Boxing Challenge

    The boxing challenge nears its end for 2020, but the month of December is going to finish very strong with Errol Spence's victory last week, Anthony Joshua this week, Canelo Alvarez next Saturday, and the year will end with a super matchup from Japan on New Year's Eve with Kazuto Ioka against Kosei Tanaka.

This week will feature fights from all three major platforms and promoters and three of the four heavyweight titles on the line in London.

In the main event in London, Anthony Joshua makes his return to the ring for the first time in a year and for the first time since regaining his WBA, IBF, and WBO heavyweight titles from Andy Ruiz.

Joshua defends those three titles in a mandatory bout from the IBF against their top contender Kubrat Pulev.

Pulev is a straight-ahead boxer with little movement and suffered his only loss in a title shot against then-champion Wladimir Klitschko via a fifth-round knockout.

Since that defeat, Pulev has won decisions over Derek Chisora and Hughie Fury as the best of his eight straight wins since the Klitschko loss and he hasn't shown much that would make you think he can beat Anthony Joshua- BUT Andy Ruiz hadn't either and he managed the feat!

Joshua looked very tentative but effective against Ruiz and this version of Joshua may be the start of a transition from exciting and vulnerable to cautious and less so...

The co-feature was scheduled to see the WBO cruiserweight title finally filled after a year and a half (!) 

as Krzysztof Glowacki was to face Lawrence Okolie to crown a champion.

Glowacki lost controversially to Mairis Briedis last June, appealed for a rematch and due to the WBSS format, Briedis had a choice- either drop the WBO belt or face Glowacki and leave the WBSS.

Briedis chose the higher dollars and Glowacki has to be involved in any fight for the vacant title.

So Glowacki has dropped out twice due to injury, so Okolie faces substitute, Nikodem Jezewski.

Jezewski is undefeated against the low-level competition, but on short notice, you take what you can get.

The final challenge match from London pits two former title challengers as Hughie Fury (Cousin of Tyson) against Mariusz Wach in a heavyweight ten rounder.

Wach is fairly durable, but 3-4 in his last seven and painfully slow, while Fury is closer to top form, boxes smoother, and should outbox the lumbering Wach.

ESPN takes the stage in the evening with former WBO featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson staying busy before a junior lightweight title fight in 2021 against the winner of WBO champion Jamel Herring against Carl Frampton as Frampton moves to 130 pounds.

Stevenson is clearly about two cuts above Clary, who has lost in his biggest bout in a 2018 IBF featherweight eliminator that would have earned him a title chance had he defeated Kid Galahad.

Clary is a nice fighter at his level, but this shouldn't be very competitive.

I am intrigued by the co-feature with one-time phenom Felix Verdejo continuing his comeback against Masayoshi Nakatani in a ten rounder at junior lightweight.

Verdejo blew out Will Madera in a round in July and seems to be committed to fighting more frequently, but will be tested by Nakatani, who surpassed expectations in taking Teofimo Lopez twelve rounds last summer in Lopez's last fight before winning his IBF title with a second-round KO of Richard Commey.

The Lopez loss is the only loss for Nakatani, so the winner of this fight should wind up with a top ten ranking in the lightweight division.

Showtime also has a three-fight card that isn't as dazzling, but it's interesting enough.

The main event will see flashy Chris Colbert defend his minor title at junior lightweight against  Jaime Arboleta.

The colorful Colbert has plenty of speed and boxing ability but has only five knockouts in his fourteen wins and I wonder if he has enough pop as he begins to face the best fighters in the division.

Arboleta has defeated two undefeated fighters, another at 29-2, and in his most recent fight won a split decision over former title challenger Jayson Velez, so he's not an easy out.

Still, Colbert seems to be too elusive for Arboleta in this one.

Super Middleweights Ronald Ellis and Matt Korobov should be the best fight on the card.

Ellis missed weight by five pounds and paid Korobov a chunk of his purse for going through with the fight.

Korobov is in his first fight since tearing his shoulder in the second round against Chris Eubank Jr. last year and gave Jermall Charlo all sorts of problems in losing a close decision in 2018, while Ellis upset Immanuel Aleem in his last fight (Korobov has a draw vs Aleem), but suffered his first loss to DeAndre Ware (Not the Run and Shoot QB) in the fight before that one.

Korobov is 37 and with shoulder questions, but still on the resume' should be favored.

Ellis may be closer to his prime but is taking a leap in competition and I can make a case for either man winning this one.

The opener is Floyd Mayweather's Money Team member Richardson Hitchens taking his first try against better opponents as he takes on former IBF junior lightweight champion Argenis Mendez.

Hitchens is very similar to Chris Colbert, very flashy, fast and not a lot of power, while Mendez has failed against the best of the division with losses to Luke Campbell, Robert Easter, and Rances Barthelemy, despite holding a title at one time.

Mendez is 34 and the perfect opponent to gauge how close Hitchens is to the next level.

In the boxing challenge, I lead Ramon Malpica 167-154.

WBA/IBF/WBO Heavyweight Titles. 12 Rds

Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev

R.L: Joshua KO 9

TRS: Joshua KO 7

Cruiserweights 12 Rds

Lawrence Okolie vs Nikodem Jezewski.

R.L; Okolie KO 6

TRS: Okolie KO 8

Heavyweights. 10 Rds

Hughie Fury vs Mariusz Wach

Both: Fury Unanimous Decision

Junior Lightweights. 10 Rds

Shakur Stevenson vs Toka Khan-Clary

R.L: Stevenson KO 8

TRS: Stevenson KO 6

Junior Lightweights. 10 Rds

Felix Verdejo vs Masayoshi Nakatani

R.L: Nakatani Unanimous Decision

TRS: Verdejo Unanimous Decision

Junior Lightweights. 12 Rds

Chris Colbert vs Jaime Arboleta

Both: Colbert Unanimous Decision

Super Middleweights. 10 Rds

Ronald Ellis vs Matt Korobov

R.L.: Ellis Unanimous Decision

TRS: Korobov Unanimous Decision

Junior Lightweights. 10 Rds

Richardson Hitchens vs Argenis Mendez

Both: Hitchens Unanimous Decision

 

PPM

     The PPM is short this week in the college end, so I'll be adding an extra game of the week.

This entire football season hasn't seemed "right" and yet it has never seemed more "wrong" than a season without Ohio State vs Michigan...

Last Week: 8-3

Overall: 85-31

College

Boise State over Wyoming 45-27

Memphis over Houston 30-23

Georgia Southern over Appalachian State 35-32

Florida over LSU 45-20

Games of the Week

Iowa over Wisconsin 30-24

Miami Fla. over North Carolina 24-21

NFL
Browns over Ravens 21-17

Saints over Eagles 28-17

Game of the Week

Bills over Steelers 24-21

Rule 5 Fever: Giants select Dedneil Nunez

   The San Francisco Giants are always looking for unseen gold in the baseball mine and in the Rule 5 draft, the Giants selected one player in the major league half and three in the minor league side of the draft.

San Francisco lost one player in the AAA draft for their only lost player.

San Francisco used their first choice (14th overall) on a pitcher from the Mets system in righthander Dedniel Nunez.

Nunez is a typical Rule 5 pick as he is a little older (24), throws hard (the mid to high 90s), and hasn't proven himself at a high level, but has one specific stat to recommend him.

Nunez has never pitched above High A and split 2019 between Low A Columbia and High A St.Lucie, finishing 5-4 with a 4.39 ERA between the two levels in 16 appearances, 15 of those being starts. Those numbers are pretty pedestrian, until you look at 94 strikeouts in 80 innings, walking 23, and hitters hit only .239 against him.

Add in the Giants' lack of righthanded relievers (at this time) and you have the template for the perfect Rule 5 pick- Throws hard and can be hidden in the bullpen.

San Francisco selected three players in the AAA draft and all are interesting players for different reasons.

25-year-old outfielder Vince Fernandez was selected from the Colorado Rockies with the first of their three picks.

Fernandez has shown power since the Rockies picked him in round ten of the 2016 draft from UC-Riverside with sixty homers in his four years as a pro. 

Fernandez hit .257 with 15 homers in 230 at-bats for AA Hartford in 2019, so he has some pop from the left side of the plate, but he did strike out 86 times (once in a little under every three at-bats) with Hartford and I'm not sure that he'll make enough contact to hit the bigs.

The Giants have hit on similar types before, but as always with the Rule 5 draft, it will take luck.

Fernandez will, at minimum, provide power to either AAA Sacramento or AA Richmond.

In the second round, the Giants selected Ronnie Williams, a pitcher from the St.Louis Cardinals organization that was once thought of as a top prospect after the Cardinals selected him in the second round of the 2014 draft out of high school.

Williams turns 25 in January and reached AA for the first time in 2019 when he split the season between High A Palm Beach and AA Springfield.

Williams career has been hampered by injuries and was moved to the bullpen by the Cardinals before 2018,

Williams is noted to throw in the nineties, but his strikeout numbers ( 58 in 58 innings in 2019) are good, but not great considering the scouting reports.

Williams seems worth the check because the scouts seem to love him even if the results haven't lived up to the reports.

Williams will likely start with AA Richmond.

And the third-round selection is familiar as the Giants took Mitchell Tolman, a second baseman from the New York Mets.

Tolman signed with the Mets in the off-season after being released by the Pittsburgh Pirates in June.

Tolman hit .254 with four homers in 401 at-bats for AA Altoona in 2019 before a twelve game cameo at AAA Indianapolis to finish the season.

The second baseman was drafted by the Pirates in the seventh round from Oregon in 2015 and will turn 27 in June.

Tolman will likely play at either AAA Sacramento or AA Richmond as an organizational soldier, depending on which team is in need of a second baseman/utility infielder more.

Tolman also stands out not because I've seen him play often as a member of the now-defunct West Virginia Power and the Altoona Curve.

Tolman stands out because of the infamous "Toastman" Rod Blackstone and his chants during one of our trips to Charleston.

For whatever reason, Rod's chants for Tolman "He's our Soul Man, Mitchell Tolman" was the one chant that stuck with me and I had to recite it to Mitchell when I met him two years later in Altoona at the Meet the Curve dinner.

Mitchell started laughing and several of the Curve players that had played in West Virginia started doing it as well...

The Giants lost one player in the draft, infielder Jalen Miller, who was selected by Atlanta in the second round.

Miller was the Giants 3rd round pick out of Smyrna Georgia as a high schooler in 2015 but has struggled to make contact as a pro. 

Miller turns 24 next week and after taking two years to get past High A, Miller hit .216 with 14 homers and 27 steals for AA Richmond in 2019 but continued a string of striking out more than 100 times in each of the four full seasons that he was in the Giants system.

I'll be back later with the PPM and the boxing challenge headed by Anthony Joshua defending three of the four heavyweight titles against Kubrat Pulev on Saturday.

Rule 5 Fever: Indians select Trevor Stephan

  The Rule 5 draft has been referred to by some as the nerdiest of all baseball events and that might not be far off.

However, I've always enjoyed covering this draft because I've seen many of the eligible players play.

That changed yesterday with the loss of Hagerstown and Frederick and the result will be this- as years go by, I'll have fewer and fewer chances to see players in action and who knows if I'll write much about this draft anymore.

Hell, with the way I feel about baseball right now, who knows if I'll even care by then.

Until then, I'll be writing about what I know and this article will look at the players the Cleveland Soon to be not the Indians selected and lost in Rule 5 Fever.

I hope to have a Giants version soon after or later in the week if football and boxing get in the way.

Thank you to Fred Landucci, who sent me the entire draft and helped me get a good start on this post by thinking of TRS with the information.

Cleveland selected one player in the major league portion and lost two others, while they added one player in the triple-A phase and didn't lose anyone in that part of the draft.

The Indians selected righthanded pitcher Trevor Stephan in the major league section from the New York Yankees with the 24th selection.

The 6'5 right-hander pitched for the Arkansas Razorbacks in college and was the Yankees third-round pick in the 2017 draft.

Stephan was moved aggressively by the Yankees and after seven strong starts at High A Tampa, was promoted in 2018 to High AA Trenton.

Stephan's Trenton numbers weren't dazzling (3-8 4.64 ERA), but the number that caught my eye was 91 strikeouts in 83 innings.

Stephan's 2019 saw him struggle at Trenton (2-4 5.24 ERA) and was demoted to Tampa with mechanical issues, where his numbers don't look impressive in eight starts (2-3 4.01 ERA).

However, if you go game by game, you see Stephan's final five of his eight starts were impressive and he finished the year back in Trenton

Stephan again posted good strikeout numbers in Trenton with 91 strikeouts in 80 innings and his numbers with his two-pitch mix between a mid to high 90s fastball and a good slider scream reliever.

Stephan could be hidden in the Cleveland bullpen and at his age (25) with college experience, Stephan may be able to be used more than the average Rule 5 draftee with some work on his control and keeping his mechanics clean.

Stephan will need to stay on the roster all season or be offered back to the Yankees for $50,000.

Cleveland lost two players in the Rule 5 draft as the New York Mets selected pitcher Luis Oviedo with the tenth pick and the Oakland Athletics tabbed outfielder Ka'ai Tom at pick twenty-six.

Luis Oviedo was a highly thought of righthanded pitcher before a rough 2019 that saw him struggle at Low A Lake County in 19 starts (6-6 5.38 ERA) and dealing with a back injury that sidetracked him for part of the season.

Oviedo was rated by some as a top 100 level prospect entering 2019 and at 6'4, a fastball in the mid-90s and three other pitches, Oviedo could be a player that the Indians regret losing if he can put it together in his new surroundings.

Those surroundings will not be with the Mets though as immediately after the draft, the Mets sold Oviedo to the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash considerations,

The Pirates are likely to try to stash Oviedo in the bullpen for the year as I would think the Indians would take Oviedo back for $50,000, half of the purchase price.

At 21, Oviedo still has plenty of time to harness his potential and is a good risk for the Pirates.

On the other hand, his lack of success beyond the now-defunct short-season level makes him a low risk-high reward selection.

Ka'ai Tom has been around the Indians system since Cleveland picked him in the fifth round of the 2015 draft from Kentucky.

The 26-year-old outfielder seemed to be a typical organizational soldier before he began to develop some power in 2019 when he hit .285 with 14 homers in half a season in his second tour at AA Akron.

Tom was promoted to AAA Columbus for the final 51 games of the year and hit well there with a.295 average and nine homers.

Tom likely was selected in hopes that the Indians wouldn't buy him back and could play for their AAA affiliate in Las Vegas to provide outfield insurance in the event of injuries.

Oakland has a crowded outfielder roster currently, so I'd be surprised to see Tom make the Athletics roster for the entire season, but I would be surprised to see the Indians buy him back for the fifty thousand dollar check that Cleveland would be forced to send for his return.

Cleveland didn't lose anyone in the AAA draft and selected only one player.

In the AAA part of the draft, teams pay $24,000 for each player added, but unlike the major league version, the drafting team doesn't have to offer the player back and has no restrictions on where the player's level can be.

Cleveland drafted outfielder Chris Roller from the Dodgers system.

Roller looks like a younger (24) version of Ka'ai Tom and was the Dodgers 30th round pick in the 2017 draft from a JUCO in Waco, Texas.

The six-foot Roller has yet to play more than 88 games in a season as a pro and never above Low A either.

Roller hit .274 with seven homers with Low A Great Lakes, but the unusual number is eight triples, which indicates above-average speed, but only ten steals, which is a pretty average number.

My guess is that Roller winds up at High A Lake County as a veteran hired gun for the always outfielder hurting Indians in their system wherever he is needed.

I will take a look at the Giants in the Rule 5 draft as well as a veteran signing for the major league team either tomorrow with time or next week if not.

It's official- Sun (s) set in Hagerstown, Keys locked out in Frederick

        In what seemed to be the time that it took to send out a press release, but actually had been in the works for months, Western Maryland baseball fans saw themselves move from two pro teams within 25 miles of each team to having none as the Hagerstown Suns and surprisingly the Frederick Keys lost their affiliation with Major League Baseball. 

Hagerstown's fate was sealed last week when the Washington Nationals announced that they would not be returning to the Hub City in one of the worse kept secrets in years, but the Frederick Keys were thought to be returning despite being included on the original list to be consolidated.

Frederick was offered the token gesture of being one of the six teams in the new MLB Draft League, which will feature college players playing during their off-season and often using wooden bats for the first time.

The MLB Draft League will likely be similar to the Cape Cod League as one of the best leagues of its level in the country, but in my opinion, is still a full step below the High A level of baseball that has been present for three decades in Frederick.

While it's not difficult to see why Hagerstown wasn't retained for several reasons, I wonder what the major problem was with Frederick?

Frederick's Harry Grove Stadium is 30 years old and likely could use a facelift along with some of the player amenities needing some upgrades, but I've been to far worse facilities and some of those franchises were retained.

Combine that with the consistent level of support that the Keys received from their fan base, which usually sees Frederick battling for the Carolina League attendance championship with Winston-Salem, who has a newer and beautiful ballpark, and you would think the Keys would have been a franchise that should have had no worries about staying in the game as long as assurances were made for the improvements that major league baseball would ask for.

Instead, the Keys are bound for the MLB Draft League, which doesn't start until June, plays half the games of affiliated baseball, has younger and even more untested players, and has the feel of a consolation prize from Rob Manfred and company for taking baseball away from cities.

I'd even go a step farther and offer this as a possibility- the league may be looked at as a league designed to avoid lawsuits and should the fans in those cities ( the Applachian League is also now an MLB run league) not support these teams to their previous level, MLB can close the league up on a dime and claim that they offered baseball and those cities didn't support it.

Under some of the rumored terms of these teams in the new MLB-owned setup, it is more expensive to own a team now (for the right to own a franchise) than it was under the MILB sanctioned leagues and I would again consider betting that MLB never dreamed the Appalachian League would accept those terms (The New York/Penn League did not accept those terms) and leaving MLB to at least go through the motions for a few years.

The Draft League wasn't one that was rumored for Frederick as the whispers for Frederick saw the possibility for the Keys to join the top independent league, the Atlantic League.

The Atlantic League would have brought some bigger names from the past, but certainly not the future of the game as the Carolina League does.

Still, with older players on the field, an argument can be made that the Atlantic League offers a better on-field product and with the minor leagues already being called "developmental" as is, the Draft League is going to be even more about development.

I'm not saying that is wrong, just stating what it actually is.

What is the future for Hagerstown and Frederick baseball?

For all of the things that seem to be negative about the new major league-owned system, there is one positive- the old system of territories will no longer exist.

What this means is that should Hagerstown ever decide to actually join the new millennium (twenty plus years after it started) and build a new stadium, a team in Frederick could not stop a Hagerstown return to affiliated baseball.

I don't think that is going to happen as if the desire for that existed, it would have been built when they actually possessed a franchise, but it does leave the door open a hair for Hagerstown.

As for Frederick, I have a feeling that they are being used as a stalking horse, in the unlikely event that one of the teams that received invitations decides to go out of business.

In other words, they are going to wined and dining to scare teams into renovating or building stadiums as the alternative if they don't do what the bossman says.

Frederick could always build a new stadium and should they do so, they could perhaps fit into the AA Eastern League or the high A league without a name.

Frederick always had the fan support that makes a new stadium low-risk instead of Hagerstown's chicken or egg question on a potential new park.

In the end, this takes a lot of baseball out of my life for a while.

I don't really have any interest in the MLB Draft League and with Harrisburg and Altoona 90 plus minutes away as the nearest affiliated teams, I might be reduced to going to see the Indians and Giants farm teams and the Giants now have only Richmond on the East Coast for me to see.

I'm still planning a few trips a year to see new parks with my buddies, but I don't think I'll be doing much on those trips as far autographing goes.

This might be the end of a lot of that hobby for me.

Hagerstown got what it deserved.

Frederick did everything right and still got screwed.

You can love baseball, but baseball doesn't always love you.

 

Dick Allen

   Baseball lost arguably the best player that isn't in the Hall of Fame without current ballot eligibility as Dick Allen passed away at the age of 78.

Allen had fallen short of Hall of Fame induction in the last veterans' committee meeting by one vote with the next vote from the "Golden Days" committee coming next year.

Allen's candidacy had gained steam over the last decade with the increased dependence on Sabermetrics with Allen listed by many baseball numbers crunchers as the top player of his time that is not currently in the Hall.

The 1964 National League Rookie of the Year with the Phillies and the 1972 American League MVP with the White Sox as Allen led the league in homers and RBI, Allen played in the All-Star game on seven occasions.

Known for his long home runs and heavy bat (40 ounces), Allen cleared the Connie Mack Stadium twice with homers that were thought to be unreachable for a righthanded hitter.

Allen is also ranked second in career slugging percentage that is not currently in the Hall behind only Albert Belle, another player that fell off the ballot too soon due to controversial incidents that reporters that would eventually be voters would hold against him.

The 1972 White Sox were a one-man squad as Allen literally carried them to a second-place finish to eventual world champion Oakland.

Allen's league-leading 37 homers were equaled by Chicago's second, third, fourth, and fifth place players in homers, and he led the league in RBI as well as hitting .308 with an OPS over 1,000.

I asked ESPN's Christina Kahrl for her thoughts on Allen and she was kind enough to respond- 

"He was one of baseball's most dominant hitters in a low-offense era, which mutes some portion of his greatness. What he did on the field, for the standard of his day, clearly puts him in the conversation about Cooperstown."

I have to agree with Christina's opinion- Allen should be in the conversation for the Hall and she places the operative words correctly " For the standard of the day".

That means that his lack of statistical milestones shouldn't be held against him because those numbers were excellent for his time.

Check Jayson Stark's tremendous article on Allen in the Athletic for numbers that should allow interested observers to re-evaluate how they judge the HOF.

Is it more important to accumulate numbers for longer, even if it is from a very good player rather than a great one?

Or should we place a higher priority on greatness, even if it's a shorter period of time?

Stark's column (read it, it's great) offers these stats for Allen.

From 1964-74, Dick Allen was second only to Hank Aaron in OPS (by one point),  second only to Aaron in slugging percentage, and first in OPS+.

Now consider the great players that played in that time and tell me that Dick Allen doesn't rank with the game's best.

Allen's career was filled with controversy, but he was a man ahead of his time.

The "controversy" that surrounded Allen in Philadelphia would have been considered very mild today, and with fifty years of hindsight, Allen may have had even more supporters than denigrators if he was playing in today's game.

Allen was known for a sometimes thorny personality, even late in life as my friend Greg Weimann recalled yesterday that he had to talk Allen into taking a photo with his son after paying for Allen to sign something at a card show and that when he asked for a photo with Allen and himself, he was turned down even after Allen's wife encouraging him to do so.

I'm sure that didn't help Allen's case with the fellows holding his HOF fate in their hands, but I'm not sure Allen cared about that part of it, although I'm sure he might have thought about that as he failed to make Cooperstown.

I haven't read the recent book on Allen by Mitchell Nathanson, who has written a more recent book on Jim Bouton, but Allen's 1989 autobiography "Crash" was a bit different than the average sports book.

When you read that book, it doesn't come off as extremely ghost-written and while clearly, Allen didn't write it, you could tell that he was involved far more than the average athlete's autobiography.

And one final note on Dick Allen from this blog.

The most popular recurring feature here are the Forgotten Superstars posts and it was Dick Allen that was the first profile that I ever wrote for that series in the first month of the blog.

I occasionally look back at the early years of the blog when I may have to list a link and I'll actually be pleased with the progress that I've made as a writer (not that professionals have anything to worry about), but the Dick Allen post, while not great writing, holds up better than most because it reads how I intended it to- as a fan of his career.

While it is usually the case that I'm a fan of the various beings (remember we do have a horse in the series) that are involved in the series, I was a proponent even thirteen years about the candidacy of Dick Allen for the Hall of Fame.

For years, there was a link to a site promoting Allen for the Hall until that site became dormant and to this day, the Dick Allen piece consistently is among the top twenty posts on the site for hits each year.

One final note.

Dick Allen (and Tony Oliva) each fell short by one vote in the last election of the committee that gets together every few years to discuss such things.

The meeting was scheduled for this year and was canceled due to Covid-19 and postponed until 2021.

Allen was expected to have an excellent chance of induction and now that he has passed, I would say his chances have increased further.

Which makes me madder about how things with Hall of Fame voting.

Ron Santo and football's Kenny Stabler were deserving of induction for years, yet not until they passed away did they finally receive their deserved honor.

I'd bet money that Dick Allen will receive the same treatment-induction after he could have been honored in person....

Browns win, Shawn loses

  Sorry, no analysis on the Cleveland Browns 41-35 win in Tennessee over the Titans for one huge and ridiculous reason.

Despite having Sunday Ticket, a pissing match between the owners of WUSA, our local CBS affiliate, and Directv ensued, the Browns game having been their selected game with Baltimore playing on Tuesday, and the NFL's blackout rule, everything came together for me to miss the game.

While these things should never happen to a customer, this was one of those crazy things that can happen when big business collides with the need of the customer.

Baker Mayfield threw four touchdowns and 334 yards to lead the Browns to a 38-7 lead at halftime before a furious second-half Tennessee comeback allowed the final score to be in reach for the Titans.

NFL Network replays games, so if I can, I'll try to catch it during the week and maybe offer a few mid-week thoughts on the Browns win.

The win moves Cleveland to 9-3, clinched a winning season for the first time since 2007, and pulled away in the race for the top wild card in the playoffs.

Until next time- for WUSA, the NFL, and to a lesser extent Directv.