Page 15 The Lion’s Eye September, 28 2011 Fly Eagles Fly! By Nick Alejandro — Lion's Eye Sports Writer - nta5029@psu.edu The first game of the season, the Eagles faced the St. Louis Rams. The Rams had a record of 4-0 in the preseason and had high hopes for this game. On the opening drive and first play for the Rams, Steven Jackson ran for a touchdown. He then couldn’t continue to play because he strained his quads. The Eagles took advantage of this and pounded the Rams defense. Desean Jackson had six catches for a total of 102 yards and one touch- down. LeSean McCoy ran for 122 yards and two touch- downs. Vick proved many people wrong and threw under pressure consistently and ended up with two touchdowns in'a 31-13 win over the Rams. Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, right, runs past St. Louis Rams defensive back Craig Dahl on his way to a 49-yard touchdown run during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, in St. Louis. The Eagles won 31-13. : (AP Photo/Tom Gannam) In week 2, the Eagles faced the Atlanta Fal- cons and this game was very important to Michael Vick because of his history. This was his original team before he found himself in trouble with the law and spent time in jail. The Eagles were away and needed to bring their A game. Atlanta fans gave Michael Vick a warm wel- come and people all over were wearing his number 7 jersey. Andy Reid challenged one play in the beginning of the game which was in their favor but, he didn’t throw the challenge flag for a play that was ruled an intercep- tion. Clearly, the ball caught for the interception hit the ground. This interception lead to a Falcon touchdown, right before halftime, and became a game changing play that possibly won the game for Atlanta. Andy Reid not challenging the interception is no surprise, because since he has entered the league in 1999, he is the coach with the fewest amounts of challenges with only fifty-nine. DeSean Jackson #10 of the Philadelphia Eagles attempts to catch a touchdown pass against Bradley Fletcher #32 of the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on September 11, 2011 in St. Louis, Mis- souri. The Eagles beat the Rams 31-13. (September 10, 2011 - Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images North America) Desean Jackson wasn’t as efficient as he was in week 1. He didn’t have Michael Vick the whole game to throw him the long ball. Michael Vick suffered a concus- sion in the third quarter by being hit and swung into his own offensive linemen. Vick did not return to the game and the second-string quarterback Mike Kafka took his place. In his first ever NFL regular season game, Mike Kafka proved himself to be able to hang with the big boys, and keep a spot on the Eagles roster. He completed seven of his nine passes for seventy-two yards. He would have been eight for nine in completions if it weren’t for the Jeremy Maclin drop on fourth down which sealed the game for the Falcons. Even though Maclin dropped that pass, he had a breakout performance catching thirteen passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns. Michael Vick #7 of the Philadelphia Eagles rushes against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on September 11, 2011 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Eagles beat the Rams 31-13. (September 10, 2011 - Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images North America) How will the Eagles manage if Michael Vick is ruled not to play because of the concussion he suffered against the Falcons? He will have to go through a series of tests if he wants to make a return for week three. Mike Kafka and Vince Young are the backups to Michael Vick. Vince Young has a strained left hamstring so Mike Kafka will most likely see time. The Eagles next game will be at home against the New York Giants. WEEK 05 op. @ Buffalo Bills el Terex © Sun, 10/09 at 1:00 PM EDT Radio; 94WIP Wil Away: Ralph Wilson Stadium Se DirecTV: 709 The Chase for the Cup Begins As the Drivers Standings Get Jumbled Up By Keith Kirk — Lion's Eye Sports Writer — kxk5208@psu.edu Finally, what every NASCAR fan has been awaiting is here. That’s right! The NASCAR Chase for the Cup is on its way. The twelve racers who have made it to the chase are now competing for it all. Before the Chase began the top twelve racers were decided upon. 1 Kyle Busch 2012 2 Kevin Harvick 2012 3 Jeff Gordon 2009 4 Matt Kenseth 2006 5 Carl Edwards 2003 6 Jimmie Johnson 2003 7 Kurt Busch 2003 8 Ryan Newman 2003 9 Tony Stewart 2000 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2000 11 Brad Keselowski 2000 12 Denny Hamlin 2000 (The standings as of the beginning of the Chase) Each one of these top twelve drivers were distributed points for each of their regular season accomplishments. The first race on their Chase for the Cup was the “Geico 400” at Chicagoland Speed- way in Chicago, Illinois. It was a crazy race and the standings were shifted drasti- cally. The top three finishers of the race were: Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Dale Earnhardt Junior. Both Stewart and Earnhardt increased their positions in the standings as well as their chances of win- ning the cup by a lot. (Image courtesy of: ASP/Cal Sport Media) Tony Stewart winning the Geico 400 at Chicago- land Speedway. The second race of the Chase was the “Sylvania 300” at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. New Hampshire is one of the most unusual tracks on the Cup Series circuit and the track is considered by most drivers as one of the toughest ovals in motorsports. Tony Stewart once again took the checked flag and redeemed himself for a wreck in the 2004 Chase for the Cup which destroyed his hopes from winning the cup that year. concrete, the Sprint Cup Series only races 1 Tony Stewart 2094 on Bristol and Dover speedways because 2 Kevin Harvick 2087 Nashville has yet to receive a premier 3 Brad Keselowski 2083 series date since 2001. With only having 4 Carl Edwards 2080 two racetracks made of concrete it makes 5 Jeff Gordon 2071 this race at Dover even more challenging. 6 Kyle Busch 2068 Anything can happen on these two race- 7 Matt Kenseth 2068 tracks and NASCAR fans should expect 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2068 anything. These races are guaranteed to be 9 Kurt Busch 2066 two big races and will most likely alter the 10 Jimmie Johnson 2065 Chase standings even more. 11 Ryan Newman 2060 12 Denny Hamlin 2028 image courtesy of: Nam Y. Huh / AP) Tony Stewart winning the Geico 400 at Chicagoland Speedway (Standings after the first two races) The next race will be on October 2nd at Dover International Speedway, also known as “The Monster Mile”. The race at Dover is probably one of the most difficult races all year for all of the drivers. The Dover International Speedway is one of the most unique race tracks in NASCAR. This is because it is exactly one mile long, which means it is neither a superspeedway nor a short track. Also another unique part of this racetrack is that the track is made of concrete where most of the tracks are made of asphalt. The track at Dover was once an asphalt track until the mid 1990’s when it was converted to a concrete track and still is one of the only three tracks made of concrete. The other two con- crete tracks are Bristol Motor Speedway and Dover’s sister track, the Nashville Superspeedway. Even though all three are
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