The Weekend That Was...All Sports All of the Time
Michael Adams & Karlos Dansby - Adams & Dansby became the unlikely defensive heroes in a historic offensive shootout as the Arizona Cardinals advanced past the Green Bay Packers in overtime. In a game which featured a playoff-setting 96 points, the two teams combined for 62 first downs, 778 passing yards, and 12 touchdowns. Facing a 3rd and 6 on the first series of OT, Packers' quarterback Aaron Rodgers was sacked and stripped by Adams. As the ball floated through the air, Dansby "made a play on the ball" and rumbled the 17 yards for the decisive touchdown. The NFL needed this kind of game to talk about on Monday morning because up until then the weekend slate of games had been anti-climatic.
Pete Carroll - Over the weekend, Carroll agreed to jump ship from the comfy confines of Southern Cal (and supposedly a beach house with a coed in Malibu) to the rainy northwest in Seattle. Many believe that Carroll is getting out of Dodge before the NCAA comes down hard on his program for rules violations and infractions. Others point to a burning desire in Carroll to prove himself as a coach capable of success at the highest levels. Like many college coaches who failed in the NFL (Holtz, Spurrier, Petrino, et al), Carroll had been tagged that he wasn't a good enough coach for the pro ranks. Whatever the reason, Carroll leaves behind a seemingly ideal life in a city without a pro team where he was virtually king.
Skylar McBee - The Tennessee walk-on hit a three-pointer from the corner as the shot clock expired to put the final nail in the upset victory over #1 Kansas. Coming on the heels of a tumultuous week which saw coach Bruce Pearl dismiss one player and suspend three others, many didn't give the Vols much of a chance even though the game was being played in Knoxville. Listen to Pearl after the game talk about McBee's shot while ripping the scholarship players in trouble - - "McBee's shot was worth how many hours in the gym?" Pearl said. "When other kids were doing everything else, you could see McBee in the gym practicing all night long. It paid off -- the beautiful thing about sports."
Aroldis Chapman - Reports have surfaced that Chapman, a 22-year old Cuban defector, signed a 5-year, $30M deal with the Cincinnati Reds. Many thought of Chapman as the wild card of baseball's free agent class; and the Reds shocked almost everyone by outbidding the Angels and Red Sox for his services. Unfortunately for Chapman, if the middling Reds are committing that much money they are going to expect him to contribute and produce from the beginning. Chapman's development will also be under the supervision of Reds' manager Dusty Baker who has a reputation for burning out talented young arms (see Exhibits 1 & 2: Wood, Kerry and Prior, Mark).
Bill Simmons - The Sports Guy took it on the chin this weekend. Not only did his beloved Patriots get eliminated from the playoffs in a shellacking at home, but Simmons was also an astounding 0-4 on his NFL picks (he wasn't alone at the WWL in taking a goose egg on the weekend as Jaworski also went winless). And normally I wouldn't be so hard on the ol' Sports Guy as many people struggled this week (including our own Donnie Douche' going 1-3), but Simmons devoted over 5,000 words in his Friday column on ESPN.com laying out six revelations he learned in the last 10 years that "should have improved (his) ability to pick this weekend's playoff games". Needless to say, they didn't. When we pick games here on DSB, we don't take ourselves too seriously and our analysis is very tongue-in-cheek. When Simmons picks games, he's not just pretending to be the next Jimmy the Greek...he believes he is.Bonus shout out this week to PJ's dad, Just Joe, who hung out with the DSB boys this Sunday watching the NFL playoffs. Drinking Yuengling and regaling us with countless, fabulous stories of his youth, Just Joe quickly earned a spot at our weekly Sunday outing. You sir are welcome to join us anytime. Many of you are aware of ESPN's latest documentary project, 30 for 30, which is great but it doesn't hold a candle to Just Joe's personal 30 for 30.
Thanks for coming and suckling Daddy's Sugar Ball...
Posted by Max Power at 1/11/2010 1:46 PM 
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Skylar McBee Aroldis Chapman Pete Carroll Bill Simmons Michael Adams Karlos Dansby Sports Guy
Categories: uncategorized
Tags: Skylar McBee Aroldis Chapman Pete Carroll Bill Simmons Michael Adams Karlos Dansby Sports Guy
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