Armchair Weekend in Review (October 6-8, 2006)
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by user JB82
MLB Postseason
- We start our postseason trip at Misery Farm, which was Comerica Park to the New York Yankees this past weekend. The overly-paid Bronx Bombers were pantsed, keelhauled, drawn and quartered, vivisected, quashed, and outright embarassed at the hands of the Detroit Tigers. Thanks to great performances from Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman, the once-vaunted best lineup that money could buy wasn't worth a plugged nickel, as the Pinstripers went scoreless for 18 innings. And don't even get me started on Alex Rodriguez...
- What's more unfathomable? The fact the Yanks lost what should've been a no-brainer series or the fact the Kenny Rogers, who had a sparkling performance Friday night, is the same pitcher who walked in the winning run in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series while with the New York Mets.
- The Oakland Athletics will face the Tigers in the ALCS, as they swept the Minnesota Twins on Friday.
- The following night, the New York Mets wielded the brooms on the Los Angeles Dodgers. On Sunday, the St. Louis Cardinals finished off the San Diego Padres.
NCAA Football: Week 6
- Back to Michigan for a second...its tourism slogan promises visitors "Great Lakes, Great Times." And between Game 4 of the ALDS and the usual Michigan autumn tradition, there were plenty of those. If you were a Michigan sports fan, it was difficult to keep you attention focused on just one event.
- But, still, the Big House (MIchigan Stadium) at Ann Arbor was packed to the brim as the University of Michigan Wolverines hosted the Spartans of Michigan State University. Just like the doings at Comerica Park in Motown some 40 away, this game was no contest, as Lloyd Carr's squad won, 31-13. Whose calls for whose head are the loudest now? John L. Smith in East Lansing or Larry Coker in Coral Gables, Florida?
- Thanks to some miscues, mostly in special teams, the Louisiana State University Tigers fell to the fell to the University of Florida Gators, 23-10. Life hasn't been this grand in Gainesville since Steve Spurrier was running the show.
- The Bulldogs of the University of Georgia succeeded where the Bayou Bengals failed, getting an 86-yard punt return and a kickoff return of almost similar length, both of which went for touchdowns. However, the University of Tennessee Volunteers really didn't need that kind of stuff in their 51-33 win over the Dawgs.
- For the second year in a row, Mack Brown's University of Texas Longhorns beat up on the University of Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Shootout, 28-10.
- And finally, the Auburn University Tigers' bid for an undefeated season ended with a loss to the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, 27-10.
NFL Week 5
- After last year's debacle of a season, the Philadelphia Eagles drove Terrell Owens out of "The City That Loves You Back." Upon his return as amember of the Dallas Cowboys, the Philly Faithful made sure not to give him any. Owens wound up being a non-factor with only three recptions for 45 yards, as the Eagles got the last laugh, 38-24, with two picks by Lito Sheppard.
- This reports guesses that a bye week following a devastating loss the week before did the New York Giants very well, as they dominated the Washington Redskins, 19-3, at the Meadowlands. It also helped to save what had the potential of being a very lousy sports weekend for yours truly.
- The Oakland Raiders' black hole of a 2006 season got wider, thanks to a 34-20 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
- Of all the games for Reggie Bush to have a coming-out party, he couldn't have picked a better one. The New Orleans Saints rookie running back had the game of his life, scoring on a 65-yard punt return as the Saints beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 24-21. The Bucs would have won it, hadn't it been for a pass interference call on Bucs wideout Joey Galloway.
- The San Diego Chargers defense proved to be too much for Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, as the powder-blue jersey-clad Bolts beat up on the defending Super Bowl champions, 23-13.
Fast Track
- Brian Vickers not only won the UAW Ford 400, but the wrath of racing fans as he took the checkered flag after a wreck took out Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson near the end of the race. The fans wouldn't have littered the track if Little E had held on, IMO.
- The defending World Drivers' Champion Fernando Alonso finds himself within whispering distance of his second consecutive crown after a win in the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka (thanx User:Alex_Holowczak). Remember that statement about Michael Schumacher I made last week? It'll hold true if Alonso drops out of the race early in Brazil two weeks hence.
- BTW, F1 fans will remeber ten years ago when Englishman Damon Hill took this race and the World title. Legendary commentator Murray Walker had this to say:
- And Damon Hill comes through, and wins the Japanese Grand Prix... and I've got to stop, because I've got a lump in my throat... [1]
Buck O'Neil, 1911-2006
In the midst of all this excitement, there was some sad news. John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil passed on Friday at the age of 94.
O'Neil started out as a player in the old Negro American League, and would become the figure most associated with it. He devoted the last years of his life to speaking about Negro League baseball and helped to preserve its history by opening a museum dedicated to it in his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.
However, for all he did, this reporter believes that there are some in baseball who did him a good-sized disservice by not getting inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York this past February. O'Neil missed being inducted by one vote while 17 other figures associated with the Negro leagues got their pass. But O'Neill did make an appearance by delivering their induction speech.
Even though O'Neil has since gone physically, he lives on because of his legacy in preserving the Negro leagues and those associated therein or future generations of baseball fans. Let's give him one more honor: induction into the Hall in Cooperstown.
Thanks, Buck. Rest in peace... Condolences to friends, family, and others associated with him.
Until next week, as always, let's all be good sports.
