Rangers Defeat Flyers (aka Effers) in Snowbound Matinee 2-1 at Wachovia Center Saturday

The New York Rangers defeated their hated rival Flyers (aka Effers) yesterday in a snowed in and quiet Wachovia Center. The Blueshirts played well and earned their second victory in a row on the road. Henrik Lundqvist (aka The King) was brilliant in net again. The King stopped 36 goals, including 16 in the 3rd period alone. Coach John Tortorella was completely fed up with the lack of energy two games ago in their horrific loss to the Islanders at the Garden. Prior to the game yesterday he was said the team is full of young players and has had it with underachieving veterans. Putting Captain Chris Drury on the fourth line speak volumes. Drury has become the Blair Betts of the team as their key penalty killer. It was good seeing him score at 5:16 in the 1st period for his second goal in as many games. I hope it’s a sign of things to come. The Blueshirts took too five minor penalties but did a good job in allowing only 1 power play goal to that dirty defenseman Chris Pronger at 8:13 in the 1st period. Henrik could not catch up with Pronger’s slap shot that sailed over Henrik’s glove. The Rangers did a much better job at getting to the puck yesterday. The energy level was better then we’ve seen lately and it will need to continue if they expect to make the playoffs. Artem Anisimov scored the second Ranger goal at 4:46 in the 2nd period for his 7th of the season. The three stars of the game were Henrik Lundqvist, dirty Effer Chris Pronger and Ryan Callahan.

Omar Minaya “Has a Plan…” But Does He Have a Clue?

The New York Mets GM Omar Minaya (aka Nomore Goodbya, we can only hope) says he has a plan but does he have a clue? The back page of the New York Daily News yesterday is now one my all-time favorites. My Wife loved the logo on his forehead. Just look at St. Omar. Who will he put under Met fan’s tree this offseason? A real number 2 starting pitcher? A real catcher who’s under the age of 30? No, neither! The Mets signed infielder Alex Cora to a one year deal, yay! He’s a lifetime .246 hitter who hit .251 last season. He’s all thumbs as both went under the knife last September. I hope he can grip a bat. This entire situation is a joke. I can see Citi Field averaging 20,000 per game tops this year.

St. John’s Defeats Local Rival Fordham and Go 8-1 on Season

The St. John’s Red Storm continue their early season winning ways as they defeat their local NYC rival Fordham Rams 73-56 at Carnesecca Arena Sunday. The team only shot 36% from the field but the defense came up big. No games are scheduled this week as the students take their final exams. The Red Storm hosts the MSG Holiday Festival on Sunday and Monday, December 20th and 21st, featuring Hofstra, Cornell and Davidson. The Red Storm are #41 in the AP rankings and can very well move into the top 25 if they continue to win.

Giants Play Hated Redskins in NFC East Showdown on Monday Night Football

The New York Giants play their hated NFC East rival Washington Redskins on the road Monday night. After the horrific loss to the Eagles last Sunday this game is a no brainer needed win. Big Blue fans have been singing the blues of late. They should certainly defeat the Skins and the Carolina Panthers on December 27th. The Panther game will be the Giants last home game at Giants Stadium as they are ramping up for the opening of the new Meadowlands Stadium next season.

Jets Win Three in a Row and Host Falcons at the Meadowlands Sunday

The New York Jets defense and running game have been excellent this year and the team has won three in a row. They host the Atlanta Falcons at the Meadowlands this Sunday at 1:00 PM in another must win game. Unfortunately even if they win out the rest of the way and end with a 10-6 record it may not be enough to make the playoffs as a wildcard. They  lost key tiebreaker games earlier in the year that were a real killer. I’m not sure which loss hurt more, the Jaguars or the Ted Ginn Show with Miami. QB Kellen Clemens started last week and was not spectacular. The Falcons and Jets have not announced the starting QBs yet so keep an eye on things Friday.

Heading to Garden to see Red Wings Play Rangers

I’m heading to Madison Square Garden shortly to see the Rangers play the Detroit Red Wings with my Cousin. She used to take me to Ranger games in the 90s and I’m looking forward to catching up and watching the game. If the Blueshirts play as well as they did last night they can make it two wins in a row.

Giants Host Hated NFC East Rival Cowboys at Meadowlands Today

The New York Giants play their hated NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys at home today at 4:15 PM. The two key injuries for the Giants are RB D.J. Ware who is still out with a concussion and RB Ahmad Bradshaw who did not participate in practice Friday. He’s questionable but will most likely see action. If the Giants can contain Romo and get to him make dumb throws they should win. They will also need to get their running game going in this must win game. The Cowboys are one of those teams I can’t stand. Go Big Blue!

Rangers Defeat Sabres 2-1 in Solid Effort at HSBC Arena Saturday

In a scoreless 1st period Marian Gaborik made a perfect cross ice pass to a streaking Christopher Higgins down the left side for the Blueshirts’ first goal at 17:31. That kind of pass reminds what the The Great One Wayne Gretzky used to do on a nightly basis. The differences in this game were Henrik Lundqvist being Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers playing the full 60 minutes, not just 48. I was speaking with my Wife after the Rangers lost the home and home series to the Penguins, saying how angry Henrik must be. Sure enough in his postgame comments he said just that. Lundqvist allowed a soft goal with one minute left in the 3rd period but looked great in stopping 36 of 37 shots on goal. The penalty kill did another good job killing off all 3 minor penalties. In the 3rd period Sabre Drew Stafford took it coast-to-coast and blew past three Rangers where he burned former Sabre Chris Drury and schooled Michael Del Zotto to get a shot on goal. The Rangers second goal was scored in the 3rd period at 13:44 when Sean Avery took a great pass from Marc Staal and shot onto Ryan Miller who made the kick save. Ryan Callahan was coming down the slot on the right and buried rebound for the goal. Their next game is Sunday night when they host the Detroit Red Wings. The three stars of the game were Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik and Sabre Ryan Miller.

#6 Duke Defeats St. John’s 80-71 at Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday

The St. John’s Red Storm suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the #6 Duke Blue Devils one of the most difficult courts to play on in college basketball. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski walked onto the court just before tipoff and stirred up the fans into a frenzy. St. John’s started off very well but Duke was just too much late in the first half and Duke was ahead 40-24. The first heartbreaker of the game was losing Justin Burrell in the first minute of the game. He landed on another player’s foot and sprained his ankle. He came back into the game but was too hurt to play. St. John’s played very well in the 2nd half, coming into the lane and scoring most of their 2nd half points in the paint. St. John’s was very tough and had a good chance of winning but Duke had two 2nd half runs that were just too much to stop. I loved their physical play. The Red Storm top two scorers were D.J. Kennedy who had 18 team high points on good 3 point shooting and Sean Evans who finished with 17 points. A good sign was seeing St. John’s shoot just over 50% from the field, something that needed to happen to keep up with Duke. The second heartbreaker was losing the game. One thing that really annoyed me was seeing a Duke student dressed in a nun’s habit. This dope must have thought this was funny and it wasn’t. Dopey had lots of TV time and it was flat out wrong allowing this knucklehead to sit in the stands. I assume they don’t like Catholics in North Carolina much.

West Virginia Defeats Rutgers in Heartbreaker 24-21 Saturday

The West Virginia Mountaineers defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 24-21 yesterday at Rutgers Stadium on a cold rainy day. Both teams had a tough day on 3rd down conversions with Rutgers going 1 for 15 and West Virginia 2 for 14. Rutgers had their chances especially down the stretch but freshman QB Tom Savage was terrible, going 9 for 27 for 153 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. The Scarlet Knights had a balanced running attack. RB Joe Martinek had 14 carries for 49 yards and WR Mohamed Sanu had 13 carries for 47 yards running of the wildcat formation. The play of the game was in the 4th quarter when WR Sanu broke away on single coverage down the right sideline for a 62 yard touchdown reception. He beat the cornerback for the touchdown which brought the score to 24-21. Sanu finished with 6 catches for 105 yards. On Rutgers final drive on 4th and 6 Savage threw to Sanu in the right flat but the pass was off target. Sanu tipped the ball and it was picked off by West Virginia. West Virginia, on 3rd and 6 was going to be stopped for a loss. Rutgers looked to get the ball back but QB Jarrett Brown broke out of the pocket and stiff armed the Rutgers DE for a 12 yard gain. That play sealed the game for the Mountaineers. Rutgers will go a bowl game finishing with an 8-4 record and the Mountaineers are going to the Gator Bowl to face Florida State.

St John’s Red Storm Visit Durham, NC to Play #6 Duke Blue Devils (AP Ranking) at 3:30 PM Saturday

The St. John’s Red Storm will have their hands full playing the Duke Blue Devils today at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, NC. The game will be televised on ESPN2. WE ARE, ST. JOHN'S!

Rutgers Scarlet Knights Host #24 West Virginia Mountaineers (AP Ranking) at Rutgers Stadium Saturday at Noon

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights play their season finale against Big East rival West Virginia today at Rutgers Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN. I wanted to go to this one but we didn't get tickets. R! U! R! U! is what the students and fans chant at Rutgers Stadium.

Jets Safety Kerry Rhodes Fined $5,000 by the NFL for Throwing Ball Into Stands at Meadowlands on 11/29/09

Immediately after safety Kerry Rhodes picked off quarterback Jake Delhomme of the Panthers on November 29th at the Meadowlands and gunned the ball into the stands I told my Wife the NFL would fine him, and they did. The NFL announced that Rhodes has been fined $5,000 for the “offense”. If he played for the Green Bay Packers and scored a touchdown at home he’d hurl himself into the front row behind the end zone to perform the obligatory "Lambeau Leap". It’s okay to have fans pat you on helmet, back and fanny if you play in Green Bay but you better not throw a ball into the stands! I get what the NFL is saying but come on, give me a break! I’m glad he did it as it was one of the few bright spots for his otherwise dismal year so far.

Take 15% Off Custom Mets Jerseys – I Want One with "SEND HELP" in Nameplate

The New York Mets are offering custom jerseys at a 15% discount. I’d like to order one with number 1 and have the nameplate say “SEND HELP” instead of WILSON. It looks like we will have mediocre free agent signings at best this time around. That goodness we signed Alex Cora for another season! How many days until pitchers and catchers report?

Jets Defeat Bills 19-13 at Rogers Centre in Toronto Thursday

The New York Jets defeated the Buffalo Bills in a foreign country Thursday in a pretty boring game. I muted the sound during TV timeouts and almost fell asleep three times. The keys to the game were the Jets running all over the Bills defense and CB Darrelle Revis shutting down the locker room poison WR Terrell Owens. RB Thomas Jones led the way with 23 carries for 109 yards. Rookie RB Shonn Greene carried the ball 11 times for 59 yards. Even FB Tony Richardson, in his 15th season, carried the ball 2 times for 36 yards. WR Jerricho Cotchery had 4 receptions for 68 yards while WR Braylon Edwards had 3 for 45 yards with 1 touchdown. Edwards had one bounce off his helmet that would have been funny if they didn’t need that big play. He made up for it with an excellent catch and run as he broke the goal line plane wiht the ball. The Jets first two trips to the red zone resulted in field goals and I thought it would be one of those games. QB Mark Sanchez was pedestrian, going 7 of 15 for 104 yards with 1 touchdown. Sanchez missed an easy touchdown in the 1st quarter, where he looked like he threw off his back foot again and air mailed it. What hurt the Jets the most happened in the 3rd quarter when Sanchez hurt his knee. He made a gutsy run out of the pocket on a 3rd down play and dove between the linebackers to get the first down. He landed hard on his right knee and took himself out of the game two plays later. Rex Ryan said Sanchez has to grow up and learn to slide in those situations. He represents the entire organization and doesn’t want to see him diving forward. The MRI this morning indicated a PCL injury with more information forthcoming. I guess the sliding lesson earlier this week with New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi didn’t do much. QB Kellen Clemens went 1 for 2 for 14 yards with 1 fumble. Revis finally got his interception late in the 4th quarter that sealed the deal for the Jets. He had opportunities for 2 other picks during the game.

Rangers Make Roster Moves - Recall Chad Johnson, Ilkka Heikkinen from Hartford Wolf Pack & Assign Steve Valiquette to Hartford - Claim Erik Christensen From Ducks off Waivers

From hartfordwolfpack.com:

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that goaltender Chad Johnson and defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen have been recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), and goaltender Steve Valiquette has been assigned to Hartford.

Chad Johnson played well in the preseason and during the AHL season thus far and I’m glad he’s with the big club. My friend and I saw Heikkinen play with the Wolf Pack at the Rock in the preseason against the Lowell Devils and he looked good. John Tortorella is saying he wants Valiquette to get his game back with more playing time.

Mavericks Defeat Nets 117-101 at Izod Center to Make NBA History Wednesday

The Nets lost to Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks. Chris Douglas-Roberts led the Nets with 24 points in over 40 minutes. There is not much more to say then they are now the worst team in NBA history to open an NBA regular season with 18 straight losses. It was just too much Mav Dirk Nowitzki. Net fans don’t have a lot to cheer for at the moment. Wow, come to think of it, neither to Knick fans!

St. John's Defeats Stony Brook 63-55 at Carnesecca Arena Wednesday

The St. John’s Red Storm defeated the Stony Brook Seawolves at home on Wednesday. The Red Storm are off to a 6-0 start this season which is their best since 1994-95. D.J. Kennedy led the way again with 19 points. Sean Evans finished with 12 points. Head coach Norm Roberts said it was a total team win and the even scoring affirmed that. The student body chanted “We want Duke” throughout the game and my thought is “no you don’t!” The Red Storm travel to Durham, NC to play the #5 Duke Blue Devils for an afternoon game this Saturday. The will need to shoot better from the field to keep pace with Duke late in the 2nd half. I hope they do their best and give them a game.

16th Annual New York Rangers Toy Drive in Bryant Park, Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday 4:00 – 7:00 PM

Former Ranger great Adam Graves helped start the Toys for Tots program with the Marine Corps and it’s been a tremendous success. They collected more than 4,000 toys last year. Bryant Park will once again host the event this afternoon. Whatever you do don't bring up the rotten play by Rozie lately, it would be bad form!

From the Rangers website:

Callahan, Del Zotto, Gilroy, Girardi, Higgins and Rozsival to attend

The New York Rangers will continue a 16-year tradition this season with their annual Toys for Tots Toy Drive. Partnering with the United States Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program, the New York Rangers will collect toys for needy children in the tri-state area.

Adam Graves and current Rangers players Ryan Callahan, Michael Del Zotto, Christopher Higgins, Michal Roszival, Dan Girardi and Matt Gilroy will be at the Toy Drive to provide autographs and photo opportunities. Fans are encouraged to bring an unwrapped toy to donate to Toys for Tots, and in exchange will receive an autograph from a current player.

In addition to the toy collection, fans will have an opportunity to take pictures and skate with Rangers Alumni at The Pond at Bryant Park. Admission for skating is FREE and rental skates are available on site. Enjoy a fun-filled afternoon of Rangers activities including face painting, caricaturists, Santa and more! The Pond at Bryant Park is located at 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Ave. in Manhattan.

Nets Look to Not Make NBA History Wednesday and Not Go 0-18

The New Jersey Nets host former Net Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks at the Izod Center tonight at 7:30 PM. The Nets are 0-17 this season and if they lose tonight they will set the NBA record for most consecutive losses to begin a season. The only thing positive for the Nets is the looming move to Brooklyn. Coach Lawrence Frank was relieved of his coaching duties on the November 29th and general manager Kiki Vandeweghe will assume coaching duties. Thank goodness the Nets are in the same division of the Knicks as the Knicks would be the cellar dwellers! But Kiki will not be there tonight!

Penguins Defeat Rangers 5-2 at Garden and Lose the Home and Home Monday

The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden 5-2 on Monday night. They took both games of the home and home series. The Blueshirts played a much better game overall but there are still gaping holes that need to be filled. Henrik Lundqvist gives up too many soft goals and simply needs to be better. His goals against average is going up along with the mounting Ranger losses. They played well for the first two periods but could not match the Penguins in the third. The top line is the only line consistently scoring and Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury and Christopher Higgins can’t buy a goal. The great Marian Gaborik scored both goals (one a power play goal) last night and put himself in front of the net to do so. Hall of Famer Brett Hull always said goal scorers put themselves in position to score and bury the puck. Gaborik is one of those amazing players. After the whistle in front of the Penguin net Crosby hit Gaborik with his gloved hand in the 3rd period and Cindy bounced off Gaborik. In fact Gaborik didn’t even budge. It was pretty funny. Of course Bill Guerin stepped in and helped out. Michal Rozsival is stinking it up on defense and maybe he should be a healthy scratch once in a while. Lundqvist stopped 28 of 32 shots, including 8 on the Penguins power play and 1 shorthanded shot. It pained me to see the dirty former New Jersey Devil Mike Rupp score a hat trick, his third on an empty net goal as time ticked away. Bobby Sanguinetti is being sent back to the Hartford Wolf Pack to make room for the returning Wade Redden. The three stars of the game were Mike Rupp, Marian Gaborik Sidney (aka Cindy) Crosby.