As some of you may have noticed, I did not blog this weekend at all. I was preoccupied with watching some of the most fantastic finishes across the sporting world and didn\’t have time to pick my jaw off the floor and write a post. Also, for anyone who is interested, I am now contributing to www.joshqpublic.com daily about college sports, primarily basketball and football. Come check me out over there, I am, and always will be, B-Dogg.
Enough pathetic self-promotion, let\’s dive right into the crazy weekend.
Friday – College Basketball
#24 Syracuse vs. #4 UNC
There were very few believers that this \’Cuse team could be as good as they are this year after taking a huge hit with a loss to Le Moyne in an exhibition game. Le Moyne? Has anyone even heard of the school? Luckily for \’Cuse, that loss doesn\’t show up on their record because it was an exhibition, but clearly sent a message and created a swirl of doubt. The bright spot in that game was Wesley Johnson. An athletic 6-7 forward who dropped 34 points in that preseason match-up, including a late 3-pointer to give \’Cuse the lead. Apparently, Johnson has something to prove in his Junior season, because against #4 UNC on Friday night, he had another stellar game. Johnson dropped 25 points in a stunning 16 point victory over the defending champions, the day after beating #12 Cal by 22 points. For those who weren\’t believers before, you should be now. This \’Cuse team has the pieces to make a serious run through the Big East and into March.
Saturday – College Football
UConn at Notre Dame
Wow. There is so much to say in so little space. I am not going to break down the game (if you would like my analysis, I posted a longer entry here http://joshqpublic.com/2009/11/22/saturday-thriller/), but would like to say a few words to a few members of the UConn Huskies program. First, the one negative comment. K Mr. David Teggart. You hit every FG when we don\’t need you to, and miss every clutch kick. Go home. Now, on to the positive. RB Jordan Todman. When did you become such a great kick returner? I am certainly not complaining, but \’where have you been all my life?\’ RB Andre Dixon. You are a monster. 20 carries for 114 yards, most of which came in the later stages of the 4th quarter and OT. Thank you for running over ND defenders. QB Zach Frazer. You only threw 1 interception. Congratulations on not blowing the game against your former team. WR Marcus Easley. You also fall into the category of \’where have you been all my life?\’ You have been ridiculous over the last half of the season receiving for over 625 yards on 30 receptions and 5 TD\’s since the 4th game of the season on 9/26. Coach Randy Edsall. You have been the most underrated coach in college football this season. To overcome tragedy and still play the way your team has, is because of your leadership. You deserve this win as much as the players do, if not more. Congratulations. And one final note to a non-UConn person. Mr. Charlie Weis. Good luck trying to find a new job. I\’m sure someone is looking for .500 coach.
Sunday – NFL, NBA, and MLS Cup Final
What a sports-filled Sunday. We had NFL fumbles with a few seconds left, a pass-interference with no time on the clock leading to a game-winning TD, several 1, 2, or 3 point games, and a few colossal upsets. Then there were the Celtics. The team that has been struggling mightily since their hot start. They were playing the Knicks. A blowout right? Wrong. A OT thriller that ended with a Kevin Garnett jumper at the buzzer to win. Despite all of that excitement, the best game of Sunday was the MLS Cup Final 2009. Real Salt Lake vs. the LA Galaxy turned out to be one of the most intense and exciting games I have seen in quite a while. LA jumped on the board late in the first half with a Magee goal and it wasn\’t until Findley, a former LA Galaxy striker, evened up the match on a goal in the 64th minute that the game got really exciting. Both teams were banged up with injury and illness one after another and both teams with no remaining subs. There was a lot of rough play and passion on both sides of the field and after 30 minutes of OT, the game would be decided on PK\’s for only the second time in MLS Cup Final history. Goalkeeper Rimando for RSL was spectacular and back-up goal keeper Saunders for LA matched him one for one. After 5 PK\’s, they were tied up at 3 and the game continued. All of the players on the field were running on empty, but after a Rimando stop and a Russell goal for RSL in the 7th round of PK\’s, the game was over. RSL had a regular season record below .500, but got hot when they needed to and pulled out an unthinkable victory. Watching David Beckham lose was a wonderful way to end a great weekend of sports.