8/31/2012- Blue Jays def Yankees 2 out of 3, Mets def Phillies 2 out of 3, NFL Preseason concludes, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week this week. There was a lot of newsworthy events, especially what happened today (even though it's not sports related). I'll share more information as you read along. Here we go!

MLB
After the Yankees concluded their series in Cleveland, the Yankees returned home and hosted the Toronto Blue Jays in a 3 game set. The Yankees lost the 1st game due to blown save both in regulation and in extra innings, won the 2nd game, and lost the Wednesday matinee game. For the Mets, they traveled to Philadelphia and faced the Phillies in a 3 game set where they came from behind win on Tuesday, dominated on Wednesday, but failed to sweep on Thursday.

This weekend, the Yankees will host the Baltimore Orioles in a 3 game set, while the Mets will be in Marlins Park to face the Miami Marlins.

NFL
It's official, NFL Preseason is over. And that means the New York Giants is 2-2, while the Jets are 0-4 in the preseason. The Giants faced the New England Patriots on Wednesday night at home where it was a low scoring affair. You could say it was like "watching paint dry".

The following night, the Jets were in Philadelphia facing the Eagles in what turned out to be a blowout loss. The only good news was that the Jets scored a TD for the 1st time this preseason. However, it was all downhill from here.

Starting next week, the Giants will open their season against the Dallas Cowboys on September 5th. This will make the 1st NFL game to be scheduled on a Wednesday.

WWE
This past Monday on Raw wasn't really a good episode, with the exception of a few highlights.

I don't know what's going on, but Raw needs to do something since next Monday will be the last Monday Night Raw where there's no competition. Once the 2012 NFL Season starts, WWE will have to create a better Raw and not lose viewers to Monday Night Football. Outside of Sports If you all heard what happened this morning, a shooting happened at a Pathmark store in Old Bridge, NJ around the late night/early morning hours. And this Pathmark just happens to be not too far from my house. I do remember when I woke up this morning I saw helicopters flying, and I didn't know what happened until I read what happened on the news. Here are more details about this:

 

 

You definitely heard it from the video. The gunman killed 2 people, and shot himself. Since the video was taken early in the morning, updated details have not been given in the video. For more details, check your local news stations about this. I have also posted a link giving the updated info: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Ex-Marine-Shoots-Coworkers-Old-Bridge-Pathmark-168153356.html

 

My thoughts on this are "Why are people being so violent nowadays?" and "What is with these shootings?". Something needs to be done regarding gun control. I give my sympathies to the friends and families of the victims.

 

That's all I'm going to say for now. Have a good Labor Day weekend!

 

-NYCKNP

 

8/27/2012- Yankees def Indians 2 out of 3, Mets def Astros 2 out of 3, NFL Preseason, Bellator 73 results, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend! As you may know, the season of summer is coming to an end as next week students will be returning to school. That also means that next week my fall semester starts. Let's cut to the chase, shall we. Here we go!

MLB
After a rough outing in Chicago, the Yankees traveled to Cleveland in hopes of a win and it sure came as the Yankees ended a 3 game losing streak on Friday. Even though the Yankees got shut out on Saturday, they won the series on Sunday. Meanwhile for the Mets, they hosted the Astros one last time as intradivision opponents where they lost on Friday, got a win on Saturday, and an ugly win on Sunday.

This week, the Yankees are home and will host the Toronto Blue Jays in a 3 game set starting tonight, while the Mets are on the road and will face the Philadelphia Phillies in a 3 game set starting tomorrow night.

NFL
This past weekend was "the final dress rehearsal" for all the NFL teams in week 3 of the preseason as all the starters prepare for the regular season come September. The New York Giants hosted the Chicago Bears on Friday night, and aired on CBS. I didn't see the entire game, but I know that Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf called the game. All I can say is Dan Dierdorf was a little annoying that night as he was making puns for no reason, and accidentally called Eli Manning "Peyton". The highlights will speak louder than my words.

Last night on Sunday Night Football, the New York Jets hosted the Carolina Panthers. Even though the Jets lost the game, and haven't scored a touchdown this preseason, improvement was made last night compared to the Week 2 preseason game. Mark Sanchez was given time to throw from the pocket, and looked alright in the game. However, his receiving core didn't as Stephen Hill dropped a few passes (one that led to an INT), Santonio Holmes was rusty, TE Dustin Keller was removed from the game due to injury, and Josh Baker is out for the season. Also, it didn't help with the penalties when Slauson attempted to break up a fight between Jets' Turner and Panthers' Nakamura and got flagged for "personal foul". As for the secondary team, and Tim Tebow, let's just say that he can rush, but his passing needs improvement. Here are the highlights.

Bellator Bellator Fighting Championships concluded the 2012 Summer Series with a bang, as a Knockout finished the Light Heavyweight Tournament Final. The event took place in Tunica, Mississippi, and emanated from Harrah's Tunica Hotel and Casino. Here are the results:

• Mike Wessel def Ryan Martinez via split decision
• Mike Mucitelli def Matt Van Buren via submission at Round 1
• Marcos Galvao def Luis Nogueira via TKO in Round 2 to win the Season 6 Bantamweight Tournament
• Attila Vegh def Travis Wiuff via KO at Round 1 to win the Summer Series Light Heavyweight Tournament

Here are the highlights:

Bellator Fighting Championships will return on September 28th with Season 7. WWE This Monday on Raw, Triple H will make an appearance addressing his future in the WWE. Also, find out what happened after CM Punk attacked Jerry Lawler. That's all I have to say for now. Have a good week! -NYCKNP

8/24/2012- White Sox swept Yankees, Rockies swept Mets, UFC 151 Cancelled, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week this week as a lot happened such as a bad spell for New York baseball, as well as a cancellation of a UFC event. More will be shared as you read along. Here we go!

MLB
After hosting the Red Sox and winning the series 2 out of 3, the Yankees traveled to US Cellular Field to take on the Chicago White Sox in a 3 game set. The Yankees lost the 1st 2 games in a blowout, and attempted to avoid a sweep but it wasn't to be as they fell short by 1 run on Wednesday. If getting swept wasn't enough, the worst part is that the Tampa Bay Rays are catching up in division standings and now the Yankees are only 2 games ahead in the AL East. Meanwhile for the Mets, they lost 4 games at home to the Colorado Rockies, even though they made an attempt to avoid a sweep yesterday.

The Yankees will be in Cleveland to take on the Cleveland Indians this weekend in a 3 game set before heading back home. The Mets will host the Houston Astros one final time as intradivision opponents this weekend. The reason being is that the Houston Astros will be in the AL West in 2013, and the next time the Mets face them will be in Interleague Play.

MMA
If you heard about it yesterday, it's definitely true that UFC 151 is indeed cancelled. The reason being is that Dan Henderson got injured, and the replacement opponent was going to be Chael Sonnen. However, Jon Jones refused to fight Sonnen, which led to Dana White cancelling the entire event altogether. Here are some of the video highlights.

Even though most of the video highlights is true, part of it is outdated since Machida declined the title shot, and Jones will face Vitor Belfort at UFC 152. Initial reports stated that UFC 152 would be renamed to UFC 151, but Zuffa decided not to and declared that UFC 151 is a lost event. Here's the fight card of what could have happened on September 1st.

MMA fans, even though UFC 151 is not taking place, the good news is that there will be an MMA event tonight. That's right, Bellator Fighting Championships will host the last event of the 2012 Summer Series. NFL This weekend is the third week of NFL Preseason. The New York Giants will host the Chicago Bears tonight and will air on CBS. 2 days later, the New York Jets will host the Carolina Panthers and will air on Sunday Night Football on NBC. The good news for Jets fans is that Austin Howard will start at Right Tackle for this game, and Santonio Holmes and Jeremy Kerley will play as well. WWE This past Monday on Raw was the Raw after the SummerSlam PPV. Raw kicked off with Brock Lesnar in the ring telling how he made Triple H tap out (and would eventually announce "retirement" later on via Tout). Other than that, Raw was basically filler with a few highlights such as Shawn Michaels making a speech via satellite and CM Punk "apparently" turning heel.

Overall, it was a better Monday Night Raw compared to the Raw that happened last week. However, there still more work to be done. That's all I have to say for now. Have a good weekend! - NYCKNP

8/20/2012- WWE SummerSlam results, Yankees def Red Sox 2 out of 3, Nationals def Mets 2 out of 3, NFL Preseason, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend this weekend. Here is a recap of what happened over the weekend and what to expect this week. Here we go!

WWE

Last night was "The 25th Anniversary of SummerSlam" where it emanated from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Overall there were 8 matches on the card. 1 was streamed online while the remaining 7 aired on PPV. Here are the results:

YouTube/Facebook/WWE.com

• Antonio Cesaro def Santino Marella to become the NEW United States Champion

PPV

• Chris Jericho def Dolph Ziggler via Lion Tamer
• Daniel Bryan def Kane
• The Miz def Rey Mysterio to retain the Intercontinental Championship
• Sheamus def Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
• R-Truth & Kofi Kingston def Prime Time Players (Darren Young & Titus O'Neil) to retain the WWE Tag Team Championship
• CM Punk def John Cena and The Big Show in a triple threat match to retain the WWE Championship
• Brock Lesnar def Triple H via Kimura Lock submission

On my previous blog post, I said that I wouldn't be watching the PPV, but I did since I won a code from WWE's Twitter contest where I gave my thoughts using the #SummerSlam hashtag. WWE chose me and a few others via random selection as winners and I got a redeemable code to watch the PPV on WWE.com/PPV. How the code worked was when I purchased the PPV, the $44.95 price was waived and I watched it for free. Thank you WWE for allowing me to save $45 dollars. Here's proof if you don't believe me:

Here are the highlights from the PPV:

Don't forget to tune in tonight on Monday Night Raw to see the fallout from SummerSlam

MLB

This weekend, the Yankees faced division rival Boston Red Sox in a 3 game set at home before going on the road. The Yankees won Friday's game, fell short on Saturday, and won yesterday on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball to win the series 2 out of 3. On the other side of things, the Mets were in Washington D.C. to take on the Washington Nationals. Mets lost on Friday, won on Saturday, but failed to win the series yesterday.

This week, the Yankees will be at the South Side to take on the Chicago White Sox at US Cellular Field in a 3 game set , while the Mets will return home to host the Colorado Rockies in a 4 game set.

NFL

This past Saturday was the second week of NFL Preseason as the New York Jets hosted the New York Giants in what they call the "MetLife Bowl". This was the worst preseason game I've ever seen, since the Jets offensive line is complete garbage and Wayne Hunter is terrible at his role at Right Tackle. Without a good offensive line, how can Mark Sanchez have time to throw from the pocket? The secondary team didn't look good either since Tim Tebow was sacked a few times as well. Sanchez did throw an interception, but Eli Manning of the Giants threw an interception as well (although Sanchez's INT turned into a Pick Six). Here are the highlights:

That's all I have to say for now. Have a good week -NYCKNP

8/17/2012- Yankees def Texas 3 out of 4, Reds def Mets 2 out of 3, NFL Preseason, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week! Here are all of the info of what happened over the week, and what to expect this weekend. Here we go!

MLB
After the Toronto series, the Yankees came home to host the Texas Rangers in a 4 game set. The Yankees won the 1st 3 games in the series, but failed to sweep them in yesterday's matinee game. For the Mets, they traveled to Cincinnati to face the Reds in a 3 game set. The Reds won the 1st 2 games, but the Mets avoided a sweep yesterday.

This weekend, the Yankees will host their fiercest rival, the Boston Red Sox, while the Mets will be in Washington D.C. to take on the Washington Nationals.

NFL
Training camp is officially over for both New York teams as the Jets returned to Florham Park, while the Giants returned to Timex. Tomorrow, the Jets and Giants will face off in the 2nd annual MetLife Bowl at MetLife Stadium. The Jets hope to win their 2nd straight MetLife Bowl, while the Giants plan to even out the series against the Jets. Even though this game is considered preseason, this has a lot of hype to it when considering "bragging rights".

WWE
SummerSlam is this Sunday, and guess what? WWE didn't do a nice job hyping the go-home show before the PPV. This past Monday on Raw featured the contract signing, and the final hype for SummerSlam. Overall, it was an okay Raw, but not a good one to promote a PPV. After the contract signing, it felt like WWE used up all of their material before 11:15 PM (the time when Raw usually goes off the air). At first, it felt like Raw ended 15 minutes earlier than usual, but it turned out to be a really long commercial break, and the airtime left before 11 PM was basically used to kill time. This is probably why Raw ended by Brock Lesnar breaking Shawn Michaels' arm.

Most likely, I will not be watching this PPV since I have other matters to attend to. However, I will be giving the results next Monday. That's all I have to say for now. Have a good weekend! -NYCKNP

8/13/2012- Yankees def Blue Jays 2 out of 3, Braves def Mets 2 out of 3, UFC 150 results, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend! Let's cut to the chase, and start off with a cold open instead.

MLB
This past weekend, the Yankees faced the Toronto Blue Jays and won the series in 2 games. They attempted to sweep, but Blue Jays made sure that it didn't happen. For the Mets, they hosted the Atlanta Braves and lost the 1st 2 games, but (barely) avoided a sweep yesterday by picking up a victory. This week, the Yankees will be home to host the Texas Rangers in a 4 game set starting tonight, while the Mets will be on the road and face the Cincinnati Reds from tomorrow to Thursday.

UFC
This past Saturday was the UFC 150 PPV event that emanated from the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Overall, there were 10 fights on the card. 1 was streamed to Facebook, 4 aired on FX, while the rest was shown on PPV. Here are the results:

Facebook

• Nik Lentz def Eiji Mitsuoka via TKO at Round 1

FX

• Chico Camus def Dustin Pague via unanimous decision
• Eric Perez def Ken Stone via TKO at Round 1
• Michael Kuiper def Jared Hamman via TKO at Round 2
• Dennis Bermudez def Tommy Hayden via guillotine choke at Round 1

PPV

• Max Holloway def Justin Lawrence via TKO at Round 2
• Yushin Okami def Buddy Roberts via TKO at Round 2
• Jake Shields def Ed Herman via unanimous decision
• Donald Cerrone def Melvin Guillard via KO at Round 1
• Ben Henderson def Frankie Edgar via split decision to retain the UFC Lightweight Championship

NFL
Last Friday aired preseason games of New York Football. The New York Jets lost to the Cincinnati Bengals and the New York Giants blew a lead and fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Keep in mind it's only preseason, and none of these games matter. Nonetheless, here are the highlights.

WWE

Tonight is the last Raw before SummerSlam. As you all heard, the World Heavyweight Championship match between Sheamus and Alberto Del Rio was cancelled. I believe this is the reason why:



That's all I have to say for now. Have a good week!

-NYCKNP 

8/10/2012- Yankees/Tigers split series, Marlins def Mets 2 out of 3, NFL Preseason, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you enjoyed your week this week. As you may know, NFL Preseason has started and that means the two New York football teams are playing tonight. I will give a preview of what to expect for tonight's preseason games as well as my usual stuff. Here we go!

MLB
After the Yankees beat the Mariners 2 out of 3 this weekend, they headed to Comerica Park to face the Detroit Tigers. After the Tigers won the first two games, the Yankees got a win on Wednesday (although it was almost a loss), and made a come from behind win after what happened to Yankees manager Joe Girardi yesterday. Yesterday in the early parts of the game, after one of the Detroit batters hit the ball, and hit the borderline between in bounds and out of bounds, the umpire originally called it foul but changed it to fair. Girardi went to contest the call, and after a few moments he was ejected from the game.

After the ejection from the game, Mark Teixera (followed by Eric Chavez) hit back to back home runs that helped the Yankees come from behind.

Meanwhile for the Mets, they hosted the Miami Marlins at home in a 3 game set. The Marlins won the 1st 2 games, but R.A. Dickey made sure that the Mets avoid a sweep.

Tonight, the Yankees will be in Toronto to face the Blue Jays this weekend, while the Mets will host the Atlanta Braves this weekend.

NFL

That's right. NFL is back! Well, it's actually preseason, but still a good way to find out how the rookies will perform heading to the regular season next month. The New York Jets will face the Cincinnati Bengals, while the New York Giants will face the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tonight's Jets game will be on the NFL Network and WCBS, while the Giants game will be on WWOR (NBC is covering the Olympics so WNBC won't be able to air tonight's game).

WWE

This past Monday on Raw was just your ordinary episode of Raw, with the exception that Shawn Michaels making an appearance to give his opinion on the Triple H vs Brock Lesnar match at SummerSlam.



Other than that, it was just an ordinary episode of Raw, with nothing special that day. WWE did air a new Raw intro with the new theme song that was used on Raw 1000.



UFC

Tomorrow night is UFC 150 where a rematch will take place between Ben Henderson and Frankie Edgar. Here's an preview:



That's all I have to say for now. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

-NYCKNP

8/3/2012- Orioles def Yankees 2 out of 3, Mets def SF Giants 3 out of 4, preview of UFC on FOX 4: Shogun vs Vera, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a good week this week. Here are some of the highlights on what went on over the week as well as a preview of what to expect this weekend. Here we go!

MLB
After losing the series to the Boston Red Sox 2 out of 3, the Yankees attempted to bounce back in a series against Baltimore at home. Despite dropping the 1st 2 games to Baltimore, the Yankees avoided a sweep on Wednesday, ending a 4 game losing streak. For the Mets, after splitting a 4 game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, they traveled to San Francisco to take on the baseball Giants in a 4 game set, and went on to win the series 3 out of 4.

This weekend, the Yankees will remain home as they will face the Seattle Mariners in a 3 game set, while the Mets will conclude their West Coast tour in San Diego to face the Padres.

UFC
This weekend is UFC on FOX 4 as the headliner bout is Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs Brandon Vera in a Light Heavyweight Bout. Here's a preview of what to expect:

If you noticed on the video, the narrator said "while London sleeps", and "no tape delay". This is definitely an obvious shot at NBC since NBC is being criticized for airing the Olympics on broadcast delay instead of live television. WWE This past Monday was the first Raw after the Raw 1000th episode celebration. Before Raw went on the air, a pyrotechnic malfunction caused a minor fire to occur.     

Once the fire was put out, and Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler explained what happened, Raw started off with a highlight of what happened last week.  

After the highlight was aired, CM Punk came out and broke his silence after attacking The Rock the previous week, claiming that The Rock is stealing the spotlight, and Punk isn't getting the equal amount. I like The Rock, but CM Punk has made a good point because when Rock returned after 7 years, he was automatically given a title shot at the Royal Rumble, while Punk had to earn his WWE Championship.

After the new Raw General Manager AJ announced that the Big Show and John Cena will face each other for the Number 1 contendership to the WWE Championship, it was pretty much all filler (with the exception of Randy Orton's return from his 60-day suspension) until the main event. Once the main event occured, the match between them went to a no-contest. Despite the fact that CM Punk said "there's no winner", AJ made the WWE Championship match at SummerSlam a triple-threat between Show, Cena, and Punk. Punk didn't take too kindly to that.  

Since Raw has AJ as the General Manager, SmackDown's GM was announced on Wednesday on WWE.com. Originally, WWE had plans to announce it on tonight's SmackDown, but I guess they couldn't wait. Here is the new SmackDown General Manager:   

That's right! Booker T will leave the announce table and run as the SmackDown General Manager for the time being. That's all I have to say for now. Have a good weekend!  - NYCKNP