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September 2016

Week 5 in College Football looks semi epic, at least nationally

September 29, 2016

Deshaun (above) and Lamar in a colossal showdown in Death Valley

Alabama and Auburn, particularly, AU, have breathers this week. Kentucky won last week, and it’s an SEC game, so it’s important for the Crimson Tide to play well, particularly with a trip to Arkansas on the horizon next Saturday. The transfer of Blake Barnett means that Jalen Hurts and Cooper Bateman are the only quarterbacks on the roster. Bateman has not been great when he’s played, but he was highly rated out of high school, so he could possibly give Hurts some help if Hurts needs it. Hurts has been super. It’s pretty amazing what he’s done so far as a true freshman quarterback. Jalen has a very bright future in Tuscaloosa. The future is here.. He’s been an amazing player. The Tide needs to get the job done Saturday and then get ready for a tough road test @ Arkansas the next Saturday, Oct.8th.

For Auburn, that was an interesting game last Saturday on the Plains to say the least. The AU defense has been stellar this season and they got the W again for the team last Saturday Night. A last second play that LSU thought they scored a touchdown on was nullified because the Bengal Tigers didn’t snap the ball before the clock hit zero. There was an illegal motion penalty on LSU and the clock stopped with one second left, but, by rule, starts back once the referee signals for it to start. It was exciting, though not great offense. Kerryon Johnson is playing really well. Just need to get Kamryn Pettway more involved in the running game and get the passing game going. This Saturday it’s La Monroe, so it’s a good time for Gus to hone up the offense. Kevin Steele has done an excellent job with the defense, so if the offense can get their act together, AU can possibly win quite a few games.

Here’s a look at the key games this week. Some classics nationally, highlighted by a clash in Death Valley. And a marquee game in the SEC.

Last week: 19-9

Overall: 58-31, 65%

Tonight

Connecticut @ No.6 Houston

7 PM CT/8 PM ET, ESPN

Like the Cougars to keep on rolling. If the media would leave Tom Herman and the Cougars alone so they can concentrate on this season and not worry about where Herman will be going next season, Houston can have a special season. Herman may want to stay at Houston. If they get in the Big 12, he will get a huge raise, and it’ll be a huge boon for his recruiting. I really like this team.

Houston 48, UConn 10

Friday Night

No.7 Stanford @ No. 10 Washington

8 PM CT/9 PM ET, ESPN

The Cardinal have some injury issues, and I like the Huskies at home. Chris Peterson is building an elite program in Seattle.

Washington 28, Stanford 24

Saturday

No.3 Louisville @ No. 5 Clemson

7 PM CT/8 PM ET, ABC

I really like the way Clemson played last Thursday Night at Georgia Tech, who thought they might pull off the upset going in. Clemson played like the Clemson people thought they were. I like Deshaun, Dabo and the Clemson Tigers to pull off the slight upset in Death Valley over the awesome Lamar Jackson in this blockbuster matchup of quarterbacks, coaches and teams.

Clemson 38, Louisville 35

No. 11 Tennessee @ No.25 Georgia

2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET, CBS

Tennessee grabbed a major victory over Florida at home last Saturday afternoon snapping an 11 game losing streak to the Gators, and vaulting themselves back into serious national discussions. Kirby and his team got clobbered last Saturday at Oxford, but I like them to bounce back this week and get it done between the hedges over the Vols.

Them Dawgs 28, Vols 27

Kentucky @ No. 1 Alabama

6 PM CT/7PM ET, ESPN

Like the Crimson Tide to keep it cookin against an overmatched Kentucky team. S and Kiff just need to keep Jalen Hurts healthy.

Bama 48, Kentucky 7

Louisiana Monroe @ Auburn

2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET, SEC Network

Looking for the Tigers to get it going on offense this week. They need to with a game @ Mississippi State next Saturday. The defense has been super though and will help them win a lot of games if the offense can do their part.

Auburn 52, La Monroe 10

No.9 Texas A&M 31, South Carolina 10

3 PM CT/4 PM ET, SEC Network, either Auburn or A&M will be on the SEC alternate channel

No.16 Ole Miss 48, Memphis 24

6 PM, schedule says ESPN2, duh U or SEC Alternate channel

Missouri @ LSU

6:30 PM CT/7:30 PM ET, SEC Network

Les was a disaster this year and the Bengal Tigers’ faithful and leadership had seen enough. I don’t blame LSU at all for getting rid of Miles. He just couldn’t get it done with superb talent. His offensive coordinator, Cam Cameron, was let go too. Coach O gets a well deserved shot. He brought in all this talent for Les the last two years and Les couldn’t do anything with it. Coach O is a phenomenal recruiter and he was 6-2 as interim coach three years ago at USC. Glad he’s getting a shot. Maybe he can get the permanent job if he can turn it around. Like Coach O to get the Tigers back on track and bring some spirit back to Baton Rouge.

LSU 28, Missouri 24

No.8 Wisconsin @ No.4 Michigan

2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET, ABC

The Badgers earned a major victory at Michigan State last Saturday and come into the Big House with a lot of momentum. But this is a lot tougher assignment. Like Jim and the Wolverines to keep it going in Ann Arbor as they position themselves for a possible playoff berth, but they still have to go to East Lansing and face Michigan State, which is always dangerous, and then go to Horseshoe and face the Buckeyes, so a lot of work left for Harbaugh and his troops.

Meechigan 34, Wisconsin 24

No.2 Ohio State 52, Rutgers 7

11 AM CT/ Noon ET, Big Ten Network

No.21 TCU 42, Oklahoma 38

4 PM CT/5 PM ET, FOX

No.12 Florida State 45, North Carolina 31

2:30 PM CT/3:30 PM ET, ESPN

California 35, Utah 31

5 PM CT/6 PM ET, PAC-12 Network

Washington State 45, Oregon 42

8:30 PM CT/9:30 PM ET, PAC-12

No.24 Boise State 42, Utah State 10

9:15 PM CT/10:15 PM ET, ESPN2

Baylor 45, Iowa State 21

11 AM CT/Noon ET, Fox Sports 1

Oklahoma State 38, Texas 35

11 AM CT/Noon ET, ABC

USC 35, Arizona State 31

7:30 PM CT/8:30 PM ET, FOX

UCLA 38, Arizona 35

9:30 PM CT/10:30 PM ET, ESPN

Colorado 48, Oregon State 28

1:30 PM CT/2:30 PM ET, PAC-12 Network

No. 19 San Diego State 42, South Alabama 35

7 PM CT/8 PM ET, ESPN News

Troy 48, Idaho 10

4 PM CT/5 PM ET, ESPN3

The 41st Ryder Cup

September 28, 2016

Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minnesota 7,628 yards, par 72

Defending champion: Europe @ Gleneagles in Scotland in 2014, 16 1/2 to 11 1/2. U.S. was destroyed.

Series: Since 1927, the U.S. holds a 25-13-2 lead, but Europe holds a 10-7-1 edge since the Great Britain and Ireland squad was expanded to the entire continent in 1979. And mainly thanks to Europe’s eight victories in the last 10 matches.

TV: Friday: Golf Channel, 8:30 AM-7 PM ET/7:30 AM-6 PM CT

Saturday, NBC, 9 AM-7 PM ET/8 AM-6 PM CT

Sunday: NBC, Noon-6 PM ET/11 AM-5 PM CT.

Weather: Friday: 71, Sunny, wind 6-9 MPH; Saturday: 70 clouds and sun, wind 5-7 MPH; Sunday: Mostly cloudy, wind 4-5 MPH. So a relatively tame course, though very long.

Issues

After the 2014 disaster at Gleneagles, Phil Mickelson openly criticized captain Tom Watson in front of Watson and the press in the press conference. He said the captain’s decisions since Paul Azinger in 2008 had not led to any success for the teams. It was a real shot at Watson, but there may have been some validity to it. After that press conference, an 11 person Ryder Cup task force was formed, with Phil and Tiger being two of the task force members, and selected Davis Love III as the captain for the 2016 team. While Love seems to be a nice guy, his 2012 team blew it on the last day, and lost to Jose Maria Olazabal’s team, 14 1/2-13 1/2, after being blown away in the singles matches on Sunday and losing a huge lead going into Sunday. So not sure that Love is the answer to this team’s continual problems. But with all the pressure on the U.S. team they are probably hungrier. I just don’t know if they have the drive that the European team has every time out. Phil blamed Watson that day in 2014, but his record at the Ryder Cup is 16-19-6. While Tiger Woods, who is a vice captain, has a record of 13-14-2. He’s 4-7-1 in the Foursomes, and 5-8-0 in the Fourballs. The foursomes feature a two man team for each side playing against another in an alternate shot format, where one player, say Jordan Spieth, will hit the drive, and his partner, Patrick Reed, which could very well be the case, hits the second shot on a par 4 and they rotate hitting each shot. Same thing for the Europeans. The first team in the hole wins the match. In the fourball, all four players, two from each side, play. The player with the better ball of the two man team and the better ball over the other team, wins the hole. The foursomes and four ball matches will take place Friday and Saturday, and the 12 singles matches will be on Sunday. There are 12 players on each side. Tiger is 4-1-1 in the singles matches since he started playing in 1997. The time he played was 2010.

The difference between Spieth and Woods is that Spieth was quoted as saying, “I’d rather win the Ryder Cup than the Fed Ex Cup,” while Woods was asked before a tournament where the prize was $1 million for winning it which he’d rather win, that tournament or the Ryder Cup. He said, “I can think of a million reasons why I’d want to win this tournament more.” So there’s a difference in outlook to me between the younger guys, and a guy like Woods, who doesn’t seem to put much stock in the event. Maybe he’s different now that he’s older.

Brandel Chamblee and David Duval of the Golf Channel got into a heated discussion on that issue last night on the Golf Channel on the Live From the Ryder Cup show. Chamblee was saying that Woods and Mickelson have been failures on the teams and Duval was attacking Brandel saying the European teams have a lot to do with it. I side with Brandle more. Both Mickelson and Woods have been disappointments at the Ryder Cups, but I do agree that the European teams seem to want it more. But Mickelson and Woods have been pretty big disappointments in their Ryder Cup careers.

Key holes

Par 5’s, No. 3, 633 yards, No.6, 642 yards, No.11, 606 yards, and No. 16, 572 yards. The par 4 7th is a hole Johnny Miller described, as the “hardest par 4 I’ve ever played.” It’s got water all over it and is about precision more than distance. Zach Johnson will do well there most likely. Dustin Johnson and Rory could be an interesting singles match on Sunday just for a driving contest match in itself. And it would be a heckuva match any way. The par 3 17th is a 176 yard hole with bunkers on the right and left side and water on the right. If you hit it in the middle of the green you’ll have a putt of 15 to 20 feet and with the nerves cooking with the match in balance. It will be a test of the player’s mettle and mental toughness. No. 18 is a par 4 with bunkers on both sides of the fairway making this one of the most difficult driving holes on the course. The players will face an uphill second shot, so being precise with their yardages on their pretty much blind approach shots will be critical. Anything long or left of the hole, when the hole’s on the right side, will likely lead to bogey.

Teams-players

U.S.

Jimmy Walker: 1-1-3 in his Ryder Cup debut in 2014. Coming off the PGA Championship victory, though he had a quiet Fed Ex showing.

Jordan Spieth: 2-1-1 in his Ryder Cup debut in 2014. He’s focused and hungry. He’s a leader and a super teammate. Trust Spieth. Two time major winner. Didn’t have his best year in 2016, but would love to make up for it at Hazeltine. Johnny Miller said on NBC in 2014 during that Ryder Cup of Spieth and Patrick Reed, “You know these guys aren’t used to losing.”

Brandt Snedeker: 1-2 in his only Ryder Cup appearance in 2012. Eight time PGA Tour winner. Not sure about his clutchness when it counts. Maybe this year will be different.

Patrick Reed: 3-1 in 2014, his only Ryder Cup. Five time winner on tour at 26 years old. Really like this guy in the clutch.

Ryan Moore: Rookie. The 33 year old has won five times on tour and was hugely clutch last week fighting it out with Rory in the Tour Championship, going to the fourth playoff hole. Moore had a par putt from 14 feet to stay alive as McIlroy had eight feet for birdie. Moore sank it, but Rory sank his birdie putt. Moore is super clutch. During the summer of 2004, prior to his senior year at UNLV, Moore won the U.S. Amateur, the Western Amateur, the U.S. Amateur Public Links, and the NCAA individual championship. Wow. That’s unbelievable. I like Ryan on this team.

Phil: 16-19-6 in 11 Ryder Cups. Five majors. He’s a leader on this team, so we’ll see if he can put his money where his mouth is.

Matt Kuchar: Fourth start at a Ryder Cup, 4-5-2 in three previous starts. Seven time PGA winner. Not sure I trust him in the crunch time though.

Brooks Koepka: Rookie. Won the 2015 Waste Management Open. Lost in a playoff this year to Sergio at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He had a pretty good lead at the Nelson and kind of collapsed. I like his youth and energy, and newness to the team, along with his distance off the tee and his talent overall. We’ll see how he handles the pressure. I like him on this team though.

Zach Johnson: Four Ryder Cups, 6-6-2. 12 Tour wins, two majors, the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open Championship. Like Zach’s precision on this course. Tom Lehman said Hazeltine is a little misunderstand, as it’s just as much about precision as it is length. So that makes Zach a real factor on the U.S. team.

Dustin Johnson: On the 2010 and 2012 teams. 4-3. Captured his first major this year at the U.S. Open at Oakmont CC just outside of Pittsburgh, putting on a clinic. He’s the player of the year on tour, as he barely lost out to Rory for the Fed Ex Cup and won 3 times this year. Along with the U.S. Open, Johnson won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational and the BMW Championship in the Fed Ex Cup playoffs. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in the team competition. I noticed when he and Jordan were playing together in a match against Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel at last year’s President’s Cup, Jordan told him to play to the middle of the green after Day and Schwartzel had hit their approach shots off the green. When Johnson did that, Spieth said, “Good play D.J.” It was like the 23 year old was the leader. Spieth is a leader. I think Dustin needs a leader playing with him in the foursome and four ball matches. Maybe a Phil or a Zach.

John Bradley Holmes: I love this guy on the team. J.B. played in his only Ryder Cup at Valhalla in Louisville, KY in 2008 and was 2-0-1 leading the U.S. to one of their 2 victories in the last 10 Cup matches. J.B., Anthony KIm and Boo Weekley were the key guys in 2008. They were young, hungry and not going to lose that Ryder Cup. He’ll have that same mentality at Hazeltine.

Rickie Fowler: Fowler has not had much success playing in 2010 and 2014 going 0-4-4 overall. I think he’s capable of snapping out of that though. He’s a good competitor and I see him being ready.

European team

There are 6 rookies on the European team: Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Thomas Pieters, Andy Sullivan, Masters Champion Danny Willett and Chris Wood.

Rest of the team

Lee Westwood: 9 Ryder Cups: 20-15-6. Good stuff.

Henrik Stenson: 4 Ryder Cups, 5-4-2.

Justin Rose: 4 Ryder Cups, 9-3-2. Wow.

Rory: 4 Ryder Cups, 6-4-4.

Martin Kaymer: 4 Ryder Cups, 4-3-3. Sank the winning putt in 2012 at Medinah to clinch the Cup for Europe that year. Clutch guy.

Sergio: 8 Ryder Cups, 18-9-5. Very, very impressive.

Couple of records that are interesting:

The most points won by a pairing: Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal: 11-2-2.

The youngest player to play is Sergio who played in 1999 at 19 years old, 258 days.

The oldest player to play: Raymond Floyd. He was 51 years, 20 days in 1993.

Prediction:

This European team loves the underdog role. They relish is and always seem hungrier than our players. As for this year, I like Spieth, Reed and Zach Johnson to be America’s leaders. Dustin will do his part, Phil will do his part, and Jimmy Walker will be pretty decent. I really like J.B and Ryan Moore on the team. They’re definitely hungry. Don’t trust Snedeker and Kuchar really, and not sure about Koepka as a rookie. Rickie’s been terrible, but he should be better this time. Don’t really trust Love for that matter. I give the edge in captaincy to Darren Clarke, because he can out coach Love in my opinion. While the Europeans have horses in Rory, Rose, Stenson, Kaymer and super Ryder Cup players in Westwood and Sergio, I think this time they have too much youth, and the home turf will be rockin in the great Midwest. So I’ll go with the U.S. like I did in 2014, mainly because of Spieth, Reed, John B. and newcomers Ryan Moore and Brooks Koepka. I like the more experience that the U.S. team has, though Europe has 6 veterans who are horses. This should be an epic. The Europeans are extremely hard for us to beat, but I’ll go with the U.S.

U.S. 14 1/2, Europe 13 1/2

Like Spieth (above) and Reed to get the job done for the U.S.

Tomorrow:

College Football Week 5, previews and

predictions

What a drive, what a victory, super Bball news, NFL players, DP, guys in the majors

September 27, 2016

Kyle Shurmur (above) Jared Pinkney (middle) and Trent Sherfield (bottom) got it done when it mattered the most

Very proud of Coach Mason and the players for getting it done late on the road at Western Kentucky as the Commodores scored on the last play of regulation on a clutch Ralph Webb 3 yard run/dive and some clutch play by the offensive line, and the team scored a 7 in overtime and prevented Western from converting a 2 point conversion after their TD in a tremendous 31-30 victory.

With the victory, the team moves to 2-2 on the season and head into this Saturday’s matchup with the Florida Gators at 11 AM CT/ Noon ET on the SEC Network with tons of momentum.

The final drive of regulation with 1:02 left in the game and the team down 24-17 was Elway-eske in a way. It was beautiful. With the ball on our own 25, Kyle connected with tight end Jared Pinkney for 22 yards. Then Kyle connected with stud freshman wide out Kalija Lipscomb for 12 yards to the WKU 39. Kyle then hit Trent Sherfield for 24 yards to get the ball to the Western 15. We had no timeouts left and Kyle and the receivers still showed so much poise. After 2 incompletions, Kyle threw it for Trent close to the goal line. It was incomplete but Western was flagged for a pass interference penalty, so the ball was placed at the 2 yard line, first and goal. But there were only :03 left.

Western called two timeouts on defense before we ran our last play of the game. Coach Mason said afterwards that Coach Ludwig asked him what he wanted to do run or pass. Coach Mason said to run it. We ran it over the right side of our line and Ralph leapt into the end zone for the six. Tommy Openshaw connected on the extra point and we were going into overtime tied at 24.

We got the ball first in the OT, and Kyle hit Jared, who was super down the stretch, for a 14 yard gain to the Western 11. Ralph rushed for 7 yards to the Western 4. Ralph then rushed for 3 more yards to get us to first and goal at the one. After a couple of loss of yardage plays, we had the ball third and goal at the Western 5, Kyle rolled to his right and found tight end Nathan Marcus open in the end zone for the 7. Tommy connected. We were up 31-24.

Western scored on an 8 yard TD pass, and, somewhat surprisingly, Coach Jeff Brohm went for 2. Our line batted the pass in the air and our defensive backs knocked it down to secure the gigantic victory, that puts us at 2-2 overall as we head back into conference play. We are 0-2 in the SEC, but a victory over Florida could really jump start this football team for the rest of the season. Last Saturday was a huge momentum and confidence builder for the team.

Ralph ran for 95 yards and three 7’s, Kyle was 18-of-29 for 279 yards a TD along with an int, but was super clutch when it counted the most. C.J. Duncan caught five passes for 66 yards, Kalija caught 3 passes for 56 yards, Jared caught 3 for 41 yards, and Trent caught 2 for 38 yards. Our offense looked tremendous on that last drive and in the overtime period. Tons of credit goes to Coach Ludwig, Coach Mason, of course, for making the courageous run call on the last play of the game. Kyle and his awesome receiving corps and the awesome play of our offensive line were huge keys to the victory. We just wore them down at the end. Center Barrett Gouger, right guard Bruno Reagan, right tackle Justin Skule, left guard Delando Crooks, and left tackle Will Holden got the job done and done extremely well in the clutch. Really proud of our offense.

The defense may not have had their best game against Western, but there were some super individual efforts and some really good turnovers. Cornerback Torren McGaster finished with 9 tackles and a fumble recovery. Linebacker Zach Cunningham, as usual, had 9 tackles. Zach is just all over the field every game. He gives it max effort every time out, and he is a superb football player. Linebacker Ja’karri Thomas also had 9 tackles. Star linebacker/safety Oren Burks had four tackles and a tackle for loss. Zach and Ja’karri also had a tackle for loss. Zach had 1 1/2 TFL’s. Taurean Ferguson had 5 tackles and a forced fumble. Tre Herndon played a super game with five tackles, a fumble recovery, that was caused by Taurean’s strip on the Western running back at the goal line that popped into Tre’s arms and he ran if back for 27 yards, and Tre also added an interception. While we gave up 496 yards of total offense, which is too much for our defense, we made some big plays. I know we’ll be better against Florida.

Huge victory for a team that has now realized they can win these toss up games. Now it’s onto Florida. Huge test for the team on Saturday, but I see us playing well and we could very well pull this out. The Gators lost to Tennessee, 38-28, in Knoxville last Saturday after squandering a 21-3 halftime lead. Florida is playing their backup quarterback, Austin Appleby, and he was pretty good for a while against the Vols finishing 23-of-39 for 296 yards and 3 TDs, so he’s very capable. They’ve got a pretty good running game and a good defense, so it’s a major test for our football team. Florida’s stud receiver Antonio Callaway caught 4 passes for 134 yards against UT, but was hobbled some, so he could be a little banged up heading into Saturday. Anyway, we’ve just got to believe we can get this done and we will.

Tremendous victory for Coach Mason and the team. So proud of them.

Huge news on the Basketball front

Superb new basketball commit Ejike Obinna

Vanderbilt basketball Coach Bryce Drew landed his third commitment for the 2017 class. Six foot-nine, 220 pound, 4 star power forward Ejike Obinna from Ashburn, Virginia has committed to VU. Watched Ejike on film and he looks tough, talented offensively and athletically, an enforcer on the defensive end, a ferocious rebounder, and a shot blocker. Huge pickup for Coach Drew and the staff. Ejike chose us over Clemson and Florida, who were other final contenders. Ejike had offers from close to 30 programs including LSU, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Missouri, Seton Hall, Miami, Texas A&M, West Virginia and Xavier. So Ekije is a huge get for the program. Well done by Coach Drew and the staff.

Ekije joins four star point guard Saben Lee out of Tempe, Arizona and 4 star combo guard Maxwell Evans out of Bellaire, Texas. Pumped about football, but also getting pumped about basketball. Not sure if Coach Drew is through yet. I believe he’ll be looking for another power forward or a center before this recruiting period is over. The early signing period for basketball starts November 9th, that’s a Wednesday. So, we’ll get these three studs in the fold and maybe add another before then as well. Will keep you posted.

NFL guys

Jordan Matthews caught another touchdown on Sunday in a 34-3 Philadelphia Eagles victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. JMatt caught a 12 yard TD pass from super rookie quarterback Carson Wentz out of North Dakota State. Wentz has energized this football team, and they’re playing superbly on both sides of the ball. JMatt already has 15 receptions for 204 yards and a pair of 7’s. He’s been terrific. The Eagles moved to 3-0 on the season and head into their bye week with major momentum. Love to see the man doing well once again. He’s so consistent. Hoping JMatt will be at the game Saturday to help our emerging receiving corps like he did this past summer when he spent a major amount of time with them and told Coach Mason they were ready for SEC football. They look like it now. JMatt is a total stud and his presence on the sideline would mean a lot to our receivers and our entire football team. Love what the man is doing in Philly. The Eagles do, too.

Casey Hayward doing a tremendous job at corner for the San Diego Chargers. Casey signed with the Chargers in the offseason and already has three interceptions this season. The Chargers are 1-2, but look pretty competitive and Casey is playing tremendous football.

Andre Hal is a staple in the Houston Texans secondary at safety. Andre has one interception this season, it was actually off Jay, and 10 tackles. They love Andre in Houston. He’s a real pro just like JMatt and Casey.

Wesley Johnson has played center in all three games for the Jets. Wesley was one of the best linemen to ever come through VU, and I’m hopeful he’ll be the Jets or somebody’s starting center down the road. I know he can get the job done and done well.

Zac Stacy hasn’t been picked up yet. He suffered a tough broken ankle last year and was waived by the Jets before the season started. But I believe Zac will land somewhere this season. Zac is a really good player, and with the injuries at running back in the National Football League, several teams will need a running back probably sooner rather than later. Will keep an eye on Zac’s status.

Jay Cutler is having a tough year so far. His team is 0-3 and he struggled mightily last week against the Eagles at home before spraining his thumb. Hopeful Jay can come back and rally his team and get them back in the NFC North race. Jay is tough and comes back from injuries as quickly as possible, so he could be back this Sunday as the Bears host the Detroit Lions. The Bears are still playing hard, but they have five or six defensive starters who are out with injuries right now, and Jay is hurt, so it’s been a struggle. They lost to the Cowboys Monday Night, 31-17. Brian Hoyer is doing a good job in relief of Jay. Hopefully Cut can come back on Sunday.

David, Pedro Dans, Tony, Sonny

DP, BoSox, stellar; Sonny (below) giving it one more go tomorrow night — DP, BoSox, stellar; Sonny (below) giving it one more go tomorrow night

David Price is 8-0 in his last 9 starts with a 2.91 ERA. David has been superb and so have the Red Sox. The Sox have won 11 in a row, and now, at 92-64, have the best record in the American League as Texas lost last night. With six games to go, if the Sox can hold off the Rangers, they would have the home field advantage throughout the AL playoffs and would get the home field in the World Series as the American League defeated the National League in the All-Star game and earned the home field due to that, if they can win the AL pennant. With Big Papi, Mookie Betts, Dustin Pedroia, Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts, Sandy Leon, and super rookie Andrew Benintendi, the Red Sox have some amazing lumber in their lineup. The Sox are playing stellar defense and getting outstanding starting pitching. The bullpen has become very reliable. David earned the victory last Thursday over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards, 5-3, going 7, giving up six hits, three runs, with 2 walks and 5 K’s. David threw 99 pitches, 72 of them for strikes against 27 balls, an excellent strike-ball ratio. His fastball was hitting 92-93, but he did hit 95 in the bottom of the 5th. His change up and cutter were stellar, particularly his change up. It’s a circle change, meaning there is movement as it moves into a right handed hitter and away from a left handed batter. It’s a really awesome pitch. It’s effectively a curve ball with more velocity, coming in at 85-86. Dave’s cut fastball has good movement on it too. David moved to 17-8 with the victory and now has a 3.91 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP, getting closer to the walks and hits per innings pitched that he wants. His ERA keeps going down, too. The Sox are sizzling right now. Like where they’re headed as we matriculate into the postseason which starts next Tuesday, Oct. 4th with the AL Wild Card game Tuesday Night and the NL wild card game next Wednesday Night, Oct.5th. TBS will televise the AL Wild Card game and ESPN will have the NL wild card game. I will have my predictions for the playoffs on Monday, Oct. 3rd on my all sports blog. I’ll send out an email to you guys as well to alert you when it’s up.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today has already coronated the Cubs the World Series champions, but I’m not buying the Cubs yet. They have to get through the Nationals and/or the Dodgers in the National League postseason, and face hopefully the Sox in the World Series if they get there. So there is plenty to be decided and nothing is given. I really like that Nationals squad too, and the Dodgers, and I’m still not discounting the Mets if they can make it in as a wild card. In the AL, the BoSox, the Rangers, the Indians and the Blue Jays look like the best teams, and the wild card is still wide open with the O’s hanging on.

Pedro Alvarez is playing some. Still want to see him get more of a shot, he’s had a really good year with the bat and deserves more of a shot, but don’t get me started. Pedro needs to be somewhere where he is valued as the stellar player that he is. Maybe the O’s will give him more of a shot the rest of this season and in the postseason if they make it. Chris Davis is still striking out at a tremendous rate and he’s a terrible first baseman. Seems like Showalter would give Pedro a look at first to see what he could do. Still unclear why Showalter continues to play Davis and not give Pedro an opportunity. I’m still really ticked off about it.

Dansby Swanson is doing a super job for the Braves at shortstop and hitting over .300. Like where Dans is. He’s the shortstop of the future for a team that looks like they could break through as a playoff team, if not next year, in 2018.

Tony Kemp is playing left field for the Astros and doing well. Tony was 2 for 3 on Sunday, and the Astros are hanging on by a thread in the AL wild card race. They are 3.5 back of the second place O’s with 5 games left. Tony looks like he’ll have a good future in the majors, whether it’s with the Astros or somebody else. Like Pedro, somebody needs to put Tony in the lineup and stick with him. They’ll be happy they did.

Sonny Gray is going to make one last start for the A’s tomorrow night @ the Los Angeles Angels. Sonny has been out for a month and a half with a forearm injury, but wanted to pitch one more time this season for the A’s. He’ll probably go for a short period of time according to the San Francisco Examiner, anywhere from 2-3 innings, but it’ll be good to see him out there competing, and hopefully have a good outing and get some momentum for next year. Sonny should be back with the A’s next season. Not positive with the way they move players in Oakland, but just ready to see Sonny back out there full time in 2017.

David pitches tonight against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. The next six games mean a lot to the BoSox for the division title and the home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Just need to start the week off right by taking care of business tonight in the Bronx. David will face Luis Cessa, a right hander who is 4-3 with a 4.30 ERA. The Yankees have to win out and hope for help to make the playoffs, so they’ll be locked in. Dave will have to pitch well. I expect him to. Will have a report tomorrow.

David lost a close friend to cancer a week and a half ago and he learned about it a couple of hours before his start against the Yankees. David’s former roommate and close friend, Terry Wanthalangsy, lost his battle with cancer. David didn’t have his best start against the Yankees which was understandable. He competed hard, but it’s really tough when you lose somebody you care a lot about and try to do your job to the best of your ability. He’s still been stellar.

David’s lost a couple of close friends in the past five years. That’s tough, but David is strong and resilient. I know he misses his great friend though. Rest in peace, Terry.

Some super match ups in the SEC, Bama looking to progress, AU in a tough one, Fed Ex Winner, Spartans with clutch victory

September 22, 2016

Gus needs to get his offense on the right track in a hurry

These are what I would call the 5 elite teams in the SEC West as we head into week 4. Alabama is at the top of the heap and will be there unless somebody can do something about it. Ole Miss, Arkansas, A&M and LSU are close to Bama and one or two of them could be elite teams if they can navigate the brutal schedules of SEC West. Some superb match ups in the SEC this weekend, and some pretty decent national tilts. Here’s a look at the action with predictions.

Last week: 13-11, been in a bad mood all week

Overall: 39-22, 64%

Against the spread last week: 4-2