All Sports All The Time

It was a very sunny day in Atlanta when the Bass Pro Shops 500 NASCAR race started and it proved to be challenging for the drivers when the sun was setting it made it difficult to see on track. But the drivers survived and when it was over Tony Stewart took the checkered flag for the second time in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Stewart climbed the fence at the start finish line to get the checkered flag from the official as he has in almost every win this season. Once he got the flag he got back in his car and did the customary victory lap with the flag sticking out the window. The climbing the of fence after a victory has become Stewart signature way of celebrating the victory.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a great race as many people expected he would, he lead more than 80 laps in the race, despite having to make a green flag stop for a severe vibration. The stop put him at least one lap down and he was able to make up the lap and eventually get to the front. He ended up battling Matt Kenseth at the finish line and he edged out Kenseth for third place and he moved up 2 spots into fourth in the points standing with three races to go.

Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are actually tied 84 points behind the points leader (Matt Kenseth) and with 3 races to go it is still anyones championship to win. With victory, Tony Stewart pretty much has sewn up the 11th spot in the points standing and because of that he will receive the bonus money that will bring his end of the season check to $1 million dollars.

The next stop is Texas Motor Speedway and another good track for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and a chance to pick up some more points.

I received this in an email and since I am a diehard Detroit Lion’s fan it fits perfect!!!

Two guys from Detroit, Michigan die and wake up
in hell. The next day, the devil stops to check on
them and sees them dressed in parkas, mittens
and bomber hats, warming themselves around the
fire.

The Michiganders look at the devil in surprise. "Well,
don’t ya know - if hell froze over, that must mean
the Lions won the Super Bowl!"

Congratulation to the St. Louis Cardinals on winning World Series Game 5 and for becoming the World Champs.

I am very proud of my Detroit Tiger’s for even making it to the World Series and they shouldn’t be that down on themselves. Considering where the ball club was not too long ago. Manager Jim Leyland’s decision not to pitch Kenny Rogers in this all important game will be disected for several days to come.

But Leyland decided to give rookie Justin Verlande a shot at redeeming himself after the less than stellar performance in his first game of the World Series. Unfortunately, just like in his first performance, he did struggle to hold on to the lead the Tiger hitters gave him.

The undoing of the Tiger’s turned out to be the fielding; they committed 8 errors (3 by 3rd baseman Brandon Inge and 5 by the pitchers). Despite the defensive problems, it still lands on the hitters to score runs and the pitching to stop your opponent from scoring runs.

The Tiger’s didn’t score enough runs and the pitchers didn’t get enough of the batters out when it was all said and done and that is the reason the Tiger’s fell a little short. I am still very proud of the team and I look forward to spring and a new season. It is hard to be upset when your team makes it all the way to the World Series, especially after the recent history of the team includes a 43-119 seaon only three years before.

The St Louis Cardinals lead the series 2 games to one and Detroit can’t afford to go down 3 games to one. Even though our pitchers have been struggling a bit against the Cardinal batters, out hitters have been really struggling against the Cardinal pitchers.

Jeremy Bonderman will go tonight and hopefully he can have the same success that Kenny Roger’s did in game 2. I am also hoping the Tiger batters will have success against the Cardinals starting pitcher Jeff Suppan.

Leave it to the sports media to try and create a news story out of nothing at all. Last night in Game 2 of the World Series Tiger starting pitcher Kenny Roger’s was on the mound in the first inning when it was discovered that there was a substance in his pitching hand just below the thumb. It was determined that it was dirt and nothing else was said about it.

This morning I was reading online and I came across a sports news story and in this story the writer was making all kinds of accusations with zero evidence since the plate umpire didn’t see a need to ask for an closer inspection of the player. The Cardinals had ample opportunity to request an inspection of Kenny Roger’s and yet they made no indication that was necessary.

So why does this reporter or any reporter for that matter feel it is necessary to manufacture a story. I thought they were supposed to report the news and yet we still have many in the media that feel that it is their job to create the news.

Had Kenny Roger’s been cheating as he is being accused of then why after he was asked to clean it off he continued to cominate the Cardinals batters just like he did in the first inning before the substance was spotted on his hand.

Major League Baseball has had enough bad press over the past couple of years and they don’t need the media manufacturing a controversy just to make money. All they are doing is tossing out accusations and suspicions with zero evidence of wrong doing and that is irresponsible journalism, but what should I expect, the news media have been doing this for years on the poilitical side.

After a very successful rookie season, Justin Verlander ran into a buzz saw in the form of the St. Louis Cardinal’s last night. I don’t want to lay all the blame for the loss on Verlander only because our defense let us down. They committed 3 crucial errors that lead to at least two runs. At the same time, the Tigers offense didn’t have much success against the Cardinals rookie Anthony Reyes and only managed 2 runs and only 4 hits.

Albert Pujols proved again that he is the most dangerous hitter in baseball, he crushed a home run in the 3rd inning with 2 outs and one man on. In hindsight, the Tiger’s should have intentionally walked Pujols and pitched to the next batter with 1st base open. I would hope in Game 2 the Tiger’s would consider pitching around Pujol’s in a similar situation.

With the Cardinals winning Game 1, 7-2 it will put more pressure on the Tigers in Game 2 with left handed pitcher Kenny Rogers today. The Tigers left handed pitchers will present the Cardinals their biggest challange, since they didn’t fair as well against left handed pitchers in the regular season.

The Tiger’s hitters were paced by Curtis Monroe and Carlos Guillen, both went 2 for 4 and knocked in 1 run. Monroe’s RBI came on a 9th inning homerun and Guillen knocked in a run with a first inning 2 out single. The Tiger’s are going to need much more offense if they are going to have success in the series and win it all. 

Despite this loss I am not going to change my prediction of the Detroit Tiger’s being the World Champions.

The St. Louis Cardinal’s finished off the New York Met’s last night in the NLCS game #7; 3-1. This sets up a rematch of the 1968 World Series between the Tiger’s and the Cardinals. I am hoping for the same result; Tiger’s victorious.

I will go out on a limb and predict the Tiger’s to win the World Series in less than 6 games, they were the better team by far the whole year and should be the prohibitive favorite. But, they still have to play the games and that will give the Cards a shot at winning.

I haven’t heard the starting rotation as of yet, but I expect Jim Leyland to leave the rotation the same as it has been throughout the playoff’s; Nate Robertson, Justin Verlander, Kenny Roger’s and Jeremy Bonderman. Most managers won’t mess with the pitchers that have got them to where they want to be and I hope Leyland doesn’t buck that trend.

As long as our hitters continue to get the timely hits and produce the runs when we need them, I think we will be able to handle whatever the Cards can dish out. Even with one of the most dangerous hitter in Albert Pujols; the Cards won’t be able to handle our pitcher’s and since more of the games will be played in Comerica Park in Detroit (pitcher’s ballpark) they find it hard to score runs.

Prediction:

Detroit Tiger’s will be the World Champions in 6 games

What started as just another spectacular run by OU Junior RB Adrian Peterson, ended with a hidden injury. Peterson took a handoff from QB Paul Thompson and made a couple of would-be tacklers miss and he turned it into an exciting 53 yard touchdown run. Unfortunately, this isn’t where the story ends, Peterson finished off the run with a final dive into the end zone and he landed on his shoulder pretty hard. He remained on the turf for a couple of seconds and then popup like he was ok.

Most fans didn’t even think anything was wrong when he didn’t return to the game with more than 6 minutes to go, because normally sits out the remainder of games when the game is out of reach. Now that I look back at it, I have to wonder why he was still in game. I am sure that question won’t even come up in any press conference.

The injury he sustained was a broken collarbone and he is expected to miss the rest of the regular season and he could be available for a bowl game. This leaves the Sooner’s coaching staff to figure out how to move forward without our top running back. Fortunately for the Sooner’s the cupboard isn’t bare when it comes to running backs and we should be ok. Jacob Gueterrez and Alan Patrick both have been contributing to the running game even with a healthy Peterson and one of the games Peterson missed last season Jacob ran for more than 180 yards, so he is a capable back. Alan Patrick has also had some success in a back roll to Peterson.

We will have to see what kind of game plan Offensive Coordinator Kevin Wilson can come with for this weekend’s game against Colorado. I am sure we will see more passing and a bit less rushing without Adrian Peterson in the backfield.

I am expecting the Sooner’s to move forward and continue to win in the Big 12 and earn them a spot in a decent bowl game.

The Detroit Tiger’s did what so few people thought they could do; make it to the World Series. They are only three years removed from their worst season ever; 43-119 and now they are the AL Champs. The hero of the fourth and decisive game was Magglio Ordonez; he had 2 homers and 4 RBI’s. The Tiger’s completed the four game sweep of the A’s with a 6-3 win.

The Tiger’s pitching was solid and Leyland used his bullpin pretty effectively and they combined for 2 1/3’s of scoreless innings and only surrendered 2 hits. Starting pitcher Jeremy Bonderman pitched 6 1/3 solid innings, but he didn’t pick up the win. Wilfredo Ledezma picked up the win, by pitching the final 1 1/3 innings.

The game was tied 3-3 going into the 9th inning and it looked like the game would go into extra innings, but thanks to a walkoff three run homer by Magglio Ordonez it sealed the win and the AL Championship. Placido Polanco was selected as the ALCS MVP.

The Detroit Tiger’s are on the verge of a spot in the 2006 World Series, something that very few people other than me thought they had a shot at doing. I was listening to our local sports talk radio station and they all wrote the Tiger’s off and gave it to the Yankee’s before the very first pitch. Especially since the Yankee’s payroll is more that a $100 milliond dollars more than the Tiger’s $88 million payroll.

It just goes to show you, all the money can’t always buy a World Series. I guess George Steinbrenner needs to come up with game plan to get to the World Series. The Detroit Tiger’s showed everyone that good pitching a better than average hitting and a bit of luck can get you far these days.

The Tiger’s dispatched with the New York Yankee’s in four games and now they are up 3-0 on the Oakland A’s. One more game and they will be the AL Champions for 2006 and will represent the American League in the World Series for the first time since 1984 when they beat the San Deigo Padres in the World Series.

The Tiger’s have been getting plenty of quality inning’s from all four of our starters and Jeremy Bonderman, who is our fourth starter will have the honor of sealing the deal and putting us back into the World Series.