So it’s a great sports night for me. A running monologue, as it happens:
5:00 PM: Call girlfriend to ensure that DVR is recording Dolphins’ MNF game
5:05 PM: Pray that I’m able to get home from work with minimal rewinding
5:30 PM: Finish up work
6:12 PM: Arrive home.
6:15 PM: Close eyes and turn on TV, hoping the play by play guys don’t drop any hints
6:15 PM – 6:45 PM: Catch up to game. Marvel at the success of the Wildcat and scream loudly at the first Wildcat pass of the year.
6:45 PM: Realize I’m down 65 points in fantasy football this week.
6:45:01 PM: Pray Ricky Williams catches 55 passes for 100 yards tonight
6:50 PM: Halftime, Jets 13, Dolphins 10.
7:00 PM: Laugh at the Broncos throwback jerseys
7:01 PM: Laugh at the Broncos throwback jerseys
7:02 PM: Laugh at the Broncos throwback jerseys
7:03 PM: well… you get the idea
7:20 PM: Think “Wow, Chad Henne might actually have the talent to be a good quarterback”
7:23 PM: Smile at more Wildcat formation, wishing Ricky would throw a touchdown pass or something
7:24 PM: Try to convince the girlfriend to cook dinner. While enjoying more wildcat.
7:25 PM: After a 3 and out, try to record the Coyotes game that begins at 7:30.
7:30 PM: Fail at convincing girlfriend to cook dinner.
7:35 PM: Finally, the Dolphins get a first down. It seems like it’s been 30 minutes.
7:37 PM: I think I actually like this team of Turico, Jaworski and Gruden… Tirico does good play by play without stepping in too much, the other guys aren’t too wordy but actually have good input instead of simply restating what’s being said.
7:43 PM: The Dolphins have run the Wildcat formation 6 plays in a row. I love this offense. I wish they would’ve done this when Pennington went down a few weeks ago. Ricky’s looking good, but I don’t think he’ll have 55 receptions.
7:45 PM: End of third quarter, Jets 13, Dolphins 10. Dolphins in the Red Zone though!
7:47 PM: Touchdown, Miami! 17-13, Fins!
7:53 PM: First play from scrimmage, a 40 yard pass from Sanchez…. :sigh:
7:57 PM: 3rd and 22 and the Jets convert… for a touchdown? Fuck me.
7:58 PM: Dolphins waste a challenge on the play. I never understood why you’d challenge a play where if you win, the team has the ball 1 foot outside of the end zone and if you lose, you lose a timeout and you’re trailing. I’d rather just save the timeout, personally.
8:01 PM: The Dolphins manage to win the challenge and the ball is placed inside the 1. If they stop the Jets, I’ll eat my shirt.
8:02 PM: First play, Jets score. Glad we went through the unnecessary challenge. Of course, had I started Thomas Jones, this would’ve gotten me 6 points. Fantasy boondoggle, these challenges are.
8:03 PM: Finally get the Coyotes game up and running. Hockey in HD is quite possibly one of the best things you can watch on TV.
8:05 PM: Nothing eventful in the first 2 minutes of the hockey game, back to football.
8:07 PM: Henne is 13/16… I’m hopping on the Chad Henne bandwagon!!!^H^H^H 13/17. I need to stop saying things like this.
8:08 PM: Henne connects again, this time on third down. Move over, bubba, I’m drivin this here wagon!
8:09 PM: AS SOON AS I TYPE THAT CHAD HENNE PLACES A BEAUTIFUL 60+ YARD PASS INTO THE ARMS OF TED GINN. I never thought I’d be so happy to see a Michigan QB put it in the arms of a tOSU guy.
8:13 PM: It seems like the NFL’s genius idea to move the Pro Bowl to a mainland US destination isn’t working so well, as they’re practically begging for people to buy tickets on MNF.
8:14 PM: MNF has a “QBs since Dan Marino” broken down by how they were acquired. I can’t believe we traded something (besides a sack of potatoes) for Cleo Lemon…
8:15 PM: Back to the Coyotes while an injury timeout is resolved. I wonder why this sport really doesn’t catch on more in the US, especially with HD TV now. It’s fast paced, great to drink a beer and watch, and every girl I’ve ever met has, at minimum, tolerated it.
8:17 PM: Back to football, a Jets 3 and out… I hope the Dolphins don’t get fooled by the third fake punt attempt of the night … Nope, the Jets actually kick it.
8:20 PM: I think the Dolphins should wear the orange jerseys all the time. My favorite uniforms in all of sports.
8:24 PM: MNF puts the hex on, producing the fact that the Jets are 1-26 when trailing after 3 quarters by 4+ points. Their only win? Against the Dolphins in ‘06.
8:26 PM: Another Will Allen pass interference call. First and goal for the Jets.
8:29 PM: TD Jets. 27-24 NY. I’m getting fucking sick of these back and forth games.
8:31 PM: Me, to Kevin: “This is premature, but, Henne has a Brady-esque pocket presence”
8:33 PM: Pat White is in the game…. First play a draw to Brown. Then a QB draw. Nothing too eventful.
8:35 PM: More wildcat, Ricky is an integral part of this team tonight. I LOVE this team. They’re a blast to watch, even if they’re losing at present.
8:38 PM: Henne connects on 3rd down again amid a 7 man blitz. This guy is going to be GOOD.
8:40 PM: 3rd down again, can Henne connect? Judging from how he’s played so far, I think so.
8:41 PM: HENNE CONVERTS!!!!! WHAT A PLAY!!!! :considers picking up Henne in fantasy football:
8:42 PM: 17 seconds to go, Dolphins ball on the 3. 2nd and goal…. Incomplete pass. 10 seconds left.
8:43 PM: TOUCHDOWN RONNIE BROWN!!!!!! 31-27 Miami, 0:06 left. What a game!!!
8:45 PM: Game over. Hard not to pick Chad Henne as my player of the game. 20/26, 243 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT, 130.4 passer rating… No complaints from me at all.
8:50 PM: After about 5 minutes of hyperventilation, I’ve settled down enough to watch the rest of the Coyotes game. 12:44 in the first right now, 0-0.
8:55 PM: The Coyotes turn over the puck in their own zone and Bryzgalov makes a great kicksave. Bryz has looked a lot better this year, whatever they told him in the offseason worked.
8:59 PM: The exact same thing happens again, but 4 minutes later.
9:05 PM: End of 1, a relatively boring hockey game, Coyotes 0, Sharks 0
9:15 PM: First fight of the game, a Coyotes victory.
9:23 PM: A rather boring hockey game, by casual hockey fan standards. Great passing and fundamentals, it’s like watching a pitcher’s duel in baseball… A bit of an acquired taste, if you will. I’m not minding it, but it’s nice to see an increasing pace in the past few minutes
9:28 PM: The first minor penalty of the 2nd goes against the Sharks. 2nd Coyotes PP of the game, hopefully they can convert.
9:30 PM: The Coyotes fail to convert… 0/2 on the power play tonight.
9:35 PM: Another penalty with 1:02 left in the period, 3rd Coyotes chance to convert…
9:36 PM: End of Period 2. Coyotes 0, Sharks 0.
9:38 PM: Start of Period 3 (God bless DVRs) and the Coyotes fail to convert. But shortly thereafter, another penalty. 4th Coyotes PP tonight, PLEASE SCORE ON ONE!
9:39 PM: Penalty for interference against the Coyotes, time for some 4 on 4… with about 1 minute of PP for the Sharks.
9:40 PM: Coyotes manage to kill the penalty with a great Bryzgalov save. He’s been playing out of his mind these first few games.
9:43 PM: I caught up to live TV… Damn. 7:40 left in the third, still 0-0.
9:45 PM: Zbynek Michalek is called for a bullshit Delay of Game penalty. The penalty kill has been the Coyotes weak point in recent years, but this year they’ve been doing pretty decent. Hopefully that continues.
9:47 PM: A successful penalty kill for the Coyotes. The defensemen owe Bryzgalov a couple of beers tonight…
9:55 PM: End of regulation… At least the Coyotes are getting a point out of this. A few good saves by Nabokov and Bryzgalov, quite the defensive showdown. It’s nice to see the Coyotes compete in defensive games, unlike last year.
10:00 PM: This is why hockey is great. 2 hours and 20 minutes after starting, we’re in the final 3 minutes of overtime. Even with 30 minutes of a shootout, which would be one of the more dramatic shootouts, you’re still out of the building faster than a football game. Another reason that Americans should enjoy hockey more than they do.
10:01 PM: Finally, some intensity. Back and forth play, a big hit on a Coyote and a great glove save by Nabokov. 1:59 left in OT.
10:03 PM: End of OT… That brings us to one of the more dramatic conclusions to a sporting event: the shootout. Purists will disagree, saying its akin to ending a baseball game with a home run derby, but after the issues the NHL has had in the past 10 years, it’s a good way to get young fans into the game. I saw a game go 13 rounds in the shootout a couple of seasons ago, and let me tell you, earlier tonight when I said I hated “back and forth” games pales in comparison to seeing a shootout go 13 rounds.
Shootout results:
Round 1 SJ shooting, kick save by Nabokov.
Round 1 PHX shooting, shot wide left
Round 2 SJ shooting, shot wide left
Round 2 PHX shooting, GOAL COYOTES!
Round 3 SJ shooting, a save and it’s a Coyotes win…. Dan Boyle shooting for the Sharks and he scores. 1-1
Round 3 PHX shooting, a goal and they win… Korpikoski shooting in his first career shootout attempt…GOALLLLLL COYOTES AND KORPIKOSKI IS THE HERO! 1-0 Coyotes with the shootout win.
It doesn’t get better than this, two last second wins by my teams in dramatic fashions.
THIS is what sports is about, not those piddly choke jobs I’ve been watching from my other teams lately.
HOW ABOUT THEM DOLPHINS AND ‘YOTES!