Showing posts with label Connecticut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Connecticut. Show all posts
Kicking off this Wednesday, when it is supposed to hit 91 here in the Washington area, with two quick notes.
First, in what can only be considered an American travesty, astronaut Buzz Aldrin was booted off Dancing with the Stars last night. No, I did not watch. I've already seen video of him moonwalking.
Second, a huge congratulations to what may very well be the greatest team in the history of women's college basketball. Topped only by John Wooden's UCLA Bruins teams in the 60's and 70's. The Wizard of Westwood lead seven-straight national championship groups and presided over an 88-game winning streak.
Well, last night, Connecticut and its head coach Geno Auriemma, pushed their streak to a mind-boggling 78 games, while winning their second-consecutive title and capping off back-to-back 39-0 seasons. The Huskies are the first women's program to ever do that. It is the fourth undefeated season for the program, all under Auriemma, and six championship since 2000.
And it wasn't easy. UConn had just 12 points at halftime against Stanford, who finished the season with just two losses - both to the Huskies - and looked completely lost. But a 41-point second half, dominated by superstar Maya Moore, left no doubt. The only question mark was whether the win would be by more than ten, as the previous 77 were. It wasn't, for once.
Let it be recognized that this is the greatest women's team of all time and quite possibly the greatest overall program, given how much harder it is to win so many games in this age of college basketball.
- Staying with the sports tilt - in a rare occurrence, the University of Washington Athletic Department reported a $5.5 million loss last year, something that would raise eyebrows during this economy.
UW is known as one of the less than 20 or so schools that operates in the black on a regular basis. Obviously having a struggling football program does not help. However, AD Scott Woodward said it was mostly based on a couple of one-time occurrences that won't happen again, and cited a couple of upcoming money-making opportunities for the department as reasons he is not overly concerned.
Washington is also one of the few self-sustaining programs in the country, drawing money from the University and state only for tuition wavers and Title IX compliance.
--
The search and rescue mission continues for four miners in West Virginia, who are hoped to be locked in an airtight room in the mine, built just for instances such as these. The longer it goes, the more hope wains. Anderson Cooper continues to have great coverage on CNN, with this video providing a great breakdown:
--
Moving on to just some other news:
- A story about Glenn Beck is gaining more and more traction. After he admonished congressional leaders, including one Civil Rights leader, for comparing themselves to members of the C.R. movement, Beck appears to compare himself to Rosa Parks in this clip.
The interesting thing about Beck is that I don't think anyone really believes he is some big leader for change. Actually, I know they don't. And even further, because of the channel he is on, many people simply see him is part of the conservative eco-chamber. Now, if you listen what he says, he really does say some different things, all with anti-government tilt. But he even admonishes the church and other hardcore conservative ideals. What he isn't, however, is any sort of leader.
- Bob McDonnell, the governor of Virginia, has brought back a famous pastime in the state: Confederate History Month. One must realize that Virginia was the capitol of the confederacy and I was told yesterday that there is actually a street in Richmond line with statues of famous Civil War heroes. There was even some controversy years ago when the city wanted to add a statue of legendary black tennis player Arthur Ashe, the man for whom the U.S. Open stadium is named. The move was blocked.
Because it is history, and particularly the history of that commonwealth, it should be studied and not forgotten. A month might be in excess, but it absolutely should be state-based textbooks. Someone I know argued that that would be like having a "Hitler history month." Completely disagree. We study WWII in America. We also study the Civil War. And if you live in Virginia, a major part of that war was that you were on the other side of it.
Two other things. One, that same conversation also turned into an argument about the "three-fifths" rule, because the constitution of the confederacy explicitly endorsed slavery. In my opinion, the three-fifths rule may have been the best decision made when writing the document. So many say that it was to appease the South, but I can't believe that. Southern slave owners would had to have know that a) slaves would never vote and b) the larger the slave population, the more representation they get in Congress. Can you imagine if the south had the majority it should've had? I don't want to.
And two, maybe I'm awful for this, but one of my favorite part of the Civil War was William Sherman's march through the South, specifically his stop in what is probably the region's greatest city now: Atlanta.
- A Yakima man was arrested yesterday for threatening to kill Washington state Senator Patty Murray. He is believed to be the first person arrested on such a charge since this backlash to health care reform began.
I'm stopping because I need to do work, but if you end up needing a laugh at some point today, you can't wrong with 10 minutes watch Charles Barkley's best moments on television.
[More]
First, in what can only be considered an American travesty, astronaut Buzz Aldrin was booted off Dancing with the Stars last night. No, I did not watch. I've already seen video of him moonwalking.
Second, a huge congratulations to what may very well be the greatest team in the history of women's college basketball. Topped only by John Wooden's UCLA Bruins teams in the 60's and 70's. The Wizard of Westwood lead seven-straight national championship groups and presided over an 88-game winning streak.
Well, last night, Connecticut and its head coach Geno Auriemma, pushed their streak to a mind-boggling 78 games, while winning their second-consecutive title and capping off back-to-back 39-0 seasons. The Huskies are the first women's program to ever do that. It is the fourth undefeated season for the program, all under Auriemma, and six championship since 2000.
And it wasn't easy. UConn had just 12 points at halftime against Stanford, who finished the season with just two losses - both to the Huskies - and looked completely lost. But a 41-point second half, dominated by superstar Maya Moore, left no doubt. The only question mark was whether the win would be by more than ten, as the previous 77 were. It wasn't, for once.
Let it be recognized that this is the greatest women's team of all time and quite possibly the greatest overall program, given how much harder it is to win so many games in this age of college basketball.
- Staying with the sports tilt - in a rare occurrence, the University of Washington Athletic Department reported a $5.5 million loss last year, something that would raise eyebrows during this economy.
UW is known as one of the less than 20 or so schools that operates in the black on a regular basis. Obviously having a struggling football program does not help. However, AD Scott Woodward said it was mostly based on a couple of one-time occurrences that won't happen again, and cited a couple of upcoming money-making opportunities for the department as reasons he is not overly concerned.
Washington is also one of the few self-sustaining programs in the country, drawing money from the University and state only for tuition wavers and Title IX compliance.
--
The search and rescue mission continues for four miners in West Virginia, who are hoped to be locked in an airtight room in the mine, built just for instances such as these. The longer it goes, the more hope wains. Anderson Cooper continues to have great coverage on CNN, with this video providing a great breakdown:
--
Moving on to just some other news:
- A story about Glenn Beck is gaining more and more traction. After he admonished congressional leaders, including one Civil Rights leader, for comparing themselves to members of the C.R. movement, Beck appears to compare himself to Rosa Parks in this clip.
The interesting thing about Beck is that I don't think anyone really believes he is some big leader for change. Actually, I know they don't. And even further, because of the channel he is on, many people simply see him is part of the conservative eco-chamber. Now, if you listen what he says, he really does say some different things, all with anti-government tilt. But he even admonishes the church and other hardcore conservative ideals. What he isn't, however, is any sort of leader.
- Bob McDonnell, the governor of Virginia, has brought back a famous pastime in the state: Confederate History Month. One must realize that Virginia was the capitol of the confederacy and I was told yesterday that there is actually a street in Richmond line with statues of famous Civil War heroes. There was even some controversy years ago when the city wanted to add a statue of legendary black tennis player Arthur Ashe, the man for whom the U.S. Open stadium is named. The move was blocked.
Because it is history, and particularly the history of that commonwealth, it should be studied and not forgotten. A month might be in excess, but it absolutely should be state-based textbooks. Someone I know argued that that would be like having a "Hitler history month." Completely disagree. We study WWII in America. We also study the Civil War. And if you live in Virginia, a major part of that war was that you were on the other side of it.
Two other things. One, that same conversation also turned into an argument about the "three-fifths" rule, because the constitution of the confederacy explicitly endorsed slavery. In my opinion, the three-fifths rule may have been the best decision made when writing the document. So many say that it was to appease the South, but I can't believe that. Southern slave owners would had to have know that a) slaves would never vote and b) the larger the slave population, the more representation they get in Congress. Can you imagine if the south had the majority it should've had? I don't want to.
And two, maybe I'm awful for this, but one of my favorite part of the Civil War was William Sherman's march through the South, specifically his stop in what is probably the region's greatest city now: Atlanta.
"Behind us lay Atlanta smoldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in the air and hanging like a ball over the ruined city."History nerdism right there.
- A Yakima man was arrested yesterday for threatening to kill Washington state Senator Patty Murray. He is believed to be the first person arrested on such a charge since this backlash to health care reform began.
I'm stopping because I need to do work, but if you end up needing a laugh at some point today, you can't wrong with 10 minutes watch Charles Barkley's best moments on television.
Woke up to Kenny Chesney's "I Go Back" this morning. Great song.
That it was UConn, a program that had just one winning season before Auriemma's arrival, winning so many games only served notice that there was indeed another superpower in the sport, the likes of which have only been seen in Knoxville, Tenn.
The streak was the longest in the history of women's basketball, until last night.
Last night, for the second time in less than a decade, UConn set a new mark, beating Notre Dame for their 71st-straight win. It was their 32nd win of this season, bringing their record since 2000-2001 to 335-27. And by the way, in 1999-2000 all they did was go 36-1 and win a national championship.
Geno arrived in 1985 and immediately turned the program around. Their first NCAA tournament came a few years later and first national championship in 1995 with Rebecca Lobo (who, coincidentally is married to my favorite sports writer, Steve Rushin). In his 25 years, Auriemma has more than 700 wins with six championships (five since 2000), 14 Big East titles and 21 straight NCAA appearances.
But this streak is different.
During the first one, there were buzzer-beaters and late game comebacks. Auriemma admitted the other day that his 2002 team had a little trouble scoring points. Also, sometimes things just happen in basketball, injuries, bad games, etc. Which is what makes this particular stat so mind-blowing.
Every one of Connecticut's 71-straight wins has been by double-digits.
Not one of the teams has played the Huskies within 10 points and most haven't been closer than 20. Last night, despite playing an off-game against a top-10 ranked team, they won by 15. During the streak UConn has knocked off 22 ranked teams. Earlier this season I watched them played then-No. 2 Stanford. The Cardinal hung around for a half. Then, just minutes into the second half it was a 25-point game.
Tina Charles and Maya Moore finished 1-2 in the Big East player of the year voting. They may do the same for the national award. And unlike in the past, they have the ability to make a considerable amount of money playing overseas. Obviously not on par with men, but still quite a bit.
When Sports Illustrated named its Top 25 teams of 2000-09, including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Men's and Women's College Basketball and College Football, Connecticut was third, behind only the Lakers and the Patriots.
At this point it is probably safe to say that only two college basketball programs in history are better than Geno Auriemma's Huskies: John Wooden's UCLA program and Pat Summitt's Tennessee Volunteers (who's coaching story is almost more interesting than Geno's). But right now, and in the last 15 years, only Tennessee has been even close, having also won five titles since 1996.
So when you're not working and watching March Madness, remember the best team will be playing San Antonio, not Indy, looking for its sixth championship in 11 years, while trying extend its winning streak to 78 games.
Like I said, mind blowing.
More links later.
[More]
And I go back to watchin summer fade to fallBack when I was in high school, a guy named Geno Auriemma, an Italian in Storrs, Conn., was leading the Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team to three-straight NCAA Championships and a 70-game winning streak with the likes of Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Diana Taurasi and others.
Growin up too fast and I do recall
Wishin time would stop right in its tracks
Everytime I hear that song, I go back, I go back
That it was UConn, a program that had just one winning season before Auriemma's arrival, winning so many games only served notice that there was indeed another superpower in the sport, the likes of which have only been seen in Knoxville, Tenn.
The streak was the longest in the history of women's basketball, until last night.
Last night, for the second time in less than a decade, UConn set a new mark, beating Notre Dame for their 71st-straight win. It was their 32nd win of this season, bringing their record since 2000-2001 to 335-27. And by the way, in 1999-2000 all they did was go 36-1 and win a national championship.
Geno arrived in 1985 and immediately turned the program around. Their first NCAA tournament came a few years later and first national championship in 1995 with Rebecca Lobo (who, coincidentally is married to my favorite sports writer, Steve Rushin). In his 25 years, Auriemma has more than 700 wins with six championships (five since 2000), 14 Big East titles and 21 straight NCAA appearances.
But this streak is different.
During the first one, there were buzzer-beaters and late game comebacks. Auriemma admitted the other day that his 2002 team had a little trouble scoring points. Also, sometimes things just happen in basketball, injuries, bad games, etc. Which is what makes this particular stat so mind-blowing.
Every one of Connecticut's 71-straight wins has been by double-digits.
Not one of the teams has played the Huskies within 10 points and most haven't been closer than 20. Last night, despite playing an off-game against a top-10 ranked team, they won by 15. During the streak UConn has knocked off 22 ranked teams. Earlier this season I watched them played then-No. 2 Stanford. The Cardinal hung around for a half. Then, just minutes into the second half it was a 25-point game.
Tina Charles and Maya Moore finished 1-2 in the Big East player of the year voting. They may do the same for the national award. And unlike in the past, they have the ability to make a considerable amount of money playing overseas. Obviously not on par with men, but still quite a bit.
When Sports Illustrated named its Top 25 teams of 2000-09, including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, Men's and Women's College Basketball and College Football, Connecticut was third, behind only the Lakers and the Patriots.
At this point it is probably safe to say that only two college basketball programs in history are better than Geno Auriemma's Huskies: John Wooden's UCLA program and Pat Summitt's Tennessee Volunteers (who's coaching story is almost more interesting than Geno's). But right now, and in the last 15 years, only Tennessee has been even close, having also won five titles since 1996.
So when you're not working and watching March Madness, remember the best team will be playing San Antonio, not Indy, looking for its sixth championship in 11 years, while trying extend its winning streak to 78 games.
Like I said, mind blowing.
More links later.
If you pay little attention to sports, which I think is the case for many of my readers, you may not have been paying attention to the events of the last couple of days regarding Texas Tech coach Mike Leach.
If only this blog had existed a year ago, there would have been some great stories about Leach and Washington's pursuit of him to fill its head coaching position. Today, more than any other day since his hiring, I am ecstatic we got Steve Sarkisian.
Texas Tech fired Leach today, two days after suspending him for his alleged mistreatment of one of his players. That the player, Adam James, is the son of ESPN analyst Craig James, is only part of this strange story. Leach was notified of the firing just minutes before his lawyer was scheduled to present a temporary restraining order to a judge that would have allowed him to coach in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday.
No, I am not confusing this blog with my sports blog. This is important because of its cause. Adam James had a concussion. Allegedly, Leach made had James locked a "shed" (it looked a lot like a garage), that had an ice machine and was next to the field. According to Leach, James wasn't locked anywhere, just told to go in there, with the ice, because it was cooler and darker.
Leach is the second Big-12 coach to be fired for "cause" relating to the mistreatment of players this year. But the concussion issue is the big deal.
Football is at odds over concussions. By far the most dangerous and life-altering injury suffered by any athlete, but specifically football players, is a concussion. And in the "tough guy" sport that football is, you ignore concussions and get back on the field. The allegations here seem to suggest Leach was punishing James for not just sucking it up. I stress, they are still allegations. Tech had plenty of other reasons they could have wanted to fire Leach, which include his references to his player's "fat little girlfriends" during the year, as well as his general eccentricity. But mistreating a player with a concussion gives a great out for the school.
Anyway, the point here is that, major organizations, including the NFL and NCAA have had trouble responding to concussions. Unless an athlete is clearly dizzy or showing some ill effects, the only way trainers and doctors can know how bad a concussion is is by asking the athlete. If you are a third-stringer scared of losing your job, are you going to sit out? No. Not a chance. In the NFL, that's your paycheck. And no, guys at that level do not get paid very much. So it is an issue in which leagues have to take hard stances. The NFL is finally doing that. Apparently so is Texas Tech.
--
On a brighter note, the Top-10 Sports Moments (not stories) of 2009.
For a minute I thought about putting down the Idaho-Bowling Green game on this list, including Freddie Jones' 17 catches to break the NCAA single season catch record. Also, the game was pretty good, ending on a 2-point conversion. But, it wasn't enough.
#10) Johnny Damon in Game 4 of the WS: Damon made little leaguers around the country proud, stealing second on a play when the Phillies had a major shift on, then didn't stop, continuing to third because no one was there. From that point the Yankees scored a couple of runs and won game four, essentially clinching the series.
It was the ultimate hustle play for a guy that has been known for them his entire career.
#9) Tom Watson in the British Open: So yes, so far both of these were in the great stories list, but stick with him. This was the single best golf performance of the year, even better than anything Tiger did. You know the story, Watson, 59, came one 8-foot putt from winning the open.
#8) Santonio Holmes in the SuperBowl: Holmes made one of the most amazing catches you'll ever see to win the SuperBowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He did it with both of his toes barely inside the endzone as he was leaning out of bounds. Just an absolutely incredible play. Holmes finished with nine catches for 141 yards and the biggest play of his life.
#7) Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati, DeFacto Big East championship game: Cincinnati was attempting to go undefeated and hopefully contend for a national championship birth. Pitt was coming off of a heartbreaking loss in the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia the week before.
And these two teams played with everything they had for 60 minutes. It is almost sad that it came down to Pitt missing an extra point on its final touchdown, followed by an improbable drive by Cincinnati, four plays, 61 yards and a touchdown in 57 seconds. It was Cincy's fourth TD of the second half, to comeback from a 14-point halftime deficit.
#6) Elizabeth Lambert vs. BYU: In some of the most incredible footage I have ever seen, video of Lambert physically abusing BYU players was an internet sensation for a couple of weeks, sparking debate about female athletes. Lambert punched BYU players in the face and back, but the worst was her nearly snapping the neck of a player by pulling her ponytail until she went flailing to the turf.
#5) Brandon Stokley's game-winning catch: See for yourself:
#4) LeGarrette Blount at Boise State: On that night in Boise, Idaho it looked first year head coach Chip Kelly had bitten off more than he could chew. Boise State thoroughly dominated Oregon, winning 19-8 on the smurf turf, leaving many to wonder just how good this Ducks team would be.
Minutes after the game, things got far worse than the results of the game. Provoked by trash talk, Blount sucker punched a Boise player in the face, right in front of Broncos head coach Chris Peterson. From there, he punched his in teammate who was trying to restrain him, then tried to go into the stands after fans. He had to be dragged off the field by police. It was bad. You add the very real danger that this was a black man in Boise (just ask Ian Johnson, who played there) and this as a disaster.
Incidentally, I criticized Peterson at the time for not punishing his own player, seeing as how there was blatant provocation. It appeared went Blount punched him, that Peterson was being rather stern with his guy. There was no suspension to follow and my only guess is that Peterson though be cold-cocked on national television was punishment enough. He kid, duck next time. Or shut your mouth.
#3) DeWayne Wise saves the Perfect Game: Mark Buerhle had come so far. The guy with the consistent career that has had a couple of fantastic moments, was less than an inning from perfection. They Gabe Kapler sent a ball flying toward the wall in left center field. No way this wasn't going to be at least an extra base hit. No White Sox player was on the screen. Then Wise, who was inserted as a defensive replacement, maybe the best move of Ozzie Guillen's career, came flying into the screen, timed his jump perfectly, and snatched the ball out of mortality's grasp. Buerhle would be perfect. So much so that he would have his postgame press conference interrupted by the First Fan. President Obama suggested he buy Wise a steak dinner. Here's guessing the kid got something a little more expensive and a little longer lasting.
#2) Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick, Wimbledon Final: Federer fell off the map in 2008, losing his top ranking to Raphael Nadal and leaving some to wonder just what had happened. Well, call it a year off. In July, Federer was all the way back. In search of his 15th Grand Slam title, Federer took on Roddick. The match last 4:16, with the final set last 30 games. The final scores: 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6, 16-14. And I watched the whole thing.
#1) Syracuse vs. UConn last Six Overtimes: The game was already a late one in the Big East tournament, starting at 9:30 pm eastern. I was working at UW and it started well before the game I was working started and was in the third OT when ours finished. The game lasted 3:46, ending at 1:22 am E.T. The two teams combined for 102 points, in the overtimes alone. Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn had 34 points and 11 assists in 67 minutes. The two teams play 1.75 regulation games and Syracuse, the winner, had to play the next night, or that night actually. Final score: 127-117.
Happy New Year.
[More]
If only this blog had existed a year ago, there would have been some great stories about Leach and Washington's pursuit of him to fill its head coaching position. Today, more than any other day since his hiring, I am ecstatic we got Steve Sarkisian.
Texas Tech fired Leach today, two days after suspending him for his alleged mistreatment of one of his players. That the player, Adam James, is the son of ESPN analyst Craig James, is only part of this strange story. Leach was notified of the firing just minutes before his lawyer was scheduled to present a temporary restraining order to a judge that would have allowed him to coach in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday.
No, I am not confusing this blog with my sports blog. This is important because of its cause. Adam James had a concussion. Allegedly, Leach made had James locked a "shed" (it looked a lot like a garage), that had an ice machine and was next to the field. According to Leach, James wasn't locked anywhere, just told to go in there, with the ice, because it was cooler and darker.
Leach is the second Big-12 coach to be fired for "cause" relating to the mistreatment of players this year. But the concussion issue is the big deal.
Football is at odds over concussions. By far the most dangerous and life-altering injury suffered by any athlete, but specifically football players, is a concussion. And in the "tough guy" sport that football is, you ignore concussions and get back on the field. The allegations here seem to suggest Leach was punishing James for not just sucking it up. I stress, they are still allegations. Tech had plenty of other reasons they could have wanted to fire Leach, which include his references to his player's "fat little girlfriends" during the year, as well as his general eccentricity. But mistreating a player with a concussion gives a great out for the school.
Anyway, the point here is that, major organizations, including the NFL and NCAA have had trouble responding to concussions. Unless an athlete is clearly dizzy or showing some ill effects, the only way trainers and doctors can know how bad a concussion is is by asking the athlete. If you are a third-stringer scared of losing your job, are you going to sit out? No. Not a chance. In the NFL, that's your paycheck. And no, guys at that level do not get paid very much. So it is an issue in which leagues have to take hard stances. The NFL is finally doing that. Apparently so is Texas Tech.
--
On a brighter note, the Top-10 Sports Moments (not stories) of 2009.
For a minute I thought about putting down the Idaho-Bowling Green game on this list, including Freddie Jones' 17 catches to break the NCAA single season catch record. Also, the game was pretty good, ending on a 2-point conversion. But, it wasn't enough.
#10) Johnny Damon in Game 4 of the WS: Damon made little leaguers around the country proud, stealing second on a play when the Phillies had a major shift on, then didn't stop, continuing to third because no one was there. From that point the Yankees scored a couple of runs and won game four, essentially clinching the series.
It was the ultimate hustle play for a guy that has been known for them his entire career.
#9) Tom Watson in the British Open: So yes, so far both of these were in the great stories list, but stick with him. This was the single best golf performance of the year, even better than anything Tiger did. You know the story, Watson, 59, came one 8-foot putt from winning the open.
#8) Santonio Holmes in the SuperBowl: Holmes made one of the most amazing catches you'll ever see to win the SuperBowl for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He did it with both of his toes barely inside the endzone as he was leaning out of bounds. Just an absolutely incredible play. Holmes finished with nine catches for 141 yards and the biggest play of his life.
#7) Pittsburgh vs. Cincinnati, DeFacto Big East championship game: Cincinnati was attempting to go undefeated and hopefully contend for a national championship birth. Pitt was coming off of a heartbreaking loss in the Backyard Brawl against West Virginia the week before.
And these two teams played with everything they had for 60 minutes. It is almost sad that it came down to Pitt missing an extra point on its final touchdown, followed by an improbable drive by Cincinnati, four plays, 61 yards and a touchdown in 57 seconds. It was Cincy's fourth TD of the second half, to comeback from a 14-point halftime deficit.
#6) Elizabeth Lambert vs. BYU: In some of the most incredible footage I have ever seen, video of Lambert physically abusing BYU players was an internet sensation for a couple of weeks, sparking debate about female athletes. Lambert punched BYU players in the face and back, but the worst was her nearly snapping the neck of a player by pulling her ponytail until she went flailing to the turf.
#5) Brandon Stokley's game-winning catch: See for yourself:
#4) LeGarrette Blount at Boise State: On that night in Boise, Idaho it looked first year head coach Chip Kelly had bitten off more than he could chew. Boise State thoroughly dominated Oregon, winning 19-8 on the smurf turf, leaving many to wonder just how good this Ducks team would be.
Minutes after the game, things got far worse than the results of the game. Provoked by trash talk, Blount sucker punched a Boise player in the face, right in front of Broncos head coach Chris Peterson. From there, he punched his in teammate who was trying to restrain him, then tried to go into the stands after fans. He had to be dragged off the field by police. It was bad. You add the very real danger that this was a black man in Boise (just ask Ian Johnson, who played there) and this as a disaster.
Incidentally, I criticized Peterson at the time for not punishing his own player, seeing as how there was blatant provocation. It appeared went Blount punched him, that Peterson was being rather stern with his guy. There was no suspension to follow and my only guess is that Peterson though be cold-cocked on national television was punishment enough. He kid, duck next time. Or shut your mouth.
#3) DeWayne Wise saves the Perfect Game: Mark Buerhle had come so far. The guy with the consistent career that has had a couple of fantastic moments, was less than an inning from perfection. They Gabe Kapler sent a ball flying toward the wall in left center field. No way this wasn't going to be at least an extra base hit. No White Sox player was on the screen. Then Wise, who was inserted as a defensive replacement, maybe the best move of Ozzie Guillen's career, came flying into the screen, timed his jump perfectly, and snatched the ball out of mortality's grasp. Buerhle would be perfect. So much so that he would have his postgame press conference interrupted by the First Fan. President Obama suggested he buy Wise a steak dinner. Here's guessing the kid got something a little more expensive and a little longer lasting.
#2) Roger Federer vs. Andy Roddick, Wimbledon Final: Federer fell off the map in 2008, losing his top ranking to Raphael Nadal and leaving some to wonder just what had happened. Well, call it a year off. In July, Federer was all the way back. In search of his 15th Grand Slam title, Federer took on Roddick. The match last 4:16, with the final set last 30 games. The final scores: 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5), 3-6, 16-14. And I watched the whole thing.
#1) Syracuse vs. UConn last Six Overtimes: The game was already a late one in the Big East tournament, starting at 9:30 pm eastern. I was working at UW and it started well before the game I was working started and was in the third OT when ours finished. The game lasted 3:46, ending at 1:22 am E.T. The two teams combined for 102 points, in the overtimes alone. Syracuse point guard Jonny Flynn had 34 points and 11 assists in 67 minutes. The two teams play 1.75 regulation games and Syracuse, the winner, had to play the next night, or that night actually. Final score: 127-117.
Happy New Year.