An advice column for people who live with people who live for sports
What happened on Monday, December 9, 2014?
Tradition has its say in England: The topsy turvy season in the British Premier League is slowly turning right-side-up as the traditional soccer powers return to the top. Yesterday Manchester City beat upstart Southampton 2-1 thanks to two goals from Robin van Persie. Line: Southampton had the better of the play but no striker as dangerous as van Persie.
Snow in Lambeau: The beautiful falling snow at the Green Bay Packers’ home stadium was one of the highlights in a highlight filled game. The Packers ended up edging by the Atlanta Falcons 43-37 but it never felt as close as the final score would suggest. The Falcons scored 20 points in the fourth quarter while the Packers were mostly on coast-to-the-end mode. Line: It’s getting to the point where I find it hard to imagine any NFC title game other than Packers vs. Seahawks.
Basketball players step up in Brooklyn: LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and his teammate Kyrie Irving and four Brooklyn Nets: Jarrett Jack, Deron Williams, Alan Anderson, and Kevin Garnett wore “I Can’t Breathe” t-shirts during warm-ups in support of Eric Garner’s family and in protest of police violence and the justice system’s insufficient response. In doing so, they follow, and significantly enlarge a trend started by Chicago Bulls player, Derek Rose, a couple days ago. The Cavaliers easily handled the Nets, 110-88, but for me at least, the visibility of the players’ social gesture (in front of Prince William and Kate Middleton AND Beyonce and Jay-Z) outweighs the game by a lot. Line: Oh, sure, the Nets are sneaky bad at basketball, but I’m just happy about the pre-game shirts.
Rangers beat Penguins in overtime: The last time the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers played, they needed overtime, a shootout, and then a second shootout to decide a winner. This game looked (I was there! Carefully following my own rules for being a fan of the away team!) like it was headed to a shootout but the Rangers scored a pretty goal in overtime to end it decisively, 4-3. Line: That was an entertaining game!
