Adios, Clinton Portis!

As a die-hard Redskins fan, I used to love watching Clinton Portis suit up for the team on a weekly basis. We got CP at the perfect time - he was just about to excel for the Denver Broncos when we did a two-for-one deal for him, sending coveted corner Champ Bailey and a 2004 draft pick (running back Tatum Bell, who did well for only a couple seasons with the team) for Portis.






I remember his first carry with the 'Skins - a 64-yard touchdown run right up the middle, with perfect blocking to the left and right of him:





But, the best of all was his blocking. No running back in the league could block as well as Portis. That was why he was so vital to the team from 2005-2007. His pass-blocking ability could not be matched - which is why we loved him.

And, then, of course, there was his shenanigans - and by Portis's shenanigans, I'm referring to his multiple alter-egos he displayed in 2005.

We all, the Redskins Faithful, will miss you, Clinton Portis!

Scott Van Pelt Rant

In case you did not hear, University of Maryland alumnus and current ESPN commentator/Radio Host Scott Van Pelt went on a three-minute, sixteen second tirade against the Maryland students and how they were NOT at yesterday's Florida State - Maryland basketball game (that included me).

Here's my take on yesterday's situation:

Yesterday was Wednesday and the start of exam week. So, many of my friends were studying for upcoming exams (that were not necessarily on Thursday); also, with the previous losses to Boston College and Virginia Tech (both sweeps), I, along with many other students, thought Maryland will NOT make the tourney (the NCAA tournament in mid-March); I usually tag along with my friends. If none of my friends on my floor of the dorm were going, then I wouldn't go and instead watch the game on tv; and the Duke game passed a month ago, so it's not worth going to even Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) games, because it won't amount to anything. Last year, the Duke game at home was the last home game, which is why most students went to every home game during the academic school year (excluding Winter Break games).

Picture taken by UMD student/Men's beat reporter Chris Eckard

As students, we do a scan-and-leave process, where we check in before the start of games and immediately exit, resulting in check-in 'points' for each game. Not going to games (while getting tickets for the game) results in a deduction of points - so if we get a free ticket, then we mainly do the scan-&-leave process - which is why the Comcast Center was 3/4 empty yesterday. But I should've gone to the game yesterday, since we won - 78-62 - in which we were only up by one at halftime.

I, along with thousands of other students, will make the final trek to Comcast Center on March 5 (a Saturday), since it's the last game of the season and the last game for Dino Gregory, Cliff Tucker and Adrian Bowie. And, it's against our cross-state rivals, the Virginia Cavaliers.

2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest Recap

I thoroughly enjoyed yesterday's Sprite Slam Dunk Contest last night - it was 10X better than the previous 5 years of slam dunks combined. For those of you who did NOT watch the contest, here it is in its entirety:












Click the jump for my analysis:

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Sloan is Stepping Down

Sad but true story of the day:

The last time there was someone other than Jerry Sloan as head coach of the Utah Jazz, the first Bush was vice president, point guard Deron Williams was a wee 4 years old and a gallon of gas cost $1.08. The change was coming, since now the two longest tenured head coaches in the NBA and NFL have now been removed of their positions (the other being Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, who was the only Titans head coach in their franchise history).

Good-Bye, Jerry Sloan!

Worst Moments During SB Sunday

One has to be the fudged-up lyrics by famed singer Christina Aguilera during her 'rendition' of the "Star-Spangled Banner":



According to ESPN.com:

"When she was supposed to sing the line "O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming," she instead repeated an earlier line, with a slight variation.

She sang, "What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last reaming," repeating and mangling an earlier lyric, with the word 'watched' instead of 'hailed' and 'reaming' instead of 'gleaming.'"

And that was not all. The halftime show was a 'DUD', mainly because we have all heard the same songs sung by the Black Eyed Peas over and over and over again. Another reason was that the microphones/audio were semi-working, and without auto-tune, the songs that Fergie and all were belting at the top of their lungs were god-AWFUL. I watched the same songs being sung by the same group prior the 2010 World Cup festivities, and they were 1000X better than what I saw yesterday.

In case you didn't watch:



Thousands, if not, millions of people have proclaimed this Super Bowl halftime show as one of the worst ever. But the game and commercials were not half-bad.

Top Super Bowl Ads of 2011

Super Bowl? What Super Bowl? Oh, you mean the one that ended 31-25 Packers? Oh yeah, I watched that, but the highlights were of the commercials - some great and some awful. Here, I'll be showing my favorite sixteen advertisements from yesterday

Not in any order, after the jump:

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Packers vs. Steelers 2009

Since today is the Super Bowl and a match-up between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers, two historic franchises, I thought it would be a good time to look back on a great battle between these same two teams two years ago late in the season:

Greivis Vazquez Buzzer-Beater

Although, the shot does not have the same flair as it did during his time as a Maryland Terrapin...

Creative Play of the Day

Craig James, the Right Wing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, scores the puck in an unusual place:

James managed to have the puck deflect off of New York Islanders' goalie Rick DiPietro's hockey stick and into the Gatorade cup! How cool is that?

Damn, That's Nasty!

This alley-oop dunk from LA Clippers point guard Eric Bledsoe to power forward DeAndre Jordan says it all:




Easily, easily one of the top ten dunks of the season... Jordan dunking on Brockman