Going into Week 15 of the NFL season, a couple of matchups immediately caught your attention, mainly because of playoff implications. The Eagles-Giants matchup was probably the biggest for several reasons. Other good matchups involved the Jaguars-Colts, Jets-Steelers, and the Packers-Patriots games. The Eagles and the Giants, however, both entered their matchup tied at 9-4 and sitting atop the NFC East division. Their first meeting, November 21 at Lincoln Financial Field, was a close meeting between division rivals, in which the Eagles were able to finish them off in the fourth quarter, combined with too many turnovers from the Giants. This time around, whoever won this game would certainly get a leg-up on winning the division and possibly getting a first-round bye.
The first half was unlike anything we'd seen from the Eagles all year. The Eagles look overmatched by the Giants in all areas of the game, and the Giants raced out to a 24-3 halftime lead. In the fourth quarter, Eagles WR DeSean Jackson fumbled the ball in about the same manner Giants QB Eli Manning did in their first matchup. That gave the Giants the ball in good field position, in which Manning took advantage by throwing an easy touchdown pass to TE Kevin Boss. At 31-10 and over seven minutes left in the game, everyone watching must've thought the game was over at that point. However, the scores started coming in bunches for the Eagles. All of a sudden, Eagles QB Michael Vick was unstoppable, and with under two minutes to go, the game was tied at 31. The Giants got the ball back with a chance to win the game, as many thought there was plenty of time left. The Giants offense stalled, but with only 14 seconds remaining in regulation, it was a lock for overtime. Then disaster struck and you guys know the rest of the story!
C'Mon Man. Many people blamed P Matt Dodge for the loss. I blame the entire Giants' defense for the loss. The way the Eagles' offense have been playing all year, there was no reason for letting up defensively. If we can remember, just about a month ago, the Eagles scored 28 points in the first quarter against the Redskins, and 45 in the first half. They are certainly capable of putting up points on the board very quickly. The pressure applied to Vick in the first half should've continued. Instead, the Giants looked undisciplined in their blitzes, allowing huge holes for Vick to scramble, as he would rush for over 100 yards for the first time all year. The bad punt by Dodge was the nail in the coffin for a team that played so poorly in the fourth quarter. They can't hang their heads on this loss because they can clinch a playoff spot with a victory at Green Bay. It's important the Giants focus on this game, and not the massacre last week.
The Diamond Head Classic, in Hawaii, is an invitational tournament with eight schools. This year, only one of them, Baylor, happened to be a top 25 squad. The play of Baylor wouldn't be the fireworks that came out of this tournament, however. On Thursday, Mississippi St. defeated San Diego 69-52 to improve their record to 8-4. So far, Mississippi St. hasn't even played a true road game, so their record doesn't come close to indicating if they're a legit team. Also, their eight victories have come against Tennessee St., Appalachian St., Detroit, Troy, North Carolina A&T, Nicholls St., Alabama St., and San Diego, none of which come from power conferences. Their first road game comes in conference play, January 13, against Ole Miss.
After their victory against San Diego, the team decided to stick around and watch the game between Utah and Hawaii. However, instead of watching a game in which could give the players insight on their next opponent, F Rinardo Sidney and F Elgin Bailey decided their differences in a matter we don't know about was worthing fighting about, in public. It took everyone by surprised as Sidney and Bailey fought in the stands for several minutes, with punches being thrown, before the fight was broken up by teammates and other members of the team and audience. Sidney and Bailey were immediately removed from the venue and sent back to their hotel rooms. They were subsequently suspended by coach Rick Stansbury for the rest of the tournament and their game against St. Mary's in Las Vegas. Both players were sent back to Mississippi.
C'Mon Man. How embarrassing for yourselves and the program to be fighting amongst each other. Stansbury said in his 13 years of coaching this program, he's never had anything like this happen before. They would go on to apologize, but it still doesn't save themselves and the program the embarrassment. The interesting thing about this scenario is what they could've been talking about that got both of them upset to the point where they began fighting. Being in Hawaii is a great experience, especially for free. Who knows if these players were fighting over a female(s) they met in Hawaii, or if it's something else very personal. It doesn't bode well for athletics at Mississippi St. especially with them still dealing with the death of DE Nick Bell from the football program.
The Heat have been on a roll lately, winning 13 out of their last 14 games heading into their Christmas Day matchup with the Lakers. This is the kind of play that we expected from them, considering they have two of the three best players in the league in G Dwyane Wade and F Lebron James. It took a while for them to click initially, starting off a 9-8. However, their play, combined with their stifling defense as of late, has them playing better than any other team right now. As Wade and James have finally figured how to play with each other, we should expect more success as the regular season continues, heading into the playoffs. They haven't beaten the Celtics yet in two tries, so that has to be their concern in the Eastern Conference. They also lost twice to the Mavericks, but the only time they'll see them again is in the Finals, which is less of a worry.
James made a decision in the off-season that turned many of his fans into haters. Many people didn't like the way James announced his decision to sign with another team. He also didn't let the Cavaliers know of his intentions to sign elsewhere, which was seen as unprofessional and wrong. This week, James made some comments that seem to justify his decision to join Wade and F Chris Bosh in Miami. He told reporters the NBA needs to go back to the 1980s and find a way to get multiple All-Stars on the same team to make things more competitive. G Derek Fisher commented on what James had to say, and disagreed with that notion, seemingly because of the fact that it could eliminate teams and provide less jobs in the NBA.
C'Mon Man. This man is starting to make some off-the-wall comments and is solidifying my point that he isn't a realist. Through James' entire career, he's always been phony, trying to impress the media and his fans by saying all of the right things. For the people who could truly see through it, they all knew he was a phony. This is why so many people were disappointed when James decided to make his announcement on "The Decision." It didn't surprise me one bit, because I knew that was the kind of person he was. Now, James knows he is one of the most hated people in America, so he's freely speaking his mind the way he's always wanted to do so. I prefer that he is keeping it real with us and sharing how he truly feels about his decision and the state of the game. I disagree with his notion of contraction. In the 1980s, the talent pool was better than it is now. The Lakers didn't go out and sign F Magic Johnson, F James Worthy and G Byron Scott. They drafted them. The Celtics didn't sign F Larry Bird, C Robert Parrish, and C Kevin McHale. They were drafted by them. That just speaks to the talent pool back then and the lack of talent now.
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