Posted December 12, 200915 yr Bowl Games Set, Whitey Herzog to the Hall Of Fame & Dolphins still alive • Sweeney's Corner ImagesHerzog / Harvey By John J Sweeney Jr Tuesday, December 8, 2009 This week all the bowl games have been set, Whitey Herzog gets to the Hall of Fame & Dolphins keep playoff dream alive with big win over Patriots. _______________ Lets start with College football. In the game of the year the #1 Florida Gators lost big to #2 Alabama Crimson Tide 32 - 13 in the SEC Championship Game. The Gators just looked horrible and Bama came to play. The Gators managed just 335 total yards to Bama's 490. The Gators just couldn't do anything right, No running game, penalties...couldn't get a first down if they paid for one. Just a bad bad day for the Gators. No National Championship this year & because of Tim Tebow's performance, probably no Heisman Trophy. In a very classy move the Gator Bowl will give Bobby Bowden the farewell game he deserves. Bowden was forced to retire after 34 years. Kudos to the Gator Bowl Officials. Dont forget the classic Army / Navy game on Saturday 12/12/09 on CBS @ 2;30 pm. Always a great game so dont miss it. Here is what the Major Bowl Picture looks like: Champs Sports Bowl / Tuesday, Dec 29 14 Miami (FL) 24 Wisconsin 8:00pm ET Gator Bowl / Friday, Jan 1 18 W Virginia Florida St 1:00pm ET Capital One Bowl / Friday, Jan 1 11 Penn St 13 LSU 1:00pm ET Rose Bowl / Friday, Jan 1 8 Ohio St 7 Oregon 4:30pm ET Sugar Bowl / Friday, Jan 1 5 Florida 4 Cincinnati 8:30pm ET Fiesta Bowl / Monday, Jan 4 6 Boise St 3 TCU 8:00pm ET Orange Bowl / Tuesday, Jan 5 10 Iowa 9 GA Tech 8:00pm ET BCS Championship / Thursday, Jan 7 2 Texas 1 Alabama 8:00pm ET The baseball front - Manager Whitey Herzog was elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame by the Veteran's Committee. Herzog was a fixture in major league dugouts for two decades. He won the 1982 World Series and three NL pennants with the St. Louis Cardinals, AND three division titles with Kansas City. He became the 19th manager to make the Hall. Herzog started managing in 1973 with Texas and compiled a .532 career winning percentage. Herzog missed by one vote in 2007. He will be enshrined along with Umpire Doug Harvey at the induction ceremonies on July 25. On to the local front: Miami Dolphins kept their slim playoff hopes alive by squeaking out a win over the New England Patriots 22-21. The Pats blew a 14 - 0 first half lead. QB Chad Henne had one heck of a game: 29 - 52, 335 YDS, 2 TD's, while Davone Bess had 10 receptions, 117 YDS & 1 TD. Ricky Williams was finally held to under 100 yds (75 Yds). Tom Brady also had a great game throwing for 352 yds and 2 TDs, but threw 2 Interceptions while Wes Welker also had 167 receiving yds. The Pats just couldn't put Miami away in the 4th and the interception with 35 seconds left by Channing Crowder sealed the deal. The Pats just can't seem to win on the road this year. Dolphins still have an uphill battle to make the playoffs. They have another tough game this week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. If they lose, it could be over. Dont get me wrong, the Fins have had the toughest schedule in the NFL this year and have held their own, but I still think they'll be playing Golf in January. NBA : The Miami Heat, 11 - 9 5 games back, continue with inconsistency. They just cant seem to pull it together. They win 1, lose 2; win 2 lose 1. At this rate, they'll finish just over 500 and no playoffs. The Heat better snap out of their funk soon or it will be a long season and they will wind up losing Wade to a free agency. Do I hear Wade and LeBron going to NY or LA? You Bet! And they'll get paid big. Imagine Kobe, Wade & LeBron In LA, the new dynasty. It could happen. NHL: The Florida Panthers (11 - 13 - 6 ) look like a bad college team. You know things are bad when your most consistent player is your goalie. They can't seem to score or hold leads when they get 'em. I don't they have their heart in the game -- just going through the motions just to collect a paycheck. It's apparent that coach Pete DeBoer needs to get tough and stop babying players. Try getting back to the basics and start playing real hockey. The time is now or another lost season is ahead. How long do you think the fans are going to put up with this? I bet the owners are probably secretly trying to see if they can sell now before the team loses all 'Fair Market Value.' Wake up Panthers, you are professionals so start acting like it. NCAA Basketball : The Miami Huricanes, 8 - 1 (0 -1) have finally lost but not badly and stayed in the game. The Canes lost to Boston College Eagles 60-61 for their first loss of the season. Miami has played very well this year and their past 2 games they played like a contender. They won the Charleston Classic title against South Carolina and then beat a tough Minnesota team. At this rate, they'll finish much higher in the rankings than projected. Go Canes !!! Well that all for this week. See you all next week at Sweeney's Corner. __________________________________________ John J Sweeney Jr. is a native of Brooklyn, New York who transplanted to Florida 15 years ago and resides in Margate. John has freelanced for The Home Reporter / Spectator & New York Newsday. He now maintains a weekly sports column on MargateNews.net. You can contact John at [email protected] or click on his by line at the top of the story.
December 19, 200915 yr Here is what the major bowl picture looks like: Champs Sports Bowl / Tuesday, Dec 29 14 Miami (FL) 24 Wisconsin 8:00pm ET :lol I'm a UM fan too, but c'mon. NHL: The Florida Panthers (11 - 13 - 6 ) look like a bad college team. You know things are bad when your most consistent player is your goalie. They can't seem to score or hold leads when they get 'em. Scoring really isn't the problem for the Panthers. The problem is they play no defense. Their 4th worst as far as goals allowed in the league. Their scoring would be good enough if they would just play defense. There's other teams in their Goals For neighborhood that have more points(2 in the 40's) but they've given up much fewer goals than the Panthers. Here's a radical solution. Have one of the other 5 guys play second goale. He's not playing defense, so he might as well stand next to Vokoun. Call it the Hockey version of the Wildcat.:lol Is that even legal? I''m guessing not since it would be a good tactic during a power play kill and you never see it done there. Here's another radical solution. Bring in a Sumo wrestler as a goalie. He wouldn't even pads. He's be vulnerable to the wrap-around though. I guess those radical ideas are what happens when all of a South Florida born and raised guy's hockey knowledge comes from watching Panther's games.:lol Also, the Panthers are in the process of being sold, or maybe its done by now. There was a thread about it here before the season started. Miami has played very well this year and their past 2 games they played like a contender. They won the Charleston Classic title against South Carolina and then beat a tough Minnesota team. At this rate, they'll finish much higher in the rankings than projected. Go Canes !!! They'll be 11-1 when the next polls come out so they'd better be ranked. In one of the polls they're not even in the also receiving votes section. WTF? Their OOC schedule is just as weak as everyone else's and they lost to BC by one lousy point. The main reason I want them to be ranked is because its easier to check the score at ESPN.com. Right now I have to drill down to the ACC scoreboard. When they're in the Top 25, I could just use the thing at the top of the home page.
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