As if often the case, the first two weeks of the NHL season have been rife with some early surprises. Several stalwarts from last year have shown some early signs of trouble, while a few of last year’s whipping posts have been flashing some signs of hope for their fan bases. For anyone who loves good hockey, these are things to be excited about, even if you know deep down in side they probably aren’t going to last. Fans of […]
Sports
10 Yard Fight – Jim Harbaugh Vs. Jim Schwartz
The Detroit Lions hosted the San Francisco 49ers in a big game for two teams who have been historically bad lately. The media was making plans for the Lions to beat the 49ers and be on their way for an undefeated vs. undefeated match-up on Thanksgiving Day with the Green Bay Packers. But the Lions couldn’t put away the 49ers on Sunday. However, the big story wasn’t the game or the outcome because of what happened after. After the game […]
Cold As Ice 01: Shaken, Not Stirred
Cold as Ice is Popblerd’s new weekly hockey column, authored by Jay Kumar and Stephen Mapes. This week, Jay takes a look at the NHL’s plans for realignment. Now that the new NHL season is underway, it’s a great time to look ahead to next season. Specifically, the 30-team league plans to realign its divisions next year. Currently, the league is split into two conferences with three divisions each. The move of the Atlanta Thrashers to Winnipeg happened too late […]
10 Yard Fight – Just Win, Baby
On Saturday morning, I received word from the Twitter world that Raiders’ owner and NFL renegade Al Davis passed away. When I was younger and watching games on TV, I’d always see Davis in his luxury box watching the games. Of late, I didn’t see him often and when I did, he looked unlike the legendary figure with the slicked back black hair and white track suit. He just looked like an older person. All of our football heroes will […]
Cold As Ice: 2011-12 NHL Preview, Part 2
Editor’s note: Popblerd is happy to present its initial foray into hockey coverage with this weekly column, authored by Jay Kumar and Stephen Mapes. In the second of a two-part series, Stephen previews the Western Conference. Check out Part One here . A team-by-team look at the West: Vancouver Canucks Perhaps no other team in the league has something to prove as much as the Canucks this year, if only to shake the stigma of the riots that followed their game […]
2011-12 NHL Preview, Part 1: To Hell and Back
Editor’s note: Popblerd is happy to present its initial foray into hockey coverage with this weekly column, authored by Jay Kumar and Stephen Mapes. In the first of a two-part series, Jay looks back at the NHL’s brutal summer and previews the Eastern Conference. The NHL regular season kicked off last night with some marquee matchups, including Boston vs. Philadelphia and Toronto vs. Montreal. Usually, the offseason is a quiet time for the NHL other than the draft and free […]
10 Yard Fight – Arian Foster Is Alive And Well
Fantasy Football seems to rule the world. Okay, maybe not the world. But I don’t know too many football fans who aren’t in some sort of Fantasy Football league. The NFL has to be chuckling because while it’s not the biggest reason that the NFL is the premier sports league in the United States, it’s definitely partially responsible. Gamblers are thinking, “Hey, what about us?” Players seem to act differently when it comes to Fantasy Football. Maurice Jones-Drew challenges all […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – Baseball Podcast
Rather than try to be eloquent in my sorrow (the Giants won’t get to defend their World Series title), I decided to take this show on the road. Actually, I decided to take it to the air. After the St. Louis Cardinals officially caught and surpassed the Atlanta Braves to win the NL Wild Card on Wednesday night, I thought it would be a good time to chat with Daniel Shoptaw, writer and editor of the Cardinals blog C70 At The Bat . We […]
10 Yard Fight – Uncle Dave
Before I get to the nuts and bolts of yesterday’s games, I wanted to lead with something that’s not necessarily about football, but I will tie it into football at the end. This week’s 10 Yard Fight is dedicated to my Uncle Dave. For the last seven Septembers, my rather large family has gathered together at my Uncle Dave’s favorite beach to celebrate his birthday. On the drive home from the beach yesterday, JJ, my youngest son asked me if […]
The Squared Circle – Mayweather Mayhem
Last Saturday, Floyd Mayweather made $25 million for stepping into the ring to face Oscar De La Hoya’s young fighter, Victor Ortiz. (Mayweather will probably end up with much more than that by the time it’s all said and done.) Ortiz made about 10% of that, which is meaningful. It’s not meaningful because of whether or not it’s a lot of money (not much compared to Mayweather, but a ton compared to most everyone reading). It’s meaningful because in the […]
10 Yard Fight – The Facts Of Life
On Showtime’s Inside The NFL, Chris Collinsworth brought up a conversation he had with Hall of Famer Rod Woodson who is now on the coaching staff of the Oakland Raiders. Rod said with the elimination of 2-a-days, teams lose the ability to tell who the tough guys were. Warren Sapp said he loved how great the QBs were in week one, but defensive timing was off. I think he was alluding to the idea that defensive guys are the tough […]
10 Yard Fight – Shootout!
I think Thursday’s opening night shootout between the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints affirmed three things for us: Because of the lockout, veteran teams that didn’t change head coaches and didn’t have a lot of player turnover are going to do very well this season. The Packers don’t have a Super Bowl hangover and could have one of the best offensive years in recent memory. Red zone offense is where it’s at. The Packers were 4-4 in red […]