What Happened in Game 6?

 Game 6, which might of been the greatest world series of recent memory, started off as one of the ugliest baseball games ever seen. If not for the uniforms and Busch Stadium, a fan could of confused the game with a middle school game. Fundamentals were nowhere to be found as multiple pop ups were dropped and Matt Holliday found a way to get thrown out retreating to third base(and injure himself in the process). Off the field it wasn't any prettier as both Tony La Russa and Ron Washington made decisions that where not true to the book. Tony, who has not had a spectacular world series, replaced Jaime Garcia who was throwing a strong game through 3 innings. Ron was not to be outdone though, he decided to pitch Derek Holland in relief, who some considered a candidate to throw game 7. Later on in the game an odd situation came up where he brought in a pinch hitter who was not warming up in for Feldman, who Joe Buck thought was their best pitcher available.
 After the game hit the 3 hour mark, the game became great but was still incredibly sloppy. David Freese's game tying triple of been a fly ball to right field which Neslon Cruz misplayed and Freese took advantage of a mistake pitch. Considering that the Rangers twice had the Cardinals down to their last strike, the Rangers should of won the World Series last night. David Freese again played the hero as his walk off home run won the game for the Cardinals and created a game 7.

In game 7 I am going to give the nod to the Rangers. I do believe that Carpenter is the better pitcher but the Rangers have shown the ability to get runs off the best pitcher in baseball (Justin Verlander) and I expect them to get to Carpenter. Harrison is no slouch and the Rangers have a deep bullpen that although got kicked around last night, I predict they are going to bounce back from an off night. Also hurting the Cardinals is Matt Holliday's injury so I'm going to go Rangers 5 to the Cardinals 3.

NFL Power Rankings - Week 8

All four contributors each ranked the NFL teams from 1-32. We then took the average of each teams' rank and then finished with the final power rankings.

The Green Bay Packers stay atop the Rankings as the unanimous choice.

Note: Contributor Key - Man (TheMainManmiller), Mole (themole25), Bill (Buffalo Bill), Rupp (FruitRupp)

Pos. Team Overall Rank Man Mole Bill Rupp

1. Green Bay Packers 1 1 1 1 1

2. New England Patriots 2.25 2 3 2 2

3. San Francisco 49ers 4 3 2 6 3

4. New Orleans Saints 4.25 4 6 3 4

5. Detroit Lions 5.5 5 5 7 5

6. Buffalo Bills 6.75 6 4 8 9

Pittsburgh Steelers 6.75 7 9 5 6

8. Baltimore Ravens 7 10 7 4 7

9. New York Giants 9.25 9 8 10 10

10. Cincinnati Bengals 10.25 11 10 12 8

11. San Diego Chargers 11.25 8 14 11 12

Atlanta Falcons 11.25 14 11 9 11

13. Houston Texans 13.5 13 15 13 13

14. New York Jets 14 15 12 14 15

15. Chicago Bears 14.5 16 13 15 14

16. Oakland Raiders 17.25 12 17 19 21

17. Dallas Cowboys 18.25 22 18 17 16

18. Tennessee Titans 18.5 18 16 18 22

19. Philadelphia Eagles 19 19 23 16 18

20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20 17 26 20 17

21. Cleveland Browns 21.25 20 22 23 20

22. Washington Redskins 21.75 23 19 22 23

Kansas City Chiefs 21.75 24 20 24 19

24. Carolina Panthers 22.75 21 24 21 25

25. Denver Broncos 23.75 25 21 25 24

26. Seattle Seahawks 27 26 25 29 28

27. Jacksonville Jaguars 27.25 27 30 26 26

Minnesota Vikings 27.25 28 27 27 27

29. Arizona Cardinals 28.5 29 28 28 29

30. Miami Dolphins 30.25 30 31 30 30

31. Indianapolis Colts 31 32 29 32 31

32. St. Louis Rams 31.25 31 32 31 32

NFL week 7 headlines

Tim Tebow is finally getting his chance to play. The Broncos realized Orton's 6-21 record isn't that good and so why not let Tebow play. All Tebow did in college was win, now this is the pros, he isn't very accurate but almost led a comeback against the Chargers if it wasn't for a dropped 2-pt conversion. Thank you Denver for finally giving Tebow the job. He is not going to win the super bowl or even lead them to the playoffs he might not even win a game this season. But does it matter if the Broncos don't win a game the rest of the season. For all those people that don't think he should play because he isn't good, how do you know he isn't good he played 3 games last year went 1-2, Orton had his chance and didn't do shit with it, it is time to see if that first round draft pick was a good pick or not. Let Tebow play and let him fail if he is going to fail so at least we all know he can't play in the NFL. But only good can come out of Tebow finally playing.

• He can lead then to a winning record and the playoffs (doubtful).
• Everyone will find out if he can actually play QB in the NFL.
• More fans will be at Denver's games now to see Tebow, therefore more money for the NFL
• They lose the rest of their games, Andrew Luck is their starting QB next year
  

I know some bad can come out of it, like for all you Tebow haters, if he plays well he will have proved you wrong.

Carson Palmer now plays for Oakland after the Bengals surprisingly accepted a trade for 2 first round picks or a first and second round pick (not exactly sure). Im not sure why you would accept 2 draft picks for a player you don't need nor want but they did it anyway. Because of Jason Campell getting hurt many expected Palmer to start and the question arose. Can Palmer start after being retired just 5 days ago? Well he is not starting, I thought he would, Kyle Boller got the nod. But is it a big deal if Palmer would have gotten the start, the other QBs are Kyle Boller (who is starting) and Terrelle Pryor. Boller tried to play for the Ravens but that didn't work and Pryer has just been activated this week also. Palmer could have been picked up yesterday and he would still play better than the other QBs for Oakland. Plus Palmer played last year and has been working out all summer in case he had the chance to come back.

Jerome Harrison was about to be traded back to the Eagles for Ronnie Brown but a physical denied the trade. When Harrison was examined by Philly doctors they found a brain tumor. If it wasn't for this trade the tumor could have became serious before it was found and the NFL world could have lost a player who just 2 years ago rushed for 286 yards in a game. Luckily for Jerome his tumor was found and his surgery went well according to espn's Chris Mortensen.

HandshakeGate what does that even mean. This was the big handshake controversy between Jim Harbaugh and Jim Schwartz. The reason Schwartz went after Harbaugh after the handshake is because Harbaugh did shake his hand hard but pushed him on the back as he went by. Schwartz wasn't happy with the push and you could see him turn and say "what the fuck" then he proceeded to run after him and get all up in his grill. Both coaches didn't do anything wrong they just got a little carried away with it. Harbaugh shouldn't have slapped and shook his hand so hard and Schwartz was fine with going after him but he took it to far when he kept try to get in the face of Harbaugh. The best thing about all of this was it reminds me of back in 1992 when John Chaney(Temple basketball coach) went into John Calipari's(UMass basketball coach) press conference after their game and said "I'm gonna kill you". So next time two people with the same first name start getting into it just start video taping because it will end up being youtube worthy.

1-32 NFL running backs

These are the 32 starters according to espn and I ranked them 1-32 based off of this year so far.

1. Fred Jackson
2. Adrian Peterson
3. Darren McFadden
4. LeSean McCoy
5. Frank Gore
6. Michael Turner
7. Maurice Jones-Drew
8. Matt Forte
9. Ray Rice
10. Beanie Wells
11. Ryan Mathews
12. Cedric Benson
13. Ahmad Bradshaw
14. BenJarvus Green-Ellis
15. Arian Foster
16. Willis McGahee
17. Chris Johnson
    
18. Shonn Greene
    
19. Rashard Mendenhall
    
20. DeAngelo Williams
21. Steven Jackson
22. Marshawn Lynch
23. Peyton Hillis
24. Pierre Thomas
25. Earnest Graham
26. Ryan Grant
27. Reggie Bush
28. Ryan Torain
29. Delone Carter
30. Thomas Jones
31. DeMarco Murray
32. MauriceMorris

notes: Solid top 4. Jackson(1) having a better year than Peterson(2) and hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. Forte(8) lots of yards 1 TD. Mendenhall(19) not consistent lots of yards last week. Johnson(17) can't seem to get anything going this year. Graham(25) could be higher if he played all year. Morris(32) steps in for Best, not many touches so far. Bottom 10 a little shaky at spots, most have 1 TD and around 175 yards rushing.

Sports and Money

One of the faces of the ugliest situations in sports

 We are over 100 days into the NBA lockout and it looks like it will never end. It is an argument between millionaires and billionaires, neither side is exactly hurting for money but I do believe that the owners put themselves in this situation. The owners put themselves in this situation by allowing a soft cap to be put into place and agreeing to guaranteed contracts for some reason. The average NBA player makes 5.15m a year while the average MLB player is 3m. Do the players need to be arguing for more money, no, but it isn't fair for owners to be making a ridiculous amount of money of players considering they are the product. Attendance in the NBA last year was down partly due to the fact that ticket prices are through the roof, a by product of spending to much money on players and other staff, therefore having to bring more money in.

 We have problems with money in all pro sports, it reduces the competitiveness between teams because only the rich prosper(we should love this in America because of our love of capitalism, in which the rich get richer the poor get poorer and we have less people teams that can compete due to a wide gap between social classes.). This why I suggest that we bring back pro sports to how they were before players got free agency. In addition to taking away free agency, teams will have a limit to how much teams can charge fans to view the game. In order to that, because no league would want to lose money, we need government intervention ins sports.
 Obama needs to create a new cabinet position regarding athletics and recreation because the job of our government is to satisfy our needs and if you haven't noticed, Americans like sports. These are the changes that I recommend to the appointed leader(if it is not me)
1. Players have all costs covered

I guess it's a sport

All athletes will pretty much play for free except all their living expenses are covered. They will have a modest house with a modest house(they don't need lavish houses or homes cause let's face it, athletes aren't exactly changing how the world runs and don't deserve to be paid more than leaders of countries or leading scientists). If you don't believe that athletes won't play for minimum salary, look at the WNBA, many women play for almost nothing because it is a sport they love and it is a way to take care of their family(their job as a mother).I know I'm stretching it calling women's basketball a sport(it's a tough argument) but it benefits my argument so for the rest of the article it is considered a sport). Minor leaguers play not just for the chance to make it to the majors, only a small fraction of them have a chance, but because it allows them to play the game they love well into their adulthood. Also, every member of this staff would play   their favorite sport for only a small apartment, rides back and forth from work, and 3 meals a day. 
 Depending on the size of their family, players would get paid enough so that their family could live a decent life, which would most likely be better if these college dropouts would have to go into the work force. This system is very similar to how basketball works in parts of Europe except that they won't be making extra money for playing. I don't see how players could complain about this considering they would never have to pay for anything, meaning no dealing with agents, checkbooks, and greedy people trying to take their money.
2. Limit ticket prices
Owners are going to hate this part of the plan, but look at how much money they are going to save in option #1. I'm going to throw #20 as the top ticket price, yes that means courtside tickets would be worth $20, and the nosebleeds would be worth $1. Teams would not be making as much revenue off of tickets but I didn't say anything about the cost of merchandise. The more fans that show up to the game and the more money they have means they can buy apparel and other over priced items from the team store, I'm not going to mention concessions since teams would most likely start charging $10 for a beer.
3. Make the Games Available to Everyone
 This means that all games will be on basic cable(another service that should be provided by the government, just basic cable, not HBO or Star or anything but everyone should have the right to watch Tosh.0 or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia). This will take away from the huge amount of money that teams get from media, but they are also cutting the budget in other places and team owners deserve to make less a year than players because the players are the product that the fans come to watch. This again brings merchandising into play because the more people that allowed to watch the team play, the more people will become fans of the team and buy the team's clothing, hats, etc,. 


This is my plan to fix professional sports, hopefully if it is adopted professional sports will fall behind college sports in popularity because that is where I believe truth athletics live. Professional sports should be entertainment, not a place where billions of dollars sit so greedy players and owners can fight over them.

NFL Power Rankings - Week 6

1. Packers – Defending champs have had virtually no trouble besides spotting the Falcons 14 points and still winning easily.

2. Patriots – Tom Brady has slowed down since starting with two games of over 400 yards, blew a lead while losing to the Bills.

3. Lions – An explosive offense sits them in the top 3 but benchmark games ahead as they play the Packers twice.

4. Chargers – Phillip Rivers has struggled yet the one-loss Chargers lead their weak division.

5. 49ers – Substantial win in Detroit last week but remember, Alex Smith is their quarterback. He has been helped by a decent run game thanks to Frank Gore and Kendall Hunter.

6. Ravens – Not the greatest start but a big win against the Steelers helped their resume. They dropped a sloppy game in Tennessee.

7. Steelers – Sitting right behind division rival, the Steelers have been playing well lately with wins over the Jaguars and Titans.

8. Saints – Cannot count out Drew Brees, however playing in the toughest division in the NFL.

9. Bills – Surprising start has sizzled thanks to losses against the Giants and Bengals.

10. Titans – Toughest part of their schedule has passed and they sit at 3-2 atop the AFC South. Texans are toughest competitor in division.

11. Buccaneers – Very inconsistent start of the year in that tough NFC South.

12. Giants – Another inconsistent team that just beat the Bills, a week after losing to a sloppy Seahawks team at home.

13. Raiders – The Raiders’ playoff chances took a turn for the worse as Jason Campbell broke his collarbone and is expected to be out for 6 weeks. Chargers are main competition for AFC West divisional crown. Let’s see how wonderful Carson Palmer plays in Campbell’s absence.

14. Texans – Injuries have slowed the Texans to a 3-3 record but Arian Foster is back and Andre Johnson is expected back soon. They play the Titans twice yet to determine the division champ.

15. Bengals – Behind rookie Andy Dalton, have won a quiet 4 games and are in contention for the AFC North.

16. Falcons – Another inconsistent team that can turn on it when needed behind young Matt Ryan. Tough division hurts their chances for playoffs.

17. Jets – Slow start, but can work their way up through the standings. However, their quarterback is Mark Sanchez…

18. Bears – The new kickoff rule has not really affected the specialist, Devin Hester but Jay Cutler is very interception prone.

19. Eagles – A popular, slow start has sent the Eagles to the basement of their division but on any given week can challenge any team.

20. Browns – Colt McCoy are off to decent start but are no competition for the Ravens (6), Steelers (7) or Bengals (15) for the division title.

21. Redskins – Rex Grossman showed his true colors last week but still had a chance to win against the Eagles. Decent position in a tough division.

22. Panthers – Have been close in every game thanks to the surprising rookie season thus far by Cam Newton, thankfully for Carolina, he is allowed to be paid now.

23. Cowboys – Tony Romo is their quarterback, enough said.

24. Seahawks – Their only chance to win is if Tavaris Jackson stays on the bench. A big win in New York against the Giants though.

25. Chiefs – A big blow when Jamaal Charles dropped for the year. Some bright spots include Dwayne Bowe.

26. Broncos – Bad division, but who knows, maybe Tim Tebow will be their savior.

27. Jaguars – Cut David Garrard for no apparent reason and now play behind rookie Blaine Gabbert. Their one win, however was against a good Titans (10) team in the season opener.

28. Vikings – Star running back, Adrian Peterson, is a stuck on a struggling team that LOVES to
blow leads.

29. Cardinals – Worst division in football, NFC West. Cardinals led by a struggling Kevin Kolb.

30. Colts – On the upward swing now that Curtis Painter has taken over and played decent the past two weeks.

31. Dolphins – Starting QB is done for the year, putting faith in Matt Moore = bad situation. Suck for Luck.

32. Rams – A reasonably tough opening schedule sets them at 0-5. The NFC West blows but the 49ers (5) are running away with it.

World Series Preview 2011

As I'm sure our very knowledgable readers are aware next week will start the World Series. An event so mind dazzling and important that it is worth more than 2,000 dollars to see live. While I'm not convinced anything is worth that much live (especially when its free on tv) it is an extrememly important event to all sports fans. It is the one-hundred and eighth anniversery of the first World Series. There have been certain years which were interrupted by chance, fate, and... other issues. These "other issues" most of us die hard fans refuse to acknowledge and would prefer to ignore all together. Baseball is the American past-time and it is has made it through the ages by alluring its fans with its relaxed atmosphere and easy going fans (for the most part). This is all gone in the post season. With the pressure of each game immense, the leisure of losing one game and having it mean nothing like the regular season is gone. With each loss a team's statistical odds decrease. Lose at home and you've nearly signed your death wish. With every pitch, every swing, and every out scrutinized it makes for one of the most beautiful spectacles on Earth.

The World Series is even more enjoyable if your favorite team is in it as I'm sure every fan that has had the privilige will acknowledge. This year the lucky backers for Texas and St. Louis will have the pleasure of watching their teams duke it out on baseball's biggest stage. Let's start with our analysis of the Texas Rangers. They are in the World Series for the second straight year despite losing out on the Cliff Lee bidding war that took place last off-season. The loss of their best pitcher seemed to put this seasons outlook hovering somewhere around bleak and abysmal. Texas executives hoped that the young pitching staff would be able to do enough to push their exciting offense into the playoffs again. I'm sure that they weren't going into the season expecting another World Series birth, but I'm also sure they aren't going to complain about it. For most of the year the Rangers were in a tight race with the Los Angeles Angels (I almost typed Anaheim) however, in my opinion the better team one the divisional race. The offense is superb, with huge bats like Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Michael Young, and Ian Kinsler and the pitchers have made for a surprisingly good staff. Their team era of 3.79 was very good and C.J. Wilson's team leading ERA of 2.94 was outstanding. Wilson stepped up and is a huge reason for the Rangers 2011 success. Throughout the playoffs the Rangers have stuck to their guns scoring a ton of runs and limiting teams from putting up a whole lot. They have been very impressive so far in the postseason by quickly dispatching of their first two opponents, the Rays and Tigers.

Now onto the red hot St. Louis Cardinals. Barely squeaking into the playoffs wasn't enough for these upstart underdogs who had to rain the on the World Series parade for the Phillies and the Brewers, both heavy favorites. The Phillies were the team with the most hype coming into the playoffs due to their great pitching staff, but the Cardinals outhit and outpitched them for most of the series. The middle three in the Cardinals line-up Albert Pujols, Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday form a formidable trio to work around. Pujols, the most feared hitter in all of baseball, went through a down year. He merely hit .299 with 37 home runs and 99 RBI's. Not bad for an off year. I'm sure that most major league players would give an arm and a leg for those kind of numbers. His nickname says it all, he truly is a machine. Lance Berkman had been cast off and written off by most off baseball. The Cardinals felt he still had much to offer, however, and he didn't disappoint. He hit .301 with 31 home runs and 94 RBI's and won the National League's comeback player of the year award. Holliday struggled with some injury issues and didn't put up his usual numbers, but he is still one of the best hitters in baseball. The Cardinals suffered a huge loss when they found out one of their aces, Adam Wainright, would be out for all of the 2011 season. They worked through this though and Chris Carpenter, a former Cy Young Award winner, had another great year. He was helped by one of the brighest young stars in baseball Jaime Garcia, a lefty with a very bright future. These two helped to push the Cardinals into the playoffs and beat two of the best teams in baseball once they were there. The Cardinals are definitely the hottest team on the planet right now and thats what the playoffs are all about, getting hot at the right time.

This year's World Series should provide plenty of drama and excitement. The rich teams from the coasts were kicked out and its now left to two middle America teams to finish the season. In the end only one team can end its season with a win, though and I have to give my edge to the Rangers. I've doubted the Cardinals before and they continue to win, but my gut tells me that the Rangers are just too strong. Their line-up gives pitchers nightmares and their pitchers find ways to win games. Under the watchful eye of Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan the Rangers will win in 6.

Fixing College Football Mole's Way

 For the past year or so, teams in major college football have been rumored to switch conferences. Many people seem to believe that schools want to switch conferences to better the competition they face, I feel that this whole ordeal is about money, that's right, cold hard green cash. The Big Ten Conference was formed in 1895 as a way for the colleges to regulate football rules, a few years after that the NCAA was formed and governed college football throughout the country. After that, the point of the smaller regional conferences was to make it easier for schools to schedule games and officiating. Now I am going to remind you that was 100 years ago when teams preferred to play teams withing 200-300 miles so they wouldn't have to travel. All conferences back then were regional and did not mix teams in Louisiana with teams in California.

All those states have teams in the Western Athletic Conference

Not earning their potential revenue

  Right now, teams are moving conferences just so they can take advantage of financial opportunities that other  conferences supply. The only schools that get help because of conferences are the small schools that never compete for national championships and only make money because they are in the same conference as the most prestigious and elite programs. Boise State may be the school most hurt by the conference system. If they were an independent team that could schedule whoever they wanted and didn't have to play cupcakes week in and week out, they might of played in a national championship game. Not to mention that if they were able to negotiate their own TV deal, they would most likely receive more money than they would in their current deal with the Mountain West Conference. Vanderbilt is an example of a team that takes advantage of the system. They are members of the SEC and are lucky to get more than 3 wins a year, but yet they bring in the same amount of TV money as Florida. For a sport that obviously does not care about parity, they do a shitty job of allowing schools to take advantage of their own self-worth.

I feel as if there are three options for college football at this point, and there is no middle ground when it comes to how I feel about college football.
1. Mark Titus's theory on college conferences; go to Grantland.com for more info

A possible 2008 bracket, wouldn't that just ruin college football

2. Have all schools join regional  conferences and adopt a playoff system. Right now there are 120 FBS teams so they could split everyone up into ten twelve team conferences. Each conference would then be split into two divisions, again based on location, each team would play all 5 teams in their division and half the teams in the other division, those games would switch on a year to year basis according to the teams end of year record and power ranking. This will undoubtedly make the regular season more exciting, as one loss could possibly mean the the team might not make their conference championship game. Sure, teams with one or two losses might make the playoffs, but it's better than no loss teams not having a chance to win a title. The winner of each division would then play for the conference championship game, with the winner receiving an automatic entry into a 16 team playoff. To decide the 6 teams that will join the conference winners, a BCS type system would be used. The at large teams would not half to be the runner ups but any team in the nation, meaning that a conference could end up sending 7 teams to the playoffs, although that would be very unlikely. In a addition to all conferences having equal playoff rights, all teams in the country would receive the same amount money.
         The last part of this plan is debatable, I feel this would be the best option but I part of me also      
         feels the stronger conferences should be able to make more money than the weaker ones.

3. This idea is pure capitalism, except that they are no trusts, sweat shops, or 2 year olds working 16 hours a day in a shed. NO conferences, that's right, each team for themselves when it comes to making bowl games and making cash. These idea does not need much explanation. Every team can schedule as many games as they want against whatever teams they want to, and at the end of the year each bowl's selection committee decides which teams it would like to invite to their game. Sure, you would almost never have an actual championship game, but college football worked so well without one for so many years. In this system the rich get richer and the poor get more poor. This is exactly why laissez faire economies never work. This system would eventually self implode as the bad schools would stop fielding a football team because they make no money and scholarship opportunities would be limited for student athletes and college football would become a 45 team league. This brings me to my next point, there are no rules on scholarships in this system either. If a school can give out 200 athletic scholarships, good for them, I'm sure they will enjoy the national championships.

There, I offered my solutions to college football, I want to see what other ideas you guys out there have and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the NCAA someday follows #3, since it is clearly the worst choice in my mind.

1-32 NFL QBs

This is the rankings of all 32 starting NFL QBs based on how they are performing this year with a little bit taken into consideration of how they have done in the past.

He may win, but he is not an above
average quarterback

This Weeks #1 QB

1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Tom Brady
3. Drew Brees
4. Mathew Stafford
5. Ryan Fitzpatrick
6. Matt Hasselbeck
7. Phillip Rivers
8. Eli Manning
9. Michael Vick
10. Matt Schaub
11. Joe Flacco
12. Jay Cutler
13. Ben Roethlisberger
14. Matt Ryan
15. Colt McCoy
16. Tony Romo
17. Andy Dalton
18. Curtis Painter
19. Cam Newton
20. Alex Smith
21. Mark Sanchez
22. Josh Freeman
23. Matt Cassel
24. Sam Bradford
25. Matt Moore
26. Tim Tebow
27. Kevin Kolb
28. Christian Ponder
29. Blaine Gabbert
30. Carson Palmer
31. Charlie Whitehurst/Tarvaris Jackson
32. Rex Grossman
    

Some notes: Top 6 are set, maybe being able to shuffle Stafford(4) and Fitzpatrick(5) back and forth. Rivers'(7) ranking is so high based on last season more than anyone elses ranking. Andy Dalton(17) to Josh Freeman(22) could be arranged anyway depending on what is important (winning, being a rookie, stats). Gabbert(29)- Grossman(32) is debatable because Grossman(32) seemed to be playing well because the Redskins were winning but he really wasn't playing well, Palmer(30) hasn't practiced at all but I think being 30 is right for him. Grossman(32) dropped to last because Donavon McNabb, Kerry Collins, and Luke McCown are no longer starters, also Charlie Whitehurst/Tarvaris Jackson(31) are there only because it looks like Whitehurst will start otherwise Jackson would be ranked last.
Other starters: If Jason Campbell didn't get hurt he would have been ranked between Romo(16) and Dalton(17). If John Beck becomes the starter he will be between Kolb(27) and Ponder(28). Kyle Orton would have been ranked right where Tebow(26) is although the Broncos are better off with Tebow as their starter.

Keep the Kids in Mind

 Last night, the Cardinals-Brewers NLCS game started at 8:05 ET; a good time to start the game for the local fans as in central time it would be 7:05 ET. May I remind you though that the majority of baseball fans live on the east coast, and baseball needs to appeal to the younger audience as less and less kids are playing baseball each year. Most studies show that a teenager needs about 9 hours of sleep to be fully ready for the day. A game that starts at 8:05 ET would usually end at about 11, unless it is a Red Sox game and then it would between 12am and 1 am. Here are three ways to keep all of America happy for baseball.

  1. Start the Game Earlier
         The most obvious of the reasons, the earlier the games start the earlier they will end. Sunday night games are tough because you do don't want to have to compete with the 4pm football games, but there is always a night marquee game. This poses a question for MLB; pit a game against a typical 4 o' clock game or against the 8pm game that has been advertised for heavily for the past week. Personally, I would rather go up against two fan bases instead of a national audience.
        A 7 CT game starts at 5 o'clock west coast time, very early in the day, but starting the game at 4pm wouldn't make that much of a difference in viewership. I believe that baseball wouldn't lose viewers by starting earlier, but definetly loses them by starting the games so late. A 7pm start time on the east coast would end at 10, allowing the youth to watch the whole game. Last night, I made it to the top of the 4th inning, sure I was tired from the day, but I should be able to watch more than half the game.
    On a side note, in my opinion that game was lost for the Brewers in the first inning when Weeks
didn't pick Lucroy's throw on the stolen base attempt. After that, Pujols and Berkman get on then Holliday grounds out to end the inning.

2. Find Ways to Speed Up Play
 The game of baseball should not take three and a half hours to finish. A game should reasonably end within 2 and a half hours. The problem is that pitchers take 40 seconds in between pitches and the last 2 innings of a close game usually take an hour. Some may blame the slow pace of play on commercials between innings, but baseball is a sport that commercials fit in perfectly with the framework of the game. Pitchers need about a minute and a half to warm up, perfect for 2 or 3 commercials.
 The problem with the game is batters stepping out of the box for 10 seconds between pitches and pitchers taking 40 seconds to check the runners and take the sign. With no one on base, there should be about 10 seconds between each pitch, the pitcher has no need to shake off signs unless they are in Toronto and there are no runners on base for them to check on. When runners are on base, 20 seconds should be the goal for pitchers. This gives enough time for the catcher to run through the complex signal order to keep their signs from being stolen and for the pitcher to look at each runner and decide whether or not to pick off. People who say that baseball should come up with a game limiting pick offs don't realize that would just increase scoring by a bizarre number and make catchers with good arms almost useless.

 Another problem is that the catcher has no limit on the amount of times he is allowed to call time to talk to the pitcher. Baseball has a rule in place to limit coaching visits, one time an inning and the second time the pitcher must come out. I propose a rule that limits player called time outs to 10. This only covers players who do not have the ball in their hand. If a fielder decides to call time so they can send the ball back to the pitcher without worrying about players advancing bases, they should be allowed to do so as long as they do not create a conference on the mound. Everytime a catcher or a hitter calls time, that counts. This would cause players to think a lot more during the course of a game, is it worth it for a hitter to call time in the 2nd inning when their pitcher could use that during the 8th inning when the game is tied.

3. Expand the Strike Zone
  Since the 90s the major leauge strike zone has been almost wider than it is tall. Going from above the knees to the belt and about 4 inches off each side of the plate. I feel that they need to make the strike zone the width of the plate again, stop rewarding pitches that are thrown almost nowhere near the hittable zone.

If only they would call the right strike zone

The zone should also be expanded upwards to halfway up the chest. Right now umpires don't call anything above the belt a strike. Personally as a hitter I believe that the way outside pitch is harder to hit than a pitch up. Pitchers would no longer try to pitch around guys as they would be able to challenge them up, meaning less at bats that are 5 to 8 pitches. That may not sound like a lot but it could add up to 20 minutes by the end of the game.

 The truth is that baseball needs to start appealing to younger viewers and right now they are doing a terrible job. All baseball needs to do is move up start times, change the strike zone, and get players to play the game.

The Student-Athlete

For some time now there’s been a debate about college student-athletes and whether they should be paid to play. The answer is an emphatic no. For most premier division-I athletes they do not have to pay to attend school, as their athletic prowess has earned them a free education. The cost of attending one of these large schools in today’s world is astronomical and almost all of the kids attending school need some type of scholarship, loan, grant, or financial aid. The last time I checked having your education paid for is, in essence, being paid to play.

Why should today’s student-athletes be paid to play on top of a free education? They are already being paid and do not need to receive added benefits on top of this. This is turning into a labor union scenario where, in the beginning, the union tries to get basic needs for it constituents. This always quickly turns into asking for more vacation time, and then sick time, and then they need their birthdays off, and even in some instances unions have asked for their spouse’s birthdays off. This seems odd to me, but maybe I’m just crazy. In the end the union asks for so much it ends up like the little boy who cried wolf and the situation turns into something ugly. If we pay our student-athletes to play what will they want next? It is irrational and ridiculous to give kids free education at some of the best schools in the country and have to pay them on top of that.

Many colleges in these hard economic times are having a tough time as it is allocating enough money for scholarships for their players, paying salaries for coaches, and, oh yeah, that little thing called education too. How in the world are they going to be able to pay for all that AND pay for their top athletes to play too? This will result in schools cutting sports, reducing money that should be put into education, and all in all making it hard for colleges to get by. Where did the joy of playing sports just to play sports go? The best athletes in NCAA sports will end up getting paid in a short time anyway, once they go pro.

The beauty of watching NCAA sports is that the kids are playing for the love of the game. They play because its something they’re good at and that they have enjoyed doing for their entire childhood. They don’t do it for the money, the fame, or the publicity. For every John Wall there’s 25 Mark Tituses. They play because on Saturday afternoons they get to hit people for millions of people to see, because on Wednesday nights they can throw down a monster dunk on national television, and they play because in the end its what they love to do. They don’t need to be paid, let the fans enjoy this last stronghold of innocence and let’s protect the beauty of the student-athlete.

Indy Car Superstar Dan Wheldon Dies

Sport is something that brings people together from all walks of life, whether it be different race, gender or birthplace. Many of the die-hard fans want nothing more than a victory and act as if it means everything. I consider myself a huge sports fan but when something happens like what transpired today at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, everybody should take into consideration not only what your priorities should be in life, but also the risk that every race car driver takes while trying to entertain the fans. Today, 33-year old Indy Car driver, Dan Wheldon, passed away in an absolutely brutal crash that enveloped 15 cars in the wreckage.

Wheldon, who came from Emberton, England, won the Rookie of the Year Award driving for Andretti Green Racing and was an instant superstar. He began to bounce around between different rides but eventually continued his success by winning the Indianapolis 500 and the IRL Series Championship in 2005, just two seasons into his already storied career. This season, Wheldon won the Indianapolis 500 for a second time in dramatic fashion as rookie J.R. Hildebrand, who had just replaced him at the beginning of the season, crashed on the final turn. Wheldon was the first driver to ever win the Indy 500 while only leading a lap.

On behalf of all of us here at Hawks-Report, I am praying for wife, Susie Behm, and their two children, Sebastian (2) and Oliver (7 months).

You Want Frustration?

Sports may be the most unpredictable thing in the entire world. You can look at the splits, check out charts, even give players rankings, but in the end it all depends on how a person responds. Thats why sports are so beautiful andat times so, so ugly. The unpredictability keeps

people watching. Everyone fully expects the better team to win, but everyone watches for the times that they don't. We watch for the Appalachain States, we watch because a team that doesn't win a single game in an entire season can start their season two years later 5-0. We watch because a team thats cursed and down 3-0 in a best of seven series can still come back to win. We watch because even though we expect the best we fear the worst.

Case 1: The 2011 Philadelphia Phillies were put together for one purpose; to run buckshot through the regular season and dominate the play-offs with superb pitching and utimately finish their season with a ring on their fingers. Through 162 games the plan looked good. All the pieces were falling into place and maybe, just maybe the predictions would be right. More people than ever hopped on the bandwagon and for good reason. The Phillies pitching staff had done exactly what it was built to do, the hitters had performed well enough to get wins and everyone in Philly was happy. They even swept the last series of the year to keep their division rival Atlanta Braves from reaching the play-offs. Fatal Mistake. This allowed the St. Louis Cardinals, the hottest team in baseball to sneak into the play-offs. The Cardinals had a stellar line-up and pitching that was good enough, the exact opposite of the Phillies. Still, everyone expected the Phillies to win a championship. In 5 games the St. Louis Cardinals sent the Phillies home for the winter and shocked most of the baseball world. This is why we watch sports.

Case 2: The 2010 New Orleans Saints had made the play-offs as a wild card team the season after winning the super bowl. They were pretty darn good and were only the wild card team because the Atlanta Falcons had out done them. They drew what appeared on paper as the best match-up in the first round of the play-offs, the Seattle Seahawks. Everyone fully expected the Seahawks to be bounced in the first round by whoever they played because they were awful during the regular season and only made it to the play-offs because they played in the worst division in recent memory. They didn't like the thought of losing and one man in particular, Marshawn Lynch (hold mah dick!) decided it was his birthright to kick the living shit out of everyone on the Saints. So he did, and so did the rest of his team as they kicked the defending champs out of the play-offs. This is why we watch sports.

There are so many different upsets in the history of sports and thats what makes sports worth watching. Because the best team doesn't always win and the team that deserves to win doesn't always win. The heartbreak is what brings us fans back, theres something about losing that just makes us want more. No team can be perfect, no game is without concern, anxiety or stress. This is what makes sports beautiful, this is what makes sports ugly, and above all this is why we watch.

Eagles vs. Redskins Running Diary 2nd half

20 minutes of halftime and I got no homework done.


2:43- One minute and thirty seconds into second half and the Redskins are already into the redzone. Not a good start.

2:45- Although we have a 14 point lead, I am an Eagles fan and I know that this is starting to look like a choke job.

2:52- Vick Interception. I knew this was going to happen, they are falling apart just like Andy Reid has coached them to.

3:07- Why the hell is Vince Young in the game. I don't remember Vick getting hurt and Young turns his opportunity into a turnover.

3:17- 3rd and 17 so we go to a run play that gives us 8 yards. We were at about the 30 so they have the ball at there 33 instead of the 41, I'd give up those 8 yards to give us a chance to get the first down.

3:22- John Beck just ran for a first down against our defense us. Not saying he is a bad quarterback, but he is Rex Grossman's back up.

3:37- Did you know that John Beck is a third cousin Glen Beck, he is now my favorite football player.JK
It's right about now when we need to keep the ball away from Maclin and Avant.

3:40-Attention Rookie Punter:You are not suppose to kick the ball into the endzone, I think we have this game in the bag though.(crosses fingers)

Our Punter and Kicker have phonetically the same last name; weird!
p.s. couldn't find a picture of him with the Eagles, it's Chas Henry

3:44- Dodged a bullet right there, if only if Stallworth would of dodged that guy a couple years ago.

3:45- What the hell, a flag on that. Now the Redskins have life again.

3:48- Had a chance to put the nail in the coffin there, but of course we let them convert.

3:49- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, what did we do to deserve this? We the fans did not call them the dream team, it was the idiots that threw an interception(back up quarterback btw) and the defensive linemen who just let John Beck run in for a touchdown.
Maybe Washington will pull a Navy and miss the XP...No

You just had to say "Dream Team", plus you get in for one play and throw a pick. I blame this on you.

3:56- Even worse than me dropping McCoy, he is on my opponent's fantasy team.

4:01- We get this first done we win the game...................................At first glance I think we get it, off to the chain gang...

4:02 By half the football... Goodbye

Eagles vs. Redskins Running Diary 1st half

Let's see how this goes.

1:05- Get home from getting blown out in baseball. Glad to see they aren't losing yet.

1:08- Wow. Our defense has an interception, not something I'm use to seeing.

1:12- Close call by the refs, thought for sure that would call intentional grounding. Good to see we get a call for once but I have a feeling we aren't going to take advantage of it.

1:15- Brian Billick is a terrible color guy, I don't think he knows he is talking to a bunch of average guys. He is probably great at explaining film and situations to players, not my dad.

1:17- OMG, Avant didn't fumble.

1:18- Good old Andy Reid coaching. Wasting timeouts early in the game.

1:22- EAGLES touchdown. Andy Reid finally realized that the time for a 5 yard dump pass to Celek isn't on 3 and 15, it's when your in the redzone. On a side note this is a very visually appealing game, I love the Redskins Garnet-Garnet-Yellow look, by far my favorite of theirs. The Eagles always look good away but I give the edge to the green pants over the white ones.

1:36- The booth should give him this touchdown, I mean it will be his first touchdown in the NFL. If we don't get it, we need to quickly put Eckel back on the roster. These situations were made for him.

1:43- I'm glad to see that we scored that touchdown, good blocking by our line. Let's go back to the play on the 2nd down, we have the most athletic quarterback in the whole league who is only 6' and about 190 lbs and we try a QB sneak. Shouldn't we just let Michael Vick run a bootleg where he might find someone in the endzone, or outrun the defense for a touchdown.

1:48: I'm pretty sure Rex Grossman's wild throw down field was intentional grounding, there was nobody there. That was a bull call by the refs, he started the hit before they guy dropped the ball.

1:57- Celek is the key to the Eagles team. Jackson and Vick might be the stars but Celek comes up big all the time getting first dones and making catches like the one he just made.

1:58- 3rd and goal, so we pass a 5 yard curl route to Maclin who would of gotten tackled right away. #Fire Andy Reid.

2:07- Good to see Michael Vick showing everybody that he is best athlete the quarterback position has ever seen. We need to do this more often, capitalize on turnovers and then bury the opposition into the ground.

2:11- We need to take advantage of opportunities more often. Bad play calling is what leads to field goals inside the redzone.

2:18- This game is very frustrating for numerous reasons.

1. Andy Reid sucks at playcalling inside the 20, we have two field goals from within the 15 yard line. Those need to be touchdowns not only so that we get more points, but because Vick, Jackson, and Maclin are on my fantasy team.

2. I released Celek two weeks ago and he is having a huge day.

2:20-Brian Billick just referred to Juan Castillo as a young guy, he is 52 years old.

2:27- Halftime, which means I now have to do homework.

Cruz Cruisin

I've got some beef. Why in the world was Nelson Cruz allowed to hit six home runs in one play off series? It defies all logic and I simply cannot believe that the Tigers were so blind that they couldn't make an adjustment to get him out. Nelson Cruz is not that great of a hitter. He isn't Albert Pujols, Ryan Braun or Miguel Cabrera. He is not a hitter that makes good pitches look like meatballs and he doesn't do crazy things with a bat that mortals can't fathom.

Case in point, game 5 of the ALCS. Granted he was facing Justin Verlander arguably the best pitcher in baseball right now and without a doubt one of two pitchers with absolutely unhittable stuff. Following is the pitch sequence to Nelly Cruz. Pitch 1 - Fastball that is so right down the middle that I'm sure Nelson couldn't believe it was happening. Pitch 2 - Fastball up in the strike zone that Cruz apparently didn't agree with despite the fact that it was belt high over the middle. Pitch 3 - A hanging curveball that should've been hit 98375789235 feet. Cruz almost crapped his pants and made a swing that would make every little league uncoordinated benchwarmer everywhere proud. Three pitches, one out.

Nelson Cruz receiving ALCS MVP

Nelson is a professional hitter and he gets paid to mash the ball all over the park, but he is also facing professional pitchers and their staff of video watching, chart making, analysts. One would think that eventually someone in the Tigers organization would say hey, Nelson Cruz can't hit a pitch low and away and throw every pitch of every at bat there. Look at his slugging chart which is a tomato red over the middle of the plate, inside, high, low, but wait! What is this blue/black we see on the outside corner? Thats exactly where anyone with half a brain should pitch Nelson Cruz until he proves he can hit it.

The same problem occured last year with the Philadelphia Phillies in their NLCS matchup with the San Francisco Giants. They ran up against the Cody Ross brigade who apparently loves to hit pitches on the low inside corner and apparently the Phillies pitchers loved getting whiplash from watching Cody Ross destroy balls over the left field fence. I know blind men who could tell you where you absolutely couldn't throw a pitch to Cody Ross. However, the Phillies pitchers didn't get it and got hurt again, and again, and again.

My problem is not that Nelson Cruz broke the record for hitting the most homeruns in a playoff series. Congratulations to Cruz. My problem lies with pitchers who get paid to throw pitches, coaches who get paid to tell them where to pitch it, and analysts who tell the coaches where hitters can't hit. All I'm saying is that if any team out there needs someone with a little common sense, I'm available.