Dodgers Make Huge Statement in Sweep of the Cards

Many people, including myself, were skeptical about how the Dodgers would perform in the playoffs after limping into the playoffs and having an average second half of the season. Those thoughts were mostly erased after the Dodgers secured the three-game sweep of the Cardinals tonight.

This has to be so discouraging for Cardinals fans. The Cardinals were one of the better teams in the NL for much of the season, but much like the Dodgers, they limped into the postseason with some disappointing losses.

The turning point of this short series was definitely the Matt Holliday pop fly drop in Game 2 which would have sealed the win for the Cardinals. The Cardinals lost all of the momentum after that pivotal error.

As crucial as that drop was by Holliday, you can't blame him or start comparing him to Bill Buckner from the 1986 World Series. Yes, he should've made that catch, but there were other factors that led to the demise of the Cardinals.

How about closer Ryan Franklin in Game 2. After the error by Holliday, all Franklin had to do was get one more out and he simply couldn't do it. Not to mention Holliday hit a lead-off home run to in that game.

Also, as a team the Cardinals stranded runner after runner in this series. You can't blame an entire team problem on one player.

The Dodgers made a huge statement in this series. They showed all the critics that they should still be regarded as the team to beat in the NL like they were in the first half of the season.

Cardinal Woes

• 4 for 30 with runners in scoring position
• 6 runs scored in 3 games
• Pujols/Holliday: 5 for 22, 2 RBI, 3 K's
  

Week 6 Upset Alerts!

Upsets are what make college football the exciting sport that it is. Almost every week there is at least one upset that rocks the college football world. So what teams should be worried this week?

1. Boston College (4-1) @ No. 5 Va. Tech (4-1): Even though Virginia Tech has two impressive wins over Miami and Nebraska, I'm still not quite sold on the Hokies as a top five team. I think that will show this weekend against Boston College. The Eagles took a tough loss to Clemson earlier in the year but have since put back to back wins against Wake Forest and Florida State. Probability of upset: 40%

2. Michigan (4-1) @ No. 12 Iowa (5-0): As long as Heisman hopeful Tate Forcier is lining up under center the Wolverines are capable of beating almost anybody in the country. Yes I know they're coming off of an ugly loss to Michigan State and that they should have lost to Notre Dame, but this team is still dangerous. Remember Iowa hasn't exactly looked dominant against weaker teams. The Hawkeyes margin of victory over Northern Iowa, Arizona, and Arkansas State was only a collective 14 points. Probability of upset: 50%


3. No. 17 Auburn (5-0) @ Arkansas (2-2): One of the most important things in college football is home-field advantage, and the Razorbacks will at least have that going for them against Auburn. I realize Auburn is undefeated, but they still have a lot to work out as a team. They're definitely vulnerable to the upset. If you know anything about SEC football then you know that SEC teams have a tendency to beat each other up. This is one of those games where Arkansas can come out on top and have you scratching your head afterwards.
Probability of upset: 60%

Meyer Should Sit Tebow Against LSU

The biggest SEC game of the year is just days ahead of us as No. 1 Florida will take on No. 4 LSU down in the bayou. I don't need to take time to explain the implication of this game, especially for LSU.

Even though this game is so important, Urban Meyer has to set aside football from real life. I know he's going back and forth on trying to decide whether or not to start the recently concussed Tim Tebow. Tebow suffered a concussion less than two weeks ago against Kentucky. As of right now Tebow is listed as a game-time decision.

The worst case scenario far out weighs the best case scenario is this situation. Besides, it's not like Florida is taking on Charleston Southern this week. They're taking on who is in my opinion the second best team in the SEC in LSU. This defense is going to blitz the you know what out of whichever guy lines up under center for the Gators.

All it takes is another massive blow to the head and Tebow's football career could be drastically destroyed. It's not even completely about Tebow's future as a football player. It's about his future as a regular person. Tebow just recently started praciticing with the team again and for a while wasn't even allowed to read a book.

How is a guy going to go from not being allowed to read to leading his team against one of the better defenses in the country in hostile territory? I know Tebow is the closest thing to God when it comes to playing college football, but it's just not a good idea to start this guy.

If something terrible does end up happening to Tebow, Meyer could end up putting himself under horrible scrutiny for starting a player that was extremely vulnerable to another concussion.

I know you're the football genius and I'm not, but you got to make the right choice here Urban. The right choice doesn't always get you the win, but that choice doesn't necessarily make it wrong.

The Battle for the Palladium!!!

The biggest rivalry within the young Sun Belt conference has to be the battle between MTSU and Troy, also known as the Battle for the Palladium.

The nickname of the annual meeting is due to both school's connection to Greek mythology with their mascots.

This will be my first MTSU road game that I will witness in person with the exception to seeing the Blue Raiders take on Vanderbilt back in 2005 at Vanderbilt Stadium.

This game has huge implications as it usually does. Both teams are easy favorite to win the Sun Belt this year and the winner of this game will probably take the conference title.

The Blue Raiders come into this game at 3-1 and riding on a three-game winning streak. Their three wins are against Memphis, Maryland, and Sun Belt foe North Texas.

As for the Trojans, they started off the season with a huge disappointment by getting stomped by a weak Bowling Green team on the road. They then traveled to No. 1 Florida the following week and got destroyed, but no one is knocking them for that.

Since then Troy has returned back to form to get a home win over UAB and a road win over Arkansas State. You can't forget, Arkansas State only lost to Iowa by three, so that road win is actually pretty impressive.

This will not be an easy game for the Blue Raiders. In fact, it may be the toughest game they will play all year. The Trojans have only lost twice at home since 2006. They also beat Oklahoma State in 2007 at home.

Being as unbiased as possible, I believe the Blue Raiders will take this game for two important reasons.

Their offense is by far the best in the Sun Belt as they're averaging 28.5 points per game. Dwight Dasher has the offense running smoothly and he's making smart decisions with the football.

Secondly, they finally have a great kicker in Alan Gendreau. This kid is a great weapon for a team who moves the ball into the red zone a lot. Sometimes those field goals add up and in the past the Blue Raiders have never had the luxury of kicking the field goal. They've always had to go for it on fourth down or punt the ball away.

No matter which team comes out on top, the game will be close till the final whistle. The Trojans have a good offense of their own and the MTSU defense will have to show up and play a solid game.

The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2 so look for me in the Blue Raiders section!!!! I'll be one of the nuts screaming their head off!

AL Central Still Up for Grabs

Barring a huge comeback by the woeful Kansas City Royals this afternoon, the Tigers and the Twins will meet in a tiebreaker game to decide who will take the division title. The Twins would get the honor of hosting the tiebreaker game.

The Tigers have squandered opportunity after opportunity to lock this division up a long time ago, but instead they've lost games they should have won down the stretch.

On the flip side, the Twins have had a huge turnaround and have come out of nowhere to possibly make the playoffs. This tiebreaker game can't bring up good memories for the Twins. Last season the Twins lost to the White Sox in a tiebreaker game that forced them to miss the playoffs.

Whether it's the Tiger or the Twins the eventually advance to the postseason, I see neither one of them coming close to beating the Yankees in the first round. It would be surprising to see either one of them take the series to even five games.

The Tigers are reeling right now and I don't see them defeating the Twins in a pressure situation. The Twins are one of the hottest teams in baseball and I see them taking out the Tigers and making the postseason.

Chicago Fails In 2016 Olympic Bid

Having endorsements from the one of the world's most powerful men wasn't enough to get Chicago the 2016 Summer Olympics. In fact, endorsements from President Obama wasn't even good enough to get them out of the first round of voting.

I can't help but think that there are numerous Chicago natives who are furious at not only the fact that they didn't get the Olympics, but also because their long time hero Michael Jordan didn't even bother to endorse the city that he played in for so long. Ouch, that's gotta hurt.

Even though Chicago failed at their attempt, at least it went to a worthy city in Rio De Janeiro, which is in Brazil. Remarkably this is the first time the Olympics will be held on the continent of South America. With that said, I can't disagree with the committee for choosing the site that they did.

The last two times the Olympics were held in the United States were not necessarily what you would call great experiences. The 2002 Winter Olympics had a possible bribery going on and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta had a bombing.

It was still a good effort by the city of Chicago and I'm sure they will be the first in the United States to get one in the future.

Almost Hockey Time in Nashville

It's hard to believe that the Predators are just two days away from starting another season.

The NHL actually starts its regular season tonight with four games on the schedule. The most intriguing of those would have to be the Bruins hosting the Capitals thanks to Alexander Ovechkin.

The Predators had a sting of four straight playoff appearances snapped by finishing three points out of playoff contention. Last season should actually be considered some sort of a success because the Preds lost a ton of players during the offseason. They also had to deal with long injuries to Steve Sullivan and work a young goalie into the system with Pekka Rinne.

The season will open up with the Predators traveling to Dallas to take on the Stars. The Stars finished five points behind the Predators in 2008.

The main issue heading into the season is who will guard the goal in 2009, and that's kind of an important thing to know.

As of right now its between Pekka Rinne, who got most of the starts last season, and Dan Ellis. Both goalies have shown glimpses of greatness, but I would go with Rinne. Rinne had seven shutouts, which is a franchise record. He also came close to winning the NHL's rookie of year award.

It has been noted that Ellis has had a better preseason, but that should be taken with a grain of salt.

The offense stuggled greatly at times last season and a lot of that can be contributed to losing guys like Alexander Radulov and Scott Hartnell. It didn't help that Steve Sullivan missed a good chunk of the 2008 season.

Over the past five seasons the Predators have become one of the more consistent clubs in the NHL, but playing in a division with the Red Wings has always kept them from racking up the division titles. If players can stay healthy then I think the Preds have a shot at another playoff berth.

Key Predators for 2009

• Steve Sullivan (609 career points)
• Jason Arnott (team's career leading scorer)
• David Legwand (141 career goals)
• Shea Weber (team's best defensman)