Tuesday, December 11, 2012

What A Weekend In Sports!

I have not been writing as much about sports just lately, other than, um....ahem.... bitter diatribes about league commissioners, particularly the NHL's Gary Bettman, everybody's favorite commissioner.

But this was an exciting weekend in sports that just passed, and it got me in the mood. I mean, from the incredible and memorable knockout punch that knocked Manny Pacquiao out cold, to the excitement of the NFL as the postseason nears, and everyone is trying to get into position, and even to basketball, which I usually do not follow so much until it gets closer to the postseason in spring, or at least until after the Super Bowl.

So, let's see....where to begin?

I think I'll start with the fight.

Marquez, who was not usually known as a spectacular boxer, and probably had not received the recognition that he deserves, probably changed all of that with one big, huge punch this past weekend. It was the biggest punch and most memorable of his career, surely, and the one that he will likely always be remembered for. The way that Pacman went down after that was just unbelievable! It was more brutal than what Manny himself had famously done to Ricky Hatton ijn the 2nd round of their huge showdown some years back in 2009, and that fight itself drew comparisons by some to the 1988 megafight between Tyson and Spinks that proved such a dud, with Tyson knocking Spinks out halfway through the 1st round.

True, this one came much later in the fight, but I would say that Marquez did at least as much damage to Pacquiao and his legacy as Pacquiao had done in building up that legacy, particularly by completely destroying Hatton almost four years ago now.

Manny may still be a superstar, but he will never be viewed in the same way again. He had entered this year with a reputation of being invincible, still basking in the glow of having been named the "Fighter of the Decade" in the 2000's. He had long been considered either the top pound for pound fighter in the sport, or number two behind Floyd Mayweather, and the superfight between those two seemed on again, off again. But there were times when it seemed like it would be inevitable, and indeed, how can the two best fighters in the sport, and in the same weight division, not go ahead and fight eventually?

But all of that was before this year. He ended last year with a win against Marquez, is biggest rival, and had won fifteen fights in a row. Usually, in dominant fashion. The only man to have won titles in eight different weight categories. Plus, he had a winning personality, and seemed to have so much going, both inside and outside the ring. The face of many commercial products, even the face of his country. There was just so much going for the guy, and he seemed untouchable in the ring.

Then, earlier in the year, he fought against Timothy Bradley, and lost his WBO Welterweight title in a split decision. But many who watched the fight felt that he had gotten robbed. It might not have been his most dominant performance, but most felt that he had won, and been robbed. Still, officially, a loss is a loss.

The potential superfight with Mayweather still dragged on, bogged down in details, and with Mayweather going to prison, it seemed perhaps the superfight, which many projected to have the biggest purse in the sport's history (and that's saying something!) just might never happen.

So, another fight with Marquez, and now this! The other fights between these two had been contentious, very tight fights. Manny had officially won two, and the other was a draw. But they were all hard fought, close fights, and quite a few people felt that Marquez had been screwed himself.

Pacquiao wanted a convincing win, a knock out. And perhaps he was a little too aggressive in pursuing that. Perhaps he even grew a little careless, because fighting that aggressively so close to the end of a round was too risky. I mean, he left himself wide open to that huge punch from Marquez.

At the time of the punch, Manny was up on points according to all of the refs. He had been dominating the fight, and had broken the nose of Marquez, who was not only bleeding from both nostrils, but from his mouth, as well. His eyes were swelling up. It was a matter of time, and he even acknowledged this in post fight interviews, saying that he knew Manny was going for the knockout, and that he very well was likely to get it, too, if things did not change.

But things changed. Boy, did they ever!

By now, everyone knows what happened. Marquez hit him Pacquiao hard, he knocked him out cold, dropping him flat on his face to the canvas. The referee started to approach Manny and seemed to count initially, then simply waved his arms when he realized that Manny was out cold.

When Marquez dropped Pacman, he also dropped his legacy. Dropped the aura of invincibility surrounding him much like Buster Douglas did to Tyson back in 1990. It was not just that he won, but how he won. Nobody but nobody expected Marquez to be able not only to knock Pacquaio out, but to knock him out cold, to knock him out with such brutal and efficient finality. It was a punch that left no doubt, and it seemed that Manny walked right into it. he just ate the punch, and dropped. His arms dropped before that, indicating that he was unconscious. What a memorable hit!

Watching the post fight interviews, clearly both fighters had taken a beating. Marquez had gotten a pretty solid beatdown himself, although perhaps that just makes his knockout win that much more impressive. As for Manny, he conducted one interview after being knocked out, before skipping the postfight conference, and going to the hospital. You could see the red marks on his face clearly. Again, what a knockout punch that was! No one could have foreseen a boxer with such a reputation getting downed by one punch so dramatically, so convincingly!

I don't know what will happen next. Opportunities could come in a hurry now for Marquez.

As for Manny? Well, there was talk of retirement, and Freddy Roach suggested that he needed to see what Manny could still do, and if he noticed a decline, that maybe it was time indeed to hang up the gloves.

But that seems unlikely, and there is already talk of a fifth fight between the two. If there is, let's be frank: it is unlikely that the outcome, whatever it may be, will be as memorable as this one was! Unbelievable!

Otherwise, let's look at the NFL.

The Patriots and Texans had a huge, and much anticipated showdown on Monday Night Football. But like many such showdowns, this was a letdown. New England raced out to an early 21-0 lead, en route to a brutal 42-14 victory. Houston still might hold the top seed in the AFC, but the aura of invincibility surely is done. Their two losses, at home to the Packers and at New England, were both convincing blowout wins from far more experienced teams, and this will surely raise doubts as to whether or not Houston can sustain their winning ways as the playoffs approach.

New England and Denver are suddenly within a game of the Texans, who looked for quite a while like they owned the top spot in the AFC. Now, they will need to win some games to even secure their division, with two tough games coming up against the Colts, who actually still have a shot at the division. Theoretically, if the Colts won out the rest of their games, they, and not the Texans, would be division champs.

Houston's vaunted defense was ripped apart last night. But then again, new England looks like they might have a real shot to produce some record numbers this year. The 2007 Patriots, who could boast a record smashing offense, and were the highest scoring team in NFL history with 589 points, are seen as the most dominant offense ever.  Through thirteen games, these Patriots have scored 472 points. If they average more than 3 points through the next three games - and they actually look capable of it - they will in fact surpass their own record setting offense of six seasons ago, during that historic, if ultimately unsatisfying, season.

One team that looked very dominant this weekend was the Seattle Seahawks, who completely obliterated their division rivals, the Arizona Cardinals, 58-0. It was the second most lopsided shutout win that I have ever seen, just behind (you guessed it) the Patriots whipping the Titans, 59-0, in the October snow of New England back in 2009.

It got me to thinking about some of the most lopsided games in NFL history. Also, since two teams managed to reach the fifty point mark this past weekend, it got me to wondering as well about how often teams have scored record amounts of points in a game.

Off the top of my head, two teams managed to score in the fifties during Super Bowl wins - the San Francisco 49ers did it in Super Bowl XXIV, 55-10, and the Dallas Cowboys did it in Super Bowl XXVII, 52-17. Three other teams managed to reach fifty or more points in playoff games that I can remember, including the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1999-2000 season (62-7 over Miami), the 19995 Philadelphia Eagles (58-37 over Detroit), and the Arizona Cardinals (51-45 in OT over Green Bay). That's pretty impressive, but how about the teams that reached the sixty point plateau? The Patriots have come close recently, and Seattle came close this weekend, but neither team actually managed to get there.

Since I have followed football, only a handful of teams managed to do this. That includes (perhaps surprisingly) the Jets back in 1985, the Cincinnati Bengals back in 1989, the Jaguars back in the 1999-2000 playoffs, and the New Orleans Saints last season.

Here's a list of some of the games since the early 1970's::

January 15, 1999 (playoffs) - Jaguars 62, Dolphins 7 
September 16, 1973 - Falcons 62, Saints 7
October 23, 2011 - Saints 62, Colts 7
December 17, 1989 - Bengals 61, Oilers 7 
November 17, 1985 - Jets 62, Buccaneers 28 
December 17, 1972 - Bengals 61, Oilers 17 
November 26, 1972 - Giants 62, Eagles 10

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