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Baseball News

If you’re a Tampa Bay Rays fan, you’ve been celebrating all season, but after Tuesday night, you might just have a little extra spring in your step. With their 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox, they are now  1 1/2 games up in the American League East. Obviously, that’s good news if you’re a Rays fan, but Dan Johnson is the story of the night. Dan was called up from Triple A but due to weather delays was scratched from the starting lineup. His pinch-hit homer, however, in the 9th inning tied the game. Dioner Navarro then doubled in the go-ahead run to win the game.

Football News

After hearing all preseason about whether or not San Diego Chargers’ outside linebacker Shawne (“Lights Out”) Merriman would undergo surgery or continue to play, we finally have an answer. Shawne is now out for the season to undergo reconstructive surgery on his knee. I don’t think this is much of a surprise to anyone as he was told back in February that he’d have to have this surgery eventually.

The Tennessee Titans QB seems to be an emotional mess. After two interceptions and loud boos from his hometown crowd in the game on Sunday, Vince Young reentered the game only to sprain his left knee a few plays later. Titans’ Coach Jeff Fisher was concerned about Young Monday night (even calling in the Nashville police) when he couldn’t locate him. He was eventually found at a friend’s house.

Cycling

Lance Armstrong has announced that he’s back! He’ll be 37 years old next summer, but Lance still believes he can win the Tour de France. “This kind of obscure bike race, totally kick-started my engine,” he told Vanity Fair in an exclusive interview, referring to the lung-searing 100-mile mountain bike race through the Colorado Rockies. “I’m going to try and win an eighth Tour de France.” I wonder if Armstrong is just bored now that his best bud Matthew Mcconaughey has a new baby and not enough time to play. Whatever the reason or motivation, cycling sure needs this PR boost.

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It’s official. Tom Brady is out for the season with a torn ACL. No Favre in Green Bay, Jets as potential AFC favorites, Monday Night Football at 10:15 pm, and Britney Spears winning 3 statuettes at the MTV music awards, what is happening in this first week of the NFL?

Green Bay vs Minnesota Vikings

Aaron Rodgers (or as the entire world now knows him, Brett Favre’s replacement) stepped out amidst the pressure of Monday Night Football and performed like an old pro. With 18 of 22 completions, a passing TD and a rushing TD, capped off by the signature Lambeau Leap, Rodgers showed he’s ready for the challenges of the League. (Packers 24, Vikings 19)

Oakland Raiders vs Denver Broncos

The Broncos demolished the Raiders in the late game on Monday Night Football (41-14), although I wouldn’t know. A 10:15 pm (ET) start time is way too late for me to watch a game. Please, please tell me this is not going to become a regular thing. What I did hear though is that a star was born in Denver’s rookie Wide Receiver Eddie Royal who had 9 catches for 146 yards and a TD.

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It’s the day that all sports fans look forward to:  Opening Sunday in the NFL.  All creeds of fans plop themselves on the couch for 5 hours or more… for myriad reasons.  Whether it’s to watch their favorite team, root against their least favorite team, or just to see if their fantasy football drafts bore fruit.  Whatever reason you have… it’s just a great time.  Here were the highlights from Week 1:

1) Two words:  Tom Brady.  But unlike last season, when those two words meant absurd yardage and 3-plus touchdowns, this year those two words ring a sad bell.  Midway through the first quarter, in what most thought would be an easy win for the Pats, Tom Brady went down with a knee injury.  The announcers reported that his return to the game was questionable, but nobody could imagine that he could be lost FOR THE SEASON.  Now, Pats fans are pessimistic that they will see the same fireworks from last season, when the Pats when 18-0.  Will the Pats be just another regular team, as opposed to the juggernaut from last year?  Most likely.  However, if there is any good news here, Pats fans should remember that the Pats dynasty began in 2001 when their QB, Drew Bledsoe, went down in Week 3, and a young 2nd year player named Tom Brady hit the field.  Maybe back-up QB Matt Cassel is the new Brady?  Just maybe.  Well, hopefully.  Okay, probably not.  New England 17, Kansas City 10.

2) In a whopping surprise victory, the Atlanta Falcons were a scoring machine against the Lions.  They were led by former LaDainian Tomlinson back-up RB, Michael Turner, and rookie QB Matt Ryan, who threw for a touchdown in his FIRST NFL PASS!  What an amazing debut.  And what a memory for Matt Ryan.  Atlanta 34, Detroit 21.

3) In a featured match-up on FOX (and what was supposed to be a close game), the Dallas Cowboys trounced the up-and-coming Cleveland Browns.  They looked sharp on almost every play, with their QB (and Jessica Simpson’s boyfriend) Tony Romo throwing for a whopping 320 yards and 1 TD to Terrel Owens.  The Cowboys are easily the Super Bowl favorite in the NFC.  Dallas 28, Cleveland 10.

4) Over in San Diego, there were literally some last second heroics.  It was a tight game, until the 4th quarter when the Chargers pulled away.  However, the Carolina Panthers battled back, and with only 2 seconds left on the clock, Panthers QB Jake Delhomme threaded the football through two Charger defenders and hit Dante Rosario in the back of the end zone to win the game.  It was a huge day for the unknown Wide Receiver Rosario (96 yards, 1 TD).  However, he was SO unknown that the graphics guys wrote his name as Rosario Dawson (the actress) on the players of the game board.  Man, how did that happen?  Talk about a broadcasting mistake and Freudian slip.

5) And it was a shocker on the NBC Sunday night game.  The Chicago Bears were expected to have a horrible season, especially with a shaky QB situation and a rookie RB running their offense.  However, they marched into Indianapolis and absolutely obliterated the Colts.  Their rookie RB, Matt Forte, had 123 rushing yards and a TD.  It could be a much better year for Chicago than people thought, while at the same time, a much worse year for Indianapolis.  Chicago 29, Indianapolis 13.

One thing’s for sure.  This season is completely unpredictable, and will be nothing short of exciting every single week.

Watercooler Discussion: What was your Favorite Game of the Weekend?

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College Football

The University of Florida Gators beat the Miami Hurricanes for the first time in 23 years. After holding on for three quarters, Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow (Gators QB) rallied the team with 256 yards and two TD’s.

“Rule 9, Section 2, Article 1 of the NCAA rule book, which says throwing the ball high in the air constitutes an unsportsmanlike penalty” came into play Saturday affecting the Washington Huskies close defeat against BYU. Here’s what happened: Washington was down 28-21. They had an impressive drive down the field and with 2 seconds left, Washington QB Jake Locker stumbled into the end zone. Locker, obviously excited that with a gimme extra point his team would go into overtime, jumped up and threw the ball over his head. The official called him for excessive celebration and accessed a 15-yard penalty. The ensuing extra point was blocked and BYU won the game. I understand that rules are rules, but doesn’t this one seem a bit excessive. Part of the fun of watching College Football is watching the Players excitement and celebration.

Watercooler Discussion: What do you think of the excessive celebration rule?

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Redskins vs Giants

The Washington Redskins came to the Meadowlands to take on the New York Giants in the NFL season opener Thursday night. All eyes were the Giants. Does Eli Manning have what it takes? Was last year’s Super Bowl win a fluke? How is the Giants’ defense going to perform with five new starters?

The good news is we can all rest comfortably (until next week that is). The Giants looked good enough to beat the Redskins 16-7. Giants’ wide receiver Plaxico Burress, who signed a new five year $35 million deal (which gets him $11 mill in 2008), earned his pay in game one by catching throws of 30, 19, and 11 yards from Manning. Burress is also on my fantasy team and well, so far so good.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals released this statement:

“Effective today, the Bengals begin the process of listing the former Chad Johnson as Chad Ocho Cinco for all club business, per the legal change of his surname effected in Florida. The list of appropriate changes will include the player wearing the name Ocho Cinco on the back of his jersey for Sunday’s season opener at Baltimore.”
Chad Ocho Cinco legally changed his name last week to reference his uniform number (Ocho Cinco) which means 85 in Spanish. So, what happens if Chad Ocho gets traded and can’t be 85 anymore….wouldn’t it have just been easier to get a tatoo or maybe a piece of jewelry?

WATERCOOLER DISCUSSION: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF CHAD’S NEW NAME?

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NFL SEASON BEGINS THURSDAY NIGHT!!!!!!

Watch the Washington Redskins take on the Super Bowl champs, New York Giants, Thursday night 7:00 pm (ET) on NBC.

Terrell Owens told his teammates on HBO’s Hard Knocks that he could beat Olympic Gold Medal winner Usain Bolt in a sprint (with a 20 yard head start). You have to love TO’s confidence. I’m just upset that I didn’t get him on my fantasy team.

Tennis

Serena Williams beat her Sis Venus on Wednesday in the quarterfinals at the US Open 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7) which really should have been the finals.

Baseball

A-Rod was involved in a historic controversy. Actually, this time it’s a good thing (of course that depends on how you feel about instant replay, but at least A-Rod didn’t do anything wrong). On Wednesday night, instant replay was officially used to determine whether A-Rod’s home run landed to the right of the foul poll. After 2 minutes and 50 seconds, A-Rod recorded his 549th career home run. (Yankees beat Tampa Bay Rays 8-4)

Basketball

The team (formerly known as the Seattle SuperSonics) unveiled their new name and logo. They are now the Oklahoma City Thunder. Check out their new super bright logo!

Watercooler Discussion: Will the Giants look good their first night back from Super Bowl glory? What do you think of the Thunder’s new logo?

WATCH BETSY ON THE TODAY SHOW TALKING FANTASY FOOTBALL

I had my fantasy football draft last night (a marathon four hours by the way) and for all intents and purposes, am feeling pretty good about our team. Although at this time of year, it’s not unusual for every fantasy GM to think he or she is brilliant the day before the season begins! (And, of course, David and Eric, we are brilliant….today). Our League holds an auction which means we have a total of 300 dollars to spend on drafting a team.

After feeling a bit gun-shy on bidding for QB’s Tom Brady and Tony Romo, we hunkered down and spent a third of our total budget on RB Adrian Peterson (Minnesota). After that we rounded out our team with another high profile RB in San Francisco’s Frank Gore (whom we had last year and was a huge disappointment). Why did we pick him then? He’s ranked high and we figured how can he disappoint us two years in a row (ok, not exactly the most traditional strategy, but sometimes you just have to mix things up). Would love to hear what you think and how your teams look!

Here’s the rest of our starting lineup:

Carson Palmer QB (Cincinnati)

Frank Gore RB (San Francisco)

Adrian Peterson RB (Minnesota)

Plaxico Burress WR (New York Giants)

Patrick Crayton WR (Dallas)

Hines Ward WR (Pittsburgh)

Mason Crosby K (Green Bay)

Indianapolis Colts D

Patrick Crayton WR (

Plaxico Burress WR

Hines Ward WR

Deuce McAllister RB

Fred Taylor

Bernard Berrian

Colts D

Mason Crosby K

CHECK OUT BETSY ON THE TODAY SHOW TALKING FANTASY FOOTBALL!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

It was the first weekend for college football fanatics.  For the top schools, the first week is ’show-off’ week, where teams such as Ohio State pay small colleges, like Youngstown State, to come get killed at their home stadium.  It’s a way to get the  all the alumni pumped up for the season (the idea is they will give money to the school).  Well, it worked for #2 Ohio State, as they crushed Youngstown State 43-0.  However last year, this plan didn’t work out for Michigan, as they were upset by tiny Appalachian State.  And this year was no different for mighty Michigan as they lost their home opener to Utah, 25-23.  For any top school like Michigan, losing early is a gut-punch as it practically puts them immediately out of contention for the National Championship.  But it is a long season, and college football is anything but predictable.

In another debut, new UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, played host to the juggernaut Tennessee Volunteers at the Rose Bowl.  UCLA was hoping to start their season upsetting #18 Tennessee, and that’s exactly what happened.  UCLA’s QB, Kevin Craft threw 4 interceptions in the first half, but all was forgotten as he led them to a 27-24 overtime win.

NFL

The always dangerous NFL pre-season has come to an end, and this year there were few casualties.  However, star NY Giants Defensive Ends, Osi Umenyiora suffered an injury and is out for a season.  The defending Super Bowl Champs put out a call to their former all-star DE, Michael Strahan, but he told them ‘Nope, I’m staying retired.’  In other preseason news, the Cincinnati Bengals cut longtime running back Rudi Johnson from their roster, but he was instantly picked up by the RB deficient Detroit Lions.  This is a fresh start for Rudi, and he could really shine in Detroit, where they already have a solid passing game in place.  Now, perhaps, the Lions will finally make the playoffs.

And finally, good news for Pats fans, as Tom Brady is expected to be ready for their Week 1 opener.  Here’s a question for you, will the Patriots be as good as last season?  Their roster is basically the same — can they go undefeated THIS season? Either way, I still think they are the ones to beat in the AFC!