Well Shit, It Sure Looks Like Tiger Has Got His Groove Back

Love him or loathe him, Tiger Woods is a charter member on the Mount Rushmore of Iconic Athletes of the past 20 years. And seven short years after this blog took on phoenix form, we have now risen from the ashes a more majestic bird than ever before.

Tiger Woods finished T31 at Bridgestone this week. It was his 13th event of this PGA Tour Season. He has missed only 2 cuts during these 13 events, including four Top-5s.  He is 3rd in Strokes-Gained: Approach and 6th in both SG: Tee-to-Green and SG: Total on the entire tour. This week he finished with back to back 73s and we bid him goodbye for now a bit disappointed in his showing this week.

AND THAT IS FUCKING AWESOME.

Tiger has got his groove back... and just maybe this blog has too.

A million thank yous to our amazing readers who have stood with us and demanded content over the years. This is for you. God bless you. 

A Storm is Brewing at Madison Square Garden

Ladies and gentlemen, quality basketball is back at the world’s most famous arena. That’s right, MSG is rockin’ once again. Oh, you thought I meant Amare and the Knicks? No, for the first time this decade the St. John’s Red Storm are legitimate NCAA tournament contenders.

St. John’s, after tonight’s win against #4 Pittsburgh, are 17-9 and 9-5 in the Big East, the nation’s toughest conference. The Red Storm have quality wins against West Virginia, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Duke, UConn, Cincinnati, and Marquette. They have the 17^th ranked RPI and the 2^nd ranked strength of schedule. This team is for real.

When Steve Lavin left the set of ESPN to take over the head-coaching job for the Johnies I thought this was a major demotion for Lavin. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Lavin was the new, hot coach. At UCLA, he won Rookie Coach of the Year in 1997, led the Bruins to the Final Four in 1998, and won the Pac-10 Coach of the Year in 2001. However, after a very disappointing 2002-2003 season, Lavin was fired. In 2010, he returned to coaching and undertook the arduous task of bringing St. John’s back to big time basketball.

For those (like me) who don’t remember, St. John’s was once a proud basketball program. The Red Storm have made twenty-seven NCAA tournament appearances and reached two Final Fours. Fran Fraschilla and Mike Jarvis led them to much success in the 1990s and early 2000s. However, by 2003, the program was in shambles.

In steps Lavin in 2010 to save the program. The Red Storm are beating good teams this year and more importantly Lavin has them believing that they can go deep into March. This team has some real talent: Bronx-native Dwight Hardy leads the team averaging 17.1 points per game and Justin Browlee is averaging almost 13 points per game.

While this year’s St. John’s team is poised to make a run, Lavin, a recruiting wizard, has done a fantastic job with his first recruiting class at St. John’s. Seven recruits with ratings higher than 90 from ESPNU will be heading to New York to play for Coach Lavin next year. This class includes Dom Pointer, #34 in ESPNU’s top 100, Jakaar Sampson, #35 in ESPNU’s top 100, Maurice Harkless, #41, D’Angelo Harrison, #62, and Norvell Pelle, #75.

Don’t expect St. Johns to cut down the nets at this year’s Final Four in Houston. However, relevant college basketball is once again being played at The Garden and don’t be surprised if Coach Lavin, with his famous gelled back hair and all, has the Johnies dancing deep into the tournament this year.

The Most Charisma You've Ever Seen out of KG

Kevin Garnett has been known as a lot of things during his successful career in the NBA, but a funny guy has never been one of them.  Except for one fateful night in February 2009 when KG really took offense to an outfit chosen by HTGHGB Staff favorite, Craig Sager, and he really let him know about it. Sager has always been know for his ridiculous suits and colorful dress, but according to the 13-time NBA All Star, he took it a little to far on this evening.

OUCH. Garnett goes as far to even tell Sager to burn the red socks that America can't see, sparing no detail. I must say, I agree with KG on this one. Many of Sager's outfits have been fantastic, but this one is just ridiculous. The all red look from the waste down is not a viable option. Sorry Craig.

NFL Sunday Roundup - An Sad Return to the States

Greetings all.  First let me apologize for the lack of new posts on the site lately.  I pulled an Amar'e Stoudemire and have been getting in touch with my roots in Israel for the past two weeks and have been unable to provide witty commentary on the most happening sports events of late. Fret not, followers. All is about to return to normal.

Let's start with a quick recap of what we learned in today's NFL Conference Championship Matchups

1) It's tough to come back from down 24-0. At halftime, the Steelers had more points than Jets had plays run on offense. The Jets dug themselves into a big hole in this game and still almost managed to come back, but it was too little too late. Mark Sanchez was excellent today, posting a 102.2 QB rating, but it just wasn't enough. For the first time all season, the Jets were helpless at stopping the run and the defense couldn't get off the field. As a Jets fan, I respect the effort, and had we gotten a couple of breaks we could have easily came out on top, but once again the season ends one game short of the Super Bowl.

2) The things that Ben Roethlisberger does that makes him so good do not show up in the box score. I've always been a fan of Big Ben, but he really took it to another level today. Playing very banged up with a bum ankle and vicious charlie horse courtesy of Calvin Pace in the first quarter, he still showed great mobility in the pocket and the ability to evade the rush to extend plays that Brady was unable to do last week. How long ago does all the rape allegation and negative image stuff seem now? We all know he can win big games and I wouldn't be shocked to see him win a 3rd ring, but that being said...

3) The Packers are going to win the Super Bowl. As a predicted earlier this year, the team from Green Bay is the best in the league and will hoist the Lombardi Trophy in 2 weeks. The Packers won today because of their defense, which shows their versatility as a team. Rodgers had 0 TD's and 2 INT's in this game and that sure won't happen again next week against a very beatable Steelers secondary, so I just don't see how the Packers finish the game with less points than the Steelers.

4) BJ Raji might become the best defensive linemen this league has seen in a long time. BJ and N'damukong Suh will battle for the title of best DL in the league for years to come and it's a competition I am excited to see develop.  Raji is so good at collapsing the pocket by consistently pressuring the QB up the middle, making him a terror both in the passing and running game. His pick 6 today just went even further to show how good of an athlete he is and if I were a Packers fan, Raji's #90 is the jersey I would want to get.

5) Brian Schottenheimer is worse at his job than any other human in the universe is at theirs. If I called him just the worst offensive coordinator in football, it would be the understatement of the century. For the past few seasons I have time and time again questioned his play calling, and today's goal line effort with the Jets down 24-10 was just the icing on the cake. There's not another coordinator (or sane person) who would throw consecutively on 2nd & goal and 3rd & goal from the 1 yard line in that situation while the Jets running game was finally clicking. Attention Mike Tannenbaum - FIRE BRIAN SCHOTTENHEIMER.

More posts to come soon, including some hilarious video's, outrageous athlete tweets, the latest fad in pro sports, and a Super Bowl preview. In the meantime, Lil Silly signing off.

HOW 'BOUT IT

They said that the Patriots were unbeatable at home...

They said that we did too much talking...

They said we couldn't stop Brady and Patriots' historic passing offense...

They said that Rex couldn't keep up with Belichick...

They said that Sanchez wouldn't get it done...

They said having Revis wasn't enough...

They said we couldn't muster a pass rush...

...WELL WHAT NOW?

Are Da Bears For Real?

As I sit on the couch watching the Chicago Bears steamroll their way into the NFC Championship they certainly look like a Super Bowl team. I am writing this midway through the second quarter and Chicago appears poised to make a Super Bowl run ala the Super Bowl Shuffle Bears team in 1985. However, in the illustrious words of Lee Corso, “Not so fast my friend.” Here are some important factors to keep in mind before you hop on the Bears bandwagon:

· The Bears are not playoff tested

The Seahawks utilized the best home field advantage in football to beat a banged up Saints squad in the first round of the playoffs. However, that win was an abberation. The Seahawks should not be a playoff team. The Bears, while running away from the Seahawks, have not played a meaningful game in weeks. The Packers have momentum after wins over the Eagles and Falcons (both teams that are much better than Seattle).

· The Bears lack consistency

During the regular season a three-point loss to Seattle, a loss to the Giants, Redskins, Patriots, and Packers (three playoff teams) show that the Bears are have holes. However, the Bears also had good wins over the Packers, Eagles, and Jets. Quarterback Jay Cutler is extremely inconsistent and even this blowout win against the Seahawks exemplifies that he is mistake prone (two missed interceptions in the first quarter).

· The being said, the Bears are really good

Robby Gould is a playoff-tested kicker. The Bears defense is great (three two words: Peppers and Urlacher). They have a great running game (Matt Forte is the first Bear since Walter Peyton to rush for over a thousand yards and receive for over 500 yards in a season). Lovie Smith is a great coach. It is impossible to argue that the Bears are not unequivocally a very solid playoff team.

The bottom line is I will be picking against the Bears when they play the Packers and then again if they make the Super Bowl. However, stranger things have happened. The Bears certainly have holes (as do all the teams in the league this year). So, are Da Bears for real? We have to wait and see. In the words of famous Brown University alum, Chris Berman, “That’s why you play the game.”

Michigan Hires Brady Hoke to Replace Rodriguez

Brady Hoke, the former football coach at Ball State and San Diego State, has been named the University of Michigan's new head football coach. Rumors had been circulating that the Mad Hatter, Les Miles, would leave LSU to take over at Michigan. However, Dave Brandon, Michigan's AD, announced today that the position would in fact be filled by Hoke. 

This isn't the flashy hire that I'm sure the Michigan boosters wanted, but after the Rich Rodriguez debacle I do think this is a good hire (Hoke is the antithesis of Rodriguez). Hoke completely turned around Ball State's football program, taking them from 4-8 in 2003 to 12-1 in 2007. He then led San Diego State to a five win turnaround from 2009 to 2010. Hoke worked on Lloyd Carr's staff at Michigan and knows what the winning culture of the maize and blue should be like in Ann Harbor. It is going to take time, Michigan fans, but rest assured that the Hoke hire is at least a move in the right direction.