Happy Monday. Here's wassup........
************************************************
The Saskatchewan Roughriders slipped out of first in the CFL West, after losing a heartbreaker to BC Friday, 19-16. Although the game was low scoring, it was still very entertaining. Sean Whyte's 33-yard field goal with 5 seconds left was the difference.
Calgary is now by themselves in first at 8-5 for 16 points, followed by the Riders at 7-6 for 14 points and Edmonton and BC, both at 6-7 for 12 points. Montreal has clinched a playoff spot in the East, sitting atop the division at 11-2 for 22 points. Hamilton is second, 6-7 for 12 points followed by Winnipeg, winners of their last two games, improving to 5-8 for 10 points. Toronto is 4th at 3-10 for 6 points.
Saskatchewan hosts Toronto this Saturday, then travels to Calgary on Saturday the 17th. The Toronto game airs on CKRM Radio beginning at 8:00p.m. this Saturday, with the game on the 17th at Calgary airing on CKRM beginning at 2:30p.m. EDT.
***********************************************
The Oregon State Beavers broke a two-game skid Saturday, with an impressive 28-17. The Beavers bolted out to a quick 14-0 lead behind a pair of touchdowns by Jacquizz Rodgers and were never seriously threatened. James Rodgers caught 10 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. By winning, the Beavers avoided going 2-3 for the 4th straight year, won in Tempe over ASU for the first time since September 27th, 1969 and won their first two road games of the season for the first time since their Giant Killers year of 1967.
The Beavers host Stanford at Reser Stadium this coming Saturday. The Cardinal, who beat UCLA Saturday 24-16, is 4-1 in 2009, 3-0 in conference, and hopes to qualify for their first bowl game since 2001. Kickoff on Saturday is set for 7:00p.m. EDT. The live radio broadcast is available at http://www.kpam.com/. Fox Sports Net will have the live telecast.
************************************************
The Major League Baseball regular season has just one game left, and it's a big one. Detroit and Minnesota tied for the AL Central and break the tie with a one-game playoff in Minneapolis tomoorow. TBS has the live telecast, beginning at 5:00p.m. EDT.
In the other AL Divisions, the Yankees won the East, the Angels the West, while Boston took the Wild Card. In the NL, the Dodgers won the West, St. Louis the Central and Philadelphia(2008 World Series champions) the East. Colorado won the Wild Card.
While Tampa Bay did slump mightily over the last several weeks of the season, they did post an 84-78 record, their second-consecutive winning season. Still, many of the last several games had embarrasingly low attendance figures. The Rays apparently have a lease that ties them to the City of St. Petersburg through 2027. However, a more centrally-located stadium may be a great help for the franchise. Many people(including my family) have to travel quite a distance to get to the games, despite living in the Tampa metro area.
While some people propose renovating Tropicana Field, what would the team do if that plan is chosen? Unless it could all be done from closing day one season to the next, they would have to move to temporary digs for a year.
It's a very sticky situation, to be sure, and one that won't be solved anytime soon.
************************************************
The two AL playoff series start either Wednesday or Thursday. The Yankees will meet the winner of Tuesday's Detroit-Minnesota play-in game(Which would normally have been played today, but Monday Night Football is in the Metrodome tonight), and the Angels play Boston.
The two NL series will start on Wednesday. Philadelphia starts their title defense against Colorado and the Dodgers tangle with St. Louis. TBS will have the telecasts of all first-round games.
************************************************
The 2009-2010 National Hockey League season is underway. Tampa Bay Lightning dropped their opener, 6-3 at Atlanta. The Thrashers jumped out to a 4-0 lead and led 4-2 after two. The Lightning's Martin St. Louis scored twice late in the second period and Andrej Meszaros early in the third to draw within one at 4-3, but Atlanta held on from there. Ilya Kovalchuk and Rich Peverley scored twice each for the Thrashers. Both teams were 1-for-3 on the power play. Mike Smith had 20 saves in the net for Tampa Bay, Ondrej Pavelec 31 for Atlanta. Announced attendance was 18,545.
The Lightning play at Carolina on Tuesday, then open their home schedule against New Jersey on Thursday.
************************************************
Speaking of the NHL, a bankruptcy judge turned down both offers for the Phoenix Coyotes, so now it's up to the NHL to either run the team itself, or find a local owner. Either way, the team appears to be wed to the arena in suburban Glendale through this season at least. Attendance at their last home preseason game(a September 26th 2-0 win over San Jose), the first home appearance for the Coyotes since it was announced they would stay put this season, was better than the less than 2,000 at the preseason opener September 15th, but still well below the announced crowd of 6,483.
And rumors are beginning to swirl about a group exploring the idea of buying the Atlanta Thrashers and moving them to Winnipeg. We'll see. The opening night crowd in Atlanta (if the 18,545 reported is legitimate)is a good start, but crowd numbers must remain high, if they are to keep the team in Philips Arena.
************************************************
The Portland Winterhawks, who won less than 20 games in each of the past three seasons, are 5-1 to start the season and are currently in first place in the Western Hockey League's U.S. Division. Getting Kurtis Mucha back from Edmonton's NHL camp to tend goal is a huge lift. The Hawks won road games this past Friday in Spokane and last night in Kamloops, beating the Blazers 4-3 on overtime, after trailing 2-0 early in the third. Portland is for real this season. Now, they need to keep winning on home ice, to rebuild the fan base. Opening night drew just over 4,300, but their second home game grew just over 1,500.
************************************************
There was another exciting round of small-field NFL games played yesterday. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now 0-4, after dropping a 19-16 decision at Washington. The Bucs appeared a bit more mobile with Josh Johnson at quarterback and did build a 10-0 lead. But, they still have a long ways to go to reach simple respectability. A winless season, while unlikely, is still a possibility. The Bucs are at Phildelphia next Sunday.
Chicago beat Detroit 48-24(The Bears pass rush pounded Lions QB Matt Stafford all day and knocked him from the game with a possible dislocated kneecap); Cincinnati beat Cleveland 23-20(The Browns may be a much more likely candidate for a winless season) in overtime; Houston(The Texans will contend for a playoff spot this season) blasted the Oakland(These guys REALLY stink) Raiders 29-6 and Indianapolis ran past Seattle 34-17(Payton Manning was 31-of-41 passing for 353 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Seneca Wallace did go 33-of-45 for 257 yards and a touchdown for Seattle, who really need Hasselbeck back at QB).
Jacksonville beat Tennessee 37-17(Titans may be the biggest surprise this season with how poorly they're doing); the Giants beat Kansas City 27-16(Eli Manning is scheduled for an MRI today after sustaining a leg injury); Miami beat Buffalo 38-10(And the Bills thought they were going to be pretty good this season with T.O. in their lineup) and New Orleans picked off Mark Sanchez three times en route to a 24-10 win(The Saints might be the best team in the NFL right now).
Denver beat Dallas 17-10(Cowboys had first-and-goal at the 7 with just seconds left but couldn't tie the game), San Francisco beat the daylights out of St. Louis(who doesn't hammer St. Louis these days?) 35-0 and Pittsburgh topped San Diego 38-28(Steelers won't be spectacular this season, but they are still one of the favorites to reach the Super Bowl). Dallas beat Carolina(Who let Carolina on Monday Night Football?) 21-7 in the Monday Night game last week, in front of 90,588.
This week's Monday Night game features Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings at Aaron Rogers and the Green Bay Packers(Go Pack!).
************************************************
Jimmy is really moving now. It seems like just a week ago, he was barely walking. But now, he walks way more than he crawls or scoots. And he now has ten teeth(The latest incoming pearlies have really given him the crankies) and is growing his vocabulary as well. It is so much fun to watch him grow and figure out how to do things. He is now officially a toddler. And he's quite good at it too! We love our Jimmy!!!!
Snoopy and Smoke get along with him very well and are pretty tolerant of his "petting" them.
And my wife Kim continues to be Superwoman. She is really the foundation of our family. I married WAAAAAAAAY over my head! I love you dear.
************************************************
That's it for this week. See you next time.
No comments:
Post a Comment