Tuesday, December 20, 2011
About Last Night: Lights Out For Big Ben
By Shane Ryan
In case you were out living a life of leisure, here's what you missed in sports on Monday.
The 49er defense picked off Ben Roethlisberger three times en route to an impressive 20-3 win over the Steelers. After each interception, Roethlisberger made the Niner defensive backs uncomfortable by approaching them with a goofy grin on his face, not seeming to recognize or accept that a turnover had taken place and insisting that the drive continue.
During the game, two power outages at Candlestick Park delayed the action as darkness fell on the stadium. I said it at the time, and I'll say it again — they never should have gone away from candlesticks. Stick with what got you there.
The Texas Rangers won the rights to Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish by posting the highest bid on Monday. What's really annoying for Rangers fans is that team president Nolan Ryan plans only to use Darvish to make funny videos for the stadium big screen.
Ahead of this weekend's game, Jets coach Rex Ryan said his team is better than the Giants, and that he "never came here to be little brother to anybody." But Ryan needn't have worried; it's been decades since anybody's description of him included the word "little."
No. 10 Marquette fell from the ranks of the undefeated with a 67-59 loss to LSU. Ralston Turner scored 22 points for the Tigers, and his team took the momentum for good after the Honey Badger leveled Marquette coach Buzz Williams on the sideline.
Nik Cochran scored 21 points as Davidson visited no. 11 Kansas and came away with an 80-74 upset win. As per Kansas tradition, the Wildcats were chased out of town by locals wielding pitchforks and torches.
Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin is uncertain for his team's bowl game Friday after he started a fight with receiver Curtis Drake and suffered a concussion when his head hit the locker room floor. In a press conference shortly after the incident, Jerry Sandusky's lawyer called it, "the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to Penn State."
Chris Paul had 17 points, nine assists, and seven boards as the Clippers trounced the Lakers 114-95 in preseason NBA action. "It was an honor to play against Kobe Bryant," said Paul of the player who was almost his teammate. "And it was interesting to hear how inexpensive ice cream used to be when he was a kid."
Adrian Peterson called the Saints defense "dirty" and said they tried to injure him during Sunday's game. For their part, the Saints accused Peterson of repeatedly hitting them in the helmet, shoulder, and hands with his ankle.
