SPORTS IMITATED

2014-2015 SEASON

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GUESS WHO'S BACK?

The long end to the work stoppage is finally here. Yes..it makes no sense...NO...not a care is given to your confusion. Deal with it and soak it all in and hopefully this is the final time this ever happens. Monday Night Football is back for Sports Imitated as things are surely to change. #Reboot...or whatever...

Here is the schedule for Monday Night Football and Primetime games from now till the end of the regular season:

Nov. 24: New York Jets at New England Patriots

Nov 27: Thanksgiving Classic: San Diego Chargers at Detroit Lions

Dec 1: San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks

Dec 8: Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills

Dec 15: Denver Broncos at Arizona Cardinals

Dec 21: Pittsburgh Steelers at DC Dragons

Dec 30: Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers

Jan 6: New York Giants at Los Angeles Quakes

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They're ready...

Are you?

#Reboot

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Affirmation

The rumblings from the Greeks can now stop. The Croatians proved to the world that not only are they the legitimate champions of the UEFA Eastern Group, but now they are a contender for the 2014 World Cup as they downed rival Greece 3-2. For Croatia, it was an affirmation that the baltic squad has arrived as one of the elite teams in UEFA, and thereby the world. Croatia will now keep an eye on the USA-Korea match. If the Koreans beat the Americans, Croatia will rematch with Spain in the semifinals. If the Americans win, Croatia will face Denmark. Here are the highlights from this match:

http://youtu.be/lvxFYAiupas

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Time to settle the score

Greece and Croatia spent all of qualifications chasing each other for the top spot in the UEFA Eastern group. In the final week, Croatia earned the right to face Spain, where they performed valiantly against the best team in the world, taking them to penalty kicks before falling 3-2. Now they face wildcard Greece, who still feels like they have unfinished business left with their budding rivals in the Baltic. These two teams faced each other twice in the brutal UEFA East schedule and split the series with each winning at home. Now they face each other on a neutral field at Stadio Olimpico in Rome for the right to advance to the World Cup semifinals.

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Just Not There Yet

New Zealand proved that they were up to the task to compete with the world's best, but they have yet to prove that they can win against the world's best. The Kiwis gave the Danes all that they could handle, but in the end, Denmark would knock in one more goal than New Zealand, and would be going on to the semifinal round, while New Zealand would be heading back home. Here are the highlights:

http://youtu.be/1kYxLj1jH6g

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A test against the best

UEFA holds the distinction as being considered the greatest football group in the world. Every other club in every other group tries to set the UEFA clubs as the example to aspire to, and use these great clubs as the measuring stick by which to measure their success. Today in Rome, the national football club of New Zealand gets a true test of their medal as they face a Denmark squad that finished 6-1-7 in the greatest football conference on earth. Even with one loss, Denmark still failed to qualify for Euro Cup, another testament to how tough UEFA really is, and eeked into the 2014 World Cup as a Wild Card.

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Ecuador just not good enough

Ecuador was able to apply pressure against the world's best team, and even knock in two goals, but in the end they were just not good enough. The Ecuadorians became this World Cup's first elimination as they fell to Spain 4-2. Full highlights available here:

http://youtu.be/1kYxLj1jH6g

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Facing down the Giant in Rome

Ecuador is still reeling from an 8-0 blowout to the United States in the 2014 Gold Cup, but they have to recover fast because now their quest for the World Cup officially begins at Stadio Olimpico in Rome against the number one football team in the world: Spain. The Spaniards have lost only once in the last fifteen matches, and held the top spot in the FIFA International Power-poll for the last ten straight weeks. Full highlights of the match will be available upon its completion.

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highlights from 2014 Gold Cup

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Destiny Manifested

The patrons at RFK Stadium had barely gotten comfortable in their seats before Aaron Summers and Rob McMullen had each had a hat-trick. The United States dominated and demoralized Ecuador to claim the 2014 Gold Cup trophy.

“This is a nice piece of hardware,” Team Captain Aaron Summers had to say after the match. “It feels fantastic to be heading into the World Cup with some momentum unlike last time. I'd be remiss if I didn't shout out some credit to our boss Shawn Reno. He kept us believing in the ultimate goal and we never gave up.”

The credit was well earned. Reno compiled a 6-0-1 record heading into the Gold Cup match.

“It's just crazy,” he told the press after the match, “but this still isn't the trophy we have our eyes on. We'll enjoy this for a little bit, and then it is on to Rome.”

For Ecuador, they do not have a lot of time to recover. The Ecuadorians have fallen to the 8th seed in the World Cup which means that they will take the pitch first, and take it against the best team in the world: Spain.

Here are the insane highlights from this epic blowout:

The patrons at RFK Stadium had barely gotten comfortable in their seats before Aaron Summers and Rob McMullen had each had a hat-trick. The United States dominated and demoralized Ecuador to claim the 2014 Gold Cup trophy.

“This is a nice piece of hardware,” Team Captain Aaron Summers had to say after the match. “It feels fantastic to be heading into the World Cup with some momentum unlike last time. I'd be remiss if I didn't shout out some credit to our boss Shawn Reno. He kept us believing in the ultimate goal and we never gave up.”

The credit was well earned. Reno compiled a 6-0-1 record heading into the Gold Cup match.

“It's just crazy,” he told the press after the match, “but this still isn't the trophy we have our eyes on. We'll enjoy this for a little bit, and then it is on to Rome.”

For Ecuador, they do not have a lot of time to recover. The Ecuadorians have fallen to the 8th seed in the World Cup which means that they will take the pitch first, and take it against the best team in the world: Spain.

Here are the insane highlights from this epic blowout:

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Showtime in Primetime

When you start a World Cup campaign 0-4-3 like the United States, you have the benefit of playing out the rest of the Qualifications flying “under the radar”. Those days are over, for now, everyone's favorite Sleeper: Team USA will now host Ecuador at RFK Stadium in Washington DC for the Gold Cup. The trophy, awarded annually to the winner of the CONCACAF/COMNEBOL group. This is the second straight Gold Cup appearance for the United States, they lost in 2010 in Montevideo to Uruguay 5-3.

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Not what we expected

Questions have been floating around St. Louis all summer about whether or not rookie Scott Smith, taken 7th overall in this seasons Pro Football draft out of Texas Tech, could fill the shoes of a legend like newly retired Brady Timmons. Those questions were answered tonight in Canton, as Smith led the Rams on seven scoring drives, throwing two touchdown passes and leading his St. Louis Rams to a 29-10 victory over the heavily favored Cleveland Browns in the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame Game.

Playcalling seemed to be an issue with the Brownies, who acquired the league's top two receievers from last season in a draft day trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars: tight end Noah Grady and wide receiever and special teams ace Harvey Purcell. Cleveland did not even attempt a passing play to Grady, and quarterback Rob Tribby only attempted a pass to Purcell once, which fell incomplete. Tribby, and the rest of the offense, looked out of sync all game long and couldn't get anything going after their first drive, on which they scored a long field goal. The Browns only touchdown came late in the fourth quarter when Scotty Starks, another pickup in the draft day trade with the Jags, picked off the rookie Smith for the Rams, and knocked in a pick six on what would have been St. Louis' eighth scoring drive.

The game was an embarrasment to the 20,000 or so Browns fans who made the short trek to Canton. The stadium was mostly empty by the end of the third quarter, with a smidgen of Rams fans who had also made the trip occupying the bleachers in one end-zone. Browns head coach Dwight Yoder didn't have much to say to the sea of reporters during his post game press conference.

“We need to take a look at the film, see what we did right, see what we did wrong, and go out there week one and play. We'll figure it out...we'll get it going...this is just an Exhibition Game...nothing to worry about.”

To say that that is debatable for Browns fans would be an understatement.

Here are the highlights of either teams' first series on the field:

http://youtu.be/UkL_y9CCu6s?list=UUJr4mLz7HtQRpX_O5nho4AA

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The Party begins in Canton

Sports Imitated's crown jewel, where it all began: American Football, kicks off tonight at Fawcett Stadium in Canton Ohio for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. Two teams in different places will meet on the hallowed ground in Pro Football's most sacred cathedral. The St. Louis Rams finally had to say goodbye to a legend at quarterback, Brady Timmons, to retirement. The Rams dealt with a ton of injuries last season and now with a new QB, Scott Smith taken 7th overall out of Texas Tech, St. Louis hopes to return the Rams to prominence and challenge the Chicago Bears in the World American Football League's Midwest Division. On the other side of the ball stands the Cleveland Browns. Two years after the legend Manfried Peyton bolted for Nashville, the Browns stood atop the draft order, carrying with them the weight of two forgettable seasons. Cleveland released QB Corey Blue, realizing that he was never going to be the head man that they envision when they drafted him eight seasons ago. They had the greatest college football player of all time, the reigning Heisman trophy winner Marcus Butler there for the taking, but opted instead to trade their pick to Jacksonville for a plethora of good talent, draft picks, and cash. This they used to scoop up free agent QB Rob Tribby, and the upgrade at talent in a bevy of positions have football expert predicting a playoff berth for Cleveland this season. The Hall of Fame Game is the beginning test for rebuilding franchises to begin the professional American football season, and you will be able to watch each team's first series on defense tonight!

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Another Shootout for a Championship

Korea and New Zealand duked it out for 90 minutes with World Class gusto all in an effort to win the Eastern Cup. A penalty shot off the crossbar was all that separated these two teams. Watch the dramatic shootout that led to the Koreans lifting the much coveted Eastern Cup.

http://youtu.be/Gkm6rtSM_0I

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Great Match-up in Wellington

The stage is set at Westpac Stadium for what will probably be the biggest football match in New Zealand football history. The New Zealand national team will host the Korean team, a team compromising primarily players from South Korea and some defected players from the North. Both teams are evenly matched, and both finished the qualification round with identical records 7-3-4. The only reason the Kiwis get to host this match is because they defeated Korea in the third round of qualification and tied them in the eighth. The winner will get a higher seed in the World Cup competition in Rome and you can SEE it post live tonight!

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Dramatic “Rocky”-esque ending to Euro Cup 2014

Croatia went toe to toe with the greatest team in the world and went the distance, losing 3-2 in penalty kicks against Spain, setting a precedence for how they need to perform heading into the 2014 World Cup in Italy. Watch the dramatic video highlights!:

http://youtu.be/eBkUuu2nYME

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David and Goliath in Madrid

Croatia comes in to Santiago Bernabéu Stadium to face the greatest team in the world for Euro Cup 2014. Spain had lost only once so far in international competition. They can only afford to lose one more and still be alive for the World Cup trophy, and the lowly Croatians, who have nothing to fear and everything to gain would love to hand them that loss. What's better than following Euro Cup 2014 with Sports Imitated?! Watching video highlights of Euro Cup 2014 after the conclusion of the match! Live..tonight!