Buckeyes steam Boilermakers,Devils declaw Panthers

The Ohio State Buckeyes had little trouble controlling the high powered Purdue offense and the offense did just enough to get by as the Buckeyes won at West Lafayette 23-7.
Todd Boeckman tossed touchdown passes on the first two drives of the game but made mistakes thereafter in throwing 3 interceptions.
One TD pass went to Ray Small on a 26-yard pass, while Brian Hartline caught the other on a six-yard dart.
Ryan Pretorius booted three field goals of 23,39 and 44 yards for the remainder of the Ohio State scoring.
The defense allowed plenty of passing yardage to Curtis Painter, but no points other than a meaningless touchdown with ten seconds to go.
Ohio State should move to 3rd in the polls after USC's loss to Stanford, but I still have concerns about the offense.
This game should have been a far larger win, receivers were open deep and Boeckman just didn't put the ball where it needed to be.
The running game was fine with Chris and Maurice Wells splitting the carries and each finishing with over 75 yards.
Chris Wells needs to take some time off for his balky ankle to heal and hopefully, Jim Tressel will consider sitting him next week as the Buckeyes return home against Kent State.
A good road win, but some things still need to be smoothed over with the tougher teams on the schedule looming down the road.

The New Jersey Devils won their first game of the Brent Sutter era in a dominating 4-1 win over the Florida Panthers.
Kevin Weekes played in place of Martin Brodeur and stopped 31 of 32 Panther shots.
Brodeur had to return home on Friday, due to undisclosed reasons and Sutter decided to go with Weekes, who was up to the task in getting the win.
John Madden scored goals in each of the first two periods, one on the power play, while Andy Greene added a power-play goal in the second period.
Mike Mottau concluded the scoring with a 3rd-period goal.
Sutter did some line tinkering, as David Clarkson moved up to the Elias line, while Nicklas Bergfors was scratched in favor of Mike Rupp.
Sutter also reunited John Madden and Jay Pandolfo.
Good move, as any observer can see that they are much more comfortable on the same line than separated.
The Devils play Ottawa on Monday afternoon at 3.

Bullpen Notes

Manny Pacquiao kept his WBC Jr. Lightweight belt with a lopsided unanimous decision over Marco Antonio Barrera.
More on the fight next week when I can score it off the HBO replay.

Boo to Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema on a two-week-old item.
After the Badgers night game home win over Iowa two weeks ago, Bielema crowed about the great night game environment at Camp Randall Stadium.
I watched the game and it certainly was.
And the Badgers have great fans and Camp Randall is a fun place to watch a game.
But he then added," we can do these games here anytime, but not on the road, I won't allow it".
Road night games are tough, coach and I know the UNLV game had to scare you, but if you want to be a top program-you welcome challenges-you don't refuse them.

The Browns travel to Foxboro to battle the Patriots in their toughest task of the season.
Can they win?
Yes, if everything falls perfectly.
Will they?
Kinda doubt it
Our Pick-Patriots 35-14.

The Seahawks travel to Pittsburgh for a battle against the
Steelers.
Both teams need this game.
Seattle to prove that they can win against a good team on the road.
Pittsburgh to prove they can win over a team with a pulse.
Really is too close to call but in a squeaker.
Our Pick-Seahawks 21-20.

The Indians go for the sweep of the Yankees tonight at 6:30.
Jake Westbrook for Cleveland vs Roger Clemens of New York.

Photo Credits
OSU-Purdue-Neal Lauron-Columbus Dispatch
Devils-Lynne Sladky-AP Photo
Helmets-Helmet Project

The Broom sweeps out the deadwood in Pittsburgh and Indians nip Yankees.

Lots of stuff today,but we will lead with the Pittsburgh Pirates committing to start from scratch.
Manager Jim Tracy,director of baseball operations Jon Mercutio,director of player development Brian Graham and scouting director Ed Creech were all shown the door yesterday and the Pirates are certainly better for it.
The only surprise on the list was Graham ,who was thought to be safe due to his past association with GM Neal Huntington and that Bob Nutting seemed to think highly of him.
I am especially glad that Creech got the well-deserved axe,as I blame Creech and the Captain for the vast majority of the problems with this organization.
I cannot say that I will miss Jim Tracy either and his tenure was just as sad as the others.
It is nice to see poor performance ending in termination,not contract extension as in the former regime.
I know many are hoping for former Pirates Andy Van Slyke or Tony Pena to get the managing job and those were two names I mentioned a few months back in my Pirates GM series.
But I mentioned two names to Ryan as likely when Huntington was hired and I will stick by them.
I think the new Pirate manager will be either Joel Skinner (Cleveland 3rd base coach) or Torey Lovullo (AAA Buffalo manager).
Lets see if I am correct.

The Indians battled the heralded Yankee bullpen,the invasion of bugs off the Lake Erie shore and their own lack of offense in a 2-1 win in 11 innings.
Fausto Carmona pitched a brilliant nine innings with the exception of a hanging slider to Melky Cabrera that found up in the right field stands and deserved more than a no decision.
The Indians squandered numerous chances to score until finally tying the game in the 8th as Grady Sizemore walked,moved to second on Joba Chamberlain's wild pitch,moved to 3rd on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on another Chamberlain wild pitch.
The Indians finally took their first and only lead on Travis Hafner's game winning single in the 11th off Luis Vizcaino with the bases loaded and two out.
Gutsy game by Cleveland and now New York has to run the table to win the series.
Lefty Rafael Perez pitched the 10th and 11th in getting the victory.
Cleveland can clinch the series by winning tomorrow night in New York.
Jake Westbrook takes the mound for the Indians against Roger Clemens for the Yankees.

Ohio State tackles Purdue tonight in East Lafayette and as I have written before this game worries me.
Being on the road and with the spread offense that the Boilermakers bring to the table spells concern for the Bucks.
Here is my call-Ohio State survives a close one 24-20.

Bullpen Notes

I remember the bug problems that the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium had during baseball season,but I was not aware of any problems since the move to inner downtown away from Lake Erie to Jacobs Field.
That would have driven my nerves to their ending really fast!

The Ashland Arrows pounded the Orrville Red Riders 42-0 in Orrville behind 4 touchdown passes by Taylor Housewright.
The Arrows improve to 6-1 overall,4-0 in the OCC and keep the first place tie with Lexington.
The Minutemen blasted the Wooster Generals 58-3.

The New Jersey Devils return to action tonight vs the Florida Panthers.Coverage here tomorrow.

Nationals Farm Authority has their take on the 2007 Hagerstown Suns.
I agree with most of their thoughts,but not all.
I will take a crack on this on the next slow day.

Predictions on tonight's fights

WBC Jr.Lightweight title
Manny Pacquiao vs Marco Antonto Barrera
Pick Pacquiao Unanimous decision

WBC Interim Heavyweight Title
Samuel Peter vs Jameel McCline
Peter KO 4

Photo Credit
Hafner-Chris Chambers-Getty Images
Helmets-Helmet Project

Tribe routs Yankees,Devils struck by Lightning

The Cleveland Indians overcame a slow start by an unusually wild C.C Sabathia to pound the New York Yankees and take a 1-0 series lead with a 12-3 blasting.
Sabathia picked up the win despite only pitching 5 innings and walking 6 Yankees over the course of his innings.
The Tribe smacked 4 long balls off New York pitching and Kenny Lofton had 4 RBI without a homer.
Asdrubal Cabrera,Ryan Garko,Travis Hafner and Victor Martinez were the Indians that hit homers.
Sabathia seemed to be overtaken with nerves and was overthrowing,which happens when you are overly psyched for a game.
In any event,the Indians bats more than made up for it in the win.
Game 2 is today in Cleveland with Andy Pettite for the Yankees against Fausto Carmona for Cleveland.

The New Jersey Devils and the new style of Brent Sutter looked great for 30 mins,but after a 2nd period goal by Vincent LeCavalier tied the game for Tampa,the Devils looked confused and less confident.
That meant it was just a matter of time before the roof caved in and with 3:52 to go-it did just that.
LeCavalier scored his 2nd goal to give Tampa the 2-1 lead and the Lightning added an empty netter to make the final 3-1.
The Devil goal came on a first period power play with Brian Gionta redirecting a Zach Parise shot.
Martin Brodeur played well in goal,as neither of the 2 allowed goals were bad goals that you could fault him on.
Sutter certainly was not bluffing on his mixing up lines as none of the four were together last year.
One question that I have is why veteran Richard Mativicuk was a healthy scratch?
One would think that with Colin White out with an eye injury,this would be a good place for some veteran leadership,but instead Mike Mottau played on the 3rd defense unit.
Two guys that I thought not only played well,but impressed with their grit was Arron Asham and rookie David Clarkson.
Trust me-Devil fans are going to fall in love with Clarkson very quickly,
A high motor and toughness too,as he pounded the much larger Chris Gratton in a late game fight.
The Devils stay in Florida and battle the Florida Panthers in Miami Saturday night.

Bullpen Notes

I know a lot of Indian fans are hot at LeBron James wearing a Yankee hat,but to me it isn't a big deal.
He has been a Yankee fan since he was a kid.
If I was in that spot,I would root for my team too.

TBS is going through some growing pains in its first baseball postseason.
First,I give them credit and then some blame on the same topic.
The Rockies-Phillies game ran long,so they started the Tribe on TNT.
Credit for them on that.
Most of the time,the later game gets joined in progress,so smart move.
But,then they moved the game back to TBS,but in the middle of the inning!
Law and Order re-runs could not waited until the 3rd out?
The other is this-please give the animated leadoff mark a rest.
It cluttered the screen and was not all that interesting.

I was watching a preview show for this Saturday's Oklahoma-Texas and saw something that OU does to honor their Heisman winners.
Huge statues of all 4 of their Heisman winners located inside a beautiful park near the Sooners stadium.
It looked terrific and I would be wholeheartedly behind a similar idea for Ohio State.

Finally the Ashland Arrows attempt to hold onto 1st place in the OCC continues tonight as the Arrows travel to Orrville to battle the Red Riders.
Tough game as always for the Arrows.

Photo Credit
Lofton:Gregory Shamus-Getty Images
Clarkson-Gratton-Chris O'Meara-AP Photo
Helmets-Ohio Helmet Project

Indians return to post season,Devils premiere as well

Big night in sports as the Cleveland Indians battle the invaders from the "big cesspool" in Game 1 of the ALDS,while thousands of miles south and a half an hour later,the New Jersey Devils begin their season with a murderous road trip in Tampa's Citrus Bowl vs the Lightning.
Plus the Chicago Blackhawks start their season as well in Minnesota vs the Wild.

I think I will be watching the Tribe live and taping the Devils to watch at work,so we will have coverage of both games tomorrow.
If the Indians win Game 1,I really like their chances of winning the series.
I don't like the Yankee starters at all once you get past Chien-Ming Wang and Wang starts tonight against C.C. Sabathia for Cleveland.
Andy Pettite and Roger Clemens go for the Yanks in Games 2 and 3 and both are more than capable of a big effort,but both are battling through age and injury,so I would not feel too safe counting on them.
I will say this-if it comes down to the Bullpen,New York has a huge edge with Mariano Rivera and the devastating rookie Joba Chamberlain over Joe Borowski and Rafael Betancourt.
Actually,I will go even further and predict this-The Indian bullpen will lose at least 1 winnable game for Cleveland in the series.
Both teams have potent offenses,but the Yankees have the edge in playoff experience and that could go a long way here,especially with a Game 1 Yankee win.
I will say Cleveland in 5,but the series is really too close to feel great about picking either way.

I wont get too in depth on the Devils opener since I just did the preview yesterday,but at least a split of the two games in Florida would go a long way towards navigating this road trip at .500.
Brent Sutter has mixed up quite a few of the traditional Devil lines and even broke up the long time checking line of John Madden and Jay Pandolfo.
Sutter says that he "doesn't believe in checking lines".
One thing is for sure,he certainly is not afraid to break up the norm!

Bullpen Notes

The Chicago Blackhawks start tonight vs Minnesota.
Not sure how much Hawk talk that we will have.
Their games start at 8:30 here,which means they finish too late for me to take them to work.
So,for the most part,I will watch the Hawks on Tuesdays and Wednesdays that the Devils do not play and the occasional Sunday night.
Sunday games usually start at 7:00.
So,if I get to watch the game,we will cover it here.
The first date that looks to work out is Oct 1o vs the San Jose Sharks.

Interesting quotes from Boxing promoter Bob Arum.
Arum has mended fences with former friend Oscar De La Hoya and is co-promoting this weekend's 130 lb title fight between Manny Paquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera.
Arum offered this thought on the reunion.
"That's what this sport should be all about and that's what we need to do to counter this momentum you see with the UFC. We're a much better, much more compelling sport. But they do a better job than we do of getting their matches made and making them into events.
I agree wholeheartedly,Bob!!!

I realized that we missed two games of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats since all the other football started.
The Cats split the games winning at home over Calgary 24-20 and just missing a road upset over division leader Winnipeg losing 21-19.
The Cats are 2-12 on the year and return to action Monday in Montreal vs the Alouettes.

And finally,nice job by Lou Pinella last night in pulling Carlos Zambrano out after 6 innings and 85 pitches in the Cubs loss to Arizona.
Pinella violated the top rule of managing at any level-don't worry about tomorrow when you must win today..

New Jersey Devils Preview

The 2007-08 New Jersey Devils are a hard team to project.
They have a new coach,4 rookies,a few new veterans and lost a few key players to free agency.
Many observers are counting the Devils out,but we aren't quite ready to so yet.
The Hockey media has always had a anti-Devils bias (don't believe me? find some Mike Brophy columns in the Hockey News,where he screams "anyone but the Devils"),so they would love to see this happen.
Ironically,this is happening as the Devils begin to streamline the style that won three Stanley Cups,as new coach Brent Sutter is starting to phase out the defensive protection style and use a more aggressive fore-checking style that should begin to quiet the critics of Devils Hockey that complain of it being boring.
I doubt that will happen though,as with anything in the world,once a reputation is gained it is difficult to shed away.
General Manager Lou Lamoriello seems to being letting Sutter do things his way,but how long will he do so?
I have great respect for Lamoriello,but I must admit that I am wondering if he is serious about being more hands-off with the coaching staff.

The Devils did suffer some major losses and will need some players to step up to replace them.
The biggest loss was defenseman Brian Rafalski to the Red Wings.
Rafalski returns home to his native Michigan and I must admit that I thought Brian would return to the Devils,but going home is a good reason to leave.
I do not hold animosity towards players that return to their home area half as much as I do guys that leave to the highest bidder.
This leads to the other defector-Scott Gomez,who left the Devils for the bigger dollars of the New York Rangers.
Gomez gained about 12 miles in his attempt to be closer to his family in Alaska and will be the latest Ranger to get big bucks and be a disappointment.
Gomez is a top level passer,but is not a goal scorer and one of his demands in free agency was his desire to consistently be on the ice against the opposition's top lines,which he was rarely allowed to be in New Jersey.
Of course,that was to protect the Devils and Gomez from his less than stellar play on the defensive end,so the Blueshirts will enjoy that part of his game.
The final loss was steady veteran Brad Lukowich to the Lightning.
I think Lukowich would have returned in the right situation,but things did not fall that way.
Brad was a nice player,but his type are easily replaced.

The newcomers that the Devils brought in were not the big names that were lost,but should prove to be productive players.
Dainius Zubrus was signed after a solid 06-07 season with the Capitals and Sabres,but could have been overpaid.
Zubrus scored 24 goals last season and can play either wing or center.
Defenseman Karel Rachunek and Vitali Vishnevski come to New Jersey to add to fill the void left by Rafalski and Lukowich.
Rachunek has the rap of a soft,slow player that he will need to change to be a helpful player.
Ryan reports that Rachunek was a player that he was happy to see leave Ottawa and thinks he is not a good Devil fit.
Ryan saw him play often in his Ottawa years and I haven't seen him play much,so I will defer to Ryan until I can see him play more myself.
Vishnevski comes with a reputation of being a hard hitting,aggressive defender that could quickly become a popular Devil for his toughness.
Arron Asham comes to New Jersey from the Islanders and the gritty winger seems to be an excellent fit for the Sutter system

Four Rookies made the roster to start the season.
Forwards Niklas Bergfors,David Clarkson and Rod Pelley all start their first full season in the league and are joined by Andy Greene on the back group.
All but Bergfors had cameos at various points during last season and Greene was even on the playoff roster.
Bergfors has been a closely watched player by Devil fans since his 1st round selection by New Jersey in 2005.
He is a creative offensive player and should fit into the new Sutter style of play.
Clarkson was impressive during his appearances last season and brought reminders of Randy McKay to Devils fans.
Pelley will likely make appearances as the checking center over the course of the season,while Greene is expected to step right in as one of the top six defensemen and make an immediate impact.

The lines and defensive pairings have not been announced,so I cannot comment too much on actual pairings yet.
The Captaincy was removed from Patrik Elias in favor of 3 players each wearing the A.
Elias,along with Brian Gionta and Dainius Zubrus will each have the A on the jersey until a Captain is decided on down the road.
Gionta missed 20 games last season,but still scored 25 goals and the Devils badly need the right winger to return to 05-06 form when Brian scored 48 goals.
Zach Parise had a huge sophomore season with a 62 point year splitting his points evenly between goals and assists.
Parise will see time at both center and left wing.
Travis Zajac scored 17 goals with 25 assists and should move up to a higher line this year,so continued improvement could go a long way to Devil postseason hopes.
Tough veteran winger Jamie Langenbrunner will miss some time this season due to hernia injury,but will return around mid-season.
John Madden,Jay Pandolfo and Sergei Brylin return to harass opposing teams with their defensive skills.

Paul Martin was given a lucrative contract extension to be the star of the Devil D-Corps.
Martin has improved every year and needs to continue the improvement,especially on the power play where Rafalski's loss could be felt the most.
Colin White continues to smack around teams with his physical play,but could miss the season start after a camp eye injury and veteran
Richard Mativchuk returns after an abbreviated last season to add leadership to the team.
John Oduya returns for his second season with the Devils to round out the unit.

The Goaltenders are led by the best in the world in Martin Brodeur.
Brodeur did appear to wear down last season after playing in 78 of 82 games and Kevin Weekes has been brought in to give Marty an occasional game off.

One worry is a slow start as the Devils will play their first nine games on the road as the new Prudential Center is still being completed.
If the Devils can go 5-4 on the trip,I would consider it a successful trip.

All and all,I think the Devils will have a tough time defending the Atlantic division title,but they certainly are a playoff team and will be a tough team to beat come playoff time.

Bullpen Notes

The Devils claimed defenseman Sheldon Brookbank off waivers from Columbus yesterday.
Brookbank won the Eddie Shore award for top defenseman in the AHL last season.
No word if Brookbank will stay in New Jersey or be assigned to Lowell.

In a funny note-new Middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik left his $666,500 check in his Atlantic City hotel room.
No harm done as the check was canceled and reissued.

Quick Baseball predictions
AL-Indians in 5,Red Sox in 4
NL-Cubs in 5,Rockies in 5

Medals for the 2007 Minor League Season..........

Again with apologies to the Olympics and Keith Olbermann, here are our awards for the 2007 Minor League season.
Some categories are restricted to the South Atlantic and Carolina Leagues,while others are open to other leagues.
To win an award,you must have played/been at a game that we attended this past year.
Enjoy!

Best Prospect-SAL/Position Player-Non Suns

Gold:Bill Rowell-3B-Delmarva-Needs work on defense,if he wants to stay at 3rd
Silver:Adrian Cardenas-2B-Lakewood-Could wind up at SS too
Bronze:Ryan Royster-OF-Columbus
Honorable Mention-Desmond Jennings-OF-Columbus (Would have ranked higher,but he didn't play the night we saw Columbus.)

Best Prospect-Position Player-Suns

Gold:Chris Marrero-OF-The bat is going to play,question is it in the outfield?
Silver:Justin Maxwell-OF-Overcame a slow start to fly through the Washington system
Bronze:Mike Daniel-OF-I thought he outperformed Maxwell in Hagerstown.
Honorable Mention-Marcos Cabral-2B-Best of some slim pickings for this spot

Best Prospect-Pitcher-Non-Suns

Gold:Antonio Bastardo-Lakewood-Was dominant all year and in his game here as well.
Silver:Pedro Beato-Delmarva-Big righthander needs to be moved slowly
Bronze:Polin Trinidad-Lexington-Lanky power pitcher looks to be a good one
Honorable Mention;Alex Periard-West Virginia-Loved his Seaver-like mechanics
Mike McClendon-West Virginia-very poised
David Qualben-Lexington-Hard throwing Lefty

Best Prospect Pitcher-Suns

Gold-Cory Van Allen-Lefty fireballer wins easily.
Silver-Bradley Meyers-Overmatched the teams he faced while here.Plus I picked him in my Pirate Shadow draft.
Bronze:Jhonny Nunez-Still needs time to develop
Honorable Mention-Jeff Mandel-Erratic,but showed flashes of potential.

Best Signer/dealing with fans-Non Suns

Gold-Adrian Cardenas-Lakewood-This was the largest margin of victory in a category
Silver-Jared Hughes-Hickory-Terrific guy that would have been closer,if I had seen Hickory more.Watch for a win next year with Cardenas not being in a close league.
Bronze-Tie.Alex Periard and Mike Ramlow-West Virginia-both great young men.
Sometimes there is an dead heat in the Olympics,so I am calling one here.
Honorable Mention-Mike Crotta,Brad Clapp and Eric Krebs of Hickory-Too hard to separate these guys!
Nick Weglarz-Lake County-Not only a solid prospect,but signed much as you liked.

Best Signer/dealing with fans-Suns

Gold-Erik Arnesen-I know you expected him to win,but win was closer than you think.
Silver-Cory Van Allen-First player to give me a nickname and use it!
Bronze-Justin Maxwell-Noses out Mike Daniel due to his super signature
Honorable Mention-Mike Daniel-Almost won the Bronze
Chris Marrero-Great signer,but kinda quiet.

Biggest Aggravation-Autograph Division-SAL

Gold-Tom Herr -Hagerstown-Was miserable in Hagerstown and it showed.
Silver-Most of the Greenville Drive-Easily the worst signing team that I have seen here.
Bronze-Tom Herr-Hagerstown-bears repeating
Honorable Mention-Darren Ford-West Virginia-was mad about his SAL return and should have been,but that is the Brewers fault not the fans.

Biggest Aggravation-Autograph Division-Non SAL

Gold-Tie.Jordan Schafer and Eric Campbell-Myrtle Beach-Was never the right time to approach either of these guys.
Bronze-Einar Diaz-Lynchburg-Refused to sign before or after the game and only 1 card when he did sign by the exit gate.
Honorable Mention-Kala Ka'aihue-Myrtle Beach- and he is supposed to be the nicer of the two brothers!

Best fan Moments-

Gold-Koby Clemens-Lexington-Wiped out an obnoxious heckler verbally and taught me some new curse words!
Silver-Battlin' Bob-Asked Suns GM Will Smith to sign his Suns Plunger on the worst giveaway night of the season!
Bronze-Ron Davenport-Lynchburg-Told me two minutes before Jordan Schafer ignored everyone that we didn't want him because Schafer was the "Biggest d**k in the whole league".
Honorable Mention-Ryan and Jerry Browne-Hagerstown-
Browne "what do you guys do with these cards?"
Ryan-"I don't know what the rest of these guys do,but I put them all in a box,It is a collection".
Battlin' Bob-Booed every Suns employee in sight and even booed the Scoreboard Cowboy's mom later in the game.

Worst National Anthems.(next year I am noting names for this)

Gold-The guy who did the "Bobby Brown" style anthem in Frederick.
Reminded me of the rap National anthem on an old episode of Wings.
Silver-Older guy who blew the anthem three lines into the song in Hagerstown,asked for a restart,gave one big emphasis on "rockets red glare" and then gave the choke sign to the press box and threw in the towel.
Bronze-Ryan Starr of nonsense show American Idol at State College.
She could not even remember the words for the anthem,they had to put them on the scoreboard!
Plus,Duke Welker heckled her constantly for it.......
Honorable Mention-The young man that played the instrumental on the trumpet.
He did his best,but the anthem is a tough song to play on a trumpet for a 5th grader.

Best Suns Employee
Gold-Cindy Fitz-Always pleasant and friendly-pictured with Battlin Bob
Silver-Brandon ?-Sorry I don't have a last name,but he is the hardest worker that they have.


Best Autograph Ballpark

Gold:Hickory
Silver:Frederick
Bronze:Hagerstown
Honorable Mention;Lynchburg


Worst Autograph Ballpark
Gold:Altoona
Silver:Greensboro
Bronze;Asheville

I may do a sequel to this,if I think of enough missed items.
Back later with some usual ramblings

Photo Credits
Medals-Olympics
All others-Ryan Heimberger

What a weekend!

Cannot complain about the weekend for sure as everything fell right!
College teams that I dislike lost,the previously mentioned Kelly Pavlik title win,a Steeler loss and most importantly-wins by Ohio State and then wins by both the Browns and Seahawks!
And as an added bonus,the Pirates finished the season with more losses and gave themselves the 2nd overall pick in next years draft.
High picks are not a guarantee of a great player,but if the guy picking the players knows what he is doing,the comeback road begins.
Plus,we get to see quickly whether or not Bob Nutting has given the management money to pay the best player or not.

First-in a must win game for the Cleveland Browns,the Clevelanders dominated the hated Baltimore Ravens 27-13 and sent Brian Billick and his gang of thugs whining back to Crackmore with a loss hanging around them.
The Raven run defense was as good as advertised and held Jamal Lewis to 64 yards on the ground,although Lewis did rush for the first rushing touchdown against the Ravens this season.
However,the Browns beat the visitors in the textbook way,Big plays from the passing game,protect your passer and do not turn the ball over.
The Derek Anderson to Braylon Edwards over noted loudmouth corner Chris McAllister was a thing of beauty in the first quarter and resulted in short completed passes as the game went on,as Edwards had to be respected going deep from then on.
I do not always speak highly of Braylon Edwards,but for the 4 games this season,I have no complaints.
He is playing harder and with a more physical attitude.
Let's hope this continues!
Anderson had hit Joe Jurevicius earlier in the quarter on a 2 yard scoring strike and the fight seemed to slowly deflate from the Ravens after the Edwards play.
In the second period,Lewis rushed for his ground TD after a Phil Dawson field goal for a 24 point scoring half and the Browns led at the half 24-6,as two Baltimore field goals were sandwiched around the Browns scores.
The Browns basically just played things under wraps for the second half,avoided the big mistake and watched the time roll away.
The defense played as well as they had all year,although the Raven offense is one of the worst in the league.
The Raven numbers look good with Steve McNair passing for over 300 yards and Willis McGahee running for over 100,but none of them came in crucial situations.
Next weeks game is at the Patriots and is an unlikely win,but stranger things have happened....

Meanwhile as the Browns celebrated by Lake Erie,the Seahawks were kicking off by the bay in a first place game against the Forty Niners.
The Seahawks defense was destructive and basically harassed San Francisco passers into oblivion,as the Seahawks grabbed control of first place in the division with a 23-3 crushing.
Six sacks of Niner pivots drove Alex Smith from the game and resulted in an entirely ineffective Trent Dilfer in a game that if the Hawk offense brought a bit more to the game could have been a far larger victory margin.
Rocky Bernard separated Smith's shoulder on the third play of the game and the Niners could have went into the locker room with Smith and it would have made no difference.
Julian Peterson was literally unblockable and dumped Dilfer three times alone for the game.
When Dilfer was able to get the ball away,he could not miss Marcus Trufant,who picked off two of his errant tosses.
Matt Hasselbeck tossed TD passes to Marcus Pollard and Bobby Engram and had 281 yards through the air,but the big player on offense was Deion Branch.Branch wound up with 7 catches for 165 yards on the day,.
However on the running game- Shaun Alexander just cannot get untracked and is having major problems getting around end on sweeps.
He just looks tentative and looking for cut back runs and is really struggling short yardage situations.
I am really beginning to wonder if Alexander is on the downswing after many productive years.
In any event,a good win over the team that many predicted to take the division title away from Seattle.
The Seahawks travel to Pittsburgh next week for a battle against the Steelers.

The Pirates ended their season with another uninspired effort in losing again to the Cardinals 6-5.
Bryan Bullington got the start,allowed 2 runs over 5 innings and was the losing pitcher (0-3).
Bullington will likely get a spring training invite,but I don't think he makes the team.
Five different Pirates had 1 RBI on the day.
The Pirates finish the season 68-94,last in the NL Central and worst in the National League.
Later in the next week or so,we will do a season review.

Bullpen Notes

Tough break for Tampa runner Cadillac Williams,who suffered a career-threatening patella tendon tear in yesterday's Tampa win over Carolina.
Williams must be well liked and respected from the way the entire Buccaneer team crossed the field to check his injury.
Best wishes to Cadillac on his recovery.

On a sad note-4 time Olympic Discus Gold medalist Al Oerter passed away today at 71.
Oerter was the Gold winner in the 1956,1960,1964 and 1968 Summer Games.

Former Maryland hoop star Tony Massenburg signed a deal with the Washington Wizards today.
This has two thoughts for me.
Tony Massenburg still plays basketball? and he is 40??
I am getting old!

Jim Tracy and Ed Creech both appear to have a short shelf life in Pittsburgh.
Sooner the better!!

Now that Baseball coverage is over,it will be easier to catch up on promised features-hang in there!

And finally,Joe Plum sends us this link on today being the 50th anniversary of the Sputnik satellite launch.
Most that know me know what a mark that I am for NASA stuff.

Until next time!

Photo Credits
Browns fans-Joshua Gunter-Cleveland Plain Dealer
Edwards-Chuck Crow-Cleveland Plain Dealer
Bernard-Scott Eklund-Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Bullington-Joseph Sargent-AP Photo
Sputnik-some guy in Soviet Union