Sunday, October 01, 2006

Off for Yom Kippur Holiday
(Commenters, I Give You the Keys)

I'd love to comment on the late-afternoon (and night) NFL games and all of the storylines that develop overnight. (There's a post below that covers the early games.)

I'd also love to comment on all of the baseball-playoff look-ahead stuff (looks like the Cards avoided the dreaded "playoff-playoff-playoff") PLUS the fall-out from the Clemens PED scandal.

But tonight marks the start of Yom Kippur, so I won't be posting until tomorrow evening, when I'll be back with lots of stuff to make up for the day.

Please excuse my absence, and I pass the baton to all of you to use the Comments area to provide all of the shallow, quick-hit news analysis throughout the sports world, from tonight through tomorrow morning and all day.

(It could get a little unraveled in the comments area, so let's use the NFL post below for all analysis NFL-related, and the comments area of THIS post for everything else.)

I appreciate the collective pinch-hitting, and I'll be back tomorrow evening.

-- D.S.

49 comments:

Matt Berg said...

How 'bout those Twins!!!

Christian Thoma said...

Padres win! Dodgers to Shea! Game 5, here I come! If Necessary!

Maher said...

Can someone please find out which coach voted Auburn #1 this week?

Was it Tommy T. ?
Was it the Old Ballcoach?
Was it Lloyd Carr?
Was it Les Miles?

Marcus T said...

McNair as NFL MVP???? again, I have to quote Tom Jackson to you? "Are you retarded?"

Qwagmire said...

I love John Madden.

Chris Collingsworth was pooping on Eric Mangini for going for a 4th and short instead of kicking a field goal. I guess the Jets didnt make it and Collinsgworth said it cost them the game (Jets lost by 3)

Madden asked if Collingsworth would have gone for the onside kick that netted the Jets a TD

Collinsworth said No I wouldnt have.

Madden said, kind of obnoxiously "Mangini 7, Collingsworth 3"

In laymens terms, Shut the Hell up Collingsworth :)

eirishis said...

Easy fast, Dan - meanwhile, I'm going to try to be happy about the Browns SOMEHOW tripping their way into a win. Good thing the Raiders are godawful.

Anonymous said...

care to revist your comments about Al Saunders?

john (east lansing, mi) said...

kaimanawa -

Were you really hungry when you posted? Go get some dinner, dude.

As for the sputtering Tigers, you know Jim Leyland is gonna let those boys have it tomorrow, and Nate Robertson and 500,000 packs of Big League Chew say Detroit is not leaving New York without at least one win.

The only thing about this week that concerns me is that Game 4's scheduling can't possibly work out well with my 4:30 UM-MSU game. I'm gonna pretty much hate cars by the end of the day.

Jon said...

What do tv people see in Chris Collinsworth? No one seems to like him yet he's on NBC, NFL Network and HBO. The only thing I can think is that he doesn't have a gag reflex.

...and speaking of gagging, could NBC please also change their sideline reporter. I forget her name, but she is definitely one who is made for radio.

Christian Thoma said...

@chris maher
re: voting in the polls

I'm more interested in knowing who gave OSU a 3rd place vote in the Harris.

Brian in Oxford said...

How about the Red Sox, finishing the season with a no-hitter?

(And I think the "purging of the no-hitters" a few years ago was a joke....suddenly Harvey Haddix gets no credit for 12 perfect innings?!!!!)

Alas, third place.

Hey, hockey season starts this week! Too bad there aren't any day games to watch on my computer here at work.

MP said...

I thought Collinsworth was okay when he was on Fox Sports. He delivered the line of Super Bowl XXXIX when he said, amidst Donovan McNabb's slow play-calling, "How many Eagles fans do you think are sitting at home right now screaming at the TV, HURRY UP!"

Good stuff there. Also, Red Sox fans: way to take comfort in a season lost. No one loses quite like all of you.

I can't talk though...I'm a Cubs fan. I'm just numb to the world.

Mega said...

The Chicago Bears are the best team in the NFL right now. They are the most complete team out there. Anyone disagree?

Perks said...

I certainly agree that Da Bears are the best team in the NFL.

But how has no one discussed the Haynesworth incident? Are we trying to (what we'd all LIKE to) T.O. him and say it shouldn't get coverage?

Anyways, it's a strange predicament because he's more than acknowledged his wrongdoings. I give him no sympathy and say he's out for at least 6 weeks. But in playing devil's advocate, the guy was acting stupid and he knows it. Imagine getting a fired-up speech from your coaches about having no mercy; when you hit a player, make sure he doesn't get back up, etc. etc. (insert "hit 'em hard boys" speech), and you are just so overly aggressive that you lose your mind.

Now I'm not going to sympathize AT ALL with him, I'm just hypothesizing whether he gets anything for not defending his actions, and being a man about it all. It's not like a John Rocker.

Even still- I give him 8 weeks.

Big D said...

So, a couple of things from this weekend to chew on...

First, big time statement games this weekend (so far) by the Bears, Patriots, Cowboys and Raiders. And yes, the Raiders' statement was a two-week notice of resignation. That was ridiculous.

Second, it's nice to see the baseball playoffs will go on without two A.L. East representatives, contrary to many published reports here in the greater Boston area. Also nice to see Boston end the season in a fitting fashion - blowing a game in the ninth on Saturday, then throwing a rain shortened no-no to end the year. Nothing represents their yo-yo season quite like that.

Third, Albert Haynesworth is the new "bully" in the NFL; a scape goat for all of the people who think the sport is too violent to hang their hat on. What he did was reprehensible, but it's not like we haven't seen or heard of worse in the past. He deserves a 4-game suspension, with his game checks going to a charity of Andre Gaurard's choice.

And fourth, the continuing steroids/HGH/PEDs in general saga in baseball. The only thing about this that really bothers me is the timing. Not that there's any good time to release a bombshell like this, but on the last day of the regular season might be the third worst possible choice (Right along with the first day of the season and the first day of the World Series). Of course, the argument could be made that what if the media held off for one more day, and the Astros ended up making the playoffs in that playoff/playoff/playoff scenario... But if there was anyone who thought Clemens could get through his entire career without one "credible" (i.e. NOT Jose Canseco) accusation, you were fooling yourself.

I'll be posting later tonight. Got a lot to cover.

Christian Thoma said...

@big d:

Don't be dissing on Jose. Canseco's credibility has shot up considerably since, well, he was right.

Kurt said...

Why are all Twins fans so in your face obnoxious? We don't care if you have the batting champ or cy young, win something that matters like a World Series and then talk.

And Big D, while you (a Red Sox fan) see the no hitter as a positive way to end the season, I see it as spite, God saw some scrub pitching a no-no and shortened the game early with rain. Or maybe he just felt bad and knew the no hitter had 0 chance of lasting and ended the game before Timlin could come in and blow it.

Matthew B. Novak said...

I think the reason Twins fans seem so "obnoxious" is that they're just incredibly rabid. You can't imagine what Minny's been going through this year, starting with Puckett's death, and watching our team be awful, and then turn it around. For a long time, we were playing good but couldn't gain any ground, and then finally making the playoffs and winning the division? In Minnesota this feels as miraculous as Boston beating the Yankees in '04. So we're just super excited.

And then factor in the fact that we really don't get much love from the national media (I mean, have you watched BBTN this season?) - we get some, but not nearly what we deserve - and we probably overcompensate when we get the chance to support our team.

And let's face it - we're no worse than Yankees or Red Sox fans.

Mega said...

As a White Sox fan I'm happy that the AL Central has 2 representatives. Personally I was hoping that Toronto would put on a last month drive and shock the world by taking the AL East, thus leaving the Yanks and Boston out of the postseason. Then again, the national media would still have the Mets to enjoy.

Unknown said...

The Twins HAVE won World Series' before.

I like Detroit over New York. One side has pitching..the other doesn't.

Other than that, the MLB post season has not interested me in 4-5 years. bleh
On to football!

Al Saunders sucked for 7 weeks. He deserved to be criticized.

Michigan v Michigan State should be worrisome to some. MSU chokes often..but they also pull a W out when they shouldn't..and Wolverines are being lauded too much. It's still Henne..Still Lloyd...it could happen.

Jake C said...

Michigan can't jump that high for one reason - you can't drop teams for winning. No matter how close, or how they won, you can't drop a team even though you think someone else won "better." It doesn't matter in the long run anyway. Michigan won't make it to Ohio State undefeated, or even beat the Buckeyes in any case.

As for the Twins, of course it would seem better to have Santana for 2 of out 5 instead of 2 out of 7 (or 3 out of 7 on severly short rest). But, then again, they ARE home now (best home record), and maybe they hope they can still get one from the Yanks in the second round and sweep the home games. (Here's hoping)


Jon - you're talking about Andrea Kramer. Yeah, she aged about 50 years this offseason...plus, who the hell knows what she is doing with that hair. She looks like death.

Brian in Oxford said...

On to another topic...Tiger.

When he got beat by Shaun Micheel (not the WWE star, although that would have been amusing), people said it was the end of his 5-tourney streak.

Now, suddenly, he's up to 6? And considering the PGA Tour was in Mississippi last week? *Now* it's okay to count something in England towards the streak?

What up with that?

(Still, a nice coast-to-coast victory for the guy....)

Kevin said...

Michigan can't jump that high for one reason - you can't drop teams for winning. No matter how close, or how they won, you can't drop a team even though you think someone else won "better."

Why not? If one team proves that they are better than another team, even if they both win, shouldn't you put that team ahead of the worse team? Otherwise, you're just taking the preseason rankings and only moving down teams that lose.

I'll end up supporting Morneau for MVP, just because I can't stand seeing Jeter win it. But the real MVP for the Twins is Joe Mauer - he's the first catcher ever to lead both leagues in batting average, and he's a good defensive catcher as well. And his percentage stats (BA, SLG, OPS) are all better than Jeter's.

Qwagmire said...

Brian,

To answer your question about the logic, or lack thereof, on Tiger's winning streak, his previous 6 in a row did not include a match play event that he won, or it would have been 7 in a row previously instead of 6 in a row.

A couple years later, using the same logic (or lack thereof), you can not end his winnign streak by losing a match play event since the last time it did not count even though he won the match play event.

I disagree, and comments tiger made seem to make me think he disagrees too, but thats the way it is.

Maher said...

If you admit that preseason polls are inherently flawed, then you can jump any team you want over another during the first few weeks of the CFB season.

Every year there is a ranking argument, and for the most part things shake out at the end (unless you are an auburn fan from a few years ago).

I don't think it matters unless Troy Smith shoves the ball up his ass at some point during the season and costs us a game a la Justin Zwick v. Texas last year.

FreKy J said...

New week of college football ladder ratings here. I've come to the conclusion that these ratings need about 5-6 weeks of games before they really should be released. I'll remember this next year. I promise.

Maher said...

If the NFL doesn't kick Haynesworth out for the rest of the season (early reports are he is only going to get 4 games) then Gurode should file a police report or start the proceedings for a civil suit.

Maher said...

a ratings system that has Oregon in the top 5 after what happened v. Oklahoma. I'm supposed to take that seriously how? And WVU in 14th? wow.

This almost makes Stewart Mandel look like a genius.

FreKy J said...

I agree with what Dan Patrick said on the radio today while I was out at lunch. Haynesworth should be canned for at least half a season's worth of games, or at least half the remaining games. Anything less than a 6-8 game suspension comes off as weak, considering that a post-300 pound man stomping on someone's bare head with a cleated/spiked shoe is potentially life or career threatening.

Maher said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Maher said...

harris poll. tell me again how boomer is qualified to speak on CFB if he works for CBS/NFL Network? I'm supposed to believe he has the time to do it all with -- as he liked to say (incorrectly) on MNF -- alacrity

FreKy J said...

@chris maher:

a ratings system that has Oregon in the top 5 after what happened v. Oklahoma. I'm supposed to take that seriously how? And WVU in 14th? wow.


If you want to criticize the system, perhaps you should bother to read the details on how the system works, so that you'd actually understand that the rating a team has is directly related to the team's wins and losses versus other teams and those teams' ratings at the time of the game.

Part of the reason Oregon is #5 is because it has a win against Oklahoma, regardless of how the game SHOULD have turned out.

Part of the reason West Virginia is rated lower this week is because they had a bye week, which gave other teams actually playing a game a chance to gain more points and jump over them, which is exactly what happened. It will all even out when the rest of the teams have their bye week, don't you think?

Maher said...

All I need to know about a ratings/rankings system is that it should have a human element. If not, then we should just have a PPV broadcast of NCAA 07 simulating an entire season on a 360 every year and give that team the sears/adt/home depot whatever it is this year trophy.

"Systems" are good in vegas for losing money at roulette, not for ranking football teams.

There is a reason that the BCS (as flawed as it is) averages out 6 computer rankings to make up that 1/3 of the BCS.

You can't tell me that you believe Oregon deserves to be 5 with OU at 25 in your own poll after they played each other and OU was robbed by the officials 2x.

FreKy J said...

@chris maher

Go back and take a look further down at where I posted the 2005 season (including bowl games) and argue that it doesn't get things right.

Maher said...

sorry, i'm a product of society with ADHD and if you don't win me over with coherent rankings in the first 10 spots on the poll I don't have the interest to read a FAQ on why it doesn't work.

FreKy J said...

The explanation of the system is merely the rules for the system. The ratings are instantaneous and quite coherent. Oregon is having the 5th best season in college football at this instant. Next week it'll be instant all over again. How's that for ADHD?

john (east lansing, mi) said...

If you admit that preseason polls are inherently flawed, then you can jump any team you want over another during the first few weeks of the CFB season.

cm - Are you suggesting that either of those is a bad idea? Preseason polls are based on players who don't exist anymore, recruits who have never seen a minute of college playing time, and random popularity. I think that approximately spells 'inherently flawed.'

And jumping teams arbitrarily? Why doesn't that sound like a good idea? When a team ranked #4 struggles throughout 3.5 quarters against a team like ECU (doesn't that make you go... 'Who?' Where is East Carolina, anyway?), why would it be impossible for a team that presents many great weapons on offense and shuts down a potent opposing offense to jump over the #4, just because they managed not to lose?

I'm not concerned about the rankings this week anyway. As some like to say, 'Nobody has any idea who was #1 in the Week 6 rankings last year.' But I do think it's ludicrous to pretend that WVa can't get dropped out of the Top 5 after playing poorly against a team that's not even any good.

ndyanksfan05 - it's been a bad week, so I'm just going with ad hominem attacks. I hope that's ok.

Your name is apparently out of date, and your allegiances make 90% of the people who read this laugh at you.
You should probably learn to spell names before making fun of anybody. Also, that whole... sentence-like thing... in the middle of your post doesn't make any sense. Plus, just repeating Kenny Rogers's name isn't generally considered an effective argument.

Ummm... that's about it. We'll see how things go this week.

john (east lansing, mi) said...

umm... manningham, settle down. rafael sounded like he was on... our side... if anything.

And just let the team do the playing. Aight?

Kurt said...

I think the reason Twins fans seem so "obnoxious" is that they're just incredibly rabid.-matthew b. novak

Since you're from CT I'm assuming you're just a bitter Sox or Yanks fan, but have you ever been to Minneapolis? I don't think those people are even capable of being "in your face". I'd say they're so polite and humble it's almost creepy. - matt (fairfax)

Okay, okay, I'll cut the Twins fans some slack. I've never been to Minnesota, but I'm sure the people are great, it just seems like every chat in the past month has been littered with Twins fans ripping at other chatters/analysts for being down on the Twins. And I guess being a hardcore Twins fan is better than bandwagon Red Sox fans any day. And Matt, Yankee fans from Connecticut and Yankee fans from New York are two different animals.

john (east lansing, mi) said...

ndyf05 - I know. My posting name is also crafted so as not to fool anyone.

I'm sorry you thought I meant any of those things; I did try to suggest that it's been a bad week for my Tigers, and that I was planning on attacking you rather than making any good points. And I think anybody who read my post had no trouble determining that I was a douche, or at least acting like a douche.

Anyway, I'm hoping Kenny Rogers is a changed man in the postseason and doesn't make me wish I hadn't bothered driving to Detroit on Friday, and I'm certainly hoping Justin Verlander can come up with a stat line that looks nothing like his last game against NYY.

You're right, things could certainly look better for my boys, but here's hoping.

Maher said...

thanks cody :)

I was saying that preseason polls are flawed and you can jump teams after 4 wks. replying to Jake C.

TJ said...

No matter how close, or how they won, you can't drop a team even though you think someone else won "better."

You're extremely lucky Dan isn't around today. That's the kind of comment that would have gotten you a day-long ban back on the MQ.

Personally, I'll go ahead and admit that my top 10 this week was a bit of a punt. The Michigan-MSU game and the UF-LSU should give some definition to the top 5. Please don't hate me for not being sold on Michigan yet. I know based on the games I should be, but recent history suggests...

And yes I'm perfectly aware I just scolded a guy for violating MQ policies while myself adopting a pseudo-wait-and-see. I am nothing if not inconsistent.

The heroin sheik said...

My vote for MVP this year is Ty Wiggington of the devil rays. I'm serious. Every game I went to this yr he would have some sort of clutch at bat or defensive play. Plus every time he comes up to bat they play "Gettin Wiggy with it" kinda silly but when your team totally sucks you have to find entertainment in something. I really hope the rays keep him because he is truly a nice guy as well. Back to reality though I really hope Jeter doesn't win because I hate the yankees. I think both the guys from the twins cancel each other out. Why not give it to the big hurt. He could win comeback player of the year and MVP because he really has been money all season.

Trey (formerly TF) said...

Sheik!

Is it true that you are a fellow D-Rays fan?

joe (Dayton)

Jen said...

ndyank~OSU played Texas "sloppy"?? If I recall correctly, the Buckeyes never trailed and also held them to one TD.
The Penn State game had sloppy weather, but they had big plays in the fourth quarter and prevailed, while also holding the Lions to 7 points.

Anonymous said...

i'm interested in hearing what dan has to say. i'm pretty sure i just saw 3 stars...

Maher said...

@ND

you make me sad to be a Yankees fan.

28-6 in a rainstorm v. PSU. I'll take that.

24-7 on the road v. TEX (game everyone picked against us) at night.

38-17 on the road v. Iowa ("experts" picking against us, preseason picks of Iowa winning the Big Ten) at night.

Wait, why the hell am I defending OSU? No one took anything away from TEX beating us 25-22 last year, so screw that noise.

MoL said...

Re: MSU/UM

The Spartans are playing so godawful now (surprise!) that they just might pull it off this weekend. Such is the logic of being an MSU fan. Nahhh, who am I kidding? They're going to get stomped and it will be yet another nail in John L's coffin.

john (east lansing, mi) said...

MSU wasn't playing godawful 9.5 days ago (remember, when they were running all over ND for about half a game?). They can clearly score (against lousy defenses) and defend (against underperforming good offenses) when they really want to. Fortunately, UM hasn't sent either of those things onto the field this season, but MSU has something to prove now if anybody ever did - they might play better than they are. That is certainly an MSU thing to do.

But I'm hoping for another 49-point win. What was that coach's name? Bobby Williams? Something like that. I just remember our whole student section screaming, 'Go for two!'