Sports by the numbers: 1/31/11

Guyism’s daily look at what’s hot in the world of sports.

11-10

The NHL All-Star game was as high scoring as one could anticipate with the lack of checking and defense that regularly occurs during the annual affair. Team Lidstrom just edged out Team Staal 11-10. The highlight of the weekend for many was seeing the Sedin twins playing on opposite teams for the very first time in their lives. And yes, that goes all the way back to their days as toddlers.

4.14

A lefty came out on the top of the Farmers Insurance Open this weekend at Torrey Pines. Unfortunately for the prodigal son and San Diego native Phil Mickelson, he was not that lefty. Free-swinging Bubba Watson who is regularly the longest driver on tour these days hit a 12-foot breaking putt for birdie on 18 to seal the win over Mickelson. The victory vaulted Watson into the top 20 for the very first time in his career with 4.14 worldwide points.

21

It wasn’t that Duke lost a game on the road to a lowly Big East team like St. John’s. It’s that they were completely dominated and at times, looked like a team not worthy of a #1 tournament seed this year. As the Blue Devils repeatedly tried to press in the second half to make up for the 21-point deficit, St. John’s routinely beat it and ended up with 21 assists on 32 made baskets.

121-169

Larry Bird finally decided enough was enough and let go of head coach Jim O’Brien yesterday. O’Brien’s tenure was a tumultuous one as he dealt with the loss of core players during the previous regime. But he was never able to pick up any steam never winning more than 36 games in a season while the East was considered a weaker conference. His 121-169 record is abysmal but these days in the NBA, it should be enough to get him another job somewhere.

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