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 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 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.

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.

August 29th update

California wins LLWS in storybook ending

• The annual youth baseball tournament which pits 8 all-star teams made up of 11-13 year olds from different regions of the Unites States against 8 all-star teams from the rest of the world concluded on Sunday with the California representative defeating Japan's team.
• Nick Pratto, whose father coaches the team, singled in the game winning run with two outs in the bottom of the last inning (they only play 6 instead of 9 in Little League rules) to take home the title.
• A U.S. team has now won six out of the last seven World Series, with Japan's win last year the exception and California teams have won in 2 of the last 3 years.
• California now has the most titles for a U.S. state with 7 but are far behind the 17 titles won by Taiwan/Chinese Taipei.


AL West a two-team race

*Note: This is part 2 of a 6 part series that will break down the division races in each of baseball's 6 divisions.

• The American League West is the smallest division in baseball with only 4 teams (the NL Central has 6 and all others have 5) but they have two legit contenders. Those two teams are the Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim and Texas Rangers and after this weekend's series, the Rangers have a 3 game lead.
• Angels manager Mike Scioscia made headlines in the series by starting his two best pitchers (Jared Weaver and Ervin Santana) on 3 days rest instead of the typical 4+ days rest. Although the move is unusual, it was doubtlessly done to give the Angels a better chance to beat their close rivals in this crucial series. Although the Angels won on Saturday, Santana didn't pitch amazingly well, giving up 4 runs in 7 innings and only striking out 2.
• Things got worse on Sunday as Weaver had by his standards a terrible game giving up 7 runs in 6 innings and struggling all night with his usually pinpoint accuracy.
• Both teams have relatively easy schedules down the stretch including multiple games against the other teams in their division, the Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners. The two teams then meet for a 3 game series in LA from September 26-28 at the end of the season that could decide the division's winner.

July 13th Update

Rangers fan’s life celebrated after tragic end

• Last Thursday afternoon Shannon Stone, a firefighter in the Dallas area, took his 6-year old son to enjoy America's past time, a major league baseball game. But unlike so many other father-son bonding moments, this was turned tragic in a bizarre twist of fate.
• During the second inning, a foul ball was hit towards left field where Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton scooped up the ball and tossed it into the stands, as many players do, to a fan (Stone) who had asked him for a souvenir earlier in the game. Hamilton’s toss was a bit short of the upper deck where Stone and his son sat in the front row. Stone, wanting to get his son a keepsake, leaned over the rail to grab the ball but somehow slipped and tumbled over, falling 20 feet.
• Stone was rushed to the hospital, but not before telling the emergency responders that his son was still at their seats. Sadly too much damage had been done in the fall and Stone passed away Thursday night. The Rangers have been very involved in Stone’s family since the tragedy, and Hamilton wants to take a big part in the life of Stone’s son, who idealized Hamilton.
• The Rangers are already known as a particularly caring franchise as in this summer's MLB amateur draft, they used a selection on a partially paralyzed player who may never walk again.

Peyton Manning: The JFK of the NFL

• Peyton Manning has been highly touted since he was a young boy growing up as the son of star QB Archie Manning. After leading his high school team to a 34-5 record in three years of football, he chose to attend the University of Tennessee breaking conference records in yards passing, touchdowns and wins as a quarterback. He graduated from UT in 1998 and was drafted number 1 overall in the 1998 draft by the Colts (at the time there was lots of debate as to whether Manning was good enough to select #1, which is hilarious to draft followers looking back... look at number 1 on this list.
• In the pros Manning has been named to 11 Pro Bowl (All-Star) teams, and been the Most Valuable Player 4 times. He lead the Colts to a Super Bowl victory in 2005 over the Chicago Bears and has led his Colts to an unheard of 9 straight 10-win seasons. His quick release and famous film-studying habits have lead him to a play in a record 208 (and counting) games to start a career (Yes, he has never missed a start in his 13 year career). Manning is famous for being a coach on the field, with many people joking the easiest job in the NFL is the Offensive Play-Caller of the Colts.
• Manning has also showed a great sense of humor. He has hosted SNL (leading to this hilarious spoof commercial), and has made a number of hilarious commercials for various different brands (please stick around for the last one, its probably the funniest)

National League wins All-Star Game 5-1

• Prince Fielder and home run derby runner-up Adrian Gonzalez both homered, but Fielder's shot came with 2 men on base and since his team won, Fielder was awarded the game's MVP honors.
  
• Probably the biggest story of this year’s MLB All-Star Game is the players NOT in the game. record number of players (16) decided to pull out of the game they were selected to due to injuries or fatigue. This list of players includes stars like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Jose Reyes.
• The usually high scoring event, was held down for the second consecutive year. Across baseball in 2011, pitching has been fantastic and offense has been down. This pattern continued Tuesday nights with a relatively low total of 6 runs scored in the game.