Anthony Stalter (under TheScoresReport) and I (under fantasytips) will be tweeting throughout Week 3. Feel free to ask us questions, call us names, whatever…
Category: External Sports (Page 521 of 821)
According to a report by AOL Fanhouse.com, MLB will now oversee the use of humidor balls at Coors Field following a compliant by the Giants, who have accused the Rockies of using “non-humidor” balls in the teams’ three-game series this weekend.
Tim Lincecum, who made a start two days again in Colorado, could be seen curising on the field when tossing a ball back to the umpire during the sixth inning. He went on to pitch eight innings while giving up just one run in a 2-1 Giants’ victory.
The Rockies are 51-26 at home this year compared to just 31-46 on the road, but that of course doesn’t mean that they’re cheating. Most baseball teams play better at home than they do on the road, although this isn’t the first time the Rockies have been accused of using juiced balls either.
Would anyone be surprised if someone with the Rockies slipped some “non-humidor” balls to the opposing pitcher in a tight pennant race? I wouldn’t – especially with Lincecum on the hill. And if the Rockies were cheating, it makes Lincecum’s outing the other night even more impressive.
I doubt we’ll see MLB do anything about this issue. The Rockies will probably go on to miss the playoffs, this story will die down and then it’ll resurface next year when another team accusing them of juicing their balls. (Juicing their balls? On a Sunday morning? I mean really, that’s just not right…)
After picking all the games in Week 1, last week was the first time I limited my predictions to only four games. And after a 2-1-1 Sunday – I’m hot! On fire, really…
The Packers and Bengals were winners in Week 2, while the Raiders (thanks to a backdoor cover by the Rams) were losers and the Redskins (thanks to being jerk-faces and blowing a lead against the Texans) were a push.
Here are my top 4 predictions for Week 3 in the NFL:
Steelers at Buccaneers +1.5, Sunday, 1:00PM ET
This game looks a little too good to be true. The Steelers’ defense has been lights out early in the season and despite their 2-0 record, the Bucs still have plenty of issues offensively. So take the Steelers and lay the measly 1.5 points right? Well first of all, don’t tell me what to do. Second of all, something smells funny to me. For the third week in a row the Steelers will try to run the ball 60 times out of the 60 offensive plays they run and lean on the defense to create turnovers so they can eek out another field goal-riddled victory. The problem is that Tampa is playing with a ton of confidence right now and are catching Pittsburgh at the right time. For starters, Charlie Batch will once again start under center, limiting the Steelers’ effectiveness on offense. This is also the second time in as many weeks that Pittsburgh has to play on the road and also has a huge divisional game coming up next week against Baltimore – which oh-by-the-way is a week before Big Ben returns from his suspension. This is a classic look-ahead game for the Steelers, who get caught with their pants down. (Uh, okay that was probably in poor taste given the Roethlisbathroom situation. My apologizes.)
THE PICK: BUCCANEERS +1.5
Cowboys +2.5 at Texans, Sunday, 1:00PM ET
This is another game people are probably licking their chops at: a 2-0 Texans team playing at home against a pitiful 0-2 Cowboys team? And I only have to lay 2.5 points? Sign me up. The problem is that the Texans are another team (kind of like the Steelers, but even more so) that is due for a letdown. They’re coming off two emotional wins (one over their biggest bully and the second in come-from-behind fashion) and now come home to face a Cowboys team that is reeling. And the problem with reeling teams is that you’re probably going to get their best effort because they’re desperate for a win. There’s no doubt the Cowboys should be focused and with Houston missing left tackle Duane Brown (suspension), it could come this weekend. I don’t expect the Texans to score over 30 points again like they did the last two weeks and DeMarcus Ware could have a huge day pressuring Matt Schaub with Brown out. I like Dallas to get the straight up win.
THE PICK: COWBOYS +2.5
Oklahoma is off to a 4-0 start, but it’s one of the more strange 4-0 starts I can remember seeing.
The Sooners struggled in Week 1 with Utah State, destroyed what was thought to be a very good Florida State team in Week 2, squeaked by a solid, but not elite Air Force team in Week 3 and just minutes ago survived a scare from a less-than-stellar Cincinnati team. All that matters is the 4-0 start, obviously, but isn’t it a little alarming that the Sooners seem to be playing down to some of their opponents?
Since winning the national title in 2000, Bob Stoops-coached Oklahoma teams have a slightly disturbing habit of losing to inferior teams. Stoops often catches crap for losing in bowl games, but to me, stuff like that is forgivable. It’s when a team loses concentration and struggles to put away a team that it should have no problem burying that I worry about.
One problem Oklahoma runs into is that I’m sure these teams make this the biggest game of their season. Utah State could go 1-11, but if the win is over Oklahoma, fans will never forget that team. Tonight’s near-giveaway against Cincinnati could also be attributed to having Texas next week. It’s the biggest game on the schedule for the Sooners, and perhaps they started to look ahead a little too soon.
Again, the Sooners haven’t lost any of these games this year, and maybe Utah State, Air Force and Cincinnati will go on to have great seasons, we don’t know yet. We do know that these aren’t isolated incidents, however, and the precedent for losing one is there.
While the face of college football is constantly changing, one thing seems to remain a constant: If you can play good defense and run the ball, you’re going to win a lot of football games.
Alabama has those qualities, which is why its the reigning national champion, and the current No. 1 team in the country.
The Tide fell behind today, but on the back of its defense and run game clawed back into its game with Arkansas and eventually picked up a 24-20 win in front of a raucous crowd in Fayetteville.
Mark Ingram ran for 157 yards, many of which came with one or more Razorback on his back. His counterpart Trent Richardson added 85 more yards, and the team finished with 228 on the ground. It was punctuated with a 2-yard run by Greg McElroy on fourth-and-inches from midfield with under a minute to play. I’d say Nick Saban made a gutty call going for it in that situation, but I don’t know if anyone had any doubt the Tide was going to convert at that point.
The defense gave up some yards to Ryan Mallett, who threw for 357, but they also forced a career-high three interceptions from the highly-touted quarterback. Two of those came in the final 5 minutes, one setting up the go-ahead score. Arkansas isn’t much of a running team, but it was held to 64 yards on 20 carries.
This was just the first game in a really tough three-game stretch for Alabama, but it’s arguably the toughest of the three. Florida is next, but that’s at home, and the Gators’ offense doesn’t seem like it will pose much of a threat. That’s followed by a trip to South Carolina, and while the Gamecocks look much improved this year, I don’t think they’re ready for the Crimson Tide.
I had my doubts early in the year about Alabama’s chances to repeat, but Ingram and Richardson can run on anyone, and that defense — which just passed what will be its toughest test of the season — is only going to continue to get better. At this point, I don’t know who can beat the Tide.
FOLLOW US!
CATEGORIES
© 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑