Archive for 2011

WATERCOOLER CHAT: UT QB HAS HISTORIC DAY, HEIMLICH MANEUVER IN BEEF BOWL

FOOTBALL

On Wednesday, University of Texas Quarterback, David Ash, had an historic day as he became one of only three other QB’s to catch a TD pass in the Holiday Bowl. Hall of Famer, Steve Young was one of the others when he was QB at BYU. UT beat Cal  21-10.

Mark Asper, Guard for Oregon, performed the Heimlich maneuver on a choking man at Lawry’s Steak House in Beverly Hills in the traditional Beef Bowl. The Beef Bowl is a where the two teams playing in the Rose Bowl on January 2nd get treated to a pre-game meal. Oregon will take on Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl January 2nd.

 

Mark Asper

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: PRO BOWL SELECTIONS, JASON TAYLOR TO RETIRE

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The San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots scored in Pro Bowl selections Wednesday night. They each have eight players selected for the 2012 roster.  The Pro Bowl will be played on January 29th at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. Yes, it’s the 29th, which means it’s the weekend before the Super Bowl. So, if, for instance, Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady (both selected for the Pro Bowl and both on Teams (Packers and Patriots respectively) that could compete in the Super Bowl, they will not be going.

Here are the other Quarterbacks invited to participate: For the rest of the lineup, click here:

AFC QB: Tom Brady (starter), Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh), Phillip Rivers (San Diego). And, if someone has to drop out, Tebow is in in.

NFC QB: Aaron Rodgers (starter), Green Bay, Drew Brees (New Orleans), Eli Manning (N.Y. Giants)

 

And speaking of Pro-Bowlers, Jason Taylor the 6th time Pro Bowler for the Miami Dolphins will be retiring after a 14 year career with the Dolphins. At 38 years old, Taylor’s body is probably just getting too old for the wear and tear of the game. With that said, even though he didn’t start ever game for the Dolphins this year, he still managed to put up big numbers with seven sacks this season. Taylor will certainly be missed by Dolphin fans for his impact on the game (only defensive lineman to score nine touchdowns in his career).

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: BREES BREAKS PASSING RECORD!

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In the Monday night matchup, not only did the New Orleans Saints clinch the NFC South with their blowout win over the Atlanta Falcons, but Saints QB, Drew Brees broke the NFL record for yards passing in a season. The record of 5, 084 yards was previously held by Hall of Famer Dan Marino.  Watch this final play with Brees’ 9 yard touchdown pass to Darren Sproles to put the new record at 5, 087. Congratulations to a great QB and a classy guy. His speech in the locker room after the game really says it all.  Saints 45, Falcons 16.

 

 

 

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: PACKERS SECURE HOME FIELD, JETS FALL, NBA SEASON OFFICIAL

With a big win over the Chicago Bears Sunday night, the Green Bay Packers secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and Chicago is eliminated. Aaron Rodgers passed for a career high five touchdowns for a 35-21 win.

It was a New York showdown for the Jets vs Giants on Saturday. With only one touchdown, two interceptions and five sacks (one of which led to a safety which sealed the Jets loss), QB Mark Sanchez had a terrible day. Now the press is talking about whether or not Rex Ryan and the Jets will keep him as their franchise QB. To add insult to injury, the Giants have now won 5 straight games against the Jets. Giants 29, Jets 14.

Tune in next Sunday night for the winner take all game where the Cowboys face off against the  Giants for the NFC East title.

BASKETBALL

The NBA season officially started Sunday with big wins from the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, and Oklahoma City Thunder. NBA Commissioner David Stern travelled to Dallas for the Heat vs Mavericks game and was booed as soon as he started speaking before the game. Once he congratulated the Mavs owner Mark Cuban on his team’s championship last year, the boos turned to cheers and basketball is now officially off and running with a shortened 66 game season.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: INDY WINS BUT NOT SO LUCKY, BARKLEY BACK

 

FOOTBALL

The Indianapolis Colts big win over the Houston Texans Thursday night was bitter sweet for many people. Obviously the players on the team were happy with their play. No one wants to go into their locker room after a losing game. And, some players in particular like WR Reggie Wayne were playing their hearts out because their contracts are up at the end of this season and they likely want to stay in Indy. Wayne finished the day with 8 catches for 106 yards and the game winning TD. Indy now has two wins (13 losses) on the season and is tied with St. Louis and Minnesota for the worst record in the league. Of course, this means that the might now have jeopardized the only good thing about being the worst in the league….the number one first round pick in the draft. And, everyone knows the number one pick is likely the great QB Andrew Luck from Stanford.  Who knows, maybe Indy doesn’t want Luck as much as we all anticipated. After all, before the game, Colts owner, Jim Irsay,  told NFL Network that “if Peyton Manning plays next year, it will be in  Indianapolis”.

In college news, USC quarterback, Matt Barkley, announced he would return to school and play his senior year. This is great news for USC. Barkley led USC to 10 victories and 2 losses this year but was unable to represent them in a post season bowl because the Trojans were ineligible due to NCAA violations. Next year, USC should make a splash on the national title scene and Barkley’s name will likely be on the short list of Heisman trophy candidates.

Remember: Big lineup of NFL games on Saturday the 24th and only one game Christmas Sunday (Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers). Enjoy!

 

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: UPCOMING WEEKEND MATCHUPS, VOTE OF CONFIDENCE FOR TEBOW, NBA SEASON BEGINS ON CHRISTMAS

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This is a big weekend in the NFL for the four teams that are close but haven’t secured a playoff spot yet: 

Cowboys, Falcons, Lions and the Broncos

The seven teams that have clinched: 

(NFC) Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, (AFC) Houston Texans, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers.

In other NFL news, Hall of Famer, John Elway gave Tim Tebow a big vote of confidence as the guy who can lead the team to the playoffs.  “Tim Tebow’s not going anywhere,” Elway said. “I mean, he’s going to be a Bronco and we’re going to do everything we can and hopefully he’s that guy.”

 

BASKETBALL

Get ready for the NBA season to finally begin. This Sunday, Christmas Day, the NBA kicks off with five games.

Celtics vs Knicks, Heat vs Mavs, Bulls vs Lakers, Magic vs Thunder and Clippers vs Warriors. Basketball fans everywhere must be counting the seconds…..

 

 

 

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: TEBOW MAGIC DIDN’T WORK, GIANTS DESTROYED, PERFECT PACKER SEASON OVER

FOOTBALL

The most exciting news of the weekend (for me and my fantasy team, the Screaming Weasels (don’t ask)), was, after a pretty dismal season, our big win over Sutters Wings to get us to the Championship game. We knocked it out of the park the last few weeks and are now up against our rival (Ziti Shooters). Our season really turned around after we picked up Tim Tebow…coincidence or the power of Tebowing….we’ll never know.

Speaking of Tebow, his five game winning streak at the helm of the Bronco’s offense, came to a halt Sunday with a 41-23 loss to  Tom Brady and the Patriots. With the win, the Patriots clinch the AFC East.

In other NFL news, the NY Giants didn’t just lose on Sunday against the Redskins, they got destroyed. The 23-10 loss was not even as close as the score would imply. Eli Manning threw three interceptions and didn’t get their only touchdown until 33 seconds left in the game. If you’re a Giants fan, no need to panic just yet. If they can win their last two games (Jets and Cowboys), they will be the NFC East Champs.

The Green Bay Packers perfect season is now over (Miami fans are certainly celebrating as the 1972 Dolphins remain the only undefeated team in NFL history ) with a 19-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers previously hadn’t lost a game since December 19th, 2010.  The Packers’ Aaron Rodgers was without his favorite target wide receiver Greg Jennings. The Packers can still get the #1 seed in the playoffs if they beat Chicago and Detroit in their last two regular season games.

 

 

 

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: FALCONS CLICKING, HOWARD WANTS TRADE, SUSPENSION FOR “TEBOWING”

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In the NFL, it was a Thursday Night Football match-up between the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars and the Atlanta Falcons.  The Falcons desperately needed this game if they wanted to continue their playoff campaign, but the Jaguars are just the type of team that causes hopeful teams to overlook them.  That’s when the Jags sneak up and bite you.  But, Atlanta is on way too much of a mission to let that happen.  They simply took care of business.  The Falcons defense completely stifled the Jaguars, and the Falcons Roddy White had a monster of a game.  He had 135 yards receiving and hauled in two touchdown passes.  Given that this is a playoff week for fantasy football, that could have seriously helped someone.  With the win, the Falcons continue to make that late push for the post-season.  They’re clicking at just the right time.  Atlanta 41, Jacksonville 14.

BASKETBALL

Elsewhere in the NBA, Chris Paul finally officially arrived in Los Angeles yesterday, and, in his press conference, said that he BELIEVES in this organization.  That hasn’t been uttered by a Clippers superstar in, um, forever — primarily because they’ve never really had a superstar before.  Additionally, two days ago it was reported by the Orlando Magic that Dwight Howard was off the trade market.  Just yesterday, Howard made it clear that his request for a trade still stands.  He still wants out of there, and the Magic will try, until the trade deadline, to ship him out of town for something in return or sign him to a huge deal.  If they don’t, Howard could just jump ship leaving the Magic with nothing in return.  And once he leaves, it’s going to take the Magic organization at least 4 or 5 seasons to rebuild into a contender again (if they’re lucky).  They need to sign him or bring in some serious talent.

OTHER

Finally, in some strange news, several High School athletes were suspended… for “Tebowing”.  As a refresher, “Tebowing” is in reference to Tim Tebow’s prayer ritual after scoring a touchdown.  He gets down on one knee, and gets in a worship position with his elbow touching his knee and his knuckles touching his forehead.  This used to be just called praying, but Tebow-mania comes with a whole new set of vocabulary words.  These High School athletes did it in the hallways for 4 minutes in between classes for 3 days in a row.  The school said they were blocking the walkway for other students and suspended them.  The students were outraged, saying they only did it to pay tribute to Tim Tebow — a guy they said has great faith and is a great role model.  Seems like the school may have overreacted.  Here’s a link to the story in which you can see the students “Tebowing“.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: PAUL TO CLIPPERS, LAKERS HEADED DOWNHILL, GRAHAM TEXT MESSAGES ABOUT JOB

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the major news of the day was centered around none other than Chris Paul.  And finally, Paul was able to get out of New Orleans.  Was he headed to Los Angeles?  Yes.  But… not the Lakers.  For the first time in what seems like forever (and possibly ever), the Los Angeles Clippers brought in a big name star instead of their big brother Lakers.  In fact, with Paul, on paper, you could argue that the Clippers now have a better young nucleus.  They had to ship Eric Gordon to New Orleans, a move they dreaded making, but a team made up of superstars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, with supporting players like DeAndre Jordan and Caron Butler around — they might be even better than the Lakers.  This is a huge move for the Clippers, making a big statement to their fan base that they are finally trying to win.  Those that have stuck with a horrible Clippers franchise for over 20 years might actually have hope that their team could make some noise in the playoffs.

The Lakers, on the other hand, look like they’re headed downhill.  They were forced to trade Lamar Odom to Dallas after he demanded to be sent out of town after being insulted that they would ship him off without talking to him first.  Pau is also feeling slighted for being included in the first Chris Paul trade attempt, Andrew Bynum is injury-prone, and Kobe Bryant, well, he’s getting older.  Plus, Kobe is definitely seething that the Lakers couldn’t finalize the Chris Paul deal.  And, to top it all off with a bitter cherry, it looks like Dwight Howard isn’t going anywhere.  According to the Magic, there was nothing worthwhile on the table that would merit trading Howard.  He’ll stay in Orlando this season, and have to make the most of what’s down there.  They don’t have a shot at a title, but he can continue to dazzle the crowd.

FOOTBALL

Finally, in college football, this time of year is always frustrating for teams.  Even if they’re headed to a bowl game, their coaches don’t always go with them.  And at Pitt, this is exactly the case.  They have a Compass Bowl date with SMU, but it looks like their coach Todd Graham won’t be making the trip.  After just one year as head coach of the Panthers, Graham is bolting for Arizona State — a much cushier job, in better weather, and with a brighter future.  Pitt was set to move to the ACC where they will have a tough time adjusting, and Graham said that the Arizona State job just felt like a better fit.  But… here’s the thing:  Graham told his players about it… via text message.  And that didn’t exactly sit right.  A few players tweeted derisive stuff about Graham saying their coach was a fake and without loyalty, but such is the business of college football. However, Graham may face some karma, as the Sun Devils expect a great season right away.  If he fails, he might be looking for another job very soon.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: CHRIS PAUL WANTS LA, PUJOLS LIFE LONG DEAL, SPARANO GONE

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In the NBA, it seems Chris Paul is trying to do anything possible to get to Los Angeles.  Except, it doesn’t look like he cares which LA uniform he wears.  Yesterday, a trade was proposed that would make Paul a Clipper.  The Clips would send Chris Kaman, Al Farouq Aminu, Eric Bledsoe, and the T-Wolves #1 pick in 2012 for Paul.  Since the NBA owns the Hornets right now, they vetoed the trade, thinking it wasn’t fair.  Plus, they wanted the Clippers to throw in their rising star Eric Gordon.  But the Clippers didn’t want to include Gordon because he’s one of the key people they want to build around.  After all, having a nucleus of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and Eric Gordon would almost surely put the Clippers in the playoffs.  As of right now, the deal is still pending, but the Clippers want him badly, while the Lakers are still eying Dwight Howard.

BASEBALL

When Albert Pujols decided to take the Los Angeles Angels 10-year offer for $254 million, he received a lot of flack in the St. Louis media.  They said he was all about the money.  Pujols said that wasn’t the case, but nobody believed him.  Pujols wife, Diedre, addressed the St. Louis media yesterday to give their side of the story.  She said Pujols said he was prepared to take less money to stay in St. Louis.  Plus, the Pujols’ are very active in local community service projects — they have all the reason in the world to stay.  Then, the Cardinals organization said they wanted to make Pujols a Cardinal for life, but their initial offer was only for 5 years.  Pujols wondered:  How is that a life-long deal?  Additionally, Albert said he felt the Angles just wanted him more.  After all, a 10-year deal with no deferred payments sends the signal that this team intends to make you the face of their franchise for the foreseeable future.  Pujols will also embrace the Angels organization with open arms, and most likely truly come through for them.

FOOTBALL

Finally, we just saw more coaching dismissals in the NFL.  First up, the Dolphins have finally given up on Tony Sparano.  Sparano has been leading a lackluster Dolphins team the past few years, never really posing a threat in the AFC East.  Many thought that Sparano was going to be let go in the off-season, but they gave him one more chance, and with the Dolphins at 4-9, they’re just gonna get rid of him.  The Dolphins have a few big-name coaches they could go after, including Bill Cowher and Jeff Fisher.  Either way, they want to get this franchise back on track as attendance has been truly horrible.  The Dolphins general manager said he’d like to find a young Don Shula… if that’s possible.  And, elsewhere, the Kansas City Chiefs have called it quits on head coach Todd Haley.  Haley won the AFC West and made the playoffs last year, but the Chiefs have been putrid this season, and don’t show any signs of getting better.  They need new leadership to help rebuild the storied franchise and get the team playing with passion like they used to in the 90s.  Believe it or not, Kansas City used to be one of the toughest places to play in the NFL.  Who can make this a reality again?

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