Real Sports Talk with E-Money

It appears that the stories both before and after the Super Bowl ended up getting a lot more attention then the actual game itself. Needless to say, though, the last four teams that were left in the playoffs were the four best teams throughout the season in the NFL, and ultimately, the Giants ended up being a little better then anyone else.

To start things off this semester, let me first say welcome back to Plymouth after the six-week lay-off. This semester has a tendency to go by faster then the Fall (or at least the upperclassmen say that), and it will be no time before it is Spring Break. Anyway, back to sports.

Before the Super Bowl started, all the talk was about Rob Gronkowski's ankle, as well as the Giants defensive line. Gronk ended up not being much of a factor in the game (though Aaron Hernandez did a nice job trying to take Gronk's spot besides the one drop late in the 4th quarter), as the ankle seemed to really hurt any potential production the former University of Alabama could have produced. After Super Bowl XLVI concluded, the tight end stated that the injury didn't affect his play, but I disagree with that 100%. The other main story going into this game as I said was the Giants defensive line. The Pats o-line did a great job giving quarterback Tom Brady a lot of time every throw, but Brady's receivers didn't do him any favors. Regardless, the Giants made a few more plays then the Pats (the play of the game was Chase Blackburn's interception), and they went back to the Big Apple with the Lombardi Trophy (thankfully in my case!).

Now time to talk about the NHL. I know, I know. Tim Thomas is the next Vezina trophy winner, and Tuuka Rask is arguably better then him, but they aren't in first place in the Eastern Conference as of Wednesday night. That, my friends, belongs to the New York Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist is an awesome goalie himself despite not having a ton of offensive production in front of his self this year. Marian Gaborik doesn't have great numbers (26 goals, 17 assists in 50 games), but they have a lot of intangible players that have been stepping up big this year such as Michael Del Zotto, who is 5th in the plus/minus category with a +26 rating, a 87.4% percent penalty kill (4th in the NHL) lead by Dan Girardi, and lead the NHL with the best winning percentage when scoring the first goal in a game. This team doesn't have any huge names outside of Lundqvist that are producing spectacularly, but they are ultimately getting the job done in the first half of the regular season. I will go more in-depth with other teams next week, but I had to get that out in regards to the Rangers (plus everyone is going on about how it's the Bruins' season now since the Pats lost the Super Bowl (Steve Lanciani)).

In the world that is the National Basketball Association (or NBA), the Chicago Bulls are in first place in the Eastern Conference, while the Oklahoma City Thunder have the best overall in terms of winning percentage as of Wednesday. I was fortunate enough to watch the Thunder live (when they played the New Jersey Nets in Jersey), and Kevin Durant is an awesome player to watch in person. Any time the former University of Texas product had the ball, you knew he was looking to get the ball into the hoop, whether it be a 18-foot jump shot, a kick-out pass to James Harden for a 3-pointer, or an alley-op to Serge Ibaka. As I stated before break, I think that this team will end up with the best record in the West. Going back to the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics have finally started to play well after a disappointing start, and the New York Knicks seem like they might have found their point guard in Jeremy Lin. Both of these teams will end up making the playoffs no problem, but their early season struggles might end up costing them a top three seed for the playoffs.

In other irrelevant (though I find interesting) sports news:

-Ricky Williams retired (again). Imagine if he had his head on straight for his entire NFL career? We'd be talking about one of the top-5 best running backs ever.

-I am surprised Indy got such great reviews as far as being a great city to host the Super Bowl.

-The Pro Bowl should be eliminated. Instead, have a contest where the fastest eight guys in the NFL have a 100 meter dash race, the lineman have a bench press competition, quarterbacks have a long toss event, and I'll throw in one more (though I have a few more in mind)- a game of HORSE played by field goal kickers.

-Free agent to be wide receivers in the NFL include Marques Colston, Vincent Jackson, Wes Welker, Mario Manningham, Desean Jackson and Dwayne Bowe.

-Who I think should be in this years slam dunk contest- Blake Griffin (defending champ has to go back),  Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose and Rudy Gay.

Non-sports information of the week

-Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 was the best of that series.

-I know it has been warm, but I am surprised that the Pemi didn't freeze over.

-I am a fan of Young Jeezy's CD that came out over break (as I listen to it now).

-It needs to snow so the ski mountains in the area can finally be 100% open with non-man made snow.

-Nice to see that Wifi got installed in Hall Hall (among other dorms)

-If you are interested in becoming part of the sport's section of The Clock this semester or next fall shoot me an email at edbrill@plymouth.edu