John Clayton's Last Call

John Clayton takes a good view of quarterback play in the NFL for this week.

Read his article here.

ESPN Game Balls for Sunday 10/26

This is a feature offered by ESPN awarding "Game Balls" to players for the week in the NFL. I can't say I agree with all the selections but I don't get to write for ESPN.

Read the article here.

Upsets on Sunday 10/26

The Arizona Cardinals' rookie John Brown caught a touchdown pass from Carson Palmer with 1:21 to play and the Cardinals defense stopped the Eagles at the Cardinal 16 yard line as time expired to beat the Eagles 24-20.

Read the ESPN Recap  here.

Andy Dalton, of the Cincinnati Bengals worked a quarterback sneak from 1 yard out to perfection as the Bengals beat the Ravens 27-24 and remain in the hunt for a playoff spot.

The ESPN story is here.

Anthony Barr, Minnesota Viking LB, stripped the ball from Tampa Bay TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins and returmed the fumble 27 yards for the score as the Vikings beat the Buccaneers 19-13.

ESPN has the story here.

So much for the vaunted Colts defense that shut out the Bengals 27-0 last week. Big Ben and the Pittsburgh dismantled the Colts as Roethlisberger threww for 522 yards and 6 touchdowns in a 51-34 thrashing of the Colts.

Here is the ESPN story.

Charros Sweep Mexicali With 2-1 Win

The Charros swept the three game series with the Aguilas de Mexicali Eagles with a 2-1 victory on Sunday afternoon, Family Day at Panamerican Stadium.

The pitching was very good by the starters for both teams. Orlando Lara, starter for the Charros went 5 complete innings allowing 3 hits, no runs, 4 base on balls while striking out three. Omar Espinoza of the Aguilas went 6 innings without allowing a run while giving up 4 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Espinoza lowered his ERA to 1.04 on the year.

In the top of the 7th, with one out, the Aguilas' Gil Valezquez singled to center. Chris Roberson then doubled to left center that scored Valezquez. Roberson stole third but the Charros reliever, Murphy Smith, got Walter Ibarra to ground out to second and Xorge Carrillo to ground out to first to end the inning but the Aguilas had the 1-0 lead.

Jalisco tied the score in the bottom of the 8th. Mario Meza, on in relief, gave up a double to Jesus Lopez with one out. Jose Sanchez replaced Meza for the Aguilas. Sanchez threw a wild pitch that got Lopez to third. Eduardo Arredondo hit a sac fly to left that plated Lopez and the score was 1-1.

Brian Broderick came on in relief to pitch the 9th for the Charros and he pitched another 1-2-3 9th inning. He would pick up the win when the Charros scored in the bottom of the 9th.

Marquez Smith grounded out to short to lead off the 9th for the Charros. Cory Vaughn was hit by a pitch and immediately stole second. Amadeo Zazueta singled to center to score Vaughn and the Charros had their second walk off win in as many games.

Orlando Lara lowered his ERA to 0.57 and Brian Broderick, with the win, is now 2-0 with 5 saves and an ERA of 1.08 on the year.

Marquez Smith was 2 for 4 with a double while Manny Rodriguez went 2 for 4 to bring his batting average to .362 on the year. Eduardo Arredondo, although 0 for 3, had the game tying sac fly in the 8th. Jesus Lopez went 1 for 3 with a double to maintain his .333 average on the season while Amadeo Zazueta went 1 for 2 with the game winning RBI.

The Yaquis de Obregon come to Zapopan for a three game series beginning on Monday the 27th of October. With the win today the Charros are 9-5 on the year, tied with the Venados de Mazatlan for the league lead.

Giants Take Game 4, 11-4 Even Series at 2

The Kansas City relievers failed Ned Yost last night as the San Francisco Giants evened the series at 2 games apiece with an 11-4 victory over the Royals.

Read the ESPN recap here.

TCU Pummels Texas Tech 82-27

The Horned Frogs of TCU had their way with the Red Raiders of Texas Tech on Saturday. Quarterback Trevone Boykin threw 7 touchdown passes while amassing 433 yards through the air before leaving in the 3rd quarter.

Some records were set in the game. While some fell short.

For TCU, Most points in a game 82, Most touchdown passes thrown in a game 7, Most touchdowns in a game 10.

For Texas Tech, Most points allowed in a game 82.

The 109 points scored falls 27 points shy of the record by Division 1 schools. In 2007, Navy beat North Texas State 74-62 for the record of 136 points.

The 82 points by TCU doesn't best the record 100 points scored by the University of Houston against Tulsa in 1968.

TCU scored 10 touchdowns and 4 field goals on 785 yards of offense running 86 plays from scrimmage for an average of 9.12 yards per play. TCU did have to punt twice though.

Two running backs for TCU, Aaron Green and Trevorris Johnson rushed for more than 100 yards and Deante Gray had 165 yards receiving on 4 catches with 2 touchdowns.

NCAA Football Playoffs This Week? UPDATE

#1 Mississippi State gets by Kentucky 45-31
#2 Florida State   Off
#3 Ole Miss loses to #24 LSU 10-7
#4 Alabama beats Tennessee  34-20      
#5 Auburn over South Carolina 42-35
#6 Oregon outlasts Cal 59-41
#7 Notre Dame   Off
#8 Michigan State decisively over Michigan 35-11
#9 Georgia   Off
#10 TCU devours Texas Tech 82-27

The only team I can say for sure that will move in the rankings is #24 LSU. They will probably leapfrog several teams. I would not be surprised to see them at #15.

My prognostication is that Ole Miss drops to #6, Alabama moves up to #3 followed by Auburn at #4 and Oregon at #5. Michigan State will jump Notre Dame to take #7 with Notre Dame at #8 and TCU jumps Georgia to end at #9 with Georgia at #10.

Check my guesses on Sunday afternoon! I'll have the ranking update late tomorrow.

UPDATE!!

Latest Rankings are thus on 10/16/14

#1 Mississippi State                           #6 Notre Dame   (I had Ole Miss)
#2 Florida State                                  #7 Ole Miss (I had Michigan St.)
#3 Alabama                                        #8 Michigan State (I had Notre Dame)
#4 Auburn                                          #9 Georgia (I had TCU)
#5 Oregon                                          #10 TCU (I had Georgia)

Charros Take 2nd Game From Mexicali 3-1

Aguilas de Mexicali started things off in the first inning of Saturday's game with the Charros by scoring a run. That would be all they would score though in a 3-1 loss to Jalisco.

Misael German walked and moved to second on a Walter Ibarra sacrifice bunt. German scored when Brock Peterson hit a ball to left center that bounced over the wall for a ground rule double.

Marco Tovar, the starter for the Charros, settled down and got Mike Jacobs to pop up to short and Luke Montz to ground out 5-3 but the Aguilas had the 1-0 lead.

The Aguilas starter, Marco Duarte, gave up a lead off home run to Japhet Amador in the 4th that tied the score at 1.

In the Jalisco half of the 8th, Jesus Lopez led off with a single off Edgar Gomez, in for Aguilas starter, Marco Duarte. Eduardo Arredondo sacrified Lopez to second. After Manny Rodriguez struck out, Leo Heras hit a ground rule double to center to score Lopez. Japhet Amador singled to center to drive in Heras and the Charros had the 3-1 lead that proved to be the final margin of victory.

Brian Broderick set the Aguilas down in order in the top of the ninth to pick up his 5th save on the year. Ivan Salas got his 1st win of the year for the Charros and Edgar Gomez took the loss for Mexicali.

Japhet Amador was 3 for 4 on the night with his 1st home run, 2 RBIs and a run scored  as he raised his batting average to .321. Leo Heras was 1 for 3 and drove in his 10th run of the season. Jesus Lopez went 2 for 3 with a run scored to raise his average to .333.

Marco Tovar worked 6 strong innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits with 3 walks and 6 strike outs while lowering his ERA to 3.21 on the young season. Brian Broderick in picking up his 5th save, lowered his ERA to 1.23.

The 3rd game of this series will be played on Sunday the 26th of October starting at Noon.

#11 K-State Shutsout Longhorns 23-0

The University of Texas football team has been shutout by the Kansas State Wildcats 23-0. This was the first time UT has been shutout since Oklahoma did the deed on October 9, 2004.

Check out the ESPN coverage here.

#6 Oregon Beats Cal 59-41 in Pac 12

Marcus Mariota threw for 326 yards and 5 TDs as the 6th ranjed Oregon Ducks beat the Cal Bears 59-41. Mariota threw his 1st INT of the year with 3:31 to go in the 2nd quarter.

Oregon improved to 7-1 while Cal dropped to 4-4 on the season.

Read the ESPN recap article here.

Royals Up 2-1 in World Series

Without the benefit of the DH at the National League park, Ned Yost was forced to make some fielding and lineup changes. Those changes worked as the Royals beat the Giants 3-2 to take a 2 games to 1 lead in the World Series.

Yost moved Lorenzo Cain from center field to right field and inserted Jarrod Dyson in center. Cain made two very good plays on sinking line drives and appeared comfortable in his new position. Yost also moved Alex Gordon from 6th to 2nd in the lineup and Gordon responded with a clutch RBI double in the 6th.

Kansas City jumped on top in the 1st when Alcides Escobar doubled to lead off the inning. Alex Gordon grounded out to move Escobar to third and Escobar scored when Lorenzo Cain grounded out to short. KC had the early lead 1-0.

The Royals added to their lead in the top of the 6th. With one out, Alcides Escobar singled to center. Alex Gordon then doubled off the wall in right to score Escobar. After Lorenzo Cain grounded out to third, Javier Lopez relieved Tim Hudson for the Giants. Eric Hosmer had what is called a quality at bat against Lopez. Hosmer singled on the 11th pitch of the at bat to score Gordon and the Royals had built a 3-0 lead.

San Francisco rallied in their half of the 6th. Brandon Crawford singled to lead off. Mike Morse, pinch hitting for Javier Lopez, doubled to left to score Crawford. Kelvin Herrera relieved Royals' starter, Jeremy Guthrie and promptly walked Gregor Blanco. Joe Panik sent a high chopper to the mound to move the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Buster Posey then grounded to second to score Morse and the Giants had cut the lead to 3-2.

Neither team scored again and Greg Holland pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the Royals to preserve the win for Guthrie and pick up his 1st save of the World Series and 7th save of this postseason, an MLB record. The Royals bullpen became the first bullpen in MLB history to have 7 wins and 7 saves in a single postseason.

Charros Topple Mexicali With 3-2 Win

Charros de Jalisco scored a run in the bottom of the 9th when Mexicali right fielder, Shane Peterson, misplayed a ground ball that allowed Gabriel Gutierrez to score from third with the winning run.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Aguilas lead off batter, Brock Peterson, reached safely and went to second on a throwing error by Charros third baseman, Marquez Smith. Shane Peterson then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Brock Peterson to third. After Luke Montz grounded out to the pitcher, Luis Juarez singled to right to score Peterson. Ramon Ruiz singled to center and Gil Velazquez singled to left to score Juarez. Mexicali had a 2-0 lead after 2 innings.

Edgar Ozuna, starter for the Aguilas, held the Charros bats in check until the 5th. Gabriel Gutierrez doubled to lead off the inning. When Jesus Lopez flied out to center, Gutierrez tagged and went to third. With two outs, Manny Rodriguez singled off of the pitcher's leg and Gutierrez scored. Jalisco had cut the Aguilas' lead to 2-1.

Anthony Slama relieved Daniel Herrera for Mexicali in the bottom of the 8th and gave up a solo home run to Cory Vaughn, his 1st of the year, and the score was tied at 2.

Brian Broderick, the Charros closer, pitched the 9th, giving up a hit but holding the Aguilas scoreless.

Mexicali went through three pitchers in the bottom of the 9th. Eder Llamas  began the inning for the Aguilas. Gabriel Gutierrez singled to center and took second on a throwing error by by Chris Roberson. Jesus Lopez laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move Gutierrez to third. Eduardo Arredondo was intentionally walked and the Charros had runners at the corners with 1 out. Manny Rodriguez waited out a walk to load the bases. Jose Sanchez was brought in to face Leo Heras and got Heras to strike out swinging for the second out. Francisco Rodriguez was called on to replace Sanchez and face Japhet Amador. The outfield was in to cut down the run at the plate. The move seemed to have worked as Amador sent a sharp one hop ground ball to right field. The Mexicali right fielder, Shane Peterson took his eye off the ball and misplayed it for an error that scored Gutierrez from third for the walk off error win for the Charros.

Brian Broderick got the win, his 1st of the year, but the entire pitching staff held the Aguilas to just 2 runs on 6 hits, four of those by Luis Juarez who went 4 for 4, while walking just 2 and striking out 5.

Eder Llamas took the loss for Mexicali and dropped to 0-2 on the young season.

Cory Vaughn was 3 for 3 with the home run, an RBI and a run scored. Manny Rodriguez, hitting .373 on the year, went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Gabriel Gutierrez was 2 for 4 with a double and 2 runs scored.

The Charros and Caneros de los Mochis are now both 7-5, one half game behind the Venados de Mazatlan for first place in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico. Mexicali falls to 6-6, a game behind Jalisco.

These two teams continue their series with games on Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th.

USA Women's Soccer Advance to 2015 World Cup

The USA's Womens Soccer team clinched a berth in the 2015 World Cup by defeating Mexico 3-0 in a semi-final match.

Carli Lloyd scored 2 goals for Team USA. Christie Press scored an empty net goal in the 56th minute for the third US goal.

The US women will face Costa Rica in the CONCACAF finals on Sunday.

Mexico will face Trinidad and Tobago for third place also on Sunday.

Manning Doesn't Care For Bronco Scoreboard Antics

Okay, Peyton is a perfectionist who likes things scripted, re: Career Record keep away game. I get that. One thing I can agree with is that Peyton is upset with the way the jumbotron at the Bronco's stadium got the crowd riled up during Thursday night's game against the San Diego Chargers.

Most fans would say "lighten up Peyton",  but in this case I agree with the master. The "entertainment" provided by the jumbotron is annoying.

Check out the Arnie Stapleton article here. Am I crazy or not?

World Series Game 1 Least Watched

The NY Times has an article today by Jonathan Mahler and Bill Carter explaining that Major League Baseball is no longer the center of attention in US Television Sports.

Their argument is that only 12.2 million viewers tuned in to Game 1 of the World Series. Sunday Night Football, they say, drew 24 million. They called that game a regular season game between the San Francisco 49ers and the Denver Broncos. What they failed to mention is that the game was between last year's Super Bowl team, with Peyton Manning about to break Brett Favre's career touchdown record, and a team that was one play away from making the Super Bowl last year.

Even the Florida State against Notre Dame matchup drew more viewers they note, again failing to mention that #2 FSU, with the reigning Heisman Trophy winner and all his personal problems, was facing it's toughest challange to an undefeated season and possible back-to-back National Championships, against #5 Notre Dame with it's own TV Network and legion of fans nationwide.

There are reasons why the NFL and college football draw more viewers than baseball in the regular season. Every loss could mean elimination from the playoffs.

NFL football, and this year college football, playoffs are a single elimination format - lose and go home. Baseball playoffs are either best of 5 or best of 7 formats. There is no feeling of win now or wait til next year. In 2011, 25 million viewers tuned in watch the 7th game of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers, the first series to go 7 games since 2002 and, in essence, a single elimination game.

You have compound problems with the 2014 World Series. Small markets, no "household names" and literally not the "best" teams playing in the series.

Kansas City is the smallest TV market in major league baseball while the Giants rank 14th of the 32 markets.

Cable TV hypes players all year, from April through September, usually from the big markets. (ie. NY, Boston, LA and Detroit) Think Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, Miguel Cabrerra, Giancarlo Stanton, Big Papi, Derek Jeter. These players are highlighted every day for 6 months. There are no "big names" on either of this years teams.

Then you have the perception that the teams playing are not the "best" team of either league. The Kansas City Royals were the 4th best team in the American League while the San Francisco Giants were the 5th best team in the National League. Throughout the early playoffs, neither team was picked to win a series they were in. The saying that perception is reality holds true in the 2014 World Series.

Lastly, the late starts do effect viewership. An 8 o'clock start on the East Coast costs viewers. Without an East Coast team, games during the week and on Sunday, fans won't stay up that late to watch the whole game. They can always check in on the internet to find out the score. In fact, most adults under the age of 40 do not watch TV and get their news and sports from the 'net.

If all baseball wanted was to improve World Series TV ratings, here is what Major League Baseball should do.

Go back to 2 leagues, American League and National League. Play 146 games during the season to determine the top 4 teams. Have those 4 teams play a 1 game playoff. (#1 v #4 and #2 v #3) The winners to play another 1 game playoff. That gives you 6 single elimination games. The League winners would then meet in a best of 5 game World Series to determine a Champion. With the shorter schedule and a shorter playoff, the season could be over by the middle of October instead in dragging on until the end of October or early November.

Interest would be sky high for every game. I know this won't happen but if Major League Baseball calls I'll fill them in on the details...One can dream!

Joe Maddon Opts Out of Rays Contract

Joe Maddon, manager of the Tampa Bay Rays for the last 9 seasons has invoked the opt out clause in his contract and will not manage the Rays in 2015.

In and interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Maddon said this.

"I have been doing this for a long time," Maddon told the newspaper. "I have never had this opportunity to research my employment on my terms. Never, never, never. And I think anybody given the same set of circumstances would do the same thing."

Maddon led the Rays to 4 playoff appearances in his time managing the team.

Read the complete ESPN article here.

Charros Drop Series To Navojoa

The Charros dropped the third game of the 3 game series with the Mayos de Navojoa 5-4 on Thursday night to drop to 6-5 on the year. Jalisco lost the series 2 games to 1.

Jalisco scored in the top of the 1st on a double by Manny Rodriguez and a single by Leo Heras to take the early 1-0 lead.

Navojoa came back in their half of the inning to score three times. Jose Chavez led off with a single against Charros starter Ben Kozlowski. Jon Weber doubled with Chavez stopping at third. Luis Fonseca doubled to score Chavez and Weber. Chris Marrero walked and a wild pitch by Kozlowski on the walk put runners on the corners with no outs. Rolando Acosta grounded into a 5-4-3 double play that scored Fonseca and the Mayos took the lead 3-1.

Cory Vaughn led off the Charros 2nd with a single but Ivan Araujo grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to erase Vaughn. Jose Felix walked and Jesus Lopez singled as Felix moved to third on a throwing error by the Mayos' shortstop. Eduardo Arredondo doubled to score Felix and Lopez and the score was tied at 3.

Navojoa retook the lead in the bottom of the 3rd on a single by Jose Chavez, a ground out by Jon Weber that moved Chavez to second and a single by Luis Fonseca that scored Chavez. Navojoa led 4-3.

In the top of the 6th, Cory Vaughn walked with one out but got picked off first. Ivan Araujo singled and went to second on a single by Jose Felix. Jesus Lopez followed with a single as Araujo scored and the Charros had tied the game again at 4 apiece.

Hugo Castellanos was pitching for the Charros to start the bottom of the 8th. He struck out Reggie Ambercrombie for the first out but gave up back-to-back singles to Eliseo Aldazaba and Diego Madero. Murphy Smith relieved Castellanos and gave up a single to pinch hitter Fernando Flores that scored Aldazaba with what would prove to be the winning run.

The Charros got 12 hits on the night. Japhet Amador was 2 for 5. Manny Rodriguez was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Jesus Lopez was also 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored. Leo Heras went 1 for 5 with an RBI and Eduardo Arredondo was 1 for 5 with a double and 2 RBIs.

Ben Kozlowski lasted 5 innings but gave up 4 earned runs on 7 hits while striking out 1 and walking 3. He saw his ERA climb to 4.02 on the year. Hugo Castellanos took the loss, his first of the year, and his ERA shot up to 12.27 for the season.

Hugo Gutierrez got the win for the Mayos and Gene Escat picked up his 2nd save of the year.

Broncos Bully Chargers 35-21 on Thursday Night

It took Peyton Manning and the Broncos 16:29 to figure out the Chargers defense but they scored 35 points in the next 30 minutes to top San Diego at home 35-21 and move to 6-1 in the AFC West.

Emmanuel Sanders caught the first of his three TD passes from Manning to start the barrage, a 2 yard catch that got the Broncos on the board. Sanders got his second touchdown with 32 seconds to go in the half to give Denver the 14-7 lead heading into the locker room.

A 3 yard touchdown pass following a Philip Rivers' interception in the 3rd quarter was Sanders' third of the night and put the Broncos up 21-7.

Juwan Thompson had touchdown runs of 1 and 2 yards to complete the Broncos scoring. Thompson had 7 carries for 24 yards on the night.

Manning was 25 of 35 passing for 286 yards with 3 TDs and no INTs while Rivers went 30 for 41 with 3 TDs but threw 2 INTs.

Sanders caught 9 passes for 120 yards and those 3 TDs and Demaryius Thomas had 8 receptions for 105 yards for Denver.

Ronnie Hillman carried the ball 20 times for the Broncos and had 109 yards on the ground while Denver rushed for a total of 139 yards.

The Broncos defense held the Chargers to 61 yards on the ground with Branden Oliver their leading rusher with 13 carries for 36 yards.

Keenan Allen caught 9 passe from Rivers for 73 yards and a TD while Antonio Gates added 2 touchdowns on 5 receptions for 54 yards.

Chris Harris and Rahim Moore both intercepted Philip Rivers for the Bronco defense.

NFL Predictions for Week 8

I didn't do very well last week, in fact I went 4-10 on the week. I promise I'll do much better this week. Here goes!

San Diego @ Denver                    Broncos 28-21 - Shootout between Manning and Rivers

Detroit @ Atlanta                          Lions 31-21 - Even without Megatron
Baltimore @ Cincinnati                Ravens 35-17 - Bengals continue downward spiral
Chicago @ New England              Patriots 28-24 - Turmoil in Bears lockerroom spills onto field
Miami @ Jacksonville                  Dolphins 21-17 - Short trip for Miami victory
Minnesota @ Tampa Bay              Buccaneers 20-17 - Bucs with just enough O
Buffalo @ NY Jets                        Bills 21-14 - Out on a limb here
Seattle @ Carolina                         Seahawks 31-17 - Hawks can't lose 3 in a row?
Houston @ Tennessee                   Texans 24-14 - JJ may have to do it all
St. Louis @ Kansas City                Chiefs 27-10 - No more trick plays please
Philadelphia @ Arizona                 Eagles 28-20 - Must keep pace with the Boys
Oakland @ Cleveland                    Raiders 31-17 - Two losses in a row to winless teams
Indianapolis @ Pittsburgh              Colts 28-21 - Tough test for Luck and the D
Green Bay @ New Orleans            Packers 35-28 - Another offensive thriller

Washington @ Dallas                     Cowboys 31-10 - 'Skins are toast in the East

NHL Update

The following article is from Puck Central on ESPN.

The tragic murder of the soldier at the Canadian Tomb of the Unknowns and bullets flying in the Parliament Building are grim reminders that the world has gone crazy and that sports sometimes need to take a back seat to life.

The games will go on in Canada! The Canadian and American citizens will not be terrorized!