The Long Suffering Fans

Football Season Ends

2009-12-21T22:59:00.000-08:00

So I didn't get off to the greatest start. One and two is, plain and simple, Dufresne level picking (we actually had the same winners). I must iterate that I was distracted. Picking bowl game winners at the college level was silly when the only one I was truly mindful of was being played in Carson on Saturday night. (Who the heck picks Fesno State to cover ten and a half?) So how'd I do on the State Championship game? Well, the pick, Servite, panned out. Though the line my good friend and fellow '00 alum Patrick Kinmartin set, which I took to cover, was seven. That didn't work out so well thanks to Mr. Cummings from Rocklin and a stagnant Friar offense in the second half.

So let's regroup and get serious. Three pretty exciting games, and they should only be getting better. I'm finally getting enjoyment out of college football and am ready to distance myself from you, Dufresne!

MAACO Las Vegas Bowl: 12/22/09 5pm, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Oregon State (8-4) vs Brigham Young University (10-2), OSU by 2.5

The knock on the 10-2 Cougars is that the only decent teams they played beat them. They lost to TCU and Florida State. Then again, they are coming off a huge, grudge match win against instate rival Utah. Oregon State went from a potential Rose Bowl birth to one of the more inconsequential PAC-10 bowls. The Beavers have some big wins and close losses in the best conference around.

The pick: BYU-I hate taking Mormons here, or anywhere for that sake, but Oregon State is way too trendy. Plus, they've seemed to play down to their opponents, and them Mormons are always looking for someone willing to let them in.

The line: I'll take the points.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl: 12/23/09 5pm, San Diego, CA, USA
California (8-4) vs Utah (9-3), Cal by 3

Our second straight PAC-10/MWC matchup. I really thought that the Golden Bears had the goods to make a run at the National Championship. They started the season strong before back to back drubbings by Oregon and USC. Nevertheless, they showed signs of life amid much inconsistency. Utah, probably the best team in the nation last year, had a tough time of it in a top heavy Mountain West. TCU beat them bad, and BYU, as mentioned, took care of business for second place in the last week of the season. The Utes also lost to Oregon, only not as bad as Cal. Do you see where this is going?

The pick: Utah-I feel this game is going to be pure, offensive madness. I even thought about heading down there for it. We'll see.

The line: I'll take the points, should I be so confident.

Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl: 12/24/09 5pm, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA
Nevada (8-4) vs Southern Methodist University(7-5), Nevada by 12.5

First off, this line is ridiculous. Second, the Wolfpack are for real. This is a team that started the season 0-3, with losses to our Golden Domers, Colorado State, and Missouri. Then they straight up handled business in their conference, which, yeah, was weak. They ended the season with a tough loss to America's sweatheart, Boise State, 44-33. SMU is a feel good story what with June Jones leading his Mustangs to a Bowl game in his second season as coach. And what Bowl game does it happen to be? The Hawai'i Bowl, where he used to coach the Warriors.

The pick: Nevada-Take that, Dufresne! SMU struggled in a down C-USA (basically because Rice was rebuilding) and Nevada made a living winning eight straight against teams just like this.

The line: I cannot believe I took Fresno to cover. That was so silly of me. I've learned my lesson, I'll take the points on this one.

Third Annual Complete College Footbal Bowl Game Breakdown

2009-12-19T03:22:00.000-08:00

A bit of a down year, no? Rice goes from 10 wins a season ago to two this year, Wake Forrest cannot remember how to play defense, and Notre Dame, well, I haven't heard too much about them. Anyway, all of this made the fact that USC sucked not nearly as enjoyable. Why do I like college football again?

But let's not let that all get us down. Remember the good times? Golden Tate (RIP) put on a show just about every week, none better than when he leaped into the Michigan State Band after coming down with an impressive over the shoulder catch. We're all sure that J is sad to see Riley Skinner go, though he has to be thankful for the seasons and success he was a part of down in Winston-Salem. The Pac-10 had a lot of exciting games, most of which I seemed to miss. Tim Tebow nor Colt McCoy won the Heisman. Notre Dame did not hire Bob Stoops. The BC$ worked perfectly. Er, well, let's get to these bowl games and then wash our hands clean of the season, shall we?

New Mexico Bowl: 12/19 1:30pm, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Wyoming (6-6) vs Fresno State (8-4), FSU by 10.5

These teams have taken quite different routes to get where they ended. The Cowboys seemed to hang on to abysmal offense and cross-your-fingers defense to earn the last of the Moutain West bids. They played few challenging teams, were soundly beaten a number of times, are getting little production out of Roy Williams. Shame it cost them a first round pick. So, all around, except for turnover differential, where they shine, Wyoming seems to be outmatched with, well, most anyone. Fresno State played a tough schedule in an ever increasingly good WAC conference with only one game in which they did not perform up to par. The thing you forget about is that Fresno State is a notorious underachiever. This is one of the best on paper matchups. But they don't play this game on paper, they play it in New Mexico. Because sometimes that's what eight wins'll get you.

My Pick: Fresno State-It is well-known that Servite alum Kevin Goessling (you might now not always be remembered) heads the kicking duties for the Bulldogs. How can you pick against Servite this year?

Line: Fresno covers

St. Petersburg Bowl: 12/19 5pm, St. Petersburg, FL, USA.
Rutgers (8-4) vs UCF (8-4), Rutgers by 2.5

Definitely one of the better matchups and a game I think will be quite exciting. The Scarlett Knights of Rutgers have the street cred, though are headed by a lumberjack coach. Plus, can I pick them and expect to get any love from my younger brother? Well, with the UCF team coming out of Conference USA this year, I might not have to. UCF played everyone in conference tough, only stalling against Texas and Miami (kudos for the scheduling). They even outmanned Houston for a big W. Gosh, is this Rice incognito?

My pick: UCF-trendy, to be sure, but it would be a great win for their program. And in a season like this, what do I have against at team like this that I have for a joke of a team like Rutgers?

Line: I will take the points where I can get them, though I would prefer more in a game like this.

R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: 12/20 5:30pm, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Middle Tennessee State (9-3) vs Southern Mississipi (7-5), Southern Miss by 3.5

This game has, in its few years existence, been where the Sun Belt winner goes to play its bowl game. I'm happy to announce that this year the Sun Belt received another bid. A small victory for the "small" schools! MTSU is a good team and has been so consistenlty for a while. They along with Troy seem to battle every year for the Sun Belt title. The Blue Raiders lost to Troy early in the season and that proved to be the difference in the final standings. They are on a roll, winning their last six, and should give a splotchy Golden Eagles team a steady dose of their running attack. Do not discount Southern Miss and their ability to stay in games. Or do discount it, I'm not going to hate you for it. This battle of schools that like to give you a general reference point as to their location and feel the need to qualify their mascot with a color might be a pleasant alternative to whatever meaningless game that other football collective throws at us Sunday night.

My Pick: Middle Tennessee State University-Definitely going with my heart here, but it surely won't be a huge upset should it occur. The people milling about in the center of Tennessee would love this early Christmas present.

Line: I'll take the points and look for a bit more liberal sports betting site when I come back at you guys next time.

The Angels stove warming up.

2009-12-18T19:57:00.000-08:00

I figured I might as well post a quick shout out to my Halos. There have been plenty of baseball moves going on lately, and the Angels name has been out there. First off, we lost John Lackey (this, of course, happened after we lost Chone Figgins to the M's). Then, we signed Hideki Matsui (seen left wearing a Jeff DaVannon jersey). So, let's break down the offseason so far.

Quickly with Chone Figgins. We all knew that Figgy had to go. Despite having a career year last year (keeping in mind his horrible post season), there was no way that the Angels were going to keep Figgy on board. I'm okay with the decision, although most bandwagoners aren't. Figgins was fine, don't get me wrong, but eventually a team has to move forward, and the time has come. We've been waiting for Brandon Wood to be that guy, and in 2010 he'll finally be put to the test. Keep your fingers crossed that he doesn't end up like Dallas McPherson. Of course, losing Figgy to the Mariners (especially when they get Cliff Lee) wasn't great. The word from the franchise is that Aybar will lead off, with Wood starting at third (and Izzy waiting in the wings if anyone let's up). I wish Figgins the best of luck in 2010 and beyond, but I'm not really upset about his obvious departure.

Sad news about Jose Arredondo, as he has be let go by the Angels. Word on the street is that he has to get season ending Tommy John surgery even before Spring Training, and that led to the Angels deciding to let him walk from the team. 'Dondo was always this guy who we had high hopes for, especially after his huge 2008, but things went south in '09 and beyond. The saddest part was that 'Dondo just got stabbed in the DR. It's rough to see a guy go downhill so fast.

Something that no one has been talking about in Angels Nation is that the Angels also allowed Matt "The Immortal" Brown to walk away to free agency. Matt Brown, always touted as better than Brandon Wood on this blog, would have been a perfect backup plan if Woody sucks, but the Angels passed on that. Farewell Brown. I guess we could always nab you back like we did with JR.

Alright, let's get to the Lackey issue. I can't remember a player who I supported so much when he was with the team, who I completely started to hate after he left the squad. Usually I just miss players who take off, but I am so disgusted by the Lackey deal I can't stand it. We're talking about a guy who threw at the head of Teixiera and mouthed "you should have stayed here." Now, he's off to play for one of our mortal enemies. A team that we finally beat in the playoffs last year. Then, in his press conference in Bean Town, he has the balls to say, "I always wanted to be with the Red Sox. This is a dream come true." Screw you Lackey. You're a traitor, you always will be, and you will never be forgiven for your decision. And no, I'm not dumb. I know that baseball is a business and all about the money, but I don't care. This Big Texan turned his back on us, and we will always remember (it's like the Angels' 9/11). With our rotation looking like: Weaver, Saunders, Santana, Kazmir, and a Pitcher to be named later, I still like our chances. While we could replace Benadict Arnold with homegrowns like Matt Palmer, Sean O'Sullivan, and Trevor Bell, I think I'm pulling for the latest rumor of Ben Sheets off the free agent market. Of course, even newer rumors linking us to Derek Lowe and Javier Vasquez from Atlanta, but I'm still pulling for Sheets. Adios Lackey, you bitch.

Almost simultaneously with the Red Sox/Lackey presser, the Angels introduced their new free agent acquisition, Hideki "Hits With His Eyes Closed" Matsui. G-dzilla was brought over to the Angels to take over for departing Vlad Guerrero (who, despite leaving, isn't going to get ink on this post because it was too obvious...to the Rangers?) as our DH. The Yomiuri Giants slugger was the World Series MVP last season, hitting over .600, and after the success of Bobby Abreu, I'm thinking positive thoughts about this latest one year deal. Reagins has been playing it smart, getting small deals on aging sluggers, and it paid off last year, so hopefully this year as well. This fool is a .292/140/597 career hitter (AVG/HR/RBI), but had his worse season in his career in 2009, despite his solid World Series performance. With Mats, our outfield would be JR, Hunter, and Abreu with our newbie at DH, according to the Angels website (I know GMJ wants out, but he's still here, right?). Here's the deal with my feelings on G-dzilla. I've always maintained that every baseball fan has the right to hate one player on their team. However, I've noticed that when it comes to the Canucks, Notre Dame, and others (my favorite teams), I support every player on my teams because they are officially a true Canuck, Fighting Irish, etc. I've decided that I'm going to do that with baseball. Undying support for anyone on the Angels, no matter what. That is the true way to be a fan, and I was being stupid before. You're lucky, Napoli. Welcome aboard, Matsui.

A quick message for Tony Reagins: Just resign Darren Oliver. He's an oldie but goodie. Although, it will be interesting having Scot Shields back in '10 (remember him?).

It will be exciting to see where the Angels go from here as we approach Spring Training and the new season. I'll just go on record now to say that the Angels will win the AL West, and that just because the M's got Lee, Figgins, and Bradley, they will not push hard for the division title. Remember I said that.

The state of the 17-14-0 Canucks.

2009-12-11T13:23:00.000-08:00

Big ups to Brandon for breaking the Davises/Do 3,000,003 day post strike!

After the Canucks bested the Atlanta Thrashers at home last night (thank you NHL On The Fly for the highlights on my DVR this morning) with a nice 4-2 win, I decided it was time to explore where this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team are at after 31 games (and with 51 to go). Coach Alain Vigneault has gone out into the media saying that he never knows which Blue & Green team is going to show up on the ice, and the fans have become well aware of that fact as we work toward the midway point of the season. Last night, it was Daniel Sedin showing the rest of the squad that he's still the goal scoring boss that we missed while he was on the DL, scoring a gigantic hat trick (the third of his career). Roberto Luongo was straight up solid between the pipes, with the only two goals coming on rebounds (one he had absolutely no chance of getting). One amazing steal with the glove, a couple of sweet fights (Glass and Ryp), and a tip in goal by Ma$e rounded out a beautiful victory over this Eastern squad.

Orca Nation has become frustrated with the ups and downs this season. For example, on our last roadie, we beat New Jersey and Philly by a combined score of 8-2 before losing to the NHL worst Carolia and a Nashville squad by a combined score of 9-5. The first two teams hold a record of 35-21-1, the last two teams are sitting at 25-29-7. Fans around the Nation were disappointed with the way the trip ended, and a bunch of people started jumping of the bandwagon, bailing after a couple of little bumps. We were able to come home and get things back the way we needed with last night's win, with one Canuck blog going with the headline "We finally have a pulse," but the question I want to answer is: What should we expect from this team as the season goes forward? My answer? Playoffs.

Now it's time to prove all the doubters wrong. As I type, the Canucks are #9 in the West, tied with Columbus, and just 1 point back of playoff basement dwellers, Dallas. Hopefully that means it won't be too hard to make my point. People seem to be low on the Vannies this year, and it is really because of their away record sitting at 6-10-0. However, at the Garage my boys are 11-4-0! The only Western Conference team with a better home record this season are the (blech) Chicago Blackhawks (ranked #2 in the West). We're dominating in the Pacific Northwest, and we don't seem to be letting up, if recent results indicate anything. Meanwhile, the Vannies have a goal differential of +16. Are you ready for the list of top 8 teams that have a worse goal differential? #4 Los Angeles, #5 Colorado, #6 Nashville, #7 Phoenix, and #8 Dallas. We're top 3 material! In terms of players, Henrik Sedin (picking up the slack for his recently returning brother) is #2 in the Western Conference when it comes to points (just -4 of Joe Thorton). Something you don't know is that newbie Canuck (and recently traded for on my NHL2K10 Wii game) Christian Ehrhoff leads the Western Conference in +/- with his +16 rating this year.

Of course, there are a couple of things that make me think twice. The Canucks are ranked #1 in the West for team penalty minutes. This has been a problem I've been talking about all season long. When you are ranked #26 out of 30 teams in killing penalties (which the Canucks are), you really can't afford to be the most penalized team in your entire Conference. Are you kidding me? Show some freaking discipline.

So, you take the good that I talked about, and mix it in with the bad, and what do you think? Here's what I think. The Canucks have been an up and down team all season. The reasons are that the offense is solid, which keeps us in a lot of games, but the special teams have been lacking, which when combined with a ton of penalties, takes us out of a lot of games. In the end, the reason I think we're going to start playing better (meaning, more consistently) pretty soon is because I think we have yet to see the best that Roberto Luongo has to offer here in '09/'10. Our masked captain has a 2.42 GAA this season in his first 24 games. Over every season since he has been with Vancouver (starting in 2006, if you can believe it), he has had a lower GAA. Last year he was 2.34, 2.38 in 2007/2008, and 2.28 in his first season in Vancouver. Even his save percentage is worse this year (.915 vs. .920 last year). He is going to turn things around and bring more consistency to this squad in the games to come. He'll average out to his usual top goalie in the West kind of stuff, and that'll carry this team to a hefty playoff spot. With my thoughts that Colorado will still come crashing down eventually, I'm going with the 'Nucks finishing at least 5th in the West this year. Mark it down.

So, Canucks fans, stay faithful as we march forward. While we'll continue to have ups and downs here in the season, we are overall on a path forward and to the playoffs. Have confidence, have faith, and enjoy the puck.

It is a Bad TIme to be a Dodgers Fan

2009-12-10T12:45:00.000-08:00

I hate to break the streak with a miserable post like this, but then again, what is the name of the site? The Dodgers are ruining themselves and I'm not just talking about the McCourt fiasco that I've payed next to no attention to (at least the specifics). What I have been noticing is that it has already affected the Dodgers and will continue to for years to come. As Tommy mentioned, the Dodgers "lost" Randy Wolf today. I've always really liked the guy, but an even better reason we should have kept him was that he was good. Not the best, Kershaw is clearly better, cheaper and locked up longer. Billingsley is probably better, too, though Torre worked wonders on that kid's confidence last year (see also Orlando Hudson) so we'll have to see next year.

The fucking [sic] debacle here is the fact that the Dodgers had chances. The Dodgers could have offered Wolf arbitration, landed him for 8 million (super cheap for a quality pitcher) or received draft picks (first round and supplemental) if he signed elsewhere. Even now it is reported that Wolf would have re-signed, had we had the drive, for 2 years/14-16M. But clearly this McCourt thing is affected every penny spent. What is also just as bad is that we didn't tender Hudson (first round and supplemental if he signed elsewhere). In fact, the Dodgers had a chance to tender four Tpye B free agents and they offered arbitration to none. That's a potential 4 second round and 4 supplemental picks. Putting all this together that is 10 total first two round draft picks lost. And no one will remember because we're going to be good next year, and probably the year after.

Just please sign Matt Kemp to a multi-year deal, or put me out of my misery......

The LSF's Twitter Focus.

2009-11-30T21:48:00.001-08:00

So here is the deal: I'm crazy busy as Karen and I continue to get ready to be parents. Because of that, I've had a really tough time finding opportunities to drop my usual long posts on the LSF. And because of that, I've started upping my LSF Twitter usage because it's fast and easy to do directly as things happen from my phone. It's great for me because I can drop my opinions quickly, and I found a way to get the Twitter posts to show up on the top of the traditional LSF blog, which is great for all of our loyal readers.

Of course, the LSF will never go down, so this blog will continue to run on until my first born son can take over the posting someday, and I (along with the other LSF authors) will continue to drop posts as often as possible. However, my main focus will probably be dropping micro posts through the LSF Twitter feed. Hope you enjoy.

'Nucks lose a serious LSF rivalry.

2009-11-24T20:14:00.000-08:00

When the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks get together, things are crazy. The latest version of this highly contested LSF rivalry went down Sunday night and ended with a 0-1 loss for the good guys. It was a pitching duel that had plenty of action (cross sports reference!), plenty of fighting (as usual between these two teams), and a Chicago backup out dueling Roberto Luongo.

Despite losing to a team I've grown to hate since last year's playoffs, there were some positives to take away:

1) The defense was finally here! We shut out a fairly decent team through 41:12 of game time, and that is something to be proud of. Our mighty captain finished with 16 saves on 17 shots, which highlights the fact that the Vancouver defense was on point during the game, keeping the Hawks out of the zone. The shots were 6-7-4 period-by-period, and that kind of shows how the Orca really should have been in control, being that we put 30 on Niemi.

2) Alex Burrows led the way as the beast of the game. My main man AB put 7, count 'em 7, shots on goal in the game, really trying to tickle the twine. While Niemi was somehow able to keep him out, he led the way in the shot department for either team, and made me proud with the effort. On a team with plenty of talent at the LW position (AB, Mason, and Daniel Sedin-welcome back, by the way), Burrows continues to stand out as much more than the "pest" title that NHL Network would have you believe.

In a tight loss, of course, the negatives outweigh the pluses:

1) Nothing on the power play. Despite all of the calls handed out, Vancouver finished 0 for 2 on the man advantage in the game. Going up against the likes of Chicago, we have to make good on the advantages, and we just didn't. The Twins need to be under the spotlight in these situations now that they're back together.

2) Giveaways. This is something I've been harping on all season. The Vannies gave the puck away 9 times to the Hawk's 5. Giveaways have been a big problem for BC this season. Injuries to solid passers may be one excuse, but everyone is pretty much back now (save Po Po), and we need to be hanging on to the puck a little better.

3) Henrik failing us in the circle. The usually solid H-Bomb won just 54.5% of his face offs in the game (compared to the second line center, Ryan Kesler, wining 9 out of 12). Our top line is going to have go earn that puck when is drops, because possession makes all the difference in the world. Looking up and down their lineup, Chicago isn't really an amazing team in the circle this season, and we should have been taking advantage.

The loss really puts a halt to the Canucks plans of getting the season off the ground a little bit. The narrow defeat has us a 12-11-0 (24 points, and still racist against overtime losses) still has us searching for our identity this year. Are we destined to be a team that just kind of floats through the season around .500, hoping to get hot enough at the end to earn a #8 spot into the playoffs? I hope not, because that would be pretty infuriating. Either be good or be bad so I can enjoy the season with less stress, in my opinion. The Canucks have a couple of key games the remainder of this Thanksgiving weekend to try and gain that identity we sorely miss. Thanksgiving evening we battle the 13-9-2 LA Kings. The Kings are a -2 in goal differential, while the Vannies sit +7. LA came storming out of the gates before falling a little flat, but they are still quite the dangerous team. While we have a sickly looking 9-11-0 record against the West, they play at an 8-6-2 clip, showing the can get up for big games. With the weekend wrapping up with back-to-back games against Edmonton (-1 of the 'Nucks in the table) and the San Jose Sharks (16-5-4, leading the Pacific), my boys are going to have to have some spot on play if they have any hope of being one back of division leading Colorado (currently +7 on the Canucks) by the time I return from my trip up North.

Let's hope they can do it.

Weekly football post #62.

2009-11-22T16:40:00.000-08:00

Why not go for 62? Well, it's not all good news, that's one reason why. We go on, in spite of all that.

Fountain Valley didn't hold up their end of the Friar/Baron pact this weekend, falling out of the Pac-5 playoffs with a 24-431 defeat at the hands of Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (Servite, meanwhile, held up their end of the bargain and go against LB Poly next week). After opening the season 8-0, FV finished poorly, with two straight losses. The bow out in the playoffs against ND was expected. In the loss, Kyle Middlebrooks had a 50 yard TD run, a 57 yard TD run, and a 6 yard TD run. But he was doing all the work, and it wouldn't be enough. In the end, it was a big second and fourth quarter for Sherman that knocked us out. KM finished with a strong 273 on the ground, but despite that big time performance, we are left wanting more in 2010. Hopefully we can finished as strong as we start next time around. Farewell Barons of '09.

Speaking of teams who has given up, how about Notre Dame. They started with high promise, despite losses to Michigan and USC, and then decided to give up on the season starting with the Navy game. The latest installment of the pain and suffering at South Bend was a 30-33 OT loss to former Irish backup QB Zac Frazer and the UConn Huskies. The loss has media all over the world calling for Weis' head at ND, with ESPN guaranteeing that he won't be back on the side line in 2010. That may be, but for know we have a season to finish. ND started strong, with Golden Tate (8 yard TD pass) and Jimmy Clausen (1 yard TD run) pushing us ahead by 14 part way into the second, and we were able to hold on for a 14-10 lead at the half. Should have been a time for slight adjustments, and an easy stroll to a win, right? Well, after getting a rare Irish FG we went up 17-10, and were feeling good. Then, Jordan Todman went 96 yards on the kickoff to send us to the fourth quarter tied at 17. Trading field goals, the Irish marched into OT with their heads down, and it showed. In the second over time, David Ruffer nailed his third field goal, and then the Irish couldn't stop the Huskies. It was over. I mean, our chances at a solid season have been over since losing to Navy in reality, but you'd think we would have at least played the season out, right? Jimmy "Hopefully Going Pro" Clausen finished 30/45 for 239 and 2 TD, Armando Allen Jr. went 24 carries for just 106 yards (and added 64 in the air), and the Golden/Floyd combo went 227 yards on 17 catches for 2 TDs. Of course, the glaring questions were on defense. Defense!!! The loss drops Charlie's Irish to 6-5 on the year, a pitiful penultimate record after such a promising start, and the final week of the season isn't looking pretty. The Domers will line up against the surprising Stanford (7-4). The Tree have come away with some shocking wins this year, and Notre Dame will have to have Jesus on their side (providing some divine intervention) to have any kind of chance against this year's West Coast Wonders. I'll be in Nor Cal for the weekend, so hopefully I can bring some ND love to the situation.

Despite Kurt Warner getting knocked out of the game for the Cards this weekend, the Rams still found a way to love 13-21. Keep in mind that this happened also despite the fact that Arizona didn't score a single second half point. Can the Rams actually be this bad? Steven Jackson did all he could, getting 116 yards on 24 carries to turn in his fourth straight 100+ yard rushing game after a poor start, but like Kyle Middlebrooks, he couldn't do it all. Marc Bulger again left us wanting more, going 19/37 for 215 yards 0 TDs and 1 INT. When will we give up? Like we talked about this weekend, maybe if the Rams draft Jimmy Clausen in next year's draft. I would cry out loud. The receiving duties were split among three, with Avery, Gibson, and Amendola getting 65, 61, and 61 respectively. Amendola is an underrated Texas Tech graduate, who can hopefully bring us a little bit of hope. Despite all the hoping, though, the Rams are 1-9 on the season (outscored 113-270 in their ten games). Next week they go up against the second worst team in the NFC West in the Seahawks (3-7). This could be a chance to steal win #2, especially with the Hawks being 0-5 on the road. You must protect this house!

The BC Lions finally figured out that they didn't belong in the Grey Cup Playoffs this weekend, with a rough 18-56 loss to Montreal. The Grey Cup will now be a battle between Montreal and the Rough Riders. Should be a good game. Can Jon's Sask's take it all? The Lions 3rd string QB, Casey Printers, went just 20 for 40 for 234 yards, and amazingly, Martell Mallett ran for just 6 rushes and 5 yards. What the hell happened? No receivers went over 100 for BC, and it was just an all around horrible outing. But, with the season we had, and all the injuries we've suffered, I'm just proud that we made it this far. We'll see-F-L you next season.

In the soccer world, Celtic got tripped up by Dundee 1-2 off of a 90th minute goal. The Celts took the lead on a Barry Robson penalty in the 72nd minute, only to have in cancelled 11 minutes later by the Crocs. Then, when things were getting down to business, just brief moments away from a respectable draw, Darren Dods came away with a 90th minute winner for the bad guys. It's a tough loss for Lukasz Zaluska in net for the Hoops, but they simply didn't have the pressure of Dundee to make good on the game. We also got called for offsides 4 times to Dundee getting the flag just once. The loss actually dropped us behind the Protties of Rangers by 1 point, at 7-2-3 (24 points). 1 freaking point back of Rangers! Ahhhhh!!! Next week it's a battle with St. Mirren (3-5-4, 13 points). Should be a much easier game than this week against Dundee (22 points), but we need Mowbray to focus the boys on getting this easy win done right.

Newcastle United still hasn't played yet this weekend, as they set up for a big Monday Night battle against Preston North End. This should be Newcastle's last game without brand new signing Fabrice Pancrate. Pancrate is a 29 year old Frenchie who signed with the Magpies on November 14 and will be rocking the #21 jersey, and he put in 12 goals in his last 5 seasons (spent mostly with Paris Saint-Germain). Can this Winger bring us some luck to push forward to the EPL after this season? Well, without him we're 3-2 over our last 5 and Preston are 1-2-2 over their last 5. A win would put us back into the #1 spot in the ELC table. Come on boys!

As you know, Chivas USA isn't doing much outside of having picnics at Mile Square Park this weekend. This shocking MLS Cup match gets under way in about 15 mintues, as the hated LA Galaxy go head to head with the shocking Real Salt Lake. Between those two teams, who most of Goat Nation hate with a passion, how can you choose? F the MLS Cup this year.

The G's, the C's, and the Irish.

2009-11-19T20:40:00.000-08:00

It's hoop time my babies.

We'll start with my Mighty UCSB Gauchos (who, by the way, have updated their website to amazing reviews). UCSB went head to head against Weber State earlier this week, earning their second win of the season in as many games. This time around it was a 66-57 victory at the Thunderdome that had the Gaucho faithful rocking. Sophomore Seaside, CA native Orlando Johnson was amazing, earning the double double. OJ had 19 points and 10 boards in the game, going 6/11 from the field including two trees. Laguna Beach native (I swear he used to be from RSM) Jaime Serna made us all proud with 9 points in the game, and that was matched off the bench by super senior Paul Roemer. We're 2-0 on the year, and go up against USF on Monday before getting a family battle on against my cousin's LMU Lions.

Notre Dame welcomed Long Beach State into South Bend today, and came out with an 82-62 win, just a straight drubbing. My main man Luke Harangody put up 29 points to lead the Irish with 12 boards in the win. He was helped out greatly by Michigan's Tory Jackson (13), Senior Ben Hansbrough (11), and junior sub Tim Abromaitis (11). This team needs to strike this season, as many of the Irish are Seniors this time around. Can this be the year Notre Dame fans have been waiting for? Well, we're off to a 3-0 start, with our next game Sunday against 1-3 Liberty. Let's keep it rolling before we get into difficult conference play.

Finally, the Austin Celtics bested Golden State yesterday with a big 109-95 win to keep myself pretty happy when it comes to the NBA. Paulie was the leading scorer with 19 points, with five of his best buddies getting in double digits as well. Rondo, finally happy with the team, got 18 for himself, K-Perk and Ray Allen each had 15, and KG was big with 12 points and 6 boards. OFf the bench it was everyone's favorite sub Eddie House getting himself 11. The underrated player of the day is Rasheed Wallace and his +8 rating to go along with his 8 points. The C's are 9-3, leading the Atlantic Division by 3.5 games and get the Magic (also 9-3) as a huge test tomorrow night. The Big P may lead the team with 18.4 points per game, but he's listen as day to day on the injury list as I type, and that may present a problem against a solid team as Orlando. Of course, we're all waiting for 12/27/09 when we go head to head with the Clippers for the greatest rivalry in all of sports.

Meanwhile, the Canucks go for part 2 of their extended home in home series against the Avs tomorrow night. Can we build off of our 8-2 win last Saturday?

Weekly football post #61.

2009-11-15T14:19:00.000-08:00

It may have been 124 days since Brandon, Jon, or Andrew has dropped a post on the LSF, but we're still keeping the weekly football post in full action. Again, though, it isn't going to be pleasant.

After starting the season 8-0, the Fountain Valley High School Barons went out with a thud. One week after their perfect season ended against Edison, the Barons fell again to Los Al to end the season. The 22-31 defeat handed Baron fans an 8-2-0 record here in 2009, and a playoff berth, but don't you feel left wanting more. I guess that depends on what happens in the playoffs. Despite losing, Kyle Middlebrooks was still the main attraction, scoring 3 TDs, including a 58 yard TD run and an even more exciting 57 yard punt return for a TD. He finished with 176 yards on the ground and 16 through the air to end the regular season. Dominic Rag Time Band threw for 66 in the game, but Los Alamitos stood tall and beat us down. The Pac-5 playoffs are upon us, and as we look at things we discover that we have a potential semifinal matchup between the Barons and the Servite Friars. Wouldn't that be special? We have a lot of winning to do before that happens, though. Fountain Valley will open the playoffs up against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks (is that a sign?) next Friday. A win would get us into the Quarterfinals against either Mission Viejo (bring it) or Long Beach Wilson (eek). Meanwhile, Servite goes up against San Clemente and would have to face either Los Al or Long Beach Poly if they get a win. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. Focus on the first round against Notre Dame. Go Barons!

Speaking of Notre Dame, Jimmy Clausen continued the "I'm not going to be that special QB you were hoping for" tour in Pitt this weekend. The #12 Panthers beat up on the Irish way more than the score would have you believe, winning with the final of 27-22. Of course, the Irish were down 9-27 with 12:44 remaining before getting a receiving touchdown from Golden Tate and a punt return TD from Golden Tate. Then, with the defense stepping up, JC and the Irish got the ball back with over 3 minutes remaining down by 5. The final drive should have been a drive of glory, another chance for our Junior QB to have the type of game that makes a collegiate career. The type of game that fans talk about long after you've left for the money of the NFL. Instead, it played out this way: 1) 5 yard pass to Armando Allen, 2) 8 yard pass to Allen (so far, so good), 3) 9 yard pass to Golden Tate, 4) A penalty on that play for a clear chop block that set us back 15 yards (so here is the adversity on the drive, how can we deal with it?), 5) Incomplete pass under pressure, 6) An attempt to force a throw as he's getting taken down again which fell incomplete, only to be reviewed and changed into a fumble, game over. First of all, if you read the LSF Twitter page, you would know that I couldn't believe they changed the ruling to a fumble, because I was pretty sure that they shouldn't have been able to do that in that situation. Second of all, is it Jimmy or our offensive line that has seemed to collapse lately when we have a chance to march down and win it all? Both? Either way, we were outplayed for the majority of the game, and would have never had the comeback chance if not for the amazing Golden Tate (please don't leave early). In the end, Clausen still left us all scratching our heads, wondering if he's the right guy for the job after almost 3 complete years in the books. JC finished with a 27/42 evening for 283 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Armando Allen, back in action, led rushers with 14 carries for 77 yards (the next closest was Golden Tate with 2 yards, which may shed light on the reason we lost). Tate and Floyd picked up the slack for missing Rudolph, with Tate getting 113 yards on 9 catches (as well as 101 yards returning on 2 punts) and Floyd getting 107 yards on 7 catches (included a sweet 45 yarder on a 4th and 1). Can I also point out the latest attempt for a field goal kicker, David Ruffer, isn't any good either? What's with Notre Dame not getting any solid kickers over the last 3 years? Either way you break it down, it was a loss, and the Irish are now 6-4 on the season after such high hopes (even up until the Navy loss). We have 2 games remaining on the schedule. Next week we go against Connecticut (4-5 and a hopefully easy win), and the following weekend we finish up against the recently dangerous Stanford (some how 7-3 after wins against Oregon and SC). A couple of last minute things: 1) Can we stop believing the hype created by ESPN about how Charlie Weis is on the hot season? They will easily give him at least 1 more year to prove he can right the ship with his own recruits, probably more. I don't like some of his decisions either, but let's stop pretending he's playing for his job every week. 2) Explain to me how a 7-3 USC team (with loses to Washington, Oregon, and Stanford) are still ranked 22nd in the Nation. Same goes for Clemson at #18, and even really Stanford being #14 at 7-3. Also, don't look now, but we have 6 undefeated teams.

The Rams had me so excited this weekend, I was dropping "tweets" at halftime because we were tied with the Saints and I started to believe in magic. The thing about magic, though, is that you always know it's fake . Still a 23-28 loss to the undefeated Saints isn't really anything to be upset about. The Rams were tied 14-14 at the half, and only trailed 21-17 after three, but the Saints were able to overcome their mistakes and hold off my poor little Horned Helmets. Reggie "George W." Bush scored two TDs in the game, which was matched by Donnie Avery of the home team. Marc "I used to be Catholic" Bulger had easily his best game of the season, going 26/40 for 298, 2 TDs, and 1 INT, and a combination of Steven Jackson's best game of the year (131 yards on 26 carries and 1 TD) and a couple receivers finally joining the party led to the Rams solid loss. German national Brandon Gibson came in at WR and earned 92 yards on 7 catches to show us something new, and Donnie Avery added in 67 yards and 2 TD catches to help keep things as close as any of us could have hoped. There was never really any chance that we'd beat a team of the Saints' caliber, of course, but losing by just 5 is a win to Ram Nation. At 1-8-0, and the dregs of the NFC West, we get ready for a matchup with the division's #1 team next Sunday as the Cardinals roll into town. Arizona is 5-3-0, despite currently losing to the Seahawks 7-17 in the 2nd quarter as I type. A win would be a complete shocker, so don't bet on it.

To CFL news, the BC Lions shocked all of Canada with a 34-27 overtime win against the Hamilton Tiger Cats in the first round of the playoffs this weekend. Third string QB and TCU grad Casey Printers hit Grey Cup Champion Ian Smart on an 8 yard TD pass to earn the dramatic win for the Orange and Black. It was just the second play of the extra session, and it sealed the deal for a continued run toward the Grey Cup. Hamilton scored late in the fourth quarter to force OT, which is surprising because nobody expected the Lions to put up much of a fight with their two top QBs on the DL. In the end, Printers went 24-35 for 360 yards and a TD, Arkansas Pine Bluff grad Martell Mallett (same hometown as Torii "Silver Slugger" Hunter) went 11 rushes for 68 yards, and Alcorn St. alumn Arceneaux (120) and University of Maryland all-time WR Geroy Simon (111) went big on the receiving end. The Lions now prepare for next week's Semifinal matchup against the Montreal Alouettes (who finished 15-3-0 in the regular season). Somehow, we're just 1 win away from the Grey Cup!

Not much to report for Tony Mowbray's Celtic side. With the week off, the Hoops are looking toward next weekend's clash with Dundee to continue to solidify their top spot in the SPL (+2 on Rangers currently). In other news, it was officially voted on by the EPL that Celtic and Rangers will not be allowed to move into England's top division "at this time, or at any point in the future," despite rumors that the move would be happening in 2010. I'm fine with the decision because the SPL is more fun anyway.

Newcastle also had the week off after beating Peterborough United last weekend 3-1. The Magpies await next Monday night's clash against Preston North End to try and solidify their spot in the top of the ELC (+2 on West Brom). It's so much nicer to have the Toon on top. In other news, rumors are swirling about Sol Campbell coming to play for the Bar Codes by Christmas. The former Totts and Arsenal player could be a welcomed addition.

With Chivas USA's season over, there is nothing to report for on the pitch action. However, it has been reported that Head Coach Preki has decided to part ways with the Red & White with his contract expiring. Surely his successful tenure will garner him some attention from organizations around the soccer world, not just the MLS, and you can't blame him for hitting the road. Chivas is reporting that their search for their next (and fifth ever) head coach begins now.

In brief: Guadalajara lost 0-1 to Cruz Azul this weekend, after a 90th minute goal from Cruz's Emanuel Villa. Unbelievable to give up a game winning goal that late. The real Chivas are now 5-8-4 on the sorry season, trailing Toluca by 16 points. The season is over in Mexico, believe it or not, with the next campaign starting January 16th. No more Chivas at all? Ay yi yi! In Ireland, Sligo took care of business with a 3-1 win over lowly Drogheda this weekend. The win helps the Bit O' Red finish in the #6 spot in the Ireland Premier League, a very respectable spot for my boys. Their season is also officially over. Finally, Lazio also took the week off in Italy, with next week's match going against Mike Napoli. Napoli (5-4-3) are far better than Lazio (2-5-5) this year, but we'll hope for the best.

I liked this story from Sports Pickle.

Enjoy your week.

Kaboom! Canucks blow Avs up.

2009-11-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

You've got to be kidding me! The Vancouver Canucks completely destroyed the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night 8-2, putting all of the Northwest Division on notice. A solid Luongo outing, Henrik Sedin's first career hat trick, and four third period goals dropped the snow ball on those Colorado jokers. Positives far outweigh the negatives tonight, as we blasted our losing streak with authority:

1) It has to be Henrik. H-Bomb Sedin came out with his best offensive game in his career. Too bad Daniel wasn't on the ice to celebrate with him (well, he probably would have stolen a couple of those goals!). Hank scored at 1:57 and 7:09 of the first period (with Mason helping out on both), and then brought the cheap hats from the fans at 12:53 of the third on the power play (again, with help from Ma$e) to seal the deal. He dominated tonight, scoring his 3 goals on just 4 shots, despite winning just 44.4% of his face offs. Nicely done, my boy.

2) Roberto Luongo. We knew that we needed the real return of El Roberto to pull us out of this recent slump, and we got it tonight. Despite being handed a gigantic lead (4-0 after 40 minutes), Roberto held strong, allowing just 2 goals on 32 shots (94.1% saved) to earn the huge win against the division leaders. He looked sketchy between the pipes since coming back from his injury, at best, but was unbelievable tonight. The best offense in the division couldn't do much against him, and he deserves the 6 goal win.

3) +3s abound. I remember posting a recent story where the Canucks didn't have a single player with better than a 0 +/- rating. Tonight, there wasn't a single player in the negative. Special love goes out to the +3s on the night: Christian Ehrhoff, Jannik Hansen, and Ryan Johnson. Talk about an underrated group of guys from the Orca. I can't really think of 3 more underrated players on the team. Very solid.

4) How does Mason Raymond not get hooked up as the 3rd star? Raymond had 3 assists, a +2 rating, and 2 shots on goal in his 16:39 of ice time. He seemed to always be around when Henrik was working his magical hat trick, and he was pretty unheralded by the media after this gigantic win. Of course, again pointing to the fact that Ryan Johnson is underrated, RJ also had 3 assists (and 1 of his patented blocked shots). In the game, there were 13 Vannies with at least a point.

You can't underestimate a huge blowout win against the best team in your division, but let's not let this big win make us too proud. We're still in the middle of a tough stretch, and we still have some negatives to look at before we get Colorado again in 6 days:

1) Too many men on the ice. Remember last season when this was a call we got nailed for all the time? Well, we have finally reached our first too many men call here in the 09/10 campaign. I hate when we get called for this. It is nothing but slacking and poor focus that gets you this penalty. And why does Kyle Wellwood always end up getting to sit in the sin bin when we do it?

2) This is a pretty miniscule gripe, but we still led the game in giveaways (6-5). It didn't really bite us at all tonight, winning by 6 and all, but crisp passing and solid puck handing needs to be the focus for this squad.

The win will take the pressure off of my boys for a least a little bit (at least the next 6 days). At 11-10-0 (22 points) we now trail the Avs (12-5-3) by just 5 points and the Flamers (12-4-2) by just 4. Edmonton (18) and Minnie (15) are still bringing up the rear. After a work week off, the Canucks will get pumped up to go against the Avs at the Garage with a chance to go up 3-1 in the season series, and pull even closer to first place in the division. Colorado, meanwhile, has 2 games to play (on the road against Calgary and Edmonton) before meeting up in Vancouver on Friday. Seems to me like we should have the heavy advantage on 11/20. We'll be well rested and focused, and if the rest of the Northwest can beat up on the Avs during the week, we'll be primed to take our third of the year from them.

Big win. Good stuff. Go Canucks Go.

Canucks fight, but lose third straight.

2009-11-13T14:24:00.000-08:00

The bit of losing is starting to wear on me. I'm thinking, if we can't handle this tiny little road trip (although, our second longest of the year), how are we going to handle this monster coming up with the Olympics in view? This latest in this little losing streak is a 1-3 loss at the hands of the Red Wings. The loss has dropped us back down to .500 puck, and makes a home in home series against the Colorado Avalanche more important that you can even fathom. But, before we get ahead of our selves, let's focus on the positives from last night's loss:

1) Mason Raymond's big goal. I'm not quite sure how Raymond got the puck in the net on this one, just squeezing it between the pads and the post, but it was our lone goal, and it was huge. It was the 8th goal on the year for Ma$e, a power play goal, and it was the only offensive glory we grabbed at the Joe on Thursday night. I love Ma$e, I love the goal.

2) We had 6 less penalty minutes that the Wings! This is pretty huge for my Vannies. One of our major faults this season has been our multiple penalties, especially in the first period. This time around, we just had a goalie interference from Alex Burrows and a well earned 5 minutes for fighting where Rick Rypien completely destroyed Brad May. Why does May always want to fight us? Oh yeah.

3) Ryan Kesler was a born leader. Kes played a hard game, finishing with 1 assist, 4 shots on goal, 2 blocked shots, and 50% of face offs won. Ryan stepped it up when he needed to, and played a solid game at the center position.

Obviously, there were many more negatives, if I can think of them:

1) B Lu. Now let's keep in mind that Roberto gave up 2 goals on 28 shots (the third goal was scored on a crazy empty netter where the puck bounced off the boards and into the open twine). That's a 92.9% save mark, and not too bad. However, we have been without the Amazin' Roberto for quite a while, and we have needed him to return with the kind of game that blows the NHL On The Fly announcers away. We need this homey to show up against Colorado, and put a couple of doughnuts on the board.

2) The literal negative. We didn't have a single player on the ice with a positive rating in this game. The biggest offenders were Kevin Bieksa (-2), Ryan Kesler (-2, which I obviously left out above), Mason Raymond (-2), and Henrik Sedin (-1). For the first three, they were all on the ice when the Vannies scored their only goal, so to have a -2 means they were also on the ice for all three Detroit goals. Rough time, baby.

3) Dub Dub didn't work his magic in the circle. Welly is usually a face off master for the Canucks, but last night he went 5 for 18 (27.8%), which made it hard for his wingers (including Samuelsson) to get going. It all starts with the draw fools.

4) Speaking of Samuelsson, he was a ghost. I made a big deal in my last post about how he needed to step up against his former team to make us wicked proud. His line? 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 +/-, 2 missed shots, 1 blocked shot, and 3 giveaways. Awful. Just plain awful. MS better get back to rolling like he was earlier in the campaign.

The next two games are possibly first half of the year defining kinds of games. The Canucks travel to Colorado on Saturday to take on the red hot Avs and then have a long break before hosting the Avs next Friday (that's a lot of days without hockey!). At 10-10-0 (20 points, and still racist against OTLs), the Orca are trailing the first place Avs (12-4-3) by 7 points. Within the division, we have Calgary (23) above, and Edmonton (18)/Minnie (15) below. If my boys don't start winning, though, they're going to find themselves living in the basement. So far this season, the Canucks and Avs have split 3-0 decisions. Colorado blanked the Vannies in the second game of the season, and then my boys returned the favor with Andrew Raycroft's best performance of the year on November 1. In the most recent edition of the season series, the Canucks got goals from Ma$e, Kesler, and Tanner Glass (his 1st NHL goal), including an amazing 18 save effort from out qualified backup. What will the final be this time around? God, I hope it's a win.

Lu gets in, 'Nucks get smashed.

2009-11-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

When I lost 0-8 to Montreal in NHL 2K10, Karen said, "Sometimes you get blown out. No biggie." I guess that's my message to Orca Nation today, after the Vannies got stoned by St. Louis (who definitely had a grudge) 1-6. Luongo was the backup goalie due to flu like symptoms, but had to make an appearance after Everyday Ray Ray allowed 4 goals on 9 shots (I recored NHL On The Fly just to see this???), and couldn't stop the blue bleeding. We've got some positive and negatives to look at after this disappointing road loss.

1) Roberto is back! I know, I know, he allowed 2 goals on 17 shots (.882 SV%) in his limited return, but he wasn't expecting to be back, and he was getting into a groove before his injury. With him back on the ice, most likely starting on Thursday against the Wings, we are a much better team. I'm glad to have him back.

2) Hank Sedin. It may have been a meaningless goal, when you're down 0-5 in the third, but H-Bomb scored the Canucks first goal of the game just 1:02 into the third period, giving us dreams of a stellar comeback, on an assist from Ryan Kesler. It was Henrik's ninth of the year, team leading, and it at least helped us avoid the goose egg. Hank is ranked 7th in the West in goals, 6th in points.

3) Ryan Kelser was a saving grace. He was one of only two players with a positive +/- rating (joining Ma$on Raymond) and earned the lone assist in the game. He threw two shots in goal, and despite only winning 58% of his face offs, he had a nice game.

When you lose 1-6, you are bound to have some negatives:

1) Where's the defense? Honestly, two of the four goals allowed by Raycroft weren't his fault. The blame should be placed on the defensive players who were just standing there while the Blues made their move in on net. How about these +/- ratings for our defense: Alex Edler (-2), Willie Mitchell (-1), and Sami Salo (-3). You aren't going to win games with those kind of numbers (and let's not allow Steve "Karen's Fav" Bernier's -3 or Alex "Tommy's Fav" Burrows' -3 go unnoticed).

2) Shots on goal in the third. The Vannies put 11 and 10 on goal in the first two periods, but then when they were down 0-5 in the third, with their mighty captain back on the ice, they only shot twice. 2 shots in the entire third period! Are you kidding me? I mean, they did have a 50% shot percentage, but still, give me a break. How are you going to make your fans feel like you never give up if you only shoot twice in the third period while trailing?

3) Penalties. Now, I've been harping on the Canucks for their stupid penalties all season. They have been the least disciplined Vannie team to come around in recent memory, and it isn't all just Shane O'Brien. Keep in mind there was a ton of fighting in tonight's game, but still, the Canucks got called for 68 penalty minutes in the game on 16 calls (STL got called for 44 minutes in the sin bin). On a grip of the fights, we got called for instigators (Bieksa and Hordichuk), sloppy slashes, and just all around bad play. Over-penalized is the theme of the year thus far.

4) Mikael Samuelsson was dead silent. It has seemed that with Mikey doesn't get involved, the Canucks don't win. He has 14 points in 18 games this season (8-6-14), and has been a big part of our offense, with a grip of veteran Vancouverites on the IR. We need him to maintain his consistency, and try and get around 82 points on the season. Hopefully playing against Detroit will get him pumped.

So, at 10-9-0 (20 points) the Canucks aren't having too hot of a time here. With Colorado (26) leading the division, Calgary (23) is also up on us, with Edmonton (18) giving chase, and even Minnie (14) picking it up a little. The point total puts us at 9th in the West, almost a quarter of the way through the season. Game #20 comes tomorrow evening against the Detroit Red Wings (7-5-3, 17 points). Somehow, the Red Wings have been off to a mediocre start here in 2009/2010, and hopefully the Canucks can take advantage of them. Last time around (10/27) my boys lost 4-5, but will look to turn around our recent rough patch (2 straight losses) live in Detroit. Fingers crossed that we beat these commie bastards!!

Weekly football post #60.

2009-11-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that it has been 60 weeks of football posts? Incredibly boring. This one is going to suck.

The Fountain Valley Barons put there undefeated streak on the line against their most bitter rivals, and probably their most difficult challenge, and came out smelling like a pile of dog crap. Edison met with my boys at OCC and won the Bell with a 0-24 blowout that left FVHS students and alumni reeling. The Chargers scored in every quarter (6-7-8-3), and stopped Kyle Middlebrooks and the Barons every inch of the way. Middie finished with a season low 83 yards on the ground, and a horrible -3 yards through the air. Dominic Ragland tossed for just 24 yards in the loss, and the Register picture of the Chargers celebrating with the bell made me sick to my stomach. Damnit! The dream of the CIF Championship isn't over though, just on hold. At 8-1-0, the Barons will try to maintain their solid season against Los Alamitos next Friday. A rebound game after the blowout will put us at 9-1 in the regular season, and really make us proud overall.

Speaking of upsetting losses, Notre Dame got beat 21-23 by Navy this weekend, getting spanked right out of their chances for a thrilling season. Navy completely owned the game, despite only winning by two, as the Irish defense had no answer for the triple option (or the fake handoff to pass to wide open TE that they have the option of every game according to Brandon). In the end a 14 point fourth quarter (really only 7 when Navy was trying) would not be enough for all the mistakes ND made in the game. The Irish were in the red zone three times (one interception, one fumble, and one failure on fourth and goal). Add two missed field goals to that mess, and you are going to lose the game, your season, and your chances of finishing anywhere near being ranked. Bollocks. On the good news side, Michael Floyd was back in style (10 catches for 141 yards and a TD, despite dropping one that could have changed the game) to add to the amazing Golden "I play everywhere on the field" Tate (9 catches for 132 and a sweet onside kick recovery). Jimmy "Please Go Pro" Clausen went 37/51 for 452, 2 TDs and 1 INT, but just wasn't able to step it up when it really mattered. Meanwhile, this fool Dobbs from Navy only made 3 passing attempts (2 completed, 1 being a TD), but ran for 102. I mean, the triple option works in the video game for me, and it worked for Navy in real like on Saturday. Now at 6-3, the Irish have completely lost all hope for a great bowl game, and may lose everything with their season ending against Pitt on the road (the #12 team in the Nation), UConn at home (sneaky good), and Stanford on the road (who just beat Orgeon). This "cake walk" to the end of the season is actually going to be pretty hard. Remember, I predicted 9-3 this year, and it is still in reach. But it won't be easy. Rematch against Navy in the Texas Bowl??

The 1-7 Rams had a bye week!!! Don't worry, we'll get beat by the Saints next week.

BC (8-10) got killed by Edmonton over the weekend in CFL action, 13-45, but still snuck into the playoffs and will open up against Hamilton (9-9) in the opening round. T Cat fans are thinking about rolling through this game, but wouldn't it be cool if BC could shock the CFL world? We don't have a QB, but maybe Martell Mallett could carry us to a shocker. We'll see, as the game gets underway November 15.

Celtic and Falkirk had a thrilling 3-3 game over the weekend, and it was a battle all the way until the end. Caldwell took us out to the lead early in the second half, but the Kirks came marching back to a 61st minute penalty (BS) and a 64th minute goal against Zaluska that gave the jerks the lead. My boy Scottie Mac got back to back goals to thrill the crowd in the 72nd and 79th, and we all thought that the Highlighters had the game in their hands. However, an 83rd minute Falkirk goal cancelled out the excitement of the Aussie's double, and my boys had to settle with just a point. What every happened to the Holy Goalie? We could use him back!! At 7-1-3 (24 points in 11 games), my boys lead the Protties from Rangers by 2 pointsheading into next weekend's matchup with Dundee (5-1-4). We'll need a big win against the Crocs to keep the top of the table.

Meanwhile, Newcastle also posted three goals, in their 3-1 win over Peterborough United. I love playing in the Championship Division. Of course, I know I'm not actually playing, but I feel like I am as a part of Magpie Nation. Jonas Gutierrez, Andy Carroll, and D-Man Danny Simpson carried our boys to victory, with Steven Harper really continuing to come into his own between the pipe. It was a 3-0 lead until Pete scored in the 79th, but obviously that wouldn't be enough. Goals in the 15th, 18th, and 52nd were too much for those boneheads to handle, and the Barcodes wiped the pitch with them. At 10-3-3 (33 points in 16 games), 'Castle are up 2 points on West Brom for ownership of the top of the table. Honestly, we're going to get promoted, right? Next up, after quite a break, is a Monday Night match on 11/23 against Preston (6-4-6). It won't be as much of a lock as the Pete game this weekend, but it should still be 3 for my boys.

A late penalty kick for the Galaxy knocked my Chivas USA squad out of the playoffs tonight. After the 2-2 first leg last weekend, the Galaxy earned a golden goal from Landon "Swine Flu" Donovan in the 73 minutes of tonight's game to seal the fate of my formerly Mighty Goats. Chivas couldn't score a goal against LA, and Zach Thorton did his very best to try and keep us in. You can't keep out a penalty, so it's not his fault, but it is hard to watch the Red & White bow out after such a promising start to their season. They did kind of flounder in the second half of the season, but we still hoped for much better than another 1st round bow out, especially against the Galaxy. Ah well, the MLS season is officially over, and I think despite the final result, all of Goat Nation can be proud of our boys attempt at a run all the way. Here's to 2010.

In brief, Chivas de Guada softened the MLS blow with a huge 4-1 win against Atlas this weekend. Goals from Omarcito Bravor (he's back, in the 1st minute), my main man Balcazar (3rd and 41st), and Aaron Galindo (25th) was enough of a first half impact to bust Atlas hard. Still, it is a 5-7-4 start to the season, and we trail Toluca by 13 points. In Ireland, Sligo was able to really take care of business against Drogheda, as they should have, and improved to #6 in the table, well clear of relegation. Who knew, especially based on where we were at a month ago, that we would be so clear of getting dropped? The Bit O Red go up against Sporting Fingal in their cup final in a fortnight. Nice! Lastly, Lazio dropped another to AC Milan 1-2 tonight, despite 26 shots (6 on goal). Are you kidding me? Damn, Dida was on for Milan. Lazio's only goal was an own goal! Nothing from the Blue! 2-5-5 is not a sweet start, as we march toward the Serie A relegation zone. Hopefully Pope B-16 will be praying for us on the 22nd against Napoli (5-4-3).

It has been 117 days since Brandon, Jon, or Andrew has dropped a post. Bastards.

Orca open with win on the road.

2009-11-05T20:44:00.000-08:00

We are survivors! The Canucks opened up their second lengthiest road trip of the year (behind only the unfair Olympic roadie) with a nice and easy 5-2 win against the Wild. Everyone says that you have to play your best against the best, but many overlook the importance of taking care of business against teams that you are supposed to beat. The Vannies did that tonight, beating up on the last place Wild for their third straight win, and improved to 4-1 since the injury to Roberto Luongo.

Let's start with tonight's positives:

1) Goals from the unexpected...again. I've covered how much the Canucks role players have had to come through with the rash of injuries we've experienced. Tonight, they continued to do just that. The game opening goal at 3:49 of the opening frame came from Darcy Hordichuk's stick, his first of the year. Hordie straight stole a puck from the Wild at the blue line and waltzed in to score against Backstrom. How about recent signing, and returner to the team, Matt Pettinger. MP came up with a shot from the most ridiculous angle of the season. A wrist shot from straight along the goal line somehow bounced in to score the 4th goal of the game. It was his first this time around, and it helped take the pressure of Raycroft and the regulars.

2) H-Bomb must read this blog. In the last post I banged on Henrik Sedin for not getting enough action going in the last win. This time around, he answered the call with a shorthanded goal in the second period, assisted by Alex Burrows, and added a roughing penalty to show that he is right where he wants to be. It was Hank's 8th goal of the year, and it was very, very welcomed.

3) Ray Ray continues to shine. The rumors are the Luongo should be back between the pipes any day now, but with Raycroft carrying the squad to a 4-1 mark with Lu on the DL, I wonder about why we shouldn't ride our backup until he craps out. Everyday Ray stopped 28 of 30 shots in the game, not really amazing, but did enough to just be the stopper on our end of the ice. Raycroft made a sweet stop on a breakaway at one point that showed he can do the splits with the best of them. He has been one giant positive, outside of the massacre in Anaheim last week.

5) Tonight, Ryan Johnson earned his official "stud on the team" mark. RJ came back today after getting jacked up into the boards last week and missing several games. And, after getting so severely injured that he had to be taken to the hospital, what does he do in his first game back? He seriously leads the team in blocked shots with 5. 5 blocked shots in his first game back from injury? Johnson is a complete mad man, and I love it.

I'd like to also give love to my main man Alex Burrows for getting an assist and an empty net goal. Also, we finally had less giveaways than our opponent tonight. Again, they must be reading the blog. How about negatives in this win?

1) We have usually won the shot battle this season, even in our losses, but tonight this wasn't the case. The Canucks lost the shot on goal battle in the third period 5-15. That is a big difference, and it may have given the Wild hope that they could get back into the game, if it wasn't for Raycroft. Let's get back to putting more shots on goal!

2) Kesler and Samuelsson had rough outings, both finishing at a surprisingly bad -2 rating for the game. Only one Wild play did worse, and it was kind of odd for our offensive players to come away with a rating like that. Kes also only won 39% of his faceoffs, capping off a rough game for both of the usually solid scorers.

This recent string of success has the Vannies at 10-7-0 on the year (why are we so racist against overtime losses?), and their 20 points has put my boys almost within stirking position. The Avs (24) lead the Northwest, with Calgary (19), Edmonton (15), and Minnie (still, 10) all trailing. Things are close with the top three, but hopefully we can keep pushing things to the top. With the fact that we are playing on back to back nights signal Lu's return to rest Raycroft? We'll find out as the Canucks match up with the Stars in Dallas tomorrow evening. Dallas is 6-3-6 this season, really getting blasted in overtime this year, and most recently losing to the Flames on Wednesday 2-3. Will it be Brad Richards night to shine for the bad guys? Or, will Henrik Sedin continue to find his scoring touch, leading the good guys onward to victory?

I'll go with #2.

'Nucks swallow Rangers whole.

2009-11-04T20:31:00.000-08:00

I figured the picture went perfectly with the title, eh? It was a family affair last night, as Tommy's Canucks went head to head with his cousin Daniel's Rangers. A thrilling rematch of the 1994 Stanley Cup. A chance for continued revenge for that heartbreaking series. And, a chance to prove that we can continue to win with Andrew Raycroft between the pipes and Roberto Luongo on the. I'd say that a 4-1 Canuck win took care of all of that. In this post, we'll explore the many positives and nit-picky negatives of this beautiful Vancouver victory.

As usual, we'll start with the pluses:

1) Ryan "Effing" Kesler! Are you kidding me? This guy had such a solid game, that he had the announcers on NHL On The Fly suggesting that he be named our captain! Um, we already have a studly captain. Don't forget him just because he's hurt. Of course, Kes really did show up in this game. Ryan Kesler assisted on the first three Orca goals in the game, including a really nice pass to Mikael Samelsson in the first period, to cap off his #1 start night. It's always nice to have our #2 center coming through like he did last nice. I'm not sure, however, why he finished just a +1 in the ESPN box score. By my count, the worst he could have gotten was +2. Way to try and bring the NHL 2K10 commercial star down, you bastards.

2) Andrew "Everyday" Ray Ray. I know everyone is only pumped about this because of the last two games, where the Vannies have outscored opponents 7-1, but damn has he looked good. This time around, he had to be even better than when he blanked the Avs. Ray Ray stopped 22 of 23 shots on goal, allowing just a Chris Higgins goal in the third period. Raycroft and his fellow defensive mates were able to manage the big stars from New York all night, and keep things looking pretty good since Lu went down. Remember, when Lu went down I said that I just wanted Ray Ray to keep things .500 while our captain is out. Since the injury, he's 3-1. Give him the respect he deserves.

3) Mikael Samuelsson continues to dominate. He has been so much fun to watch, just seeming to be at the right place at the right time, and his two goals in this game were sweet. The Mariefred native now has 8 goals on 6 assists as the new right wing force for the Canucks, and has 8 points over his last 10 games. He's also been a +5 during that time, showing that he was a solid pick up because he's been picking up our offense since he put on the uniform.

4) Big blocked shots, despite Ryan Johnson being off with injury. We are a banged up team, and one of our most banged up players, Ryan Johnson, take a bunch of blocked shots to the IR with him. Amazingly, we've found some studs to pick it up for him. Christian Ehrhoff and Matt Schneider had 4 blocked shots EACH in this game against the Rangers. Talk about taking one for the team. It has been a wicked increase in defensive skills that has really allowed Raycroft to play over his head as far as stats are concerned, and we are really going to need that defense to stay strong (even once Luongo returns).

Before I get to the negatives, I wanted to say that I really enjoyed Tanner Glass stepping up and beating the hell out of Dane Byers with 1:10 left in the game. The "mele" between the two teams earlier in the period didn't result in as much as the media made it seem, but Glass stepped it up as a rookie by punching the lights out of Byers. Be assured that I was quick to email the You Tube video to my cousin immediately. Okay, negatives:

1) We still led in giveaways. Didn't Coachie V read my last post? I clearly stated that we needed to fix the problem of having too many giveaways. In that game, they lost 8. Last night, the gave away 9. What the heck? Honestly, the highlights showed plenty of Ray Ray saves on giveaways that turned into mild odd man rushes, and we're not going to be living well if we keep that up. Hang on to the puck!

2) Henrik Sedin only had one shot in the game. H-Bomb has been coming up big with his brother on the injured list, but he was completely absent in this game. Yes, he had a goal at the end of the game, but it was an empty netter and he only had one other shot besides that. More pressure, please.

The win has pushed us to 9-7-0 on the season (18 points), and they now trail first place Colorado by just 6. We're coming for you, Avs. Calgary (17), Edmonton (15), and Minnie (still 10) are trailing our boys in the division. It's a tight one, boys. Tomorrow, the Canucks go to Minnesota (5-9-0) to try to steal a win from the division's worst. The rumor train is that Luongo may be back in net, as he traveled to Minnie with the game, but no word yet from the Canuck staff. Fingers crossed!

To be the best, you need to beat the best.

2009-11-02T21:11:00.000-08:00

What a rebound game! My Orca came through at home against the first place Avalanche with a thrilling 3-0 shutout win. It was quite a shift from the big loss against the Ducks, from solid offense throughout to Andrew Raycroft's best game in a Canucks uniform. Is there anything better than beating the first place team?

There were plenty of positives from this game:

1) Andrew "Everyday" Ray Ray stepped up with 18 saves on 18 shots to keep the Avs out of the net. I'm not sure how the Avs are so good this year, but with that in mind, it was totally impressive the way that Raycroft played. Of course, props have to be given to the defense as well for holding Colorado to just 18 shots, making it easy on our mighty backup.

2) Everyone gets in on the action. The goals were scored by Mason Raymond (5), Ryan Kesler (5), and rookie Tanner Glass (1). When the team is all injured throughout the front line, including the recent injury to rookie Michael Grabner, we need to have plenty of support from a bunch of offensive players. The supporting cast came through tonight and backed us up all the way to victory.

3) Edler & Salo go big. Each loyal defender went +2 on the game and earned an assist to help our defense get in on the action. With Salo coming back from injury, it was nice to have him contribute, and it is always nice to have the Ostersund, Sweden native (Edler) give us some (7 assists on the year). Bieksa may not have done much to correct my complaint last time, but his boys picked him up.

Of course, as with every game, there were some negatives to look at:

1) First period penalties is something that we haven't been able to take care off. From the very first game of the season, the Canucks have had issues with allowing opposing power plays in the opening frame. This time around, the offenders were Bieksa (cross check and roughing) and Shane O'Brien (surprise, surprise; high sticking). The X-Man's penalty was a stupid reaction call that he shouldn't have participated in, and SOB was just doing the inevitable. It obviously didn't hurt us this time around, but come on Coachie V, pull your guys together.

2) 8 giveaways. You have to make crisp passes and keep possession of the puck if you want to be an elite team. We had 8 giveaways, which allowed the Avs to get some chances. We were lucky to have Ray Ray coming through in a major way, but the Canucks are going to be made to pay if they continue to giveaway the puck. Hold onto it!

Let's make sure that we realize how big of a win this was. At 8-7-0 (16 points), the Blue & Green have climbed all the way up to the #2 spot in the division, and now trail the first place Avs by just 6 points. Meanwhile, Calgary and Edmonton are -1 of the Canucks, and the Wild continue to be down and out, back by 6. Tomorrow night, the Orca go head to head with the hated New York Rangers. A rematch of the dreaded 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. It was the season that I became a fan of the Canucks, encouraged by my cousin (a die hard Rangers fan). Since then, I've been suffering with my boys, constantly looking to return to the Cup after bowing out in Game 7 that heartbreaking year. Tomorrow, in a small way, I look to have my revenge. The Rangers are solid this year at 9-5-1, most recently earning a 1-0 win against the Boston Bruins. However, the Vannies are going good right now and I like our chances. Should be fun.

You're going down, Daniel!

Weekly football post #59.

2009-11-01T19:07:00.000-08:00

It's time for that weekly tradition that just can't be stopped.

The Fountain Valley Barons eeked out a win against Newport Harbor, 37-32 over the weekend, holding off a late charge from the rich kid school. Newport won the fourth quarter battle 14-9, but the Barons held on after a strong first half. Kyle Middlebrooks continued to shine, getting 2 TDs, 139 rushing yards, and 33 yards through the air. Dominic Ragland ripped it up at QB with 102 passing yards, and a 17 yard TD run and a 46 yard TD run for himself. Has he been spending more time with KM off the field, getting tips? The Barons are now 8-0-0 on the year and continue to hold on for their #4 spot according to the OC Register. Next week, however, we will find out if this team is for real. Servite beat the Monarchs this year, so why shouldn't we believe that we can knock off #1 Edison in the Battle For The Bell this week? It's game time. The Mighty Barons need to make sure that everyone in Blue and Gold is cheering as they walk triumphantly out of OCC this weekend. Bring it! Chuck the Fargers!

One level up, Notre Dame finally got an easy win! A Texas clash against Washington State ended with the Irish strutting their stuff in a 40-14 over the Pac 10 cupcake. Things that the nation is coming to realize after this game? Golden Tate is completely legit. Every time Tate touched the ball something special was happening. He was in the zone more so in this game than we have seen all season, and that's saying something. Golden finished with 4 catches for 80 yards, 1 TD, and a 50 yard long ball. The running game was on display as well on Saturday evening, with Robert Hughes getting 131 yards on the ground, Golden Tate added 61 on 4 rushes to his NFL sized day (God bless you, Wildcat), and Theo Riddick looking strong on a couple of drives that were all about him (9 carries, 51 yards). Jimmy Clausen was good enough in his first half of play (22/27 for 268, with 2 TDs and 0 INTs) and gave way to Dayne Crist, who went 2/6 for 69. Crist went out with a pretty bad looking injury, which is completely awful, but it was after he hit a ridiculous pass for Goodman across the middle that brought back memories of Quinn to Samardzija. The defense was on point as well, making great tackles, rushing the "Tool" in the pocket, and keeping the Cougars under raps. It was a win we should have got, and we played that way throughout. Climbing to 6-2 on the year, the Irish are now ranked #22 (BCS), #19 (AP), and #21 (Coaches), and are looking to a trap game at home against Navy to prove their stuff. They should be able to roll Navy, but the Midshipmen play hard and need to be taken seriously. The following week, the Irish will look to Pitt as possibly their defining game of the season. But, I'm getting ahead of myself Charlie, let's go get us some Navy.

No!!!!!! The Rams won! The reverse undefeated season dream has ended. A trick field goal? Who the hell do we think we are? The 17 game losing streak has finally ended. Steven Jackson finally earned his first TD of the year. The funny thing is that the ESPN recap says, "The Rams beat the Lions in each phase to snap their 17 game losing streak. Offense. Defense. Special teams. Coaching." We were able to beat the other team in each phase, and we only ended up squeaking out a 17-10 victory. That is just how bad this team is. Marc Bulger went 17/35 for 176 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT, to roll his season high 51.6 QB rating (I'm just saying that, it may not be true), and place kicker Josh Brown (1/1 for a 36 yard TD pass) made Rams fans think he should be our new QB. S Jack finally came out of his shell, going 22 carries for 149 yards and a TD. Of course, we were facing Detroit, so it really isn't that special, right? Well, the Rams coach, who earned his first win at any level, says he'll remember the game for the rest of his life. So not professional. You beat the Lions, you are supposed to say that we could have played better, and we're ready to focus on next week. You idiot. My Rams are officially in the clear, 1-7-0, and now only trail the Seahawks by 1.5 games in the NFC West. Keep in mind that division leading Arizona are only 4-3-0. We still have a chance, baby. Next week is a beautiful bye week. We can celebrate the win for quite some time, before we get straight smashed by the Saints on November 15. Enjoy it while it lasts, friends.

The BC Lions, meanwhile, lost to Calgary, and possibly lost all hope of getting into the playoffs. The Stamps rolled my Orange & Black 28-26 with a 13-7 fourth quarter that sealed the deal. Casey Printers was 22/35 for 337 yards (1 TD, 1 INT) in the game, and tried his best. In the end, with Martell Mallett not playing, there wasn't much hope. The Lions had two receivers with 100+ yard games, as Arceneaux (110) and Simon (103) went big, but alas, the Stamps were too good this time around. At 8-9 on the season, BC are tied for last with Edmonton and looking up at first place Calgary (10-6) and second place Saskatchewan (9-7). Hope is fading in Vancouver. The final game of the regular season is Friday against Edmonton. Fingers crossed.

On the soccer pitch, Celtic came out with a gigantic Halloween win to extend their SPL lead. It was a 3-0 blowout of Kilmarnock that has Hoop Nation rocking. Goals from McGeady (13th), Gorgeous Georgios Samaras (32nd), and McGinn (78th) put out boys well ahead for the weekend win. Zaluska was solid in net for the Sligo Side, and Kilmarnock just simply never had a chance. No pressure from Killie, tons from the Bhoys, and it was an easy win. At 7-1-2 (23 points) , Celtic lead #2 Hibs (20 points) and now #3 Rangers (19 points) in the race for the SPL title. League action continues Sunday against Falkirk (0-6-4), and it should be a cake walk.

Newcastle get their game on Monday Night Football against Sheffield tomorrow night, knowing that a win against the 5-8-2 squad would put them back atop the league. At 8-3-3 (27 points, and trailing West Brom (28 points), tomorrow night's game is huge. Predictions? Nolan will come up huge.

The first leg of the opening round of the MLS playoffs are in the books, and the battle between Chivas USA and the Galaxy is square at 2-2. Maicon Santos brought the Goats the early lead against LA, but two tough to take defensive plays by the Red & White allowed the Galaxy to steal the lead. Luckily, it was my main man Maykel Galindo in the 50th minute providing the strike to save the day, and take some of the pressure off for next week's second leg. The final forty minutes of play were tense, but both sides held their own to maintain the draw. I feel really good about coming out of the first leg tied with LA 2-2. There is no way that ZBT is going to have an off game next week after allowing 2 goals this time around. Thorton is getting the clean sheet next Sunday, and the Goats will walk off with a victory over LA in the opening round....hopefully.

In closing, Guada failed to bounce back after losing to America last week, but losing to Morelia 1-3 this time around. Balcazar got the lone goal, but the original Chivas squad are just falling deeper and deeper. 4-6-3 with 15 points in 13 games, and the great season we were promised is seeming less and less likely this time around. Of course, the Sligo Rovers dropped their huge match against Bohemians 1-3 this weekend, unable to best the league leading squad. The loss doesn't hurt the Bit O' Red that much though, as they continue to sit just up on St. Patricks and the relegation battle. Next week should be an easy win against second to last place Drogheda. Lazio drew with Siena this tonight, with Stefano Mauri getting the SS goal in minute 8. Lazio go against AC Milan next weekend as they continue to try and find themselves this season.

Another funny story from Sports Pickle.

So Cal split.

2009-11-01T10:35:00.000-08:00

The Vannies made a trip down south and came away with a solid shootout win against the mighty Kings and an embarrassing loss to the all but forgotten Ducks. If I told you that they were finishing up the two games with a goal differential of -5, you'd probably think they would have lost both, but I say nay! The Canucks earned the split, which is pretty much what all of us figured they would do (although, we thought it would have gone the other way), and the head back home to host the somehow amazing Avs on All Saints' Day evening.

For being an injury riddled team, we looked pretty solid against the first place team from LA. Andrew Raycroft stepped it up, in his first game since taking over for the injured Bobby Lu, and even earned first star honors. The take away notes from the game was Mikael Samuelsson continuing to go under the radar as a solid offensive force for the Orca. His first period game tying goal was his sixth on the year, giving him 12 total points in the 14 regular season games. Always good to have another solid Swede on board. The other take away was the play of Raycroft, of course, but that excitement would be cancelled out just one night later. The downside, which would continue in the Anaheim game, was the play of Kevin Bieksa. He finished a -1 with just 1 shot in the game, and has just 1 goal and 6 assists thus far (and a -2 rating). We need you X-Man!!! So, in the end, Ray Ray was solid enough to get us 1-1 through 3 and an OT, and Mikael Samuelsson made good after getting the Canucks' golden goal by scoring the winner in the shootout. We walk away happy.

Then we prepare to get slaughtered. Damn, I hate the Ducks so much. With Steve Bernier and Mason Raymond (PP) starting us off with 2 goals in the first 4:39 of play, I was pumped up for a big win. Of course, when you are riddled with injuries, the fun that your remaining players are provided tends to be fleeting. And it was. The Ducks marched back with 7 unanswered goals after the 'Nucks strong opening, and completely broke the hearts of 7th Canucks around the Nation. 1 in the 1st and 3 in the second and third periods put us away, in a game where the refs seemed to put their whistles away (to the Ducks advantage, actually). Ray Ray was chased after giving up 4 goals on 22 shots, and recent call up Cory Schneider allowed 3 on just 12 shots in his season debut. Pitiful, pitiful play. Just a quick reminder that injuries to our offensive and defensive forces will be painful, but an injury to Luongo completely kills us. All that, and we still put 22 shots on goal in the third. Nothing to show though, except for sad faces after a 5 goal loss.

7-7-0 (14 points) is where we sit after 14 out of 82 games. The raging Avs are sitting on top with 22 points, Calgary trailing in second with 15 (tied with Edmonton), and Minnie bringing up the rear behind us at 10. We are still within striking range of getting into second place, obviously, and hopefully can do that with a statement game against the first place 'Lanche tonight. Then, it's a battle that breaks families apart on Tuesday, as the Vannies take on the Rangers. It turns brothers against brothers and cousins against cousins. Let's just hope we can kiss and make up when it is all said and done.

Go Canucks Go.

Hate the injuries, not the loss.

2009-10-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

When the Angels dropped out of the ALCS this year, hockey season officially started around my house. The Canucks have been on a nice little run lately, thanks to the resergence of Roberto Luongo, but a 4-5 loss at home to the Red Wings last night did a lot more than bruise our egos.

This is the injury list for the Canucks as of right now: Pavol Demitra (torn left rotator), Mathieu Schneider (shoulder surgery, but he's back), Jannik Hansen (right hand), Daniel Sedin (broken foot), Sami Salo (sprained right MCL), Rick Rypien (sore groin), and Kyle Wellwood (broken big toe). After last night's game we can now add Ryan Johnson (who got an upper body injury after slamming crazy hard into the boards last night) and Roberto Luongo (bruised rib cage after a collision last night). Bobby Lu is out just in time to miss the two games this week when the Vannies come to Southern California. Ryan Johnson is lucky to be alive with the way he crashed into the boards. Despite all of that, the Canucks have somehow come up with a 6-6-0 record (12 points in 12 games). That's after a fairly rough start, but it still isn't good enough. Colorado is leading the division with their amazing start (9-1-2), and Calgary (7-2-1)/Edmonton (6-5-1) are also up ahead. Thank goodness for lowly Minnesota (3-8-0)!

Last night was kind of a scoring bonanza that ended with 6 third period goals and a 4-5 finale on the scoreboard. The 'Nucks got goals from Henrik (his 5th of the year on a sweet rebound) and Christian Ehrhoff (his 3rd on a nice wrister from a bad angle) in the opening frame, and got two more in the third (Matt Schneider getting his first on the power play) and H-Bomb again (another power play goal, for his team leading sixth of the year). Despite all that scoring, it was Pavol Datsyuk leading the charge back into the game for the Red Army with two of his own in the final frame, and a Willie Mitchell penalty for high sticking that set up the game winning goal for the away team. Luongo wasn't up to the task of coming up any bigger after taking on 42 shots, allowing 5 goals, and the defense couldn't do enough to keep the pressure off. At least we chased Osgood away. Should we follow the baseball playoff format and talk about some positives and negatives from the game? We'll start with two on each side, and we'll start with the positives:

1) Kevin Bieksa was large and in charge. Our best defensiveman, in my humble opinion, was all over the ice. He finished with 3 assists, a +2 rating, 3 blocked shots, and some big defense when we needed it. The goals didn't come with the X-Man on the ice, they came with Edler and Mitchell on the rink. Our Grimsby native was on point last night.

2) Hank continues his domination. With his brother Daniel out of the lineup (along with Welly, Ryp, Po Po, and Jannik), Henrik has been so huge for keeping the Canucks offense humming along. He earned two goals in this game and a huge assist. 33 has put up 6 goals and 9 assists so far this season, including three goals in his last two games. We need all that offense to come back, but it's nice to have Hank filling the hole for now.

Other quick positives are the recent re-call-up of my man Shirokov, the positive play of Moose Master Michael Grabner (2 goals and 3 assists in 7 games), and the high hopes put on Alex Bolduc.

On the negative side, injuries may rule the day:

1) Losing Bobby Lu could potentially be huge. While a lot of fans on the Canucks Facebook page are trying to pump Orca Nation up on Andrew Raycroft as a solid backup, I think we all need to be realistic. Raycroft will probably at best play .500 hockey while our Captain is out, and that may not be that big of a deal because he may only be out two games, but it changes the face of this franchise when El Roberto isn't between the pipes.

2) Losing Ryan Johnson. If you can go around the internet and find the crash into the boards for Ryan Johnson last night, you'll realize how crazy awful it was. RJ had to be taken straight to the hospital after banging into the boards, and wasn't able to move his extremities until later in the night. The Thunder Bay, ON native has always been the stud of blocked shots since coming over to the Vannies. It will be a huge deal if he gets back anytime soon, but he is the best defensive offensive player on the team, and we just can't wait to have him out of the hospital and back on the ice. Best of luck buddy.

Andrew Raycroft and company will fly into Los Angeles tomorrow to take on the Kings (a surprising 8-4-0), and then head down the 5 to battle the Ducks on Friday (again, a surprising 3-6-1). Will Tommy, Karen, and the baby be somewhere to be found in the stands at the Honda Center this Friday? Let's hope so. With any luck, the 'Nucks will grab 4 over the next 2 games, and go into the Sunday match at home against Colorado in second place in the division.

Go Canucks Go.

Weekly football post #58.

2009-10-26T19:48:00.000-07:00

Another week, another bunch of football games. And, as such, another weekly football post. Let's get it on.

Are the Fountain Valley High School Barons going to run the table this season? Are they going to be the Champions of Orange County? They are the #4 team in the County as of today, and we couldn't be more happy. The Mighty Barons took it to Esperanza this weekend with a 31-14 victory, continuing a long winning season that is all leading up to an epic battle with Edison on November 6th. This time around, it was our main man Kyle Middlebrooks with 3 TDs, 2 rushing and 1 receiving, to lead us on to victory. He finished with another nice 143 yards on the ground and 52 yards in the air, with QB Dominic Ragland tossing for just 92 on the afternoon. Esperanza scored a late TD, but was unable to lead the charge back against my boys. We're really getting used to winning these days. Next week is a battle against Newport Harbor as we try to keep our streak alive.

One level up, Notre Dame earned a crucial win against Boston College this weekend 20-16, putting us back on track for a solid season. After the loss to USC the previous weekend, all eyes were on this game as the final game in our important hard stretch that will define the season. BC may have been driving, but a Brian Smith interception with 98 seconds to go ended that whole comeback dream, securing the win for the Domers. The first quarter didn't start off extremely well. This weekend I was live and in person at Oggi's in Mission Viejo to watch the Irish fall short on their opening drive, earning just a TD. Then, on a drive later in the quarter, Jimmy Clausen made an ill advised pass that ended up being intentional grounding. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, except that he was in the end zone, and BC was credited with 2 points. Damn! With ND opening the second quarter with the same three points, this was still an ominous game. Boston College, meanwhile, was shredding the ND defense with some wide open passing. The defense looked terrible in the air, and solid on the ground. The end result at the half was teams trading TD passes, with Golden Tate getting one with 36 ticks left in the second quarter, and ND walking off with a 13-9 lead. BC, however, continued their assault, getting a TD in the third to take the lead. A Golden Tate TD with 8:12 left, on a 36 yard play from JC, ended with the Irish taking the final lead in the teeter totter battle. Despite the Eagles charging back, the Irish defense finally came up huge, on the interception that sealed the deal. Well, I guess if you're going to have one really good defensive play, it might as well come late. The win has pushed Notre Dame to 5-2 on the year, and back into the rankings! While the AP has let the Irish back to #25, the BCS computers have us #23. I'm just glad that we're getting respect despite our close losses to Michigan and SC. Next week is a knock down drag out fight against Washington State, an unusual late night start in South Bend. It is the first in a hopeful easy string of wins for Notre Dame (Wazzu are 1-6 this year), although any kind of win will be welcomed.

How about those Rams? Man, they suck. The latest on field tragedy was a 6-42 loss at the hands of Peyton and the Colts. Who the hell are these guys? Do they just pick up random guys off the streets, give them the horn helmet, and put them out on the field? How can we be this bad? Seriously! And to think, the line was only 14.5. The Rams were down 21-3 after the first half, 28-6 after three quarter, and a whopping 42-6 in the end. Were they even trying? Marc E Marc went 14/26 for 140 yards with 2 INTs for a 37.3 QB rating. Steven Jackson actually made it over the 100 yard rushing mark with 134 on 23 runs for a nice 5.8 yard average. How did we not score a TD with all that S Jack rushing? Donnie Avery led the way in the air again with 58 yards on 2 catches. Our receiving core continues to be a weak point. Along with the defense, offensive line, and QB position, among other things. After being outscored on the season 211-60, the Ramies are a thrilling 0-7. We are making it look pretty easy to go 0-16 here in 2009. But, our biggest challenge to going reverse undefeated may come next week against the Detroit Lions. The Lions are 1-5, and could be our first serious chance at getting a win. Get ready Ram Nation.

Speaking of the Lions, BC came out of a OT game with Saskatchewan with a difficult to take 30-33 loss. Damn you Jon Davis! The Lions came storming back with a 14-8 fourth quarter, but fell short by allowing 3 points to the Riders in the extra session. The Lions had a slim 3-0 lead after the first quarter, but then the Corner Gas squad blew up in our face, putting BC at a 9-17 disadvantage at the half. We tried to come back, but it just wasn't meant to be. TCU and Florida A&M signal caller Casey Printers was the QB for BC, and finished 19/31 for an impressive 339 through the air. 2TDs and 1 INT wouldn't be enough, though, for a win. Martell Mallett was held back by our Western foes with just 44 yards on the ground. Former Terrapin Geroy Simon did his best in the air, with 142 yards receiving, but again, just not enough. Jarious!!!!! The Lions are now back down to .500, at 8-8, still trailing the first place Riders and Stamps (both 9-6). Calgary and BC get it on next weekend, as we continue to pray for a playoff berth. Grey Cup, anyone?

It was a big win for Celtic to boost us back ahead of Rangers in the SPL standings. Take it Andrew! A 2-1 win against Hamilton was enough for 3 gigantic points. Two early goals from the Highlighter jersey squad from Glasgow was enough, despite an 84th minute strike from Hamilton. It was Shaun Maloney getting the Sligo side on the board in the 15th, after Hamilton made it a little tough for Celtic with some stifling defense. Eventually, the better team always breaks through. My main man Scott McDonald made all the criminals of Australia proud by doubling the Celtic lead in the 29th. McDonald added the main assist on Maloney's goal, but finding him at the back post, to help cap a really solid day for him. Winning 2-1 was also impressive considering that Zaluska was was between the pipes, rather than Boruc. The win has pushed Celtic forward to the #1 spot in the SPL with their 6-1-2 record (20 points in 9 games). That's good enough for a 1 point led on Rangers, heading into our Halloween clash against Kilmarnock (2-4-3). Hail!

How about the Toon Army getting back on track? Yep, Newcastle also pulled off a fun 2-1 win in their Coca Cola Championship match of the weekend against Doncaster Rovers. It was a 1-1 score well into injury time when Kevin Nolan decided to be the hero for the Magpies. 'Castle went down early, giving up a goal in the 18th, putting Toon Nation on alert for another disappointing, possibly continuing the recent string. But, when you have faith good things happen. It was Andy Carroll in the 67th minute that drew us even, as he smashed home a volley from Danny Guthrie. Stellar goal, and the Bar Codes weren't finished. There was a bad call late in the game, that gave Doncaster a chance to steal a win, but Newcastle held strong, and got their chance to make things right. Kevin Nolan did just that, nailing a 20 yarder into the bottom corner to set St. James Park off in celebration. Steve Harper held strong enough between the pipes, and the Newcastle crowd went home happy. Nolan now leads the squad with 7 goals on the campaign, second only to Shola's 4 followed by his mysterious vanishing act. 'Castle are #1 in the Championship with their 8-3-3 record (27 points in 14 games), getting me excited about promotion yet again. Next up is a Monday night battle against Sheffield United (4-5-7), and another win would certainly continue to bolster those hopes.

Chivas may have lost this weekend, dropping a 2-3 game against Houston, but the ramifications may set up the most exciting playoffs in Chivas USA history. Galaxy? It was the Goats third loss of the season at the HDC this year, and rookie Michael Lahoud nailed his first even MLS goal in the loss. Lahoud found the net in the 60th, and super stud Eduardo Lillingston added a goal in the 87th, but Houston was just too much, as they have for much of Chivas' history (both as San Jose and Houston). Lilly's goal continues to help him have a strangle hold on the golden boot award, as it was his 8th. He leads the team ahead of second place Sacha Kljestan and his 5. The two Chivas goals came after three goals from Houston quieted the HDC crowd (26th, 29th, and 52nd). ZTB was just not having it in this game, hopefully getting all of his bad games out before the playoffs come. Houston had 7 shots to Chivas' 12, but you've got to find the back of the net. Mad props to Lahoud, who led the team with 4 shots, and mad props to Lillingston for also getting involved in a little goalie interference in the 94th. Let's get rough on the pitch! We are now just 6 days away from the MLS playoffs. Chivas USA vs. the LA Galaxy is far and away the most exciting of all the opening round MLS playoff matches. The battle for your hearts gets underway Sunday afternoon on ESPN 2. Eyes glued to the TV.

Quickly now, Chivas de Guadalajara lost the all important battle with America 0-1 this weekend to drop to 4-6-3 on the year. A goal in the third minute was all America needed to walk off the pitch with the soul crushing win. In Ireland, Sligo Rovers are continuing to roll away from the relegation zone. The Bit O' Red have 40 points in their 34 games, tied with Galway, but 3 clear of any relegation danger. However, my ancestor's favorite team play first place Bohemians on Friday. Could be dangerous. Finally. Lazio lost 0-2 to Barin in Serie A action to fall to 2-3-4 on the young year. What is going on here? Next up is Cagliari on Wednesday before the weekend match with Siena. Come on Julio Cruz!

Man, this thing was all business.

This is the end. My only friend, the end.

2009-10-25T20:59:00.000-07:00

There isn't much to say after your favorite team gets eliminated from the playoffs. After six games of ALCS play, however, that is where I find myself. All I can think about is the mistakes the Angels made during this six game battle with the Yankees. 3 errors in game 1, 2 errors in game 2, 1 in game 4, and 2 in game 6. 9 errors in the series. When pointing the finger at why this series was lost, this is probably the first time that I'm not going to blame Mike Scioscia. The blame clearly is placed on the Angels defense. Sure there were a few bad pitching moves, a lack of offense at times, and even some poor base running. But in the end, the Angels were doomed by their own lack of fundamental defense. That will be the most memorable negative thing about the 2009 ALCS for me. The most memorable positive will be the way we came back in the bottom of the 7th to win game 5 after giving up our 4 run lead.

All in all, it was a thrilling season. We finished better than 12 other American League teams. We should be proud. And yet, we have a right to feel disappointed in the way this ALCS went down. Overall, the playoffs were a fun ride. We'll never forget sweeping the Red Sox in the ALDS (especially the amazing game 3 win). We'll never forget the horrible calls from umpires all over the diamond throughout both series. And, we'll probably never forget Scott Kazmir's air mailed throw on the bunt in the bottom of the eighth tonight that really broke the game open in favor of NYY. Let's keep our head's high, though, Angels fans. We won the West and made a pretty sizable dent in the playoff mountain. We'll get 'em in 2010.

Now, the sizable job of resigning free agents comes up. Will we keep Figgins after his stellar season and horrible post season? Will Lackey even think about coming back after the way he was handled by the coaching staff in the ALCS' game 5? What will come of Vlad, after he produced fairly well throughout the playoffs? So many questions.

Until we have answers, it is officially hockey season around the LSF. Good night, and take care.

Comeback kids force game 6.

2009-10-22T21:40:00.000-07:00

After getting pounded by the Yanks in Game 4, the Angels came into Game 5 in their first literal must win situation of the year. Things looked pretty damned good after the Halos jumped out to a 4-0 lead after just one inning, but the game became a pitching duel after that. Lackey and Burnett went head to head, and with the Angels offense being held down, the Yankees were just laying in wait to comeback. In the seventh they did, putting a six spot on the board to crush our dreams. Luckily, the crushing was only temporary, as the comeback kids came back with 3 of their own in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead. Brian Fuentes made it interesting in the end, loading the bases before shutting New York down, and the Angels have officially sent this ALCS back to New York. Anything can happen.

As I've done throughout the playoffs, I'm ready to present my positives and negatives after this Game 5. Let's get started with the positives:

1) There was no stopping us. There was no chance for the Angels to win Game 4, as they just simply got blown out, but they should no quit in Game 5. They stepped it up after getting the wind knocked out of them in the top of the seventh, and were able to produce enough to keep hope alive. The Angels got production from unlikely sources in this one, as they have in a lot of their post season wins this time around. Mathis got three hits and Vlad came through again in a crucial situation. Is he going to get a one year deal?

2) Torii Hunter. Just like Briana texted me during the game, "Where has Torii been all series?" Seriously. He was here tonight. Big Game Hunter went 2 for 2 with 2 walks, 2 runs, and 2 RBI. He was the freaking man. We've been waiting for him to make an impact ever since his ALDS Game 1 three run jack that started this whole thing, and here he came. If Torii is slugging with runners on, we're winning. It's just that simple.

3) Gigantic John Lackey is ferocious. Lack Daddy was a beast in this one, going 6.67 innings of 3 run ball with 7 punch outs. He wasn't on the mound when his three runs crossed the plate (Oliver), but he really kept us in the game up until that point. Also, how can you not love your #1 getting crazy fired up like he does. He was angry when Scioscia pulled him out, and he should have been. It was a bad call. Although, he did lose control after walking Posada instead of striking him out. Emotions are a tough thing to deal with. All that being said, though, he was an ace yet again for the Red Hats this evening.

4) The Mathis-Matician! I don't know what it is going to take for the fans to come around on this guy. I've been one of his biggest supporters ever since the Angels minor leagues were all about Kotchman, MacPherson, and Mathis, and I think I'm being vindicated with his performance in the ALCS. If we win, shouldn't Mathis get the MVP award? Tonight, Big 5 went 3 for 4 with 1 run, and he's now pounding an average of .600 in the playoffs (6 for 10). This is Mathis' shining moment, and we're reaping all the benefits.

5) Jered Weaver came out of the bullpen blazing. Weaver pitched a perfect eighth inning out of the pen, getting 2 Ks, and definitely should have been back on the hill in the ninth. There is no reason for Fuentes to come out with Weaver dealing in relief. The playoffs are no time to pad stats for closers, or show someone that you have faith in them. It worked out, but I would have let the Caveman close it out.

Of course, there were plenty of negatives that need to be examined before the huge game 6:

1) Pitching choices. I had earlier in the game remarked to my Dad how Mike Scioscia has seemed to have gotten better with his pitching decisions. This game showed that I was giving him too much credit. He called things better thus far, but at this point he made some poor choices. I don't know if I would have left Lackey in the game with the bases loaded and two outs, but he really seemed like he would have had me leave him in. Oliver gave up the big hit, and now everyone will second guess the decision, but what are you going to do? Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The decision I didn't like, although it worked out, was going with Fuentes straight up in the 9th, rather than letting Weaver continue his domination. Then, when you're trying to show faith in Fuentes' talents, you have him intentionally walk A-Rod? Makes a ton of sense.

2) Figgins. When I was making comments in the ALDS about Figgy not doing anything for us, and I figured that he would come around. I guess not. Chone went 0 for 3 with a run and a walk. Where is he? He's hitting .105 in the playoffs thus far. Arguably the best leadoff hitter in the game in the 2009 season, playing his brains out for a contract all year, and he's giving us .105 in the playoffs? I'm serious about this: if we hope to bang out two wins on the road in New York, we MUST have Figgins produce.

3) If I'm going to bang on Figgins, I think I also have to bang on Juan Rivera. My Dad says, "Rivera sucks right now." I guess he's right. Good ol' JR is hitting .143 in the ALCS, with just 2 hits in the five games, and he only had three hits in the series against Boston (.273). Rivera has a chance to show on a national stage how good he really is, and what a steal we got from the Jose Guillen deal, and he is just not putting up. The Angels brought him back, and he was solid during the regular season, but he needs to perform when it matters in Game 6 and 7.

The do or die battle rages on. Saturday afternoon in the Bronx, the Angels and Yankees get it on for an intense Game 6. I was pointing out how being down 2-3 isn't nearly as bad as being down 1-3. Right? Are you feeling the hope like I am? The Angels will send their trusty lefty Joe Saunders (0-0, 2.57) to the mound to try and get revenge for Game 2 against Andy Pettitte (1-0, 2.84). Pettite pitched 6.3 innings of 3 run ball in the Game 3 that the Angels stole in extra innings. He is one of the pitchers on the staff that we fear the least, in my opinion, and the way Joe pitched in Game 2 has me confident. Joe went 7 innings of 2 run ball in his first start in the ALCS. He nailed down 5 Ks. The downside of his outing, other than the late inning loss, was the fact that he was dead even on 10 ground outs and 10 fly outs. The reason Saunders is heading to the mound at Yankee stadium is because he is the ground ball pitcher, and it is his job to keep the home runs down. Game 6 of the ALCS has the opportunity to be the game that defines Joe's career (much like Game 7 of the 2002 World Series for Lackey). It is all up to him.

These games are killing me.

Mathis delivers knockout blow.

2009-10-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

Now please don't think that I'm only posting when the Angels win in the playoffs. I've just been kind of busy, and haven't been able to throw up posts after the losses to the Yankees in the first two games in New York. But, after the amazing 11 inning 5-4 win on the heels of a Jeff Mathis walk off double, I'm back and ready to give you the run down.

Game 1 thought: Yes, the Angels made big mistakes. However, it was a tough transition after sweeping the Sox. It was cold, the Angels hadn't practiced, and they weren't ready. That, and the fact that CC was completely nuts on the mound.

Game 2 thought: This was a game that could have gone either way, and it just so happened to go the bad guy's way. Mistakes? Sure. Brian Fuentes never should have thrown a high fastball to A-Rod when he had an 0-2 count. That was probably the biggest mistake. I don't really see why everyone was giving Ma$e such a hard time for throwing to second base. In the heat of the moment, he was trying his best, and it made a mistake. No biggie. Even with the BFF mistake, the fact remains that the Angels should have been way ahead. The Angels left 16 on base, and why should you win when you do that?

Now, game 3 was obviously a little more exciting in a "we win" kind of way. Thanks to my DVR and my patient wife and I got to enjoy the whole thing after work. The amazing walk off win had some positives and some negatives that we need to address heading into game 4. First, the positives:

1) Jeff Mathis is the wonderful stud. All we hear about throughout the playoffs (and throughout the season, from uneducated Angels fans) is what a waste Mathis is with the bat when we have Napoli sitting on the bench. Well, guess what the defensive substitution was able to do! Mathis ripped a game winning double to drive home Howie Kendrick, just one inning after ripping a double that could have easily led to him scoring the game winning run. Mathis is officially the player with the lowest regular season batting average to come through with a walk off playoff hit in the history of baseball. Write it down. I know Napoli will start game 4 behind the plate, but hopefully the fans will come around on my favorite catcher.

2) Howie Kendrick almost went for the cylce! Just another Halo platoon player that the idiot fans give no vote of confidence to. Of course, I should divulge that HK 47 is my favorite player on the squad, and damned if he didn't deliver when it mattered last night. Howard went 3 for 5 with 1 RBI and 3 runs, ripping a jack to get us on the board, a single, and a triple that put us ahead temporarily. Look for him to earn some respect, and Ma$e to continue to sit on the bench after that overrated game 2 error.

3) Jered Weaver did just enough. 5 innings of 3 run ball, allowing 5 hits, giving up 3 solo jobs to the Bronx Bombers. Weaver was busy, though, going 95 pitches in his 5 innings, getting kind of outpitched by Pettitte. However, giving up 3 solo jacks is a lot better than giving up some crazy rallies or multi-run bombs. Weavaer may not have earned the win in the comeback victory, but he certainly did a good enough job to keep us in the game.

4) This freaking bullpen. Say what you will about the pen allowing the Yanks to win the game in extra innings on Saturday, but you hve to admit that the bullpen has been so much better than the FOX announcers want to give them credit for. In this version of the series, Darren Oliver, Kevin Jepsen, Brian Fuentes, Jason Bulger, and Ervin "Extra Innings" Santana combined for 6 innings of 1 run baseball, allowing just 3 hits (Jepsen is accountable for one run and two hits, just so you know). This bullpen has been solid over the playoffs, I don't care what you or the media thinks, and they have been the key to some of our big wins.

5) This team never gives up. If it is game 3 of the ALDS, game 2 of this series, or the game last night, these guys are always giving us hope for a "double-you." I love this team for that, but like Torii Hunter said in a post game interview, "These games are making me lose my hair!"

Of course, we are still trailing 1-2, so don't be too jubilent Angels Nation. There were some things we need to improve on after last night:

1) JR/Kendry combined for an awful night. Together, two of our biggest bangers went 0 for 10 in the game. They never came up with a chance to knock anyone in, but these two guys are going to have to step it up. Kendry has done well earlier in the playoffs, but he'll need to continue, along with production from JR, to help push the middle of the offense forward.

2) Even the worst pitcher on the Yankees, Pettitte, isn't really that bad. With CC and AJ going the next two games, we're up against a tough task. Enough with all these comebacks, the Angels need to get to these gray shirted hurlers early and often.

3) Stop hitting into double plays at important times! The Angels did plenty of that in Game 2, and last night Hunter and Morales did it again. We need to stay out of the 6-4-3 if we have any hopes of keeping this series alive past Thursday.

Alright, game four features CC Sabathia (2-0, 1.13 in the playoffs) against Scott "Is This..." Kazmir (0-0, 7.50 in these playoffs). We know what CC brings to the table, since he punked us in game one. Hopefully a) CC will be weak on less rest and b) Kazmir will bring a little more to the table than he did in his game against the Red Sox.

Come on boys, we need this one.

Weekly football post #57.

2009-10-19T07:03:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the latest in a long line of weekly football posts. Warning: it is a big disappointment.

One thing that wasn't disappointing was the amazing way that my Mighty Barons destroyed Marina High School over the weekend. 56-7. Fountain Valley came up huge in their first league game, ending it with 42 points in the second half. Mega star Kyle Middlebrooks scored six touchdowns in the game. Four running TDs and two passing TDs helped our best player in years lead us onward to victory. He finished with 210 yards on the ground and 63 yards in the air, continuing to impress college recruits including Washington University. Dominic Ragland went for 166 yards through the air, 63 of those to Middie, and the Barons improved to a beautiful 6-0 start on the 2009 season. I'm smelling title. Next week is a battle with Esperanza (3-3), and I'm thinking we're running for an 8-0 start heading into a huge November 6 battle with Edison.

#25 Notre Dame went head to head with #6 USC this weekend, and really played their hearts out, despite losing 27-34 in the end. We were live and in person at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lake Forest, going head to head with various douche bag Trojan fans. The Fighting Irish played a hell of a game, especially in the fourth quarter, but fell short on a couple of chances to score a game tying touchdown as the game ended with a last second play. It is now the eighth time that USC has beaten ND in a row, but it was the closest matchup since the infamous "Bush Push" game. USC and my Irish went head to head in the first quarter, with the Trojans having a really nice drive followed up by a ton of solid Irish defense. Two USC field goals in the second quarter, after more solid defense from the Golden Domes, ended in a 7-13 first half tally. USC kind of took to dominating in the third quarter, making us worried that this was going to turn into a kind of route. Golden Tate scored a great TD in the third, which would only be upstaged by his fourth quarter sixer, that kept us close (14-27 after three. Joe McKnight was amazing! He upped the ante to 14-34 with a 1 yard touchdown run. But, Jimmy Clausen and the Irish had some more fight in them, and the defense was ready to fight as well. Jimmy Clausen nailed a two yard TD run, Golden Tate made the aforementioned amazing TD catch, and the Irish defense got the ball back for a thrilling last minute TD drive. Marching down the field, including with a little ref help, the Irish were inside the ten yard line. A pass to Kyle Rudolph appeared to be closer to a TD than most thought (he caught it out of bounds), but in the end it was two incomplete passes. Oh wait, we have one more second to go! Everyone already rushed the field to celebrate the Trojan win. Charlie Weis, however, fought for another second on the clock and actually got it! The sports' Gods had to be in our favor with one last play being handed to us, right? This had to be the time when the Irish would strike, send the game to OT, and get revenge for the Bush Push, right? Wrong. Incomplete. Game over. We fell short of the huge upset. Really fun game. Really disappointing finish. The now unranked 4-2 Fighting Irish step up next weekend against a gigantic Boston College team. BC has a streak against Notre Dame much like that of the Trojans, and our hopes to have a good season versus a bad one, for me, all comes down to our performance against the Eagles on October 24.

My Rams were damned close to getting a win. But, alas, no cigar. St. Louis took a late lead against the Jags on Sunday afternoon, but ended up going to OT and losing on a field goal, 20-23. Can nothing go right? 16 straight losses. It's almost becoming expected. Actually, it became that long ago. Marc Bulger looked good, 22/34 for 213, 1 TD, 1 INT, but it wasn't enough. Steven Jackson carried the ball for just 50 yards, but earned the top receiver honors with 78. It didn't matter. Donnie Avery's touchdown catch early on helped stake the Rams to the lead, and they escaped the half up 10-6. They kept the lead with a thrilling Leonard Little 36 yard interception returned for a TD, but allowed Maurice Jones Drew to tally a 3 yard TD run for the lead with 1:53 left. It was over, right? Wrong. The Ramies marched for their best late game maneuver of the year, ending it with a game tying 27 yard field goal with just 4 seconds left. Sadly, the coin flip determines the game winner in the NFL's OT, and Jacksonville pulled it off. We lose. However, this 20-23 loss is far and away the greatest game of the 2009 season. I'm proud. Now, at 0-6, the Rams get geared up for a loss next week to the Colts. Can't wait.

BC beat Winnipeg 24-21 this weekend to continue to improve their CFL chances. It was a 17 point second quarter that pushed the Lions onward to victory. After falling behind quickly 0-14 after the first fifteen minutes, the Orange & Black came storming back. Travis Lulay was the primary QB, not Buck Pierce or Jarious Jackson, and was good enough to win with a 13-24 night for 177 yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs. It was Lulay as the leading rusher as well, going 7 times for 92 yards for an amazing average of 13.14. Is this guy the best kept secret in British Columbia. Keep in mind that the Lions earned this comeback with just one offensive TD, a pass in the fourth quarter, and earned this win with gritty play (4 field goals and an interception returned for a TD by Dante Marsh). Winning without scoring much on offense, that's fun. At 8-7, BC now are tied for most runs in the West (can you believe it?), but technically are behind the Rough Riders (8-6) and Calgary (8-6). However, you have to be happy with our position, even if it is just because the West is awful this year. This Saturday we go against the Riders. Bring it Jon!

On the soccer pitch, it was Celtic earning a disappointing draw against Motherwell this weekend, 0-0. Celtic, as they do in most 0-0 draws, had the majority of the pressure and possession, but failed to find the back of the net. Ruddy held strong between the pipes for Mother', and the Hoops just couldn't do anything to beat him. Despite a couple of chances for the Sligo Side, it was Motherwell holding strong, and their supporters will definitely consider that a solid day at the park. Don't let the efforts of Artur "The Polish Perfectionist" Boruc slip by. Just another clean sheet for our main man. At 5-1-2 (17 points), Celtic are still back by a single point of Rangers, and continue their SPL battles next weekend against Hamilton (1-5-2). That should be an easy win, eh? Hopefully a Thursday UEFA battle with Hamburg SV will be the perfect tune up.

Things were even worse for Newcastle, dropping a 0-1 decision to Nottingham Forest this weekend. The loss has dropped the Mighty Mags from their top spot in the Coca Cola Championship table, and hopefully will prove to just be a small blip on the road to promotion. A 45th minute goal from Nott's Dexter Blackstock (evidently the best striker in this division, not on Newcastle) was all that it would take to seal the fate of the Bar Codes. Steve Harper was keeping the bastards out for the full 90, stopping 7 shots on target from the Notts', but Lee Camp was better with his 7 shot task on the other end of the pitch, earning the clean sheet. Are we missing Obafemi or what? What about Ameobi? Where has he been? Despite the loss, the Magpies are 7-2-3 (24 points) on the year, and are dead locked with West Brom for the top spot (don't ask why West holds the lead, since the goal differential is the same as well...). Next up is a Tuesday (that's tomorrow!) battle against Scunthorpe United (4-6-2), and hopefully the match against the lowly squad will boost us back to the top.

Chivas USA went into their weekend battle against San Jose looking for blood and playoff positioning. What they ended up with was a 2-2 draw in a tight battle with the Nor Cal squad. However, earning a point with a comeback has to be considered promising. The unbeaten streak is now 6. It was my main man Maykel "Super Freak" Galindo opening scoring in just minute 7 (with the helper from Anaheim's Sacha Kljestan) before San Jose took the lead with goals in the 21st and 58th. Ten minutes after they took the lead, though, young gun Justin Braun earned the tie with his third goal of the year. Zach Thorton may not have had a super solid outing, but I'm happy with a draw. Really, I am. At 13-9-6 (45 points), Chivas are still dead even with LA and Houston for the top spot in the West, with Seattle coming hard with 44. With just two games to go in the season, we are coming into some really important matches. Thursday night on ESPN2, it's Chivas v. Chicago, and I'm ready for the Goats to rock Jon Davis' world and move into first in the West.

In short: Chivas de Guada lost their Monday night game 0-1 to Santos to drop to 4-4-3 and third place in the table. Next week is an epic battle with America! It's on. Amazingly, in Ireland, Sligo beat Bray and has moved completely out of the relegation zone. With 37 points in 33 games, the Bit O' Red are tied with St. Pat's for the "last chance spot," but ahead for some beautiful reason. Can they pull this out? Tomorrow is a gigantic game against #4 Derry City. I don't want to say must win. But, must win! Lazio drew their weekend game on Sunday, 1-1 to Sampdoria. Francesco Matuzalem earned the 42nd minute goal for the Blues, and we're at 2-2-4 on the season (-9 of first place Inter). Thursday is a Villarreal match for UEFA honors, before a Sunday Serie A game against Bari (2-1-5).

Now, let's go Angels.