It’s a legitimate question and one that was asked by Bill Williamson on his AFC West blog this week. My response is among the ones he included in his follow-up post today.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
It’s a legitimate question and one that was asked by Bill Williamson on his AFC West blog this week. My response is among the ones he included in his follow-up post today.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
In this week’s “You pick it” question on Bill Williamson’s AFC West blog, I followed my heart and talked about the Raiders, specifically Al Davis and his inability to make a decision regarding the team’s head coaching position.
I don’t know if Williamson puts these responses in any order, but it’s always nice to have the pole position of prominence and my comments are featured first this week.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
You know the drill by now. Bill Williamson has a “You pick it” question on his AFC West blog each week. More often than not, I write in with my response and, fortuntaely, Williamson often posts my remarks. This week, I opted to chime in on the Chargers seeing their season come to an end.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
With the Chargers’ loss on Sunday, the season is over for the AFC West. But Bill Williamson’s AFC West blog forges ahead. As always, Bill had a “Sound Off” question of the week. This time he asked if the Denver Broncos made the right hire by naming Josh McDaniels head coach. To read my thoughts and the responses of others, check out the full post on ESPN.com.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
It’s a busy time of year in the sports world, and you can tell it’s rubbing off on me. Three posts in one night! The hat trick comes, once again, by virtue of my thoughts being included on Bill Williamson’s AFC West blog. This time I’m weighing in on the AFC West story of the week, which I believe was the Chargers playoff win over the Colts.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
2008 was a great year for sports. Michael Phelps’ record-setting 8 gold medals highlighted the most exciting Olympic Games of my lifetime, which also included a gold medal for the Redeem Team in Men’s basketball as well as excitement in gymnastics from Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson and on the track from Usain Bolt.
In the NFL, the New England Patriots started the season 18-0 only to lose in one of the most dramatic and surprising Super Bowl outcomes of all-time against Eli Manning and the New York Giants.
The NBA saw the resurgence of its two most storied franchises when the Boston Celtics met the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals, won by Boston in six games.
College sports featured another upset-filled football season that saw a slew of top teams knocked off down the stretch, eventually setting up an LSU vs. Ohio State matchup in the BCS title game, which LSU won handily. And in basketball, Kansas ended the David-and-Goliath-like run of Davidson before upending Memphis thanks to a clutch shot from Mario Chalmers that will be replayed every March from now on.
Major League Baseball featured a season in which the previously-forever-futile Tampa Bay Rays removed the ‘Devil’ and beat out the Evil Empire New York Yankees and their Boston brethren to win the AL East and, eventually, the pennant before losing to the Philadelphia Phillies. For the City of Brotherly Love, it was their first title in the major four sports since 1983.
And in the NHL (yes, hockey reporting on MattHubert.com), Sid Crosby grew up as he led his Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup Finals where they fell to the Detroit Red Wings.
Yes, it was a good year for sports—just not for my teams in sports.
Most of my teams failed, plain and simple. But even those that had good seasons ended up breaking my heart.
The Lakers exceeded preseason expectations, but their Finals performance was disastrous—blowing a 24-point lead at home in Game 4 and folding to lose Game 6—and the series—by 39 points. The fact that this happened against archrival Boston was what hurt most of all, though, and all the year’s successes were mitigated by six lackluster games leaving me feeling empty and betrayed.
Likewise, in college hoops, UCLA had a strong season, riding freshman Kevin Love to the Final Four. It was the Bruins’ third straight trip to the Final Four, and with Love filling the void that had seemingly cost them in two previous losses—a formidable presence down low—it seemed like this was the year. But Love shot just 4-11 and Memphis outscored UCLA 40-28 in the second half to pull away for a victory that the Tigers controlled pretty much the whole way.
And if the Lakers and Bruins’ season-ending losses stung, at least they had some wins to get them there. The Raiders finished out the ’08 campaign with back-to-back victories to salvage something from a lost season, but they still finished 5-11, which made them the first team in NFL history to have five seasons in a row with at least 11 losses. They also fired coach Lane Kiffin, making interim Tom Cable the Raiders’ fifth head coach in six years.
Things were no better in the college ranks where Michigan won just three games, lost five games at the Big House, and missed a bowl for the first time since 1974.
In baseball, the A’s weren’t even relevant, and though they’ve been competitive in the decade, have never made a World Series appearance during the Moneyball era.
But 2008 is over, so it’s time to focus on the future.
Here now are 10 predictions, fears and dreams for 2009—five for the sports world at large and five focusing on my teams—the Lakers, Raiders, Michigan, UCLA and the Athletics.
Predictions
Fears
Dreams
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
Merry Christmas to everyone. Once again, my response was included on Bill Williamson’s AFC West blog on ESPN.com. This week I wrote in about my thoughts on the Broncos-Chargers division title showdown.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
You know the drill by now. ESPN’s AFC West blogger Bill Williamson poses a question, I respond, and, more often than not, he posts my comments along with a few others.
It’s been a nice system for me. This week my response to the AFC West story of the week focused on the Chargers’ big comeback against the Chiefs. To read my thoughts and more, check out Williamson’s most recent post.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
It’s no longer a surprise to see my comments on the ESPN.com AFC West blog of Bill Williamson, and that’s a good thing. For the second time this week, my response was included among the ones Williamson posted. I ranted about Randy Moss before. This time, I chimed in with my choice for the story of the week in the division, the Broncos losing another running back to injury.
I’ll keep writing, and hopefully this trend will continue.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.
Hell yes, I would boo Randy Moss. The ‘Sound Off’ question of the week from ESPN.com’s AFC West blogger Bill Williamson asked if Raiders fans should boo Randy Moss upon his return to Oakland this Sunday as a member of the New England Patriots.
My answer was a very strong yes. Read it and the other responses here.
For more information, visit MattHubert.com.