The Canada Cup of Curling will be having its playoffs this weekend from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Two Alberta teams are still in the mix–Calgary’s Kevin Koe and Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin.
Koe (4-2) will be playing an early morning tie-breaker against Manitoba’s Mike McEwen (Saturday, TSN, 7:00 a.m.) with the winner playing Glenn Howard in the men’s semi-final (Saturday, TSN, 5:30 p.m.). The winner of the semi-final will then play Jeff Stoughton of Winnipeg in Sunday’s final (TSN, 1:30 p.m.).
On the women’s side, Nedohin will face Team Jones (without Jennifer Jones who gave birth two weeks ago) in the semi-final, and then Stefanie Lawton of Saskatchewan in Sunday’s championship final (TSN, 8:30 a.m.).
Watch out world. I’m smokin’ hot! Last week I went 13-1 with my only loss coming in the Carolina and Tampa Bay game and went 3-0 on American Thanksgiving. That mean I’m 101-61-1 on the season.
Here are my Sunday Week 12 picks:
11am
Chicago over Minnesota–Jay Cutler is the difference for the Bears. Their offense drastically improves from last week.
Cincinnati over Oakland–The Bengals defense has been excellent the last two weeks. Last week Geno Atkins had two forced fumbles and a sack in limiting Kansas City to six points.
Pittsburgh over Cleveland–The Steelers aren’t that bad without Big Ben. Byron Leftwich showed some positive signs against the Ravens last week.
Indianapolis over Buffalo–Andrew Luck is really coming into his own as the Colts win a high scoring affair.
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame we look at a disappointing effort & a gruesome looking injury from the Edmonton Eskimos East Semifinal loss over the weekend, a tough few days for NHL CBA talks and why 2013 might be the best year ever for big UFC fights.
In the GABBYs: Andrew Luck, Glasgow Celtic, Joakim Noah, soccer fans & Anderson Silva. The Punchline this week is the Washington Wizards!
Indianapolis Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck is now in the record books. Sunday, Luck broke the NFL record for most passing yards by a rookie quarterback in a single game as the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Miami Dolphins 23-20.
Luck threw for 433 yards and broke Cam Newton’s record for most passing yards in a game. Newton set the NFL rookie record last year by throwing 432 yards in a 30-23 Carolina loss to Green Bay last season. Indianapolis improves to 5-3, while Miami drops to 4-4.
In other NFL action, Isaac Redman ran for 147 yards as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New York Giants 24-20. The Giants had a short week of practice because of Hurricane Sandy and the storm was strong enough to cause severe flooding in Eli Manning’s New Jersey home. The Steelers improve to 5-3, while the Giants drop to 6-3.
Meanwhile, Doug Martin is starting to become quite possibly the best running back in the NFL. He was outstanding Sunday as he set Buccaneers records for most rushing yards in a game (251) and most rushing touchdowns in a game (four) as Tampa Bay beat Oakland 42-32.
It’s a very, very late edition of 15 Minutes of Fame this week…darn technology!
Either way – this week on the show we’re discussing the latest in CBA talks between the NHL and the NHLPA, a cancelled KHL game in New York, a new home for the Islanders, a rough week for Lance Armstrong and some CFL notes.
In the GABBYs: Brett Hull, Andrew Luck, the Vancouver Whitecaps, Aaron Cawley, the NBA, and the NFL. The Punchline this week is Michael Phelps!
This is currently one of the most exciting times in Canadian tennis. Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ontario achieved greatness again Friday night when he defeated U.S. Open and Olympic champion Andy Murray of Great Britain in three sets, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Raonic saved off two match points in the third set and was able to break Murray back after being down 4-1 in the final set.
Raonic also performed admirably while not serving in the third set, something he has struggled with in his career. He will now face Japan’s Kei Nishikori in tonight’s final (11pm, Sportsnet One). Raonic is also seeking his third title of the season, having won in Chennai and San Jose earlier in the year.
Robert Griffin III (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)
I’m doing ok to date. After a solid week one where I went 12-4, I only went 9-7 in week two and lost the opening game in week three when the New York Giants beat the Carolina Panthers 36-7. So I’m 21-12 overall so far. Here are my week three picks:
11am
Chicago over St. Louis–The Bears are tough at home and should stop a Rams’ offense that has looked good to date.
Buffalo over Cleveland–C.J. Spiller is averaging a gawdy 10.07 yards per carry and the Browns defense looked poor last week against the Bengals.
Dallas over Tampa Bay–The Cowboys should return home with an easy win in their home opener.
Detroit over Tennessee–Jake Locker still has a lot to learn so far.
Indianapolis over Jacksonville–The Colts have looked much better this year than last as quarterback Andrew Luck is starting to show promise.
A solid 12-4 week to open the season. Now it is off to week two. On Thursday night, I successfully predicted the Green Bay Packers over the Chicago Bears. The game, won by the Packers 23-10, was headlined by a fake field goal. Punter Tim Masthay ended up throwing a 27 yard touchdown pass to backup tight end Tom Crabtree to give the Packers a 10-0 lead and a lead they would not relinquish.
Here are the rest of my predictions for week 2:
11am
New England over Arizona–Tom Brady is simply better than Kevin Kolb.
The Indianapolis Colts and Oakland Raiders have made a decision on who their next head coaches will be for the 2012 NFL season.
The Colts, who fired Jim Caldwell last Tuesday after an abysmal 2-14 season, have named Chuck Pagano as his replacement. Pagano was the Baltimore Ravens defensive co-ordinator, and with a group of high quality veterans including Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs, the Ravens gave up the third fewest points in the NFL this season.
The Raiders meanwhile have also hired a defensive specialist to take the helm, choosing Denver Broncos defensive co-ordinator Dennis Allen.
What Allen was able to do this season was remarkable and was a key reason (not Tim Tebow) why Denver won the AFC West. The Broncos might have given up 390 points, but would have given up less if the offense would have made smarter decisions on the football field this past season. It was the Broncos defense, not their offense, that won many games for them.
In Indianapolis, the future of Peyton Manning as a Colt just got significantly cloudier. The question not only now rises how Manning will adjust to the team drafting quarterback Andrew Luck, but how will he respond to a defensive specialist in charge?
The National Football League regular season is now over, and it’s time for teams to make decisions on head coaches and general managers.
On Monday, Steve Spagnuolo and Billy Devaney became the first casualties. Spagnuolo was the head coach of the Saint Louis Rams and Devaney was the team’s general manager.
Under four years as the team’s General Manager, Devaney over saw a Rams team that posted a pitiful record of 12-52. Spagnuolo, meanwhile was only 10-38 over three seasons.
Despite finishing in last place with a record of 2-14 in 2011, don’t forget the Rams were only one win away from winning the NFC West in 2010, where they actually finished with a record of 7-9, the same as the Seattle Seahawks.
In 2011, the Rams only scored 193 points and it will be interesting to see if they will make a move at drafting Andrew Luck, assuming the Colts don’t draft him when they already have Peyton Manning at the helm. Manning should be ready to go when the 2012 season starts in September.
Robert Griffin III (Scott Caesar, Wikimedia Commons)
Robert Griffin III of Baylor University has won the 2011 Heisman Award.
Nicknamed RG3, Griffin becomes the first player from the Baylor Bears to be named the top player in college football.
Born in Japan, Griffin III becomes the tenth quarterback since 2000 to win the Heisman Award. Running back Mark Ingram Jr. of the University of Alabama (now plays for the New Orleans Saints) is the only non-quarterback to receive the honour in the last decade in 2009.
Griffin completed 72.4% of his passes, had a quarterback rating of 192.3 with 36 touchdowns and only six interceptions. He also had 3,998 passing yards and 644 rushing yards.
Playing in the Big 12 Conference, Baylor finished with a record of 9-3, third in the Conference (behind 11-1 Oklahoma State and 10-2 Kansas State), and 15th in the country. They will play Washington in the Valero Alamo Bowl on December 29 in San Antonio.
Griffin had 405 first place votes to beat out Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck.
Ok. I am not an expert in college football. I don’t watch it nearly as much as the CFL and NFL.
But I did see the first half between Oklahoma State and Texas Tech yesterday, and then saw the first half of Stanford and Oregon.
From what I have seen to date, Heisman Trophy candidate Andrew Luck of the University of Stanford might just be a little overrated.
In last night’s 53-30 loss to the University of Oregon Ducks, Luck’s first half throw that was intercepted by Dewitt Stuckey was extremely poor and led directly to a Duck touchdown. It made me understand why Super Bowl winning quarterback Phil Simms showed criticism toward him recently.
On Sunday, the Calgary Stampeders (11-7) will go on the road to take on the Edmonton Eskimos (11-7) in the CFL Western Division Semi-Final.
The Eskimos won the season series 2-1, but the Stampeders won their only matchup at Commonwealth Stadium, 30-20 in Edmonton on September 9.
But this is a much different Stampeders team than what was put on the field by Head Coach and General Manager John Hufnagel two months ago. Since then, Hufnagel has replaced Henry Burris with Drew Tate at the quarterback position and Joffrey Reynolds with Jon Cornish at running back.
Still I cannot ignore the fact that in the Labour Day rematch, Burris passed for 316 yards and Reynolds ran for 80 yards.
But since Tate has taken over the starting role in Calgary, the Stampeders are 3-0.
The big news in Edmonton is the health of running back Jerome Messam, who, according to TSN, is questionable with a lower-body injury that flared up during Monday’s practice. Messam became the first Canadian to rush for 1000 yards since 2000 this season. The game can be seen Sunday on TSN at 2:30pm.
By the way, my gut is telling me the Stamps will win. I feel the veteran leadership, healthier offensive line and playoff experience for the Stampeders is key and will get them through on Sunday.
The Canada Cup of Curling will be having its playoffs this weekend from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. Two Alberta teams are still in the mix–Calgary’s Kevin Koe and Edmonton’s Heather Nedohin.
Loading ...
