Champions League

The competition tightens as the final 16 teams fight for the next round.

The Champions League is the most prestigious club competition in the world. The teams played the first of two legs which will be played in two weeks time.Between February 19th and February 20th, some of the best soccer teams in Europe took part in their first leg of the round of 16.

Two top games that were played were Roma vs. Real Madrid and Barcelona vs. Celtic.
With Roma being the underdog, despite being home, they were able to pull out a huge win against powerful Real Madrid, 2-1. With Raul scoring first for Madrid, the giallorossi were starting to look a little shaky in front of their home crowd. Just 15 minutes after, Pizarro was able to equalize giving Roma the energy it needed. But Roma racked on one more as Mancini hit home the game winner in the 59th minute to give Roma a win in their first leg and will look to win in Madrid in March.

Barcelona was able to come out of Scotland with a win against home team Celtic. An away win in this competition is huge as you are almost guaranteed a spot in the next round. Celtic scored first with a goal from Vennegoor but Messi was able to retaliate 2 minutes later with a goal of his own. In the 39th minute, Robson thought he gave Celtic the winning goal as the crowd erupted once his header soared over the keepers head. You can never count out Barcelona as Henry equalized in the 53rd' and Messi fired home the winner in the 80th' to send Barca home happy.

Other scores:
Liverpool vs Inter Milan: 2-0
FC Shalke 04 vs FC Porto: 1-0
Olympiacos vs Chelsea: 0-0
Arsenal vs Milan: 0-0
Lyon vs Manchester United: 1-1
Fenerbahce vs Sevilla: 3-2
*Bold indicates winner.

Mancini gives Roma the win over Real Madrid.

Why I Like Sports....

All my life I have been playing and watching sports. Many people only play or watch one sport but I enjoy playing and learning, and really could watch, any type of sport. Ever since I was 4 years old, I was athletic playing various sports on my block: basketball, football, baseball, soccer, hockey, etc. My dad played soccer when he was young and he knew how much sports have impacted his life; he wanted me to experience the same thing so he got me into soccer and basketball in the early years.

I played basketball for my church from third grade to eighth grade and for my Intermediate School in the eighth grade as well; playing an organized sport instead of in the street was a great experience at such a young age and helped me with team work and focusing to strive for the best. Throughout High School, I played basketball and soccer all four years, volleyball three years, and lacrosse one year. My main sport was basketball; I have won many awards playing for my school:
2006-2007 Varsity MVP
2007 Staten Island High School League All Tournament Team
2007 Varsity Club
Zaborowski Award
2006-2007 Scholar Athlete
2005-2007 Defensive Player of the Year
2004-2005 JV MVP

Everyone has a sports idol or favorite player in their life; mine was Michael Jordan. Jordan played for the Chicago Bulls and won 6 NBA titles with them in the '90s. I have always enjoyed watching him play up until he retired in 2003; he is known as the best player ever to play the game.

Since playing on a sports team in school, you couldn't fail more then 2 classes on the report card otherwise you couldn't play; so playing in High School also kept my grades high because I worked hard in the classroom as well to keep doing what I enjoy most!

NFC Tops AFC 42-30 in Pro Bowl

The NFC seemed to enjoy their trip to Hawaii a little more than the AFC.

The best players in the NFL gave a great show to the people "overseas" who had an extremely good game with high scoring and excitement. Some top players included Peyton Manning, Tony Romo, Adrian Peterson, Terrell Owens, Torry Holt, Tony Gonzalez, and much more. Leading after three quarters, the AFC wasn't able to seal the deal against the NFC. Peterson, who was presented as the games Most Outstanding Player, led the NFC with 2 touchdowns of his own in the second half which pumped up his teammates confidence.

Throughout the game we were able to see a good amount of the offense and the defense come into play; as well as the special teams. Both offenses had a combine 784 total yards despite there being a total of 4 turnovers in the game.

Top Stats:
A. Peterson- 129 rush yards, 2 rush touchdowns
T. Owens- 101 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns
T. Houshmandzadeh- 44 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns
P. Manning- 147 pass yards, 1 pass touchdown
T. Romo- 87 pass yards, 1 pass touchdown
A. Cr0martie- 2 interceptions

My Opinion: After watching previous NFL Pro Bowls, they weren't that entertaining for me because of the low scoring. This year there was a lot of action that actually kept people into the game. Seeing all of the best football players from the 2007-2008 season playing together shows how they can interact with each other despite playing on separate teams. It was also nice to see a rookie, Adrian Peterson, win the Most Outstanding Player including a brand new car!

Blockbuster Trades

Both, the Lakers and the Suns, make the right decisions.

Pau Gasol lands in Hollywood as Shaquille O'Neal heads to the desert. Over the last week, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Memphis Grizzlies have completed a trade as well as the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat. Gasol was traded to the Lakers from Memphis for Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton, and Aaron McKie. The "Big Diesel" (Shaq) was sent to the Suns from Miami in exchange for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks.

In his debut with the Lakers, it was Gasol, not Kobe, who was the leading scorer and main man against the New Jersey Nets. Pau racked up 24 points and 12 rebounds which is outstanding, especially for his first game. Along with these stats, the Lakes came out on top 105-90. He will be a big help for them as L.A. is in search for another NBA title.

Many Phoenix fans ask themselves whether getting
Shaq was a good thing or bad thing. Despite him being injured for another two weeks before making his debut, the Phoenix trainers have stated that when they are done working with him, he will feel like he's 20 years old; that is something the fans want to hear because when Shaq was in his early 20's, he was unstoppable!

My Opinion: Gasol is definitely a great addition to the Lakers; with Andruw Bynum sidelined for another 7 weeks, Pau will be handling some of the load instead of Kobe doing everything himself. With his ability to score, defend, and run the floor, the Lakers have a chance to make a run for the best in the west. With Shaq on the Suns, Amare Stoudemire will have a chance to act more "freely" on the offensive end instead of going up against the big man on every team; Shaq will also be able to display his power and defense on both ends of the court. Could the Suns win their first NBA title? We will find out soon!

Young Manning Joins Brother Peyton

Giants bring Patriots dreams to an end! They had the perfect season....... not speaking of the 18-1 Patriots.

For the third time in their franchise, the New York Giants win the Super Bowl Championship. The Giants have shined much brighter then the perfect New England Patriots during Super Bowl XLII! Throughout the season, many people believed that the Pats would have been the best in the NFL; they were...... up until the last game of the year!

Despite the first three quarters only being a 7-3 football game, in favor of the Pats, it was still a well fought battle that kept all viewers focused. After the "G-Men" spending most of the first quarter in their possession, they only came out with a field goal. Laurence Maroney answered right back with a touchdown run at the start of the second. With the third quarter being scoreless for both teams, it was the last 15 minutes that made the stadium erupt.

Eli Manning had a passer rating of 144.5, with two touchdown passes, all in the fourth alone, which brought the Giants to becoming Super Bowl Champions. In just over two minutes, Eli drove his team 83 yards, including an unbelievable catch by David Tyree, which led to the Giants game winning drive. With 35 seconds left, Brady was not able to connect any long balls with any of his receivers in 4 plays which also included a sack by the Giants relentless defense.

Eli has joined his brother, Peyton, as the only brothers to win Super Bowl MVP. Throughout the game, you can see Peyton cheering on his younger brother to achieve the greatest prize in football as he did the year before. The Manning brothers were also the last two quarterbacks to defeat Tom Brady in the post season.

My Opinion: I believe that there were a few mistakes which occurred that caused the Patriots to lose Super Bowl XLII. Why would Belichick go for it on 4th and 13, on their 39 yard line, instead of taking their chances with a 49 yard field goal; Stephen Gostkowski's career long is 52 yards so 49 yards shouldn't have been a problem. Also, with 35 seconds left, Brady should have thrown short passes since they had all three timeouts left; instead, Brady launched three balls deep, all incomplete, and wasted time as the Giants celebrated as Super Bowl champs.