Week 10s Best and Worst NFL Performances

Here is Week 10s Best and Worst Performances.  I'm sorry for missing Week 9s, so I'll make sure to make this edition that much better.

Best:


Chicago Defense: It looks something like a Christmas list with the amount of gifts that the Lions handed the Bears' defense, but nonetheless, it was quite an accomplishment for Da Bears!  They intercepted Matthew Stafford four times, recovered two fumbles, had two defensive touchdowns, and recorded four sacks.  The defense alone would have beaten the Lions, but just for good measures, their offense also scored 23 additional points.

Aaron Rodgers: He's becoming a mainstay in the "Best" performances category, but with another four TD effort and 250-yards passing, he is making it easier and easier to pencil his name into the MVP slot.  With the Packers' undefeated record and his outstanding play, people are beginning to talk about Rodgers in the same category as Tom Brady from his unprecedented season in 2007-08.

Denarius Moore: The rookie had by far his best performance as a pro on Thursday night against the Chargers, catching five balls for 123 yards and two TDs.  He may become Carson Palmer's new favorite receiver as a deep threat because the dude has nasty speed.  Expect to see his numbers consistently climb for the rest of the season and remember where and when this kid had his breakout game.

Worst:


Matthew Stafford: And just as soon as everyone jumped on the Lions' bandwagon, they came up with a performance this past weekend that resembled their 0-16 days.  This was of course a fluke on every level, but especially for Stafford.  His four interceptions on Sunday doubled his total for the season.  He'll have to get it turned around fast before the Lions' big Thanksgiving tilt against the Packers.

Ryan Fitzpatrick: Even with a Harvard education, Fitzpatrick couldn't solve the Dallas defense, getting picked off four times.  His performance made the Dallas defense actually look good and we all know that can't be possible... can it??  But, anyways, after a hot start, Fitzpatrick and the Bills have cooled off and are now sitting in tie for second with the Jets, one game behind the Patriots.  But there's still a lot of football remaining and remember, nobody circles the wagons like the BUFFALO BILLS!

Colts' Offense: On the one day when the Colts' defense actually played somewhat well (only surrendering 17 points), their offense chose to take the day off (although they've taken the whole season off) and only scored three points against the lowly Jaguars.  Every loss is another game closer to selecting Andrew Luck as the top pick in next year's NFL Draft, unless of course, Luck elects to stay in school for his senior year (which he may do just to avoid the Colts).

And there you have it, Week 10s Best and Worst Performances.  Don't worry Colts fans, there's always next season, when you actually have your beloved Peyton Manning back.

*Images Courtesy of Google Images*

Joe Frazier, RIP

Amidst all the controversy surround Penn State, the world lost a great human-being and athlete, Joe Frazier.  Frazier died early this morning at the age of 67 to liver cancer.
The once former heavyweight boxing champion of the world was easily one of the greatest fighters the sport has ever seen, but was never able to fully reach his peak because he fought in the Muhammad Ali era.    Despite stiff competition, Frazier battled Ali in three epic battles, defeating Ali in "The Battle of the Century" when he became the first person to beat Ali at Madison Square Garden.  The two finally resolved their epic three-part series with the "Thrilla in Manilla," when Ali beat Frazier by TKO after Frazier's trainer didn't allow him to go out for the 15th round because he couldn't see.  Ali later said after that fight that that fight was the "closest to dying that I know of."

In their three fights, Frazier was able to go 41 of the 45 possible rounds.  However, growing up in the Ali era forced Frazier to fight his critics rather than his opponents.  He had to constantly try to work out from Ali's shadow, ultimately never winning that battle.
In his 37 career fights, Frazier amassed a record of 32 wins (27 KO) 4 losses and 1 draw.
But, in the end, it seemed that his toughest battle was that of cancer and one that put him down for the count.
Joe Frazier was a great fighter, but an even greater person.  Rest In Peace Smokin' Joe.

*Images courtesy of Google Images*

This PSU Scandal Has Me All Fired Up

I'm sure by now that everyone has heard of the scandal surround the Penn State football program the last few days, unless you've been living under a rock.  But, I'm using this post as a way to air out everything that I think about this situation.

1.) Jerry Sandusky, former Athletic Director Tim Curley, and former Senior Vice President Gary Schultz are all disgusting human-beings.  Now granted, Sandusky is the only one who actually did molest the eight or so children, but for Curley and Schultz to try to keep this a secret is just plain unacceptable.  They had every right and opportunity to turn in the information that the grad assistant and Joe Paterno relayed to them and instead, they chose to spare the university the embarrassment and let more children come into harms way of Sandusky.  Now, everything has caught up to them and not only is their prominent football program taking a huge image hit in the midst of a very surprising season, in which the Nittany Lions are ranked 12th in the BCS standings, but Curley and Schultz are both out of jobs.  Shame on you, you, and you.

Former PSU defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky could be facing life behind bars if found guilty of molesting up to eight children.

2.) This is tough, but I'm very disappointed in Joe Paterno.  Now, you can ask anyone around and they'll all agree that I am about as far from a Penn State fan as they come, but I have tremendous amounts of respect for Joe Paterno.  That being said, he also needs to be at fault in this situation.  Everyone keeps defending him, saying he did the right thing by passing the information along to higher authority.  And yes, he did.  However, when he saw that nothing else was done after he did pass along the information, he needed to be the bigger man and report this to authorities.  I'm sure I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this next statement, but so be it.  If this was an incident pertaining to any other coach who isn't 86-years old, or doesn't have 409 career wins, they'd be on their way out the door.  I'm sure that any other school, such as Florida State, Clemson, Miami, USC, Florida, or any other national power football school would already have their coaches packing up their stuff.  But, at Penn State, JoePa is viewed as more than a coach, he's a legend and he's a God.

FBS' all-time winningest coach, Paterno is facing his toughest time in his 40+ years at Penn State

Paterno will go down as one of the greatest coaches in all of college football history, if not THE greatest, but with this happening so late in his career when people are already calling for his retirement, this will always linger in the back of people's minds when they look at Paterno's legacy.  And to be honest, it's disappointing, but it's the truth.

3.) And finally, what's next for Penn State?  Many schools have faced punishments that have resulted in the banning of a program for multiple years because of incidents that dealt with players receiving benefits.  I'll be surprised and will lose a lot of respect for the NCAA if there are no punishments pertaining to the PSU football program for the actions that took place within their chain of command.  If you let a program get off scott-free for a coach that molested young children, but punish programs who had players receive money or extra benefits, then there is something seriously wrong with the way that organization is run.

Fact of the matter is, this scandal is just beginning.  Sure there have been steps made to remove party members that are at fault, but there is so much more that can and needs to be done.  

*Images courtesy of Google Images*

Week 8's Best and Worst Performances

I know this post is coming a little late, hell it's almost time for Week 9, but here are Week 8's Best and Worst Performances.

Best:


LeSean McCoy: The man they call "Shady" might as well been a shadow to the Cowboys because they couldn't catch him.  He rushed for 185 yards and two TDs in route to helping the Eagles defeat their division rival.  His performance also got him named the "Offensive Player of the Week."

Steven Jackson: He's backkkkk.  Jackson, who was injured in Week 1 against the Eagles, hasn't really been able to get back to his form as a power runner.  That all changed this past weekend and unfortunately for the Saints, it was taken out on them.  In helping the Rams to their first win of the season, Jackson ran for 159 yards and two TDs.

Detroit Lions: It's hard to pick which of the many key performers from Detroit deserves this spot, so I've decided that the entire team deserves it.  The defense played magnificent, with two defensive scores, while Matt Stafford threw for three TDs, and Calvin Johnson caught another TD pass.

Worst:


Tim Tebow: Poor Tim.  He's had the fan support all season long to be the starter, but now he may not even have that.  He barely even has coach John Fox's approval.  He looked lost against the Lions, accounting for a fumble and interception that were both returned for touchdowns.  Hey, at least there's next week, but there may not be many more after that.

Chris Johnson: In the offseason, all he wanted was to get paid.  Now, Tennessee is really wishing they would have just let holdout longer.  Johnson once again was held to fewer than 60 yards rushing, now the sixth time (out of seven games) that that has happened.  It's gotten so bad that people are actually calling for backup running back JaVon Ringer to be the starter this weekend.

Redskins' Offense: Apparently they got stuck at customs because they were non-existent in this Toronto showdown.  John Beck barely had time to look up field before he was flat on his back.  The shutout is the team's first in what seems forever and it's Mike Shanahan's first in, well, forever.  Luckily for them, all their remaining games are played on U.S. soil.

That's all for this past weekend of action.  Stay tuned for Week 9's Best and Worst in a couple days.

*Images courtesy of Google Images*

Going Out On Top

Only three days after winning his third World Series title, St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa has announced his retirement today. 

LaRussa is the third winningest manager in MLB history with 2,728 wins, behind only historic managers Connie Mack and John McGraw.  He is in select company, as one of only 10 managers to have over 2,000 wins in his career as a manager. 

LaRussa is going out on top, having led the Cardinals to their 11th World Series championship after a very exciting and intense World Series clash with the Texas Rangers.  LaRussa was the longest serving manager under one team in the MLB, just finishing his 16th season with the Cardinals.

In the 67-year-old's 33 years as a manager, he only managed under three different teams, the Cardinals, the Oakland Athletics, and the Chicago White Sox.  His first World Series title came back in 1989 when he was a manager for the Athletics.

LaRussa makes this offseason even more difficult for the World Series champions to deal with, now having to find a top-tier manager to replace LaRussa, while having to deal with Albert Pujols' free agency.  Pujols' free agency was a season-long topic on whether or not he'd come back and was definitely priority number one for the Cardinals heading into the offseason.  But with this morning's news about LaRussa, finding a new manager is now a close second.

Either way, LaRussa was easily a top-five manager in the history of baseball and what better way to go out, than to go out on top.

*Image courtesy of Wikipedia*

What In the World Was That???

I couldn't believe what I was experiencing tonight.  My phone was going off every two minutes with a new Flyers score update, until the game finally ended with a 9-8 Winnepeg Jets victory.  Seventeen goals is atrocious and clearly defense and goaltending was not on display in this one.  I've seen All-Star games with less scoring than this.
I can't say anything bad about the offenses, but, as for the defense and goaltending, a lot can be said on that.  Goaltending is something that is hard to fix, unless there is a major mechanical flaw that is obvious with the goalie.  But, a goalie really just needs to work out of whatever slump he is in and by the looks of it, it seems like both Flyers goalies are in one right now.  That will improve over time, hopefully not too far down the road.
As for the defense, that is something that can be fixed.  This team cannot collapse defensively like they did last year when Chris Pronger went down with his injury, but after one game without him, his role in the lineup is clearly much needed.  He is a cornerstone on the back lines and brings order and calmness to the defensive core.  That was non-existent tonight, as there was a lot of running around in the defensive zone, with a lot of men being left open and available for easy tip-ins and back door goals.  Something needs to be fixed now and quickly because the Fly Guys can't keep going along giving up 5+ goals a game.
On a positive note, the offense looked good.  But, a loss is a loss.  And that ain't good.

Game highlights courtesy of NHL.com:
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hlg=20112012,2,128&fr=false

Week 7 Best and Worst Performances

Week 7 had some fantastic performances and some absolute garbage efforts.  So here are Week 7's Best and Worst Performances.

Best:


DeMarco Murray: The rookie running back set a Dallas Cowboys rushing record by running for 253 yards on only 25 carries.  Many are thinking that this could be a one hit wonder, but basing on Murray's production in college, this young-gun could be a special talent for the Cowboys, as long as they give him the touches.

Drew Brees: How does one throw for five TDs and over 300 yards in a game?  Play against the Indianapolis Colts.  Brees torched the Colts D for a huge game and made even me think that I could pass on the Colts uninspired defense.  Just another day at the office for Drew Breezy.

Plaxico Burress: Welcome back to the NFL Plax.  Maybe this is the receiver that Mark Sanchez has been waiting for in his young career, but when you have 6'6" wide receiver at your disposal, why not throw to him close to the endzone.  Burress' numbers weren't off the charts, with only 4 catches for 25 yards, but when three of those four grabs come for TDs, then you have yourself a day.

Bonus Pick: Arian Foster: Foster was not only the leading rusher for the Texans, but he was also their leading receiver.  His 119 rushing yards, 115 receiving yards and 3 TDs helped lead the way for the Texans to improve to 4-3 on the season.
Worst:


Kyle Boller and Carson Palmer: I could have taken the easy road and made each of these QBs have their own spot, but that would be, well easy.  The QBs combined for six interceptions thrown, each throwing three in the half of football that they played.  Maybe Terrelle Pryor's opportunity isn't too far down the road after all.

Browns vs. Seahawks Game: This is a first, but anytime there is 9 total points scored in a single game, each team deserves to be thrown into the "worst" category.  The defenses were clearly not bad in this game, but the offenses were atrocious.  If this was the only game on TV and I was forced to watch it, I think needles in my eye would have been a better solution.

Colts Defense: Everyone keeps saying that if Peyton Manning was healthy, the Colts would be running away with the division.  But let me tell you something, Manning plays on the offensive side of the ball, not on defense.  Even Manning can't put up 63 points, so when your defense surrenders 62 points, its hard to point fingers at anyone other than the defense themselves.

Stay alert for Week 8's Best and Worst Performances.  And lets hope that the "worst" are not nearly as bad as this week's.

*Images courtesy of Google Images*