Category: Following Sports

Sports Forecast for Thursday, March 5, 2015

Sports is no fun if you don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s going on: In today’s segment, I covered:

  • NHL Hockey – New York Islanders at Nashville Predators, 8 p.m. ET on regional cable.
  • NBA Basketball – Oklahoma City Thunder at Chicago Bulls, 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
  • NBA Basketball – Dallas Mavericks at Portland Trailblazers, 10:30 p.m. ET on TNT.
  • And more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link. Music by Jesse Fischer.

What happened on Wednesday, March 4, 2015?

  1. U.S. Women challenged but come through: The United States Women’s National soccer team played their first game of the Algarve Cup, an international tournament in Portugal, yesterday against Norway. Despite dominating play in the first half, the United States went into halftime down 1-0. They regrouped and scored twice in the second half to beat Norway 2-1. This tournament doesn’t, in and of itself, mean that much, but it’s the best warm-up the world’s top-flight teams have before this summer’s World Cup.
    Line: The team looked good, but I’d be more comfortable with a 4-1 or 5-1 win than a 2-1 score.
  2. Russell Westbrook is unstoppable: Playing with a clear plastic mask to protect a broken bone in his face, Oklahoma City Thunder player, Russell Westbrook, scored 49 points, 16 rebounds, and 10 assists for his fourth triple-double (double digits in three major statistics) in a row. That’s an amazing feat, extremely rare in the modern game.
    Line: Westbrook is a force of nature.
  3. Hockey ramps up: More than any other sport, ice hockey transforms from the regular season to the playoffs. It’s almost like two entirely different games. As we approach the start of the playoffs in mid-April, the games are starting to get more and more intense. The Detroit Red Wings’ 2-1 overtime win over the New York Rangers fit that bill with tough defense and great goaltending.
    Line: The Red Wings look like they’re going to make the playoffs again… did you know that will be 23 years in a row?! By far the longest streak in American men’s professional sports.

Sports Forecast for Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Sports is no fun if you don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s going on: In today’s segment, I covered:

  • Women’s International Soccer – United States vs. Norway, 2 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1. I missed this when I was recording the podcast but I will 100% be watching it. You should too! It’s a good test for a suspiciously shaky U.S. soccer team trying to get itself into shape to win the World Cup this summer.
  • English Premier League Soccer – Chelsea at West Ham, 2:45 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
  • NHL Hockey – New York Rangers at Detroit Red Wings, 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
  • NBA Basketball – Portland Trailblazers at Los Angeles Clippers, 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • NCAA Men’s Basketball – Notre Dame at Louisville, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
  • And more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link. Music by Jesse Fischer.

What happened on Tuesday, March 3, 2015?

  1. Aston Villa escapes relegation, for now: Aston Villa is one of the handful of teams at the bottom of the English Premier League standings that’s desperately trying to scratch their way up to avoid being relegated (sent down to a lower league) at the end of the year. Their 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion yesterday was a big help.
    Line: Relegation makes games involving the worst teams almost as exciting as those involving the best.
  2. Vancouver embarrassed: The Vancouver Canucks are not having the elite kind of year they’re used to but they’re not a bad hockey team either. That’s why it was surprising that they lost 6-2 against the San Jose Sharks last night. They can chalk this defeat up, in part, to a goalie who had not played at all this year before last night. Jacob Markstrom let in three goals on the first four shots against him before getting pulled out of the game for good.
    Line: What a terrible way to make your season debut.
  3. One upset, one content in college basketball: Last night’s college basketball slate featured two games between teams in fifth place of their conference and teams in first place. Fifth place, Big East team Georgetown beat first place Butler 60-54, bolstering their case to make the NCAA tournament. Fifth place Big Twelve team, West Virginia, was on their way to doing the same thing in a convincing way against Kansas. Up 14 points at half-time, West Virginia still somehow managed to let Kansas catch up and eventually beat them in overtime. I guess “let” is the wrong verb. Kansas is really good at basketball.
    Line: Butler, Georgetown, and Kansas, West Virginia were a good sneak preview of how great March Madness is going to be this year. I can’t wait!

Sports Forecast for Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Sports is no fun if you don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s going on: In today’s segment, I covered:

  • English Premier League Soccer – West Bromwich Albion at Aston Villa, 2:45 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
  • NHL Hockey – San Jose Sharks at Vancouver Canucks, 10 p.m. ET on regional networks.
  • NBA Basketball – Houston Rockets at Atlanta Hawks, 7:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV.
  • NCAA Men’s Basketball – Georgetown at Butler, 7 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
  • NCAA Men’s Basketball – West Virginia at Kansas, 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
  • And more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link. Music by Jesse Fischer.

Sports Forecast for Monday, March 2, 2015

Sports is no fun if you don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s going on: In today’s segment, I covered:

  • Italian Serie A Soccer – Juventus at AS Roma, 2:45 p.m. ET on beIN Sports.
  • NHL Hockey – Trade deadline, 3 p.m. ET.
  • NHL Hockey – Nashville Predators at New York Rangers, 7 p.m. ET on regional networks.
  • NBA Basketball – Phoenix Suns at Miami Heat, 7:30 p.m. ET on NBA TV.
  • NCAA Men’s Basketball – Virginia at Syracuse, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • And more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link. Music by Jesse Fischer.

What happened on Thursday, February 26, 2015?

  1. LeBron James is (still) the best player in the NBA: The much ballyhood matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers turned into a showcase for LeBron James to remind us all how much better he is at basketball than everyone else when he wants to be. James scored 42 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists as his team beat the league leading Warriors with relative ease, 110-99.
    Line: There’s a reason people call LeBron the King.
  2. When only needing a tie goes wrong: Liverpool went into their match against Besiktas yesterday knowing that it only needed a draw to advance to the next round of the Europa League. So, it played for the tie, keeping possession of the ball and being pretty conservative all around. When Besiktas scored in the second half, Liverpool could never quite turn the attack mode back on and they eventually lost in a penalty kick shootout.
    Line: A more positive (soccer term for aggressive) approach might have been better for Liverpool and for those of us who watched the game.
  3. A wild Wild win: The Minnesota Wild went into Nashville and beat the first place Predators 4-2. This win puts the Wild just inside the playoffs. If they were to start today, the Wild would be the last team to qualify. They’ll need to keep their winning ways up for another month or so.
    Line: Nino Niederreiter (who scored two goals) sounds like the main character of a children’s book or a fun video game.

Sports Forecast for Friday, February 27, 2015

Sports is no fun if you don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s going on: In today’s segment, I covered:

  • NHL Hockey – Los Angeles Kings at Anaheim Ducks, 10 p.m. ET on regional networks.
  • NBA Basketball – Miami Heat at New Orleans Pelicans, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • NBA Basketball – Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trailblazers, 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
  • NCAA Women’s Basketball – Yale at Princeton, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN3.
  • And more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link. Music by Jesse Fischer.

What happened on Wednesday, February 25, 2015?

  1. Brutal end for Arsenal: Arsenal felt like they had clawed their way back into contention in their game against Monaco when they scored a goal in the 91st minute to bring the score from 2-0 to 2-1. Then, even later into stoppage time, they made a silly blunder on defense and gave that goal right back. Monaco won 3-1 which will make it virtually impossible for Arsenal to advance to the next round of the Champions League.
    Line: You work so hard to get that goal back and then you give it right back. Brutal.
  2. Rivalry indeed: NBC Network features one “rivalry” game each week on Wednesday nights. These “rivalries” are often pretty arbitrary and somewhat imaginary. Last night’s game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, however, lived up to its billing. There were seven goals and 34 penalty minutes! The Penguins came out on top, 4-3.
    Line: That almost looked like a playoff game. I can’t wait for playoff hockey.
  3. Fireworks for the Rockets: The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 110-105 last night thanks to a big performance off the bench from Corey Brewer. He scored his 20 points while wearing (as did all the Rockets) jerseys celebrating the Chinese New Year. The Rockets, thanks to the fact that the most famous Chinese basketball player ever, Yao Ming, used to play for their team, have enjoyed enormous popularity in China and clearly want to continue in that lucrative vein. Plus, they look really cool. I bet they’ll sell a lot of those jerseys in the United States too.
    Line: I know it’s just a coincidence but there’s something nice about the most popular NBA team in China being called the Rockets since fireworks are a big part of the Chinese New Year celebration.

Sports Forecast for Thursday, February 26, 2015

Sports is no fun if you don’t know what’s going on. Here’s what’s going on: In today’s segment, I covered:

  • Europa League Soccer – Liverpool at Besiktas,1 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.
  • NHL Hockey – Minnesota Wild at Nashville Predators, 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
  • NBA Basketball – Golden State Warriors at Cleveland Cavaliers, 8 p.m. ET on TNT.
  • And more!

For email subscribers, click here to get the audio.

You can subscribe to all Dear Sports Fan podcasts by following this link. Music by Jesse Fischer.