Sporty Blog - The Sport Blog

Its funny how the time honoured cliché seems to be spinning outta control - as those last two NFL Conference Championship games seem such a distant memory, albeit actually only having occurred a Fortnight ago, right?

As I must confess that I didn’t watch any of the Day’s first game between the visiting Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots. Having decided to forego that game in order to catch the Day’s “late” game at Candlestick Park instead, as I was most intrigued to see if Cinderella could work her magic and sprinkle some winning Stardust upon those most upstart San Francisco 49ers, albeit I was sorta secretly rooting against them - although I should have been pulling for the 49ers, after all being the winners of my “Home” NFC West Division… Yet alas, I missed the entire first half before turning on the ‘Telie only to try watching a very distorted third quarter Whilst I was too occupied with company instead before turning off the TV to listen to some riveting motorsports radio show with the score knotted 17-17 with under two minutes remaining.

Having traveled to Indianapolis several times now, including last year’s Centennial Indy 500, I’ve been mildly interested in the cities preparations for this year’s big Shindig, yet it all seemingly came crashing down when I was grocery shopping the other day with my wonderful Shopper Cheryl, when we passed by an aisle with some very muted video playing on top of a display. Asking Cheryl what’s that all about? Oh, it’s for some sort of Football game I think… Which made me burst out into laughter, as it was so damn refreshing to hear somebody being totally oblivious to the Superbowl Hypefest!

And a very good friend in Indy says that they’re expecting 110,000 visitors for the game at LucasOilDome which only seats 70,000 with all of the Downtown Hotels having been booked for weeks now, not to mention the travesties occurring in the typical yearly quadrupling of prices, i.e.; parking, hotel rooms, etc. Not to mention the city denying a temporary permit for the Homeward Bound, which saw the ACLU stepping in on its behalf and filing a Federal lawsuit against the city of Indianapolis in order to allow the Homeless to continue their longstanding practice of selling Newspapers in the Downtown corridor, as Indy had tried locking them out of the 1.0-mile Superbowl “clean” zone where special license’s are required in order to hawk merchandise. As the paper solely benefits the Homeless by paying them 75-cents for every paper sold for $1.00…

And then there’s this year’s just concluded Media Day “Gong Show,” as apparently anybody and their dog Molly can now attend, as this year saw the introduction of a selected number of Media Day tickets being sold to the public, as the 7,300 tickets with a face value of $25.00 were scooped up in a matter of minutes with scalpers reportedly doing a brisk business whilst basically charging double for these tickets; URGH!

And what prey tell did this enable you to? Well those willing to buy these got to sit in a reserved Grandstand seating area and listen to various player interviews via a portable radio included, whilst binocular rentals were available at the ultra-ultra low price of $10.00. As I thought that the NFL couldn’t sink any lower after the ridiculousness of money grubbing Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones fleeced a few thousand folks to shill out two “Benjamin’s” apiece to stand outside in the parking lot and watch the game on some big screens…

Then again this is all peanuts, did somebody say peanuts? Get you’re fresh roasted salted peanuts here; Hurry Hurry Hurry - only $5.00! OOPS! That’s Jarrett’s line isn’t it? As in something ‘bout five dollar foot longs, eh?

While I cannot even fathom how much a Ball Park frank, you know, the ones that plump when Yuhs cook ‘em will cost? Not to mention some watered down beer, which you may or may not pay more for the same amount as a small or large cup… Just ask us Seahawks fans about that little controversy at Qwest Field two seasons ago… Which is before we even get to the price of admission, i.e.; a Superbowl ticket, which I believe I heard the “Secondary Market” is now averaging $3,100 for, after having peaked at nearly four-grand!

But back to the Media Day Gong Show, as the Indianapolis Star’s Bob Kravitz wrote a pretty funny piece chronicling his day’s outing where he mused that even some Nickelodeon guy was replete in a Captain America outfit! Before he and other hundreds stood 25+ yards away straining to hear “Pretty Boy Floyd 2.0” Tom Brady toss out some senseless MediaSpeak sound-bites…

All of this prior to Kravitz’s first Ines Sainz spotting, you know the TV Azteca reporter, right? As this ChaCha poser claimed her 15-minutes of fame whilst wearing one of her numerous “Minimalist” outfits inside the New York Jets locker room a few seasons ago… As NO word on whether or not Brett Favre was trying to show her in person his new shoes or not?

Although Kravitz went on to muse that Misses Sainz was upstaged by Televisa’s Marisol Gonzalez, whose red dress apparently was so pleasing to his eye that he’d have been willing to slather glue all over a chicken suit if she’d asked him too… And this is all before we even get to the nine-plus hour marathon called Game Day; Aye Karumba!

And although I know its another shameless Advertising ploy, about the only good thing I can find towards the Superbowl frenzy was last weekend’s lining-up of 33 ‘Supercarz on what reputedly was renamed Seahawk Street, when in conjunction with the Indy Racing Experience, 33-past Indy Cars were displayed together on Meridian Street towards The Monument Circle, which indicates Indy’s Downtown. As these now obsolete racing cars were wrapped in each of the 32 National Football League Franchises respective liveries, plus one extra done up in Superbowl XL VI tribute scheme…

As Curt Cavin of the Indianapolis Star said on Trackside with Kevin & Cavin Tuesday night; behind the mondo Vince Lombardi mural currently displayed upon the JW Marriot, which is destined to become a Kodak Postcard moment by everybody invading the city… The Indy 500 Supercarz were the second biggest draw of the weekend! As I’d like to say I think it’s a great coup pulled off by INDYCAR…

Indianapolis: Dallara’s Welcome NFL Crowd

Yet, with all of the NEVER ending self-promotion Hypefest, i.e.; Today Show taping at Superbowl Villa with Al Roper riding a Zip-line and co-host Ann Curry reportedly wearing a white poufy coat ‘cause it was cold in Indy; Blah-blah-blah… And that doesn’t even include the six-hour Preamble all day Sunday!

Thus, I think I’ll boycott this year’s Souper Dooper Bowl and watch my seven-plus hours of recorded Rolex 24 at Daytona Sports Car race instead…

Last weekend I managed to listen and watch what arguably were the best two Playoff games of the weekend, opting to not bother tuning into TeboMania - largely induced by a slobbering Mainstream media machine… Along with opting to forego the following days Baltimore game.

Thus I attempted listening to the San Francisco 49ers vs. New Orleans Saints game via my ‘lil transistor radio until I couldn’t stand the static the inclement weather was causing. Perhaps Y’all have heard about the week-long snow storm Seattle has been gripped in? As the storm wasn’t slated to arrive until Sunday but showed up Saturday afternoon during you guessed it, the 49ers-Saints game…

And that was a real Barn-burner with Drew “They Call Me Mister MVP!” Err, Brees and his Nawlins Saints spotting San Fran 17-points - saying No Problema, we’re trained professionals - hence we know how to pull off these type of stunts you shouldn’t try at home; Hya! As Brees & Co. methodically marched back and ultimately regained the lead in the third quarter.

Switching over to television coverage due to the static the white stuff was causing, I marveled at how Awesome of a Quarterback Drew Brees was as the announcer described how he’d calmly stepped-up in the pocket and eluded another sack in order to throw for another first down. Yet I burst out into laughter the next play as San Francisco sacked him…

Then as we all know, the game became a monstrous battle of wills as a frenetic tug ‘O war played out in the fourth quarter when the score see-sawed back ‘N forth before the 49ers won in a shocker 36-32 to send the Saints marching home for the year.

As I said before, I purposely avoided the New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos game, although may be, just may be my Teboing Tantra worked? As I jubilantly burst into laughter upon discovering that Tom Brady and the ‘Pats were simply crushing Tebo 45-10 in the fourth quarter.

Then on Sunday with the snow showers continuing in what would become a warm-up for later in the week, I warmed-up the Boob-tube just prior to the vaunted No. 1-seed Green Bay Packers vs. New York Giants, catching the final moments of the Texans loss to Baltimore 20-13 in what apparently was another close game?

But I was more interested in the late-game which was taking place in another frigid region of the Nation, as Lambeau Field is apparently legendary for its frozen tundra - which I learned is actually heated… And the ‘Pack hired some 450 volunteers to shovel the snow off the field and turned away another 800! As I think the weather was actually better in Green Bay then Seattle…

Leaving the game on as background noise I really didn’t pay much attention to the first half, albeit dumbstruck by the Hail Mary pass Eli Manning completed at the end of the second quarter to give NY a ten-point lead.

And I found it amazing to hear multiple choruses of Booing heartily at Aaron Rogers and his brethren by those almighty Cheeseheadz; YIKES! That’s gotta be a first, right? As it was Roger’s opposing QB Eli who absolutely stunned Green Bay and turned Lambeau Field silent with a Giants road victory final score of 37-20.

So now we’re down to the final four, as the winners of the respective Conference Championships will advance to Superbowl XL VI in balmy Indianapolis - at LucasOilDome, home of the 2-14 Indy Colts who are apparently in search of not only an entire coaching staff but a QB too!

Sunday, Jan 22
The “early” game will feature the Baltimore Ravens vs. New England Patriots, with Baltimore traveling to Fox borough to square off against Tom Brady and the ‘Pats at Gillette Stadium at 3PM ET on CBS.

Next-up for the “late” game, those upstart NY Giants will travel to the Bay to take on the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park at 6:30PM ET on FOX.

So who’ll be going to the Superbowl? As you’d have to think that New York has the advantage over San Fran, while I’d think New England’s high octane Offense may be too much for Ray Lewis and Baltimore to contain? You make the call…

First ‘N foremost, I haveda say that I barely watched any Football over the past weekend, as I really didn’t care much about the games - only tuning into the Saints game during commercial interruptions during the Anaheim Supercross race… Along with turning on the Steelers for a little lunchtime ambiance, as after all, I was wishing that Pittsburg would CRUSH Denver… which is funny since I’m NOT a huge fan of “Big Ben’s,” you know - Mr. Hanky Panky; Err, Ben “What Cheerleader?” Roethlisberger…

Yet I found it quite funny how my allegiances quickly shifted in favour of Roethlisberger, since I simply CANNOT stomach all of the current TeboMania… And hence, I was doing my bestest Teboing impersonation in hopes of spiriting the Steelers onto victory…

As after all, Pittsburg had the second largest points-spread in it’s favour for the Wildcard weekend - with the Steel Curtain being given plus-8.5 odds over Denver; trailing only the New Orleans Saints 10.5+ odds.

Yet, alas - it wasn’t to be, as GAWD-DAMN-IT! That Tebo guy confounded everyone, including the once vaunted Steel Curtain Defense by throwing an 80-yard Touchdown strike in Overtime to send Roethlisberger & Co. packing - in the wake of an improvable 29-23 OT victory in the “Mile High” city. As I guess ‘Big Ben will now have plenty of Down-time to resuscitate his gimpy ankle…

And to Mwah, the most intriguing Wildcard game of the weekend was the Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals since it featured two rookie QB’s with Houston’s T.J. Yates squaring off against ex-Texan Andy Dalton who ironically played his college ball at TCU.

Yet apparently the Shootout at Reliant Stadium never occurred, as the Texans cruised effortlessly past the Cincinnati Bengals 31-10

And the Saints ultimately crushed Detroit 45-28, albeit those pesky Lions must have made ‘Nawlins a little bit nervous by leading at Halftime 14-10. Yet the “Breeze” in the Superdome Stadium was simply too strong as Drew “they Call ME duh” Brees aired it out in the second half for a game total of 466-yards en route to New Orleans final Home win of the year, as they’ll be playing on the road from now on…

Meanwhile, Peyton’s healthy younger bro Eli and Thee “G-Men won 24-2 over Atlanta, as Falcons QB Matt Ryan has still failed to win a Post-season game to date…

Saturday, Jan 14
Thus, Brees & Co. will travel to the Bay, where the Saints will take on the resurgent San Francisco 49ers, this year’s NFC West Division Champions. The game is on FOX Saturday at 4:30PM ET.

Interestingly, the Saints three losses - all on the road, saw two defeats come upon natural grass surfaces. Which ironically Candlestick Park just so happens to be…

Meanwhile, I’m almost certain a never ending Tebo-mania crescendo will hover above Gillette Stadium, as Master Timothy attempts practicing his Hocus-Pocus upon Tom Brady’s rested Patriots. Thus look for ‘Dem TV ratings to be Mile-high when the Denver Broncos face off against New England in Fox borough at 8PM ET on CBS…

Sunday, Jan 15
Can the Texans Arian Foster run roughshod over Ray Lewis and the mighty Baltimore Defense? And how will rookie QB T.J. Yates fair against the fourth-year Pro Joe Flacco? Tune-in Sunday at 1PM ET on CBS when Houston travels to Baltimore to find out.

And the road to Superbowl XL VI will potentially make New York shiver, as Eli and his ‘G-Men travel to a notoriously frigid Lambeau Field to play some good ‘Ol Smash-mouth Football against the high flying Packers and Aaron Rogers. As the Giants will be playing in front of a mass of Cheeseheads in another sold out game which you can catch on FOX at 4:30PM ET.

Haven’t checked the Odds makers yet - and hence, I’ll go out on a limb here by picking a clean sweep of Home teams, albeit I suppose that there may be an upset or two? As I’m guessing that’s why they play ‘em, right?

You Make The Call!

It would be fair to say that the decision to continue hosting the recently-completed World Cup of Golf in China until 2018 has not been universally welcomed.

Stinging criticism from Stephen Urquhart, the president of the competition’s title sponsor Omega, has claimed that China “is too immature a market to put the World Cup where it should be”. While Urquhart has a valid viewpoint to some degree, he is missing the point.

China’s golfing profile is on the up. Staging competitions such as the World Cup of Golf in China for a sustained period of time will only help to further raise awareness of the sport in the country and Asia as a whole. That in turn could boost revenue and lead to an increase in the amount of Asian, and more specifically Chinese, players taking on the world’s best.

Having being held in Shenzhen on the previous three occasions, the tournament switched this year to the Blackstone course at Mission Hills Haikou and the United States pair of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland claimed a two-stroke victory ahead of England, Germany and Australia.

For the record, China finished 18th overall out of 28 teams and despite criticism from the likes of Urquhart, Ken Chu, chairman of the Mission Hills Group, is excited about the impact the World Cup of Golf can make in China.

Chu told the Korea Herald: “The World Cup is not as popular as other sports. For instance in China golf is only 25 years old. But it means there is a lot of room to grow.” The optimism of people like Chu is infectious – and is based around some impressive statistics. There was estimated to be only 20 or so courses in China in the 1980s. Nowadays, there are well in excess of 300 and interest in golf is increasing all the time.

There’s now not just a wealth of courses, but these are quality courses as well. Take Mission Hills Shenzhen, for example. The 12-course resort is widely recognized as the largest golf facility in the world.

The infrastructure is definitely in place for China to become a force in the golfing world. There are loads of luxury golf resorts and hotels to be found around the whole country.

What it really needs now to make a real breakthrough is for a player from China to make a name for themselves on a global level in much the same way that the likes of South Korean KJ Choi have in recent years.

So I tuned-in to the ‘DAWG’s vs. Bearz at the Alamo Bowl with the score 14-7, Baylor leading… Then RG3, who the Radio Announcers took to calling “Superman,” showed off why he’d been chosen the College Player of the year, along with winning the Heisman Trophy. As Robert Griffin III eluded not one, but three University of Washington Huskies Defenders… Breaking two tackles which should have rendered him down behind the line of scrimmage - for a 24-yard run to put his Baylor Bears ahead 21-7; as I was afraid I heard ‘Ol “Dandy Don” (Meredith) warming up in the background: “Turn Out the lights, the Party’s Over!”

As it was a predominantly Baylor prone crowd, with a sea of green ‘N gold adorning the 65,000-plus crowd hoping to celebrate Superman’s victory - potentially his final college game before turning Pro in 2012?

But alas, U-Dub had a thing or four to say about that! As I sat dumbfounded and chuckled merrily in glee as the ‘DAWG’s rolled off 28-unanswered points to go ahead 35-21 over (previously) No. Twelfth-ranked Baylor - before the Bears finally retaliated with a late Field Goal to knot the score at 35-24 at Halftime. With the total of 59-points setting a first-half scoring record…

And the stat’s kept on coming, with UW averaging 8.5-yars vs. Baylor’s 7-yards per completion during the first Half.

And the dizzying array of non-stop scoring kept going on as I couldn’t keep track of the Volleyball like ‘Spikes; Err scores tallied up. As even the Announcers seemed to be gasping for Oxygen whilst noting the scoreboard read Huskies 49, Bears 46 with 6:01-remaining in the Third Quarter!

Then as ex-UW and Seattle Seahawk QB Brock Huard said; Hey Yuhs gotta go with Brock on the radio if you’re listening from the Northwest! As half of KIRO 710AM’s “Brock & Sok Talk Show crew said: mark Chris Polk’s fumble as a turning point in the game - having just capitalized on an excellent run-back to Baylor’s 27-yard line.

As Griffin & Co. simply marched down the field - and with 58-seconds left in the Third Quarter, Baylor punched in for another TD, en route setting another record with its 53-49 lead; Baylor’s first lead since 21-14.

Yet ironically, it was Superman’s (RG3) opposite; as the announcers had previously read a Fan’s sign about RG3 being Superman in green socks… With University of Washington Quarterback Keith Price playing like Superman instead, as the sophomore arguably had to have his finest game statistically… Throwing for 438-yards, four Touchdowns and running for a further 3 TD’s; Yep! You read that right - seven Touchdowns, which outdid some Green Bay Packers back-up QB vs. Detroit! Not to mention that Griffin only passed and ran for a single TD apiece.

Thus grittily, Price marched his ‘DAWG’s downfield for another score and retook the lead 56-53. Yet it wasn’t to be the Huskies day, as first the non-existent Defense let Baylor score another go-ahead TD to lead 60-56, before capping off the game with another rushing Touchdown to put the game out of reach at 67-56.

And the Alamo Bowl smashed the previous record for total points in a regulation College Football Bowl game, racking up an incomprehensible 123-points; with the 2001 GMAC Bowl of 102-points being the previous record. Although that Bowl Game went to Double Overtime and hence still holds the overall record with 125-points - thus making it the second highest scoring game to date…

Another record was the combined total yardage of 1,377-yards… With the best Quip in the local Fish-wrap being that 777 isn’t a number, it’s an Airplane! (As in the Boeing 777…) As that’s the number of yards the Baylor Bears racked-up upon the Huskies. And although neither team appeared to have any Defense, Baylor’s crushing total was the final straw in the ‘DAWG’s problematic defense and led to the firing of Defensive Coordinator Nick Holt, along with the Linebackers coach Mike Cox and Safeties coach Jeff Mills a scant two-days later; whilst Cornerbacks coach Demetrice Martin had previously left to join Jim Mora at UCLA.

Yet apparently Head Coach Steve Sarkisian struck fast, as two Tennessean’s with past Northwest connections have already been hired. With Tennessee’s Justin Wilcox being announced as the new Defensive Coordinator. While Peter Sirmon, also a former Tennessee ‘Vol was announced as the new Linebackers coach.

And I was unaware that College Football has a limit to Fulltime Staffing positions with a total of nine; while UW currently has seven positions filled, with vacancies at the Safety’s and Cornerbacks positions, which could be combined into a single role…