Halloween update

Cardinals Capture Their 11th World Series

• On Friday night, the St. Louis Cardinals won their second World Series in 6 years defeating the Texas Rangers in game 7. The 11th championship in the franchise’s history; putting them second on the list of franchises championships. This game may be the last played by Albert Pujols as a Cardinal, as he is a free agent this offseason and will be looking for a big contract. Cardinals Hall of Fame Manager Tony LaRussa won the third World Series of his storied managerial career.
• The Cardinals sent their ace Chris Carpenter out, thanks to a rain day last Wednesday that pushed the game out a day which allowed Carpenter to get enough rest after pitching in game 5. The Texas Rangers tagged Carpenter early with 2-runs in the first inning as all 4 of the first 4 Texas hitters reached base. Things were not looking good for the Cardinals and the Rangers were looking good after a devastating loss the night before.
• However, the Cardinals tied the score in their half of the inning and went onto score another 4 runs. After the slow start Carpenter settled in and pitched through the 6th inning without giving up another run. David Freese, the hero of game 6, was named the MVP of the World Series. He is the 6th player in the history of baseball to be named the MVP of both the World Series and the League Championship series (the semifinals).
• While the Series win was a treat for the Cardinals, it was definitely a cruel trick for the Rangers who would have won the Series if, among other things, Nelson Cruz had simply caught David Freese's deep fly ball. It may or may not be the most debilitating collapse in American sports history and for a franchise that's never won a World Series, it will certainly be tough to swallow.

Major upsets in NFL, college football


• The last weekend in October was a big one for a number of teams, and many failed to answer the call. A week after #3 Oklahoma suffered their first loss, they played undefeated #8 Kansas State and after K-State took a 17-14 lead, they forgot to continue playing and let Oklahoma steamroll them, 58-17.
• The Clemson Tigers were also undefeated and looking for a BCS Title game possibility but they got beaten soundly, 31-17, by Georgia Tech whose well run triple option offense gives defenses firs because it is so rare and unconventional in today's game.
• Stanford nearly suffered a similar fate as it's fellow top 8 contemporaries but barely escaped with a 56-48 win in triple overtime against Southern Cal. Andrew Luck's Cardinal are now the 4th ranked team in the BCS standings and with #1 LSU and #2 Alabama playing each other next week, will likely move up to #3 after that game. Oklahoma State sits at #3 currently.
• In the NFL, the woeful Arizona Cardinals jumped out to a 24-3 lead over the Baltimore Ravens but former Cardinals star WR Anquan Boldin (7 catches for 145 yards) and his new team, the Ravens, avoided a second straight bad loss by beating the Cardinals 30-27 with a late rally.
• The New York Giants fell behind the winless Miami Dolphins 14-3 early but ended up rallying for a 20-17 win. The St. Louis Rams, however, did manage to get their first win after jumping off to a huge lead against the Saints and holding on for a 31-21 win. The fact that the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in baseball can't be completely written off as a reason for this win as that victory gave the entire city a morale boost.
• In what could only be called a mild upset, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New England Patriots 25-17 after leading nearly the entire game. The Patriots were 5-1, considered by many to be the best team in the NFL and Tom Brady sported a 6-1 career record against the Steelers but all those stats meant nothing today as Pittsburgh and QB Ben Roethlisberger dominated the game that really didn't seem as close as the score indicated.

October 28th update

Cardinals "Freese" Rangers' World Series celebration

• In what can only be described as one of the craziest baseball games in World Series history, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers in mind-boggling fashion Thursday night, 10-9 in 11 innings to force an all-or-nothing game 7 of the World Series.
• The Cardinals came back from 4 different deficits including a 2 run deficit in the 9th inning when David Freese hit a game-tying triple and another 2 run deficit in the 10th inning when an RBI groundout and RBI single by Lance Berkman (who had 3 RBI's, 4 runs and 3 hits including a home run) gave them new life again. Freese then ended the game with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the 11th. St. Louis trailed 7-4 in the 7th inning and got one run back in the 8th on a Alan Craig solo HR but left the bases loaded without scoring another.
• St. Louis was twice down to the final strike but both times managed to come through to defeat the Rangers who now know what the 1986 Boston Red Sox, the only other team to get within 1 out of a World Series victory without winning the game, felt like.
• I've always heard that the Red Sox were doomed to lose Game 7 in 1986 as soon as they completed their collapse in Game 6. Now we'll get a once in a generation chance to see if the Texas Rangers can survive the emotional turmoil and come back to win the Series one day after letting a near-perfect chance slip through their hands. Game 7 is tonight at 8:05 in St. Louis with Matt Harrison of the Rangers opposing Chris Carpenter of the Cardinals.


Storylines for Weekend of Football

• NFL Game of the Week – New England Patriots at Pittsburgh Steelers: After a slow start to the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have found their winning ways again. Slow is not a word that has been used to describe the Patriots this year. They have been the most prolific offense so far this season. One of thebest offenses of the past decades (the Patriots) will be facing off against one of the best defenses of the past decade in this week’s game of the week.
• The other Pennsylvania team, the Philadelphia Eagles thought they had a trade last week with the Detroit Lions. The Eagles were going to trade Running Back Ronnie Brown to the Lions in exchange for Running Back Jerome Harrison. One of the important formalities in a trade, is a physical. All players must pass the physical in order for the trade to be consummated. Harrison failed his physical (and the trade was then voided) when it was found that he had a brain tumor. He has since had surgery to remove the tumor and is recovering. It is possible that the trade saved his life because the tumor would not have been found had the trade not been agreed upon.
• College Game of the Week Part I – Michigan State Spartans at Nebraska Cornhuskers: The #11 Spartans, who are coming off of a crazy victory on a last second Hail Mary against the previously undefeated Wisconsin Badgers, travel to # 14 Nebraska. The Spartans are looking to continue to crash the BC S championship party.
• College Game of the Week Part II – Oklahoma Sooners at Kansas State Wildcats: The Sooners are looking to recover from their first loss of the season, 41-38 to Texas Tech last week. Surprisingly to many, Kansas State, a team with little championship aspirations coming into the season is that one looking to stay undefeated and have a chance at a Big 12 or National Championship game appearance.
• On Thursday night, #17 Houston fell behind Rice 17-7 but then Quarterback Case Keenum and Houston's offense went, to use technical terminology, completely bonkers. Keenum threw for 9 Touchdowns, setting a record not for a game, but for a career in the NCAA. Here is the list of Passing TD's by QB's all-time:

Case Keenum*	138	Houston (07-11)
Graham Harrell	134	Texas Tech (05-08)
Colt Brennan	131	Hawaii (05-07)
Kellen Moore*	123	Boise State (08-11)
Ty Detmer	121	BYU (88-91)
*Active

October 26th update

Check out the late-posted NFL recap from Monday's update.


Wednesday Spotlight: Theo Epstein

• Theo Epstein, aka the Boy Genius, was announced as the General Manager of the Chicago Cubs this past week. Epstein who was the former GM of the Boston Red Sox, and helped them break their 86-year World Series drought, is now taking on the only team with a longer drought. The Cubs have not won a World Series since 1908.
• Epstein is a follower of sabermetrics, the policies popularized in the book (and movie) “Moneyball” by Oakland GM Billy Beane, to whom Epstein was an assistant. Sabermetricians basically have found a new way of looking at baseball statistics to find players who were undervalued by the rest of the league. Oakland had a small budget so finding these players was paramount to the teams they had in the early 2000s, where they were remarkably successful. This revolutionary statistical analysis rocketed Beane to stardom, and he brought a few of his subordinates with him, including Epstein.
• Beane’s footprint also includes Paul De Podesta, who is the VP of Player Development for the New York Mets, Sandy Alderson who is the GM for the Mets, and Epstein. Beane’s discoveries were ironically cut out from under him with the publication of Moneyball and the subsequent spreading of sabermetrics. Teams with bigger budgets were able to outbid Beane for the services of the players he had found although Oakland continued (and still does) to find new players who cost a fraction of the game's "name" superstars.


Rangers look to clinch first World Series tonight

• The Texas Rangers, who won exactly one playoff game in their first 38 years in Texas (until the 2010 season) are now one win away from winning the World Series the year after winning their first American League pennant.
• The St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa committed an extraordinary blunder after twice failing to communicate to his bullpen that he wanted closer Jason Motte to be ready to face a Texas hitter in the right situation. When he realized that Motte wasn't ready to face Rangers catcher Mike Napoli, La Russa had no choice but to leave in a pitcher who did not match up as well and Napoli hit a bases loaded double to essentially end the game.
• The series has been a pitching performance for the ages with the staggering exception of game 3. Game 3 was won 16-7 by the Cardinals but even the Rangers 7 runs in that game surpass the TOTAL from both teams in ANY other game. The Cardinals have only averaged 1.5 runs per game in the other 4 and if they intend on winning the World Series they'll need to garner more run support for their fantastic pitchers in Games 6 and 7, both of which will be in St. Louis because the National League won the All-Star game this year, giving the National League the homefield advantage in the Series no matter who the team was.
• Game 6 will feature pitchers Colby Lewis for the Rangers and Jaime Garcia for the Cardinals, the two pitchers who pitched very well in a 2-1 Texas victory in Game 2. Garcia left with a 1-0 lead but Texas scored 2 runs in the 9th inning. Despite playing in over 100 World Series games, the Cardinals had not (and still haven't) been on either side of a 1-0 game.


Basketball Crazy Shot Bonus

Tired of hearing about the NBA lockout? Remember when basketball was still fun and was just about putting the ball through the hoop? Enjoy these amazing shots to start your day as suggested by a loyal reader. In no particular order:

Rudy Fernandez's canasta impossible
Isaiah Rider's play of the decade
Blake Hoffarber's shot from his back
Jordan Snipes' full court football toss buzzerbeater to win the game
Reggie Miller scoring 8 points in 9 seconds in possibly the greatest playoff performance ever.
MJ getting in an opponent's head by taking (and making) a Free Throw with his eyes closed.
Dr. J's baseline scoop, easily the greatest layup of all time.
A montage of shots made by Steve Nash's former backup Goran Dragic in the 4th quarter of a playoff game against the Spurs. I won't give away the total number of points Dragic scored in the quarter, but it's more than 22.
Uh-oh Kings fans... look away before it's too late.
Fake video but fun to watch shots by Lebron

October 24th Update

World Series all Knotted Up

• After four games the World Series picture is no clearer than it was when it started. Young pitcher Derek Holland pitched the Texas Rangers to a win in Game 4 tying the series up 2-2.
• The St Louis Cardinals won game 1 in a pitching battle with Chris Carpenter outperforming CJ Wilson. Game 2 played out the exact opposite. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead to the 9th inning in Game 2, the Rangers got a hit, stole a base, another hit and two consecutive sacrifice hits to bring in two runs to win Game 2 2-1.
• Game 3 was an offensive explosion with the Cardinals winning on the back of Albert Pujols. Pujols, who has been widely written about in this venue, tied a World Series record by hitting 3 home-runs in a single game.Catcher Yadier Molina added 4 run's batted in as the Cards beat up on the Rangers 16-7. The Rangers figured out how to quiet the Cardinals in Game 4. Derek Holland only gave up two hits while pitching 8 1/3 innings (both were to the same player, Lance Berkman).
• Game 5 is Tonight, featuring the star studded pitching lineup from Game 1 (Carpenter v Wilson). Game 6 is Wednesday Night and that will feature the pitchers from Game 2 (Jaime Garcia v Colby Lewis). Game 7 (if necessary) will be Thursday, with the pitching match up still not set.
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Blowouts all over the place in NFL's week 7

* The Oakland Raiders acquired QB Carson Palmer on Tuesday but the Palmer era is off to basically the worst start possible. After telling Palmer he wouldn't play against division rival Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders inserted Palmer for the second half after starting QB Kyle Boller threw 3 interceptions en route to a 14-0 halftime deficit. Palmer responded by throwing 3 interceptions as well and the 6 total picks set the Chiefs all-time record. Palmer later said that he did not know he would be playing until minutes before he went in and that he only knew 10% of the playbook. The Chiefs only had 1 of their 4 TD's scored by an offensive player (2 INT's returned and a running score by defensive back Javier Arenas).
* The Indianapolis Colts have been bad this year without Peyton Manning but he doesn't play defense so the fact that they allowed an NFL record 62 points to the New Orleans Saints is embarrassing no matter how good Drew Brees's team is. Brees was nearly perfect completing 31-35 passes for 5 TD's. He has 5+ TD games which puts him 3rd on the active list in that category. Only 3 other games have had the winner score 62 points and only 3 games have had a 55 point margin of victory (the final was 62-7).
* The Houston Texans gave the Tennessee Titans a giant dose of Arian Foster who has proved that the anti-awesomeness is gone from his hamstring by gaining more than 100 yards each rushing and receiving and 3 total TD's. The Texans won 41-7 in their big matchup and now look like the only team capable of winning the AFC South. Perceptions change week by week though so stay tuned.
* Tim Tebow and his Denver Broncos who we've mentioned earlier looked to be getting blown out by the hapless Miami Dolphins. But despite being down 15-0 with less than 3 minutes, Tebow engineered a late comeback to tie the game with seconds left and the Broncos won in overtime on a Matt Prater Field Goal. The comeback will add to the already massive Tebow legacy in his first game as the official starter and all but sealed the fate of Dolphins coach Tony Sparano who has seen his team go from a playoff contender to among the worst in the entire NFL.

October 21st Update

 NFL Week 7 Storylines

• How will new quarterbacks fare: The Washington Redskins (John Beck), Minnesota Vikings (Christian Ponder) and Oakland Raiders (TBD) will be starting new quarterbacks this Sunday. The Redskins and Vikings will be making a switch due to their original quarterback’s ineffectiveness. The Raiders are forced to make a change after their entrenched starter broke his collarbone this past weekend.
• Who’s running the Raiders?: After the death of owner/generalmanager Al Davis the first move made by Oakland was a questionable one. Trading two high draft picks for Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer (pictured). Palmer had made it clear he wanted out of Cincinnati and was willing to retire rather than play for the Bengals.  Palmer, who was once highly touted, had been performing poorly recently, and thought a change of scenery would be beneficial. Oakland has refused to say who would be starting this week, but Palmer’s 2 days of practice may make him better off than other Oakland options
• Game of the Week: San Diego at New York Jets. The Jets are coming off of a less than inspiring victory over Miami on Monday Night Football. The Chargers are not off to one of their patented slow starts, and are looking to improve on a 4-1 record.

NCAA Football Storylines:

• Can Auburn (#20) slow down LSU (#1) : LSU continues to roll through competition, Auburn is their next target. The battle of the Tigers (both team’s mascots) will feature two of the more successful college teams over the past decade totaling 3 championships in that time span.
• Wisconsin Badgers (#6) travels to Michigan State (#18): The Spartans are coming off of a big victory over the Michigan Wolverines. The Badgers, ranked 6 in the country, are looking to continue their pursuit of the position LSU holds.
• Washington Huskies (#25) at Stanford Cardinals (#8): As briefly touched on last week, the Cardinals are lead by superstar quarterback Andrew Luck, host the surprising Huskies. The Huskies have been one of the worst teams in the past few years, but are experiencing a resurgence under coach Steve Sarkisian.

Stay tuned for a baseball update on Monday

October 19th Update

World Series Starts Tonight

• Chris Carpenter will take the mound tonight, at 8:05, as his St Louis Cardinals take on the Texas Rangers in this year’s World Series (Major League Baseball’s championship). This best-of-seven series begins tonight. CJ Wilson will be the starting pitcher for the Rangers in Game 1. However, both teams are known more for their batting lineup than for their pitching and defense.
• The Cardinals, who last won the World Series in 2006, are lead by All World 1^st baseman Albert Pujols. Pujols, who has had a subpar year (by his standards) after a slow start to the season, may be playing his last games for the only team he’s ever played for, as his contract is up this year and he has been unwilling to speak about an extension since the season started in April. Outfielders Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman will aid Pujols in trying to tame the Rangers pitching staff.
• The Rangers are lead by Outfielder Josh Hamilton and 1^st Baseman Michael Young. This lineup has been very powerful having hit 210 Home Runs and slugging .460, both of which are second in all of baseball for this year. A couple of midseason trades bolstered the Ranger’s pitching staff, and make them the favorites to win the series. Do not expect this series to be a quick one though, both teams are good and this should go at least 6 games, if not the full 7.

Wednesday Spotlight: Josh Hamilton: The All-American Story

•  Josh Hamilton was the first overall pick in the 1999 Major League Baseball draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He was considered one of the best young baseball players to enter the league in a very long time. He rapidly moved through the Devil Rays’ farm system. Before the 2001 season Hamilton and his parents were involved in a car accident, whether a catalyst or not, through 2001 Hamilton developed a drug and alcohol problem.
• Suffering through injuries and negative effects of the substance problems, Hamilton was out of baseball by 2004. Hamilton, with help from a former Minor League manager, worked hard at rehab, with not only his substance issues but also getting back into baseball shape. Hamilton also went to God in order to beat his addictions. Beginning in the middle of 2006 Hamilton began playing baseball.
• In 2007 Hamilton, by this time a member of the Cincinnati Reds, was in the Major Leagues and playing full time. At the end of the ’07 season the Reds traded Hamilton to the Texas Rangers. 2008 was Hamilton’s breakout year as he made his first All-Star game. During the 2010 season, Hamilton was elected MVP of his league, as the Rangers went to the World Series for the first time.
• Hamilton had everything, drank and smoked it away, turned everything around and is now on top of the baseball world. A position many expected them to be many years ago. Now Hamilton is mentoring young kids and crushing opposing pitchers. Hamilton and the Rangers are in the World Series again this year as the favorites over the St Louis Cardinals

October 17th update

R.I.P Dan Wheldon

• One of the most well liked and well respected drivers in the Indianapolis Car Racing Circuit died on Sunday after a wreck on the 13th lap of the final race of the season. Dan Wheldon won the 2005 and 2011 Indianapolis 500, and had spent most of this season racing in Europe. Ironically, the reason he even won the 2011 Indy 500 was because rookie racer J.R. Hildebrand crashed into the wall on the final lap, even though nobody was around him.
• This was only the 3rd race Wheldon has run this year in the Indy Car Circuit, and he was only in it because of a $5 million prize given as incentive to get big named drivers to drive in this new race. The sponsors of the race did a lot of promoting and were hoping for this to be a big positive event. Instead the race was ended after only 12 laps after the wreck.
• The crash, which involved 15 cars total, started in front of Wheldon, and the video stream of the race actually was coming from Wheldon’s car when the crash began. Here is the video but be warned, it may be a bit disturbing.


Tough day for coaches in NFL's week 6

• The San Francisco 49ers handed the Detroit Lions their first loss of the season in a 25-19 victory. There was some controversy after the game as 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh gave Lions coach Jim Schwarz a bit of an overexuberant back slap and yelled profanities (not directed at Schwarz). The Detroit coach took exception to it and chased Harbaugh down where both teams got into each other's faces. A similar altercation happened after Harbaugh's Stanford team beat highly ranked Southern Cal a few years when Pete Carroll was the coach of USC. Carroll is now the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, a divisional rival of the 49ers.
• The Tampa Bay Bucs recovered from a 45 points drubbing the week before and moved into a tie with the New Orleans Saints atop the NFC South with a 26-20 win, however Saints head coach Sean Payton suffered a torn MCL when one of his own players was tackled into him. Also, Bucs defensive backs coach Jimmy Lake tore his patellar tendon jumping up to celebrate an interception in the second quarter.
• The New England Patriots won the most exciting game of the day, defeating the hard-luck Dallas Cowboys 20-16 on a TD reception by Aaron Hernandez with 22 seconds left. No coaches were harmed in the playing of this game!
• The Green Bay Packers scored 24 points in the first half against the hapless Rams and then took the second half off, as neither team scored after halftime. The first half surge included a 93 yard touchdown pass from Aaron Rogers to Jordy Nelson, career longs for each.

Check in Wednesday for a special spotlight as well as our preview of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers.

October 14th update

NBA Lockout officially causes games to be canceled

• Big news was made in the NBA this past week when it was made official that the first two weeks of games would be canceled, the first time NBA games have been missed in 12 years. The biggest game during that span was the New York Knicks @ the Denver Nuggets, which would have been Carmelo Anthony's first ever visit to Denver as an opponent (he was traded to the Knicks last season).
• Missing two weeks of games would be the best-case scenario for the league though. A federal mediator has been called in to attempt to draw the sides closer on Tuesday but every talk so far has apparently been a complete failure and there's talk now of having to cancel the Christmas Day games which are basically the NBA's equivalent to Thanksgiving Day games for the NFL.
• There's a possibility that the entire season could be canceled, especially as many players have signed contracts to go play overseas, meaning they will not feel pressured to settle for a subpar deal, such as the one the NFL players were forced into to end the NFL lockout (for what it's worth, I sided with the players in the NFL but the owners in the NBA).
• We're big NBA fans here at Sportico but we think that the fans should become more vocal in speaking out against this silly lockout, where both sides are looking for a bigger slice of a $4.3 billion pie amidst a struggling U.S. economy. And we're not alone.



NFL Week Lacks Marquee Games, Compensates with Storylines

• How legit are the 9ers? The San Fransisco 49ers are coming off of a 48-3 smack down of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that turned a few heads. This week they face another big test as they travel to the Motor City to take on the undefeated Detroit Lions. New coach Jim Harbaugh looks to continue his astonishing 4-1 start against a potent Detroit team. It should be noted that the Bucs won on Monday Night Football the week before they played San Fran just as Detroit did last week.
• Who will win the shootout in New England? When the Dallas Cowboys travel to New England to take on the Patriots don’t expect much defense. Both team feature highly effective offenses and equally inept defenses. This mix, along with the offensive wizardry of their coaches should make this a fun game to watch.
• Suck for Luck: The big prize in this coming year’s NFL draft is expected to be Stanford Quarterback Andrew Luck. Supposedly the most polished quarterback prospect coming out of college since Peyton Manning. As the first pick in the Draft goes to the team with the worst record many fans have been hoping their team “Sucks for Luck.”
• There are currently three teams with no wins, and 6 more with only one. Now some of these teams (the St Louis Rams and Carolina Panthers for instance) would not select Luck because they have established young quarterbacks, but they would expect to get a lot in the trade market for such a coveted prospect. The Dolphins may be the best destination for luck as they play in a big market and have tons of talent on offense with Brandon Marshall, Reggie Bush and Jake Long (one of the best linemen in the game to protect Luck).


NCAA's Week 7 Should Answer Questions

• How good are the Oklahoma State Cowboys? The 5-0 Cowboys are less hyped than their in-state rivals, the Oklahoma Sooners, but they are ranked #6 in the country and are lead by stud wide receiver Justin Blackmon. They have been wiping the floors with their opponents throughout the season (defeating Kansas 70-28 this past weekend), but a trip to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns should prove to be a slightly more telling task.
• Who’s the best in Michigan? The Michigan Wolverines travel to take on their instate rivals Michigan State on Saturday. The undefeated Wolverines are ranked #11 while the Spartans of Michigan State are ranked #23. The Wolverines, lead by Sophomore quarterback sensation Denard Robinson began the season unranked, but are now in contention for a conference title, their first in over a decade.
• Can Oregon recover? After a tough defeat to start the season (to what is looking like the best team in college football in the past 5 years, LSU) the Oregon Ducks have been unstoppable. Never scoring less than 40 points, and outscoring their opponents by 151 points in the past 4 weeks. Currently ranked #9 in the country, the Ducks are trying to reclaim their spot as a championship contender, it will take more than a few wins, as there are a number of undefeated teams that may take precedence at the end of the day and they may have to do so without superstar RB Lamichael James for a game or two as he is nursing an arm injury.

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.

October 7th update

Look for a special update Sunday morning wrapping up the MLB's Divisional Series round.


Week 5 of the NFL Season produces playoff rematches

• Two rematches of playoff games from last year headline Week 5 of the NFL regular season. The New York Jets travel to play the New England Patriots, and the Green Bay Packers travel south to play the Atlanta Falcons
• The Jets defeated the Patriots 28-21 on January 16th of this year in what was considered a major upset to go to their second straight conference championship game. Since then the two team’s have gone in different directions. The Patriots have come out firing this season achieving a perfect, 4-0 record, while the Jets have been slow out of the blocks starting the season 2-2 (and they would be 3-1 if not for a major collapse by Dallas in Week 1). Criticism has rained down on Jets QB Mark Sanchez and Coach Rex Ryan, but they are shrugging it off looking to right the ship going forward.
• The Atlanta Falcons are looking to avenge an embarrassing loss from last year’s playoffs. The Packers beat down the Falcons 48-21 on January 15th and kept right on winning. They have won all 6 games they have played since then (including the Super Bowl). While the Packers are 4-0 the Falcons have struggled off to a 2-2 start. The Falcons upgraded their team during the offseason and were amongst the favorites coming into this season. So far they have no lived up to expectations.
• On Monday night, the undefeated Lions host the defending divisional champion Bears in a game which (sadly) will mark the beginning of the post-Hank Williams Jr. era as the singer's famous "Are you ready for some football?" intro will be permanently canned due to politically incorrect comments he made during the week.


Big NCAA rivalries renew in Week 6

• One of the best and most historic rivalries in college football takes place Saturday as #3 Oklahoma takes on #11 Texas in the Red River Rivalry. While Oklahoma has been hyped as a national title contender all season, Texas started off less hyped due to a terrible season last year but have gotten off to a fast start thanks to the great play of new starting QB Case Mccoy (the younger brother of Colt). The winner will have the fast track to the Big 12 championship and possibly the NCAA Title game.
• A week after getting shellacked by Alabama, Florida plays their second straight brutal game, this time against SEC superpower, #1 ranked LSU. Last year Florida suffered its first 3 game losing streak since 1988 and if they don't find a way to beat LSU, they'll have the dubious chance to do it again against defending national champion Auburn, who will go against #10 Arkansas in the other big SEC game of the day.
• In the other conferences, ACC unbeatens #13 Georgia Tech and #8 Clemson will likely remain that way against Maryland and Boston College and in the Big Ten, #12 Michigan plays Northwestern while Colorado plays against #7 Stanford for the first time as a Pac-12 conference member.

October 5th update

Wednesday Spotlight: Ryan Fitzpatrick

• Possibly the biggest breakout star of this year’s NFL season has been Ryan Fitzpatrick, the starting quarterback of the surprisingly 3-1 Buffalo Bills. The Bills surprising start (the only game they lost was on a field goal as time expired) as well as the emergence of their star quarterback caught everybody by surprise.
• Fitzpatrick, who went to college at Harvard, was drafted in the 7th (and final) round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the St Louis Rams. Prior to the draft, Fitzpatrick scored a reported 48 out of 50 on the Wonderlic test given as a test of intelligence. This is an incredibly high score (most people believe scoring in the 20s is a sign of passable NFL intelligence).
• Fitzpatrick played in only six games his first three years in the league, but his fourth year would see him emerge as a solid contributor. Now with the Cincinnati Bengals, Fitzpatrick took over when the opening day starter for the Bengals, Carson Palmer, was injured. In a mostly run-oriented offense, he threw for almost 2'000 yards and 8 TD's. To put his numbers in perspective, 6 players threw for 4'000+ yards and 3 threw for 30+ TD's so he didn't exactly set the world on fire right off the bat.
• He signed with Buffalo prior to the 2009 season as a backup but Fitzpatrick took over for half the season after starter Trent Edwards got injured. At the start of the ’10 season Edwards was again named the starter, but Fitzpatrick was able to quickly supersede him on the depth charts. This season Fitzpatrick has blossomed into a top-10 quarterback (ranked 9th in the quarterback efficiency rankings) and ranked 5th in ESPN’s new QBR ranking which takes into account the game situation.


Division round of MLB Playoffs kicking into high gear

• The Texas Rangers put an end to the miraculous season of the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday afternoon. Fueled by 3 homeruns by 3rd baseman Adrian Beltre the Rangers defeated the Rays 4-3 in the fourth game of their best of five series. This gave the Rangers a 3-1 series victory and they will move on to the ALCS.
• In the other AL matchup, the New York Yankees staved off elimination defeating the Detroit Tigers 10-1 to tie their best of five series at 2 games a piece. Mercurial starter A.J. Burnett pitched a great game only giving up 1 run in 5 2/3 innings. The real star of the game however was former Tiger Curtis Granderson. Granderson, who was traded to the Yankees from the Tigers prior to the 2010 season, made two magnificent catches in center field and batted in two runs.
• In the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies slid past the St Louis Cardinals 3-2 to take a 2-1 series lead. The Phillies were bolstered by a 3-run home run by pinch hitter Ben Francisco in the 7th inning. Cole Hamels pitched 6 strong innings before being replaced by Francisco.
• Finally, the Arizona Diamondbacks avoided a sweep by the Milwaukee Brewers by defeating the favorites 8-1 in game 3 of their series. The Diamondbacks, on the back of two rookies, Paul Goldschmidt and Josh Collmenter defeated the Brewers. Goldschmidt hit a grand slam and Collmenter pitched 7 innings only giving up the one run.

October 3rd update

Incredible comebacks top Week 4 of NFL storylines

Generally speaking, if you're down by 20 or more in the NFL in the second half, you're likely to be going home with your tail between your legs. But this season has shown that no lead is safe (and we're not just talking about football) and no game should be phoned in until the clock reads o.oo.
• 2 weeks after the Cowboys lost a game where they had a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter for the first time in team history, they managed to lose to the still undefeated Lions despite the fact that they led 27-3 in the 3rd quarter, assisted by 3 second half interceptions by Tony Romo.
• The Eagles, who many thought would be far and away the best team in the NFC this season, led the 49ers 23-3 but found a way to lose despite a phenomenal game from a banged-up Michael Vick, who snapped at reporters afterwards. The Eagles are now 1-3 while the 49ers are 3-1.
• The Giants trailed the Arizona Cardinals by 10 with less than 4 minutes but took advantage of a controversial call that negated what looked to be an obvious fumble by WR Victor Cruz. On the very next play, Eli Manning threw a TD pass to pass catching machine Hakeem Nicks and the Giants would hold on to win.
• The undefeated Buffalo Bills diverted from their winning strategy of the past 2 weeks, opting not to fall behind by 18+ points and then come back to win as they had in each of those 2 games. Instead, they led the Cincinnati Bengals for most of the game but lost on a late FG 23-20.
• It's only appropriate that the last game to be played this week is Indianapolis at Tampa Bay on Monday Night because the last time these teams played in Tampa (OK, let's see if you've been paying attention to theme of the week so far) the Colts made one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, scoring 21 points in the final 4 minutes to send the game into overtime where they won, 38-35.
• In non comeback-related news, Aaron Rodgers had a "6-Pack" of TDs (4 throwing and 2 rushing) in an offensive explosion for the defending Super Bowl Champions who destroyed the Broncos and the Ravens forced 4 fumbles from Mark Sanchez and scored 3 defensive Touchdowns (which surprisingly, they've never done before) against an overmatched Jets offense. The 34-17 score looked closer than it was simply because the Jets had 2 return touchdowns of their own, one on a kickoff and one on an interception. It was the first game in NFL history with more than 4 return touchdowns.


Big games don't live up to hype in NCAA

• There were a number of big games in the NCAA in week 5, but many of them were blowouts that left TV audiences disinterested. There were 3 matchups that involved 2 top-13 teams and none of them ended closer than 20 points.
• In those 3 games, the Alabama Crimson Tide destroyed Florida 38-10, Clemson continued their terrific run by beating Virginia Tech 23-3 and establishing themselves as a potential title contender and Wisconsin made Nebraska look like they don't belong in the Big 10 (Or the "Legends and Leaders" as they now want the conference to be called) by demolishing the Cornhuskers 48-17.
• Other Big 12 teams had a rough day as Texas A&M lost another big lead, this time to Arkansas in a 42-38 loss, #15 Baylor lost a late lead, losing a heartbreaker to Kansas State 36-35 and Oklahoma dropped from #2 to #3 in the AP poll despite a 56 point trouncing of Ball State because the voters were more impressed by the opposition that Alabama faced.