Big Lead Sports Bar

1/31/2010

TODAY'S HEADLINES

Pens remain perfect in shootouts: The Penguins were able to overcome a sparkling 46-save performance from Jimmy Howard and outlast the Detroit Red Wings by a 2-1 count in OT on Sunday afternoon in front of a national NBC audience. The win gave the Pens a perfect 7-0 record in shootouts this season.

Sidney Crosby scored in regulation and in the shootout, and Evgeni Malkin added the shootout clincher as the Penguins won for the third time in their last four games. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 23 shots in regulation and both Detroit attempts in the shootout for the win in goal.

It was a playoff atmosphere at the Igloo, which was packed to above-capacity with more than 17,000 in attendance. The teams played a relatively clean game, but neither side would capitalize on the eight power plays handed out.

The Pens are back at it on Monday night against Buffalo. Gametime is set for 7 PM and TV will be on Versus. [ESPN]

Pitt scorched in Florida: Guard Dominique Jones shredded the Pitt defense to the tune of 37 points in a disappointing 70-61 South Florida victory over the Panthers on Sunday afternoon. Pitt was playing without defensive stopper Jermaine Dixon, who injured his foot in their win over St. John's on Thursday. I think it's safe to say they missed him.

The loss was the third in four games for the Panthers, who can officially be tagged as "struggling". They did get a career high 25 points from Gilbert Brown, but this one can be boiled down to free throw shooting, where Pitt was definitively weak on this day. The Panthers, who are making 70% of their foul shots on the season, shot just 54% from the charity stripe on Sunday, missing five free throws after USF's lead was cut to 54-50 with 5:33 remaining.

Brad Wanamaker scored 14 and Ashton Gibbs added 11 for the Panthers, who fell to 16-5 and 6-3 in the Big East with the loss. Next up is the basketball version of the Backyard Brawl on Wednesday night at WVU, with a 7 PM tip on ESPN. [ESPN]

Pitt to the Big Tenleven? This rumor gained a lot of steam over the weekend, and it's going nuts in a few message boards. I know I'm opening up a major can of worms mentioning anything regarding Pitt and the conference which houses Penn State, but I actually think it would be a good business move for the Panthers. And as an extra bonus, back comes Pitt-Penn State. I can hear Nittany teeth gnashing as we speak. [KC Star]

And speaking of Pitt and Penn State: Adam the Penn State fan penned an article on Black Shoe Diaries where some of you are quoted, and wanted me to pass it along. Thy will be done. [Black Shoe Diaries]

AFC wins Pro Bowl, nation collectively yawns: The AFC won the 2010 Pro Bowl with a 41-34 victory on Sunday night in Miami, with Houston's Matt Schaub, the AFC's fifth choice for QB, taking home MVP honors.

Nearly 40% of the players originally selected for the game didn't play, but the Colts and Saints did show up despite bulk complaints out of Indianapolis. Super Bowl players have to show up a night early, not have to play, and be adored by fans and media? And everything is comped? How dare you, Roger Goodell!

Of local interest, Heath Miller had one catch for 13 yards, James Harrison had a late interception, and LaMarr Woodley had a 64-yard pick six of Donovan McNabb wiped out by a 12 men on the field penalty. Didn't anyone learn anything from the Vikings game? [ESPN]

A 300 game and hole in one two days later. Had to be a former Yinzer: And it was 57-year-old Wayne Persang, formerly of Pittsburgh, who rolled a perfect 300 game while bowling in a league at Countryside Lanes in Clearwater, Florida on January 11. On January 13th at Highland Lakes Golf Course in Palm Harbor, Persang aced the fifth hole. Someone buy this guy a ticket to Vegas, because he's on fire. [TampaBay.com]

PirateFest crowds are up: Total attendance for PirateFest was 15,398, up 271 from last year, with a 1,200-person boost over last year's final day. Unfortunately, 1,000 of those people showed up expecting to see Mario Lemieux.

I kid, I kid. Of course they were there for Evan Meek. [PBC Blog]

Because you asked for it: Some of you have noticed, but I did place a little schedule of the week's upcoming local games on the right sidebar for convenience purposes. This weekend, I also added standings and stat page links for each local team as well. Chalk up this innovation to the end-of-year survey and thank your fellow readers who suggested it.

Email: Mondesishouse@gmail.com Twitter: twitter.com/mondesishouse Facebook: Facebook Group

16 comments:

Adam said...

Ahhhh, no knashing of teeth from the Penn State end. Welcome aboard. We knew you'd come along eventually. Good to see you're taking your football program seriously again. We won't waste any time telling you we told you so. As I said on the tail end of the last post's comments, here is the welcome video. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80v5Wueed10

I put the over/under on days till the Backyard Brawl gets asploded at 17.

BURGH08 said...

Like anyone buys you speak for the 'Penn State end'.

Maybe the Penn State 'rear end'.

Take your bobble head, head for the cheap seats, and enjoy the drum major junior. I'm assuming that's what is needed for both your Pirate and PSU hoops games.

Adam said...

Also, on a more serious note, (reportedly) adding Pitt, tells me that the Big 10 ain't stopping at 12. Pitt is a nice add competitively and academically, but has always been 3rd or 4th on my wishlist because it offers nothing to the Big 10 network. Before all this, I'd have told you:

Unicorns: Texas, Nebraska, Notre Dame
1. Missouri, 2. Rutgers, 3. Pitt/Syracuse.

And really, I'm being generous in putting Pitt on the same line as Syracuse, as the Orange People would add NY to the footprint, which probably puts them ahead of Pitt.

Obviously Pitt is a good fit academically and (at least in the money sports) athletically, so the Big Ten was probably anxious to get ya'll on board as soon as possible to get the championship game on the fast track. They'll work out the details with the TV movers later.

(Disclaimer: Not sure I believe the Bleacher Report, but this is gooooood offseason fodder)

The Mad Bubbler said...

The more and more I think about it, Adam has to be just some persona for someone normal who loves to piss everyone off. There's no way someone on this earth is that blown out.

Anonymous said...

We went to Pirates Fest on Saturday, got there at 10 AM when the doors opened, in hopes of getting Maz's autograph... Stood in line for over 3 hours, and didn't get it. We did, however, get this Evan Meek fellow's autograph you speak of. The next group after Maz was Meek, Garrett Jones, and Tekulve, so I guess getting Tekulve's was our consolation prize.

Adam said...

What imflamatory remark have I made here?

Jonny Van Mundegaarde said...

Tekulve is legendary...not a bad consolation prize at all

Adam said...

Owell, just read Zeise's blog post, and I believe him far more than I believe the tOSU hack who wrote the BR article.

Good day

(You should still watch the Barbasol commercial)

Unknown said...

Regarding the possibility of Pitt joining the Big Ten, I hope it does not happen:

a) I like to see Pitt athletics excel. No doubt, Pitt would attract higher caliber football players as a Big Ten team, but they would attract lower caliber basketball players. Even though Pitt would have a better football team skill wise, it would not necessarily mean more success. Given the strength of the football conferences, it is likely that Pitt can be upper tier Big East team or a mid tier Big Ten team. An upper tier team in the Big East can go farther, bowl wise, than a mid tier Big Ten team. Basketball wise, Pitt can achieve far more in talent and tournament depth as a Big East team than they ever would as a Big Ten team.

b) In general across sports, Pittburgh's sports rivals tend to be from Cleveland, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and NY/NJ. I tend to get up for games against the teams in these cities. The Big East covers this territory better. I care (and by care I mean dislike) far more about the Browns, Ravens, Flyers, Mets and Phillies than I do about the Cardinals, Cubs, Bears, Blues. I am just not as familiar with the teams in the mid west area.

Adam said...

John,
The Big East superiority in basketball rests in quantity alone. Michigan State, the second place team in the Big Ten, beat two of the Big East's #1 seeds last season in the tournament. Overall, the Big Ten put 7 teams in the dance, and the 8th team, Dear Old State, won the NIT.

The Big East is a good league, but the idea that the Big 10 is a marketed step down is overblown by media babble.

NickDawg said...

big east is soooooooo much better than the big tenleven in hoops its not funny. Way more physical and way better athletes (See Greg monroe). This is not just my opinion but every basketball analyst.

Adam said...

NickDawg, I've got a call from Sparty on line one for you.

the nigerian nightmare said...

Can we please not bring up the 0-10 conference record 'Dear Old State' basketball team. Looks like they came crashing back to reality.

BURGH08 said...

Penn State has basketball?

Adam said...

@nn

0-9

Constant Gardener said...
This comment has been removed by the author.