December 16th update

Paul on the Move, Howard to Follow?

• As widely reported on Sportico and elsewhere, New Orleans Hornets Point Guard Chris Paul has been actively shopped around the NBA, and after a very questionable move by the NBA was finally dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers. In return, the Hornets would acquire 3 players and a first round draft pick.
• We're of a mixed opinion on Sportico as to who made out better in this deal. One of us feel that this move makes the Clippers markedly better, pairing arguably the best pure point guard and the best young big man, in Blake Griffin. The other one feels that the Clippers gave up too much, including superstar-in-the-making Eric Gordon and former All-Star and future Rogaine spokesman Chris Kaman. The lowly Clippers are looking to make moves to take themselves from the basement of the NBA to major basketball relevance. Even more important, it pushes the “big brother” Lakers to the back page of the Los Angeles newspapers (or websites, since who reads newspapers anymore?).
• Orlando Magic Center Dwight Howard is the last remaining major piece that is unsettled. It is widely assumed that he will not resign with the Magic next summer when he is a free agent, so it would behoove the Magic to trade him and receive something in return. It was reported that there was a deal close to completion with the New Jersey Nets before that fell apart. The Magic have claimed that Howard is no longer on the table, but that remains to be seen as this story seems to change every day.

NFL Week 15 Story Lines

• First Saturday game of the year: Dallas Cowboys at Tampa Bay Buccaneers – this game would not be of any note if not for the fact that it is the first Saturday game of the year and the fact that no NFC East team is playing particularly well. The Bucs are coming off an awful stretch where they have lost 7 straight games, and have looked even worse than you'd expect while doing it. The Cowboys seem to be trying their hardest to fall out of the playoff race but continue to share first place with the New York Giants at 7-6.
• Sunday Night Brings Intrigue: Baltimore Ravens at San Diego Chargers – the Ravens are known as a team that plays to the level of its competition; that is they play badly against bad teams, and well against good ones. The problem with the Chargers is that nobody’s quite sure which category they fall in. A supremely talented team (that generally plays very well in December) the Chargers are 6-7 (including losing 6 straight earlier in the season). This game pits the historically great Ravens defense against Philip Rivers and the always potent Chargers offense.
• Monday Night Showdown: Pittsburgh Steelers at San Francisco 49ers – After a bunch of less than interesting MNF games, this one should be good. Both teams are licking their wounds a bit as the Steelers stud QB Ben Roethlisburger is nursing a high ankle sprain that could cause him to not play, and the 49ers are coming off a stretch where they have lost 2 of their past 3 games. While they still hold a commanding division lead, the 49ers need to pick it up before the playoffs start, a demanding win against the Steelers could prove they are one of the teams to beat.

October 3rd update

Incredible comebacks top Week 4 of NFL storylines

Generally speaking, if you're down by 20 or more in the NFL in the second half, you're likely to be going home with your tail between your legs. But this season has shown that no lead is safe (and we're not just talking about football) and no game should be phoned in until the clock reads o.oo.
• 2 weeks after the Cowboys lost a game where they had a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter for the first time in team history, they managed to lose to the still undefeated Lions despite the fact that they led 27-3 in the 3rd quarter, assisted by 3 second half interceptions by Tony Romo.
• The Eagles, who many thought would be far and away the best team in the NFC this season, led the 49ers 23-3 but found a way to lose despite a phenomenal game from a banged-up Michael Vick, who snapped at reporters afterwards. The Eagles are now 1-3 while the 49ers are 3-1.
• The Giants trailed the Arizona Cardinals by 10 with less than 4 minutes but took advantage of a controversial call that negated what looked to be an obvious fumble by WR Victor Cruz. On the very next play, Eli Manning threw a TD pass to pass catching machine Hakeem Nicks and the Giants would hold on to win.
• The undefeated Buffalo Bills diverted from their winning strategy of the past 2 weeks, opting not to fall behind by 18+ points and then come back to win as they had in each of those 2 games. Instead, they led the Cincinnati Bengals for most of the game but lost on a late FG 23-20.
• It's only appropriate that the last game to be played this week is Indianapolis at Tampa Bay on Monday Night because the last time these teams played in Tampa (OK, let's see if you've been paying attention to theme of the week so far) the Colts made one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, scoring 21 points in the final 4 minutes to send the game into overtime where they won, 38-35.
• In non comeback-related news, Aaron Rodgers had a "6-Pack" of TDs (4 throwing and 2 rushing) in an offensive explosion for the defending Super Bowl Champions who destroyed the Broncos and the Ravens forced 4 fumbles from Mark Sanchez and scored 3 defensive Touchdowns (which surprisingly, they've never done before) against an overmatched Jets offense. The 34-17 score looked closer than it was simply because the Jets had 2 return touchdowns of their own, one on a kickoff and one on an interception. It was the first game in NFL history with more than 4 return touchdowns.


Big games don't live up to hype in NCAA

• There were a number of big games in the NCAA in week 5, but many of them were blowouts that left TV audiences disinterested. There were 3 matchups that involved 2 top-13 teams and none of them ended closer than 20 points.
• In those 3 games, the Alabama Crimson Tide destroyed Florida 38-10, Clemson continued their terrific run by beating Virginia Tech 23-3 and establishing themselves as a potential title contender and Wisconsin made Nebraska look like they don't belong in the Big 10 (Or the "Legends and Leaders" as they now want the conference to be called) by demolishing the Cornhuskers 48-17.
• Other Big 12 teams had a rough day as Texas A&M lost another big lead, this time to Arkansas in a 42-38 loss, #15 Baylor lost a late lead, losing a heartbreaker to Kansas State 36-35 and Oklahoma dropped from #2 to #3 in the AP poll despite a 56 point trouncing of Ball State because the voters were more impressed by the opposition that Alabama faced.