NHL - Halfway Mark

This past weekend marked the halfway point of the regular season for the NHL with the All-Star Game.  In the All-Star Game, Team Lidstrom defeated Team Staal by the score of 11-10, with Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks winning the MVP award with 1 goal and 2 assists.  Alexander Ovechkin made history during the game by forcing the first ever penalty shot in All-Star game history.  Ovechkin slid his stick while Matt Duchene of the Avalanche was on a breakway in attempt to knock the puck away. 

So with the Halfway point in the books, who are the teams to look out for?

Right now, I think the power rankings go as follows:

1.  Vancouver Canucks

2.  Philadelphia Flyers

3.  Detroit Red Wings

4.  Pittsburgh Penguins

5.  Dallas Stars

6.  Tampa Bay Lightning

7.  Boston Bruins

8.  Washington Capitals

9.  Nashville Predators

10.  New York Rangers 

If the season was to end today, the playoof structure would look like this:

Eastern Conference

1.  Flyers
8.  Thrashers

4.  Penguins
5.  Capitals

3.  Bruins
6.  Rangers

2.  Lightning
7.  Canadiens

Western Conference
1.  Canucks
8.  Sharks

4.  Predators
5.  Ducks

3.  Stars
6.  Coyotes

2.  Red Wings
7.  Blackhawks

Teams to look out for
Blackhawks:  The defending champs are only the seventh seed right now but expect them to improve.  Their still a young team but this year they have the experience.

Lightning:  The Tampa Bay Lighnting may be a surprise to most people this year piling up 67 points in their first 51 games.  Don't be surprised.  This team is much improved from last year and look for them to do some damage in the playoffs.

Stars:  Dallas seems to be back in their old late 1990's early 2000's rythm again.  Their team stats don't stand out by any means but they play exceptionally well together and find ways to win games.

Sabres:  The Sabres are off to a dissapointing start, but they've won their last to and last seven out of ten.  The Sabres are a young inexperienced team but they have a shot to push for the playoffs.  Don't expect them to go very far though.

Stanely Cup Predictions:

I like the Detroit Red Wings to once again go to the Finals and play the Philadelphia Flyers.  I believe the Red Wings are the strongest team the Western Conference.  They have a very veteraned team that knows how to win games down the stretch if they can stay healthy.  The Flyers made the finals last year with an inexperienced team.  This year, they return almost everybody and Daniel Briere is playing at the top of his game.  The Flyers are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference.

Shaun White Fails to Qualify

Winter X-Games 15 is underway and today we saw the qualifing round for mens snowboarding slopestyle.  Favored Shaun White failed to make the final round in over a decade.  Shaun put together some decent first two runs but was rewarded with a low score.  For his final run, he barely tried at all.  People may wonder why he just 'gave up' in the last round.  When they interviewed Shaun after his run, Shaun went on to say he was just happy to be there and have a great time.  He realizes the competition that he faces and now knows to step his game up.  Regardless of how tough the competition is, shouldn't Shaun still be atleast one of the best?  And what was the reason behind him just throwing away his final run?  Was he not wanting to injure himself for the SuperPipe? Or maybe he was thinking that if he gave it his all, and failed, people would question his snowboard status.

For all you NASCAR fans

CEO of NASCAR Brian France implemented huge changes in NASCAR's point system that will effect both regular season races as well as the Chase for the Cup.

Points
This new format is a 'simpler' format that uses a 43-1 scale.  With 43 cars in the field, the winner will reciever 43 points, 2nd place 42 points, and so on down to 43rd place recieving 1 point.  Bonus points are set to be awarded as usual for winning the race (3 pts), leading a lap (1 pt), or leading the most laps (1 pt).  The most points available in one race are 48. 

Qualify
Qualifing procedures have been changed in that the order for qualifing will be based on practice speeds.  the slowest practice time will run first, and the fastest practice time will qualify last. 

Wildcard
There will still be 12 spots in the Chase for the Cup, but this year, the last 2 spots will be wildcard spots. Those two wildcard spots will be opened for the two drivers who have the most wins outside of the top 10; as long as they are ranked inside the top 20 in points.  Mike Helton, NASCAR president, said 
"There will always be 12 drivers.  If all of the winners [of the season's first 26 races] are in the top 10, we'll fill 11 and 12 by points. There is always going to be 12; there wouldn't be any more than 12. If there are five drivers that, in theory, are tied for the opportunity to get 11 and 12, then we would break that tie via the rule book to fill the 11th and 12th spots."
  

Jimmer-Time

No. 4 San Diego State played No. 9 BYU in Provo, Utah last night; it was more like Jimmer Fredette versus San Diego State.  Jimmer dropped 43 points in the win over the undefeated Aztecs, including 5 for 8 from behind the arc.  Jimmer went on a tear at the end of the first half accounting for all of BYU's last 15 points in the half. 

Jimmer topped the 40 point mark for the 3rd time in the past 4 games as he continues to lead the nation in scoring with 27.4 points per game.  Jimmer is shooting 48.2% from the field, 42.1% from 3 point land and an amazing 90.1% from the free throw line.

 With all of this buzz and great stats surrounding Jimmer, it should be easy to say he's gonig to the NBA, right?  Some analyists believe Jimmer doesn't have what it takes to be in the NBA, we'll see about that. 

Not Top 10, 1/21/11

Sports Upsets

Syracuse who?

After suffering two losses last week to Pitt and Villanova, Syracuse lost their third straight game tonight against Seton Hall (9-12).  Syracuse seemed to be one of the power houses early starting at 18-0 but have collapsed since.  Their 2-3 zone seems to be failing them while their offense continues to struggle.  Seton Hall's star player Jeremy Hazell put up 28 points in the 90-69 blow out over the Orange.  Seton Hall shot a very good 10 for 17 behind the arc, while holding Syracuse to just 5 for 21.  Cuse is slumping.

College Basketball Shake-Up

This past week of college basketball has really shaken up the polls and once again shows all of the competitive teams.  Big teams that made a fall were No. 2 Kansas, No. 3 Syracuse and No. 12 Kentucky.  Kansas fell to No.11 Texas this week 74-63.  Syracuse fell to No. 4 Pitt 74-66 and lost to No. 7 Villanova 83-72.  Kentucky dropped to unranked Alabama 68-66.  Kansas and Syracuse were both undefeated, leaving Ohio State and San Diego State as the only two undefeated teams in college basketball. 

This Week's Rankings

1	Ohio State (31)	20-0
2	Pittsburgh	19-1
3	Duke	18-1
4	San Diego State	20-0
5	Connecticut	16-2
6	Kansas	18-1
7	Villanova	17-2
8	Texas	16-3
9	Brigham Young	19-1
10	Syracuse	18-2
11	Texas A&M	17-2
12	Purdue	17-3
13	Missouri	17-3
14	Notre Dame	16-4
15	Wisconsin	15-4
16	Kentucky	15-4
17	Washington	15-4
18	Minnesota	14-4
19	Louisville	15-4
20	Georgetown	14-5
21	Illinois	14-6
22	Vanderbilt	14-4
23	Florida	15-4
24	Saint Mary's	17-3
25	Utah State	18-2

Vanderbilt, Florida, and Utah State all Jumped into the Top 25 while Michigan State, Kansas State, and Arizona all dropped out.

This Week's Top Games
January 24:
No. 2 Pitt vs No. 14 Notre Dame <<<< ND def. Pitt 56-51

January 25:
No. 12 Purdue at No. 1 Ohio State

January 26:
No. 4 San Diego State at No. 9 BYU
West Virginia at No. 19 Louisville

January 29:
No. 19 Lousiville at No. 2 Conneticut
Kansas State at No. 6 Kansas
No. 20 Georgetown at No. 7 Villanova
No. 13 Missouri at No. 8 Texas
No. 18 Minnesota at No. 12 Purdue

Picks
No.1 Ohio State def No. 12 Purdue  72-67
No. 9 BYU def No. 4 San Diego State  75-70
No. 2 Conneticut def No. 19 Louisville  68-62
No. 7 Villanova def No. 20 Georgetown  70-69
No. 13 Missouri def No. 8 Texas  63-60
No. 12 Purdue def No. 18 Minnesota  61-55 

Super Bowl Commercials

Now that the Super Bowl is set, companies everywhere are fighting to get their chance at having the best Super Bowl commercial.  Companies pay an estimated $2.6 million dollars for a 30 second commercial, just to show the importance.  Many people that don't watch football will watch the Super Bowl for the commercials.  Here's a clip of the top Super Bowl commercials of last years Super Bowl.  We'll see what's to come this year.

Real Men of Genius

Jets Dominate Second Half, Fall Short

After a dominating performance in the first half by the Steelers, the Jets responded big in the second half but fell up just short 24-19.  The Jets proved that the first half wasn't a joke by dominating the Steelers in the second half like the Steelers did to them in the first.  The Jets defense stepped up big, forcing a shut-out in the second half and stopping Big Ben.  But the Jets offense failed to convert on a 4th and Goal which may have costed them the game.  Although they got a safety on the next play and scored a touchdown on their next drive, it took valuable time off the clock, leaving the Jets Super Bowl-less.  The Steelers victory should set-up a great Super Bowl against the Packers.

Game's Top Performers
Mark Sanchez - 20/33 233 yards 2 TD
Rashard Mendenhall - 27 carries 121 yards 1 TD
Dustin Keller - 8 catches 64 yards
Lawrence Timmons - 9 tackles 1 assisted

Team Stats
                                     Jets                               Steelers
Total Yards                   289                               287
Rushing Yards               70                                 166
Passing Yards               219                               121
First Downs                  17                                  23
T.O.P                          25:19                             34:41

Steelers Dominate First Half

The Pittsburgh Steelers came out strong against the New York Jets.  They quickly jumped out on the Jets giving their offense no where to go and moving the ball on their defense with relative ease, especially on the ground.  The Jets defense is going to have step up in the second half if they want any shot at all, and the Jets offense is going to have to get things going.  Seems like a hard task.

Top Performers in the First Half
Passing: Ben Roethlisberger, 7/14 96 yards 1 INT
Rushing: Rashard Mendenhall, 17 carries 95 yards 1 TD
Receiving: Dustin Keller, 3 catches 21 yards

Bears/Packers

Packers going to Super Bowl XLV.  A very good game, dominated by the Packers early, and throughout most of the game, but minor mistakes stalled many Packers drives and eventually Caleb Henie?!?! and the Bears converted twice to make it a somewhat dramatic finish. The Packers only had 55 more yards than the Bears, which may have come as surprising. 

Aaron Rodgers showed signs of struggles today with 2 interceptions and 0 TD's.  Was this just the Bears defense playing well? Or was Aaron Rodgers showing that even he can feel under pressure in a very important playoff game. 

One Packers that showed he did not struggle under pressure was Greg Jennings.  He came up with a few big grabs on the opening drive to help set the tempo for an opening drive TD.  Jennings ended the day as the leading receiver with 8 catches for 130 yards. 

For the Bears, Jay Culter once agained proved that he isn't very good and one of the most overrated Quarterbacks in the league.  He did get injured during the game but even before that, he struggled.  To be honest, I'm not sure how the Bears made it as far as they did, especially with their offense.  But the emergence of Caleb Henie after Culter and Todd Collins went down, would have brought up an interesting question to whom would have started if the Bears had won.

One Bears player who did not disappoint was runnnig back Matt Forte.  He led the team in both rushing and recieving (17 carries, 70 yards; 10 catches, 90 yards) and seemed to be the Bears only offensive hope.

Play of the Game
18 yard interception return by B.J. Raji

NFL Championship Games

NFL Conference Championship Weekend

Ok guys, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line Sunday, who do you think is gonna win?

 











NFC Championship Game: Packers at Bears
To me, this game will probably be the better game of the two.  I do believe that the Jets and Steelers match-up will be just as good of a game but I think because the Packers and Bears are long time division rivals, it makes their game that much more intense.  Chicago may not have played all up to their potential in the last game of the regular season against Green Bay because of the fact that they already knew they were going to be the second seed.  Regardless, they played hard all four quarters holding the Packers to just 10 points.  But the Packers are much hotter now.  Aaron Rodgers may just be playing the be football out of anyone in the NFL right now.  But in order for the Packers to win, I think there going to need to score at least 20 points.  Jay Culter and the Bears put up 35 points against the Seahawks, but that's not surprising.  The Seahawks defense wasn't good all year and even in the playoffs they still allowed 35 points in their victory over the Saints.  Culter is going to have to find a way to break down the Packers defense much better than he did in Week 17.  All in all, I think the Packers are just to hot right now and Aaron Rodgers is too good.  Packers win 27-13.

AFC Championship Game: Jets at Steelers
The Steelers and the Jets have already met each other once and did not let us down.  The Jets held off the Steelers in the red zone at the end of the game, andthe Steelers have not forgotten.  The Jets just came off an upset against, what most of us thought were, the unbeatable New England Patriots.  Even Mark Sanchez is starting to show maturity in the Jets offense and their starting to click.  The Jets defense is strong like usual and its gonna be tough for Big Ben to cut through their defense.  But I think the Jets are weak in one part, their secondary.  With injuries during the season at the safety positions, the Jets have suffered a little bit.  Also, although Cromartie is a freak athlete and comes up with big plays at big times, he still gets beat on occasion.  Even Darrel Revis struggled at times last week against the Patriots but that can be expected, you can expect Revis to stop every catch.  Even with some weak spots in both defenses, such as Troy Polamalu struggling last week against the Ravens, missing tackles left and right, this game is still gonna be a low scoring game.  I think in end, the Steelers will find a win like they always do 17-14.

I gave you my insight, what do you guys think?