Is that a Titleist?
Some thoughts on this past weekend.
The baseball playoffs are finally set. I have to say that this was one of the more exciting regular season finishes in as long as I can remember. The Cards holding on over the surging Astros, the Dodgers fighting off the Phillies, and in turn the Padres holding off the Dodgers. And then throw in the Tigers collapse and the Twins winning the division on the last day of the season. I don’t care what anyone says I would much rather win the division than the Wild Card. Just a preference.
I was watching Baseball Tonight Sunday and they were talking that the Mets should be okay without Pedro because there really aren’t any good pitching staffs in the NL Playoffs. Excuse me? I believe that the Dodgers have three 15 game winners (Lowe, Penny, Maddux) that all have significant post season experience. Lowe closed out every series for the Sox in 2004, Penny was the #2 starter on the Marlins in 2003, and though Maddux’s post season record isn’t stellar, he will know how to handle the situation. And don’t forget that the Padres have a pretty good staff with Peavy (who picked it up towards the end of the season) and Chris Young (who was traded by the Expos/Nationals to Texas for Einar Diaz, straight up. That’s Omar Minaya, GM of the team with the best record in the NL).
So here are my picks:
Yankees over Tigers in 4. The Yankees lineup will just wear out the Tigers young arms. I see Kenny Rogers getting their only win. Unless Bonderman or Verlander is pretty much unhittable (don’t see that happening against such a patient lineup) the Yankees will stroll into the ALCS.
Twins over A’s in 5. This will be a better series than people think. The A’s pitching will stretch this only if Rich Harden is healthy. If he’s not, and they have to go Zito, Blanton, Haren, then they’re in trouble. Not that Blanton and Haren are awful, its just that they shouldn’t be your 2 and 3 pitchers in a 5 game set. If Harden is ineffective this goes 4.
Yankees over Twins in 6. Santana will win both games for the Twins and Brad Radke will give them two gutsy performances, but they just don’t have the horses. Matt Garza will be good some day, but not in 2006 versus the Yankees. And as well as Boof Bonzer has pitched lately he won’t be a problem for the Yankees.
Dodger over Mets in 5. Lowe, Penny, and Maddux versus El Duque, Glavine, and Tracshel. That doesn’t really seem fair. I know that the Mets lineup is loaded, but they aren’t the patient kind of lineup that wins in the playoffs. And don’t sleep on the Dodgers lineup. Lots of experience and the best offense that they’ve had this decade. Nomar will be big in the first two games in New York. Quick note, I just read that the Dodgers are going with Kuo in game 2. Grady Little rears his ugly playoff head again.
Cardinals over Padres in 4. I know that you may think I’m crazy for this, but I think the Cardinals are ready to click. They struggled so badly down the stretch that they blew their 1st round home field advantage and almost the division. Yes, they do have the Jeffs starting games 2 and 3, but I can see Weaver winning game 3 at home because of the way he feeds off of emotion. With the home crowd fired up behind him he can win that game. And then it’s Carpenter in game 4 at home. Did I mention that the Cards have Albert Pujols?
Dodgers over Cardinals in 6. Once again it’s the Dodgers pitching that will be the difference. If Little would pull his head out of his ass he’d go with Lowe, Penny, then Maddux. Sinker ball, power, then pinpoint accuracy to keep teams off balance. But he won’t because he’s an idiot. Pujols will get some help from Rolen, but it won’t be enough. The pitching staff just has too many shortcomings and Carpenter can’t make up for all of those.
World Series:
Yankees over Dodgers in 7. Once again this will go 7 because of the Dodgers pitching, and the Yankees thin pitching corps. But in the end that Yankees lineup will just be too much. Its kills me to pick them. But that lineup is just going to wear teams down like it did in the second half of the season. All of their hitters are patient and they don’t strike out a lot (with the exception of A-Rod). Their pitching could be their Achilles heal. If Johnson is either out or ineffective they’re in trouble. Wang has been good all season, but he’s young and he relies on that sinker and control. If he can’t get that pitch working he’s in trouble. Mussina will be fine, but after that you’re talking about Jaret Wright and Cory Lidle. Not ideal.
So there’s my playoff picks, now on to more interesting things.
If I worked in an office with chimps in suits and shirts and ties and lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills I would not be looking for a new job. That would be the best job ever.
My Buckeyes flag football team lost Saturday. We didn’t get to practice last week because we had a bad thunderstorm here Thursday. It really showed on Saturday. And we were missing one of our best players, Dae’Shon. But we still managed a 65-yard TD run to start the game and my boy RaeKwon had a 60 yarder in the second half. Unfortunately he’s a big kid and ran out of gas at the 5-yard line.
The Ohio State Buckeyes looked really good Saturday night at Iowa. That game scared me like the Penn State night game last year. But Iowa just couldn’t stop the Bucks running game. I think that was Antonio Pittman’s coming out party to the nation. And that was the best that Chris Wells has played all season. If they truly become a two-headed monster that will be scary. Oh, and Troy Smith was stellar. That TD to Robiske in the 2nd half was ridiculous. And Anthony Gonzalez’s TD catch and run has to be one of the top 5 plays of the year so far. And did I mention the defense. When are people going to stop bringing up the fact that they lost 9 starters on defense like it’s a bad thing? This is Ohio State. Like any top tier program, they reload. These guys that are playing now were ready at the start of the season. And Herbstreit brought up a great point Saturday. If you were only going to return two players, wouldn’t you want your 2 all conference defensive tackles? Pitcock and Patterson are both beasts and will both be first day draft picks.
Bowling Green also won this weekend at Ohio. The offense sucks this year, which will kill them against good MAC teams. If they would have had this defense the last 2 seasons they would have ran the table both season’s in conference. They go to the Horseshoe Saturday. I’m really hoping that the local station that carries the ESPN+ games will have it on. Go Falcons.
The Browns finally won Sunday. I was nervous going into this game because the Raiders were coming off of a bye, so they had 2 weeks to prepare for us. But thanks to 3 big special teams returns, Droughns remembering that he’s a 1,000 yard back, and some good second half adjustments they came back to win. Frye played well except for the horrible pick he threw with 4 minutes left. Rolling to the sideline and then throwing on up for grabs in the middle of the end zone. Even my kids know to throw that away. Idiot. But a wins a win and I’ll take it.
One more point on this game. I was reading the Czar on Foxsports.com yesterday and he was whining that the Raiders got screwed on a spot in the 4th quarter and then failed to convert the 4th down. What he didn’t mention was that it was 4th and inches and instead of sneaking it they handed to Jordan, and that the Browns got hosed on a spot on the ensuing possession. Only the Browns were smart enough to run a sneak on 4th and inches. Not to mention that both of these plays should have been challenged.
I finally won an NFL parlay bet this weekend. Jets (+9), Browns (-2.5,), and Pats (+6). It’s about time.
This summer I told one of the interns here, who happened to be a big Dolphins fan, that they would be lucky to win 7 games. He got so mad. This is what happens when you have a QB that can’t make a pre snap read and stares down one side of the field.
It was good to see Albert Haynesworth hasn’t forgotten what it means to be a Volunteer. Way to do fat Phil proud.
One more baseball related topic. The NL Cy Young is pretty much up for grabs because no one ran away with a bunch of wins this season. I would either give it to Carlos Zambrano (16 wins and a 3.41 ERA for a team that won 66 games) or John Smoltz (16 wins and a 3.49 ERA). Both of these guys were beasts this year. Webb or Carpenter will probably end up with the award. But Smoltz did finish 3rd in the league in strikeouts and 4th in innings. Not bad for a 39 year old.
The baseball playoffs are finally set. I have to say that this was one of the more exciting regular season finishes in as long as I can remember. The Cards holding on over the surging Astros, the Dodgers fighting off the Phillies, and in turn the Padres holding off the Dodgers. And then throw in the Tigers collapse and the Twins winning the division on the last day of the season. I don’t care what anyone says I would much rather win the division than the Wild Card. Just a preference.
I was watching Baseball Tonight Sunday and they were talking that the Mets should be okay without Pedro because there really aren’t any good pitching staffs in the NL Playoffs. Excuse me? I believe that the Dodgers have three 15 game winners (Lowe, Penny, Maddux) that all have significant post season experience. Lowe closed out every series for the Sox in 2004, Penny was the #2 starter on the Marlins in 2003, and though Maddux’s post season record isn’t stellar, he will know how to handle the situation. And don’t forget that the Padres have a pretty good staff with Peavy (who picked it up towards the end of the season) and Chris Young (who was traded by the Expos/Nationals to Texas for Einar Diaz, straight up. That’s Omar Minaya, GM of the team with the best record in the NL).
So here are my picks:
Yankees over Tigers in 4. The Yankees lineup will just wear out the Tigers young arms. I see Kenny Rogers getting their only win. Unless Bonderman or Verlander is pretty much unhittable (don’t see that happening against such a patient lineup) the Yankees will stroll into the ALCS.
Twins over A’s in 5. This will be a better series than people think. The A’s pitching will stretch this only if Rich Harden is healthy. If he’s not, and they have to go Zito, Blanton, Haren, then they’re in trouble. Not that Blanton and Haren are awful, its just that they shouldn’t be your 2 and 3 pitchers in a 5 game set. If Harden is ineffective this goes 4.
Yankees over Twins in 6. Santana will win both games for the Twins and Brad Radke will give them two gutsy performances, but they just don’t have the horses. Matt Garza will be good some day, but not in 2006 versus the Yankees. And as well as Boof Bonzer has pitched lately he won’t be a problem for the Yankees.
Dodger over Mets in 5. Lowe, Penny, and Maddux versus El Duque, Glavine, and Tracshel. That doesn’t really seem fair. I know that the Mets lineup is loaded, but they aren’t the patient kind of lineup that wins in the playoffs. And don’t sleep on the Dodgers lineup. Lots of experience and the best offense that they’ve had this decade. Nomar will be big in the first two games in New York. Quick note, I just read that the Dodgers are going with Kuo in game 2. Grady Little rears his ugly playoff head again.
Cardinals over Padres in 4. I know that you may think I’m crazy for this, but I think the Cardinals are ready to click. They struggled so badly down the stretch that they blew their 1st round home field advantage and almost the division. Yes, they do have the Jeffs starting games 2 and 3, but I can see Weaver winning game 3 at home because of the way he feeds off of emotion. With the home crowd fired up behind him he can win that game. And then it’s Carpenter in game 4 at home. Did I mention that the Cards have Albert Pujols?
Dodgers over Cardinals in 6. Once again it’s the Dodgers pitching that will be the difference. If Little would pull his head out of his ass he’d go with Lowe, Penny, then Maddux. Sinker ball, power, then pinpoint accuracy to keep teams off balance. But he won’t because he’s an idiot. Pujols will get some help from Rolen, but it won’t be enough. The pitching staff just has too many shortcomings and Carpenter can’t make up for all of those.
World Series:
Yankees over Dodgers in 7. Once again this will go 7 because of the Dodgers pitching, and the Yankees thin pitching corps. But in the end that Yankees lineup will just be too much. Its kills me to pick them. But that lineup is just going to wear teams down like it did in the second half of the season. All of their hitters are patient and they don’t strike out a lot (with the exception of A-Rod). Their pitching could be their Achilles heal. If Johnson is either out or ineffective they’re in trouble. Wang has been good all season, but he’s young and he relies on that sinker and control. If he can’t get that pitch working he’s in trouble. Mussina will be fine, but after that you’re talking about Jaret Wright and Cory Lidle. Not ideal.
So there’s my playoff picks, now on to more interesting things.
If I worked in an office with chimps in suits and shirts and ties and lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills I would not be looking for a new job. That would be the best job ever.
My Buckeyes flag football team lost Saturday. We didn’t get to practice last week because we had a bad thunderstorm here Thursday. It really showed on Saturday. And we were missing one of our best players, Dae’Shon. But we still managed a 65-yard TD run to start the game and my boy RaeKwon had a 60 yarder in the second half. Unfortunately he’s a big kid and ran out of gas at the 5-yard line.
The Ohio State Buckeyes looked really good Saturday night at Iowa. That game scared me like the Penn State night game last year. But Iowa just couldn’t stop the Bucks running game. I think that was Antonio Pittman’s coming out party to the nation. And that was the best that Chris Wells has played all season. If they truly become a two-headed monster that will be scary. Oh, and Troy Smith was stellar. That TD to Robiske in the 2nd half was ridiculous. And Anthony Gonzalez’s TD catch and run has to be one of the top 5 plays of the year so far. And did I mention the defense. When are people going to stop bringing up the fact that they lost 9 starters on defense like it’s a bad thing? This is Ohio State. Like any top tier program, they reload. These guys that are playing now were ready at the start of the season. And Herbstreit brought up a great point Saturday. If you were only going to return two players, wouldn’t you want your 2 all conference defensive tackles? Pitcock and Patterson are both beasts and will both be first day draft picks.
Bowling Green also won this weekend at Ohio. The offense sucks this year, which will kill them against good MAC teams. If they would have had this defense the last 2 seasons they would have ran the table both season’s in conference. They go to the Horseshoe Saturday. I’m really hoping that the local station that carries the ESPN+ games will have it on. Go Falcons.
The Browns finally won Sunday. I was nervous going into this game because the Raiders were coming off of a bye, so they had 2 weeks to prepare for us. But thanks to 3 big special teams returns, Droughns remembering that he’s a 1,000 yard back, and some good second half adjustments they came back to win. Frye played well except for the horrible pick he threw with 4 minutes left. Rolling to the sideline and then throwing on up for grabs in the middle of the end zone. Even my kids know to throw that away. Idiot. But a wins a win and I’ll take it.
One more point on this game. I was reading the Czar on Foxsports.com yesterday and he was whining that the Raiders got screwed on a spot in the 4th quarter and then failed to convert the 4th down. What he didn’t mention was that it was 4th and inches and instead of sneaking it they handed to Jordan, and that the Browns got hosed on a spot on the ensuing possession. Only the Browns were smart enough to run a sneak on 4th and inches. Not to mention that both of these plays should have been challenged.
I finally won an NFL parlay bet this weekend. Jets (+9), Browns (-2.5,), and Pats (+6). It’s about time.
This summer I told one of the interns here, who happened to be a big Dolphins fan, that they would be lucky to win 7 games. He got so mad. This is what happens when you have a QB that can’t make a pre snap read and stares down one side of the field.
It was good to see Albert Haynesworth hasn’t forgotten what it means to be a Volunteer. Way to do fat Phil proud.
One more baseball related topic. The NL Cy Young is pretty much up for grabs because no one ran away with a bunch of wins this season. I would either give it to Carlos Zambrano (16 wins and a 3.41 ERA for a team that won 66 games) or John Smoltz (16 wins and a 3.49 ERA). Both of these guys were beasts this year. Webb or Carpenter will probably end up with the award. But Smoltz did finish 3rd in the league in strikeouts and 4th in innings. Not bad for a 39 year old.
posted by CFunk28 at 8:01 AM
8 Comments:
For once Joe I can't call you a irrational, homer Yankee fan. If anyone else wins it this year it will be an upset in my mind. Their lineup is ridiculous the way they work a pitcher.
The A's will win it all..... i dont know why, maybe its big frank maybe its not, but they will shock the world like my sox did last year
The A's are in trouble w/ Ellis getting hurt. You're already on your 2nd string SS, now you're down a man at 2nd too. Losing guys up the middle is never a good thing.
Joe
I just saw that Cortland is ranked #17 by D3football.com. Go Red Dragons.
Rowan's gonna kill you schmucks. New Jersey will ALWAYS previal over upstate NY.
Calvin- You must exceptionally bored to frequent D3football.com. I miss having an offseason.
D3 is a solid sight. And come on, this is a corporate computer, looking up porn gets you fired.
So when are the Yankees going to get some pitching? Yeah, I did pick them to win it all, but I knew if their pitching struggled they'd be in trouble. Unit, A-Rod, and Torre all gone.
Trading A-Rod to Anaheim seems possible, but I wonder how the Rangers still paying part of the contract works if he gets traded.
I figured you'd like to see them make a run at Zito. But I honestly think he would crumble in NY. If they got Santana from LAA and Phillip Hughes pans out that will be a great young core of pitchers w/ Wang.
And as far as Torre goes, I just think he's been there too long. Anymore you need to change things up to keep things fresh. Piniella would be a lot of energy, but he'd have to learn to manage his ego w/ those in the clubhouse. He did it in Seattle w/ Unit, Jr, and A-Rod, but NY isn't Seattle. I think Girardi wouldn't be a bad fit, and I've even read that your boy Donnie Baseball might get a look.
How many ESPN stories, books, made for TV movies, etc. would be done if Donnie Baseball took over and let the team to the title? He never gets there as a player, and then in his first season as manager brings it home. It would make for a good story. One of those like Rudy. Its a good story but b/c of who it involves it makes you want to puke.
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