The LSF's Twitter Focus.

So here is the deal: I'm crazy busy as Karen and I continue to get ready to be parents. Because of that, I've had a really tough time finding opportunities to drop my usual long posts on the LSF. And because of that, I've started upping my LSF Twitter usage because it's fast and easy to do directly as things happen from my phone. It's great for me because I can drop my opinions quickly, and I found a way to get the Twitter posts to show up on the top of the traditional LSF blog, which is great for all of our loyal readers.

Of course, the LSF will never go down, so this blog will continue to run on until my first born son can take over the posting someday, and I (along with the other LSF authors) will continue to drop posts as often as possible. However, my main focus will probably be dropping micro posts through the LSF Twitter feed. Hope you enjoy.

'Nucks lose a serious LSF rivalry.

When the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks get together, things are crazy. The latest version of this highly contested LSF rivalry went down Sunday night and ended with a 0-1 loss for the good guys. It was a pitching duel that had plenty of action (cross sports reference!), plenty of fighting (as usual between these two teams), and a Chicago backup out dueling Roberto Luongo.

Despite losing to a team I've grown to hate since last year's playoffs, there were some positives to take away:

1) The defense was finally here! We shut out a fairly decent team through 41:12 of game time, and that is something to be proud of. Our mighty captain finished with 16 saves on 17 shots, which highlights the fact that the Vancouver defense was on point during the game, keeping the Hawks out of the zone. The shots were 6-7-4 period-by-period, and that kind of shows how the Orca really should have been in control, being that we put 30 on Niemi.

2) Alex Burrows led the way as the beast of the game. My main man AB put 7, count 'em 7, shots on goal in the game, really trying to tickle the twine. While Niemi was somehow able to keep him out, he led the way in the shot department for either team, and made me proud with the effort. On a team with plenty of talent at the LW position (AB, Mason, and Daniel Sedin-welcome back, by the way), Burrows continues to stand out as much more than the "pest" title that NHL Network would have you believe.

In a tight loss, of course, the negatives outweigh the pluses:

1) Nothing on the power play. Despite all of the calls handed out, Vancouver finished 0 for 2 on the man advantage in the game. Going up against the likes of Chicago, we have to make good on the advantages, and we just didn't. The Twins need to be under the spotlight in these situations now that they're back together.

2) Giveaways. This is something I've been harping on all season. The Vannies gave the puck away 9 times to the Hawk's 5. Giveaways have been a big problem for BC this season. Injuries to solid passers may be one excuse, but everyone is pretty much back now (save Po Po), and we need to be hanging on to the puck a little better.

3) Henrik failing us in the circle. The usually solid H-Bomb won just 54.5% of his face offs in the game (compared to the second line center, Ryan Kesler, wining 9 out of 12). Our top line is going to have go earn that puck when is drops, because possession makes all the difference in the world. Looking up and down their lineup, Chicago isn't really an amazing team in the circle this season, and we should have been taking advantage.

The loss really puts a halt to the Canucks plans of getting the season off the ground a little bit. The narrow defeat has us a 12-11-0 (24 points, and still racist against overtime losses) still has us searching for our identity this year. Are we destined to be a team that just kind of floats through the season around .500, hoping to get hot enough at the end to earn a #8 spot into the playoffs? I hope not, because that would be pretty infuriating. Either be good or be bad so I can enjoy the season with less stress, in my opinion. The Canucks have a couple of key games the remainder of this Thanksgiving weekend to try and gain that identity we sorely miss. Thanksgiving evening we battle the 13-9-2 LA Kings. The Kings are a -2 in goal differential, while the Vannies sit +7. LA came storming out of the gates before falling a little flat, but they are still quite the dangerous team. While we have a sickly looking 9-11-0 record against the West, they play at an 8-6-2 clip, showing the can get up for big games. With the weekend wrapping up with back-to-back games against Edmonton (-1 of the 'Nucks in the table) and the San Jose Sharks (16-5-4, leading the Pacific), my boys are going to have to have some spot on play if they have any hope of being one back of division leading Colorado (currently +7 on the Canucks) by the time I return from my trip up North.

Let's hope they can do it.

Weekly football post #62.

Why not go for 62? Well, it's not all good news, that's one reason why. We go on, in spite of all that.

Fountain Valley didn't hold up their end of the Friar/Baron pact this weekend, falling out of the Pac-5 playoffs with a 24-431 defeat at the hands of Notre Dame/Sherman Oaks (Servite, meanwhile, held up their end of the bargain and go against LB Poly next week). After opening the season 8-0, FV finished poorly, with two straight losses. The bow out in the playoffs against ND was expected. In the loss, Kyle Middlebrooks had a 50 yard TD run, a 57 yard TD run, and a 6 yard TD run. But he was doing all the work, and it wouldn't be enough. In the end, it was a big second and fourth quarter for Sherman that knocked us out. KM finished with a strong 273 on the ground, but despite that big time performance, we are left wanting more in 2010. Hopefully we can finished as strong as we start next time around. Farewell Barons of '09.

Speaking of teams who has given up, how about Notre Dame. They started with high promise, despite losses to Michigan and USC, and then decided to give up on the season starting with the Navy game. The latest installment of the pain and suffering at South Bend was a 30-33 OT loss to former Irish backup QB Zac Frazer and the UConn Huskies. The loss has media all over the world calling for Weis' head at ND, with ESPN guaranteeing that he won't be back on the side line in 2010. That may be, but for know we have a season to finish. ND started strong, with Golden Tate (8 yard TD pass) and Jimmy Clausen (1 yard TD run) pushing us ahead by 14 part way into the second, and we were able to hold on for a 14-10 lead at the half. Should have been a time for slight adjustments, and an easy stroll to a win, right? Well, after getting a rare Irish FG we went up 17-10, and were feeling good. Then, Jordan Todman went 96 yards on the kickoff to send us to the fourth quarter tied at 17. Trading field goals, the Irish marched into OT with their heads down, and it showed. In the second over time, David Ruffer nailed his third field goal, and then the Irish couldn't stop the Huskies. It was over. I mean, our chances at a solid season have been over since losing to Navy in reality, but you'd think we would have at least played the season out, right? Jimmy "Hopefully Going Pro" Clausen finished 30/45 for 239 and 2 TD, Armando Allen Jr. went 24 carries for just 106 yards (and added 64 in the air), and the Golden/Floyd combo went 227 yards on 17 catches for 2 TDs. Of course, the glaring questions were on defense. Defense!!! The loss drops Charlie's Irish to 6-5 on the year, a pitiful penultimate record after such a promising start, and the final week of the season isn't looking pretty. The Domers will line up against the surprising Stanford (7-4). The Tree have come away with some shocking wins this year, and Notre Dame will have to have Jesus on their side (providing some divine intervention) to have any kind of chance against this year's West Coast Wonders. I'll be in Nor Cal for the weekend, so hopefully I can bring some ND love to the situation.

Despite Kurt Warner getting knocked out of the game for the Cards this weekend, the Rams still found a way to love 13-21. Keep in mind that this happened also despite the fact that Arizona didn't score a single second half point. Can the Rams actually be this bad? Steven Jackson did all he could, getting 116 yards on 24 carries to turn in his fourth straight 100+ yard rushing game after a poor start, but like Kyle Middlebrooks, he couldn't do it all. Marc Bulger again left us wanting more, going 19/37 for 215 yards 0 TDs and 1 INT. When will we give up? Like we talked about this weekend, maybe if the Rams draft Jimmy Clausen in next year's draft. I would cry out loud. The receiving duties were split among three, with Avery, Gibson, and Amendola getting 65, 61, and 61 respectively. Amendola is an underrated Texas Tech graduate, who can hopefully bring us a little bit of hope. Despite all the hoping, though, the Rams are 1-9 on the season (outscored 113-270 in their ten games). Next week they go up against the second worst team in the NFC West in the Seahawks (3-7). This could be a chance to steal win #2, especially with the Hawks being 0-5 on the road. You must protect this house!

The BC Lions finally figured out that they didn't belong in the Grey Cup Playoffs this weekend, with a rough 18-56 loss to Montreal. The Grey Cup will now be a battle between Montreal and the Rough Riders. Should be a good game. Can Jon's Sask's take it all? The Lions 3rd string QB, Casey Printers, went just 20 for 40 for 234 yards, and amazingly, Martell Mallett ran for just 6 rushes and 5 yards. What the hell happened? No receivers went over 100 for BC, and it was just an all around horrible outing. But, with the season we had, and all the injuries we've suffered, I'm just proud that we made it this far. We'll see-F-L you next season.

In the soccer world, Celtic got tripped up by Dundee 1-2 off of a 90th minute goal. The Celts took the lead on a Barry Robson penalty in the 72nd minute, only to have in cancelled 11 minutes later by the Crocs. Then, when things were getting down to business, just brief moments away from a respectable draw, Darren Dods came away with a 90th minute winner for the bad guys. It's a tough loss for Lukasz Zaluska in net for the Hoops, but they simply didn't have the pressure of Dundee to make good on the game. We also got called for offsides 4 times to Dundee getting the flag just once. The loss actually dropped us behind the Protties of Rangers by 1 point, at 7-2-3 (24 points). 1 freaking point back of Rangers! Ahhhhh!!! Next week it's a battle with St. Mirren (3-5-4, 13 points). Should be a much easier game than this week against Dundee (22 points), but we need Mowbray to focus the boys on getting this easy win done right.

Newcastle United still hasn't played yet this weekend, as they set up for a big Monday Night battle against Preston North End. This should be Newcastle's last game without brand new signing Fabrice Pancrate. Pancrate is a 29 year old Frenchie who signed with the Magpies on November 14 and will be rocking the #21 jersey, and he put in 12 goals in his last 5 seasons (spent mostly with Paris Saint-Germain). Can this Winger bring us some luck to push forward to the EPL after this season? Well, without him we're 3-2 over our last 5 and Preston are 1-2-2 over their last 5. A win would put us back into the #1 spot in the ELC table. Come on boys!

As you know, Chivas USA isn't doing much outside of having picnics at Mile Square Park this weekend. This shocking MLS Cup match gets under way in about 15 mintues, as the hated LA Galaxy go head to head with the shocking Real Salt Lake. Between those two teams, who most of Goat Nation hate with a passion, how can you choose? F the MLS Cup this year.

The G's, the C's, and the Irish.

It's hoop time my babies.

We'll start with my Mighty UCSB Gauchos (who, by the way, have updated their website to amazing reviews). UCSB went head to head against Weber State earlier this week, earning their second win of the season in as many games. This time around it was a 66-57 victory at the Thunderdome that had the Gaucho faithful rocking. Sophomore Seaside, CA native Orlando Johnson was amazing, earning the double double. OJ had 19 points and 10 boards in the game, going 6/11 from the field including two trees. Laguna Beach native (I swear he used to be from RSM) Jaime Serna made us all proud with 9 points in the game, and that was matched off the bench by super senior Paul Roemer. We're 2-0 on the year, and go up against USF on Monday before getting a family battle on against my cousin's LMU Lions.

Notre Dame welcomed Long Beach State into South Bend today, and came out with an 82-62 win, just a straight drubbing. My main man Luke Harangody put up 29 points to lead the Irish with 12 boards in the win. He was helped out greatly by Michigan's Tory Jackson (13), Senior Ben Hansbrough (11), and junior sub Tim Abromaitis (11). This team needs to strike this season, as many of the Irish are Seniors this time around. Can this be the year Notre Dame fans have been waiting for? Well, we're off to a 3-0 start, with our next game Sunday against 1-3 Liberty. Let's keep it rolling before we get into difficult conference play.

Finally, the Austin Celtics bested Golden State yesterday with a big 109-95 win to keep myself pretty happy when it comes to the NBA. Paulie was the leading scorer with 19 points, with five of his best buddies getting in double digits as well. Rondo, finally happy with the team, got 18 for himself, K-Perk and Ray Allen each had 15, and KG was big with 12 points and 6 boards. OFf the bench it was everyone's favorite sub Eddie House getting himself 11. The underrated player of the day is Rasheed Wallace and his +8 rating to go along with his 8 points. The C's are 9-3, leading the Atlantic Division by 3.5 games and get the Magic (also 9-3) as a huge test tomorrow night. The Big P may lead the team with 18.4 points per game, but he's listen as day to day on the injury list as I type, and that may present a problem against a solid team as Orlando. Of course, we're all waiting for 12/27/09 when we go head to head with the Clippers for the greatest rivalry in all of sports.

Meanwhile, the Canucks go for part 2 of their extended home in home series against the Avs tomorrow night. Can we build off of our 8-2 win last Saturday?

Weekly football post #61.

It may have been 124 days since Brandon, Jon, or Andrew has dropped a post on the LSF, but we're still keeping the weekly football post in full action. Again, though, it isn't going to be pleasant.

After starting the season 8-0, the Fountain Valley High School Barons went out with a thud. One week after their perfect season ended against Edison, the Barons fell again to Los Al to end the season. The 22-31 defeat handed Baron fans an 8-2-0 record here in 2009, and a playoff berth, but don't you feel left wanting more. I guess that depends on what happens in the playoffs. Despite losing, Kyle Middlebrooks was still the main attraction, scoring 3 TDs, including a 58 yard TD run and an even more exciting 57 yard punt return for a TD. He finished with 176 yards on the ground and 16 through the air to end the regular season. Dominic Rag Time Band threw for 66 in the game, but Los Alamitos stood tall and beat us down. The Pac-5 playoffs are upon us, and as we look at things we discover that we have a potential semifinal matchup between the Barons and the Servite Friars. Wouldn't that be special? We have a lot of winning to do before that happens, though. Fountain Valley will open the playoffs up against Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks (is that a sign?) next Friday. A win would get us into the Quarterfinals against either Mission Viejo (bring it) or Long Beach Wilson (eek). Meanwhile, Servite goes up against San Clemente and would have to face either Los Al or Long Beach Poly if they get a win. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though. Focus on the first round against Notre Dame. Go Barons!

Speaking of Notre Dame, Jimmy Clausen continued the "I'm not going to be that special QB you were hoping for" tour in Pitt this weekend. The #12 Panthers beat up on the Irish way more than the score would have you believe, winning with the final of 27-22. Of course, the Irish were down 9-27 with 12:44 remaining before getting a receiving touchdown from Golden Tate and a punt return TD from Golden Tate. Then, with the defense stepping up, JC and the Irish got the ball back with over 3 minutes remaining down by 5. The final drive should have been a drive of glory, another chance for our Junior QB to have the type of game that makes a collegiate career. The type of game that fans talk about long after you've left for the money of the NFL. Instead, it played out this way: 1) 5 yard pass to Armando Allen, 2) 8 yard pass to Allen (so far, so good), 3) 9 yard pass to Golden Tate, 4) A penalty on that play for a clear chop block that set us back 15 yards (so here is the adversity on the drive, how can we deal with it?), 5) Incomplete pass under pressure, 6) An attempt to force a throw as he's getting taken down again which fell incomplete, only to be reviewed and changed into a fumble, game over. First of all, if you read the LSF Twitter page, you would know that I couldn't believe they changed the ruling to a fumble, because I was pretty sure that they shouldn't have been able to do that in that situation. Second of all, is it Jimmy or our offensive line that has seemed to collapse lately when we have a chance to march down and win it all? Both? Either way, we were outplayed for the majority of the game, and would have never had the comeback chance if not for the amazing Golden Tate (please don't leave early). In the end, Clausen still left us all scratching our heads, wondering if he's the right guy for the job after almost 3 complete years in the books. JC finished with a 27/42 evening for 283 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Armando Allen, back in action, led rushers with 14 carries for 77 yards (the next closest was Golden Tate with 2 yards, which may shed light on the reason we lost). Tate and Floyd picked up the slack for missing Rudolph, with Tate getting 113 yards on 9 catches (as well as 101 yards returning on 2 punts) and Floyd getting 107 yards on 7 catches (included a sweet 45 yarder on a 4th and 1). Can I also point out the latest attempt for a field goal kicker, David Ruffer, isn't any good either? What's with Notre Dame not getting any solid kickers over the last 3 years? Either way you break it down, it was a loss, and the Irish are now 6-4 on the season after such high hopes (even up until the Navy loss). We have 2 games remaining on the schedule. Next week we go against Connecticut (4-5 and a hopefully easy win), and the following weekend we finish up against the recently dangerous Stanford (some how 7-3 after wins against Oregon and SC). A couple of last minute things: 1) Can we stop believing the hype created by ESPN about how Charlie Weis is on the hot season? They will easily give him at least 1 more year to prove he can right the ship with his own recruits, probably more. I don't like some of his decisions either, but let's stop pretending he's playing for his job every week. 2) Explain to me how a 7-3 USC team (with loses to Washington, Oregon, and Stanford) are still ranked 22nd in the Nation. Same goes for Clemson at #18, and even really Stanford being #14 at 7-3. Also, don't look now, but we have 6 undefeated teams.

The Rams had me so excited this weekend, I was dropping "tweets" at halftime because we were tied with the Saints and I started to believe in magic. The thing about magic, though, is that you always know it's fake . Still a 23-28 loss to the undefeated Saints isn't really anything to be upset about. The Rams were tied 14-14 at the half, and only trailed 21-17 after three, but the Saints were able to overcome their mistakes and hold off my poor little Horned Helmets. Reggie "George W." Bush scored two TDs in the game, which was matched by Donnie Avery of the home team. Marc "I used to be Catholic" Bulger had easily his best game of the season, going 26/40 for 298, 2 TDs, and 1 INT, and a combination of Steven Jackson's best game of the year (131 yards on 26 carries and 1 TD) and a couple receivers finally joining the party led to the Rams solid loss. German national Brandon Gibson came in at WR and earned 92 yards on 7 catches to show us something new, and Donnie Avery added in 67 yards and 2 TD catches to help keep things as close as any of us could have hoped. There was never really any chance that we'd beat a team of the Saints' caliber, of course, but losing by just 5 is a win to Ram Nation. At 1-8-0, and the dregs of the NFC West, we get ready for a matchup with the division's #1 team next Sunday as the Cardinals roll into town. Arizona is 5-3-0, despite currently losing to the Seahawks 7-17 in the 2nd quarter as I type. A win would be a complete shocker, so don't bet on it.

To CFL news, the BC Lions shocked all of Canada with a 34-27 overtime win against the Hamilton Tiger Cats in the first round of the playoffs this weekend. Third string QB and TCU grad Casey Printers hit Grey Cup Champion Ian Smart on an 8 yard TD pass to earn the dramatic win for the Orange and Black. It was just the second play of the extra session, and it sealed the deal for a continued run toward the Grey Cup. Hamilton scored late in the fourth quarter to force OT, which is surprising because nobody expected the Lions to put up much of a fight with their two top QBs on the DL. In the end, Printers went 24-35 for 360 yards and a TD, Arkansas Pine Bluff grad Martell Mallett (same hometown as Torii "Silver Slugger" Hunter) went 11 rushes for 68 yards, and Alcorn St. alumn Arceneaux (120) and University of Maryland all-time WR Geroy Simon (111) went big on the receiving end. The Lions now prepare for next week's Semifinal matchup against the Montreal Alouettes (who finished 15-3-0 in the regular season). Somehow, we're just 1 win away from the Grey Cup!

Not much to report for Tony Mowbray's Celtic side. With the week off, the Hoops are looking toward next weekend's clash with Dundee to continue to solidify their top spot in the SPL (+2 on Rangers currently). In other news, it was officially voted on by the EPL that Celtic and Rangers will not be allowed to move into England's top division "at this time, or at any point in the future," despite rumors that the move would be happening in 2010. I'm fine with the decision because the SPL is more fun anyway.

Newcastle also had the week off after beating Peterborough United last weekend 3-1. The Magpies await next Monday night's clash against Preston North End to try and solidify their spot in the top of the ELC (+2 on West Brom). It's so much nicer to have the Toon on top. In other news, rumors are swirling about Sol Campbell coming to play for the Bar Codes by Christmas. The former Totts and Arsenal player could be a welcomed addition.

With Chivas USA's season over, there is nothing to report for on the pitch action. However, it has been reported that Head Coach Preki has decided to part ways with the Red & White with his contract expiring. Surely his successful tenure will garner him some attention from organizations around the soccer world, not just the MLS, and you can't blame him for hitting the road. Chivas is reporting that their search for their next (and fifth ever) head coach begins now.

In brief: Guadalajara lost 0-1 to Cruz Azul this weekend, after a 90th minute goal from Cruz's Emanuel Villa. Unbelievable to give up a game winning goal that late. The real Chivas are now 5-8-4 on the sorry season, trailing Toluca by 16 points. The season is over in Mexico, believe it or not, with the next campaign starting January 16th. No more Chivas at all? Ay yi yi! In Ireland, Sligo took care of business with a 3-1 win over lowly Drogheda this weekend. The win helps the Bit O' Red finish in the #6 spot in the Ireland Premier League, a very respectable spot for my boys. Their season is also officially over. Finally, Lazio also took the week off in Italy, with next week's match going against Mike Napoli. Napoli (5-4-3) are far better than Lazio (2-5-5) this year, but we'll hope for the best.

I liked this story from Sports Pickle.

Enjoy your week.

Kaboom! Canucks blow Avs up.

You've got to be kidding me! The Vancouver Canucks completely destroyed the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night 8-2, putting all of the Northwest Division on notice. A solid Luongo outing, Henrik Sedin's first career hat trick, and four third period goals dropped the snow ball on those Colorado jokers. Positives far outweigh the negatives tonight, as we blasted our losing streak with authority:

1) It has to be Henrik. H-Bomb Sedin came out with his best offensive game in his career. Too bad Daniel wasn't on the ice to celebrate with him (well, he probably would have stolen a couple of those goals!). Hank scored at 1:57 and 7:09 of the first period (with Mason helping out on both), and then brought the cheap hats from the fans at 12:53 of the third on the power play (again, with help from Ma$e) to seal the deal. He dominated tonight, scoring his 3 goals on just 4 shots, despite winning just 44.4% of his face offs. Nicely done, my boy.

2) Roberto Luongo. We knew that we needed the real return of El Roberto to pull us out of this recent slump, and we got it tonight. Despite being handed a gigantic lead (4-0 after 40 minutes), Roberto held strong, allowing just 2 goals on 32 shots (94.1% saved) to earn the huge win against the division leaders. He looked sketchy between the pipes since coming back from his injury, at best, but was unbelievable tonight. The best offense in the division couldn't do much against him, and he deserves the 6 goal win.

3) +3s abound. I remember posting a recent story where the Canucks didn't have a single player with better than a 0 +/- rating. Tonight, there wasn't a single player in the negative. Special love goes out to the +3s on the night: Christian Ehrhoff, Jannik Hansen, and Ryan Johnson. Talk about an underrated group of guys from the Orca. I can't really think of 3 more underrated players on the team. Very solid.

4) How does Mason Raymond not get hooked up as the 3rd star? Raymond had 3 assists, a +2 rating, and 2 shots on goal in his 16:39 of ice time. He seemed to always be around when Henrik was working his magical hat trick, and he was pretty unheralded by the media after this gigantic win. Of course, again pointing to the fact that Ryan Johnson is underrated, RJ also had 3 assists (and 1 of his patented blocked shots). In the game, there were 13 Vannies with at least a point.

You can't underestimate a huge blowout win against the best team in your division, but let's not let this big win make us too proud. We're still in the middle of a tough stretch, and we still have some negatives to look at before we get Colorado again in 6 days:

1) Too many men on the ice. Remember last season when this was a call we got nailed for all the time? Well, we have finally reached our first too many men call here in the 09/10 campaign. I hate when we get called for this. It is nothing but slacking and poor focus that gets you this penalty. And why does Kyle Wellwood always end up getting to sit in the sin bin when we do it?

2) This is a pretty miniscule gripe, but we still led the game in giveaways (6-5). It didn't really bite us at all tonight, winning by 6 and all, but crisp passing and solid puck handing needs to be the focus for this squad.

The win will take the pressure off of my boys for a least a little bit (at least the next 6 days). At 11-10-0 (22 points) we now trail the Avs (12-5-3) by just 5 points and the Flamers (12-4-2) by just 4. Edmonton (18) and Minnie (15) are still bringing up the rear. After a work week off, the Canucks will get pumped up to go against the Avs at the Garage with a chance to go up 3-1 in the season series, and pull even closer to first place in the division. Colorado, meanwhile, has 2 games to play (on the road against Calgary and Edmonton) before meeting up in Vancouver on Friday. Seems to me like we should have the heavy advantage on 11/20. We'll be well rested and focused, and if the rest of the Northwest can beat up on the Avs during the week, we'll be primed to take our third of the year from them.

Big win. Good stuff. Go Canucks Go.

Canucks fight, but lose third straight.

The bit of losing is starting to wear on me. I'm thinking, if we can't handle this tiny little road trip (although, our second longest of the year), how are we going to handle this monster coming up with the Olympics in view? This latest in this little losing streak is a 1-3 loss at the hands of the Red Wings. The loss has dropped us back down to .500 puck, and makes a home in home series against the Colorado Avalanche more important that you can even fathom. But, before we get ahead of our selves, let's focus on the positives from last night's loss:

1) Mason Raymond's big goal. I'm not quite sure how Raymond got the puck in the net on this one, just squeezing it between the pads and the post, but it was our lone goal, and it was huge. It was the 8th goal on the year for Ma$e, a power play goal, and it was the only offensive glory we grabbed at the Joe on Thursday night. I love Ma$e, I love the goal.

2) We had 6 less penalty minutes that the Wings! This is pretty huge for my Vannies. One of our major faults this season has been our multiple penalties, especially in the first period. This time around, we just had a goalie interference from Alex Burrows and a well earned 5 minutes for fighting where Rick Rypien completely destroyed Brad May. Why does May always want to fight us? Oh yeah.

3) Ryan Kesler was a born leader. Kes played a hard game, finishing with 1 assist, 4 shots on goal, 2 blocked shots, and 50% of face offs won. Ryan stepped it up when he needed to, and played a solid game at the center position.

Obviously, there were many more negatives, if I can think of them:

1) B Lu. Now let's keep in mind that Roberto gave up 2 goals on 28 shots (the third goal was scored on a crazy empty netter where the puck bounced off the boards and into the open twine). That's a 92.9% save mark, and not too bad. However, we have been without the Amazin' Roberto for quite a while, and we have needed him to return with the kind of game that blows the NHL On The Fly announcers away. We need this homey to show up against Colorado, and put a couple of doughnuts on the board.

2) The literal negative. We didn't have a single player on the ice with a positive rating in this game. The biggest offenders were Kevin Bieksa (-2), Ryan Kesler (-2, which I obviously left out above), Mason Raymond (-2), and Henrik Sedin (-1). For the first three, they were all on the ice when the Vannies scored their only goal, so to have a -2 means they were also on the ice for all three Detroit goals. Rough time, baby.

3) Dub Dub didn't work his magic in the circle. Welly is usually a face off master for the Canucks, but last night he went 5 for 18 (27.8%), which made it hard for his wingers (including Samuelsson) to get going. It all starts with the draw fools.

4) Speaking of Samuelsson, he was a ghost. I made a big deal in my last post about how he needed to step up against his former team to make us wicked proud. His line? 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 +/-, 2 missed shots, 1 blocked shot, and 3 giveaways. Awful. Just plain awful. MS better get back to rolling like he was earlier in the campaign.

The next two games are possibly first half of the year defining kinds of games. The Canucks travel to Colorado on Saturday to take on the red hot Avs and then have a long break before hosting the Avs next Friday (that's a lot of days without hockey!). At 10-10-0 (20 points, and still racist against OTLs), the Orca are trailing the first place Avs (12-4-3) by 7 points. Within the division, we have Calgary (23) above, and Edmonton (18)/Minnie (15) below. If my boys don't start winning, though, they're going to find themselves living in the basement. So far this season, the Canucks and Avs have split 3-0 decisions. Colorado blanked the Vannies in the second game of the season, and then my boys returned the favor with Andrew Raycroft's best performance of the year on November 1. In the most recent edition of the season series, the Canucks got goals from Ma$e, Kesler, and Tanner Glass (his 1st NHL goal), including an amazing 18 save effort from out qualified backup. What will the final be this time around? God, I hope it's a win.

Lu gets in, 'Nucks get smashed.

When I lost 0-8 to Montreal in NHL 2K10, Karen said, "Sometimes you get blown out. No biggie." I guess that's my message to Orca Nation today, after the Vannies got stoned by St. Louis (who definitely had a grudge) 1-6. Luongo was the backup goalie due to flu like symptoms, but had to make an appearance after Everyday Ray Ray allowed 4 goals on 9 shots (I recored NHL On The Fly just to see this???), and couldn't stop the blue bleeding. We've got some positive and negatives to look at after this disappointing road loss.

1) Roberto is back! I know, I know, he allowed 2 goals on 17 shots (.882 SV%) in his limited return, but he wasn't expecting to be back, and he was getting into a groove before his injury. With him back on the ice, most likely starting on Thursday against the Wings, we are a much better team. I'm glad to have him back.

2) Hank Sedin. It may have been a meaningless goal, when you're down 0-5 in the third, but H-Bomb scored the Canucks first goal of the game just 1:02 into the third period, giving us dreams of a stellar comeback, on an assist from Ryan Kesler. It was Henrik's ninth of the year, team leading, and it at least helped us avoid the goose egg. Hank is ranked 7th in the West in goals, 6th in points.

3) Ryan Kelser was a saving grace. He was one of only two players with a positive +/- rating (joining Ma$on Raymond) and earned the lone assist in the game. He threw two shots in goal, and despite only winning 58% of his face offs, he had a nice game.

When you lose 1-6, you are bound to have some negatives:

1) Where's the defense? Honestly, two of the four goals allowed by Raycroft weren't his fault. The blame should be placed on the defensive players who were just standing there while the Blues made their move in on net. How about these +/- ratings for our defense: Alex Edler (-2), Willie Mitchell (-1), and Sami Salo (-3). You aren't going to win games with those kind of numbers (and let's not allow Steve "Karen's Fav" Bernier's -3 or Alex "Tommy's Fav" Burrows' -3 go unnoticed).

2) Shots on goal in the third. The Vannies put 11 and 10 on goal in the first two periods, but then when they were down 0-5 in the third, with their mighty captain back on the ice, they only shot twice. 2 shots in the entire third period! Are you kidding me? I mean, they did have a 50% shot percentage, but still, give me a break. How are you going to make your fans feel like you never give up if you only shoot twice in the third period while trailing?

3) Penalties. Now, I've been harping on the Canucks for their stupid penalties all season. They have been the least disciplined Vannie team to come around in recent memory, and it isn't all just Shane O'Brien. Keep in mind there was a ton of fighting in tonight's game, but still, the Canucks got called for 68 penalty minutes in the game on 16 calls (STL got called for 44 minutes in the sin bin). On a grip of the fights, we got called for instigators (Bieksa and Hordichuk), sloppy slashes, and just all around bad play. Over-penalized is the theme of the year thus far.

4) Mikael Samuelsson was dead silent. It has seemed that with Mikey doesn't get involved, the Canucks don't win. He has 14 points in 18 games this season (8-6-14), and has been a big part of our offense, with a grip of veteran Vancouverites on the IR. We need him to maintain his consistency, and try and get around 82 points on the season. Hopefully playing against Detroit will get him pumped.

So, at 10-9-0 (20 points) the Canucks aren't having too hot of a time here. With Colorado (26) leading the division, Calgary (23) is also up on us, with Edmonton (18) giving chase, and even Minnie (14) picking it up a little. The point total puts us at 9th in the West, almost a quarter of the way through the season. Game #20 comes tomorrow evening against the Detroit Red Wings (7-5-3, 17 points). Somehow, the Red Wings have been off to a mediocre start here in 2009/2010, and hopefully the Canucks can take advantage of them. Last time around (10/27) my boys lost 4-5, but will look to turn around our recent rough patch (2 straight losses) live in Detroit. Fingers crossed that we beat these commie bastards!!

Weekly football post #60.

Can you believe that it has been 60 weeks of football posts? Incredibly boring. This one is going to suck.

The Fountain Valley Barons put there undefeated streak on the line against their most bitter rivals, and probably their most difficult challenge, and came out smelling like a pile of dog crap. Edison met with my boys at OCC and won the Bell with a 0-24 blowout that left FVHS students and alumni reeling. The Chargers scored in every quarter (6-7-8-3), and stopped Kyle Middlebrooks and the Barons every inch of the way. Middie finished with a season low 83 yards on the ground, and a horrible -3 yards through the air. Dominic Ragland tossed for just 24 yards in the loss, and the Register picture of the Chargers celebrating with the bell made me sick to my stomach. Damnit! The dream of the CIF Championship isn't over though, just on hold. At 8-1-0, the Barons will try to maintain their solid season against Los Alamitos next Friday. A rebound game after the blowout will put us at 9-1 in the regular season, and really make us proud overall.

Speaking of upsetting losses, Notre Dame got beat 21-23 by Navy this weekend, getting spanked right out of their chances for a thrilling season. Navy completely owned the game, despite only winning by two, as the Irish defense had no answer for the triple option (or the fake handoff to pass to wide open TE that they have the option of every game according to Brandon). In the end a 14 point fourth quarter (really only 7 when Navy was trying) would not be enough for all the mistakes ND made in the game. The Irish were in the red zone three times (one interception, one fumble, and one failure on fourth and goal). Add two missed field goals to that mess, and you are going to lose the game, your season, and your chances of finishing anywhere near being ranked. Bollocks. On the good news side, Michael Floyd was back in style (10 catches for 141 yards and a TD, despite dropping one that could have changed the game) to add to the amazing Golden "I play everywhere on the field" Tate (9 catches for 132 and a sweet onside kick recovery). Jimmy "Please Go Pro" Clausen went 37/51 for 452, 2 TDs and 1 INT, but just wasn't able to step it up when it really mattered. Meanwhile, this fool Dobbs from Navy only made 3 passing attempts (2 completed, 1 being a TD), but ran for 102. I mean, the triple option works in the video game for me, and it worked for Navy in real like on Saturday. Now at 6-3, the Irish have completely lost all hope for a great bowl game, and may lose everything with their season ending against Pitt on the road (the #12 team in the Nation), UConn at home (sneaky good), and Stanford on the road (who just beat Orgeon). This "cake walk" to the end of the season is actually going to be pretty hard. Remember, I predicted 9-3 this year, and it is still in reach. But it won't be easy. Rematch against Navy in the Texas Bowl??

The 1-7 Rams had a bye week!!! Don't worry, we'll get beat by the Saints next week.

BC (8-10) got killed by Edmonton over the weekend in CFL action, 13-45, but still snuck into the playoffs and will open up against Hamilton (9-9) in the opening round. T Cat fans are thinking about rolling through this game, but wouldn't it be cool if BC could shock the CFL world? We don't have a QB, but maybe Martell Mallett could carry us to a shocker. We'll see, as the game gets underway November 15.

Celtic and Falkirk had a thrilling 3-3 game over the weekend, and it was a battle all the way until the end. Caldwell took us out to the lead early in the second half, but the Kirks came marching back to a 61st minute penalty (BS) and a 64th minute goal against Zaluska that gave the jerks the lead. My boy Scottie Mac got back to back goals to thrill the crowd in the 72nd and 79th, and we all thought that the Highlighters had the game in their hands. However, an 83rd minute Falkirk goal cancelled out the excitement of the Aussie's double, and my boys had to settle with just a point. What every happened to the Holy Goalie? We could use him back!! At 7-1-3 (24 points in 11 games), my boys lead the Protties from Rangers by 2 pointsheading into next weekend's matchup with Dundee (5-1-4). We'll need a big win against the Crocs to keep the top of the table.

Meanwhile, Newcastle also posted three goals, in their 3-1 win over Peterborough United. I love playing in the Championship Division. Of course, I know I'm not actually playing, but I feel like I am as a part of Magpie Nation. Jonas Gutierrez, Andy Carroll, and D-Man Danny Simpson carried our boys to victory, with Steven Harper really continuing to come into his own between the pipe. It was a 3-0 lead until Pete scored in the 79th, but obviously that wouldn't be enough. Goals in the 15th, 18th, and 52nd were too much for those boneheads to handle, and the Barcodes wiped the pitch with them. At 10-3-3 (33 points in 16 games), 'Castle are up 2 points on West Brom for ownership of the top of the table. Honestly, we're going to get promoted, right? Next up, after quite a break, is a Monday Night match on 11/23 against Preston (6-4-6). It won't be as much of a lock as the Pete game this weekend, but it should still be 3 for my boys.

A late penalty kick for the Galaxy knocked my Chivas USA squad out of the playoffs tonight. After the 2-2 first leg last weekend, the Galaxy earned a golden goal from Landon "Swine Flu" Donovan in the 73 minutes of tonight's game to seal the fate of my formerly Mighty Goats. Chivas couldn't score a goal against LA, and Zach Thorton did his very best to try and keep us in. You can't keep out a penalty, so it's not his fault, but it is hard to watch the Red & White bow out after such a promising start to their season. They did kind of flounder in the second half of the season, but we still hoped for much better than another 1st round bow out, especially against the Galaxy. Ah well, the MLS season is officially over, and I think despite the final result, all of Goat Nation can be proud of our boys attempt at a run all the way. Here's to 2010.

In brief, Chivas de Guada softened the MLS blow with a huge 4-1 win against Atlas this weekend. Goals from Omarcito Bravor (he's back, in the 1st minute), my main man Balcazar (3rd and 41st), and Aaron Galindo (25th) was enough of a first half impact to bust Atlas hard. Still, it is a 5-7-4 start to the season, and we trail Toluca by 13 points. In Ireland, Sligo was able to really take care of business against Drogheda, as they should have, and improved to #6 in the table, well clear of relegation. Who knew, especially based on where we were at a month ago, that we would be so clear of getting dropped? The Bit O Red go up against Sporting Fingal in their cup final in a fortnight. Nice! Lastly, Lazio dropped another to AC Milan 1-2 tonight, despite 26 shots (6 on goal). Are you kidding me? Damn, Dida was on for Milan. Lazio's only goal was an own goal! Nothing from the Blue! 2-5-5 is not a sweet start, as we march toward the Serie A relegation zone. Hopefully Pope B-16 will be praying for us on the 22nd against Napoli (5-4-3).

It has been 117 days since Brandon, Jon, or Andrew has dropped a post. Bastards.

Orca open with win on the road.

We are survivors! The Canucks opened up their second lengthiest road trip of the year (behind only the unfair Olympic roadie) with a nice and easy 5-2 win against the Wild. Everyone says that you have to play your best against the best, but many overlook the importance of taking care of business against teams that you are supposed to beat. The Vannies did that tonight, beating up on the last place Wild for their third straight win, and improved to 4-1 since the injury to Roberto Luongo.

Let's start with tonight's positives:

1) Goals from the unexpected...again. I've covered how much the Canucks role players have had to come through with the rash of injuries we've experienced. Tonight, they continued to do just that. The game opening goal at 3:49 of the opening frame came from Darcy Hordichuk's stick, his first of the year. Hordie straight stole a puck from the Wild at the blue line and waltzed in to score against Backstrom. How about recent signing, and returner to the team, Matt Pettinger. MP came up with a shot from the most ridiculous angle of the season. A wrist shot from straight along the goal line somehow bounced in to score the 4th goal of the game. It was his first this time around, and it helped take the pressure of Raycroft and the regulars.

2) H-Bomb must read this blog. In the last post I banged on Henrik Sedin for not getting enough action going in the last win. This time around, he answered the call with a shorthanded goal in the second period, assisted by Alex Burrows, and added a roughing penalty to show that he is right where he wants to be. It was Hank's 8th goal of the year, and it was very, very welcomed.

3) Ray Ray continues to shine. The rumors are the Luongo should be back between the pipes any day now, but with Raycroft carrying the squad to a 4-1 mark with Lu on the DL, I wonder about why we shouldn't ride our backup until he craps out. Everyday Ray stopped 28 of 30 shots in the game, not really amazing, but did enough to just be the stopper on our end of the ice. Raycroft made a sweet stop on a breakaway at one point that showed he can do the splits with the best of them. He has been one giant positive, outside of the massacre in Anaheim last week.

5) Tonight, Ryan Johnson earned his official "stud on the team" mark. RJ came back today after getting jacked up into the boards last week and missing several games. And, after getting so severely injured that he had to be taken to the hospital, what does he do in his first game back? He seriously leads the team in blocked shots with 5. 5 blocked shots in his first game back from injury? Johnson is a complete mad man, and I love it.

I'd like to also give love to my main man Alex Burrows for getting an assist and an empty net goal. Also, we finally had less giveaways than our opponent tonight. Again, they must be reading the blog. How about negatives in this win?

1) We have usually won the shot battle this season, even in our losses, but tonight this wasn't the case. The Canucks lost the shot on goal battle in the third period 5-15. That is a big difference, and it may have given the Wild hope that they could get back into the game, if it wasn't for Raycroft. Let's get back to putting more shots on goal!

2) Kesler and Samuelsson had rough outings, both finishing at a surprisingly bad -2 rating for the game. Only one Wild play did worse, and it was kind of odd for our offensive players to come away with a rating like that. Kes also only won 39% of his faceoffs, capping off a rough game for both of the usually solid scorers.

This recent string of success has the Vannies at 10-7-0 on the year (why are we so racist against overtime losses?), and their 20 points has put my boys almost within stirking position. The Avs (24) lead the Northwest, with Calgary (19), Edmonton (15), and Minnie (still, 10) all trailing. Things are close with the top three, but hopefully we can keep pushing things to the top. With the fact that we are playing on back to back nights signal Lu's return to rest Raycroft? We'll find out as the Canucks match up with the Stars in Dallas tomorrow evening. Dallas is 6-3-6 this season, really getting blasted in overtime this year, and most recently losing to the Flames on Wednesday 2-3. Will it be Brad Richards night to shine for the bad guys? Or, will Henrik Sedin continue to find his scoring touch, leading the good guys onward to victory?

I'll go with #2.

'Nucks swallow Rangers whole.

I figured the picture went perfectly with the title, eh? It was a family affair last night, as Tommy's Canucks went head to head with his cousin Daniel's Rangers. A thrilling rematch of the 1994 Stanley Cup. A chance for continued revenge for that heartbreaking series. And, a chance to prove that we can continue to win with Andrew Raycroft between the pipes and Roberto Luongo on the. I'd say that a 4-1 Canuck win took care of all of that. In this post, we'll explore the many positives and nit-picky negatives of this beautiful Vancouver victory.

As usual, we'll start with the pluses:

1) Ryan "Effing" Kesler! Are you kidding me? This guy had such a solid game, that he had the announcers on NHL On The Fly suggesting that he be named our captain! Um, we already have a studly captain. Don't forget him just because he's hurt. Of course, Kes really did show up in this game. Ryan Kesler assisted on the first three Orca goals in the game, including a really nice pass to Mikael Samelsson in the first period, to cap off his #1 start night. It's always nice to have our #2 center coming through like he did last nice. I'm not sure, however, why he finished just a +1 in the ESPN box score. By my count, the worst he could have gotten was +2. Way to try and bring the NHL 2K10 commercial star down, you bastards.

2) Andrew "Everyday" Ray Ray. I know everyone is only pumped about this because of the last two games, where the Vannies have outscored opponents 7-1, but damn has he looked good. This time around, he had to be even better than when he blanked the Avs. Ray Ray stopped 22 of 23 shots on goal, allowing just a Chris Higgins goal in the third period. Raycroft and his fellow defensive mates were able to manage the big stars from New York all night, and keep things looking pretty good since Lu went down. Remember, when Lu went down I said that I just wanted Ray Ray to keep things .500 while our captain is out. Since the injury, he's 3-1. Give him the respect he deserves.

3) Mikael Samuelsson continues to dominate. He has been so much fun to watch, just seeming to be at the right place at the right time, and his two goals in this game were sweet. The Mariefred native now has 8 goals on 6 assists as the new right wing force for the Canucks, and has 8 points over his last 10 games. He's also been a +5 during that time, showing that he was a solid pick up because he's been picking up our offense since he put on the uniform.

4) Big blocked shots, despite Ryan Johnson being off with injury. We are a banged up team, and one of our most banged up players, Ryan Johnson, take a bunch of blocked shots to the IR with him. Amazingly, we've found some studs to pick it up for him. Christian Ehrhoff and Matt Schneider had 4 blocked shots EACH in this game against the Rangers. Talk about taking one for the team. It has been a wicked increase in defensive skills that has really allowed Raycroft to play over his head as far as stats are concerned, and we are really going to need that defense to stay strong (even once Luongo returns).

Before I get to the negatives, I wanted to say that I really enjoyed Tanner Glass stepping up and beating the hell out of Dane Byers with 1:10 left in the game. The "mele" between the two teams earlier in the period didn't result in as much as the media made it seem, but Glass stepped it up as a rookie by punching the lights out of Byers. Be assured that I was quick to email the You Tube video to my cousin immediately. Okay, negatives:

1) We still led in giveaways. Didn't Coachie V read my last post? I clearly stated that we needed to fix the problem of having too many giveaways. In that game, they lost 8. Last night, the gave away 9. What the heck? Honestly, the highlights showed plenty of Ray Ray saves on giveaways that turned into mild odd man rushes, and we're not going to be living well if we keep that up. Hang on to the puck!

2) Henrik Sedin only had one shot in the game. H-Bomb has been coming up big with his brother on the injured list, but he was completely absent in this game. Yes, he had a goal at the end of the game, but it was an empty netter and he only had one other shot besides that. More pressure, please.

The win has pushed us to 9-7-0 on the season (18 points), and they now trail first place Colorado by just 6. We're coming for you, Avs. Calgary (17), Edmonton (15), and Minnie (still 10) are trailing our boys in the division. It's a tight one, boys. Tomorrow, the Canucks go to Minnesota (5-9-0) to try to steal a win from the division's worst. The rumor train is that Luongo may be back in net, as he traveled to Minnie with the game, but no word yet from the Canuck staff. Fingers crossed!

To be the best, you need to beat the best.

What a rebound game! My Orca came through at home against the first place Avalanche with a thrilling 3-0 shutout win. It was quite a shift from the big loss against the Ducks, from solid offense throughout to Andrew Raycroft's best game in a Canucks uniform. Is there anything better than beating the first place team?

There were plenty of positives from this game:

1) Andrew "Everyday" Ray Ray stepped up with 18 saves on 18 shots to keep the Avs out of the net. I'm not sure how the Avs are so good this year, but with that in mind, it was totally impressive the way that Raycroft played. Of course, props have to be given to the defense as well for holding Colorado to just 18 shots, making it easy on our mighty backup.

2) Everyone gets in on the action. The goals were scored by Mason Raymond (5), Ryan Kesler (5), and rookie Tanner Glass (1). When the team is all injured throughout the front line, including the recent injury to rookie Michael Grabner, we need to have plenty of support from a bunch of offensive players. The supporting cast came through tonight and backed us up all the way to victory.

3) Edler & Salo go big. Each loyal defender went +2 on the game and earned an assist to help our defense get in on the action. With Salo coming back from injury, it was nice to have him contribute, and it is always nice to have the Ostersund, Sweden native (Edler) give us some (7 assists on the year). Bieksa may not have done much to correct my complaint last time, but his boys picked him up.

Of course, as with every game, there were some negatives to look at:

1) First period penalties is something that we haven't been able to take care off. From the very first game of the season, the Canucks have had issues with allowing opposing power plays in the opening frame. This time around, the offenders were Bieksa (cross check and roughing) and Shane O'Brien (surprise, surprise; high sticking). The X-Man's penalty was a stupid reaction call that he shouldn't have participated in, and SOB was just doing the inevitable. It obviously didn't hurt us this time around, but come on Coachie V, pull your guys together.

2) 8 giveaways. You have to make crisp passes and keep possession of the puck if you want to be an elite team. We had 8 giveaways, which allowed the Avs to get some chances. We were lucky to have Ray Ray coming through in a major way, but the Canucks are going to be made to pay if they continue to giveaway the puck. Hold onto it!

Let's make sure that we realize how big of a win this was. At 8-7-0 (16 points), the Blue & Green have climbed all the way up to the #2 spot in the division, and now trail the first place Avs by just 6 points. Meanwhile, Calgary and Edmonton are -1 of the Canucks, and the Wild continue to be down and out, back by 6. Tomorrow night, the Orca go head to head with the hated New York Rangers. A rematch of the dreaded 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. It was the season that I became a fan of the Canucks, encouraged by my cousin (a die hard Rangers fan). Since then, I've been suffering with my boys, constantly looking to return to the Cup after bowing out in Game 7 that heartbreaking year. Tomorrow, in a small way, I look to have my revenge. The Rangers are solid this year at 9-5-1, most recently earning a 1-0 win against the Boston Bruins. However, the Vannies are going good right now and I like our chances. Should be fun.

You're going down, Daniel!

Weekly football post #59.

It's time for that weekly tradition that just can't be stopped.

The Fountain Valley Barons eeked out a win against Newport Harbor, 37-32 over the weekend, holding off a late charge from the rich kid school. Newport won the fourth quarter battle 14-9, but the Barons held on after a strong first half. Kyle Middlebrooks continued to shine, getting 2 TDs, 139 rushing yards, and 33 yards through the air. Dominic Ragland ripped it up at QB with 102 passing yards, and a 17 yard TD run and a 46 yard TD run for himself. Has he been spending more time with KM off the field, getting tips? The Barons are now 8-0-0 on the year and continue to hold on for their #4 spot according to the OC Register. Next week, however, we will find out if this team is for real. Servite beat the Monarchs this year, so why shouldn't we believe that we can knock off #1 Edison in the Battle For The Bell this week? It's game time. The Mighty Barons need to make sure that everyone in Blue and Gold is cheering as they walk triumphantly out of OCC this weekend. Bring it! Chuck the Fargers!

One level up, Notre Dame finally got an easy win! A Texas clash against Washington State ended with the Irish strutting their stuff in a 40-14 over the Pac 10 cupcake. Things that the nation is coming to realize after this game? Golden Tate is completely legit. Every time Tate touched the ball something special was happening. He was in the zone more so in this game than we have seen all season, and that's saying something. Golden finished with 4 catches for 80 yards, 1 TD, and a 50 yard long ball. The running game was on display as well on Saturday evening, with Robert Hughes getting 131 yards on the ground, Golden Tate added 61 on 4 rushes to his NFL sized day (God bless you, Wildcat), and Theo Riddick looking strong on a couple of drives that were all about him (9 carries, 51 yards). Jimmy Clausen was good enough in his first half of play (22/27 for 268, with 2 TDs and 0 INTs) and gave way to Dayne Crist, who went 2/6 for 69. Crist went out with a pretty bad looking injury, which is completely awful, but it was after he hit a ridiculous pass for Goodman across the middle that brought back memories of Quinn to Samardzija. The defense was on point as well, making great tackles, rushing the "Tool" in the pocket, and keeping the Cougars under raps. It was a win we should have got, and we played that way throughout. Climbing to 6-2 on the year, the Irish are now ranked #22 (BCS), #19 (AP), and #21 (Coaches), and are looking to a trap game at home against Navy to prove their stuff. They should be able to roll Navy, but the Midshipmen play hard and need to be taken seriously. The following week, the Irish will look to Pitt as possibly their defining game of the season. But, I'm getting ahead of myself Charlie, let's go get us some Navy.

No!!!!!! The Rams won! The reverse undefeated season dream has ended. A trick field goal? Who the hell do we think we are? The 17 game losing streak has finally ended. Steven Jackson finally earned his first TD of the year. The funny thing is that the ESPN recap says, "The Rams beat the Lions in each phase to snap their 17 game losing streak. Offense. Defense. Special teams. Coaching." We were able to beat the other team in each phase, and we only ended up squeaking out a 17-10 victory. That is just how bad this team is. Marc Bulger went 17/35 for 176 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT, to roll his season high 51.6 QB rating (I'm just saying that, it may not be true), and place kicker Josh Brown (1/1 for a 36 yard TD pass) made Rams fans think he should be our new QB. S Jack finally came out of his shell, going 22 carries for 149 yards and a TD. Of course, we were facing Detroit, so it really isn't that special, right? Well, the Rams coach, who earned his first win at any level, says he'll remember the game for the rest of his life. So not professional. You beat the Lions, you are supposed to say that we could have played better, and we're ready to focus on next week. You idiot. My Rams are officially in the clear, 1-7-0, and now only trail the Seahawks by 1.5 games in the NFC West. Keep in mind that division leading Arizona are only 4-3-0. We still have a chance, baby. Next week is a beautiful bye week. We can celebrate the win for quite some time, before we get straight smashed by the Saints on November 15. Enjoy it while it lasts, friends.

The BC Lions, meanwhile, lost to Calgary, and possibly lost all hope of getting into the playoffs. The Stamps rolled my Orange & Black 28-26 with a 13-7 fourth quarter that sealed the deal. Casey Printers was 22/35 for 337 yards (1 TD, 1 INT) in the game, and tried his best. In the end, with Martell Mallett not playing, there wasn't much hope. The Lions had two receivers with 100+ yard games, as Arceneaux (110) and Simon (103) went big, but alas, the Stamps were too good this time around. At 8-9 on the season, BC are tied for last with Edmonton and looking up at first place Calgary (10-6) and second place Saskatchewan (9-7). Hope is fading in Vancouver. The final game of the regular season is Friday against Edmonton. Fingers crossed.

On the soccer pitch, Celtic came out with a gigantic Halloween win to extend their SPL lead. It was a 3-0 blowout of Kilmarnock that has Hoop Nation rocking. Goals from McGeady (13th), Gorgeous Georgios Samaras (32nd), and McGinn (78th) put out boys well ahead for the weekend win. Zaluska was solid in net for the Sligo Side, and Kilmarnock just simply never had a chance. No pressure from Killie, tons from the Bhoys, and it was an easy win. At 7-1-2 (23 points) , Celtic lead #2 Hibs (20 points) and now #3 Rangers (19 points) in the race for the SPL title. League action continues Sunday against Falkirk (0-6-4), and it should be a cake walk.

Newcastle get their game on Monday Night Football against Sheffield tomorrow night, knowing that a win against the 5-8-2 squad would put them back atop the league. At 8-3-3 (27 points, and trailing West Brom (28 points), tomorrow night's game is huge. Predictions? Nolan will come up huge.

The first leg of the opening round of the MLS playoffs are in the books, and the battle between Chivas USA and the Galaxy is square at 2-2. Maicon Santos brought the Goats the early lead against LA, but two tough to take defensive plays by the Red & White allowed the Galaxy to steal the lead. Luckily, it was my main man Maykel Galindo in the 50th minute providing the strike to save the day, and take some of the pressure off for next week's second leg. The final forty minutes of play were tense, but both sides held their own to maintain the draw. I feel really good about coming out of the first leg tied with LA 2-2. There is no way that ZBT is going to have an off game next week after allowing 2 goals this time around. Thorton is getting the clean sheet next Sunday, and the Goats will walk off with a victory over LA in the opening round....hopefully.

In closing, Guada failed to bounce back after losing to America last week, but losing to Morelia 1-3 this time around. Balcazar got the lone goal, but the original Chivas squad are just falling deeper and deeper. 4-6-3 with 15 points in 13 games, and the great season we were promised is seeming less and less likely this time around. Of course, the Sligo Rovers dropped their huge match against Bohemians 1-3 this weekend, unable to best the league leading squad. The loss doesn't hurt the Bit O' Red that much though, as they continue to sit just up on St. Patricks and the relegation battle. Next week should be an easy win against second to last place Drogheda. Lazio drew with Siena this tonight, with Stefano Mauri getting the SS goal in minute 8. Lazio go against AC Milan next weekend as they continue to try and find themselves this season.

Another funny story from Sports Pickle.

So Cal split.

The Vannies made a trip down south and came away with a solid shootout win against the mighty Kings and an embarrassing loss to the all but forgotten Ducks. If I told you that they were finishing up the two games with a goal differential of -5, you'd probably think they would have lost both, but I say nay! The Canucks earned the split, which is pretty much what all of us figured they would do (although, we thought it would have gone the other way), and the head back home to host the somehow amazing Avs on All Saints' Day evening.

For being an injury riddled team, we looked pretty solid against the first place team from LA. Andrew Raycroft stepped it up, in his first game since taking over for the injured Bobby Lu, and even earned first star honors. The take away notes from the game was Mikael Samuelsson continuing to go under the radar as a solid offensive force for the Orca. His first period game tying goal was his sixth on the year, giving him 12 total points in the 14 regular season games. Always good to have another solid Swede on board. The other take away was the play of Raycroft, of course, but that excitement would be cancelled out just one night later. The downside, which would continue in the Anaheim game, was the play of Kevin Bieksa. He finished a -1 with just 1 shot in the game, and has just 1 goal and 6 assists thus far (and a -2 rating). We need you X-Man!!! So, in the end, Ray Ray was solid enough to get us 1-1 through 3 and an OT, and Mikael Samuelsson made good after getting the Canucks' golden goal by scoring the winner in the shootout. We walk away happy.

Then we prepare to get slaughtered. Damn, I hate the Ducks so much. With Steve Bernier and Mason Raymond (PP) starting us off with 2 goals in the first 4:39 of play, I was pumped up for a big win. Of course, when you are riddled with injuries, the fun that your remaining players are provided tends to be fleeting. And it was. The Ducks marched back with 7 unanswered goals after the 'Nucks strong opening, and completely broke the hearts of 7th Canucks around the Nation. 1 in the 1st and 3 in the second and third periods put us away, in a game where the refs seemed to put their whistles away (to the Ducks advantage, actually). Ray Ray was chased after giving up 4 goals on 22 shots, and recent call up Cory Schneider allowed 3 on just 12 shots in his season debut. Pitiful, pitiful play. Just a quick reminder that injuries to our offensive and defensive forces will be painful, but an injury to Luongo completely kills us. All that, and we still put 22 shots on goal in the third. Nothing to show though, except for sad faces after a 5 goal loss.

7-7-0 (14 points) is where we sit after 14 out of 82 games. The raging Avs are sitting on top with 22 points, Calgary trailing in second with 15 (tied with Edmonton), and Minnie bringing up the rear behind us at 10. We are still within striking range of getting into second place, obviously, and hopefully can do that with a statement game against the first place 'Lanche tonight. Then, it's a battle that breaks families apart on Tuesday, as the Vannies take on the Rangers. It turns brothers against brothers and cousins against cousins. Let's just hope we can kiss and make up when it is all said and done.

Go Canucks Go.