Once more, we delve into the depths of my sports obsessed mind to see just what thoughts keep me up at night. But today, we're doing it "Playoff Style!"
Michael Flatley can BRING IT for the playoffs...
The Tigers and Twins. One game playoff. Five lead changes. As I type this, it's 5-5 in the top of the 12th with one out and Brandon Inge up with the bases loaded. This is baseball at its finest and one of the things we all thought would vanish (but didn't) with the advent of the wild card and expanded playoffs. The one game playoff. Instant classic. Instant drama.
And the winner of this marathon gets to play the juggernaut known as the Yankees. Some prize.
And the Twins win the booby prize.
Speaking of the Yanks, Joba Chamberlain is in the bullpen. So the Yankees 4th starter is...Chad Gaudin? I'm sorry but that is NOT the kind of bang I expect for my 200 million bucks.
This is me when I heard Gaudin was our 4th starter.
Rashard Mendenhall. Wow. Who knew?
Welcome to the NFL Mohamed Massaquoi! Where you been hidin'?
Wow. Play at the plate. Two outs. Bases drunk. This game is amazing. I love playoff baseball!
Mark Sanchez finally looked like a rookie Sunday. Still...3-1 after 4 games against the Patriots, Saints, Houston and Tennessee? Jets fans should be deliriously happy. But they're not. Because they're Jets fans. And being miserable defines them.
This is the Jets fan's happy face.
Unbelievable! Strike out! And we're going to the bottom of the 12th!
Dallas is just not that good. Damn.
Hockey had it's opening day the other night and no one seems to care. If you have an opening day and no one shows up, does the season count?
NHL's opening night.
The whole stadium knows Gomez is stealing here (he singled to lead off the bottom of the 12th.) and there's nothing the Tigers can do about it.
Dodgers face the sweet swinging Redbirds of St. Louis. Manny vs. Prince Albert. The Cards send two pitchers (Carpenter and Wainwright) that combined for 36 wins, to the mound in games 1 and 2. And Joe Torre is not starting Chad Billingsley, opting instead to go with Randy Wolf and Clayton Kershaw. This is a mistake. Can you say, 3 and out?
And Joe goes home again in the first round.
And the Twins win! THE TWINS WIN! What a game!
Meanwhile, the Rockies-Phillies series is downright intriguing. But the potential loss of Jorge De La Rosa could be devastating to the Rocks.
In the AL, the Yanks are now positively orgasmic over facing the exhausted Twins. While the Angels are in for a slugfest against the Red Sox.
Tom Cable could be arrested for assaulting an assistant coach back in August. But, y'know...if I coached the Raiders I'd probably want to assault someone too.
Of course, the shirt fails to mention that purpose is losing.
So Alex Rodriguez ripped 2 homers and 7 RBIs in one inning. He finished the season with 30 homers and 100 RBIs - even though he missed the 1st month of the season. I'd say he's in post-season form, but he's only hitting .074 in the post season. (Or something close to that.)
I don't think the Red Sox are ready for the Angels.
Yankees-Cardinals. You heard it hear first. Well, maybe not first. But, still. Yankees-Cardinals.
Can it get any worse for the St. Louis Rams? They've already been shut out twice in 4 games.
Ladies and gentlemen: The 2009 St. Louis Rams!
There is an astounding number of bad NFL teams this year. Rams, Lions, Browns, Seahawks, Chiefs, Buccaneers, Titans and Raiders. Thank you for playing. Go home. Season's over.See you in 2010. Or 2027 if your the Raiders.
The Metrodome. It just won't go away. Like herpes.
When I saw the Patriots had signed Junior Seau, my first thought was, "Great move. He'll make an excellent linebackers coach." Turns out, they signed him to actually play linebacker. Oh. Well then.
Shhhh. Junior's sleepy.
JaMarcus Russell's QB rating in his first four games?
Game 1: 47.6
Game 2: 46
Game 3: 33.6
Game 4: 48.5
One touchdown pass over 4 games.
Number of Raider receivers with at least 1 100 yard receiving game? Zero.
Can we call him a bust yet?
The other way JaMarcus! Throw the ball the other way!
Speaking of which, Russell plays the Giants this weekend. Did you hear that? It's the Giants D howling in laughter. Can a QB rating go below zero?
Please football gods...there must be a way to keep Colt McCoy out of a Rams uniform for 2010. Isn't there?
Colt McCoy! Cowboys next QB? Please?
Final thoughts on the regular season hardware: I'm sticking with Zack Grienke as Cy Young, Joe Mauer as MVP and Andrew Bailey as rookie of the year. But in the NL...I'll stick with Pujols as MVP, but I think not winning 20 cost Wainwright the MVP. It'll go to Carpenter now. And I think Chris Coghlan secured the rookie of the year with an amazing September. He finished the year hitting .321 with 9 HR, 8 SB, 47 RBI and 84 runs scored, including 16 hits over his last 8 games.
The Yankees have seven guys with 20 or more homers: Teixeira-39; A-Rod-30; Swisher-29; Matsui-28; Cano-25; Damon-24; Posada-22. Plus Derek Jeter has 18 and Melky Cabrera hit 13. That's POWER. Yet...Chad Gaudin is still their 4th starter.
That's POWER!
I want the Cowboys to sign Colt McCoy. There, I said it. This must happen. I would advocate tanking, but I don't think 2-14 will catch the Rams.
Is it too early to predict a Saints-Colts Superbowl?
