10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (11/18-11/20)

10. Sidney Crosby Returns With a Vengeance

            Crosby netted a goal and two assists in his first NHL game in 10 months. Even the most avid fans of the Washington Capitals would have to admit that deep down, they are happy that Sid the Kid is back. For the sake of the sport, it’s important that its best player is back.

9. Bears Win, But Lose Jay Cutler

            Chicago has the defense to hold the fort until Cutler returns (the earliest it looks like Cutler will return is the first week of the playoffs), but it’s going to be real tough sledding for Chicago to hang on to a wildcard spot in the NFC.

8. Cowboys Need Overtime to Defeat Redskins

            As pathetic as their play was at times, I guess a win is still a win. Dallas faces suddenly resurgent Miami on Thanksgiving.

7. Eagles Stay Alive (Barely), Win in New York

            It took ten games, but we finally saw the Eagles defense everyone was expecting to see when they made all of their additions. There’s enough talent on that side of the ball to carry them, even if Vince Young is under center.

6. Oklahoma State Loses

5. Oregon Loses
4. Oklahoma Loses
            I wasn’t happy to see Oklahoma St. lose (with the school dealing with the tragic death of their women’s basketball coach and an assistant in a plane crash), but all three of these losses add up to BCS mayhem (cue the All State guy).

3. Dan Henderson Survives UFC 139, Even Wins Against Rua

            A fantastic night of fights was capped off by what Dana White called the UFC’s “Ali-Frazier III”.

2. Lee Corso is the Man

            College football fans sure got a surprise during the end of ESPN’s “College Game Day” this morning. Corso has fired weapons during a live broadcast before, but this was his first career f-bomb on live television. Hopefully he doesn’t get canned over it.

1. Tony Stewart Wins Closest Championship Battle in NASCAR History

            I’ve been watching NASCAR for a long time, and I can’t recall a better performance from start to finish that what we saw from Tony Stewart Sunday. He went to the back twice due to repairs on the front bumper of his car. Stewart passed 116 cars, which unless the track is Daytona or Talladega, is an incredible feat. Even more impressive, his team outwitted Carl Edwards to get out in front for the last green flag run (that actually happened on accident, due to a foolish gamble on fuel mileage by Stewart that only worked because of a caution that came out right after he pitted). Edwards did everything he could (starting on the pole, leading the most laps), but a second place finish wasn’t enough. There isn’t really any other superlatives you can use to describe the battle between Stewart and Edwards during The Chase, so I’ll conclude this analysis with a foolish paragraph written by some idiot blogger before the 10 race playoffs. Please note that this guy ranked both Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart together in his preview piece.

11. Ryan Newman, #39 Army Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing (Preseason No Credentials Rank = 24

10. Tony Stewart, #14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet, Stewart-Haas Racing (Preseason No Credentials Rank = 6)
            These two guys should probably share the driver of the year award, as the fact that they were able to pilot their mediocre race teams into the Chase is remarkable. With the exception of the second Chase race at Loudon (where Newman and Stewart finished 1-2), expect both drivers to struggle for top-15s.

            Here’s another excerpt from this same writer's mailbag he did after the first race of the Chase.

            In your Chase Preview you said Tony Stewart would be lucky to run in the top-15 during the final ten races. He went out and won the first race at Chicago. Defend yourself. – Nicole, Augusta, GA
            To the uninformed reader that it may have looked like No Credentials was way off, but the bottom line is a driver who said himself he had no business being in The Chase stole a gas mileage race. He’ll look good in New Hampshire again this week, but it will be all down hill from there. Remember this paragraph when Stewart is hoisting the trophy in November.

            Oh wait, I was the dolt that wrote those two paragraphs! Just more proof that this blog is called No Credentials for a reason.