Happy Monday!
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame we look at the reasons behind the Toronto Maple Leafs firing their coach, an idea that would make the final month of the NHL season more interesting for non-playoff teams, the “expanded” MLB playoffs and Ryan Braun’s overturned doping case.
In the GABBYs: Bat boys, the LA Clippers, Brad Keselowski, Danica Patrick, Tiger Woods/Peyton Hillis and the New Orleans Saints. The Punchline this week is USA Yoga!
Terrell Suggs (Wikimedia Commons)
In week one I was 10-6, and wrong with the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Here are my week two picks:
11am
Green Bay over Carolina–The Packers will win a tight one. Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton raised eyebrows with how he was able to find instant success with Steve Smith last week.
Oakland over Buffalo–The Raiders defense impressed me significantly last week, and will pressure Ryan Fitzpatrick more than the Chiefs did a week ago.
Baltimore over Tennessee–The Titans don’t have the passing attack like the Steelers do, and the Ravens did a great job of pressuring Ben Roethlisberger last week. The Ravens’ defensive tandem of Ed Reed, Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs are still playing at a high level, and cornerback Lardarius Webb is starting to come into his own as a significant presence as well.
It’s a tale of two lockouts in the world of North American pro sports right now.
In the NFL, the season is fast-approaching as the work stoppage nears its 130th day, but there are rumblings that it may all be over soon. Not so in the NBA though, where players are being encouraged to find somewhere else to play to show the owners what’s up!
Lets start with football: ESPN reports that Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees are calling for the end of the lockout, but after another marathon session, the two sides aren’t ready to come together just yet.
There is a lot of talk that July 21st might be a big day in the CBA battle, but there are also rumors that the players still don’t feel like the owners are “giving” as much as they should be in negotiations. Another thing that could potentially slow things down is the legal action being taken by former players who feel they’ve been left out of the whole process. Could that affect a potential deal reached by the players and the owners? I suppose we’ll find out on August 8th when a judge hears the case! (After the Jump: Hilarious “lockout” video from the ESPYs!) (more…)
Chumpions League?
We all expected a show, and boy did we get one this week – the latest clash between Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid was so good, the fireworks are still flying days later!
If you missed it: the first leg of their Champions League semifinal featured sideline scuffles, fouls (and dives) and a straight red card, which was followed by a pair of magnificent goals to give Barca a 2-0 road win. Leo Messi was the star of the game, but it was Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho stealing the show afterwards!
“The Special One” was all wound up about the Pepe red card in the 61st minute of what was then a 0-0 game. The Brazilian defender lunged for the ball with his studs up and appeared to clip Barca’s Dani Alves, who had to be taken off on a stretcher, but we’ll get to the foul itself in a moment…(After the break: VIDEO of the Pepe foul/dive, plus a Danish coach hits a reporter & more!) (more…)
Christine Sinclair (John Maxmena, Wikimedia Commons)
Before I discuss the sad news from the weekend, I’m going to address the happy news.
Friday evening I tuned into www.cbcsports.ca to watch Canada and Costa Rica in women’s soccer from Cancun, Mexico. A World Cup berth in 2011 in Germany was on the line.
Canada won 4-0 and booked their ticket to Berlin. Canada was once again led by Christine Sinclair who scored her fifth goal of the tournament.
This was a new style of Canadian soccer. Under the old regime of Even Pellerud from 1999-2008, the style was more dump and chase. In the new era with Carolina Morace in charge, there is considerable more passing and offensive minded styles. Which system is better is too early to tell. Pellerud deserves significant credit for leading Canada to credible nation status internationally when it comes to women’s soccer.
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