Slow NFL week, NBA popping floppers

NBA to crack down on flopping

• One of the fastest-growing issues in the NBA over the past few years has been 'flopping,' or intentionally falling down to induce a foul call against an opponent when little or no contact has been made.  The NBA will soon finalize rules to officially combat this annoying tactic (which is much more prevalent in soccer) that has altered the competitive balance in multiple contests recently. 
• Although it's not official yet, it's likely that there will be postgame reviews to fine players caught in the act.  That way officials aren't forced to determine intent during the game and they won't have to slow the game down by looking at multiple reviews per contest.
• There is no word from the NCAA on whether or not they will try something similar in the college game yet, which is fortunate for some players.

Weekend lacking marquee NFL games

• If you had to choose one weekend not to watch the NFL (and instead reading Monday morning’s Sportico update) this weekend might be the one to pick. Many questions we have coming into this weekend will remain unanswered. Are the Cardinals and Seahawks really good? They’re both playing terrible teams. Are the Saints really bad?  They’re playing the Packers.  Is Brett Favre still retired?  Yes, but he might decide to come back any time in the next 40 years.
• Probably the most competitive game on paper this weekend is the San Diego Chargers at the Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams are trying to break through; the Chargers have underachieved for years and the Chiefs are a team on the rise, winning the AFC West in 2010 and coming within a blocked field goal of winning it again last year despite multiple huge injuries and a coaching change. The Chiefs are coming off of an overtime victory over the Saints, and a massive performance by the NFL's leading rusher, Jamaal Charles.
• The New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers are coming off of losses that were questionable (or in the case of the Packers downright stolen). The Patriots are looking to get back on track vs. their division foe Buffalo Bills, while the Packers are looking to get off the schnide themselves and continue the Saints' miserable start of the season.

Refs possibly returning, fines given out

Could the Refs be Back?

• After a disastrous end to the Monday Night Football game, where the replacement referees seemed overwhelmed and incompetent, the NFL and the referees union were back at the bargaining table on Tuesday. At the end of the night, it seemed as if the union and NFL were on the precipice of an agreement.
• It seems the NFL and the union will both be making concessions, which include additional training and an easier work load for referees.
• The hope is that the two sides can get everything in order so that the “real” referees will be patrolling NFL games this weekend. The referees union claims that the men they represent are trained in all rule updates and will not show any rust even if they begin as early as this Thursday night’s game.


NFL Fines everywhere

• Patriots coach Bill Belicheck ($50k), Redskins defensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan ($25k) and Steelers defensive back Ryan Mundy ($21k) were all fined for actions in Sundays game.  Belicheck and Shanahan's actions were directly related to the inexperienced refs and both have very valid reasoning for what they did. 
• The final play of the Patriots game was a field goal by Ravens kicker Justin Tucker that barely snuck inside the right upright.  After the kick, the officials starting leaving the field, but Belicheck wanted to know if the play could be reviewed, grabbing an official to make sure his question was answered.  Contact with officials is never permitted in NFL games, and in some cases players have been ejected for seemingly inadvertent contact. 
• Shanahan, whose father is the coach of the Redskins, was fined after berating officials on the field and in the tunnel after one of them incorrectly indicated that a late penalty had ended the game.  When the offensive team gets a penalty late in the game, the other team has the options to deduct 10 seconds from the clock, as long as the clock isn't stopped.  The clock was stopped when a false start was called against the Redskins with only 7 seconds left so no additional time should have been taken off.  The correct call ended up being made and the Redskins, who had to move back 20 yards after the two penalties, were unable to tie the game and go into overtime (unlike the Lions who were in a similar situation).
• Mundy was fined after delivering a vicious helmet to helmet hit against Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey.  Heyward-Bey was taken off the field on a stretcher and had to go to the hospital afterwards but was discharged a day later. 

Weekend Football Recap

Saints/Patriots fall again, 49ers upset

• The New Orleans Saints are having a pretty rough year. Between player suspensions, an ugly contract holdout for superstar quarterback Drew Brees, and head coach Sean Payton being suspended for the whole year, the Saints were hoping the start of the NFL season would be a welcome distraction. The distraction caused by the season so far has been anything but welcome. An opening weekend loss to the Washington Redskins, and a week two loss to the Carolina Panthers, left the Saints reeling as they hosted the Kansas City Chiefs.
• The Chiefs did not have the lead at all during regulation and trailed 24-6 late in the third quarter, but helped by Jamaal Charles's amazing 233 rushing yards, the Chiefs tied the game with a field goal with seconds to go in regulation. Then in overtime, helped by stellar special teams play, the Chiefs were able to stop the Saints and get the ball back, driving the ball down to the 14 yard line to kick a game winning field goal, their 6th of the game.
• The San Francisco 49ers started the season fast, defeating playoff teams the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions pretty handily. Then yesterday, the 49ers went to Minnesota to take on the feckless Vikings in a game in which they were expected to win big. A yeomen’s effort by Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder against the vaunted 49ers defense lead the Vikings to a shocking victory 24-13. Ponder hooked up with tight end Kyle Rudolph twice in the game for short touchdowns to give the Vikings their second victory of the year, only one short of their win total from 2011.
• In the Sunday night game, the Baltimore Ravens' Torrey Smith whose younger brother had died in a motorcycle accident less than 24 hours beforehand, had a monster game, catching two touchdown passes in a 31-30 win over the New England Patriots.  Smith said afterwards that he didn't know if he would play but being in the familiar setting of the stadium helped him to cope with the tragedy.  The teams observed a moment of silence for him before the game.
•The Patriots, now 1-2, amazingly had not had a losing record since Week 1 of 2003 which is an NFL record not to have done so.


Oklahoma falls, LSU barely wins

• There were multiple upsets in the college ranks as well, the main one of which was #5 Oklahoma losing to #14 Kansas State.  Last year Kansas State was unbeaten when they went to play Oklahoma but were obliterated by more than 30 points.  This year, they were ready for the task and put a severe dent in Oklahoma's national championship dreams, winning 24-19.
• Other top 5 teams, #2 LSU and #4 Florida State also had tough games with LSU in particular looking very weak in a 12-10 win over an Auburn team that has not been very competitive for the last year and a half (after Cam Newton left).  Florida State was losing by 10 to a very good Clemson team but roared back in the second half to win by double digits.
• In other action, Notre Dame used a stifling defense that forced 5 Denard Robinson turnovers to beat Michigan 13-6 and Oregon State defeated #19 UCLA, 27-20.
• Here are the updated rankings for this week

MLB teams in playoffs, Ocho-Uh-Oh

First Two Playoff Spots Clinched

• The Cincinnati Reds are the first team in the Major Leagues to clinch a spot in this year’s playoffs. The Reds, taking advantage of weak Cardinals and Brewers teams, won the National League Central.  Not long afterwards, the Washington Nationals clinched a spot last night by defeating the L.A. Dodgers. The San Francisco Giants are also close to clinching their division, the final one in the National League.
• The American League competitions are a good deal closer, with the Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees all leading by less than 4 games. The Yankees are in the closest race, with the Baltimore Orioles who they have a one game lead against.
• This year there are two wild card spots, which means that 5 teams from each league will make the playoffs instead of the four teams that have made it ever since 1995. The team that does not win the AL East (the Yankees or Orioles) will likely have one of these spots, while the other is probably going to be taken by the surprising Oakland Athletics. In the National League the Atlanta Braves and St Louis Cardinals hold a 2.5 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers for the two wild card spots.


Ochocinco avoids jail

• Former NFL Wide Receiver Chad Johnson, formerly known as Chad Ochocinco, was given a year's probation and anger management counseling instead of jail time after he was charged on domestic battery of his wife, Evelyn Lozada.  The couple (who were only married in July and are already divorced) got into an argument after Lozada found clues that led her to believe Chad was seeing another woman and during the argument, he head butted her, opening a cut on her head.
• Johnson has not been an impact player for a while, barely seeing the field for the New England Patriots last year.  He was signed this spring by the Miami Dolphins and was expected to contribute, however they quickly released him after news of his legal issues surfaced. 
• Johnson is a 6-time Pro Bowler, (all with the Cincinnati Bengals where he played with Carson Palmer and T.J. Houshmandzadeh) led the NFL in receiving yards in 2006 and is 26th all-time in both receiving yards and receptions.

Refs, Escobar doing poorly

Rebellion against Replacements

• As the NFL season gets set to kick off the third week of its regular season with the Carolina Panthers hosting the New York Giants on Thursday night, arguably the biggest league wide story has not directly included any player, coach or league administrator, but the referees employed by the NFL.
• The normal NFL refs are on strike as they argue for more pay, and the NFL, an organization that made close to $9 billion last year, does not look ready to relent. Instead, the league has hired replacement officials who were officiating the lower tiers of D-1 college football last year.
• Refs always get a bad rap, but it has become increasingly easy to pick on these refs as they are “stand ins” and “replacements.” Some calls have been blown by these men (and women) but none have yet effected a game, and theres no way to say definitively that the “normal” refs would have gotten the call right. The NFL has a staffing model in place through week 5, and does not look ready to cave to the referees demands.
• NFL refs last year made, on average, $184,000 for what amounts to a part time job, or hobby. It is arguable that they need a pay increase as most have full-time jobs on the side including one particularly fit ref who is a lawyer when not on the gridiron.


Escobar banned 3 games for slur

• In what has already become a forgettable season for the Toronto Blue Jays, another bad chapter was added as shortstop Yunel Escobar embarrassed the team by writing a homophobic slur (in spanish) in his eye black for a game.  While I won't include the exact wording, it's easy enough to find online if you google "Yunel Escobar eyeblack."
• To his credit, Escobar was apologetic afterwards, saying that he has gay friends and he now realizes that it was offensive and that it was an inside joke between him and his teammates.
• The team suspended Escobar without pay for 3 games, which will cost him about $92'000 and that may not be as costly as the hit his reputation has taken in the community.

Stanford rolls, NFL update

Different year, same result

• For the fourth straight year the Stanford Cardinal defeated the USC Trojans (21-14), although unlike the past couple years where Stanford was led by superstar QB Andrew Luck and USC was in the midst of a two year bowl ban, this season #2 USC was highly favored, only to lose anyway.
• Led by a stingy defense that got to USC QB Matt Barkley a number of times, Stanford has been able to beat the Heisman hopeful every time they’ve played in his four year career. The only shot Barkley has at revenge is in the Pac 12’s conference championship in December. The Cardinal defense sacked Barkley four times, including twice on the last drive as USC desperately tried to tie the game.
• After scoring a touchdown with 11:19 left in the second quarter USC took a 14-7 lead and looked to be in charge of the game but the Cardinal defense cracked down and held the Trojans scoreless for the last 41 minutes of the game.
• Barkley, the favorite for the Heisman trophy and the player on the inside track for the #1 overall draft pick, and the Trojans were favorites to be in the National Championship game this year before this week.  But now, it looks to be a much tougher road to hoe.
• USC dropped all the way to 13th in the polls while Stanford and Notre Dame (who beat then-#10 Michigan State on the road 20-3, both passed them.  Both ND and Stanford had been ranked 20th or lower.


First Win for Luck, monster day for Eli

• While his Alma Matter was just pulling off your (oxymoronic) average, every-year upset, Andrew Luck was winning his first game as a NFL quarterback. Luck was good, but not great in his second game, but unlike many players as young as he is, he played well enough to avoid hurting his team and that was enough to secure victory.
• The Colts defeated the Minnesota Vikings 23-20 on a field goal by veteran kicker Adam Vinatieri with only 8 seconds left in the game.
• Luck threw the ball 41 times, with 20 of them connecting with a receiver, two of those for touchdowns. He threw for 224 yards. His counterpart, Christian Ponder, himself only a second year player, also played solidly completing 27 of his 35 attempts for 245 yards and two touchdowns.
• The big star of the day, however, was Eli Manning who threw for a mind-boggling 510 yards and willed his New York Giants to victory over the Tampa Bay Bucs after having a terrible first half with three interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown with just seconds left in the half.
• The yardage total was the 8th highest in NFL history and also led to career high yardage games from receivers Hakeem Nicks (199 yards) and Victor Cruz (179 yards).
• The defending super bowl champions are now a much more comfortable 1-1 and go to play at Carolina Thursday night.

Packers dominant, NHL locking out?

Packers Dominant

• The 2010 Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers were embarrassed in week 1.  The San Francisco 49ers physical defense forced Aaron Rodgers into a bad game, and the Packers, who scored 35 points per game in 2011 didn't even get into double digits until the 4th quarter of their 30-22 loss.
• Last night, in a new scheduling quirk that has games almost every Thursday Packers responded in a big way. The Packers sacked Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler 7 times, led by Clay Matthews and his 3.5 sacks en route to a 23-10 victory.
• Both teams were offensively inept for much of the game with 17 of the 33 total points coming in the fourth quarter and the Packers first touchdown coming on a fake field goal. The Packers also intercepted Cutler four times, many of which were caused by pressure on Cutler due to a porous offensive line.


NHL ready to lockout

• The NHL's collective bargaining agreement expires on Saturday and if no new deal is reached before then, owners have unanimously decided to lock out, a scary thought for hockey fans, who saw the NHL forfeit the entire 2004-05 season due to the same issue.
• It has been a bad year for lockouts, as the NFL locked out its players last year in a well-publicized dispute and the NBA lost about a quarter of the season and had to condense the schedule to avoid losing even more games in an even nastier dispute.
• 283 players, including many of the games biggest stars showed up to the meeting on Thursday as well, a much higher number of players than usual, in an effort to show solidarity in preparation for what is likely to be an ugly off the rink war.

Big News in the Big East, and Murray Breaks Through

Murray wins U.S Open

• Just a few months ago, Andy Murray seemed destined for a career as a second tier tennis player, someone who was just good enough to be the last opponent in a given tournament for the truly great trio of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. But during the Olympics, the Brit won a gold medal and now he's won his first major, the U.S. Open, beating Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic respectively in the finals of each event.
• The finale was a thrilling back and forth affair full of drama as Murray took the first set in a 22 point tiebreaker that was the longest in U.S. Open finals history. The second set saw Djokovic visibly thrown off by the gushing winds and losing badly. Djokovic, however, would come back and win the next 2 sets to force a decisive 5th set, but in the final set of the tournament, Murray proved that he had what it took to finish a big win, winning 6-2.
• Murray lost his first four Grand Slam event finals, something only his coach, Ivan Lendl, had ever done before. In his previous 3, Murray only won a total of 1 set.

ND on the Move

• Notre Dame is moving from the Big East to the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) starting with the 2013 sports season. The Fighting Irish will stay independent for football (like they have for their entire history) but will play all other collegiate sports against the ACC.
• Notre Dame has agreed to play 5 games a season against ACC opponents, which will bring a boost to the conference’s football prowess, while still allowing Notre Dame to play (and make a lot of money off of their exclusive TV deal) up to 7 other opponents each year.
• Notre Dame’s defection from the Big East will continue the devolvement of the Big East. Notre Dame’s basketball program has long been a competitive one that added bulk to the Big East’s roster of basketball teams. In a few short years, the league is down to only two of its previous powerhouses, one of whom just took a hit….

Calhoun retiring

• University of Connecticut head basketball coach Jim Calhoun is expected to announce his retirement on Thursday. Calhoun, who is 70, leaves the game after winning 873 games and three national championships. Calhoun has had a number of health issues including three different bouts with cancer, and a spinal issue that caused him to miss games last year.
• For all his greatness on the court, Calhoun has had a spotty record off of it. In 2010 the UConn program was accused of a number of major rules violations, and was academically banned from this upcoming year’s NCAA tournament.
• Calhoun leaves in his wake a number of great NBA players, including Rip Hamilton, Ray Allen and Ben Gordon. He also leaves behind a large charitable effort in which the UConn Health Center’s Cardiology Center is named after him.

Week 1 Recap and Major Upset in College Ball

Quarterback’s Debut Strong Mark NFL Week 1

• Peyton Manning’s first game in the orange and blue of the Denver Broncos was a resounding success. The Bronco’s defeated the Pittsburg Steelers 31-19. Manning threw more than 250 yards and 2 TDs in his return to football after a more than 600 day layoff due to multiple neck surgeries. The Bronco’s offense looked relatively feckless, but Manning and coach John Fox turned to a no-huddle offense that lead to major improvements.
• While Manning’s debut with the Bronco’s included his 400^th touchdown pass, in New Orleans Robert Griffin III threw the first two of his career helping the Redskins upset the favorite Saints 40-32. The score does not reflect the dominance the Redskins showed, holding a 3 score lead for much of the second half. Griffin was a strong 19-26 for 320 yards and the two touchdowns, adding 42 yards on the ground to help the Redskins pull off the massive upset.
• While RGIII’s debut was spectacular, fellow high draft pick Andrew Luck’s debut was  less stellar. Luck threw three interceptions and only one touchdown in the Colts 41-21 loss to the Chicago Bears. Bear’s quarterback Jay Cutler threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns, including 119 and one of those TDs, to recently acquired receiver Brandon Marshall.
• While not a debut, probably the most shocking quarterback performance of the opening weekend was that of Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets. The much maligned quarterback threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns, after failing to lead the first team offense to a touchdown in the first three preseason games. Aided by a small dose of Tim Tebow, the Jets rolled over the Buffalo Bills 48-28.
• There are two more games tonight as the Cincinnati Bengals take on the Baltimore Ravens and the San Diego Chargers take on the Oakland Raiders.

Biggest Upset Ever?

• Louisiana Monroe pulled of one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history by defeating the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday in Little Rock. Lead by quarterback Kolton Browning, and his 481 yards of total offense, the upstart Warhawks defeated Arkansas, previously ranked the #8 team in the country.
• Browning threw a 33 yard touchdown to Brent Leonard to tie the game with 47 seconds left, and then took care of the rest himself by running in a touchdown in overtime, after Arkansas had kicked a field goal, to win the game.
• Arkansas was dealt a blow when starting quarterback Tyler Wilson did not play in the second half after being continually pounded by Monroe. It was Louisiana Monroe's first victory over a ranked opponent.
• Arkansas dropped out of the top 25 rankings, the second biggest drop in the history of the rankings. Second only to Michigan's fall from #5 to unranked after losing to Appalachian State to kick off the 2007 season.

Weekend Football Preview

NFL

- Although the season has technically already begun with the defending Super Bowl champion Giants losing 24-17 to Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys, the real fun is yet to begin.  Every team plays this weekend (except for the 4 teams that play on Monday).
- The premium matchup of the weekend asks the question, 'What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?'  Most of the experts predicted that the 49ers supercharged defense would face off against the Packers electric offense in the NFC championship game last season, but the Giants beat both teams to take the NFC for themselves after a less than stellar season.  Now the two best teams in the NFC's regular season in 2011 start off 2012 with a bang.
- Another game that will be sure to draw plenty of attention is Peyton Manning's new team, the Denver Broncos going against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Even though Tim Tebow, now with the New York Jets, was the quarterback who led Denver to an upset over the Steelers in the playoffs last year, the Steelers will be sure to look for revenge.  And Tebow will have a chance to watch his old team and the man who replaced him this weekend and every other because strangely enough, the Jets and Broncos don't play a single game at the same time slot for the entire 2012 regular season.
- Other big games include:
1. Falcons at Chiefs.  Two likely playoff teams with the added intrigue of TE Tony Gonzalez, the all time career record holder in most categories, going back to Kansas City for the first time as a visitor.
2a/2b. Colts at Bears and Redskins at Saints.  Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III play their first meaningful professional games but both are on the road against quality squads.  If either of the two games is even close, it will probably take a stellar effort from the rookie QB's.
3. Bengals at Ravens.  The Bengals made the playoffs with a young roster last season but went 0-4 against the Steelers and Ravens.  If they're going to progress, they'll need to play better vs. those teams and they get a chance to do that right off the bat.


College Preview

- Unfortunately, early season schedules in the NCAA are dominated by matchups between big schools and small underdeveloped programs.  The big schools give a percentage of gate receipts to the small schools, who can make a much larger profit by doing so than they would by playing at home in front of much smaller crowds.  The trade off is that they almost never win, and can face embarrassing losses, such as Savannah State's 84-0 shellacking last week at the hands of Oklahoma State (Savannah St. didn't learn their lesson apparently, and play Florida St. this week).  They do occasionally deliver upsets though.
- In some of the few games between two legit programs, Missouri plays Georgia and Texas A&M plays Florida (the first SEC games ever for Missouri and Texas A&M), Nebraska plays UCLA, LSU plays Washington and Kansas State plays Miami. 
- Here are the AP and USA Today rankings, both of which have Alabama jumping up to #1 following their impressive win over Michigan last week.

NFL season begins, MLB race coming down to wire

Are you ready for some football?

- The NFL season kicks off tonight with the Dallas Cowboys going to New York to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Giants. This marks the first time the NFL season has kicked off on a Wednesday; the usual Thursday kickoff was bumped up a day due to President Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte on Thursday night.
- The Giants will begin the defense of their second Super Bowl title in the past 5 years led by quarterback Eli Manning, who last year claimed that he was as good as Tom Brady, then went out and did all he could to prove it, throwing for over 4'900 yards (his previous best in a season was 4'021) and winning his second Super Bowl MVP by beating Brady's Patriots.  Eli's stats are certainly helped by his duo of hyper-talented receivers, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz.
- The Cowboys, led by quarterback Tony Romo and linebacker Demarcus Ware are also very talented but have seemingly underachieved for years, only having won 1 playoff game since 1996. The Cowboys went on a spending spree this offseason to help upgrade their defensive backfield after Nicks and Cruz (among others) scorched the Cowboys last year (including one game where they had 25 catches for more than 500 yards).


AL East heating up

- The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 Wednesday night using home runs from B.J. Upton, Demond Jennings and Evan Longoria to beat the Yankees for the 11th time in 12 games in Tampa.  The loss moved the Yankees into a tie for first place with the Baltimore Orioles, who won 12-0 against the Toronto Blue Jays, who have seemingly given up on their season following the news that their superstar, Jose Bautista, would be out for the rest of the year with an injury. 
- This marks the first time since June that the Yankees were not in first place in the division by themselves, and the first time that the Orioles have been in this position this late in the year since the mid-90's.
- The Rays were facing a 10 1/2 game deficit on July 18th, but have been in this spot before, having erased a massive deficit to make the playoffs just last year, at the expense of the Boston Red Sox. 
- Since two teams from each league get wild card spots this year, it's possible that all three could make the playoffs but is very unlikely as teams like Oakland and the White Sox/Tigers will probably take a spot.  However, that just makes it all the more important to play well during the stretch and make it to the postseason, where anything can happen.