Quack, Quack, Mr. Heisman ?

Boston College senior quarterback, Matt Ryan, is coming off the biggest win of his college football career, the Pacific Northwest has announced its first legit Heisman candidate since Joey Harrington, and the SEC Heisman hopeful suffered a tremendous blow at Athens, Georgia last week. So going into this weekend the Florida signal caller will look to rebound at home against Vanderbilt, Oregon will play host to fellow top 5 team and PAC-10 foe Arizona State, which will surely knock one of them out of the top 5, and in the epicenter of the sports universe Florida State will attempt to knock off what many consider the most over rated team in college football. Will Dennis Dixon replace Matt Ryan as the #1 Heisman trophy candidate? Will Tim Tebows numbers be enough for voters to ignore the Gators 3 losses? To the update: Top 3 Candidates

3. TIM TEBOW, QB FLORIDA -Those who know me, know I still refuse to recognize Hawaii quarterback, Colt Brennan, in my top 3, or any player representing the WAC. I'm a big conference, big game voter (even though I can't actually vote) and with 3 losses I do consider Tebow to be at best #3 on the radar for the elusive trophy. Tebow's 18 touchdown passes and impressive 176% QB passer rating while playing in the toughest football conference week-to-week keeps him in the hunt. Tebow, only a sophomore will most likely be considered a Heisman candidate next year as well, but this year he will have to do some major number padding to get the Heisman commitee to ignore those 3 SEC losses to Georgia, LSU, and Auburn. Tebows (x) factor, the opportunity still presents itself to Florida to advance to the SEC title game if Georgia loses home games to Kentucky & Auburn and the Volunteers from Knoxville choke Arkansas & Kentucky. He'll need Cialis like help to finish off his bid but a late season run by the Gators could push Tebow even closer toward the trophy.

2. DENNIS DIXON, QB OREGON - Can anyone stop Dennis Dixon? To go along with his 16 TD tosses and rediculous 69% completion ratio Dixon also boasts 8 rushing touchdowns to bring his total to 24. Impressive? I'd say the 39-7 road drumming of Michigan and 24-17 toppling of USC at Eugene is pretty impressive. Last week Dixon applied nearly 80 yards on the ground and 160 through the air against what at one point this season was considered the best defense in the country, USC. I'll give credit where credit is due, my buddy Roche has been calling for more consideration of Dixon for weeks now, and he has it. I don't consider this a huge test for Dixon, at home against #4 ranked Arizona State, partially because the Sun Devils are over rated at #4 and will most likely get torched by at least a touchdown, but Dixon will be able to include them as a late season notch on his Heisman belt. Dixons (x) factor, he's been on the radar for all west coast voters throughout the year, but his numbers will seemingly put him on the map of east coast voters as well, 2000+ passing yards by years end to go along with his 600+ rushing yards. Nike, time to plaster Dixon all over times square like you did Joey Harrington & Wizinator, Ontario Smith.

1. MATT RYAN, QB BOSTON COLLEGE - The Hokie defense kept a good QB down, that is until 4 minutes remaining in last Thursdays game of the week. By now you've seen the replays, you've heard the comparisons, and you know he's had the first Heisman Moment. The ACC isn't the Pac-10 or the SEC, but wins at Blacksburg are nothing to scoff at. If Ryan comes to play with his undefeated Eagles behind him, and plays well in three weeks at Death Valley, you can all but hand him the trophy. Out of the three candidates I've reviewed this week, Ryan trumps them in both passing yards & passing touchdowns, he is competitive in completion percentage and his passing rating is slightly lower. I also think he deserves points for a couple other outside factors here, he is playing in a new system, with a new coach, and his numbers continue to rise, a testament to both him and the new coach. Ryans (x) factor? besides the fact that Matt has displayd why he should be considered among the countrys elite, he has also exemplified confidence after being knocked down, something Heisman voters will look to in December. Keep in mind, despite what those voters say, there is an East Coast bias that exists in this country, and working for Matt Ryan, he plays in Boston.

12:30 PM Gainesville, FL Vanderbilt @ Florida
6:40 PM Eugene, OR Arizona St @ Oregon
8:00 PM Boston, MA Florida St @ Boston College

Come GET SOME Thursday

From Virginia to Colorado, the sports world witnessed how Boston gets it done last night. The state of Virginia was still in shock when they woke up this morning, Chicago fans watched their guy get pummeled on the ice, and Colorado ordered 10,000 boxes of white towels or some other gimic to help them attract fans who want to see Boston celebrate Sunday night.

COME GET SOME

Red Sox v. Rockies: Epicenter of the Sports Universe, MA
(Game 2 Recap)

Rockies were rusty in game 1, in game two, they were flat out dominated. Schilling did, what Schilling does in the playoffs. After the 2-1 pitchers duel won by Boston last night, I was thinking about that Ford commercial that Schilling did when he was signed by Boston at the end of the 2003 season, how he was on his way to Boston to help them break an 86 year old curse. Well Curt, If you never pitch in a Red Sox uniform again, you did, what you set out to do, and so much more. You may rip the guy because he always has something to say, because you think he faked the bloody sock, but you can't deny he is a champion, in every sense possible. He'll have collected his 3rd World Series ring when its all said and done, he pitched along side Randy Johnson for the 1st one, Pedro Martniez for the 2nd one, and now Josh Beckett, the games greatest postseason weapon, I'm sure those three guys don't mind having a #2 that strong. BUT TO THE GAME, Mike Lowell, wrapped in the winning run and the Sox never looked back, Okajima looked like he did back in June & July striking out four batters and getting six outs, then handed the ball to the door closer, slammer, Pap was lights out, even shutting down a rally after walking Matt Holliday he proceeded to pick him off first base two pitches later. TO COLORADO.

Boston College Eagles v. Virginia Tech Hokies: Blacksburg, VA

What do you want me to say? It was pouring rain out, Hokies faithful were going crazy, offensive line couldn't block, the recievers couldn't catch and with four mintues left in the ball game it looked like for the fourth straight week the #2 ranked team in the country would fall from grace. Southern California, California, South Florida, and it looked like Boston College would be the next victim. That is until Matt Ryan realized that he was the leading contender in the Heisman Trophy race, his team controlled their own fate in the hunt for an ACC Title, and oh yea, THEY ARE THE NUMBER 2 TEAM IN THE COUNTRY, YOU NEED TO START ACTING LIKE IT. Ryan proceded to drive 92 yards down the field and place a tear drop touchdown pass on the sideline slicing the lead to 10-7 Va. Tech. Boston College recovered an onside kick, and Ryan flexed his Heisman muscles one more time putting on a clinic which ended with a Andre Callender touchdown in the back of the endzone w/ 11 seconds remaining on the clock. Then proceeded to pull a Willie Beamen like throwup clinic on the sideline, impressive. I didn't even shoot out 5,000 text messages after the victory, I took it in stride, until this morning when everyone got the Matt Ryeisman text on my way to work. BOO-YAH! Take your lunch boxes and step off Hokies.

Bruins v. Blackhawks: Boston, MA

I don't much about Hockey, but I do know that I'd watch it a whole lot more if there was more blood battles like the one I witnessed on Sportscenter this morning. Bruins defensemen and captain, Zdeno Chara, put the hurting on this Blackhawk, bad. The guy got his bell absolutely rung and he's got no one else to but himself, you don't fight a 6'9", 255lb defensemen whose main job is to punish the opposition. Completely bloodied up, all 10 fans at the game last night gave the guy a round of applause, for getting his ass kicked. Two things I need to mention about this game besides the fact that I was right, no one was even at the game, but the first is Bruins netminder Tim Thomas, I recently found out hails from Flint, Michigan home of Mateen Cleeves & Mo Peterson, this automatically makes him my favorite goalie in the world, and secondly I wish every sport was like hockey in the sense that if you really got in a heated debate, rather than a 15 yard penatly or a technical foul and a turnover, the refs just let guys go in the middle of the field and duke it out till it got ugly. GO BRUINS! Oh yea, the game . . 2006 Masterton Trophy winner (still don't know what that is for, but I thnk its a rookie of the year award) Phil Kessel dropped in two goals in the Bruins 3-1 win to improve their record to 3-0 at home and 9-6 in the Northeast Division.

Clueless Hank

Recent comment from Hank Steinbrenner:


“I think the most important thing is, whoever we hire, give him a chance. Because he’s not getting the ’96 Yankees. He’s getting a younger team, and for the most part, it’s a transition period, so give him a little while.”

I'm a 24 yr. old Boston Red Sox fan from Auburn, MA, and I think I know more about the New York Yankees than Hank and Hal Steinbrenner. They should have to interview for their job, because its clear they have no qualifications to run a Major League Baseball franchise, let alone one of the top 5 money making brands in the world. The quote above is a perfect example of that, not only is it a direct shot at Joe Torre, which they blame for making them look stupid, but it's an inaccurate statement to begin with, PERIOD.

"he's not getting the '96 Yankees . . "

Really?

Jorge Posada is a better catcher and hitter than Joe Girardi '96
Doug Mientkiewicz loses the battle at 1st to Tino Martinez '96
Robinson Cano trumps Mariano Duncan '96 at second base
Alex Rodriguez dominates Wade Boggs '96 on the hot corner
Derek Jeter today v. Derek Jeter in 1996 . . .No Question the 07' Jeter is better
Hideki Matsui crushes Gerald Williams '96 in Left
Johnny Damon in center, advantage Bernie Williams '96
Bobby Abreau is younger and faster than the overrated Paul O'Neil '96
Jason Giambi off HGH loses to a younger Ruben Sierra '96 . . .possible PUSH

2007 Staff v. 1996 Staff

Andy Pettitte '96 v. Chien-Ming Wang
Pettitte was 21-8 that year with an era of 3.87
Wang this past year was 19-7 with an era of 3.70 PUSH

Kenny Rogers '96 v. Andy Pettitte '07
Rogers was 12-8 with era of 4.68
Pettitte this year, 15-9 & 4.05 Pettitte '07

Jimmy Key v. Roger Clemens '07
Key lasted longer but boasted 12-11 & 4.68
Clemens @ $13Mil 6-6 w/ a 4.18 PUSH

Doc Gooden v. Mike Mussina
Same amount of wins & era's over 5.00
Gooden produced 3 less losses PUSH

DA PENS

Mo Rivera 96' 61 outings 2.09 ERA ADVANTAGE
John Wetteland '96 43 Saves

Joba Chamberlain 19 outings 0.38 ERA
Mo Rivera 07' 30 Saves 67 outings

Hanks right, the new manager isn't getting the '96 Yankees, he's getting a team with older more talented veterans to go along with young talent like Chamberlain, Hughes, and Melky Cabrera. The 2007 Yankees would drill starters like Jimmy Key & Kenny Rogers. Other than the '96 vintage bullpen with Rivera as a set-up guy, there isn't any other advantage the Yanks of yester year hold on the Yanks of today. Moron.

"It's a transition period . . "

The Yankees are going through a transition period? The Florida Marlins had a fire sale and went through a "transition period" after they won the 2003 World Series (beating the Yanks) their payroll was something like 36 million dollars after that. Your telling me that with a $200+ million dollar payroll the Yankees are going through transition? This is the same team that went ahead and signed ROGER CLEMENS to a $13 Million Dollar pro-rated deal in MAY! And somehow that signifies "transition." Hank get your head out of your ass, you think Daddy would have ever said the Yankees are going through "transition." I find it amazing that your rivals who are about to win their 2nd World Series in four years have done so by only holding onto 7 of the 25 Players and completely reconstructing their team with established veterans who produce in the clutch along with some exciting young players who are no doubt going to be superstars in the league. I'll make sure Georgey Boy has some goggles when we POP the champagne in Denver on Sunday. F*cking Transition, what is that?

"he's getting a younger team . . "

1996 New York Yankees average age 31 yrs. old - YES I DID THE MATH

2007 New York Yankees average age 31 yrs. old - YES I DID THE MATH

So, I've done my homework before I ran off and made comments to the media. The comments you made were nothing short of erroneaus and fraudulent.

Game 1: Recap

Beckett walks to the mound, mows down Taveras, Matsui, and Holliday by way of the K. Sox get Yaz to announce the Boston starting lineup and he doesn't even butcher Jacobi Ellsburys name. As quickly as Jeff Francis finishes his warm up tosses, Pedroia belts one right through his wheelhouse over the monster, 1-0. Sox get to Francis in the first, Rox looking miserable down 3-0. If you were still curious about Colorado being rusty after an eight day layoff, you weren't after the first inning. Rockies come out in the second inning, after a Todd Helton wiff, Atkins puts a double off the monster followed by a 2-out double from rookie phenom Troy Tulowitzski, Rox on the board. Beckett gets out of the 2nd and Boston is looking good up 3-1. Sox come back and add another one in the bottom half of the frame. Colorado has no shot at this point, it's raining and Beckett is dealing, and when I say dealing, I mean seven innings, 6 hits, one run, and 9 strikeouts. Oh Yea, Colorado can't get that deer in the headlights look off their face, and the Sox add another nine runs in the next three innings. Boston rolls to a 13-1 victory and the reason it takes only one paragraph to describe is because thats how quickly game 1 of the 2007 World Series was over. The Red Sox have three former World Series MVP's on their roster in Beckett 03, Schilling 01, and Ramirez 04. Beckett has faced two Cy Young candidates in three games before the World Series, dominated both Lackey & Sabathia twice, and last night reminded Colorado that Jeff Francis is no World Series Ace.

Buy up your Beckett jersey, his coming out party is in full affect and has officially replaced Pedro as king of the mound in this town.

STOP THE INSANITY

Quick Sound OFF:

KEVIN YOUKILIS IS NOT PLAYING OUTFIELD WHEN THE WORLD SERIES GOES TO COLORADO. This is the god damn championship series people, you don't start trying him out in the outfield to keep him in the lineup. You want the solution? So you can officially stop suggesting this rediculous course of events that should never happen. Mike Lowell stays at 3rd base & batting 5th, you wait and see how Ortiz & Youk hit in games 1 & 2, then you determine whose pitching before you make any decisions. David Ortiz coming off the pine facing a lefty as a pinch hitter is brain crushing. In the case you would want him pinch hitting, you have Crisp or Ellsbury on the bench to come in and pinch run for Papi & Hinski finishes the game off, if it's Youkilis who is pinch hitting, you leave him in to run for himself, and play 1st .

Lebron James v. Wayne Gretzky

I played basketball pretty much since I was a little kid, I was never really good, but I played. I dislike watching hockey on television, I dislike having to sit through hockey talk on Sportscenter, but I don't mind watching it in person, thats not so bad. Here is where the arguement stems from , while playing cards last night a buddy of mine, who wants nothing more than to actually be from Canada, no seriously, to the extent where he says "eh" after every word, he's a walking molson ice commercial, played puck his whole life, claims that "The Great One" & hockey in general, is more of an athletic sport than say Lebron & hoops. I needed to preface that by saying what my general opinion on hockey is, I want you to know this is completely unbias, if you don't think it is, well, its my blog so go ahead and hit the small black (x) in the corner.

Point 1: The arguement is flawed already, Lebron isn't the best hoops player of all time and is being compared to the best hockey player of all time. BUT that does bring up an excellent point, the best hockey player of all time isn't a better athlete than the top 10 basketball players of all time, fact. If say Wayne & Bron Bron competed in athletic events, without skating or taking jump shots, Bron Bron would dominate him, no doubt about it. He's faster on his feet, could jump higher, and physically, that's a joke, Bron is alot more stronger than Gretzky. To round off the point, so is Jordan, Kobe, & maybe Larry Bird. Bird would have been a better comparison, but then again were not looking to see who matches up best, were trying to find out if the NBA's best, is more athletic, than the NHL's best.

Point 2: You can't sleep on the amount of skill it takes to play PRO HOCKEY, any kid can play any sport if they have enough money. So being able to skate & take a shot doesn't mean Hockey takes more skill, it just means you can multitask and your not a complete moron. Basketball takes alot of skill, but I'd say there is many more players who make it on size and god given talent alone in basketball, than in hockey. When I give this point to hockey, it's strictly to professional hockey players, to get pounded against the boards, stay in shape enough to not be extremely slow on the ice, and while doing those you have to make sure your hand eye coordination is never slipping, and you have to be able to pass the puck & shoot the puck in tight spaces with a goalie whose as big as the net.

Point 3: The arguement should be answered by an athlete who has never played either sport, thus taking away the thought that just because someone played a sport, means they'll say that one is better than the other.

Point 4: Basketball is much harder to play for a longer period of time. Every year a new batch of young extremely talented basketball players come into the league with every intention of helping NBA teams win games, that year. Your job is constantly being tested just like it is in the NFL, but in Hockey . . . they have an extensive minor league system, which players can stay in for years before they get brought up to the pros. NHL gives old hockey players the benefit of the doubt, that they might have had a bad year, but sure enough they'll end up on another team the next year if they get cut, or are free agents. There is a reason guys can hang on till they are in their 40's . . . can't debate that.

Point 5: My friends little brother made a great point regarding this arguement, when I was in high school NEARLY all of the hockey players that I knew played one sport. Hockey. Yea there were definately exceptions but for the most part they played one sport, it was generally the sport their parents dragged them to as children and they just continued to play even though they were decent at best. It is also one of the few sports where the bad kids, don't eventually get weeded out, what I mean is, you have teams littered with kids who are terrible skaters even though they've been doing it their whole lives. How did they get by with sub-par skills throughout their young careers? In Basketball, by the time you are a junior/senior in high school, you've either come to the realization that you suck, by watching kids around you who are better, or you get cut.

Conclusion: Basketball & Lebron are better athletically than Hockey & Wayne. It's a fact, don't debate just admit it, or have a cigarette and contemplate arguements that I'll just refute. (if you don't know the meaning to refute here it is : To prove to be false or erroneous.

I can barely contain myself . . . .

It's tuesday morning . . Game 1 of the World Series starts tommorow night, and I can't wait. I'm going numb just thinking about a second World Series Trophy making its way through Copley.

(Insert rediculous sound effect that takes you back in time)

I was sporting the Curt Schilling jersey, in the drizzling rain @ 5:00am, and no I wasn't drunk. I was getting prime standing room along the first Boston Red Sox World Series Championship parade route in 86 years. My girlfriend and her friend were fetching coffee, (one of the two drinks all women should get for their man) and I experienced 5 of my 15 minutes of fame. Local FOX news man, Doug Goudie, tapped me on the shoulder and said "Hey Curt, can we get a minute?" . . . I turned around and saw a television camera, and this guy holding a microphone out at me. Quickly realized he thought I was Curt Schilling (yes, it was his feeble attempt at humour) I then went on a 5-minute Schilling like rant, apparently I thought it was also funny to tell him that my ankle was feeling fine, and I cant' believe I'm standing in the rain @ 5am, sober. Hoping that someone saw it at home on televison, sure enough my uncle Jimmy and my godmother both saw their proud nephew, half awake, and standing with hundreds of other people who are skipping work, school, or their general responsibilities to celebrate the first World Series championship in 86 years, back in the Hub.

(Insert rediculous sound effect again)

Will I be at this years parade, if they have one? You betcha. I saved one vacation day this year, in hopes that I would be able to use it on that specific day. I've even drafted up my two-week notice in preparations if they don't allow me to take that day off, yes I'm that serious.

TO THE BLOG:

I consider myself a New England sports fan, so the fact that I live in the "epicenter of the sports universe" allows me to give you a line-up to follow from Wednesday till Sunday:

Wednesday, October 24th

Game 1 of the 2007 World Series of Baseball, the Boston Red Sox play host to the Colorado Rockies, 8:00pm. FOX analyst, Eric Karros, brought up an excellent point, Beckett is pitching great, actually out of this world, but the Rox haven't played in 8 days they could be a little rusty, what better way to completely throw them off balance than, THE KNUCKLEBALL. You could argue that after game 4 of the ALCS the Cleveland hitters were never the same, they scored a combined 5 runs in the next three games against the Sox. FACT: Wakefields knuckleball gets hitters completely out of sync, when the Rockies took 2 of 3 from Boston back in July, it was only Tim Wakefield who shut them down 2-1, Sox won that game. Beckett suffered his first loss in 9 starts that weekend, just ponder it, thats all i'm gonna ask, keep in mind "that knuckler ain't knuckling in the thin air of Colorado."

(after I made the argument, I found out Wake was left off the roster, bum shoulder . . LETS GO JULIAN TAVEREZ)

Thursday, October 25th

Chicago Blackhawks at the Fleetcenter in some preseason action against the Boston Bruins at 7:00pm , errrr wait, what? The regular season already started? My bad. For anyone who likes watching hockey games live and has a $5 in their wallet, I'm sure you could get center ice at this game. The 5-3 Bruins try to defend their undefeated home record, Joe Thorton goes for a hat trick, errrr wait, what? The Bruins traded Joe Thorton, LAST YEAR? My bad, I must really not be paying attention to hockey at this point, or any point in the last 24 years.

ESPN Thursday night GAME OF THE WEEK, Boston College puts their 7-0 record, #2 National Ranking, and #1 Heisman Trophy Candidate on the line in Blacksburg, Virginia against the Virginia Tech Hokies. All those accolades thus far and BC is still getting points as the underdog on the road. BIG STATEMENT GAME ALERT BC will try to announce themselves as a legitimate ACC Championship & National Championship contenders.

oh yea, Game 2 of the World Series of Baseball at 8:00pm in the Bean

P.S. Yankee fans hows it feel to be at home, AGAIN, watching the Red Sox in the World Series, AGAIN, the Yankees got knocked out in the ALDS, their fans have no idea what is going to happen in the offseason, and Yankee President, Randy Levine still hasn't run out of mop n' glow for his hair. Thought I'd squeeze that in.

Friday, October 26th

The new look Boston Celtics take on the Cleveland Caveliers in the last pre-seasn game of the season. Like C.C. Sabathia & Fausto Carmona in the ALCS, Lebron probably won't show up to play in this last exhibition game. My friend Dan will not be able to control himself watching yet another meaningless four quarters of basketball cheering for the likes of Leon Poe & James Posey. I'm boycotting the Pre-Season in any sport after the DCU center debacle in my hometown on friday night, the tix were comps from my friend Jerry, so no real loss, but I still take the opportunity to complain as often as possible:

$0.00 for Comped Tickets

$20.00 for Parking, IN WORCESTER

$18.50 for two beers & an individual pizza

Being embarrassed about coming from the city which crammed fans into an obviously to small arena to watch Garnett, Pierce, & Allen warm-up then subsequently play for five minutes then sit back down and have the game get canceled at half-time because the ice from the AHL team that plays at this crappy place is leaking through the floor . . . . . .Priceless

Saturday, October 27th

Not checking if there is a Bruins game, because I don't care.

Game 3 of the World Series of Baseball, Series is traveling to a city which will most likely have fans waving some rediculous rally toy and shaming every real baseball fan in America. I'll be taking the over/under on when Rockies fans stop coming to games (sometime in April) This game will be playing at an obsurd time for all our Japenese contingent watching overseas. Hopefully Denvers son, Woody Paige cuts off Tim McCarvers head and takes over the broadcast booth, I've also placed an over/under on when that happens. Go Sox!!

Sunday, October 28th

Redskins are coming up to New England for an afternoon affair. I am a Cowboys fan first and foremost, so I am not allowed to cheer for the Redskins ever, even if Joe Gibbs gets cancer I coudln't cheer for them. But in all honesty, theres a better chance of the USC football team almost getting in another plane crash this week than the Patriots not scoring 35+ points. How many points do the Pats have to be favored by for them to not cover? 21? 24? Matt Cassle should play every down from the 3rd Quarter on, for the rest of the SEASON.

Game 4 of the World Series, "And Foulke has it, he flips it to Mienkewitzzxgd (can't spell his name), the Red Sox have won the World Series, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?" ooops what year is this? 2007 you say? A Colorado sweep would be in place if I had all my dreams. "And Gagne has it" hahahaha "And Papelbon has it, he flips it to Youkilis, and the Red Sox have won the World Series, I DO BELIEVE IT" I'm not saying I think the Red Sox will sweep this series, especially because the Rockies are white hot heading into the series. But I'm not all that nervous, I mean I think the sox could be down 1,000,000 games to 1 and come back and win a series now.

THERE IS ONLY ONE OCTOBER!!!

Rolling the Dice . . . K

"For the second time in four years, the Red Sox are going to the World Series, can you believe it?" - Joe Castiglione

In 2004 the world witnessed the first team to come back down 3-0 and win a pennant, the look in the eyes of every New York Yankee player or fan, knew the series was over when Boston tied it up in game 6. Tonight Cleveland had that same exact look in their eyes, well lets see if your right, Indians first basement Ryan Garko, go try some of the Sox champagne, see if it tastes the same on the opponents field. If not for the ass whipping Belicheck put on Miami on Sunday, the Red Sox winning tonight would have been the biggest lock of the weekend. Some quick numbers for you:

30-5: The Red Sox outscored the Indians 30-5 in the final three games of the series

.500 : Kevin Youkilis batting average during the 7 game ALCS

0 : Number of World Series the New York Yankees have won in the past 7 years

3.86 : Paul Byrd's ERA for the three seasons between 2002-2005 which he was on HGH

10 : Cover charge at Platinum Premier (sorry, I laughed out loud when I wrote that)

Back to Normalcy

So a few days back, after the Colorado Rockies punched their ticket to the Fall Classic, I decided to introduce you to the National League Champion, to get you used to seeing these guys get up at bat, on the national stage. Today, I'm going to RE-introduce you to some of my friends, okay okay, so they aren't my friends, but I pay more attention to them than I do to anyone at work, or at home for that matter, so here goes . . . . . Wait, I have a phone call. I'll allow you to read the conversation.

Lynchy : "Hello?"

Dane Cook: "I got some good news for you Mr. Lynch"

Lynchy: "Yes?"

Dane Cook: "Are you ready?"

Lynchy: "Move along moron, I'm ready"

Dane Cook: "THERE'S ONLY ONE OCTOBER"

silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Dane Cook: "Sir, are you there?"

Lynchy: "Yes, but I'm trying to determine which would work quicker, noose or bottle of advil"

I'm being serious, if I have to hear him say that one more time, I'm going to look into how you add a second October.

So here's a few to remember . .

Terry Francona Manager

Francona has been routinely criticized for sticking with his players longer than he should, wether they are slumping at the plate, walking batters, or if their last name is Gagne, Francona is loyal to them. This, I have no problem with he is the only manager to bring this ball club a World Series victory over the past 90 years, so I'll take his word for it. He stuck with Pedroia when everyone from Bangor to Hartford was calling for Alex Cora after the first month of the season, since then, Pedroia has become the Rookie of the Year in the American League and a key table setter in the postseason for the BoSox. He believed enough in Tim Wakefield to start game 4 of the ALCS and never waivered in his decision, when the rest of America felt like Beckett should be pitching Game 4, Francona knew what type of team he had and win or lose, they'd come out and fight the next night with Beckett fully rested. Bottom line is, Terry knows what he is doing, he's been there before.

Josh Beckett Ace

Career post season ERA is 1.78 in 8 starts. This year, Beckett has been asolutely lights out dominate, boasting a rediculous 26 strikeouts to 1 walk. After polishing off the Yankees in 2003 we said he was a good young pitcher, when he starts Game 1 on wednesday night, four years later, we'll say he's the best pitcher in the game. This postseason Beckett had the opportunity to not only face C.C. Sabathia, leading candidate for the Cy Young, once but twice. Both times, Beckett won the battle, good luck Jeff Francis.

Jacoby Ellsbury catalyst

I know that it was only 2 games, but Ellsbury proved to be the spark plug that the Sox needed to turn the line up over to the 1 & 2 hitters. The Red Sox september call up played in 33 regular season games and hit .353 in those games. The future every day center fielder for Boston is making his presense felt, so much so that Coco Crisp had to remove is braids once he realized Ellsbury was replacing him in the two most critical games the Red Sox would play all year. Don't count Coco out for good though, Tito has a way of making sure his guys are all happy.

J.D. Drew $77 Million Dollar Man

(is it possible you can erase an entire season of disappointment in one night?)

If it is possible, Drew might just have done that during game 2 of the ALCS. Opening the first inning with a grand slam is a pretty good way to win your way into the hearts of every Sox fan. Drew is going to be critical in the World Series, if he can continue to find his bat every game you'll quickly see the production from the lower half of the lineup significantly increase, the way Ellsbury gets on base, count on Drew to score some runs in this series.

Fenway Park America's most beloved ballpark

This ain't the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, and although the WS will attract more wealthy business men in the Boston area than it will true die-hard Sox fans, Fenway has its difficulties for opposing teams. The outfield isn't as friendly to fielders who don't play in it at least a few times a year, the fans are more on top of you than any other ballpark in the country, and global warming has affected New England way more than Colorado so weather wise, expect anything. Fenway will be rocking come Wednesday night, and the Rockies better be prepared.

Coffee is wearing off, I have two days to blog and countless podcasts and magazines to review so they'll be more to follow.

ONE MORE NOTE: Lebron, how could you rock a Yankees cap at an Indians game? I think that we need to develop a curse for Cleveland to have. Coming from a fan of one of the most suffering curses ever made, The Curse of the Bambino, I think we'll call it "The Curse of the Runner-up" Because thats what Lebron was this year, and thats what the Indians were this year. Thanks King James.

Joe Torre . . .I applaud you

This has less to do with my hatred for pinstripes than it has to do with my respect for one of the greatest managers in baseball history, Joseph Paul Torre. The New York native bleed Yankee blue for the past 12 years, that was, until Thursday, when Yankee turncoat and #1 Scumbag, Randy Levine along with other members of the Evil Empire determined that the best way to part ways with Joe Torre was to low-ball him and insult a man who has taken you to 12 consecutive post seasons, they oughta be embarrassed. To top it all off, #1 Scumbag comes out and proclaim that, I quote "We wanted Joe back, It was his decision and its time that the Yankee organization move along" or some bullshit to that extent. The turn of events has me more fired up than when I found out HBO was releasing the final episodes of The Sopranos in Box Set format along with the other seasons, so to try and squeeze every penny out of the fans who have already purchased every single season of the f'n show on dvd already and have to wait to buy the final episodes in a year or spend an rediculous amount of money on the seasons you already bought for $80 bucks a wack, but I digress. I'm going to rant for a couple minutes here and like I always tell you, there is that small black (x) in the top right hand corner of your browser, feel free to use it if you'd like:

1. You do not threaten a man's job when he is in the midst of a divisonal playoff series in which his team is already down 2-0. He's been to the mountain top 4 times, and to the classic 6 times, I think he knows what he is doing.

2. Randy Levine is a piece of sh*t. It was his idea to cut Joe Torre's salary and give him an incentive laiden contract in order to motivate him? WRONG, he determined this way the Yankees could save face and obviously Torre is an intelligent man and he'll be able to see exactly what the Yanks are doing and decline the contract. Well Randy, YOU AIN'T FOOLING ANYONE.

3. Jorge, Mariano, and Andy . . . Walk. Truth is the Yanks don't respect you, you warned them Mariano, and they said "he'll take the money, were not worried about it." Take the next flight down to BWI. The Orioles could use a Manager, #2 Starter, Catcher to split time & DH, and Mariano has gas left in the tank. Peter Angelos has just as much money to waste as the next guy, and you'll get to go back to THE STADIUM at least 9 Times a season to show Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dick (Steinbrenner Brothers) just who they were screwing with. Plus my dad, a long time Oriole fan, would have something more to cheer about, rather than Eric Bedard and a washed up Miggy Tejada.

4. Brian Cashman, your the next to go and you have got to know that your days are numbered. What's it like to be a turncoat? Looking across the room staring at Joe Torre knowing exactly what everyone else in the room is doing, you must have felt like Henry Hill in the courtroom looking at Paulie & Jimmy. Now you got egg noodles and ketchup!

5. A $200 Million dollar payroll entitles you to shit. Especially when you spend the money on the wrong groceries. Just because you shop at Whole Foods and pay an extra $80 bucks than you would at Price Chopper doesn't mean your eating gourmet. You shouldn't expect to win a ring because you overpaid for shitty food. They rarely have homegrown talent as of late, they never trade for role players, bench guys who can help you win. The most expensive, free-agent talent, thats what the Yankees go out and get, but It ain't Torre's name on the bottom of those checks, it's Steinbrenner.

Joe, I applaud you, for standing up and knowing when you don't need to put up with all that comes with "the yankee way." I don't want you sporting a Sox cap, because I think Terry Francona is a very fine manager and that would mean he wouldn't be around, but if you were, I'd feel pretty good about it.

• .605 winning % in 12 major league seasons
• 10 Divisional Titles
• 6 League Championships
  4 World Series Titles
• 2 Manager of the Year awards . . . . NUFF SAID

Live Blog . . . Indians v. Sox GAME 5 ALCS

My first real shot at a Live Blog, This could get ugly
Welcome to Game 5, ALCS, win or go home for the BoSox.
*******

6:23 - Bobby Kielty introduced himself in third person . . ."Batting next, Bobby Kielty, that's me"
6:25 - Dustin Pedroia takes strike 1, Tomahawks going wild, wildly inappropriate people with faces painted red (thanks roche) , is there a casino near by? This crowd is officially George Custer's nightmare, and so is the Mascot.
6:26 - Sabathia just gained 3 pounds
6:28 - Youkilis just hit the pill 400 ft. Sox up 1-0 (Sabathia lost two pounds)
6:30 - McCarver lets us know where the Red Sox spring training facility, useless knowledge from McCarver. Who had 6:30pm in the office pool?
6:33 - Manny gunned down at home, don't worry he took time to flip off his helmet. Inning Over. (Opening my first beer, ahhhhhhhhh)
6:37 - Luckily Franklin Guitterez isn't Asian because Casey Blake just nicknamed him Gook. Officially this is a bad idea, you don't need to find a nickname for everyone on your team. Is the entire Cleveland Indians team unable to just call people by their last name? G-Size, Screwball, T-Pronk . . . How do they avoid calling their manager Eric Wedge, Wedgie . .ha ha ha.
8:46 - Just realized my clock is two hours off . . just fixing it, would have been extremely early for work tommorow.
8:49 - Turned to the Rutgers v. USF game real quick, Michael Strahan is promoting his book that apparently he wrote for his friends and family so they would stop asking him questions about what NFL life was like & not for the millions of dollars he'll bank from it. Apparently they haven't watched espns original series, Playmakers, thats what football life is really like right?
Turned back to the Sox game in time to think Paul Byrd was in my room breaking down how Sabathia is pitching, before I realized that was on the television. I swear I've had one beer.
8:58 - We just booked Strahan for tommorows Live Interview . . It's Official. I thought that there was only one New York Giant who was a big media whore, guess not. Thanks Mike. Crisp strikes out, Lugo pops out, inning over. Booking my tickets to Cleveland for Game 1 of the World Series.
9:00 - Shit, The Office is starting, Rutgers is in the game against USF, & Dane Cook is giving me a migraine (If i see this FUC*ING commercial one more time, I'm going on a ten-state killing spree) THERE IS ONLY ONE OCTOBER, NO SH*T THEY FIGURED THAT OUT IN ANCIENT GREECE
9:04 - Pam from The Office is sneaky hot & Josh Beckett just turned into Joba Chamberlain buzzing "GOOK" and pretending to just lost control over the ball, because if the disgusting breaking ball he just threw wasn't completely under control.
-END OF THE SECOND-
9:20 - Tim McCarver has entered Dane Cook Level of annoyance, he for the 1,000,350th has mentioned that stupid quote from Indians GM Mark Shipiro "silence at Yankee Stadium is better than cheering at any other stadium." His name is officially off the list of peoples head who will be frozen when they die. FOX just attempted the first ever commercial in the middle of an inning when pitchers weren't be changed, result = no go. McCarver just read directly off the teleprompter and Joe Buck removed his hand from his ass, so there is no doubt McCarver is a puppet, do I blame Joe Buck for his actions now?
9:24 ish- Ramirez was just robbed a 2-run Homer. Luckily David Ortiz is actually a professional athlete and decided to run around the bases completely, Sox up 2-1. McCarver's head has officially popped off and is going crazy that Manny did not run the bases hard enough. Luckily Mike Lowell ends the inning with a strikeout and not Manny being thrown out at home. WEEI is officially gearing up for an offseason of Manny bashing by not remembering that he has dominated pitching in the playoffs so far. BECKETT DEALS, PEDROIA MAKES A GREAT PLAY. 1-2-3 go the Indians in the third frame.
-END OF THE 3rd-
9:45 - Coco Crips strikes out after only being asked to bunt the runners along. 2 on, no outs . . .and he strikes out, LUGO up, this is probably going to be a double play . . .YUP DOUBLE PLAY. JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9:46 - I've realized Josh Beckett is going to have to shut the entire team down because they won't score another run.
9:50 - I'm just curious as to what a "Bench Coach" actually does. Seeing Brad Mills, Red Sox bench coach come out in the last inning and try to prevent Francona from getting tossed out of the game, made me ponder this. If that really is his job, HOW THE F' DO I GET A JOB LIKE THAT? ( Oh, Beckett just cruised through another half inning)
10:00 - David Ortiz is for real hustling tonight. He scored from first base already in this game, and he just rounded second as if he really was going to go for third on a pass ball after he'd already taken second. C.C. is throwing nothing but gas right now, he's already down 5 pounds. He just hit Lowell to load the bases and here comes Bobby Kielty . . . . . . . no really, 160 million dollar payroll, and here comes BOBBY KIELTY. FLY OUT, Sox have squandered another shot.
10:30 - Lofton realizes that Beckett would demolish him if they got into a fist fight. Beckett continues to deal. I think I heard him yell once after a strike out "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED" (i love the movie gladiator)

QUICKIE: so how many of these Beckett v. Sabathia duels do we have to witness before we re-vote on the American League Cy-Young? Beckett has clearly proved he is the best pitcher in MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL postseason play. THAT'S FACT.

10:45 - Pedroia remembered to finally set the table, G-Size errrr I can't get used to calling him that, tried making a diving catch which resulted in the slowest man this side of Benji Molina to reach third. Ortiz sac flys Youkilis in from third, Beckett's got breathing room going into the bottom half of the inning, and I really don't think he needs it the way he is pitching.
11:13 - 10 Strikeouts thus far, Beckett just cruised through that half of the inning allowing a cheap infield single to Kenny Lofton, then got Guiterrez to pop out & Blake went down by way of the K. (I have been waiting to use that line for about two days)
11:14 - Theo Epstein was just spotted in the bullpen, he apparently pointed out Eric Gagne to two of Cleveland's finest, Gagne didn't object, he has just been escorted out of Jacobs Field and given bus fair.

11:20 - I just located the seal of the Cleveland Police Department and witnessed Jonathan Papbelbon dance, Sober, to YMCA while loosening up in the bullpen. Varitek Promply flys out, Is he doing this so that he can get the equipment on quicker? McCarver continues to state the obvious, Coco won't bunt for a base hit here. NOW HE IS TALKING ABOUT PITCHERS THROWING BALLS THAT MOVE, CAPTAIN OBVIOUS.

11:24 - Epstein has lowered his sniper from the roof at Jacobs Field after watching Lugo bunt to get on base and load the bases. Jay Marriottis favorite pitcher some guy name Masttswtity, or however you spell it, for the Indians has just come out from the pen.

11:25 - USF IS DOWN 27-30 in PISCATAWAY with 4:11 to play . . F*CK DON IMUS, Could Boston College not play a game this week and wind up #1 in the country?

11:29 - Tom Mastiny ends his scorless innings streak at 1, passball . . Sox score. 5-1. Epstein has removed everyone from the bullpen except for Jon Papelbon and a 12-pack of bud lite, opened of course, they took the box away from him.

*****flipped over to USF v. Rutgers*****

11:38 - Cue up the "Over Rated" chant . . . .look two blogs down, I CALLED IT. No Applause.

LITTLE HELP FROM SixPackSportsReport : "that was the type of game where you bought into your own hype and bam Rutgers crushed em"

*****back to ALCS******

11:45 - Beckett has DOMINATED Cleveland. The guy with the drum just bashed his own skull in, I feel bad, two rows just got covered in errrr nothing, funny thing his skull was like a drum, empty. 100th commercial for Cialis, I don't have any need for the drug but I know all the reasons to stop taking it if I had to . . . . "If you become blind, If you experience an erection for 4 hours, and If you become pregnant"

< - - - -"Lofton was not trouble tonight" - Josh Beckett

11:50 - game is clearly over at this point, and oh what do you know, J.D. Drew just got a hit. My guess is that Coco will get an out here, tough one, I know right? I'm like Nostradamus.

12:00 - #58 In . . . GAME OVER

BALLS TO THE WALL MY FRIEND

As you did during the All-Star Break, Jonathan Papelbon, grab the guy next to you and man up. The time has arrived for the 2007 Boston Red Sox to WAKE UP! You are all well aware of what you did in 2004, but this is a different team you are playing against, they want this ring, they need this ring, and every screaming, tomahawk wearing, horrifically stereotyping, Cleveland Indian fan will be out in full force tommorow night. You've got the best pitcher left in the playoffs on the hill, and in my mind the best pitcher in the American League, get the bats off your shoulders, that means YOU, Coco, J.D., & Julio. Mission 3-Wins begins NOW!

Imus gets a New Gig & I'm taking Rutgers

So it is going to be you WABC out of New York, really? Your going to be the ones to show America that we can forget, as long as the money train is lining our pockets right? Don Imus will soon be back on the airwaves, months after being fired amidst a swarm of bad publicity due to racist and ignormant remarks he felt he could make on national radio. Congratulations WABC, you officially have no spine and for that I'm taking the Scarlet Knights to knock off #2 in the country, cinderella story, University of South Florida Bulls. It's up to YOU, Rutgers Football team to make the news of you upsetting USF and show that your school should be a bigger story than Don Imus. He wouldn't dare say a word about Ray Rice, and I guarantee that. With that said, here are my limited picks for week 8 in College Football:

#2 South Florida @ Rutgers (Piscataway, New Jersey) :

USF is ranked ahead of every team in the college football rich state of Florida. Not the Seminoles, Gators, or Hurricanes, its the Bulls. There is actually no logical reason why Rutgers should win this Big East showdown. South Florida has beaten West Virginia, Auburn and a bunch of scrub teams and are headed toward a BCS bowl birth, while Rutgers was vastly overrated to begin the season with and lost the only two games against quality opponents, Cinncinatti & Maryland. So why am I picking Rutgers in this one? Becaues I hate Don Imus, and for that alone I'll cheer for Rutgers. Oh, and they are playing in Piscataway and we saw last year how rabid their crowd can get during a primetime game, god I'm hoping or at least one appearence by Tony Soprano. Don't Stop Believing. Rutgers +3.5

#17 Auburn @ #4 LSU (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) :

Is LSU still hungover from the huge game last week with #7 Kentucky? The answer, an emphatic NO. LSU will be more hungry than ever returning to the Bayou after losing their #1 ranking and possibly a shot at the National Title. After back to back brusing battles with Florida and the Wildcats I fear Auburn's shot at leaving with their dignity intact. This is the type of game where LSU settles down goes back to their winning ways of 2 touchdowns or more and allowing their opponents to measly offensive outputs. LSU is giving Auburn 11.5 points, and I think this game will be decided by more than two touchdowns. Bayou Bengals -11.5

So you actually think LSU is completely out of the National Championship hunt?

#15 Florida @ #7 Kentucky (Lexington, Kentucky) :

Florida loses at LSU, LSU loses at Kentucky, so that means what? NOTHING, Tim Teabow v. Andre Woodson, this one is going to be a classic. SEC style matchup, slugfest is the first word that comes to mind. So Florida wins this game, and what does that prove? I hate to harp on it, but I'm going to because South Carolina's soul loss was at home against LSU, their big win against Kentucky and they have another opportunity against Florida on 11/10. LSU will have 1 loss, SC could end up with 2 losses, Kentucky would have two losses, and Florida already has 2 losses. So we are back where we started. LSU is tops and everyone else is looking up. CHOMP CHOMP! Gators roll. Gators +7

Miami (FL) @ Florida State (Tallahassee, Florida) :

So this is odd, Miami & Florida State are both unranked, and are a combined 8-5. Neither of them have a real shot at winning the ACC with 2 conference losses already a piece. Florida St. does have a top 25 win against Alabama and Miami against Texas A&M. This is probably one of the first years in a long time where the game didn't matter at all, and no one actually paid attention to it. I can't remember what the line is , because like the rest of America, I'm not touching this game. I think the line was Florida St. giving 3.5 so Miami. Miami +3.5

(BEWARE FSU, NOV. 3rd . . WELCOME BACK TO THE HEIGHTS)


Louisville @ Connecticut (Stoors, Connecticut)

So Pitino V. Calhoun . . . wrong sport, my bad. Like I've been preaching to anyone who whould listen, the Big East is completely over rated, with the only exception being South Florida because they actually have a quality win against an SEC team. Louisville's defense would get shredded by 30% of High School defenses throughout the south, and that's no joke. West Virginia was over rated to start the season, and don't talk about Steve Slaton or Pat White, please, As for Rutgers, I plead the fifth its their week, F*ck Imus. Back to the game, I really want UCONN to pull off this upset, just to prove the point at how soft Louisville and the rest of the Big East is. Plus this would be a HUGE win for UCONN's football program. So I'm going with my gut, supposed to be shitty weather, Stoors will be a-rocking. UCONN +4.5

Sounding Off . . . Till Oct. 25th

Because I am personally suffering after the Red Sox 7-3 defeat at the hands of the Indians last night, I've decided to blog about something that I won't be able to blog about till at least after October 25th, Boston College Football. Why you ask? Because it's my blog, and I don't give a sh*t. A victory in Blacksburg on Thursday, October 25th will give the Eagles another notch on their belt and allow them to maintain AT LEAST their #3 ranking and improve them to 8-0, this my readers, makes me ecstatic. Tailgating is so much more fun when your team is ranked fairly high after the first two months of the season are over. With the Sox on the brink of elimination from the playoffs & the Patriots taping opposing sidelines, (as if having the best quaterback & reciever combination in the NFL wasn't enough to win the game) I'm going to be cheering for Boston College & South Florida to continue winning, so we can actually convince someone that a playoff is necessary in College Football.

Quick Note:

ESPN's Heisman Watch still has BC Quarterback Matt Ryan as a top candidate for the esteemed award. "If Ryan had done more against Notre Dame he'd really could have taken control of the Heisman Race" direct quote. 32-49 for 291 yrds and 2 TD's ain't much to stick your nose up at, but i'm sure someone will find faults in his play. Good Luck at Va. Tech !

AL Beware

In just 9 days the 2007 World Series will begin, The Colorado Rockies have punched their ticket to the Fall Classic, and wether it be Boston or Cleveland who faces them, beware. I can't say it enough, Matt Holliday is the National League MVP and no one will debate that, Clint Hurdle will be the NL Manager of the Year, and Troy Tulowitzki is hands down the NL Rookie of the Year. These are just a few of the reasons the "Rocks" have won 21 of 22 games since September 1st. While the Colorado Rockies may seem like a team of destiny and also somewhat of a gimic, make no mistake about it, this team is loaded with good young talent. With a young athletic team like Colorado you will see slow starts, losing streaks, and impatient hitters, but since September One they have done the other things young talented ball players do, hustle and win ball games, alot of them. Along with the Rockies that I already named, players like Yorvit Torrealba, Brad Hawpe, the only Rockie you probably know Todd Helton, and Eli Manning's back up at Ole' Miss Seth Smith, these Rockies are poised to take the World Series by storm. With 9 days in lingering before the world gets to see this team (due to the fact that they won 7 games in a row to prime them for the series) I figured what better time to introduce you to a few of them:

Manager: Clint Hurdle (442W-509L)

Hurdle has done a tremendous job down the stretch keeping this team level headed and showing them the ability to take each game without looking ahead. Having one of the coolest names of any major league manager, the Rockies skipper has been at the helm since 2002 and boasted the best home record of any of the Rockies past managers. Hurdle has steadily increased the clubs win totals in each of the years hes been with the team going from 67 wins in 2002 to 90 wins this past season. I really like this guy as a coach, he seems firey enough to stick up for his club, and has the ability to not be a crazy a-hole like Lou Piniella.

Shortstop: Troy Tulowitzki

The extremely talented rookie hit 24 homeruns and drove in 99 runs to make his case for NL ROY. If the BoSox made it to the Fall Classic it'd be interesting to compare the two middle infield rookies in Tulowitzki & Boston's Dustin Pedroia. Tulowitzki's defense is vastly underrated, just last night in Game 4 of the NLCS Tulowitzki made a leaping grab on a shot that would have surely been driven through to the outfield, the grab made me drop by water all over the PS2, so it was worth mentioning. Like the rest of the Rockies team, Tulowitzki hit for average better in the second half of the season, and added six more home runs than he had in the first half, in the second half.

Right Fielder: Brad Hawpe

Hawpe is the outfielder playing opposite the NL MVP Matt Holliday, so he gets overlooked as much as Lisa Turtle did playing opposite Kelly Kapowski in Saved By The Bell. Hawpe hit .291 this season and slammed 29 home runs for the Wild Card Rockies. The 3rd year righ fielder has steadily increased his batting average twenty points each of the last three seasons, and belted in 116 runs while finishing the season with a .316 batting average in the month of September. Yet, another reason why the Rocks had one of the best months a team has had in the history of Major League Baseball.

Ballpark: Coors Field

Yes, Fenway Park & Jacobs Field clearly give significant homefield advantage, but don't count out Coors Field. No longer is Coors Field "Home Run Central" for major league hitters, after the implementation of the "humidor" designed to keep your cigars fresh and prevent them from drying up errrrrrr, wait, what? it's not that kind of humidor? Oh yes, right it was designed to maintain the balls used at Coors Field are the same size as used around the rest of the Major League. It's worked, I'm not a scientist, so blah blah blah right? That really isn't what I was thinking though, for the last two days I watched the entire games 3 & 4 and it reminded me of the Angels Championship run in 2002. Those fans had a champion for the first time, they were slamming thundersticks & rally monkeys, gave the Angels a place to play, and a rowdy one at that. The last two nights, the Rockies fans were waving white towels, and were on top of the Diamondback ballplayers. After traveling half way across the country which is what Cleveland and Boston will have to do when they get to the series, the last thing you'll want is to be listening to a deafining crowd.

Ace: Jeff Francis

So ask yourself who is the guy who defeated Phillies rookie sensation Cole Hammels, then ask yourself who is the guy who defeated Cy Young winner, Brandon Webb, his name, Jeff Francis. The Canadian Southpaw finished the season with a 17-9 record and a 4.22 era, now that's pretty impressive. What impresses me most heading into the World Series is the Rockies #1 Starter has pitched in 2 games, with a 2-0 record, allowing just 3 runs and 11 hits in 13 innings pitched. The big stage doesn't seem to affect Francis. Hammels & Webb are excellent young pitchers to duel with, but the offenses of both Cleveland & Boston will be alot larger task for Francis, and facing Cy Young Candidates Josh Beckett & C.C. Sabathia is no walk in the park.

Good Luck American League Champs!

It is, what it is

Boston College is still undefeated, Dallas lost to New England, & The BoSox split the first two games of the ALCS. Those were the sporting events that I was paying close attention to this weekend. I did manage to see LSU do what was bound to happen given the trend in college football this year, watch The Arizona Diamondbacks come back down to reality, and actually see a professional football game where Vinny Testaverde faced off against Tim Rattay (nine days ago they were jobless, but that's what makes it mentionable.) I was prepared to suck it up last night, not complain, and just say . . . It is, what it is. BUT THAT AIN'T HAPPENING, NOT RIGHT NOW.

1. Boston College handled Notre Dame at no point in that entire game was I ever in doubt that BC would turn out their 7th consecutive win. When the score was cut down to 20-14, I still knew that Notre Dame would lose the game. They moved the ball down field on the Boston College defense only one time, the second touchdown they scored was on a mistake from Heisman Trophy candidate, Matt Ryan. After that "mistake" Ryan drove directly down the field, and countered Notre Dame to increase the lead to 27-14. The BC defense did, what they'd done the whole game and refused to allow Notre Dame a shot at stealing a victory. The environment was hostile (despite ND's 1-6 record) and it only gets more hostile for Boston College, October 25th, Thursday Night ESPN game, the Eagles will face off in Blacksburg against the Hokies.

2. AFC is the more dominate Conference as if you didn't already know that going into "The Duel at Dallas." Despite the Cowboys 24-21 lead right after half time, New England was scoring at will, converting 11-17 3rd downs throughout the game. The Dallas defense played well but were on the field entirely too long in the first half, that results in break downs in the secondary, tired and slow defensive lineman by the 4th quater. THAT IS WHY THE 5TH STRING BACK SCORED A TOUCHDOWN WITH 30 SECONDS LEFT, NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE SOFT, PLEASE give me a break. I'm man enough to give New England their due, but I refuse to go on a 20-minute lovefest about the Patriots, not doing it. I also would like to point out that Dallas clearly is the best team in the NFC, and I like their chances at getting to the Super Bowl. That was not a team intimidated by the Patriots at all, and they clearly showed that.

3. Experiment Gagne = Over about two months too late, but at least its over. Listen, I am definately not for ripping Terry Francona, but I mean come on how many times is this guy going to cost, or come dangerously close to costing you a game. It's the playoffs, if there is one more guy besides Dane Cook that I don't want to see in this postseason, it's Eric Gagne. I'm still sitting in shock that neither C.C. Sabathia or Fausto Carmona made it past the 5th inning and the Red Sox aren't up 2-0. I'm still under the impression that I should be more worried about Cleveland, but I'm just not. Untill the Red Sox are down 3-1 I'm not going to worry, NUFF SAID.

(thanks dirt dogs for the pic)

4. College Kids are College Kids I've said this about major division 1 basketball for a couple years, since George Mason wound up in the Final Four two years ago to be exact. Now it has to be amended for major division 1 college football. What I'm getting at is, on any given Saturday, football players from small schools or large schools are the same age unless your last name is Weinke. So when they play against each other, those small schools get up to play against the large schools, they can make their season with a win over a large school. Ask the kids from Stanford what their record is after the year is over, they won't remember 20 years from now, but they'll remember knocking off USC when USC was top dawg. Those kids from App. State, you think they will remember how well they played against any other D1-AA team? No, but they sure as hell will remember the win they had at The Big House against Michigan. This won't be the last year we have a revolving door at #1, and this won't be the last year you see a school like USF @ #2, seven weeks into the year. Ohio State beware, LSU & USC know what its like to fall from grace so quickly.

5. I'm sick of sports today . . .I'm actually just tired of Patriot fans today, they are giving me a royal headache and make we want to vomit. I'll be back with a vengence tommorow.

Quick Pick em' . . .

Alright, it's fair to say that my debacle known as the MLB Divisional Playoffs, which included my predictions of a world ending 3rd ALCS involving Sox v. Yanks in 5 years & a cataclysmic NCLS involving the lovable losers, Chicago Cubs, and the city who claims to be the most suffering sports city of the past 20 years, Philadelphia Phillies, just didn't happen. I have no justification for this, nor will I begin to defend my picks whatsoever. 1-3 is pretty f'n horrendous and I cry myself to sleep just thinking about it. WITH THAT SAID . . . . .

ROUND #2 The Championship Series

Arizona Diamondbacks v. Colorado Rockies

I didn't want to see this happen at all, when it happened, I cringed along with every MLB executive who was counting on a NLCS to bring in major television ratings. Listen, if you can't even fill up the ballpark of the team with homefield advantage you have major problems. With that said, I want the D-Backs to win, and I'll get to that in a second, my prediction is:

Rockies in 6

Webb looks unhittable, I say he pitches twice, on days he doesn't pitch, the Rocks will win. Matt Holliday for MVP, the campaign/love affair continues.

ONE MORE THING: I'm against all states, who hold spring-training facilities, having major league baseball teams. So FLORIDA & ARIZONA, GIVE EM UP. I don't know if to many people would cry if Tampa Bay, Arizona, & Florida were just disbanned to other parts of the country. The saddest thing is, out of those franchises, hold 3 World Series championships in the past 10 years, AND NO ONE CARES. Small tangent, I apologize.

Boston Red Sox v. Cleveland Indians

I'm not being unbias on this one, I'm a Red Sox fan, that's why I want the Diamondbacks to win, because if the Sox get in, there is no way they are losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks, NO WAY.
Key Matchup will be Game 3, Daisuke Matsuzaka v. Jake Westbrook . . . . I think Beckett will be able to give the Sox a lead, and with him going twice, and Schilling twice, who appears to be going strong, paired with the fact that Manny is hitting the ball 520 feet everytime he gets to the plate, they look great. Go Red Sox! ! ! !

Sox in 5

In response to. . .

So yesterday after sending my latest blog entry about America's Team to my friends and family, I recieved more response than I have from any of my other blogs. I've seemed to have touched a nerve among Patriot fans, and given Cowboys fans a little more to cheer about, and oh yea, my brother, a Bills fan, well he felt the need to chime in as well. Since the majority of you responded to me directly I'll give you all what those responses sounded like: my own interpretation

From the REAL New England Patriot Fans:

" Blah Blah Blah, Steve Grogan, Blah Blah Blah, Tony Eason, Blah Blah Blah, 85' Season, Blah Blah Blah, Ben Coates, Blah Blah Blah"

My Response: Listen, I get it, some of you are real fans who have followed the team since you were a little kid, and when you went to college, or moved to a different part of the country, you still cheered for your hometown team, congrats, what do you want a trophy? My attack is on those fans who merely cheer for a team because they won a few rings, or because they have a sick obsession with the quaterback because in some lithium and scotch fueled dream they felt that he might actually choose them over the hottest woman on the planet. I'm a Cowboys fan, since birth, thanks to my uncle Jimmy & my father, and because of that, I can't stand bandwagon Cowboys fans either, just like I can't stand bandwagon Patriot fans, and you real fans, you shouldn't either, because you've been through some pretty shitty seasons, just like I have with the Boys'. BELIEVE THAT.

Side Note: One true Pats fan, in response to my buddies ditching me and a trip to Big D, to go to a wedding had this to say, "Just tell your friend that 50% of marriages end in divorce, so you'll probably get another chance to go to his wedding" - what is this world coming to?

From the Fake New England Patriot fans a.k.a. the posers:

"oh we are so good, I love sideline video cameras"

My Response: I'm not going to continue to say it, you know where I stand. This is your trial period, you don't get points for cheering for a team that is winning already, stick it out through a losing period, and every team has them so don't be naive to think they don't, or won't. I'm talking, No sideline cameras, no pro-bowl/all-world Quarterback, and no WINS. Then you get credit, and so you know, it was my buddy Roche, a true Pats fan who developed that rule. Give credit, where it's due.

From my Brethern otherwise known as fellow Cowboys fans:

"You are pretty much a genious, thanks for shouting us out"

My Response: I appreciate the adoration, and respect. But let's hold off on crowning us top of the food chain, we need to be realistic with this, it's the NFC which could be considered as the JV of the NFL. To many acronyms in that last sentence, the broken down version, you have to beat the best, to be the best. As much as I would love, and expect the Cowboys to appear in the next Super Bowl, I don't know if I could handle a Super Bowl loss, especially not to Peyton Manning, Ben Rothelsibergeter, or Tom B-B-B-rady. Don't get me wrong, I'm not waving the white flag, I just want to see some big wins that I can gloat about, if you know me, I'm pretty good at that. With all that said, I only have one question for you . . . . .HOW BOUT DEM' COWBOYS?!?!?!

Last & definately least, Buffalo Bills fans:

"waaa waaa waaa, they shouldn't have won, waa waa, waaa, TRENT EDWARDS SUCKS"

My Response: I watched that entire game Monday night and despite 5 interceptions, and 6 total turnovers you still couldn't win the game. The most popular jersey in the crowd was a player who wasn't even on your team anymore, Drew Bledsoe, and only played on your team for a few years. I know you wanted that win badly because getting embarrassed in two Super Bowls by DA BOYS with a combined score of 82-20 is pretty pathetic. But hey, look on the brightside, at least Leon Lett didnt' score that touchdown on you and set the all time points record in a Super Bowl. So please, give me a break, take satisfaction in the fact that you ALMOST won, it will get you through the night.

THANKS FOR THE RESPONSE!!! always welcome (50% of the time, All the time)

Ask, and you shall recieve . . .

So of my massive list of readers (10) I recieved not just 1 or 2 e-mails looking for some Cowboys talk, I recieved 3. I'm well aware that the other 7 will cringe and hit the red (x) button on the top right hand corner but in the immortal words of Chris Tucker in Friday, I DON'T GIVE A F******CCK. So that's my disclaimer, you have two choices (x) if you want, or read on my friends.

that may also entice you, no? - - - - - >

So after week 2, when I realized that it took me to long to realize that Miami sucks, I decided I'm going back to one of my classic gambling addiction rules, no betting on a team you want to win, for fan sake. With that said, screw the line, and screw Tony Romo's 5 interceptions, America's Team is 5-0 and I'll take it. Before last night Dallas was out of this world, flying high, scoring touchdowns at will, and also making all of us question, are they for real? The answer? YES, they are for real, they are for real undefeated heading into week 6 against the New England Patriots and every fan who didn't cheer for one guy before Drew Bledsoe. The difference between me cheering for the Cowboys and the majority of Patriots fans is, I was 7 when I made that decision, not 18. Touche.

What do I love about the 2007 Dallas Cowboys? For starters, I love that they are WINNING, honestly, I've waited like more than 12 years to see this friggin team start winning again, and being talked about for how they play, and less about what they do off the field. I didn't agree with the Wade Phillips hire, in part because he looks like a football coach about as much as I do, but in Jerry I trust. (and Jason Garrett is standing right there so that when Wade screws up, he can take his place, I always felt comfortable when he was on the side line, and because that meant Aikman was still on the field) Well he's done a pretty good job, giving Garrett the opportunity to call plays, and we know how thats worked out, just watch the 9 points they scored in 40 seconds last night, in a game they shouldn't have won because of how poorly they played the remainder of the game.

Nick Folk for Rookie of the Year, make it happen. For all the Romo bashing that is going on because he played poorly in one game, good, because here is a guy who clearly doesn't let things bother him, not every guy can come back from costing his team the shot at winning a playoff game last year. So before we claim Romo as the most over rated quaterback, lets go back to 2001, Peyton Manning's second year as a starter, Manning got smacked by the 49ers, throwing 1 touchdown & 4 Interceptions with a Passer Rating of 56.8, people have bad games, thats all i'm saying, believe it or not, quaterbacks in their second year as a starter do make mistakes. Aside from how bad those interceptions looked, he has had a pretty good year thus far, I don't expect him to turn into David Carr the second half of the year, and like Kanye West says, I hate white people, oops wrong quote, i meant " that, that don't kill me, only makes me stronger" in Romo's case a 25-24 Victory over the Bills on the foot of rookie kicker Nick Folk.

It isn't just TR though (Yes, I just nicknamed him) his wide reciever is finally growing up and playing like the reciever he really is, big & physical, not giving anyone sh*t, and an ability to beat any DB in the league, on any given day. Despite what Sal Palantonio thinks, TO & Randy Moss are definately not overated recievers, and this year should prove that. Romo & Owens have seemed to form an interesting bond, they both give credit to the other when needed, and It has to be a sign of the apocolypse when you see TO talking Romo through those picks and reminding him the game isn't over, he used to rip into McNabb on the sideline whenever he'd do that, that's probably because McNabb is black though, right Donovan?

Patrick Crayton has filled in very nice for the injured Terry Glenn, and against St. Louis was flat out dominate. Speaking of dominance, have you ever felt more comfortable since Emmitt Smith when your handing the ball off to Marion Barber? This guy is a machine, he doesn't stop his motor and those screen passes that he gets, he weaves through traffic with a purpose. Along with the performance Jason Witten has put in this year, it has the Cowboys offense rolling, and before last week, they had the highest scoring offense in the league. With Newman back in his second week you should see a significant improvement on defense the undersized Reeves allowed Plaxico to explot the Dallas secondary in week one, and with Randy Moss coming to town, it is very important you get a solid cover corner like Newman back.

Which brings us to, my most anticipated game since the schedule came out. I had planned on spending this day in the confines of Texas Stadium with a couple of my buddies, my first trip to Dallas, playing the Pats, it would have been great. But then one of my buddies pulled the rug out from under the trip and opted to go to a wedding, but i'm not mad (that mad) So I'll be forced to watch it in New England with band wagon Patriots fans all around me, glorious right? WRONG. My predictions for the game? New England has the better team, I can admit that, does it mean I am giving defeat already, HELL NO. If there is one thing I've learned from my years of watching football, both College and Professional, anyone can win, on any given day. GO COWBOYS!