NHL
CROSBY LIFTS PENGUINS IN OUTDOOR CLASSIC
Tuesday’s regular season hockey game between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins was colder than normal—but it sure was fun!
More than 70,000 hockey fans braved the brutal winter weather in Orchard Park, New York, to see a great hockey game played as hockey was intended to be played. Outdoors. In the snow and cold.
In the end, those frigid fans saw Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby beat Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller on the final shot of an overtime shootout to lift Pittsburgh to a 2-1 win in the first-ever regular season NHL game played outdoors in the United States.
Both teams battled each other and the elements at Ralph Wilson Stadium—the home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills—to a 1-1 tie in regulation. Both the Sabres and Pens failed to score in the overtime period so that forced a shootout. That’s when Sid the Kid beat Miller for the game-winner.
he Winter Classic set a new NHL-attendance record with 71,217 fans in attendance. NHL officials are already in dialogue about future outdoor clashes.
Miller, who played his collegiate hockey at Michigan State, participated in “The Cold War” an outdoor match-up between MSU and the University of Michigan in 2001. That NCAA clash drew a crowd of 74,554 fans.
OTHER NHL SCORES
Washington 6, Ottawa 3
Los Angeles 9, Chicago 2
Toronto 4, Tampa Bay 3 – OT Shootout
NCAA
BOWL REPORT
Capital One Bowl
Michigan 41, Florida 35
Michigan played like the team they were expected to be before Appalachian State showed up in September. Chad Henne racked up
Rose Bowl
USC 49, Illinois 17
The USC Trojans reminded the nation who good they are—despite a midseason slump that took them out of contention for a national championship. In looking so good, the Trojans reminded a lot of fans of the flaws in the BCS system, since USC looked like a team that just might be able to stay with LSU or Ohio State in a playoff game. USC piled up
Tennessee 21, Wisconsin 17
Cotton Bowl
Missouri 38, Arkansas 7
It was the Tony Temple show at the Cotton Bowl. The Missouri running back got the ball from Chase Daniel 24 times on handoffs, and he turned those possessions into
Gator Bowl
Texas Tech 31, Virginia 28
The most dramatic finish of the day came in Jacksonville. Alex Trlica nailed a 41-yard field goal with just two seconds left to give the Red Raiders a come-from-behind win. Virginia led 48-14 with just over three minutes left, but Texas Tech scored two TDs and got Trlica’s field goal to beat No. 21 Virginia.
Sugar Bowl
Georgia 41, Hawaii 10
End of conversation. Everyone who thought Hawaii should have been in the BCS championship game knows now how wrong he or she was. But the talk from the Georgia side of things is probably just heating up. The Bulldogs showed that they are a pretty good team, beating up on the undefeated Warriors at the Sugar Bowl. Mark Richt’s team finished up 11-2 on the season in part by holding Hawaii to minus
QUESTION OF THE DAY
TODAY’S QUESTION: Today, Lloyd Carr is the former coach of the Michigan Wolverines. How many games did Carr win as the Michigan coach, and were does he stand on the all-time list of coaches for the Maize and Blue?
ANSWER THURSDAY
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today’s
sports news
• Now, that was some good hockey. Everyone who lives in he northern sections of the USA on purpose knows that this is what makes winter special. Snow, ice, and cold weather are indeed as beautiful as snow and surf to those who embrace winter as a special time of year, and if you add two NHL teams playing superb hockey while flakes are flying and you can see the players’ breath, well, it makes you wonder why hockey ever moved indoors. However, the NHL must be careful. The success of the Winter Classic in Buffalo will, of course, lead the NHL to try to duplicate what went on Tuesday at Rich Stadium, but there is the possibility of killing the drama of such events by staging too many of them. And although bundling up and sitting through a cold hockey game is fun once as a novelty, it shouldn’t be done too frequently or the unique nature of the event will wear away.
• Must be cold in the desert. Otherwise, why would DeMarcus Granger try to five-finger discount a coat? Dude, the game’s inside. You won’t need a jacket. Besides, you weigh
• Roger Clemens is vociferously denying any involvement with steroids, a claim that contradicts the findings of the Mitchell Report. Clemens’ lawyer is now suggesting that his office will conduct an investigation into statements of Brian McNamee, who was quoted in the Mitchell Report as having said he injected Clemens with steroids. Rusty Hardin, the lawyer, is suggesting that Mitchell failed to interview some key people. One of the key people he did not interview, of course, was Clemens himself. And that was simply because Clemens refused to be interviewed. Although it would be easy to accept Clemens’ word that he is not guilty of taking steroids, one wonders why Clemens declined Mitchell’s offer to talk to him BEFORE the report was released. If Clemens is innocent, as he contends, why did he not meet with Mitchell, explain himself, and even tell him that because he did not take steroids he would not stand for a report that said he did. It was inexcusable for Clemens to refuse to be interview during the investigation.
WHO IS HE?
Testing your knowledge of past stars—taken from the pages of Sports Spectrum magazine.
WEDNESDAY’S MYSTERY PERSON
• He averaged 22.6 points a game in eight NBA seasons.
• One time he scored 73 points in a single NBA game.
• He was the NCAA Player of the Year three times.
• He had a vertical leap of
• He went by the nickname “Skywalker.”
• His NBA career ended in shame, but when he trusted Christ as Savior, his life was restored to dignity.
Who Is He? Answer on THURSDAY
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER:
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE: MARK RICHT
MARK RICHT, FOOTBALL COACH, GEORGIA
BIO NOTE: Mark Richt and his wife adopted two children from Russia in 1999.
RECENT NEWS: On Tuesday, Richt led his Georgia Bulldogs to an impressive win over the Hawaii Warriors.
FAITH QUOTE: About his wife, Katharyn: "She's a strong, independent woman, but she's a Spirit-filled woman. She allows God to work in her life and control her attitudes if she has an attitude about something. She's very submissive to God to allow Him to shape her in the way she that should be. She's one of those people who's fun to be around because she has a wonderful spirit. You can see she's a Spirit-filled woman. You can watch her sing in the choir and know that she's enjoying praising the Lord. She has a beautiful smile. She's very contagious with her attitude."
—Sports Spectrum magazine
SS DAILY INTERVIEW:
To hear today's interview, go to the Sports Spectrum radio home page. It can be found at www.sport.org.
THE WEDNESDAY GUEST
TITO GONZALES, wide receiver, West Virginia Mountaineers
One of the college players who has been affected by another session of coaches’ musical chairs is Tito Gonzales, who played for Rich Rodriguez until he left the Mountaineers recently to become Michigan’s coach. Gonzales will talk about what it means to lose a coach before the season is over. He will also discuss how is faith in Jesus Christ helped him through this turn of events.
