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Duke lost their first game of the year to the Georgetown Hoyas and Pittsburgh lost a close game to the St. Johns Red Storm. The only undefeated team left standing now is Florida of the SEC. Duke and Pittsburgh were both playing on the road. Georgetown faced Duke in the MCI (AT&T) center, home of the Washington Wizards and sold out the building, only the second time since the building opened in 1997. Georgetown had a double digit lead throughout the game and almost let Duke tie the game as time expired, but Duke turned the ball over and was unable to attempt a game tying shot.
St. Johns had a tribute to the top 10 of their greatest players and coaches with a “Basketball Legacy” honor. Players including Mark Jackson, Walter Berry and the late Malik Sealy, notable players not included were Felipe Lopez and Ron Artest. St. Johns have now two quality Big East wins over Pittsburgh and Louisville, and can play a big role as spoiler this year and might be a contender in the Big East themselves next year.
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The Orioles acquired Kris Benson from the New York Mets for relief pitcher Jorge Julio and pitcher John Maine. Julio was the closer for the O’s from ‘02-‘04 and compiled 83 saves but lost his job to B.J. Ryan last year. Maybe this will show Miguel Tejada, the O’s are a little more serious about this upcoming season, picking up a solid #2, #3 pitcher for the rotation.
I’m assuming the Mets organization did not want to deal with the off-field distractions of Anna Benson, who had been in the tabloids and press of the New York media since Kris joined the Mets in mid 2004. If you analyze this deal talent wise, the Orioles made out with the better player. The Orioles will pick up the tab on Benson’s 7 million plus yearly salary, which prompted the starting pitcher market price to go up. The Mets will fill the spot in the rotation with Aaron Heilman, who finally started to show his promise last season.
The Philadelphia Flyers are currently in first place in the Atlantic division, and with this move, they are definitely in the win-now mentality. In center Petr Nedved, they are receiving a very strong skater and offensive player who should benefit from the offensive rule changes implemented this season. So far Nedved has been slowed down by with groin and elbow injuries. The Coyotes are receiving a young defenseman in Dennis Seidenberg in return. Nedved should not have any problems adjusting to Eastern conference opponents, having success in New York and Pittsburgh.
Coach Joe Gibbs went out to recruit for a new offensive coordinator in Al Saunders, previously of the Kansas City Chiefs. Saunders was considered for the Kansas City head coaching position before Herman Edwards was hired. Saunders now becomes the highest paid assistant head coach in the NFL, at a deal worth 7.8 million over three years. The Redskins look like they’ll be a NFC title contender and may make even more noise next year if Saunders can improve their mediocre offense, to go with an already outstanding defense.
The Charlotte Bobcats are looking very thin at the power forward position these days with May joining last years Rookie of the Year Emeka Okafor on the disabled list. Not a good sign for the franchise when their two lottery choice big men may have their careers curtailed due to injuries. Okafor has been suffering from an ankle sprain and May is having knee problems. The Bobcats look to end a five game losing streak tonight versus Orlando.
Australian native Lleyton Hewitt, the obvious fan favorite for the Australian Open, almost didn’t have a chance to make a long run in front of the home crowd. Hewitt needed a 3 hour, 45 minute five set comeback to defeat lesser known Robin Vik. Last year Hewitt made it all the way to the finals but lost to Martin Safin.
Hewitt has yet to win the Australian Open in his career, just as England native Tim Henman is the crowd favorite for another major, Wimbledon. Interesting note, Henman’s best performance at Wimbledon was in 2002, where he made it all the way to the semi-finals but lost to eventual champ Lleyton Hewitt.
The big time U.S. players to have already been eliminated are #10 Venus Williams and #13 Robby Ginepri, with second round matches almost completed.
I call this the curse of the fugazy. With the Knicks taking on the Bulls tonight, it has reminded me of the Eddy Curry for Michael Sweetney, Tim Thomas trade. Tim Thomas has been inactive for the entire season with the exception of three games. This was a player at one time was a lottery pick, an important piece for the Milwaukee Bucks during the Big Three days of Cassell, Allen and Glenn Robinson. Ever since Tim Thomas called out Kenyon Martin, then of the New Jersey Nets, a fugazy in the ‘04 playoffs it has been all downhill for Thomas. In fugazy, he meant fake or not authentic, as in a fake thug. Taking liberties with the fictional word from the movie Donnie Brasco caused him to lose all creditability with the English language and with fans that have a brain. Well in the aftermath, Martin and the Nets swept the Knicks out of the playoffs; the ‘05 season was terrible, reminding Knicks fans of Charles Smith, and now riding the pine with his NBA future in jeopardy.
Ok, now that fans have had time to get over the shock, and are tired of screaming at the refs, the NFL eliminated four teams and four teams left to go.
Washington vs Seattle: Very impressive defense by both teams. You know you’re doing a good job, when offensive players are going down to injury left and right. Too bad for Washington, Brunell wasn’t a couple years younger, he could have scrambled for more first downs, rather than escaping the pocket and then throwing the ball out of bounds.
Carolina vs Chicago: Thought was going to be a boring game, but it had its offensive explosion. Steve Smith’s slide down the fire poll touchdown celebration was entertaining, kudos to Steve Smith.
Pittsburgh vs Indianapolis: With Edgerrin James a free agent this off-season, say goodbye to this offensive powerhouse. It was nice knowing you, they blew their chance. Watch for next year’s training camp to have a Peyton Manning, Mike Vanderjagt tussle, ala Darryl Strawberry vs Keith Hernandez.
New England vs Denver: South Park creators rejoice! Your team might have what it takes to go all the way. Believe it or not Cold Pizza’s Woody Paige got it right; he had been predicting Denver as the team to beat since the beginning of the season. I think Woody Paige might have had some outside help for insight; he must be friends with Doc Brown, from Back to the Future and got a hold of the sports almanac.
The first thing that pops to my mind is how unimpressive Mike Tice’s interview must have been for the Jets to make their decision just hours after interviewing Tice on Monday. The hiring of Mangini will probably mean the current offensive and defensive coordinators will also be looking for new teams. Donnie Henderson and Mike Heimerdinger probably won’t have too much trouble finding work elsewhere.
Ty Law, who played under Mangini, and was one of the few bright spots for the Jets last year, openly endorses Mangini. This may convince Law to stay for a reduced price and renegotiate his contract; otherwise he will be a salary cap casualty. He is due a huge roster bonus next season. Law was very adamant about the Jets hiring Mangini over the other recycled head coaching candidates.
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| NY Daily News
Goose Gossage made some comments earlier this week while upset when finding out he didn’t make the cut for the Hall of Fame - again. The deserving candidate made some interesting, thought-provoking statements - particularly this one regarding home run hitter Barry Bonds:
“Hitting in a game is no different than hitting in a home run contest. It pisses me off to say Barry Bonds is the greatest hitter. He’s playing in a wussy era. The game is soft. You never get thrown at today. Last thing a hitter has to worry about today is getting hit. The first thing Hank Aaron had to worry about is: Am I going to survive this at-bat because I’m black.”
Read More | WebCircle
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