Spotlight on Today’s Sports

The Spotlight On Today’s Sports- 11/23/2015

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Hello everyone and happy Monday! I’ve gotten a good amount of feedback from folks who have mentioned that they enjoyed the old Spotlight on Daily Sports Posts that I used t do when I first started the site so.  Well, I like to consider myself a man of the people and so your wish is my command!  I can’t promise the sports update will be every single day but let’s say most days for now and we’ll see where we go from there.  Today’s update is going to focus entirely on Week 11 in the NFL and what we learned from the week.  Let’s get right into it…

The New York Jets…Not a Playoff Team-  I’ve showed a lot of faith in the Jets throughout the season and I have predicted that they were going to be one of the teams representing the weak AFC as a wildcard and while I can’t tell you which one of these mediocre tems in the AFC will make the playoffs, I can tell you it won’t be the Jets. If the Jets are going to make the playoffs they need to get to 9-7 which mean they have to go 4-2 over the final six games and I just don’t see it.  This week’s brutal loss to the Texans was a real setback for the Jets because now they don’t get to face a FREAKIN WIDE RECEIVER AT QUARTERBACK anymore but instead get Tony Romo, Eli Manning and Tom Brady, the rest of the way..  Do you see this Jets defense stopping any of those three?  I don’t either but let’s say you’re optimistic and say they can beat Eli, fine then do you see the Jets going into Buffalo week 17 and beating the Bills because that’s the other option.  As much as it pains me to say it, I’d be much more willing to believe that the Jets will finish 7-9 then 9-7.

Fraud, Fraud, Fraud-  The only good news as a Jets fan is that at least my team didn’t have the biggest collapse since the beginning of a promising 4-1 season.  No way, that distinct honor goes to the Atlanta Falcons.  The Falcons have suddenly gone from 5-0 to 6-4 and they’ve done so in the ugliest of ways.  It’s bad enough that you let Blaine Gabbert come into your building and beat you before your bye but now yesterday the Falcons allow 106 year old Matt Hasslebeck to beat them in their building as well.  To make matters worse, the Falcons were up  by two touchdowns and let the piss poor Colts defense hold them to a scoreless second half at the Georgia Dome! I really hope someone rises to the occasion and knocks the Falcons out of the playoffs because they are as fraudulent a winning team as can be.  Too much talent to keep losing games the way they are.

The worst thing that could’ve happened to Peyton Manning-  is that the Broncos went into Chicago with Brock Osweiler and left the windy city with a victory.  The league was already ready to bury Peyton Manning and label him as washed up.  Everyone has seemingly forgotten about how good of a career Peyton has had and instead all you keeep hearing was that he was done, that the Broncos playmakers and defense have been carrying him all season.  Well, the fact that these same Broncos were able to go into Chicago with Brock Osweiler, making his first career start, and beat a Bears team that was playing good football, won’t stop any of that chatter.  Now the question turns to if Peyton is able to return at some point this season, do the Denver Broncos even want him back?  You would think the Broncos were 2-8 as opposed to 8-2.

The Cowboys Are Alive- Truth be told, the New York Giants are still the favorites to win the NFC East but the Cowboys now sit two games back and they have their Quarterback back!  Even though Tony Romo looked a little rusty in Miami, the Cowboys were able to pick up their first win in 8 tries.  Darren McFadden, of all people, rushed for 131 yards and you have to figure that if Matt Cassel was in at QB, he may not have even had 30 yards. Just the threat of having Romo back, opens up the Cowboys running attack because you expect them to pass every down.  Just look at Demarco Murray last season as compared to how he’s looked without Tony Romo.  The further good news for the Cowboys is that the Eagles were crushed by the Bucs at home and look lost with Mark Sanchez under center and the Redskins were embarrassed by the 10-0 Panthers.  The bad news for the Cowboys is that now they welcome those same undefeated Panthers into their building in just four days in a must-see Thanksgiving matchup. Put the turkey on the snack tables because that is a game you won’t want to miss.

A Win’s A Win…But At What Cost?-  This just isn’t the year for the Baltimore Ravens.  Just two weeks after losing Steve Smith for the season, the Ravens lost both Justin Forsett for the season due to a broken arm and Joe Flacco for the season due to a torn ACL.  That pretty much completes the laundry list of injuries to the Ravens this season and ends their disappointing year.  The cherry on top?  Matt Schaub will now be starting for them for the rest of the year.

Sweet Revenge- Just when it looked like the Bengals were going to push their matchup with the Cardinals to overtime, Carson Palmer drove his team right down the field in just a minute and three seconds to put them in position to seal the game with a field goal.  It was an elite level performance by Palmer who sent his team to the number 2 seed in the NFC and sent his former team into a virtual tie with the Denver Broncos.  How sweet it is!

And Then There Were Four?!?!-  I know I know, there are only two undefeated teams left the 10-0 Panthers and 9-0 Patriots but there are actually 4 undefeated (with at least two starts) quarterbacks this season.  Those four quarterbacks are Tom Brady, Cam Newtown, Tony Romo (3-0) and Matt Hasslebeck (3-0). Obviously the shocker of the bunch is Hasslebeck who has really turned back the clock off the bench for the Colts.  Whether he’ll be able to do it for the next 5 weeks, while Andrew Luck is out injured, remains to be seen but he goes to show the importance of having a cagey veteran on the bench.

Well that’s going to do it for today but I’ll be back tomorrow with another sports update where we’ll have no choice but to turn our attention to a team streaking in the NBA and bringing back interest in the NBA altogether at the same time.  Until then, what were your biggest takeaways from Week 11 in the National Football League.  Let me know in the comment section below or on twitter @Daily_Spotlight

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Spotlight On Today’s Sports: 05/05/2015

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Happy Cinco De Mayo everybody! I hope all those who are celebrating have a good but safe time. I’ll be celebrating by attending at 10:20 showing of Avengers 2: Age of Ultron tonight. But if you aren’t celebrating there’s a good amount of events and stories to monitor in the world of sports, let’s take a look at the big three for today.

1) E:60- WWE: Behind The Curtain– when I was a kid I always hoped that following a WWE I would turn on ESPN & get the results. I remember the first time I actually say it was in 1995 when Sportscenter talked about Lawrence Taylor’s Wrestlemania 11 main event. I thought it was cool to see WWE get a rub from LT & get a little coverage on Sportscenter. Well tonight on ESPN, a 60 minute documentary will air featuring a behind the scenes at the world of WWE & NXT. The special is unprecedented not only because their is a WWE special being promoted on ESPN but also because the special promises a rare behind the scenes look at the often guarded world of professional wrestling. If the special is as good as past E60 specials, then we’re in for a treat.

2) Welcome Back- It was announced today that Madison Square Garden will look to hire IsiahThomas as the new Co Owner of the New York Liberty  as well as the president of basketball operations. Wow, talk about someone having nine lives! Not only did Isiah Thomas have five unsuccessful seasons as Knicks team president & a record of 56-108 in his two years as Knicks head coach but he also cost MSG 11.8 million dollars in an ugly sexual harassment lawsuit. It should be pointed out that Thomas needs to be approved by the WNBA board of Governors before being recognized as a co owner. 

3) The Greatest Fight Of The Century…Again- It was revealed today that Floyd Mayweather sent a text to Stephen A Smith of ESPN confirming that he will in fact grant Manny Pacquiao a rematch when he recovers from shoulder surgery. While I felt their first fight was underwhelming, it’s rumored to have done record number of pay per view buys and I’m sure the rematch will be much of the same. I’m actually surprised that Floyd is so willing to do a rematch, maybe as his final fight, being that Manny had him on the ropes on several occasions in their first fight, bad shoulder and all. 

That’s going to do it for today, again happy cinco de mayo to all. 

The Spotlight On Today’s Sports 5/4/2015

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Back in the saddle again with a slew of sports on tap for what proves to be a busy week of sports as the NBA Playoffs as well as the NHL Playoffs,  move into their second rounds of action.  Let’s move into some of the bigger stories and games that are going on in the world of sports. 

1) You Down With MVP?- Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry was named the 2014-2015 regular season MVP today, the first MVP for the Warriors since Wilt Chamberlain back in 1960 and the first point guard to win the award since Derrick Rose in the 2010-2011 season.  Curry averaged 23.8 points per games, 2 steals per game, 7.7 assists per game and 4.3 rebounds per game. While the numbers are obviously very good for Curry, they aren’t career bests for Curry other then his steals per game & his overall numbers were better last season. With that said, however, Curry was the best choice for MVP this season, no matter what Houston Rockets fans tell you, as he led the Warriors to an NBA best 67-15 record only losing 2 games at home the whole season. As Curry stated today during a press conference, while MVPs are nice, the goal for the Warriors is the NBA championship, so far they haven’t been tested in the postseason. 

2) Counsell Gets The Nod– Major League Baseball’s worst record to start the season belongs to the Milwaukee Brewers at 7-18. Thus, it didn’t come as any big surprise when the Brewers fired manager Ron Roenicke after 4 seasons and a 342-331 record and one NL central title. The only think surprising about the firing is that it came off the heels of the Brewers first series win of the season. His replacement shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as longtime utlitity man Craig Counsell was offered the job this morning. Counsell retired with theBrewers  organization in 2011 and since has been working as a general manager to the team’s general manager. The Brewers gave Counsell, who will take over managerial duties tonight, a node of confidence by rewarding him with a 3 year contract through the 2017 season. 

3) The Defining Series- For years the dominance of Lebron James & the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference has been called into question. Would the Hear have been able to make it to three straight NBA Finals of Derrick Rose were healthy? Well well finally get somewhat of answer tonight as it will be Lebron James ba Derrick Rose except this time it will be Lebron leading a Cleveland Cavs team to do battle with the Bulls in the Windy City. With all do respect to what the Atlanta Hawks have accomplished, I think the winner of the East is coming out this series. The first game between these two teams kicks off tonight at 7PM EST! 

That’s gonna do it for me today but I’ll be back later today with my first review up on the site, which is a heartwarming story. Until then, be well & may the fourth be with you!

 

Spotlight On Today’s Sports 5/2/2015

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So I know I’ve off the grid this week. I’ll be back business as usual starting on Monday when I return from my trip to Orlando, Florida where I was a best man for the first time in my life but there’s a lot of sports to get to today so I didn’t want to leave you stranded. Let’s jump right into it! 

1) The Fight Of The Century- The dream fight of dream fights finally takes place tonight. Some say boxing is dead but whether it was in California, New York or Florida this month all I’ve heard is who do you got Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao. I don’t know if my family and I have gotten a boxing fight since Sugar Ray Leonard returned but we will seeking out MayPac tonight on our last night in Florida. As for who I have? I gotta go Money Mayweather because of his affliation with WWE. I’m a wrestling fan sucker, I know but he was a highlight of Wrestlemania 24!

2) Game 7- There really hasn’t been any series in round 1 of the NBA Playoffs that’s been worth anyone’s time except for the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Clippers. The NBA Playoffs only series to reach a seventh and deciding game finally comes to a head tonight. I’ve seen this script so many times & I just don’t see the Spurs losing game 7, even on the road. 

3) NFL Draft- If there’s one draft that I really go out of my to watch it’s the NFL draft. It’s the unofficial kickoff to the NFL season and its a lot of fun now that’s it’s been spread out over a long weekend. My New York Jets continued their impressive offseason by trading up this morning to draft Baylor Quarterback Bryce Petty. 

4) Rivalry Weekend- On the baseball side of things many of the greatest rivalries in the sport take the focus today as the New York Mets take on the Washington Nationals, the Detroit Tigers face off with the Kansas City Royals for the American Leagues best record and of course, it’s Yankees- Red Sox. No matter how the teams are doing there’s still nothing like Yankees- Ref Sox. I’m not a Alex Rodriguez fan but the fact that he hit his 660th career homerun tying Willie Mays for fourth all time over the big green monster in Fenway Park? That’s pretty cool to say the least! 

So yes today may be one of the biggest days in sports history as with all I mentioned I didn’t even get into round 2 of the NHL playoffs or the Kentucky Derby. Whatever your sport of choice I hope you have a great time viewing it! 

The Spotlight On Today’s Sports- 4/23/2015

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Another day another busy day of sports filled with a slate of baseball games, four playoff hockey games & three playoff basketball games. Let’s get into three highlights to keep an eye on today.

1) AD comes home-  The big story of the day on the basketball side of things is that tonight Anthony Davis will play his first ever home playoff game. Even further, today marks the first ever playoff game for the New Orleans Pelicans. While Anthony Davis has ascended into the top five players in the league status this season, it will all be for naught if that New Orleans crowd can’t will the Pelicans onto victory. If not, we can quickly be looking at a sweep for the Golden State Warriors.

2) Stayin Alive?!?!- Tonight of the four hockey games being played two of them feature teams facing that dreaded elimination game. Both the Calgary Flames & the Chicago Blackhawks have the opportunity to move on and join the Anaheim Ducks in the next round of the playoffs.  To do so, however, they’ll both have to do so in Vancouver & Nashville respectively. 

3) Natitude Alive?!?!- While the story of the National League East this season has been the hot start of the New York Mets, and with good reason, perhaps as big a story has been the lukewarm start to the season for the Washington Nationals. Pegged as the odds odd favorites to win the World Series, the Nationals have stumbled out to a 7-8 record to start the season plagued with injuries and lackluster defense. The Nationals have an opportunity to get back on track and back to .500 this season when they play the Cardinals later today at our nation’s Capitol. The Cardinals have, no doubt, had the Nationals number in recent years so it would be good for the Nats to win a series against a first place team and a rival at that. Lucky for the Nationals is that they’ll have their ace, Max Scherzer on the mound. Not as lucky as that he’ll be opposed by impressive, young flamethrower Michael Wacha. 

That’s going to do it for our Spotlight on Sports for today, feel free to check out our spotlight sports pick of the day, if you’re someone who likes to make their games a little more interesting.