February 15, 2011
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider
It seems weird not to have a football game to comment on this week. For me, the two or so months between the Superbowl and Opening Day are a sports desert (and that’s putting it nicely). However, March Madness is quickly approaching and some local teams are in the running for a spot on the NCAA bracket. Unfortunately, it looks like my alma mater UMD will not be among them this year, but the Georgetown Hoyas (20-5) seem to be bracket bound as they moved to No. 10 in the AP top 25 poll over the weekend. The George Mason Patriots (21-5), meanwhile, are consistently putting away wins to quietly move their way up the ranking. They are currently No. 28 in the poll with big state schools such as Kansas, Ohio State and Texas taking the top three spots.
Meanwhile, the city’s pro basketball players aren’t fairing so well, having won only two of their last seven games. Their latest W, last night’s win at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, was a big one. The Cavaliers were on a NBA record high 25-game losing streak when they won against the Clippers Friday night. Their momentum carried over into last night’s game, as they put up an impressive 100 points against Washington (which perhaps speaks more to Washington’s defense than anything else). It wasn’t enough to stop the Wizards from nabbing their first road win in 26 games. Ironically, if the Cavs (9-46) had lost on Friday, they would have faced the Wizards on a 27-game losing streak. The Wizards knew they had to win this one, because if they couldn’t win in Cleveland, they probably couldn’t win anywhere else. Coach Flip Saunders gave the team an inspirational speech before they hit the court, which forward Andray Blatche said was like a clip from “Any Given Sunday”. The Wizards built a 25-point lead early and, despite letting that lead drop to 11 in the fourth quarter, came out on top 115-100. Nick Young scored a game-high 31 points with John Wall adding 19 points and 14 assists. Winning away from the Verizon Center for the first time, Wall said, “felt like Christmas.”
The Capitals
The Caps lost to the L.A. Kings on Saturday night — their second home loss in a row. The Caps couldn’t capitalize on an early score by Ovechkin and lost 4-1. The Caps have struggled against Western Conference opponents; Saturday’s loss marked their second straight loss against a West Coast rival and 3-6-1 against the West overall. The Caps’ uninspired play hit a new low when they allowed the Kings two goals only 90-seconds apart. Kings’ Jarrett Stoll sealed the deal with a 2-on-1 with teammate Justin Williams in the final period of the game, diminishing any hope of a last-minute comeback for the Caps. Afterwards, Ovechkin, who supplied the team’s only offense, said “We got a good start. We took the lead. They kept pushing and pushing. They had the momentum and then the game.” The Caps—and their fans—hope the team will redeem itself against Western opponents, whom they will face in their next three games.
PGA
It was a PGA first at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am over the weekend. D.A. Points won for the first time—and so did actor Bill Murray. Murray was Points’ amateur partner for the tournament and, as a title winner, will now get his name engraved alongside Points’ at Pebble Beach. Points, who has idolized Murray since seeing him in the movie 1980s “Caddyshack”, said the actor basicly provided comic relief (could he do anything else?) Whatever he did definitely worked, as Points cleared hard shots and made the necessary putts. Along with the money and excitement, the win gave Points another first—a trip to the Masters.
At the Dubai Desert Classic last week, it appeared Tiger Woods was in his best position to win his first title in 15 months. He was one stroke off the lead going into the last day, but his fumbles got the best of him—he had two bogeys in his first three holes. His putting was shaky, which caused missed attempts at birdies and a 20th place finish. Woods, who was previously a media darling and golden boy, revealed flashes of anger during the tournament, including yelling at a photographer who caused a missed shot. To add insult to injury, the European Tour announced today that they would be suing the golf great for spitting on the course; cameras caught him spitting on the 12th green after a missed birdie attempt. Tiger took to his Twitter to apologize, saying: “The Euro Tour is right—it was inconsiderate to spit like that and I know better. Just wasn’t thinking and want to say I’m sorry.” Tiger’s behavior continues to be scrutinized as he endures the longest win drought in his career; his last title was at the Australian Masters in November 2009.
