Things got a bit testy this weekend in the NFL didn't they? The replacement referees certainly took a step backwards in almost every way. It seemed like each game that I watched was one cheap shot away from a full scale brawl. College football had its share of jaw dropping results including Virginia Tech getting punched in the gut by Pittsburgh who looked no better than a high school team coming in. Obviously I will talk about the other major upsets in a bit. The baseball races continue to have no clear resolution as more and more teams continue to stake their claim for a playoff spot.
All of that pales in comparison to what I did this weekend. My mother brought a box of my old stuff over this week and included my old Playstation. Woot! I cleaned it off, hooked it up and put in Twisted Metal 2. It worked like it was brand new. It took me about 30 seconds to remember how to play and it took me back to high school. Pure, unadulterated bliss. Sure the graphics look archaic to today's standards and the game play is quite simplistic, but that is what I enjoyed about games back then. Yes I'm officially old now.
For those of you who got caught up being young for the weekend and missed out on the sporting world, here are the important events that you may missed:
10. James Madison University vs. West Virginia University (FedEx Field)
You know what, Geno Smith might just win himself a Heisman Trophy this season. I know he hasn't faced the stiffest competition but he has looked exceptional so far. He had as many uncompleted passes (5) as he did touchdown passes (5) against James Madison. My Dukes kept the Mountaineers under 60 as I had predicted and they even scored a safety, but this game belonged to West Virginia from the opening kick. It's great exposure for JMU as they continue to have hopes to eventually jump to 1-A in the future. As for holding this game at FedEx...yeah only 45,000 showed up which is half capacity, so maybe RFK next time guys.
9. St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
This might be the only prediction I got right all weekend. The Cardinals and Dodgers played a very hotly contested 4 game series which ended in a split, but each team could have staked claim to series win with the right break. Each team scored 15 total runs in this series as the Cardinals continue to hold on to their slim 1 game lead for the second Wild Card spot. As for the teams chasing team, the Phillies blew their golden opportunity against the lowly Astros by losing 3 of 4. The Pirates have already lost 2 of 3 to the Cubs in their four game set. Only the Milwaukee Brewers won a series of the 5 contenders as they took 2 of 3 against the Mets. There are currently five teams within 4 games of that final playoff spot in the National League.
8. New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Both New Orleans and Carolina knew that the loser of this game would have about a 12% chance of making the playoffs this season (stat courtesy of NFL Network). Of course I already eliminated the loser and we all know that whatever I say goes. The Panthers looked like a completely different team with the return of Johnathan Stewart. After running the ball 13 times for a measly 10 yards in week 1 versus Tampa Bay, Carolina gutted the Saints defense with 41 carries for 219 yards and 3 touchdowns. That is more like it from the Panthers. The Saints didn't change much from the Week 1 debacle. They gave up 35 more points (75 in two weeks) and Drew Brees threw two more interceptions. The victory went to the team who made better strides and the was Carolina. Your season is now over New Orleans...enjoy the Super Bowl host city curse.
7. Florida Gators at Tennessee Volunteers
Hey look another game I was completely wrong about. It will be a week long trend and for that I am ashamed. I thought this was finally the time where Tennessee would be able to turn the corner for their revival and doing so against the team that kept them down for so many years would have been sweet. Half way through the 3rd quarter, things were looking good for me and 100,000+ Volunteer fans in Knoxville. Florida then spent the remaining 22 minutes silencing the entire state of Tennessee...again. They outscored Tennessee 24-0 over the remainder of the game and turned a close encounter into a blowout. I do like the orange pants though.
6. Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia Eagles
Even though this game resembled a backyard street fight more than a National Football League game it turned out to be one of the best games on Sunday. Joe Flacco did indeed return to mediocrity as he struggled all day with his accuracy while Michael Vick was still inconsistent, but showed flashes of greatness with his arm and legs. It was unfortunate that the biggest takeaway for fans from this game was the horrible officiating as they let players continue to push and shove after the whistle without any punishment. The Eagles took a late lead and the Ravens final drive came up short as Philadelphia climbs to 2-0 and they have yet to look really good so far. The Ravens will be fine if they can survive this tough stretch where they play their first 4 games in a short 17 day span.
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Michigan St. Spartans
What a pile of crap this game turned out to be. Not only did we not get a great ending, but we didn't get a great beginning or middle either. Maybe Notre Dame is really for real this time. They stuffed the Spartans in all aspects of the game including holding dynamic running back Le'Veon Bell to only 77 yards rushing on 19 carries. The Irish will certainly be able to state their case for being elite as they get three more ranked teams including a trip to Oklahoma over their next five games. For Michigan St., college basketball is only two months away and Tom Izzo probably has another great rebounding, blue collar bunch of guys looking to win another Big 10 title!
4. Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees
Two teams in dire need of a good weekend met in the Bronx and the Yankees walked away with a series win. Each game was decided by two runs, but after taking game one behind David Price, neither James Shields nor Matt Moore could keep the potent Yankee offense down enough to get the tepid Rays offense in it. Tampa Bay is now five games behind New York in the A.L. East and 4 games out of the second Wild Card spot currently owned by Baltimore. Of course after last seasons heroics nobody will count the Rays out of it, but they didn't do themselves any favors this weekend. New York, for all of their struggles, only play one more team with winning record (Oakland at home) the rest of the way. The East is once again theirs to lose.
3. USC Trojans at Stanford Cardinal
About Matt Barkley being so angry after going 0-3 against Stanford in his career that he'd take out his frustrations in spades this time around...yeah didn't happen. I don't know if it was just a great defensive effort by the Cardinal defense or just a very horrible Trojans offensive line. Barkley was under great duress the entire game and could never set his feet long enough to make a play. As for Stanford's offense, Josh Nunes played well enough to move the offense, but it was running back Stepfan Taylor who took the bull by the horns, rushing for 153 yards and touchdown on 27 carries. Stanford now emerges as the national title contender from the PAC-12 as Matt Barkley now needs to save face and try to be the #1 draft pick in the NFL Draft next year.
2. Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers
Huzzah! I got one almost perfectly right. The 49ers stifling defense held the Detroit Lions to 5 field goal attempts over the first 58 minutes of the game while continuing to show a much more consistent offensive approach. No longer are the 49ers a run only offense with an occasional pass to keep the defense honest. They have weapons for Alex Smith to target and he has become a very reliable passer and has broken the all time San Francisco record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception. That's pretty impressive when you consider the hall of fame caliber signal callers that have roamed the grounds there. I'm not calling the Lions dead in the water just yet, but their magic of 4th quarter comebacks (like week 1 and all of 2011) can only last for so long. If Detroit hadn't scored that late touchdown my prediction of 27-13 would have been just about spot on, but I call this one a win for me.
1. Baltimore Orioles at Oakland Athletics
I predicted that the team scoring first would win all three games in this series. They went 0-3. I don't even know why I try. The Orioles scored first in both of the first two games only to see Oakland take the lead right back and hold on the rest of the way. In game three Josh Reddick homered in the 1st inning and it was all downhill the rest of the way as they walked 9 Orioles and Matt Wieters hit two home runs to salvage a game for Baltimore. Oakland didn't lose any ground on Texas or Los Angeles as all three teams won 2 of 3 this weekend. They now embark and a very difficult, make or break, 10 game road trip to Detroit, New York and Texas (4 games) that could very possibly cost them a playoff spot if things go poorly. Baltimore is now a game back of New York, but with no more head to head games remaining they don't control their own fate. None of their next 13 games are against teams with playoff aspirations so they can easily make up ground on Oakland if the Athletics falter with a much more difficult schedule.
Showing posts with label baltimore orioles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baltimore orioles. Show all posts
Monday, September 17, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
Weekend Viewing Guide 9/14/12
No tennis, no golf, no soccer...no worries. There is still a glutton of sports to watch this weekend. I'm not even going to highlight the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears I'm watching as I type that was played last night or the mouth-watering Monday Night Football game between my MVP choice, Matt Ryan and the expected Comeback Player of the Year, Peyton Manning. If you're a betting person...take the over. Either of those games would have cracked my top 3 of the weekend, but I push on, there are still enough main courses to satisfy even the Burgerdays crew.
Let's roll our sleeves up and get right into it:
10. James Madison University vs. West Virginia University (FedEx Field)
Okay don't stop reading, I haven't gone crazy. I went to JMU and I know some guys who went to West Virginia so there's a little more at stake if JMU can keep it close. If you remember, JMU went down to Virginia Tech just two years ago and won so be careful Mountaineer fans. In all actuality this will be a 60-17 type score, but you have two schools that have a ton of alumni in the DC/Maryland area and a 90,000 seat stadium to fill. With a 4:30pm start, the only real question is how many fans will be sober enough to remember to go into the stadium? Let's go Dukes!
9. St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
What the hell is going on with the National League Wild Card standings? The Cardinals suck, the Dodgers stink and the Pirates are terrible. The only teams that seem to want to play Atlanta in the one game playoff are the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers who have each shaved about 10 games in the standings in the last month. This four game series that started (right about now) Thursday has the chance to make a gruesome mess of everything. By Monday there could be five teams within two games of the second Wild Card. When St. Louis and Los Angeles split these four games they will be at 77 and 76 wins respectively. The Pirates play the crappy Cubs, the Phillies will crush the abysmal Astros and the Brewers should manhandle the Mets. This puts all three of them at 75 wins with sweeps. All five will have either 70-72 losses as well with just over two weeks to go...just how we want it.
8. New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Neither team expected to be facing an 0-2 start. Both teams were given a tasty cupcake of an opening week game by the NFL and yet both lost. In a division that I expect the Atlanta Falcons to win easily both of these teams are playing for a Wild Card spot in my opinion. This elevates a rather middling week 2 game into a pretty tasty pressure test. I'm sure if I had the Elias Sports Bureau working for me I could tell you what the chances are for 0-2 teams to make the playoffs, but I can promise you it's not that good. Dammit, I'm calling it...the loser of this game does not make the playoffs. Done. Final Score: Saints 31 Panthers 23
7. Florida Gators at Tennessee Volunteers
Welcome back from obscurity Tennessee. This game used to be the highlight of the SEC schedule. Then Tennessee disappeared into oblivion while Florida had up and down seasons (with some Tim Tebow greatness as well) and everyone forgot about these teams. Now even though they are relegated to a Week 3 meeting in mid-September, its good to see both schools getting good again at the same time. Both teams are ranked, ESPN is headed to Knoxville and they made my exclusive list of things to watch! Yes rivalry games in college football are exciting and this one has been ignored for far too long. Final Score Tennessee 31 Florida 21
6. Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia Eagles
Did you see how good the Ravens looked on Monday? Did you see how bad the Eagles looked on Sunday? All that and Philadelphia is still a 2 point favorite at home this week. A short week and having to play on the road might have a bit to do with that for Baltimore. Something tell me each team will regress to the mean this weekend even if the Eagles are without Jeremy Maclin or DeSean Jackson or both. Michael Vick can't throw 4 more interceptions can he? Joe Flacco isn't going to be an MVP candidate is he? No I don't think either of these will be true. I still have the Ravens squeaking out a 23-20 win.
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Michigan St. Spartans
This is a perfect September game. Two really good September teams that real fans of college football understand have no frickin' shot at being relevant come mid-November. The fans can only hope for another memorable finish like in 2010:
That highlight was made even better with the Star Wars cameo. Notre Dame has not been in the championship picture since the late 80's and the Big Ten is only good when not playing teams from real conferences like the SEC. That makes this game a perfect match up...for September. Final Score Michigan St. 30 Notre Dame 24
4. Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees
I don't understand Tampa Bay. Well I take that back, they can't hit worth a damn. Even though they resemble the Oakland Athletics both on the mound and at the plate and how bad their stadium is, something is missing. There is no magic spark. Time is now beginning to run out on the Rays and unless they walk into New York and win this series, they could be missing the playoffs this year. Things are not looking much better in New York. The age of their core players is starting to become an issue as the injuries continue to mount. Mark Teixeira is injured, Derek Jeter narrowly avoided a bad ankle injury, C.C. Sabathia is hurting and the team just looks sluggish. This starts a 9 game home stand with both the Rays and the Athletics coming to town and we should know the fate of New York by the end of that.
3. USC Trojans at Stanford Cardinal
I bet you didn't realize that senior quarterback Matt Barkley has yet to defeat Stanford. He's 0-3 thanks to Andrew Luck, but unlike Luck, Barkley stayed in school toparty, hang out with co-eds, be the big man on campus
win a BCS Championship. This is the game that USC has to have had
circled on its calendar ever since Barkley decided to return. They owe
the Cardinal some payback for the recent domination that they have had
on their neighbors to the south. The cupboard isn't completely bare for
Stanford as Junior quarterback Josh Nunes has filed in quite admirably,
albeit against lesser competition (yup I'm talking about you Duke).
I've got the over/under on Barkley touchdown passes at 4.5...anyone dare
to take the under? Final Score USC 45 Stanford 27
2. Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers
Ooooooh I remember how this one ended last year. The two head coaches jawing at each other while racing off the field and a little shove fest. Last week the Lions didn't look like the fun 'n gun offensive video game that was 2011. The 49ers did, on the other hand, resemble their 2011 model of being the best defensive unit in the NFL. They also added a better passing game and currently have a healthy Frank Gore. No matter how much I want this to be a good game, I have a feeling this is where the Lions start to crack a bit and the 49ers surge into Super Bowl contenders. Final Score San Francisco 27 Detroit 13
1. Baltimore Orioles at Oakland Athletics
The two best stories in the American League and possibly the Majors meet in the dump that is the O.co Stadium. If the Orioles allowed the Athletics to be the home team, I'd petition Bud Selig to move the series to Camden Yards. Not only would I be able to attend, but it'd be a setting befitting the importance of this series. I know of nobody who thought this series would receive any national media attention, but with the two darlings of baseball playing in mid-September it will be beat reporters dream for its multitude of story lines. Each team is playing for a fallen teammate, Nick Markakis of the Orioles lost for the regular season with a broken hand and Brandon McCarthy of the Athletics lost for the season with a fractured skull. Both teams are currently in the playoffs and have split the season series 3-3 to date so I expect a low scoring series where the team scoring first will win all three games. The bullpens are just too good and the stadium too big for many comebacks to occur.
*Editor's note* After watching 3 quarters of the Packers/Bears game, I change my mind about it being considered for the Top 10 list. Yaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnn! If your best highlight is a punter pitching a ball to a backup tight end, you have not been entertaining.
Let's roll our sleeves up and get right into it:
10. James Madison University vs. West Virginia University (FedEx Field)
Okay don't stop reading, I haven't gone crazy. I went to JMU and I know some guys who went to West Virginia so there's a little more at stake if JMU can keep it close. If you remember, JMU went down to Virginia Tech just two years ago and won so be careful Mountaineer fans. In all actuality this will be a 60-17 type score, but you have two schools that have a ton of alumni in the DC/Maryland area and a 90,000 seat stadium to fill. With a 4:30pm start, the only real question is how many fans will be sober enough to remember to go into the stadium? Let's go Dukes!
9. St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers
What the hell is going on with the National League Wild Card standings? The Cardinals suck, the Dodgers stink and the Pirates are terrible. The only teams that seem to want to play Atlanta in the one game playoff are the Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers who have each shaved about 10 games in the standings in the last month. This four game series that started (right about now) Thursday has the chance to make a gruesome mess of everything. By Monday there could be five teams within two games of the second Wild Card. When St. Louis and Los Angeles split these four games they will be at 77 and 76 wins respectively. The Pirates play the crappy Cubs, the Phillies will crush the abysmal Astros and the Brewers should manhandle the Mets. This puts all three of them at 75 wins with sweeps. All five will have either 70-72 losses as well with just over two weeks to go...just how we want it.
8. New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers
Neither team expected to be facing an 0-2 start. Both teams were given a tasty cupcake of an opening week game by the NFL and yet both lost. In a division that I expect the Atlanta Falcons to win easily both of these teams are playing for a Wild Card spot in my opinion. This elevates a rather middling week 2 game into a pretty tasty pressure test. I'm sure if I had the Elias Sports Bureau working for me I could tell you what the chances are for 0-2 teams to make the playoffs, but I can promise you it's not that good. Dammit, I'm calling it...the loser of this game does not make the playoffs. Done. Final Score: Saints 31 Panthers 23
7. Florida Gators at Tennessee Volunteers
Welcome back from obscurity Tennessee. This game used to be the highlight of the SEC schedule. Then Tennessee disappeared into oblivion while Florida had up and down seasons (with some Tim Tebow greatness as well) and everyone forgot about these teams. Now even though they are relegated to a Week 3 meeting in mid-September, its good to see both schools getting good again at the same time. Both teams are ranked, ESPN is headed to Knoxville and they made my exclusive list of things to watch! Yes rivalry games in college football are exciting and this one has been ignored for far too long. Final Score Tennessee 31 Florida 21
6. Baltimore Ravens at Philadelphia Eagles
Did you see how good the Ravens looked on Monday? Did you see how bad the Eagles looked on Sunday? All that and Philadelphia is still a 2 point favorite at home this week. A short week and having to play on the road might have a bit to do with that for Baltimore. Something tell me each team will regress to the mean this weekend even if the Eagles are without Jeremy Maclin or DeSean Jackson or both. Michael Vick can't throw 4 more interceptions can he? Joe Flacco isn't going to be an MVP candidate is he? No I don't think either of these will be true. I still have the Ravens squeaking out a 23-20 win.
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Michigan St. Spartans
This is a perfect September game. Two really good September teams that real fans of college football understand have no frickin' shot at being relevant come mid-November. The fans can only hope for another memorable finish like in 2010:
That highlight was made even better with the Star Wars cameo. Notre Dame has not been in the championship picture since the late 80's and the Big Ten is only good when not playing teams from real conferences like the SEC. That makes this game a perfect match up...for September. Final Score Michigan St. 30 Notre Dame 24
4. Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees
I don't understand Tampa Bay. Well I take that back, they can't hit worth a damn. Even though they resemble the Oakland Athletics both on the mound and at the plate and how bad their stadium is, something is missing. There is no magic spark. Time is now beginning to run out on the Rays and unless they walk into New York and win this series, they could be missing the playoffs this year. Things are not looking much better in New York. The age of their core players is starting to become an issue as the injuries continue to mount. Mark Teixeira is injured, Derek Jeter narrowly avoided a bad ankle injury, C.C. Sabathia is hurting and the team just looks sluggish. This starts a 9 game home stand with both the Rays and the Athletics coming to town and we should know the fate of New York by the end of that.
3. USC Trojans at Stanford Cardinal
I bet you didn't realize that senior quarterback Matt Barkley has yet to defeat Stanford. He's 0-3 thanks to Andrew Luck, but unlike Luck, Barkley stayed in school to
2. Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers
Ooooooh I remember how this one ended last year. The two head coaches jawing at each other while racing off the field and a little shove fest. Last week the Lions didn't look like the fun 'n gun offensive video game that was 2011. The 49ers did, on the other hand, resemble their 2011 model of being the best defensive unit in the NFL. They also added a better passing game and currently have a healthy Frank Gore. No matter how much I want this to be a good game, I have a feeling this is where the Lions start to crack a bit and the 49ers surge into Super Bowl contenders. Final Score San Francisco 27 Detroit 13
1. Baltimore Orioles at Oakland Athletics
The two best stories in the American League and possibly the Majors meet in the dump that is the O.co Stadium. If the Orioles allowed the Athletics to be the home team, I'd petition Bud Selig to move the series to Camden Yards. Not only would I be able to attend, but it'd be a setting befitting the importance of this series. I know of nobody who thought this series would receive any national media attention, but with the two darlings of baseball playing in mid-September it will be beat reporters dream for its multitude of story lines. Each team is playing for a fallen teammate, Nick Markakis of the Orioles lost for the regular season with a broken hand and Brandon McCarthy of the Athletics lost for the season with a fractured skull. Both teams are currently in the playoffs and have split the season series 3-3 to date so I expect a low scoring series where the team scoring first will win all three games. The bullpens are just too good and the stadium too big for many comebacks to occur.
*Editor's note* After watching 3 quarters of the Packers/Bears game, I change my mind about it being considered for the Top 10 list. Yaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwnnnnnnn! If your best highlight is a punter pitching a ball to a backup tight end, you have not been entertaining.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Weekend In Review 9/10/12
...and I'm spent.
Thursday night: Burger grand opening at ZBurger w/ Philly cheese steaks, custard, fries, hot dogs, onion rings and some milkshakes (not necessarily in that order).
Friday night: Burger grand opening at Kraze: w/ fries and a milkshake
Saturday: College Football, work, survived a mini hurricane, dodged a tornado and got some pizza (must find veggies this week)
Sunday: Football, Baseball, Golf, Tennis, Fantasy Football (and still no veggies...do Doritos count?)
If your weekend was like that or maybe you went on Burger Days VI (www.burgerdays.com) you may have missed something...let me catch you up.
10. BMW Championship
I went out on a limb on Thursday and called that Tiger Woods would win this week. Well that didn't happen as Rory McIlroy continued his recent dominance winning for the second week in a row. Tiger finished T-4th, three shots behind. Phil Mickelson remembered that he was once good and came on strong over the weekend tying for second place. With next weeks Tour Championship starting on Thursday, the golf world will be all abuzz with the three biggest draws finally playing well at the same time. McIlroy has put his early season distractions aside and is proving to be the prodigy that everyone thought he was going to be. It will be difficult to go against him winning a third straight and the FedEx Cup in Atlanta.
9. College Football - Upset Alert
Behind six touchdown passes from Matt Barkley, USC eased by Syracuse in New Jersey (although they didn't cover...sorry Luis, I warned you). Florida St. was a 70.5 point favorite over Savannah 'thanks for the $' St. and led 28-0 seven minutes into the game. Then the weather took over. A couple of rain delays and 27 more points later, the game was mercifully called in the 3rd quarter canceling the spread and saving a lot of people some money because it would have been 80-0 easy. As for the games I figured were going to be close. Missouri played a good three quarters, but Georgia played all four quarters, ruining the Tigers first SEC game, losing 41-20. My upset pick at work (trust me) was Wisconsin losing to Oregon St. outright and they did 10-7, scoring their only points with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Nebraska went out west to play UCLA and got upended in a great game 36-30. Of course I can't forget to point out the embarrassment that was Arkansas who got caught looking ahead to #1 Alabama next week by getting utterly shocked by Louisiana-Monroe (who??) 34-31 in OT. Yikes!
8. Washington Redskins at New Orleans Saints
Control yourself Jason...settle down...SUPER BOWL HERE WE COME!!! Stop that...sorry for the outburst, but did you see RGIII? He looked good, real good. Of course so did Cam Newton last season after a week and Carolina finished 6-10 and looked pitiful Sunday. All the gadgets, the speed, the offense that was hidden during preseason was unleashed as #10 led the Redskins to 10 points in each quarter to upend the Saints 40-32. I give credit to Drew Brees on never giving in and keeping me on the edge of my seat down to the final play of the game, but his brilliance wasn't enough this weekend. Is it the Super Bowl host city curse?? Maybe, but I'm thrilled to see the Redskins finally show some excitement on the offensive side of the ball. RGIII FOR MVP...NO WAIT HALL OF FAME!!!! Agghhh I can't stop myself.
7. San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers
It appears that the Packers have found their Kryptonite...a really good defense. Two straight games now (dating back to the playoffs against the Giants) the vaunted Green Bay offense was held in check in a loss. Both times at home and in relatively similar fashion this time falling by a score of 30-22 (37-20 vs. New York in the playoffs). The 49ers stuffed the non existent running game of the Packers and pressured Aaron Rodgers just enough to keep him off balance. Green Bay needs to find some offensive balance or one of two things is bound to happen: either they will lose again in the playoffs or Rodgers arm will fall off by Thanksgiving. San Francisco is going to be the real deal again this season. Their offense is leaps and bounds better with Randy Moss and great depth at running back.
6. Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays
4, 6 and 6. The total runs scored in each game. Good pitching won this weekend as it is apt to do come September and October. Tampa Bay took two of three games keeping themselves close in the Wild Card and the A.L. East races. The Rangers saw their lead in the A.L. West shrink to 3.5 games over Oakland as the Athletics swept the Seattle Mariners. Saturday was a great pitchers duel between Yu Darvish andDavid Price Chris Archer (who stepped in for the injured ace) as they combined for 15 in, 6 H, 4 BB, 3 ER and 19 K's. Neither received a decision as Texas won their lone game of the series in extra innings. James Shields lived up to his moniker of 'Big Game James' as he utterly dominated a strong Rangers lineup throwing a complete game 2 hit shutout and was aided by a three home run game from B.J. Upton.
5. U.S. Open Tennis
The weather was the big winner of the weekend as rain caused havoc on the schedule. The Men's Final has been pushed to 4pm today and it will be...drum roll please...Andy Murray vs. Novak Djokovic. I am as shocked as you are folks. As soon as Roger Federer lost, we knew it would come down to the last of the Big 4 and it did. The women's side was much more tightly contested even though it ended as was expected. Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka played a wonderful three set match in which the #1 seed Azaranka pulled out winning the last two sets. Serena Williams continued to cruise through the Open as she crushed Sara Errani in straight sets. This set up a dream match up for fans and they were treated to some high level, high intensity tennis. Serena won the first set with ease again and I thought the tournament was over. Azarenka had other thoughts as she turned the tables, thumping Williams to force a winner take all third set. Serena was broken early and then broke back. At 3-3 her serve was broken again giving Azarenka a 4-3 lead which she stretched to 5-3. Serena fought back, cutting it to 5-4 and then broke Azarenka who was serving for the match to even the third set at 5 games apiece. Serena held serve and broke Azarenka again to win the championship. It was enthralling and I'm so happy I brought the small television to the man cave and didn't have to miss it.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants
The Dodgers had a great chance to make the N.L. West a true race with a strong weekend, but things got worse for them as the days went by. On Friday, Giants starter Tim Lincecum tried everything in his power to let the Dodgers win. He walked 7 batters in 6.1 innings, but Los Angeles couldn't get the big hit stranding 11 runners in a 5-2 loss where San Francisco scored 4 runs in their final three at bats. Saturday came and the Dodgers were without Matt Kemp who is suffering from a sore shoulder. They had to face Matt Cain and fared as expected as they were trailing 2-1 going to the 8th inning. They tied the score and chased Cain and then got the go ahead and eventual winning run in the 9th. Knowing they had Clayton Kershaw going on Sunday, the Dodgers had to feel excited about taking the series. Then word came Sunday afternoon that Kershaw was scratched with an injury. That must have deflated the locker room as Barry Zito (yes, him) dominated Los Angeles with 6.1 shutout innings as the Giants won 4-0 to extend their lead to 5.5 games.
3. Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels
Somebody in the Detroit locker room better send the Kansas City Royals a thank you card. The Tigers rolled into Los Angeles to face the scorching hot Angels and got swept right out of town. They only lost a game in the standings to the White Sox thanks to Kansas City winning two of three, but have practically fallen out of the Wild Card race. The Angels, on the other hand, have won 6 in a row and 11 of 12 as they welcome Oakland to southern California for a four game series after just taking three straight in Oakland. They are 2.5 games behind the Athletics and 6 behind Texas. Detroit had best lick their wounds quickly as they fly to Chicago to battle the White Sox in their own four game mega-series. Oh about the Verlander-Trout match up...yeah Trout hit a bomb off of Justin in the 1st inning...statement made.
2. New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles
This was the exact opposite series than that of the Rangers/Rays series. 16, 13, 9, 16. That's a lot of runs by two good hitting, average pitching teams. The Orioles won the first game behind 6 home runs, but the Yankees struck back in game two with 3 home runs of their own (as did the Orioles...remember pitching optional) to win. Game three was the 'pitchers duel' of the series between C.C. Sabathia, who is clearly pitching injured, and Joe Saunders. Yup, grasping at straws here. The Orioles hit three more home runs to win another one run game. They tied the Yankees for 1st again, but lost lead off hitter Nick Markakis to a broken hand. This must have stung the Baltimore clubhouse because they got thrashed on Sunday 13-3, failing again at their chance to stand alone atop the A.L. East. Life doesn't getting any easier for Baltimore as Tampa Bay strolls into town with a chance to knock the Orioles to third place.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos
Welcome back Peyton Manning. The NFL missed you while you were gone. After sitting out a year with a neck injury and switching teams, Manning didn't skip a beat. After each team started slowly, things got going in the second quarter when Knoshown Moreno scampered in for a score. Big Ben took the Steelers right down the field and hit Heath Miller for a touchdown as the 1st half ended. Pittsburgh got the ball back to start the 3rd quarter and used 9 minutes to score 3 points. In real time, Peyton Manning didn't run an actual play from scrimmage (kneel down doesn't count to me) in an hour and now trailed 13-7. Two plays and 36 seconds later, it was 14-13 Broncos as Manning connected with Demaryius Thomas on a 71 yard score. Pittsburgh then controlled the ball for the remainder of the 3rd quarter, but still trailed by 1 point. That didn't last long as the Steelers scored in the first minute to go up 19-14. Then Peyton took over. He led the Broncos on back to back scoring drives for 10 points giving them a 25-19 lead and Tracy Porter sealed the deal for Denver with a pick-six touchdown (as he is known to do).
Thursday night: Burger grand opening at ZBurger w/ Philly cheese steaks, custard, fries, hot dogs, onion rings and some milkshakes (not necessarily in that order).
Friday night: Burger grand opening at Kraze: w/ fries and a milkshake
Saturday: College Football, work, survived a mini hurricane, dodged a tornado and got some pizza (must find veggies this week)
Sunday: Football, Baseball, Golf, Tennis, Fantasy Football (and still no veggies...do Doritos count?)
If your weekend was like that or maybe you went on Burger Days VI (www.burgerdays.com) you may have missed something...let me catch you up.
10. BMW Championship
I went out on a limb on Thursday and called that Tiger Woods would win this week. Well that didn't happen as Rory McIlroy continued his recent dominance winning for the second week in a row. Tiger finished T-4th, three shots behind. Phil Mickelson remembered that he was once good and came on strong over the weekend tying for second place. With next weeks Tour Championship starting on Thursday, the golf world will be all abuzz with the three biggest draws finally playing well at the same time. McIlroy has put his early season distractions aside and is proving to be the prodigy that everyone thought he was going to be. It will be difficult to go against him winning a third straight and the FedEx Cup in Atlanta.
9. College Football - Upset Alert
Behind six touchdown passes from Matt Barkley, USC eased by Syracuse in New Jersey (although they didn't cover...sorry Luis, I warned you). Florida St. was a 70.5 point favorite over Savannah 'thanks for the $' St. and led 28-0 seven minutes into the game. Then the weather took over. A couple of rain delays and 27 more points later, the game was mercifully called in the 3rd quarter canceling the spread and saving a lot of people some money because it would have been 80-0 easy. As for the games I figured were going to be close. Missouri played a good three quarters, but Georgia played all four quarters, ruining the Tigers first SEC game, losing 41-20. My upset pick at work (trust me) was Wisconsin losing to Oregon St. outright and they did 10-7, scoring their only points with less than 2 minutes left in the game. Nebraska went out west to play UCLA and got upended in a great game 36-30. Of course I can't forget to point out the embarrassment that was Arkansas who got caught looking ahead to #1 Alabama next week by getting utterly shocked by Louisiana-Monroe (who??) 34-31 in OT. Yikes!
8. Washington Redskins at New Orleans Saints
Control yourself Jason...settle down...SUPER BOWL HERE WE COME!!! Stop that...sorry for the outburst, but did you see RGIII? He looked good, real good. Of course so did Cam Newton last season after a week and Carolina finished 6-10 and looked pitiful Sunday. All the gadgets, the speed, the offense that was hidden during preseason was unleashed as #10 led the Redskins to 10 points in each quarter to upend the Saints 40-32. I give credit to Drew Brees on never giving in and keeping me on the edge of my seat down to the final play of the game, but his brilliance wasn't enough this weekend. Is it the Super Bowl host city curse?? Maybe, but I'm thrilled to see the Redskins finally show some excitement on the offensive side of the ball. RGIII FOR MVP...NO WAIT HALL OF FAME!!!! Agghhh I can't stop myself.
7. San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers
It appears that the Packers have found their Kryptonite...a really good defense. Two straight games now (dating back to the playoffs against the Giants) the vaunted Green Bay offense was held in check in a loss. Both times at home and in relatively similar fashion this time falling by a score of 30-22 (37-20 vs. New York in the playoffs). The 49ers stuffed the non existent running game of the Packers and pressured Aaron Rodgers just enough to keep him off balance. Green Bay needs to find some offensive balance or one of two things is bound to happen: either they will lose again in the playoffs or Rodgers arm will fall off by Thanksgiving. San Francisco is going to be the real deal again this season. Their offense is leaps and bounds better with Randy Moss and great depth at running back.
6. Texas Rangers at Tampa Bay Rays
4, 6 and 6. The total runs scored in each game. Good pitching won this weekend as it is apt to do come September and October. Tampa Bay took two of three games keeping themselves close in the Wild Card and the A.L. East races. The Rangers saw their lead in the A.L. West shrink to 3.5 games over Oakland as the Athletics swept the Seattle Mariners. Saturday was a great pitchers duel between Yu Darvish and
5. U.S. Open Tennis
The weather was the big winner of the weekend as rain caused havoc on the schedule. The Men's Final has been pushed to 4pm today and it will be...drum roll please...Andy Murray vs. Novak Djokovic. I am as shocked as you are folks. As soon as Roger Federer lost, we knew it would come down to the last of the Big 4 and it did. The women's side was much more tightly contested even though it ended as was expected. Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka played a wonderful three set match in which the #1 seed Azaranka pulled out winning the last two sets. Serena Williams continued to cruise through the Open as she crushed Sara Errani in straight sets. This set up a dream match up for fans and they were treated to some high level, high intensity tennis. Serena won the first set with ease again and I thought the tournament was over. Azarenka had other thoughts as she turned the tables, thumping Williams to force a winner take all third set. Serena was broken early and then broke back. At 3-3 her serve was broken again giving Azarenka a 4-3 lead which she stretched to 5-3. Serena fought back, cutting it to 5-4 and then broke Azarenka who was serving for the match to even the third set at 5 games apiece. Serena held serve and broke Azarenka again to win the championship. It was enthralling and I'm so happy I brought the small television to the man cave and didn't have to miss it.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants
The Dodgers had a great chance to make the N.L. West a true race with a strong weekend, but things got worse for them as the days went by. On Friday, Giants starter Tim Lincecum tried everything in his power to let the Dodgers win. He walked 7 batters in 6.1 innings, but Los Angeles couldn't get the big hit stranding 11 runners in a 5-2 loss where San Francisco scored 4 runs in their final three at bats. Saturday came and the Dodgers were without Matt Kemp who is suffering from a sore shoulder. They had to face Matt Cain and fared as expected as they were trailing 2-1 going to the 8th inning. They tied the score and chased Cain and then got the go ahead and eventual winning run in the 9th. Knowing they had Clayton Kershaw going on Sunday, the Dodgers had to feel excited about taking the series. Then word came Sunday afternoon that Kershaw was scratched with an injury. That must have deflated the locker room as Barry Zito (yes, him) dominated Los Angeles with 6.1 shutout innings as the Giants won 4-0 to extend their lead to 5.5 games.
3. Detroit Tigers at Los Angeles Angels
Somebody in the Detroit locker room better send the Kansas City Royals a thank you card. The Tigers rolled into Los Angeles to face the scorching hot Angels and got swept right out of town. They only lost a game in the standings to the White Sox thanks to Kansas City winning two of three, but have practically fallen out of the Wild Card race. The Angels, on the other hand, have won 6 in a row and 11 of 12 as they welcome Oakland to southern California for a four game series after just taking three straight in Oakland. They are 2.5 games behind the Athletics and 6 behind Texas. Detroit had best lick their wounds quickly as they fly to Chicago to battle the White Sox in their own four game mega-series. Oh about the Verlander-Trout match up...yeah Trout hit a bomb off of Justin in the 1st inning...statement made.
2. New York Yankees at Baltimore Orioles
This was the exact opposite series than that of the Rangers/Rays series. 16, 13, 9, 16. That's a lot of runs by two good hitting, average pitching teams. The Orioles won the first game behind 6 home runs, but the Yankees struck back in game two with 3 home runs of their own (as did the Orioles...remember pitching optional) to win. Game three was the 'pitchers duel' of the series between C.C. Sabathia, who is clearly pitching injured, and Joe Saunders. Yup, grasping at straws here. The Orioles hit three more home runs to win another one run game. They tied the Yankees for 1st again, but lost lead off hitter Nick Markakis to a broken hand. This must have stung the Baltimore clubhouse because they got thrashed on Sunday 13-3, failing again at their chance to stand alone atop the A.L. East. Life doesn't getting any easier for Baltimore as Tampa Bay strolls into town with a chance to knock the Orioles to third place.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos
Welcome back Peyton Manning. The NFL missed you while you were gone. After sitting out a year with a neck injury and switching teams, Manning didn't skip a beat. After each team started slowly, things got going in the second quarter when Knoshown Moreno scampered in for a score. Big Ben took the Steelers right down the field and hit Heath Miller for a touchdown as the 1st half ended. Pittsburgh got the ball back to start the 3rd quarter and used 9 minutes to score 3 points. In real time, Peyton Manning didn't run an actual play from scrimmage (kneel down doesn't count to me) in an hour and now trailed 13-7. Two plays and 36 seconds later, it was 14-13 Broncos as Manning connected with Demaryius Thomas on a 71 yard score. Pittsburgh then controlled the ball for the remainder of the 3rd quarter, but still trailed by 1 point. That didn't last long as the Steelers scored in the first minute to go up 19-14. Then Peyton took over. He led the Broncos on back to back scoring drives for 10 points giving them a 25-19 lead and Tracy Porter sealed the deal for Denver with a pick-six touchdown (as he is known to do).
Monday, September 3, 2012
Weekend Viewing Recap 9/3/12
The weekend for most isn't technically over. You still have the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship (Golf, kids) with both Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods in the hunt, U.S. Open Tennis, Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech in college football later that night and the start of the Athletics/Angels and Yankees/Rays series in baseball. That plus a good barbeque should be enough to tide you over until Wednesday when the NFL begins with the Cowboys heading to New York to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Giants.
The final weekend before the return of profession football did not let us down. Let's take a look back just in case you hit the beach one final weekend and missed out.
7. College Football (Non ranked vs. ranked games)
The most eye opening score came from Pittsburgh as the Panthers lost to I-AA (eff that FCS crap) Youngstown St.. It's not the first Division I team to lose to the smaller schools recently (JMU vs Virginia Tech, Appalachian St. vs. Michigan), but it still is shocking when it happens. Navy went to Ireland to battle the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and got blasted 50-10. Clemson retains the 'Tigers' moniker for this season as they beat Auburn who will now be called the 'Pumas' for the remainder of the year. That would have made the game much more interesting. Penn St. lost on the field after an off season of losing off the field. As noted on Twitter, they lost again Saturday to extend a losing streak that dates back to 1998. USC (not the Gamecocks who are neither USC nor Carolina...just South or Cocks, your choice) rolled over Hawaii in their first game as #1 in the nation. West Virginia claimed their state title as they whooped Marshall and my two favorite colleges (UNC and JMU) won by a combined scored of 117-7.
6. Boise St. Broncos at Michigan St. Spartans
In one of two ranked vs. ranked match ups this weekend, two new look teams squared off in a surprising defensive battle (of sorts). Michigan St. jumped out behind Le'Veon Bell who scored early en route to 265 total yards on the night. Boise St. couldn't muster much offense at all and it was a credit to their defense, who scored their lone touchdown of the night, that the game was as close as it was. In fact Boise St. held the lead going into the 4th quarter, but after Bell scored his second touchdown of the game, Michigan St. took the lead back for good. Both teams looked offensively challenged, save for Bell and he was the difference on Saturday.
5. St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals
What a series these two teams gave us. After a miserable start for the Cardinals, losing the 1st two games by a combined 18-1 score we got two classic games to end the series. After seeing their bats go dormant for 48 hours in Washington, St. Louis spotted Washington 4 runs before scoring 8 over the next three innings to take an 8-6 lead. The Nationals answered back with a three run inning, but gave up single runs in the eighth and ninth to lose 10-9. Sunday, Nationals fans got one of their final looks at Stephen Strasburg this season and he was masterful throwing six scoreless innings and left with a 2-0 lead. That didn't last long as Sean Burnett promptly gave up a 2 run homer to light hitting David Descalso who had previously been 5 for his last 58. This time it was the Nationals that were able to respond as they scratched out two runs in the bottom of the 7th and held on for a 4-3 victory and a 3 games to 1 series victory.
4. Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees
This close. The Orioles were this close to walking into Yankees Stadium and sweeping New York. Mark Reynolds hit two home runs in both the Friday and Sunday games as the Orioles outscored the struggling Yankees 14-4 in those two games. In the middle game, Baltimore was up 3-0 in the 4th and 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh when it all fell apart for them. With two outs and only one man on base, starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen walk a guy and gave up a hit to cut the lead to 3-2. Pedro Strop 'relieved' him and walked the first two batters he faced to knot the game up at 3. Then when he finally threw a hittable pitch, Nick Swisher hit a ball to shortstop J.J. Hardy who booted it and allowed the go ahead, and eventual game winning run to score. Baltimore wins the series and creeps to within 2 games in the A.L. East as their dream season continues with the 4 game rematch in Baltimore starts Thursday.
3. U.S. Open Tennis
Nothing of note happened this weekend, which is good for the upcoming quarterfinals. Andy Roddick is still alive and plays next on Tuesday. The closest major upset was Maria Sharapova down 2 games to none in the third set, but she stormed back to win. Because of the length of that match and the rain delay last night, American John Isner was forced to start playing after 10 pm local time and of course his match against Philipp Kohschreiber went the full five sets and 3+ hours ending right around 2:30 in the morning. That seems quite ridiculous if I must say so. I don't understand why they can't just bring them back at 8 am because you won't get the television ratings you were expecting either way. Today another American is expected to be ousted as Mardy Fish has to play Roger Federer. Miracles can happen can't they?
2. Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
I asked for a Detroit sweep and by God I got a Detroit sweep. The Tigers held serve on their home field behind strong starting pitching and a timely home run last night. The marquee match up was between Chris Sale and Justin Verlander yesterday and into the 6th inning it lived up to the billing. Tied at one in the bottom of the 6th inning, Sale threw one too many sliders (slurves if you listen to ESPN) to Delmon Young without changing his eye level with a high fastball (who am I to judge?) and he hit a 3 run home run. Even though Detroit has underwhelmed all season, they are still my choice to represent the American League in the World Series. Behind the one-two punches of Verlander and Max Scherzer on the mound and Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder at the plate, if they can play good enough defense I don't see anyone being able to beat them in a short series. Chicago may have seen their cushion slip away this weekend, but they will get their chance to strike back one week from today when they welcome Detroit to town for a huge 4 game series.
1. Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
I tried to time it right on Saturday night as the wife and I watched The Dictator for our weekend movie which was actually disappointing. I figured I'd missed about 15-20 minutes of this game and that would be hardly enough to worry me, but that turned out to be quite incorrect. I flipped the game on and it was already 14-0 Alabama with 5 minutes left in the 1st quarter and I knew it was over. By the time I got back from the bathroom (too much information???) it was 21-0 and that was the last I saw of the game. Michigan kept it within 20 into the 4th quarter which sparked my curiosity knowing one of my friends had a small $1500 wager on Alabama and the 13 1/2 point spread, but the Crimson Tide scored again and he was safe. Lunch on him on Tuesday!!!!! Wake me when Alabama plays in the SEC Championship game which will probably be the BCS Championship game as well (sorry USC).
The final weekend before the return of profession football did not let us down. Let's take a look back just in case you hit the beach one final weekend and missed out.
7. College Football (Non ranked vs. ranked games)
The most eye opening score came from Pittsburgh as the Panthers lost to I-AA (eff that FCS crap) Youngstown St.. It's not the first Division I team to lose to the smaller schools recently (JMU vs Virginia Tech, Appalachian St. vs. Michigan), but it still is shocking when it happens. Navy went to Ireland to battle the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame and got blasted 50-10. Clemson retains the 'Tigers' moniker for this season as they beat Auburn who will now be called the 'Pumas' for the remainder of the year. That would have made the game much more interesting. Penn St. lost on the field after an off season of losing off the field. As noted on Twitter, they lost again Saturday to extend a losing streak that dates back to 1998. USC (not the Gamecocks who are neither USC nor Carolina...just South or Cocks, your choice) rolled over Hawaii in their first game as #1 in the nation. West Virginia claimed their state title as they whooped Marshall and my two favorite colleges (UNC and JMU) won by a combined scored of 117-7.
6. Boise St. Broncos at Michigan St. Spartans
In one of two ranked vs. ranked match ups this weekend, two new look teams squared off in a surprising defensive battle (of sorts). Michigan St. jumped out behind Le'Veon Bell who scored early en route to 265 total yards on the night. Boise St. couldn't muster much offense at all and it was a credit to their defense, who scored their lone touchdown of the night, that the game was as close as it was. In fact Boise St. held the lead going into the 4th quarter, but after Bell scored his second touchdown of the game, Michigan St. took the lead back for good. Both teams looked offensively challenged, save for Bell and he was the difference on Saturday.
5. St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals
What a series these two teams gave us. After a miserable start for the Cardinals, losing the 1st two games by a combined 18-1 score we got two classic games to end the series. After seeing their bats go dormant for 48 hours in Washington, St. Louis spotted Washington 4 runs before scoring 8 over the next three innings to take an 8-6 lead. The Nationals answered back with a three run inning, but gave up single runs in the eighth and ninth to lose 10-9. Sunday, Nationals fans got one of their final looks at Stephen Strasburg this season and he was masterful throwing six scoreless innings and left with a 2-0 lead. That didn't last long as Sean Burnett promptly gave up a 2 run homer to light hitting David Descalso who had previously been 5 for his last 58. This time it was the Nationals that were able to respond as they scratched out two runs in the bottom of the 7th and held on for a 4-3 victory and a 3 games to 1 series victory.
4. Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees
This close. The Orioles were this close to walking into Yankees Stadium and sweeping New York. Mark Reynolds hit two home runs in both the Friday and Sunday games as the Orioles outscored the struggling Yankees 14-4 in those two games. In the middle game, Baltimore was up 3-0 in the 4th and 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh when it all fell apart for them. With two outs and only one man on base, starting pitcher Wei-Yin Chen walk a guy and gave up a hit to cut the lead to 3-2. Pedro Strop 'relieved' him and walked the first two batters he faced to knot the game up at 3. Then when he finally threw a hittable pitch, Nick Swisher hit a ball to shortstop J.J. Hardy who booted it and allowed the go ahead, and eventual game winning run to score. Baltimore wins the series and creeps to within 2 games in the A.L. East as their dream season continues with the 4 game rematch in Baltimore starts Thursday.
3. U.S. Open Tennis
Nothing of note happened this weekend, which is good for the upcoming quarterfinals. Andy Roddick is still alive and plays next on Tuesday. The closest major upset was Maria Sharapova down 2 games to none in the third set, but she stormed back to win. Because of the length of that match and the rain delay last night, American John Isner was forced to start playing after 10 pm local time and of course his match against Philipp Kohschreiber went the full five sets and 3+ hours ending right around 2:30 in the morning. That seems quite ridiculous if I must say so. I don't understand why they can't just bring them back at 8 am because you won't get the television ratings you were expecting either way. Today another American is expected to be ousted as Mardy Fish has to play Roger Federer. Miracles can happen can't they?
2. Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
I asked for a Detroit sweep and by God I got a Detroit sweep. The Tigers held serve on their home field behind strong starting pitching and a timely home run last night. The marquee match up was between Chris Sale and Justin Verlander yesterday and into the 6th inning it lived up to the billing. Tied at one in the bottom of the 6th inning, Sale threw one too many sliders (slurves if you listen to ESPN) to Delmon Young without changing his eye level with a high fastball (who am I to judge?) and he hit a 3 run home run. Even though Detroit has underwhelmed all season, they are still my choice to represent the American League in the World Series. Behind the one-two punches of Verlander and Max Scherzer on the mound and Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder at the plate, if they can play good enough defense I don't see anyone being able to beat them in a short series. Chicago may have seen their cushion slip away this weekend, but they will get their chance to strike back one week from today when they welcome Detroit to town for a huge 4 game series.
1. Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
I tried to time it right on Saturday night as the wife and I watched The Dictator for our weekend movie which was actually disappointing. I figured I'd missed about 15-20 minutes of this game and that would be hardly enough to worry me, but that turned out to be quite incorrect. I flipped the game on and it was already 14-0 Alabama with 5 minutes left in the 1st quarter and I knew it was over. By the time I got back from the bathroom (too much information???) it was 21-0 and that was the last I saw of the game. Michigan kept it within 20 into the 4th quarter which sparked my curiosity knowing one of my friends had a small $1500 wager on Alabama and the 13 1/2 point spread, but the Crimson Tide scored again and he was safe. Lunch on him on Tuesday!!!!! Wake me when Alabama plays in the SEC Championship game which will probably be the BCS Championship game as well (sorry USC).
Friday, August 31, 2012
Weekend Viewing Guide 8/31/12
Finally. The summer doldrums are just about over and the best time for sports fans is upon us. Not only is baseball headed towards the playoffs, but both college football and the NFL are beginning. In a months time the NBA will be back and hopefully the NHL will be as well.
Let me say thank you to the Olympics, Euro Cup 2012, Golf majors, Tennis Grand Slams, the College World Series and last but not least Major League Baseball for getting us through a very hot summer. Baseball has been especially exciting for me as an Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals fan. I will definitely not forgot about them come September, but with so many other options to choose from I will certainly have plenty of story lines to crow about in the next couple of months.
But enough about the next couple of months...we have a three day weekend ahead of us as the summer torch unofficially changes into the fall torch.
7. College Football (Non ranked vs. ranked games)
The first weekend of College Football is feast or famine when hoping to see a competitive game. Not every game will be LSU winning by 40 points against North Texas. There are some fun match ups to whet our palettes here in late August/early September. Teams that don't like each other very much meet up as Marshall and West Virginia square off. Clemson and Auburn will fight over which mascot gets to keep the name Tigers. Penn St. tries to return to normalcy as they begin their life post-Joe Pa and scandal against Ohio. USC starts the season #1 and welcomes Hawaii in for a warm up. One game I'm intrigued to watch will be Navy and Notre Dame playing in Ireland. With a perfect 9am start time it will be a great way to start the weekend (while at work for me).
6. Boise St. Broncos at Michigan St. Spartans
Gone are Kirk Cousins and Kellen Moore for the respective schools. With both teams starting from scratch it will be interesting to see if either team will be able to be a national contender this season. Whether successful or not this year, it is a fact that Boise St. will be leaving the Mountain West conference and heading to the Big East as of next year. Geographically challenged issues aside, it will be good for their school to finally face better competition to try and prove if they are actually as good as they think they are. This should be a rebuilding year for Boise St., but with a preseason ranking of 13 for Michigan St., hopes are high for a smooth transition from Cousins to senior quarterback Andrew Maxwell.
5. St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals
A possible playoff preview in the Nation's Capital. The defending champions against a team primed to be in contention for the foreseeable future. This is a huge 4 game set for both teams. The Cardinals have been chased out of contention in the N.L. Central due to the continued excellence of the Cincinnati Reds, and are currently trying to fend off both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the L.A. Dodgers for the 2nd Wild Card spot. The Nationals have been slumping of late with a recent 5 game losing streak but starting last night, they have 11 straight games at home. They look to have a comfortable five game lead over the Atlanta Braves, but with the distraction of the Stephen Strasburg shutdown and the fact that they have never been in this position in September anything is still possible.
4. Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees
I don't think anyone had this series circled in April one that could hold the key to who will win the A.L. East, but that's why they play the games. The Orioles sit only 3 games back of the might Yankees and with a miraculous weekend they could be tied by Labor Day. The Tampa Bay Rays are right there as well sitting one game behind Baltimore and are playing lowly Toronto with hopes of keeping this a 3 way race all the way until the end of the season. Maybe this will be the weekend where New York starts to build towards the playoffs. Since going to Oakland in mid-July the Yankees are only 18-21 and have nearly squandered the 10 game lead they had at that point. Nobody seems to understand just how Baltimore is winning. I'll put it simply...their bullpen has been fantastic. Without a great bullpen you can't go 24-6 in one run games and 12-2 in extra innings like the Orioles currently are.
3. U.S. Open Tennis
With the first couple of rounds out of the way, the real tournament can now begin. Even though he probably won't be around much past this weekend, American Andy Roddick has announced he will be retiring after the U.S. Open. For nearly a decade he was the best hope for the U.S. to win in Men's Tennis Grand Slam event after Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi retired. After winning the U.S. Open in 2003, Roddick could never climb that mountain again in a Grand Slam event. As for people who could win this year all the usual suspects are around (save for Rafael Nadal who is once again nursing injuries). Federer, Novak, Serena and Sharapova are all alive and are expected to contend, but when the lights are on in New York City magical things sometimes happen and that is why we watch.
2. Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
I'll admit it, I called the A.L. Central over long ago. I thought for sure the Tigers would have run and hid from the White Sox by now. What do I know anyways? Heading into this series Chicago still holds a 3 game lead with no signs of wavering. This series also brings us Chris Sale vs. Justin Verlander on Sunday night. As the final Sunday without the NFL to compete with, MLB has given fans the ultimate treat as a send off. Two Cy Young candidates facing each other with the division title at stake...niiiiice. I'm still saying the Tigers win the division and I still say it will be by around 4 or 5 games so sweeping Chicago this weekend might be a good start to make me look less foolish.
1. Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
The defending champions get a real test right out of the gate as Alabama and Michigan head to Dallas Cowboys Stadium to get the first weekend of College Football started off with a bang. This will be the first time that these two school meet outside of a Bowl Game and only the fourth time ever. Senior quarterback Denard Robinson will need to be more like he was in 2010 than 2011 for Michigan to keep close. After breaking onto the scene, Robinson regressed in almost all statistical categories last season. Alabama may have lost some key pieces, but they don't rebuild, they just reload and the defense that was NFL worthy last season should be extremely stingy once again.
Let me say thank you to the Olympics, Euro Cup 2012, Golf majors, Tennis Grand Slams, the College World Series and last but not least Major League Baseball for getting us through a very hot summer. Baseball has been especially exciting for me as an Oakland Athletics and Washington Nationals fan. I will definitely not forgot about them come September, but with so many other options to choose from I will certainly have plenty of story lines to crow about in the next couple of months.
But enough about the next couple of months...we have a three day weekend ahead of us as the summer torch unofficially changes into the fall torch.
7. College Football (Non ranked vs. ranked games)
The first weekend of College Football is feast or famine when hoping to see a competitive game. Not every game will be LSU winning by 40 points against North Texas. There are some fun match ups to whet our palettes here in late August/early September. Teams that don't like each other very much meet up as Marshall and West Virginia square off. Clemson and Auburn will fight over which mascot gets to keep the name Tigers. Penn St. tries to return to normalcy as they begin their life post-Joe Pa and scandal against Ohio. USC starts the season #1 and welcomes Hawaii in for a warm up. One game I'm intrigued to watch will be Navy and Notre Dame playing in Ireland. With a perfect 9am start time it will be a great way to start the weekend (while at work for me).
6. Boise St. Broncos at Michigan St. Spartans
Gone are Kirk Cousins and Kellen Moore for the respective schools. With both teams starting from scratch it will be interesting to see if either team will be able to be a national contender this season. Whether successful or not this year, it is a fact that Boise St. will be leaving the Mountain West conference and heading to the Big East as of next year. Geographically challenged issues aside, it will be good for their school to finally face better competition to try and prove if they are actually as good as they think they are. This should be a rebuilding year for Boise St., but with a preseason ranking of 13 for Michigan St., hopes are high for a smooth transition from Cousins to senior quarterback Andrew Maxwell.
5. St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals
A possible playoff preview in the Nation's Capital. The defending champions against a team primed to be in contention for the foreseeable future. This is a huge 4 game set for both teams. The Cardinals have been chased out of contention in the N.L. Central due to the continued excellence of the Cincinnati Reds, and are currently trying to fend off both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the L.A. Dodgers for the 2nd Wild Card spot. The Nationals have been slumping of late with a recent 5 game losing streak but starting last night, they have 11 straight games at home. They look to have a comfortable five game lead over the Atlanta Braves, but with the distraction of the Stephen Strasburg shutdown and the fact that they have never been in this position in September anything is still possible.
4. Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees
I don't think anyone had this series circled in April one that could hold the key to who will win the A.L. East, but that's why they play the games. The Orioles sit only 3 games back of the might Yankees and with a miraculous weekend they could be tied by Labor Day. The Tampa Bay Rays are right there as well sitting one game behind Baltimore and are playing lowly Toronto with hopes of keeping this a 3 way race all the way until the end of the season. Maybe this will be the weekend where New York starts to build towards the playoffs. Since going to Oakland in mid-July the Yankees are only 18-21 and have nearly squandered the 10 game lead they had at that point. Nobody seems to understand just how Baltimore is winning. I'll put it simply...their bullpen has been fantastic. Without a great bullpen you can't go 24-6 in one run games and 12-2 in extra innings like the Orioles currently are.
3. U.S. Open Tennis
With the first couple of rounds out of the way, the real tournament can now begin. Even though he probably won't be around much past this weekend, American Andy Roddick has announced he will be retiring after the U.S. Open. For nearly a decade he was the best hope for the U.S. to win in Men's Tennis Grand Slam event after Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi retired. After winning the U.S. Open in 2003, Roddick could never climb that mountain again in a Grand Slam event. As for people who could win this year all the usual suspects are around (save for Rafael Nadal who is once again nursing injuries). Federer, Novak, Serena and Sharapova are all alive and are expected to contend, but when the lights are on in New York City magical things sometimes happen and that is why we watch.
2. Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers
I'll admit it, I called the A.L. Central over long ago. I thought for sure the Tigers would have run and hid from the White Sox by now. What do I know anyways? Heading into this series Chicago still holds a 3 game lead with no signs of wavering. This series also brings us Chris Sale vs. Justin Verlander on Sunday night. As the final Sunday without the NFL to compete with, MLB has given fans the ultimate treat as a send off. Two Cy Young candidates facing each other with the division title at stake...niiiiice. I'm still saying the Tigers win the division and I still say it will be by around 4 or 5 games so sweeping Chicago this weekend might be a good start to make me look less foolish.
1. Michigan Wolverines vs. Alabama Crimson Tide
The defending champions get a real test right out of the gate as Alabama and Michigan head to Dallas Cowboys Stadium to get the first weekend of College Football started off with a bang. This will be the first time that these two school meet outside of a Bowl Game and only the fourth time ever. Senior quarterback Denard Robinson will need to be more like he was in 2010 than 2011 for Michigan to keep close. After breaking onto the scene, Robinson regressed in almost all statistical categories last season. Alabama may have lost some key pieces, but they don't rebuild, they just reload and the defense that was NFL worthy last season should be extremely stingy once again.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Pocket Pair 8/3/12
The weekend is here, time to kick back relax and enjoy yourself. For those not heading to the beach or on some fantastic vacation, I offer up your weekend viewing guide in the world of sports.
5. Hall of Fame Game
Preseason football is here!! It may not count, but it is football and I know you will watch. This was the only game that was canceled last season during the lockout, but this year you get Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints versus Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals. When it comes to thinking about the Hall of Fame, the Cardinals and Saints are two teams that don't come to mind. Dan Dierdorf was the last player to be inducted from the Cardinals franchise and he retired in 1983. The Saints have had a checkered history and have only seen three players inducted from their franchise. The game is Sunday night so watch the Olympics live on Sunday so that you don't have go back and forth...NFL!!!!!!
4. Baltimore at Tampa Bay
Just when you thought both of these franchises were dead in the water they right the ship. The Orioles have won 3 of 4 including 2 of 3 in New York while the Rays went 6-3 on a very difficult road trip to Baltimore, Los Angeles and Oakland. Each team stands only 6.5 games behind the Yankees after being more the double digits behind just two weeks ago. Do I think either will catch New York? No. In all actuality they have their sights focused on the two Wild Card spots where they are only 1.5 games out. Neither team made any key additions or subtractions at the trade deadline so the Orioles will continue to piece together a pitching staff, while the Rays will try and eke out enough runs to support their pitchers.
3. Los Angeles Angels at Chicago White Sox
After a grueling four game set in the heat of Texas where pitching was optional, the Angels now head to the mid-west to take on first place Chicago. The White Sox have feasted off the Minnesota Twins of late winning 5 of 6 games and also took 2 of 3 from the struggling Texas Rangers. They now begin a nine game home stand with both the Angles and Athletics coming to town. The only downside of this series is the neither Chris Sale nor Jered Weaver are scheduled to pitch as the Angels are pushing back Weaver to line him up against my Athletics next week...screw you Angels, screw you.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds
A meaningful series for the city of Pittsburgh in August. For the older generations that must just sound right. The Reds are blazing hot (and doing so without Joey Votto) and hold a 3.5 game lead over the Pirates. It's this close because Pittsburgh has yet to play a game against a team over .500 since the All-Star break. Really! Look it up...Milwaukee, Colorado, Miami, Chicago, Houston and Chicago again. Five crappy teams that are a combined 97 games BELOW .500. Yeah that's a cake schedule. Of course Cincinnati has gone 12-1 against very similar, soft, opponents in Milwaukee, Houston, Colorado and San Diego after starting the 2nd half against St. Louis and Arizona. We really don't know if either of these teams are really good, but they are good at beating bad teams.
1. The Summer Olympics
Week one is wrapping up meaning short distance swimming and gymnastics are coming to a close and track & field is getting under way. In between tennis, volleyball, soccer and basketball will start handing out medals as they are all just about finished with group stages. There have been plenty of great moments for the United States, but there have been some disappointments as well...I'm looking at you Ryan Lochte. Outside of the tape delay controversy here in the states, the lack of corporate sponsored fans filling the seats and the badminton scandal the London games have been rather successful. I still can't believe that baseball is NOT an Olympic sports, but dudes jumping on a trampoline is. Something is wrong with that, really wrong.
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Yesterday I unplugged from the world at noon so that I could watch the Olympics at night the way were used to...hours late. Here at work I am afforded the opportunity to watch everything live with multiple televisions and my iPad available at my desk, but I didn't feel like doing it yesterday. I wanted to sit on my couch with my wife and watch Lochte vs Phelps one last time. I held my breath every time Gabby Douglas flipped in the air. I cheered when Rebecca Soni broke her own world record then night after setting it to win gold.
With me going back in time to the days of yore before internet, before Twitter and Facebook, I almost felt like reading a newspaper this morning...almost. I really can't wait for the 2016 Olympics with live prime time events. I've gotten used to getting information in real time and I like it that way. I feel bad for Bob Costas having to fake dramatic speeches to keep the viewer locked in on NBC. Its such a waste. He must be so very bored, at least it looks that way.
I don't know if I'll try that experiment again, but it was fun for a night.
5. Hall of Fame Game
Preseason football is here!! It may not count, but it is football and I know you will watch. This was the only game that was canceled last season during the lockout, but this year you get Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints versus Larry Fitzgerald and the Arizona Cardinals. When it comes to thinking about the Hall of Fame, the Cardinals and Saints are two teams that don't come to mind. Dan Dierdorf was the last player to be inducted from the Cardinals franchise and he retired in 1983. The Saints have had a checkered history and have only seen three players inducted from their franchise. The game is Sunday night so watch the Olympics live on Sunday so that you don't have go back and forth...NFL!!!!!!
4. Baltimore at Tampa Bay
Just when you thought both of these franchises were dead in the water they right the ship. The Orioles have won 3 of 4 including 2 of 3 in New York while the Rays went 6-3 on a very difficult road trip to Baltimore, Los Angeles and Oakland. Each team stands only 6.5 games behind the Yankees after being more the double digits behind just two weeks ago. Do I think either will catch New York? No. In all actuality they have their sights focused on the two Wild Card spots where they are only 1.5 games out. Neither team made any key additions or subtractions at the trade deadline so the Orioles will continue to piece together a pitching staff, while the Rays will try and eke out enough runs to support their pitchers.
3. Los Angeles Angels at Chicago White Sox
After a grueling four game set in the heat of Texas where pitching was optional, the Angels now head to the mid-west to take on first place Chicago. The White Sox have feasted off the Minnesota Twins of late winning 5 of 6 games and also took 2 of 3 from the struggling Texas Rangers. They now begin a nine game home stand with both the Angles and Athletics coming to town. The only downside of this series is the neither Chris Sale nor Jered Weaver are scheduled to pitch as the Angels are pushing back Weaver to line him up against my Athletics next week...screw you Angels, screw you.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds
A meaningful series for the city of Pittsburgh in August. For the older generations that must just sound right. The Reds are blazing hot (and doing so without Joey Votto) and hold a 3.5 game lead over the Pirates. It's this close because Pittsburgh has yet to play a game against a team over .500 since the All-Star break. Really! Look it up...Milwaukee, Colorado, Miami, Chicago, Houston and Chicago again. Five crappy teams that are a combined 97 games BELOW .500. Yeah that's a cake schedule. Of course Cincinnati has gone 12-1 against very similar, soft, opponents in Milwaukee, Houston, Colorado and San Diego after starting the 2nd half against St. Louis and Arizona. We really don't know if either of these teams are really good, but they are good at beating bad teams.
1. The Summer Olympics
Week one is wrapping up meaning short distance swimming and gymnastics are coming to a close and track & field is getting under way. In between tennis, volleyball, soccer and basketball will start handing out medals as they are all just about finished with group stages. There have been plenty of great moments for the United States, but there have been some disappointments as well...I'm looking at you Ryan Lochte. Outside of the tape delay controversy here in the states, the lack of corporate sponsored fans filling the seats and the badminton scandal the London games have been rather successful. I still can't believe that baseball is NOT an Olympic sports, but dudes jumping on a trampoline is. Something is wrong with that, really wrong.
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Yesterday I unplugged from the world at noon so that I could watch the Olympics at night the way were used to...hours late. Here at work I am afforded the opportunity to watch everything live with multiple televisions and my iPad available at my desk, but I didn't feel like doing it yesterday. I wanted to sit on my couch with my wife and watch Lochte vs Phelps one last time. I held my breath every time Gabby Douglas flipped in the air. I cheered when Rebecca Soni broke her own world record then night after setting it to win gold.
With me going back in time to the days of yore before internet, before Twitter and Facebook, I almost felt like reading a newspaper this morning...almost. I really can't wait for the 2016 Olympics with live prime time events. I've gotten used to getting information in real time and I like it that way. I feel bad for Bob Costas having to fake dramatic speeches to keep the viewer locked in on NBC. Its such a waste. He must be so very bored, at least it looks that way.
I don't know if I'll try that experiment again, but it was fun for a night.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Celebrating 25 Years of Fanaticism: High School Pt. 4
Senior Year 1995-96
The summer of 1995 was all about baseball for me. I'll give you a minute to compose yourself as I'm sure you are shocked by that. Jody and I were teammates again playing on the same team we had played with the year before. A rag tag group of kids coached by beer swilling, good old fashioned red necks. I was not there to learn from them, they didn't have much to teach me. The best thing they did for me though was allow me to pitch as much as I could.
I was a fastball pitcher, not because it was so good that I didn't need anything else, I just couldn't throw anything else. I tried and tried to throw curve balls and sliders but it didn't stick. I kept working on my splitter/fork ball/knuckle ball concoction in practice and very rarely in games. On car trips I would split my pointer finger and my middle finger around the ball and just let it sit there. I had heard a television report about pitchers injury their elbows when throwing split fingered pitches because the tendon wouldn't stretch out enough. I don't have big hands so I tried to get ahead of the possible injury. I wish someone had told me about avoiding shoulder pain though (a teaser line for the next 15 years).
Maybe it was the lack of pitching at a young age or just dumb luck, but I could throw and throw and throw and never seem to get tired. It was my greatest strength and the causation of my eventual downfall. I loved to pitch. You asked me to toe the slab and I'd say okay. As a fierce competitor, pitching fed a burning desire in me that I had never had with baseball. Hitting was a one on one battle, but you were lucky to succeed 3/10 times. That's quite discouraging. Pitching puts you on the other end of that equation and have a 70+% success rate is a lot more fun. I embraced the challenge of getting the other team out. The entire focus was on you and how well you performed. Its an ego trip, I kid you not. Nobody asks the left fielder about their day in the field, its how did you pitch. There were stats to keep, stats to talk about and stats to brag about. I was smitten.
By the time my senior year started I knew I was going to compete for some innings on the mound whether I was going up against two of my longtime friends or not.
That summer also marked the return of Major League Baseball. After the strike of 1994 canceled the playoffs and World Series, the powers that be finally got their *stuff* together and struck a deal. It still cost fans the start of the 1995 season, but finally in late April baseball was back. Some fans stayed away, bitter about millionaires fighting with billionaires, losing a World Series for the first time since 1903 and refused to acknowledge that the sport even existed.
With the national pastime in dire straights the baseball world was looking to something to be proud of. That something turned out to be a someone and he was Cal Ripken Jr.. As the schedule was finalized the date September 6th, 1995 became a beacon of light for everyone to focus upon. That date would mark Cal's 2,131 consecutive game played breaking the streak of Lou Gehrig. The number 2,130 was up there with 755 and 61 as one of the most revered numbers in a sport that focused completely on numbers. Cal Ripken was also a very stand up guy, a great ambassador for the game and everything that was the exact opposite of the ugliness that had just occurred last summer.
Living in northern Virginia I watched more Orioles games than anything else. For Oakland Athletics games I was forced to a ritual of watching the ticker on Headline News, ESPN2 or calling Post Haste. Yes Post Haste, who remembers that in the DC area? It was a hotline from the Washington Post that you could call (toll free) to get updates on all subjects...or basically the Twitter of the 1990's. At 10pm I would tune to headline news and just stare at the ticker, religiously. It was so sad looking back, being glued to numbers scrolling by. I had it timed it out, if the Top of the 1st lasted longer than 5 minutes on the ticker it meant the Athletics were in trouble. Only bad things could be happening if it didn't shift to the bottom of the inning quick enough. I'd flip back and forth between Headline News and ESPN2 to make sure one wasn't behind the other. How I didn't invent Twitter boggles my mind. I needed information on a real time basis. It was a drug addiction that I wouldn't shake for a long time. I watched numbers on a screen hours at a time, day by day for the next decade. Believe me, if you think this was bad, it got a whole lot worse when I was older and could stay up longer and then combined with the Athletics actually being good. In the morning I would get up, dial up Post Haste and listen to the game recap. I knew as soon as the first word was said who had won. The recording also started with the player of the game. If I recognized the name the Athletics won, if not, I hung up in disgust. I couldn't wait for the Post to have the box score printed the following day. It was never in the paper the next morning, just listed as 'Late Game.'
Back to Baltimore. Without the ability to watch my favorite team save for the occasional late game on the Wednesday night ESPN DH, I watched the Orioles. Deep down inside I still had a soft spot for them no matter how badly they embarrassed me in 1988. My sister who was turning into a female me, caught the baseball bug as well. Mainly it was her attraction to Orioles outfielder Brady Anderson. As the Athletics plowed towards another last place finish against all my wishin' and a hopin' and a prayin' I squared my focus on Cal Ripken and his streak. Every game you held your breath...just don't get injured. To get this close and to not break the streak would be devastating. I went to a couple games that summer including 2,128. If you weren't around to watch the daily ceremonies, the Orioles used the B&O Warehouse facade as a makeshift 'count up' draping huge numbers signifying the games played as the game because official. Cal would get as standing ovation and the game would move on after a new number was displayed.
The night of the streak tying game, Cal hit a home run. It was a great story. My sister was happy that Brady hit two home runs. He was slowly becoming a power hitter, it was odd to see hit transform from a slap hitter to a power hitter, but oh well, nice story as well.
The next night, ESPN aired the game nationally. People at school were abuzz about that night. Who was going? Oh you're so lucky to go. It was a big deal. President Bill Clinton attended and Chris Berman called the game which signified the importance as he never left the studios at ESPN. All eyes were focused squarely on Cal as he was being dubbed the man that saved baseball. I am sure this streak would have been big without the strike and the fan backlash, but because of it the country swarmed to it. It was pure baseball. Forget the contract, the bumps and bruises and show up to work. A blue collar millionaire. It was the perfect distraction to bitching about labor issues and who would get more money from playing the game we played as children.
What did Cal do for an encore during the famous 2,131? He homered again. Of course he did. With all the reason in the world to lose focus, he was a steel trap. You don't play every day for 13+ years without the ability to put aside distractions. After the top of the 5th concluded, the announcement about the game becoming official started...he had done it! He took a curtain call and tried to get the game started again. He just wanted to play. His teammates and the great fans of Baltimore wanted more Cal. Bobby Bonilla shoved him out to shake hands with the fans and Cal took a lap. At first he was going quickly, but you could tell the moment got to him. He slowed down, shook more hands and thanked as many fans as he could. It was a tear jerking moment. It might have been the only time Chris Berman didn't speak for 20 minutes in his life.
The streak continued for three more seasons before Cal sat on the final home game of the season and I was shocked to see it happen. It is up there with the most unbreakable records in sports history. 2,632 games. In a row. Unbreakable.
The 1995 season also marked the onset of the Wild Card. Because of the strike we didn't get to see how expansion of the playoffs would affect the purity of baseball, but after the initial American League Wild Card series between the Yankees and Mariners everyone knew it was here to stay. Seattle forced the series to a deciding game 5 in the Kingdome. To make a long story short, the city of Seattle almost lost the Mariners. They needed a new stadium and the eventual win in game 5 practically saved the franchise. When Edgar Martinez doubled home Ken Griffey Jr. it was as if the ribbon cutting ceremony for a new stadium took place. My friends and I were at home watching a movie, but we stopped it to watch extra innings and thought for sure the Yankees were going to win after scoring in the top of the 11. We all hated the Yankees, save for Jody, and we cheered right along with Seattle. Jody remained silent.
As the calendar turn to fall, we picked up our rollerblades and starting playing hockey again. 3-4 nights a week we were at a tennis court. We thought we were getting good. The next step was to find a league to play in and that's just what we did. We got snazzy jersey's and the Rink Rats were born. It turned out that outside Isaac, we weren't that good. It was fun to play against somebody new on a real rink with officiating, but we weren't structured enough to really compete. Back to the tennis courts with you amateurs.
The Washington Redskins were looking to rebound from a 3-13 record and hopefully Heath Shuler would show signs of life in year 2. This did not happen. In fact he regressed as the city was split between being on his side and those wanting Gus Frerotte to play more. Bumper stickers shouting 'In Gus we Trust' were all around the area and I was on board. Heath Shulers' tenure in Washington was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. He played one more season in Washington, never starting and appearing in just a single game in 1996.
Unfortunately for Washington, that even though Frerotte was better than Shuler he was still not good enough to bring home a winning season. By week three I was already done with this team and they were only 1-1. We were playing roller hockey and listening to Sonny, Sam and Frank do the game on radio when John Elway threw a 43 yards Hail Mary to Rod Smith to win the game on the final play of the 4th quarter. The season only got worse from there on. The team bottomed out at 3-9 before saving face and costing them a better draft pick by winning 3 of the final 4 games. Of course one of those wins came against the rival Dallas Cowboys in Dallas. This was a small consolation prize when later that season the Cowboys won their 3rd Super Bowl in the last 4 years. It couldn't get any worse could it?
At least the Detroit Pistons started heading in the right direction. They were basically a two man team with Grant Hill and Allan Houston each averaging about 20 PPG. They made the playoffs as the #7 seed and were promptly swept away by the Orlando Magic. I still found it hard to root for a team that was led by somebody who went to Duke, but winning was better than losing.
Speaking of college basketball, UNC lost both Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace to the NBA but welcomed two more potential superstars in Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. Sometimes when I am sad, I dream about a team with all four of them playing together and it makes me smile. At point guard Jeff McInnis, who was pretty good in his own right, would have had Carter and Stackhouse at each wing and Wallace and Jamison at the post. I don't see that team losing ever. Instead it was a freshmen led team that was highly talented but not tested. Then they decided to mess with my mind and come out of the gate 9-1 and eventually 16-4 (7-1 in ACC play) with 2 losses coming out of conference to Villanova in a weird scheduling oddity. This included a one point victory over Duke so by February I was thinking championship yet again.
Then the wheels came off with 5 losses over the next 8 games, then a win in the finale against Duke and a 1st round loss to Clemson in the ACC tournament. Something wasn't right, you don't lose to Clemson and think you can win a National Championship. Given a #6 seed UNC cruised in the first round, but were thumped by Texas Tech in the 2nd round and the result was forever immortalized on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
It was an ugly end to an up and down season. Continuing the trend of my arch rivals winning championships, the University of Kentucky wound up beating an over matched Syracuse squad and my friend Erin let me have it. After starting my high school years with a UNC championship, I had to watch both UCLA and Kentucky match them. At least Arkansas beat Duke in the other year and we were all thankful for that.
On the ice the Washington Capitals had another slightly above average season. Good enough to make the playoffs behind the emergence of young goaltender Jim Carey. He won the Vezina Trophy that season for the best goalie in the NHL a year after coming in second. He was the goalie of the future and to know he'd be there for another decade was thrilling. Peter Bondra continued to be the best offensive weapon on the team scoring 52 goals. Even with standouts like this, the team still struggled to make the playoffs finishing 7th in the conference only 3 points away from missing the playoffs all together.
To nobody's surprise they were paired up with the Pittsburgh Penguins once again who were the #2 seed. I was really getting tired of this. My friend Zack and I decided we needed a strategy to get the Capitals over the top this time. We decided to hit up Popeye's and get some chicken and biscuits for the pregame meal and see if that would bring us any luck.
Game 1 up in Pittsburgh didn't go exactly as planned, but it went the Capitals way. Jim Carey was chased midway through the game after surrendering 4 goals and the Penguins held a 4-3 advantage with only a period left to play. The Capitals turned to Olaf Kolzig, a relative unknown to steady the ship. The move worked because the Capitals turned it on, tallying 3 times in the 3rd to win. Game 2 was more of the same for Zack and I, Popeye's for the pregame because that mattered, it really did. Kolzig got the start again and behind another great effort down the stretch of the game including 2 more 3rd period goals, the Capitals won again. They had walked into Pittsburgh and taken both games. Maybe this was their year after all.
Back in Washington, Zack and I settled in to our third Popeye's meal ready to see the Capitals take a stranglehold on the series. We were both a bit surprised to see Jim Carey back in goal for game 3 after Kolzig had won the first two games, but he was the best goalie in the NHL in the regular season and being at home would help him get back on track. Yeah, about that. He was riddled for four goals again as the Capitals fell flat losing 4-1.
The pressure was back on Washington in Game 4 and Zack and I still got Popeye's, but switched to my parents house for this game. The Capitals also switched back to Kolzig in goal. Holding a 2-1 lead in the 3rd things were looking good, and Pittsburgh evened it up...ugh. The game headed to OT and nobody scored. A second OT and the best chance was a penalty shot for the Capitals by star forward Joe Juneau...he missed. Onto a 3rd OT, no scoring. The 4th OT began and my father awoke hearing noises from downstairs. 'What the hell are you still doing up??' he bellowed. 'The game isn't over it's in the 4th OT!!' I pleaded. He went back to bed, I went back to the game, but Zack was shaken. He said he had to leave because he didn't want to get me in trouble. I told him forget about it...he couldn't. As he was getting up to leave I told him the Capitals were going to lose now that he was leaving and about 5 minutes after driving away the Capitals were called for a penalty. Less than 10 seconds left in it and less than a minute until the 5th OT, Petr 'bleeping' Nedved scored. The series was tied at 2 games apiece and I refused to speak to Zack the rest of the series.
As you can guess Pittsburgh won the next two games including a heated game five when the coaches went toe to toe in addition to on ice fights. Another year wasted, more animosity towards Pittsburgh growing.
Back at school we had survived the Blizzard of 1996
and I for one was really looking forward to finally getting a chance to play regularly on the baseball team. I knew I had an outfield spot locked up, but I wanted to pitch and that would be tough as the 3rd or 4th option on the team. As practice was about to begin our top two returning pitchers announced they weren't playing which made me angry and happy all in one. I knew we couldn't be a good team without them, but selfish me was happy I'd get a better shot at pitching. Even after I pleaded with them to play, they refused and I moved on.
Of course this also opened up some spots for my friends to play. Jody and I were already fixtures, Isaac was pretty decent, but Zack and Justin also played and they had...um....a learning curve. We had a really good catcher and a stud center fielder/pitcher who ended up getting drafted 4 years later. Our 2nd baseman was a talented freshman, but that was about it. If I could pitch, we'd at least have a shot a competing, if not, it was going to be a long season.
Coach Horn worked with me knowing he had no other options and I must have responded. He tabbed me as the opening day starter in a two day tournament. I don't think I had ever been so nervous and so thrilled at the same time. It was what I was waiting for ever since leaving 2nd base at 13 years old.
I struck the first batter out on 3 straight pitches, all fastballs and I settled right in. We won that game and I was named all Tournament (4 teams, not a big deal). The entire season consisted of me pitching one game and Eddie pitching the next one. No bullpen, we didn't have one. There were a couple of memorable moments for me from that season and I'd like to share them with you.
-I remember losing to Central High School and getting into it with Coach Horn. Bases loaded, nobody out in the bottom of the 7th, he called for our catcher to throw behind the runner at third to try and get an out but our catcher threw the ball into left field. Looking back it was a good call, but the egoist that I am wanted to strike out the side.
-I remember pitching 7 innings on a Tuesday, but because of a rain out the week before we played Wednesday as well and then again on Friday. I woke up Friday morning in pain, my arm was very sore. I told my mom and she said to tell Coach that I could only throw a couple innings, but not the full game. We went out to Page County over 2 hours away to play. The boys out there were the size of the cows that were in the pastures across the street. They were huge. I gave up a 3 run homer in the 1st inning and we were down 8-0 after 3 innings. That is when my pitching career changed once and for all. My catcher told me to throw my splitter. I did...over and over and over. For the most part it was effective. He didn't know where it was going, I didn't know where it was going, but most importantly the batter had no clue what it was. I heard the chatter in the dugout. 'He's got a curve...no its a knuckle...no its a change up.' We rallied back to tie the game and after 8 innings the game was called due to darkness. The bench told me I through 157 pitches. I'll never forget that number. At home I told mom 'Good news, I didn't pitch 7 innings' and she was so happy...'I pitched 8.' Hahahahaha.
-I remember going to Brentsville High School to face the best player in our District who was aptly also named Jason. My coach advised me that he was being scouted by a few colleges that night so it was up to me to get them to take notice of me. I think I did a good job of it. I pitched a complete game victory and hit a 'home run' off of the other Jason. The home run is in quotes because they didn't have a fence so I hit the ball and ran...but it counts and I'm sticking to it. It was a party on the way home from that one.
-I remember getting to start the 2nd Annual Falls Church News Press Day at the Ball Park where our local paper would advertise the game by giving away free hot dogs and sodas. Instead of 15 fans we had 100 or so. One of the fans was our old coach who walked by while I was warming up and joked with me that I must have gotten my fastball over 50 mph in the last 2 years. Thanks, dick. It was a rematch of my earlier loss to Central and 'Smiling' Joe Kane. He would stand on the rubber and grin at you while pitching. It infuriated us to know end. By game's end he wasn't smiling. We won and outside of me pitching the only thing I remember is Isaac laying down a bunt that turned into a 3 run home run* (*there may have been an error or 6, but who is really keeping track??).
-Finally I remember ending on a sour note which was the story of my playing career. Last game was a make up game played on the morning of prom and we needed a win to qualify for the district tournament, but it was Eddie's turn to pitch. I was in center field and in the 1st inning a guy rocketed a ball over my head. As I picked it up to throw it back in I wrenched my back. Mid inning I limped back to the dugout and told Coach 'I did something to my back' and he gave me a look...the look and dryly asked 'So you want out of the game?' Nah coach I'm fine I thought and ran away with my tail between my legs. We lost and my career at George Mason ended as quickly as it started.
I grew leaps and bounds during that season. I took on a leadership role, I realized I was pretty good on the mound and I started throwing my splitter for strikes by seasons' end. Coach told me I was going to get to play American Legion baseball that summer with the best of the bigger schools in our area along with Eddie and Jody.
That was going to be an exciting litmus test.
The summer of 1995 was all about baseball for me. I'll give you a minute to compose yourself as I'm sure you are shocked by that. Jody and I were teammates again playing on the same team we had played with the year before. A rag tag group of kids coached by beer swilling, good old fashioned red necks. I was not there to learn from them, they didn't have much to teach me. The best thing they did for me though was allow me to pitch as much as I could.
I was a fastball pitcher, not because it was so good that I didn't need anything else, I just couldn't throw anything else. I tried and tried to throw curve balls and sliders but it didn't stick. I kept working on my splitter/fork ball/knuckle ball concoction in practice and very rarely in games. On car trips I would split my pointer finger and my middle finger around the ball and just let it sit there. I had heard a television report about pitchers injury their elbows when throwing split fingered pitches because the tendon wouldn't stretch out enough. I don't have big hands so I tried to get ahead of the possible injury. I wish someone had told me about avoiding shoulder pain though (a teaser line for the next 15 years).
Maybe it was the lack of pitching at a young age or just dumb luck, but I could throw and throw and throw and never seem to get tired. It was my greatest strength and the causation of my eventual downfall. I loved to pitch. You asked me to toe the slab and I'd say okay. As a fierce competitor, pitching fed a burning desire in me that I had never had with baseball. Hitting was a one on one battle, but you were lucky to succeed 3/10 times. That's quite discouraging. Pitching puts you on the other end of that equation and have a 70+% success rate is a lot more fun. I embraced the challenge of getting the other team out. The entire focus was on you and how well you performed. Its an ego trip, I kid you not. Nobody asks the left fielder about their day in the field, its how did you pitch. There were stats to keep, stats to talk about and stats to brag about. I was smitten.
By the time my senior year started I knew I was going to compete for some innings on the mound whether I was going up against two of my longtime friends or not.
That summer also marked the return of Major League Baseball. After the strike of 1994 canceled the playoffs and World Series, the powers that be finally got their *stuff* together and struck a deal. It still cost fans the start of the 1995 season, but finally in late April baseball was back. Some fans stayed away, bitter about millionaires fighting with billionaires, losing a World Series for the first time since 1903 and refused to acknowledge that the sport even existed.
With the national pastime in dire straights the baseball world was looking to something to be proud of. That something turned out to be a someone and he was Cal Ripken Jr.. As the schedule was finalized the date September 6th, 1995 became a beacon of light for everyone to focus upon. That date would mark Cal's 2,131 consecutive game played breaking the streak of Lou Gehrig. The number 2,130 was up there with 755 and 61 as one of the most revered numbers in a sport that focused completely on numbers. Cal Ripken was also a very stand up guy, a great ambassador for the game and everything that was the exact opposite of the ugliness that had just occurred last summer.
Living in northern Virginia I watched more Orioles games than anything else. For Oakland Athletics games I was forced to a ritual of watching the ticker on Headline News, ESPN2 or calling Post Haste. Yes Post Haste, who remembers that in the DC area? It was a hotline from the Washington Post that you could call (toll free) to get updates on all subjects...or basically the Twitter of the 1990's. At 10pm I would tune to headline news and just stare at the ticker, religiously. It was so sad looking back, being glued to numbers scrolling by. I had it timed it out, if the Top of the 1st lasted longer than 5 minutes on the ticker it meant the Athletics were in trouble. Only bad things could be happening if it didn't shift to the bottom of the inning quick enough. I'd flip back and forth between Headline News and ESPN2 to make sure one wasn't behind the other. How I didn't invent Twitter boggles my mind. I needed information on a real time basis. It was a drug addiction that I wouldn't shake for a long time. I watched numbers on a screen hours at a time, day by day for the next decade. Believe me, if you think this was bad, it got a whole lot worse when I was older and could stay up longer and then combined with the Athletics actually being good. In the morning I would get up, dial up Post Haste and listen to the game recap. I knew as soon as the first word was said who had won. The recording also started with the player of the game. If I recognized the name the Athletics won, if not, I hung up in disgust. I couldn't wait for the Post to have the box score printed the following day. It was never in the paper the next morning, just listed as 'Late Game.'
Back to Baltimore. Without the ability to watch my favorite team save for the occasional late game on the Wednesday night ESPN DH, I watched the Orioles. Deep down inside I still had a soft spot for them no matter how badly they embarrassed me in 1988. My sister who was turning into a female me, caught the baseball bug as well. Mainly it was her attraction to Orioles outfielder Brady Anderson. As the Athletics plowed towards another last place finish against all my wishin' and a hopin' and a prayin' I squared my focus on Cal Ripken and his streak. Every game you held your breath...just don't get injured. To get this close and to not break the streak would be devastating. I went to a couple games that summer including 2,128. If you weren't around to watch the daily ceremonies, the Orioles used the B&O Warehouse facade as a makeshift 'count up' draping huge numbers signifying the games played as the game because official. Cal would get as standing ovation and the game would move on after a new number was displayed.
The night of the streak tying game, Cal hit a home run. It was a great story. My sister was happy that Brady hit two home runs. He was slowly becoming a power hitter, it was odd to see hit transform from a slap hitter to a power hitter, but oh well, nice story as well.
The next night, ESPN aired the game nationally. People at school were abuzz about that night. Who was going? Oh you're so lucky to go. It was a big deal. President Bill Clinton attended and Chris Berman called the game which signified the importance as he never left the studios at ESPN. All eyes were focused squarely on Cal as he was being dubbed the man that saved baseball. I am sure this streak would have been big without the strike and the fan backlash, but because of it the country swarmed to it. It was pure baseball. Forget the contract, the bumps and bruises and show up to work. A blue collar millionaire. It was the perfect distraction to bitching about labor issues and who would get more money from playing the game we played as children.
What did Cal do for an encore during the famous 2,131? He homered again. Of course he did. With all the reason in the world to lose focus, he was a steel trap. You don't play every day for 13+ years without the ability to put aside distractions. After the top of the 5th concluded, the announcement about the game becoming official started...he had done it! He took a curtain call and tried to get the game started again. He just wanted to play. His teammates and the great fans of Baltimore wanted more Cal. Bobby Bonilla shoved him out to shake hands with the fans and Cal took a lap. At first he was going quickly, but you could tell the moment got to him. He slowed down, shook more hands and thanked as many fans as he could. It was a tear jerking moment. It might have been the only time Chris Berman didn't speak for 20 minutes in his life.
The streak continued for three more seasons before Cal sat on the final home game of the season and I was shocked to see it happen. It is up there with the most unbreakable records in sports history. 2,632 games. In a row. Unbreakable.
The 1995 season also marked the onset of the Wild Card. Because of the strike we didn't get to see how expansion of the playoffs would affect the purity of baseball, but after the initial American League Wild Card series between the Yankees and Mariners everyone knew it was here to stay. Seattle forced the series to a deciding game 5 in the Kingdome. To make a long story short, the city of Seattle almost lost the Mariners. They needed a new stadium and the eventual win in game 5 practically saved the franchise. When Edgar Martinez doubled home Ken Griffey Jr. it was as if the ribbon cutting ceremony for a new stadium took place. My friends and I were at home watching a movie, but we stopped it to watch extra innings and thought for sure the Yankees were going to win after scoring in the top of the 11. We all hated the Yankees, save for Jody, and we cheered right along with Seattle. Jody remained silent.
As the calendar turn to fall, we picked up our rollerblades and starting playing hockey again. 3-4 nights a week we were at a tennis court. We thought we were getting good. The next step was to find a league to play in and that's just what we did. We got snazzy jersey's and the Rink Rats were born. It turned out that outside Isaac, we weren't that good. It was fun to play against somebody new on a real rink with officiating, but we weren't structured enough to really compete. Back to the tennis courts with you amateurs.
The Washington Redskins were looking to rebound from a 3-13 record and hopefully Heath Shuler would show signs of life in year 2. This did not happen. In fact he regressed as the city was split between being on his side and those wanting Gus Frerotte to play more. Bumper stickers shouting 'In Gus we Trust' were all around the area and I was on board. Heath Shulers' tenure in Washington was nothing short of an unmitigated disaster. He played one more season in Washington, never starting and appearing in just a single game in 1996.
Unfortunately for Washington, that even though Frerotte was better than Shuler he was still not good enough to bring home a winning season. By week three I was already done with this team and they were only 1-1. We were playing roller hockey and listening to Sonny, Sam and Frank do the game on radio when John Elway threw a 43 yards Hail Mary to Rod Smith to win the game on the final play of the 4th quarter. The season only got worse from there on. The team bottomed out at 3-9 before saving face and costing them a better draft pick by winning 3 of the final 4 games. Of course one of those wins came against the rival Dallas Cowboys in Dallas. This was a small consolation prize when later that season the Cowboys won their 3rd Super Bowl in the last 4 years. It couldn't get any worse could it?
At least the Detroit Pistons started heading in the right direction. They were basically a two man team with Grant Hill and Allan Houston each averaging about 20 PPG. They made the playoffs as the #7 seed and were promptly swept away by the Orlando Magic. I still found it hard to root for a team that was led by somebody who went to Duke, but winning was better than losing.
Speaking of college basketball, UNC lost both Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace to the NBA but welcomed two more potential superstars in Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. Sometimes when I am sad, I dream about a team with all four of them playing together and it makes me smile. At point guard Jeff McInnis, who was pretty good in his own right, would have had Carter and Stackhouse at each wing and Wallace and Jamison at the post. I don't see that team losing ever. Instead it was a freshmen led team that was highly talented but not tested. Then they decided to mess with my mind and come out of the gate 9-1 and eventually 16-4 (7-1 in ACC play) with 2 losses coming out of conference to Villanova in a weird scheduling oddity. This included a one point victory over Duke so by February I was thinking championship yet again.
Then the wheels came off with 5 losses over the next 8 games, then a win in the finale against Duke and a 1st round loss to Clemson in the ACC tournament. Something wasn't right, you don't lose to Clemson and think you can win a National Championship. Given a #6 seed UNC cruised in the first round, but were thumped by Texas Tech in the 2nd round and the result was forever immortalized on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
It was an ugly end to an up and down season. Continuing the trend of my arch rivals winning championships, the University of Kentucky wound up beating an over matched Syracuse squad and my friend Erin let me have it. After starting my high school years with a UNC championship, I had to watch both UCLA and Kentucky match them. At least Arkansas beat Duke in the other year and we were all thankful for that.
On the ice the Washington Capitals had another slightly above average season. Good enough to make the playoffs behind the emergence of young goaltender Jim Carey. He won the Vezina Trophy that season for the best goalie in the NHL a year after coming in second. He was the goalie of the future and to know he'd be there for another decade was thrilling. Peter Bondra continued to be the best offensive weapon on the team scoring 52 goals. Even with standouts like this, the team still struggled to make the playoffs finishing 7th in the conference only 3 points away from missing the playoffs all together.
To nobody's surprise they were paired up with the Pittsburgh Penguins once again who were the #2 seed. I was really getting tired of this. My friend Zack and I decided we needed a strategy to get the Capitals over the top this time. We decided to hit up Popeye's and get some chicken and biscuits for the pregame meal and see if that would bring us any luck.
Game 1 up in Pittsburgh didn't go exactly as planned, but it went the Capitals way. Jim Carey was chased midway through the game after surrendering 4 goals and the Penguins held a 4-3 advantage with only a period left to play. The Capitals turned to Olaf Kolzig, a relative unknown to steady the ship. The move worked because the Capitals turned it on, tallying 3 times in the 3rd to win. Game 2 was more of the same for Zack and I, Popeye's for the pregame because that mattered, it really did. Kolzig got the start again and behind another great effort down the stretch of the game including 2 more 3rd period goals, the Capitals won again. They had walked into Pittsburgh and taken both games. Maybe this was their year after all.
Back in Washington, Zack and I settled in to our third Popeye's meal ready to see the Capitals take a stranglehold on the series. We were both a bit surprised to see Jim Carey back in goal for game 3 after Kolzig had won the first two games, but he was the best goalie in the NHL in the regular season and being at home would help him get back on track. Yeah, about that. He was riddled for four goals again as the Capitals fell flat losing 4-1.
The pressure was back on Washington in Game 4 and Zack and I still got Popeye's, but switched to my parents house for this game. The Capitals also switched back to Kolzig in goal. Holding a 2-1 lead in the 3rd things were looking good, and Pittsburgh evened it up...ugh. The game headed to OT and nobody scored. A second OT and the best chance was a penalty shot for the Capitals by star forward Joe Juneau...he missed. Onto a 3rd OT, no scoring. The 4th OT began and my father awoke hearing noises from downstairs. 'What the hell are you still doing up??' he bellowed. 'The game isn't over it's in the 4th OT!!' I pleaded. He went back to bed, I went back to the game, but Zack was shaken. He said he had to leave because he didn't want to get me in trouble. I told him forget about it...he couldn't. As he was getting up to leave I told him the Capitals were going to lose now that he was leaving and about 5 minutes after driving away the Capitals were called for a penalty. Less than 10 seconds left in it and less than a minute until the 5th OT, Petr 'bleeping' Nedved scored. The series was tied at 2 games apiece and I refused to speak to Zack the rest of the series.
As you can guess Pittsburgh won the next two games including a heated game five when the coaches went toe to toe in addition to on ice fights. Another year wasted, more animosity towards Pittsburgh growing.
Back at school we had survived the Blizzard of 1996
and I for one was really looking forward to finally getting a chance to play regularly on the baseball team. I knew I had an outfield spot locked up, but I wanted to pitch and that would be tough as the 3rd or 4th option on the team. As practice was about to begin our top two returning pitchers announced they weren't playing which made me angry and happy all in one. I knew we couldn't be a good team without them, but selfish me was happy I'd get a better shot at pitching. Even after I pleaded with them to play, they refused and I moved on.
Of course this also opened up some spots for my friends to play. Jody and I were already fixtures, Isaac was pretty decent, but Zack and Justin also played and they had...um....a learning curve. We had a really good catcher and a stud center fielder/pitcher who ended up getting drafted 4 years later. Our 2nd baseman was a talented freshman, but that was about it. If I could pitch, we'd at least have a shot a competing, if not, it was going to be a long season.
Coach Horn worked with me knowing he had no other options and I must have responded. He tabbed me as the opening day starter in a two day tournament. I don't think I had ever been so nervous and so thrilled at the same time. It was what I was waiting for ever since leaving 2nd base at 13 years old.
I struck the first batter out on 3 straight pitches, all fastballs and I settled right in. We won that game and I was named all Tournament (4 teams, not a big deal). The entire season consisted of me pitching one game and Eddie pitching the next one. No bullpen, we didn't have one. There were a couple of memorable moments for me from that season and I'd like to share them with you.
-I remember losing to Central High School and getting into it with Coach Horn. Bases loaded, nobody out in the bottom of the 7th, he called for our catcher to throw behind the runner at third to try and get an out but our catcher threw the ball into left field. Looking back it was a good call, but the egoist that I am wanted to strike out the side.
-I remember pitching 7 innings on a Tuesday, but because of a rain out the week before we played Wednesday as well and then again on Friday. I woke up Friday morning in pain, my arm was very sore. I told my mom and she said to tell Coach that I could only throw a couple innings, but not the full game. We went out to Page County over 2 hours away to play. The boys out there were the size of the cows that were in the pastures across the street. They were huge. I gave up a 3 run homer in the 1st inning and we were down 8-0 after 3 innings. That is when my pitching career changed once and for all. My catcher told me to throw my splitter. I did...over and over and over. For the most part it was effective. He didn't know where it was going, I didn't know where it was going, but most importantly the batter had no clue what it was. I heard the chatter in the dugout. 'He's got a curve...no its a knuckle...no its a change up.' We rallied back to tie the game and after 8 innings the game was called due to darkness. The bench told me I through 157 pitches. I'll never forget that number. At home I told mom 'Good news, I didn't pitch 7 innings' and she was so happy...'I pitched 8.' Hahahahaha.
-I remember going to Brentsville High School to face the best player in our District who was aptly also named Jason. My coach advised me that he was being scouted by a few colleges that night so it was up to me to get them to take notice of me. I think I did a good job of it. I pitched a complete game victory and hit a 'home run' off of the other Jason. The home run is in quotes because they didn't have a fence so I hit the ball and ran...but it counts and I'm sticking to it. It was a party on the way home from that one.
-I remember getting to start the 2nd Annual Falls Church News Press Day at the Ball Park where our local paper would advertise the game by giving away free hot dogs and sodas. Instead of 15 fans we had 100 or so. One of the fans was our old coach who walked by while I was warming up and joked with me that I must have gotten my fastball over 50 mph in the last 2 years. Thanks, dick. It was a rematch of my earlier loss to Central and 'Smiling' Joe Kane. He would stand on the rubber and grin at you while pitching. It infuriated us to know end. By game's end he wasn't smiling. We won and outside of me pitching the only thing I remember is Isaac laying down a bunt that turned into a 3 run home run* (*there may have been an error or 6, but who is really keeping track??).
-Finally I remember ending on a sour note which was the story of my playing career. Last game was a make up game played on the morning of prom and we needed a win to qualify for the district tournament, but it was Eddie's turn to pitch. I was in center field and in the 1st inning a guy rocketed a ball over my head. As I picked it up to throw it back in I wrenched my back. Mid inning I limped back to the dugout and told Coach 'I did something to my back' and he gave me a look...the look and dryly asked 'So you want out of the game?' Nah coach I'm fine I thought and ran away with my tail between my legs. We lost and my career at George Mason ended as quickly as it started.
I grew leaps and bounds during that season. I took on a leadership role, I realized I was pretty good on the mound and I started throwing my splitter for strikes by seasons' end. Coach told me I was going to get to play American Legion baseball that summer with the best of the bigger schools in our area along with Eddie and Jody.
That was going to be an exciting litmus test.
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