Armchair Weekend in Review (January 26-28, 2007)
| 11
|
by user JB82
With the NFL taking a week off before the madness that is Super Bowl XLI, there was a debate raging at AWIR World Headquarters about which story to lead off with. As you are about to read, it didn't take long to find out...
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! O! O! Open!
- Once upon a time, Serena Williams and her sister Venus doublehandedly ruled the tennis world, winning tournaments left and right and getting a lot of face time in the process. Suddenly, a young Russian lady named Maria Sharapova came and swiped the spotlight from the sisters. All the while, the injury bug had struck them down. But, after only a few years in the wilderness, that would change.
- Late Friday, Williams faced the woman who swiped the domination from her, and soundly won the women's final, 6-1, 6-2. This was Serena's eighth Grand Slam tournament win. As for Venus, she was cheering from the sidelines due to injury.
- Meanwhile, on the men's front, Roger Federer continued his reign as King of Men's Tennis with a 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Fernando Gonzalez. This makes 32 matches in a row for the Swiss, and also his tenth title.
NBA Highlights
- Speaking of dominance, you can currently find a bit of Federer in the Phoenix Suns. Mike D'Antoni's squad racked their winning streak up to 17 with weekend wins over the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
- On Friday, Jamal Crawford turned in a performance he won't soon forget. The New York Knicks guard poured in a career-high 52 points as the Knicks blew out the Miami Heat – with both Shaq and Dwayne Wade – 116-96.
- The following night, it was Zach Randolph's turn at a personal best. The Portland Trail Blazers forward took a franchise-record 40 shots in the game, making 16 of them. Along with 42 points and 12 rebounds, he helped the Blazers to a 135-132 double overtime win against the Memphis Grizzlies.
- The last time Kobe Bryant and his Los Angeles Lakers teammates squared off against the Charlotte Bobcats, Kobe notched 58 points in a triple overtime loss. On Friday night, the Lakers guard was only able to score 32, but history (almost) repeated itself as the Lakers lost, 106-97.
Once around campus, James...
- Let's call this Lute Olson's Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Day: The longtime head coach of the University of Arizona men's basketball team suffered his worse home loss ever as the University of North Carolina men's basketball team went into the McKale Center and beat up on the Wildcats, 92-64.
- On January 27, 2001, the Oklahoma State University men's basketball program suffered a staggering loss. A plane carrying people associated with the program crashed in Colorado in the midst of a snowstorm. All ten people aboard, including two players on the team, lost their lives.
- Six years to that fateful day, the Cowboys, now with Eddie Sutton's son Steve coaching the team, defeated the Iowa State University Cyclones, 62-50. It was the first OSU game ever to be played on January 27 since the crash.
FA Cup: Fourth Round
England's answer to the US' March Madness continued this past weekend:
- Bolton Wanderers played Arsenal to a 1-1 draw, forcing a tiebreak match which will be played on Februrary 13. Let's hope Liverpool get the last laugh, as the Reds were knocked out of the competition by the Gunners three weeks ago.
- Premiership champion Chelsea shut out Nottingham Forest, 3-0, while Manchester United took care of Portsmouth, 2-1, with Wayne Rooney contributing both goals.
Winter X Games Highlights
- You've all heard of the Curse of the Bambino, the Curse of the Bily Goat, the Curse of Christmas, et al. I guess we can call what I'm about to say the "Curse of the Olympics." Why, you ask. Read and learn...
- After his gold medal in the first-ever snowboarding event in last year's Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, Shaun White had gotten a good deal of face time and was the favorite to clinch an unprecedented fifth consecutive gold medal in the Winter X Games' Slopestyle event. However, "The Flying Tomato" came home with the bronze medale.
- More bad karma for Lindsey Jacobellis: Almost a year after a bout of showboating cost her a shot at Olympic gold, "Lucky Lindsey" found herself unlucky again as she wiped out in the Women's Snowboarder X final. Jacobellis took the silver, losing the race to Joanie Anderson.
Odds and Sods
- After the BCS National Championship, the remaining bowl games feature senior talent who play their best for they know that scouts from NFL teams could be in the stands evaluating theie prospects for "playing for pay," as the saying goes.
- The last of these games is the annual Senior Bowl. While Troy Smith of Ohio State University put on a great performance at quarterback, it was Penn St.'s Tony Hunt who garnered MVP honors as the North defeated the South, 27-0. Hunt became only the third of JoePa's boys to garner the game's top honor.
- Obituaries:
- Bing Devine (there's a name for ya), the general manager who hepled build the St. Louis Cardinals teams that won the World Series in 1967 and clinched the National League pennant in 1968. Devine passed on Friday of unknown causes at age 90.
- Gump Worsley, NHL goaltender who did not wear a protective helmet until the last season of a career which spanned 22 years. The two-time Vezina Trophy winner passed on Saturday at a hospital in the Canadian province of Quebec at age 77.
- Even though he had to come from behind, Tiger Woods made it a lucky seven wins in a row as he won the PGA TOUR's Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines near San Diego, California.
That's all for this week
Until then, as always, let's all be good sports.
