October 14th update

NBA Lockout officially causes games to be canceled

• Big news was made in the NBA this past week when it was made official that the first two weeks of games would be canceled, the first time NBA games have been missed in 12 years. The biggest game during that span was the New York Knicks @ the Denver Nuggets, which would have been Carmelo Anthony's first ever visit to Denver as an opponent (he was traded to the Knicks last season).
• Missing two weeks of games would be the best-case scenario for the league though. A federal mediator has been called in to attempt to draw the sides closer on Tuesday but every talk so far has apparently been a complete failure and there's talk now of having to cancel the Christmas Day games which are basically the NBA's equivalent to Thanksgiving Day games for the NFL.
• There's a possibility that the entire season could be canceled, especially as many players have signed contracts to go play overseas, meaning they will not feel pressured to settle for a subpar deal, such as the one the NFL players were forced into to end the NFL lockout (for what it's worth, I sided with the players in the NFL but the owners in the NBA).
• We're big NBA fans here at Sportico but we think that the fans should become more vocal in speaking out against this silly lockout, where both sides are looking for a bigger slice of a $4.3 billion pie amidst a struggling U.S. economy. And we're not alone.



NFL Week Lacks Marquee Games, Compensates with Storylines

• How legit are the 9ers? The San Fransisco 49ers are coming off of a 48-3 smack down of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that turned a few heads. This week they face another big test as they travel to the Motor City to take on the undefeated Detroit Lions. New coach Jim Harbaugh looks to continue his astonishing 4-1 start against a potent Detroit team. It should be noted that the Bucs won on Monday Night Football the week before they played San Fran just as Detroit did last week.
• Who will win the shootout in New England? When the Dallas Cowboys travel to New England to take on the Patriots don’t expect much defense. Both team feature highly effective offenses and equally inept defenses. This mix, along with the offensive wizardry of their coaches should make this a fun game to watch.
• Suck for Luck: The big prize in this coming year’s NFL draft is expected to be Stanford Quarterback Andrew Luck. Supposedly the most polished quarterback prospect coming out of college since Peyton Manning. As the first pick in the Draft goes to the team with the worst record many fans have been hoping their team “Sucks for Luck.”
• There are currently three teams with no wins, and 6 more with only one. Now some of these teams (the St Louis Rams and Carolina Panthers for instance) would not select Luck because they have established young quarterbacks, but they would expect to get a lot in the trade market for such a coveted prospect. The Dolphins may be the best destination for luck as they play in a big market and have tons of talent on offense with Brandon Marshall, Reggie Bush and Jake Long (one of the best linemen in the game to protect Luck).


NCAA's Week 7 Should Answer Questions

• How good are the Oklahoma State Cowboys? The 5-0 Cowboys are less hyped than their in-state rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners, but they are ranked #6 in the country and are lead by stud wide receiver Justin Blackmon. They have been wiping the floors with their opponents throughout the season (defeating Kansas 70-28 this past weekend), but a trip to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns should prove to be a slightly more telling task.
• Who’s the best in Michigan? The Michigan Wolverines travel to take on their instate rivals Michigan State on Saturday. The undefeated Wolverines are ranked #11 while the Spartans of Michigan State are ranked #23. The Wolverines, lead by Sophomore quarterback sensation Denard Robinson began the season unranked, but are now in contention for a conference title, their first in over a decade.
• Can Oregon recover? After a tough defeat to start the season (to what is looking like the best team in college football in the past 5 years, LSU) the Oregon Ducks have been unstoppable. Never scoring less than 40 points, and outscoring their opponents by 151 points in the past 4 weeks. Currently ranked #9 in the country, the Ducks are trying to reclaim their spot as a championship contender, it will take more than a few wins, as there are a number of undefeated teams that may take precedence at the end of the day and they may have to do so without superstar RB Lamichael James for a game or two as he is nursing an arm injury.

September 12th update

Serena goes on childish tirade, loses to Stosur

• Sam Stosur of Australia, won yesterday’s women’s US Open final defeating Serena Williams in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 the day after Williams beat #1 seed Caroline Wozniacki by a similar score. Stosur, who was the runner-up in the 2010 French Open, was only 2-9 in tournament finals before defeating the 13-time Grand Slam champion.
• The match will probably be remembered more for how Serena acted in the loss as opposed to how Stosur won however. Early in the second set the chair umpire awarded Stosur a point after the umpire claimed that Williams “hindered” Stosur by yelling in celebration before the point was technically over. At this point Williams was already down a set, and the call was unusual, but she went off on the judge, threatening her and going on a tirade over the course of the next few minutes in a blowup that was reminiscent of her 2009 US Open final against eventual champion, Kim Clijsters.
• After the 2009 blowup, Serena was fined a record $87'500 and was put on probation, meaning that if she was penalized again, she would be fined $175'000 and would be banned from the next U.S. Open, which as far as we can tell has never happened to anyone.

*Note: Due to weather delays, the men's final is not until Monday, so we will cover that final as well the epic Djokovic/Federer semifinal on Wednesday.


Week 2 of College Football season doesn't disappoint

• In the game of the week, Michigan rallied for 2 go-ahead TD's in the final 70 seconds, including one with 2 seconds remaining. The game came in one of the biggest traditional rivalries in college football in the first ever night game at Michigan's famed "Big House" in front of an all-time record 114'804 mostly rabid Wolverine supporters. Sounds like a snooze-fest to me...
• Auburn rallied for a second straight close victory, defeating #16 Mississippi St 41-34. Auburn dropped out of the rankings after narrowly defeating lowly Utah State the week before, marking the earliest a defending champion had dropped out of the top 25 in more than 30 years.
• On the other side, #1 Oklahoma had no game but became the first team to be ranked #1 in 100 weekly polls.
• On a scarier note, Minnesota coach Jerry Kill collapsed and had a seizure during the final moments of his team's 28-21 loss to New Mexico State. While it looked bad, people who knew him and medical professionals said it wasnt as serious as it looked and that he had a history of such events. Afterwards, the team's trainer admitted that it may have come on partially due to stress and a lack of hydration. Kill is recovering at a local hospital but is expected to be fine.


Quick Hits Covering Week 1

• Baltimore 35, Pittsburgh 7: Quarterback Joe Flacco throws 3 touchdowns as the Ravens score most points ever and force astonishing 7 turnovers against divisional rivals in an important early season game.
• Houston 34, Indianapolis 7: Texans demolish Colts, scoring 34 in the first half and never looking back. Without Peyton Manning, the Colts may be in for a very long, very bad season (which their fans have not seen since Peyton Manning's rookie season).
• Chicago 30, Atlanta 12: Running Back Matt Forte and strong defense lead Bears to major victory over one of last year's best teams, the Atlanta Falcons.
• Cincinnati 27, Cleveland 17: Big game by Running Back Cedric Benson leads the Bengals to an upset over the Browns in a matchup of Ohio based teams.
• Buffalo 41, Kansas City: 7: Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick throws 4 touchdowns leading the Bills in a rout over the Chiefs.
• Philadelphia 31, St Louis 13: Quarterback Michael Vick and Wide Reciever DeSean Jackson lead the Eagles to big victory over injury-prone Rams.
• Detroit 27, Tampa Bay 20: Quarterback Matthew Stafford throws for 305 yards leading the Lions to victory over the Buccaneers.
• Jacksonville 16, Tennessee 14: Running Back Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown leading the Jaguars to a victory over new-look Titans.
• San Diego 24, Minnesota 17: Running Back Mike Tolbert scores 3 touchdowns as the notoriously slow-starting Chargers get rare early-season victory over Adrian Peterson, new quarterback Donovan McNabb and the rest of the Vikings.
• San Francisco 33, Seattle 17: Kick Returner Ted Ginn Jr blows open close game to lead the 49ers over "defending NFC West champion" Seahawks.
• Washington 28, New York Giants 14: Quarterback Rex Grossman shines, throwing for more than 300 yards in Redskin victory over the injury depleted Giants.
• Arizona 28, Carolina 21: Panthers Rookie Quarterback Cam Newton’s record setting day of 422 yards and 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 running) were not enough to overcome late charging Cardinals.
• New York Jets 27, Dallas 24: Cowboys suffer epic collapse, losing for the first time ever after leading a game by 14 points or more in the 4th quarter and failing to gain new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan a win over his twin brother, head coach Rex of the Jets.