So it all comes down to this...

7 months.
159 games.
1431 innings.
38637 outs.

A season on the line. 3 games will decide the fate of a team. This is playoff baseball, and I couldn't be happier.

The Boston Red Sox season began with the New York Yankees and its only right for it to end with the New York Yankees. The division championship is on the line, not to mention the wild card. I get butterflies just thinking about this weekends matchup. This is almost unheard of, after 159 games the Yankees are up by only one game. ONE GAME! These teams are so evenly matched that every game is a toss up...if not for Fenway Park.

The Sox have the best home record in baseball at 52-26. The Fens has broken a lot of hearts, but recent history has changed that. Senor Clutch has SINGLE HANDEDLY changed that.

No longer is there reason to fear every pitch, because there is always that chance that Mo will blow or Papi will bat in the 9th. If Ortiz isn't MVP by now, I don't quite understand what the meaning of the award is. Yes, A-Rod has been consistent and he plays the field, BUT Gary Sheffield is the real hero of the Yanks. Sheff has batted some unbelievable avg of .360+ with runners on while A-Rod has done it below .300. Papi has won games with the swing of the bat time and time again.

Friday we see Wang (ha) face off against Boomer Wells. This is going to be a slobberknocker. I predict both starting pitchers to be out by the 5th, at most. An unpredictable weekend ahead of us and I leave with the quote of a well known man...

"These are the times that try men's souls." -Tommy Paine

Lets kick some ass BoSox. (And keep Bucky F. Dent out of Fenway Pahk)

There is no order, only chaos.

Well, someone is going to have to chop off Chad Pennington's arm cause he garauntees hes going to play this Sunday despite the fact that he is now reportedly out for the season with another torn rotator cuff.

The over/under for Pennington this season was 3 games... It seemed laughable at first, but apparently Vegas knows more than we think. More than I do atleast, I can't believe I bought into the preseason hype. I can't believe I bought into the team's reports that Penningtons arm strength had returned... I'm too gullable.

An ad is in the New York Post- Wanted QB who can throw over 10 yards. They've recieved at least 4 responses: Jonathan Quinn, Jesse Palmer, Doug Johnson, and a crack addict--I mean Quincy Carter.

The season is effectively over. Brooks Bollinger is not Tom Brady. Hes not even Trent Dilfer. Hell, hes not even Tim Hasselback. I laugh at the confidence Kevin Mawae places on this rook. This is no longer a season, its a draft lottery. Gooooo whoever is playing the Jets!!!

I guess the season is over, 13 more games, 13 more losses is all I can hope for.

Matt Leinart, welcome to the Gang Green?

Things keep getting getting worse for the Jets, or should I say better. The latest on the QB situation... Pennington's career is most likely over and Feidler is apparently out 6 weeks.

Chad Pennington for 6 more years scared me, but with this new news about his career being over, hope has again been established. Atleast this quick dismantle of a potential playoff team after 3 weeks isn't as painful as losing it on the last game of the season (something the Red Sox are in danger of).

So my advice to the Jets. Throw the season. The Cavs did it in the NBA a couple years ago and landed Lebron. With a strong crop of QB's in this years draft, now is our chance to take a stud from a winning program, who is strong enough to play in the NFL, to build our team around.

When all else is lost, faith is all that remains. I must find reasons to stay optimistic before my life comes crashing down. The Jets I can laugh off. This time next week if the Red Sox have collapsed... different story.

Full Collapse

This will go down as one of the most pathetic Sundays in recent New York Jet history. The supposed revamped Jets offense was only that in the sense that it was disgustingly offensive to anyone watching.

The game was doomed from the 2nd quarter on. Pennington went down. Then Fiedler went down. Brooks Bollinger started warming up. Pennington went back in. From that point on, there was not a pass thrown farther than the 5-7 yard range.

The Jets offense is now nonexistent. Pennington claims the pain in his shoulder is equal to when he initially injured his shoulder last season. Herm has said Brooks Bollinger may start this coming week. Can I get a Quincy Carter? I don't care what drugs hes on, I'd rather him than Bollinger.

The D was top notch. Defensive TD, key forced fumbles and recoveries, OT interception to save the game, only to let Pennington come within an inch of a safety and eventually blow the game again.

My deepest concern beyond the overall patheticness of the offense is the fact that we have an injury prone QB set to make 60 million plus through the year 2011. Yea, that bothers me.

Seeing my 60 million dollar QB pull a 21 QB rating, that bothers me.

Realizing that my 60 million dollar QB cannot throw farther than 10 yards? THAT bothers me.

Seeing my 60 million dollar QB fail, time and time again, including an OT INT, and NEVER seeing the least bit of emotion or frustration? That really, really bothers me.

I hope the media eats him alive this week and I hope he asks for a trade out of New York. Right now, I could go the rest of my life without ever seeing Chad Pennington throw another INT or 5 yard comeback route to a receiver again.

Go Vilma, go Abraham, go Barrett and go James Reed. Oh and above all go Red Sox. The most important 3 game series of the year is upon you and its go big or go home.

In the words of an idiot, Cowboy Up.

Living On A Prayer

Yes, we are officially on the outside looking in. Truthfully, I didn't even consider the possibility of missing the playoffs. Timlin imploded and Manny remembered that he doesn't run out ground balls at Tropicana Field. The helplessness a fan can feel while watching games be blown is enough to drive a man mad. I have nothing more to say, 1/2 game back and nothing looking up.

Would someone tell Barry Bonds to shut the hell up? If I had been a press member at his conference yesterday when he claimed that steroids were not a pertinent issue right now and challenged the media, reporters that is, to go and do something about Katrina. Let me ask you something Mr. Balco, why don't YOU do something? Instead of coming back for 20 games left of the regular season, why don't you take a few million of the engorged salary you make and help out some Katrina victims? I mean, sure it's easier to tell a bunch of daily beat writers who are pining for a story to make a semi-decent salary that THEY should be out saving the world. What a coward.

Not to mention the fact that there are teens dying because of steroid use. This is becoming a widespread epidemic that IS in fact, Mr. Bonds, a pertinent issue. Go down to Capitol Hill and tell some of the protesting mothers who have lost children to steroid use that the issue isn't important. Lets see just how much of a man you truly are.

When he hits home run #715 and surpasses George Herman Ruth, I hope that no one reacts. I hope that he isn't cheered, isn't booed, isn't even questioned at the interviews after the game. I want people to simply stop caring. Maybe if we all ignore Bonds he'll just go away forever.

Or someone could give him a nice little shiner with a D-size battery...

Who Didn't See This Coming?

Yes, the Yankees are officially a 1/2 game out of first place. As a Sox fan, I'm not surprised, maybe I paid a little less attention to the looming Empire because of the fact that we're coming off a World Series year and I've felt invincible. But looking ahead, never has a series to end the year been more anticipated than the famous Boston Massacre weekend of 1978. The three game series with the Yanks at home to wrap up 162 games could very well determine the AL East division winner...and with the scorching hot Indians 2.5 games behind the floundering White Sox, the wild card could very well be secured before the AL East division winner is determined.

Before I rant about the horrid loss tonight to the D-rays, let me emphasize the collapse of the Chicago White Sox. This is a team that was on pace to finish with the best record in baseball, ahead of the juggernaut that is the St. Louis Cardinals. On AUGUST 1ST the White Sox were 15 games ahead in the AL Central and owned the best record in baseball. They were practically popping the champagne. And now, they are a complete and utter mess. Freddy Garcia looked as if he was ready to kick and scream and cry on the field tonight in their latest loss to the Indians. The White Sox last october victory...? 1917. Thats 88 years folks, 2 longer than the fateful Red Sox streak. I have to laugh when I hear or read interviews with these Chicago players as well, who will claim they know nothing about a collapse in progress and that its simply the media making more of something than there really is. They couldn't be more wrong. This is a collapse of epic proportion, you thought the Red Sox 1978 collapse was bad? They were 14 games up in July. Making this current disaster in progress 1 game worse than the Buckner series. Wake up White Sox, cause you've got a man named C.C. knocking on your door and yes, his hat is most definitely more crooked than ever.

Back to the RED Sox own personal little disaster. I mean, at least this one was expected. What can you expect though from a bullpen that is expected to be in the game at least 6 innings a game. A bullpen that harbors names like Papelbon and Harville and a rookie named Hansen who was just drafted this summer, GIMME A BREAK!!! Everybody knew the bullpen had issues long before the All-Star break when Foulke went down and Schill was getting hammered in AA ball. An overused, aging Mike Timlin cannot anchor a bullpen. As much as I love the guy and cannot get enough of his tenacious attitude on the field, he is not the answer. The bullpen is worse than that of 2003, another year we did not have a closer and EVERYONE knows what happened at the end of that season. We may not even have to wait for the playoffs to see a similar result this year, it could be making an appearance Sept 29-Oct 1 against the same fated rival. Oh and aside from the bullpen Edgar's at 29 errors and counting...Edgar being Edgar? And for a while this past spring I thought we got him for his defense, I mean, *gulp* has anyone talked to Nomah lately? Manny 0-5 and strikes out to end the game. The only upside, Papi blasts another homer (and I do mean BLASTS) on his quest to become the first DH to win the MVP. Get it together Sox.

Looking back to the weekend though...THE JETS WON!! The panic button for the New York Jets has been covered for now...though Curtis is hurt, details unknown as to how long. I liked what I saw against Miami, the D continued to look strong. Ty Law is looking like on of the smartest pickups in the NFL this past offseason. He is always one step ahead of his man and anticipates routes every play. While he had no INT, he broke up a good number of pass plays. Chad looked better, barring that fumble on the FIRST snap he took. He threw with a bit more confidence, but he did still look a bit weak. His throws were at times lame ducks and poor decisions, but maybe with time he will improve. He needs to once again avoid the media and focus on the Jaguars this week. The Jags shut down Manning on Sunday which could spell very, very bad news for the New York Jets offense. I did enjoy seeing Chad and Coles hook up again for a TD. Though, I also felt burned a bit by Santana Moss's streaking TD catches to win the game Monday night. The guy is a game changing playmaker no matter where he goes and you have to respect him for it. I'd like to see the Jets execute at least 3 TD scoring drives this weekend against the Jags. For one year, just one year, I want to be proud of the Jets offense.

Oh, and I part with the best news of the weekend...the Fins, Pats and Bills lost, meaning the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS are in first place.

Papi MVP?

40 homers and counting, David Ortiz hit YET ANOTHER game winning homer. If Papi could just play some average 1B he would be a lock. Instead, the favorite seems to remain A-rod and there is nothing that will change that. Francona looked like Grady Little yesterday, leaving Arroyo in for far too long with a rested bullpen ready to go from solid starts this past weekend. Foulke came in too early and Timlin, well maybe he shouldn't have come in at all. The fact of the matter is, the magic number now stands at 18 games. Am I counting too early? Maybe, but a division title would be the next best thing to a World Series championship, simply because that is becoming the new hill the Sox can't seem to climb.


Other observations...

-In the MNF game last night, I loved the fight that ensued between Trotter and Mathis. Tenacity is what I like to see in these games and rivalries in the NFC are needed.

-Dontrelle Willis had better be the Cy Young and the Silver Slugger at P position, did anyone else see that 2nd deck 420 foot bomb he hit yesterday in the midst of his 7th complete game?

-The Jets are already talking about arm trouble with Pennington. Curtis is 32 years old. The Green Machine has its finger hovering above the Panic button...please...don't push it yet.

-Carson Palmer is going to break out this season. He's under the radar on a team that isn't expected to do much. Chad Johnson will make him a star

-Derrek Lee's Triple Crown hopes are effectively dead. He no longer leads the league in Avg or RBI and Andruw Jones looks to be the Home Run King

-Adrian Peterson may miss a start this Saturday because he is reportedly skipping classes. What an idiot. This is the last thing OU needs, as Peterson is the only thing that has gone right for their overrated team this season.

-Barry Bonds and 60,000 completely oblivious morons in SBC park are the ONLY people in this country who want to see him play. Fans are not going to forgive and forget all that went on with BALCO this offseason and I hope that they let Bonds hear it. He is a selfish player who wants nothing but to increase his home run #'s and cares nothing for his team or the game and especially not the fans.

-GIVE PAPI THE MVP!!!

Laters

"It's scary if you're a Jets fan..."

Those are the all too truthful words of Christopher Berman on NFL Live last night. The New York Jets played one of the worst games in franchise history yesterday afternoon, highlights including 6 fumbles and an INT from our 60 million dollar man Pennington. Yea, I'm scared. His arm strength looked worse than ever, so bad that at one point Pennington attempted to throw a ball out of the back of the endzone from about the 8 yard line and UNDERTHREW IT. Thats approximately a 19 yard pass and he couldn't even get it out of the endzone. It's unfair to credit the Jets D with 27 points scored against with the unbelievable amount of turnovers. Herm needs to hide Chad from the TV, papers and internet because this is a guy who, in my opinion, is easily influenced by the media. If he hears people saying that hes lost it at age 29, his arm is dead, hes going to believe it. The thought of Jay Fiedler commandeering a restructured Jets offense has never looked so good right now. Curtis got a measly 57 yards, but when you're down 14-0 in the first quarter, RBs don't see too much action the rest of the game. It was a painful forgettable Sunday and I can only hope that this isn't a preview of the next 15 games, because with all the preseason hype, I won't be able to deal with it.

On the baseball front, the Sox lost 2 of 3 to the Yanks in the Bronx, but yesterday Wakefield stepped up again. He threw a beautiful game, a CG 3-hitter with 12 strikeouts for good measure, but Randy was just one step better and Mo wasn't going to lose to the Sox again. Mr. Comeback Steroids Player Of The Year got lucky and hit what turned out to be the game winning homer against Wake. Keep your head up Wake, you are the man. On to Toronto where we need a sweep to get closer to locking up the division and keeping the Damn Yanks out of the playoffs.

What time is it?

Gametime. The first NFL Sunday of the year, fire up the barbecue, ready the pigskin and throw on your favorite jersey cause it is ON. Who will be this years Chargers? Can anyone stop Mike Vick? Will the Pats ever lose at home? Will Chad Pennington and Lav Coles reunite for their 2002 magic? Will Detroits trio of wideouts equal a successful season for the Lions? Will LaDanian Tomlinson rush for 2000 yards? WILL SOMEBODY PLEASE DETHRONE THE PATRIOTS?! I'm so excited I can barely think. Chris Berman will be on in a few minutes to reassure me that today isn't just some wonderful dream, and then Terry Bradshaw will be on to remind me why I don't watch Fox's pregame show. The Jets need a strong start this year, it's going to be tough marching into KC, which is about as close to a college football atmosphere as a team will get in the NFL. I will look to Vilma to lead the D and look for Chad to prove the critics wrong. Coles won't be a big factor with newly acquired Patrick Surtain covering him. Look for Derrick Blaylock to impact the game, spelling Curtis Martin and looking to prove something against his former team.

My prediction: Jets 28 Chiefs 24

Now, I must put on my Chrebet jersey, rub my Joe Namath signed picture and ready myself for the day. J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!!!!!

Finally...

The NFL. Hard-hitting, trash talking, sacks, touchdowns and pancakes, yes, pancakes the one stat attributed to offensive linemen. I've been counting down to this day since the Doug Brien cost the Jets a trip to the AFC championship (even if the Pats would have destroyed us anyways). While the Gang Green isn't playing until Sunday, I will still be glued to the TV hoping for the improbable, if not impossible, that the Rrrrrraiders could somehow top the Pats. The sad truth is, even with all of the Raiders hype this season with the additions of Randy Moss and LaMont "the chainsaw" Jordan, the defense has made no improvement. Last seasonopposing QBs averaged a rating odf 99.4 against the Raiders D. The only thing the Raiders can hope for in this matchup is a shootout, which is plausible with all of the hits the Pats took to the defense this past offseason. My prediction: 30-14 Patriots, and Randy Moss will be made to look like Keyshawn Johnson. Friggin Belicheck.

Red Sox show heart in a comeback win against Scoscia and the Angels. Is it just me, or does Scoscia always look incredibly displeased with life. He kinda makes me smile.

Wake Up Call

Senor Clutch stikes again. Another walk-off homer from the Big Man. Is it just me, or does it seem like this happens on a regular basis ever since the Holy Yankee Series of last October? He only has 5 career walk-off shots in the regular season, 2 this year. But while the majesty of Big Papi will absorb and garner most if not all of the attention from this game, the bigger story here is the longest tenured red sox player Tim Wakefield. The guy goes out and saves a hurting bullpen and proves once again how much of a gamer he is. A complete game and he apparently told Belli that he could go about 5 more innings. Gotta love the rubber arm of a knuckleballer. Tim Wakefield is the silent leader of this Red Sox team, through his charitbale work off the field and quiet, yet competitive demeanor on the field. Seeing Wake strike out that last batter he faced and pump his fist with the tenacity of a 101 mph firethrower gave me chills. The players want to win for him. In a season of suspect pitching for this Boston team, maybe we will get to see Wake turn out some October brilliance and fill in the void that is Curt Schilling.

Mo loses to the D-rays in the 9th off a Robinson Cano error at 2B. Bellhorn helps the Sox by sitting on the bench, watching a routine play become the deciding blow against Sweet Lou and the Bad News Rays. I miss that greasy-walk-or-strikeout savior at second.

Coincidence that on the same night Ortiz hits another emphatic walk off homer, the Yankees collapse and lose to the Drays? I think not.

The Fall of the ESPN Empire

When I think of ESPN, I think monopoly. Sure, there are other sports networks from which to choose, Fox Sports Net, CSS in the south, NESN in the northeast, but when it comes down to it, ESPN is a national titan. While I used to love ESPN for their sports reporting, I feel that the Disney owned Empire has swayed too far from the concept of sports and wandered into the dreaded tabloid realm of entertainment. The network no longer reports on simply sports stories; rather, they feed viewers stories of players sleeping with other players wives, outrageous contract hold outs (Sportscenter has been renamed T.O.center), drug arrests, weaponry arrests, domestic violence etc. They will run a story on how they promote the role of morality in sports, denouncing steroid use or gambling in sports, then cut to an hour long commercial for Las Vegas in another episode of World Series of Poker. Furthermore, the network promotes itself more than any other network. Yes, the Sportscenter ads are clever, but the network is so self indulgent, it takes a viewers attention away from the sport and focuses on some pointless Kenny Mayne trip to Alaska to find polo playing eskimoes. The self promotion bleeds from the network itself down to each and every SC anchor, prying for just one of their witty little catch phrases to capture the attention of the public. The original catch phrase king Chris Berman can still get away with it, but hearing Stuart Scott shout "BOOYA" for every single Bonds/Griffey homerun is just plain annoying (not to mention the fact that year by year Stuarts right eye travels a bit farther from focus). The actual reporters on SC get the least recognition. I have to feel for guys like Pedro Gomez, assigned to bunk with Bonds and report on what color cast he has on his leg as a daily update each day. It is seriously laughable. Not only are the stories at times laughable, but also the way that the reporters and anchors tend to act buddy-buddy with the athletes defeats the purpose of their job. The hard questions never get asked because the anchor is too busy worrying about whether or not the athlete will hate him. My best advice would be to get back to the basics, when ESPN was young and trying to make a name. Get away from family-friendly Disney and become an independent sports news network. And for god's sake, get rid of that new ESPN TV entertainment magazine. Entertainment Tonight for sports is not necessary in the least. No one, and I mean, NO ONE needs to hear Shaq rap. I mean, did anyone see Kazaam? Ugh.

Props go to Rich Eisen though, King of the NFL Network.

2 days til NFL returns. Are you ready for some football? Start revving up the Gang Green...Arrowhead here we come...

Brandon who?

Brandon McCarthy shut down the potent Sox offense (minus a sore rockstar). The rook has made 6 appearances this year previous to this start and posted a 6.00 ERA in those appearances. With a resurgent Yankee team a mere 3 games behind in the division, you simply cannot lose games like this at home. Sure, the White Sox have been the surprise of the year, but given the fact that you have a rookie who has been riding the pine for the entire season, at home, making a spot start, being shut out for 7 innings is unacceptable.

Furthermore, claiming that the Red Sox were "encouraged by the performance of former ace Curt Schilling", when the former ace gave up four runs, nine hits, three walks and a hit batter in 6 1/3 innings is sickening in itself. The brightside? This is the first start Schill has made this season in which he has surrendered fewer than 5 runs. While I'm glad that Schilling and Red Sox brass are encouraged by his mediocre performance, I can't say I'm happy hes starting right now. He labors every inning. His fastball has no bite and his curveball is almost nonexistent. He either needs to tell Francona he wants to go to the bullpen or he needs to pack it up for the season, because come the playoffs, a five-run Schilling start is going to kill the Sox in a best of 3 series. Give me Papelbon, give me Gonzalez, hell, call up John Burkett and give him a start, but please, let Schilling fully and correctly finish his rehab. I don't care how good Schilling claims he feels, hes lying. He is ineffective and looking more and more like an old man who needs to hang it up. He'll always be a hero in Boston, but if he simply can't get it done, then he needs to sit down and wait, cause right now, hes not helping anybody.

At least Foulke didn't give up a run.