Monday Sports Review: 12/12/2011

It’s been a real interesting weekend for sports news with some surprising moments. Here’s a recap of all this past weekend’s happenings.

Robert Griffin III wins Heisman with style

Robert Griffin III capped off a remarkable individual season Saturday night as he took home the Heisman trophy, the reward for being the best player in college football. Griffin, who finishes his junior season against Washington later this month, accumulated 3,998 yards and 36 touchdowns while leading the Baylor Bears to a 9-3 record. The victory makes Griffin the first player from Baylor to ever win the Heisman trophy. He won style points as well, showing off his Superman socks, complete with red cape trailing behind. The socks were worn rightfully so, as Griffin had an unbelievable season. After the Bears’ match-up with Washington at the end of the month, Griffin will have to make the decision on whether or not to declare for the NFL draft. Many believe that if he does declare, he’s set to be a top 15 pick.

Lakers Pull out of Chris Paul talks; Trade Odom

After the debacle that occurred last Thursday that saw NBA commissioner David Stern veto a trade that would have sent Chris Paul to the Lakers, Pau Gasol to the Rockets and Lamar Odom and others to the Hornets, the Lakers have officially pulled out of any more talks to try and resurrect the deal. However, the initial deal left Odom feeling hurt and he requested a trade. Now, Odom is part of the Dallas Mavericks, while the Lakers will receive a 2012 first round pick and cash exception. The trade leaves Los Angeles with an unhappy Kobe Bryant; however a possible deal to acquire Dwight Howard could change that. The Lakers will now focus on acquiring Howard from the Orlando Magic, most likely focusing on a package including Andrew Bynum. With the Lakers out of the picture, the other Los Angeles team, the Clippers, are trying to get Paul. However, the league owned Hornets would need to receive enough in return for the league to approve of the trade.

Tebow Makes Headlines Again

Once again, the last minute heroics of Matt Prater gives the Denver Broncos a big win, but it’s Tim Tebow who gets his sixth straight win, and seventh of eight games he’s started for the team this year. With Tebow, it’s never pretty, but the result has been a win almost every time. He’s helped the team rally multiple times, this time setting up two Matt Prater field goals to tie, and then win the game. In the final drive of the fourth quarter for the Broncos, Tebow completed 3-of-6 for 39 yards to set up Prater’s game-tying 59-yard field goal. Then, six minutes into overtime, Prater hit a 51-yard field goal after Tebow completed 3-of-3 passes for 28 yards and ran twice for six yards. Again, it’s the late game play that has Tebow in the headlines, despite having a 68.3 quarterback rating. It’s not pretty, but it’s effective with Tebow at the helm.

Jon “Bones” Jones Finished 2011 Huge

To put the finishing touches on an amazing year for Jon “Bones” Jones, the 24-year old UFC Light Heavyweight Champion finished off former champ Lyoto Machida by choking him out in the second round Saturday night at UFC 140. Jones caps off a year in which he went 4-0, with wins over Ryan Bader, Quentin “Rampage” Jackson, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, and “The Dragon” Lyoto Machida. Jones is still young, but many have him ranked in the top-3 pound-for-pound fighters in the world today. After some time off, Jones will return next year with the likes of Rashad Evans, Phil Davis and Dan Henderson waiting to take his title. With the way Jones has been fighting, though, it won’t be an easy task.

Braun is Busted

The 2011 MLB MVP Ryan Braun, has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and faces a 50-game suspension. Braun plans to appeal as he says the result of the test is “B.S.”, but if true, Braun’s MVP season may be tarnished. He wouldn’t be stripped of the title; however he may is looking at a possible 50-game suspension to the 2012 season and all kinds of questions. It would lead to believe that the PED’s had a major role in his success thus far, and in a season where he won the most valuable player over Matt Kemp, who some argue should have won the award to begin with. Braun is confident that further investigation into the situation will come back in his favor, but how this shakes out is yet to be seen.
By: Brandon Williams