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Last Word On Sports

Sports News Since 2011. Honestly.

Last Word On Sports Logo

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Year: 2012

Riding the NFL Fantasy Waiver Wire Week 8

Posted on by Bobby Scott

Last week I got some flack from my regular followers questioning my advice for fantasy-goers to add Shonn Greene to their roster against a top-rated New England defense. Greene put up 54 yard on the ground and 6 receptions for 34 yards and a rushing TD, not too shabby!  If you‘ve read my column you know that I’m not arrogant enough to claim to be an expert.  That said, I’m just a big, BIG, fan of the game. I look for trends in players’ performances as well as shedding light on some players you might not know about. I enjoy hearing all the feedback, good or bad, so keep them coming.

This week I’m going to do something a little different. There are a few players out there who seem like obvious choices for waiver wire pickups.  I’m going to tell you why they may not be as good a pickup as other writers might think.  Obviously in very deep leagues they are worth the risk, but be careful on who you are dropping to pick these players up.

Rashad Jennings RB JAC – I’ve been following Jennings for a while now as I’ve always seen him as someone who has great potential and could take the Michael Turner route to join a team as a starting RB. After MJD held out in pre-season I thought getting Jennings late in the draft was going to be a steal, but his poor performance and an injury capped his potential. Going forward I see Jennings as being a very risky start in any fantasy format given that the Jaguars as a team are not getting it done and even with MJD on the bench for the vast majority of the game he only put up 44 yards on 21 carries against Oakland.  Yes he scored a TD, but you cant count on this every week.  Instead I’d keep an eye on back-up running back Montell Owens as you know the coaching staff will give him a chance if Jennings starts to struggle.

LaRod Stephens-Howling RB ARZ – As I mentioned in Week 6 this was a situation to monitor. Most fantasy owners jumped on William Powell and others jumped on Howling.  Those who jumped on Howling were obviously rewarded as he had a big performance this week  However looking at the schedule, things will not be easy this week against the tough 49ers run defense. Even going forward, I’m not convinced Stephens-Howling will be a good start after week 8.  The Cardinals are going to ride the hot-hand going forward and it is still difficult to tell if it will be Howling or Powell carrying the load in any given week. If Howling can have a half-decent game against the Niners he might take over the starting job until Beanie Wells returns. However its just as likely that being shut down by the 49ers defence will lead to the coaches giving Powell more chances.  Either player is too risky for a week 8 start or any other start going forward until things clarify themselves.

Santana Moss WR WAS – With RG3 moving around in the backfield he’s giving receivers more time to get into open spaces on the field. Moss caught 3 passes for 67 yards and two TD’s in week 7.  It was definitely his best game of the season and he looked good running routes against a tough Giants defense. It was a big fantasy week points wise due to the two touchdowns, but Moss isn’t really much more than a bye-week start at this point.  You still have to be concerned by the lack of targets here.

Jonathan Dwyer RB PIT – When Mendenhall was on the IR earlier in the season, Dwyer was lacking any kind of production. He was given a big chance to prove himself to the coaches and the team and he came up way short. Dwyer’s big week 7 of 122 yards on the ground could be a one hit wonder with Mendenhall possibly returning from his injury this week. Don’t expect Dwyer to continue to get as many carries as he did in week 7 going forward.

Flying under the Waiver Wire

Chris Cooley TE WAS – Finally, I will finish up with a player worth monitoring going forward.  Cooley was just signed by the Washington Redskins to replace their injured starting Tight End, Fred Davis. The Redskins coaching staff are very familiar with Cooley, who played for the club for many years, and will bring some much needed leadership to a young offense and could become a favorite target and “safety blanket” for Robert Griffin III. Cooley is coming back after suffering a serious knee injury last season, which limited him to only 5 games played. It may be too early to add Cooley to your roster (except in the deepest of leagues) but with the lack of production coming from Tight End position this year, Cooley is a high risk, high reward guy to keep your eye on in the coming weeks.

Thanks again for reading and I hope some of my picks have helped you in your Fantasy Leagues. Good Luck this Week!

The Peculiar Side of Sports: Why Not the Maple Leaves?

Posted on by Michael Kovacs, ADMIN

You are either one of the millions who love the Leafs, or one among the many millions who hate them. For Leafs fanatics, they’ve heard it all before, and they’ve since developed a tough hide. Among the more common jeers thrown their way include the whole “not having won the Stanley Cup since the hippies crowded Haight-Ashbury” thing.  While this still finds a way to penetrate their thick exterior, it’s not the only insult that has become a part of the Anti-Leaf vernacular. Why aren’t they the Toronto Maple Leaves?

Why Aren’t the Leafs Called “The Leaves”?

Of course we have all considered the “clear” screw-up by whoever coined the Toronto team the “Leafs” and not “Leaves”.  But really, how many of us actually understand the reasoning behind the madness?  Was this just a hallucination turned into lore?  Was it a mistake at all, or are we the ones who have been mistaken for having questioned its correctness?

Okay, let’s just look at what we think we know, which comes directly from the Maple Leafs website:

“In February of 1927, Conn Smythe, who had built the New York Rangers franchise but was dismissed in favour of Lester Patrick, raised enough money to buy the St. Pats and prevented the team from moving to Philadelphia. Smythe, a military man, immediately had the Toronto franchise name changed from the St. Pats to Maple Leafs, the name of a World War I fighting unit, the Maple Leaf Regiment.”

What we do know is that the maple leaf has been a symbol in Canada for centuries, quite literally.  As far back as the 1700s there is evidence of it being used to represent aspects of Canadian culture.  So it isn’t hard to believe the story about the Maple Leaf regiment.  Actually, on closer inspection, the maple leaf was the symbol used by the 100th regiment as early as 1860, and has been used in similar capacities over the next hundred years.

All of that is known to many Leafs fans, and some avid hockey fans in general.  Bravo.  But, that’s not the solution to our riddle of “Why not the Maple Leaves”?  Why was the name not pluralized with ‘ves’ as opposed to the ‘fs’ it currently has?  Well, the answer again lies in the fact that the team name was adopted directly from the Maple Leaf regiment.

Let me explain with a very brief grammar lesson.  Most know that words that end in ‘f’ are pluralized by dropping the ‘f’ and adding ‘ves’.  But that is true of common nouns (most, but not all – ie. “roofs”).  Proper nouns, simply put, are nouns that are specific names of people, places and things.  And when these proper nouns end in ‘f’, they are pluralized by simply adding an ‘s’.  So, Leaf (from the regiment) becomes Leafs.

Ta-da!  Really, not quite as difficult as I anticipated.  A simple reflection on the name’s origins, cross-checked with simple grammar rules, and we have a logical answer that is perfectly acceptable from a historical and grammatical stand-point.  Rest easy, Leafs fans—while I can’t assume the jeers will cease any time soon concerning the lack of silverware in recent history, at least you will have a good retort the next time someone mocks the team’s name.

While you’re hear, do you think you know what the CH on the Habs logo means?

Main image credit:
Embed from Getty Images

NFL Top and Bottom Power Rankings

Posted on by Jack Stone

After another entertaining week in the NFL I will dissect the worst and best teams in the league as week 7 has come and gone with major injuries being dealt with teams affecting where they stand in the power ranks will certainly be discussed! To the leaky basement we start.

28 – Oakland Raiders – They are coming off a win, but the fact that it took them overtime to beat Jacksonville with Maurice Jones-Drew only having two carries due to injury, well that’s inexcusable! Something just doesn’t work in Oakland. They get another very winnable game this week against the struggling Chiefs, though I am not sold that they will win that contest.

29 – Cleveland Browns – The bottom of the standings at 1-6, but they seem to be the only team that hasn’t recorded a second win amongst teams still actually competing.  A last-minute dropped pass stopped them from beating the Colts in Indy and would have been a second consecutive victory.  Points for effort!

30 – Kansas City Chiefs – They are coming off of a bye week that gave newly named starting quarterback Brady Quinn some MUCH needed time to work on his game, and they do host Oakland in their next game. This is a great scenario and one that the Chiefs very badly need to work out in their favour – but for the love of God, keep your money in your pocket and don’t bet on this team!  The Raiders and Chiefs are so bad they might both lose in this one.  Seriously though, Romeo Crennell and company have their work cut out for them right now.

31 – Carolina Panthers – Each week I have a hard time believing this team is in this category and dropping no less!  Their only answer to this five-game losing streak is to fire the General Manager?  Really, we couldn’t come up with something more colourful? So they are blaming the man who had a major part in bringing Cam Newton into the squad, yet not the guys responsible for coming up with the game plans, nor the athletes charged with executing them.  Also, check out their next three weeks and you can see they are beyond screwed!  ( @ Chicago, @ Washington,  vs Denver)

32- Jacksonville Jaguars –  Are we at the point that we can start feeling bad for them?  Maurice Jones-Drew is out.  My advice: Start studying the draft because the first pick should be all theirs.  They are so bad without MJD that we can’t even accuse them of dogging it for the pick.

After picking the garbage I must admit I only had trouble with the 28th spot… There are some other struggling teams like Tampa, and Detroit, and even that shootout between Tennessee and Buffalo didn’t really have me seriously considering them either.  Really, it was Oakland who proved most difficult.

But now to the big dawgs, where the Baltimore @ Houston game really factored into my final decisions.  So, let’s see how this plays out…

5 – Chicago Bears – At 5-1 and going strong, these Bears are LEGIT.  Their Defense is ridiculous, forcing three red zone turn overs on Monday Night Football, and you just can’t mess with that!  However, a couple of Detroit Lion dropped passes on third down did play a big factor in the win, and Cutler still gets hit a lot.  There is still work to be done.

4 – New York Giants – Another late win for Eli Manning, yawn, but this time it was because of a Red Skin red zone fumble.  They can’t continue to win every game at the end, can they?

3 – Houston Texans – They are 6-1, and not only did they destroy their biggest competition in the conference, but their biggest competition no longer has their biggest player.  Baltimore played without Ray Lewis and it certainly showed Sunday afternoon.  Also having the easiest division in football and with the Patriots continuing to disappoint,  the Texans are slowly being handed home field for the playoffs on a huge silver platter (because everything is bigger in Texas).

2 – San Francisco 49ers – After the week six loss to the Giants and a not-so-great victory against Seattle, they are still my favourite team on paper and I think they are playing good enough to keep me thinking they have a great shot at the Super Bowl, but they surely need to beat Arizona this week and take a hold on the NFC West.  Grab this division once and for all!

1 – Atlanta Falcons – Can anyone argue the Dirty Birds at #1? They carry a 6-0 record heading into their week seven bye.  It was good timing for them to take a rest and get back to some tactics to keep the ball rolling.  While they’ve had a few close calls (ahh, how good it is to have a “lights out” placekicker), as long as they stay undefeated they are easily the favourites and will retain my #1 spot.

A Few Notes:  It was tough to just throw Baltimore out the window but those NFC teams who dominate much of my top 5 are just so strong and they clearly have lost a step on Houston.  The Ravens can easily climb back up the ranks, but they will need to find a way to re-gain their swagger minus Ray Lewis, and I’m just not sure they have it in them.  Also, I really like the Bears, but Cutler was knocked out of action for a few plays last night and I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets knocked out again.  The defense is going to dominate football games for them – it really is all about the team and Jay Cutler helping Jay Cutler.

 

 

NHL Lockout Impact on KHL Revenue and Growth

Posted on by Maksim Vasilyev

Well, my friends and fellow hockey fans, the NHL lockout continues to our overwhelming disappointment. We tweet and blog our frustrations at both the NHL and NHLPA, but with what success? Even with now outed NHL hired focus groups, it seems our voices have fallen on deaf ears. After all, we are just fans, right? We matter only when it is convenient for these millionaires and billionaires. So while these two parties quibble over who gets more of our money, we have to fill our hockey void. So where do we go?

AHL? OHL? WHL? NCAA? All wonderful options, but we all know that there is a true number one league in the world right now and it is the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)

This league is new (the International Professional Ice Hockey League in Eurasia founded only in 2008), compared with NHL, and it has yet to gain the nod from all of the NHL pro players who visit “Vodka land”.  The league has issues with player safety, some book keeping, and possible “alleged” racketeering or thrown games controversies. It is not easy to attract all of the NHL superstars to come over and start playing here. Crosby is a good example of a top-notch talent who is somewhat hesitant to come over and play in Russia.

But all of the bad PR and malarkey aside the real truth about KHL is that it has money to woo some players and with some of the biggest Russian names in hockey coming over to play for KHL clubs, the league sees an immediate impact in the amount of ticket sales around the league’s arenas. Their Russian superstars that play in the NHL and other North American players bring another aspect to a hockey game that is somewhat missing in the European hockey. The aspect is, well, skill.

The skill is always there but it always gets poached by the NHL due to the higher income that the players can make while playing in the North American league. The problem with North American hockey is that it is played on a smaller surface, which some would argue nerfs the skill of the best players in the world.

In the KHL there is a bigger ice surface and this allows fans to see the talent of these players let loose. The speed, the passing, and the overall style changes from dump-and-chase to a puck possession, skill-based game. This is exciting and highly watchable hockey, and is something the NHL has been trying to produce since the last lockout in 05.

The KHL not only finds itself highly motivated and rejuvenated from the NHL lockout and the influx of top world players, but the sales of tickets are something that the league officials have noticed right away. They see a direct impact of these big names playing at a local venue and the revenue due to ticket sales, something that may cause the NHL to take notice. The numbers may surprise some people and the impact of Kovalchuks, Ovechkins, Malkins, and Charas showing up in the arena has directly affected the increase in revenue.  It hasn’t gone unnoticed by KHL officials, and I am sure they will try their best to start poaching even more NHL stars because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Some of the tweets may shed some light on how drastic the impact of the NHL supertars for all of the areans around Russia:

“@SlavaMalamud: Evgeni Kuznetsov, KHL PR Dept’s biggest headache. “When NHLers leave, the arenas will be empty” #Caps #SuspensionForFlagrantTruth (Sportbox)”

And some direct impact from my birthcity…

“@Alfijs_LV: @SlavaMalamud Riga sold out for game against magnitka. Gonchar, Malkin, after comes Traktor half arena emty.”

So these superstars are generating revenue for the arenas and cities where these games are being played. The impact is felt by the governments, and the league officials will no doubt have had the light shone on what these stars mean to the fans and their wallets.

There is a difference between expecting something and actually feeling the effects of it. So while the NHL is trying to figure out how to take an increasing amount of revenue from the players’ pockets, money that they currently are not making because of the lockout, the players are playing overseas and no doubt helping other leagues generate some real revenue and some positive PR for their local hockey fans. The next step? Well, it is no doubt to get some exposure in North America.

We have already seen ESPN jump on the KHL bandwagon and broadcast some games, which of course is good for KHL business as it gets even more exposure and revenue. The KHL league is maturing and is now not only part of Russia but is part of multiple European countries. With ESPN providing North American exposure and the ability for the NA fans to see their favorite players play on, in my opinion, the better and bigger ice surface can only continue to grow the league. The games that are coming to NYC and the new highly underused by the NHL Barclay Center, should generate even more exposure.  It would surely be nice to see some NHL players play some hockey as well, if the NHL lockout continues.

So while the NHL is trying to squeeze every dollar it can from the players, these are fictional dollars since they are currently making nothing.  In the meantime, the players are playing and showing their skills to other leagues and markets. The players are exposing their talents to the rest of the hockey world and generating revenue for these teams at the same time. Only time will tell whether this benefits the NHL or will maybe help other markets retain more players they produce and increase the popularity of the sport. Will the KHL take notice of the money it is making with the NHL superstars on board and provide the facilities NHL players demand to keep them around longer? Will some of the Russian superstars stay in the KHL?

 

EPL: Essential Notes on the Current Top Four

Posted on by Mike Neilson

Chelsea (Last Week #1 This Week #1)

No changes at all this week as Chelsea remain top. In an entertaining game, Juan Mata proved he is the best player in the league right now scoring twice and setting up the other two in a 4-2 over Tottenham. Chelsea dominated with close to 60% of the possession but it was unfortunate to see form players Gareth Bale and Mouassa Dembele miss out through injury mainly because the game was lost in the middle through the dominance of Juan Mata.

With three goals and five assists its quite hard to argue a better player in the country than the Spaniard right now. He is simply thriving under Di Matteo and it is a mystery why he still cannot break into the Spanish starting team.
As good as Chelsea look in the middle, the same cannot be said at the centre of defence. Between Gary Cahill and David Luiz, you have two defenders that are excellent going forward but are prone to costly mistakes at the back, while defending is their main job. Yes, Cahill got a great volley (small deflection) but there seems to be no leadership at the back. Without John Terry the backline has little structure and no real leader, even though the ex-England captain is not the player he once was he is still important at club level at least for now. I would be very surprised if Terry was left out of the next match, especially considering the opponent.

First versus second is up next as United come across for what will be the most anticipated game so far. Both teams are similar in ways at the moment, looking world class going forward but the backline leaves something to be desired. Expect goals, but if one team decides to defend it could go either way.

My Prediction: Chelsea 2 – Manchester United 2

Manchester United (Last Week #2 This Week #2)

Wayne Rooney finally scores…. In the wrong net, but scores two in the right one. So is that a hat trick? United win 4-2 against a decent looking Stoke team. Robin Van Persie and Wayne Rooney looked extremely impressive together while Danny Welbeck even got a start in what was a very offensive line up and a great game to watch. The best moment for me however was the reception Michael Owen got when he came on late in the game, no United fan will forget that 97th minute winner against City and that appreciation was shown with rousing cheers.

Similar to Chelsea, issues at the back continue to be raised. This is the sixth game this season where United has had to come from behind to win. Having conceded eleven goals in the first eight games is poor by the clubs standards and Sir Alex will be looking for improvements. However, with English duo Phil Jones and Chris Smalling nearing a return to the first team it can only get better for the Red Devils as the injury crisis slowly comes to an end. The defender that is the biggest talking point however, is Rio Ferdinand who has disappointed his manager by not participating in the pre match anti-racism stand. Sir Alex expressed his disappointed with the situation and the press is speculating the future of the Englishman. Players like Jaap Stam, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, David Beckham and Carlos Tevez have all crossed the manager before and have all been shown the door so this situation will be interesting to follow.

United face a tough away game against the league leaders, and will have to improve at the back to come away with all the points. With the form Juan Mata is in he will be hard to stop, but Ferguson has seen it all before and will expect a draw at the least from this game.

My Prediction: Manchester United 2 – Chelsea 2

Manchester City (Last Week #3 This Week #3)

In a true champions display, ten-man City came back in the last ten minutes to win 2-1. It’s games like this which a club can look back on as important games in a title win and defence but there is still plenty of football to play. Edin Dzeko scored two goals off the bench and showed his intentions to become a starter as he continues to score for Mancini off the bench.

The Bosnian has scored six off the bench so far this season and is also the club’s top scorer in the league but yet is still coming off the bench in the 79th minute. My interpretation from his celebrations after both goals shows he is after a starting spot or he’ll be out the door. Surely it only makes sense to start your top scorer? But Mancini seems to prefer the smaller and faster Tevez and Aguero. Edin Dzeko came close to moving to Bayern Munich in the transfer window but talks broke down over agent demands and the German club looked elsewhere. If the Bosnian is still sitting on the bench by January I wouldn’t be surprised to see him leave in pursuit of the first-team football he deserves.

Welsh side Swansea City are next for City and a likely three points here for the champions. I can only hope Edin Dzeko gets a deserved start in front of his home crowd but with the amount of players and egos to manage I can only guess what kind of squad the manager will put out.

My Prediction: Manchester City 4 – Swansea 1

Everton (Last Week #4 This Week #4)

Everton’s impressive start to the season is slowly coming undone as the club dropped more points, this time to bottom club QPR in a 1-1 draw. The game only saw three shots on target from Everton and a red card to one of the clubs top players Steven Pienaar. Although the cards were harsh, what could be decisive is that the South African is likely to miss the Liverpool game this coming weekend.

Marouane Fellaini was missed dearly; his strength and aerial presence going forward could have swayed the game in his club’s favour while his steel in the middle would have likely given QPR a lot more trouble but a knee injury prevented the Belgian from getting any game time. The past weekend’s game showed how important he is, playing with a more offensive role this year he has scored some important goals and with the departure of Tim Cahill, David Moyes can only hope this continues. Everton fans can only hope he makes a swift recovery for their biggest game of the season. A player of Fellaini’s quality could prove to be key and if he is out any longer I imagine more points will be dropped.

A huge Merseyside derby is up next for David Moyes team as Liverpool come across to Goodison Park. Everton will be up for this game, like any derby but I have a feeling Liverpool will take this one and Everton’s impressive stint in the top four will come to an end.

My Prediction: Everton 1 – Liverpool 2

 

Last Word College Football Rankings, October 22

Posted on by Lindsay Higgins

1. Alabama- no explanation necessary, I hope.

2. Kansas State- unbeaten, and throttled West Virginia this week.

3. Oregon- solid team on both sides of the ball.

4. Florida- dominant now, but they did start the season by barely beating Bowling Green.

5. Oregon State- very good team that gets very little attention on the East Coast.

6. Notre Dame- survived the BYU sandwich game, let’s see how they handle Oklahoma.

7. Oklahoma- ahead of LSU because their offense is noticeably better.

8. USC- record-breaking win over Colorado.

9. LSU- love the defense, the passing game is very questionable.

10. Mississippi State- dominated a cupcake opponent, had some help in moving up.

11. Georgia- probably should have beaten Kentucky by more than five points.

12. Texas Tech- still riding on the West Virginia beatdown; beat TCU in triple OT.

13. Florida State- beat Miami, as expected.

14. South Carolina- talented team, lots of issues in last two games (4 turnovers vs FL).

15. Rutgers- unbeaten, but not playing the toughest competition.

16. Louisville- see Rutgers.

17. Stanford- two losses, but they did beat USC.

18. Texas A&M- stayed closer with LSU than a lot of teams do.

19. Clemson- solid win over a fairly good Virginia Tech team.

20. West Virginia- some impressive offensive performances earlier in the season are keeping them here. Defense stinks.

21. Michigan- defense and special teams helped them pull out a Big Ten slugfest win over Michigan State.

22. Boise State- if only they played against better competition…

23. Ohio- playing inferior competition, but they’re unbeaten.

24. Nebraska- nice comeback win over Northwestern.

25. Wisconsin- beat Minnesota by 25.

NFL Game Changers Week 7

Posted on by Ben Kerr

Momentum is huge in football, and often effects the outcome of games. There are key plays that change momentum that are very subtle and may not make the highlight package on your favorite sports show. Sure, these shows do a great job of showing incredible catches, hits, and runs, or of showing you the scoring plays in a game, but do they really tell the whole story?

While a drive might end in a 5-yard TD pass or a 10-yard TD run, is that really the key play in a 7, 8, 9 or 10 play drive? Would the scoring play even be possible without the key completion on third and long earlier in the drive? Or that receiver who made a key block freeing up the running back to get to the outside to pick up a first down?

The purpose of this column is to highlight some key plays that greatly effected the outcome of their games, yet they might not have made highlight reels. This isn’t to take away from the importance of a big scoring play or turnover, but without these plays the highlight reel play would not have happened.

Tennessee Titans at Buffalo Bills (Fitzpatrick’s turnovers)
This was a battle of two teams who just can’t play defense, as displayed in the 21-20 halftime score.  In fact in the first half, we even saw three touchdowns in a span of 25 seconds.  It looked like it was a game where whichever had the ball last would win. Tennessee did not stop Buffalo once in the first half, as in four possessions they had two touchdowns and two field goals.

Leodis McKelvin of the Bills took the second half kick off, and after a good return, the Bills started on their own 46-yard line.  With such great field position it seemed to be the Bills turn to put points on the board, and our shootout looked to continue.  However this would be a series where finally a defensive player made a big play.  Kamerion Wimbley beat Bills’ Left Tackle Chris Hairston and sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick causing him to fumble.  It was picked up by Derrick Morgan and the Titans had the ball deep in Bills Territory.  A few plays later Jamie Harper scored his second TD of the game giving the Titans an eight point lead at the time.  This was one play that kept the Titans in the game, as overall they just weren’t making enough stops on defence.  The Bills would scored touchdowns on their next two drives, and overall scored on six of their first seven possessions.

It would be 34-28 Buffalo when our next big play occurred.  With 2:57 to play in the game on a 3rd and 7 in Buffalo territory, Ryan Fitzpatrick made another game-changing mistake. He tried to force a pass down the right sideline to Donald Jones.  The ball was underthrown and Jarred McCourty intercepted and gave the Titans great field position. again.   This was quite simply a pass that never should have been thrown as Jones was extremely well covered on the play.  Given the six-point lead, the Bills position at their own 40, and the time on the clock, the absolute worst thing Fitzpatrick could have done was throw a low percentage pass here.  Even a sack would have been better than an incompletion (never mind an interception) as it would have run time off the clock, or forced the Titans to use a time out before punting the ball away.  Matt Hasselbeck took full advantage leading the game-winning touchdown drive.

This, once again, just goes to show that even when an offence is humming as the Bills’ was yesterday, turnovers can be extremely costly.  The Bills were the better team for most of the day, and the Titans showed little ability to stop the Buffalo offence.  However two huge mistakes by Ryan Fitzpatrick turned a win into a one-point loss for the Bills.

Baltimore Ravens @ Houston Texans; (Texans Defense sets the tone early)
For the past two weeks many analysts had openly questioned if the Houston Texans’ defense could compete at a high level without their leader, middle linebacker Brian Cushing.  Obviously there is an adjustment for an team that loses their defensive leader and arguably their best defensive player.  Last Sunday night the nation watched in primetime as the Texans were ripped apart by the Packers.  This week we saw the Texans make their adjustments and once again play like one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Things didn’t start out that great though, as on the first drive of the game the Ravens took  the ball 48 yards down the field and took the lead with an early field goal.  The Ravens offence has been good all year, and momentum seemed to be going against the Texans again, but things would quickly change.  The Texans forced a three-and-out on the Ravens’ next possession, and after a stalled Houston drive, punter Donnie Jones unleashed a 62-yard punt for the Texans, pinning the Ravens at their own three-yard line for their third possession of the game.  A pair of sacks by Whitney Mercilus and Connor Barwin led to a safety and really set the tone for the Texans.  The Texans scored a TD on the ensuing possession to take a 9-3 lead, and the next time the Ravens had the ball  Jonathan Joseph intercepted Joe Flacco and took it to the house for a pick-six.  The Texans now led 16-3 and the rout was on.   The sacks by Mercilus and Barwin really set the tone for Houston, and they never looked back, creating pressure on Flacco all day long.

Washington Redskins at New York Giants (The difference between a rookie RGIII and veteran Eli Manning)
This was a tremendous game, and had a fantastic finish.  The game was tied at 13 late in the third quarter, and the Redskins were driving.  They took the ball into Giants’ territory and seemed to be ready to take the lead.  Robert Griffin III, has been great all season, but on this possession showed that he’s still a rookie quarterback, and is prone to rookie mistakes.  Looking deep down the middle RG III overthrew his receiver and the ball sailed right into the waiting arms of the Giants’ Stevie Brown, who returned the interception to the Redskins 35-yard line.  The Giants capitalized and Ahmad Bradshaw gave them the go-ahead TD early in the fourth quarter.

On their next drive the Redskins again marched into Giants territory, but Jason Pierre Paul got to RGIII caused a fumble and essentially snuffed out a promising drive and chance to tie the game.

Griffin redeemed himself though.  In the last two minutes he got the ball one more time.  On a first down in Redskins territory, with 1:54 to play, the Giants defensive line got into the Redskins’ backfield and pressured the young signal caller, but RGIII scrambled away and ran for 24 yards and brought the Skins into Giants territory.  Shortly thereafter the drive would end with an RGIII touchdown pass to Santana Moss that gave the Skins a three-point lead.

By now though, we should all know that you just can’t hold Eli down in the fourth quarter.  As he got the ball back and quickly hooked up with his favorite receiver, Victor Cruz, for a 77-yard touchdown to win the game.   RGIII’s 4th quarter turnovers proved to be  costly, and he will learn from them, but it’s the price of being a rookie QB in the NFL.  The Redskins can only hope he will one day be as poised as Eli Manning when the game is on the line.

New Orleans Saints @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Hustle!  and Game of Inches)
Midway through the 3rd quarter the score was 28-21 for the Saints, and the Bucs took over the ball at their own 4 yard line. Josh Freeman hit Vincent Jackson with a short pass, however Jackson turned on the speed and took off down the field.  After getting through the Saints Secondary it looked like it surely was a touchdown for the Bucs. However Malcolm Jenkins didn’t think so.  He took off from the other side of the field, chasing down Jackson, and tackling him at the 1 yard line.  It was a 95 yard play for Jackson, but the hustle of Jenkins kept him just short of the endzone.  The Saints would go on to stuff the Bucs on 4 straight plays, and then would put together a TD drive of their own to go up by 14.  Hats off to Jenkins for never giving up on a play many defenders would have.

Later in the game Tampa had gotten one of the scores back and was now only down by 7. They drove down the field eventually getting the ball to the New Orleans 9 yard line.  On 3rd and goal from the 9, Josh Freeman again looked to Vincent Jackson, this time in the back of the endzone.  It looked like Jackson had the game tying touchdown catch, but the heel of his left foot hit the backline of the endzone.  The difference between a tie game and heading to OT and a key incompletion was a matter of just a couple of inches as Jackson got 90% of his foot in bounds.  However 90% just isn’t good enough.  On 4th and goal, Mike Williams also appeared to have caught a TD pass to tie the game.  However he had gone out of bounds and was the first receiver to touch the ball after coming back into the play.  The referee correctly called “Illegal touching” as a receiver who is out of bounds can not come back into the field and make the catch without first establishing possesion. Football is a funny game, and the inch that Jackson was out the back of the endzone, and the one step Williams had out of bounds on 4th down were huge in getting the Saints their 2nd win in a row.  It truly is a game of inches at times.

Check out our NFL coverage every sunday night at 7:30pm as we run down the results and news of the day on NFL Sunday Blitz Package.  Old Episodes are available in the sidebar as podcasts and on Itunes.

Feel free to leave your comments below and to follow me on twitter @lastwordBKerr.

Euro Football Rundown

Posted on by Luciano Giuliano

A great set of World Cup Qualifiers was immediately followed by fantastic Euro football league action this weekend. After Sweden’s daring comeback against the Germans in Berlin in midweek, Milan and Deportivo attempted to repeat their own personal resurgences while Bayern, Barcelona and Juventus continue to dominate their respective leagues. The following are the five most crucial moments of the weekend.

5) Milan almost complete comeback draw away to Lazio

What is happening to the black and red San Siro giants? It is a very hectic atmosphere at the Via Turati club especially with yesterday’s 3-2 loss away to Lazio. In eight games this season, the Rossoneri have only been able to claim two wins, one draw and an astonishing five defeats – not the ideal record Milan supporters were hoping for.

The Aquile took the lead with a Hernanes shot that deflected off AC Milan captain Daniele Bonera that caused the ball to loop over step-in ‘keeper Marco Amelia. The second was a wonder-goal from the on-form Antonio Candreva who is having a fantastic season having earned his first cap in three years with Italy in midweek. Candreva unleashed a dipper from distance that went over Ameila’s hands and dropped into the top left corner.

At the start of the second half, Lazio began where they left off. Candreva’s precise cross found an unmarked Miroslav Klose to volley in from eight yards handing Lazio a 3-0 lead.

Was Milan down and out? Well, they were down but certainly not out. The Rossoneri began to increase the pressure when Allegri decided to throw Alexandre Pato into the mix which was his first appearance since February. His introduction proved crucial for Milan as it revived the Diavoli. Pazzini had his glancing header finger-tipped from under the bar. From the resulting corner, Pato’s effort was just off target.

Low and behold, the pressure paid off as Milan cut the lead to two goals when De Jong’s sliding touch off Emanuelson’s free-kick was enough to send the ball into the net: 3-1. Confidence was soaring when Stephan El Shaarawy got another back as the Italian-Egyptian cut down the left to roll in a low right-foot shot into the bottom corner: 3-2 with 12 minutes left in the game. In the final moments, the Rossoneri continued to pour the pressure. Unfortunately, it was too little too late. This result leaves AC Milan in 15th position level with third last place with seven points. This means that Berlusconi’s men are battling relegation at the moment. It is definitely a dark era for Milan. On the other hand, Lazio are having a great season so far as the Roma-based side currently sits in third place with 18 points, on par with Inter.

Key fact of the moment: Allegri does not seem to learn from others at all. The tactician has is heart set on a 4-3-1-2 formation which is what the side is used to. In midweek, Riccardo Montolivo put in two great performances for Italy in the ‘trequartista’ role which is that 1 position behind the two strikers. Kevin Prince Boateng has certainly not been himself this year, is growing frustrated and is frustrating others with his poor performances. It is maybe time for Boateng to find a spot on the bench to make way for Montolivo, El Shaarawy and Pazzini.

4) PSG take top spot after Marseille shock defeat

Paris-Saint Germain continue their good run of form in Ligue 1 as Carlo Ancelotti’s men defeat Stade de Reims in Paris 1-0. The lone goal was bagged by Kevin Gameiro adding to his tally of three on the season as the French International striker headed in a superb Maxwell cross at the far post. It was not an easy game for PSG as goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu was needed to parry a Diego penalty at the 40th minute after Gregory van der Wiel was penalized for a handling offence in the box. This win allowed PSG to temporarily draw level with Marseille on 19 points.

While PSG continue’s to win, fellow title contenders Marseille found life difficult Sunday against lowly Troyes as the race in France’s Ligue 1 heats up. It was not a good weekend at all with second last place Troyes snatching the three points at the 88th minute mark when Benjamin Nivet popped in the game winner.

Key fact: Bad news for Marseille. Team leading goal-scorer, Andre-Pierre Gignac left the match with a serious injury. Marseille boss Elie Baup stated after the match that he does not know how long Gignac will be out. APG has scored five of 12 goals for Marseille.

3) Bayern Munich collect record 8th consecutive Bundesliga victory

The top-rated German club are the only side in one of the top European leagues to keep their perfect record intact winning eight straight matches. Bayern continue to lead the German league with 24 points, five points ahead of second place Eintracht Frankfurt.

It is definitely an amazing accomplishment for Bayer Munich, a feat that will be difficult to repeat for any team. It certainly does not look like Jupp Heynckes’s men will lose this season making it eight for eight with a 5-0 thumping against Fortuna Dusseldorf. Bundesliga leading scorer Mario Mandzukic opened the scoring with his 7th of the season when he was left wide open to slide in a shot from six yards. Summer signing Luis Gustavo made it 2-0 nine minutes before halftime with a lucky deflection off the head of Fabian Giefer – the Dusseldorf GK. Thomas Muller, the second Bundesliga leading scorer, added a third when he blasted home a one-timed effort from just inside the area. Muller slid in the fourth after David Alaba put in a low cross into the six yard box. Finally, Brazilian winger Rafinha coolly finished a Ribery pass to make it five on the night. It was absolute destruction and demoralizing for the home side. Unlike the German national side against Sweden in midweek World Cup qualifying action, a magical comeback was not in the cards for Dusseldorf on this night which is too bad as it would have been a great story to read.

2) Barcelona escape embarrassment with 5-4 win over Deportivo

It was a very entertaining match between Deportivo La Coruna and Barcelona as the home side dared to attempt a sensational comeback. Lionel Messi was once again the centre of attention along with Cesc Fabregas. Jordi Alba broke the deadlock only three minutes in when Fabregas placed a precise through ball onto the feet of the on-running left winger who calmly finished the play into the bottom corner. Then, Messi fed Argentine Christian Tello on the edge of the box who ran towards the defence, zigged left, zagged right with a burst of speed and fired home – awesome solo effort – 3-0 Barcelona.

It looked to be a one-sided affair until Deportivo began to pour the pressure going forward. Javier Mascherano fouled Ivan Riki in the box forcing the ref to whistle a PK for the home side that Pizzi converted to the top right corner of the net. It didn’t end there as Depor cut the lead to one when Bergantinos’s strike from 18 yards trickled in after Victor Valdes failed to smoother the daisy-cutter – 3-2 and game on.

Before half time, Barcelona restored its two-goal lead when Messi netted after being set up by ex-Gunner Cesc’s yet another slide-rule pass. Fabregas’s vision on this day was incredibly spot on – 4-2.

Quickly after the restart, Deportivo La Coruna was awarded a free-kick outside of the area that Pizzi spectacularly curled into Valdes’s near top corner. One-goal game.

Of course, Lionel Messi is not a fan of losing a game that should have been in the bag much earlier when he secured his hat-trick with a piercing run through the middle past three defenders which ended with the Argentine picking out the bottom right corner – two-goal lead restored on 77 minutes.

Deportivo, however, continued fighting and two minutes later Jordi Alba turned in a Depor cross into his own net to cut the lead to one once again! But the Cinderella story would not be for the home side as time ran out and the Blaugrana claimed the three points. Barcelona continue to lead the way in La Liga on level points with Falcao’s Atletico Madrid with 22 points.

Key fact: Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova opted to leave out 32 year old Xavi, Alexis Sanchez and Pedro. With a fresh and healthy 25 year old Fabregas, Xavi is not really missed. Pedro normally starts but the Spanish tactician decided to give Argentina youngster Christian Tello some time against a weak Depor side. Javier Mascherano was red carded in the 49th minute. In addition, with the absence of Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique and Dani Alves, the Catalan defence is significantly weakened.

1) Juve subs sink Napoli ship

On Saturday, the first Scudetto showdown took place with Juventus battling it out tooth-and-nail with contenders Napoli in Turin. This was a balanced encounter between these two sides which is quickly becoming a rivalry worthy of being called ‘Il Classico’. Juventus were missing leaders Gianluigi Buffon and Mirko Vucinic.

In pre-match conferences, the Bianconeri and Azzurri technical staff claimed to have studied one another to a ‘T’ as the Old Lady stated she would put pressure on the wings with Stephan Lichtsteiner and Kwadwo Asamoah pressing hard on Juan Zuniga and Christian Maggio respectively. The Azzurri, on the other hand, appointed Marek Hamsik and Valon Behrami the job of stopping Andrea Pirlo in the midfield. However, these strategies would come to be as the shown in the game.

The match began with entertaining football from both sides with Sebastian Giovinco and Claudio Marchisio going close to the go-ahead smashing efforts at the keeper. Edinson Cavani went extremely closer to taking the lead with a spectacular curler from a free-kick from the edge of the box to smash the right side of the up-right! After the 30th minute mark though, the entertainment was slowly diminishing as the match became a more and more scrappy affair with both sets of players containing and committing fouls causing the ref to make some questionable calls (this time in favour of Napoli and not Juventus) which in turn slowed down play.

In my opinion, Juventus masterminded their game plan with a two-pronged approach. Firstly, Antonio Conte’s tactics are usually based dominating possession, intensity and movement. Napoli, against Juventus in recent matches anyway, normally focuses on containment and counterattacking which worked well for the most part in the Italian Super Cup in Beijing. This time around though, it seems that the tables turned. The percentage of possession at the end of the game finished in favour of the visitors with 52% for Napoli against Juve’s 48% – at the Juventus Stadium? Interesting. Upon viewing the game, it was quite clear that the Juventus players’ objective was to contain Napoli and hit back on the counter allowing Walter Mazzarri’s men more time on the ball to which they are not accustomed. Juve’s containment plan worked to perfection seeing that the Bianconeri did not concede any threatening goal-scoring opportunities except for Cavani’s free-kick. The Bianconeri produced at least four quality scoring chances.

Secondly, the second half subs made all the difference in this fixture and credit goes to the current interim coach Angelo Alessio for making the right calls. Alessandro Matri, Martin Caceres and Paul Pogba replaced a leg-cramped Fabio Quagliarella, an injured Kwadwo Asamoah (who was having a great game) and the surprisingly sub-par performer Arturo Vidal respectively. Caceres and Pogba scored within a minute apart of one another with the Uruguayian bagging a header from a Pirlo corner at the 80th minute followed by an impressive left-foot volley from 19 year old youngster Paul Pogba from the edge of the box.

Key fact of the match: First, Napoli’s plan of stopping Pirlo did not work well at all as the Ballon d’Or candidate was unpredictable by continuously moving to find space.  Second, Juventus has a lot of depth on the reserve list. It does not really matter who plays because the tactics and technical abilities remain unchanged. Therefore, in order for Juventus to make a push to claim a possible treble this year, the coaching staff will need to effectively implement turnovers so that the players will always be fresh. Napoli is not to be taken lightly as this is a developing side with a project for the future. They are in line in challenging for the Scudetto but this year anyway, it is more Juve’s to lose than Napoli’s to win…if you know what I mean.

Juventus remain unbeaten in Serie A extending their undefeated streak to 47 matches and are currently first with 22 points. Napoli follow in second with 19 points.

 

 

 

 

Lance Armstrong: Guilty As Charged?

Posted on by Mark Modeski

Lance Armstrong was America’s hero. Recently he has been found guilty by circumstantial evidence and his image and credibility has been dragged through the mud. Friends have abandoned Armstrong, as have sponsors – his racing career (while already finished) will never be again, his efforts in philanthropy are over. Is our persectution of Armstrong warranted? Or is this jsut another symptom of society’s obession with seeing heroes fall?

Anytime any athelete shows dominance in any professional sport there are going to be rumours that performance enhancers were used. Armstrong’s dominance on the Tour de France circuit definitely put him in the critics cross hairs for many years; most notably in 1999 when the French paper L’Equipe claimed that Armstrong’s urine samples tested positive for banned substances. In 2006 the French paper Le Monde made a similar accusation. After Armstrong won with seventh consecutive Tour de France there were quiet accusations that there may have been doping involved; Armstrong’s subsequnet retirement from cycling after the event caused the accusations to lose some steam. In 2009 Armstrong returend to cycling as a cancer survivor, but the accusations didn’t stop there.

In 2010 it was more than French newspapers that were calling Armstrong a cheat. 2006 Tour de France winner, Floyd Landis was the first cyclist to make a substantiated accusation aganist Lance – however, given that Landis lost his Tour de Fance title based on banned substances, his credibility was somewhat tainted. It was in June of 2012 that the finger pointing at Armstrong really started to heat up when former teammate Tyler Hamilton spoke out against Lance on 60 Minutes:

 “He took what we all took, really no difference between Lance Armstrong and I’d say the majority of the peloton, you know. There was EPO, there was testosterone, I did see a transfusion, a blood transfusion.”

It was pretty damning testimony, and didn’t end there. A plethora of Armstrong’s teammates and witnesses (twenty-six in total, when all was said and done) would eventually come forward to say that they had seen him dope, or actually done it with him. It’s like I always say, when one person accuses “he’s a crackpot”, two people “they could be in collusion”, three people “I raise my eyebrow”, four people “makes me stand up and take notice”.

The USADA filed suit against Armstrong to strip him of all his titles, and while Armstrong counter-suited, his efforts were in vein. Armstrong dropped his defence case against the USADA, claiming that he was tired of the fight – this happened only after the US Supreme court filed in favour of the USADA in the suit.

So, to make things worse Armstrong was recently dropped by almost all of his sponsors leading to almost thirty-million lost in annual income. When Nike, AB-Inbev (Budweiser) and Trek all release public statements against one of their sponsored athletes, you might as well be guilty in the eyes of the public.

… but, should we be so fast to pass judgement against one of the greatest cyclists in the history of the sport?

The International Cycling Union (UCI) have still yet to strip Armstrong of his titles, in something of a surprising move. However, it still seems inevitable that this will happen as Monday a definitive decision is expected. My thoughts are that the UCI has waited so long to render a decision because they do not want to seem like they are influenced or under the tumb of the USADA.

The Tour de France, and cycling in general, have generally been tainted by the stain of doping for years. Since 1957, there have been no less than twenty-eight winners of the legendary race that have tested positive for banned substances (seven of which are now attached to Lance).

Armstrong’s name is mud, and as much as I hate to say it, he is probably guilty. While the evidence against him is generally circumstantial, he has done little prove that they are not true outside of calling them “lies”. Someone who sits down out of a fight while they are being called a cheater is validating that fact. As much as I still think Roger Clemens is guilty of steroid use, he did fight toot-and-nail to cleanse his name. Armstrong claims he is too tired – from what I ask? As an athlete defending and proving your credibility is part of th job. I think Armstrong thought that he could sit back and relax with his cushy endorsements and retire in solitude, but now that all of his sponsors are ditching him he may find himself piping a different tune.

As I said at the beginning of this article, people love to see their heros fall; it makes them seem more human, it brings them closer to us and it helps us to forget that most of us are not special. So, Armstrong will no longer be an idol or seen as above and beyond the rest of us – whether he’s actually guilty or not is irrelevant at this point. He has been ostraciszed by the public, and the USADA and UCI rulings just put the icing on the cake at this point.