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      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      September 26, 2009 /

      There are only eight days left in the regular season, barring any one-game playoffs, and aside from the AL Central, most races are all but over. The Red Sox have a chance to make up ground on the Yankees, but the Yanks have already clinched a playoff berth. Here are your power rankings this week….

      1. New York Yankees (98-56)—If they sweep the Sox this weekend, the AL East race will officially be over. But both teams appear certainly headed to the big dance.

      2. Los Angeles Dodgers (92-62)—Quietly moving up and close to clinching the NL West while their cross-town pals are struggling.

      3. Boston Red Sox (91-62)—This team has got to be making the Yankees and their fans nervous, even if the Yanks have made the playoffs, because they just keep winning. But, see #1.

      4. Los Angeles Angels (90-63)—It’s a good thing the Rangers are playing like crap, otherwise the Angels would be looking in the rear view mirror.

      5. Philadelphia Phillies (89-64)—Getting hot as the weather cools down.

      6. St. Louis Cardinals (89-65)—The magic number still at one.

      7. Colorado Rockies (87-67)—Some days the Rockies look like they might catch the Dodgers, but lately they are trying to fend off the Braves and Giants for that wild card.

      8. Detroit Tigers (82-71)—The Twins remain 2 games back, and the Tigers have not exactly set the world on fire the past month.

      9. Atlanta Braves (83-70)—Bobby Cox’s teams never quit and they are hanging tough in the wild card race.

      10. San Francisco Giants (82-72)—Now the clock is really ticking. The Cubs, of all teams, hurt the Giants’ chances badly again last night.

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, MLB

      College Football Week 4 Snapshot Previews

      September 26, 2009 /

      Here’s a quick look at the top 10 action this week in college football.

      No. 1 Florida at Kentucky, 6:00PM ET
      The Gators have beaten the Wildcats 22 straight times by an average margin of victory of 28.8 in the past 15 contests. But up to six Florida players missed practice this week due to the flu and this is the first time the Gators hit the road in ’09. Will Kentucky keep things close?

      UTEP at No. 2 Texas, 2:45PM ET
      The Longhorns are 25-1 against teams outside the Big 12 since the start of the 2004 season, while the Miners have lost 10 straight against top 25 teams. There should be no letdown in Austin today for Colt McCoy and company.

      Arkansas at No. 3 Alabama, 3:30PM ET
      The Crimson Tide rank No. 3 in the nation in total defense, but will be tested by Ryan Mallett and Bobby Petrino’s spread offense, which ranks second in the nation. The key to this game will be whether or not the Razorbacks can stop Alabama’s balanced attack.

      Iowa at No. 5 Penn State, 8:00PM ET
      The Nittany Lions saw their national title hopes dashed last year in Iowa, so PSU will have revenge on its mind today. The Lions have won 24 straight home games against unranked opponents.

      No. 6 Cal at Oregon, 3:30PM ET
      With wins over Utah and Purdue the past two weeks, the Ducks have bounced back nicely after losing to Boise State in embarrassing fashion in their opener. But can they slow down Heisman candidate Jahvid Best? Nobody has yet.

      No. 7 LSU at Mississippi State, 12:00PM ET
      The Tigers have won nine in a row against the Bulldogs, outscoring them 374-105 since 1999. Mississippi State owns the 20th best rushing attack in college football, which will be a great test for LSU’s stingy defense.

      No. 8 Boise State at Bowling Green, 7:00PM ET
      Bowling Green will host a top 10 team for the first time in school history. Boise State will be without running back D.J. Harper (who suffered a torn ACL), although Jeremy Avery is more than capable of taking over as the Broncos’ primary back.

      No. 9 Miami at No. 11 Virginia Tech, 3:30PM ET
      The top matchup this week in college football takes place in Blacksburg. Miami is averaging 35.5 points and leads the ACC with 465 yards of total offense per game. The Canes will play their third consecutive game against a top 25 opponent for the first time since 2001. Can quarterback Jacory Harris led the Canes to another victory and get this team closer to an ACC title?

      For Week 4 point spreads click here and for Week 4 picks and predictions click here.

      College Football

      2009 NHL Preview: Calgary Flames

      September 25, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Calgary Flames…

      SUMMER SPLASH

      * Brent Sutter was named new coach in June.

      * Hoping to both sure up the defense (a top priority for the new coach) and improve on the Power Play (the Flames finished 21st last season), the Flames made big news with the off-season addition of Jay Bouwmeester.

      * Flames’ second overall scoring leader Michael Cammalleri signed with Montreal creating a vacancy in the ‘netting goals’ department. Will Olli Jokinen (obtained at last season’s trade deadline) allow Calgary to bypass ‘replacing’ Cammalleri? Time will tell, but Jokinen seemed to be a good fit in Calgary at the conclusion of the regular season and in the six playoff games against Chicago.

      * Jordan (Easy Come, Easy Go) Leopold is gone (again) as part of the Bouwmeester deal but the Flames brought back the feisty fan favorite, Brandon Prust.

      * Adrian Aucoin signed with Phoenix and Big Todd the Bertuzzi is moving to Detroit.

      Interesting Flames Factoid: Calgary has lost each of its season openers in the previous four seasons. Now, if I were a betting man….

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      2009 NHL Preview: Buffalo Sabres

      September 25, 2009 /

      We’ve partnered with On Goal Analysis to bring you a team-by-team preview of the upcoming NHL season. (Just scroll down on the OGA website and hit the calendar.) Here is the preview for the Buffalo Sabres…

      Team Play: ISSUE – What’s old is new again, right? As the picture of the day on the OGA home page indicates, there will be a lot of clock watching this season in Buffalo. There will be games left with thoughts of ‘…If I only had a little more time…’ when the thought should really be ‘…If we’d ‘a only scored more goals….’ That’s because a sampling of off-season transactions indicates barely any change to this team. Mike Grier is in for knuckles; Steve Montador arrives to replace Jaroslav Spacek(!?); and Joe DiPenta and Cody McCormick are present for duty. That’s not a lot of additions, which implies (with the loss of Max Afinogenov and possibly an as-yet un-signed Drew Stafford) some room for Nathan Gerbe and Tim Kennedy to step up. But it equally says there may be trouble putting the biscuit in the basket.

      We had a look at the CBS Sports page for the Sabres which has a projected line pairing of Vanek-Roy-Pominville from left to right on No. 1 and Hecht-Connolly-Stafford on No. 2. Line 1 is the team’s formidable pairing. On Line 2, however, Connolly has not been healthy for an entire season since 2001-02 and Stafford remains an unsigned RFA at the time of this posting. So that leaves you with a potential mix of depth players to match up/call up throughout the season. That will equal some turmoil in the forward ranks from Line 2 on down.

      On the blueline, ‘Houston, we have a problem…’ is an accurate characterization of the situation. None of the projected top six defenders scored even five goals last year (the average is 2.5), they were a combined +11 (bolstered mostly by Steve Montador’s +17 with Boston last year), and none broke an average of 22 minutes per game TOI.

      Click here to read the rest of the preview (which includes the site’s unique Playoff Qualifying Curve and fantasy information) at the On Goal Analysis site.

      NHL

      Browns’ rookie throws punch, ice in locker room fight

      September 25, 2009 /

      Things are getting a little testy between players of the 0-2 Browns.

      According to a report by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, rookie defensive back Coye Francies threw a bucket of ice at several teammates after he was a victim of a prank, then threw a punch at veteran safety Abram Elam.

      Francies burst into the locker dripping wet and carrying a Gatorade bucket full of ice and water. Apparently, his teammates had dumped a bucket on him and he was looking for revenge.

      The incident happened during the media’s open locker room period. Francies threw half the bucket toward cornerback Brandon McDonald, some at safety Mike Adams and then headed toward Elam. When he got to Elam, he threw a punch, but Elam grabbed his arm. Before it got out of hand, Shaun Rogers, Eric Barton and D’Qwell Jackson led him outside to settle him down.

      “We were just playing around, having some fun and games, know what I’m saying?,” said Francies at his locker after cooling off. “That’s pretty much it. It was all fun and games.”

      So that’s your story and you’re sticking to it?

      “Absolutely,” he said, with a smile on his face.

      These kinds of situations have a weird way of bonding teammates. Despite their record, Cleveland hasn’t played poorly on defense and maybe this incident will lighten up the locker room or at least help clear the air. Either way, it looks like a dead issue and something that probably won’t spiral out of control.

      I would love to hear how much head coach Eric Mangini is going to fine Francies for after wasting all of that ice though. Mangini was the same man that fined a Browns player $1,701 (which is the maximum fine allowed by the league’s collective bargaining agreement) for not paying for a $3 bottle of water from a hotel mini-bar upon checkout.

      NFL

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