If You Look Closely, The Big Ten Expansion is Simple
December 20th, 2009 by Adam Lindemer No comments »Losing Henry: Chad Ochocinco Drops Pride, Cries; Bengals Season Rolls On
December 20th, 2009 by Denton Ramsey No comments »It’s times like these when people realize that life is about a lot more than what occurs in sports.
Granted, Chris Henry had his share of issues off the field of play, but his passing is still a tragic event and has shaken the Cincinnati Bengals football team to the very core.
When you have obvious egocentric guys like Chad Ochocinco on your team, and even he is drying tears from his eyes while donning Henry’s jersey at a practice following his tragic death, that hits home.
In fact, the latest news hitting the wire is that Ochocinco even plans to wear Henry’s No. 15 jersey on Sunday (regardless of whether he gets fined).
My big question on the NFL possibly fining Ochocinco is this: will the charge come against the receiver for the right reason?
I’m pretty sure Ochocinco wearing No. 15 on Sunday would be a very humble sign and honor, especially coming from someone like him (the latest news is that the NFL Players Association will be paying for the fine).
However, I digress.
Unfortunately, the latest sports news has been anything but filled with Happy Holiday spirits; instead, we’ve witnessed a disastrous fall from grace and looming divorce, and now the death of a young athlete who appeared to be turning his life around.
December’s news has been as cold as the weather outside, and Henry’s passing goes right along with that.
Just the day before Henry’s fall from the back of his fiancee’s pickup truck, the two of them were looking at wedding rings and were planning on having a happy family life together.
Then, the news we’ve all heard: an argument that leads to Henry jumping in the back of his fiancee’s truck and eventually falling out the back before being taken to a local hospital and dying the next day.
Just 26 years old, Henry was way too young to go; but as many of us already know, that’s life and it’s something we don’t have control over.
Now, the Bengals must try their hardest to get regrouped and refocused on playing football, and dedicating the remainder of the season to Henry (along with an assistant coach’s wife who also died earlier this season).
The Bengals have been hit with more than their share of hard times this year, and it’s hard not to throw support their way as the team aims to continue to focus on playing football.
Merry Christmas, Cincinnati Bengals; may 2010 be a blessing to your entire team!
Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at denton.ramsey@gmail.com
NFL Week 15 Predictions
December 20th, 2009 by Bobby Lewis No comments »Last week's record: 14-2
Overall record: 140-68
Lock of the Week: 11-for-14
Indianapolis (13-0) @ Jacksonville (7-6): Obviously this was written well after this game's conclusion, but I had Indy winning a close, low-scoring game. I didn't think it would be the shootout that it was.
Dallas (8-5) @ New Orleans (13-0): There's no reason why Dallas' December troubles should end here. Lance Moore will be returning for the Saints, which means more four-receiver sets that Dallas will not stop. The Cowboys may keep it close because of how slowly the Saints can start out, but the game will become a blowout in the third quarter.
New Orleans wins, 40-20
New England (8-5) @ Buffalo (5-8): If the Pats come out and take care of business like they should, they will win relatively easily. If they play like they did last week or even how they did in Week One, they may take a tough loss. Expect a little bit of both to happen, resulting in the road team getting the win.
New England wins, 24-13
Arizona (8-5) @ Detroit (2-11): Both teams are coming off of pretty bad losses, but one of these teams is much better than the other. All good teams have off weeks, and last week was Arizona's. They won't have another game like that.
Arizona wins, 35-17
Miami (7-6) @ Tennessee (6-7): Vince Young's status is key in this game. The Titans still have an outside chance at the playoffs, and they need Young if they're going to sweep the rest of their games. Kerry Collins was pretty bad as a starter this season, and the Dolphins are a good enough team to take advantage of bad decisions. Either way, the Dolphins pick up the win.
Miami wins, 21-16
Cleveland (2-11) @ Kansas City (3-10): This is going to be pretty bad. As long as the Chiefs keep Josh Cribbs in check, they'll win.
Kansas City wins, 13-6
Houston (6-7) @ St. Louis (1-12): Houston looked the best they've looked in a long time in last week's rout of the Seahawks. The Rams have looked bad all year and their only weapon, Steven Jackson, missed practice on Friday.
Houston wins, 27-3 (Lock of the Week)
Atlanta (6-7) @ New York Jets (7-6): The Falcons looked much better in week two of the Chris Redman era, but the Jets will make it pretty rough on him. The Jets need to keep the ball on the ground, play great defense, and keep the ball out of Mark Sanchez's hands so he doesn't screw anything up.
New York Jets win, 20-12
San Francisco (6-7) @ Philadelphia (9-4): San Francisco's defense was great last week against the Cardinals, but can they do it two weeks in a row?
I say no.
Philly's offense is on another level right now, even without the injured Brian Westbrook. Alex Smith and the offense won't be able to keep up with Donovan McNabb and his offense.
Philly wins, 31-16
Chicago (5-8) @ Baltimore (7-6): Jay Cutler and Lovie Smith look like they can't wait for this underwhelming year to be over. Cutler can't keep the ball out of the other team's hands, and the Ravens' defense has looked better over the last few weeks, outside of the Green Bay game. Joe Flacco and Ray Rice will handle the rest.
Baltimore wins, 27-14
Oakland (4-9) @ Denver (8-5): No Bruce Gradkowski means a pathetic Oakland squad. Denver should destroy them and move one step closer to the playoffs.
And with the Raiders starting Charlie Frye over JaMarcus Russell, is there any way Russell's back next season?
Denver wins, 30-10
Cincinnati (9-4) @ San Diego (10-3): This will probably end up determining who gets the second seed and a first-round bye. San Diego is on a ridiculous streak, and Cincy has had trouble beating the league's top teams. The Chargers won't be able to run the ball effectively, but they still have Philip Rivers, and that will be enough for the victory.
San Diego wins, 27-20
Green Bay (9-4) @ Pittsburgh (6-7): On paper, there is no reason to pick Pittsburgh. They've lost five straight games (three of which were to the Chiefs, Raiders, and Browns), and they looked lifeless last week. The Packers have looked great since the Tampa Bay loss, and they're getting ready to make a playoff run. Regardless, the Steelers will not lose six straight games.
Pittsburgh wins, 24-23
Tampa Bay (1-12) @ Seattle (5-8): Both teams are bad, Tampa Bay is worse.
Seattle wins, 17-9
Minnesota (11-2) @ Carolina (5-8): Carolina gave the Pats a game last week, but the Vikings are better than New England. The Panthers won't have the opportunity to hang around against a team as loaded as the Vikings.
Minnesota wins, 31-17
New York Giants (7-6) @ Washington (4-9): Based on how these two teams have played during the second half of the season, the Redskins are better. Couple that with the way the Giants' defense has fallen apart, and you've go the formula for an upset.
Washington wins, 26-18
Landry Knocked Out, Cuban Crying, T-Mac Back: Latest in Rockets Land
December 20th, 2009 by Vikram Dimba No comments »Dirk and Landry, What Happened?
When Dirk Nowitzki drove into the lane and collided with Landry mid-air, the collision seemed rather minor.
Then Dirk would bend to the floor, and blood would begin to pour.
Landry seemed fine, but called to the bench, with apparent bleeding coming from his mouth, as well.
The initial reaction would be that Dirk knocked out Landry's teeth and bit Dirk in the process, which created the bleeding.
That's the story in a nutshell, but it goes beyond that.
In fact, it was found that chips of Landry's teeth—two of the five total knocked out—were dislodged in Dirk's elbow.
That play seemed to be a foreshadowing of things to come.
Jason Kidd's hard screen on Anderson, which sparked a mini-scuffle, Josh Howard's technical foul, and the eventual ejection of both Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle and center Erick Dampier late in overtime.
Nothing New, Cuban Crying Over Refs
The Rockets were able to come out victorious due to some clutch shots by Brooks and the brilliant play of Lowry, but the Mavericks coming out as sore losers.
Not because of their lack of physicality, but because of their owner Mark Cuban announcing he'd be filing a public protest against the game, reason being due to a "multiple misapplications of the rule."
It's Cuban being Cuban, and nothing is likely expected to come out of this, except the loss of $10,000 from Cuban's back pocket.
But he does have a legitimate case that there should have been more time on the clock in the final possession, but, if anything, the referees missed calls on Brooks' foul being called a flagrant and unfairly giving Anderson a technical foul when Kidd clearly instigated the contact, doing his best impersonation of the hard Derek Fisher foul on Luis Scola in last year's playoffs.
If any further implication were to come out of this, I'd be surprised.
McGrady's Progress: Third Game Back
Because of all the hoopla around the game, it made one of the lesser stories go unnoticed: McGrady's third game back from micro-fracture knee surgery.
After going scoreless in the game against the Nuggets, McGrady looked the best he did in his consistent seven to eight minute stretch since coming back.
He blocked Dirk's fade away jumpshot, made some crisp passes, one particularly to Scola, and was moving better than he has since returning.
Then coming off a screen with a man in his face, McGrady knocked down a jumper from the left wing just inside the three-point line.
With Landry's injury, there was speculation T-Mac could see some time in the second half, but nothing came to fruition, as Adelman has his plans and is intent on sticking to it.
You honestly can't blame him, as Adelman knows more than anyone the seriousness of putting too much on a player returning from that magnitude of a surgery after seeing Chris Webber going through the same thing just a couple seasons ago.
Even if Landry were to be out for tonight's game against the Thunder, I wouldn't expect the plans to change much, as McGrady's minutes will be re-evaluated after the stretch of games when the horrid back to backs finally ends.
One thing is for sure, I'd rather see him shooting than Ariza at this point.
Ariza's Underachieving
With McGrady back and soon will be clamoring for more minutes, it has to come from somewhere, and all signs point towards Trevor Ariza, who leads the Rockets in minutes at nearly 39 minutes per game.
Many articles have been mentioning Ariza as one leading Most Improved Player candidates in the NBA and a catalyst to the Rockets success.
He's certainly been a factor, but his improvement this season has been severely overrated.
He's currently 18th in the NBA in shot attempts per game. And, among the top 50 players leading in that category, Ariza shoots the second worst percentage and the worst percentage among players who have played at least 20 games. The worst being Devin Harris, who's played 17 games.
He's fifth in the league in three-point attempts per game and second in the NBA in total three-pointers attempted.
Only Rasheed Wallace among the top 20 three-point shooters launches at a worse percentage than Ariza.
He only gets to the line 3.1 times in his 39 minutes per game, which would be exactly half the amount of the 13 other players who receive more minutes.
He's shown no improvement in his handles or his ability to create either for himself or his teammates.
So far in the month of December, he's averaging 14.0 points per game, with six rebounds and the same amount of assists and turnovers.
He's shooting 39 percent from the floor (which is higher than his season average), 27 percent from three, and 50 percent from the line.
He's a role player, who, so far this season, has been thrust into a role he cannot handle.
Concluding Thoughts
Despite so many questions, one thing has remained consistent, the effort and passion the Rockets have displayed in nearly all their games.
At 15-11, the Rockets are sixth in the West and half a game outside the fifth-seeded Portland Trailblazers.
It's still too early to determine playoff ranking and seedings, but it's a position no one expected the Rockets to be in at this point in the season.
