Well the NFL season officially ended Sunday night with the Pro Bowl. Its not really a game as much as its a glorified scrimmage. But what it does is mark the start of the off-season. Already this NFL off-season is shaping up to be an interesting one.
However, now is the time to focus on college basketball. Monday brought two terrific games, between rivals. First the Rutgers women's basketball team faced off against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers. Not only is this a re-match of last year's championship game (which touched off the Don Imus incident) but Rutgers is winless against Tennessee. The game started out on the path again as Tennessee took a huge lead. Rutgers showed their heart as they fought back and took a one point lead with less than 30 seconds left in the game.
Tennessee set up their final with Shannon Bobbitt pulling up for a jumper. All-American Candace Parker grabbed the offensive rebound and took a short baby hook. That missed and Nicky Anosike grabbed the rebound. Here's where the controversy takes place. The clock stopped with 0.2 seconds when Anosike grabbed the rebound. She proceed to come down, and go back up within 0.2 SECONDS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I watched that part of the game live and let me tell you that: 1) the foul was called with no time left on the clock and 2) Tennessee got a gift victory.
Now Tennessee definitely played hard and fought back in the final minute, but that call effectively gave them the victory. Hopefully, this type of call won't occur in the Tournament, because that would be a travesety.
On the men's side, there was a similiar situation that took place. The game was Georgetown vs. Villanova. A typical Big East battle, low-scoring with tough defense all night, the game was tied at 53 with less than 10 seconds left. Villanova had the ball and they were going for the win. Guard Scottie Reynolds lost the ball on the baseline, and Georgetown guard Jonathan Wallace grabs it. He dribbles up court where he is slightly bumped by a Villanova player. The referee calls a foul with 0.1 seconds left!!!! Of course Wallace knocks down the free throws giving Georgetown the victory.
This foul call was different from the previous one, because the clock didn't malfunction, but the impact is the same. The referees in these cases took the game out of the player's hands and put it in their own. It's just sad that after 39 great minutes of basketball, two games could come down to the referee.
Lastly, I want to send out prayers and well-wishes to hockey player Richard Zednik. Zednik was inured in a gruesome injury on Sunday night. When I first saw the clip of it, I wondered how the guy was able to walk off the ice. You see, his teammate's skate flew up and cut him on the neck. Yesterday it was reported that Zednik lost about five pints of blood. And that the skate barely missed his juglar. Hockey is a dangerous sport and really, I'm surprised that more injuries with skates dont happen. I guess this just shows how much body control and athleticism hockey players really have.
Next up on the sports radar is some hearing with Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee, maybe you've heard about it. Looking forward to that. Until then, peace.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Friday, February 01, 2008
February 1, 2008
It's almost here. Finally, after what seemed like a month of anticaption, the Super Bowl is here. Well its still two days before, but you know what I mean. I'm finding it hard to learn anything new about these two teams. They played each other in Week 17, and since then, not much has changed. No major injuries, no suspensions, nothing. Pretty much the game will take the same form as the one in Week 17.
Can the Giants get pressure from just their defensive lineman? In Week 17, they sacked Brady on the first play of the game. And that was it. No more sacks the rest of the game, and Brady threw the ball 42 times.
Looking back the Giants did play really well. The converted 60% of their third downs, gained 4 yards per rushing attempt, and only had one turnover. They also got a score from special teams with Domenik Hixon providing a 74 yard kickoff return.
Despite all of that, they still lost. I know that there are good things to take away from that performance, but it has to be dis-heartening to know you played close to perfect and you still lost. I think this will be in the back of the mind of the Giants, no matter what trash they talk.
Next I have to give props to referee Mike Carey. Carey, who has 18 years of experience as an NFL official, is the first African American referee at a Super Bowl. Not to mention, his crew will have two other African Americans officials, line judge Carl Johnson and field judge Boris Cheek.
So, once again the Super Bowl is the site of something historic. Last year, it was the matchup between Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith. Now Mike Carey has provided another first.
Since last year's Super Bowl, I feel like there have been great strides made for African Americans off the field in the NFL. Jim Caldwell has been named as Dungy's successor, whenever he decides to retire. Romeo Crennel earned an extension on his contract, this after leading the Cleveland Browns to a 10 win season. Ron Meeks, an assistant for the Colts, has also been interviewed and could possibly earn a head coaching job. I truly believe that last year's Super Bowl changed some of the thought process of the NFL. The idea of hiring a black coach not only stopped becoming taboo, but the manner in which they coached mattered.
Smith and Dungy have the laid-back approach to coaching. No, its not any less intese, but yelling is not something they do a lot of. That seems to have rubbed off around the league. Yes, there are still the yelling types, but even those (Tom Coughlin) have softened up.
It'll be interesting to see what changes, if any, this Super Bowl will have for the upcoming year.
Can the Giants get pressure from just their defensive lineman? In Week 17, they sacked Brady on the first play of the game. And that was it. No more sacks the rest of the game, and Brady threw the ball 42 times.
Looking back the Giants did play really well. The converted 60% of their third downs, gained 4 yards per rushing attempt, and only had one turnover. They also got a score from special teams with Domenik Hixon providing a 74 yard kickoff return.
Despite all of that, they still lost. I know that there are good things to take away from that performance, but it has to be dis-heartening to know you played close to perfect and you still lost. I think this will be in the back of the mind of the Giants, no matter what trash they talk.
Next I have to give props to referee Mike Carey. Carey, who has 18 years of experience as an NFL official, is the first African American referee at a Super Bowl. Not to mention, his crew will have two other African Americans officials, line judge Carl Johnson and field judge Boris Cheek.
So, once again the Super Bowl is the site of something historic. Last year, it was the matchup between Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith. Now Mike Carey has provided another first.
Since last year's Super Bowl, I feel like there have been great strides made for African Americans off the field in the NFL. Jim Caldwell has been named as Dungy's successor, whenever he decides to retire. Romeo Crennel earned an extension on his contract, this after leading the Cleveland Browns to a 10 win season. Ron Meeks, an assistant for the Colts, has also been interviewed and could possibly earn a head coaching job. I truly believe that last year's Super Bowl changed some of the thought process of the NFL. The idea of hiring a black coach not only stopped becoming taboo, but the manner in which they coached mattered.
Smith and Dungy have the laid-back approach to coaching. No, its not any less intese, but yelling is not something they do a lot of. That seems to have rubbed off around the league. Yes, there are still the yelling types, but even those (Tom Coughlin) have softened up.
It'll be interesting to see what changes, if any, this Super Bowl will have for the upcoming year.
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