James Harden the former Oklahoma City Thunder 6th man looked pretty good in his new Houston Rockets’ jersey Wednesday night. Harden made his début with the team as they took on the Detroit Pistons. It’s hard to believe that just a few short days ago Harden was traded to Houston. Harden wanted to stay with the OKC but they didn’t want to pony up the dough. Houston signed Harden for a five-year contract valued at $80 million. But judging by his opening performance he was worth every penny, he had 37 points and 12 assists.

It’s unfortunate for Houston’s other star acquisition, Jeremy Lin, who was way overshadowed with 12 points and eight assists.

-M

As usual the media was in a huff over the NFL Trade Deadline. The Deadline had been pushed to Thursday at 4:00pm due to Hurricane Sandy. There was a lot of speculation over who might go where especially surrounding New York Jets’ back-up quarterback and professional virgin, Tim Tebow. It is not secret that the Jets have been misusing Tebow. Not only has he not become the starting quarterback but he hasn’t even been utilized properly as a back-up. Many were hoping that the Jacksonville Jaguars would unleash Tebow from his Jets’ prison. But alas that didn’t happen. And it continues to look like the Jets are hopelessly going to continue this Mark Sanchez/Tim Tebow love triangle.

There was also talk of Kansas City Chief wide receiver, Dwayne Bowe, jumping ship. Of course all of this talk was generated by Bowe himself who increasingly unhappy with the direction the Chiefs are headed. But unfortunately for Bowe  he’ll be sinking with the ship.

Literally the only trade that happened was the New England Patriots acquiring Tampa Bay Buccaneer cornerback, Aqib Talib. Aside from his run ins with the law and earlier banning for doping, Talib, is a great addition to the Patriots who desperately need some help in the defense department. I’m sure he’ll get into less trouble up north . . . .

-M

Together the NFL and the players’ union are donating $1 million to the American Red Cross to help with the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts. They also will be airing ads to help promote donations. Any help is definitely welcome even if it is $1 million from an organization worth $9 billion dollar yearly. Plus let’s keep in mind people they need to spend a lot of money figuring out exactly how much football injures players for life.

-M

So glad everyone is starting to realize how ridiculous this trend is.

-M

After a 1-5 start it is clear that something is off with the Carolina Panthers. In an effort to fix that they fired long time general manager Marty Hurney on Monday. But that’s not stopping people from pointing to Cam Newton. Newton has been less than positive during this losing streak. And can often be spotted towards the end of the games sitting on the sidelines with a towel draped over his head looking like he’s trapped in math class on the last day of school. After this weeks loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Newton literally told the media he had no idea why they were losing. Which doesn’t give much promise to the Panthers’ fans in them getting better.

It’s clear that the one thing that should change is Newton’s attitude. Instead of pouting about his sophomore slump he should be promising better results. And regardless of if it’s him or not he should take responsibility for his team. That’s the job of a quarterback.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton: ‘I’m gonna bring in a suggestion box’Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton talks to the media following a disappointing 19-14 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

via Nfl

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You know that scene in the cop show where the cop finds the killer but it turns out they were just a confused 10 year old. The cop doesn’t think the kid should go to jail but has to reveal there findings because it’s the moral thing to do. That is exactly how I felt about the busting of Lance Armstrong. I know that there is a now a mountain of evidence proving that the 7 time Tour de France winner was a mastermind of doping but I hate to see him go down.

The ultimate irony of this being that there will be literally 7 years in the Tour de France history without a winner. There is so much doping in cycling that it is impossible to give the titles to runners-up.

On the upside Armstrong’s Livestrong cancer foundation is still bringing in money. Armstrong resigned as chairman of the organization in order to protect it from criticism. In the past two weeks donations to the foundation have doubled. Let’s hope people continue to look past the doping scandal and focus on helping cancer survivors.

-M

1. Tebow Jesus. “The Savoir of the Jets”

2. Replacement Referee. “Brainless and Undead, He Can Still Blow a Whistle”

3. Peyton Manning “Even With a Cane He Can Still Whoop Your Ass”

4. Mr. T Harden “He Pities the Fool Who Can’t Play Ball”

5. Hulk Hit. “He Might Be Doping But There’s No Way to Tell for Sure”

-M

Did the Jets Actually Win?

New York Jets vs. Indianapolis Colts, 35-9

We have all been watching the downward spiral that has been the Jets’ season but here is a glimmer of light. The Colts coming off a victorious win over the Green Bay Packers were taken down by the Jets. I think the chants of Tebow at last weeks game finally got to Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez. Sanchez ended the night with 11 of 18 passes complete for 82 yards and two touchdowns. Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck didn’t have such a stellar game he was 22 of 44 for 280 yards but he had two interceptions, a fumble, and lot of misfired balls. But the real star of the game was Jets’ Shonn Greene who ran for 161 yards, had three touchdowns on 32 carries. But Jets fans shouldn’t celebrate yet because next week they will face the New England Patriots and it’s not going to be pretty.

Everyone Hates Michael Vick . . . Again

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Detroit Lions, 26-23

I don’t think anyone saw this coming even Lions fans were surprised. The Eagles looked posed to win the game being up by 10 in the fourth. But then everything switched the Eagles gave up 250 yards and 17 points to the Lions. Quarterback Matt Stafford must have senses this was his chance because he threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score to push the game into overtime. Stafford ended the game with 22 of 45 for 311 yards. Which actually is the same number of yards Eagle’s quarterback Michael Vick had with a completion of 28 of 46 passes. Vick did a little better having an extra touchdown over Stafford. But fans are not happy with Vick. And you can’t blame them seeing as how they have 17 turnovers in 6 games and 13 of them came directly from Vick.  So this may signal it’s time for a change in the quarterback department.

Is That Big of A Spread Even Possible?

New York Giants vs. San Francisco 49ers, 26-3

As a Giants fan I am incredibly happy to see them take down the 49ers but I can’t say I saw it coming. I thought the Giants weak defensive would leave a lot of room for the 49ers to score. And despite some rough patches like losing to the Vikings, the 49ers were considered the top team in the NFL. So this big of gap is shocking. The most shocking thing was how effective the Giants’ defensive was against quarterback Alex Smith.  Smith had three interceptions and ended the night 19 of 30 for 200 yards. It was not a pretty game for Smith and he looked very out of sorts. Meanwhile on the Giants side there was salsa dancing from Victor Cruz, they even played in slow motion. And of course yelling from coach Tom Coughlin even when the Giants were winning by 20 points.

So Are the Seahawks Considered Good Now?

Seattle Seahawks vs. New England Patriots, 24-23

Is is hard to know how to feel about the Seattle Seahawks and their legion of boom defense. On one hand you have to respect what they have done on the other you can’t help to forget the bad call that gave them a win over the Green Bay Packers. But it wasn’t the great defense that won the game for the Seahawks. It was actually rookie quarterback Russell Wilson whose passed the ball to Sidney Rice with 1:18 remaining for a 46-yard touchdown and the win. It was the best game yet for Wilson who finished 16 of 27 for 293 yards. While Wilson was having a great game the Seahawks defense was not giving up 475 yards, the most this season. But you can’t blame the legion of boom for lacking against one of the best offensives in the NFL led by Tom Brady. Brady finished 36 of 58 for 395 yards. If anything it proved the Patriots are going to need a stronger defense if they want to see the Super Bowl again.

RG3 Comes Back Big Time

Washington Redskins vs. Minnesota Vikings, 38-26

I don’t care how you feel about the Redskins you can’t help but love their rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III. RG3 was upset that his concussion in last weeks game against the Falcons forced him out the game and he was determined to make it up to everyone. And boy did he ever. RG3 ran 76-yards for a touchdown to put the Redskins ahead of the Vikings. He had an amazing game with 13 carries, 138 yards, two touchdowns. Passing wise he was 17 of 22 for 182 yards and one touchdown. Everyone said that there wouldn’t be a lot of running room against the intense Vikings’ defense but RG3 found 76-yards. But it wasn’t RG3 alone that won the game there was a surprisingly strong appearance from the Redskins defense. And they are going to need all of this to make a showing against the Giants next week.

Texans Winning Streak Comes to an End

Houston Texans vs. Green Bay Packers, 42-24

I think if we learned anything from this game, it’s that Packers’ quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, is hates losing. He hates it so much that he it all in this game literally and had a new career high. Rodgers completed 24 of 37 passes for 338 yards and had six touchdowns. It was clear the Packers were ready to get past their loss to the Colts. The Texans who normally have huge numbers out of players like Arian Foster didn’t have a great night. Foster did score two touchdowns but he only ran for 29 yards. It wasn’t just on offense that the Texans struggled but also on defense giving up 24 points. It makes you wonder if the Texans might have been a little over rated, after all they have been undefeated but their schedule has been light up until now.

-M

It was another glorious week in college football. And while some teams maybe showing weakness Alabama continued to dominate and had not trouble handing Missouri a crushing loss, 42-10. Other tops teams didn’t have it so easy this week.

Notre Dame vs. Stanford, 20-13

I wasn’t the only one interested in this game, it garnered the highest ratings of the day. Notre Dame pulled out the win in overtime. Although no one would argue that Notre Dame is a strong team some would argue that they won the game based on a questionable call. Notre Dame had the lead in overtime 20-13 when Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor ran the ball and stopped at the goal line then turned and fell into the end zone. The refs said that Taylor stopped short but it appeared to be a touchdown. They did review the call and it stood as a stop short. So  I guess it pays to have the luck of the Irish.

Louisiana State University vs. South Carolina, 23-21

Louisiana seemed to be losing rank after last weeks loss to the Florida Gators but to prove everyone wrong they won a hard fought victory over undefeated South Carolina. The real star of the game was LSU’s Jeremy Hill who rushed for a career-best 124 yards and two TDs. This was really an offensive win for LSU who had 13 unanswered points in the second half. It also brought LSU back into the fold as being one of the teams to beat.

West Virginia vs. Texas Tech, 49-14

Just like South Carolina the undefeated rein of West Virginia came to end with their loss to Texas Tech. This was a shocking upset for West Virginia and star quarterback Geno Smith, seeing as how it’s been forever since Texas Tech was even ranked. But Texas Tech was a scoring machine scoring on the five of seven possessions in the first-half. It also proved that the bad defense on the side of West Virginia is going to be a real hurdle for the team. Smith usually scores so much that he saves the weak defense but this week it just wasn’t enough. Smith completed 29 of 55 passes for 295 yards and 1 touchdown. Smith just has to hope this trend doesn’t continue or he’ll be out of the running for the Heisman.

-M

The Tennessee Titans desperately needed this win to breathe life into their struggling season. Their big star running back Chris Johnson has been way under performing. Than they lost their starting quarterback Jake Locker to a foot injury a week ago. So if there was ever a time for the Titans to get a win it was tonight. With veteran quarterback Matt Hasselbeck leading the way the Titans managed to over take the Pittsburgh Steelers. Hasselbeck proved he still has it in him to lead a team ending 25 of 44 with 290 yards. And Johnson showed another glimmer of light with 91 yards and 19 carries.

The game was more of a loss for the Steelers than a win for the Titans. Going into the game the Steelers were missing the key component to their defense safety Troy Polamalu and linebacker LaMarr Woodley. And things just kept getting worse. The injuries piled up faster than the points. In the first play center Maurkice Pouncey injured his right left and left the game. Than in the second quarter right tackle Marcus Gilbert hurt his right ankle. In the third quarter running back Ike Redman who had caught four passes for 105 yards injured his right ankle and had to leave the game. Oh yeah than running back Rashard Mendenhall was taken out by an Achilles injury. So despite quarterback Ben Roethlisberger having 363 yards, there was not much he could do. Especially when cornerback Ike Taylor passing penalty gave the Titans a tying touchdown.

With the game tied at 23 everything came down to a 40-yard field goal kick. Titan kicker, Rob Bironas, who had missed earlier in the evening, came through to win the game.

-M