Bulldog boys basketball loses at Perry

The Brownsburg boys basketball team kept it close for about two and a half quarters, but could not muster anything towards the end of the game to lose 60-44 to Perry Meridian. The Dogs shot 31 percent from the field and were 0-for-11 from three point land. Torrey Nibbs led the Dogs with 16 points and Kurtis Runyon added 11. The Bulldogs next game is in the Hendricks County Tourney on Friday January 8th. They will play the winner of the Danville/Cascade game from Tuesday the 5th.

Lady Bulldogs win LC Invitational

The Brownsburg girls basketball team played two solid games against teams they have never played before in winning the Lawrence Central Invitational. In the first game, the Dogs came out quickly against Beech Grove with a 17-7 lead after one quarter. BBurg then put the Hornets away with a 15-5 fourth quarter with the final score of 53-32. Freshman Stephanie Mavunga led the Dogs with 16 points. Junior Lindsey Dall and senior Leah Freestone each had 10. In the second game, the lady Dogs beat Triton Central going into the half and coming out of the half. Over the second and third quarters, BBurg had a 28-10 advantage. The final score was 50-29. Junior Ryne Carr led the Dogs with 13 points while Mavunga chipped in with 12 points of her own. The Dogs play on Saturday at home against University High School. Varsity game time is 2:30. Brownsburg is a 22-point favorite according to the Sagarin Ratings.

The Brownsburg boys team travels to Perry Meridian tonight for a 7:30 game. The Dogs are 6-point dogs in this game.

Once again: great defense + no offense = loss

The Redskins held Dallas to 17 points in a great defensive effort, however, the offense failed to score a point in a 17-0 defeat to the hated Cowboys. It all comes down to the offensive line. The line has been banged up, as the team started it's 11th different line combination in the 15 games this season. Also, our running backs have been hurt. Combine those and the running backs ran for 30 yards on 14 carries. When you can't run the ball, the defense knows your going to pass. Jason Campbell had no time to throw the ball as he threw mostly short passes, going 24 of 39 for 199 yards and 1 INT. The interception was not his fault as the ball was tipped. Anyways, 5.1 yards per pass attempt is not going to win ball games for the Skins. LaRon Landry had 11 total tackles to lead the defense. London Fletcher chipped in with 8 tackles and a pass defensed. The season mercifully ends next Sunday against the Chargers.

The Brownsburg basketball teams start play this week after the Christmas break. The girls team travels to Lawrence Central on Tuesday to play in the LC invitational. The Dogs play Beech Grove in game one and will play either Triton Central or LC in the night game. BBurg is a 10 point favorite against Beech Grove. The boys team travels to Perry Meridian on Wednesday as 5 point underdogs.

Brownsburg girls basketball stats

I had some time over the past week to go over some stats for the BBurg girls basketball team. Here is what I found:

Average possessions per game - 52

Offensive points per 100 possessions - 94.9

Defensive points per 100 possessions - 83.7

Best offensive game - Harrison - 56 points in 45 possessions

Best Defensive game - Danville - 22 points in 52 possessions

Worst offensive game - Ben Davis - 30 points in 52 possessions

Worst defensive game - Decatur Central - 69 points in 47 possessions

Individual Leaders in adjusted shooting percentage:

Leah Freestone - 52.4
Katie Reinhart - 50.8
Ryne Carr - 49.2
Stephanie Mavunga - 47.6
Erika Lesch - 44.6

The team percentage is 42.5.

Braves trade a starter, just not the one we were expecting

The Braves traded Javier Vasquez to the Yankees along with Boone Logan for Melky Cabrera, Mike Dunn, and Arodys Vizcaino. Most of the blogosphere is saying that the Yankees got the best deal and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that it is the worst move in Atlanta or Georgia sports all year. I will have to disagree. Sure, we lose our number one starter, but we are selling high as Vasquez had his best year ever in 2009, beating his previous best ERA by half a run. He also had career highs or near-career highs in K/9, BB/9 , HR/9, BAA, and WHIP. What are the chances of him having that same year at the age of 34? He only has a few seasons left in his career, why not trade him and fill the other open spots on the roster? The other pitcher in the trade, Boone Logan, threw 17 innings for the Braves with an ERA over 5. Not a big loss there.

In return, the Braves got:

Melky Cabrera - A league average hitter, slightly below average fielder good for 2 wins above a replacement player. But, he will be better the Garrett Anderson in left field. Anderson was good for one win BELOW replacement level last year. So we gain 3 wins in left field from this spot alone.

Mike Dunn -Basically the same as Logan. Not much difference here.

Arodys Vizcaino - The key player in this deal. As an 18 year old playing in a league that averages 21 years old, he struck out 11 batters per 9 IP. He still has some control issues, but he will only be 19 this year and should start the season at Rome or possibly Myrtle Beach. He was the third ranked prospect in the Yankee organization and is listed as having the best curve ball in the Yankee farm system. He was projected as the number four starter for the 2013 Yankees according to Baseball America.

The other part of this deal is that we now have $8 million to spend elsewhere (Vasquez made $11 million, Cabrera will get around $3 million), possibly getting a first baseman like say........Adam LaRoche!

I'm embarrassed to be a Redskins fan

That was a poor showing on Monday Night Football. When the game starts like that, there is no way that a team can win. The offense didn't show up (again), but the surprising thing was how ineffective the defense was in a 45-12 toruncing by the Giants. Here is the first half drive chart:

Giants - 16 plays, 9 minutes - TD (7-0)
Skins - 3 plays, 1 minute - Punt
Giants - 11 plays, 5 minutes - TD (14-0)
Skins - 3 plays, 1 minute - Punt
Giants - 9 plays, 5 minutes - FG (17-0)
Skins - 3 plays, 1 minute - Punt (Do you notice a trend here???)
Giants - 4 plays, 2 minutes - TD (24-0) (There is a trend here also!!!!)
Skins - 6 plays, 2 minutes - Punt (hey, at least they got a first down this drive!)
Giants - 3 plays, 1 minute - Punt (WHOA! A stop!)
Skins - 6 plays, 1 minute - INT on a fake FG (Yes, it was just as ugly as it sounds...)

So, the totals for the first half:

Giants - 43 plays, 23 minutes, 24 points
Skins - 21 plays, 7 minutes, 0 points

Jason Campbell was sacked 5 times and fumbled the ball once. The sacks aren't all his fault, as the offensive line has started 10 different combinations in 14 games. The one time the QB got enough time to throw, Todd Collins was the QB and he completed a 46-yard pass to Santana Moss.

Our kicking woes also continued when Graham Gano had an extra point blocked. Our former kicker, Shaun Suisham, was signed by the Cowboys and will make his Dallas debut against the Skins on Sunday Night.

The only saving grace in all of this is that there are 104 days until opening day of baseball. The Braves are rumored to be interested in Marlins 2B Dan Uggla, but moving him to left field. Martin Prado is penciled in as the starter at 2B and he deserves a chance at that spot after his brilliant season in 2009. Another rumor has the Braves trading Derek Lowe to the Yankees. Since the Yankees are one of the few teams that can take on the rest of his $45 million dollar contract, that makes sense.

Redskins play on MNF, Braves sign Thurston

The Redskins host NFC East rival New York tonight on Monday Night Football. They hope to play the spoiler role and virtually eliminate the Giants from playoff contention. Jason Campbell will see if he can keep his streak going as he has played very well over the past month. What better way to show the nation that you can still throw the ball even if you don't have too much time to throw it. The Skins are a 3 point underdog with an over/under of 44.

The Atlanta Braves signed former Cardinal Joe Thurston to a split contract that includes a spring training invite. Thurston batted .225 with an OPS+ of 72 and a -3.7 runs per year fielding. I'm not sure what this signing does for the team as Thurston is a below average hitter and fielder and will be 30 years old. Unless we need a warm body to fill a slot at Gwinnett, I am not impressed with this signing.

Brownsburg's girls team wins, the boys offense sputters again

The Brownsburg boys basketball team had another rough outing on Saturday night, losing to Ben Davis 54-41. The Dogs kept it close in the first half, only down 21-19 at the break. However, BD had an 11-0 run to start the second half as part of a 22-9 third quarter. BBurg could not get any closer. The Dogs shot 32 percent from the floor, which is an improvement over the 24 percent they shot on Friday, but that will not be enough to win games with the schedule that we play. The Dogs have 11 days off before going to Perry Meridian on December 30th. Hopefully, the extended break will give them a fresh start to the second half of the season.

The Brownsburg girls team defeated a injury-depleted Noblesville squad Saturday afternoon 44-28. The Millers only dressed 7 players for the varsity game, but two players were injured during the game, leaving them with 5 healthy bodies. The Millers gave a valiant effort, but fatigue and a smothering Bulldog defense stepped in leading to a 17-3 Dogs advantage in the 4th quarter. Freshman Stephanie Mavunga led the scoring with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Leah Freestone kept the Dogs in the game early and ended up with 11 points. Junior Lindsey Dall scored 10 points, 6 rebounds, and was 4 of 5 from the field. The Bulldogs shot 47 percent from the floor, but was 12 of 19 in two point shots for a 63 percent clip. The Bulldogs get a week of rest before traveling to Lawrence Central for the LC Invitational on December 28th. BBurg plays Beech Grove in game one, followed by Triton Central and LC in game two.

Avon crushes Brownsburg

Brownsburg's boys basketball team traveled to Avon last night, but did not have a good game at all. They held close for a quarter as it was 10-8, but after that it was all Avon. It was 23-8 at one point in the second quarter, 39-18 in the middle of the third quarter, and a final score of 57-34. The Dogs had to have shot less that 30 percent from the floor. Five of our 12 field goals were three-pointers led by Levi Roach's three treys and 11 points. BBurg hopes to get back on track on Saturday night as they host Ben Davis. It might be a chore, the newly updated Sagarin ratings show the Dogs as a 9 point underdog.

The girls basketball team hosts Noblesville at 130p today. The Dogs are a 5 point favorite according to Sagarin.

Big conference games this weekend

The Brownsburg basketball teams have some big conference showdowns this weekend. On Friday night, the boys team travels to rival Avon. The Orioles are a 7 point favorite and are 1-0 in HCC play. Brownsburg is 0-2 in the HCC. The series has been pretty one-sided over the last few years as BBurg has won the last 4 games. However, last year's game was only a 43-41 victory. On Saturday, the Dogs host Ben Davis. Brownsburg has won the last two against the Giants, but lost the previous three games before those. Ben Davis is a slight one-point favorite in that game.

The girls basketball team hosts Noblesville on Saturday afternoon. This series has also been close over the last few years with BBurg holding a 3-2 advantage. Last year, the Millers beat a 4-17 BBurg team 68-50. The Dogs are 2-0 in HCC play and tied with Westfield at the top of the standings. Noblesville is 1-2 in the conference. BBurg is a 7 point favorite.

The Washington Redskins finally did what they needed to do in firing VP of football operations Vinny Cerrato and replacing him with a newly annointed GM position filled by Bruce Allen. Allen is the son of Redskins HOF coach George Allen. Owner Dan Snyder said that it was "time for a change" Now, if we could only get rid of the owner somehow.....

Brownsburg's girls team beats a depleted Plainfield squad

The Brownsburg girls basketball team beat Plainfield last night 51-39. Plainfield was without two of their better players, Kasey Johnson and Julia Henson, and went only 7 deep for the game. Brownsburg took a 5 point lead after one quarter and extended the lead to 10 at the half. The Dogs exploited Plainfield's depth in the 4th quarter using a few steals and fast break buckets to take a 49-28 lead with 5 minutes left. However, the Quakers came roaring back, hitting three 3-point baskets and another hoop to cut the lead to 10 with 2 minutes left. They could not get it closer than that as BBurg ran out the clock. Erica Lesch led the Dogs with 14 points and Stephanie Mavunga scored 12, Ryne Carr had 9. Plainfield was led by a trio of players with 10 points each. BBurg hosts Noblesville on Saturday afternoon at 130p.

Skins win!

The Washington Redskins played a solid day of football on Sunday afternoon and defeated the Oakland Raiders 34-13. The game was close in the middle of the third quarter, the Skins led 17-13, before the Raiders fell apart. Oakland had the ball on the Skins 34 yard-line with backup QB JaMarcus Russell at the helm. In a 5 play span, the Raiders went sack, penalty, penalty, sack, completed pass overturned on review. This turned a possible field goal into a punt. The Redskins took possession and made it 24-13 and basically put the game away. Washington QB Jason Campbell had a decent game, throwing for 222 yards and 2 TDs with no picks. Fred Davis caught both TD passes from Campbell. RB Quinton Ganther had two rushing TDs and 93 total yards. The defense had 8 sacks, led by rookie Brian Orapko's four sacks. The Skins have a tough remaining schedule as they face the Giants, Cowboys, and Chargers. Hopefully, they can play spoiler in the NFC East.

The Atlanta Braves have made some moves to tighten up their roster. They traded Rafael Soriano to the Rays for right-hander Jesse Chavez. Chavez had a 4.01 ERA in 67 innings over 73 games for the Pirates last year. He will give us a little more depth in the middle innings and help us against left-handed hitters as he has held them to a .227 average over his career. The Braves signed Matt Diaz to a one-year deal worth $2.55 million. I would think that he would get a chance to start in the outfield as he has played well over the past two years for Atlanta. The Braves have not offered contracts to Kelly Johnson, Ryan Church, Boone Logan, and Peter Moylan. The potential loss of Logan and Moylan underscores the need of getting Chavez, Billy Wagner, and Takashi Saito to fill out the bullpen.

Ball State's football team will have to wait until at least mid-January to find out if MiQuale Lewis and Madaris Grant will be granted an extra year of eligibility due to injury hardship. The paperwork has been filed with the MAC and the NCAA.

Dogs stay close, but get beat by the better team

The Brownsburg boys basketball team put forth a good effort against Pike on Saturday night, but came up short in the 4th quarter, losing 54-45. It looked like it was going to be a repeat of Friday night's drubbing by Zionsville as Pike took a 7-0 lead 90 seconds into the game. The Dogs calmed down and actually took a 19-8 lead at the 4:30 mark of the second quarter. Unfortunately, it would be their only lead of the game. Pike took a 26-21 lead into the half. The Red Devils came out on fire in the third quarter and stretched the lead to 39-28 with 2 minutes left in the third. Over the next 5 minutes, BBurg had a run of their own to cut the lead to 39-37 with 5 minutes left in the 4th. However, a 6-0 response by Pike made it 45-37 and a breakaway dunk by Pike phenom Marquis Teague put the game out of reach late in the game. Brownsburg was led by Torrey Nibbs' 17 points. Jacob Eldridge had 11 with Kurtis Runyon chipping in with 8. Teague led Pike and all scorers with 18 points on 3 field goals and 12-16 free throws. The Bulldogs travel to Avon on Friday and host Ben Davis on Saturday.

The BBurg girls basketball team had no problem with Harrison last night, winning easily 56-32. They had a 32-13 lead at the half and a 45-15 margin after 3 quarters. Erica Lesch had 12 points to lead the Bulldogs. She also hit 3 three-pointers. Ryne Carr had 9 points while Leah Freestone and Stephanie Mavunga scored 8 each. The Dogs travel to Plainfield on Wednesday and host Noblesville on Saturday afternoon.

The Washington Redskins backups, which is just about all they have healthy enough to play, will go to Oakland to face the Raiders at 4pm EST. The Redskins are a 1-point favorite and the over/under is 37. I think the Skins have a decided advantage as their defense can throttle the relatively weak offense of the Raiders. The Skins offense is bad, but the Raider defense is league average, so we may get to put a few points on the board. I feel like we can get a victory, which is good, because it may be out last one this year. The last three games are against Dallas, NY Giants, and San Diego.

RACE DAY!!!!!

Today was the Jingle Bell Run 5k. It was 27 degrees and sunny with very little wind. My official time was 29:09 , which isn't too bad considering the conditions. I went out a little too fast and that hurt me at the 3k mark. Here are my splits:

1k - 5:47
2k - 5:37
3k - 5:48
4k - 6:00
5k - 5:57

I finished 743rd out of 1,826 runners and 45th of 72 in my age group (M 30-34). My next race will be sometime in March and I hope to be better prepared and in shape than I was today.

The Brownsburg boys basketball team was over-matched last night against a strong Zionsville team. Zionsville is ranked 5th in the polls and 13th in the Sagarin ratings. The Dogs fell behind 45-27 at the half and it didn't get much better in the second half, leading to a 82-44 defeat. Zionsville shot 53% from the field and hit 14 three pointers. BBurg only shot 33% from the field. Jacob Eldridge led the Dogs with 13 points. It doesn't get any easier tonight as the Dogs host Pike. Pike is 8th in the polls and 7th in the Sagarin ratings.

The BBurg girls basketball team travels to Harrison tonight in what should be an easier game than what the boys have. According to the Sagarin ratings, BBurg is a 30 point favorite. Brownsburg is 5-3 while Harrison is 8-0, even though both teams have played opponents that are a combined 39-26. BBurg has not lost to Harrison since the 2003-04 season.

Bulldogs have strong third quarter, but the other three were weak

The Brownsburg girls basketball team got behind early and were in a 25-18 halftime deficit at Center Grove. Whatever was said by coach Amy Brauman in the locker room must have worked as the Dogs put up a 17-6 third quarter to take a 35-31 lead after three quarters. The problem with having a big quarter is the letdown that can follow, as was the case last night. The Bulldogs could only muster 2 points in the entire 4th quarter while surrendering 15 to the Trojans in a 46-37 loss. BBurg's leading scorer, freshman Stephanie Mavunga, was held scoreless on the night. The Dogs were led by Ryne Carr's 9 points and 8 points from Lindsey Dall. The ladies travel to Harrison on Saturday night. In the last 10 games against Harrison, the Dogs are 7-3, with those three losses by a combined total of 6 points. It is a series that we have dominated over the last few years. Even last year's 4-17 team beat Harrison by 15 points.

The Braves have designated Ryan Church for assignment as a result of Rafael Soriano accepting his arbitration. This will not be the last domino to fall after Soriano's surprising move.

The Redskins have released kicker Shaun Suisham after a recent run of crucial missed field goals. Suisham was 14-of-14 going in to the second half of the Cowboys game three weeks ago, but missed two in the second half of that game, a 7-6 loss. He also missed a 23-yarder that would have clinched a win against the Saints last Sunday. Graham Gano won the tryouts for the position and will kick for the Skins this week. Gano is fresh out of the UFL where he was 13-of-16 field goals and made all 20 extra points.

Drew Duffin was named Ball State football's MVP this season. Drew had 53 tackles, 6 TFL, 1 force fumble, and one fumble recovery this year. Duffin and Alex Knipp were honored for their contributions off the field. The top freshman awards were given to Eric Williams and Travis Freeman. Kyle Kuntz and Ian McGarvey won special teams awards. Brandon Crawford won an award for being an inspiration to his teammates. QB Tanner Justice won the BSU academic award.

Who is going to close for the Braves this year???

Last week, the Atlanta Braves signed Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito to one-year deals to firm up the bullpen after offering arbitration to Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano. I assume that the Braves expected both relievers to decline arbitration and become free agents. However, yesterday Soriano accepted arbitration and will be pitching for the Braves next year. That leaves us with two closers and a bunch of set-up men in a bullpen that will cost the team $25 million in 2010. I think there is something else going on behind the scenes, maybe a trade of Soriano, Derek Lowe, or Javier Vasquez to relieve some of the payroll problems that we are now in. The winter meetings are this week, so we will see.

The Redskins lost a thriller to the Saints 33-30 in OT. The Skins had a 7 point lead late in the 4th quarter when kicker Shaun Suisham missed a 23-yard field goal that would have given the Saints their first loss of the season. The Redskins are not a bad team, it's that they can't close games. In 5 games this year, the Skins have had the ball with 5 minutes or less left in the game and either ahead or down 3 points or less. They have lost all 5 of those games. The team could easily be 8-4 instead of 3-9. Next Sunday, the Redskins go to Oakland to play the Raiders. Oakland is coming off a big win against the Steelers, so they are playing well. The Skins are an early 1-point favorite with the over/under of 37. It looks to be a close, low-scoring game between two teams that are fighting for pride only.

The Brownsburg girls basketball team travels to Center Grove tonight. According to the sagarin ratings, Center Grove is a 10-point favorite. Cg is 4-0, but their opponents have a record of 13-18 so far, so they haven't really beaten anybody. CG beat the Dogs 65-38 last year and have beaten BBurg the last 8 years by an average score of 65-45. BBurg has not beaten Center Grove since 2000-01. But, the Dogs are 5-2 for the first time since 2002, so it may be a closer game than the numbers show.

Brownsburg boys split, the girls win, so do the Chippewas, and the Skins look for an upset

The Brownsburg boys basketball team split their two games this weekend. On Friday, the Dogs lost to Fishers 59-45. The game was tied at the half, but BBurg could not get over the top. It was a lackluster effort in the third quarter (Fishers 18-10) and it continued in the 4th (Fishers 20-14). Jacob Eldridge led the Bulldogs with 17 points. On Saturday, the Dogs played county rival Plainfield and won 72-54. The Quakers had played a 2-OT game the night before, so the Dogs looked to run. The game was close early, but BBurg used a 36-21 run over the middle two quarters to assure the victory. Torrey Nibbs led the Dogs with 21 points as it was the first game this year where he was not in foul trouble. Three other Bulldogs were in double figures as Jacob Eldridge scored 16, Kurtis Runyon had 15, and Levi Roach scored 12. The Dogs travel to Zionsville on Friday and then host Pike on Saturday.

The Brownsburg girls basketball team cruised to a victory over Danville on Friday night, 49-34. Erica Lesch and Stefanie Mavunga led the team with 10 points each. They used a 24-15 second half to put the game away. The team travels to Center Grove on Tuesday and Harrison on Saturday. Neither game should be very close as Center Grove is a top 10 team according to the Sagarin Ratings and Harrison is in the bottom 10 of Class 4A.

Central Michigan won the MAC championship on Friday, beating Ohio 20-10. MAC player of the year Dan Lefevour threw for 255 yards and 2 TDs and ran for 51 yards. In the game, Lefevour broke the D1 combined touchdown record and later in the game threw a touchdown pass that broke Chad Pennington's MAC passing TD record. CMU dominated the entire night on both offense and defense. They went out to a 10-0 lead before Ohio used a trick play to cut the score to 10-7. The Chippewas fired back to score a TD to make the game 17-7 at the half. Each team kicked a figgie in the second half for the final score. The bowl projections show that CMU will go to the GMAC bowl, while Ohio could stay in Detroit and go to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl. Other MAC projections show Temple to the International Bowl, Bowling Green to the Humanitarian and Northern Illinois to the Eagle Bank bowl. The bowl selections will be announced this evening.

The 3-8 Redskins host the undefeated Saints at 1pm today. The Saints are coming off a big Monday night win over New England and the Skins are reeling from a tough loss to the Eagles. I think the Skins defense can hold the Saints to 28 points, which is 9 below their average. However, I don't think that we can score more than those 28 points to get the win. We have to run the ball to keep the Saints offense off of the field. We have been held to under 90 yards rushing in 6 of our 11 games. New Orleans is a 9 point favorite and the over under is 47. It will be 36 degrees and Sunny in Landover today, so the weather could be a factor for a dome team like the Saints.

MAC Championship, All-MAC team, and a weekend full of basketball

The MAC Championship game is tonight as Central Michigan takes on Ohio. CMU is a 13.5 point favorite with an o/u of 52.5. This game is just for bragging rights because both teams will definitely go to bowl games along with MAC cohorts Temple, Bowling Green, and Northern Illinois. Tonight's game starts at 8pm and is on one of the ESPN channels.

The 2009 All-MAC football team was announced yesterday. Three Ball State players were named to the second team. Running back MiQuale Lewis is a return member to the team although he was on the first team last year. OLB Robert Eddins makes his first appearance on the All-MAC team. Defensive End Brandon Crawford made his third straight showing on the team after being honored as a second team member last year and a third team member two years ago. CMUs Dan Lefevour was named player of the year. Temple had a trifecta of honorees as coach Al Golden received the coach of the year honor, running back Bernard Pierce was named freshman of the year, and DE Adrian Robinson was named defensive player of the year. CMU won the rest of the individual awards as Lefevour was named offensive player of the year (obviously) and kick returner Antonio Brown was named special teams player of the year.

Brownsburg's basketball teams both play tonight as the boys host Fishers and the girls travel to Danville. The girls game should be a blowout as the Dogs already defeated Danville 49-22 a few weeks ago. The boys game should be pretty good. BBurg has been defeated by a good Carmel team and has beaten a bad Decatur Central team. Fishers beat a decent HSE team and blew out Manual. Brownsburg is 2-1 against Fishers in the short time that Fishers has been a school.

Brownsburg comes back from 11 down to beat HSE

The Brownsburg girls basketball team found themselves behind by 11 points with 4 minutes left in the game, but used a full-court press to cause some turnovers and got some help from Hamilton Southeastern's lack of free throw shooting to take the game to overtime. In the overtime, the Dogs took a quick 4-point lead but could not hold it. HSE scored with 8 seconds left to take a 52-50 lead. Ryne Carr hit a three-pointer as time expired to give Brownsburg a 53-52 victory. Carr led the Dogs with 13 points. Leah Freestone scored 12 and Stephanie Mavunga scored 11 points with 8 rebounds. HSE was 7 for 17 at the line, including missing 6 in a row in the 4th quarter. BBurg goes to Danville on Friday night. They have already beaten Danville once this season by a score of 49-22. I wouldn't think that Friday's game would be any different.

A little bit of everything

The Brownsburg girls basketball team hosts Hamilton Southeastern tonight. The Dogs have only beaten HSE once in the last decade and that was in 2000-01 when Brownsburg was 21-4. They have been playing well and had 10 days without a game to rest up and heal. The Sagarin ratings predict that HSE will win by 3 points, so it should be a pretty good game. HSE would like a game in the 40s where BBurg would like to see it in the 50s or 60s.

The Atlanta Braves have reportedly signed Billy Wagner to a one-year contract for $7 million. Wagner is a type-A free agent, so we will have to give up a first round pick. However, since the Braves have offered arbitration to their type-A free agents Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano this could balance out the loss of the pick for signing Wagner. In fact, if both Gonzalez and Soriano leave we would be net positive on the first round picks. Since Chipper Jones is the only returning starter over 30, these draft picks could help build a strong team in a few years.

The MAC football championship game is on Friday night. Central Michigan and Ohio play at Ford Field. CMU is a 13 point favorite and having seen both teams play at Ball State, I think that is a fair line. CMU is the best team in the conference, although that doesn't necessarily mean that they win the conference championship game (see: BSU 2008 season).

Maybe it's time to get rid of Jason Campbell

The Redskins should have beaten the Eagles on Sunday, however they lost 27-24. QB Jason Campbell threw two interceptions just before the end of the first half that took a 14-10 Redskins lead and turned it into at 16-14 Eagles lead at the half. Those two interceptions turned the entire game around. The Skins were moving the ball and scoring, while keeping the Eagles offense in check with the exception of a blown coverage by Fred Smoot (again!!!). However, the Skins did fight back to take a 24-16 lead in the 4th quarter. But a touchdown and a 2-point conversion tied the game, followed by a 4-play Redskins drive and a punt, led to the Eagles kicking a field goal to win the game. It doesn't get any easier as the Skins play the Saints next week.

Bulldogs beat a weak Decatur squad

The Brownsburg boys basketball team ran out to a 13-3 lead early and never faced a single-digit deficit again, running away from Decatur Central 62-46. Jacob Eldridge led the Dogs with 18 points, 8 assists, and 4 three-pointers. Kurtis Runyon had another solid game with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Torrey Nibbs and Jordan Reagan chipped in with 7 points each. Nibbs was in foul trouble the entire game and did not get much playing time. The Dogs host Fishers next Friday night for their HCC opener.

It looks like the MAC will get 5 teams into bowl games this year. Central Michigan and Ohio will play in the MAC championship game on Friday. Temple, Bowling Green, and Northern Illinois are all bowl-eligible and should get a spot somewhere. There may be one bowl where two MAC teams will have to play each other, but we will see how that plays out next weekend when the bowl lineup is announced.

MAC football Friday and my 400th post!

Temple and Ohio play today for the MAC East division title and the right to play Central Michigan in the MAC Championship Game next Friday. Also, Bowling Green plays Toledo this afternoon. With a win, BGSU will have 7 wins and have a great chance to go to a bowl game.

The Brownsburg boys basketball team did not have enough manpower to keep up with Carmel on Wednesday night as they took a 62-42 loss. Torrey Nibbs led BBurg with 12 points. Kurtis Runyon had 10 points and 8 boards. The Bulldogs travel to Decatur Central on Saturday night.

The BSU defense bends, but doesn't break, the offense sputters, and special teams takes the Cardinals to victory

The Ball State Cardinals won a tough game at Western Michigan last night, 22-17. BSU got on the board early, taking a 13-0 lead thirty seconds into the second quarter. The next two quarters were not as kind to the Cards. After the touchdown, Ball State had 8 drives that totaled 22 plays for only 32 yards. They did get a field goal out of one of those drives due to an interception, but overall it was not a good day for the offense. The defense, however, played great when they needed to. BSU gave up 463 yards on offense, but caused 5 turnovers. NFL prospect Tim Hiller threw 4 interceptions, two to Sean Baker and one each to Travis Freeman and Jason Pinkston. Drew Duffin recovered a Hiller fumble in the first half.

The big story of the game was special teams. With the Cards down 17-16 with 7:57 left in the fourth quarter, punt returner Charlie Todd took a punt return 87 yards for the winning touchdown. Todd also had 8 tackles on the night to lead the team. Kicker Ian McGarvey got back on track, kicking field goals of 31, 45, and a career-best tying 48 yards. It was good to see the seniors go out with a win after a struggling season. However, most of this team returns next year, and if they stay healthy they could be a force in the MAC.

The MAC bowl picture looks a little funny. With 5 teams having a strong possibility to get to a bowl game, you would think that the conference would be happy. However, depending on which conferences will not have enough teams to fill their spots and all of the contingency contracts, the MAC could have 4 teams that would play each other in bowl games. The GMAC bowl and the Motor City Bowl may have MAC rematches, unless a UCLA or a Notre Dame would take one of those spots. Of course, this is all assuming that Bowling Green beats Toledo and gets to 7 wins. Either way, there will be at least one bowl game that will have two MAC teams.

The end of football season

Thankfully, tonight is the final football game for the Ball State Cardinals as they travel to Western Michigan. The Cardinals bring their 1-10 record to Kalamazoo to finish what has been a tough season, especially after going 12-2 last year. But there is hope. 2/3 of the starting lineup are freshmen and sophomores, so we may just be rebuilding. Anyways, BSU is a 10-point underdog with an over/under of 51 1/2. Tonight's game is at 7pm on ESPN2.

Since the Redskins are 2-7, tonight's Ball State game will mark the end of the football season for me. Boys basketball starts tomorrow as Brownsburg hosts Carmel. The girls team is 3-2 and ranked 22nd in the state, according to the newly published Sagarin Ratings. That may be a little high for them, but they are a good team, not a great team.

I told you so!

As talked about in this column yesterday:

Cowboys offense was exposed in Green Bay last week and it was no better against the Redskins on Sunday.

Redskins defense was good and they kept their end of the deal yesterday.

The 11 point betting line was too much to give in this game.

The Redskins offense suuuuuuuuucccccckkkkkksssss!


The Skins lost to the Cowboys 7-6. We can't just kick field goals all day. I know that Suisham hadn't missed a field goal all year until Sunday, but you know that he can't kick every one right down the middle all of the time. Missing the 50-yarder I can understand, but missing the 39-yard attempt just before the end of the half really turned the game around. The defense held the Cowboys to 305 yards and 7 points. You should be able to win the game with those numbers. It's just another dissappointing season for the Redskins....


The Ball State football team plays it's final game of the year on Tuesday night at Western Michigan. The Cards are a 10-point underdog.

Huge win for Brownsburg

The Brownsburg girls basketball team defeated 8th ranked Plainfield to win the Hendricks County Tourney last night, 59-52. The coaching strategy by Coach Amy Brauman was one of the keys to victory. The Dogs ran a box-and-one defense on Plainfield's leading scorer Julia Henson and held her scoreless. Ryne Carr and Allison DeVaney defended Henson and kept her in check. Henson did not play in the 4th quarter. Also, The Bulldogs started 4 guards to nullify the full court press of Plainfield and it really seemed to work. Junior Morgan Miller ran the point flawlessly all night. She also hit a huge three-pointer in the 4th quarter that put the game out of reach. Freshman Stephanie Mavunga led the team with 14 points while Miller had 12. The Bulldogs won the game from the foul line in the 4th quarter. Coming into the game, the Bulldogs were shooting 37% from the line. On Saturday, they were 12 of 16 in the fourth quarter and 15 for 23 in the game. Even though, the Dogs are 17-30 over the last three seasons, they do have 2 county tourneys to their name.

In MAC football, Ohio beat Northern Illinois 38-31 in a game that came down to the last few minutes. NIU was down 31-28 and had the ball with 2 minutes left, but QB Chandler Harnisch threw a pick-6 and Ohio went on to victory. Next week, Ohio plays Temple for the MAC East title. The winner of that game will play Central Michigan in the MAC Championship Game on December 4th.

The Redskins play the Cowboys today at 1pm. The game is at Dallas and the Cowboys are a 11-point favorite. I think that may be too many points. The Dallas offense was exposed last weekend against Green Bay and I think the Redskins D may do more of the same. The problem with the Redskins, of course, is the offense. Will we get the O that put up 27 points against the Broncos or the offense that couldn't score more than 17 points in the 8 games before the Denver game? A win would keep us two games out of the division lead with three division games remaining. GO SKINS!!!!

MAC Football quarter-final game today

The Northern Illinois/Ohio game today will serve as a quarter-final match for the conference title. The winner of this game plays for the division title next week, then the division winners will play on December 4th in the MAC championship. In today's game Ohio is a 1-point favorite, so it should be a pretty good game. Game time is 2pm.

There is only one other MAC game today as Kent State tries to keep it's bowl hopes alive when they travel to MAC-East leader Temple. Kent State is 5-5, so a victory here would help their bowl chances. They host Buffalo next week. Six wins does not assure a bowl game, but 7 wins should get a game somewhere in December.

Browsnburg's girls basketball team cruised to a 60-42 victory over Cascade in the Hendricks County semi-finals last night. Freshman Stephanie Mavunga scored 18 points while Lindsey Dall had 12 and Ryne Carr scored 10. The Dogs will play Plainfield tonight. Plainfield beat Avon 49-36 in the other semi-final match. Brownsburg has lost their last 6 games against Plainfield and 8 of their last 9. The Dogs have not beat the Quakers since Dec 15th, 2004.

Many sports to talk about

The Ball State Cardinals got thrashed by Central Michigan on Wednesday night, 35-3. The result was expected as CMU is a really good football team and BSU is not quite there yet. The big play for CMU was at the end of the second quarter when Antonio Brown caught a pass from Dan Lefevour and streaked down the sideline for a 82-yard touchdown to make the game 21-3. The Cards play their final game next Tuesday at Western Michigan on the ESPN family of networks.

Drew Storen finished the regular season of the Arizona Fall League by getting his 4th save of the season. He gave up 2 hits, but struck out two batters and did not allow a run. He finished the season 2-0 with 4 saves and a 0.66 ERA. He led the league in ERA and saves and was second in games finished. He may still be a year away from the bigs, but he certainly showed that he can play with the best prospects in the league.

The Browsnburg girls basketball team faces Cascade tonight in the semi-finals of the Hendricks County tourney. The Dogs have not played the Cadets since 2003, but I think we should not have a problem defeating them and moving to the finals. Plainfield and Avon play in the other semi-final, a game that Plainfield should win handily. Plainfield is defintely the class of the field and I don't think that BBurg could even give them a game. We will see....

Things are a lot different this year

Last year for Ball State's senior night, the Cardinals were 11-0 and playing Western Michigan in front of a full house of 23,000 fans with a chance to win the MAC West title. This year, the Cards are 1-9 and may have 5,000 fans show up for the game on a cold and rainy night in Muncie. The game is against Central Michigan and is on TV at 8pm on ESPN2.

In that same vein, the Brownsburg girls basketball team lost to Danville last year 43-36. It was the first time that they had lost to Danville in at least 10 years. This year, they took it to them early, jumping out to a 15-1 lead after one quarter and crusing to a 49-22 victory in the first round of the Hendricks County tourney. Ryne Carr and Stephanie Mavunga each had 10 points to lead the team. Erika Lesch chipped in with 8 points including two three pointers. The Dogs will face Cascade in the semi-finals on Friday night.

BSU's 2010 schedule has some highs and lows

Ball State's football opponents for 2010 have been released, but before we talk about that there are still some games left in the 2009 season. BSU hosts Central Michigan tomorrow night at 6pm. The game will be televised on ESPN2. The Cardinals are a 17 point underdog against a very good 8-2 Chippewas team. The only weaknesses in CMU are on the passing side. They are 6th in the MAC in passing offense, if you can call that a weakness. The CMU pass defense in ranked 10th in the conference. Of course, it's going to be hard to exploit that when BSU's own passing offense is 12th in the conference. However, I will be at the game in the cold and rain having a much different feeling than the final home game last year when we were going for a MAC West title and a 12-0 season.

The 2010 schedule will open on Thursday September 2 at home against Southeast Missouri State. The Cards will host Liberty on September 11th. These two teams are both Division 1-AA schools. Now that is the "easy" part of the schedule. The next two Saturdays BSU travels to Big 10 opponents Purdue on the 18th and Iowa on the 25th. If Purdue has the same team as this year, that could be a decent game for a while. However, the Iowa game could get ugly.

Redskins start off second half of season with a bang

The Redskins used a great defense, minus two blown coverages, and a solid offense that had no turnovers to beat the reeling Broncos, 27-17. Ladell Betts ran for 114 yards and a touchdown filling in for the injured Clinton Portis. Jason Campbell was 17 of 26 for 193 yards and a touchdown. Punter Hunter Smith got his second touchdown of the year, this time he threw a pass to Brad Sellers out of the field goal formation. He may be the only punter to run and throw for a touchdown this season. If you take away the two blown coverages for touchdowns in the first half, the Skins defense only gave up 70 yards in the air. Of course, some of that can be contirbuted to Kyle Orton not playing in the second half due to injury. However, the defense played great in the second half and the Redskins offense actually scored more than 17 points in a game for the first time this year. The Skins are two games out of the wild card race and three games out of the division. The next two games are division games against Dallas and Philly, so if they win these two games, they may be back in business.

Drew Storen pitched on Thursday and Saturday in the Arizona Fall League. On Thursday, he walked a batter, but was otherwise spotless as he threw an inning of work. On Saturday, he threw two innings and allowed three hits and a walk while striking out two. He did not allow a run in either outing and recorded a save on Saturday. His ERA is 0.71 and ranks 3rd in the league. He is tied for the leagues lead in saves and is second in games finished.

The Dogs never had a chance

The Brownsburg girls basketball team hosted defending champ Ben Davis last night and took a 3-2 lead very early in the game. Of course, it was all Ben Davis from that point on as BD scored 10 straight points using their full-court press and ferocious man-to-man defense. The Giants led 18-5 after one quarter. The score was 30-16 at the half. Ben Davis put their starters back in to start the second half and had an 18-2 run to start the third quarter to put the game away. The Giants won the game 61-30. Ryne Carr led the Bulldogs with 8 points, including two three pointers. The Giants were led by Bria Goss with 19 points. Jordan Huber chipped in with 10 points and Dee Dee Williams had 8. The Bulldogs play Danville in the county tourney on Tuesday at 745pm.

The Redskins host Denver this afternoon at 1pm. The Skins are a 3 point underdog and the over/under is 36. Clinton Portis is out for Washington and backup Ladell Betts is questionable with a sprained ankle. Rock Cartwright may end up getting a lot of carries. The game should be a defensive struggle and the team that make the fewest mistakes and creates some opportunities will have a good chance of winning.

MAC Bowl Picture

There are only 3 guaranteed MAC bowl spots, but most teams with 7 win get a game, so here are the 6 teams that have a chance for 7 wins:

IN

Temple (8 wins) - Plays Kent State next week and a possible MAC East championship game with Ohio the week after that.

Central Michigan (8 wins) - At Ball State next Wednesday, then hosts Northern Illinois the next week in a game that could decide the MAC West.

PROBABLY IN

Ohio (7 wins) - Controls it's own destiny for the MAC East title. Plays Northern Illinois next week, then at Temple.

Northern Illinois (7 wins) - Controls it's destiny for the MAC West title. Goes to Ohio next week, then travels to Central Michigan.

SOME WORK TO DO

Bowling Green (5 wins) - Hosts Akron next week then hosts Toledo the week after. Needs to win both games to get to 7 wins.

Kent State (5 wins) - Tough game at Temple next week followed by a home game against Buffalo. Also needs to win both games to get to 7 wins.


The big MAC game next week will be Northern Illinois at Ohio on Saturday November 21st. The winner still has a chance to play in the MAC Championship game. The loser will most likely make a bowl game, but the ultimate goal of a conference championship will have been denied.

Another close game, but also another loss

Ball State once again had a chance to win another football game, but could not convert on crucial possessions in the fourth quarter and lost to Northern Illinois 26-20. BSU took a 7-0 lead early on a 4 play, 79 yard drive all from the wildcat formation ending in a 5 yard TD run by Eric Williams. The next 9 minutes were a blur of husky red as NIU scored two touchdowns and BSU took a safety to end the first quarter with a 16-7 deficit. The Cardinals were able to muster two field goals by Ian McGarvey in the second quarter to go into halftime down 16-13. NIU came out firing in the third quarter, using the wind to their advantage for field position. The Huskies kicked a field goal and passed for a touchdown to make the score 26-13 at the end of three quarters. The fourth quarter was crazy as BSU had a 4th and 18 with 6 minutes left. Cards QB Tanner Justice was running for his life and threw the ball up for grabs and Dan Ifft came down with it to score the touchdown. BSU stopped NIU on their next possession and got the ball with 1:58 left and a chance to win the ball game. However, two incomplete passes, a 4-yard desperation scramble by Tanner Justice, and a short 4-yard pass on 4th and 6 were not enough to get the victory.

The BSU defense played well in the final three quarters only giving up 89 total yards, but the 16 points that NIU put up in that first quarter was too much of a deficit for the offense to overcome. The offense did not move the ball well from the middle of the 1st quarter to the middle of the 4th quarter. In those three quarters, the BSU offense ran 39 plays for 73 yards and scored 6 points.

We are a decent team as this is the 7th of our 9 losses that we have had the ball in the 4th quarter down 7 points or less. This is year 1 of 3 in our rebuilding phase. Give these guys a few more games and a few more reps and we will be bowling again befoer you know it.

BSU on ESPNU tonight

Ball State's football team travels to Northern Illinois for a MAC showdown on ESPNU tonight at 6pm. On paper, it looks like the Cardinals are going to get crushed. NIU is first or second in the MAC in offensive scoring, rushing offense, defensive scoring, total defense, and rushing defense. BSU is 4th in rushing offense, but 9th or worse in every other category. BSU is a 17-point underdog. If NIU wins this game, they will be 7-3 and still a contender in the MAC West.

The Washington Redskins are 4 point underdogs at home against Denver on Sunday. The injury bug has hit and that is not what this 2-6 team needs. Clinton Portis is "very, very doubtful" for Sunday's game, so Ladell Betts will probably get his first start in 3 years. Safety Chris Horton was put on IR due to toe surgery. Combine that with the loss of two offensive lineman (Samuels and Thomas) and our top receiver (Cooley), it doesn't look too good for the Skins for the rest of the year.

Bulldogs fight to the end, but come up short

The Brownsburg girls basketball team stayed within single-digits of a very tough Decatur Central team until the last two minutes of the game. DC led 32-29 at the half and 44-38 after three quarters before using a 25-15 4th quarter to win the game 69-53. The story of the game was at the free throw line. Brownsburg was 5 of 17 while DC was 24 of 33. Junior Erica Lesch led the Bulldogs with 17 points. Freshman Stefanie Mavunga scored 12 points in her first varsity outing, but was 0-6 from the line (amazingly, her brother had the same issues early in his career). Sophomore Lexus Murry led Decatur with 22 points as she was easily able to get around a BBurg defense that was just a step slow. Indiana State recruit Anna Munn was limited to 4 points in the first half as BBurg used a box-and-1 defense to slow her down. However, Munn was able to get free in the second half and ended up with 15 points. Brownsburg hosts defending champ Ben Davis on Saturday.

Ball State's football team travels to Northern Illinois tomorrow for a 6pm game that will be shown on ESPNU. BSU is a 17-point underdog and the over/under is 45. In other MAC games, Ohio beat Buffalo last night to give the Bobcats their 7th win of the season, which pretty much ensures that they will be able to go to a bowl game.

Is it basketball season yet? Why, yes it is!!!!

The girls high school basketball season starts tonight as the Brownsburg Bulldogs travel to Decatur Central. Brownsburg only lost one player from a team that was 4-17 last year. That could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how they all work together. I would think that the team could get to 10 wins this year, as they are in year 2 of a 3-year plan.

Ball State's football team goes on the road to Northern Illinois on Thursday night. The game is at 6pm on ESPNU. BSU is a 17-point underdog.

The Washington Redskins suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! I know most of the offensive line is hurt, but even the backups should be able to give QB Jason Campbell some time to throw. He was sacked 5 times and hit 8 more times. Of course, a decent running game would help, but after Clinton Portis suffered a concussion in the 2nd quarter we had to rely on Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright at running back. That won't win you many ball games. It doesn't get any easier as the Redskins next three games are against Denver, Dallas, and Philly.

The MAC bowl picture worsens

Western Michigan lost to Michigan State, which was expected, but Kent State losing to Akron put a dent in the Flashes chances at a bowl game. Kent State now has to beat MAC East leader Temple on the road and then beat Buffalo at home to get to 7 wins on the season. They have a bye next week so they do have some time to figure things out.

Drew Storen pitched in the Rising Stars game in the Arizona Fall League, but did not pitch well. He pitched in the bottom of the 8th and was given a 7-6 lead to protect. He gave up a lead-off single then threw a gopher ball to blow the save and the lead. He did retire the next three batters in order on a ground out and two strikeouts. His team failed to score in the 9th, so Storen was also saddled with the loss. It's only one game and he has been pitching very well as of late, so I hope he can put this behind him and keep on going.

The Redskins play the Falcons this afternoon and the Skins are 9 point underdogs. If they give up more than 17 points, they will not be able to win the game. We still have a chance at the division title, as we are three games behind with 9 games to play. Four of those 9 games are within the division.

MAC Bowl Picture

Since Ball State is 1-8 and not going to a bowl game, it would be a benefit to them to get as many MAC teams into a bowl game as possible. Here is a breakdown of the MAC teams that could possibly get to 7 wins and steal a bowl bid from a conference that does not have enough teams qualify.

Automatic Bids

Temple - Already 7-2, should win the MAC East and get one of the three automatic MAC bids.

Ohio - 6-3, and has games at Buffalo and Temple and hosts Northern Illinois. The game against Temple could be for the MAC East title if things fall their way.

Central Michigan - 7-2, with games against Toledo, NIU, and at Ball State. Should get to at least 9 wins and represent the MAC West.

Possible bids

Northern Illinois - 6-3, hosts Ball State and travels to Ohio and Central Michigan. Needs to win at least one game (BSU most likely) and steal one from Ohio or CMU to get to 8 wins and steal a bid from someone.

Kent State - 5-4, games at Akron (today) and Temple and hosts Buffalo. Needs to win 2 of the 3 games, and possibly all three.


Needs some magic

Bowling Green - 4-5, needs to win all remaining games. Travels to Miami, then hosts Akron and Toledo.

Western Michigan - 4-5, needs to beat Michigan State today, then has two easier games against the cellar-dwellers of the MAC West, BSU and EMU. A win against Michigan State could help their bowl resume.

Toledo - 4-5, on the road at CMU and Bowling Green, hosts Eastern Michigan. Needs to win all three, but road games at Central and BGSU are not easy at all.


So, it looks like we can get 4 bids, and possibly 5 if the chips fall right. From what I know about the bowl payouts, after expenses are paid, 1 share goes to the MAC office, 2 shares to the competing team, and 1 share to each of the other teams in the conference.



Drew Storen threw another scoreless inning in the Arizona Fall League on Thursday night. Storen has a 0.93 ERA in 9 2/3 innings and hitters are batting .275 against him. He is especially tough on right handed batters who have a .188 average. Drew is 4th in the league in ERA. Drew is also on the roster for the AFL All-Star game, the Rising Stars Showcase, tonight at 815p on the MLB Network.

What would this series have been like without Cliff Lee?

The Yankees beat the Phillies last night 7-3 to win the world series 4 games to 2. The only games the Phillies won were the games that Cliff Lee started. The rest of the staff just fell apart, including 2008 series MVP Cole Hamels basically giving up on the team. Hideki Matsui was the MVP and he was a good choice. Matsui had 6 RBI in game 6. Of course, he really shouldn't be batting because he doesn't play in the field, but that's another story for another time. There are 150 days until opening day 2010!

The Redskins travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons on Sunday afternoon. The Skins are 10 point underdogs and the O/U is 41. Once again, they are not expected to score more than 17 points, which is logical because they haven't scored more than 17 points in a game this season.

...and the season continues

The Phillies shot out of the gate early to take a 6-1 lead then held on for a 8-6 victory in game 5 of the world series. Chase Utley had 2 home runs, brining his series total to 5 and tying Reggie Jackson for the most home runs in a world series. Both starting pitchers struggled, but AJ Burnett only lasted two innings while giving up 6 earned runs. Cliff Lee lasted 7 innings for the Phillies before the Yankees put up 3 in the 8th, ending Lee's night. Ryan Madson pitched the 9th for the Phillies. With the score at 8-5, Madson gave up a double and a single to lead off the inning. Derek Jeter came to the plate as the tying run. This time, Jeter was not "All-World" as he grounded into a double play that also scored a run. After another single, Madson got Mark Teixeira to strike out to end the game. Game 6 is in New York on Wednesday night. Pedro Martinez will pitch for the Phillies and Andy Petitte will pitch for the Yankees.

Lance Lynn was named the Cardinals minor league pitcher of the year for 2009. In three different leagues, Lynn threw 148-2/3 innings and had a 2.85 ERA. He was 11-4 with 124 strikeouts. Lynn was named to the mid-season and post-season Texas League All-Star teams.

Drew Storen threw a clean inning for the first time in his last 5 outings in the Arizona Fall League. He struck out 2 batters. Storen has pitched 8-2/3 innings and struck out 9 batters. He has a 1.04 ERA and opponents are batting .278 against him.

Many poor pitching decisions for the Phillies

The Yankees are on the brink of a world series title after beating the Phillies last night 7-4. Joe Blanton got the start for the Phillies, rather than staff ace Cliff Lee on three days rest. Blanton gave up 4 runs in 6 innings. The game was tied 4-4 in the 9th when Philly manager Charlie Manuel brought in much-maligned closer Brad Lidge. Lidge got two outs quickly, but then it all started to unravel. Johnny Damon coaxed a single out of a 9-pitch at bat, then did a very instinctual thing by stealing second while the Phillies had the shift on for Mark Teixeira. With the third baseman playing close to second base, Damon decided to take third base also as Lidge was not covering the base. Texiera was hit by a pitch and then Alex Rodriguez doubled home Damon. Jorge Posada singled Teixeira and A-Rod home to give the Yankees the 7-4 win. Game 5 is tonight.

Drew Storen got a save on Saturday night for the Phoenix Desert Dogs of the AFL. He gave up 2 hits while striking out 1. He has a 1.17 ERA, but opponents are batting .303 against him. Storen is 1-0 on the season and has 2 saves in 7-2/3 innings.

BSU stays close, but can't get over the hump

Ball State lost to Ohio 20-17 yesterday in a game where the Cardinals once again had a lead with under 6 minutes left but could not hold on for the victory. Ball State is now 1-8 on the season, but in 6 of those 8 losses they have had the ball in the 4th quarter down 7 points or less. The downfall for the Cards was penalties. BSU had 9 penalties for 91 yards, including a few holding calls that killed two drives and a roughing the punter penalty that allowed an Ohio drive to continue. This team is so close to being a decent MAC team, they just need to get more experience and they will be fine. That experience will have to come quickly as they face a tough three-game stretch to end the season. On Nov 12, BSU goes to Northern Illinois, hosts Central Michigan on Nov 18th, and ends the season at Western Michigan on Nov 24th. These teams are a combined 11-4 in the MAC, so this will be a good barometer on how far this team has progressed this season.

In the world series, the offense for both teams picked up as the Yankees took back home field advantage with an 8-5 victory on Saturday night. Alex Rodriguez had a big homer in the 4th inning and Johnny Damon doubled home two runs in the fifth to put the game away. Game 4 is tonight with the Yankees putting CC Sabathia on the mound with three days rest. The Phillies are going with Joe Blanton on normal rest. This is a must win game for the Phillies as they do not want to go down 3-1 while losing two games at home.

The starting pitching has been really good so far

The Yankees used a strong outing from AJ Burnett to tie the world series at one game a piece. Burnett threw 7 brilliant innings, giving up 1 run on 4 hits and striking out 9. Mariano Rivera threw two shutout innings for the save. Rivera got into a little trouble in the 8th, but with runners on first and second and one out he induced a double play off the bat of Chase Utley. Pedro Martinez threw 6 innings and gave up 3 runs to take the loss. Game 3 is Saturday night in Philly.

The Ball State game on Saturday may be a cold one. The game time temp should be in the upper 40s, but hopefully the sun will be out to keep us warm. The Cardinals play the Ohio Bobcats. BSU is a 6.5 point underdog.

Pitching and the top 4 hitters made the difference

The Phillies got a much needed win against the Yankees in game one of the world series yesterday, 6-1. Cliff Lee was dominant for Philly, giving up 1 unearned run in a complete game effort. He struck out 10 with no walks and 6 hits over 122 pitches. The top 4 hitters in the Philly lineup were 6-for-17 with 4 RBI and 5 runs scored. Those same hitters for the Yankees were 4-for-16 with no runs or RBI. CC Sabathia did not pitch bad for New York, throwing 7 innings and only giving up 2 earned runs, both on Chase Utley homers. The Yankee bullpen was not so good, giving up 4 runs in 2 innings. The Phillies got the win they needed and have a good shot at this series not coming back to New York after tonight's game.

Drew Storen pitched an inning for the Phoenix Desert Dogs last night, giving up 1 hit and no runs. In 6-2/3 innings, he has given up 1 earned run (1.35 ERA) and 8 hits while walking one and striking out 6 hitters. Opponents are batting .286 against him, but right-handed hitters are only batting .167.

Ball State plays Ohio this weekend and it looks like the betting community thinks they have a chance. The line has dropped to BSU being a 6.5 point underdog with the o/u of 44. Ball State will have to use it's rushing attack against Ohio's defense, which is 5th in the MAC in rushing defense and 3rd in the MAC in total defense.

It's world series time!

Game one of the world series is tonight. The Yankees will send CC Sabathia to the mound while the Phillies will counter with Cliff Lee. Both pitchers have pitched well in the post-season, so this may be a pretty good game. Sabathia has a 1.19 ERA in three starts and Lee has a 0.74 ERA in three starts. However, if the Phillies do not win this one, they could be in for a short series. The pitching matchups are not favorable to the men from Philly. Pedro Martinez will pitch in game two against AJ Burnett. Can Pedro summon his great stuff one more time? Will Burnett not let one bad inning ruin his performance? In game three, Cole Hamels will pitch against Andy Petitte. Hamels has struggled in three postseason games after sweeping the playoff MVP awards last year. Petitte has a sub-3.00 ERA in his three outings, throwing a quality start in each. In game four, the Yankees will throw Sabathia again while the Phillies could send Joe Blanton or JA Happ to the mound. Blanton has only one start this postseason and an ERA above 4. The Phillies really need this game tonight.

A good defense can't help a bad offense

The Redskins lost to the Eagles last night 27-17, but it was never really that close. When your first four possessions are punt, punt, INT for a TD, and fumble, that puts you behind 17-0. The Redskins offense can't score more than 17 points in a game, so this night was pretty much over in the middle of the second quarter. Four turnovers, combined with no running game and no deep threat in the passing game, allowed the Eagles D to tee-off on the Redskins depleted offensive line as they recorded 6 sacks. To make things worse, Redskins TE Chris Cooley is out for the season with a broken ankle. Luckily, the Skins can't lose next week because they have the bye. It may be the last week that they don't lose a game this season.

Ball State is a 7 point underdog at home against the Ohio Bobcats this Saturday. Ohio is coming off a loss to Kent State and will probably be without their top running back. BSU may have a chance to win this one if they can keep their running game going.

Drew Storen had a bad outing for Phoenix that turned into a decent result last night. He came in to the top of the ninth with a 5-4 lead and looking to get a save. He gave up a lead off double, but then got two outs. He gave up a single to the next hitter that scored the runner to tie the game. Not to be outdone, the Desert Dogs came storming back in the bottom of the ninth. After a pop out to lead off the inning, the next three batters got on base via a single and two walks. The next batter, Nevin Ashley, hit a grand slam to win the game. Storen was credited with a blown save, but he also got the win. Storen is 1-0 with a save and a 1.59 ERA in 5 2/3 innings in the AFL.

What if you don't like either team in the world series?

The Yankees beat the Angels last night to advance to the world series. Now, I have mentioned before that I do not like the Yankees, but as a Braves fan I also do not like the Phillies (you know, it's a division rivalry thing). I'll probably root against the Yankess, but not root for the Phillies. It's a big bunch of "I Don't Care!!!"

In the Arizona Fall League, Drew Storen has pitched in 4 games and 4 2/3 innings. He has given up 5 hits, 1 walk, and has struck out 5 all while giving up no earned runs. Opponents are batting .263 against him. Not a bad start for Storen, who is playing against the best competition he has ever faced.

The Redskins host the Eagles tonight on Monday Night Football. The Skins are a 7 point underdog at home. If they do not start well, expect the boo-birds to be out in full force. A win tonight is crucial to hold on to any hope of a playoff spot. A loss puts us 2.5 games behind the 6th spot in the NFC with a difficult schedule ahead after the bye week. GO SKINS!!

Ball State runs all over EMU, while I run all over my neighborhood

The streak is over, as Ball State beat Eastern Michigan 29-27 in a battle of winless teams. A game time temp in the 40's combined with the teams having an 0-13 record mad attendance sparse, as a grand total of 1,535 saw this battle. It looked really bad early on, as EMU took a 20-6 lead using two BSU turnovers and poor kick coverage to score at will. However, the tide turned in the middle of the third quarter when BSU put together an 8 play, 93 yard drive (all running) to cut the score to 27-20. On EMU's next possession, BSU's Robert Eddins blocked a punt for a safety, cutting the lead to 27-22. The ensuing drive was 6 plays, 64 yards (5 runs, 1 pass) to take a 29-27 lead with two minutes left in the 3rd quarter. EMU ran only 9 plays in the 4th quarter and had the ball for only 3:29. BSU ran 17 4th quarter plays, all runs, and held the ball for 11:31 to conserve the lead.

The big news out of this game is the record-setting running numbers put up by MiQuale Lewis and Cory Sykes. Lewis ran for a school-record 301 yards on 26 carries and 1 TD and Sykes ran for 203 yards on 23 carries with 3 TDs. Lewis broke the single-game rushing record of 260 held by Earl Taylor against EMU in 1976. It was also the 4th time in NCAA history that 2 players from the same team each ran for over 200 yards.

Now the bad news....Freshman running back Eric Williams was hurt early in the game and did not return. He is the best running threat out of the wildcat formation due to his size and strength. Lewis and Sykes are both small quick backs and will have trouble out of the wildcat formation against better teams. The other bad news is that we have no passing attack at all. With Kelly Page out for the season, Tanner Justice got his first start....it was not a good one. Justice was 2 of 10 for 1 yard. His two completions were to Tory Gibson for 8 yards and Lewis for -7. Justice also had an interception, a fumble, and took 2 sacks.

The Cardinals next face Ohio at the Schue on Halloween at noon. It looks like they will be about a 14 point underdog.

In personal news, my new running/walking routine seems to be working pretty well. This week I walked 50km and ran 20km to burn 4,996 calories. I lost another pound and am down to 190. In the last two weeks, I have walked 106km and ran 20km and burned almost 8,700 calories and lost 3 pounds. It just shows you that you can do anything if you just get out there and do it!

Happy, sad, then happy again

I am on the "hate" side of the nation's love/hate obsession with the New York Yankees. So after the first inning of yesterday's game, I was in a great mood as the Angels put 4 runs on the board to lead 4-0. However, the Yankees put up a 6-spot in the top of the 7th to take a 6-4 lead. At that point, I was thinking "I may not like the Yankees, but they always seem to get the job done when they need to." But then, the home team rose from the ashes and put 3 runs on the board in the bottom of the 7th to take a 7-6 lead. Jared Weaver pitched a solid 8th inning for the Angels to turn the ball over to close Brian Fuentes in the 9th. Fuentes got the first two outs of the inning, but then some managerial nonsense occured. Angels manager Mike Scoscia had Fuentes intentionally walk A-Rod. Why would you put the winning run on base???? I know he's A-Rod, but he "only" gets on base 40% of the time, with a fraction of those being home runs. Why, why, why? But then it gets even more strange, as Yankee manager Joe Girardi pinch-runs for A-Rod. I won't go into the details and reasons, but there is a post at www.fangraphs.com that explains the situation in detail. I discussed Girardi's managerial moves in previous posts, so it looks like I am not the only one who is thinking that way. So, now the tying run is on first with two outs, Hideki Matsui coaxes a walk and then Robinson Cano is hit by a pitch. This led to a showdown with Nick Swisher. Fuentes got ahead 0-2 then threw three off of the plate and a foul ball. The seventh pitch of the at-bat was popped to the shortstop to end the game. So, now we go back to New York for game 6 on Saturday night.

A repeat for the Phillies

The Phillies pretty much breezed through the NLCS. With the exception of a crazy 8th inning in game 2 and a difficult game 4, the Phillies had a easy time on their route to a repeat of the NL championship. Ryan Howard was named MVP as he was 5 for 15 with 8 RBI in the series.

Game 5 of the ALCS is tonight with the Yankees hoping to clinch a world series berth. AJ Burnett will pitch for New York and John Lackey will pitch for the Angels.

Ball State is a 2.5 point favorite against Eastern Michigan on Saturday. Game time is 1pm.

A bad season gets worse

The Ball State football team received some bad news yesterday. The Muncie Star-Press reports that starting QB Kelly Page has a broken thumb on his throwing hand and will be out for the rest of the season. That leaves Tanner Justice as the starting QB and possibly the only QB on the roster. The other three QBs on the roster are freshmen and are expected to redshirt this year, including top recruit Aaron Mershman. This means that the play calling will be much different, considering that Justice is a little less mobile than Page. Also, the wildcat formation may play a huge part in the games for the rest of the season. The Cardinals are still favored by 3.5 points at Eastern Michigan, with an over/under of 51.5. However, both of those lines may move once the QB situation filters through.

The Yankees beat the Angels 10-1 last night to take a 3-1 lead in the ALCS. Angels pitchers made each inning difficult as they allowed the lead-off batter to reach base in 8 of the 9 innings. Game 5 is tomorrow night in LA.

Game 5 of the NLCS is tonight at 807p. The Phillies have a chance to clinch the LCS and make a return trip to the World Series. Cole Hamels will start for the Phillies while Vicente Padilla will start for LA.

That was some good playoff baseball

Both games of the LCS were won on walk-off's last night as the Angels and Phillies won their respective games. In the ALCS, I thought that Mariano Rivera's playoff mystique would continue as he got out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the 10th without allowing a run to score. But a now-questionable move by Joe Girardi to relinquish the DH by putting Jerry Hairston in left field and putting the pitcher in the #2 spot in the order which was due to bat in the next inning. This made Girardi pinch hit for Rivera in the top of the 11th. The game was tied in the bottom of the 11th when David Robertson was brought in to pitch for New York. He retired the first two batters and was pulled from the game for Alfredo Aceves. Of course, Aceves gave up a single to Howie Kendrick and the game-winning double to Jeff Mathis to give the Angels the game. Another questionable move by Girardi to remove a pitcher that is pitching well, especially when you are running out of pitchers.

The NLCS game was just as crazy as the ALCS game. The Phillies took a 2-0 lead on Ryan Howard's homer in the first inning. The Dodgers used three RBI singles and a homer by Matt Kemp to take a 4-3 lead after 6 innings. The Phillies fought back in the 8th and had two runners on with one out, but Ryan Howard struck out and Jayson Werth flied out to end the threat. The same situation occurred in the 9th as there were two runners on with one out when Greg Dobbs lined out for the second out of the inning. Jimmy Rollins came to the plate. He had been struggling all year, but he dug deep and hit a double to score both base runners and give the Phillies the victory 5-4 and a 3-1 lead in the series.

Drew Storen threw another inning for the Phoenix Desert Dogs last night. He gave up a walk and a hit while striking out two and not giving up any runs. Opponents are batting .333 against him in three innings in the AFL.

Is it basketball season yet?

Since both of the football teams I root for have not shot of making the post-season, I think I am ready for basketball to start....

The Redskins lost to a winless team, again, taking a 14-6 drubbing by the Chiefs. I don't know if pitiful can describe it. Two field goals, only 7 first downs, 78 of the 256 total yards were on one play, the starting QB was benched at half time, the backup QB led the team to 6 points (and a 3-point) lead, but took a safety to put the game out of reach. At least I can rest knowing that Jim Zorn will no longer be calling the plays. That task has been given to Sherm Lewis, who was recently hired to be a overseer of the offense. Too bad we can't fire the entire offense, or at least have them play to the same level of the defense. The Redskins are 5th in the league in points allowed and 5th in yards allowed. A team like that should be at least 4-2, not 2-4. Ugh....

Ball State's football team travels to Eastern Michigan for the "MAC Game of the Year"....ok, maybe not. BSU is 0-7 while EMU is 0-6. If there is nobody in the stands to watch the game, does the game really exist? EMU had 2,401 fans in attendance for last week's game against Kent State, and KSU is 3-4 and an hour closer to EMU than Muncie. The odds makers don't think EMU is very good, as Ball State is a 3.5 point FAVORITE on the road. When is the last time an 0-7 team has been favored on the road????? This will be an ugly game, I just hope we can get a win.

A close game and a not-so-close game

The Ball State football team had a terrible first half, but came back in the second half to make it a game, however they ended up losing to Bowling Green 31-17. Ball State was down 24-0 at the half after giving up 309 yards of offense while only getting 123 yards of their own. Starting QB Kelly Page injured his thumb in the second quarter and did not return, leaving Senior Tanner Justice to run the team. Neither QB did very well. Page was 4 of 9 for 39 yards and Justice was 6 of 21 for 92 yards. The running game was one of the bright spots for BSU. Senior MiQuale Lewis ran 18 times for 120 yards and Freshman Eric Williams carried 9 times for 88 yards. It was a cold day in Muncie, but a crowd of 10,000+ paid to see the Cardinals play on family weekend. Not too bad of a crowd for a team that hasn't won a game in a while. BSU travels to Eastern Michigan next week in a game where they may actually be favored on the road. Both teams are 0-for-the-season, so it will be a first win for someone, hopefully the Cardinals.

Game two of the ALCS was a doozy as the Yankees beat the Angels 4-3 in 13 innings. The relief pitching of Mariano Rivera and Kevin Jepsen was some of the most clutch pitching I have seen in that situation. Both pitchers induced ground outs with runners on second in the 8th and 9th innings. Chone Figgins singled to give the Angels the lead in the 11th inning only to be upstaged by A-Rod's homer to tie the game in the bottom of the 11th. The bottom of the 13th was bad for the Angels. After a single, a sacrifice, and a walk, pitcher Ervin Santana got a ground ball that should have been a double play. However, Maicer Izturis threw the ball past the shortstop and into left field to allow the winning run to score. The Angels had their chances, but their big bats could not get the clutch hits. Vlad Guerrero was 1-for-7 with 8 men left on base and Bobby Abreu was 0-for-5 with 5 men left on base. If you can't hit, you don't win games. The Angels ERA for the two games is 2.21...you should win both games with pitching like that.

Drew Storen gave up two un-earned runs on Friday night for the Phoenix Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League. After a strikeout and a ground out to start the inning, Storen gave up a single. The next batter hit a ground ball that should have ended the inning, but a throwing error allowed the runners to advance. Two singles later, Storen had given up two runs. He's been getting regular work so far, so he may pitch either today or tomorrow.

That was some ugly baseball

The Phillies jumped on Dodger starter Clayton Kershaw in the 5th inning and tried to give the lead away twice, but held on for a 8-6 victory. Carlos Ruiz had a three-run homer in the 5th after fouling off a 2-0 high fastball and then drilling the 2-1 pitch, also a high fastball, over the left field wall. Ryan Howard's double in the fifth plated two more runs. However, the Dodgers fought back to score 3 runs in the bottom of the 5th, including a two-run homer by Manny Ramirez. In the 8th, Raul Ibanez hit a three-run homer off of Dodger reliever George Sherrill to make the score 8-4. But, the Dodgers got two runs in the bottom of the 8th on a single by Russell Martin and a sac fly by Rafael Furcal. Brad Lidge came on for the Phillies in the 9th and closed the game, giving up a single and a walk before a double play eased the pressure. Game two is today at 4pm.

The Yankees and Angels play game one of the ALCS tonight at 757p. CC Sabathia will go for New York while John Lackey will pitch for Anahiem.

There are reports that Tim Hudson may sign with the Braves, refuting earlier reports of him wanting to test the free agent market. The rumor is that he will sign a 3 year contract worth between $27 and $30 million.

Finally, some more baseball

The NLCS starts tonight as the Dodgers and the Phillies square off in game one. Clayton Kershaw will start for LA while Cole Hamels will start for Philly. As for the series, it looks like the Dodgers have an advantage in every facet of the game. I'll take the Dodgers in 5 games.

The ALCS starts tomorrow with the Yankees hosting the Angels. CC Sabathia will start for New York and John Lackey starts for LA-Anaheim. The Angels have a stronger starting rotation, but with the Yankees going to a 3-man rotation that advantage may be minimized. New York has a better bullpen and a better offense. I'll take the Yankees in 6 games.

Drew Storen got a save last night for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League. In one inning of work, Storen gave up one hit and struck out one batter.

Lance Lynn has been scratched from the Cardinal contingent of the Arizona Fall League. No reason has been given at this time.

The Braves may have solved their starting rotation "issues". The rumor is that Tim Hudson will decline the $12 million option and test the free agent market. I like Huddy, and I hope he catches on somewhere. So, now the rotation is set with Vasquez, Jurrjens, Lowe, Hanson, and Kawakami.

The Ball State football team is a 3.5 point underdog at home against Bowling Green. The O/U is 54.5. With the way both defenses play, I would be surprised if the total stays under that mark. BGSU loves to pass and we love to let other teams pass against us. There was one change in the pass defense this week and freshman Jason Pinkston will start at corner for Koreen Burch, who has struggled over the past few games. This will give Pinkston some experience which could help the team in a few years.

The bullpen decided a series again

The Rockies took a 4-2 lead into the ninth inning in game 4 of the NLDS, but could not get the third out before the Phillies put 3 runs on the board to take the game and the series. The Rockies pen had been decent in the first three games of the series, giving up 3 runs in 12 innings, but could not get outs at crucial times and that led to their demise. So, now we get two days without baseball before the Phillies/Dodgers series starts on Thursday. I will have a breakdown of both the NLCS and the ALCS later on this week.

Ball State is a 3 point underdog at home against Bowling Green on Saturday. Neither team runs the ball very well, but Bowling Green has a superb passing attack led by Tyler Sheehan and his 1,960 yards and 11 TDs. Wide reciever Freddie Barnes has 75 catches for 722 yards and 5 TDs in 6 games. Both teams give up over 380 yards per game on defense, so this may be a high-scoring affair.

Why can't the Skins put a TD drive together and where have the playoff bullpens gone?

The Redskins lost to Carolina yesterday 20-17. The defense played well, but the offense could not move the ball once again. The 2 TD drives for the Skins were set up by a Panther fumble on the 13 yard line and an interception that DeAngelo Hall ran back to the 1. The two TD drives totaled 14 yards. The other three points were scored on a 38-yard field goal by Shaun Suisham after a 60 yard drive. The offense gained 198 yards on 52 plays for a grand total of 3.8 yards per play. That will not win you ball games at this level. Jason Campbell was accurate, but not efficient as he was 17 for 23 for 145 yards with a TD. Clinton Portis ran the ball 19 times for 57 yards and a TD. Portis also caught a TD pass. The Skins play Kansas City next week. KC took Dallas to overtime, so they are not a pushover even though they have not won a game this year.

The bullpens of the Red Sox and Twins failed and thus their teams were ushered out of the playoffs yesterday. For the series, the Red Sox bullpen gave up 7 runs in 7-1/3 innings for an ERA of 8.59. The Twins bullpen was just as poor, giving up 6 runs in 9-2/3 innings for a 5.58 ERA. The Angels/Yankees series starts on Friday.

Ugly day for everyone

Ball State had 5 turnovers, only 53 rushing yards and had the ball for 15 minutes less than Temple, but hung tough until the 4th quarter and took a 24-19 loss. MiQuale Lewis had a decent game, carrying the ball 9 times for 54 yards. The rest of the team carried the ball 14 times for -1 yards. Freshman QB Kelly Page was 22 of 37 for 237 yards and 2 TDs....but he also had 2 INTs. Tori Gibson had 5 catches for 110 yards and a TD and Briggs Orsbon had 10 catches for 82 yards. In every game, with the exception of the Auburn game, BSU has had the ball in the 4th quarter down 7 points or less. We've been in 5 of the 6 games so far, we just need experience to get this team over the hump. The Cardinals host Bowling Green next Saturday for family weekend. Game time is noon. BSU will probably be a 4 to 6 point underdog in this game.

The Dodgers swept the Cardinals yesterday, winning game three of the NLDS 5-1. The game was over by the third inning after a Andre Either home run made the game 3-0. Vicente Padilla held the Cards to no runs on 4 hits in 7 innings. St. Louis had a poor offensive showing in the series, scoring only 6 runs in three games and striking out 17 times compared to only 8 walks while batting .262.

The other three series have game number three today. Red Sox/Angels start at noon, Yankees/Twins at 7pm, and Phillies/Rockies at 10pm.

The Redskins go to Carolina to play the Panthers at 1pm this afternoon. The Skins are a 4.5 point underdog with a O/U of 37.5 which puts the predicted score at 21-17 Carolina. The Redskins have averaged 16 points per game since the start of the 2008 season, so if Carolina does get to 21 points, we don't have a chance.

That's why you pay them a billion dollars

The Yankees got all 4 RBI from Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira to beat the Twins 4-3 in 11 innings. The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the 6th on a RBI by Brendan Harris. In the bottom of the inning A-Rod singled in the tying run. Minnesota got two more in the 8th inning on singles by Nick Punto and Denard Span. In the 9th, Twins closer Joe Nathan could not hold on to the lead as Teixeira singled to lead off the inning and A-Rod hit a two-run homer that electrified the 50,000+ at Yankee Stadium. The game went back and forth until the bottom of the 11th when Teixeira led off the inning with a home run. Now, I'm not a fan of either team in this game, but the umpiring was absolutely terrible. There are 6 umpires so that they can get the fair/foul calls correct. However, in the 11th inning the left field ump called a ball foul that was fair by a good foot or so. The Twins ended up leaving the bases loaded in what could have been a run-scoring inning. The Yankees lead the series 2-0.

The Angels once again used good starting pitching to defeat the Red Sox 4-1. Jared Weaver gave up 1 run in 7-2/3 innings. Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis each had clutch RBIs in the game. The Angels lead the series 2-0.

Ball State goes to Temple this afternoon for a 1pm start. BSU is a 14.5 point underdog with a O/U of 47.5. GO CARDS!!!!

Now that was a little more exciting than yesterday

Two of the three playoff games were pretty good last night, especially in the NL.

Rockies 5, Phillies 4 - The Rockies held off a 9th inning charge from the Phillies as closer Houston Street gave up a walk and a hit, but eventually shut the door to get the save. Yorvit Torreabla was 2-for-3 with a homer and 2 RBI to lead the Colorado offense.

Dodgers 3, Cardinals 2 - Poor Matt Holliday. In game one, he took three straight "strikes" to leave 3 guys on base in the first inning of a game they eventually lost by 2 runs. In game two, he missed a fly ball in the ninth that would have ended the game, and instead the flood gates opened for the Dodgers to score 2 runs and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. The true player of the game was Adam Wainwright, who gave up 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 7 in 8 innings of work. However, Cardinals closer Ryan Franklin could not shut down LA in the ninth. Ronnie Belliard tied the game with a single and Mark Loretta sent the fans home happy with a bases loaded single to win it.

Angels 5, Red Sox 0 - John Lackey was brilliant, going 7-1/3 innings of shutout ball with only 4 hits and a walk. Torii Hunter had a huge three-run homer in the 5th to give the Angels most of the runs that they needed.


Ball State is now a 14.5 point underdog with a O/U of 47.5. Can BSUs passing attack get more than the 17 points the odds makers think they will score? Will we reach double digits in rushing yards? When do the Cardinals start giving the ball to Eric Williams instead of MiQuale Lewis?


The Redskins are 3.5 point underdogs on the road at Carolina on Sunday. The O/U is 37.5. We all know the Redskins can't score 17 points, but can the defense hold the Panthers under 17 points? We need to run, run, run and not force Jason Campbell into any kind of decision making. He is a good game manager, but is afraid to let it go sometimes. With a win here, the Skins could be 3-2 and they need every win they can get because after the Chiefs game, the schedule gets pretty ugly.

Not a very exciting way to start the playoffs

All three home teams won game one of their respective playoff series last night. All of the games had been decided by the 6th inning, so there wasn't any drama compared to Tuesday's game.

Phillies 5, Rockies 1 - Cliff Lee showed why the Phillies traded for him by pitching a complete game, only giving up 1 run and 6 hits. Jason Werth and Raul Ibanez each had 2 hits and a RBI.

Yankees 7, Twins 2 - Derek Jeter had a great game going 2-for-2 with a homer, 2 walks, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Nick Swisher had a double and a RBI that put the game away. CC Sabathia gave up 1 earned run in 6-2/3 innings to get the win.

Dodgers 5, Cardinals 3 - Jeff Weaver relieved starter Randy Wolf and got out of a jam in the 4th inning to get the win. Matt Kemp had a two-run homer in the first inning that gave the Dodgers a lead that they would not relinquish. Russell Martin was on base three times without a hit, taking two walks and getting hit with the bases loaded to drive in a run.

There are three games today. Phillies/Rockies and Dodgers/Cardinals play game two of their series while the Red Sox/Angels play game one.

Ball State is a 13.5 point underdog against Temple on Saturday. The over/under is 48.5. Can BSU run the ball against Temple's great run defense? Can BSU pass the ball well enough to score? Will BSU ever win a game again? We will see on Saturday. Game time is 1pm.

What a game!!!

You gotta like it when game 163 goes extra innings. A winner-take-all game is great, but to have the game be so close and then go three more innings is awesome. I only wish that it was a National League game so the managers would actually have to think about what they are doing instead of just letting things happen. I know that Fernando Rodney would not have pitched three innings if he would have to bat in the 11th inning. Anyways, here is the game graph from www.fangraphs.com that shows what a great game this was.




The playoffs start today with a triple-header. Phillies-Rockies, Yankees-Twins, and Cardinals-Dodgers all play tonight while the Red Sox-Angels series starts tomorrow.

I'll take the Phillies, Dodgers, Yankees, and Red Sox to win their respective series.

Not knowing what to write about

The first post after the Braves season ends is always a weird one. I'm not too sure what to write about. I could write about Ball State football or the Redskins, but they only play one game a week. With baseball, you have something to talk about every day. But we do get some free baseball today, so I'll talk about that!

Detroit goes to Minnesota for a one-game playoff to decide the AL Central division title. Rookie Rick Porcello takes the mound for the Tigers while 5-year veteran Scott Baker will throw for the Twins. Neither pitcher had pitched well against the other team this year, although Porcello has been just a little better. Porcello has also pitched better in pressure situations this year and there is no higher pressure game than the one he is pitching in tonight. I'll pick the Tigers on the road.

Ball State is getting some love from the odds makers as their line against Temple has fallen to +13.5. I look for the over/under to be around 50. The Cardinals will need to pass the ball well, as the Temple run defense is top-ranked in the MAC. That shouldn't be a problem as we can't run the ball anyway....

The Redskins next two games are against teams that have not won this season, although the Lions hadn't won in a long time and we all know how that turned out. Washington travels to Carolina where the Panthers are a 3.5 point favorite. Since the Skins are 0-3-1 against the spread this year, I don't look for them to compete in this game at all.

That's not the way you would like to end the season

The Braves lost their sixth straight game yesterday, losing to the Nationals 2-1 in 15 innings. Since getting within 2 games of the wild card a week ago, the Braves are 1-6 and fell to third place in the division behind the Phillies and Marlins. Once again, the pitching was good (2 ER in 15 innings), but the offense could not hit at all. We had a chance in the bottom of the 15th, down 2-1 with runners on 2nd and 3rd, but Brooks Conrad struck out on a check swing to end the game. The Braves finished 86-76, which is a 12-game improvement from last year, so it's not all bad. But it could have been a lot better....

Ball State is an early 14-point underdog at Temple this weekend. Saturday's game is at 1pm EST.

The Washington Redskins pulled out another ugly win as they beat Tampa Bay 16-13. Skins QB Jason Campbell had 3 INTs and a lost fumble while throwing for 170 yards and 2 TDs. Clinton Portis had 98 yards on 25 carries. Santana Moss had a 59 yard TD catch. DeAngelo Hall had a huge INT and Reed Doughty led the team with 10 tackles. The Redskins go to Carolina next week to play the 0-3 Panthers. I imagine that this game will be just as ugly as the previous four games. But, on a good note, even though the play has not been good we are only 1/2 game out of the last playoff spot. A few lucky breaks here and there and we could slide in to the playoffs with our weak schedule.

I really don't know what to say...all of my teams suck

The Braves lost their fifth straight game, losing to the Nationals 6-4 in 11 innings. Once again, Jair Jurrjens pitched a great game but did not get any support from the offense. Jurrjens threw 8 innings and gave up 2 earned runs to lower his ERA to 2.60. The weary bullpen gave up 4 runs in 3 innings. Braves radio announcer Don Sutton said it best, "Once the balloon is deflated, it is hard to blow it up again." Once the Braves had fallen out of the playoffs, they have played lackluster baseball to end the season. Game 162 is today at 135p. Tim Hudson will pitch for the Braves.

The Ball State football team took the lead with 52 seconds to go on a Boise-like 2-point conversion, but could not hold on to the victory. Toledo ran back the ensuing kickoff to mid-field and then exploited a blown coverage to score the winning touchdown with 27 second left to give them a 37-30 win. BSU gave up 479 yards to the Rockets while only gaining 310 themselves. Toledo had some huge third-down conversions. In their final drive of the first half, the Rockets converted a 3rd-and-28 and a 3rd-and-23 to take the lead going into the half. In the fourth quarter, Toledo scored on a 3rd-and-14 from midfield to tie the game at 22. The Ball State defense was non-existent throughout the game and was only helped by 3 turnovers and 104 yards in penalties from Toledo. BSU's next game is on Saturday at Temple. The Owls are 2-2 with losses to D-1A Villanova and a loss to Penn State. Their wins have come against Buffalo and Eastern Michigan. My early guess is that BSU will be a 10 to 12 point underdog.

The Washington Redskins attempt to get back on the winning track as they host the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Skins are a 9 point favorite, but since they are 0-2-1 against the spread this year, I wouldn't think they would win by that much, if they would win at all. The over under is 37, so first one to score three touchdowns wins!!!

I know we didn't make the playoffs, but can we please not get sewpt by the Nationals

The Braves lost their 4th game in a row last night losing to the Nationals 6-3. Derek Lowe was bombed for 5 runs in 4-2/3 innings. Lowe had a 5.62 ERA in September and this outing did not help much. Hopefully he can work things out and get back on track for next year. On offense, David Ross had a 2-run double while Martin Prado was 4-for-5 and Omar Infante was 3-for-4. Today's game is at 410p on FOX. Jair Jurrjens takes the mound for the Braves.

It's Homecoming today for the Ball State Cardinals and it's going to be a chilly one, highs in the mid 50's and a chance of rain. BSU is still a 5 point underdog with the over/under of 61.

Today is also the 2009 running of the Indiana Derby at Hoosier Park. I will try to stop by the track after the game to wager on this event. My pick to win is the #4 horse Despite The Odds.

Three straight one-run losses shuttle the Braves out of the playoff picture

The Braves lost a tough one to the Nationals last night, 2-1. Nate McLouth homered for the Braves only score. Garrett Anderson had two hits to give him 2,501 hits in his career. He is the 89th player in MLB history to reach that mark. The pitching was great as Tommy Hanson gave up 1 run in 7 innings. Mike Gonzalez pitched a scoreless 8th and Rafael Soriano gave up a run in the 9th to take the loss. Game two of the series is tonight at 735p. Derek Lowe will pitch for the Braves.

Ball State hosts Toledo at noon on Saturday to start the MAC season. BSU is a 5 point underdog, but the line has been bouncing between 4.5 and 6.5 this week. The over/under is 61. BSU has not started 0-5 since the winless season of 1999.

That was disappointing...we can't beat a guy that has a 5+ ERA, plus the tying run gets picked off to end the game

The Braves were lifeless until the 9th inning, but their effort was not enough as they lost to the Marlins 5-4. The offense had 16 strikeouts in the game with only 6 hits. Atlanta was down 5-0 in the 7th when Adam LaRoche singled in two runs to make it 5-2. In the 9th, with the score still 5-2, two walks, two singles, and two errors loaded the bases with the score 5-4. However, Matt Diaz was picked off of third base when he was caught between third and home after the ball squirted away from Marlins catcher Ronny Paulino. It was a disappointing end to a disappointing game. Florida starter Ricky Nolasco came into the game with a 5.28 ERA this season and a 7+ ERA against the Braves in his career. Nolasco struck out 16 batters in 7-2/3 innings and at one point struck out 9 batters in a row. It was a bad time for Nolasco to have the game of his life. Javier Vasquez gave up 3 earned runs in 6 innings for the Braves while Kris Medlen, Eric O'Flaherty, and Manny Acosta shut out the Marlins in 3 innings of relief. The Braves host the Nationals at 710p this evening. Tommy Hanson will pitch for the Braves.

The Braves have been eliminated from the NL East, and are sticking to slim hopes for the wild card. The Rockies beat the Brewers last night, so the Braves are 4 games behind with 4 games left.

We can't win them all, but could we at least not let Josh Johnson hit like he's Babe Ruth

The Braves lost to the Marlins last night, 5-4. The team struggled most of the evening, before Matt Diaz hit a 3-run homer to tie the game at 4 in the 6th inning. The Marlins came right back to score a run in the 7th to take the lead for good. Tim Hudson started for the Braves, but did not have his best stuff. In 5 innings of work he gave up 4 runs on 3 walks and 7 hits. The offense didn't fare much better. Taking away Diaz's contribution and the team was 7-for-27 with 9 strikeouts and 2 double plays. Chipper Jones' double play in the bottom of the 9th inning was the killer as the tying run was on first base with nobody out. Adam LaRoche's 0-for-4 with 4 men left on base didn't help too much. Plus, Marlin pitcher Josh Johnson was 1-for-2 with a double and and RBI. In his career, Johnson is a .146 hitter, but against the Braves he is batting .250 with 2 doubles, a home run, and 5 RBI with a slugging percentage of .500. He's a one man wrecking crew on the mound and at the plate. Game three of the series is tonight at 710p. Javier Vasquez gets the ball for the Braves.

The Braves are 5 games behind the Phillies in the NL East with 5 games remaining. Atlanta is 3 games behind the Rockies in the wild card race. The Rockies have two games remaining with Milwaukee and three games with league-leading LA. The Braves have one game with Florida and 4 with bottom-feeder Washington. It is possible for the Braves to still get the wild card, but a lot of things have to happen. Hope springs eternal....