Sports Happenings

Posted on August 25, 2008
Filed Under Chief Blogging Officer, Uncategorized

I saw the United States play Spain in the gold medal game the other night, and it was truly amazing to me that Spain was able to hang around and have a chance to win the game in the last couple of minutes. Here you have Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul, and Lebron James on the floor and the Spaniards are playing them toe to toe. The U.S., particularly Wade and Bryant, displayed some clutch shooting down the stretch, but Spain deserves a lot of credit, and they proved that winning isn’t really the only thing. They played to their utmost potential and I think that is in fact the only thing.

The Super Bowl Champion New York Giants had a fearsome pass rush a year ago led by Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan. Strahan has since retired, and Umenyiora suffered a season ending knee injury on Saturday against the Jets. The Giants have responded by moving Mathias Kiwanuka back to defensive end, which makes the slim chances of a Strahan return even slimmer.

Lou Holtz appeared on College Football Live on Saturday and predicted that the University of Notre Dame will win 11 games this season. He then went on to opine on the feasibility of porcine flight.

Arizona Cardinals QB Matt Leinart completed seven passes in two quarters against the Raiders on Saturday night. Four to his teammates, and three to Raiders’ defenders. He was 4-12 for 24 yards with the three picks. Veteran Kurt Warner has reportedly won the starting job in Arizona.

Chad Pennington will be the Dolphins starter, and the #3 pick in this year’s draft, Matt Ryan out of Boston College, beat out Joey Harrington, Chris Redman, and D.J. Shockley to get the starting nod in Atlanta. It’s tough for a rookie to earn a starting job in the NFL and I have to give Ryan a lot of credit.

Franciso Rodriguez, the Los Angeles Angels overpowering closer, earned his 50th save of the season in a 5-3 Angels victory over the Minnesota Twins. Bobby Thigpen holds the major league record for saves in a single season with 57. The Angels have 33 game remaining.

AP Preseason NCAA Football Rankings

# 1.Georgia
# 2.Ohio St.
# 3.USC
# 4.Oklahoma
# 5.Florida
# 6.Missouri
# 7.LSU
# 8.West Virginia
# 9.Clemson
# 10.Auburn

The first Monday Night Football game of the regular season is just two weeks away. Minnesota plays at Green Bay at 7:00 PM (ET) and Denver is at Oakland at 10:15 PM.