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Block of the Night

Casey Armstrong — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:14:03 +0000

No surprise to see LeBron James on the NBA highlight reel. Last night, James came out of nowhere to send Rajon Rondo’s fast break layup into the nose bleed section. Enjoy…

Click here to view the embedded video.

I look forward to more of those this season as it seems LBJ chases down somebody every night.

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What is your favorite block of all-time? Feel free to post it below.

Week 5: Top 5 NFL Stories

Casey Armstrong — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 06:25:32 +0000

There was not a lot of middle ground in the NFL last week. The Rich got Richer. The Poor got Poorer. If you won, you blew the team out. If you lost, well…you got blown out. If you sucked in the first place and played another team that sucked, you were both embarrassed.

Here are my Top 5 NFL Stories from Week 5. What were yours? As always, click on the links for the hidden gems…

1. Pupil Defeats Master
In a much anticipated match-up, the Denver Broncos and rookie Head Coach Josh McDaniels hosted the New England Patriots and veteran Head Coach Bill Belichick. It was a game that I automatically assumed would finish the Broncos surprising undefeated record. I should have remembered that history has a way of repeating itself.

Several weeks ago, I sat speechless watching the University of Washington upset the University of Southern California in a game that was supposed to be a blowout. In that game, UW coach Steve Sarkisian defeated his former boss & mentor, Pete Carroll. It made sense. Sark had spent the past eight years working his way up the ranks at USC under Carroll and dissecting every aspect of the play book, both offensive & defensive.

Fast forward to the Denver game…McDaniels has spent the past eight years working his way up the ranks in New England under Belichick and dissecting every aspect of the play book, both offensive & defensive. Sound eerily familiar?

Well, this game turned out the same. Despite getting in a 10-0 hole (like UW), Denver kept in the game and pulled off a 20-17 victory in Overtime, improving to 5-0. Kyle Orton had his best game to date throwing for 330 yards & 2 TDs, both to Brandon Marshall.

2. All Remain Undefeated
There were three other teams trying to get to 5-0 and they all accomplished it…handily. The three undefeated teams won by a combined score of 113-26. Yes, you read that correctly. The New York Giants defeated the Oakland Raiders 44-7; the Minnesota Vikings & 40-year old Brett Favre defeated the St. Louis Rams 38-10; and the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Tennessee Titans 31-9. The Raiders, Rams, and Titans now have a combined 1-14 record. Ouch.

3. New North Leader
That sounds like the title my creepy RA gave himself my freshman year of college. My dorm was named New/North, but that is not the point. The AFC North is consistently one of the top divisions in the NFL because of the Pittsburgh Steelers & Baltimore Ravens. Well, the Cincinnati Bengals topped the Steelers in Week 3 and now the Ravens in Week 5 to stand alone at the top of the AFC North. In what seems to be Carson Palmer’s new craze, he once again led the Bengals to a last minute victory with a 20-yard TD pass to Andre Caldwell with 0:22 left in the game. CP finished the game with 271 yards & 1 TD. Chad Ochocinco was responsible for 94 of those yards, while workhorse running back Cedric Bensen had 120 yards & 1 TD on 27 carries against the vaunted Ravens defense.

4. WTF?
Two games that were expected to finish tight got out of hand really quickly. The Seattle Seahawks had dropped their last three games, but pounded the Jacksonville Jaguars 41-0 in Matt Hasselbeck’s return. Hasselbeck threw for 241 yards & 4 TDs. Nate Burleson & TJ Houshmanzedeaheahadaeh each snagged 2 TDs apiece. The other game was between the Atlanta Falcons & San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers followed up their blowout win in Week 4 with a blowout loss to the Falcons 45-10. Michael Turner & Roddy White combined for 307 total yards & 5 TDs. Not a bad day for their Fantasy Owners.

5. WTF 2.0?
Really? That counts as win? This is how I am reporting this game: The Cleveland Browns decided to travel to New York to practice plays and field goals with the Buffalo Bills. Somebody had to leave with a “win” so the Browns were allowed to kick a field goal with 0:23 left in practice to end the scrimmage 6-3. Really! It was that ugly. The Browns “won” even though their QB finished with 2 completions for 23 yards. I am not lying! Look it up yourself!

Get your Pick ‘Em Picks in and I will see you all in Week 6…

FAIL: Top-10 Premature Sports Celebrations

Casey Armstrong — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:25:40 +0000

Thanks to ESPN, here is a clip of the Top-10 Premature Sports Celebrations.

Number 3, the Bluegrass Miracle, is easily my favorite. The Kentucky Wildcat football players gave their coach a Gatorade Shower with several seconds left on the clock and then they lose by a ridiculous Hail Mary pass from LSU Tigers QB Marcus Randall. Not only did the coach have to suffer a loss, but he has to do it fully dressed & sopping wet.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Will He Catch His Flight?

Casey Armstrong — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 21:05:58 +0000

According to Adam Schefter, Braylon Edwards will be flying with the New York Jets for the remainder of the season. Check out Schefter’s call to ESPN…

Click here to view the embedded video.

After stirring up much controversy with an alleged fight with a friend of LeBron James, Braylon makes top news again.

Will Edwards be able to help the Jets? I think so. They have a stud rookie QB in Mark Sanchez, solid RBs in Thomas Jones & Leon Washington, and a top-notch defense, but don’t really have any true deep threat receivers or somebody to consistently draw double teams. While Edwards has a notorious history with dropping balls (he led the NFL with 16 in 2008), he can be an absolute nightmare for the defense when he wants to be. He was second in the NFL in TD receptions in 2007 with 16 (Randy Moss set the NFL record that year with 23) and has averaged 7 TDs and almost 900 yards receiving in his first four seasons.

He has gotten off to a slow start this year, but he is playing for a horrible Cleveland Browns team that has yet to win a game.

Prove your worth Braylon and make some positive headlines for once this season!

Block of the Night!

Casey Armstrong — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:34:30 +0000

Austin Daye hustles back after throwing up rare airball to beat up Dwayne Wade’s dunk attempt on a breakaway. Look at the rookie (from my alma mater…Woodbridge High School) making a name for himself early.

Beat that!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Week 4: Top 5 NFL Stories

Casey Armstrong — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:42:52 +0000

And then there were five…a viking, a saint, and a giant riding with a colt and a bronco. Sounds like the start of a fairy tale. That or the beginning to some joke going in the wrong direction. Anyways, they are all perfect so far!

Here are the Top 5 NFL Stories from Week 4 in no particular order (except for #1). As always, click on the headlines for the slow NFL.com video highlights (boo the NFL for taking down YouTube clips) or the links for the hidden gems…

1. Favre Defeats the Packers
What? Did I read that right? Yep! On Monday Night Football, Brett Favre led the Minnesota Vikings over his former squad 30-23. In his best game of the seasonn, Brett was 24/31 for 271 yards & 3 TDs. It was a good thing Favre stepped up, as the Green Bay Packers defense held Adrian Petersen to 55 yards on 25 carries and Clay Matthews III ripped the ball out of his hands in the second quarter for a 42-yard score. Jared Allen also dominated for the Vikings as he recorded 4.5 sacks and a safety to seal the victory.

2. Saints Defense Tops Mark & the Jets
After lighting up the scoreboard for the first two weeks, Drew Brees has not thrown a TD pass in his past two games. This didn’t matter as the New Orleans Saints defense outscored the New York Jets 14-10 in their 24-10 victory. It was a rough day for Mark Sanchez, as he threw a 99-yard TD to Darren Sharper (he is on the wrong team) and fumbled the ball in his own endzone. The Jets shouldn’t be too worried though. They get to play the Dolphins, Bills, Raiders, and Dolphins again in the next four weeks (those three teams are a combined 3-9…the Jets are 3-1).

3. Steve is the New Plax
Both teams remained perfect in this affair. How you ask? In a completely lopsided game from the start, the New York Giants moved from 3-0 to 4-0 and the Kansas City Chiefs dropped from 0-3 to 0-4 in a 27-16 game. Many concerns were swirling with the winds in New York this past off-season regarding who would step up for the incarcerated Plaxico Burress, but that has been more than answered. Steve Smith has been an absolute beast. He led the Giants in receptions (11) and yards (134) for the fourth straight week and grabbed 2 TDs in the process. He now leads the entire NFL in receptions (34), receiving yards (411), and receiving touchdowns (4). Not bad for the third year pro out of USC.

4. Peyton being Peyton
The Indianapolis Peyton Manning’s (or Colts) completely owned the Seattle Seahawks jumping to a 34-3 lead before Seattle scored 2 TDs in the final three minutes to close the gap to 34-17. Sure, other people played well and his O-Line bought him time as usual, but Peyton was just picking apart the Seahawks defense. For the fourth straight week, Manning tossed for over 300 yards (surprisingly, his first time accomplishing that feat) with 353 yards & 2 TDs. It looked as if he could have passed for 600 yards. He was unstoppable. He was making some French dude & Mormon guy look like Pro Bowlers. He is easily the best QB in the NFL right now.

5. The Broncos are What?
After that ridiculous 87-yard catch by Brandon Stokley in Week 1, I figured the Denver Broncos would lose the rest of their games. Glad I didn’t put any money on that thought. The Broncos somehow squeaked out a victory over another underachieving Dallas Cowboys team 17-10 to remain perfect with a 51-yard pass from Kyle Orton (and his mustache) to Brandon Marshall. It’s not that the Broncos looked liked they played poorly in the game, it’s just that the Cowboys looked like they didn’t want to win the game. “America’s Team” sucks!

So five teams are undefeated through four weeks? See you all in Week 5…

Throw it Down White Boy!

Casey Armstrong — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:36:51 +0000

With football in full swing, baseball heading into the Playoffs, and hockey just starting, we are only missing out on basketball. Well, last night we finally got some as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Indiana Pacers 104-95.

As Danny Granger & Derrick Rose were leading their respective teams, it was the former Dookie Josh McRoberts with the play of the night. Enjoy…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Five Sickest Dunks Ever

Casey Armstrong — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:06:53 +0000

Since we just covered The Top 10 Dunks by the Top 10 Dunkers, let’s look at the Five Sickest Dunks Ever. These are my five favorite to ever happen in a game with my favorite non-game dunk at the bottom. Please tell me what dunk is your favorite of all-time. Post it below!

5. T-Mac Off Backboard
Thanks to reader Scott for submitting this dunk. This was just a slap in the face of the other team. After breaking off this dunk in the All-Star game & Practice, Tracy McGrady broke this off in the middle of a game. So sick. My favorite part was how he did it so his lazy cousin Vinsanity could watch it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

4. Dr. J on the Lake Show
Full-speed one-handed cradle dunk on somebody’s face? Yeah, I would say that is sick.

Click here to view the embedded video.

3. Shaq Breaks Entire Hoop
I mean, who else could do this other than the greatest big man I have ever seen play? He didn’t break the glass, but the entire hoop. That thing was made of steel!

Click here to view the embedded video.

2. Chocolate Thunder Shatters Glass
This guy Daryl Dawkins just shattered the entire backboard by taking it to the rim strong. How is that possible? He ended up doing it again and forced the Commissioner to call him in for a meeting and ask him nicely to stop. He is the reason why a fine was instituted for purposely breaking “unbreakable” equipment.

Click here to view the embedded video.

1. Tom Chambers Flies
I remember when I saw this I thought he went completely horizontal. I know that this might not be the craziest dunk ever, but it is my favorite. Just such a sick dunk.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So what do you think? What is your favorite dunk ever? Please post it below!

By the way, this is my favorite non-game dunk…EVER!!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

More Instant Replay?

Casey Armstrong — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:02:18 +0000

An increase in instant replay has been given the thumbs up by the NBA Board of Governors for the third straight year.

Referees can use the the replay to decide who last contacted the basketball before it went out of bounce in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime. Also, they can use the replay at any time throughout the game to figure out if a shot or foul happened prior to the 24-second shot clock expiring.

Is it because they have the backup refs now reffing for the already horrible NBA refs? Who knows!

White Chocolate Back in Florida

He Only Has One Hand

Casey Armstrong — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:00:30 +0000

At 6-foot-10 from California, Kevin Laue has been playing basketball with one hand his entire life. He made his Varsity his junior, but broke his leg his senior year forcing him to enroll in a postgraduate academy in Virginia. Playing Division-I basketball has been his dream and I am extremely happy to tell you it came true.

This past year, he was rewarded a scholarship to play at Manhattan College in New York City. To read more on the story, please check it out at The Hoop Doctors.

Seriously…what a bad ass!

Click here to view the embedded video.