That was on NFL Network's Red Zone channel. DIRECTV's Red Zone channel, the one that I watched, had 5% of the excitement of that because they stuck with that Cardinals field goal attempt the whole way. That was an atrocious job by DIRECTV. Why didn't they at least do a dual screen with that and the Seahawks game? Awful. They usually do a great job but not yesterday.
LOCKS of the Week went 2-1-1. Geez... LSU can't get out of its own way even in the wins! Who wins by only 2 points at home in a statement game? LSU does... they love screwing with its fans. And how about Stanford getting across the goal line only for it not to count. Looks like the Fighting Irish are back in more ways than one: the favorable officiating is back too! Aside from those two slip-ups, it was a perfect week, haha. Last week I believe LOCKS went 3-1. I don't know what got into me.
I competed in the UCLA Bruin Masters home swim meet yesterday and really liked my effort! I got a personal best 43.03 seconds, bear in mind I'm still a novice after 1.5 years of competitive swimming, in doing the 50m freestyle. I also tried my first ever 100m fly, and finished it in 2:20.51. Prior to that, I tried a 200m IM, and DQ'd on account of my illegal pull, but would have finished it in 4:18.63. My final individual event was the 50m butterfly, and by then I was running on fumes. I finished in 59.84 seconds, which was a good one second slower than my swim a year ago, but I was very happy to finish under a minute. I noticed my turn at the wall was off too... I really have to explode off that thing, but I was still satisfied. For those events I got 2nd place in both the 1-fly and the 50-fly. Pretty sweet.
Then, afterward, I came home and ordered a 17" white pizza from Lamonica's. Pretty good pizza, but the crust was a bit off its game. I could tell they were busy because the composition looked a tad rushed. The crust was not as crispy... there was a dough bubble in the pizza that usually gets popped during baking. Otherwise, the pizza was tremendous! Great deal too for $11.37 or so out the door (plus tip).
Giants... well here we go again, all of the media exalting the praise of the Giants after another big game that they did NOT expect for them to win. Giants fans, I hope you enjoy this win to the fullest because you can bet that let-down game will follow. It's weird that some people would talk about how dependable Eli Manning is because let's face it, he's equally as prone to turning the ball over as any other QB would be. Most years he finishes with a few more TD passes than interceptions. For instance, two years ago he had 31 TD's and 25 interceptions. With that said, I thought the Giants played WONDERFULLY yesterday. I think many of us knew all along their defense would come to play and the real question was how would SF react. Unfortunately the Niners looked shell-shocked. Or "ogg-shocked," depending on your point of view. Even for Alex Smith, he had an uncharacteristic 3 interceptions, the most from his arm in 3 years. It's also interesting that the Giants got 13 points off those turnovers and scored a total of 26. Half of the Giants points were off those turnovers -- so imagine what would have happened if SF kept the ball on all those possessions. They NEVER LEARN! The 49ers, even going back to the NFC Championship preview, I begged, PLEADED of them to not turn the ball over and they'd have more than a chance against NYG. But no! They continue to find ways to give it away. The game would have been much closer had SF just been smarter about the game.
To be fair to New York, one reason this happens is because the Niners can't run the ball against them. For that you have to give a ton of credit to the Giants' linebackers and linemen. Fellas like Jason Pierre-Paul, Justin Tuck, and Mathieas Kiwanuka. The Giants have a great defense. My question with NYG was always their ability to move the ball. It seems like their passing attack is solid, so it then comes down to running plays. Yesterday the rushing attack was phenomenal. Ahmad Bradshaw had a monster 116 yards and a touchdown. I don't think that's going to happen for Bradshaw every game. That will be the challenge for the Giants the rest of the season: how to sustain a good running attack to keep defenses honest and sustain consistent offense. As we all know by now, the one thing the Giants ain't is consistent. We'll see what happens with them going on.
Niners: no reason to panic, but I doubt anyone is. Interestingly enough they've got a game against the Seahawks on Thrusday! Wow!!
The Packers had a great game at Houston. Not surprising... that's the NFL for ya. I still think Houston's defense is pretty good but let's face it, how are they going to adjust to life without Brian Cushing so quickly? Couple that with the Packers being fired up getting punked by Indy and it was a recipe for a problem in Houston. Hope Mission Control is not in flames this morning!
I do have baseball thoughts but I think I'm still banned from making Yankees comments. Just as well. One exception though: I feel bad for Derek Jeter. That looked so painful to see him carried off the field.
Cardinals/Giants: MAN... the Cardinals bullpen is even better than I thought! After nearly choking the lead, that bullpen rescued starter Lance Lynn with something like 5 scoreless innings. Now that's a bullpen! Final score: Cardinals 6, Giants 4. Cannot wait for Game 2.... oh wow, tonight!
That's a good thing, and I'll explain why right here...
At least we HAVE an MNF game... It means that the Chargers, who are at home to play the Broncos were once again in danger of having a non-sellout. Even with the new rule cheapskate Spanos decided to stay with the old policy and was willing to let the NFL blackout the game on TV... but somehow the Chargers got bailed out so there WILL be an NFL game tonight in San Diego.
This actually affects all of us in Southern California because we are all considered a Chargers market. Had the Chargers failed to sell out, half of the state would be completely hosed. We all would have had a blackout on ESPN and would have no football to watch tonight. Can you imagine how pathetic this is? The Chargers really need to move. --or be contracted, one of those. It's such a joke. I feel bad for loyal Chargers fans, for which there are many, but whatever the case is, the stadium or the market or both cannot support that team anymore. Maybe they're fed up with Norv. Maybe they're fed up with the GM. I can't say. It's a joke.
That's all for now! Hope you didn't mind the lengthy column today, but October is truly one of the best sports months of the year. I have another 19 paragraph blog post in me to write about "October", but another time, folks. 'Til tomorrow!
PS: Cardinals win Game 2, you watch.
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