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Last Word On Sports

Sports News Since 2011. Honestly.

Last Word On Sports Logo

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Month: October 2011

Inside the NFL – Day One

Posted on by Ben Kerr

Last week I expressed my opinion on five teams where I thought the general perception of most people might not match the reality.  I feel very confident that I have a great beat on many teams, but there are some that are too unpredictable right now to offer proper analysis. Also, some teams are simply already well-known and correctly valued, so there is little benefit to you in me restating the obvious.  With that in mind, let’s take a much closer look at five teams.  We’ll examine New England and Minnesota today, Atlanta and Tampa Bay tomorrow and a special edition, inside look at the Buffalo Bills on Saturday. 

New England – Much can be said about New England, but first I just want to remind everybody about one thing – The New England defense stinks! It always has.  In week three when the Pats lost to the Bills there was plenty of “world is falling apart” talk about the Pats defense.  The perception is that it is no good, and will sometimes cost them games.  But this lack of defense is nothing new. They barely had a defense when they went 16-0 in 2007 and they had a horrible defense last year when they went 14-2.  So don’t worry about their defense when picking New England games.  They control the game with their offense and field position anyways.  Just remember when New England plays a high-powered offense don’t expect them to cover big points.  Dallas -7 last week was a perfect example.

Minnesota – I think I have given up on them four separate times already this season.  I should have stuck with the first three but now I have reason to believe they could be under-valued.  In the opening weeks they didn’t play poorly but could not pull out any victories.  My theory for this was that McNabb was the problem.  They had the talent to  hang with some decent teams, but couldn’t pull it out at the end.  When it is late in the game there are few surprises; it comes down to simple execution, x’s and o’s.  Unfortunately for the Vikings, McNabb just couldn’t deliver.  I thought the new starting quarterback, Christian Ponder, would be a disaster as well, but through two weeks he has been competent.  This might be all Minnesota needs.   We know they are not playing for a division title, but they should also be better than a 1-6 squad.  With the way Peterson is running they should be able to win a few games just getting a C- from their QB.  (Note: Their schedule does get a lot tougher the rest of the season after this Carolina match-up)

That’s it for now, but please check back tomorrow evening for “Inside the NFL – Day Two”.

…And that is the last word.

A Fatal Move that Might Cost the Cards the Series

Posted on by Grant Alexander

He’s no Bill Buckner, but manager Tony La Russa might have made the error that costs his team the series.

After game one’s pinch-hit heroic’s, game two looked to be going the same way. Allen Craig again came into the game as a pinch hitter and drove in a run to break the scoreless tie in the 7th. Texas, with their backs against the wall in the top of the 9th, were able to manufacture two runs on two sac flies and win the game 2-1.

With the series tied 1-1, the teams travelled to Arlington for game three. St. Louis seemed not to mind the 50+ thousand people cheering against them, as they pounded Texas for 16 runs. The onslaught was led by St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols who arguably had one of the best single World Series game performances ever. He went 5-for-6 with two singles and three homeruns, tying World Series records for; most homeruns in a game (3), most hits in a game (5), and most RBI’s (6). And establishing two new records, one for hits in consecutive innings (4), and total bases reached (14).

After getting trounced 16-7 in game three, Texas and manager Ron Washington showed a lot of poise to put the loss behind them and concentrate on game four. And concentrate they did, allowing only two hits on route to a 9-inning shutout. Napoli provided the offence with a three-run homer to help the hometown Rangers win 4-0. But the big story was Derek Holland who pitched 8 1/3 of the 9-inning shutout.

So here we are at a decisive game five, with the series tied 2-2. The pitchers; how about a rematch from game one? C. J. Wilson squaring off with Chris Carpenter. Both pitchers pitched fairly well, Wilson going 5 ½ giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, and Carpenter going 7-innings and giving up 2 runs on 6 hits. Fast-forward to the eighth inning, with the score tied at 2. Michael Young leads off the bottom half of the eighth inning with a double, triggering Cards manager La Russa to make a call to the bullpen. La Russa asked for Rzepczynski and his closer Motte to both warm up, the bullpen coach (Derek Lilliquist) says he only heard Rzepczynski’s name. La Russa saw that Motte wasn’t warming up, and made another call to the bullpen. This time the bullpen coach heard him say reliever Lance Lynn’s name. So Lance Lynn starts warming up even though he should have been resting because he had just pitched. So hilarity ensues when La Russa, first calls out Rzepczynski who he wanted to be Motte, and then calls out Lynn who he thought was Motte. The Rangers took advantage of the mix up cashing in two runs and winning the game 4-2.

So the series dubbed “The battle of the skips” heads back to Busch Stadium for game six with the Rangers leading 3-2. And has Washington back on top of the manager’s duel. Washington showing some savvy in game five by intentionally walking super slugger and game three hero Albert Pujols. While his counterpart La Russa, was at the helm of a major mental collapse that cost his team the game.

The Rangers look to be on the brink of victory with a stranglehold on the series. But, this is baseball, and anything that can happen, usually does.  But that is why we love this game so much. And the “Cardiac Cards” are definitely one of those teams, having been here before fighting with their backs against the wall. And if they can get to game seven, they have their ace back. Should be an exciting finish.

And that is the last word…

NFL in Toronto? JUST SAY NO!

Posted on by Michael Kovacs, ADMIN

Let me preface this by saying that I love the NFL and am a big Bills fan.

A deal was struck three years ago between the owner of the Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson, Ted Rogers and Larry Tannenbaum of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment to bring the NFL to Toronto’s Rogers Centre each year for five consecutive years.  The deal stipulates that there would be eight games, five regular season and three pre-season games.  With the deal set to conclude in 2012, it is worth discussing whether it has, or should have, any impact on whether Toronto deserves an NFL franchise.

I have conflicting opinions about whether I think the NFL would be successful in Toronto.  Without trying to alienate my friends and family from the GTA, I must say that Toronto is not a good sports town.  Let me qualify that though.  There are several leagues operating at the highest level in their respective sports in North America, and in some cases, the world.

Let’s put the Maple Leafs aside, as I can’t argue their success and the health of Leafs Nation.  Though I do have a few bones of contention with MLSE and their gameday value, I’ll leave that for another article.  The Leafs haven’t won since Moses parted the seas, yet their fans remain optimistic (at least they do early in the season) and loyal to their team, and I tip my hat to them.  However, I argue that is the only team the city properly supports.

The love affair with the Toronto Blue Jays comes and goes with how successful they are.  When the team makes a real stab at the World Series, people come.  But when they just don’t have the staff to put them over the hump, which evidently they have missed for the past 20 years since they last made the playoffs, the fans just will not support the team.  There are two recent memories I have exemplifying the situation with the Jays.  First, I recall not so long ago the Jays had “Toonie Tuesday” at the ballpark where people could by a 500 Level seat for $2.  TWO DOLLARS!  Still the upper deck was mostly empty.  I remember being almost embarassed at the ads on the radio.  The second memory is of watching a game with only 15,000 people in the stands on a night when Doc Halladay was pitching.  Perhaps the greatest player in the world at the time wasn’t enough to garner attention from Toronto fans.  In 2011, Toronto finished in 25th place for attendance, despite having a good, young team, the fourth largest market in the league, and the reigning Hank Aaron Award for the best hitter in the American League, Jose Bautista.  I beg you to argue that Toronto is a baseball city.

When the Toronto Raptors entered the league in the mid-90’s, I was very enthusiastic.  Not being a particularly big basketball fan, I grew to really enjoy their gameday experience, and following on television.  In their first season at the Air Canada Centre, I bought a mini-pack with a few friends of mine and had a blast each and every game.  Ahhh, the Vince Carter/Tracy McGrady years.  The team was hot – I would go so far as to say they were the talk of the town at the time.  However, as player after player left for greener pastures, the fans did too.  Where the ACC was once sold out on a regular basis, it now is 20% empty (okay, I’m a ‘cup empty’ kinda guy) and falling.  The love affair with the team was short-lived and I can’t see them getting it back, sadly.  With no superstar, and a well-recognized inability to draw big names without overpaying, the city is slowly abandoning the Raptors.  There is no doubt that Toronto is not a basketball city.

We also have the CFL Toronto Argonauts.  Okay, yes, they are not the top-tier football league, but in a city the size of Toronto and surrounding GTA should they not draw much more than 20,000 per game?  The team is a century old, much older and more historical than any NFL team, yet their following has left them.  It is sad to hear their radio ads all but begging people to fill the seats.  They should have joined Toronto FC (more on them in a minute) and been in on the deal for BMO Field.  Too late.  Despite their best efforts, they just can’t sustain a following worthy of their history.  In fact, I would argue it is the worst city for CFL football given its size.  They are by far the biggest city, yet they were the only team to average fewer than 20,000 per game.  Even Hamilton, one-quarter the size, averaged 4,000 more fans per game.

Finally we have Toronto FC of Major League Soccer.  I understand the argument that they are not “top-tier” football when compared with the big leagues around Europe, however, MLS is the best we have.  It is improving, no doubt about it.  Koevermans and Frings from TFC are quality players that could be playing in Europe.  Koevermans signed from PSV Eindhoven, a perennial Champions League team, and played for the Dutch national team.  Frings signed from Werder Bremen of the Bundesliga in Germany, and even started for football giant Bayern Munich not so long ago.  He, too, represented his country internationally, playing for Germany.  Despite being heralded as the most multicultural city in the world, that isn’t enough to stop the slide in attendance.  The novelty is wearing off.

As you can see Toronto has plenty of options, but in each case the only time it seems interested in supporting a team is either they are wearing blue and white with a leaf on the front, or they spend an exorbitant amount of money to make a short-lasting run at a trophy.  New teams seem to have some success, such as the Jays, Raptors and TFC, but Torontonians want a winner.  For that reason, I think an NFL team in Toronto would be good for a while, a short while, but when the shine wears away I fear the fans will dissipate and the love affair will die.

And that is the last word…

Dana White: Good or Bad for the Sport?

Posted on by Mark Modeski

Love him or hate him, you can’t deny that Dana White is one colourful character. The man never has any inhibitions about sharing what’s on his mind at any given time – and typically uses very little tact in the way that he expresses it. Dana always speaks from the heart, and many of his decisions are based on his passion, mood or mindset at the time. Every once in a while you even see him back peddle on something he said during a particularly heated moment. So the question that is often posed is: Is a man with such a volatile (and at times low brow) personality really a good spokesperson for the sport?

Personally, I love Dana White. On many levels I think he has been great for the sport. There is little denying that UFC, let alone MMA, wouldn’t be as legitimate as it is today if it wasn’t for Dana and his savvy marketing abilities. He operates much the same way Vince McMahon did/does for the WWE – the only difference being that Dana’s personality is “Dana” and not an act.

Aside from these rather humanistic attributes that give Dana some appeal, there is one thing that he brings to the table that no other sports organization head does: He gives the people what they want. Like a Roman Emperor appeasing the masses, when people speak, Dana listens and does something about it. When people started talking about a BJ Penn/GSP super fight (partial catalyst goes to BJ himself), Dana listened – even though, it would tarnish the reputation one of his top fighters, regardless of who won. People wanted a rematch BJ vs. Edgar after the first fight, he gave it to them!

The main reason for Dana playing to the masses is his vested interest in the sport and the company – he is a part owner of the UFC, so of course he wants to see this thing succeed. At times it can seem like commissioners of other sports (Gary Bettman in particular) are almost antagonistic to the fans doing the complete opposite of what the people want; It almost seems like a stick measuring contest at times. Bud Selig, being an owner has always vexed me; how he can always be so clueless to his target. Dana speaks in a language that is understood by his core demographic target… “He gives them blood and they love him for it”.

If you want to familiarize yourself with DW, just watch a post-fight presser after the next card and all will become clear. As long as he continues to run the UFC in the manner in which he has (as long as he doesn’t supersaturate the sport for the public), I say he is not only good for the sport, but rather the best thing for it. He is to MMA, not just the UFC, what Steve Jobs was to Apple.

… and that is the last word.

Fantasy Killer – What YOU NEED to Know!

Posted on by Ben Kerr

Two teams I often have trouble handicapping are Houston and Tennessee (Seriously, if you have any tips on how to pick these two teams or Chicago I am all ears).  Houston is a two-faced team.  Sometimes their offense looks like it can hang with any other unit in the league – like the Saints game this year where they feel just short while putting up 33. Other days they are just flat – they already have a home loss to the lowly Raiders this year (yes they are the lowly Raiders whatever their record says).

Tennessee also never seems to be the same team in back-to-back weeks.  The confusing part is it never seems to be a particular kind of team that is able to stop them.  This year alone they have pounded the Ravens and then been demolished by the Steelers, two very similar teams.  They have also lost to Jacksonville and beaten Cleveland. Both road matches against low power, semi-defensive teams.

What I expected this week was Tennessee to realize the importance of their home game against division rival Houston and to come out and have their play reflect the meaning of the game.  The victor would grab top spot in a two-team division, and Houston comes into this match severely battered. With Andre Johnson out it seemed like teams just needed to limit the powerful Texans run game and their offense would struggle. I did not think this would be too tough a task for a Titan defense that was playing like a top five unit so far this year.

Instead it was the Texans who took Chris Johnson out of the game and watched the Tennesse offense fall apart.  I did not watch much of this game because it was not close seemingly from the start, but I have seen enough of Chris Johnson in recent weeks to form an opinion. He just doesn’t have it, and I will stop just short of saying “he sucks”.  I am sure he still has his speed to blow defenders out once he gets into open field but with the way he is running I don’t see how that is going to happen again.  Johnson saunters up to the line as if he is expecting a giant running lane to appear any moment.  When it does not he slows down his feet and either waits for a defender to penetrate and hit him or he gives up on waiting and crashes into the first person he sees for a two yard gain. Right now he is not difficult to stop.

Johnson is not the entire problem.  Against Houston he finished with 18 yards on 10 carries.  Even the 4th string running back would get more yards than that if the O-line was going its job correctly.  But Johnson is not part of the solution.  Everything about his game is hesitant. Even though he is a speed back Johnson separated himself from other speed backs in the past by being able to run with power, often able to take on the first tackle head on while seemingly never breaking stride.  Now that he is running half speed he can not even generate any of that power.

What really gave Johnson his power though was his fantastic 2009 season. Rushing for 2000 yards will do that.  But if that performance was merely a really good performance instead of a truly great performance do we think of him as the same back today?  Probably not.  More importantly, what will he look like as this season goes along?  I hate to make this comparison but I think it needs to be done.  One monster fantasy season for another.

Player A

year 1: 251 carries, 1228 yards, 4.9 avg. 9 TD’s

year 2: 358 carries, 2006 yards, 5.6 avg. 14 TD’s

year 3: 316 carries, 1364 yards, 4.3 avg. 11 TD’s

Player B

year 1: 144 carries, 717 yards, 5.0 avg. 4 TD’s

year 2: 273 carries, 1515 yards, 5.5 avg. 18 TD’s

year 3: 216 carries, 1117 yards, 5.2 avg. 7 TD’s

Player A is obviously Chris Johnson.  Player B is DeAngelo Williams.  From a fantasy perspective he is another player that was drafted as a first round running back in year 3 because of a monster performance the prior season.  And his fantasy owner was similarly disappointed in his results that season. Chris Johnson was even drafted as a first round back this year because of his performance two years ago.  As for DeAngelo we know how his year four and five have played out.  In year four he played six games with a mediocre 4.1 yards per carry.  Currently in year five he is performing solidly but he is not even close to being the best RB on his own team.

What does this say about Chris Johnson?  More than anything I think it says that it is tough to stay at the top.  At some point we need to question if Chris Johnson is doing all he can to try to stay there.

The Strongest Leg in Canada?

Posted on by Carl Mostacci

27-year-old kicker Justin Medlock was a perfect 7 for 7 on all his field goal attempts Saturday night helping the Hamilton Tiger Cats destroy the BC Lions 42 to 10. 50% of Hamilton’s points came from Medlock’s boot. Four of his Seven attempts were beyond 40 yards.  The game was much closer then the score reflects. BC may have won the game or still been in contention until the end  if it wasn’t for Medlock’s foot.

In my 20 years of watching pro football, I have never seen a kicker like him. First off, he is left-footed, which is rare. Secondly, he doesn’t take a running start to the ball like most kickers do. He simply takes two steps and kills the ball, making it seem effortless. Sometimes it looks like he isn’t putting all his strength in kicking the football because he simply doesn’t have to. His leg is that strong. Medlock currently sits second in the CFL for most points scored with 184 this season.

Now I know he has been looked at by several NFL teams already and they often don’t like left-footed kickers because it changes the field goal unit’s game plan. But c’mon their has to be an exception here for all the reasons I mentioned above. Medlock stated he wants to look at NFL opportunities again this off-season when he becomes a free agent. I believe he deserves to be given a fair shot, based on his CFL performance since entering the league. What do you think?

And that is the last word…

The Massacre in Manchester!

Posted on by Michael Kovacs, ADMIN

Everything told us that there would be a genuine “Clash of the Titans” in this week’s key match-up between new powerhouse Manchester City versus perennial powerhouse Manchester United.  While it was certainly a key match early in the season, it wasn’t much of a contest, with City absolutely dominating their cross-town rivals for 93 minutes.

Consider the final score for a minute.  Wait, first sit down with a stiff drink. Ready?  City 6 – United 1.  No, that is no typo.  To make matters worse for United, the game was played at the hallowed grounds at Old Trafford.  Shocked?  Perhaps, but a look up and down the Man City roster should tell you otherwise.

Man City, for me, represents a problem in football, which I have already discussed in a recent article.  I won’t rehash everything I said, but in a nutshell the free-spending going on now in many leagues is almost out of control.  A simple look on the City bench during the match will show you the talent that didn’t even crack the starting XI.

Back to the game.

With strong play from the starting eleven, particularly Mario Balotelli who scored twice, and the addition of Dzeko late in the match scoring two himself, City dominated for much of the 90 minutes, en route to handing United its first home loss in the last 19 contests at Trafford.  In fact, the light blues scored three times in the final four minutes, and they could have put a few more in!

There was a very glaring problem for ManU today; their defending.  Time and time again City forwards and mids found themselves penetrating past the home side’s defenders.  Crosses, through-balls, and set pieces all seemed to break down, reminiscent of my own beloved Arsenal.  Sorry United fans, that was low.

Also exposed was David De Gea, ManU’s young heir apparent keeper to Edin Van Der Sar.  This wasn’t so much of a surprise because I have been hearing all season from friends of min who are United fans about their lack of faith in him.  Whether he is the answer for their goaltending, the jury is out.  Today, though, he was just plain bad.

The season is still early.  As a Gunners fan I tell myself that every day.  But if this is what we have to look “forward” to, the rest of the EPL have their hands full dealing with the new class of the league, Manchester City.

And that is the last word.

NFL Winners and Losers

Posted on by Ben Kerr

Tampa Bay +1.5 over Chicago – A game played in London where the team who has arrived first has won every game so far.  Tampa showed up early in the week and Chicago showed up on Friday.  Good enough for me.

Carolina -1.5 over Washington – This line has moved down from -3 during the week.  At 3 I would be tempted to take Washington but I have no need to take John Beck on the road getting less than 3.

NY Jets +1 over San Diego – Neither team is playing their best football in spite of their records.  I just don’t see the Norv pulling out a big win on the road.

Seattle +3 over Cleveland – I think Seattle is just better than Cleveland. I am willing to risk a terrible Seattle road performance.

Tennessee -3 over Houston – If Tennessee has any toughness at all the show up and pound a battered Texans team this week.

Denver -1 over Miami – I don’t love taking Denver as a road fav. But the Dolphins are honouring former Gators at halftime today.  Can’t ignore that.

Atlanta +4.5 over Detroit – Detroit is slightly over-rated.  Line should not be this high.  And for all the negative Atlanta talk their recent losses are against Green Bay and a close road loss to Tampa they easily could have won.

Kansas City +3.5 over Kyle Boller – I mean the Oakland Raiders.  Let’s just say i feel somewhat comfortable with this pick.

Pittsburgh -4 over Arizona – Don’t understand why this is so low.  I like the Steelers at -7.

Dallas -13.5 over St. Louis – Dallas tends to win and lose close (each of their last 10 within 4 points).  But with the back-up in there it is time for Dallas to show what kind of team they really are.

Green Bay -10 over Minnesota – Best team in league versus back-up rookie QB.  Ok. 10 is fine with me.

New Orleans -13.5 over Indy – Indy has played tough recently but if you watch them their defense really can’t cover anybody.  I expect the Saints to score alot of points in this one.

Baltimore -9 over Jacksonville – Tough to take that mediocre Baltimore offense to cover more than a TD on the road.  Until you remember that the defense is going to score 14 points for you.

Ten Things We Learned In College, Week 8

Posted on by Lindsay Higgins

You know how sometimes a professor will throw a ton of new material at you at once, and you leave class knowing you learned a lot but you’re not really sure how it relates to everything else you’ve learned in that class yet? That’s how I feel after watching SportsCenter this morning. My head is swimming, but I’ll give this my best shot.

 

1. Three losses, and Stanford still to come? Sorry Notre Dame, no BCS Bowl for you (again). *laughs at B.Kerr*

2. LSU and Alabama will remain #1 and #2, with Oklahoma State presumably #3, but beyond that everything is chaos. I assume Stanford will move past Oklahoma and Wisconsin, but does unbeaten Boise State?

3. Things are not looking good for the Big East. West Virginia got spanked 49-23 by Syracuse, meaning Cincinnati is the conference’s only one-loss team and the only team without a conference loss. Aside from the uncertainty regarding the who/when/how much will it cost of expansion, they could be in danger of losing AQ status.

4. Alabama’s last two halftime scores were 17-7 against Ole Miss, and 6-6 against Tennessee. They can’t start slowly like that against LSU or the game could be over at halftime.

5. Auburn misses last year’s seniors. Like, a lot. What LSU did to them yesterday, including 4 sacks in the first half, was ridiculous.

6. With a big win over Marshall, Conference USA’s Houston could be a dark horse to slip into a BCS Bowl. Not likely, but keep an eye on the Cougars.

7. The ACC is weird. So many conference games have had surprising outcomes. Even Clemson, while still unbeaten, allowed 38 points to North Carolina yesterday.

8. Texas Tech deserves some major love, and I imagine they’ll get it when this week’s BCS poll comes out. I honestly didn’t expect to see anyone upset Oklahoma during the season.

9. Wake Forest is 5-2, and 4-1 in ACC play. Worst-case scenario for them should still involve a bowl game.

10. Kansas State should also rise in the polls. They’re currently #11 but put a beatdown on Kansas yesterday, 59-21.