Help keep Little League Baseball in Vallarta!
For more info click HERE.
|
|
|
 Sports
 The Rap
Join me here every Monday for a weekly review and analysis from the world of sports. From the NBA to the NFL, with a little of everything in between, one of the most comprehensive sport reports on a single page.
Bob Cohen - PVNN
| Lorena Ochoa, of Mexico, chips the ball on the first green during the final round at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational LPGA golf tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009. (AP/Miguel Tovar)
|
The story of the week was the much awaited boxing match between the Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Angel Cotto for the world championship in the welterweight division from the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas Saturday night. Pacquiao is from the Philippines and Cotto is from Puerto Rico. Manny came into the bout with a record of 49-3-2 with 37 KOs but hasn't lost in years and has held title belts starting at the flyweight division at 112 pounds. Manny has also held title belts in the 122 pound featherweight, 130 super featherweight, 135 lightweight and 140 pound junior welterweight in two divisions. Cotto has an almost perfect record of 34-1 with 27 KOs. And holds the current welterweight title and previously held the light welterweight title. Pacquiao came into the fight as a 5-2 betting favorite.
Always appreciated by serious boxing fans and beloved by his Filipino people, Pacquiao blossomed into a mainstream star over the last two years with high profile knockouts of Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya. He's come a long way since his days as an exciting yet one-dimensional slugger, and his continued development has him justifiably earning consideration as the top pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
Cotto's career was sidetracked a bit when he was stopped in July of 2008 by Antonio Margarito, but he got himself back on track earlier this year by knocking out overmatched Michael Jennings and gutting out a tough split decision over Joshua Clottey.
Though both men have world class boxing skills, their offense-first mentalities and high KO percentages suggested an entertaining affair for as long as it lasted. Pacquiao has nearly unparalleled hand speed to go with nimble feet, but Cotto is a legitimate welterweight-in contrast to the smaller Hatton and weight-drained De La Hoya that Pac Man faced-who isn't exactly a slouch in the quickness department and will almost certainly hit Pacquiao as hard as he's ever been hit. The fight however still had to be fought and when the warriors stepped into the ring Saturday night, all the predictions didn't mean much.
Late Saturday night and early Sunday morning Eastern Time, Pacquiao put on yet another dominating performance Saturday night, knocking down Miguel Cotto twice and turning his face into a bloody mess before finally stopping him 55 seconds into the 12th round. Pacquiao used his blazing speed and power from both hands to win his seventh title in seven weight classes and cement his stature as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Cotto took such a beating that his face was a river of red from the fury of Pacquiao's punches.
Pacquiao dropped Cotto with a right hand early in the third round, but he wasn't badly hurt and came back to finish the round strong. But after Pacquiao put Cotto on the canvas with a big left hand as Cotto was advancing forward late in the fourth round, Cotto was never the same again. Cotto fought gamely but in the later rounds he was just trying to survive as blood flowed down his face and Pacquiao kept coming after him relentlessly. Manny won his 7th title belt in seven different divisions, a boxing world record. Pacquiao has continued to move up in weight, still beating formidable fighters, winning as easily at 112 pounds as at 145.
Who is next for the Filipino star that has captured the imagination and hearts of boxing fans around the globe? Only one opponent is worthy - undefeated Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and talks are already starting to get the two matched up in what could be the largest gate and biggest purse in boxing history.
The NFL has reached the second half of their regular season and began with two big games. Cincinnati and Pittsburgh were deadlocked at 6-2 in the race for the AFC Central conference lead and Cincinnati had already defeated the Steelers in their previous meeting, making this a must win for Pittsburgh. The Bengals have prided themselves as being known as the "Cardiac Cats"; winning games on final drives and by the slimmest of margins. Cincinnati defeated Pittsburgh Sunday for the second time this season 18-12 with a staunch and dominating defense and now essentially has a two game lead over their divisional foes.
The other big game was played prime time Sunday night, also between AFC rivals, in fact powerhouses. New England at 6-2 went into Indianapolis looking to hand the Colts their first loss of the season. The Patriots led throughout the game played in Indianapolis but a poor decision made by the New England coach backfired and cost New England the victory and kept the Colts undefeated at 9-0. Facing 4th and 2 on their won 28 yard line with 2:08 remaining in the game and leading 34-28, Coach Bill Belichick decided to go for the first down, using his final timeout in doing so. The short pass was completed but the receiver was tackled short of the first down marker and the Colts had just 28 yards to go to remain unbeaten. QB Peyton Manning completed a one yard pass with 13 seconds remaining for the improbable Indianapolis victory, 35-34. Indianapolis had trailed by 17 early in the 4th quarter.
NFL Week Nine results:
San Francisco (4-5) 10 - Chicago (4-5) 6
Washington (3-6) 27 - Denver (6-3) 17
Tennessee (3-6) 41 - Buffalo (3-6) 17
New Orleans (9-0) 28 - St. Louis (1-8) 23
Cincinnati (7-2) 18 - Pittsburgh (6-3) 12
Jacksonville (5-4) 24 - NY Jets (4-5) 22
Minnesota (8-1) 27 - Detroit (1-8) 10
Miami (4-5) 25 - Tampa Bay (1-8) 23
Carolina (4-5) 29 - Atlanta (5-4) 18
Kansas City (2-7) 16 - Oakland (2-7) 10
San Diego (6-3) 31 - Philadelphia (5-4) 23
Green Bay (5-4) 17 - Dallas (6-3) 7
Arizona (6-3) 31 - Seattle (3-6) 20
Indianapolis (8-0) 35 - New England (6-2) 34
Baltimore (4-4) - Cleveland (1-7)
Teams with the week of were the NY Giants and Houston.
MVP honors this week go to Tennessee running back Chris Johnson ran the ball 26 times for 132 yards and 2 TDs and also caught 9 passes for 100 yards. Honorable mention goes to a select few with superb winning performances. Arizona QB Kurt Warner completed 29 0f 38 passes for 340 yards and 2 TD passes. Minnesota QB Brett Favre completed 20 of 29 passes for 344 yards and a TD and teammate Adrian Peterson ran the ball 18 times for 133 yards and 2 TDs. San Diego QB Phillip Rivers completed 20 of 25 passes for 231 yards and 2 TDs.
In college football, seven teams won their 10th game of the season, six of them undefeated, but the biggest victory this weekend was 9 game winner and 10th ranked Ohio State's thrilling overtime 27-24 win over 15th ranked Iowa. Two weeks ago Iowa was undefeated and had all but locked up a berth to the Rose Bowl, but were soundly beaten last week and after losing to Ohio State, it guaranteed the Buckeyes the trip to the Rose Bowl to represent the Big Ten. Florida retained the top spot but won ugly and Alabama took back the second spot just barely over Texas in a season that has seen the Top three teams jockey for the #1 ranking. TCU impressed with a big victory over 16th ranked Utah and threw their name in the hat for a big bowl berth. Cincinnati and Boise State also won and remained unbeaten.
College football Week 12 results:
#1 Florida (10-0) 24 - South Carolina (6-5) 14
#2 Texas (10-0) 47 - Baylor (4-6) 14
#3 Alabama (10-0) 31 - Mississippi State (4-6) 3
#4 TCU (10-0) 55 - #16 Utah (8-2) 28
#5 Cincinnati (10-0) 24 - West Virginia (7-3) 21
#6 Boise State (10-0) 63 - Idaho (7-4) 25
#7 Georgia Tech (10-1) 49 - Duke (5-5) 10
#8 Pittsburgh (9-1) 27 - Notre Dame (6-4) 22
#9 LSU (8-2) 24 - Louisiana Tech (3-7) 16
#10 Ohio Sate (9-2) 27 - #15 Iowa (9-2) 24 OT
The new rankings came out Sunday night and Florida held the #1 spot but Alabama passed Texas for #2, Texas dropped to #3 and TCU had a solid hold on the 4th spot. Following them are Cincinnati, Boise State, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Ohio State and LSU.
In tennis, the men played in the last Masters of the year in the BNP Paribas Masters on an indoor hard court surface. Top seed Roger Federer was upset in the first round by unseeded journeyman Julien Benneteau of France to the delight of the home crowd. Rafael Nadal, the 2nd seed was pushed to three sets in all his matches. Last week's winner Novak Djokovic reached the semifinals with relative ease and 4th seed Andy Murray was upset in the third round by veteran Radek Stepanek.
The top half of the draw lost all their top seeds and only Juan Martin Del Potro reached the quarterfinals with al other players seeded 12 and above. The bottom half of the draw had more order as 2nd seed Nadal, 3rd seed Djokovic, 8th seed Tsonga and 9th seed Soderling reached the quarters. Reaching the semifinals were Nadal, Djokovic, 13th seed Stepanek, who was leading Del Potro 4-0 before the U.S. Open champ had to retire due to injury and 15th seed Gael Monfils of France.
In the semifinals, Novak Djokovic, playing the best tennis in his short career overpowered Rafael Nadal 6-2, 6-3 and made it to the final against Gael Monfils who squeaked by Radek Stepanek 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. With the crowd rooting for their countryman Monfils, he dropped the first set to Djokovic 6-2, but won the second set 7-5 to force a deciding third set which couldn't have been closer as Djokovic prevailed 7-6 in a tiebreak for the championship.
In golf, the Lorena Ochoa Invitational was held in Guadalajara, Mexico this week, the course that golf's best female learned to play and calls her home course. Lorena got off to a slow start, shooting a one under par 71, six strokes off the lead and improved to a 3 under 69 at the midway point, seven strokes back in a tie for 10th. Michelle Wie had the best round Friday with a 66 and was in second, three strokes back. Ochoa shot even par and was six strokes behind heading into the final round. Cristie Kerr and Michelle Wie were tied for the lead at 10 under par. Michelle Wie finally won a golf tournament and did it with rather ease as she shot a 3 under Sunday to win by three strokes. Lorena finished her host tournament in 6th place at 7 under par, six strokes off the lead. She never recovered from the big deficit she faced after the opening round.
In the NBA, Phoenix now has the best record in the league at 9-2, as both Boston and the Lakers lost twice this week. Atlanta is next best at 8-2. Miami is a surprising 7-2 and Boston and Portland are 8-3. Following them are Cleveland, Orlando, Dallas, Denver and the Lakers at 7-3.
In the NHL, San Jose still owns the best record at 14-4-4 and 32 points. Next best are New Jersey at 14-4 and Washington at 12-4-4 and 28 points. Closest to them are Colorado with 27 points and Pittsburgh, Chicago, Calgary and Los Angeles with 26 points.
College basketball started their season and eventual run to March Madness this week. The preseason rankings had Kansas as the top team, followed by Michigan State, Texas, Kentucky, Villanova, North Carolina, Purdue, West Virginia, Duke and Tennessee.
The Mexican Soccer League Primera Division Apertura 2009 competition and has completed their 17 game regular season, and will begin their playoffs to determine a champion. In Group One, Toluca finished with the league's best record at 11-4-2 with 35 points and an easy winner of their division. In the competitive Group Two, Morelia won the division at 10-4-3, with 33 points. Tied for second were America at 8-3-6 and 30 points and Monterrey at 9-5-3 with 30 points. In Group Three Cruz Azul won the division with a strong final four weeks and was 11-6-0 with 33 points. Santos, who led the division for most of the season, finished second at 7-4-6 with 27 points. The playoffs begin this week in search of a champion. |
| |
|
|
|
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us
