Armchair Weekend in Review (November 10-12, 2006)

by user JB82

In the US, Canada, and the UK, the Veteran's/Remebrance Day weekend was a time to honor those who gave their lives in combat, those who served, and those who are in the service at this time. Aside from that, there were sports played.

NFL: Week 10

The New York Giants came into their Sunday night (originally afternoon thanks to flex scheduling) game against the Chicago Bears knowing that a win would give them home-field advantage. With Amani Toomer out for the year and a host of other starters out, it would be an uphill battle. The G-Men rose up to the challenge and looked to pull it out of the hat – for the first 29 minutes. The second half left Big Blue black and blue as Da Bears ran roughshod to win, 38-20. It was most definitely a tale of two halves...
- Another interesting note: for the second year in a row, the Bears returned a missed field goal for a touchdown with Devin Hester's 108-yard return. Last year, against the San Francisco 49ers, safety Nathan Vasher did the same thing. The two teammates now stand on top of the record books for the longest return of its kind in NFL history.
Another important battle involved the NFC Western Division, where the St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks came in only one game apart. The main drama came at the end, when Rams running back Steven Jackson ran in for the game-winning score. However, Seahawks kicker Jeff Brown broke the Rams' collective heart again with a game-winning 38-yard field goal to clinch the win, 24-22.
The biggest offensive output by two teams combined so far this year came in Cincinnati, where the Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers combined for 90 points (49-41 capped by a 21-point comeback by the Bolts) and 975 yards of offense. Top performers in this game: LaDainian Tomlinson with four touchdowns, Bengals wideout Chad Johnson (Ocho Cinco) got a team record dos cientos sesenta y cinco (265) yards receiving, and teammate Carson Palmer with his over 400 yards passing.
Steve McNair returned to Nashville with a bit of vengeance after the ugly divorce he and the Tennessee Titans had during the offseason. But, the Baltimore Ravens' performance was short of a one-sided whooping by his old mates, with the Ravens storming back from the short end of a 26-7 score and finishing it off with a touchdown by another ex-Titan, Derrick Mason, with 3 1/2 minutes to go. The Birds won, 27-26.
The Indianapolis Colts had it rough trying to go to 9-0 against the Buffalo Bills, but thanks to a Ryan Lindell missed field goal, Peyton Manning and Co. hung on, 17-16.
It was bound to happen sometime, but it finally did. The New England Patriots saw their 57-game streak without consecutive losses end with a 17-14 loss to the New York Jets in rather murky conditions at Foxboro, Massachusetts. Pats quarterback Tom Brady hooked up with Reche Caldwell for the last score of the game (and the two-point conversion), but it was too much, too little, too late.

CFL Grey Cup Semis

Remebrance Day Weekend in the Great White North meant one thing: two games to decide who plays in Canada's answer to the Super Bowl – the Grey Cup.
- For the fifth time in seven years, the Eastern Conference will be represented by the Montreal Alouettes. Les Als defeated the 2004 GC champion Toronto Argonauts, 33-24.
- Joining them in Winnipeg will be the British Columbia Lions, who routed the Saskatchewan Roughriders, 45-13, to clinch the Western Conference berth.
By the way, the last time we did a CFL update, the two teams who will meet next Sunday in Manitoba faced each other, with BC routing Montreal. Was that an omen of things to come? Tune in next week to find out...

NCAA: Take away the hors d'oeuvres, bring on the filet mignon!

Just one week before their big matchup, the top two teams in the Bowl Championship Series followed up comebacks and otherwise lackluster performances with blowouts. The first-ranked Ohio State University Buckeyes blew out Northwestern University, 54-10, while the University of Michigan Wolverines pantsed the University of Indiana Hoosiers, 34-3.
Saturday saw some one-loss teams see their BCS bowl bids go by the wayside. Examples included the Auburn University Tigers (lost to the University of Georgia Bulldogs) and the University of Texas (upset late in the game by the Kansas State University Wildcats).
When you're a player on a team that lost a teammate due to an untimely passing, it's awful hard to get on with the routine of preparing for the next week's battle – not to mention life itself. Case in point: the University of Miami Hurricanes, whose season from hell took a tragic turn earlier in the week when Bryan Pata was gunned down in Coral Gables, Florida. The Canes may have fallen short in their attempt to win for their fellow comrade against the University of Maryland Terrapins, 14-13, but give them a ginormous nod for pulling together in the face of tragedy and making the trip to College Park, Maryland.
On this Veteran's Day Weekend, I figured I would give a quick look at the US service academies and how they fared.
- The United States Air Force Academy Falcons were shot down at home to Charlie Weis' University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 39-17.
The United States Naval Academy MIdshipmen blew the Eastern Michigan University Eagles out of the ocean, 49-21.
For those of who inquiring about the United States Military Academy, the Black Knights of the Hudson had a bye week. The Cadets were on a three-day pass, to use a US military term.

From Football to Fútbol

If you think the American Football Giants are the only team to have injury woes on their plate, look across the pond. Everton midfielder Tim Cahill suffered a knee injury during the Toffees' 1-0 loss to Aston Villa on Saturday. It is feared that Cahill could be out for at least a month and a half.
If Liverpool want to get back to the UEFA Champions League in 2007-08, they had better right the ship. The defending FA Cup champion were shut out by Arsenal 3-0 on Sunday, sending the Gunners to the third European berth.
It seems American athletes aren't the only ones getting into trouble off the field of sport. Further edification comes with word that Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was involved in a fight outside a nightclub in Manchester in October. Early one Sunday morning, reports alleged that a photographer was beaten, and the constabulary want to question Rooney about it. You know that saying, "Nothing good ever happens after midnight"? It applies in England as it does Stateside.
Back to the US to wrap up the soccer segment. What do Sunday in Frisco, Texas, this past summer in Berlin, this past May in Cardiff, and a year ago at that time in Istanbul have in common. They all hosted important matches which ended in shootouts. On this occasion, the 2006 MLS Cup was on the line. The Houston Dynamo and New England Revolution battled to a scoreless tie until eight minutes into the second overtime, when Revs striker Taylor Twellman scored from the box. New England's first cup lasted all of 66 seconds, when Dynamo counterpart Brian Ching headed the equalizer. Thus the game went to a shootout (no prizes if you've guessed the outcome already). Houston won the shooutout 4-3, and brought home their first championship since relocating to H-Town. If you counted the team's history as the San Jose Clash/Earthquakes, this would be their second title. But MLS decided to keep the two teams' histories seperate.

NBA: Open Court

Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Redd made history on Friday, but one he'd rather take back. Redd came within an eyelash of hanging 60 points on the Utah Jazz, but a buzzer-beater hit the rim and Redd settled for 57 in a 113-111 loss to the Washington Wizards.

MLB Offseason Wheeling and Dealing

The New York Yankees start to build for 2007. On Friday, the Yanks traded outfielder Gary Sheffield to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for three pitching prospects from the latter's farm system. Two days later, pitcher Jaret Wright got shipped to the Baltimore Orioles for another very young arm. If any of the youngsters we got are pitching in the majors five years from now, it'll be great, IMO.

Fast Track

The Chase for the NASCAR Nextel Cup is now down to one race. Five drivers, including points leader Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick, find themselves within striking distance of the Cup. Johnson took second to retain the top spot, while Harvick took the checkerd flag at Phoenix in the Checker Auto Parts 500.
A one-man New York Yankees of drag racing added another championship to his resume on Sunday. John Force clinched his 14th NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) funny car title on Sunday in the Auto Club Nationals in Southern California. If Force had three hands, he can get one for the thumb next year!