2015 MLB Preview and Unbiased Predictions
For as well as I've done in my NFL predictions the last couple of years, I've done just as poorly when it comes to my MLB predictions. Last year I had the Cardinals beating the Rays so that is all you need to know on how well I did. There are only two divisions that I would be money on knowing the division winner and they're both in the National League. I could easily see 12 American League teams vying for the five playoff spots. The National League isn't quite as up for grabs with only 8-9 teams with a real shot at making the playoffs in my humble and usually wrong opinion. This year I'm correct though about everything, I swear.
AL East
To be honest, I could pick any of the four teams not named the Rays and be able to make a case for it. The Blue Jays have re-loaded in the hopes of finally getting back to the playoffs. The Red Sox have a great offense but question marks galore in their new starting rotation. The Yankees saw Derek Jeter retire, but welcome back (no laughing) A-Rod and a stout bullpen as they try and emulate the Royals path to the playoffs. Then there are the defending champion Orioles who did jack squat in the off-season, losing Nelson Cruz, but getting back Manny Machado and possibly Matt Wieters from injury. Each team has some strengths and multiple weaknesses so I suppose it comes down to which team can hide those weaknesses long enough to make some deadline deals and make a run for the playoffs.
New York Yankees 86-76 (#3 Seed)
Baltimore Orioles 85-77
Toronto Blue Jays 83-79
Boston Red Sox 83-79
Tampa Bay Rays 74-88
AL Central
Just like the AL East (and spoiler alert the AL West too) this will be another division that could be won by all but one team. The Twins will try and steal a few games here and there, but will be an afterthought be Memorial Day. The Tigers added Yoenis Cespedes to an already potent lineup and have basically traded away Max Scherzer for David Price for the 2015 season. Their biggest question, again, will be the bullpen. The Royals were on the cusp of being one of the most improbable World Series champions last October with their speed, defense and bullpen. Not much has changed other than losing 200+ innings from James Shields. The White Sox added Jeff Samardzija and Adam LaRoche to be paired with Chris Sale and Jose Abreu to create an intriguing core. Will they still be a piece or two short remains the question. The Indians have enough offense, starting pitching and bullpen to win, but can they break through the mental hurdle of believing they can win similarly to the way Kansas City did a year ago. I say yes, yes they can.
Cleveland Indians 88-74 (#2 Seed)
Detroit Tigers 86-76 (#2 Wild Card)
Chicago White Sox 81-81
Kansas City Royals 79-83
Minnesota Twins 70-92
AL West
The Angels were the class of the West last year, but may be without Josh Hamilton while Albert Pujols is another year older. Of course they still have Mike Trout and that might just be enough. The Seattle Mariners made some key off season moves adding Nelson Cruz and Seth Smith and have a very deep starting rotation. The Athletics have made the playoffs three straight years and turned over 2/3 of their roster, but now have a young stable of pitching that could surprise or be a disaster. The Rangers have already been snake bit to the injury bug yet again this year by losing Yu Darvish, the one person they couldn't afford to lose. The Astros have acquired some more ex-Athletics and Evan Gattis in the hopes to outscore opponents every game. Their bullpen won't be nearly as laughable as it was last year.
Seattle Mariners 90-72 (#1 Seed)
Los Angeles Angels 88-74 (#1 Wild Card)
Oakland Athletics 83-79
Houston Astros 76-86
Texas Rangers 72-90
NL East
Once again the Nationals are primed to run away with the division where they will get to face their playoff demons head on once again. Outside of early season injuries, their doesn't seem to be a weakness on the roster. Well there is Matt Williams. The Marlins have Giancarlo Stanton and will get back Jose Fernandez just in time to make a run at a wild card where nobody will want to play them. The Mets are building through their young pitching, but have already lost Zach Wheeler for the season the same way Matt Harvey went down last season. Another year away, again. The Phillies and Braves will be battling for the basement with their horribly constructed rosters. Both teams are stuck in a rebuilding mode, but neither have a clue of how to do it.
Washington Nationals 91-71 (#2 Seed)
Miami Marlins 87-75 (#1 Wild Card)
New York Mets 78-84
Atlanta Braves 71-91
Philadelphia Phillies 69-93
NL Central
This will be the most hotly contested division in the National League and really the only thing to pay attention to playoff wise come September. The Cubs are everyone's trendy pick to win with Joe Maddon running the ship and their cavalcade of young stud hitters. Oh yeah John Lester is there too. The Reds have a nicely construct lineup, a true ace and a stud closer, but something just doesn't seem to mesh over a six month season. The Pirates will see how much Russell Martin really meant to the team, but have a great core of young players that should challenge again for the division. The Brewers, well they play in Milwaukee and have Ryan Braun, Matt Lucroy and Carlos Gomez. The pitching staff on the other hand is, not good (Mike Fiers, I do like though). Then there are the Cardinals, the perennial division winning Cardinals. How can we forget about them? They'll be the odds on favorite to win the division yet again.
St. Louis Cardinals 89-73 (#3 Seed)
Chicago Cubs 84-78 (#2 Wild Card)
Pittsburgh Pirates 83-79
Cincinnati Reds 78-84
Milwaukee Brewers 72-90
NL West
Home of the defending World Series champion Giants (again), this is another division like the NL East where almost everybody will be picking one team to win and it won't be San Francisco. The Dodgers should again win this division by 5-10 games with ease. The Giants haven't gotten any better, but are a plucky bunch. The Padres went crazy in the off season with a flurry of trades and free agent signings, but will it be enough to make up 11 games which is how many games they were out of a playoff spot in 2014? The Diamondbacks are still stuck in between young and old, good and bad, rebuilding and contending. Good pieces but not enough of them. The Rockies are in trouble this year. They need a healthy Troy Tulowitzki, not in order to win a World Series, but in order to trade him away for more bodies.
Los Angeles Dodgers 93-69 (#1 Seed)
San Diego Padres 83-79
San Francisco Giants 82-80
Arizona Diamondbacks 77-85
Colorado Rockies 69-93
Awards
AL ROY: Daniel Norris over Rusney Castillo
AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez over Carlos Carrasco
AL MVP: Mike Trout over Michael Brantley
NL ROY: Joc Pederson over Jorge Soler
NL Cy Young: Clayton Kershaw over Max Scherzer
NL MVP: Giancarlo Stanton over Andrew McCutchen
Playoffs
American League
Tigers over the Angels in the play-in game
Mariners over the Tigers in 4 games
Indians over the Yankees in 4 game
Mariners over the Indians in 6 games
National League
Marlins over the Cubs in the play-in game
Dodgers over the Marlins in 4 games
Nationals over the Cardinals in 5 games
Nationals over the Dodgers in 6 games
World Series
Nationals over the Mariners in 6 games
World Series MVP Jordan Zimmermann
Showing posts with label new york yankees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new york yankees. Show all posts
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Friday, September 21, 2012
Weekend Viewing Guide 9/21/12
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." - Ferris Bueller
Last night I got to witness some mini-history as the Washington Nationals clinched a playoff spot. The crowd was quite electric in watching a DC based baseball team punch its ticket to the post season for the first time since 1933. Of course last night's win only guarantees one extra game at this point, but its a start. When you go to a sporting event, or even watch it at home, you never know what type of history you'll see. Not every game will produce a memorable result, but every once in a while you will get to say "I was there" and those memories might just last forever.
This weekend might just produce one of those jaw dropping, wish I was watching, tell all your friends moments. Those moments that are etched in the hearts and souls of the die hard fans. They will make you weep with sorrow and cry in ecstasy. To this day every time I see Kirk Gibson limp around the bases after hitting the game winning home run off of Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, I well up in anger and fling the remote across the room. I was 10 years old. It was the first time I cried while watching sports. I was hooked for life.
Here's what you should be watching this weekend in the hopes that you catch one of those indelible moments:
10. Houston Texans at Denver Broncos
The incredibly tough schedule that faces Denver to start the season continues this week as they host my Super Bowl winner Houston. After already facing Pittsburgh and Atlanta, the Broncos still have New England and San Diego on the road before their bye week (with Oakland as well) and then New Orleans coming out of the break. Peyton Manning looked downright awful to start on Monday night, but rebounded to give the Broncos a sporting chance. There have been very little issues for the Texans so far this season. They have handled both the mediocre Dolphins and inept Jaguars with relative ease for their 2-0 start. Behind the two headed monster of Arian Foster and Ben Tate (184 yards, 3 TD's) and a very good defense, it has been just like early 2011 before all the injuries hit when the Texans were the breakout team of the season. Final Score: Houston 30 Denver 24
9. Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals
Fresh off of clinching a playoff spot, the Washington Nationals will now turn their focus into wrapping up the N.L. East crown. They host the surging Milwaukee Brewers who have come out of nowhere to threaten for a playoff spot. They have leapfrogged practically the entire National League in the last 30 days with a 22-6 record since August 19th when they were 12.5 games out of the 2nd Wild Card spot. Today they have passed six teams and are only 2.5 games out from making the playoffs. The turnaround has been quite remarkable and has been spearheaded by reigning MVP Ryan Braun who has put together yet another MVP season with 40 home runs, 105 RBI and a current 6.6 WAR for you SABR nerds out there. For Washington, their magic number is 7 meaning they could theoretically wrap up the division as early as Monday with some help from Philadelphia. Realistically these two teams split the four game and Washington clinches on the road.
8. #22 Arizona Wildcats at #3 Oregon Ducks
More west coast football taking the big stage. After last weekends shocking Stanford upset of #2 ranked USC, the Oregon Ducks now have a chance to stake their claim as BCS Championship contenders. Sure the talk will be all about what horrific concoction Oregon rolls out for their jersey of choice, but after we get past that it will be all about their high powered offense. They are currently averaging 54 points a game against inferior competition, but I don't think Arizona will want to do much to slow the pace of the game down. In their only competitive game, the Wildcats won a shootout against then #18 ranked Oklahoma St. 59-38. That is the type of scoring I'm hoping for in this game. Arizona will do their damage in the air behind Matt Scott who has nearly 1000 yards passing already while Oregon will run the ball early and often with Kenjon Barner and do everything athlete De'Anthony Thomas. Thomas leads the Ducks in receiving with 11 receptions and 3 touchdowns, but he also has 13 rushes at 17.5 yards per carry and 4 more scores. That's some silly production to start the season. Final Score: Oregon 55 Arizona 34
7. Oakland Athletics at New York Yankees
So we meet again...unfortunately not for the last time. The team that can't spend enough versus the team that doesn't have any money to spend. The Bronx Bombers versus Moneyball. The future Yankees versus the current Yankees. $197 million payroll vs. $55 million payroll. East coast bias versus a team that is trying to leave its home city. All the differences and yet these two teams come into the final two weeks of play separated by a single game. The Yankees lead the A.L. East by 1 game over the Baltimore Orioles who are tied for the Wild Card lead with the Athletics. Oakland has lost their only 3 veteran starters within the last month and are now completely reliant on a bunch of rookies and castoffs in their rotation. New York on the other hand has recently re-added veteran Andy Pettitte to the rotation which already has former Cy Young award winner C.C. Sabathia. Oakland is hanging together with bubble gum and fishing line, but this weekend could be a disaster if the pitching doesn't hold up. I see the Yankees winning at least two with a real chance at a sweep.
6. #18 Michigan Wolverines at #11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Is it time to take Notre Dame seriously? This would normally be the type of game where the Irish would fall flat after a huge win, but maybe this year version is different. Michigan has picked themselves up off the mat after being throttled by Alabama with wins over Air Force and Massachusetts who aren't quite at the same level as the defending champion, #1 ranked Crimson Tide. Frankly I don't know what to make of Michigan just yet, and that makes me think maybe they can win this one. The key will be how Denard Robinson handles another good defensive unit. We saw him struggle mightily against Alabama, but Notre Dame is no Alabama. Classic trap game here: Michigan 26 Notre Dame 23
5. #15 Kansas St. Wildcats at #6 Oklahoma Sooners
Quick story: Kansas St. always makes me remember a quarterback they once had, Chad May who wore #5. May 5...my birthday, I always liked him for that reason. This Wildcats team is much more competitive than they were with May at the helm, but this week they head to Norman, OK to face a much better Sooners team. Fans will be hoping for a more competitive game than last seasons that ended in a 58-17 blowout in favor of Oklahoma. The scary thought is that game was in Manhattan, KS and it might be even uglier this year around. If anything at least we will get to watch stud quarterback Landry Jones try and carve apart the Wildcats secondary (505 yards passing last year) once again. It will be a bit closer this go around but the story will remain the same Oklahoma 42 Kansas St. 24
4. Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels
That loud sound you hear in southern California is the clock ticking away on the Angels season. Every time they make a mini surge they drop a series that they have to win. After winning the first game at home against Texas, they dropped the final two of the key series. With only 12 games remaining the Angels now face the arduous task of making up 5 games on either the Orioles or the Athletics to attempt to salvage a disappointing season. Their opponent, the Chicago White Sox have everything to play for. They have a slim two game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the A.L. Central and will give the Angels fits. I think Chicago wins two of three (okay...I really really really hope they do) and puts a near virtual end to the Angles season...YOU CAN PUT THAT ON THE BOARD....YESSSSS!!!!
3. New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens
I know NBC was hoping for a 2-0 vs. 2-0 battle between these two Super Bowl contenders when the schedule was release. I definitely know that nobody foresaw the loser of this game dropping to 1-2 on the early season. Both teams lost games last week that they should have won. The Patriots with Tom Brady at quarterback had only lost once at home and never in a home opener until last week. They looked awful and lost starting TE Aaron Hernandez for at least a month with an ankle injury. The Ravens had a 10 point halftime lead and a six point fourth quarter lead, both of which they blew losing by a single point. This will be their second prime time, nationally televised game and the schedulers at the NFL will do them no favors as they have to play again four nights after this game. I think Baltimore responds at home with a 27-23 victory.
2. PGA Tour Championship
So it all comes down to this. Can Rory run away with the title by winning his 3rd straight event? Can Tiger come all the way back and hoist the trophy again? Will he quit mid stream because he is too intimidated by Rory? Will Phil come out of nowhere to get back to the top of the mountain? All we can hope for all three of them to be with a shot or two of each other on Sunday afternoon. The NFL season is still early enough that you can miss out on a couple games and settle in for some top notch golf with abundant story lines. I've said it before and I'll say it again, fans must savor weekends like this where the generational gap will be crossing paths. There will only be a small window where we get Tiger and Phil playing top notch golf along with the newest wunderkind in Rory. Just the fact that I can write this entire preview and not use a single last name says all you need to know about the popularity of these three golfers. For the record I have to go with Rory to put a cherry on top of his stellar run here at the end of the season with another victory.
1. #10 Clemson Tigers at #4 Florida St. Seminoles
It's been a while since Florida St. has been this good. Even though they have not played any quality opponents, they have done exactly what has been asked out of them by stomping the living crap out of them. Through their first three games they have outscored their opponents 176-3. That is not a misprint. Clemson vows to be a bit more of a test with the likes of Tajh Boyd, Andre Ellington, Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins all a threat to score every time they get their hands on the ball. If the offense of Clemson can find a way to penetrate the stout Florida St. offense this game could get really exciting. Last season with very similar rosters, Clemson won 35-30 at home, this year it will be the other way around as Florida St. will hold serve and win a shootout 37-24.
Last night I got to witness some mini-history as the Washington Nationals clinched a playoff spot. The crowd was quite electric in watching a DC based baseball team punch its ticket to the post season for the first time since 1933. Of course last night's win only guarantees one extra game at this point, but its a start. When you go to a sporting event, or even watch it at home, you never know what type of history you'll see. Not every game will produce a memorable result, but every once in a while you will get to say "I was there" and those memories might just last forever.
This weekend might just produce one of those jaw dropping, wish I was watching, tell all your friends moments. Those moments that are etched in the hearts and souls of the die hard fans. They will make you weep with sorrow and cry in ecstasy. To this day every time I see Kirk Gibson limp around the bases after hitting the game winning home run off of Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, I well up in anger and fling the remote across the room. I was 10 years old. It was the first time I cried while watching sports. I was hooked for life.
Here's what you should be watching this weekend in the hopes that you catch one of those indelible moments:
10. Houston Texans at Denver Broncos
The incredibly tough schedule that faces Denver to start the season continues this week as they host my Super Bowl winner Houston. After already facing Pittsburgh and Atlanta, the Broncos still have New England and San Diego on the road before their bye week (with Oakland as well) and then New Orleans coming out of the break. Peyton Manning looked downright awful to start on Monday night, but rebounded to give the Broncos a sporting chance. There have been very little issues for the Texans so far this season. They have handled both the mediocre Dolphins and inept Jaguars with relative ease for their 2-0 start. Behind the two headed monster of Arian Foster and Ben Tate (184 yards, 3 TD's) and a very good defense, it has been just like early 2011 before all the injuries hit when the Texans were the breakout team of the season. Final Score: Houston 30 Denver 24
9. Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals
Fresh off of clinching a playoff spot, the Washington Nationals will now turn their focus into wrapping up the N.L. East crown. They host the surging Milwaukee Brewers who have come out of nowhere to threaten for a playoff spot. They have leapfrogged practically the entire National League in the last 30 days with a 22-6 record since August 19th when they were 12.5 games out of the 2nd Wild Card spot. Today they have passed six teams and are only 2.5 games out from making the playoffs. The turnaround has been quite remarkable and has been spearheaded by reigning MVP Ryan Braun who has put together yet another MVP season with 40 home runs, 105 RBI and a current 6.6 WAR for you SABR nerds out there. For Washington, their magic number is 7 meaning they could theoretically wrap up the division as early as Monday with some help from Philadelphia. Realistically these two teams split the four game and Washington clinches on the road.
8. #22 Arizona Wildcats at #3 Oregon Ducks
More west coast football taking the big stage. After last weekends shocking Stanford upset of #2 ranked USC, the Oregon Ducks now have a chance to stake their claim as BCS Championship contenders. Sure the talk will be all about what horrific concoction Oregon rolls out for their jersey of choice, but after we get past that it will be all about their high powered offense. They are currently averaging 54 points a game against inferior competition, but I don't think Arizona will want to do much to slow the pace of the game down. In their only competitive game, the Wildcats won a shootout against then #18 ranked Oklahoma St. 59-38. That is the type of scoring I'm hoping for in this game. Arizona will do their damage in the air behind Matt Scott who has nearly 1000 yards passing already while Oregon will run the ball early and often with Kenjon Barner and do everything athlete De'Anthony Thomas. Thomas leads the Ducks in receiving with 11 receptions and 3 touchdowns, but he also has 13 rushes at 17.5 yards per carry and 4 more scores. That's some silly production to start the season. Final Score: Oregon 55 Arizona 34
7. Oakland Athletics at New York Yankees
So we meet again...unfortunately not for the last time. The team that can't spend enough versus the team that doesn't have any money to spend. The Bronx Bombers versus Moneyball. The future Yankees versus the current Yankees. $197 million payroll vs. $55 million payroll. East coast bias versus a team that is trying to leave its home city. All the differences and yet these two teams come into the final two weeks of play separated by a single game. The Yankees lead the A.L. East by 1 game over the Baltimore Orioles who are tied for the Wild Card lead with the Athletics. Oakland has lost their only 3 veteran starters within the last month and are now completely reliant on a bunch of rookies and castoffs in their rotation. New York on the other hand has recently re-added veteran Andy Pettitte to the rotation which already has former Cy Young award winner C.C. Sabathia. Oakland is hanging together with bubble gum and fishing line, but this weekend could be a disaster if the pitching doesn't hold up. I see the Yankees winning at least two with a real chance at a sweep.
6. #18 Michigan Wolverines at #11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Is it time to take Notre Dame seriously? This would normally be the type of game where the Irish would fall flat after a huge win, but maybe this year version is different. Michigan has picked themselves up off the mat after being throttled by Alabama with wins over Air Force and Massachusetts who aren't quite at the same level as the defending champion, #1 ranked Crimson Tide. Frankly I don't know what to make of Michigan just yet, and that makes me think maybe they can win this one. The key will be how Denard Robinson handles another good defensive unit. We saw him struggle mightily against Alabama, but Notre Dame is no Alabama. Classic trap game here: Michigan 26 Notre Dame 23
5. #15 Kansas St. Wildcats at #6 Oklahoma Sooners
Quick story: Kansas St. always makes me remember a quarterback they once had, Chad May who wore #5. May 5...my birthday, I always liked him for that reason. This Wildcats team is much more competitive than they were with May at the helm, but this week they head to Norman, OK to face a much better Sooners team. Fans will be hoping for a more competitive game than last seasons that ended in a 58-17 blowout in favor of Oklahoma. The scary thought is that game was in Manhattan, KS and it might be even uglier this year around. If anything at least we will get to watch stud quarterback Landry Jones try and carve apart the Wildcats secondary (505 yards passing last year) once again. It will be a bit closer this go around but the story will remain the same Oklahoma 42 Kansas St. 24
4. Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels
That loud sound you hear in southern California is the clock ticking away on the Angels season. Every time they make a mini surge they drop a series that they have to win. After winning the first game at home against Texas, they dropped the final two of the key series. With only 12 games remaining the Angels now face the arduous task of making up 5 games on either the Orioles or the Athletics to attempt to salvage a disappointing season. Their opponent, the Chicago White Sox have everything to play for. They have a slim two game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the A.L. Central and will give the Angels fits. I think Chicago wins two of three (okay...I really really really hope they do) and puts a near virtual end to the Angles season...YOU CAN PUT THAT ON THE BOARD....YESSSSS!!!!
3. New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens
I know NBC was hoping for a 2-0 vs. 2-0 battle between these two Super Bowl contenders when the schedule was release. I definitely know that nobody foresaw the loser of this game dropping to 1-2 on the early season. Both teams lost games last week that they should have won. The Patriots with Tom Brady at quarterback had only lost once at home and never in a home opener until last week. They looked awful and lost starting TE Aaron Hernandez for at least a month with an ankle injury. The Ravens had a 10 point halftime lead and a six point fourth quarter lead, both of which they blew losing by a single point. This will be their second prime time, nationally televised game and the schedulers at the NFL will do them no favors as they have to play again four nights after this game. I think Baltimore responds at home with a 27-23 victory.
2. PGA Tour Championship
So it all comes down to this. Can Rory run away with the title by winning his 3rd straight event? Can Tiger come all the way back and hoist the trophy again? Will he quit mid stream because he is too intimidated by Rory? Will Phil come out of nowhere to get back to the top of the mountain? All we can hope for all three of them to be with a shot or two of each other on Sunday afternoon. The NFL season is still early enough that you can miss out on a couple games and settle in for some top notch golf with abundant story lines. I've said it before and I'll say it again, fans must savor weekends like this where the generational gap will be crossing paths. There will only be a small window where we get Tiger and Phil playing top notch golf along with the newest wunderkind in Rory. Just the fact that I can write this entire preview and not use a single last name says all you need to know about the popularity of these three golfers. For the record I have to go with Rory to put a cherry on top of his stellar run here at the end of the season with another victory.
1. #10 Clemson Tigers at #4 Florida St. Seminoles
It's been a while since Florida St. has been this good. Even though they have not played any quality opponents, they have done exactly what has been asked out of them by stomping the living crap out of them. Through their first three games they have outscored their opponents 176-3. That is not a misprint. Clemson vows to be a bit more of a test with the likes of Tajh Boyd, Andre Ellington, Sammy Watkins and DeAndre Hopkins all a threat to score every time they get their hands on the ball. If the offense of Clemson can find a way to penetrate the stout Florida St. offense this game could get really exciting. Last season with very similar rosters, Clemson won 35-30 at home, this year it will be the other way around as Florida St. will hold serve and win a shootout 37-24.
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.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Pocket Pair 7/24/12
This will be a much shorter read today...I promise
Last night the Falls Church News Hounds two year reign as DC Wood AA Champions came to an end. We had played consistently inconsistent all season and couldn't overcome numerous mental and physical errors in the field and lack of clutch hitting at the plate. Losing makes you think back to the elation that winning brought on and that hunger inside of you returns with unabashed fervor. I don't know if I'll play next year, I'm currently leaning to no as my body just can't hold up anymore. I love the game, my mental aptitude is sharp, but physically it pains me too much to play. I relish the coaching title I've assumed and they guys even though they are my peers respond well to me and trust my decision making. I've made horrible decisions and a few savvy ones as well. We'll see how I feel next April, but last night might have been it and that is a tough one to think about.
--------------------------------------
Yesterday I wrote about Kurt Suzuki possibly being traded from the Oakland Athletics, but I didn't really expect Ichiro Suzuki to get traded. Sure his numbers are way down and Seattle needs to turn the page and create a new identity. For them it makes sense. Ichiro gave Seattle over a decade of relevance after the departure of Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999. I don't see anyone on the current roster that will replace Ichiro. It could be a while until anybody outside of the Pacific Northwest discusses the Mariners. Felix Hernandez is their biggest name left and he plays once every five days. I also don't think he destined to spend the rest of his career toiling in futility so I assume he will find a bigger, more prominent market to play in soon.
As for the Ichiro's new home, New York, I don't see why they made this move. Basically this was Ichiro for Dwayne Wise and outside of the value of the name, the statistics tell me that this doesn't make sense. Ichiro just cannot hit the way he once did. After failing to hit .300 for the first time in his career last year at .272, he has fallen to .261 this season. The true Achilles heel for the Yankees has been hitting in the clutch as they are at a .235 clip with runners in scoring position. Ichiro won't help as he is currently hitting .175 with runners in scoring position (per Steve Berthiaume at ESPN who probably poached that stat from somebody else anyways). The Yankees can get people on base, they can hit home runs, but a nice little blooper with 2 on and 2 out that falls for a hit is what may be their ruin in October.
Last night the Falls Church News Hounds two year reign as DC Wood AA Champions came to an end. We had played consistently inconsistent all season and couldn't overcome numerous mental and physical errors in the field and lack of clutch hitting at the plate. Losing makes you think back to the elation that winning brought on and that hunger inside of you returns with unabashed fervor. I don't know if I'll play next year, I'm currently leaning to no as my body just can't hold up anymore. I love the game, my mental aptitude is sharp, but physically it pains me too much to play. I relish the coaching title I've assumed and they guys even though they are my peers respond well to me and trust my decision making. I've made horrible decisions and a few savvy ones as well. We'll see how I feel next April, but last night might have been it and that is a tough one to think about.
--------------------------------------
Yesterday I wrote about Kurt Suzuki possibly being traded from the Oakland Athletics, but I didn't really expect Ichiro Suzuki to get traded. Sure his numbers are way down and Seattle needs to turn the page and create a new identity. For them it makes sense. Ichiro gave Seattle over a decade of relevance after the departure of Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999. I don't see anyone on the current roster that will replace Ichiro. It could be a while until anybody outside of the Pacific Northwest discusses the Mariners. Felix Hernandez is their biggest name left and he plays once every five days. I also don't think he destined to spend the rest of his career toiling in futility so I assume he will find a bigger, more prominent market to play in soon.
As for the Ichiro's new home, New York, I don't see why they made this move. Basically this was Ichiro for Dwayne Wise and outside of the value of the name, the statistics tell me that this doesn't make sense. Ichiro just cannot hit the way he once did. After failing to hit .300 for the first time in his career last year at .272, he has fallen to .261 this season. The true Achilles heel for the Yankees has been hitting in the clutch as they are at a .235 clip with runners in scoring position. Ichiro won't help as he is currently hitting .175 with runners in scoring position (per Steve Berthiaume at ESPN who probably poached that stat from somebody else anyways). The Yankees can get people on base, they can hit home runs, but a nice little blooper with 2 on and 2 out that falls for a hit is what may be their ruin in October.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)