John Wall is the truth

Now that Kentucky has played a good sample size of games, I think we can call John Wall the truth. He is averaging 19 points, 7 assists a game for the #4 team in the nation. Kentucky has posted back to back wins over UNC and Uconn and Ahley Judd has to be happy. Kentucky has slipped in the nations spotlight over the past couple years and has not been the powerhouse we are accustomed to. The failed Billy Gillespie era is over and Calipari has come in and landing the top recruit in JDub has helped out tremendously. It seemed ever since Kentucky was the #1 seed and lost in the second round to UAB they have never regained their mojo. Well Kentucky basketball is back, and its great for the SEC, and college hoops.

Speaking of the SEC. Billy Donovan and the forgotten gators are making a name for themselves. They lost stud PG Nick Calethes who left as a Sophomore to go over to Greece and make a quick 6 figures. Tonight they will look to avenge a loss last year when they match up against Syracuse in a battle of unbeatens in a "neutral" Tampa.

Cuse is looking to knock off its third major opponent this off season since it has already taken down a Pac-10 foe (Cal) and ACC contender (UNC). Outside of the Florida game tonight, the last remaining major game on their out of conference schedule is Memphis. Now ladies and gentlemen this is the second straight year Jimmy B has silenced the critics and played a tough out of conference schedule. You can't bash the man for playing Cal, UNC, Florida, Memphis all before he gets thrown ND, Cincy, Uconn, Pitt, Georgetown, Marq, Nova, etc I could go on.

Cuse has been drubbing their lousy out of conference games (101-55 vs Maine) which is a good sign because they usually barely slide against lousy teams, so its encouraging to see them handle these weaker teams. I am no doubt convinced this team is good this year, but I am very weary on judging them by the tourny wins vs Cal and UNC. All it takes is a team playing extremely hot back to back to make them look a lot better than they are. Do you recall just a few weeks ago the Portland Pilots getting hot and knocking off Oregon, UCLA, and Minnesota....now they have dropped their last three including games vs Portland st. and Idaho. Yuck.

In other college hoops news Greg Monroe is continuing the streak of great Hoya Big men. Great double double two nights ago took down a feisty Butler squad who was probably a bit over hyped going into the season. Butler will stick around the top 20ish of rankings since they will probably run house in conference. Georgetown will be right there in the end I feel. They were a very young team last year and Monroe is a beast, and if he gets more assertive its gonna cause major trouble.

UCLA, Ben Howland, can things get much worse?

Vegas Wagers

Want to share some recent wagers made for me from my sister who was recently in Vegas. Gave her $200 dollars to unload at the Hilton Sportsbook for some future bets. I did not want to bet on heavy favorites because if I was going to win at all I wanted it to be a good chunk of change. I took some squads that no doubt have a chance and have some heavy odds against them.

NFL:

Win 2010 SuperBowl @ Miami, FL

Philadelphia Eagles

30-1

$15.00.

Win $450

Analysis: Philly no doubt has a talented team. They always play some interesting defense schemes and they have offensive firepower. McNabb is a gamer and it will be interesting to see if Desean Jackson can come back healthy as he is a huge piece of this team. It appears Westbrook if he ever comes back will be fairly ineffective. Big win today over the Falcons who have probably knocked themselves out of the wildcard race with back to back losses to the Gmen and Philly. Big game next week against the Giants...and speaking of the Giants..

Win 2010 SuperBowl @ Miami, FL

New York Giants

30-1

$20.00

Win $600

Analysis: Giants are an interesting team. Started out extremely hot at 5-0, but once they started to play real NFL teams they lost something like 5 of their next 6. Brandom Jacobs has looked to be dead all season and Eli Manning's foot might fall off. They laid a stinker Thursday night against the Broncos and looked to be dead. Then today they come out and Beat the Cowboys for the season sweep and looked pretty sharp on both sides of the ball. Manning played solid and Jacobs had a long score. The win for the Giants was huge, and even bigger it knocked the Cowboys down a peg as win for them would have been a huge step to taking the division. My though on these two first bets is that they are both dangerous teams who are no doubt talented and we should see at least of them, if not both, in the playoffs this year.

Win 2010 SuperBowl @ Miami, FL

Cincinnati Bengals

9-1

$10.00

Win $90.00

Analysis: I guess the Bengals have to have pretty low odds on them since they are winning football games, but I don't think they can really contend. I pretty much had to fire a little on them since they were on Hard Knocks and I enjoy them. Who knows though, they are looking like they have a chance to take the 2 seed and have a bye...so stranger things have happened...

Win 2010 SuperBowl @ Miami, FL

San Diego Chargers

12-1

$20.00

Win $240.00

Analysis: Chargers pretty high odds and might end up taking the #2 seed themselves. I like them like the Bengals because they will get to the playoffs most likely then who knows what can happen. They have owned the Colts over the past several years so if the AFC goes through the Colts then it bodes well for the SuperChargers.

NBA:

Win 2009-2010 NBA Championship

Portland TrailBlazers

15-1

$20.00

Win $300.00

Analysis: Took a huge blow this weekend as Sam Bowie...I mean Greg Oden, is out for the season after his 44th leg injury in the past 3 years. Taking Oden over Durant is looking more and more like it was the wrong pick as we keep moving on. This was a mulldog pick as I don' t know how confident I am that the Blazers are true contenders in the West...but Brandon Roy is the truth no doubt.

Win 2009-2010 NBA Championship

Denver Nuggets

15-1

$25.00

Win $375.00

Analysis: We all saw what the Nuggets did last year in taking the Lakers to the brink in the West Finals. Carmelo looks hungry and they are my favorite team so I had to have some play here.

Win 2009 NBA Championship

Lebron Cavaliers

4-1

$50.00

Win $200.00

Analysis: Biggest single wager made. Figured the Cavs have a great chance to come out of the East as even though they will probably slug their way through the regular season, once they are in the playoff stage we can expect Bron to start stepping up. Bron has to win the big one pretty soon right?

NCAA Basketball:

Made a bunch of small plays on different teams to win the National Title. Gotta hope that some of these can make a run, but using the same formula I didn't take any heavy odd favorites.

Michigan Wolverines

75-1

$5 to win $375.00

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

20-1

$5 to win $100.00

Texas Longhorns

8-1

$5 to win $40.00

Butler Bulldogs

50-1

$5 to win $250.00

Oregon Ducks

300-1

$5 to win $1,500 (Lock City?)

West Virginia Mountaineers

20-1

$5 to win $100

Syracuse Orange
50-1

$5 to win $250 (thrilled to get this bet in before the Orange showed everyone they seem to be not pewch. What are the odds for them present day...without looking this up they have to be like 8-1 in the neighborhood of Texas right?)

Georgetown Hoyas

40-1

$5 to win $200

So that is it. Sorry if I wagered on any of your favorite teams as they have all been officially jinxed and have no shot of winning.

BCS Bowl Breakdown

Really interesting playoff breakdown provided by Dan Wetzel on Yahoo Sports today. The above picture is a format that he (and others) have come up with on how to solve the atrocious BCS problem. I for one love the idea. This formula pits a 16 team field comprised of 11 conference winners and 5 at large bids. How unbelievable would this be? You have the Cinderella stories in place with the chance for serious upsets. You have every deserving team (outside of a couple teams who feel they got shafted for an at-large bid) vying for a title. And those teams that feel they got hosed probably have 2-3 losses, not zero like TCU, Boise, and Cincy this year.

Boise and TCU have to be extremely disappointed that they are matched up in a bowl game this year. Both of these colleges, and non BCS schools in general would be much better served if they had a chance to knock off a big program. The winner of this game does nothing for small schools.

The Texas game was real good Saturday. Mack Brown should be instantly fired though for having a time out and almost squandering away a National championship shot by having Colt McCoy lob a Ball out of bounds with .5 seconds left. Can you imagine what happens if time runs off the clock there? I knew the kicker was going to nail that 46 yarder, even so confident to throw a quick 10 down against my buddy without hesitation.

Tim Tebow's legendary status as a college QB is over, tears and all. He will no longer have a chance to win Florida's 3rd National title in 4 years. Probably no Heisman, and all he can do is beat a weak Cincinnati team. Cincy is lights out on offense, but shouldn't Florida, the all powerful SEC team rout a Big east Squad. Absolutely huge game for Bearcats and the BIG east conference. A win over Florida would do wonders for the step-child of the BCS conferences.

Speaking of Cincy, how about that game against Pitt...Probably the best college football game of the year.

Did the BCS get it right? I guess they did, but every year without a playoff is a year wasted. How can you tell 3 undefeated teams they have no shot at the national title...what is the sense of playing? Are you telling me all five at-large bids in the diagram above wouldn't have a chance to make some noise? And how thrilling would watching central mich or Troy making a push in a game be. How cool would it be to see a warm SEC team have to play in snowy Michigan or Penn State one year with a Northern team having home field?

You also finally give reason for the non BCS schools to have meaningful regular season and conference championship games. Those teams outside of the 16 teams that make the playoffs could still play in the Heinke Midas Touch Outback Go daddy.com Bowl if they wanted.

Get it done. FYI its a pretty good read...here is the link to the Wetzel article if you want more details... http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news;_ylt=AnRXjAZcxZZWDqmjNQ.2xEg5nYcB?slug=dw-ncaafplayoff120709&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Purple Jesus Speeding?

I was away for a week and some seriously bizarre stories came out. The Millman already touched on JP Losman, champion quarterback. We had Tiger Woods being exploited as a phony and now being ripped to pieces all over the place by Jasper Parnevik of all people. And perhaps best of all was Adrian Peterson getting pulled over for going 109 in a 55 and commenting afterward that he "has to be more aware of the speed limit." More aware of the speed limit? What exactly did he think the speed limit just dropped from 100 to 55? Did he think he was cruising through Germany on the auto-bon? More aware of the speed limit, really? That's it? Just a simple misunderstanding of how fast he was allowed to go?

There have been some good college basketball and college football games of late, not to mention the NBA and NFL. I plan on getting to a full-blown basketball report card for college and NBA next week. For now, I must prepare to head down to New Jersey for the night as I will be attending the Rutgers-West Virginia game Saturday. Full report on that and the much anticipated Alabama-Florida matchup to come on Monday.

Davidson/Fredonia St.

Game is tomorrow.

Davidson -41.5

***Edit in - Final Score:
Davidson 78
Fredonia St. 37


Someone inform Vegas that they need the Mulldog.

Winners Weekend.

Big weekend for the millman in terms of Sports and winning.



1) Let's start with a Cuse coaches vs Cancer title! Huge wins over #12 Cal on Thursday night and #4 UNC on Friday. Though Cal was banged up and UNC is young, you can't discredit the Orange for going out and absolutely bangin two top ranked teams the way they did. Wesley J is a star in the making and this team just defends. Its only November, but two wins of this magnitude can't help but resonate on the committee come March. Who would have thought, but are the orange actually better after losing Flynn, Harris, and Defendorf?

2) Coach Miller takes his 12 year old B team McLean attack into a huge pre-thanksgiving tournament. Coming off an 0-3 weekend in the previous Coach Wooten tournament last weekend, they had some serious work to do. Last weeks tournament by the way was hosted by the Biship O'connel head coach who has coached the likes of Marcus Ginyard (UNC) and Summers (Gtown). He managed to offer me a spot instantly on his staff after seeing the way I coached my team to zero wins that weekend, but I refused to opt out of my highly paid contract with the Attack.

First game we gutted out a 45-41 victory and had our first win of the early season. Dropped the 2nd game by 12. Needed to beat the Great Falls B team in the nightcap to be eligible for the championship game Sunday. 37-37 with 19 seconds to play and we got the ball of the rebound. Coach Miller does NOT call a timeout as he sees the PG running down the court. First true test of Coach Miller's career. Not calling the timeout paid dividends as our PG who had about 7 turnovers on the day whisked by the defense for a baseline runner with 10 seconds to play. 39-37 Attack! After some smothering defense we got the ball back and executed an unreal sideline play that gave our big man the ball under the hoop off a back screen where he held on to the ball, and the game. Attack go 2-1 on the day, but unfortunately fail to qualify for the championship
game due to point tiebreakers. Tough break, but a great tourny for Coach Miller. Gutsy.

3) Sunday we had our Flag Football Playoffs. Da Misfits was my squad and we had the 2 seed going into Sunday. Speaking of "Misfits" who in this picture does not belong?

After a close semi-final we narrowly escaped 18-13 after not scoring a td in the 2nd half. our defense led by yours truly was truly shut down circa Baltimore Ravens in the hay day. Championship game was a laugher as we blew them out of the water to the tune of 36-13. 3 picks and 2 touchdowns out of me wraps up the MVP. Best WR/Safety in the league....hands down. Also known in the regular season to play a little QB. Brady Quinn, Tom Brady, eat your hearts out...there is a new dreamboat in town.

24 Hours of College Basketball

For those of you living under a rock, ESPN is airing 24 hours straight of college basketball, starting midnight, about 9 hours ago.

Your boy the Mulldog has pulled an all-nighter and plans to threaten the Guiness Book of World Records in total coffee consumed by one man in a single day as I attempt to make it through every game.

Game 1: CS Fullerton 68 UCLA 65 2OT: Not a misprint on the score. An absolute thriller as Cal Fullerton beats UCLA in double OT. To call it a thriller is a bit of a joke to be honest. It was one of the worst combined shooting performances seen outside of a biddy league since Naismith invented the game. No, Cal State Fullerton is not that good. No, UCLA is not THAT bad. Before you go burying them realize that they are rebuilding this year and should improve as the year goes on. Dragovic is a very good shooter and he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn...he'll start hitting shots and their big men will develop. They still play excellent defense, rebound it and don't turn it over. They are going to have trouble scoring though and really won't be a national factor this year.

Game 2: St. Mary's A Lot - San Diego St. Not A Lot. This game was a bit of a snoozefest as they only switched to it after double OT and it was already Gaels 19-9. And it only got uglier from there. Mickey McDonnell made Gaels fans quickly forget about Patty Mills as he hit his first 5 three-point attempts including one that was actually registered as having departed from the Congo Republic. Here's the thing. Before you buy into the St. Mary's hype that we will no doubt start hearing...it's an impossible place to play against a team that is rebuilding (San Diego St) and beat up. Good team, but ultimately not that good.

Game 3: Northern Colorado - Hawaii: 4 a.m. Eastern and ESPN decided to try to put anyone attempting the all-nighter to sleep. Little did they know that I am a complete sicko. Watched the whole disgusting game. Northern Colorado won after a fairly tight game turned into a 17 point rout with about 4 minutes left, only for some kid on Hawaii (who I can only describe as Lil' Penny grows up and accepts a scholarship to Hawaii) gets blazing hot from deep and they cut the deficit to 4 points with less than a minute left. UNC held on however. This Hawaii team was a real miscast group of characters. They had some transfer from Providence with a mohawk who made an "And-1" lay-up on a big guy from UNC and decided to get in his face and pound his chest after he "lay-upped" on him.
Also would like to mention that a man on Hawaii got compared by the announcer to the one and only John Bryant. Normally this would disgust me, however this giant white stiff actually came in the game, had about 7 rebounds and 10 straight points in the span of 3 minutes erasing a deficit and giving Hawaii what would be their only (brief) lead of the game. He then got hurt. The comparison stops there.

Game 4: Getting to the good games - Monmouth 30 - St. Peter's 54. I made that score up, but I kid you not it's a lot closer than you would expect. Monmouth made 4 field goals in the first half and had 8 with about 5 minutes remaining in the game. I really don't know exactly what to say about this game other than Peter's gym was the most full I've ever seen it...which is kind of bizarre, considering it was 6 a.m. on a Tuesday. Sometimes I really miss college.

Game 5: Niagara - Drexel. NU overcame a typically sloppy, lazy start (what could you expect after all, with an 8 a.m. tip?) to take a 42-30 lead into the half. Who knows what to expect from this team in the second though, hopefully they keep rolling.

Niagara got the win, classic NU hoops. So talented, but can't stay focused for a game. When they want to they can be absolutely lights out. It all starts with the defense and boxing out for them and they don't always have it though.

So I am on my third pot of coffee, starting at 10 p.m. last night. I'm pretty sure the early stages of hallucinating have set in, I just walked out of the bathroom and knowing no one was in the house heard the music blaring from my room and thought a couple strangers were carrying on a conversation in my house. I have caught myself staring at the TV screen missing what I would approximate at 4-5 possessions in whichever game is on. Honestly, I'm beginning to think this is one long game that will just never end. UCLA, you still have time to come back and beat Fullerton! Monmouth, couple more hours and you'll reach 50 points! Speaking of zoning out, I just spent the past 5 minutes staring at the screen like it was the original Mona Lisa.

Game 6: Siena and Northeastern are underway. Throw out any praise I heaped on Siena. They are lifeless and garbage without Hasbrouck who I thought was a replaceable part. There was more to tell, but I must post this before I begin hallucinating. Back again at the conclusion of this Siena-Northeastern game. Also, the announcers just mentioned we are in hour 13 of the marathon. Past halfway. I think they also just called me a junkie.

Siena won by, oh who the hell cares, they won by less than 8.5 points. Northeastern couldn't make a shot all game and decides to know down three 3's in the final two minutes. Love it. I don't know how tired I am right now. I feel like it's a regular Tuesday afternoon, 2:00. Tulsa and Arkansas Little Rock just came in so the true test of how tired I am is underway. Seems like days, maybe even weeks ago when that UCLA/SF Fullerton game ended. I'm basically a geriatric. I move from the chair to my bed to the coffee pot and to the bathroom. That's it. I'm half waiting for a nurse to show up and ask if I want the meatloaf or the chicken pot pie for dinner tonight.

Game 7: This Little Rock - Tulsa thriller 25-20 has officially made me teary eyed. I never knew I could see the players in 3D on my 13" Magnavox. BTW, I perhaps should have mentioned that's what I am watching all of these games on. No HD, no big screen, no flat screen. Back to basics. So anyway, I just had some mail delivered, it's my retirement fund records. Apparently, your boy has racked up $5.62 in retirement lifetime. Looks like I'm on the fast track. Or maybe I'm just delirious. I'd also like to take this moment to call out those clowns they showed in the UCLA dorms saying they were "still watching, 24 hours of college hoops on ESPN" Where are they now? That's what I want to know. Did they even make it through the double OT? I know none of those fair weather fans made it through Hawaii and Northern Colorado, much less Monmouth and St. Peter's.
I just sat a solid ten minutes on my sent myself from my phone of my beautiful TV...just to look at my cell phone and realize email account waiting for the picture I
^Not sure what happened up there. What I meant to say is: I was waiting for this picture of my TV that I sent to my email from my phone for a while before I realized I hadn't completed the process of sending it.

Well Tulsa won by a bunch in a game that near rivaled Monmouth-St. Peter's in terms of ugly play. The Tulsa big man Jordan looks much improved. Decent shooting touch. Interested to see him play vs. a team with some size to see if he looks ordinary again or if he's truly improved.

Game 8: Goergetown vs. Temple
Yet again I'm not sure if I was seeing things but right after the tip I swear the score read Temple 6 G'Town 0. I like the Hoyas -10 here. Temple's strength is their big guy but G'Town has Monroe to counter with...the question is can this team find ways to start making shots. 5 minutes in the answer is no.
Also, I decided to make a Bloody Mary. I literally was going to make myself a virgin Bloody Mary except I realized I would have to blog about it so I made it legit. Let's see if this does me in. Plan on a pot of coffee after dinner and then trying to hang on for dear life until that TCU-Zona St. game is over. May have a nightcap with some knockoff Bailey's on the rocks and then sleep for I don't know - 2 days?
At least the good games have arrived.

At halftime 19-13 Hoyas. What did I do to deserve this? Seriously, why must the basketball Gods make this the most miserable 24 straight hours of basketball ever? Seriously, there hasn't been a well played game yet. No one can make wide open shots. This is absolutely terrible!!!!
Georgetown blew a decent lead, looked dead, then came back and won. New year, same old Georgetown team? This team can still get after it on defense, but they seemed to tire out and stopped boarding. Then they came through with a fury. I thought they were unbelievably good last year. At this point I'm about ready to hop off the bandwagon.

Game 9: Duke-Charlotte
Was eating dinner and missed the start and this one is already over. Do you know what it's like eating dinner with your parents without sleeping for 33 straight hours (forgive me if that math is way off)? Do you know what it's like eating dinner with your parents after getting absolutely blasted? Then you do. I was eating chicken and my mom was talking and I felt like it was 3:30 a.m. at Denny's. Somehow the conversation shifted to Jenna Jamison, which got me to up and leave and rush back for game 9 (apparently she was on Oprah today). This one looks to be in the books tonight and Duke is probably going to be very tough this season. I must admit, for the first time, I feel like I'm struggling. I feel kind of drunk, exhausted, my balance is way off (took about three tries to get the foot pedal on the garbage can) and I am fired up for more college hoops. I haven't had enough yet ESPN, keep feeding me. Anyway to schedule a 1:30 a.m. Hawaii jump-off?

We are approaching the 19th hour and I have a question. What is that crazy board they keep showing Rece Davis in front of with all sorts of team name's and numbers? At first (that is the first 15 times they showed it) I thought it was a scoreboard....but after the last showing I am fairly sure it's not. It really made no sense to me. Is this board real?

Happy 20th Hour! Duke 101 Charlotte 57. What did I do Basketball Gods? What?

Game 10: Gonzaga at Michigan St. I actually like Michigan St. -11 here. I can't see any way Gonzaga hangs with them as they really don't have much left. But as we begin to close in on the finale and as my eyes grow heavier and heavier, I have to sit here and hope a game draws my interest. To recap:
-We started with a double OT thriller of an improbably CS-Fullerton upset over UCLA (in a miserably played game)
-St. Mary's was up about 20 on SDSU before we even switched to it.
-North Colorado and Hawaii slugged it out.
-Monmouth got held in the 30's vs powerhouse St. Peter's.
-NU and Drexel played in the most entertaining and exciting (sloppy of course) game of the day. Thank you Purple Eagles. Thank you Dragons.
-Clemson destroyed Liberty despite an absurd line of -10 by Vegas.
-Siena and Northeastern played in a snoozefest at a dead silent, empty Times Union Center.
-Arkansas Little Rock and Tulsa played a miserable game where Tulsa was never threatened.
-Georgetown and Temple both got held under 50 points in at least a rare close game.
-Duke beat Charlotte by 50.
How miserable am I right now? Well at least I got some more coffee, let's hope these last three games cap things off with a fury.
I would just like to thank Michigan St. and Gonzaga for actually playing good basketball. Not only did it come down to the wire, but both sides played defense and solid team ball. Very exciting and enjoyable game to watch.

Game 11: Kansas - Memphis
At the half in a pretty competitive game 26-20 Kansas. I get the feeling that Kansas can't be beat here, the only question is will they run away and hide or will it remain close?
24 Hours of hoops in the books...going into bonus ball now with this ending and then onto ESPN2 to watch TCU-Arizona St.
There is 2:13 left in the game (Kansas 52-47) and I just realized Dick Vitale is announcing. It's not everyday you can say that. Can't say either team was impressive here, I was quite disappointed with the way Kansas played. They have some really good pieces, but they look underwhelming tonight. Memphis just looks like a much lesser version of last year.
I say this all before Memphis makes a serious run, they have just hit a three-ball to cut it to a 1-point game with 16.7 seconds left. The big games really showed up big. Honestly, I wasn't that attached to this game, I just don't have anything left, but an exciting finish has me rejuvenated.
57-55 Kansas as a Memphis player draws bank iron on a three-point attempt with time expiring.


Game 12: TCU-Arizona St.
A dozen games. What a day. Flip over from the Memphis-Kansas game and there is three seconds before halftime. A lesser man may pack it in here, but I am determined to watch the second half. In the meantime I think I'll cap some horse races from Aqueduct for tomorrow in case I wake up before the track closes.
12:38 a.m. - The second half starts. I'm really on my last leg here, I can feel my body starting to shut down...if it wasn't the last half my body would probably just knock me right out now.I actually came up with a horse race I like but I forget what it was.
1:02 a.m. - 25 hours of hoops. I'm watching this game, yet I have no clue what is happening. No way I could operate a motor vehicle right now. Can't believe there is another half-hour left...please no OT.
1:06 a.m. - They keep reviewing plays, they really don't want me to sleep. Me want me to sleep though. When I'm not typing my hands are on my cheeks like a bum asleep on a train. TCU just took a 4-point lead, this game literally might be headed to OT, which might put me over the edge. Who am I kidding? Give me 5 OT's, I'm ready for it.
1:19 a.m. - TCU extended it to an 8-point lead with under 4 minutes remaining. As I'm typing this ASU hits a 3 and calls timeout. This is never going to end. I've been very tired before after working overnights but this takes it to a whole new level. Think I am at my limit right here. 48-44 with under 3 minutes left and this is turning into a drag-out foul fest.
1:27 a.m. - This reminds me of the sleepover parties when you're younger when everyone tries to stay up all night, only I'm not with any friends, I'm watching my 12th college basketball game in just over 24 hours between TCU and Arizona St. because I'm a sickening human being with no life. ASU just tied it at 48 with 1:30 left. Seriously, OT may break me. Gigantic sequence, TCU makes 1/2 free throws, chance of OT just went down. 49-48 TCU, ASU ball 35.5 seconds remaining. I just looked at my backpack and it appeared to be expanding...come on gentlemen, let's end this one already. My eyes are opening and closing, announcers words are fading in and out, this is it, I've hit the wall and hit it hard, no fouls please. Miss. Zona St. should have it now.
1:37 a.m. - The buzzer sounded, ASU won, as I fade in and out, let's wrap this up, it's been fun.

Overall, this was a great run. It started with a bang, was pretty miserable (in a pleasing masochistic sense) and really only the big games panned out much. I come away knowing a decent amount about each team, but since it is so early you can't really tell how teams will gel and develop. I had some more thoughts but my brain literally feels like it has been replaced with a hunk of lead. I just looked in the mirror and I have full-blown shopping bags under my eyes. I may or may not be hearing laughing voices outside my window. I think it's safe to say that I've had enough...meanwhile, TCU looms ominously close to Zona St. trailing just 33-31...do I dare consider the possibility?

Most impressive Team: Duke - Far and away looked the most battle ready. Polished, good on both ends and already knocking down shots. Sure, Charlotte isn't as good as some of the teams the other top-ranked teams faced, but you simply can't look better than that. Duke is going to be a force this year.

Least Impressive Team: There were many, but Monmouth takes the cake. They actually have a big guy - Travis Taylor - who is very tough to stop, but their guard play is so bad that it's a miracle if he touches the ball. They were held in the 30's by St. Peter's and while maybe the 6 a.m. tip is an excuse, Monmouth looked ever so slightly worse than Liberty.

(refs are reviewing a call in this Zona St. - TCU game, you have to be kidding me)

As I wrap things up on the marathon I figured I would do what I should have done in the first place and show you the disgusting set-up I have now sat in for over 24 hours straight:
That's it, just a folding chair, old desktop computer and 13" Magnavox, lots of cups, mugs, glasses and my blood, sweat and tears. Until next year's marathon, stay pewch.

We're Going For It

Arguably the greatest coach of our era, Bill Bellichik made one of the worst decisions I have ever seen a NFL head coach make last night. I'm sure everyone has heard all about it so I'm not going to explain what happened, but my take:

I am one of the biggest "go for it" guys around. I think NFL coaches are absolutely crazy in their old-fashioned ways of punting and settling for field goals. Case in point: yesterday, Andy Reid three times allowed the Eagles to settle for field goals inside the San Diego 10 yard line. One on literally the one-inch line. Another time with a 4th and 1. And another time goal-to-go at the seven. Each time the Eagles were down multiple scores at the time. It's simple math Andy. You got 3 fg's = 9 points. You convert once and punch it in that's 7. Two times 14. And you might even pull off all three for 21. It just doesn't make sense to settle for FG's inside the ten.

It also doesn't make sense to punt on 4th and 3 or less in the opponents territory. In today's NFL that is such a high percentage conversion that it's absolutely crazy not to go for it. When you're on your own 28 with 2 minutes left, however, you simply can't go for it. This is a case of Bill letting his ego get in the way. Yeah, if they convert the media would probably call you a genius, personally I'd still think it was a ridiculous chance that put your team in harms way. Can't do it, just can't do it.

Around the rest of the league: The Bills are atrocious, back to Earth Dallas, back to Earth some more Denver.

And a huge, improbable win by the Bengals who are now in second place in the AFC and trying to secure a bye, much as Ocho Cinco predicted in his infamous battle on 1st and 10 with Skip Bayless before the season. All praises due, 8-5.



In college football: USC is in fact terrible. Florida, Texas and Alabama are still the cream of the crop....and I'm glad everyone is going to be all over a TCU team that beat Utah. Let me tell yous something, Utah is terrrrrrible this year. Somehow, they were ranked, when anyone paying attention knows the team is dreadful this year. The entire MWC is and I don't want to hear about TCU and how they should be in the National Championship match. They'll get smoked when they play a real team, mark my words.
And I love the small schools, but the hype surrounding a team that quite frankly, isn't that good is ridiculous.

Weekend Games

Well the NFL Network has to be depressed at the game it handed folks last night (At least we get Miami @ Carolina next Thursday...yuck). Do not tell me just because it was close that it was a good game. It was a horrible football game between two lousy teams. Mike Singletary coaching against his new team? Who cares. It is a joke of how bad of a QB Jay Cutler is. This guy has won nothing in his life and has been the definition of mediocrity, but he was anointed the second coming this off season after crying his way out of Denver. Just because a QB has a rocket arm doesn't mean he is good. I swear, every time he drops back you almost expect a pick. 5 INT's for this man last night against a Nate Clementless 49ers secondary. Some of the picks he threw were just god awful. I don't mind a QB taking chances, in fact I would love if the QB of the Bills actually flung the ball around a little a la JP Losman. Cutler managed to throw about 3 horrible interceptions that no one reading this article throws. Triple Coverage, man blanketed, fires it straight to a 49er. I think two of his picks weren't his fault - one was pass interference and the other Hester tripped, but good lord. Well at least Chicago didn't do anything drastic like sign him to a $55M dollar extension after a .500 start......OOOPS.


On to this weekend's games:



New Orleans Saints -14 @ St. Louis Rams.
Blah. Rams stink, though Steven Jackson is quietly putting together the greatest season ever on a horrible team. He just kills himself for 100 yards a game when the whole world knows they are just going to run all day. Poor guy. Saints continue to roll I have to assume.



Jacksonville Jaguars +7 @ NY Jets
I think the Jets stink. I think the Jaguars stink. I think Maurice Jones-Drew is legit. I think the Jets defense has quited its talking ways and Kris Jenkins out has made them softer. I think I like the Jags to win, but I definitely think I like them getting 7.


Buffalo Bills +7 @ Tennessee Titans
Lets name the Buffalo Bills greatest weakness (and yes I can only choose one). Stopping the Run. Lets name the Titans greatest strength (outside of benching Kerry Collins). Running the ball with Chris Johnson. Potentially no TO this week for the bills, Edwards returns (big wahoo). Vince Young wins ballgames. Remember the Titans.


Detroit Lions +17 @ Minnesota Vikings
Strange feeling here but the Lions cover. Vikings win, but Lions Cover. My Logic- none.


Cincinnati Bengals +7 @ Pittsburgh Steelers
Learned a nugget from Brandon Lang this morning listening to the Junkies. Lang has been terrible this season, but he is 10-2 in his last 12 plays so maybe heating up. Anyways, the stat is that the Dog in the Bengals games this season has covered every week. I ride the trend, Bengals keep it close, Steelers probably win. Chad ocho sprays mustard packages over Heinz Field.


Tampa Bay Buccs +10 @ Miami Dolphins
J. Freeman has made me a believer after one week. The buccs are terrible against the pass...which happens to be the Dolphins weakness. Look for a lot of Wildcat, but I think the Buccs are finding out how to play. Dolphins win, Buccs score a late TD to cover.


Broncos -4 @ Washington Redskins.
Never bet the skins. Never.


Chiefs +2 @ Oaktown Raiders.
Raiders do not lay points to anyone. Take the Homophobic Chiefs to win on the road. Love Dogs.


Seattle Seahawks +9 @ Arizona Cardinals
Can we move the NFC West to the UFL already. Like the Cardinals here. No analysis allowed for NFC West games.


Dallas Cowboys -3 @ Green Bay Packers
Big game. Are the Boys finding their swagger. Maybe maybe not, but the win in philly last week sure was impressive. I don't like this packer team, and have always had a soft spot for Tony Romo. I take the Cowboys here to win some games before it gets too cold and Romo has his annual meltdown.


Eagles +1 @ San Diego Chargers.
Chargers escaped the Meadowlands last week with a last minute W, I think the Eagles are the better team though. Westbrook should be healthy and him and LT can battle it out for the fading former pro-bowlers with no knees award. I take Philly . Fly Eagles Fly.


New England Patriots +3 @ Indianapolis Colts
Colts just struggled against the pathetic 49ers at home coming of the bye. They then should have at the very least won in OT vs the Texans who missed a fg as time expired last week. I hate it, but how many times are the New England Patriots getting points. Too much value for me. I take Tom Brady and the points. New England has been Peyton's Daddy.


Ravens -11 @ Cleveland Browns
Brady Quinn is back...its about time. Let him finish out the season and see what you got in this guy. I still think he can be a good qb...give the guy a chance. He won't get much done this Monday though. Ravens should roll and Flacco and crew should stomp the Brownies.


And I just looked at my picks and realized I like about every Away team. Not a good sign.

College Hoops is Back

Isiah Thomas's first effort at Florida International was a decent one. 88-72 loss to UNC is actually pretty respectable. That said, UNC turned the ball over 26 times and I wonder how much of that was FIU vs. UNC adjusting to life without Lawson.

Cuse bounced back and held the Albany Great Danes to 27% shooting in a 75-43 win. Rautins was an alarming 0-6 and no one really dominated, but it looks like the zone defense had the Danes befuddled all night.

Cal beat Murray St. 75-70. Probably a little closer than most would expect from a Cal team that is nationally ranked. Wouldn't sound the alarms just yet however, Murray St. is a pretty good looking veteran mid-major team that is heavily favored to win the Ohio Valley Conference this year.

Pittsburgh beats up on Denver on Monday Night Football. Can't imagine anyone is surprised by this. See what happens when Kyle Orton has to throw the ball?

Devastating Loss

The Giants suffered a crushing blow to their playoff hopes with a tough loss to the Chargers yesterday. It was the national game and I'm sure just about everyone saw it. Quite simply, Tom Coughlin decided the clock was more important than the game and for that reason they deserved to lose.

Looking at the schedules you must expect Dallas, Philly, Minnesota, New Orleans and NFC West Team X to probably make the playoffs. That leaves one spot for the Giants, Falcons....Packers and Bears. It's going to be a wild race and it appears that you may need 10 wins to get a wilcard spot thanks to the plethora of completely hopeless teams in the NFL this year.

The Bengals beat a terribly overrated Ravens team and now apparently they are the class of the AFC according to ESPN..

Dallas beat Philly in a pretty good Sunday Night game. Can't say I'm surprised, it's the NFC East, never know what will happen.

The Green Bay Packers slept-walked into Tampa Bay and 32-year-old Raheem Morris notched his first NFL win at the rip old age of 32. Pretty crazy watching his press conference afterward, how does this man land this job at such a young age?

Vince Young does nothing but win football games.

NO and Indy both were scared a bit this week but got by and remain undefeated.

Davidson Hoops

We all know that Davidson is going to come back to earth now that Stephen Curry has moved on to bigger and better things in the NBA. Well he plays with the Warriors, so maybe not better, but definitely bigger. Davidson faces some stiff competition this year and it will no doubt be tough for them to still be that dominant force they once were with Curry gone. They have touch match ups this year @ Butler, vs Rhode Island, and @ Gonzaga. Not to mention they will be participating in the Charleston Classic where they will play South Florida and then the winner/loser of La Salle/South Carolina. Not a bad out of conference schedule for a team that will certainly fall back to life. My only question is the game they have scheduled on November 25th, the day before Thanksgiving.

Traveling to play in Davidson, N.C will be the SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils. Hold on...lets have that sink in.........

Okay its not a lie...SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils vs Davidson Wildcats. This is not an exhibition game or a pre-season contest. Davidson has just destroyed their R.P.I ranking and Strength of Schedule. Not only have they decided to not play the worst DI team in the nation, they by passed any DII squads like the power house LeMoyne, and have gone to a DIII squad. A DIII squad in the SUNYAC league, that has a logo that may have been drawn by a 4th grader. The same team that yours truly once had a uniform and warmed up for, and cheered on the bench for.

Now FSU I have to imagine gets absolutely blown out, but I know nothing about the squad. Preliminary look at the roster shows some color and promise from years past. Is there going to be a spread for this game? Obviously Vegas will have to do some serious researching and trending for this game and set the line @ Davidson -20? Davidson -30? Davidson -40? Is there a high enough number that will shake you off.

Does Fredonia just play tough and get their moment in the sun taking down a D1 school of notoriety? You got to bet there will be some sport center clips of this game if its an upset, worst case scenario SUNY Fredonia gets a mention on the bottom line scroll, which is a victory in its self. And who does Coach Moore (Blue Devils Coach) know to get this game scheduled. Does he just make a random call to coach McKillop and say "Hey, wanna play my team at home."

Is SUNY Fredonia receiving some serious cash from Davidson for making the trip. Usually schools will pay smaller schools to come and get an whooping. Will this game even be able to be tracked on Yahoo or CBSsportsline? Will it actually have player names for Fredonia or will the box score just have player 1 (2 pts) player 2 (4 pts)?

Yankees in 6

All criticisms of managers, players and umpires aside, the Yankees emerged and cemented their role as the best team in baseball in 2009. In a pretty exciting post-season, this team never really had its back to the wall. While their opposition made errors with the glove, on the bases and at the plate, the Yankees executed near perfectly and capitalized on their opponents mistakes like true champions. And when it came down to it, in a game 6 at home against a bitter rival, Pedro Martinez, the heart of their order got it done, in particular the man on the way out the door - Hideki Matsui. 37-year-old Andy Pettitte couldn't top 87 on the radar gun but outsmarted hitters by keeping his pitches outside of the zone all night and making them chase. One of the all-time grinders, Pettitte is an absolute legendary Yankee and all-time post-season pitcher. As a friend texted me last night, it's hard to believe we were just freshmen in high school last time the Yankees won it all. It was a decade from my birth before they would win their first in 1996 and now we spanned nearly another decade since their last. Much has changed since that first one. Steroids, a new manager, a new owner, record-setting contracts, players gone, players gone and back, players gone and back to manage and of course a brand new stadium.

As I watched the Yankees clinch it last night it was a pretty good moment. The excitement Mariano showed. Derek Jeter getting another and earning it. Jorge Posada. The young guys, Hughes and Cano and Joba. It was cool to see. I even thought it was fun to watch A-Rod exhale a huge sigh of relief, he dropped his guard and was, for once, candid and overwhelmed with happiness. Still, I couldn't help but think back to the 95-00 seasons, sitting downstairs with my step-dad or at my father's house or sometimes over with a friend. The excitement of their late inning heroics. Maybe, it's because I'm getting older, but I think more likely because of the ridiculous gap between the amount of money the Yankees are spending vs. everyone else - I simply couldn't get too excited this year. It was nice to watch but I didn't struggle to sleep when they lost and I didn't stay awake abuzz with excitement when they won. I didn't head right to my bedroom and flip on WFAN to listen to callers express their joy or pain until early into the morning like I used to after every game. Yankees fans should be excited, but until the playing field is leveled out a bit, I for one will temper my enthusiasm. A perfect example of this is my mom knocking on my door this morning:
Me: What?
Mom: We are going to the parade tomorrow. Do you want to come?
Me: (Thinking it through in my head - hmm, tomorrow, hmm, Friday, hmm Breeders Cup) No, I'm not going.

...wonder what my answer would have been in 98...

Couple notes from last night:
First and foremost, I don't care what statistics you drop in front of me. Matsui was not the MVP of that series. He had one monster game and was basically an after-thought the rest of it. He had a great game last night and basically won it single-handedly, but his contributions pale in comparison to the gigantic at-bats and subsequent hits Johnny Damon put together, the leadoff prowess Derek Jeter had or even Pettitte and Rivera's pitching in my opinion. You can't give the MVP to a positional player (that is - DH) who can't play in half the games and really only made a big impact on one. But, I have always liked Matsui and it's good for him, I'm not bitter and certainly don't take things like World Series MVP's as serious as most people - but I thought it was a pretty shallow choice.

Pettitte had absolutely nothing but guts and smarts last night. Brilliant.

As much as I ripped into the Yankees spending and it is unfair. It's interesting that their three big signings - Burnett, CC and Tex ranged from decent to terrible in the World Series. CC and Burnett each won a game but also pitched in the only two losses they had. Tex hit .136 and that's after a 1-3 last night. Just saying...

I'll leave it at that. Go Knicks.

Long Season Ahead?

Not good news for my Syracuse Orange. Last night, the Orange dropped a close exhibition game to Le Moyne. Le Moyne (for those keeping track at home) are a DII team. Aich.

Now I am not going to put to much stock into a simple exhibition game, I have no clue if the starters played the majority of the time, if they were just trying out different combinations, etc, etc. Though the bottom line is you should roll against this Le Moyne team no matter what the situation is. The Cuse is predicted to finish in the top tier of the Big East, around 6th through 8th. I think that is an accurate assessment. I don't even think its necessarily bad for this cuse team to suffer a loss like this. It might be a wake-up call and better to have it when it doesn't count, because the Cuse are notorious for getting upset early in the season by some scrub team on their home floor. Last year it came from Cleveland State on a full court shot with no time left. Turns out Cleveland State wasn't all so bad, but still a game the Cuse should win at home 9 out of 10 times at least.

The Orange are going to be a very interesting team this year. Not really sure where they are going to find their scoring, or leadership from. They are going to miss Jonny Flynn big time. Eric Devendorf and Paul Harris look like fools. Last I checked Eric was entertaining offers to go play in Turkey or Greece, or here in the United States for the NBDL. Yikes. Paul Harris on the other hand looks to have a real promising future as he was not offered a roster spot on the Timberwolves team after summer league. The Utah Jazz then invited him to their pre-season camp, and Harris injured his ankle before camp began and was waived. No word on what his future holds, except for being the father of one too many kids.

Anyways, the PG spot will either be manned by freshman Brandon Triche, or redshirt sophomore Scoop Jaurdine. Jaurdine got some burn his freshman season and was fairly unimpressive, though not terrible. He sat out all of last year after I believe some legal trouble and an injury. Either way it is a huge drop off from possibly the best PG in the country last year. I secretly hope Triche can outplay Scoop, as I prefer him to come off the bench unless he has drastically improved.

Andy Rautins will start at the SG spot. Rautins has a solid game and has been better at attacking the rim and playing defense, and we all know his shots is lights out. I just fear that opponents will go into the game keying on him and he will have to do his best Steph Curry impression to run like a mad man on the court just to get shots up.

Small Forward is where all they hype is on this team - and this team will only go if this man is who everyone claims he is. Wesley Johnson is a transfer form Iowa State where he had many accolades his freshman year there. He had a cool 32 last night in the exhibition, but apparently this man can fill it up inside and out. I have not seen him play, but for some reason I feel he will be like a Donte Green minus the horrible shot selection, weakness, and stupidity like most recent cuse players to come out of college way to early. Donte Green, Paul Harris, Eric Devendorf could all be on this Cuse team right now - and now none of them are making an impact...anywhere. Last I checked donte Green was flip flopping from the Sacramento Kings to the D League.

The big strength for this cuse team is the front court. Rick Jackson (who I used to shred) and Arinze Onuaku are arguably one of the best frontcourt duos in America. Arinze is a flat out beast, and apparently he shed some fat and is just ready to dominate. These two should be good for at least 10 and 10 a night and are the only constant on this Cuse team. Let's hope they have learned how to hit a free throw. They are both about the worst free throw shooting big men in the history and should add to the fact that cuse teams can never stroke from the line. Funny how the only title they have won was because Kansas was AWFUL from the charity stripe.

Reserves Kris Joseph and Mookie Jones will be key contributors off the bench, and for cuse fans sake lets hope they improved since last year. They also lost Kristof Ongenaut who seriously grew on me last year and was a great glue guy. Loved Kristof!!!

Anyways - not a huge deal that they lost, but very concerning where this team goes this year. The backcourt could be a huge weakness, and as always SU depth should be limited. It remains to be seen if Jimmy B will go back to his 2-3 zone defense that he abandoned last year. It was the right move last year because the cuse were so athletic, but a switch back to the trapping 2-3 may be the right move with this team. The cuse will have some early season tests in the tournament they enter they will play I believe California then the winner/loser of Ohio St. vs North Carolina. They also have Florida and Memphis on the out of conference schedule so Jimmy B can't take to much heat for not playing anyone, though outside of the games I just mentioned, they don't play anyone else worth much value at all.

Checking in on the NBA Rookies

Who has been the best rookie to date? If you haven't been paying attention it might surprise you to find out it's a European. No, the best Euro PG has not been Ricky Rubio. It's the guy who decided to pass up on his American college career to make some extra dough in Europe - Brandon Jennings. He opened his career with a 17 point, 9 rebound, 9 assist game that was swept completely under the rug. But he has followed up that effort with 24 and 25 point performances and at just 20 years old, it looks like the Bucks have their PG of the future. Obviously, the fact that Milwaukee has no surrounding talent helps his stats a bit and he must cut down on the turnovers but the kid looks explosive out there.



Other rookies off to hot starts include Pewch Revolution favorite Johnny Flynn: 15 ppg in just over 20 minutes per game...he is really having trouble taking care of the ball however and must get that figured out if he wants additional PT.

Dejuan Blair is still a beast on the boards and an efficient low volume scorer.

Basically, all of the point guards have at least flashed a bit. Ty Lawson and Steph Curry are doing their thing. Tyreke Evans is getting a lot of burn for that pathetic Kings team and flashed with a 22 point game against New Orleans. He also seems to be taking the best care of the basketball of any of the rookies, though I can't claim to have seen the Kings or know what type of role they are using him in.

James Harden has predictably struggled to adjust to a scoring role in the NBA but did have a game he offset a 1-6 shooting game with 8 assists and no turnovers in a winning effort at Detroit. The Thunder quietly already have two wins and just took the Lake Show to OT, is this coming together sooner than thought? (probably not)

Not playing well: Jordan Hill.

Quick Hitters

• The Byrd is the word folks. Jerrius Byrd, rookie safety out of Oregon for the Buffalo Bills, had his third consecutive multi-interception game this past weekend. With 7 on the year, with only 3 (or 4) starts this year he is giving himself the front runner for defensive rookie of the year. Bills stink, but at least son of former Charger Gil Byrd is a promising young talent. Ballhawk Byrd. The next great safety...

• Manu Ginobli has the best hands in the NBA. Bottom line is if you can yank a bat out of mid air and catch him in your hand, you are legit. If you have not seen this clip yet give it a YouTube look. Funny thing is now Manu has to go in for Rabies shots. None of this helps resolve the bald spot on the back of his head...Rogain...please Manu.

• Rajon Rondo handed a quick $55Million extension. I say good for him, he is worth it and anytime in the NBA you can lock up a PG long term - you have to jump on it. Never envisioned Rondo coming out of Kentucky and being this much as a force. Then again, I probably put up decent stats with KG, Pierce, and Shuttlesworth as my wings.




• Cleveland Cavs are off to a disappointing start...now is not the year to have a down season. Lebron, probably already inclined to jump ship, is definitely going if they struggle.



• Hard to make much of three games, but Carmelo Anthony is looking smooth. Does he have enough in the tank to put together an MVP season in Denver. Last year his scoring took a huge hit, but he is starting to fill up the other statistical categories and is no longer a one dimensional player.

• Tom Cable has officially beaten everyone he has ever come in contact with. FACT.

Back to the Bronx

The last paragraph I wrote in yesterday's piece:

Now the whole world expects Cliff Lee to send it back to Yankee Stadium but Burnett looked good last out. I think the Yankees have a serious chance to close it out tonight against what should be a deflated Phillies team. Will be interesting to see how Burnett throws on short rest and the one caveat I will make is this: If Lee beats Burnett as most people seem to think he will....You have Andy Pettitte throwing on short rest like he has never done against a hot Pedro, I think that's a match that the Yankees will win, but if they do end up dropping that and we see a game 7 - I think Girardi has all but used up CC, again throwing him over 100 pitches. The game 7 adrenaline would probably help him but that is not something that the Yankees want to have to rely on. They'd be wise to close it out tonight, otherwise I have the funny feeling they better get it done game 6.

Obviously, there is a lot of underlying stuff going on here with Cole Hamels comments about how he can't wait for the season to be over (who will pitch game 7 for the Phils?). Now everyone sees essentially what I was trying to point out yesterday. Last night was very likely a game the Phillies would win, and while all New York has to do is win one at home, Joe Girardi has really set them up to possible fail.

If you're confident in Andy Pettitte on three days rest for the first time in four years raise your hand. If you're confident in CC Sabathia again on three days left after a gutsy outing where he had maybe C+ stuff, raise your hand. Personally, I'm not confident in either. Andy has thrown well on short rest before, but he's much older now and his velocity is already down. If he throws any slower it might be much closer to batting practice than people realize.

The Yankees, in my opinion, will have to win this series with their bats. Pedro and an unknown starter in game 7 (Hamels? Happ?) are not world-beaters at this point. If I'm Philly I'm throwing Hamels despite his comments. If anything, I like him more with something to prove. Either way, Joe Girardi faltered by not throwing Gaudin up 3-1 against Cliff Lee. He could have then had AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte on full rest with CC available out of the pen. Or he could have thrown AJ on full rest and then came back with CC in the seventh.

As it stands this series looks eerily familiar to the 04 ALCS where the Yanks got stunned after they ran out of pitching against a potent lineup.

As for last night's game I won't get as in-depth. I didn't have a problem with using Coke down 6-2 against a bunch of lefties. I didn't think it wise to use up your good arms there with the way Lee settled in...and if the Yanks didn't come out and pop him no one would complain about the decision. You did have an off day today, but I still thought it a decent spot to use Coke - he just didn't deliver.

You see what happens when Molina is put into a lineup that already is going to have a weak hitting center-fielder and the pitcher - you basically get a very good top, but with a lot of pressure on it and room to work around. The Yankees 7-8-9 hitters are miserable game-in, game-out and it is really hurting their offense.

Chase Utley is a monster.

I have a feeling this series may come down to this - which team can get their power hitter going. Can the Yanks get Tex hitting again at home? Or does Ryan Howard break out and start popping homers again? That to me, above all else, will have the most say in deciding who wins this.

The Phillies are headed to New York but they must be feeling confident. Two games seems so much less insurmountable than three games. Even with Lee on the mound and the home-field advantage I felt that was a tricky game for Philly. Now, if Pedro throws well one more time and they get a decent start game 7, I think their bats may steal away the series. On the other hand, the Yanks have to feel good about winning just one of two at home. Andy Pettitte and CC Sabthia are gutsy pitchers who you don't fear handing the ball over to, and something like 6 innings 4 runs might just be good enough, especially if Tex starts to hit. Or maybe Cano with a couple well-hit balls snaps out of it? Either way, this series is far from over and should come to an exciting finish. Enjoy.

Series Over?

Last night, the Phillies suffered a crushing defeat that has just about everyone thinking this series is over for all intents and purposes.

I'm sure everyone saw it or at least the highlights and boxscore by now so I won't bore you with the details. A couple thoughts I had while watching:

The Phillies have let the Yankees off the hook time and again (see game 3, bases loaded 1 out for Victorino) and they did it again last night. After the Ynaks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Phils had a real chance to re-capture the lead in the bottom half after Chase Utley doubled in Victorino with 1 out and Howard stepping up to the plate (by the way, does anything sum up how good the Yanks are running this post-season like the A-Rod home run off the camera that shouldn't have gone out vs. Utley hitting that double off the top of the fence? It's a game of inches and the Yanks have been winning those inches)...and the Phils failed to score again that inning despite CC missing locations time and again.

Speaking of CC, he put together a gutsy performance but I think the innings are finally taking their toll as he was really laboring out there...the velocity was down on average, he missed a lot of spots, relied on his off-speed stuff and at times just looked flat out gassed out there.

To me, this game was won and lost in the 5th inning. In the top half the Yanks break a 2-2 tie and make it 4-2. The Phils brought the top of their order to the plate and Rollins delivered with a single, Victorino walked, and the table was set for the Phils to throw a knockout blow to CC Sabathia and even up the series 2-2. Utley watched a couple pitches right down the middle and couldn't hold back on a check swing on a 1-2 curve at his ankles and popped out weakly to short. Ryan Howard came up and impatiently popped out to left field. CC then got ahead on Werth and got him to chase a breaking ball in the dirt for strike 3...they got out of the inning unscathed and that to me pretty much ended the game and the series..

But the Phils did get another chance with the top of the order against CC surprisingly enough to me and I think Girardi made a big mistake letting CC pitch to Utley despite Rollins and Victorino scorching balls right at fielders and Utley delivered a solo homer.

In the bottom of the 8th, Joba came in and finally looked as electric as when they first brought him up and put him in the pen. He was throwing 96 mph fastballs that no one appeared capable of catching up to. He gets the first two outs and then has Pedro Feliz 1-2. Feliz looked about as far behind Joba's fastball as I usually did against an upper 80's fastball. Then Joba threw a 1-2 slider in the dirt immediately following McCarver's announcement "I don't think we'll see anything but the fastball with how hard Joba is throwing right now." Funny, but I actually think McCarver was right to say that..I don't think Feliz had a chance to catch up to the fastball there if he had to think about the slider in the back of his mind. When it went to 2-2 however, Joba had set him up perfectly and should have reared back and fired one as hard as he could..instead he got fancy and threw another slider in the dirt which Feliz was able to lay off. 3-2 count and every single person in the world, male, female, adult, kid, was sitting dead red on the fastball there - Feliz surely was and he deposited it into the left field bleachers. I thought it at the time, if you're throwing that 2-2 slider, you absolutely have to come back with it 3-2.

Didn't much matter as Lidge came in the 9th and allowed a 2 out single to Johnny Damon...Damon then stole 2nd and 3rd on the same pitch before Ledge hit Texeria. For some odd reason Lidge and Manuel decided to pitch to A-Rod, which might be more stupid than all of the moves I have killed Girardi for all post-season combined. A-Rod doubled. They then made an equally puzzling move pitching to Posada with first base open and the struggling Cano on deck and Posada plated two more runs, which completely ended any chance of the Phils coming back.

Now the whole world expects Cliff Lee to send it back to Yankee Stadium but Burnett looked good last out. I think the Yankees have a serious chance to close it out tonight against what should be a deflated Phillies team. Will be interesting to see how Burnett throws on short rest and the one caveat I will make is this: If Lee beats Burnett as most people seem to think he will....You have Andy Pettitte throwing on short rest like he has never done against a hot Pedro, I think that's a match that the Yankees will win, but if they do end up dropping that and we see a game 7 - I think Girardi has all but used up CC, again throwing him over 100 pitches. The game 7 adrenaline would probably help him but that is not something that the Yankees want to have to rely on. They'd be wise to close it out tonight, otherwise I have the funny feeling they better get it done game 6.

All Square

Well, AJ Burnett finally earned his paycheck. As one of the biggest Burnett haters you will find I had a feeling this was a good spot for him and his arsenal is the type you need to beat this Phillies lineup. 7 innings, 4 hits, 9 k's, 2 bb's, 1 run. By the way, that run should have been unearned, Matt Stairs hit a one-hopper to A-Rod's glove side and that quite frankly is a play you have to make as a major league 3rd baseman. No clue how they scored that a hit. It wasn't the most routine play ever, but a definite error. So, Burnett was absolutely brilliant.

Again, game 2 saw two brilliant starting pitching performances where one guy gives up two solo home runs and it turns out to be the difference. Pedro Martinez and his afro turned back the clocks as he has done down the stretch all year throwing the bugs bunny change that fooled hitters all night. Unfortunately for him, he left one up a bit to Texeria and just as Manny Ramirez did in a previous game, sitting on that change, blasted it out of the park. He then gave up a home run to Matsui who golfed a ball about three inches off the ground down the left field line 320' for a stadium special.

6 innings, 6 hits, 8 k's, 2 bb's, 3 runs was Pedro's line. His last run scored after Manuel brought him out for the 7th inning and he allowed a two-strike bloop by Hairston Jr. and then a single to Melky Cabrera on a hit-and-run before being pulled. Chan Ho Park limited the damage in large thanks to Derek Jeter trying to bunt with two strikes, two on and no outs and a bit more of bad umpiring resulting in a double-play on Johnny Damon. Where do I begin?

First, Joe Girardi did a terrible job making this lineup. The 7-8-9 hitters were Jerry Hairston Jr. (because he's 10-27 off Pedro lifetime, yipppie), Melky, Jose Molina. If you're starting Molina over Posada there is no way you choose that game to start a guy like Hairston over Swisher. Yes, Swisher is slumping but he gives you a ton more power and a much greater ability to get on base. Since Hairston hit a cue shot down the line with two strikes (after looking hideous at the plate all night) in the 7th in what ended up being a big hit most will call Girardi a genius for the move. He wasn't, he was an idiot and got bailed out. By the way, the bottom of the lineup killed a few rallies and the Yanks may have gotten to Pedro real good with a better back-end, but we will never know.

In what was a brilliant move after Hairston gets on, Girardi pinch-runs Gardner, Melky shows bunt first pitch, they go to the hit-and-run on the following pitch. It's not clear if Melky was just showing bunt to confuse the Phils or not, but if-so that's brilliant by him or Girardi. That is the type of thing a good baseball manager will come up to you and say before an inning "hey look, if jerry gets on here we're going to run for him, show bunt first pitch and if its a strike we'll have gardner steal, if its a ball we may put the hit and run on, so be aware." And that is my guess to what happened, so kudos to Girardi there.

But this idea McCarver was promoting that Girardi is a genius for then pinch-hitting Posada there? Are you kidding me? Of course he's going to pinch-hit Posada there. It's 1st and 3rd no one out in a 2-1 ballgame bottom 7. Personally, I would've pinch-hit Posada for Molina the last time he got up (right before the Jeter double) and told Burnett to man up and throw to Jorge like he should anyway.

Next came Jeter bunting. Usually when Jeter bunts it's on his own. It's a nice thought Derek but come on, you're the hottest hitter in the lineup...give yourself a bit of credit and swing the stick. You're hitting .500 on the series and that's after fouling out. Great announcing by the way, "no way he bunts here (bunt) no way this happens (it happens)." We know for certain that Girardi, if he did have the bunt sign on, would have taken it off with two strikes. If he ever put it on it's a ridiculously bad call, but I'd bet it was Jeter all the way. I'm sure everyone has seen the next play as Damon hits it to Howard and it is incorrectly ruled a catch and resulted in a double-play. Not sure what Howard was doing there as the play would have resulted in everyone safe, bases chucked, 1 out for Tex/A-Rod..so this was a big play (and if the Yankees lost last night people would be calling for the umps heads..as is this is maybe the perfect play that would call for instant replay, though it's tricky in baseball and would slow down already slow games, more to come on this after the series)...all Howard had to do was step on first base for the double-play and even if he was playing it like a ground ball after you run to within a step of first base, step on it, sucker. **Editing in a note - Should mention this is a tough call to make and going to instant replay ruins the flow of the play, much like the difficulty of dealing with fumbles and whistling plays dead in football.

The next inning (8th) Mo comes in and the Phils have Rollins and Victorino on 1st and 2nd with 1 out and Utley batting. Count goes full and again McCarver is promoting a ridiculous idea that "You have to send the runners here." Manuel pretty much shut it down in the press conference after saying "Check the stats, I'll bet you Utley has hit into less than 5 double plays all year. So I wasn't worried about that. On top of that I don't want him lining out and if he strikes out, he's a lefty and Posada would have had a straight shot to third there. And I want Howard to hit." The fact is, McCarver, if you send the runners there and Utley makes an out, it's 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs and 1st base is open so they're either walking Howard or making him chase a pitch. Werth with the bases stacked is nice there, but you want Howard to hit. It was just a freak play, Utley hit it taylor made, Cano and Jeter made a ridiculously sweet turn and in the words of Charlie Manuel, stopping mid-answer to about the third question after that and turning back to the reporter who asked why he didn't send the runners "And another thing Jim, check the replay, Utley didn't hit into a double-play, he was safe!" Classic.

Fox track is terrible. DJ Hero is terrible. And Fox, you're the worst. When we have Chase Utley squaring off with Marino Rivera in the 8th inning of a 3-1 game with two guys on, DO NOT SHOW ME THE BASE-RUNNERS. They missed the beginning of three pitches including the double play showing us a ridiculous angle. No one cares about the base-runners. What ever happened to the announcers? Can Joe Buck let us know if the runners are on the move? K Thanks.

A-Rod is now 0-8 with 6 k's and what should have been an error.
Ryan Howard went 0-4 with 4 k's last night, though he did have that big double in game 1, might be struggling.
Wonder who will take more heat if it continues?
Raul Ibanez is quietly putting together a brilliant series.

I know there was more I wanted to say, but I think my brain is burned out now. Games Saturday/Sunday/Monday/Wednesday/Thursday. Some huge decisions on pitching and such. I fully expect Hamels to "surprise" everyone and out-pitch Pettitte in game 3, but that shouldn't come as a surprise if you've been paying attention.

Afternoon Notes

I get a call from Mulldog today who tells me as he posted earlier that he is at the local OTB and nailed 5 straight races at the track. He was confident he had the field down cold and was looking for the improbably 9 for 9 day. Just like you never mention a perfect game in baseball, Mulldog's phone call had done him in. Race 6 was a loser, and so is Mulldog.

Tatum Bell of the UFL's Florida Tuskers has come out today and said that his squad is better and could beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers! Let's get this game to happen! Bell predicted a 24-14 Tuskers victory, and watching the Buccs play this year, could he be that wrong?
Thought in all reality the Buccs would spank the Tuskers, can we get the UFL champions to play the worst NFL team in the pewchbowl at the end of the year? Tell me you are not watching it.

The article for the record, comes out and credits JP Losman as the best player in the league.