Spurs - Come on boys

Now I just wrote about getting a 'YES!' from Southend and Ipswich winning and popped over to see the San Antonio Spurs Vs the Philly 76ers results. WHAT THE???

Spurs I can understand losing to Detroit. I can understand you losing to New Orleans (although not by 25 points, and seriously Bowen didnt even touch that Oscar winner Paul, what a dive he took!), I can even (just) understand losing to Phoenix. But now we lose to Philly! Whats up with our game? We were on a 11 game streak before that to now losing 5 of the last 6. This is not the time of the year we start losing Spurs.

Lets hope we can pick up the game against Boston on Monday. I think a win against the Celtic will turn the bad run around and get us back on track to where we should be. Come on boys!!

Coach Onski.

Yes - Ipswich...Yes - Southend

Don't you love it when you open up the overseas sports results to see not only one of your teams get the big win but two of them do. I had that feeling just moments ago.

I opened up www.soccernet.com to see how the Ipswich Town Football club went in their clash against Charlton in the English Championship League and they managed to get a 2-0 win. 'YES!' I said to myself with a small hand pump.

Next was Southend Shrimpers in the English Division 1 Football League against Huddersfield. They got a double 'YES!' as not only they got the 2-1 win in the 90th minute but it climbed them to fifth on the table and well within the promotion chances.

Southend were started slowly against the Huddersfield team in front of 8200 opposition supporters. But asd the clocked ticked 40 minutes Hal Robson-Kalu sailed a left footer past Matt Glennon to get a 1-0 lead. The Hud's were not done with yet as they managed to equalise in the 2nd half with an Andy Booth header from a corner in the 73rd minute. But as time was running out Southend managed to grab the win with a right foot pop in the 90th minute by Alan McCormack. This gives the Shrimpers a 6 game unbeaten run and as mentioned a great push for the playoffs and possible promotion to the Championship League.

The Portman Road crew had a slightly bigger win against Charlton. Both teams are close to play-off contention on 56 points only 2 points shy of the 6th places Plymouth. But this match was one sided with Ipswich taking the lead thanks to Owen Garven's lob goal in the 20th minute and a consolidating goal in the 53rd with Danny Haynes chesting the ball from a corner to volley kick a great goal.

Congratulations to both teams and thanks for providing me with a double Yes!!

Coach Onski

Pictures thanks to www.southendunited.premiumtv.co.uk and www.bbc.co.uk

Louisville Cardinals Season Wrap

Sorry sports fans, Coach Onski has been away for a while. He got a new job which is making him work (shocking I know) so these pages have been the first to take a back seat as they dont pay the bills.

But lets get into things with a wrap as to what has been happening in the world of College Basketball. With special emphasis on the Big East and the Louisville Cardinals. Last time we heard from me there were 3 matches left in the regular season against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, the Wildcats of Villanova and the top of the table clash agains the Hoyas of Georgetown.

The match against Luke Harangody and Notre Dame was a doozie. Although with the Cardinals leading all match and being up by 19 at some stages the Irish fought back led by Harangody and his 40 point and 12 rebound performance. But their fightback was not enough as the Cards snuck home by 5 points, 90-85. David Padgett was key to the Louisville win with 26 points of his own as he dominated the offensive paint on 10-14 shooting. WIth 4 toher playres helping out in double figures it was a great all round performance by the team.

Next up was the Nova boys, where the Cardinals wanted to get the win to face Georgetown for the Big East title match. ANd a win they got with a convincing 14 point thumping of Villanova, 68-54. After the 12th minute the game never looked in doubt with Louisville getting a spurt that porpelled them to the nice win. There were no major standouts in this game with a nice team effort, although Juan Palacios in his last game at Freedom Hall was good in his first even game for Louisville in front of his mother, who made the trip from Coloumbia. He dropped in 13 points including 2 triples to lead the team in scoring.

That win pitted the Cardinals against the Hoyas. The winner claimed bragging rights and the Big East title. The game was close throughout but it seemed that Georgetown had the upper hand throughout the contest leading by as many as 11 early in the 2nd half. But the Cardinals are a team that wont give up and they put on a chase to grab the lead with 3.30 left in the game. But it was not enough to grab with win with DaJuan Summers dropping a 3 in the final minute to seal a 55-52 W for the Hoya's. It was a tough game with defense being the major focus for both teams.

"It was a grind 'em basketball game," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "We put ourselves in a situation where we could win. It just takes one blunder for you to lose the game in that situation. It was a great game. There were no easy shots. It was a lot of aggressive play out there by both teams."

The Loss for the Cardinals left them with a 14-4 conference record for the season where they finished 3rd behind Georgetown (15-3) and Notre Dame (14-4). They also wrapped up the regular season managing #13 in the rankings which was a stellar effort considering the injuries early and the average start to their season.

Coach Onski would like to add a personal note that he is extremely proud of his Louisville Cardinals efforts this season. Yes the season is not over but if the passion to date and the stifling defense has been second to none. Well done fella's.

Coach Onski

Pictures thanks to www.viewimages.com