Tangent 1.06

NBA's best... and Osgood

So it's been a while since I've "blogged", but I feel like getting back into this. A lot of the time I talk about sports with buddies and completely forget to blog my thoughts! Then weeks pass and the news isn't new anymore, so it seems like wasted effort. But I'll try to step my game up!

The best in the game?

As much as I dislike the Lakers, Kobe Bryant by far is the best player in the NBA right now. What player out there has the closing ability like Kobe? This guy is an assassin and can control the outcome of the game by his play alone. Hanging 40 on the Magic goes to show that if you don't guard him, he'll kill you. On almost every pick and roll in this game, he came off with at least 8-10 feet before the next defender. With a guy like Kobe, you can't give him that much room. With these elite scores like LeBron and Kobe, you have to force them to the jump shot. But that's not all... you have to contest the shot. Put a hand in his face... do something! If you do contest his shot, and he's still on... well... it's going to be a long night. LeBron has a shot at matching some of Kobe's records, and only time will tell. But at this moment in the NBA, Kobe is by far the best player in the league.

Time to hang up the pads, Osgood

As some of you may know, I've been a fan of Detroit hockey since I was about six years old. My good friend Ben and his dad would always watch Red Wing games whenever I was over, and I got hooked from then on. Steve Yzerman became my all time favorite player, and still is to this day. Anyways, this isn't a speal about how much I love Detroit hockey... it's more along the lines of the goalie, Chris Osgood. Chris started his career in 1993 with Detroit and stuck around for his first eight seasons. He then went over and played for the Islanders in New York for two seasons, and the Saint Louis Blues for two before making it back to Detroit. Now, when I first started watching Osgood, he was a beast. His save percentage was always in the low 90's and he had a fantastic work ethic. I never really had a problem with Osgood until this past season. I don't know if it was winning the Stanley Cup last year, but he came out like a punk. He slacked off in practice and never tried during warm ups. During his 3 on 1 warm up drills before one game, Chris was found leaning against the boards at his bench instead of taking his reps. Now he was never known as an outstanding goalie, but winning the Cup doesn't make you the best. You still need to get out there and give as much effort as the rest of your team. Anyways, I've lost all respect for this guy. Hopefully Conklin (the backup) gets more time next season.

Well I guess that's all I have for this update. Hopefully I can start doing these more frequently!

Tangent 1.05

Harrison gone... and Tiger back

News of players coming and going seems to be the big sports topics this week. With the NBA trade deadline and NFL Combine so close together, chatter around sports blogs seem to pickup. The first news item is a little shocker, at least for me.

Harrison eventually cut from Colts

It's no longer a matter of if, but when. Colts star wide receiver Marvin Harrison is going to be cut from the Indianapolis Colts before the start of this upcoming NFL season. The Colts no longer could afford to carry Marvin's contract of 13.4 million dollars, especially after signing free agent Kelvin Hayden. The Colts picked up Marvin in the first round of the 1996 draft and he has stayed his entire career at the Colts up to this point. Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison broke numerous record of the NFL, but this passing duo will be no more. It's really sad to see a star with as much skill as Marvin being cut over other players. I will agree that his production level dropped after his injury in 2007, but the guy's got skill. Hopefully he will be able to find a home on a team *cough* Chicago *cough* and be able to produce spectacular numbers. Sucks, but that's the way sports work!

Tiger on the comeback

Arguably the greatest golfer of all time is on the comeback this upcoming week. Tiger Woods will start his 2009 season at the WGC-Accenture Match Play event after destroying his knee in an emotional win last year. I'm personally looking forward to his return. Watching golf just isn't the same if Tiger isn't tearing up his competition. Why a Match Play event you ask? Simple. Tiger Woods is a measly 31-6 all time in Match Play, so what better way to make your return than in a game type where you shine? For those of you that don't know what Match Play is, it's golf, but each game is basically its own "match". You face off against another golfer on an 18 hole course where if you do better than the other player, you get a point. If you tie, then the hole is halved and nobody gets a point. A person wins when they have taken a lead that can not be overcome by the remaining holes. Anyways, hopefully Tiger can get back into the groove and dominate the golf scene yet again.

Pretty cut and dry this weekend, but stay tuned for more updates!

Tangent 1.04

Drugs... and Retirements

This week has been chalk full of news items with some of them being surprising, and some... well, not so surprising. Let's start off with the biggest news item this week.

A-Rod admits to steroid use

In an era where steroids seem to be the main topic of conversation in the MLB, Alex Rodriguez admitted to steroid use in his early career. In an interview with Katie Couric in December of 2007, Alex was asked if he had ever used steroids.

Dec. 16, 2007
Katie Couric: "For the record, have you ever used steroids, human growth hormone or any other performance-enhancing substance?"

Alex Rodriguez: "No."

Couric: "Have you ever been tempted to use any of those things?"

Rodriguez: "No."

Then two days ago in an interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons, Alex admitted to taking steroids.

Feb. 9, 2009
Peter Gammons: "What's the truth?"

Rodriguez: "I did take a banned substance. And for that I'm very sorry and deeply regretful."

Gammons: "So you're saying the time period was 2001, '2 and '3?"

Rodriguez: "That's pretty accurate, yes."

Excuse me here for a second... If A-Rod calmly lied to Katie Couric over a year ago, who is to say he is telling the complete truth now? Sure some are praising Alex for coming clean and admitting to his use of steroids, but think of the reasons why he came clean. Sports Illustrated reported Saturday that A-Frod test positive in 2003 for steroid use, and with the CBS interview with Katie coming back up, he was cornered into this interview. Do I think that if SI hadn't uncovered this information that Alex would still deny steroid use? Absolutely.

I think President Obama put it best when he said that this era of baseball has been tainted. According to the Mitchell Report issued last year, 104 names of players testing positive for steroid use, Alex Rodriguez was on that list. 1 name down, 103 to go.

Favre announces retirement... again

Just 12 months after his first emotional retirement, Brett Favre announced his "final" retirement from the National Football League. Brett leaves the league after his 18th season and numerous NFL records. He holds records for the most wins, consecutive starts, passing yards, touchdowns, completions, and interceptions. Even though he played with the Green Bay Packers who faced my beloved Bears twice a year, I still respected the man and his game. I hope this is the last time Brett announces for his retirement, I don't know how if I can handle hearing John Madden talk about Brett Favre for another season.

Tangent 1.03

Super Bowl 43 Recap

Well, I guess my predictions of the game were almost DEAD on, just off by one point on each side, and flipping the winner. Honestly, this game could have gone either way, and hats off to Arizona for coming in as the underdog and putting up an amazing fight against the Steelers. This game was high flying in the second half and definitely came down to the wire. Both Arizona and Pittsburgh showed off their amazing offensive talents with spectacular plays to keep this game interesting. I was on the edge of my seat after Fitzgerald caught the pass late in the fourth quarter over the middle and ran it to the house. The moment of joy happened to be what cost it for Arizona. They scored too quickly, and left way too much time on the clock for Ben to engineer a game winning drive. So did I want Fitzgerald to fall over at the 5 yard line so Arizona could burn up some more clock before scoring? Absolutely not. I think it was just bad luck that they happened to score so quickly and there was nothing Larry could do about it.

Anyways, on to my "tangent" of this Super Bowl. I never had a hatred of the Pittsburgh Steelers until after this game. I definitely was rooting for the underdog in Arizona to pull this out, but after I saw this play, I never cheered for a team more. I understand that there is a lot of aggression during a football game and emotions can get the best of you, but these are grown men that have been playing this sport competitively for YEARS. When James Harrison pulled this stunt on the field, he was just issued a 15 yard penalty (ultimitely almost costing his team the game), but he, without question, should have been ejected from the game. There is no need for this nonsense, and I don't care how bad he talked about your baby's momma, don't pull this crap out on the field. It was completely unnecessary and I hope Commissioner Roger Goodell takes a long look at this play and sends a hefty fine in Harrison's direction. Completely unnecessary.

Now that the NFL season is over, I look to cover more of the NBA. Stay tuned for next weeks edition!

Tangent 1.02

I had to pull myself away from Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 to write this blog. That game is addicting!

Superbowl XLIII
With Superbowl 43 less than a week away, analyst are putting their magic together to predict this game. I personally am looking forward to this game. The high-flying Cardinal offense against the top defense in the league is sure to make for an interesting game. Each team can be successful, IF they do the following:

Arizona:
- Establish the run. We all know Arizona loves to pass the ball, but for that to be effective, they need to get the run established. ESPN reports that Arizona passed the ball nearly TWICE as much as they ran. Pittsburgh is going to take note of that, so they need to mix it up a bit.

- Healthy dose of Boldin and Fitzgerald. I'm really excited to see how these two men perform against the smash mouth defense of Pittsburgh. If they can perform like they have the entire playoffs, the Steelers are going to be finding themselves behind quickly.

- Pressure Big Ben. Arizona has forced 12 turnovers in this postseason. They need to keep that intensity up and put pressure on Ben Roethlisberger. Baltimore struggled to reach Ben, and he was able to pass all day on them. Keep him on his back, and you'll be going to Disney World.

Pittsburgh:
- Protect Ben. They did a fantastic job of doing this against the perenial defense of Baltimore, but Baltimore was a very banged up team in that game. Arizona is hungry and I have a feeling they are going to bring the house numerous times.

- Contain the deep ball. Arizona is know for the deep ball, especially to Larry Fitzgerald whom had three touchdowns in the first HALF against Philedelphia. Ike Taylor needs to have a big game, as well as the rest of the secondary of Pittsburgh if they want to be successful.

This game is definitely going to be interesting and I am looking forward to watching it.

Arizona tops Pittsburgh, 28-24.

Tangent 1.01

I think I have finally come up with a plan on how I want to run this blog. Hopefully more people than just myself read it after a few weeks, but for now, I'm just practicing my writing skills.

BCS, more like Big Crappy System
Bring on the playoff system. Sure it doesn't have to be a 64 team playoff like March Maddness, but somewhere in the 12-16 team range would be perfect. It would allow us to figure out who truly is the best team in college football. Companies would lose out on money for having 9 bajillion bowl games, but since when has college football been about money? The athletes we watch don't play for a salary, (well, some athletes are bribed with money to come to certain colleges, but that's not the point) they play the sport for the love of the game. I think that is what atracts most people to the game. Non-BCS schools that have the skill to compete for the title (Utah), aren't given a chance because of their conference. It doesn't really seem fair to give one loss teams the nod over teams that go undefeated. Utah's only hope of getting a share of the national championship was to be voted in by the AP polls. Doesn't seem fair to not let everybody have an equal opportunity to play in the big game. As stated earlier, bring on the playoff system.

NFL Playoff Predictions
Bring out the crystal ball, Cameron is handing out predictions!

Eagles @ Giants
If you were to ask me in weeks 1-14 who would win this matchup, Giants would easily be my vote, but the Eagles are hot. Donovan took the pine midway through the season and that by far was the best decision Andy Reid could have made. Donovan has tossed 10 touchdowns and 2 interceptions (including the playoffs) since Andy Reid put him on the bench. They have been rolling on all cylinders since, and don't plan to stop this weekend.

Eagles in a close one, 24-20.

Cardinals @ Panthers
The Cardinals snuck into the playoffs and shocked everybody with the upset last week over the Falcons. But when it comes down to it, it truly was the vet against the rookie. The Cardinals offense put on a clinic last weekend and Larry Fitzgerald pulled off an amazing catch between two Falcon defenders. All good things must come to an end, and this is the end of the road for the Cardinals.

Panthers win big, 34-17.

Baltimore @ Tennessee
Baltimore's defense is scary. They completey destroyed the Dolphins last weekend, forcing Pennington into numerous turnovers. If you haven't checked it out already, watch a replay of Ed Reed's interception in which he comes completely out of position to make an amazing interception. Their secondary is tough, but so is Tennessee's. This game is definitely going to be close, but that's where I think veteran Kerry Collins will shine, while rookie Joe Flacco will faulter.

Titans in a nailbiter, 20-14.

Chargers @ Pittsburgh
Charger's runningback Darren Sproles put up the third most all purpose yards in playoff history against the Colts defense. Problem is, the Colts defense isn't as great as people say it is. I don't see the Steelers allowing this tiny guy (5'6'') to rack up as many yards against them. Plus, teams traveling coast to coast have done AWFUL this year, so it doesn't help the Chargers chances any.

Steelers roll big, 34-10.

Well that raps it up for this weeks' edition, stay tuned!

Mediocre

6-6.

Hey, at least it's a little better than 3-9, but not by much. Blowing 13 point leads to... Syracuse? Losing in triple overtime to Pitt? It stings after a while. When you are used to winning and then get smacked by teams you used to crush just two years ago hurts. Some people want to put the blame on Charlie Weis, but not me. I put all blame on this season on the shoulders of Brandon Walker.

Who?!

That's right, all blame goes on the 6'3'' scrawny walk on kicker Brandon Walker.
Bro, you aren't even in the top 120 in field goal percentage. The scrub kicker from Florida International has a better chance of knocking it through the uprights than you. What's the difference you ask? You play for a "prestigious" school that has a history of winning (history being the key word...).
56.5 percent? I think I could do a better job of squaring up the boot and knocking the ball in between the giant uprights.

Hey Notre Dame... word of advice here... RECRUIT A KICKER! You have never had a kicker capable of hitting a consistent 30 yard field goal in years. He's missed 10 field goals this year, accumulating to 30 points (smart, I know!). Three out of your five loses this season have been by 5 points or less and two of those three loses were due to this man not doing his job.

Don't put Charlie in the hot seat yet... let him find a kicker that is capable of doing his job and the Irish might be able to beat teams like Syracuse and Pittsburgh...