9/28/2012- Yankees def Twins 2 out of 3, Mets def Pirates 3 out of 4, review of WWE Raw, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week this week. A lot of newsworthy events happened over the week. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Here we go!

MLB
After hosting the Oakland A's at home, the Yankees traveled to Minnesota to take on the Twins in a 3 game set. The Yankees won the 1st game, blew the lead in the 2nd, and won the 3rd to win the series. Back in NY, the Mets hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 4 game set, which happened to be the last home stand for the season. The Mets won the series 3 out of 4, and the most notable game was the last home game since Keith Hernandez shaved his mustache for charity before the game, and R.A. Dickey got his 20th win of this season.

The Yankees went to Toronto yesterday for a 4 game set, and got shutout on the 1st game of the series. The Yankees will continue their final road series in Toronto, while the Mets will travel to Atlanta to take on the Braves in a 3 game set this weekend.

NFL
This Sunday, the New York Jets will host the San Francisco 49ers at the 1 PM slot on FOX, while the New York Giants will be in Philadelphia to take on the Eagles on Sunday Night Football on NBC. The notable thing about this week is that the NFLRA and NFL made a deal for the regular referees to return to work and not use the replacement refs after what happened on Monday Night Football.

The replacement referees called a Seattle TD, when it was actually a Green Bay Packer who caught the ball. This caused an uproar among NFL fans, sports media, regarding the "Seattle Screwjob".  The good thing is that the actual referees are back, and the focus can once again be on the game itself. Referees make bad calls once in a while, but the blame goes to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for not doing anything before it went out of hand.

WWE
This past Monday on Raw was the fallout from Last Monday's Raw ending when the referee made a bad call. The beginning segment poked fun at the NFL Replacement Referees at that time. That message meant that you know the NFL Replacement Refs situation was getting out of hand when the WWE made it a storyline.

After that segment, the rest of Monday Night Raw was pretty decent. Michael Cole and Jim Ross were calling commentary that day as JBL is out of the country. Here are the rest of the highlights from Raw:

Earlier today, WWE announced that Kelly Kelly has been released from the WWE. It came to no surprise since she wanted to leave for a while, and this was more of a formality. Good luck to her in the future.


MMA
Tonight is the Bellator Fighting Championships Season 7 premiere, and the following night is UFC on FuelTV.

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

-NYCKNP

9/24/2012- Yankees def Athletics 2 out of 3, Mets sweep Marlins, NY Jets def Dolphins, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you are doing alright and had a great weekend. My weekend was bittersweet as last weekend, but even worse news. More details will be shared as you read along. Here we go!

MLB
This past weekend, the Yankees hosted the Oakland Athletics, where they won the 1st 2 games in extra innings, especially on Saturday when it appeared that all was lost. However on Sunday, the Yankees fell short of a sweep. For the Mets, they swept the Miami Marlins, the first sweep in a very long time. Even though the Mets aren't going to the postseason, the team needs to show hope to the fans for next season.

The Yankees face the Minnesota Twins in a 3 game set starting tonight on the road, while the Mets host their last home stand of the season against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 4 game set.

NFL
Since the Giants played on Thursday night, the New York Jets were the only NY team to play yesterday. The Jets faced the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium in a 1 PM game on CBS. The game was, in the words of WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross, "bowling shoe ugly". Reasons being since both teams played very sloppy with the Jets playing worse in the 1st half and parts of the 3rd quarter. However, the Jets rallied back in the end of the 4th quarter, and eventually won the game in OT via field goal 23-20. Here are the highlights:

I had a hard time finding a Jets/Dolphins exclusive highlights so this will have to do. After the game, the worse news came when Cornerback Darelle Revis tore his ACL and is out for the season. This is going to be a rough patch for the Jets, and all I can say is to hope for a speedy recovery. Also, the rest of the team needs to step up now.

UFC
UFC 152 took place on Saturday night, after a short hiatus when UFC 151 was cancelled. Overall, there were 12 fights on the card. 3 were streamed on Facebook, 4 aired on FX, while the rest aired on PPV. Here are the results:

Facebook

• Kyle Noke def Charlie Brenneman via TKO at Round 1
• Mitch Gagnon def Walel Watson via Submission at Round 1
• Seth Baczynski def Simeon Thoresen via KO at Round 1

FX

• Marcus Brimage def Jimy Hettes via unanimous decision
• Sean Pierson def Lance Benoist via unanimous decision
• TJ Grant def Evan Dunham via unanimous decision
• Vinny Magalhaes def Igor Pokrajec via Submission at Round 2

PPV

• Cub Swanson def Charles Oliveira via KO at Round 1
• Matt Hamill def Roger Hollett via unanimous decision
• Michael Bisping def Brian Stann via unanimous decision
• Demetrious Johnson def Joseph Benavidez via split decision to become the inaugural UFC Flyweight Champion
• Jon Jones def Vitor Belfort via Submission at Round 4 to retain the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship

Here are the highlights:

WWE
Earlier today, WWE and Hulu made an announcement that all WWE programming will be available on Hulu Plus. This includes Raw, SmackDown, NXT, Superstars, and the new show The Main Event. More details are included in this link: http://mashable.com/2012/09/24/wwe-on-hulu-plus/

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

-NYCKNP

9/21/2012- JBL and Jim Ross returned to Raw, Yankees sweep Blue Jays, Phillies sweep Mets, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week! As you may know, Blogger underwent a new format, which happened around the time I changed the design on my blog the week before. I guess you can say, times must change. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? Here we go!

MLB
The Yankees didn't play on Tuesday night due to inclement weather, therefore the Tuesday night game was switched to a day/night doubleheader on Wednesday. The Yankees swept the entire series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Meanwhile for the Mets, they got swept by the Phillies on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Tuesday's game wasn't played for the same reasons why the Yankees game wasn't played (both are in NYC right now).

The Yankees will host the Oakland Athletics in a very tough matchup since the Athletics are currently the 4th seed in the AL Wild Card, and gave the Yankees a hard time back in July. For the Mets, they will host the Miami Marlins in a 3 game set. Although both teams are home, one series is a Postseason preview while the other are two teams that are eligible for the early rounds of the 2013 MLB Draft.

Speaking of Postseason, the Washington Nationals and the Cincinnati Reds have clinched playoff berths today.

NFL
Last night, the New York Giants traveled to Charlotte, NC to face the Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football on NFL Network. The Giants blew out the Panthers, where the offense played really well, and the Giants defense made Cam Newton look like Mark Sanchez. I'm don't hate Newton or Sanchez, since I like both of them, but Newton's play last night reminded me of the 2011 Sanchez where he had to run for his life after getting the snap.

Here are the highlights:

The New York Jets will face division rival Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium (where WrestleMania 28 took place) this Sunday on CBS at 1 PM.

UFC
UFC 152 takes place this Saturday night after UFC 151 was cancelled. The scheduled main event is Jon "Bones" Jones vs Vitor Belfort. Here is a preview:

WWE
After the Night of Champions PPV, Monday Night Raw was basically the fallout from the PPV. Raw opened up with Paul Heyman talking about the ending of the PPV where the match between John Cena and CM Punk went to a draw. John Cena later came out, then it started to get ugly when Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus came out arguing about rematches. This led to AJ creating a main event where Cena and Sheamus would face Punk and Del Rio in a tag match.

After the opening promo, JBL and Jim Ross were introduced to fill in for Jerry Lawler.

I liked this week's commentary trio of Jim Ross, Michael Cole, and JBL since the duo of Cole and JBL remind me of SmackDown. Also, with the addition of Jim Ross, quality commentary has returned for one night. Overall, Raw was better than last week since everything went smoothly and no tension backstage. Here are some highlights from Raw:

It was interesting to see that the WWE is poking fun of the NFL replacement refs when they used it in a storyline at the end of Raw. Tonight on SmackDown, Edge will make a special appearance. Also, The Rated R SuperStar is now on Twitter. You can follow him at @EdgeRatedR.

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

-NYCKNP
 

9/17/2012- WWE Night of Champions results, Yankees def Rays 2 out of 3, Steelers def NY Jets, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend. My weekend was bittersweet since the Yankees were able to win a series against the Rays 2 out of 3, but the Jets lost to the Steelers. More info will be shared as you read along. Here we go!

MLB
After the series at Fenway where the Yankees won against the Red Sox 2 out of 3, the Yanks returned home and hosted the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees lost the 1st game, but won the 2nd and final game of the series due to strong outings from a returning Ivan Nova and Hiroki Kuroda respectively. Meanwhile for the Mets, they traveled to Miller Park to face the Milwaukee Brewers in a 3 game set. The Mets ended a 6 game losing streak on Friday, but went to another losing streak on Saturday and Sunday.

In a rare move, both the Yankees and the Mets will host home games in the same city as the Mets host the Philadelphia Phillies in a 3 game set starting tonight, while the Yankees host the Toronto Blue Jays in a 3 game set starting tomorrow night.

NFL
Yesterday was Week 2 of the NFL Season as the New York Giants hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early game on FOX. This matchup was considered to be of interest for the Giants faithful since the head coach of Tampa Bay is the former Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano. The game started out very dismal since the Bucs dominated the Giants for the 1st 3 quarters, as well as multiple turnovers from Eli Manning. However, for some reason, the Giants made a 4th quarter comeback and win the game. Here are the highlights:

In the late game was the New York Jets facing the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field. The Jets played decent in the opening drive, but everything started to fall apart. Wideouts couldn't catch the ball, Defense wasn't tackling, and after Mark Sanchez got hit via helmet to helmet from one of the Steelers defense, he wasn't the same. It may have been possible that Sanchez got a mild concussion, but nothing has been reported. Here are the highlights:

It's pretty obvious that the Jets miss Revis. Hopefully, Revis can come back for the game against Miami. This Thursday, the New York Giants will be on the road to face the Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football on NFL Network. WWE Last night was the Night of Champions PPV. What made this show unique was that it had a partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, thus the middle ring rope was Pink and John Cena had a shirt that says "Rise Above Cancer" in order to raise awareness on Breast Cancer. Also, John Bradshaw Layfield filled in for Jerry Lawler and reunited with former SmackDown colleague Michael Cole. Overall, there were 8 matches on the card. One was streamed online, while the rest aired on PPV. Here are the results: YouTube/Facebook/WWE.com

• Zack Ryder won a 16 man Battle Royal to face the US Champion Antonio Cesaro in the PPV. (Other 15 participants included Brodus Clay, Primo, Epico, Justin Gabriel, Tensai, Tyson Kidd, Michael McGillicutty, Darren Young, Titus O'Neil, Jinder Mahal, JTG, Drew McIntyre, Ted DiBiase, Heath Slater, and Santino Marella)

PPV

• The Miz def Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, and Cody Rhodes in a Fatal Four-Way match to retain the Intercontinental Championship
• Kane & Daniel Bryan def R-Truth & Kofi Kingston to become the NEW WWE Tag Team Champions
• Antonio Cesaro def Zack Ryder to retain the US Championship
• Randy Orton def Dolph Ziggler
• Eve Torres def Layla to become the NEW Divas Champion*
• Sheamus def Alberto Del Rio to retain the World Heavyweight Championship
• CM Punk vs John Cena went to a Draw. Therefore, CM Punk retains the WWE Championship

(*)- Originally Kaitlyn was scheduled to face Layla but was attacked backstage before the match. Eve Torres took her place.

Tune in this Monday on Raw to find out the fallout from the PPV. That's all I have to say for now. Have a good week! -NYCKNP

9/14/2012- Yankees def Red Sox 2 out of 3, Nationals sweep Mets, review of WWE Raw, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great week this week! As you may know, this is the 100th post from the NYCKNP Blog. Which means, there will be some format changes to this well. Here are some of the changes that will happen:

1. NYCKNP Blog will be re-branded as @NYCKNP Blog
2. The Q&A page will be removed as it was a failed experiment that never worked
3. New Design, New Look

Other than that, it's still the same webpage, same link, and the same person blogging from my desk (or anywhere where I can get Internet access). Now back to business, here are some events that occurred during the week as well as my thoughts on a Monday night that I will never forget.

MLB
After the Yankees split the series against the Orioles, the Men in Pinstripes traveled to Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox in a 3 game set. The Yankees lost the 1st game, but rebounded and beat Boston the following night and yesterday to win the series. Meanwhile for the Mets, things got even worse as they got swept by the Nationals at home, extending their losing streak to 6 games.

The Yankees will be home this weekend to take on the Tampa Bay Rays in a 3 game set, while the Mets will be on the road this weekend in Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in a 3 game set.

NFL
It's officially Week 2 of the NFL season as Thursday Night Football has started on the NFL Network. The New York Jets will be on the road this Sunday as they face the Pittsburgh Steelers at 4:25 PM on CBS, while the New York Giants will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the early game at 1 PM on FOX.

WWE
This past Monday night on Raw was the night to never forget. It wasn't because Bret Hart returned to Montreal on WWE TV since 1997, but for a reason that was never part of the show to begin with. Before I get to this, here is a clip of Bret Hart interacting with CM Punk in the beginning of Raw:

 

 

After that, Raw was slowly getting good. Especially when CM Punk interacted with Paul Heyman in the middle of Raw:

 



 

 

A few segments after that, this was the worst thing I ever saw on live television:

 



 

 

WWE didn't show any footage of it, so this is a video from one of the fans in the audience. Looks like I'll have to explain it. During a tag team match between Daniel Bryan & Kane vs Prime Time Players, Jerry Lawler collapsed while doing commentary with Michael Cole and was taken to the back by medical personnel from the arena. CPR was performed on Lawler, and he was taken to a nearby hospital in Montreal. The following day, it was reported that Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack on Raw. However, WWE didn't mention it since the report came out after Raw went off the air. Although, Michael Cole gave updates throughout the night on Jerry Lawler's condition, and opted not to announce for the remainder of the night out of respect for The King.

 

 



 

 

I was very scared when this happened and was hoping Jerry Lawler would be okay, which he did. I'm not a fan of Michael Cole, but after this past Monday he has earned my respect. Cole made these statements not in character, but as the former news journalist from CBS News Radio giving reports. In a way, Cole mirrored what Howard Cosell, Jim Ross, and Dan Shulman did and that is to tell the viewers what happened was very serious. If you don't know what I'm talking about, here it is:

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Even though these 3 events were completely different, it was telling the story that what ever happens in sports and entertainment will stay in there, and it won't affect us in real life. It also showed how much responsibility these announcers have to make in order to break the news.

 

 

Despite what happened on Raw, the show went on, and I'm impressed that Bret Hart, CM Punk, and John Cena maintained their composure and finished the show:

 



 

Even though the Night of Champions PPV is this Sunday, no one really cared about it since what happened that Monday was very serious. I'm glad Jerry Lawler is okay, and hopefully he will recover sooner than later. Speaking of which, Jerry Lawler posted a Tout regarding his recovery.

 



 

 

That's all I have to say for now. Have a good weekend! And here is to 100 posts on the re-branded @NYCKNP Blog.

 

- NYCKNP

 

9/10/2012- NY Jets def Buffalo, Yankees/Orioles split series, Braves sweep Mets, more

Hello everyone! I hope all of you had a great weekend, as I sure definitely did. A lot of great things happened over the weekend, so let's get right to it. Here we go!

NFL
The 2012 NFL Season has officially started. The New York Jets hosted division rival Buffalo Bills in a matchup where the Bills were heavily favored during the offseason. However, the Jets proved to be a dominant force and blew expectations out of the fans. Mark Sanchez did a great job yesterday afternoon, as he completed most of his passes with only one small interception. Final score of the game was 48-28. Here are the highlights:

MLB After facing a brutal series in Tampa Bay where they lost the series 2 out of 3 to the Rays, the Yankees traveled to Baltimore on Thursday to take on the Orioles. The Yankees lost on Thursday, won on Friday, lost on Saturday in controversial fashion, and won on Sunday to split the series and take sole possession of 1st place in the AL East. The controversy I am talking about is around the end of the game, Mark Teixiera attempted to go to 1st and was clearly safe. However, first base umpire Jerry Meals called him "out", thus avoiding a tie game and causing the "Baltimore Screwjob". Meanwhile for the Mets, they have hosted the Atlanta Braves at home where they got swept by them in 3 games. Another interesting note is that this was Chipper Jones last appearance visiting Flushing as he retires after the 2012 season. Tonight, the Mets host the Washington Nationals in a 3 game set, while tomorrow night the Yankees travel to Fenway Park to take on the Boston Red Sox in a 3 game set. WWE Tonight on Monday Night Raw, WWE Hall of Famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart makes his appearance for the 1st time in several years in Montreal since the "Montreal Screwjob".

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