BASEBALL
Maybe it’s because my favorite team
(Atlanta) missed the playoffs again, but
this year’s postseason doesn’t seem to be
very exciting. Think of the match-ups
in the National League – Colorado vs.
Philadelphia and Chicago vs. Arizona. Both
series ended with sweeps with Colorado
and Arizona – two expansion teams that
have existed for less than 20 years. It is
hard for me to believe that anyone outside
of those states cares about their upcoming
series. While both teams are good, they
aren’t exactly rich with tradition. The
Rockies have been to the playoffs, and
the Diamondbacks have a World Series
title, but neither team has the appeal to
make a casual fan pay attention. In the
American League, it appears the Indians
and Red Sox will battle for the right to go
to the World Series, barring a catastrophe.
To me, this match up might as well be
the World Series. Cleveland hasn’t won a
World Series since 1948, but the Indians
offense and the pitching of C.C. Sabathia
could be tough for the Red Sox. Boston
has had more success recently, but the
Indians’ performance against the Yankees
shows that they are ready to make a run
to the final series.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Saturday was a horrible day to be ranked
in the top five. USC and Wisconsin both
lost in what amounted to be a crazy day
in college football. Southern Cal’s loss
to Stanford is easily the most surprising
loss of the weekend. The Trojans had no
excuse to lose this game. The next tough
opponent on the schedule is three weeks
away, so they couldn’t be looking ahead.
The Cardinal are not supposed to be good
this year, and in fact the team was 0-3 in
the Pac-10 before this shocking win. No.
5 Wisconsin’s loss to Illinois isn’t quite as
shocking and if nothing else, proves the
Illini are for real. Ron Zook suffered losing
seasons in his first couple of years, but with
strong recruiting (I.E. QB Juice Williams),
Illinois appears to be a contender.
On a final college football note . I
am saddened to say that Notre Dame
earned their first win of the season – a
20-6 win over UCLA. The Fighting Irish
took advantage of an injury to the Bruins’
starting quarterback Ben Olsen by rattling
his backup and forcing turnovers. Notre
Dame’s reward for the victory: back-toback
games against top 10 opponents
Boston College and USC.
AND ANOTHER THING
When Marion Jones admitted to
using steroids, it was an act that was
long overdue. I don’t understand why
athletes take steroids, win awards and
then admit steroid use years later. Look,
the consequences of admitting something
later aren’t going to be any different than
those suffered from admitting something
right away. Jones will now be known as
a cheater rather than a record breaker
and gold medal winner. The same thing
would be said about Barry Bonds if he
were found guilty of using steroids during
his record-setting home-run performance.
There is no use in setting records just to
have your pride stripped away afterward.
The faster athletes figure this out, the
better for everyone.