National Signing Day; Flyers actually win a game

Today is National Signing Day which means that everyone obsesses over the decisions of 17 and 18 year old kids. We have seen some crazy things in the recruiting world this with Alex Anzalone of Wyomissing, PA first committing to Ohio State last year then switched to Notre Dame and then after the BCS National Championship game he recommitted to Florida. Anzalone left Ohio State because of an apparent "creep" that was involved with the program so maybe he got word of the Manti situation and left because he would feel vulnerable there too as he is a great linebacker. Alabama received a commitment from Reuben Foster who is from Auburn, Alabama and has an Auburn tattoo so you never know what you are going to get.
[Update: The Mother of Alex Collins who was expected to sign with Arkansas has stolen the National Letter of Intent, so Collins cannot actually sign the papers even though he is 18 and doesn't need her permission; she just stole them. Collins is from southern Florida and his mom wanted him to go to Miami.]
As of now the top 10 recruiting classes according to ESPN are like this:
1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Notre Dame
5. Michigan
6. Ole Miss
7, LSU
8. Texas A&M
9. Florida State
10. Georgia

Other Notes: Texas was #3 last year but outside the top 40 this year probably cause they 9-4 this year and 8-5 the year before.
Kentucky is not often known for football but they are #40.

NBA Recap
5 games on the docket last night and we start in Indiana where the Pacers improved to 30-19 by defeating the Atlanta Hawks 114-102. Jeff Teague of the Hawks scored 24 points and had 8 assists while Paul George scored 29 for the Pacers.

After starting 3 games
he is hurt

The Lakers recorded their 3rd straight win with a victory over the Nets in Brooklyn. Pau Gasol was hurt with 4 minutes left in the game while Kobe led the Lakers with 21 points. Brook Lopez scored a game high 30 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Earl Clark grabbed his third straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The struggling Suns defeated the Grizzlies 96-90 in a game where they were trailing going into the 4th quarter but outscored the Grizzlies 31-19 in the 4th. Jerryd Bayless of the Grizz scored a game high 29 points.
The Rockets set an NBA record draining 23 3 pointers in their 140-109 win over the Golden State Warriors. Jeremy Lin was 5-8 from behind the arc, Harden 4-5, Chandler Parsons 4-8, and Marcus Morris 3-6 with 5 other players adding in one or two each.
Finally, the Nuggets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 112-104 after being down by 17. Samuel Dalembert led the Bucks with 35 points and 12 rebounds. For the Nuggets, Ty Lawson had 22 points and 7 assists.

All NBA
Guard- Jeremy Lin- Houston His 15 minutes of fame were up last year but he is still an impressive point guard. The Harvard grad was 10-16 from the field and 5-8 from 3 pt land on his way to 38 points in Houston's 140 point effort. He also had 9 assists while only committing 2 turnovers.
Guard- Ty Lawson- Denver Got 9 points of his 22 points from the Free Throw line on only 11 attempts. Also chipped in 7 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals
Forward- David West- Indiana Almost has a place reserved for him on this list. Scored 15 points and grabbed 7 boards. Committed a costly 5 turnovers but made up for it with 5 steals, 3 blocks, and 4 assists.
Forward- Roy Hibbert- Indiana Indiana's front court has been real impressive lately and Hibbert has been a big part of it. He shot 6-8 from the field while also grabbing 8 rebounds. His 12 points aren't overly impressive but when coupled with 4 blocks and 3 assists it was a solid game.
Center- Samuel Dalembert- Milwaukee The former Sixer kind of had a lucky game last night. He grabbed 12 rebounds and the fact that 7 of them were on the offensive end made his 35 points come pretty easily.

NHL Recap
20 teams were in action yesterday and we will start with a good old tri-state rivalry:
Martin Brodeur only let up one goal in the Devils 3-1 win over the Rangers. David Clarkson scored twice for the Devils.
Another mid-atlantic on Long Island ended with the Penguins grabbing their 14th point in a 4-2 win over the Islanders. The Islanders had the game within one in the third period but were not able to score in the last 17 minutes while Pascal Dupuis scored for the Pens.

Oh How I miss him: JVR

In a battle between two capitals, the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Washinton Capitals 3-2. Jan van Riemsdyk scored 2 goals for his 6th of the year (more on that later).
The defending champions have been struggling this year but the Kings beat the Blue Jackets 4-2 in Columbus. Jonathan Quick only had to face 20 shots and two former Flyers scored (Richards and Carter).
The Ottawa Senators defeated the Sabres 4-3. Jason Pominville scored his 6th goal of the year for the Sabres.
In Hockey Town USA the Calgary Flames beat the Red Wings 4-1. This is just the 2nd win of the year for the Flames. Jarome Iginla scored his first goal of the year, kind of surprising for such a great player.
Bryan Little's goal in overtime gave the Jets a 3-2 win over the Panthers. There were only 40 shots in the entire game.
Nashville had quite a night scoring 6 goals on the Blues while only letting in 1. Jake Allen came into relief for Brian Elliot as Elliot let in 4 goals on only 11 shots.
The Sharks have lost two in a row with a 5-3 loss to the Blackhawks. Patrick Kane scored twice in the game.

The Flyers led the high scoring Lightning to only 1 goal in a solid team effort. Usual tough guy Tom Sestito led the Flyers with 2 goals and the game was a good one. Zack Rinaldo who I personally think was a douche was criticized for punching B.J. Crombeen while he was down but the refs said it was okay... but then in the third a fight between Vincent Lecavalier and Maxime Talbot ended ugly when Vincent punched Talbot while he was on the ground what a disgrace. Sadly, Luke Schenn did not commit a turnover and even blocked a couple of shots but van Riemsdyk is still a better player and that trade was awful.

All NHL

Forward- Jonathan Toews- Chicago Helped the Blackhawks on both ends with 2 assists and 4 takeaways to finish with a +2 rating.
Forward- Paul Gaustad- Nashville- Also recorded two assists but his biggest contribution was winning 20 of his 30 faceoffs.
Forward- Kyle Turris- Ottawa Had an assist on the powerplay while also recording a hit, a block, and a takeaway.
Defense- Jordan Leopold- Buffalo Blocked 4 shots and also recorded an assist and a goal in the 4-3 loss. Also recorded 2 takeaways.
Defense- Dennis Wideman- Calgary A longtime name in the NHL-- for me anyway-- Wideman scored a goal and also added an assist on the powerplay in Calgary's win. Also blocked 3 shots and 2 hits to finish with a +2 rating.

Goalie- Pekka Rinne- Nashville Even though his team won easily 6-1 Rinne still had toface 32 shos and he saved 31 one of them for a .969 SV%.