The Week That Was

Things are looking up for the moment in South Bend. Notre Dame is 4-1 heading into their bye week and have their best chance in years to beat USC when they visit in two weeks. The Irish survived by the skin of their teeth against Washington, defeating them in overtime 37-30. Watching the Huskies you could see what a difference head coach Steve Sarkisian has made. The Huskies now have an energetic coach, instead of a bumbling, in over their head coach. Irish QB Jimmy Clausen had a tremendous day, as did WR Golden Tate. The Notre Dame offense has been spectacular this year and is the reason the Irish are playing better. You can't ask for much more than Clausen has done this year. He is completing 67.6% of his passes, and has thrown 12 TDs against 2 INTs. The Notre Dame haters want to say he hasn't done it against any good defenses, but does he control that? He has done about all you can ask of your quarterback, and I would take him over almost every QB in college football besides Tim "God" Tebow. The defense still is struggling but made huge plays when needed to on Saturday, with three goal line stands. I will have much more on the USC game next week, but I can't wait for that one.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers have a huge game of their own this Thursday. They travel to take on #24 Missouri in a prime time, 9:00 PM game. The Huskers came so close to winning at Blacksburg, and now have another chance to get a signature win under coach Bo Pelini. Check back on Thursday when I preview this game in Cram Session.

The San Francisco 49ers continue to put the rest of the NFL on notice, as they obliterated the St. Louis Rams 35-0, to improve to 3-1 and more importantly, 3-0 in the NFC West. I couldn't be a bigger Patrick Willis or Mike Singletary fan right now.

The Miami Dolphins got their first win of the season, destroying the Buffalo Bills. I didn't think the Dolphins were as bad as their 0-3 record indicated and kept trying to remind myself that they started 0-2, and 2-4 last year, and still made the playoffs.

The Washington Redskins improved to 2-2 with an ugly come from behind win against the putrid, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The offense continues to struggle, with Jason Campbell throwing 3 INTs. Campbell did make 2 good throws, on his touchdown passes to TE Chris Cooley and WR Santana Moss. As most of you know I am no Campbell fan, and while I would like to see Todd Collins given a chance, I realize it probably won't happen. The Redskins face a winless team for the third straight week on Sunday, when they travel to Carolina. I am not liking their chances on the road, as I don't think the Panthers are as bad as their record indicates.

The NHL season began this past Thursday and their are high hopes for the Washington Capitals. I think the Capitals will win the Stanley Cup this season and they did nothing to dampen my confidence, looking awesome in wins over the Boston Bruins and Toronto Maple Leafs. I won't get into hockey much until after college basketball season but will be keeping my eye on the Caps.

Mercifully, the Major League Baseball season finally came to a close for the Baltimore Orioles. The O's finished in last place in the AL East and last place in the American League with a 64-98 record. It was a familiar story for Baltimore as they started off playing alright and then saw the wheels fall off in the second half of the season. I was happy that they avoided 100 losses, but I still think unfortunately we are a few years away from contending. The goal next year should be 82, win 82 games and have their first winning season since 1997.

Before the playoffs can begin the AL Central still has to be decided between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins. Last year I did awful in my MLB playoff predictions but will try to do better this year.

American League

Division Series

#1 New York Yankees over #3 Minnesota Twins, 3-1
#4 Boston Red Sox over #2 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 3-1

American League Championship Series

#1 New York Yankees over #4 Boston Red Sox, 4-2

National League

Division Series

#1 Los Angeles Dodgers over #3 St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2
#2 Philadelphia Phillies over #4 Colorado Rockies, 3-2

National League Championship Series

#2 Philadelphia Phillies over #1 Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1

World Series

#1 New York Yankees over #2 Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1

As much as I hate to say it I am sticking with my preseason prediction of the New York Yankees as World Series champions. Hopefully, I have cursed them with this prediction.

The Week That Was

The First Round of the NBA Playoffs is finally finished and the Second Round tipped off yesterday. The Los Angeles Lakers are back in action tonight after almost a week off, as they are set to take on the Houston Rockets. The Lakers easily disposed of the Utah Jazz in the First Round, 4-1. Conventional wisdom would say the Rockets should pose a much greater threat, but the Lakers dominated them in the regular season, winning all four meetings. Of course, the playoffs are a completely different animal.

The Chicago Bulls season came to an end as they lost Game 7 at Boston. People seem hesitant to say anything beyond this series being the greatest first round series ever, but to me this was the greatest series I have ever seen. I will not say ever in the history of basketball, but as a basketball fan since I was 6 years old I have never seen a more competitive and entertaining series. Sure both coaches made some bonehead moves but for sheer entertainment value, it doesn't get any better than what I just witnessed over the past 2 weeks.

Check back tomorrow as I will have a full preview and predictions for the Second Round of the playoffs.

The NHL Playoffs are also in to their second round and to the excitement of the Washington, DC area the Washington Capitals are still playing. The Caps recovered from a 3-1 deficit against the New York Rangers, winning that series. That has set up a dream matchup in the Second Round between Alex Ovechkin and the Caps versus Cindy Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Caps took Game 1 at home in exciting fashion and the series continues with Game 2 tonight. This series could really bring in the casual hockey fan, and possibly provide a boon to the NHL.

The Baltimore Orioles completed a miserable week that saw them go 0-6. They now sit at 9-16 and the wheels are coming off already. The team can't win unless they score 6 runs or more, which is an impossible pace for the offense to maintain. It is just as frustrating as ever to watch this team. No Orioles Magic today, but they start a 2 game road series at Tampa Bay. My expectations are low.

The Week That Was

Trying to find time for the blog over the past week has been difficult to say the least. However, I owe it to my loyal readers to give my best effort. It is one of the best times of year to be a sports fan. The NBA and NHL Playoffs are in full swing, and the NFL continues to dominate headlines, even in its off season, with the NFL Draft.

The Washington Capitals have come back from the brink of elimination to even their series with the New York Rangers, 3-3. Tuesday night the Caps will host the Rangers and try to complete the come back from a 3-1 deficit. If it seems like deja vu from last year that is because it is. The Caps got behind the Philadelphia Flyers last year 3-1, before making a frantic comeback to even the series at 3. They had the deciding seventh game at the Verizon Center but fell in overtime. Hopefully, they can re write a new chapter tomorrow night.

The NBA Playoffs have been very entertaining, with many games coming right down to the final buzzer. The Chicago Bulls and Boston Celtics are engaged in a tremendous series, that is now 2 apiece after the Bulls overtime win yesterday. I wish I could be watching more of this series as it has been tremendous. Derrick Rose and Rajon Rondo continue to play a game of can you top this.

The Los Angeles Lakers got a key victory over the Jazz on Saturday in Utah to take a 3-1 series lead. After a miserable game three, Kobe Bryant went off in game four. It is only a matter of time before the Lakers close out the Jazz.

The NFL Draft was this past Saturday and some of the major picks by the San Franciso 49ers, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, and Philadelphia Eagles were tremendous. The Niners had Texas Tech WR Michael Crabtree fall into their laps after the Oakland Raiders passed on him for Maryland WR Darius Heyward-Bey. Crabtree gives the Niners a young, bonafide receiver and should help take some of the pressure off RB Frank Gore. The Niners could still use some help at the QB position but you can't argue with them taking Crabtree. The Redskins avoided being stupid and trading up for incredibly overrated QB Mark Sanchez out of USC, and instead stuck at #13 and took Texas Defensive End Brian Orakpo. The Redskins are mostly very old on the defensive line but with the additions of Orakpo and Haynesworth in the off-season should be much more improved up front. That could be scary for the rest of the league as the Skins were already the 4th best defense in the NFL last year without those two. The Vikings took WR Percy Harvin of Florida, who had slipped because of character questions. It reminded me of when the Vikings had Randy Moss fall into their laps. I don't think Harvin will have the career of Moss but he is ridiculously talented, and his speed will be in full effect on the Metrodome turf. The Vikings, like the Niners, still need to upgrade the QB position but based on where they were drafting this was the best pick they could have made. The Eagles confused me a bit by taking Missouri WR Jeremy Maclin in the first round, but then made a great pick when they got Pittsburgh RB LeSean McCoy. McCoy will take some pressure off of Brian Westbrook and gives the Eagles another versatile option in their backfield. Adding Maclin to their receiving corps gives the Eagles two young, talented receivers, as Maclin will join last year's rookie sensation DeSean Jackson.

The Week That Was

The second seasons for both the NBA and NHL began this past week, and each had their fair share of surprises. In the NBA, four of the eight road teams won Game 1 of their series. The Chicago Bulls put in an inspired effort, led by stud Derrick Rose's 36 points and knocked off the Celtics in overtime, 105-103. Hopefully, the Bulls can take another game in Boston but even if they don't they at least assured themselves a split. It will be imperative for them to sweep at home if they want to pull off the upset, because the chances of them winning another game in Boston are slim. The biggest upset of the weekend was the Philadelphia 76ers defeating the Orlando Magic. The Sixers were down by as many as 18 in the third quarter but staged a furious rally in the fourth. Andre Iguodala hit a shot at the buzzer to give the Sixers the win, and atone for missing two free throws a minute earlier that could have put the Sixers ahead. Other road teams that won were the Houston Rockets over the Portland Trail Blazers in a rout, and the Dallas Mavericks storming from behind to beat the San Antonio Spurts. The heavy favorites to reach the NBA Finals, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers had no trouble in their Game 1's.

The Washington Capitals had one of their best seasons in franchise history but it appears one thing hasn't changed, they still choke in the playoffs. The Caps dropped the first two games at home against the New York Rangers and now face a must win at Madison Square Garden tonight. The Capitals switched goalies after starting goalie Jose Theodore performed poorly in a 4-3, Game 1 loss. They inserted rookie goaltender, Simeon Varlamov, for Game 2. Varlamov only gave up a goal, but was outplayed by Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. Caps star Alexander Ovechkin hasn't scored a goal yet and it is imperative for the Caps that he get off the schneid tonight.

News broke last week that the Washington Wizards are poised to name Flip Saunders their new head coach. Saunders has previously been the head coach of the Minnesota Timeberwolves and Detroit Pistons. Saunders teams have consistently done well in the regular season but faltered and fell short of expectations in the playoffs. Saunders is known as an offensive mastermind, and it is believed he can make the Wizards even more potent on offense than they already are. I think Avery Johnson would have been the better hire. The Wizards haven't lacked scoring punch all of these years, they have lacked defense. I think Johnson could have instilled that toughness. I don't think Saunders is a bad hire, and I think he can get the Wizards into the playoffs, but if the goal is to win championships I think Johnson would have been the better choice.

My flag football team, Ron Burgundy, dropped their first game of the season yesterday, 24-2. The game was closer than the score indicates as we had many scoring opportunities but couldn't punch the ball into the end zone. The team we played, The Show, were very good, especially this one girl they had who burned us for multiple touchdowns. We play again on Sunday, thankfully at 3 PM, as yesterday's 9 AM start time was not fun.

The Week That Was

Congratulations to the 2009 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions, the North Carolina Tar Heels! The Heels destroyed Michigan State 89-72 to win their 6th national title and their second in five seasons. Roy Williams has done a pretty good job proving the morons wrong that say he can't coach. Much like they have all season, the Tar Heels absolutely decimated the Spartans right from the opening tip. The game was never close and the Heels got dominating performances out of Ty Lawson (21 points, 6 assists, NCAA title game record 8 steals), Tyler Hansbrough (18 points, 7 rebounds), Final Four MVP Wayne Ellington (19 points), and future superstar Ed Davis (11 points, 8 rebounds). Carolina won every tournament game by double digits, with their "closest" margin of victory being a 12 point win over Oklahoma in the Elite Eight. Carolina finishes the year 34-4, with their biggest defeat coming at the hands of Boston College, by just 7 points. This was in my opinion the greatest North Carolina team of all time. Just sheer dominance all season and it was great to see Hansbrough and Danny Green stay all four years and be rewarded with a national title. The Heels will put a vastly different team on the court next year with Hansbrough and Green graduating, and Lawson, Ellington, and Davis all potentially leaving early for the NBA, but that is something to worry about in October, until then the Heels are the best team in the nation!

As college basketball winds down, Major League Baseball had its Opening Day yesterday. I am a huge Baltimore Orioles fan and while the last 10 years have been terrible, one day that always seems to go the O's way is Opening Day. The Orioles defeated the New York Yankees 10-5 at Camden Yards, roughing up the Yankees marquee free agent acquisition pitcher CC Sabathia. The Orioles potent lineup showed how they can dominate as 2B Brian Roberts had three hits, CF Adam Jones had three hits and 2 RBIs, RF Nick Markakis had two hits and 2 RBIs, and even SS Cesar Izturis got in on the act with a HR that sealed the game late. The goal for the Orioles is a winning season, 82-80 would be perfectly fine with me. A quick blog note, starting Friday I will preview every single Orioles series here on CBH Sports.

The NHL and NBA playoffs are also quickly approaching. The Washington Capitals have clinched the Southeast Division and a playoff berth. I barely follow hockey but have seen the Capitals capture the DC area's interest so if anyone out there loves the Capitals and would like to write about their playoff run please contact me at christopher.hirsch@gmail.com. Once the NBA Playoffs start I will do a full preview of the entire playoffs and focus especially on the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.