Oh What A Night

Order of the day: first we'll talk baseball, then college football and then the NFL

First up: Baseball
This game was the most ridiculous, the longest, and the craziest game I have ever sat
through.

And I had to balance this while watching the oh-so-nerve-wracking gymnastics team finals (USA won a silver...they should have had gold) and Michael Phelps (who was, at least, stellar and I never doubted him) I can't handle more nights like this one.

Papi hits not one, but TWO homers in the first. We go into the second inning 10-0 against the rangers. Game over, right?

Wrong.

If anything, this game highlighted our bullpen problems and then put them under the microscope. Zink was good for three, then he got rocked. The innings between Zink and Okajima were horrible. Who has a 12-2 lead and blows it to be losing 16-15 in the eighth? Ladies and Gentlemen, our bullpen.

This was Zink's first game at the Show ever, so I am willing to forgive him and let him have another chance. He was nervous. And we made a lot of errors. That was a sloppy game. That could have been the most embarassing loss in the history of the regular season (we have had some stupid post-season losses that I will not mention here). All I gotta say is thank goodness for Youk. The beastly man struggled earlier when the Sox were hitting like an offensive machine, but came up with not one, but TWO homers in the fifth and eighth. The second of which would prove to be the game-winner.

Here's the goal for tonight: bring that same offense, but please, please, please have better defense. With the solid southpaw on the mound, I have no doubt that Lester can rebound from the loss to the ChiSox and turn in a dominant performance. Everyone will be tired, I know, but that's okay, because the Rangers had to stay up for last night's nonsense too. I told my housemate how long the game was and she said "Wow. How many innings did it go to?" and I replied "Eight and a half." That is so not normal.

Oh well, we are the Sox, and we did notch the all-important W (which is even sweeter coming off a day where the Rays snagged a beautiful L) I think the absence of Longoria is hurting them and the Sox need to capitalize on this. Perhaps the addition of Byrd (thank goodness for replacing Buchholz) will give the Sox that extra bit that they need to maybe even take back the division.

Speaking of Clay. Look, he's a young, talented pitcher, but something is not clicking. It might be something small, I mean, look at Okajima. He went from lights out to terrible, and then changed one pitch and started looking lights out again. The big boys know Clay's pitches. He's not really throwing that poorly, but he's getting hit. A lot. So maybe a little trip down to the minors and a little work on his pitches to really get in there and fool a batter and we could possibly have another ace on our hands. Call me crazy, but I have faith in the kid.

And now onto college football...

I just have one complaint to go on: I hate that Ohio State is expected to go to the BCS championship again this year. I'm so tired of seeing them ride their easy schedule to the top only to lose and/or be blown out by a better team. The BCS either needs to go to a playoff system so we can have a real national championship, or at least end the love affair with Ohio State and come up with a way to get the two best teams into the National Championship, even if they do have two losses. As a consumer (my fave team is I-AA and has no shot) who wants to watch good football, I want to see a game for the national championship, not OSU getting their butts handed to them, again.

Finally, the NFL:

Okay Ladies and Gents, football season is fast approaching, and power rankings are in. Here are mine:

• New England Patriots
• Not only am I a fan, but no one has come up with an answer for the Brady-Moss-Welker trio and with five versatile and talented backs, that offense will keep defenses guessing
• San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts
• These guys are tied, mostly due to injuries. While they don't keep them out of the running for Superbowl contention, they certainly don't help.
  
• Dallas Cowboys
• Good until the end...this may be Romo's year to finally win a post-season game. Maybe.
  
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• The human bolling ball and big man tandem of Taylor and Jones-Drew is scary good
  
• Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns
• Tie, again, though the Browns may slip because of injuries. Big Ben looks great this year, and the depth of the Browns is great, not to mention they are hungry for the playoffs after being kept out last year
  
• Minnesota Vikings
• Running backs! And QB Jackson looks a lot better, so teams will have to start paying attention to him as well.
• New York Giants
• Despite being reigning champs, a few off-season losses and the dreaded superbowl
  hangover don't help much.
• Washington Redskins
• Don't laugh, Jason Campbell is the real deal, and he's only going to get better. Plus the addition of Jason Taylor will only help. And for the first time EVER the Skins have minimal injuries and no key players out at the start of the season.
• Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles and New Orleans Saints
• Why a four-way tie? These four teams are the wild cards, each making some moves in the off season that might propel them to greater hieghts or they might just stay middle-of-the pack. Here's each team's various wild-cards. Green Bay: Aaron Rogers. It could go either way. As for Seattle, they've stepped up the defense, but the offense has been doing some shifting. The Eagles its all about health. If they stay healthy, they stay in contention. Problem is, when are the Eagles ever healthy? Finally, the Saints have beefed up their defense to match what is, already, a really good offense.
• Houston Texans
• Their rank would be higher, if only they weren't in the AFC South

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  
• Mostly because the only division competition they face is the New Orleans Saints, if the Bucs stay consistent, they'll probably be in the playoffs.
  

The Runners Up
(This bunch of teams probably won't make the playoffs, but they might be 8-8 or 6-10 on the season, and deserve mentioning.)

• Buffalo Bills
• Arizona Cardinals
• Denver Broncos
• Baltimore Ravens
• New York Jets
• Carolina Panthers
• Chicago Bears
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Detroit Lions
• Miami Dolphins (I think adding Pennington gave them a big boost)
  

And the Bottom of the Barrel Teams (lets just call it a "rebuilding year")

• St. Louis Rams
• Kansas City Chiefs
  
• San Fransisco 49ers
• Atlanta Falcons
• Oakland Raiders
  

That Old Bull-Pen Magic

I hate it when Clay Buchholz pitches. Hate it. It makes me very, very nervous. He looked good, though, which was a welcome and pleasant surprise. He looked leaps and bounds better than his first start coming out of the break, he had a lot more control. It was good.

Then we have the bullpen...as a Red Sox fan, especially this season, we are trained to say a Hail Mary and pray frantically when Tito pulls in Delcarmen, Hansen, Okajima or Timlin. Its always iffy. Masterson...I haven't seen in anything but a start. We got to see almost all of them last night, and let me tell you, I actually dare to hope. Masterson was lights-out. Absolutely fabulous. Delcarmen: solid. Okajima: solid. Paps...came on in relief, and I got worried when he had guys on the corners. But Mikey and Dustin came through to get the double play. (in a side note, why is Dustin Pedroia's nickname Petey?) Speaking of Paps, what was with that dribbler? I'm not sure Paps would have handled that even if he was using his glove. That thing was possesed.

Then the top of the 12th...Ellsubry got his firt hit of the night (what a clutch hit!). Pedroia grounded out but Wheels got to 2nd, JD took a walk, and Youk got a lucky (but also good) hit. Mikey came through in the clutch with a two-run single, and Casey added to it with an RBI single. And all of Boston started to breathe again. Hansen pulled out a strong save, despite starting a little shakey, and the Sox completed the sweep of the Mariners.

So now the Sox head home on a day of rest before they take on the Yanks. And here's the best news I'll day: (note, if the Rays loose tonight, it will be tied as the best news) Papi is back in the line-up and ready to swing. Yay!

So some interesting things come out of the West Coast swing: the bull-pen looks much better. Its still not great, but it is no longer my greatest fear. Manny is being Manny. This is what he does in July. Go back every year and Manny is just like this, every July. The trade deadline will pass, it will become August and September, and the slugger will be back in form and back to loving being in Boston. I think its some kind of seasonal disorder. Mikey seems to be out of his mini slump, Jacoby can get back deeper in the order when Papi comes back, which will probably help get him out of his slump, Dustin is still on a hitting tear, JD Drew is hitting into fewer double plays, and Tek has a three game hitting streak. That's right. The Captain may still be struggling with the stick, but he's looking better all the time. Clay B. picked a batter off...man is he fast. Next up: Skankees. But we're at the Fens, so all is well.

Bring on the Bombers.