Top 10 BCS Controversies

Since my final paper will be on the BCS and this is the 10th year of the BCS, I thought it would be appropriate to take a look back at the controversy. These will be some of the main reasons why people have issues with the BCS. Now some of these examples ended up working out the way the BCS picked it and wanted it to work out.. But it doesn't mean that bit was definitely the correct decision and they would still very much be considered controversies. So enjoy the list of the top 10 BCS Controversies from its first 10 years.

10.2005. Notre Dame gets a berth into the Fiesta Bowl with a record of 9-2 while Oregon settles for the Holiday Bowl despite a 10-1 record.
This is one of the biggest controversies when it comes to the BCS. The fact that the schools with all the hype will be the ones claiming the BCS at-large bids. No school can get more hype in college football than Notre Dame. In addition, it was Charlie Weiss's 1st year as the Irish head coach after being the offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots Super Bowl winning teams. Notre dame got all the hype it needed when it knocked off #3 Michigan and came so very close to knocking off USC the top ranked team in the country. It was very obvious Notre Dame would get an at-large bid. Oregon had been a surprise throughout the season. Their only loss had come at the hands of USC as well but they did beat 3 ranked teams that season. Notre Dame went on to get beat by Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl pretty badly 34-20 raising question marks as to whether they were as good as the media made them out to be. They did get bailed out by Oregon falling to Oklahoma 17-14 in the Holiday Bowl. Does that necessarily mean Oregon wasn't deserving of a BCS bid? I don't think that can be determined from that loss but it's obvious that west coast schools that aren't USC tend to get passed over almsot all the time when they're deserving.

9. The 2007 season in general.
It's hard to think that there was ever as big of a mess not just in college football but any sport as there was last season in college football. It was the first time that we saw no BCS schools go unbeaten in the regular season. We also saw the last 2 weeks the top 2 teams both go down in each of those weeks. #1 LSU lost their regular season finale to Arkansas in triple overtime as this was the Tigers 2nd triple ot loss of the season. In addition 2nd ranked Kansas fell to #4 Mizzou. The next week top ranked Mizzou lost to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game while #2 West Virginia got upset at home by unranked Pitt. The controversies occured when Ohio State who was idle for the final 2 weeks climbed from #5 in the polls to #1 although they did end up with the fewest losses of a BCS school with one. As for LSU who lost their regular season finale still went on to win the SEC title game and jumped from #7 to #2. They surpassed Georgia who was #4 and felt they had a claim at the title game. Georgia, however did not get to the SEC title game so that was the reason they did not go. Also LSU not only surpassed the Bulldogs in the polls but surpassed Virginia Tech who was ranked ahead of them previously. And while LSU only beat a decent Tennessee team by 7 in the SEC ship, Virginia Tech beat a solid Boston College team in the ACC Title Game pretty convincingly. LSU surpassed them most likely because they blew the Hokies out in week 2 48-7. LSU would go on to beat OSU 38-24 in the championship and become the 1st 2 loss team to win a national title. Considering I've pretty much lost track of typing these points a bunch of times, it shows you how much of a mess the BCS was last season. It's something that has never been seen before in a college football season.

8. 2006. Florida goes to the BCS Championship over Michigan
2006 saw rivals Ohio State and Michigan ranked 1 and 2 for most of the season. And in their annual end of the regular season showdown the Buckeyes won a close 42-39 contest. It was Michigan's 1st loss of the year and they felt that they had earned the right for a rematch in the BCS title game. But not only did people not want to see 2 teams from the same conference in the title game, they didn't like the fact that they had just faced each other as well. As a result Florida jumped Michigan in the standings and then went on to shock the Buckeyes in the title game 41-14. Michigan would go on to fall in the Rose Bowl to USC 32-18. While this worked out for college football, was there any legitimate reason that Michigan couldn't have gone to the title game? It's a question that doesn't have a definite answer and that's what the main issue really is.

7. 2004. Texas jumps Cal in the polls the final week to go to the Rose Bowl while Cal settles for the Holiday Bowl.
The controversy here was mainly due to Texas coach Mack Brown's public lobbying for the polls to give Texas a BCS at-large bid after not getting to a BCS game the previous year. Both Texas and Cal were 10-1 and both very deserving. Most of the time, Cal maybe would have gotten it because they were a Pac-10 team and the Rose Bowl typically tries to stick to Big 10 v. Pac-10. But with Vince Young as their qb, this Texas team was much more hyped than Cal. As a result of the lobbying, Texas passed Cal in the polls and went to the Rose Bowl. Cal settled for the Holiday Bowl despite only 1 loss on the season. Texas would go on to win an extremely exciting Rose Bowl beating Michigan 38-37 while Cal maybe still reeling from being passed over fell to Texas Tech in the Holiday Bowl 45-31. Again, though this is another example of how unless you're USC it hurts you playing on the West Coast.

6. 2004. 3 BCS schools go unbeaten and overall 5 schools finish unbeaten.
As much as we complain about who's more deserving between different 1 or 2 loss teams, how do you decide who's more deserving when there's more than 2 unbeatens. Utah and Boise State were the 2 non BCS schools that went unbeaten (sound familiar?) but the main controversy was 12-0 Auburn being left out of the title game. USC was number one the whole season and after what had happened to them the previous year (hint this will come up later in this list) they were the best and they were probably owed what happend to them. Oklahoma was once again in the middle of controversy. They went 12-0 and were number 2 and went to the title game for the 2nd straight year. But Auburn felt that they should have a shot. Again I don't know what the right answer was. USC went on to dominate OU in the title game 55-19 while defeated Va. Tech in the Sugar Bowl 16-13 and finished 13-0. This is the only year where there were more than 2 BCS schools that finished undefeated.

5. 2000. # 3 FSU goes to the title game over #2 Miami despie losing to Miami during the season.
FSU may have been 12-1 but when you're behind Miami in the polls in addition to losing to them it should be simple. But the fact is that FSU was one of the most popular college football fan bases and that was the reason they got in over Miami (Josh, if you're reading this sorry but you know it's true). It's also not like Miami's loss was a bad loss either. In fact their only loss was to 10-1 Washington (my how things have changed) which even gave the Huskies a claim that they could be in the title game. FSU didn't help themseleves when they lost to Oklahoma in the title game 13-2. Miami and Washingtin both had no trouble in their bowl games. As a result of this, there was a quality win bonus added to the BCS which would give teams like Miami and Washington more credit if they beat a top 10 team.

4. 2001. Nebraska at #4 in the polls goes to the title game.
Nebraska was unbeaten going into their last regular season game. But they got killed by Colorado 62-36. As a result they didn't make the Big 12 title game. Colorado would go on to win the Big 12 Title and finish #3 in the polls. In addition one loss Oregon was #2 in both polls. However, at the time, the BCS didn;t take into account time of loss so despite being ranked #4 in the polls, they ended up #2 in the BCS. As a result they went on to the title game while Oregon and Colorado went on to face each other in the Fiesta Bowl. Nebraska got killed by Miami 37-14 in the title game while Oregon dominated Colorado 38-16. This didn't end up as the only year where time of loss wasn't factored in (another hint for later in the list).

3. 1998. Kansas State was #3 in the BCS but didn't make a BCS game.
I know, doesn't make any sense right? How do you finish #3 in the polls but not make a BCS game. Granted they did lose a close Big 12 Title game to Texas A&M but we're not talking about the championship here. This also was the 1st year of the BCS so there was a lot that needed to be worked out (not that there still isn't) but nothing about this makes sense. #4 Ohio State and #8 Florida got the at-large bids over K-State. As a result, however a new rule was implemented. From then on, the #3 team in the BCS standings is assured of going to a BCS game (makes sense, makes so much sense I don't know why that wouldn't have been a rule the 1st year). K-State ended up going to just the Alamo Bowl and losing to Purdue. But that was clearly not the Bowl they should have been in. Note: Even though this new rule was based off of them, the next year they got passed over yet again for a BCS berth despite being 6th in the BCS standings.

2. 2008. Big 12 three way tie.
This may have been more the fault of the Big 12 than the BCS but the controversy still continues. Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech all finished in a 3 way-tie for the Big 12 South lead. OU killed Tech, Tech beat Texas and Texas beat OU. But Tech's loss eliminated them from any title contention since OU beat them 65-21. So it was truly between the Longhorn and the Sooners. But Tech being tied still forced the Big 12 to go to the BCS standings to determine who would represent the Big 12 South in the Big 12 title game. The week before Texas was ahead of OU. But despite that and despite the fact that the Sooners only loss of the season was to Texas, the Sooners 4th straight 60 point game, allowed them to surpass Texas in the BCS standings and go to the Big 12 title game. Their 5th straight 60 point game, which was a record, allowed them them to rout Mizzou in the Big 12 title game and go to the BCS championship. The controversy here is #1 the fact that Texas beat OU head to head but still finsihed behind OU. And #2 how the Big 12 used the BCS standings to determine the division tiebreaker. They are now considering changing this. Also, the fact that OU was the highest scoring team in college history gave them more hype in the media which was most likely a big factor as to why they will face Florida in the title game and why Texas has to settle for facing Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. I guess we'll see how this will turn out.

1. 2003. USC denied title game shot then earns split national championship.
This was the first time that there were no unbeatens and since then there has been plenty of seasons we've seen this. LSU, Oklahoma and USC all finished with 1 loss. Oklahoma had been unbeaten and #1 the whole season. But in the Big 12 title game, they were routed by Kansas State 35-7. This gave LSU the number 2 ranking and while it should have opened the door for USC especially since in both polls USC was number 1 and Oklahoma was number 3 OU still was at the top of the BCS and USC was number giving the Sooners a trip to the title game and not the Trojans. LSU would go on to beat OU in the title game 21-14 while USc beat Michigan 28-14 in the Rose Bowl. As a result LSU automatically won the Coaches poll but USC was #1 in the AP poll. This was the only time in the history of the BCS that there was a split national championship. Something that the inclusion of the BCS was supposed to prevent. This is still the controversy that has annoyed me the most. How Oklahoma could still have gone to the title game when they got hammered by a 3 loss Kansas State team in the Big 12 title game made absolutely no sense to me. They need to take into account how late in the season the loss was. But the fact was OU that year got all the hype as they were #1 all season and Jason White won the Heisman. USC on the other hand was a surpise as they didn't expect Matt Leinart to be even better than previous USC qb and previous Heisman winner Carson Palmer. This was far and away the biggest controversy and to this day I still say they screwed up by putting Oklahoma in the title game over USC.

Honorable mention: 2007. Kansas gets a BCS bid over Mizzou despite being below them in the BCS and losing to them.

2007: Illinois going to the Rose Bowl. Need I say more?

2006: Auburn despite being the only team to beat Florida and beating LSU doesn't get a BCS bid while LSU does. Both finished with 2 losses. This is more the fact that only 2 schools from a conference can make a BCS game. This also happened with Wisconsin who only had 1 loss but had Ohio State and Michigan as top 2 most of the season. Factors like that resulted in a very overrated Notre Dame team going to the Sugar Bowl and getting pounded by LSU 41-14.

Major free agent signings

Let's start with the most obvious. Yankees reach preliminary agreement and are on the verge of signing CC Sabathia to 7 year $161 million contract making him the highest paid pitcher in history. Was anyone really surprised? This is what the Yankees do. Throw as much cash at a new superstar every year. Normally it doesn't ultimately improve them as a team. I'm not saying that will change. But they obviously addressed a major need of theirs, starting pitching. Sabathia, if nothing else will be a solid starter for them. However, I think the season he had with the Brewers is gonna just add to the already tremendous amount of pressure on him. As the younger and whinier (if that's a word) Steinbrenner will basically be expecting that type of performance from him on a consistent basis. And if he doesn't deliver, there could be hell to pay. Not just from hank but obviously the New York media as well. Maybe he won't be under quite as much pressure as A-Rod was when he became a Yankee because he's a pitcher. But the fact that he'll be making 23 mil a year it'll be plenty of pressure. the sad thing is the Yanks might not be done as apparently they're still making a play for Burnett.

The Mets sign K-Rod to 3 year $37 million deal. I think the one reason the Mets should be grateful for the Yankees is the fact that the Yankees completely overshadow the fact that the Mets tend to spend a lotta $ on star players as well. Just not like the Bronx Bombers do so maybe it's slightly overshadowed. But they do and it ultimately hasn't worked out well for them. But this time going for K-Rod was exactly the move they needed to make. If they had someone half as decent as K-Rod in their pen, they would have won the East and we would have seen a different champion crowned this year (still not the Cubs though). I don't think there's much reason to be skeptical because what else were they supposed to do. A talented team is going to waste again if they don't make this move. If K-Rod doesn't have a record breaking season last year, then the Angels don't win 100 games last year. This is gonna be a huge asset to the Mets and one that could finally allow them to come out on top over the defending champs in the East.

And now the ex-Cub watch. Kerry Wood signs with Cleveland for 2 years. Didn't catch how much he'll be making. Obviously Wood never achieved his potential as a starter for the Cubs but he ended up becoming a decent closer. Apparently, the Cubs felt it was time to let him go and move on a move which upset a lot of Cubs fans. While ultimately the memory I'll have from Wood is what could have been, I hope he does well in Cleveland and the fact is this could very well be a solid signing for them. I think this Indians team will be a team to watch out for this season as they will be getting healthy. The Sox have already gotten rid of a lot of their outfield as well as the awful Vasquez. The Twins will be competitive again but I don't think anyone was impressed by their performance last year. So I think Cleveland especially getting Carmona back will be solid and the signing of Wood will ultimately help them. However, while he might not be on the Cubs anymore, the Sox fans will definitely still hate him since he is on the Indians.

Ranking the 5 majors sports leagues from best to worst

It's interesting to see just what sports think are better than others. A lot of it is based off of solely what their favorite sport is and sometimes people just love college sports more than pro. I was bored and I was trying to think how I would rank these from best to worst. And I realize my opinions are very different from when I was younger. But anyway from best to worst, these are what I think the order should be.

Best-NFL football
It's probably the anticipation of waiting to see the games played every Sunday. And maybe at times it was the fantasy football aspect as well. Whichever reason, the NFL is the most exciting sport. With only 16 games and each team playing just once a week, the regular season is much more exciting than an 82 game basketball season and a 162 game baseball season. These are the games I look forward to watching the most. Not to mention the playoffs being one loss and you're done. And of course the Super Bowl is the biggest spectacle and the most watched event not just in sports but in comparison to anything. Bottomline is an off year in the NFL is still much better than a typical year in the NBA or MLB.

2nd best-NCAA basketball
This is mainly due to March Madness. I think the combo of the NFL regular season and the Super Bowl give the NFL a slight edge. But March Madness alone almost makes up the difference. Pretty much by like junior high I would skip school on the first 2 days so I could watch all the games I could. And if it isn't awesome enough already, March Madness on demand is literally the greatest invention. Now you can watch more than just the game on tv. You can see all of the games that are being played. This is honestly a very close call in my mind. Anyone who likes college bball better than the NFL I definitely understand. Either way, these are definitely the best 2 sports.

In the middle-NCAA football
This would probably be number one if it wasn't for the BCS. I can't put a sport in the top 2 that has a horrible system of determining who goes to the championship. In addition, it just keeps finding more ways to screw up. Everything else about college football is great. A lot of the conference races are exciting and the race for the Heisman is always a highlight. That's why the BCS is so frustrating as college football could definitely compete with the top 2 sports without it. But as I said the BCS drops it to 3rd.

Not quite the worst-NBA
This is where most people will disagree with me. But this is where my personal preference comes into play. Because with Michael Jordan playing, the NBA was the greatest thing to watch. It was the first sport I got into. And it was the most I've ever enjoyed sports. Since MJ retired (from the Bulls not the Wizards) it has gone completely downhill. But partially because bball is my favorite sport and no matter what I find my most loved and hated teams in basketball more than anything else, I still prefer the NBA over baseball. My favorite current athlete is in the NBA, Dwyane Wade as is my most hated athlete, Kobe Bryant. I still have a lot invested in the NBA and while I realize it doesn''t touch any of these other sports, there's still a lotta reason to like it.

The worst-MLB
Maybe a lot of this is frustration of my favorite team having the longest streak of not winning a title in any sport. But even with that, baseball is the sport that can get me bored quicker than any other sport. I'm not overlooking the aspects that make it great. But now it seems very tainted with the steroid scandal. In the last couple of years, it's gone way downhill for me and it at times has taken a lot of effort to get back into it. That plus it doesn't help that we haven't had an entertaining World Series in 6 years. I think when the World Series has been boring for that long, it makes it even more difficult to want to keep watching it. I'm also one of the few people that doesn't obsess over opening day. It's just so meaningless. there's 162 games. I can't get interested till the summer. A lot of people love baseball and don't get me wrong I have nothing against it. But of the 5 major sports, it's definitely my least favorite.

Cubs sign Dempster to 4 yr $52 million contract

Well at least the Cubs have done one thing right. And that was lock up Dempster after moving him from the team's closer to starter. He won 17 games and was the Cubs most consistent starter all season. As a result he has earned a new well deserved 4 yr $52 million contract. If nothing else, they should maintain the great starting pitching that they had during the season.

The one thing I wonder is, how this will affect their thought process of going after Jake Peavy. And I'm honestly not sure how I feel about them getting Peavy anyway. Don't get me wrong. It would appear to make the rotation unstoppable. But when you hardly score any runs and swing at balls outside of the zone during the playoffs, it doesn't matter much who you have in the rotation. My point is while Peavy would be a great addition, the Cubs priorities should lie with getting a batter with experience and proven success in the postseason. I didn;t understand why the Cubs wouldn't even have thought of going for Matt Holliday. Especially since Oak gave up nothing for him. So getting Peavy is good but it doesn't solve most of the issues the Cubs had in the playoffs.

Getting Dempster resigned was a big priority for the Cubs. He was a leader in the Cubs clubhouse all season and showed it when he was on the mound. I'm overall very happy with this deal and now I guess we'll see if the Cubs still go for Peavy. But either way they have a quality pitcher signed.

What has Kobe done to deserve more recognition and respect than MJ??

Can somebody please tell me why Kobe Bryant is so beloved among NBA fans? People are willing to think that he is automatically just as good if not better than Michael Jordan. They're willing to give him all the credit for when things are going well for the Lakers and give him none of the blame when things are bad for them. Everybody is willing to look past everything bad about him simply because he scored 81 points in a game. I guess when you attempt 46 shots in a game which was 4x more shots than anybody else on the Lakers took that game, then odds are you'll probably have a huge game. But don't act like he is the only person capable of an effort like that. Everybody else is just aware of playing as a team, something that Kobe has never had a concept of and while everyone is so quick to believe that he does now, he still doesn't.

Both MJ and Kobe were hard on their teammates. I'm not saying that MJ wasn't. The difference is, that MJ made every individual around him better and as a result made the Bulls better. He made the careers of players like Steve Kerr, Toni Kukoc and Luc Longley. Kobe has never made anybody better. When he has been the most successful after Shaq was traded, was when the Lakers acquired an already solid player in Pau Gasol, the addition of a veteran point guard in Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum, a player who Kobe insulted before the previous season had begun. But Kobe's selfish style of play did not make any of them or the Lakers team as a whole better. Those additions made the team better. This guy has never been a team player in his whole career and that's the thing that annoys me even more than people's love for him. The fact that they assume he is a team player. That is one of the big reasons why MJ was the best and why Kobe is not even fit to clean MJ's toilet.

The other thing that I hate that people say about Kobe is that he's one of the most clutch players in the NBA. If that's the case, then he wouldn't have put up one of the most pathetic performances I've seen in the 2008 NBA Finals. He shot 40% from the field and just 32% from 3. He may have averaged 25 pts a gm but that's because he would score about 15-20 in the 1st quarter and than was nonexistent the rest of the games. All he would do is force up horrible looking threes. He looked extraordinarily pathetic. In addition in the 2004 Finals, in which the Lakers got taken apart in 5 games, in each one of the Lakers losses, Kobe shot under 40%. Clutch means stepping up in the most crucial games of the season and Kobe has not only not done that, but he's choked probably more than any player of his superstar status has in a championship game or series. MJ would never have had that embarassing of an effort. He rose to the challenge with the greatest individual performances you would see but at the same time getting each and every one of his teammates involved. While Kobe ultimately reverted back to his selfish form. Ya Kobe is true clutch player. If you can be clutch at choking in the biggest games.

He has won three championships but don't assume that he was the reason behind it. When you have Shaq in his absolute prime averaging between 35 and 38 points a game in the finals, that is the reason for the 3 titles. Notice how it was Shaq that got all 3 finals mvps for the Lakers and even in 04, he was the only one on the Lakers that gave a solid effort. Kobe gets absolutely way too much credit for the titles he has won and if Shaq was not a Laker, last year would have been the first time Kobe would have come close to a title.

What's also puzzling is how everybody seems to have forgot the fact that he was charged with rape. Is that really someone you would want to look up to? But it doesn't matter because he scored 81 points in a game so what happened in the past shouldn't matter because he can score 81 points in a game. Spare me, why has everybody forgotten about those allegations and forgiven him for it? Even after not going to trial, he should have been crucified by the NBA. Instead, it didn't take long for fans to get back on his side. What happened since then? Did he win the Noble Peace Prize or something? Doesn't make sense to me.

He also treats his teammates horribly when they're not winning and when he's not getting enough shots and complains about calls more than anyone I've ever seen. He seems to have the attitude, Do you know who I am? I'm Kobe I'm the best in the world. How dare you call a foul on me. So unbelievably arrogant. Why do you think he changed his number to 24? One more than MJ. It's pretty obvious that in his mind he's surpassed MJ as the greatest. I guess he's been given good reason with people saying that he is. Because sadly enough people indulge the idea that he is better than MJ. So they're the ones just boosting his already massive ego.

People seriously need to stop giving this guy credit. People that claim to be fans of MJ and say that Kobe is better don't deserve to call themselves fans of MJ and the Bulls. It's a slap in the face to him and extremely disrespectful. This guy doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as MJ let alone even be considered to be as good or better. I hope that Kobe is the one star player that actually goes overseas because he is a cancer on the league and doesn't deserve my or anyone else's respect. And for those that do respect him, go and rent the Bulls championship DVD's. You'll see that true greatness is #23 on the Bulls, not #24 of the Lakers.

2 completely opposite and memorable seasons

When I was younger from about third grade on everybody I knew was involved in park district basketball in Buffalo Grove. Illinois. It was something no matter what you would have plenty of friends on your team and even more friends playing on the opposing teams. But in 6th grade both myself and my friend Kerry had very different teams with very different regular season results and very different playoff results as well. But we both remembered that season better than any other one.

I was on Syracuse and Kerry was on Georgetown. My team was one of the most balanced teams in the league that year. Everybody was capable of scoring in double digits and everybody had a significant role on the team. For Kerry's team it didn't start out that way. Georgetown had two players that were maybe not exactly the stars but they were the ones taking all the shots. And because of this they got off to a bad start. My team on the other hand could not be stopped. We weren't just beating teams, we were crushing them. One of the teams we crushed happened to be Georgetown. When we played them we beat them by 22. I remember after the game Kerry said to me, there's no way you guys aren't winning it all. That's what I thought as well.

But after that game the attitude of Georgetown changed. After our team constantly harrassed and double teamed their best players, they changed their attitude. Everybody on that team ended up getting involved. And that turned around their season in a way I didn't imagine. After that Kerry became one of their leading scorers. A lot of his contribution was a big part of why Georgetown ended up at 4-4 after starting the season 1-3. Kerry told me that their loss to us was a huge wakeup call for them. It changed the whole dynamic of the team. They got into the playoffs on a roll.

My team, Syracuse, finished the regular season 7-1. I was the leading scorer in a couple of the games but we pretty much had a different player that stepped up every game and led the team in scoring. We had so many weapons on the team and heading into the playoffs, we were clearly the favorites.

There were 3 rounds in the playoffs and our 1st playoff game was no different. Absolute domination. We thought we would cruise for the whole playoffs. But that thought was derailed. By Georgetown.

Georgetown had upset Depaul the one team we had lost to during the season. And our team was very cocky once that happened. We were glad not to face the one team that beat us and when we saw we were gonna play Georgetown again, we thought we were a shoein. It was that attitude that led to our downfall.

Georgetown played that game like we had been playing all season. They were the ones balanced playing together. My team, anyone who had the ball was just putting up jumpers or taking it to the basket. No one was setting screens for each other or looking for the open man. And that's why it was close. Despite that though, it was anyone's game. Our talent was the reason we weren't getting beat down. We were tied heading into the last minute due to my free throws. But then I made a huge mistake, and Kerry benefited from it. I helped out on a double team leaving Kerry wide open. By the time I realized it, it was too late to recover. And Kerry hit the jumper. The bigger mistake that was made was me thinking I had a chance to defend it. So I fouled him. He hit the jumper and the free throw and put them up 3. After that it was over. We turned the ball over, giving them another bucket. And that was the game. Neither me or Kerry thought in a million years this would be the result. My team, easily the best all year going down in the semifinals to Georgetown, a team that seemed like they would never have a shot to win a playoff game, let alone beat us in the semifinals. It's something that both me and Kerry still talk about today.

Georgetown would go on to lose in the championship game. But Kerry remembered after their loss to us during the season just how much it ended up benefitting the team. It enabled him to be a key contributor for that team and it enabled the team to improve as a whole and not just rely on two players. He said it was one of the best feelings to have that big of a turnaround and end up in the championship game.

As for me, I will always remember it as the game that got away. As being the best team, the whole season but for that one game against Georgetown maybe not taking the game seriously enough. But one thing is for sure, for both myself and Kerry it was our most memorable season of basketball that we had.

Soto the NL Rookie of the Year

I guess if there was one good thing that ultimately came out of the Cubs season it was Soto. This is the first time the Cubs have a solid young catcher that they can have for a long time. Soto is the first catcher to win rookie of the year in either league since Mike Piazza in 1993. It shows you just how big of an impact he had on the Cubs immediately this season.

Soto hit .285 with 23 hr's, 35 doubles and 86 rbi's. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make the difference for the Cubs in October. As he went just 2 for 11 with no rbi's. But while I feel the Cubs need to make a lot of changed, Soto is someone that will definitely stick around for a long time.

There at times were even brief mentions that Soto should be NL MVP. While I think that's a major stretch, it truly shows how much of a key player he was for the Cubs. If nothing else, it's debatable whether he was the best player on the Cubs this season or not.

While this was obvious that he would win, I guess it's nice that someone on the Cubs got rewarded for their performance in the regular season. Soto, I think is the perfect option for that.

Titans vs. Bears game blog

Final Titans 21 Bears 14. Titans are now 9-0 and are easily the biggest surprise team in the NFL. As for the Bears they're now 5-4 and will head to Lambeau next week probably without Orton again. The Packers are currently leading 27-21 so this is most likely for the NFC North lead. But as I said at the beginning you probably won't win when Rex Grossman is your qb.

2 minute warning Collins 1st down pass to Scafe. The Bears somehow hung in there as long as they could but that will officially do it.

This 3rd down is the Bears absolute last chance. The 2 minute warning will stop the clock and give the Bears the ball back with a stop

The Bears still do have 2 timeouts but major blown opportunity.

2:25: Broken up. I knew this couldn't last very long from Grossman.

2:29: Pass batted away. Damn it. 4th and 4 now. This is the game.

3:07: 9 yds for Olsen!! Continuing to move the ball.

3;12: Starting in Titan territory. Huge help for the Bears.

3:25: Nothing for Johnson again!! Can Rex step up for once in his life and get this game tied up?

3:32: Huge false start. 3rd and 21 now!!

4:10: Johnson once again goes nowhere!! Let's get the ball back now.

4:43: Collins sacked. by Ogunleye!!! Almost a fumble as well. the Bears are showing life now!

4:55 TD Forte!!!! 21-14 now. This is extremely pathetic that the Bears still have a chance.

5:25: Rex to Olsen down to the 1.

6:00: Grossman to Hester! To the Tenn 10. Maybe they still have life.

7:25 18 yds for Forte. Doubt it'll make any difference.

9:40: 48 yd fg attempt by Robbie Gould blocked putting a capper on the Bears horrible day.

9:46: Tipped once again. More boos. They probably need to go for it. But I'm sure they won't get it.

10:55: Forte 1st down to the Tenn 28. No huddle seems to be effective at the moment.

11:25: Completion to Hester to the tenn 37. Where was this all day?

11:50: Grossman over the middle to Forte. 1st down to Titan territory.

And as i said that apparently GB has taken a 24-21 lead. So the Bears are even more screwed than they already were.

The Bears will be better off if Min holds on to beat GB. They have the tiebreaker and even if they do beat GB I still think GB is tougher. But either way the Bears are screwed without Orton.

So how much longer is Orton gonna be out? The Bears aren't winning anything without him. Maybe they can try and sign someone else. I don't even care who. Can't be worse than Rex.

12:06: TD Lendale White. That's it. Game over. Bears aren't coming back with Rex Grossman. 21-7 Titans.

13:40: Collins to White. 1st down to the Bears 7. This game is about to be over if the Bears can't hold them to a fg. Although it is probably over anyway.

14:15: They're starting to get positive yds rushing. Not good.

Start of the 4th another completion for Collins.

End of the 3rd snow's coming down and the Titans are on the move ahead 14-7.

:30: A run for a 1st down by Johnson. Hasn't happened all day.

1:36: Collins rolls out and completes another 3rd down pass. I think Tenn might finish it here.

2:38: Rex cannot throw an on target pass to save his life.

3:10 Grossman sacked. It's like night and day when you compare Orton's play to Rex's.

4:07: Once again the Bears start from deep in their own territory. That's great. Unbelievable.

4:19 Big defensive stand. But the Bears cannot move the ball. They need some sort of big play.

5:00 I wonder why the Titans are even bothering to run at all anymore.

5:17: Another bad pass by Rex that would have been a 1st down. Can he do anything right? Again Rex I ask does it just suck being you?

5:57: Grossman play action overthrows Hester. Would have been a td if it was on target.

6:55: Grossman to Forte pickup of 9. Followed by a Forte run for a 1st. Finally the Bears are moving the ball.

7:34: Grossman to Olsen for a 1st down. Finally no 3 and out. Now let's use up the clock and get a solid drive and tie this game up.

9:00 Finally the Bears are able to stop a 3rd down pass from Collins. But will once again start in awful field position.

Another hilarious Mastercard commercial with Peyton Manning. Starting with him being in new England and someone working at the hotel saying you're going down Manning. He responds. I am to the 4th floor to get a massage. I love those commercials. Maybe not as good as the classic where he's chanting cut that meat or when he's trying to get an autograph from an accountant on his fantasy team hahaha but still great.

10:00: More boos. Is there anyone else the Bears can put in? They can't do any worse than this. Because if not the Bears are done.

11:10: That was pathetic: Grossman had a ton of time and hesitates too much. They get nothing on his short dropoff.

11:28: Touchdown Collins to Gage. Collins 5 of 5 for 55 yds on that drive. This is the Bears last chance the way they're defending the pass. If they don't do something now it's over. 14-7 Titans right now.

12:00: Collins is doing whatever he wants. I don't see the Bears hanging on here.

13:12: 2 more passes 2 more 1st downs. But now the scary thing is they're throwing on 1st down. This could be where the Titans go in for the kill.

14:15: Another 1st down. Collins to Jones. Collins has not looked anywhere near this good all season. He usually only manages the game. He is the reason they're in it today.

14:22: Tennessee will start from their own 45. Once again great field position. How long can the Bears expect to be stopping them with this good of starting field position?

14:34: Spoke too soon. Here are the boos again. 2 awful passes in a row. This is not looking good for the Bears at all.

14:50: Nice rollout to Clark. That was the type of pass Rex completed on the opening drive. Good start.

Start of the 3rd quarter and I think every Bears fan is wishing that any other qb was in this game besides Grossman. His horrible play luckily hasn't hurt the Bears as much as it could have. But it will if it continues. This game is all on him right now.

Halftime we're tied at 7. Some key stats. While the Titans are well short of their 149 yd rushing average with only -5 yds on the ground, Kerry Collins is 17-23 for 180 yds and a td already over his average of 165 yds a game. As for the Bears, Forte has 13 carries for 64 yds. But Grossman after starting 6 of 9 for 51 yds and a td since then is only 2 for 6 for 1 yd and an int. The Bears still have a lot of improvement that needs to be made. I'm taking a break until the 2nd half. See ya then.

:02: Completion to Gae out of bounds. 49 yd fg attempt coming up. Short thank gd.

:11 Big false start call 10 sec runoff. Huge!!! Not in range at the moment anymore either.

:30: 2 more completions for Collins and are easily in fg range.

1:05: D is gonna have to step it up. No timeouts now for the Titans but will once again get solid field position and have a chance to get into fg range. Better than Rex screwin up though.

1:52: Once again horrible field position. Just run the ball here. Can't afford to make a mistake.

2 minute warning: The Bears are lucky that it was 3rd and 28 because Collins completed yet another pass for big yardage. Just not enough.

2:35: No rushing attack for Tenn. But no pass d from the Bears. Not what I expected to happen. I never thought I'd say this if the Bears were shutting down the run but something needs to change.

3:45: Collins hits Scafe again for another 1st down. I'm getting really sick of Collins looking as good as a regular qb right now.

4:25: Yet another completion for Collins. He's getting all the time in the world. This is ridiculous!

4:55: Another 1st down completion. Collins to Scafe.

5:45: Once again White goes nowhere. I hate that the Bears are shutting doen the strength of the Titans and are still tied.

6:10: 3rd punt in a row. At least the Titans will be starting from their own territory this time.

7:26: Lucky!! Another batted pass but this time Forte is able to haul that one in. Can't survive much longer with Rex's throws being tipped and batted.

7:55: Big pickup by Forte. The Bears desperately needed a 1st down.

C'mon Rex. Let's get back on track here. Bears cannot win this game if you don't start completing some passes.

Yes!!! Quantum of Solace comes out this Friday. I'm pumped for the next Bond movie.

8:39: Touchdown Collins to Scafe. As great as their run d has been their pass rush has been pathetic and Collins has had all day. Such a shame the way their d had been playing. We're tied at 7.

9:10: Bottled up again, this time Lendale White. -3 yds rushing so far for the Titans.

9:50: Another 1st down catch by Jones. Rex could learn something from watching Collins today.

10:20: 30 yard punt return for Carr. Tenn will once again get another solid opportunity.

10:58: This is clearly gonna come down to the Bears d. This is gonna be tough to keep outlasting the Titans with horrible Rex.

11:10: What is he doing? I can hear the boos start. Rex hasn't completed a pass since the opening drive.

11:58: Another tremendous job by the d!!! This game isn't over by any means but it was obvious Tenn was not as good as their record. But Tenn due to the pick has the much better field position. The Bears have to start moving the ball outta their own territory.

12:40: Mike Brown destroys Johnson!! Loss of 7!!!

13:20: Collins 1st down pass to Brandon Jones. Give Collins credit so far.

14:26: Very solid coverage but also not a good pass by Rex. I don't like this. I think we'll be seeing typical Rex Grossman from now on.

Start of the 2nd: Forte gives the Bears some room with a 7 yd run.

End of the 1st. Bears 7 Titans 0. Got scared there but the D stepped up at the most important time in that drive. The key is gonna be Rex. Is his confidence gonna be shot or can he recover and continue to play like he did on their opening drive? That is very much gonna be the difference in the game.

:44: Fumble!! Bears recover!!! That's what I'm talkin about!!! The Bears seem willing to sacrifice Collins completing passes if it means topping their biggest weapon, the run. The running game has been stuffed today.

:59: Solid tackle by Brown keeping Scafe outta the end zone.

1:27: Collins seems to be up to the challenege so far.

2:05: Johnson once again goes nowhere. Can they stop them 2 more times?

2:38: Collins complete to Crumpler inside the 10. That's great. We're probably screwed.

2:48: Big offensive pass inteference call. Having said that the Bears are still basically giving away all the momentum they had.

3:30 Unbelievable! Here comes typical Rex. Throws under pressure. Booker bats it up in the air picked by Hope. Tenn now in Bear territory. Rex does it just suck being you?

I'm glad they finally came out with these PC commercials firing back against the Macs. It's great because they completely overrate Macs. PC's destroy them!

3:53: Overall another solid defensive series. The Bears look like the better team without question so far!

4:30: Tenn's running game has been completely ineffective. This is gonna mean a lotta trouble for them. They have to run the ball to be successful.

5:40 Collins completes his 1st big pass. That is what he'll have to do the way the Bears run d is playing. Another timeout? Unbelievable! I've seen too many commercials already.

6:26 Beard d bottles up the headed rushing attack back to back! The Titans aren't used to this!

7:00 Chris Johnson goes nowhere on 1st down. This Bears d looks like they came to battle today!

I love how watching this Bud Light commercial that people drink beer cuz it won't fill you up. Or because of the amount of calories. I could bet money that not one person in the world is concerned about either of those things when drinking beer. Why even make beer commercials saying stuff like that? I mean seriously!

Only the 2nd team to get a td in the 1st quarter against Tenn this year. Didn't work out well for Indy the other team. But I think it's a terrific sign.

7:06: TD DA BEARS!! Rex finds Forte. Very impressive opening drive. By both Rex and Forte. Rex 6 of 9 for 51 yds and the td on that drive. Forte 3 carries for 19 yds and the 5 yd td catch. Couldn't have asked for a more perfect start. This game definiteky seems winnable.

7:11: Booker very angry. Could have been pass interference.

8:20: First down run by Forte! Love the playcalling Lovie!. It's 1st and goal now. Let's punch it in!

9:00 Damn it. Hester just short. We'll see if they rethink going for it. I'd like to see a td though rather than settle for a fg. That's not the way you're gonna beat Tennessee.

9:40 The Bears wr's are making him look good. Stumbled a couple of times but still completing his passes.

10:24 Great catch by Hester! Nice job by Rex gettin that pass off before bein hit and losing his balance. Lookin good so far Rex.

Totally forgot Jevon Kearse was back on the Titans. Random comment but whatever.

11:25: Grossman off to a solid start completing his 1st two passes. Moving to the Titan 37. Did not expect that. Injury timeout. Let's keep this goin.

13:20: Forte 9 yard run on the outside. Followed by a run for a 1st by Mckie.

14:10 Great start maybe a bit of a surprise to defer the coin toss but tremendous 3 and out start for the d. We'll see if Rex can have as good of a start.

Kickoff: Bears kicking off in a cold game 37 degrees. We'll see how the Bears d comes outta the gates.

It's about 10 or 15 minutes before kickoff and as a Bears fan, I can not be more worried right now. Not just about today but the rest of the season. Who knows for how long Kyle Orton will be out. Relying on one of the most inaccurate inconsistent quarterbacks in Rex is probably not gonna bode well. And to add on to that they have to be facing arguably the toughest d in the league. I don't see Rex being the man to lead the Bears to victory and being the first team to knock off the Titans. But if they want to have a shot Matt Forte will need to step it up and take a lotta pressure off the passing game. The Bears d has struggled the last two games, but it's pretty simple for them. You need to shut down the run. Kerry Collins maybe attempts like 12 to 15 passes a game from what it seems like. Force him to be the one to beat you. I don't know if he can do it. Bottomline, the Titans are a solid team but are not as good as their record and are beatable. But Rex you cannot screw this one up. Run the ball, look at how your opponent succeeds and go off of that. We're coming up on kickoff. Good luck Chicago becuase with Grossman you're gonna need it.

National League Awards

As I said yesterday I'm not sure whether the rookie of the year has been decided already or not. They may have already given it to Geovany Soto. But if they haven't then Soto is still easily the pick as he was a huge part of the Cubs regular season success. They finally have someone solid behind the plate that they will have for a long time. Unlike the American League, the NL in my mind is almost impossible to decide. So that's why I'm saying who I think should get it, not actually predicting it.

NL Manager of the Year: Lou Pinella
I realize that this seems ridiculous considering some of the poor decisions he's made especially in the playoffs. But this is a regular season award. I also realize the Cubs were expected to win the Central. But they exceeded expectations with 97 wins finishing with the best record in the National League. And bottomline there really aren't any other good choices. Joe Torre could be considered but they only won 84 games and it was more due to Manny. Until the last month of the season I would have picked Tony LaRussa considering the Cardinals up until then completely exceeded expectations. But finishing 4th in your division will not get him that award.

NL Cy Young: C.C. Sabathia
These next two awards I realize what I'm picking is very unlikely since they have not been in the NL the whole season. And normally because of that I wouldn't think they would deserve to win any awards. But in a season where there is absolutely no clear cut Cy Young and MVP candidates, that's the reason I'm going this route. It can't be denied that Sabathia was the reason Milwaukee made their first playoff appearance in 26 years. He went 11-2 with a 1.65 era with 7 complete games. That type of effort is remarkable for only being in the NL for less than half the season. Impact on the team is the most important thing in my mind and that's why I think Sabathia should get it. Dempster would also be a solid choice as his move from closer to starter turned things around for the Cubs rotation. Lincecum and Webb were also great but didn't have the same impact.

NL MVP:Manny Ramirez
This is the same situation. Anytime there seemed like there would be a clear cut choice they began to struggle. For the longest time I thought Utley could get it, than his play dropped off. I even considered Ryan Braun until his horrible September. Bottomline is no one earned it and Manny was only in the NL for two months. But look at how big his impact was. He batted .396 with 17 hrs. He single-handedly got the Dodgers into the playoffs, then unfortunately for the Cubs into the NLCS. The man who in reality will probably get it is Albert Pujols. But I disagree with that. With his team finishing 4th in the Central, they weren't successful enough. That plus he had help this time with the likes of Ryan Ludwick. I think Ludwick is almost as viable a candidate as Pujols. He was just as big a part as the Cardinals surprising season. As I said this will probably be the only time I ever pick one player that hasn't been in their league for the whole year to win an award, let alone 2. But there aren't any clear cut choices. And Manny and Sabathia had the biggest impacts on their teams even in such a short amount of time.

American League Awards

Normally I would be saying that I'm gonna predict the awards for the American and National League thinking I could get most of the awards as accurate as possible. But this year is one of the most difficult as there are really only a few very obvious choices. So I'm aware that I could be way off. So that's why I'm sayin who I think should win and not who I actually think will win necessarily. I'll do the AL today and the NL tomorrow. Also, I'm pretty sure the Rookie of the Years have already been picked. Evan Longoria in the AL. If not, he is who should win because he was one of the main catalysts in one of the biggest turnarounds in baseball. But again I believe this was already picked.

AL Manager of the Year:Joe Maddon.
This is one of the few obvious ones as the Rays have never been anywhere close to first place. In addition they had to go against the likes of the Red Sox and Yankees. This was an extremly well balanced young team that has been built. And while we saw at some point in the playoffs some questionable use of the bp by Maddon, he without question did the best job. He is without a doubt AL Manager of the Year.

AL Cy Young: Cliff Lee
Lee had the best season of any pithcer in baseball. And all this after having to pitch in the minors last season due to an awful start and injury. He went 22-3 with a 2.54 era. In addition he did this with an Indians team that up until the last month looked awful. He for a long time has almost a third of Cleveland's victories. The only other pitcher that could have an argument is K-Rod who had a record 62 saves this year. He was probably the reason the Angels won 100 games this year as they were involved in a lot of 1 run games this year. Having said that I really only feel a closer should win the Cy Young if there is not a starter that had a great year. That's not the case with Lee so I think he should get it.

Al MVP: Dustin Pedroia
This was the most difficult of the AL to pick. But Pedroia was a huge reason that Boston could get away with trading Manny. He batted .326 which was second in the AL but he was definitely the best hitter in the AL this season. He also scored 118 runs and was a major presence on base. Boston would not have been as successful if it wasn't for Pedroia.

Very dissapointing playoffs

Obviously the main reason I hated this year's playoffs was due to the extremely pathetic showing displayed by the Cubs. I knew that no matter what it would never be a guarantee that they would win the World Series. But after winning 97 games and looking like arguably the best team in baseball for the whole season, I would have thought at least getting out of the Division Series would be a certainty. But it seems the only certainty with the Cubs is that they will come out with a lackluster effort in the biggest games. That pretty much killed it for me.

Having said that the Rays were a great story and I would have loved to see them win it all. But a matchup of Rays v. Phillies was pretty much guaranteed to have the lowest ratings in World Series history. The only chance this series had of being interesting was for the Rays to win in a close series. And going into it they looked to be pretty evenly matched. But of course the Phillies who may have been one of the most uninteresting teams to watch in the playoffs dominated the series.

This pretty much reminded me of another awful World Series 2 years ago when St. Louis beat Det in 5. Detroit was the hot team and the great story and the Cardinals were the uninteresting 83 win team. Yet they dominated in 5 much like in this series. I don't know which series was more dissapointing but this one unfortuantely had to wait 2 days to finish the final 3 innings due to the weather. That just made things worse and just annoyed me even more.

It's been a long time since there has been a good World Series. The last one was the Angels winning in 02. Ever since then there has been just no good matchups in the World Series. And this was no exception.

Bottomline if you're not living in Philly I don't think anybody enjoyed the outcome of the 08 playoffs. If I went by the Cubs motto, I would be sayin there's always next year. But I can't be that positive about it anymore. Not after this year.

Top 10 moments from 2008 baseball season

10. Hurricane Ike forcing the Astros to play home games in Milwaukee.
Hurricane Ike forced all Houston sports to drastically change the dates of games or move to different locations. Many felt that this was the downfall to the Astros season as they faced the Cubs in a 2 game series at Miller Park which was more of a home series for the Cubs than it was for the Astros.

9. The Yankees missing the playoffs for the 1st time since 93
Maybe it was somewhat due to Hank Steinbrenner now being the face of Yankee ownership. But this team had way too many pitching issues combined with the fact that they had the Rays and the Red Sox in their division. But this was the 1st season since I've been paying attention to baseball that the Yankees have not been a part of the postseason.

8. Cliff Lee winning 22 games.
A year ago Lee was pitching in the minors as he was injured and struggling being forced down to Triple-A. Now he is arguably the best pitcher in the game. For a long time during the season he had almost a third of the Indians wins showing just how dissapointing Cleveland was. But also just how dominant Lee was this season. One of the better stories this season.

7. K-Rod breaking the saves record.
K-Rod was far and away the most dominant closer in baseball as he shattered the previous record for most saves in a season getting 62 saves. He beat the previous record of 57 on September 13 as that record was held by Bobby Thigpen. Thigpen had held this record for 18 years. In my mind, K-Rod was the main reason the Angels were able to win 100 games. The Angels were in so many close games this season and without the best closer in the game, they would not have been as successful.

6. Ken Griffey Jr. hits number 600
Griffey will be known as someone who could have been the greatest if he had stayed healthy. But despite that on June 9 he hit his 600th career home run. It is even more remarkable as he will be one of the few current home run leaders that will not be identified with the steroid scandal. It is a shame that he was not able to stay healthy as we could gave been talking about him breaking the all time career home run record someday.

5. The two trades that shook up the NL.
The acquisition of C.C. Sabathia by the Brewers and Manny Ramirez by the Dodgers turned these two teams around. Sabathia was 10-2 pitching 7 complete games and pitching Milwaukee into the postseason on the last day. Even though he wasn't in the NL the whole season he will at least be a candidate for the Cy Young. Manny was incredible as well hitting almost .400 and getting the Dodgers to the NLCS. It is also possible that he could be considered for the NL MVP despite not being in the NL for the whole season.

4. Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter.
There was hardly any highlights for Big Z in the last 2 months of the season but this was a huge one. It was the 1st no-hitter thrown by a Cub since 1972. And it is maybe the best one to come out of a great regular season for the Cubs.

3. Jon Lester's no-hitter
Lester is another remarkable comeback story as he fought his way back from lymphoma. In May he threw a no-hitter against the Royals. A no-hitter is always unbelievable but it was especially in Lester's case. He fought his way back and is now a solid pitcher for the Red Sox.

2. Tampa goes from worst to first and the World Series
Tampa for its 1st 10 years had been a doormat in baseball. But this season was a shock as Joe Maddon's team won the AL East with solid pitching and a lineup consisting of timely hitters. This team's story has been nothing short of remarkable and even though it may end tomorrow it has been one of the best turnarounds in baseball.

1. Josh Hamilton
Josh Hamilton was out of baseball for 3 years because of his drug addiction. Most people are lucky to survive an addiction let alone play a sport they love ever again. Hamilton not only played but for the 1st half of the season was the best player in baseball. This was capped off by his memorable performance in the hr derby. Even though he didn't win, he set a record with 28 hr's in the 1st rd. I wish he had been able to keep it goin all season as I would have loved to see him win MVP. But either way this was the best story in baseball this season.

Strongest and weakest postseason performances this week

Strongest Performance-Ryan Howard
Howard has erupted the last 2 games with a total of 3 hr's and 6 rbi. When Howard is hitting like this the Phillies will be almost impossible to beat. This is the best Howard has played in the playoffs and now with his efforts the Phillies look primed to win their 1st World Series in 28 years.

Weakest Performance- Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena
These two have been the big bats in the Rays lineup all season. But in the World Series, they're a combined 0 for 29 with 15 strikeouts. And while game 4 may have been a blowout, they could have used those bats in game 3. Now they are looking at a 3-1 defecit having to go against Hamels. And of course Longoria's error in game 3 got the winning run across. Here is that highlight.

World Series Predictions

Phillies v. Rays
I think it's safe to say that this is probably the last World Series matchup that anybody expected to see. I can also imagine that this will probably draw very low ratings as these are two teams that there does not appear to be a very big fanbase for. But despite all of these facts, this should be a pretty good series.

The Phillies have the big names on offense. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell, Shane Victorino, and Jayson Werth. But overall, Tampa's offense in my mind is at least even. B.J. Upton has had an unbelievable postseason and Carlos Pena and Evan Longoria are very dangerous as well. Because of the big names I would give the Phillies a very slight advantage but the Rays as we saw in the ALCS are very capable of offensive explosions.

In terms of the starting rotation Cole Hamels is far and away the best pitcher in the series. He will give the Phillies a solid chance at stealing Game 1. But overall I would say the Rays with the likes of Shields, Kazmir and Garza are more balanced with their pitching rotation. I think the Phillies are gonna need the absolute best out of Hamels in order to stay with Tampa.

Both bullpens are solid but the Phillies get the advantage here. It definitely seems like Lidge is back and the Phillies bp has been lights out. Tampa's bp has also overall been solid but they could have defeated Boston in only five if their bullpen hadn't had maybe the biggest meltdown in playoff history. I would give the Phillies the advantage.

Overall, it's hard to be certain who will win this series as they seem to be fairly evenly matched. But I am gonna say the Rays in seven as I think the main difference seems to be the Rays very much got battle tested against the Red Sox and I think that's what it will take. The Phillies have looked very impressive throughout the playoffs but they haven't been challeneged at all. I think that will be the thing to put the Rays on top. And that's what I hope will happen. It'll hopefully be one of the greates runs throughout a season, from worst to first. Rays in seven.

Strongest and weakest LCS performances

Strongest Performances-Cole Hamels, Matt Garza, B.J. Upton
Hamels went 2-0 with a 1.93 series ERA. At only 24, he is already turning into one of the best pitchers in baseball and with him as a #1 he will give the Phillies a great chance to steal game 1 in Tampa.

Matt Garza 2-0 1.38 series ERA. His Game 7 performance was clutch as he outdueled Jon Lester giving up just 1 run on 2 hits to get Tampa into their 1st World Series. Overall, Tampa has a solid rotation and pitchers such as Garza can make the difference for them.

B.J. Upton 4 hr's 10 rbi. Overall for the postseason he has hit 7 hr's and has been one of the main run producers for Tampa throughout the playoffs.

Weakest Performance-Chad Billingsley
He was 0-2 with a 18.00 ERA and didn't even last 3 innings in either one of his starts. And after getting lit up in Game 2 for 7 earned runs he blamed Russell Martin for the pitch selection. Take responsibility for how poorly you pitched. Don't blame it on your catcher.

In an ideal world, Fukudome would never get another at-bat with the Cubs

I'm really sick of how many chances Fukudome is given. I know he's signed for 4 years and making $12 million a year. But you know what, it doesn't matter. You have to know when the investment hasn't paid off and be able to cut ties in some way.

If the Cubs could actually trade Fukudome and get some decent talent for him, that would be my ideal option. But who would want to not just take on his way too large of a contract but even wanna use him anyway. I mean the fact that he's a pretty good outfielder doesn't make up for the fact that he is completely uncomfortable and inept at the plate. So I honestly don't see the Cubs being able to trade for him and find a team that would actually want him on their team.

My best guess is they are gonna keep him and give him another year to develop. But at this point the Cubs can;t afford to have that happen. His contract cannot be the deciding factor in whether he is playing or not. It was inexcusable that he started the 1st games in the playoffs, batted 2nd in game 1 and then when Pinella claimed he was not gonna play him, he was the replacement in centerfield for Edmonds when he was taken out. What's even worse is that Reed Johnson a huge pickup and a huge bright spit for the offense this year did not have one at-bat. Just inexcusable.

Bottomline is the Cubs screwed themselves by giving Fukudome way too high of contract and like every team when they overpay a player feel they have to keep playing him no matter how awful he is. Like I said, if some team is stupid enough to trade for him, then the Cubs have to listen since he still has 3 years left on his contract. But at the very least they need to put him as far down on the bench as possible. My guess, they keep him and give him another year to improve which means he will keep being an everyday player. Not a good way to try to break what will now be a 101 year streak of not winning a championship.

Strongest and weakest postseason performances this week

Strongest Performance- Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkillis, Dice-K
After a very ineffective performance in the ALDS, Boston's two MVP candidates appear to be very much back on track. Despite losing a wild game yesterday Pedroia hit 3 HR's and Youkillis hit one of his own. Youkillis is hitting .600 while Pedroia is hitting .500. While maybe not outright, the most dominant performances of the week, it will just be another advantage Boston has later on in this series.

Dice-K was the pitcher Tampa was supposed to have the best chance against. But he no-hit the Rays up until the 7th inning and in total went 7 shutout innings striking out 9. If Beckett gets back on track, then the Red Sox are gonna have a trio of great pitchers to throw out on the mound. If he doesn't then whatever great starts they get outta Dice-K will still be of tremendous help. Honarable mention goes to Evan Longoria. I couldn't put him in this category officially because he did nothing in Game 1. But in Game 2 he went 3 for 5 with a HR and 3 rbi. He was a big reason why Tampa evened the series up yesterday.

Weakest Performance-Josh Beckett
Clearly Beckett is not all the way back from recoving just yet because this is not anywhere close to the typical big-time postseason performer that Beckett usually is. Already with a bad start under his belt in this year's playoffs, he only lasted 4.1 innings giving up 8 runs and giving up 3 HR's. If Beckett is not fully recovered yet, this will put more pressure on not just Lester and Dice-K but on starters like Wakefield for Game 4 as well. Beckett has literally been one of the main reasons why his teams are successful and why he has 2 titles. But if he doesn't get back into form, he could be a reason why Boston fails in a repeat attempt.

Who has been better off since the trade? Manny or the Red Sox?

With all of the problems Manny had been causing in demanding a trade from Boston, which had been if nothing else rumored for the last couple of seasons, ultimately gave Boston no choice. It was something they would be unable to deal with as it got later into the season. Either trade him and get something for him or lose him when the season was over. As a result they got Jason Bay who is a solid player. Nobody really blamed the Red Sox for wanting him outta Boston.

When it came down to it though, that appeared to be the thing that could very well prevent them from winning yet another World Series. Manny's attitude may not always be acceptable to a clubhouse, but when he is focused on playing, he is very much a force to be reckoned with. Since he has been a Dodger, he is hitting almost .400 and has just been playing completely outta his mind. He has single-handedly not just turned the Dodgers around but has made every player hitting around him much more effective and dangerous. He has shown he is still one of the best players in baseball and he gets my vote as NL MVP despite only being in the NL for two months. Despite all the problems he was causing in Boston, he was one of the main reasons for their 2 championships. For 9 teams outta 10, trading Manny Ramirez would have finished a team no matter how many issues there were with him in the clubhouse.

The Red Sox, however, are clearly the one team that did not let getting rid of their best player finish them. And that is also clearly a reason why they traded him as they knew they could still be a solid team without him. Jason Bay is clearly not Manny but he is a solid player on his own and has stepped up for Boston in what is his 1st year in the playoffs. Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkillis have turned into two of the best players in the American League. And in general this team has more than enough weapons to make up for the loss of Manny. What's even more amazing is all the injuries they're dealing with; Lowell, Beckett, Drew and it still is not stopping them. The bottomline is yes this team traded Manny because of all the problems he was causing. But they knew exactly what they were doing and probably would not have gone through with it if they knew they weren't gonna be anywhere near as good of a team.

So right now who is better off? Manny is having an MVP season in ust a couple of months in the NL and Boston has more than enough firepower to make up for the loss of Manny. While I'm not rooting for this, seeing these two teams face off in the World Series would answer this question once and for all. But right now, it's clear that neither Manny or the Red Sox are suffering in the least since they've parted ways.

LCS predictions

To recap the division series, two of the series I got exactly right, the Phillies in 4 and the Rays in 4. And the other two I was completely off. So hopefully I'll improve on my LCS predictions.

Red Sox v. Rays
Manny or no Manny the Red Sox still know how to get it done in the postseason. They can come at you in all areas and seem to come up with clutch hits at the right moments. To think that AL MVP candiate Dustin Pedroia was not much of a factor against the Angels and they still won in just 4 games should scare every future opponent they have. Jon Lester has been stellar in the playoffs, and if Dice-K and Beckett get back to dominant form, this team will be very tough to stop. As for the Rays, this team has a bright future and could maybe surprise people as to how well they'll do. Players like Longoria, Upton, Pena, Crawford, Navarro and Floyd makes this team very balanced offensively. And the pitching is the strength of their team as they were very effective in taking a potentially explosive offense in the White Sox out of its game, which is hitting it out of the park. Both of these teams have tremendous balance and the Rays even played well against Boston this year enabling them to win the AL East by two games. But the Rays are ultimately still a year or two away in my mind while Boston has done a great job in making up for the loss of Manny and will prove to be too much. I'm sick of Red Sox nation and I really like this Rays team so I hope they find a way to pull it off. But I think the best they can do is be competitive. Red Sox in six.

Dodgers v. Phillies
By far the biggest surprise of this postseason has been the Dodgers. They completely manhandled the team that was supposed to be the best in baseball. While the Cubs made many and I mean many mistakes, the Dodgers made them pay for every single one of them. That series showed me that this team is more than just Manny. Players like Russell Martin and James Loney step up and get hits when runners are on base everytime. Playing on the road much like the Red Sox didn't faze them either. Their rotation seems to be very solid and their bullpen consists of pitchers you want to have trying to win a championship. As for the Phillies, this team has definitely improved from the team that was in the playoffs last year. They have a lot of weapons on offense and their pitching staff has improved the most and been what's enabled them to get this far. However, I didn't feel they dominated Milwaukee like I thought they would. They had big innings but I didn't see the consistency on offense that I would have expected from them and that I saw from the Dodgers. They can't afford to make mistakes as I said or the Dodgers will make them pay for it. But most of all, I remember what happened last year when they ran into a very hot team. The Rockies were playing unbelievable baseball last year and the Phillies couldn't handle them. Maybe the Dodgers aren't quite that hot but they are very close. And I don't think that will bode well for the Phillies. Maybe I'm selling them a little short but after what I saw from the Dodgers I don't think the Phillies will do much to stop them. It's gonna be Manny's former team vs. his current team and either Manny or the Red Sox will pick up a 3rd title in 5 years. Dodgers in five.

Strongest and weakest postseason performances this week

Strongest performance- Manny Ramirez, Russell Martin and James Loney.
You could argue that the whole Dodger team deserves to be mentioned here but I've gone with the three Dodgers who in my mind by far had the biggest impact on the series.

Manny has completely changed the dynamic of this Dodger team. He seems to be a guarantee to get on base all the time and because of that it allows players like Eithier and Loney to get more hits. Manny was 5 for 10 in this series with 2 hr. While he drove most of his runs in when LA had a big lead, he was still on base constantly and always a huge threat to get on. He changed this team and has now made the Dodgers a legitimate contender to win the World Series.

Russell Martin batted .308 in this series and while he only got 4 hits, he made each and every one count and made the Cubs pay with just about all of them. He drove in 7 runs in the 3 games with a hr and 2 rbi doubles. One of those doubles included the backbreaker in game 2 after all of the Cubs errors that were committed, leading to a 5-0 Dodger lead. It needed to be more than just Manny in this series for LA to win and Russell Martin became a major offensive threat in this series.

James Loney officially only went 3 for 14. But his grand slam in the 5th inning of game 1 pretty much clinched this series and sealed the fate of the Cubs immediately. He like Martin didn't get a lot of hits, but the hits he did get made the Cubs pay. He drove in 6 runs for the series including a 2 run double in the 1st inning of game 3 once again pretty much sealing the fate of the Cubs early on.

Weakest performance- This time I am going with a whole team and that team is obviously the Cubs. Each and every player on that team should be embaressed excluding Reed Johnson and Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano got majorly screwed over with all of those errors. In reality he didn't actually pitch that bad of a game but was doomed when every infielder comitted a pathetic looking error. And how does Pinella justify not giving Johnson one at-bat. He energized the Cubs the whole season coming up with clutch timely hits. Instead Fukodome went hitless the 1st two games and after Pinella swore he wouldn't play him again replaces Edmonds with him instead of Johnson. It was so much worse than that however as the Cubs looked completely lost at the plate. They were late on their swings so much that it wasn't just that they weren't getting on base but they couldn't even fly out. It was all groundouts or reaching for pitches low outta the strikezone. This performance was the worst playoff performance I have ever seen from any team in any sport in any year that I have been watching sports. Changes have to be made and I think it starts with getting rid of Lee and Soriano. Soriano swings at every ball thrown in the dirt and Lee although he had an ok series in comparison to everyone else constantly grounded into dp's the whole season. There will never be a weaker performance in the playoffs than the 2008 Chicago Cubs.

Division Series Predictions.

Dodgers vs. Cubs
Manny in my mind could very well be the NL MVP as he has carried LA on his back. But let's be honest, the NL West was pathetic. Furcal could be playing in this series and if he's effective, that would help LA out. But this offense doesn't scare me. You pitch around Manny with runners on, this team is not gonna beat you. It's rotation has improved but it's decent at best. The key for the Cubs will be Zambrano. He comes back series over. I'll easily take the likes of Dempster, Big Z and Harden over Lowe Billingsley and Kuroda anytime anywhere. LA's BP is solid but you gotta have a lead. With that in mind I'm taking the Cubs in a sweep. This Dodger team has proven nothing to me beyond getting through an awful division.

Brewers vs. Phillies
The heroics of Sabathia are gonna cost Milwaukee in this series. Sabathia will most likely be unable to pitch more than once in this series and Sheets is not back to the level he needs to be at for the playoffs. A lineup with Howard, Utley, Rollins, and Victorino is something to be feared and this rotation has improved drastically throughout the season. You wonder how long Lidge will keep this up his perfect save streak but other than that the Phillies are the better team. C.C. probably wins his start but that's it. Phillies in four

White Sox vs. Rays
The Rays are the biggest mystery in the postseason. A team that relies on solid pitching and solid fundamental baseball. You don't know how much of a factor the inexperience will be for this team. Having said that, the Sox have had to use their starters late in the season and Vazquez may be forced to pitch more than they would like. An inconsistent rotation and bullpen and an offense that relies on the longball is not what the 2005 team was about and it will not get it done for the Sox. Tampa is also tremendous at home. Rays in 4.

Red Sox vs. Angels
This will definitely be the most entertaining series to watch. The Angels pitching staff is one of the best and if they're ahead in the 9th game over. K-Rod is amazing. Boston will be without Beckett until Game 3. They also don't have Lowell or J.D. Drew but this team will fight. Pedroia has been the MVP of this team and the AL and Big Papi could come alive. And with Beckett at least available they still do have a scary rotation. But in the end the Angels are the better team and will hold on in this series. Angels in 5

Given the chance, Harden can be the man for the Cubs in the playoffs

When asked which Cubs pitcher can turn into a star in the postseason such as Josh Beckett in 2003, I think the typical response to that would be Ryan Dempster. I don't deny that and he is definitely capable of it. But I'm gonna say the pitcher I've been high on ever since the Cubs traded for him, Rich Harden.

Harden has some of the nastiest stuff you will see, especially his fastball and his splitter. Every start he has you can expect great stuff from him almost all of the time. The key will be does Pinella finally use him to his potential.

Since Harden has been known more to be on the DL than anything, Pinella at most would pitch him 7 innings a game. But more often then not he would go only 5 to 6 innings. One would think this would be so they could save him and he would be his healthiest for the playoffs. Well it's playoff time now Lou. It's time to unleash him.

If Lou is willing to let him go as deep into the game as necessary, he will be a valuable asset for the Cubs in the playoffs. But I'm not positive that will be the case as we saw even in the playoffs, Pinella puts almost too much trust in his bullpen. The example of that was pulling Zambrano too early in Game 1 against Az last year in a matchup with Brandon Webb. That decision cost the Cubs Game 1 and turned the series in the Dbacks favor. That will not cut it this time around. Harden needs to go 7-8 innings in his starts if he will be his most effective.

But if he is used to the best of his abilities, he will be the difference in the Cubs going to and even winning the World Series. Before Harden, the Cubs would have been looking at Lilly as their game 3 starter and Marquis as their Game 4 starter. A frightening prospect. Harden has given the starting ritation unbeliavable depth that will be a tremendous benefit in the playoffs.

As I said, this will be all on Pinella. If he is unwilling to unleash him on the rest of the Cubs opponents from here on out, it will be nothing but greatness and every Cubs fan will remember the name Rich Harden.

Strongest performance and weakest performance every Sun.

For my weekly feature every Sunday, I will say which player I feel had the strongest postseason performance to benefit their team and which player had the weakest performance hurting their team the most. For this week, it will be who helped their team's playoff chances the most and who hurt their team's playoff chances the most.

Strongest performance-C.C. Sabathia
C.C. pretty much single-handely has turned around the Brewers. But today, he stepped up in his biggest start this season. He pitched his 7th complete game as Brewer giving up just 1 run on 4 hits and walking only 1. All this on his 3rd straight start with just 4 days rest. Milwaukee might have some solid players in the likes of Braun, Fielder etc. but this team is now a playoff team because of Sabathia. Also at the beginning of this week as well, Sabathia won over the Pirates pitching 7 innings and giving up 1 run on 4 hits again. He has stepped up and gotten Milwaukee into the playoffs and has easily earned my strongest "postseason" performance of this week, in that he definitely did the most to help Milwaukee's playoff chances.

Weakest performance-Javier Vazquez and Justin Morneau
It's very tempting to say the New York Mets for this category but instead I'm going with two players from the horrible AL Central.

Ozzie Guiellen challenged Vazquez to step up and deliver them a win against the Twins this week. He said that Vazquez basically has never won a big game. For most players that would challenge them to step up and deliver when the team needs you the most. Instead, all Vazquez did was validate Ozzie's comments. In his start against the Twins he went just 4 innings giving 5 runs and 7 hits in a 9-3 loss, which would be his 15th of the season. But he was not done losing. In his start yesterday against Cle. he went just 4 1/3 innings and gave up 7 runs on 5 hits in a 12-6 loss which gave him 16 losses on the season and in total has bumped his ERA up to 4.67 When your manager calls you out and you make yourself look worse, that is why he is tied for this week's weakest performance.

I'm not just singling the Sox out however. My other weakest performance goes to Justin Morneau. Morneau is being considered as a candidate for AL MVP but after this weekend, there is no way I would give it to him. The Twins had prime opportunity to wrap up the AL Central but lost 2 of 3 at home to KC of all teams. And Morneau didn't contribute at all. He went just 1 for 12 in this series driving in just 1 run. Overall, he is 1 for his last 17. MVP's deliver in clutch situations especially during the end of the season in a pennant race. There is no way Morneau should get MVP after this pitiful performance. And that is why he was picked for the other weakest performance this week.

Fortunately, for those two players one of them will still be a part of the postseason. I find that pathetic and disgusting that either the Sox or the Twins will make the playoffs. Both of these teams are completely undeserving with how they finished the season. They're the examples of how not to play down the stretch of the season.

Next week, this will officially turn into the strongest and weakest performances of the actual playoffs for each week. Get ready because it's playoff time now. And it's who steps up and who doesn't that will determine each team's playoff fate.

Hank needs to shut up

First of all I'm happy to say that this is probably gonna be the only Yankee related blog I will do since finally they will not be a part of the postseason.

But I never thought there would be more irritating than George Steinbrenner. But along comes the next generation of Steinbrenner. And he is even worse. When Wang got hurt, he said the National League should wake up and join the 21st Century and start using the DH. You serious Hank? Would you really be saying that if this had happened to Dice-K. You try to make it seem like you're arguing valid points but nobody can take you seriously since it's all motivated by selfishness.

His most recent complaining has been about how tough the AL East is and they should be a playoff team. First of all, that would probably only be true in the Central as the Angels still would have dominated andyou wouldn't have gotten the wildcard anyway. But second of all, there are tough divisions. If you focused on what your team needed to improve and not waste all your time complaining, maybe you would still be competing. There are certain divsions that are tougher than others. I don't wanna give credit to Mil but if they don't get in I don't think they'll be complaining about the Central being too tough and take responsibility for their play, something that maybe Hank should start to do.

Just because his last name is Steinbrenner, he thinks he has the right to argue the most pointless reasons why the Yankeees are a major disapointment. If I were the Yankees, I don't care if he is a Steinbrenner, I couldn't stand having someone like that be involced with the team. The only way Hank can make a positive contribution to running the Yankees is to keep his mouth shut.

Between NY and Milwaukee, who's capable of not choking?

Despite Santana's solid performance tonight, the Mets fate has not yet been sealed. Even though the Cubs have clinched homefield in the NL, it doesn't mean they're not capable of ruining the Mets and the Brewers postseason hopes. And frankly, as a Cubs fan, I don't think it's completely clear what to root for.

The Mets have the clear history of blowing tremendous opportunities to advance to the playoffs. They also don't have the bullpen and no solid starters after Santana. I suppose it would potentially be better if Arizona finds a way to win the West. I don't think any Cubs fan wants to see the Dbacks. On the other hand, it has recently been brought to my attention that we could see Santana twice and if Lou doesn't use his starters effectively again, then Santana will probably beat us in the playoffs. Also, the worst case scenario would be if somehow the Mets catch the Phillies. The Phillies will be a tough first round matchup.

Milwaukee, doesn't appear to be a threat right now to make it to the NLCS and if it means we play LA, then I absolutely wanna face the Dodgers in the first round. It's very tough to tell with the Brewers though as Sabathia and Sheets will be a test. The Cubs have done very well against C.C. though providing him his only NL loss and should have beat him earlier this season. They're also more capabale of taking down Philly in the 1st round then LA or Az would be even though it didn't look that way a couple of weeks ago.

The bottomline is it doesn't look like either team wants the wild card. These teams have much more potential than they're showing and are definitely capable of more than they're doing right now. I think I have to say whatever gives the Cubs the easiest road to the World Series is all that matters. The longer we avoid playing the Phillies the better. The Cubs end with both of these teams so in my mind neither team has a clear advantage beyond the game and a half lead the Mets currently have in the wild card. So who is actually capable of not choking. Nobody can tell because both of them are doing that right now.

Nicely done Brew Crew. Enjoy missing the postseason.

Can someone tell me what the Brewers management was thinking? I know you're struggling and you're basically giving away the wild card spot by constantly losing. But firing Ned Yost with only a couple of weeks left in the season? When you're tied for the wild card, no less. Tell me how that move will benefit the Brewers in any way.

They're about to begin their biggest series of the season at Wrigley and will also host the Cubs at Miller Park to close the season. This team does not have the experience down the stretch to come together at the end of the season under an interim manager. An interim manager who was also under consideration to be fired. The only thing I can think of is they know they're finished and need to make a change. But why have that attitude when you still are tied for the wild card?

This team already was in a significant amount of trouble considering the best team both the Phillies and the Astros play the rest of the season are the Marlins (with the exception of 1 final game against the Cubs for Hou when the Cubs will have clinched the Central already). But now Milwaukee has to face a Cubs team that is clearly back on track without their manager who they have been very accustomed to playing under for the last 4 seasons.

This team is done. It'll shock me if they find a way to overcome this adversity and get into the postseason. When they acquired Sabathia they appeared to be a shoe-in to at least make the playoffs. But now a huge slump has cost them their manager and it appears their season. I just don't see it happening for the Brewers now.

Top 10 Most Memorable Moments

10. Vince Young carries Texas to the win in the 2006 Rose Bowl.
This was coming off of a season in which USC was supposed to win their 3rd consecutive national championship. With only 6:42 left in the game the Trojans had a 38-26 lead. Young took over accounting for 70 yards in route to a Texas score. And Young won the game on his 3rd rushing touchdown. I have never seen one player dominate a college football game the way Vince Young dominated the Rose Bowl.

9. Lance Armstrong wins 7 consecutive Tour de France races.
Lance Armstrong is one of the more remarkable stories in sports. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer and the cancer had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. Undergoing chemotherapy is one of the most grueling experiences people can go through. The fact that Armstrong not only had the strength to make a comeback into cycling but be the most dominant athlete in the sport is unbelievable. He may not be done, however as he announced his comeback from retirement last week.

8. Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals.
You could argue that there have been better individual Olympians, but Phelps dominated in a way that hasn't been seen before. As dominant as everybody knew he was, I was always hearing that he couldn't control the team races or it was just not possible to get gold in every single race. But Phelps proved all of the doubters wrong and is now the most successful Olympian ever.

7. Boise State's Fiesta Bowl win over OU
This was the best college football game I have ever seen. The great thing about this was Boise State won using almost every trick play in the book. And the Statue of Liberty play just blew my mind when I saw it. It was the best fake I have ever seen. You didn't realize that Ian Johnson had the ball until he was just about in the end zone. In a game where Boise State lost an 18 point lead, it showed just how resilient they truly were and is now giving the small conferences the credit they deserve.

6. Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open while injured
The 2008 U.S. Open showed that Tiger Woods is the most dominant athlete currently in sports. He hit a clutch 12 foot putt to tie Rocco Mediate and force a 18 hole playoff. But he tops that by forcing sudden death with a birdie. A few days later, we find out that he tore his ACL and is out for the rest of the season. That was definitely one of the best performances in sports and to do that with a major injury makes it that much more impressive.

5. The McGwire/Sosa homerun chase in 1998.
This revitalized baseball. Mark McGwire the last couple of seasons had been coming closer and closer to breaking Roger Maris' record of 61 homeruns in a season. Everybody expected him to make a run or break it in 1998. Sammy Sosa was a complete surprise. The fact that these two were such close friends gave this even more hype than it already deserved. What was great is this race didn't get put away until the final weekend. McGwire put it away in the last weekend and finished with 70 hr's, Sosa with 66. Baseball regained all the popularity it lost from the strike with this incredible homerun chase.

4. The NY Giants upset New England and their undefeated season in Super XLII
Nobody knew what the Giants were capable of. In addition nobody knew what Eli Manning was capable of. The Patriots were already being called the greatest team in football and even the greatest team in sports. Tom Brady had a record 50 TD passes. But the NYG front line harassed Brady giving him by far more pressure than he's ever seen in a game. But the real magic came with the Patriots up 14-10. Eli Manning miraculosly escaping a sure sack, then throwing it deep and David Tyree making one of the best catches ever pinning it against his helmet. After that the winning TD was easy as Manning threw to a wide open Plaxico Burress. This is defintely one of the biggest upsets football has ever seen and in a team that was highly criticized going into the season came together and pulled off a tremendous postseason run winning all their games on the road.

3. The Boston Red Sox coming back from a 3-0 ALCS series defecit against the Yankees
This appeared to be another Yankee series win over Boston. But in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and Boston trailing by a run, pinch-runner Dave Roberts steals second and would eventually score on a 2 out hit sending the game to extra innings and revitalizing the Red Sox for the 1st ever comeback from a 3-0 defecit in baseball. The Red Sox would go on to break the 2nd longest drought and win the 2004 World Series. But it will be that epic comeback in the ALCS that will be talked about in terms of Boston breaking their curse.

2. John Elway finally wins the Super Bowl.
This was a game that the Broncos at the time were the largest underdogs in Super Bowl history. Terrell Davis was the MVP rushing for 157 yds and 3 td's despite having to leave the game due to a migraine. But the play that will be remembered was Elway getting hit and flipped, sacrificing his body to get the 1st down. That is my favorite play in football that I have seen to date. It showed Elway's toughness and his willingness to do anything in order for Denver to get the win.

1. MJ's last shot as a Chicago Bull.
This is not just the most memorable moment of the last decade. It's the most memorable moment in sports period. From the beginning of that play where Jordan snuck up on Karl Malone and stole the ball, you knew something incredible would happen. He had the ball in his hands the entire time and had the best crossover to school Bryon Russell and hit a wide open jumper to give the Bulls their 6th championship. He would end game 6 of the NBA Finals with 45 points. He is the reason I am into sports and I will never think any play or moment in sports will top this one. It is very hard to believe that this occured 10 years ago. I was never more proud to be a Bulls fan than I was at that very moment. I'll repeat this one more time. This is the best play in sports period. Simply amazing.

Zambrano's no-no a sign of good things to come

Let's be honest. Every Cubs fan was worried when the Cubs went on a long losing streak and thinking that this could be a sign of bad things to come. But luck has actually been on the Cubs side. Why? Because as bad as the Cubs were playing Milwaukee has played that much worse. Zambrano had been injured and when he had been pitching had looked awful. Not after tonight however.

In the first game after a few days off due to Hurricane Ike, the Cubs got a major break playing in Milwaukee for 2 instead of in Houston against a hot Astros team. The Astros have a right to be upset because they're the home team in this series yet the Cubs really have the homefield advantage in the 1st 2 games. And it showed. In Zambrano's 1st start back, he showed he was not just back to his old self but maybe better than he was before.

Zambrano pitched the 1st no-hitter for the Cubs in 36 years!!! I think this is definitely a sign of good things. Milwaukee no longer appears to be athreat to catch the Cubs blowing every possible chance they had to get closer to the Cubs. They have to worry about even making it as their lead over the Phillies and Astros keeps shrinking and shrinking.

The Cubs losing streak has actually given them just as much good luck as bad. Because with Milwaukee's struggles they keep increasing the lead. The way Milwaukee is playing, I don't see the Cubs losing either series they play with them. The only thing I hope though is the Cubs don't hurt Houston's playoff chances too much with a series win because I don't want to see the Phillies in the 1st round and if forced to face Hou in the NLCS, I like our chances especially with no Cubs killer Carlos Lee.

Zambrano with this performance is well on his way to showing that he is gonna put this horrible August behind him and is very much over his injury. With the Cubs ace back in more than top form now, the possibilities look great now for the Cubs.