Next Year

It has been far too long since I posted. I will not bore you with details, but suffice it to say that this summer was a rough one for me.

That sounds like a terrific segue into the first topic I will touch on: The Boston Red Sox. It has been a tough season to watch, but there are signs of hope for those of us in the "wait 'til next year" section. Next year, David Ortiz will be healthy. Will Middlebrooks should be, too. And we have money to spend in the offseason. We also have Jacoby Ellsbury who could be one of the most sought after trade pieces in all of sports. And best of all, we have found our shortstop, finally. That's right, Pedro Ciriaco. I have watched Jose Iglesias play the last couple of months and his defense has not been quite as exciting as advertised, let alone exciting enough to make up for his lack of ability at the plate. I am pretty sure the Statue of Liberty could have a higher batting average. So give me Ciriaco.
Are there still questions about this team? For sure. Do they need to make a change at manager? They'd better. Do they need to take one on the chin and, if he can prove he's healthy in the first month or two, trade John Lackey and $20 million or so to a small market team (i.e. Kansas City) the same way the Yankees rid themselves of A.J. Burnett last year? I hope they're smart enough to. But is there hope? Yes. There is talent on this roster and wiggle room to improve it.

Speaking of improvement, I thought the New England Patriots were improved over last year. I even called for them to go 19-0 and win the Super Bowl. Yeah. That's not happening. I still think that they are a better team, but so are the teams around them. Even with Aaron Hernandez out, this is still one of the best receiving corps in football and they now have a running game worth considering. And, oh by the way, the defense is playing better, not that it could play worse. I thought they would come out with both barrels firing, that they'd play with a chip on their shoulder. So far, that doesn't seem to be the case.

There is a team playing with a chip on their shoulder, the Houston Texans. And I am not sure why. But I like it. They won a playoff game last year with their third-string quarterback. They will not go undefeated. But they will win a lot of games this year and they are the only thing that can stop themselves from getting to New Orleans and the Super Bowl.

Where they may play the Atlanta Falcons. This team may not look quite as good as the San Francisco 49ers, but boy do they look good. They lost to the Giants in the playoffs last year and look like they want to make people forget that their offense looked as anemic as it did.

Speaking of anemic, someone needs to tell the New Orleans Saints that the season has started. My bold prediction of the week: the Saints will finish with a worse record than they had last year. (I would like to thank the savvy reader who has picked up the obvious sarcasm of the prediction.)

And you can't blame any of this on the replacement referees who are now a thing of the past. In fact, I think they were doing alright. It would be unfair to expect a group of unqualified referees to be able to officiate a game when even the "pros" struggle. They did the best they could. Was it always great? No. But should we blame them for stepping up when the NFL (rightfully, in my opinion) locked out the real refs? No. We should thank them for trying. We should teach them from their mistakes.

And oh by the way, that play in Seattle? It was offensive pass interference. And we all know who caught it...Golden Tate. I have perfect eyesight, thank you for asking. I did see M.D. Jennings catch the ball with two hands. But between the ball and Jennings was Tate's hand. And I have seen a million or more one-handed catches in the NFL and even in College Football. And there is no way to tell whether or not Tate's hand was on the ball at the same time as Jennings's hands because the view is obstructed. Therefore, since he could have caught it and controlled it with one hand. The rules state that simultaneous possession goes to the offense. Therefore, based on that evidence, it was a touchdown. Of course, the offensive PI would have negated that and ended the game. Either of them that the refs missed late on Seattle.

And speaking of missed, I am sure you missed this. Quick, tell me who holds the record for most receiving yards in a single game in Miami Dolphin's history. I'll give you a hint: Ryan Tannehill was throwing him the ball. That's right, it's Brian Hartline. Hartline caught 12 passes for 253 yards in the overtime loss to the still-undefeated Arizona Cardinals. Fellow Miami wideout Devon Bess added 123 yards on 7 catches. This makes Bess and Hartline the first Miami receiving duo to each have over 100 yards in the same game in over 10 years!

To Miami fans, that is a lifetime, but baseball fans in Washington have literally waited a lifetime to see a team from the capital to make it to the MLB playoffs. My 81-year-old grandfather was 2 when Washington last sent a team to the playoffs. The last time the franchise did it? Well, I was 7 years away from birth, and I am 24. And boy did they earn it. I have seen this team play many times this season and they never fail to impress. They have a great young team and a lights-out rotation and bullpen. They will miss Stephen Strasburg. Any team would. But I think it is a great idea to sit him and save him. In doing so, they make themselves one of the top favorites for next year.

As for this year, I think it will come down to Cincinnati and Washington. Whoever wins between these two in the NLCS will win the World Series.

My prediction: Cincinnati gets it done this year. Sorry Nationals. But I will take Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips. They have a better offense to go with their equally good pitching staff. But, Washington, wait 'til next year.