Good news all around

Well, a couple of good pieces of information have come along the past couple of days...

University of Michigan junior RB Mike Hart has announced that he will also return for his senior season, joining QB Chad Henne, and OL Jake Long in the 'stay in school' club. Hopefully junior LB Shawn Crable thinks it's a noble cause, and will join in the crusade as well, especially with all the good talent that will be leaving the defense due to graduation ( ie Leon Hall, Lamarr Woodley, David Harris, Alan Branch etc). Amazing that kids will stick around four years, eh? Well, that's the future, but we still would like to take care of USC in the present. Hopefully we will be fired up for this game, and pretend that the Trojans voted in both polls to keep us out of the title game. Then we'll see what tune the so-called experts are singing afterwards.

And I said 'a couple of good pieces of info' so here's the second one. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger announced today that he's gonna start Julio Baptista in tomorrow's game against Sheffield United, marking only the third time the Brazilian will be starting for the Gunners. I say this is a good thing because he is the kind of presence that Arsenal has been lacking in the attacking third of the pitch. He's very strong in the air, he plays a much more physical game than any other striker that we have, and he's not afraid to shoot from distance, and won't always look to make the perfect pass into the 6 yard box. This is something that Arsenal has been lacking, we tend to try and 'walk the ball into the net', instead of having a go from the 16-25 yard range. So, hopefully we will get to see some of that skill come out tomorrow, and bring home a 'W' from Bramall Lane, and edge closer to Cheatski/ManUre. Well, that's all for now. Enjoy your New Years Weekend!

I'm Baaaaaaccccckkkkkk!

I think I'm gonna change my blogging format a bit, talking only about news worthy articles, instead of the scores from the past night. Also, it probably won't be a daily blog anymore, but maybe more entertaining/informative. With that in mind...

How bad will the so-called 'National Championship' game be? According to Brad Gerick of 'The Mountain Echo', "Troy Smith and Teddy Ginn Jr. are going to stomp on Florida like King Kong on the purple Teletubby", and I completely agree with this sentiment. Read his entire article about the joke of Florida as "number 2" here

That's really all I got. Glad to be out of Colorado (the airport situation was a mess, but they did the best job they could getting people out of there), and hoping everyone's Christmas went well.

a pretty bland midweek

Well three games, 1 good result, but all three games played poorly. That is pretty much the status of the week so far.

Arsenal was the one good result, taking care of Wigan Athletic at the JJB stadium, 1-0 on another late Emmanual Adebayor goal. But the game, from all accounts I've read, was a crapfest from beginning to end, and it appeared that we were going to get another poor result away from home. But all it takes in football is one moment of magic, and it's "one-nil to the Arsenal". So, we'll take the 3 points, and await the arrival of Portsmouth to the lovely Ashburton Grove, and try to inch closer to the top two.

As for the poor results, Tuesday saw the Red Wings fall to the Ottawa Senators, 3-2, in which Dominick Hasek was outstanding except for a 5 minute stretch in the 2nd period, when Ottawa scored all three of their goals. Detroit clawed their way back into the game, but could not find the equalizer to steal a couple of points. Their in the Windy City tonight, playing a Blackhawks team that we should beat easily, but we all know how that usually goes....just ask the Pistons.

...who should've beaten the Pacers in Indiana on Wednesday, but instead took a 101-90 defeat. The difference in the game was Jermaine O'Neal, who ripped the Pistons for 26 pts and 14 boards. Chauncey had 22 pts in the game, and tried to keep the Pistons in it, but everytime they got close, the Pacers would have a little hot streak, and pull back away. Why do we lose the "easy" games, but can go down and beat Dallas and Orlando, at their places, on back to back nights? Flip Saunders must be pulling his hair out over this very same question. Oh, well, long season, still doing well, will be in the playoffs. I guess that's really all that matters.

One final note, Michigan QB Chad Henne, and OT Jake Long both announced today that they will be sticking around for their senior seasons, to try and lead the Maize and Blue to a National Championship, and RB Mike Hart said he was '99%' sure that he would be back for his senior year as well. I was just hoping that we could convince one of those three to stay another year, but all three coming back? Awesome.

Well, That's it for now, till tomorrow.

A great game, a craptacular game

Well, the day started off well in the Land of Dan, with the Arsenal Football team holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge today. Mathieu Flamini, who I had been complaining about him being even on the field, opened the scoring for Arsenal in the 78th minute, on a shot that might have been saved by another keeper, but with Chelsea down to their 3rd string goalkeeper, it found its way to the back of the net. They couldn't hold onto the lead, however, as Michael Essien had a super strike to equalize in the 84th minute, and Arsenal had the goal posts help out twice in the dying minutes to hold onto the draw. It was a great game from both sides, however, well contested and hard fought throughout, and a tie was deserving for both parties. (Will try to find the goals for tomorrow, can only find bad quality videos right now).

However, the good feeling from the Arsenal match was quickly erased, and then some, as the Lions, as usual, found a way to lose a game that they probably could've won, 30-20. Detroit spotted the Vikings 21 points before putting together any threat of offense, and actually scored their first points on an interception return from Jamar Fletcher, and they found a way to turn the ball over 5 times en route to the loss. Former Lions running back Artose Pinner came back to haunt his old team in a big way, scoring 3 times in the 10 point victory for Minnesota. That sucks, especially the way we've been losing our running backs, and Kevin Jones went down with an injury today, we could've really used a back like Pinner. Well, it looks like another top 10 draft pick year for the Lions, and with 3 games remaining (@ Green Bay, v Chicago, @ Dallas), 2-14 is not out of the realm of possibility.

That's all for today. Weekly update: Arsenal @ Wigan Athletic Wednesday, v Portsmouth on Saturday; Lions @ Green Bay Sunday; 'Stones @ Indiana Wednesday, @ New Jersey Saturday; Wings v Ottawa Tuesday, @ Chicago Thursday, @ New Jersey Saturday; and U-M B-ball v Northern Illinois on Saturday. No update till Thursday (unless i'm bored).

Deeee-troooiiiit Baskettttt-ballllll

Take that, Carlos and Darko!

Well, right on cue, the Pistons took care of two good opponents in two nights. First, they took care of the Dallas Mavericks, 92-82 in Dallas on Thursday night. Then, they flew to Orlando, and edged by the Orlando Magic on Friday, 87-83. Both wins were fueled by good shooting, and great rebounding, and the last one was on the strength of a 31 point effort by Chauncey Billups. So, after 2 sub par performances, the 'Stones put together two great ones, and now lead the division by 1/2 a game, and trail Orlando by 1 game for the conference lead.

The Wings have put together two more wins of their own, edging St. Louis at home on Thursday, 4-3 in overtime, after falling behind 3-0 in that game. Then they beat down the Toronto Maple Leafs today, 5-1. The turnaround in the last couple of days has been the improvement of both the powerplay and penalty kill units. Finally, the Wings are starting to play like the Wings of old, getting contributions from all 4 lines, and starting to click as a team.

Finally, Michigan also have won twice in the last 3 days, taking care of Miami(OH) in Miami, 62-56 on Thursday, and finishing off Delaware St., 70-43 today. And while Courtney Sims still is MIA from before the NC State game, the team in general keeps playing good defense, and they may be competitive in the Big 10 this year.

Well, that's it. I wish I had more to report, but it's mostly the same stuff, different day anyway. Arsenal v Chelsea @ Stamford Bridge tomorrow in a HUUUUGE match, and the Lions v Minnesota in a WHOOOOOO cares match. More tomorrow.

Quick Update

Well, the 'Stones dropped another winnable game, losing to the Portland Jailblazers, 87-85. Former Spartan Zach Randolph was the main culprit, going for 31 points, 13 boards. We lost this game because we lost the battle of the boards, overall by 11 rebounds, but we also had 6 less offensive rebounds than the Blazers. You can't give teams extra possessions in this league, or you will lose. And that's what happened on Tuesday. We play the Mavericks tonight in Dallas, and after losing two cupcakes, we'll probably beat them by double digits. 'Cause that's the kind of team we are.

The Wings, however, took care of business Tuesday in St. Louis, during Brett Hull night, beating the Blues 5-1. The Wings used 5 different goal scorers to take care of St. Louis, who got a late goal from Eric Brewer to avoid being shutout. The rematch is tonight at the Joe, and hopefully we can notch another victory at their expense.

And finally, Arsenal will move ahead to the knock-out phase of the Champions' League, as group winners, with a 0-0 draw at Porto on Wednesday. And although it got the job done, it was the most boring, uninspired game I have ever seen the Gunners play. Of course, it didn't help that Porto made it through as runners up in the group, and from the start it didn't seem that either team was going to be real interested in making this a game. In fact, the lineup that Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger put out there was a weak, non-offensive team, and although he said otherwise before the game, seemed to be playing for the 0-0 draw, and getting through to the next round was all that was important. Well, mission accomplished. The draw to see who we play will be held next Friday, so we'll see if it was worth it or not. Hopefully we draw Lille or Celtic, and not Barcelona.

Ok, that's catchup from Monday. 'stones, wings, u-m men's b-ball, and a tigers trade to talk about tomorrow.

Streak snapped

The look from Pistons head coach 'Flip' Saunders says it all. The Pistons' 8-game winning streak was snapped last night, as Charlotte got the better of the 'Stones, 97-89. Why did we lose this game you ask? Well, it's partially the fault of Matt freaking Carroll (16 points), just like last time. Although this time he had some help from bench mates Sean May and Derek Anderson (17 and 11 points, respectively). The Pistons had little bench scoring to speak of, and did not share the ball enough, as we finished with 18 assists (Brevin Knight, the starting PG for Charlotte, had 14 by himself). Well, the streak couldn't last forever, and we have Portland in town on Tuesday, so I guess we'll just have to start a new streak....

As I feared, Michigan gets hosed

Well, apparently the rest of the nation thinks that Ohio St. should play Florida for the national championship, and the computer polls apparently agreed. So Michigan is stuck in the Rose Bowl against USC, and Ohio State gets handed the championship early - err, I mean gets to play Florida for the National Championship. This sucks big time. I don't think the game will be nearly as exciting as a rematch with Michigan, but that's what everyone else wants (apparently), that's what they get. After OSU blows out Florida, and Michigan takes care of USC, everyone will know what the National Championship game should've been.

Some things never change...

Arsenal took care of business on Saturday, taking care of the hated T*****ham Hotsp*r 3-0. Emmanual Adebayor scores another big goal, followed up by two penalties from acting captain Gilberto (pictured, middle), and Arsenal walk away with all three points, against a hated rival. All this accomplished without the services of captain Thierry Henry, who is out for an unknown period of time with a neck injury. This was a great result, and going into the game at Porto on Tuesday, for a match that we need a result to move into the Champions League knockout stage, it was a good warm up for the game.

The Pistons keep rolling on, winning at Miami on Thursday, 87-85, and at home against New York, 108-100. After struggling to beat the Heat Thursday, even with Dwayne Wade having a terrible shooting night. Rip Hamilton poured in 24 points, and Tayshaun Prince added 12 for the Pistons, who did just enough to upend the Heat. On Friday night, it was the Tay and Chauncey show, as Prince had 31 points, and Chauncey had 22 and 16 assists in the 8 point victory over the Knicks. Rip Hamilton added 26, and the Piston machine keeps chugging along with their 8th consecutive victory. They go for number 9 tonight, as they face the Bobcats in Charlotte.

On Friday, the Red Wings defeated the Minnesota wild, 3-0 in Minnesota, but then dropped a result to San Jose, 3-2 on Saturday night at the JLA. Against the Wild, the Wings only took 1 penalty, and scored a pp goal of their own, which made it a lot easier for them to get the victory. Against San Jose, they lost a lead with 3:31 remaining, and lost the game with 6 seconds remaining, a heartbreaking way to lose. They get to try again Tuesday @ St. Louis, to try and gain some ground on first place Nashville.

The Lions put on a good show today, but could not keep it up for 60 minutes, and fell to New England 28-21. Detroit had leads of 10-3, and 18-13, but could not make either of them last, and a late Cory Dillon touchdown sealed the Lions' fate. I wish it were a different story, but until the Lions can keep players healthy, and have a consistent offensive line, it will continue to be difficult for this franchise to win games. However, I do see some (baby) steps in the right direction, but we need a pretty big personnel overhaul for this team to be competitive.

Finally, the Michigan B-Ball team got back to its winning ways, beating Wofford 83-49. Captain 'can't show up in big games' Courtney Sims led the way for the Wolverines, with 19 points, 7 boards, and Dion Harris had 14 pts, 10 Assists. A good bounce-back game after the defeat at NC State. They will be at Miami(OH) for their next game on Thursday, where they will try and make a pretty good start to their season even better with another win.

B(S).C.S. final polls will come out later tonight, and barring a miracle, it seems like Florida will jump the U-M Football team, and play Ohio State for the National Championship, even though we got the UCLA win against USC that I personally thought would be enough for us to get a rematch. Seperate post for that to follow.

Arsenal @ FC Porto on Tuesday, @ Chelsea on Sunday; U-M B-ball @ Miami (OH) on Thursday, v Delaware St. on Saturday; Wings @ St. Louis Tuesday, v St. Louis Thursday, v Toronto on Saturday; 'Stones @ Charlotte today, v Portland Tuesday, @ Dallas on Thursday, and @ Orlando on Friday; Lions v Minnesota on Sunday