Monday, October 7, 2013

MONDAY, MONDAY. October 7th, 2013

In the MLB playoffs, the Pirates and the Dodgers are in the driver’s seats as they took 2-1 leads in their respective series yesterday.  The Pirates beat the Cardinals 5-3, while the Dodgers defeated the Braves 13-6.  The Pirates and Dodgers can end their best-of-five series today with wins at home.  In the American League, Boston leads their series with Tampa 2 games to none, and the Tigers and A’s are tied 1-1.  Both those series resume today in Oakland and in Tampa.  

Here are the game capsules and summaries for both the National League and American League divisional series:



You’ll need to keep the TV remote handy if you want to catch all of today’s action.  Four games on tap today:  

Tigers @ A’s (Series tied, 1-1)

Jarrod Parker vs Anibal Sanchez 1:00 pm MLB NETWORK

Cardinals @ Pirates ( Pirates lead Series 2-1)

Michael Wacha vs Charlie Morton 3:00 pm TBS

Red Sox @ Rays ( Red Sox lead Series 2-0)

Clay Buchholz vs Alex Cobb 6:00 pm TBS

Braves @ Dodgers ( Dodgers lead Series 2-1)

Freddy Garcia vs Ricky Nolasco 9:30 pm TBS

Here is the complete post season schedule in MLB:


In other baseball news, 

Joe Torre talks about Don Mattingly and Joe Girardi, the two men who succeeded him in Los Angeles and New York, respectively:


The Mets’ Matt Harvey decided to have Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2014 season:


In the story that refuses to go away quietly, the A-Rod appeal hearing will take a break this week, as the arbitrator had other prior commitments.  It looks like it will resume the week of October 14th.  

Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News sees Alex Rodriguez as the second coming of Lance Armstrong:


Could this strategy backfire?


The Miami Herald had an investigative report on their front page on Sunday:


Let’s go to the gridiron:

The Dolphins couldn’t keep the Baltimore pass rush from sacking Ryan Tannehill six times yesterday, including four times in the fourth quarter, and the Fins fell to the Ravens 26-23.  Rookie kicker Caleb Sturgis’ 57-yard field goal attempt that would have sent the game into overtime was wide to the left.  The Dolphins had a second down and 10 from the Ravens 34 with just under a minute left in the contest, but a sack by Elvis Dumervil basically took the Fins out of a makable field goal range.  

Miami’s offensive line has allowed 24 sacks in their first five games, a figure that they must improve on if they are going to be a contender instead of a pretender.  They go into the bye week with the task of making the necessary adjustments and changes to alleviate the problem and give Tannehill and the offense a fighting chance.

Another thought to ponder.  As much as the lack of an effective running game can also be traced back to the offensive line, when are the Dolphins going to realize that Daniel Thomas is not the answer at running back?  Give Lamar Miller all the touches at the position until you decide that he isn’t the answer.  The waiver wire or a trade may be something to consider.  I hear Maurice Jones-Drew may be available.

Here are the scores from this week in the NFL:

THURSDAY

Cleveland 37  Buffalo 24

YESTERDAY

Baltimore 26 Miami 23

Cincinnati 13 New England 6

Indianapolis 34 Seattle 28

Denver 51 Dallas 48   (Denver minus 9 points)

San Francisco 34 Houston 3

New Orleans 26 Chicago 18

Green Bay 22 Detroit 9

Kansas City 26 Tennessee 17

St. Louis 34 Jacksonville 20

Philadelphia 36 NY Giants 21

Arizona 22 Carolina 6

Oakland 27 San Diego 17
  
MONDAY

NY Jets @ Atlanta -9 1/2 8:30 pm ESPN

The visiting Jets could be what the doctor ordered for the Atlanta Falcons.  The Atlanta defense is licking their chops to get after Jets rookie QB Geno Smith, who leads the league in turnovers with 11 - eight interceptions and three fumbles.  The Falcons are having trouble scoring in the red zone, and the Jets aren’t exactly pushovers on defense.  Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones had huge games last week, and they are looking to build on that, especially during the absence of injured running back Steven Jackson.  I just don’t see the Jets being able to outscore the Falcons.  I’ll stick with the Falcons at home and give the nine and a half points.

I’m 3-3 against the spread so far this week, 4-2 straight up.  Pending tonight’s game between the Jets and the Falcons, my season numbers so far are:  20-13-2 against the spread, and 25-10 straight up. 

Here are the capsules and summaries for all the games so far this week:


In Dolphin news:




Armando Salguero has more:



Here’s ESPN’s NFL Nation Blog, with more news from all around the league:


Of course, we can all continue to sleep at night, knowing full well that Aaron Hernandez remains in jail, where he belongs.  

In college football, all seven Division 1 football teams located in the state of Florida won on Saturday as UM, FIU, FAU, South Florida, Central Florida, Florida, and Florida State all were victorious.  Trust me when I tell you . . . that does not happen very often.
  

Manny Navarro and Susan Miller Degnan have all the latest from Coral Gables:


Here’s the latest from FIU, courtesy of David J. Neal:



Here’s the latest from Tallahassee and FSU:


From Gainesville and the University of Florida:


Here are the NCAA Football rankings for this week.  Florida State moves up to #6, Miami is #13, and the Gators are #17:  


Here is the complete results schedule in College Football for week 6:


In Miami Heat news, the Heat take the court today in their first preseason game as they take on the Hawks at the AAA.  Game time is at 7:30 pm, and you can watch the game on Sun Sports on your cable or satellite system.

The Heat had a special guest at practice:


TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The Heat are shooting for their third consecutive NBA Championship this year, something that has only been accomplished five previous times in the history of the NBA.  Who dunnit?  The answers comes later, alligator.

In the NHL, after winning their opener, the Florida Panthers got walloped in St. Louis on Saturday night:


George Richards has all the latest on the Panthers:


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I’m selling three lots totaling a little over five acres in the beautiful North Carolina mountains, overlooking the New River, a quick 35-minute drive from Boone and Blowing Rock.  Click here to see some photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions: 


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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION:  The Heat are shooting for their third consecutive NBA Championship this year, something that has only been accomplished five previous times in the history of the NBA.  Who dunnit?   

The Minneapolis Lakers (1952-54), the Boston Celtics (1959-66, eight in row), Chicago Bulls (1991-93 and 1996-98) and the Los Angeles Lakers (2000-02)
Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day. 

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