Here is your final Detroit Tigers update for this season. They managed to lose fewer games in 2003 than did the Mets in 1962. For this, there was jubilation in the dugout and on the field. I sure hope they did not pop champagne in the clubhouse. The team can now chant, “We're not the worst! We're not the worst!”
Tigers' resident genius, Dmitri Young, said that the Twins owed the Tigers something for the Tigers' assistance in getting the Twins into the playoffs as winners of the Central Division. He said that Torii Hunter and/or Jacque Jones should write him a check. Young is basing this argument on the fact that the Tigers beat the White Sox eight times this year but the Twins had a 14-1 record against the Tigers.
By the way, people in Chicago living on the South Side should not be happy to note that 19% of the wins for the “next to worst Tigers” came at the expense of the White Sox. Manager Jerry Manuel is rumored to be on the way out in Chicago and interestingly enough, this man who is chided for being laid back and passive, led the major leagues in ejections this year by a manager. Manuel was ejected two more times than Larry Bowa who is portrayed as a man with zero emotional self-control. Hmmm…
Speaking of managers and coaches, I wonder how many of the media folks will take note of the fact that three old geezers, Felipé Alou, Bobby Cox and Jack McKeon, will be managing in the NL playoffs. They sure made note of the fact that McKeon was old when he was hired and went into a litany of “old-folks” jokes at that time. If they look at the NFL, Dick Vermeil has a team doing pretty well at the moment and some guy with the nickname “Tuna” has a team that is significantly improved from last year. Age is not a disqualifier for managing and coaching because those occupations do not rely on physical/athletic skills. There are good coaches and bad coaches; there are young coaches and old coaches. These sets do not correlate.
Speaking of old, Jesse Orosco will be in the playoffs this year after bouncing around the major leagues in trades. He wound up in Minnesota and got a win in a game about a week ago at age 46. That was his first win since 1998. Orosco's job used to be to come in and pitch to Barry Bonds; it's a long shot, but that could be his job in the World Series this year.
A couple of football notes from yesterday if I may. The New Orleans fans had better hope that the Saints are going have a season in 2003 that is the mirror image of the last two. In the last two seasons, the Saints have started strongly and then quit like dogs. Well they have started poorly this year and I saw them absolutely soil themselves on Sunday night this week. If they go downhill in December from that performance last night, they will be an embarrassment to the NFL. And they have another nationally televised game in December against the Giants. ESPN is praying that they don't go paws up starting in October…
There was a much-ballyhooed “show down” between Terrell Owens and Randy Moss yesterday and the Vikings spanked the 49ers as if the Niners were into that form of S&M. In another sense, T.O. is challenging Randy Moss for the position of “League's Biggest Loudmouth Idiot”. Owens had complained in the week before the game that the passing game is not in sync and that they are not getting the ball to him when he is open down the field. Excuse me. I don't live in SF so I don't read those papers or listen to those radio stations every day, but I recall that it was Terrell Owens who found himself “otherwise encumbered” when it came to mini-camps and things like that in the off season. I wonder why the passing game is “out of sync”.
Yesterday, Owens went on a rant on the sidelines yelling at a coach who the commentators identified as the offensive coordinator. I don't know who the coach was but he was definitely a member of the coaching staff. He just sat there and took this tirade. So now the 49ers brain trust seems to have sent Coach Mariucci on his way to Detroit because he could not “bring the best” out of T.O. and now they have T.O. and Dennis Erickson - who is a mediocre coach whose teams have been known to get out of control in previous his previous venues. At the moment, the 49ers – who were in the playoffs last year – are 1-3 with Dennis Erickson at the helm and Terrell Owens publicly berating the coaching staff. At the moment, the Detroit Lions – who stunk last year – are 1-3 with Steve Mariucci on the sidelines and Charles Rogers doing a fine job as the lead wide receiver. Good move by the front office there.
I saw an interesting stat. The Seahawks are 3-0 so far this year. They have a turnover differential of +12 in those three games. Obviously, projecting that out to a turnover differential of +64 for the season is ridiculous but that kind of differential certainly explains how they have the record they do.
Going into Saturday's game, Notre Dame had scored 45 points in 3 games. They benched their starting QB who had not played well and started a freshman. The kid may be talented but he threw 4 INTs and one of them was the kind of throw you expect to see in the Ivy League. They scored 10 points in the first half against Purdue and then got shut out in the second half. That leaves them averaging less than 14 points a game; that kind of offense will get them a 2-9 record if it continues. Just as a point of comparison, a couple of weeks ago Oklahoma State WR, Rashawn Woods, caught 7 TD passes in a single game against SMU. Woods alone scored 42 points in a game, which is slightly more than what the Irish are averaging in three games.
I don't know who asked him or why, but Emmitt Smith commented on the Maurice Clarett situation and said that the NCAA had a great racket going on. That may or may not be true depending on one's point of view, but I hope that Emmitt has realized that it is an NFL rule that is keeping Clarett out of the NFL and not an NCAA rule. There are probably six jillion stupid NCAA rules but that ain't one of them.
Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle, had some good lines related to the Maurice Claret situation and Ohio State football in general:
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“To clear up any confusion… What you get if you win the British Open: The old claret jug. What they throw an OSU football player into when he tries to cheat insurance companies: The old Clarett jug. What Steve Young has been dipping into: The old Clairol jug.”
“People ridicule Ohio State because several football players major in Sports and Leisure Studies. But these critics have no idea the work it takes to master hammock safety or the Periodic Table of Tailgate Condiments.
That said, Sports and Leisure Studies is the only major where you get extra credit if you miss the final because you overslept.”
Finally, talk about a player with a name that fits where he is going to school. One of the back-up QBs for the University of Tennessee is named Jim Bob Cooter.
But don't get me wrong, I love sports...
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