Big Lead Sports Bar

12/02/2009

TODAY'S HEADLINES



The last college basketball game at Mellon Arena happens tonight. Pitt and Duquesne, both sporting 5-1 records, meet tonight at 7 PM. It's the 355th game at the arena for the Dukes and the 113th for the Panthers. Pitt has won the last eight meetings between the schools, who will be meeting at the arena for the 35th time. [PG]

Ovie gets a time-out: Matt Cooke isn't the only player to be disciplined by the NHL this week. Washington Capital supervillain Alex Ovechkin will sit for two games as a result of his knee-to-knee hit on Carolina's Tim Gleason on Monday. The dirty play will cost Ovechkin nearly $99K in salary. [Trib]



Millions of dollars on the line on Saturday: If Pitt beats Cincinnati, they earn a trip to a lucrative BCS bowl. If not, they could be looking at a trip to either Birmingham or Toronto. Let's just say Panther fans don't exactly show up to road games like Steeler fans do. [Pitt Redshirt Diaries]

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17 comments:

Adam said...

Funny.

You would think Joe Paterno winning the all-time wins race by beating outlasting Bobby Bowden would qualify as a "headline".

PaulDJesse said...

Adam, it might if this was an FSU site or if someone NOT retiring was newsworthy.

BURGH08 said...

Why don't you create your own blog if you don't like it Adam?

Or do you have one, and just nobody cares? Much like your opinions?

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Ovie finally gets suspended for reckless play. If only they punished him the first 6 or 8 times maybe he would also have repeat offender status.......

I just loved his comments regarding the situation where he said he doesn't think he will be suspended and nobody is going to tell him how to play.

I really wish someone would knock his block off.

HomeRunFromBehindTheMeatballs said...

JoePa didn't really 'win it' today. He was already in the lead by 5 wins or so. Just now it's definite that no one will EVER catch him!

SDPJ is right... that's waaayy more FL news than PA news.

At least the infinite wisdom of the big ten powers that be decided to have their regular season end what seems like 4 weeks ahead of everyone else! While all the other top 25 teams are making a name for themselves with big games, PSU is twiddling their thumbs. As a PSU fan though, maybe it's for the best that we won't play another ranked team until a bowl game.

Steve said...

Burress, It will happen sooner than later. Even though there are no more McSorley's roaming the ice, you gotta believe he has very few friends in the NHL outside of maybe Kovalchuk and his own teamates, so anyone that gets a clean shot at him who wants to make a name for himself won't think twice about it. If the hockey Gods are now frowning on him, then it's only a matter of time.

Hopefully Richards will go after him and they can both go down in a pile of blood and tears.

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Steve, I would love to see it. But it seems to me Crosby is far more hated and villified than Ovie.

After all, Crosby didn't kiss Lidstrom's feet after we won the Cup so he is a disgrace to the game.

Papa Eo said...

I agree. People everywhere HATE Crosby, for reasons of very little substance. I must admit though, as much as I hate him for being a Capital (and a douche) Ovechkin is the best and most exciting player in the NHL, so I don't wish much ill will upon him, I just hope he takes this as a wake up call to show a little more poise and class(like Crosby) and maybe together they'll take the NHL where they were supposed to have taken it by now: a popularity level above the snooze-fest that is the NBA and nearly equal to MLB.

Louis Lipps is my homeboy said...

JoePa already has had the wins record for a few years. It's not news. What do you want him to say "Just a reminder readers, Paterno still has the most wins of any coach in college football history!" just to make you happy?

But, unlike JoePa, Bowden built his win total at FSU by not being afraid to go on the road (without the promise of a return date) and take on all comers in the early years. He turned a former all-girls school into a powerhouse!!

JoePa built his record by playing Temple and MAC teams. That's why they were passed over for national championships so many times.

Hell, JoePa won't even play the supposed "mediocre" program right down the road from him. Bowden, on the other hand, scheduled the mighty "U" just about every year during Miami's heyday. He didn't care that the 'cane's smaller fanbase didn't benefit FSU financially or that he might take a loss to an in-state team. He actually cared about college football in his state of Florida.

Bowden may have had a few less wins, but he had a lot more balls.

Louis Lipps is my homeboy said...

People don't like Crosby for one simple reason: If you try to shove somebody down the public's throat as the next golden boy sensation, sometimes they get sick of it.

Ovechkin is viewed more as a rebel, thus making him "cool", even though on the ice he's a very dirty player.

Ovie's probably the best offensive player in the world right now, but his game's still pretty 1 dimensional (shoot shoot shoot). He's basically Pavel Bure ver. 2.0, but with more hype and personality.

Crosby's a complete player, he can score goals (not at the same pace as Ovechkin obviously), he's the game's best passer, a far superior skater/puckhandler, it wouldn't even be fair to compare them defensively (sorry Caps fans, taking runs at people doesn't count as playing defense), and Crosby even leads the league in faceoff percentage.

I like Ovie to sell tickets, but Crosby if you want to win.

The Mad Bubbler said...

Look at the main page Adam: sports and entertainment with a PITTSBURGH twist. Not a Happy Valley twist, not a Philadelphia twist, a PITTSBURGH twist. I've never understood why anyone who lives in this city (who doesn't have college ties to PSU) even cares about PSU. And for people (Adam) who have college ties to PSU to assume that people in Pittsburgh should respect and pay attention to PSU is ridiculous. If I went to Ohio State I wouldn't go onto Pittsburgh boards and talk about the buckeyes all the time. PSU is some 2.5 hours away from this city, well why don't we start following the Cleveland Cavaliers?

Anonymous said...

We simply live in a time where it's cool to root for the bad guy. Therefore everyone hates Crosby and loves Ovie because it's either appealing, or just because he's the opposite of Crosby.

A perfect example is wrestling. Not that I follow it anymore, but I'm betting we all did up until about 5-10 years ago. At it's peak, everyone's favorites were basically the bad guys, like Steve Austin and the NWO. There's no more all-american heroes.

Sports have also become dumbed down (like almost everything else) just to appeal to a wider audience and make more money. Thank you, ESPN. The larger audience is more intrigued by goal scoring and a brash persona, not necessarily all around talent.

+1 for Ovie and the sheep.

the nigerian nightmare said...

Hahaha, I love this blog, Ovie was just compared to the nWo........and yes....I still watch wrestling.

Adam said...

Haha, it only takes a spark...

Anyway...

SanDiegoPJ,
Paterno won a 40+ year battle. It was a battle of the titans, and Paterno won. It's a big deal. It's a record not likely to be broken, in this era of college football at least.

BURGH,
If I didn't like the blog, I wouldn't read it and wouldn't comment on it. Don knows it's just a good natured ribbing. Settle down.

Meatballs,
Now wouldn't exactly be the time to attack the Big 10 schedule. While everyone else has been turning to crap, PSU and Iowa have just been sitting pretty at 10-2 and climbing the BCS standings. One will make a BCS bowl, largely because their losses happened a month ago as opposed to some of the other 10-2 teams.

Dear Lipps,
The U is in the ACC doofus. And last I checked Paterno has gone "on the road" and won more bowl games than anyone else. He's going "on the road" to Tuscaloosa next season, and has dates with your vaunted U (soon to be announced), Nebraska, Virginia, and Rutgers on the road docket the next few years. Again. It's not "fear". It's "$$$$". One home and home series. In that home and home, we'll play anyone, including Pitt if they can keep their shit together.

Bubbler,
Geographically, State College falls in the Pittsburgh TV footprint. I get every Steeler, Pirate, Penguin, etc. on basic cable here.

That translates demographically to most State College locals being Pittsburgh fans, just like any other town on the Pittsburgh fringe (Erie, Butler, etc.). Also, Allegheny County has the higest concentration of Penn State alumni of any place in the world, which unfortunately for you, explains the Pittsburgh-State College connection to a T. There aren't more Clevelanders living in Pittsburgh than anywhere else. There are more Penn Staters living there than anywhere else, and that explains the coverage. Get over it.

Steve said...

Funny, I said the same thing about Ovie being the new Bure almost 2 years ago. I also think his carrer will last about as long too unless he wises up. You just can't play 1-dimensional, break neck hockey and keep up that pace for more than half the time more balanced players like Crosby, or Yzerman can play.

His scoring is also based on his insane shot totals (throw it at the net enough and you too can score at least 20) and if you look at all of the top scorers, his shots per goal are terrible. His stats resemble buckshot more than sniping.

Mario had 85 goals with only 313 shots in '89, for Ovechkin to reach that goal total he'd practically have to be the only Cap's player taking shots all season. Mario was also playing in a clutch and grab era, carrying players to the net with him many times, Ovie virtually shoots physically uncontested ever game. Granted he does come up with a hilite reel goal from time to time, so I'm not saying he isn't talented.

Once Ovechkin gets a couple years older and loses some of that young punk angst and over-caffinated intensity, he'll start shooting less and his scoring will drop. A couple more injuries (which he'll no doubt suffer because of his playing style) will also curb his game and make him look not so special since that's the only game he's got...you know, like Evel Knievel on a moped. Hell, even Crosby who's younger doesn't play as wrecklessly as he did after his ankle injury. I doesn't take much.

BURGH08 said...

Nice try Adam. Sadly, I fear you yet more 'attention' here than in your real life. Anyway, onto something worth the keystrokes.

Agreed on the Ovie/Crosby discussion, but what I don't see is as many people taking runs at Ovie. I know he is physical, but I can't believe more people haven't gone after him with some of his antics.

I do agree with the ESPN 'watering down'. One of the 'Around the Interruption/Horn/Rome is Burning' crapola shows were trying to have a debate whether Ovie was 'a dirty player'. I wonder if any of them have watched more than ten games of hockey the last five years among them.

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Interesting point r/e people not taking runs at Ovie.

It seems to me that Sid plays harder at both ends of the ice, yet players constantly try to take shots at him and injure him but they don't go after that mongoloid for whatever reason.

I can see the whole issue with the golden boy getting shoved down your throat, but if i had kids, i would much rather they look up to Crosby than Ovechkin.


AO is more of an NFL/NBA type ME ME ME guy. Hockey, at least to me, is a sport where the players dont try to become bigger than the sport itself given all of the tradition with not touching trophies and things of that nature. Maybe i am off on this, but hockey players seem to be the most respectable of the big four athletes?