Month: September 2009 (Page 44 of 66)

      Tressel’s conservative approach once again dooms Ohio State

      September 13, 2009 /

      Over the last few seasons, Ohio State has gone into marquee matchups (whether it be the national championship or other wise) and the coaching staff has held back. For whatever reason, Jim Tressel succumbs to the pressure of big games and often plays not to lose.

      Entering their clash Saturday night against USC in Columbus, the Buckeyes had everything to gain and nothing to lose, or at least that’s how Tressel should have approached it. The Buckeyes were embarrassed last year at the Coliseum, but have a much better squad this season, especially at quarterback now that Terrelle Pryor is the full time starter.

      Tressel and his coaching staff would have benefited from staying aggressive for four quarters. Instead, Tressel once again played it close to the vest (no pun intended) and the end result was an 18-15 Trojans victory and yet another loss for the Buckeyes in a game big.

      Even though it was in the first quarter, one drive from this contest tonight painted a perfect picture of how Tressel game plans against opponents with equal or better talent.

      With just over four minutes left in the first quarter, Ohio State marched down the field methodically, keeping the ball on the ground until Pryor completed a 34-yard pass to DeVier Posey that got the Buckeyes to the USC 2-yard line.

      From there, Tressel attempted one pass (which fell incomplete), decided it was too dangerous to put the ball in the air again and then rushed Boom Herron consecutive times on 2nd and 3rd down, which resulted in a gain of just one yard. Facing a 4th and 1 from USC’s goal line, Tressel opted to kick the field goal instead of trying to punch it in and take a one-touchdown lead.

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      College Football

      Serena goes crazy on lineswoman, eliminated from U.S. Open

      September 12, 2009 /

      Serena Williams is a badass. After dropping the first set to an unseeded Kim Clijsters, Serena slammed her racket into the court, mangling it entirely. Of course, the frustrated action wasn’t unprovoked, as she was playing far below her usual level. In the second set, Serena started to regain her form, until a terrible lineswoman decided to ruin the excitement.

      With Williams serving at 5-6, 15-30 in the second set, she faulted on her first serve. On the second serve, a line judge called a foot fault, making it a double-fault. That made the score 15-40, putting Clijsters one point from victory.

      Williams went over and shouted at the line judge, who walked over and reported it to the chair umpire. That led to the chair umpire awarding a penalty point to Clijsters, ending the match.

      Though it is unclear what exactly Williams said to the linesperson, she was heard on the CBS broadcast telling the linesperson, “I didn’t say I would kill you. Are you serious?” during the discussion with tournament officials that followed.

      Williams already had been given a code violation warning when she broke her racket after losing the first set.

      What a lame way to end this exciting semifinal. At least Serena was entertaining, ripping into this dolt without restraint. Watching the countless replays on CBS, you can clearly see Serena mouth the words, “I’m going shove this ball down your f–ing throat.” Yowza. That’s my girl.

      Needless to say, Kim Clijsters was outplaying Serena before all the mayhem ensued. Clijsters, a former Grand Slam champion, had taken 2 years off to nurse injuries and grieve over the death of her father. Later, she got married and even had a baby. Although her life had changed drastically, Clijsters couldn’t stay away from the game any longer. The U.S. Open is her first Grand Slam since returning and, guess what, she’s in the finals. Good for her.

      She’ll face Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark on Sunday for the championship.

      Tennis

      Welcome to college football, Tate Forcier

      September 12, 2009 /

      Those that had followed Rich Rodriguez’s coaching career knew that his success at Michigan would be ultimately tied into whether or not he could find a quarterback. He didn’t have one last year and the Wolverines were an embarrassment week in and week out.

      But this year, Rodriguez has found his signal caller of the present and the future in the impressive Tate Forcier.

      The freshman signal caller was dazzling on Saturday, completing 23 of 33 pass attempts and racking up 310 total yards of offense as Michigan knocked off No. 18 Notre Dame 38-34 at the Big House. Forcier also threw two touchdown passes (including the game winner to Greg Mathews with under 15 seconds left to play) and ran for a score.

      Forcier reminds me of a better, stronger-armed version of Jeff Garcia. Both do a great job of gliding around the pocket in order to buy more time to pass and both can throw while on the run. They’re always extremely aware of their surroundings and can also make plays with their legs. (Forcier’s juke of a ND defender on his 31-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter was freaking sweet.)

      Perhaps the most impressive thing about Forcier up to this point (he had a nice game against Western Michigan in the opener, too) is that he doesn’t have a great offensive line in protecting him. He hasn’t been able to take three or five step drops (not that that’s a big part of Rodriguez’s offense anyway) and fire the ball into open receivers. He’s largely had to make plays on his own and he’s been creative while getting the ball into his wideouts’ hands.

      Forcier has made Michigan relevant again and at least for now, Rich Rod can take a deep breath because he’s found his quarterback.

      As for Notre Dame, they shot themselves in the foot repeatedly with stupid penalties. They had nine infractions for 75 yards, most of which wiped out offensive gains that could have kept drives moving. Their offense could have racked up nearly 550-plus yards today, but Charlie Weis’s team severely lacked fundamentals and it cost them big.

      College Football

      Houston stuns No. 5 Oklahoma State 45-35

      September 12, 2009 /

      There’s always an interesting dynamic that happens in sports when a team has high expectations entering a season after overachieving the year before.

      Oklahoma State surprised a lot of people last year on its way to compiling a 9-3 record and making a trip to the Holiday Bowl (a 42-31 loss to Oregon). Entering this season, many pundits thought the Cowboys would contend in the Big 12 and those thoughts were confirmed after they waxed Georgia 24-10 last week.

      But the Cowboys learned a huge lesson today: They’re not going to sneak up on opponents like they did last year.

      Led by incredible junior quarterback Case Keenum, unranked Houston went into Stillwater on Saturday and knocked off No. 5 Oklahoma State 45-35. Keenum was 32 of 47 passing for 367 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed five times for 16 yards and a score.

      While they still racked up 35 points and 436 total yards, Oklahoma State’s offense struggled at times today and couldn’t overcome costly penalties and four turnovers. Signal caller Zac Robinson was 18 of 31 for 240 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted by Jamal Robinson, who took the gift 26 yards for a score with only 3:14 remaining in the game.

      OK State obviously still has a chance to win the Big 12 considering neither Georgia nor Houston were conference opponents. (Sam Bradford’s injury makes things a little more interesting in the conference as well.) But the Cowboys have issues on both sides of the ball, including being able to generate a consistent pass rush on defense and converting in the red zone offensively. OK State also lacked overall fundamentals today, which is why the Cowboys had so many dumb penalties and turned the ball over four times.

      The Cowboys certainly aren’t as bad as they played today against Houston. But considering the Cougars flat out took it to them, maybe Oklahoma State isn’t as good as everyone thought either.

      College Football

      Rafael Nadal gets smooched, advances

      September 12, 2009 /

      I didn’t say it was from a woman! How scary would it be to see some rambunctious fan storming at you, knowing what’s previously happened to Monica Seles? Still, once Nadal sensed the fan’s innocent yet homoerotic intentions, the talented Spaniard welcomed him with open arms. I heard these guys on the radio the other day — I forget which program — comparing Rafael Nadal to Alex Rodriguez, saying each is the most hated player in their respective sport. Are you kidding me? What’s not to like about Nadal? I think fans just don’t want to accept that, when 100 percent, he can beat Roger Federer on any surface.

      He’s played well thus far, recently defeating Fernando Gonzalez after two days of rain postponed the match.

      “I can’t tell you, because I don’t have the answer,” Gonzalez said when asked to explain his quick disintegration.

      Though Nadal’s sore abdominals are still a concern, he certainly wasn’t overtaxed in this match, as he headed into what could be a very long weekend.

      A match that had been a taut, well-played affair got postponed Thursday night with Nadal leading 3-2 in the second-set tiebreaker. They had to wait out an entire day of rain before coming back to the court to resume under overcast skies and temperatures in the 60s.

      Final numbers: 59 unforced errors for Gonzalez to 13 for Nadal; Nadal won 31 of the 43 points played after the restart. The whole affair took 34 minutes to wrap up.

      As of right now, the men’s semifinals are scheduled to take place on Sunday. Roger Federer will take on Novak Djokavic and Juan Martin del Potro will try his luck against Nadal. That is, of course, if the rain doesn’t push everything back to next year.

      Tennis

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