A Winning Saturday

The Saints thrashed the Cardinals which was an outcome I desired until the second half when it became clear this would be a blow-out and my heart was moved to pity. I didn't necessarily want the Cardinals to win but I wanted them to make it a game. Their defense was, is, anemic. I'm not a Saints fan and indeed fervently hoped all season they would fail to complete the perfect season (plus they beat my Giants as if they stole something and they were never right since). Once that became an actuality the fervency was gone and I sincerely dislike the Cardinals more, so... Who dat? Who dat? Who dat, Saints!!!

The Colts triumphed over the Ravens. Until the final two minutes of the first half this match had all the markings of a tightly contested barn-burner. Then the Ravens three-and-outed with about two minutes left on the clock and no team can give Peyton f*cking Manning two minutes (with two time-outs) and not expect to pay the man with a touchdown or field goal. The man is magic. The Colts scored ten points in approximately two minutes and the contest was lost from that moment onward. After one field goal, the Ravens never scored a single point thereafter, receiving not even a sniff at the endzone. I really like Peyton, and the Colts don't generally rub me the wrong way... though I call foul on cutting out on that Jets game, as well as the ones which followed! However, the way they won more than the win itself, as vital as it was, will subside the disgruntled whispers across the myriad fandom.

I am a fool but I am a fool with a good excuse. By the time I wrote my blurb on the Giants needing to fire their defensive coordinator, Bill Sheridan, the deed had already been done. A number of heads rolled by the time I wrote my post, in fact. My good excuse for not knowing this? I was so embarrassed by the Giants play I avoided all sports news outlets including my favorite Giants' site, the Big Blue View. I neither wished to read nor hear anything about the Giants. I knew if I waited long enough, with the start of the post season so close, I could avoid hearing my beloveds described as the losers they turned out to be this season. Cowardice. To quote Walter Bishop (of Fringe fame), I am learning to appreciate it.

Finally, the Australian Open starts today and I can't wait!!!! Plus the Cowboys vs. the Vikings, and the Chargers vs. the Jets. A very good sports day is a-comin.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Boys and girls, it is tennis season!!!! Three cheers, hip-hip-hooray!!!! I'm not sure how dedicated a tennis fan I am though -- I only watch between the Slams, meaning from the start of the Australian Open to the end of the U.S. Open I am tennis mad and catch as many matches as I can. Everything outside that period gets an 'eh' from me. I'm sure I have mentioned once, twice, maybe three times my favorite players: Rafael Nadal, Venus and Serena Williams. I ride or die with these guys so how much I'm feeling a season depends at least 80% on how they are doing, lol. Still last year was pretty good in spite of Rafa's mid year drop off and Venus's loss at Wimbledon, Serena's, ahem, incident at the U.S. Open, etc. Some good tennis was played and new talents emerged and anticipated talents (well, at least one) delivered. The Australian Open is rearing its Aussie head once more so I'll probably haunt my favorite tennis sites until September: Craig Hickman's Tennis Blog at Blogger; Nadal News; Tennis.com; and Forty Deuce (because she's funny) over at Typepad. Honorable mentions to Down the Line at Blogger and Tennis Talk. Tennis season, yay!!!!

Since I'm on a sports kick I should mention another of my favorite spectator sports that has been neglected on this blog -- football... of the American variety. I love me some football and my favorite team is the NY Giants (I'm from Jersey and their stadium is in Jersey and they train in Jersey and most of them live in Jersey... they're ours! LOL). My Giants though, have sucked this year. All-caps SUCKED. Thank you, Bill Sheridan, for taking one of the fiercest defenses in the league and turning them into mush. The man needs to be fired. Fired!!! My family is in agreement. This is his first year on the job, however, so the Giants' owners and manager might decide to suffer through him for one more year much to my utter disagreement. Sigh. Still, I like football and so have watched a lot of non-Giant games for the sheer fun of it. Yesterday I watched the two teams I wished to have win -- the Bengals and the Eagles, lose. It was a bad Saturday. Today, one team I wanted to win (Ravens) won, while the other (Packers) lost in the most preposterous manner. It was a middling Sunday.

What else... what else... what else? Um. The Winter Olympics??? ... Yeah, I don't care either.

I hope to keep better blog track of tennis this year as well as the waning football post-season. Ta-ta for now!

Sports News (run and hide!)

BAD NEWS: Rafa Nadal lost in the semifinals of the Madrid Open to young gun, Gilles Simon. (Boo-urns!!!)

GOOD NEWS: By reaching the semifinals, Rafa officially secured year-end number one!!!!!! He is the first Spaniard to do so, if I am not mistaken. Hee! Absolutely lovely! Also, my girl, Venus, won the Zurich Open thereby clinching her place at Doha, the WTA's end-of-year Battle Royale -- eight women enter, only one will survive! The men, too, have an year-end Battle Royale in which my boy, Rafa, and eight others will be participating. I'm hoping Venus and Rafa are the last woman and man standing (just like at Wimbledon) but the competition is stiff. Fun tennis times ahead!

In OKAY NEWS: Andy Murray (of Great Britain) ultimately won the prize, the Madrid Open championship. If one knows anything about tennis, then one knows Great Britain hasn't had a real Grand Slam contender in ages. There have been pretenders in recent years -- Rusedki (a transplant but whatever, he's a Brit citizen) and Henman, both damn good ones at their height. However I don't think they had the spark young Murray has, the pure talent and "tennis brain" which makes him lethal at present and lethal in the future. His attitude is a problem though. I admired Murray first out the gate but it was this which cooled any burgeoning fan-dom for him in my heart. I still like his game, even admire it. He is one of those players I'll rarely if ever root against unless, of course, he faces any of my boys. ^^

Well, congrats Andy, Rafa, for a year well done.

In EVEN BETTER NEWS: The Giants won their football game on Sunday. I didn't have the pleasure of watching it, although I did enjoy myself some football that day. I heard they didn't play their A-game, which isn't good, but the score differential (respectable) makes up for that in my opinion. They are still leading their division which is good, so I'm crossing my fingers for their continued success this year. One game at a time, baby!

Sports News (Rafa Forever!)

A big HUZZAH for Rafa Nadal!!! He beat a difficult opponent in rising star, Ernest Gulbis -- watch out for him and others in 2009 -- in the second round of the Madrid Open.

After winning the first set (7-5), Nadal dropped the second (3-6) yet won the third and deciding set (6-3). Good job, Rafa! Just keep doing what you do best out there, son.

Here's a big RAZ for the NY Football Giants for Monday Night's game against the Cleveland Browns. Now, I have no beef with the Browns, nor do I care about them one way or the other. I

just care about my beloved Giants -- and they did not show up to play the game of which they are capable, while Cleveland did (hats off to them).

I was so thoroughly disappointed in what I perceived as Eli's befuddled leadership on the field, a discombobulated mess which seemed to trickle down throughout the offensive line; in the defense, who stopped the hard-charging, high-scoring Patriot offense on a dime yet somehow couldn't stifle the Browns offense's inexorable movement of the chains; and with the coaching staff on the sidelines who seemingly were unable to come up with a counter to the heat the Browns were bringing that I walked away early in the 4th quarter (post another Eli interception).

Only one team in NFL history has achieved perfection -- say hello, 1972 Dolphins -- and the Giants wouldn't be my Giants if they didn't f-up every now and again. However. Let's make this an infrequent occurence, okay, Giants?

Also, stop trying to force the pass to Plax!!!! For three-quarters of the game I watched them do this and I was like, what? Is he T.O. now? Must we make him feel included after the suspension, must we utilize him by giving him the ball even when play after play shows that boat won't float?!?! Look. I know Burress is great, and great for us, but it does neither him nor the team any good to give him the ball when clearly it isn't working (at least not this game)! What I found masterful about the Seahawks game last week was the Giants willingness and effectiveness at finding other receivers to fill the Plaxico-shaped hole on their side of the line of scrimage. It showcased our range and depth. Let's remember the lessons of the Seahawks at Giants stadium and keep to that, shall we?

What I saw Monday was the old, sloppy, pre-2007 post season Giants -- that is no longer allowed!!! To cut the Giants a little slack, I will say something must have been in the air week 6 because a lot of dominant teams racked up losses in games they were expected to win. So there's

your slack, now KNOCK IT OFF!!!!

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Not listening to anything right now. But I guess we can go with a little
*Tilly and The Wall's Pot Kettle Black -- awse!


*tap the bold link for a free listen, no download :(

Football! Tennis! Perfection! Sports News!

FOOTBALL
Whoohoo, Giants!!!! Keep it up! Keep it up! Keep it up!!!

A more tepid 'whoohoo' for the Cowboys, whom I also love. I know, same division -- don't care! ^^ I just -- sigh, I have a problem with Romo. He rubs me the wrong way; I don't know why. And no, it has nothing to do with Jessica Simpson. In fact, I think she got a bum rap on the whole 'jinx controversy'. I just don't like him.

TENNIS
Nadal, my lovely, this is late in coming but congratulations on all your success this year, it is much deserved. *kisses*

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What am I listening to now? Lupe. I have fallen in love with 'The Cool'.
Streets Are On Fire, y'all!