Armchair Weekend in Review (September 8-10, 2006)
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by user JB82
Lots to get to this weekend...
Week 1 in the NFL
Selected highlights from the first Sunday of the 2006 National Football League season:
- In NBC's radio spot for its Sunday Night Football series, Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said, "You're not supposed to lose to your little brother." When Sunday night's game was over, he didn't. Thanks to many costly penalties and miscues on both sides of the ball, Peyton beat Eli Manning and the New York Giants 26-21. You know the phrase, "Things went so well in rehearsal"? I thought you did.
- Shaun Alexander wasn't heard from in the Seattle Seahawks' 9-6 win over the Detroit Lions; then again, the Lions offense wasn't heard from either. ;-)
- The Eric Mangini era got off to a dramatic start for the New York Jets, as Chad Pennington went 24-33 for 319 yards and Gang Green rallied back after blowing a 16-0 lead against the Tennessee Titans, 23-16.
- A year ago, the New Orleans Saints provided the people of the Big Easy and the state of Louisiana an emotional lift with a dramatic win in Carolina. In 2006, the Saints found themselves in Cleveland. While there was no hurricane aftermath to deal with, new quarterback Drew Brees and rookie running back Reggie Bush dominated in a 19-14 defeat of the Cleveland Browns. For a team that's 60 years old this year, the Browns played like men that age.
- The Arizona Cardinals opened their new stadium in the Phoenix suburbs with a battle of the 2005 anemic teams. The Cards, behind Kurt Warner and new acquisition Edgerrin James, defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 34-27.
- Edification that Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre is starting to linger: the Pack's 26-0 shutout against their archrivals, the Chicago Bears. Talk about moldy cheese... ;-) #2
- While newly-acquired wideout Terrell Owens behaved himself (along with getting 8 receptions for 61 yards and a late touchdown which proved to be too little too late), the Dallas Cowboys wound up on the short end of a 24-17 score against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
- Things looked bleak for the New England Patriots late in their tilt with the Buffalo Bills. But after getting a game-tying field goal from Stephen Gostkowski, the Bills got a 10-yard penalty, which negated a run of that length by Peerless Price. On the very next play, Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour sacked Bills QB J.P. Losman in the end zone, thus comitting a game-winning safety, 19-17.
College Football Week 2
Selected highlights from Saturday play on US college campuses:
- The Wildcats of Northwestern University started their homeopener by paying tribute to their late head coach Randy Walker, only to have requiem give way to a second consecutive pantsing by a I-AA team. This time, the team was also called the Wildcats – only these were from the University of New Hampshire, and doing so by a score of 34-17.
- The Orange of Syracuse University are now 0-2 on the year, thanks to a 20-13 double OT loss against the University of Iowa Hawkeyes, which was their 11th loss in row.
- The University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish built on the momentum from last week's win against Georgia Tech with a 41-17 win over the Nittany Lions of Pennsylvania State University in South Bend.
From Football to Fútbol
The Premiership returned from Euro 2008 qualifiers this past weekend.
- The Merseyside Derby saw a big upset as Everton shut out the defending FA Cup champion Liverpool 3-0 thanks to two goals by Andy Johnson
- In a battle against two London clubs, the two-time Premiership champion Chelsea battled Charlton to a 2-1 win for the Lions, with goals by Didier Drogba and Ricardo Carvalho.
- As you can see, slim pickings for the FAPL this week...
MLB Weekend
- Despite splitting a series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Mets find themselves within sptting distance (read: four games) of their first division title since 1988.
- David Ortiz hit his 48th home run of the year on Sunday, which was enough to prevent a sweep of the Boston Red Sox at the hands of the Kansas City Royals, 9-3.
- The Minnesota Twins came within two games of the Detroit Tigers, as they took three of four from the Motor City Nine.
Fast Track
- Kevin Harvick swept the Busch Series and Nextel Cup races at Richmond, Virginia, all while punching his ticket for the 2006 Chase for the Cup. Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson clicnhed their spots the week before; the rest of the field comprises of (in order) Harvick, rookie driver Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the venerable Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, four-time champion Jeff Gordon, and Kasey Kahne.
- Michael Schumacher is considered by many as the most dominating driver in ant racing circuit in the world, amassing more wins and Formula One World Drivers' Championships than any driver before his time; with this much success, it is unlikely we'll see a driver of his caliber ever again. Having said that, it comes as a bit of a surprise that Schumacher announced that 2006 would be his last as a F1 driver. He started his trip down the home stretch with a win at Monza in the Italian Grand Prix.
- 2006 will go down as a banner year for Sam Hornish, Jr. Not only does he win the Indianapolis 500, he has gone on to win the IRL IndyCar Championship. He did so with a third-place finish at the IRL finale at Chicagoland Speedway outside Chicago.
Odds and Sods
- Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer came out tops in the US Open in New York. Though American Andy Roddick lost to the dominating Swiss, you can't help but applaud Roddick for making it this far in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in what seems like ages.
- Congratulations to the Detroit Shock, who won the WNBA championship during the weekend.
And finally...
This article was written on the night of the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States. I have decided to put in a brief commentary, which is normally unlike me.
There is an indeterminate number of people who use the sports world as a diversion from the world around them. For example, after a rough day at the office and the usual diet of bad news when I get home, I like to sit back and watch the New York Yankees whip the tar out of the other team.
Sadly, on September 11, 2001 or any of the five days thereafter, we Americans didn't have that luxury. Most every channel was squarely focused on the tragedy which had unfolded in New York, the Pentagon, and a rural field outisde of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It seemed as though there was no escape – and indeed there wasn't. Virtually all was quiet on the US sports scene. You could count with the fingers on one hand (literally) the number of college football games that were played that Saturday. However, sports did go on in other parts of the world. The Italian Grand Prix was ran as usual, but with a more subdued atmosphere.
The impact of 9/11 was felt on athletes and the sports world itself. The Los Angeles Kings lost two of their scouts, Garnet "Ace" Bailey and Mark Bavis, on United Airlines Flight 11. John Andruzzi, then an offensive lineman with the New England Patriots, expressed concern in a press conference for his three brothers, all of whom were members of the New York Fire Department. All of them survived the carnage while pulling bodies out of the rubble that was once the World Trade Center.
Six days later, the diversion we once took for granted came back and, as it did before, gave a nation an escape hatch from the aftermath of an unspeakable tragedy. The late St. Louis Cardinals play-by-play announcer Jack Buck read a poem to open the first game since the attacks that Monday. Four days later, the Mets hosted the first sporting event in NYC since 9/11. Before the weekend was over, Division I college football and the NFL also awoke from their tragic slumber.
That week, at least for us sports fans, said two words to us: "Play ball!" And so we did, and we still do to this day.
Until next week, as always, let's all be good sports.
In memoriam
This column has been dedicated to all those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001, and the families who still mourn their loss to this day. Lest we forget...
Date
Mon 09/11/06, 3:47 pm EST
