Finally after 14 years of frustration, Bill Cowher and the
Pittsburgh Steelers have "one for the thumb." Of course the Seattle Seahawks'
fans complained, holding signs like "Referees 21, Seahawks 10" or "Pittsburgh’s
12th man, the Refs." The National Football League released a statement Wednesday
saying, "The game was properly officiated, including, as in most NFL games, some
tight plays that produced disagreement about the calls made by the officials."
In other sporting news, scandal erupted this week in the world of
hockey. Federal investigators are looking into an illegal gambling ring
involving several current players and the all-time great Wayne Gretzky. The Star
Ledger released, "Pheonix Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky knew about a gambling ring
involving his wife and assistant coach Rick Tocchet, sources who cited state
wiretaps told the Newark Star-Ledger and The Associated Press. Star-Ledger
reported in Thursday's editions that there is no evidence that Gretzky placed
bets, but investigators are looking into whether his wife, Janet Jones Gretzky,
placed them for him." Just as the National Hockey League was beginning to
recover from the black eye that was the recent player lockout, this news came
along and dotted its eye again.
Finally, Thursday night the University of Arkansas-Monticello
Cotton Blossoms and Boll Weevils went up against the Statesmen from Delta State
University. In the ladies game, DSU led at halftime, 23-21. In the
second half the Cotton Blossoms gave a valiant effort but came up short as the
final buzzer sounded with the score 61-51.
The game was plagued with unending nitpicky fouls on both sides of
the ball, allowing for there to be no momentum built by either team, ultimately
smothering the great crowd support. In the men's game this was not the case.
There were only 23 fouls in the entire game, and one technical foul issued to
UAM’s Derek Easter.
This one was a hard fought battle between the No. 9 Statesmen and
the nationally unranked Boll Weevils. The first half was a back-and-forth battle
with the Statesmen leading the Boll Weevils 29–27.
Derek Easter made the outstanding plays of the first half. The
first was an awesome alley-oop from Nate Newell. The second was Easter's blocked
shot of DSU’s Victor Brown, which sent the ball soaring into the stands and
every fan in Steelman Field House to their feet.
The second half came down to a last second shot by UAM’s Billy
McDaniel, which rimmed out ending the game as the Boll Weevils fell to the
Statesmen 63-60.
After the game, Boll Weevils' assistant coach Champ Watson said,
"We were looking for Nate Newell or MJumbe Williams to get the open three point
shot but we had complete confidence in Billy McDaniel."
Watson said the team could rebound from the heartbreaker by making
the national tournament
Information from ESPN.com and The Associated Press
contributed to this report.
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