AFC East

Last year, I watched a couple of playoff games in my one Jets jersey. They’re one of my favorite teams and the hometown squad. I followed the Rams back in St.Louis, back when they sucked, so I feel as much kinship to them. But the Jets are my hometown team. And my one football jersey is of Vinny Testeverde, QB, #16, for the j-e-t-s Jets Jets Jets—and that jersey has suddenly become relevant.

Aw, crap.

I was so happy not to have watched the debacle against the Actionville Jaguars, preferring to loll in the sun and sand of Southen California and watch the Giants get torn the proverbial new one. I was also happy to see the Patriots again struggle—maybe the Jets can still take them when the offense is in order, right?

But I didn’t know that Chad got his old one torn. His old one—the famed rotator cuff that we honestly hope has been contributing to the mediocre at best play and the limp-armed throws—has torn again. Leaving Jets fans to cheer on Wisconsin’s Brooks Bolliniger and then a 41 year slow Vinny from Elmont.

I wish I could pepper this post with flecks of homerist optimism, but honestly, the AFC has teams. And the Bengals are going to take the Jets’ upstart spot in the playoffs. Let’s get to know Chad Johnson’s gold fronts and TJ Houshmanzadeh’s pigtails, the various color schemes of orange and black that football fans used to laugh at and now associate with crisp passing and Carson Palmer. Let’s fall in love with Marvin Lewis, a less charismatic man than Herman Edwards, but effective nonetheless with his grimaces and hearty pats to his boys' backsides.

Meanwhile, Jets fans can think about the running backs and offensive linemen available in next year’s draft. Or maybe even Matt Leinart, though I believe Chad’s shoulder will be fine. Hey- I may not be a doctor, but I play one writing this blog.


And enjoy Brooks Bollinger! The kid has a solid, live arm! If Vinny doesn’t get smacked around like a tetherball then he’ll make some beautiful deep throws! Plus, those Vinny Testeverde jerseys look great coming out of the closet, picked up in Filene’s Basement, pulled out of the depths of the hamper!

See? There ARE reasons to hope. And Patriots fans can start singing Starship, because nothing’s gonna stop them, nothing’s gonna stop them now.

Except for the Chargers. Or the Colts’defense. Or...the BENGALS.

My team wants to party all the time, party all the time, party all the ti-ah-ah-ime!

More teams to welcome to the elimination party:

American League welcomes Texas, who looking for a little action brings the liberal B.J’s of Toronto to the prom.

Surprisingly, no one asked the Twins (and who doesn’t like Twins,) so Minnesota crashed.
In the National League, we have our first NL West casualty in Colorado. Wow, that’s bad. It’s one thing to be 14 games behind the leader, but when the leader is the 75-74 San Diego Padres, you really deserve the grand prize. Hey, Barry? Pass the flaxseed oil!
For the Wild Card race, nothing is changed in the American League, except that Minnesota is still fighting with an elimination number of 2. But with Cleveland leading, it would take a miracle because if they can steal the division from Chicago, they would have to win 3+ games. So, I am willing to count them out. Come on in boys, it’s warm in here!

For the National League, the only teams eliminated are from the West. So, San Diego better hang on or no playoffs for you!

Postnote: in other news, the San Francisco Giants called up former UMass outfielder Doug Clark! Now there is two Minutemen in MLB: Clark and Marlins RP Ron Villone

Welcome to the party! The Elimination Party!

After a win against the Northside Cubbies, the St. Louis Cardinals became the first time to clinch their division. (as the Bowl of Petunias said, "Oh no, not again.")



On that note, let me provide a quick update on the Elimination Race!

National League:

With the Cards clinching, we can now add The Cubs, The Houston "Rastros" and The Milwaukee Brew-Crew to The Cincinnati Deads and The Pirates of Penitent.

What’s fun about the NL is, because the understated lopsidedness of the NL Divisional bookends, no other teams have been eliminated. Even, Pico’s New York Metropolitans of Queensborough, at 72-76 on the season, still have an elimination number of 2.

Because of the resilience of the Philadelphia Sillies, Atlanta’s magic number is still 9 with 13 games to go.

Meanwhile, across the country, the battle of mediocrsy lives on, with the San Diego topping the division with a record that is 2 games under .500. Their magic number is 11 over the San Francisco Giants. And, with the return of Barry Bonds* we can expect the same NL West mediocrity, but with much more media coverage from ESPN. Yawwwwwwwn!

American League:

The American League is moving right along as expected, the Baltimore Orioles joined the New York Devil Rays of Tampa Bay to the loser lounge.

The Detroit “Tiggers”, bounced, on their own collective tail, right out the race this week. They met up with ole’ divisional woe the Kansas City Royals and the AL West’s Seattle Mariners, who have been at the party so long, they have moved from beer to sake. It’s gonna be a long post season, kids.

Incidentally, the under-fan-appreciated Royals are enjoying their non-competitive existence, by making life hard on the division leading Chicago Pale-Hosen (you know they have two teams, right?) by playing the Cleveland Indians. The Indians are the hottest playing team in baseball currently and with the White Sox floundering about .500 since the trade deadline, they actually have a shot at capturing the division! On August 1 the White Sox had a 15 game lead in the standings. As of today, they're up by 3.5. The best part is they have 6 head-to-head games left, including a season ending series at the Jake.

If the White Sox lose the division, it is possible they would not make the playoffs. Imagine that? If that happens, I will be the first one to email Ken “Hawk” Harrelson to say, “YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOOOOOOOARD…YES!”

I LIVE FOR THIS!! (Wild Card update tomorrow)

Postnote: I want to welcome Greg to the blog! I never met ya, but it's great to have you aboard!!

the female perspective

Dear readers,
Tonight the yankees won and the red sox lost. According to mjunior, this is bad.
Love, neverecho

Random Thoughts While I Enjoy The ESPN Family of Products

- Currently watching the WNBA finals right now between Sacramento and Connecticut. I love how the WNBA has joined boxing and the UFC as the only sports to have their championships decided on the grounds of a casino. Even more, I love how the Maloof brothers are arguing a bad out-of-bounds call. Is this the closest they've come to a championship?

- ESPN.com has a new graphic novel series starting today called "24 College Ave." Go here for the first installment. I've always admired the people at Page 2 for taking chances in their non-sports items, but I'm not so sure about this one. They did have a fiction series a few years ago, following the travails of a California dude with a love of "X-treme" nachos. I'll give it a shot, though. (I do like how the series has its own theme song.)

-TCU and Utah are tied at 17 with 14:09 to go in the 4th. Not sure what to make of the Horned Frogs. They beat Oklahoma IN NORMAN, only to lose to SMU in a "battle for the Iron Skillet." They went 5-6 last year, and looking at their schedule to come, they just might pull off 6 wins. Here's to Texas Christian going to the Poinsettia Bowl!

Gleaming Towers of Ratnerville

The city of New York has been nuts deep in the sports business. Mayor of Development Bloomberg tried to bring the Jets back to New York, screaming about how this was going to revitalize the city, bring lots and lots of jobs, along with the spectacular Olympics! Because everyone loves tourists, traffic, and javelin throw. I need a moment to myself when I think about Olympic ping pong. And a stadium that looks like a carnival of lights on the Hudson.



As you know, the newspapers and anyone who does not have a brother in the construction business laughed that idea out of town. I like the Jets. They’re my second favorite football team after the Rams. But football is a bad bad idea in the middle of a real city. We don’t have the space for it, we use our city after business hours, and football is a suburban, space-eating, tail-gating sport that happens 10 times a year (including preseason). No way can it be cost-effective, with the expense of the stadium and the owners too worried about wrecking the fake grass to rent it out at reasonable prices.

At the same time, Caring Bruce Ratner hollered at Jay-Z and some other cats and bought the Nets. Which is great, because the Nets, even with excellent management, have been unable to find a new home in part because their multiple partner ownership has made a move to Newark or anywhere else a touch more difficult than it should be. And those moves are always difficult.

Caring Bruce immediately had a great idea! He’s a land developer so he always has great ideas. And a good land developer has ideas that are great for the city. If, when you think of the city, you think of the Mayor and his homies.

The great idea: bring major league sports back to Brooklyn. Politicians are eager to invoke the Brooklyn Dodgers of Robinson and Campanella, the toughness of Brooklyn, the spirit, the hominess, the ethnic pride, the image of stickball and white street toughs… everyone loves Brooklyn!

As evidenced by the kids from Ohio and Tennessee and Minnesota who come there to try their hand at being writers or at hip hop and electroclash or at mediocre fashion design. Everybody loves Brooklyn, and with the borough’s newfound popularity, it was a matter of time before some caring developer offered to alleviate the borough’s newfound housing needs…

With high rises.

Now, I like the Nets. I love how basketball arenas can be plopped down into a city, and can be used for high school, summer games, conventions and concerts. I think about Indianapolis’ old Market Square Arena, built over a road! You can drive underneath and it doesn’t break traffic patterns. That would be perfect for Brooklyn; and the site itself is a transit hub already. Yes, there would be traffic, but there is incentive to take the rails – as people do for Mets games and to the US Open.

But.

Caring Bruce Ratner is using the Nets as leverage to build a ridiculously outsized set of high rises. To do this, he has promised half the units be “affordable housing” – low-to-middle income residents (what’s our income threshold, Mr. Ratner?) and the rest are the luxury condos he’s itching to build.

The city, of course, loves outsized developments, the kind of places that require the tearing down of very functional, very charming, almost historical buildings. The city loves it so much that they and the state are willing to allow Ratner to use the principles of eminent domain to have the state repossess buildings if they do not sell (note the incentive here for Ratner to give a fair price to owners/ renters is obviously low). Because of all of the vitriol spent on the Jets’ development, the lack of the Olympic connection, and the fact that it’s not the West Side of Manhattan, but downtown Brooklyn, this development has gotten a little less attention.



Yesterday, the MTA approved his bid. Now there is still an environmental impact review, state reviews, and the Public Authorities Control Board who nixed the Jets deal. There is still hope that this idea may be halted, or better yet, scaled down; there is no reason to build a gleaming set of midtown towers in your suburb, is there? Similarly, there is no need to do this to Brooklyn. The borough is its own city, with a low rise charm.

Moreover, the idea of shoving people out on their ass with no or substandard compensation is garbage. If we respect any right in this nation, it’s the right to property, and the right to defend property.

I love my Nets. But this development is ridiculous.

Here are some pretty pictures of models from the pro-development site.

And here is the opposition, digital and sharp with the analysis. Also, Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn's site - Opposition and economic studies; plus, they sell a t-shirt that looks bangin' on my lady friend.

A Quick Update from the AL East

The Rumble for The Bronx: Yankees at Tampa Bay.

I always say that some days, no matter who you put in the game to pitch, they are going to get hit. Some days, the entire line up can see the ball, which usually results in some laughable high scoring games.

Which is exactly what happened in Tampa Bay last night, as the “highly anticipated” season ‘crap-up’ series between the Bronx Bombers and the New York Devil Rays of Tampa Bay kicked off last night.

The Yankees, who are 4-12 against Piniella’s Poop Squad so far this season, ripped though six Devil Rays’ pitchers, for a total of 17 runs off 20 hits, scoring 10 of their 17 runs by the middle of the 2nd inning.

Devil Ray starter Doug Waechter, not only didn’t make it out of the first inning, he never even recorded an out and was pulled when the score was already 5-0. Waechter made his last start in the Bronx against these same Yankees, giving up 3 earned runs, off 5 hits, while walking 1 for a no decision.

Ironically, his line was the almost identical to his previous start, (3 ER, 5H, 1BB) with two major differences: Innings Pitched (5.1 IP, 0.0 IP, respectfully) and strikeouts (5Ks, 0Ks, respectfully.)

Some may say that the Yankees played a little “Bruce Ball¹" which, if true, should make for an interesting contest tonight. I guess that is why the slogan for the Devil Rays is “Watch it Happen!”

Sox get “blown” away: Red Sox at Toronto.

Meanwhile a few thousand miles north, the division leading Boston Red Sox of Boston Proper gave up a heartbreaker on the turf to the well-balanced (I am talking about record) Toronto BJ’s.

You might say they delivered them the game inside a large cake, normally made for Mo Vaughan's personal stripper to pop out of.

Starter Matt Clement had a fine night…if you remove the 5-run 2nd inning, but as the Devil was not present in Tampa, he was obviously making his presence in Toronto as Clement gave up his calling card of 6 earned runs, off 6 hits, in 6.0 innings pitched.

Bronze Glove candidate, Edgar Renteria was charged with two more errors, bringing his total for the season to a league leading 27 errors, lowering his fielding percentage to .954 (44th in the league for all shortstops.)

The lost allowed the Yankees to cut the lead to 2.5 games in the AL East Standings.

However, on a most sarcastic and cynical note, ever-struggling closer Keith Foulke seemed to invent a new pitch: "The Texas Tit-Twister", hitting Eric Hinske with a frustration pitch…right in the ‘chest’ after he gave up an RBI hit to former Sox whiner Shea Hillenbrand – causing Hinske’s nipple to be iced after the game. Hinske did not except Foulke apology.

"He said on the mound he didn't try to hit me," said Hinske, whose right nipple was taped and iced. "I just looked at him and said, `Come on man.' It really hurt. He nearly took my nipple off."

However, after the game, Foulke was showing the new skills he learned at the Kevin Millar School of Public Speaking, saying:

"If I'm not on the postseason roster, if they don't think I'm good enough, that will be an even bigger story. I'm making $7.5 million. If I'm not on the postseason roster, there's probably a pretty good chance I won't be here (in 2006)... Do you think I give a (expletive) about their confidence? It's all about me."

Thanks Keith. Nice teamwork.


The Battle of “Who Could Care Less”: Baltimore at Texas.

There is an old philosophical question. If there is a baseball game schedule and no one shows up to watch it, do they still play? Or do they just make something up?


Footnotes:
1. Bruce ball is when a team jacks up the score thus using up all there allotted runs, because baseball is a game of averages, there are only so many runs a team can score. Other theory, the other team is allowed to do this, in a hope that they will use all their runs. See Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS.
2. Ok, maybe I am a little harsh. After all, if Raffi Palmero made the trip to TX, the stands would be full of fans ready to boo him.

XII > 10

It was a matchup that a lot of people were talking about. Two teams from two powerhouse conferences, somehow meeting so early in the season. Many people thought the team from the Big 10 would take it. But, in the end, it was the Big XII team that ruled the day.

Congrats to the Iowa State Cyclones on their huge 23-3 win over Iowa!

Oh, you want me to wax about that game over in Columbus? Sure.

Three points I want to make...
1. Can everyone please stop calling Vince Young a "scramble first" guy? Yes, yes, throwing from nine o'clock isn't the prettiest thing to look at, but you can't sneeze at 18/29 for 270 and two touchdowns.

2. A lot of people are saying the Mr. Tressel gave the game to the Longhorns through the use of two quarterbacks. I would say that the UT defense helped take it more than OSU gave it. When three turnovers only result in nine points, I'd say that's a defense to not take lightly. (Don't believe me? Listen to the NCAA!)

3. In all the years I've been following Texas football, I never thought the words "consensus number two" would be used to describe my team. And now, it scares the bejeezus out of me. Never thought a game against Rice could hold so much risk with so little reward.

Kansas City, here I come!

Congratulations to the both the Seattle Mariners and New York Devil Rays of Tampa Bay for being officially eliminated in the wild card race! You now join the Kansas City Royals in planning for next year.

Planning for the offseason will consist of the following;

Kansas City - Finding more ways to not spend George Steinbrenner's Luxury Tax money and finding a new manager to fire later for underachieving with nothing but Mike Sweeney and some control-tired pitching. Hey, spend the money, will ya?? A few more wins and every hipster in Billysburg, Brooklyn will invest a KC hat. Let's face it, they look good being worn sideways and the Red Sox are soooo passe'!

Tampa Bay - Spend time on the phone with Brian Cashman on the blockbuster deal...Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang for Lou Pinella. (The Yanks don't need Cano when they can sign Brett Boone to a long term deal! Or, Mark "Saved by the" Bellhorn!¹)

Seattle: "Let's see, are there any has-beens on the free agent market that we can over pay rather than retain young talent - hmm, let me look at the Yankee's roster again?" Hey Seattle, Freddy Garcia is on the phone, he wants to know how Adrian Beltre's doing? Guys, Ichiro is not getting a younger.


Postnote: It is interesting to note that on the , Royals website there is an ad promoting "Fan Appreciation Day" September 24th. The ad is even complete with silly blond girls to make even more enticing! Woohoo! I hope George Brett and Bret Saberhagen (as well as the other two fans) feel the love!

Footnotes:
1. Mark, I still love ya! Sorry to see you go, but that is the business of baseball. Thanks for taking the high road. I wish you well!

A quick fascinating tidbit

So, far Major League Baseball (on a whole) has contributed more to the relief efforts of Hurricane Katrina than any other professional sports organization. I’m not talking about individual giving, whether it be players helping out or private donations, but just the organizations itself.

MLB: donated one million dollars.
MLB: sponsored a media blitz of PSA’s for the Red Cross relief efforts.
The New York Yankees: Donated one million dollars.
MLB Clubs: collected donations from fans in every stadium on Tuesday night. Basically, buckets were passed around all the seats in every park and donations were collected.

So far, the NFL donated one million dollars and not to take away from their generosity, but I find it interesting that MLB did more considering that they don’t even have a franchise there.

…and that’s one to grow on.

Three straight losses against division foes and wild-card rivals have smashed the concept of “meaningful games” to pieces. The Mets’ offense has been questionable, stagnant; and the pitching just hasn’t been good enough. Glavine spotted the Pheel-deez two runs; Martinez could not maintain the movement on the pitches, and he gave up a couple of long balls. Victor Zambrano was sucked into outer space and replaced with a real pitcher, only to have Zambrano find his way back to earth.

Two comments about the team's direction.

No Call-Ups

The September call ups were pitchers such as Tim Hamulak and Shingo Takatsu (Mr. Pitches Like a Zero). No second baseman. Apparently the Mets brass wants the Norfolk team to do well, to feel good about themselves, and to bring a championship to the title-starved AAA city of Norfolk. Jeff Keppinger did a solid job last year, fielding admirably and hitting for good average if not good power. Instead the Mets trot out Miguel Cairo and Kaz Matsui:

1. M Cairo 84 games 272 at bats 29 runs 67 hits 16 doubles 2 HR 14 rbi .294 obp .327 slg .246 avg

2. K Matsui 74 games 220 at bats 23 runs 51 hits 6 doubles 1 hr 3 rbi .283 obp .309 slg .232 avg

and in the minors, Jeff Keppinger?

J Keppinger .337 avg 64 games 255 at bats 40 runs 86 hits 15 doubles 3 hr 29 rbi

Call him up! Give the kid a look!

No #2 Hitter

And play them in the second hole, which is the second issue. Thanks, Willie Randolph. I have seen Reyes gallop to third like a gazelle on meth and he is brought home by a rally clearing, bases-clearing grounder to third base. Whoop de freaking doo. Beltran should hit second. Wright third. Floyd fourth. And then? And then the Mets have their major problem. They need another bat. Like Mike Cameron was. Like Victor Diaz is supposed to be. Perhaps Mike Jacobs?

******************

College football is on!

Rutgers played an exciting and near dominant game on the road. Then they lost, in overtime. Bowling Green hung tough but now is being outclassed by Wisconsin (though Omar Jacobs is the truth). And Oklahoma… sucks? No QB? Could they possibly lose to Texas this year?

Bring on October Baseball!

It is official! After joining the Pittsburgh Pirates as the only two teams eliminated from winning their respective divisions, the Kansas City Royals are also the first time to be officially eliminated from the American League Wild Card race. For those fans that route for teams who are willing to spend a buck, we bit you a fond adieu!

A peek at the current Wild Card Standings:
American League

Team	W			L		PCT			GB			E#			L10			STRK
Los Angeles	76			58		.567			-			-			5-5			W3
Oakland	76			58		.567			-			-			8-2			W1
Cleveland	75			59		.560			1.0			28			7-3			W1
New York	75			59		.560			1.0			28			6-4			L2

...Meanwhile in the National League, the Wild Card standing read more like a East-West map of the US. Somehow, there was some kind of realignment that put Houston in the NL East. (Which is kinda like Dallas in the NFL - ooh, that Cowboy/Redskins annual suckfest is quite at rivalry boys! Come on, Pauly T, look at a map and figure it out.)

National League

Team	W			L			PCT				GB					E#				L10				STRK
Philadelphia	73			62			.541				-					-				6-4				W3
Houston	72			62			.537				0.5					28				6-4				W4
Florida	71			63			.530				1.5					27				5-5				W1
New York	69			65			.515				3.5					25				5-5				L3
Washington	69			66			.511				4.0					24				4-6				L2

Footnote on Standings:

These charts were originally created by MLB.com, who employ the "elimination number" method rather than the magic number. I prefer this because it has more of a negative feel to it. Rather than saying, "so my Sox have to win 21 more games" I can say, "the Yankees only have to suck 21 more times!" Much better. Takes the pressure of us. Here are the expanded standings.

Here is MLB's note on the Elimination Number:
NOTE: E# indicates the Elimination Number, which is the combined number of wins (by the first place team) and losses (by the trailing team) that will eliminate the trailing team from winning the Wild Card. The Elimination Number for a particular team is determined by adding their number of losses to the number of wins for the team leading the Wild Card, and subtracting that total from 163. The Elimination Number for the second place team is the "Magic Number" for the first place team. "E" indicates that the team has been eliminated from winning the Wild Card.

If you can't beat um, wait for them to release some scrubs.

So, yesterday marked a historical day in Yankee baseball history. The return of Ramirio Mendoza! After receiving a championship ring with the Red Sox last season, Mendoza resigned with the Yankees, where he was part of all four championships Yankee teams of the late 90's. So, it is safe to say, wherever this boy goes, championships follow.

Yesterday marked his season debut as he has been recovering from surgery and rehab appearances where he was 1-0 with an astounding 0.75 ERA for Triple A Columbus.

Yankees fans can further rejoice as Kevin Brown was moved to the 60 day DL to make room for Mendoza on the 40-man roster. To the dismay of Boston fans worldwide, it is highly unlikely that Kevin Brown will ever throw another pitch in pinstripes.

Mendoza, along with Mark Bellhorn and Alan Embree, now makes three former Red Sox - from the 2004 championship team - on the Yankee's roster, for which Joe Torre was quoted saying, "I'm not sure what the odds were on that happening."

Maybe they will come and hang at Riviera's with us next week!

Tagliabue assumes New Orleans won't host games

The Saints have been to San Antonio before. Back when our Alamodome opened in the early 90's, the Saints played a few preseason games there. Last year, due to Hurricane Ivan, the team came to town to practice at some of the area's finest high school facilities. (Remember, this is the same state where "Friday Night Lights" was born.)

So they'll be returning to town after their final preseason game tonight in Oakland, and I feel somewhat weird about this. Yes, we San Antonians love our football, even though fan choice is limited to the Cowboys and Texans (which is a bit like picking between spinach and beets for dinner). I'm sure the city leaders would L-O-V-E the chance to show they can support a second major sports franchise (as well as find a regular tenant of the mostly unused Alamodome).

But I'm very surprised that the league didn't push a little harder to find a suitable playing surface in the state of Louisiana. Yes, the residents there currently have more on their minds than how many yards Joe Horn will get. But I'm sure that Louisianans would enjoy the diversion to a greater degree than would a few curious San Antonians.

Any thoughts?
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