Armchair Weekend in Review (September 28-30, 2007)
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by JB82
What a wild weekend it was! Let's get to the recap...
Last weekend of the MLB season
- What can this reporter say about the New York Mets' epic collapse that hasn't already been written? That's the perogative at AWIR World Headquarters as the Mutts find themselves on the outside looking in re the postseason. How in the world can you be seven games up with 17 games to play and then just utterly collapse like a house of cards? Not since 1938 has there been a disaster of such proportions...
- The highlight came on Saturday when John Maine came within four outs of a no-hitter, but there was also some fussin', feudin' and fightin' between them and the Florida Marlins. In the fifth inning, Fins pitcher Harvey Garcia threw at Mets second baseman Luis Castillo. The latter was doing the usual "what's the deal" bit, and soon both dugouts emptied. Mets shortstop Jose Reyes seemingly laughed off the incident, but Marlins catcher Miguel Olivo didn't think so. Olivo though Reyes was itching for a fight, and soon after, one did break out. Mets third base coach Sandy Alomar even got a punch in before everybody started pushing and shoving. BTW, it temporarily helped the Mets, 13-1. With the Philadelphia Phillies' loss to the Washington Nationals, the Mets were tied for the NL East heading into the final day.
- Sunday, however, saw the Mets dealt one gigantic crushing karmic blow as Tom Glavine only lasted one out and gave up seven runs in the Mets' 8-1 loss. The Phils' 6-1 win over the Nats meant the Mutts were ousted and the Fightin Phils won their first division title since 1993.
There was other action in the Majors, too...
- Earlier in the week, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox punched their tickets to the postseason, and it wasn't until Friday night that they will play in October as the AL wild card and AL East champions, respectively.
- Congrats to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs, who clinched their respective divisions on Friday and Saturday.
- The San Diego Padres dropped two of three of the weekend games against the Milwaukee Brewers, while the Colorado Rockies forced a one-game NL wild card playoff, spurred by a three-run rally in the eighth inning on Sunday.
NFL Week 4
- Kudos to Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who notched his 421st career touchdown pass in a 23-16 win over the Minnesota Vikings. Pack wideout Greg Jennings, who caught the equalizer last week, also nabbed the record breaker. Favre later made the mark 422, BTW.
- Back to things that creep up from the dark of night: How did the New York Giants defense go from lackluster to stellar inside of a month? Well, when you have Osi Umenyiora getting half of your team's sacks, it's quite amazing. Big Blue's defense got after Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb for a dozen turf topplers in a 16-3 win. The G-Men's 12-pack of sacks tied an NFL team single game record, while Michael Strahan passed Lawrence Taylor for the all-time team sack title, with 133.
- The Chicago Bears needed a boost in the quarterback position after last week's pantsing against the Cowboys, so Brian Griese got the start in place of Rex Grossman. After the Detroit Lions scored 34 points in the fourth quarter, Bears fans may have done well to call for third-stringer Kyle Orton in a 37-27 loss. Griese went 34-52 on the day, throwing for 286 yards, but getting picked off more than he hit the end zone (3-2, respectively).
- Another backup who had trouble was David Carr. Substituting for the struggling Jake Delhomme, Carr got threw the only touchdown pass for the Carolina Panthers in a 20-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For the Bucs, though, it was a Phyrric victory, as running back Carnell Williams was lost for the season due to a tendon injury. With the Cadillac in the shop for the next three months, there goes my fantasy team...
- Oakland Raiders quarterback Daunte Culpepper returned to Miami and buried, not praised, his former mates by throwing for two scored in a 35-17 win over the Miami Dolphins. Justin Fargas did his dad Huggybear (Starsky & Hutch reference) proud by running for 179 yards on 22 rushes, a career high.
- Meanwhile, in Cleveland, Cleveland Browns running back Jamal Lewis played a small part in beating his former team, the Baltimore Ravens, 27-13. Lewis scored a touchdown to go along with 13 carries on 64 yards.
- A former Bill Cowher protégé squared off against his former team in the Valley of the Sun. Ken Whisenhunt, the Arizona Cardinals coach, was passed over to be Cowher's successor in Pittsburgh, with former offensive line coach Russ Grimm going with him. Meanwhile, Mike Tomlin got the job as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach. Well, the Steelers found out that hell hath no fury than a Whisenhunt scorned, and the Cards made sure of it with a 21-14 win over the previously undefeated Steelers. Cards rookie Steve Breaston returned a punt for 73 yards to the house in this game, BTW.
Whole lotta upsets goin' on
- More kudos, this time to South Florida, who got a big win over West Virginia on Friday night, 21-13. To make matters worse for the Mountaineers, quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Pat White left the game in the second quarter with a thigh injury, and fellow Heisman hopeful Steve Slayton wasn't heard from much, either.
- How's this for a wild ending? Down 31-24 to Cal late in the game, Oregon's offense drove almost the length of the field, only to have Ducks wideout Cameron Colvin drop what would've been the game-winning score in the end zone for a touchback. The eighth-ranked Bears, led by DeSean Jackson's 11 receptions on 161 yards, shoved the Ducks from the ranks of the undefeated.
- There were two games that ended with field goals. Colorado got their upset winner on the foot of Kevin Eberhart, 27-24. Later that night, Auburn beat Florida as Wes Bynum booted the winner, 20-17.
- Kansas State gave Texas more than it could handle in a 41-21 upset over the seventh-ranked Longhorns. The Wildcats didn't need offense to get about half of their points. Jordy Nelson returned a punt 89 yards for a score, James Johnson returned a kickoff 85 yards for a score, and Ian Campbell returned an interception of a Colt McCoy pass 41 yards for six. All while McCoy turned in one of the worst performances of his career, geting picked off four times and throwing for 200 yards on the nose.
- Winning ugly beats losing pretty, further edification comes with USC's 27-24 win over Washington. The Trojans lost two offensive lineman on one play, while QB John David Booty went 20-37 for 239 yards, a score and two picks.
- Talk about running up the score! Texas Tech did just that in a 75-7 blowout of Northwestern State. Freshman QB Graham Harrell threw for five touchdowns in the process.
Across the border
- Everybody off the Edmonton Eskimos bandwagon. Esks QB Ricky Ray left Friday night's game against the Toronto Argonauts with an elbow injury in an 18-11 loss to the Toronto Argonauts. It looks as though Ray is done for the year.
- Kerry Joseph and Anthony Calvillo engaged in a shootout on Saturday, with Joseph's Saskatchewan Roughriders getting the upper hand, 33-22. Calvillo led everybody with 410 yards passing, but Joseph showed his brass by going 26-40 with 355 yards, three touchdowns and an INT.
- Nicholas Setta was the man for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, going 3-3 on field goals and singles (tow of the latter coming on a punt) in a tight 21-19 win over the Hamilton Tiger Cats.
- The BC Lions got a 42-9 win over the Calgary Stampeders, thanks mostly to the Stamps defense, which gave up a total of 485 yards of offense. No wonder Denny Creehan got the sack... BTW, Jarious Jackson had the six guns going as he threw for three scores in the game.
Across the pond
- Avram Grant's first match as Chelsea's manager was a rather uneventful one, ending in a scoreless draw to Fulham. While the Lions extended their unbeaten streak at Stamford Bridge to 68, striker Didier Drogba was sent off in the 74th minute for his second yellow card.
- Staying in England, Portsmouth and Reading made history as the two clubs combined for 11 goals, making it the highest-scoring match in FAPL history. Pompey took the match, 7-4, with three goals by striker Benjani Mwarumari.
- Early on, it was rumored that Ronaldinho would transfer to Chelsea, but those were unfounded. We mention that as he was not in the lineup for Barcelona's 4-1 romp over Levante. Thierry Henry, the former Arsenal striker, scored three goals in the match for Barça.
Fast Track
- Greg Biffle took advantage of the fact that six drivers in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup finished no better than 35th to win Sunday's rain-shortened Loveline 400 at Kansas Speedway. Jimmie Johnson kept Hendrick Motorsports at the top of the points standings.
- Meanwhile, over in Japan, Lewis Hamilton got his fourth win of the year in Formula One by clinching the Japanese Grand Prix at even-rainier Shizuoka, on what was maybe F1's final race there. Hamilton also bested his lead to 12 points over defending champion Fernando Alonso with two races left on the sked.
Odds and Sods + Kudos = Crazy delicious
- With Hope Solo off the team for her comments after Team USA's loss to Brazil on Thursday, her backup, Brianna Scurry, turned in a better performance in the third place match, 4-1, over Norway. Meanwhile, Germany defended its 2003 title with a 2-0 shutout over Brazil.
- The NHL began its season in London, with the Los Angeles Kings defeating the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks 4-1. The Ducks took the second game on Sunday by the same score. Both games were played at The O2 (Millennium Dome).
- Kudos to our US golfers, who clinched the President's Cup 19 1/2 to 14 1/2 over the International Cup. Canadian Mike Weir elicited a roar from his fellow countrymen when he beat Tiger Woods in the last match; Weir described it has the biggest moment of his career, ahead of winning the 2003 Masters.
- Condolences to the Memphis football family after the shooting death of defensive end Taylor Bradford on Sunday. The Tigers' player was gunned down on campus and had died upon arrival at a local medical facility. Police in Memphis are still looking for the killer and the motive he had.
Let's cheer up the peoples out there
Dude of the Weekend
Christof, whose Phillies are in the playoffs. You got to feel good about yerself after the Ghosts of '64 were excorcised, dont'cha?
Dope of the Weekend
The New York Mets. It indeed WAS a cryin' shame...
Until next time, let's all be good sports...
