February 27th update

Daytona 500 rained out for first time

• The Super Bowl of Nascar, the Daytona 500, was supposed to take place Sunday, marking the beginning of the Nascar season, but the rain came down too hard, making it impossible for Nascar officials to clear the track up in time to start the race. The race will commence at Noon on this afternoon instead, making it much tougher for fans to catch the race.
• It was the first time in more than 50 years that the race had been postponed, and Jimmie Johnson summed it up with a good quote saying, I guess the deal [Nascar owner] had with the man upstairs was put on hold this year.
• It will still be a great race with lots of fanfare but there will be significantly fewer in the stands and it's expected that teams will have a rough time getting all the way across the country to Phoenix by Thursday for the next race since they would generally have left Sunday night but instead will have to leave late Monday afternoon. Carl Edwards, who barely lost the 2011 championship to Tony Stewart, has the pole (or leading) position when the race starts.


West Wins Climactic All-Star Game

• The Western Conference won the 2012 NBA All-Star game 152-149, the highest ever combined score in an All-Star game. Both Kevin Durant (for the West) and LeBron James (for the East) scored 36 points leading their respective teams. Durant won the MVP, most likely just because his side won. This game, that usually focuses on offense, saw much better defense being played towards the very end, especially by the East.
• The West had a major lead most of the game, and had a 20 point lead in the 4th quarter, but Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony and James led a furious comeback and the East had the ball with 16 seconds left and a chance to tie or take the lead. Deron Williams missed a 3-point shot that would have given the East a lead and then Wade missed a last second 3 that would have tied the game at the buzzer.
• Kobe Bryant scored 27 points to move past Michael Jordan for first place on the All Star Scoring list. His 14 All-Star Game appearances is equal to Jordan as well, but still short of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record 19 games.
• On Saturday, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Love won the 3-point contest, and Utah Jazz forward Jeremy Evans won the Slam Dunk Competition.


As we approach March Madness in College Hoops, Sportico will be recapping the NCAA season.

Big Weekend in the Big 12

• Having two of the top 4 teams in the country (at least as of this weekend) the Big 12 arguably has the best chance to win a National Championship.
• We have previously written about Baylor, but the Bears have slipped recently allowing for Missouri and Kansas to jump to the top of the Conference. This past weekend these two teams played for the second time this season. Kansas avenged an earlier season loss defeating Missouri 87-86 in overtime. All three of these teams have good chances to make it through the second weekend of the NCAA tournament, and send at least one representative to the Final Four in New Orleans.
• While Kansas has been a national power for years on the College Basketball scene, Missouri is a relative newcomer, entering the top ranks for the first time in a long while. This success is built on an explosive offense and a very experienced roster. Of the 5 players who play the most, 4 are Seniors and the other is a Junior.

November 20th update

BCS rocked by upsets

• Take what you thought about the BCS title picture after last week and throw it out the window because everything has changed now.
• #2 Oklahoma State only had a gimmie game against unranked Iowa State and a tough game against Oklahoma remaining before they made it to the national championship game (There's not a Big 12 championship game anymore because you're required to have 12 teams to host a conference title game and there are only 11 in the poorly named Big 12 now. Nebraska left for the Big 10, which now has 12. College football is great, isn't it?) But OK State lost the gimmie 37-31 in 2OT to Iowa State after giving up a 17 point lead and dropped to #4 in the polls. Yet another example of why playing games is a better way of determining which teams are better than simply letting sportswriters vote because nobody but the mothers of Iowa State players would have voted for the Cyclones to defeat Oklahoma State.
• The tough opponent that Oklahoma State was to play next week also lost as Oklahoma went down to Baylor and dynamic QB Robert Griffin III (who threw the game winning touchdown with just seconds remaining).
• Additionally, a week after beating undefeated Stanford, Oregon lost on a relatively short missed field goal as time expired (just as Boise State did last week) and Clemson got obliterated by N.C. State. If you can't keep track of all the carnage, here's what's left after all the dust has settled: Three of the six teams in the SEC West are now ranked #1, #2 and #3 as Arkansas jumped up to #3 behind LSU and Alabama. Arkansas sadly has to deal with the extremely sudden and mysterious death of freshman TE Garrett Uekman who passed away in his dorm Sunday. Arkansas will certainly be thinking of him next week as they take on #1 LSU for a possible shot in the title game. But we say possible because no one really knows what will happen. It all depends on the voters and the computer algorithms which is why we believe that the NCAA football system needs a major overhaul.


NFL week 11 recap

• The NFC North continued its impressive run as the Lions, Packers and Bears all beat solid teams on Sunday. The Bears beat perennial power (but currently struggling) San Diego Chargers 31-20 to go to 7-3 but they may have lost QB Jay Cutler for the year due to a broken thumb on his throwing hand. The Lions were down 24-7 to the Carolina Newtons... err Panthers, but Matthew Stafford caught fire and led the Lions to a 49-35 win. The Green Bay Packers were in a dogfight with the Tampa Bay Bucs but Aaron Rodgers and the mind-boggling Packers offense again proved to be too much and the Packers won 35-26 to go to 10-0.
• The only other NFL team with less than 3 losses is the 9-1 San Francisco 49ers who won easily over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday. They play against the Ravens this Thursday in a matchup of Harbaughs (rookie coach Jim coaches the Niners, brother John coaches the Ravens) and can actually clinch the division next week if they win and Seattle loses.
• Those same Ravens won a big game against the Bengals to take first place in the AFC North and go to 7-3 and the New England Patriots will look to do the same in the AFC East on Monday night against the injured but gritty Kansas City Chiefs.


Stewart wins NASCAR sprint for the Chase

• In one of the most tightly contested NASCAR finales ever, Tony Stewart won at Homestead in pouring rain and with a hole in his vehicle's grill to edge Carl Edwards for his third title and officially end Jimmie Johnson's run of 5 in a row. Stewart actually finished tied in points with Edwards, who finished second and led the most laps but the tiebreaker is total wins in a season, which Stewart dominated, 5 to 1.
• Edwards was disappointed but held his head high after the race, saying "This night is about Tony Stewart. Those guys rose to the occasion and they beat us fair and square. That is all I had. We came here and sat on the pole, led the most laps and Tony still managed. That’s it.

November 18th update

All's not Fine in Syracuse

• With the airwaves still churning out news about Joe Paterno and Penn State, it looks like the NCAA has another possible child abuse scandal to deal with. Longtime assistant coach of the Syracuse basketball team Bernie Fine has been placed on administrative leave after it was alleged that he sexually assaulted a former ballboy for more than a decade starting in 1983. The ballboy, now 39 years old, said that he never told head coach Jim Boeheim about the incidents.
• Apparently Post-Standard investigated the report back in 2003 but could not find enough evidence to continue with the story. As this story is just breaking, it's hard to say what happened or who knew what, however we will strive to maintain coverage as it becomes available.
• Regardless of what happens, the exposure from stories like these is good for the public consciousness, as it may shock administrators and other people in positions of power in schools and other institutions across the country, forcing them to take a more proactive stance against child abuse. Here's hoping we don't have to hear about any more stories like this any time soon.


NASCAR Championship Down to Two

• The NASCAR “Chase for the Sprint Cup” comes down to this weekend’s final race of the season where The Ford 400 in Miami will basically be a two man show. While 40+ drivers will actually be in the race, all eyes will be on Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart.
• Edwards leads Stewart by 3 points in the standings with third place being 51 points behind Edwards. Stewart was the last driver not named Jimmie Johnson to win the NASCAR championship (in 2005). Using NASCAR’s complicated scoring system, it is a toss-up to know who will win the championship, or even who has won it if you were to watch the race without hearing any commentary.
• This championship format, which was introduced in 2008, was created in an effort to make the NASCAR championship as heart stopping and exciting as the Super Bowl and other major sports' playoff systems. NASCAR Chairman Bill France is very excited that his brainchild is working so well. As NASCAR tries to break into the top-4 American sports, a winner-take-all championship race will definitely help.

Weekend Football Story Lines

• NFL Game of the Week: Philadelphia Eagles at New York Giants – The Giants host the Eagles on Sunday Night. The struggling “Dream Team” Eagles coming off of an embarrassing loss to the Arizona Cardinals are in desperate need of a victory as they have started the season 3-6. Considering the talent they had before the season and then the amount they spent this offseason to add even more talent, this record is not acceptable. Ever the thoughtful/rational fans, Philadelphians are up in arms to fire Eagles coach Andy Reid, who is the longest tenured coach in the NFL.
• Battle in the Big 12: #13 Kansas State Wildcats at #22 Texas Longhorn – Texas, which started the season red hot (winning their first four games) has struggled recently (losing 3 of their last 5). Kansas State has struggled against the state of Oklahoma (losing to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) but is perfect against the rest of the country and looks to maintain any chance they have at winning the Big 12.
• NCAA Game of the Week: #5 Oklahoma Sooners against #22 Baylor Bears – The matchup of two very different superstar Quarterbacks. Both Sooners Quarterback Landry Jones (a traditional pocket passer) and Bears Quarterback Robert Griffin III (think Michael Vick but with a more accurate arm) will be playing in the NFL next year, assuming Griffin doesn’t pursue his very legitimate shot as a professional track star. Oklahoma, hopes a few teams in front them will stumble and are just hoping for a chance to play in another National Championship game. They'll get a chance to help themselves out a little as they still get to play #2 Oklahoma State.