Armchair Weekend in Review (September 21-23, 2007)
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by JB82
Ain't this a great time to be a sports fan or what?! Just a comment before we get this recap of the past three days off...
NFL Week 3
- The San Diego Chargers looked daunted after last Sunday night's defeat at the hands of the New England Patriots. Sadly, they left Lambeau Field the same way after falling to the Green Bay Packers 31-24. This game was notable for the fact that Packers QB Brett Favre tied the legendary Dan Marino for most touchdowns all-time, getting his 420th (smoke a bone for Brett) on a pass to Greg Jennings in the fourth quarter, spurring a late rally.
- The Pittsburgh Steelers got to 3-0 on the young season, but they did it mostly via special teams rather than Ben Roethlisberger's arm. Kicker Jeff Reed made all three of his field goal attempts, and Allen Rossum took a kickoff 98 yards down the field for a touchdown in a 37-16 romp over the San Francisco 49ers. Just for the record: Roethlisberger went 13-for-20 throwing for 160 yards and one score.
- It was a proud day for Archie Manning, as two of his progeny had successful days (even though they had to fight off their opponents) on Sunday.
- Older sibling Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts got more than they bargained for against the Houston Texans, but managed to get help from running back Joseph Addai in preventing the Texans from getting their first 3-0 start in franchise history. Addai, playing in front of his hometown faithful, scored two touchdowns to go along with 72 yards on 22 carries in Indy's 30-24 win.
- Later, outside D.C., Eli led a comeback after it seemed like déjà vu all over again for his New York Giants. Peyton's little bro got help from Plaxico Burress on a 21-point rally and a goal-line stand by the defense, who continued their uninspiring defense from the past two weeks in the first half, in Big Blue's 24-17 win over the Washington Redskins.
- The Oakland Raiders decided to get some sort of revenge for being on the other end of NFL Jedi mind tricks last week. Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin called time out after the ball was snapped for a Cleveland Browns field goal which would have won the game had the timeout not been honored. Well, as the saying goes, "Turnabout is fair play," and this time it succeeded as Phil Dawson's second attempt was blocked and Kiffin got his first career NFL win and the Raiders their first of the 2007 season, 26-24.
- It had been a trying week for Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles. For the preceding six days, their QB was at the center of controversy after saying that he was getting treated harshly because of race (which was amongst the stupidest things this reporter has heard anyone say). There were even rumors that he would be traded at season's end. However, on Sunday, all the criticism went away as McNabb threw for almost 400 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-21 rout of the Detroit Lions. The Eagles, turning back the clock to 1933 via their uniforms, scored the second-most points in the franchise's 75-year history.
- That giant thud you hear coming from Chicago? That was the sound of many people falling off the Rex Grossman bandwagon after Sunday night. The Chicago Bears quarterback had fans calling for his backup after throwing for three picks in a 38-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
CFB Week 4
Not too much to write home about as we look into the doings on campus
- LSU dabbled in some trickeration in their 28-16 win over South Carolina: Les Miles' team scored on a fake field goal, when Bengals QB Matt Flynn flipped the ball to kicker Colt David instead of doing the prerequisite holding the ball. Instead of David making like Charlie Brown after Lucy pulled the pigskin away at the last possible second, David ran it into the end zone for a score.
- Alabama head coach Nick Saban got his first bitter taste of losing on Saturday; his Crimson Tide and Georgia played a nip and tuck game which resulted in overtime after regulation ended in a 20-20 tie. While Alabama went ahead with a field goal, it was the Dawgs who got the W in Tuscaloosa with a Mikey Henderson touchdown, 26-23.
- There was another reported thud over the weekend, this one louder than the one in Chi-town. It was everybody falling off of Louisville's bandwagon after the Cardinals were upset by Syracuse (of all teams), 38-35 at home. Cards QB Brian Brohm led the world with 555 yards passing and four scores, but he was overshadowed by Cuse wideout Taj Smith, who scored the game winner with minutes left in the fourth quarter.
- While Michigan State avenged last year's comeback loss, Notre Dame made history, the type of which was the worst kind. The Irish's 31-14 loss to the Spartans meant that ND starts a season 0-4 for the first time in school history. They've been playing ball at South Bend since 1887; Irish eyes have never been crying as bad as this.
- It had to end sometime, but Appalachian State's 17-game winning streak, which included that big upset of Michigan three weeks ago, met its demise 42-31 at the hands of Wofford.
MLB pennant races heat up
- The New York Yankees managed to get a little closer to the Boston Red Sox in the race for the American League East. While the Sox dropped two of three to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, they became the first team to clinch a postseason berth. Meanwhile, in the Bronx went 2-1 on the weekend, with a notable happening on Sunday. With his father in attendance at Yankee Stadium, Yanks rookie phenom Joba Chamberlain got his first career save, which was a great present on his 22nd birthday.
- The Cleveland Indians got their first AL Central Division title in six years, nailing it down with a 6-2 win over the Oakland Athletics. All this while the Detroit Tigers were beating the Kansas City Royals 7-2. The Tigers' only postseason hopes now lie in the wild card, and those chances look very slim right now.
- The other division champions in the junior circuit are the Los Angeles Angels, who got the AL West in a 6-4 win over divisional rivals the Seattle Mariners.
- The Philadelphia Phillies, in the middle of a pennant race, became a part of baseball history as they lost to the Washington Nationals, 5-3, in the last-ever baseball game at RFK Stadium. For all you trivia cuckoos:
- LAST RUN SCORED: Chase Utley
- LAST HIT: Aaron Rowand
- LAST WIN: Luis Ayala
- LAST SAVE: Chad Cordero
- Meanwhile, the New York Mets swept the weekend against the Florida Marlins, keeping the Phils at bay by 2 1/2 games in the NL East.
- In the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs swept the Pittsburgh Pirates, while the Atlanta Braves laid waste to the Milwaukee Brewers on the road.
- Out west, the Colorado Rockies extended their winning streak to eight games and got to within a game and a half of the NL wild card lead, held by the struggling San Diego Padres.
North of the border
- While Henry Burris led everybody with 304 yards passing, but it was in a tight 24-20 loss to the Hamilton Tiger Cats. After being cut by the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, former BC Lions quarterback Casey Printers played the game in a backup role, completing nine out of 16 passes for 73 yards, while getting 54 yards on five carries.
- Speaking of the Lions, it was a battle of quarterbacks, with Saskatchewan Roughriders signal caller Kerry Joseph getting the win, 37-34, despite being edged statistically by his BC counterpart Jarious Jackson (256 yards, three TDs and a pick to 354 yards, two scores and a pick).
- Sean Fleming proved to be the hero of the game for the Edmonton Eskimos, as the Esks barely got by the Montreal Alouettes, 16-10. Fleming made all four of his field goal chances in the win.
- The Toronto Argonauts almost suffered a total collapse against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Sunday; the Argos were up 31-2 thanks to a 97-yard kickoff return (weak considering the end zones in the CFL are yay huge) by Dominique Dorsey and an 84-yard interception return from Kenny Wheaton, but seemed to let go of the fort and hung on for a 31-29 win.
Across the Pond
- Chelsea also went through a surprising week, highlighted by the departure of manager José Mourinho from the Blues' ranks. The Avram Grant era, however, did not get off to a promising start, as rival club Manchester United got a win 2-0. While Carlos Tevez scored his first goal as a Devil, the more important fact is that Man U pulled to second place behind Arsenal.
- It was a banner day (sorta) for the City of Manchester, as crosstown rival Manchester City managed to draw 3-3 to Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Fast Track
- While Carl Edwards survived a caution-flag filled Dodge Dealers 400, NASCAR officials managed to find that there was some trickery afoot. Edwards' #99 car was discovered to have a right rear fender that was too low, and Edwards will keep the win despite being docked 25 points, a sizeable blow considering points are oh so important in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.
- Meanwhile, Loris Capirossi scored a three-peat in Japan, clinching the event in Japan for the third year in a row. He also becomes the first Italian this year not named Valentino Rossi to win this season. Despite a sixth-place finish, Casey Stoner remains on top of the points standings.
Dude of the Weekend
Chad Pennington: After a week of holding the clipboard, the New York Jets quarterback went 15 for 22 for 124 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-28 win over the Miami Dolphins.
Dope of the Weekend
Padres outfielder Milton Bradley: Throughout his MLB career, Bradley has had a history of hotheaded behavior, at times involving umpires and fans. Well, Bradley got this honor for what he did with an umpire; Bradley was arguing a call with umpire Mike Winters during Sunday's game against the Rockies (and was subsequently ejected), and still tried to plead his case, at which point Padres skipper Bud Black and two other coaches tried to restrain him. Bradley did leave, but with some additional help because he had busted his ACL and will be out the remainder of the season. Nice going, ya douche...
And that's the end
Until next week, let's all be good sports...
