NFL, NBA and a Potential Baseball Catastrophe

Let me start out by talking about what happened last night in Philadelphia. The Phillies had the opportunity to finish off the Rays and win the championship, but inclement weather ruined the game. Rain poured heavily, drenching the field so much that puddles settled in the infield. Mighty winds carried the ball in different directions. At one point B.J. Upton stole 2nd base in the 5th inning and, to use announcer Tim McCarver's words, "hydroplaned" into the bag. The conditions were ridiculous and Bud Selig should be ashamed. He seemed like he had no clue what he was doing and did not even look at weather reports. Maybe FOX was pushing for the game to be played, but these kinds of events cannot happen in a possible clinching game to win a title. The next game will attempted to be played Wednesday, Oct. 29.

Football
After another weekend in the NFL, it is very difficult to distinguish who will make the playoffs and who will miss it. The Titans continue to get great play from their defense and running game, continuing their run as the only undefeated team in the league. Here are some other thoughts:

- The Chargers fired defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell today following a loss to the Saints in London in which San Diego looked like the Lions on defense. Looks like a sign of desperation for a team many picked to win the Super Bowl
- The Colts, after losing last night to the Titans on Monday Night Football, are looking at their division slipping away and a possible playoff berth slipping as well. Peyton Manning looks different since his knee surgeries
- The Giants are still the best team in the NFL...you gotta beat the best to be the best
- The NFC East is still the best division in football and this past weekend showed it

Hoops
The NBA kicks off tonight and all everyone is talking about is a Celtics/Lakers rematch in the finals. Let's face it - such a matchup can very well happen again one year later. The Celtics only lost James Posey, who was a great role player, but they still have a good bench and maturing players in Leon Powe and Glen Davis. The Lakers get back a healthy Andrew Bynum, a player who had the highest field goal percentage in the league last year before he got injured. And they still do have this one dude named Kobe. 'Nuff said.

So who can beat the Celtics in the East? The biggest challengers have to be the Cleveland Cavs. They have a superstar in LeBron James who isn't too shabby either. LeBron now has a solid scoring guard beside him in Mo Williams, a player who can score 20 points a game. He did not have that kind of help last year yet they still made it to the 7th game of the Eastern Conference Finals.

You still have the New Orleans Hornets continuing to mature in the West and the Detroit Pistons as stalwarts in the East. The Blazers are trying to break through as a young team with solid talent, but will Greg Oden stay healthy?


On a final note, I attended the Michigan/Michigan State football game last Saturday at the Big House in Ann Arbor. I have to say it was one of the greatest games I ever attended. The atmosphere was electric and my team obviously devoured the competition. Rich Rod has been choking like A-Rod in crunch time. Will he ever succeed running a spread offense with a slow white guy? Will he succeed with cornerbacks who cannot stop anybody? Maybe Mark Dantonio is starting a new trend and turning the table in the state. We can only hope. At least I only hope so.