Category: Sports

Posted on

No Dispute About Defensive POY

There is no argument in my mind about who should have been this year’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year and that was Charles Woodson who did end up getting 28 of the 50 votes with New York Jets’ Darrelle Revis coming a distant second with 14.

According to the ESPN.com article, “the versatile Woodson tied for the league lead with nine interceptions, returning three for touchdowns, and was a key to the Packers’ turnaround on defense. His role in Green Bay’s performance — second in the league in overall defense, first in interceptions (30), takeaways (40) and turnover margin (plus-24).”

Following the Packers all year long certainly made it obvious that he should win even though the local Revis came on strong towards the end of the season shutting down key #1 receivers but this is an award for the entire year, not just the first half or the second half of the season.

One thing to notice from today’s announcement was Rex Ryan’s reply and standing up for his player. He said, “a number that I think is interesting is eight.  No, that’s not the amount of touchdown passes Green Bay gave up against Arizona.  That’s the amount of touchdown passes we gave up all season.  The biggest reason for that is Darrelle Revis.”

The Jets’ coach has a big mouth but he always backs his team and doesn’t hold anything back. You can respect that in a coach but no way was he winning the award this year. This year it belonged to Charles Woodson.

Posted on

Breaking Down Gender Barriers

It’s not every day you get to hear about a high school girl captaining a varsity boy’s soccer team and being successful at it.

Meet Aditi Vyas. A senior who goes to the Middlesex County Academy in Edison, New Jersey which is a school only 10 years into existence and one that only accepts 40 kids each year from the entire county based upon an entrance exam which usually yields only a 20% acceptance rate.

As a senior this year, she co-captained the squad to a 9-9-1 record but an outstanding 7-2-1 in division mark where they fell one pathetically refereed game short of winning at least a share of the Gold Division. I had a couple of opportunities to coach her both during her regular school season and in two indoor seasons where she has been nothing short for a great leader for her squad which at times were quite inexperienced. There was never a doubt in my mind she would be able to overcome some of the verbal/physical abuse you take in the GMC (or in any competitive environment) as a female going up against male opponents.

When the Academy soccer program back in 2004, the initial squad featured two girls with the Scala sisters who certainly took more than their fair share of abuse on the playing field but if you were to ask anybody from the program over the years, they wouldn’t replace either one of them and I am certain that has been the case for all the girls that have passed through the program since from Danielle and Lauren Scala to Allison Mazur to Aditi Vyas and will be the case for those to follow.

Coming from a school with approximately 150 students, it didn’t matter where you were from, it didn’t matter if you were a freshman or senior and it most certainly didn’t matter what your gender was. Having a great leader and coach who stood up for the team and instilled these beliefs, made the task to be just another day on the soccer field. It is good to see the school get some more recognition which has finished at or near the top of its division despite carrying a co-ed roster from year 1 going 55-54-2 since 2004 and 45-23-2 in division.

For a look at the entire piece that was featured, click here: The Home News Tribune: Locker Room.

Posted on

The Blind Side: Don’t Call Him ‘Big Mike’

BlindSide

I finally got around to seeing ‘The Blind Side’ today and I can definitely say that this movie did not disappoint. It stayed very much true to the story that I had heard about and read in the 2006 New York Times piece called ‘The Ballad of Big Mike‘.

The New York Times article, the movie and the book all follow his story really well. For those that have not heard much about the story, it is about a kid named Michael Oher who was taken in by the Tuohy family at the age of 16 when he had a GPA of 0.6. A white couple with a daughter and a son at the school, Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy, allowed Oher to move in with them and began taking care of his needs after becoming familiar with his difficult personal circumstances. They also connected him with a tutor, who worked with him for twenty hours a week. He eventually brought his grade point average up to 2.52 which made him eligible to receive a scholarship and play Division-I football at the University of Mississippi.

I had initially read this story when it was first published some three years back and followed him somewhat during his collegiate career but it was not until the end of his junior year when he first declared for the NFL draft did I start to follow him again. He would withdraw from the draft and returned to Ole Miss for his senior year and improve on his accolades. He goes on to get drafted by the Baltimore Ravens (for those of you local fans here — it is the same team as Rutgers alum Ray Rice).

So if you get a chance, go see this movie, read the NYT article and even read the book if you get a chance.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
Posted on

Dad Catches Foul Ball, Daughter Throws It Away

I’m not sure how many of you remember this but this was a father at a Phillies with his family where he made a fantastic grab of a foul ball by leaning over the railing. What happened following that catch though, no one expected.

Turns out this guy, Stephen Monforto, went to the same school as me albeit several years earlier.

“While at Stevens, Monforto member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity and played on the varsity lacrosse team, as well as intramural and IFC sports teams.

He worked in the Physical Plant Department during freshman year as a work-study student, and then worked in the Athletic Department for Russ Rogers.

Monforto graduated with an Engineering Management degree and earned his master’s degree in Technology Management from Stevens in 2007. He is an engineering program manager for Lockheed Martin in Moorestown, N.J., supporting efforts in renewable energy.”

Kudos to him for his national spotlight and hopefully he catches a foul ball soon enough that he can bring home.

Source: Stevens Alumnus Becomes Internet and TV Sensation

Posted on

MLB Contest: World Series Prediction

Well unfortunately the World Series has been set with the New York Yankees hosting the Philadelphia Phillies starting Wednesday. I’ll explain the point system in detail for the final round but make sure to have your picks in time before the start of the game Wednesday night. Make sure to read the Points and Bonus Points carefully and if you have any questions, to ask. I think it is explained relatively well but this is written at 2:30 AM so obviously I could have missed something.

Points:
Correct Team Prediction: 4 points
Difference in Total # of games: -1 per game
Incorrect Team Prediction: -4 points

Bonus Points:
Make Perfect Prediction: Double Your Points For The Round*
World Series Most Valuable Player: +2 points

* (As long as your prediction is perfect, your round total will be doubled. World Series MVP Bonus is optional bonus.)

Examples:
If Yankees win the World Series in 6 games with Alex Rodriguez being the MVP and that was your prediction.
You could get a maximum of (4 points for prediction + 2 points for MVP)  x 2 for perfect prediction = 12 points.

If you had picked Yankees in 7 but A-Rod MVP, you would get (3 points + 2 points)  = 5 points.
If you had picked Yankees in 6 but Derek Jeter MVP, you would get (4 points) x 2 = 8 points.

LCS

LDS

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]