Game Over, Giants 4, Rangers 0

I wish I had a rousing, hopeful, rah-rah speech to give tonight. But, alas, I do not. I just witnessed an average, rookie pitcher completely manhandle our "All-Star" lineup. What does that term, "All-Star", even mean? This team looked like an absolute joke tonight. They take pitches they should hit and swing at pitches that freaking Yuniesky Betancourt wouldn't swing at! Maybe that's hyperbole, but maybe not. Discount for a minute that we hit the ball hard but right at 'em no fewer than 9 times tonight. Discount for a minute that we got, as Ben and Skin put it, "Bennett Salvatored" by the ump behind the plate tonight. Despite all that, we could not even get a decent hit. We had 3 hits, Nelson had a hard hit ball up the middle, and the other was from one of three guys that has not looked absolutely pathetic this series, in Mitch Moreland. Mitch is the MVP of this series for the Rangers right now... MITCH MORELAND. I know the guy is good, he has slowly crept up into my top 4 Ranger players. But still, there are 6 current or former all-stars in this lineup, and only 2 of them came to play in this series, Elvis and Nellie. Kinsler is probably third on that list in terms of production as he has not had a terrible series, and just missed a big HR in San Fran. Next is Hamilton, who hit a HR last night but was awful tonight, hit a couple balls hard, but still GIDP in the 1st when we had what would turn out to be a rare chance to score on Bumgarner. 5th is Michael Young. He wasn't awful last night, though he did GIDP twice, but still had 2 hits, but tonight he was awful. Vlad Guerrero is last. What is there to say about Vlad? He has been AWFUL. Not even mentioning his Game 1 debacle in Right Field, he has been a killer in the middle of the lineup. He has been awful, and I know he has been great all year, but if we bring him back next year, that would be a big mistake. He has tanked the second half of the season, had one big hit against the Yankees, but other than that he has been awful. I love my Rangers, but this performance tonight was unacceptable.

Bottom line... We have not gotten the breaks in this World Series, Torres' double off the bag, hitting balls hard right at 'em, Buster Posey's complete joke of a home run, Kinsler missing a home run by an inch in San Fran. It has not gone our way, but still, we have not helped ourselves out. I wish I could tell you that it is going to be OK. I wish I could say that we have Cliff going tomorrow so we have a great chance to send it back to San Fran. I wish I could say that, if we do somehow take it to Game 6, we could get any runs off Matt Cain. I wish I could tell you these things, but I can't. That's just the way baseball go, I guess, and we got here, nobody, including me, thought we would in our lifetimes. I'm proud of my team, and if this is, in fact, the way it ends, it has been a great ride and I can't wait for opening day 2011! However, maybe, just maybe, this team can come together one more time, for the fans, for the city that can't stand to watch their team lose another championship to an inferior team. Can we do it? You know we can! Will we do it? It starts with Mr. Lee tomorrow night. It's time for the greatest comeback in Dallas sports history. It's time for one of the greatest comebacks in World Series history, and It's Time for our offense to step up and win us a couple. You gotta believe! Go Rangers! (Maybe I did have a little rah-rah left in me after all)

WS Game 4 Preview

Madison Bumgarner(1-0, 3.55 ERA) vs Tommy Hunter(0-1, 6.14 ERA)

Obviously, from the numbers, Tommy has not has as good a postseason as Bumgarner. However, I think that will change today. I don't think Bumgarner is ready to face this powerful of a lineup, with the DH. He faced the Braves, whose lineup is medoicre, and the Phillies who were slumping big time as a team. Now he faces one of the top 3 lineups in baseball on their home field with their DH. If San Fran gets 5 innings with 2 or fewer earned from him today, they should be ecstatic.

The other side of it is Tommy Hunter. He has not pitched well at all this postseason, and some have even labeled him as not a postseason pitcher. However, this is by far the worst lineup he has faced, and he is at home, where he was undefeated in the regular season. The lineup is righty heavy, and 3 of the 4 guys who are the only ones really hitting at all for San Fran are all righties in Ross, Sanchez, and Posey(Huff is the 4th). However, these 3 guys are by far the worst 3 "stars" he has faced this postseason. Tommy has faced A-Rod, Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, Robinson Cano, Lance Berkman, and all of those Yankees he faced in Yankee Stadium. Bumgarner has not faced guys like Hamilton, Cruz, Guerrero, Kinsler. He has faced Howard and Utley, both of whom are going through big time struggles of their own.

Who wins this game you ask? My prediction is Rangers 7, Giants 5. The MVP award of the game will go to Nelson Cruz, who will hit a HR and a double and drive in 3 runs. Go Rangers!

The Day in College Football

I was 3-2(soon to be 4-2 when the TCU game ends), in my picks of the undefeated's games. I actually had Utah winning 28-23, and I could not have been more right, crazy! I said Missouri would get hammered by Nebraska, and they did, I had the score close but was still off. I thought Sparty would show more fight at Kinnick Stadium, but they were a joke, though I still had them losing. Oregon and Auburn impressed me, and I no longer doubt either of them, although Alabama will beat Auburn at the end of the year, and the National Championship, as I have been saying for weeks, will be Boise-Bama.

Saturday's Awards

Top Player: Roy Helu, Jr., Nebraska RB- School Record 307 yards rushing and 3 TDs in a 31-17 win vs. rival Missouri

Top Team: Iowa(37-6 win over undefeated Michigan St) & Oregon(53-32 win at USC)

Heisman Favorite: Cam Newton, QB, Auburn(LaMichael James got back into the conversation though)

Coaching Blunder: Brian Kelly- down by 1 at the opponent's 18 yard line with :43 left and a timeout, with a true freshman, backup QB in the game, he calls a pass to the end zone that gets intercepted and costs the Irish the game, and the worst of all, he said he would do it again if he was in the same situation, if it were me, he would be fired on the spot for being a MORON

Rangers 4, Giants 2 (SF Leads 2-1)

Great to come home and get a win! Colby Lewis, nuff said. The man, again, was fantastic. If ever there was a must-win game, this was it, and Colby delivered in a big way. 7 2/3 innings of 2 run ball. He got away with some stuff in the first 2 innings, but was able to come out unscathed, settled in, and was nearly unhittable from the 3rd thru the 7th innings. O'Day was able to come in and, as scary as it was, get Colby and the Rangers out of the 8th with a 4-2 lead. From there, it may as well have been game over. The Giants bats were no match for Nefty Feliz. He blew through the 3 with no problem. Pat Burrell was an automatic, easy out all night. Ross got into one, but Frenchy was there to get it just shy of the wall. And finally, Uribe stood a .00001% chance to get a hit on Nefty, and, shocker, he did not.

The Offense was average at best, yet again. Without a Mitch Moreland 3-run shot, this was a very mediocre game. Mike grounded into 2 DPs and Bengie into another. Our situational hitting was awful, and we didn't take near enough pitches. Sanchez is the major league leader in walks and everyone except Bengie refused to take pitches. We got a lot of runners on, but could not move them over, and when we were able to, we could not bring them in. We will need more runs tomorrow in order to win, mark my words! Our 9-hole, rookie hitter was our only form of offense to night, pitiful. However, I have faith that we will have the much needed breakout game tomorrow. It's Time! Go Rangers! Also, I will be attending tomorrow, Halloween costume suggestions will be considered...

Box Score here

Virginia 24, Miami 19

Absolutely pathetic, nothing more I can say. This Miami team, and Miami teams in the past 5 years for that matter, have lost the swagger. This program is a joke. It is so painful to watch them week in and week out struggle against terrible teams. This is one of the most talented teams in the country, and they underachieve year after year. They are a disgrace to all who have worn the Orange and Green in the past. This underachieving can only be due to coaching. I have been on the Randy Shannon bandwagon, but I'm jumping off. I'm tired of looking over at the sideline and seeing Randy's face looking like he is colossally confused and has no idea what football even is. This team, these coaches, are pathetic, and it's time for a massive overhaul. I will be a lifelong 'Canes fan, and I will still watch every game as a loyal fan, but that doesn't mean i won't be miserable watching this pathetic excuse for a football team. Pathetic... but Go Canes

Memphis 91, Dallas 90

One of the laziest Mavs performances I have seen in a long time. We played no defense, we just fouled instead. Memphis went to the line 12 more times than we did. We made just 67% of our free throw attempts, including 2 misses from Dirk. 18 turnovers will never be adequate, and that is what cost us the game. We turned it over on our last possession with 2 seconds left and a chance to win the game and nearly turned it over with 6 seconds left and a chance to win the game. Really a pathetic performance all around, no real standouts. It was just really really lazy, the team and the crowd, anyways, it's not a huge deal right now... Go Rangers!! Box Score

How the Undefeateds will fare this weekend...

This weekend holds some interesting games, as some of the top teams go on the road for tough matchups. Let's start with the lowest-ranked undefeated, Utah:

#8 Utah will beat Air Force, but it will be a very close game. AFA would win the game if not for the absence of fullback Jared Tew. However, none of this really matters because Utah will get blasted by TCU in a few weeks anyways. Prediction: Utah 28, Air Force 23

#6 Missouri will not only lose to #14 Nebraska, they will get hammered by Nebraska. They are receiving way too much credit for a win over a highly overrated Oklahoma team, and are not that good themselves, although their defense is playing better than it has maybe forever. However, Taylor Martinez and the Huskers will be too much for the Tigers at home. Prediction: Nebraska 38, Missouri 28

#5 Michigan St. stands no chance on the road against #18 Iowa. Yes, Iowa is coming off a tough, 31-30 homecoming defeat to Bucky, but this team is still a good team, with an experienced QB and one of the best coaches in college football. Sparty has looked extremely vulnerable the past few weeks, and this is finally the week they stumble. Prediction: Iowa 30, Michigan St. 24

#4 TCU will travel to Vegas and put a beatdown on the Runnin' Rebels. The home team stands no chance in this game. Prediction: TCU 41, UNLV 3

#3 Boise State already won this week, in typical Boise State fashion. They beat Louisiana Tech 49-20, and the only reason it was that close was because LA Tech scored a TD in the last minute.

#2 Oregon will lose to USC at the Coliseum. This will be a fantastic game, very high scoring, very PAC-10. However, the experienced (and by experienced, I mean old) mind of Monte Kiffin will come through once again and the hated Lane Kiffin will get a great win for USC. It should be a great game, and Oregon is more than capable of beating down SC, but Greenie doesn't think they will. Prediction: USC 42, Oregon 37

Finally, top-ranked Auburn will lose on the road at Ole Miss. This may sound crazy, but it will happen. Houston Nutt always gets himself an upset per year in the SEC, and this is his best chance to do so. He gets the top ranked team with a completely unproven defense at home, where his Rebels have played well this year. Masoli has that offense clicking, averaging over 30 points a game, and they will need all 30+ this week. Prediction: Ole Miss 33, Auburn 31

Get ready for BCS shakeups come Sunday night. I believe the Boise State Broncos will finally jump into the #1 spot and be on the fast track to the national title game (but watch out for Hawai'i on Friday!). Alabama will jump to the #2 spot and be back on the fast track themselves. This is only one man's opinion, but wait for it...

Rangers Chances

Earlier tonight I was in pain watching my Rangers struggling to score runs against a far from dominant Matt Cain. We were missing pitches we never miss; everyone was getting the ball right in their sweet spot and just missing. One thing I realized: This is not the Yankee series. Were not swinging the bats as well. However, this is neither here nor there. I am here to encourage everyone. We can do this.

In 2006, I watched my Mavs dominate the first 2 games of the NBA Finals at home, I mean absolutely dominate. However, when we went on the road, we were a different team, and the refs started to call everything for Miami. The Rangers find themselves in the position of the Heat. They're coming back home after getting their butts handed to them by a team who was clearly playing better, and was getting all the calls. Now we're at home, and we should get some calls. This series is far from over, our other hometown team has proven that all too well. Let's Go Rangers!

Pathetic

I can't believe I'm doing this, this is so not me. However, I need a place where I can vent my thoughts and anger, and talk about sports (albeit with nobody). I think I'll enjoy this