January 29th update

Azarenka, Djokovic win down under

• The Australian Open came to a conclusion this weekend with Victoria Azarenka and Novak Djokovic winning the women’s and men’s titles in matches that could not have been any more different.
• Djokovic won his fifth Grand Slam Championship defeating Rafael Nadal in 5 sets in an epic back and forth battle that lasted nearly 6 hours, and a full hour longer than the longest final in any grand slam tournament in the open era. It was also longer than any Australian Open event ever and the fact that both players were still playing well by the end is a tribute to how incredible these two athletes are.
• It was not a perfect match by any means by Novak, and he had 69 unforced errors, but overcame a 4-2 disadvantage in the 5th set to win 7-5. Djokovic has beaten Nadal 7 times in a row now and has won the last two Grand Slam events (Wimbledon and US Open). He will look to be the first person since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam Championships, at the same time, at the French Open in May, which would also give Djokovic the 'Career Grand Slam' or wins in all four events.
• The main court at the Australian Open is named after Laver, who was also at the trophy presentation.
• The women's final was not nearly as memorable as Azarenka defeated former world #1 Maria Sharapova soundly, preventing her from retaking that top position. Azarenka won 12 of the last 13 games of the match, and sent Sharapova home with a bitter taste in her mouth following a very solid run until the finals. It was Azarenka’s first Grand Slam Championship. Despite being ranked #3 in the world before the tournament, Azarenka will be ranked #1 in the world when the new rankings come out (Sharapova was #4 but also would have moved to #1 with a win).


Two Sports Hold All-Star Games

• The NHL All-Star game was Sunday afternoon in Ottawa. Under the rules the NHL implemented a few years ago, the teams were named after Captains (the massive Zdeno Chara and Daniel Alfredsson). The All-Stars were selected throughout the first half of the season, but on Thursday Chara and Alfredsson pretended they were in the backyard and drafted teams. Team Chara won 12 – 9.
• Even with MVP Marion Gaborik and Chara himself making noise (Gaborik for scoring 3 goals and had an assists, Chara scored the game winning goal), the biggest story was two players who were missing. Sidney Crosby is still out due to issues from a concussion he had last year, and Alexander Ovechkin took himself out of the game after he was suspended for an illegal hit.
• Brandon Marshall led the AFC to a 59-41 victory in the highest scoring Pro Bowl ever (the NFL’s All-Star Game). Marshall had 5 catches, including a few that will be on the highlight reels for years and had 4 touchdowns. This was fitting for a year in which lots of offensive records were bested. This generally unenthusiastic game was actually pretty tense at a few times, with a few big hits dealt out, especially by the AFC team.
• The NFC's Larry Fitzgerald had a stellar game himself, catching 6 passes for 111 yards and 3 touchdowns.

September 14th update

Outstanding Individual Performances on MNF

• Monday Night Football is a staple of many schedules every fall but few games match the outstanding performances put forth this past Monday. The New England Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins 38-24 on the back of a scintillating day by quarterback Tom Brady. Brady threw for 517 yards, which is the 4th most since the merger of the AFL and NFL (which is widely considered the beginning of modern football).
• Assisting him in this mark was wide receiver Wes Welker. Welker caught a 15 yard pass and ran all the way to the end zone. The remarkable part of this is that the play started on the opposition’s 1 yard line. This ties the record for the longest play from scrimmage at 99-yards. Obviously this record cannot be broken (as a football field is 100 yards), but this feat has only been accomplished only 11 times. Interestingly enough, one of those times was by quarterback Ron Jaworski, who is now a TV commentator and was commenting on this game.
• Not only did Brady have an astonishing game, but Chad Henne, the Dolphins QB, threw for 416 yards which combined with Brady's total set an NFL all-time record for passing yards in a game. Those weren't the only passing records, check it out here if you want to read about the rest.
• The final record tied was during the other Monday Night game (there are 2 Monday Night games during the first week of the season). The Oakland Raiders defeated the Denver Broncos 23-20 in Denver but the real news was made by Oakland kicker Sebastian Janikowski who hit a 63-yard field goal, becoming the third player in NFL history to make one from that long. Interestingly enough the second time this mark was achieved was also in Denver (the ball can go farther in the thinner air of the Mile-High City) by Jason Elam. The record was initially set by Tom Dempsey, who had his own aid while kicking the record setter in 1970.


Djokovic wins another major

• Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal on Monday's U.S. Open final, winning his third major of the year. Djokovic has already set a record for winnings in a calendar year with $10.6 million and still has a couple months left to increase that total before the tennis season ends.
• John McEnroe is calling it the greatest season ever and many agree with him. One person who stopped just short of that is his brother, Patrick McEnroe, a tennis analyst who said: “Just as a single season, I think Djokovic’s season is the best since Rod Laver in 1969.” Laver, who the Australian Open's courts are named after, was the last to win all 4 majors in the same calendar year.
• Even though Djokovic lost to Roger Federer in the French Open, what he's done this year is staggering. He's defeated Rafael Nadal 6 times in a row, all in finals, including the shellacking at the U.S. Open where Nadal had only lost a handful of sets over the past 2 years. Facing a deficit in the 5th set against Roger Federer, Djokovic returned a serve hard across the court, narrowly landing the ball inside the line despite the fact that if he'd missed, the match would be over. Federer, one of the greatest tennis players ever, was shaken and eventually lost the match.
• A couple years ago Nadal was seemingly taking the mantel from Federer with Djokovic a distant 3rd. But after this season the demonstrative Serb has put the entire tennis world in his rear view mirror (all while pulling out some funky dance moves).


Wednesday Spotlight: Justin Verlander

• Its one of the most interesting debates in baseball; Should a pitcher be allowed to win the Most Valuable Player award? Individual awards matter more in baseball than perhaps in any of the other sports, and the MVP award is the cream of the crop. There is another award specifically for pitchers called the Cy Young award (named after the man with the most wins as a pitcher). The arguments are plentiful, but generally the MVP is won by a position player and not by a pitcher.
• This year, there is a serious argument for a pitcher to be named an MVP for the first time in almost 20 years. Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers has been on an absolute tear. He has a chance to be the first pitcher to win 25 games in a single season since 1990 on a team that is likely to win their division. Verlander has been unhittable at times this year (literally), and has put the Tigers on his back. One of the things helping him is the fact that the rest of his team isnt really that good, especially the other pitchers, yet his team is probably going to win their division.
• Another factor helping Verlander is the lack of another credible candidate. Many other players have arguments, but without delving into them, all of them have major chinks in the armor. I will not go into the incredible stat line Verlander has put up this year, but if you are curious as to the argument for him winning MVP, you can read it here.

August 24th update

Winningest NCAA Basketball Coach Diagnosed with Dementia

• University of Tennessee women’s basketball coach Pat Summitt was diagnosed with early onset dementia early this summer. Summitt has a career record of 1071-199, making her the winningest head coach in NCAA history. She has been a trailblazer in women’s basketball coaching since 1974.
• Summitt, who has been known for her no nonsense style of coaching, has coached some of the greatest players in women’s basketball including Candace Parker, Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings. She led the Volunteers to 15 SEC Conference Championships and 8 National Championships.
• Summitt has pledged to continue to coaching through this dementia. She has claimed this year would not be a “pity party.” Her incoming recruiting class has been ranked number 1 in the nation by ESPN and Summitt is looking for her first championship since 2008 before Parker left UT. She will do it while fighting an even bigger battle, but with the same courage and determination that lead her to almost 1100 victories.

Wednesday spotlight: Novak Djokovic

• Novak Djokovic is having a pretty decent season. OK, that's a bit of understated sarcasm; Djokovic is having a historic season, perhaps the greatest ever. Despite having to forfeit and leave the finals of his most recent tournament with a minor injury, he's a mere 57-2 with his only other loss coming in the semifinals of the French Open to Roger Federer.

• With about a week to rest before the U.S. Open the question will be does the 24 year old Djokovic have enough energy to continue to play at this pace when the other top players in the game will be bringing their A game or is he too tired from a year of domination?

• One person who certainly hopes Novak will not be up to par is Rafael Nadal, the man who Novak replaced as the world's #1 player. Djokovic has defeated Nadal is 5 consecutive matches (all in finals) including a 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3 victory in the Wimbledon finale.

July 6th update

Wednesday spotlight: Jeter nears Major Milestone

- Derek Jeter has had a pretty nice career. He has been part of 5 World Series championships and 12 All-Star games. He's won 5 Gold Gloves Awards (given to the best defensive player at his position) and 4 Silver Slugger Awards (given to the best offensive player at his position). He was the 1996 Rookie of the year, the 2000 World Series Most Valuable Player, and the 2009 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. And now the Yankee superstar is coming very close to becoming just the 28th player ever to get 3'000 hits, one of the most elite milestones for a baseball player.
- The long time shortstop already has more hits than any Yankee and is now hoping to become the first player to make it to 3,000 since Craig Biggio in June of 2007.
- Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada have been teammates longer than any 3 players in the history of any of the big 4 American sports (Baseball, Football, Basketball and Hockey).
- At least one of us here at Sportico hopes Jeter plays until he patrols the field in a walker, and bats with his wooden cane instead of a bat. He has had a long list of celebrity beaus (including Jessica Kelly and Mariah Carey), and has most recently been linked to actress Minka Kelly to whom he is engaged. He is also worked for years with his “Turn 2 Foundation” to help teenagers fight the influences of alcohol and drugs.


Djokovic Takes Wimbledon and World #1 Ranking

- Serbian-born Novak Djokovic bested Rafael Nadal for his third major and rose to the world number 1 ranking. This is the first time since February of 2004 somebody other than Nadal or Roger Federer has been #1 in the world.
- Djokovic is on enjoying a fantastic year having gone 48-1 this year, with his only loss being in the quarterfinal of the French Open. Djokovic also won the Australian Open, and will be the top seed going into the US Open (which starts August 29th)
- On the women's side, Petra Kvitova became the next in a long line of champions with difficult to pronounce names over the past few years, defeating Maria Sharapova in the finals. It was Kvitova’s first major and interestingly enough it was very similar to the way Sharapova won her first major. Being a tall left-hander from the Czech Republic, Kvitova has drawn many comparisons to Martina Navratilova, the greatest champion in women’s tennis history.


MLB All-Stars Announced

- On Sunday, Major League Baseball released the results of their fan-chosen All-Stars. As always there are players on the squad who experts believe should not be, and those left off the team who experts believe should be on. Unsurprisingly, 4 Yankees, and somewhat more surprisingly, 3 Milwaukee Brewers made the starting lineup for their respective leagues. *Note this is only surprising because Milwaukee is a small market and generally gets less votes, the players themselves probably deserve to start moreso than their Yankee counterparts.*
- The All-Star Game matches up the “best” players from each of the two leagues in Major League Baseball (the American League and the National League). Fans vote for the All-Star Game starters and the managers from the previous year’s world series manages his respective league’s team and gets to select the bench players.
- By rule, each team in baseball must be represented in the All-Star game by at least one player. Additionally, the league represented by the winner of the game gets home field advantage in the best of 7 World Series, a recent twist that no sport other than baseball employs.
- There's still one spot per league to be determined, as 5 players from each league will be competing for the final spot in another vote. Check it out here until Thursday at 4 pm at which point that vote will end.