Tony Stewart Hits 200 MPH at Texas Speedway

Tony Stewart reached a speed of 200.111 miles per hour in his second of 3 qualifying laps but slowed in his last lap and will start 6th.

Matt Kenseth will start on the pole with a qualifying speed of  199.299.

Read the ESPN article here.

Cubs Fire Rick Renteria - Prelude to Hiring Joe Maddon

The Chicago Cubs have fired their current manager, Rick Renteria, to hire the ex-manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, Joe Maddon.

Just 2 weeks ago, Renteria was given a vote of confidence by GM Theo Epstein who saw no reason that Renteria would not be back on the Northside for 2015.

Here is a quote from ESPN writer Jesse Rogers's article on ESPN, by Theo Epstein today.

"Last Thursday, we learned that Joe Maddon -- who may be as well suited as anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us -- had become a free agent," Epstein said. "We saw it as a unique opportunity and faced a clear dilemma: be loyal to Rick or be loyal to the organization. In this business of trying to win a world championship for the first time in 107 years, the organization has priority over any one individual. We decided to pursue Joe."

The Cubs, as usual, handled this very poorly. Renteria did no worse than the 52 managers before him that failed to get the Cubs to the World Series. He was given 1 year to turn around a Cub team that has underperformed as long as the current generation of Cub fans can remember.

In my opinion, Renteria was given the bum's rush and I am sure he will land a managerial position elsewhere.

But read the ESPN article here and decide for yourself.

LeBron and the Cavs Drop Opener to Knicks 95-90

LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers lost their opener to the NY Knicks. Obviously the chemistry is not there and there is no way the Cavs can make the playoffs, let alone win the NBA Championship!

ESPN article

The OKC Thunder lost Russell Westbrook when he broke his hand, a small fracture of the second metacarpal in his right hand to be exact. As JA Adande of ESPN writes "(T)he Thunder are now winless and perhaps starless...". Let's write them off too!

ESPN article

We as fans are quick to jump on and off team bandwagons. Come on people, the NBA season is 82 games, to start 0-1 or 0-2 is not the end.

The end is already here for teams like the 76ers whos GM has said the team will not win until 2017. The Lakers, with no point guard and an aging Kobe are at the end too.

Do fans really think Cleveland will not challange in the East? Phil Jackson has said that the Knicks are "(N)ot ready for showtime...". Do we expect them to rise to the top of the East?

Allow the season to progress and we'll check back later. By the way, remember when LeBron first got to Miami? That team didn't start off so well either did it?

Dave Brandon to Step Down as Michigan AD

The Athletic Director at Michigan, Dave Brandon, has said he will step down at the end of the year and not return in 2015.

I have taken a quote from the ESPN article that states clearly, through emails, how Brandon has handled the fan reaction to a 3-5 record overall and 1-3 in the Big 10.

Earlier this week, mgoblog.com posted caustic and condescending emails that fans wrote to Brandon with their concerns about the athletic department. The website reviewed email exchanges between Brandon and several different fans in which he allegedly told one to "quit drinking and go to bed" and another to "find a new team to support."

Joe Maddon To Cubs?

So the free agent manager, Joe Maddon, appears to be ready to sign a contract to manage the Cubs for 2015. This signing will be the Cubs third manager in the three years that Theo Epstein has been the General Manager.

Unfortunately, Rick Renteria, the current manager of the Cubs hasn't been fired yet.

Assuming the paperwork gets signed, the unfortunate casualty is Renteria, the baseball soul who’d been hired not even a year ago, and who in the absence of public support from Cubs management was compelled this week to release a statement of his own.

It was so sad. Humiliating, you’d imagine. So humiliating, were the final negotiations with Maddon to go sideways Epstein would have had to fire Renteria anyway, because you can’t have an employee kicked to the curb and then dragged back into the clubhouse and reinstalled as team leader and organizational conscience.

Tim Brown of yahoo Sports has a good article here. I think the timing was poor and Renteria should have been fired or at least reassigned before any leak of negotiations, but baseball is a business and a team must act in their best interests.

Jalisco Beats Obregon 11-4 To Take 3rd Game of the Series

The Charros finally got their power hitters going at the same time. For the first time this season they hit 4 home runs in a game. Japhet Amador hit 2 while Manny Rodriguez and Cory Vaughn hit one each.

Obregon took the lead in the 1st. With one out, Dean Anna walked to load the bases. Carlos Valencia popped up to short but Donald Lutz waited out a walk to force in Jake Smolinski for the 1-0 Yaquis lead.

The bottom of the 1st was all Jalisco. Manny Rodriguez hit a solo home run to tie the game at 1. Eduardo Arredondo walked and Japhet Amador hit a 2 run home run to left center for the 3-1 lead. Marquez Smith singled and Cory Vaughn walked. Gabriel Gutierrez singled to left to score Smith and Vaughn and the Charros led 4-1.

Jalisco scored a run in the bottom of the 3rd when Marquez Smith led off the inning by reaching first on an error by the Yaquis shortstop. After Cory Vaughn walked, Gabriel Gutierrez singled to score Smith and the 5-1 Charros lead.

The Yaquis scored three times in the top of the 5th, on walks to the first two batters and a 3 run home run by Agustin Murillo. The score was momenterily tied at 4.

The Charros would go Obregon one better in the bottom of the 5th by scoring 4 times. Eduardo Arredondo led off the inning with a walk and stole second. Japhet Amador followed with his second 2 run home run of the night. Marquez Smith, the next batter, tripled to right. Obregon changed pitchers and Jose Pina gave up a 2 run home run to Cory Vaughn. The Charros were in command with a 9-4 lead.

Jalisco scored their final 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th. Marguez Smith led off the inning with a walk. With one out, Gabriel Gutierrez walked. Both runners moved up on a Fernando Valenzuela grounder to second. Jesus Lopez then singled to score Smith and Gutierrez giving the Charros their final margin of victory, 11-4.

Graham Godfrey picked up his second win of the year but saw his ERA climb to 2.25. He gave up 3 earned runs on 4 hits. On the down side, he issued 4 walks to the Yaquis while striking out only 1. Five Charros relievers worked 4 scoreless innings giving up 3 hits.

Juan Navarette, the Charros manager, changed his lineup for this game. Leo Heras moved to leadoff, Manny Rodriguez hit in the 2 hole while Eduardo Arredondo was dropped to 3rd in the order.

Rodriguez went 2 for 5 with a home run and an RBI while raising his batting average to .370 on the season. Marguez Smith was 2 for 3 with a triple and 4 runs scored. Japhet Amador was 2 for 5 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. Cory Vaughn walked 3 times and went 1 for 2 with a home run. Gabriel Gutierrez was 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs and a run scored.

Jalisco is now 10-7, one game behind Mazatlan for 1st place in the Liga Mexicana del Pacifico while Obregon falls to 9-7, 1/2 game behind the Charros.

The Charros have a travel day today before taking on the Caneros de los Mochis for 3 games in Los Mochis.

Yaquis Take 2nd Game From Charros 8-4

The Yaquis de Obregon took the second game of the three game series with the Charros by an 8-4 score after leading 8-0 entering the bottom of the 9th.

In the top of the 2nd, Carlos Valencia doubled to left and went to third when Donald Lutz grounded out to second. Albino Contreras followed with a single and Valencia scored for the early 1-0 lead for the Yaquis.

Obregon added a run in the top of the 4th on a solo home run by Said Gutierrez for a 2-0 Obregon lead.

The Yaquis scored twice more in the top of the 5th when Donald Lutz homered after Carlos Valencia drew a walk with two outs. 4-0 Yaquis.

With one out in the top of the 6th, Carlos Figueroa singled but was caught stealing second. Jake Smolinski homered to left, the third home run by Obregon on the evening. Obregon up 5-0.

In the top of the 8th, with one out, Albino Contreras doubled to left and after Said Gutierrez struck out, Contreras scored on a single by Carlos Figueroa and the Yaquis had increased their lead to 6-0.

Obregon got a man on in the top of the 9th when Dean Anna was hit by a pitch with two outs. Carlos Valencia followed with a triple to score Anna and Donald Lutz doubled to score Valencia. The Obregon lead looked insurmountable at 8-0.

The Charros put runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs in the bottom of the 9th on singles by Cory Vaughn and Ivan Araujo. Jesus Lopez singled to load the bases. Eduardo Arredondo followed with a single to score Vaughn and Araujo as the Charros avoided their first shutout of the season and cut the lead to 8-2. Manny Rodriguez, 2 for 5 on the night, doubled to left to score Lopez and Arredondo and the Obregon lead was down to 8-4. Leo Heras struck out swinging to end the inning and the game.

The Charros fall to 9-7 on the year while Obregon climbs to 9-6, 1/2 game ahead of Jalisco and tied with the Venados de Mazatlan for the league lead.

Kansas City Shuts Out Giants 10-0 Force Game 7

The Kansas City Royals broke open game 6 of the 2014 World Series in the bottom of the 2nd inning as they went on to shut out the Giants 10-0 and force a game 7 tomorrow night.

Yordano Ventura was the benificiary of the scoring outburst as he picked up the win while Jake Peavy took the loss for the Giants. Peavy lasted just 1 1/3 innings and gave up 5 runs on 6 hits. Yusmeiro Petit didn't fare much better against the Royals bats lasting just 2/3 of an inning and giving up 2 runs on 3 hits. Hunter Strickland went 2 innings and gave up a solo home run to Mike Moustakas.

The 7, 8 and 9 hitters in the Royals lineup, Salvador Perez, Mike Moustakas and Omar Infante went 6 for 12 on the night with 2 RBIs and 5 runs scored.

Check out the ESPN wrap up here and get ready for a game 7 tomorrow night. The first game 7 since 2011.

The Kansas City Royals defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in a 7 game World Series in 1985, the Royal's last appearance in the playoffs.

Nascar's Turn 4 Wrapup and Look Ahead

If you are a Nascar fan, these articles are fun to read. The Championship race is heating up as we wind down another season of racing.

For the first time Nascar has done an elimination sequence that will have 4 racers eligible to win the Sprint Cup Series at the final race in Homestead, Florida in November.

Read the round up here as we head into turn 4 of the racing year.

Do Steroids Make You Stupid?

If Jose Canseco is any indication of what can happen to one's thinking ability while using steroids, the use of those Performance Enhancing Drugs would cease.

The police were called to Canseco's Las Vegas home after a report of an accidental shooting.

Read the story here and shake your head in amazement as I did.

Spurs Receive NBA Championship Rings

The San Antonio Spurs received their NBA Championship rings on Tuesday night before opening their season against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Spurs beat the Mavericks 101-100.

Tony Parker had 23 points and 3 assists for the Spurs while Marco Belinelli added 15 and Tim Duncan had 14 points with 13 boards. Manu Ginobili came off the bench to score 20 points and had 6 assists.

Dirk Nowitzki had 18 points for the Mavs, Monta Ellis dropped 26 points with 6 assists and Devin Harris added 17 points and 5 assists.

Read the full ESPN recap here.

Garrett Says No Pressure From Jones To Insert Romo After Injury

The Dallas Cowboys coach, Jason Garrett stated emphatically that owner Jerry Jones did not order him to put Tony Romo back in the 4th quarter of Monday night's loss to the Redskins.

"I think the ideal situation is to get it communicated as quickly as possible and he felt like he could do it," Garrett said. "It wasn't a big deal to me at all."

Jones "indicated that the X-rays were negative and that as long as he was functional, he could be capable of playing in the game," Garrett said.

If you believe that Jones did not hint that he wanted Romo back in the game you are naive. I can't think of an owner or coach in the league who would have taken a chance like that with their starting quarterback when DeMarco Murray was running so well and the Cowboy's defense was doing a credible job of shutting down the Redskins.

But, decide for yourself by reading the Todd Archer ESPN article here.

Gordie Howe Suffers Stroke

86 year old Gordie Howe has suffered a stroke and is resting comfortably at his daughter's home in Lubbock, Texas.

Howe was a 6 time winner of the Hart Trophy, the NHL Most Valuable Player. He also won the Art Bass Trophy, leading scorer in the NHL, 6 times and played on 4 Stanley Cup winning teams.

Read the ESPN coverage here.

1st CFB Playoff Rankings Released

Controversy here we come! Probably not with the #1 and #2 in the rankings but from there down look out.

#1 Mississippi State and #2 Florida State are the two undefeated teams left. Right now they deserve their ranking.

One would think that Ole Miss would have fallen farther than 4th with the loss to LSU.

"Head to head is important, but it's not the only factor, obviously," Playoff selection committee chairman Jeff Long said.

"We're still early in this process," Long added.

#3 Auburn and #4 Ole Miss would be in if this was selection week. Oregon comes in at #5 followed by Alabama, TCU, Michigan State, Kansas State and Notre Dame at #10.

ESPN has the story here.

Graham Watson editor of drsaturday for Yahoo.com sees the rankings in a slightly different light here.

Post World Series Teams Free Agent Market

As the 2014 World Series comes to a conclusion, what would baseball be if we didn't start looking at who might change teams after it's over. MLB hasn't even handed out the award let alone given the shine time to fade.

The Giants seem to have the most to lose with Pablo Sandoval, Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong, Sergio Romo and Michael Morse all eligible for free agency. Without knowing the intent of management it can be assumed that the Giants would most like to have Sandoval and Romo back along with Vogelsong...at the right price.

The Royals, on the other hand, have James Shields, Josh Willingham, Norichika Aoki, Raul Ibanez and possibly Billy Butler, who may be too rich for the Royals to pick up his option for 2015. Willingham and Ibanez were in season pickups that haven't contributed much to the postseason and with the play of Jarrod Dyson in center and Lorenzo Cain's outstanding play in right, Aoki may very well not be offered a contract.

That leaves James Shields. Shields is a very valuable piece of the Royals team that made the playoffs this season, but there are a number of teams that need pitching and have deep pockets. The Royals may not be able to afford Shields either.

Dave Skretta of the AP, writing for Yahoo Sports has an interesting take on both team's free agency woes with this article.

Buccaneers Make Trades Before Deadline

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have traded safety Mark Barron to the St. Louis Rams and reserve linebacker Jonathan Casillas to the New England Patrionts.

There is no word on who the Bucs got, or will get in return.

'Skins Dump Cowboys 20-17 In Overtime

The Washington Redskins, behind Texas native Colt McCoy, held off the Cowboys in regulation and won the game on a field goal in overtime, 20-17.

McCoy was 25 of 30 for 299 yards. Although he had no passing touchdowns he did score on a 7 yard run near the start of the 4th quarter that put the Redskins up 17-10.

DeMarco Murray had his 8th straight game with 100+ yards rushing and tied eight other NFL players with 1000 yards rushing in their team's first eight games.

The Cowboys were 17-1 in games where Murray had 20 or more carries. Murray only carried the ball 19 times in last night's game. Those 19 rushes were good for 141 yards. Demarco is on a pace for an NFL record 2108 yards on the season.

Dallas has lost three overtime games under coach Garrett. Interestingly the two previous OT losses were followed by losses in the next game.

Read the full ESPN recap article here.

Obregon Snaps Charros Win Streak at Three

The three game winning streak is over. The Yaquis de Obregon took a 5-4 win last night in Zapopan. Juan Delgadillo took the mound for the Charros and dropped his fourth decision in a row.

The Yaquis played small ball in the top of the 1st. John Smolinski led off with a double, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Corey Wimberly and scored on a grounder to second by Agustin Murillo for the 1-0 Obregon lead.

Eduardo Arredondo led off the bottom of the 1st for the Charros by drawing a walk and moving to second on a ground out by Manny Rodriguez. Leo Heras singled to center to drive in Arredondo and the game was tied at 1.

Carlos Valencia singled for Obregon in the top of the 2nd and scored on a double by Donald Lutz. Sergio Contreras drew a walk. Said Gutierrez singled to score Lutz and the Yaquiz lead was 3-1.

The Charros came back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the 2nd. Gabriel Gutierrez singled to deep short and went to second on the throwing error by the shortstop. Amadeo Zazueta's grounder moved Gutierrez to third. Gutierrez scored as Jesus Lopez grounded out to second. Eduardo Arredondo reached second on a throwing error by the Yaquis second baseman. Manny Rodriguez singled to center to score Arredondo and the score was tied 3-3.

Jalisco went ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the 4th on a solo home run by Marquez Smith, his fourth of the year.

The Yaquis scored what proved to be the winning runs in the top of the 5th. With one out, John Smolinski walked. Corey Wimberly singled and Smolinski stopped at second. Agustin Murillo singled to plate Smolinski and the Yaquis had runners at 1st and 3rd. That was all for Delgadillo as Ken Sigman came on in relief. Sigman got Dean Anna to hit into a 6-4 fielder's choice with Wimberly scoring. Obregon led 5-4.

The Charros threatened in the 7th and the 8th but could not score.

Oswaldo Martinez got the win for Obregon with 2 innings of shutout relief work and Jonathan Arias picked up his 6th save on the year, working a perfect 9th that included 2 strikeouts.

Juan Delgadillo suffered his fourth consecutive loss lasting just 4 1/3 innings. He gave up 5 runs on 6 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5. Delgadillo's ERA remains in the 9's at 9.18.

Marquez Smith's home run, Leo Heras' 11th RBI on the season and Manny Rodriguez's 2 for 5 night that raised his average to .365 on the year were the highlights for the Charros.

Jalisco fell to 9-6 on the year as Obregon climbed to 8-6, 1/2 game behind Jalisco and Mazatlan for the lead in the Liga Maxicana del Pacifico. These two teams square off again today starting at 7 PM. 

Non Profit Foundation Buys Saban's House

I want to get to the heart of the matter here but I have to make a few points clear. First, I am not anti-SEC or anti-Alabama nor am I a Saban hater. I agree with the foundation that Saban may be the best coach in football today. Secondly I don't care how much Universities pay their coaches.

Having stated these points I have some things to say about this ESPN article, written by Alex Scarborough.

First, Nick Saban is paid 7 million dollars a year to coach the University of Alabama's football team. He has done a very good job of this and should be compensated well.

Secondly, the Crimson Tide Foundation bought Saban's 3.1 million dollar home in January of 2013 and continues to pay the yearly property taxes on the home. This is $200,000 more than Saban paid for it. If I remember, this was about the time the rumors of the University of Texas looking to Saban for their next head coach surfaced.

Thirdly, the NCAA says that a coach's compensation is allowed to come from a University foundation.

Finally, the foundation likes to point out that the University of Alabama owned Bear Bryants home so everything is okay. Scott Phelps, assistant secretary of the foundation had this to say, "We want to keep him happy. We think he is the best coach in America."

My point in saying all of this is that Todd Gurley, running back at the University of Georgia, has been suspended for allegedly accepting $400 dollars for his autograph on items a collector will make back at least a hundred fold and Jameis Winston is being investigated for the same NCAA "crime".

The head coach and his staff, in all sports, should be held to some higher standard when it comes to receiving compensation from non profit entities.

When the NCAA has to change rules to allow universities to feed their athletes more because they go hungry (re: statements by UConn's Shabazz Napier...I sometimes go to bed starving because I can't afford food), they should change rules that say University foundations can compensate coaches.

The time has come for the NCAA to step up to the plate and admit that student-athletes should be compensated for their efforts that bring millions of dollars to universities and their coaches.

Giants Take 3-2 Series Lead On Bumgarner's Shutout

The San Francisco Giants head to Kansas City with a 3-2 lead in the World Series. Madison Bumgarner threw a beauty of a game, a complete game 4 hit shutout.

This was the first World Series complete game shutout since Josh Beckett, pitching for the Florida Marlins in 2003, shutout the NY Yankees in the series clinching 6th game.

Hunter Pence got things going for the Giants in the bottom of the 2nd with a lead off single. Brandon Belt's sacrifice bunt got past James Shields for an infield single that put runners at first and second with no outs. Travis Ishakawa flew out to center to move the runners up a base. Brandon Crawford grounded out to second as Pence scored. The Giants had all the runs they would need with Bumgarner on the mound, a 1-0 lead.

With Shields still pitching for the Royals in the 4th, Pablo Sandoval singled to lead off the inning. Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt both struck out, but Travis Ishakawa singled to get Sandoval to second and Brandon Crawford singled to drive in Sandoval for the 2-0 Giants lead.

The Giants broke the game open in the bottom of the 8th. Kelvin Herrera, on in relief, gave up consecutive singles to Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence. Wade Davis relieved Herrera. Juan Perez greeted Davis with a full count double that scored Sandoval and Pence. Perez went to third on a throwing error by Alcides Escobar. Brandon Crawford's single plated Perez and the Giants' lead grew to 5-0.

Bumgarner set the Royals down in order in the top of the 9th to pick up his second win of this World Series. In his last 4 World Series starts, Bumgarner is 4-0 with a 0.29 ERA.

The number 7 and 8 hitters in the San Francisco lineup went 5 for 8 with 5 RBIs and a run scored last night.

Game 6 of the 2014 will be in Kansas City on Tuesday night.