Monday, September 19, 2011

10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (9/16-9/18)

10. Pittsburgh and Syracuse Begin Process of Moving to ACC
            Chalk this one up as a win for greed, and a loss for tradition.

9. Mariano Rivera Ties the Saves Record
            One could argue that saves is one of the dumbest statistics in professional sports. In the grand scheme of things, there isn’t a difference between getting three outs in the ninth and three outs in the fifth. However, I won’t let that notion cloud the greatness of “The Hammer of God” (as he is affectionately referred to by Tony Kornheiser), Mariano Rivera.
            My greatest memory of Rivera will not be of any save, but how he’s bounced back from failures. This is a guy that blew the save in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series against Arizona. Also remember that 2004 doesn’t end the same way if Rivera were to successfully close down Games 4 or 5 against the Red Sox. His contributions to the 2004 Sox were so appreciated by Boston fans that he was given a standing ovation before 2005’s opening day at Fenway Park. Failures like this have significantly impacted or ended the careers of relievers like Mitch Williams, Brad Lidge, and Mark Wohlers. Rivera’s ability to move on from these moments and continue to dominate is what I will remember him the most for after he’s called it a career.

8. Floyd Mayweather Knocks Out Unsuspecting Opponent
            Similar to hooking up with a girl on her eighteenth birthday, Mayweather’s left hook and right jab were barely legal.

7. Hurricanes Win Corruption Bowl Over Ohio State
            Oh, this game wasn’t called the Corruption Bowl? I’m sorry. It should’ve been.

6. Cam Newton Throws For 400+ Again, and Annoys My Dad
            This week, Mike Muir’s excuses for why Cam Newton’s second straight 400-yard game wasn’t impressive were as follows.

A)    They lost the game (legitimate concern, but look at the Panthers roster. You aren’t winning many games with that rotten bunch of players).
B)     Green Bay was playing a prevent defense in the fourth quarter, allowing Newton to pile up garbage time yardage at the end of the game (Green Bay wasn’t up by two scores until two minutes left in the fourth, so this wasn’t the case to today).

            The bottom line is that as long as Newton continues to accept coaching, he has all the makings of a future franchise quarterback.

5. Patriots Win Passing Derby Against San Diego
            San Diego probably could’ve won this game if not for four turnovers, but San Diego seems to always have four turnovers in every game during the month of September. If San Diego gets their act together (which won’t be hard to do playing in the putrid AFC West), this is not a team New England wants to see in the playoffs.

4. Romo Leads Cowboys Comeback With Broken Rib
            Apparently Romo thought he needed to turn in a courageous performance in order to win back Cowboys fans that were disgusted by the debacle against the Jets. Ultimately, games like this are why I still cheer for the guy, even if he sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out. Oddly enough, my wife would use those exact words to describe our marriage.

3. Rays Trim Red Sox Wild-Card Lead To Two Games
             I’m a Red Sox fan, but as I grow further and further away from baseball, I’m starting to become more of a fan of chaos. If it were the Yankees about to overtake the Sox, I’d be bummed out, but how can you cheer against the Rays? They have a $35 million payroll (to put it in perspective, Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford make more than that combined in one season), and their stadium looks like an abandoned Sam’s Club. Anytime a small market team is making a charge up the standings, count me in. Let’s introduce a little anarchy.



 2. Detroit Lions Annihilate Kansas City 48-3
            This epic beat down could’ve been number one, but Chiefs runningback Jamaal Charles was my first round pick on one of my three fantasy teams, and he blew his knee out. So in other words, I’m a little salty about this game. With as sloppy as Green Bay looked against the Panthers today, maybe we should start talking about the possibility of Detroit winning the NFC North.

1. Falcons Win Slugfest Against Philadelphia
            A game that started out as a Michael Vick homecoming turned into a bloodbath. Kudos to Atlanta for slamming Vick repeatedly to the turf, eventually knocking him out with a concussion. I didn’t think Atlanta had this kind of effort in them. This is the kind of win that can jumpstart a season.




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