It was only a matter of time before we did another Duke game.

You read it, the Florida State Seminoles travel to Durham, North Carolina to play its final ACC road game of the season as they slug it out against No.7 Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Which of these two teams can gain an edge before the 2009 March Madness bracket tournament gets here?

The Florida State Seminoles can finish second place in the ACC standings with victories in its final two conference games of the 2008-09 season. Florida State is led by ACC Player of the Year candidate Toney Douglas and ACC Coach of the Year nominee Leonard Hamilton. The Seminoles were picked to finished 10th by the attending media at ACC Operation Basketball in October and enter Tuesday’s game in a tie for third place in the league standings.

The Seminoles have won six of their last eight games (all conference match-ups) and enters Tuesday’s game with the Duke Blue Devils carrying an overall record of 22-7, that’s the most regular season wins by Florida State since also winning 22 games prior to post-season play during the 1992-93 season.

The Seminoles also own a record of 9-5 in ACC play, that’s their most conference wins since winning nine during the 2005-06 season and tied for the third most ACC wins in school history. The Seminoles arrive in Durham looking to win their fifth ACC game and their 11th game away from Tallahassee this season.For Duke, after losing…

Read More » Duke Blue Devils host the Florida State Seminoles

It was a fitting end to yet another big poker tournament.

And while it was supposed to be Chris Ferguson’s time to shine, the favored poker pro floundered and Cornel Andrew Cimpan was crowned the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic champion.

Almost 700 players competed for the title but in the end, it was luck that determined the latest World Poker Tour champion. For overcoming the odds (and a marathon heads-up match against Binh Nguyen), Cimpan wins $1,686,250 in first prize money.

It was unfortunate for Chris Jesus Ferguson since he was in the chip lead before ending up with the shortest stack in the final table. He was eliminated first in what has been one of the biggest collapses in the tourney.

In his final hand, Ferguson raised only to be called by eventual champion Cornel Andrew Cimpan pre-flop. Flop was 10s-8d-8h. Ferguson checked and Cimpan moved in over the top pushing the pro all-in with pocket 4s. After thinking about it for a long time, Ferguson called with Ac-Kc.

Unfortunately for Jesus, God wasn’t on his side this time as the turn and river drew blanks. (We apologize for the blasphemous remark…)

Pat Walsh was eliminated next when his all-in preflop with Ad-2s were just no match against Binh Nguyen’s Ah-Jh. Fourth place and $430,963 went to another former chip leader, Chris Karagulleyan. Both players went…

Read More » Chris Jesus Ferguson eliminated early as Cornel Andrew Cimpan wins the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic

Shaq still got it. And for non-believers, Shaq has this to say, ”It’s what I do. I’ve been doing it since 1992. If you don’t believe it, Google me.”

Yes, Shaq just scored his second huge game of the 2009 NBA basketball season. After coming up with a massive 45-point performance against the Raptors last Friday, the Big Aristotle, Shaq-tus, or whatever it is he calls himself these days, scored 33 points to help the Suns finally beat the Lakers for the first time in four tries.

And as expected, the seven-foot, 300-pound mammoth of the Phoenix Suns has more than a few words to say about it. Hell, after a performance like that, that mammoth has every right to talk about it as much as he wants, as long as he still can.

”A lot of people thought I lost it,” Shaquille O’Neal said. ”It’s kind of funny to me, when I say ‘I’m injured,’ no one believes me. Last year I was injured and this year I’m feeling pretty good.”

After beating the Los Angeles Lakers, he should feel pretty good. After all, Shaq was without teammates Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire and being the focal point of the team’s offense last Sunday at this point of his career was sure nice for a veteran trying to salvage what’s left of his playing days.

Was Shaq last Sunday the same dominant center he was once when he was still playing in LA? Kobe Bryant felt otherwise, although he admits that Shaq has…

Read More » Shaquille O’Neal scores 33 to lead Suns over the Lakers

Just when you thought the Pistons have become irrelevant.

Detroit ended up with probably their biggest win of the 2009 NBA basketball season, beating the defending NBA champions Boston Celtics 105-95 at the Garden. Yeah, and the Pistons did that without their All-Star, Allen Iverson too.

How about that huh? I guess the Detroit Pistons can still turn this season around after all. THAT is if head coach Michael Curry will start Rip Hamilton and put either Stuckey or Iverson on the bench.

After all, with Richard Hamilton in the starting lineup in place for the injured Iverson, Rip torched the Celtics with a team-high 25 points as Detroit is now 2-0 since reinserting Hamilton back in the starting lineup.

The Pistons, after the win over the Boston Celtics, improved to 19-15 overall with Hamilton starting.

”You can tell they’re playing the system they played before Iverson got there,” Celtics forward Paul Pierce said. ”When Iverson is out there they’re still trying to figure out how to use each other, how to all be successful. But that group that’s out there is definitely comfortable because they’ve played together for years.”

It looks like even Paul Pierce can see that the Pistons are…

Read More » Detroit Pistons Rip the Boston Celtics Apart

Since we are merely DAYS away from the biggest tournament in college hoops, the Wildcats better bounce back alright.

Yes, the 10th-ranked Villanova Wildcats will try to bounce back from their ugliest offensive performance of the season Monday night when they visit the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, that is if they want to stay focused until the 2009 March Madness bracket tournament gets here.

The Villanova Wildcats (23-6, 11-5) have won nine of ten games from January 24 to February 25 to give itself a striking shot of cracking the Big East’s top four, a feat that would give it a double bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament at Madison Square Garden.

But the Wildcats’ chances of trading places with Marquette or Pittsburgh among the league’s elite took a blow Saturday. The Wildcats shot just 33.3 percent, 18.8 percent (3-for-16) from 3-point range, in a 56-54 home loss to Georgetown, which had lost nine of its previous 11.

The Wildcats can still catch Pittsburgh if they win their last two games and the Panthers drop their last two, but the more realistic chance looks to be tracking down Marquette. A loss by the Golden Eagles plus two Villanova victories will leave the fourth seed to a complicated tiebreaker.

On the other hand, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, aside from having another chance in three days to knock off a league heavyweight…

Read More » Can the Villanova Wildcats bounce back against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish before March Madness?

In case you didn’t know, the comeback from an injury-plagued season ended with another injury for the disgruntled forward.

Elton Brand, who was suppose to lead the Philadelphia 76ers back from obscurity this 2008-09 NBA basketball season, saw his year end abruptly after suffering a torn labrum during the first half of the season, leaving the Sixers organization with a lot of second guessing if signing Brand really was the right move in the first place.

Brand will have a torn labrum repaired and will not return to the Philadelphia 76ers roster until next season. Brand’s comeback from a separated right shoulder last year is now over and the two-time All-Star power forward will undergo season-ending surgery, hoping that he’ll still be able to salvage what’s left of his career.

This was disappointing, to say the least, considering that Elton Brand is still on his first of a five-year, $80 million contract. Brand, who was supposed to be a major impact player when he was signed by the Sixers.

Well, he DID made some sort of an impact when he cartwheeled over an opponent and landed on his right shoulder at the Wachovia Center last Dec.17 and missed a month before attempting an…

Read More » No More Brotherly Love for Philadelphia’s Elton Brand

Since there’s a scarcity of good wide receivers available in the free agency pool, every team will probably gun for T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

And since T.J. Houshmandzadeh is really the only big impact wideout available from free agency, teams probably won’t mind spending a few bucks more than they usually do in putting the quite lengthy Houshmandzadeh name on their own jersey for the coming 2009-10 NFL football season. Good thing Ben Roethlisberger isn’t available, YET.

So where will T.J. Houshmandzadeh go? Will he stay in Cincinnati or will he finally move on after all those losing seasons he had playing for the state of Ohio? (Yes, he probably won’t even bother signing up for the Cleveland Browns…)

As of this writing, Houshmandzadeh already resigned himself to another season with the Cincinnati Bengals. Normally, a player with a definite decision would mean that it won’t be anything indefinite but since we live in an era where Brett Favre can retire, play again, retire, play again and (you guessed it…) retire again, we should now know better.

But for the meantime, we’ll buy in with what Houshmandzadeh has already said. And if he does stay away from the Queen City, which of the league’s other 31 teams will he play for next? Let’s start with probably the most intriguing one, the New York Giants. Now that the Giants are…

Read More » Eeny Meeny Miny Mo, where’ll T.J. Houshmandzadeh go?

At least for one Sunday afternoon, Las Vegas won’t be about gambling.

Then again, we all know sports gamblers will still be betting on this race anyway. And since it’s still a free-for-all in these early stages of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, betting on these races and cashing in with an underdog should still be a breeze.

The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Shelby 427 this Sunday is one of the most exciting stops on the NASCAR schedule since it’s just a few miles north of The Strip and the Las Vegas Motor Speedway sits like a diamond in the desert.

Fifty-one teams have filed entries for this year’s event, that’s the second-most entries ever for a Sprint Cup race at the Las Vegas Motor Spedway. The most entries happened during the 2007 season, when a whopping 53 entires were filed.

Every former Cup winner at Las Vegas entered, including 2002 race winner Sterling Marlin, who did not attempt to qualify last year. Six Sprint Cup Series champions also are in the field.

This race has a history of multiple winners, as Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton have repeated as champions in Las Vegas. Johnson won three consecutive races (2005-07), while Kenseth (2003-04) and Burton (1999-2000)…

Read More » Who will win the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Shelby 427 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway this Sunday?

Probably because of the recession. Hee-hee…

Indianapolis’ second most popular football star (next to Peyton Manning of course…) is parting ways with the Colts, creating a lot of buzz in the process even before the 2009-10 NFL football season kicks off.

Yes, Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison has been having his problems with the Colts front office lately after team executives asked the veteran to take a pay cut. For a guy who has been one of the Colts’ most identifiable players, who ranks second in the league in career receptions and holds all of Indianapolis’ major career and season receiving records, it was understandable why the veteran isn’t too fond of the situation.

Understandably still, Marvin Harrison has already asked the Indianapolis Colts for his release even before the team decided to part ways with the star. What was the reason for the team to ask their premiere receiver to take a pay cut? Read on.

Indianapolis Colts president Bill Polian told reporters Sunday at the NFL annual scouting combine that the team was trying to…

Read More » Indianapolis Colts release wide receiver Marvin Harrison

And it’s all because of, of all things, an eye injury.

I guess you can now say that Amare Stoudemire won’t be SEEING the light of day this 2009 NBA basketball season huh? Just when you thought the Suns are finally back to form after scoring a whopping 284 points in their first two games with new head coach Alvin Gentry, they’re back in the radar with the same sense of uncertainty.

Phoenix Suns star forward Amare Stoudemire could miss the rest of the regular season after suffering a partially detached retina in his right eye. Before the season began, Stoudemire suffered a partially torn iris in the same eye that forced him to wear those ”very cool goggles” for seven games. He opted to be done with it soon after. And while Stoudemire managed to play without the goggles for a while, it bit him hard in the ass three games after the All-Star break.

So with Stoudemire out, what does the future hold for the Phoenix Suns now? Can these guys still rally for a playoff spot? Probably not since the Utah Jazz beat both the Celtics and the Lakers to stay ahead of Phoenix, and since earning a playoff spot in the West would mean they have to win at least 50 games, I’m not so sure if Phoenix would be able to come through.

With Stoudemire out, the Suns will no longer have the pleasure of having probably the game’s best finisher in their run and gun style of play. Hell, these guys might even opt to return to the half court offense since Shaquille O’Neal is…

Read More » Amare Stoudemire out for the rest of the NBA Season