Spook-tacular

Tonight is Game Three of the Fall Classic, with the series tied 1-1. This was meant to be posted a few days back but I'm a busy man. The Phillies are a cocky bunch and look to repeat for the first time in their history. Hell, two championships in any sport in Philly is remarkable. Chase Utley has been a beast thus far, reaching base for a record 27 straight playoff games. If the Phils are to win Game Three they'll need Cole Hamels to revert to his 2008 form, as he's been pretty much terrible thus far in '09. Playing in the hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park, the Phils are going to score some runs. However, if Hamels is giving them up at a similar rate then it could favor the Yankees who have a more power heavy lineup (Ed. Note: Philadelphia had four players with 30+ Home Runs, New York had eight with 20+).

If the Yankees win Game Three, this will be a seven game series. The Phillies will not lose two in a row at home and with Cliff Lee going in Game Five, this should go back to the Bronx 3-2 Philly. If it goes seven and Hamels starts, it could spell trouble. However, I think Philadelphia sweeps at home winning the series in five, just like J-Roll predicted, and repeating as World Champs.

The Haps

The NBA season begins tonight and although I am in no way an expert on basketball, you should check it out. A handful of games are on tap, but none bigger than the Celtics visiting Cleveland to start the season. The C's added Rasheed Wallace in the off-season, a move that gives them depth on the bench and an added veteran presence as they make another run at a title. The Cavs, along with the Magic, figure to be their biggest contenders if they can stay healthy. That's a big if. Glen "Big Baby" Davis is already injured, breaking his thumb in a fight with his friend. He is scheduled to be out 6-8 weeks and his presence will certainly be missed when the Celtics try and stop Shaq tonight.

As far as the season is concerned, I think you can expect the Celtics to win at least 60 games as they have done the past two seasons. If Garnett's knee holds up and the big three dominate like they're capable of doing, another championship is certainly a feasible task.

Weekend of Despair

As you've probably noticed, this weekend sucked for New England sports fans. The Sox were swept away by the Angels in the most unlikely fashion and the Pats looked terrible in the second half against former offensive protege Josh McDaniels and the Broncos.

While both losses were arguably shocking and disappointing, the Red Sox loss has to be the worse of the two. Over the past five seasons they have made it a habit of coming back when down (0-3 in 2004, 1-3 in 2007 and forcing a seventh game after down 1-3 in 2008) but this year they were the team to collapse. Leading 5-2 into the eighth and 6-4 in the ninth, one would have thought we'd see a Game Four. Not so fast. Jonathan Papelbon was terrible in his only relief appearance of the series (1 IP, 4 hits, 2 BB, 3 ER) and suddenly the season was over. Truly a terrible way to end the season and leave a lot to be desired come this off-season. Two questions loom largest: Will the Sox re-sign Jason Bay or go elsewhere? Will Papelbon be on the trading block with Daniel Bard big league ready? Deep down you'd like to see the Sox explore options for a big power bat, but Bay is a solid player that will hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs. Look for them to do all they can to re-sign him. It is highly unlikely that the Red Sox with trade Papelbon but if they do they'll either get a boatload of high level prospects or a young starter like Felix Hernandez in Seattle.


Sunday's misery was not over after Papelbon blew the game in the ninth. Rather, the Patriots built a comfortable lead of their own before falling flat in the second half, losing 20-17 in OT. Tom Brady looked good in the first half, throwing two touchdowns and leading the Pats against a tough Broncos D. The second 30 minutes were a disaster. Brady was inaccurate, rushed and looked to be a bit confused at times. Although the Broncos defense deserves a lot of the credit, Brady was just not what we've become accustomed to. On the other side, Kyle Orton looked like John Elway, completing 73% of his passes while throwing for 330 yards and two touchdowns himself. If not for a complete let down in the fourth quarter, along with some stupid penalties, the Patriots could be 4-1 and atop the AFC East. Instead, they are 3-2 and looking average at best.

A final note to Denver, burn those uniforms and never speak of them or wear them again. Thank you.

SoCal Slaughter

One sports fans misery was another's delight on Thursday. It started in Boston and ended in Los Angeles, as the Ducks thoroughly embarrassed the Bruins in their own building and then the Angels dominated the Red Sox in Game One of their American League Division series.

The night started well enough, as the B's scored first and led 1-0 after the first 20 minutes. It all went to hell from there. Teemu Selanne potted two PP goals and Corey Perry added an even strength tally and it was 3-1 Ducks heading into the third. The Bruins looked uninspired and played like garbage on their way to giving up three more goals and losing 6-1. Certainly not the effort fans wanted coming off a 7-2 thrashing of the Canes and a four day lay off. Islanders are up next and may be the sacrificial goat the B's need.

The night ended in shambles. The Sox got four hits, all singles. John Lackey looked like a Hall of Famer. For all that went wrong, CB Bucknor is an ass hole, gotta hand it to the Angels. Torii Hunter has been a vocal leader for this team and backed it up with his bat last night, hitting a decisive three-run bomb to dead center. Other than that hit, Jon Lester pitched pretty damn good in his own right. If the Sox are going to win this series they have to have Game Two tonight (9:37 EST, TBS) and salvage a split before heading back to Fenway. It will be interesting to see if the bats get going against Jered Weaver who has been solid all season for the Halos. If Josh Beckett is healthy, he claims he is, and pitches like he has in the postseason, sans 2008 against the Rays, he could shut down the Angels and spare us from seeing Ramon Ramirez shit himself on the mound again.

Stay East Young Man

The Bruins announced yesterday that they had re-signed forward/tough guy Milan Lucic to a three-year, $12.25 million contract extension. This comes on the heels of trading another youngster, Phil Kessel, to division rivals Toronto. From the outside one would question the trading of the much more offensively gifted Kessel (66 goals in 222 games) and signing resident tough guy Lucic (70 points in 151 games) to such a hefty deal. It is not that simple, however. The Bruins feel they have a solid core group and look to keep them around for some time. This is made abundantly clear by Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli,

"You’ll see that the players we want to sign, we will sign."

There you have it. He believes in Lucic, and why wouldn't he? He's an exciting young player who gets the crowd on their feet, whether it be pummeling another man's face or putting the puck in the net. He would have been a restricted free-agent at the end of the year, and the B's weren't about to let that happen.

Playoff Time Part 2

As promised here is a look at American League half of the Postseason outlook. Arguably the most intriguing match-up is the Red Sox and the Angels, but that begins tomorrow night so we begin with the Twins and Yankees.

Two teams with complete opposite paths to the Division Series. The Yankees are big spenders who were the first team to wrap up a playoff spot and have a murderous line-up one through nine. Minnesota is your typical small market team who does not spend, relying rather on scouts and a bountiful system of young talent and prospects. With former MVP Justin Morneau out, the onus is on batting champion Joe Mauer and Morneau's replacement Michael Cuddyer, who is coming off a career year, to step up if the Twins are to have any chance. New York has better top of the rotation starters, better offense and have been able to rest. All signs point to them sweeping this series, but if Jason Kubel can get hot along with Mauer and Cuddyer, the Twins might just have a chance. Not to mention the Sabathia and A-Rod choke jobs of previous Octobers. Pick: Yankees in 4.

The Angels and Red Sox are set to meet for the third consecutive Postseason and fourth time in six years. Some say the Sox have their number, some say the Angels don't match up well, I say it's just a coincidence. The Red Sox have two great pitchers going the first two games and arguably so to do the Angels. The Angels might struggle with previous failures, but the Sox certainly do not rest on past success. Jon Lester and Josh Beckett have done well in previous trips to the Playoffs, each winning rings with Boston, but that does not mean they'll be looking beyond a dangerous Angels offense that can run and hit for both power and average. The same is true for the Red Sox offense which has AL stolen base leader Jacoby Ellsbury at the top and four guys with 20 or more home runs. The biggest question is whether Boston can get the starting pitching it needs to give its offense a chance to win. Throughout the season the offense struggled, but when Victor Martinez was acquired at the deadline it seemed to fire up this team. The Angels bats will be a true indication of whether this will be a quick series or a long one. If Chone Figgins and Bobby Abreu get going early, the Red Sox could be in trouble. On the other hand, if Lester and Beckett silence them and Jonathan Papelbon repeats his previous success, the Sox should take care of the Angels no problem. Watch for Abreu to have a huge impact offensive if the Angels win. Pick: Red Sox in 5.

Playoff Time

Once again it is time for MLB Postseason to remind us that baseball is still going on. For the 22 teams not competing, fear not, football season is in full swing. For the eight teams in the race, however, football will be on the back burner for at least another week. Here's an idea of how things should/could/might shape up in both leagues.

We will start with the National League because the Rockies and Phillies get under way in a about an hour. In this rematch of the 2007 NLDS, pitching is most certainly the biggest question. The Rockies are without Jorge De La Rosa who lead their team in wins (16) during the regular season. Philadelphia's bullpen is a mess and Cole Hamels has struggled all season. However, they still have Cliff Lee, Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ who can eat innings and win ball games. Colorado has Ubaldo Jimenez going in Game One and Aaron Cook in Game Two. With the destructive left-handed bats in the Phillies lineup, this could easily be a sweep. Don't count out the Rockies though, they've been here before and did pretty well for themselves. Pick: Phillies in 4.

The other National League bout is a good one, pitting arguably the two best hitters of the last decade, Albert Pujols and Manny Ramirez, against one another. Once again, pitching will be the determining factor. The Cardinals have two of the best in NL in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright . It isn't a stretch to say that they could win both games in LA, meaning they'd have to win only one of two at home. For the Dodgers, they have veteran Randy Wolf going in Game One, following that with youngster Clayton Kershaw in Game Two. It is important to note that both pitchers are left-handed and could present problems to leadoff hitter Skip Schumaker (.220 vs LHP in '09) and Colby Rasmus (.160 vs LHP in '09). Schumaker must get on in order for Pujols and clean-up hitter Matt Holliday to be effective. Still, the Cardinals are a much stronger team than the Dodgers, but if youngsters Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and James Loney can produce like they did in the regular season this team could get back to the NLCS for a second consecutive year. Pick: Cardinals in 5.

Stay tuned for the AL Playoff Preview coming later.

Enough Already

Show of hands, who else is sick of ESPN's raging mega-huge boner for Brett Favre? Okay. I'm not alone. During last night's Vikings victory over the Packers Jon Gruden basically professed his love for Favre and it was almost as if the producers were encouraging him. Throughout the game the whole booth had a love fest with Favre and how the "gunslinger" was back and the Vikings were the second coming of Christ, etc. WE GET IT. You want Favre to succeed so you can create media hype. However, as a national media outlet you need to be unbiased and ESPN is definitely biased. It'd be one thing if it were a local station but this it's ESPN, the supposed "World Wide Leader in Sports." Highly unacceptable.

In closing, to you Jon Gruden, shut up and get over Favre, he's good but he most certainly did not throw 5,000 balls in practice.

Flying High Again

Another tough challenge, another tough win. The Pats faced the undefeated Ravens and their vaunted defense, yet lead the majority of the game, winning 27-21. Coming off a fairly convincing win over the Falcons, the Pats were playing arguably their toughest opponent yet. It started well with the Ravens fumbling the opening kickoff, giving Brady and the offense a chance to go up seven without batting an eyelash. It wasn't meant to be as Sam "Hands of Clay" Aiken dropped a pass on first down, leading to a Gostowski field goal. The teams went back and forth, but the Pats D held serve when it mattered most. A Leigh Bodden interception late in the first half stopped the Ravens from scoring and preserved the Pats ten point lead. Then leading by six late in the game, the defense bent but did not break and the Ravens turned the ball over on downs inside the New England 15 yard line. Brandon Meriweather was all over the field and along with Brandon McGowan (FROM?... Maine!), the secondary seems to be getting stronger every game.

For all the talk about Tom Brady struggles in the first few games, I was impressed by his passing skills today and although he wasn't perfect, he got the W. It's also good to see him get fired up after a roughing the passer penalty. The defense has been outstanding, surpassing even the most optimistic expectations. If they continue on this path, a division title is absolutely reasonable. Especially when the Jets realize they can't win a road game with "Dirty" Sanchez.

Across the Pond

Assuming most of the followers don't read about or pay close attention to soccer, or to some "football", here's a free lesson. Perhaps the biggest name in soccer left the English Premier League this past summer going for a record £80 million (roughly $150 million) transfer fee. I am of course talking about Cristiano Ronaldo who joined Real Madrid after six seasons with Manchester United. While the Reds are still a powerhouse in the EPL, Real Madrid is now a formidable opponent to FC Barcelona who is coming off championships in both the Spanish La Liga and UEFA Champions league. The move certainly benefits Madrid more so than ManU but both teams seem to be doing alright.

The Champions league has completed the second round of games in the group stage, with some interesting results. The third round, or matchday, is scheduled for Oct. 20 and 21 and has some key matchups including Arsenal traveling to Alkmaar (Netherlands) on the 20th and AC Milan visting Real Madrid on the following day. If you haven't checked out soccer yet, I suggest doing so now because it only gets more intense as the weather grows colder.