The just-wrapped weekend, ending January 30, was a great sports weekend. Tennis, golf, the NBA, and college basketball all had terrific events to satiate any balanced sports fan's needs for excitement and competition. The surprise loser of the weekend was the normally triumphant NFL, where once again the hulks impersonated football players and teams impersonated playing a significant game known as the Pro Bowl. Some observers noted that the game was exciting with so much scoring (the NFC won, 55-41). They didn't see the game. The NFC led 42-0 before the AFC got rolling. Taking its cue from the AFC defense, the NFC defense played dead in the second half to allow the AFC to almost catch up.
You can't blame the players for treating it more like a Hawaiian vacation than a serious game. You can't blame the league for encouraging patty-cake tackling to avoid serious injury in a meaningless game. Well, if everybody's blameless, why should the game be played at all? It isn't for home-field advantage in the Super Bowl. Everybody knows the teams can't learn new offensive and defensive schemes in one week and feign competence. It is an exhibition with far less meaning and cohesion than even the first preseason games. The Pro Bowl remains an annual affair where the league's best players not involved in late playoff runs show off individual talents with showboat plays featuring trademark moves. Gee, sounds like the NBA.
What about the good news? There was GREAT TENNIS, courtesy of the Australian Open. Federer and Nadal were upset, but finalists Djokovic and Murray played hard the entire tournament. True, the men's final was a rout, 3-0. On the women's side, Kim Clijsters knocked off the Chinese marvel Li Na after losing the first set.
Other good news over the weekend? There was GREAT GOLF, courtesy of the San Diego Open. With a backdrop of Torrey Pines' beautiful 36 holes and almost-perfect weather, old school Phil Mickelson and newcomer Jhonathan Vegas battled young veteran Bubba Watson down to the last hole. With Tiger Woods fading fast over the last 36 holes and 14 months, the PGA can use a couple of new stars in Vegas and Watson. Phil showed he still has the magic with his late charge as well. Golf's image only took a hit when players huddled desperately under umbrellas when a brief rain shower passed through. True, it's not the NFL, but do we really need to see players running from the rain and hiding under umbrellas held by their caddies? The Senior/Champions Skins game from Maui was fun for watching big names still hacking away and showing more personality than the new breed of drone-golfer. At least thrre's now a Bubba to replace a Fuzzy. Nicklaus and TOM Watson won the Skins match (anybody surprised?)
Basketball had a good weekend , too. In college basketball, New Mexico beat BYU in a classic contest at The Pit. The Lobos held Jimmer Fredette to less than 40 points, and that made the difference. In the most exciting game of the weekend, UC Davis beat UC Irvine in two overtimes in a fast-paced game, 108-107, with Mark Payne scoring the winning basket with less than three seconds left. The Anteaters of Irvine suffered a worse loss when leading scorer Eric Wise went out in the first overtime with a leg injury.
In the NBA, the lowly Sacramento Kings upset the Lakers in L.A. on Friday night, and then won again against the Hornets on Saturday night at home. DeMarcus Cousins is shaping up with Blake Griffin and John Wall as the league's next superstars. Count me in when league contraction puts these players on more competitive franchises.
What a great weekend for sports, no thanks to the NFL.
No comments:
Post a Comment