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      Vegas says Phillies World Series Champions…kind of.

      October 28, 2008 /

      Despite what MLB says, the Philadelphia Phillies won Game 5 of the World Series on Monday night, at least according to Las Vegas.

      The game was suspended because of rain in the middle of the sixth inning with the score tied 2-2. The Rays had tied it in the top of the sixth when Carlos Pena’s two-out single scored B.J. Upton.

      However, even though the suspended game is scheduled to be completed today, the betting result is final.

      According to Nevada gaming rules — often referred to as “house rules” — the final score of an official game is determined by reverting to the last completed inning. The Phillies led 2-1 after the fifth.

      Las Vegas sports books are paying off Game 5 side bets on Philadelphia, which was about a minus-170 favorite. Wagers on totals and run-line bets are being refunded because rules stipulate that at least 81/2 innings must be played.

      “We’re just following the regular baseball rules. This is a very common rule,” Las Vegas Hilton sports book director Jay Kornegay said. “We can’t make exceptions.

      That sucks for people who bet on the Rays, but one has to assume that most of the public was on the Phillies anyway.

      MLB

      Tyrone Willingham fired at Washington

      October 28, 2008 /

      Tyrone Willingham has been fired by the University of Washington.

      According to UW president Mark Emmert, the decision to fire the coach was made shortly after Oregon State pounded the Huskies 34-13 at Husky Stadium on Oct. 18, and Willingham was notified early last week.

      So with the knowledge that his UW tenure had run its course, Willingham game-planned, schemed, met with the media and tried to motivate his players to tackle the Irish.

      But after one more colossal loss — a 33-7 thumping by Notre Dame on Saturday — Washington made the firing official Monday morning.

      Willingham will coach through the end of the season, and the university will pay him $1 million to buy out the final year of his contract.

      The news made for a strange Monday on Montlake.

      Woodward, the athletic director named but a month ago, and Willingham, he of the 11-32 record in four seasons, sat side by side despite being on opposite ends of a silent disagreement. Later, players muddled through the right things to say as an emotional tug-of-war over the coaches who recruited them and an 0-7 season raged within.

      Woodward, who sat to Willingham’s right at the coach’s weekly press luncheon Monday, said the search for a new coach would begin immediately. And Willingham flatly said the decision to part ways at season’s end was not his.

      “It’s just not in my makeup (to quit),” he said.

      I always rooted for Willingham because I felt he didn’t get a fair shake in South Bend towards the end of his tenure there. But obviously Washington had to do something – the loss to Notre Dame was embarrassing, although apparently that wasn’t the final straw because Willingham was done a week ago regardless. I’m sure he’ll wind up somewhere and I hope he succeeds.

      College Football

      Eli tipped off Steelers on goal line stand – Brett Keisel a little confused

      October 28, 2008 /

      Apparently Eli Manning needs to do a better job of covering his mouth in the huddle. During the Giants’ 21-14 win over the Steelers on Sunday, Pittsburgh players knew what play New York was going to run when they stopped Brandon Jacobs short of the goal line in the first half because Manning accidentally tipped the off.

      Eli ManningDefensive end Brett Keisel overheard Manning mouthing the play call and lined up the defense before Jacobs was stopped inches short of the goal line on the fourth-and-1 play early in the second quarter.

      The goal-line stand — Jacobs failed on three successive plays to get in from the 1 — temporarily preserved Pittsburgh’s 7-3 lead.

      “I was watching Eli’s lips the whole time and I saw him say, ’32,’ so I went over and tried to tell everyone, ‘It’s right here,’ and we stopped it,” Keisel said. “That was a big play in the game.”
      Asked if he heard Manning yell out the play call, Keisel said, “Yeah.”

      Actually Brett, the big play in the game was when your long snapper snapped the ball over your punter’s head for a safety that tied the game at 14-14 in the second half. Then the bigger play was when you and your teammates allowed Manning to march up the field for a game-winning touchdown.

      Your play was the big play in the first half. The big play of the game was the touchdown that allowed the Giants to win the game.

      NFL

      How bad are things for the Chiefs? Players think Detroit is a better situation.

      October 28, 2008 /

      Herman EdwardsFree agent quarterback Daunte Culpepper canceled a visit with the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this week because he claimed he had a better offer from another team. Apparently that other team is the Detroit Lions.

      A source has confirmed that free agent quarterback Daunte Culpepper is visiting the Lions today and will go through a workout but the team is making no comment.

      It’s not usual for free agents to visit teams on Tuesday, the day that clubs continue to maintain their “short list” in case of injury to other players. Last week, the Lions brought in free agent quarterback Tim Rattay for a workout.

      I know that money is probably playing into this, but what does it say for the Chiefs when players (even if they are Daunte Culpepper) would rather go to winless Detroit to play? It’s not like Culpepper would have any better or worse chance of playing in Detroit as he would Kansas City. Who’s going to stop him – Tyler Thigpen? The Chiefs are a mess.

      NFL

      Baseball tainted by Game 5 of Series

      October 28, 2008 /

      Phil Sheridan of the Philadelphia Inquirer blasts Major League Baseball for what transpired due to the driving rain that the Phillies and Rays had to play in before Game 5 of the World Series was finally called.

      2008 World SeriesSimply put, Game 5 is hopelessly tainted by what transpired between the time the game should have been called and the middle of the sixth inning, when it was finally suspended.

      Whatever happens when play resumes, whether the Phillies celebrate their first World Series championship or the Rays force a Game 6 in Florida, MLB can’t justify its decision or its decision-making process.

      The first problem here is TV’s insistence on scheduling these games for 8:30 p.m. or even later. There are plenty of lovely autumn afternoons – and yesterday was one of them – that give way to cold and blustery evenings. When baseball, like other sports, sold its soul to the networks and their craven need for prime-time sports programming, it created a situation where young fans couldn’t stay up to watch the most important games of the year.

      Rollins, rain pouring into his face, dropped that pop-up in the top of the fifth. The play was rather nastily ruled an error, as if it had occurred in acceptable conditions. Hamels got out of that inning without allowing a run. The Phillies led, 2-1, in the middle of the fifth.

      At that moment, a regular-season game would become official. A rainout would mean the game was over, with the Phillies winning.

      “This is not a way to end a World Series,” Selig said. “I would not allow a World Series to end this way.”

      Selig is right on that point. The problem is, it appears MLB allowed play to continue in unplayable conditions because the Phillies had a lead. It seems like more than a coincidence that play was suspended after the top of the sixth, when the Rays tied the game on a base hit by Carlos Pena.

      I agree with everything Sheridan said. I thought Selig would have made the right call not to allow the World Series to end that way, but if that was the decision anyway, why allow the game to continue? As Sheridan suggests, it’s almost like Selig was hoping the Rays tied the game so that he wouldn’t be under the microscope for having to change a rule. It’s just a mess.

      MLB

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