The second half of the Monday Night Football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Oakland Raiders was extremely ugly to watch. Starting at the very end of the third-quarter, both teams contributed to the multiple turnovers. Even with this mess, the Eagles managed to pull off the win.
If they can continue to hang on, the benefits of home field advantage could take them right to the Super Bowl. This perk won't matter one bit if they don't play more mistake-free football for the playoffs.
I am hoping that Nick Foles only plays the first quarter in the game against Dallas this week. He has to remain injury free and I am not all that confident that he is 100 percent now. It seemed like he rolled his ankle in Monday's game and yet there's been no talk of it so far. This cold weather won't help make game day any easier either.
English Premier League soccer is only halfway through the season but it's already clear that Manchester City will win. They have an amazing 15 point lead over their rival, Manchester United. Manchester City has a very impressive unbeaten streak over 2 seasons of 18 games!
This kind of domination has only happened one other time in the history of the league. It happened back in 2004 for Arsenal when they went undefeated for that entire season. Regardless of who is your favorite team, it will be all about soccer fans watching the second half of the season to see if Manchester City can go undefeated.
This last week of each year is something I look forward to, with a long-time tradition of attending the Slam Dunk to the Beach basketball tournament at Cape Henlopen high school. I have attended since 1996! I remember seeing LeBron James play in the old Cape high school gym and have enjoyed following his career. I could do an entire article on this experience but I will just tap a few highlights.
The games I got to see last night were extremely well played. I got to see Jake Forrester from Westtown, Pa. play again this year in a very good matchup with Dillard, Fla. Forrester is now a senior and is headed to Indiana State for college. He is really fun to watch and it will be cool to follow his collegiate play and maybe even see him go on to the NBA.
In another game, I got to see Cape play against Harvard-Westlake, Ca. Most of their players were underclassman, so I will look forward to seeing a bunch of them return for next year's tournament too. I was pleasantly surprised how close the Cape/Harvard game was in the first half. Cape even had the lead for the vast majority of that half. Cape really struggled to make their three point shots throughout the game and it let the Harvard team pull ahead for a solid win.
The decision to have the tournament is now done on a year to year basis. I hope the Delaware Sports Commission sees this as a positive endeavor. It seems to draw strong attendance and it's certainly a great way to promote youth sports and activity here at the end of every year.
It's time to wish you all a Happy New Year. Let's hope 2018 is a good one!
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
