October 12th update

Wednesday Spotlight: Tim Tebow

• Tim Tebow. The name alone induces a wide range of emotion. There's fanatical love, undying loathing, and in some cases confusion as to why such a big fuss is being made of a guy who hasn't shown that he can throw the ball at the NFL level. Generally though, there is a widespread feeling of respect for the Denver Broncos new starting quarterback. Tebow made his name at the University of Florida leading the Gators to two national championships and two conference championships.
• Tebow is known for his unorthodox style of playing and his very orthodox style of living. As a quarterback he is wildly inaccurate and known more for his ability to run past (and over) his opponents than his ability to throw over them. As a person raised by Christian Missionaries, Tebow spent summers in the Philippines building houses and schools, and helping people gain access to clean water supplies.
• Tebow’s excellence on the field lead Florida to unparalleled heights during his four years there, winning a National Championship his first year there (although he didnt play much) and his Junior year, at which point he was already a household name. He also led Florida to two Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championships. Tebow also won a number of individual awards including becoming the first Sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, given to the best college football player each year.
• In the NFL, Tebow was drafted in the first round amid much controversy, as most draft pundits thought his mechanics were too unorthodox for success at the NFL level where defenders are smarter, bigger and faster than in college. Through his first season and a quarter, Tebow's success has been mixed. He has started 3 of the 10 games he has appeared in and the team has won two of those three starts. That number will go up as he has officially been named the starter and while his ultimate football success remains to be seen, there is no doubt that he will leave blood, sweat and tears on the field and lead by example week after week.



Cardinals, Tigers tighten respective series

• On Tuesday night, the Detroit Tigers needed to win to avoid going down 3-0 to the Texas Rangers and a lot of their hopes rested on the arm of young pitcher Doug Fister, acquired midseason from the Seattle Mariners. Just as he did against the Yankees in the deciding game of the previous series, Fister came through in a big way and has continued to pay dividends far beyond what the team could have reasonably expected of him. Fister calmed down after giving up 3 singles to start the game and allowed only 1 more run as the Tigers won 5-2 to bring the series to 2-1 Texas.
• Both teams are dealing with a rash of injuries as Adrian Beltre of the Rangers got banged up and Victor Martinez of the Tigers actually hurt himself while hitting a home run Tuesday night. Both are expected to tough it out and play but neither will be at 100%. Others are hurt as well and Texas's longest tenured player and mainstay in the lineup Michael Young, is now only 2-24 for the playoffs giving him a miserable .083 batting average.
• On the other side, the Cardinals crushed the Brewers 12-3 on Monday night as David Freese homered and Albert Pujols hit 4 extra base hits (anything other than a single) including a home run of his own. That series is tied 1-1 as the teams head back to St. Louis for game 3.
• Both series will have games on Wednesday and Thursday as baseball moves closer to the World Series.

October 10th update

Raiders win thriller to honor late owner

• The Oakland Raiders longtime owner, the outspoken Al Davis, whose catch phrase "Just win, baby" was the mantra of Raiders fans and players for decades (even if has been ignored for the past decade or so) passed away this past week at his home at the age of 82. His team came out and played a thrilling game, getting an interception with seconds on the clock and a 25-20 lead when the Houston Texans were within a few yards of the end zone for the potential winning score. After the game, Hue Jackson, the Raiders current coach, gave a heartwarming postgame speech which can be read here.
• The Buffalo Bills defeated the stunningly inept Philadelphia Eagles assisted by 4 interceptions of QB Michael Vick. The Bills are now 4-1 while the Eagles are 1-4, records which 99% of the football world would have expected to be reversed at this point before the season started.
• The San Francisco 49ers destroyed the Tampa Bay Bucs 48-3 to go to 4-1 and take a commanding 2 game lead in their division. Given that the team who won the division last year only won 7 games, the 49ers look to be well on their way to the playoffs under first year supercoach Jim Harbaugh, who as a player, was actually the last player to start at quarterback for the Colts other than Peyton Manning before this season. Additionally, his brother John is coach of the Baltimore Ravens.
• In other action, the Minnesota Vikings scored 28 points in the first quarter to get their first win, the Kansas City Chiefs set a franchise record for their largest comeback, defeating the Indianapolis Colts 28-24 after being down 24-7 and the Denver Broncos rallied big after fan favorite Tim Tebow was inserted into the starting lineup but came up just short, losing by 5 after they ran out of time on their final drive against the San Diego Chargers.


Top Seeds are out, Baseball down to four

• The New York Yankees were defeated by the Detroit Tigers after their pitcher, Ivan Nova, left their decisive Game 5 with an injury. The Tigers, on the back of two 1st inning Home Runs and timely pitching to get out of multiple Yankee threats, made their way to the League Championship Series (LCS).
• The Tigers have moved on to face the Texas Rangers, who dispatched the Tampa Bay Rays despite scoring less runs than the Rays overall. The Rangers took game one in the best of seven series against the Tigers on a game-winning home run by Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz. The Rangers, who were the AL representative in the World Series last year have been amongst the favorites all year.
• The Philadelphia Phillies fell to the red-hot St Louis Cardinals, who were only in the playoffs thanks to a late season swoon by the Atlanta Braves. Chris Carpenter pitched a fantastic game 5 only allowing 3 hits slightly outpitching his friend Roy Halladay of the Phillies to give the Cardinals a 1-0 win
• The Cardinals move on to play the Milwaukee Brewers, who took 5 games to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round. The Brewers won Game 1 of this best of seven series 9-6 aided by an offensive explosion in the 5th inning off of Cardinals Starter Jaime Garcia. The Brewers, whose star pitcher Zach Greinke started a war of words with Carpenter before the series even started, have been a fun group to watch all year and probably have the most star power of any team left in the playoffs.

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.

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.