I'M BAAAACK!

My wife and editor asked the other day why I hadn't written in a while. "I couldn't think of anything to say," I said. She just stared at me. "So how come I can't get you to shut up around the house," she replied.  Okay, here's goes.

Baseball is over.
It was a great run, but the Mets didn't really look like they belonged in the Series against the Royals. They won one game when the Kansas City pitchers just didn't have it, giving the Mets a sliver of hope. It turned out to be just a cruel joke. When KC put the pressure on, the Mets gave in. Playoff hero Daniel Murphy became the World Series goat, hitting just .150 with no homers and no RBIs, plus committing two crucial errors.
Kansas City won it all with a team that was very good at every aspect of the game without being exceptional at any one of them. They hit, they fielded, they pitched, they played defense and they even ran the bases beautifully. Not just a few of the players, ALL of them. And they did it without the use of their big bopper, Kendry Morales, for three of the games, because the National League is still living in the '60's.

Blessed quiet now.
No more Joe Buck, who tries to dramatize everything. He waits till the ball is in the stands before declaring it a home run. Meanwhile the outfielder gave up on it almost immediately and after some 50+ years of watching baseball, I can usually tell when the batter hits it if it's gone. Not Joe. He tries to build the suspense until he's forced to admit it was a homer.
I don't think Harold Reynolds has stopped talking yet. Why do these ex-athletes feel they have to inundate us with useless information until we beg them to stop? Alex Rodriquez was no better. His discourses on hitting techniques were lengthy, technical and boring. I don't think 90% of major league hitters had any idea what he was talking about.
Who is Tom Verducci? I can't remember anything he said. Turns out, he's a writer for Sports Illustrated. He should have written out his opinions and given it to Harold Reynolds to read. That may have shut both of them up. Of course that would also mean more Joe Buck.         I just can't win.

Duh!   
Duh! Duh! Duh! During one at bat last night, Harold Reynolds actually said, "A one-one count. THIS is the pitch I'm waiting for. The pitcher will either throw a strike or a ball and the batter could take it or hit it." Is there an alternative to this? Is there a viewer out there that needs to be told this? Is Fox actually paying you to say this, Harold? 
They say that the people in the stands were lucky enough to get tickets to the game. Not to get to see a WS game live, but so they don't have to listen to this dribble. Beer vendors had more pertinent  information: "Ice Cold Beer Here!!!" 

My Sunday morning favorite time. 
I like The Sports Reporters on ESPN. Four sports reporters discussing any important issues in the world of sports. John Saunders moderates (and sometimes, referees) three rotating, opinionated reporters from various fields. I get a kick out of Mike Lupica NY Daily News (for the time being), who bullies the other panel members with his forceful opinion on any subject. Bob Ryan, Boston Globe,  is the only one who will stand up to him.  Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press, has this quiet demeanor that makes his sly humor a surprise. There are others, but these are my favorites.    
Sometimes I agree with their stance, sometimes not. John Saunders doesn't usually express a strong opinion on any subject, but he did yesterday.
20 year-old Ohio State quarterback, J.T. Barrett, was suspended for one game after being arrested for operating a vehicle while impaired. Under-age drinking is a big no-no, but compounded by driving at the same time made it a very, very bad thing, since it also put other people at serious risk. OSU coach, Urban Meyer, had just written a book titled  "Above the Line: Lessons in Leadership and Life from a Championship Season." Most of the Sports Reporters thought the punishment was far too lenient, given the seriousness of the act. Not Saunders. He said that increasing the punishment to four games, the consensus of the other three panelists, wouldn't have any stronger effect on Barrett or any other college student in terms of being a deterrent.  So Barrett will miss ONE game, against a relatively weak Minnesota team, making him available against rivals Michigan and Michigan State, of course. So I guess the message is: underage drinking and drinking and driving is bad but not so bad that you want to hurt OSU's National Championship chances. So this is Urban Meyer's "..Lesson in Leadership..."

Brad Dickson's Bottom Ten 
3.) Massachusetts (1-7): Thanks for playing the 2015 season, UMass, please enjoy these lovely parting gifts.
4.) Louisiana-Monroe (1-7): Lost to Louisiana-Lafayette in The-Battle-of-Teams-In-Louisiana-That-You’ve-Never-Heard-Of.
6.) Texas San Antonio (1-7): Desperate-for-something-to-celebrate Roadrunners fans tore down the goal posts after the team almost made a first down Saturday.
7.) Charlotte (2-6): The 49ers can blame the record this season on youth. The team’s median age is 3.7 years younger than the Taiwanese Little League World Series team.

It's not what you know...
...it's not even who you know. It's where you are. The New York football Giants are in first place in the NFC East with a stellar record of 4-4. They've out-scored their opponents by a whopping 7 points. Normally, when your quarterback completes 40 passes, throws for 7 touchdowns with no interceptions, you would expect a win. However, 49 points was not enough to win a game against New Orleans. The final score: 52-49.  With the right schedule, they could back into a playoff spot. Yeah, a season to be proud of. 

***THEY SAID IT***
"Georgia mascot Uga IX is retiring. It was like a cold slap in the face when Uga IX realized that, unlike all those champion racehorses, he will not be put out to stud."  -- Brad Dickson
"The World Series is playing out after two games exactly like Yogi said, “Good pitching stops good hitting, and vice versa”.  -- Tony Chong
"You have to assume that members of the One-Column Headline Writers Guild will walk out en masse if this Thai teen ever reaches the LPGA Tour: Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong."  -- Dwight Perry
"Within an ocean of posters waved at ESPN’sCollege Game Day’s cameras in Philly, Saturday, was one that captured it all. It read, “This Is A Poster.”"  -- Phil Mushnick
"Matt Harvey made $614,000 from the Mets this year, while Jacob deGrom made $556,000. Together they almost equal the 2015 Mets salary of Bobby Bonilla — $1,193,000."  -- Janice Hough

"The  Detroit Lions are 1-5. The only time they’re even money to win is during the coin toss."  -- Alan Ray
 "Omaha is ranked the third best city for trick or treating.We would be ranked first, but me handing out slices of Spam dropped the city two spots."  -- Brad Dickson
"According to the Elias Sports Bureau stats dept, those fourth quarter collapses by the Seahawks recently may be scored “defensive indifference”.  -- Tony Chong
"Fox had a 7-minute video-feed outage during Game 1 of the World Series. How come there’s never technical difficulties showing the commercials?"  -- Gary Bachman
"Bartolo Colon became the oldest pitcher to lose a World Series game this week at age 42. MLB are still checking to see if he is the fattest."  -- Tony Chong
"Firefighters had to rescue a Barnsley FC supporter who fell asleep on a toilet at halftime and woke up — seven hours later — locked inside an empty stadium. The fan, who said he’d had “a few beers,” lost his hat, shoes and cellphone while he was passed out."  -- Dwight Perry
"Had to love Fox analysis before World Series Game Five “This is a must win for the NY Mets.” Ya think?  Bad news for baseball fans – no more games until 2016. Good news for baseball fans, no more Joe Buck until 2016."  -- Janice Hough
"Wake Forest defeated Boston College in football, 3-0. There was one injury. The play-by-play guy hit his head on the mic after falling asleep during a two-yard run in the fourth quarter."  -- Brad Dickson

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