Armchair Weekend in Review (February 23-25, 2007)
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by user JB82
Back from my Bahamas cruise (I did make a brief appearance here while aboard ship), I see that the sports world went through an amazing weekend. Let's dig up the remains:
Tiger's streak ends
It had to end sometime, but Tiger Woods saw his seven-match winning streak reach its course on Friday. Woods fell to Nick O'Hern in the quarterfinals of the Accenture Match Play Championships, 1 down, though they needed two extra holes to settle the match. With all the big names eliminated, Swede Henrik Stenson took the event, 2 and 1, over Aussie Geoff Ogilvy. Yes, this is the same Ogilvy who one the US Open last June.
Last weekend of campus play
- In a battle of number one's, the Ohio State University Buckeyes (number one in the Coaches Poll) defeated the University of Wisconsin Badgers (number one in the Associated Press), 49-48. The Buckeyes clinched the Big Ten Conference regular season title and became the unanimous top team in the country. It was the first time OSU has been at the top of a basketball poll since 1962, the last season when a young man named Bob Knight was on the squad.
- On the day the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins honored the 1967 championship team, the 2007 Bruins clinched at least a share of the Pacific 10 Conference regular season title with a 75-61 win over Stanford University that would have made John Wooden proud.
- On the women's side, the Duke University Lady Blue Devils became the first team in Atlantic Coast Conference history ever to go undefeated during the regular season with a 67-62 win over archrivals the University of North Carolina Tarheels.
Duke lax returns
- Speaking of Duke, the first men's lacrosse game in almost a calendar year took place in Durham, North Carolina on Saturday. For the first time since a scandal scrapped the rest of their schedule, the Duke men's lacrosse team defeated the Dartmouth College Big Green, 17-11, in front of 6,485 fans.
Across the pond
- Twice-defending Premiership champion Chelsea defeated Arsenal 2-1, but chaos wound up being the theme of the match on Sunday. Blues captain John Terry took a kick to the head from the Gunners' Abou Diaby halfway through the second half. Terry was taken to the hospital, but was treated and released.
- But the big topic of discussion came during stoppage time in the second half, when both teams engaged in a massive brawl where Chelsea's John Obi Mikel had it out with the Gunners' Kolo Toure. Other notables in the scrum were the Blues' Frank Lampard and Arsenal's Francesc Fabregas. The latter two were given yellow cards, while Obi, Toure and Emanuel Adebayor were all given the boot. A violent end to an otherwise entertaning match...
- Speaking of violence, just three weeks after Italian soccer fans got into a riot, the same thing happened in Serbia. Fans of Serbian club Red Star Belgrade, whose team lost to local rivals FK Partizan, 4-2, did not take the loss lightly and caused a ruckus which injured 13 people and led to 27 arrests. Is it just me or has soccer violence taken a turn for the worst?
Bad blood cools off between Senators, Sabres
Two nights after a late hit on Chris Drury touched off a brawl which incolved every player on the ice, the Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres resumed hostilities Saturday night in Ottawa. Both teams managed to calm things down, but another barnburner ensued which the Sens won, 6-5. Other than two fights in the second period, it was just another hockey game.
NBA highlights
- Back during the US Fourth of July weekend, it was reported that Ben Wallace had signed on with the Chicago Bulls, and while that power shift in the NBA's Eastern Conference may not have taken place as predicted, Wallace did return to his former stomping grounds to praise the Detroit Pistons – and then get buried. Wallace scored only six points while his former playmates won, 95-93.
- Two examples of the league's video review rule and how it helped two teams on Friday night:
- New York Knicks guard Stephon Marbury reeled off a jump shot that fell short with the game tied at 93. Milwaukee Bucks center Andrew Bogut was called for a loose ball foul at the end of regulation and the game soon went into overtime...or did it? A review found that the foul was called with 0.8 seconds left. Channing Frye soon made two free throws which sealed the game for the Knicks, 95-93.
- Another example came in Portland, when Memphis Grizzlies forward Lawrence Roberts was called for – you guessed it – a loose ball foul as time expired. All this after the Portland Trail Blazers' Damon Stoudamire missed the last of two free shots. Blazers forward Ime Udoka grabbed the rebound and it looked as though he lost his footing, but Roberts was really the guilty party in the matter. Like in New York, the refs looked at the tape and decided to put 0.8 seconds on the clock. Udoka made the first free throw, but his second shot from the charity stripe fell short and the Grizzlies escaped, 103-102.
Odds and sods
- Matt Kenseth followed up a race-ending crash in the Daytona 500 with a Busch and Nextel Cup sweep at California Speedway. The win in the Auto Club 300 was the first for Boston Red Sox owner John Henry as a NASCAR owner, as Kenseth's car is owned by a partnership between him and Jack Roush.
- Two obituaries from the weekend:
- The Denver Broncos suffered another tragic loss on Saturday when defensive back Damien Nash died after collapsing at a charity basketball event in the St. Louis area. Ironically, Nash, who died of as of yet unknown causes, organized the event for a charity set up in his brother's name for research into heart transplants. The Broncos began 2007 with the shooting death of fellow DB Darrant Williams early on New Year's Day. Condolences to teammates, family, and others associated with him...
- Lamar Lundy, who was an integral part of the Los Angeles Rams' "Fearsome Foursome" defense and the first African-American student ever to receive a football scholarship to Purdue University, also passed on Saturday. Lundy was 71 when he died after a long illness in his hometown of Richmond, Indiana.
Great to be back
Until next week, let's all be good sports...
