All the White Moves

A few weeks ago, I watched Friends With Benefits starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake. If you've ever seen the flick, you know that a certain artist formally known as The Flying Tomato (Shaun White, if you have no idea what I'm talking about) plays a small role as a would-be wooer of Kunis's character.

Let's just say, I will never look at Shaun White in the same way again. Cause, let's be real....that's scary.

But on Sunday, White had the role of a lifetime as he became the first ever person to score a perfect 100 in a X-Game's Super Pipe run. Although he had already wrapped up the title after his initial put down, White chose to take the unsafe route and throw back-to-back double corks....another first in X-Games history.

What makes the feat more impressive is that up until the competition started, it was unsure whether or not the flame-haired superstar would even compete. After withdrawing from the slopestyle event on Friday with a sprained ankle, Shaun was a no-show for the super pipe practice.

Oh, you thought I was hurt? Think again suckas!

The victory also marked White as a 5-peat champion, tying Snowboard cross-er Nate Holland as the only X-Gamers to win that many times in the same sport.

Not that any of this should come as a surprise. Sure, White's....shall we say..."tough guy swag" was embellished dramatically for the movies ( I think, anyway). However, this is the kid who built his own custom, private half-pipe in the back country of Colorado.  And honestly, that's pretty bad-ass.

For a 25 year-old, having 2 Olympic Golds, 5 Winter Game Golds, multiple endorsement deals, and the first ever perfect score is the mark of someone making all the right moves.

So JT, you better recognize. Or Shaun White will crush your earlobes.











Image provided by washingtonpost.

Unleash the Dragon

I'm feeling like such a failure right now, because I totally forgot to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year on Monday.

I know, I suck. Please forgive me.

But better late than never, I say. Actually, I don't, but for this post's sake I will.

According to the Chinese zodiac, this is the year of the dragon. And when I think of dragons, I immediately think of Sisqo.

What, you don't? Hmm, I guess we didn't all have crushes on that little blonde haired nugget.

Anyhoo, the Dragon is supposedly the most powerful and vital in the whole zodiac. So it would seem to me that the following year will be particularly successful for these five athletes born under this sign.

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HINES WARD

Oh Hines-zy (do you mind if I call you that?), you've already won a Disco Mirror Ball Trophy in Dancing With the Stars and some NFL accolades, including 2 Super Bowl Rings, 1 Super Bowl MVP award, 4 Pro-Bowl Nominations, and all sorts of receiving records. Plus, you seem to be a good person as well (besides that whole drunk driving thing). You might just be the ultimate dragon on this list, and I'm not sure how your life can get better in 2012. I'd say, aim for bagging a Miss America as a girlfriend and perhaps try to stay off the police radar. 

LANCE BERKMAN

Lance, last year you were named the NL Comeback Player of the Year, and you won a World Series title with the St. Louis Cardinals. Clearly you didn't get the memo that THIS YEAR was to be your year. So....I dunno, maybe try getting a repeat Series title and finding a cure for cancer? 

BRAD MARCHAND

Brad, you were also an overachiever in 2011. Not only did you help your team, the Boston Bruins, win a Stanley Cup, but you were named to "The 25 Most Stylish Bostonians" list. Actually, 2012 hasn't been good to you so far, as you were suspended five games on January 9th for what NHL Disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan termed a "predatory" clipping hit. Oops. The Bruins currently sit in first place in the Northeast division, though, so you can be well on your way to a repeat Cup title. Just try not to get any more misspelled tattoos, mmkay?


BROOKS LOPEZ

First of all, Brooks, thanks for being gorgeous. I've been a fan since your Stanford days. Although you were taken 10th overall in the 2008 draft, you've not received the accolades in the NBA that you were used to in college. However, last year your numbers went up dramatically due to the Nets trading for Deron Williams. The Nets are still dwindling near the bottom of the standings this year, so I'm not sure what to tell you. But hey, you've still got your looks!

and finally.....

PEYTON MANNING

What cruel-hearted person among you doesn't want to see Peyton have a comeback year? Poor Peyton....your injury kept you from playing this 2011 NFL season, causing your beloved Colts to finish a dismal 2-14 record. Now the team that you've led to a Super Bowl Championship and however many consecutive playoff appearances is talking about trading you, and it's almost a done deal that Indy will draft Stanford phenom QB Andrew Luck in this year's draft. But have no fear, your talent and charisma will most certainly guarantee you success wherever life may lead you. After all, you can always be a referee!

Images provided by technorati, aeryssports, hockeyindependent, nba, and vigilantsports.

Fashion Wednesday- Face Masque

Hey guys! I know, you're thinking....uh, this is not Tuesday or Fun Friday. Nor does the picture look like it has anything to do with sports.

But trust me, looking fabulous SHOULD be a sport. 


Anyhoo, it was suggested to me that perhaps I should branch out and share the "Nista" side of my "sportsonista" persona more often. I am a little wary to do so, because....boys... I know you could care less. Additionally, I'm terribly afraid some might start to question my dedication to and my knowledge of sports. Since I love them both, however, and since I'm always up for a challenge, I'm going to see how this goes. So bear with me, por favor?????
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This past weekend I attended the Square Society of Roanoke's annual Black and White Masquerade Ball. It's fabulous, and I adore getting dressed up avec masque and partying with my Star City peeps. If you're going to do a masquerade ball ensemble, do it right! Below are some gorgeous shots by William Mahone Photography in Roanoke, VA.

And of course, moi!!!!!

Images provided by William Mahone Photography and the Sportsonista.

In Memorium

"Mine honor is my life; both grow in one; take honor from me, and my life is done."

When William Shakespeare penned the above words, he wasn't envisioning that a Shakespearean tragedy would come to fruition in the tiny Pennsylvania town of State College. But as the life of a man many considered a legend ended on Sunday morning, it's hard to believe the quote wasn't written expressly for Joe Paterno.

Paterno's own motto "Success with Honor" seemed to echo through his 46 seasons as the Nittany Lion's head coach. From the beginning through his record-setting 409th win this past fall, Paterno led his football team to two national championships, five undefeated seasons, and 35 top-25 National Rankings. And his on-field accolades were bolstered by numerous Academic All-Americans, an 85% graduation rate and not one major NCAA infraction.

As the man who would be king registered his landmark win late October, no one could have guessed it would become his last. Less than a week later, JoePa found himself embroiled in one of the most heinous scandals to permeate the sports world. A few days after that, the Nittany Lions were without a head coach.

No, no one would have dreamed that Joe Paterno's storied career would take such a devastating nose dive. The legend was now just an ordinary man, one whose faulty judgement had marred a program of Camelot proportions.

But then again, even Camelot had its issues.

To compound the situation, Paterno was shortly thereafter diagnosed with "treatable" lung cancer. In January, Joe was hospitalized for complications from the treatments. And on Sunday, January 22, he had passed away.

"Mine honor is my life; both grow in one; take honor from me, and my life is done."

Is there any of us out there that doubt Joe Paterno died not from complications with cancer, but from a broken heart? The man who had created the "Great Experiment", who wanted to prove that players could succeed on the gridiron while maintaining high academic and moral standards, had failed to do so himself. His honor was his life; his honor was no longer his greatest asset.

Yes, there is something fairly tragic about the story of Joe Paterno. Some will choose to remember him a great hero, while others will judge his life by his greatest mistake. Let us all remember him as one who had greatness, though.

It's the least we can do.


Image provided by nittanywhiteout.

A Little Birdie Told Me....Pt 2

So guys, it's been a month since I've had to write a Friday Fun post that didn't involve...well....me. Which sucks, because I am now severely hurting for topics that will live up to my previously set high standards of hilarity.

But then I remembered that when the sports world is in the middle of a major playoff (read...NFL), the Twitter realm can offer up some humorous, if not insightful, gems of wisdom and candor.

Also, I can let other people do most of the work for me. So....win/win for everyone involved, yes?

Yes!

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THE NFL PLAYOFFS- Giants/Packers

Old joke, still funny

At least to all non-Packers fans, anyway

Ravens/Texans:

Jacoby Jones....helping the Ravens win playoff games since 2012

Nah, that's just Chuck Norris disguised as a football uniform

Broncos/Patriots:

Which, let's be real, is much, much cooler

ALL OTHER SPORTS STUFF

That's why we get pre-nups...or why we don't cheat on our wives

Oddly enough, this was the funniest thing I could find about Yu Darvish...other than the Rangers actually taking him

Could have been worse....you could have been seeing the Clemson score in the Orange Bowl

But the people there have really cool accents!

Why do I have a feeling that America wouldn't be sad about this???

And finally,

That's why you should always go with strip-o-grams, not sing-o-grams.

That's all folks....have a great, fun and funny-filled sports weekend!!!!
                                                 
Images provided by the Sports-O-Nista via Twitter.

They Might Be Giants

When it comes to excelling in playoffs, momentum is key.

Teams who are "hot" and who have "peaked at the right time" tend to ride that momentum far into post-season play, if not to the very end.

Case in point: The 2011 World Series Champs St. Louis Cardinals.

As the NFL heads into conference championship games, one thing is perfectly clear: the NY Giants are riding the hot tamale train.

(Cue Mary Murphy scream here).

Sure, this was the team that lost to the Redskins TWICE this season. But they also won 3 out of their 4 final games, including two wins over division rival Dallas Cowboys.

One reason for their recent success is the stellar play by the Gmen's defense. During Monday's Missouri/Texas A&M basketball match-up, Coach Bob Knight remarked as much.

"You know how much I like defense," Knight confided to Brent Musburger, choosing the Giants to beat the 49ers next week.

Hey, if Bob Knight says you're playing good D, you must be playing good D.

In any case, a healthy Justin Tuck, Osi Umenyiora, and Jason Pierre-Paul holding the line are certainly nothing to sneeze at.

And while the best offense is a good defense, a good offense is helpful, as well. QB Eli Manning hasn't been too shabby, helping his team dismantle the Atlanta Falcons in a decisive 24-2 rout. Three of those scores were TD passes.

Not the look of love in #20's eyes.....

Sure, you might be saying, the Atlanta Falcons are one thing. But on Sunday, the Giants again throttled their opponent, and this time it was season standout Green Bay Packers. You know, that team that ALMOST went undefeated?

Once again, the Giant's defense was stellar. And once again, their offense found its rhythm. And by rhythm, I mean that WR Hakeem Nicks went wild to the tune of 7 receptions for 165 yards and two touchdowns, one of which was a 37 yard hail mary catch in the endzone to finish out the first half.

Familiar?

Against the 49ers, New York will be facing their toughest defensive opponent. But Eli and Co. have something that San Francisco doesn't.....experience. Riding momentum can only take you so far, but the Giants have recently been here before.

And I, for one, have a feeling we might be seeing a rematch of the 2007 Super Bowl against the Patriots come the first Sunday in February.

Weigh in NFL fans....do you think the Giants are going to take their hot streak straight to Indianapolis? Let me know!

Images provided by google and hdnux.

Knock, Knock

Knock, Knock.


Who's there?


Orange.


Orange who?

Orange you glad I wrote yet ANOTHER post on a WVU bowl game??????

(And yes, I had that joke planned in my head long before I saw the gimmick on the Championship T-Shirts)

Thanks for copying me Orange Bowl committee.

Yes, friends. This is indeed one more bowl-related post. I was slightly tempted not tempted whatsoever
to forgo my self-indulged topic and pick something else.

Because, let's face it, it was pretty damn awesome.

At least for Mountaineer fans.

For Clemson Tiger fans, however, the 2012 Orange Bowl probably seems like the punchline to a really bad joke.

But, lest I get ahead of myself, let me start at the beginning.

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We departed D.C. January 2nd for sunny, warm Miami. Except, Miami wasn't warm. Not by a long shot.

With evil flashbacks of chilly Orlando and the 2011 Champs Bowl swimming in my head, I groused, "How much farther south do we gots to go to get some HEAT?"

I mean, seriously, we've just about run out of real estate.

I don't get it.

Needless to say, my packed bikini and shorts never saw the outside of the suitcase. And, by the time game day rolled around, I had broken down and bought a WVU lined jacket at the fan center on Miami Beach.

Clad in sweatshirt, coat, shearling boots, and hat, I trudged into beautiful Sun Life Stadium. I may have been cold, but I was ready. After all, we're from the mountains. Maybe cold was a good thing.

The game began like any other WVU game this season. Clemson moved the ball down the field and scored the first touchdown. In the past, this might have been cause for worry, but this Mountaineer team wasn't exactly known for their fast starts.

True to form, QB Geno Smith led the Mounties right back down the field to tie it up. And for a quarter, back and forth it went.

Early in the second, with the score 21-17, the Tigers were at the goal line and looked poised to once again take the lead. As running back Andre Ellington pushed his way into the endzone, a collective groan arose from the WVU side.

But....suddenly DB Darwin Cook was sprinting in the other direction. As our disappointment turned into disbelief, the referees signaled touchdown. For WVU.

And then, the floodgates opened.

To the tune of 35 points, WVU proceeded to score 4 more times in the half. As the teams headed to the locker rooms, our eyes stared blankly at the scoreboard.

• WVU- 49   Clemson- 20

"Who ARE these guys?," mom asked wide-eyed.

"I dunno, but it's fun to watch them," was my reply.

To be honest, the details in the second half get a little fuzzy after the Mountaineers scored their 70th point. But, when all was said and done, the Mounties had a LOT to celebrate. Among the records broken that night were: most points scored in the second quarter (35), a tie for most receptions caught for a touchdown by a receiver by Tavon Austin (4), a tie for most points responsible (42) and most TDs responsible (7) by QB Geno Smith, and the most points ever scored in a bowl game (70), breaking the record set just six days earlier by the Baylor Bears.

Then came celebration time.

Receiver Stedman Bailey proudly held up a white board that read: "83% Wrong AGAIN", alluding to the ESPN poll which showed the majority of the country had picked Clemson to win, much like everyone had selected Oklahoma over the Mountaineers in the 2008 Fiesta Bowl.

As the glass bowl trophy full of oranges was presented to university and team officials, WVU AD Oliver Luck impishly grabbed one of the citrus fruits and gave it a toss over his head. In a few seconds, oranges were flying all over Sun Life. No fan, player, coach, or bowl official was safe from the hurling missiles and squirting juices.

In other words, it was perfect.

 As we headed back to the mid-atlantic, it was hard to hold a grudge against Miami for being so abnormally cold. After all, we had just personally witnessed one of the greatest bowl performances ever.

And that's plenty to keep us warm.

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Quick shout out to this lovely young lady, who stayed until the bitter end with her team. As a sports fan, I applaud her dedication, and as a fashionista, I salute her most adorable tiger headgear.

So, college football fans, until next fall, so ends the college bowl posts. For real this time.

I promise.


Images provided by the Sportsonista.

It's Only Cheating If You Get Caught

Not a post about Tim Tebow

This is NOT a post about Tim Tebow.

This was almost a post about Tim Tebow.

About his post-season heroics against the Steelers. About his faith and how it rubs people the wrong way. About the Tebow mania sweeping the nation.

But this is NOT a post about Tim Tebow.

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Instead, this is a post about what happens when you break the rules (inadvertently or purposefully) and no one catches it. Like a great big rule breaking tree falling in forest of deaf, dumb and blind referees, that's exactly what happened in the Louisiana-Lafayette/Western Michigan basketball game last Thursday.

As the game clock dwindled down, LA-Lafayette clearly had 6 players on the court. In real life, this is what we like to call a technical foul.

On Thursday, not so much.

The refs were apparently confused as to what sport they were monitoring and thought the Ragin' Cajuns were on a power play.*

Side note, what the heck is a ragin' cajun? And can you rent one for parties?

Long story short, the Cajuns scored the winning bucket at the buzzer. All six players were right there to celebrate it.

To make matters worse, poor WKU coach Ken McDonald was fired after the loss gave the Hilltoppers a dismal 5-11 record.

And although officials confirmed that there was indeed too many men on the court, the score was ruled as final.

Look, officiating is done by humans. Humans make mistakes. Ergo, human error is part of the game. A frustrating part, to be sure, but breaks will inevitably even out during the course of a season. And like those of us who mess up at our jobs, these officials are facing the consequences (possible suspension).

 Fair? I think so.

At season's end, we'll probably all still be scratching our heads and wondering how not one, not two, but THREE refs didn't realize there were too many men on the court.

But hey, it's only cheating if you get caught.


*Thanks to SBNation's Mike Rutherford for coming up with the brills hockey analogy. Smooches Mr. Rutherford!

Image provided by bleacherreport.