Patriots Defeat Giants To Complete 16-0 Season

The New England Patriots completed their historical perfect season with a 38-35 win over the New York Giants in the Meadowlands Saturday night. It was a hard fought game and it had the feeling of a playoff game. Both teams played their starters the entire game as was expected in this matchup with historical implications. There was also three more records that were broken in this game with two of them coming on the same play. In the third quarter with the Giants leding 28-23, Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback, threw a 65 yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss. That was Brady's 50th touchdown pass of the season, breaking the single season passing touchdown record set by Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts in 2004 when he had 49 touchdown passes. The touchdown catch for Randy Moss was his 23rd of the season, breaking the mark set by Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers when he had 22 touchdown catches in 1987. Rice caught his 22 touchdown receptions in a strike shortened 1987 season which only had 12 games. Moss set the record in 16 games, it it now his record. The Giants were leading 28-16, with Eli Manning playing at his best in the first half, when the Patriots scored 22 unanswered points to take a 38-28 lead. The Giants are going into the playoffs with a 10-6 record and a wild card playoff matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Will the Patriots win the Super Bowl? Are the 2007 Patriots the best team in the history of the NFL? Which team is the team that is closest to stopping the Patriots Super Bowl run?

Korver Traded To Utah For Giricek

Kyle Korver of the Philadelphia 76ers was traded to the Utah Jazz for Gordan Giricek and a conditional first round draft pick. Korver, who was a three point specialist for the 76ers, now takes his game to Utah where they have a good scoring guard in Deron Williams and a good low post scorer in Carlos Boozer. Giricek's time in Utah was numbered after he had an argument with head coach Jerry Sloan during a game against the Charlotte Bobcats on December 19. This was a move for the 76ers that helps them with salary cap flexibility. Giricek is in the last year of his contract, while Korver is still owed about $15 million for the next three seasons. Ed Stefanski, the former New Jersey Nets general manager who was hired a couple of weeks ago after Billy King was fired, is looking to shake up the team and make it better for the future. He felt the first step in that approach is to add some flexibility in the salary cap. For the Jazz, this helps Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams because it gives them an outside scoring threat to their good team. Will this move propel the Jazz in the Western Conference standings? With this move adding some space in the salary cap, will the 76ers be a contender in the near future?

Former Yankee Leyritz Arrested In Death Of A Woman

Jim Leyritz, a former baseball player who most notably used to play for the New York Yankees, was arrested on Friday on charges of driving under the influence and killing someone else. Leyritz was driving a 2006 Ford Expedition when his vehicle crashed into a 30 year old woman's Mitsubushi Montero. The woman was ejected from the car and she died after she was taken to the hospital. It was reported that Leyritz refused a blood test by the authorities and that a blood test would be taken above his authority. It was also reported that the lady who was killed was not wearing a seatbelt and that was why she was ejected from the car. Over his career, Leyritz has played for six major league teams. Those teams are the Yankees, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, San Deigo Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had some good moments in his career, most notably the 1996 World Series with the Yankees. In Game 4, with the Atlanta Braves leading 6-3 in the eighth inning, Leyritz hit a three run home run to tie the game and the Yankees would go on to win the game and tie the series at 2 apiece. They would win two more to seal the World Series victory. Leyritz was also a vital part of the 1998 Padres team that went to the World Series as well. That team ended up losing to the Yankees in the World Series but Leyritz played big in the playoffs. Will Leyritz being to go to jail for a long time? What does this do to his reputation?

Skiles Fired After 9-16 Start

Scott Skiles, head coach of the Chicago Bulls, was fired on Monday after the Bulls opened the season losing 10 of their first 12 games and with a 9-16 record. Skiles has lead the Bulls to the playoffs in three straight seasons, including their first since Michael Jordan lead them to a sixth NBA championship in eight years. The Bulls lost to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Semifinals last year after sweeping the defending champion Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. The Bulls were expected to be contenders for an Eastern Conference championship after last year's success. But instead, they started the season terribly, going 2-10 in their first 12 games and having one of the worst records in the Eastern Conference. Skiles did not mind being fired on Christmas Eve, saying "The fact that it's Christmas Eve is neither here nor there." General Manager John Paxson, who was playing with the Bulls during their first three championships in the early 90's, says that he doesn't have a long term solution and he's disappointed with his team. Paxson built the Bulls into contenders but by the look of how this season is going, Paxson could be the next person being showed the door. Will the Bulls fire Paxson? Will the Bulls make the playoffs this year? Was it a bad idea to fire Skiles?

NFL Week 16

Week 16 of the NFL season is important for some teams because it shapes the playoff picture and makes it clearer. There were several teams who had chances to clinch a playoff spot. The game between the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills was important to the Giants because the Giants clinches a playoff spot with a victory. They came out and looked completely flat, falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter. But they turned it on the rest of the game in bad conditions and won 38-21. Kevin Everett, the Bills backup tight end who was paralyzed in week 1 after a tackle, made it to the game walking perfectly fine. It was definitely comforting to the Bills team and the fans. Another game with playoff implications was the game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Browns, with a victory, had a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a victory as well. But the Browns didn't get the job done as quarterback Derek Anderson threw four interceptions as the Browns lost 19-14. The Tennessee Titans victory over the New York Jets now put them in a good position to make the playoffs. All they have to do is beat the Indianapolis Colts next week to clinch. The Browns have to beat the San Francisco 49ers and have the Titans lose to make it. The game between the Washington Redskins and the Minnesota Vikings had important implications for both teams as well. All the Vikings had to do was win both games and they make the playoffs. But the Vikings couldn't get the job done either. They lost 32-21, opening the door for the Redskins. All the Redskins have to do is win against the Dallas Cowboys next week to make it. The Vikings need a victory against the Denver Broncos and a Redskins loss to make it. Who will make the playoffs? Who goes into the playoffs with the most momentum?

Pistons Win In Eastern Conference Elite Matchup

The Detroit Pistons handed the Boston Celtics their first home loss of the season Wednesday night when the Pistons won in Boston 87-85. Chauncey Billups had a team high 28 points, including 12 points in the fourth quarter. The Celtics, who had the best record in the NBA with a 20-2 record, coming into this game, finally met their match. The Celtics first 22 games were filled with teams with decent or bad records. The Celtics finally played a good team in the Pistons and they lost. A lot of people think that Detroit is still superior in the Eastern Conference and Boston has a lot to prove. The game was close throughout with Boston leading early in the game but the champion-tested Pistons taking control late in the game. Two three pointers by Eddie House and Ray Allen tied the game at 85 with 1.7 seconds left. Then Chauncey Billups used his head instead of trying to make an incredible play. Billups pump faked, causing Tony Allen of the Celtics to foul him. Billups calmly knocked down both free throws and that ended up being the final score. These two teams will most likely meet in the Eastern Conference finals. Are the Celtics good enough to beat the Pistons? Was this game just a bad game for the Celtics? Are the Pistons or Celtics good enough to compete with the Western Conference?

NFL Week 15

Coming into the week 15 of the regular season, there were teams that had chances to help their playoff positioning by winning. Sunday night's matchup between the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants had playoff implications for both teams. The Giants had a chance to clinch a playoff spot with a victory. The Redskins needed a win to stay in the playoff race. A loss would've most likely put them out of playoff contention. The Redskins came through in bad weather conditions. They won the game 22-10 with their starting quarterback, Todd Collins, who hasn't started a game in 10 years, managed the game well and didn't make mistakes. Eli Manning, quarterback for the Giants, was extremely ineffective, having 34 incompletions in the loss. The Giants now have two AFC East teams in the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots to clinch. The most anticipated matchup of the week was between the New York Jets and the Patriots. In their first matchup in week 1, the Patriots were caught using a camera trying to steal signals from the Jets' coaches. It was widely reported that Jets' coach Eric Mangini told the NFL on the Patriots. The Patriots played one of their worst games of the season but still won 20-10. Tom Brady, the Patriots star quarterback didn't throw a touchdown pass for the first time this season. The Jets weren't able to capitalize. Kellen Clemens, the Jets quarterback, was injured on the first offensive series and was replaced by Chad Pennington. The Patriots have improved their record to 14-0 with two more games left. The most surprising game was between the Baltimore Ravens and the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins, at 0-13, finally won a game this season when Greg Camarillo caught a 64 yard pass for a touchdown in overtime. The Ravens, who were a couple of weeks removed from an impressive performance against the Patriots, have been reeling, losing eight in a row. Will the Ravens fire coach Brian Billick after the loss to the Dolphins? With the Dolphins and the Giants remaining on their schedule, will the Patriots go undefeated? Will the Giants make the playoffs?

Pettitte Admits HGH Use

Andy Pettitte, starting pitcher for the New York Yankees, admitted on Saturday that he did indeed use human growth hormones in 2002 just as stated in George Mitchell's report. Pettitte's agent said he would not comment until meeting with someone from the union. He then came out with the truth and said that he used it. He said that he used it in 2002 because he was on the disabled list for an elbow injury. He said that he "had heard that human growth hormone could promote faster healing for my elbow." He also vehemently stated that he only used it for two days so he can get back to his team faster. He told reporters that he "wasn't looking for an edge. I was looking to heal." Pettitte, along with Roger Clemens was reported in the Mitchell report as taking human growth hormone and steroids from Brian McNamee, who was with the Toronto Blue Jays when Clemens was with the team and with the Yankees when Clemens and Pettitte were there. Pettitte has made it clear that he only used human growth hormone and not steroids. Will Pettitte's admission make people ease up on him? Will his admission put more pressure on Clemens? Will Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, suspend him?

Mitchell Reveals Players Involved In Performance-Enhancing Drugs

George Mitchell, the former Senator who was tabbed by Commissioner Bud Selig to conduct an investigation into performance-enhancing drugs, has come out with a list with about 80 names of players who were linked to either steroids or human growth hormones. There was a lot of speculation leading up to the report as to whether the names that were on the list were going to be big-named players. There were some marquee players on the list of reported drug users. The biggest name on that list was seven-time Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens of the New York Yankees. Clemens has been in the league since 1984, when he was with the Red Sox, and his name seemed to be a focal point in the report. Clemens was singled out in the report in nine pages, and the guy who singled out him and fellow Yankee pitcher Andy Pettitte was former Yankee strength and conditioning coach Brian McNamee. McNamee told Mitchell that he injected Clemens in 1998 with steroids and then again in 2000 when Clemens said he was ready to use it again. Pettitte was also taking drugs from McNamee. In 2002, when Pettitte was on the disabled list, he wanted to speed his recovery. So he asked McNamee to come to Tampa where Pettitte was recovering and he was given human growth hormones. Other big names, such as Miguel Tejada, who recently was traded to the Houston Astros, and Eric Gagne, a former Cy Young award winner, was also mentioned in the report. Roger Clemens has had a fascinating career. Should he be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Should the current players named in the report, such as Pettitte and Tejada, be suspended at the beginning of next season? What will Bud Selig do to follow up on this report?

Petrino Quits On Falcons To Take Arkansas Job

Bobby Petrino resigned on Monday as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons to become head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks. The resignation by Petrino comes a day after Michael Vick, the former quarterback for the Falcons, was sentenced to 23 months in prison for his role in a dogfighting ring. Petrino, who previously was the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals, took the job with a 5 year contract in the offseason. He thought that he had the opportunity to coach Michael Vick, who was one of the league's most exciting players. Petrino told the media that he would not quit on his team, even if Vick wasn't going to be there. Petrino ended up quitting on them on Monday only 13 games into his NFL head coaching career. He never was on the same page with the players on the Falcons and he also made a questionable move during the season when he released Grady Jackson. Jackson was effective as a defensive interior lineman and was good enough to be effective stopping the run. After the move, it seemed like some of the veteran players had quit on him. DeAngelo Hall, the star of the Falcons, was very critical of the move and also said it was hard to play 100% under Petrino. Should Petrino ever get an NFL head coaching job again? Do you think he'll ever go back to the NFL? Was the Michael Vick saga too much for him to handle in his first NFL season?

Vick Sentenced To 23 Months

Michael Vick was sentenced to 23 months in prison on Sunday. This sentence would mean that Vick would come out on October 2009, and he might get out a little earlier for good behavior. Vick got more time in prison than two of his co-defendants because he was not truthful at first with the dogfighting operation. According to the case, dogs that did not perform well were killed in various ways in the dogfighting operation. Vick, who has been apologetic from the time he pleaded guilty, was not believed by Judge Henry E. Hudson. Hudson said that Vick doesn't seem to have accepted full responsibility. Marcus Vick, a former quarterback for Virginia Tech and Michael's brother, was there with their mother at the sentencing. Vick's mother was very emotional and Marcus was trying to provide her comfort during the process. Vick, who received a huge contract just three years ago, will now have to serve time in prison and there are many questions about his NFL career once he gets out of prison. Will Vick be given another chance by another NFL team once he gets out? Has Vick accepted full responsibility for his role in the dogfighting operation? With the Atlanta Falcons, Vick's former team, at 3-9, has this case affected the team's performance this year?

NFL Week 14

Week 14 of the NFL Sunday had a couple of division winners and it also had a failed guarantee. The game of the week coming in was the matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots. Anthony Smith, the safety for the Steelers, guaranteed a Steelers win during the week. It turned out bad for him because he got burned on two of Tom Brady's four touchdown passes. Brady threw for 399 yards on 32-46 passing. Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers QB, wasn't bad, going 19-32 for 187 yards and an impressive touchdown pass. The Patriots won the game 34-13 in which the Patriots already had the game won at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Another great game was the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions. Before that game, there were some words said between the two teams as well. Terrence Newman, the Cowboys defensive back, said that he would come after Jon Kitna, the Lions QB, after some words were said by Kitna last year about the Cowboys. The Cowboys, who have the best record in the NFC, struggled to get the win but Tony Romo, the Cowboys QB, threw a touchdown pass with 18 seconds remaining to Jason Witten for the game winner. The Cowboys won 28-27. The Sunday night matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens was supposed to be a good one after the Ravens played well last Monday against the Patriots. It didn't happen. Peyton Manning, the Colts QB, was lights out and didn't have to play the second half. They had a 37-7 lead at halftime and they ended up winning 44-20. Will the Patriots go undefeated this season? Was the Colts victory against the Ravens a statement game? With the Cowboys struggling to beat the Lions, can they be beaten by another NFC team?

Mayweather Defeats Hatton To Stay Undefeated

Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Ricky Hatton on Saturday when he knocked him out in the 10th round to stay undefeated at 39-0 with 25 KO. Mayweather, who was the favorite going into the match, was all over Hatton from the jump. There were some who thought Hatton could actually win because of his rough style of boxing. He tried to apply it on Mayweather Jr. by bullying him to the ropes on numerous occasions but it simply did not work. Hatton suffers his first defeat of his career and now says that he will take a little time off after participating in three boxing matches this year. Mayweather Jr., who is 30 years old, seemed like this was his last fight. He said that he has accomplished everything he wanted to do in his career with his fight with Hatton. He said that he wanted to fight in the U.K. but was content with "the best of the U.K. coming to him." Hatton had a bigger fan base, with a lot of people from the U.K. coming into Las Vegas to go to the match or to just be in town and support Hatton. That didn't phase Mayweather at all. With this impressive victory against Hatton, is Mayweather Jr. the best pound-for-pound boxer? Will this fight be the last for Mayweather Jr.? Will Hatton come back to the United States to get another high profile boxing match?

Tebow Wins Heisman Trophy

Tim Tebow, QB for the Florida Gators has won the Heisman Trophy, beating out Arkansas' Darren McFadden, Hawaii's Colt Brennan and Missouri's Chase Daniel for the coveted trophy. He is the first sophomore to ever the win the award. Tebow, whose Gators won the national title last year under QB Chris Leak, was not as good this year as they were last year. But Tebow had a spectacular season statistically. Tebow lead his team rushing and passing, and he is the first player in college football history, to have at least 20 touchdowns rushing and passing. He had 29 TD passes and he also had 22 rushing TD. The Gators will be playing in the Capital One Bowl against the Michigan Wolverines. McFadden finished second again, a year after finishing second in the race last yearto Troy Smith of Ohio State. Coming into this season, many thought that McFadden was going to be the runaway winner of the award. He had more rushing yards than he did last year but Arkansas wasn't as good as they were last year. They will face off against Daniel and the Missouri Tigers in the Cotton Bowl. Brennan, whose Hawaii Warriors went undefeated and got a BCS bowl berth for the first time in school history, came in third in the Heisman race. His coach, June Jones, criticized Tebow earlier this week for being a system quarterback and not being ready for the NFL. Hawaii, who had a weak schedule, has a chance to prove themselves when they play the Georgia Bulldogs in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. Was Tebow the right choice for the Heisman trophy? Is Brennan a more established quarterback than Tebow or is Brennan also a system quarterback?

Patriots Win Close One Again

The New England Patriots defeated the Baltimore Ravens 27-24 on Monday night, improving their record to 12-0. The Patriots, a week after coming from a competitive game against the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday, came out of another competitive game and survived. Tom Brady, a potential MVP candidate who has been spectacular all year, clearly had his worst game of the year, going for 18-38 for 257 yards and 2 TD and an INT. He was under 50% passing for the first time this season, but played better in the fourth quarter. Kyle Boller, the Ravens' QB, was definitely better than Brady, going 15-23 for 210 yards with 2 TD and an INT as well. The running game for the Ravens worked well also, with RB Willis McGahee going for 138 yards on 30 carries. McGahee was definitely effective as he was playing on emotions following the death of his college teammate Sean Taylor. But the Patriots did a great job in the fourth quarter containing McGahee and that was a big difference in the outcome of the game. The Ravens had many opportunities to put the game away from the second quarter. Ed Reed, the Ravens all-pro safety, picked off a pass from Brady and then fumbled it after carrying it recklessly while returning it. Later in the game, Kyle Boller threw a terrible pass that was intercepted by James Sanders. Those were two opportunities for the Ravens to get at least field goals and they blew both opportunities. In the last drive for the Patriots, on 4th and 1, the Ravens called a timeout before the snap in a play in which they stopped Tom Brady trying to attempt a quarterback sneak. Then, on 4th and 6, Brady threw an incomplete pass to Ben Watson but rookie Jamaine Winborne was called for defensive holding, which gave the Patriots a new set of downs. Brady would end up throwing a touchdown pass to Jabar Gaffney, which on replay, clearly appeared to be juggling in his hand as he was going out of bounds. Bart Scott, linebacker for the Ravens, clearly was not happy as he threw a referee's flag into the stands and then continued to argue with the officials, drawing two 15 yard penalities. After the game, there were some in the Ravens locker room who felt they were cheated, and Samari Rolle said that one of the referees called him "a boy". Were the Ravens cheated out of a victory? Were the referees trying to keep the Patriots perfect record intact? With two straight close games against bad teams, will the Patriots lose on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers?

Ohio State, LSU Playing For National Title

In the final BCS Rankings on Sunday, it was determined that Ohio State will play LSU for the national championship on Monday January 7, 2008 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. That became the case after West Virginia and Missouri, who were in prime position to play for the title games if they won their final game, lost their games to Pittsburgh and Oklahoma respectively. In the other BCS games, USC will play Illinois in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. On the other BCS game on New Year's Day in the Sugar Bowl, Hawaii will play Georgia. In the Fiesta Bowl on January 2, West Virginia will play Oklahoma. In the Orange Bowl on January 3, Kansas will play Virginia Tech. Missouri, who was ranked #1 before their loss to Oklahoma, didn't get a BCS bowl game. Instead, they play in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day against Arkansas. After the matchups were set up, there were many questions as to whether the BCS system got the national title matchup right. There were also many people who said that there should be a playoffs in college football. Was Ohio State and LSU the right picks for the championship game? Was Hawaii, who went undefeated all season, snubbed? Was Missouri, who beat Kansas and were #1 last week, snubbed out of a BCS bowl game?

NFL Week 13

In Week 13, there were many games that were important on the schedule. The best game of the week was Thursday night's game pitting the Green Bay Packers against the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams came into the game 10-1 and both had the best records in the NFC. The Cowboys won 37-27 behind strong play from QB Tony Romo. Romo was 19-30 for 309 yards with 4 TD and an interception. During the game, Packers legendary QB Brett Favre was injured on a pass that was intercepted. He suffered serious arm injuries and now his status for next week's game against the Oakland Raiders is in question. He was already playing bad, going 5-14 for 56 yards and 2 INT. Another good game was the matchup between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts won 28-25, behind Peyton Manning's big day with 288 yards passing and 4 TD. He was very efficient, completing 20 passes and only having 9 incompletions. David Garrard, the Jaguars QB, threw his first interception of the season when Antoine Bethea picked him off in the fourth quarter. The Washington Redskins' home game against the Buffalo Bills was very emotional because it was their first game since the death of starting safety Sean Taylor. The Bills won the game 17-16 after Rian Lindell made a 36 yard field goal with 5 seconds left. Lindell was originally going to attempt a 51 yard field goal but Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs called consecutive timeouts, which is against the rules, setting up the easier field goal for Lindell. The Redskins paid tribute to Taylor by lining up only 10 players on defense instead of the customary 11 on the first play. Another great game was between the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears. With the Giants down 16-7 in the fourth quarter, QB Eli Manning lead two late touchdown drives to give the Giants a 21-16 victory and improve their record to 8-4. Are the Cowboys the team to beat in the NFC? Will Brett Favre's injury cost the Packers in the future? With an impressive performance in the loss to the Colts, will the Jaguars get past the first round in the playoffs? Will Sean Taylor's death take an emotional toll on the Redskins and cause them to miss the playoffs?

#1 Missouri and #2 West Virginia Loses

In another crazy day in college football, #2 West Virginia became the sixth #2 ranked team to lose to an unranke team and seventh #2 ranked team to lose overall. West Virginia lost to the University of Pittsburgh 13-9 in West Virginia in the biggest upset this season. This upset comes a day before the final BCS Rankings and the BCS Bowl schedule is supposed to come out. This loss for West Virginia gives way to Ohio State, Georgia and Kansas to move up in the rankings. Also, #1 ranked Missouri lost in the Big 12 championship game 38-17 to #9 ranked Oklahoma in San Antonio. One week after another #1 ranked team, LSU, loses, another one goes down, propelling a whole new matchup in the championship game. There were many quetions as to whether Missouri was going to beat Oklahoma. But West Virginia was expected to destroy Pittsburgh, which didn't happen. West Virginia has still clinched a BCS bowl berth with their Big East Conference championship. Missouri doesn't have a guaranteed spot because they are not their conference champions. They will have to get lucky and get an at-large bid for a BCS bowl game. Hawaii also beat Washington, securing their undefeated season. Can they get a BCS bowl game? Who will play for the national title? Who will be the champions of college football? Does college football need a playoff system?