FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it was an odd Monday Night Football match-up between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants.  This game had bizarre written all over it.  On Sunday, the roof of the Metrodome in Minneapolis deflated, forcing the Vikings and Giants to play at a nearby locale on Monday.  That spot:  Ford Field in Detroit.  Not exactly a home game for Minnesota, but they did put Viking decals all over the field.  The fans were lackluster and were just there for “a good time”, not necessarily to root for anyone.  They even did the wave.  Plus, this game marked the end of the most notable streak in sports — Brett Favre‘s continuous starts streak.  Put it in the books, Brett started 297 consecutive football games.  To show you how marvelous that is, the closest active player, Eli Manning, is at 100 straight starts.  Manning would have to start every game until the 2022 season.  Yeah, pretty implausible.  That shows you the kind of iron man Brett is.  The game was rather boring, however, as the Giants simply crushed the Vikings.  NY Giants 21, Minnesota 3.

And in the second game of the evening (the regular Monday Night Game), the Houston Texans played host to the Baltimore Ravens.  The Ravens simply smothered the Texans for most of the game.  Joe Flacco had a great night, tossing 235 yards and 2 touchdowns, and the Ravens defense stifled the Texans Offense, that is… until the 4th quarter.  In a miraculous comeback, Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson caught fire.  This tandem got the Texans back in the game, and then Schaub hit Johnson in the back of the end zone for an amazing TD.  But, they still needed the 2-point conversion.  Noooooo problem, Johnson seemingly jumped 15 feet to pluck the ball out of the air and tie the game.  We’re headed to overtime.  The Texans stopped the Ravens on their first drive, but, unfortunately, the Ravens defense rattled Schaub again, causing him to throw a pick for a touchdown to end the game.  A perfect comeback for a victory was not meant to be.  Tough luck, Texans.  Baltimore 34, Houston 28.

BASEBALL

Finally, out of the baseball world, some VERY surprising news.  The story of the past week has been “Where will Cliff Lee play?”  The top contenders were his current team, the Texas Rangers, and the mighty New York Yankees.  Well, the Yankees were willing to shell out a ton of money for Lee to be their guy over the next decade.  A combo of Lee with Sabathia, the Yankees felt, made them pretty much unbeatable.  The sports talk circuit kept wondering if Lee would trade a more tranquil outdoor life (Texas) for the fast-paced urban lifestyle (New York).  Well, apparently, Lee didn’t want either.  He decided to go to his hometown Philadelphia Phillies.  Lee liked playing in Philly before, has a great rapport with the guys, and know they will be a winning team throughout the decade.  Now, the Phillies have, what you could argue, is the best pitching staff ever assembled.  They have ace Roy Halladay to kick off the line-up, then it’s ace Cliff Lee, followed by superstar Cole Hamels, and the other 2 guys are pretty good too.  Philly will be VERY tough to beat next season.