From Todd C.
World Series - who cares? But seriously, can the Indians hang with either LA or the Cubbies? I predict the NL team will win it in 5 games.
Todd -
Fair question.
The Cubs and the Dodgers have both looked very strong in a lot of areas.
The Cubs are the best team; the Dodgers have been anchored by and revolved around the best pitcher in the game in Clayton Kershaw.
(Side note: How cool would it be for all of us lifelong Dodgers fans, and I have been one since Steve Garvey was playing first base, for Kershaw to spin a dazzler in Game 6. He will need to be aces Saturday night. It also would be awesome for him to throw a three-hitter, and then the second question in the postgame be, "Clayton, of all your accomplishments, how much did that rehab start in Chattanooga mean to you?" And cue the crickets.)
As for the World Series, we are officially done counting the Indians out.
Do we think the NL team has the advantages over Cleveland? Yes. But we thought the Red Sox had the advantage over the Indians and the Blue Jays had the advantage over the Indians, too.
And here they are. The baseball nuclear cockroaches feeding off every opportunity and making the most of it.
Plus, the Indians will have home-field advantage because, you know, the AL won the All-Star game.
Man, can't you hear the moaning now if the Cubs have to win Game 7, and despite winning nine more games in the regular season, the Cubs have to do it in Cleveland because a San Francisco pitcher allowed homers to two Kansas City Royals more than three months ago.
FILE - In this June 19, 2016, file photo, Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James, center, celebrates with teammates, including Kevin Love, third from left, after Game 7 of basketball's NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland, Calif. James delivered on his personal pledge to bring home a title in June. And although it’s one he can never duplicate personally or for a fan base that had its heart broken and healed by him, the Cavaliers’ superstar and his teammates aren’t resting, getting comfortable or complacent. They want more. “We're still pretty much uptight," James said. "We're not satisfied with what we did.” (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File) From Stewwie
Jay, for the bag, can you do some NBA predictions? Yes, it's already that time of year again.
Stewwie -
Great question, and in truth, it's hard to remember a time when we were more excited for the NBA to start than this year.
And here is an unbelievably detailed charter but the amazing folks at fivetthirtyeight.com. http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2017-nba-predictions/ This is pretty cool, and, after 50,000 simulations, picks the Warriors to go 68-14 and the Cavs going 57-25, with each team getting the top seed in the playoffs.
As for our picks, we can all start there right? The Cavs are almost assured of the top seed in the East, and it's almost impossible to see the Warriors not winning at least 60 games, if not way more.
And before we go much further, let's throw this caveat out there: These picks and predictions are based on the fundamental fact that no one gets injured. Case in point: This time last year we picked Anthony Davis to be the MVP and he spent the entire season trying to get healthy.
Real MVP: LeBron James, Cleveland. He may not win it because of LeBron voter fatigue, but if we are going to draw the baseline of the name of the award, there is no doubting James. Who is more valuable, by definition: a) James, who if you take him off the Cavs, that team is most likely the four seed in the East or b) Curry or Durant, either of whom could get injured for long stretches and the Warriors will still likely win 60 (never mind the fact that Draymond Green may be the most 'valuable' of all the Warriors in the definition of the word).
MVP winner: Russell Westbrook, OKC. Anyone else think Westbrook is about to go on a 'Hey KD, good riddance' type of Tom Brady vengeance tour? Here's betting Westbrook is thinking about making a run on Oscar Robertson's single-season record for triple doubles. (Dude, the Big O got 41 triple-doubles in 1961-62. That's boss.) Either way there's a very real chance Angry Russ leads the NBA in scoring and assists.
Comeback player of the year: We still believe in Anthony Davis, the multi-talented, multi-dimensional New Orleans star. Coming back from injury gives you a great starting point, but having the skill set of Davis means even more.
Breakout player: Giannis Antetokoumpo, Milwaukee. Yes, this is not an official award, but still. The 7-footer known as the Greek Freak will play 4 or 5 on defense for the Bucks and will play a lot of point guard on offense. Seriously. After the all-star break last year, Antetokoump averaged 18.8 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.2 assists, with five triple-doubles in his final 28 games.
Coach of the year: Tom Thibideau, Minnesota. The pieces are there, and now an experienced and disciplined head coach is in place with the T-Wolves. I think Billy Donovan will get a lot of love in OKC, because the Thunder has added a lot of interesting pieces around Westbrook after losing Durant and Serge Ibaka. But not unlike the MVP ebbs and flows, the voting for coach of the year has a lot to do the appearances of year-to-year improvement and 'doing more with less' in a lot of ways. In truth, Steve Kerr may have one of the toughest leadership jobs in front of him to make sure the Warriors reach their potential and keeping some super-sized superstar egos in check when Klay Thompson goes five straight games without scoring double figures or the media starts asking "What's wrong with Durant" questions.
Rookie of the year: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia. Ben Simmons will be a lot of people's choice. We'll go with Embiid, who is finally healthy and has looked really sharp in exhibition games this preseason. (In truth, Simmons has to be the odds on favorite, but we wanted to role the dice on a couple of these.)
Couple of random predictions: The two biggest trade-deadline names will be DeMarcus Cousins and Paul Milsaps. The Knicks will be better than a lot of people expect, provided those older fellows can stay heathy, and New York will make the playoffs. Dwight Howard will have a lot of success in Atlanta, which will struggle to make the playoffs. James Hardin will edge Westbrook at the tape and lead the league scoring. Dirk Nowitzki announces this will be his last year. The Warriors destroy the records for 3s attempted and made. Again.
As for the season, let's go this way in the West: Warriors, Clippers, Spurs, Jazz, Thunder, Trailblazers, Timberwolves, Rockets.
We'll take Warriors over Rockets, Clippers escaping T-Wolves, Spurs over Blazers and Thunder over Jazz. Warriors crush Thunder in a great story line for the NBA postseason and Clippers over Spurs.
Warriors beat Clippers to get back to the finals.
In the East, we'll go Cavs, Raptors (who will be very close to taking the No. 1 seed - very close), Celtics, Bulls, Pistons, Hornets, Knicks, Wizards.
Top seeds holding serve with Cavs and Raptors meeting in the Eastern Conference Finals.
So yes, nine months from now, we'll be exactly where we were last June. Cavs-Warriors. James and an improving Kyrie Irving trying to keep up with Durant, Steph Curry, Klay and the rest.
And like we did last year at this time, and going into the playoffs last year, we'll pick the Cavs.
(Call us a LeBron homer if you must, but we sincerely believe in dancin' with who brung you.)
Alabama head coach Nick Saban showed frustration when the top-ranked University of Alabama Crimson Tide visited the University of Tennessee Volunteers in SEC football action on October 15, 2016From Kirk
What's your opinion on Saban's future? I have a feeling that he's gonna stay until Hurts is gone.
Kirk -
Sadly, I think Saban is going to be at Alabama for a long time. At least through quarterback Jalen Hurts' time in Tuscaloosa, and considering he's a true freshman ripping it up, that's at least through the 2018 season.
In truth, what else is he going to do?
He has this thing rocking and rolling to a point that it's almost Gary and Wyatt in Weird Science when the super computer takes over and Gary says,"It's moving. It's working; it's working by itself."
Mrs. Terry is happy there. Saban is untouchable and can get everything and anything he asks for.
This will be his last job, and unfortunately for the rest of the SEC, Saban's not going anywhere anytime soon.
We think Lane Kiffin will take his show somewhere, and Saban will just replace him. In fact, Saban may be doing more to diminish the value of assistants compared to the value of talent than anyone.
And make no mistake gang, Alabama is this good.
The Tide is Nebraska in its heyday good. Like line up, tell the other side we're running it right here or we're only rushing four and still get 12 yards or a sack.
And we're going to have to get used to it for as long as Saban is in T-Town.
Staff file photo / Chattanooga Lookouts mascot Looie watches as the Chattanooga Boys Choir sings the national anthem before the team's home opener at AT&T Field for the 2016 season on April 12 of that year. The stadium, built before the 2000 season, is the third-oldest in the Southern League.From Mark
Man, did you see the story in the paper about the Lookouts owner wanting a new stadium? I love AT&T and going to Lookouts games downtown. Are they going to make a new ball park for the Lookouts?
Mark -
We talked a little bit about this on Press Row late Thursday afternoon.
We'll start by saying the entire 5-at-10 clan loves going to AT&T and we likely take in at least 10 Lookouts games a year. It is convenient and close to a lot of other downtown options.
That said, there are a lot of snazzy side items and even some fundamental issues with the stadium which is tippy-toeing toward its 20th birthday.
The new Lookouts ownership group has had a history of buying teams and then looking for new facilities with huge city taxpayer support.
When then-owner Frank Burke built AT&T, he did it with his own money. That's an important detail to remember when the new ownership team is lamenting the differences between a $10 million ballpark and something along the lines of the roughly $35 million facility in Fort Wayne, Ind., where this ownership team got the city to put in almost $30 million.
The other really interesting item we kicked around - and major props to cohost and TFP sports ace David Paschall for his very interesting story on this in this week's paper - is that the likely site of the new stadium would be on the Southside, which changes the dynamics of being walking-distance to downtown.
We think the ownership team will be angling for a lot of city-funded support to build a new stadium, with the threat of moving the team without new digs. That happened in Savannah, Ga., from where these owners moved the team because they did not get significant help on stadium funding. The team now plays in South Carolina.
Interesting times for sure. And to spin it off the famous "Field of Dreams" quote when it comes to what we believe will be the question facing Chattanooga from the Lookouts owners, "If you don't build it, we will go."
FILE - In this Aug. 28, 2016 file photo, Kim Kardashian West arrives at the MTV Video Music Awards in New York. Kardashian West is suing online media outlet, MediaTakeOut.com, saying she was wrongly portrayed as a liar and thief after she was attacked in Paris. Police say armed robbers forced their way into a private residence where Kardashian West was staying on Oct. 3, tied her up and stole $10 million worth of jewelry. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) From Steve (and friends)
Jay, a bunch of us read the 5-at-10 every day and we try to look ahead each day to see what your Rushmore may be depending on birthdays and stuff. Who ever gets the most each week the rest of us buy their lunch on Fridays.
We all kind of agreed that you would have to have some sort of Kim Kardashian Rushmore since her birthday is Friday but will it be Rushmore of least talented celebrities or something about 'adult' video tapes?
As you like to say whatcha got?
Steve -
We are greatly humbled that the 5-at-10 Rushmore process has started its own office pool.
That is cool, and well-played all around. For those interested we use the website FamousBirthdays.com for updates. Here's a listing of today's birthdays, and yes Steve, today is No. 36 for Mrs. Kayne West.http://www.famousbirthdays.com/october21.html (If you look at the listings of 'famous' birthdays of today, Kardashian is listed first; Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ranked 24th. Maybe 'famous' is not what it used to be, huh?)
If we were forced to go Kardashian Rushmore, we'd likely lean toward the talent version and maybe ask the Rushmore of celebrities who are famous for being famous. It's hard to remember before the 'adult' film role Kardashian had, she was best known as being Paris Hilton's lackey.
As for the real Rushmore we would have picked, well it was 41 years ago today that Carlton Fisk hit a 12th-inning homer in Game 6 of the World Series against the Reds. You know the one in which he waved it fair going down the first-base line?
What would be the Rushmore of all-time World Series images? We think that makes it, along with Gibson's fist-pump coming around second in 1988. Maybe Larson and Yogi celebrating the no-hitter or Willie Mays' over the shoulder catch in the 1954 series?
Did anyone suggest that one Steve? If so, send me the lunch check and we'll make it good.
And as Steve suggested whatcha got?