of their 0-3 start.  This may seem like bland news, but it’s not.  Keep in mind that the Browns drafted Notre Dame phenom quarterback, Brady Quinn, in the first round last year.  He was brought in to be their marquee player, and face of the franchise.  Then, all of the sudden, their OTHER quarterback, Derek Anderson played tremendously.  This put the Browns organization in a pickle this off-season.  Do they keep Anderson, just in case he’s the next Tom Brady, or do they deal him and go with their original plan:  Brady Quinn.  They opted to stick with Anderson, and he looks like garbage this season.  They were going to go with Quinn in Week 4, but they will opt for Anderson… for now.  We’ll keep an eye on this developing drama.

And finally in baseball, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (the feel good story of the year) only needs one more win to clinch the extremely competitive AL East division.  This decision also boasts the Yankees, Red Sox, and occasionally good Blue Jays, so it’s quite an impressive feet that the Devil Rays need just one more win to declare official dominance over those high-powered (and deep wallet-ed) juggernauts.  This is a team that has been dead last for almost every other season they’ve been in the league.  It’s a pretty good underdog story.  They’ll look to seal the deal tomorrow at Detroit.

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LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS: Steelers, Rams in trouble; Brewers Push to Playoffs

NFL

The Pittsburgh Steelers started off the season red hot — firing on all cylinders.  But, after a crushing loss to the Eagles, they appear to have some serious injury problems.  Their star Running Back, Willie Parker, is definitely out for their next game, and they also lost a key defensive lineman:  Casey Hampton.  Last season, the Steelers struggled when Willie Parker was out of the line-up, but they hoped to fill that hole this year by drafting star Illinois Running Back, Rashard Mendenhall.  Mendenhall has been waiting to nab a chance to take all the carries, and on Monday night against Baltimore… he’s gonna get it.

In more football news, the St. Louis Rams have gotten off to a terrible start.  They look absolutely dreadful.  What used to be an explosive, high-powered offense, can now barely move the ball.  The first attempt at solving this problem:  bench their QB, Marc Bulger.  Bulger used to be Mr. Stats, but his numbers have been horrible this season.   They’re benching him in favor of long, long, LONG time veteran Trent Green.  The irony is that about 6 years ago, they benched Trent Green in favor of the new guy… Bulger.  And Bulger went on to be a hero in St. Louis, and seemed to take over where Kurt Warner left ‘The Greatest Show On Turf’.  We’ll see if Trent Green gets some of that old magic, and turns his career around in St. Louis.

NBA

And in some NBA news, the New York Knicks made a public statement that they would waive their troubled point-guard, Stephon Marbury, on Friday.  However, now they have changed their mind, and said that Marbury would report to their first workouts.  Knicks fans sure wouldn’t mind if Marbury was let go, but now it looks like they might (potentially) be stuck with him for yet another season.

MLB

Finally, over in baseball, the Milwaukee Brewers are making a heavy playoff push, and the Brewers haven’t been in the playoffs in a loooonnnnng time.  This would be great for the city of Milwaukee, a loyal sports town, to get behind their rejuvenated baseball team.  Plus, in a fickle game like baseball, just making the playoffs with momentum can be all you need to earn a trip to the World Series.  Good luck, Milwaukee.

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LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS: Chargers win, Dancing with the Stars Debut

The Bolts (that’s the San Diego Chargers) did what they needed to do on Monday Night Football:  Win, and salvage their season.  In the first two weeks of the season, the Chargers lost two back-to-back games at the last second.  That’s a stomach punch to an organization predicted to have another winning season.  So on Monday night, San Diego had to show their fan base that they ARE, in fact, a good team.  LaDainian Tomlinson is suffering from a turf toe injury, but he had to take the field and play through the pain.  He rushed for 67 yards and 2 TDs.  This, combined with Phillip Rivers’ 3 passing TDs, helped the Chargers surge past a disorganized NY Jets team.  But, while they did lose, Brett Favre was still able to connect for 3 TDs.  San Diego 48, NY Jets 29.

In more football news, Lane Kiffin, the Oakland Raiders coach, could be fired any day.  Raiders owner Al Davis wasn’t pleased with his performance last season, and this year looks no better.  However, while Al Davis said he “intends to fire Kiffin”, he still hasn’t done it yet.  This puts Lane Kifffin in an awkward positon.   How would you work your job if your boss said, “You know, we’re thinking about firing you any day now.”  Would you keep working hard?  Well, Lane Kiffin has stated that he plans to keep plugging away until anything is made permanent.  Good attitude, Lane.

On the injury front, Saints bad boy Tight End, Jeremy Shockey, is expect to miss 3-6 weeks with a sports hernia.  Eagles star RB, Brian Westbrook, is listed as day-to-day with a sprained ankle.  It sounds like no big deal, but Westbrook is absolutely crucial to that offense.  Without him, the Eagles are a completely different team.

And in some humorous news, Jaguars Running Back, Maurice Jones-Drew has openly stated that he is a fantasy football geek.  He loves it so much, he even drafted himself No. 1 overall in his fantasy draft.  Wow, talk about confidence.  That means he thought about LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson and said, “Nahhh, I’ll have a better year than them”.  Just awesome.

Dancing with the Stars Update

The debut of the 7th season of DWTS debuted Monday night and we can feel perfectly justified in following this show as it has three athletes featured this season: Warren Sapp (retired defensive tackle), Maurice Green (Olympic champion, once dubbed worlds’ fastest man), Misty May-Treanor (gold medal volleyball champion).

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LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS: Weekend Update

My fantasy football team is going down FAST! But, enough about me, let’s talk about another week in the NFL. You could really call this… ‘haywire week’, in which some crazy things happened around the league.

1) This year’s New England Patriots are anything but what they were last season.  In 2007, the Patriots were purely unstoppable, winning a plethora of games by 30 points or more.  However, this year, especially after the loss of Tom Brady, they look horrible.  Matt Cassel is not turning into Tom Brady redux, their running game is banged up, and their defense looks abysmal.  This all culminated in Sunday’s match-up against the Dolphins, a team that, coming into the game, looked atrocious.  But, whoa, did the Dolphins kill the Patriots.  The Pats D couldn’t do ANYTHING!  And the Dolphins ran one trick play after another, all behind their running back, Ronnie Brown.  He had a total of 5TDs on the day, even taking the snap at Quarterback, then rushing forward and bruising his way into the end zone.  Miami 38, New England 13.

2) The Carolina Panthers were 2-0 coming into the game against Minnesota.  And Vikings star running-back, Adrian Peterson, was questionable for the game.  Essentially, the Panthers were expected to destroy the Vikes.  But, under the leadership of the Vikings new QB, veteran Gus Frerotte, the Vikings surged to a victory.  Their passing game actually looked good for a change, with Frerotte throwing for 204 yards and a TD.  Just another thing to add to haywire week.  Minnesota 20, Carolina 10.

3) The Buffalo Bills are 3-0.  Wait, we’ll repeat that, and put it in caps just so you can see it.  THE BUFFALO BILLS ARE 3-0.  However, it didn’t come easy, as the Oakland Raiders, with something to prove, kept the game a nail-biter the entire way.  But, with 2 minutes in the game, Buffalo quarterback, Trent Edwards, led them down the field along with their franchise running back, Marshawn Lynch.  And with 3 seconds left on the clock, Bills kicker, Rian Lindell booted a field goal to win the game, and seemingly preserve what is a great football tradition in Buffalo.  Buffalo 24, Oakland 23.

4) And get this, the San Francisco 49ers… GOOD!  Last week, they had an impressive showing against the Seahawks, and this week they proved that wasn’t a fluke.  49ers QB J.T. O’ Sullivan is airing it out with the confidence of a young Peyton Manning, and there seems to be life in the 49ers again.  They shredded the Lions defense apart, and now sit atop the NFC West (tied with, of all teams, the Arizona Cardinals. Go figure!)  San Francisco 31, Detroit 13.

5) Finally, rookie QB Matt Ryan has led the Atlanta Falcons to a winning record.  They actually look like a real football team again.  He’s not afraid to throw long bombs, and his young receivers, Roddy White and Michael Jenkins, have finally found their groove.  This team looks real, they crushed the Chiefs this weekend, and we’ll see if they can keep it up next week against Carolina.  Atlanta 38, Kansas City 14.

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LOOK OUT FOR OUR NEW MULTIMEDIA WEB SITE! IN THE MEANTIME, ENJOY OUR WATERCOOLER CHATS: LSU, Florida, Georgia Wins, Cowboys vs Green Bay

College Football

Crazy day in college football.  Let’s get right to it:

LSU won the grudge match against bitter rival Auburn, 26-21.  However, it was a back and forth match the entire way, with lead changes throughout.  And historically, the winner of this game wins the SEC West.  Good news for LSU.  We’ll see what happens.

In what used to be a down-to-the-wire showdown, the Florida v. Tennessee game was anything but.  #4 Florida trounced Tennessee 30-6.  Tennessee couldn’t get anything done, throwing picks and fumbling in the end zone.

UCLA, who got off to an exciting start v. (former) #16 Tennessee, has been atrocious since.  They looked to turn their season around against a typically beatable Arizona Wildcat team.  Nope, didn’t work out.  Arizona QB, Willie Tuitama threw for 222 yards and 2TDs, and the Wildcats improved to 3-1.  It doesn’t look so good for Rick Neuheisel and the Bruins this season.

And the #3 ranked Georgia Bulldogs marched into the desert to face the Arizona STATE Sun Devils.  For the record, Georgia looks phenomenal this season, but the Devils were hoping the 99-degree desert heat would slow them down.  Um, not quite, as the Bulldogs clobbered the Sun Devils, 27-10.

NFL

In the NFL, the highlight on Sunday will be the NBC Sunday night game between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers.  Both teams are 2-0, and both seem to be firing on all cylinders with machine-like offenses.  The winner will come away looking almighty, and the loser will appear to have dinks in their armor.  However, the majority of the pressure will be on Packers QB, Aaron Rodgers, who faces his first real test as the heir apparent to the legend Brett Favre.  If he wins this game, the state of Wisconsin can rest easy for the rest of the season.  If he loses, Wisconsinites will surely go into a frenzy.

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