Yes, I'm here again. Thanksgiving break won't keep me from getting another musing up.
The start to MLB free agency has been slower than a LenDale White touchdown run. Usually a bunch of signings happen in the first 24-48 hours. So far? The Cubs overspent on mediocre lefty reliever John Grabow and the other Chicago team, the White Sox, gave a one year deal to Omar Vizquel, who is now solely a defensive replacement at this point in his career. Exciting? Not really. The economy no doubt has a role in this. Even Yankees' GM Brian Cashman said he plans on not necessarily spending much money this offseason. Still, things should heat up soon with Matt Holliday on the market and Roy Halladay and Curtis Granderson as trade candidates. It's only a matter of time.
Some other things important and not so important:
- I'd be doing myself and my readers an injustice by not bringing up a certain restaurant encounter in which Jimmy Clausen's face became acquainted with a Notre Dame fan's fist. He probably panicked when he saw the guy get through his offensive line.
- Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols were named MVPs this year. Fortunately the writers got something right. If a Jeter or a Rollins won, I'd start a boycott of the award.
- That Browns-Lions game was something else. Two of the worst teams had the best game of the day. I guess in the end a Lion is better than a....Jim Brown? I don't know, whatever the Brown's mascot is. Regardless, the Lions are on the upswing, sort of.
Video of the week: House, MD is one of my favorite shows. One of the stars, Omar Epps, looks like a certain Steelers head coach. And Hugh Laurie's title character is known to make fun of/ make jokes with his team. So, it was only a matter of time before the writers inserted a Mike Tomlin lookalike joke. Enjoy.
posting a little late, but these were in before the games began.
Clark: Ravens over Colts, Cowboys over Redskins, Lions over Browns, 49ers over Packers, Bills over Jaguars, Steelers over Chiefs, Vikings over Seahawks, Falcons over Giants, Saints over Bucs, Cardinals over Rams, Chargers over Broncos, Patriots over Jets, Raiders over Bengals, Eagles over Bears, Texans over Titans
Miniaci:Steelers over Chiefs, Ravens over Colts, Packers over 49ers, Bills over Jags, Falcons over Giants, Saints over Bucs, Lions over Browns, Cowboys over Redskins, Vikings over Seahawks, Cards over Rams, Pats over Jets, Chargers over Broncos, Bengals over Raiders, Eagles over Bears, Texans over Titans
Rorabaugh: (home team in CAPS)
Colts over RAVENS, COWBOYS over Redskins, LIONS over Browns, PACKERS over 49ers, JAGUARS over Bills, Steelers over CHIEFS, VIKINGS over Seahawks, GIANTS over Falcons, Saints over BUCS, Cardinals over RAMS, Chargers over BRONCOS, PATRIOTS over Jets, Bengals over RAIDERS, Eagles over BEARS, TEXANS over Titans
Fans Want Dunleavy Clipped: See what I did there? I bet you did! So if you didn't notice, the Los Angeles Clippers stink. No, like, they stink. They're atrocious, pitiful, the list goes on and on. They're so bad that Frankie Muniz from Malcolm in the Middle is their most famous fan. Yep, that annoying little punk.
So what little fans the Clippers have left decided enough is enough (finally) and are circulating a petition to have Dunleavy fired. As of when I wrote this, there were 32 signatures. So here's my idea: Let's help the Clippers fans out. It's the holiday season, why not spread some holiday cheer by helping some long suffering fans take away a man's job right before Christmas. If my calls to action aren't enough, check out these photos of the Clippers during the fourth quarters of games. Just makes you wanna cry.
Click the hyperlink, sign the petition, tell your friends, have them tell friends and let's get this rolling before Bill Simmons sinks his claws into it. Edmund Burke said that al is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Don't let evil continue to coach the Clippers. Sign the petition.
A Canswerous Apple: According to Howard Beck of the New York Times, the Knicks are going to pursue Allen Iverson. Yep, well the Mayans were right. Doomsday is upon us. One can only imagine the events this could set off. There will be sold out supermarkets, bomb shelters in every backyard, the sounds of screaming children and the gnashing of teeth. Okay, that does describe a doomsday scenario, but the last two are also heard at Knicks games.
The 2009-10 New York Knicks: We Make Your Children Cry.
LeBron James and Jason Maxiell Are Throwing A Party: What kind of party? A block party. Who's invited? Everybody.
Here's two great videos from this week of some straight up nasty blocks. First off, LeBron runs down Monta Ellis and straight crushes the ball. I'm sure it kept the Cavs fans from realizing their team is a fraud for a couple of seconds.
Secondly, here is Pistons forward Jason Maxiell telling Shannon Brown that if he's going to bring it, he better come correct. How Maxiell doesn't get his wrist broken by Brown is beyond me, but you've got to love the stare down after. I guess you need to get fired up when you finally produce for the first time all season.
Playoffs?!: Okay, so an apology. Collegian men's basketball writer Andrew Robinson and I have been trying to pin this podcast down for a while now but with our schedules, it just hasn't panned out. We're going to try out best to get one out before the holiday break after finals but we can't make any promises. Try your best to forgive us. Pwease?
Either way, as a small treat, we're giving you our postseason predictions. Enjoy!
Tom's Picks
Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division: Boston. Central Division: Cleveland. Southeast Division: Orlando
Other Teams: Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, and Washington
Western Conference
Northwest Division: Denver. Pacific Division: Lakers. Southwest Divison: Dallas
Other Teams: Phoenix, San Antonio, Portland, Utah, Houston
Eastern Conference Finals: Boston over Orlando
Western Conference Finals: Denver over San Antonio
NBA Finals: Denver over Boston
OK, we've put it off long enough. It's time to start talking football. No, not that stuff you watch on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. I'm talking about futbol, the beautiful game -- soccer.
This is Lady Lions and women's volleyball reporter Bill Landis here to do one thing and one thing only, and that's talk about soccer. I'll be joined by fellow Collegian writers AJ Cassavell and Wayne Staats along the way. We'll probably have some other Collegian writers join us later in the year.
We're goning to be talking about all things soccer: MLS, Premier League, La Liga, Champions League and of course, World Cup. We'll talk about games, transfers, make predictions and show videos of some the most majestic footwork you've ever seen.
Please feel free to comment on any of the posts and send us your thoughts.
We had a busy day in the world of World Cup qualifying.
Much to the dismay of my colleague Wayne, Algeria bested Egypt 1-0 to earn the final African bid for the 2010 World Cup. Sadly, the Pharaohs will not be playing for glory in South Africa this summer.
In Europe, Greece earned a bid by defeating Ukraine 1-0. Slovenia upset the favored Russians 1-0 to earn a bid and Portugal is in after beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 1-0.
In other qualifying action, Uruguay played to a 1-1 draw with Costa Rica and advanced on a 2-1 aggregate to earn the final bid for the World Cup.
But the story of the day comes from France. Les Bleus were in dire straits when the Irish took a 1-0 lead in the first half on a goal from Robbie Keane. Keane's goal evened the aggregate at 1-1 after the French beat the Irish 1-0 in Dublin over the weekend.
Keane's mark was the only goal scored in regulation and forced extra time to decide the World Cup bid. Late in the first half of extra time, France striker Thierry Henry corralled the ball with his hand in the penalty area but there was no call of hand ball by Swedish referee Martin Hansson.
Henry fed the ball across the box to teammate William Gallas who headed it into the back of the net and in effect ended Ireland's chances of reaching South Africa.
Needless to say, Hansson can never show his face on the Emerald Isle.
But Henry's goal does bring up an interesting question, should replay be used in soccer. Ireland striker Sean St. Ledger brought up the topic of replay after the match.
Myself and fellow Collegian writers AJ Cassavell and Wayne Staats weigh in on the issue:
Bill
I hate instant replay. I don't think it belongs in any sport. Yes, it helps the officials get the calls right, but they shouldn't need any help. For me instant replay in any sport takes the human element out of the game. I love controversial calls. Now, if a situation presents itself where an official is continuously blowing calls, then get rid of him. Did Hansson make the wrong call? Definitely, but he made the call and both teams have to live with it. And yes, my reaction would be the same even I was an Ireland fan.
AJ
Let's get one thing straight. Instant replay shouldn't have been a necessity in Wednesday's World Cup Qualifier between Ireland and France. 22 players on the field, 81,000 people in the Stade de France and millions of viewers at home saw that Thierry Henry effectively cheated the French into the World Cup (not to blame him - it's not cheating if you don't get caught). One of four officials with intense training should have seen the same. That being said, instead of a fourth official on the sideline, why not put a fourth one in a booth in front of a TV just for calls as blatant as the one made Wednesday. But for those who think baseball is a traditionalist sport, America's pastime is incredibly liberal compared to FIFA. They haven't changed much about soccer in the last 100 years, and don't expect them to switch to replay now.
Wayne
Soccer needs instant replay. Wednesday's no-call on the hand ball effectively handed a World Cup bid to France and kept one of the sport's powers from an embarrassing no-show at soccer's biggest stage. Not surprisingly, Henry admitted after the game that it was a hand ball. But fans shouldn't hold their breath waiting for instant replay. FIFA is an organization that has had its old ranking system exist way too long before making adjustments, so this will probably be a slow process at best. But people should also be careful to direct anger toward Henry and France. Clearly it was an illegal play. But it's the official's job to see it and make the call. Yes, instant replay would probably ruffle feathers of traditionalists. Perhaps an easier solution for them would be to hire refs who weren't blind. But action must be taken.
There you have it. Feel free to share your thoughts with us about it.
Tonight, we'll leave you with a video of the goal in question. We also have probably the most notorious hand ball goal of all time, Diego Maradona's goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. Otherwise known as the "Hand of God" goal because after the match Maradona said the goal was scored, "un poco con la cabeza de Maradona y otro poco con la mano de Dios," (a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God.) You can be the judge.
Henry's goal
Maradona Goal and Photo (sorry for the annoying techno music)
Former Devil, Whaler, Blue, Red Wing and Ranger Brendan Shanahan announced his retirement from the NHL after 21 seasons. He was drafted by the Devils in the first round back in 1987 and ended his career with them last year. He left the team just before the start of the 2009-10 season and after months of debating, decided to hang up his skates. In his career, Shanahan scored 656 goals and registered 1,354 points in 1,524 games. Also a bit of a fiery guy, Shanahan also rang up 2,489 career penalty minutes. He was a leader and, by all accounts, a good teammate. We raise our glasses to a great player. He has a clear path to the Hall of Fame.
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Blue Jackets' promising 2008 first rounder Nikita Filatov was loaned to a team in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League for the rest of the season. Filatov was unhappy with his playing time this season. He has touched the ice in 13 games this year, but only gained minutes sparingly.
Hopefully for the Jackets, Filatov gets over his frustrations with the club. He could be a good goal scorer down the road.
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The Blackhawks insane amount of spending from this summer is now carrying over into the season. They are reportedly close to extending contracts with three of their biggest stars, Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith.
This is big for the Hawks. All three are budding stars. Terms have not yet been disclosed but there's no doubt they'll be worth a lot.
Bud Adams is a gem. The 86-year old owner of the Tennessee Titans gave the Buffalo Bills a two finger salute during the Titans' win over Terrell Owen's current team. The gesture cost Adams a pretty hefty sum. He also apologized. He probably deserved the fine he got, but Adams' gesture is just down right hilarious. He's old. Cut him some slack. I'm sure more people found it amusing than offensive. The video is now plastered over Youtube. I probably shouldn't post it here, but go have a look if you haven't already. Thank you Bud Adams for speaking your mind.
Some things important and not so important:
- Who remembers David Duval? Who thought they'd hear his name again? Well, it's not for good reasons. The former world No. 1 golfer is in danger of losing his PGA Tour card. Duval could possibly slip out of the top 125 golfers, meaning he would lose his membership. The last time he won? 2001. Been a rough decade, huh?
- Well, Evan Longoria is the new coverboy for MLB2K10. If he breaks his face colliding with Jason Bartlett going for a pop up, we'll know who to blame.
- Eric Bruntlett and his sterling 22 OPS+ were released by the Phillies. I'm sure the Phils will miss the 105 at bats of .224 on-base percentage he gave them last season. Time for them to acquire a middle infielder who can give Chase Utley or Jimmy Rollins a day off without striking out three times in a row and making two errors in the field.
Video of the week: What happens when you get your video camera too close to Bill Belichick? You get a throw down from a security guard and a farewell wave from the Pats coach himself.
ESPN reported earlier this morning that former Nittany Lion running back Larry Johnson was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals.
Johnson is expected to be the fourth-string running back on the team. He will be looked to for depth behind the beat-up Cedric Benson and to contribute on special teams.
Cincinnati, the team of second chances in the past few years in the NFL, was the choice of the college star because he didn't want to take the rest of the season off. He will make a little more than $4 million, as a veteran's contract is guaranteed.
The star of Penn State's 2002 season -- in which he ran for over 2,000 yards and finished third in the Heisman race -- argued with coaches over playing time while in college, was involved in numerous spats with women and now decided to bad mouth his pro coach and own fans, using homosexual slurs in the process.
Despite his previous troubles and the black eye he has given Penn State, I want him to succeed. After living through the humiliation of Ki-Jana Carter, Curtis Enis and Tony Hunt -- even though they were spectacular as Lions -- it was great to see Johnson break through with the Chiefs and become a high-caliber player.
He is an exciting player to watch, he just needs to be a little more boring off the field.
This Should End Well: Well by now I'm sure you heard the news that forward Stephen Jackson was traded with Acie Law to Charlotte for Raja Bell and Vladmir Radmanovich.
Okay?
I'm just not sure what Charlotte is thinking here. They trade for Jackson, who said he only wanted to play for Cleveland, New York or any of the Texas teams and you trade for him? I know you need a scorer but where does he fit? Is Gerald Wallace being moved? All of this confuses me, not to mention that Jackson is owed $35 million over this year and the next three years. All of this is just another chapter in the saga of bad Larry Brown and Michael Jordan personnel moves if you ask me. I'm sure it won't take long for Jackson to be disgruntled there either.
The End of The Answer?: Well now we have reached endgame with the Allen Iverson saga. Memphis owner Michael Heisley has evidently told Iverson's agent that he has until the end of the week to decide if he wants to rejoin the team or retire. Seeing as playing for the Memphis Grizzlies is probably a fate worse than death, Iverson may just be better off retiring. Mainly cause of that and the fact he's a ball hogging team-wrecker that nobody wants anymore because he refuses to admit that his best days are behind him. Or that.
EDIT: I just saw that the two sides agreed to release Iverson to waivers. It'll be interesting to see where he lands from here. Will a contender possibly scoop him up to make him that final piece? I'm not sure that will happen since none of them did it this offseason and this stint in Memphis will do nothing to help that perception of him as a team-killer. Although one thing is certain, the tales of the Allen Iverson Era will always echo through the halls of the Memphis Grizzlies' facilities.
Sportsmanship by Ron Artest: Oh Ron Ron, shine on you crazy diamond. Take a look at this little gem from this weekend's game between the Rockets and the Lakers. At the beginning of the game, Rockets (and former Lakers forward) Trevor Ariza loses his shoe. Artest, (who played for Houston last year, see what these two did there?) being the warm and loving soul that he is, decided to play keep away with Ariza's shoe. Note the body language of Ariza on the replay. It just screams "C'mon son."
Coming Soon To A Poster Near You:
Talk about insult to injury. Here is Ty Lawson throwing it down over Lakers DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell. I hope that Mbenga's publicist (who was hired after the Lakers championship victory this summer) can really smooth this one out. I feel bad for the poor guy. I mean the nation held it's collective breath as we hoped and prayed that the illustrious career of DJ Mbenga would be completed with a championship. Huh? I was the only one hoping that? Oh well. Either way, Lawson did Mbenga dirty, not to mention every Sixers fan out there who's out there watching Jrue Holiday eat up garbage minutes. Tough break.
Game of the Night: Portland (8-3) @ Atlanta (8-2). A great clash of two teams who have had great starts to the season. Atlanta is coming off of a very impressive win against Boston over the weekend and Portland is trying to continue to grow into a future Western power and make that next step this season. The Hawks are undefeated at home this season while Portland is 5-1 on the road. It should be interesting to see who walks away victorious.
A few thoughts I had while realizing Tom Brady and the Patriots are officially back ... and the Colts are still better.
1. Oh, look, Thursday Night Football is back. Jay Cutler certainly showed up for the primetime matchup, tossing five interceptions, a career-worst for the gunslinger from Vanderbilt. Remember back when Cutler came to Chicago from Denver, how that was going to put the Bears back atop the NFC North? And remember Chicago's 3-1 start? Well, now the Bears are 4-5, four games back in the division and a game behind in the Wild Card.
2. Hey, speaking of floundering teams, it's the New York Jets! They started 3-0 behind "The Sanchize" Mark Sanchez. Since then, their only win has come against the Raiders and New York is now 4-5. The rookie quarterback from USC has nine touchdowns to 12 interceptions this season with a 66.5 QB rating. Maybe it's not such a great idea to throw a rookie into the fire quite this early, especially in the Big Apple.
3. On a lighter note, look at these Bengals! This was a team famous only for having players in constant trouble with the law just a few short years ago. Now, with its win Sunday over the Steelers -- its second over the defending champs, by the way -- Cincy is in charge of the AFC North. I'm pretty sure that's a sign of the apocalypse. Any day now, a meteor's going to hit, the horsemen are going to grace us with their pressence, and the Lions are going to go on a winning streak.
4. Brandon Marshall had one excellent first quarter. The Broncos' stud receiver's first two catches were 75- and 40-yard touchdown catches. Too bad his team ended up losing ... to the Redskins. Ouch.
5. Princess is in a bit of a rut. The game-picking camel tabbed the Jets to beat the Jaguars, and as it was previously stated, they lost. So Rung and myself get to go one game up on our spitting, graham cracker-eating friend from New Jersey -- no, not Miniaci.
Clark: Falcons over Panthers, Dolphins over Bucs, Vikings over Lions, Jets over Jaguars, Bengals over Steelers, Saints over Rams, Titans over Bills, Broncos over Redskins, Raiders over Chiefs
Cardinals over Seahawks, Cowboys over Packers, Chargers over Eagles, Patriots over Colts, Browns over Ravens
Miniaci: Falcons over Panthers, Dolphins over Bucs, Vikings over Lions, Jets over Jags, Steelers over Bengals, Saints over Rams, Bills over Titans, Broncos over Skins, Chiefs over Raiders, Cards over Seahawks, Cowboys over Packers, Chargers over Eagles, Colts over Pats, Ravens over Browns
Rorabaugh: Home team in CAPS: Falcons over PANTHERS, DOLPHINS over Bucs, VIKINGS over Lions, Jaguars over JETS, STEELERS over Bengals (though Cincy and the torn-up turf will make things interesting), Saints over RAMS, TITANS over Bills, Broncos over REDSKINS, RAIDERS over Chiefs (to win the Toilet Bowl), CARDINALS over Seahawks, Cowboys over PACKERS, Eagles over CHARGERS (all year long, Philly has lost one, then won its next two), Patriots over COLTS, Ravens over BROWNS
Rung: Falcons over Panthers, Dolphins over Buccaneers, Vikings over Lions, Jaguars over Jets
Steelers over Bengals, Saints over Rams, Titans over Bills, Broncos over Redskins, Raiders over Chiefs, Cardinals over Seahawks, Packers over Cowboys, Eagles over Chargers, Colts over Patriots, Ravens over Browns
Gentile and Oplinger: did not make picks before kickoff
Dave Miniaci is a senior majoring in journalism and is the Daily Collegian's sports chief. He has previously been sports night chief and a sports copy editor. He has also covered men's rugby, men's track and field and field hockey. He is from New Jersey and is a big Devils fan and proud of both, and he doesn't care if you hold that against him.
Adam Clark is a senior majoring in journalism and is the Daily Collegian's sports editor. He previously covered fraternity and sorority life, crime and courts and was the Collegian's summer 2009 news/sports editor. His favorite athlete died on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 and his favorite football team is coming off the worst six-year stretch in NFL history. He does hold it against Dave Miniaci that he's from New Jersey.
Dan Rorabaugh is a senior majoring in sports journalism and minoring in English. He is the sports copy desk chief, and was previously a reporter for the men's rugby, men's cross country, men's volleyball, women's soccer, women's basketball and men's lacrosse teams. Last year, the impossible dream happened - one of his favorite teams, the Phillies, won a championship. Now if only the Eagles could catch some of that magic, he might be able to actually find peace with sports.
Michael Oplinger is a junior majoring in media studies and political science and the Collegian's assistant sports copy desk chief. He previously covered the men's tennis and men's volleyball teams. Even though he enjoyed the Phillies' World Series victory, he misses the days of Jose Mesa and David Bell.
Eddie Gentile is a senior majoring in journalism and minoring in history. He works on the sports copy desk and previously has covered the women's tennis team, the Lady Icers and the Penn State baseball team. Gentile is your stereotypical Philly fan - he considers every game a loss until they actually win... and even then he'll probably still be moaning. Go birds.
David Rung is a senior majoring in journalism and minoring in kinesiology. He works on the sports copy desk and previously has covered the women's swimming team and the men's rugby team. Rung isn't as die hard about pro sports as his sports staff brethren from Philly and Pittsburgh, but he does take pride in being a Red Sox fan before the bandwagon started.
