Well that was over quick. Hats off to the Boston Red Sox in winning the 2007 World Series in convincing fashion, this series wasn’t really ever that close. Now that that’s out of the way I have a segment I want to try. I think I’m going to call it Monday morning montage.

Do you think Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury hugged after the game 4 win?

Where does Jonathon Papelbon get his dance moves from and can I have lessons?

Why can’t we have a good World Series or championship game in sports anymore?

How many stories are we going to have to see about the undefeated Patriots vs. the undefeated Colts before I lose my mind and kill someone?

How will Girardi fill the hole at 3rd base now that A-Rod opted out?

Were will A-Rod go and how much money will Scott Boras…I mean Alex Rodriguez make?

When will people take Ohio State’s football team serious?

Will I regret saying Ohio State is the best team in the land when they get rocked in the National Championship game by LSU?

When will I do homework for any of my classes?

How good are the Patriots…can any team be this good?

Why did I start Vince Young this week in fantasy?

How many specials can ESPN have on the Yankees in a two week span?

Does anyone truly care about the NBA, I mean honestly?

Why does everyone in the country have a boner for Brett Favre?

That’s the beauty of sports, they are unpredictable. I “predicted” that the Rockies would at least push the Red Sox to a game 7, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. The Sox look unstoppable right now and although the Rockies may win a game, this series doesn’t look like it will come back to Boston. I haven’t posted for a few days; there hasn’t been really anything to exciting going on so I suppose I’ll just give you some recaps from my world.
• Gophers swept the Buckeyes in college hockey this weekend. They played OK, the atmosphere on Thursday night wasn’t the greatest but it was the first home game and you cant expect all of the freshman to know the chats and the jeers that we have for opposing players, hopefully this weekend will be better vs. a WCHA opponent in Denver. Kangas played well in his first game from what I saw. The offense still needs to maintain their aggressiveness instead of just scoring twice in the 1st period and calling it quits. I’d like to see them dominate a whole game in the offensive zone just once, they have the talent to. Stoa will be a bigger loss then I first suspected. With him gone, the gophers are missing a big guy in front of the net.
• The Buckeyes are clearly the best team in college football. Anyone that thought that the game in Penn State would be close has no clue about this years OSU team. They actually do have an offense for the first time in the Tressel Era and they are not afraid to show it. Robiske and Hartline are for real and Boeckman is a more accurate and a stronger armed Craig Krenzel. This is a good team and they will prove it when they go into the Big House and beat an improved Michigan team.
• Please stop comparing the Pac-10 to the SEC. Enough already put it to rest. The SEC is the best conference in college football and it always has been. It’s talked about every year but teams in the SEC just beat up on each other every weekend and of course they will have a few losses throughout the year. The Pac-10 only has Oregon this year, I’m still not sold on Arizona state and it may be unjust, but its how I feel

Well I believe that is all. Hopefully something will happen today so I have something to talk about tomorrow. Take care all.

Game 1 beat down

Taking a page from the book of Simmons…Running Diary of Game 1 of the World Series

7:05 – Eric Byrnes is very impressive on Fox…hopefully fox realizes this soon and kicks off the terrible Eric Karros and his hair and gives us more byrnesy

7:09 – I love me some Bynesy, I hate me some Jeanie Zolasko

7:10 – Karros’s hair is absolutely amazing. It will not move what-so-every

7:13 – Great, I get to hear Joe Buck’s opinion on every thing this series. Seriously, is there one announcer that interjects his feeling about a situation more then Joe Buck? I still haven’t forgiven him for making the Vikings trade Randy Moss.

7:14 – Boston fans cannot boo the Rockies starting lineup because they are too busy looking around at the people next to them saying “who did he just say?”

7:18 – Jacoby Ellsbury just received the biggest ovation outside of Josh Beckett. Coco Crisp is proud

7:19 – How can you have a flyover at night? We will soon find out

7:21 – Answer, you make fire come out of the back of the planes…stupid idea

7:22 – “Chevy Malibu, the shameless plug you can’t ignore”

7:25 – haven’t heard Tim McCarver’s voice yet…good news though, Joe Buck just informed me that he is coming right up, thanks Joe

7:26 – Heavens forbid if the Rockies beat Beckett. According to McCarver the Red Sox’s are going to quit if that happens tonight.
7:31 – Todd Helton doesn’t mess around with the line-ups. He just read the line-up straight through without any nicknames or anything. That’s why the Rockies are going to make this a series, they aren’t just happy to be here.

7:35 – Is there a worse song in American history then Crank Dat by Solja Boy? Fox decided to play it behind a Jose Beckett montage. Why? I do not know.

7:37 – And the first pitch of the 2007 World Series is……..fastball for a strike. Has a World Series ever started different?

7:38 – Beckett mows down Tavares with an outside fastball that hits the black for strike 3

7:39 – I wonder what the Mets brass think when they watch Kaz Matsui in the World Series. Can’t be anything to great. Mostly &^%(@#* Matsui.

7:41 – Beckett is looking good. He just came back from a 3-0 count to blow a fastball by Matsui. 2 k’s

7:43 – Beckett strikes out the side, throwing all fastballs mind you. Layoff?

7:46 – Yaz with the honor of reading the Boston line up. You could tell he was reading a card the whole time, I can say that because I wasn’t born when Yaz played

7:47 – Pedroia leads off with a homerun leading McCarver to tell us “There’s no better way to start off a game.” Thanks Tim

7:48 – Youk with an opposite field double. Boston is ready to play tonight

7:49 – Last 3 games for Pedroia and Youkilis….575 average and 15 hits...not bad. Also David Ortiz just tried to bunt.

7:50 – Francis is a Canadian…that doesn’t bode well right now. Also he looks like he could be 16 years old

7:51 – Ortiz grounds out and Manny is up. I want to see how long Manny can pose after a homerun this series, my guess 35 seconds.

7:52 – Base hit over drawn-in infield, 2-0 Boston. McCarver thinks it would have been a base hit without the infield in but it would have been easily caught by Tulowitzki

7:53 – Francis’ 1st inning ERA, 5.20. Good thing he is consistent.

7: 54 – McCarver: “Varitek has played in 50 post season games, far more then any other Boston player” after he said that great line the camera showed Manny Ramirez, and I’m willing to bet he’s played in his share of post season games.

7:57 – Base hit for the captain. Francis is struggling so far in this game. Maybe there is something to all of this layoff talk

7:58 – JD Drew for Mayor of Boston. JD just doubled in Manny and now there are runners at 2nd and 3rd with two outs. 3-0 Boston. First mound visit of the evening brought to you by Menards, save big money with Menards.

8:02 – How many times am I going to hear “Pitching Coach, Bob Apadacka” in one inning…answer 53

8:03 – Atkins and Helton save 2 more runs on a very nice play. Francis gets out of the jam

8:04 - Running to the girlfriends house to watch the rest of the game…yes I know lame but if I miss anything you can blame her.

8:12 – Well my computer took forever to start back up but what I saw was; Holliday strikeout, Atkins double, Hawpe strikeout, Tulo double 3-1 Sox, Yorvit groundout to shortstop
8:16 – Ellsbury was named Base runner of the year for the 2006 and 2007 season for the minor leagues, congrats Jacoby that is a prestigious award. Too bad you cannot run the base paths if you strike out.

8:23 – Papi doubles all the way to the wall allowing Youkilis to score from first, aided by the fact that Willy Tavaris and his cannon of an arm are out in center field. Ramirez will be walked to bring up Lowell with 2 on

8:27 – Lowell pops up and WHATS THAT!!! IS THAT THE COUGAR’S MUSIC…THIIIIIIIS IS OOOOOOOOOOUUUUR COUUUUUNTY…IT IS!...ITS THE COUGAR

8:42 - We just learned from McCarver that it’s not a good idea to bunt if you cannot run…the knowledge of Tim McCarver is limitless

8:44 – As the rain falls harder now (sorry I forgot to mention that one), Francis gets out of a semi-jam and we go into the 4th with the score 4-1 Sox

8:49 – Todd Helton sends a ball off the Green Monster, the 3rd double off the wall for the Rockies

8:54 – No matter, Beckett strikes out Atkins and Hawpe to end the inning. 7 k’s for Beckett through 4 innings

9:02 – Joe Buck just jinxed Francis’ perfect inning…damn you Joe Buck, damn you

9:11 – That looks to be game over. Varitek just doubled with the bases loaded making the score 6-1. Francis didn’t look right all game and left most of his pitches up in the zone. McCarver defended Francis all night saying “He is a high ball pitcher”. Who in the major leagues is a high ball pitcher? Please someone tell me how it can be beneficial to be high ball pitcher in the major leagues.

9:18 – Another McCarver gem. “Yorvit was on the sidelines for that game…” for you non-baseball fans out there, there are no sidelines in baseball.
9:33 – Balk…that’s really the only thing that has been worth noting in the last 15 minutes. This game has slowed down very quickly

9:36 – Yoouuuuuuuuuuuk rips a double down the left field line scoring Ellsbury. Youk has been on fire in the last 4 games and when he gets going the Boston line up is very scary. 7-1 Boston…err make that 8-1 Boston. Papi just doubled. Boston is on rolling in this game…err make that 9-1 Boston. Manny with a little floater over Tulowitzki, scoring Papi from 2nd. Whew a pitching change…well timed Pitching Coach Bob Apadacka.

9:43 – Boston just tied the WS record for extra-base hits in a game with 9…did I mention that its only the 5th inning. This running diary may get cut off short here shortly, this game is over and I really have no viewing interest to continue to watch this beat down.

9:46 – I will leave you with this great quote by Tim McCarver “This game reminds me of game 3 of the 2004 ALCS where the Yankees scored 19 runs on 20 hits and Boston came back to win the final 4 games of the series” Thanks Tim, we love you

We will Rock you? The 2007 World Series preview

It's October and that means the World Series is upon us. I'm actually really excited and looking forward to this series. It could be one of those that looks like a huge mismatch on paper but could be closer then one might expect. What story is better? The Sox crazy comeback; being one game from elimination, or is it the Rockies and their amazing streak of 21 wins in the last 22 games? The obvious choice to win is Boston. They just have too much talent and are too good. Oh and did anyone mention that the Rockies are the NL representative? Also have you heard that the Rockies are on the longest layoff in post season history? Let’s take a look inside the numbers and the matchups shall we? Since I don’t care what the players did in the regular season I will only show the stats from this year’s playoff. Hope you enjoy.

Game 1: Beckett vs. Francis
Beckett has been unreal this postseason (3-0 1.17 ERA, 26/1 K/BB, .160 BAA, 0.61 WHIP, do I really need to say more?) and Francis has been equally good (2-0 2.13 ERA, 12/3 K/BB, .244 BAA, 1.11 WHIP). This game will be decided by if the young Rockies hitters can be patent and work the count with Beckett and also can the Boston bats stay back on the crafty Francis. Francis is really tough on lefties as evident by the 7 strikeouts that Chase Utley and Ryan Howard combined for in game 1 of the NLDS. Expect Bobby Kielty to get the start in right for the Sox. This game will be close until Francis leaves the game. Beckett should go 7+ strong innings and the Colorado bullpen being rusty and taking its first lumps of the post season eventually falling to the confident Red Sox.

Game 2: Schilling vs. Jimenez
This pitching matchup looks like a joke at first glance but actually Jimenez has outpitched Schilling in the postseason. Granted that Jimenez has faced the Phillies and the Diamondbacks where Schilling has faced better offenses in Cleveland and L.A.. I think that the Rockies will chip away at Schilling and Jimenez will have Boston guessing all night long. The Rockies are too young to understand what pressures they have on them and steal a game in Boston sending the series to Colorado tied at a game a piece.

Game 3: Fogg vs. Dice-K
I think this is a no brainer. Fogg has been nicknamed “The Dragon Slayer” and what better dragon to slay then the $103 million dollar Dice-K. If anyone thinks that Dice-K’s fastball will stay down in the zone and thus inside the park is crazy. Holliday and Atkins will feast on Matsuzaka’s missed pitches and Dice-K will have another hour to think about what he has done. 2-1 Rockies

Game 4: Cook vs. Beckett
Although the starters have not been named for this game as of print time I really think Tito will go with Beckett. This is the World Series and I would love to be able to pitch the Cy Young winner three times in a series. Beckett pitches well, Cook hasn't pitched in forever and Boston squares up the series at 2 games a piece.

Game 5: Francis vs.
With Wakefield left off the playoff roster the game 5 starter is unknown. No matter, Francis does what is needed of him and this game goes down to the wire again. This time Manny Corpus and friends slams the door on the Sox and the rowdy Colorado fans go nuts as the Rockies win in the 9th inning off of Hideki Okajima, Boston saved Papelbon to get rest because he has pitched in three games of the series already. Also during game 5 the Denver Broncos play the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football. That game has temporarily been moved ahead to an early start time. It won’t matter because everyone will be watching this game.

Game 6: Schilling vs. Jimenez
Once again it’s the match up of young vs. old, only this time it is the old timer that gets the best of the youngins that the Rockies have and pitches a classic Curt Schilling playoff game performance. The Rockies have trouble with Schillings sinker all night long and we are going to an exciting game 7 in Boston.

Game 7: Beckett vs. Fogg
Does the Dragon Slayer have one more in him? Can Beckett keep up this amazing postseason run? Can the inexperienced Rockies win a game 7? Does Boston have enough left in the tank for one last game? These are just a few of the questions that surely be asked if this series does go 7 games. This game will be over in the early innings because of the Boston bats. Beckett has his worst start of the postseason, but that only means giving up three runs and Fogg doesn’t have an answer for the Boston crowd and the crew of Pedroia, Youkilis, Papi and Manny. Boston takes the game and wins a better than expected World Series.

Game 7

What more can you say about these Boston Red Sox? As bad as they looked for a three game stretch they still come back and win three in a row on their own. They outscored the Indians 30-5 in the last three games and totally dominated every other aspect. They were more experienced, more talented, more composed overall then the young Indians team. Take this as an example, you didn't see someone like Dustin Pedroia swing at the first pitch of his at bat in the 7th inning, but fellow rookie Asdrubal Cabrera did and consequently popped up in the infield. Pedroia on the other hand hit a crucial 2-run homerun over the Green Monster.

It was at bats like this one that spelled doom for the Tribe. They couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position like they did vs. the Yankees, Travis Hafner was horrible, Grady Sizemore was a non-factor, C.C. did not pitch like he deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as Josh Beckett for the Cy Young award and Cleveland’s bullpen deteriorated down the stretch. All of that factored in to Boston winning game 5 and getting on a roll to eventually take the series.

How about Josh Beckett too? This guy is a machine in the playoffs. I can’t remember in my lifetime a pitcher that is more in a zone in the playoffs then Beckett. I remember watching him in 2003 and thinking that this pitcher could be something special. He started as a power pitcher, throwing mostly 97 mph fastballs by batters but I have never seen a curveball more devastating and accurate as Beckett’s. He can throw it on any count at any time and drop it in for a strike. Better yet, he can still throw his 97 mph heat by you. The Cy Young is his and his only.

World Series preview for tomorrow’s post

AD: All Dallas?

Since this is my first post in so long, I'm gonna be a little rusty. These first few posts will basically just be random thoughts throughout a day or an event. Hopefully later on I will develop my style and maybe write feature stories on what’s current and relevant. Without further ado, I bring you, October 21st 2007. A day I like to call AD: All Dallas

What can I really say about the Vikings offense that isn’t completely obvious? The only scoring threat is a rookie (although quite possibly one of the best starts to an NFL career ever) in Adrian Peterson. Their quarterback isn’t quite what Brad Childress had in mind but once again we must be reminded that he made his 6th start. Yes, 6th starts and we think he should be Donovan McNabb. I really think the Vikings need to keep developing Jackson and really see what he can do. He played possibly his best game ever last week vs. the Bears and we loved him then.

This is just what we are going to have to go through as Vikings fans for the rest of this year. It will be ok, we will take our lumps but we have a good group of young talent and it’s starting to show each week. Although, I do like the kid from Kentucky…you know that Woodson guy. I don't really need to say anything about the defense. I think we have that part of the game figured out.
Give the offense some time Viking fans, at least you are not the Gophers. NDSU?? A story for another time.

photo courtesy of the Star Tribune

Back in full effect

Wow, I just remembered that I had this blog today and decided to check it out. Pretty good stuff, I was on my way to be a regular Bill Simmons with those posts. While reading I was inspired to put my thoughts down again, you know...for all of you...the faithful readers...yeah well anyway for anyone out there that stumbles upon this and enjoys it let me know it'd be appreciated. Thaaanks