The Autistic Sports Nerd's Blog

The Rise of New York Sports

2012-02-15T22:12:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. I can't remember a time (Maybe since 1994) where the New York teams have been consistently on this great run. It's been incredible to witness.

NFL

The New York Giants win Super Bowl 46 over the Patriots in a thrilling game. From 7-7 to Super bowl Champions within the same year, it's like something out of a sports movie. It's the fourth Super Bowl in the history of the franchise.

I watched the game with my family at our restaurant on the big screen and we all jumped up and down after the Giants won the game. Eli Manning gets his second ring and was named the Super Bowl M.V.P for the second time in his career.

After the first week of the season when they lost in Washington, I thought the Giants were going to be in for a long year. When they were blown out in New Orleans on Monday Night Football, I thought the Giants were finished. When they lost their second game to the Redskins, I was in shock. However, that Victor Cruz 99-yard touchdown reception against the Jets sparked the Giants to go on an unbelievable run. They won ever game with their backs to the wall.

There is a new trend in the NFL. It's not about dominating the regular season anymore. It's about getting hot at the right time. That's what the Giants did and it worked. Congratulations to the New York Giants.

NHL

The Rangers are seven points ahead of the Bruins for first place in the Eastern Conference. They are a point behind the Red Wings for the most points in the NHL but the Rangers have played in three less games than the Red Wings.

The Rangers are trying to get a goal-scorer before the trade deadline. There have been talks of New York trying to get Rick Nash from the Columbus Blue Jackets. If I'm the Rangers, I don't do the deal. The Blue Jackets would want a lot in return for Nash. The Rangers cannot afford to sacrifice their future. Having Nash could cause chemistry problems. The Rangers are in-sync right now. No team is ever perfect and I think the Rangers will be able to score enough goals to compliment their gritty play and outstanding goal-tending.

Even if the Rangers finish in first place in the Eastern Conference, that does not give them an easy run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Teams that are battling for the eight spot are pretty good teams. The Capitals are a talented team and the Maple Leafs have won both of their games at Madison Square Garden already this year. The Maple Leafs currently lead the Capitals by a point for the eight seed. That's the beauty of the NHL though, it's not about the seeds but about the match-ups.

Congratulations to the Detroit Red Wings for setting the NHL record for winning 21 consecutive home games. The last time the Red Wings lost a home game was November 3rd, over three months ago. That's just incredible.

NBA

If fans were sick and tired of the Tim Tebow drama, I don't know what they are thinking now. Jeremy Lin is here and he is saving the Knicks' season. The Knicks were 8-15 and Knick's head coach Mike D'Antoni was on the hot seat. Then, Lin came off the bench in a home game against the Nets and led the Knicks to victory. He entered the starting lineup and helped the Knicks derail a very good Jazz team.

When the Knicks faced the Lakers at the Garden, Lin scored an astounding 38-points which was higher than what Kobe Bryant scored during that game. Bryant had 34 points.

Just the other night against the Raptors, I have never seen anything like it. Knicks' fans were all over the Air Canada Center, all because of Lin. The Knicks trailed all game but Lin converted a three-point play to tie the game at 87 with a minute to go in the 4th quarter.

The Knicks get the ball, still tied at 87 with less than 30 seconds left. Tyson Chandler grabs an offensive rebound and passes it out to Lin who has the ball just in front of half-court. The shot-clock is turned off and Lin dribbles the ball slowly and with great poise. Less than 15 seconds left, less than 10 seconds left. Lin barely moves. Everyone else is positioned around the paint. Three seconds left and Lin steps forward, then just shoots up a three, and hits it-swish! My brother and I were going wild, the fans of the Air Canada Center was going wild, the Knicks were going wild. Lin led the Knicks to victory again.

Steve Nash tweeted about Lin. "Its crazy! I'm watching Linsanity hoping every shot goes in. Hope I never grow up."

So did Reggie Miller. "OK, I GIVE IN!!!!!!!!!!! Its Legit!!!!! WOW!!!!!!!!"

Sources on ESPN reported that the Lakers erupted in their lounge before their game when Lin hit that three-pointer and Metta World Peace (formally known as Ron Artest) was running around screaming "Lin-Sanity."

I'm not sure if Lin could keep up with this high intensity but he is doing great things. He's making the players around him better. The Knicks are working more as a team. It's not just Lin doing great, he's making his teammates great. Amar'e Stoudemire returned to the Knicks' lineup and for the few games they have been together, Lin and Stoudemire have formed to be a great pick-and-roll combination.

Fans are worried that Carmelo Anthony will disrupt the chemistry when he returns at the end of the week. I think Anthony will buy into the system and with Lin setting Anthony up, I think it makes the individuals and the team that much better. The Knicks are now at the .500 mark thanks to this winning streak and D'Antoni's job for the time being is saved. It's inevitable that the Knicks will lose some games with Lin (they are 7-0 in games Lin has played). For the time being, Knicks' fans are enjoying the ride.

Manhattanville Hockey

The Manhattanville Valiants men's hockey team traveled to Utica on Friday February 3rd. I was back at my Alma Mater, my new team facing my old team. It was great being back in Utica again and seeing my old teammates, coaches, friends, and professors. It felt weird being back. I had that weird feeling the whole game but it was still a great experience. The Valiants won the first game 5-1.

The two teams had a rematch the next night at Rye Playland. The Pioneers smoked us 9-3. You can't predict these ECAC West games. Anything can happen on any given night.

A.J: Thank goodness the Utica saga is over, at least until the playoffs possibly.

I checked the schedule and the Valiants next road game against Morrisville was going to be played in Clinton, just down the road from Utica, because of a Youth Hockey Fundraiser.

A.J: Wow!!

I have been in Clinton quite a few times but I never been to their rink. I heard a lot about it though. I know that's the place where the Pioneers practice before the ice gets placed at the AUD after the circus leaves.

The next weekend we traveled to Clinton. We were minutes away from the rink. This is usually the part of the trip where I begin to concentrate and focus on the upcoming game at hand. Then I saw the Hotel Utica building, "The AUD", and downtown Utica from the bus. Later down the road, I saw Murnane Field and Chanatry's Super Market. I couldn't believe it. I tried to see if I could get a glimpse of the Utica College campus but no luck. My concentration was disrupted. Utica was distracting me from mentally-preparing for the game.

We arrived at the Clinton Arena and it was a cool (no pun intended) rink. I pictured the rink being brutal but it was a nice rink. I wouldn't mind watching hockey games in those nice blue seats they had.

As for the game, the Valiants blew out the Mustangs 9-3 and clinched a home playoff game. Scott Hudson tallied a hat-trick. The Valiants have one more regular season weekend left before the ECAC West tournament. ECAC West Seeding and NCAA Tournament implications are on the line for all of the teams in the ECAC West.

On the way back home from the game, I looked around the city of Utica one more time. I looked to the left and despite being on the highway in the dark, I saw the Utica College Library on the campus of Utica College in the distance. I finally saw Utica College again.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

This Weekend.....

2012-02-02T19:23:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here.

An unusual weekend is coming up for me. To be honest, a weekend like this is never going to happen again.

This Friday (02/03/12), I'm heading back to Utica for the first time since I graduated from there last May. It's the Manhattanville Valiants at the Utica College Pioneers in a key conference hockey game. My Graduate School against my Alma Mater, my new team vs. my old team. I will be perfectly honest, this night has been on the back of my mind since I first read the (Pioneers')schedule last May. I was still on campus for my final week and this was after I found out I was going to be working for the Manhattanville hockey team. It's going to be awkward coming back as the opposing Video Coordinator but I must put my emotions to the side.

This isn't about a Video Coordinator's return to his Alma Mater. It's a little bigger than that. This is about two rivals going at it for playoff seeding. The Valiants are currently the #2 seed in the ECAC West while the Pioneers are sitting at #3. Manhattanville is three points ahead of Utica. The Pioneers want that home playoff game really bad. They haven't had one in years. If they could get a home playoff game in front of 4,000 fans, that would be huge for them. The Valiants are standing between Utica and that home playoff game.

Both teams will have a rematch at the Playland Ice Casino on Saturday night (Manhattanville's Senior Night). These two games coming up are critical. This is why I jumped to a rival team after I graduated from Utica, I love being a part of these games.

On Sunday, the Giants are in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. It's a rematch of Super Bowl 42 where the Giants ruined the Patriots' perfect season. The Giants survived the 49ers in what was an epic game. The Patriots survived the Ravens in what also was an epic game. Both Championship games could have gone either way.

The Giants will have to get the pressure on Tom Brady if they have any hopes of winning this game. Their pass rush has to come up big. Despite the Giants' explosive receivers against a mediocre Patriots' secondary, the Giants need to get the running game going as well in order to control field position and time of possession because the less time Brady has the ball, the better.

On the Yahoo Sports Pool, I predicted the Giants would beat the Packers in the Divisional Round, 24-20. They won 37-20. I predicted the Giants would beat the 49ers, 27-17. They ended up winning 20-17. I successfully predicted the last two opposing scores for the Giants. No, I did not predict the Falcons would score two points in the Wild Card game.

For this Super Bowl Prediction, I pick the Giants to defeat the Patriots by a score of 27-24.

A lot of people are pointing out a lot of comparisons to the Giants' run this year to their run in 2007. I will add some more to it.

Like in 2007, the Giants are making this run in my first year at a new school (Utica College 2007, Manhattanville College 2011). They played the AFC East in both years. In the Divisional and NFC Championship games, they lost to those teams in that same year in the Regular Season but bounced back and beat them in the playoffs. (Cowboys twice and the Packers in the Regular Season in 2007. Beat them in the playoffs that year. This year it was the 49ers and Packers in the regular season but beat them in the playoffs.)

The Giants played the Dolphins the day after my first hockey trip with Utica at SUNY Fredonia in 2007. This year, the Giants played the Dolphins the day after my first hockey trip with Manhattanville in Michigan. The Giants had that great game against the Patriots in the Regular Season but fell short 38-35 in 2007. This year, the Giants had that great game against the Packers but fell short, you guessed it, 38-35. Both games were Giants' home games. Those games in their respective years catapulted the Giants to go on a run and Big Blue bounced back against those teams in the playoffs. The Giants have to go through the Patriots again in this year's Super Bowl. The Patriots stand between the Giants and their fourth franchise Super Bowl victory.

Oh yeah, before each Super Bowl game between the Giants and the Patriots, the Utica Pioneers and the Manhattanville Valiants had/will have a home-and-home set of games with each other. Both years, first game at the AUD, then at the Casino the next night.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good weekend guys!

Royal Rumble Predictions

2012-01-29T13:03:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, the Royal Rumble. The 25th anniversary of one of the most entertaining pay-per-views of the year. Here are my predictions:

John Cena vs. Kane

Darth Sideous (Kane) battles Anakin Skywalker (John Cena). Kane is trying to persuade Cena to "Embrace the Hate." I think Cena does just that and violently beats up Kane causing a disqualification. I expect these two will have a rematch at the Elimination Chamber PPV in what would be a "No Disqualification Match."

Prediction: Kane wins by Disqualification.

Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry in a Steel Cage match fr the World Heavyweight Championship

I like Daniel Bryan's new heel character. Mark Henry is having a resurgent career and the Big Show has been great in his role. This should be a great match. I expect the Big Show and Mark Henry to destroy each other while Daniel Bryan climbs out of the cage and retains the title.

Prediction: Daniel Bryan wins

Dolph Ziggler vs. CM Punk for the WWE Championship with John Laurinaitis as the referee.

Punk and Ziggler should have a great match. I think Laurinaitis will slowly count when Punk is going for a pin-fall. When Ziggler tries to pin Punk. Laurinaitis will try and count really fast. I think Laurinaitis gets knocked out "accidently" by Punk and another referee slides in a counts to three when Punk pins Ziggler. CM Punk retains the WWE Championship.

Winner: CM Punk by pin-fall

The 30-Man Royal Rumble Match

This is my favorite match of the year. I love Royal Rumble matches. Randy Orton could win it since they are in St. Louis and that is hometown. I think Chris Jericho comes in as the #30 entrant. I believe Orton and Jericho will be the final two with Jericho eliminating Orton to win the Royal Rumble. Jericho goes on to face Punk at WrestleMania 28.

Winner of the Royal Rumble: Chris Jericho

Enjoy the Rumble guys!

Divisional Round Recap and Conference Championship Picks

2012-01-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here.

The Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs is over and today is the two Championship games.

Any doubts about Alex Smith are now eliminated as he rallied the 49ers on a few different occasions to beat the Saints. It was a thrilling game to watch as both offenses could not be stopped during the last few minutes of the game. This is the second year in a row the Saints have been eliminated in the postseason in heartbreak fashion. The 49ers move on to the NFC Championship game for the first time since 1997. I had the 49ers to finish in last place in their division this year. Boy, was I wrong on that one.

I thought the Broncos would upset the Patriots, boy was I wrong. The Patriots scorched Denver. The Tebow haters were in full force after that game. I think Brady was angry that he, the three time Super Bowl Champion, was overshadowed by a second year starter by the media.

The Ravens got by the Texans in a surprisingly close game. Joe Flacco will have to perform better against the Patriots if he has hopes for the Super Bowl. If the Texans get stabilized at the QB position next year, they will be a dangerous team in the AFC.

The Giants stunned Green Bay. Eli Manning had an outstanding game while the defense shut down Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay offense. The Giants running game came alive towards the end of the game and who could forget that Hail-Mary catch by Hakeem Nicks to end the first half? With the Packers gone, we will have a New Super Bowl Champion this year. Four out of the last five NFC Number One seeds have been eliminated in the first playoff game. Rust could play a huge factor to that.

In the AFC Championship game, the Ravens take on the Patriots at Foxborough. The last time these two teams met in the postseason was the Wild Card game in 2009 when the Ravens routed the Patriots at Foxborough. It should be a closer game this time but I like the Ravens in this game. I think their defense will shut the Patriots offense down and Baltimore will score enough points against a mediocre New England defense.

The Giants will renew their playoff rivalry against the 49ers in San Fransisco. The Giants are 3-4 all-time against the 49ers in postseason play including that 24 point collapse the Giants suffered in the 2002 Wild Card game that still has me traumatized. The Key for the Giants is to build a lead early which will force the 49ers to abandon the running game. That's when the pass rush can attack Smith. If the field is wet, I do think it favors the 49ers because of their strong running ability. The Giants have to contain Gore and building a lead will help that.

I'll take the Giants in this game. I think the defense will come up strong and Eli will be able to put together some strong drives. I predict a rematch of Super Bowl 35 between the Giants and the Ravens. I hope I'm right. If it's the 49ers vs. the Ravens, it will be the battle of head coaching brothers. John Harbaugh of the Ravens and Jim Harbaugh of the 49ers.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

Manhattanville defeats Potsdam

2012-01-14T17:48:00.000-08:00

Rye, N.Y (01/14/11); The Manhattanville Valiants Men's Hockey team continued it's scoring surge as they defeat the Potsdam Bears for the second straight night by a score of 8-0. Eight different Valiants tallied a goal as Manhattanville goes unbeaten on their five game home-stand. Brett Skalsi, Scott Hudson, Brendan Turner, and Paul Sirigano led the Valiants balanced attack with two points apiece. The game was physical and chippy as the two teams combined for 45 penalty minutes.

Manhattanville(7-4-3)struck first just 3:56 into the contest when Evan Michalchuk and Craig Simchuk set-up Skalski who recorded his fifth goal of the year to put Manhattanville up 1-0. It only took the Valiants 30-seconds to register their next goal as Turner netted his eight goal of the year assisted by Mark River and Luc Van Natter. Dillan O'Hara would add his first goal of the year at 8:57 to extend the Valiants' lead to 3-0.

In the second stanza, the chippy play began just over two minutes in when Aaron Hildreth of Potsdam received a five minute major penalty for boarding. Marcus von Sydow would make the Bears pay less than a minute later by taking a feed from Turner and Scott Hudson and blasted the puck into the net for his fourth goal of the year and fourth goal of the game for the Valiants. Ronnie Smith, Jason Bowles, and Derek Serdachny added goals of their own before the second period concluded.

Manhattanville net-minder Pierre-Olivier Lemieux had an active afternoon as he stopped all 26 shots he faced and even committed roughing penalty while earning a shutout. Dylan Ellis allowed seven-goals against before getting pulled at the end of two periods of play. Kevin McFarland gave up one goal out of fourteen shots he faced. The one goal he gave up was scored by Van Natter while the Valiants were on a power-play 12:48 into the final period.

The Bears, who fall to 6-8-2, received a ten minute bench penalty and a game misconduct at the end of the game. The Valiants Special Teams was the key as Manhattanville scored two power-play goals on five attempts while killing all four penalties they faced.

The Valiants head back on the road to Boston, Mass. on Tuesday for a 7:30 pm game against Curry College. When these two teams met on Tuesday January 10th at the Ice Casino, both teams skated to a 2-2 tie.

An Amazing Wild Card Weekend

2012-01-10T12:39:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. The NFL Wild Card Weekend is over and it was chaotic.

NFL

The Texans blew out the Bengals. I thought Cincinnati was going to win because of their stability at the Quarterback position but the Texans proved me wrong. The Texans win their first playoff game in the history of their franchise.

They move on to face Baltimore in the Divisional Round on Sunday. I think the Ravens defense will prove too much for the Texans and Baltimore will score just enough points. I'll pick the Ravens to beat the Texans.

The Saints got off to a slow start but turned it on in the second half to beat the Detroit Lions 45-28. The game was not as much of a blowout as the final score indicated but the Lions collapsed towards the end. The Saints are unstoppable at the Superdome.

They travel to San Fransisco to battle it out with the 49ers on Saturday. The Saints have not faced a defense quite like San Fransisco's in a while plus the Saints have been known to struggle away from home. Take a look at last year's playoff game at Seattle and this year in the regular season at St. Louis. I'll pick the 49ers to win a close one against the Saints.

The Giants win their first home playoff game since they routed the Minnesota Vikings 41-0 in the 2000 NFC Championship game. The Giants beat the Falcons by an unusual score of 24-2. Despite the slow start, everything was clicking for the Giants. Their defense was dominating, their running game came through for the first time in a while, and they made the occasional big passing play. Those factors are vintage for the New York Giants.

They have momentum as they travel to Green Bay to take on the defending Super Bowl Champion Packers who beat the Giants in an old-fashioned shootout, 38-35 in Week 13. I think this game will be a little bit more of a low scoring contest, a 24-20 type of game. Green Bay's offensive line is banged up while the Giants defensive front has been peeking at the right time. The Packers have one of the worst-ranked defenses in the NFL and the Giants are having a breakout year offensively. I pick the Giants to upset the Packers.

For those fans who are tired of hearing about Tim Tebow, I have bad news. Tebow played great against the best defense in the NFL and he didn't even wait until the fourth quarter to do it. The game was tied at 23 going into overtime. This was the first ever overtime with the new playoff rules. I was at the edge of my seat as the official explained the overtime rules. Touchdown, game is over either way. If the team that gets the ball first has a field goal that is successful, the other team gets a possession. I had a feeling that this overtime could take longer than usual but it would be exciting.

First play of overtime, Tebow throws it to Demaryius Thomas and he runs all the way for a touchdown, game over. Wow, I couldn't believe it. An 80 yard touchdown play, what were the odds? The explanation for the overtime rules took longer than the overtime itself. Tebow is the real deal folks. The Broncos allowed Tebow to be more aggressive in this game unlike his last few games and it paid off.

The Broncos travel and take on the patriots who have one of the worst defenses in the NFL. Denver's defense could contain Tom Brady and the Patriots. If Tebow played like he did against the Steelers, the Broncos will pull off a huge upset. In fact, that is what I am predicting. I predict the Broncos will upset the Patriots. I am going on record by saying the Broncos will upset the Patriots.

College and High School Hockey

I have a new suit courtesy of the Manhattanville Men's Hockey team. Thank you so much guys. While wearing the new suit for the first time, I carried the video equipment to our filming spot which was occupied by some intense hockey fans.

Iona took on Fordham in a hockey game right before Manhattanville's game against Cortland. There was a huge quantity of Fordham and Iona fans. At first, i thought it was a battle of Division I club teams but Scott Wentworth told me they looked like high school kids and that Iona and Fordham may have high schools too. I did some research and he was right, they were high schools.

The fans were yelling, screaming, and cussing. They were taking this way too seriously. I was concerned that they would take their frustrations out on the video equipment so i stood guard in front of it while watching the game. When the referee blew the whistle, the clock kept going and the fans pointed that out in a very angry way. There had to have been a thousand fans packed around the rink.

"That's Horrendous!" the lady next to me was screaming in response to the clock not stopping. Again, a whistle blew and the clock kept going. During play, the fans were very vocal as the action was intense. Very physical but the final horn blew and the game ended in a 5-5 tie. The clock never stopped and the lady kept saying "that's horrendous" over and over again.

I have a theory why the clock never stopped. All Division III College Hockey games (the Manhattanville-Cortland game)have a strict protocol. They didn't want the Manhattanville game to start late so they wound the high school game down. That's just a theory. I didn't want to explain that to the fans because I care about my health. Another theory I have is that if someone would have won the game in overtime, there would have been a brawl between fans of both teams as each team had a high number of vocal fans.

In all seriousness, fans need to calm down and try not to live through the success of their children. I have a copy and pasted story I wrote in this blog a couple of years ago about a similar situation involving a kids' hockey game before the Utica Pioneers played at the AUD. Here it is.

"February 7th, 2010

Chaos at a kids' Hockey Game

It was a couple hours before UC Hockey had its Senior Night. I was setting up the video equipment up at the Press-box as the Mohawk Valley Pioneers (kids around the ten year old range) were playing another team. A player from the other team smashed into a Mohawk player to the boards causing him to fall on the ice. A mother in the stands was screaming and got very angry. When the kid who caused the hit went into the penalty box, a man working in the penalty box grabbed the kid and started screaming at him. The referees forced him out of the box and was ejected. The parents/fans were cursing at him and the man was cursing back.

The same mother who screamed earlier went to the fans of the opposing team and started arguing with them and had to be dragged back by her friend as they both left the rink. The kid who got hit ended up being alright. The game ended in a one to one tie.

Wow...I mean, it's a little kids' game. You never see this at a College or professional game. I challenge that man to grab a full sized college or professional player. The kid didn't mean to hurt him. It was an accident. People need to calm down. It's crazy!!"

The Manhattanville Valiants played against the Cortland Red Dragons and won by a convincing score of 8-0. The Valiants clicked on all cylinders.

David Simon

Utica College, the city of Utica, and many more people lost a great man on Sunday morning. David Simon passed away a couple of days ago. I'm really going to miss him. When I first started doing my blog a few years ago and tagged people on Facebook, he always commented on my blog. In fact, that's what motivated me to keep writing my blog because he kept giving me feedback on my blog which meant a lot to me because that's how I knew people were reading my blog. This blog being active for so long probably doesn't happen if it wasn't for him.

He was the husband of my Journalism Professor at Utica College. I always saw him at the Utica hockey games. He always had a Utica Hockey Jersey on while watching the game and he would frequently post on the Pioneer Posse fan forum. He was at my College Graduation and I saw him cheer me on as I passed by at the Boilermaker Road Race in Utica.

David was Utica College's number one fan, without a doubt. He overcame so much adversity and we are all going to miss him. Utica College Athletics will not be the same without him. This blog is dedicated in memory to David Simon. Thank you so much David, we are all going to miss you.

My Wild Card Playoff Picks

2012-01-07T12:20:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here.

Here are this week's matchups and my predicted winners for this Wild Card Weekend in the NFL.

Bengals at Texans: I pick the Bengals. While both teams have strong defenses, I think the Bengals are more stabolized at the Quarterback position.

Lions at Saints: I pick the Saints. They are unstoppable at home and Detriot couldn't beat Green Bay's second string team. The Lions taking too many penalties will cause them.

Falcons at Giants: I pick the Giants. The Giants defensive line and pass rushers are getting hot at the right time. The Falcons have not been a good road team.

Steelers at Broncos: I pick the Steelers. Tim Tebow has really struggled the past few week's and facing Pittsburgh's defense will not help make things better for him.

Enjoy the games!

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

2012 Starts Off with a Bang

2012-01-02T16:25:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. 2012 is officially here and what a weekend it was in the world of sports.

2011 Winter Classic

I just watch the Winter Classic and the it was incredible. The Rangers and Flyers battled it out at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Phillies. The Rangers rallied from a two-goal deficit and won 3-2. It was more than just a game, it was event. Both teams had amazing looking jerseys for the event. The game was physical, a lot of group fights broke out, both goalies made great saves, and there were some sweet looking goals. There were some snow showers too and the fans provided an electric vocal atmosphere.

The big play of the day was Henrik Lundvqvist stopping Danny Briere on a penalty shot with only 20 seconds left. It was a thrilling game. The Winter Classic is now a huge staple in the NHL. It's an awesome event and the games are always great ones to watch as they always come down to the wire. It's becoming one of my favorite sporting events of the year. Being a Rangers' fan myself, this year was especially awesome to watch.

Winter Classic Fact: Four out of the five teams who won the Winter Classic, did it on the road. The only home team to win the Winter Classic was the Boston Bruins in 2010 over these same Flyers in overtime at Fenway Park. The Flyers are 0-2 in the Winter Classic since it began in 2008.

NFL

A lot has happened in the last Sunday of the NFL Regular season. The New York Giants finally won the big home game and beat the Cowboys to win the NFC East. The Giants are peeking at the right time and I am confident that they can go on a run in the playoffs.

The Lions took on the Packers' "second team." Detroit hasn't won at Green Bay since 1991 which was my first year of preschool. Now that I am in my first year of Graduate School, the Lions still haven't won at Lambeau Field. You'd think with the Packers playing their second string, the streak would snap but it didn't Green bay win a high-scoring affair 45-41. Quarterback Matt Flynn looked like Aaron Rodgers out there. He is a free agent at the end of the year so teams will be looking to get him.

The 49ers victory over the Rams clinched them the #2 seed. The Packers and the 49ers being the top two teams in the NFC makes it feel like old times.

The NFC Wild Card Playoff match-ups will feature the Giants taking on the Falcons at Metlife Stadium (I still keep calling it Giants' Stadium out of habit) and the sixth seed Lions taking on the Saints at the Superdome.

In the AFC, the Patriots were down by 21 to the Bills but scored 49 unanswered points and won the game 49-21. They are now the #1 seed. The Ravens defeated the Bengals to win the AFC North and earn the #2 seed. The Texans will host the Bengals in their first home playoff game in franchise history.

The Broncos lost to the Chiefs. Tim Tebow was awful. Kyle Orton, exiled by the Broncos in favor of Tebow, out-dueled him. However, the Raiders also lost to the Chargers so the Broncos still won the AFC West and will play the Steelers at Denver on Saturday night.

The head coach of the Raiders was unhappy about his team's performance in the huge game. Check out his press conference on YouTube.

The Jets were unhappy about losing to the Dolphins and getting eliminated from playoff contention. A lot of mystery surrounding Santonio Holmes as he sta out for the Jets' final drive. I think the Jets will bounce back next year but they have to focus on playing football and not talking trash at press conferences. Jason Taylor retires on a high not for the Dolphins.

I will have my Wild Card picks later this week.

NBA

The Heat are undefeated, the Knicks are 2-2, and the Mavericks look nothing like the team that went on a Championship run last year. Not only are the Mavericks losing, they are losing badly.

Kris Humphries of the Nets is getting booed every-time he steps onto the court. I wondered why, I've never even heard of him before this year. It turns out that he was married to that Kim Kardashian woman that supposedly lasted only fifteen seconds. I have to admit, that's a good reason to boo him.

Wrestling

Tonight's WWE RAW should be a good one. CM Punk defends the WWE Championship against Dolph Ziggler and the mystery man, whose promos have been building up for weeks, will be revealed tonight. Brodu Clay is scheduled to make his debut tonight too. Back to the mystery man, I expect him to be Chris Jericho. Then again, that's what everyone is expecting.

2012 is already off to a great start with the thrilling Winter Classic game. What events and surprises should we expect his year? I can't wait to find out.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys.

2011 in Review (Baseball)

2011-12-29T13:14:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here.

2011 is coming to an end. There were a lot of important events in sports that occurred in 2011. Let's take a look.

MLB

One of the most incredible nights I ever watched in sports occurred on the last night of the baseball regular season on September 28, 2011. Four games were going on at once: Yankees at Rays, Red Sox at Orioles, Phillies at Braves, and the Cardinals at Astros. The Rays rallied from a nine game deficit in early September to tie the Red Sox in the Wild Card standings going into that historic night.

Over in the National League, the Cardinals rallied from an 8 1/2 game deficit to tie the Braves for the Wild Card lead. Even if you weren't fans of either team, you were in suspense. I watched all four games at the same time on the variety of ESPN Networks and the YES Network. I constantly kept flipping back and forth.

The Cardinals destroyed the Astros so the Braves had to win against the Phillies to keep pace and force a one game playoff. Down by a run in the ninth, the Phillies tied the game. I flip to the Yankees' game, the Rays rally from seven runs down and tie the game. I flip to the Red Sox game and they are in an even battle with the Orioles. It was like an overload, I was overwhelmed.

The Phillies scored in extras and hung on to beat the Braves to win the National League Wild Card. I witnessed history and it was awesome to see but two games were left to be determined. My remote was very active as I was flipping between the Yankees-Rays game and the Red Sox-Orioles game. The Orioles were down by a run in the bottom of the ninth. The Red Sox were three outs away from either winning the Wild Card or at least forcing a one game playoff at Tampa Bay.

Unfortunate for the Red Sox, Jonathan Papelbon blew the save and the game was tied. Moments later, Carl Crawford drops a fly-ball and the Orioles score the game-winning run. The Red Sox lost. However, if the Yankees beat the Rays in extra innings, the Red Sox will still be alive and play the Rays in a one game playoff at Tropicana Field.

I flip over to the Yankee game just as the Red Sox game concluded.

Immediately, Evan Longoria hits a a solo home run in the bottom of the 12th inning. The Rasy win 8-7, the Red Sox are out. I couldn't believe it. Shortly after the Red Sox lost, the Rasy won it. I think the official time between moments is about three minutes. I have never seen anything like it.

It was a meaningless game for the Yankees. I still wanted them to win, I didn't care about "eliminating Boston." I always want the Yankees to win. Normally,the Yankees blowing a 7-0 lead would be a gut-wrenching loss for me. However, due to the circumstances of this historic knight, I was just left speechless and was shocked over what took place. We have never seen a night of baseball like this before and I'm sure we will never see it again.

Some milestones occurred in baseball. Derek Jeter got to career hit #3,000 via the home run. The only other player to hit a home run for his 3,000th hit was Wade Boggs with the Rays. Mariano Rivera broke Trevor Hoffman's all time Save's record. Jim Thome hit his 600th career home run and returned for a stint with the team he began his career with, the Cleveland Indians.

Justin Verlander won the A.L CY Young and threw a no-hitter at Toronto. At my Internship with the Observer-Dispatch Newspaper in Utica, I saw Francisco Liriano throw a no-hitter against the White Sox. Ervin Santana also threw a no-no against Cleveland although he did give up a run.

In the most epic way possible, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. They upset the Philadelphia Phillies, got by the red hot Brewers (who won their division for the first time since 1982). The Texas Rangers made it to the World Series for the second consecutive year. They also lost in the World Series for the second consecutive year. This year, they made it to the World Series without Cliff Lee.

The 2011 World Series was incredible. Game Six was the best game in the series. St. Louise rallies from a two run deficit in their last at-bat on two separate occasions and eventually win that game. In Game Seven, the Cardinals routed Texas to win the World Series. Whether it's regular season standings or the score of a World Series game, St. Louis always fought from behind and overcame the odds.

Tony La Russa announced his retirement as he is ending his career on a high note. Albert Pujlos is now an Angel along with C.J. Wilson (Fromer Ranger).

The Marlins now play in Miami and are now called the Miami Marlins. They have signed Jose Reyes and have Ozzie Guillen as their manager. I still think they will finish no higher than fourth place in the National League East.

I went to three Yankees' games this year. Two of them was against the Rangers at the Stadium. They won both of those games including a 12-inning thriller in the second game. I went to Game 2 of the ALDS against the Tigers. The Yankees ninth inning rally fell short and they lost. It was a great game to go to. The Yankees would end up losing to the Tigers in five games. A-Rod struck out to end the season for the second straight year. The Brewers beat the Diamondbacks in five games. Next year could be the Brewers' year.

What will 2012 bring for baseball? There is a new rule in which there will be two Wild Card teams in each league. The two Wild Cards will play each other in a one game playoff to see who moves on to the ALDS. I like the rule because it makes the division races more important yet gets a higher quantity of teams that are in contention for the playoffs.

Thanks to that historic night on September 28, I doubt 2012 will be as good as 2011.

My 2011 Review of Football will be posted tonight. Check it out!

The NBA Tips-Off, A Big NFL Sunday Coming Up

2011-12-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. I hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday Season.

The NBA is back! There were five games played on Christmas Day. In one of those games, The Knicks finally got over the hump and defeated the Boston Celtics. There were five occasions, including the playoffs, last year where the Knicks held huge leads but Boston would end up rallying and stealing the game. That almost happened this time but Carmelo Anthony scored 17 points in the 4th quarter and the Knicks were able to pull off the win.

The Dallas Mavericks raised their Championship Banner before their game against the Miami Heat, the team they beat to win last year's NBA Finals. The Heat chose to stay in the locker room while the ceremony was going on. I think the Heat should have watched the ceremony out of respect. Remember, when the Boston Red Sox received their World Series Rings to start the 2005 season, the Yankees watched them from the dugout and clapped.

As for the game, the Mavericks were destroyed. They were down by over 30 for the majority of the game. Talk about an NBA Championship Hangover. To make matters worse, just last night the Mavericks were blown out at home again, this time to the Denver Nuggets by a score of 115-93. The Mavericks should look on the bright side, the Boston Bruins started the season off in a slump. They busted out of the "Cup Hangover" and they are now one of the hottest teams in the NHL.

The Lakers blew an 11 point lead with just 3:30 to go against the Bulls at home. I picked the Bulls to win the NBA Championship this year and beating the Lakers is a first good step towards their goal. The Lakers are now 0-2. Check out the highlights of the Lakers' collapse.

NFL

After all the trash talking last week, the Giants defeated the Jets by a score of 29-14. As a result, the Giants are still alive in the NFC East. As a matter of fact, the Giants and Cowboys Week 17 Prime-Time match-up will determine who wins the NFC East. It's a winner-take-all game. Just for the record, if it's a tie, the Giants win the NFC East due to the head-to-head tiebreaker. Hey, it could happen!

Tony Romo injured his hand against the Eagles but I believe he will be healthy by Sunday Night. The Giants have not played well in big games as the home team. Even in 2007 when they won the Super Bowl, the Giants lost their last four home games of that season. Hopefully the Giants' home woes end on Sunday Night.

Check out this great Touchdown highlight: What a play!

The Steelers, Ravens, and Patriots are all battling for the #1 seed. The Patriots just have to beat the Bills and they clinch it. The Ravens have to win againstthe Bengals plus a Patriots loss and they have it. The Steelers need to win against the Browns and the Ravens to lose and win the AFC North. In order for the Steelers to get the #1 seed in the AFC, they have to win plus the Ravens AND Patriots have to lose.

If the Broncos beat the Chiefs, they win the AFC West. A Broncos loss + a Raiders win and the Raiders are the AFC West Champions. If the Chargers win + a Broncos loss + a Raiders loss....the Chargers will still be playing golf because they are already officially eliminated. For the Jets, if they win + a Raiders loss + a Titans loss + a Bengals loss, they are in the Playoffs. The Titans need a win and A LOT of help to get in the Playoffs. If the Bengals win, they are in.

In the NFC, five teams have clinched. All that we are waiting for is the winner of the Giants/Cowboys game.

NHL

The New York Rangers are currently in first place in the Eastern Conference. It's very rare when I say that. The Winter Classic is just around the corner. I can't wait for that game. It's going to be a solid Eastern Conference race between the Rangers, Flyers, and Bruins. I wouldn't count out some other teams in the East as I think they will make runs too.

The Blackhawks are currently the #1 seed in the West. The Dallas Star are exceeding expectations as they are currently in the Western Conference Top 8. I "guarantee" the Los Angeles Kings will make the playoffs this year. They have been on fire since the coaching change.

Here's an interesting fact: The Rangers played the Kings in an outdoor game at the Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. I had no idea of this until the MSG Network showed us highlights in a commercial. I watched an airing of it on the NHL Network. The game took place in the Preseason. September of 1991 to be exact.

Here's a fight that took place at that game.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

The Holiday Season in Sports

2011-12-21T17:49:00.001-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. The NFL regular season is down to the last two weeks, the NBA regular season is finally about to begin, and the NHL Winter Classic is just a week and a half away.

NFL

1972 Miami Dolphins, rest easy. There will be no undefeated season for the Green Bay Packers as the Kansas City Chiefs (their first game with a new coach) upset the Packers. The Packers are now 13-1. I bet every other NFL team wished they had that "problem." I think this loss is a blessing in disguise for the Packers since they don't have to worry about the pressure of a potential undefeated season. I think this loss makes the Packers even more dangerous in the long-term.

2008 Detroit Lions, don't rest easy. You are still the only team to go win less in a 16 game season. The Colts avoided that disaster by winning against the Titans for their first win of the season. They are still in the drivers' seat to get the #1 overall pick in this year's draft.

My Giants were blown-out by the Washington Redskins in a game in which the G-Men were heavily favored. This is nothing new for the Giants. In recent years, the Giants have shown that they play much better against great teams than the mediocre teams. It's like the Giants rather play the Patriots, Cowboys, and Packers than the Redskins, Seahawks, and Browns.

Despite getting blown out in Philly, the Jets still control their playoff destiny. It's a huge game between the Giants and Jets on Christmas Eve. It's the Battle of two New York (that play in New Jersey) teams with huge playoff implications. The Giants are will be on the verge of elimination if they lose to the Jets. The Cowboys will win the NFC East if they win vs. Philly plus a Giants' loss to the Jets. If the Eagles beat the Cowboys, Giants lose to the Jets, Giants beat the Cowboys in Week 17 and the Eagles win their last game against the Redskins, then the Eagles will win the NFC East. That's pretty scary. The Eagles have been on a roll lately so it is not impossible.

The Houston Texans are AFC South Champions. This will be the first time the Texans have made the playoffs in the history of their franchise. As a matter of fact, they an end up being the #1 seed in the AFC. It was a valiant effort by Big Ben as he played while injured but it was not enough as the 49ers cruised by the Steelers on Monday Night Football. It looks as if the Steelers will be the #5 seed while the Ravens will win the AFC North.

After all of the Tim Tebow hype we have been forced to sit through on ESPN, the Patriots finally knocked Tebow and the Broncos off. I really thought it was cool the way the Broncos were pulling off all of those comebacks but ESPN ruined it by putting way too much hype and overexposing the story. Plus, all they kept talking about was Tebow this and Tebow that. No credit was given to the Broncos defense for keeping them in the game and no credit was given to their kicker who kicked the 59 and 51 yard field goals in their game against the Bears.

And what the heck was with Skip Bayless last week? On his show, he was standing in front of a huge crowd of Broncos' fans. He is a huge Tebow supporter. It was creepy how he commanded the crowd to cheer and they did, commanded them to boo and they did, do certain chants and they did. That was really creepy.

I am going to say this right now: The Tim Tebow Saga is even worse than the Brett Favre retirement drama. Yes, I said it. This Tebow story is more annoying than the Brett Favre drama. Tebow drama is the new Favre drama.

NHL

I watched the first episode of the HBO Documentary of the Rangers and Flyers playing their season and preparing for the Winter Classic. It was awesome to watch and I highly recommend any fan of hockey to watch it. You get to know players from both teams really well. It makes the buildup for the big event that much more exciting.

Speaking of the Rangers, they are the masters of winning games at the last second. First they score the game-winning goal with less than two seconds left in Calgary and then earlier this week, Brad Richards scores the game-goal with just a tenth of a second left in Phoenix. It's been a crazy year for the Rangers so far.

The Bruins are looking unstoppable. After getting off to a slow start, they went on a winning streak and now they are in second place in the Eastern Conference.

I love the new NHL realignment. There will be four divisions that have not been named yet. The good thing is that every team is going to play each other at least twice (once in each rink) which is a good thing. Teams within their own division play each other either five or six times per season. It's awesome that the NHL is trying to start something different and unique compared to the other major professional sports. They started with the All-Star game rules and now this. That's great for the NHL. The NHL realignment will start next season.

NBA

Basketball season is almost here. The big news is that Chris Paul is now playing in Hollywood. No, not for the Lakers but for the Clippers. The Clippers who have been overshadowed by the Lakers for years, can finally be a relevant team in California. If it wasn't for Stern, Paul would have been a Laker. I understand why the league owns the Hornets but it's still awkward. Isn't this some kind of Conflict of Interest? I'm not sure why Stern denied the Paul trade to the Lakers but at least other teams are having a chance to get good players.

My Predicted Eastern Conference Top 8

1. Heat

2. Bulls

3. Knicks

4. Magic

5. Pacers

6. Celtics

7. Sixers

8. Bucks

My Predicted Western Conference Top 8

1. Thunder

2. Lakers

3. Mavericks

4. Nuggets

5. Clippers

6. Spurs

7. Blazers

8. Grizzlies

I predict that the Chicago Bulls will beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals to win the NBA Championship.

MLB

The Angels not only get Albert Pujols but C.J. Wilson too. Usually I don't think a team will automatically do well just because they get a few big-named free agents (The Marlins this year, for example, because i still think the Marlins will miss the playoffs by a wide margin) but the Angels already have a solid team with a good lineup and starting rotation. These two additions will make the Angels that much better and they should be one of the favorites in the American league.

The Yankees, Phillies, and Red Sox have yet to make big moves in this year's Free Agency period yet the Marlins and Angels are loading up. This is a perfect example of irony.

College football

I can't wait for the BCS Bowl games. Not so much for the Idaho Potato Bowl, Capital One Bowl, Emerald Bowl, and the Bowl Games Just To Make Money Bowl. I do like the Pinstriped Bowl because it's cool to see football games being played at Yankee Stadium. Bottom Line, I only care about the "Major" Bowl games.

WWE

It seems that the WWE is going in a youth movement. C.M Punk retains the WWE Championship, Daniel Bryan cashes in his MITB contract and won the World Heavyweight Championship, and Zack Ryder wins the United States Championship. I love that the WWE is giving the young guys a chance to run with the ball. It's like a changing of the guard and the WWE will benefit from this in the long terms.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Holiday Season!

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good night guys!

December is Here

2011-12-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here.

December is here and there is plenty of exciting news going around in sports. Let's start with the baseball news.

MLB

Jose Reyes is taking his talents to South Beach. The Florida, or should I say, the Miami Marlins have signed Reyes to a six year deal. They also have Ozzie Guillen as their new manager. In addition, they signed closer Heath Bell and they are tring to bring Albert Pujols to the team. Watchout Yankees, watch out Red Sox, watch out Phillies, we have a new spender in town. If they get Pujols, they can be a force to be reckoned with. If they keep the same name for their stadium for more than two years then we know things have changed for the better with the Marlins.

NFL

What a game between the Giants and the Packers. The Giants played pretty well but Green Bay showed why they are the undefeated defending Super Bowl Champions. A lot of people are comparing this Giants' game to that game at the end of the 2007 regular season against the Patriots at the old Giants' Stadium. The Giants just fell short against the undefeated Patriots by the same score of 38-35. Giants' fans are hopeful since that the Packers' loss will spark them like the loss to the Patriots did when the Giants went on that playoff run and beat the Patriots in Super Bowl 42. That home game against the Patriots took place at the end of the regular season where this year, we still have four games left.

Next week's game against Dallas is critical. The Giants will be in the drivers' seat in the NFC East if they beat Dallas but the Giants' season will be virtually over if they lose. The Cowboys have played against medicore teams for the past month so hopefully that will cause them to struggle against the Giants. I doubt it though. Both teams will be ready to play and the better team will win the game and the division. The Giants have to sweep Dallas in order to win the division. Dallas just has to win one of their two games basically.

The Jets had an impressive win over the Redskins to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Colts had some garbage touchdowns in the end to make it respectable against the Patriots but they are still winless.

Tim Tebow does it again. The Broncos knock off the Raiders on a last second field goal and since the Raiders got routed by the Dolphins, the Broncos are now in first place in the AFC West. People say that Tebow is overrated because the defense carries him and the running game helps him. In other words, Denver is working as a team with no part more important than the other. Wait, why are people complaining about this? Isn't that how all teams should work? Everyone must do their part and be a great balanced team. I applaude the Broncos, not ripping them a part like the media is doing. The point is, the Broncos are winning games and that's all that matters. One question, why was that game on FOX? The Broncos at the Vikings is an AFC at NFC matchup so it should have been a CBS game. Oh well, no big deal.

NHL

The Rangers have the best winning percantage in the NHL. The Florida Panthers are in first place, the Maple Leafs are doing pretty good, and I am just enjoying the season. I think the Rangers, Flyers, and Penguins all have an equal realistic shot of winning the Atlantic Division and maybe being the #1 seed in the East.

I did a ten page report in my Leading Sports Organizations class where I had to design a team. I chose to create a barand new Quebec Nordiques franchise. I proposed how the NHL could work under a 31 team system. Here is that section of my report pasted onto here.

"The potential problem that would result in re-creating the Nordiques’ franchise from scratch is that it creates an odd number of teams in the NHL. As of right now, there are 30 teams that play in the National Hockey League. With the addition of the Nordiques, that would make 31 teams in the NHL, which would be an odd number. Although contraction of some NHL franchises would seem like an obvious choice, chances are that may not happen so it would be hard to bank on it.

If anything, the NHL can just have 31 teams. Quebec is located in Eastern Canada so the Eastern Conference would be the conference in which they play in. The Eastern Conference would have sixteen teams in it while the Western Conference would have 15. However, this coming December, NHL owners, executives, and Commissioner Gary Betteman are having a meeting to propose a realignment for the NHL divisions and conferences. The fact that the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg to become the second incarnation of the Winnipeg Jets is the main reason why these talks are taking place. The Thrashers played in Southeastern United States while their new home is in Western Canada so as a result, the Jets play in the Southeastern Division in the Eastern Conference which is causing excessive travel for teams in the east.

If I was the owner of the Nordiques and I was involved with that meeting, I would propose four divisions within two conferences, two divisions in each conference. The Western Conference would have one eight-team division and one six-team division. The Eastern Conference would have one nine-team division and one eight-team division. In the East, the First Division would have the New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, and Philadelphia Flyers. The Eastern Conference Second Division would have the Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Nordiques, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks.

In the Western Conference, the First Division would include the Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Columbus Blue Jackets, and the St. Louis Blues. The Second Division would have the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, the San Jose Sharks, Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, and the Dallas Stars. The MLB, the American League West has one team less than the rest of the division and the National League Central has one team extra compared to the rest of the divisions so it can work in the NHL too.

Everyone plays each other in the conference four times a year (two at each team’s home). The East will play the teams in the West twice in one division and once in the other West Division. For example, the East Division 1 will play teams in the West Division 1 twice (one in each team’s home) while playing teams in the West Division 2 once. The same is true for the reverse combinations of the divisions. For the east teams that play the west teams once, it will be determined which team has home ice for their sole meeting by a coin toss but teams will alternate from year to year on where the East-West match-up will take place. For example, the Rangers play the Kings once this year at Madison Square Garden. The next year, the game will be played at the Staples Center. This all adds up to the usual 82 game regular season schedule."

A 31 team system can work. Bring back the Quebec Nordiques! So far things are working out for the Winnipeig Jets so I don't see why it can't work out for the Nordiques.

Speaking of the Jets, they hosted the Phoenix Coyotese earlier this week in a battle of the old vs. the new Jets (Just like the Ravens playing the Browns at Cleveland this past week). The Jets won 1-0 in front of an incredible crowd which provided a great atmosphere. They hated the Coyotese for obvious reasons.

NCAA Football

The BCS has selected two SEC teams, Alabama and LSU, to play each other in the BCS National Championship game. In the regular season, LSU beat Alabama 9-6. A lot of peopla say that Oklahaoma State should have been in the Championship game and not Alabama. Let me put it this way, we need some kind of playoff system. Especially that there are hundreds of bowl games outside of the BCS Bowls that nobody cares about.

Manhattanville Valiants vs. Utica Pioneers

The Manhattanville Valiants took on the Utica Pioneers in Men's Hockey at the Playland Ice Casino, the first of three meetings between these two teams. I'll admit, I had this game circled on my calendar since the schedule came out as well as the pair of games between these two teams on Super Bowl weekend.

It's not everyday when the team you worked for for four years take on a team you are currently working for. It was great seeing the Pioneer players, coaches, fans, and family members agin. It was awesome. The Valiants came out on top 6-3. Manhattanville is poised to go on a great run. I think the Valiants will be in competetion for the #2 seed in the ECAC West. The Pioneers bounced back the next night and slaughtered a pretty good Buffalo State team 9-3, a six goal outburst in the third period by the Pioneers. I have a feeling they will be battling for the #2 seed as well by the end of the year.

The Valiants have three more games (all of them against teams in Connecticut)before the semester is over. Have to take it one game at a time.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

I'm Back!

2011-11-27T20:37:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here.

I'm so sorry it's been so long since my last post. In fact, it's been almost a month since my last post and I usually have one post out per week. Don't worry, I'm back!

Manhattanville Hockey

After suffering a tough loss to Western New England in Massachusetts earlier in the week, the Valiants hockey team hosted a very tough Williams team at Playland in a Sunday matinee. It was an intense hockey team as the Valiants and Ephs skated to a 1-1 tie. The Valiants played a great game against a team that is just outside of being nationally-ranked. The Valiants spent a lot of time in Williams' zone and executed a lot of scoring chances and the goal-tending and defense of Manhattanville was solid. It was a huge bounce-back game from the one at Western New England.

Next up for the Valiants is a key conference game against the Utica Pioneers at Rye Playland. The Utica Pioneers, they sound familiar. Oh yeah, that's my Alma Mater and the team I have worked for for the past four years. I have to put my emotions aside for this one. It's a key conference game between two great teams with no unnecessary baggage or drama added. I did run into Coach Heenan when the Valiants were at Neumann. It was great seeing him again.

NFL

After getting back home from the rink, I watched the Steelers-Chiefs game. Pittsburgh hung on for the victory. The Chiefs are always a tough team to play against at Kansas City because of their atmosphere and their vocal fans. Pittsburgh moves into a tie with Baltimore as they are both 8-3.

Tim Tebow does it again! This guy never ceases to amaze me. Another come-back performance as the Broncos beat the Chargers 16-13. The guy can't throw but he can help his team come from behind and win. I've never seen a quarterback performance like it. I'm hearing "Tebow, Tebow!" in the same I heard " (Justin) Bieber, Bieber!" all over the television. I find the "Tebow, Tebow!" talk a lot more interesting because I like sports and I am not a fan of Bieber.

The Jets win a close one against the Bills to remain alive in the playoff race. I think the Jets have the potential to turn it around and make the playoffs. For the past couple of years, they have played really well down the stretch to close out regular seasons. I think they have another run in them.

The Packers are still perfect. However, if you watched their game in Detroit (speaking of which, I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving) you noticed that Green Bay does not like to run the ball at all. On third and short and fourth and one, Aaron Rodgers always likes to throw those deep bombs. If the Packers play in bad weather games in the future, their lack of running game could cost them.

The Cowboys are currently a half a game up on my Giants in the NFC East. The Giants have a huge game tomorrow night at New Orleans. The Saints have had the Giants' number the past few games they have played each other. Interesting to note, the Giants and Cowboys have yet to play each other. They play each other twice in the last four games of the season. My fellow Giants' fans can whine about the G-Men's brutal schedule all they want but if the Giants can't take care of business against the Cowboys, they obviously don't deserve to make it to the playoffs.

Let's talk about a team that will not be making the playoffs, the Indianapolis Colts. Andrew Luck (fresh off of beating my Notre Dame Fighting Irish) after watching the Colts play the past couple of weeks has to be trying to figure out a way to get a fifth year of eligibility to play for Stanford. Did Peyton Manning really mean that much to the Colts?

Indy is 0-11 now. I think even the bye week defeated them this season. From the NFL elite to the NFL laughing stock in just one year. It's amazing. I think the Colts should draft Luck and trade Peyton Manning for some valuable pieces on the defense and/or offense. Imagine Peyton Manning playing for the Vikings, Redskins, or Chiefs?

NHL

I love hockey. If I was advertising hockey to some friends who i would want them to start liking the sport, I would not show them the start of that Flyers-Lightning game a few weeks back where Tampa Bay executed the 1-3-1 trap and the Flyers were cycling in their own zone with the puck for 40 seconds. Believe it or not, I'm on Tampa Bay's side on this one. Dump the puck in the neutral zone, fore-check, get the puck back and play hockey. If you are a skilled team, you can find a way.

Speaking of the Lightning, they already played the Panthers five times this year. Keep in mind that each team plays each other in their own division six times a year. We are barely two months into the season and these two teams have played each other five times already? Who made this schedule up? Lightning fans probably have the entire Florida roster memorized and vice-versa.

Enough about what I don't currently like in the NHL and let's talk about what I do like in the NHL like the Rangers beating the Capitals on the road and the Flyers at home in back-to-back games and back-to-back days. I think this is going to be a special year for the Rangers.

After a slow start, the Bruins won 10 in a row before falling to the Red Wings in a shootout. It seems the Stanley Cup hangover is over in Boston. The Maple Leafs and Oilers are having great starts to the season. It's always a great sign to see these traditional NHL teams have success.

The Sabres, who are without Ryan Miller, derailed Washington in Buffalo the other night. The Capitals won their first eight games of the season but now they are sliding down and they are in a huge slump. I've said it before but I will say it again, I'm glad the Winnipeg Jets are back in the NHL. Now, bring back the Quebec Nordiques and then we'll really be talking.

WWE

For all of you wrestling fans out there, how awesome was it seeing the Rock wrestle for the first time in seven years? It was awesome to me. In fact, the Rock's last match before leaving wrestling was Wrestlemania XX at Madison Square Garden. His first match in seven years took place at Survivor Series which was also at Madison Square Garden.

He and John Cena (his future opponent at this year's Wrestlemania) teamed up to take on the Miz and R-Truth in a tag-team match. Cena and the Rock won their match and the Rock gave Cena his finishing move, "The Rock-Bottom" after the match.

That same night, CM Punk beat Alberto Del Rio to win the WWE Championship. Daniel Bryan will face Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship this week on Smackdown in a steel-cage match while Punk and Del Rio have a WWE Championship rematch this week on RAW. I predict Henry and Punk win both of their matches.

I think within the next couple of weeks, Daniel Bryan cashes in his Money in the Bank briefcase on Punk successfully and wins the WWE Championship, tunring heel in the process. Punk wins the Royal Rumble and takes on Bryan for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 28 and Mark Henry keeps the World Heavyweight Championship until WrestleMania 28 and he defends it against Sheamus.

Penn State

You all have heard about the Penn State scandal. I am not going to go into details about what happened but I think it was the right move for Joe Paterno to be fired. He should have done more to help with the situation. I'm a huge sports' fan but there are many things that are way more important than sports and taking care of this situation is one of them. I feel bad for the real victims in this case. It's a pity that Paterno's reputation and legacy is now ruined. No sympathy for Paterno obviously since he tried to cover the situation up. Overall him getting fired was the right move.

NBA

The NBA is (unofficially) back! I think there are still a few things to sort out but from what I heard, there shouldn't be an issue. the NBA is scheduled to begin a 66 game season that starts off on Christmas day with three games: The Knicks take on the Celtics at Madison Square Garden (Go Knicks!), the Heat at the Mavericks in a rematch of last year's NBA Finals (Miami's big three having to watch Dallas raise its Championship Banner) and the Bulls at the Lakers (what could be a preview of this year's NBA Finals). Those are pretty good Christmas presents right there. It sure took the players and owners long enough but finally, it looks like there will be an NBA season. Remember last time when the NBA had a shortened regular season in 1999? The Knicks made it to the NBA Finals. Hopefully that happens again in this year's shortened season.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

Back from Michigan

2011-10-30T09:13:00.001-07:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here!

I just got back from Michigan with the Manhattanville hockey team. It was a great trip and a huge upset occurred: The Manhattanville Valiants upset the U.S Under 18 team by a score of 2-1. That is a huge deal because the players on the U.S team have the potential to be NHL players someday and will most likely be playing in the NHL.

The Valiants were down 1-0 entering the third but scored the last two goals in a 12 second span (One 5-on-3, and one 5-on-4) with just over three minutes left in regulation. It was an incredible game and the Valiants could be a force to be reckoned with this year.

We were in Michigan during the University of Michigan's homecoming and we drove through Michigan University. It was a cool looking campus and this is coming from a Notre Dame fan. Everyone on campus was wearing Michigan gear. Michigan football crushed Purdue so they must have been really happy.

I want to give a shout-out to my old team, the Utica College Pioneers for upsetting the Oswego Lakers at the AUD last night. I have seen them play Oswego very tough in the past but just kept falling short. This time, they got over the hump and beat them which means they are taking another right step in the direction of being an elite team.

MLB

Speaking of doing the impossible, the St. Luis Cardinals were down by 10/12 games at the end of August going into September for the Wild Card. They rallied and overtook the Braves on the last day of the regular season to make the postseason. They were down 2-1 over the "elite" Phillies team but they rallied and won the series 3-2. They overcame Milwaukee to make it to the World Series. They were down 3-2 over the Rangers, down by two runs going into the 9th and 10th inning and were down to their last strike on two different occasions. They rallied to win that game. They were down 2-0 in the first inning in Game 7 but rallied to win the World Series.

The Cardinals won the World Series for the 11th time in their history. Wow, this could be the greatest team story in the history of baseball. They faced so much adversity time and time again. They always played their best when the chips were down. They pulled through and they earned this World Series.

The Texas Rangers reached the World Series two years in a row and lost. Although Game 6 will haunt them, the Rangers have to be recognized as the class of the American League. They should be back to being great again next season. Keep in mind, this year; they did it without Cliff Lee.

If Albert Pujlos' career with the Cardinals is finished, he went out in the most epic way possible, especially that three home run performance in Game 3. Congratulations to the St. Louis Cardinals.

NHL

The Capitals, last I checked, are 8-0-0 to start the year. That is just unbelievable. Could this finally be the year that the Capitals get over the hump and win the Stanley Cup?

The Jets beat the Flyers 9-8. 9-8? Is this hockey or baseball? Did both teams pull their goalies throughout the game? That's more high scoring than last week's Seahawks-Browns game which the final score of 6-3. In fact, the Jets scored just as many goals as the Seahawks and Browns had combined in points last week.

NBA

The NBA and its players supposedly made progress earlier this week but now the talks have faltered and apparently we are back to square one again. NBA commisioner David Stern says that there will be no 82 game regular season this year. I just hope the players can come up with an agreement soon. Even if it's just a 50 game season like they did in 1999, that means that each game will be more important which is a good thing. Plus, the Knicks made it all the way to the NBA Finals that year so maybe a 50game season will be a good thing for us Knicks' fans.

An agreement needs to be made. NBA fans are growing restless and everyone is losing money. I rather make money than lose money. NBA and NBAPA, it's time to reach an agreement.

NFL

Head Coaches fighting after a game? That is crazy. These days (especially with Rex Ryan) I feel that these coaches are trying to make it about themselves rather than the team.

Tim Tebow pulled a huge rally in his Florida homecoming to help the Broncos beat the Dolphins 18-15 in overtime. The Broncos were down by 15 with four minutes left. People are still really hard on Tebow because he was horrible against Miami for the first 56 minutes of the game. I agree with the critics on this one. I expect the Lions to crush Tebow today.

Football is about to come on right now so I will get to my list of this week's winners: After last week's disaster of a performace, I doubt you will see the Indianopolis Colts on there.

Ravens
Vikings
Texans
Giants
Saints
Titans
Bills
Lions
Patriots
Bengals
49ers
Eagles
Chargers

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

Athletes Who Don’t Know When to Retire

2011-10-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here,

Over the years we have watched athletes do amazing things whether it’s on the court, on the ice, or in the field. They have been good at what they do for a really long time. Some of these great athletes retire when they are at the top of their game. Players like Michael Strahan of the New York Giants, Mike Mussina of the New York Yankees, and Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions retired when they were at their peak level of greatness. “I wanted to retire when people still want me to be playing,” Strahan said.

While some athletes retire at the right time, some athletes wait too long to hang it up. Brett Favre is a perfect example. Favre has had an incredible career with the Green Bay Packers. He led the Packers to a Super Bowl title in two appearances and holds the record for the most touchdown passes, completions, passing yards, and wins as a starter. He was the face of the Green Bay Packers franchise and he was loved by not only the Green Bay community but throughout the league as well.

In January of 2008, Favre led the Green Bay Packers to the NFC championship game against the New York Giants. The game was played at Lambeau Field and it was the third coldest game played in the history of the NFL. Favre had a gutty performance against a very tough Giants’ defense as he was able to throw two touchdown passes. However, he threw an interception in overtime and as a result, the Giants defeated the Packers in overtime to win the NFC championship and went on to upset the Patriots to win the Super Bowl.

In March of 2008, Favre announced that he was going to retire and Aaron Rodgers who had great potential at the time would take his place at the helm for Green Bay. "I know I can still play, but it's like I told my wife, I'm just tired mentally. I'm just tired," Favre, a three-time NFL MVP, told ESPN's Chris Mortensen in a voice mail message. Despite his last pass ending up in an interception, it was a great way for Favre to go out because of his storied career in Green Bay and that epic battle in the NFC championship game that year, despite Favre being on the losing end of it. It was still a great last game to play.
Later that summer, Favre announced that he wanted to return to the NFL and keep playing. In fact, he still wanted to play for Green Bay but the Packers’ organization wanted Rodgers to be their guy going forward. This sparked drama for the remainder of the summer. Eventually Favre signed a contract to play for the New York Jets.

During the 2008 season with the Jets, Favre threw a lot of interceptions down the stretch and caused the Jets to miss the playoffs. During that offseason, he announced his retirement again, then changed his mind, and finally signed a deal with the Minnesota Vikings, rivals of the Packers in the NFC North.
Favre led the Vikings to the NFC championship game that year and played the Saints at New Orleans. However, the last pass Favre threw that game was an interception and the Saints won in overtime. Once again, Favre took awhile to decide if he was going to play or retire but finally decided to play with Minnesota for another year. On December 21 2010, Favre suffered a head injury against the Bears after his starting streak ended due to injury earlier in the year. Favre missed the rest of the season and he is not playing this year. Favre ruined his legacy. People are now going to remember Favre as someone who went back and forth on whether or not he should retire or keep playing instead of all the great things he has done while in Green Bay.

Michael Jordan was another case. In game six of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz, Jordan hit the game-winning shot in the closing second and the Bulls won the NBA championship for the third straight year and the sixth title of the decade. Jordan would retire at the end of the season. It was legendary that Jordan’s last shot attempt would end up winning the NBA Championship for his team. It was the perfect ending to a great career for Jordan.
In 2001, Jordan decided he changed his mind and returned to basketball but not with the same team he has played for his own career. This time he was playing for the Washington Wizards. For two seasons, Jordan played mediocre compared to his great years with the Bulls. The Wizards did not make the playoffs during Jordan’s two year stint with the team. Instead of ending his career on an epic shot, Jordan elected to go out with a whimper.

It turned out that Jordan only returned to playing basketball for the Wizards because he was guaranteed that he would be Washington’s team president once he retired again. However, that did not happen. Wizards’ owner Abe Pollin informed Jordan that the team was going in a different direction. "If that was the case, I obviously wouldn't have gone back to play," Jordan said. "I felt like I played injured, I went through surgery and I did the things that a lot of these young kids did not do."

Wrestlers have been wrestling for way too long. Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea), and Sting (Steve Borden) have been praised as among the greatest wrestlers and performers in the history of wrestling. They were big stars in the 1980’s and the 1990’s. However, it’s 2011 and they are still wrestling. Ric Flair is 62 years old while both Sting and Hogan are 58 years old. They can barely move and the match quality suffers because they are too old and injured. They need to retire and let the younger wrestlers move up the ladder and main event the shows.

Athletes love the sport that they play and compete in but they should also have pride in themselves. They need to end their careers when they can’t play at the same level they are used to playing. This will not only benefit them but it will also benefit the younger people who need to be given the opportunity to step up. No one lasts forever.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

WWE Vengeance Predictions

2011-10-23T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. Here are my WWE Vengeance predictions: Alberto Del Rio retains the WWE Championship over John Cena via cheating. Mark Henry retains the World Heavyweight Championship over the Big Show. Awesome Truth beats Punk and HHH via outside interference. Cody Rhodes beats Randy Orton. Zack Ryder beats Dolph Ziggler to win the U.S Championship. Air Boom beats Ziggler and Swagger to retain the Tag-Team Championship. Beth Phoenix beats Eve Torres to retain the Divas' Championship. Sheamus pins Christian clean. I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

NFL Week 7 Picks

2011-10-23T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. I went 9-4 in my Football picks last week. Here are my list of predicted winners this week: Jets, Dolphins, Bears, Panthers, Texans, Seahawks, Packers, Saints, Ravens, Lions, Steelers, Cowboys, Chiefs. I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

World Series Prediction

2011-10-19T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here.

The Cardinals upset the Brewers in six games while the Rangers defeated the Tigers in six games of the respective League Championship Series. They will play each other in the World Series. This is the second straight year the Rangers are playing in the Fall Classic. This is the Cardinals' third World Series appearance since 2004. They won the World Series over the Tigers in five games in 2006.

The Cardinals had a huge rally to overcome the Braves for the Wild Card spot. Nobody thought they would be in the playoffs at the beginning of September and here they are in the World Series. The Cardinals have home-field advantage since the National League won the All-Star game this year.

Both teams have dangerous lineups. The Cardinals soon to be free-agent Albert Puljos is on a tear. Both pitching staffs are pretty good but I give the overall rotation edge to the Cardinals.

I predict that the Cardinals are going to win the World Series in seven games over the Rangers.

The Autistic Sports Nerd #130

2011-10-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. The great Fall weather continues.

Last week, I only went 7-6 in my picks. The Giants had a tough loss against the Seahawks at home. It was a tough day for Giants' fans. It was arguably an even tougher day for those people who had the Giants in their survivor pool. Really, a bunch of people that I follow on twitter (follow me at @AutisticAJ)were complaining that they had the Giants as their ace pick in their survivor pool and got eliminated because of that loss.

In fact, the Rangers are 0-1-2 to star the year, and the Yankees are eliminated from postseason contention. The last time my favorite professional team won a game was 12 days ago. That's a long time. Here are my picks for this week:

Giants
Eagles
Colts
Patriots
Lions
Panthers
Packers
Steelers
Raiders
Ravens
Saints
Bears
Jets

MLB

The Texas Rangers are in the World Series for the second consecutive year after knocking out the Tigers in six to win the American League Pennant. I was able to get that series prediction right! The Cardinals have a 3-2 lead in the NLCS against the Brewers. I expect Milwaukee to win tonight and force a Game Seven. No matter who wins the NLCS, I expect to see a great World Series.

NHL

The Islanders are off to a great start. I thought the Islanders would be a year or two away from being competitive but they are ahead of schedule. It's great watching the Winnipeg Jets again. The Penguins are doing pretty good with Crosby and Malkin. They will be dangerous if and when they comeback.

Marty Brodeur was injured in the Devils' game against the Kings. Hopefully one of the all-time goal-tending greats gets healthy again. Overall, this is going to be an interesting year in the NHL.

TNA Bound for Glory (Wrestling)

I remember in 1997, I really got into wrestling thanks to my cousin Chris Kanyon. The first Main Event feud that I was really into was "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan vs. Sting. They were going to square off in the squared-circle at StarCade in December of 1997. StarCade was WCW's biggest PPV event of the year. I begged and begged my parents to order it. I really wanted to see this match. They finally gave in and ordered the PPV for me. I was really young and didn't notice that these two were old, out of their prime, and in the twilight of their careers. I was nine years old and I just enjoyed the show.

In 2011, I am 23 and Hogan and Sting are going at it again at TNA Bound for Glory, TNA's biggest PPV event of the year. Both guys are in their upper 50's and can barely move. Let's just say I will not be begging my parents to order this PPV. hese guys need to retire and let the younger wrestlers take their place.

Here are my Bound for Glory Predictions:

Bobby Roode over Kurt Angle to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship.

Sting and Hogan will fight into some "no-contest" finish.

Mr. Anderson over Bully Ray in a "Fall's Count Anywhere" match.

A.J Styles over Christopher Daniels in an "I Quit" match.

Rob Van Dam over Jerry Lynn in a "Full Metal Mayhem" match.

(What's with all of these gimmick matches?)

Austin Aries over Brian Kendrick to retain the X-Division Championship.

Samoa Joe over Crimson and Matt Morgan in a Triple-Threat match.

Velvet Sky over Champion Winter, Mickie James, and Madison Rayne to win the TNA Knockouts Title.

Ink Inc. over Mexican America to win the TNA Tag-Team Titles.

I think Jeff Hardy and Jeff Jarrett will wind up having a match in which jeff Hardy wins.

Manhattanville Hockey

The Manhattanville Hockey team had a scrimmage game between the Manhattanville Red Team and the Manhattanville Black team and I filmed it. Hoping to turn my sports picks around, I predicted that Manhattanville would win this game and that it was my lock of the week. The black team won a thrilling game 5-4 in overtime.

I met the players and coaching staff before and after the game. It was a great experience. Coach Lang is doing a really good job with the team.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

The Autistic Sports Nerd #129

2011-10-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. The busiest sports month of the year is rolling on.

MLB Postseason

The Detroit Tigers have defeated the New York Yankees in five games to advance to the ALCS. It's a tough pill to swallow for myself and fellow Yankees' fans. The Tigers were able to get the job done in clutch situations unlike the Yankees. Now all Yankees' fans want to get rid of Mark Texiera, Alex Rodriguez,and Nick Swisher. I was at the Stadium for Game Two when the Yankees 9th inning rally fell short. It was a fun game to be at. On the other hand, the Yankees can't seem t beat anyone in the ALDS except for the Minnesota Twins.

Prior to the series, I picked the Phillies to sweep the Cardinals. The complete opposite happened. The Cardinals defeated the Phillies in Five games. The Phillies had great pitching but so did the Cardinals. It just goes to show you that if you have great pitching, you can compete with anyone. Just ask the 2010 World Series Champion San Fransisco Giants. It was stunning that the Phillies were eliminated this early.

The Texas Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in four games. The Rays' momentum from the end of the season did nothing for them during the postseason. Adrian Beltre became the first man since Reggie Jackson in the 1977 World Series to hit three home runs in a single postseason game.

The Brewers defeated the Diamondbacks in five games to advance to the NLCS. The home team won every game in that series. The Brewers are a completely different team at home then they are on the road.

Here are my League Championship picks: I like the Rangers to beat the Tigers in six games and I like the Brewers to get by the Cardinals in Seven games.

NFL

The New York Giants always seem to be involved in some kind of controversy. First it's faking injuries, then Vick complaining that the referees let the Giants hit him too much, and the Victor Cruz play in the late minutes of the game at Arizona that many people felt should have been a fumble. The referees ruled that Cruz gave up on the play and according to the rulebook, the right call was made.

Tony Romo goes from the hero in one week to the goat in another. Three picks thrown by Romo led to the Lions rallying and winning against the Cowboys. What are we going to get out of Romo next week when he plays at New England?

The Packers are unbeatable, enough said.

Watch out ladies and gentlemen, Brett Favre is back. He claimed that Aaron Rodgers should have won a Super Bowl with the Packers "sooner." FAAAVREE!!! Favre is just bitter that he ruined his legacy with the retiring/returning drama and the Packers are doing great without him. At least, that is my opinion.

The Jets and patriots face off in a big AFC East battle on Sunday. The Jets were demolished by Baltimore's defense but they should have a better time facing off against New England's defense which is ranked last in the NFL.

I went 10-6 last week. Here are my picks for this Week:

Colts
Panthers
Giants
Bills
Jets
Jaguars
Texans
Vikings
Titans
Vikings
Chargers
Packers
Lions

NHL

Hockey is back! Saw some great games on Thursday as the Penguins beat the Canucks in a shootout. That didn't take long for the first shootout of the year. The Maple Leafs are off to a great start by upsetting the Canadiens. Brad Richards is proving his worth for the Rangers already by scoring the game-tying goal with just two minutes left in regulation that led to a Rangers' shootout loss over the Ducks.

It was fun to watch the games being played in Europe. The Sabres took advantage by beating the Kings and Ducks to go 2-0 to start the year.

Here are my predictions for the top eight in the Eastern Conference:

1. Capitals
2. Flyers
3. Sabres
4. Bruins
5. Rangers
6. Canadiens
7. Penguins
8. Lightning

Western Conference top eight:

1. Sharks
2. Canucks
3. Blackhawks
4. Red Wings
5. Kings
6. Flames
7. Blues
8. Ducks

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

WWE Hell in a Cell Reaction

2011-10-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here.

I didn't get my Hell in a Cell picks in on time because I was at the Yankees' game. I'll just review it instead.

I'm surprised the Heel Sin Cara lost to face Sin Cara. I though the heel would win and continue the feud. I guess the feud is over now.

The WWE added the tag-team championship match between Air-Boom and Ziggler/Swagger. Air-Boom went over which is not a surprise. I think they should drop the belts soon though and go into chase mode. That would work out best but at least they are taking the belts seriously by having the same champs for a while.

I'm glad Mark Henry beat Orton again to retain the title. The WWE would be wise for Henry to keep the belt until WrestleMania 28.

Sheamus beating Christian was not a shock. I guess Sheamus goes on and feuds with Mark Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship now.

I loved that Cody Rhodes introduced the old Intercontinental Championship title. He is backing up his claims of bringing prestige back to the title. John Morrison came out and took on Rhodes for the title. Not surprisingly, Rhodes picks up the victory and is still the Intercontinental Champion.

Finally! It's about time Beth Phoenix gets the title over Kelly Kelly. Beth needs to look strong and hold on to the title for a very long time. That would be great if she kept the title until Kharma returns and we see them feud for the Diva's Championship.

That was a chaotic main event for the WWE Championship. I'm glad Del Rio is the Champion again but what was the point of taking the title off of him in two weeks to begin with? The finish was clever with Cena trapped on the outside and Ricardo helped Del Rio to cheat against Punk.

The Miz and R-Truth attack at the end was chaotic. How does Triple H not suspect that Johnny Ace could be behind this? Jim Ross on Twitter vows that tonight's episode of WWE RAW will be "very revealing." I hope so. Overall, I give this show a 6/10.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

The Autistic Sports Nerd #127

2011-09-30T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here. October is here, starting tomorrow. It is, in my opinion, the busiest sports month of the year. You have the MLB Playoffs, the NFL and NCAA Football seasons continue, the NHL season starts, and Division III hockey gets under way. It's one of the best times of the year in sports.

MLB

On Wednesday September 28, I witnessed the most intense night of baseball ever. I was watching three different games with huge ramifications. The Yankees-Rays, Cardinals-Braves, and Red Sox-Orioles. I watched them all at the same time. My remote control was taking some serious abuse.

Going into that night, the Rays and Red Sox were tied for the American League Wild Card lead and the Cardinals and Braves were tied for the National League Wild Card lead.

A lot of Yankees' fans actually wanted to lose just because they hate the Red Sox that much. Not me though, I root for the Yankees no matter what the circumstances are. Besides, the Rays could be a dangerous team in the playoffs.

After the night concluded, the Rays rallied from seven runs down to beat the Yankees just moments after the O's had a ninth inning rally to beat the Sox. I was in shock after those two sequences happened so close together in time, literally just moments.

The Cardinals smoked the Astros 8-0. The Phillies rallied to tie the Braves in the ninth and won the game in extras. The Cardinals and Rays won their respective Wild Cards and the Braves and Red Sox are going home.

The Braves blew an 8 1/2 game lead in September while the Red Sox blew a nine game September lead.

A reporter actually asked Jonathan Papelbon "How do you feel?" after the game and Papelbon stormed on him and rightfully so. How does the reporter think Papelbon feels? Did he expect the Red Sox closer to say "I'm feeling great!"? Reporters need to ask good questions and not ones with obvious answers.

People are saying Terry Francona should be fired but I don't think so. He is a great manager that led Boston to two World Series titles last decade. Boston would be foolish to fire him.

Either way, we are never going to see that kind of baseball night ever again. Everything happened all at once, it was incredible. It was like a "once in a lifetime" night.

On to my Division Series Picks.

Tigers vs. Yankees

The Yankees have a tough task in facing Justin Verlander. Facing him a potential two times in a short series is no easy task. The Yankees also have questions on who will pitch game four if necessary. Right now, it's C.C Sabathia on three days rest but that could change. As for tonight, it should be a great game with C.C and Verlander on the mound. Expect a pitcher's duel. As for the series, the Yankees have a deeper lineup and I think they will score just enough runs.

Yankees in Four

Rays vs. Rangers

The Rays have all the momentum in the world right now. However, Texas has a dangerous lineup and the heat in Texas could give them a huge home-field advantage. This should be a great series but Texas has more experience, especially making it to the World Series last year.

Rangers in Five

Cardinals vs. Phillies

Both teams have a lot of momentum. The Phillies have three ace pitchers in this series as well as a stacked line-up. The Cardinals might be a little hung over from Wednesday's thrilling night.

Phillies in Three

Diamondbacks vs. Brewers

The Brew Crew are having a special season. They look unbeatable at times. Their hitting and pitching are both really good. The D-Backs will put up a good fight but I think Milwaukee will prove to be too much.

Brewers in Four

NFL

The Bills upset the Patriots just like I predicted them to. What a game! The Bills might be for real. No, they ARE for real. The Giants upset the Eagles too. Our secondary may be banged up but our front seven on defense is still very good and Eli made the big plays when he had to. Our running game is one of the best in the NFL when used right.

Gutsy performance by Tony Romo as he led the Cowboys to victory over the Redskins despite being banged up. Romo is a lot tougher than people give him credit for.

Time for my picks for this week! Out of eleven competitors in the Yahoo Pick'em league, I stand alone in first place with a 35-13 record.

My predicted winners this week:

Bears
Bills
Titans
Lions
Vikings
Rams
Eagles
Saints
Texans
Giants
Falcons
Packers
Patriots
Chargers
Jets
Colts

NCAA

So Syracuse and Pittsburgh are moving to the ACC. Not to mention there are other college teams moving to different conferences. I think this is terrible. All the old time rivalries are going to be ruined. The Big East will soon be so irrelevant and the conference will probably collapse. Syracuse is very far way from the Atlantic Coast, geography wise. Missouri to potentially play in the SEC? Missouri is nowhere close to the Southeast.

In the NFL, I know the Cowboys play in the NFC East and I know the NHL has the team from Western Canada playing in (the U.S's) Southeast division but the difference is that the Cowboys have a long and traditional rivalry with each of the three other teams in that division. The Jets were originally the Atlanta Thrashers and the NHL is going to realign the divisions and conferences next year anyway.

The point I am trying to make is that the NCAA tradition is going to be ruined because of these teams jumping from one conference to another. Rivalries will be gone and it's going to ruin the drama and atmosphere. Not to mention that this whole thing is confusing. It's hard to keep track of which team plays in what conference now. I didn't start following college sports until a few years ago so this has me really confused.

Time to watch the MLB Postseason. Boston fans, don't worry. Hockey season is coming next week and you get to watch the Boston Bruins try and defend their Stanley Cup.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

The Autistic Sports Nerd #126

2011-09-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! The Autistic Sports Nerd here. Football is beginning, baseball races are heating up, hockey pre-season is here, the NBA....well, the arguing between the players and owners are intensifying I guess.

MLB

It seems that nobody wants to win their respective races. The Red Sox are collapsing and fast. A perfect example of their struggles can be looked at in their series against the Baltimore Orioles. The Red, who for years always dominated the Orioles, lost three out of four to the Birds at Fenway Park. That's how you know something is wrong with the Red Sox.

The Rays and Angels are right up their tail. The Rays are not taking advantage since they since they lost three out of four to the Yankees and got crushed at home against the Blue Jays. It just goes to show you that baseball is different from other sports. Unlike in football, basketball, etc. it does not matter about your motivation and urge as much as it is about who is starting for each team.

The Cardinals had an opportunity to gain ground on the Braves in the National League Wild Card Race but they blew a four run ninth inning lead to the Mets and lost the game. The Braves are struggling just like the Red Sox. It's like nobody wants to win these races.

The Phillies have clinched everything they needed to clinch and will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs including the World Series. The Yankees swept the Rays in their day-night Doubleheader this past Wednesday to clinch a playoff spot and then the American League East respectively.

People were wondering why the Yankees didn't celebrate after they clinched a playoff spot in between games one and two of the doubleheader? The Yankees say that that they didn't celebrate because their goal was to clinch the division and they had not done that yet. I have a better reason: The Yankees might have realized that dumping Champagne all over each other and drinking beer was not exactly a good idea at the time since they still had to play in the second game of the doubleheader just a couple of hours later. Really, sports reporters and the rest of the media need to use common sense.

Congratulations to the Brewers for clinching a Division Title for the first time since winning the American League East in 1982. They are now the National League Central champions. The Texas Rangers won the American League West, the Tigers won the American League Central, and the Diamondbacks won the National League West. Both Wild Card races are still happening. I think the Red Sox and Braves will win their respective Wild Card races, basically by default.

Congratulations to Mariano Rivera for passing Trevor Hoffman on the all-time career saves list. Hoffman had 601 career saves, Rivera now has 603. Jorge Posada's two run hit to help the Yankees clinch the division show just how clutch Posada is and why he should be on the Yankees'post-season roster.

They say A.J Burnett was bad in August and out of three seasons with the Yankees, he only won one start in August. Well, that one win in August came on my birthday (August 15) so thank you to my fellow A.J, A.J Burnett for having a rare great August performance for my birthday.

NFL

The Bills are 2-0? Brett Favre and Peyton Manning not playing? The Lions are 2-0? The Colts are 0-2? The NY Giants faked an injury? We have entered into Bizzaro NFL. We always talk about the Colts being undefeated and when will they get their first loss as the season progresses. Now we are asking when the Colts are going to get their first win? Crazy!!

The Giants apparently faked an injury to slow down the Rams offense. Tony Dungy, former coach of the Colts, claimed in an interview this week that the Texans would fake injuries all the time when Peyton Manning was on offense and that the Texans' coaches would give a "signal" to the Texans to fake an injury. It a cheap and bush-league tactic but it's also a pretty clever strategy.

The NFL vows that severe punishment will be handed to teams if they "fake injuries" in the future. My question is, how will they ever officially prove that teams are faking injuries? It's impossible. All a player has to say is that he had a cramp. The NFL wouldn't be able to prove anything even if the acting was bad like the Giants' acting was this past Monday Night. It's like they say, it doesn't matter what you know, it's what you can prove in court or in this case, the football field.

I am going to predict that the Buffalo Bills will upset the New England Patriots this Sunday. I am calling it. I am going to take a shot at this potential upset pick. I think the Bills are clicking on offense like the Patriots. New England's defense is not that great. The Bills have the home crowd on their side. I say the Bills win 38-31.

Here are the rest of my picks:

Bills
Giants
Jets
Lions
Ravens
Panthers
49ers
Saints
Titans
Chargers
Packers
Cardinals
Dolphins
Falcons
Steelers
Cowboys

NHL Pre-Season

The NHL is back! Pre-Season at least but it's back! It felt great seeing live hockey on my television again. For pre-season, the games I've watched were pretty exciting.

NBA Lockout

It looks like we won't be seeing live pro basketball on our televisions for a long time. Apparently training camp and the beginning of pre-season have been wiped out. It's getting to the point where the NFL Players are going to the NBA players to give them advice on how to handle the lockout. Hopefully this works.

Manhattanville Intramural Sports

Manhattanville's first official intramural competition took place today. The Men's Lacrosse Team and the Women's Hockey Team played against each other in a friendly match of Flag Football. They played a series of games and they were fun to watch. Both teams played great and they had a great time playing. In the end, that's all that matters. Thank you to all who participated today and I'm glad everyone had a great time.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

WWE Night of Champions Predictions

2011-09-18T16:56:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! The Autistic Sports Nerd here. Here are my WWE Night of Champions predictions.

C.M Punk vs. Triple H

I think Nash will cause Triple H the match and join forces with Punk in a story-line twist.

Winner: Punk

WWE Championship-John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio

I think Del Rio will walk away and get himself intentionally counted out.

Winner: Cena via Countout.

World Heavyweight Championship-Randy Orton vs. Mark Henry

Henry is white hot right now and I expect a title win to add to his momentum.

Winner: Mark Henry

WWE Divas Championship-Beth Phoenix vs. Kelly Kelly

For the sake of making the Divas' division interesting, Beth better win!

Winner: Beth Phoenix

United States Championship-Dolph Ziggler vs. Jack Swagger vs. Alex Riley vs. John Morrison

I think Swagger wins the title to heat up his feud with Ziggler.

Winner: Jack Swagger

Intercontinental Championship-Cody Rhodes vs. Ted Dibiase

This feud is just beginning so I think Cody wins via pulling on the tights.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

WWE Tag-Team Championship- Air Boom vs. The Miz and R-Truth

I think it would be a good story for Air Boom to chase the titles. I think Miz and Truth should hold the titles for a bit and remain as a team.

Winner: The Miz and R-Truth

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!

The Autistic Sports Nerd #124

2011-09-16T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! The Autistic Sports Nerd Here.

This has been an unusual summer. I had to deal with hurricanes, tornado watches, floods, and earthquakes in just a two week span. I'm still here though. Graduate School is going really well so far. Graduate Classes that are all about sports are my kind of classes.

NFL

The NFL is back! I went 11-5 in my picks from Week One. Not only are the Bills' new uniforms better, they are playing better. They destroyed the Chiefs 41-7 at Kansas City. It may just be the first week, but the Bills look like they are for real. The Jets won a thrilling game over the Cowboys. That was a fun game to watch.

The Giants had a tough game against the Redskins. I have a bad feeling that it is going to be a long year for the Giants. Their offense does not look good at all and their defense struggled at times.

The Patriots looked very scary on Monday Night. That was incredible to watch. Just like Chad Ochocinco, I was in complete awe. I just hope Teddy Bruschi doesn't yell at me and say mean stuff about my comments on the different ESPN media shows. I think the Patriots have a good shot at going undefeated in the regular season and winning the Super Bowl. Sure their defense didn't look great on Monday Night but their offense is that good.

Thanks to Peyton Manning's surgery, the Colts turn to Kerry Collins to help fill the void. I have been a huge Collins fan thanks to his days with the Giants. Unfortunately, the Colts offense looked horrible and as a result, the Colts were blown out at Houston. I can't believe the Steelers got blown out at Baltimore. I predicted that the Ravens would win but I thought it would be a close game. The Steelers had just as many turnovers as they did points. Ouch!

The Packers and Saints had a great game last Thursday Night with the Packers coming out on top. Speaking of which, Favre might have actually retired. Week One has past and he's not even on a team, let alone playing. He might actually be done for good. I never thought I would see the day but it may have happened!

I can't wait until Week Two. Here are my predicted lists of winners for week two.

Jets
Texans
Cowboys
Cardinals
Eagles
Giants
Saints
Bucs
Bills
Colts
Patriots
Lions
Ravens
Packers
Broncos
Steelers

NCAA Football

Pretty exciting LSU-MSU game last night. My Irish lost to Michigan on the last drive for the third year in a row.

Before Week One-Me: I think the Irish have a good shot at winning the National Championship this year.
Two Weeks Later-Me: Hopefully things will get better next year.

I can't wait to see the Oklahoma-Florida State game. That should be a much more exciting contest than it was last year.

The theme for this week is that the top ranked teams are taking on some solid competition on the road. Those are my favorite type of Division I games; the top ranked teams going on the road in a hostile environment to play against good competitions. The atmosphere for the games this weekend should be incredible.

Wrestling

I watched Ric Flair take on Sting last night on TNA Impact Wrestling. Flair, who is 62 years old taking on Sting who is 58 years old. The combined age of the wrestlers in this match was 120 years old and yes, the match was executed very poorly. I atched these guys wrestle out of their prime when I was nine years old. I am now 23 years old and they are still wrestling. Can these guys retire already? It's time for the younger guys or should I say, the way younger guys to get a shot and wrestle in the Main Event.

MLB

It looks like the Yankees are running away with the American League East division. Thanks to the Rays win over Boston, Tampa is just three games back of Boston in the American League Wild Card Race with three games left in their series at Fenway. It's a huge weekend but I expect Boston to hang on and win the Wild Card.

The Phillies are playing like a well oiled machine. I think the National League Championship Series will feature the Phillies taking on the Braves. Atlanta has an incredible bullpen.

U.S Open Tennis

Congratulations to Novak Djokovic for winning the Men's U.S Open by defeating Rafael Nadal in the Finals. Samantha Stosur upset Serena Williams to win the Women's U.S Open. congratulations to both individuals. The U.S Open, like always, took place in Queens, N.Y.

My Goals

In addition to going to Graduate School for Sports Business Management, I am writing a book. I am writing about my experiences growing up with Autism. I am also planning on writing a four book fictional series about an individual with Autism going to college with each book representing a year of his college career.

I always loved writing stories in a notebook when I was a kid. I might as well do it for a career.

I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good day guys!