Sports Time Radio

On Thursday night the Baltimore Ravens beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 26-6. With the way the game started it didn’t look like it would end in a 20 Ravens victory, but every time the Steelers got a drive going there would be a turnover that ended that drive. On the opening drive of the game Pittsburgh was moving the ball well and looked like they would end up with some type of points out of the drive. That drive ended when wide receiver Justin Brown fumbled. It seemed like that turnover really set the tone for the game. Owen Daniels caught a 2 yard touchdown pass with .27 seconds left in the 1st quarter. Baltimore never trailed in the game. Justin Tucker got his 1st of 4 field goals in the 2nd quarter to give the Ravens a 10-0 lead. Shawn Suisham hit 2 field goals to cut the Baltimore lead to 10-6 and it looked like the Steelers where back in the game, but those where the last points the Steelers would score for the night. Owen Daniels added a 2nd receiving touchdown; this time 1 yarder from Joe Flacco. In the 4th quarter Tucker made 3 field goals from 23, 22 and 20 yards to cap off the Ravens scoring night.

Flacco was 21 for 29 on the night for 166 and those 2 touchdowns for the Ravens. Bernard Pierce ran the ball 22 times for 96 yards to lead the Baltimore rushing attack. Steve Smith Sr. had 6 catches for 71 yards as the top Ravens receiver. Daniels only had 28 yards receiving on 5 catches, but he added those 2 touchdowns. On defense Elvis Dumervil had both of the Baltimore sacks of Ben Roethlisberger. C.J. Mosley recovered 1 of the Steelers fumbles and added 9 tackles. DeAngelo Tyson recovered the other Steelers fumble. Haloti Ngata ended the Steelers night by picking off Roethlisberger late in the game. For the Steelers Roethlisberger went 22 for 37 for 217 yards and that 1 interception. Le’Veon Bell was the Steelers leading rusher with 59 yards on 11 carries. Bell also added 5 catches for 48 yards. Antonio Brown was the Steelers leading receiver with 7 catches for 90 yards. Lawrence Timmons was the Steelers leading tacklers with 12 while Ryan Shazier was right behind him with 11 tackles. Both teams are now 1-1 in the AFC North. In Week 3 Pittsburgh stays on the road to play the Carolina panthers on Sunday night while the Ravens play their 3rd division opponent as they head to Cleveland to play the Browns.

The National Hockey League season is less than a month away from starting and the NHL has made some rule changes for the coming season.

Rule 1.8 – Rink – Goalkeeper’s Restricted Area. What it should mean. The trapezoid will be expanded by two feet from the goal post on both sides of the net.

Rule 23 – Game Misconduct Penalties. A new Game Misconduct category will be created. Clipping, charging, elbowing, interference, kneeing, head-butting and butt-ending move from the general category into the same category as boarding and checking from behind (“Physical Fouls”), whereby a player who incurs two such game misconducts in this category would now be automatically suspended for one game.

Rule 24 – Penalty Shot; The ‘Spin-O-Rama’ move, as described in Section 24.2 of the 2013-14 NHL Rule Book, will no longer be permitted either in Penalty Shot situations or in the Shootout.

Rule 38 – Video Goal Judge; Video review will be expanded in the following areas: Rule 38.4 (viii) has been modified to allow broader discretion to Hockey Operations to assist the referees in determining the legitimacy of all potential goals (e.g., to ensure they are “good hockey goals”). The revised Rule will allow Hockey Operations to correct a broader array of situations where video review clearly establishes that a “goal” or “no goal” call on the ice has been made in error. The new expanded rule will also allow Hockey Operations to provide guidance to referees on goal and potential goal plays where the referee has blown his whistle (or intended to blow his whistle) after having lost sight of the puck. In reviewing “Kicked in Goals,” Hockey Operations will require more demonstrable video evidence of a “distinct kicking motion” in order to overrule a “goal” call on the ice, or to uphold a “no goal” call on the ice.

Rule 57 – Tripping: The rule relating to “Tripping” will be revised to specifically provide that a two-minute minor penalty will be assessed when a defending player “dives” and trips an attacking player with his body/arm/shoulder, regardless of whether the defending player is able to make initial contact with the puck. But, in situations where a penalty shot might otherwise be appropriate, if the defending player “dives” and touches the puck first (before the trip), no penalty shot will be awarded. (In such cases, the resulting penalty will be limited to a two-minute minor penalty for tripping.)

Rule 64 – Diving / Embellishment: The supplementary discipline penalties associated with Rule 64.3 (Diving/Embellishment) will be revised to bring attention to and more seriously penalize players (and teams) who repeatedly dive and embellish in an attempt to draw penalties. Fines will be assessed to players and head coaches on a graduated scale outlined below.

Incident # Player Fine(s) Head Coach Fine(s)
1 Warning N/A
2 $2,000 N/A
3 $3,000 N/A
4 $4,000 $2,000
5 $5,000 $3,000
6 $5,000 $4,000
7 $5,000 $5,000
8 $5,000 $5,000

Rule 76 – Face-offs: To curb delay tactics on face-offs after icing infractions, in situations where the defending team is guilty of a face-off violation, following an icing, the defending player who is initially lined up for the face-off will be given a warning, but will be required to remain in the circle to take the face-off. A second face-off violation by the defending team in such situation will result in a two-minute minor bench penalty.

Rule 84 – Overtime: Teams will switch ends prior to the start of overtime in the regular season. The entire ice surface will undergo a “dry scrape” prior to the start of overtime in the regular season. The procedure requiring the head coach to submit a list of the first three shooters in the shoot-out has been eliminated.

Rule 85 – Puck Out of Bounds: There have been further rule changes made relating to face-off location to avoid penalizing teams for plays intended to create bona fide scoring opportunities. Specifically, the following are “categories of plays” where face-offs will remain in the attacking zone despite the fact that the attacking team was technically responsible for the stoppage in play: Shots at the net by a player on the attacking team where: (i) the shot breaks the glass; (ii) the shot goes off the side of the net and deflects out of play; (iii) the shot goes off the dasher boards or glass and deflects out of play; (iv) the shot is tipped or deflected out of play by a teammate; and (v) the shot becomes wedged in or on the exterior of the goal net.

In addition, the following rule change will be enacted for the 2014 preseason and may be continued for the 2014/15 regular season if approved by the League and the NHLPA.

Rule 1.9 – Rink – Face-off Spots and Circles – Ice Markings/Hash Marks The hash marks at the end zone circles will be moved from three feet apart to five feet, seven inches apart (international markings).

I definitely have to thank http://www.NHL.com for explaining these rule changes to me in a way I could understand them, but I will miss the spin -o- rama move in a shoot out.

Last night the Phoenix Mercury beat the Chicago Sky 87-82 to sweep the WNBA championship series and win the league title. Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree led the Mercury with 24 points apiece as Phoenix played without star center Brittney Griner. Taurasi scored 14 of her 24 points in the fourth quarter and hit a tie breaking 16-foot jumper and was fouled with 14.3 seconds left and made the ensuing free throw to put Phoenix up 85-82. DeWanna Bonner had 12 points and Penny Taylor added 11 for the Mercury. Elena Delle Donne, who battled a back injury during the series, scored 23 points, Sylvia Fowles had 20 points and Allie Quigley had 19 for the Sky.

So how was your week?

You can find Sports Time Radio on BlogTalk Radio and you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.