Armchair Weekend in Review (October 27-29, 2006)

by user JB82

Some sad news to kick off this issue...

Vale Red

In case you haven't already heard, Red Auerbach, arguably the greatest coach in NBA history and architect of one of sports' greatest dyansties, passed on Saturday at the age of 89. Auerbach coached greats such as Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn and Bill Russell to eight consecutive titles from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s. Later on, Auerbach moved in to the front office, and is famous for bringing in the Larry Bird-Kevin McHale-Robert Parrish trio that won the franchise it last three (so far) championships and four appearances in the NBA Finals during the 1980s, including the 1984 Finals, considered by many as the best ever.
Auerbach, like Babe Ruth, helped to bring his league to national (and even international) prominence. There was nobody of his ilk before; it's likely that there will be no one like him ever again.

World Series: Cards are champs

A depressing World Series (as well as the most bizarre postseason in recent memory) came to an end on Friday as the St. Louis Cardinals finished off the Detroit Tigers to win their first championship in almost a quarter century. The Cards took advantage of five Tiger errors in as many games, while David Eckstein was named the Series' MVP.

NFL: Week 8

It wasn't all depression in the sports world these past three days. There was excitement to be told. First in the NFL:

The first game of the Tony Romo Era didn't get off to a good start for the Dallas Cowboys, but America's Team came roaring back from a 14-0 first quarter deficit to beat the Carolina Panthers 35-20. After the game, Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells was seen giving his players a peck on the cheek. It looked as though someone dropped Love Potion #9 on the sideline beforehand...
Atlanta Falcons quarteback Michael Vick had the most dominating performance of the day, connecting for three scores as the Falcs came back against the Cincinnati Bengals, 29-27.
My pick for second-biggest game of the week, the Philadelphia Eagles' contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars, turned out to be a dud for the Iggles, as they lost to the Jags at home, 13-6.
In a battle of 4-2 teams, the San Diego Chargers dominated the St. Louis Rams, 38-24, thanks to three scores and almost 200 yards rushing by LaDainian Tomlinson.
In a battle of backup quarterbacks, the Kansas City Chiefs (led by Damon Huard, filling in for a still-recovering Trent Green) gave the Seneca Wallace-led Seattle Seahawks all they could handle, and vice versa. However, the Chiefs got just one yard shy of 500 yards total offense and the win, 31-24.
The most controversial game of the week took place in Cleveland, as the Cleveland Browns hosted the New York Jets. In the fourth quarter, Jets tight end Chris Baker caught the game-tying touchdown – or did he? Not soon after the ball reached his hands, two Browns defenders forced him out of bounds. In an act of officiating worthy of Shanghai Suprprise, a nearby referee said that the pass was incomplete, even though the result was otherwise.
Finally, we get Rocky Mountain high for the game of the week. The Denver Broncos hosted the undefeated Indianapolis Colts. In another wild contest, the game was decided by the person who opened the scoring. The person in question: Adam Vinatieri. The Colts used him to respond to a 49-yard Jason Elam game-tying field goal, and won the game, 34-31.

Saturday on the campus

In what will go down as the upset of the year, the Oregon State University Beavers held off a two-point conversion by the University of Southern California Trojans to end USC's 27-game Pacific 10 Conference winning streak, 33-31. USC's loss creates, to paraphrase the title of a Paul McCartney album, Chaos and Creation in the Bowl Championship Series.
Chachi's Ohio State University Buckeyes continue to dominate the BCS standings. Further edification came with a 44-0 shutout of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers.
The Buckeyes' archrivals, the University of Michigan Wolverines, kept pace with a win over the Northwestern University Wildcats, 17-3.
After falling behind in the third quarter, Philip Fulmer's University of Tennessee Volunteers came back with 17 unanswered points and got a late-game pick from Demetrice Morley to defeat the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, 31-24. The Vols got revenge on Steve Spurrier's charges' win last year in Knoxville, their first ever.

Meanwhile, across The Pond

Portsmouth continue to amaze, the latest rabbit-out-of-the-hat trick being a 3-1 win against Premiership newcomer Reading.
The North West of England had themselves a soccer (football) Saturday they won't soon forget. Manchester United shut out Bolton Wanderers, 4-0, in part to three goals by Wayne Rooney. Also, defending FA Cup champion Liverpool and Wigan got three points, while Everton tied Arsenal.

Fast Track

Talk about crashing the party! Tony Stewart, who did not make the ten-driver field for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, took the checkered flag in the Bass Pro Shops 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Matt Kenseth still holds the top spot in the Chase.
While the Chase still has three races to go, the 2006 MotoGP season ended in Valencia, Spain on Sunday. While Australian Troy Bayliss, subbing for Spaniard Sete GIbernau, took the Valencian Community Grand Prix, American Nicky Hayden beat out Italian Valentino Rossi to win the World Championship. Despite his only win at Laguna Seca, Hayden became the first American ever to finish on top at season's end.
- BTW, thanks to our friend from England for helping to get MotoGP onto the AWIR. I sure picked an exciting year to do it...

Oh yes, they called it The Streak...

Hats off to the Buffalo Sabres, whose ten-game record-tying wni streak ended Saturday night in Buffalo against the Atlanta Thrashers. It was an exciting back-and-forth contest, with the Sabres losing in a shootout, 4-3. Also, kudos to the fans who applauded their team afterwards and showed a goodly amount of respect while doing so.

Odds and Sods

There were two other obituaries from the weekend:
- Joe Niekro, brother of Hall of fame pitcher Phil Niekro. While his career lasted over 20 years, he never matched the success of his older brother. But still, Phil and Joe combined for 539 career wins. Joe was also infamous for being caught with a nail file in his pants pocket during a game in 1987, when he was with the Minnesota Twins. Niekro passed on Friday at age 61 due to a brain aneurysm.
- Trevor Berbick, heavyweight boxing champion for a brief period in 1986. The Jamaica-born fighter was also the last person ever to square off against Muhammad Ali, doing so five years earlier, and was the first person to lose the heavweight belt to a young boxer named Mike Tyson. Berbick was found dead in the courtyard of a church in Portland Parish, Jamaica. He was 51 years old at the time of his death, though some believed he was a year older.