As any regular reader knows, I'm a huge believer in sports karma.  As a fan, I paid a steep price (two football thrashings) for two World Series wins, but I'll take it.

  • Quick, funny post on Alex Rodriguez later today, but I cannot get over the career 180 he's pulled in six short months.  From A-Roid to Clutch-Rod, he has buried so many demons in one season.  Did you know that he only has two hits in the World Series? 
  • First guess, second guess, whatever, Cliff Lee needed to start Game 4.  For one, they needed someone to match CC Sabathia.  Joe Blanton did fine, but he left trailing.  And second, the Phillies might have Game 5 in the bag, but they have to win Game 6 and 7 also.  Pedro Martinez and Cole Hamels/J.A. Happ against Andy Pettitte and Sabathia in New York is not a recipe for a championship.  They need to start hitting...a lot.
  • Jayson Werth is like Jason Bay.  He can be pitched to, but if you make a mistake, he will hit it to the far reaches of the Earth.
  • Cole Hamels "can't wait for it [the season] to end."  And, you're pitching like it.  After that comment, how could they possibly throw him in Game 7?
  • Derek Jeter is the only other player that I've seen pull off Johnny Damon's double steal of second and then third.  However, Jeter did not do it in the 9th inning of a World Series game.  Guts and instincts.  That play should have changed nothing for the Phillies, but it unnerved Brad Lidge, which is too easy to do.
  • With all the umpire and rules complaining I do, please let me tell you why I LOVE baseball so much.  In basketball, Michael Jordan always gets to take the last shot.  In football, Joe Montana throws the final pass.  In baseball, you don't get to choose the hitter with the game on the line.  Sometimes it's Pedro Feliz and sometimes it's Alex Rodriguez.  In a playoff series, no one on the 25-man roster can hide.  Charlie Manuel waited four games to summon Lidge from the bullpen, but he was always going to factor in this series.  You cannot hide on a baseball diamond. 
  • Meanwhile, Philly fans did have a chance to celebrate a win over New York Sunday.  The Eagles hammered the Giants.  Two questions.  How in God's name did the Eagles lose to the Raiders?  It's the most inexplicable regular season loss in recent memory.  And, who are these Giants?  They are soft, but the personnel is the same.  It's time to admit that the Giants are sorely missing Steve Spagnuolo.  Spags gave them an aggressive identity without putting them at a schematic disadvantage.  New DC Bill Sheridan is sending pressure left and right without acknowledging the team's gaping hole at safety ever since Kenny Phillips was lost for the season.
  • Brett Favre is no dummy.  All along, he knew the Vikings were a perfect fit for the aging version of his game.  He never gets touched, plays the majority of his games indoors and hands off to the best back in the NFL when things are not going right.  That's safer than most retirement plans these days.
  • If Derek Jeter left the Yankees to go to the Red Sox, I would not boo him when he returned to Yankees Stadium.  It would break my sports rooting heart, but I could never imagine booing him.  I understand why the Packers fans booed Favre, but the fans are always going to be hurt more than the player.
  • The Dolphins were thinking of cutting Ted Ginn.  They would trade him for a bag of wide receiver gloves.  That's just lack of imagination.  When you have a player as dynamic as Ginn, you find a way to use his talents.  Just think to yourself Dolphins coaches, what would Sean Payton do?
  • San Diego's Vincent Jackson is on the short list of best receivers in the NFL.
  • The NFL is starting to cave on drafting athlete-turned-passer quarterbacks.  Vince Young, Pat White, Dennis Dixon, Tim Tebow, Michael Vick and others will have a place in the league.  How long will it be until the NFL hires offensive coordinators that cater to their talents?  Up until now, they've all tried to fit square pegs in round holes.  Why not hire a Rich Rodriguez or Chip Kelly type coach who could really turn Young into a force?
  • Great analysis by CBS commentator Gary Danielson on Tim Tebow's flawed throwing motion.  "Football Jesus" drops the ball too low in his throwing motion and exposes it to speed rushers coming off the edge.  Tebow has so many challenges ahead of him if he wants to succeed at the next level.  As for this level, he's on his way to another BCS Title game and possibly a second Heisman.  As good as it gets...
  • Watching USC get dismantled Saturday, my initial thought was "Bartender!"  I thought this was the end of an era.  After taking some time to collect my thoughts, I realized it's the start of a new era.  The Trojans are in something of a rebuilding mode.  College football is about quarterbacks.  The BCS Title game will be Tim Tebow vs. Colt McCoy (two four year contributors).  After suffering through John David Booty and barely getting to know Mark Sanchez, USC has Matt Barkley.  He will do great things for this program, assuming the coaches can create some continuity around him (meaning: lock-up OC Jeremy Bates for 4 years).  
  • Oregon looks as good as anyone right now.  Sustaining success has always been their problem, so I won't be surprised if Oregon St. or somebody else gets them.  They should be the first team other than USC to represent the Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl since Washington St. in 2002/03.  They would be National Championship contenders if not for Boise St., who has no claim to the top spot, but has to be ahead of the Ducks.
  • If Texas keeps focused, they can book their tickets to Pasadena.  In recent years, I'd be worried that Texas A&M would jump up and bite them at the end.  After getting jobbed last year by the BCS, they should have their eyes on the prize.
  • Iowa is dreadful, but still ranked #1 by some of the computer polls.  "Computers have not seen us play. If they had eyes, they would say: Are you kidding me?"  That's Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz, who I assume would much rather take his shot at the Ducks in the first Rose Bowl than be exposed by an SEC team in the big Rose Bowl. 
  • Georgia Tech put up 56 more points running a version of a century-old offense.  How many Big 12 North titles has Nebraska left on the table since they tried to "modernize" their offense?  And all because, they got embarrassed by a Miami team that had NFL 1st round picks up and down their two-deep roster.  By the way, Eric Crouch and Co. put up 36 points in that game.  The Huskers should admit their mistakes and go back to their roots.  

 

If Masoli went right, USC went left.  They were 5 steps behind all night.