Well I learned at least one thing over this past weekend, predicting winners and losers is about as easy as throwing bullseyes in darts, in other words, its a big crapshoot. I went 7 for 15 this weekend, but 4-3 in College Football.
MLB
What went right:
The Padres took the series against the Reds 2-1, taking advantage of a Cincinnati team that had playoffs on their minds instead of winning meaningless games. Where as the Padres are right in the middle of a Giants/Braves sandwich and need all the wins they can get.
The Giants also took my advice and won 2 of the 3 against the Rockies. Essentially ending Colorado's playoff hopes. The Rockies can only blame themselves for not getting up to play the Giants at home. The NL West is now a 2 team race.
What went almost right:
The Rays did win the series as predicted, but could not come away with a sweep, instead taking the 2-1 advantage after letting the Mariners take game 3 in a boorish 6-2 outcome.
What went partially wrong:
The Yankees, fighting for the AL East and best record, hosted their heated Rivals, the Red Sox and almost walked away with nothing. Actually walking is exactly what propelled New York to its only win of the series, walking in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. The AL East now shifts in favor of the Rays but only by 1/2 game.
The Braves also only managed 1 win in their weekend series at the listless Nationals. Unlike the Yankees, however, the Braves aren't guaranteed a post-season spot. They had a chance to turn things in their favor but when you walk 7 batters in a game, a few of them are bound to score and that's what happened in yesterday's rubber game. Now the Braves find themselves 1/2 game out of the wild card with 6 games left.
What went mostly wrong:
My beloved Twins took an eye off the Tigers and towards October in completely forgetting to finish off the Tigers this year. Detroit took advantage of off starts by the Big 3, Liriano, Pavano, and Duensing to sweep the Twins out of town. The Twins don't seem to be as concerned with losing the 3 ballgames as they are with some nagging injuries to Mauer, Thome, Span, and Hardy to name a few. Nothing of major concern, but enough to likely see most of the starters rest heavily this week. The Twins are still only a game back of the best record in the AL. But priority wise, the health of the team will take precedent to home field in the ALCS at this point.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
6 for 9 last weekend doesn't nearly sound as bad. And my upset special of the week nearly pulled it off.
Here's what went right:
#3 Boise State took care of #24 Oregon State 37-24, a little closer than I had predicted, but in the end, BSU's rising Heisman worthy Quarterback Kellen Moore outperformed the Beavers and secured another victory for the Broncos in a high profile game. Critics are trying to find reasons why the Broncos don't belong with the big boys of the SEC and Big Ten, but are finding it harder and harder to prove their point.
#9 Florida took down Kentucky in a 48-14 laugher. TCW had predicted a high scoring game, but by both teams. Nonetheless, Trey Burton rushed for only 40 yards and caught 5 balls for 37 yards, seems pointless to mention until you note that Burton had 6, yes 6 touchdowns.
#17 Auburn claimed victory and a mild upset over #12 South Carolina 35-27. The Tigers actually were losing at the half, but Auburn got behind the strength of their 250 pound quarterback who rushed for 176 yards and 3 scores to catapult them to a big victory at home.
#15 LSU squeaked out a victory against Big East foe #22 West Virginia. A close game predicted as such by the TCW. The game came down to special teams, where Patrick Peterson put on a highlight show for the fans with a 60 yard punt return for a touchdown and a blocked field goal.
What almost went right:
Alabama drove north to Arkansas to face a wild Hogs team ready to take down the number 1 team in the land...and they almost did. Arkansas held a 20-14 lead after 3 quarters and just needed to hold onto the ball not give up a touchdown. Unfortunately both of those failed to happen. Arkansas's star Quarterback Ryan Mallet threw a late interception and the reigning Heisman, Mark Ingram punched it in from 1 yard out with 3 minutes left in the game to pull ahead and stay there till the end.
Penn State should have read my post and taken Temple a little more seriously on Saturday. The Owls held a 13-9 halftime lead and were only down 15-13 after 3 quarters. The difference came down to feet in this game, and those feet belonged to Collin Wagner, who kicked a school tying record 5 field goals to avoid what would have been a historic upset. (And would have made me extremely overconfident)
What went completely and disastrously wrong:
Finally, the Golden Gophers from Minnesota were anything but Golden. Poised with an opportunity to get a momentum win heading into the brutal Big Ten schedule against a bottom half college football team at home, the Gophers came out on the wrong side of the score once again. Maybe we should have seen this, I was weary about giving the Gophers a 14 point victory prediction. It can be said with almost certainty that the Gophers will not be favored the rest of the way. The Tim Brewster era should be coming to a close, which will give Gophers fans a slight hope. But even without a coach, Minnesota should have had enough talent to beat UNI and South Dakota. Bring on Northwestern in next week's homecoming game, I'm sure the fans will be as excited as plywood.
NFL
1 for 2, 50/50, batting .500, thats not so bad. In a rush last week, the TCW only previewed 2 NFL games, 1 of local interest and 1 of national interest.
What went right:
The Minnesota Vikings squashed their goose egg and etched the number 1 on the win column for 2010. Facing another winless team, the hapless Detroit Lions, the Vikings fell behind early but used their best weapon under the age of 40, Adrian Peterson, in leading the team to victory after posting 160 yards, 80 of which came on 1 outstanding run. The win wasn't pretty, with Favre tossing 2 interceptions, the wide receivers and o-line still not in sync, but the Vikings will take what they can get for now. And they'll also take some time off as they enjoy the Bye week next weekend.
What went wrong:
The Cowboys went down south to Houston and showed everyone who was still the boss in the state of Texas. The Texans, who garner a significantly less media share in the state than the Cowboys, really had an edge to beat the big boys from up-state. However Dallas had a huge following travel with them and utilized their home state mojo to dominate the previously unbeaten Texans. Like the Vikings, the Cowboys are heading into a bye and badly needed a confidence win to cherish for a couple weeks.
Looking at the week ahead in sports, a big Monday night football match up tonight vs 2 undefeated teams that happen to be very big rivals in the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. No predictions on Mondays, a TCW rule. The MLB races over the next few days will decide how important the weekend match ups are and who will start or rest. And college football gets going again on Thursday night with a big game vs undefeated rivals Texas A&M and Oklahoma State.
Until then, remember to floss daily and always respect your elders.
bsv
the courtesy wave
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