Archive for February, 2012

WATERCOOLER CHAT: TIGER IN CONTENTION, LAKERS NEED WIN, HINES WARD TO BE CUT

GOLF

We finally got a weekend where Tiger Woods was in contention to win a major tournament.  This time it was at the gorgeous Pebble Beach course at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.  Woods was playing pretty well in the opening rounds, and found himself in the final day in a showdown with Charlie Wi, and rival Phil Mickelson.  Could Tiger pull it out?  Unfortunately, Woods had 5 bogeys in the final round, and slowly watched the tournament slip away.  Meanwhile, Mickelson played masterful golf, and held on to win the whole tournament.  Good Ol “Lefty”.  This marks somewhat of a comeback for Tiger, but until he starts getting wins under his belt (and this was the type of tournament he used to dominate), he’s still slumping.  Congrats to Mickelson.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, after getting slammed by Knicks who are enjoying their Jeremy “LIN”sanity, the Lakers were looking for answers.  They are slumping this season, and definitely aren’t mirroring the excitement of the ‘now-good’, Chris Paul-led Los Angeles Clippers.  Kobe Bryant and the Lakers seriously needed to get back on track, and they were looking to put the train in the right direction when they took on the Toronto Raptors in Toronto.  The Raptors have been better as of late, with Jose Calderon emerging as a solid player (finishing the game with 30 points).  The Raptors kept it close the whole way, but, in the end, it was Kobe-time, and he hit a beautiful, off-balance jumper from 3-point land to give the Lakers a late lead.  The Raptors had one last shot, but couldn’t get it done, and the Lakers got out of there with a win.  The Lakers needed the win, but they have a lot more to do if they expect to be competitive this post-season.  LA Lakers 94, Toronto 92.

FOOTBALL

Finally, in the NFL, it looks like the end of an era.  Of all the major sports, the NFL provides the most consistency, meaning that every fall when we return to the gridiron, there are certain players we expect to see in certain uniforms.  The league is light on trades, and guys tend to stay loyal to teams if possible, as opposed to arbitrarily switching teams.  After all, in the NFL, players have to memorize complex playbooks, and staying with what works is helpful for the guys to hit their certain statistical benchmarks in order to get paid more money. But, reports out of Pittsburgh are saying that a familiar veteran may not be in a Steelers jersey next season.  That’s right, Hines Ward may be cut shortly by the Steelers.  Ward is always that guy who pops up in fantasy drafts that you never want to take, but winds up performing well.  Since the Steelers now have star receivers Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown, the oft-injured Ward becomes expendable.  Most likely he will go to a division foe (like the Bengals or Ravens), if for nothing else then the intel he could provide.  But the Steeler-faithful will miss him.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: MURRAY STATE GETS A LOSS, MANNINGHAM THROW PLANNED, LSU QB CRITICIZING

BASKETBALL

In college basketball, there was only one undefeated team in college basketball.  And it’s not one of the big boys — it’s Murray State.  These guys have had a great season, and continue to survive game after game even with everyone gunning for them.  They’re definitely headed for the tournament, but could they finish the season undefeated?  They would have to get past a very tough Tennessee State team.  And the Murray State Racers just couldn’t shake these guys.  They were trailing late, and even though they got a few breaks from Tennessee State mistakes, the Racers couldn’t get it done at the end and suffered their very first loss of the season.  Now they’re 23-1 and hoping to do some damage in the tournament.  Tenn State 72.  Murray State 68.

FOOTBALL

Elsewhere, in some NFL related news, it looks like there was a reason for what may become the most memorable play of Sunday’s Giants/Patriots Super Bowl.  We’re talking about that clutch pass from Eli Manning to Mario Manningham that advanced the Giants almost half the football field, and gave them the momentum they needed to keep driving and score.   It looks like the plan that Bill Belichick had for the Patriots was to force the Giants to throw to Mario Manningham.  The Giants two biggest receiving weapons are easily Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.  The Pats defense took those two guys away from Eli Manning as targets, but the Giants called the Patriots out, opting to make that risky throw to Manningham.  Well… it worked, and the rest is history.

Finally, in some other news released, after Alabama ruined LSU’s perfect season by beating them in the National Championship, it appeared that Alabama had their number.  But now LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson has gone public saying he thinks they lost the game because of the play calling from the coaching staff.  Jefferson said that he thinks LSU’s receivers were very good this past season, and never understood why the staff didn’t want to use them.  Instead, they opted to run the ball a lot and throw short.  Jefferson also added that the players HAVE to execute the plays the coaches want to execute, but that even before the play, the players were shaking their heads wondering why certain plays were called.  Typically, college quarterbacks don’t publicly criticize their coaching staffs.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: WILLIAMS CALLS IT QUITS, PEYTON FEVER, GIANTS PARADE

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, it’s the end of an era as after 11 seasons, running-back Ricky Williams is calling it quits… for good.  Williams retired once before, when he publicly admitted that he didn’t want to play football for the Dolphins to take a season off smoking marijuana and touring with Lenny Kravitz.  Once a Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Texas, Williams was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in a draft that saw their head coach give up all his picks to get him.  Williams underperformed in New Orleans, was traded to Miami, where he was the most productive, only to eventually wind up on the Baltimore Ravens this past season as a back-up. Finally, he’s had enough.  He always felt more like a tremendous athlete than a “football player”.  He will be missed as a character in this league.

Elsewhere in the NFL, there’s PEYTON MANNING FEVER in Tennessee right now.  Titans fans want him badly, knowing that their franchise has been without a star quarterback for a very long time.  But, Titans management is doing their best to cool the Peyton Manning fever, saying that they feel like they have a solid QB foundation with Matt Hasselbeck at the helm, and a young Jake Locker waiting to take the reigns.  Then again, Hasselbeck is getting up there in age, and Locker is unproven and has been somewhat sloppy in the few appearances he made last season.  Maybe they should take a serious look at putting Manning on their roster.

Finally, the Giants got their victory parade yesterday in the streets of Manhattan.  Tons of people came out to support the players and coaching staff.  Head coach Tom Coughlin said that New York is the greatest city in the world, and they wanted to bring the Super Bowl trophy back to New York where it belonged.  Then, Eli Manning got up and gave a humorous speech, saying that when the Giants started off the season 6-2, Manning said to his coach, “Coach… this is too easy, let’s lose 4 in a row” (which they did).  Then, in the the Super Bowl, up 9-0, Manning turned to his coach and said, “Coach… this is too easy, let’s lose the lead before the half (which they did).  Anyway, the Giants sure had the recipe for success.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: LAKERS FELL TO SIXERS, KOBE CLIMBS ABOVE SHAQ, EYE ON LIN, GISELE’S RANT

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, it was a momentous night for Kobe Bryant as he and the Lakers headed to Philly for a long road trip.  The Sixers have been hot this year, posturing themselves for a top seed in the Eastern Conference.  It was another hard fought game against the Lakers.  Lou Williams had a fantastic 24-point night, and Andrew Igoudala had an amazing hook shot you have to see to believe.  But even though the Lakers fell to the Sixers, the story of the night was that Kobe climbed ahead of Shaquille O’ Neal to become the 5th All-Time Leading Scorer in NBA History.  Kobe still needs about another 10,000 points to catch Kareen Abdul-Jabar at #1, but its still quite a brilliant accomplishment.  Congrats to Kobe.  Philly 95, LA Lakers 90.

Elsewhere in the NBA, there is an emerging star in New York.  It looks like the first ever Asian American player, Jeremy Lin, graduate of Harvard, might actually be a legitimate role player for the Knicks.  Lin was drafted by the Golden State Warriors, but soon released and sent to the D-League.  Lin thrived in the D-League, and was given a second shot with the Knicks.  And he has taken advantage of the opportunity.  Last night against the Utah Jazz, Lin ran the offense brilliantly, putting up 28 points and 8 assists to boot.  He was in control out there.  Head coach Mike D’Antoni said it was nice to know that if he drew up a play, with Lin, there was actually a good chance it might work.  Keep your eye on Jeremy Lin.  NY Knicks 99, Utah 88.

FOOTBALL

Finally, in the NFL, just one day after the Patriots lost to the Giants, there was some more salt thrown in the wound.  If it wasn’t bad enough that Brady lost his 2nd Super Bowl to the Giants, his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, went public saying, to quote, “My husband cannot f – – – – – – throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can’t believe they dropped the ball so many times”.  Now, she may have a pretty decent point, but those type of lines won’t sit well in the Patriots locker room or organization.  Either way, despite her comments, it’s very likely that the Patriots will make some major moves in the off-season, using their 4 top-two round draft picks to bolster their defense, and get Brady some more weapons for the remainder of his career.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: GIANTS WIN THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!

The big day was finally upon us.  Super Bowl Sunday, where we were treated to the much anticipated match-up between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots.  Yes, an East Coast Showdown.  Four years ago, these to two teams squared off with the Patriots as heavy favorites.  But, the Giants spoiled their perfect season, and won their first Super Bowl since the 80s.  The Pats were looking for revenge against the Giants this time, but this Patriots team isn’t as good as the the 07-08 squad.

The first quarter started off in interesting fashion for the Giants.  On the Pats first posession deep in their own territory, Tom Brady looked to go long and hurled the ball 50 yards down field.  But there was nobody around.  That’s called intentional grounding, typically a 5-yard penalty, but when the QB is standing in the end zone, that’s ruled a safety, and the Giants were up 2-0.  Then, Eli and the Giants got the ball back, marched down the field, and Manning hit Victor Cruz for a touchdown.  And just like that it was 9-0 Giants.  The Patriots got a field goal on the next possession, but their strength is offense, not letting their defense win the game for them.  They needed to score quickly.

In the second quarter, it was a pretty slow game, and the Pats couldn’t get much productivity from their two star tight-ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, but the Patriots had a beautiful drive toward the end of the half, capped off with a touchdown grab by an unlikely target, back-up running back Danny Woodhead.  That was his first touchdown catch of the season.  The Giants got it back, down 10-9, but elected to just call it a half and head into the break down 1.  Time for Madonna.

Then, in the second half, this battle really started to heat up.  Brady knew that he needed to get his offense going if they were to hold the Giants in check.  So he marched it down the field and hit tight-end Aaron Hernandez for a touchdown.  That made it 17-9 Patriots.  The Giants got it back, and were getting some decent production from their star receiver Hakeem Nicks, but they couldn’t get in the end zone and had to settle for a field goal.  The Pats couldn’t do anything after that, the Giants got it back, and posted another field goal to make it 17-15.  Now we got ourselves a ball game.

Late in the 4th quarter, Brady and the Patriots had a chance to put the game away, especially when Brady tried to hit Wes Welker for a deep pass that would have put them in the red zone (a place that the Pats are quite comfortable).  But, in an unlikely event, Welker dropped the ball, and the Patriots had to punt.  And remember, you can only give Eli Manning so many chances to fail before he will finally pull through.  And that’s exactly what he did, tossing a beautiful pass to Mario Manningham between two Patriot defenders.  It was purely amazing.  That put them at around midfield, they kept pushing and pushing until they got to a 1st and goal situation.  It pretty much looked like they could run the clock to under 10 seconds and then kick a field goal to win the game, but in a genius move, Bill Belichick and the Pats LET THEM SCORE.  Ahmad Bradshaw got down to the 1 yard line and didn’t know if he should go in or not, so he just fell in, giving the Giants the lead, BUT a full minute to Tom Brady.  Not a good idea, and Bellichick was going try and win it with his offense.

Brady got the ball, tried to hit a long pass to Deion Branch, but he dropped it too.  The Patriots had butterfingers last night.  Time was ticking, and then Brady got sacked.  They had one last chance — Tom Brady threw up a hail mary to the end zone, and Rob Gronkowski ALMOST caught a deflected ball.  But it was just a few inches beyond his hands, the ball hit the ground, and the Giants won the Super Bowl.  Eli Manning was the MVP with 296 yards and a touchdown.  You can now make the case that he is an elite quarterback (with two Super Bowl wins).  Both Manning brothers will surely be in the Hall of Fame.  NY Giants 21, New England 17.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: PEYTON GETS CLEARED, LUCK WANTS TO PLAY, BELICHICK SIMULATES HALFTIME, BULLS EDGE KNICKS

WATCH BETSY ON THE TODAY SHOW TALKING SUPER BOWL

FOOTBALL

In the NFL, some great news for Peyton Manning.  After suffering a neck injury, resulting in a serious surgery.  That ruled him out for this season, and many wondered if he would ever play again.  Thursday, it appears that team doctors (as well as external doctors) have approved Peyton Manning to continue his NFL career.  Now, if Peyton actually is fully healthy, he’s still a Top 4 quarterback in the NFL.  Nobody sees the field like Peyton Manning.  After all, he pretty much operates as the offensive coordinator on the Colts — reading plays at the line, and has full authority to audible without checking with the staff.  He’ll definitely be playing next year, but the question is where.

There is some other news that could answer that question.  Andrew Luck, the likely overall #1 pick in the NFL Draft, went on record yesterday saying that he wanted to play right away in the NFL.  If the Colts do pick him, it’s most likely that they will want to appease him, which means that Manning shouldn’t be around.  And benching Manning in favor of Luck just doesn’t feel right.  Imagine if Luck comes out and throws 2 picks in the first half, do they bring in Manning?  And if Manning, throws 3 touchdowns in the second half, do they start Andrew Luck in Week 2.  That QB battle would certainly raise a lot of issues.  Anyway, Luck’s statement suggests that Manning is most likely headed out of town.

In some Super Bowl news, Patriots genius coach Bill Belichick did something unprecedented in practice the other day — something that had the media raving.  What did he do?  In order to simulate the flow of the game as best he could, Belichick simulated… the halftime show.  Yep, after the guys were all charged, Belichick had them head into the locker room and sit there for the full 30 minutes.  Obviously, there was no halftime, but he wants his team as prepared as possible for the game-time situations on Sunday.  The players loved it, saying they needed to know how it felt to stop and start again.  When you’re raging in the first half out there, it’s easy to lose your momentum during a 30 minute break.  Belichick wants his team just as ready and hot in the second half as they are in the first.  Never before in the history of practice has a coach simulated a halftime break.  But this may be the reason that Belichick gets his 4th Super Bowl ring with the Patriots.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Chicago Bulls edged out the New York Knicks, at Madison Square Garden, Thursday night. Carmelo Anthony had the chance to even up the score at 105 to end the game, but was unable to hit a deep and covered 3 to send the game to overtime. He ended up with 26 points and six rebounds on the night. After not playing well in his last game, reigning MVP Derrick Rose came up big in the bright lights of New York with 32 points, four rebounds and 13 assists. And the biggest part of Rose’s game was when he came up with 15 points in the fourth quarter. The Knicks came up a little short even with Amare Stoudemire’s season high 34 points and 11 rebounds.

 

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: 76ERS FOR REAL, THUNDER STRUCK MAVS, MELO BACK TO SYRACUSE

WATCH BETSY ON THE TODAY SHOW TALKING FOOTBALL WITH KATHIE LEE AND HODA

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Philadelphia 76ers are for real. They hosted the Chicago Bulls at home on Wednesday night and blew them away 98 – 82. Andre Iguodala had 19 points, nine rebounds, and four assists on the night to lead Philadelphia to the win. For the Bulls, Derrick Rose was the only starter in double figures on the night with 18 points. The 76ers moved to 12 – 2 at home and 16 – 6 overall, while the Bulls move to 18 – 6 overall.

Along with Derrick Rose not being able to help pull out a win for his team, Dirk Nowitzki went 2 -15 shooting for the Dallas Mavericks. He ended up with eight points on the night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder took the game 95 – 86. Kevin Durant had a double-double on the night with 23 points and 13 rebounds and Russell Westbrook contributed 33 points to the win.

In College Basketball, the number two-ranked Syracuse Orange have reinstated their big man Fab Melo. Melo, who stands at seven feet tall, missed the past three games for academic issues. The sophomore is averaging just over 7 points and 5 rebounds per game. Syracuse is 22-1 overall and 9 – 1 in the Big East. The Orange’s sole loss came in Melo’s first game he missed at Notre Dame.

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WATERCOOLER CHAT: CARMELO BACK, DANICA KEEPS #10, PEYTON RUMORS

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the Knicks have been struggling of late losing their last three and nine of their last 10. On Tuesday night, the Knicks looked to turn around their losing ways against the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks at home, bounced back to win big, 113 – 86. The difference between last night and the previous week of games — Carmelo Anthony. Anthony returned to the court and scored 25 points to jump-start New York’s offense. As a team, the Knicks shot 60 percent for the year, their highest percentage of the year. The Knicks next game is against the Bulls at home Thursday night.

 NASCAR

After sources leaked the story earlier in the week, it is official that Stewart Haas Racing has finalized an alliance with Tommy Baldwin Racing. What does that mean? It means Danica Patrick will start in the Daytona 500. And she will get to keep her Number 10 car. She will be able to run in the Sprint Cup opener, and the goal is to keep her car in the top 35 of racers. The reason for that is because Patrick would then be able to get a guaranteed a starting spot in the first races of 2013.

 FOOTBALL

In the NFL, the rumors around Peyton Manning have been spiraling out of control. After a tweet last week from actor Rob Lowe, Colts owner Jim Irsay’s good friend, that Manning was retiring, no one knew what was true or not. Early yesterday reports began to surface that Manning was recovering well from his neck surgery, but his nerves in his arm were not healing well and couldn’t get velocity on his passes. But last night, Manning spoke out about his surgery, saying he won’t retire. He said he feels really good. The Colts are expected to take Andrew Luck with the 1st overall pick.

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