Another week, another round of thoughts in an always busy sports world. Lebron got married, Floyd Mayweather gets to run his mouth a little more and the UT Men’s Soccer Team has started the season off on a high note with a No. 20 ranking and a 2-0-1 start. Let’s get to it.
For the second straight week, the Bucs lost a heartbreaker, this time to a New Orleans Saints squad that they had pretty much outplayed in almost every way. The Saints escaped with a 16-14 win due to a Garrett Hartley field goal as time expired. Even though Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman continued his rocky start with an abysmal 9-for-25 effort against an improved Saints defense, they were in a position to win the game due in large part to the defense, which had shut down star Saints quarterback Drew Brees with numerous sacks and two interceptions.
However, a missed field goal by Tampa Bay kicker Rian Lindell with just over a minute left gave Brees great field position to lead the Saints to another victory.
Penalties killed the Bucs for the second straight week, as an illegal formation call on offensive tackle Demar Dotson negated a long touchdown pass from Freeman to wide receiver Vincent Jackson that would have put the Bucs up by eight, instead of one heading into the final minutes.
Now they have an even tougher challenge next week against the Patriots in Foxborough. Those kind of mistakes will almost certainly doom the Bucs to an 0-3 start against a ticked off Tom Brady.
Like stated above, Floyd Mayweather gets to keep running his big mouth in addition to hanging out with celebrities such as Lil Wayne and Justin Bieber. Mayweather defended his title belt and undefeated record in dominant fashion against Canelo Alvarez Saturday night. According to one of our staffers, Connor Anthony, it just seemed like Alvarez couldn’t land a punch on the 36-year-old champ. No wonder he couldn’t win a round.
Even Johnny Manziel can’t beat Alabama two times in a row. The top ranked Crimson Tide outlasted the reigning Heisman winner and Texas A&M 49-42 in a game where the scoring didn’t stop until the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
It was certainly the game of the year thus far, as Manziel and Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron kept trading blows in the second half. Yet, even after throwing for a school record 464 yards, 279 of them to wideout Mike Evans, Johnny Football’s two interceptions proved to be too costly to the Aggies, as McCarron threw for 334 yards and four scores of his own as opposed to no turnovers and orchestrated a potent Alabama attack to perfection.
I don’t know about you, but I would be down for a rematch in the national title game next January in Pasadena.
Chris Davis’ breakout season just keeps rolling along, as the Orioles’ slugger hit his 50th home run of the season on Saturday in a win over Toronto, and he will probably hit a couple more before everyone reads this column on Thursday.
Davis’ monster season is one of the biggest reasons why Baltimore is still in the playoff hunt. Here’s to hoping that we have yet another clean slugger on our hands in the mold of Miguel Cabrera.
One week after we saw last season’s breakout quarterbacks dominate headlines, the NFL’s more traditional stars at the position stole the show. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and Denver’s Peyton Manning put on passing clinics in wins over the Redskins and Giants respectively, and it looks like they are on track for great years once again. Rodgers threw for a career high 480 passing yards, including 335 yards in the first half, against Washington. Another MVP season is a definite possibility, as Rodgers is in midseason form.
However, Manning is looking to add yet another MVP trophy to his current record of four, as he followed Week One’s seven touchdown outburst against Baltimore with a steady 307 yard and two touchdown performance against brother Eli and the Giants. It’s going to be another great year for NFL quarterbacking.
This is why I’m glad I cover sports. There are so many stories that happen all the time. Tokyo won the bid for 2020 Summer Olympics and the Rays can’t buy a win to save their lives. Looking forward to the next week in sports already.
Jordan Llanes can be reached at jordan.llanes@theminaretonline.com