The end of baseball/football midseason edition!
1. Congratulations to the S.F. Giants. How fitting that, in what some consider a Year of the Pitcher, a team fueled by great ptiching was able to win it all.
Congrats to the Giants and fan favorite when he was down here, Cody Ross...could not have happened to a nicer guy!
2. My gut feeling is that Cliff Lee will return to the Rangers for 2011. I don't know, it sounds like he might have been a rental.
I hope he stays, ever champion deservers to defend their title with their team fully intact.
3. Between the Giants, New Orleans Saints, and Chicago Blackhawks, 2010 feels like the year of the long-suffering team finally becoming champion. (That being said, the Lakers, Alabama, and Duke represent the old-school, traditional powerhouses. Very half-and-half!)
Ah those Blackhawks...that brought back some fond memories of teams that I was involved in covering that were BETTER...on paper..than the current Lord Stanley's champions...but championships were not won on paper...!
4. Salsa in his wildest dreams wouldn't have thought that at midseason, the Raiders would be more relavant this year than the Vikings or Cowboys. Even Wozniak's Lions are looking better!
I thought they would be better, but NEVER...EVER thought that the Vikings and the Cowboys would be EXTREMELY worse...wow!
7. How was your Halloween?
GREAT!! Dad dressed up as a Chilenian miner, and my son Batman and my daughter the bumble bee ganther candy after the Raider outcome was just about sealed at the end of the 3rd quarter.
8. Now that it's November, when is it time to prepare for Turkey Day?
That is the social planners job...my wife. I just cook and eat.
9. I have a feeling the SEC will not be playing in the national title game, and their streak of consecutive championships will stop at four.
I have a strange feeling it will either be Alabama or Auburn playing in the championship against Oregon.
12. Any of us could do a better job quarterbacking the Arizona Cardinals. Playing musical QB's is going to sink their season.
Damn Janikowski, IF he hits that damn chipshot 31 yarder...I don't know HOW the Raiders lost that game.
13. Donovan McNabb, amidst all the hype and trumpeting, has really not lit it up for the Redskins. Their win-loss record is more about the defense, not McNabb. I think he's one of the more overrated QB's in football.
But what does he have for WR, only my Raiders have less at the skilled positions. Same thing happened in Philly, only ONE year did they have a legit WR and that was when they had TO. He will go down as one of the most clutch QBs in the modern era.
15. Finally, your thoughts on the declining baseball ratings for the World Series? There was a time when the Fall Classic was must-see TV. Now, it seems like a ghost of its former Nielsen-topping self. The OTHER professional leagues markets their TEAMS more, unlike MLB who markets their individuals more. The formula was not in place in the 70s with the Big Red Machine, Oakland A's and NY Yankees. The 80s had the Dodgers, Cardianls, A's. Even in the 90s, you had Braves and Yankees...but things changed with the heavy amount of Home Runs flying and adds like "chicks love the long ball"...