Super Bowl 46 Preview & Prediction
The two biggest keys for Super Bowl 46 rest on the team in white looking to follow up its shocking upset four years ago against a New England team just a few minutes away from perfection in Glendale.
The running game of the New York Giants and its ferocious compilation of pass rushers will be the two keys for the big game this evening in Indianapolis. The tandem of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw barely combined for over 1,100 yards during the regular season but have had a postseason renaissance of sorts and have allowed Tom Coughlin’s crew to control the clock more. Since Eli Manning thrives off the play-action pass, the improved ground game has allowed the youthful trio of Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham to be all the more effective against teams that now have to respect the run.
The emergence of Jason Pierre-Paul to go with veteran pass rushers Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck have made the Giants defense eerily similar to the one that caused Tom Brady and the Patriots a heap of trouble four years ago. New England’s likely counter to that? The hurry-up offense orchestrated by Brady and his duo of offensive coordinators Josh McDaniels and Bill O’Brien, the latter of whom will be on his way to State College after the game to lead the Nittany Lions of Penn State University.
A short passing game by Brady to tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski (who will almost certainly be limited in some way after suffering a high ankle sprain in the AFC Championship win over Baltimore two weeks ago) and junebug-like wideout Wes Welker to tire out the Giants defense and, optimally, negate New York’s biggest strength. The Giants defense was able to undercut Patriot receivers on several occasions, two of which resulted in Brady interceptions.
This evening’s game in Indianapolis will be a matchup of adjustments between Coughlin and the legendary Bill Belichick, two Bill Parcells disciples who know the game, and their respective teams, better than nearly every coach the league has seen in quite some time. That being said, the ground game of the Giants and their ability to get to the QB will be the difference.
Final Predicted Score Sure To Go Wrong: Giants 27 Patriots 24
Clippers Sign Kenyon Martin
A sought after free agent signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. That was not a typo. After spending the season with the Xinjiang Tigers in China, veteran forward Kenyon Martin has signed with the Clippers for one year at the pro-rated mid-level exception of $2.5 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The 34-year-old is expected to add size and depth to a Clippers bench that already includes Sixth Man of the Year candidate Mo Williams, Randy Foye and Mo Evans, but Martin will immediately come into the rotation as the top big ahead of Evans and Ryan Gomez. Martin averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 boards per game with Denver last season and had received interest from Miami, San Antonio, New York, Atlanta and the cross-town Lakers.
Top 5 NHL Goals Power Poll
You guys and gals love lists of top plays, dunks, teams, arenas, players, coaches, breakfast cereals (I prefer Cinamon Toast Crunch) and any other form of comparison. So for all you pucheads out there, here’s FanFeedr’s incredibly subjective (but awesome) NHL Top Goal Power Poll for the 2011-2012 season. Comment on how great this list is or how it’s incredibly flawed and much better goals were missed. Either way, here’s the list.
1) Eller’s Spin-O-Rama
Montreal forward Lars Eller already had a hat trick against Winnipeg when he was held near the Jets’ net and awarded a penalty shot. What happened next is only what I consider the goal of the year, no big deal. It was his fourth goal of the night, doubling his total for the entire season!
2) Malkin’s Amazing Effort
Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin had to do a whole lot to get this goal against Colorado. He first banged an Avs player into the boards to get his team possession. Then he got the puck back on a pass, put the puck between the feet of defenseman Gabriel Landeskog and then did a nifty deke move to push the puck past the goaltender. Just spectacular!
3) Doughty Beats The Clock
There have been other buzzer-beating goals in the NHL this season, but Kings defenseman Drew Doughty beat the clock from his knees. There were 0.3 seconds left when Doughty rushed in from the left wing on a rebound, dropped to one knee and rifled it past Columbis goalie Curtis Sanford.
4) Bobby Ryan Schools The Islanders Shorthanded
Anaheim forward Bobby Ryan was on the penalty killing unit when he went up the ice with temmate Corey Perry. Perry slid Ryan the puck, and Ryan did the rest. He maneuvered around two New York players and completely deked out Isles goalie Evgeni Nabokov for the shorthanded tally.
5) Ribiero Preys On Predators
Veteran Stars forward Mike Ribiero was on a two-on-two in the Nashville zone when both Preds defenders tried to pry the puck from Ribiero’s stick. Ribiero then went around both players and put a backhand past world class goalie Pekka Rinne. Take a look.
Manny Ramirez Used Corked Bat With Indians
Manny Ramirez hit 236 home runs during his 1993-2000 run with the Cleveland Indians before signing a huge free agent deal with the Boston Red Sox.
In 2000, the Pacific Trading Card company took two of his bats, cut one of them and put them in a series of baseball cards. X-Ray evidence revealed that those two bats had cork in them, which is illegal in baseball and has come with suspension for those caught in the past. Jeff Morris, the former VP of Marketing for Pacific, said in a radio interview on Friday that there was no doubt these bats were game used, implying that Ramirez was cheating.
“[W]e got a call from saying, ‘You’re not going to believe this. There’s cork in the bat that we cut up and some of it got onto a card.’ We were very adamant… make sure that does not get onto a card. It was just like a nightmare. And sure enough, there were a couple of them that got out.”
One of those cards are now on eBay for $5,000. Another piece of a Ramirez corked bat was up for auction last April. The second bat? “He’d gone down to the airport and put it through the x-ray machine,” said Morris, “and sure enough, it was corked too.” Hat tip to Cork Gaines at Business Insider for being on the story first.
Inside The NBA- Tuesday 1/31/12
Tragic Magic
Orlando scored nine points in the third quarter in a 74-69 loss on Monday in Philadelphia. It was their third lowest point total of the week! They scored 56 points a week ago in a blowout loss in Boston and a putrid 67 in a lopsided defeat at the woeful Hornets. The night before that, they blew a 27 point lead and fell to the Celtics yet again.
After that loss in New Orleans, Dwight Howard demanded that his teammates change and play better. Apparently, that call has fallen on deaf ears. Orlando has now lost four straight and five of six, and change is clearly necessary for the team to stay afloat this season and for the Magic to keep Howard for the long haul.
However, general manager Otis Smith says he has no plans to make major roster changes. “If a string of losses causes you to change your plans, then I’m in the wrong job,” Smith said Monday night. Guess what? Smith is in the wrong job. Such a woeful stretch of basketball should cost Smith and head coach Stan Van Gundy their jobs because drastic measures need to be taken to ensure Howard stays in Orlando. He’s becoming discouraged and frustrated and there are several contending teams who could realistically acquire Howard right now.
The NBA is a Darwinian landscape in an 82-game season and even more cutthroat in a shorter one. Smith has to either adapt, and change this roster now, or move aside so someone could do it for him. The tragic Magic need external help before their franchise crumbles with the loss of Howard.
Clippers Thrash Thunder With Griffin’s Powerful Help
Everyone is talking about Blake Griffin’s incredible dunk, and for good reason. It was the best dunk in a very long time and made Kendrick Perkins look like…Stan Van Gundy.
But it was the overall play of the Clippers as a team in its 112-100 win over Oklahoma City that was most impressive. Los Angeles shot over 56 percent from the field, including 13-25 from three, with Caron Butler and Mo Williams helping the Lob City tandem of Griffin and the dazzling Chris Paul.
“Chris Paul was running around, getting what he wanted to get on the floor and making passes to guys for wide-open dunks and 3s,” Kevin Durant, who had 36 points and 13 rebounds by the way, said. “It’s tough to stop.” The Clips have won three straight and seven of 10 to assert a bit of control in the Pacific Division, and the team could only be building more chemistry going forward.
Smooth Jazz Buries Blazers
Utah shot just 38 percent from the field, but they outrebounded Portland by 14 on Monday and scored13 straight points in the fourth quarter to shock and stun the Blazers 93-89. Al Jefferson sat out the game with an ankle injury and all Paul Millsap did was score 19 points, grab 15 boards and block a pair of PDX shots.
“We definitely had control and we let it slip away,” said Blazers star LaMarcus Aldridge, who finished with 25 points and seven rebounds. “No excuses. They kept playing hard and they ended up coming back and stealing one.”
Utah has no stars, but a lot of young bigs and supporting pieces who are meshing together well under head coach Tyrone Corbin, in his first season at the helm in the SLC. Devin Harris and CJ Miles are playing well and Josh Howard was an underrated offseason acquisition. Quietly, Utah occupies the fifth seed in the Western Conference, right ahead of the big name Spurs and Lakers. Hopefully Corbin gets more credit as the Jazz’s success continues.
