January 11th update

Wednesday spotlight: Lionel Messi

• Here at Sportico, we've recently been made aware that a good portion of the world refers to football as a game primarily played with your feet instead of your hands; a game which Americans know as soccer. To this point, the best soccer player in the world is a diminutive Argentinian named Lionel Messi so we're going to do our best to highlight his career so far.
• Messi has won the last 3 Player of the year honors in EuroCup play after scoring a staggering 37, 48 and 53 goals respectively the last 3 seasons. He also led his team in scoring in all 3 Champions league finals that Barcelona won under his leadership and the team has won 5 La Liga (the main league in Spain) titles as well. None of these honors come close to having your very own Sportico spotlight but they're none too shabby.
• Messi was the top scorer of the 2005 FIFA Youth Championship with six goals, including two in the final game. Soon aftewards, he became a member of Argentina's senior international team. In 2006, he became the youngest Argentine ever to play in the World Cup and he won a runners-up medal at the Copa America tournament the following year. At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics he won his first international honor, an Olympic gold medal, with the Argentinian team.
• For those of you wondering why he plays internationally for Argentina but for a Spanish team in league play, it's simple: Europe is where the (soccer) money and prestige is just as America is with basketball.


Skier in coma after fall

• Sarah Burke, a 29 year old Canadian freestyle skier with eight Winter X game medals to her name is in a coma after a fall during a training run in Utah. According to Canadian team CEO Peter Judge, "It wasn't anything that looked like a catastrophic fall, so I'm a bit mystified," but nonetheless she is currently not conscious and is under observation after the training accident that occurred after a trick.
• Burke has won an ESPY for best female athlete and additionally was the first woman ever to land a triple spin (or 1080) in a competition. With halfpipe making its debut in the 2014 Winter Olympics she was considered one of the early favorites and may still be, depending on how bad her long term prognosis ends up being following this accident.
• Her husband, skier Rory Bushfield, and Burke’s mother are trying to find someone willing to let them use a private jet to shorten the travel time to Salt Lake City. "Sarah is a very, very strong human and she will be fine," Bushfield said in a statement. We hope he is correct and that this incident will be nothing more than a footnote during Burke's competition at the 2014 Olympics.


Boring Title Game leads to Questions

• The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the LSU Tigers 21-0 in Monday night’s NCAA Football Championship game. While there game was slightly higher scoring than the first game, the level of offensive play was still atrocious, especially from the #1 and undefeated LSU squad.
• The lack of offense was probably due in large part to the talent both teams had on defense. Until the final minutes of the game, LSU was able to hold Alabama to multiple field goal tries and the Alabama defense, which has been historically good, made the LSU offense look silly, keeping them off of their side of the field until well into the 3rd quarter. Both defenses have a plethora of future NFL players on their roster and were able to shut down the opposing offenses that averaged 30+ points a game this season.
• This victory throws the BSC championship into major question. While Alabama won the national championship game, LSU ended the season with one additional victory (13 to 12), a conference championship (Alabama didn't even play in the SEC championship game) and a victory earlier in the year against Alabama. The Associated Press (who have the second most widely recognized poll) gave Alabama their #1 spot by a wide margin but LSU or even Oklahoma State could stake claim to the top spot given the vague standards used to determine who is best.

December 5th update

Tiger Woods Wins… Finally

• Tiger Woods for the first time since 2009 in his last action of 2011. Woods shot two birdies in on the last two holes to beat former Masters Champion Zach Johnson by one stroke. It was Woods’ first win in 749 days.
• This event is one hosted by Woods as a fundraiser for his foundation (Woods donated his winnings - $1.2 million – to his foundation as well). There were only 17 other golfers included in the field.
• Even with the short field this victory is raising hopes amongst golf fans that Woods (still the sport’s premier star) will be on his way back to glory after his extramarital scandal and subsequent swoon. Woods, who had the record for most consecutive weeks ranked #1, had been ranked #52 coming into this tournament. This victory catapults him to a more respectable #21.


Multiple thrillers headline the NFL

• Tim Tebow's Denver Broncos once again won a thrilling last second game, 35-32 over the Minnesota Vikings and this time Tebow actually had a pretty solid passing game. He only completed 10 passes but did so efficiently, as he only threw 15 total passes. He has 202 total yards and 2 long touchdown passes to Demaryius Thomas. The Broncos came back from 2 deficits in the last few minutes and after intercepting Vikings rookie Christian Ponder, made a field goal as time expired.
• Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers continued to win shootouts, this time beating the New York Giants 38-35 after the Giants had tied the game with less than a minute remaining. Rodgers and the Packers are 12-0, haven't lost in more than a calendar year and looks like he may set multiple NFL records. He's been so good that I'm seriously considering changing my car insurance to State Farm and getting my Discount Double Check.
• In other action, rookie quarterback T.J. Yates led the Houston Texans to their 6th straight win as they defeated the Atlanta Falcons 17-10. The Texans have sustained tons of injuries but continue to win. They've already tied their franchise record for wins with 9 (with 4 left to eclipse it) and look like a lock to play in their first playoff game ever. The Texans are currently the only team in America's 4 major sports (MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL) never to have won a playoff game.
• In other games, the Dallas Cowboys lost in OT to the Arizona Cardinals after Dallas's coach called a timeout before his own kicker made a game winning field goal and then watched as he missed the second attempt and the Indianapolis Colts showed signs of life but still lost 31-24 to the New England Patriots and look like they will very possibly go an entire season without winning a single game.


BCS Championship Will Feature SEC Rematch

• As opined on this site last week, this years college football title game will be a rematch of a general stinker from earlier in the year. The #2 Alabama Crimson Tide will this time travel to Louisiana to take on the #1 Louisiana State Tigers. Their November 5th matchup was a quite boring 9-6 victory by the Tigers. This is a highly controversial game because of the fact that Alabama already had a chance against LSU in the previous game while there are some other teams that seemingly have an argument to get their first chance against LSU (who is a unanimous #1).
• The Orange Bowl will feature the Big East Champion West Virginia Mountaineers vs the ACC champion Clemson Tigers. The Sugar Bowl will feature two wildcard teams with the Michigan Wolverines against the Virginia Tech Hokies. This is a bit of a surprise as the Hokies lost to Clemson this weekend in the ACC title game, Virginia Tech’s second loss to the Tigers this season.
• The Fiesta Bowl features presumptive Heisman Trophy winner Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal vs the Oklahoma State Cowboys (the Big 12 Champs). The final Bowl game will feature Pac 12 champions Oregon Ducks against the Big 10 champions Wisconsin Badgers.
• Update from Friday: We reported that if UCLA lost this weekend they would not be bowl eligible. Since then, they appealed this to the NCAA and were awarded bowl eligibility. They will be playing Illinois in the Kraft Fight Hunger bowl on December 31st.

December 2nd update

BCS: Big Confusing System

Note: Skip to bullet #2 if you're already familiar with the BCS system.
• Starting in 1998 college football went to a new system that set up a set of national championship games. This new system was coined the Bowl Championship Series (or BCS). A set of 4 games featured the winners of the 6 biggest (read: most profitable) conferences and two wild card teams (in 2006 a 5th game was added, adding 2 additional wild card teams). Over the past few years many people have had issues with the system saying it wasn’t a good representation of the best teams or it didn’t allow for smaller schools to get representation.
• The South Eastern Conference (SEC) has been the dominant conference in the BCS winning 7 of the 12 championships including the last 5 in a row. This year’s LSU and Alabama teams are currently ranked in the top 2 of the BCS. However, as they are in the same division only one (LSU) can play for the SEC championship (against Georgia this weekend) for that right. If LSU wins, they will most likely face Alabama in a rematch of their offensive explosion from earlier in the year. If LSU loses they will likely still play Alabama for the National Championship despite neither of them winning their own conference. If you’re confused, you’re not the only one.
• Of the other 5 major conferences, each of them sends their conference champion to one of the coveted BCS games. This year the Pac 12 championship features a team, UCLA, that can win their conference and go to a BCS game (and get all the money that comes along with it) with a 7-6 record. If UCLA loses the game they will be 6-7 and not be eligible for any bowl game. This situation makes even less sense than the SEC confusion scripted above. Additionally, the Big East’s presumptive champion, Louisville, is 7-5, but they will make a BCS game even with their mediocre record while teams with only one loss will likely be left out.
• College football is a jumbled mess that is beyond comical at this point. Why not just play a 3 or 4 round playoff that would occur during the regular bowl season? Here's a detailed look at how that scenario might look if it were in place this season.


Weekend Football Preview

• NCAA Conference Championship Games: In addition to the SEC and Pac 12 championship games listed above, the ACC championship game will feature #5 Virginia Tech taking on #20 Clemson. The Big 10’s championship game will feature #15 Wisconsin vs #13 Michigan State and the Big 12 Championship game will not happen this year because 12 teams are required and the no-longer appropriately named Big 12 only has 10 teams.
• The “Who Thought This Game Would Be Good” Game: Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers. The surprisingly competitive Cincinnati Bengals travel to Pittsburgh to take on the always Stout Steelers. The Bengals are 7-4 behind the power of their Rookie Quarterback and Wide Receiver (Andy Dalton and AJ Green) and their veteran Running Back (Cedric Benson). The Steelers defeated the Bengals 3 weeks ago and are looking for the season sweep.
• NFL Game of the Week: Detroit Lions at New Orleans Saints – The Saints are coming off of a Monday Night Football clobbering of the New York Giants are looking to continue clicking against the Detroit Lions. The Lions, who lost their star Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh to a suspension, are looking to rebound after having lost 4 of their last 6 games after starting the season with 5 straight wins.


NBA stars on the move?

• With the NBA lockout finally resolved, the most entertaining part of the NBA other than the games can finally begin: Offseason player movement and the potential for big names to switch teams.
• Superstar PG Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets has stated that he will not sign a long term deal and since he only has one year left on his contract the Hornets may try to trade him in order to get something in return. He's been linked to the Boston Celtics in a trade for defensive wizard Rajon Rondo but both teams have denied that rumor. Paul has stated that he wants to play in New York with good friends Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.
• Orlando Magic Center Dwight Howard is in a similar position as Paul with only one year remaining on his contract and the New Jersey Nets have expressed interest in trading for him, likely giving up two first round picks and young Center Robin Lopez in return.
• If it happened, the Howard deal could convince superstar PG Deron Williams to change his mind about opting out of his current deal with the Nets as it seems that NBA stars nowadays trend towards pairing up with other big names. It's also worth noting, however, that Williams could opt out of his deal and still sign with the Nets, presumably for more money under the new collective bargaining rules.