Armchair Weekend in Review (November 17-19, 2006)

by user JB82

Arguably the biggest weekend of the fall gave us loads to talk about. On with the discussion...

"The Game". 'Nuff said

• Going into this game, both the Ohio State University Buckeyes and the University of Michigan Wolverines knew that a win would make them a lead-pipe lock for the Bowl Championship Series national championship game. After all the hype, all the analysis, all the prognostication had been shoved down our throats, "The Game" was played.
• Lloyd Carr's squad gave the host Buckeyes all they had, but Heisman Trophy lock Troy Smith's four touchdowns and 316 yards passing were enough to keep the Fighting Script Ohios (my nickname for them) undefeated, 42-39.

Glenn Edward "Bo" Schembechler, 1929-2006

• Though they lost, the Wolverines had an emotional advantage on Jim Tressel's charges with the passing of Bo Schembechler, the former's most successfull football coach. Schembechler beat Woody Hayes' squad 11 times in his 21 years at the helm in Ann Arbor, in addition to clinching 13 Big Ten Conference titles (either shared or outright) in that span. Schembechler collapsed while at a Detroit TV station on Friday and made his earthly departure later that day at age 77. Condolences to friends, family, and those close to him – at Michigan and elsewhere.

Other games of note on campus...

• The next few weeks is when the bulk of college football rivalry games take place. Here are some that took place on Saturday:
  • The Hoosiers of Indiana University fell short of bowl eligiblity, in addition to losing The Old Oaken Bucket, to the Purdue University Boilermakers, 28-19.
  • In a rather meaningless game, the Golden Gophers of the University of Minnesota ended their regular season with a 34-24 win over the University of Iowa and thus ending the six-year Iowa residency of "Floyd of Rosedale" (a pig trophy; click on the preceding link to read more on the origins thereof).
  • Another, much more-storied rivalry pitted the United States Military Academy against the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Charlie Weis' squad took the game, 41-9. Ho-hum...
  • The Ivy League's answer to the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry is that between the Yale University Elis and the Harvard University Crimson. In this matchup, Yale beat up on Hahvuhd 34-13, to clinch a share of the Ivy crown along with the Princeton University Tigers.
  • Joe Paterno returned to coaching his Pennsylvania State University Nitanny Lions, albeit from the sideline. No matter; his squad beat up on the hapless Michigan State University Spartans, 17-13 to keep the Land Grant Trophy in State College, PA. John L. Smith, pack yer bags, start your stepping, and don't let the screen door hit you on the way out of East Lansing...
  • The Auburn University Tigers rebounded from last week's stunning loss to beat the Crimson Tide of the University of Alabama, 22-15, in the Iron Bowl.
  • The Northwestern University Wildcats kept the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk in Evanston and from the filthy mitts of the University of Illinois Fighting Illini, 27-16. Randy Walker was probably smiling, sitting up in the skybox...
  • There were others, but we won't get to them...

NFL Week 11

• One question surrounding San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson: what is he, man or machine? Tomlinson ran foranother four touchdowns in the Chargers' 35-27 Sunday night win over the Denver Broncos. It wasn't easy for the Bolts as they had to come back from a 24-7 third-quarter deficit to get the W and sole posession of first place in the AFC Western Division.
• The Dallas Cowboys got great performances from Tony Romo and Marion Barber to end the Indianapolis Colts' pretentions for an undefeated 2006 season, 24-17. The 1972 Miami Dolphins, whom I mentioned about two weeks ago, can pop the corks on the champagne, knowing that their legacy is unthreatened yet again.
• Speaking of the Dolphins, they managed to pullout a 24-20 win against the Minnesota Vikings in spite of getting a total of minus 3 yards – MINUS THREE YARDS, JERRY!! – on the ground. This was a win that defied all reasoning and logic, IMO.
• The Philadelphia Eagles lost more than just a shot at the playoffs in their 31-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans. Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb tore a knee ligament, and is done for the year.
• The New England Patriots gave the Green Bay Packers the brunt of their frustrations from last week, 35-0. In that game, Brett Favre suffered an elbow injury, while Tom Brady as well as backups Matt Cassell and recently-signed Vinny Testaverde saw action.

CFL: 94th Grey Cup

• Winnipeg, Manitoba was host to the 94th Grey Cup, the Great White North's answer to the Super Bowl, on Sunday. While Super Sunday is usualy held in warmer climes, the Grey Cup is in always-colder-than-delgado Canadian locales and is as much a tradition as the Super Bowl here in the States.
  • When all was said and done, the British Columbia Lions went back west with the Coupe Grey thanks to a 25-14 win against the Montreal Alouettes which featured an MVP turnout for Lions quarterback Dave Dickenson and many record-breaking performances, including Als signal-caller Anthony Calvillo's 240 yards passing. This was BC's first Grey Cup since 2000 and only their fifth overall.

Across the Pond

• If there was a song to describe Blackburn Rovers midfielder Tugay Kerimoglu's Sunday, it would be the Daniel Powter tune, "Bad Day." Kerimoglu opened the scoring against Tottenham Hotspur in the 23rd minute, only to get a straight red card on the hour mark. Blackburn tied Spurs, 1-1.
• Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney again provided a bulk of the scoring on the Red Devils' 2-1 win against Sheffield.
• Liverpool's scoreless tie against Middlesborough cost them another position in the table, while Portsmouth are now contending with ManU and Chelsea with a 2-1 win against Watford.

Kobe gets another milestone

• Just because you can change one player's number doesn't mean you can change him performance-wise. Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant may have gone from wearing number 8 to number 24, but that didn't stop him from becoming the youngest player in NBA history to pass the 17,000-point barrier, doing so in a 107-100 win against the Toronto Raptors. This was the same team against whom he hung 81 points against earlier in the calendar year.

NASCAR's Grand Finale 2006

• While Greg Biffle took the checkered flag in the season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, it wa Jimmie Johnson who grabbed the spotlight. Sunday was a proud day for the Hendrick Motorsports crew as the driver of the #48 Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse Chevrolet copped his first NASCAR Nextel Cup championship, and the seventh overall for Rick Hendrick (four for Jeff Gordon, two for the now-retired Terry Labonte, and Johnson's title this year.)

That's all for this week, friends...

Our best wishes for a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday to our US readers. Until next week, let's all be good sports.