Friday: Everything’s coming up Selig
SO ALL FOUR DIVISION SERIES HAVE GONE THE DISTANCE. Can’t ask for much more than that if you’re a baseball fan — or Bud Selig, for that matter. And the 2-3 format made necessary by the compressed schedule this year has had an unintended positive: With only one travel day per series, the momentum and energy from each night does not get time to stagnate. It’s pick up your jaw and move on to the next day if you’re the Cardinals, Nationals, Orioles or Yankees.
The next day is here. The Yanks and O’s settle things in Game 5 at 5 p.m. on TBS, with CC Sabathia opposing Jason Hammel. New York is a 2-to-1 favorite. Whoever wins might not want to drink too much champagne; their ALCS will open tomorrow night in the Bronx (if the Yanks win) or in Detroit (if the O’s prevail). The Tigers advanced last night with a 6-0 win over the A’s as Justin Verlander fired a four-hitter.
The Cards and Nats get the prime time slot for Game 5, with Adam Wainwright taking the hill against Gio Gonzalez at 8:30 p.m. on TBS. Nats, still alive thanks to Jayson Werth’s walk-off last night, are a 6-to-5 favorite.
HOKIES
-Tech will be without guard David Wang and reserve center/guard Caleb Farris for tomorrow’s game against Duke, but running back Tony Gregory and receiver Dyrell Roberts are expected to play. The Hokies are a 10-point favorite. I think Tech will win, but 10 points seems like an awful lot. Anybody really like the Hokies to cover that number?
-Tech’s basketball team gets a commitment from a 6-foot-9 power forward out off Chandler, Ariz.
-Berman has a feature on hoops coach James Johnson here.
PREPARE THY COUCH
-Your TV games of note tomorrow include: Louisville at Pitt (11 a.m., ESPNU), Texas vs. Oklahoma in Dallas (noon, WSET), unbeaten Kansas State at Iowa State (noon, FX), Syracuse at undefeated Rutgers (noon, MASN), Duke at Tech (12:30 p.m., WDBJ), North Carina at Miami (2:30 p.m., ESPNU), Maryland at Virginia (3 p.m., CSN), West Virginia at Texas Tech (3:30 p.m., WSET), Alabama at Missouri (3:30 p.m., WDBJ), Stanford at Notre Dame (3:30 p.m., WSLS), Boston College at Florida State (5:30 p.m., ESPN2), USC at Washington (7 p.m., WFXR), South Carolina at LSU (8 p.m., ESPN).
-Tonight’s TV game is Navy at Central Michigan (8 p.m., ESPN2).
HIGH SCHOOLS
-Berman spotlights the three prep football shows that the local television networks put on each Friday night.
-Here are Robert’s predictions for tonight’s games.
LITTLE E
-Dale Earnhardt Jr. will miss the next two races with a concussion. “You know your body and you know your mind, and you know when something is not quite right,” Earnhardt says.
NAME THAT TUNE
-Congrats to Jonathan, who swooped in at 9:41 last night to get yesterday’s (“Live Your Life” by T.I.). Here’s today’s — yeah, I can’t help myself:
You choke down all your anger
Forget your only son
You pray to statues when you sober up for fun
Your anger don’t impress me
The world slapped in your face
It always rains like hell on the loser’s day parade
You see, you’d love to run home, but you know you ain’t got one
Cuz you’re livin’ in a world that you’re best forgotten
When you’re thinkin’ you’re a joke and nobody’s gonna listen
To the one small point I know they’ve been missin’ ’round here…
October 12, 2012 - 8:21 AM
There are very few NASCAR drivers who could feel secure enough to declare they’ve got concussion symptoms. Junior, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and that’s it. Everyone else has to worry about their ride being lost.
Let’s not forget, though, that only a day or two before his announcement, even the loyal NASCAR media were admitting that Dale Jr had no shot at winning the Chase. Jeff Gordon readily addded that if he suffered those symptoms, abut was in first or second place in the Chase, he’d stay in the car. All of them would, even Junior.
Hopefully some positive research results from this…
Am I confident that the Hokies will win? That is the better question, rather than to answer question that only gamblers should be qualified to answer, and the my answer is a big fat N-O. I don’t understand why, in the past few years, this blog and other media outlets are now including Vegas’ spread in college football, and it now makes me think that somehow Vegas is now influcing the game of football as it has in other sports. Don’t pretend they don’t. The cynic in me, after reading about that infamous NBA ref who bet on games and influenced it, see that in every level of sports. It would explain why some games are often so close to spread, it practically screams point shaving to me.
I’m sure I’m going to be criticized for daring to question the so-called integrity of officals, coaches, and players, but that’s how I see it.
That would be Broadway by the Goo Goo Dolls.
Quick question for other Nascar fans out there. Do drivers still get credit for points if they start the race and then switch drivers during the race? I remember Kyle Petty doing this years ago at New Hampshire when he was injured. If that’s allowed, why wouldn’t Earnhardt start the race and then pit on lap 2 for the substitute, so he could stay in the title race?
I’m not sure whether to celebrate the signing of a two star recruit for basketball or not. He’s 6’9″, and all he can manage is just over 7 points & 7 rebounds a game as a junior? At least he claims to be 6’9″. Sounds an awful lot like a mid-major player at best. Based on his interest from colleges, that viewpoint is shared by the coaches, too. At least he’s a body, so that’s better than no uniform at all.
Y’all know I am hardly a believer in this year’s VT team, but I actually think the Hokies will roll tomorrow & win by a very large number. This team has been awful so far, but I think tomorrow is the first time this team lives up to its alleged potential.
I went to the Reds/Giants gane yesterday (Braves fan) because it was an elimination game. This morning at work all of my peers are complaining about how Cincy choked(lost 3 straight). I told them now you know what it feels like to be a Virginia Tech fan!!!
HokieGal scores. Nicely done.
RP, Dale Jr was already hopelessly out of the title race. He was far enough behind to have only a winning lottery ticket chance of taking the title. It was not going to happen. That’s the reason why he made his concussion symptoms public, because he knew it didn’t matter anyway.
RP, they do get credit, whomever starts the race gets the points, so if you drive 1 lap to start, the points go to that driver.
That said, I’d imagine that this is one of those situations kind of like the NFL. Players have to be cleared to play, and a driver likely is the same way, if he’s been up front about things. Jr. will have to be cleared to race again.
Racing is a little different – only the driver and crew might know how hurt he is, because it isn’t like football where they might have to be helped off the field.
I know I wouldn’t want to be on the track with a guy that might be having a headache, or dizzy, or anything else like that, going as fast as they go.
RP yes he could. But what if there was a wreck on lap 1? Or what if he tried to go to the first caution and blacked out? They are absolutely doing the right thing because he is out of the title race anyway. With his history of concussions I am not so sure he shouldn’t sit until next year. And he just might because they said at least two races and symptom free so could be longer.
Love that picture of Werth he should appear as an extra on Sons of Anarchy!
The baseball post season has not lacked drama.
In Baltimore today: 2 teams, 11-11 through the regular season and the playoffs, 3-3 score over the last 25 inninngs. And BTW, these two treams played long ball all season up until this point. HOW COOL IS THIS?
Hope the Nats win, Strasburg or not.
Hope the Hokies win. I also think they’ll cover. They are going to wake up angry sooner or later and someone will pay.
I’m glad i’m not BC this week. Talk about waking up angry …… FSU might just be.
Glad to see Johnson getting some positive press. Does this mean we are all finally over SG, or is that too much to hope for?
RP, Rich H was correct. Dale Jr would have to be medically cleared to race and from what I’ve read, he hasn’t been.
I’m having a premonition about the Hokies. I’m thinking they get it together and play well. My little psyche says the Hokies win 30-14.
Go O’s!!!! Keep it going and another game and defeat the evil empire. As I was watching last night, I went online and checked the salaries for both teams. The Steinbrenners should have some of these guys arrested for theft. Of the Yankee regulars, Russell Martin has the lowest salary and he makes 7.5 mil. Half of the O’s regulars don’t even make 1 mil. I find that laughable.
Interesting.
No mention of Tenneesse Titans beating the mighty Terrible Towels.
I guess baseball is too important at this time of the year (barf).
Jr. is out but since he had no chance to win, no big deal. The money he makes racing doesn’t compare to his endorsement money. What if you are somebody like Regan Smith, scratching week to week for sponsership, we would never know his medical problems. He would suit up and drive.
The statements re: being ‘medically cleared’ make sense, but I had never heard of a specific Nascar policy on that before. Thanks for the replies.
Has there ever been a more overlooked game than last night’s Titans/Steelers game? That’s the problem with full-season NFL football. Nobody cares, especially during baseball playoffs & election season.
justafan, you premonition is my fear – the Hokies get it together, and pull off a miracle, win out, and we go into 2013 with the same crap. I’d just rather see the collapse happen, and let’s move on with some changes.
I can just see it now – they win out, end up 9-3 regular season, possibly even win the ACC, even a BCS bowl, and the Hokie Nation annoint Frank O’Fosterspringsome as the second coming of Vince Lombardi and staff, despite the obvious warts, and we go thru another half dozen years of what we have seen lately.
C’mon Trevor, lightin up. It’s early in the NFL season and it was a Thursday night game involving the lowly Titans. We’re talking O’s and Yanks in the post season. Baseball gets to take center stage for a week or two now and then. But, if you don’t like or understand baseball, I get it. When people start talking about soccer, I fall to sleep (unless it’s Tommie Smith, I just like to hear that guy talk).
I think it was stupid for the NFL to start schedule Thursday night games. I guess they are trying to capture the same audience that watches CFB on Thursday night. It just isn’t the same.
But again it is because Commie in Chief, Goddell, is the genius that made the Shield the best brand there is, and somehow made football the national pastime than baseball.
Anyone ever wonder what Frank Beamer would look like bald? http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2012/10/12/3493452/haircut-switching-works-in-all-formats
Awesome blog posts on several coaches hair swap. It made my day.
RP, I don’t know that NASCAR is too concerned about making policies public. Drug testing being the most prominent. The biggest one is that, if a driver, after a wreck, can’t drive the car back to garage, he has to take the ambulance, and he has to go the in infield care center, be checked out, etc, but that’s about it, in terms of public info.
I’m right there with you on that Thursday nighter for the NFL – it got lost in the world – but I wouldn’t throw the VP debate in as a reason! It just got lost, lots of really good baseball on, although the VEEP debate was on a dozen channels on my TV – what a waste of airspace.
That’s pretty outstanding, Trevor. Frank looks like Gargamel.
Aaron, if I could, I would give your comment a thumb up. Awesome comparison. On a side note, don’t you think Les Miles somehow looked like Steve Harrell from the 40-years-old Virgin? Not that I have seen the movie, but the cover of the DVD.
Justafan, I don’t think the NFL should have had games on Thursday night. It’s isn’t the same as CFB, and then the vice presidental debate last night just sent me to bed. I’m with you, Rick, on the waste of air space. I would have rather watched a Rick O’Reilly and Joy Behr debate. That would have been entertaining!
Reading Berman’s story on coach Johnson has me drawing comparison to him and Frank Haith (is that the right person, head coach at Missouri?). Similar stories, similar mind set, and similar career arc.
I’m with you Trevor. NFL should stay off of Thursday except on Thanksgiving. Thursdays are for CFB. Also, colleges shouldn’t play on Fridays. Friday should be reserved for high school games. If colleges started playing on Sunday, the NFL would probably sue.
VT over Duke. 23-17
Justafan, to answer your question about baseball, I do understand the game, I simply have no interest in it. I have often felt it was a boring sport to watch along with golf. I just hope the damn Yanks are sent home because when I live up in New England, fans were either Yankees or Red Sox fans, and it was all I would ever hear about them. When the Patriots were lousy in the early 90s, folks would cheer for the New York Giants in Foxborough until Bill Parcell and Drew Bledsoe arrived and transformed the franchise. One of the best changes the Patriots made was transforming their logo and uniforms. It gave a more updated and modern look with the logo and gone was the snapping Patriots holding the football. It looked outdated and old fashioned.
As a teen, I remember thinking how much I wished North Carolina (where I was born, by the way) had a professional team, and then they made an expansion team, the Panthers, and I jumped on the bandwagon, and have been their fan ever since. Boy, are they underacheiving this year after an awesome rookie season from Cam, who is starting to look more and more overrated with each passing week. One cricitism I have been hearing is how wooden Ron Rivera looks on the sideline. He stands on the sideline, arms crossed, and utterly expressionless. I asked another Panthers fan via Twitter where he was originally from, and was told he was a Chargers DC, and was passed over for head coaching job multiple times. Then the same tweet was a bit sarcastic when he said, “Now we are seeing why.” It’s hard for me to be angry with the Panthers because I’m so used to how bad the offense plays at Virginia Tech.
By the way, I did some charting with the week by week progress of the offense and defense. I was really surprised how well the passing attack has been, I think we all know how bad the rushing attack is, but what stood out the most was how wildly inconsistent the defense are to this point. I think I will like to do a bit of study to the 2010 season, wasn’t that the same season the defense finished ranked 50th in total defense?