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      Sabathia, A-Rod carry Yankees again

      October 21, 2009 /

      For the time being, CC Sabathia and Alex Rodriguez have completely silenced their critics.

      Sabathia held the Angels to one earned run over eight innings on Tuesday night as the Yankees earned a 10-1 victory to go up three-games-to-one in the ALCS. Rodriguez went three-for-four on the night with three runs scored, two RBI and a home run, which was his third of the postseason.

      Both of these players have been ridiculed in the past for their lousy postseason play, but are now carrying their club. Sabathia is absolutely dominating hitters while pitching late into ballgames, while A-Rod is hitting a scoring .375, which leads all New York batters.

      This win was huge for the Yankees because if they can’t close things out in Game 5, the Angels have to go back to New York for two games. If the Yankees can’t win one of two at home, then they didn’t deserve to go to the World Series anyway.

      MLB

      Redskins Hold Press Conference to Announce They Are Still Sort of a Football Team

      October 21, 2009 /

      Reason #581 why I love The Onion…

      WASHINGTON—Washington Redskins head coach Jim Zorn held a press conference Sunday to reassure fans that, despite an inability to effectively execute their offense, defense, or special teams, the Redskins were still somewhat comparable to a real football team. “It’s been a tough season so far, and even though we are 2-4, we still have players, uniforms, Motorola headsets—all the components that technically constitute an NFL team, sort of,” Zorn said while grimacing and making a “so-so” gesture with his hand.

      Read the rest after the jump.

      Humor, NFL

      Defensive Team By Waiver Wire (DTBWW): Week 7

      October 21, 2009 /

      The strategy behind DTBWW is that each week, you pick up a defense, preferably one playing at home against a bad offense. And each week, you get pretty good numbers out of your DT position. To see how this approach performed last season, click here.

      Last week, I recommended three DTBWW picks. Let’s see how they fared…

      #1 Bengals: 2 SK + 1 INT + 1 FR = 4 fantasy points
      #2 Redskins: 14 PA (4) + 5 SK = 9 fp
      #3 Jaguars: 1 SK + 1 INT = 2 fp

      The Texans have a pretty potent offense, so in hindsight it probably wasn’t too smart to take the Bengals, even if they’ve been playing good defense this year. The Jaguars were a disaster, which is a shame, because I was thisclose to recommending the Bucs, who had 16 points against the Panthers. (I did mention Tampa Bay as a bonus pick.) The deciding factor? Anthony Stalter thought the Jags’ DT was a bit better. Thanks for nothing, Stalter.

      For the season, my #1 pick is averaging 10.5 ppg, #2 is averaging 9.2 and #3 is averaging 8.3. Combining all the picks, DTBWW is averaging 9.3 points per game. Those are DT7 numbers.

      Let’s take a look at this week’s picks. Keep in mind that to be eligible for DTBWW, a defense must be available in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

      Pick #1: Indianapolis Colts (@ STL)
      The Colts are reasonably healthy, well-rested and pretty solid all-around. The Rams’ offense has looked a little better the last couple of weeks, but Donnie Avery is hobbled and Indy should be able to pressure the statuesque Marc Bulger.

      Pick #2: Buffalo Bills (@ CAR)
      Despite their offensive woes, the Bills have been pretty solid defenisvely. They are fantasy’s 8th-ranked defense and have averaged 8.1 fppg. They face the Panthers, who have been awful offensively. Fantasy defenses are averaging 14.4 against Carolina.

      Pick #3: Oakland Raiders (vs. NYJ)
      The sheen is off of Mark Sanchez and the verdict is in: He really is a rookie quarterback. Fantasy defenses have scored 9.3 ppg against the Jets through six weeks, and the Saints and Bills have gone for 26 and 12, respectively, in the last three weeks. Meanwhile, the Raiders are showing some life, as evidenced by their performance against a pretty potent Eagles’ offense in Week 6. Nnamdi Asomugha should be back in the lineup and the Jets won’t be helped by a cross country flight.

      Bonus Pick: If you run out of options, the Panthers play at home against a Bills offense that will probably run Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB.

      Fantasy Football, NFL

      Should Ohio State bench Terrelle Pryor?

      October 20, 2009 /

      Gerardo Orlando of Cleveland Scores wonders whether or not Ohio State should bench highly touted sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

      As an Ohio State fan, it’s hard to imagine watching Pryor play quarterback for two more seasons. The Buckeyes are loaded on defense, and they have a solid offense as well, even with a mediocre offensive line. All they need right now to compete is a quarterback who can hit open receivers and avoid turnovers. They don’t need a Vince Young or even a Troy Smith. Put Craig Krenzel on this team and the Buckeyes are competing for a national championship. Instead, we have the Terrelle Pryor train wreck, and an excellent defense is being wasted.

      Pryor chose Ohio State because he wanted a program that could help him develop as a future NFL quarterback. That seems like a pipe dream now. The kid needs to focus on just being a competent college quarterback.

      What should Tressel do? Would sitting Pryor help? Tressel needs to consider this if Pryor continues to turn over the football. He owes it to the other players on the team.

      In the meantime, short of benching Pryor, Tressel needs to rethink what he’s trying to do on offense (the issue of Tressel calling the plays will be addressed another time). We can see he’s already tried to incorporate the option more into the offense, but we’re seeing that Pryor’s instincts aren’t much better there. Perhaps with practice he’ll get better, as the option at least plays to his running ability. Tressel should toss aside a good chunk of the playbook and go to a much simpler offense. Focus on running the football, the option, and other Wildcat-type plays, and have Pryor make much simpler throws that play off the running game. Dig up old tape from Oklahoma and Nebraska from the 1970’s, or even most of the Woody Hayes years. Keep it simple until the kid shows he can handle more.

      Buckeye fans often get frustrated with Tressel’s conservative play-calling, but opening up the offense is not the solution here. He has to pull things back and start over. And, if Pryor can’t cut it in a simpler offense, then Tressel will have to make a change.

      Well said. I could get into all of the things Pryor is currently struggling with, but the article does a nice job going into detail about the sophomore quarterback’s issues with arm strength, accuracy, mechanics, pocket presence, decision-making and leadership.

      I find it interesting that Pryor was between Ohio State and Michigan two years ago and he might have been a better fit for Rich Rodriguez’s offense than Tressel’s. Not that Pryor has run the option well at OSU, but at least Rich Rod could have exploited Pryor’s running abilities.

      That said, hindsight is always 20/20. If Pryor isn’t cut out to be a collegiate quarterback, then Ann Arbor wasn’t going to solve his issues.

      College Football

      Eagles land Will Witherspoon

      October 20, 2009 /

      The Eagles acquired linebacker Will Witherspoon from the Rams at the trade deadline on Tuesday. In exchange for Witherspoon, St. Louis acquired wide receiver Brandon Gibson and a 2010 fifth round pick.

      Witherspoon had been playing the weak side linebacker position for the Rams, but he has experience in the middle, which has been a weakness for the Eagles since Stewart Bradley was lost for the season in training camp. Stewart’s replacements, Jeremiah Trotter and Omar Gaither, are fine against the run but have been a liability in coverage.

      Gibson was a sixth round pick of the Eagles’ in April. He impressed Philadelphia’s coaching staff in training camp, but was never going to see the field with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and others in front of him. St. Louis has had a major need at receiver, especially since Laurent Robinson was lost for the year with a knee injury.

      As expected, the trade deadline came and went without any big names being dealt. Rumors circulated last week that Brady Quinn, Joshua Cribbs and/or Terrell Owens might be traded, but nothing came to fruition.

      NFL

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