Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Great Night in Beantown

Number 17 Baby. But Come On Paul....Hold it together a little? I was emotional too but jeez :)

Monday, October 27, 2008

The Fun is Back in Lincoln

Here is an example of the difference at Nebraska with Bo Pelini running the show. Notice Tom Osborne at the end of this video and the way the crowd reacts. It's awesome!

This is Brandon Rigoni - former special teams star for NU vs. Mark Manning aka the Mangler - NU Wrestling Coach. "The Mangler" Had 5 chances to stop Rigoni - "The Gunner" in the Oklahoma drill - Did he do it?

Sunday, October 19, 2008

9th- Congrats to the Rays - Game, Season Over

The Better team won the ALCS this year.....Good Luck to Tampa - They should win the World Series in 5 or 6 vs. Philly.

Proud of the Red Sox for really fighting hard to comeback....just wasn't enough. The hole was too big.

8th...what could have been...

8th inning - Another chance that goes by the wayside....

Red Sox: 1st and E6 chased Garza. Single by Coco into the hole that looked so inviting on TV to me to shoot a ball through. Then Dustin pop'd out to left. 1 Out. David Ortiz up.....Wheeler out. JP Howell in. This is the move that everyone talked about in Game 5....and it worked. Papi bounced to 2nd but Coco, if he slid directly into the bag, might have beaten the throw if he had slid into the bag straight. He was out instead....Bradford in. 1st and 3rd - 2 outs. It was now or never - and it was up to Youk.....and he walked. Rookie David Price comes in to face JD Drew....ok FLASHBACK: JD Drew, bases load - Game 6 of the ALCS last year - Grand Slam....Baseball is crazy...but this crazy to repeat like that?.......Price is in a HUGE SPOT - Rookie - Bases Jacked.....Drew strikes out on a check swing that went too far..

7th - Blown Chance

The Red Sox got a prayer out of Jason Varitek in Game 6....not so in Game 7.

Red Sox: Walk to JD. Single by Bay but a flyout by Kotsay and then Tek strikes out swinging badly.

This was their shot. They had a pitcher who was gassed and could have scored the tying run. 6 outs left for the Red Sox and they are not looking good right now. Why wouldn't the Red Sox HIT for TEK!!?? They have Cash on the bench and they have Ellsbury who has hit Garza pretty well?!! He could beat out an infield hit. Terry made his first mistake. The Rays have home field, a better line up, a better bullpen....this is not going to be fun....has the magic simply run out for the Red Sox?

Rays: Lead off Homer by Ayabar and starting wrapping up the locker room for the Rays. Baring a miracle - this game is over.

6th - Maybe Gm Over

The Red Sox never trailed in 2004 or 2007 Game 7 ALCS games. They were able to keep the pressure on their opponent and they were able to attack. The Rays have regained their confidence and let the crowd be a major factor. The Red Sox haven't had a hit since the first inning...Down to 9 outs

Red Sox: Walk by Dustin. Papi K's who is obviously hurt and not a factor at all in this game.....Dustin tried to steal - Strike 'em out Throw 'em out. BIG BIG Trouble

Rays: Lester does the Red Sox a HUGE service by getting them 1-2-3 with very quick work.

5th - Game Changing Inning

The 5th inning is where this game has taken a dramatic turn for the worse for the defending Champs....

Red Sox: Did nothing against Garza and they haven't done anything since the HR by Dustin. They are running out of outs.

Rays: Lead off Double. Infield Hit. Single by Rocco. 2-1. Chip Caray then says "How Big are 2 outs hits". There are NO OUTS in the inning. Chip is an alright broadcaster but he's been asleep at the wheel in this series on certain statements and TBS as a whole has been awful. (see Game 6). Lester is struggling and Terry has to think about when to pull him. Strike Out of Barlett. Tap out for 2 outs but then Lester gets out of the inning by getting Upton!

New game now.

3rd, 4th

It was cruising along for Garza til he hit Dustin with a fast ball. Pedroia then stole 2nd but Papi struck out swing. The Red Sox are getting guys on base but need to get going with the scoring

Rays:
Nothing. Nada. Zero

4th
Red Sox: Garza is on fire. He made all 3 hitters look foolish. Jason Bay is having a horrible night at the plate. He k'd again with a half swing. He isn't seeing the ball well out of the hand of Garza.

Rays: Got to Lester with a double by Longoria that scored Pena. The Red Sox nearly threw out Pena but the relay wasn't on target. Lester is still throwing well but the crowd is alive 1-1

2nd Inning

Nothing to talk about but the crowd is for sure nervous

1st Inning

Coco tries to make Garza field his position and tries to throw the ball through Pena. Jesus.

Pederioa takes Garza deep with a LASER to left! Game 7 2004 - The Red Sox jumped out to a lead in the 1st inning vs. New York and it took the crowd out of the game...same thing here. 1-0 Sox

Papi walked....close pitch on 3-2 but it was a touch high with the fast ball. Garza is throwing gas but he's not hitting his spots. He looks ridiculous with that ear gauze in there. Is at a concert or a ball game?

Youk on a 2 strike pitch, floats one to the right. Nearly a great piece of hitting but 2 outs. Question here - did you notice just half the crowd standing when there were 2 strikes? I think that is because the bandwagon, ex New Yorkers who are at the game think that the Rays are the Yankees. Sorry. Different team. The other people just looked at them and did nothing

JD Drew strikes out...again the standing but this time it's 3/4 the stadium. Garza through a lot of pitches and Red Sox got the lead. Now Lester needs to step it up.

RAYS:
Lester goes 1-2-3 against Tampa. Big Start of the game for Boston and has shut up the crowd so far after 1

Pre Game

Very Strange feeling of calm. Lots of Sox fans that I've talked to aren't cocky but they are excited about this game....dare I say confident that our team will get it done.

Garza is wearing ear plugs? Weird, very weird.

Craig Sager is wearing a normal outfit....bad sign - don't change things up man! :)

Let's Go Red Sox!

Game 7 Tonight....I'm going to keep an inning by inning blog tonight of the game. Feel free to chime in via email at matt@bigsports590.com or right here on the blog....

Let's hope Lester can do it!

Friday, October 17, 2008

From Sick To Silly

Admit it Red Sox fans - we thought we were done. Over. Next stop spring training. The Tampa Bay Rays were just better on Thursday night. Scott Kazmir was rolling. BJ Upton was crushing. The Red Sox were losing 7-0 in the 7th inning.

I will admit it - I stopped watching at 5-0 and started to read a book. I even watched Grey's Anatomy instead of innings 3 through 6! That's when the texts starting coming. "Are you watching". "Papi!". "here we come!". "Could we do it?" I said to myself - "Huh?" 7-4 Tampa.

Back in 2004, I started keeping journal of big moments in my life. I write in it every so often about my life and especially about sporting events that I cover or watch. I wrote all about the Yankees in 2004 and how amazing it was to watch Game 7. In fact, I followed it inning by inning.

I switched TV's at 7-4. Changed hats. Put on my Red Sox shirt. Picked up my journal from 2004 and read about the comeback. Then I read about 2007 with the Rockies. Then I started to write about the Red Sox and Rays. 7-5. 7-6. 7-7. It felt like 2004. It felt like 2007 all over again.

Bottom 9 - JD Drew wouldn't let the Red Sox lose with a laser to right. Papi Hr. JD Drew HR. JD Drew scored Youk for the game winner. Unreal game and the 2nd biggest comeback in postseason history. How many times are we gonna say that? Tito Francona is 8-1 in elimination games. 8-1!

Game 6 on Saturday - I can't wait. In 2004, ALCS Game 6 and Game 7 was at Yankee Stadium. Remember Dave Roberts on "the steal"? How about Coco Crisp and "the At-Bat"! Could history repeat itself? Let's find out!

UPDATE: Bill does it again! Simmons story

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Jays Back On Friday

With Fall practice about the open up for the Jays...we all can look forward to the games and ridiculous halftime shows for Creighton Baskeball....Si.com found this one :) enjoy


http://view.break.com/457715 - Watch more free videos