2010 a year in sports to remember

The Year of The Underdog

How will you remember 2010??? Will you think of the Tiger Woods situation , The world cup perhaps or maybe even Brett Favre and the end of his long and historic career. For me the way I’ll always remember 2010 is by the underdogs. We had 2 major sleepers win the 2 biggest titles in American Sports. Back in February the New Orleans Saints who had endured 42 losing seasons in franchise history took on the almighty Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts . The Saints pulled off the unthinkable upset and won the super bowl with maybe the gutsiest call in any super bowl… The inside kick to start the 3rd Quarter of play. The other major upset in sports this season was in the MLB. Even before the season began people started picking teams to win the fall classic. I was one how picked the Yankees. But I knew no on who was taking a team from the National league Western division , especially the San Fransisco Giants. But like the Saints the Giants found their way threw tight games and incredible pitching performances by young stars like Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain. 

Some other top moments of 2010 were the USA’s run in the world cup, The UCONN women’s basketball team winning 90 Straight games passing legendary UCLA and Jimmie Johnson winning his 5th straight Sprint Cup in NASCAR. This year was also a big year of deaths to famous people who impacted sports in major ways. Heres a list of some of the great people the world of sports lost in 2010:

1. Bob Feller  (MLB)
2. Bob Fenimore (NFL)
3. Jim Hunter (NASCAR)
4. Carl Braun (NBA)
5. Manute Bol (NBA)
6. Dorothy Kamenshek (Baseball)
7. Lew Carpenter (NFL)
8. Gil McDougald (MLB) 
9. Franklin Mieuli (NBA)
10. Dave Niehaus (MLB)
11. Bob Probert (NHL)
12. Don Merideth (NFL)
13. Bob Sheppard (MLB)
14. Rob Santo (MLB)
15. Fred Schaus (NBA)
16. Freddy Sez (Baseball)
17. Chester Simmons (TV)
18. Jack Tatum (NFL)
19. Ralph Houk (MLB)
20. George Blanda (NFL)
21. Sparky Anderson (MLB)
22. Bobby Thompson (MLB)
23. George Steinnbrenner (MLB)
24. John Wooden (Basketball)

(All of these individuals contributed so much to their respected sports and will be missed by everyone who follows the games that they have impacted so very much.)

Another big part of 2010 was controversy. With scandals like Reggie Bush at USC and the recruitment of Auburn QB Cam Newton many writers had a field day writing and saying things about these amazing athletes but at the same time mysterious people. Another big topic of 2010 was the Concussion Discussion in the NFL. With new rules put in place against big hits many people are questioning the toughness of the NFL but there are some who say that this needed (Those people don’t even watch football). My view on the topic is that you just shut up and play football. Think of back in the day when players had a little or sometimes no facemask. They were still knocking each other out and no we have tons of protection but we have become babies and want to take away the best part of football… CONTACT !! Overall I enjoyed the 2010 sprts season. Even though neither one of my 2 favorite teams (Yankees and Va Tech) had a chance to compete for a championship they still both had good season and the Hokies can still add to their glorious streak of 11 win in a row with a win against Stanford on Monday 1/3/11 on ESPN.

Heres a look back into all the championship winners in the world of sports for the year 2010:

MLB: San Fransisco Giants over Texas Rangers

NBA: Los Angeles Lakers over Boston Celtics

NHL: Chicago Blackhawks over Philadelphia Flyers

NFL: New Orleans Saints over Indianapolis Colts

Hope you all enjoyed your 2010 and I wish all of you a happy,healthy and successful 2011 !!

Hockey Purists Pumped for Original 6 Cup!

 

When you think of professional hockey there are 6 teams that come to mind. The Original Six…. Teams include: New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens , Detroit Redwings , Chicago Blackhawks and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Blackhawks have already punched their ticket to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup Finals  hoping for their first championship since 1961. Damn that’s a long stretch but I have a feeling it will come to an end with the play of young star Patrick Kane and a good team around him. Over here on the east side of town there are two other NHL Originals battling for a trip to Chicago. Montreal who for those of you that like me don’t watch that much hockey are like the New York Yankees or Pittsburgh Steelers as far as hockey prestige goes. The Canadiens have won an incredible 24 Stanley Cups in their special history. The Canadiens are currently trailing the Philadelphia Flyers who were not part of the Original 6 Teams in Hockey but were one of the 1st expansion franchise’s or part of the Original 8. Montreal has had outstanding goal tending throughout the regular season and now in the playoff’s from Jaroslav Halak who had a .924 save % which is amazing. On the flip side the Philadelphia Flyers made NHL History by coming back after trailing 3 games to none against the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Semis. Now the Flyers have stayed hot led by Danny Briere who has scored 9 times in the 2010 playoffs. My pick is the Flyers just because of how well they are playing and how much momentum they have swaying their way. Game 5 is on Versus at 7 PM in the city of brotherly love. So check it out!!!!!    

Can Briere and the Flyers close it out????