Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 1112 of 1503)

      Holy comeback Batman – Red Sox overcome 7-0 deficit to beat Rays

      October 16, 2008 /

      Boston Red SoxWith their 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of the ALCS, the Boston Red Sox overcame the second largest deficit in postseason history and saved their season for at least the time being.

      Lets put the Red Sox historic comeback on ice for a moment and talk about the complete collapse by the Rays, who took a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning but managed to squander it in the final three frames.

      The game was over…the series was finished…Fenway vendors were hanging up their beer carriers for the final time…fans started pulling out their New England Patriots 2008 Team Handbook to learn more about Matt Cassel…Dice-K looked like crap…Scott Kazmir looked like Cy Young…see-ya Boston – thanks for coming out.

      As is usually the case with most defeats, this wasn’t a complete team loss by Tampa. No, the Rays’ bullpen just flat out blew it. When you build a 7-0 lead and your starter goes six strong while only allowing two hits and no runs, you win the game. Period. But hey, give Boston credit. This is what veteran teams do – they don’t give up. They got their ass kicked for three straight games but found a way to win when everything was on the line. This is a huge momentum swing and one that maybe a young Rays team won’t be ready to bounce back from.

      The good news for Tampa is that they get to head home and they get two cracks at trying to win one game. If someone told them that they would take 2 of 3 in Boston before the series started, I’m sure they would have gladly accepted. But to lose this way is crushing and if they don’t win Game 6, it’s going to be awfully hard to top a veteran club like the Red Sox in the most pressure-packed situation. (Especially considering Boston was in a similar scenario last year when they beat Cleveland after falling behind 3-1 in the series.)

      MLB

      Best and Worst of College Football’s First Half

      October 16, 2008 /

      Rivals.com put together its best and worst moments from the first half of college football.

      Colt McCoy5 MOST IMPORTANT THINGS WE’VE LEARNED
      1. THE BIG 12 IS THE NATION’S BEST CONFERENCE. Yeah, yeah, defense wins championships. But the offenses in this conference would cause a video game to short-circuit. Never before has one conference had so much firepower. As we turn the corner on the halfway mark, the Big 12 has four teams –Texas, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State – ranked in the top 10. And Missouri and Kansas are in the top 20.

      5 THINGS WE’RE STILL WAITING TO LEARN
      2. IS NOTRE DAME BACK? The Irish are 4-2. But, honestly, who have they beaten? Even if the Fighting Irish march on to finish 9-3, we won’t know how good this program is until next fall.

      5 BEST MOVES
      3. OHIO STATE HANDS ITS OFFENSE TO TERRELLE PRYOR. It took some guts to hand the starting quarterback job to a true freshman, particularly since incumbent starter Todd Boeckman had directed the Buckeyes to a BCS Championship Game appearance. But Ohio State has looked like an entirely different team with Pryor at the helm.

      5 WORST MOVES
      1. AUBURN SWITCHING TO THE SPREAD OFFENSE. Auburn has the type of championship-caliber defense that could have made the Tigers a top-10 team as long as their offense was merely competent. Switching to the spread when you don’t have players suited to that offense assured Auburn would waste all the talent it had assembled on the other side of the ball.

      5 HOTTEST SEATS
      2. TYRONE WILLINGHAM, WASHINGTON. It’s not if but when he will be asked to turn in his keys. When he leaves, Willingham can know he has left the place better than he found it.

      Do yourself and click on the link to check out the entire article because it’s great.

      And speaking of the disaster that is Willingham and Washington, the Huskies are 42-point underdogs at home this Saturday against USC. Forty-two point underdogs…at home…and the Trojans are probably a lock to cover…seriously.

      College Football

      Polamalu: NFL becoming “pansy” game

      October 16, 2008 /

      Pittsburgh Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu is fed up with the NFL fining players for what he deems are hard hits and says the league is making football a “pansy” game.

      Troy Polamalu“It loses so much of its essence, and it really becomes like a pansy game,” the Steelers’ Pro Bowl strong safety said.

      “I think regarding the evolution of football, it’s becoming more and more flag football, two-hand touch. We’ve really lost the essence of what real American football is about. I think it’s probably all about money. They’re not really concerned about safety.”

      “You have to figure out how to tackle people a new way,” he said. “There’s such a fine line. I guess, hitting quarterbacks late and whether they’re going to slide or come forward — it’s too much.
      “If you look at any sport, maybe besides mixed martial arts, it’s a real gladiator sport. We go out there at a high speed, killing each other.”

      “You see guys like Dick Butkus and those types of really raw, old-school, pound-it-out football players; they could never survive in a game like this today.

      “The Ronnie Lotts, the Jack Tatums — these guys who really went after people. They were that way because the game was physical. They couldn’t survive in this type of game. They wouldn’t have enough money because they’d be paying fines, and then they’d be suspended for a year after they did it two games in a row.”

      I agree with Polamalu to a certain extent. He’s right that the game was bred on tough athletes that played the game hard and who were flat out trying to kill each other. But most of those guys can’t even walk now and I think the league is trying to take care of its current players more than it did in the past. I also think that the NFL is money-hungry and wants to line its pockets too, so I guess you could go either way on this issue.

      It’s hard to argue with Polamalu’s overall stance, though.

      NFL

      Kitna: Lions used injury to make change at quarterback

      October 16, 2008 /

      Jon Kitna is claiming that the Lions used his back injury in order to make a change at the quarterback position. Kitna was placed on IR on Tuesday.

      Jon Kitna“Was there reasonable cause to put me on IR? Yeah, because they said there’s a bulging disk. But the reality is, most guys have bulging disks,” Kitna said in the interview.

      “I really feel like I could have played last Sunday at probably above 90 percent health-wise,” he said in the interview. “I played the last two years most of the time probably 75 to 80 percent health-wise with different type of things.”

      It’s hard to argue with the Lions for wanting to make a change, especially after they fired GM Matt Millen. They’re trying to figure out what they have on their roster and if either Dan Orlovsky or Drew Stanton can develop at quarterback. It sounds like Kitna understands that, but due to his competitive nature he understandably wants to play.

      One had to imagine that Kitna would struggle this year without Mike Martz, which he has. His interceptions in the fourth quarter cost Detroit a chance to make a remarkable comeback against the Packers and that wasn’t the first time he has made terrible mistakes late in games. But he gave that team a true leader and made a lot of the players accountable for their actions. Eventually that’s what the Lions need in a quarterback, but unfortunately for Kitna it looks like his time in Detroit is over.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Housekeepers gank David Beckham and High Maintenance Spice’s stuff

      October 16, 2008 /

      It doesn’t matter how well you think you know someone, always keep an eye on your sh*t.


      David & Victoria Beckham      British newspapers are reporting that two people who worked for David Beckham and his wife were arrested after some of the couple’s possessions were spotted on an Internet auction site.

      Both the tabloid Sun and the Daily Mirror say in Tuesday’s editions that two housekeepers at the Beckham’s mansion northeast of London were arrested and questioned by police last week.

      The newspapers say some of Beckham’s soccer memorabilia had been placed on eBay. Dresses belonging to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham were also reportedly for sale.

      No one has been charged. Hertfordshire Police said only that they are investigating a theft. Representatives of the Beckhams declined to comment.

      The final count isn’t in yet, but last time I checked the numbers show that Posh Spice’s underwear was getting almost 10-times the Ebay bids than David’s old soccer memorabilia.

      General Sports, Soccer

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