Weekend Viewing Recap 9/30/12

The more things change, the more they stay the same.  That's the old saying, but I'm saying that in the sports world, that's a bunch of crap.  Nothing was predictable this weekend.  Absolutely nothing.  On a scale of 1-10 this weekend was eleventy billion on drama, excitement and awesomeness. 

Here are some things not covered by my Top 10:

RGIII and the Redskins finding a way to win with kicker Billy Cundiff saving his job on a last second field goal

The Atlanta Falcons pulling victory out of defeat with a last second drive to stay undefeated against the Carolina Panthers

The Green Bay Packers getting screwed by another set of officials, but surviving at home sending New Orleans to an 0-4 start.

The University of Texas outlasting Oklahoma St. on the road with a last minute touchdown run.

The University of Georgia combining with Tennessee to score 88 points in the first 3 quarters before running out of steam and only scoring 7 in the final 15 minutes with Georgia hanging on between the hedges.

The University of Nebraska winning a close game against Wisconsin despite being forced to wear Scrabble tiles for uniforms.

Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds throwing a no hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates matching the MLB record of 7 total no hitters pitched in a single season.

Outside of that, nothing much else happened...but I'll still cover the 10 things I was watching this weekend:

10.  #14 Ohio St. Buckeyes at #20 Michigan St. Spartans

7-3 at the half.  Yup, another riveting Big 10 game.  I don't give a damn that it ended up being a 1 point game the two teams were a combined 10-28 on third downs.  They couldn't sustain a drive to save their lives.  The 3rd quarter was the only watchable quarter where *gasp* 20 whole points were scored.  Defensive dominance??  No.  More like putrid, slow, outdated offenses.  The worst part about it is that Ohio St. won to stay undefeated meaning the Big 10 will still stay on the radar for another couple of weeks. 

9. Miami Dolphins at Arizona Cardinals

Beware of the trap games.  I tried to warn everyone that this looked too good to be true for Arizona.  Everything was in their favor and it took Kevin Kolb pulling a rabbit out of the hat to survive.  Miami held a 13-0 lead into the 3rd quarter when Arizona finally woke up putting together 14 consecutive points to take a lead.  It lasted just over two minutes.  Brian Hartline caught an 80 yard touchdown pass en route to 253 yards receiving while collecting dust on my fantasy football bench.  Arizona answered back, scoring the game tying touchdown with only :22 left.  In overtime, Jay Feely blasted a game winning 46 yard field goal to keep the Cardinals undefeated heading into their prime time, nationally televised game on the Thursday night against the St. Louis Rams.  I had the game being 20-17 Arizona and it finished 24-21...not too shabby.

8. A.L. Central Race (Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins & Tampa Bay Rays at Chicago White Sox)

Ding dong the White Sox are dead...almost.  After a very promising start to the weekend with Detroit losing and Chicago winning Friday night, it was all down hill for the White Sox the rest of the way.  Chicago was shut down as the Tampa Bay Rays rolled out Matt Moore and David Price who combined to give up just 2 runs in 12.1 innings.  The Minnesota Twins didn't help Chicago either against Detroit as Justin Verlander dominated them on Saturday and Prince Fielder hit a go ahead 2 run home run in the 8th inning Sunday.  This leaves the A.L. Central exactly as I predicted at a 3 game spread with 3 to go.  Get the champagne ready Detroit.

7. Washington Nationals at St. Louis Cardinals

In a potential playoff preview, the Washington Nationals continued to show some cracks in the mighty exterior against a quality opponent.  Their starting pitching struggled (Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler gave up 16 runs, 11 earned in just 4 total innings) and when Jordan Zimmermann actually gave them a good start, Drew Storen blew a 9th inning lead.  The Nationals survived in the Storen game, but they lost 2 of 3 and are now 7-9 in their last 16 games.  Because the Dodgers swept the Rockies while giving up just 1 run all weekend, the Cardinals didn't clinch a playoff spot and the Nationals are still stuck with a magic number of 1 because the Braves won 2 of 3 against the Mets.  Washington welcomes Philadelphia to D.C. with the champagne still on ice while St. Louis plays their main rival, the Cincinnati Reds to end the regular season with the playoff hopes on the line.

6. #25 Baylor Bears at #9 West Virginia Mountaineers

 There were no rational words to describe this game.  The scoring came easier than {insert racy, adult joke here}.  133 total points.  I pray to God you all bet the over.  Each team scored double digits in each quarter except the 3rd where Baylor only mustered 7 points.  Luckily West Virginia scored 21.  It was 35-35 at the half thanks to your average, run of the mill 67 yard (non Hail Mary) touchdown pass on the final play of the second quarter.  You name an offensive record and it was probably broken.  I had predicted the score to be 38-27, but I forgot that they play two halves and not just one in the Big 12.  Geno Smith, the quarterback for the Mountaineers, made his Heisman statement by going 45-51 for 656 yards (not a typo), 8 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.  He also added 31 yards on the ground, but who is counting?  He now has 20 passing touchdowns and only 28 INCOMPLETIONS on the season with no interceptions.  That's absurd.  Nick Florence did his best to keep pace for Baylor throwing for 581 yards, 5 touchdowns and rushing for a score as well, but the Bears ran out of time.  Somewhere between this and what the Big 10 produces is good, quality college football.  (Hint: its called the SEC).

5.  New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills

 For more than half of this game, it looked as though Buffalo was ready to take control of the AFC East and put a boot to the throats of the Patriots.  Then reality set in.  New England reeled off 35 straight points after falling behind 21-7 in about 13 minutes of game time.  In all the Patriots scorched the Bills for 45 second half points and climbed back to 2-2 along with Buffalo by winning 52-28.  My score of 27-20 New England was spot on if the game had ended after the 1st minute of play in the 4th quarter.  Somehow I keep underestimating the quality of offenses and the lack of defense in both college and pro football.  Not only did New England get 340 yards passing and 3 touchdowns from Tom Brady, but they had two running backs (Stevan Ridley and Brandon Bolden) eclipse 100 yards while scoring three times total.  Buffalo had both of their running backs (Fred Jackson and C.J. Spiller) quasi-healthy for the game, but they were held in check rushing for only 62 total yards on 21 carries.

4. New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

 What started out as a snooze fest, turned into another dramatic, down to the last play, controversial ending, classic NFC East grudge match.  The keys for Philadelphia (per me) was to involve LeSean McCoy more and he had 26 touches for 140 yards.  Michael Vick didn't turn the ball over and since both of my two keys came true it only meant that the Eagles were destined to win a close game.  Down by just a point late in the 4th quarter, the Eagles were forced to settle for a field goal after having a 1st and goal.  This left just under 2 minutes to play and Eli Manning with yet another chance to win a game late.  Thanks to a very, very questionable pass interference call, the Giants moved to within field goal range with only seconds to play.  That didn't stop them from taking one last shot to the end zone, but Manning under threw the receiver and he was forced to tackle Nnamdi Asomugha for offensive pass interference.  The Giants were now forced into attempting a 54 yard field goal which they missed.  But wait...Andy Reid called a timeout.  The Giants got a second chance and this time the kick split the uprights, but fell two yards short.  The Eagles won 19-17 which was kind of close to my 27-26 prediction.

3. A.L. West Race/Wild Card (Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics & Los Angeles Angels at Texas Rangers) 

Both of these series were incredible.  The Athletics took care of business easily on Friday night, but looked to be dead in the water on Saturday.  Heading into the 8th inning they trailed Seattle 4-1 and the half empty (shocker) O.co Coliseum crown was listless.  They scored a run in that inning, but the rally was squashed when the potential third run was gunned down at the plate.  But the 9th inning in Oakland is when the magic begins for these Athletics.  After a walk to Josh Reddick, Josh Donaldson hit a game tying 2 run homer and in the 10th inning, Brandon Moss hit the game winning 3 run homer to give Oakland its 14th walk off victory of the season.  Sunday saw the Athletics hit two more home runs in the 8th inning to break open a 2-2 tie to sweep the Mariners.  In Texas, the Angels survived a late rally to win game one of their series.  Saturday was rained out forcing the two teams to play a double header on Sunday.  The Rangers were an out away from evening the series at a game apiece when Torii Hunter smashed a two run double and the Angels won game two in dramatic fashion.  Game 3 was more of the same at the start as the Angels raced out to a 4-0 lead.  The Rangers were staring at a one game lead heading to Oakland, but rallied to score the next 8 runs.  Los Angeles hit a 3 run homer to close the gap to 8-7, but that was all she wrote.  Texas goes into Oakland needing just one win to clinch the West while Oakland needs a win or a loss by both Tampa Bay and Los Angeles to clinch a playoff berth.  With the Rangers win, they are in the playoffs as are the Orioles and Yankees.

2. A.L. East Race (Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles & New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays)

So I called for the Orioles to sweep the Red Sox. Yup.  So I called for the Yankees to take two of three from the Blue Jays (after losing game one of the 4 game set Thursday). Yup.  Nailed it.  Baltimore and New York are tied atop the A.L East (and Wild Card #1 for the matter) with only three games left.  Baltimore has by far the tougher road as they go to Tampa Bay for their games, although they will miss both David Price and Matt Moore.  The Yankees get to head home and welcome the horrid Red Sox to town.  Now nothing would make Boston fans somewhat happier than watching the Red Sox cost New York a division crown, but I don't know if the players on the field have enough talent to even make it close.  Their heart may be in it, but the current Red Sox suck to put it bluntly. They have lost 9 of 10 as they limp to the end of a disastrous season.  As much as it pains me to do so, I think the Yankees win the division outright by a game as Baltimore has to settle for a one game playoff against (probably Oakland) someone.


1.  The Ryder Cup     
 







I don't think even the most talented writer would be able to piece enough glorious prose together to give what actually happened justice.  To put it simply, the USA got beat by the better team in remarkable fashion.  After the first two days, the Americans held a very commanding 10-6 lead.  Only once (in 1999) had either side come back to win on Sunday when trailing by 4 points or more.  That lead was 10-6 for Europe and the Americans made a outrageous comeback on home soil.  This time, with the tables turned, but still on American soil, nobody gave Europe much of a chance to win away from home.  The strategy that was employed by captain Jose Maria Olazabal was to put his best players out first to try and quiet the raucous crowd.  It worked perfectly.  The Europeans won the first four matches out of the gate and the score was even at 10.  Since Europe had won the previous Cup they only needed 14 total points to retain it, while the Americans needed 14 1/2 to win it.  The next two groups split victories to keep the score knotted at 11.  The Americans took a 12-11 lead, but Europe erased that quickly winning two straight and took their first lead of the weekend 13-12.  All they needed was one more point.  It wasn't going to come easy as Jason Dufner won to tie the score at 13.  It came down to the final two matches and with Europe leading in one and trailing in the other things were looking good for them.  American Steve Stricker holed a par putt to force Martin Kaymer to sink a six foot putt to win and that's just what he did.  It was an epic collapse, but the tension was unmatched.  I had predicted a 16-12 American victory and that's how it should have happened, but sports doesn't work that way.  Win, lose or draw that's the way I like them.
  

Weekend Viewing Guide 9/28/12

This is the week that every baseball team has been working towards since Spring Training started in March.  With six games left for everyone it's time to punch your ticket to the postseason or go home.  The American League holds all of the drama as none of the divisions have been decided.  There are also no less than four teams still vying for the two Wild Card spots.  Four of the five playoff teams, including two of the three division winners, have already been decided in the National League and the final Wild Card looks to be all be sewn up, but Washington still has some work left to do and they are still vying for the top record in all of baseball with Cincinnati.

The big news in the NFL is that the real referees are back and started last night in Baltimore.  Football is much more boring when you only have to focus on the game.  Thank heavens for fantasy football or else I would have turned off the Ravens/Browns game early with the way each team started.  Outside of the ref issues it was quite amazing to have a week like the last one where Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, Michael Vick and Philip Rivers all lost.  That's a big chunk of the face of the NFL going down all at the same time, and you can't even say it was the next generation doing all the work as Cam Newton, RGIII and Andrew Luck all lost too.

College football has a light schedule, but I'm sure there will be a big upset (*Editors note* Did you see Stanford lose late last night??) and some crazy finishes worth noting.  Thankfully the PGA has the Ryder Cup going on to balance the weekend out.

Here's what I'll be watching:

10.  #14 Ohio St. Buckeyes at #20 Michigan St. Spartans

I realize this is a meeting of two top twenty teams.  But this is the Big 10 after all.  We've seen what happens to the Big 10 when they play out of conference, it gets quite ugly.  You can hype this game up as much as you want, but the fact is neither of these teams are good enough to contend.  This game will be exciting like watching paint dry.  I hate the Big 10 and I just don't know why I included this on my list.  I probably should have stuck with nine games.  The winner of this game will be zzzzzzzzzz....sorry fell asleep on my keyboard.  Michigan St. 24 Ohio St. 21


9. Miami Dolphins at Arizona Cardinals

In my NFL preview article I predicted the Houston Texans to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl.  They are both 3-0.  There is only one other 3-0 team in the NFL and that is the Arizona Cardinals.  Yup, I'm as shocked as you are.  Not only did they lose their 'starting' quarterback John Skelton to injury and had to turn to their real 'starting' quarterback Kevin Kolb (who they paid big bucks for last season, but lost all faith in him real fast and now have no choice but to play him and he is finally producing the way he was supposed to so maybe they should have stuck with him after all because that only makes financial and football sense anyways), but they have already won in New England so it might be time to take them seriously.  Their defense has been stellar as they haven't given up more than 18 points in a game.  In fact they have only given up 40 points all season which is about one games worth to us Redskins fans.  Even without the services of Skelton and newly injured (re-injured? perpetually injured?) running back Beanie Wells, this should be a cake walk for Arizona.  Miami is not very good and their only offensive weapon, Reggie Bush is injured.  They also have to travel cross country for Ryan Tannehill's second ever road game.  This game will be a blowout, won't it?  Arizona 20 Miami 17



8. A.L. Central Race (Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins & Tampa Bay Rays at Chicago White Sox)

All season long I have been sticking by my prediction that the Tigers would win the A.L. Central by 4-5 games.  It finally looks like I may be right.  After losing to Tampa Bay last night, the White Sox have now dropped 3 in a row and are 2-8 in their last 10 games.  Detroit has won 4 in a row and 7 of their last 10 to take a seemingly insurmountable two game lead with six to go.  Detroit plays only the Twins and Royals the rest of the way and at worst they will go 4-2.  Chicago is not going 6-0.  This race is...how do you say it Hawk???? O-vah!!!  You can put that on the board.  Detroit will be up by 3 come Monday.




7. Washington Nationals at St. Louis Cardinals

Two teams that have all but wrapped up their playoff seeding meet.  This will be fun to see if the Nationals clinch the N.L. East crown on the same day that the Cardinals clinch the 2nd Wild Card.  Dual celebrations!!  This is a potential NLDS match up so the advanced scouts will be out in full force trying to pick up on any trends that either team might be showing.  Rookie Bryce Harper has found his stroke again and is getting hot just at the right time.  The Cardinals welcomed back starting pitcher Chris Carpenter who has missed the entire season since pitching in Game 7 of the World Series in last October.  Saturday features the marquee match up with Kyle Lohse who is still an astounding 16-3 against Jordan Zimmermann who has been elevated to the #2 man in the rotation with the absence of Stephen Strasburg.  I think Washington wins two of three clinching the N.L. East on Sunday.  St. Louis must wait a day for their celebration.


6. #25 Baylor Bears at #9 West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia is in the Big 12.  West Virginia is in the Big 12.  It will take time to remember that one and Saturday they make their debut hosting the Baylor Bears.  Geno Smith is a star and on the young season he has 1072 passing yards, 12 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.  Baylor has replaced RGIII with Nick Florence and he has responded in kind with 1004 yards passing, 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions over his first three games.  There was a memo sent out to the city of Morgantown where WVU is located reminding fans and students to not burn any couches.  Yeah, that will work.  Let the couches burn!!  West Virginia 38 Baylor 27


5.  New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills

 The Bills have done this recently, the Patriots have not.  Last year Buffalo jumped out to a 3-0 record after beating these same Patriots at home.  They eventually climbed to 5-2 before injuries took hold and Buffalo dropped seven straight in route to a 6-10 season.  The last time the New England Patriots who are 1-2 were below .500 at any point in the season was 2003 when they lost the opening game to the Buffalo Bills.  It all comes full circle friends.  Buffalo can not only stay atop the AFC East standings with a win, but they can also put two full games between them and New England.  I realize that the Patriots aren't worried.  After all, when they started 0-1 in 2003 they still won the Super Bowl.  But if they lose on Sunday and fall to 1-3 they will be 2 games below .500 for the first time since week 2 of 2001 and that year...oh crap...yeah they won the Super Bowl that year too.  New England 27 Buffalo 20

4. New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles

Now this is an intriguing game.  Both teams stand at 2-1, but only the Giants have looked halfway decent doing so.  The Eagles have been using smoke and mirrors to offset their 12 turnovers, which is the worst in the NFL, but that won't work this week.  The Giants will take full advantage of any sloppy play by Philadelphia which in lies the key to the game.  If Michael Vick can play smart and if Andy Reid relies heavily on their best player, LeSean McCoy, the Eagles will win.  If not the Giants will roll out of Philadelphia victorious.  New York might have found their newest incarnation of Thunder and Lightning with what Andre Brown did last week and with the return of Ahmad Bradshaw.  Add that to what we know Eli Manning can do with Victor Cruz and a healthy(ish) Hakeem Nicks and mix in the emergence of Martellus Bennett and this team has the potential to even be better than the Super Bowl winning squad of last year. Final Score: Philadelphia 27 New York 26

3. A.L. West Race/Wild Card (Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics & Los Angeles Angels at Texas Rangers)

The two races very near and dear to my heart.  Oakland missed out on a glorious chance yesterday to put the fear of God into Texas.  With a win they would have closed the gap in the A.L. West to two games, but instead sit four back.  With three head to head games left in Oakland, nothing is wrapped up just yet for the Rangers but they are getting close.  It won't be easy as the red hot Angels stroll into town with Jered Weaver, Ervin Santana and Zack Greinke pitching.  Both teams are in dire need of victories (obviously LA more so) and if the Angels win two of three, the door may be wide open for Oakland to control their own destiny come Monday.  The Athletics welcome the Mariners to town which may sound good, but Seattle has been playing with heart.  Justin Smoak is on a torrid hot streak, but without Felix Hernandez pitching, I don't see them winning more than a game this weekend.  I say both the Angels and Athletics win two of three and the Athletics stay two up on Los Angeles and Tampa Bay while closing the gap in the West to three games.


2. A.L. East Race (Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles & New York Yankees at Toronto Blue Jays)

Six games left and the surprising Baltimore Orioles refuse to go away.  Not only are they leading the first Wild Card by a game over the equally surprising Oakland Athletics, but they trail the mighty Yankees but just a single game.  I could make a case for either team winning the East because what I have seen all season long doesn't make sense.  Baltimore has roughly used 79 different starting pitchers this season while the future Hall of Fame lineup that New York rolls out every night continues to be hot and cold.  Both teams have had devastating injuries, but that is not any different than the rest of MLB.  All I know is that the emotion in Charm City this weekend will be palpable.  Fans of the Orioles haven't been treated to this since 1997 and they will definitely turn out in droves to sweep away the Red Sox.  The atmosphere in Toronto will be a bit more subdued, but it shouldn't stop the Yankees from winning two of three this weekend.  Give me a tie atop the standings come Monday morning!


1.  The Ryder Cup


If you know anything about me, you know I'm a sucker for high level golf.  If you know anything else about me, you know I'm a glutton for country versus country sporting events.  The Ryder Cup gets me.  USA versus Europe in 72 hours of day long golf with three different formats.  The best golfers playing not only for personal pride, but for their country.  Yes Rory, Tiger and Phil are all there.  So is the FexEx Cup winner Brandt Snedeker.  In fact 9 of the top 10 golfers in the world rankings will be partaking in this weekends event.  Only Australian Adam Scott is missing.  This tournament is only played once every other year and as it rotates between the Unites States and Europe, its only here once every four years.  In 2010, Europe held serve by winning 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 so it is imperative for the States to respond on home soil.  On paper the United States has the edge, they have home field advantage and I think they win this one with a bit of a cushion 16-12. 

Weekend Viewing Recap 9/24/12

Even though I had a rare full weekend off from work, I found myself doing more work at home than I ever do for my actual job.  Isn't that always the way?  Saturday was community yard sale day so we lugged out half of our house and tried our very best to give away some junk.  Six hours and a bunch of bartering later we made barely enough to cover our efforts, but the house was cleaner and that was what we were aiming for.  My wife and I both let go of our childhood furniture that was being used in the guest bedroom.  We cleared room for the nursery which now needs painting...anybody willing to help?

Sunday was more cleaning.  We started in the kitchen and cleared out the pantry and all the cabinets.  Our house wins for most trash bags out on the curb this weekend.  Of course this is just the beginning.  I'm going to go room by room and gut the house of all the crap that we've acquired in the last five years.  With the baby on the way I am going to need all the room I can get for his toys and diapers and stuff.  This should be fine.

If you were like me and spent your free time doing housework and hawking junk in a yard sale you probably missed some sports.  Here's your recap on the biggest events of the weekend:

10. Houston Texans at Denver Broncos

This was a much better start for Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.  They got an early safety and field goal to take a 5-0 lead and things were looking peachy.  Then I blinked and the Texans had responded with 3 consecutive passing touchdowns by Matt Schaub and it was 21-5.  The lead was extended to 31-11 after Schaub fired his 4th touchdown of the game and this one looked to be wrapped up with a pretty little bow.  Peyton was having none of that though as he threw two fourth quarter touchdowns and with three minutes to play it was suddenly a nail biter.  Even though the Texans weren't able to run the clock out they only left Manning 30 seconds and 85 yards to score.  No miracle this time as Houston looks to be for real and continues to be my favorite to be the AFC representative in the Super Bowl.  Denver is going to be okay as Peyton continues to shake off the rust and as they are mired in a season opening gauntlet of tough games.  I guessed 30-24 Houston and got 31-25...I win.

9. Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals

 As predicted this series has been pretty even.  Of the first three games (the fourth being played today) only Friday had final inning fireworks.  The Nationals clung to a 2-1 lead before Ryan Braun and the Brewers hit him around for three runs and Milwaukee won 4-2.  Saturday was all Washington as Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond both hit 3 run, 4th inning home runs.  This was more than enough for Gio Gonzalez who notched his 20th victory of the season, becoming the first pitcher this year to do so and the first Washington pitcher to accomplish the feat since 1933.  That was done by some fringe major league pitcher name Walter Johnson.  Quite a feat Gio, quite a feat.  Sunday lived up to the name thanks to a beautiful, bright sun field that caused Bryce Harper to miss a fly ball leading to the first runs of the game as Milwaukee won to take a 2-1 series lead.  Jordan Zimmermann should even the series up for Washington if my prediction is to come true.

8. #22 Arizona Wildcats at #3 Oregon Ducks

Thanks for showing up Arizona.  Luckily I was far too exhausted to even give this game a chance Saturday night and I didn't miss much.  Matt Scott came into this game on fire and left ice cold.  He threw three interceptions including two that were returned for touchdowns as Oregon thumped the Wildcats 49-0.  Neither Kenjon Barner nor De'Anthony Thomas were able to score for the Ducks, but none of that seemed to matter.  They did have 175 combined total yards on 36 touches which while far lower than the norm were still enough to keep Oregon moving up and down the field.  The big takeaway from this game has to be the Oregon defense.  Posting a shutout in college football is tough to do.  Posting a shutout against a team in your conference is even harder and if they happen to be ranked at the time, well that's a bold statement.  Maybe the Ducks are for real this season.

7. Oakland Athletics at New York Yankees

 This series was not for the faint of heart.  Being an Athletics fan did not help.  Hating the Yankees with every ounce of my soul didn't help either.  Friday was a classic pitcher's duel between C.C. Sabathia and Jarrod Parker.  Down 1-0 in the 9th, Brandon Moss hit a pinch hit home run to tie the score up.  Russell Martin trumped that home run with a walk of home run an inning later for New York.  Saturday was probably the game of the season in MLB.  Oakland started with 3 straight doubles to take a 2-0 lead, New York scored 3 in the bottom of the half of the first.  They trade two runs each as the Yankees led 5-4 heading to the 7th when Oakland tied it up with sac fly.  Then the offenses went into hibernation.  My wife and I walked into Babies R' Us to set up our registry just as Oakland tied it up and two plus hours later we walked out as Jonny Gomes was hitting a go ahead 2 run home run in the...wait for it...13th inning.  That was followed by two more mammoth home runs by Oakland and they had a 9-5 lead.  Unfortunately they had no major league caliber pitchers left.  Three straight singles, a wild pitch, a sac fly and a home run later it was 9-9.  The 14th inning went quietly for Oakland and then they basically conceded the game by sending Tyson Ross out to pitch the bottom half.  That Yankees scored on an error with two outs and the bases loaded giving Ross his 10th loss on the season in only 73 innings pitched.  Sunday was another back and forth with Oakland taking a 3-0 lead only to see New York score 4 to take the lead right back.  Oakland tied it up and then took a one run lead in the 6th and miraculously it held up for their lone victory of the series.  The Yankees stay a game up on the Orioles in the A.L. East who are one game up on Oakland for the 1st Wild Card spot.  Oakland is 2.5 games up on Los Angeles and 3.5 games up on Tampa Bay for the 2nd Wild Card.

6. #18 Michigan Wolverines at #11 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

 Notre Dame did everything in their power to lose this game.  Luckily for them, Michigan tried even harder to lose.  It appeared as though both teams were on the take and were trying to shave points before any were even scored.  I had this game pegged as my upset special and if Denard Robinson had played even average, Michigan would have walked out of South Bend with a victory.  He threw four interceptions during the game which kept the Wolverines scoreless until the 4th quarter.  They weren't out of it, though as it was only 10-0.  This game was ugly.  It wasn't LSU vs. Alabama ugly with two pro defenses facing off, but just ugly, ugly.  Notre Dame will continue to rise in the rankings and as long as they keep passing these tests I suppose we have to take them seriously, but they had better play a lot better if they think they are going to beat an SEC team.

5. #15 Kansas St. Wildcats at #6 Oklahoma Sooners

If you were going to tell me that Kansas St. was going to get 149 yards passing and 0 touchdowns from starting quarterback Collin Klein I would have told you Oklahoma won by 30.  This did not happen.  Kansas St. used a stingy defense that kept Landry Jones in check (at least compared to his dissection of the Wildcats a year ago) and a seemingly unstoppable running attack to upset Oklahoma on the road.  John Hubert carried the ball 23 times for 130 yards and a touchdown and while Klein could throw with any significance he did have 79 yards on the ground along with touchdown.  Both of these came in the 4th quarter which had started with Oklahoma leading 13-10.  Oklahoma will now plummet in the rankings and Kansas St. will now shift its focus to staying undefeated until their trip to Morgantown to face West Viriginia in late October.  That will be some couch burning fun.

4. Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Angels

What a dud of a series this turned out to be.  The streaky Angels have caught fire again behind their pitching staff and swept away the White Sox from southern California.  Los Angeles held the potent Chicago lineup to only 5 runs over the weekend.  This included another stellar start from Cy Young candidate Jered Weaver on Sunday who earned his 19th victory with 6.1 innings giving up just a run.   Dan Haren and Ervin Santana did their part as well giving up only 3 runs over their 13 innings.  With the day off Monday, Los Angeles can even skip the scheduled start of the struggling C.J. Wilson and keep their big guns in turn.  For Chicago things could have been much worse.  After winning the first game of their series, the Detroit Tigers were promptly swept in a Sunday doubleheader by the Minnesota Twins to lose that series.  That leaves Detroit a game behind Chicago even with the White Sox on a current 5 game losing streak. 

3.  New England Patriots at Baltimore Ravens

This game will go down in Baltimore Ravens history as the Torrey Smith game.  Playing with a heavy heart from losing his brother just hours earlier Sunday morning, Smith responded with his best game of the year.  He hauled in 127 yards and two touchdowns to help bring the Ravens from behind to upend the New England Patriots 31-30.  Sure this game was not without its share of unneeded controversy thanks to the replacement refs and sure maybe, just maybe, that last second field goal leaked a little right, but when the Ravens look back it will always be remembered for what Torrey Smith was able to do.  After the Patriots scored the first 13 points, it was a Smith touchdown that got the team right and the fans back into it.  Ray Rice then took over through the middle of the game amassing 150 total yards and scoring a touchdown.  For the Patriots it seemed as though the only thing that could slow them down was their tricky play calling or the fact that they refused to run the ball to milk away the clock when they had the lead.  Both Wes Welker and Brandon Llyod eclipsed 100 yards receiving, but when push came to shove, New England couldn't get that final first down that would have iced the game.  Not only that, but their incomplete passes kept stopping the clock giving Baltimore invaluable time and timeouts to keep their hopes alive.  They took full advantage, scraping together one final drive and hitting a game winning 27 yard field goal as time expired.

2. PGA Tour Championship

Yeah about the Tiger, Phil and Rory Sunday I was hoping for...that didn't happen.  The three mega stars of the Tour combined for a +2 weekend and were not a factor at all.  Maybe that's why I didn't watch too much golf.  Instead American Brandt Snedeker came out of nowhere to capture the Tour Championship and in turn he won the FedEx title.  He's not the sexiest of names and the poor performances of the 'Big 3' certainly cost the PGA some viewers, but what it does is give another American some good feelings heading into the Ryder Cup in Chicago.  Instead of man versus man it becomes USA vs. Europe.  Yippee!  

1. #10 Clemson Tigers at #4 Florida St. Seminoles

This was fun.  This was college football of the past.  Forget suffocating defenses and playing for field position.  I wanted a Tecmo Bowl like atmosphere and by God I got it.  Twelve touchdowns and just one lonely field goal later, Florida St. emerged as true championship contender.  Sure their defense might need to be shored up a bit, but Clemson has a dynamic offense so giving up some points was to be expected.  I came in to the game watching what Tajh Boyd was going to do, but it was Florida St. quarterback EJ Manuel that left me with my jaw on the floor.  He had 482 total yards, eclipsing 300 in the air and 100 on the ground.  That's a good day at the office.  As for the game itself, Clemson held a 31-21 advantage midway through the 3rd quarter until the Seminoles reeled off 28 straight points in just under a quarter of play.  That was all she wrote and now Florida St. looks at a schedule where they have only one currently ranked team left to play and that isn't until Thanksgiving.  In between they have a tough test at Virginia Tech, but this is a very manageable schedule to weave through to get to a possible BCS championship game.  Better luck next year at becoming big time Clemson.  I had predicted a 13 point FSU win and they won by 12 so not too shabby.

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.

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 and David 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).

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).

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.

Pocket Pair 8/13/12: Weekend Recap

The first full weekend of preseason football is behind us and the two biggest casualties were lost in two completely different ways.  San Diego Chargers running back Ryan Mathews was injured right off the bat with a broken collarbone and will likely miss the first couple of regular season games.  His fantasy stock had skyrocketed in the off season with the departure of touchdown vulture Mike Tolbert from the Chargers backfield.  Now it will be very interesting to see how far Mathews drops in fantasy drafts.  If he misses just a game or two he will still end up being rather valuable, but if it stretches to a third or even a fourth missed game it would be tough to spend a 2nd/3rd round pick on someone like that.

The other player that had a really bad weekend was Miami Dolphins receiver Chad Johnson.  Arrested on a domestic abuse charge, he was released by the team late Sunday night.  New (old) name, same old dumb ass.  What little fantasy value Chad Johnson had, is officially gone now and it will be interesting to see if his career is now over.  So much for that Hall of Fame jacket Chad.

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As for what you should have watched this weekend:

6. St. Louis Rams at Indianapolis Colts

Peyton who?  It looks like Andrew Luck might have a future in football.  He looked pretty damn good against an obviously flawed Rams team, but I won't let that dampen his first professional game.  Luck finished 10/16 for 188 yards and 2 passing touchdowns including a 63 yard score to running back Donald Brown.  Both Andrew Luck and Peyton Manning threw a touchdown on their first ever pass for the Colts...just sayin'.  For St. Louis, Sam Bradford was efficiently unimpressive as he completed 7 of his 9 attempts, but for a paltry 57 yards.  You can't read much into either stat line, but at least Bradford didn't get injured...yet.  Andrew Luck will have plenty of great moments this season and he is bound to look like a rookie at times as well, so don't go too overboard just yet.


5. Washington Nationals at Arizona Diamondbacks

In a series that the Arizona Diamondbacks desperately needed to win, they entered Sunday hoping for a big start from rookie Patrick Corbin just to avoid being swept away.  Stephen Strasburg dominated Arizona on Friday night and a 5 run fifth inning by the Nationals sunk them Saturday night.  Corbin struck out 7 Nationals over seven very effective innings as Arizona ran away from Washington to salvage the final game of the series.  The loss broke the Nationals 8 game winning streak, but they still hold a 4 game lead in the N.L. East.  The Diamondbacks are five games out and in third place in the N.L. West.

4. Oakland Athletics at Chicago White Sox

This series had almost everything you could ask for in a series.  A walk off win, some bad blood, a dominant pitching performance and a player popping his shoulder in after dislocating it and the getting the go ahead hit a half inning later....say what?   Let's slow down and roll back the clock to Friday night.  The Athletics jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but three solo home runs later the game was tied at 3 in the bottom of the ninth.  That's where Jordan Danks hit his 1st career home run, a game winner for the White Sox.  Also that night both Yoenes Cespedes and then later A.J. Pierzynksi were hit by pitches.  Cespedes got hit a bit high, but just took his base like a professional.  Pierzynski who had homered earlier felt the need to stare down Brandon McCarthy the whole way down to 1st like the douche he is.  Sunday saw Chicago starter Chris Sale strike out 11 over 6.2 innings as he helped Chicago cruise to victory.  In between the two White Sox victories, Brandon Inge became a cult hero in Oakland Saturday night.  After blowing a 6-2 lead the Athletics and White Sox were tied at 6 in the bottom of the seventh.  A hot shot down to 3rd was snagged by Inge who dislocated his shoulder on the dive.  He then called time and popped it back into place and stayed in the game.  The White Sox took the lead, but the inning ended on a double play started by Inge.  He then came up in the top of the 8th after Oakland had rallied to tie it at 7 and hit the go ahead single as the Athletics held on to win 9-7.  Although he'll probably end up on the DL, I don't think anyone in Oakland will forget that effort for a long time.

3. Detroit Tigers at Texas Rangers

Detroit must have felt really good about their chances in this series after storming into Texas and taking game one behind a stellar effort from Max Scherzer and a big home run from Prince Fielder.  With Justin Verlander on the mound, the Tigers had a prime opportunity to take the series and look for a sweep.  Verlander did his part with 7 strong innings, but he was matched pitch for pitch (and then some) by Derek Holland.  The game was ended by rookie sensation Mike Olt who singled with two outs in the ninth after a lengthy at bat.  Sunday saw Yu Darvish continue his trend of pitching just well enough to get a win behind the powerful offense of the Rangers.  He threw 120 pitches over 6.2 innings giving up 6 hits, 5 walks and struck out 8 batters, but managed to only give up 3 runs.  Josh Hamilton hit a home run and the Rangers took advantage of some sloppy Detroit defense to pull away and take the series.  The Tigers lost a game in the standings to the White Sox this weekend while the Rangers gained a game on both the Athletics and Angles who each lost their respective series.

2.  PGA Championship

There's nothing like a crowded leader board on the back nine of a Major Championship in golf.  Rory McIlroy was having none of that this weekend.  After John Daly enthralled us on Thursday, he fell out of it with a bad Friday.  Adam Scott suffered the same fate with a poor Friday and couldn't get things rolling on the weekend.  Tiger Woods played very consistently on Friday and actually held the lead going into the weekend.  In years past the tournament would have been over and Tiger would have run away with it.  Well the winner won by a PGA Championship record 8 strokes, but it wasn't Tiger.  Just like he did at the U.S. Open last year, Rory McIlroy looked like Tiger Woods of a decade ago.  Once he got rolling, he didn't stop.  He showed no mercy for his competitors and matched his 8 stroke victory from his only other Major victory.


The comparisons had already started between Woods and McIlroy, but now they will be the only thing spoken about for the rest of the golf season.  Rory has two Major championships at a younger age than was Tiger when he had two.  I assume the question on ESPN will be 'Is there a better chance at Tiger catching Jack Nicklaus in Major victories or Rory catching Tiger (or heaven forbid Jack)?'

1. Men's Olympic Basketball Semis/Finals

Gold or bust.  That was the scenario for the United States once again this Olympics as it has been for at least my entire life, if not more.  2012 marked the 40 year anniversary for one of the darkest, most controversial moments in American Olympic history and it marked the 20 year anniversary of the most dominant team in Olympic history.  There has never really been an in between option for our men's Olympic basketball teams.

On Friday, Spain outlasted a sluggish start to upend Russia to move into the gold medal game.  There they would meet the winner of the U.S. vs. Argentina game.  For the most part the first half of that game was closely contested with the Americans threatening to break away, but being thwarted.  The second half is where the Americans finally put away pesky Argentina once and for all.  They outscored Argentina by 19 points and cruised into Sunday's gold medal game.

Spain is no slouch, led by Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, they have a true NBA front line.  As the game began, it was the 3 point shooting of Juan Carlos Navarro and the rest of Spain that caught the U.S. off guard.  They made seven 3 point baskets in the first half alone and trailed mighty U.S. by just a single point at halftime.  Outside of the barrage of 3's by Spain, the referees were the second most talked about item.  There were 33 total fouls called in the first 20 minutes of play.  Spain's coaching staff made an egregious error by leaving Marc Gasol on the court with three fouls and he picked up his fourth in the second quarter and didn't return until early in the 4th quarter.

Spain deserves credit, though, as even when that time came around the game was still close.  Because of the proficiency from behind the arc, the American defense was stretched out and Pau Gasol took advantage in the second half.  He scored with ease and kept Spain within arms reach until midway through the 4th quarter.  That is where the overall depth of the American squad finally proved too much for Spain.  Kevin Durant led all scorers with 30 points and LeBron James came up with a timely dunk and three point basket late to seal the gold medal.  While it wasn't by blowout fashion a la 1992, the gold is all the same for the 2012 version.

Pocket Pair 8/10/12: Weekend Viewing Guide

With the Olympics all but over, it is time to shift focus to the playoff races that are heating up in baseball and to the start of the NFL season.  August is about surviving to the stretch run for baseball teams, staying healthy for football teams and doing your fantasy football drafts for fans.

I am about 2 weeks away to draft week where my 3 leagues will get set.  In the meantime here is what will pass the time this weekend while you are doing your draft prep.

6. St. Louis Rams at Indianapolis Colts

Last night we all got to witness the start of the RGIII era in Washington.  It was rather successful, but in Indianapolis the #1 draft pick is ready to start making headlines of his own.  Andrew Luck makes his debut as Colts fans hope they have struck pay dirt once again after more than a decade of excellence with Peyton Manning under center.  In St. Louis, the Rams are only two years removed from taking Sam Bradford 1st overall.  Things started off okay, but he and the entire team regressed greatly through a myriad of injuries and bad play.  Bradford will look to begin his path back to respectability this weekend.

5. Washington Nationals at Arizona Diamondbacks
  
Over the last month it seems as though nobody has been willing to take control in the N.L. West.  The Dodgers, Giants and Diamondbacks have all been hovering just over .500 in the last 30 days and it doesn't get any easier for Arizona this weekend.  The Washington Nationals have the best record in baseball and will start the series with Stephen Strasburg on the mound.  All eyes have been on Washington brass as they have yet to formally announce their plans with Strasburg, but he sits at 127.1 innings pitched so he should be within his final 8 starts or so this season.

4. Oakland Athletics at Chicago White Sox

Even though they have cooled off as of late, the Athletics stellar play in July have put them squarely in the middle of a playoff race for the first time since 2006 when they went to the ALCS.  After this series the Athletics play 13 of 16 games against teams already with October vacation plans.  The White Sox have alternated streaks of dominance with streaks of ineptitude in the second half.  They followed a five game losing streak with a five game winning streak and after winning five of six they have lost their last two heading into this weekend.  Opening day starter Brandon McCarthy returns from the DL (again) to start the series for Oakland while Chris Sale brings his 13-3 record into the finale for Chicago.

3. Detroit Tigers at Texas Rangers

Speaking of streaky, the Detroit Tigers cannot decide whether they are really good or really average.  After winning 8 of 10 to start the 2nd half the Tigers lost 6 of 8 only to win their next 6.  Of course after losing yesterday they are now bringing a two game losing streak into Texas who are having issues of their own.  Even with better play of late the Rangers are only 12-11 since the All Star Break.  Now their next seven games are against Detroit and the New York Yankees so more mediocrity seems inevitable.  Both Justin Verlander and Yu Darvish make appearances. but unfortunately for fans not against each other.

2. PGA Championship

The final Major in the PGA takes place this weekend at picturesque Kiawah Island in South Carolina.  After the 1st day the leader board has some interesting names that should attract viewers of all sorts.  Rory McIlroy checks in one stroke off the lead.  Adam Scott has regrouped from disaster and is two off the lead.  Tiger Woods is floating around only three back.  But the news of the day has to be John Daly who posted a -4 par score to sit only two strokes back as well.  It must have been his pants:

1. Men's Olympic Basketball Semis/Finals

Starting this morning the gold medal will be decided in the marquee event for fans in the United States.  Spain and Russia meet in the appetizer with the United States and Argentina meeting for the third time in three weeks.  Save for the 3rd quarter of the second meeting the United States has only outscored Argentina by 9 points in seven quarters of play.  Of course they blew the doors off of Argentina by 25 in that 3rd quarter.  Sunday will bring the gold medal game and all expectations are that the United States will win that, but they have looked vulnerable as much as dominant at times in London.

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If you need me this weekend I'll be taking our first year players from my baseball team through the Cinnamon Challenge at our annual team party.  Last year went like this for the Falls Church News Hounds....enjoy:

Pocket Pair 8/6/12

It's a dreary Monday here outside D.C. with overcast clouds a light drizzle and yet its still overbearingly humid.  The day will get better and I'm hoping to head downtown tonight with the wife for the Screen on the Green presentation of Psycho.  Outdoor Hitchcock..nighttime, shower scene, evil mom...perfect.  That would be a great ending to a Monday.  As for the last 72 hours...let's look back at the Weekend that was.

5. Hall of Fame Game


I'll be honest, I watched the 1st two series of this game and that was it.  I know, I know you're saying 'Jason you were touting that the NFL is back!!'.  That's correct, but since I was out and about all day being a good DC tourist I missed the Olympics so that is what I watched.  The Saints drove down the field for a touchdown behind Darren Sproles and Mark Ingram which signified the end of the night for Drew Brees.  It wasn't that pretty for the Cardinals as Kevin Kolb threw a wounded duck of a pass that got intercepted on his 1st drive.  He also bruised/cracked some ribs last night so there's that as well.  Full slate of games start on Thursday as everyone in Washington will be glued to see RGIII.

4. Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays


7 runs.  That's all that was scored in this series.  By both teams.  Combined.  Each game was a shutout with the Orioles much maligned staff winning the series with two of the shutouts.  I guess the old axiom that bad pitching beats horrible hitting is true.  Baltimore and Tampa Bay continue their game of leap frog as the Orioles are now a game ahead of the Rays in the standings, but still 6.5 out in the A.L. East and a game out of the Wild Card behind Oakland and Detroit.  With the Yankees and Detroit playing each other and the Angels and Athletics playing each other the Rays (vs. Toronto) and Orioles (vs. Seattle) have a chance to make up ground against bad teams.

3.   Los Angeles Angels at Chicago White Sox


No worries about a lack of scoring when you involve to really good offenses and no aces are pitching.  The White Sox out slugged the Angels in a very competitive series.  The Angels are in the middle of a very difficult stretch of games (13 straight against Tampa Bay, Texas, Chicago and Oakland) and are 4-6 in their last 10.  Each week I have become more and more of a believer in the White Sox.  They can hit with anyone and their pitching has been remarkably better than I thought it would.  Chris Sale has had back to back bad starts and that is worrisome as he has entered uncharted territory in innings pitched and I don't know how reliable he'll be down the stretch.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates at Cincinnati Reds


I guess it took Clint Hurdle getting ejected on Saturday night to wake the Pirates up in this series.  After dropping the first two games in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh was saved with another stellar outing by Cy Young candidate (favorite even??) A.J. Burnett.  The series opened with the Reds shutting out the Pirates behind Mat Latos throwing 7 1/3 innings and hitting a two run home run to help his cause.  Saturday saw the drama that comes with a pennant chase as the Reds hit Josh Harrison (without intent it seems), but the home plate umpire felt the need to warn both benches, eliminating the chance for the Pirates to respond if they wanted to.  Clint Hurdle (the Pirates manager) took exception and tried to fire his team up by arguing, but they still fell a run short.  The lead for the Reds may sit at 4.5 games and they may have the easier schedule on paper, but the Pirates have 32 home games left to the Reds 25 home games so it still may get tight again.

1. The Summer Olympics


It was another great weekend of competition.  Michael Phelps stole most of the headlines with him winning gold in his final race and subsequent retirement announcement, but the U.S. as a whole did really well in the numerous swimming events.  Andy Murray did what he couldn't do in Wimbledon by winning on his home court against Roger Federer for gold.  Track and Field started and Jamaica was the big winners as they swept the 'fastest woman' and 'fastest men' titles in the 100m race.  This means Usain Bolt joined American Carl Lewis as the only repeat winner of gold in the 100m in Olympic history.  That in itself is impressive.  That he has done it rather easily is another feat all into itself.  The United States is looking to take gold in women's soccer and beach volleyball and the men's basketball team survived a scare as it inches closer to playing for medals.

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I can't make it through the weekend without mentioning the Washington Nationals can I?  They once again dipped into their AAA farm system, the Oakland Athletics, and traded for Kurt Suzuki.  As the longest tenured member of my favorite team it was sad to see him go, but his offensive skill level had diminished vastly over the last two years that it just didn't make sense for Oakland to keep paying him $6.5 million a year.  They had already acquired a younger, better hitting, not nearly as good defensive catcher in Derek Norris from Washington (in the Gio Gonzalez trade).  So why not keep with the plan of shedding salary and getting younger?  The Nationals have used about 36 catchers this season and while he may not hit, Kurt Suzuki immediately solidifies the position, gives veteran leadership and will continue to mold the Nationals young pitching staff as he did with countless young pitchers in Oakland.

This is another win/win trade between my two favorite teams.  I'm very happy that they continue to shuffle talent back and forth to help each franchise.  It's much better than losing players to Boston (oh BTW how's Andrew Bailey doing for you, you Boston douches?) and New York.

World Series 2014 Washington vs Oakland San Jose...I can't wait.