LAst Night's Action: Donovan, Galaxy Fall in Penalty Kicks

Real Salt Lake defeats LA Galaxy 1-1, 5-4 PK. 120 minutes couldn’t decide who would win the MLS Cup, so they went to penalty kicks. In penalties Galaxy captain Landon Donovan waited to kick in the fourth round. He inexplicably missed the shot way over the crossbar. While Josh Saunders was able to save Andy Williams’ kick in the fifth round, if Donovan had made his kick the Galaxy would have been crowned. The Galaxy owned Salt Lake in the first half culminating in Mike Magee’s goal in the 41st minute assisted by Donovan and David Beckham. Salt Lake took over in the second half with a score in the 64th minute by former Galaxy player Robbie Findley. The game was noted for injuries with Salt Lake’s Javier Morales leaving the game after a hit by Beckham and Will Johnson leaving after one half from food poisoning. Galaxy keeper Donovan Ricketts left in the 66th minute after a collision becoming the first keeper to leave the MLS Cup final.

LA Lakers defeat Oklahoma City Thunder 101-85. In an otherwise uneventful blowout game for the Lakers, the fans did get their money’s worth thanks to the acrobatic shots by Kobe Bryant in the first half and Shannon Brown’s high flying act in the second. Bryant’s 26 points included a shot from behind the backboard. Meanwhile Shannon Brown aerial show had people screaming that he should be in the slam dunk contest. To add to the giddiness, the Lakers turned the ball over only nine times.

Notable NFL Notes

There were some very surprising things that happened on this NFL Sunday.

• The Pittsburgh Steelers lost 27-24 to the woeful Kansas City Chiefs in overtime. This is the Chiefs who have only two wins this season, four wins dating back to last season and had not won at home in Arrowhead Stadium that is reputedly the toughest place to play in the NFL since beating Denver in week four of last season. But with the reigning Super Bowl champs in town and their star receiver Dwayne Bowe suspended, of course the Chiefs were going to win.
  And for those who didn’t believe, the Chiefs opened up the game with Jamaal Charles taking the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. It would be the eighth straight game the Steelers had given up a touchdown on a fumble, interception or kick return. The game would go to overtime when Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was injured when he took a knee to the helmet while trying to avoid a sack. The Chiefs would get the ball back, and a 61-yard pass by Matt Cassell to Chris Chambers to the Pittsburgh four-yard line would seal the game for the Chiefs.

  The Steelers don’t look so good without Troy Polamalu on defense, no?

• Everyone was making fun of the Cleveland Browns-Detroit Lions game this week. After all it was a matchup of the two worst teams in the NFL. It ended up being pretty darned entertaining. A back-and-forth game came down to the last second. With eight second left in the game while trailing 37-31, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford scambled and threw a hail mary pass from Cleveland’s 32-yard line that was intercepted by the Browns as time expired. But it rained flags in the end zone while Stafford who got hit hard was feeling for his shoulder. Pass interference, defense. The Lions got an untimed down from the one-yard line which Stafford, ailing shoulder and all, tossed a pass to Brandon Pettigrew for the win. Stafford and Brown’s quarterback Brady Quinn combined for 726 passing yards. Ok so there was no defense, but it was still a fun game.
• Why is Kyle Orton and his bad ankle playing in a game for the Denver Broncos when trailing 26-3 to the San Diego Chargers in the fourth quarter? While he did generate a spark in the offense when he came in the second quarter, that spark went away soon with Orton ineffective with a 55.4 passer rating. The Chargers would go on to win the game 32-3 and first place in the AFC West.
• The Cincinnati Bengals became the Bungles for one day only up in Oakland. Just like the good ole days with the game tied 17-17, the Bengals received the kick and Andre Caldwell got the ball to the 17 yard line when he fumbled the ball to the Raiders with 27 seconds left in the game. Sebastian Janikowski hit the chip-shot field goal to give the Raiders a 20-17 win.

Tonight’s Action

Minnesota Timberwolves at LA Clippers. 7:30 pm FS Prime Ticket, AM 980 KFWB.

Calgary Flames at Anaheim Ducks. 7:00 pm KDOC, AM 830 KLAA.

Pepperdine Waves at UCLA Bruins. 8:00 pm FS Prime Ticket