Weekend Chase - The SFB Podcast (11/19/2010).....

NASCAR must wish the calender said 2005, instead of 2010 as they have the last race of the season with its 4 time champion, Jimmie Johnson, chasing the upstart in Denny Hamlin, while Kevin Harvick sits behind both of them with a chance to win it all and nobody is noticing the excitement. Well, I'm noticing (albeit late in the season) and will look at the final race for the NASCAR championship. Plus there will be college football games in both Yankee Stadium and Wrigley Field this Saturday and a look at the awards given out so far this baseball off-season. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: November 19, 2010 (right click to "save as target)
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Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

Big Hits / Smaller League - The SFB Podcast (10/23/2010).....

NFL looking at big hits has been the most covered story this week. Is the NFL going too far or are they correct? Personally, I think a little of both. Also, we have one World Series team in the Texas Rangers, while the NL team will be determined this weekend. Plus, the NBA commissioner is talking about salary reductions and possibly contracting teams. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: October 23, 2010 (right click to "save as target)

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Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

Sorry Agent - The SFB Podcast 10/19/2010

Josh Luchs tells us he decided to open up to Sports Illustrated so that his reputation was not defined by his suspension of his agent's license. He seems to be sweeping under the rug his 20 years of breaking rules and feels he did right to provide for his family. After reading his account, I come away with a much different feeling as to why he told his story.

Plus for the second straight week the top college team lost as Ohio State fell to Wisconsin and now it's Oregon's turn at #1, while Boise St. just waits its turn for the big boys to fall. Also a look at the MLB League Championship series through the first few games. Enjoy.

The SportsFan Buzz: October 19, 2010 (right click to "save as target)

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Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

Dropping the Puck - The SFB Podcast (10/7/2010).....

The NHL season kicks off this afternoon with the Hurricanes facing the Wild in Helsinki and then four more games tonight. Will the Blackhawks, after moving multiple players to get under the cap, be able to make a run at repeating? Will the Capitals make up for last year's playoff disaster and make the finals? Or maybe it is Sidney Crosby and the Penguins again, or how about the Sedin brothers in Vancouver?

Plus Randy Moss gets traded, the baseball playoffs have started, college football is cranking along and the NBA preseason has started, which means the hype surrounding the Heat just starts getting louder. Enjoy.

As for my NHL predictions, for me it is very much "chalk" with my picks. I think hockey fans get Sidney Crosby and the Penguins against Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals in the Eastern finals, while in the west, we get those Sedin brothers taking on Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and the Blackhawks. In the end, I think the Penguins once again lift the Cup in a great series against the Vancouver Canucks.

The SportsFan Buzz: October 7, 2010 (right click to "save as target)

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Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

MLB Playoff Predictions & Award winners.....

It has been another good year for baseball and we even had to wait for game 162 until we found out the NL West and Wildcard winners.  There were also quite a few great player performances this year. Well, here is what my crystal ball says as we start the playoffs and also who I think should get the year end awards.

Overall, I think the Philadelphia Phillies will be Word Series champs for the second time in three years.

NL Divisional Series:
Giants over Braves
Phillies over Reds

While neither team knocks the cover off the ball, I think the Giants have more offense than the Braves and better starting pitching and closer. As for the Phillies / Reds, I just can't see a way for Cincinnati to stay with Philadelphia unless the Phillies' starting pitching completely comes off the rails in this series.

AL Divisional Series:
Twins over Yankees
Rangers over Rays

Both of this series predictions are more of gut feelings. Common sense says the Rays and Yankees were the best of the AL all year and should meet in the ALCS, but there is something about the Twins and Rangers that draws me towards them to move forward. The Twins overcoming the loss of their long time closer, Joe Nathan, at the start of the year and and then losing Justin Morneau in July, while still playing at such a high level. For the Rangers, it is Nolan Ryan being the face of an organization that just three months ago was facing bankruptcy and the story of Josh Hamilton's comeback never gets old to me.

NL MVP: Joey Votto (Reds)
AL MVP: Josh Hamilton (Rangers)
NL Cy Young: Roy Halladay (Phillies)
AL Cy Young: Felix Hernandez (Mariners)
NL Rookie of Year: Buster Posey (Giants)
AL Rookie of Year: Neftali Feliz (Rangers)

I am of the belief that MVP does mean most valuable player, so I do not consider great individual years for players who were on teams never in contention during the year. That is why both Votto and Hamilton got my picks. Votto leading the surprising Reds to the NL Central crown get the nod over Albert Pujols, while despite missing the last month of the season, Josh Hamilton meant everything to Texas as they reached first place in the AL West and then ran away with the division.

Roy Halladay was a pretty easy choice for Cy Young in the National League. While Ubaldo Jimenez and Adam Wainwright had very good years, Halladay was simply the best. In the American League, I had to go back to "who was the best pitcher"? When looking at everything, that best pitcher was Felix Hernandez. His 13-12 record will be questioned by many, Hernandez was the best pitcher and had better stats than David Price, CC Sabathia, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz in all categories except for the number of wins.

For the Rookie of the Year choices, I added the fact that both of my choices also played for division winners, and while Jason Heyward was in the Atlanta lineup all year, while Posey came up at the end of May, it was Posey catching the Giant pitching staff along with the offense he put up that put him over Heyward in my opinion. Same thought for Neftali Feliz, as his 40 saves for the Rangers was an important and unexpected part of this year's success.

Baseball Playoffs & Ichiro - The SFB Podcast (10/4/2010).....

It is October, and that means playoff baseball. Paul Lebowitz joins me to discuss how the final weeks of the season played out as the Braves, Padres and Giants battled until the final day. We also let you know who we think should get the year end awards and will preview the playoffs and give our predictions. Plus we will discuss Paul's article where he takes on Ichiro Suzuki. Enjoy.

Paul on Twitter
Paul's website

The SportsFan Buzz: October 4, 2010 (right click to "save as target)

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Voice over talent provided by Morgan Thomas.

This & That (Monday 11/2/09).....

--- Sunday, November 1, 2009 was the first day that the NBA, MLB, NHL and NFL all had games scheduled on the same day. The day before, October 31st was just as good as you could swap the NFL for college football. Great weekend to be a sports fan. Your remote batteries still work?

--- The NFL Game of the week was "The Return of Favre" in Green Bay, but Minnesota took care of business 38-26, with Favre throwing four TD passes in his Lambeau return. The Packer fans did boo him with a little extra zest then a normal visiting player, but Brett got the last laugh with the victory. Aaron Rodgers played well and through three touchdowns, but Rodgers' biggest problem was that he was sacked six times, and in the two Viking games he has been on the turf fourteen times.

The Broncos suffered their first loss at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, 30-7. The Ravens stepped up after 3 consecutive losses, and took control in the second half, which in the first six games had been Denver's strongest time in grabbing their victories. Be interested to see how the Broncos respond next Monday night against Pittsburgh.

The Colts had a tough time with the 49ers, but remained undefeated with a 18-14 fourth quarter victory. The Colts needed a bit of deception for their final score, as the winning TD pass to Reggie Wayne came from Joseph Addai on a halfback pass, and not a traditional Peyton Manning connection.

The Tennessee Titans (30-13 over Jacksonville) and St. Louis Rams (17-10 over Detroit) both got their first victories of the season, and both rode their monster running backs to the wins. Chris Johnson had 228 yards rushing and two TDs for the Titans, while Steven Jackson had 149 and one TD in the Rams win. In Jacksonville's losing effort, Maurice Jones-Drew had 177 yards on only 8 carries. Amazing running days for these three excellent running backs.

Meanwhile the Giants lost again, this time the Philadelphia Eagles 40-17, and just look confused on defense, not in sync on offense. Did we over value this team, or is it just a slump?

--- The Yankees take the two weekend games in Philadelphia to take total control of the World Series.

What a difference a year makes, especially in the cases of Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge. Last year both had complete confidence in their pitching and were on the top of their games, and this year it is a 180 degree turnaround.

Hamels was pitching pretty well on Saturday night up until the 3-2 pitch to Mark Teixeira. Yes, it was close, but it was inside for ball four. Perfect sense that Hamels wanted it, as the camera caught his reaction to the ball call, but he needed to get back on track. The 2008 Hamels would have done just that, but the 2009 Hamels let it effect him. Once the Alex Rodriguez drive was ruled a home run (which I disagree with, as there was no conclusive evidence that the ball does not come down and hit the fence if the camera was not there), Hamels was completely lost. I knew watching that he would implode, and Hamels certainly followed his 2009 pattern. To me that was the turning point of the series.

As for Lidge, his confidence thread snapped in the 9th inning of game 4 as soon as Johnny Damon stole second base, then took third when no Phillie (Lidge) was covering the bag. As soon as that happened, Lidge went away from his slider and was only throwing fastballs. Huge mistake and the Yankees took advantage as both Rodriguez and Jorge Posada's hits were against Lidge's fastball.

Cliff Lee starts tonight trying to send the series back to Yankee Stadium. I think the defending champions will have enough pride in the tank and will send it back to New York for a Game 6.

Game 3: Yankees 8 / Phillies 5
Game 4: Yankees 7 / Phillies 4

--- Biggest news or event out of the NBA this weekend was Manu Ginobili swatting a bat out of the air during the Spurs game against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday (Halloween) night. Of course PETA has made a statement about the tragedy of the event.

--- The NHL had a quiet weekend, but a few of its biggest stars are banged up right now. Evgeni Malkin (shoulder), Alex Ovechkin and Eric Staal (both upper body) all will miss some time, and are needed by their teams and the NHL back and healed soon.

Some separation is starting to take place between teams as each club has played about a dozen games. Two teams, Carolina and Anaheim, have been huge disappointments so far, and need to start looking at how they want to correct their problems.

I don't want to see them every night, but I did get a smile from seeing the Montreal Canadiens' 1912 uniforms on Saturday night.

--- Florida and Texas tried to set themselves apart from the other top college teams on Saturday, with more impressive victories then they have had in prior weeks. The story out of Florida's win over Georgia was that linebacker Brandon Spikes was caught trying to gouge the eyes of Bulldog running back Washaun Ealey while making a tackle. Spikes has been suspended for the first half of next week's game against Vanderbilt.

The game of the weekend was Oregon putting it to the USC Trojans 47-20 to take control of the Pac 10. The loss was USC's worst of the Pete Carroll era, and biggest losing margin since 1997.

Phillies / Yankees preview.....

As a Los Angeles Dodger fan I want neither the Yankees or the Phillies to win the World Series. The Yankees have always been the "anybody but" team for me growing up, and after two straight NLCS losses to the Phillies, they are not at the top of my favorite team list.

So for me, they can cancel the series and hand it to the Angels for the tough season they went through. Or how about giving it to the Indians seeing that less then 15 months ago both Game 1 starters were part of their rotation? Sorry, Indians fans. At least you have Manny Acta managing after his Nationals' stint.

At least I am not a Mets' fan. What do those fans do? They despise both of these teams and it kills them that they are playing each other. I would guess they just want the series to end quickly & quietly, and move on to 2010.

Actually, I don't hate either of these teams. I am not a Yankee fan, but I do like some of their players. How can you not like, or at least respect Derek Jeter for all he has done over his career? Also, I am a fan of CC Sabathia and his willingness to put teams on his back and pitch whenever asked to take the mound. Add in Mariano Rivera, Johnny Damon, and Mark Teixeira, and this is a group of Yankees that doesn't give you that "bad taste" like others have in prior years. Unless of course you are a Red Sox fan, and that bad taste is permanent.

I also like this Phillie team. They have won the NL East the last three years and won last year's World Series, and seemed to have fun as a team the whole time. It sounds cliche, but I really think it is important for a team to like each other. They don't have to be close like high school sweethearts, but I believe a team liking each other can give it an edge over a long season, and especially in the playoffs. Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are all good hard working players and the heart of this team. Add in their "like a grandpa" manager in Charlie Manuel, and it's hard to root against them.

The Yankees will have the edge in starting pitching, once we get off the two aces, as I think Sabathia and Cliff Lee are a wash, but AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte have the edge over Pedro Martinez and Cole Hamels. The Phillies are hoping that Pedro keeps his magic ride going since they picked him up and that Hamels turns into the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP pitcher, but those are two big "ifs". Manuel and the Phillies will be ecstatic if either pitcher can give them 6 innings in Games 2 or 3.

For the bullpen, I think this is an overall even matchup, but if you believe closers or middle relievers are more important then the other you might disagree. Rivera has the edge over Brad Lidge, as I am not one of those who believes that Lidge is back to 2008 form. As for the middle relief and set-up men, Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain have been disappointments this past month plus, so much so that Joe Girardi used Rivera for a 6 out save to nail down Game 6 against the Angels. Meanwhile the Phillies middle relief and set-up men have been solid, and as long as Manuel doesn't overuse them, could be the difference in this series.

The lineups for both teams are impressive, and probably the best two in baseball. Jeter, Rodriguez, Teixera, Damon, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui on one side with Howard, Rollins, Utley, Shane Victoino, Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth on the other. Neither set of pitchers is happy looking at the opposing lineups they will face. Add in that both ballparks play "small", and we could see quite a few 10-8 and 8-6 games this series.

As for a prediction, I like the Phillies in six or seven games. They are a good defensive team, so they shouldn't give the Yankee lineup extra outs, and their lineup is as good as anything these Yankee pitchers have seen all year. For some reason I think we will see a well pitched game from either Pedro or Hamels, that will give the Phillies a boost. Another reason is the bullpen work. Unless the Yankees middle relief gets straightened out, it might not matter that Rivera is waiting in the 9th. I also think because the Phillies won it all last year, and there is a bit of history involved (only three other NL teams have ever won back to back World Series: 1907-08 Cubs, 1921-22 Giants and 1975-76 Reds), they will scratch out the wins to give the city of Philadelphia a reason for a parade.

***If this series goes the full seven games, Game 7 is scheduled for Thursday, November 5th. That is ridiculous to begin with, and does not account for any bad weather. How long before a World Series game is between the Thanksgiving Day NFL games?

November baseball is plain and simple, wrong. Who's looking forward to possible November games in Minnesota's new outdoor stadium? How about starting the regular season one week earlier in warm weather and dome cities, and scheduling seven day/night double headers for each team to reduce another week from the calendar. That way based on this year's schedule, Game 7 would be October 22nd. Not great, but better then any November dates.

Another problem is playoff scheduling. These playoffs started October 7th, and if the series ends in four games, will finish on November 1st. That is 25 days, but the Phillies and Yankees would have only played 13 games in that time. Twelve days off during the post season, while during the regular season most teams don't have more then 20 scheduled off days. Baseball is a rhythm game, and playing what turns out to every other day, ruins rhythm. I know MLB is beholden to FOX and the scheduling, but can we please do something about this?

Baseball Playoff thoughts.....

We aren't even done with both League Championship Series, and already this has been a baseball playoff "season" full of head scratching / you got to be kidding me moments.

- Jonathan Papelbon who has not given up a run in 27 previous playoff innings, gives up 3 runs in the top of the ninth that allows the Angels to win the game and sweep the series.
- In Game 3 of the ALCS, Joe Girardi takes one right handed reliever (David Robertson) out of the game for another right handed reliever (Alfredo Aceves) with 2 out and nobody on in the bottom of the 11th, because he "throws different stuff". Two batters and two hits later, the Angels win the game, and get life.
- Game 2 of the NLDS, Matt Holiday drops a fly ball with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and the Cardinals leading 2-1. Two batters later, the Dodgers finish the comeback and win the game 3-2.
- Last night in Game 5 of the ALCS, up by a run in the top of the 9th with 2 outs and nobody on, Angels manager Mike Scioscia calls for an intentional walk of Alex Rodriguez. Brian Fuentes then walks Hideki Matsui before hitting Robinson Cano to load the bases, before finally ending the game by getting Nick Swisher to pop up a 3-2 pitch.
- After the above-mentioned IW to Rodriguez, Joe Girardi decides to take Rodriguez, the best player in the game and who stole 14 bases during the year, out for a pinch runner. What does Girardi do if the Yankees tied it up and the game went extra innings. Would he have done the same if it was Derek Jeter?

Also last night, Major League Baseball has decided to put the best and most experiences umpires out there for the World Series. Really? What a novel idea. After the embarassment of umpire errors this post season (including the terrible foul ball call against the Twins in Game 2 of the ALDS, by an umpire who was only there to call fair or foul balls), at least MLB is doing something to address the situation. It is not expanded instant replay, but it is a start.

Still at least one more game in the LCS round and a full World Series to go, so I'm looking forward to what else this post season will have for us.

What are your thoughts about what has gone on this post season? What has made you yell at the TV?