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October Rules I love October. The change in the weather....college football starts heating up with conference play....the MLB Playoffs...the list goes on and on. Since the MLB Playoffs start this week, let's lead off with a little baseball. When baseball finally gets around to figuring out which teams qualify for the League Divisional Series, let me know. Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Texas....you guys figure out who wants to get their asses kicked by the Red Sox. Personally, I hope Tampa gets kicked to the curb....their lame fanbase doesn't deserve playoff baseball. Pittsburgh and Cincy have been playing themselves non-stop for the past three weeks....or at least it seems that way. The Pirates being back in the playoffs for the first time since 1992 is a cool story....and I like the Reds, too. But Cincy always comes up short when you need them....of course, I did enjoy watching them completely meltdown last year to my Giants, but I digress. The Braves-Dodgers NLDS match-up will be a good one. One of these consistent post-season losers is actually going to advance to the NL Championship Series. The Bravos haven't won a playoff series since 2001. The Dodgers have won all of 9 playoff games since their last World Series title in 1988. Neither team played well in September, so something has to give....the losing team in that series is going to be hating life. The Playoffs are wide-open....and I can't wait to watch them. Wow, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NY Giants are 0-4. Anybody see that one coming? The Steelers haven't been 0-4 in 45 years and the Giants' last sniff of 0-4 was back in 1987. We all expected the Jacksonville Jags to stink....and Tampa Bay has turned losing into an art form, late in the 4th quarter. There are always surprises and disappointments in the NFL....and that's one of the great beauties of the league. You can go from first-to-worst, or vice-versa, in a single season. Just look at the folks in Kansas City. Andy Reid has the Chiefs playing great football and they are unbeaten to date. It happens every year. I'll be curious to see if the Carolina Panthers can continue their momentum after a bye week. They travel to play Arizona this weekend, and it's a typical "who knows what team will show up" game for Carolina. The same could probably be said for the Cardinals, too. But one thing remains consistent this week in the NFL.....when a Steeler fan twirls his "Terrible Towel", he means it. The Steelers stink. After finishing up my SiriusXM Tailgate Show on Saturday AM, I was primed to lock into my leather chair for the next 14 hours and watch college football until they shut off the lights in the PAC-12 stadiums. The local CBS affiliate in Charlotte is obligated to air ACC football games. This week, I was watching East Carolina destroy UNC in Kenan Stadium...the game was a blowout, as the Pirates were hanging 55 on the Heels' inept defense. The problem I faced (like many others) is that we all wanted to watch this little game between #6 LSU and #9 Georgia....but unfortunately, the CBS affiliate couldn't figure out a way to provide an alternative channel to watch the SEC tilt. There's nothing worse that watching UNC try to throw on every down in front of both of their fans.....I was going bonkers. As for the Georgia-LSU game.....it was fantastic. The Dawgs survived and staked their claim as the team to beat in the East. LSU will still have something to say about the SEC championship, too. Oh by the way, East Carolina will be a beast in the CUSA....and for the Heels....college hoops starts in a few weeks. Something tells me that Larry Fedora won't be handing out championship rings this year. The biggest news over the CFB weekend involved the firing of Lane Kiffin as the coach of USC. I was surprised that Pat Haden made the move when he did in mid-season, but he is a smart guy and he obviously has a plan. I interviewed both of those guys when I visited their campus last month on our SiriusXM Camp Tours. You could tell there was enormous pressure to produce...and Kiffin didn't get it done, with a 3-2 start. Who will USC go after as their next head coach? The better question is what big-time coach has already contacted Haden and USC? I can see a guy like Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern) or James Franklin (Vandy)......the Trojans will land a good one. It looks like Haden wants to get a jump on recruiting and the fact that there could be a few other high-profile jobs open up later in the year. Stay tuned. Every time I turn on a NASCAR race, I'm amazed at how few people are sitting in the grandstands. The tracks can't even afford enough tarps to cover all the empty seats. I know Jimmie Johnson won again at Dover (#8) and I know Matt Kenseth still has the lead in the Chase......but there is no juice surrounding these races. I've stated this before, but NASCAR has got to do something with their schedule.....their sport gets lapped like Danica once the football season starts. Old-school fans will bitch about my position, but the sport really needs to get pro-active and tweak their schedule. |
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