Hitting the home stretch
Baseball is winding down.
Let's review some topics.
Best surprise: Easily the Atlanta Braves. Wow, what a fun summer.
Biggest disappointment: They are still in contention but you could list the Dodgers here. But we'll go with the Giants here considering that they have the second-highest payroll and a roster with big-name veterans and if not for the Padres are the worst team in the NL West. Yes the Nationals are also an acceptable answer.
Best individual surprise: We'll go with Ronald Acuna. We knew he was going to be very good. But this? Really, you expected this before he's 21? The numbers are staggering - .289, 26 homers, 15 steals - for anyone. For a rookie in a playoff chase, he's been worthy of the MVP discussion. (Christian Yelich will likely win it, and you can make the argument that Freddie Freeman deserves a spot in the discussion too.
Biggest individual disappointment: This is not to say he did not have a very good rookie season, but considering how excited we were for the Shohei Ohtani experience and the arm injuries that derailed the pitching possibilities of the Angels rookie, we'll go there.
As the baseball season winds down, the AL playoff picture is set and impressive, considering that there could be three or even four teams in the AL with 100 wins. (Why all the talk about reshuffling the NBA for the playoffs and not the MLB considering the top four records in the game belong to Red Sox, Yankees, Astros and A's?)
Boston has clinched home field all the way through. Cleveland and Houston have clinched their divisions. The Yankees and A's are the wildcard teams, and the Yankees have a two-game lead in the chase to host that wildcard game.
In the NL, the Braves have clinched and are two games back of the Cubs for the race for the best record in the NL. The Cubs lead the Central by a half game over Milwaukee. The Brewers are 3.5 clear in the wildcard, and the final spot is a race between the Cards, the Dodgers and the Cardinals.
The Dodgers are 88-70, the Rockies are 87-70 and the Cards are 87-71. The Dodgers and Rockies are fighting for the West title as well.
Survivor update
OK, we were not great in updating the Survivor Pool.
And that's not great as in Sall - SAAALLLLL!!! - Sunseri was not great as Tennessee's defensive coordinator. That Auburn-Mississippi State 3-2 game was not great offense. Urban Liar's handling of the Zach Smith crimes and allegations was not great. Scott Hoch's putt at the 1988 Masters was not great.
You get the idea.
After the most carnage left in the wake of a collection of Vikings since Eric the Red, we are down to 11 players. (Please note: If you believe you are still alive, please send me your emails - this is why we try to keep these in emails - and I will double check.)
Weena
Jason T.
Jules
Auburn Guy
Lil' 5-at-10. (Yes, Lee Greeson had Panthers over Cowboys, Falcons over Panthers, Eagles over Colts. And he was wise not to listen to his old man, who had Lions over Jets in week 1.)
Mike C.
Terry
El Jefe
Chris B.
Brent R.
Justin
We try to remember to put this list with the picks in the comments of Friday's 5-at-10 on Saturday mornings. Deal? Deal.
Again, if you think you are still alive let me know.
Cool Ryder
OK, we admit we are a much bigger golf fan that most. (And no, Spy, that has nothing to do with being 6-4, 230 so shut it.)
And we are quick to admit that the Masters is our favorite event in sports that does not involve Auburn.
So you know we're in for the Ryder Cup. This one more than any we can remember to be honest.
Look at the layers of juicy storylines.
There's Tiger. Yep.
There's the hope and prayer that Rory and Patrick Reed get a chance to go at it again, because truth be told, when those dudes went toe-to-toe and fist-pump-to-fist-pump two years ago, it was the most memorable non-Tiger moment of the last five years or so.
There's the unabashed energy from multi-millionaires multiple times over.
There's the great connection from guys who have spent their lives in the most individual of sports playing in a team format.
And there is the river of awkward and dork-tactic high-fives that only golfers can deliver.
Suffice to say we are stoked, and because we do what we do, we also have a few words of advise for U.S. captain Jim Furyk.
Sit Phil Mickelson in the first session. He is the coldest player among the Americans. He is the wildest - and the narrow fairways in Paris are not exactly part of his strong suit - and since he has the most experience can handle it the best. When you put Mickelson into the mix, please avoid the temptation to try to right the tragic wrong Hal Sutton dropped in the early 2000s and not put Phil with Tiger. Yes, as a golf fan it makes for fun chatter. As someone who wants to win, it makes for a headache. Phil and Rickie Fowler would be an excellent pairing.
As for Tiger, saddle him with Bryson DeChambeau, and watch as arguably the two hottest players on the planet for the last month start quickly.
Pair Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed whenever possible.
Let the Bro-mance between Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka have a chance to shine.
An here's hoping that fortune allows us another McIlroy-Reed tango.
Great times.
This and that
- Cool story here from the monster platform that is YahooSports on Chattanooga's own Will Healy.
- Tip of the old-school baseball way to the Mets, who said they will not play David Wright in his ceremonial send off game because they do not want it to have an effect on anything in the playoff chase.
- Max Scherzer passed the 300-strike out mark for the season Tuesday night. He is one of only three active pitchers to pass the milestone, joining Clayton Kershaw and Chris Sale. Side note on stats and inning pitched: Yes, 300 Ks is aces, but did you know that in 1965, Sandy Koufax had 311 more Ks than walks allowed. Koufax is on that list of guys that were way, Way, WAY better than modern history relays because of injuries and limited number of years.
- We mentioned Jacob deGrom's staggering stats Tuesday. He gets the ball tonight against the Braves for the Mets.
- Breaking news: According to this Tweet, the Kansas Chiefs are finalizing a deal for All-Pro safety Earl Thomas. Couple of things: Man, if Eric Berry returns to 90 percent of his All-Pro form, then the Chiefs back hal;f is going to be nasty. Second, tip of the visor to the Chiefs for realizing they have a two-to-three-year window to win it all considering the affordable rookie contracts at quarterback (Patrick Mahomes), wide out (Tyrek Hill), and running back (Kareem Hunt). Third, considering the injuries, wonder if the Falcons made a late push in the Thomas sweepstakes.
- While we are here on dealing for All-Pro defensive talents, if you could get Khalil Mack and Earl Thomas in rounds one and two of the 2019 draft - a big part of the deals for those dudes - you'd be hailed as the best GM in the league. Do NFL teams overvalue draft picks, especially considering the total crap shoot the draft is no matter how precise the scouting folks think the process is?
- Want to know a hard and fast layer of what is wrong with America today? Meet Diana Tirado, an eighth-grade history teacher in Florida, who says she was fired because she gave students a zero for not turning in an assignment. The school's policy, according to Tirado and a document that she says was from the student handbook, the lowest grade any student can get is 50 percent. That's endorsing a generation with a litany of ramifications and almost all of them are negative. Wow.
- Nike stock, after an original dip, is soaring since the announcement of the "Just Do It" campaign with Colin Kaepernick.
- Bill Cosby, who was the TV dad of my generation, was sentenced to three-to-10 years in prison for sexual assault. It's hard to overstate his star power and how beloved Cosby was in the late 1980s and into the 1990s gang.
- Not saying we're surprised by this, but man, this Tweet from Darren Rovell shows college football is king in Chatty-Vegas.
Today's questions
Which way on a Wednesday.
Which game has you more excited Saturday, Stanford-Notre Dame or THE Ohio State-Penn State? And while we are here considering the cover-ups and willing to look the other way and ignore a litany of sins to protect the football programs, the latter match-up certainly is The Ostrich Bowl, don't you think?)
On Tuesday, Tiger was asked about the Mount Rushmore of golf and he said Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. Is he right, and if not which one would you replace? (And heckle him all you want for not taking the humble way out, but if you think Tiger does not belong on that list, well, best come locked and loaded.) https://twitter.com/RyderCupUSA/status/1044645437385445376
Which other current athlete has the best argument for being on its sports Rushmore? (And the easy answer here is tennis with Serena and Federer, so let's skip tennis and look at the rest. Deal? Deal.)
Speaking of that, happy birthday Serena, who turns 37 today. Olivia Newton John is 70 today, and friends in her day, well, let's just say there are a whole lot of guys in my age bracket and a smidge older more than willing to get Physical with Ms. Newton-John.
The Beatles released Abbey Road on this day 49 years ago.
It's National Better Breakfast Day. And National Lumberjack Day.
Daniel Boone died on this day in 1820. Paul Newman died on this day 10 years ago. He was a great dude and makes a mean spaghetti sauce.
Rushmore of Paul Newman films. Go.