Here’s what you missed this weekend while you were either a.) drinking yourself into a stupor for St. Patty’s Day, or b.) watching Justin Cage’s missed free throw help Ohio State reach the Sweet 16…
6 Nations: Wales 27, England 18. Wales avoided the dreaded wooden spoon by knocking off England in the final round of the 2007 6 Nations Rugby event. When asked to comment, Warren Ellis muttered, “Fucking Welsh,” and returned to his Red Bull.
In other 6 Nations news, France won the title with a 46-19 win over Scotland. Many Scottish fans were unable to attend the match in Paris, thanks to a train fire in London. Sounds like something the French would do for home field advantage, doesn’t it?
Premiership: Reading 0-0 Portsmouth. Both Reading and Pompey had plenty of goal-scoring opportunities, but neither could seal the deal. It was kind of like my luck with women at college parties back in the day. Reading dropped to 8th place in the EPL table, two points behind Everton, who pulled out a 1-0 home win over Arsenal, and one point behind Tottenham Hotspur, who vaulted ahead of them with a 3-1 home victory over last-place Watford.
As of right now, finishing in 7th place in the EPL this season should earn a club a spot in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, a summer tournament in which winning teams qualify for UEFA Cup, the 2nd-level pan-European football championship. 5th place and 6th place finishes should earn clubs automatic UEFA Cup bids. The mere thought of Reading, a club that had never been in the top flight until this year, qualifying for Europe… well, like I’ve said before, I like a good underdog story.
You know what else is a really good story? A goalie who can score…
AFL NAB Cub Grand Final: Carlton Blues 97, Brisbane Lions 72. If you think missed free throws are bad in basketball — and I sure do — try missing 12 goal kicks in Aussie Rules. That’s what happened to Brisbane, who got 12 behinds in 22 attempts and couldn’t overcome Carlton, led by Brendan Fevola’s four goals and strong play from midfielder Nick Stevens, who won an MVP medal for his efforts. Whether the Blues can build on this remains to be seen. They finished 3-18-1 last year and need all the springboards they can get.
That other AFL: Dallas 66, Kansas City 54. Running back Josh White put up this stat line: 13 carries, 39 yards, 5 touchdowns. Arena ball fans scratched their heads, wondering when anyone started running with the ball in this game. Others cared because ESPN told them they should.
