Clearly, they know not what they do ….
Well as the MLB postseason come into the nation’s focus after a thrilling game one in the World Series with the Kansas City Royals beating the New York Mets in a thrilling fourteen innings’ thriller . Game two on Wednesday night might not live up to the fireworks seen in game one. Again the two teams will be back it at Kauffmann Field in Kansas City , Missouri with the Royals looking to take a 2-0 lead in the best of seven-game series. If the New York Mets were to lose the game, then their task of looking to win the franchise’s first title in almost three decades would become even more difficult. This is a Royals’ team , once given an advantage, they are not likely to relinquish it without a fight, something I do not believe the Mets have within them , and the game one result was merely proof of that fact.
Slideshow.
On the mound in game two for the Kansas City Royals will be Johnny Cueto facing Jacob deGrom of the New York Mets.
Away from the field of play, former Philadelphia Phillies’ player Lenny Dykstra continues to be as much an embarrassment to himself as his post career has been , with a litany of financial , legal and personal issues. Dykstra now claims he hired private investigators to dig up dirt on Major League umpires in order to blackmail them. From my own point of view, the former big league player should not necessarily be been , but most certainly he does not need to be heard. Away from the camera is definitely better, than seeing him on camera.
Don Mattingly is now seen as the leading candidate to become the new manager of the Miami Marlins and once again we have a franchise in need of not only an identity , but also one in need of a leader and players capable of winning. The Marlins have not made the postseason since 2003 when they last won the World Series for the second of the franchise’s two triumphs in baseball’s postseason finale. Beyond players with the stature of Jose Fernandez and Giancarlo Stanton there has been little of note to be excited about concerning this NL East based franchise. Marlins’ Ballpark in Miami , Florida , remains cavernous entity, barely filled to capacity (34,500) for the team’s home games played at the venue.
One seriously doubts in 2016 , things will be any different for the ball-club, as they seek to make their presence felt within baseball. One also seriously doubts Don Mattingly will be able to show the managerial acumen needed to guide the team where they want to be. I understand the fact Mattingly was admired for all the recent success he attained with the Los Angeles Dodgers , but in essence , he was given the keys to a Ferrari , but in the end, he stalled at the most crucial of moments , never managing to get the team to the “ Big Dance” . By comparison the Marlins , have few players of any real talent beyond Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez , so it is hard to imagine how much of an impact as a manager he is likely to make with this team.
Marlins’ GM Michael Hill and team owner Jeffrey Loria have repeatedly flubbed their lines and the maneuvers made concerning the player personnel in recent years has left , little to be admired at all. Decisions will have to be made concerning several of the Marlins’ impending free agents as well as seeking ways of paring down the team’s salary for the upcoming season. While I do not believe the Miami Marlins will be major players in the free agency market during the off-season , I do expect them to make one or two acquisitions . Whether or not, Don Mattingly becomes the new manager of the Miami Marlins will solely be made upon the desire of both parties to work out a deal based on their needs .
Last night saw the opening tip-off for the official regular season start of the NBA and the defending champions the Golden State Warriors began the defense of that title. With a target on their back , this is now the team to beat in the league . Dating back to the NBA playoffs and then the latter part of the regular season , Steph Curry and his teammates have been the “ class of the league” on the road or at home . Almost unbeatable wherever they have played and it was nowhere more evident than in the NBA Playoffs themselves. Golden State’s victory over the New Orleans Pelicans was easy, with Curry getting a game-high forty points , leading all scorers in the contest.
Next up for the Golden State Warriors will a contest against Western Conference rivals the Houston Rockets in a game to be played at the Toyota Center in Houston Texas on the 30th October , 2015. I believe the Warriors will remain a force to be reckoned with over the course of this season especially within their conference and division.
Another year and yet again , the news’ print will encapsulate what is likely to make the Los Angeles Lakers tick ? With the declining skill-set of Kobe Bryant , I do not see any real long-term for the franchise. LeBron James won’t be leaving Cleveland unless Cleveland Cavaliers’ owner Dan Gilbert fails to massage the player’s easily bruised ego once again. Lakers’ fans hope that it will be either James or Kevin Durant looking to assume the mantel of the next big thing in Los Angeles . At this moment in time, the Lakers might just be the worst NBA franchise in the state of California . Who would have thought the Los Angeles Clippers and Sacramento Kings might have more going for them competitively than the Los Angles Lakers ?
Byron Scott and the coaching staff have to also deal with the nonsensical ideas of the Buss siblings , while also having to deal with Mitch Kupchak . Scott may well have been a second-tier member of the Showtime Lakers and having some success with the Brooklyn Nets , but his tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers has been unmitigated disaster on every level. Byron Scott’s coaching staff remains clueless and the franchise’s development of players from within , has proven to fruitless and the draft history in recent years, have yet to bear fruit. This past season and the NBA Draft therein, had the Lakers taking D’Angelo Russell , Larry Nance Jr and Anthony Brown . This season will tell us a great deal about these players and whether or they can give to the team .
The Los Angeles Lakers will begin their schedule with a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves , where the visiting Timberwolves are still mourning the loss of Flip Saunders who died earlier this week from the debilitating illness , Hodgkins’ Lymphoma . As the NBA mourns and is saddened by the death of Saunders , life must go on and so too will the game, as the league’s fraternity remembers one of their very own. These two teams will have a great deal to play for over the course of this season , though I do not expect both to be clear-cut favorites to make the NBA Playoffs.
In recent years , sixty-win seasons have not been the norm for the Atlanta Hawks , but yet, the playoffs have remained their Achilles’ Heel . For all the team camaraderie seen , this has been a franchise short on success , while being very talented. However, the NBA remains a league which tends to remember its franchises based on the success achieved and that means the winning of titles and not singular achievements.
Hawks’ coach Mike Budenholzer will be expected to take this franchise back the NBA Playoff this season, where it is hoped they can make a much greater impact than seen last year . With something of a rebuilt roster , draft picks . free agent acquisitions , Budenholzer and the front office will expect the Hawks to compete all season-long , with the certainty of a playoff berth as part of the plan, with the goal being an NBA championship. Having stumbled out of the gate losing to the Detroit Pistons , the Atlanta Hawks will now prepare for the New York Knicks in a game to be played at Madison Square Garden , New York City, New York on Thursday night.
We are almost at the midway point of the NFL season and the fallout will continue , along with the likelihood there will be at least one more coach-firing before the season ends. As to who might be the leading candidate, is now a matter of not when this is now going to happen , but how soon this will all take place. . The week eight opener will provide the fans with the opportunity to see Miami Dolphins (3-3) taking on the New England Patriots (6-0) in an AFC East divisional clash . For opposing quarterbacks , Tom Brady of the Patriots and Ryan Tannehill of the Dolphins this contest should prove to be in an interesting contrast in styles .Brady will likely lead the Patriots to their seventh consecutive win of the season and also improve on his record against Miami. However, with Deflate-Gate still fresh in the minds of many . even after the debacle of the league hierarchy’s case against the quarterback, I cannot help but wonder, when and if this will all end !
Roger Goodell remains adamant , justice must be seen to be done ,but as commissioner , he has failed to answer questions about why Chief Legal Counsel & SVP Jeff Pash failed to give any testimony whatsoever to bolster the NFL’s case against Tom Brady. Something does stink in Denmark , otherwise known as the NFL headquarters and if the fans who are still in uproar would actually care to use some common sense , rather than being bellicose and absolute @assholes , then they would see the league is just as complicit in this mess, as are the Patriots.
The best game on the weekend schedule during week eight might well be the contest between two unbeaten teams . Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (6-0) will take their show on the road to face the Denver Broncos (6-0 at Sports Authority Field /Mile High Stadium , in Denver , Colorado, where Peyton Manning awaits his NFC guests. Questions have continued to swirl concerning Manning’s apparent decline, but on any given day when not even seventy-percent fit , the four-time League MVP is still a great deal better than many of his counterparts within the NFL . This game should prove worthy of the audience’s viewing and I believe the winner will be in line for a divisional title as well as a playoff berth for the postseason .
For both Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers their accomplishments can be debated, but a second Superbowl victory for either would certainly pave their way to the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Two weeks ago, F1 (Formula One) race car driver Lewis Hamilton won his third consecutive Grand Prix race of the season , winning the US Grand Prix . With the victory Hamilton also secured the world title and with it, the third of his career and a part of racing history among his peers and predecessors.
Lewis Hamilton has become the most high-profiled and most popular driver in Formula One racing and granted Kimi Raikkonen has won the title four times during his career , both still trail far behind seven-time champion Michael Schumacher still considered the greatest driver in history. Schumacher’s record speaks for itself and one of the reasons why he still revered within the sport and worldwide as a sports’ icon.
In the aftermath of his US Grand Prix victory we witnessed the ugly side of Formula One Grand Prix , with the rather disgusting and petulant tirade from the British driver , Lewis Hamilton. If there is one thing this sport does not need in terms of its image being dented and it is its most popular driver acting like a thug , with his use of profanity directed towards a fellow driver. As to the message Hamilton was trying to send , while also wanting to be viewed as a role model youngsters. I am not so sure he has an explanation , much less his act of contrition being believable.
Formula One racing has yet have a firm footing on the North American continent and specifically within the United States , where it lags behind NASCAR and the IRL (Indy Racing League) in popularity , attendance levels and television ratings. All three sports are seeing marked declines in the three areas in question and in spite of the format changes within NASCAR , with the impending retirements of Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart within the sport. NASCAR now finds itself at a point where it is now looking for the younger drivers within its fold to make an impact and bring in a new star with likability. Dale Earnhardt Jr remains popular, but his having not won a NASCAR title at the highest level , speaks as to the volume of his lack of success , while still being so popular.
Picture gallery. By clicking on an image within the gallery, you view the picture in a reformatted size along the accompanying narrative.
As a sport’s fans do you believe athletes have to set an example concerning their conduct in the eyes of the public ? Or do you believe human frailties can be overlooked when at a moment’s notice their anger and emotion is shown ?
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Tophatal ……… 10/28/2015 11:50 pm
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Tophatal's Blog 
Johnny Cueto gives up two-hits to the New York Mets (0-2) in a pitching performance for the Kansas City Royals (2-0) which places the AL franchise at the halfway mark to winning the 2015 World Series . With game three taking place tomorrow night in New York City , I do not believe the Mets have it takes to turn the series around , erase the deficit and win it outright !
There is a reason why Lenny Dykstra has become such a sleaze and douche-bag. His private live has become a mess and professionally. he was overrated as a player.
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This just in it’s way too early to start prognosticating about the best teams in the NBA , other than the fact we know the Golden State Warriors are as good as advertised and have not missed a beat.
By Monday night, I believe there will be two unbeaten teams still left in the NFL . One of the teams in question will be the New England Patriots who I expect will get by the Miami Dolphins. In the match-up between the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos the game could go down to the wire.
Leave it to the Los Angeles Lakers to carry on where they left off from, from last season . Kobe Bryant and his teammates who fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves , while playing pathetically in the loss , offered nothing of note in the contest.
Lewis Hamilton is proving himself to be a self-absorbed douche-bag. He may well be the highest earning driver in Formula One racing , but he lacks courtesy and decency when off-track in the company of his peers , never mind his antic when in the eyes of the press.
Tophatal …………….
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Tonight’s games (Thursday 29th October) should prove to be very interesting.
The only two reasons to head to the Staples Center this season and it would be to watch Los Angeles’ Clippers’ home games , their cheerleaders and those of the Los Angels Lakers as well. Does anyone really want to see the Lakers play this season ?
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Tophatal …………….
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The New York Mets’ fans are truly delusional if they believe this team can overcome an 0-2 deficit against a very good Kansas City Royals (2-0) team which is a far better managed outfit than the Boston Red Sox team of 1986 , who lost the World Series in part , because a poorly executed defensive play by Bill Buckner which still lives in Red Sox folklore and is seen as a boondoggle in the career of Buckner to this day.
Through the two games played including the fourteen inning game one thriller the Mets have simply been outplayed by the Ned Yost managed Royals’ team . Yost’s counterpart, Terry Collins has shown his postseason inexperience in this series .
Game three takes place on Friday night with pitchers Yordano Ventura of the Royals taking on Noah Syndergaard of the Mets.
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The Thursday night game featured the Miami Dolphins facing the New England Patriots who are now demolishing the Dolphins 36-7 during the waning moments of the game .
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Tophatal ….
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Just a few games into the NBA season and we have fans talking about who the best team in the league might well be. It would best to judge this all when the teams have played at least twenty to twenty-five games . You simply cannot get anything from seeing two or three games being played at this juncture, let alone how good the players are meant to be.
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Tophatal ….
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Perhaps it’s me , but the moment the press starts reporting on the latest utterances on what LeBron James believes is best for the Cleveland Cavaliers as a franchise and the team’s playing staff , the less likely I am to believe head coach David Blatt and the coaching staff has any say in how the team is ran much less how they actually play each game. When a player is given that type of latitude , it can lead to disruption and disunity within a franchise and the organization itself , with individuals taking sides for all of the wrong reasons.
Michael Jordan at the height of his playing career when leading the Chicago Bulls to their six NBA titles in an eight-year span may well have been given a little latitude but even he had to defer to Phil Jackson .
LeBron hasn’t been seen doing that, and it were as if team owner Dan Gilbert and GM David Griffin would rather listen to the player than hurt his ego rather than let David Blatt and the coaching staff strategy the plays for the Cavaliers.
If Cleveland fails to make the NBA Playoffs this season , then one of two things will likely happen. David Blatt will be fired or LeBron James once again jumps ship from the franchise for the second time six years to play elsewhere in the NBA . Undoubtedly , that would leave teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks salivating at the chance to sign the four-time League MVP .
Cleveland have started their schedule rather slowly and stand at 1-1 , having played two games at this point of the season .
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More upheaval within the front office of the Miami Marlins after the formal introduction of Don Mattingly as the team’s newest manager . It would appear Alex Anthonopolous who is said to be leaving the Toronto Blue Jays organization , would appear to be a perfect fit within Marlins’ front office structure , quite possibly being offered the position as general manager.
Current GM & Team President Michael Hill will have have renewed responsibilities within , while also overseeing a litany of in-house operations. For Hill this would not be seen as a lateral move, but progression upwards . Dan Jennings who had a dual role before his dismissal as manager was not seen as a “perfect fit” , Jennings joins Mike Redmond , who had been fired earlier this season as a manager of the Miami Marlins , with two individuals now unemployed .
Don Mattingly will likely retain several members of the Marlins’ current managerial staff , but is also expected to bring in a number of his own personal choices to fill in some of the likely positions he believes necessary. Of greater priority has to be the paring down of the team’s payroll and the assessing of the playing staff as well as, which free agents the ball-club would like to keep for next season.
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Game three of the 2015 World Series and we are witnessing the New York Mets (0-2) putting on a strong offensive showing as they lead the Kansas City Royals by a score of 9-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning .
A win for the home team would erase the Royals’ 2-0 lead to just one game , with the fourth game of the series set to take place on Saturday night at Citi-Field in Flushing , New York.
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Friday night’s results in the NBA and how the teams’ fared at home and on the road .
Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs have gotten off to a 1-1 start to the season .
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Tophatal …..
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If the season for the Los Angeles Dodgers was said to be a major disappointment then the same has to be said for the AL Central based franchise the Detroit Tigers . Gone are manager Brad Ausmus and the abrupt departure of Dave Dombrowski as the team’s general manager. Dombrowski has since joined the Boston Red Sox organization where he will become the Head of Baseball Operations as well as Senior Vice President .
Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington has also made the decision to leave , with the arrival of former Los Angeles Angels’ GM Jerry Dipoto who joined the Red Sox as a special consultant. Dipoto has since been hired to succeed the Seattle Mariners where he will succeed Jack Zduriencik as the Mariners’ general manager .
With all of these major upheavals within the game , you simply get the feeling there are likely to more changes within the Major League Baseball teams over the coming months in the lead-up to the 2016 Spring Training Schedule.
Al Avila has now succeeded Dave Dombrowski and it remains to be seen if Avila can bring about the same sort of success seen under his predecessor. I am not so sure Dombrowski’s departure was met with widespread approval among the Tigers’ players , especially two of the team’s most prominent stars , pitcher Justin Verlander and his teammate Miguel Cabrera .
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The AP Poll in College Football (FBS) makes for an interesting read as the conjecture and debate begins as to who should be part of this season’s playoff format. Last year Ohio State rose to the top under the guidance of Urban Meyer and his quarterback Cardale Jones . This season the Buckeyes might just be playing better than they were last season , but many have come to the conclusion the team is not as good or prolific as they were in 2014.
The Buckeyes remain unbeaten and enter into week nine on a bye-week of the College Schedule , but with a very good chance of furthering their unbeaten run dating back to the 2013 season when they face Illinois next Saturday , 1st November , 2015.
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It’s never too soon to write-off the Los Angeles Lakers , but this season might be the right time as this Byron Scott coached team has been an embarrassment to themselves and to the fans in attendance at the Staples Center in California .
Two consecutive losses to start the Lakers’ season , with the second being a blowout defeat suffered at the hands of the Sacramento Kings .
Team owner Jim Buss a SVP within the Lakers’ front office along with GM Mitch Kupchak and Jeanie Buss have been complicit in the decline of the franchise over the past five seasons . Next up for the Lakers will be a home game to be played against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday evening , 1st November, 2015. In each of the seasons in question the Lakers were never competitive enough to do anything within the West.
To comprehend how mediocre the Los Angeles Lakers have been over the past two seasons , consider their record against the Western Conference in 2013 and 2014 .
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Seriously , some fans are of the belief the New York Mets are now still capable of coming from behind to erase a 3-1 deficit to make this World Series interesting ? Given the Mets’ play and lack of consistency in the series against the Kansas City Royals , where do they believe this Terry Collins’ managed team can now gain some inspiration from ? Last I looked there was no one on the Royals’ roster by the name of Bill Buckner.
Game four , Kansas City came out firing on all cylinders and simply shut the Mets down. I believe Ned Yost and the Royals are now capable of closing out the series in game five winning in style at Citi-Field in New York , on Sunday night !
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With the firing of Al Golden , the Miami Hurricanes were able to bounce back with a come from behind victory over Duke in an Atlantic Coast Conference game played on Saturday afternoon.
Florida (Gators) secured the SEC title with their win over Georgia (Bulldogs) defeating the Bulldogs 27-3 .
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Saturday’s results in the NBA and nothing as of yet to give us any real indicators about how good the teams really are .
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Just in case there were any doubters concerning how good the NBA’s reigning League MVP might just be. He put those doubts to rest , once and for all, with another exhilarating display for the NBA champions , Golden State Warriors .
Steph Curry remains on another planet while others are simply playing a step below and yes , it includes four-time League MVP LeBron James .
Through the games played so far the Warriors have been outscoring opponents at will , stamping their ongoing dominance over the NBA . Curry in a recent game for the Warriors, scored a season-high fifty-three points against the New Orleans Pelicans in a contest that was not even remotely close in spite of the result , a Golden State victory 134-120.
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Early afternoon results in the NFL signifies the state of play for a number of teams who are now struggling within the divisions and the two conferences .
The New York Giants and New Orleans Saints are putting on a high-scoring contest , where there is little defense being played by either team . Drew Brees has thrown for a season-high and career-high seven touchdowns in the contest .
Elsewhere , the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got by the highly overrated Atlanta Falcons in an NFC South divisional contest .
Derek Carr , quarterback of the Oakland Raiders has yet to make a believer out of me, but there appears to growing optimism among Raiders’ faithful this might be the season where the team can actually make a playoff run within the AFC . Sunday afternoon , Carr and his teammates set about dismantling the New York Jets , a team now with two consecutive losses and their season having slipped precipitously with their being no explanation from Todd Bowles and his coaching staff for the Jets’ latest missteps .
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What should’ve been a highly entertaining game between the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos turned out to be a rather lopsided contest as Peyton Manning and the Broncos destroyed the visiting Packers . Green Bay’s defense fell apart at the seams, showing no resilience at all in their 29-10 defeat.
The injury loss of Tony Romo seems to be playing havoc not only with the psyche of the Dallas Cowboys but it would also appear neither of Romo’s replacements Matt Cassel or Brandon Weeden have been capable enough of playing consistently at a high level this season.
Dallas suffered another loss in their game against an equally disappointing Seattle Seahawks’ team in a low-scoring 13-12 defeat .
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Congratulations to the Kansas City Royals and their winning this year’s World Series , completely outplaying the New York Mets from start to finish.
Salvador Perez , 2015 World Series’ MVP and catcher for the Kansas City Royals .
Salvador Perez was the World Series’ MVP for the Royals and deservedly so . Ned Yost and his managerial staff have brought a sense of pride back to the organization, where GM Dayton Moore has shown himself to be a very astute front office executive.
For the New York Mets it is back to the building blocks and drawing board , because clearly this is a team which lacks resilience and leadership among the players and managerial staff led by Terry Collins .
The game five victory by the Royals . defeating the Mets 7-3 for a 4-1 World Series’ victory . gives Kansas City their first series’ title in three decades.
GM Dayton Moore will now seek to keep the players , he knows will have to be at the core of this team moving forward if the Royals are to be seen as perennial contenders for a title.
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Still a long way off from fulfilling their eighty-two game schedule in the NBA , but should I now be asking how bad the Los Angeles Lakers just happen to be at this point of the season ?
What can now be more typical , than a whining Kobe Bryant fan who now bitches and whines about the Lakers’ star being better than the reigning League MVP Steph Curry ? Over the last two seasons, while both have been present in their respective teams’ play , what cannot be denied is the fact Curry has bested his Western Conference counterpart when has mattered the most. It is a situation which is likely to carried on again this season when the two teams will meet four times during the regular season.
At the start of the regular 2015 schedule , Lakers’ GM Mitch Kupchak and team owner &SVP Jim Buss believed it possible the Los Angeles Lakers would be capable of making the NBA postseason . This seems highly unlikely based on the Lakers’ current play within the conference , divisional and conference standing .
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Tophatal ..
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When the Carolina Panthers (6-0) play hosts to the Indianapolis Colts (3-4) tonight to close out the week eight regular season schedule. It will be interesting to see the play of the opposing quarterbacks. Cam Newton of the Panthers and Andrew Luck of the Colts.
Newton and the Panthers are off to a ferocious start unbeaten in their first six games of the season , whereas , Luck and the Colts have struggled to show any semblance of consistency. This game should favor the Panthers as the home team and it would be something of a surprise were Indiana able to pull off the upset.
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Tophatal ……
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Tonight’s games in the NBA and can we just say , all is now lost with regard to the Los Angeles Lakers (0-3) ?
Defensively the Lakers are a mess and from an offensive standpoint , the team on their best day could not hit the broadside of a barn .
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With the Kansas City Royals having now won their first World Series title in thirty years. It will now be left to Dayton Moore and the managerial staff to assess and seek to negotiate extended and new contracts for a few of the free agents on their roster , if this team is remain competitive over the next four to five years. I believe it will prove to be difficult for the Royals to compete with several of the big market teams and try to keep the payroll under $120 million for the upcoming season .
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Tophatal ……..
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This World Series left me wondering, Al.
If the Kansas City Royals can build a team with homegrown talent and the 14th highest payroll in baseball, why can’t the Rays?
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Chris Humpherys (SportsChump)
What do you believe the Tampa Bay Rays might have to make them a likely contender for the AL Pennant much less the World Series ? The coaching staff at best is mediocre and the roster is lacking in depth . Team owner , Stuart Sternberg and GM Matt Silverman will continue to penny-pinch when it comes to the team’s payroll and it will be that way for several years to come.
Sternberg doesn’t want to spend money to bolster the team much less spend a morsel of personal fortune to even pay in part for a new stadium. Pardon me for saying this, but this franchise is no longer worth supporting on any level.
The ownership remains fucking clueless, the fan-base within area are gullible and stupid . The print and television media are just assholes altogether, who are too scared to speak and question how any of professional sports’ franchises in the area are being so poorly ran.
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Tophatal …………….
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I suppose there is something to be said for the stupidity we continue to see in the world of baseball. Teams spending in excess of $1 billion over three years on players’ salaries only for the team to self-implode in recent seasons’ postseason play, to now witnessing the hiring and firing of a manager within the space of week , as seen with the Washington Nationals .
Nationals’ Team President and principal owner, Ted Lerner has simply proven the continued incompetence we often see within all branches of the federal government is also alive and well within the suburbs of Washington DC and is certainly prevalent with the Washington Nationals as well as with the Washington Redskins .
Former Padres’ manager Bud Black
Matt Williams (left)
Dusty Baker has now been installed by as the Washington Nationals’ new manager , one week after Bud Black was hired and then fired after accepting the position . Black’s predecessor Matt Williams was fired after a disastrous season where the Nationals’ play was indifferent , with perhaps on Bryce Harper being the only player on the team showing any type of consistency and signs of life . Granted, Max Scherzer pitched a no-hitter for the team during the season , but that was the only highlight of an otherwise nondescript year for the team . If anything 2015 proved to be a tremendous disappointment for the Nationals , when they were expected to contend for the NL East as well as the NL Pennant . Instead they fell short of both goals.
Nationals’ latest manager Dusty Baker who signed a two-year deal to manage the team.
Mike Rizzo as the general manager of the ball club, will now have to deal with the likely departures of several free agents as well as seeking to negotiate deals for players Washington would like to keep. The Nationals’ farm system seems to be well-stocked, but productivity remains the key as well the right manager being able to motivate the players , while getting them to play with more consistency and showing a competitive zeal.
Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo (left) and team owner , billionaire , Ted Lerner
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Tuesday night results in the NBA and the teams’ play over their first few games of the season’s infancy .
The Miami Heat have yet to find any real cohesion as a team even with elder statesmen Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh leading the way for their teammates from an offensive standpoint. Hassan Whiteside and Justise Winslow have yet to find their way for the Heat. Erik Spoelstra has watched his team perform inconsistently with their most recent performance being a defeat suffered at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks in their road win of 98-92 .
Miami Heat players from left to right, Dwyane Wade , Goran Dragic and Justise Winslow .
In another of the Tuesday night contests the highest scoring game of the night saw the Charlotte Hornets defeat the Chicago Bulls in a thoroughly entertaining Eastern Conference match-up by the score of 130-105. Defense was not something witnessed during the game.
Byron Scott watched as his Los Angeles Lakers’ team fall to Western Conference counterpart the Denver Nuggets in a home loss 120-109 . The Toronto Raptors are proving why they are the best team in the Eastern Conference at this moment in time after their road win over the Dallas Mavericks by the score of 102-91.
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Tophatal ….
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With the Kansas City Royals having won their first World Series title in three decades the world of baseball can now begin their silly off-season where teams will be seeking to rid themselves and then gain the best possible players out there on the free agency market. Already, the Boston Red Sox have started their foray , with the retention of starting pitcher Clay Buchholz as John Farrell , his managerial staff and front office set about rebuilding the roster through trades and the promotion of several of the players from within their farm system .
From left to right , Rob Carr , Clay Buchholz and John Farrell .
After a disappointing 2015 season the Red Sox are intent on making themselves competitive again while seeking to compete within their division against the likes of the Baltimore Orioles , New York Yankees , Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays.
With a litany of free-agents likely to hit the market , there is the belief this off-season could be among the most active of any over the last five years . A year in which the league saw the ups and downs of several teams on its way to a rather exciting postseason with the San Francisco Giants winning the title in 2010.
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This week in baseball history .
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Tophatal …..
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Week nine of the NFL schedule will open up with another customary Thursday Night Game.
When the Cleveland Browns (2-6) take to the field to face the Cincinnati Bengals 7-0 in the Battle of Ohio , it will be interesting to see if Andy Dalton can continue with his impressive season for the unbeaten Bengals. Cincinnati leads the AFC North by an impressive margin and clearly on their way to another postseason berth within the AFC . The Bengals have been equally impressive on the road as they have been at home .
Cincinnati’s head coach Marvin Lewis might well have felt his job might have been on line , but I do believe another deep postseason run will help his cause. For the Browns their season has continued to spiral out of control .
Neither Josh McCown or Johnny Manziel have been able to to do anything of note for the Cleveland Browns over the course of the season , now leading many to believe whether or not they might seek to draft a quarterback in the 2016 NFL Draft or seek acquire a veteran for next season . There is a clear reason to see neither of these two starting quarterbacks have the attributes needed for the Browns to be competitive in this league . Cleveland’s last playoff appearance came during the 2002 NFL postseason .
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Tophatal ……… 2015/11/04 11:47 PM
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Wednesday’s results in the NBA As usual the Western Conference remains as competitive as ever , while the Eastern Conference embodies what we already know it to be .
The Boston Celtics (1-3) lost to the Indiana Pacers (2-3) in a closely fought game , coming through unscathed 100-98. In other games played on Wednesday night , the Washington Wizards (3-1) got by the San Antonio Spurs (3-2) the Brooklyn Nets (0-5) still win-less ,fell to the Atlanta Hawks (5-1) to their Eastern Conference counterparts 101-87 .
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-1) easily defeated the New York Knicks (2-3) winning 96-86 . If ever there was a time to question the lack of competitiveness of the Orlando Magic (1-4) then their loss suffered at the hands of the Houston Rockets (2-3 would be a clear indication of the very fact.
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On this date NBA history .
Tophatal …. 2015/11/05 7:41 am
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So through twelve games at the beginning of last season , the NBA teams were not really playing hard , because in essence the season really got underway once mid December came into being and the franchises found their sync . Whether or not the same can be said of this season remains to be seen as of now .
Tophatal ………………
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If Johnny Manziel and the Cleveland Browns can’t understand that in the NFL games are played in four quarters , then he will never be good enough to play at the highest echelons of the game.
Tyler Eifert and Andy Dalton just destroyed ( 31-10) the Browns as the Cincinnati Bengals (8-0) just left their AFC North rivals in the dust .
This game was never close at any point even when the Bengals held a fourteen-ten lead (14-10) during this contest. As to where Cleveland now goes from here will be dependent on Manziel and the Browns’ > coaching staff from this point forward to the end of their season.
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Tophatal …………….
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I am trying to figure out the NCAA rankings of the teams within College Football and what the panelists’ basis are , for how they come up with the rankings .
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Tophatal …………..
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