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Last Word On Sports

Sports News Since 2011. Honestly.

Last Word On Sports Logo

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Year: 2012

World Cup Qualifying Rundown

Posted on by Luciano Giuliano

After viewing the highlights of the first of October’s World Cup Qualifiers, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Russia and Canada all deserve to be mentioned in this edition. Furthermore and more specifically, I would love to read your opinions on highlight numbers three and two as Lionel Messi continues to steal the spotlight, but will more than likely being to share it with Colombian hero Radamel Falcao. Enjoy, and don’t forget to leave a comment!

5) German tank is solid

Here come the Germans! Actually, they have been bulldozing their opponents in the qualification rounds for quite some time as well as in major tournaments (until they are paired up against the Azzurri who have always taught the Germans a lesson in football). Germany leads the way in group three with three straight wins, 11 goals for and only two conceded.

Friday, the German tank blasted six past Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland in Dublin with Marco Reus and Toni Kroos scoring two a piece, Miroslav Klose and Mesut Ozil rounded the tally up. It was a terrible loss for the Irish that now leaves the Italian tactician on the chopping block after a poor showing at the EURO. Tuesday’s match against Faroe Island might be the decider.

Germany will take on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s second-place Sweden at the Olympiastadion in Berlin. No fear though because Joachim Loew’s roster is powerful all over the park. This is a complete squad with one of the world’s best goal-keepers in Manuel Neuer; a solid defence with Jerome Boateng, Philip Lahm, Per Mertesacker; a dominant midfield with Samir Khedira, Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Marco Reus and of course Bastian Schweinsteiger; and an efficient attack with Miroslav Klose, Mario Gotze, Thomas Muller, and Lukas Podolski (Mario Gomez as he is not included in this round). This is a very strong German side whose strength lies in discipline and team unity as the team defend and attack as one. If Germany fails to win Tuesday’s match and finish atop of group three in the end, it would be such an extreme disappointment that these players should consider playing another sport or change in career.

4) Capello’s Russia debut success

If you want to win a championship, you need a champion coach and Fabio Capello is exactly that. He has won everything in his career to domestic league titles with AC Milan, AS Roma, and Juventus (revoked in 2006) in the Serie A and in Spain with Real Madrid as well as Champions League titles, the most famous of which occurred with the Rossoneri who demolished the heavily favoured Barcelona, 4-0. He is looking to leave his mark on the international level. He began with England and redirected the team after they failed to qualify for EURO 2008. Now, he is in the process of designing a battling Russia side.

Russia is currently undefeated in Group Six and has collected a maximum nine points so far. Friday, Portugal traveled to Moscow where the Russians masterminded a sound 1-0 victory over their counterparts taking the lead early on in the counter and keeping the Portuguese at bay for the rest of the match. CR7 and Co. attacked and attacked but could not get by a resilient Russian side all thanks to Capello’s tactics. If Russia can follow the Italian’s methods, they will dominate this group and finish first.

 3) Messi Argentina vs Messi Barcelona

On Friday, Lionel Messi’s Argentina absolutely annihilated Edinson Cavani and his Uruguayan compatriots, 3-0. With this victory, Argentina continues to stay atop of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying standings with 17 points, while Uruguay trails behind in fourth with 12 points. Lionel Messi bagged a brace and assisted the second goal by Sergio Aguero. One of Messi’s goals was a free-kick inspired by Andrea Pirlo as the Argentine youngster shot the ball hard and low under the wall of players as they jumped. I urge you to YouTube the video to see just how magnificent it was.

There is no doubt that Messi is a god where ever he plays as was his predecessor Diego Maradona who took Napoli single-handedly to the champions spotlight winning two consecutive Italian League titles. Just like Maradona, Messi is capable of bringing the best out of any side that employs him.

But, is there a difference between the Argentina Messi and the Barcelona Messi? Let’s take a look…

Messi Argentina

In order for Messi to be successful for Argentina, he really needs to be more efficient as his national side really depends on him to score and create. It must be noted though that it is not of the same quality in midfield that Barcelona possesses. Now don’t get me wrong, Argentina is a powerful side with some star players like Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero just to name a few. But the two latter individuals are mainly attackers who need support whereas the former is more of an attack-minded winger and often times drifts towards the centre as well. Certainly, Messi is the lynch-pin of this side and taking him out would have catastrophic consequences.

Messi Barcelona

The one major difference between the Albicelestes and the Blaugrana is that the Spaniards boast a stacked side with the world’s best players supporting its defence and offence with superstar calibre footballers such as Iniesta, Xavi, Pedro, Fabregas and David Villa just to name a few. Life here is a lot easier for Messi as he is not the only magician on the field capable of causing opponents havoc whenever in possession of the ball. Here, he has all the support in the world and can shine without putting forward much effort. Now observing Messi as a player and as a man, he certainly puts in his best at all times no doubt about it and if he were to be removed, there would certainly be a negative difference as he provides brilliance at any point in the game. However, I firmly believe that with the star-studded roster in Barcelona, they can surely manage without the MESSIah.

My final thought on this topic is that I really do not see a difference between Messi Argentina and Messi Barcelona. Messi is Messi and he will shine no matter where he plays and if he shines, then the rest of the team will soar with him. Without him, whether you have the best players on the planet or not, it is always great to field such an influential player.

2) Colombian attacker Falcao continues to impress. Will he one day challenge Messi as one of the best footballers in the world?

For those of you who have not heard much of this growing star, Radamel Falcao is a Colombian goal-scoring machine currently plying his trade for Atletico Madrid. Nicknamed ‘El Tigre,’ he is considered to be one of the best strikers in the world setting the record for having scored 17 goals in one edition of the Europa League. He started his European career with FC Porto and was quickly influential guiding the Portuguese champions to their second Europa League triumph in 2010-2011. In the same year, he was awarded the Portuguese Golden Ball becoming the first Colombian to win it.

His adventure in Portugal ended in 2011 when Atletico Madrid bought out his contract. In the last three seasons between both sides, El Tigre has scored over a whopping 100 goals, a feat that will be incredible to repeat. With Falcao’s help, Atletico Madrid went on to lift the Europa League this year allowing him to become the first player in history to win two consecutive Europa League titles with two different teams while at the same time ending the season as the side’s top goal-scorer. In 2012, the Rojoblancos absolutely creamed the UEFA Champions League winners Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup, 4-1, with Falcao becoming the first player to bag a hat-trick in this encounter. After this match-up, it was said that Chelsea is preparing a €60 million offer in January for the Colombian’s services.

Overall, here are Falcao’s career numbers:

River Plate – 110 appearances, 49 goals

FC Porto – 87 appearances, 71 goals

Atletico Madrid – 57 appearances, 57 goals

Colombia – 40 appearances, 15 goals

Recently, Colombia defeated Paraguay 2-0. Both goals were netted in spectacular fashion by Falcao. With the victory, the Colombians are currently tied for second with 16 points.

Today, Italian media is suggesting that Chelsea and Manchester City are tracking the talented striker. El Tigre is also on Real Madrid’s radar but Jose Mourinho is quoted in Portuguese daily “A Bola” as saying that there is an agreement between both Madrid clubs that they cannot sign each others’ players. Atletico Madrid has the Colombian quoted at €72 million.

Interviewed by an Argentine newspaper, Falcao was asked about his comparison to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and replied that these two individuals are from another galaxy. He is inspired by players such as Diego Maradona, Brazilian Ronaldo, Gabriel Batistuta, and Hernan Crespo.

Falcao is quickly soaring to stardom in Europe and, no doubt, absolutely deserves all the praise and comparisons to Messi and Ronaldo although he is a different player. El Tigre’s performances and numbers suggest that he will certainly be challenging Messi and Ronaldo soon for the “World’s Best Footballer” title.

1) Canada on their way to Round Four in CONCACAF Qualifying?

Can you imagine Canada at the World Cup? I can’t, only because I have never witnessed it in my lifetime and thought it would never happen. It would be a fantastic accomplishment for Canada soccer if the Canadians can qualify for the finals in Brazil in two years time. The only time Canada appeared in an official World Cup match was in Argentina 1986 where the boys in red lost all three of the first round matches, conceding five goals and scoring none – better than not qualifying at all I guess.

Canada is still in the running after crushing Cuba 3-0 at BMO Field in Toronto on Friday. So far in 2014 World Cup Qualifying, Team Canada is sitting comfortably tied for first with Panama on ten points, two points ahead of Honduras who the Canadians will play in the crucial last game of the round on Tuesday. All the Canadians need is one point to advance to round four as only the two top nations will move on from each group.

In five games this round, Canada has won three, drew one, and loss one scoring five goals and conceding only two against the joint group leader.

It would be incredible to see Canada in Brazil competing for the World Cup. Go Canada!

 

 

 

 

GameChangers: NFL Week 6

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.

Pittsburgh Steelers  at Tennessee Titans (Baron Batch 1 yard loss)
The game was tied at 23 with under a minute to play and the Steelers were driving for the go ahead score.  The Steelers had not run effectively all game long, with only 56 yards rushing as a team.  The Steeler offence was relying on Big Ben’s arm, and this late drive was no different, as the team was looking for the game winning score and had mainly relied on Roethlisberger to get them there.  The Steelers took the ball down to the Tennessee 35 yard line, which is close to Steeler kicker Sean Suisham’s range, but is really borderline.   He really would be a lot more comfortable with 5 more yards or so.  On 2nd and 6 the Steelers called a running play, and Baron Batch was stuffed in the backfield, losing a yard on the play.  The Steelers wouldn’t gain another yard.  After an incomplete pass by Roethlisberger, Suisham came out to try a 54 yard field goal.  The kick landed short, and replays show it was just 1 yard short.  That one yard loss running the ball was difference in the game as the Titans took advantage of the good field position that occurs on a missed field goal, and would drive down the field for a game winning kick of their own.

Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets (Joe McKnight long run)
The Jets were up 21 -6 late in the third quarter when our big play took place. Some might think the Jets had the game in hand, and while the score board showed a two score lead, the Jets offence was starting to sputter and it looked like Indy might have an opportunity to get back in the game.  The last two Jets’ drives had been 3 and outs, meanwhile Indy was starting to put plays together but just couldn’t get it into the endzone.  It certainly looked like momentum could be shifting.   At this point the Jets brought in their backup RB, and kick returner Joe McKnight into the game.  Sanchez handed off to him, and the Jets line created a huge hole on the left side.  Joe McKnight found the hole and was quickly into the second level of the Colts defence.  He turned on the afterburners and took off for 61 yards down the sideline setting up the Jets first and goal at the 6 yard line.  Two plays later Shonn Greene was in the endzone, one of his three TDs on the game.  The talk in New York has been all about Sanchez vs Tebow, but this is a team that should be about getting more touches for Greene and McKnight.  Greene is a their workhorse back, and McKnight can be very explosive if he gets the ball in space.

Dallas Cowboys @ Baltimore Ravens (Penalties!)
The Cowboys had cut the Ravens lead to just 1 point as it was 24 – 23 in the fourth quarter of this game.  The Ravens methodically moved the ball down the field, and eventually got to a 3rd and goal at the Cowboys 1 yard line.  The ‘Boys defence appeared to have the Ravens stopped, and it was going to be a tough decision, but it was likely that John Harbaugh would opt for the field goal and 4 point lead.  However there was a flag on the play, and Dallas was penalized for lining up in the neutral zone on the play.  The half the distance to the goalline was ultimately yardage that didn’t really matter, but the big thing here is that it gave the Ravens another shot at third down and goal.  Baltimore would take full advantage as Ray Rice punched it in for the touchdown and the Ravens took an 8 point lead.  The Cowboys would get a late TD from Dez Bryant, but Bryant would drop the 2 point conversion attempt to tie the game.  Without the penalty, the Ravens would have only had a four point lead, and they wouldn’t have needed the two points.  Still the game wasn’t over and The Cowboys were lucky to recover the on-side kick and get another attempt at it.  The Ravens would survive when Dan Bailey hooked his 51 yard field goal try wide right.  Some will blame Bryant for dropping the two pointer, others will put the goat horns on Dan Bailey, but lets not forget that penalties were huge in this game, and the extra 4 points the Cowboys gifted the Ravens loom large in this outcome.  Mike and I say it every week, those penalties will kill you every time.

Oakland Raiders @ Atlanta Falcons (Tony Gonzalez has still got it)
Surprisingly we had a tie game here with just 12 seconds left.  Atlanta had the ball on their own 40 and it looked like the Falcons would need a long pass to either Roddy White or Julio Jones to get the ball into field goal range for Matt Bryant.  The Raiders, well aware of the situation, had Julio Jones and Roddy White double covered.  At this point Matt Ryan and Tony Gonzalez took over.  Instead of going deep, Ryan hit Gonzalez with two quick passes, 1 for 10 yards and 1 for 13 yards, getting both completions down in 11 seconds and giving Bryant a chance to kick the game winner with 1 second left.  Bryant has been money all season, and once again he delivered in the clutch allowing the Falcons to go to 6 and 0.  The Greatest Tight End of this generation, and maybe of all time is still effective and still making big plays for Atlanta.

Detroit Lions @ Philadelphia Eagles (big sacks of Vick in OT)
Another tie game, and we were headed to OT at the Linc.  The Eagles won the toss and got the ball first in Overtime, after a decent return they started at their own 25 yard line.
Michael Vick dropped back to pass and was sacked by Cliff Avril on first down.  On second down Vick dropped back to pass again.  Facing huge pressure he scrambled backwards but the Lions stayed after him and he was sacked by Nick Fairley.  Suddenly it was 3rd and 31 at the Philly 4 yard line.  Vick would throw incomplete, the Eagles would punt from the back of their own end zone and the Lions would start at midfield, needing just a Field goal to win.  After a couple passes to Tony Scheffler and Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, the Lions had Jason Hanson kicking the game winning field goal.

Buffalo Bills @ Arizona Cardinals (Chan Gailey’s Questionable Coaching)  Late in the fourth quarter the Bills were down the field with just 3:00 left and a 3 point lead.  The team was running the ball very well, especially CJ Spiller, and had a chance to put the game away and run out most of the clock on this drive.  Another score would be huge, and while a touchdown would put the game out of reach, even a field goal would have made things difficult on the Cardinals.  The advantage of running down the clock should also be noted.  So what did the Bills do?  They went Wildcat and had Brad Smith try to throw a 35 yard bomb to Donald Jones..  The play was poorly designed as Jones and Stevie Johnson were both going down the right side on “go routes” meaning that there were three Cardinal defensive backs in the area.  Smith overthrew the ball and it was intercepted by Patrick Peterson.  The Cardinals would go down the field and a 61 yard field goal by Jay Feely would tie the game.  The Bills would ultimately survive when Feely hit the goal post on a 38 yarder, and a Jarius Byrd interception set up a game winning kick by Rian Lindell in overtime, but it didn’t need to be this close and it was a terrible play call by Chan Gailey.

New England Patriots @ Seattle Seahawks (uncharacteristic mistake by Bill Belichick and Tom Brady) At the end of the first half the Patriots had the ball down at the Seattle 3 yard line with 12 seconds left and a 17-10 lead. Tom Brady tried to get the TD, his first down pass to Rob Gronkowski was well covered and Seattle broke it up leaving 6 seconds on the clock. Most teams would kick the field goal at this point, to ensure that time wouldn’t run out on them on the next play. However the Pats would try one more play to get the TD. Seattle got good pressure and Brady threw the ball incomplete out of the endzone. However the play took too long and time ran out, meaning that New England wouldn’t get the opportunity to kick the short Field Goal and give New England a two score lead at the break. Seattle would go on to win the game by 1 point in a thrilling second half comeback that culminated in a fantastic pass from Russell Wilson to Sidney Rice. Don’t get me wrong, this mistake isn’t the sole reason the Patriots lost, as there was still an entire half of football to play, but the Pats might still be kicking themselves for leaving those points on the board before halftime.

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.

The Origins of the Word Soccer

Posted on by Michael Kovacs, ADMIN

Editor’s Note:  In “The Peculiar Side of Sports”, we aim to answer some of sports’ most interesting peculiarities and burning questions.  If you have any questions you would like answered simply send an email to [email protected].

The thing that separates North American soccer fans and players from their international football-playing counterparts—aside from skill—is that for some strange reason they do not use the same word to identify the sport.  The rules are mostly identical and the pitch is the same.  Making matters more confusing is the added factor that North Americans already have a game called “football” (NFL, CFL, CFB) that is completely unrelated (well, unrelated in the modern sense) to international “football”.

The purists around the world always seem to frown at the mention of the word “soccer”.  Heck, even North American fans of the beautiful game scoff at “soccer”, and choose “football”, “footy”, or anything other than “soccer”, as if the very word is dirty.

What got me thinking is how and why the term “soccer” began in the first place, seeing as how it is an older sport than NFL.  The answer is a little surprising, yet difficult to explain.  Regardless, let’s forge forward.

The Origins of the Word Soccer

Let’s begin the explanation with the answer;  “Soccer” is not a North American invented word. In fact, its origins are in England.  The game was called “Soccer” by the upper class who played the game for 17 years before the middle and lower classes took up the sport and called it “football”.

Perhaps some of you knew that, but I’d hazard a guess that most didn’t.  In a nutshell, here’s what happened…

During the mid-19th century, boys had the odd propensity to nickname everything, oftentimes adding an “er” to the end of a word.  So, Rugby became “Rugger”, and Association Football (the earliest form of the current game) became “Assoccer”, and soon after that was simply called “soccer“.

Some say that Charles Wredford-Brown was first to coin the word “soccer”, when a friend asked him to play “rugger” with some other students, to which he replied that he preferred “soccer”.  So, it was this man, an English lad who went to Oxford, who invented the word, and not some bloke from America.

But as it was still referred to by many as Association Football, and then Soccer, why is now just called football?  Glad you asked.

“Football” was not given the name because people kick the ball with their feet, as seems so obvious.  Instead, it refers to the fact that they played on their feet, rather than on horseback.  See, in the mid-19th century, the aristocrats played their sports on horseback, as they do with polo.  But the middle and lower class played games on their feet.  Seems far-fetched right?  Well, history proves otherwise.

As “soccer” was played by the elite (such as the Oxford lad who is said to have coined “soccer”), it soon spread to the working classes, and became “football”.

I find it curious that people look down on the word “soccer” as if it is somehow inferior and not authentic or traditional.  I hope at the very least I have shown that the word has history and is every bit as authentic as “football”.  While it isn’t likely to become en vogue anywhere outside Canada and the US, it still has its place.

Main image credit:
Embed from Getty Images

Watch Out World, The West Indies Are Back

Posted on by Greg Persson

A week ago the World Twenty20 championships concluded in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and had two powerful teams clash for T20 cricket supremacy. The heavily favored host team riding the batting of Captain Mahela Jayawardene and bowling of Ajantha Mendis and the ever conspicuous Lasith Malinga faced off against a young offensive West Indies team.

Two rain shortened matches in the group stage saw the West Indies get off to a sluggish start, but they picked it up in the Super Eight and avenged their rain shortened group stage loss, crushing the Aussies by 74 runs, bowling them “all out” and scoring over 200 runs in the process.  The West Indies would not likely repeat this batting clinic against Sri Lanka and would need to bowl very well to come out victorious.

The “Windies” put up 137 runs thanks in large part to Marlon Samuels’ victimization of the usually strong Malinga for five 6s. The bowlers then took over lead by Sunil Narine and St. Lucian captain Darren Sammy bowling Sri Lanka “all out” for 101 runs, capturing the title and improving their T20 ranking to 2nd in the world.

With this victory, the West Indies have moved back into the conversation when it comes to the top international cricket sides. They are continuing to chase the glory years in the 1970s and 1980s when they were considered the kings of cricket. The West Indies are comprised of 15 parts (including 10 independent nations and 3 British dependencies along with the U.S. Virgin Islands and St Maarten). In the 70s and 80s, the West Indies were considered the unofficial world champions as they won both the 1975 and 1979 world cups and lost in the final of the 1983 world cup. In test matches, they were nearly unbeatable winning or drawing every test series which they played from their loss to New Zealand in March of 1980 through the end of the decade. This powerhouse team can be compared to the Soviet Union in hockey during the 80s and early 90s as they were a collection of strong hockey nations, though brought together under far different circumstances and opposed by very few other teams (one of which was Canada, of course). However, the Soviet Union never put together a streak the likes of 27 consecutive tests without defeat as the West Indies did in the first half of the 1980s.

In the 90s and beyond, other nations began to surpass the “Windies” as many of the dominant side retired and other professional and potentially lucrative sports such as baseball and soccer began to soak up the region’s finest athletes, while cricket remained an amateur game. It is only recently that the West Indies have climbed back into contention.

They still hold lower ranks in Test and One-day cricket but their T20 victory is likely the start of a strong resurgence. With many of their players, including Sammy, Samuels, Narine and Chris Gayle in their 20s and early 30s and a strong base of younger talent, the future looks very bright for the West Indies and I would look for them to dominate T20 and likely be a favorite for the 2014 World Cup in Bangladesh. Their fast bowling, powerful bats and high energy make WI cricket a pleasure to watch and follow.

In an era where cricket is as competitive as ever with as many as 8 or 9 nations vying for the top spot in the world, I predict that last Sunday’s dancing and partying will be a common sight in the years to come.

How Will Losing Derek Jeter Impact the Yankees Playoff Run?

Posted on by Mark Modeski

The Yankees have been baseball’s dynasty machine since they were a professional sports team. This most recent era in Yankees baseball has been led by one consistent ingredient over the years, one of the few homegrown talents in the New York organization: Derek Jeter. Unfortunately, for the rest of the 2012 MLB play-offs the Yankees will be without their iron man.

Facing off against a tough Detroit Tigers squad in game one of the ALCS last night, the Yankees knew that they would not be in for an easy ride. In a hard fought game the meeting went into extra innings, and with Jeter trying to save the game in the 12th inning in with a heroic dive, he fractured his ankle putting him on the DL (disabled list) for the next three months. While at this point it has been stated by the Yankess management (Joe Girardi, Brian Cashman) that the injury is not career ending, Jeter will most definitely be out for the rest of the 2012 playoff season. The Yankees would go on to lose game one of the ALCS 6-4, but now what everyone close to the Yankees organization is wondering is: what the long-term impact will be of losing a player like Jeter?

From line-up stand point, you are losing one of your team corner stone players. Jaysn Nix will step-in for Jeter – but, with a .243 season batting average can he really be expected to put up the same numbers at the plate as Jeter, who hit .316 this season? Another factor in the Yankees recipe that will be missing will be the outstanding fielding play of Jeter. While Nix knows how to play the role at shortstop, losing a five-time gold glove winner at one of the hardest positions to cover in baseball will be a difficult pill to swallow.  Jeter might not have the range he had 5 years ago, but he’s still sure handed and his instincts and baseball smarts are still as sharp as ever, maybe even sharper than ever given his experience.

There is the secondary factor that must also come into account, and that is that you’re losing a battle-hardened playoff presence. In his sixteen year baseball career, Derek Jeter has been in thirty-three different play-off series! That’s a lot of experience for a player at any stage in their career. Jeter’s playoff batting average has typically hovered right around .300 (.364 in 2012 going into last night’s game), and while this number drops to about .250 in ALCS match-ups, it jumps to .321 in World Series games. Losing Jeter’s bat, assuming the Yankees make it into the next round, will also have a negative long-term impact on the team’s play-off run in 2012. The one piece of good news for the Yankees, is that Nix has stepped up behind the plate this post-season when he has had the chance, going 2-4 in three games.

Let’s look at this Yankees team honestly though, this is still a line-up in which you have players like Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez and Ichiro Suzuki. All of these players are more than capable of stepping up and putting in huge numbers on any given night. The hitting squad is still pretty deep on the Yankees and they should be able to fill in the shoes for Jeter in that department.

The biggest loss that comes to this New York team with Jeter falling out of action is that they lose a play-off veteran and a leader on the field. As mentioned previously, Jeter has thirty-three play-off series to the tune of one-hundred and fifty-eight games played – that’s almost the equivalent of two straight regular seasons of nothing but play-off ball! In this league it is hard to find that kind of experience. Jeter has also been with this Yankees team for sixteen years now, and that buys him a lot of credibility with other players. Never underestimate the ability of a team leader to rally the troops when they are down and behind! It can often surpass that of a manager or coach.

I think back to Phil Esposito when I think of the ability of one player to rally an entire squad. Where would the Canadian Men’s Hockey team have been in the 1972 Summit Series without the passion and leadership of Esposito? Would they have rallied from behind to win the tournament? No one will ever know for sure, but many players on that 1972 Canadian Men’s Hockey Team attribute their spirit and furor to him alone.

A hockey example may not be the most relevant in for the 2012 MLB baseball play-offs, but  I think the allusion is clear (plus, being a Canadian, I have to bring up the 1972 Summit Series whenever possible). Having a strong team leader is what wins games! think about the morale of the troops when one of their favourite generals goes down in the heat of battle – it brings the whole squad down. This Yankees team will have a choice to rise and above and be inspired – or lose their courage and fall to pieces.

UFC 153: Does Silva Beating Bonnar Matter?

Posted on by Mark Modeski

Last night at UFC 153 in Brazil Anderson Silva made his return to the octagon  at light heavyweight in a match of very little overall relevance to the pound-for-pound rankings. Facing off against Stephan Bonnar in a bout that would mean little for Silva if he had won (which he obviously did), many people were left scratching their heads wondering if this fight had any place being held in the first place. Why would Silva return to 205 lbs after all this time to face off against an opponent of such little consequence?

To back up for a second, this was only Silva’s third match at light heavyweight. At UFC “Silva vs. Irwin” in 2008 Silva made his debut at the higher weight class, and easily dispatched of a much (at the time) overrated James Irvin; it seemed as though the UFC was setting up Silva to be the first multi-weight class champion. However, Silva would have none of it. He made it clear that his moving up in weight class (from middleweight) was merely a favour to his boss, Dana White, and that he had no desire to stay at a heavier weight class. It wasn’t until almost a year later that Silva would again fight at 205 lbs, this time against Forrest Griffin at UFC 101. Again, Silva was put in the octagon against an opponent who had little chance of actually beating him and the resulting beatdown was an embarrassment for Griffin.

This bring us to UFC 153 last night in Rio, where Silva faced off against Stephan Bonnar. Bonnar has not really ever been a legitimate title contender since he entered the UFC after his epic battle against Forrest Griffin in season finale of TUF 1, in what many call the greatest match of all time; however people do know who he is for this reason alone. Silva showed that the semi-retired Stephan Bonnar still has no place fighting inside the octagon, after making him look like a clown inside of one-round.

So, why even set-up the match? The reason is that Dana White is setting us up for the UFC super-fight that he has been promising us for years. For many years Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre have dominated their UFC weight classes like no other, it would only be natural that people would want to see the two best in the world clash. Years ago we were hearing that GSP vs. Silva was all but a given – but, with injuries to both fighters the hype started to die. Then we started to see a new and exciting dominate fighter emerge at light heavyweight in Jon Jones. New super-fight rumours started to swirl within the world of MMA. All said, Silva announced that he was happy fighting at 185 lbs and did not want to move up weight classes to fight Jones. Recently, however, we have started to see this stance soften.

Let’s be honest, GSP vs. Silva – as much as we would all love to see it – doesn’t make much sense. While Silva has proven to have some difficulty against wrestlers (e.g. Chael Sonnen), he is still much larger than the French Canadian stalwart; while an interesting match-up, it would truly be a David v. Goliath situation. Silva would have everything to lose, and St. Pierre would have everything to gain. By facing off against GSP, size advantage alone would likely give Silva him a massive edge (and we all know how deadly Silva can be both in and out of the clinch). If Silva won, people would clap their hands and nod in approval. If he lost, his legacy would be tainted and GSP would likely go down as the greatest fighter the sport has ever seen.

Anderson Silva versus Jon Jones on the other side of things is a much more interesting match-up. At 6″4 with an 84.5″ reach Jones presents a lot more of a challenge against the Brazilian, who is 6″2 with a 77″ reach advantage (compare that to the 5″10 Georges St. Pierre). Silva has less to lose against the younger, bigger and stronger Jones. Jon Jones Is just starting on his way up in all reality, and many see him has the future of the sport for the next ten years; if Silva were to lose to Jones, many people would shrug and say: “well, Silva is getting old and got beat by the younger stronger champ”.

So, this all brings us back to our main question: Did Silva beating Bonnar really matter? The answer is: “Yes”.  Bonnar, while not a real contender is still a well known name in the world of MMA, as is Griffin, and to an extent even Irvin is. Three wins against known fighters means that the argument could be made that “The Spider” has done enough at 205 lbs to prove he warrants a title shot. Silva is in the twilight of his career and wants to cement his legacy as the greatest the world has ever seen. With Dana White teasing us more recently that the possibility of this super-fight, I think this hypothesis almost definitely has merit.

My prediction… After Jones beats Henderson (whenever that is), we’ll hear the announcement that Jones v. Silva will be happening. I give the fight late next year, with a mid-year announcement… and my heart beats with anticipation.

What We Learned In College, Week 7

Posted on by Lindsay Higgins

If this week’s column is particularly bad, you can blame LSU and South Carolina for going down to the wire and keeping me up until almost midnight. You can also blame Starbucks for not selling coffee by the gallon. Anyway…

-The depth some of these SEC teams have is just crazy. Early in the first quarter, it was clear that LSU was planning to ride RB Spencer Ware. Ware was dinged up in camp, and has had a rough start to the season, but he was having a fantastic game- especially for a guy with a stomach virus who had to leave the game early. (He did return in the second half). In comes 6’2″, 225-lb. freshman Jeremy Hill. All he did was rush for 124 yards and 2 TDs. So no, coach Spurrier, they didn’t need to dress Mike the Tiger.

-I had forgotten how much fun Spurrier is to watch on the sidelines when his team isn’t playing well. He was more entertaining than the game at times, even if he didn’t throw the visor last night.

-It’s a good thing LSU got the running game going,because the passing game is still lacking.

-Texas’ defense is a far bigger mess than I realized. Oklahoma scored TDs on three of their first four drives, including a 95-yarder by RB Damien Williams. The only thing that went right for the Horns in the first half was a botched snap on Oklahoma’s first PAT attempt, which Quandre Diggs returned for a safety. Their offense isn’t terrible- the Sooners’ defense is just that good- but they have a long way to go on D.

-Michigan’s 45-0 whitewashing of Illinois should give them some much-needed confidence heading into the tough part of their schedule. Next up: Michigan State.

-Pitt coach Paul Chryst made an unusual call late in their game against Louisville. The Panthers were down 38-28, with 5:00 to go in the fourth quarter, and rather than attempt a 39-yard FG, they went for it on fourth down. QB Tino Sunseri overthrew his receiver and the ball was turned over on downs. Louisville scored on the possession, so it’s somewhat of a moot point, but you need a FG and a TD- why not take the three points while you’re in what should be field goal range? I thought that was a strange call.

-Iowa and Michigan State played a classic Big Ten game- everyone was filthy and muddy, the weather was rotten so both teams were running the ball, and regulation ended with a 13-13 tie. (Iowa won in OT).

-I still think that was a TD for Stanford.  That said, the Irish played a good game and are now 6-0.  A big test in Oklahoma awaits, but this team might be for real.

-I know Auburn is having a really lousy season, but losing 41-20 to OLE MISS? Did the Rebels unearth another Manning somewhere to play quarterback? In all seriousness, head coach Hugh Freeze is off to a good start turning that program around; they’re already just two wins shy of bowl eligibility.

-Duke jumped out to a 20-0 lead on Virginia Tech. No, really. Of course, Virginia Tech then scored 41 unanswered points to win the game, but you have to start somewhere. (Repeat after me, Duke fans… it’s almost basketball season. It’s almost basketball season.)

-Good weekend for the state of Oregon: the Ducks had a week off, and the Beavers beat BYU. OSU should move up in the polls this week.

-The clock struck midnight and the carriage ride is over for potential Cinderella Louisiana Tech. They only lost to Texas A&M by a FG, but when you’re in a non-BCS conference, that’s usually all it takes.

-Speaking of the Aggies, they’ve found themselves a heck of a QB in Johnny Manziel.

-Mississippi State doesn’t get much attention outside of, well, Mississippi, but they’re putting together a very nice season. Dan Mullen is a good coach, and his guys seem to enjoy playing for him.

 

Catch me every Saturday morning on “College Football Warm-up” on Last Word Radio, from 9-10am.

NFL Week 6: Win, Spread, Over/Under and Game Score Predictions

Posted on by Forrest Doran

Welcome to another week of The Sports Savant NFL Picks, Week 6 Edition!

After a sluggish first few weeks(thanks mostly to the unpredictability of the replacement referee debacle), the Sports Savant has been heating up on NFL picks each week and was absolutely on fire in Week 5!  I finished with an amazing 12 wins, 9 wins against the spread, and 8 wins(plus a tie) in 14 games this week. If you made your wagers based on my predictions, you made a substantial amount of money.  Add to those totals six trifectas to one strikeout and three perfect team scores, it was a NFL week of picks to remember.

This week presents its challenges and tough matchups, but now that I’ve got my mojo going, I’m feeling another big week of picks.  I’m going against the grain this week by picking four underdogs to win(Cleveland, Indianapolis, Minnesota, Seattle) and I even have a couple of favorites not covering the spread in wins(Miami, San Francisco).

Before we look at my picks for Week 6, lets take a look at my record last week and my overall record for NFL picks in 2012…

*WEEK 5 RESULTS*

Winner: 12-2   🙂
Winner w/ Spread: 9-5  🙂
Over/Under: 8-5-1 🙂
———————————————
Trifecta: 6
Strikeouts: 1
Perfect Team Score Predictions: 3 (Green Bay, Seattle, San Diego)
Perfect Game Score Predictions: 0
___________
*2012 Overall Record*
Winner: 50-27 (.649)
Winner w/ Spread: 34-41-2 (.453)
Over/Under: 39-35-3 (.527)
——————————————–

Trifecta: 17
Strikeouts: 15
Perfect Team Score Predictions: 11   [Week 1]: New England  [Week 2]: Indianapolis, San Francisco [Week 3]: Chicago, Washington, New York(A)  [Week 4]:Cleveland, Philadelphia  [Week 5]: Green Bay, Seattle, San Diego
Perfect Game Score Predictions: 0
NOTE: The team with a negative number in parenthesis “(-3)” next to their name is the favorite to win the matchup and the number represents how many points the favorite has to score more than the underdog to count as a winning bet.  The over/under for the game is represented by a number in parenthesis with the letters o and u “(o/u 46)”.  The number represents the amount of points you are wagering whether or not the two team’s combined score will be in excess of or short of.  Official betting lines courtesy of www.footballlocks.comLOCKS: Games that have a “*LOCK*” logo next to the score are my spread lock picks of the week.  I choose four games each week that I feel will be a lock to win the spread bet.  If I have an underdog winning against a favorite and it is a *LOCK* pick, it means it is a lock that the favorite will not cover the spread, not a lock that the underdog wins the game.

Don’t forget to visit therealsportssavant.blogspot.com every week to check my game picks and check the previous week’s picks for individual game pick results!  And now I present my Week 6, Sports Savant, NFL picks…

Tennessee v. Pittsburgh(-6.5)  (o/u 44)
Savant Spread Pick: Pittsburgh and the points to win ~ 34-13
Over/Under Pick: Over

Cleveland v. Cincinnati(-2)  (o/u 43)
Savant Spread Pick: Cleveland to win ~ 20-17
Over/Under Pick: Under

Indianapolis @ New York(A)(-3.5)  (o/u 43.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Indianapolis to win ~ 23-17
Over/Under Pick: Under

Kansas City @ Tampa Bay(-4)  (o/u 40)
Savant Spread Pick: Tampa Bay and the points to win ~ 27-20
Over/Under Pick: Over

Oakland @ Atlanta(-9)  (o/u 48.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Atlanta and the points to win ~ 31-17 *LOCK*
Over/Under Pick: Under

Dallas @ Baltimore(-3.5)  (o/u 44.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Baltimore and the points to win ~ 26-20 *LOCK*
Over/Under Pick: Over

Detroit @ Philadelphia(-3.5)  (o/u 47.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Philadelphia and the points to win ~ 24-20
Over/Under Pick: Over

St. Louis @ Miami(-4.5)  (o/u 38)
Savant Spread Pick: St. Louis and the points; Miamito win ~ 16-13
Over/Under Pick: Under

Seattle v. New England(-3.5)  (o/u 43.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Seattle to win ~ 21-20
Over/Under Pick: Under

Buffalo @ Arizona(-4)  (o/u 43.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Arizona and the points to win ~ 27-20 *LOCK*
Over/Under Pick: Over

Minnesota @ Washington(-2)  (o/u 44)
Savant Spread Pick: Minnesota to win ~ 31-28
Over/Under Pick: Over

New York(N) v. San Francisco(-6.5)  (o/u 45.5)
Savant Spread Pick: New York(N) with the points; San Francisco to win ~ 23-17
Over/Under Pick: Under

Green Bay @ Houston(-3.5)  (o/u 47.5)
Savant Spread Pick: Houston and the points to win ~ 29-24
Over/Under Pick: Over

Denver @ San Diego(Pick)  (o/u 49)
Savant Spread Pick: Denver to win ~ 31-23 *LOCK*
Over/Under Pick: Over

Beer League Soccer Weekly – Reds FC

Posted on by Jack Stone

Let’s make things clear before I have you completely lost, thinking this is somehow related to Liverpool, Toronto FC, or some other team who have adopted the “Reds” as its moniker.   This is a weekly column about playing amateur indoor football (soccer), and follows the story of a bunch of guys, just like you, who play for the love of the game.  There is no money on the line except the $170 we shell out each year for the right to call ourselves footballers.  Yes, the price is steep, but what we take from the game is worth far more.

For guys like us, who are by no means a comptetitive team, we play every Friday night for no other reason than to have a good time and have a few brews post-match.  There is the added bonus of getting some much needed cardio, which seems more difficult with each passing year, yet we do it nonetheless.  With an average age of more than thirty, some younger and some a little older in the tooth, we all bring something different to the team. And because of our differences, we play our own unique brand of football.

As we get older, the other teams seem to get younger.  We not have the distinction of being the oldest team in the league and sometimes find ourselves paired up against a team about 10 years younger by average.  As we chase these young bucks down all game, our legs get a bit tired, substitutions become a necessary entity, yet we plod along all the same.  For those out there in a similar situation, you know exactly what I mean by saying “it’s a ‘good’ hurt”.

So before we go any further in this article, or subsequent pieces, let’s introduce the squad, but you have to picture it with the ‘Final Countdown’ by Europa music playing in the background and the average attendance of seven (last night there was one lone observer of our “duel”) going crazy awaiting the 2010 champions!  (Note: we play 5 vs 5)

GK – Mike “Jackson” Scott.

LB – Scott Johnston CB – Luch Giuliano  CB – Andrew Dunsford  RB (c) Mike Kovacs

W – Jack Stone        C – Frank Giuliano        W – Mike Woodbyrne

W – Peter Reid         C – Tom Stiffl                W – Tyler Stokes

W – Adam Hensen

Now that we have introduced the roster, and the capacity crowd of seven are going wild, let’s see how Reds FC fared in their first match of the 2012-13 season.

Well, Reds FC had an unfortunate night and were paired up against one of those under 25 teams I was talking about, and only seven of us decided to make the trip to Lakemount.  Old Legs + First Game of the Season = SORE.

However, The Reds started quickly with nifty passing from Frank “the Godfather” Giuliano, Woodbyrne, and me, “The Cracker”.  I netted only minutes into the game.  We should have quit there.  Minutes later it was 1-1…1-2…1-3… Going into the half down 1-3 wasn’t tooo bad, and morale was still high.

When asked about the team morale at half time, Skipper Mike Kovacs commented, “The team was actually in good spirits.  We knew our passing was on, but needed to defend and counter.”

The 2nd half started with a rather hoggish play by the “Ancient One” (Woodbyrne), as the Cracker was wide open for a tap-in.  But Woodbyrne failed to attempt a pass, leaving me hanging and proving to the audience that he may be suffering from alzheimers!  I forgive him.

Before our next blink, we were down 1-5 until Franz put a cross into the box that was ultimately deposited into the net by the Black FC defender.  We never mind own goals, especially playing against a team of gazelles like Black FC.  Of course they protested as I may or may not have shoved their defender into the ball, thereby depositing it into their net, but for me, it was more of a hip check.

The final whistle blew and it was something like 2-5 or 2-6 or 2-10… who knows?  For those of us who play the game, whether you are paid or not, it’s still the beautiful game. I applaud my teammates, as I do for anyone out there willing to play the game they love despite age, physical ability or any other hindrance.

This column is dedicated to all players of amateur sports, footy or otherwise, who do it for the love of the game.  We, you will agree, will never revert to a lockout.
Don’t forget to catch me on “World Football Roundtable“, every Monday and Thursday night from 10-11pm EST on the Last Word Radio Network.