Lance Allan: Sports Glance with Lance
TIME FOR ANOTHER LANCE RANT
PACKERS, BADGERS, BREWERS AND MORE
I'm really not holding back this time...like Mike McCarthy talks about in his press conferences, I have the targets in sight, and I'm knocking 'em down.
Packers penalties could really come back to bite. The numbers are staggering. The Packers had 12 penalties. Two more were declined. Of the 14, 8 were called on the offensive line...including 5 alone in the first quarter. Tony Moll's on the Donald Driver TD catch was costly...but the one declined on Mark Tauscher could have been worse, since the Vikes were out of timeouts and it stopped the clock before the 2 minute warning, giving the Vikes essentially an extra timeout with 40 more seconds to work with. Impressive that the Packers could overcome this. But they can't do it very often and expect to win.
One of my favorite ref calls ever. The mic of referee Jeff Triplette stuck on Monday Night. When Nick Barnett was complaining that he was being held, Triplette simply said, "Well knock his (bleep) over and then dropped an f bomb. It was all heard in the press box, which erupted in laughter. Barnett then wisely told the ref his mic was hot. REAL HOT. I think the calls toward Barnett were a little more favorable from there on out.
Another reason not to like the Vikes. One of the best the business, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel confirmed it...Mike McCarthy and Brad Childress did not shake hands after the Packers-Vikings game on Monday night. It seems Childress claims he was talking with Tarvaris Jackson after his game clinching INT. So let's see...Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini hate each other, yet they still have time to give a short photo op. Apparently Chilly's nickname appropriate, since this rivalry is more than a little icy!
Kirk Herbstreit is a Buckeye who apparently likes to Badger the Badgers. Let me get this straight. Herbstreit had Wisconsin ranked 10th in his preseason poll, where they actually are right now. I was at Saturday's game against Marshall. A 10th ranking might be generous, and I have serious reservations about the upcoming game at Fresno State. But after Wisconsin beat Akron, Herbstreit moved Wisconsin from 10th to 16th. And after beating Marshall, he moves them from 16th to 22nd. I can understand being skeptical, but don't rank them that high in the first place, because if the Badgers win, you at least have to keep them ranked the same!
Can somebody pick Ryan Braun up? I think it's admirable Ryan Braun is toughing out his injury. But he's clearly not the same. And the Fielder, Braun, Hart of the Brewers lineup? Batting around .216 with 0 HR's and 6 RBI in the 9 games of this homestand.
And who says there's not enough scoring in hockey? In women's hockey, Slovakia beats Bulgaria 82-0 in an Olympic qualifying tournament. Now that's the Olympic spirit! Slovakia scored more goals than minutes in the game. Bulgaria scored 1 goal and gave up 192 in the tournament. I'm thinking the woman who scored the goal should be a national hero.
Your thoughts welcome at lallan@todaystmj4.com
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