This was my kind of weekend, in terms of favorite teams getting wins. First, the Chelsea Blues won 2-0 over Wolverhampton at Stamford Bridge, to temporarily move 5 points ahead of the pack in the Premiership. Considering that the Blues played and won a Champions League match over Spartak Moscow, in Russia on Tuesday, the win was significant, even if it was over a team that is without a win. Chelsea are just starting to get some injured players back, as Didier Drogba returned from having a fever, although he’s not quite in game condition, after resting from his illness. Jose Bosingwa, who played his first game in over a year at home, was very effective, nearly scoring in the 13th minute and also came close on a 25 yard shot in the 38th minute. Scoring for the Blues were new France captain Florent Malouda, and Ivory Coast national Salomon Kalou.
Manager Carlo Ancelotti smartly summarized his team’s play, and put a cautionary perspective on the Blues success in the game, and on the season so far, as detailed by ESPNsoccernet. “ It was a tough game because we didn’t play so well…….We didn’t play as well as we normally have done this season…….It is a good advantage but tomorrow it might be different. It is too early to say we have enough points. We have started the season well and have to continue that. A difficult moment will arrive for us and we have to be ready . We were not 100%. It is important to win when you are not 100% .”
Much to my surprise, my alma mater, Syracuse University, were big time winners in shocking the 20th ranked West Virginia Mountaineers in Morgantown, by 19-14, in front of 58,122 mostly Mountaineer fans. This was the first loss for West Virginia in 12 home games. The home side was ranked fourth in the country in defense. The Orange are now 5-2, and 2-1 in the Big East Conference. The last time they were 5-2 was back in 2001. The Orange have had a mixed schedule of both tough and easy opponents. Syracuse got spanked by conference rival Pittsburgh at the Carrier Dome last week, 45-14. They also had another quality win on the road earlier this season, by beating South Florida in Tampa, 13-9. The other lopsided loss for the Orange was to the Washington Huskies, 41-20, at Huskies Stadium. The turnaround for Syracuse this season. has been quite dramatic, considering the ‘Cuse has had five straight seasons of last place finishes in their conference.
Head coach Doug Marrone is a former Orange and NFL offensive lineman, who was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, prior to being hired to rebuild the S.U. football program,in December of 2008. He is strong on discipline, and wanted the players to carry themselves like professionals, thus they now wear shirts and ties when travelling . He stays in touch with Sean Payton along with others on the Saints staff, and was no doubt quite thrilled when they won the Super Bowl. Ironically, Marrone is also respected by Indianapolis Colts G.M., Bill Polian, who came within a few minutes of possibly winning his second Super Bowl since the 2006-2007 season, before Peyton Manning was intercepted late in the game.
There was much debate over coach John Maclean sitting out pricey Devils sniper, Ilya Kovalchuk on Saturday night, for their game with Buffalo, due primarily to his seemingly insane 15 year, $100 million contract. He should be saluted for sitting the loftily paid left winger. There should be no confusion over how Kovalchuk ended up with this deal. Lou Lamierello was forced by the Devils owners to give in to the former Atlanta Thrasher, because the Devils owners have been concerned about the poor attendance at their home games in Newark, and they want home playoff dates to gain revenue. So they forced the long-time general manger to give in to Kovalchuk’s demands.
Hockey analysts should know that Lamoriello would never go along with this type of contract, just by his history with the team, where only proven super stars who had led the Devils to Stanley Cup championships, were rewarded with super-star money. That alone should be enough to send up the red flags, as to how there would be such a dramatic change in the Devils dealings. The other tell tale sign of owner intervention, is that Lamoriello almost never gets in trouble with Gary Bettman. Obviously, the commissioner cracked the whip on this one, leading to the legal battle over the controversial contract.
Arbitrator Richard Bloch ruled on August 9, that the NHL had the right to discipline the Devils because of their circumvention of the NHL/NHLPA collective bargaining agreement, and thus they were fined $3 million, which doesn’t count against the cap. New Jersey also has to surrender a third round pick next year, and a first round pick sometime over the next four years.The Devils have the right to select what year they will forfeit their first round pick,as noted in an Associated Press story on September 13.
MacLean told the A.P. the following about benching Kovalchuk prior to Saturday’s game, after their 6-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres: “ I’m not discussing it…….It was my decision. I made it. I spoke to him and that’s where it’s going to stay…….He knows why.”