The Intern's Hard Wood: Raps-Blazers

As I was driving home from the ACC, I was still trying to process exactly what went down that afternoon. Bar none, this was the most exhilarating Raptor’s game of the year. Their game vs. the Jail blazers, I mean Portland Trail Blazers, had all the makings of a playoff game. It had many cheers and jeers and the all star play of Calderon, CB4 and rookie of the year Brandon Roy. Everyone showed up to play today, even Bargs. The only real knock against him today was that he got into foul trouble early. He really needs to learn to play with his feet instead of swinging his arms around like a drunken UFC fighter. Our guard play was exceptional though. They were led by my fav Spaniard numero ocho JOOOOOOOOOSE CALDERON. Yet another All-Star performance for him. He shot 70% from the field and was 3 for 4 from behind the arc, finished with 22 points and also dished 10 assists. VIVA LA SPAIN. Somebody needs to create a website to get Jose to New Orleans. Brandon Roy also had a fantastic game for the opposition, finishing with 33 points and 10 dimes, not to mention a 3-pointer at the end of the first OT to tie it up with two seconds left. But it was the resiliency of the Raps that kept them afloat in the two OTs and eventually led to them putting the Blazers down. I seriously hope the Raps can play with this much intensity tomorrow night because we have to play the hard-nosed Pistons at the Palace. Intern out.

The Intern's Hard Wood: Raps-Knicks

After being sidelined with an acute case of lethargy, the Intern is back on the horn. First order of business is to dissect last night’s Raptors game against the dysfunctional Knicks. I must say there is something very uplifting about watching a team in the same conference meltdown right before your eyes. The Swarsky put it best when he said: “This is a terrible demonstration of basketball.” That one statement sums up the Knicks performance thus far this season. They play with no intensity and what seems like no leadership. Last night was no different. The ball was constantly getting stuck, there was very little movement and you can’t forget the fighting in the ranks. Zack Randolph got pulled in the second quarter and clearly didn’t appreatiate it too much because he had a few choice for his commander-in-chief which led to him riding pine for the rest of the game. The only real bright spots were the play of Nate Robinson who was actually trying to make an impact and the consistent effort from David Lee. As much as I like ragging on the Knicks, the Raptors didn’t have a fantastic game by any stretch of the imagination. The Knicks actually shot better than the Raps and had more assists but the difference maker was the Raps shot 85% at the charity stripe. I like making fun of Isiah just as much as the next sports fan but really how much farther do the Knicks have to fall before Dolan makes a change. This whole situation reminds me a lot of Tony Montana’s rise and tragic fall in Scarface, well actually scratch the whole rise part, just the tailspin Tony goes in just before he get shot in the back with a double-barrelled shotgun. That is the future for Thomas if he doesn’t quickly contain the mess he has created. Hot damn I love the NBA.

Onward and upward

While wild-card weekend had some great games, we’re moving along to some even bigger ones. Who isn’t looking forward to Jacksonville-New England? A great match up of an underdog that everyone’s riding and a juggernaut. You have to figure that Indy-SD will be a shootout and fun to watch. Eli’s going to try to prove last week wasn’t a fluke and there might even be some snow at Lambeau for Sea-GB. I can hardly wait.

PACKERS (-7.5) over Seahawks

The Seahawks didn’t look that great against the Redskins last week and the Packers are MUCH better than Washington. Factor in Lambeau conditions and the fact that Seattle won’t be able to run the ball and you have all the makings for a big Brett Favre’s heart-sized win.

PATRIOTS (-13) over Jags

The Jags are a nice rough-and-tough football team that’s seemingly built for the playoffs. The Patriots might have one of the most talented teams ever and a ton of playoff experience. The Jags more than likely would have lost had they been called for holding on David Garrard’s 4-and-2 draw towards the end of the Steelers game. The most I’m hoping for out of Jacksonville is that they beat up on New England, maybe if inflict some injuries, but I don’t see them winning this one.

Chargers (+8) over COLTS

Well somebody has to cover, right? With Harrison back in the line up, Peyton’s finally going to show what he can do with a full offence instead of just Reggie Wayne and Joe Addai like he had for a few games. The Chargers have to get more out of LDT than they did last week and it’s not as if he’ll have to do much to top those 43 yards he gained against the Titans. Everything said, I see the Colts winning a barnburner of a game, by seven.

Giants (+7.5) at COWBOYS

Why am I scared of Eli Manning? Is there something wrong with me? This is the guy who broke the record for most interceptions returned for a touchdown in a game. He’s facing a defensive player of the year candidate and several other pro bowlers on defence. So why am I scared? Maybe because I’m a pessimist and, quite frankly, have been one all season while routing for God’s team. There’s just something, and I’m not sure what it is that doesn’t have me all the way sold on Dallas and it absolutely kills me to admit it since they’re my team. But never think, even for a second, that I won’t be cheering my heart out watching the game.

Last week: 1-2-1

Happy Anniversary

Today marks the one-year anniversary of Running The Point — formerly known as Dan's Ramblings. It's been a great experience to write (almost) everyday here and voice my opinions no matter how smart, dumb, funny or irrational they have been. The start up of this site even helped get me a job at an award-winning daily newspaper's sports section. At least I like to think that about this pet-project.

Since the beginning of this humble site there has been literal tons of subjects to write about. From scandals to amazing performances and even scandals within amazing performances (looking your way Patriots), a lot has piqued my interest daily.

If I had to narrow down my favourite stories since this site's inception, they'd probably be broken down something like this:

3. The Beckham-to-LA saga.
I know that it didn't play out like the MLS probably wanted since he didn't make the biggest impact that he probably could've, but reading stories everyday about the English midfielder and icon was always fun. It may not be have been as big or newsy as some of the other happenings this past year (see honourable mentions below) but this is my list.

2. The undefeated, cheating Patriots.
I knew going into the season that New England was going to be good. But this good? Undefeated good? No way. But more interesting to me than their undefeated season was Spygate and what followed it. If the Patriots — especially Belichick and Brady — not acted like complete assholes by running up the score of games in F U fashion, they might not be as hated as they are now. I still, to this moment, have no idea why such a good team would be reduced to cheating like that.

1. The rise (and brief fall) of Tony Romo.
Sure, it's a biased choice since I'm a huge Cowboys fan but how many people laughed in the pre-season of 2006 when Romo was outplaying Drew Bledsoe and the Cowboys' season looked doomed? Romo has came all the way from being an undrafted free agent signee out of East Illinois to a two-time pro bowler leading arguably the best team in the NFC. If not for his botched snap gaffe in Seattle last playoffs, who knows what could've happened.

Honourable mentions: Michael Vick's dogfighting scandal, Barry Bonds vs. everyone, the NHL's slide into obscurity, baseball vs. steroids, LeBron continually stepping it up and ruling the NBA.

As for the upcoming year, this site will continue to grow and expand in several ways. A redesign is coming soon to make RTP more appealing to the eyes than this bland blogspot template. Getting some more out of the extremely lazy intern would also be nice and yes, he still does want to write apparently. Also, some more all-around improvements will come over time; perhaps even my writing will get better. There is still a lot to come here and sports never stop so neither will my writing.

And, of course, I'd be remiss to not give a big thank you to all of RTP's readers and fans for their support.