Thursday Take-Twos

The anticipated fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is in jeopardy. Negotiations between representatives of the highly acclaimed boxers remained at an impasse Wednesday night. A Thursday deadline was set to determined whether or not the fight will be formalized. The match promises to be one of the richest ever, but Mayweather’s camp is insisting both fighters be drug-tested in the two weeks leading up to the MGM Grand hotel live event. Pacquiao’s promoter informed the press he was unable to come to terms to an Olympic-style drug test for the mega fight. The two sides have had continued scuffles, including an accusation by Mayweather’s father that Pacquiao was using performance-enhancing drugs to win titles and move up in weight class. A blood test, instead of a urine screening, would be able to detect HGH. Pacquiao has never failed a post-test drug fight, but has yet to agree to Mayweather’s conditions. The fighters already agreed in principle to a March 13th date and a 147 pound welterweight limit. The hotly anticipated fight is now teetering on the brink of collapse, even though the Pacman is willing to submit blood samples in January, February, and immediately following the fight. Pacquiao is taciturn in giving blood days before the test because of personal superstitions. The fighter believes his performance will be weakened and affected by any intervening test.
Utah was elevated to a ninth consecutive bowl game with a ten point topping of California in the Poinsettia Bowl Wednesday. The 10-3 Utes scored 27 straight points in a 37-27 win to give Utah the nation’s current longest bowl streak, and second longest ever. The Golden Bears had their four-game post-season winning streak snapped as quarterback Kevin Riley was sacked three times in front of the Qualcomm Stadium crowd. Utah’s true freshman signal caller, Jordan Wynn, threw a career high 338 yards and completed 26 of his 36 passes. Cal scored twice in eleven seconds midway through the first quarter to build a 14-0 lead. The Utes looked overmatched until piling on the 27 unanswered points. The Golden Bears didn’t find the endzone until Shane Vereen’s one yard run with .39 seconds left in the third quarter. Stevenson Sylvester’s 27 yard interception return for a touchdown grabbed the fourth quarter spotlight for Utah, as the defense came up big. Riley tossed a pair of picks in the loss, but the Bears’ offense was propelled by a 122 yard, two score day from Vereen. It wasn’t enough to stop the streaking original BCS-busting Utes.
The number one team in women’s hoops pummeled the number two. The UConn Huskies routed second-ranked Stanford 80-68 in Hartford Wednesday night behind Maya Moore’s 23 points. Connecticut won its 49th straight game and improved to 10-0 on the season. Last season’s semifinal rematch with the Cardinal proved to be no match. Stanford suffered their first loss despite double digit games from Nnemkadi Ogwumike and Kayla Pedersen. The teams traded baskets throughout the first half. Stanford shot 57% from the field in the half to go up 40-38 at the break. It was the first time since 2008 the Huskies found themselves down at halftime. UConn trailed by two early in the second half before Geno Auriemma’s top-ranked Huskies went on an eleven minute 30-6 run. UConn upheld a 22 point lead with just over five minutes in the game and never looked back.
Finally, the baseball umpire deal. Major League Baseball’s men in stripes (no, not pinstripes) reached a five-year labor contract agreement Wednesday. The deal could give umpires the chance to work World Series games in consecutive years. The contract runs through December 2014 and is subject to ratification next month. Management sought increased flexibility on postseason assignments following a series of missed playoff calls. The new deal will lift the prohibition of umps working World Series games in consecutive seasons if the union and owners agree.

Parting Points: Have a merry Christmas everybody!