Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Opining on the World Series, Urban Meyer and SU football

Man, if the Yankees blow this World Series after going up three-games-to-one, Joe Girardi’s decision to use each of his starters on just three days rest is going to be second-guessed from here to eternity.

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Barring a remarkable performance from one of his Philadelphia teammates or one of the Yankees, Chase Utley should win the MVP award hands-down, even if the Phillies don’t win the championship. Naming an MVP from a losing team wouldn’t be unprecedented. A lot of people erroneously think Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Bill Mazeroski won the award after beating the Bronx Bombers with his famous walk-off homer in Game 7 of the 1960 Fall Classic. But the award went to the second baseman from the other team – Bobby Richardson, whose body of work included 12 RBI, a Series record that still stands.

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I can’t decide which has been more painful to watch recently – Ryan Howard batting or the Bills offense. One more strike out, and Howard will establish a dubious Series record with 13 whiffs.

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Former Syracuse University wide receiver Mike Williams obviously is a troubled young man. The wide receiver with NFL talent was given a second chance this fall after a year hiatus from SU following a suspension for academic cheating. Instead of learning his lesson and being grateful for the new opportunity, Williams wound up being suspended for the Akron game two weeks ago after violating unspecified team rules, then he walked into coach Doug Marrone’s office Monday morning to tell him he was quitting the team. This was a young man who had the potential to be a high draft pick, but he cost himself hundreds of thousands of dollars by blowing his second chance. If he is drafted, it will be late because teams will be reluctant to risk a pick on a player with serious character flaws.

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Glad to see that Florida football coach Urban Meyer takes his role as builder-of-young-men so seriously. After learning that his linebacker and defensive captain Brandon Spikes attempted to gouge the eyes of a Georgia running back in last Saturday’s game, Meyer decided to suspend Spikes for the first half of this week’s game. Wow! That ought to teach Spikes a lesson and send a strong message to the rest of the team that such behavior won’t be tolerated in Gator land.

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Congrats to my long-suffering but loyal son, Chris, whose St. Louis Lambs snapped their winless streak by beating the Detroit Lions Sunday.

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