File this under; "yeah, I don't get it either." Apparently the Battle of LA was one hell of a barnburner with a combined 5 hits. But the best part of the whole scenario was, the Dodgers had none of 'em...but they still got the win.
It all stems from an error on the nub of a hit by Matt Kemp, who subsequently stole second and arrived at third on a throwing error by the catcher. Add in Blake Dewitt's sacrifice fly and we've got a run.
Sadly for Jered Weaver he was pulled in the 6th in favor of a pinch hitter and worse yet, since the Dodgers had the lead (at home) going into the bottom of the 9th, the Angels can't score this as a no-no.
If you're a Dodgers fan right now, I guess you can call this one Lemonade
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Dutton Pulls off Close Upset at Utah
It may not be the NFL, but don't underestimate the excitement of the Arena Football Playoffs. Earlier today John Dutton and his fifth seeded Colorado Crush (owned by Denver's own J0hn Elway) upset the fourth seeded Utah Blaze. Both teams, unfortunately, finished the season 6-10 though. Yes, yes, I know it's kinda lame that a 6-10 made it to the playoffs, but the game proved to be an exciting one.
Danny White's Utah Blaze were on a win streak of four games coming into today, and were looking for their first ever playoff win (0-2 in playoffs). Keep in mind that the Blaze started out the season 0-9, and then went on a route to win six of the final seven regular season games. If this was the NFL neither team would be anywhere close to the playoffs. But, it's not, is it?? This is a whole different league. A league in which twelve of the seventeen, yes seventeen teams make the playoffs. This means that the Los Angeles Avengers, Kansas City Brigade, Columbus Destroyers (the Arena League's 2007 runner-up), Tampa Bay Storm, and the New Orleans Voodoo were the five left out of the second season.
Joe Germaine, who should've been named to the All-Arena first team (instead it was Philly's Matt D'Orazio), led his Blaze to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter. But, Dutton is a gamer, and he lead the Crush on a scoring drive which ended with about two minutes to go in the opening quarter. In the second quarter, the Crush outscored the Blaze 14-10, and with seconds to go until the half, made it a three-point game on a two-yard pass to WR Wendall Williams. It was only Willams' third game with Colorado.
Germaine--who finished the game with 252 yards through the air, 6 TD passes, and 1 INT--cooled off in the second half. The last two quaters were evenly-matched, and it ended up being a back-and-forth half. The B.M.W (Boone, McKelvey, Whittaker) combination for Utah combined for 22 of Utah's 23 pass attempts, and all six of their TD's. Utah's three second-half TD's were just not enough to stop Colorado from advancing.
Two costly sacks on Germaine had the Colorado bench pumped, and actually one of the commentators, former NFL DE Marcellus Wiley, was real close to throwing his headphones aside, and jumping into action.
Germaine was rattled, and the two late sacks, and 1 INT, forced by a the Colorado D-line, was the final straw. After one last Utah touchdown with :36 to go, Utah failed to recover the onside kick, and the game was over.
My worry for Colorado's Divisional matchup (whoever that may be), is that their kicker Deric Yaussi, missed two key kicks, and was close to missing a few of his extra point attempts (though they all ended up going in). In the playoffs you can't have your kicker going 0 for 2 on kicks, there's just no excuse. Especially in an arena with no wind/weather factor. Yaussi, and actually the Blaze's kicker, Steve Videtich, looked pretty shaky. Videtich was 1 for 2 on field goal attempts, and missed a key extra point attempt. That's FOUR points right there.
One of the most amusing parts of the game was when, on a Colorado kickoff, Yaussi was running downfield looking to block someone, and got light the fuck up by a Utah defender. He jumped back up and got in his face. That was a horrible decision. Whoever heard of a kicker doing that!? I thought it was pretty funny. That was a rookie mistake...
Danny White's Utah Blaze were on a win streak of four games coming into today, and were looking for their first ever playoff win (0-2 in playoffs). Keep in mind that the Blaze started out the season 0-9, and then went on a route to win six of the final seven regular season games. If this was the NFL neither team would be anywhere close to the playoffs. But, it's not, is it?? This is a whole different league. A league in which twelve of the seventeen, yes seventeen teams make the playoffs. This means that the Los Angeles Avengers, Kansas City Brigade, Columbus Destroyers (the Arena League's 2007 runner-up), Tampa Bay Storm, and the New Orleans Voodoo were the five left out of the second season.
Joe Germaine, who should've been named to the All-Arena first team (instead it was Philly's Matt D'Orazio), led his Blaze to a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter. But, Dutton is a gamer, and he lead the Crush on a scoring drive which ended with about two minutes to go in the opening quarter. In the second quarter, the Crush outscored the Blaze 14-10, and with seconds to go until the half, made it a three-point game on a two-yard pass to WR Wendall Williams. It was only Willams' third game with Colorado.
Germaine--who finished the game with 252 yards through the air, 6 TD passes, and 1 INT--cooled off in the second half. The last two quaters were evenly-matched, and it ended up being a back-and-forth half. The B.M.W (Boone, McKelvey, Whittaker) combination for Utah combined for 22 of Utah's 23 pass attempts, and all six of their TD's. Utah's three second-half TD's were just not enough to stop Colorado from advancing.
Two costly sacks on Germaine had the Colorado bench pumped, and actually one of the commentators, former NFL DE Marcellus Wiley, was real close to throwing his headphones aside, and jumping into action.
Germaine was rattled, and the two late sacks, and 1 INT, forced by a the Colorado D-line, was the final straw. After one last Utah touchdown with :36 to go, Utah failed to recover the onside kick, and the game was over.
My worry for Colorado's Divisional matchup (whoever that may be), is that their kicker Deric Yaussi, missed two key kicks, and was close to missing a few of his extra point attempts (though they all ended up going in). In the playoffs you can't have your kicker going 0 for 2 on kicks, there's just no excuse. Especially in an arena with no wind/weather factor. Yaussi, and actually the Blaze's kicker, Steve Videtich, looked pretty shaky. Videtich was 1 for 2 on field goal attempts, and missed a key extra point attempt. That's FOUR points right there.
One of the most amusing parts of the game was when, on a Colorado kickoff, Yaussi was running downfield looking to block someone, and got light the fuck up by a Utah defender. He jumped back up and got in his face. That was a horrible decision. Whoever heard of a kicker doing that!? I thought it was pretty funny. That was a rookie mistake...
Daily Somehow Related to Sports Video! (6/28/08)
I just finished a sweaty game of wiffle ball. This video is actually pretty classic but if I could come up with more than one pitch on par with this guy, I'd be set (All I've got is a devastating sinker)
Personally, I like the behind the plate camera action (mostly at the end!). No way the fat guy in the cage could hit the riser.
Personally, I like the behind the plate camera action (mostly at the end!). No way the fat guy in the cage could hit the riser.
CoreStates/First Union/Wachovia/The Spectrum Set to be Demolished in the Coming Year
Since the Flyers and 76ers move to the "FU" Center in 1996, the old place hasn't quite been the same, but former Calder Cup Champion Philadelphia Phantoms and the Philadelphia Kixx (whatever they play?) have made the Spectrum their home for the last few years. As announced in January, that trend won't continue, as Spectrum owner, Comcast-Spectator, will have the building demolished in order to construct a new sports complex in its place.
The sports complex on Broad Street now consists of the Wachovia Center (1996), Lincoln Financial Field (2003), Citizens Bank Ballpark (2004) and the elder statesman, The Spectrum, which opened in 1967. It is unknown what will replace the Spectrum's arena capabilities (or where the teams who use it will go) but its current land will go towards Comcast's "Philly Live" project, consisting of shops, restaurants and a hotel directly where the old barn sits now.
While the loss of such a large part of sports history in Philadelphia is slightly saddening, its nothing new, as the turnaround on Broad Street buildings happens roughly every couple decades (faster if it really sucks...see Veterans Stadium).
So for now, we'll prepare our goodbyes... for the best damn place to see a WWF show.
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