Pittsburgh 82, Syracuse 77

Wow. Let me repeat that. Wow. Syracuse had a 70-59 lead and blew it. Thank God I had to work for the radio station today and didn't have to witness this debacle in person.

Kudos to Jamie Dixon and Pitt. I think Dixon is one of the best coaches in America and can always keep his team composed and poised, and that's what they did to pull the upset.

Syracuse's fate came down to how they stopped playing the game with about four minutes left. The Orange tried to just milk the clock and waste as much time as possible, which I do not agree with. When the game is on the line, play to win. If a man has an open shot, you take that shot. You work to score points and get the lead.

This win essentially puts Syracuse out of the NCAA Tournament.

Maybe it's me. I've been here two years now and no NCAA Tournaments and no football winning seasons.

Atleast it's only 30 days until baseball season kicks off and the Rangers right now are kicking some major butt.

National | WKU's Lee playing for late teammate - Sports

National | WKU's Lee playing for late teammate - Sports

Top 20 Countdown: No. 6-The BamBrosius!

I'll let ESPN take this one:

You remember the scenario. Bottom of the ninth inning. Two outs. Diamondbacks lead the Yankees by two runs. Sidearming right-hander Byung-Hyun Kim pitching for Arizona.

It happened again. One night after Tino Martinez tied Game 4 of the World Series with a home run, Scott Brosius dug into the black hat of Yankee magic tricks and did the same, tying Game 5 with a two-run blast to left field.

And the Yankees won it in 12 on Derek Jeter's homerun making him the first ever Mr. November

Top 20 Countdown: No. 7-An A-Bomb from A-Rod!!!!

All I can say about this is wow. A-Rod had one of the greatest months in the history of baseball last April, smashing 13 homeruns. The man was hitting everything. Two of them stick out in particular.

1) Yankees down 7-6 Orioles, ninth inning, bases loaded, 2 outs-Grand Slam
2) Yankees down 6-5 Indians, Ninth Inning, two outs-3 Run shot

My favorite saying that month was of course: An A-bombbbbbbbbb from A-Rodddddddd

Top 20 Countdown: No. 8-Captain Clutch

If there is one man on the Yankees who represents everything the Yankees represent, it is El Capitan, Captain Clutch, Derek Jeter. I used to not be a big Jeter fan because all the girls thought the was cute, but over time, I have come to see him as one of the best players in the game of baseball who I can never boo.

So anyway, its last summer and the Yankees and Red Sux are in the middle of their epic five-game series (or sweep) and it's game three. The Red Sox have a 5-4 lead going into the ninth inning, and the Yankees have a runner on third with noone out. Bernie Williams strikes out. Johnny Damon strikes out. So its up to Jeter against one of the best closer in baseball, Johnathon Papelbon.

Papelbon tries to beat the captain with an inside pitch, but Jeter gets some wood on it, bloops it into left field and the Yankees tie the game. I was watching the game downstairs with my pops and my brother Tim, and when that happened, we all went nuts. Derek Jeter beating the Red Sox is just classic.

Of course, the Yankees won the game in the 10th inning when the Giambino went deep to put the dagger in the Red Sox and this game would I believe, set the table for the sweep.

Anytime you have Derek Jeter heroics and a victory over the Red Sox, it's bound to be a great moment.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 9-Ballgame over, Yankees win, theeeeeee Yankees win!

If there is one thing that tears my family apart, it's baseball. My mother and youngest brother are die-hard Mets fan, while my middle brother, myself and my father represent the better baseball team in New York, the 26 time champions New York Yankees.

In the 2000 World Series, it was NY vs. NY with the Mets and the Yankees. The Yankees were the better team but the Mets were scrappy and held a late lead in the game, but as was the Yankees m.o. during those years, the team responded with some clutch late inning hitting to tie the game.

I was so nervous during this game that the Yankees were going to lose becuase it could not be to the Mets. But once the Yanks tied it, I knew the game was the Yankees. And when Jose Vizcaino stepped up to the plate, it gave John Sterling the opportunity to say one of my favorite radio lines:

"Ballgame over, Yankees win, THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YANKEES WIN!"

Top 20 Countdown: No. 10-G-Men to SuperBowl

The first ever championship I got to see for the G-Men. The Giants had a hard task in trying to beat the Vikings, who had two great receivers in Chris Carter and Randy Moss. But the Giants came out and just gave them a good ol' beatdown. I was nervous that the Giants might not be able to pull this one out, but they were able to and made it the SuperBowl that I try not to remember.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 11-Cuse beats UConn

I remember this day clearly. I was in AP Calculus with my friends who all happened to be UConn friends. My boy Miller kept on checking the score while Mrs. Halko taught. Cuse was up by like 12, but UConn took the lead with little time left. I thought that now the whole season was over and I would have to live with hearing about it from my friends. And then G-MAC dialed up from downtown....to tie the game! Syracuse went on to win and would win that Big East Tournament.

But with all my friends rooting for the Huskies, it was nice to get one on them.

Congrats

Congrats to my boys Ferrante, Gillen and Wiggs for making the state open and placing second in the LL. It takes alot of hard work and they did it. Go get em' at the opens.

Syracuse 77, No.8 Georgetown 70

Syracuse needed the win and came to play and pounded the Hoyas for the biggest win of the season. Donte Green was hot like a boiling point and A-O played with a tenacity that hasn't been seen in a while from the big man. Roy Hibbert was ineffective for Georgetown, and Wallace played good, but it wasn't enough....which lead to a storming of the court...

I did storm the court but let me say something-I do not think it was the right thing to do. Remember, Syracuse won a national title five years ago. Storming the court is usually held for occassions when teams such as Wake Forest this season beat Duke. We have now stormed the court twice in the last two years against Georgetown. Although it was a great win, I dont think this merrited a storming off the court.

But thats just my two cents.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 12-Giants beat Green Bay

What a great game. The Giants (or Tynes) almost blow it and yet somehow pull it out. A late interception lets the Giants get in position to win the game. The Giants defense stepped up and played as good as you could ever envision, and the Giants were in the Super Bowl!

I remmeber calling my Dad when the Giants missed the kick and saying how they wree going to lose, yet the team was resilient like they were all season and picked off Favre.

A GIANT moment in Giants history.

Rangers need to step it up

With the NHL season coming to an end, the Rangers need to step it up. They have some of the best talent in the NHL and one of the best goalies in KING HENRIK BABY. I would be very disappointed to see them miss the playoffs especially with my Fairfield County boy Drury. Lets go Rangers!

Gaels 7th at SCC

Not gonna lie, disappointed with the performance. This team is good (16-8 record) and yet still has problems at the SCC. The team should've done better than Cheshire and Derby. Well, LL's they need to wrestle strong.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 13-Say Go New York, Go New York, Go

The Knicks became the first team in NBA History to reach the NBA Finals as the 8 seed in 1999. The Knicks upset the Heat, the Hawks and the Pacers and the to reach the NBA Finals. Unfortunately, they lost to the Spurs.

Game 5 against the Heat was especially great watching the Knicks pull out the upset. Houston's runner against the Heat was nothing short of classic.

Given the state of the Knicks now, these are the golden days of New York Knicks basketball.

Bedard to Mariners

Great trade for the Mariners. They have a solid bullpen so losing Sherrill isn't much, and Wilkerson is a fine replacement in right field. Having Bedard and Felix at the top of the rotation makes them scary for a five game series. They might now be the favorties in the AL West.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 14-G-Men beat undefeated Broncos

In a precursor to nie years down the road, the Giants upset the 13-0 Broncos. The Giants were not a good team back then and to beat Elway's Broncos was a great moment in NFL history. The G-Men's nicknames should be the undefeated slayers.

No. 19 UConn 63, Syracuse 61

Write down to the wire but the Orange could not pull out the victory. UConn had a nine point lead with 2:30 left, but Sryacuse battled back to bring it within two with 2.3 left and a Jonny Flynn shot at the buzzer missed.

UConn played a good game on the road to get the victory and is playing as good basketball as any team in college basketball right now. Syracuse can't win games like this with only six players who tire. Onuaku also was not a factor in the game and did nothing to help.

Syracuse is now 16-8 with 7 games left. Outside of USF, each of the next six games will be good tests and will go a long way in determining whether Syracuse misses the tournament or not.

Spartans to down Gaels

Amity will edge Shelton depending on whether a certain varsity wrestler wrestles

With: Amity 36, Shelton 34
Without: Amity 42, Shelton 28

Should be a good one

Top 20 Countdown: No. 15-SU upsets Georgetown

SU upsetting top-10 Georgetown in the Dome last season cracks the top 15. This game was memorable for the fact that I got to rush the court for the first time and it was quite the experience. It was also a good game as Syracuse came out and really took it to our rival Hoyas. Unfortunately, Syracuse missed the tournament that year despite beating Georgetoon.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 16-Giambino goes yard

It's probably not a hidden fact to most of you that my favorite saying is "The Giambino". The man is just a homerun machines. And nothing might have been better than this gargantuan homerun against Texas in the 9th inning. With the Yankees losing late in the game, Giambi crushed a pitch from Texas closer Akinori Otsuka over the fence for a 2-run hr to win the game. Truly a great moment in the history of the Giambino.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 17-ALCS 2004 Game 1

Allthough I try and black out this series, this game was great. The Yankees came out fired up and scored early and often against Curt Schilling and the Red Sox and seeing Matsui and Sheffield get pumped up was great. If only they had this intensity for the rest of the series.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 18-G-Men beat Dallas

Step one to the Giants first SuperBowl championship since 1991. The G-Men travled down to Dallas and beat the top seed in the NFC, 21-17, to win. This was Eli's first victory over Tony Romo and the fact that Terrell Owens cried afterward was great. The Giants stepped up and deserved to win. A great game.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 19-Mo's 400th save

The greatest closer in the history of baseball picking up his 400th save comes in at no.19. I was at this game again as a birthday gift and it was great to see Mariano get the big save that swept the Chicago White Sox. One of my favorite parts of going to Yankees Stadium is to hear enter sandman and know Mariano is coming out.

Top 20 Countdown: No. 20-MJ for the first time

I decided in class today to do a top 20 moments in NY sports history of games that I watched. So events such as the 1990 SuperBowl and 1994 Rangers winning the cup (I dont remember watching) won't count

#20-MJ at the Garden
The World's Most Famous Arena and Michael Jordan. The only time I ever had the pleasure of watching MJ live was this game with tickets my uncle bought me for Christmas. It was a great game in a great venue and im proud to say I saw this man play (although he was a Washington Wizard at the time).

Final wrap on Giants win

I can remember earlier this season where the Giants looked like the biggest joke in football, giving up 45 and 35 points. I called my father the night after the Packers game and said how this team would be 5-11 at best. They just did not look like a real NFL team.

But something happened starting in Washington. Down 17-3 at halftime, the G-Men rallied for 21 straight points to win the game, including a late goalline stop. From there, the G-Men won five in a row.

So the Giants are 6-2 at the break. But this is the Giants and they are notorious for second-half collapses. And it doesn't look good when they lose to the Cowboys in the first game back.

The Giants end up in the playoffs by beating Buffalo, which sets up a game against the undefeated New England Patriots.

With the deabteon whether to start their players or not, the Giants go out and give New England a battle for its lives and come up with a close 38-35 game. Yet, in the loss, the Giants proved to themselves, and to the rest of the world, that they could play with the best.

Enter playoffs. The Giants beat the Bucs easily. The Giants beat the Cowboys for the first time in three attempts. The Giants won in Lambeau. Which sets-up SuperBowl 42.

The Patriots are one of the greatest football teams of all time. Yet, the Giants didn't care. They took it to them and almost beat them before, why not this time.

Despite trailing 7-3 for three quarters, the Giants stayed confident and took a 10-7 lead, but the Pats rebounded with a six minute drive to take the lead 14-7. It was Eli Manning's turn to drive the Giants to a SuperBowl title.

3rd down and 10. He hits Toomer to set up 4th and 1 which Jacobs get.

3rd and 5. Eli steps in the pocket and looks destined to be sacked when two Patriots lineman grab his jersey. Yet, Eli escapes and hits David Tyree with a bomb for 35 yards with a bomb to move the chains in one of the greatest plays in the history of hte SuperBowl. Once this happened, you knew the Giants had it.

3rd and 11. Manning hits Smith for 12.

Then with 35 seconds left, Eli hits Burress in the corner for the touchdown to seal the game.

Four downs later, the Giants are the champions.

I have never been prouder of any team in my life than these Giants. They are the definition of underdogs and a team that showed resiliency. They did what nobody thought they could and beat the unbeatable.

This is why I love the New York Giants and the National Football League.

Eli Manning proved his grit and led his team 83 yards against a team that has won three SuperBowls in the last seven years. He did what all great quarterbacks do: led their teams down the field to victory. He looked like Tom Brady in the previous SuperBowls.

And the defense. What can you say. They held Tom Brady and the Patriots to the least points they have scored all year. They knocked Brady all around and did not let them get into a rhythym. This might have been the most impressive defensive effort by any team all season. Hats off to Steve Spagnuolo.

No matter what anybody says about this game the fact doesn't change:

NEW YORK GIANTS 2008 SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS!

Giants 17, Patriots 14

This is one of my favorite moments in sports history. This is as satisfying a win as I have ever seen. Eli Manning played great and the defense was spectaculr. More to come later.

Giants to pull upset

Call me crazy. Call me stupd. But I am picking the New York Football Giants to beat the New England Patriots today in SuperBowl 42.

The Patriots are 18-0. The Giants are 10-6. Tom Brady threw 50 TD's. Eli Manning Threw 23. The Patriots beat the Giants.

I can't put a finger on it, but I just think the Giants have what it takes to get it done. This team has shown so much grit and strength that why can't they do it one more time?

All the pressure is on the Patriots. What do the Giants have to lose?

Giants 31, Patriots 28

Rangers 3, Devils 1

This post is jsut to say that King Henrik is 5-0 against Marty this year. That's all.

LET'S GO RANGERS!

Johan Santana is a Met

I said I would wait until he officially was traded before doing this, but the Mets have come to terms with Santana on a six year, 137.5 million contract on top of the 13.25 million Santana is makig next season. This is the most money any pitcher in the history of baseball has ever made. With that said, let me give my thoughts.

Winners: Mets, Red Sox
The Mets pulled off one of the best, if not the best, trade of the offseason. Getting the best picher in basbeall to complement that staff makes the Mets the favorites to land in the World Series this season....and next season...and next season....in the Junior Varsity League that is called the National League.

Pitchers like Santana don't come around that often. The man's stuff is tantalizing. I dont care what offense in basbeall you support, when you see Johan Santana, your chances of winning the game go downhill dramatically.

The Mets had a mediocre team before this trade, especially in terms of pitching. Asking John Maine or Oliver Perez to be a numer one starter (Pedro is not the old Pedro) is too much to ask. Now, the Mets are set with a good blend of young and old pitching. When Mike Pelfrey is your tenative fifth starter (I heart the Mets may sign Kyle Loshe 1 yr/$5 mill) is that bad at all?

And the Mets did the trade without giving up any prospects which now seem like great prospects. Fernando Martinez is the Mets best prospect and they didnt even have to give him up. As Peter Gammons said none of the Mets prospects crack the Yankees or Red Sox top 10 list.

Doing this trade with such little given up is pure brilliance by Minaya.

The Red Sox are winners in this ordeal because Santana did not end up a Yankee. No matter which way you slice it, the Yankees need an ace. Lots of Yankee fans are writing how they are happy that the Red Sox didn't get Santana, but the more pressing matter is the Red Sox didn't need him. The Yankees do.

In case anyone has forgotten, the Red Sox have this guy named Josh Beckett who just happens to be pitching's version of Mr. October. By the Yankees not getting Santana, the Red Sox can rest easily. Who is the Yankees ace to take on Beckett? Wang? Wan'gs my boy, but the man has never come up big in his life.

Neutral/Losers: Twins/Yankees
As of right now, this deal seems to be grand theft larcenary on the side of the Mets. The Twins gave up the best player in baseball for four minors guys who aren't destined to be good mlb players. I would mark them as complete losers in this case, but you have to let these players develop before making the final judgement.

And onto my beloved Yankees. Let me state first, I wish we had done this deal. I would've traded Hughes, Cabrera and Horne for Santana. The contract was too high? Give me a break. With luxury tax, Santana would have cost $28 million. How much are we paying A-Rod, Giambi, Jeter? Santana deserves it. Since when don't the Yankees spend money.

These prospects are too good to give up? There are two points to prospects-1) keep them 2)trade them. Brian Cashman has this assanine belief that everyone of the Yankees prospects will turn out to be a stud and the team wil be full of farm players? The belief tat Joba, Phil and Ian will be great pitchers this season is assanine. George King of the New York Post and John Heyman of Sports Illustrated both said that having one of the three have a good season would be an accomplishment?

I understand that Cashman wants young pitching, but let's not forget, you don't win World Series based on homegrown pitching? Two of Boston's biggest pitchers in the years they have won the World Series were free agents/trades (Schilling, Pedro, Beckett). Homegrown rotations dont win the ship. Period.

The Yankees need an ace. As much as Wang is the man, he can't win in the postseason and can't match Josh Beckett. Andy Pettite is done after this season. And Joba, Phil and Ian can't match Beckett either. The Yankees are clearly without an ace and it will hurt us? How many Yankees fan would honestly feel good sending out Wang against Beckett in a one gam playoff?

The Yankees may be the biggest losers of this ordeal of Santana takes the Mets to three-four World Series during his tenure while the Yankees struggled in the American League. I honestly believe the Yankees are going to miss the playoffs this season.

Imagin the headlines now: Mets in World Series with Santana-Where are the Yankees with Hughes?

It will get rubbed in the Yankees face constantly.

These are my thoughts on this trade.

Again, to all Mets fans. Congrats. This is the trade you've been waiting for.

Yanks sign Morgan Ensberg

Now we've won the Pennant. Who's going to stop the Yanks with Morgan Ensberg? NOBODY!

Just kidding. I guess the Yankees thinking at first base is to add as many people as they can and see who is the best. In case your interested Brian Cashman, I still got some left in the tank and I run an average 40 and throw decent. But I can't hit a lick....