It looked for all the world like we were heading for one of the greatest endings in Super Bowl history last night in Miami … then the unthinkable happened.
In a key spot … with the game on the line … Peyton Manning made a critical mistake. The guy everyone had been calling the best quarterback in the history of the game threw a pick … a pick that was returned for a touchdown … and the game was effectively over. New Orleans wins the Super Bowl!
Wow , who would have believed this five years ago when a lot of people were saying the city would never recover from Hurricane Katrina. The Superdome was a shambles and so were the Saints.
But the city and the team have risen from the devastation and are now sitting on top of the world.
Amazing!

There will not be an undefeated mens college hockey team in 2009-2010. That was assured Saturday afternoon in Williamstown, Massachusetts when the Norwich Cadets, the only unbeaten team left in the nation, suffered their first loss of the year, falling to the Willliams Ephs 2-1.
Chapman Rink in Williamstown has been the house of horrors for the Cadets over the past several years. Yesterday marked the third time in their last three visits to the Chapman Rink that the Cadets have been beaten by the Ephs.Over the past five seasons Norwich is 2-0 against Williams at Kreitzberg Arena in Northfield, outscoring them 11-0. But at Chapman Rink they are 0-3, and have been outscored 11-5.
To add insult to injury, each of those road losses came following a win over arch-rival Middlebury the day before.
Yesterday the Cadets did not appear to have the “day after a win over Middlebury let-down”. They carried the play to a very good Williams team, outshooting the Ephs 43-16. But the Cadets went 0 for 6 on the powerplay … the Ephs by contrast went 1 for 1. That one came in the third period and broke a 1-1 tie and gave Williams the win.
Babson won yesterday at St. Anselm, so the Cadets still need one more win or one more Beaver loss to clinch the ECAC East regular season crown, but in the grand scheme of things the loss yesterday may not have been a bad thing. The undefeated “monkey” is now off their back. They need to get healthy (three top forwards, Scott Schroeder, Emmond Bell and Tory Allen sat out yet another weekend), but if they can do that they should be in great shape the rest of the way.
They can’t relax though … not with suddenly red hot Castleton State coming to town. The Spartans, who outscored Southern Maine and the University of New England by a combined 17-1 in the two games this weekend, will be at Kreitzberg on Friday night.
Meanwhile in Division One, UVM got three points on the weekend … but four would have been so much better. After a 5-1 win over Providence on Friday night the Cats had a shot at four, but settled for a 1-1 tie with the last place Friars last night in Rhode Island. Vermont does move into a three way tie with UMass-Lowell and BU for fifth place in Hockey East, but they may regret that one more point they did not get at PC.

As high school hockey comes down to the final week of the regular season it is looking more and more like the Essex Hornets are the team to beat. Essex Coach Bill O’Neil has gone to a two goaltender rotation and the duo … Evan Russell and Chase Congreves … are both pllaying very well. Last night it was Russell, putting up 22 saves in a 1-0 win at BFA-St.Albans.

Finally congratulations to Coach Tom O’Shea and the St. Michael’s basketball team. The Purple Knights topped 10th ranked Bentley 60-51 on Saturday afternoon at the Ross Sports Center. O’Shea is in his final season in Winooski Park and it would be very special if his team could go on a late season roll and give him a playoff run to remember.

It was your typical Norwich/Middlebury game … with an interesting third period twist last night at Kenyon Arena. The Cadets beat the Panthers 3-1 as Eric Tallent broke a 1-1 tie off a great give and go rush with D.J. Fimiani midway through the final stanza. That goal came only after Middlebury had two goals in the third waived off by the referees … one because the whistle had blown, the second because the puck had been played with a high stick. Then late in the period, with NU still clinging to that one goal lead, the Panthers appeared to tie the game only to have it waived off for a third time … this time because the net came off its moorings. That call was the most controversial of the three , but despite Middlebury protests the call stood up, and Shawn Baker then scored into an empty net to secure the win, which kept the Cadets unbeaten, as they ran their record to 16-0-4. A Cadet win today at Williams (not an easy task), or a Babson loss at St. Anselm, will give NU the ECAC East regular season title. Meanwhile Middlebury’s loss dropped them into sixth place in the NESCAC standings, but they remain just four points off the league lead as they play host to St. Mike’s in their final home game of the regular season this afternoon at Kenyon.

In Providence last night the UVM men got two much needed points, and they got them by scoring three much needed first period goals. Vermont jumped out to a 3-0 first period lead and went on to beat the PC Friars 5-1. It was a big turn around for a Vermont team which has struggled mightily on the first night of two night weekend series this season, but it is just half of the pie. Vermont needs four points this weekend, and anything short of a second win tonight against PC will negate a lot of what the Friday night win accomplished.

Speaking of accomplishments, consider what the Vermont men’s hoop team got done yesterday. Forced to take an eight hour bus ride to Baltimore on Thursday night because their originally scheduled flight was cancelled due to an impending blizzard, the Cats found out yesterday morning their game with UMBC was moved up 24 hours because of the storm. Bus legs? No problem. Back in his home territory Garvey Young went off for 20 points and 10 rebounds and Vermont won 76-65 to up their overall record to 17-8 and their America East record to 8-3. Next up for them, a huge league game at BU on Tuesday night.

On the high school side the Burlington Seahorses are back in a familiar position this morning … in first place in the VPA’s boy’s basketball ratings. The ‘Horses topped South Burlington 69-47 last night while Essex was losing to CVU 58-54, snapping the Hornets’ 13 game winning streak and pushing BHS back to the top rung. With two week’’s remaining BHS, Essex, Mt. Anthony and Rutland all have shot at the top seed when the state tournament field is announced later this month.

Yes, yes, I know … we need a Super Bowl prediction. Hang on, I’ll get to that.

First off though , huge hockey game tonight in Middlebury. The Panthers hosting the Norwich Cadets … it is always a special game and we expect nothing different tonight. Middlebury is on a roll with consecutive wins over Colby, Bowdoin and Plattsburgh. Norwich is still unbeaten, but they are also banged up, with the very real possibility that three regulars on offense could miss the game tonight.
But with their depth, those injuries have so far been no more than an inconvenience for Coach Mike McShane and company. We’ll see what happens … 7 PM tonight … at Kenyon Arena in Middlebury.

Check out the alphabet network this morning … a Marqus Blakely thunder dunk makes their top plays … I haven’t seen it yet but my understanding is it is NSN video on the play. Yes !!!!

As the that football game … we’ll talk about it on this morning’s Big Sports Show … Live at 9 AM or anytime after that on the George Commo Archive on nsnradio.net … but if you want a number try this one … Colts 34 Saints 27.

The Vermont Mens and Womens Basketball teams both picked up good solid wins last night … the men topping Maine by 13 at the Patrick Gym … the women beating the Black Bears by 20 up in Orono … but the story of the night was the one very few of us in the media chose to cover.
The Vermont womens hockey team recorded perhaps the most significant win yet in their short history. Vermont beat UNH 2-1 last night at Gutterson. It was the first time that UVM has ever beaten UNH in women’s hockey … it was also the ninth win of the season for the Vermont women … the most they have hung up since moving to Division One. Sad that there were few more the friends and family on hand to see the game at the Gutt. Of course with men’s hoop playing next door at Patrick it was not a good situation for the women, playing a machup game for one that was postponed due to an H1N1 outbreak back in November, but it has to be frustrating for them to put up such a big win before such a small crowd.
Still, Vermont women’s hockey is coming one … slowly but surely things are getting better. Check them out if you get the chance … I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you see.

Don’t look now gang, but the Panthers is suddenly on the prowl in Middlebury. Coach Bill Beaney’s Middlebury mens hockey team beat Plattsburgh 5-3 last night at Kenyon Arena … and after a January swoon which has become their trade mark in recent seasons Midd is back on track … consecutive wins over Colby, Bowdoin and Plattsburgh … all at home … and now the Panthers get ready to host unbeaten Norwich on Friday night at the Chip.
No big surprise … I don’t know what it is … and I’m sure Coach Bill Beaney would like to find a different way of doing it … but the Panthers always seem to round into form about this time of the year. The game with the Cadets should be a beauty on Friday night.

Speaking of beauties … big one tonight at the Patrick Gym … the UVM Men’s basketball Catamounts hosting Maine in a battle for second place in America East. Vermont beat Maine by eight up there in early January but the Black Bears have only lost one game since.
We’ll talk about that game with Vermont Coach Mike Lonergan on this morning’s Big Sports Show … live at 9 AM or anytime after that on the George Commo Archive at nsnradio.net .