Thursday: “Let them play!”
YOU ALL KNOW I’M A TOTAL MLB APOLOGIST, but gee, whiz. Last night I think they found the only way to turn Comerica Park as surly as Yankee Stadium: postpone a game for rain when it is not raining.
I get the radar, the forecast, the potential delay, all of that. But my response is similar every one of those Tigers fans last night: BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! If the shirts are dry, let it fly!
That was pretty odd. When they would cut back to the field during breaks in Seinfeld, there was the untarped field and a bunch of fans waving their towels. “Cool, they’re gonna play!” was my natural thought upon seeing this. Nope.
Oh, well, I’ll get over it. Might take a little longer for the fans quoted in this story, many of whom have to work today. “It’s the biggest bunch of crap I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Joe Deighan, 41, a season ticket holder.
I hear ya, Joe.
ANYWAY, they’ll try again at 4 p.m. today on TBS. At 8 p.m. on WFXR, the Giants and Cardinals play Game 4 of the NLCS, with Barry Zito opposing Adam Wainwright. The Cardinals won 3-1 last night in a game that was delayed (but not postponed) by rain. St. Louis holds a 2-1 series edge.
-We got into the A-Rod benching a little yesterday. He wasn’t in the lineup again, and Curtis Granderson also was slated to start the game on the bench. As I wrote on Twitter last night, I really wish Girardi would have lost his mind one week earlier.
HOKIES
-Andy has a nice feature story today on J.C. Coleman, who had a breakout game last weekend against Duke. “He’s a competitor, man,” Shane Beamer says. “And he doesn’t act like a true freshman. The atmospheres don’t wow him. He’s not blown away by being on the road or isn’t blown away by being out there in front of 70,000 people. He has fun. He enjoys it.”
-Andy will have his weekly chat at 12:30 p.m. today. Click here to join in.
-The Hokies considered adding Wake Forest as a “nonconference” opponent for next year before getting East Carolina.
-Tech is picked 10th in the ACC preseason basketball media poll, with UVa seventh. N.C. State heads the poll, marking the first time in nine years Duke or UNC didn’t own the top spot.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
-Berman and I break down this week’s ACC and local games.
-Tonight’s game is Oregon at Arizona State (9 p.m. ESPN).
NFL
-Tonight’s game is Seattle at San Francisco (8 p.m., NFL Network). Niners are a touchdown favorite.
LITTLE E
-How big of a deal is Dale Earnhardt Jr.? His sister types something on her Web site that we already know — that he’s going to try to be back in time for the Martinsville race — and somehow that is a story.
HARDEE’S NUTRITION MINUTE
The Chocolate Hand-Scooped Ice Cream Malt (described as: “creamy, hand-scooped ice cream blended with real milk and malt powder then finished with whipped topping”) has how many grams of carbohydrates?
A)72
B)87
C)98
D)103
NAME THAT TUNE
Lazy yellow moon coming up tonight
Shining through the trees
Crickets are singing
And the lightning bugs are floating on the breeze
Baby get ready
Across the field where the creek turns back
By the old stump road
Im going to take you to a special place
That nobody knows
Baby get ready
Ooo ooo ooo
October 18, 2012 - 9:11 AM
Dale Jr doesn’t need tog et married. He’s already got a woman controlling his life, his sister. Those familiar with the family tend to agree, she’s the one that got her daddy’s drive.
So, after making a big deal about sitting out two races when virtually no other driver could afford to do so, Dale’s going to drive again. Sounds like memorabilia sales must have dropped the last two weeks, and the sponsors reminded Kelly that Dale gets paid because he’s out on the track, not just for the commercials. The commercials don’t work if the fans think he’s not driving again for four months.
I’m already tired of the Hardees schtick. Not sorry to say, AMc, but discussions of grams of carbs on a sports blog? Seriously?
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, “Fishin’ in the Dark”–great tune, great band!
Wonder why Fisher is miffed at the penalties at FSU. Does he know that little about the history of FSU football?
The rain postponment was a bunch of crap. It’s raining there right now though…NWS says it should clear out by 2 with a chance of showers after that. It does make sure that if the series goes to 7 games, CC won’t be pitching again. At least I’ll get to listen to part of the game at work today.
Say What nails the song. Nicely done.
So today is papa Beamer’s birthday, so in honor of his birthday, I’ve made a few tweets in friendly jokes about him.
When he became coach, dinosaur roamed the earth.
I agree SW, Dirt Band is one of the best all-time. The Will the Circle Be Unbroken albums are 3 of my favorites.
I have no idea on the Hardee’s malt, I’ll go with 72. CR, lighten up.
I can see both sides of the Detroit rain delay….but it was a huge pain. I wanted to see the Yanks ousted. Most of the opinions on ESPN radio this morning think A-Roid has played his last game in pinstripes. They’re going to have to eat a big chunk of that salary if they trade him. Even though I don’t like Donald Trump, I loved his idea that the Yankees should void A-Roid’s contract due to the PHD’s and let it go to court. I doubt they’d win, but I liked the idea.
Concussions are serious in any sport so no way he should drive even if he has to sit until next year. A good friend had what he thinks now was over 50 concussions playing football and it has definitely changed who he is personality wise.
Cal Ripken was right last night. Screw the forecast. Play ball! Given the collective age of the Yankees roster, I suspect that there will be a few new guys in pinstripes in April. Jeter will be back simply because they wouldn’t have gotten this far without him this year. A-Rod and Swisher a probably gone. I’d expect the pitching staff to have some new starters as well. The O’s will be back and so will the Nats.
I’m going with 98 on the Hardees malt.
Agree, shaun. I thought it was probably 50-50 that Earnhardt would return for Martinsville but now I think it’s less than that. If there’s any hint of a headache or anything, why risk it?
HokieAl — I was impressed with Ripken last night. A lot of former players are hesitant to criticize MLB…Cal not only went after the rain decision, but also Girardi for benching two guys who helped get him to the postseason. I wouldn’t be shocked if Girardi does an about-face and has both of those guys in the lineup today.
My poor ole Cardinals are just trying to survive. Now Beltran is nicked. Hope we make it through so we can play OJ’s Tigers. They would probably whip us in 4 but, hey, that’s why you play the game. If the defense can keep Boyd contained and on the move, Tech has a good chance. Secondly, Tech’s OC had better have a good initial game plan because if it takes as long to figure out Clemson’s defensive scheme as previous games, we won’t climb out of a 20 pt. hole.
I’ll help Trev, in honor of Coach Beamer a couple friendly “old” jokes I have stolen through the years:
The theme to Frank’s high school prom was Fire.
Frank’s graduation picture is on a cave wall in France.
Frank’s first Christmas….was the first Christmas.
Justafan,
Nice!
Here’s another one I tweeted before lunch. When Frank Beamer became coach, Noah was putting the finish touch on the Ark.
Tom L, of the 4 teams still playing, I think the Cardinals are the most well-rounded in terms of offense, pitching, and defense. Though, obviously, losing Beltran hurts. The Cardinals are a tough opponent in October…they have a lot of experience and always seem to find ways to win. I do think we wind up with a 2006 rematch…I just hope it turns out differently this time.
I wonder though, is Pujols kicking himself for taking the money and going to the Angels right now? Of course that’s really a question that needs a good 5 or so years to bear out, but at least in the short-term, it looks like a bad move if he wanted to keep winning October games.
The people have spoken (mostly by not speaking): The Hardee’s Nutrition Minute has run its course. It had a nice two-day run.
BTW, today’s answer was C. HokieAl got it.
O.J. I doubt in 10 years Albert will be kicking himself. No way the Cards were going to give him a 10 year deal like the Angels did. I have a feeling that before the end of his contract the Angels will be having the same regrets the Yanks are now about A-Roid.
I think Tigers-Cards would make a good series. Giants are scrappy though, it’s not over yet.
A-Man, I’s sure Nappy is still drinking the NYY kool-aid and believes they’ll comeback. I’m sure in C.C. he see a lot of himself as the big left-hander back in Little League.
The ‘rain out’ last night was atrocious, but the Tigs seem to have an extry broom in the closet to close this one out.
Hopefully, the NLCS still goes 7, and Detroit gets the rest afforded a team that sweeps the evil empire, and the Tigers take it home.
Glad to see Hardees/Carl’s Jr is dying a quick death on the blog. If we’re going to argue food calories, let’s at least keep it to a local joint. I’ve never gotten that ‘Carl’s Jr’ part, either, who is Carl? And why is Jr. so important? It isn’t like we’re talking Dale/Dale Jr. Just who the hell was Carl?
This one of for Other John – a very nice sweep, Tiger fan! A super end to the the ALCS, competitive series be damned!
What do you think about Verlander in 1, 4 and 7, if necessary? This is a bet the house kind of situation.
OJ–Pujols is probably okay with the move, life can be good in sunny Southern California. Really hope the Tigers get the Cards in the Series. For us older guys, nothing like the rematch of the 1968 World Series!!!
Rick, I think they try to do that, and get Scherzer in the mix for possibly Games 2/6, with Sanchez and Fister in there for 1 each (maybe 2 for Fister if them if Verlander can’t go 3 games). It doesn’t matter a whole lot though, the entire rotation has been lights-out in the post season, and even going back into September. But the Cardinals, or Giants, both have good bats that will be plenty of a challenge.
But man, how sweep it is! World Series, baby!