Though SATT focus on baseball and football, the NHL is in full swing.  The 2008-2009 season started with two victories over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Prague.  The Rangers had momentum coming back home and lead the Eastern Conference with 13 points though the Canadiens have three games in hand and are only two points back.  I have listened to some games on the radio and intend to get to the Garden to watch some of the action in person this season.

The Rangers lost young prospect to Alexei Cherepanov at 19 years of age to heart issues during a recent game for Avangard Omsk in the Russian Continental Hockey League (KHL).  Alexei broke Pavel Bure's record goals record.  Alexei was learning the professional hockey ropes from teammate and former Ranger Jagomir Jagr.  Alexei had a bright future and it's tragic that he passed so soon.  May his memory be eternal.

Posted by a saddened Tank in NY.

Averted Apocalypse #1: After blowing a seven run lead on Wednesday night with only seven outs left, the Rays lost to the Red Sox in a possible ALCS clincher in Game 5 and in Game 6 on Saturday night. 

As Steve blogged the other day, I feared the Rays would lose Game 7.  Given my loyalties to the Yankees and Mets, I would face the worst baseball apocalypse, a Red Sox - Phillies World Series. 

I would be faced an emotional challenge as formidable as the one I did last month in Nepal.  But, I would have nowhere to run or hike to.  How would I cope?  Who would I root for?  I have always rooted for a team in some game, except Georgetown versus Notre Dame in the 2007 Big East Tournament.

The Rays spared me and the world such a fate by winning Game 7 last night by 3-1.  I am really grateful to the Rays for that.  I agree with Editor in Chief and Perma Guest Outlaw Jack and grateful to him for pointing out the magic factor, the Zim, AKA Don Zimmer.  Zim was an under appreciated factor in the Yankees success in the past decade.  He was the "check and balance" in many of Joe Torre's decisions.  Torre knew how to manage the players' egos and keep the media in check.  Torre was a true manager and Zim was the chief strategist whose baseball instincts were impeccable.  After Zim was unceremoniously let go from the Yankees, the Yankees have yet to win another World Series.  Coincidence?  I think not.  Zim resides in Tampa and is currently a senior consultant to the Rays.

Given the Rays small market and fans nationwide focused on Mannywood versus the Red Sox, Fox TV executives are officially on suicide watch.

Go Rays!


Averted Apocalypse #2: Joba Chamberlain was arrested on Driving Under the Influence (DUI) charges over the weekend in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Joba was wrong and apologized for his reckless actions.  Most importantly, no one was hurt, thank God!  The innocent citizens of Lincoln, Joba, and the Yankees dodged a big bullet, touch wood.

Posted by a grateful Tank in NY.

Last year's were solid, touch wood.  I almost went wire-to-wire with the Patriots as I did with the Colts in 2006.  But, I am grateful the Patriots lost to the Giants in the Super Bowl.  I haven't wanted to be so wrong in my life.

After being embarrassed by SATT friend Braylon Edwards and the Browns, the Giants bounce back in a big way and beat the 49ers.

The Jets take care of business in Oakland.  It may not be pretty but a "win is a win is a win".

Bills win a close game versus San Diego.  This is a really tough game to pick as the spread is "pick 'em".

Posted by The Tank in NY.

Welcome back college football fans!
 
Rules: I pick Top 25 teams playing each other.  It's not fair to pick a ranked team over a "cupcake".  I challenge myself in picking games between ranked powers.  I also pick some local favorites, i.e. Syracuse (mine), Rutgers (Kathleen's team), etc.  (Steve doesn't follow college football.)

I don't know what to make of Rutgers other than the fact that they are a disappointing 1-5 going into today's game at home.  Rutgers played in a bowl game last season so I'm not sure what is going on.

Top 25 Match ups:

#1 Texas holds off a tough Missouri team.

#4 Oklahoma bounces back from their disappointing loss to Texas last week and beats #16 Kansas at home.

#10 Georgia beats #22 Vanderbilt at home. 

#12 Ohio State goes into Lansing and beats #20 Michigan State.

Local Teams:
Syracuse loses at #19 South Florida.

Connecticut wins at Rutgers.  By recent reputation, you would think that Rutgers would be 5-1 and Connecticut would be 1-5.  Coach Schiano is a very good coach who recruits well.  Beware of a Rutgers upset.


Posted by The Tank back in the college football groove.

This is Steve checking in from Novi Sad, Serbia in complete disbelief. First off, Steve is in denial about the Phillies going to the World Series. Having been in Europe since October 3rd, I missed most of the playoffs and it seems for good reason. A Phillies-Rays World Series, come on? How boring. In addition how much more would hurt a Mets fan, Jimmy Rollins holding the MVP trophy or Scott Kazmir? No, I was rooting for LA vs Boston to rub it into the Yankees face that 1. Boston is still the better team and 2. the Yanks should never have fired Joe Torre. Plus the added bonus of watching Boston freak over Manny playing against them. With the Red Sox were down 3 games to 1, a Rays-Phillies World Series looked rock solid.

But something happened on the way to the Rays-Phillies World Series. Boston woke up and forced a game 6.Sounds familiar? Seven outs away from the World Series the Rays have one of the worst post season chokes of all time and give up a 7 run lead.

Can the young Rays team recover from such a crushing loss? Probably not. Watch for a Red Sox-Phillies World Series. Nightmare for the Tank who claims to be both a Mets and Yankees fan. :)

Posted by Steve in Novi Sad, Serbia.

The Phillies finished off the Dodgers last night in Mannywood, I mean Hollywood.  Manny Ramirez wasted no time and filed for free agency today.  Wow!  Manny joked that he deserves more money because gas costs more.  Manny hasn't stopped being Manny.

Fox's worst nightmare will come true if the Rays win tonight or over the weekend.  Fox wanted Manny going against the Boston.  Boston is down 3-1 but if anyone can come back, the Red Sox unfortunately have and can. 

However, props to Editor in Chief and Perma Guest Outlaw Jack for the bringing up the possible omen of the fire at the famous Citgo sign that towers over the Green Monster. 

Go Rays!

Posted by a concerned Tank in NY.

I'm not a Dodgers fan.  But, Kurt Gibson's home run against the As won Game 1 of the 1988 World Series exactly 20 years ago today.  The magic of baseball is that it can change with the swing of a bat. 

The late great Jack Buck's call of the home run "I don't believe what I just saw!" was equal to the feat itself.  Gibson limped around the bases and pumped his arm.  The As were favorites to win the World Series but Gibson's home run propelled the Dodgers to victory.

I was a freshman in college when it happened.  Wow!  Time flies!

Posted by The Tank in Nostagliaville.

The Giants went into last night's game in Cleveland on top of the world as the undefeated World Champions at 4-0.  Cleveland was coming off a bye week at 1-3.  Their excellent coach, Romeo Crennel, job was on the line. 

Translation: The Browns were due for a win and the Giants were due for a loss, especially since it was the first Monday night game in Cleveland since 1995.

The Browns won 35-14.  A key play was made by a friend of the blog, Braylon Edwards, who I met at last year's NFL Draft.  Braylon caught an 11 yard touchdown pass to put the Browns up 27-14 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.  Braylon and I are pictured below.

Yes, Tennessee is undefeated at 5-0.  But, New England has lost Tom Brady for the season and San Diego and Indianapolis are not as good as I and others thought.  At 2-3, the Browns' season is not lost and have a chance to make the playoffs.  The Giants better hope that Browns stay hot and do a favor of beating the Redskins on Sunday.  In sports, anything can happen. 

Posted by The Tank in NY.

The Tampa Rays routed the Red Sox 9-1 this afternoon at Fenway Park this afternoon.  This is huge because the Red Sox are tough at home AND the Rays took a 2 games to 1 lead over the Red Sox. 

As I write this post, the Dodgers have 5-3 lead on the Phillies.  The Phillies have a 2 games to 1 lead over the Dodgers.  Last night's game featured a benches clearing incident which resulted in fines for seven players and coaches.  Manny was held back from a fight.  Nothing unifies a team like a fight and Manny may have increased his value in Mannywood, I mean Hollywood. 

Posted by The Tank in NY.

It hasn't been easy but I am getting back into football.  I watched parts of some good college games yesterday including #5 Texas beat #1 Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry, North Carolina beating Notre Dame in a barn burner, and then Florida beat up on defending national champion LSU in the night cap.

I watched the Jets beat the winless Bengals today which was a solid win.  But what really got me going was Matt Schaub running into the end zone to beat the Dolphins with about 3 seconds in regulation.  A quarterback draw to win the game.  Yeah, that's football!  Though I kind of felt bad for a dejected Chad Pennington on the sideline but not too bad because the Dolphins are an arch-rival and my brother-in-law's team. 

I needed that to get out of my two week plus baseball funk. 

Posted by an energized Tank in NY.