Hey guys! The Autistic Sports Nerd here and we have a lot to talk about. Let's get right into it.
Olympics
Remember last week when I told you guys that the Hockey team was doing a pool for Olympic Men's Hockey? It turns out that I am in first place right now out of 30 players and the coaches. Out of every game played as of right now, I have only lost one pick so far. My teammates were shocked that I was able to pick Slovakia over Russia and Czech Republic over Slovakia successfully. AT least four different guys wondered why I made those picks.
I knew Slovakia had good shooters so I took a shot at the upset and it worked. Same with Czeck Republic with Jagr, Nylander, and Straka.
Hey Coach Heenan! Did you not laugh when I first picked USA over Canada? I declared that USA would upset Canada and you laughed at me and vowed never to read my blog again. If you are reading this blog, you are reading my words while eating your words. Team USA defeats Canada 5-3 thnaks to great goal-tending from Ryan Miller, a clutch goal by Drury and a pair of goals by Rafalski.
Canada stacked their team with superstars and they are paying the price. Teams filled with Superstars destroys chemistry and causes a team to not have success. Look at the Cowboys. Look at the Yankees from 2002-2008. They have/had teams full of Superstars but that didn't help them win.
Teams like the Pistons of 2004, Giants of 2007, the Knicks of the 90's, etc. They didn't have big superstars. They just had role-players that worked well together, formed great chemistry and won championships. Well, not the Knicks but they consistently came close.
USA doesn't have Superstars on their team, just role-players and great goal-tending. That's why they are the number one seed right now in the tournament.
I am dreaming of a Gold Medal game between USA and defending Champion-Sweden.
What everyone thought would be this year's Gold Medal game turns out to be a quarter-final match between Canada and Russia. Crosby vs. Oveckin..and Malkin. Sounds odd doesn't it. I will pick Canada to win this game because Roberto Luango is a great goaltender which will make the difference. Luango is obviously used to playing in Vancouver. Whoever loses, no medal for them.
In Women's Hockey, it's USA vs. Canada in the Gold Medal game. Hopefully USA pulls off a huge upset and wins the gold. USA, USA, USA, USA!
NBA
The Knicks aquire T-Mac from the Rockets and Nate is now a Celtic. Nate made his debut with the Celtics tonight against the Knicks as the Knicks lost by four. They are 0-3 since acquiring T-Mac. T-Mac is still a great addition for the Knicks even if he is passed his prime. Hopefully the Knicks resign him this summer.
NFL
Ladanian Tomlinson has been released by the Chargers while another great running-back, Brian Westbrook, has been released by the Eagles. Teams will be lining up to try and sign these players. Stay tuned...
Wrestling
Watched the Elimination Chamber Pay-Per-View with my friends, the Atwoods. We plan on watching WrestleMania 26 as well. The Undertaker will put his WrestleMania undefeated streak on the line against Shawn Michaels who will put his career on the line. These two put on a classic at last year's WrestleMania but will they be able to top that performance this year? I love the Streak vs. Career concept as it makes the match more unpredictable and exciting. If Undertaker's 17-0 streak ends at anytime, this would be it. This is a tough match to call.
TNA will be permanently moving to Monday Nights to compete with the WWE starting on March 8th. Hopefully the Monday Night War becomes intense like it was between the WWE and WCW during the mid-to-late 1990's. Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff are running things in TNA against Vince McMahon and the WWE. TNA put a show on Monday Night back on January 4th which was Hogan's TNA debut and they ended up scoring the highest rating in their eight year history. Will they be successful on a weekly basis? Only time will tell.
Volleyball for Disabilities
The Autism Awareness Club is hosting a volleyball event, Volleyball for Disabilities which is a tournament to benefit people with disabilities. Each team that enters the tournament submit $8. Half of the total money made goes to the winning team while the other half of the total money goes to the Kelberman Center to benefit children and adults with disabilities. Twelve teams have entered our tournament including our team, the Disability Abilities.
Opening round matchups took place earlier tonight. It was cool because earlier this afternoon, I overheard two people talking that three teams tried recruiting them for volleyball. Nice! I even overheard another pair talking and saying the game will be at 10:05pm. It was cool to hear people on campus buzzing about this event.
I was interviewed on Camera for by a student in a broadcasting class as we talked about the tournament, why I created it, and other details. She even took the camera and filmed footage of the games later that night. It was incredible. At the same time, I was interviewed by a writer from the Tangerine. (The Tangerine not only participated but donated $10 instead of $8 so thank you guys!!)
Our event is getting a lot of publicity which is a great thing. We are spreading awareness of people with disabilities and it has been a huge success so far. Hockey players, football players, PRSSA Members, Volleyball Players, Occupational Therapy, Intramural Athletes, Cross Country Players, Basketball Players, the Tangerine, the Chi Betas, math people, and more have participated in this tournament. Thank you to every team and individual who has participated and donated.
Quarter-final matches take place next Tuesday and the Disability Abilities will be making their debut against the PRSSA, an organization I am also involved in so it will be unusual facing them.
UC Hockey
The Utica College Pioneers lost to Hobart 4-1 on Friday night in Geneva. In a rematch the next night, The Pioneers tied the game at three in the third period, killed a five on three that lasted just under two minutes at the end of regulation and in the beginning of overtime, to earn a hard-fought 3-3 tie. Kyle Guestin and Patrick Dunn started their first games of their Collegiate careers for the Pioneers and they played extremely well.
The Pioneers travel to Neumann tomorrow to take on the defending ECAC West Conference and Division III National Champion Neumann Knights. The Knights eliminated us in the quarter-finals last year in Neumann on their way to the Conference and National title. In the quarter-finals of this year, hopefully things will be different.
Alex Dawes, our manager and partner in video, is the younger brother of Neumann Head Coach Dominick Dawes who used to be our assistant Head Coach before being hired by Neumann before he could coach a game for us. I remember riding in his car with him to our camping trip my sophomore year.
I asked Alex what everyone wanted to know. Who was their mother rooting for? He told me that she won't tell him. The Pioneers haven't won a playoff game since 2006. That drought ends tomorrow. I will make a special blog post on Thursday exclusively recapping the game. Hopefully we pull off an upset. If we win, we play at the number one seed Elmira on Saturday. If we lose, we wait until next year. It's do-or-die for the Pioneers. Let's rock and roll!
I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good night guys!!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Autistic Sports Nerd's Blog #42
Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here and this is the 42nd edition of my blog. Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year. It was also my cousin's birthday so Happy Birthday C.J! I spent all of that triple-combo day studying for both my Math and Psychology exams and getting a workout in. Let's get right into it.
Olympics
The Winter Olympics are here. Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash, and other Legendary Canadians helped light the torch during the opening ceremony. When it comes to the Olympics, I will mainly follow hockey but will try and pay attention to the other sports as well.
In Female Hockey, Canada destroyed Slovakia 18-0. Ouch!! Mike Emrick a.k.a "Doc" sounded so bored when he is usually very enthusiastic. He even said at one point "Will Slovakia be able to get some shots" rather than goals. Glad the Canadian fans gave an inexperienced Slovakia team a nice ovation at the end.
USA slaughtered China, with the score being 10-0 or something like that. USA! USA!
The UC Hockey team has a pool going for the Men's Hockey. I picked USA to upset Canada and our Canadian Head Coach Gary Heenan has vowed never to read my blog again as a result of my nationalist prediction. You better not read my blog if and when USA upsets Canada Coach!
NBA
The Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 141-139 at Cowboys' Stadium. I would say that is a high scoring game but regular NBA games have had these kind of scores lately so it's not a rare occurrence. I didn't watch the game but I'm curious, did the basketball hit that giant HD scoreboard when someone tried shooting the ball?
NHL
The Rangers have won their last two games before the break. The first game was an upset victory over the Penguins 3-2 in overtime at the Igloo. Combining both regular season and playoffs, this is the first Rangers' victory at Pittsburgh since my freshman year of college in 2007 and it was a 4-3 score.....in overtime. I did not research this, it's based on my memory. The Rangers won their next game as well over the Lightning 5-2 after being down by two after one. Sean Avery scored on a penalty shot. It was a sick move he made.
Remember when I told you guys my fascination over the Los Angeles Kings? The same night when I posted the blog with the Los Angeles Kings in it I had a dream that Coach Heenan took us on a trip to Los Angeles........on a train. A train trip to Los Angeles........
UC Basketball
Congratulations to our Women's Basketball team as the Utica College Pioneers have been ranked number five in the region. The Pioneers will be competing in the Empire 8 playoffs this year so best of luck to the Pioneers. Both Men's and Women's basketball teams have home games against Elmira on Sunday February 21st so be there!
UC Men's Hockey
It was a tough weekend for the Pioneers at Rye Playland. Manhattanville swept us 7-2 and 7-3. We are officially locked in the 5th seed and will play a playoff game against the Defending ECAC West Conference and Division III National Champion Neumann Knights on the road on Wednesday February 24th. Our last two regular season games are this weekend at Hobart.
I remember the last regular season weekend of last year. We were locked in the number five seed as well with nothing to play for. We had a home and home against the Number four ranked team in the nation, Elmira. We skated to a 4-4 tie with them at the AUD. The next night, we traveled to their place in Elmira. We had nothing to play for while Elmira was hoping to clinch the Number One seed in our Conference.
It was a fast-paced, back and forth, and emotional game. We were trailing 3-2 in the third period then tied it at three. With about a minute to go, we scored to make it 4-3 and I'll never forget how Coach Heenan and Sean Weiman were jumping up and down, celebrating from the bench. The players were obviously pumped up as well. But the coaches, usually they are poised and nonchalant after we score a goal but they were pumped. Elmira took a face-off in our zone and I saw Coach Heenan clapping both his hands repeatably, urging the players to hang on. Elmira was setting up during the play but the buzzer sounded and we pulled off an upset.
Elmira was still able to clinch the number one seed but you know what? The UC Pioneers with nothing to play for in the standings upset a Top five team and Number One in our Conference. This team didn't care where they are in the standings, they played for pride, momentum, and for the love of the game. They are competitors. Sure it did nothing for them in the standings but it was a great character win. Out of the nine seasons of this program, I have only been here for almost three full seasons but I would rank that victory that night, in the Top Five Greatest Wins in the history of this program.
Moving back to this past weekend, we were all watching the Women's Manhattaville team because they had a game before our game. I noticed that they were wearing a blue puzzle piece on their right shoulder.
Could it be....An Autism Puzzle Piece they were wearing?
I had to go and investigate.
I talked to a parent of the Women's team. He said he had no idea what that was. I went to another parent down the aisle. This was a woman. She informed me that the Mahanttanville Women's team had an Autism Awareness Night just two weeks prior. I knew through my friend Victoria, the Secretary of the Autism Awareness Club, that Manhattanville had Walks for Autism just like Utica. This was incredible. I told the parent I had Autism and she told me I seemed to be doing well. We shook hands and I left.
I just so happened to wear my Autism Speaks Winter Hat with my suit. After the game was over, a player on the Manhattanville Women's team was stretching on one of the seating areas. I asked her about the Autism puzzle and she also informed me of the Autism Awareness Night two weeks prior. I told her that I was autistic myself.
Finally, I talked to the Head Coach of the Manhattanville Men's Hockey team. He also reiterated about the Autism Awareness Night a couple weeks prior and once again, I explained to him that I was Autistic. He also informed me that a former Captain of the New York Rangers was here at Rye Playland the night prior. The Rangers used to practice at this very rink in Rye Playland.
Speaking of Autistic, they have decided to do away with the Aspergers diagnosis and will now label us as Autistic within the Autism Spectrum. To here my thoughts on this, head to the next Autism Awareness Meeting which is Wednesday March 10th at 6pm in the Boelhert Conference Center at Utica College. I will also be putting a post out on it in my Autism Blog.
I will say this, I think the Autistic Sports Nerd sounds a lot better than the Aspergers Sports Nerd.
I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good night guys!!
Olympics
The Winter Olympics are here. Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash, and other Legendary Canadians helped light the torch during the opening ceremony. When it comes to the Olympics, I will mainly follow hockey but will try and pay attention to the other sports as well.
In Female Hockey, Canada destroyed Slovakia 18-0. Ouch!! Mike Emrick a.k.a "Doc" sounded so bored when he is usually very enthusiastic. He even said at one point "Will Slovakia be able to get some shots" rather than goals. Glad the Canadian fans gave an inexperienced Slovakia team a nice ovation at the end.
USA slaughtered China, with the score being 10-0 or something like that. USA! USA!
The UC Hockey team has a pool going for the Men's Hockey. I picked USA to upset Canada and our Canadian Head Coach Gary Heenan has vowed never to read my blog again as a result of my nationalist prediction. You better not read my blog if and when USA upsets Canada Coach!
NBA
The Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 141-139 at Cowboys' Stadium. I would say that is a high scoring game but regular NBA games have had these kind of scores lately so it's not a rare occurrence. I didn't watch the game but I'm curious, did the basketball hit that giant HD scoreboard when someone tried shooting the ball?
NHL
The Rangers have won their last two games before the break. The first game was an upset victory over the Penguins 3-2 in overtime at the Igloo. Combining both regular season and playoffs, this is the first Rangers' victory at Pittsburgh since my freshman year of college in 2007 and it was a 4-3 score.....in overtime. I did not research this, it's based on my memory. The Rangers won their next game as well over the Lightning 5-2 after being down by two after one. Sean Avery scored on a penalty shot. It was a sick move he made.
Remember when I told you guys my fascination over the Los Angeles Kings? The same night when I posted the blog with the Los Angeles Kings in it I had a dream that Coach Heenan took us on a trip to Los Angeles........on a train. A train trip to Los Angeles........
UC Basketball
Congratulations to our Women's Basketball team as the Utica College Pioneers have been ranked number five in the region. The Pioneers will be competing in the Empire 8 playoffs this year so best of luck to the Pioneers. Both Men's and Women's basketball teams have home games against Elmira on Sunday February 21st so be there!
UC Men's Hockey
It was a tough weekend for the Pioneers at Rye Playland. Manhattanville swept us 7-2 and 7-3. We are officially locked in the 5th seed and will play a playoff game against the Defending ECAC West Conference and Division III National Champion Neumann Knights on the road on Wednesday February 24th. Our last two regular season games are this weekend at Hobart.
I remember the last regular season weekend of last year. We were locked in the number five seed as well with nothing to play for. We had a home and home against the Number four ranked team in the nation, Elmira. We skated to a 4-4 tie with them at the AUD. The next night, we traveled to their place in Elmira. We had nothing to play for while Elmira was hoping to clinch the Number One seed in our Conference.
It was a fast-paced, back and forth, and emotional game. We were trailing 3-2 in the third period then tied it at three. With about a minute to go, we scored to make it 4-3 and I'll never forget how Coach Heenan and Sean Weiman were jumping up and down, celebrating from the bench. The players were obviously pumped up as well. But the coaches, usually they are poised and nonchalant after we score a goal but they were pumped. Elmira took a face-off in our zone and I saw Coach Heenan clapping both his hands repeatably, urging the players to hang on. Elmira was setting up during the play but the buzzer sounded and we pulled off an upset.
Elmira was still able to clinch the number one seed but you know what? The UC Pioneers with nothing to play for in the standings upset a Top five team and Number One in our Conference. This team didn't care where they are in the standings, they played for pride, momentum, and for the love of the game. They are competitors. Sure it did nothing for them in the standings but it was a great character win. Out of the nine seasons of this program, I have only been here for almost three full seasons but I would rank that victory that night, in the Top Five Greatest Wins in the history of this program.
Moving back to this past weekend, we were all watching the Women's Manhattaville team because they had a game before our game. I noticed that they were wearing a blue puzzle piece on their right shoulder.
Could it be....An Autism Puzzle Piece they were wearing?
I had to go and investigate.
I talked to a parent of the Women's team. He said he had no idea what that was. I went to another parent down the aisle. This was a woman. She informed me that the Mahanttanville Women's team had an Autism Awareness Night just two weeks prior. I knew through my friend Victoria, the Secretary of the Autism Awareness Club, that Manhattanville had Walks for Autism just like Utica. This was incredible. I told the parent I had Autism and she told me I seemed to be doing well. We shook hands and I left.
I just so happened to wear my Autism Speaks Winter Hat with my suit. After the game was over, a player on the Manhattanville Women's team was stretching on one of the seating areas. I asked her about the Autism puzzle and she also informed me of the Autism Awareness Night two weeks prior. I told her that I was autistic myself.
Finally, I talked to the Head Coach of the Manhattanville Men's Hockey team. He also reiterated about the Autism Awareness Night a couple weeks prior and once again, I explained to him that I was Autistic. He also informed me that a former Captain of the New York Rangers was here at Rye Playland the night prior. The Rangers used to practice at this very rink in Rye Playland.
Speaking of Autistic, they have decided to do away with the Aspergers diagnosis and will now label us as Autistic within the Autism Spectrum. To here my thoughts on this, head to the next Autism Awareness Meeting which is Wednesday March 10th at 6pm in the Boelhert Conference Center at Utica College. I will also be putting a post out on it in my Autism Blog.
I will say this, I think the Autistic Sports Nerd sounds a lot better than the Aspergers Sports Nerd.
I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good night guys!!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
The Autistic Sports Nerd's Blog #41
Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here, and this is the 41st edition of this blog. Just got done watching the Super Bowl with the Hockey guys at Alumni.
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl between the Saints and the Colts was played at what's now called Sun Life Stadium. This is seriously the seventh different name this Stadium has had. I ranted about this in a blog post, months back. Pick a name and stick with it!
The Saints who trailed 10-0 at the beginning of the game, rallied to beat the Colts 31-17 to win their first Super Bowl in the history of the franchise. That ties the record for biggest deficit to overcome to win a Super Bowl. Back in Super Bowl 22 (1987 Season), the Redskins trailed the Broncos 10-0 and rallied to blow them out.
Peyton Manning, who was on fire entering the Super Bowl, looked good for the first three Quarters. Then, with just over three minutes left in the Fourth Quarter, the Colts down by seven, Peyton throws a pick-six. That put the Colts in a 14 point hole. Peyton had a second chance to pull the Colts close again but failed to throw a TD Pass on fourth down, clinching the Super Bowl victory for the Saints.
No Question the City of New Orleans deserved a Super Bowl title, especially with the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina back in the summer of 2005. The New Orleans Saints franchise deserved it as well. They displayed moxie throughout the entire game. They decided to try and go for a touchdown at the end of the first half instead of a field goal...but failed.
At the beginning of the second half, however, the Saints went for an onside kick on an ensuing kickoff and they were able to recover it. In my opinion, that was the turning point of the game as the Saints offense clicked from that point. Drew Brees was incredible for that second half. The Saints' defense forced turnovers and had clutch stops.
Add it all up and the Saints are now the defending Super Bowl Champions. Congratulations New Orleans Saints!! Congrats to Jeremy Shockey as well. I felt bad he couldn't play when the Giants won it against the Patriots two years ago. Now this more than makes up for it for Shockey.
I learned from my Hockey teammates that in NFL Football games, there are only seventeen minutes of actual "playing time" per game. Wow! You learn something new everyday.
During the game, it was noted that the Saints only won two playoff games the previous 42 years. They didn't announce which years they were but I used my Autistic talent to instantly remember that the Saints won a Wild Card playoff game over the Rams in 2000 and a Divisional playoff game against the Eagles back in 2006, both games at home. Yeah, it pays to be Autistic. Anyway, the Saints won three playoff games this year alone, including the Super Bowl. Once again, congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, their fans, and the city of New Orleans.
NHL
Last Tuesday Night, the Rangers played the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 pm eastern time. Earlier that night, I hosted an Autism Awareness Club lecture on unusual talents, interests, and knowledge. Back in the mid 1990's when I was a young kid, my secondary team was the Los Angeles Kings. The reason why I liked the Kings was because I loved their old logo and I loved the colors of their home and way jerseys which were black and silver.
In fact, during the 1994-1995 season, the Kings hosted the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on ESPN. i remember that game so well, because that game was the first non-Rangers' game I have ever watched which I guess made me like the Kings even more. My dad even got me a Wayne Gretzky poster for my room of him in a white Kings' jersey over the city of Los Angeles. It was a great poster. That is the only time I went out of my way to showcase a poster of another team. I loved Gretzky when I was younger but not because he was great, but because he played for the Kings.
Here's a story: Back in the 1995-1996 season, the Rangers were scheduled to play the Kings at 10:30 pm because of the time zone in Los Angeles. I wanted to watch that game so bad, because it was my favorite team and secondary team going at it. The game was being played on a school night. I was in the second grade at the time. I begged my parents to let me stay up and watch the game. My parents refused.
I kept begging and begging. Finally, my parents agreed to let me stay up and watch the Ranger game that night. However, there was a sacrifice that had to be made. The Rangers' next game was scheduled to be at Anaheim against the Mighty Ducks. My dad said that game was going to be played on a Saturday night. My mom said that if I watched the Rangers play the Kings that night, I wouldn't be able to watch the Rangers play the Mighty Ducks (another 10:30 pm game) even though it wouldn't be played on a school night. I agreed and accepted the deal. I was happy.
Watching that Rangers-Kings game that night, I saw a commercial that the Rangers will be playing the Mighty Duck on Friday Night. My dad must have made a mistake. He thought the game was on Saturday night but the game was really being played on Friday. I didn't think it was necessary to tell my parents that so I kept it to myself. In the end, I watched the Rangers play the Kings AND watched the Rangers play the Mighty Ducks.
I explained all of that to the audience during the Autism Awareness Meeting because I figured that my fascination in the colors and logo of the Kings were traits of Autism. Later that night, I watched the Rangers play at the Kings, on a school night at 10:30 pm, approximately fourteen years after that whole begging scenario.
Oh yeah, the Rangers upset the Devils last night 3-1. Yeah!
Alex Ovechkin had a hat-trick as the Capitals rallied to beat the Penguins 5-4 in overtime.
I ahte to admit it, but acquiring Ilya Kovalchuck from the Thrashers has made the Devils the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. I hope I am wrong.
NBA
LeBron James scores 47 points against my Knicks last Saturday night. The Knicks of course lost that game. Ugh, we are going down hill and fast.
UC Women's Basketball
Congratulations to the UC Women's Basketball for being Regionally ranked at number five. They are having a great season and hopefully can win their second Empire 8 Championship in the history of our college. Go UC!!
Intramurals at UC
I made amistake. A record setting sixteen teams are in the basketball B-League this semester, not fifteen. I knew the number but written "fifteen" by mistake. Oops, my bad!!
Team Autism played in their first game of the double elimination tournament last Wednesday. With so many teams, my boss converted the mini regular season + playoffs to a double elimination tournament.
A lot of my teammates couldn't show up because they had other important commitments which were all understandable, obviously. I was the only one who came for our team. With just a couple of minutes before game-time, I had to do some last-second recruiting and fast.
80% of the time I make my own team, this ends up happening. I run up and ask random strangers if they want to play for my team at the last second just to get enough players to play. I never EVER forfeit. I even missed the middle innings of the Yankees World-Series Clinching game to play basketball for Team Autism and laughed at the people who did forefeit because of the Yankees' game. No offense guys.
I recruited a Volleyball team seconds before our first game was to be played in the Fall of 2008. I got lucky because I recruited these strangers "randomly." We ended up going all the way to the Championship game and lost the rubber match by a single point. (The "at least two point or higher for victory" rule didn't apply for some reason.)
During Winter Softball last year, none of my guys showed up. The football coaches lost their game. (My team was scheduled to play after them.) When they lost, I recruited all of them to my team. They agreed. We beat the team that beat them earlier and ended up winning the Softball Championship and $300. Yeah, I got REALLY lucky right there.
Anyway, I finally had enough players to play. It was just the five of us against the Mob 4, a team stacked with bench players. Luckily a few of my teammates played basketball in High School. We played them tough. We kept tying the score over and over again but towards the end of the second half, we were a bit gassed and they pulled away. We lost 26-18.
My teammates showed a lot of heart and endurance. They were poised. Our opponents were really good. Neither of our teams had players that were talented and flashy athletes. Our teams just had gritty players who played physical and provided pressure. That was a fun game to be a part of and thank you to the referees for not calling it too tight.
I admit, I do get a bit ego-statistical because I like to keep track of my stats for each game in my head. I am notorious for doing this in whiffleball games. I was the tallest player on our team, so I played the Center position for the first time in my life.
My stats:
4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, one block, two assists, and four fouls. (Three of them were intentional)
The fact that I calculated these stats in my head is another talent of Autism. You know, with all of this talk about Autism, I minus well put this in my Autism blog. Hey Mr. Autism Awareness, consider this a gift from the Autistic Sports Nerd! P.S: I will have another post for the Autism Blog sometime this week about the last meeting we had and meeting Connor as well as Connor, Nick B, Christopher/Jennifer, and myself combining forces to pull off a heck of a meeting.
I was also proud the way I played defense by providing the pressure and forcing turnovers. That's how I played when the staff team and I won the B League Championship my Freshman year in the Spring of 2008. My defensive intensity was missing from my game ever since I formed my own basketball teams.
Anyway, enough of my ego-trip. I want to thank Jam, Brenna, Amber, and Mo for joining the team at the last second. You guys played hard, never gave up, showed great leadership, and showed a lot of heart. These guys have agreed to play in our next game on Wednesday February 17th at 9:15 pm against Bow Qui Qui. All of a sudden, new friendships are developing. That's why I love intramerials. You make new friends.
In fact Matthew Galbraith, an active participant on the Team Autism teams, is going to be my roommate next year, barring me getting the RA position for next year. That's another reason why I love intramural sports. Hopefully Team Autism get its first ever victory on the 17th.
Chaos at a kids' Hockey Game
It was a couple hours before UC Hockey had its Senior Night. I was setting up the video equipment up at the Press-box as the Mohawk Valley Pioneers (kids around the ten year old range) were playing another team. A player from the other team smashed into a Mohawk player to the boards causing him to fall on the ice. A mother in the stands was screaming and got very angry. When the kid who caused the hit went into the penalty box, a man working in the penalty box grabbed the kid and started screaming at him. The referees forced him out of the box and was ejected. The parents/fans were cursing at him and the man was cursing back.
The same mother who screamed earlier went to the fans of the opposing team and started arguing with them and had to be dragged back by her friend as they both left the rink. The kid who got hit ended up being alright. The game ended in a one to one tie.
Wow...I mean, it's a little kids' game. You never see this at a College or professional game. I challenge that man to grab a full sized college or professional player. The kid didn't mean to hurt him. It was an accident. People need to calm down. It's crazy!!
UC Hockey
It was Senior Night. The Pioneers beat Lebanon Vally, 6-5 the night before and hoped to sweep the weekend.
Eight of our seniors were honored:
Dave Burkholder
Sean McKevitt
Matt Jimenez
Vincent Nucci
Jeff Pappalardi
Matt Fitzgibbons
Aaron Jeffery
Anthony Luckow
Congratulations guys and we'll miss you! Nucci scored an empty net goal for his last regular season game at the AUD. McKevitt scored a goal and I believe Jeffery and Fitz had assists. Congratulations to our goalie, Anthony Luckow as he made his 1,000th career save during that game. Amazing that he did it in his final regular season home game at the AUD.
Aaron Jeffery, our team captain, has had a huge impact on my college career. He was the one that asked me to join the team back when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore. I wouldn't be on this team if it wasn't for him. Thank you so much Jeffery and good luck!
UC defeated Lebanon Valley 4-1 and swept the weekend. We had our traditional senior night post-game party at a place where I forget the name but it was a bar and restaurant type of place. Coach Heenan made a speech, we ate, and we danced for a bit. We all had a great time. It was a great weekend.
I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good night guys!!
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl between the Saints and the Colts was played at what's now called Sun Life Stadium. This is seriously the seventh different name this Stadium has had. I ranted about this in a blog post, months back. Pick a name and stick with it!
The Saints who trailed 10-0 at the beginning of the game, rallied to beat the Colts 31-17 to win their first Super Bowl in the history of the franchise. That ties the record for biggest deficit to overcome to win a Super Bowl. Back in Super Bowl 22 (1987 Season), the Redskins trailed the Broncos 10-0 and rallied to blow them out.
Peyton Manning, who was on fire entering the Super Bowl, looked good for the first three Quarters. Then, with just over three minutes left in the Fourth Quarter, the Colts down by seven, Peyton throws a pick-six. That put the Colts in a 14 point hole. Peyton had a second chance to pull the Colts close again but failed to throw a TD Pass on fourth down, clinching the Super Bowl victory for the Saints.
No Question the City of New Orleans deserved a Super Bowl title, especially with the tragic events of Hurricane Katrina back in the summer of 2005. The New Orleans Saints franchise deserved it as well. They displayed moxie throughout the entire game. They decided to try and go for a touchdown at the end of the first half instead of a field goal...but failed.
At the beginning of the second half, however, the Saints went for an onside kick on an ensuing kickoff and they were able to recover it. In my opinion, that was the turning point of the game as the Saints offense clicked from that point. Drew Brees was incredible for that second half. The Saints' defense forced turnovers and had clutch stops.
Add it all up and the Saints are now the defending Super Bowl Champions. Congratulations New Orleans Saints!! Congrats to Jeremy Shockey as well. I felt bad he couldn't play when the Giants won it against the Patriots two years ago. Now this more than makes up for it for Shockey.
I learned from my Hockey teammates that in NFL Football games, there are only seventeen minutes of actual "playing time" per game. Wow! You learn something new everyday.
During the game, it was noted that the Saints only won two playoff games the previous 42 years. They didn't announce which years they were but I used my Autistic talent to instantly remember that the Saints won a Wild Card playoff game over the Rams in 2000 and a Divisional playoff game against the Eagles back in 2006, both games at home. Yeah, it pays to be Autistic. Anyway, the Saints won three playoff games this year alone, including the Super Bowl. Once again, congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, their fans, and the city of New Orleans.
NHL
Last Tuesday Night, the Rangers played the Los Angeles Kings at 10:30 pm eastern time. Earlier that night, I hosted an Autism Awareness Club lecture on unusual talents, interests, and knowledge. Back in the mid 1990's when I was a young kid, my secondary team was the Los Angeles Kings. The reason why I liked the Kings was because I loved their old logo and I loved the colors of their home and way jerseys which were black and silver.
In fact, during the 1994-1995 season, the Kings hosted the Anaheim Mighty Ducks on ESPN. i remember that game so well, because that game was the first non-Rangers' game I have ever watched which I guess made me like the Kings even more. My dad even got me a Wayne Gretzky poster for my room of him in a white Kings' jersey over the city of Los Angeles. It was a great poster. That is the only time I went out of my way to showcase a poster of another team. I loved Gretzky when I was younger but not because he was great, but because he played for the Kings.
Here's a story: Back in the 1995-1996 season, the Rangers were scheduled to play the Kings at 10:30 pm because of the time zone in Los Angeles. I wanted to watch that game so bad, because it was my favorite team and secondary team going at it. The game was being played on a school night. I was in the second grade at the time. I begged my parents to let me stay up and watch the game. My parents refused.
I kept begging and begging. Finally, my parents agreed to let me stay up and watch the Ranger game that night. However, there was a sacrifice that had to be made. The Rangers' next game was scheduled to be at Anaheim against the Mighty Ducks. My dad said that game was going to be played on a Saturday night. My mom said that if I watched the Rangers play the Kings that night, I wouldn't be able to watch the Rangers play the Mighty Ducks (another 10:30 pm game) even though it wouldn't be played on a school night. I agreed and accepted the deal. I was happy.
Watching that Rangers-Kings game that night, I saw a commercial that the Rangers will be playing the Mighty Duck on Friday Night. My dad must have made a mistake. He thought the game was on Saturday night but the game was really being played on Friday. I didn't think it was necessary to tell my parents that so I kept it to myself. In the end, I watched the Rangers play the Kings AND watched the Rangers play the Mighty Ducks.
I explained all of that to the audience during the Autism Awareness Meeting because I figured that my fascination in the colors and logo of the Kings were traits of Autism. Later that night, I watched the Rangers play at the Kings, on a school night at 10:30 pm, approximately fourteen years after that whole begging scenario.
Oh yeah, the Rangers upset the Devils last night 3-1. Yeah!
Alex Ovechkin had a hat-trick as the Capitals rallied to beat the Penguins 5-4 in overtime.
I ahte to admit it, but acquiring Ilya Kovalchuck from the Thrashers has made the Devils the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. I hope I am wrong.
NBA
LeBron James scores 47 points against my Knicks last Saturday night. The Knicks of course lost that game. Ugh, we are going down hill and fast.
UC Women's Basketball
Congratulations to the UC Women's Basketball for being Regionally ranked at number five. They are having a great season and hopefully can win their second Empire 8 Championship in the history of our college. Go UC!!
Intramurals at UC
I made amistake. A record setting sixteen teams are in the basketball B-League this semester, not fifteen. I knew the number but written "fifteen" by mistake. Oops, my bad!!
Team Autism played in their first game of the double elimination tournament last Wednesday. With so many teams, my boss converted the mini regular season + playoffs to a double elimination tournament.
A lot of my teammates couldn't show up because they had other important commitments which were all understandable, obviously. I was the only one who came for our team. With just a couple of minutes before game-time, I had to do some last-second recruiting and fast.
80% of the time I make my own team, this ends up happening. I run up and ask random strangers if they want to play for my team at the last second just to get enough players to play. I never EVER forfeit. I even missed the middle innings of the Yankees World-Series Clinching game to play basketball for Team Autism and laughed at the people who did forefeit because of the Yankees' game. No offense guys.
I recruited a Volleyball team seconds before our first game was to be played in the Fall of 2008. I got lucky because I recruited these strangers "randomly." We ended up going all the way to the Championship game and lost the rubber match by a single point. (The "at least two point or higher for victory" rule didn't apply for some reason.)
During Winter Softball last year, none of my guys showed up. The football coaches lost their game. (My team was scheduled to play after them.) When they lost, I recruited all of them to my team. They agreed. We beat the team that beat them earlier and ended up winning the Softball Championship and $300. Yeah, I got REALLY lucky right there.
Anyway, I finally had enough players to play. It was just the five of us against the Mob 4, a team stacked with bench players. Luckily a few of my teammates played basketball in High School. We played them tough. We kept tying the score over and over again but towards the end of the second half, we were a bit gassed and they pulled away. We lost 26-18.
My teammates showed a lot of heart and endurance. They were poised. Our opponents were really good. Neither of our teams had players that were talented and flashy athletes. Our teams just had gritty players who played physical and provided pressure. That was a fun game to be a part of and thank you to the referees for not calling it too tight.
I admit, I do get a bit ego-statistical because I like to keep track of my stats for each game in my head. I am notorious for doing this in whiffleball games. I was the tallest player on our team, so I played the Center position for the first time in my life.
My stats:
4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, one block, two assists, and four fouls. (Three of them were intentional)
The fact that I calculated these stats in my head is another talent of Autism. You know, with all of this talk about Autism, I minus well put this in my Autism blog. Hey Mr. Autism Awareness, consider this a gift from the Autistic Sports Nerd! P.S: I will have another post for the Autism Blog sometime this week about the last meeting we had and meeting Connor as well as Connor, Nick B, Christopher/Jennifer, and myself combining forces to pull off a heck of a meeting.
I was also proud the way I played defense by providing the pressure and forcing turnovers. That's how I played when the staff team and I won the B League Championship my Freshman year in the Spring of 2008. My defensive intensity was missing from my game ever since I formed my own basketball teams.
Anyway, enough of my ego-trip. I want to thank Jam, Brenna, Amber, and Mo for joining the team at the last second. You guys played hard, never gave up, showed great leadership, and showed a lot of heart. These guys have agreed to play in our next game on Wednesday February 17th at 9:15 pm against Bow Qui Qui. All of a sudden, new friendships are developing. That's why I love intramerials. You make new friends.
In fact Matthew Galbraith, an active participant on the Team Autism teams, is going to be my roommate next year, barring me getting the RA position for next year. That's another reason why I love intramural sports. Hopefully Team Autism get its first ever victory on the 17th.
Chaos at a kids' Hockey Game
It was a couple hours before UC Hockey had its Senior Night. I was setting up the video equipment up at the Press-box as the Mohawk Valley Pioneers (kids around the ten year old range) were playing another team. A player from the other team smashed into a Mohawk player to the boards causing him to fall on the ice. A mother in the stands was screaming and got very angry. When the kid who caused the hit went into the penalty box, a man working in the penalty box grabbed the kid and started screaming at him. The referees forced him out of the box and was ejected. The parents/fans were cursing at him and the man was cursing back.
The same mother who screamed earlier went to the fans of the opposing team and started arguing with them and had to be dragged back by her friend as they both left the rink. The kid who got hit ended up being alright. The game ended in a one to one tie.
Wow...I mean, it's a little kids' game. You never see this at a College or professional game. I challenge that man to grab a full sized college or professional player. The kid didn't mean to hurt him. It was an accident. People need to calm down. It's crazy!!
UC Hockey
It was Senior Night. The Pioneers beat Lebanon Vally, 6-5 the night before and hoped to sweep the weekend.
Eight of our seniors were honored:
Dave Burkholder
Sean McKevitt
Matt Jimenez
Vincent Nucci
Jeff Pappalardi
Matt Fitzgibbons
Aaron Jeffery
Anthony Luckow
Congratulations guys and we'll miss you! Nucci scored an empty net goal for his last regular season game at the AUD. McKevitt scored a goal and I believe Jeffery and Fitz had assists. Congratulations to our goalie, Anthony Luckow as he made his 1,000th career save during that game. Amazing that he did it in his final regular season home game at the AUD.
Aaron Jeffery, our team captain, has had a huge impact on my college career. He was the one that asked me to join the team back when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore. I wouldn't be on this team if it wasn't for him. Thank you so much Jeffery and good luck!
UC defeated Lebanon Valley 4-1 and swept the weekend. We had our traditional senior night post-game party at a place where I forget the name but it was a bar and restaurant type of place. Coach Heenan made a speech, we ate, and we danced for a bit. We all had a great time. It was a great weekend.
I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good night guys!!
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Autistic Sports Nerd's Blog #40
Hey guys, the Autistic Sports Nerd here and this is the 40th edition of my blog. Wow, the big 4-0. I cannot believe I have lasted this long. Let's get to it.
UC Hockey
The Utica College Men's Hockey team lost both games at Elmira this past weekend. Elmira, who is ranked number six in the nation beat us seven to three on Friday night and scored scores five goals in the third period to beat us six to one on Saturday night. UC is currently three points behind Neumann for the 4th seed in the ECAC West standings. Elmira is number one in our league. The top five teams make the conference playoffs and Utica College is ahead of Lebanon Valley by five points for the fifth seed. UC has two home games against Lebanon Valley this weekend so hopefully the Pioneers can get back on track.
UC has had a TON of injuries this year but are slowly starting to get healthy again. Two of our players will be out for the rest of the year. We can still get hot, peek at the right time and make a run in the playoffs. Hopefully we turn it around.
UC Women's Basketball
The UC Women's Basketball Team has only one loss so far in Empire 8 play this year. They have big road games coming up at Stevens and at Ithaca which could determine the number one seed for the Empire 8 Playoffs. Best of luck to UC!! They are the only team in our college to win a Conference Championship as they won the Empire 8 title back in the 2007-2008 season.
NHL
The Rangers and Flames were supposedly involved in a trade that sends Christopher Higgins and Ales Kotalik to the Flames while the Rangers receive Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust. The deal is now on hold. Reading NHL.com, the Flames put a hold on the deal because apparently they figure that they need Jokinen and Prust in the lineup for their next game when the Flyers play in Calgary............What the heck is Calgary thinking??
Calgary Flames: Sure Rangers you can trade your players for our players but I just want to put it on hold because we need Jokinen and Prust for our game against the Flyers, then can you have them. By the way, how's the weather in New York?
It just makes no sense. In a deal that actually happened, the Flames sent Dion Phaneuf to Toronto as part of a seven player deal. The Maple Leafs are clearly in "buyer" mode.
In non-trade news, the Red Wings fall to the Penguins in a shootout this past Sunday afternoon. I saw the game where the Red Wings lost to the Blackhawks in a shootout and now this game. Detroit is actually fighting just to get into the playoffs this year. They have a talented team so if they are able to make the playoffs, no matter which seed they end up in, they could be dangerous. However, they have to turn their season around as soon as possible.
NFL
Kurt Warner announced his retirement this past Friday. Good move by Warner. He still has concussion issues and had that scary moment in his last game at New Orleans. This is the perfect time to retire. He retired on a high note he had a great season. A Super Bowl Ring and Three Super Bowl Appearances marks a successful career for any NFL player. Warner, best of luck in retirement but stay retired. Don't go Brett Favre on me now. It looks like Matt Leinart will take Warner's place as the QB for the Arizona Cardinals. Now's a good time for Leinart to get some playing time. I think he will become a very good if not great NFL Quarterback.
Oh Yeah, there was the Pro Bowl game in Miami last Sunday. I didn't watch it and finally checked the score just now, 24 hours after it was played. The AFC beat the NFC 41-34. I'm sorry but the Pro Bowl is just boring. I never get into it. Boring atmosphere, no drama, no intensity. All I see are a few plays then a bunch of interviews on the sidelines. I do think they should stick with the concept of playing the Pro Bowl a week BEFORE the Super Bowl in the same place where the Super Bowl is going to be played. It fits in a lot better and it gives people something to watch the week before the Super Bowl, although I will hardly ever watch it.
NCAA Basketball
The Syracuse Orange are 20-1 and are rolling. They are ranked number four and are National Title Contenders. Everyone is buzzing because there are a lot of Syracuse Orange fans here in Utica. In fact, I'll be getting my degree from Syracuse University.
In Women's College Hoops, the UConn Huskies have won sixty games in a row. Wow! Can they ever be stopped?
Intramurals at Utica College
Intramural sports are starting up again here at Utica College. A record-breaking fifteen teams have joined the B-League Basketball season this semester including Team Autism. The Action starts on February 3rd.
In the A-League, the Staff Team are the defending champions as they had an undefeated championship season last semester. The coaches, sports information director, etc. will look to have another undefeated season and repeat as champions.
Back to B-League, Team Autism is looking for our very first victory in the history of the franchise. We went 0-5 last semester. We earned a disqualification victory over Aramark in the first game last year because they used players from a different team in that game. We still competitively lost that basketball game so I won't count that. I count it as a loss. Hopefully we earn our first victory this season.
I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good night guys!!
UC Hockey
The Utica College Men's Hockey team lost both games at Elmira this past weekend. Elmira, who is ranked number six in the nation beat us seven to three on Friday night and scored scores five goals in the third period to beat us six to one on Saturday night. UC is currently three points behind Neumann for the 4th seed in the ECAC West standings. Elmira is number one in our league. The top five teams make the conference playoffs and Utica College is ahead of Lebanon Valley by five points for the fifth seed. UC has two home games against Lebanon Valley this weekend so hopefully the Pioneers can get back on track.
UC has had a TON of injuries this year but are slowly starting to get healthy again. Two of our players will be out for the rest of the year. We can still get hot, peek at the right time and make a run in the playoffs. Hopefully we turn it around.
UC Women's Basketball
The UC Women's Basketball Team has only one loss so far in Empire 8 play this year. They have big road games coming up at Stevens and at Ithaca which could determine the number one seed for the Empire 8 Playoffs. Best of luck to UC!! They are the only team in our college to win a Conference Championship as they won the Empire 8 title back in the 2007-2008 season.
NHL
The Rangers and Flames were supposedly involved in a trade that sends Christopher Higgins and Ales Kotalik to the Flames while the Rangers receive Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust. The deal is now on hold. Reading NHL.com, the Flames put a hold on the deal because apparently they figure that they need Jokinen and Prust in the lineup for their next game when the Flyers play in Calgary............What the heck is Calgary thinking??
Calgary Flames: Sure Rangers you can trade your players for our players but I just want to put it on hold because we need Jokinen and Prust for our game against the Flyers, then can you have them. By the way, how's the weather in New York?
It just makes no sense. In a deal that actually happened, the Flames sent Dion Phaneuf to Toronto as part of a seven player deal. The Maple Leafs are clearly in "buyer" mode.
In non-trade news, the Red Wings fall to the Penguins in a shootout this past Sunday afternoon. I saw the game where the Red Wings lost to the Blackhawks in a shootout and now this game. Detroit is actually fighting just to get into the playoffs this year. They have a talented team so if they are able to make the playoffs, no matter which seed they end up in, they could be dangerous. However, they have to turn their season around as soon as possible.
NFL
Kurt Warner announced his retirement this past Friday. Good move by Warner. He still has concussion issues and had that scary moment in his last game at New Orleans. This is the perfect time to retire. He retired on a high note he had a great season. A Super Bowl Ring and Three Super Bowl Appearances marks a successful career for any NFL player. Warner, best of luck in retirement but stay retired. Don't go Brett Favre on me now. It looks like Matt Leinart will take Warner's place as the QB for the Arizona Cardinals. Now's a good time for Leinart to get some playing time. I think he will become a very good if not great NFL Quarterback.
Oh Yeah, there was the Pro Bowl game in Miami last Sunday. I didn't watch it and finally checked the score just now, 24 hours after it was played. The AFC beat the NFC 41-34. I'm sorry but the Pro Bowl is just boring. I never get into it. Boring atmosphere, no drama, no intensity. All I see are a few plays then a bunch of interviews on the sidelines. I do think they should stick with the concept of playing the Pro Bowl a week BEFORE the Super Bowl in the same place where the Super Bowl is going to be played. It fits in a lot better and it gives people something to watch the week before the Super Bowl, although I will hardly ever watch it.
NCAA Basketball
The Syracuse Orange are 20-1 and are rolling. They are ranked number four and are National Title Contenders. Everyone is buzzing because there are a lot of Syracuse Orange fans here in Utica. In fact, I'll be getting my degree from Syracuse University.
In Women's College Hoops, the UConn Huskies have won sixty games in a row. Wow! Can they ever be stopped?
Intramurals at Utica College
Intramural sports are starting up again here at Utica College. A record-breaking fifteen teams have joined the B-League Basketball season this semester including Team Autism. The Action starts on February 3rd.
In the A-League, the Staff Team are the defending champions as they had an undefeated championship season last semester. The coaches, sports information director, etc. will look to have another undefeated season and repeat as champions.
Back to B-League, Team Autism is looking for our very first victory in the history of the franchise. We went 0-5 last semester. We earned a disqualification victory over Aramark in the first game last year because they used players from a different team in that game. We still competitively lost that basketball game so I won't count that. I count it as a loss. Hopefully we earn our first victory this season.
I'm the Autistic Sports Nerd, have a good night guys!!
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