Monday October 30, 2006 Congratulations, Cardinals!
I would like to express my belated congratulations to the St Louis Cardinals. While I am a Royals fan myself - yes, I am not ashamed to admit it - I am pleased with their victory.While the poor play of Detroit obviously contributed to the Cardinals' victory, St Louis earned the title. Their pitching was impressive and, most importantly, players lower in the lineup stepped up and played well, obviating the need for their superstars to carry the team. This championship was truly a team effort.
Congrats, Cards! ( Oct 30 2006, 11:04:37 AM PST ) Permalink
Friday September 08, 2006 Steelers Start the Season with a Win
The Steelers start the season well, defeating the Miami Dophins 28-17, without their starting quarterback. It was by no means a perfect performance, but the Steelers were true to form, outrushing the Dolphins 143-38 and coming up with 2 key interceptions late in the game. It was also nice to see Heath Miller with over 100 yards receiving (even though some of those yards were the result of a blown call by the official). ( Sep 08 2006, 12:08:56 AM PDT ) Permalink
Tuesday March 29, 2005 Final Four Flop
For the first time since I started prognosticating on the NCAA Basketball Tournament, I failed to predict a single one of the teams to eventually reach the Final Four. I am now going to go hang my head in shame for a bit.
( Mar 29 2005, 08:26:58 AM PST )
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Saturday March 19, 2005 Two Final Four Picks Lose
2 of my 4 'Final Four' picks have been eliminated from the tournament. Wake Forest dropped a double OT game to West Virgina, 105-111. Kansas also lost - 63-64 to a 14th seeded Bucknell team that had previously never won a single NCAA Tournament game.
Hopefully, my other two Final Four picks, Duke and Oklahoma State, will play with a bit more heart.
( Mar 19 2005, 11:47:52 PM PST )
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Monday March 14, 2005 March Madness
Printable brackets for the 2005 Men's Division I NCAA Basketball tournament: here.
My picks for the Final Four:
- Chicago Regional: Oklahoma State
- Albuquerque Regional: Wake Forest
- Syracuse Regional: Kansas
- Austin Regional: Duke
( Mar 14 2005, 03:00:28 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]
Sunday February 20, 2005 Gordon Wins at Daytona
Jeff Gordon won his 3rd Daytona 500 today in a wild finish. Gordon needed a bit of a push from Jimmie Johnson to take the lead - the fourth lead change in the last nine laps - and then hung on for the win. It didn't hurt that Johnson continued to block Tony Stewart throughout the last laps either.
Kurt Busch, Little E, Scott Riggs, and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 5. In all, 4 Chevrolets finished in the top 5 - not surprising for a superspeedway race.
( Feb 20 2005, 11:59:14 PM PST )
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Sunday January 23, 2005 Steelers: 27 Patriots: 41
Congratulations to the New England Patriots. They came in with a brilliant game plan and were able to capitalize in big ways on a Steelers team that looked about as bad as they have all year. The Steelers fought hard, but they simply made too many inexcusable mistakes: Roethlisberger often playing like Kordell Stewart used to, blown coverages in the secondary, and bonehead penalties on defense to extend drives. When you play like crap, you deserve to lose.
Congratulations, also, to the Steelers for the terrific regular season. Unfortunately, the Steelers looked as bad in the postseason as they looked good in the regular season.
( Jan 23 2005, 06:39:16 PM PST )
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Saturday January 15, 2005 Steelers: 20 Jets: 17
Whoa! I am not sure my heart can take another game like this one. Thanks to a couple of shanked field goals, the Steelers managed to squeak by and land themselves in the AFC Championship Game. This was definitely a bad game for Roethlisberger to play like a rookie.
If the Steelers are going to make it to the Superbowl, they are going to have to play much better next week.
( Jan 15 2005, 05:42:00 PM PST )
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Thursday January 06, 2005 Noodlin' Legalized in Missouri
Thanks to Rama's blog entry about noodling, I am now aware that Missouri - the state I still call home even though I am a resident of Colorado - plans to relegalize this highly underappreciated form of fishing. I know a number of folks back home - one or two might even boast the 'Taylor' surname - that will be glad to hear that they can devote their full attention to pulling that lunker out of its hole rather than keeping one eye out for the game warden. :-)
( Jan 06 2005, 01:03:38 PM PST )
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Wednesday January 05, 2005 Boggs, Sandberg, and Roethlisberger
A couple of sports award-related news items of interest (to me):
Wade Boggs and Ryne Sandberg were elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. I fondly remember following the careers of these fine players - both of which played their first full season in the majors in 1982.
Ben Roethlisberger was unanimously named the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. This is an award I anticipated (and blogged about on 11/06/04).
( Jan 05 2005, 11:32:06 AM PST )
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Sunday January 02, 2005 Steelers: 29 Bills: 24
Wow. The Steelers, playing with backup players in some key positions, managed to defeat the Bills, a streaking team playing at home in a 'must-win' situation. Willie Parker, the team's 4th string running back, racked up over 100 yards against the Bills - a testament, IMHO, to the quality of the offensive line.
It would have been nice to have seen an undefeated season, but I will settle for a respectable 15-1 (particularly since two of the wins came against New England and Philadelphia).
On to the playoffs!
( Jan 02 2005, 08:17:55 PM PST )
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Sunday December 26, 2004 Steelers: 20 Ravens: 7
With today's victory, the Steelers have clinched home field advantage throughout the playoffs and a first round bye. Hopefully, this will afford the Steelers' injured starters an opportunity to get well.
I found the game particularly gratifying as it allowed the Steelers a chance to avenge their only loss of the season, a second week 30-13 trouncing by the Ravens.
( Dec 26 2004, 02:05:26 PM PST )
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Saturday December 18, 2004 Steelers: 33 Giants: 30
The Steelers established a new team record today with 12 consecutive wins - all started by Ben Roethlisberger. Impressively, they won today without starters Duce Staley and Plaxico Buress.
Sunday December 12, 2004 Steelers: 17 Jets: 6
Another ugly game - another win (extending the current winning streak to 11 games). Importantly, the Steelers locked up the AFC North title for the third time in the last four years.
Jerome Bettis managed to surpass the 13000 yard rushing mark during the game and threw his third career touchdown pass. Bettis has been key to the Steelers' success this year, a surprising development for those folks that believe he is a 'has been'.
( Dec 12 2004, 09:06:40 AM PST )
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Sunday December 05, 2004 Steelers: 17 Jaguars: 16
The Steelers continue to roll along. This game wasn't pretty, but I found it very encouraging. This game proved that the Steelers are capabale of finding ways to win close games - something they have not been able to do consistently over the last couple of years.
I suspect that Ben Roethlisberger will garner his eighth NFL Rookie of the Week honor as a result of his performance - particularly the late drive - in this game.
( Dec 05 2004, 07:45:24 PM PST )
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