Celtics On Top of Division

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:24:01 -0500

Celtics On Top of Division
By Erik Jackvony

The Boston Celtics currently stand at 7-1 which have earned them a spot at the top of the Atlantic Division. The Celtics began season at the Garden against Lebron James and Cavaliers and recorded a 90-85 victory which started the season off on the right foot. The Celtics looked to improve to 2-0 against the Bulls and proceeded to do so in a 96-80 defeat over Chicago. The Celtics first game in November featured the Indiana Pacers and the Celtics and this game proved to be their only recorded loss in the regular season this year in a 95-79 defeat. The Celtics quickly bounced back beating the Houston Rockets 103-99 where Ray Allen scored 29 points. The fifth game of the season for C's featured the former Seattle Supersonics who are now called Oklahoma City Thunder and they defeated the Thunder 96-83. The Celtics then improved to 5-1 with a win over Milwaukee on November 7th with a 101-89 victory. The Celtics continued their dominance in games 7 and 8 recording victories against the Pistons and Raptors.

Tonight the Celtics will face off against the undefeated Atlanta Hawks at the Garden. Through the 8 games that have been played by the Celtics this season, Paul Pierce leads the team with 18.8 points per game followed by Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett who are not far behind. Kevin Garnett leads the rebounds per game category with an even 10 followed by Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins at about 7 rebounds per game. Rajon Rondo leads the team with 6.3 assists per game and Paul Pierce comes in second with 4.0 per game. Tony Allen and Leon Powe are the Celtics best weapons off the bench as they both play great defense and they are atop the points category off the bench. Even though it is not too far in to the season, I can tell by the way the Celtics are playing that they will definitely be in the playoffs and possibly repeat last seasons performance.

Arsenal Wins Against Wigan

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:22:06 -0500

Arsenal Wins Against Wigan
By David Szczerepa

The Arsenal Gunners faced Wigan on Tuesday in a Carling Cup match. Arsenal featured a very young side with the average age at just 19 years old. However, the youngsters played an exceptional game that was very reminiscent of their win over Sheffield just last week. Arsenal finished their game winning 3-0 over the experienced Wigan Athletic team.

Throughout the game keeper Chris Kirkland was facing numerous shots from Arsenal that seemed never-ending. The opening goal came in the 42nd minute with 19 year-old Jay Simpson scoring his first ever goal for the Arsenal senior team. In the 66th minute Sampson was at the end of a great ball from Carlos Vela scoring only his second Arsenal goal. The counter attack starting with Fabianski's clearance put Arsenal 2-0 ahead. Then, in the 70th minute Carlos Vela coolly chipped the ball over Wigan keeper and put Arsenal three goals ahead. In the 87th minute of the game Lukasz Fabianski made a stunning save that kept Amr Zaki from scoring, and assuring his clean sheet. Fabianski's save is said to be a contender for "Save of the Season", and is also said to be one of the best Arsenal saves of all time.

Arsenal is extremely happy with the result, and hope to have the same outcome in their quarter-final game. Manager Arsene Wenger has a lot of confidence in his young side, and hopes they can duplicate the result. After the game Wigan manager Steve Bruce admitted to being outplayed buy a very young side. Wenger also said that he will stick with the young side in the next round hoping that they play with the same quality, and end with the same result.

Tennessee Titans Best Team in AFC?

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:17:13 -0500

Tennessee Titans Best Team in AFC?
By Andre Lussier

The Tennessee Titans are off to a spectacular start, they are undefeated and they have proven that they belong undefeated by defeating excellent teams like the Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens, Green Bay Packers, and Chicago Bears. But is Tennessee really a Super Bowl team, I believe that they are not. Personally I think that the Steelers have a much better team and will beat them when they face off in week 16. The main reason why I think this is because the Steelers have one of the best defenses in the NFL at this point. I think that there defense is going to get to Collins enough that his quick short passes are not going to work. He is goning to get hit enough that he will start to get nervous in the pocket. With the pressure on Collins and the exceptional secondary from the Steelers, Collins will start to throw interceptions. Also Tennessee has one of the better running games in the NFL and they use this weapon to there advantage. If the Steelers can stop there running game and get pressure on Collins the game is over. The two leading running backs for Tennessee (Lendale White and Chris Johnson) have had a total of 1,141 yards put together, so the Steelers need to stop and isolate the running game. In addition to that, Collins is not that good, all he does is dumps the ball short and over the middle and hopes that his receivers go and get it, he only has a 59.3 passer rating, that's alright but its not something you would expect from a team like his. Think of it this way Tom Brady had an undefeated team last year like Collins and his passer rating was about 68.7. That's what a good QB's rating should be. Collins is not god QB and the Tennessee Titans will not go all the way.

Assisted Suicide in Rugby Player Accident

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:14:08 -0500

Assisted Suicide in Rugby Player Accident
By Jenny Collazo

Daniel James, 23, of Worcester in England was severally hurt during a rugby training session. .He played in the 16s division of his league and he was looking forward to a career in the professional game. His spine collapsed which had left him paralyzed and he felt as if his quality of life had diminished. This is what led him to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, where every assisted suicide in Britain has taken place.

This story is very controversial because many believe that euthanasia should be illegal when in some countries its not. Euthanasia is the fancy word used to describe the action of assisted suicide. This practice is legal in some countries in the UK like the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. James’ parents actually agree with him and believe that the doctors, who have to allow the patient to act it out and have no direct involvement, saved their son and freed him from his nightmare. His life as he knew it was over so he made it official at the clinic after many failed attempts left him feeling helpless.

NBA Trade

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:13:19 -0500

NBA Trade
By Pat Burns

Monday, November 3rd, was the date the the Detroit Pistons acquired Allen Iverson from the Denver Nuggets for Chauncey Billups, Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb. Allen Iverson is 33 but yet is still racking up 30 points per game. Iverson, also known as, AI, has led Detroit to 3 straight wins since acquiring him. Including a comeback victory over the Sacramento Kings when they were down by 15 at one point. Despite AI's age he is still as good as new and the Pistons got a steal with picking him up.

The Denver Nuggets did not make out that bad either. Acquiring Billups and McDyess alone are the makings for a playoff run by the Nuggets. Getting Samb as young as he is, and good, they franchise has a lot they can do with him. Billups is extremely happy to be in Denver because he graduated from the University of Colorado 12 years ago. He is also to get started playing soon in front of all his family and friends for the first time in a long time.

Zero to Hero: The Green-Ellis Story

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:09:54 -0500

Zero to Hero: The Green-Ellis Story
By Riley Bouchard

Benjarvus Green-Ellis was an unknown rookie who wasn’t even drafted out of college. The Patriots drafted him, but did not sign him with four proven RBs ahead of him in the depth chart. However, the next day the Patriots signed him to their practice squad. However, the Patriots’ RB got injured on-by-one finally giving Green-Ellis the opportunity to get some carries. He has taken advantage of this fantastic opportunity, scoring a touchdown in each of his last 4 games.

His teammates have recognized his performance and aren’t exactly surprised by his success. Fullback Heath Evans said, "He fits in so well here. He's a guy that just comes to work. So smart. For a young guy, you rarely see that these days." Fellow RB Kevin Faulk praises Green-Ellis for his effort in practice, despite being the fifth in the depth chart at the beginning of the season. His teammates love how he doesn’t try to dance around in the backfield. He hits the whole hard; then uses his combination of speed and strength to gain yardage upfield. Benjarvus Green-Ellis is a strong, explosive RB whose youthfulness will help the Patriots running game for many years in the future.

New Changes in the Bronx

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:49:12 -0500

New Changes in the Bronx By Kyle Abbate
The New York Yankees, of the AL East Division, are in the midst of great changes during the offseason. For the past two years, the famous franchise has not been the dominant team they once were. In this time, they have lost their division both years and only made the playoffs once in 2007. Although, this playoff run was cut short after losing the opening series. Even with their misfortune, the Yankees have always been greatly expected to compete in the MLB, with 26 World Series titles and 39 American League pennants. Nobody can ever count them out!
One very dramatic change in the Bronx is the rebuilding of Yankee Stadium. The original stadium was one of the most historic sports' buildings in American history. Being first built in 1923, Yankee Stadium has gone through much excitement and thrill over the years which makes it a shame to take away. This is arguably the most historic park in MLB history! However, drastic measures were necessary since this stadium has been around for such a long time and experienced so much. Hopefully, for New York Yankee fans, the new stadium will start a whole new legacy which New York has not experienced since the end of the 90's.
The new Yankee Stadium will be ready to play in by the opening of the 2009-2010 MLB season on April 16, 2008. It is currently being built right next to the old stadium which will be soon taken down in the Bronx, New York. Costing a whopping 1.6 billion dollars, this stadium greatly resembles the old one with more luxury boxes and better quality. With much respect from any baseball fan (even Red Sox fans), the new and improved field will soon make another everlasting name for itself in the house that Ruth built.

It’s Finally Here

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:49:10 -0500

It’s Finally Here
By Dan Oullette

It is finally here. Brown fans, Brady Quinn is now your starting quarterback. After the original starting quarterback Derek Anderson was struggling Coach Romeo Crenel replaced him with last year’s first round draft pick Brady Quinn. Crenel did this because he felt the offense was to inconsistent with Anderson at the helm. So he decide to make the change for the fan favorite and hometown boy Brady Quinn. Quinn who started four years at Notre Dame. At Notre Dame Quinn was unstoppable he tied or broke eleven school records. He was suppose to be a top five draft pick when he came out of college. He ended up sliding to the 22nd pick of the draft.

The Browns could not pass up on Quinn they traded back into the first round by sending the Dallas Cowboys their first round draft pick for next year and a second round pick to get Quinn. No one in Cleveland thought this was a bad trade, everyone in Cleveland loved Quinn. Quinn grew in Dublin, Ohio and grew up dreaming to play for the Browns. Well, his dream came true last Thursday night when the Cleveland Browns played the Denver Broncos. Cleveland ended up losing the game but it was not due to Quinn who did not look like he was making his first career start. Quinn went 23 of 35 for 239 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. He also did not get sacked.

I do not think the Browns will make the playoffs this year due to their awful start. If Quinn keeps playing well he should be the starter for next year and with a half of years experience the Browns should make a playoff push. With emerging star Braylon Edwards at the wide receiver position and Joe Thomas at the Left tackle position the Browns will be good for years to come, well at least on the offensive side of the ball.

Benfica Blows Away Another Team

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:49:09 -0500

Benfica Blows Away Another Team By Daniel Loureiro
Portugal's best, Benfica, get another win in the 2008-2009 season. Sport Lisbon Benfica beat second division, Desportivo de Aves in a 3-nil victory at the stadium of light, on Monday November 10, for the Taca de Portugal. Benfica started off strong with Frenchman, Yebda, scored early on in the third minute on a diving header. The service was by Carlos Martins on a corner kick. SLB kept attacking and in the tenth minute a set piece by once again Martins finds captain, Lusiao's head to make the tally two. But SLB did not stop there. Playmaker Pablo Aimar gave a fancy touch to Maxi Pereira in the twentieth minute to hit the back of the net for the third and final time. Benfica did attack but they didn't add any more to the tally. The final whistles blew and Aves was eliminated and Benfica passed to the next round which who and where is not determined yet.
Benfica has started off their season strong going undefeated up until this past Thursday when they lost to Galatasariya for the UFEA league, but the future looks bright for them. In the Portuguese league Benfica is in second trailing Lexios by a point and has considerable the best team in Portugal.