September 30th update

MLB Playoffs start today


Now that the field is set after the unbelievable events of Wednesday's regular season finales, we're finally ready to start baseball's second season. Here's a preview of the 4 series:

Phillies vs. Cardinals: Cardinals fans were big fans of Philadelphia as recently as Wednesday as the Phillies sweep of the Braves enabled the Cardinals to make the playoffs. But now they need to find a way to score runs off one of the best rotations in MLB history. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels were #2, #3 and #6 respectively in ERA and all have won either the Cy Young award or the World Series MVP before. Roy Oswalt is no slouch either, especially as the fourth starter. The question will be whether or not the Cardinals can find a way to score some runs and shut down the Phillies talented but inconsistent hitters.

Diamondbacks vs. Brewers: On paper this looks one-sided. The D-Backs have exactly one elite hitter (Justin Upton) and one elite pitcher (Ian Kennedy) while the Brewers look like a video game team with Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, Zack Greinke, Yovani Gallardo and John Axford. But Arizona has been scorching hot (literally and figuratively) and will look to continue their great play into October.

Yankees vs Tigers: New York had the best team in the American League and has a team full of stars including 3 of the top 4 RBI leaders in the A.L. but they'll probably have to go up at least twice against a guy having one of the best pitching seasons in recent memory, Sportico favorite Justin Verlander. It will be tough to beat Detroit if they lose twice to Verlander and Detroit also has masher Miguel Cabrera and a consistent group of veterans around him in the lineup.

Rangers vs. Rays: A rematch of last year's ALDS, both teams have actually lost key contributors but return here nonetheless for much different reasons. The Rangers have
had one of the best offenses in baseball all year and have 3 young hard throwing left-handed pitchers who have seemed to get better and better as the year has progressed. The Rays led the majors in multiple pitching categories, had the second lowest starters ERA of any team in the past 20 years (The 2010 Oakland A's were 1st) and benefited from sizzling hot streaks from Sam Fuld, Desmond Jennings, Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Matt Joyce among others. The series may simply depend on which team has more guys get hot.


Big early season matchups in Week 4 of NFL


• It's been quite a few years since the Detroit Lions were pegged as part of the game of the week. However, when the upstart Lions play the Cowboys Sunday in matchup of first place teams, the winner will be on a good pace to make the playoffs. The teams are a combined 5-1 with the only loss being a late Dallas collapse against the Jets in a game they led by 14 in the 4th quarter.

• In other games, the Houston Texans high-octane offense will get a boost from the probable return of Arian Foster as they meet the Steelers intimidating defense in a matchup of 2-1 teams.

• Tom Brady and the high-flying Patriots passing game invades Oakland where the Raiders are playing football again for the first time in years... (Oh wait, they never stopped? I guess it just seemed like it). Oakland sports the #1 rushing offense in the NFL and would be undefeated if they'd managed to hold onto a big lead in Week 2 against Buffalo.

• Last but not least, on Sunday night, the Jets and Ravens will be sure to do a lot of trash talking and hard hitting in a solid matchup of playoff regulars.

Red Sox, Braves in shock after completing horrific collapses

In what can only be called a fitting ending to the epic September swoons of the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves, both teams lost leads in the 9th inning and then lost their games, only to see the teams that they were tied with in the standings (Tampa and St. Louis respectively) win their games to win the wild-card spots outright. The Rays set an MLB record for the largest comeback in September to make the playoffs (9 games) and the Cardinals tied the NL record (8 1/2 games). ESPN's David Schoenfield called it the "most shocking, unbelievable, thrilling night in baseball history." It's hard to disagree with him.

• St. Louis won an easy game 8-0 after scoring 5 first run innings over the Houston Astros but the other 3 relevant games were nail-biting thrillers.

• The Red Sox were beating the Orioles 3-2 in the 7th inning when a rain delay stopped the game for the time being. However the Red Sox had to feel comfortable as they'd dodged a few good scoring opportunities by the Orioles and more importantly, the Rays were getting clobbered 7-0 by the Yankees.

• However, in the 8th inning the Rays used a combination of walks, hit batsmen and a home run be superstar Evan Longoria to pull within 1. In the 9th the Rays still trailed 7-6 and with 2 outs, 2 strikes and no runners on base when little-used 1B Dan Johnson hit a ball down the right field line for a home run to tie the game. The Red Sox began playing again, after seeing their security cushion hundreds of miles to the south completely disappear.

• The Red Sox took their 3-2 lead to the bottom of the 9th but with 2 outs, star closer Jonathan Papelbon gave up a double followed by another double which tied the game, followed by a liner that Carl Crawford slid for but missed, allowing the winning run to score.

• Exactly 3 minutes later in Tampa, Evan Longoria hit his 2nd home run (the first being the one in the 8th inning) down the left field line. The ball only traveled about 320 feet but was hit to the shortest part of the park and just barely fair and the Rays, who already knew that Boston had lost, mobbed Longoria at home plate, celebrating their 3rd playoff appearance in 4 years.

In the National League the Braves had a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 9th as well but star closer Craig Kimbrel allowed the tying run and they went on to lose in heartbreaking fashion 4-3 in 13 innings after Hunter Pence singled in the winning run.

A few notes:

1. Crawford, who failed to make the catch on the final play of the Red Sox season, left Tampa for Boston after getting a $142 million deal from the Red Sox. Now he'll get to watch his old teammates play in the playoffs.
2. Boston had been 77-0 when winning after 8 innings.
3. David Ortiz said tonight's loss was 'much worse' than the loss to the Yankees in the ALCS on Aaron Boone's famed home run.
4. Ryan Lavarnway, the hero of Tuesday's game for the Red Sox, went 0 for 5 and left 9 runners stranded on base.
5. Dan Johnson, who hit the game-tying HR for the Rays in the 9th, was hitting .108 with 1 HR on the season.
6. The Braves lost their final 5 games, and all nine games against the Cardinals and Phillies in the second half of the season.
7. Former MVP and baseball analyst Barry Larkin said that Wednesday's baseball games were the most exciting he'd ever seen and fellow ESPN employee Stuart Scott came just short of that, saying that tonight and the night that Mark McGwire broke Roger Maris's single-season home run record in 1998 were the two greatest baseball nights he'd witnessed.
8. Houston finished with 106 losses which is the most in baseball since the 2005 Royals.
9. Longoria is only the second player in MLB history to hit a home run in the final at-bat of his team's final game to put them into the playoffs. The other? Bobby Thomson and the famous 'Shot Heard 'Round the World.'
10. The Red Sox lost 20 games in September, the most they'd lost in September since 1952.
11. The Rays will begin their postseason journey in Texas against the Rangers while the Yankees will return home to play Justin Verlander and the Tigers.

September 28th update

Both wild cards tied going into final day of MLB season
• Hollywood recently tried their hand at a baseball movie inspired by a true story but even the best screenwriters couldn't come up with a script better than this. The Atlanta Braves lost to the Phillies 7-1 on Tuesday night completing a collapse that saw them drop 8 1/2 games in 3 weeks. They had held the Wild Card lead since June 20th.

• Atlanta's collapse was eerily mirrored by the Red Sox in the American League who dropped into a tie the night before and had to scrap and claw to avoid facing a deficit on the final day of play. Rookie catcher Ryan Lavarnway hit his first 2 Home Runs. Lavarnway didn't even have much power in the minors but picked a great night to surpass expectations as Boston stopped a late rally just short, winning 8-7.

• The Tampa Bay Rays actually held a half game lead in the wild card for a few minutes before Boston finished their win after the Rays beat the Yankees 5-3. Tampa looked to be in dire straits, giving up an early lead when the Yankees loaded the bases with 0 outs in the 6th, already up 3-2. But Russell Martin grounded into a triple play (only the third in Rays team history) and Matt Joyce hit a 3-run home run in the next half-inning which accounted for the final scoring margin. Two batters before Martin's triple play, Mark Teixeira failed to score from on a double that hit the wall in center field.


• And last but not least, the only team facing a standings deficit on the day, the St. Louis Cardinals, came back from a surprising 5-0 hole early on against the worst team in baseball, the woeful Houston Astros, to win 13-6 and finally allow them to control their own destiny.


All 4 teams are basically in the playoffs already; as long as they win the know they will continue playing. Looks like MLB can start broadcasting those "Only in October" playoff commercials a bit early in 2011. To read more on the Rays-Sox drama read here or just go here for more wild card coverage





Wednesday Spotlight: Jesse Holley

In the past we have used this spot to discuss household names, well established stars, or uber-hyped prospects. This week we will do none of the above.

• Jesse Holley was a college athlete at the University of North Carolina. A starting Wide Receiver on the football team and an important bench player on the basketball team that won a National Championship in 2005. Holley was not drafted but signed as a free agent by the Cincinnati Bengals. He failed to make their team instead making the practice squad, but was cut less than a month later.

• Holley was working as a security guard and cell phone salesman in North Carolina when he heard about a reality show being hosted by NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. The former Dallas Cowboy superstar convinced the team to allow him to award the winner of his show a shot at making the team. Holley beat out 11 other contestants (and a number of others who didn’t make the show) to make the preseason roster of the Cowboys.

• Holley was relegated to the Cowboys practice squad for much of the past two years. This season though, a number of injuries at wide receiver forced the Cowboys to have Holley on their team for a game against the San Francisco 49ers on September 18th. Holley, who had never had a catch in the NFL prior to this game, caught 3 balls for 96 yards. The biggest of these was a 77-yard reception in overtime that gave the Cowboys the ball on the 1 yard-line and allowed them to win the game on the subsequent play with a field goal. Holley is a true rags to riches story proving that hard work and perseverance still pays off.

September 26th update

NFL's Week 3 Produces Surprise Contenders

• Two of the worst teams in the NFL the past decade improved to 3-0 on the season after overcoming major deficits. These two teams proved they belonged in the discussion of the best teams in the league.
• The Buffalo Bills (who were 58-102 in the past 10 years) defeated the New England Patriots for the first time in 15 tries. They were down 21-0 in the second quarter but their offense, led by former Harvard Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, hit their stride in the second half; while their defense also locked down a very high flying Pats offense, intercepting Tom Brady 4 times (for reference, Brady was only intercepted 4 times for the entire 2010 season). The Bills scored 34 points in the second half, only allowing 10 more, to win 34-31.
• The Detroit Lions (who were 33-127 in the past 10 years) defeated the Minnesota Vikings in overtime. Down 20-0 at halftime, the Lions stormed back with a very big second half to actually take the lead before the Vikings tied the game at 23 with just over a minute to go in the game. In overtime the Lions took the opening kick-off and drove almost 60 yards to put themselves in a position to allow Jason Hanson, who has been with the team for 20 years, to win the game with a field goal. The Lions won in Minnesota for the first time since 1997. They play there every year. They also started 3-0 for the first time since 1980. And yes, they also play at least 3 games every year.
• The only two undefeated teams other than those 2 are the Redskins, who will try to go 3-0 on Monday Night Football against the Cowboys, and the defending Super Bowl champion Packers.
• For the rest of the results from Week 3 click here.

LSU new #1 after Oklahoma struggles

• The LSU Tigers overtook the #1 spot in the AP poll after handily beating West Virginia, 47-21. Oklahoma on the other hand, trailed for most of the game against unranked Missouri resulting in the somewhat rare win that moves a team out of the #1 spot.
• #8 Texas A&M used a raucous home crowd to get off to a scintillating start against #7 Oklahoma State but star WR Justin Blackmon came back and started the second half on a 23-0 run to win 30-29. It was fitting justice for some Big 12 fans as Texas A&M was officially accepted into the SEC over the weekend as well.

• In other action, Alabama easily dispatched a highly ranked Arkansas team that never seems to live up to expectations, Clemson continued their hot start, sending #11 Florida State to a second straight loss, 35-31 and LaMichael James continued to set records by rushing for an Oregon record 288 yards. He already owns nearly every Oregon career record for RBs and after Saturday's effort, he moved into the top 10 in all-time rushing yards in the Pac-12 conference (formerly Pac-10).

September 23rd update

Down to Stretch run for MLB Wildcards

• The final playoff spots in each league are up for grabs and becoming incredibly close races in both the American and National leagues.
• In the A.L., The Boston Red Sox lead by 2 games over the Tampa Bay Rays and 3 games over the Los Angeles Angels with 6 games remaining. Boston has had one of the highest paid and most productive offenses all season, but their pitching has failed them of late. They just lost 3 of 4 to the lowly Baltimore Orioles after losing 3 of 4 to the Rays and have not won a series since August. They also play their last games on the road. Here are the remaining schedules:

-The Red Sox finish with 3gmaes @ New York Yankees  and 3@ Orioles
-The Rays finish with 3 vs. the Toronto Blue Jays and 3 vs the Yankees
-The Angels finish with 3 vs. the Oakland Athletics and 3 vs the Texas Rangers

• In the National League the Braves have let a huge lead almost disappear because of a slew of injuries including their two top starting pitchers, Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson. They currently lead the Cardinals by 2 games (and it would have only been 1 but the Cardinals suffered an epic collapse Thursday night) and the defending champion Giants are in lots of trouble but are still technically alive at 4 games back. Here are the remaining schedules:

-The Cardinals finish with 3 vs. the Chicago Cubs and 3 @ the Houston Astros
-The Braves finish with 3 @ the Washington Nationals and 3 vs. the Philadelphia Phillies
-The Giants finish with 3 @ the Arizona Diamondbacks and 3 vs. the Colorado Rockies

Stow Recovering after Attack

• On opening day of the Major League Baseball Brian Stow, 42, went to see his favorite team, the LA Dodgers, host in-state rival San Francisco Giants. After that game, in the parking lot, Stow was seriously attacked by (at least) three Giants fans. Stow was in a coma for a long time, and yesterday spoke words for the first time
• Stow, who has filed suit against the Dodgers for failure to provide proper security and lighting in their parking lot, has made a great deal of progress in the past few weeks. Two weeks ago he began to exhibit facial movements and has now regained the ability to speak.
• As of now, the primary suspects are Louie Sanchez, 29, Marvin Norwood, 30, and Doreen Sanchez, 31, and all have been arrested.


Week 3 of the NFL Season Bring Big Games

• The Houston Texans had big expectations this season. They revamped their defense this offseason adding Free Agent signee Jonathan Joseph and drafted pass rushers JJ Watt and Brooks Reed among others, to add to a defense that already features Mario Williams and an explosive offense led by star reciever Andre Johnson. They travel to New Orleans to take on the high flying Saints offense. Houston has started 2-0 against two weaker teams in the league, while the Saints are 1-1 after playing two of the stronger teams (Both of whom played in the NFC championship game last season). This will be the first chance for the Texans to prove that the hype is deserved.
• Monday Night Football showcases one of the longest-standing rivalries in the NFL. The surprising 2-0 Washington Redskins travel to Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys. Dallas has had some injury issues, but come in with a high powered offense, and will be the first true test of the Redskins.
• Quick hits: Two Rookie Quarterbacks square off in Charlotte as the Jacksonville Jaguars and their rookie Blaine Gabbert take on the Carolina Panthers and their surprising rookie star Cam Newton. The shocking Buffalo Bills play host to the high flying New England Patriots. Finally, the Baltimore Ravens, coming off a astonishing loss to Tennessee travel to St Louis to take on a struggling Rams team that came into the season with high expectations.

September 21st update

Wednesday Spotlight: Mariano Rivera

• It’s not often that somebody who excels at one thing is considered the best at that thing well before they are statistically at the top. This is the case for Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees. Rivera has long been considered the best closer in the history of Major League Baseball. Rivera got his 602nd save (which is the term for finishing a game when the player's team had 3 runs or less lead and maintaining that lead) which put him ahead of Trevor Hoffman in career saves.
• Rivera has long been considered the best closer due largely to his success in the post-season. Rivera was originally supposed to be a starting pitcher, but quickly moved to be a reliever. After the 1995 season, where the Yankees won the World Series, Rivera took over for John Wetteland as the closer for the Yankees. Over the next 16 years the Yankees won 5 more World Series with Rivera closing four of them.
• The thing that makes Rivera’s successes all the more impressive is that he has done it with basically one pitch. His “cutter” is a fastball type pitch that moves about 5 inches to the left at the last possible second. It is one of the most dominant pitches any player has. This pitch has continued to befuddle batters for almost 2 decades and according to Rivera basically just appeared one day while he was playing catch with Panamanian countryman Ramiro Mendoza.


Big in and out of conference NCAA games loom in week 4

• A number of terrific games headline week 4 of the NCAA's season. The best is probably a matchup of top 8 Big 12 teams Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. While both teams are still in the Big 12, this may be their last chance to make a title run as part of this conference as it may be breaking up soon.
• SEC superpower, #3 ranked Alabama plays #14 Arkansas who has a great team despite losing superstar QB Ryan Mallett to the NFL this past season. Another SEC team, #2 LSU takes on #16 West Virginia in what should be a defensive struggle.
• In the ACC, two ranked teams clash as Florida State will look to rebound after a close loss to #1 Oklahoma against Clemson, who last week became the first team to defeat Auburn since 2009. Additionally, the power running game of Georgia Tech meets possibly the most NFL-ready defense in college football of North Carolina as dark horse ACC title contenders meet to try to remain perfect.
•Rounding out the top 5, #1 Oklahoma plays Missouri, #4 Boise State plays Tulsa and Andrew Luck can take the weekend to shop for suits to wear to the 2012 NFL draft (where he will almost certainly be the #1 pick) as #5 Stanford has a bye week.

September 19th update

Big East joins Big 12 in limbo

• In the mid 2000's, the Big East lost three of its biggest football schools (Virginia Tech, Boston College and Miami) as those schools defected to join the Atlantic Coast Conference. Recently two of the Big East’s best basketball schools decided to follow their former conference mates to the ACC.
• Pittsburgh and Syracuse were granted acceptance to the ACC on Sunday after it was reported they submitted applications to join the conference on Friday. Connecticut is rumored to be frantically attempting to join Pitt and Syracuse in defecting to the ACC. These moves, if they go through, will make the ACC far and away the undisputed basketball powerhouse conference and would cripple the Big East, which used to be in the running for that title.
• While the Big East is facing danger, the Big 12 may already be on the brink of oblivion. Texas A&M university announced two weeks ago that they will be leaving the Big 12 to join the South Eastern Conference. Nebraska began play in the Big Ten this year and there has been rumors of powerhouses Oklahoma and Texas looking at their options as well. There has been controversy from the members remaining in the Big 12 who do not want to let Texas A&M out of the conference, led by Baylor University, are scared that the exit will lead to a mass exodus and the eventual dissolution of the conference.
• As with most things in life, these moves are motivated by money, in these cases by television contracts. The more marquee schools each conference can get in the two biggest college sports (football and basketball) the more they can charge for television rights, however for Pitt and especially Syracuse to abandon the Big East has already created a small uproar.


Injuries already marring 2011 NFL season

• Michael Vick had the Eagles in a good position to win but after suffering a concussion and being knocked out of the game the Falcons rallied to win 35-31 in a game that also saw Jeremy Maclin suffer a huge, illegal hit that at first looked like it could have caused a concussion.
• Speaking of injuries, no one has been massacred so far this season like the Chiefs and the Colts, two division winners last season. The Colts lost Peyton Manning for either most or all of the season and had to release former defensive player of the year Bob Sanders because of his injury history and have had WR Austin Collie suffer two (you guessed it) concussions in the past 12 months.
• The Chiefs have arguably had even worse luck, losing superstar safety Eric Berry (who played every snap last year on defense and made the Pro Bowl), Tight End Tony Moeaki who was an up and coming offensive weapon and made one of the nicest catches you'll ever see last season, tough linebacker Brandon Siler who was signed this offseason to shore up the run defense and now, the coup d'etat, Jamal Charles (who ran for 6.38 yards per carry in 2010 which was second in NFL History. All are out for the season and the Chiefs have looked shocked and demoralized, losing by a combined 89-10 to two last place teams from 2010.
• Tony Romo played with broken ribs, Miles Austin caught 3 TD passes and Jesse Holley caught a 70+ yard pass to get the Cowboys down to the one yard line as the Cowboys rebounded from a tough loss to the Jets the week before to defeat the 49ers 27-24 in OT.
• Ravens NT Terrence Cody suffered a concussion and returner David Reed had his arm in a sling after a 26-13 loss to the Titans who got production from people other than star RB Chris Johnson.
• Arian Foster, last year's rushing yards leader, came back briefly from a hamstring injury but then left although the Texans were lucky enough to get production from Steve Slaton and Ben Tate on the ground and beat the Dolphins.
• In matchups of healthy teams, the #1 draft pick of this year's NFL draft Cam Newton continued to shatter rookie passing records, throwing for 432 yards and rushing for a TD in a close 30-23 loss to the defending Super Bowl Champion Packers and Tom Brady had another great game, throwing for 423 yards and 3 TD's in a win over the Chargers, bringing him to a staggering, cartoonish 940 yards and 7 TDs after just 2 games.
• Don't forget to watch Monday Night Football, as the Giants who have lost 4 defensive backs and 6 defensive players to injury (and might be without star DT Justin Tuck and WR Hakeem Nicks) take on the Rams who have lost star RB Steven Jackson to a quad injury for a few weeks, WR Danny Amendola with a dislocated elbow, and have Sam Bradford banged up with finger injury on his throwing hand.

September 16th update

Beantown Meltdown in progress?

• On September 3rd the Red Sox had the best record in the American League and were already looking forward to the playoffs and possibly winning their 3rd World Series since 2004. But with a 9-2 loss in the opener of a 4 game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox dropped to 3-11 in September to fall 4½ games behind the New York Yankees and into a race with the once-dismissed Rays for the wild card. The Rays (who we had basically written off in our AL East playoff preview less than a month ago) have beaten the Red Sox 6 times in a row including 4 in the past week and are only 3 games back now.
• The LA Angels are additionally only 3½ and feature Jared Weaver, who will likely finish second in the American League Cy Young award (given to the best pitcher in each league) behind Justin Verlander.
• If such a talented team were to squander such a large lead and miss the playoffs, it would likely be considered one of the most incredible and demoralizing collapses for a Boston fanbase that has infamously suffered numerous heartbreaks with their beloved Red Sox.


LSU Continue Rolling to kick off week 3

• The #3 ranked LSU Tigers won their third game in as many tries, two of which came against ranked opponents. This victory was against 25th ranked Mississippi State. An extremely stingy defense (which had 5 sacks and caused 2 turnovers) was key as the Tigers frustrated the Bulldogs all night. Experienced starter Jarrett Lee lead the LSU offense to 19 points, not an overwhelming total, but enough as his defense only allowed 6 for Mississippi State.
• Saturday Night will see the second matchup of two top-5 teams this season. Number one ranked Oklahoma will travel to Tallahassee, Florida to take on #5 Florida State. Oklahoma, led by star quarterback Landry Jones looks to keep their top ranking against the dynamic EJ Manuel and his Seminole running mates.
• There are no other matchups of two top-25 teams, but #10 South Carolina hosts the perennially pesky Naval Academy, #23 Texas hosts UCLA, and #15 Michigan State travels to Notre Dame, who suffered a heartbreaking last second loss this past weekend to Michigan.

Vick in ATL headlines NFL's Week 2

• The marquee game of the second week of the NFL season is the Philadelphia Eagles traveling to Atlanta to play the Falcons. This Sunday night game will show two teams that came into the season with sky high expectations. The Eagles won last week (against the St Louis Rams) but did not look as impressive as they would have hoped. The Falcons look to bounce back after falling short, in embarrassing fashion, against the Chicago Bears last week. It also marks the first time Michael Vick has played in Atlanta since being arrested and cut from the team before the 2007 season. When asked about his return Vick said: "That’s Matt Ryan’s (Atlanta's current quarterback) house. I’m just a visitor.”
• The other big game of the weekend features two of the best quarterbacks in football as Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers travel to New England to face off against Tom Brady's Patriots. The Patriots’ record setting performance on Monday Night Football and the Chargers impressive win against the Minnesota Vikings last weekend have raised expectations that this will be an entertaining game.
• Other games of interest this weekend include the Bears trying to win an emotional game for star LB Brian Urlacher whose mother died this week in New Orleans against the Saints, the Arizona Cardinals traveling to play the Washington Redskins (the winner of which will be a very surprising 2-0) and the Rams traveling to New York to play the Giants on Monday Night Football.

September 14th update

Outstanding Individual Performances on MNF

• Monday Night Football is a staple of many schedules every fall but few games match the outstanding performances put forth this past Monday. The New England Patriots defeated the Miami Dolphins 38-24 on the back of a scintillating day by quarterback Tom Brady. Brady threw for 517 yards, which is the 4th most since the merger of the AFL and NFL (which is widely considered the beginning of modern football).
• Assisting him in this mark was wide receiver Wes Welker. Welker caught a 15 yard pass and ran all the way to the end zone. The remarkable part of this is that the play started on the opposition’s 1 yard line. This ties the record for the longest play from scrimmage at 99-yards. Obviously this record cannot be broken (as a football field is 100 yards), but this feat has only been accomplished only 11 times. Interestingly enough, one of those times was by quarterback Ron Jaworski, who is now a TV commentator and was commenting on this game.
• Not only did Brady have an astonishing game, but Chad Henne, the Dolphins QB, threw for 416 yards which combined with Brady's total set an NFL all-time record for passing yards in a game. Those weren't the only passing records, check it out here if you want to read about the rest.
• The final record tied was during the other Monday Night game (there are 2 Monday Night games during the first week of the season). The Oakland Raiders defeated the Denver Broncos 23-20 in Denver but the real news was made by Oakland kicker Sebastian Janikowski who hit a 63-yard field goal, becoming the third player in NFL history to make one from that long. Interestingly enough the second time this mark was achieved was also in Denver (the ball can go farther in the thinner air of the Mile-High City) by Jason Elam. The record was initially set by Tom Dempsey, who had his own aid while kicking the record setter in 1970.


Djokovic wins another major

• Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal on Monday's U.S. Open final, winning his third major of the year. Djokovic has already set a record for winnings in a calendar year with $10.6 million and still has a couple months left to increase that total before the tennis season ends.
• John McEnroe is calling it the greatest season ever and many agree with him. One person who stopped just short of that is his brother, Patrick McEnroe, a tennis analyst who said: “Just as a single season, I think Djokovic’s season is the best since Rod Laver in 1969.” Laver, who the Australian Open's courts are named after, was the last to win all 4 majors in the same calendar year.
• Even though Djokovic lost to Roger Federer in the French Open, what he's done this year is staggering. He's defeated Rafael Nadal 6 times in a row, all in finals, including the shellacking at the U.S. Open where Nadal had only lost a handful of sets over the past 2 years. Facing a deficit in the 5th set against Roger Federer, Djokovic returned a serve hard across the court, narrowly landing the ball inside the line despite the fact that if he'd missed, the match would be over. Federer, one of the greatest tennis players ever, was shaken and eventually lost the match.
• A couple years ago Nadal was seemingly taking the mantel from Federer with Djokovic a distant 3rd. But after this season the demonstrative Serb has put the entire tennis world in his rear view mirror (all while pulling out some funky dance moves).


Wednesday Spotlight: Justin Verlander

• Its one of the most interesting debates in baseball; Should a pitcher be allowed to win the Most Valuable Player award? Individual awards matter more in baseball than perhaps in any of the other sports, and the MVP award is the cream of the crop. There is another award specifically for pitchers called the Cy Young award (named after the man with the most wins as a pitcher). The arguments are plentiful, but generally the MVP is won by a position player and not by a pitcher.
• This year, there is a serious argument for a pitcher to be named an MVP for the first time in almost 20 years. Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers has been on an absolute tear. He has a chance to be the first pitcher to win 25 games in a single season since 1990 on a team that is likely to win their division. Verlander has been unhittable at times this year (literally), and has put the Tigers on his back. One of the things helping him is the fact that the rest of his team isnt really that good, especially the other pitchers, yet his team is probably going to win their division.
• Another factor helping Verlander is the lack of another credible candidate. Many other players have arguments, but without delving into them, all of them have major chinks in the armor. I will not go into the incredible stat line Verlander has put up this year, but if you are curious as to the argument for him winning MVP, you can read it here.

September 12th update

Serena goes on childish tirade, loses to Stosur

• Sam Stosur of Australia, won yesterday’s women’s US Open final defeating Serena Williams in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 the day after Williams beat #1 seed Caroline Wozniacki by a similar score. Stosur, who was the runner-up in the 2010 French Open, was only 2-9 in tournament finals before defeating the 13-time Grand Slam champion.
• The match will probably be remembered more for how Serena acted in the loss as opposed to how Stosur won however. Early in the second set the chair umpire awarded Stosur a point after the umpire claimed that Williams “hindered” Stosur by yelling in celebration before the point was technically over. At this point Williams was already down a set, and the call was unusual, but she went off on the judge, threatening her and going on a tirade over the course of the next few minutes in a blowup that was reminiscent of her 2009 US Open final against eventual champion, Kim Clijsters.
• After the 2009 blowup, Serena was fined a record $87'500 and was put on probation, meaning that if she was penalized again, she would be fined $175'000 and would be banned from the next U.S. Open, which as far as we can tell has never happened to anyone.

*Note: Due to weather delays, the men's final is not until Monday, so we will cover that final as well the epic Djokovic/Federer semifinal on Wednesday.


Week 2 of College Football season doesn't disappoint

• In the game of the week, Michigan rallied for 2 go-ahead TD's in the final 70 seconds, including one with 2 seconds remaining. The game came in one of the biggest traditional rivalries in college football in the first ever night game at Michigan's famed "Big House" in front of an all-time record 114'804 mostly rabid Wolverine supporters. Sounds like a snooze-fest to me...
• Auburn rallied for a second straight close victory, defeating #16 Mississippi St 41-34. Auburn dropped out of the rankings after narrowly defeating lowly Utah State the week before, marking the earliest a defending champion had dropped out of the top 25 in more than 30 years.
• On the other side, #1 Oklahoma had no game but became the first team to be ranked #1 in 100 weekly polls.
• On a scarier note, Minnesota coach Jerry Kill collapsed and had a seizure during the final moments of his team's 28-21 loss to New Mexico State. While it looked bad, people who knew him and medical professionals said it wasnt as serious as it looked and that he had a history of such events. Afterwards, the team's trainer admitted that it may have come on partially due to stress and a lack of hydration. Kill is recovering at a local hospital but is expected to be fine.


Quick Hits Covering Week 1

• Baltimore 35, Pittsburgh 7: Quarterback Joe Flacco throws 3 touchdowns as the Ravens score most points ever and force astonishing 7 turnovers against divisional rivals in an important early season game.
• Houston 34, Indianapolis 7: Texans demolish Colts, scoring 34 in the first half and never looking back. Without Peyton Manning, the Colts may be in for a very long, very bad season (which their fans have not seen since Peyton Manning's rookie season).
• Chicago 30, Atlanta 12: Running Back Matt Forte and strong defense lead Bears to major victory over one of last year's best teams, the Atlanta Falcons.
• Cincinnati 27, Cleveland 17: Big game by Running Back Cedric Benson leads the Bengals to an upset over the Browns in a matchup of Ohio based teams.
• Buffalo 41, Kansas City: 7: Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick throws 4 touchdowns leading the Bills in a rout over the Chiefs.
• Philadelphia 31, St Louis 13: Quarterback Michael Vick and Wide Reciever DeSean Jackson lead the Eagles to big victory over injury-prone Rams.
• Detroit 27, Tampa Bay 20: Quarterback Matthew Stafford throws for 305 yards leading the Lions to victory over the Buccaneers.
• Jacksonville 16, Tennessee 14: Running Back Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown leading the Jaguars to a victory over new-look Titans.
• San Diego 24, Minnesota 17: Running Back Mike Tolbert scores 3 touchdowns as the notoriously slow-starting Chargers get rare early-season victory over Adrian Peterson, new quarterback Donovan McNabb and the rest of the Vikings.
• San Francisco 33, Seattle 17: Kick Returner Ted Ginn Jr blows open close game to lead the 49ers over "defending NFC West champion" Seahawks.
• Washington 28, New York Giants 14: Quarterback Rex Grossman shines, throwing for more than 300 yards in Redskin victory over the injury depleted Giants.
• Arizona 28, Carolina 21: Panthers Rookie Quarterback Cam Newton’s record setting day of 422 yards and 3 touchdowns (2 passing, 1 running) were not enough to overcome late charging Cardinals.
• New York Jets 27, Dallas 24: Cowboys suffer epic collapse, losing for the first time ever after leading a game by 14 points or more in the 4th quarter and failing to gain new defensive coordinator Rob Ryan a win over his twin brother, head coach Rex of the Jets.

September 10th Update

NFL Puts Offseason Troubles Behind it

• After an offseason that put this weekend in doubt the NFL began its regular season with whats become an annual season kick-off event featuring the previous year’s super bowl champion (more on that in a bit). In addition to a Thursday game, there will be two Monday Night Football games and 13 on Sunday.
• One of the bigger stories over the past few days is that of Peyton Manning. Manning had the longest active consecutive game played streak in the NFL at 208 games played without missing a start. He was 91 games short of the record and many thought he would reach the mark set by Brett Favre. However, late offseason neck surgery and a slow recovery will put an end to that streak. After Manning, Ronde Barber has the longest streak at 178 consecutive games. Peytons younger brother Eli has a streak of 103 games, must be something in the water of the Manning household.
• Other big games this weekend include the unveiling of the new and improved Philadelphia Eagles and the super-team they constructed this offseason. The Eagles will play the St Louis Rams on Sunday. The intra-division rivalry of the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers will also take the field on Sunday. These two teams honestly hate each other and always play close, physical games.
• As promised, the first game of the NFL season showcased the two previous Super Bowl Champions. In a very high scoring affair, the Green Bay Packers defeated the New Orleans Saints 42-34. This game came down to the final drive, as the Saints had the ball at the 1-yard line with a chance to score and tie the game. The Packers were able to stop rookie Mark Ingram from getting into the end zone. The breakout star of the game was Packers wide receiver Randal Cobb who caught a touchdown, and also returned a kick-off 108 yards for a score. Cobb is the first player born in the 90s to play in the NFL.


NL Central Race Brewing Up

*Note: This is part 6 of a 6 part series that will break down the division races in each of baseball's 6 divisions.

• The National League Central race has been pretty much over for much of the past month. A slow start by the pre-season favorites, St Louis Cardinals, opened the door for the Milwaukee Brewers and their league best home record (50-22) to sweep in and grab a commanding lead going into the final month of the regular season.
• Led by superstar outfielder Ryan Braun (who has one of the coolest nicknames in sports) and 1st baseman Prince Fielder, the Brewers hold an 8 game lead over the Cardinals. This division was at one point a 3-team race with the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates coming out of nowhere to compete for much of the season. However, things have been going steadily downhill for the Pirates since a major blown call. Since that game in late July, the team has swooned falling way out of contention for the playoffs.
• One of the more entertaining aspects of the Brewers this year has been the antics of mercurial outfielder Nyjer Morgan. He has shown up for interviews in various personalities and costumes. These playful antics have kept the team loose and is helpful to see why they have been exceeding expectations this year.

September 7th update

Wednesday Spotlight: Stephen Strasburg

• Tuesday night Washington Nationals phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg took the mound for the first time in a little over a year. Strasburg, the first overall draft pick in the 2009 and one of the most hyped minor leaguers in many years quickly made his way through the Nationals minor league system. He made his debut to much fanfare last June but blew out a tendon in his right elbow (his pitching arm) after only a handful of starts.
• Strasburg underwent Tommy John’s Surgery (a once revolutionary procedure that is now commonplace, named for the first pitcher it was performed on) which takes a tendon from another part of the body to replace a damaged tendon. This surgery usually requires about 18 months for a full recovery but Strasburg made his return to the Major Leagues a year and 3-days after the procedure.
• Strasburg pitched well, throwing 56 pitches (he was limited to 60 for cautionary reasons) and striking out four. The decision to pitch him this season was questioned by many as the Nationals are out of playoff contention and are relying on Strasburg to be a long term player for them. Many wanted the Nationals to wait a little bit longer to ensure he was fully healthy. The results of the decision to bring him back this soon remain to be seen.


Big names fail to survive NFL Cuts

• NFL Teams had a deadline of Monday to cut their rosters (which are usually inflated throughout the offseason) down to 53-players before the start of the season. There were many surprise cuts and a few surprise non-cuts as well.
• Probably the biggest surprise cut was the Jacksonville Jaguars decision to part ways with starting quarterback David Garrard. Garrard was drafted in the 4th round of the 2002 NFL draft and had been the starter for the Jaguars for much of the past 6 seasons. Signs pointed that he would soon be out of a job as the Jaguars spent a high draft pick this season on quarterback Blaine Gabbert, but he's inexperienced, never having played a regular season NFL game. To see Garrard released while he was still the best QB on the roster is a bit surprising.
• Probably the happiest surprise was that the New York Giants decided not to cut Mark Herzlich. Herzlich, a rookie linebacker from Boston College made his return to football last year after taking a year off to fight a rare bone cancer. Herzlich, who was previously projected to be a high draft pick (top 2 rounds) slipped all the way out of the draft due to the effects of the cancer. He was a long shot to make the team but head coach Tom Coughlin said that he was impressed by Herzlich’s determination to improve and not make excuses for himself. Here's hoping he continues to impress and can channel his inner Zach Thomas and have a productive career.


Phillies closing in on historic season but Braves thriving as well

*Note: This is part 5 of a 6 part series that will break down the division races in each of baseball's 6 divisions.

• The National League East hasnt been the most competitive division in baseball in 2011 but it might be the most interesting as storylines abound. The Washington Nationals won't be relevant for a few more season when Strasburg, Bryce Harper, Drew Storen and others are ready, but those youngsters already have fans in the nation's capital excited for the future.
• The Marlins have had a couple terrible losing streaks, and on one day in particular, drew less fans to a game (Here's a teaser, it was less than 400) than a decent sized block party. But at least they have an awesome manager.
• Then you have the New York Mets, who are doing all they can to show that they should be America's team by nearly going bankrupt (bailout, anyone?)
• But it's not just woeful teams waiting for a chance to win, as the Phillies and Braves have both enjoyed fantastic seasons. The Phillies, behind Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee and a lot more high priced talent only need to win 10 of their remaining 14 games to finish the season with 100 wins, which no NL team has done since the 2005 Cardinals.
• The Braves on the other hand, have achieved their success largely due to the contributions of young players like Craig Kimbrel, Freddy Freeman and a resurgent Jair Jurrjens. While Atlanta won't win the division, they will likely win the NL Wildcard and look to give the Phillies a run for their money to represent the NL in this year's World Series.

Labor Day Half-Update

Whether you're just getting up or taking a break in between putting steaks on the grill, we're glad you guys came to Sportico this Labor Day. So without further ado...

College Football Season starts off with a bang

• Defending National Champion Auburn had a pretty good season in 2010, but this year their star QB Cam Newton is gone and they may have a tougher time. Against Utah State, who went 4-8 last season, Auburn gave up 38 points, but came back from a 10 point deficit in the final 2:07 to win 42-38.
• Boise State continued their dominance against elite competition, defeating 19th ranked Georgia 35-21 behind 3 TD passes from Heisman hopeful Kellen Moore. The fact that this team (which has lost approximately 3 games since the Nixon presidency) continues to get overlooked for national championship contention is one of the reasons why, in my opinion, college football is a joke.
• The other small conference team which has dominated for the past few years is TCU, however they look like they may struggle a bit this year after their previously vaunted defense gave up 359 yards and 5 TDs to Baylor QB Robert Griffin III (who is being called a more refined Michael Vick) and a fantastic Baylor offense. The Horned Frogs nearly came back, but fell just short, losing 50-48.
• Skip Holtz returned victoriously to Notre Dame where he starred and his father coached, but this time from the visitor's locker room. His South Florida Bulls came in as a big underdog but defeated the Fighting Irish 23-20 in Holtz's first game as head coach.
• And in the most hyped game of the week, #4 LSU beat a sloppy looking #3 Oregon 40-27, whose 2011 season begins more like their 2009 season (which started with their star RB punching an opposing player) then their 2010 season, in which they were seconds away from OT in the national championship game.


*Our condolences to the family of NFL great Lee Roy Selmon (pictured), who passed away on Sunday following a stroke. The former #1 draft pick and defensive player of the year for the Bucs was 56 years old.

September 2nd update

Third NHL player takes own life this off-season

• Wade Belak, who most recently played with the Nashville Predators was found dead in his apartment on Wednesday. Preliminary (Sportico stresses these are preliminary findings) show that Belek took his own life. If these shocking reports are true, the affable player, described by his teammates as happy-go-lucky, becomes the third player this offseason to take his life.
• In May, Derek Boogaard was found dead in his Minnesota home. Toxicology reports showed a high level of alcohol and painkillers in his system at the time of death. Earlier in August, Rick Rypien was found dead in his home. There was no official cause of death, but Rypien had a history of depression and some have speculated that he also took his own life.
• These three players are what are known in hockey as “enforcers,” big tough guys who make sure that their smaller teammates are not picked on by the other team, playing more physically and often getting into brawls on behalf of their team.
• While other sports have made strides to cut down on concussions (and more importantly their after effects) that have lead to brain damage and depression which raises the chances of suicidal tendencies, the NHL hasn't taken too many efforts. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said, in response to these tragedies, the league will start looking into joining their pro sports brethren in trying to remedy this issue for the hockey community as a whole.


DBacks running away from defending champs in NL West

*Note: This is part 4 of a 6 part series that will break down the division races in each of baseball's 6 divisions.

• Now that we've completed our reviews of the American League divisions, it's time to move to the National League and where better to start than with the NL West, the home of the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants?
• The Giants made a big move at the trade deadline, dealing for Carlos Beltran but despite terrific starting pitching, the hitters haven't been up to par. The Giants are last in the MLB with only 460 runs scored as of September 1st. The Giants havent been able to recover from the injury of superstar catcher Buster Posey early in the season.
• The team taking charge is the Arizona Diamondbacks who have finished in last place in the division each of the past 2 years but have come back with a surprising resurgence this season behind the stellar play of Justin Upton and an extremely consistent top 4 in the pitching rotation.
• As for the other teams, the Padres lost their only real star (Adrian Gonzalez) in free agency to the Red Sox, the Rockies haven't had the same production in 2011 as they had in 2010 from their Gonzalez (Carlos). The last team, the Dodgers, despite not having to pay anyone with the Gonzalez surname have had too many distractions with the financial issues of their owner who now has a $1.2 Billion offer to buy the team, submitted by the LA Marathon founder Bill Burke, and numerous investors, including some from China.