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Stanley Cup

2009-05-30T21:56:00.001-04:00

And now we come to the main event, the featured attraction. After three weeks we are now ready for some Stanley Cup action! For some its a dream that started on lakes and ponds in there youth and for some they are trying to add to their legacy.

Stanley Cup Finals (2)Detroit vs (4)Pittsburgh-An exact rematch of last years Stanley Cup final and for those of you who don't know Detroit won it last year. That puts a challenge on for the Redwings as there has not been a repeat Stanley winner in eleven years. In case your wondering it was Detroit that did it last back in 97 and 98. This years playoffs was full of intense action and drama filled games. The conference finals.....were a let down. Carolina came into the Eastern finals having upset 1 seed Boston while the Penguins had a dog fight with Washington. Pittsburgh destroyed the Hurricanes in a 4 game sweep. Carolina could not answer the Pens offensive assault. Crosby and Malkin both are 1 and 2 in goals scored this playoffs, Malkin with 14 and 11 for Crosby. Detroit had a tougher time facing Chicago but where still able to handle them in a easy fashion. This series was more competitive with Detroit and the Blackhawks going into overtime twice in the series. However this series was suppose to be great and it seldom was with only games 2 and 5 being close. Chicago with all of it's offense couldn't score on Detroit. Nicklas Lidstrom and goalie Chris Osgood. Breakdown- Pittsburgh brings the tandem of Crosby and Malkin but in addition to them Bill Guerin is a 400 goal plus veteran and center Jordan Staal can provide great defense. Detroit is anchored by Marian Hossa and Henrik Zetterberg. Pavel Datsyuk was injured in game 4 with Chicago and is already out for game 1. Yet keep and eye on Dan Cleary. Cleary was a big factor in the win over Chicago. Edge-Detroit. Defenseman- Detroit brings Nicklas Lidstrom who in his career has won the Norris trophy 6 times in his career. Backing him up is Niklas Kronwal whose hit on Hawk's ace Martin Havlat is still being talked about. The Penguins bring Sergei Gonchar who is great at power play kills and Rob Scuderi who has flown under the radar these playoffs but I think the veteran defense of the Redwings will outplay Pitt in the end. Edge-Detroit. On paper Detroit goalie Chris Osgood has the edge but lets take into the factor of Penguins net minder Marc Andre Fleury's opponents. He had to contend with Alexander Ovechkin no easy feat. Osgood was critical in Detroit's success over Chicago. One could even argue that without Osgood Detroit and Chicago could still be going on right now heading into a game 7. Both have similar stats but the one key for both teams will be how they play the power play. Edge-Pittsburgh. Keys- Detroit is a very puck control team. This is their key, by keeping it out of the hands of Crosby and Malkin. Detroit also will need to capitalize on power play opportunities. The Penguins will need to keep the puck away from their third of the ice. Staying on offense will be key for Pittsburgh letting their great offense try to wear out the injury dogged Redwings. Verdict- It will be interesting to see if Pittsburgh has learned anything from last year. Pittsburgh can easily make this a fitness test with Detroit but I still think the Redwings can skate with the Penguins. I believe the injuries that surfaced during the Blackhawks series will come back to haunt Detroit. Penguins in 6.

photo courtesy of Carlos Osorio

Conference Finals

2009-05-17T00:43:00.002-04:00

Two stars, only one can go on...
And so we were left with four; one team loaded with star power that held the nations attention, one team an upstart destroying every odd against them, one the defending champs trying to make it a repeat and give their town something to cheer about, and the other the youngest but hottest team right now. One series with one of the stars of the game against the underdog, can do team that everyone, including myself, thought would be done in the first round. The other a rivalry as old as the NHL itself. This is the conference finals....

East

(4)Pittsburgh vs (6)Carolina-With the games two biggest stars in the same series, it was a no brainer that Pittsburgh and Washington would gain the most media coverage. Crosby vs Ovechkin as it was dubbed. And it did not disappoint for the most part. Syd the kid and Alex the great both lead their teams with 12 and 11 goals respectively. 3 games went into overtime with the Penguins taking two of them. The Capitals David Steckel forced a game 7 when he sailed the puck past Pitt goalie Marc Andre-Fleury in overtime. Many thought with all the action that this would be a great game 7. One that would be the big explosive ending for this series. It ended up being a sparkler on the 4th of July. Pitt destroyed the Capitals 6-2 scoring 5 unanswered goals until Ovechkin answered with 2 minutes left in the 2nd. Carolina on paper should not be here. But they are a prime example if when a team gets hot its hot. Whether you think the Canes beating New Jersey was luck they still had the talent to force 7. Then they stun everyone in the room by knocking off Boston. Carolina's Scott Walker sealed it with a goal late in the first overtime in game 7. Walker you might have heard was the guy who dropped Bruin Aaron Ward with a good right hook that many are calling a cheap shot. The win gave Carolina its 4th game 7 win in a row. Now Carolina has a chance to compete for the Stanley Cup just 3 years removed from their 2006 championship. Verdict- The Penguins naturally have the edge heading into this matchup. Carolina has a case for defying the odds but one can't escape the feeling that luck is about to run out. Carolina seems to not matchup with Pittsburghs offense so their goalie Cam Ward will have to carry the load much like he did against New Jersey. The Penguins just need to stay the course and rely on Crosby and Malkin to carry them, Pittsburgh in 6

West-

(2)Detroit vs (4)Chicago-The Anaheim Ducks turned the post season on its head by beating 1st seed San Jose. Anaheim fought hard, game 2 went into triple overtime and fell in favor of the Ducks. The Ducks followed up with a game 3 win but Detroit then showed why they're the defending champs. The Redwings outscored the Ducks 10-4 over the next two games. Goalie Jonas Hiller forced a game 7. But in the end Dan Cleary's goal cemented that there was more hockey to be played in Joe Louis arena. Chicago had something to prove against a talented Vancouver side. Heading in it was a question on if the Blackhawks offense can get past Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo. The answer was a dramatic yes. There were times it seemed as though the Hawks could score on will. Vancouver had its moments but they couldn't contend with the fact that all 4 Hawk lines can score, and they did. Chicago's young talent, youngest team in the NHL, showed the critics that they were not phased by the postseason atmosphere. The team put a exclamation mark on their series clinching win in game 6. Scoring 7 goals including a hat trick from Patrick Kane against one of the premier goalies is nothing to sneeze at. Verdict- This is an "Original 6" matchup pitting two of the oldest hockey teams against each other. You could argue this is the NHL version of the Red Sox and Yankees. The Blackhawks are officially back from obscurity. The past decade has not been kind to Hawk fans who had to deal with poor play and the owner refusing to air games on TV. The Hawks success has done something rare in Chicago, they have stolen the spot light from the baseball teams. The Hawks will try to advance to the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since 1991 were they lost to Pittsburgh. Detroit is the veteran, with players like Marian Hossa, Cris Osgood, and Nikolas Lidstrom. They are the champs and seeing the Hawks growing better with each game gets their attention. Detroit fans are hoping for one last ride out of their players. In tough economic times the Redwings mean a lot right now to the city of Detroit. And what better way then to battle with a familiar foe. Detroit's experience is what will win this series for them. The Hawks need to keep wave after wave of offense at Detroit's defense to have a chance. In some respect this could be a passing of the torch game for both sides. The roar may be back in Chicago but Detroit is still Hockey town. Detroit in 7 to set up a rematch with Pittsburgh.

image courtesy of Bruce Bennett

Round 2

2009-04-30T17:08:00.003-04:00

Devils look on in disbelief as game 7 slips away

And then there were 8. After an upset and two series goin 7 its time for the second round. I accurately predicted most of the outcomes of the series but as with most playoffs this one has had plenty of surprises. First lets take a look east.

(1)Boston vs (4) Carolina- Boston, as predicted, swept through Montreal and did it with relative ease. Every game was won by two or more goals anchored by leading scorers Michael Ryder and David Krejci. Bostons depth carried them easily over the Habs. Simply put the Habs were just completely out matched. Carolina played in one of the game 7 series. Carolina meant trouble for New Jersey from the start. Games 2 and 3 went into over time with each team taking one game. Carolina goalie Cam Ward helped shut down the top line of New Jersey to help push a game 7. Then things got weird. In game 7 the Devils at home took the lead in the first period with goals from captain Jamie Langenbrunner to tie the goal from Carolina center Tuomo Ruutu. Followed by a goal from winger Jay Pandolfo. The Devils extended their lead with a powerplay goal from Brian Rolston. Carolina would pull with in one heading into the third. Future hall of famer Martin Broudeur shut down Carolina completely........until the last two minutes. With a buck 20 on the clock Carolina's Jussi Jokinen one timed a goal right past Brodeur to tie it. With the series third overtime game on the horizon the crowd at New Jersey was silent. Then with time winding down Chad LaRose floated a pass to Eric Staal and shot the goal with 31 seconds left to send Carolina to the next round. Brodeur, the all time goalie with wins, could simply stand with his team mates stunned. Boston has not lost against Carolina this season. Boston is riding on a few days rest while the Canes are still catching their breath. Verdict-Carolina will put up more of a fight than Montreal did but Boston is rolling, Boston in 6.

(2)Washington vs (4) Pittsburgh- Washington played in one of the more chippy series so far this playoffs. Even the coach for the Rangers was wielding a stick at the Washington fans. Rangers staying in the series to 7 can mostly be attributed to goalie Henrik Lundqvist fantastic play. This series had tough checks, both legal and illegal. But when all the smoke cleared the Caps advanced off of veteran Sergei Federov scoring the game winner in game 7. Of course having the great duo of Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin helps also. Despite the Flyers winning 2 games the Penguins where in control. Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin led the way combing for 8 goals. And that is what the media is paying attention to. Rather than its Washington vs Pittsburgh; it's portrayed as Sydney Crosby vs Alexander Ovechkin. These are the two top stars right now in the NHL. Having them in the same series is huge for TV. Verdict- This is another tough matchup that I think potentially will go 7. Washington and Pitt have equal the amount of offensive potential. This will come down to the goalies play and I like the Caps Simeon Varlamov, Capitals in 7.

Western Conference

(2) Detroit vs (8) Anaheim-Detroit breezed into the second round playing a Columbus team that was inexperienced and really just happy to have made the playoffs. Detroit crushed the young Blue Jacket team. Columbus rallied a bit in game 4 but it was all Detroit. I missed the San Jose prediction but I did say that if one of the number 1 seeds were to fall it would be the Sharks. Anaheim was the worst opponent for San Jose due to all of the home games San Jose had, Anaheim won the most. Anaheim silenced the loud crowd of the shark tank with stellar goalie play from Jonas Hiller and wing Bobby Ryan. Detroit lead the series in the season 3-1 with one win coming close. I can definitely see Anaheim winning a few games but I don't see them winning the series.Verdict-Detroit still has too many weapons for Hiller to handle, the Red Wings will score eventually, Redwings in 6.

(3)Vancouver vs (4)Chicago-As I write this game one has just wrapped up with Vancouver taking the first game at home. Vancouver had a similar route like Detroit with the Canucks sweeping St. Louis. Their success can be measured due to goalie Roberto Luongo. Vancouver and Chicago split the season 2 games a piece. Chicago delt with Calgary well winning in 6 as expected and I expect a similar series from the Black Hawks against another decent Canadian opponent. Vancouver is a stronger team than Calgary however. Verdict-This series could easily go to 7 games but the inexperienced Hawks could slip early and not recover. Vancouver in 7

photo courtesy of Bill Kostroun

Playoff time!

2009-04-18T02:07:00.003-04:00

April means for some that baseball has started but for others its the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. 16 teams will enter but only one will hoist the famed trophy. So I'll lay down my predictions for the first round.

Eastern Conference

(1)Boston vs (8) Montreal- Boston won the season series 6 games to 2 and Boston was the first team to break 100 points as well. It doesn't help the Habs that Boston has nearly twice as few losses as them. Montreal barely made the playoffs and with a 4 game losing streak are in a dead skid while Boston has coasted the past month. At the time of this article Boston has taken the first game 4-2. Verdict- Sweep, Boston can easily take this in 4 games and they will.

(2)Washington vs (7) New York R- The Rangers axed their coach about 2 months back after seemingly collapsing from the top of the East. Rangers had a great start but fizzled due to injuries around January. Washington owns the season series 3-1 but the games were close. The Rangers have taken the first game in surprising fashion. Thanks to the goal tending of Henrik Lundqvist the Rangers held star Alexander Ovechkin and co off to win. The air around the Caps though is calm. Verdict- Rangers can win but not this series, the Capitals in 6.

(3) New Jersey vs (6) Carolina- On paper this was the worst opponent the Devils could get. The Hurricanes own the series 3-1 and were on a roll into the playoffs despite dropping the last two games of the season. Yet the Devils took the first game with no trouble. Goals by captain Jamie Lagenbrunner and others stopped the Canes 4-1. Carolina answered right back earlier tonite with an overtime victory with Tim Gleason scoring the game winner. Verdict- This one is gonna come down to the wire, The Hurricanes in 7.

(4) Pittsburgh vs (5) Philadelphia- Ah the old Pennsylvania rivalry. Pittsburgh with its stars facing off against it's in state rival should provide for some great games. The Penguins lead the season with a 4-2 record. Phily unfortunately is now in a hole. They've dropped the 1st two games of the series and now need to bounce back at home on Sunday. Verdict-Pitt is too strong for Phily to contend with, Penguins in 6.

Western Conference

(1) San Jose vs (8) Anaheim- San Jose owned the west and even earned the President's Trophy. Drawing rival Anaheim assures the first all California series since 1969. San Jose with Patrick Marleau and Devin Setoguchi anchor the first line and hopes the loud home ice advantage of the Shark Tank will propel them towards the Stanley cup. Anaheim, 2007 Stanley Cup Champs, are 7-2-1 their last ten games including a win at the Shark Tank. Anaheim stunned the San Jose crowd in the first game with a 2-0 win. Verdict-Unlike other playoffs, in hockey it is not uncommon that an 8 seed can knock off a 1 seed. This could happen but San Jose should hold their own with the home ice advantage, San Jose in 6.

(2)Detroit vs (7) Columbus- Detroit has rocked all year. The team is stacked with Zetterberg, Hossa, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Pavel Datsyuk. The team won 50 games this season for the 4th year in a row. Columbus is an underdog. This is their first postseason appearance ever. To be fair the team isn't even 10 years old but still. Their goalie Steve Mason has carried the load the whole season combined with smart play from the whole team. The only chance Colubus has realistically is to play every game perfect. So far that hasn't happened, they dropped game one 4-1. Verdict-No need for a bailout in Hockey Town, Detroit in 5.

(3) Vancouver vs (6) St. Louis- The Canuks had a stretch where they only lost 7 games in regulation. Having star goalie Roberto Luongo helps too. Vancouver had to hold off a stubborn Calgary much of the last have of the regular season. Thus the team is ready for the playoffs. St. Louis had been hit with injuries the whole season. There also young, four of their top scorers are under 26. This team kicked into gear at the perfect time to just get into the playoffs. Experience has shown, St.Louis is down 2 games in the series. Verdict-St.Louis has a bright future but not right now, Vancouver in 5.

(4) Chicago vs (5)Calgary- Chicago is returning after a 7 year absence of the playoffs. This team is lead by forwards Johnathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Patrick Kane, and Martin Havlat. Combine that with the wall that is Nikolai Khabibulin and you have yourself a dark horse in the west. Calgary has experience on their side. Anchored by Olli Jokinen and Jarome Iginla and NHL leading goalie Mikka Kiprusoff and you have a decent playoff match up. Verdict-Chicago just has more weapons offensively, Hawks in 6.

Check in when the 2nd round is about to take off for my analysis.

image credited to Darryl Dyck, The Canadian Press

When we last left the NHL

2009-02-19T17:26:00.002-05:00

Nick Russ here to report on the events of hockey. Normally in the world of sports a visit to your championship is good in terms of job security as a coach. Even if you lose your championship they want you back to finally get the final push. Apparently in hockey this is not the case. The Pittsburgh Penguins who are the current defending Eastern conference champs fired coach Michel Therrien. Pittsburgh despite its talent with Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin the Penguins find themselves struggling at 4th in the Atlantic. They sit on the outside looking in, if the season ended now Pitt would miss the playoffs. The Penguins have gone 4-4-2 in their last 10 games. Some of those wins came against the Rangers and San Jose yet they dropped games against Toronto. Firing their coach has come off as a drastic move as we are now about two months away from the playoffs. Pittsburgh has Montreal tonight and rival Philadelphia on Saturday.

One of the hottest teams on the ice right now has to be the Washington Capitals. Winning seven of their last ten against teams like New Jersey and the Rangers and twice against division contending Florida. Powered by Alexander Ovechkin and the defensive efforts of Mike Green, Washington is starting to stake its claim as one of the best in the East. Washington has some true tests down the road for them with a still dangerous Pittsburgh followed by the Flyers. The last of their home game stretch ends with Atlanta before visiting Boston to wrap up the month.

Out west Detroit continues with their impressive season. They kicked off February with a 6 game winning streak. However they had a hick up with games against Columbus and a shoot out with dismal Colorado. Detroit keeps winning yet the teams they are beating are not exactly blue chip caliber. Some of their wins came at the expense of Nashville, St. Louis, Minnesota, and Phoenix all but Minnesota are bellow 500. and most are at or near the bottom of their divisions. The only real threat on the radar for Detroit is San Jose next week but they can't take it easy with their opponents due to the fact that Chicago has kept up with Detroit.

That'll do it for this time hockey fans!

Image courtesy of Haraz N. Ghanbari

The Beginning of the Season

2009-02-07T00:13:00.002-05:00

As I discussed last week, after an offseason that saw no testing at NASCAR sanctioned tracks, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is getting ready for the first race of the 2009 season. Now although it is a non-points event, the Budweiser Shootout is one of the most anticipated races of each NASCAR season. It is a chance for drivers to let it all hang out in a bid for the glory of victory (and the lion's share of a 1.2 million dollar purse).
From the inaugural Busch Clash in 1979 to the Budweiser Shootout in 2008, this has been a race for the drivers who won a pole position in the previous season. 2009 will be different as the Shootout has become a race between drivers representing the four manufacturers that race in Sprint Cup. The top six cars in 2008 Owner Points from Chevrolet,Ford, Dodge, and Toyota are joined by a "wild card" from each make which is either the most recent Series Champion or seventh highest points finisher from the 2008 season. This has caused the starting lineup to swell to an event record of 28 cars, which beats the previous record of 23 cars that took the green flag for last year's Budweiser Shootout. On Thursday night the field was set by a drawing and saw Paul Menard select the pole for his first race in a Yates Racing Ford. Elliot Sadler joins Menard on the front row in a Dodge for Richard Petty Motorsports.
It should be a wild race with a lot of excitement and perhaps a few fireworks. However, this race is merely a prelude to the 51st edition of the Daytona 500 to be run a week from Sunday. Join me next week for a preview of "The Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing!"

The month of January

2009-02-05T17:22:00.003-05:00

As the NFL packs away its pads for the next seven and half months, you might ask your self what now? How bout some Hockey! Last month kicked off things in grand fashion for the Hockey league with the playing of the now traditional winter classic. Pitting central division rivals Detroit and Chicago against each other, saw the home town Blackhawks jump out to the early lead in front of a national audience at historic Wrigley Field. After both teams entered the ice, crossing home plate bye the way, the game got under way. The Hawks jumped out to the early lead with a goal roughly 3 minutes in by Kris Versteeg but it was evened up with a Detroit goal from Mikael Samuelsson. Martin Havlat and Ben Eager would score before the end of the 1st for the Hawks. Detroit took over the next period with two goals from Jiri Hudler and Pavel Datsyuk to erase the Chicago lead. In the third Brian Rafalski nailed the dagger for Detroit and Brett Lebda threw the salt to push Detroit's lead to three. Duncan Keith managed to score one last goal for the Hawks with ten seconds to go to give the final of 6-4 for the defending Stanley cup champs. Although they lost the game the Hawks continue to pursue the Redwings behind by about ten points but are currently battling to be number 3 in the western conference. Looking ahead they have two crucial games coming up on the road, one tonight against Calgary; ranked 3rd in the conference, and one at Vancouver. Detroit started off after the classic with a great 4 game win streak they followed with a tough loss against League leading San Jose. Detroit faces off with an Edmonton team trying to find their way into the top eight before visiting Pittsburgh.

The New York Rangers started off as one of the best teams, now they have slipped out of 1st in the Atlantic. This is more to the play of the New Jersey Devils who rattled off an eight game win streak last month. The Devils scored huge wins over Pittsburgh, Montreal, and league leading Boston. The Devils have Atlanta and Los Angeles before a huge game against the Rangers. The Rangers are out of first but only by a mere 4 points or two wins.

Boston has vaulted itself to be the top team in the NHL. Boston stands with 82 points something that San Jose thought would be obtaining first. Boston road a ten game win streak right into 2009 and followed with wins over Pittsburgh, Montreal, and Toronto. Next week the Bruins have two important games that should be a great test. One game at home against the best of the west San Jose. Then they visit New Jersey. That'll do it for me until next time Ice fans.

Super Bowl XLIII

2009-02-01T14:54:00.004-05:00

And so we come to the grand stage. Arizona, the underdog through out the entire postseason has won over people across the nation. Pittsburgh, the old guard looking for their sixth Super Bowl victory a feat that has not been accomplished in the Super Bowl era. These two teams will meet tonight in the pursuit of adding their names to the history of this sport.

Arizona handled the Eagles well and proved that they belong in this game. The key for Arizona will be their offense. The Cardinals need to test the Steelers defense on every play to succeed. Using running backs Tim Hightower and Edgerin James early will help draw up the powerful safeties of Pittsburgh. Doing this will help free up receivers Larry Fitzgerald and the now healthy Anquan Boldin. Play action will be key for Kurt Warner as the pass rush will be fierce all night. On Defense the Cards will have a work load tonight. Quarter back Ben Roethlessberger will have an easier time with Arizona's defense. While Arizona has a decent run defense they allow 221 yards in the air. Arizona has to blitz Roethlessberger consistently and they will have to lock down recievers Hines Ward and Santonio Holmes and others as well. Arizona should be able to contain Steelers running back Willie Parker but he is a big gain threat, they will have to watch him.

Pittsburgh has as much offense as Arizona but the Cards can answer their onslaught. The Steelers will have to fall back on their battle tested defense. Blitzing and rushing the Arizona offense will keep them guessing. Roethlissberger MUST avoid interceptions against this defense. Through out the playoffs the Cardinals managed to win their games using quick blitzes that threw off the QB's timing and left balls up for grabs. Willie Parker's success against Arizona will be pivotal for the Steelers offense. Running the ball will wear down the Cardinals front eight. The Steelers cant just rely on passing not knowing how Hines Ward's knee will affect his performance.

I predict that this will be an offensive game early on with a lot of back and forth action. In the second half expect Pittsburgh to start to pull away. It has been an amazing ride for Arizona but they wont pull off this one. Steelers 31-Arizona 23.

Offseason Almost Over

2009-01-28T14:29:00.003-05:00

As many of us take a look out the window we see conditions outside that could make us think that nicer weather will never come. However, for some of us this is a sign that racing season is just around the corner. In fact it has never really ended for some people with indoor races and races contested in Australia and New Zealand, where it is currently summer.
I was lucky enough to attend the Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the second year in a row. For those of you who love racing ,and midget racing in particular, the Chili Bowl is truly a sight to behold as they are able to have a trade show, room for about 290 cars, a quarter-mile dirt track, AND about 15,000 seats under the big roof at the Tulsa Expo Center! It is absolutely a must see event in the world of racing. I was in attendance for the last three nights of the five-night affair and saw Tony Stewart Racing's Tracy Hines take Thursday night action and 2008 USAC Sprint and Silver Crown champion Jerry Coons Jr. was the Friday night winner. After a long day of racing on Saturday afternoon and evening, Sammy Swindell ,in a radical looking car, took his fifth Chili Bowl A-Main in the 23rd running of the event.

Sammy Swindell (1) passes Tracy Hines on the way to victory at the Chili Bowl (photo by Sean Mizell)

It has been a Winter of Discontent for many in North Carolina as the economy has hit NASCAR teams hard. Layoffs have been the common theme down south and no team has been safe from them as even the big teams like Hendrick Motorsports have had to make cuts. The economy has also caused some teams like Bill Davis Racing look like they won't be able to answer the Sprint Cup bell. Now new teams are beginning to pop up like Tommy Baldwin Racing, Nemco Motorsports, and a team spearheaded by former driver and current announcer Phil Parsons in an attempt to fill the fields that could potentially be short this season.
Many questions will be answered next week when things kick off at Daytona International Speedway a week from Saturday night with the Budweiser Shootout. Be sure to check in next week for a preview of the goings on in Florida!

Divisional Week

2009-01-16T17:48:00.002-05:00

Russ here with your NFL Recap. And then there were 4. Arizona is proving they belong. In my last blog I stated that turnovers will kill your chances in the playoffs. Carolina proves that. The Panthers allowed 6 turnovers. All can be credited to Jake Delhomme with 5 interceptions and a fumble that accounted to 23 of Arizona's points in their 33-13 win. Kurt Warner had two touch downs in the air connecting to Larry Fitzgerald and Tim Hightower. Hightower led the Cards in rushing with 76 yards on 14 carries with Edgerin James rolling for 57 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown. Neil Rackers managed to make 4 field goals to destroy Carolina. The panthers never got off the ground people scoring the first and last touchdowns in the game. With only 20 minutes of time of possession and only converting 2 third downs the panthers had no chance.

The other game was set up to be a must see event. The Giants and Eagles didn't disappoint. It was a tale of two quarterbacks with Eli Manning and Donovan McNabb. Numerous opportunites were wasted on New York with the howling wind factoring into Eli's throws as he missed a couple of wide open receivers that could have easily scored. McNabb took matters into his own hands by even rushing for a touchdown. He would later hook up with Brent Celek for a 1 yard touchdown pass to seal it for the Eagles.

Both teams are hot heading into the NFC championship game. Arizona is 6-2 at home with Phily struggling on the road. However this playoffs have proven that home field means nothing. The Eagles are putting away the fact that they destroyed Arizona on Thanksgiving as they believe the Cards have changed so much and they have. Time of possession will be the key for the Eagles so they can keep Kurt Warner and the Cardinals offense on the sidelines. Running back Brian Westbrook will be getting a lot of carries to help with time and to limit any potential interceptions which have been critical to Arizona's success. The Cardinals will be able to add receiver Anquan Boldin after sitting out with a hamstring injury. The Eagles defense will have the twin running back attack of Edgerin James and Tim Hightower to contain. The Cardinals running game will open up their passing game. The Eagles will have to pressure Warner all game, the same goes to the Cards and McNabb. Truly this game will be Arizona's offense vs The Eagles defense.

Over in the AFC Baltimore, Tennessee was as good as I thought it would be. Immovable objects meet early early this year with Tennessee walking away the victor. Both teams swapped touchdowns early with Chris Johnson scampering on a 8 yard touchdown run while Baltimore answered late in the first with a Joe Flacco 48 yard bomb to Derrick Mason. From there it was all about defense as expected. Tennessee shot themselves in the foot turning the ball over 3 times in Ravens territory killing long drives. Matt Stover started off the 4th with a field goal to put Baltimore ahead. Rob Bironas of Tennessee answered with 4:26 left. Baltimore's Matt Stover kicked a 43 yard field goal to win the game. Flacco became the first rookie to win two playoff games with his game managing.

The Chargers simply were out gunned by the Pittsburgh offense. Philip Rivers out threw Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger by almost 200 yards but the Steelers had Willie Parker rushing for 142 yards with two touchdowns. The Steelers now face the Ravens for the third time this year. Much like the Titans Ravens game this will be a low scoring affair with both defenses trying to score. The Steelers will capitalize with their offense as they have more weapons. Ravens are going to pressure Roethliessberger all day to have any success at take away's.

My predictions are The Eagles over the Cardinals and Steelers over Ravens

Image courtesy of Kevin C. Cox

Wild Card Week

2009-01-10T00:32:00.002-05:00

Russ here with your recap of the Wild Card weekend.

After just barely getting into the playoffs the Chargers weren't expected to deliver much. Playing like a team with nothing to lose the Chargers managed to pull out a win in Overtime. The Bolts can hang their win on the play of Darren Sproles. In a story fitting a playoff game, the Chargers had to do without one of their marque players in Ladainian Tomlinison. The lingering injury sidelined the running back at about half way in the third leaving only 5 carries for 25 yards and a touchdown. Sproles was unstoppable. Rushing for 105 yards on 22 carries for 2 touchdowns including the game winner in OT. Not only did he hurt them running the ball but also returning the ball for 178 yards on punts and kick offs. The Colts entered the game on a 9 win streak but couldn't answer with a run game of their own. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes combined for just 56 yards. Thus the offense was left up to AP MVP Peyton Manning. Manning threw the ball 310 yards on 25 out of 42 passes with a touchdown to Reggie Wayne. The TD to Wayne seemed like it would lock it up for the Colts but Philip Rivers led his team down the field to allow Nate Kaeding to kick the 26 yard field goal to send it into extra. Credit could also go to Chargers punter Mike Scifres whose punts averaged 52.7 yards kept Manning pinned deep in his own territory most of the game. San Diego has won five straight and now heads on the road to Pittsburgh where they will be without Ladainian Tomlinson.

After proving early in the season that they were a contender Baltimore hit a skid into the playoffs. The Ravens shrugged it off by easily handling the Dolphins 27-9. The story here was Defense and it was all over. Ravens safety Ed Reed made it seem like Baltimore had 13 men out on the field. The Defense forced 5 turnovers and sacked QB Chad Pennington 3 times and was in his face all day. Reed had 2 picks including one for a touchdown to put Miami in their mirror. Rookie QB Joe Flacco wasn't stellar throwing just 9 of 23 for 135 yards but made no errors. And in the playoffs error free+ capitalizing on the other guys mistakes= victory and with it he becomes only the third rookie to win his first playoff game. Like Indianapolis, Miami was plagued by poor field positioning starting their first few possessions on their 20 yard line and converted on 2 of 11 on third downs. Baltimore visits Tennessee this week in what has shaped up as the highlight of this weekend. It will be a low scoring affair to be sure as it was earlier this year. The winner is gonna be the one who can take advantage of miscues first.

I'll admit I was wrong picking against Arizona. Arizona was struggling heading into the playoffs but managed to rally in the second half. The defense picked off rookie Matt Ryan twice and limited running back Michael Turner to just 42 yards. 14 of the Cards 30 points came off of Atlanta turnovers. Arizona's win is their first home playoff victory since 1949. Back then they were still the Chicago Cardinals. It has been a fun ride but Kurt Warner and company will probably run out of steam as they visit Carolina this week.

The Eagles Vikings game was a sloppy one. Both defenses stopped the rushing attacks of each other. Truly the game could be broke up into a few plays that mattered. The key play came from Eagles running back Brian Westbrook who broke a screen pass run for a 71 yard touchdown and they never looked back. This Sunday marks the rubber match between New York and Phily who split the season a game a piece.

This week I'll pick New York to beat the Eagles

Carolina to end the story book year in Arizona

The Steelers over San Diego

And my game of the week Baltimore over the Titans

image courtesy of Jeff Gross

Season Recap

2009-01-08T17:23:00.002-05:00

With the playoffs in full swing its always fun to look back and see how we got here. I'll go ahead and kick off my season recap with my first award to Best up and coming team.

Runner up Tampa Bay- The Bucs just missed the playoffs and held a respectable 9-7 record. However they lost all 4 games in the month of December and allowed the Falcons to sweep in to the wild card. Yet the Bucs started the season 6-3 by the bye week and included a 27-3 romp over eventual number 2 seed Carolina. Really what didn't help the Bucs was nagging injuries all year to QBs and both Starting running backs. Tampa Bay will be force next year I predict a playoff appearance for them.

Runner up- New England. Heading into this season New England fans couldn't realistically expected another perfect season. However the gasps filled Gillette stadium once the crowd saw future hall of famer Tom Brady on the ground clutching his knee. Immediately it became a question of what now. Matt Cassel showed the potential that this team has with out Brady. Just missing the playoffs despite winning their last 4. I predict them to win the division next year.

Winner- New Orleans finished 8-8 and did so without Reggie Bush most of the season. Drew Brees showed his stuff and won himself the offensive player of the year award. Factor in the Saints were the most scoring offense in the league and led in most total yards. The only hang up with them is their defense and they'll be shopping for a new coordinator soon.

Where did they go?- Teams that got off to a great start but disappeared in the end

Runner up- Washington- Redskins started 6-3 by week 10 and were poised to challenge New York but an injury to top running back Clinton Portis really hurt the Redskins down the stretch.

Runner up- Tampa Bay just like Washington it looked as though the Bucs were a sure thing for January. But being bit by the injury bug limited their offense.

Winner- Buffalo- The Bills had their best start in over ten years winning their first 6 games. The Bills were turning as much heads as the Titans early on but going winless in the division killed them.

Most Disappointing team- Teams with the great seasons last year that couldn't repeat the same result this year.

Runner up- Jacksonville-Last year The Jags won a playoff game and gave the Patriots a good game in the next post season game. This year they went 5-11 and looked nothing like last years team.

Runner up- Green Bay- Following Brett Favre is a hard act but he took the team to the NFC championship last season and the Pack followed it up with a 6 win season this year.

Winner Dallas- This was the Cowboys year to make it back to the super bowl. After a decent finish last year they were poised as the favorite for the NFC to win. But internal bickering and injuries turned Americas team into a mediocre 9-7 team.

My MVP- Adrian Peterson. All Day had a great year. He rushed for over 1700 yards and had averaged 4.8 yards per carry. Without a decent passing game Peterson helped carried the Vikings into the postseason.

My Rookie of the year- Matt Ryan. In a town that first went threw Michael Vick last year. Then in the middle of the night their coach splits for Arkansas U after promising to stay. Matt Ryan seemed like he came from above. He actually came from Boston College. Ryan helped the town get over all of their trouble with Vick and their runaway coach. Sure Joe Flacco has had similar success but Matt Ryan had to start with nothing.

My Coach of the year- Dolphins coach Tony Sparano. It would be easy to factor in Jeff Fisher for taking his team undefeated for half a season but his team stumbled a bit in the end. Atlanta coach Mike Smith inherited a mess in Atlanta and brought them to the post season but Sparano took a team that had only 1 win last season to the division title.

Image courtesy of Donald Miralle

Week 17 Final Week

2009-01-03T00:10:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year and here's your final week recap. What was supposed to be an epic end of the season game turned into a one sided affair. Despite Jay Cutler out throwing San Diego QB Philip Rivers by over hundred yards, the Chargers out scored Denver 52-21. San Diego was an offensive machine scoring on 6 of their first 7 drives and only punting once, with 57 seconds left in the third. The story of the game was Ladamian Tomlinson. LT had 3 touchdowns on 14 carries for 96 yards. A total of 3 Chargers rushers had touchdowns totaling 5 on the ground. Rivers connected with Tight End Brandon Manumaleuna and running back Darren Sproles for touch downs. The result is a few firsts; The Chargers become the first team to make the playoffs with an 8-8 record since the 1985 Browns, Denver becomes the first team since division play began in 67 to blow a 3 game lead with 3 weeks left in the season. And as a result coach Mike Shanahan got the ax. San Diego won the division which means they will host the Colts tomorrow night and LT might not be there. Tomlinson suffered a strained abdominal during the game and is questionable. The Chargers fought hard and Denver's blundering allowed them to turn around an almost disastrous season but it will probably end against Indy.

As impressive Matt Cassel has been he still is not Tom Brady. For the first time in 5 consecutive seasons the Patriots will miss the playoffs. It was a windy game that saw the goal post actually get blown off into an angle prompting an in game adjustment. The Pats have won 16 of their last 17 against Buffalo including the past 11 straight games but it wasn't enough to reach postseason. New England needed either a loss from Baltimore or Miami and a win to reach the playoffs but the Ravens and Dolphins both were victorious. Miami clinches the division creating the greatest one year turn around in what I think is ever. Last year they had just one win! Now they host Baltimore who stumbled into the playoffs after seemingly challenging Pittsburgh for their division.

In the NFC Drama filled Dallas may finally have some relief to their problems. Dallas missed the playoffs in dismal fashion by being destroyed by the Eagles 44-6. The Eagles forced 5 Dallas turnovers and scored back to back on two of them. All of the turnovers led to Philadelphia points. The Eagles make an unexpected rally to the playoffs thanks in part to Houston beating Chicago, and Oakland upsetting Tampa Bay. Tampa missing the playoffs is a bit of a disappointment as they were considered a preseason favorite. Chicago on the other hand over achieved since they were predicted to be a 5 win team and in the end won 9 games. The Eagles will visit Minnesota on Sunday.

Many question if Arizona deserved their playoff spot. They've won only two of their last 5 games and all their losses were seemingly blowouts. There is even a threat to black out the home TV market from their first home playoff game in 60 years.

For my last regular season picks I went 1-3 making my grand total 25-27

My playoff picks will be Atlanta over the Cardinals

The Ravens over Miami

The Colts over San Diego

And The Vikings over the Eagles

Check back as I'll have a year in review along with my awards

photo courtesy of Jeff Gross

Week 16 in the NFL

2008-12-28T00:06:00.003-05:00

Nick Russ here with your Christmas week of pro football. In a week with plenty of playoff implications, one of the more important ones was not as dramatic as earlier thought. Give credit to Pittsburgh they played a tough game but Tennessee proved they were number 1. 21 of Tennessee's 31 points all came from turnovers. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger threw 2 picks, one as the final seconds ticked away, and two fumbles. The only scores in the first half for the Titans came from a Kerry Collins TD pass to Justin Gage for 34 yards and a Rob Bironas field goal. After his fumble led to Tennessee scoring Roethlisberger drove down the field and connected for his 100th career TD to Santonio Holmes. Then out of the gate he capped a 4 play drive in the third with a 21 yard pass to Hines Ward to give them the lead. Tennessee answered with a 4th down pitch out to Chris Johnson that ended with a 21 yard touch down. It was down hill for Pittsburgh from there. Michael Griffin intercepted Roethlisberger for the second time and returned all the way to the 1 yard line where Lindel White took it in. Tennessee sacked Roethlisberger 5 times all without pro-bowlers Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch. This marks the 8th victory in 9 games that Tennessee has won at home against the Steelers.

Else where the race has narrowed in one division while another will have its deciding game on Sunday night. The Jets trip to Seattle ended with a crushing loss. The score was only 13-3 but it pretty much eliminates the Jets from the playoffs and could very possibly mean Brett Favre's last game on Sunday. The other teams Miami and New England all won but Miami is in the clinch position. Miami lead by ex-Jet Chad Pennington has to beat his former team the Jets to clinch the division. A Miami loss and a New England win over Buffalo means the division is the Patriots. New England could reach the playoffs if Baltimore loses to Jacksonville. I personally cant believe that the AFC west is going to come down to the last game between Denver and San Diego. These two have stumbled around alllllll year and it has come to this. I've said before that the Chargers were one of the most disappointing teams this year and a win Sunday helps vindicate them of that. Denver loses that means they blew it and Mike Shanahan's job might be in trouble.

The Bears got a gift early this year. Every team that they needed to lose, lost including Minnesota. In an arctic setting the Bears fought a spoiler driven Packers team in to overtime. Special teams proved to be the deciding factor in the game as Bears QB Kyle Orton threw two picks and only completed 14 of 27 passes with a touch down to tight end Greg Olsen. The Bears managed to block 2 Mason Crosby field goals including one at the end of regulation. On punts the Bears managed to recover a live ball that bounced into Packers Jarret Bush that led to the Orton-Olsen touchdown. The Bears need help to make the playoffs. To their benefit their much alive in the division race due to Minnesota losing. If the Giants beat Minnesota and Chicago beats Houston they win the North. If both Tampa Bay and Dallas lose then the Bears clinch a wild card spot. But it all comes down to beating Houston. Minnesota losing Sunday is a possibility as Giants coach Tom Coughlin believes on maintaing momentum and might not rest his starters.

Speaking of the Giants the game was as good as predicted with Carolina. Anchored by running back Derrick Ward rushing for 215 yards, the Giants now set themselves up as number 1 in the NFC. It was really a rushing game. DeAngelo Williams had 4 touchdowns and 108 yards while Giants Brandon Jacobs raked in 3 touchdowns and 87 yards. One of his touchdowns came with 3:21 in the game to set up Eli Manning to throw to Domenik Hixon to tie the game late capping a 21-7 second half. Carolina had a chance to win the game with a 50 yard field goal but the strong wind pushed it wide left. After both sides swapped failed drives New York nearly gave the ball to Carolina after R.W. McQuarters muffed a punt on the Giants 13 yard line. Immediately after Derrick Ward ran 51 yards to the Carolina 36 and he eventually got the Giants to the 2 where Brandon Jacobs took it in for the score and win.

Last week I went 1-3 bringing my overall to 24-24

This week I'll take The Bears over Houston

The Jets over Miami

Baltimore over Jacksonville

And my final game of the week Denver over San Diego

Image courtesy of Nam Y. Huh

Hockey Talk week 9

2008-12-26T23:21:00.002-05:00

Nick Russ here with your NHL update. The youngest team in the league is a fire ball heading into the Winter Classic. The Blackhawks have won their last 8 straight games tying a franchise record. The impressive streak includes victories over Northwest division leaders Calgary and Vancouver. Powered by All Star vote leading wing Patrick Kane and team goal leader Patrick Sharp, the Hawks have division leading Detroit looking over its shoulder. All this with just a week away from the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. The Hawks go on the road for Minnesota and Detroit oddly enough before having New Years Eve off then hosting the Redwings at Wrigley.

Detroit has been a bit of a roller coaster the past few games. They dropped a game against dismal Dallas and the struggling Avalanche. However they shut out one of the best teams in San Jose. They also won over LA and St. Louis setting up a critical home game against the hard charging Hawks. With Marian Hossa, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Pavel Datsyuk set to make the All Star game, the most players in the West, Detroit could battle with Chicago for a long time. With the animosity towards the BCS in college football the Winter Classic could easily steal some ratings on Jan 1. Detroit visits Colorado before hosting Chicago then playing the Winter Classic.

Out East Montreal is starting to vanish in Boston's mirror. Despite having potentially 5 all stars the Canadiens have underachieved while Boston has soared. Montreal dropped 3 in a row with losses to Tampa, a tough Washington loss, and Carolina. Then they beat the Flyers and Sabres before losing in OT to Carolina. Put this into perspective, if Montreal where in the Atlantic division they would be tied for third with New Jersey one point just behind them. Montreal has a long road trip starting with Pittsburgh before wrapping it up at New Jersey.

The Atlantic division is the closest division race heading into 2009. The Rangers lead the division with 47 points followed by Philadelphia with 45 points, that's a win difference folks. The Flyers are followed by rival Pittsburgh with 42 points and injury plagued New Jersey. And of course the Islanders have fallen off the globe with 25, worst in the league. Rangers lost to New Jersey early on and lost a critical cross conference game with San Jose. The Rangers play the Devils tomorrow in the only worth while division game before playing Pittsburgh in two weeks. Phily plays no division opponents for a while but they still have been performing well against teams like Washington and Pittsburgh. They go on the road out west against Anaheim and LA before visiting the Capitals. Pittsburgh can get some momentum going against Boston twice in the coming week. Until next time Hockey fans.

Photo courtesy of Nam Y. Huh

Week 15 in the NFL

2008-12-21T00:42:00.004-05:00

With two weeks remaining its your NFL recap. With all the drama in the big D something came up that seemed to cool all heads, a win. Winning over the Giants keeps the Cowboys alive in the playoff race for now. Not having Brandon Jacobs limited the Giants to simply throwing against the Cowboys. With DeMarcus Ware being one of the leagues main sack machines combined with Terence Newman intercepting the ball twice, it became a long day for Eli Manning. Eli had 18 for 35 on his passes with 191 yards. The G men's only scores were two John Carney field goals and a safety when Dallas QB Tony Romo fumbled out of the end zone. Romo is 4-0 when facing the Giants. He was out when they lost earlier this year with his finger injury. Saturday night the Cowboys play the Ravens in what is a good matchup but not as important as the Giants game. This week the Giants face off against the Panthers for the number 1 seed in the NFC and the home field advantage. This is a game worth watching and could probably end up being the NFC championship game a few weeks from now.

Else where in the NFC this week is another battle with major playoff implications. After beating Arizona the Vikings place themselves in the driver seat of their division. A win this Sunday could lock it up for the Vikings, however it wont be against a cup cake team like Detroit. Atlanta after a man up or shut up game with Tampa Bay sit in the second wild card spot with Dallas holding the other. Tampa Bay and Atlanta share the same record but the tie break favors Atlanta. A loss to Minnesota could end the miracle season for Atlanta. Tampa Bay plays host to San Diego while another surprise contender visits the Redskins. The Eagles are sitting on the fringe just waiting for Atlanta to slip up. Chicago is right on the Vikings heels and with a home game Monday night against Green Bay the Bears could end up in first by Christmas should Minnesota lose. Normally a southern team heading north spells trouble for the south team. Minnesota plays in a dome just like the Falcons however, so the crowd will have to help throw off rookie Matt Ryan's rhythm so he cant connect to Michael Turner. The Vikings will have to do with out Pat Williams till the end of the season after injuring his shoulder last week.

In the AFC we might finally see a horse pull away in the AFC east. The Jets, Dolphins, and Patriots all won last week but time is starting to run out for the Pats and Dolphins. The Jets visit Seattle for another Mike Homgren Brett Favre reunion. Miami visits the lowly Chiefs while the Pats have the toughest task hosting Arizona. This one really could come down to next week when the Jets host Miami while the Pats visit Buffalo. If Miami wins out they win the spot. New England has quietly stuck around however and I wouldn't count them out.

Much like the NFC 1 and 2 squaring off this week, the Titans and Steelers have a head on collision in Nashville for the top seed in the AFC. Pittsburgh had a controversial yet still hard fought win over Baltimore last week while the Titans were upset by Houston. Like the Ravens Steelers game last week this game is gonna be a defensive stand off. Both teams D's are in the top 5 with Pittsburgh leading in total yards allowed and passing yards while Tennessee sits at 4th and 5th in both categories. Both teams are one and two in points allowed. Look to see Pittsburgh run the ball early with Willie Parker and open up their passing game with Ben Roethlisberger. The Titans might do something similar but my try passing earlier with short quick slants to test safeties Troy Polamalu and Ryan Clark and to loosen up the defensive line to give Chris Johnson a chance to run for some big gains.

On a side note, this has to be one of the closest playoff races in recent memory. Usually this time in the season the stage is mostly set for the playoffs. I can't recall a closer race across the board other than college football. With that said I went 1-3 bringing my total to 23-21

This week I'll take Tampa over the Chargers

The Eagles over Washington

And I'm goin with two games of the week

Titans over Steelers and the Panthers over Giants

Have a merry Christmas and happy Hanukkah and enjoy the football this week.

image courtesy of Ronald Martinez

Week 14 in the NFL

2008-12-11T19:19:00.004-05:00

Nick Russ here with your NFL update. Its not over for Phily. The Eagles stunned the Giants at the Meadow lands on Sunday 20-14. While the media circus surrounds the Giants about Plaxico Burress the Giants failed to hook up on Sunday. Eli Manning threw 13-27 and only 123 yards and a touch down. Meanwhile the Eagles defense held the top ranked Giants rushing to just 88 yards. Giants running back Brendon Jacobs did leave in the third quarter but it has been indicated that it is not serious. The Eagles were consistent the whole game. In a tough wind Donovan McNabb threw 19-30 for 191 yards and a touchdown. Brian Westbrook rushed for 131 yards on 33 carries and a touchdown helping the Eagles grind out the clock. The Eagles had 34 minutes in the time of possession aided by 12 of 18 on third downs. The win gives the Eagles a small chance to make a wild card run. On the other side the Giants have clinched the division thanks to a Cowboys loss. However this brings the glorious home field advantage in jeopardy for the G-men. Next week the Giants get to put the Cowboys away while the Eagles host Cleveland.

The Giants established earlier this season they were the team to beat in the NFC. So the question came up who would play the defending champs. It is shaping up to be the Carolina Panthers. Carolina sunk Tampa on Monday night 38-23. It was an offensive explosion on Carolina's part by racking up 464 yards on one of the best defenses in the league. DeAngelo Williams and Johnathan Stewart both ran over 100 yards and both had 2 touchdowns. Jake Delhomme threw 14-20 for 173 yards and a touchdown. 117 of those yards and the touchdown went to Steve Smith. Tampa Bay not being out down had 384 yards. 321 came in the air from Jeff Garcia. Garcia hooked up 24 of 38 passes and 2 touchdowns. Antonio Bryant had a career high 200 yards on 9 catches including a 52 yard pass. Tampa cant rest as they play current wild card team Atlanta. Carolina now eyes home field advantage as they control their destiny with their division. They host Denver this weekend.

In the AFC the AFC east has become very interesting. There is a three way tie with The Jets the Patriots and the Dolphins of all teams. This came off of the Jets dropping a game against the 49er's. Miami is in position to have probably the greatest one year turn-around. The Dolphins face the 49er's this weekend and next week against the Chiefs. Then if its still deadlocked it could come down to the last game when the Jets play Miami. New England faces Oakland this week before facing Arizona then wrapping it up against the Bills. The Jets host Buffalo before visiting Seattle, then the show down with the Dolphins.

Elsewhere Pittsburgh has had a nice ride in the AFC north but something has been in their rear view mirror. That thing is the Baltimore Ravens. At 9-4 the Ravens have been a force in their own in the AFC. The Steelers won the first meeting with a field goal at Heinz field. But this time its on the road in Baltimore's house. A Baltimore win would put them in charge of the division and put them as the number 2 team in the AFC. One thing is assured is that this should be one hard hitting game.

Last week I went 2-2 bringing my total to 22-18

This week I'll take San Francisco over Miami

The Giants over the Cowboys

The Buccaneers over Atlanta

And my game of the week- Pittsburgh over Baltimore in another tight one.

image courtesy of Rick Stewart

Hockey Talk week 7

2008-12-10T22:11:00.001-05:00

Greetings Hockey fans its your weekly update. After falling behind Minnesota, Vancouver fought back to regain control of the Northwest. After a tough loss to Detroit the Canucks beat then division leader Minnesota on the road. They traveled then to Colorado and played to an Overtime loss. Which comes at no surprise as Vancouver has done well on the road. They've scored 56 goals on the road while scoring 32 back home. The Canucks end their road trip at fellow Canadian team Edmonton before returning to General Motors Place to face Florida, Edmonton again, and a resilient Blackhawks team. Minnesota is still right behind the Canucks. They did beat the lowly St. Louis Blues but they dropped their next two to Vancouver and Nashville. They pay a west coast visit to Phoenix, Los Angeles, and Anaheim. By next week either team could be in control of the division. Over in the Central the Blackhawks continue their pursuit of leading Detroit. After winning a game against Anaheim the Hawks faced off against Detroit. After falling behind 2-0 early in the first the Hawks scored 4 straight goals led by Jonathan Toews with 2. From there the defending Stanley cup champs took over. Answering with two goals in the 3rd period. This was the second meeting between the two original 6 rivals. The first one also played into an overtime decision. The Blackhawks need to start winning these overtimes if they want to catch Detroit, they lead the Western conference with 7 OT losses. The next time these two meet will be at Detroit on the 30th before the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.

Until next week Hockey fans.

Image courtesy of Bruce Klukhohn

Week 13 in the NFL

2008-12-06T13:58:00.003-05:00

Nick Russ here with your happenings of the NFL. The Redskins Giants game had a bit more coverage than predicted. In a game that was crucial to the NFC east, Plaxico Burress stole a bit of the spot light. Regardless Eli Manning threw for over 300 yards spreading his passes through out the Redskins secondary. Amani Toomer led the way with 85 yards and a touchdown. Brandon Jacobs ran for 71 yards and 1 touchdown on 21 carries. Eli had a rushing touchdown as well. The Redskins only score came from a Devin Thomas run. The Redskins couldn't score after in what was supposed to be a dedication to the late Sean Taylor. The Redskins woes continue after losing their last 4 straight while the Giants have won their last 7. 6 of those against winning teams. The G-men can clinch the division this weekend with a win and a Dallas loss. While the Redskins are slowly seeing their playoff dreams begin to vanish as they now have to fight for a wild card spot.

Over in the NFC north, Minnesota may have won the lead from Chicago but they have a tough road ahead. Also factor in that the Williams Wall may not be there to help them. Kevin and Pat Williams tested positive for banned substance. The NFL has blocked their suspension for Sundays game against Detroit but from there its up for grabs. The substance in question can serve as a masking agent which carries a four game suspension. If there ever is a chance that Detroit can win a game this year its against Minnesota this weekend. The Vikings must avoid this trap game due to the fact their next three opponents are Atlanta, Arizona, and the Giants, all three are playoff bound teams. The Bears have it easy going with the under achieving Jacksonville then their toughest game with New Orleans. They then have a chance to avenge themselves against Green Bay then finish with Houston. Did I also mention that three of these games are at home?

Over in the AFC the Broncos managed to upset the Jets on Sunday. Jay Cutler unleashed a passing attack that racked up 357 yards and 2 touchdowns one to Brandon Stokley and the other to Eddie Royal. Rookie running back Peyton Hills had a season high 129 yards rushing and a touchdown. The Jets only scores aside from a Jay Feely field goal came from another spectacular game from Thomas Jones. Jones ran for 138 yards on 16 carries for two touchdowns including a 59 yard run. Denver's win essentially nails the coffin for San Diego. The Bronco's face Kansas City this weekend but have a challenge next week at Carolina. Jets face the 49er's before Buffalo. If they win those two they could lock up the division.

The Colts pulled off a sloppy win over a battered Cleveland. Both teams combined for 5 turnovers and the only touchdown came in the forth quarter and it was a fumble return. Peyton Manning had an off day throwing 2 picks and only 15 for 21 and 125 yards. The Colts win all but cements their playoff birth. Their next three games are against Cincinnati Detroit and Jacksonville all three combine for 5 wins. Their last game is against Tennessee but by that point the Titans will be resting their starters.

Last week I whiffed going 0-4 bringing my overall to 20-16

This week I'll take Atlanta over New Orleans

the Dolphins over Buffalo

Baltimore over Washington

And my game of the week Tampa Bay over the Panthers

Image courtesy of Nick Wass

Hockey Talk week 6

2008-12-03T23:51:00.003-05:00

Nick Russ here with your Hockey update. San Jose continues on its winning ways. The Sharks are riding on a 7 game winning streak with big wins against the Blackhawks and division rival Phoenix. They lead the league in goals for with around 4 per game. It probably helps the Sharks that their next 4 games are home. Thursday they play Columbus before hosting a tough division opponent in Anaheim. The Minnesota Wild have taken the lead in the Northwest just edging out Vancouver. The Wild had some great wins over Tampa Bay and Washington and had a tough loss against Colorado. The Wild are second only to Boston in goals against and are second in power play goals. The Wild have a huge game against Vancouver this weekend then visit Nashville then Phoenix. Out east the Rangers still have yet to show signs of letting up. This despite splitting the Florida teams and dropping a game to Vancouver. Even if you get them in OT they have won 7 shoot outs. The Rangers visit Montreal and host Calgary this weekend. Until next week Puck heads.

The Good, the Bad, and the BCS

2008-12-01T17:59:00.014-05:00

NCAA Football Quiz

1. BCS stands for _________________.

a) Bowl Championship Series
b) Barely Comprehensible Scheme
c) Bafflingly Complicated Situation
d) All of the above

After this past weekend’s developments, many college football fans are beginning to view this question as a toss-up. With #3 Oklahoma’s 61-41 win over #12 Oklahoma State on Saturday, the Sooners finished the regular season in a three-way tie with #2 Texas and #7 Texas Tech atop the Big 12 South Division. But since one team from each division advances to the Big 12 Championship game, only one of these three teams can play in the conference championship.

Well, that should be an easy one to choose, right? Oklahoma and Texas have a consensus lead over Texas Tech, so we’ll just take a look at what happened when the Sooners and the Longhorns squared off earlier this season, right? Wrong. In an inexplicably atrocious move, college football has turned to the BCS standings as a tiebreaker. Yesterday’s updated BCS release has Oklahoma edging out Texas, .9351 to .9223.

Suddenly the Longhorns’45-35 triumph over the then-top ranked Sooners on October 11th seems completely meaningless. Head-to-head records apparently don’t tell us anything (sarcasm). Conventional wisdom says that the way to determine which team is better is to pit them against each other, but perhaps this line of thought is too advanced for the complex calculating of computers.

In summary, we have reached the climax of the college football season, and instead of relying on what happened on the field, we are putting the entire decision in the virtual hands of computers. When it comes to tabbing the better team, computerized calculations pale in comparison to actually going out onto the field and playing a game. The fact that Texas beat Oklahoma by 10 points on a NEUTRAL FIELD should be enough to put the Longhorns in the Big 12 Championship game ahead of the Sooners. Instead, they are forced to stay at home at watch a game between two inferior teams, BOTH of which Texas has beaten this season.

It’s only a conference championship game, you may say. It’s not like it’s the national championship. Well, it might as well be. The winner of the SEC championship game between #1 Alabama and #4 Florida has a lock on one of the spots in the title game, but the other will undoubtedly come from the Big 12. Oklahoma now has the inside track to grabbing that second spot. If the Sooners beat a fading Missouri squad in the Big 12 championship, they will play in the title game as well. The only way Texas can take that spot is if Oklahoma somehow loses to Missouri in a manner that convinces voters to bump the Longhorns past the Sooners in the polls.

By the same flawed logic, then, there can never be a playoff in college football. By using the BCS rankings as tiebreakers, college football is undermining its regular season and showing that what happened on the field doesn’t matter. It’s the computers that have the final say. This is diametrically opposed to the establishment of a playoff system, which bases its rankings solely on the in-game performances of two competing teams.

This entire quagmire, however, could be solved with one simple move: abolish divisions within conferences. Because Oklahoma, Texas, and Texas Tech are all in the South Division of the Big 12, only one of those three teams can play in the conference championship…even though the Sooners, Longhorns, and Red Raiders (all 11-1) combine for the same number of losses as the North Division Champs, the Missouri Tigers (9-3). The top two teams in any given conference should get to face off in the conference championship; they shouldn’t be limited by their division classification.

Besides, you can’t tell me that Oklahoma and Texas players wouldn’t lick their chops at the thought of a rematch. Their regular season meeting provided plenty of drama already. Just imagine the atmosphere if they faced off with a berth in the national title game on the line.

But is shouldn’t have to come to that. Texas deserves a spot in the Big 12 championship game, and they are being cheated out of it because of the nuances of a flawed system. College football should be ashamed of this calamity, and the Big 12 should be embarrassed by the selection.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, the answer is D.

Photos courtesy of ESPN.com.

Week 12 in the NFL Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T11:12:00.004-05:00

Rejoice and give thanks its your weekly NFL recap. The champaign has popped for the 72 Dolphins for another year. The New York Jets ended the Titans winning streak on Sunday beating them 34-13. Favre went 25 for 32 with 224 yards and 2 touchdowns. With the help from Thomas Jones going 96 yards on 27 carries while Leon Washington scored twice on eight carries. The Titans couldn't seem to click on Sunday. The offense punted away their first 5 possesions and couldn't establish their passing game. The Titans seem to turn away from their running game. Both Lyndel White and Chris Johnson combined for only 11 carries for 45 yards. The Jets win clearly puts them in the post season conversation. This week they host the roller coaster Denver Broncos. The Titans get to have their feast of Detroit today before hosting Clevland who just lost QB Brady Quinn.

It came down to the wire but the Colts managed to hold off the Chargers. With 1:35 on the clock the Chargers tied the game with a Nate Kaeding 47 yard field goal. Peyton Manning took over from there. The performance was clutch including a 14 yard pass from Manning to Marvin Harrison on 4th and 1. After Joseph Addai ran for two yards, Peyton spiked the ball and out came Adam Vinatieri. Vinatieri last season missed a field goal in the post season that allowed San Diego to continue in the playoffs while the Colts went home. From 51 yards out he exorcised his demons by making the field goal. The kick was Vinatieri 22nd game winning field goal and now sends the Chargers into a tail spin. The Chargers are now 2 games behind the Broncos who were upset by Oakland of all teams. San Diego hosts Atlanta in what could be the end for them. The Colts have now won their last 4 and now visit Cleveland.

Over in the NFC North the race is heating up. After being blasted by the Packers the Bears took out their frustration on St.Louis. Minnesota after losing a tough game to Tampa Bay, turned around and easily handled Jacksonville. Green Bay enjoyed the win over rival Chicago but got blasted by New Orleans. The Saints scored 51 points on the Pack that brings the race between Chicago and Minnesota who meet on Sunday night. Green Bay has a critical game against Carolina. This weekend should prove whose in and whose out in the north.

The NFC south is equally entertaining. Tampa Bay and Carolina have 8-3 records but Tampa holds the tie breaker over the Panthers. Atlanta is right behind them with a 7-4 record. New Orleans is talented but they wont factor in this race. Carolina plays the Packers in what should be a great game and one that has huge playoff implications. Tampa visits New Orleans while Atlanta goes west to San Diego. The big game in this division is next week on monday night where Carolina squares off against Tampa for the last time this season.

Last week I was a perfect 4-0 on my picks bringing my overall to 20-12

This week I'll take Washington over the Giants

The Jets over Denver

Green Bay over Carolina

And my game of the week The Bears over the Vikings

Have a happy Thanksgiving and until next time.

image courtesy of Kevin C. Cox

Give Thanks

2008-11-24T22:55:00.009-05:00

As #5 Oklahoma throttled #2 Texas Tech Saturday night and created what will likely end as a three-way tie in the Big 12 South, the national championship picture got a bit more complicated. But let’s not dwell on matters beyond our control. Seeing as how Thanksgiving is less than a week away, there’s no better time to take a moment and focus on a few things to be thankful for this college football season.

1) Fans witnessed one of the greatest college football games in years when Texas Tech took down then-#1 Texas in a 39-33 thriller. A gutsy comeback from Texas quarterback Colt McCoy had the Longhorns in position to win until Michael Crabtree’s touchdown grab with one second remaining sealed the deal for the then-#7 Red Raiders. The only other two games I can remember as that exciting were Notre Dame vs. USC in 2005 and, of course, that same USC squad vs. Texas in the 2005 title game.

2) Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford’s mastery of Texas Tech and Heisman frontrunner Graham Harrell on Saturday further muddied the waters of the Heisman race. Expect the competition for college football’s most prestigious individual award to come right down to the wire between Bradford, Harrell, McCoy, and last year’s winner, Florida quarterback Tim Tebow...which should make for some exciting football.

3) NCAA college football did not follow college basketball’s lead and make an unnecessary change to a key dimension of the game. The men’s three-point line was moved back one foot from 19’9” to 20’9” – right between the international length and the NBA length – prior to the start of the 08-09 season. Why they didn’t expand the lane OR move the women’s line as well OR settle for the 20’6” international length is beyond me. Can you imagine having to gain 11 yards for a first down?

4) Penn State lost to Iowa 24-23 on November 8th, dropping them out of the #3 spot and assuring that Joe Paterno and crew will not be included in the national championship picture. If the Nittany Lions had won out and received a berth in the title game, it would have been shameful to college football fans and embarrassing to Penn State fans. The Big 10 is a weak, overrated conference compared to the Big 12 and the SEC. For a recent history of how Big 10 teams have fared in national championships, see Ohio State: 2006 and 2007.

5) College football did not listen to Barack Obama and change the BCS to an eight-team playoff system. The president-elect is far from alone on this controversial issue, but BCS coordinator John Swofford has his reasons for keeping things the way they are. The importance of each and every game in college football makes for a season that Swofford believes is “the best and most meaningful in sports.” That’s not to say the current BCS system is perfect and free of obvious snags, but for now, let’s just try to enjoy college football for its uniqueness.

Hocky Talk week 5

2008-11-23T16:09:00.002-05:00

Nick Russ here with your NHL update. The Rangers are no longer the point leader in the NHL. San Jose has taken the lead by winning 8 of their last 10. Their overall record is 17-3-1 and lead the Ducks by ten points in the Pacific. They play Chicago before facing division trailing Dallas and Phoenix. Another team on roll in the Western conference is Vancouver. The Canucks have won 7 of their last 10 games including an impressive win against Pittsburgh. This week the Canucks square of against Detroit and Calgary however they might be without captain and all star goalie Roberto Luongo who suffered a pulled groin in a game against the Penguins.

The Redwings continue to perform well but so are the Blackhawks. Both teams have won 7 of their last 10. The Blackhawks continue to win against the teams with worse records but they're having trouble winning shootouts. The Redwings swept Edmonton and the Florida teams in rout to a five game winning streak. Tomorrow night the Redwings face a tough opponent in Vancouver while the Hawks visit San Jose.

Out East Boston continues their dominance in the Northeast. They've won twice against division opponents Toronto, Montreal, and Buffalo. their only loss this month was in a shootout against the New York Rangers. They face Buffalo again this week before taking on Detroit later this week. Elsewhere Pittsburgh is gaining ground on the Rangers. The Penguins fueled by the play of Sydney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin the Penguins have big wins against Detroit and Buffalo. This week they play the Islanders and later play Buffalo and New Jersey.

Thats it for me until next week hocky fans.

Week 13 FBS College Football Part 2 and Picks

2008-11-21T15:18:00.002-05:00

This is Steven West with an FBS update and my picks for Week 13.

Big Ten: Joe Tiller is coaching his final game as the Boilermakers head coach tomorrow as Purdue hosts Indiana. For both teams this year was not the follow up that either had planned for the 2008 season. Purdue, with Curtis Painter at QB, was looking to improve on last year after winning the Motor City bowl against Central Michigan in a thriller that almost went into overtime. And the Hoosiers were looking to expand on last season's miracle run giving the Hoosiers their first bowl game in over a decade and give Billy Lynch, in his first season as head coach something to build on. Now both teams are looking to not just win the Old Oaken Bucket, on Saturday, but also to not finish in last place in the Big Ten. The top match-up this weekend is (8) Penn State against (15) Michigan State, not the traditional Michigan/Ohio State match-up. The Buckeyes, No. 10 in the BCS, are locked to win the match and give the Wolverines their record ninth loss of the season, which puts pressure on Penn State to defeat Michigan State and earn a spot in the Rose Bowl. Look for the other intriguing match-up to be Northwestern vs. Illinois, a win the Illini gives them six wins and makes them bowl eligible.

ACC: Last night showed me once again, that new ACC teams to the polls, don't stay in the polls for too long. Georgia Tech defeated (23) Miami (FL) 41-23. The Yellow Jackets have finished their ACC schedule at 5-3 and now need North Carolina and Virginia Tech to lose one of their remaining two games to clinch the Coastal Division. The top match-up on Saturday will be Florida State at (25) Maryland. The Terrapins have one constant, they can win at home. If that happens Maryland, will have a solid advantage in the Atlantic Division.

MWC and WAC: The one match-up this week that most of the country won't be able to see is (14) BYU vs. (7) Utah. A Utah win will give the Utes a perfect season and a very good chance that Utah will be in one of the BCS games. A BYU win will put (9) Boise State in a BCS game, provided the Broncos can win their final two games of the season at Nevada, on Saturday, and home against Fresno State, next week.

Now to my picks for the weekend:

(10) Ohio State wins easily against Michigan (Noon kickoff on ABC)

(22) North Carolina defeats the Wolf Pack of N.C. State (Noon kickoff on ESPN +)

(4) Florida gets an easy win over Citadel before facing Florida State next week (1:30 p.m. kickoff on ESPN +)

(8) Penn State wins a tight one at home over (15) Michigan State (3:30 p.m. kickoff on ABC)*

(16) TCU wins their season finale over Air Force (3:30 p.m. kickoff on Versus)

(18) LSU edges out Ole Miss (3:30 p.m. kickoff on CBS)

(9) Boise State cruises past Nevada (4 p.m. kickoff on ESPN 2)

(7) Utah clinches the MWC title over (14) BYU (6 p.m. kickoff on The Mtn.)

Upset Special: Arizona defeats (21) Oregon State (7 p.m. kickoff on Versus)

(19) Cincinnati survives a close encounter with (20) Pittsburgh (7:15 p.m. kickoff on ESPN 2)

(25) Maryland continues their consistency at home by defeating Florida State (7:45 p.m. kickoff on ESPN)

And finally, (5) Oklahoma wins by less than 7 over (2) Texas Tech (8 p.m. kickoff on ABC)

* - check local listings for the game in your area.