Armchair Weekend in Review (October 13-15, 2006)
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by user JB82
Excitement! Drama! Fights! Intrigue! Controversy! This weekend had it all! Let's get to it right away!
MLB Postseason
- The Detroit Tigers' astounding run in the postseason continues to amaze the Motown faithful and bemuse baseball pundits. Proof of same: the Tigers sweeping the Oakland Athletics in the American League Championship Series on Saturday thanks to a walk-off home run by Magglio Ordonez.
- In the NLCS, things looked bleak for the New York Mets. They had been handcuffed by St. Louis Cardinals pitching in a 5-0 shutout in Game 3, and the prospects looked even gloomier for Game 4. But, thanks to big hits from Carlos Beltran, David Wright and Carlos Delgado, the Metropolitans tied the series at two games apiece.
- Broadcasters Behaving Badly, Part 2: Steve Lyons joined Bert Blyleven in the Baseball Analysts' Hall of Shame on Friday after making the last in a series of racially insensitive remarks during FOX's postseason coverage. The straw that broke FOX Sports' back came when Lou Piniella analogized finding a wallet and then said some Spanish phrases, to which Lyons replied:
- I still can't find my wallet. I don't understand him, and I don't want to sit close to him now.
- Lyons has since been canned by FOX...
NFL Week 7
- Three teams got their first win of the season on Sunday:
- The Tennessee Titans got their first notch in the win column thanks to a second-half rally against the Washington Redskins, 25-22.
- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers eked out a 14-13 win via a Michael Clayton touchdown very late in the game.
- The Detroit Lions roared their way to 20-17 win over the Buffalo Bills. More on the Queen City later on...
- The defending NFC champions Seattle Seahawks got a 30-28 win thanks to a bungled-up call near the end of the game. St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan thought that his team had won the game because of a Seahawks illegal formation. However, the zebras ruled otherwise and Josh Brown booted a 54-yard field goal to seal the victory.
- After another exciting week revolving around Terrell Owens, the Dallas Cowboys wideout caught three touchdowns in a 34-6 rout of the hapless Houston Texans.
Wild Weekend in the NCAA
- The biggest upset of the year came when the Auburn University Tigers sent the Gators of the University of Florida to their first defeat of the year thanks to Stanford band-esque play that quickly resulted in an fumble and Auburn touchdown. The Tiger faithful went wild with joy after their squad's 27-17 win.
- Another undefeated bid that got sent by the wayside was that of the University of Missouri Tigers, who were pasted by Texas A&M University's Aggies, 25-19.
- The University of Louisville Cardinals remained undefeated and clinched the Keg of Nails, 23-17, thanks to Brian Brohm's 324 yards passing. The Cardinals managed to hold off a late surge by the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.
- A Phyrric victory for the University of Oklahoma Sooners: ys, they romped over Iowa State University's Cyclones, 34-9, but lost running back Adrian Peterson for the balance of the season with a collarbone injury.
- Back to the fighting side of AWIR for a moment: Just when you thought the karma at the University of Miami couldn't get any lower, we have this sorry episode which occured Saturday night in South Florida:
- What started out as an innocent touchdown celebration sparked a massive brawl between the Hurricanes and the Florida International University Golden Panthers soon became an all-out brawl in the Orange Bowl. A Miami player whopped an FIU player with his helmet, and even an injured Golden Panther developed the brass cojones to swing at a 'Cane with his crutch!
- When the dust was settled, a total of 31 players on both teams were suspended one game. It goes without saying that this was one of the worst fights in college football history, if not the worst. Shades of the University of South Carolina-Clemson University melee a couple of years ago...
- MONDAY EXTRA #1: The helmet-wielding player, Anthony Reddick, has since had his suspension extended until about the Twelfth of Never, while two FIU players were given the boot, albeit with scholarships intact.
- MONDAY EXTRA #1a: A UM TV analyst lost his job thanks to remarks he made during the brawl. Also, file this under Broadcasters Behaving Badly, Part 3.
A Slightly Less Violent Sport
- Continuing ever onward with football fisticuffs, we start out in the Land Down Under:
- It had been a somewhat heated match between Australian clubs Melbourne Victory and Adelaide. As the end drew near, MV captain Kevin Muscat went to get the ball from under a chair where Adelaide coach John Kosmina was sitting. Next thing anyone knew, Kosmina had taken a tumble out of said chair. Rightfully infuriated, Kosmina stood up and proceeded to do Lord-knows-what to Muscat. Kosmina's actions were viewed by the officials as out of line, and the Adelaide head coach was given the boot. Shades of the 1978 Gator Bowl, when Ohio State University head coach Woody Hayes put his fist to the throat of Clemson's Charlie Bauman.
- Over to England, where there were weird doings at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech was injured as the game began when his head collided with the back of Reading midfelder Stephen Hunt's leg as the former was diving for the ball. Carlo Cudicini was called in to tend goal, but he himself got hurt during injury time (how ironic!). The situation was so dire, Lions captain John Terry was called in to play between the poles. Despite the injuries and being reduced to ten men a side, the defending Premiership champion won on an own goal by Reading defenseman Ivar Ingimarsson, 1-0. Strange doings, indeed...
- MONDAY EXTRA #2: Cech continues to mend after surgery, while there are rumors that Cudicini could return for next week's tilt against Portsmouth, who are suprising everyone with a third-place showing in the FAPL standings.
- Speaking of Pompey, their amazing run as this year's Wigan continued with a 2-1 victory over West Ham United.
- Aston Villa remain unbeaten thanks to a 1-1 tie against Tottenham Hostpur.
- On to the Continent with this item from La Liga: Atletico Madrid's Sergio Aguero scored a crucial goal in his club's win over Recreativo Huelva. However, he copied Diego Maradona (sorta) from twenty years ago in Argentina's win over England in the World Cup to do it.
Fast Track
- Kasey Kahne looks to do some damage in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup thanks to a win at Lowe's Motor Speedway outside Charlotte, North Carolina in the Bank of America 500. Kahne knocked Jeff Burton from the top of the standings, while Jeff Gordon was eliminated from contention.
- Meanwhile, the chase for the NASCAR Busch Series Championship ended the night before, as Kevin Harvick clinched the trophy.
Odds and Sods
- With the city and surrounding environments still dealing with the aftermath of Thursday's freak snowstorm, the Buffalo Sabres put a spark in the HSBC Arena, which had electricity. The Sabres, donning their vintage blue-and-gold sweaters, beat up on the New York Rangers Saturday night, 7-3. Our best to everybody out there in Western New York from someon who lives a 6-hour drive away. Talkin' proud, talkin' proud, even without power...
That's all for this week
Until next week, let's all be good sports...
Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
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