MySports Today

Coming into this year’s playoffs, the Arizona Cardinals had won 2 playoff games in franchise history. After Saturday, the Cardinals had doubled their win total and find themselves hosting the NFC Championship Game on Sunday in Phoenix. How did it happen?

The Cardinals defense has stepped up as of late, and were able to shut down the Atlanta Falcons’ rushing attack in last week’s 30-24 wild card win. And the Cardinals defense showed up big once again on Saturday, forcing 5 Jake Delhomme interceptions and one Delhomme fumble. Although Delhomme has been known to have “off nights” (including a 3-interception game against Tampa Bay and a 4-interception game against the lowly Raiders during the 2008 regular season), none came close to how poorly he played in front of the hometown crowd on Saturday night.

After the Panthers scored on a 9-yard rushing touchdown by Jonathan Stewart on the game’s opening drive, the Cardinals rattled off 33 unanswered points to take control of the game. Kurt Warner threw 2 touchdown passes in the 1st half – 1 to Tim Hightower and 1 to Larry Fitzgerald, Neil Rackers kicked 2 field goals and Edgerrin James added a 4-yard rushing touchdown to give the Cardinals a 27-7 halftime lead. The Cardinals didn’t look back, adding 2 more Neil Rackers field goals in the 2nd half to increase the lead to 33-7. A late Delhomme touchdown pass to Steve Smith just wasn’t enough to will the Panthers back to victory.

Delhomme finished the day an atrocious 17 of 34 for 205 yards. He had 5 interceptions, 1 fumble and 1 touchdown pass, good for a 39.1 passer rating. Because of the turnovers, the Panthers could never get the running game going after the initial drive. DeAngelo Williams finished the game with 12 carries for 63 yards. Jonathan Stewart only had 2 other rushing attempts after he his 9-yard touchdown run. Steve Smith only touched the ball twice – once on a 35-yard pass play and once on the touchdown pass with just 50 seconds left in the game. All in all, Delhomme cost the Panthers the game.

The Cardinals offense was up to the task. The offensive line gave Kurt warner plenty of time to pass the ball – and as we all know, if Warner has time to throw, he will eat you alive. Warner completed 21 of 32 passes for 220 yards. He had 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, good for a 93.2 passer rating. Larry Fitzgerald led the Cardinals receiving corp with 8 catches for a whopping 166 yards, including 1 touchdown reception. The Cardinals aerial attack opened up the door for the running game. Edgerrin James rushed the ball 20 times for 57 yards and 1 touchdown, while Tim Hightower rushed for 76 yards on 17 carries.

The Arizona Cardinals will now host the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. In the only meeting between the 2 teams in 2008, the Eagles crushed the Cardinals 48-20 in Philadelphia on Thanksgiving Day. Although the teams are different now, the Eagles will likely be favored on the road come Sunday afternoon. Will the Eagles or Cardinals make it 3 in a row – stay tuned football fans…

The Baseball Writers Association of America elected Jim Rice and Rickey Henderson to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Monday. Henderson received 94.8% of the vote to get elected on his first ballot. Rice received 76.4% of the vote to get elected on his 15th and final ballot.

Henderson is MLB’s all-time runs scored and stolen bases leader. In 25 MLB seasons, Henderson played in 10 All-Star Games and stole 1,406 bases. He owns the modern-day stolen bases in a season record with 130 (in 1982) and he is still the MLB career leader for lead-off home runs with 81. He is a career .279 hitter, with 297 career home runs, 1,115 RBI’s, 2,190 walks and 2,295 runs scored. Henderson won the American League MVP in 1990.

Rice won the American League MVP in 1978. In 16 MLB seasons with the Boston Red Sox, Rice hit 382 career home runs and played in 8 All-Star Games. He had a career 2.98 batting average with 1,451 RBI’s. During a 3-year stretch from 1977 through 1979, Rice averaged a 3.20 batting average, 41 home runs and 128 RBI’s. Rice becomes the 3rd player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his final ballot – Red Ruffing did so in 1967 and Ralph Kiner did so in 1975.

Other vote results include: Andrew Dawson with 67% of the vote; Bert Blyleven with 62.7% of the vote; Lee Smith with 44.5% of the vote and Jack Morris with 44% of the vote. Mark McGwire continues to face voting struggles with baseball writers. McGwire received only 118 votes, good for 21.9% of the vote – this is down from the 128 votes that he received in each of his first 2 years on the ballot.

The Baltimore Ravens upset the Tennessee Titans in Nashville on Saturday on a 43-yard field goal by Matt Stover with only 53 seconds left in the game. The Ravens are poised to return to that 2000 NFL Championship form in a similar fashion – wild card team with a dominant defense, winning 3 playoff games on the road to advance to the Super Bowl. We’ll see if the Ravens can repeat that magic.

The Ravens forced 3 Titans turnovers which negated good statistical games from the Titans offense. Kerry Collins completed 26 of 42 passes for 281 yards. But Collins threw a costly interception in the red zone and did not have a touchdown pass. Chris Johnson had a good start to the divisional playoff game but was forced to leave in the 2nd quarter with a right ankle injury. Johnson scored the Titans only touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run on the game’s opening drive, and rushed for a total of 72 yards on 11 carries. In reserve, LenDale White rushed for 45 yards on 15 carries, but had a turnover that cost the Titans a chance to score in raven’s territory. Alge Crumpler also had a fumble for the Titans.

Ravens Quarterback Joe Flacco and the Ravens offense did just enough to get the victory. Flacco helped the Titans tie the game at 7 on a 48-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason. Flacco completed only half of his passes (11 for 22) for 161 yards, good for a 89.4 passer rating. Flacco is the only rookie quarterback to lead his team to 2 NFL playoff game victories. The Ravens also only had 50 rushing yards, but that was enough to help set up 2 field goals by Matt Stover in the 4th quarter. Stover connected from 21 yards out in the early part of the 4th quarter to give the Ravens a 10-7 lead. After the Titans tied the game at 10 on a Rob Bironas 27-yard field goal with 4:23 left in the game, Flacco orchestrated the drive that set up Stover’s 43-yard game-winning field goal.

Now it’s off to Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship. Although the Steelers defeated the Ravens in both regular season meetings (by a combined 7 points), the Ravens held their own in both contests and match up well against the physical Steelers. It should be a fun, grind it out football game. Are you ready for some smash-mouth football?!

Rumor has it that Japanese super star pitcher Kensin Kawakami is in Atlanta for a Physical to finalize an agreement with the Braves. Kawakami is the 2004 MVP for the Central League and has won 112 games in 11 seasons. He is regarded as one of the the top free agents from Japan. Kawakami 33 was 9-5 last year and missed several weeks because of back strain. The Braces who have lost Smoltz and Hampton could also loss Hudson so Kawakami would be much needed for the team.