Alex Kreitman - Stealing signs

It’s no secret that I hate the Yankees. As a born and raised die hard Red Sox fan I didn’t have a choice and I’m glad I didn’t. But, I’m a baseball fan through and through so, I am open to celebrating a championship that doesn’t involve my beloved Red Sox. But the Yankees aren’t getting any sort of joy from me, I hate them.

Obviously, I was rooting for the Phillies to win or at least force a Game 7. I wanted some drama. I thought the stars were aligned for a great comeback by Philadelphia with Pedro Martinez on the mound in Game 6, but it wasn’t meant to be. Pedro got shelled and the Yankees prevailed easily in an undramatic clinching game.

Two things really irked me during the 45 minutes I watched of Game 6. First, that Yankee fans are idiots and their cheers are so delayed and out of place it’s ridiculous. They cheer on a two-strike foul ball as if it were strike three. They just aren’t that bright. They tried getting a chant going during the postgame interviews for Andy Pettitte and Hideki Matsui, but they couldn’t get them in unison, so they were just mumbling. iIt was annoying.

Speaking of the postgame interviews, Matsui was interviewed since he was named Most Valuable Player. He has played in this league for six years, yet he doesn’t understand a word of English? That is pathetic. They had to interview him through a translator which was one of the most boring interviews of all time. If you’re going to live in this country and make a living in this country then learn the damn language. I mean seriously.

Alex Rodriguez knows the language, although I wish he didn’t. He sounded ridiculous during his postgame interviews and looked even more foolish. He was chewing the brightest pink gum I’ve ever seen. The gum dyed the inside of his mouth bright pink which watching in HD looked awkward. He also just kept screaming “Yeahhhhh,” and “Teammates.” It was such a forced attempt at being part of the gang I felt a little sorry for him. Not sorry enough to throw up in my mouth a little though.

The Yankees now have 27 World Championships. Good for them. I’ll admit that is impressive. But I guess when you can buy everything and everyone it’s pretty inevitable. It’s just sad that they hadn’t won one yet in this decade. They’ve had the highest payroll in the league forever. They should win every year.

There might be more people that hate the Yankees than actually like them. I have heard so many people join in on the Yankee hatred today and it was more then I expected. It’s nice to see. I’m sure there will be even more by players and teams around the league next season. Teams will be out to get the Yankees more then every before, especially the Red Sox.

I didn’t want to root for the Philadelphia Phillies to win their second straight World Series title, but I have to because they’re playing the Yankees.

It’s been awhile since anyone has won two straight and I don’t think the Phillies are that dominant that they should go into that elite category. But since they’re playing New York I’m going to have to change my mind on this one.

I haven’t had time to watch much of the Series but I did catch a little bit of each game. The series is tied 1-1 and hasn’t featured a lot of offense, instead the pitching has been phenomenal. Cliff Lee pitched a gem to lead Philadelphia in game 1 and then Pedro Martinez was ousted by A.J. Burnett in Game 2.

It was awesome seeing Pedro back out on the big stage. He was always my favorite pitcher when he was with the Red Sox and I was sad to see him go. his return to Fenway Park was a memorable moment and he’ll still always have a spot in the hearts of Boston fans.  He pitched well Thursday night and just gave up a few solo home runs.

I was upset that he lost, but I think he’ll get another shot. The Yankees fans went crazy with the “Whose your Daddy chant,” which dates back to his days as a Yankee rival with the Red Sox. After being asked about his struggled with the Yankees in a post game press conference Pedro said “I just gotta tip my hat and call the Yankees my Daddy.” The fans had a field day back then and they picked it right back up Thursday.

I still think the Phillies can beat New York and I think they have a slight edge heading back home with the series tied. I’m going to pick Philadelphia in seven games. It should be a good rest of the series.

After a season’s worth of criticism regarding Tom Brady’s ineffectiveness since returning from last season’s knee injury, Brady shut everybody up.

Brady led the Patriots to a 59-0 romp of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Brady threw for six touchdowns, five of which came in the second quarter, the most since 1950. His performance was amazing. He was nearly perfect, finishing 29 of 34 for 380 yards.

Even more impression than the numbers and the records is that it was snowing like crazy throughout the game. The field was covered with a few inches of snow and it looked like a blizzard out there at times. But that didn’t faze Brady as he found Randy Moss and Wes Walker for several deep scoring strikes.

The win was a much-needed confidence booster for the Patriots who lost the previous week to Denver by a slim margin. The Patriots were a Super Bowl favorite to start the season, but hadn’t really played up to par. Even thought he Titans have one of the worst secondaries in the league, it was still a positive sign for the Pats.

I wish I could say that my lag in blog posts has been because I’ve been too torn up over the early exit from the playoffs by the Boston Red Sox or by last week’s stunning loss by the New England Patriots. Unfortunately, it’s just been because I’ve been really busy.

It was midterm week for my graduate program so things were kind of hectic. But the above-mentioned losses did sting my heart and were quite disappointing.

I couldn’t believe the Red Sox got swept in their ALDS series, but the way they exited was just awful. Leading for the entire game and then having their showstopper Jonathan Papelbon in to close it out in the ninth, I thought for sure we were going to Game 4. Then things went south and us Sox fans were left stunned and upset.

The teams remaining in the playoffs are being forced to play in some chilly temperatures as October cools down. The ALCS starts Friday night and the southern Connecticut and New York area has been hit with some snow and below freezing temperatures. Those low readings on the thermometer sure aren’t supposed to be associated with baseball.

Last week Colorado got slammed with some snow and the Rockies and Philadelphia Phillies had to battle the cold temperatures late into the night. There’s nothing worse than playing baseball in the dark of night with the temperature flirting with zero degrees.

Anyway, I’m not that interested in who wins just as long as it isn’t the Yankees. Part of me wants to root for the L.A. Dodgers and Manny Ramirez. Although I think Manny if a complete idiot, I’ve come to respect Joe Torre for leaving the Yankees and I might owe Manny a little bit for the two World Series titles he brought to Boston.

One thing is for sure though, I probably won’t be tuning in to much baseball with the busy schedule and lack of interest in a Bostonless October.

The Wake Forest hype is finally over and it took until week four of the college football season to find out how good Elon University’s football team really is. Turns out, the Phoenix isn’t too shabby.

Elon knocked off Georgia Southern 28-14 on Saturday in front of a wet crowd of over 10,000, although I was there and it looked more like 8,000. But anyway, the rumored sellout crowd saw the Phoenix dominate most of the game.

Elon scored a touchdown on its first possession and moved the ball pretty well the entire first half. If it weren’t for a costly turnover, a fumble returned for a TD, the Eagles would have been held to just seven points.

After playing to terribly weak opponents in Davidson and Presbyterian and then losing to Wake of the Football Championship Series, Elon finally played a team of its caliber. With the win, Elon can now move forward with a better understanding of itself. Sure the Phoenix played well, but as coach Pete Lembo said after the game, they’ll watch the tape and find some things they can improve on.

Things don’t get easier for Elon this week with a road trip to Furman on the schedule. Elon beat the Paladins last season, but it was just the second time ever and first as a member of the SoCon. Furman is 2-0 in the conference so it won’t be easy.

I think if Elon’s defense can continue to play lights out like it did against Georgia Southern, Elon will find itself on the winning end. Also, the offense needs to stay consistent. After moving the ball easily in the first half last week, the offense sputtered a little in the second half. Credit Georgia Southern for making adjustments, but Elon needs to keep putting points on the board in order to beat Furman.

Unfortunately, Elon University fell short in its quest for a huge upset of Wake Forest on Saturday night at Grove Stadium. The Phoenix couldn’t hang with the Demon Deacons and lost 35-7.

All the buzz around Elon was that they had a shot at beating Wake Forest. Elon opened the season by scoring a ton of points against two sub-par opponents and I think those two blowouts clouded the judgments of many Elon fans, including myself. I thought Elon could hang because of their offense. I knew that it would be tough for the Phoenix to run the ball on Wake Forest’s defensive line and that it would hard for Elon’s defense to stop Wake’s run. The biggest difference between FBS and FCS teams is seen on the line of scrimmage. Wake Forest’s linemen are just bigger and stronger than Elon.

But the offense was flat. Terrell Hudgins was the only bright spot for Elon and although quarterback Scott Riddle didn’t have a bad game, he didn’t excite anybody. I predicted he would throw for over 300 yards during last week’s Elon sports show, The Weekly Burn, but obviously I was far off from that prediction. Elon just didn’t have it. Lance Camp and Sean Jeffcoat were non-factors bailing out Hudgins. They dropped a few passes and didn’t make much of an impact.

It didn’t look like the Elon team which I saw demolish Davidson two weeks ago, but who knows what would have happened if that team showed up. Elon gave it their best and it just wasn’t meant to be. The positive to take from this experience is that Elon played a FBS team and there will be more of these games in the future. As Elon continues to grow and improve as a a program, these opportunities will continue.

I just hope Elon doesn’t let there disappointment of this loss stay with the players too long because the Phoenix has a more important date with Georgia Southern at home this week. Southern Conference play starts this weekend and Elon needs to be at its best. But, Elon plays Duke next season and we all know the Blue Devils aren’t all that good. So, who knows, maybe next year is the year.

My boy Tom Brady returned to action Monday night and I couldn’t think of a better way for him to return. Trailing by 11 points with under four minutes left in the game, Brady led the New England Patriots to an unbelievable 25-24 victory against the Buffalo Bills.

The Patriots looked a little out of sync in the first half, but started to improve after halftime despite failing to put a whole lot of points on the board. Then came the two-minute drill. As soon as Brady began running his hurry-up offense things just came together. Brady completed what seemed like 50 passes in a row en route to a Ben Watson touchdown strike. Then, with two minutes left it was decision time.

Coach Bill Belichick had to decide if he wanted to go for an onside kick, trailing by five or kick it long and count on his defense. He kicked it off and the defense came through, forcing a fumble on the kick return and giving the Patriots the ball on the 30-yard line with a chance to win it. There was no doubt they would score. Just a few plays later Brady found Watson again and New England took their first lead of the game.

There was still time left but the Patriots’ rushing attack dominated Trent Edwards and they held for the victory.

The game was one of the most exciting I have watched in a long time. I learned several things about the NFL season while watching too.

First, the Buffalo Bills are a pretty good team. Their defense played three and a half great quarters, but were beaten in the end. If they can build some more toughness down the stretch they can make the playoffs, as a Wild Card of course.

Second, Tom Brady is healthy and better than ever. He is better because he is hungry. After sitting out a year and watching New England miss the playoffs he wants it more and I think he will get it.

Third, even after a slow start and I mean tortoise life, I think New England proved that they have the league’s most powerful offense. Brady and company’s ability to move down the field in such a short amount of time for two touchdowns is one of the most dominating performances I’ve ever seen.

And lastly, those referee jerseys worn in last night’s game are the ugliest things in the world. They should be burned.

After months of anticipation the NFL finally returned to action. The Pittsburgh Steelers won the season opener Thursday night against the Tennessee Titans before the rest of league kicked things off Sunday. Big loss for the men of steel though is Troy Polamalu who will miss three to six weeks with a knee injury.

Some of the more interesting headlines from Week One include the Carolina Panthers absolutely stinking it up against the Philadelphia Eagles. Jake Delhomme picked up where he left off, causing turnover after turnover. Delhomme was benched in the second half after his miserable play, but you can’t put all the blame on Jake because the rest of the team played poorly too.

In that same game, Eagles QB Donovan McNabb left with broken ribs after taking a hard hit on his way into the end zone for a touchdown. McNabb’s status for next week is up in the air but it certainly has caused a stir because Michael Vick is eligible to return to the field in Week 3. Do the Eagles rest McNabb and start Vick? I think they should because the only way to heal ribs is to rest them. If he plays, the pain and the injury will just worsen. They might as well try Vick out and see what he can do. That doesn’t really help the Eagles for next week because Vick is still suspended.

Brett Favre returned to action but it was Adrian Peterson that stole the stage in the Vikings’ win. Drew Brees threw six touchdown passes in a  Saints’ route. Brian Urlacher is out for the year which stings the Chicago Bear’s defense. he broke his wrist against the Packers.

Overall, the games weren’t great, but it was nice to have football back. I’m still awaiting Tom Brady’s return for the New England Patriots which happens tonight against the Buffalo Bills. It should be a good one, Brady’s return and Terrell Owens’ debut with Buffalo.

Even when he has a crappy tournament, Tiger Woods makes things interesting.

Completely out of contention, Tiger would have needed to shot 13-under par to force a playoff in Monday’s Deutsche Bank final round. Instead, he shot 8-under which was still unbelievable. Woods was tied for fifth place when he signed his scorecard which was before the leaders even teed off. He made a statement. Don’t screw up.

Woods was on pace to shot 59 which would have been ridiculous, but it still wouldn’t have won the tournament. His putting killed him all weekend and killed him at last week’s Fed Ex Cup event. Woods is now in second place in the Fed Ex Cup standings behind Steve Stricker who was Monday’s winner.

Tiger is still insane though. Not many could have pulled off such a remarkable and exciting final round when they were trailing by that much. he finished the event tied for 11th, moving him up 19 spots.

OK, enough about the PGA, let’s talk about how my brother just got a job at Pinehurst Country Club. The job should be an excellent resume builder for him and more importantly he gets to play at all the courses for $5. And he can bring his older brother, that’s me for those counting at home, for just $33. We can even play at Pinehurst No. 2 although it’s harder to get a tee time there.

I can’t wait to get out and play on the prestigious courses at Pinehurst.

I have barely heard a word about the Fed Ex Cup this year. For those that don’t know what the heck I’m talking about, the Fed Ex Cup is the PGA’s playoff system.

The Fed Ex Cup is still in its infancy, but it may be one of the most irrelevant playoff systems in all of sports. This week’s tournament is The Barclays which is the first of four consecutive tournaments on the tour that calculate some sort of points based on how you finish. I wish I could tell you how the point system worked, but I haven’t a clue.

The playoff system is so dumb that two years ago Tiger Woods skipped the first event and still won the Fed Ex Cup. Throughout the year players are awarded points for their finish in tournaments. Woods came into this year’s Fed Ex Cup as the leader in points. Who knows what happens after that. Woods is at 1-under par at the Barclays and is eight strokes back of the leader, Paul Goydos.

Somehow, Goydos is third in Fed Ex Cup points. I don’t know how this is possible because I’ve hardly ever heard of him, nor could I tell you if he’s won any tournament this year or what he looks like. OK, I lied. I do know if he has one any tournaments and the answer is that he hasn’t. He finished second in one event. The guy has played in 20 events though which is why he is so high in the points standings. That is just stupid. He’s basically getting points just for showing up.

The Fed Ex Cup is designed to get the big name players to play in more tournaments. This idea came about after Woods, Mickelson and others became very selective of which tournament they were going to play in. The Fed Ex Cup seems like a good concept, but the credibility goes down the toilet the moment a guy like Paul Goydos wins the cup. And unfortunately, he is getting close because if he wins The Barclays, he will probably jump into first in the standings.

That’s a scary thought. Please golf, just stick to the majors!