This and That

Well, what a weekend it was. Four good football games, a memorable press conference (much more on this later), and one of the worst commercials two professional athletes have every agreed to be in. Oh, and there was plenty of E-town sports action as well. And since this is an E-town sports blog, we'll start with that.

Not a great Friday night for the EAHS boys basketball team. The Bears managed just 29 points (including two in the fourth quarter) and were blown out of the gym by Hempfield 53-29. They fell to 3-7 in league play, one game behind Solanco and Ephrata for third place in Section two, and two games behind CV for second place. There is still time for them to make a move, but E-town certainly can't afford another performance like the one it had on Friday night.

The E-town wrestling team was solid at this weekend's Central Mountain Duals. The Bears were without a few kids, but they should be healthy entering this weekend's L-L League Tournament at Manheim Township on Friday and Saturday. I haven't nailed down a specific starting time yet, but I'll post it as soon as I know. I'm excited to check out Township's new gym. I've heard it's out of this world. Should be fun.

Congrats go out to Bob Schlosser and Co. for their continued success this season. The E-town College Blue Jays just picked up the program's 900th win and are trucking along with only one loss so far this season. Check out the Chronicle (hopefully this week) for a feature on the team. Keep it up Jays.

Four pretty good games in the NFL this weekend, eh? Things got off to a great start with the Packers-Seahawks game in a blizzard in Green Bay. What an atmosphere. Glad to see Favre in the conference title game, and would love to see him in the Super Bowl. Who wouldn't? You know, besides Giants fans.

Speaking of the G-men, what an upset they pulled over Dallas. Putting my pure disdain for everything Cowboys aside (hey, I'm a Skins fan, it's understandable), I have to admit I didn't think they'd lose that game. Apparently, neither did owner Jerry Jones, who took the liberty of giving his players two extra tickets each for the NFC Championship game, before they even took the field against the Giants. Oops. Tony Romo looked like a guy in his first full year as a starter, and people might want to hold off on their Canton plans for him for a little bit. Oh yeah, and then there was TO crying. Yes, crying. Crying! I couldn't help but laugh at him. I mean, I guess it's good that he cares that much about the team and all ... but crying? Really? Fannnn-tastic.

Jacksonville gave the Pats a little bit of a game, but they are just too good. Simple as that. And then the Jags have the nerve to trash talk Tom Brady AFTER he picked them apart? Baffling.

The Chargers also pulled an upset yesterday, beating Peyton and the Colts. In Indy. Without Tomlinson. With Billy Volek at the helm. With Norv Turner as their coach. Woooow. So does that mean last year was an aberration for Peyton? Does he still not have what it takes in the big games? Hmm....

Ahhh...and then there was the Oreos commercial starring the Manning brothers (I know, shocker). Seriously one of the absolute worst commercials I've ever seen. Is there NOTHING Peyton won't agree to endorse? It's just doubtful to me that you'd see the other "faces" of their respective sports (guys like Jordan, Tom Brady, Sid the Kid, Jeter) be in a commercial like that. Learn how to say no Peyton. Conversely, the Coors Light commerical with Dennis Green just pretty much laughing at everything in the fake press conference is hilarious.

My picks for this weekend: Pats and Pack. Yeah, I know I'm a risk taker.