Blog Posts For Tag: Sports

Ten weeks into the season the leading running back in the NFL is not Adrian Peterson. No, Peterson is second behind none other than Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans. I saw this and was inspired to write this post, only to find out that Trent Dilfer already broached the subject on Countdown Daily. However, this is still a great subject. Would you rather have Peterson or Johnson, power or speed?

I have seen quite a few Minnesota Vikings games this season, as well as a few Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints games, and I have one thing to say. Adrian Peterson is being misused. Yes, Adrian Peterson- the most fear running back in the entirety of football- is being grossly under utilized by Brett Favre and the Vikings despite the fact that they are 7-1 and sitting atop the NFC Central in the NFL standings.

There once was a time when quarterbacks only threw for 300 yards in a losing effort because they had to try and cover as much ground as possible quickly. Now, the league demands that quarterbacks be able to surpass the 300 mark just to get a win. Peyton Manning is leading the NFL with 318 passing yards per game and his team is 7-0. In fact, the 10 quarterbacks averaging more than 250 passing yards a game are all on teams with winning records and five of those are on teams that are at least tied for the lead in their division.

The seventh Sunday of the NFL schedule brought about a bevy of blowouts. Only two games were decided by less than 10 points or less. Four games were decided by a deficit between 10 and 19. An incredible six games were won by more than 20 points. The most lopsided loss was the 38-0 win by the New York Jets over the Oakland Raiders. That game is one of four decided by 30 points or more.

The baseball playoffs have begun after the Detroit Tigers self destructed and let the Minnesota Twins win the AL Central. If anything, the very fact that the Tigers bombed so badly proves that there is a reason not to discount even the seemingly most ridiculous statistic, like the magic number in this case. The development also proves something else, that any team that has managed to make it to the MLB postseason has a very real shot if winning it all.

So, there is little doubt now that this is the age of the quarterback in the NFL. All the announcers are talking about it like it is news, which is akin to your mother “discovering” new rock music. Once she has heard of a band and it is played on her radio station then the novelty of it is over and surely half the globe already knows about it.

Everybody knew that the intensity of the MLB after the All Star game would quickly separate the real contenders from the handful of clubs that were going to receive participation trophies at best. It was what happened that has been such a surprise to those of us who do not make a living sitting down, reading all the stats, studying every box score, and enabling a Google alert for every MLB transaction.

The preseason schedule has just started, meaning that its time to get revved up to watch NFL starters play at half speed for a quarter before the scrubs take over until half time, giving way to the future stars of the AFL, USFL, and the rest of the new defacto minor league system of football leagues sloppily missing tackles and looking out of place on the field.

I broke down the season predictions for the NFC last week and need to finish with the AFC before changing my predictions at three intervals, just before the season begins, halfway through the season, and with four weeks left until the playoffs start. I will, of course, quote injuries as the source of my ill-fated analysis. So, let’s take a look at my impressions of the AFC.

The NFL training camps are underway, so everyone whose baseball team has sunk to the bottom of the division or everyone whose baseball team is obviously on its last leg has a chance to obsess about a new team and dream up scenarios where they might actually put together a Super Bowl season (hey, the Cardinals did it last season so why can’t a club like the Raiders, right?).

Well, not so fast there St. Louis Ram’s diehard and Mr. Kansas City Chief. I do not care what you read about Marc Bulger returning to form or if Tom Cassel still has the scent of the New England Patriots. Read on and see which teams have a shot and which teams should pay more attention to their fantasy football teams, beginning with the NFC in this edition.

After Mark Buerhle became just the 18th player to throw a perfect game I began to wonder if that feat would make him a lock for the Hall of Fame. After setting the record for consecutive outs on Tuesday at 45 I asked myself the same thing. Now I am wondering who else among his peers is going to be considered in the Hall of Fame debate.

His peers do not include guys like Randy Johnson, but pitchers around the age of 30, let’s say between the ages of 28 and 32. These guys have had enough experience to dismiss any fluke seasons and have come up in the age of the 100-pitch limit, as noted by ESPN columnist Tim Kurkjian. These are the guys that are going to be competing for votes on the same Hall of Fame ballots in a decade or so.

The major league baseball season is a long one. At 162 games it dwarfs the NFL (16 games), NBA (82 games), and the NHL (82 games). Sure that gives fans plenty of chances to sit in the bleachers and enjoy a lazy summer afternoon with a hotdog and a few beers (and then subsequently spend the next month staying in on the weekends waiting for the ban account to heal), but the long season also makes pleasantly surprising statistics anomalies in the long run.

This means that all those players we looked upon with wonder as they approached some record and were putting together impressive seasons fall back to earth shattering our midseason expectations, which is fitting when you consider how many fans hopes for their team are painfully beaten down as well. The question, then, is will these players that follow be able to beat the odds and actually keep up with there midseason form.

Tuesday night the American League won the All Star game for the twelfth time in a row, defeating the National League 4-3. The best players from both leagues squared off in a rather short contest (2 hours and 30 minutes) instead of a marathon like last season (which went 15 innings).

Now that this annual contest is over and the American League again has home field advantage in the World Series the real season begins, with teams looking for a pennant and players looking for individual honors. There will be two MVPs, two Cy Young winners, and two Gold Glove first basemen. There will be two of everything because MLB, unlike the NFL and NBA do not announce an all MLB team.

This team has the third best batting average in the league. This team has the second best on base percentage and slugging percentage in the league. This team has scored the most runs and has stolen the most bases in the league. This team averages more than a run more than their opponents. This team is leading the division with an absurd win-loss record, right? Wrong. This team is hovering around .500 and is in fourth place in the American League East. This is team is the Tampa Bay Rays.

A third of the MLB season has passed and the early season surprises have subsided. The Toronto Blue Jays unceremoniously fell from first place in the AL East after losing nine straight in the final two weeks of May. The Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff, other than Zack Duke, fell apart and the general manager quickly disappointed fans by trading Nate McLouth, firmly reestablishing the keen sense of doubt and depression at PNC Park. Plenty more inflated individual stats on every team deflated as the law of averages finally won again. Still, some surprises have remained, lingering, threatening to go from an early season trend to one of the dominant storylines of the year.

I like everyone else was excited by the possibility of watching the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers play in the NBA Finals. I relished the thought of watching LeBron James and Kobe Bryant do battle, I wanted to believe that this would be the passing of the torch from one MVP to another, and I wanted to see two players who were unstoppable defile the other team at will as the competitive stakes were raised. That reality is no more, the series will remain a hypothetical one, but I have just glimpsed into the future and seen something far more interesting, the transformation of the gentle giant into the beast whose hunger will devour all in his path.

A few months ago if you asked me who was the best third baseman in New York I would have to begrudgingly give A-Rod the honor. He was an offensive force that successfully made the transition from shortstop to the corner.

I am very excited to watch the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers play in the NBA Finals. I want to watch Kobe and LeBron do battle. I want to see if this is the season James is able to bring home a championship to the much maligned Cleveland sports scene or if Kobe is able to prove that he could win a title in tinsel town without the Big Diesel. The only problem is that I have to wait for two months of meaningless prologue to dispense before I get to see the seven game series.

Monday morning Chicago sports fan went that extra mile to prove that the fair city deserved the first local ESPN page, ESPN Chicago. According to the Chicago Tribune, disturbingly motivated fans placed a severed goat head outside of Wrigley Field in what can safely be hypothesized to be an attempt to end the Curse of the Billy Goat.

How would you like to have a team in the early ‘90s with Michael Jordan and John Stockton as your backcourt and David Robinson as your starting center? How would you like that team to be coached by Jerry Sloan? Well that, and famed Rutgers Women’s basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer, is the team headed to the Basketball Hall of Fame on September 10, 2009.

While the Big East certainly proved it was the best conference in the land with five teams making it to the Elite Eight and two teams making it to the Final Four, the conference failed to put a single team in an NCAA Tournament championship. Instead, representatives from two of the most down-trodden major conferences of the year, the Michigan State Spartans from the Big Ten and the North Carolina Tar Heels from the ACC, are taking their place. This match up is a surprise, but it is hardly a big shocker.

The outrageous numbers of the steroid era are gone, though thanks to New York Yankees whipping boy Alex Rodriguez the sport continues to be tainted with PED residue, and now I have to wonder: Who is the most dangerous bat in the league?

I must say that the Elite Eight was a much better round to watch than the Sweet Sixteen. A two seed and a three seed winning might not be much of an upset, but it at least gives the final four a little bit of that Cinderella groove back. Now everyone rooting for the underdog will cheer for Michigan State versus UConn and Villanova in the game with UNC. The question is will those cheers be wasted on teams that are simply too overmatched to keep their NCAA season going.

Baseball is a wonderful sport for a few reasons. The first is that the game is played at a leisurely pace. Many people may hate this, but how many people would like to run several miles a day in 90 degree weather that is oftentimes humid in constricting cotton uniforms with optimal body coverage. My simple sense of humanitarianism would make feel guilty while I tried to enjoy my gloriously cold beer in the bleachers while watching a man literally kill himself on the field below me. The second is that it is a game nerds and geeks love for the simple fact that it is a game where the law of averages reigns supreme. These laws lead to certain results that cannot be denied. So, the question is: what certainties do we have to look forward to this season?

I love sports. I check ESPN's website dozens of times a day for the latest development on the NFL front and for things as silly as the New York Yankees ERA last season. I am not so completely insulated from reality that I can not appreciate how silly the idea of professional sports can sometimes be, and sometimes I wonder which sport is the silliest.

The 2008 Final Four was perhaps the most disappointing in the history of me watching the tournament (interesting caveat huh). All the number one seed made it. Every single one! Who wants to watch a 65-team, single-elimination tournament in which the predicted top four teams are the actual last four teams standing?

I just read some disturbing news today during my annual college basketball cram session. I just read that the Big Ten could have eight teams in the NCAA Tournament. That is more than the amazing ACC and the mighty Big East hope to have in the tournament. I am a huge Big Ten sports fan, but even I think that is ridiculous.

Teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers are having terrific seasons. The Boston Celtics, second in the Eastern Conference, have clinched a place in the playoffs and the Los Angeles Lakers are blowing away the competition despite the now annual Andrew Bynum late season injury. About this time fans can choose to focus on the playoffs or the lottery, and this year everyone would rather be focusing on the playoffs.

The class is just not that great this year. Only one player, Blake Griffin is considered a sure thing, and only two others are considered worth exploring. These two are Greg Monroe, a freshman power forward from Georgetown, and Rick Rubio, a young guard playing in Spain.

Not too long ago the Dallas Cowboys were beginning another promising era that could have brought yet another Super Bowl win to their storied history. The Arizona Cardinals were looking like they were going to be collecting veterans looking for a rest stop before officially retiring (their M.O. for the past decade). Now, after the Cardinals managed to get into the Super Bowl and play half way decently, everything is turned around in the Southwest.

The NBA is in trouble. It looks more and more like a lockout will ruin any progress the NBA has made to win back fans that they alienated the last time the league went into lockout mode in 1998. Fans lost 928 games, the league lost all of the goodwil Michael Jordan helped secure, and players lost of $500 million dollars. In 2011, after the collective bargainings talks fail and this strike inevitably happens, I think fans should intervene as the owners rape the players association and demand some changes.

Sometimes it seems like every aspect of our culture rewards greedy brats. I think that trying to teach children to be respectful adults might actually be a detriment to their adult lives. We bail out a banking industry with billions after that cost millions their retirement portfolio. We offer reality shows to rich kids who do absolutely nothing and put them on covers of magazines. We even reward players who act ridiculously with multi-millionaire contracts.

So this weekend Slumdog Millionaire won an impressive eight Oscars out of ten. That kind of dominance is rare in any field. Few musicians have been able to impress the entire Grammy community, sorry Kanye West. Few presidents have been able to have four uninterrupted years of good feeling and inspirational bipartisanship, sorry President Obama. Few sports teams have been able to have perfect seasons, sorry New England Patriots.

Not much happened this time around at the trade deadline as the league has moved on from the Boston Celtics title run in 2008 and has moved onto the practice of making trades in the hopes of acquiring expiring contracts and not talent.

Bucking the general downward trend of the economy, football, as an industry is expanding. Yes, in the next couple of years it looks like fans will have four more leagues to watch. Who knew that professional football would become a beacon for financial hope?

Last weekend my spirit died a little bit as I caved and took my girlfriend to see He’s Just Not That Into You. Here’s the plot summary. The first two acts tell girls that they trick themselves into believing that every man they meet likes them, and then the third act betrays the first two as every female character becomes the exception to the rule.

Gaggles of teenage girls and desperate women were squealing toward the end and I had the urge to jab my plastic straw through my ocular cavity to damage enough of my brain to forget the gruesome two hours I had just witnessed. The only thing I could do was to try and apply the rules from the first two acts of the movie to the sports universe.

It is times like these when the average person is thrust into a life of hardship and they are wading waist deep in corruption that Americans try and return to the simple things in life. Baseball used to be one of those things, but the league is trying America’s patience.

The most debilitating factor coming into the Super Bowl might be the Arizona Cardinals own organization rather than the suppressing Steelers defense. At the end of the game Cards offensive coordinator Todd Haley was seen in a shouting match with Anquan Boldin after leaving him on the bench for nine of the final 14 plays against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

So it is New Years Eve and many blogs and sports shows will run programs celebrating the best of 2008. They will flash back to the New York Giants stunning the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. They will flash to the Phillies giving Philadelphia something to root for in Philadelphia. They will gush over the Boston Celtics victory and the NBA Finals with the Los Angeles Lakers. They might do something about the NHL, but so few fans know anything about the sport that the names on the back of the jerseys would be meaningless.

The final slate of NFL games is just an hour away and I am looking at the final three divisions up for grabs. Of these three, two of the postseason chases seem be bathed in pathetic mediocrity. Really, how could the Denver Broncos blow the lead in the AFC West? How could the Vikings fail to close out the NFC North when they have Adrian Peterson on their team?

About a third of the NBA season is over and the play of the draft class of 2008 has been impressively surprising. So far the competition for rookie of the year has been more than simply a little compelling.

I think the theme for this past weekend in the NFL was momentum. Teams with playoffs on their minds had a lot to gain and to lose this weekend. Some teams cemented their place at the top and others went along playing their way out of the playoffs. In these final weeks I have continued to be surprised by which teams have ended up as the Super Bowl favorites.

This week the NFL front office must be happy. Week 15’s slate of games ended with winners that are going to keep fans watching as two divisions are still far from settled and the wild card competition grew even more desperate.

Week 15 has already officially started. It started with the Bears outlasting the Saints in overtime in the battle of whose defense could be less effective down the stretch. Really, the most valuable players in that game had to be the turf for making any break away plays on the outside of the field impossible and the coin toss that kicked off the overtime. Whoever won that flip was going to take the ball down the field. It just so happened that the winner was the Bears. That and a huge pass interference make up call put the Bears in field goal range and ended the game.

Yesterday I rambled on about the return of the NBA and the emerging talents and up and coming teams in the Eastern Conference. Today I am going to try and drill it into sports fans heads again, basketball is worth watching. Not March Madness basketball with a few hundred players under the age of 22 who will never see a professional court in their lifetime. No, real-life NBA basketball in the post-Jordan (Bulls era please) is again well worth everyone’s attention.

With the Oklahoma Sooners averaging 54 points a game and the Florida Gators averaging 45.2 points, I foresee the highest scoring BCS championship game in the system’s short history.

The NFL season now has three more weeks with the conclusion of Week 14 and the number of meaningful games with playoff implications is dwindling, though each of those contests intensity is rising exponentially. This is the reality for every American sport and it is both a exciting and a sad time, and looking at some of these scores many cities will have fans suffering through the winter with a case of Post-Season Stress Syndrome.

Every year in November college basketball seems to begin incognito. Sure ESPN tries to make the first few tourneys- the NIT, the Old Spice Classic, Coaches vs. Cancer – get some coverage, but nobody realizes that collegians are taking the court until December with the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Denver Broncos 34- Cleveland Browns 30

This game proved once again that not only is the Broncos offense a potent machine, but the team’s defense is bent on making every other offense in the league look like it has been born out of genius. I think that every Broncos game should be watched because every weekend it will be a shoot out. It has the kind of allure of the Sacramento Kings a few years ago. You knew they were going to put together an exciting game, but you also knew they were destined to be stopped well short of the championship. On another note, Cutler’s performance helped my little brother get a much needed win in our fantasy league.

Atlanta Falcons 34- New Orleans Saints 20

Drew Brees reached his weekly quota for yards with 422 and picks with three in a game that helped keep the Falcons in the playoff hunt in the NFC South. I would have thought that Michael Turner would have had 150 yards and three touchdowns in this game, but he managed a very respectable 96 yards as Matt Ryan proved that a pocket quarterback can work in Atlanta as he threw for 10.8 yards an attempt and two touchdowns.

Tennessee Titans 21- Chicago Bears 14

The Bears allowed less than one yard a rushing attempt and stopped most of the long passes (until the end of the game), but forgot that Kerry Collins can pick up 284 yards nickel and diming you with tight end Bo Scaife. The Bears looked like they were on their way to another quarterback controversy as Rex Grossman started to lead the team back from 14 down in the fourth quarter, but he quickly ended the hopes of defeating the last undefeated team with an awful pass as the two minute warning was approaching. At the very least, Bears fans can be thankful that Orton will be welcomed back without any doubt whether it is the right decision.

Jacksonville Jaguars 38- Detroit Lions 14

A strong running game by Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew (who had three touchdowns) dominated this game. David Garrard performed like a true professional with a 119.1 quarterback rating to top off the Jaguars efforts to avoid losing to a winless team for the second week in a row. The Lions hoped that the newly signed Dante Culpepper would have an immediate impact, but he could do little to stop the bleeding as he went from coaching a Pop Warner football team to playing for one.

Miami Dolphins 21 – Seattle Seahawks 19

When a team like the Dolphins beats all odds and comes into week 10 with a 4-4 record after every expert picks them to win less than four games overall, something has to give. The Dolphins have won with an unconventional offense meant to hide their obvious flaws, but an offense based on trick plays means that any team can beat you, including the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks made the game a close on, but their futility was just enough to lose the game to the “Wildcat” and big plays.

Minnesota Vikings 28- Green Bay Packers 27

The game came down to a 52-yard field goal attempt by Packers kicker Mason Crosby. His miss ended the game for the Packers. Adrian Peterson ran for 192 yards and was able to make up for the three interceptions by Gus Frerotte with his lone touchdown on a 29-yard scamper with 2:22 left in the game. Both teams were able to shut down the passing game so it came down to Peterson versus Ryan Grant, and Peterson trumps Grant.

New England Patriots 20- Buffalo Bills 10

In the first half of the season the Bills looked like the team bound to benefit the most from Tom Brady’s injury. Now that the second half has begun, the Patriots have managed to find themselves in a first place tie after beating Buffalo. Matt Cassel has been the unexpected season hero and BenJarvus Green-Ellis was the unexpected hero of this game with 105 yards and a touchdown as the Patriots put together a fine offensive performance and a dominating defensive effort to tie the Jets for the division lead.

New York Jets 47- St. Louis Rams 3

It turns out when you turn the ball over five times in the game and cannot stop the run it is going to be a long game. Jets running back was sensational with 149 yards and three touchdowns. Brett Favre only had 19 passing attempts and only threw for 167 yards as excellent field position and a terrific ground game that totaled 206 yards made the game a blowout quickly. The Rams looked awful. The line made this a long day for Trent Green and Marc Bulger, who both had time behind the center. The Rams only have to endure seven more games until this unfortunate season is over and the hurting can stop.

Baltimore Ravens 41-Houston Texans 13

Joe Flacco was never really expect to do more than “manage” games this season, but the rookie has continued to prove that his big arm can lea a potent offense. This Sunday he only threw for 185 yards, but had two touchdowns, including a 43-yard bomb to Yamon Figurs. Willis McGahee had a strong game as well, running for 112 yards and two touchdowns. The balanced offense and a defense that picked off the Raven’s Sage Rosenfels four times made this game a laugher quickly.

Carolina Panthers 17-Oakland Raiders 6

The Raiders are bad. Jake Delhomme threw nearly as many picks (4) as completions (7) on 27 attempts and only managed 72 yards, but the Raiders could still not make this game look even close. Running back Deangelo Williams had 140 yards and a touchdown for the Panthers ad that was plenty to embarrass a pitiful Raiders team. Justin Fargas had a pretty good game with 89 yards, but the rest of the offense looked awful. Andrew Walter was the latest quarterback to commit career suicide be taking snaps for Al Davis and will surely not be the last this season.

No video, just audio, but a funny truth from Gabriel Iglesias my favorite pluis-sized comedian

Indianapolis Colts 24- Pittsburgh Steelers 20

Ben Roethlisberger took the field again with his injured shoulder and threw three interceptions. At the age of 26 he is looking like an aging fighter taking too many hits and throwing desperation punches. Meanwhile, Peyton Manning is looking like the graceful veteran reminding everyone of his greatness. He threw for 240 yards and three touchdowns. It took 40 attempts to complete 21 passes, but the master technician is keeping the Colts within striking distance of the postseason. The Steelers may be in the lead in their division, but they need to do some work to keep that lead and be more than first round fodder in the playoffs.

San Diego Chargers 20- Kansas City Chiefs 19

The Chargers used to be the team nobody paid attention to because the played in Southern California. Now they are the team nobody cares about because they can barely beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Philip Rivers was good (316 yards, 2 touchdowns) and bad (2 picks) in this “effort”. LaDainian Tomlinson continued his tough season as the Chiefs focused on him to hold him to 78 yards on 22 carries. Tyler Thigpen put together another nice effort for the Chiefs with 266 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Still, the Chiefs could not win in a season that was never anything more than a rebuilding year.

New York Giants 36- Philadelphia Eagles 31

The Giants have proven that despite their easy first half schedule they are the truly the best team in the NFC East. The Eagles had won three straight and were hoping to begin the journey from last place to first with a win in New York, but could not get Brian Westbrook going (thanks to the Giants game plan). Westbrook, the focus of the Eagles offense, was held to 26 rushing yard and 33 passing yards. Donovan McNabb threw three touchdowns, but when the game came down to the final minutes, he could not rally his receivers for a win. Eli Manning was good with 2 touchdown passes and Brandon Jacobs was great with 126 yards and two touchdowns. The Giants won this game far more easily than the scoreboard reflects and answered any doubts as to the legitimacy of their record.

NFL Tickets

The Detroit Pistons were the one true basketball “team” in the NBA. Individually, the starting five had tremendous faults that kept them from being true NBA stars. Rasheed Wallace had an attitude problem, Chauncey Billups had a spent too many years as a journeyman, Tayshaun Prince had a limited offensive game, Richard Hamilton could not play alongside dominant personalities like Michael Jordan, and Antonio McDyess had his prime dampened by injuries. Together they erased each others flaws. Together they beat the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals.

Let’s refresh the memory with a top ten list from NBA TV…

NBA lore has it that the team came and conquered the sure champions. It was a lesson in the lack of appreciation for teamwork. It was a return to the phenomenon reminiscent of March Madness where no powerhouse is safe from the inspired Cinderella with nothing to lose. It was a great story, but it was also mostly fiction.

Much like Wicked tells the story before Dorothy came to Oz and defeated the Wicked Witch of the West, this blog entry will tell what happened before the Pistons unexpectedly arrived in the championship series. The volatile relationship between Shaq and Kobe had become too much to bear. Both wanted to be the leader of the team and no matter how many alley-oops and kick outs highlight films show from those playoffs, the team had become split with factions and egos that even Phil Jackson could not hold together.

The other two stars, Karl Malone and Gary Payton, were shadows of former great players. Malone was hobbled and useless apart from an occasional spot up jumper and Payton rarely made it off the bench as it seemed Jackson held a grudge despite beating him in the 1996 NBA Finals.

Warning, this clip contains language some may not find appropriate from www.faym.ebs.com…

The Lakers were waiting to fall apart and the Pistons were simply good enough as a team to beat a Los Angeles squad that played as individuals and not the team that the team that won three straight championships. The following year the Detroit Pistons returned to the NBA Finals and put up a fight, but could beat the San Antonio Spurs, a team with talent and an all for one mentality.

The reality is that Joe Dumars knows this and is starting a new philosophy – star talent. Allen Iverson is hungry for a championship. His career is entering its limelight and he wants to go out with more than a single game win in the finals. His hunger, his drive, and his still-shocking ability to score at will are what Dumars wants.

Iverson will have Hamilton, Wallace, and Prince to help him. That is a much better supporting cast than he had in 2001 when he led the 76ers to the finals and single-handedly won game one before dropping four straight.

These are some highlights from one of the most dominating single game performances in NBA Finals history from the NBC archives…

The loss of Billups will hurt and whether or not McDyess accepts a buyout and returns to Detroit remains unknown (but highly suspected). The change at point will mean a new game in the Motor City. It is too early to tell what will happen, but not too early to guess. I think the abrupt change in team chemistry destroys the team. Luckily, Iverson’s $20 million contract expires after the season so it is a calculated risk.

NBA Tickets

New York Jets 26- Buffalo Bills 17

Bills quarterback Trent Edwards nearly threw for 300 yards, but those numbers are misleading because the only the Bills could move the ball was through the air. His fumble and pick did little to help the Bills create some sort of separation in the AFC East. The Jets relied on their defense for this win and entered into a three way tie for first place with the Bills and the Patriots.

Chicago Bears 27 – Detroit Lions 23

The Bears expected to walk away from this one with a laugher, but instead squeaked out a win with Rex Grossman coming in for the injured Kyle Orton. Let the annual Chicago quarterback controversy begin. The Lions put together a solid first half with a sudden hint of chemistry between a Lions quarterback this season and Calvin Johnson. This game was a scare for Chicago and Detroit walked away with a moral victory knowing it had started the annual question at quarterback.

Cincinnati Bengals 21 – Jacksonville Jaguars 19

The Bengals ended their misery this season with a victory and the graduation from just sad to still very sad, but approaching mediocre. The Jaguars could not take advantage of the porous run defense with their dual back attack and suffered the biggest embarrassment of the weekend. To add insult, Cedric Benson rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown against the Jaguars defense.

Baltimore Ravens 37 – Cleveland Browns 27

In what I though would be an ugly game, the Ravens stayed with in striking distance of first place in the AFC North and the Browns recent run at recovery was cut short. Joe Flacco had his weekly highlight with a 47 touchdown pass to Mark Clayton and Derek Anderson did his best to justify the first year of his new contract. In the end the Ravens defense ended the game with a 42 yard touchdown return by Terrell Suggs.

Tennessee Titans 19 – Green Bay Packers 16 (OT)

The Titans moved to 8-0 after a hard fought victory by a Packers team trying to keep pace with the Bears. The Packers were able to move the ball against the vaunted Titans defense, but were not able to score more than one touchdown. The Titans continued to surprise with a 41 yard field goal in overtime by Rob Bironas to end the game and keep the streak alive.

Tampa Bay Bucs 30 – Kansas City Chiefs 27 (OT)

Yes, the Chiefs defense is awful. The worst in the NFL, but they have been able to breakout with Tyler Thigpen at quarterback to make the games more than just a joke. In fact, this week they nearly beat the Bucs. The Bucs are a good team that everyone expected to come out and simply handle Kansas City. Instead they had to tie the game on a quick touchdown drive with less than two minutes left in the fourth. In the end Matt Bryant won the game for Tampa with a 34 yard field goal.

Arizona Cardinals 34- St. Louis Rams 13

Few games tend to play out how the experts and the fans expect, but this one did. The Rams could not stop Kurt Warner as he spread the ball to eight receivers threw two touchdowns. The telling sign of the game was the use of Tim Hightower as the main back, signaling the end of Edgerrin James’ attempt to make a comeback in nicer weather.

Minnesota Vikings 29- Houston Texans 21

The Vikings ran over the Texans in a game that was much more a blowout than the score would suggest. The Texans scored two touchdowns in the second half with Sage Rosenfels, who replaced an injured Matt Schaub. Gus Frerotte looked good as the Vikings quarterback with three touchdown passes with just 18 passing attempts.

Miami Dolphins 26–Denver Broncos 17

The Dolphins have surprised everyone this season with a 4-4 record and the Broncos have disappointed everyone with a 4-4 record. The Dolphins were supposed to be one of the worst teams in the league, but trick plays and the play of Chad Pennington have kept them afloat and out of the race for worst place. The Broncos were supposed to breakout, but the running game has not been there and Jay Cutler has been the only weapon as his receivers have fought injuries. In this game the Dolphins simply managed the game better.

Atlanta Falcons 24- Oakland Raiders 0

The Falcons scored all their points in the first half and felt little pressure from a Raiders offense that only managed 77 yards. Meanwhile, Michael Turner ran for 139 yards and Matt Ryan passed for two touchdowns. There is nothing really more to say about this scrimmage.

New York Giants 35- Dallas Cowboys 14

The Cowboys woes continue as they dug deep into their depth chart and brought Brooks Bollinger out to start the second half. The Giants rolled with a running game to minimize turnovers. Eli Manning had his bit of magic with three touchdowns despite only connecting on 16 of 27 passes for 147 yards. He still fumbled the ball twice and threw a pick, but the toothless Dallas offense could not turn his miscues into scores.

Philadelphia Eagles 26- Seattle Seahawks 7

The Eagles won the game. They were supposed to do that, but they won despite a less than stellar performance from Brian Westbrook. Westbrook fought for respectability in the second half to finish with 20 carries for 61 yards and 6 receptions for 35 yards. Instead, Donovan McNabb spread the ball to 10 receivers for 349 yards. The Seahawks were playing catch up for the most of the game, but did open up the contest with a 90 yard bomb from Seneca Wallace to Koren Robinson.

Indianapolis Colts 18- New England Patriots 15

Last season this game would have been touted for the potential to break the 100 point total scoring mark. This season the Colts managed to find a little offense while Patriots kicker Stephen Gostowski worked out his leg. The game was exciting though. The Colts broke the 15-15 tie with 8:05 left it he fourth quarter before the defenses took over, or the offenses sputtered (depends on how you look at it).

NFL Tickets

In this new political atmosphere in the midst of an economy that appears to be on the brink of disaster because of shady business practices and a ground breaking presidential election the new trend is for transparency. This trend is slowly creeping into every aspect of our American lives, including sports.

Yesterday, for the second time in two days, the umpires calling the World Series admitted that they missed a key play. This time it was in the first inning of Game 4 when Jimmy Rollins got caught in a run down and was called safe on his retreat back to third base. Replays, seen nation wide by the largest audience to watch this World Series so far, showed that Rollins was tagged clearly on the bum by Rays third baseman Evan Longoria. The play ended up being significant because Pat Burrell walked with the bases loaded, scoring Rollins.

The question is, is this a good thing? It has been an American tradition to openly mock umpires for missing calls and hypothesize that the league has a vendetta against our team. It almost helps the “us against the world” mentality that sports fans have with regards for their team. By publicly admitting that the human element in sports (a genre like I think is simply politics without all that pesky national socio-economic fall out) is faulty it takes away from that traditional separation of the game on the field and destroying that fourth wall that separated the fan from the game.

The fans should not have sympathy for the ump or really any kind of personal relationship with the man (or woman) wearing the chest protector, leaning over the catchers shoulder. Fans should only have hopeless devotion for their team. They should think that each game is some sort of chapter in a grand story of destiny with a clear three act structure.

Bad calls are part of the game, simply put. Instant replay is already being used for home runs and it is slowly becoming justified as part of the every aspect of the game. Fairness and sports have never truly been one and the same, that is part of the beauty of sports.

I would much rather see this…

Than this…

And to end this post on a non sequitur, perhaps the most amazing pitch ever thrown…

World Series Tickets

Dallas Cowboys 13 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9

The Cowboys somehow managed to win the dullest game of the weekend. Very little offense for both sides, one turnover, and a penalty-filled afternoon ended in a surprise and exhausting Dallas victory


Washington Redskins 25 – Detroit Lions 17

The Lions surprised everybody by putting up a fight according to the score, but, in all reality, the Redskins controlled the game. They won the time of possession battle (35:45 to 24:150 and they won the total yards battle (439 to 274). Jason Campbell and Clinton Portis shined in this contest and once again brought a victory home of the Redskins.

Miami Dolphins 25 – Buffalo Bills 16

Fresh off a contract extension, Bills Head Coach Dick Jauron came away with a loss to the confounding Dolphins. Trent Edwards looked like he was feeling the delayed after effects from the concussion and Chad Pennington looked like the white knight. Miami scored the final 18 points to pull off the upset victory.

New England Patriots 23 – St. Louis Rams 16

The Patriots won another gimmee to inflate their record. Bulger showed some life of the Rams in the pocket, but a huge game from Patriots kicker Stephen Gostowski and a alopy performance by the St. Louis (nine penalties for 63 yards) ended their hopes of a second consecutive shocking victory.

New Orleans Saints 37 – San Diego Chargers 32

The Saints and Chargers brought American football to London in the hopeless attempt to establish the sport in Europe. It is too bad the NFL needlessly exported a high-octane game to Wembley Stadium. Drew Brees and Philip Rivers matched each other’s performance and LaDainian Tomlinson had 170 total yards in this exciting contest.

New York Jets 28 – Kansas City Chiefs 24

Brett Favre delivered the victory, but hardly looked like less of a chump to Jets fans after throwing three picks. The Chiefs were very much so in this game when they should never have been given a chance. Tyler Thigpen was the dominant number four (minus the victory) in the battle of quarterbacks. Why the Jets threw so much and avoided the run against the awful Chiefs front seven is beyond everybody’s comprehension.

 Philadelphia Eagles 27 – Atlanta Falcons 14

The Eagles kicked off the euphoric day for Philadelphia with a 27-14 win over the dangerous Falcons. They contained Michael Turner and made Matt Ryan try and beat them. Meanwhile McNabb had a so-so day (19/34 for 253 yards) and Brian Westbrook had over 200 yards of total offense (167 rushing and 42 passing) and two touchdowns. The win kept the Eagles in the NFC East contention.

Carolina Panthers 27 – Arizona Cardinals 23

The Cardinals proved that their passing offense is among the leagues best, but still could not come away with a win against the NFC South leading Panthers. Kurt Warner enjoyed having Anquan Boldin back, getting the ball to him twice in the end zone and Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Breaston rounded out the deadly performance by the dangerous trio of receivers. The Panthers were able to play great run defense and let the Cardinals shoot themselves in the foot while putting on a offensive performance with a balanced attack for the win.

Baltimore Ravens 29 – Oakland Raiders 10

The Ravens ran unimpeded over the Raiders, gaining 192 yards on the ground, in this victory. The game was complete with a trick play that had backup quarterback Troy Smith find starting quarterback Joe Flacco with a 43 yard touchdown pass.

Houston Texans 35 – Cincinnati Bengals 6

The Texans beat the NFL Europe team known as the Bengals in a game that once again solidified Matt Schaub’s place as the starting quarterback. Schaub threw for 280 yards and three touchdowns, completing 24 of 28 passes. The entire Bengals offense seemed to come through Ryan Fitzpatrick who threw for 155 yards (but two picks) and nearly led the team in rushing with 42 yards.

Cleveland Browns 23 – Jacksonville Jaguars 17

The Browns won this past Sunday with big receptions and lots of luck. The Jaguars bobbled key passes and kick off returns to give the Browns every chance to walk away with a win. David Garrard did all he could, but his 283 yards passing, two touchdown passes, and 59 rushing yards were to avail.

New York Giants 21 – Pittsburgh Steelers 14

The Giants and the Steelers gave a throwback performance in a game with Pittsburgh in retro uniforms. The defenses dominated. The Giants picked off Roethlisberger four times and the Steelers managed to hold the Giants to 282 yards despite New York having the ball for nearly 35 minutes. This game came down to the final minutes of the fourth quarter when Eli Manning found Kevin Boss in the end zone with 3:07 on the clock for the final score of the game.

Seattle Seahawks 34 – San Francisco 49ers 13

Mike Singletary’s debut as the 49ers head coach did little to change the team’s performance. The 49ers made Seneca Wallace look like a starting NFL quarterback and gave the game away with two turnovers and seven penalties for 65 yards.

NFL Tickets
 

Saturday: Phillies 5 – Rays 4

Saturday was a night of extremes. The game started at 10:06, the latest start time ever for a World Series game, and the Phillies sent Jamie Moyer to the mound, the second oldest player to ever start a World Series game at the age of 45. Moyer allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings, but left with a no decision as the game took a couple of crazy turns.

B.J. Upton stole three bases and proved that sometimes speed alone can score runs, taking home after a throwing error allowed him to jog to the plate after stealing third base. In the end it was a lucky infield nubber to down the third base line that won the game, letting Eric Bruntlett score as Evan Longoria made a desperate attempt to bare hand the floundering hit and catch him at home.

Here is the lucky winning hit

Sunday: Phillies 10 – Rays 2

Sunday ended the steak of three close games. The Tampa Bay Rays has escaped three games without facing the true power of the Phillies lineup. This time, in game four, Philadelphia finally broke out of its funk and let loose on all freakin’ cylinders. Ryan Howard proved that he is the big, bad bat that terrorized the National League for the past three seasons, smashing two home runs and driving in five of Philadelphia’s 10 runs. Even Joe Blanton, the starting pitcher, hit one out (with the help of the same luck that won game three I’m sure).

World Series Tickets

Here is Balton’s solo shot, you open your eyes now Joe

The Tampa Bay Rays are now against the wall with a 3 games to 1 deficit and a surging Phillies team. If the Phillies can end this series on Wednesday in Tampa, then finally the beleaguered sports fans in Philadelphia can celebrate instead of throwing beer bottles and beating up Santa Claus. Cole Hamels takes the mound with confidence (he is 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA in the postseason) and Scott Kazmir is the great hope for the Rays (though he will have to pitch better than his 4.15 playoff ERA to do so).

Here is an ode to the painful existence of Philadelphia sports fanatics

The Philadelphia Phillies won Tuesday night despite leaving 11 runners on base. On Tuesday the Phillies got the win though. On Wednesday night the Phillies again left 11 runners on base, this time they lost. Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Rays scored four runs on plays that produced an out in addition to a point.

The Rays evened up the World Series at a game a piece and James “Big Game” Shields proved true to his nickname, allowing zero runs in five and two-thirds innings, despite allowing seven hits and walking two. This series has been a weird one so far, but sometimes weird is better, especially for a series that people expected to be one of the least watched in history.

Now here are some funny videos that can make everybody smile, whether you are a Phillies fan, Rays fan, or even the mourning Cubs fans.

A much needed social commentary

Fun with retro video games, reliving history with history

Buffalo Bills 23 – San Diego Chargers 14

The Bills are now the team to beat in the AFC East. They beat a Chargers squad that is facing serious questions after dropping to 3-4. Tomlinson is battling injuries and the Chargers defense really misses Merriman.

Chicago Bear 48 – Minnesota Vikings 41

Nobody had this game turning out like this. Gus Frerotte would have been a candidate for player of the week if did not throw four picks to go with his 298 yards. Peterson ran rampant, but the Bears managed to score in juts about everyway imaginable to escape with a win.

Pittsburgh Steelers 38 – Cincinnati Bengals 10

In a game that surprised no one, not even the most diehard Bengals fan, the Steelers dominated on the ground, through the air, and with penetration on defense. Roethlisberger appears to be at least close to last season’s form, albeit this game was against the Bengals.

Tennessee Titans 34 – Kansas City Chiefs 10

The Titans prefect record was never really in trouble in this game. They ran all over the Chiefs “defense” and the Chiefs “offense” included a carousal of three quarterbacks in a single game.

St. Louis Rams 34- Dallas Cowboys 14

This test against the Rams proved that the Cowboys really are in trouble. They not only lost to the Rams, they were decimated by the St. Louis. This is a cry for help. The Dallas “D” needs to collect itself after failing in a game in which they only needed to stop Stephen Jackson to really put up a respectable and victorious show.

Baltimore Ravens 27 – Miami Dolphins 13

The Ravens defense focused on the run and made the Dolphins actually put Chad Pennington behind the center in an attempt to beat them. Joe Flacco looked good picking up over 10 yards a pass and Willis McGahee had a strong game with 105 yards on 5.5 yards a carry.


New York Giants 29 – San Francisco 49ers 17
The New York Giants rebounded after an embarrassing loss in Week 6 with a solid effort against the 49ers. The loss sent Mike Nolan on his way, and opened the door for Mike Singletary to take on the coaching duties. The Giants looked good, but far from great in the effort.

Carolina Panthers 30 – New Orleans 7

In a game where many wondered what would happen when Brees took on the Panthers’ secondary, the Saints struggled and lost Reggie Bush for 2 to 4 weeks. The Panthers controlled the game with 143 yards rushing on 37 carries and timely passes.

Houston Texans 28 – Detroit Lions 21

The Texans won in the battle of last place. A balanced running attack by Steve Slaton and Ahman Green and another standout performance by Andre Johnson 9who continues to make Matt Schaub a great fantasy pick) controlled the time of possession for 40 minutes, leaving the Lions little chance.

Oakland Raiders 16 – New York Jets 13

Thomas Jones had a great game with 159 yards in a losing effort by the Jets. The Raiders won in overtime with the longest kick ever in the extra quarter (57 yards) by Sebastian Janikowski. Brett Favre looked pretty bad, throwing two picks and fumbling the ball three times (though her recovered two of those).

Green Bay Packers 34 – Indianapolis Colts 14

An offense determined to control the ball and two picks by Peyton Manning helped the Packers to its fourth victory and first place tie with the Chicago Bears in the NFC North. The Colts failed to reproduce the explosiveness they showed again against the Ravens. This season is turning out to be a dud for fans in Indianapolis.

Washington Redskins 14 – Cleveland Browns 11

Clinton Portis was spectacular with 175 yards on 27 carries in a game and Santana Moss had two incredible runs after catches in a game that was more exciting than one would expect from the score. The Redskins defense was dominant, allowing only 236 yards of offense by the Browns.

Tampa Bay 20 – Seattle Seahawks 10

Seneca Wallace needed to have a big game for the Seahawks to win this one, and 73 yards passing total is not a big game. The Bucs won the game, predictably, with defense, holding the Seahawks to 176 total yards. Jeff Garcia had a nice return with 310 passing yards and a touchdown while the running game struggled to even seem passable.

New England 41- Denver Broncos 7

The game started out badly for the Broncos and ended even worse. The team that is known for its offense could not muster a point until the fourth quarter. That was after the Patriots had scored 34 and Jay Cutler through two picks and injured his thumb on the helmet of the Patriots Richard Seymour. The Patriots passing game produced three touchdowns only 185 yards and the entire Patriots depth chart at running back had a fine day.

NFL Tickets
 

The World Series is the culmination of excellence for an entire season. The best teams with the best hitting, the best hitting, and the best fielding bring each season to a close in dramatic fashion. The Rays and the Phillies bring that this season, and though not many baseball fans though they would have an interest in seeing teams from Tampa and Philadelphia playing.

Most thought the Chicago Cubs would pick this season to give a story book ending to their century of bad luck. The team was as talented and as balanced as many of the great teams in history, but in the end the rest of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ batting lineup caught up with Manny Ramirez and swept the Cubbies. This broke plenty of people’s hearts, but inspired a hilarious SNL moment (the best comedy has its roots in tragedy, right).

Over in the American League everybody was sure that the Tampa Bay Rays playoff tickets would just be a fad. The team was less than compelling at the plate, relying on a couple of home run hitters to give their great pitching a thin lead all season long. The Chicago White Sox, the Boston Red Sox or the Los Angeles Angels (the team with the best record in baseball) were supposed to stop the Cinderella season.

Instead, the Rays found a groove and destroyed the White Sox and set the major league record for home runs in the ALCS while taking out the Red Sox (who were trying to become the first team to repeat as champions since the New York Yankees in the late ‘90s).

At the end of this season of great storylines and greater surprises World Series tickets have landed in Philadelphia and Tampa. In celebration of the unexpected and the unappreciated, we are celebrating the top ten catches (sometimes truly unbelievable, with good reason) from every league that uses a ball and a leather glove. Enjoy, be amazed, and trick yourself into believing you could actually make some these plays with breaking something in the process.
 

Ten of the Best Catches in Baseball

The World Series this season is going to be interesting as the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Tampa Bay Rays. It is the battle of the have nots and the have not in a while.

The Rays have a team that has performed masterfully on the mound and at the plate in both postseason series so far. The inexperienced Rays managed to keep their team ERA down to 3.62. Starting pitchers Matt Garza and James Shields were able to survive the dangerous bats of the Boston Red Sox with relatively few runs allowed. Garza won the ALCS MVP for his 2-0 record and 1.38 ERA during the series.

The bats have been alive all postseason long for Tamp Bay. Rays tickets to Tropicana Field have seen a team that set an ALCS record with 16 home runs (the prior record was 13). B.J. Upton may not be known as a power hitter after this past regular season, but the bat that managed to hit 24 home runs out of the ball park in 2007 has made a comeback and leads the team with seven dingers in the series.

The Philadelphia Phillies have not exactly struggled themselves. The team dispatched the Brewers easily in four games and the Dodgers in five. That 7-2 postseason record is quite impressive as the team that has been slowly gaining ground in the National League has made it to the championship series.

The Phillies tickets for their home games at Citizens Bank Park seem pretty safe, but Philadelphia will have to play better on the road, where they were 3-2 in the playoffs. Since the American League won the World Series, they get home field advantage.

The Phillies struggled offensively in the first two playoff series. This seems like an odd thing to say since the strength of the club is its batting lineup, but the team only managed to hit .259 in these first nine games. Those bats- specifically those of Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins-will need to be far more explosive to make sure that the new upstart Rays do not make this a short World Series.

World Series Tickets

The Philadelphia Phillies have the unfortunate honor of being the professional franchise with the most losses in every sport. This has come because of a few factors. One, even a great team will post a large number of losses because of the pure volume of baseball games played in a regular season. Two, the Phillies have been playing those high volume games since 1883. Three, they were awful for quite a few seasons from 1915 to 1950.
Anybody who ahs paid attention the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park will tell you that since the turn of the century, Philadelphia has bucked history and been building a loaded team that was just waiting for the Atlanta Braves to go away. The Braves are gone and now the Phillies have fought off the New York Mets and the Florida Marlins to reach their first World Series since 1993.

The competition at Tropicana Field used to be for the fans with Rays tickets that were trying to beat the rest of the crowd while the last place team finished the final two innings. This season, things magically turned around. The team inexplicably started the season hot and never slowed down. They went 97-65 and flirted with the best record in the league for a few months.

The Tampa Bay Rays took the crazy turn this season thanks to the youth. B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria, and Carl Crawford have all been highly position touted prospects and this season they managed to find their way during the season and pave a road that led to a first place finish in the highly competitive American League East.

Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, and James Shields have been the three young aces for the team. These three and a stellar bullpen held opponents to just few enough runs to make up for the sometimes sputtering offense. That offense has not been sputtering in the postseason and will need to put on a show because the Phillies offense is powerful enough to score a few runs on the Rays great pitchers.

World Series Tickets
 

The Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies are meeting in a World Series that few would have predicted at the beginning of the season. The series may not be what television outlets wanted, but it should a very entertaining one.

The entertainment value will come from watching two very similar teams duke it out. From a historical perspective this is a series between one of the league’s oldest franchises (the Phillies at the ripe old age of 126) and one of the leagues youngest (the Rays at the age of 11). On the field this is a match up that pits powerful bats against good pitching.

Phillies tickets provided entry to the third most dangerous team in the National League. Philadelphia has watched all season long as Pat Burrell, Ryan Howard, and Chase Utely have scared National League pitchers. Toward the end of the season Jimmy Rollins began to turn his bad season around and other players like Jayson Werth were dangerous enough to make teams suffer.

Rays tickets were not guarantees to a show with an onslaught of runs, but one with a lineup that lived and died with the home run ball. Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria were the main culprits, but during the postseason B.J. Upton joined the duo to make a trio of power hitters. The long ball and the multiple steal threats led from a surprising start to what could be an unbelievable finish.

The pitching on both sides has been pretty solid. Matt Garza, James Shields, and Scott Kazmir were dinged up a little bit by the Red Sox, but most teams would have been roughed up. The young starters are all quality performers on the mound and need to be at their best to make it through the middle of the Phillies lineup.

The Phillies have had to rely on the performances by Cole Hamels and Joe Blanton to start the game and Ryan Madson, J.C. Romeo, and Brad Lidge to hold the game until victory. The Rays bats may not be as dangerous as the Phillies, but they are definitely more of a challenge than the Dodgers.

World Series Tickets

 

The New Beasts of the East, the Boston Red Sox, go into tonight with their season on the line. Down three games to two, the Boston faithful are hoping for the kind of play that toppled the Yankees in 2004. The team woke up after two painful games against the upstart Tampa Bay Rays.

Josh Beckett will take the mound and will need to shake off his first two postseason appearances, in which he was fortunate to avoid two losses, but not fortunate to leave the games with less than an 11.57 ERA. Beckett will need to beckon a performance like his starts in September when he was dominant on the mound. The offense, especially David Ortiz, will need to show that Thursday’s late game re-emergence was not just a last grasp.

MLB Playoffs
 

This weekend’s slate of games has a long list of match ups that experts have deemed foregone conclusions. Everybody expects the Steelers to pummel the Bengals, everybody expects the Giants to destroy the 49ers, and everybody thinks the Bucs are going to decimate the Hasselbeck-less Seahawks.

The short list of games that split hairs include the Ravens-Dolphins, Panthers-Saints, and Colts-Packers. The Ravens have the advantage on defense and the Dolphins have the advantage on offense, but that’s if the Ronnie Brown direct snap thing keeps working. The Panthers have the advantage at two of the skill positions (running backs and wide receiver), but the Saints have Drew Brees at quarterback and he seems to make any receiver work for him. The Colts are coming off what they hope to return to their previous form and the Packers hope to return to the beginning of the same.

NFL Tickets
 

The Los Angeles Lakers may be overwhelming favorites in Hollywood to repeat as Western Conference champions, but the Western Conference is so deep that to say anyone is an outright favorite is foolish. There is another problem too. That problem is height.

The Lakers are too tall. The court at the Staples Center is the same around the league and people who get excited about having Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and Pau Gasol starting in the front court forget that they have to fit on the court. One of the basic principles of an offense is spacing. When the front court has two 7 footers and one guy who is 6 foot 10 the issue of court space becomes apparent.

If you still have a problem imagining why this situation would be a problem, just think about trying to play 5 on 5 basketball on a driveway when you were in high school. The game gets clunky because nobody can move and rebounds end becoming excuses to beat each other up.

The Lakers have a few options. They could put Odom on the bench or they could trade Odom. Gasol was never a center and his deficiencies were exposed no matter how many points he put up. Bynum is thus the only option to start. Odom may not be so keen to accept to a relegation to the bench to start the game though. The Lakers could probably swing some sort of a deal that could benefit both sides with Odom’s expiring contract and all around talent.
 

NBA Tickets

Perhaps I remember too fondly the days of Reggie Miller, Rick Smits, and Mark Jackson, but I think the Indiana Pacers could be ready to make some noise in the Eastern Conference. The team has Jim O’Brien as head coach. This is the same man who happily let Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce, and Walter McCarthy launch threes in Boston earlier this decade.

There are a number of differences between those Celtics teams and this team. The main one is that this team has much better shooters. Walker was simply a power forward who liked to shoot threes. He was not a bad or a good outside shooter, but he loved to launch them from 20 feet out.

This Pacers team has player like Troy Murphy, Danny Granger, Brandon Rush, and Mike Dunleavy (yes, Mike Dunleavy) can shoot it from outside. This team is now free of the promise of Jermaine O’Neal’s healthy return. Every season he was supposed to return to All Star form, but only spent half the season on the disabled list. This time the team can move forward mentally and find a new focus.

That focus appears to be Granger and Dunleavy. The players had nearly identical averages for points, boards, and steals. While Granger has the athleticism necessary to stand out in the NBA, Dunleavy is the pesky coach’s son who manages to annoy the other team. With T.J. Ford penetrating (he does not shoot threes) the defensive collapse is sure to get somebody open.

The other part of the team that I like is Jeff Foster. The man cannot score under any circumstance other than a put back, but he can rebound and with so many shooters on the court in O’Brien’s offense the team needs a pure rebounder. Foster is the best offensive rebounder in the league and his numbers should go up astronomically this year.

The bench is not too shabby either. Jarrett Jack, Brandon Rush, and Eddie Jones are not going to win the sixth man of the year award, but they will keep the shots dropping in the basket while the starters rest.

NBA Tickets
 

The World Series is coming, but before it arrives the championship series have to play out. This weekend the ALCS went 1-1 as the Boston Red Sox defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 on Friday and the Rays evened the series 9-8 on Saturday, winning in extra innings.

The Phillies took a commanding 2-0 lead after beating the Dodgers 8-5 on Friday, but Los Angeles struck back with five runs in the first inning Sunday on their way to a 7-2 win to remind Philadelphia that the Dodgers can be just as dangerous with Manny Ramirez in the lineup.

MLB Playoffs
 

Indianapolis Colts 31 – Baltimore Ravens 3

Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison woke up from a four game slump to light up a very good Ravens defense. The Colts defense woke up as well, stopping the run and pressuring rookie Joe Flacco into throwing three picks.

Minnesota Vikings 12 – Detroit Lions 10

A game that was supposed to feature an offensive by the Vikings was more about Minnesota’s defense than the Adrian Peterson and the offense. The ineptitude of the Vikes led to a raucous crowd to begin chanting “Fire Childress.”

New Orleans Saints 34 – Oakland Raiders 3

Drew Brees continues to burn teams despite having a less than stellar (and healthy) receiving core to throw to. The Raiders were easy prey as they tried to soldier through another disappointing season.

New York Jets 26 – Cincinnati 14

The Jets looked like they were playing with a hang over, but they still controlled the game leaving the Bengals winless after six painful weeks. Thomas Jones had a career day, scoring three times in a game for the first time.

Atlanta Falcons 22 – Chicago Bears 20

After three slow quarters the game came alive in the fourth quarter with each team making impressive drives toward the end, but the Falcons had the ball last and let Jason Elam make up for an earlier miss in the fourth with a 48 yarder.

Tampa Bay Bucs 27 – Carolina Panthers 3

Jeff Garcia made a strong statement to win the starting job back with a sold 15 of 20, 173 yards, 1 touchdown performance. The win ties them for the division lead with the Panthers.

St. Louis Rams 19 – Washington Redskins 17

The Redskins lose after four impressive consecutive wins that announced their arrival as a contender. The Rams give interim Head Coach Jim Haslett a victory in his first game that also ended St. Louis’s eight-game losing streak.

Houston Texans 29 – Miami Dolphins 28

The Texans and Dolphins tripped over themselves in an entertaining game that saw plenty of picks and fumbles. The game looked more like a neighborhood football game than an NFL affair.

Jacksonville Jaguars 24 – Denver Broncos 17

The Jaguars won a game with another strong running game, this time by Maurice Jones-Drew. The Broncos vaunted passing game only produced 192 yards and as Jay Cutler only completed 21 of 37 passes.

Philadelphia Eagles 40 – San Francisco 49ers 26

The shootout of the weekend took place in San Fran this week as neither team played very good defense. The 49ers actually won the battle of the clock, but with three turnovers to the Eagles one, the game was out of their control.

Green Bay Packers 27 – Seattle Seahawks 17

The Hasselbeck-less Seahawks sputtered on offense, only gaining 177 yards. Aaron Rodgers looked in control as the running game again was a disappointment. The Packers remain the in the middle of a muddled NFC North that could see anybody but the Lions advance.

Arizona Cardinals 30 – Dallas Cowboys 24 (OT)

The Arizona Cardinals are apparently for real. After years of being the Washington Generals to the Cowboys’ Harlem Globetrotters, the Cardinals won in overtime off a blocked punt return.

San Diego Chargers 30 – New England Patriots 10

The Chargers reasserted themselves after a shocking loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 5. Philip Rivers averages 11.3 yards a throw on route to his three touchdown night. The Patriots struggled against the first real opponents since Week 2.

NFL Tickets
 

Week 6 in the NFL brings the season one step closer to separating the truly surprising teams from the teams that are just pretending to matter. The Chicago Bears and the Atlanta Falcons have surprised many an expert. The Bears and Falcons offenses were supposed to be stagnant. Instead Kyle Orton has led an entertaining passing attack as the season has worn on and Michael “The Burner” Turner has emerged from LaDainian Tomlinson’s shadow and become one of the most explosive runners in the league. The Falcons defense is as bad as advertised though, so the Falcons are likely just biding time before struggling under the leadership of rookie Matt Ryan.

Other interesting match ups include a potential fantasy football bonanza in Arizona as the explosive Cowboys take on the pass happy Cardinals. The San Diego Chargers and the New England Patriots is an interesting game because the Chargers have far from lived up to expectations and the Patriots have exceeded theirs. Of course the team has picked up three wins against struggling teams so the quality of the club is still in question. This week should be interesting again as this pleasant surprise of an NFL season continues.

NFL Tickets
 

The National League Championship Series has a traditional match up that baseball fans can really grasp. The Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers are bringing the early ‘90s back. The series should be very interesting since the teams are yin and yang. The Phillies have an underestimated pitching staff and a lauded middle of the lineup and the Dodgers have a celebrated staff and an underestimated offense (minus the praise Manny Ramirez always receives).

This is an intriguing series that I think will go seven games, with each contest being very close. The teams are putting their best pitchers on the mound for game one. The Phillies Cole Hamels dominated in the first game of the divisional series against the Brewers. Many will argue over who is better on the Dodgers staff, Derek Lowe or Chad Billingsley. The ERA difference is negligible, so it is probably a draw. Lowe handled the dangerous lineup of the Cubs in game one of the divisional series and will face an equally daunting task with the Phillies 3-4-5 guys. I am looking forward to this series the most.

MLB Playoff Tickets