October 27, 2011 - Last Word On Sports

Last week I expressed my opinion on five teams where I thought the general perception of most people might not match the reality. I feel very confident that I have a great beat on many teams, but there are some that are too unpredictable right now to offer proper analysis. Also, some teams are simply already well-known and correctly valued, so there is little benefit to you in me restating the obvious. With that in mind, let’s take a much closer look at five teams. We’ll examine New England and Minnesota today, Atlanta and Tampa Bay tomorrow and a special edition, inside look at the Buffalo Bills on Saturday.

New England – Much can be said about New England, but first I just want to remind everybody about one thing – The New England defense stinks! It always has. In week three when the Pats lost to the Bills there was plenty of “world is falling apart” talk about the Pats defense. The perception is that it is no good, and will sometimes cost them games. But this lack of defense is nothing new. They barely had a defense when they went 16-0 in 2007 and they had a horrible defense last year when they went 14-2. So don’t worry about their defense when picking New England games. They control the game with their offense and field position anyways. Just remember when New England plays a high-powered offense don’t expect them to cover big points. Dallas -7 last week was a perfect example.

Minnesota – I think I have given up on them four separate times already this season. I should have stuck with the first three but now I have reason to believe they could be under-valued. In the opening weeks they didn’t play poorly but could not pull out any victories. My theory for this was that McNabb was the problem. They had the talent to hang with some decent teams, but couldn’t pull it out at the end. When it is late in the game there are few surprises; it comes down to simple execution, x’s and o’s. Unfortunately for the Vikings, McNabb just couldn’t deliver. I thought the new starting quarterback, Christian Ponder, would be a disaster as well, but through two weeks he has been competent. This might be all Minnesota needs. We know they are not playing for a division title, but they should also be better than a 1-6 squad. With the way Peterson is running they should be able to win a few games just getting a C- from their QB. (Note: Their schedule does get a lot tougher the rest of the season after this Carolina match-up)

That’s it for now, but please check back tomorrow evening for “Inside the NFL – Day Two”.

…And that is the last word.

He’s no Bill Buckner, but manager Tony La Russa might have made the error that costs his team the series.

After game one’s pinch-hit heroic’s, game two looked to be going the same way. Allen Craig again came into the game as a pinch hitter and drove in a run to break the scoreless tie in the 7th. Texas, with their backs against the wall in the top of the 9th, were able to manufacture two runs on two sac flies and win the game 2-1.

With the series tied 1-1, the teams travelled to Arlington for game three. St. Louis seemed not to mind the 50+ thousand people cheering against them, as they pounded Texas for 16 runs. The onslaught was led by St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols who arguably had one of the best single World Series game performances ever. He went 5-for-6 with two singles and three homeruns, tying World Series records for; most homeruns in a game (3), most hits in a game (5), and most RBI’s (6). And establishing two new records, one for hits in consecutive innings (4), and total bases reached (14).

After getting trounced 16-7 in game three, Texas and manager Ron Washington showed a lot of poise to put the loss behind them and concentrate on game four. And concentrate they did, allowing only two hits on route to a 9-inning shutout. Napoli provided the offence with a three-run homer to help the hometown Rangers win 4-0. But the big story was Derek Holland who pitched 8 1/3 of the 9-inning shutout.

So here we are at a decisive game five, with the series tied 2-2. The pitchers; how about a rematch from game one? C. J. Wilson squaring off with Chris Carpenter. Both pitchers pitched fairly well, Wilson going 5 ½ giving up 2 runs on 4 hits, and Carpenter going 7-innings and giving up 2 runs on 6 hits. Fast-forward to the eighth inning, with the score tied at 2. Michael Young leads off the bottom half of the eighth inning with a double, triggering Cards manager La Russa to make a call to the bullpen. La Russa asked for Rzepczynski and his closer Motte to both warm up, the bullpen coach (Derek Lilliquist) says he only heard Rzepczynski’s name. La Russa saw that Motte wasn’t warming up, and made another call to the bullpen. This time the bullpen coach heard him say reliever Lance Lynn’s name. So Lance Lynn starts warming up even though he should have been resting because he had just pitched. So hilarity ensues when La Russa, first calls out Rzepczynski who he wanted to be Motte, and then calls out Lynn who he thought was Motte. The Rangers took advantage of the mix up cashing in two runs and winning the game 4-2.

So the series dubbed “The battle of the skips” heads back to Busch Stadium for game six with the Rangers leading 3-2. And has Washington back on top of the manager’s duel. Washington showing some savvy in game five by intentionally walking super slugger and game three hero Albert Pujols. While his counterpart La Russa, was at the helm of a major mental collapse that cost his team the game.

The Rangers look to be on the brink of victory with a stranglehold on the series. But, this is baseball, and anything that can happen, usually does. But that is why we love this game so much. And the “Cardiac Cards” are definitely one of those teams, having been here before fighting with their backs against the wall. And if they can get to game seven, they have their ace back. Should be an exciting finish.

And that is the last word…

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Day: October 27, 2011

Inside the NFL – Day One

A Fatal Move that Might Cost the Cards the Series