Friday: ALDS, two games: First we see the tense, extra-inning demise of the Twins in Yankee Stadium following a wildly blown call by an ump right on the spot completely missing a fair ball ground rule double by Joe Mauer.
Is ump Phil Cuzzi a closet Yankees fan, an ump on the take or do they have standing orders by the Commish to make sure a high market Yankees team makes it into the World Series this season?
Who knows which it is, but there's no way that call can be missed unintentionally. Instead of a lead off double, man-on-second, no outs, the Twins have to try and knickle and dime their way to a run. Sure, Mauer singles up the middle anyway but that means Jason Kubel's single that followed would likely have given the Twins a one run lead going into the bottom of the 12th, etc. etc.
Sure, Teixeira hit his lead-off homer in the the Yankees half of the inning but does closer Joe Nathan pitch the same way with a one-run lead? Perhaps a wee bit more confidently?
You could piss and moan about this but let's face it, now that A-Rod has shook that post-season funk he's been in his entire career, Derek Jeter is playing as if this is the last swan song of his career and the Yankees seem destined to come back from any deficit, falling 2-0 to them in a best-of-5 series didn't bode well for the Twins. That and the natural ump bias and Selig wanting the big market Yankees to return to the big stage because well, they paid for it...
And then to add to the sour taste in the mouth, the BOOOOOORING Anaheim Angels and their BOOOOORING pre-scripted, let's-win-one-for-the-dead-kid run win a second game in So Co because the Red Sox batters have fallen into a collective coma and can't seem to even hit mediocrity any more.
*****
First of all, a slew of key World Cup qualifying games, most of important which in Europe was probably the Portugal-Hungary game which ended up 3-0 in favour of the team no one can believe has already nearly failed to qualify for the World Cup - Ronaldo's team. Helping Portugal's cause was Denmark's 2-0 stomping of the Swedes which means the Danes went ahead to qualify and helped Portugal at Sweden's expense - no better result.
There was also the other-side-of-dawn Argentina victory over Peru which meant that they face a winner-take-it-all bunny boiler against Uruguay on Wednesday.
Not only that but both American AND Mexico qualified officially for the World Cup.
On Saturday, non-stop, virtually, because due to the time differences, the Red Sox game blurs into dawn. Up ahead, a big Gators-LSU NCAA football game marking the return of Superhero Tim Tebow. That turns out to be a 13-3 disappointment, defensive slug-fest which has importance in the rankings but as a game, not what you want to see at college football's highest levels. Without the requisite infatuation/man crush for Tebow, I simply can't garner the same enthusiasm for this game, Florida's impressive and oppressive Defence notwithstanding.
Back in baseball, a return to the National League where the first game gets SNOWED OUT in Colorado. October, mind. Frosty.
Then the Dodgers just shut down the utterly gutted Cardinals who suffered that horrific defeat with two outs in the 9th on a dropped fly ball by Matt Holiday who blew the game and the series for the Cards.
Wanna see it again?
*****
On Sunday, well the World Cup qualifiers in the western hemisphere bled into the wee hours but the flip coin would be the ALDS games, the Red Sox trying to redeem themselves at home despite a whimpish offense and the Twins trying desperately to reclaim the series in a Metrodome finale versus the NFL games.
Well, the NFL games made it somewhat easy to want to watch the Red Sox blow a massive lead and the ALDS with a bullpen melt down of catastrophic and season-ending proportions. Papelbon finally choked it down and Hillbilly Wagner might have escaped the Mets but he isn't going to have a heart warming World Series story to tell his grand kids.
First of all, because the only 1 pm kickoff merit, the Bengals-Ravens game was BLACKED OUT so I was stuck trying to find interest in the Steelers-Lions game instead with the Lions trying to make it without Stafford, their heroic rookie QB and Duante Culpepper in his place. Culpepper, as it turned out, looked alot better than expected and instead of being held scoreless, the Lions actually required some lucky Steelers defending to be prevented from upsetting the Steelers, not impressive for the Steelers and the Lions are maybe the best one-win team in the NFL.
Yes, Broncos upset the Pats at home to go 5-0 and prove EVERYBODY wrong. I'm already hating the Broncos which undoubtedly means they'll make it to the Super Bowl this season with Kyle Orton leading them unless of course this game meant a happier thing; that the Patriots demise, much like the Red Sox demise, is only a matter of time away and all those annoying fucking Boston fans can finally climb back into the hole they were inexplicably released from several years ago when the Sox finally broke the curse and that mumbling genius first led the Pats to their inexplicable string of Super Bowl victories.
The Jets game wasn't until Monday which meant another Sunday night of the fucking Colts - you just watch - a hideous Colts-Broncos Super Bowl, is that even possible? Let's see, why no it isn't, thank christ!
Then you see the Yankees finishing off the Twins without barely breaking a sweat whilst the Phucking Phillies take Game 3 in freezing cold Colorado with a come-from-behind abomination that saw Shitty Brad Lidge survive two 9th inning walks to save the game. TWO fucking walks at home, bottom of the 9th and these loser Rockies couldn't score the tying fucking run in their choke artist uniforms. Fuck, that would have made let's see, every team I find boring or hate in the NLCS and ALCS. Thanks sports gods for fucking my weekend!
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