Sports: Super Bowl, Aussie Open, NBA

Sports Newsletter

As I have not seen any new films of 2012 yet, I thought it would be good to go over the most recent sports news of which I am interested - in this case, the Super Bowl, Australian Open, and NBA. I hope you enjoy it, and feel free to comment, as usual, if you agree or disagree with me.

Super Bowl 2012

Ahhhhh... it is a unique, warm feeling to see the team you hate most get their championship hopes crushed in excruciating fashion. The Mavs beating the Heat last June in the NBA Finals came close to this, but nothing beats the Patriots losing a Super Bowl in my ranking of sadistic pleasures. I figured, going into the game, that surely New England would be fired up to avenge their historic defeat to the Giants in the 2008 Super Bowl and get the win. Here is a retro diary of the game for me:

• 1st quarter, ~9:00 - Pinned deep in their territory, Brady sits in the end zone waiting for an open receiver... and then just chucks it down the field at the first sign of pressure, resulting in a safety. Good start! (NYG - 2, NE - 0)
• 1st, ~3:30 - Giants drive down the field, score a TD. Maybe I was wrong about how this game was going to play out! (NYG - 9, NE - 0)
• 2nd, ~14:00 - Patriots march right down the field, but Giants manage to stop them at the 11 and force the field goal attempt. Whew... but I'm getting a little nervous. (NYG - 9, NE - 3)
• 2nd, ~5:00 - Giants driving the ball again, and then get called for the flukiest holding call I've seen in a long time on a 10-yd run on 3rd and 1... oh, boy, the Patriots are starting to get the calls again like they always do. This is not good. (NYG - 9, NE - 3)
• 2nd, ~0:10 - Patriots drive from their own TWO YARD LINE and shred the Giants' D like it's butter in getting a TD... crap, Patriots are going to win this game, I'm getting depressed (NYG - 9, NE - 10)
• Halftime - The Giants played much better for most of the first half... and yet they are losing?!?! I then realize that the Pats have been brilliantly baiting the Giants into running the ball and keeping the score low by preventing big plays. I hope that Coach Coughlin gives Eli the greenlight to start chucking the football in the second half and lighting that miserable Pats' secondary on fire.
• 3rd, ~11:30 - Patriots march quickly down the field and score another TD, bookending halftime with scores... Game over. Giants' D can't stop them, and Eli will start to fall apart. This sucks. (NYG - 9, NE - 17)
• 3rd, ~7:00 - Giants drive yet again but are forced into another field goal... I still have some hope, but all the missed opportunities are getting really frustrating. (NYG - 12, NE - 17)
• 3rd, ~0:45 - After a nice stop on D, the Giants drive again, this time getting to the 9 before Eli make me cry out in despair after getting sacked on third down... For the love of all that is good in football, would you please score a touchdown, Giants?!?! (NYG - 15, NE - 17)
• 4th, 9:30 - Giants get close to scoring position before blowing it again, and TE Ballard gets hurt on the drive. At least they pin the Pats on a good punt... There's still some hope (NYG - 15, NE - 17)
• 4th, 4:00 - Patriots drive - which I'm OK with, as long as they don't get a TD. Then Welker gets left all alone in Giants' territory, the pass is a little long and high but he's got his hands on it... and drops it... and my heart starts beating again. (NYG - 15, NE - 17)
• 4th, ~3:45 - From deep in his own territory, Eli chucks it far down the sideline, and the Giants's Manningham, double-covered, makes a brilliant catch while staying in bounds... Please tell me that was a "helmet catch," please tell me that was a "helmet catch"...
• 4th, ~1:00 - Bradshaw falls into the end zone when the Pats don't try to stop him... Yeah, the Pats have a chance to win it still, but at least the Giants can't screw up an easy field goal like the damn Ravens (NYG - 21, NE - 17)
• 4th, 0:00 - Pats' receivers start to choke... Giants finally get pressure on Brady, including a huge sack... a desperate hail mary has little chance of success (ESPN Patriot sycophants crying that Gronkowski would have gotten it if not injured - yeah, right - not withstanding)... It hits me. Despite spoiling plentiful opportunities throughout the game, the Giants have done it again! They have defeated my least favorite team for the second time in four years! All hail the Giants!!!!!! (Final score: NYG - 21, NE - 17)

Some of you (mostly non-NFL followers) might be thinking, why do you hate the Patriots so much, John? It all started on January, 19, 2002: the Snow game, or better known as the "tuck rule" incident. Look it up on Google if you're unfamiliar with it. I was rooting for the Raiders, since Jerry Rice (my favorite NFL player of all time) played for them at the time, and I was particularly outraged by the horrible nature of the call/rule/whatever you want to call that abomination. The Patriots then went on to beat my favorite team (Steelers), then my dad's favorite team (Rams) in the Super Bowl. As the Patriots added more championships, media coverage revealed Coach Belichick to be a sullen, grumpy, secretive Emperor Palpatine-like figure, and QB Tom Brady to be a whiny, entitled "star" (look up his stats - mediocre until 2007) who kept reminding everyone about his being slighted in the draft. Then came 2007. A former assistant coach finally came forward that the Patriots had been cheating since 2001 - this came to be known as Spygate. Did the team, Belichick in particular, apologize or appear ashamed? No, they were outraged by their accusers and anyone who thought they had done anything wrong, and proceeded to run up the score on many teams that year. Fortunately, karma caught up to them in the Super Bowl as the Giants snuffed out their hopes for a perfect season.

Whew! That went longer than I expected - but then, I can go on and on about the Patriots. It's time to move on to more positive things - this is about sports, after all!

Australian Open:

Ending in an epic, nearly six-hour Men's Final won by Novak Djokovic (my favorite player), this year's tourney was a very enjoyable one for me. Sadly, I don't get to watch as much of this one since the time difference is so extreme, but still. Here's a look at some of the stars and how they did (seed in parentheses):

(1) Novak Djokovic: after basically mowing down his first five opponents, Djokovic earned it the hard way with consecutive five-set wins over Murray and Nadal. He proved once again that his skills and mental and physical toughness are the best in tennis right now, and perhaps the best in all of sports.

(2) Rafael Nadal: though he lost in the final, this was still a win for Rafa. He mowed down early opponents, too, then outlasted dangerous Berdych (#7) before meeting famed rival Federer yet again. This match was at least as good as the final, and showcased Rafa's utter tenacity. Better luck next time against Nole (Djokovic).

(3) Roger Federer: he seemed to be cruising dangerously after destroying big-serving Juan Martin Del Potro in the quarters, but Nadal once again served as his brick wall. I think Roger's a good guy and don't have anything against him, but I always kind of root against him after his past dominance. It's time for the new guys, Roger.

(4) Andy Murray: you've really gotta feel for this guy. He's worked so hard to put himself into legitimate contention with the Big Three, but he's always been that wobbly fourth leg of the chair - he's never won a Grand Slam. He even briefly surpassed Federer in the rankings last year, but got another excruciating defeat to Djokovic this in the tourney.

American men: embarrassing. Only John Isner got to the 3rd round, where he lost (granted, Roddick got injured, but he still probably wouldn't have gone much farther). At least the Davis Cup team beat Switzerland's this week (including Isner upsetting Federer in singles play).

(1) Victoria Azarenka: to be honest, about the only thing I knew about her was that she had a very annoying scream when hitting the ball. And I still didn't get to see her play very much. She pretty much demolished everyone, though (with one brief meltdown vs. Clijsters), so she must be quite good (and only 22 years old).

(2) Petra Kvitova: after winning Wimbledon last year, I thought she would be the new, Czechoslovakian Serena Williams (huge serve/forehand). Her loss to Sharapova thus came as a surprise to me. Perhaps she's another moody Eastern European who needs to build a mental and emotional state to match her physical skills.

(3) Maria Sharapova: her serve sucks and she's vulnerable to long stretches of poor accuracy, but boy does she work hard. She is at least as competitive as Serena Williams, and it's keeping her at the top of the rankings. I think she'll need more lucky breaks than most, though, in order to win another Grand Slam.

(4) Caroline Wozniacki: another women's #1 seed who just can't win a Grand Slam. At least Caroline doesn't completely implode when the pressure is on like some others (I'm looking at you, Safina). Wozniacki is extremely consistent, but doesn't have the weapons yet to slug it out with the other top players. Maybe in a few years - she got bumped to #4.

(12) Serena and (-) Venus Williams: upon further review, Venus didn't even play in this one although I thought she had. Serena lost in the fourth round. It looks like the Williams sister era is coming to an end at long last. While I'm glad of that, the current crop of "stars" aren't exactly exciting. Here's hoping some new American youngsters can become the new Chris Evert or Billy Jean King.

NBA

There are some surprises so far this season, more than usual I'd say (less than the insanely competitive NFL, admittedly). Dwight Howard is the Carmelo Anthony this year - will the Magic trade him and get something in return, or let him walk at the end of the season? Chris Paul already got traded, of course, and has instantly turned the L.A. Clippers into contenders. Just digest that for a second. The Clippers are contenders this year. Shocking. And there's the breakout player of the year, Jeremy Lin. No, he's not being overhyped: he scored more points in his first five game than anyone else. Anyone (including Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, etc.). Here's a breakdown of what I've heard about the top teams in each conference.

(1) Chicago Bulls: despite missing Rose and Deng for extended time and only having Hamilton for 11 games thus far, the Bulls have the league's best record. Noah is even struggling this year, but the defense remains top notch, and the offense is working better. It would be shocking if they did not at least make it to the conference championship again.

(2) Miami Heat: freaking LeBron James... sadly, Miami is right back at it this year, no surprise. They are even improved from last year, adding first year PG Cole and veteran defender Shane Battier. The best hope teams seem to have against them is to keep it close until the end and hope James chokes in the clutch (as usual).

(3) Philadelphia 76ers: here's a team to refute the theory that you need a star player to compete in the NBA - the 76ers' top scorer averages less than 16 per game. Six different players score in double digits for them, and they rely on a stingy defense. Haven't seen them play yet, but look forward to them as a potential playoff spoiler for the Bulls/Heat.

(4) Atlanta Hawks: with star guard - wait, hold on a second. The Atlanta Hawks are fourth?! Don't worry, they'll just lose in the first round or get swept in the second.

Others: Indiana Pacers have a great young core (just saw them play last night) and can hoop it up with anybody... Boston Celtics kind of suck this year, with Rondo dragging along the corpses of the "Big Three"... New York Knicks had a terrible start, but if they can all get healthy they could be scary - Lin at PG, Anthony as primary scorer, Stoudemire (offense) and Chandler (defense) as big men.

(1) Oklahoma City Thunder: possibly the most talented team in the league, and they've all been together now for several years. The biggest concern is the Durant-Westbrook duo. It's clear to everyone else that Durant is Batman and Westbrook Robin, but Westbrook often tries to star and usually ends up jacking up bricks and turning the ball over when he does.

(2) L.A. Clippers: "Lob City" is one of the most entertaining teams in the league, but they still need to work on their consistency. We'll see if they can survive Billups' season-ending injury, but I just don't see them making it to the conference championship yet, and maybe not even the divisional round in this deep conference.

(3) San Antonio Spurs: this truly shocks me. Their best player, Ginobili, has played just six game and yet they're right near the top of the standings. I have yet to see them play this year, and am interested to see how exactly they are winning games, what with Duncan's aging body and a young, unproven supporting cast around Parker and Ginobili.

(6) L.A. Lakers: how quickly the Lakers have gone from fighting for the top seed to fighting to just make it in to the playoffs. The reason is obvious: after Bryant, Gasol and Bynum it's a drop off a cliff in talent. Fisher is ancient, Goudelock is green, Blake is serviceable - as a back up, and Artest (I refuse to call him Metta World Peace) has completely fallen apart. Who else do they have? Barnes is pretty good, but again, basically a bench player; same with McRoberts who is injured. By the time they get to the playoffs Bryant, if not Gasol and Bynum, too, will either be exhausted or injured. Let's just stop this.

Wow, that was a long sports review. I hope you at least read and enjoyed parts of it. I will likely have a movie review next week - check Facebook to see which one!