The Old Ballgame
Well, the Minnesota Twins clinched the AL Central Division last night thanks to a win over the Indians, and a loss by the Chicago White Sox to the Oakland Athletics. Early in the season, the Twins were trailing the Miguel Cabrera-and-Company Tigers, then, later, they were trailing the White Sox, who had a ridiculous record in interleague play. But, after the All-Star break, even without former MVP candidate Justin Morneau, they were the winningest team in the league, thanks to defending AL MVP Joe Mauer, Delmon Young, Denard Span, and Jim Thome. They're a great team with a hot new ballpark (Target Field), but they'll have their work cut out for them in the postseason, because they'll be facing one of the AL East Titans.
Speaking of whom, the Rays dropped their second straight game to the Yankees, making the AL East lead 2 1/2 games. The Rays are good, but I don't see them beating the Yanks in the ALCS if both teams get that far.
In the National League, Roy Halladay got to 20 National League wins (that didn't take long). Now the Phillies are a force capable of moving heaven and earth, what with all the sluggers (Ryan Howard, Jason Werth, Raul Ibanez), and The Big Three (Halladay, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels) tossing three days out of the week, not to mention all their recent post-season experience. They'd be the first National League team in over 60 years to play in 3 consecutive World Series'.
Meanwhile, the Colorado Tulowitzkis (just kidding, the Rockies) lost a game on both the Giants and the Padres last night. Time's not quite up for the Rox to continue their trademark late-season surge, but it'll be tough to catch two teams. The Braves remain in the hunt for the NL Wild Card.
Are You Ready For Some
Now, in football, things are blooming. The Cowboys and Vikings are 0-2, the Texans, Packers, and Saints are 2-0, Peyton Manning embarrassed his little brother on national TV in the Colts' big-time Sunday night win, Sam Bradford isn't making the Rams any better... Some of the real
eyesores of the week: Baltimore Ravens' quarterback Joe Flacco threw four interceptions in his team's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals (the Ravens' much-ballyhooed offense of Flacco, Ray Rice, Willis McGahee, Todd Heap, Anquan Boldin, etc.., has scored just 20 points in two games), and the New England Patriots-the Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Wes Welker patriots- "sucked" (in Brady's words) in the 2nd half of a Sunday afternoon loss to the New York Jets. They were outscored 18-0 in the 3rd and 4th quarters, and, in the process, made Mark Sanchez look like Joe Montana. Nice job, guys.
Of course, there is a big fuss right now over the fact that Philadelphia Eagles' coach Andy Reid named Michael Vick his starting quarterback a day after naming Game One starter Kevin Kolb his starting quarterback. Kolb had been heavily hyped by the Eagles, even before they traded 11-year veteran Donovan McNabb to the Redskins. Now, Kolb misses one-and-a-half games with a concussion, and he's out. Now Vick, who's quickly turning into a great story (successful post-prison career), will start, and he's got a heck of a schedule facing him. In just two weeks, Philly will play host to McNabb's homecoming.
The Hurt Locker
In college, how the mighty are falling... National Championship Game hopeful Iowa drove a mac track over said hopes of grandeur by losing to Arizona on a last-minute drive last week, much-hyped Washington QB Jake Locker passed for just 71 yards and earned a 20.6 QB rating in an ugly loss to #6 Nebraska, and Houston QB Case Keenum-an extremely talented individual-was lost for the season with an ACL tear.
Quacking Up
A lot of college teams are 3-0 this season, but none are doing it with more style than the fifth-ranked Oregon Ducks. In Week One, they set all kinds of records in a 72-0 disemboweling of New Mexico, then went to Tennessee and beat the snot out of the SEC-power Volunteers, 48-13, then went back home and splattered Portland State 69-0. I saw an ESPN clip of 'The Duck' mascot doing push-ups in the End Zone. If he does those all cumulatively, I'd seriously be amazed if he managed all of them. Watch for this team.
And speaking of blowouts, each of the nation's top teams are burning people worse than Sherman burned Atlanta in 1864. Number One Alabama has been rolling (nice to have you back, Mark Ingram, especially with your 100+ rushing yards in the first quarter against Duke), #3 Boise State is chugging (Kellen Moore passed for 370 yards last week), and #6 TCU has won 9 of its last 10 games by 27 or more points.
What's in Store
in Baseball? Quite a lot, actually. Half of the Rays/Yankees four-game series is left (if the Rays win the next two, it would end the series with them trailing by just a half-game). Whoever loses the AL East Crown is basically guaranteed the AL Wild Card. The National League West is still a catfight between the Giants and Padres (Giants up by a half-game), as is the NL Wild Card (Padres down a game to the Atlanta Braves). And the race for the AL's best record is still on. Whoever thought the Twins would change the Yankees or the Rays for said accomplishment, raise your hands. Didn't think so. They trail the Yankees by one whole win as of Wednesday the 22nd.
in the NFL? Oh, still more than three quarters of the season. The Giants, Patriots, Ravens, and Vikings look to rebound from ugly losses against, respectively, the Titans, Bills, Browns, and Lions. Michael Vick will start against the Jaguars. The Saints will march into Atlanta to play the Falcons. The Colts play the Broncos, Monday Night Football will see the Bears play the Packers, and Sunday afternoon plays host to the Texas Bowl (Houston Texans vs. Dallas Cowboys), which is a huge game for the surprising 2-0 Texans and the disappointing 0-2 Cowboys.
in College Football? Plenty. The SEC biggies square off when #1 Alabama visits #10 Arkansas, #12 South Carolina plays #17 Auburn, and struggling #9 Florida plays Kentucky. The Boise State Broncos get their last real test of the season by facing ranked Oregon State. Texas plays UCLA, Nebraska plays South Dakota State, and the nation's #2 team, Ohio State, plays Eastern Michigan.
Let the games begin.
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