10 Awesome Things That Happened This Weekend (2/21-2/23)

10. San Francisco Giants Hire Barry Bonds as a Spring Training Instructor
            No word yet on whether or not his official title will be “Chemical Engineer”.

9. Regan Smith Wins Nationwide Race at Daytona

            For at least one week (and odds are, only one week), Nationwide drivers have more wins than Sprint Cup ones on the junior circuit.

8. Ronda Rousey Doesn’t Need an Armbar to Win

            A swift knee to the liver worked just fine.

7. USA Men’s Hockey Team Forgets How to Score Goals
            That’s a problem when you’re facing Canada for the right to play in the gold medal game, and then getting blown out by Finland with a chance to earn a bronze.

6. Kevin Love Drops First Career Triple Double

            It’s hard to believe that the man that throws the prettiest outlet passes since Bill Walton hadn’t recorded a triple-double yet.

5. Jim Boeheim Loses His Mind

            In the short term, Boeheim’s ejection Saturday night sealed a second straight loss for Syracuse, but going forward perhaps his outburst will help wake his team up for the stretch run.

4. Jason Collins Makes Season Debut For Nets

            Collins historic appearance (he’s the first openly gay athlete to appear in a game in any of the four major sports leagues) resulted in 2 boards, 1 steal, and several hard screens that freed up his teammates.
         
3. Clippers Win a Shootout in Oklahoma City
            Jamal Crawford went bonkers in this one with 36 points, which trumped a 42-10 effort from Kevin Durant. He delivered Los Angeles’ their best road win of the season.
         
2. Canada Dominates Sweden, Wins Olympic Men’s Hockey Gold Medal
            Even on the larger international ice, Canada’s elite defensive corps was able to swallow up the talented Swedes.

1. Dale Earnhardt Dominates Under the Lights, Wins Second Daytona 500

            Withstanding a six-hour rain delay, Junior cranked it up in primetime. You’ll be hard pressed to find a more grateful winner than Dale Earnhardt Jr. yesterday.

10 Awesome Things That Happened This Past Weekend (2/22-2/24)

10. No Fans Died After Horrific Last Lap Nationwide Crash
            For all my years of watching auto racing, I don’t recall a time when a tire got into the seats and didn’t kill at least one person. We’ll discuss this event, and the public perception of the top story on our list, later this week.

9. Caution Flag Gives Johnny Sauter Truck Series Win at Daytona

            I had planned to rip NASCAR for not letting the trucks race to the checkered flag, but arguing against safety seemed pretty ignorant after the events of Saturday.

8. Golden State Debuts Short Sleeve Jerseys

            The Warriors looked pretty stupid in their new shirts, but at least they were able to pull out an overtime win over the top team in the NBA.

7. Ryan Braun Homers in First Spring Training At-Bat

            I’d spend more time mocking Braun for all his links to potential steroid use if he wasn’t one of the pillars of my keeper league team.

6. Manti Te’o Faces the Music at the NFL Combine

            Predictably, the NFL brass wasn’t very sympathetic for Te’o getting cat-fished. He didn’t help his cause by running a 4.82 40 today either.

5. Ronda Rousey Arm Bars Liz Carmouche
            In other words, the girl with the pretty face and the big arms beat the girl with the ugly face and the big arms.

4. #2 Miami Upset By Wake Forest

            Here’s this weeks installment of “Big Time College Basketball Upset That No Credentials Doesn’t Give a Shit About”, sponsored by ACME. Although on a side note, how the hell did the Miami Hurricanes get ranked second in the nation in men’s basketball?

3. Alex Ovechkin Drops a Hat Trick on New Jersey

            It’s hard to believe that the man once regarded as the second best hockey player on Earth hadn’t netted 3 goals in a game in over two years.

2. Kobe Bryant Shows Up Mark Cuban

            After dropping 38 points, 12 boards, and 7 assists, Kobe had the right to tweet “AMNESTY THAT”.

1. Jimmie Johnson Wins 2013 Daytona 500, Danica Patrick Finishes 8th

            Some folks called this race boring, but at least a car didn’t end up in the seats.