September 27, 2008 by editor.

It is fitting that the wild card representative for the National League come down the last game of the season.  The Mets and Brewers each have an opportunity to defy the odds and make their way into the post-season, and wiping away a painful and tumultuous September. 

The problem is only one of them will make it.  Looking at both of these teams they are more alike than different and pretty much share the same issues.  For long stretches this year they have both looked like playoff teams, dominating the competition.  They have also gone long periods where they looked inept and can’t hit or pitch their way out of a paper bag.  Hitting has not been the issue.  Both teams have had their droughts, but are capable of scoring a lot of runs.  Pitching has been the issue.

If it wasn’t for the Mets issues with their bullpen we would hear a lot more about the Brewers shortcomings.  Theirs is not as bad as New York’s pen, but they have been guilty of coughing up a lot of late leads as well.  Eric Gagne has been a bust as a Brewer, and even though Solomon Torres is better than anything the Mets can throw out there to finish off a game, that doesn’t excuse Milwaukee from letting their closer of a year ago, Francisco Cordero, escape to the Reds.  They would have been well served to pay him what he wanted.

The Mets’ bullpen woes have been well chronicled.  Billy Wagner going down with an elbow injury didn’t help, and just made a bad situation worse.  New York doesn’t have a reliable long reliever, set-up guy, or closer.  It’s just hit or miss.  When a starter goes out for the Mets it gives confidence to their opponent because they know they will score runs.  It is amazing that the Mets are in this position at all. 

Aaron Heilman has no confidence left and looks lost, and their closer, Luis Ayala is a castoff from the Washington Nationals.   What amazes many is the fact that the Mets didn’t really try to improve their bullpen and they knew it was an area of need.  Not even at the trade deadline did they try to make a deal, which to me was absurd given the state of their relievers.  How or why Omar Minaya got an extention at this time doesn’t make sense either.  Maybe it is because he has shown “evident progress” like Isiah Thomas did for the Knicks, or maybe it is a New York thing.  Pay the executive before the collapse. 

At least Milwaukee went out and got a difference maker during the year for their staff. Adding C.C. Sabathia to the rotation has been even bigger given Ben Sheet’s injury problems.

It would be fitting for both teams to win their last game of the year, and have to decide the wild card by a one game playoff.  Milwaukee has a big edge.  Sabathia will pitch for the Brewers on three days rest, and Oliver Perez, who couldn’t protect a four run lead against the Cubs this week goes for the Mets.  One of these teams will experience redemption, while the other will be left to figure out how they collapsed two years in a row. 

Should the Mets lose to the Marlins it will be a repeat performance of last year when they had a chance to make the post season with a win and Dontrel Willis turned them away with a win.  They now have a chance to erase that memory.

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September 1, 2008 by editor.

Entering Saturday night’s huge game between Alabama and Clemson there were a lot of questions that needed answering on both sides.  How far has Nick Saban brought the Tide back after only one year?  How good is this seemingly talented Clemson team that is highly ranked and plays in a conference that is not highly regarded?

The eyes of the other SEC teams were on this game as well.  We know the conference is loaded, and if Alabama is better than expected that could shake up the conference.  With so many other good teams no one was counting on Alabama being all the way back yet.

Make no mistake about the fact that everyone wanted to see how good the Tigers were, and what that would mean for the ACC.  The ACC is no where near as strong as it once was, and as a conference hasn’t won a BCS bowl game in years.  Many expected this to be a coming out party for Clemson.

No one expected Alabama to dominate the way it did from start to finish like they did.  They dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and never let the Tigers establish anything.  C.J. Spiller and James Davis were supposed to be the two headed monster on the ground that would set the tone, but Saban’s defense did an excellent job taking them away and forcing Cullen Harper to beat them with his arm.

He was under pressure most of the game, and when he wasn’t, ‘Bama’s defensive backs were all over the receivers.  Harper’s receivers didn’t help him out at all by dropping passes that were right in their hands.

Clemson was completely over-powered by Alabama’s offensive line.  The Tide was able to create room up the middle for their backs whenever necessary.  They did an excellent job in protecting John Parker Wilson.  He exploited their defense continually with short, quick passes that the Tigers had no answers for.

Surprisingly, Clemson could not generate a consistent pass rush, and their defensive backs seemed lost on some key passing downs.  Alabama repeatedly converted third down and short passing plays and Clemson never adjusted their coverage to take those plays away and force Alabama to throw down the field.  You got the feeling that the Tigers were out-coached as well as out-played.

The way this game played out made you think that Clemson got caught reading their press clippings and thought all they had to do was show up.  Nick Saban had his team ready to play, and ready for whatever the Tigers would throw at them.  Kudos to him and his staff.  I have to conclude that Clemson is over-rated and will have to spend the rest of this year proving this was a fluke. 

This doesn’t bode well for the ACC as a whole.  With Virginia Tech losing to East Carolina on Saturday as well, a mediocre conference all of a sudden has shown itself to be weak.  The Florida State’s and the Miami’s will be lumped in with the mediocre bunch as well.

Even though we can’t say that Alabama is all the way back based on beating Clemson, but things just got more interesting in the SEC.  The Crimson Tide just made everyone’s schedule in the SEC look a little harder.  On the whole, I think this game was more a reflection on Clemson and their conference.  A few years ago you could have argued that the ACC was among the best.  My how the mighty have fallen.

Posted in College Sports | Print | No Comments »