SEC's 5 Best Coodinators

Brad Crawford of saturdaydownsouth.com, has a really good article on the 5 best coordinators in the SEC. Also contained within the article is a link to one on the 5 worst coordinators...also a good read.

There are two defensive coordinators, 2 offensive coordinators and a running backs/recruiting coordinator listed.

The defensive coordinators are from Ole Miss and Georgia, the offensive coordinators from Alabama and Mississippi State and the running backs/recruiting coordinator is from LSU.

If you like the SEC, you'll love the article. If you tend to think the SEC is overrated you will scoff at any notion that any good thing could come from the SEC.

I'm a college football fan who likes well written articles about college football. Read Brad's article here, Regardless where you stand on the SEC, you'll have to admit this article is spot on.

NBA 2014-2015 Season Preview

LeBron is back in Cleveland, Kobe is the 40th best player in the NBA, Kevin Durant has a broken bone in his foot...

These are some of the stories, above and below, to watch this season.

Blake Griffin seems to be saying "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore..."

Carmelo Anthony says he won't win the scoring title because of the triangle offense.

And let's not forget the reigning Champion San Antonio Spurs!

Mike Prada of SBNation.com has a wonderfully complete breakdown of the NBA's upcoming season. Be sure to read it all here. It's a little cumbersome but a great read.

Sporting News Names Kershaw MLB "Player of the Year"

Sporting News has named Clayton Kershaw of the LA Dodgers their Player of the Year for 2014.

What I like about Sporting News' selection is that their panel is made up of 244 major league players. These players vote on what they see day in and day out. The panel is not given a list to choose from, they choose their own candidate.

This year, Kershaw narrowly beat LA Angels outfielder, Mike Trout by three votes, 76-73. Giancarlo Stanton, of the Miami Marlins, finished a distant third with 32 votes.

Jesse Spector of The Sporting News has an article here with the facts about Kershaw's 2014 season. A season where he missed the month of April due to injury.

Royals Down Giants 7-2 in Game 2

The Kansas City Royals answered the Giants' offensive outburst in game 1 of the World Series with one of their own in game 2.

Game 2 looked as though it might be a continuation of game 1 when Gregor Blanco sent a 3-2 pitch from Yorlando Ventura over the wall in right to lead off the game and give the Giants a quick 1-0 lead. Ventura settled down and got the next three outs to get out of the inning.

The Royals responded in their half of the 1st inning. Alcides Escobar reached on a ball hit deep in the hole to short. Norichika Aoki flied out to center. Escobar was caught trying to steal second for the second out. Lorenzo Cain then doubled to left center and Eric Hosmer walked. Billy Butler followed with a single to score Cain and the Royals had tied the game at 1.

Kansas City scored another run in the 2nd on doubles by Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar that gave the Royals a 2-1 lead.

The Giants would tie the score in the top of the 4th on a double by Pablo Sandoval to lead off the inning, and a double by Brandon Belt one out later that scored Sandoval.

Jake Peavy started the bottom of the 6th for the Giants and gave up a single to Lorenzo Cain and walked Eric Hosmer. Jean Machi relieved Peavy and gave up a 2-0 single to Billy Butler that scored Cain with Hosmer stopping at second. Kansas City had retaken the lead 3-2. Terrance Gore ran for Butler. Javier Lopez relieved Machi and got Alex Gordon to fly out to left for the first out. Hunter Strickland relieved Lopez and threw a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position. Hosmer and Gore scored on a double by Salvador Perez. Perez came around to score on a 2 run home run by Omar Infante and the Royals led 7-2. Neither team would score again and the Royals had taken game 2.

Billy Butler was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs for the Royals while Omar Infante went 2 for 3 with the home run, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Lorenzo Cain was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

Gregor Blanco was 1 for 4 with the home run and a run scored for the Giants and Brandon Belt was 1 for 4 with the other RBI.

Jake Peavy was saddled with the loss allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hits with 2 walks while striking out 1 in 5 innings of work. Kelvin Herrera picked up the win in relief of Yorlando Ventura.

The series now shifts to San Francisco on Friday with games 3, 4 and 5 to be played at AT&T Park. Games 6 and 7, if necessary will be played in Kansas City.

Mayos de Navojoa Top Charros 6-1

Charros pitcher, Juan Delgadillo, had another rough outing last night dropping to 0-3 on the season with the 6-1 loss to the Mayos de Navojoa.

Delgadillo lasted just 4 innings, giving up 3 runs on 8 hits with 2 home runs while striking out just 2.

Navojoa scored 3 times in the bottom of the 3rd. With one out Jose Chavez singled and Jon Weber sent a line drive home run to right to give the Mayos a 2-0 lead. Two batters later Chris Marrero sent a ball over the fence in left center for a home run to increase the lead to 3-0.

The Charros got a run back in the top of the 5th. Cory Vaughn led off the inning with a triple. Vaughn scored on an attempted pick off by Navojoa starter, Eddie Gamboa, that sailed wide and into foul territory.The lead was narrowed to 3-1 Mayos.

Things were quiet until the bottom of the 8th inning. Charros reliever Alan Guerrero replaced Manuel Flores. With one out, Rolando Acosta singled. After Guerrero got the second out he was replaced by Murphy Smith. Eliseo Aldazaba tagged Murphy for a double with Acosta stopping at third. Fernando Flores was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Luis Borges singled to drive in Acosta and Aldazaba. Antonio Garzon replaced Murphy on the mound and Jose Chaves greeted Garzon with a double that scored Flores. Jon Weber flied out to left to end the inning but the damage was done. The Mayos would go on to win the game by this 6-1 score.

The only bright spots on the night for Jalisco were Cory Vaughn's triple and Manny Flores who worked three perfect innings in relief of Delgadillo to lower his ERA to 2.00.

The series is even at 1-1 with the rubber match to be played tonight. The Charros fell to 6-4 on the year while Navojoa climbed to 3-7.

NBA Owners Shoot Down Draft Lottery Changes

The NBA owners, by a vote of 17-13 in favor, failed to achieve the 23 votes required to change the way the NBA Lottery Draft is conducted.

The new changes would have given the 4 worst team an even 11% chance of receiving the 1st pick in the draft. As it stands now the worst team has about a 25% chance of getting the 1st pick.

The rules change was an effort to reduce the chance of "tanking" games at the end of a season to get that coveted 1st draft pick.

Commissioner Adam Silver said. "I think we all recognize we need to find the right balance between creating the appropriate incentives on one hand for teams to, of course, win, and on the other hand allowing for appropriate rebuilding and the draft to work as it should in which the worst performing teams get the highest picks in the draft."

Read the full ESPN article here.

UNC Underfire for "Sham" Courses Taken by Athletes

The University of North Carolina has discovered in an investigation the university commissioned that over an 18 year period, athletes were steered toward so called sham courses to maintain their GPA and thus maintain their athletic eligibility.

This is from the ESPN story. "The report, released Wednesday, says academic advisers in North Carolina's athletic department colluded with a manager in the African and Afro-American Studies department for student-athletes to take classes to boost their GPAs and keep them eligible in their respective sports."

Read the full investigative story here.

Giants Take Game 1 of World Series 7-1

Madison Bumgarner held the Kansas City Royals to 3 hits and 1 run over 7 innings as the Giants overpowered the Royals 7-1 to take game one of the 2014 World Series.

Hunter Pence was 2 for 3 with a home run, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored while Pablo Sandoval went 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs for the Giants.

Read the ESPN recap here.

Charros Top Navojoa 6-4

The Charros de Jalisco powered their way to a 6-4 victory last night over the Mayos de Navojoa. Orlando Lara picked up the win with the help of two home runs by Leo Hera and a home run by Marquez Smith.

Jalisco scored a run in the top of the 1st with a solo home run by Heras off of Navojoa starter, Mario Gonzalez, and the Charros led 1-0.

In the 3rd, Gabriel Gutierrez led off with a double and went to third on a single by Jesus Lopez. Lopez moved up to second on a wild pitch. Eduardo Arredondo grounded out 4-3 as Gutierrez scored and Lopez went to third. Leo Heras then,stroked a hard shot up the middle that caromed off the glove of the Mayos second baseman into left center for a double that scored Lopez. The lead was now 3-0 Charros.

Navojoa got a run back in the bottom of the 3rd. Jose Chavez doubled to lead off. Jon Weber drew a base on balls. Orlando Lara then struck out Luis Fonseca and Chris Marrero but Rolando Acosta singled to right to drive in Chavez. Acosta was thrown out at second trying to stretch his single into a double to end the inning. The Jalisco was 3-1.

Marquez Smith, of the Charros, walked to lead off the top of the 4th. Smith stole second and went to third on a throwing error by the Mayos catcher, Genaro Andrade. Smith then scored on a single by Jesus Cota to increase the Charros lead to 4-1.

Leo Heras hit his second home run of the night in the top of the 5th for a 5-1 Charros lead.

Navojoa's reliever Estaban Haro started the 6th and Marquez Smith greeted Haro with a solo home run, Smith's third of the year, as Jalisco increased their lead to 6-1.

Ken Sigman had replaced Orlando Lara in the 6th. In the bottom of the 7th Sigman gave up a solo home run to Eliseo Aldazaba and the Mayo's had cut the lead to 6-2.

Adrian Rameriz, pitching for the Charros to start the bottom of the ninth, gave up a single to Rolando Acosta and a 2 run home run to Reggie Ambercrombie and the Charros lead was down to 6-4.

Brian Broderick entered the game with two outs in the ninth and got pinch hitter Fernando Flores to ground out to second to preserve the win for Lara, who is now 2-0 on the year, and pick up his fourth save of the season.

The Charros de Jalisco improve to 6-3 on the young season while the Mayos de Navojoa fall to 2-7. These two teams play again tonight in a continuation of their three game series.

Leo Heras was 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and a double, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Marquez Smith was 1 for 2 with a home run, 2 walks, an RBI and 2 runs scored. Jesus Cota went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

Orlando Lara pitched 5 2/3 innings giving up 1 run with 3 base on balls and 6 strikeouts. His ERA on the year is 0.84. Brian Broderick lowered his ERA to 1.69.

Harbaugh Questioned About Kaepernick Game Down 42-10

Jim Harbaugh had to answer questions on Monday about Colin Kaepernick. Harbaugh was asked why he left Kaepernick in with 11:22 to go in the game and the 49ers down 41-10 to the Denver Broncos.

Matt Maiocco of csnbayarea.com has the story for his ComCast Bay Area Sports broadcast. You can  read the article and watch some video here.

I am going to borrow the quote from Harbaugh though, because it takes reading the quote several times to get his drift. I understand never giving up but sometimes you need to save your horses for another day and let the ponies run.

“The drive started with about 10 minutes and I was still thinking with three timeouts and a quick score, an onside kick, three timeouts to stop a drive, another score and an onside kick,” Harbaugh said. “I was still thinking of the possibilities. That drive extended quite a bit of time, longer than I was hoping for. And I did think about, in the middle of the drive about the six-minute mark, of taking Colin out, but didn’t.”

Makes perfect sense right.

Pick 'em in 2014 World Series

Jayson Stark, writing for ESPN.com, has a very good article about the similarities and the differences between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants. Read the article and you can takes yer chances.

The Royals were 89-73 in 2014 while the Giants were 88-74. This the first time that neither team in the World Series had at least 90 wins.

The Giants won the World Series in 2010 and 2014 and hope to keep up their even year magic. The Royals on the other hand, haven't been in the playoffs, let alone the World Series, since 1985. When you count the last three games of that series and the first seven games of this round of playoffs, the Royals have won 10 playoff games in a row.

The American League won the All-Star game in July that gave the Royals the first two games in KC with games 3, 4 and 5 in San Francisco. That sounds good but the Royals were 42-39 at home while the Giants were 47-34 on the road. Maybe that advantage isn't so great.

Neither team had a Kershaw or Scherzer as a starting pitcher but both team's starters give quality innings. The Royals have a 7th and 8th inning pitcher with a very good closer. The Giants setup men and closer are also good.

The similarities of these two teams make this series too close to call.

Anthony Riccobond of ibtimes.com has this about the series with his prediction of Royals in 7 games.

Although evenly matched my pick is also Kansas City but they win in 6 games.

News and Notes From Week 7 in the NFL

Thursday through Sunday in the NFL was pretty exciting. The Redskins, behind backup quarterback Colt McCoy, beat the Titans 19-17. The St. Louis Rams used special team subterfuge to upset the Seahawks 28-26.

After looking so good last week, the Browns lost 24-6 to the here to fore winless Jaguars. The Bills lost key players but rallied on a TD pass from Kyle Orton to win 17-16 over the Vikings.

Matthew Stafford engineered two late TD drives to topple the Saints 24-23. The Chiefs used a last second FG to beat the Chargers, while Demacro Murray set an NFL record that had stood for 56 years as the Cowboys humbled the Giants 31-21.

The Bears are bickering among themselves and with their fans...again.

Oh yes, Rodgers, Brady and Manning were their same old selves...ho hum!

Frank Schwab of Shutdown corner on Yahoo Sports has his weekly winners and losers story here. Be sure to check it out.

Charros take Series From Tomateros With 6-5 Win

The Charros de Jalisco baseball team is interesting to say the least. Starter Marco Tovar gave up four hits in the bottom of the 1st, all of them solo home runs. The Charros did not make a pitching change until the 3rd inning after Tovar gave up 2 walks and a single to load the bases with no outs.

Four relief pitchers for the Charros held the Tomateros scoreless until the bottom of the 8th on two hits and one walk.

Jalisco started to climb out of the four run hole in the top of the 4th. Leo Heras led off with a walk and Manny Rodriguez doubled. With runners at 2nd and 3rd, Japhet Amador singled to score Heras with Rodriguez stopping at third. Marguez Smith then grounded out to third as Rodriguez scored. The Charros were on the board but were still down 4-2.

The Charros scored a run in the 5th when Jesus Lopez scored on an Eduardo Arredondo single to narrow the score to 4-3 Tomateros.

With one out in the top of the 6th, Cory Vaughn was hit by a pitch. After Gabriel Gutierrez flew out to center, Vaughn scored on a double by Jesus Lopez that tied the score at 4.

Jalisco scored two more runs in the 7th. Eduardo Arredondo and Leo Heras walked. Japhet Amador drove in Arredondo with a single. Cory Vaughn walked to load the bases and Gabriel Gutierrez waited out a walk to force in Heras with the second run of the inning and the 6-4 Charros lead.

The Tomateros tried to mount a comeback in the bottom of the 8th. With one out, Arturo Rodriguez singled. Ronnier Mustelier also singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Rodriguez scored on a ground out to second off of the bat of pinch hitter Refugio Cervantes to make it a one run ball game, 6-5. Pinch hitter Oscar Robles then grounded out to first to end the inning.

Neither team would score in the 9th and the Charros won their fifth game against three losses.

Japhet Amador and Manny Rodriguez were both 2 for 5 with Amador driving in 2 runs and Rodriguez scoring 1. Jesus Lopez was 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Eduardo Arredondo went 1 for 4 with an RBI.

Carlos Vazguez got the win for the Charros while Brian Broderick picked up his third save of the year.

Manning Breaks Career TD Mark With #509

Peyton Manning sat out an entire year because of 4 neck surgeries. He has come back from that time off to play at a "superstar" level in one of the most violent games in the US,

Sunday he passed Brett Favre for the Most Touchdown Passes - Career with #509 against the San Francisco 49ers on national television.

Jeff Legwold of ESPN has the story of Peyton Manning here.

Congratulations Peyton on a remarkable career.

Cowboys Top Giants 31-21 For 6th Win In A Row

The Dallas Cowboys, behind a solid effort by Tony Romo and a record breaking performance by Demarco Murry defeated the NY Giants 31-21 to improve to 6-1 on the year,

Romo threw for 279 yards and 3 TDs. Dez Bryant caught 9 of Romo's passes for 151 yards. TE Gavin Escobar caught 3 passes for 65 yards and 2 TDs.

The story of the game though, was Demarco Murray recording his 7th consecutive game to start the season. The old record was 6 in a row by Jim Brown set in 1958.

Murray, on a pace for more than 2000 yards rushing this season has 915 yards through 7 games a 130.7 average. That would work out to 2091 yards over the 16 game schedule.

Read the ESPN Recap here.

Colts Shutout Bengals 27-0

While Andrew Luck was completing 27 of 42 passes for 344 yards and 2 TDs with no INTs, the Colt defense was holding the Bengals to 135 yards of total offense. The 27-0 final score indicates that the Colt defense is quite formidable.

Cincinnati had 103 yards through the air and 32 yards on the ground for the game. Giovani Bernard was the leading ground gainer for the Bengals with 17 yards on 7 carries. Mohamed Sanu had 3 catches for 54 yards while Jermaine Gresham caught 10 passes from Andy dalton for 48 yards.

Dalton was 18 of 38 for 126 yards but was sacked 3 times for 17 yards.

The Bengals ran 54 plays and got just 8 first downs. Two of those first downs were the result of Colt penalties. Cincinnati was forced to punt the ball away 11 times during the game, tying a franchise record. They didn't get the ball into Colt territory until the 4th quarter.

T.Y. Hilton, of the Colts, had 7 catches for 107 yards, his second consecutive 100+ yard game. Reggie Wayne caught 4 passes for 15 yards that put him over 14,000 yards receiving for his career.

The Bengals fall to 3-2-1 on the year while the Colts are 5-2.

Rams Stun Seahawks 28-26 On Special Teams Play

The Seahawks controlled the game on the offensive side of the ball. They even held the Rams in check defensively byt they couldn't stop the Rams on special teams play.

They allowed the Rams punter, Johnny Hekker to complete an 18 yard pass with 2:55 left on the clock for a 1st down.

Read the ESPN Recap here.

Buster Posey the New Jeter?

Gerald Dempsey "Buster" Posey has compiled some very interesting statistics in his first 5 full seasons with the Giants. Remember that Posey, a catcher, missed most of the 2011 season after fracturing his leg in a collision at home plate with Scott Cousins.

Is he as good as Derek Jeter was in his first 5 seasons?

Jayson Stark, of ESPN.com, has an indepth article on how good Posey has been and how he compares to Jeter at the same point in their careers. Read Jayson's article here.

FSU 31-27 Over Notre Dame

I have watched the replay of the offensive pass interference call on Notre Dame in last night's loss to Florida State. I have seen it from every angle possible. The offensive pass interference call was probably correct, but...if you watch the defensive back #6 for FSU you will clearly see his arms around the shoulders of CJ Prosise.

In this case there are off-setting infractions which should be a no call, or at a minimum a re-do of the play from the 4 yard line.

Of course arguments can be made that ND let the game slip away in the 2nd half and should never have been in the position they were in at the end of the game.

Both teams played clean, hard football all night. It was a thrilling game, depending on who one was rooting for, but a great game none the less.

Rodger Sherman writing for SBNation.com has the video and his commentary here.

I don't agree with his conclusion but watch closely and see for yourself.

Charros Defeat Tomateros de Culiacan 9-5

After Friday's 3-1 loss at Culiacan, the Charros came out with bats blazing on Saturday. They scored 9 runs, their highest output of the year, on 14 hits, also a high for the season, as they beat the Tomateros de Culiacan 9-5.

Graham Godfrey picked up the win with 5 strong innings of 1 hit, one run pitching. The one hit that he did give up was a home run to Oscar Robles.

The Jalisco hitters gave Godfrey plenty of run support in the top of the 1st, scoring three runs on four hits. Eduardo Arredondo started things off with a single to left. After Leo Heras popped up to second, Manny Rodriguez doubled and Arredondo went to third. Japhet Amador doubled to score Arredondo and Rodriguez and the Charros had a 2-0 lead. Marquez Smith singled to center and Amador stopped at third. Cory Vaughn followed with a sac fly to right that scored Amador to increase the Charros' lead to 3-0.

Graham Godfrey got one out in the bottom of the 1st before giving up the solo home run to Oscar Robles. The Jalisco lead was 3-1.

In the top of the 3rd, Manny Rodriguez singled with one out. Japhet Amador singled to left. Marquez Smith singled to left and Rodriguez was thrown out at home trying to score from second. A wild pitch by Tomateros pitcher, Alfredo Aceves, put Amador and Smith in scoring position. Cory Vaughn singled to drive in Amador and Smith. Jalisco had a 5-1 lead after three innings.

Jesus Lopez scored for the Charros in the top of the 4th. After singling to lead off the inning, Lopez went to third on a single by Amadeo Zazueta and scored as Eduardo Arredondo hit into a 4-6-3 double play. The Charro lead was 6-1.

Antonio Garzon started the 6th for the Charros in relief of Godfrey. Garzon got Oscar Robles to ground out to second and Issmael Salas to fly out to left. Nick Buss reached on a single off of the pitcher's leg. Arturo Rodriguez doubled to right and Buss scored. Ken Sigmen relieved Garzon and gave up a 2 run home run to pinch hitter Jorge Vazquez. Culiacan had cut the Charros lead to 6-4.

The Tomateros scored another run in the bottom of the 7th when Joey Meneses scored on a single by Sergio Gastelum that brought Culiacan to within one run of Jalisco at 6-5.

Marquez Smith hit a solo home run in the top of the 8th and the Charros had an insurance run and the 7-5 lead.

In the top of the 9th, the Charros put the game away by scoring two runs. Manny Rodriguez hit his third double of the night to drive in Amadeo Zazueta and Leo Heras for the final score of 9-5 Charros.

Manny Rodriguez was 4 for 5 on the night with 3 doubles, 2 RBIs and a run scored. Japhet Amador went 2 for 5 with a double, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Marquez Smith was 3 for 5 with a home run, an RBI and 2 rubs scored.Cory Vaughn was 1 for 3 with 3 RBIs. Amadeo Zazueta, playing in his first game for the Charros, went 2 for 4 with a run scored.

Brian Broderick pitched 1 2/3 innings of relief for his second save of the season.