Pretty much. Dana White and UFC management have no one to blame but themselves. You'd figure after Rizzo, after Arlovski/Sylvia 3, after Anderson vs. Leites and Cote they'd learn. You don't put a counter fighter in there against someone unable or unwilling to press forward against them. It's really too bad it wasn't Vitor Belfort, he might have the weapons to do what Shogun did to the UFC's other premier counter striker. I did find the fight hilarious though, probably because I went out to watch it in the afternoon instead of paying for the PPV. It would have been even better if the judges gave the last 3 rounds to Maia because Silva, as a counter striker, wouldn't initiate exchanges. The BJ fight was awesome because he lost. How long until his mom writes a letter of complaint to the judges?
Today is the last day of the NHL regular season. The Western Conference seeding is already set, so here's some predictions. 1. San Jose Sharks vs. 8 Colorado Avalanche As a Sharks fan, this is the matchup I wanted. The Avalanche are a dangerous young team, and they've done themselves proud making the playoffs so early into their retooling. Matt Duchene is a strong Calder Trophy candidate for top rookie, and looks like he is going to lead the Avalanche for many successful seasons. But, as is going to be a trend throughout this post, I'm not entirely sold on their goaltender. This has been the season of Craig Anderson's career, he emerged from obscurity to help carry the Avalanche to an unexpected playoff berth. Incidentally, he also saved my fantasy hockey season. Up until the Olympic break, he was giving Colorado the goaltending you'd expect from an established veteran and Vezina trophy contender, but he's struggled recently, and his team along with him. For the Sharks... well, suffice to say there is pressure. The last few postseasons have been every bit as painful as the Leafs' regular season, capped off by a shocking first round collapse against 8th seeded Anaheim last season. I feel far more confident this season. The Sharks have an offense to rival anyone this side of the stacked Washington Capitals. I can't say I'm extremely confident in Nabokov. He flashes brilliance, but he also flashes utter failure. But he's been there, he's tasted playoff disappointment more than any of his goaltending peers. He was catastrophic in Russia's historic loss to Canada in the Olympic quarterfinals. Essentially, as with his team, this playoffs is a defining moment in Nabokov's career. I expect we'll see his best. Prediction: Sharks in 5. Chicago Blackhawks 2 vs. Nashville Predators 7 I'm excited for this series. Chicago is up there with Washington for most exciting team in the league. They are young, deep, talented. And they are fast. Patrick Kane's hattrick on Luongo to send Vancouver home in the 2nd round was one of the most memorable moments from last season's playoffs. While last year's appearence in the Western Conference final was somewhat surprising, I think it's safe to say this year it is expected. Due to a historic bungle from then GM Dale Tallon, what looked to be a contender for years finds itself on the precipice of salary cap annihilation. While they will still be a strong team going forward, it is likely they will need to drop a key player or two this offseason. Unfortunately, while the team itself is loaded with talent, I see two barriers that will stand between them and a deep run. First, they've had injury problems on the backend. The playoffs are arguably the most grueling tournament in professional sports, and Chicago goes in already missing key players. More significantly, I don't think they have the goaltending to win a championship. Huet has been a disaster, and may be done with the team, and Niemi has struggled. All of that being said, they should beat Nashville. The Predators do boast one of the best defensmen in the game with Shea Weber, and in Pikke Rinne have a goaltender capable of stealing a few games. But it's remarkable this team has made the playoffs- a testament to Barry Trotz, one of the most underrated coaches in hockey. Nashville is going to play Chicago hard, and they will play physically, and make this an entertaining series. It's just difficult to imagine them having the weapons to complete the job. Prediction: Blackhawks in 6. Vancouver Canucks 3 vs. Los Angeles Kings 6 A strong case can be made for the Canucks being the favourite to win the Western Conference. They scored the most goals in the West (edging Chicago out by 1), and boast the top point scorer in the NHL this season with Henrik Sedin. Just as importantly, they are backstopped by Olympic Gold Medal Champion Roberto Luongo, who with his triumph in February laid to rest some of the doubt that he could not deliver in big games. The Kings are much less heralded, which is unfortunate. Though he cooled off significantly as the season went on, Anze Kopitar proved he can put up the numbers of an elite forward. In Drew Doughty, the Kings lay claim to the best young defenseman in the league, who was just as key a component to Canada's triumph as Luongo. Though Jonathon Quick made the men's US team, he did not make an appearance in the Olympics. He is a steady goaltender- not as great as Luongo at his best, but considerably better than Luongo's worst. His play in this series is going to be key to the success or failure of his team. Prediction: Kings in 7. Phoenix Coyotes 4 vs. Detroit Redwings 5 The gem of the first round, as would be expected from a 4 vs. 5 matchup. By points, Phoenix is the third best team in the West, 2nd in the East. They pushed the Sharks right up until the last week for the division lead and first seed. They have enjoyed one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent NHL history. And they may very well be the underdog in this series. But I think they have an excellent chance. With his play this season, Ilya Bryzgalov has made a strong case for himself as one of the league's best goaltenders. Thanks in large part to his play, the Coyotes surrendered the fewest goals in the Western Conference this season. If he carries his strong play into the playoffs and the Coyotes can continue to play strong team defense, they can win this series. And more. There is a good reason no one wanted to play Detroit in the first round. They are two time defending Western Conference champions, and if not for an extremely slow start may well have been a top seed once again. In net, Jimmy Howard filled in for a struggling Chris Osgood and secured himself as Detroit's starter going forward. Just like Bryzgalov, he has the ability to keep his team in this series. Of course, the Red Wings are a deep and talented team, with far more playoff experience than the Coyotes. They enter the playoffs with an incredible record of eight wins in their last ten games, with only one loss in regulation, the best in the league (tied with the Sharks). In my opinion, this is the hardest series to predict. Prediction: Red Wings in 7 Once everything is set in the East I'll have predictions for it, but as a preview: Capitals in 4.
Michael Collins is injured for tomorrow's match. All I have to say to that is thank God. We may actually have more than just Drinkwater in the midfield now. He's frustrated me so much of late has Collins with his inability to get involved when the chips are down and his determination to simply not tackle when the need arises. I've seen some bottlers in my time and in terms of his tackling bottle Collins is one of the biggest ones I've seen. Right, he gets goals, but even those have dried up this season (just 3 so far, in 30-odd appearances). Kay, his usual midfield partner, has scored more this season despite being a more defensive player - his tackling has also been missed while he's been out of the side, and it'll be good to see our number 8 in the midfield tomorrow (hopefully alongside Tom Clarke or James Berrett). The ideal scenario still sees a midfield general brought in this summer, but Kay'll do for now. In other Town news, it looks like (deep breath now) Skarz, Goodwin, Jevons, Craney, Williams, Butler, Lucketti, Denton and Ainsworth are all on their way out. By my reckoning, this will free up about £1m for transfers and wages. Alongside the pledge of the chairman to have a large transfer budget available for the summer (please let it be a 7-figure transfer budget - I want to see real Championship quality arriving for the midfield and left-back), I reckon that come what may next season will be an improvement on this. And bear in mind - we're still in the hunt for promotion now!
And now the Eastern Conference. Because my team is in the Eastern Conference, I have significantly more dislike for most of its teams: Washington Capitals 1 sweeping Montreal Canadiens 8 Montreal is the worst team to qualify for this postseason. They have more losses than wins, they've had more goals scored on them than they scored. They qualified for the postseason by losing. Up front, they feature one of the five worst contracts in the NHL in Scott Gomez, lack size and toughness, and outside of Cammalleri, Gionta, and the awful contract, lack skill. Aside from Markov, their defense is a gong show, highlighted by the ponderously awful Hal Gill. They will be starting Jaroslav Halak in net, a career backup who rode a hotstreak earlier in the season. Washington is the most skilled and exciting team in the league. They scored the most goals this season by a staggering margin of 46. On defense, they feature strong Norris Trophy candidate Mike Green, and league leader in the somewhat useless +/- stat Jeff Schultz. Their only problem, and the one thing that will keep them from running away with the Cup this year, is their lack of goaltending. The Capitals will be upset this playoffs, but not to a joke of a team like Montreal. Prediction: Capitals in 4. New Jersey Devils 2 vs. Philadelphia Flyers 7 One series I don't want to see. Then again, it's natural to want to avoid the Devils, who once again have made themselves strong Cup contenders by committing to strong team defense, and brilliant goaltending. While, thanks to talents like Zach Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk, this Devils team isn't as sleep inducing as some of their prior editions, they surrendered the fewest goals this season. Unfortunately, I think they're going far this playoffs. The Flyers qualified for the post-season on the final day, edging New York 2-1 in a shootout. They are an interesting team, loaded with the combination of toughness and skill which have often characterized Flyer teams. They are led offensively by Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, though the most well known player on the team is Team Canada pylon Chris Pronger. I think the Flyers have the ability to frustrate New Jersey and make this a series, but any team starting Brian Boucher in net is not long for the playoffs. Prediction: Devils in 6. Pittsburgh Penguins 4 vs. Ottawa Senators 5 4 vs. 5 is almost always the premium matchup of the first round. Not so much the case here. Thanks to the NHL's marketing, if there is one NHL team casual fans are familiar with, it's the Penguins. They are two-time defending Eastern Conference champions, and the defending Stanley Cup champions. They feature two of the three best players in the world in Sydney Crosby and Evgeny Malkin. They have experienced as much post-season success as anyone outside of Detroit and New Jersey in recent years, and yet are still a young team. Though they have struggled this season, it's hard to see anyone outside of New Jersey or Washington keeping them out of the finals. Ottawa have earned themselves the label 'Sharks of the East,' for their lack of playoff success. Even when they made the Stanley Cup Finals, they literally found a way to beat themselves, as defenseman Chris Phillips provided the Cup winning own goal for Anaheim. While they do have a young star in Jason Spezza, and some skill in Milan Michalek, as well as the continuing strong play of their aging captain Daniel Alfredsson, the Senators have the worst goal differential of any playoff team- somehow even worse than Montreal's. Their place in the playoffs was largely secured by way of a 12 game win streak- a streak due in large part to the play of Brian Elliot in goal. Though Elliot has struggled through much of the season, he is capable of brilliant play. If he manages to recapture the near perfect form which carried the Senators to their win streak, then Ottawa has a chance. If he continues to struggle, the Senators could be swept. Prediction: Penguins in 5. Oh, and I didn't forget about the Buffalo/Boston series. I just wish I did. Buffalo in, let's say, 6.
UNBELIEVABLE!!! What a game. It's one of those matches I'll remember every kick of as long as I live. 2-0 up and cruising against ten men, we somehow managed to concede three soft goals to enter injury time at the end of the second half 3-2 down, before Antony Kay and Lee Novak scored to win an unbelievable match 4-3. I've spent the last few days wondering why I bother with football after the debacle down at Brentford. But tonight reminded me why I put up with the pain and anguish - moments like Lee Novak's wonderful volley to snatch a remarkable victory from the jaws of a humiliating defeat, with me jumping on my dad to celebrate, deafening him with one of those yells of pure joy very few things can being about happen once every few years and are to be savoured. Moments like that restore belief and passion. I haven't heard the Kilner Bank like that for a while - only 20 minutes earlier the strains of '2-0 up and we f***ed it up' were heard jeering at the players, and on entering injury time there was just no belief any more. Then Kay scrambled in somehow, and Novak fired his stunner, and the Kilner Bank was in full voice, waves of noise rolling from it. Simply incredible.
^ Wow, that sounds amazing! I love moments like that in sports. Coming through in the clutch. C'est magnifique! (hope I spelled that right )
Brandon Marshall to the Dolphins for 2 second round picks. Anything which saps Denver of talent is good, but I'm disappointed they got more than a 2nd for him.
Surprised me that the Steelers got rid of Holmes. Super Bowl MVP, traded just like that? Although I wasn't paying attention to the Steelers (no reason to) so I don't know if his performance was faltering or if it's just legal issues that he's had recently. And speaking of, Ben (can't spell his last name so I won't even try! ) got off his charges..... which were worse than Holmes' if they were true, but Holmes' charge was provable and you can't exactly replace a franchise QB like you can a WR.
I guess they wanted to defuse the situation before they become another Bengals. I'm surprised they only got a 5th for him, but I guess teams don't want to touch a player with substance abuse problems who enters the season with a suspension. Playoffs are on! My first round predictions are perfect, but I left out my finals prediction: Sharks over Penguins. For the love of the hockey gods, don't choke SJ!
Just watched the highlights of the match from last night. In the two and a half minutes the BBC decided to give us (how come Newcastle recording a routine win with no real drama got longer?), I managed to see just how remarkable a match it was. Controversial goals galore! 1-0: no real controversy here. Stonewall penalty, and a sending off. Theo did his thing for his 14th of the season. 2-0: Walsall got wound up over this one. They claimed offside, managing to forget that basic principle of you can't be inside in your own half. Rhodes then legged it 45 yards to finish past the keeper for his 22nd of the season. 2-1: Shocking defending, but was there a foul in there on Clarke? Should it have been disallowed? Inconclusive replays, but there's definitely something there. 2-2: I could concentrate on the defending, but won't. Superb finishing from their lad. Cracking goal. 2-3: Offside, without a shadow of doubt. 3-3: Controversy on two levels: did Robinson foul the keeper, and should Kay have been on the pitch? Kay had been booked with 15 to go for what looked to be a studs-up challenge, infuriating the Walsall bench. And Theo did look to hold back the keeper as Kay rose to force the header in. 4-3: In fairness, not that controversial, but had the ball not gone in then the ref would have had to have given a penalty and sent off their lad. Novak's volley was almost blocked by the outstretched arm of a defender, taking a massive deflection which flew into the bottom corner, and it might even be fortunate for him that it found the net.
Sharks choke game one in the last minute. It's going to be a long series, they better get their act together. The crowd is poisonous already, booing the #1 seed off the ice after the first game. It really is like regular season Leafs hockey
Yeah but the media (or at least ESPN and the NFL network) are pressuring Steelers management and the NFL commisioner to suspend Ben. Since you can't have one set of punishments for smaller name players like Pacman Jones and Holmes, while going easy on a star quarterback like Ben. Though I think if Ben does get suspended, he'll lose his starting position for the Steelers. I think Dixon could take over as their franchise QB.
I hope he DOES get suspended--even if he didn't do anything, he doesn't deserve to get off scot-free when he's been d***ing around. However, I don't think it's very likely he'll lose the starting job, although it IS a possibility.
You're not a steelers fan, so of course that's what you are going to say! (though i'm wondering what he did?) Darn, i wish i lived in America for the sole purpose of keeping up with the NFL goss.
Yes, I am a Packer fan.... but if any Pack player did this, I would want them to face consequences too.
He's been accused of sexual harrasment twice within a year's time. Both cases were him partying at clubs. He has never been convicted of anything, but it's still bringing a lot of bad pr to the Steelers and the NFL. The Steelers traded away Holmes for bad behaivor, so now they can't just do nothing to Ben. Anyways, I heard an awesome joke on NFL network. On one of their clips shows, they showed different groups of fans doing tailgate parties at their stadiums. While showing some Packer's fans, one looked into the camera and said, "What do you call a group of Bear's fans in a basement? A whine cellar."
Please keep the discussion on sports, not on the gossip/rumors/charges regarding sports personalities.
LMFAO! So true!!!! *sings "Da Bears still suck....."* The draft is less than a week away! *dances* Can't wait to see which LOLB (YES, WE WILL TAKE ONE OR SOMEONE WILL GET IT.) we take, then CB/tackles, etc...... Whine cellar. Oh god, that's great.
What an atmosphere! The Galpharm was absolutely rocking this evening! 15,000 Town fans generated some incredible noise to cheer the Town on to a 1-0 victory over promotion rivals Millwall, ending Millwall's unbeaten run and cementing Town's place in the play-offs. Southampton are now eleven points off the play off place, but have two games in hand, while Colchester are six behind with one in hand. I'm proud of them tonight. Walsall was a special match in midweek because of the comeback, but tonight was grafted and battled and fought, putting bodies on the line and wanting the win. We had that spirit of the great Town teams of old, wearing hearts on sleeves and showing passion for the cause. Captain Peter Clarke showed it more than everyone else, and it was he who powered home the back-post header that won the game. Magnificent!
That sounds truly awesome Dante, nothing beats a game like that As for the sounders, the game last saturday was fantastic...until the corner in the 93 minute that tied the game that should have been a sounders win. However, they truly did play an excellent game and they worked hard, with two fantastic goals and plenty more fantastic shots. Though it was disapointing because it should've been a win and all, I'm going to the game tomorrow so all my disappoint has vanished to be replaced by complete and utter excitment!!
Lucky--you get to go to games of your favorite team. *deflates* How long til August? Brewers lost to Nationals, 3-5. Another game tonight. They frustrate me when they lose like they've been doing-- 4-6 so far in the season. If I wasn't so against badwagon-jumpers, I'd become a Yankees fan. But I won't do that.
What a fantastic game in so many ways! Most of the players played really well, especially the defense. In the first half the sounders had two shots on goal that would have gone in had the Kansas City goalie been a lesser goalie, however, for Kansas, they didn't even get shots on goal, our defense shut them down. That being said the game remained at 0-0 with none of our shots getting in and Kansas City giving us a good fight. This wasn't helped by the completely inept ref and linesman. You think you seen a bad ref? Well he's probably got nothing on this guy, he was easily one of the worst refs I have ever seen in my life. However almost all of my irritation with the guy has been drowned in the afterglow of the beautiful goal scored in about the second minute of final stoppage time (so about the 92 minute or so) by Fucito immediately followed by a spectacular save by Keller, our amazing goalie. We won 1-0 in the final minutes of a game and also broke the record of the Kansas goalie (who was very good) of letting in no goals this season. Even the crappiest ref in the world, can't kill the extreme high I'm feeling from a fantastic game. I'm so insanely happy that I got to go see this game live.
