Close only counts...

As the game was winding down in the 9th and we were walking out to the parking lot I thought to myself, what a game... another 10-run output and with the scored tied up in LA they could have a share of the lead in this wild card race with just over a month to go. But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades (as the saying goes)... as SD finished off Arizona they quickly leapfrogged Philadelphia and Cincinnati (who lost in 16 innings on a walk off) into first place in the NL wild Card. And so it seems just like last year, its not only gonna come down to what the Phillies do in their last game but what everyone else does in theres as well. I can remember that same feeling last year, walking out of the RFK parking lot to my car after the phils just handled the Nats and just hoping the Cubbies could pull through against the Astros. I got in my car turned on the radio only to hear that Brad Lidge had blown the save opportunity for the Stros and the phils were just 1 game out with 1 game left. The next day I was glued to the TV set watching the Cubs, down by 1 in the 9th with two men in scoring position praying that this wouldn't be another season that the phils came ohhh so close to making the playoffs... but of course, those sub-par Cubs couldn't pull through for the second day in a row as the last out was made on a line drive to second base and just like that... the Phils were done. So we sit here again... waiting... watching... just assuming the worst as the Phils keep winning and everyone else keeps winning (or losing just enough to keep them a game out) but we can't help but have that stupid Philly pride that matters more than our jobs or sometimes our families and keeps us watching the internet or the bottom line every night... just to see if those Phils can pull through... the calendar ticks on... and we await our punishment that leaves us finishing the year saying "well... there's always next year... better be f*cking next year"

It's Been a While...

...actually its been 2 months and 10 days since the Phils were last 2 games over .500. After their ninth inning run win over the Cubbys last night they are now 64-62 and are just 1.5 games out of the wild card. The Phils have won 5 games in a row, 3 series in a row and have won 8 out of their last 10. They sure are putting a push on the Reds who lost yesterday for the first time in 5 days to the Astros 7-3. The Reds sit one game out of first in the NL Central and hold a one game lead in the wild card over the Padres who swept the Dodgers this week in a three game series. So as it looks now, with 35 games left, the Phils would have to finish 22-13 to make my prediction correct. Hopefully that would get them the wild card. I'd have to believe that 11 games over .500 in the NL this year would get you a playoff birth... but stranger things have happened. They finish up their series this week against the Cubs with a 2:00 game today where they will start their Rookie Phenom Cole Hamels against the Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano. Gotta figure this one's gonna be like last night, but hopefully the Phils will get on em early. Then they travel to NY for a huge weekend series with the Mets and then down here to Washington for a 3 game set that I hope to attend at least one of the games. Hey only one week till my bday... Party this Saturday at 857 for me and D-Baby. come out if you can and bring your own 12 pack!

Tiger Uppercut

So when he was high school do you think Tiger Woods played Street Fighter II? It would have been the perfect opportunity to fight with "Sagat" and work on his "Tiger Uppercut". As Tiger ripped through the final round on Sunday he left noone within miles of catching him. Finishing with an 18 under par, Shaun Micheel in second place, came in at -13. Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott finished in a 3-way tie for third. Tiger, looking like the young Tiger of old, is establishing himself agian, as if he needed to, as the best golfer on the planet. And from his trail of recent Sundays has showed, noone can touch him. Tiger has now won the last two majors and is halfway to possibly completing his second Grand Slam (over the course of two years). The Phils finished off the weekend series with the Nats yesterday winning 12-10 and taking two out of three. With a 10-1 lead in the 5th the Phils almost fell back into that comfort zone and blew the lead. In the 8th they were winning a mere 11-10. But old man Arthur Rhodes came in and saved the game for his second save in as many chances since Tom Gordon was placed on the DL. The Phils won their second series in a row and scored 27+ runs in both. They remain in 4th place in the chase for the wild card at 2.5 games back as they mimicked the Reds series as they finished off the Pirates 2 games to 1. With 39 games left they would have to finish 26-13 to meet my guess at what it would take for them to make the playoffs after the all Star break. They have a good chance coming up this week facing the lowly Cubs for a 4 game set a Wrigley. Can they hang in there?? Only time will tell... they sure do make you watch though. bastards.

Stuff + Cats = Awesome

Well that was simply the most pathetic 3rd Quarter of football that one has ever seen. Koy Detmer in my opinion, and probably about everyone else's opinion was the worse option for QB that the Eagles could've had last night. In just a little over a quarter, before the Eagles put ex-Hawaii Rainbow Timmy Chang in, Detmer went a terrible 5 for 10 for 21 yards and a pick. That was generous... he looked very similar a frightened Milhouse VanHouten running away from bullies Nelson, Jimbo and Kearny. In one play he actually ran away from the blitzing defense backwards and threw a pass away to the side over his shoulder that was almost intercepted by a 300lb lineman. He was called for one intentional grounding and led the Eagles to 7 yards of total offense in the 3rd Quarter. Meanwhile Kyle Boller looked better, well, better than Detmer in the second half, going 4 for 7 in the second half for 115 yards... i think all of them were to Devard Darling... who ended up with 121 yards receiving and a TD. So on the bright side of the game??? McNabb and Buckhalter connected for a 48 yard shovel pass in Buckhalter's first game in almost 2 years. Buckhalter, who is seemingly always blowing out his knee in the preseason, looked like the Buckhalter of old on that play. Another bright point in the game, the eagles D. While McNair was 14 of 18 for 148 yards in the first half the Ravens still only came away with 3 points failing to get inside the Eagles 10 yd line. Two years ago the Eagles led the league in Red Zone Touchdowns allowed with the infamous "Bend, but don't Break" defense. They looked like the Eagles of old again, and while they lost the game 20-10 I can be thankful for the fact that there isn't a manditory "Play Koy Detmer at least one quarter" rule. In Baseball yesterday the Phils lost the last game of their 4 game series to the Mets 7-2. They left 85,000 runners in scoring position and had 11 hits. However they did finish the series 3-1 against the first place Mets moving up 1.5 games in the Wild Card Standings and got excellent starting pitching from Wolf, Hamels and Lieber. Who let up a combined total of 4 runs in 23 innings pitched and led the way for the phillies 29-11 run differential in the series. Next up is the Nats this weekend at Home with Friday/Saturday Night games and a Sunday day game. oh... I guess my blog title isn't exactly what you expected so here... go to www.stuffonmycat.com you'll understand

18 innings... twice!

So he we start... the down to the wire games. Despite the Phils back to back annihilations of the Mets, 13-0 and 11-4 they are still 2.5 games out of the wild card lead with the Reds losing last night to the Cards 5-0. But the game of the night last night was clearly the Cubs/Astros game. Down 6-5 in the 9th pinch hitting Matt Murton came in and homered off Brad Lidge who blew his fifth save of the year. Lidge was pulled later in the inning after giving up 2 more singles. Many say he has still not recovered since blowing the game against the Cardinals last year in the NL Finals when Pujols hit that Moon shot that prompted me (being in Houston at a bar at the time) to simply speak the words HOLY SH*T, Holy Sh*t... holy sh*t. (back to the cubs/stros) So after using a total of 18 pitchers in the game tying an NL record, Matt Murton AGAIN hit a two-run Single in the 18th inning to put the Cubs up for good 8-6. The Astros are the first team in 21 years to lose to game in one season that lasted at least 18 innings (earlier in the Year against Pittsburgh). The Loss made the Astros 1-7 against the Cubs at home this year and dropped them to a 57-62 record and 4 games out of the NL wild card. But right after that, another game went 18 innings!! Arizona topped off Colorado 2-1 in 18 innings making last night the first night in MLB history where two games went 18 innings in one night. Luis Gonzalez hit an RBI single in the top of the 18th to break a 1-1 game that had been tied since the 5th inning. Gonzalez was previously 0 for 7 in the game. With Arizona's win they gained a game on the Reds making them only one game out of wild card lead. Colorado dropped to 58-61 putting them 3.5 games out of the chase. Elsewhere the Padres failed to gain a game on the Reds by losing to San Fran 3-2.
In the AL Minnesota won again defeating the Indians 4-1 and with the help of a Boston loss to Detroit in the 9th, and a White Sox lose to the Royals, the Twins are only 2 games out of the lead for the Wild Card. The Yanks beat the O's 6-3 thanks to the help of the O's bullpen. Bedard threw 6 strong innings for the O's only to have the relievers come in and blow a 3-1 lead in the 7th. With the win the Yanks extended their AL East lead over the Red Sox to 3 games.
Only one more day to game night!!! Ravens v. Eagles tomorrow night 8:00 fox! I'm ready to bleed Eagle Green.

NFL Matchup

So this Thursday is the matchup of the preseason for me. We got the Eagles coming to town to play against the Home Town favorite Ravens. People have already started lining up around the corner waiting for tickets to come see it on the big plasma tv in my living room. I feel both teams are equally matched at this point in the year. Both with quality starters (of course McNabb gets the edge), both with quality backup QBs and both with decent running backs in their own specialty. WR core in head to head goes to the Ravens. Derrick Mason was a huge pick up for them a year ago and Mark Clayton in my opinion was a great draft pick, I was sincerely hoping he'd slip to the Eagles Draft pick that year. Instead they now have Reggie Brown as their sophomore #1 who was a great pick a year ago for them and has only shown promise in the wake of the T.O. bullsh*t. The rookie wide receiver core this year has certainly been impressive. McNabb thus far has completed 13 out of 15 passes in his two preseason games this year against the raiders and the browns. McNair was also very impressive in his lone start for the Ravens recording a rushing touchdown dragging multiple defenders across the goalline. There is alot of prestige and buzz going thru the Baltimore air this preseason... everyone anxious to see which McNair they will get. The co-MVP from just a couple years back, or the injury ridden McNairn that has gotten a little older. Either way... he's better than Boller. In the MLB tonight the Phils pulled off a very impressive win over the 1st place Mets. As i've said before they have 6 games remaining against the plus .500 Mets and besides those games none of their opponents, as it stands today, are above .500. The magic number now in my opinion is 15... again referencing hte number of games they could lose befoer the end of the season if they wanted to make the playoffs. They've lost 13 thus far since the break. Elsewhere Carlos Zambrano shutout the Roy Oswalt and the 'Stros in Minute Maid park making the Cubs 6-1 there this year thus far. Houston has now lost 3 in a row and is hurting in the wild card race dropping to half game behind the Phils at 57-61 and 4 games out of the wild card now. Colorado pulled off a 9th inning walkoff win with a two out single after tying the game in the eighth with another 2 out single to put the Diamondbacks at 59-59. Colorado is 58-60. A half game above the Phils and 3 back of the Reds who start a very important 3 game series against the Cardinals tomorrow night who have lost 12 out of 16.
So to sum it up.... lets go Eagles. Tickets still available for the first official "Pounding of the Ravens" Party. Inquire within.

The Fabulous 14th

I know I said I would concentrate on the AL Wild Card but come on.... did you see that game??? Phils down 3-1 in the bottom of the 8th get a 2 run jack from J-Rol to put tie it up at 3-3. Then after a single by Utley, Pat burrell hit a SHOT to center field that Ken Griffey Jr jumped up to grab but had it go off his glove. Burrell ended up with a triple (his first of the year) and Utley scored to put the Phils up 4-3. So what do they do? Put in their stellar closer Tom Gordon. Apparently Tom didn't get enough warm up pitches last night because he gave up a Two-Run Dinger to pinch hitting Javier Valentin... who? exactly. But don't worry cause with the Phillies MLB best 48-0 record when leading after 8 innings streak on the line, 33 year old rookie catcher Chris Coste hit a lead off Double in the 9th then pinch runner Chris Roberson advanced to third on an error by the catcher as he tried to Roberson off 2nd, later Shane Victorino hit the game tying sac fly. After the reds blew the chance to take the lead with RISP in 3 of the next 5 innings the phils took advantage on a game winning bases loaded walk-off single by Aaron Rowand. What a game....so last night in the race.
The red hot dodgers won again against the slumping Giants and the steriod filled Bonds to make it 13 out of their last 14 now and are quickly running away with the NL West especially since AZ lost to FLA and SD lost its 10th out of its last 14th and 4th in a row to the Astros. Colorado beat the lowly Cubs to keep their playoff hopes alive and Atlanta beat the Brewers.
In the AL Wild Card Boston had a 7 run inning to help them beat the O's 9-2 in a game where Manny Ramirez extended the longest hit streak in the AL this year to 26 games and Mike Lowell made a phenomenal catch diving into the stands to catch a foul ball after getting hit in the head with a pitch earlier that game. That win combined with the Yankees loss to the Angels put the Red Sox 2 games out of first in the East and 2 games behind the AL wild card leading White Sox who shutout the Tigers 5-0 last night. My pick before this weekend's twins series was definitely Minnesota to win the AL Wild card but with two straight losses to Toronto at home 5-0, 7-2 it seems the white sox are the favorite now. Keep on readin and I'll be back tomorrow with the week in the NFL plus... of course... phils updates haha (2-0 top 2nd) right now.

Opening Night!

Welcome all! to my newest edition of blogging which i have become recently obsessed with! This here is my biased opinion page of all sports happenings. Those of you who know me know that first off I am a born Philadelphia sports team fan. Eagles, Flyers, Phillies... and well, a "fairweather" sixers fan as I really don't like the NBA. Here in this, hopefully, daily blog, i will talk about all sports over the past couple of days and tons of stats, which i love, to twist your head. I hope I can entertain and please feel free to email me at nickface109@yahoo.com with your opinions and questions or just leave a comment attached to the blog.
SO starting off...
17 Games Left.
As I'm sure most of you know by now the Philadelphia Phillies are in the middle of a 7 team race for the NL wildcard. After the all-star break I said they could only lose 28 games the rest of the year if they were gonna make the playoffs. So far... they are 15-11 and right now they're losing the opening game of a very important series against the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 in the top of the 6th. They're schedule being one of the easiest left in baseball has them only facing one team above .500, after this series, the rest of the year... it just happens to be the Mets (7 times - 4 home, 3 away). The Phils are a measly 4-8 against them thus far this year including losing the last series to them just about a week ago in NY. While it seems just about everyone thought the Dodgers were the team to run away with the Wild Card after their recent 11 win streak and winning 12 out of 13, they have officially passed everyone else in their division now and the Padres, now only a half game out of the wild card are on a three game losing streak and are just 3-7 in their last 10; not to mention they are kicking off a series tonight in Houston against the Astros. Who are just 2.5 games out of the wildcard. That series and the Phils / Reds are easily the most important series this weekend in the National league. My prediction??? The phils hang on till the very end and then lose the last 3 or 4 games to the lowly Marlins who have nothing to play for and jump back on the Philadelphia sports team routine of ripping our hearts out of our ass. While the Reds slip in just past the Astros. Lets just hope that McNabb can keep up his hot preseason start. Lets go Birds!!
Next time... AL Wild Card