Weekend Wrap Up

I've been having some laptop issues again so sorry that I have fallen behind a bit. However, since I already had much of this post written I demand that you read it and pretend it's all brand new information to you. Here we go....

Novak Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this weekend beating France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets. I was able to catch the tape delayed showing on Sunday and yowsers....Novak is not a popular guy Down Unda but he seems okay with that....

The Florida Gators anniliated the 14th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores at the O-Dome on Sunday afternoon 86-64. They were winning by a score of 36-4 at one point early in the first half when absolutely everything was dropping for the young Gators. All five starters scored in the double digits and Walter Hodge had a career-high 19 points. The win pushed the Gators back into the AP Rankings (20) for the first time since November. They are off until Saturday when the travel to Arkansas for another big SEC game. The Gators were on a big momentum roll after rattling off three straight wins. They now sit a half point ahead of Tennessee in SEC East division.

In other college b-ball news, Pitt fell five spots to 18 after a horrible 77-64 loss at home to last place Rutgers on Saturday. Coach Dixon reportedly put the players through a rigorous contact practice this afternoon to prepare them for #18 Villanova tomorrow night. In contrast, the Lady Panthers continued their winning ways taking care of St. Johns and Rutgers last week. Along with powerhouse UConn and Rutgers they remain undefeated in the Big East and are ranked 14th in the AP poll, their highest ranking ever.

Not usually a big ice skating fan but this guy is cute and reportedly straight so I have a chance...and he won the US Figure Skating Championship on Sunday. Therefore, I will give him a shout out....welcome Evan Lysacek.

While most people were concerned with Tom Brady's walking boot and his brusque manner with the media, I'm most flabbergasted that he was taking Gisele CARNATIONS! I know he took a pay cut and all that but seriously Tom! If he would have watched Sex in the City (you know, since his baby mama was on it) he would know carnations are nothing more than filler flowers.

Speaking of Tom Brady, we are well into Super Bowl week. It's amazing how apathetic one can become when their team is not involved.

Staying on our loser boyfriend roll, check this out. All those Romo dumps Jessica rumors appear to be bullshizz as Tony serenaded Jess with a little Journey last night. Not sure what was more entertaining...the entire club calling Tony the "p" word or Jessica looking completely uncomfortable being on stage. No wonder she can't make it as a singer.


Just when that little cheeseball Brody Jenner started to grow on me he totally ruins it by hooking up with Lohan. You just can't trust a guy who has anyone named "Brittany Canada whore" on their iPhone can ya? Apparently the paps were on a smoke break since no one actually got a picture of them "all over each other" or leaving the club together. That's him in the Nirvana-esque flannel. First Nicole Richie and now Lindsay....does he wait outside rehab or what? Ewwww wait....here's some video of them leaving, get this...The Box....insert your own joke here.

I suppose I should make mention of Brit-Brit since we are into Day 2 of some kind of intervention by her friends and family. I did see her pap boy toy Adnan Ghalib spilling the beans on Entertainment Tonight all weekend long. Apparently she broke down crying last night in the only way she knows how...in full view of the paparazzi. It's being reported that Daddy AND Mama Spears is involved along with her ever present Middle Eastern Posse. TMZ.com is live streaming from outside her home if you care.


UPDATE: She was out and about pre-invention for what else....some coffee. What she didn't have time to pick up a new puppy today? I wonder if during the next phase of the intervention they can tell her those freakin boots need to go.




Well, here's a little something to lift our spirits....New Kids on the Block may be reuniting! Well, we atleast have NKO since Jonathan(the "not as attractive" brother) and Danny (the ugly one) were not seen. The three were seen catching a flight to Orlando, otherwise known as Mecca to boy banders. Get out those oversized buttons, I smell a reality show!

In all seriousness I was in my heavy metal phas as New Kids took over the world so other than the played out "Step By Step" and "Hangin Tough" I am pretty unfamiliar with their music. Fortunately we have You Tube these days so I can gain a full appreciation of their musical genious.

This was an actual comment posted in response to this video:

"Nowadays many singers just have one or two good songs and is not a big problem. This album is excellent, just they needed a better promotion. Besides, Jon was exhausted. NKOTB was very succesfull and always would be."

You are so right eriestrema, so right.

Upset Saturday

Picking up where the '06 college football season left off, it's tough to be a top 10 team in men's college basketball right now. The #1 ranked UNC Tarheels lost at home to unranked Maryland 82-80 in ACC play this afternoon. I have seen highlights of two female fans in tears about five times already.

Other upsets today included Kansas State blowing out #9 Texas A & M, unranked USC taking care of the 4th ranked USC Trojans and Cinci had a crucial tip in to upset #16 Pitt. After pulling a great upset win of G-Town last week the Panthers suffered yet another injury today of forward Keith Benjamin. He cut his hand but returned and had trouble shooting but already down two starters this season sitting out wasn't an option. They will hope to rebound next week on the road at St. Johns.

In SEC action the Gators are taking on Kentucky in the O-Dome as I type. Florida, for the most part, has outplayed the Wildcats even with the turnovers approaching double digits. Lots of folk on hand for the game including former Gator Al Horford, Urban Meyer and of course Timmy T, the Mayor of Gainesville. Since Both Florida and Kentucky are not ranked at this point I don't know that you could put an upset alert on this game. But if the Gators don't take care of business tonight it will certainly upset me! Update: Game's in OT, Walter Hodge just hit a big three pointer to put the Gators ahead.

Following the continuing pattern of devastating injuries in the 'burgh, Sid the Kid is out indefinteily after suffering a serious ankle injury after hitting the boards hard in a loss at Tampa Bay last night. Sucks for the Pens and all hockey fans as Sid will have to sit out of the NHL All Star game next week after being the top vote getter. However, it doesn't appear to be time to hit the panic button just yet as the Pens topped the Canadiens 2-0 in Montreal today.

The upsets have not been limited to basketball as Andy Roddick bit the dust in the Australian Open yesterday after a four hour plus match against some German guy named Kohlschreiber.

He had career high 42 aces but when your opponent hits about 100 winners there's not much you can do. The majors have not been kind to Andy since his '03 win at the US Open, his only major career win. Since the Open airs in the early morning hours I only caught the final set but that was enough to catch Roddick asking the chair ump if he had made it past 2nd grade. Good stuff...Tennis Jesus , Roger Federer also had quite the scare needing five sets to take out Janko Terpasevic. Just once can we have a tournament without him....sure his record is impressive but it has turned men's tennis into a real bore for me.

Big fight in NYC tonight. At least in terms of big names since both fighters are on the downward spiral in their careers. Felix "Tito" Trinidad and Roy Jones, Jr will be throwing down in the Garden later tonight.

Kieran Mulvaney is live blogging the event over at ESPN.com. Looks like the crowd will be pulling for Tito even though Jones is a heavy favorite. But upsets are in the air tonight...

Winehouse check...yep...still batshit crazy.

Sad news for Steeler Nation. Ernie Holmes was tragically killed in a car accident yesterday in Texas. Ernie was a part of two Super Bowl winning teams and a member of the Steel Curtain. He was 59.

Can the Chargers and Giants pull some upsets of their own tomorrow? We shall see...

Good Friday

The top three most followed teams in Pittsburgh went three for three last night. Steelers defeated the Rams in St Louis, Pitt beat Duke in OT at Madison Square Garden and the Pens still beat the Boston Bruins in a shootout after blowing a 4-0 lead in regulation. Let's get started...

STEELERS - 41 RAMS- 24

THE GOOD

• Ben - He played a great game despite, as usual, running for his life. Only the third QB this season to have a perfect passer rating. As I have stated before, I have no idea where we would be without him.




• Najeh - The Dumptruck filled in quite well for Willie last night and really pounded out some yardage which is something that I don't think is Willie's forte. Obviously his role will change and he can disassociate himself with our very special, special teams.




• We are now a half of a game ahead of the Browns in the division.

THE BAD

• Willie's done for the season. Despite my lack of Willie love I acknowledge the tremendous loss of the league's leading rusher from the roster. Our RB depth is pretty sketchy so I will be curious to see who they pick up in the next week. I'm sure Verron will get a look. That guy is in line to become the new Brian St. Pierre of the Steelers. What a shame that Willie will miss out on playing in his first Pro Bowl. Now Freddy T is replacing him...that should appease Jags fans that are riding the "no respect" train.
  
  
• O-line - Keeping Ben healthy is critical right now which means it would be really nice if these guys got off the block faster than senior citizens. Ben is the second most sacked QB in the league...there something Tomlin should throw into his "news" come next Wednesday.


• Special Teams continuing to be anything but. Can we sign Ron Zook on a game by game basis?

THE UGLY

• Deion, Marshall and Gumbel in the booth. Do you feel dumber today or is it just me?



• IF we make the playoffs, our two likely opponents? Jags or the Browns....not happy about this...

Moving on...big ups to Pitt basketball for winning probably one of the biggest non-conference games they have played in a very long time. I have always rode the line between wondering if they have been overrated in the past or just the epitome of underachievers. They came back from a 16-point deficit at half time to force OT. Unfortunately, Mike Cook suffered what appeared to be, a significant knee injury but it certainly lit a fire under Fields rear end who scored the game winning 3-pointer with seconds left to secure the win.


It always feels good to beat a great time but seriously...is there a more hated team in college basketball than Duke? (Shout out to Natalie....might be time to put JJ back on the myspace layout!)


Congrats to Coach Dixon, Blair, Fields, Sam Young and the rest of the Pitt Panthers. Pretty good time to be a Pitt fan, eh?

The Penguins capped off the night with a shoot out victory in Boston. I didn't see any of the game but from what I understand Conklin wasn't too bad. He did after all, stop two penalty shots to secure the win. The Pens are now 17-15 and three points out of first place in Atlantic Division. But more importantly Sid the Kid got in his first fight last night! Woo hoo! It was against Andrew Ference who I read used to be a Penguin. But the way they move around in the NHL it can be easy to forget players. Outside of the marquis guys, the average number of teams played for is probably at least 6.

Anyhoo, if you want to watch video of Sid's first throw down click here: http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/39333 (Thanks to Mondesi's House for leading me to a website that archives hockey fights....how great is that!)



All in all, it was a good night for Pittsburgh and congrats all around. The Steelers finish up the regular season in Baltimore on the 30th so my blood pressure should stay at healthy levels through Christmas.


Here's some other fun links to send you into the weekend!

• Not sure who it would be worse to be right now...Tony Romo or Jessica Simpson? http://www.ruinromo.com/ (Thanks Bob!)



• Ike Turner died recently. Apparently enough people care that TMZ.com felt it it necessitated a live stream on their website. I'm sure Tina is all over that.

• Time to check in on Winehouse....let's see...just leaving jail, riding with a sketchy looking bloke and doing her best to look wacked out. Nothing new to report then....

That's it for now. I wish you all a very happy Friday and a great weekend ahead. Please try and not kill anyone while last minute shopping....okay, I was talking to myself there. Have a good one!

...whew! I have lots to cover!

I have been out of commission the last few weeks and I don't even have a very good excuse why. Anyhoo, lots to talk about so let's get to it!


The writer's strike = a big poop sammich! The new television season seems to start later and later every year and it annoys me to no end when I have some time off, turn on the DVR only to see a repeat. For those of you who don't know, basically the writer's guild wants to re-structure their deal. With everything going techno these days the writer's want to ensure that with all shows being available for purchase and download and DVD sales remaining pretty high they want to get a bigger piece of the pie. Really who can blame them. All I know is LOST finally got good again last season and if I have to wait another year to see what happens to crazy John Locke and the apparently drug addicted Dr. Jack I'm going to be peesed off.

Now let's get to the really important stuff...SPORTS! Lots of good, well maybe not good, but at least interesting things happening. You know, like the already embattled BCS system taking a huge hit with the craziness that this college football season has produced. Now we have LSU leap frogging over 3 other teams to take a spot in the championship game in January. Yes, I am one of those people who preaches to anyone who will listen the need for a play off system. I also am one of those people that believes greedy corporate American will probably keep it from happening.

I'm sure everyone has their own personal favorite upset from this season but nothing was sweeter for me than watching Pitt beat WVU in the Backyard Brawl. This is the college rivalry I grew up even though it really doesn't compare to most rivalries here in the South. That is what happens when rivalries go completely one-sided for quite awhile. The refs did their damndest to keep the folks in charge of the BCS from combusting by calling two horrific penalties on Oderick Turner which could have been game killers for Pitt. To tell you the truth I was thinking they would be but Pat White wasn't any better in the 4th quarter than he was in the 1st sans injury. Kudos the the 'stache and LeSean McCoy and the rest of the Panthers for putting up a big win against huge odds (29-point underdogs) on national television. Just a few months shy of signing day...



Now on to the NFL or at least to the NFL team that counts....and nooooooo, I'm not referring to Satan and his pack of devils otherwise known as the Patriots. I meant the Steelers. Okay, stop laughing. I'll be the first to admit, at times I think our record makes us appear to be a better team than maybe we are, at least on paper. Decent showing last night but what is with the fumbling Willie? Truth be told I am not the biggest Willie fan. Or maybe I should say I am still not completely sold on him just yet. Yeah I know, he the second leading rusher in the league and he's "Fast Willie" and all that. He sure seems like a nice enough guy too but he's not exactly the best at finding the hole or the end zone. He is never going to pound out tough yardage and if I continue to find myself holding my breath whenever the ball is pitched his way I can only imagine what the more, shall we say "less sensitive" Steelers fans are going to start saying. No one turns faster on their own like Steelers fans.

Overall, it was a big win and an important one. Especially since we walk into the Hell Hole known as Foxborough next weekend. Remember 21 and done two years ago? Well, 12 and done might not be as catchy but it sure would be nice.