NFL Thursday Night Football Week 9 Prediction

Here is my prediction for this weeks Thursday Night Football game between the Cincinnati Bengals(6-2) and the Miami Dolphins(3-4).

I like the Bengals in this one. They are on fire and should win fairly easily over a mediocre Miami team.

Predication: Bengals 34, Dolphins 17

Thanks for reading.

The Boston Red Sox Are Your 2013 World Series Champions

The Boston Red Sox captured the 2013 World Series title on Wednesday night, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 6-1. It was the first time since 1918 that Boston won a World Series at Fenway Park, as their wins in 2004 and 2007 were both on the road. It is the 8th time in franchise history that the Red Sox have been kings of baseball, as they previously won in 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004 and 2007.

The Red Sox bats knocked around St. Louis starter Michael Wacha, getting all 6 runs off of him in just 3 and 2/3 innings. It was Wacha's 1st bad start of the postseason, as he had been so good in his first 4 starts, posting an ERA of 1.00. Boston starter John Lackey, on the other hand, was fantastic, going 6 and 2/3 innings and giving up just 1 earned run.

The Red Sox fun night began in the bottom of the 3rd, when Shane Victorino hit a 3 run double that made it 3-0 Red Sox. The Sox added on 3 more runs in the bottom of the 4th. First, Stephan Drew leadoff the inning with a solo homer to make it 4-0. Then, Mike Napoli singled to make it 5-0, and Victorino also singled to make it 6-0. The Sox never looked back from there. The Redbirds would score 1 run in the top of the 7th on a Carlos Beltran single, but it proved to be meaningless. Tonight was Boston's night. Koji Uehara came in in the top of the 9th in a non save situation, and got the first 2 men out, then struck out Matt Carpenter, and with that, Fenway erupted as for the first time in the lives of anybody in that stadium, the Red Sox won it all in front of their hometown fans. David Ortiz, as expected, was named World Series MVP after his phenomenal series, as he has earned a reputation as one of the best postseason hitters ever.

I would like to say, Mike Matheny, John Mo St. Louis Cardinals and their fans, congratulations on a great season. Even though it sucks not to win it all, it was still a great season and you guys have nothing to be ashamed of.

To the Boston Red Sox and their fans, congrats on a great season and World Series. Expectations were not high for this team following a 69 win season in 2012, but manager John Farrell did a phenomenal job turning around Boston, and free agent pickup Shane Victorino and the resurgence of pitcher John Lackey as well as a bounce back season from ace John Lester and the emergence of closer Koji Uehara played huge roles in getting Boston to where they are right now, as well as the stars who had been with Boston before 2013, like Ortiz, Pedroia etc. GM Ben Cherington and the Red Sox front office did a fantastic job putting this team together. Let's not forget the fans, most of whom had been waiting their whole lives to see their team win it all in person and finally got to do it tonight.

Well that's it for this post. Thanks for reading, and congrats to the Boston Red Sox.

Lester's Strong Start Backs Red Sox In Game 5 Win; Lead Series 3 Games To 2, 1 Win Away From Title

The Boston Red Sox are 1 win away from the 2013 World Series championship, thanks to John Lester's 7 and 2/3 inning, 1 run allowed performance, and well as some clutch late inning heroics.

The Red Sox struck first in the top of the 1st, as David Ortiz doubled to right, scoring Dustin Pedroia and giving the Sox a 1-0 lead. It would stay that way until the bottom of the 4th, when Matt Holiday crushed a solo homerun to deep center to tie the game at 1, which it would stay until the top of the 7th, when with 1 out and runners on 1st and 2nd, Boston catcher David Ross hit a ground rule double, scoring rookie Xander Bogaerts while Stephan Drew had to be held at 3rd. Drew would later score on a single by Jacoby Ellsbury, giving the Red Sox a 3-1 lead. That would be enough, as after Lester departed with 2 outs in the bottom of the 8th, Koji Uehara continued his fantastic postseason with a 4-out save, his 2nd of the fall classic. Starter Adam Wainwright pitched well for St. Louis, giving up 3 earned runs over 7 innings, but Lester was better, and that proved to be the difference in game 5.

The Red Sox will return to Fenway Park on Wednesday night, as they will try to take home their 3rd World Series title in the past 10 seasons. John Lackey will pitch for Boston, and he will oppose rookie Michael Wacha, who will look to continue his amazing postseason.

An interesting note. the Cardinals team plane's takeoff for Boston was delayed until 9:09 on Tuesday night because of mechanical issues. Also, Boston is expect to get left fielder Shane Victorino back in the lineup for game 6, and he was sidelined with back tightness.

That's all for this article. Thanks for reading.

Gomes 3 Run Blast Propells Red Sox to 4-2 Win, Series Tied At 2

Red Sox left fielder Johnny Gomes, who was a late addition to the lineup after Shane Victorino was scratched late with lower back tightness, hit a go ahead 3 run homerun off of St. Louis reliever Seth Maness with 2 outs in the top of the 6th inning to break a 1-1 tie and propel the Red Sox to a much needed win to tie the 2013 World Series at 2 games apiece.  The Cards struck first in the bottom of the 3rd on a Carlos Beltran single. However, the Sox would tie it in the top of the 5th on a sacrifice fly by Stephan Drew. That set the stage for the key moment of the game. In the top of the 6th, after 2 quick outs, Dustin Pedroia singled and David Ortiz walked. Mike Matheny than pulled starter Lance Lynn in favor of reliever Seth Maness to face Gomes. It proved to be a mistake as Gomes hammered a 387 foot blast to left field, giving the Sox a 3 run lead which proved to be the difference. I personally think Matheny should have stuck with Lynn to face Gomes. He was pitching well and had only thrown 89 pitches to that point. But I am not an MLB manager. The Cards would get a run in the bottom of the 7th on a single by Matt Carpenter to make it 4-2. Then in the bottom of the 9th, with 2 outs and nobody on, Allen Craig singled. Matheny called on rookie Kolten Wong to pinch run, with Carlos Beltran at the plate. Wong would end up getting picked off of 1st to end the game. Now it is unlikely that St. Louis would have won the game had Wong not gotten picked off, but with Beltran, one of the greatest postseason hitters ever at the plate, all the Cards needed was a double to get them within 1 run and have the tying run in scoring position. But, a lot of things happen over the course of a game, and to blame Wong for the Cardinals loss is just not right. Both teams got decent efforts out of their starting pitchers, as Lance Lynn pitch 5 and 2/3 innings, giving up 3 earned runs(2 off of the Gomes homerun),  and Clay Buchholz had a short but strong outing, giving up 1 run(0 earned) in 4 innings. The Sox got a big boost out of Felix Doubront, who relieved Buchholz and pitch 2 2/3 innings, giving up 1 earned run for the win.

Game 5 will be huge, and I think whoever wins will end up taking home the World Series title. Note: Up until this weekend, no postseason games had ever ended on a obstruction call of a pickoff. Both of those things happened in games 3 and 4.

Well that's it for this article. It should be a great rest of the series. Thanks for reading.

College Football Week 9 Recap: Missouri, Virgina Tech Upset, Miami Narrowly Escapes Wake Forest

Week 9 of the 2013 College Football season is in the books, and although it was not quite as dramatic as Week 8, it had some excitement of its own. We will start in the ACC, where #7 Miami took on unranked Wake Forest. The Demon Decons frustrated the Canes all day, and were ahead 21-17 late in the 4th quarter. But the Hurricanes prevailed when running back Duke Johnson, who had 168 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on the day, scored on a 1 yard run with 53 seconds left, and the Canes kept their perfect season and National Title hopes alive.

We now move onto the Big Ten, where #24 Nebraska visited unranked Minnesota. The Gophers pulled off the upset, 34-23, led by running back David Cobb's 138 yards rushing. The Huskers fell despite 165 yards on the ground from running back Ameer Abdulla, and it was another crushing loss for Big Red.

We now move on to the Big 12, where #10 Texas Tech visited #15 Oklahoma. The Sooners handed the Red Raiders their first loss by a score of 38-30, led by WR Jalen Saunders, who had 6 REC for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns, and running back Damien Williams, who had 97 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. The Raiders fell despite 385 yards passing and 2 touchdowns from QB Davis Webb.

We now move on to the Pac 12, where #3 Oregon took on #12 UCLA. The Bruins hung tough through the 1st half, as the game was tied at 14 going into the 3rd Quarter. But the Ducks pulled away, led by running back Byron Marshall, who had 133 yards rushing and 3 Touchdowns on the day, as the Ducks prevailed, 42-14. It was another impressive win for the cool uniforms as the are making a case for #1 in the country.

We now move on to the ACC, and the upset of the week. Unranked Duke came into Lane Stadium and stunned #14 Virginia Tech, 13-10. Surprisingly, the MVP for the Blue Devils on Saturday was kicker Ross Martin, who nailed 2 50+ yard kicks, one from 51 and one from 53, both in the second quarter, as Duke got their biggest win in recent memory. Duke's defense help them out as well, picking off VA Tech quarterback Logan Thomas 4 times. On paper, the Hokies dominated the game, led by Thomas who had 101 yards rushing and the Hokies only touchdown, outgaining Duke 387 to 198 in total yardage, but the Dukies scored more points, and that it all that matters. The Dukies are proving that their athletic program is more than just Coach K, as they are 6-2 on the year. It was a crushing loss for head coach Frank Beamer and the Hokies, who fall to 6-2.

We now move onto the game of the day, which took place in the SEC, where #5 Missouri took on #21 South Carolina. The Tigers led 17-0 going into the 4th quarter, aided by QB Maty Mauk, who was making his 2nd start since regular QB James Franklin was lost for the season with a separated shoulder, throwing a 96 yard touchdown pass to WR L'Damian Washington  in the 2nd quarter. It look like Mizzou had the game one, but the Gamecocks battled back, led by WR Bruce Ellington, who had 10 REC for 136 Yards and 2 Touchdowns on the night, to tie the game at 17 and force Overtime. In OT, Missouri would strike first on a 1 yard touchdown run by running back Marcus Murphy, but USC would tie it on a pass to Ellington from QB Connor Shaw to tie the game and force a 2nd overtime. In the 2nd OT, the Gamecocks would take the lead on a 40 yard field goal by Elliot Fry. Mizzou would have a chance to tie the game and send in to a 3rd OT with Andrew Baggett attempting a chip shot 24 yard field goal. It seemed like a chip shot, but Baggett's kick hit off of the left crossbar and USC pulled of the stunning upset, 27-24. The miss was not all Baggett's fault, as the laces on the ball were in instead of out, which made the kick more difficult. But, nonetheless, Mizzou lost and their dreams for a National Title are crushed.

The last game that I will go into detail about also took place in the Pac 12, as #6 Stanford visited #25 Oregon State. The Cardinal prevailed, 20-12, led by their defense and running back Tyler Gaffney, who had 145 yard rushing and 3 touchdowns.

In other news, #1 Alabama rolled over Tennessee, 45-10, #2 Florida State rolled over NC State, 49-17, #4 Ohio State embarrassed Penn State, 63-14, #8 Baylor was impressive yet again, destroying Kansas, 59-14, #9 Clemson defeated Maryland, 40-27, #11 Auburn pounded Florida Atlantic, 45-10, #13 LSU pounded Furman, 48-16, Johnny Football and #16 Texas A&M pounded Vanderbilt, 56-24#17 Fresno State escaped San Diego State, 35-28 in Overtime, #18 Northern Illinois pounded Eastern Michigan, 59-10, #19 Oklahoma State destroyed Iowa State, 58-27, #20 Louisville destroyed South Florida, 34-3, and #23 UCF pounded UCONN, 62-17.

That is it for Week 9. Thanks for reading.

World Series Games 1-3 Recaps

Hey, sorry I am so late. I have been busy, or lazy, and did not write recaps for games 1 or 2 of the 2013 World Series. So lets get started.

In Game 1, the Red Sox rode Mike Napoli's bases clearing 1st inning double and John Lester's arm to an easy 8-1 win. The turning point of the game came in the Bottom of the 1st, when David Ortiz hit a ground ball to 2nd Baseman Matt Carpenter, who flipped to Shortstop Pete Kozma for the force out. Or so we thought it was a force out. So it turns out, Kozma never had possession of the ball. The umpires got together and correctly overruled the call, which set up Napoli's 3 run double. A play that summed up the night for St. Louis happened in the Bottom of the 2nd inning, when Stephan Drew hit a pop up to Catcher Yadier Molina. The problem was, Molina and Pitcher Adam Wainwright could not decide on who would catch the ball, and it dropped between them. It was all Sox from there as they would score 5 more runs in the game to win 8-1. John Lester was fantastic, pitching 7 and 2/3 shutout innings for the win. Carlos Beltran would suffer a rib injury, but X-Rays came back negative and he is back in the Cardinal lineup. Wainwright would leave the game being roughed up for 5 runs(3 earned) in 5 innings. The Cardinals only run came on a Matt Holiday solo homerun in the Top of the 9th, but it was meaningless. Game 1 belonged to Boston.

Game 2 was a different story. St. Louis struck 1st in the Top of the 4th inning, with Matt Holiday scoring on a Yadier Molina groundout. However, the Sox would answer in the Bottom of the 6th on a 2 run homer by David Ortiz. The Cards would regain the lead in the next half-inning on a odd play. With the Bases Loaded and 1 out, Matt Carpenter hit a fly ball to Left. The throw by Johnny Gomez bounced past Catcher Jarred Saltalamacchia, allowing the tying run to score. Relief Pitcher Craig Brreslow than threw to 3rd, but the ball sailed over Stephan Drew, who was covering the base, and allowed the go ahead run to score. The Cards would add an insurance run on a Carlos Beltran single and would hang on to win 4-2. Both John Lackey for Boston and Michael Wacha for St. Louis were fantastic, but it was the rookie Wacha, who continued his unbelievable postseason, who's team would come out on top.
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Game 3 was a wild one. The Cards struck first on a Holliday single in the Bottom of the 1st, and would add another run in the inning on a Molina single. The Cards would threaten to break the game open in the Bottom of the 4th when the loaded the bases with 0 outs. But Boston starter Jake Peavy would then strikeout Pete Kozma and get pitcher Joe Kelly and Matt Carpenter on popups to get out of a huge jam. The Sox would cut the lead in half in the Top of the 5th when Mike Carp grounded into a fielders choice, and would tie the game in the 6th on a single by Daniel Nava. The Cards would regain the lead in the Bottom of the 7th on a Matt Holliday 2 run double. The Sox would fight back, however. In the next half inning, they would cut the lead in half on a fielder's choice by Nava, than tie the game on a single by rookie Xander Bogaerts off of Cards Closer Trevor Rosenthal that came up on Kozma, who would not have had a play on it anyway. Ok, now lets get to the part that will be talked about for years to come. With 1 Out, Molina singled. John Farrell than called on lights out closer Koji Uehera to pitch to the recently returned Allen Craig. Craig would double, and the Cards had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Now for the play that will forever go down in World Series lore. After John Farrel made what I think was a dumb move pitching to John Jay when he had an open base, with the weak hitting Kozma on deck, Jay hit a ground ball to 2nd. Dustin Pedroia, who made a great play to get the out at home. Saltalamacchia than made the curious choice of throwing to 3rd to try to get Craig, and the ball sailed past 3rd Baseman will Middlebrooks. Craig would than trip over Middlebrooks, who was on the ground. Johnny Gomes would throw home to get Craig, and the throw beat him easily. However, obstruction was called, so therefore Craig was ruled safe, and the Cards got a big 5-4 win. It was a call that is controversial among Red Sox fans, but was absolutely correct. When a runner trips over a fielder, no matter what the fielders intent, it is obstruction. Shoutout to 3rd Base umpire Jim Joyce for getting it right.


Overall, it has been a great first 3 games, and I cannot wait to see the rest. Thanks for reading.

NFL Week 8 Picks

Here are my picks for Week 8 of the 2013 NFL Season. Not a good slate of matchups for this week at all. Lets get into it.

Cowboys(4-3) at Lions(4-3)
1 of the 2 decent matchups for this week, the Cowboys and Lions both have decent teams, but I am going to go with Detroit in this one because they are at home and of their offense.

Prediction: Lions 34, Cowboys 24

 

Browns(3-4) at Chiefs(7-0)

Easy one. Chiefs will be too much for Cleveland.

 

Prediction: Chiefs 34, Browns 14

 

 

Dolphins(3-3) at Patriots(5-2)

Another no brainer. Tom Brady and co will come out firing after last week's madness in New York.

Prediction: Pats 35, Dolphins 14

                                                           Bills(3-4) at Saints(5-1)
Are you noticing a pattern here? Drew Brees will tear apart the Bill secondary and the Saints will roll.
Prediction: Saints 41, Bills 20

Giants(1-6) at Eagles(3-4)
A rap team vs. a not very good team. The crap team wins.

Prediction: Eagles 37, Giants 17

49ers(5-2) at Jaguars(0-7)
Jags still suck. The end.

Jets(4-3) at Bengals(5-2)
The other decent matchup thus week. It will be a close game, but I think the Bengals defense at the fact that they are at home gives them the edge.

Steelers(2-4) at Raiders(2-4)
Who the hell cares?

Prediction: Steelers 24, Raiders 14

Redskins(2-4) at Broncos(6-1)
Denver will be pissed off after last weeks lost to the Colts. Payton Manning and company will roll.

Prediction: Broncos 45, Redskins 21

Falcons(2-4) at Cardinals(3-4)
I think the Falcons still are talented and will win this one over the less talented Cards.

Prediction: Falcons 38, Cardinals 24

Packers(4-2) at Vikings(1-5)
Aaron Rodgers and the Pack will roll in this one.

Prediction: Packers 45, Vikings 17

Seahawks(6-1) at Rams(3-4)
The Rams will get smacked after losing QB Sam Bradford to a torn ACL. The Seahawks being 6-1 does not help either.

Prediction: Seahawks 37, Rams 13

Well, that's it. Boring post, boring week of Football. Thanks for reading.