Flyers-Sharks Live Blog

49er16 is a Sharks fan. I'm a Flyers fan. This live blog is going to be a pure love fest, right?

Meet Your 2009 BCS Announcers!

Both Fox and ABC have decided to release their BCS announcers and I must say, there are definitley some surprises. I know that I normally save posts like these for when the whole schedule is released but seeing as I have a few quips and snarky comments, I'll post them with today's official release.

Rose Bowl - January 1 (ABC, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit)
Allstate Sugar Bowl - January 1 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick)
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - January 4 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan)
FedEx Orange Bowl - January 5 (Fox - Dick Stockton and Charles Davis)
BCS National Championship Game - January 7 (ABC - Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit)

Fox has obviously decided to stick with their NFL pairings instead of reuniting the dreadful pairing of Brennaman and Mangina, but they may have instead created a whole new monster the likes of which this country has never seen before.

Dick Stockton is calling a BCS Game! As if he was not senile enough in an NFL booth, he is now going to be on the call of a college game, where surely the slight rule varifications will drive him to a greater depth of senility in the booth the likes of which this world has never seen before. Add to the fact that once again he is working with Charles Davis (And His Mangina) and the awfulness could reach epic heights.

That being said, isn't it sad when there is a list of 4 PbP announcers and the best one out of the 4 is Brent Musburger??? And isn't it even sadder when of the 3 Fox PbP guys, the best one is Sam Rosen? If Rosen can get a grasp of the college game, then there is a chance that he could overtake Musburger has the best PbP guy on the list. As far as analysts go, there is no doubt that Herbie will just blow all of the Fox guys away. End of story.

FOX and ABC release BCS bowl game announcers (Awful Announcing)

Scott Niedermayer's Stick Causes Fights

Having been to many a hockey game in my life, I can say that it is always a good time to see who gets named the star of the game and then seeing that player skate on the ice for a few seconds and wave to everyone. That being said, never in my life did I think that anything could ever go horribly wrong with it. Well, it turns out I'm wrong. Last night, after being named the star of the game, the classy veteran captain of the Anaheim Ducks, Scott Neidermayer thought it would be a good idea to and his hockey stick to a little girl in the audience. Good idea, terrible execution. Watch as the little girl does not exactly get the stick, but rather, 2 guys who, with the aid of lots of alcohol, channel their inner hockey player and get into a fight over the stick.



Good times! You gotta love Neidermayer's reaction to the whole thing as well. Helpless to do anything, he stood there and saw the whole thing.

In fact, during an interview, he was even asked a question about the sudden instabrawl that broke out.



Somehow I don't think that little girl will ever get that stick. What a shame as it was a really nice and classy gesture from Neidermayer that just went horribly and yet, very hilariously awry.

VIDEO: Fight breaks out over Neidermayer's stick (SB Nation)

RIP Stefanie Spielman

Wow. What a rough day for college football, first the passing of Uga VII and now Chris Spielman's wife, Stefanie, has passed away as well. She died of the breast cancer that gripped her and the public, especially those in Ohio and the Columbus area at first in 1998. Here is the story as told by Central Ohio's 10TV.

In 1998, at 31, a biopsy confirmed [Stefanie Spielman's] fears, that she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the couple began their battle.

Without hesitation, Chris Spielman put his career on hold with the NFL's Buffalo Bills to be at his wife's side.

"For me, to leave (Stefanie) in Columbus and go play football in Buffalo would be against everything I stood for," Chris Spielman said.

"It meant the world to me," Stefanie Spielman said. "That's been the hardest part -- seeing him give up what he loves -- the best, for me."

The Spielmans said that they had two options when they learned about the cancer. The first was to quit. The second was to come out and fight the disease.

The couple fought with determination and a deep love.

Even talk show host Oprah Winfrey was moved by their story.

"You are about to hear an extraordinary story of love and devotion," Winfrey said at the start of her show. "What a man. What a woman."

Stefanie Spielman's story inspired others, 10TV's Andrea Cambern reported.

"Stefanie's Champions" would honor those, like Chris Spielman, who go above and beyond to help a friend or loved one get through a difficult time and care for a cancer patient.

One year after her breast cancer diagnosis, the Spielman's life was back on track.

"It feels like our life has gotten back to normal," she said. "That's how it's always been. (Chris has) been the one in the limelight and we've been there to support him, to love him, to cheer him on."

Doctors said there were no signs of the cancer and Chris planned to return to the NFL.

"It's so exciting for me and very emotional for me because I feel like we've been given a second chance," Stefanie Spielman said.

She did not let up. Her goal to raise money and awareness seemed to intensify with the second chance. Stefanie would run in the Race For The Cure and walk with college students.

"At the college level, I don't think (students) think about breast cancer but this is proof that they do," she said.

More good news came for the family. Macy Lynn Spielman was born.

She was the third of four children.

By all accounts, the Spielmans had taken on cancer and won. But in 2001, a serious setback occurred when a spot was found in Stefanie's lungs.

"We're going to fight this and do the best we can and we'll be together, no matter what," Chris Spielman said.

Cancer is a formidable foe. It sleeps and then surfaces before the battle begins again.

Chris Spielman was back on full duty as Stefanie's champion.

"Stefanie has shown me (that) this is an opportunity to make a difference again," Chris Spielman said. "I don't know why (and) don't want to ask why but this is an opportunity to make a difference again."

The Spielmans raised even more money for research and programs at The James, more than $6.5 million to date.

They visited the research labs at Ohio State to see exactly where donations would go. Stefanie saw firsthand how the money raised would help her and others battling the disease.

The battle continued for years, Cambern reported.

The last time that 10TV News sat down with Stefanie Spielman was in November 2008, when 10TV News anchorwoman Heather Pick died of the disease. The two were close friends. Stefanie spoke about Heather but it was clear that the sentiments were hers, too.

"Sometimes (Heather) felt it was a blessing to have a disease that put our mortality right in your face and let you live life in a different way (while) fully understanding that we're only here on earth for a certain amount of time and enjoying it and never taking anything for granted," Stefanie Spielman said.

Chris Spielman stood by himself at this year's Stefanie's Champions event. His love and life partner was not well enough to be by his side.

She was by his side, though, when Chris was recognized at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 5 during halftime of Ohio State's season opener. The crowd and his wife cheered his accomplishments, both on and off the field.

"Not many people get a chance to recognize their mission in life and Stefanie's mission has obviously been to be a proponent for breast cancer research," Chris Spielman said. "So this has been and certainly will continue to be an honorable quest we're on."

We may think that Chris Spielman is an awful analyst, but there is no doubt that him, Stefanie, and his whole family are incredible human beings and something that we should all aspire to live up to.

RIP Stefanie.

RIP Uga VII

I'm not a huge fan of Georgia football, but the UGAs are probably the best live mascots there are. And sadly for Georgia, they will be moving on to the 8th. Uga VII has sadly passed away from a heart attack. From The Atlanta Journal Constitution

The cause of death was an apparent heart attack, longtime sideline reporter Loran Smith told the AJC.

"Uga has gone the way of all great bulldogs....up in the sky," Smith said.

Uga VII, named "Loran's Best" after the announcer, made his sideline debut on Aug. 30, 2008 in the Bulldogs' game vs. Georgia Southern. He compiled a record of 16-7 during his tenure, the shortest for any in the Uga family.

Since 1956, the University of Georgia's mascot has come from a line of solid-white English bulldogs named Uga, owned by Sonny and Cecelia Seiler of Savannah.

"We are all in a state of shock," Sonny Seiler said. "We had no warning whatsoever."

There will be no live mascot at Georgia¹s game on Saturday but a wreath will be placed on Uga VII¹s doghouse on the north sideline.

Oof. No word yet if the Seilers have an Uga VIII lined up, but that certainly is a touching gesture that the University of Georgia will have this Saturday.

RIP Uga VII.

Matthew Fleishman Does Not Take Kindly To Spelling A Name Differently

Ah yes, sometimes editors are enemies, and sometimes they are our best friends, exposing writers for who they really are and unintentionally humiliating them in the process. This is one of those latter cases.

We all remember back in the summer before the tradeline, right? Then we all know that the Blue Jays were asking several players from the Phillies for Roy Halladay, one of them being outfielder Dominic Brown.

Well, it turns out that technically there is no Dominic Brown on the Phillies. No, he was not traded and no this was not an imagined player. The media made a gigantic blunder. They had been spelling his name wrong the whole time! It's not the traditional Dominic Brown, but the correct spelling is Domonic Brown. This happened a few months ago.

So why am I bringing it up now?

Meet Matthew Fleishman of the Bucks Local News. He penned an article today on the Phillies hot stove. I don't know if any of you know this, but when writers want to denote something to the editors for an explanation that is not to be published they open up a parenthees and start a statement with *NFP:, which is short for Not For Publication. In said article Fleishman had one of these notes. It accidentally got published in the article. Now Fleishman is an apology to Domonic Brown. Why is that, you ask? While the actual article has since been taken down, Big League Stew managed to get a screenshot before it was.

So Domonic is an idiot because his parents spelled his name differently? I see....

To Fleishman's credit, he has issued an apology stating that "The only idiot in this case is me" but sometimes, it is best to get those notes to the editor in sticky note form, personal message thru Facebook, flat-out telling him, or just claim that idiots in the media have been spelling his name wrong the whole time, not Domonic himself.

(*NFP: FLEISHMAN IS STILL A MORON)

Phillies hot stove is heating up (Bucks Local News)

Tim Lincecum Is An Inspiration To Weed Smokers Everywhere

Forget steroids, if you want to win a Cy Young in the NL, you go straight for the hard stuff, you go for the weed.

Congrats to the 2009 Cy Young winner, Tim Lincecum.

Update: I had every intention of adding 49er16's pic earlier, but Blogger was being a bitch and not letting me upload pics, so the post came out as a little mean-spirited. I was simply joking around. If it makes you feel any better, I have 2 frozen internet windows that have not been shut down yet because I've been too lazy to restart my computer.

My sincerest congrats to Tim Lincecum winning his 2nd straight Cy Young. The right guy definitley won.