SPORTS HITS

Well it will take 163 games to decide the American League Central crown and who will face the Tampa Bay Rays in the playoffs. The Minnesota Twins will square off with the Chicago White Sox to determine who will be crown Central Division Champion. The Twins and White Sox have battled all year long with the Twins winning the season series 10-8, but a coin toss has Minnesota playing in Chicago.

Now I really do not think that is very fair, but that is how it was decided and winning the season series did not help the Twins at all. Of course they know they can be the White Sox and the reverse is also true. It should be a very good game tonight and I guess we will see who comes out on top.

It seems that NFL football is starting to get just like college football as you never know what could happen. The Washington Redskins came into Dallas and upset the Cowboys by a score of 26-24. The Denver Broncos also found out that you must have some kind of defense as you cannot outscore everyone as the Kansas City Chiefs upset Denver by a score of 33-19. This is just how it is in the NFL anymore. You can get beat on any given Sunday especially if you do not bring your best game to the table. I am sure in the coming weeks we will see even more upsets and this season could be one of the best ever as more teams are going to have shot at the playoffs than ever before.

Sunday, September 28th

CC Sabathia asked for the ball in the most important game in a long time for the Milwaukee Brewers and he delivered just like he expected he would. CC was traded for just to do this and he came threw with a complete game 3-1 win to send the Brewers to the post season as the Mets lost on the last game of the season and will be staying home. Ryan Braun hit a two run home run in the bottom of the eighth to back CC Sabathia’s pitching.

No one can question how valuable good pitching is just ask the Milwaukee Brewers as CC Sabathia carried them the second half of the season and without a doubt is the Brewers MVP this season. I guess we will see how well the Brewers do in the playoffs as it has been a long time for them and their fans.

Sunday, September 28th

When Nick Saban came to Alabama everyone knew it would only be a matter of time before he put the Crimson Tide back on top and last night at Georgia they took a very big step. The Tide rolled to a 41-30 victory over the Georgia Bulldogs on their home field. Now in the first half it was all Alabama, but Georgia made it a game in the second half to get the game closer than it really was.

Alabama has had some down years recently, but with Nick Saban at the helm that looks like that is in the past as he has a very good team this year. The Tide is very good on both sides of the ball and will be tough in the SEC to beat. I guess we will see how they finish the season out, but so far they look really good.

Thursday, September 25th

Saturday, September 27th

The Tampa Bay Rays Cinderella story continues as they have now gone from worst place last year to the American League East Pennant. With a loss by the Boston Red Sox  the Tampa Bay Rays clinched  the division crown and ended a run that many thought would never happen. You have to give the Tampa Bay Rays team credit for believing in themselves when others did not. They had some injuries, but were able to overcome them and still win the divisional title. This says a lot about the Rays and the kind of players that they have. In the end this may well be the best story of the year. Not to many teams go from worst to first in just one year.

Friday, September 26th

The Minnesota Twins is a team that it seems no matter who they lose in the off-season they just plug it with new talent. This year is just another good indication of that. When they lost Tori Hunter and others I thought they were crazy and had no chance at all. They just filled the roster with young talent and now are contending for a division title. Last night they got some great pitching from Nick Blackburn as they beat the Chicago White Sox by a score of 3-2. Joe Nathan picked another save along the way as well.

It seems that the Twins just do not read the press clippings or the people who say they cannot do something they just do it. To their credit they have hung in their all season long and now they are looking at a chance to make the playoffs and win a divisional title in the process. Not bad for a team everyone wrote off.

Wednesday, September 24th

Well finally the Detroit Lions fans have something to smile about with the firing of Matt Millen. Now I never like to see anyone get fired and Matt is a likeable guy but as the Lions GM he was plain horrible. Under his tenure the Lions only won 31 games since 2001 which is a league low. His drafting was horrible along with some coaches he hired. All in all Millen did a horrible job.

At least now the Lions can move forward and bring someone in that is going to get this team moving in the right direction. Matt Millen was not that man and it was just a failed experiment. I have to give the Lions owner credit though he stuck with Millen a very long time.

It seems that the Oakland Raiders continue to be the most dysfunctional team in the NFL. If it’s not on the field than it is off the field problems that plaque this organization. The Raiders at one time was a team that you could always count on putting a good team on the field, but that was many years ago. Owner Al Davis has not seen a good team in many moons and the direction they are going it could be many moons before he see’s another one.

Current coach Lane Kiffin has been on the chopping block for sometime, but as f this writing he was still the Raiders coach, but that could change by the hour. When you have that kind of atmosphere than winning is virtually impossible. You need stability when you run a business and football is a business. Until the Raiders get stability and that starts with a coach it could be a number of years before people in the Black Hole have something to cheer about once again.

This has been a crazy season for the Milwaukee Brewers and Prince Fielder even realizes that as well. Last night The Milwaukee Brewers blew two leads and thought they were going to let another win get away when Prince Fielder hit a two out home run in the bottom of the ninth to power the Brewers to the win by a 7-5 score over Pittsburgh.

With this win the Brewers stay just one game behind in the NL wild card chase. The Brewers trail the New York Mets by one game and need so Mets losses if they hope to get a NL wild card slot. The Brewers must continue to play hard and they will just have to see how everything plays out in the end. After blowing the big lead they had for the wild card that is all they can do now.

Tuesday, September 23rd

Phillip Rivers has always been a big fan of Brett Favre, but on this Monday Night it was the Phillip Rivers and L.T. show as the San Diego Chargers rolled over the New York Jets by a score of 48-29. L.T. scored two touchdowns and Phillip Rivers threw for three touchdowns to get San Diego it’s first win of the season and a much needed boost.

Brett Favre did all he could, but the Chargers have just to many weapons and the Jets defense really had no answers on how to stop them. Phillip Rivers has really matured as a quarterback as even when he does make mistakes he does not get rattle he just continues to play football and win games.